Walk the Walk ((Bartimas))

[Ursula Wolfe]

Today was a walking day, definitely a walking day. Ursula was making her way though the streets of the city, just enjoying the sounds and the sights, making sure she stay clear of any brush or ground, lest her curses come to haunt her. Of course a good few of them she didn't even see as curses, they were more slight hindrances or annoyances at the most. Her shadow loved to dance about when it grew bored or happened to run into her Wraith that was her uncle - she had yet to find out how that happened.

Killing plants was only annoying when she was growing things in her hydros or whenever Jordan brought home flowers for her. The weeds she actually found amusing because it left a trail of death in only the way she could. Still, she managed to keep them, more or less, controlled so that she wouldn't be caught breaking the Masquerade, the one thing that she knew would really disappoint Jesse.

She glanced down at the sighting reports, and made sure that she was in the right area before she found her way into the abandoned apartments where the 'person' she was seeking was currently 'haunting'. She followed the directions and stopped before the shadow, quite as ever unless she spoke to it, and of course, it would only speak if she asked the right questions. Tonight she had only one thing she wanted to ask of it, and it would require her to give something in return. The growing strength that she had been building up. Thankfully though, it was never more than she could handle.

Hantu was soon feeding off her energy and granting her the 'key' she would need to start training to learn the powers she was growing into. The fadewalker's powers were interesting to say the least. She had heard of the Shadow Realm but had yet to visit the place, some of the powers she had read about though seemed like they would be beneficial to the family. And anything that would benefit the family was something she would want to learn.

Ursula knew from the previous Wraiths she had trained with, the previous powers - some she had still yet to learn - were a feat in itself, this one would be harder but it would be well worth it. Tonight was the start but it was far from finished. With her energy sapped for the night, she started to make her way out of the abandoned building but stopped just outside, closing her eyes for a moment and just listening to the city around her.

((Attire))

[Bartimas (DELETED 5582)]

With his growing self-confidence… A trait in him that is rapidly being fueled by his aggressive attempts to continue to interact with people lately; he is finding it more and more easy to locate some spot in the early evening, and sing or play there at the corner through the night. Half the time, these days, he is not even sure where he has set up. But his growing familiarity with throwing himself through space with those quick, mystically powered jumps have expanded his range of wandering a great deal from the simple lobby of his sire’s apartment complex. He hasn’t even been back there in close to a month now, his stop ins now directed towards the family’s kept house and the various hotels he has been bouncing across, playing in their bar’s and restaurants for someplace to spend the day.

The nights, when it was too late to be playing in one restaurant or another, he was finding where better suited to impromptu little concerts in parks, on entertainment district street corners, or where ever he happened to find himself that moment. This late evening was no exception. According to the handy little watch he picked up recently, reading out the hours, it was close to two AM, and he has found himself at the edge of one of the nightlife areas… at the very edge of the street. His familiar hands are quietly tuning the violin for several long moments before his voice begins to softly echo out from him, joining the melody rising from the violin.

Anyone familiar with Bartimas’ voice would be finding, more and more it is practiced, smooth, as polished an instrument as the aged violin he carries constantly. With his rich tones singing a beautiful, if longing song which that violin echoes beautifully. More and more he is finding that his voice is drawing in larger and larger crowds. No matter where he sets up, after singing for a few minutes, people seem to come wandering in, drawn by the notes… By that sweet, hard to resist call he is unaware he is lacing his music with.
Perhaps it was his hands, now growing more used to quick gestures to channel the innate power he finds he has. Perhaps it was his voice just channeling still more power… But there is indeed a hypnotic power to his voice, more and more, and he always has a crowd forming around him. Always has his violin case full of cash and coins by the end of the night. One might call his voice a Call, of a sorts… Gently grasping at the ears… the brain of those who listen to it, to guide them in and towards his beautiful voice and instrument.

[Ursula Wolfe]

The sound, it drew her in, but not in the way it seemed to draw others in. To her the draw was just because it was familiar, something that she knew, knew because it was her progeny. She listened too it from where she stood for a while more before she pushed away from the wall, straightened out her clothes and started towards the music. Her heels clicked against the hard cement sidewalk in time with the tempo of the music. She was graceful, yes, but the music seemed to add to that for her. When she stepped up to stand behind some of the humans listening to Bart, she smirked a bit, looking at the mortals. Their blood called to her more than the music, she was hungry after her bout with Hantu but not so much that she would dare feed in some place so public.

As he continued to play and sing, she hummed quietly along with the tone, bright, icy eyes watching the way the bow slid back and forth so smoothly over the strings, it was rather hypnotic in a way but as she looked at the humans, her brows arched ever so slightly, she could see something she hadn't seen earlier. Her gaze once again turned on Bartimas, this time watching him with a delighted curiosity that was more akin to a mother watching her toddler go from crawling to walking.

The music continued, Bart continued. And as he did, she slid her gloved hands into her pockets and then glanced down to see that she had stood in one place too long. The weeds were beginning to sprout. She shifted from foot to foot and then slowly back away so that she was watching more from a distance. A safe distance though where she could stand safely on the sidewalk, on the cement where weeds couldn't possibly grow. She glanced around until she spotted her shadow and hissed quietly to it to get the damn thing to stop swaying a little and behave itself. Thankfully, unlike some in her family, her shadow was rather well behaved and rarely did anything big where it could be seen and get her in trouble with her own family.

[Bartimas (DELETED 5582)]

The man’s attentions to his music are quite wonderful to behold. Soulful… Intent, the raw amount of emotion he makes an attempt to convey clear. As the music continues along, his call grows stronger and stronger, the small crowd developing still further around them. There is no outward sign of effort on his part, no conscious seeming action to make the growing hypnotic call. Instead, just as he pours his emotions… He pours that longing into the music, others were drawn. Called towards the song as so many rats to pipes.

He of course, doesn’t seem aware of his sire’s presence for now, as the first song comes to an end. He lifts the violin from the strings, his voice lowering from where he had been so earnestly singing alongside the instrument. Carefully, as the wondering cloud gazes at the handsome young man, he manages something akin to an apologetic smile at the soft murmur of the three dozen voices that have gathered around him. Slowly now, he moistens his lips, and turns, his sightless gaze centering upon where his sire stands, smelling her familiar sort of scent on the air. He silently reaches down, putting away his instrument, the impromptu concert ending it seems as he quietly puts away the instrument, slinging the violin case at his hip, and the ever-present, but never opened guitar case across his back. He picks up his cane, sliding it into one hand, and simply stands there, waiting for her to approach as the crowd begins to slowly disperse

[Ursula Wolfe]

Ursa continued to listen to the music, to watch the people gathering around her progeny as he played. It was interesting to see that he was so alluring to them. She almost wondered if perhaps he was a different path than what she first suspected, but at the same time, she had yet to give him the true test in what seemed to be the finest way to get the answer. Shove food down his throat, if it came up again then he definitely wasn't an allurist. From what she heard during one of the many family gatherings, that is how Jesse had figured out what Grey was. Or, at least, that's how they had made it sound to her.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she noticed that the music was coming to an end and then soon after, he was putting his violin away and gathering his things. When she saw the cane, she knew that he was done for the night and she smirked a bit, even though she knew that he couldn't see it. She waited until the crowd was for the most part gone before she walked towards him at a slightly quickened pace. "Hey, I can't stand on dirt too long or things will start to get really weird." It was whispered, but she knew that the tone of her voice would tell him about the urgency.

Then she tugged on his sleeve a little to let him know which direction she was going to head in before getting back to the sidewalk onto the 'safety' of the cement. She waited for him to join her before she slid her hands into her pockets and looked him over again. She could see the differences, he had even taken to wearing the glasses like she had mentioned to him before and after he had been welcomed into his new life. "You're looking good, and gathering quite a fan base it seems." She said as she glanced around them, standing out open always made her a little antsy, even though there was never anything she had done or her family had done for such things.

"I heard you playing when I was finished meeting someone, I thought I would come and remember how we first met." She said with a playful tone in her voice.

[Bartimas (DELETED 5582)]

As his sire steps in to speak to him so softly as he waits there, he smiles very faintly, giving her a slight nod. He did recall that odd things happened to living things and such near her, so he gives her a small smile and nod as she touches his sleeve to guide him down the street. Her eventual speaking draws his attention, mind drifting through the last few meetings he has had with his sire. So few and so very far between it feels like, and his blind gaze is drawn towards her quietly now while she guides him with her down the street.

At her initial statement, he smiles gently, saying “It… Helps a great deal with the aggressive lonliness I am finding. Going out, doing things… drawing attention to myself with the music makes me feel much more alive then I felt just… camping out in the lobby below your apartment..’ He sighs at that, turning his gaze blindly in front of them to the street before them. At her continued statement, he says gently “I always knew you heard my music and would come quite a distance to meet up with me…. So you where stalking me a bit… Its good to hear you admit it…’ he pauses, then says in a gently teasing tone “Its rather new to be so appreciated… Would you care to join the fan club then I guess? We have jackets…” his jesting tone is clear, and he creaks a smile, maintaining good cheer even as his mind whirls through a dozen questions to ask her, things to say, thoughts to be had…

Carefully now, he says “I admit… I miss you a great deal of the time. It is… Strange. I can listen to books now that I have a bit of money… In all the vampire stories, the beautiful vampiress who stalks and preserves the musician does it out of love or desire to preserve them… I feel rather cheated. I didn’t get a dark, windy romance… No dark moments in the night where a beautiful woman comes to my arms… Kissing my throat and biting down while we lay there in pale moon light..’ His tone implies he is jesting, although his expression would be… Odd, to put it delicately. Perhaps jealous of her relationship?

Oh yes, he is jealous. Jealous of having someone. Of being wanted… Of wanting in turn. His head turns slightly to face her, pausing in their strides there in the dark as he says quietly “It Is strange. All I see now… All I hear now… Is people and their friends… Their lovers. I play for people connecting… But… Sometimes I feel like I am always separate, even for making an effort to bring them together. I want… That. To be wanted. To want… To… To… Have a real life with people. You’re the only person I could pretend made an effort to really get close to me. Ever… And I see you….. once a month at best. Even when I stayed in your apartment so… I almost never saw you..’ He sighs, heavily now, saying “Almost a month since I saw you last, and here I am, spilling out a confusing, even to me, flood of emotion…” his face twists, clearly not even really sure himself where he is going with this it seems

[Ursula Wolfe]

As he starts to talk, Ursa stops momentarily, looking at him. If he could see, he would see the brief moment of pain that crossed her face as he talked about the loneliness. She suddenly felt like a **** sire, and though she tried not to draw comparisons, it was there, that comparison between her and Axel. Sighing a little, she ran her hand though her hair and just stayed silent, returning to their walk as he continued on. Again, as he talked about camping out in the lobby of her apartment, she once again felt that fleeting moment that she had failed as a sire. She was thankful that he couldn't see that brief pain that flashed across her face.

His jest about joining his fan club brought a momentary smile to her face, allowing her to relax just a little so that she could just enjoy their little stroll. She did enjoy his music, listening to him play the violin, the sweet and subtle sounds that came from the instrument. However, his comment about drawing attention made her smirk just a little bit. "Just be careful about drawing too much attention. As I told you before, attention can be a bad thing. That being said... I do believe I count as the first in your fan club..." After all, had she not enjoyed his music, she wouldn't have saved him from being Paige's meal. Of course a week later, he ended up her meal.

As he stopped their walk this time, Ursa listened to what he had to say and once again, she felt bad. Bad about leaving him alone like she had, for not being around as much as she should have been, especially to help him with things. Once again she couldn't help but feel the comparison between herself and her own sire. A sire that had basically armed her and then said 'go' and she hadn't seen him much since then. She sighed a little to cent herself as he continued to mention things. About how he was alone, about how he had rarely seen her, and that he was lonely. Again she felt that she had failed him. From there she decided that she would try to be there for him more often.

She looked more fully at him and took another breath, this one to center her before she began. "Listen, I know I haven't exactly been the best sire, you're right, I haven't been around a lot. I'm hoping to change that... the last thing I want to do is be the kind of sire that I have. The kind of person that avoids you like the plague. I can't help you with the being wanted in the way you seem to be wanted, I wish I could, but I do want to be around for you more often. To help you, to teach you things. Not just the kind of person that creates you and ditches you." She said in a soft voice, clearly trying to keep their conversation to themselves because the street wasn't exactly the best place to talk about such things. "But I do want to help you with questions, help you learn your powers. Learn where to expand them, so that you are always growing to be better." She added, and then gently tugged on his arm to get their walk going again.

"Is there anything you want to ask me, anything you need?" She asked as she looked at him.

[Bartimas (DELETED 5582)]

Emotions are far too easy he is finding. Almost burning like a bright coil within him… Why was it so easy to open up now, after everything else that happened? Almost idly, as their conversation continues, he can realize why. A damn breaking… The floodwaters released, rising to wash away the pain, to boil and writhe against any barrier until allowed to flow free… eventually returning to normal levels… But even that is not quite right no… Holding in emotion for so long was pain in and of itself. The same pain that leads to one’s muscles burning… aching, flaring with agony from holding oneself below a ledge. Even if the plunge from the emotions let loose might end it all… It was still blessed relief to simply… Let go.

Perhaps that is what he is doing, he considers to himself, his blind gaze directed towards Ursula while they pause to speak. His fingers reach out and brush against her arm, gently enough, saying after a very long pause: “My fan club should be more illustrious I think. Care to join up more literally? I think we can come up with jackets from somewhere….” He smiles, this time more wanly, the hint of his own emotional turmoil flaring within him as he straightens his spine quietly, turning more to face her directly before he begins to prepare the next words from his lips. Thinking carefully, taking an effort not to misspeak.

After a pause for breath, he simply begins with: “I… This life you have brought me into… I barely lived my own life, as some would have it. You have put me not only into what most would consider an ‘active’ or… ‘well lived’ life, but far surpassing it. All around me, I can hear it in the corners, the alleyways… Murmured in bars I pass, or even almost felt on the air… This world is far more intense then my old life had ever dreamed, or imagined existing. I… Feel like I am drowning in this. I put such effort into meeting people now… Into doing things… Finding things… Being… Well, a person, a person to meet, to like…” His expression twists, pain there as he says “But… At what cost to me? What ill I become? People shoot each other… Kill each other… And we are part of that. We kill… We… Destroy, we manipulate… Your very presence, Ursula… what does it do to the world around you? I… I always lived a life, trying not to inconvenience others… To impact others… to… To… To be a bother. Now… Where am I? What am I? I can blink across the night, moving from place to place… will and my blood carrying me wherever I might wish. I crave the taste of soft flesh… Yielding in my mouth… The coppery spray… Somehow so beautiful… Almost an erotic thing to be exposed to… A taste, like pennies… But sweeter then sin… Making my body explode into such beautiful pleasure…’ his hands lift, shaking now, touching the sunglasses.

His voice then turns almost anguished “And then the pain comes… Like when that bullet got lodged in my shoulder... when it erupted out of me, popped out of me… but a hundred times worse… Right in my eyes…. I can feel it… The bone, the skin… It wants to heal. It wants to be beautiful… Whole like a normal person, a normal vampire might be. The flesh there… the skin where my eyes should be, where the bone meets it… It boils… It twists, it rends… It wants to be eyes… It wants so much to be eyes so I could be whole… But im not whole… I was never whole… It hurts me Ursa….” His voice becomes hoarse now, whispering “It is a rush… After I feed I have to get someplace by myself…. Blood… Tears… They..’ his hands stroke his cheeks, his nails almost digging into the skin. A person with a certain level of empathy, or perhaps psychological training, would likely be able to readily recognize a nervous breakdown, brought upon by pain, perceived isolation, by his own rapidly growing panic attack.

His voice becomes hoarse, almost a hiss as he whispers ‘You ask me what I want…. What could help me? Make it stop… Make it go away…. I try so hard… I don’t want to let you down… I can’t let you down… I won’t… I… Ill live up to the family name… But… Gods… I just want to go back to my alley.. I just want to curl back up behind the dumpster… It was safe… Warm… quiet… No agony in my eyes… No worries about dozens of supernatural people… Talking about killing… Talking about murder…. Worse… No… No…” his head shakes back and forth now, and his hands squeeze onto his cane with enough force to start splintering the polished hilt into his hands.

[Ursula Wolfe]

Ursa stood - for the most part - frozen in the spot as Bart because to talk about the life that she had brought him into. Listening as he continued to talk. A small part of her almost wanted to roll her eyes because, boy, talking about talking someone's ears off. If that were a power, Bart would be more than able to do it. Still, she concentrated, or at least tried to, on what he was saying, what it was that he was telling her, the things that were bugging him and so on and so on. The things he started with were nothing new to her, the intensity, the being able to hear things better, smell things better. All their senses were heightened and then in his case, she was sure that the senses that he did have were even more acute given his lack of sight.

It wasn't until he brought up what she did, that her own expression changed, taking on something that would have had others thinking that he had slapped her. Her blues eyes glanced around. Yes, she killed things, she destroyed things merely by walking by things or by touching them. Plants - minus weeds - wilted in her presence. She sighed, it was what she liked to call her evil within showing itself outwardly. The darkness in her soul. Yes, they killed, they destroyed, but at the same time, you can not have life without death. It was a whole circle. As she thought about this though she still listened.

He talked about being shot, and for a moment her expression changed again, this time she was angry. Angry at him for not being more careful, angry at herself for not teaching him how to be. But mostly angry at the asshole that shot him. He spoke of the pain in his eyes, how feeding seemed to make it worse, like his eyes were trying to grow back the same way that they did when she first turned him, as he had shifted from mortal to immortal in her arms. Again, there was a part of her that felt bad that he had to go through that every time he fed. There was also a moment when she thought of doing something but she had no clue if it would work. And then of course, if it could work, would Bart even be up for whatever she had in mind?

She doubted it, knowing that he still saw himself as a monster. And the way he was talking now, he was getting more and more upset about things and while she understood it, she could also see that he was spiraling outward, downward, until soon enough he would hit rock bottom and probably do something that would get them both in trouble. The more he spiraled, the more it angered her. At him. At herself. But this panic attack he was starting was going to get them both in trouble so she did the only thing she could.

Her hand lashed out like a whip, smacking him hard before she whispered in a lethal tone "Snap Out of It!" The slap was meant to be just that, a way to snap him out of what he was doing. What he was saying. He would harm himself or get them both in trouble if she hadn't done something. She hoped the pain would give him something to center on, that with that he would come around. "That said, You are already doing wonders for the name you hold. You have grown, and you are coming into your own and that makes me, makes the family very proud. So you dislike certain aspects, you don't think I don't?! Really, it's a way of life now, just as eating a burger was a way of life then. However, you need to calm the **** down before the **** hits the fan." She kept her voice in that lethal but relatively calm whisper before she tugged his arm and started to lead him towards the building she had come from earlier.

"If you want help with that pain, I have a couple ideas, both of which I am sure that you are going to dislike, but they are better than nothing, and better than you freaking out over the pain that you are feeling. What do you say?" She asked as she stopped again, looking at him, though she knew he couldn't see her, her face was a mix of anger and worry.

[Bartimas (DELETED 5582)]

Her strike across his face for a moment rings in his head, in his brain, and on the air. A good slap is always audible, and it rings through his mind, into his ears… grounding it more or less instantly to fix his attention more fully back onto her as she speaks. His teeth become gritted, and already he can feel the reflexive warmth that enters his cheek. Perhaps as a credit to the growth of his self-confidence was the fact that for a moment, he contemplates driving his fist up, to catch under her chin. He stops himself, quivering for a moment in place, his teeth gritted, before he relaxes, slowly as her hissed words echo though his hears. Anger… Yes he hears anger in her tone. Pain perhaps was the other notes? No… It was something more akin to unease… Worry perhaps? His brain whirls, trying to make up a better picture of his sire there in that moment as she grips his arm, guiding him in closer, leading him over and towards a nearby building.

His voice grows tired as he says “I… Im sorry Ursa… I really am. I don’t mean to upset you…” his face hangs slightly, and he struggles to regain, to maintain his composure… grasping for that happier bit of emotion he had given off immediately after singing. It was… difficult. He is making an effort though, putting for that bit of a wry smile and struggling to get back to just.. Being with her. He slowly takes her hand, gripping it tightly, for reassurance, his fingers, his digits squeezing her for a moment like a vice before he relaxes. Softly now, he murmurs “I… What do you think would help Ursa?” he sighs, heavily, managing to grit his teeth and make his smile form again, struggling to lift out of the… depths of a depression he had been inches from sinking into.

As she leads him forwards, his head cocks to one side, thinking. Softly now, he murmurs under his breath “Well… Isn’t this where you came out of previously? Most of the time I can get a vague direction off of people when I hear them approaching me..” his smile is wry, as he waits for her reply, clearly making an effort to keep calm, or cheerful now