I'm Not Your Friend [Raven]

[Jesse Fforde]

<Jesse Fforde> After Clover disappeared, Jesse growled to himself and stalked off to her apartment, the entrance to which was on the same floor. At least he knew where the stash of gauze was. On his way through, he purposefully left bloody handprints; he let the blood drip from his face, spat it from where it had dripped into his mouth. In the bathroom - unable to himself in the mirror - he very haphazardly wrapped a bandage around his face, covering the eye-socket and at least stemming the bleeding until the wound could start to heal. He didn't stay in Clover's apartment while he waited for her to come back. He went back out to the main area; he went back to the rituals table, where he continued to mumble to himself under his breath.


<Raven Talius> Raven was returning back after a midnight snack and she lifted a hand to wipe away the blood from her red painted lips. The human had been rather delicious and had struggled against her, which had made the chase and the prize all that much more delectable. She paused for a moment so then her brown hues could look at the blood before she lifted her hand to her lips and licked it off, enjoying the taste upon her tongue. Running into Clover had been the best thing that she thought could have happened to her, however, she always had a constant thirst. So, no matter how much she drank and killed it was never enough. It was at that point that she noticed the atmosphere and she paused to look up and angle her head. Jesse, she had met him once, briefly when he had given her a tome, but they hadn’t fully spoken yet. He seemed irritable and she wondered just as to why he would be. “It’s a nice night for a hunt, so many delectables just waiting to be eaten. Yet here you are, with bandages all over your face, agitated. What has you all worked up?"


<Jesse Fforde> Although Jesse was sifting through the ritual items, he hadn't started a ritual, yet. He wasn't thinking straight. Or, he was trying to get his thoughts in order. Clover had a point. She had a reason to be irritated with him. He sent mixed messages. She had asked what the boundaries might be and he hadn't told her. At the time, he hadn't known what his boundaries might be. Now, they seemed to be popping up all over the place. Suddenly, the red-haired Raven appeared in front of him, having tomed back in. They had hardly spoken more than two words together, but here she was talking to him as if they'd been friends for years. He blinked, then narrowed his one good eye. "Weren't you just here? Didn't you just see...?" he asked. It seemed obvious, to him, why he seemed irritable.


<Raven Talius> A shrug of her shoulders was given as she inspected her hand once more. She was a little disappointed that all traces of the blood was gone, perhaps she would go out again. The one human just didn't seem to be enough to hold over her appetites. "If you're looking for pity, I am unable to give you such things. Clover is my sire and while you are the head... I don't really know you. Apart from the fact that you are Clover's boyfriend." The vampire's hand fell to her side as she watched the man for a while. "Pain isn't something I'd get irritable about. In fact, Clover promised me much pain, yet she has yet to deliver. I envy you." An eyebrow perked as a shrug of her shoulders was given, "But then again, I'm used to being alone and broken promises, so what does it matter?" Raven walked over to a ritual table and she glanced over it, "She spends her time with you, so why not just appreciate the fact that she fulfils her promises to you and deal with her little quirks?"


<Jesse Fforde> As Jesse's brow arched, it tugged at the empty and jagged eye socket. The ache was exacerbated, but he ignored it. "I'm sorry, but are you suddenly an expert on our relationship?" he asked. It amused him, the tone she took - the pure gall, that she should come in here with her attitude, disrespecting him and his position. "I am the head of this bloodline. I am the giver and I can take everything away. She won't fulfil that promise because what we have is intimate," he said. He didn't think that he needed to clarify. He was standing straight, his hands now in the pockets of his jacket, his shoulders squared. "I'm sure you'll find someone else to fulfil your desires," he said. And even as he said it, he wondered if Logan would be interested. Logan was a sick little puppy, too.


<Raven Talius> Raven held both of her hands up before she looked back up at Jesse. "I was ready for death the moment Clover turned me, hell I thought that she would kill me instead of doing what she did. You want to take that away? Fine." Her lips turned downwards as she met the man's stare. Raven had told Clover that she wouldn't be a good little soldier and she knew that she couldn't be a good soldier, because being alone meant that you made your own rules. Now that she was 'a part' of something, she couldn't adjust. Relying upon people just wasn't her forte, it was why she had no friends. "I fulfil my own desires, I don't need to rely upon someone else. It's how I've always lived and will continue to do so. Clover is off limits? Fine." The woman turned away from the man and began to walk away. "Seeing as this conversation is going nowhere, I shall go and find me another human to eat, I'm still hungry."


<Jesse Fforde> Jesse followed. He trotted to catch up and overtake; to stand in front of Raven to keep her from leaving. Why? It was an act of stubbornness. Clover and he had argued about this; about Raven. Jesse was the head of this bloodline and he reserved the right to talk to and spend time with whoever he wanted within it. Raven included. "Now now. Hunger can wait," he said. And he knew. He dealt with hunger every second of every night. It was never-ending. It was insatiable. "You're a feisty thing, aren't you?"


<Raven Talius> Raven's steps came to a stop and she perked a brow as Jesse stood in front of her. First he was irritable and territorial, now he wanted to talk? It was as if he had flipped a coin to show a different face, which was exactly why she didn't forge bonds. People flipped far too easily and it was why she enjoyed the chase of pain. It was far easier to deal with pain and less complicated. The woman's hands came up to cross over her chest and she watched Jesse, almost as if she was waiting for him to say something that would make this whole interaction make sense. "I get it, stay away from Clover, the sign is written all over your body language." She pursed her lips for a moment before she continued, "What I don't get, is why are we still talking when I have a burning hunger that is a constant." Much more constant that this man or so it seems, she mused to herself as her brown hues watched him. Clover had said that she would know Jesse, but did she really want to? Bonds were more of a nuisance than anything. He was ready to kill her, just like her brother had been and Raven was sure that she didn't want to forge a bond with someone who could just simply flip a coin and wear a different mask. "I'm fairly certain that that was the only reason Clover turned me, because I'm feisty."


<Jesse Fforde> That was Jesse. His moods were inconstant. They ebbed and flowed like the hot and cold currents of a river. At least he was no longer suicidal. At least he wasn't taking Raven's behaviour personally. At least it didn't make him want to go slit his wrists or jump off the highest rooftop. This was a good thing. He nodded. "I'd probably have done the same thing. We're still talking because you're a part of my bloodline, and I like to know the people in my bloodline," he said, head canted to the side. "And it's good for you to know me. For example - constant hunger? I know what that's like. It's not something everyone suffers. You learn to control it. To get used to it. I'd prefer you see me as someone who can help you rather than someone to avoid," he said.

[Raven Talius]

<Raven Talius> Raven listened to him for a moment and she looked away feigning disinterest, when really she was masking the thoughts that flowed through her mind. "It's nothing personal. Whether you’re the head of the bloodline or not, I avoid everyone. It's just how I am." Yet why did I respond to Clover in the first place? She asked herself before she glanced back to Jesse. "You really don't want to know me, I'm boring on the outside and I really have nothing to talk about. Words are pointless." Especially promises, she added to herself as her gaze flickered over the man's form for a moment. What was his real motive? Was this some kind of weird conversation that was supposed to lure her into a false sense of security before he killed her? "I don't trust you Jesse, so I don't believe you. So why would I get to know you when I don't believe you?"


<Jesse Fforde> Jesse slipped into silence as he appeared to think about it. Not only did he appear to be thinking, he was thinking - all the while staring at Raven with his one good eye. An eye that was ice-blue in appearance, but burning with the heat of a flame. "Every human you pass looks like a meal on legs. A busy street or a club is like a buffet, and you can't focus because there's far too much choice. You can't decide who to eat first - because you feel like you could drain every single one of them dry and still be hungry. The only time you get any satisfaction is when the blood coats the inside of your throat, but as soon as you swallow, the burn returns - the constant. The constant need. You can't take just a few mouthfuls and be done. You have to drain the whole body dry. And you're pissed off, yeah? You're in such a ******* bad mood because you're so ******* hungry. Am I close?" he asked. It was often the cause for Jesse's anger; his sudden tempestuous outbursts. It was a constant irritability due to hunger.


<Raven Talius> Her nostrils flared and her fingers clenched into fists before she released them. The man was right, but she didn't want to know him. He had, however listed the things that she was going through and she wanted nothing more than to turn around and walk away. "Do you want a cigar now?" She pressed her lips together as her brown hues watched the man with beautiful blue eyes. "I don't want to get to know anyone, ok? I'm fine with being alone, so why do you keep pushing?" Raven asked through gritted teeth. She had kept her distance for so long and now he wanted to talk to her, to be friends? She on the other hand didn't want to have friends, being alone was how she had liked it, because at least then no one could betray her except herself. "Yes, the hunger makes me a little irritable, but it also doesn't help when people push, it 's why I prefer pain over people." She looked away, "You should go find your girlfriend." Now that irritation had set in, she couldn't care less as to what happened in that instant.


<Jesse Fforde> Jesse shook his head. "She'll come back," he said, referring to Clover. He was going to let her take her time; he had a plan now, anyway. He knew what he was going to do, now that he had calmed down. "Would it make you feel better if I said my motives were selfish? I am your sire's sire. I am the head of a bloodline and am solely responsible for its growth and wellbeing. I like to see it grow, to become strong. Getting to know you helps my cause," he said, slowly. But he was watching Raven carefully. He could see in her parts of himself; he wondered if were to talk to Clover about it, whether she would only get angry. "I used to be like you once, though. The amount of people in this city who fucked me over once I let them get close to me..." he shook his head. "I think it annoys Clover," he said, carefully. He could have stopped. He could have let Raven go. But the words came, unbidden. "We have a policy of complete honesty and she's now the only person I let get anywhere near close. But there's still that one small gap. That one bridge I won't leap," he said. Love. What the **** was love anyway? He still couldn't do it.


<Raven Talius> A laugh bubbled to her lips then and she simply shook her head. First he didn't want to talk about him and Clover, now he was talking about their relationship? Was she stuck in some stupid reality TV show for the dead? "I only let one person **** me over and you know what it taught me? That trust is stupid, the word family doesn't mean **** and promises are never going to be kept." Her brown hues narrowed at the man, before she glanced away. "You want bridges to leap over? You do that. I say **** the bridges, I couldn't give a **** about them." A hand lifted to brush through her red and black locks, to push them back over her shoulder. The woman itched to throw a punch at the man that continued to push. She looked back at him, but her head angled to the right, "Your selfish reasons are not my own and mean nothing to me, so it doesn't make me feel any better. Nothing does except for pain. If you want to know more about me, ask Clover. She is the only one that knows all there is to know about me." Raven's eyes narrowed again, "I don't want to have friends, regardless if they are my sire's sire."


<Jesse Fforde> Jesse laughed. He was both amused, and not. He'd have to have a talk to Clover later. As much as he couldn't blame her for siring the feisty ones (he'd done enough of that himself) he'd have to kindly ask her to try not to sire the loners. He could promise to try to do the same. They were a family of misfits. Most of them didn't want help. Didn't need it. Scoffed at it when it was offered. Most of them kept to themselves. A family of vampires who had no trust, no respect, and no loyalty was not conducive to what he was trying to achieve. In that moment, he stopped trying trying with Raven. When next he spoke, his voice was hard. "I'm not your friend. You said it yourself. I am your sire's sire," he said as he stepped to the side. "Go. Sate your hunger. Don't get ******* caught."


<Raven Talius> A scoff rose to her lips then as a smirk found its way to them. The man had flipped the coin once more, from laughing to holding a voice with no amusement. It was all rather amusing to them woman, hell if she had known that that was the way to get Jesse to shut up and stand to the side so she could leave, she would have done it sooner. Pushing people away was all too easy for her and it seemed as if the same things worked with the man that had stood to the side as well. "A handful of minutes is my new personal record." A soft chuckle followed that statement as she made her way to the fadeportal. Her hand reached out to grasp the bag that she had left behind when she had gone out hunting and froze as the book on top fell to the ground. A book that she sketched in whenever she had time in between her need to feed and pain. It had fallen upon a page that was a simple scenery of a snowy street, the one that she had almost died in long ago. She pressed her lips together and bent down to pick up her book, she stuffed it back into her bag, before making her way over to the fadeportal.


<Jesse Fforde> Jesse understood. A handful of minutes? He thought he understood, anyway. Vaguely, a thin layer of recognition. It would take less time for someone to push another person away if the other person were adept, himself, at pushing. Jesse had given up on people, though within the family he wasn't quite as volatile as Raven was. There were those he did genuinely care about, but there were also those he now couldn't give two flying fucks about. A handful of minutes might have been Raven's new record at pushing someone away, but it was also a record for Jesse. A record for how quick it was to give up on someone. Even as the sketch book fell open, even if he was suddenly aware of an interest the two of them shared, he made no move to stop her. He'd opened a door for Raven that she'd slammed in his face. She would be just another body in this family. If she fucked up, she would hear from him. If not, he wouldn't bother. At least he could tell Clover, now, that there was absolutely nothing that she had to worry about.


<Raven Talius> Raven lifted a hand over her shoulder as if she was waving goodbye and stepped through the fadeportal. This conversation was done.