Sugar, Daddy [Rhett]

[Jesse Fforde]

RHETT KEYES
Rhett Keyes was busy moving garbage to one section of the main room, waiting for Jesse to arrive. There were tables and chairs stacked to the left of the wall, a bin with garbage heaping full to the right and some scraps of metal from who knew what lying across the ground.

JESSE FFORDE
It was a nice night for a ride, and Jesse didn't get out much on his bike. He's used this as an opportunity to do so. He'd never been into the Clocktower, so as he parked out front and removed the helmet he gazed up at the building with mild curiosity. Within five minutes he was inside, the helmet dangling from his arm. "Please tell me you're going to change the name..." he said as he meandered into the space.

RHETT KEYES
Rhett Keyes looked at the sound of the voice and chuckled a little. "Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Rhett had a big grin on his face, indicating he was screwing around. He nodded. "Yeah. Have some people coming next week to take the sign down. But the size and location was great, so...just have to deal with it for a handful of days." He said as he tossed some broken pieces of wood, from a chair or table more than likely to the side of the wall closest to him.


JESSE FFORDE
Jesse found a clear space to put his helmet down, and to peel the leather jacket from his shoulders. He dropped it down next to the helmet, before shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "It's like you haven't changed a bit," Jesse said, glancing around the space -- imagining what Rhett might do with it. Jesse was being nostalgic, and he couldn't help but laugh at the turn of his thoughts. "I wonder if I'd be a vampire today if it weren't for you. It's almost poetic. You steered me in the right direction and I became a tattoo artist -- I was sired because Phoenix was a shadow whose blood gave her away when in the tattoo chair..."


RHETT KEYES
"Well, I am stuck like this for...forever." He grinned as his hands waved over his frame. "Because of you." He turned it back on Jesse, giving a small shrug of his shoulders. "Every interaction, every reaction, every thing we touch or partake in, leads us to where we're supposed to be. Or something like that. I wouldn't be here, looking the same, if it weren't for you either. If we hadn't crossed paths all those years ago." He stopped what he was doing to wipe the dust on his pants, before he grabbed a tattered and torn chair and sat on it, the back facing in Jesse's direction. "Don't think I've seen the helmet before."


JESSE FFORDE
"Yes, that's what I mean though," Jesse said, turning his lazy curious gaze back to Rhett. "If I'd never met you, if I'd never been turned because of who was in my chair, we might still be human. Or I'd be dead from a shooting gone wrong, or from an overdose, or because I threw myself off a cliff. If I'd never met you and became a vampire regardless, I might have left you to die," he said. All these maybes and what ifs. It was the space that made him feel so strange, he concluded. He cleared his throat and glanced down at the helmet, the one with the gleaming silver skull painted onto the back. "I've had it a while..."


RHETT KEYES
Rhett Keyes shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "You might have. Second guessing yourself?" It was meant as a slight joke, and the look on his face displayed that sentiment as Rhett looked around and then back at Jesse. "Sorry, I left when I did. How I did. I just wasn't feeling things at the moment and time. Needed some time and space." He said it because it should be said in person. "City is getting crazy now, huh?" He had seen things on various sources. The internet, heard things on the radio, the television and even in the papers.


JESSE FFORDE
Jesse didn't even hesitate when he shook his head. "Nah man. People leave. This life isn't for everyone, and it's not as if you were shot or run over. If you died it was my doing. You were so easy about it in the beginning, I figured there had to be some kind of aftershock," he said with a shrug. He'd calmed, in regards to 'family' and their lack of staying power. He wasn't even going to try to force the tome back on Rhett -- not unless he asked for it. "I do find it kind of funny that the city is going crazy and you want to help kids who have no place else to go, whereas I just want to burn it down. It's no wonder you had to get away..."


RHETT KEYES
Rhett Keyes shrugged his shoulders. "Even if you burn it down, things will still remain. People will still know there are vampires. Poverty will exist still, if not more so. Things don't just disappear because we want them to, or try to destroy them." Rhett said casually as he glanced down at the helmet again. "Besides," He spread out his arms..."Even though I'm off the streets and cleaned my act up years ago, I still find I can relate better with those on the streets. They're the eyes and ears of the city. Always been that way. Always will be that way. Keeps me connected and remembering where I came from. It's important. Sort of what led us here in the end." He looked up pointedly at Jesse.


JESSE FFORDE
Jesse smiled and shook his head. "I don't want to burn it down because I think it'll help anything," he said. In fact, it would probably make things worse for vampire-kind. But nor could he see himself playing nice and trying to get along with humans who would seek to segregate them. In Jesse's eyes, they had a reason to fear vampires. So they ******* should. "The difference between us, I think, is that you have a kind of optimism. You're grounded, and inherently good. I think I'm the other side of the coin," he said.


RHETT KEYES
Rhett Keyes nodded his head in understanding. Did Jesse make bad decisions? Maybe. Probably. DId that make him bad or evil? Rhett didn't think so. In the end though, Jesse knew Jesse best and so all Rhett could do was nod. "Maybe. But one can't exist without the other." He said with a shrug. Sure, Rhett had made bad choices here and there too...typically for what he thought was a good reason, or would turn out good, but things didn't always work out the way he or anyone intended. "Besides, the world needs both types of people and everyone in between to make it work. If we were all inherently good, life would be easy and we would be unhappy in the end. If we were all bad or evil, life would be miserable and probably cease to exist because we destroy each other." Rhett chuckled as his eyes moved to his sire. "In the end it's about doing what you think is right for you. Generally speaking." He waved a hand in the air. He wasn't sure what they were talking about exactly, just talking about everything and potentially anything. "What have I missed while I was gone?" He asked, curious about some people in Fforde, those he held a conversation or two with on the net or in person, primarily


JESSE FFORDE
It was all so very philosophical, though that wasn't something Jesse minded. Rhett had a point, or there was something Jesse gleaned from the conversation. "The world could be anarchy and I think there'd still be good. People aren't ever truly bad or evil -- they'll always have goodness toward those they care about," he said. It reminded him of the conversation he'd had with Cosette. In society's eyes, Jesse was not a good guy. Not in the slightest. But Cosette argued that she thought that he was. It depended on who it was and how he treated them. He cleared his throat and shrugged. "Raven and Kaelyn got themselves killed. Again. But they're back, they're fine," he said. "Other than that, a whole lot of nothing much. I tried to get in contact with everyone but only got a handful of responses."


RHETT KEYES
Rhett Keyes nodded his head. Kaelyn was a more familiar name than Raven, but that was partly his fault and was what it was. "Well, thanks for reaching out. I was planning on sort of laying low, and still am. No need to think I'm going to do something fanatical." Rhett chuckled, finding the idea probably impossible really. Not when he was responsible for Dhara and his life at the same time. "What will you do? And Fforde?" He turned his neck to the side, his left and let it 'pop' before straightening his posture out in the chair, taking a lazy lean against the back of it


JESSE FFORDE
Jesse shrugged his shoulders again and shook his head. "Fforde isn't really a thing," he said. "I'm not anyone's leader, and what i want to do would contradict anything most of those spawned from me would want to do. I've just reminded everyone that they have a place to go if they need refuge, if they need help I'm here, but otherwise it's really up to them," he said. "I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and if **** hits the fan, I'll deal with it when it happens."


RHETT KEYES
Rhett thinks quietly on it for a few minutes and then nods his head. "I think that's a smart call on your end and everyone else's. People might be vampires now, but in the end, they are who they always have been, just with something extra on their plate now. Trying to change people or altar their stance and perceptions on things typically doesn't bode well for anyone." Rhett sounded a little...pleased, was it? Impressed, potentially.

[Rhett Keyes]

JESSE FFORDE
Jesse crossed his arms loosely over his chest as he leaned idly against a piece of furniture. "I'm not sure I ever tried to change people's stance on things..." he said. They were who they were and Jesse was never going to be able to force the good-hearted to love blood and violence. He'd probably tried to convince them that vampirisim was a gift, but with his siring practices, he knew it was his own fault for the lack of loyalty. He'd let it go -- there wasn't even a hint of bitterness to his tone. "I am interested in hearing people's opinions, though," he said. "Curious. I even had a chat to my sire."


RHETT KEYES
Rhett Keyes looked down at the ground as he thought about his opinion on things. "I don't have any opinions, and even if I did, they wouldn't mesh up with yours, or the majority, I'm sure. So, I'm stuck with laying low until things get figured out. If things get too bad, to the point of no return for some screwed up reason, I would probably leave again for a while. Hoping Dhara comes with." In the end Dhara was her own woman and Rhett knew she would do what she wanted to do. If she thought it was safer here and could convince him to stay, he might, or if he convinced her to go after some discussions, she might go too. "Everything seems uncertain. Where things could go one way or the other with just a small push. The right, or wrong small push. I think trying to portray a positive image is essential, but I won't be putting my face out in public to be enemy number one." He shook his head, chuckling. "No chance in hell."


JESSE FFORDE
"If it's pushed the wrong way and it looks like we could be decimated, I'll make a stand. I'll do something about it," Jesse pondered. He had ideas. Grand schemes that at this point, would probably just get him killed. But if push came to shove and all vampiric life was on the line? He could probably get some backing. For now, most seemed to just want to lay low or play nice, roll over with their bellies exposed to try and show vampires mean humankind no harm. It was laughable, really, and would probably end in a system far worse than Tytonidae ever had in place. Jesse'd prefer chaos -- but he didn't voice that. Not just yet. "It's not just people in this city that know, though. People outside know, too. If you're going to leave, go somewhere secluded, in the jungle somewhere. If you go to some other city centre and die, you'll die for good. At least here, there's the chance to come back," he said. Unless someone figured out how to close the rendering to the Shadow Realm -- then they'd all be fucked.


RHETT KEYES
If Rhett had to take a stand, he would. But he suspected he wouldnt have to. As Jesse said, he was overall, good. Deep down. Or tried to be. Or at least got no joy in being a dick to anyone. "Are you afraid to die? Say you see five hundred years as a vampire. Is that not a long enough life span?" Rhett chuckled and shook his head. "As someone once said...all good things must come to an end. We might need to realize that at some point, maybe not now...the end will come for us one night."


JESSE FFORDE
"Way to stay positive, man," Jesse laughed. Though it was kind of just a positive spin on death. "At this rate we might not reach five hundred years. At this point, I've not even lived thirty years. So no, I don't particularly want to die for good just yet," he said. "If it's not something that you're afraid of, then you'll do what you want to do," he said.


RHETT KEYES
In truth, Rhett wasn't afraid to die. He had managed to escape death a time or two in his younger years, so anything past that was years he often thought he was never meant to have. "We might be able to. Just not in the way we would like to. We might see five hundred years in that place, but it would still be five hundred years seen." Rhett grinned, wondering what life might be like in that place for a long duration of time. "I don't have a solid stance or opinion on what's going on, Jesse. If that disappoints you, Im sorry, but it is what it is. I'm more focused on other things, like what you see right here, before your eyes. This place will change someone's life and maybe that's where it begins." He grinned a little.


JESSE FFORDE
"I'm not disappointed, Rhett," he said. "I might come across as cold and uncaring most of the time, but I have my priorities. If you detected anything in my tone it wasn't disappointment, it was care," he said. Rhett could not care about death, but Jesse was free to care about whether Rhett died or not. He was free to fear the consequences -- there were people he still cared about, which was what kept him grounded. Otherwise, he probably would go out and set the city on fire. "What you're doing here is commendable, and the state of the city is probably going to get worse before it gets any better. They'll probably need somewhere to come."


RHETT KEYES
Rhett had those suspicions too. That things for those who spent most their times on the street would find things much more difficult or worse. It's what inspired him to make this place. Adults could probably fend off a vampire that wasn't stark raving mad, foaming at the mouth for blood, but the teens? Probably not so much. "I don't know what you think or how you feel." Rhett said truthfully. "It would be nice to have support, but if I don't have it, it won't make me change my mind on what I'm doing." He said just as honestly as the words before these.


JESSE FFORDE
Jesse arched a brow. "What kind of support are you talking about?" he asked. He tried to imagine himself in here, smiling and laughing and sitting down to be a mentor for these kids. And he just couldn't imagine it. "I can lend you monetary support, and I can probably help out in the background. But I wouldn't do any good in here. Haven't you noticed the way humans respond to me?" he asked. He'd scare them all off before they even had a chance to settle.


RHETT KEYES
Rhett Keyes shook his head. "Just like this. I don't need money or anything like that. Just an understanding that this is what I choose to do, be right or wrong." He shrugged his shoulders a little bit. "Our path might not be the same in the end, will that bother you, Jesse? If our approach and tactics are different?"


JESSE FFORDE
Jesse slowly shook his head. "Has it ever bothered me in the past?" he asked, leaning forward a little, genuinely curious. Had he? He wouldn't be surprised, really, but for so long he hadn't really been himself. His reactions had been overblown, his temper unwieldy. He shook his head. "No, it's not going to bother me. Will it bother you?"


RHETT KEYES
Rhett Keyes shook his head. "We've not always seen eye to eye in the past. I'm sure that won't change just because this is where we're both at. You're you, and I'm me." He said with a look around to the room again, before he stood. "Maybe we could pick this up another time? I have the decorator coming in tomorrow and I sort of want everything cleared out of here so they get a general idea of what I'm seeing and hoping they can pull off." He cast a sideways glance to Jesse as Rhett bent down to pick up some broken shards of light bulb remnants.


JESSE FFORDE
"No, we haven't. And if I ever gave you the impression that it bothered, me, it probably wasn't intended," Jesse said. Rhett had suggested picking up the conversation another time, but Jesse wondered if it was an avoidance tactic. Had they somehow wandered into territory that Rhett wasn't comfortable talking about? Were there issues he didn't want to broach? Jesse shrugged it off. "I can help. Clear it out, if you want," he said, pushing himself out of his leaned position. He wasn't really giving Rhett a choice -- he was already heading toward a pile of a rubbish that needed shifting.


RHETT KEYES
Rhett nodded his head. Jesse was going through some things, and maybe he still was. Rhett didn't know, because they had lost touch due to Rhett skipping off on all things Jesse and Fforde while he figured his own stuff out. Like being a vampire. What that meant, if anything. What he could and couldn't do now. What he should and shouldn't do now. "Sure." Rhett said as he watched Jesse started to work on moving things around, even without Rhett giving him the okay to. "I don't think things bothered you. Not about me specifically, anyways." Rhett admitted, figuring anyone and everyone and anything and everything bothered Jesse at the point before Rhett took his leave. "Maybe this can be a thing. Not this specifically. But every now and again. Things sort of got crazy for a while. For everyone. But I’m willing to move past it if you are." What that meant specifically wasn't yet known or defined by Rhett, but it meant he wasn't bothered by whatever happened, or what Rhett thought happened, personally.


JESSE FFORDE
Jesse nodded, even as he started to follow Rhett's lead, tidying up the space so that it could be put to better use. "I've already moved past it," Jesse said. "We'll hang out like the old days. No pressure, yeah?" he said. He wasn't sure about how much he could trust someone who just left without a word, but how often had all of them left without a word? They had things to deal with, things to come to terms with. Jesse was realising that, now – they left, but they often came back, too. And he had to stop biting their heads off. Maybe they’d be more inclined to stay. He even grinned at Rhett – the two of them together, they’d make this place spotless in no time.