Path of the Vampire forum

Doc was in the sunken Cathedral killing werewolves, and other manner of things that got in his way, when he saw the Gypsy Zodiac. She was dispatching something akin to sorceror. She made mincemeat of it with no effort. It had been a long time since they had spoken. And now that he thought on it, it had been years. He frowned, how could it have been so long? How had he let so much time go by without seeing her?

Staying where he was, He sent a telepathic message her way, “You are as poetic in your moves as ever, Zodiac.”

If she turned his way, she would see him leaning against the wall, arms crossed, firearm hanging loosely from his fingers as he was content to do nothing more than watch her.

Zodiac had a flair for color, and skirts that seems to flow round her like they had a life of their own. She had helped he and his spawn in the past.. And then..

Then what? He stopped calling her. Why? He tried to wrap his mind around what had happened to make him not try at least to keep touch with her. But try as he might he could not come with any acceptable reason why the break had happened. Except.. All the reasons came back to him being a ******* jerk.

****! Life was so much easier when he didn’t ******* care!

Doc had told Amalea, just the other night, ‘ignorance is bless Kid.. once you know you can't go back‘ and **** him, if he wasn’t right. When he told her, you may not want to know.. How prophetic those words came to be. He now saw more than he ever did, in regard to others and how others viewed him. And he did not like what he saw.

For the last few nights, Doc had retreated to sanctity of his own company. He probably owed Amalea, Lizzie, Mortll,Ariadne.. And a host of others an explanation. But what could he say? “I’m an asshole.” No. They already knew that. Truth was, he did not want to see the look of disappointment and scrutiny in their eyes, so he retreated.

Doc stared at Zodiac, if there was one person that could give him clarity it was she. But did he deserve to impose himself on her?

She spun like a ballerina as she delivered the finishing blow. Levitation had its advantages. It allowed her to sneak up on her various prey like a ghost, plus move far quicker and smoother during the fight. She watched the lich drop to the floor and began to poke about its remains.

A smirk crossed her lips as she found another bone. Ever since someone told her what the official name for them were, her thoughts went into a hyper overdrive of bad X-rated jokes.

”It’s a sick world, but I’m a happy girl,” she laughed to herself as she dropped the ‘enchanted bone’ into her backpack. Oh the jokes she had to tell others later.

An eyebrow raised as she heard a voice in her mind. The tip of her toe barely touched the floor and caused her to turn towards the source, only to brush the floor again when she wished to stop.

What was he doing here? No, that wasn’t right. She had seen many faces (actually or imagined) during this little free for all the town’s vampire population seemed to be swept up in, so to think the Doctor would not be out and about was stupid.

Why was he speaking to her? Ah, now that was a better question. There was a time she enjoyed many conversations with the man. Science and sorcery discussing things from 2 different viewpoints. Unlike other disciples of science she spoke with in the past, he seemed to be open to the possibilities of what she spoke of. He was a vampire just like her. To say such things were ‘not possible’ was crazy. He himself was the un-dead proof such things could happen. She had to agree with him, some-if not all of it-was a type of science not yet understood.

Had he been…interested? In her? It was a possibility. The expensive plants he had sent her for no reason were thriving in her garden. A rare gift she would not expect from just a pal. Regardless, no matter what was, the entire situation and stopped like turning a light switch from on to off.

Had she done something? No, she did not think this was the case either. Part of her was receptive to his attentions, but she held back encouraging him till he did something to assure her she wasn’t having a flight of fancy, but then again-everything stopped.

Curious.

She blinked. A new expression she picked up recently. Curious.

Her foot moved, causing her to drift in his direction. She stopped short being next to him and took hold of the corners of her skirt. She curtseyed and stood straight again and smiled thinly. As she studied his expression, she felt something was off somehow. Subtle, almost invisible, but something. Perhaps this was why he spoke after so long?

Oh maybe it was just the for **** lights down in this place playing tricks with her eyes.

”Blessings of the evening to you, Doctor Nilson. And to what do I owe the pleasure of you speaking to me again after so long?”

Doc grinned at the curtsey Zodiac gave him, and he pushed off the wall to give her a formal bow in return. “To be honest, Zodiac, it has been brought to my attention, that I am very much a, ‘out of sight, out of mind’ person. You left Eyrie..we were hunting every night.. And time passed.”

Frowning he shook his head, as though he were still trying to figure out how it happened. “I apologize.” He had been about to tell her, that seeing her had been fortuitous. That he was mired hip deep in confusion and, **** him, feelings. It made him symbolically ill to admit he was having .. feelings. And if there was one person he could tell that to, it would be Zodiac. But then, what did that say about him?

He could imagine how it would look to her, ‘Oh hi Zodiac.. Haven't seen or bothered to ******* talk to you in years.. But now I need to all my shitty issues on you..’

******* Feelings! Why could he just not go back to not ******* caring? What had happened to bring this change anyway?

Yes he was used to angry feelings. Vengeful feelings, who didn’t appreciate those? Frustration feelings, sure, anyone who lived in Harper Rock who needed a parking place, knew frustration. But this feeling of actually -caring- what others thought.. That was new. And it was brutal.

Mortll thought he was going nuts. That he was having a mental breakdown or something. Lizzie gave him speculative looks when she thought he wasn’t noticing. Ari ignored him.. Except to stare daggers at him. At least .. that is how it felt.

****! A ******* look was making him feel?! What the **** was that all about?

So Doc choked back the words that had been about to spill out, and gave her a smile, that hid the real issues and .. feelings clogging his head and said, “I am merely surprised to see you out and about.” That was the truth. Changing the subject, he casually asked, “Do you know about the townhall meetings? There is another one coming up on the 22nd, in the basement of the Voodoo, we could use your input.”

Out of sight– out of mind.

The corners of her mouth frowned for a moment as the words sank into her thoughts. Well, at least she hadn’t embarrassed herself before. That was something at least. It did make sense to her. What would such a person of stature and his type of education want with someone like herself? A good thing she had not made any invitations of a personal nature to him. Out of sight, out of mind. It was far better than ‘I have an itch– where is the gypsy whore?’ she supposed.

Would she have actually slept with him? The fact that a male had managed to make her even consider such a thing spoke volumes. She imagined that door within her had cracked open by the way he had originally approached her. In the end it did not matter. Cinnamon had slipped her way into the remains of her heart so the idea of such a relationship evaporated, but she still wondered when the notion occurred or news that mentioned the Doctor crossed her path.

But then again…

Out of sight-out of mind.

She held back the urge to simply kick this self important male squarely in his nuts several times. How quickly would she be ‘out of mind’ after that? She was tempted deeply, but her damned eyes were seeing other things more clearly now. It wasn’t the lights. Despite the Doctor’s normally calm / who gives a **** appearance, she noticed things. Tiny things usually imperceptible to most unless they were truly close to one. She had been taught as a child how to zero in on such things on her clients. Body language, facial expressions, the eyes. Something was off with him. That much was certain.

She debated inside. If he was having problems, it was his problem. Perhaps a dose of suffering might fix him inside. Yes, that was tempting, but another part of her began to voice itself. A memory of her childhood.

***

“What I am teaching you to do is not a scam,” the older woman spoke as she deftly shuffled the cards. “You can do the cards with ease, but your being able to perceive and divine is a gift to be used to help others no matter what your personal feelings about them are. Payment is but a bonus, not the main goal of the matter. Your eyes are sharp and you are not stupid despite what some say about you. Being able to make sounds with your mouth is not a sign of brains. You have seen how many idiots chatter away all the time and not make an inch of sense in the process.”

The young girl’s eyes were glued to her grandmother’s face as she continued to speak.

“The clearer you can see a person, the more you can help. Notice the details and learn what they mean. They can help guide your questions to help draw out what is truly bothering them. Thus, the meanings of the cards will be more clear to you and help you help them. This makes sense, does it not?”

The mute girl smiled and made the hand gesture that meant ‘Yes, Nanna’

***

”Yes, Nanna,” she sighed within. Her eyes swept over the Doctor again in reflex. The clues did not match the exterior he tried to present for her eyes to see at all. She drifted a step closer and fixed his eyes with hers. Crystal blue eyes flared for a moment as she looked deeply into his.

”You seem…..off somehow, Doctor. Don’t bother to lie and say that’s nonsense.” she relaxed and allowed her natural levitation to lift her up till she was more eye level with him. ”What’s crawling around in that head of yours that you can’t nail down and toss into a box as you normally do?”

A box? Yes, that would fit his logic perfectly.

Out of sight – out of mind.

When Zodiac stepped forward to peer into his eyes, he almost retreated. He knew she, of all people would see what he hoped he was successfully hiding. Be it stubbornness or pride, he refused to retreat. He would tackle this head on, like he did with most things.

It did not take Zo long to make her assessment and find him wanting. Doc gave Zodiac a tired smirk, as she levitated to be able to look him eye-to-eye. Trust Zodiac to see his failings and be blunt about it. He had been trying to hide it. He thought successfully, but who was he kidding, only himself. Others had noticed, if he was honest with himself. They were just too polite to point it out.

Zodiac had pegged him quite easily. He did compartmentalize, though he told her as much when he said out of sight, out of mind. What he did not expect was the flicker of hurt that crossed her features, and how he felt guilty at causing the hurt.

****! A woman has brief millisecond of hurt, and now he felt ******* guilty about it, what the **** was wrong with him?!

Was he taking advantage of Zo’s asking him what was wrong, by telling her? Yes. Was he going to do it anyway? Yes.. but this time the answer didn’t come so easily. There were qualms of doubt that wanted to bubble up and tell him, it was wrong, it was imposing, it using her kindness selfishly.

But even as the doubts of emotion were there, he pushed through them, “Doubts.. questions.. I have never been so ******* indecisive. I have been getting emotional .. over nothing.”

The mere action of saying those words aloud, cause him to be assailed with new doubts and emotions. He rubbed the back of his neck. It was a gesture of agitation. “I have always been a person of action. Do this.. Then this, then this. IF this happens, do this.” he paused, “Never have I had a hint of doubt. I think through things, and set my course of action. But now I find I am awash with ‘But what if this happens?’ and I have to plan, and my mind goes blank, I fail to formulate a plan. Then the guilt.. “ He sighed in frustration, “Overwhelming sense of guilt sets in..”

Doc stared at her, “It’s tearing me apart..”

Was he….. Babbling?

In her deepest thoughts, the words ‘Who are you and what have you done with the Doctor?’ floated through. When last she spoke to him, she was almost tempted to nickname him ‘The Iceman’. Total control was his mantra she supposed. She listened and observed his actions for a moment until he grew silent.

Before he could speak again, the forefinger of her right hand pressed gently against his lips while the forefinger of her left hand did the same to her own lips.

”Sssshhhhhhh,” her thoughts were soft now in his mind. ”Say nothing else. I think I see what the issue is here.”

She pulled her finger away as she drifted back a couple of inches. Quickly she debated how to say her ‘diagnose’ on the subject. Absently she pulled a cigarette from her purse and lit it. As she exhaled a faint aroma of cherry, raspberry and clove could be smelled in the air.

”You and I have discussed the subject of what we have become several times in the past,” she began. ”And this is not a conversation if being a vampire is the results of a type of biological process unknown till now or supernatural forces at play. However. One thing we have agreed upon in the past is becoming one of the night feeders changes us.”

“We are enhanced. Amplified. The obvious ones are physical. Stronger, faster, sight, smell, hearing increased, and the things we were strong in before get stronger and what was weak within us gets improved as well, but what about the emotional aspects of ourselves? I think they too get a boost or upgrade. Egos expand. Attitudes grow. And it is a process. It doesn’t all happen in one night. We keep getting stronger, faster, and the rest so who is to say are emotions do not rise with us?”

The raven haired girl drifted closer again and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. She was in her element now, but was keeping her feelers in his direction. ”My best guess is, the man I met the first time I saw you was how you always were in life. Focused, driven, decisive, plans and methods and contingency plans all in place. You were a physician and those skills were prefect for what you did. You had taught yourself how to lock down the nonsense and emotions that could cloud your logic and methods. But now?”

She smiled for him and did a little spin in the air. So far he had not tried to hit her yet, so she continued. “Very few vampires I know have zero emotions. In fact the majority have emotions off the charts now. Me the worst some days. I was a perfectly divided person. The one you saw sitting on the other side of the table in my parlor and the one who had been judged, scorned and treated like trash all her life. When I would get mad may the gods help the target of my anger. My grandmother would say ‘Her Szgany blood is running hot again.’ When I’d go on a rampage. When I was turned, my emotions– my ego– my id. Whatever you want to call it, began to grow along with the physical changes. In someone like you, such things would still be contained for a time, but eventually they would begin to break out of the mental box you kept them in.”

“And in someone like me? Someone I cared deeply for. Still do. Back when I first joined the night shift. She was an allurist and sensitive to emotions from others. Told me I was a firestorm when my blood was up. Sometimes it made it hard for her to be around me. I had to learn how to calm down all over again and only let such a thing go wild in me when there was a real reason for it.”

Zodiac turned and leaned against the wall while drifting down to a sitting position– despite the fact she was hovering an inch above the floor. She patted the floor at his feet and made the gesture that he should join her. Inwardly she was angry. As pissed as she was at him, the Doc managed to find a way to make her feel sorry for him. She swore to herself in Romany before opening her thoughts to him again.

”My point is, you have changed and since this is probably something you chose by force of will not to deal with before, it is causing you mental chaos. You have a couple choices. Either learn how to lock yourself down again which probably won’t be so easy, or you gonna have to learn how to endure feelings and how to make them work for you. Again, that won’t be easy either. Either way, the longer you a vampire, the more this may be a problem for you to deal with.” She took a final drag from her cigarette and took aim before flicking the butt away. It bounced off the head of a fallen lich and she grinned a bit.

”So, does any of this help or make sense, or do you think I am just blowing smoke up your ***?” her thoughts smiled as she exhaled.

Listening to Zo’s thoughts, and her reasonings, everything sounded and seemed so easy to understand. It made sense. Had he not written a thesis on this very subject two years ago? Had he not surmised that even those who seemed well adjusted after their turning, could still be one step away from losing it? And here he was was, testament to his self-same theory.

It was as Zodiac said, ‘egos expand. Attitudes grow. And it is a process. It doesn’t all happen in one night. We keep getting stronger, faster, and the rest so who is to say are emotions do not rise with us?’ That he nodded in agreement. How he had held himself above all that. He was fine. It was others that had those issue, not he. And yet, now here he was.. The one with the over-inflated ego, thinking himself immune. But he wasn’t immune. He was just as susceptible as any, if not more so. And how easily he crumbled. Crumbled and could not even diagnosis himself.

As Zo moved the conversation on, speaking of her own struggles with emotion, Doc wanted to interject. He wasn’t completely without emotion. He got angry, frustrated, those were the emotions he had to learned to handle when he was a child. He did not express emotions like love, he did not believe in ‘love’. Admiration, yes. But love? No. Love was a man-made construct to sell crap on holidays; or to prove how much you ‘love’ someone by buying them off. It was a racket.

Fear was an emotion. One that he logically talked himself out of. It was simple. Fear beget fear. Choosing to ignore it.. Took the power out of it. But feelings of doubt and insecurities… these were new to him. He did not know how to fight those. His brow furrowed in silent question, as Zo settled in a seated position, and patted the area next to her. He holstered his weapon and sat beside her, slumping back against the wall, his arms resting on his knees.

“Locking down wasn't easy the first time..” He replied dryly. He wouldn't tell her how many hookers died during that period of adjustment; no telling how many will this time. “Yes. It does make sense.” he wouldn't bore her with the details of his thesis on this very subject, and how it stagnated due to not being able to find a baseline. For theories to be proven, one must have indisputable facts. To gain facts you needed a baseline. There was no true baseline for human feelings, so how could there be one for vampires? And then add into that there were different ‘paths’ of vampires. Would each need it’s own baseline? Yes. How do find that baseline? It is much like sanity and insanity. Where is that line? Is there a line? He was of the opinion that what could be insane for one person, could sane for another, because there is no way to perfectly replicate events. No two people share the same upbringing. The same exact values. Therefore there can be no baseline for insanity. The individual’s entire history has to be judged.

Doc wasn’t aware of it, but his thoughts had cleared to a degree. They were more focused than before. Less emphasis was being put on what he felt and did not know; more put on what he did know. He turned his head and looked at her as she flicked her cigarette, “There had to be a catalyst. It just didn’t decide, ‘It’s Wednesday, time to **** Doc up.. ‘ How do I find the catalyst that started all this?”

Locking down.

She knew that one all too well. Sometimes it took every ounce of willpower she had not to let her past consume her. She didn’t always win those fights and how strange how the mind can make even the most powerful soul helpless. Recently, hadn’t Jennifer found her hiding in a closet in tears because a client’s off handed comments caught her off guard and brought out the contents of her own, personal ‘Pandora’s Box’ she tried to keep locked tight within. It was not an example she would share with anyone in a conversation like this. Even though, despite her simmering anger at the Doctor, she felt he would not share that tid bit of info with anyone.

In her personal view? All of them were emotional disasters waiting to happen. Locking down things only helps for so long. Sooner or later even the strongest lock will shatter with enough pressure forcing one to find even a better lock as quickly as possible. For humans such locks could be alcohol, drugs, sex, and a ton of other vices acting as safety valves within.

But for a vampire? What pressure valves did they have besides chaos and carnage?

Some managed. They found ways to pour themselves into things that occupied their minds. Alexandrea came to mind. She was always doing something. Pouring herself into her creations and always a smile on her face when the gypsy saw her, but what happened when she was alone with no distractions? Zodiac could not say. She never tried to press so deeply with her friend, but she could imagine. A few others came to mind as well. All powerful lords and ladies of death and damnation to be feared.

But as her grandfather told her once as a child, all of that was nothing. Meant nothing in the halls of the god of sleep. ”What frightens us as children comes back to haunt us as adults in our sleep. Dreams can be cruel and despite what we are in our waking hours? In the dreams we are that small, frightened child once again facing what brought out such terror in us and when we awake panting and screaming, it is not in fear. It is that inner child screaming in relief that it had survived yet again.”

Did the Doctor dream? Too personal a question to ask now, but it all meshed together.

She blinked at his question. Leave it to him to try and make such an issue trivial. She leaned her head back against the wall and considered for a few moments while keeping a smart assed reply in check. The fact that he had opened up this much was a miracle and that opening could slam back shut if she approached this wrong.

”I doubt it’s that simple. Again, I think it’s a build up that has happened over time. You were married, yes? A less than smooth sail along if I recall right. I will assume you had to care for her or have some type of admiration for her to be bonded to her. But whatever the two of you were engaged in, there were conflicts and disagreements. I know no details of this outside of observing the pair of you together, so don’t think I have pried into your private life, please.”

“Anyrate, there had to be some emotions in play there. Good or bad. One thing you may not have considered is this. Logic is fact, but emotions fuel facts. Possibly a bad example, but try this. Fact: Climate change is a bad thing, a statement that can be added to a list of truths and be done with it, but, if you feel this is an issue that should not be ignored, your emotions push you into action. Passion is a powerful motivator so emotions equal action pro or con on facts. Every see people or vamps going crazy over a totally dumb assed idea? Same cause and effect. It is their logic and they believe in it so emotions carry them out into the world and put that ******** in your face.”

She sighed as she pulled out another cigarette. They helped her to focus. ”Rumor has it you and your sire didn’t always see eye to eye on things, and let’s add to that the pressures of having childers, and dealing with a world filled with vampires ranking from Einstein to Pee Wee Herman in logic of thought. A hellava cesspool for a man who works in logic to wade through night after night. You have lovers? Or not. More banging on the emotional trap door in play. Dissatisfaction with the government and how the world knows we exist now? Oh, it’s bulging at the seams now. And what is going on in your life right now?”

She lifted her arms up above her head in a swift motion. ”KA-BOOM! The box can hold no more.” Zodiac began to move her hands as if she was climbing upwards. ”WE’RE HERE! Time to deal with us finally! They say a watched pot never boils? There is another way to view that. A watched pot never boils over. You are to the point you can't ignore this anymore is all.”

She looked at her client (oh yes, it was beyond idle chit chat now. She could not hold anger against the Doctor when he was in such a state of mind.) and patted his shoulder gently. ”No, it was not because they were bored and it was a Wednesday. Something inside of you simply said ‘enough is enough’. You know how to channel and focus some emotions. Yes, you do. As I said, passion is a powerful motivator emotion. You had to have a passion for being a physician. Is the only way you could have worked so hard and excelled at such a craft. Still writing papers and doing research? If so, why? Because it is what you are and you still feel something when you do these things. Logic is you are a doctor. Passion is why you still do it. You have learned to tame and make a few emotions work for you before and still. Now it’s time to learn how to tame the other ones and make them work in your favor.” she smiled softly at him. ”I’ll send you the bill for this session later.”

She liked that idea. Maybe some bills due would help him keep her 'in mind' a bit better.

The look Zodiac gave him, at his question, was a cross between amusement and incredulity. What had he asked that would merit that sort of reaction? It was a legitimate question. There must be a catalyst. Things did not implode or explode without a catalyst. Sometimes a catalyst was clearly marked, danger; but often than not, it wasn't. Such as never throw water on a grease fire, the resulting explosion can be deadly. But what is your first instinct.. Fire! Throw water! But water was a catalyst, to a bigger explosion. So it was a valid question! There was nothing amusing about what he asked; nor incredulous. Yet there she was giving him an amused almost resigned look, that his mother used to give him when he was a child. That look when he should have understood something, but struggled with it; and his mother inevitably telling him it didn’t matter to ‘run along and not worry about it anymore.’

It was infuriating as a child. Did his mother think him too simple minded to understand? Obviously. But though she bundled him off without answers, He would get his answers. Typically they turned out to something mundane and overly ordinary that a fuss shouldn't have been made in the first place. One such occasion was when his mother and another woman showed up to an event wearing the same outfit. His father had been livid. The fight between them lasted for hours. Once his father had stormed out, He has gone to ask him mother, why the fuss. It was obvious that there was no way to know what every other person at the event intended to wear, it was more amusing to him, than the major issue his father and mother were making over it. She had once more bundling him off telling him it wasn't important. Not important? A raging argument that could be heard down the block was not important.. Lies. So he did what every intelligent child did, he took the matter to the housekeeper. If anyone would tell him the truth it was Myrtle. And she did tell him. The issue? The other woman looked better in the dress, than his mother, and his father was embarrassed. Such a stupid reason. And to be shooed away as unable to comprehend the intricacies of women's fashion, when it should have never been an issue to begin with.

And now.. At this highly frustrating and irritating time in his life, Zodiac was giving him that self same look. The feelings of exasperation started rolling up, when she started speaking. She spoke of how he compartmentalized things, and that .. there was only so much room.. Then boom. Right.

Doc stared at her for a long moment as he thought over what Zodiac had said. It was familiar. He had given this same speech, perhaps with different phrasing and different wording, to Phoenix. He had given her this speech when she tried to control other people’s actions and reactions. He had been adamant, she can try.. But she would fail, because people inevitably do what -they- want, not what others want them to do. And now, it was he, who was being told that he was trying to do.

Yes, he was very concerned about vampire human relationships. He had a right to be. And yes, he had some personal issues with a relative or two. And the sire.. He rolled his eyes. Was she even relevant? He had not seen her in over two years? He hadn’t even thought about her, until Zo had mentioned her. And the Chain, she did her best to avoid him..

Doc was about to give Zodiac a scathing rebuttal about the Sire and the Chain, when he caught himself short. A question slowing taking formly in as to her words, “What do you mean.. ‘Were married’?”

She watched his face as his brain tried to sort things out. It was not an insult to him to think like that at all, but at times people had difficulties when confronted with things outside their norm. What she was doing now was how her grandmother had advised others in her time. She never said “Well, go to A, then B, consider C, but D is much better. If your goal is E, do this or if F do this and everything will be fine.”

That wasn’t her style. She was not a road map or an enabler. She was a mentor, a councilor. She suggested things and laid down mental bread crumbs and encouraged the soul before her to follow and see what conclusions they could reach. Like the cards themselves, she planted ‘guideposts’ that suggested things and what may lie ahead on one path or another, not road maps. She was her grandmother’s apprentice and took her way of helping others along as gospel and such an approach had served her well when she was alive and now.

Zodiac wondered if a session with the cards themselves might help, but dismissed the notion slowly. The Doctor would be too full of questions as to how a deck of cards could explain his emotional state to even gain some hints from the experience. Many said the gypsy girl had unlimited patience when it came to dealing with others, but no one knew how some people could pull her to the very limits. A force of will just to remain calm and focused and she did not want to be that way. Could the Doctor be such a person? It was possible. She was sincerely trying to help him in this and it would defeat the purpose to suddenly blurt out ”You dumb ****! Aren’t you taking notes? Focus you logical ****!”

No, that would not help at all.

So she continued to watch patently as he considered her suggestions. She had prepared herself for a many things that could have slipped from his mouth when he finally spoke, but his question knocked her for a mental loop for a moment. Quickly, she appraised him. Perhaps her information was flawed. For good measure she appraised one of her childers for a comparison.

Oh great. He was in denial. She could sense the bond between Iris and her husband, but in Doc? Nothing. The entire conversation had just escalated beyond simple discussion. Caution was required now. In the past when she had encourage her clients to accept the fact something was real that their minds and hearts insisted was not, the reactions were totally unpredictable. Some were calm while others bursted into tears. Others got loud and raged and some actually decided to grab her and focus that rage at the mystic.

She had no desire to be grabbed and screamed at this night. The Doctor gave so few clues as to how he was thinking of feeling to be prepared for his reaction. Would he take it out on her? She could not say. This was one of the reasons she enjoyed the conversations with him. Some were like window glass that could be seen through with ease, but he was Obsidian stone. He could always surprise her.

She was ready for the worse, of course. The soft weight of the straight razor hidden in her bra was a reminder and the weight of the short sword at her hip likewise. She would not want to hurt him. She had actually been interested in this one once before, but she would take no abuse at the hands of any man. Not even him. Gently she drifted from her place against the wall and turned so she was looking at him directly. She had the whole room to retreat into if the need arose now, and paused herself. Just inches separating them now.

”I had been told in passing,” she began slowly. ”That you or your wife had taken a vampire’s answer to a divorce. Now, of course, my information may have been way off the mark, and I do apologize if it is so. Normally I hear things and they basically stay with me. Is not my job to push rumors around. However, most vampires can ‘sense’ the bond between themselves and another if they focus and look within themselves. I am sure you can still sense this within yourself, can you not?”

Another breadcrumb. Would he follow her subtle suggestion or not was up to him.