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Beautiful Sharks [Alexandrea]
Posted: 29 Jan 2018, 09:28
by Lancaster
It had been some time since Lancaster had visited the mall, and he knew it was about time that he visited Curlew himself; the shop, which sold musical instrument and (supposedly) lessons to play said instruments was located within 8th Dimension Mall and, though the business had done well when Lancaster sat behind its desk two or three nights a week he’d been told that its revenue had fallen into disrepair.
It was Roxette who filled the cured vampire in. Roxette, who, as soon as the cure had properly taken hold felt—according to her own testimony—as if fetters had fallen from her soul. No longer enthralled, as Lancaster no longer had the power to hold her in his sway, she was free as she pleased. But she hadn’t. Roxette had been a gutter scamp having to beg for money or thieve just so that she could eat. Lancaster’s inadvertent enthrallment of her had irked her to begin with, but his guilt had caused him to shower her with gifts; a roof over her head, plenty of food, money to buy new clothes and, really, whatever she wanted. Over the years Roxette had learned from Lancaster; she’d grown into responsibility until he’d trusted her to manage Lancaster’s in his absence. Bjorn had taken care of Bunk Backpackers as best as he could, and Axl—Roxette’s erstwhile friend whom she had begged Lancaster to enthral simply to pull him into line—had been left in charge of Curlew and the Harper Rock River Cruises. They were the least demanding of Lancaster’s empire.
But he hadn’t been able to manage, but nor had he asked for help. He’d skimmed money, he’d been rude to customers, and once the fetters of enthrallment had taken hold he’d done a runner. Curlew was on the verge of foreclosure, and Lancaster had to swoop in, now, to open it back up and return it to its former glory.
The keys to the shop jingled in his hand as he made his way into the brightly lit hall of the mall. He knew that here, too, there was going to be a possibility of people recognising him and waving to him, saying hello—and he wouldn’t know who they were without proper prompting. Not wanting to be rude and adopting a philosophy of open honesty, he kept his eyes open and his demeanour welcoming.
On his way through, Lancaster had to pass the shark tank—a wonder that he shouldn’t have forgotten, but which he had indeed forgotten. He approached it now with awe, though memories clamoured at the back of his skull like children behind a school gate, waiting to be released at the end of a school day.
Re: Beautiful Sharks [Alexandrea]
Posted: 06 Feb 2018, 01:43
by Alexandrea
Orin had been traumatized. Alex was certain of it. After she gave the tank cleaners the tongue lashing of their pitiful human lives, the Allurist fired them all and sent them away. She cooed lovingly to the shark as the great white circled around in his tank anxiously. The blonde was positive she could hear him whimpering and slid into the water fully clothed, not wasting time to get changed into her swimsuit when the poor baby was so obviously suffering. Alex even believed that she could see the shark shivering.
The shark saw Alexandrea getting into his tank and stopped his 'nervous pacing' on a dime, turning to aim himself directly at the Vampire and as if he was a bullet he shot forward with such force a mini tidal wave rose up and crashed down, the splash of water hitting the rock climbing wall up to the midway point and all along the empty benches and tables.
But Alex only laughed. No one was there to complain. And Orin was her buddy. She made a fuss of the great white, calling him baby names and actually petting him on the head and then even playing a game that was almost but not quite like fetch. If the dog was to eat the ball, nine times out of ten. Luckily, the ball was actually apples, which were much better for the shark's ageing digestion.
"Okay, Bud. Time for Dinner." Alex sang out, kissing the shark's nose and swimming away.
Any outside observer would have seen the shark reacting to the word 'dinner'. Orin clearly knew the word, or at least could tell what Alexandrea meant by how she had said it. The great white seemed to actually bob up in down in the pool with excitement, watching as the blonde climbed out of the tank and went to get him his food. What would be in his dinner pails tonight? Fresh Fish? Raw Steaks? A couple of each? Or leftovers from one of Alexandrea's failed recipe experiments? It was all good for Orin. He was no picky eater. He liked everything.
But after only two small buckets of roasted chickens with plum sauce, Orin still felt hungry. He was sure that his friend Alex was holding out on him. He set his great giant head on the edge of the pool and gave her his best puppy dog eyes. If sharks had eyelashes, he would have been batting those bad boys. What he didn't know was that he still had dessert coming.
"How about something extra nice to make up for those horrible scary bad men?" The blonde's voice was warm and playful, although it was clear from the sparks in her eyes that she still was nursing a grudge against a certain trio of clumsy human males.
The shark's head bobbed up and down as if he was nodding, and his tail flicked back and forth in anticipation. Alex held up an old car tire with a grin and Orin almost danced on the water, it was his favourite! The old radial went sailing out over the shark's nose when Alexandrea tossed it, as had been her intention. (no, really!) And the shark happily dove to catch it up in the water, then tossed it back up into the air before catching it again in his mouth. It was swallowed in two bites.
The Allurist whistled sharply to get his attention back on her and then sent him another shark chewie whizzing through the air. It was a rare treat for Orin to get two tires. He was supposed to be on a high fibre, low milage diet.
Re: Beautiful Sharks [Alexandrea]
Posted: 19 Feb 2018, 07:45
by Lancaster
The shark tank, he realised, had caught his attention for a reason. A woman had slithered from the water; the splashing and cooing was sharp and tangible in the vastness of the mall, sound bouncing back like an echo (though it was less melodic now as it once had been, with preternatural hearing—that was one of the things Lancaster missed). The closer her got, the more curious he became; the shark didn’t act like any shark Lancaster could remember seeing, and it almost made him wonder whether some poor vampire had been landed with a water creature for the power that had been dubbed ‘meaner things’. Lancaster shuddered, now, recalling the shifting of bones and the foreignness of his Dingo self. Perhaps he had enjoyed it, once. But it was a phase and now he was over it.
When he witnessed the shark being fed old tires, he arched a brow. Surely, that couldn’t be good for the shark? But then, what did he know about sharks? Besides, it wasn’t the shark he was focused on, now, but the woman who tended to it.
Although her hair was wet he could tell that it was blonde; her eyes a sharp blue, and the curve of her features were… well, like staring at an old picture that had been hanging on his wall for years but he’d only just noticed it. Had it always been there, or was it new? He cleared his throat and chased an itch from his nose. That was more common now, too. Itching. It was amazing the things one didn’t know were missing when one became part of the league of the undead.
”I uhm… I apologise if this question sounds odd, but do I know you…?” he asked. It was a question he’d had to ask before; there were people who’d greeted him on the street and he’d had to either pretend he knew who they were or come clean. Coming clean was always the easiest route—and despite the many changes he’d endured, he found that he still could not lie.
Re: Beautiful Sharks [Alexandrea]
Posted: 18 Mar 2018, 04:05
by Alexandrea
The blonde twisted the water out of her hair and then wrapped a towel around her head like a turban before grabbing a long-handled skimmer and fishing out the shark's leftovers. Orin was quite the messy eater. Alexandrea had been aware of a human close by for awhile but hadn't much cared. She was for all practical purposes in charge of the mall and the shark... so she could do as she wanted, so long as it wouldn't piss Odin off if he knew. And it wasn't as if there was still much secrecy left to worry about.
Still; when she sensed the man coming closer she stopped what she was doing and turned around in a slightly defensive mode. The highly sensitive Allurist was still feeling apprehensive after the bumbling trio of tank cleaners from before Orin's mealtime. Her eyes narrowed at the human as they approached. Whoever they were, they looked a lot like Elliot Lancaster.
Of course Lanky was a Vampire, just like Alex, so it couldn't be her fellow Allurist. Did the man have a twin? She supposed it was always possible. Lancaster and her were friendly but not really friends. Alex couldn't even recall the last time she had spoken to the Musician.
And when the man spoke, even his voice sounded like Elliot's. The blonde blinked as he asked if they knew each other, thinking how odd it was but smiled kindly regardless.
"Well, no. I am sure we have never met. Although you are the spitting image of a former classmate of mine," Alexandrea answered him, thinking back to the SoA. "Perhaps you are related to an Elliott Lancaster?"
Re: Beautiful Sharks [Alexandrea]
Posted: 25 Mar 2018, 13:55
by Lancaster
Lancaster laughed.
But then he realised there was nothing to be amused about. He’d been a vampire. He knew that vampires could sense other vampires; more than that, he knew that he had a heartbeat, now. He had skin with its layer of oil and sweat and whatever else came with being human. And he wasn’t just any human. He was a human who used to be a vampire and came loaded with a whole coterie of issues. The largest of which was the large, gaping black holes in his memory.
It was when the woman spoke that the memories twitched and yawned and then spread their wings. A phantom pain in his groin from where she’d once shot him, which almost caused him hesitation. But then he remembered that it had been an accident, and that she’d cared for him afterwards. As awkward as it had been, it was eventually amusing. There were other conversations, though he could not yet fully recall their full contents.
”Sorry. Uhm. This is gonna be strange but I am Elliot Lancaster. I’ve ah… had a really… really long few months,” he said, lifting his shoulders in a shrug, a sheepish grin curling the corners of his lips.
”The least of which is a few gaps in my memory, though it kinda comes back to me when I… well, when I come face to face with people I know. Sometimes,” he said. There were some people he still didn’t remember even though they told him they knew him. He wondered why his brain was picking and choosing, but he wasn’t a psychologist. He might never know. The important thing was, that his brain had allowed this memory return. And that was always a good thing.
It was one thing that he had noticed; the people he did remember, they were not people he had issues with. They were people who’d been important to him, who he’d respected and liked.
”You are… give me a second,” he said, holding out a hand, peering at the blonde closely. He rifled through those conversations, her laugh, her voice… ”A...lex?”
Re: Beautiful Sharks [Alexandrea]
Posted: 29 Mar 2018, 21:54
by Alexandrea
"Ha ha... very funny. Whose behind this, Lanky himself?" Alexandrea looked around for any cameras that didn't already belong there and saw none, nor did she see anyone with a smartphone making a video. But she was sure she had to be missing something, no one would go to such elaborate trouble to pull a prank and not plan to share it with someone. The question was who.
"So I'm guessing you're a blood thief. And you got a nibble of someone with the ability to wear someone else's face. Am I close?" The blonde narrowed her eyes and resisted the urge to just dive into the human's skull and take a look around. Still, being empathic, she still got some vibes off of the guy and he truly seemed sincere.
"but I'll play along with the gag for a bit, I guess. So. If you really ARE Elliot Lancaster, tell me something that only he would know. If you can. Cus you guessed my name right, which means you certainly do remember some things, like you claim. And IF you can convince me that you really ARE my old pal, then you can try to explain to me how the hell you're human again and WHY."
Re: Beautiful Sharks [Alexandrea]
Posted: 01 Apr 2018, 05:51
by Lancaster
Lancaster had to admit that the disbelief was to be expected. Regardless of the rumours of the cure, nothing had been announced to the public. No one will have heard anything about it, and for a cured vampire to suddenly show up out of the blue… why should he be believed? The story would sound like a tall tale, but all he could do was try to convince them. Offer up as much evidence as he could conjure.
”I don’t know. Did you ever tell me anything only I would know? You uhm… you shot me in the groin, once?” he offered. Not that that would be incredibly hard to find out, if he knew the right people. And if this was a gag said up by ‘Lanky’ himself, wouldn’t he have pre-empted this question and prepared his blood thief pal, if he had one?
He shook his head and waved his hands. Honestly, he didn’t particularly want to swap stories and try to convince Alex that it was really him.The truth ought to have been enough.
”There’s a cure. I took it. Why? Because I hated being what I was,” he said. Had he ever told Alex that? The memories were slowly filtering back in and he had to try to sift through them, figure out what was said and how deep they’d gone. He knew who he was, though. Deep conversations were had with whoever was willing.
”It’s me, Alex. Honestly, no gag,” he said, though he wondered how fruitless the statement would be.
Re: Beautiful Sharks [Alexandrea]
Posted: 01 Apr 2018, 20:03
by Alexandrea
She started to laugh as he shook his head while waving his hands about. It was just so much something that Lancaster would do. Alex nodded, a mischievous grin on her face. She sensed his frustration with her and found that was what convinced her the most. And that, she found amusing. "Yeah... I think you really ARE Elloit."
The light-hearted moment passed quickly as she considered everything that she was being told, gradually increasing the distance between herself and the ex vampire... as if a part of her was worried the 'the cure' might be contagious. She couldn't help that thought crossing her mind and once it had she couldn't contain the shudder of horror that ever so briefly shook her. Her mouth felt dry and she had to swallow a few times before she could speak.
"I had... I had heard... of a so-called 'cure'. But I had hoped it wasn't real but if it was, that it was destroyed. Or at the very least, that it was in safe keeping with our kind, and not being turned into a weapon against us." Her eyes closed for a moment as she tried, really tried to keep an open mind.
"So. You wanted to be human again, no one forced this on you? What happened to the cure after that? Is there more? IF there is, is it in trustworthy hands?"
She wanted to wait for him to reply before asking too many questions but the last one exploded out of her before he could answer anything...
"And what happened to your Childer???"
Re: Beautiful Sharks [Alexandrea]
Posted: 07 Apr 2018, 11:51
by Lancaster
Lancaster’s entire body sagged with the sigh of relief as Alex admitted to believing him. He wasn’t sure what it was that had convinced her, but he didn’t ask the question. He didn’t need to. The outcome was all that was needed, not the reason for it. The relief was short-lived as Alex put distance between herself and him, as if he’d caught the cooties and she wanted to avoid catching them at all costs. It was disappointing—there was a small voice at the back of his head telling him that perhaps this was the consequence. What he had done meant that he would need to find new friends, new acquaintances. The old wouldn’t understand.
”It’s…” he paused, slowly shrugged his shoulders. He’d given the keeper’s name up before, but it was to a vampire-hating human. She wouldn’t harm the Paladin, despite how annoyed she’d appeared. Lancaster had rethought his strategy – perhaps it would do no good to spread the news about who had the cure. Unless, of course, the city was overrun with Shades.
”The cure is in a safe enough place, and I doubt it’ll be used as a weapon. Curing all vampires would only make things worse for humanity. It’s… the cons outweigh the pros, I’m afraid,” he said with a cringe. He was still struggling to completely enjoy what he’d regained without said joy being tainted by his guilt.
”My childer? Are… still around, I guess. I’ve seen one, post-cure. She’s still a vampire. She didn’t feel any change. And I guess that has to do with…well, the consequences. I’m not a scientist but the pieces aren’t hard to put together…”
