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what bumps in the night - Nathaniel
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Post by Mally on Mar 4, 2016 20:32:56 GMT -5
Olwen had some history to her, then. Their meeting of hands brought his attention from his cooling tea back up to her face. His heel lift and lowered apprehensively because Nathaniel was suddenly uncomfortably aware of where he was and what he was doing - For the first time since he had been turned he was actually enjoying his time with a human, and it didn't involve violating her body. The vampire's eyes fixed solidly on Olwen's as she told him about the man who had used her, a crime that couldn't compare to the myriad of pain Nathaniel routinely inflicted, although he felt no desire to hurt this one. He honestly doubted she would like him very much if this game went on any further, and a part of his heart sank to the thought.
"I'm sorry he hurt you, love. Boys can be selfish."
Nathaniel grew visibly uneasy because something inside of him felt very wrong, and yet at the same time so right. Their meeting had begun under the pretext of business but, as they both probably expected, it quickly became very personal and the mixed bag of feelings left him confused. He was so wrapped up in his mind that he didn't register her question at first, which created an awkward pause when he played her words back in his mind to understand them.
"My favorite place," he tapped the side of his thumb against the table in thought.
"There was a beach I lived pretty close to for a while, Fort Tilden. City kid, caught up in the urban sprawl... The beach was the closest thing I had to nature so I went there a lot," he said and grinned about the many memories he had of the various beaches on the east coast, then chose to share the first one that came to mind.
"One night when there weren't many people around I went out with a couple friends and we ran into some older guys, mid-thirties probably, drunk. They started yelling and kicking sand around in our direction and, middle of summer so we were all half naked, we didn't have anything to defend ourselves with. Long story short, it turned out they were just trying to call us over. Smoked us up and we got some free booze by hanging out with them, super cool guys just celebrating a promotion or something. I lost my virginity on the beach too - Different story entirely of course," he laughed.
"It felt like I made a new friend every time I hung out there, and if I was alone, all the better. I actually don't like being alone but on a warm, calm night watching the waves creep up and down the sand? Yeah. I know I don't have the tan to prove it, but I love the beach," he said, visibly relaxed in contrast to the unsettled demeanor he carried only a minute prior.
Olwen had asked such a gentle question to ease the pace of the game that he responded with a quick caress of her hand, so subtle a movement that it could have just been him repositioning for comfort against her trembles. Nathaniel was so relieved by the current tone of conversation that he felt he owed her a break too.
"Alright, alright. Question number four already, I'm running out of time to pick your brain... So, the next secret I'll steal from you is: What are you most proud of about yourself?"
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Post by Olwen on Mar 5, 2016 18:12:07 GMT -5
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Post by Mally on Mar 6, 2016 17:29:04 GMT -5
Olwen told him of her musical past. It was always reassuring to hear that someone could dedicate themselves to something successfully, and he took her at her word that she was good. When she told him of her papa's passing, he clutched her hand firmly but gently. She asked him what he would tell his past self, to which he immediately knew the answer.
Don't kill so many people. Cover your tracks better.
But he couldn't outright say that, could he? The game was treading dangerous territory and although he truly wanted to open up to Olwen, now that the time drew near the vampire got cold feet. The whole last year or so of his life had taken such an unexpected turn, but he had loved every moment of it up until he was forced to flee to Foresta. What else could he really say to warn himself in that time frame? He was turned closer to a year and a half ago, not that he regretted the experience, so even that wouldn't suffice. Nathaniel pulled his hand back to his own side of the table in one smooth motion. It was time to lie.
"That's... kind of complicated to explain. Hey, let me know if you want another drink. My treat for making you stay so long," he said in an effort to buy time. His own tea had cooled by now, but it still smelled good.
"Honestly, there are so many things I could have done differently, but if I had one thing in particular to tell myself," he smiled uneasily at her, "I would say..."
"Don't be so cold towards my adoptive parents," he expressed the feelings he didn't feel, "They're my legal guardians after all, even though we wound up on opposite sides of the law. My... dad, I guess I never really thought of him that way, his name was always just Richard to me. Richard Morosec was a cop, he and his wife adopted me as a PR move. I had already been through the foster system my whole life, was given a thousand different names by a thousand different families and this one was no exception, they called me Nathaniel."
"But they only adopted me because he wanted to look good, part of some political campaign to better the streets of New York. So to make a good face of it they adopted a struggling kid into their own family to give him the best chance they could," Nathaniel laughed as he recalled the true story, then checked himself out with a shrug of mock disappointment. "Not sure what they expected to happen."
"It was all bullshit anyway. If they really cared about me, they wouldn't have given me a new identity. They would have called me by my birth name at least, accept me for who I was, you know? But that wasn't good enough for them, they tried to make me into something that I wasn't," Nathaniel caught himself getting invested into his history, blushing as he felt so awkward to recount these feelings in front of Olwen. None of this was relevant to his past year, and he realized his sudden honesty conflicted with the answer he was supposed to be explaining.
"But I mean, I guess they just wanted to help, right? In their own way, I'm sure they didn't want any of this to happen to me. I could have been nicer to them, given them another chance," he said unconvincingly. "Yeah, it would be nice to be on better terms with them," although there was no way they would accept the vampire he was today.
Misdirection and half truths were always the safest way to break free of a complicated situation, but for how much worse it could have gone, Nathaniel still felt uneasy. The last question was always the one that pried the deepest, and he suspected he had given her plenty of things to pry free by now.
"What's the worst thing you've ever done?" Nathaniel cringed as defensive question left his mouth. Was it that obvious to her, or had he played it off smoothly enough? It was definitely a fair question to end with but the vampire couldn't be sure of anything, so his eyes fleeted back and forth between Olwen and the door.
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Post by Olwen on Mar 7, 2016 19:10:23 GMT -5
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Post by Mally on Mar 8, 2016 1:51:59 GMT -5
When Olwen spoke, any fear or inclination to leave the room dissipated in favor of listening to her story. The worst thing she had ever done in her life was as simple of a mistake as inaction, and his heart moved for her guilty conscience. The story humanized his perception of her, but even with the knowledge that she made a mistake that could indirectly lead to someone's death, the vampire's own guilty conscience couldn't shake the thought that she was still far too good and pure to be sat next to him.
After listening quietly to Olwen's story she followed on with the final question of the game, followed on his part by a long, eerie silence. He must have gestured a half-dozen times that he was about to speak, but each attempt resulted in a balk. Nathaniel touched affectionately at the scarf around his neck and became cognizant, for the first time, of this associative tic.
"Where do I even begin," he finally broke the silence. There were a thousand things that could go wrong right now. Even the school didn't know the full extent of his crimes against humanity, but there was no way to tell this story without the details he had been so careful to hide from her tonight. The fight or flight response kicked in again and every instinct in his body told him to run, but there was no point. The island was too small to hide from her, and if she got elected they would be working together anyway. There was nowhere to run.
"I had just turned 17 and I was into all kinds of parties, raves, drugs, the works. A lot of drugs, actually, more than I care to admit. I met her along the way so it's not really a surprise our relationship turned out the way it did, it wasn't healthy for either of us, I guess that's why it didn't last. But drugs be damned, I was addicted to her most of all."
"She was beautiful, Russian. Or at least beautiful to me, she was kind of scraggly like a hipster, got called some undesirable names pretty often. Those people always regret their words though, she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but anyway," he grinned at the memory of her. No point in hiding his guarded smile anymore - Nathaniel smiled in full bloom at the memory of his love, which revealed the pair of fangs he was always so careful to conceal.
"We moved fast. It only took us a week before we made love, just a couple kids who loved life and wanted to take advantage of everything it had to offer, regardless of consequence. We were the embodiment of hedonism, and every time I thought I was pushing the envelope she'd shove us a few steps further. It was dangerous and I was terrified half the time, but we loved it. I loved her."
"She was my partner in crime, but honestly she held my hand through everything so I don't know how equal of a partnership it was. I actually don't know how old she was and the one time I worked up the nerve to ask, well," he cringed in an awkwardly pleasant manner. "Point being, she had more experience than me."
Nathaniel laughed quietly but openly, "Sorry, I must be boring you with the details. But, love's a crazy thing. She liked to kill humans, and she... raised me, so to speak. I had never hurt anyone that badly before in my life, but I loved her and I wanted to make her happy. First just because I knew no other way to survive, and then... for fun, too. And I liked it," he frowned at Olwen and felt it best he left that part of the story at that for now. One secret was rapidly blurring into the next, because they were all so intertwined with the Russian vampire.
"But, like I said earlier, we lived dangerously and it caught up with us. I didn't see it happen, but her best friend found me in the night and gave me her scarf," Nathaniel pointed to the red garment he wore around his neck, "told me she had been captured. Hunted by vigilantes, and they mutilated her. Same way we did to so many," Nathaniel's voice trailed off and he looked away from Olwen because he was staving off tears. He took a moment to gather himself.
"Honestly, I still haven't had time to cope with any of it. It's just been one thing after another since I got to Foresta, I've barely found the time to cry. Not only about her, but the fact that my hands are so bloodied by sin that I'll never be clean and deep down she made me realize I love how dirty I feel. I think that's why I'm keeping myself so busy, this whole stupid election thing... Just another way to keep my mind off of my old addictions, drugs being the least of them."
"So yeah, I've been in love, and like any good love it changed me in ways I can never take back," Nathaniel lift his right hand the same way he had that Valentine's night, and he showed her how he could lengthen and sharpen his fingernails into a useful weapon. The vampire licked at a fang in his open mouth to draw attention to it, "The few parting gifts she left me with are what make me an eligible student here, but life gets pretty complicated when you're supposed to make friends with your food."
"I won't eat you though, promise," he said sincerely, "but I'd be lying if I said my faults were only due to her. She just exacerbated something inside of me into such a strong addiction that I'm only now learning how to fight it off, so I won't blame you if you don't want to be friends. The only thing I ask is that you keep our game a secret," Nathaniel's eyes trailed over to the grim reaper.
It was appropriate. Such a simple, impermanent piece of art that symbolized their stories without a single word. Nathaniel appreciated and respected Olwen's artistic intuition - The Lyra girl from Durness was truly something special in his eyes.
"I'd understand if you want to keep things strictly business," he said with disappointment.
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Post by Olwen on Mar 8, 2016 19:12:22 GMT -5
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Post by Mally on Mar 9, 2016 0:22:12 GMT -5
Olwen stood up without a word, and Nathaniel was sure that she was leaving. She had more than enough reason to, there was plenty of dirt on his rap sheet and she was now privy to the lion's share of it. In fact there was no other real expectation to be had, because who in their right mind would want to be friends with a killer?
This one, apparently, because her arms enveloped his body and her head found a comfortable spot on his shoulder. She whispered into his ear in such a pleasing tone that any tears he had been ready to spill remained in place.
"Of course I want that," he answered softly with a bewildered expression. Nathaniel's body had been frozen stiff by her embrace, but when it became clear that she wasn't about to leave his arms crossed behind her back to return the sentiment. Olwen's scent consumed his senses for a euphoric moment, and his eyes clammed shut to pinch out a pair of stray tears that trickled down to her shoulder. Thankfully he didn't need to worry about breaking any bones, because Nathaniel squeezed the Scottish girl tight in his arms to solidify his reply.
"You're the best friend I've made here," his voice wavered uneasily, "but I still think you're making a mistake. What kind of person would offer a hug after a story like that? Why would someone like you want someone like me in your life?"
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Post by Olwen on Mar 9, 2016 22:29:58 GMT -5
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Post by Mally on Mar 10, 2016 20:27:17 GMT -5
A feeling. She trust him because of a feeling. It was true that she had a good artistic intuition, so it made him feel better to believe that her social intuition held strong as well. But that conflicted because she said she didn't really have any friends? Nathaniel struggled to believe that was true in the first place, that someone like Olwen could be so lonely, but he supposed it said a lot about the people she became friends with. A title that now included him.
They were the two likely leaders of Lyra - A Scotswoman and a criminal. A masochist and an impulsive. A deflowered girl and a beach boy. A violinist and a run-away. An inactor and an ex-killer. The two lonely souls had found each other in the dark of night, and that was beautiful no matter what the future might hold for their friendship. Apart they may have been damaged goods, but together, they could become something special.
"I'll walk you home, love. Plenty of dangerous creatures roaming around at night," the vampire stood to leave his unfinished tea half full, "would be a shame if you ran into one."
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