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Guy alights on the rooftop, first a bird and then a man, dressed in his usual as he glances around the roof, stretching.
Mearc arrives after Guy, climbing up the fire escape as you do, running a little later than they were scheduled to meet. There's a few things about him that seem to have changed since the last time Guy saw him:
- He's still growing out his hair and it's held out of his face with a large claw clip.
- There's a Very Nice black metallic ring on the ring finger of his left hand, set with a black opal. It's very shiny and attention-grabbing.
- Mearc's Autumn Mantle, previously mostly a faint rustling sound, has intensified--there's a sensation of eyes on the back of Guy's neck, and occasionally even a feeling of warm breath, as if someone, something, is right behind him and ready to pounce.
Guy hasn’t changed much at all, as vampires are wont to do. He looks at Mearc and pauses a moment. “Interesting...Good evening, Mearcstapa, I hope you’ve been well since we last spoke.”
"Very much so. I've managed to mostly stay out of trouble for a couple weeks in a row. It might be a new record, at least since I got to Philly." He chuckles, walking closer to Guy.
He flashes a little grin, moving to a more conversational distance as well. “Small miracles, hmm? Glad to hear it. You’ve changed, but it seems to be agreeing with you.” He settles into a relaxed stance looking over the other man for a moment. “I’m will to bet you look much more different than a change in hair style, to other eyes. Well. How’s business?”
"Not that much more different, but. Different." He shrugs slightly. "It came with some memories I hadn't known I had, and assimilating them has been interesting. Work's been a thing, I've got a new project I'm planning related to the art of security bypass. My partners and I are almost done renovating a house to live in together. Also, I met a member of the Invictus who's failed to leave a bad taste in my mouth. What's new on your end?"
“Petra and I are living together, we’re going to exchange tokens, some sect business was laid to rest, I’m inducting some people into my pack, and my protege in vampire things is slowly turning her life around, I believe. Plenty going on.”
"I thought packs were for werewolves." That catches his attention first, but he grins as he says it. "Good on you and Petra, though."
“My stripe of vampire are closer to the beasts of the world in certain ways, maybe that’s why. Been a while since I was a wolf... And thank you, I’m happy that you and your partners are making a place for yourselves.” He pauses for a moment. “Forgive me if this is too personal, but have you made oaths to each other? I understand that they’re...especially important to your people.”
"We're intending to oath ourselves to one another. Lux proposed." He holds up his left hand and indicates the ring, with a coy smile.
He smiles, nodding. “Congratulations. It will be a momentous day, I’m sure. I wish you all happiness.”
"Thank you. Have you and Petra considered something of a similar nature?" He tilts his head to one side slightly.
“We...” his eyes get a little distant. “She doesn’t want to rush to such things, we’ve only been dating a few months. I’m not sure if she’s big on the concept of marriage in general, but I haven’t pried, and I have faith in our relationship. She...said the loveliest thing anyone has ever said to me the other day...”
"Tell me." His voice is low and gentle, and he glances up at Guy's face, coming closer to direct eye contact than he usually tends to. It doesn't linger, though.
“The...token of hers she wants to give me. She wants it to be something that will last the ages, so that as I continue on she can be there to see the world and times with me...”
"That is very thoughtful of her. And probably very painful for you to consider, how it's entirely possible you'll outlive her."
“Painful...perhaps more melancholy. I always knew, of course...but I also know that I’ll always love her, in the depths of me.” He smiles very, very faintly. “Whatever she gives me will just constantly remind me. I’m prepared for that.”
"You should have many years to come before it comes to that. We...do tend to outlive normal people, especially as we grow stronger. I could probably see 150, as I am now." He looks thoughtful, for a moment. "Longer, if I let myself get weirder."
"Really? Well, I'm...happy to hear that, it's good to know." He takes a slow breath. "That makes me feel a little better."
"It does come with costs and downsides. It's...hm. A loss of humanity, to some degree, to grow more fae." He shrugs, tucking his hands in his pockets. "And stronger memories of Over There. Cracks at the seams."
He nods, and looks to the sky. "I understand that...I could help her adjust, if...that's a path she wishes to take. Cracks at the seams...old memories that haunt you...I haven't been through what she has, but...other things, I would know."
"That's...a conversation for you and her to have, I think. She might even get mad that I've said as much as I have, on the matter. I don't think she would, but it's not impossible."
"Of course. I won't press it. Probably won't bring it up, even unless a moment feels right." He looks back at Mearc. "I haven't felt anything like this for someone who is mortal in a broader sense of the word since I became what I am. It's complicated."
"Oh, I know it's complicated. I'm not sure there exists such a thing as simple love, even among the normal humans. But I wouldn't know, I never experienced it before being Taken. Not romantic love, at least." He chuckles.
He shrugs. "I suppose. Then again, there's only two ways love ends, and both are tragic. I...it's an odd feeling, hoping she isn't the one who has to go on." He shrugs. "Sorry if I'm being a downer, I think about this a lot."
"I feel like saying there's only two ways loses a lot of possible nuance regarding how a relationship can end. It's...a simplistic way to approach the matter."
He shrugs again. "Either the love becomes something that isn't love anymore, or someone dies. Both are tragic. I didn't disagree, really, that love is complicated. But when you're looking at the end, far enough out that you can't see how you get there, the only meaningful thing to do is pick one of the two endings and decide how to realize it."
"You're in a maudlin mood, Guy." Mearc shakes his head. "Sometimes, a relationship ends due to circumstance. Fondness lingers, but someone has to leave town. New job, fleeing trouble. Sometimes a love transmutes slowly to something else, and sometimes it ends almost violently quickly. And those register as 'different' to me, at least."
"To be fair, I wasn't talking about the relationships, just the emotions. And maybe I am in a maudlin mood....haven't fed, fought, or...talked to Petra tonight, those are the things that pick me up the most. Sometimes I don't mind it though, spending a night lost in my thoughts, looking at the stars. It's peaceful."
"I'd offer you a bite, but that doesn't tend to work very well for most of you. I've twice had to hold a vampire's hair back while they threw up my blood." He shakes his head slightly. "Only one of them had explicit permission."
"Well, that was rude of the second, bad form to feed on other supernaturals without consent, don't let anyone imply otherwise. As for the feeding, it just takes practice. Blushing to keep it down and let it, ah, resonate, until you digest it normally. I promise I won't puke if you still want to share."
"There was a lot of bad form in that interaction, Guy." He snorts softly, before moving closer. "You ought to teach Alex, how to feed from us. I think she'd appreciate having the ability to feed from consenting parties in our community. Wrist or neck?"
"Neck's a little more intimate, since this is a proper feeding relationship let's do wrist, no need to push things."
Mearc unclips his neon pink paracord bracelet before offering his left wrist. "Not that sort of friends yet?" He grins as he says it.
"Biting the neck is sexual for plenty of people, with no fangs involved. And letting someone into hugging range means different things to different people." He takes Mearc's wrist in both hands and lifts it to his mouth. "Consider it a gesture of my respect that I want this to be a positive and guilt free experience, all forms of intimacy can interact with others in complicated ways." Then his fangs pierce the skin, and the spellbinding warm pleasure of the Kiss travels up Mearc's arm.
Mearc inhales slowly as Guy drinks, closing his eyes and focusing on the warm feeling. "I don't think I'd mind you in hugging range, under most circumstances. Are you a hugger, Guy?"
He licks the wound closed a lets out a little sigh. “Hmm? Ah. I would say so. I’m from a time when physical contact was more casual, the modern world seems a little frigid at times.”
There is, for what it's worth, something about Mearc's blood that's like...it is the blood of a predator, not the blood of a normal person. Cat? Large cat? But there's also something...staticky in it, kinda like licking a CRT screen and getting the tingles.
"I'll remember that." There's a thoughtful moment of self-assessment on Mearc's end, before he reaches into his messenger bag, pulling out a baggie of trail mix to do a little nosh. Because proteins and sugars after being fed on is smart.
"Thank you, by the way, I appreciate the gesture." While he doesn't look like he does when he's impersonating the living, there's a little bit more color to him. "And yes, by the way, I'd be happy to share with Alex the methods I have found."
"You're welcome. I probably won't let it become a regular thing--to regularly be in a weakened state would be inconvenient, if not dangerous. But I don't mind it occasionally, when I'm not anticipating trouble."
"Of course, of course, I wouldn't want to cause you problems." He lets out a full body shiver, and then relaxes again. "Having friends and allies willing to let you feed is helpful, at the very least, but there's a logistics game if you're being responsible and respectful."
"You could keep it all in a spreadsheet." This is clearly not a serious suggestion, Mearc's grin showing lots of teeth.
He scoffs. "There aren't that many." He smiles, and looks out over the city. "It's strange, I haven't had so many I would call a friend in...well, since I was human. It's nice. You're all so different."
"I've got more friends now than I did when I was human." Mearc chuckles. "I was a damned lonely kid."
"I'm happy for you then, that you have that now, no matter what else." He begins to pace slightly, back and forth a few steps. "When did you grow up again, I can't remember the specifics, unfortunately, there are...limitations on my eternal memory."
"I was born in 1965, and was taken at the age of sixteen, in 1981. Portland, Oregon." He takes a seat on the rooftop, watching Guy pace. "I haven't been back there."
He nods. "Never been, heard it's interesting. I'm not really sure how to go more into that, I missed the entire 20th century."
"Yeah--it's interesting to compare your long-sleeps with our time away, as a sociological thing. I mean, the emotional impact is different, but in a way we're both time travelers, you know?"
"Yeah, in certain way of thinking. Do you...miss the time you once lived in? I known that there are many things that have progressed substantially since then, but do you miss the...'vibe' of it?"
The question takes some thought from Mearc, as he continues to nosh the trail mix. "Yes, but I think on some level what I miss is also being a teenager and the level of freedom and innocence that came with. It's impossible for me to separate '1981' from 'being sixteen', and I never got the experience of the time between being sixteen and being thrown into the modern world as an adult. Does...that make any sense?"
"Yes, it does. Heavens above, being sixteen...that's when I ran away to become a Landsknecht. Thought I knew plenty, that I was a man already...it was youthful foolishness, but...I've never regretted it. I didn't have the consciousness and age...misstep the way you did, but I think I understand you there."
"I declared myself twenty sort of arbitrarily, when I arrived in Chicago, but...the number's made up and I'm faking it all on some level." He shrugs. "Then again, everyone's faking it, whether they admit it or not. Right?"
"Yeah. I decided on a nice, even 28 when I came to in Philly. I was 26 when I stopped aging, but I had a hard life, and, well. It doesn't really matter, can't put triple digits on a license with a face like mine, so."
"As far as faking it in life, absolutely, everyone is just holding on and getting by."
"...I could probably get a shiny looking fake ID with your actual date of birth on it, for shits and grins. If you wanted. I, uh. Know some people who specialize in that sort of thing."
"Oh, that'd be a fun birthday gift to myself or something like that. Keep it to joke with friends and things." He grins. "Get tossed out of a bar for having an obvious fake, just once."
"Just let me know. It's sort of the job I have in the local Freehold, ensuring that people who need papers can get ahold of them. I'm sure you lot have someone who does that?"
He nods. "Yeah, the City has some open to any Kindred fixers for that sort of stuff. It's handy when you crawl out a cemetery in the middle of the night and need to have an ID for the first time ever."
"Makes sense. It would pretty much be necessary for your society to function, similar to ours." He nods slowly.
"Some of us can get by being themselves, on the record, but eventually yes, it's a necessity." He stops pacing, and sits. "Oh, it used to be so much easier being a vampire. I mean, even if you weren't being monstrous like I was."
"Mm. Anyway, I think I'm going to get home--let my partners pump me full of orange juice. I will be letting them know you bit me, just because open communication is important."
"Naturally, I would have been a smidge upset if you didn't say anything at all. And if they want to talk to me about it, I'm willing to have that conversation. Because your relationship with them is much more important."
"I mean, they're aware of my past misadventures with Kindred. And my current relationship with your community as a whole, because that's a thing." He chuckles. "Jack's even met the Sakima, himself."
He makes a little gesture, rolling his wrist. "Fair, but still. I'm willing to talk about my side of things, especially if this is a repeating if infrequent...thing. Also, good on Jack, maybe I'll run across a VIP from your 'Freehold' someday. Anyway, have a good night and safe travels, Mearcstapa."
He nods, and carefully makes his way down and out.
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