tushanshu_logs | Grave digger, grave digger

Entry tags:

Grave digger, grave digger | October Catchall

Characters: Pepper Potts, Devin Parker, and you!
Date: Throughout October
Location: Around Keeliai
Situation: The spooky happenings has everyone a little on edge, and Devin is having an especially bad month.
Warnings/Rating: Death, possible mentions of violence and abuse. Will specify as needed.

A. [Pepper] KPD | Throughout October | Open

The uptick in crime doesn't leave the KPD extraordinarily busy, but between the rise in illegal activity and the strange, unsettling things resulting from the odd planar activity, things are definitely more tense. Pepper tries to just focus on work, but occasionally she'll do something slightly odd around her desk, such as tossing grains of salt over her shoulder. She does try to keep the superstitions out of the office, for the most part, but the creepy incidents are more distracting than she'd like. Sometimes, she's actually quite cheerful, and begins decorating some areas of the headquarters as though nothing is amiss.

B. [Pepper] Jade Dojo | Mid October | Bakura

Pepper has taken to spending some nights over at Bakura's apartment lately, complete with having claimed one of his drawers for some of her things. The concerns over the planes thinning hang over most of the city, but nothing explosive seemed to be happening, and really she ought to be more accustomed to ghosts and spectres given who she's dating. Lounging around together under the blankets seems like a good option to distract from anything unsettling, especially as the temperature starts to drop since cold weather is not at all Bakura's favorite.

C. [Pepper] Earth Sector | Mid October | Raine

So, ghosts. Yeah. That's-- that's a thing that's happening. That's a thing that's currently happening to her, along with lots of other people in Keeliai, and it's unsettling and scary and also... kind of amazing, in some ways. She hasn't seen her mother since she was six, and a ghost is still better than nothing, and everyone at the house has something going on, so instead of rambling her panic/excitement at Tony and Gene and Bakura all month, she goes to visit Raine. It's been a little while since they've just hung out, and if anyone can help her find some more calm about this situation, it's her friend. She knocks a little hesitatingly on Raine's door, glancing at the redheaded ghost over her shoulder with a nervous smile.

D. [Devin] Sky Sector | Early October | Open

The chill in the air doesn't both Devin at all; England was cold and misty for no small part of the year. The sudden shift is a bit odd, but that was par for the course in this city as far as he could tell. He spends part of his time continuing with his mapping routine, and while he's at it he considers more seriously where he might move to. Devin has very few possessions, so one of the smaller lodgings made available to Foreigners would be ideal. He's more aloof and even irritable, avoiding extended conversations and familiar faces.

E. [Devin] Metal Sector | Mid October | Open

Devin returns to the Metal Sector to test his memory of the streets partway through the month. The tension in the city is evident wherever he goes, and while he's not immune to it, routine has always helped. That is, of course, until he spots two faces he hasn't seen in over a century, and his blood runs cold. He stops abruptly as their attention turns to him, frozen in what can only be described as fear. This is dread he doesn't even know how to hide - so he runs, darting away in a blur and only halting when he's half a sector away and hidden in an alleyway.

F. [Devin] Turtle's Head | Mid-Late October | Open

His family hasn't ceased haunting him no matter where he goes, and now it's all five of his siblings as well as his parents. The sense of calm at the turtle's head helps a little, but Devin keeps away from anyone else who's there, finding as secluded an area as he can. He's shaken in a way he hasn't felt in years and years, and he's giving very serious consideration to leaving the city altogether in an effort to distance himself from it's inhabitants and battle with his panic in peace. If anyone decides to interrupt the spectres currently following Devin with abusive, personal diatribe, they should be prepared to deal with a nasty vampire. See: cornered animal.

(OOC note: Let me know if you want a specific starter, or feel free to write up your own!)

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"I take it you possess some unique traits that sets you apart from other vampires then," Klaus ventured. He wouldn't push the topic of Devin's parents. He was sure they'd get there after a few... well, a few bottles. Neither of them had a normal metabolism.

"Would you be willing to elaborate?"

At least here in Keeliai, the secrets about his physiology weren't such a problem - there were no other corporeal vampires from his world to present a threat. Devin shrugged.

"I'm a daywalker, for one. Silver doesn't do anything to me. Before I became the elder of my sire line, I was also much slower and much weaker than average, to the point where I was practically on a human level. That didn't sit well with family," he said bitterly, not meeting Klaus' gaze. "Which is how it was discovered that I don't heal properly - I scar."

The most unique trait, however, he would not be sharing. 'Oh, and I also contain a fragment of the angel of death' was basically never a topic of conversation for Devin.

"That is very unusual," Klaus agreed, a brow arching under his bangs.

"Even those who have only partially been turned still have some form of accelerated healing, though they still scar. At least in my homeworld."

He exhaled and looked, for a moment, much older than his thirty years.

"It's becoming increasingly apparent how much that isn't a particularly useful point of reference. My job would be much easier if it was crosses and sunlight that did Blood Breeds any harm."

"I think what makes us the greatest problem are our numbers. No one knows exactly how many, but it could be in the millions," he elaborated. It made killing them all rather difficult.

He frowned into his glass. "'Partially turned'? How does that work?"

"Numbers aren't much without decent organization," Klaus said, but it was a cold comfort.

He took a long swig of something that smelled very strongly of mint. He was fairly certain however much he elaborated, Devin would be able to at least work out his rather unusual circumstances.

"One does not become a Blood Breed instantly. They must feed on their prey multiple times before their humanity is utterly diminished."

He took another sip.

"There are no records of anyone making it past thirteen times."

"They're organized enough. Fortunately, so are the hunters."

He finished the rest of his glass as Klaus explained the circumstances of becoming a Blood Breed. Devin lowered the tumbler slowly, studying Klaus for several long, silent moments. Partially turned individuals demonstrated some traits of the full vampires; his eyes flicked to Klaus' fangs. There was no way to tell how advanced that condition was, but the careful phrasing and Klaus' hatred of vampires suggested it was closer to thirteen than zero.

A grimace of sympathy, and Devin reached for the bottle of whatever Klaus was drinking so he could fill up the other man's glass again, then refilled his own. "Here's to the remains of our humanity," he toasted, tapping his glass against Klaus' with a quiet clink. "May it last as long as it needs to." He sighed, and offered Klaus a brittle smile. "I've never been human, but I know what it's like to be handed an unwelcome fate. I hope you can avoid yours."

Klaus raised his glass.

"To the remnants of our humanity," he echoed, and knocked back the sweet, strong booze.

He was quiet for a time, surveying Devin as though it were the first time he was actually seeing the man. Yes, he thought. A man.

He poured Devin's next drink.

"To overcome one's darker nature has long been a struggle of humanity. You may not have ever been human in flesh or blood, but..." And this was, perhaps, Klaus trying to rationalize the dichotomy of Devin being a vampire and Devin not being an abject monster. "...My own blood is such a mess of curses, I cannot in good faith stake a better claim. So to deny your own struggles would be folly on my part."

The curve of Devin's mouth was wry, but could not rightly be called a smile. This wasn't a humorous conversation. He bore Klaus' studying eye patiently and without discomfort - although he was unsettled enough by the ghosts that not much else was going to phase him at this point.

"What a pair we make." Neither fully human nor fully vampire. He sipped at his drink, giving it an odd look like he wasn't sure what to make of the flavor. "I do... appreciate that, however. I think you can understand better than most people, even when they say they do. Living it is a very different matter." He paused, letting the burn of the alcohol on his tongue provide him with another moment or two. "I'm still not a good person, Klaus. I've got too much blood on my hands for that."

"Devin, I work with a number of people who have quite a bit of blood on their hands. My own are not particularly clean either."

In the metaphorical sense. Klaus bathed every day and used lotion, his hands smelled like roses.

"People falter and fail. It is a fact of life. How they proceed from those failings is of much more significance."

Devin wanted to ask Klaus if any of those people could qualify as a genocidal mass murderer, but decided against it.

He exhaled in a huff, surveying the liquor in his glass with misdirected annoyance. Grudgingly, he could admit that Klaus' statement had a certain logic in it - actions spoke louder than words.

"Why must everyone here be so aggravatingly agreeable?" Devin grumbled.

Surprisingly, at least one of them could (not to name any names, Brody).

"You'll find it an unfortunate trait among many of your fellow Foreigners," Klaus said with a wry grin. Or rather it would be a wry grin if it looked more like an actual smile than a snarl.

He poured another glass, a bit fuller this time, his throat now long since numb to the burn and downed it.

Knowing that would be... not reassuring, by any stretch, but make it harder to dissuade Klaus' arguments about him. The grin was unexpected, to say the least, both for its existence and the way it made Klaus' face look.

Devin poured himself more brandy, tightening his grip around the glass when a tremor shook his hand again. "It's not that I don't understand where the impulse comes from," he began, interrupting the statement with a swallow of liquor. "Nor that I don't respect it." He paused to empty the glass. "No one seems to realize just how cruel it is, however."

"I think you underestimate what people do realize," Klaus said, sitting back in his chair, contemplating the amber liquid in the glass rather than downing it.

"There is no denying that opening yourself to others leaves you vulnerable. It is a risk. And for one as long-lived as yourself, there is no escaping the anguish of others mortality."

He finally downed the drink.

"I cannot blame you for wanting to avoid that pain - though if I may advise honesty with others in that regard, you may find greater success in doing so."

The vampire exhaled sharply, not quite a snort of laughter. "It's not as simple as honesty," he disagreed, reaching for the bottle again. "They all seem to think that it will be different with them. That somehow they'll be able to change things and make it all better."

He practically spat the last word. Truth be told, Devin hadn't gone the route of immediate honesty all that often. It was one of those things where there didn't seem to be any good options; 'long-lived' was an understatement. Then he sighed.

"I suppose that's part of why I prefer humans to my own kind," Devin allowed. "For all that they tend to be naive."

There was a thoughtful rumble from Klaus that might have been a 'hmm' but between the alcohol and the fact his throat and chest were cavernous pits, it came more like a distant roll of thunder.

"Ar you more concerned that they won't be different? Or that they will?"

Devin's silence may have been answer enough, and he stalled by pouring himself more liquor.

"More the former," he said at length, quiet. "Expecting it makes it no less difficult, and the things that hunt me do not understand the meaning of mercy."

Klaus settled back in his chair, pensive as he nursed a glass of something a bit pricier than the fair he'd been chugging earlier. The tips of his ears and nose had gone a bit red but he otherwise showed no signs of inebriation.

"I cannot fault the need to keep others at arms length when one's work presents such a myriad of dangers," he said slowly. "But you are among more like-minded individuals here. Isolating yourself may not be such a necessity."

Was it odd, he wondered, that he'd considered a vampire of all things like-minded? Was it sitting well with him? Or was it just the effects of the rather exquisite, if strong, plum liquor?

"Maybe not," Devin sighed. The problem lay closer to the fact that he did not know how to be with people, as much as he wanted that very thing. Denying himself companionship was about protection and punishment both.

Not that he would admit that out loud.

"But with my past quite literally coming back to haunt me, I'm not convinced this place is any safer than the one I was taken from."

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Grave digger, grave digger | October Catchall

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