InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "that's it!"

Ayamfua (hopewithoutholy) wrote in haunted_roads,
@ 2008-02-29 06:47:00

Entry tags:

ayamfua, jerzy

Week Two: Friday
Who: Ayamfua and Jerzy
Where: Lobby
When: Week Two: Friday, Evening
What: Fua has been waiting to speak to him, with powers so similar

Ayamfua sailed through the front doors generally unremarkable and silent. While there was a preternatural grace to her, she had an easy, personable way around her that tended to help her not stand out. With her scarf wrapped around her head and her simple, dark denim jacket and long skirt with boots she faded into the crowd rather well. For those that did not know some of her mystique and history, she would hardly turn any heads. A very dramatic difference from most of the other beings around who were her age.

In another five hundred years, the story would likely be the same. After this much time, it hardly seemed likely that she'd change all that much in that time. Holding one hand with long, delicate fingers in front of her nose she felt her temporary body heat warm the front of her face. Poor lost thing, mesmerized by her eyes. It would hopefully be a lesson to not be so dangerous. No crimefighter herself, Fua had seen strong, blustering men fluster after waking up and knowing that they had, for a short time, been utterly powerless. It wasn't a feeling she cherished, but all things had their uses.

Patiently, she strolled to wait by the elevators with her young companion. He didn't know it yet, but she was very fascinated by him. She could see the power in his vision, like a translucent beam that heightened her own in some ways, but sometimes showed little phantom shapes. Like most odd symbols of people's abilities, Fua learned to quickly ignore it when she needed to focus on him. He looked so fragile, scared even. She looked to her left and caught his nervous eyes.

"Hello." She said graciously, nodding her head a little at him, with the softest smiles. Then she turned back to stare at the elevator display, as seemed appropriate in today's age. You did not befriend the faun without patience.

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enemy_in_me
2008-03-01 07:49 am UTC (link)

Okay so, it probably didn’t seem it, but really it was an exaggeration to think Jerzy never left the towers. He went out, occasionally. Like when he and Taavi went grocery shopping, or if Taavi had to rush Jerzy to the hospital because he got sick again. They even went to concerts sometimes. Though that was pretty rare. Jerzy preferred the daytime open air venues. Easy escape routes. Really hard to enjoy the show when you were worrying about all the monsters around you. Was really weird when you realized your favorite bands weren’t all human.

Point was Jerzy was usually with his brother when he went anywhere. But not always. There were after all, a few paying gigs he managed to get into. Gaming beta testing. He’d go, he’d play for a few hours, and he’d get paid. Not a bad job at all. But Jerzy hated when they felt like they had to do it at night. Like tonight.

So far he’d been lucky. He got off the bus about a block away and walked quickly, shoulders hunched, hands tucked deep into his jacket, back the The Old Town Towers. Place looked kind of spooky at night from the outside. He could see a couple of the ghosts waving at him. Jerzy did not wave back. Instead he entered the lobby, eager to ride the elevator up to their floor and lock himself in their apartment. Ready to lock the world out basically. Inside he had all he’d need. And in a few more hours Taavi would be home too.

But things were never so easy, were they? Jerzy recognized the woman. He’d seen her before, and knew what she was. He didn’t obviously notice though. Like, he was watching her barely from the corner of his eye… just to keep track of where she was in relation to him. He just wanted to get home. But then, it became obvious she intended to ride the same elevator up.

Shit.

And now she was looking at him. Don’t look back. Don’t looks back. Don’t look in her eyes.

Shit shit shit

And now she was talking to him.

“Hi.” Jerzy replied, careful not to make eye contact, it was a habit of his with… her kind. But he was polite, or tried to be. Didn’t want to piss them off either.

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hopewithoutholy
2008-03-01 08:30 am UTC (link)

Fua watched him silently, seeing his anxiety grow in seconds. Moments did not extend into eternities like they once did. Still, she knew for him those seconds must have stretched into aeons. Poor thing. He knew of, but did not know. The boy had more to fear from other creatures besides vampires in these towers. Most were like herself, content with leaving no ripples. Feeding was a necessary evil, but it could be done without any harm to people, especially in this modern age.

As she got older, this, for her, became even easier.

For all her experience and patience, however, it seemed dishonest to mask her intentions for neighborly friendliness. She did not want him to get used to her as a living statue. Besides all that, it seemed as though he suffered a little. The pallor and his demeanour said to her that he needed someone to care for him. Hundreds of years had not dampened her natural tendency to help those she saw in need before her.

"Are you alright?" She asked slowly and deliberately, like she said all things with her odd, lilting accent. Her tone was even. Humans always dramatized and personalized their attempts to help others. She was straightforward, looking just below his eye level, her manner calm and that small upward curve of her lips omnipresent as usual.

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enemy_in_me
2008-03-03 06:00 am UTC (link)

The calm in her demeanor only served to heighten Jerzy’s neuroticism. He knew what she could do, and how easily. A word, a thought, and he’d be licking her boots and offering up his blood and his soul. He shuddered, avoiding her eyes even as she turned her gaze on him. He didn’t know she avoided his own eyes as he didn’t exactly look, but he did sort of sense it, as people often did, feeling when they were being looked at.

It was a feeling Jerzy knew well.

This wasn’t like those. Those usually commanded you to look back. This one did not. It was in fact, assuaging. Though, like one fighting off impending sleep, Jerzy couldn’t help but to mistrust her presence, all the more for the allaying affect. That in itself was discomforting, the opposite as it should have been, he knew. But it was a cahrm the vampires used… comfort, ease, even a sense of peace. Jerzy couldn’t relax for one moment.

“Yeah fine,” he muttered. The hand in his coat gripped tight the cross he carried there, ready to pull it out like a loaded gun. His heart beat wildly, more than he realized and Jerzy’s head swam as his breathing became constricted. Asthma. Really? He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d had an asthma attack, didn’t even own any inhalers anymore, and now? He backed away, stumbling slightly as he tried to get outside, away from the vampire, and into the night air.

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hopewithoutholy
2008-03-07 06:41 am UTC (link)

Knowing what a woman like Fua could do was a complicated affair. She had never allowed herself the comfort or complacency of foreknowledge. Just as now, she was always in a new land. Once it became too familiar she found herself just naturally drifting to attractions or places of interest further and further away. Stories of interesting acquaintances or art or scenery and she ended up slowly dissipating like smoke in a calm wind.

She worried about him, it was very possible he had a problem with anxiety and his breathing or his heart. It was against her nature to leave his health up to certain caution. Especially with a gift so strong for a human, sometimes they came along with dire health issues. Not being a medical doctor herself, she knew enough when someone needed help.

In the same way she dissipated, she did not try to stop him as he left, nor did she chase after him. Rather, looking completely natural for a wander, her direction turned from the opening elevator doors as she drifted after him. She could keep a corner behind him. Perhaps this one was too smart to be made complacent. That was a painful life.

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enemy_in_me
2008-03-08 07:19 am UTC (link)

Acceptance was, not an option. That did not mean Jerzy was denying their existence. It did mean however that feared becoming desensitized. There was a reason no one else in the world could see, a reason no one was supposed to see. They didn’t belong here, or if they did, then they belonged hidden, or else humans deserved to remain blissfully unaware. All Jerzy knew for sure was that they weren’t natural, hence the name super natural.

Somehow complacency would be sort of like holding death’s hand. He didn’t know why he felt that way. But he did. Sort of like how certain things in this world were supposed to bother people, like parents who screamed at or ignored their babies, people who kicked their dogs, and demons walking around pretending to be humans. To accept these things as normal would feel too much like condoning, and since Jerzy really was powerless to actually fight any of them, he simply had to remain anxious about their existence.

In truth it was not a completely useless talent. There had been times where he saw innocent humans being lured by vampires or demons and he’d managed, though panicked, to cause a distraction big enough to free the would be victims. It was in doing so that Jerzy had come to realize that most supernaturals did not know that he knew. So long as Jerzy didn’t make it obvious.

Like he was doing now.

Shit.

But it was okay, right? She wouldn’t bite him right here in the Towers lobby. Even if the owners were bloodsuckers too. They seemed pretty keen on keeping the lobby clean.

Jerzy gasped, wheezed, his eyes fluttered as he struggled for breath. “Coffee.” He managed, as though the vampire woman would want to give him some. You never know though. They were all always so interested in keeping up appearances. Maybe there was even a fresh pot in the commons, only feet away. Did he smell some? Fuck if he knew, his mind couldn’t grasp anything right now but the deadliness of her fangs.

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hopewithoutholy
2008-03-08 07:29 am UTC (link)

"You are having an attack." She said quietly, moving naturally to stand by his side and put one hand, gently on his arm. Her long fingers curled a bit around his arm. With her age and vampirism, she was certainly stronger than him, but Fua could not tell you how much. Physical strength was never something she ever bothered to measure in herself.

"I am Ayamfua and I am a nurse. You will be fine." She continued, her voice a bit lower, soothing. While her registration had run out decades ago, this modern world was very concerned with certifications and licenses. Most, even vampires, would not let her near them to investigate unless she stated some sort of qualification.

It had been nearly impossible for her not to smell the coffee, although she sincerely doubted it would do little more than assuage him. Certainly it was said to have some benefits, but none great enough to stave off an attack. She would try that first, but she was certain it was an injection of serenity he required. While she may have been the cause of his attack, better it be her than anyone else. "This way." She said, pulling on his arm ever so gently in the directions of the common room. Her other hand fluttered over his elbow in case he thought he might need her support.

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enemy_in_me
2008-03-10 02:04 am UTC (link)

Was it that obvious? And here Jerzy thought he was being so cool. At least he tried. Not much cool when you were freaking out about vampires and going into full on panic mode, lapsing straight into asthma. Really cool there Jerzy. If he wasn’t currently in such a state he might be wondering what he might follow it up with.

Was she pulling him? Guiding him? Yeah, Jerzy could feel it from wherever it was his head had drifted off to. He wasn’t exactly there, like his head was a balloon, floating off somewhere between them and outer space Whatever was happening, he wasn’t at all fighting… much as he wanted to. Oh wait, his leg did do some weird kick thing. What the fuck was that? Lame.

He wished more than ever his phone had actually charged, but that would be asking too much. Even if it had, it’s not like he was actually in a position to call his brother right now.

“Will it hurt?” He asked, or at least, tried to ask. His words were slurred, if spoken at all as Jerzy felt soon all consciousness would leave him. Somehow his feet still followed where he was led though in his addled mind he believed it to be to slaughter. Another kick, or so he thought, and an attempt to pull away… though whether this transferred to actual physical movement he had no idea.

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hopewithoutholy
2008-03-11 06:28 am UTC (link)

Now Fua was thankful for her strength. Most, in this current era, would phone the ambulances, but Fua thought he was having an ages-old attack. He needed to sit and heal himself with serenity from within. Panic from anyone else wouldn't help. Her calm face and slight nod stopped someone else from coming over. She didn't seem much concerned to anyone looking at the situation from the outside.

She wrapped one arm around his waist to support him better. "I will put some milk in your coffee for you so it will not scald." Fua was treating him like a small child. To be fair, he was acting like one and she was old enough to judge, she supposed. "We're going to the lobby, so please give yourself the opportunity to rest."

In the old world, you would cure this kind of hysteria with a good slap. Fua was never partial to those types of cures, but in lieu of her eyes, she'd done it once or twice. It wasn't to cause injury, just to startle out of whatever mood they were in. And this boy was in a fit of his own making.

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enemy_in_me
2008-03-22 02:35 am UTC (link)

Of course he was acting like a child. He was scared shitless, and for good fucking reason. Did she know what she was? Lame question, of course she knew. And here she was trying to conquer him with her power of persuasion. He had to admit, it was tempting, and she did seem to be winning. Maybe if he just calmed down and thought this over rationally. After all, the only thing panic was giving him was an asthma attack.

Lame.

So here she was, calm, cool, and collected as any vampire would be. And all Jerzy could think was how pretty she was, and how sharp her teeth were.

He nodded dumbly in agreement then mustered the will to speak. “Sorry, sometimes I can’t breath. I’m okay now. Thanks for your help.” She had no way of knowing he knew her secret. Now all Jerzy needed was to get back home.

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