Supporting the Vrykola Who: Alarie and Paziter Where: Anesus 2, Main Hall When: After the meeting (and Paziter's conversation with Tayne)
Alarie couldn't help herself. She waited for the blonde Vrykola to finish speaking to Tayne before she bounced after him, determined to ask a few questions before he disappeared. He seemed a bit hesitant during the meeting, nervous sort of quiet and given he asked about a list of people to feed from... or support, as he'd called it - well, that tipped her off and had her thinking of Harlan all over again. Which was why she stuck around after the meeting, keeping her eyes glued to the guy and waiting for a chance to corner him.
"Hey," she said breathlessly, rushing up before she got distracted and lost sight of him. She reached out to touch his arm briefly. "Hi. Can I... ask you something? Or a couple somethings, or something?" Wow, and that made no sense, but she was speaking in a rush as to get her intent out in the open. "About Vrykolas, I mean. And erm, supporting them."
Paziter was already feeling edgy enough, so Alarie's appearance and touch (was that even allowed?!) startled him enough to want to jump several feet back. He didn't, but he flinched and withdrew his hand. Alarie was... loud. Very loud. Demanding, almost. Paziter wanted to withdraw already, but the fact that she was after him directly cornered him in an awkward place.
'Please don't rip into me,' he silently begged, trying to pick up the pieces of his composure. "What...?" asked he, folding his hands into his sleeves and trying his damnedest to look serene and approachable -- two traits that he wasn't at all feeling. "What can I, ah... do? Answer, I mean?"
Yikes, so touching was a bad idea. Alarie withdrew her hand and offered up a small, but bright smile, hoping to put some of his anxiousness at ease. "I was wondering if you'd be able to help me out with something. Or maybe I could help you, I don't know." That all depended on how annoyed she remained with Harlan. "To be honest, I don't know exactly what goes into... er, supporting a Vrykola. I mean, with the blood thing. I mean, do you just bite? How do you know how much blood to take? What if the person you're taking from is like, pretty weak physically? Would you know it? And know when to stop?" And good goddess, she knew she ought to take it slow and ask one question at a time with this one, but it wasn't in her nature to be overly patient about things and she wanted answers before Harlan tried to come find her her again.
The Vrykola felt as though perhaps he was being grilled, but Alarie had smiled, and her tone of voice was nothing if not enthused curiosity. He was a little confused... but he couldn't see the harm in answering. "Ah..." There was always the issue of answering everything though, and to be quite honest, the human was going a bit too far ahead of him. "Well... biting is easier, but I think it's more polite to use a knife;" he removed a gloved hand from his sleeve and pushed back his coat a little to reveal those decorative blades at his belt. "I mean, to let the human use it. At the wrist, if not the neck. A nick, really." He shuddered at the thought of damaging tendons, as those took far longer to heal even with a Vrykolas salvatory properties taken into account.
"As for when to stop... I guess it depends?" He frowned, thinking of Harlan and the older humans weakness, not yet connecting Alarie's questions with him, not in the way that they actually were connected. "I think it differs from person to person -- Vrykola to Vrykola. I grew up around humans so I, uh, just keep an eye on them. Listen to their pulse. So long as it stays healthy I know it isn't too much... and then they can always tell me if they want me to stop, too, sometimes people know their own bodies better than I could." A flicker of a thought occurred to him. Was Alarie asking because she wanted to offer her wrist up? No... she was probably just curious. He didn't have to worry about feeding until tomorrow night or the next, anyways. He wasn't going to bring it up unless she asked.
Alarie listened, her grey eyes intently focused on his face. Listening to the pulse. Would Harlan's pulse grow weak more quickly than others? Would a Vrykola realize it? Or care? She didn't know what to think about the cutting. What if the wrong vein was cut? What if it left a scar? What if the knife wasn't clean enough? "I see..." She chewed on her lip, considering what he'd told her. "Would you recommend people with, say, weaker immune systems to offer up their neck or wrists to you?" Please say no, she pleaded. If he said no, she could use his answer to try and convince Harlan. If a Vrykola himself knew it was a bad idea, then surely Harlan would see it was just plain stupid.
Paziter frowned again. "I... don't know. I think it depends. In my experience, if you're careful, saliva," oh Gods, was he really discussing this? It felt very out of place, "saliva is enough to heal a cut, kind of like an alcohol swab and, and, healing salve, although faster-working." Vrykolas' mouths weren't exactly autoclave-fresh, but they did take measures to clean themselves! "I think it's a person-by-person basis. And it probably wouldn't be good to do it too often. Once a week or so for healthy humans, probably once every few weeks or a month for someone who is, ah, with a weak immune system, just to be safe." He raised his hand, spread his fingers, palm up. "It really doesn't take that much to go for a few days. It only takes quite a lot if you want to..." should he be sharing this? It was probably a bad idea, but then again, Paziter had been having to do a lot of thinking on his feet and sometimes his mouth liked to get ahead of his thoughts! "To turn. Someone. But I wouldn't recommend it." He was grimacing, feeling a little foolish for bringing that up at all.
That caused Alarie to pale significantly. Harlan wouldn't ever dream of... of that. Would he? No, that was ridiculous. But would it take a lot if someone was as weak as Harlan was? Swallowing, Alarie nodded. "All right... thanks. I mean, I didn't really know a lot about how it happened and everything. My brother," she explained, "he's been, er, donating to Vrykolas, I guess, and it just worried me. He gets sick easily so I was afraid because he was weaker than most, that it might end up hurting him. But you've helped ease my mind a bit about it..." A very tiny bit. If Harlan was giving to this guy, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He seemed to know what he was doing. She just didn't know about the other Vrykolas in the compound. "So I appreciate it..." She held out her hand, unsure of whether or not he would take it. "I'm Alarie."
"Alarie..." Paziter took her hand, thought about kissing it in the way that he was taught, and decided that it would probably be taken the wrong way. Instead he gripped it and shook it twice, then retreated with both hands into either sleeve. "Alarie Porscolin? Harlan's your brother, isn't he?" Things seemed to fit into place. "I didn't know that... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to cause any trouble. He was very kind, and I'm very grateful..." Oh, Gods... this just got awkward. He'd enjoyed Harlan's company, but he didn't know that the human had a sister, let alone one who would track Paziter down the next day! He didn't really know what else to say, so he breathed a few times (his chest had been mostly still beforehand) and then gave a sigh. "I'm Paziter Ingret. If you want me to, ah... stay away. Or anything... I don't want to cause trouble." he repeated dumbly.
She was pleased that he actually took her hand, but that feeling soon slid into confusion. She got that he might recognize her name if he knew Harlan, but the rest was really just gibberish that had her drawing her dark brows together curiously. "What..." And then it all seemed to make sense and her eyes widened with realization. He was the Vrykola that Harlan had helped out. "Poor boy last night, one of the new ones, was being rather pathetically hopeful about trying to catch someone's attention, so I took pity on him. The new crop never seems to know how to ask...." Her sharp memory remembered Harlan's specific words, and it all seemed to make sense with Paziter. Pathetically hopeful. Yes, she could see that.
Alarie was suddenly torn between wanting to rip the Vrykola a new one and scaring him so badly he'd never look at Harlan again, and biting her tongue hard enough to taste blood since she had just thought that if Harlan was going to donate, she'd rather he donate to Vrykolas like Paziter. "Oh. It was you, then." Her voice was oddly flat, and she tried to smile again. "It's... it's okay. I just... I worry. He's... yeah." She sighed and ran her hands through her dark hair. "It's okay. You seem to know what you're doing, and... that's all I can really hope for, right?"
If things weren't awkward at first, now they truly were. Paziter shifted from one foot to the other, settling into a bit of a hunch. "It's why I asked the leader about making a list of people... Harlan was very nice and I like him... I'm not... planning on draining him or anything." Nevermind that the human would probably be better off as a Vrykola, without human immunities to worry about! Paziter didn't like the thought of turning anyone, least of all a likely friend. "I don't... I don't know what else there is to do about it. I haven't seen Harlan since last night. Next time I do, I'll just ask him if there is anybody else that he knows that could be willing. I wasn't planning on going just to him to begin with." Even if the idea was tempting. Harlan wouldn't be fit to feed from for a while and the payout from those rest-periods was not enough to sustain an average Vrykola for more than a couple of days. He was far from ideal 'stock'.
He arched both brows, looking across at her, hopeful that he'd mended her trust somewhat. "I'm sorry," he added, earnest.
"You don't have to apologize to me," Alarie replied firmly, meaning that. She thought for a moment, chewing on her lip again before she came to a decision. "Look... if you need... you know, blood... and no one else is willing, you can come find me." Because she knew Harlan would offer again if Paziter needed it, she just knew it because she knew her brother, and if she could discourage that in any way, she would, even if it meant donating her own blood. Even though just the mere thought of it sort of make her ill in her stomach. "I would rather you come to me than my brother. And it's nothing against you personally, he's just... I think I could handle it better than him." He had been so pale that morning and slept in much longer than she thought he should. She would sacrifice if it meant keeping him healthier.
Alarie's sentiments were touching. Paziter bowed his head in compliance, filing her away as a 'maybe', though she looked none to happy with the prospect. "Hopefully we can find a middle ground that suits everybody," he said, and he meant it. The only good point that came with feeding from animals was that there were no issues of consent to dance around. He could see why Elanna preferred that method of sustenance... though for all of this awkward shuffling around, Paziter felt warmed that he had something of a chance to live an ordinary Vrykola life.
"If you wanted, I could show you exactly how it works. And I don't mind trading for work, or for items, or anything." Only a couple of days ago he would probably be tripping over his own tongue talking to a girl -- even a human one -- in this fashion... but the realities of living in the compound had settled quickly, especially after that meeting. Paziter was learning that he had to get his foot in the door if he wanted to get anything done here.
She nodded. "I wouldn't mind seeing how it worked." Having the knowledge of it all gave her more footing when she argued with her brother over it, which she foresaw probably happening again if he was truly insistent on doing this. "But you don't have to trade me any work, or any kind of material. I don't need any of that. If you really want to give back, then all I'm asking is for you to maybe find someone other than my brother to get it from. Whether it's me, or someone else, I don't care." And maybe she was sticking her nose in where it didn't belong, but in Arie's mind, Harlan was her business and she was simply doing this out of love for him. She smiled brightly now. "Does that sound fair?"
It seemed more than fair to Paziter. Alarie seemed healthier than her brother, even from what he could discern just standing before her. If she truly didn't mind -- and Paziter wasn't certain if that 'truly didn't mind' was going to crumble in the face of an actual meal -- then he wound up with the better end of the deal.
But how was her brother going to deal with things? He could sense family dynamics going on that he didn't understand, which meant that he had probably gotten himself involved in this big... thing... that he would regret later. Humans were so complicated.
He nodded, but didn't reply back. What else was there to say? 'Yes, miss, and I promise that I'll put my rubber fangs in, too?' Paziter was careful as he could be around people, sometimes to his own detriment. He didn't think he could say or do anything that was going to appease an overprotective sister anymore. "I don't suppose you've spotted your brother around?" he finally asked, hoping to change topics. "Last night we were talking about his inventions... he told me he'd come knocking when he wanted to work on them some more."
Pleased now that she seemed to have gotten her way, Alarie's smile came much easier and was much more genuine. "I saw him this morning... and had lunch with him. I'm sure he's around somewhere. If we were both at the meeting, could be he's just waiting for you to finish up. Are you helping him with his... inventions?" Which now she was eager to see herself. She hated that she felt like she knew so little about her brother.
Paziter hadn't thought of that. What if Harlan was standing around in the basement right now? He lost his little hunch, suddenly eager to be heading back to his room, but not simply to escape the hustle and bustle of the main hall. "Um. Yes, sort of. We haven't done anything yet." Speaking of which! "Do you mind if I beg leave?" If Harlan was waiting for him, he wanted to get his room to rights (and himself to rights... had he been sweating? He hoped not.) so that he could bring out all of his own 'toys'.
The whole thing was incredibly confusing now, and she made a mental note to ask Harlan about these inventions. Among other things. "No, it's no problem," Alarie told him, stepping back. "I've got to go too... but, thank you for answering my questions. Among other things. I really really appreciate it." She wondered if Harlan was looking for Paziter. Or if he was looking for her. She didn't know. She waved at Paziter and turned to leave the hall, wondering what to do if Harlan wasn't in his room. She didn't know many people yet and had been spending most of her free time with her brother. Ah well, she was sure she'd find some way to occupy her time... probably with worry.
Paziter cast the human a relieved smile. He was relieved in part because she was allowing him to go, but mostly because he felt that the situation had resolved itself... for the time being, anyways. Who knew what would happen next.
Dipping his head in a bow, the Vrykola hurried away from Alarie towards the basement steps, half hoping that Harlan was waiting around for him and half hoping that he wasn't. He was eager to get to work piecing the puzzle together of how to make things go, but he didn't want to be caught without preparation!