End Of The Day, So Long And Weary... Who: True Sieger and Erzebet Bathory When: Late evening Where: The Coffee Dregs
True's whole body ached after a double shift in the E.R. As much as he loved emergency medicine for it's various merits - the fast pace, the chance to really help the people who really needed it and of course, in the chaos, the chance to use his magic, it all left him pretty exhausted by the end of the shift. Thankfully, most of his responsibilities were taken care of. Agni and Skellen had an excellent dog walker who would have assured his babies were well fed, watered and run into exhaustion. They should be passed out on his bed by about now, even though they knew they weren't supposed to be. He'd been to the gym in the morning in order to get his heart rate up to acceptable work standard and he was pretty sure he'd burned off the chili dog he'd indulged in the day before with pounding the linoleum today. Looking back over his many patients in the E.R, he felt like he'd done good work. Only one or two opportunities to use any magic but that was ok. He'd learned early on that he could burn himself right out by over doing it.
He'd driven himself right to the Coffee Dregs after leaving the hospital. His blonde hair was still damp from his shower by the time he slid onto a bench in a booth next to the front window, steaming cup of fine quality joe before him. After pulling out his cellphone and ensuring it was on, just in case one of his siblings was looking for him, he finally exhaled a sigh. Now he could relax. Now his day off began. He hadn't asked anyone to meet him here, but it wasn't unusual to run across familiar faces. He was pretty well known in this neighborhood and he liked the feel of relaxing in his community coffee watering hole. Carefully, he sipped his black coffee as he thumbed through a Bentley magazine. Someday, Sieger, you can afford it someday... he day dreamed blissfully over the hand stitched Italian leather steering wheels and the ivory gear shift handles. Midnight blue or classic silver? Oh, the choices...
Heels clicked against the concrete, making their way toward the little coffee place, not too far from where her current residency sat, in fact, not too far at all. One might call them neighbors. Seeming much taller than the little 5'5'' female actually was, she headed inside the coffee house, and eyed the menu board. The prices were seemingly reasonable, and she really didn't need to ask for much more than that. Everything was, as always, listed in frentalian, but being Hungarian with such a deep rooted language, it wasn't hard to decipher between the soft sounds and the seemingly same words which mean all different things. Gonging to the counter, she set her purse down, not exactly knowing what it is she wanted. However; she wasn't a stickler on trying new things. " Ah, may I please have the blended mocha late, with whipped cream? " And of course, her wish was his command. A soft glimmer sparkled across those sparkling chocolate hues, before they wandered to the figures outside. She was simply waiting for her lovely beverage, but she couldn't help but notice a familiar face.
Her reaction was the least expected. She sort of choked up, before turning her head away, focusing on the cute barristo, preparing her beverage. Thin fingers, paired with black tips pulled back onyx colored locks from her line of sight. He certainly could be a model, if he so wished it. She simply smiled, folding her fingers in front of her figure, as she waited to be rewarded. Well, she did pay for it, perhaps that wasn't the best word to choose. When her beverage was presented to her, she simply gave another one of those classic, devious grins. Taking the straw, she licked the end; clearing off the whipped cream, oh so sensually. Perhaps she was suggesting an innuendo to the male whom payed no attention to the gothique lolita princess. But she quickly rolled her eyes, shrugging it off.
Heading outside was a burden in itself. Surely, she wouldn't want to interrupt him. He seemed busy. And the whole reminisce idea, seemed like such a guilt trip down memory lane. Maybe, just maybe, she'd slink on by, unnoticed.
No chance of that in the getup she was wearing. Like most red blooded, single and open minded young men, True's eyes hit on the freaky girl immediately. Nice boys always chased the weird ones, it was true. He'd certainly embodied that rule in his day. Which meant, of course, that Erzebet Bathory had been on his radar since high school. He was a couple of years older and thusly had never gotten too close, but they'd talked, surely. He could have sworn one of his sisters had mentioned she had just moved in to Vallistaire, choosing to be close by now that she was the head of her family. Well look at that, they had something in common! Good enough for him. He smiled and called her name, sliding out of his booth. "Erzebet!" He was glad he'd opted to put on jeans and a plain dark t-shirt rather than stay in his scrubs.
Seriously, if you could raise the dead, and suck people's life force, you'd wear all black too! She thought she would have surely made it past his claws, those piercing blue eyes sending those glances against her form. She could feel it, believe it or not. Maybe she was just paranoid. Indeed she knew Trueman from high school. She always sat with the outcasts of school, the kind whom fit all of the stereotypes. Not necessarily emo, that term never existed six or so years ago, when she graduated. She always did admire the athletic ones, but didn't dare get close to them. Her independence, and her high-strung nature sort of prevented any conversation to brood with those kind of males. Everyone knew they only did sports to get a free scholarship to a big university. It was the norm to associate "dumb" with "jock". However, she couldn't help but die inside when she heard him call out her name. That voice, slipping inside her mind, penetrating her cerebral cortex, and raping the hell out of it. She could have sworn the sudden thrust of vertigo; causing her body to tilt, as if she was about to fall to her right. But, like any strong woman, she quickly recovered.
"Uhm, hello? " She said, while turning around, looking at the male whom called out to her. Playing dumb certainly wasn't her thing, but she would just this once. " I'm sorry, what is your name...? " She asked softly, pulling back those wild strands behind her ear once more.
His smile didn't fail, not even an inch. Trueman may have been an athlete in high school but he'd also sat on the hill outside his school and smokes more than a handful of pot with those previously mentioned outcasts. He remembered her very well, surly little wench that she'd always been. He thought she was funny, without really trying to be, which True appreciated in girls. She had that Bathory black-as-night humor. He was also pretty sure she'd seen him when she'd come in and had done her best to duck. Can't have that. He gestured to his booth. "True Sieger," he supplied for formality's sake. "Want to sit?"
"Oh, Oh. Trueman. True. Sieger. Trueman... " Erzebet said, somewhat flustered in her words. She certainly wasn't expecting to see HIM, out of all of the people, whom were beginning to come out of the woodwork. It was like.. childhoodness all over again. Everyone she never expected to see were now sitting at the local coffee house, and walking down the street. Boy, what a sign of the times, right? She looked at the seat provided and offered a soft nod. " Of course. I suppose I can spare some time to have a slight chat. " She said, just to make sure it wasn't apparent she wasn't enjoying herself, or was she? She was somewhat hard to read. Swooping the back of her dress downwards, she sat next to True, sipping her drink. " Well, how have you been these days? " She asked, for conversation's sake. She offered a smile whenever he focused on her face, quickly drawing it back when he wasn't looking.
Instead of sliding back into the booth and trapping her, he slid in across from her and pulled his cup across the table to his side. At her question, his blue eyes ticked back to her rather painted face and he nodded. "Good, good. All siblings present and accounted for, homestead is secure and tidy, the dogs aren't fat and lazy and work is going well. No one died today." That was rare, the lack of death in the E.R. They were like blue moons, so rare. "And yourself?" It was true, he hadn't seen so much as a smudge of her red lipstick since high school. He'd heard the odd little thing, here and there. Death threats, haughty exits and deliberate slights. Nothing he wouldn't have expected from her or any of her other siblings, really. Based purely on his high school experiences.
Red, not exactly. If no one had noticed yet, her color palette was simply a dark shade of black. She nodded as he spoke about his family, his current situation, his current lifestyle. All nice and dandy, of course. Erzebet just sat there, listening to him speak. Those hands wrapped around the blended drink, only taking a sip when he had stopped speaking, taking a moment to himself. She cleared her throat, licked her lips, and immediately said. 'Uhm..' What an excellent conversation starter. " Same here. Katarina is actually at the manor right now. You have dogs now? that exciting. And you work at a place where people.. die occasionally? " She raised her eyebrow. So, okay. She really wasn't caught up on all of the people she knew. Hell, her family originally moved away from San Francisco (even if you call the outskirts away), to avoid all these people. That still was ingrained inside of her mentality, and she really had no idea that he was a practicing medical doctor. That was all good for him, of course. " Our family still owns the cemetery. There isn't much room for new bodies, however, we do make a hefty check each month. " She nodded, taking that beverage and chewing the end of the straw. " What good is a world where no one dies? " She asked. A philosophical question, none the less. " Death is always a good thing. Society tells us different. " Erzebet was a huge advocate on the subject, as her family is rooted so deep into it. " And your wife isn't worried with you at all, while you.. I guess, save people's lives? " Oh yes, she just had to mention THAT.
He smiled, fully intending to ignore the wife question which was framed as an assumptive. "I'm almost finished my residency at the E.R. at St. Francis Memorial." He made a gesture in the direction of the hospital. "It's good work," he nodded, his fatigue tugging at his a bit. He shrugged it off, however. Looking contemplative for a moment, he rolled her philosophy around for a moment, tasting it before responding. "I'd have to agree with you. If people didn't die with ease and in all sorts of ways, we'd hardly appreciate living at all. Death makes us appreciative." He took a sip of his coffee and carefully set it down again. "As a healer," he gave the word a certain weight, reminding her that he was a Sieger, who were blessed with the ability to heal people, though he could have been speaking of his life as a doctor to anyone overhearing. "I get to witness life and death every day, close up. It's a humbling position." Humbling was something he thought Erzebet could use, the way she spoke about death with relish.
" Well, you certainly haven't been wasting your life away. " Erzebet said, placing her head within her hand, her index finger creeping up in front of her ear and behind her eyebrow, providing support. " I bet. It sound.. enticing. " She added, sarcastically. Erzebet much preferred seeing the sight of death, and turmoil than fixing it. She certainly wouldn't make a good president, right? He did however, seem to very impressive. Almost as if he had put on his thinking cap, just for her! She marveled in just how articulate he actually came out to be, and offered a cunning, mischievous grin. " Death shouldn't be avoided. Even war, is needed. War is the only population control we have these days. Every fifty or so years, another disease pops up, yet we can quickly cure it. Hence why more come after the next. Maybe were not suppose to cure it. Yet, they do regardless. Incredibly discrete in how they work. However, you are in the medical field. You'll probably disagree with me. " She said, waiting to hear the rebuttal. " You certainly possess talents of a god, don't you? We both do. You and I are much opposites of the spectrum, aren't we? " She implied, holding her drink, rolling the straw against her plush lips. " I suppose it's a good opportunity, then. It certainly makes a person realize death is much closer than they know. And to just accept it. And, after that, they can book a spot in our cemetery. Perfect. " Oh yes, Erzebet. Way to be encouraging
He chuckled as he listened to her. "I disagree on the use of war as a population control. It's certainly not our only one. I'd say disease kills more people every year than war does. Plenty of those we've never managed to cure. Even the ones that we have, like typhoid, cholera, or tuberculosis, flare up in regions where they just can't live as sterile as we do here. Look at AIDS in Africa," he made a speculative gesture with his free hand, the other curled around his mug. He was amused by her somewhat spastic method of conveying her points. She'd always been that way and he knew some people must find it hard to follow. He, on the other hand, had no trouble keeping up with her verbal flightiness. The comment about being gods of their field curled his smile even wider. "Gods, hmm? No hubris at this table." His smile graduated into a full blown, good natured grin.
" That may be true, but there is still treatments out there which can help lessen the effects, thus making the survival rate much higher than dealing with the disease or illness with any help at all. " She said, nodding. " Everything is three or two times as worse, in rural and uneducated locations such as Africa. However; there are plenty of resources there for them. It is their choice whether they use them, or not, as many end up not doing. They do it to themselves. " She added, crossing her arms. Yes, she her mind tended to work much faster than her mouth, and she was constantly bringing things up. It was a habit of hers, yet, with the right people its perfectly fine. She shouldn't have to be subjected with minds of individuals whom couldn't keep up. Even her sister was kind of slow when it came to following what she was saying. " Oh shush. You know you hold life at the end of those finger tips, As I even hold the opposite. You know, in a normal society, we should be sworn enemies. How civilized we are, hmm? " She said, offering a soft, subtle lip raise to his full blown, good natured grin.
Ok, so her ignorant opinion on the state of the AIDS epidemic in Africa horrified him down to the very core of his soul but he very, very diplomatically managed to keep that off of his face. He reminded himself that, as a Bathory, he shouldn't expect compassion or even really that firm of a grasp on reality from her. Once he'd assured himself of such, he was able to comment. "Some might say," he said, not willing to commit to an argument as who was truly at fault for the mountains of dead children in the worst afflicted areas of the continent. It was easier to speak to her about themselves. "Fortunately for me, I can practice my gifts with a little bit more impunity. Yours tend to...attract more attention." He lifted his mug to take a sip, hopping the bitter drink would wash a bit of the bad taste out of his mouth.
" A lot of people should say. " She said, raising her eyebrow. Wow, did she just kill the moment, or what? Certainly you don't mean children. After all, it is usually the parents whom die, and the children are left to fend for themselves. Naturally, however, he does seem to have such great compassion for the topic. That was a good thing, none the less. Even if they always seemed to be constantly walking the fence of inhumanly different. " You have got to be kidding me. In today's society, a miracle has much more room for publicity than watching a dead person walk down the street. They're all over downtown, carrying signs. They'd already be used to seeing that. A miracle, a sudden cure of being healed from all pending danger, now that is what would grab a person. One shouldn't be able to play god like that. " She grinned. She certainly couldn't talk. She could take life, and raise it. Perhaps she was just as good, if not better than him.
If she'd asked him, he would have gladly told her who was better. However, putting himself out there like that was not a good way to maintain and improve relations between the families. "So we agree to disagree," he said softly. His own work was subtle, when he could employ it. He used it to show him just where the artery was punctured, to tell him just when the heart was about to give out. It told him how much drugs were in the system and more often than not, it told him that the soul was already gone - to Valhalla or worse - and that there was nothing to be done except sew the body up so that it looked decent for it's relations. If that was even possible. He'd never in his life seen evidence that one of the Bathorys had actually killed for their art, but he suspected that this one, Erzebet, was probably capable of it. Killing in the name of something great was ok by True. He thought he himself would be capable of it. But on a whim? For beauty or whatever other sordid reasons that peppered the Bathory history? He couldn't quite swallow it.
" If you wish to call it that, then I guess you would be correct on that. " She added, before standing up, those dark pools looking at Trueman, casually and softly. Her goal was to avoid those piercing blues, at all costs. She didn't wish to be subjected to looking deep into them, getting lost in translation if that were to happen. He certainly had an allure about himself. An aura shrouded in mystery and appeal. " Well, Trueman. I really ought to be getting back to the manor. I still have some unpacking to finish with, and daylight is at all costs, being wasted. " Those eyes wandered to the trees which softly blew against a small breeze, before turning her attention back at Trueman. " It was, as always, a pleasure. You know where we are, you ought to come over there, eventually. " She offered a soft smile, folding those fingers into themselves, holding them in front of her self. " I'll see you, yes? " A light nod was given before her hand raised. Fingers spread quickly, and closed once before her hand went back into the formation in front of her body. A nice, generous wave.
The easiness came back into Trueman's manner and he slid out of the booth. Seeing her nervous wave he reached out and captured one of her hands, warming it as it was wrapped in both of his capable ones. He looked her right in the eye and smiled. "Nice to see you again, Erzebet, and I'm glad to hear your family is doing well." He didn't hold her captive for very long, though, and gentle released her hand back to her. "I'll be by the manner in the next few days. I don't live very far from it myself." Leaving it at that, he waited for her to take her leave, standing beside his booth. Well this had been unexpected but not unnecessary or unwanted. He resolved to make contact with the other heads of the families as soon as he could, preferably as individuals like this meeting was. "See you soon," he said in parting.