InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "fear not the bunny"

Vlad Drăgoi {Dracula} (nobleblood) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-07-19 03:18:00

Entry tags:

dracula, john seward

Who: Vlad and Oliver
What: An unexpected run-in that is not at all awkward
Where: The lobby/elevator
When: Friday afternoon
Warnings: None?

Vlad had been out for the majority of the day, having woken up early in order to ensure that he could get everything he needed to accomplish done with time to spare. Helena's birthday had to be special, after all, and he was downright adamant about that. There was shopping to be done, arrangements to be made, and people to speak to - he was pleased to find that money was still as successful of an incentive as always.

He'd made a few trips back and forth, but finally he was done and could return to the building for good. He toyed with the idea of taking Cain and Abel for a walk later, since they tended to get restless while inside when the weather was so good, which spelled disaster for his furniture and anything that was even remotely breakable. His shoulder was beginning to act up again, and out of frustration with the wound's healing process he decided to take the elevator instead of the stairs. He pressed the button and leaned against the wall with a sigh, arms folded across his chest as he waited.

(Post a new comment)

veridicality
2010-07-19 06:40 pm UTC (link)

Outside the building, a taxi pulled up and Oliver got out, moving stiffly but at least moving, a good thing in his book. After paying the driver, he hauled his bag up onto his good shoulder that wasn't still swathed in bandages from his healing burn, and he moved with some difficulty into the building. Thoughts of the stairs were automatically pushed to the side as he made a beeline towards the elevators. All he wanted was to get home, into his apartment, his bed, and sleep for as long as he could. Just this little trip home from the hospital had left him more exhausted than he could have imagined.

So it was perhaps because of that exhaustion that he didn't notice the identity of the man waiting for the elevator, coming to a halt in front of it and setting his bag down with a sigh. "Is it acting up again? The elevator, I mean?" Oliver asked without glancing over towards the other. "I just want to... get upstairs. That's all."

(Reply to this) (Thread)

nobleblood
2010-07-19 07:35 pm UTC (link)

Of course the elevator was taking its sweet time getting down to the lobby. The stupid thing never seemed to be very accommodating when it was needed, which was why he usually preferred to avoid it altogether. But he didn't feel like going up the stairs, and with his luck it would arrive just as he turned to leave anyway.

At first he didn't even glance at the man who spoke, giving a faint shrug. "It always acts up whenever someone wants to take it." The exhaustion in his voice was what made Vlad turn his head, and his expression turned icily cold when he saw who it was - the idiot who'd stabbed him in the shoulder in the midst of a bloody massacre. He did get a bitter rush of satisfaction at the fact that Oliver looked as though he'd been injured far worse than himself, and he turned his head dismissively to resume staring at the elevator door. "Russia was not very kind to you, I presume?" As if he didn't already know.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

veridicality
2010-07-19 10:40 pm UTC (link)

That voice. That was familiar, and the tone that was used caused him to glance over, and immediately he wished he hadn't. Of all people that he could run into here, it had to be that one. Oliver let out a breath, eyes fixed stubbornly on the elevator doors that were still not opening.

"Nor to you, I would assume. I wonder why that would be." His voice was tight and not completely kind in its tone, but any politeness he might have been able to offer was not going to be wasted on this one.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

nobleblood
2010-07-20 03:39 am UTC (link)

Vlad rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide his contempt. As if being forced to listen to some kind of half-crazed lecture from Aiden hadn't been enough, now he was going to be stuck on the elevator with this fool - and with his luck the damned thing would get stuck. Still, he wasn't going to relent and take the stairs. He had nothing to fear from this man.

"It could have been the violent mob that was hell-bent on killing all of us, I suppose," he said, voice thick with sarcasm. "Although I was far luckier than most, considering my short hospital visit." It was true - he'd only stayed in the hospital one night, and although his shoulder still hadn't fully healed, he wasn't seriously crippled or hindered from his normal routine. This man could say what he wanted, but Dracula had actually helped in Russia by going after the peasants who'd intended on burning half of them on stakes and impaling the rest on pitchforks. As far as he was concerned, they'd brought on their down deaths.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	veridicality 2010-07-21 01:49 am UTC (link)
	There was another sidelong glance, lingering for a moment, before he looked away with a frown, his lips pursed. "It should have been a longer stay for you," Oliver said simply, shifting his weight and looking up towards the floor indicator for the elevator, where it seemed determined to hang out at the tenth floor. "I think it's taunting us on purpose." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

nobleblood
2010-07-21 09:29 pm UTC (link)

He couldn't help but laugh, quiet and mirthless. "I apologize for disappointing you. Next time I will do my best to ensure my stay is much longer." Vlad was starting to lose his patience with those whose fables came from Dracula - true to his word, the vampire hadn't touched anyone from Bellum. In simple terms all he'd done was defend himself and the others from vengeful peasants, even if he only did it because he knew his mortal counterpart would offer anything in exchange for Helena's safety.

He sighed, a reluctant agreement. "It probably is." Although it was likely pointless, he tried pressing the button again. "Eventually it will come, though - it always does."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

veridicality
2010-07-22 06:24 pm UTC (link)

"And then I think the chances are probably quite high that it'll simply trap us in there for hours, just to amuse itself," Oliver murmured as he watched Vlad push the button again. "And you do realise that pushing the button multiple times doesn't do anything, right? Why do people continue to do that?"

Yes, he was in a hurry, and that's what people did when they were in a hurry, but he couldn't be bothered to exert that much energy right that moment. And still, the elevator continued to taunt. Oliver let out a sigh, rubbing at the bridge of his nose as he tried to relax, giving another sidelong glance towards the other man.

"I've a question for you," he finally said, dropping his hand, deciding that asking now would be good considering they had little else to do, and neither seemed to want to face the stairs.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

nobleblood
2010-07-23 06:43 am UTC (link)

"I have been trapped in the elevator before, but I think it was only for half an hour at the most." And it had been with far better company, but he kept that part to himself. He would spend ten hours in the elevator listening to Darcy in exchange for being stuck with the man who became John Seward during the full moon. Vlad glanced up with a frown, returning his hand to his side. "It's better than doing nothing," he shrugged.

Taking the stairs would be admitting defeat, and he wasn't in the mood to lose to an elevator right now - although when Oliver said he had a question for him, well, the stairs suddenly seemed very appealing. "What is it?" If it had anything to do with murder or Aiden, he was going to find it very hard to keep from giving him a good punch in the jaw.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

veridicality
2010-07-25 12:54 am UTC (link)

He shifted his weight again, gaze shifting to the side at the other man before he looked back straight forward, shoulders sinking down slightly with a sigh. "Beyond the... fables. You don't seem... horrible. So I will give you that, at least. But why does Aiden still seem to have some sort of... grievance against you even beyond that? It just concerns me. I know the line between who we are and the identity of our fables becomes blurred and hard to see, but..."

Oliver trailed off, completely ignorant to Vlad's thoughts about what he did not want the question to be about. It was a good thing; he wouldn't have asked since a punch to the jaw was not in his itinerary for the day.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

nobleblood
2010-07-25 08:14 am UTC (link)

The question surprised him, mainly because he'd assumed that Aiden hadn't wasted any time in telling Oliver that he was a disgusting monster who murdered innocent women in cold blood. The fact that he hadn't yet didn't mean that he never would, and Vlad wasn't presumptuous enough to think that Oliver would take his word over his friend's. Still, there was no possible way he was admitting to murder, so he'd simply have to put his usual spin on the story.

"For some reason Aiden seems to believe I was involved in the death of someone close to him. Considering the fact that I never even met him before he moved here, I have no idea why he thinks that - but I have no doubt that my fable has something to do with it." He sighed, shaking his head as he kept an eye on the elevator's slow descent. "I expect nothing less, however. Of course people would assume that if my tale is Dracula then I must be just like him." His tone was clearly sarcastic, edged with bitterness - despite some of the rumors being true, he was getting tired of it.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

veridicality
2010-07-26 01:15 am UTC (link)

Hearing the other man's story made him relax slightly, a small nod coming to his head. "It's unwise to assume anything about anyone in this place, I believe," Oliver said quietly, his own tone even and impartial. "After all, our stories do not define us. None of us were aware of them before moving to this building, right? So I can only think that the building thought us right for these certain roles, and assigned them to us."

Oliver paused at that, then let out a laugh, shaking his head. "I'm talking about this place as though it as a mind of it's own. Perhaps I'm starting to lose my sanity here!" He glanced over towards Vlad for a moment, then exhaled, looking back to the lights that indicated the ascent of the elevator. "Aiden is... a passionate man. I do not know anything but your side of this story, but something has made him believe strongly in this so..." A pause, trying to collect his words carefully. "He's stubborn. I keep hoping I might be able to talk some sense into him."

There was another small laugh, nervous and tense. "Part of me wonders if I ought to simply sit the pair of you down and we can work out your differences together. My story may be a psychologist, but I've never been good at things like that. Perhaps I should try." He laughed again, quiet and to himself, glancing back towards Vlad. One might notice, if they were observant and open enough, that Oliver's voice had a strange quality to it; the ability to lull, to ease and comfort, and in that quality also lay a strange and somewhat powerful suggestibility. He was unaware of this himself, however.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

nobleblood
2010-07-26 07:16 pm UTC (link)

"Unwise, perhaps, but that hardly stops people from doing it all the same." Practically everyone in the building based their judgments on fables, and he was fairly sure that even Oliver had done it a few times - even if it was done unconsciously. "None of us were aware of them, no. Whatever reason the building had for assigning us our tales is a mystery, although it can be guessed at." Vlad knew very well why he became Dracula, but he had to keep pretending that he didn't.

His smile wasn't quite false, but it was lacking in any real amusement. "Sometimes this building does seem to have a mind of its own." With a distinct lack of evidence to back up the belief that there was someone behind all of this, it made sense that the building could have been like some kind of living entity. At the subject change back to Aiden, he simply sighed. In all honesty he had no idea how the man had followed him here, nor did he know why - aside from his fable - he believed so strongly that it was he who killed Aiden's sister. There was no evidence, nothing that he left behind - not even the police suspected him. Why would Aiden be any different?

That made him actually laugh. "I highly doubt sitting down and talking about our differences would help anything." For a moment he frowned, sensing something different about Oliver's voice, but he couldn't put his finger on it and simply shrugged it off. "You could try, I suppose. But not everything can be solved by discussions."

(Reply to this) (Parent)