fangednconfused (fangednconfused) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2021-03-08 21:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | brianna winters, derek mitchell |
Dreams and Nightmares
Who: Brianna/Derek
What: The Tour Continues
Where: Las Vegas, the Venetian
When: Present
Ratings/Warnings: Low
Derek had purchased the tickets for the Venetian Resort’s gondola ride back when he was planning Brianna’s Vegas tour. His motivations had been two-fold at that point; he truly did want her to get out and see the city that was beyond the walls of Brasserie Le Breeze, but he also had romantic aspirations. But he promised her that they would continue as they had been, as friends, and he had meant that.
He turned to her now, their boat coming to rest, the gondolier perched cheerfully at the helm. The vampire held out a hand to assist Brianna into the gondola. “You ready?” he asked her with a warm smile.
Brianna returned the smile, took a breath and placed her hand in his as she nodded. Since the night of their dinner she had gone through a waterfall of emotions, from the thrill of having someone want to spend their life with you, to knowing that path led away from the life she so desperately wanted. She’d felt a sadness she really hadn’t expected, and she had realised it was all to do with the reality of their situation. Derek had become a very close friend, someone she could talk to about what she was going through with her abilities, who wouldn’t steer away from anything in conversation, and who had been through so much in his own life that he could relate to why things were important to her. He’d opened up about how he felt, been honest with who he’d been and how he’d changed, determined to live differently to what his kind was pre-destined to be. And one thing they both knew is that he wouldn’t, couldn’t lie to her.
When she’d first met him he was married and in search of the person who turned him, though she hadn’t known that at the time, just that he was looking for a woman who had happened to visit Brasserie le Breeze a few times. She’d enjoyed their conversation and was pleased when he’d returned to meet ith Radek. And then even moreso when he’d come that night and confirmed his offer to be her ‘Tour Guide’ was still good. So much had happened since then, and so very quickly. His marriage had ended, he’d found the woman who’d turned him, Brianna had had more intensive training in her abilities, and they’d become closer still.
And it wasn’t until that night, at his home, that she realised their current realities were what was also going to keep them as close friends. Just close friends, and that’s when she’d realised how much she felt for him. And when the sadness had set it. Could she change her own desire - to have children, naturally, by the man she loved and who loved her in return? Her creation, hers and Juliet’s, had always left her feeling ‘unwanted’ and she knew Juliet felt the same, or had when they were children. Her twin’s answer was to go out and hunt, become part of a ‘family’ in her own world. They both knew their father loved them in his own way, but his absenteeism had contributed to their sense of isolation.
As Brianna stepped into the private, 2-person gondola she gripped Derek’s hand a little tighter. The small narrow vessel moved a little as the weights shifted, but the gondolier gave her a reassuring smile from behind Derek. “I think so!” she replied with a slightly nervous laugh. When Derek had told her that their destination was ‘nautical in nature’ she had chosen to wear a pair of fitted jeans, topped with a striped t-shirt and denim jacket, with a pair of leather flats. While she’d been surprised when they arrived at the Venetian it certainly made sense to her, given it was actually daylight outside. It was another aspect of a relationship with Derek that she was still to get used to. “At least we don’t have to worry about the wind whipping up waves!” she added as she took her seat.
He settled beside her, also quietly glad about the lack of waves. Derek realized he had never told Brianna about his phobia of large bodies of water. “I think the canal isn’t too deep, either,” he noted, peeking over the side of the narrow boat. The vampire hadn’t seen her since that night in his trailer, but he had told her about the hunter who attacked him. The bruises and marks had faded by then.
“And now we sit back and pretend we’re in Italy, right?”
She joined him in glancing over the side, trying to see if they could see the bottom, but all she could see was the reflection of the roof displaying clouds overhead in the ripples caused by the gondola being pushed out from the dock. “I think so!” she nodded with a laugh, looking back at the gondolier briefly, who nodded. “Without the jet lag!” she added as she settled into her seat, her hand comfortably resting in Derek’s, as they floated along the ‘canal’.
“How are you?” she asked, looking down at his neck where a large bruise had already faded, then down at his ribs before looking back at him. “It doesn’t hurt any more?”
His hand unconsciously went to the spot where the hunter Lee had struck him the hardest. Derek gave Brianna a reassuring smile. “It doesn’t even hurt at all anymore,” the vampire told her quietly. “I’m pretty sturdy.” He looked at her next to him, that same old urge to touch her face rearing up. He imagined taking the thought, crumbling it into a ball, and kicking it far away from himself.
“How have you been?” Derek asked her as the soft sounds of water being displaced by the gondolier’s oar could be heard beneath them.
She gave him a smile, but a hint of the tiredness she felt was in her eyes. The broken sleep she’d been having for the past few weeks were starting to take a toll on her, but when she was at le Breeze she always managed to put on her ‘manager’ face and deal with everything each day. But here, now, sitting in a small boat and ‘traveling through Venice’ she let out a sigh she hadn’t realised she’d been holding in. “A little tired,” she quietly admitted, looking away from him to look ahead at the small bridge they were passing under. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze as she added, “it’s OK, I’m alright, and work has been busy, but nothing more than usual, I just haven’t been sleeping well.”
Derek regarded her with a look of concern. “Trouble sleeping?” he repeated before looking down at their entwined hands. “Is it something you should talk to a doctor about, or is it…” He glanced at the gondolier, unsure of whether he could hear their conversation or not. “Could it be something else?” The ‘else’ being a pointed yet veiled reference to Brianna’s psychic abilities.
It was something she’d always noticed about Derek, his concern for others. “I’m lucky enough to have my own personal physician on hand, at least every Wednesday!” she reminded him teasingly. Radek was aware of her dreams having started to disturb her sleep, and had offered to bring her a tonic if she wanted, which she told Derek, then added, “but for the moment I want to see where they’re going.” She shook her head as she continued. “I don’t feel threatened by them, like I have in the past times I’ve had some, but I am getting more each time.”
She lowered her shields for a brief moment and heard the gondolier running through a song list, recognising one of them and turning to give him a broad smile, asking him if he could sing them that song by name. The man smiled broadly and was soon serenading them.
Brianna looked at Derek, smiling, knowing the gondolier now couldn’t over hear them. “I think it’s something to do with my sister, Juliet. It’s been so long since I’ve heard from her, and I’ve tried to call her cell but it’s always going straight to voicemail.” She turned to look ahead again, the smile still on her face as the song sounded from the walls of the buildings along the canal. “I wanted to check what was happening with her, if what I’m dreaming about is something that’s happened, or if it’s just me, or what,” she continued, then sighing, “I just don’t know. And this is… new.”
Derek listened to her intently, giving a chagrined look at the mention of Radek. Due to his own experiences with the doctor, he thought of him more in the context of a patcher of bullet holes and stab wounds. It was fortunate that Brianna was close to him, knew about her, and could help her. “That must be discouraging and worrisome,” he said. “Not being able to talk to her.”
He squeezed her hand lightly. “Have you thought about trying to locate her? Maybe Gabe could help.”
She nodded slowly. “He’s been away a bit lately, family business, down in South America, so I haven’t asked him yet.” Her free hand reached up and went through the motions of tucking an errant piece of hair behind her ear, then smoothing over the perfectly coiffed head before giving the bun a light check. As she lowered her hand back to rest on the side of the gondola she inhaled softly. “I was thinking of asking another, who Gabe knows, if he could help. I’ve heard he’s done that sort of thing before.” When he brought a group of them together, mostly strangers, with some sort of location spell.
“And I know some hunters,” Derek added. “You know, ones that don’t try to kill me. If you wanted, I could ask and see if they know a friend who knows a friend.” The vampire was quiet for a moment, the sound of the man’s singing taking over as he watched people walking along the banks of the ‘canal’, posing for photos and watching the boats sail by. “What happens in the dreams?”
She was thinking about his offer to ask around among hunter friends, thinking that would probably be a good start when the gondolier reached a quite rousing and loud chorus of the song he was performing. A number of people crossing the small bridge they’d just gone under joining in with him made it even louder. She smiled at Derek and turned to look back at their gondolier and the other singers, laughing and giving them some applause as the boat continued, and the singer started into the next verse and the boat continued along the waterway.
Derek clapped along with Brianna, his attention being pulled from their conversation. He wondered what the appropriate tip was for a gondolier. Fifteen percent? The vampire would probably err on the side of caution and go with twenty.
Settling back into her seat she returned her hand to Derek’s and thought for a moment about her dream. “I haven’t been able to figure out what’s happening, yet, but each time it seems like there’s more? At first it was just… shadows, and sounds, mostly muffled. But now it’s… it starts as if someone is walking then running, I can’t tell if they’re being chased, or they’re doing the chasing. And then being tied, or something like ropes…” she shook her head as she remembered the sounds and images, having been over them a number of times already, telling Radek, and trying to figure it out herself. “And dragging, you know, something being dragged across a floor, and it’s cold. Very cold, which is only at the end… “ Her voice trailed off as she found herself inside that space again for a moment, then blinked and realised where she was. “No, I’m sorry, this isn’t what we are here for!” she told him, giving his hand a squeeze. “We can talk about it later… because now we’re in Venice!”
He gave her a concerned look. The imagery she described did sound disturbing. When she mentioned something being dragged, he couldn’t help but think of a body, but Derek knew mentioning that would be the very opposite of helpful. Instead, he told her, “We can talk about whatever you want, whenever you want. You don’t have to worry about that.”
She nodded, a little grateful, and wanting to spend this time enjoying his company and the place they were in. “Have you ever traveled? Or ever wanted to travel?” she asked, looking up at the mock buildings and sky.
He was wondering when that question would be asked. With a look of embarrassment, he thought about the best way to answer that. “I have thought about traveling, a lot, actually.” Derek followed her gaze up to the perfect blue ‘sky’ and fluffy clouds. “I’m afraid of airplanes,” the vampire admitted. It felt stupid to say it out loud, and it was something he eventually wanted to conquer. “Even though I’ve never actually been on one. I’ve never left the western United States.”
Derek chanced a glance at Brianna. “I bet you’ve been all over. You’re so sophisticated.”
It surprised her, his admission, but his assumption left her a little bemused. “Really? I don’t like planes either!” she told him, “or at least the big ones. Just being inside that long thin tube hurtling through the sky with a huge group of complete strangers?” She closed her eyes for a moment and shuddered. She knew it was partially due to having had a big phobia about being trapped with a lot of people when she was young and didn’t know how to ‘turn off’ the ability to hear their thoughts, but part of it was also her fear of heights. “I’m not very good with heights, either,” she added and told him of one of the extremely rare occasions their father had taken them anywhere other than his lab. “He took us to the inaugural World Science Fair in New York back in 2008 I think it was, but that had been on the company jet, and both Bartholomew and ‘Nanny’ had come with us. They had to keep me distracted the whole trip there and back, with the window blinds closed.” It was at this point she shook her head.
“It wasn’t until I was offered this, here, that I’ve lived anywhere but Boston,” she admitted.
“I also have a thing about water,” Derek added. “Not like this,” he gestured to the artificial canal beneath him. “Like the ocean, and rivers, and when you drive over a bridge and there’s nothing but water underneath.” It was the thought of a huge expanse of nothing, of getting lost in it and no one being able to ever find him that was the scariest part. The vampire was quiet for a moment, seeming to get lost in his thoughts, before speaking again.
“Are you still in contact with your father?”
The jump in direction caught her a little off kilter and she shook her head, looking down at the water that was passing by the side of the boat. “No,” she answered softly. “He went to Europe when I went to university, his family was opening a manufacturing plant and laboratory there, to establish a foothold in the EU. He was the one sent to hold high the family crest.” She gave a fleeting smile as she looked up at the facades of the buildings lining the canal. “For all I know he could be floating down the real canals of Venice,” she said wistfully. “I hope he is, and enjoying the company he has with him as much as I am,” she added, giving his hand a light squeeze as the boat slowed a little to negotiate a corner.
Derek listened to Brianna talk and was struck by something. While she had a small network of immortals helping her, she didn’t seem to have the same group of friends and family as he did. As much as the vampire complained, he could go back to his parents’ house whenever he wanted, he could ask for their help whenever he needed.
He returned the squeeze. “I can’t imagine how that must feel,” he told her softly. “With your sister being out of touch, and your dad.” Then he decided to try a lighter note. “If you wanted, my parents could adopt you. They would probably like another successful adult in the family.”
She blinked, surprised at the offer, and laughed softly. “What a lovely thought!” she said, her smile widening as an eyebrow arched a little and she looked at him a little sideways. “But… uh, wouldn’t that then make us brother and sister?”
He stared at her for a long moment, the logic clicking into place and he swear he nearly blushed. “Umm, yeah. Let’s just scratch that from the record, shall we?” Derek laughed, embarrassed, then cast around for a change of subject. It was one thing for Brianna to tell him that she saw him as a friend, and quite another for him to shoehorn himself into that category even further. “Anyway, did you ever picture yourself here? On a boat with a vampire in the middle of Las Vegas?”
“No, I can probably say with complete certainty that that was never something I saw in my future,” she replied with mock seriousness, tapping her chin with her forefinger as she put on a look of concentration. “Weres on the other hand, I had definitely imagined a therianthrope,” she teased. “I’ll have to work on that list, won’t I?” she continued, the seriousness melting as she laughed.
“Oh, no,” Derek deadpanned. “Not the old were versus vampire trope. Do I need to battle a therianthrope? Possibly shirtless?”
Brianna laughed, about to shake her head but then stopping and looking at him, wide-eyed, and putting on a ‘Southern Belle’ accent. “But oh my dear sir! Would you be doin’ that fo’ li’l old me?” she squeaked, struggling to maintain the accent. “Why, Ah nevuh had no-one offuh to fight fo’ me like this!” lifting her free hand and pressing the back of it to her forehead, then giving up trying to keep it going, instead falling back into her seat, laughing.
Derek watched her, almost flabbergasted but with an amused grin nonetheless. “I can’t tell if you’ve always secretly been this ridiculous, or if I’m wearing off on you,” the vampire joked.
Smiling she gave his hand a squeeze. “Maybe a little of both?” she suggested with a wink, continuing on with the answer to what he’d actually asked earlier.
“I can’t say I ever really expected to be even living in Las Vegas, to be honest. I mean when I was at university, I just knew I wanted to be somewhere other than Boston. Anywhere. When my employer offered me this I had no idea what it would entail, or that she had plans on me replacing the then manager!”
“What did you study in college?” he asked. “I never went, surprisingly.” Derek shot her a self-deprecating grin.
“Business,” she answered, “it was that or psychology, and as I’d already had a good taste of what goes on in people’s heads I decided I didn’t want to spend years studying it in classrooms. Not to mention it’s such a subjective area…” her voice trailed off for a brief moment before she continued. “... whereas business, and numbers? Well, they’re pretty much a part of everything, so I did that instead.”
“Plus, business and numbers are pretty concrete, right? Though I supposed your particular...talent, helps in the business world sometimes.” Derek looked down again at the water, tempted to dip his hand in as they sailed along, before spotting a ‘keep hands and feet inside the gondola at all times’ sign. “I never knew what I wanted to do. I made the mistake of telling Veronica that, before she…” He trailed off. “If I had to do my life all over again, I’m not sure what I would do differently. If I was ever really good at anything.”
“Well, according to one of my professors you don’t necessarily have to be good at something you want to do, you just have to ’fake it till you make it’! And in some ways it’s true, though I don’t think it’s a good idea for someone set on being, for example, a surgeon, or pilot, or for race car drivers! Those people? They really need to know what they’re doing!
”But other than that, what would you really love to be doing? I mean, of all the things in the world you could do, if having the training, or skills was a foregone conclusion, what would you look forward to being able to do tomorrow?”
Derek looked down at their hands thoughtfully. “A friend recently asked me a similar question, and I didn’t really have an answer. What do I enjoy doing? Taking care of my friends. Being there for them. Being loyal, and brave, and not selfish. Trying my best to be those things. But that’s not really a career, is it?” He smiled somewhat sadly.
She thought for a long moment as the boat approached another small bridge. "Well, they're all traits that are good for protectors, like for example police officers, or guardians… or body guards. You know, like in that old movie with the singer and the man who was her, well... Bodyguard?" She looked up at him and smiled. "You'd be good at that, you're loyal, and brave, and smart, and have really good hearing and eyesight, right?"
“I think you might be the first person I ever met who described me as smart,” Derek laughed, looking up as someone took a picture of their gondola. “I don’t think I’d make a bad bodyguard,” he agreed. “But I would definitely need to take the night shift. It’s okay when I’m indoors like this,” he gestured up to the fake painted clouds and sky above them. “But I’m not as strong when the sun is out. That’s an idea, though.” The vampire gave her a grateful smile.
She looked up at the roof above them, then at him. “Yes, I can imagine a lot of careers would be a bit difficult given that part, especially here in Nevada, but at least in Las Vegas it’s a bit easier, given most people come here for the night life,” she suggested.
She paused, then asked quietly, “what actually happens? If you’re in the sun.”
Derek felt a lot more comfortable discussing that than drinking blood in front of her. “I’ve always described it as having a really bad flu. I get really tired, and weak. I know if someone came after me, I wouldn’t be able to fight them off.” He hesitated, before adding, “One time I was in the sun for hours. I had to walk from the middle of the desert into the nearest town. At the end, I basically collapsed on the road. That’s how I met my friend Ronnie. He literally picked me up and dusted me off.”
He was quiet for a moment. “I miss being able to just exist normally during the day. Vegas might come alive at night, but there’s a lot that I miss doing. That’s why places like this are so cool to me. I can be like everybody else.”
Her heart ached when she heard him talk of the things he couldn’t do, the parts of life taken for granted by most of the population. And just as she had that night at dinner, again she realised ,how much she’d come to care for him, and thought about him, and missed him when she hadn’t seen or heard from him. There was no ‘oh but you are like everyone else!’ types of platitudes that could be offered to brush it off. No ignoring of his, their, reality. He was a vampire.
“Have… has… anyone ever… been changed back?” she asked.
Her question made him pause, surprised. He hadn’t ever thought about that before, not really. Of course he wished he could turn back time and not go off with the vampire who would change his life forever. But actually reversing the condition? “I...I don’t know,” Derek told her. “I’ve never looked into it. I mean, I don’t even know if that’s possible.” But couldn’t it be? A bubble of hope grew inside of him, thin and fragile but present. And that was dangerous to him. Because if he let himself believe in that possibility, it would hurt even more when he found out it wasn’t possible.
“Maybe magic? I guess I could talk to some people.”
That he hadn't looked into it made her sad, but in a way she could understand. That he hadn't heard of anything raised her concerns. "Do you know any others? Like you?"
“Oh, a few,” Derek answered with a grin, looking more like himself again. “There’s one who doesn’t feed on humans, either, but I don’t think she cares for me very much. We only met once, but apparently I got on her nerves. Hazard of being me. Sometimes I rub people the wrong way, I guess.” They were coming to the end of their scheduled ride, at which point he was going to suggest they go and get some of the resort’s famed gelato.
“And there’s someone else. He feeds on humans, but like...he knows how to do it without killing the person.” As he explained this, he became somewhat visibly uncomfortable. “I, um...I don’t.”
She didn't need her abilities to know he was uncomfortable with the admission, but she also wanted to know him better and this was part of who he was now, fangs and dietary requirements and all. The landing came into sight and she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as she readied to disembark.
"Then we need to ask him what he can teach you!" she said with a bright smile. "It's always good to learn new things!"
Derek waited as the gondola came to a stop, the gondolier readying the small watercraft so they could exit. “That’s kind of what I was thinking,” he admitted. “But I wouldn’t do it without someone’s permission. And I would never ask you to…” He was talking too fast again, worried he was saying the wrong thing. “It’s still kind of weird for me to talk about.”
He disembarked the boat first, then offered Brianna assistance. “Change of topic. Do you want to get some ice cream?”
She swallowed and took his hand as she stepped gingerly from the small boat onto the landing, her free hand holding her purse firmly against her body.
"Great topic," she told him, "and yes ice cream is definitely called for." She turned and thanked their gondolier, complimenting him on his singing with genuine enthusiasm.
Derek fished out some cash and handed it to the man as a tip before falling into step beside Brianna. “So, the Las Vegas tour. How is it meeting your expectations so far?”
She smiled as she looked up at him, head cocked to one side for a moment before answering, “so far so good!” giving him a wink before returning to looking around. They were entering the area known as St Mark’s Square, the perfect replica of the location in Venice, and the atmosphere was wonderful. From street-front cafes and stalls to the restaurants and kiosks Brianna didn’t know where to look. “And this is amazing!” Again looking up at the detail on the ‘buildings’ and the ‘sky’ with its clouds overhead her eyes were wide with wonder. “I have heard the stories of our guests, and diners, about this place, and it really lives up to expectations,” she told him as they slowly made their way through the other guests and sightseers. She turned slowly, looking up and around at it all, laughing happily. “It almost makes me want to go and visit Venice!” she declared, before putting her hand on his arm.
“Give me a whole bottle of Xanax and a couple thousand dollars, and maybe we can,” Derek joked, steering her toward the little ‘shop’ that sold gelato. “I can sleep during the entire plane ride.” His eyes danced over the array of available flavors, a jovial smile on his face, but inwardly there was a tinge of sadness. Brianna didn’t really need him to go anywhere. And eventually, she would find someone to settle down with and all of her dreams would come true. And it wasn’t him.
“They have nutella,” the vampire remarked idly. “I think that’s the one I’ll get.”
His smile might have fooled others, but she knew there was sadness behind it, and again she felt it too. “I’m going to have the mocha,” she told him, “chocolate and coffee, the best of both worlds, and so good together.” She paused a moment, looking up at him as she squeezed his arm as she added, “like us.”