fangednconfused (fangednconfused) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2020-07-26 23:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | derek mitchell, nesryn rowan |
No Use In Dwelling
Who: Nesryn Rowan, Derek Mitchell
What: Meet and Greet
Where: Searchlight, Storage Unit
When: Present, Night
Ratings/Warnings: PG/None
Derek rarely went to Searchlight. He didn’t often have a need to. The only reason he ever ventured to the small town was to visit a small, 5’ by 10’ foot room in a public storage facility. The unit belonged to his sire, but he had kept up the payments on it after she ditched him for another city. Sometimes he wondered why she didn’t just behead him and get it all over with.
He entered the cement-blocked room. It wasn’t full of much; mainly some dresses, shoes, odds and ends. The main point of interest was an old cracked iPhone, set on the floor and connected via charger to the lone power outlet. Derek sank to the floor and separated the device from its white tether.
Thumb brushed over the cracked glass screen. He went into the photo app, flipping through various images of his past. Hanging out with friends. Inane selfies. Some pictures of his family. They looked less and less familiar each time he visited.
The vampire got lost in his thoughts, the cycle broken only when he heard the clatter of a unit door being slammed closed next to him. In all his visits here, he had never run into another person. Curious, he peeked his head out of the unit.
Nesryn held the key to her unit between her teeth.
At five foot three the large door may have been nearly impossible to close. But thank goodness for powers. A leap and she grabbed the metal door, hauling it down gently as she landed. Dexterously it eased closed. The last thing she wanted was to break the door, to have to replace it. She couldn’t afford that, and her dad had cut her off from any funding now that she’d run off.
A breath and she brushed her hands together once the door was secured. The fob came from between teeth and it would be locked. Down the corridor would the clink of the metal echo like a song.
Brian has left her a few things on her doorstep. She left the tangible things here for safekeeping.
A step backward and she caught a scent - earth and decay. Nesryn would turn and her eyes caught the glimpse of a head sticking out of the unit next door. A smile coupled with a wave. “Hey!”
Derek stepped out onto the public walkway, extremely curious at what he would find. The scent had reached him before the sight of her. It reminded him of visiting the redwoods back in California. There was a pang somewhere in his navel, an unexpected twisting sensation. Then he saw her, a diminutive brunette. When she smiled, it made him smile, his usual big toothy grin. He instantly forgot his previous melancholy.
“Hey.”
He stuffed his hands into his hoodie pockets. “Storage neighbors,” Derek remarked, then winced inwardly. Awkward.
Her smile only widened.
“Yeah! Who knew?” She would laugh. The musical sound echoed through the storage corridor. “Too bad there’s nothing good in there,” she commented, motioning to the locker ahead of her. “Just a bunch of junk from another lifetime.” That part was said with a sigh.
She wouldn’t keep this guy, he seemed preoccupied. She couldn’t pick up on a heartbeat, but that didn’t mean anything to her. No place to judge anyone, not the way she’d been raised to do.
“Well, neighbor, I’ll see you around.”
The sound of her laugh echoed in his ears, his heightened sense of sound catching the melodiousness of it. Hearing that made him realize how lonely he had been feeling. Even around another vampire like Wren, he could still sense that gulf, the same one that dampened his mood if he let himself think too much.
“Wait!”
Derek took a step toward her, then stopped, trying not to seem threatening. “Um...what’s your name?”
She blinked. Paused.
“Uh, I’m Nesryn,” she offered, lamely. Her brow would furrow though. “Are you — are you okay?” She hoped she wasn’t intruding but a bit of something came at her and it was in her nature to ask. Into the pockets built into her exercise pants went the storage key.
There was barely a sliver of light in the corridor. Down the way flickered a bulb needing attention. But she could see him clearly as if it were the daytime.
“Oh…” The question had caught him completely off-guard. What’s more, she seemed genuinely concerned. It was disarming. She also didn’t smell like any other human he had ever met, but she definitely wasn’t a vampire, that much he could tell. “No, I’m not really okay,” Derek relented.
“I’m Derek, by the way. I don’t think I said.” He smiled again, crookedly, trying not to stare. “I, um...come here to think, I guess. But I don’t know if thinking is helping me right now.”
That smile faded at the confession.
Maybe he was here remembering. Some people came here to do that. Her ears were sharp; she left most people alone but once in a while she couldn’t help but feel her heart shatter at the murmurs of memories uttered when one felt no one could hear them.
“Nice to meet you, Derek,” she offered, making herself smile if only for him. Her movement after was quick. He could throw her off if he wanted, she half expected it, but with the closed distance, her arms would wind around him and pull him close into a hug. He looked like he could use one.
And then she stepped backward, sheepish. “Sorry. I, uh, thought you could use a hug.”
He had automatically put his arms around her, then let them fall to his sides when she backed away. Now he did stare at her, as much in awe as anything. “I haven’t had a hug in ten years,” he blurted out before thinking.
“Um, yeah, that was nice. Thanks. Can’t think of too many people who would care enough to hug a stranger.”
Derek let himself smile again. “Nesryn,” he added, saying it just to feel the name in his mouth.
And just like that, her heart broke for him. People didn’t like pity - she knew that, but she couldn’t help the sadness that overtook her. Who hadn’t been hugged in a decade? Everyone deserved a hug.
“No problem. I doubt many people go around hugging strangers.” It was better to be cautious but then she could take just about anything that posed as danger. Plus his arms felt good around her, grip strong. She knew that.
His smile brought back her own. “Yup. That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” It came out playful but also with a laugh that suggested she thought the delivery was lame. While she didn’t know the origin of it, it meant Wild rose fragrant and pure, the rawest and bare of the fragrant flowers. Her mother had chosen it.
This girl is adorable. The thought sprang into his mind like a sneeze. He couldn’t help it. And that made him feel awkward and lumbering and even taller than usual. He put his hands back into his pockets, a comforting gesture when he didn’t have anything else to occupy himself.
“It’s late,” Derek suddenly realized, looking around them. He didn’t know anyone in Searchlight, really, but he knew of its reputation thanks to his maker. There had to have been another vampire there, or possibly other creatures that he was not at all familiar with. “Are you sure it’s safe to be out here alone?”
Hypocrite.
It was late. That was fair.
Nesryn shrugged. “What’s out there? The boogeyman?” She had more skeletons in that storage unit than she wanted to remember. Being afraid had fallen away long ago. There was stuff to fear - other wolves for instance - but she didn’t want to live in paranoia. This wasn’t her turf and playing by the rules would keep her alive.
Her eyebrows had lifted. The smirk played ar the corners of her lips but she didn’t show any hesitation or fear. What was he going to do?
“I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to an escort back to my car,” she murmured, throwing a thumb over a shoulder in the direction her mustard-colored Kia was parked. If he was done moping, that was.
Derek looked over at the car. The color reminded him of hot dogs. He missed enjoying food. Real food. “Yeah, I think I can manage that. Although, maybe you’ll protect me. Subvert those expectations.” He grinned, tugging on one of his hoodie strings.
There was an air of the unafraid about her. Not afraid to hug him, not afraid to be out late at night by herself. Open. That was it. It wasn’t a quality one experienced a lot of in Las Vegas. “Do you work in a restaurant?” he asked curiously as they began walking to the car. “You smell a little like french fries. Not in a bad way! French fries are dope.”
“Hey, they don’t call it the modern age for no reason,” she offered, shrugging. Who knew. Maybe she would protect him. But they had very few heroines at the box office these days. The world was changing, though.
Upon the toes of her sneakers, Nesryn twirled gracefully and then began to walk normally beside him. He was much taller but she wasn’t phased, keeping stride quite easily.
When he pointed out that she smelled like fries her eyes widened and she looked horrified. The hem of her shirt lifted, she inhaled the fabric, finding only softener to greet her senses. And then her nose crinkled and she laughed. “Yeah, Terrible’s Roadhouse. Have you heard of it?” It was right off the highway, something about a Gold Nugget.
“Yeah, I pass that place on my way here. I come in from Vegas,” Derek explained. “I used to think it was crazy how gambling is literally everywhere here. There were even slots in the airport. Now I’m used to it. But I still think a diner with a casino attached is funny.”
He turned to look at her in the moonlight. It was different here, the light blue-ish against her features. There was a small twig or something like that in her hair. Derek reached out to pick it away, and it mussed up the strands. Without thinking, the vampire’s fingers smoothed it down. Soft.
Most everyone knew Terrible’s. Awful name for a franchise but it wasn’t her business to tell anyone that. The food was alright and if you liked a lot of noise, things were peachy. “It gets loud,” she laughed, making a face. The first time she had heard the slots slamming with Jackpot she had nearly gone into a frenzy. But now she was used to it.
Those light brown eyes caught the moonlight offering a kaleidoscope of hues littered with beams of starlight and the depth of the mother herself. And as his fingers brushed through her hair she blushed, cheeks red.
Fingers would fish out the fob for her car and the headlights blinked cheerfully as always.
Derek noticed the blush and put his hand down, embarrassed. She would think he was a creep. A giant storage-unit skulking sad creep. Good one.
He watched the car come to life, a little sad. He knew it was a short walk, but he wasn’t really ready to be alone again. Maybe he should just bite the bullet and throw out the phone. What was the point of keeping it? Derek wasn’t really worried about the ping being picked up. He was sure his missing person's case had been closed long ago. It just didn’t seem all that helpful to keep revisiting the past.
“I guess I’ll see you around, Nesryn. Maybe I’ll come in for some fries.”
Many people didn’t have the chance to get close to her like that. She was a young woman in a strange place - recently she had let a stranger bleed all over her car and in her apartment but that was different. He needed real help. But this was different. Wasn’t it?
She chewed at a full bottom lip, offering a wiggle of fingers in a wave. “Sure! That’d be great.” She worked mostly at night except for the weekend or once in a while, she picked up a day shift for the extra cash. Terrible’s was becoming a second home. “See you around, Derek. Don’t be a stranger.”
“Bye, Nesryn.”
He slipped the twig into his hoodie pocket furtively, then opened the car door for her. It was, luckily, unlocked or he would have looked like a total tool. If he hadn’t already.
“Thanks!” She chirped, sliding into the car. Buckled, she waved, and then the mustard-colored crossover was backing up from the storage place. She offered a wave and a smile then cruised along back toward her apartment.