The little air elemental Who: Kenny and Artemis When: Just after dark Where: The streets and Artemis's home
With the craziness of demon attacks still ringing in his ears, despite the fact that they'd died down considerably in the last day or so, Kenny - and his curiosity - decided to take a nice little walk just after dark. That walk took him a ways from his house, but he really didn't mind. So long as he got back before dawn, he'd be alright. He wondered what had brought the demons to Scarlet Oak. Wondered if he'd run across one as he walked tonight. But more than that, he was curious why after showing up, they all of a sudden just stopped, or slowed as it were. It didn't make much sense to him and ever thinking as he was, as he walked down the sidewalk, all sorts of thoughts were pouring through his head.
"It just doesn't make sense." he said aloud to himself. "Not one little bit of it."
Artemis was less concerned about Demon attacks then she likely should have been. She wasn't about to cancel her life because of a few evil underworld things. Though it only proved to her that life wasn't as simple as she once though it to be. She had a giant bolt of lightening for anybody that wanted to mess with her. She had her own personal brand of mace so to speak. Artemis wasn't one to be scared off by a few bad eggs in the bunch.
Heading home from dropping off some paper work at a friends, she had opted to walk rather then take her bike. If she was staying in the town of Scarlet Oak, she tried to do her best to not use up gas and pollute the air. Walking (or flying if she so wished) was a lot more air friendly. There were people on the streets around her. Not as many as there might be at any one point during the summer, but a few were out and about. She was trying to avoid walking in to people and considered the fact she probably should have just flown home when she made the mistake of side stepping a small dog being walked by it's owner. She near bumped in to the man that had been walking near her and she looked up at him, apologizing. She needed to really pay attention to where she was going.
The voice of another person passing by caught her by surprise when she heard what they saying. "Life doesn't make sense, that's got to be something you learn in time hon." She quipped at him, happy enough to carry on her way if he didn't acknowledge her.
Kenny looked in the direction of the sound of the woman's voice and gave her a wide grin, though he forced himself to tighten it up a bit. She didn't want to make the girl run off because of his fangs after all. He hoped that she was far enough away to not have noticed them. "No, it doesn't." he agreed. He was quite knowledgeable about that fact. In all the years he'd walked the earth, it hadn't made a darn bit of sense and it probably never would.
He was surprised to see the woman out alone, what with the news of the demons and he couldn't help but arch a brow at her. "I didn't expect to see anyone out tonight." he told her honestly. "With everything that's been in the news I figured that everyone would be staying home. Are you on your way to yours?"
It was darker now, so she didn't notice his teeth if they had slipped past his lips. She wasn't really looking for them either. She thought perhaps he was just some young guy that was having a bad day, and wasn't having things make much sense to him. Which she knew how that felt. She'd had more then enough days like that to herself and they usually didn't end very well...Artemis tended to climb in to her roommates beds and curl up with ice cream. Or shouting 'Seriously!' at the ceiling. Those days weren't in abundance but enough to have her knowing exactly how she'd deal with herself on any particular day she was feeling that way.
"Demons can't keep us all locked away all the time. Besides I heard it had died down a little. And I have my secret weapon..." She said holding up her keys and the tiny little bottle of mace hung from them. "I'm not sure something that's used to fire and brimstone would be affected by it, but it's worth a shot right?" She said, lying a touch about just how much power she had. Again... lightening bolts. She wasn't so worried. She looked at him, not too many people asked you out of the blue if you were on your way home, at least not men you knew. Artemis wasn't too worried about him though, he seemed harmless enough. "Yup, that's where I'm going. Figured it'd be a good idea considering I need to get some dinner in to me." She shrugged a bit. She'd eaten a fairly late lunch, dinner didn't have to come until later...though that often meant cookies and ice cream in front of her TV too.
Kenny doubted that a tiny bottle of mace would do much good against a demon, but at least the girl was on her way home. "Well good." he said. "You'll be getting inside where it's probably safer." Maybe. He wasn't sure what the demons might be capable of. They seemed to be quite skilled at killing things so who knew if a lock would be a big thing for them to try and get past. "I'm Kenny." he said. "How rude of me not to introduce myself."
And windows, and wood. People thought their houses were safe, but there was no one safe place in this whole world. It was funny how people were lulled in to a false sense of security about how safe they really were. Nothing was impenetrable with the right tools. Demons weren't the type to go around willy nilly without what they needed either it seemed. Still, Artemis figured a bolt of lightening, visibility and flying gave her at least a dog's hair chance.
"It's okay. I'm Artemis." she put out her hand to shake his. "Nice to meet you. Should you really be out by yourself." She said, her eyebrows raising as if to say, she knew he was well younger then she was.
"Artemis." he smiled. "That's a very unusual name." That was probably rude, but Kenny wasn't quite as skilled in the present day's courtesies. Not that many people born in time to have learned the present day's courtesies really used them either. He smiled a tiny bit when she asked if he should be out by himself and he wondered what he should say. He wasn't ashamed of what he was and he drew a little breath and let out a small chuckle. "I'm sure I can take care of myself." he told her. "Don't want to scare you off, but I'm plenty capable."
She smiled, Artemis didn't think he was being rude. "I'd love to be able to say it was something my mother picked out because of it's greek origins. Artemis was after all the hellenic goddess of stuff like forests and hills hunting and fertility but no....my mother chose it because it was her favorite character in a romance novel." Artemis made a face. "I love my mother, but honestly, she couldn't even fib a bit and tell me something a little nicer then that?" She shook her head.
"Scare me off? What are you like, a karate master or something?" Artemis joked. "I can hold my own in the butt kicking area. Not through martial arts or anything but this girl has a little extra tucked up her sleeve. Everybody should in my opinion, nobody should lay their full hand out for all to see, you know?" She said conversationally.
Kenny smiled a little at her explanation of her name. He'd like to have thought that it was for the Greek origins as well. It sounded more interesting than saying it was from a romance novel, indeed. "Either way, it's a lovely name." Kenny told her. "Romance novel or not."
As for what would scare her off..., "Well," he began, letting out a little breath and taking a small step backwards. "I'm a vampire." he told her. "Not a karate master or anything, but I'm guessing vampire is a lot more frightening than a karate master. I have no plans to harm you though." he assured.
"Thanks. Mom means well but really, she wasn't all that cultured. She thought that moving from Alaska to Scarlet Oaks was going to be like, the most exciting thing to happen to her ever. I ended up bursting her bubble on that one." Artemis said laughing a little. Her mother had a good soul though. She knew why her father had married her mother.
When he stepped back she looked confused. Did she have bad breath or something? When he said he was a Vampire, she didn't flinch, nor look at all concerned. She was just quiet a moment before looking rather incredulous. "How absolutely odd it must be to go around going, 'Hey, I'm Kenny, I'm a vampire, but don't worry I don't want to suck you dry!'. That must be SO weird for you. It's actually kind of self degrading too, I mean, it's not like all of you Vampire's go around willy nilly sucking everybody dry. I mean it's not like Were's go around going, 'Hey, I'm John, I'm a Were Dog, but don't worry, I'm not going to bite you!'. I know I wouldn't go around saying, 'Sup? I'm Artemis, and don't worry, I won't hit you with lightening!'. That'd be just crappy every time you had to introduce yourself." Artemis prattled on. Sometimes she did that, for no real reason.
Kenny wasn't expecting that sort of reaction, but he welcomed it quite easily. Then she went and said she wouldn't strike people with lighting and that had him curious. "So you're not 'normal' either?" he asked, using little air quotes at the word normal. He hated that word sometimes. No one was normal in his opinion. Hell, he was sure it didn't even exist honestly. "But yes, it is sort of aggravating. While I do feed, I don't really care to kill people." Not that he hadn't ever killed a person, but that wasn't something he needed to go about telling the world.
"You can't tell?" Artemis asked, curiously. "I heard that you can smell the different races around. I don't think I smell much different, but I think that's mostly because you can smell the blood." She commented, bringing her arm up and sniffed her skin. She certainly couldn't smell a difference between her and others. "Maybe not what we are, but that we're different?" She questioned, curiously. She was likely just as curious about him as he was about her. If he was. Maybe he wasn't? Artemis tried to focus on the conversation at hand.
"Fascinating. I think if you did kill people you'd not be introducing yourself to them either. I mean, sure you got to eat, but introducing yourself and engaging in conversation would just be evil. Who wants to get to know their food? I don't go to the slaughter house and hang out with the cows before they go through on the line. I don't go and sneak in to chicken houses and get to know them before I eat a chicken burrito." She commented.
"Well yes, I can smell that you're different." he said. "But I didn't want to assume. Perhaps my nose isn't what it used to be." he teased. "It is the blood. It smells different than just a normal humans blood. Or a weres blood or a whole slew of different types of blood. I suppose it can be pretty fascinating now that I think about it. How easy it is to tell what people are. Or at least that they're not 'normal' I guess." he shrugged. "So, air then?" he asked the girl. "With the lightning and all."
"I don't prefer to get to know my food. I actually don't kill my food. I prefer to feed and leave people be. I don't really want to introduce myself and make it worse, ya know?" He chuckled at her comment about the cows and chickens. "Yes, that would be quite strange I guess. Though I can't say it wouldn't be funny to see you talking to the chickens and the cows."
Artemis bounced on the balls of her feet a little. She was listening to the man talking and wondered how old he actually was. She wasn't sure if it was rude to ask a Vampire how old they were, and she didn't want to seem NOVICE around him. She thought he was pretty awesome so far. Then Artemis tended to like the weird and strange. She'd grown up being the weird and strange. It was just habit for her to be drawn to it. "Yup, Air. Master. Can shoot down lightening whenever I so feel inclined." Talking about herself and her powers wasn't something she was interested in. "So do I smell good? Like, I don't know if you remember the smell of food, but like, I know to me, a pan of warm brownies is like an orgasm for my nose. I love it. It's the best thing I can think of. However when somebody's out and cooking bean sprouts I want to die. It's horrible. Is that what blood is like?" She asked curiously.
"You know, in all honesty, it wouldn't surprise me if I ever DID do it. I've danced with a whole chicken I was preparing for dinner before. Of course one of my roommates had DARED me to do it, but it's not like I can turn that DOWN. I mean, dancing around with a raw chicken. That's something kind of awesome and you can't really top it with much." She said thoughtfully. She had no idea she was rambling.
"In a way, yes." he nodded. "I find some forms of blood far more attractive smelling than others. I can't really speak for any of the other vampires I know, but to me you smell attractive. Which I guess can be taken as either good or bad, depending upon how you look at it. I'd taste you though." he admitted. "Though not without your permission. And heaven if that didn't sound absolutely horrible. My apologies. I'm really not that classless." he told her. The last thing he wanted was for the woman to think he was hitting on her in some odd vampire sort of way.
He chuckled at the girl and the thought of her dancing around with a chicken. "I'm sure it would be interesting to see you do that."
"You would?" She asked surprised but not at all upset. It was interesting to her that he'd want to have a drink. "Do you get people asking you to bite you a lot? That's got to be really weird. I couldn't imagine anybody going around asking me to hit them with lightening or something weird like that." She frowned a touch. It would be neat to have been bitten by a Vampire, but she didn't want to be one of those fan girls that went to Heme looking for somebody to bite them. She wasn't so much afraid but moreso curious. "It doesn't offend me, don't worry about it!" She said, when she realized he'd thought he'd been rude.
"It's kind of flattering really. I mean, not that I'm one of those women that want for this and hope for it their whole life. Some of them are really scary. But it's kind of cool if you think about it." She prattled on, thinking about all of it. "It takes a lot to put me off, in all honesty." She said thinking of Ren for a moment. If she could deal with his handsy way with her, and his eyes that stripped her down, he could deal with a Vampire who had more manners then the men she knew. Wind in Air, and he was DEAD and had better manners.
She wondered idly if he wouldn't mind visiting her and without thinking, she asked. "Do you like, want to come to my house? You can hang with me a while if you've got nothing else to do. My roommates will either be home or working, but they'll not bother us if I tell them to bug off. You're not like, something to bring home and parade around after all. I've got a big house and all that." She paused, "And that's not me like, hoping you'll do that thing you Vampire's do and all that, I just thought it'd be neat to talk or something." Oh now she'd been rude. Oops.
"I would." he nodded. It wasn't something he was ashamed to admit. She smelled good, so why wouldn't he want to bite her? "I do sometimes getting people asking me to bite them, so I try to avoid admitting what I am if I really don't have to. Not that I'm ashamed of it, but there's no point in telling everyone I'm a vampire, especially people I feel are sort of creepy, but you're definitely not creepy. At least you haven't been this far into conversation." he smiled.
It was nice to know that she found it flattering and he grinned at that. "I'm glad." he said. "It was meant to be flattering, not creepy or odd." he explained. "Sort of like... 'you're pretty' or 'you have nice eyes' or something." At least that's how he felt about it.
He was surprised when she asked him if he wanted to come back to her house, but he wasn't put off by it, in fact he wanted to jump at the chance of hanging out with a new person. Kenny always loved meeting new people and Artemis was interesting and fun and he wanted to talk to her more and there were demons out after all and he didn't want her out in that. "Well..." he said. "I'd love to." he smiled. "And you really shouldn't be out when there are demons wandering. Even if you do have lighting bolts at your beckon call." he said. "I can at least walk you home."
"Awesome." She grinned, feeling some what pleased with herself. At least she thought it was something to be pleased over. Then again Artemis was a little weird. "It's kind of hard not to admit it when you're talking to somebody face to face, right? I mean I see those little fangs there in your mouth when you talk. Then again maybe you don't show them as much when you're hiding? You're not sparkly after all." She grinned. No, no Kenny wasn't sparkly and she was extremely glad for that. "And that's kind of hilarious that the Vampire can find others creepy, but I guess it's like anything else." She tipped her head as she was thinking. "And I'm not creepy. Some people think I talk to much. I mean, I know I talk to much, but that's not something I'm ashamed of either."
The fact that it was in fact a compliment made her glow a little. Artemis really was strange sometimes. "Well you're the nicest Vampire I've ever met, likely to ever meet, so thanks!" She grinned tucking her hair back behind her ears.
She was glad when he said he'd come over. She hadn't meant it to be a weird invite. Sure she now had the idea at the back of her mind that he could very well bite her, and part of her wanted to at least try it once. She'd heard it could be really neat to have done. Then again, part of her didn't want to seem like those girls. She'd see how things went. "Oh come on, demons don't scare me." She said shaking her head. "I've seen much worse. I'm sure I could take one on." She said, beginning to walk towards her home, waiting for him to fall in to step beside her. "So do like...Vampires not worry about Demons then? I mean, technically, there's not much one could do to you that'd matter much." She said, thinking he was dead essentially.
"I guess I don't show them as much when I'm trying to hide them." Kenny agreed. "Not that I really go and try to hide them all that often. I do sometimes, but only when I don't want to bother people or frighten them." he explained. "And no, I don't sparkle. And I'd like to think that I'm far more attractive than any vampire that does. And that's not just tooting my own horn, but sparkly vampires, in my opinion, are pussies. Oh. I'm sorry... I didn't mean to say that out loud. That wasn't very polite." he muttered. He liked to have at least some manners. His parents had tried so desperately to instill them in him.
"You're welcome." he smiled. "I like to compliment people when they're deserving of them. And even sometimes when they're not." he chuckled.
"It's not that I don't worry about demons, but yes, like you said, there's not much a demon could really do to me that hasn't already been done to me at least once or twice." he chuckled. "So, shall we?" he asked. "You were going that way so I'm guessing that's the direction of home?"
She had to laugh. "Toot it! You're totally hotter then a sparkly Vampire, I can get on that wagon that you're pulling!" She agreed with him. He was a good looking fellow when you actually looked at him. Mind you, he still looked too young for her, but he was totally cute with his hair and clothes and everything making him look all hippieish. "You need to stop apologizing. It's not like you're being rude or anything. I've heard so much worse." She affirmed, thinking about the other men in her life. Maybe not from Andrew. He was a nice guy after all.
"Ugh me too. Sometimes people who don't deserve them just need them. And I'm never one to be mean like that if I can help it." She admit. It was just her nature to be nice like that at times. Other times she couldn't give two shakes of a rat's tail to care. She nodded her head. "Yup this way." She cocked her head in the direction she was facing. "It's not too far. I live in a heritage house I bought. I love it." She explained. "I bought it a while ago but it was mighty big to be living in it by myself so I got roommates. They're fun. I have a garage apartment too that I wouldn't mind finding a renter for, but for now, it's just we three girls."
He grinned at her. He liked that she thought he was hotter than a sparkly vampire. He was quite amused by that fact, actually. Kenny was slightly vane and it was one thing to toot his own horn, but when someone else tooted it for him, that was just all the better.
"Yeah." he nodded. "They do, definitely. I've had many people who just need to get a compliment or something. Such angry people in the world now a days." He nodded and began to walk slowly in the direction she was heading before they began to talk. "I bet it's lovely." And he definitely didn't mind walking into a house full of women. He liked women. Women were lovely. "Maybe I'll get to meet some of them." he smiled. "I like to meet new people."
Artemis understood the complexities, or there lack of, of the male brain. She couldn't imagine that they'd changed and evolved over the years he'd been alive. She didn't think anybody from say, the thirties, or the twenties would have dread locks. Very clearly from the sixties, if it was true that a Vampire didn't change much after they died. She kind of liked that though. Never got to meet a Hippie. It must have been nice to live all those years. Artemis had thought that it would be kind of neat. She didn't have any family ties in this world besides her mother. And her mother was getting older and older every time Artemis saw her. How hard would it be to leave the world behind as you once knew it? Odd thoughts.
"There are. I think that's why I don't like driving when I don't have to. Driving just turns everyday normal people in to crazy people." She commented. She loved her bike for that reason, she could dodge in and out of traffic and never really worried about getting hit. Artemis was...just a bit of a daredevil like that. "I like it well enough. It's home now. I used to live in Alaska, it's not the same up there as it is down here, but I plan on staying." She said tucking her hands in to her pockets as they walked. "You might! I don't know what they'll be up to, but it's possible. We're not the close minded sort!" She said, cheerily.
"I bet it's freezing up there." he said. "At least you're probably used to the cold." Kenny smiled. "So if I accidentally brush up against you, you won't jerk away and freeze to death." he murmured. Not that he thought that he'd really freeze her completely just by touching her, but it sounded good. Sort of. Okay, no it didn't, but whatever.
"Guess we'll see." he smiled. "So how was your day, Artemis?" Oh wasn't that a fun name to say. He loved it and wanted to continue saying it but he figured that would be odd if he continued to say her name over and over and over again.
"It's cold, yeah. And then there's the whole, summer for six months, winter for six months." She said laughing. "You get used to it though. I didn't mind it up there. It's a different life. You grow up and you really appreciate what's around you. Life was much simpler up there. Lonely though. Not too many people." She said thinking about Alaska. She missed it. There was no reason for her to go back now, but she still thought perhaps she would. "Nah. I don't get cold too often. Actually with how the weather's been, it being so muggy, a cold body would likely be appreciated!" She said cheerily. She was curious now though. "May I touch you?" She asked, holding up her hand, for his. She likely knew that was RUDE, but this was something that managed to make her not care.
She didn't mind him saying her name. It was her name after all. It was nice that he called her by her full name, not some random nickname like Art. She didn't answer to nicknames so the more he ingrained it in to his mind that it was Artemis, the happier she was. It was funny how she was happy to call people nicknames but refused to answer to any. One of her quirks. "My day was....demon free?" She said thinking back on it. "It wasn't very eventful. I was only just dropping off papers when we ran in to each other." She explained. "Work was work. Busy. It's insane right now though because of all the inspections on the air planes." She said, forgetting he didn't know what she did for a living. "And nobody at work trusts my handiwork. It's always right. More meticulous then some of the other guys, but still, they always have to double check it." she frowned.
He smiled at her and nodded a little taking her hand with his own. "You can touch me." he assured her, though that was already really obvious. "Well I'm glad your day was demon free. Where do you work though?" he questioned, arching a brow and turning his head to look in her direction.
She held his hand in hers a moment. It wasn't as cold as she had perhaps thought. Screw this cold as marble crap, she wouldn't get frost bite from touching him for any length of time. "You're not that cold." She said thinking of the other day when she'd gone ice skating with Andrew. She'd fallen a few times on the ice and it was likely colder then Kenny's hand was. "I wouldn't freeze to death by being hugged by you or anything." She concluded. Maybe Artemis just ran a little warmer. She wasn't sure. She knew that Water tended to make people dehydrate, and that Andrew had said he could wander around in the dead of winter and not be cold. Maybe it didn't bother Artemis because she was up in the clouds so often during flight. Maybe, maybe.
"Oh, God I'm such a air head sometimes." She said, giving him back his hand. "I work at the Airport for one of the airlines, I work on the planes." She said turning her hands over for him to see the lines that were etched with oil. She washed her hands over and over, but not all of the dirt would go away. It would only be completely gone if she took a vacation away. "They're clean I swear, it's just they never get clean enough." Artemis came to the end of the block and crossed the street, heading up to 7 Springs Road. "Isn't it horrible?" She asked, him, wrinkling her nose.
"A little oil never hurt anyone." he smiled at her. "At least I know you're hard working." Which was oddly attractive, honestly, of course he didn't dare mention that out loud. Perhaps the feminist movement had gotten women who could do well for themselves into his head or something. "It's not horrible by any means. And I guess I'm not as cold as like... a swim in the frozen river or anything like that. Not everyone wants to be hugging something cold though, I'll admit."
"That you do." She agreed, taking her hand back and hooking her thumb through her shorts belt loop while they continued on their way. She was somewhat glad Kenny didn't think her hands were horrible though. For some reason she thought it might offend him, and she didn't want to do that... Not that Kenny was of such high society and spoke like he was looking down on her. She was an internet junkie to a point and had wandered on to some forums talking about what it was like to meet a Vampire. Everybody had a different opinion. She had her own story now! But Artemis was pretty sure she was going to keep it to herself.
"Do you often getting people asking you to hug them as well? Ohh and kiss them? Being kissed by a Vampire...goodness I'm sure some people are about crazy for all of that stuff, huh, just as much as the biting?" She shook her head, remembering some of the other sites she'd stumbled upon talking about the fantasies that involved a Vampire. She blushed, just a tinge, remembering having read some of them. They were so crass and she was embarrassed now to have even indulged in them after meeting Kenny. He was nice after all.
He couldn't help but smile at her. "Well, I've never had people asking to kiss me." he told her. "Though I've had people hug me, yes. I'm sure people think about it, but they haven't went on asking me to do any of those things. Maybe I'm not their type though. I don't sparkle, after all." he chuckled. "Of course I think that's a good thing. At least I don't attract the thirteen year old girls."
"Huh." She said wondering if it'd be different. "Do your teeth get in the way when you kiss people?" She asked, actually wondering about it. She had a sudden flash that he's likely been asked all these questions before and they must be boring him to death. "Sorry if you've already told the answers to these questions like, a hundred thousand times. I am actually just curious." She promised. It'd be weird to tongue kiss somebody who had those extra long teeth she had to guess. She had such wandering thoughts sometimes. "I guess it's the unknown. But more acceptable. You're like, sort of alive. Mostly. Kind of." She wasn't really sure how else to put it, she hoped she wasn't offending him. "I mean, I'm sure people wonder what it would be like to kiss other things, but they'd never actually attempt it." She said, suddenly realizing she was being really gross. She tried not to face palm.
She turned up her street and could see her house a block and a half down. Almost home. "The minus sparkle factor has you scads above those Vamps." She said laughing. "It call comes in taste right? Thirteen year olds...well they should be wanting sparkly vampires." She said thinking about it. "I'd rather that then one chasing after one that was way...way...way too old for them and real." She shook her head. "I'm sure you're somebody's type." She affirmed, unable to hide a grin. It must have been really cool to be a Vampire and know that many a girl out there wanted to be with you. Kind of like being famous.
"Well, not for me." Kenny began. "I guess that's because I'm the one with them attached to me so I've learned, over the years of course, to manage the way I kiss a person. It's a bit interesting to get used to them for the people that I'm kissing, but they always are aware of them before I kiss them so it's not like they just randomly get stabbed by fangs in the midst of it without the warning beforehand." he smiled. "I don't mind answering questions about myself. If you're curious, I have no reasons to be rude about responding to your curiosities. I asked you questions. Feels only right to allow you to do the same." He didn't get offended at what she said about him being 'mostly' alive. He was. He knew he wasn't like every other human walking around. The heart in his chest was dormant and had been for decades. He was dead as far as anyone was concerned.
"Yes, I suppose I would rather the teenyboppers be chasing an imaginary vampire than a real one." he agreed. He didn't think that it was something that should really happen but he supposed in some dark corner of the universe there were vampire pedophiles. Yuck. "Perhaps I am someone's type. I suppose people have their own tastes so I might be someone's taste somewhere."
"Huh." She answered thinking it over. She guessed it was just like anything. "Sort of like when you go and get a piercing. So long as you're mindful of it, it doesn't really matter as much." She reasoned. So Vampire's really were more like humans then most thought. At least this was Artemis's mind's deduction. Then again she'd never experienced all the 'special' things that Vampire's could do. She might have a different opinion if the first Vampire she'd run in to was a horrible person. She was just lucky Kenny wasn't. "Thanks then, for answering my questions. I mean, sure I could go get a book about you all, but really I mean what's real? What's fake? What's been sugar coated and what's been glamorized? Who's to really tell, you know?"
"Hey, if you can toot your own horn, buddy, you can be sure that you're somebody's type. Do you have a....wife? Vampire Lady friend? I guess biting somebody can't be considered cheating then huh? Considering you've got to eat at some time..." She said thinking about how Vampire's relationships must work.
"Exactly." Kenny nodded. "You just have to be careful of it and all that. I try to be mindful of them so I don't hurt anyone. I don't have a wife, or a vampire lady friend." he told her. "I mean, I do have a friend who is a vampire and who is a lady, but she's not like... my girlfriend I guess is what you all call them and what not. I don't have a relationship to worry about no. And no cheating. Even if I had a girlfriend, I guess biting someone wouldn't really be cheating. No more than you having a salad would be cheating on your boyfriend."
Artemis laughed when she said that it was the same as eating a salad. "I guess not. It's not like you have to choose the opposite sex. I've never met a salad with genitalia mind you." She grinned a little bit. "None of us girls at the house have boyfriends. Well we have friends that are boys, but we're a bunch of single ladies hanging out. We're all career ladies you say, and you know what they say about career ladies..." She rolled her eyes, and continued just in case Kenny didn't know what they said about career ladies, "We're wasting our baby makers." Artemis never believed in that anyway.
"Do Vampire's have relationships? Maybe that should have been my first question." She said thinking about it. She wasn't sure she'd heard of any Vampire's being in relationships, but...wouldn't you want to be in one? You were alive forever didn't you want to share that with somebody? "Love doesn't...I don't know, disappear when your heart stops beating, does it?" She asked, suddenly looking sad. Wouldn't that be just awful?
"I doubt you're wasting your babymakers." he told her. "I think you're just setting yourself up to have a successful life. Get the working out of the way first and then worry about the babymaking." That was one thing that was sort of depressing about being a vampire. He couldn't have children and though he hadn't thought he wanted any for the longest time, it would have been nice to have someone to carry on his family name. He'd been such a disappointment to his parents though that he was afraid that his children would have been just as much of a disappointment to himself. At least he'd nipped that in the bud early.
"They do." he nodded. "I mean I'd love to have a relationship, but being in one is... difficult for someone like me. I live forever and it's hard to watch the ones you love grow older and die. And though I'd do that if I fell in love with someone, gladly, I think it's harder for the person who isn't immortal to deal with. It's not easy to know that I'm never going to change. I'm always going to be the age I am now. At least in looks."
"Who says I have to have a baby there bud?" She said laughing. "Just because I have a uterus doesn't mean I need to use it." She said shaking her head. Though she was pretty sure her mother would like to see grandchildren, the woman should have upped her chances by having more then one kid... "Besides, who knows how good a parent I'd be. I'd rather not risk screwing up a kid when I'm not sure. I'd rather know for sure I want them. Then again, I suppose I am getting older." She tipped her head sighing. It was always an internal struggle for her. She shook past it though.
"What about turning the somebody you love in to a Vampire? I mean, you guys can obviously do that. Not that you have to go sharing the family secrets and all, but if you loved somebody, wouldn't you want to be with them forever then? Or find a girl that's already a Vampire? I'm sure that there are tons out there, and if the ratio is off, it's not like you can't fix it. Especially since there seems to be a large amount of women out there who think it would be the bee's knee's to live forever." She said pausing for a moment.
"But then again I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want those types of girls to be wandering around forever." She laughed, stopping in front of her house and opening the gate for them. "Home sweet home. I love this old house. Heritage houses are my favorite." She said sighing, and letting the gate fall closed behind them and going up the walk way to the house and then going up the steps. She rummaged around in her purse for the keys. If the girls were around they were going to just flip about a Vampire being in the house. One way or another. Of course, there was blood magic protecting the house, but she was pretty sure that Kenny was about as pure of heart as you could get for a Vampire. Plus she was going to invite him in.
"I doubt that you would 'screw up' a child." Kenny told her. From what he knew of Artemis in the short time he'd been talking to her, she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. Perhaps she was distracted, but who wasn't these days? With cell phones and televisions and all sorts of things to take up their time, he wasn't sure how some parents even handled children. How did they have the time? "I think you'd probably be a good mother and whenever you start to think you're old, just remember I'm in my sixties." he chuckled. "That's Old. You're not even close."
"As for turning someone I love into a vampire... I suppose I wouldn't be opposed to the idea, but I wouldn't want to give someone forever and have them decide later that they'd rather have just had a normal life. I could give them forever with me but I couldn't give them forever with their family members, their children if they have them, their friends. I would have to think about it completely before deciding to take that leap. I guess I could find a female vampire, but I've yet to come across one that I feel would fall for me. I don't know. I guess I just haven't found the right person or if I have, I haven't realized it." he shrugged.
"Yeah, though, I wouldn't want someone who just wanted immortality. There's more to being a vampire than just living forever." He looked up at the house and the back at her with a smile on his face. "It's lovely." he told her. "You'll have to invite me in though." he smiled. "Otherwise I'll just be sitting here outside."
Artemis mostly shrugged at his assessment of how she'd bring up a child. Artemis was the type of person that she'd change the diaper perfectly on the baby, and then wander off and forget it on the change table. She was good at things, great at them really, but she was so easily distracted that most people considered her to be a risk. And inept. It was a really bad thing she just couldn't seem to shake. She laughed though, grinning when he said that he was in his sixties. "You're awfully good looking to be in your sixties." Artemis winked at him playfully. "Hope I look that good." She chuckled
"I'm sure there's somebody out there for you. I think there's somebody out there for everybody in all honesty. Not just one person either. Lots of people. Just got to find one of them, you know?" She shrugged. Kenny deserved to have somebody to be near him for all eternity. It'd be awfully lonely if he didn't.
"Of course I'll invite you in, I know that much about you all." She smiled and then once she found her keys she unlocked the door and pushed it in. "Come on in Kenny." She said lightly and then flipped on the foyer lights. She wasn't sure where the other girls were so she figured she'd stick to the parlor. It was used less and the girls didn't have to see her and Kenny if they didn't want to while still moving about the house. "Don't worry about your shoes, it's all hardwood for a reason." She said dropping her bag and keys on the table near the door and then walking straight in to the parlor. She twisted on a couple of the lamps so the room flooded with gentle light.
"I'd give you a tour but I'm not sure what my roommates are doing." She said patting the couch next to her. "Come, sit." She said, crossing her legs and sitting with her back to one of the couch arms. She wanted to be able to look at him in the better light of the parlor.
"Why thank you." he chuckled. "I do try to keep up with my outer appearance." he grinned. Only he didn't really try to keep up with anything. He was Kenny and that was about it. He'd probably never be any different than he was the day he was turned, but he didn't seem to mind it too much. "I'm sure you'll look just fine when you're my age."
"Probably someone." he nodded. "I've got all the time in the world to find the right person, no need in worrying too much on it, right? I do have the rest of forever to worry about settling down. Not like I'm on a time limit."
Kenny smiled at her when she allowed him entrance into her home and he stepped inside, nodding about the shoes and tucking his hands in his pockets as he followed her further into her house. "Don't worry about it." he told her. "I don't have to have the grand tour just yet." he assured her. When she beckoned him over, he took the few steps to where the couch was and settling himself beside her. "It's a lovely home." he told her as he looked around and finally let his eyes come to rest on the woman beside him.
She studied him as he looked around her home, somewhat glad that the Vampire who had likely seen nicer places seemed to like it. "Thank you." She smiled brightly. It was always nice to receive a compliment, and she had tried to keep the house as nice as she possibly could, with more timely pieces rather then cheap modern stuff that you'd find at the local IKEA. It was the place she planned on staying for, possibly forever after all, she wanted to keep homey as possible.
"Do you ever get lonely?" She asked him, curiously. "I mean, I think that if I didn't have a companion I would get lonely. I like to talk and I'll talk when nobody's here even, but I'd prefer to have somebody listening to me." She knew she had Porkchop, who had been strangely quiet since she'd gotten in to the house. Normally he'd be barking his wee little heart out. How odd.
"You're welcome." he told her. Sure he'd seen some places that were fancy, but he preferred the homey feel that he got in Artemis's home. "I do." he nodded. "Sometimes. I like to keep friends though in order to alleviate that loneliness. No one wants to be alone, dead or alive." At least that was the way that he felt about it.
Artemis flushed a little bit, she couldn't help it. As Kenny had started talking she wanted to ask him what LIFE was like back then but she wasn't sure if she should. If that was rude. Maybe he didn't want to think of his life back then? Who knew really. "I guess friends always come and go. I guess you get used to watching people age though." She said wondering how hard that really was. You had to lose some sort of part of you watching the people you loved, die. "You're brave to live such a life you know." She commented lightly.
"So tell me a little about yourself Kenny. You're my first Vampire friend, if I can call you that of course. I want to know all about your life. Er...the alive and the dead part!" She added on, hoping again, she didn't offend him.
"I do get used to watching them age. Or at least I did, but it's... difficult to say the least. Which is why I just move on most of the time. It's easier to leave in the midst of a friendship still knowing and loving the person that you first met than to leave after years have passed by and you've watched them age and because something that you know you will never be." Kenny shrugged. "It's much easier to just spend a few years here, a few elsewhere, move along before too much time has passed. Now I don't relaly have to since people are aware vampires really exist, but I still probably will just as a way to defend myself from heartache. My heart might not beat anymore, but it still can hurt."
He wasn't really sure what he could tell her about himself. It was flattering to think that she wanted to know anything in the first place. He smiled at her though and had he the ability to flush, he probably would have. "Yes, you can call me friend." he assured her. He liked that she wanted to. He liked friends in general and Artemis was quite lovely in his opinion. "The alive part was interesting I suppose." he said with a nod. "I was born in 1949. I lived in Toledo, Ohio and I was every parents dream. Til about the time I realized I didn't have to do everything my parents wanted." he chuckled. "I turned into a bit of a bad seed back in those days. All that hippie music that came about nearly drove my parents batty."
"That's so sad." Artemis said quietly. "You should be able to spend your life time with somebody you care about. We should find you a date." She said with a nod. Artemis was all about helping people after all when she could. And Kenny sounded like he needed some help when it came to romance. "I'm sure there's like, Vampire dating web sites or something, now that you all are out of the coffin." She said seriously. "I bet you I could find you a girl you'd want to spend your eternity with! I'm really good at pairing people up you know." She informed him.
"Oh yes, Hippies are such horrible people, all that free love and such." She teased him a little bit. "Maybe back then you were considered the bad seed, now you're all but extinct." She said, a touch of morose in her voice. "It must have been amazing to be alive back then. I could get down with the hippie vibe." She said, having more then once romanticizing the idea. "It explains your look at least." She smiled at him. "I think if I had a kid now I'd prefer them to be a hippie, in to that sort of music and culture then the girls now a days." She made a face.
"Well good luck at finding a lady that doesn't want me just for my fangs and cold, hard exterior." he chuckled. He wondered if Artemis was really that good of a matchmaker. Could she find him a person that really wanted to be with him? Even though he was dead? He wondered what sort of woman would want to be with a vampire forever. Forever was such a long time, after all.
"Back then it was awful. Too much music and too much touching and love and don't forget the drugs." he chuckled. "My parents were horrified. Not that it matters much now. I sometimes wonder if they wish I'd stuck around since I just disappeared like I did when I got turned. I never went back because explaining that I never aged would have been difficult. They're still alive and what's sad is that they'll die soon, I'm sure, and I can't see them before it happens. I think maybe that's a good thing though. It would be more said if I saw it happen."
"I could go Vampire hunting for you! There's Heme, and uh...well I'd have to do some digging on the internet. I'm sure there's a lonely Vampire girl that'd just adore you." She said, almost getting too excited at the idea. "There's got to be a nice Vampire girl that you'd want to bring home with you." She said, thinking it over. "Maybe even put an ad on Craigslist. I wonder if Vampire's use Craigslist." She considered.
She laughed at the too much touching and the drugs. "Hey, there's more drugs now then there were back then. Weed isn't so bad in my opinion. I wouldn't touch anything else though." Okay she was admitting she'd done drugs, but what did he care, he was dead after all. "And sex isn't so bad so long as you're careful. I sadly realized the other day while eating lunch with a friend," could she call Ren a friend? Guy who wanted to grope her? Somewhat nice guy who she'd met in a really seedy situation? Friend sounded too presumptuous... She continued on though, "That I haven't had sex in a really long time and I'm actually sort of sad about it, but not sure I want to go around having sex with a bunch of random people until i can find somebody I'd like to have sex with more often, you know?" She said, not even thinking about what she'd just said. She took a moment. "I guess that was totally too much information too..." She cringed slightly. Her and her mouth.
However when he said that it was sad that his parents were about to die, she frowned hard. "Don't you think you'd like to give them closure? Help them to know that you didn't leave because of them?" she asked softly, reaching over and taking his cold hands in hers. "I mean...if I didn't know what had happened to my child...I think having that closure would put me to rest a lot easier. Vampires are all over the world now, it's not like they probably don't know about them." She offered, hoping it helped.
He chuckled at her 'vampire hunting'. He imagined her trolling vampire bars in search of the perfect woman. "She doesn't have to be a vampire." he told her. "I don't discriminate after all. I'd just like someone I can hang out with that doesn't want to be around me just because I happen to be a vampire.
He chuckled again at her statement about sex and how long it had been. "I know what you mean." he said with a nod. "It's been a while for me too but I guess a while for me is even longer than a while for you but I don't really go about having sex with every person I meet. I may have been that wild in my younger days," he laughed, "but not so much now. It's not the same really as it once was and I like to be with living women because they're warm, but not every living woman wants a dead man, that's for sure." He knew women didn't always want something cold in their nether regions.
"I think that my parents have closed that part of their life." he said with a shrug. "I think it would be more difficult to know that I'd not changed a bit and that I'd indeed died but not in the way they probably thought all these years."
"Well then I guess we'll have to go to the regular bars." She said thoughtfully. Though it'd be just as hard to weed out the ones that wanted to be around him because he was a Vampire. "This might be a touch harder then I thought. That doesn't mean I'm not going to try though." She warned him. She'd try her hardest if that's what he wanted. Artemis was always about making sure other people were happy too. Kenny seemed like he deserved to be happy after all.
"But you're not really dead, dead. I mean, you're sort of alive. Your parts still work if you can go around and have sex." She pointed out. "And your searching for a girl at the perfect time then. It's the summer time and it's hot out. I mean, you're nice and cold. This is a good thing, it'll work in your favor." She grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. "If it was like, dead of winter up in Alaska, I'd have to say you were SOL." She said shaking her head. Poor Kenny. She wondered idly, likely inappropriately, what it would feel like for Kenny and an alive woman. She'd have to ask Ren. He'd probably had sex with a vampire at one point. She didn't feel weird to ask him something like that. He was constantly talking sex to her like it was her first language. Asking Kenny that seemed too intimate.
"I guess so." Artemis agreed. She'd have wanted the closure. But she well knew she thought a lot differently then some. "I'm sorry, I'd offer you a drink but...I don't have any blood on tap." She frowned. She knew that Sydney sometimes had some, but she needed it for things, so she couldn't ask her friend. "Unless you drink other things? I can get you water, or I'm sure we have libations of all sorts...We tend to have parties on a regular basis. You should totally come to one! Bring your friend too!" She said thinking how cool it would be to have Kenny there.
"Guess we will." he nodded. "I suppose my chances are upped right now since it's hot out, but honestly when it starts to get cold I think those chances will dwindle. We better be looking fast before it starts to cool off again." he chuckled.
"I'm fine." he assured her. "Don't worry about me, it hasn't been too long since the last time I fed so I'm really quite alright. Thank you for offering though. Parties though?" he grinned. "I do love parties." He'd definitely be showing up to some of them now that he had the invitation. "Do you think that'll be alright with your roommates?"
"Yeah we do parties all the time. When I know you're coming to one, I'll make sure to have something for you too." She promised. "And well...I don't think they'll have a problem. They're not particularly normal either." She said, not wanting to give the other girl's powers away, but it was like living in the charmed house. Except there was only one witch and none of them were blood related. However she was pretty sure that Sydney kept her book of shadows in the attic..."I'm sure we'd all get along." Artemis was a pretty good judge of character....sometimes. "Lemmie go grab a glass of water though, I'm really warm." She said hopping up and heading in to the kitchen to grab a large glass of ice water. She didn't take a minute though before she was back and plopping herself right next to Kenny again.
"Okay then! What kind of girl do you like? What attracts you other then she be warm?" She grinned brightly. She could do this easily. And even if he didn't end up with the girl, he could eventually have a bit of fun with her, nothing wrong with that, right? "Blondes? Brunettes? Redheads? Dyed? Brown eyes? Blue eyes? Green?" Artemis listed of a few things. "Tall, short? Curvy? Skinny?" There were so many things he could choose from! "Physical attraction is important after all."
He smiled at that, glad that she wanted to include him in a party. He wasn't about to deny going to one. It felt like it had been far, far too long since the last party he'd been to. Why refuse one when it had been so long? "You don't have to get me anything if I come." he assured the woman. "I'll just be sure to come with a full stomach." he smiled. "But thank you for the offer. Go ahead though. Get yourself something." He waited patiently as she did just that and he smiled at her when she returned.
He thought about her question and what attracted him to a woman. "Well..." he said with a slight shrug. "I'm not really discriminative when it comes to hair. At least I don't believe I am. It doesn't really matter much to me what their hair is like. Eye color either. I'm honestly more attracted to a persons personality than anything else. I do like shorter woman though. It's not fun to try and stand on my tiptoes to kiss a woman." he murmured. "So short woman. I like a bit of curve too. That's what makes a woman a woman after all."
"Hey, I'm a good party host, and my roommate is a nurse. She'll be able to get her hands on stuff." She promised smiling. She wasn't about to not have refreshments for all her guests. She'd not take no for an answer. Artemis was extremely stubborn that way.
"Okay so short with boobs. Got it." She grinned. "Not really that hard to find a girl that looks like that." She thought of the women she knew....they were few. Most of the people she hung out with were men. She wasn't sure why, they just were. Artemis got along better with men. They weren't as insecure and Artemis appreciated that. It was nice to be able to just be yourself around somebody and not constantly worry about if the other was looking better then you were. "We'll have to throw a party soon, maybe you could meet somebody there." She said, sipping at her water thoughtfully. She was pretty sure the other girls knew more women then she did. They'd all figure something out...