Do you collect the souls you've lost? Who: Karine and Whisper Where: Charlton Mansion When: Very late evening
Karine hadn't expected to return home and find any sort of scent lingering in the air. But when she pushed the front door open, sated from the blood she had gotten off of that man coming out of the cafe, a scent assaulted her. A very familiar one and a frown flitted across her face as she stopped. The door was still open as she stood there and took in several deep breaths. Half of the scent was oh-so familiar because it was Whisper's and the other less so, but still there. Adelle. That little brunette siren she'd enjoyed the company of and apparently so had Whisper. Though as she listened, ears straining, she couldn't hear the sound of a heartbeat. So Adelle was gone and it still smelled like that? Oh god, where had they been? Closing the door, Karine moved in the direction of the scent almost frantically and stopped dead when she reached the kitchen.
The kitchen.
Going for the cleaning supplies she kept under the sink, Karine screamed, "WHISPER!"
The other vampire had been working on a design she was suddenly inspired for when she heard the sound of the door opening. It did not take long for her to realize that the door was not closing and once it did hardly a moment passed before she heard her name being screamed. Maybe I should have attempted cleaning, Whisper thought as she set the pencil down on her sketchpad and stood. No, that's servants work and I'm no servant. Neither was Karine but she had an inability to look past a mess so it was a different story. After smoothing out her dress and looking in the mirror to make sure that her hair was still fixed, Whisper went out and down the stairs. Her face was smooth and her eyes mostly blank when she reached the kitchen. Crossing her arms over her chest she leaned against the frame and watched as Karine took some sort of cleaning solution to the chair and then the floor... looked like her sire was going to do a very thorough job.
"Was there something that you wanted?" Whisper finally asked.
Karine looked up, dark eyes burning when she found Whisper standing there. Oh she looked as beautiful as always, completely flawless with not a single hair out of place and a lack of emotion on her smooth face. She couldn't blame Adelle for wanting that when she herself did. Though right at that precise moment in time what she really wanted to do was see how far she could throw the younger vampire. How dare she have sex in the kitchen? With someone not her? When she was there and more than available and willing! There was not a single thing, other than blood, that that siren could offer that she couldn't and Karine steamed to know that Whisper would sleep with someone else still. Still, when she was home and there for her again. "Yes," Karine said at last, still scrubbing at the floor because it seemed like that scent would never leave her nose no matter how much Pine Sol she used. "I want to know what the bloody hell you think you're doing, carrying on like this. Do you just want to be left alone? Do you not want me here at all?"
What? "Like you don't want her to come back for you," Whisper replied, not moving from her position at the doorway. No, she did not want Karine to leave so soon after her arrival. Simply her presence was enough most of the time to dispel the touch of madness that afflicted her so when she was alone. "I told you Karine, I saw how you looked at her and heard those little giggles because my ears are as sharp as yours. If you'd stop to think for just a few minutes then maybe you'd be able to piece together what did happen. Unlike you, I didn't try luring her into bed." Now those words were sharp and she hoped that they dug in a little. But they were also true. Whisper had had zero intention of carrying on like she had with Adelle. She had intended to drink from the siren and send her away, allowing the affects of her blood to play out with Karine. But since that had not happened it looked like this needed to instead.
Normally Karine prided herself on her logic. Without it she never would've made it as far as she did with all of the resources that she could lay claim to. She possessed the self-control necessary to dip into the world of business and come out on top. But when it came to Whisper, and only when it came to Whisper, that logic could sometimes falter and fall. She could feel the irritation pulsing out from her childe along the mindnet but it couldn't override the fact that she was annoyed at two things. Whisper clearly having sex with another woman AND the fact that they had done it in the kitchen and not seen a need to clean up after themselves. So she had to. Had to.
"I don't need to piece together what happened, I can smell it clear as blood. Blood and wine and sex, Whisper, right here on this floor. So what if I think that she's cute and needs guidance... that doesn't mean I intended on taking her again." Unless she asked.
Unless she asked. The thought echoed through Whisper's mind and she stiffened, eyes flaming as she finally took a step closer to Karine. "Don't forget that sometimes I can hear what's going on in side of your head." A double-edged sword if ever there was one and as much as she hated it on occasion Whisper appreciated it right then. "I don't want her again. She came asking questions and yes, I gave her that wine you'd wanted." Because she did not want Karine using it as she had if the truth was told. "Then I had a little snack and tried to get her to leave. But oh, someone had gone and told her that I have this little problem when it comes to being given attention. A problem that makes it impossible for me to turn anyone away if they're giving it to me... so she did, Karine. Mix that with a siren's blood and I was powerless. Quite unlike you when you decided to lure her into my bed and have your fun." Had she still been alive then her skin would have flushed with anger but she was not and so it remained as cool and uncolored as always. But oh she hoped that Karine could hear the anger in her words. They may have discussed this a few nights prior and 'made up', but clearly Whisper was not over it. It would take awhile before she was. Events like this one would not help any.
Oh. Karine blinked, managing to look up from her scrubbing when she heard the anger flicking out like a whip in Whisper's voice. The scent was finally beginning to fade from her nose. "I only told her to gain a little more trust," Karine reasoned. It'd seemed like a good idea at the time and a way to give Adelle a bit of a foot up so that Whisper wouldn't just snap her pretty little neck and be done with her, which wasn't something that Karine put past her. She knew that the other vampire was just as capable of murder as she was - it was just more likely to be a bloody mess if Whisper did it. Designers didn't make good assassins and they always bitched after about ruining their clothes. "And if you hadn't gone and drank from her in the first place then we wouldn't be having this argument. Or if you'd had the common sense that was given to practically every other vampire ever turned that tells them to not jump people in the kitchen." Karine was, of course, totally skimming over the part where Whisper claimed that Adelle'd been the one to initiate. The siren had seemed far too shy for that sort of thing from what she remembered of her and Whisper didn't always tell the truth if it painted her in a bad light.
Was Karine just not listening or had she been the victim of a spell that made her hear only what she wanted to? Whisper was not sure which it was, but what she did know was that she was two steps away from shaking her sire until she started listening to her. "I was hungry. I was curious. And I was going to wait for you to get home before I did anything." That should get her attention since nothing else seemed to be - the last time she had had siren's blood around Karine had turned out very interesting. "But no, since you gave away my not-so-little secret to gain that siren slut's trust I didn't really have a choice." Karine knew how vulnerable she was to being given attention. She needed it as much as she did blood and anyone who knew that might as well have an access code to get whatever they wanted out of her. "Stop accusing me of jumping her when you'd realize it was the other way around if you'd just listen to me."
Had Karine been listening closer or paying better attention then she would've known that Whisper was indeed telling the truth. However she was distracted by the fact that she was cleaning up a mess and then again when Whisper referred to Adelle as a slut. "She's not a slut, she's just a siren who doesn't know what she's doing and we could use her..." Not that that idea seemed to be working all that well. Adelle was never there when both of them were and it seemed more like they were tearing each other apart over it. Not that Karine cared very much at that moment. She was irritated with Whisper for making a mess and not cleaning it. She was irritated with Adelle for coming and sleeping with Whisper, for possibly taking advantage of her weakness and using it for what she wanted. Which meant that really, Karine was irritated with herself. But admitting that wasn't anywhere near about to happen. Instead she stood to dump out the bucket she had been using, fingers curling around the edge of the sink. "You can't just have sex with whoever you want now, Whisper. Not with me back. I can't handle knowing that when I'm gone or you're out that you might be with someone else." And the other vampire should be more than well aware of that.
Whisper laughed. It was a harsh sound that forced its way out and she tossed her head as she laughed. "You have no right at all to try telling me that I can't go and sleep with whoever the hell I feel like," she informed her sire as she continued laughing. Now that she knew that Karine did just the same as her why should she try and be any different? Why should she give up the fun that she could have just because Karine got jealous? Maybe because I know what it feels like to be so jealous... no, listen to her! She's trying to act like she can control me just because she found me! Which had always worked just fine in the past, but in the past Whisper had not known that Karine sought comfort with other people. Had not even suspected it for a moment with how jealous the golden haired vampire always was. "Not when you go and do just the same as me."
"If you didn't leave me then I wouldn't have to," Karine informed her, turning to face Whisper. "And I'll have you know that I hardly ever take anyone who isn't you into my bed. I don't want them. I want you but it's hard to remember that when you always run away and expect me to come crawling right after you." Which she did every time and would continue to do for who knew how long. Because as much as Whisper needed her for attention Karine knew that she needed her too. There were times when she didn't want to but it was still there and she knew it wasn't going away. Not something that'd existed for over a century and a half. "So I like the fact that there's a little brunette who I don't have to go begging after, who will just come to me. Can you blame me?"
Yes. Whisper could - and did - blame her. Karine was supposed to be her primary source of love and attention no matter what she did and that attention was not to be given to someone else. To hear Karine saying that instead of arguing that no, no the siren was just there for both of them because she had interesting blood set her blood boiling. Whisper stood staring at Karine for a long moment before she turned and stalked down the hall. Where had she put them... where... ah, there. Whisper opened one of the drawers in the study desk and pulled out one of the loaded guns that they had purchased from Nikita a few days prior. Regular, boring bullets that would maybe sting. Not that Whisper had ever been shot but she had heard that man crying out the other day. He had been a vampire. And after all, she did not want to kill Karine, she just wanted to hurt her because she hurt. And no, she did not understand that she did the same thing to her sire almost constantly. That did not matter to her because it was all supposed to be about her and Karine seemed to have forgotten that. She could remind her easily.
"I blame you," Whisper informed Karine as she switched the safety off and pointed it right at her sire. Or her shoulder to be exact. "You know that you're the only person who can make me feel right. Make me feel whole... and knowing that you can just shrug me off because I go away... you know why I do that! To make sure you still care!" Just being told was never enough for the vampire. Karine knew that because it had been happening for over a century. Whisper left, Karine found her and everything went back to normal. But not this time and what was different was how she had come back. "We can talk about this all we want and it doesn't change what you did or how it makes me feel! I did what I did with Adelle because I had to, to spite you, to see what you do. You going to kill her for it like all the others?" Whisper desperately hoped the answer for that was 'yes'.
Karine hadn't had a clue of what Whisper was going off for but she heard the jumbled thoughts. Now she knew that Whisper wasn't the most stable vampire. Anything that threatened her attention and her status as the most-loved and highly viewed tended to throw her off and she was a little surprised that Adelle had managed to - oh no. Whisper had a gun. Whisper was pointing said gun right at her. That was so many levels of not good. "Whisper... you know I love you, but it gets hard." She doesn't care about that. It's all about her and it's always been about her. "Darling, no one's taking your place I swear. Adelle's just a toy, a plaything that'll lose it's shine soon enough. You won't because you're not a toy." Karine did avoid the question about what she'd do to Adelle because she wasn't sure yet. The siren had seduced Whisper in the kitchen and now Karine was never going to be able to be in here without thinking about what they'd done or that maybe Adelle wasn't near as innocent as she'd first appeared.
Damn straight she was no one's toy. But Karine was not answering her question about Adelle and that was not a good sign. Whisper knew what that could possibly mean and she was not gleaning any thoughts that made her feel better about the matter. Because she knew how she would have responded if Karine had asked her that about the siren - she would have said yes in a heartbeat and gone to do it without a second thought. Now if it had been Kikuya it was a different story, but she was a long-time friend and a wonderful model so it was a completely different story. Adelle was nothing but a brunette siren who happened to enjoy getting bitten and sleeping with vampires. "If she's just a toy then you shouldn't be so concerned with her." Whisper took a step closer, the gun still in her hand and still pointing right at her sire. "Why won't you answer me with what you're going to do with her?" The wrong answer was going to get a very definite response.
"Because I don't know what I'm going to do with her," Karine said honestly. "I want to snap her neck for what she's done with you, but..." But she knew that she likely wouldn't do that. Because she'd done the same and how could she go and kill Adelle? Maybe the gun pointing at me should be some sort of an incentive. I think she's going to shoot me. Maybe she should have thought for a little longer before inviting Nikita over to sell them guns. Guns didn't belong in houses with people like Whisper as had rapidly become evident. "At the same time, I can't. If I killed her then, well, I'd have to go and see about draining that precious Kikuya of yours wouldn't I?" Karine's fangs showed in a grin. "I'd like that. Is that what you want?"
That was very much the wrong answer and Whisper felt her arm jerk back a little as the gun went off, a bright red blossom of blood appearing on Karine's dress where the bullet tore into her shoulder. The designer's eyes widened in surprise that she had actually done that and more, that it had hit. "You won't ever touch Kikuya," Whisper informed her sire, voice shaking slightly. "She's my best model, those just don't happen over night. They take years of investment and time and while I have more than enough of it I happen to like her. But she's my friend and my model, I don't want her kept around because I slept with her once. Adelle is a completely different story because you didn't even know her for an hour before you jumped into bed together! I want you to tell me that you can just toss her aside like a broken little doll. Or break her yourself. Tell me that, Karine."
Pain shot along Karine's shoulder and she cried out, hand going up to clutch at where the bullet had gone, blood trickling out between her fingers to drip onto her clean floor. Oh god, she was going to have to scrub again when she stopped bleeding. She wasn't worried about bleeding too much so much as she was freaked out by the fact that there was now blood on her previously clean floor. Well, that and Whisper still had the gun and she'd given her a pretty definite ultimatum. Drawing in a breath that she didn't need at all Karine said, "I can throw Adelle aside like the toy that she is without batting an eyelash." And truthfully? She could. Karine had been alive for over two centuries and she'd gotten rid of more people than she could remember, her own family included. She could be ruthless and what's more, she didn't care. Whisper was the most important thing in her life and if this thing with Adelle had to be ended in order to keep her... then it would be. "If you insist so much on it."
Whisper felt something loosen in her chest and she lowered her arm, letting the gun clatter on the floor. A beautiful smile formed on her face in response to being told exactly what she wanted to hear. Karine would throw Adelle aside just because she wanted her to do it. That was like sweet music to her ears and Whisper came up to her sire, touching her cheek and ignoring the already-slowing blood flow caused by her little temper tantrum. Vampires healed fast enough to get over that sort of thing with no hard feelings. It was not like she had lopped her arm off or something equally irreversible. Her sire should be grateful that Nikita advertised guns instead of swords. "See," she purred to her sire, leaning in to kiss her lightly. "Now that wasn't that hard, was it?"
"You didn't have to shoot me," Karine said a little sullenly, taking her hand away from her shoulder as the bullet clinked out onto the floor with another drop of blood. Not as bad as if she'd been a human but bad enough and there was blood that needed cleaning. "Can I clean this up now without you having another little fit on me?" Without waiting for an answer she turned to pick the bucket and cleaning solution back up, ready to clean. More than ready actually she had to do it. That overrode any lingering bits of pain at being shot because really, she'd been hurt worse than that before.
"Clean away." Whisper lifted herself up onto the counter. Now that she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Karine would do as she wished with the brunette she felt not even a glimmer of irritation towards the golden-haired vampire. She was the first priority in Karine's life and that was just how it was supposed to be. Knowing that soothed away her need to take a knife to Adelle's pretty little throat or, an old favorite, push her off the balcony. She wondered if a siren would have time to change into a bird and fly away before they hit the ground. Perhaps that was a theory that she needed to put to the test.
Though maybe now with her concerns voiced and appeased - so what if it had taken a gun to get them that way? - maybe things could be as they were supposed to with her and Karine. She liked that idea.