Drive Faster, Boy Who: Graham, Jezebelle, and a demon (NPC) Where:Jezebelle's their home When: Noon Warning: NSFW on various levels
Graham got zero sleep that morning. None. He wanted to and had every intention of doing just that, but it was a bit hard when it suddenly decided to downpour at ass o'clock in the morning. Good to see that his fear of water and light sleeping carried on over as a vampire. For the most part he lied there in bed completely awake, keeping Jezebelle by his side while she slept. There were several things that were odd once Graham finally gave up on trying to sleep, the biggest one being that he felt... different. And he had every right to feel different, seeing that he was now, you know, a vampire. Whether or not the headache he was experiencing was still an adjustment to his new form or a hangover from the spiked blood he had in the wee hours of the morning as beyond him, but all he wanted was a good cup of coffee to wash it all away. When he realized that he couldn't have that or a morning cigarette, his mood sank considerably. Well, he tried to have a cigarette, anyways. After going through a few, he realized it did absolutely nothing for him. Not exactly something he wanted to wake up to. Part of him wanted to wake up Jezebelle and ask if any of the blood she had in the fridge was coffee blood - hey, if there was coffee milk, then there was hope - but she looked so peaceful sleeping by his side that he just let her be, kissing her forehead before heading out of the room.
The other odd feeling was that for once in who knew how long, Graham finally had a home. Sure, he crashed at a few people's places throughout the years, but he wasn't simply crashing in her home - he was staying there for good. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, but the thought of staying with Jezebelle put a smile on his lips. While it was still twilight in the early hours of the morning, Graham slipped outside to move his belongings from his car to inside, finding a spare room in the home for him to place his stuff. Granted it was still raining, but it was either that or sit around and do nothing. Hopefully Jezebelle didn't mind that he claimed the room. He doubted she wanted her master bedroom to be filled with his guitars and amplifiers and books. Oh yes, he carried around some of his prized college text books in his suitcases to tickle his brain whenever he had time to sit down in read them. And once he was done unpacking and dressed himself in something warmer and drier, he did just that for most of the morning.
After awhile, it grew harder to focus on reading, his mind constantly wandering about and dwelling on something else, like what was he going to do now that he was a vampire. Yes, this was what he wanted, but he didn't have the slightest idea as what he was suppose to do next. It was almost depressing to know that he didn't know much about this new life, so used to being a genius and praised for his intelligence, at least with academics. Why couldn't he figure out something as simple as where the hell he was going to get his caffeine fix now? Sighing, he tossed the text book to the side and pulled out his acoustic guitar, taking a moment to tune it before playing lightly on it.
While Graham's body no longer provided her with warmth, Jezebelle still noticed his absence from the bed. It felt empty and cold-- something that might have to be solved with heated blankets-- and the light from the barely cracked door made it impossible to sleep. At first she thought she could ignore it, but, like all shade vampires, the light eventually got to her and forced her into wakefulness. Upon realizing that Graham was not even in the room with her, Jezebelle pulled on a robe and wandered out into the house. This was not her normal time of waking, and most of her wanted to shut the door and crawl back into bed, but if Graham was up then she should check on him. She didn't need him wandering out by himself.
It was the sound of music that drew her to him, and when she found him she stood in the doorway and listened to him play. Still sleepy, she shut her eyes and let the music sink in, arms wrapped round her body as she leaned against the door frame. This would never get old.
It took Graham a moment to realize that Jezebelle was by the door frame, listening to his performance. When he caught eye of her, he smiled lightly, still strumming away on the guitar and singing along. Once he finished the song, he began to play the chord progression idly while turning to face her head on. "Morning, sleepy head." Poor thing looked like she was about to pass out. Graham was used to getting 4-6 hours of sleep a night, not to mention he woke up at the slightest sound or movement. Right then he was wide awake. Not in the highest of spirits, but he was still awake. "Oh, I hope, uh-" His head darted around the room, eying all his belongings sprawled out about the room. "-you don't mind me claiming this space for all my shit. Figured if I'm... well... with you, I guess... might as well, um, move in?" If he was still human, he would have been blushing hardcore while struggling with his words. This was a first for Graham and it made him a bit nervous that he could fuck it up. He didn't want to be another man in Jezebelle's life that made her unhappy. He wanted to change that for her.
Jezebelle knew that look. She'd memorized it when she was human. It was what she thought of as embarrassed-Graham, and knew that it would have come with red cheeks if he'd had the warmth and blood to do so. It made her smile, and she padded into the room to curl up next to him. Once she was comfortable, she looked up at him and spoke. "I was going to offer, love. Any room you want. I've got more space than I know what to do with." She preferred the old Victorian homes, when she could find them, but they were rarely small. It suited her nicely, with all it's hidden alcoves and connected rooms. "How are you feeling?" He wasn't visibly shivering, so she thought maybe he didn't feel as cold as the night before, but she still wanted to check. The cold had been an unexpected consequence of turning a fire elemental.
Having Jezebelle snuggle on up to him also put a smile on his face. He would have wrapped an arm around her, but it was hard to keep playing his guitar while doing that, and seeing that she seemed to enjoy the light music, Graham opted to keep doing that. "I'll stick with this one then. Thank you," he nodded before leaning in to kiss the top of her forehead, then sighed at her question. "Been better, not going to lie. My body aches, couldn't enjoy a cigarette this morning." He scoffed a bit while recalling that morning. "Shit, couldn't even have some coffee. I'm sure I can suck it up and deal, but..." Could he? Graham was a massive addict to various things and now he was cutting himself dry from all of them. He remembered the outburst he had when he couldn't find his cocaine in Autumn's place, and that was only a couple days without the drug. What was going to happen a week from then? Or even a month? It was going to take a long time to ween himself off of everything completely, and having blood laced with his favorite things wasn't going to help.
"Just feel sad right now. Didn't expect myself to be. I mean, shit, I have no reason to be. I get to restart my life and finally be myself and be happy. Have all the time in the world to do whatever I want. This is going to sound nerdy as fuck, but I'm excited that I can finally curl up in a library and read every single book on chemistry, and look forward to every single one that will be written hundreds of years from now." Graham was truly a genius at heart and always loved his favored fields of expertise, so of course he was going to be a kid in a candy shop with something like that. He just didn't show that side of himself to others often. "Plus," he finally ripped his arm away from the guitar to wrap it around Jezebelle for a tight embrace, "I get to spend that eternity with you. There's nothing sad about that, but... I don't know. I can't explain it."
It hurt to know he wasn't completely happy, even though Jezebelle had expected that would be the case. There were some things that he just couldn't prepare for and those changes usually came as a shock. It didn't even occur to her that he might miss morning coffee, though she'd known the addictions were going to be an issue. Last night she'd found him the best substitute she could, but she couldn't search out a junkie every time he needed a fix. She had some ideas for how to feed his addictions brewing in her brain, but had yet to put them to practice. Graham hadn't been willing to give up drugs when he was human and they could kill him, so she doubted he'd be pleased to have them taken away now.
"You can't have coffee, and if you tried it wouldn't be the same," she said with a bittersweet smile. "I have a good substitute, though. I'll be right back." She'd been comfortable where she was, but figured this was worth getting up for. Jezebelle pulled her robe tighter, making sure she was covered as she stepped into the kitchen. The sunlight made her tired and she wondered how Graham could even bare to be awake. She supposed they all had different schedule, though for her this would have felt like 3am for most humans. Opening the refrigerator, Jezebelle peered inside, chewing on her bottom lip before selecting three different container and setting them on the counter. The chemist in her thought this should work; she just hoped it wouldn't taste disgusting.
From the smallest jar, she added a teaspoon of blood into a coffee mug. She didn't keep a lot of psychic blood on hand, mostly because it was hard to come by and she hadn't needed a ton of it before. It was like caviar-- expensive, even in the tiniest amounts. Now, she might just need to find herself a seller, otherwise Graham would go through her one little bottle overnight and then would have nothing left to get his fix. A teaspoon should be enough for now. The next jar, she poured a forth a cup; water elemental blood was always good to have on hand. The rest of the coffee cup she filled from the third jar, a bottle as big as a milk cartoon. This was the easiest blood to get, the blood half the vampires would turn down. The blood from someone who smoked a pack a day was the closest she could get to a morning cigarette. She stirred it together, then put it in the microwave just enough to get it nice and warm. She'd never been one for cold blood, and had yet to learn Graham's preferences on that sort of thing.
"Try this," she said, returning to the room where she'd left him. As she handed him the cup, she took a seat on the bed beside him. "Not think too much about it. Just try it." And then they could talk about the rest.
Having Jezebelle leave his side wasn't ideal, but she promised that she had a substitute for his addiction and would be back with hopefully that in tow. With a nod to her, he let the vampire slink on off to do whatever it was she need to do and kept himself entertained with his guitar. After a while, his strumming resulted in snapping the first string on his guitar, which was going to happen at some point seeing how he played. Sighing hard, he paused to go about removing it and searched about the guitar case for an extra string. Seemed like there wasn't any spare ones at hand, thus ending his playing for the time being.
Graham leaned the acoustic against the wall and sat back down, only to have Jezebelle come back with a cup in hand. Taking it into his own hands, he took in a deep breathe to let the scent tickle him. It smelled familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Definitely blood from the look of the contents, but what kind of blood was a different story. After the other night, he found himself rather full, but whatever this was that Jezebelle was offering him was making him want to take a sip. Eying the cup, he eventually took a gulp of the blood, pulling away to let out a sharp cough and initially made a dramatically disgusted face.
"Fuck, is there water in this? Oh god, I can't remember the last time I've had water was..." Sticking out his tongue in disgust, as if trying to rid that taste from his mouth, he suddenly stopped when another familiar taste hit him - cigarettes and drugs. It was a delayed reaction, but it was there. Fluttering his eyes, Graham stared at the cup then over to Jezebelle. "The hell is this?" He chuckled a bit before taking another sip, making another face while trying to ignore the fact it felt like he was drinking water, because the aftertaste of cigarettes and a hard drug of some sort were worth it.
Jezebelle cringed at the face he made, thinking that maybe her idea was a bad one. She didn't normally mix her blood at home, but she didn't see why it wouldn't work. Apparently it didn't... except that his aversion turned out to be something she hadn't expected. "It's an experiment," she said with a little laugh. "One that still needs tweaking, since I didn't even think about you not liking water. There's not water in it, but there's water elemental blood, which new vampires usually like. Didn't occur to me that the fire elemental vampire might not care for it." If he didn't like it, she could drink it, but he seemed interested enough to take a second sip. "There's also a bit of psychic blood, but it's mostly just normal blood... from a heavy smoker. Closest I could get to getting you a cigarette. I'm still looking for a caffeine substitute."
"I hate water. Could only stomach carbonated water," Graham grumbled with a bit of a pout before pulling Jezebelle in closer. "Still appreciate it, though. Can't say I've had a lady mix me a drink before." With a light chuckle, he nuzzled into her cheek before returning to his mug for another gulp, going through the same disgusted cringe before settling down. That time around, the drug effect was hitting him a bit harder, going straight to his head. Well, that was one way to get rid of his headache and replace it with something far more pleasant. "So does all blood have a different taste? Like water elemental blood being water?" He was curious to know what exactly psychic blood did and was starting to jump to conclusions as to where that drug taste was coming from. Then again, he preferred to hear an explanation from an experienced vampire than figure it out on his own.
Jezebelle laid down, putting her head in his lap. She knew she wouldn't fall asleep with the lights on, but it was still comfortable, especially since it allowed her to be close to him. "Blood has different tastes and effects based upon who it's from. You can't smoke a cigarette and get your nicotine fix, but you can drink a smoker's blood. I can't mix cocaine with blood to give you a hit, but if you drink from someone who's already high it'll transfer over. Those are the kind of things you can get from an everyday human," she explained, stretching her legs out, her feet burying themselves in the covers. "Supernaturals have their own little perks. Like you making me warm. If I had some fire elemental blood on hand, I'd give it to you, but I traded in my supply for something better," she smiled. Now she would be blushing if she could. He was still a drug for her, just a different sort.
The very thought of being warm sent a chill through his body and Graham found himself remembering that he could never naturally be like that again. Maybe if he drank from another fire elemental... which he actually knew a bunch. Adara, Tessa, and Jace were all fire elementals, though the thought of drinking from his male friend made him twitch more so than drinking water did. Then again, what were the chances of him convincing one of the ladies that it was ok for him to feed off of them just so he could be warm, especially when he killed his first meal. Would he always go into a bloodlust whenever he wanted to feed? Jezebelle never did with him, so perhaps over time it was settle down. Until then he had to get used to being cold, but dwelling on it for a moment made his spirits lower even more while being consumed by the prickling, icy cold that embraced him.
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow and reached down to stroke her cheek while she rested. "I hope it was worth it." Probably was in more way than one. "You'll also have to give me a crash course on all the types of blood out there so I know what I'm getting myself into instead of.... drinking fucking water." He chuckled a bit while shaking his head, knowing that Jezebelle was clueless to his hatred for water, even in consumption.
"More than worth it," she said softly, her eyes fluttering shut as he stroked her cheek. "I'm sorry you're feeling sad... I wish I knew how to help." She'd thought that maybe she could meet some of his needs with a coffee and cigarette substitute, but that hadn't quite worked out as planned. "No more water, I swear. And I'll see what I can do about getting a variety of different types for you to try. Then you can figure out what you like and don't like, and how it all effects you." Reaching up, she gently ran her fingers over the bite mark on his neck. Even though it was a scar, she loved to see it on him. "I want you to be happy..."
The coffee and cigarette substitute was greatly appreciated and was helping out, more so than he expected, but he couldn't help but still feel down. With her fingers tracing over the bite scar, Graham took one more long gulp from his mug before placing it on the nightstand, then rested his hand over hers. "Having you here is making me happy, Jez. I would be curled up in a ball in a corner right now without you here. I'll get over myself... eventually... somehow. Fuck, I don't know, it's just an odd transition, that's all." He figured Jezebelle would understand that, having been through it herself. Picking up her hand carefully, he brought her palm to his lips and sprinkled several kisses along it before resting her hand against his cheek. "Thank you. For all of this. The drink, letting me stay here, the whole vamp thing." He choked on his words towards the end, wanting to say more, but instead just stared down at her with an adoring gaze. That was better than anything he could ever vocalize to her.
She knew it was hard and felt that he was actually handling it all quite well, considering everything. He hadn't freaked out over drinking blood, neither from a body nor a glass, and that was a huge achievement for most new vampires. They could usually accept their hunger, but struggled over the source. "It takes some time to adjust," she said gently. "You're doing exceptionally well. Things will feel different and... I'm here if you need anything." There were no magic words she could say to make it all easier for him, but she wished there were. "You make me sound so selfless," she said, laughing gently. "I get plenty out of this, you know. I get you." So long as he didn't accidentally set himself on fire, she didn't have to worry about Graham growing old and her life passing his by. She wouldn't have changed him just for that, though, since she had to know he wouldn't grow bored of her. She hoped that wouldn't be the case, though it was the one thing that was unpredictable in this all.
Graham had way more to be freaked out over than drinking blood, like the fact he was freezing or the fact he couldn't enjoy coffee or cigarettes or anything by normal means ever again. Shit, he had no issues chugging down a cup of blood, just as long as he got his fix. Graham had tasted worse, so this was the least of his concerns. Now that he was thinking about the cold again, he felt his body shiver and he tried desperately to ignore the prickling pain that covered his body, regardless of the fact he was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. At least it was summer, but even then he couldn't tell the difference. But for now he could distract himself with Jezebelle. Upon hearing her words, he scooped her up into his arms and brought her close against him. "Well, if you're putting it that way, then you're a selfish, little minx," he rested his forehead against hers and just smirked widely. "And I'm not complaining one bit."
Jezebelle rested her forehead against his, grinning back at him. She could have sworn her cheeks were warm, though she doubted that was the case. It was times like these that she wondered if he had any idea how much she meant to him. Though she was starting to figure it out for herself, sometimes she thought it must be too obvious to miss. If it bothered him, he hadn't said so. "Good, cause I--" Her words were cut off as a loud crash sounded nearby, too near for Jezebelle to be comfortable. She squeezed Graham in a brief hug, then looked towards the door. The crashing came again, though louder this time, and Jezebelle scowled. "What the hell," she muttered, slow to release him. She didn't want anyone disturbing them, but she couldn't ignore what already had.
He was fully aware of the fact that Jezebelle cared for him, probably on the same level that he cared for her, though he was still unsure to some extent. After the lovely experience he had with Saoirse and finally, finally, FINALLY opening up to her, he had absolutely zero plans of letting down his guard and showing vulnerability again. At least not for a long while. Then again, he had all the time in the world to figure that out with Jezebelle. Graham was ready to ease in for a kiss after she finished her words, only to have something cut them off. With his new senses, he was definitely able to hear that. It sounded like something being tossed around from outside... but what exactly could it be? He hoped Saoirse wasn't outside trying to chuck cars or something at the house to piss of Graham further. Then Jezebelle would have every right to kill her, because holy crap, what the fuck. Releasing his sire, he looked on over to her with a raised eyebrow. "I hope it's not an unexpected visitor. That didn't go too well last time."
"Unless it's you, they never do," Jezebelle said with a little smile, fixing her robe as she rose from the bed. As much as she wanted to ignore the noise, she had the feeling this was the sort of thing that could not go ignored. It was like an earthquake; she couldn't pretend it wasn't happening just by refusing to acknowledge it's presence. Jezebelle sighed, then leaned in to kiss Graham lightly on the lips. "I'll be right back. I just want to make sure no one's trying to burn the house down or something." It was raining, so that probably wasn't the issue, but she still wanted to be sure. With the number of enemies she had running around, who knew what could be out there.
"Well, seeing that I'm here, you might as well go check on that," he teased a bit while cooing against her lips after the kiss. "Though if you're not back in five minutes, I'm coming after you." He smirked lightly while running a hand down her cheek, not wanting her to get harmed, but knew fully well that between the two of them she could stand her own in a fight. Besides, she was able to skewer Saoirse with a fire poker; Jezebelle had her shit together. Though while Graham was busy with her, Kismet was occupied by the front window, fluttering about like crazy as she watched the demon outside on the streets in the pouring rain. This didn't look good by any means.
"I hope so," Jezebelle grinned, the smile remaining on her face just until she made it to the window. Her eyes caught Kismet for only a moment before the movement outside captured her attention and she cursed in Italian. The monster was huge and black, it's wings golden, and the moment Jezebelle identified it as a demon was when it yelled out a shout of rage that shook the glass in the windows. "Graham," she said, her voice shaking. The demon shrieked again, it's eyes looking towards her as Jezebelle took a step way from the window. "We have a problem."
Even while he was in the other room, there was no denying that sensation that shot through him and the whole house when the wretched shriek let loose. And seeing that Graham had already confronted two other demons, he was sadly all too familiar with that sound. "Fuck..." He dismissed Jezebelle's initial request of staying put and immediately darted out to where she was, catching a glimpse of the creature outside. This isn't good! We need to get out of here before it tears this whole place apart! Kismet fluttered away from the window and hid in her master's hair, burrowing deep while whimpering. "Jez, it's not going to fucking stop until it destroys everything its path." He reached out to her shoulder and tugged on her lightly, hoping to pull her away from the window even further. In the back of his mind, he knew there was only one option to get rid of the demon - kill it.
Jezebelle was perfectly willing to back away from the window, just as she was willing to think of the demon as someone else's problem. The issue seemed to be that it continued to draw closer to her house and if they waited long enough it would be their problem whether they liked it or not. The fact that the demon seemed to focus on their forms in the window didn't help. "We need... weapons." Blessed weapons? Jezebelle wasn't sure she had any. She'd fought a lot of things in her time, but demons weren't on the list. "Can you set fire to something in the rain?" she asked, all the white she went and pulled on her rain boots. Rain boots and a silken black robe. What a way to go into battle.
The better question was what couldn't he set on fire, seeing that was a shorter list in his mind. Then again, it was pouring outside and Graham loathed water. The idea of trying to get a fire going in those conditions were nowhere near ideal, but he had no choice. "Depends on how said fire is made. I doubt a fucking match is going to last. I'll need chemicals or something or-" He paused and instantly recalled that, hur hur, Jezebelle was just as much as a mad scientist as he was, and definitely recalled her little chem lab she had in the house. There was no doubt in his mind that she had something that could help him out - it was just a matter of what time they had. "What's in your lab?" His eyes flicked from Jezebelle to outside again, hoping she could at least hold off the creature before he bolted off to gather what he needed.
Her lab had just about everything in it, meticulously labeled and arranged in order. It was the one area of her life that she insisted on organization because otherwise something was bound to catch on fire or explode. As a vampire, that was the last thing she wanted to happen, and in this case it meant Graham could probably find whatever it was he might need. He would likely be better at mixing things on the fly-- at least that was her hope, since she didn't expect him to know how to use his new abilities. "Anything and everything," she answered. "Definitely propane tanks. Grab whatever you need and come help me. I can help you jump between shadows-- don't try it on your own." The last thing she needed was Graham blinking himself into a tree.
She could do what now? Oh, right. That teleporting thing. Graham had completely forgotten that that was now a new perk of his. It would have came in handy right then to suddenly appear in the basement or something, but he was beyond clueless when it came to doing that. He simply nodded to Jezebelle with a worried look strung out on his face before darting off to the basement. It still blew his mind how fast he reached it, but not nearly as much as when he realized he didn't need to turn on the lights. "Holy crap... that's trippy..." Blinking for a moment, he stared with wide eyes in the area, adjusting to the dark vision that he apparently acquired. It didn't take long for him to rummage about the cabinets, skimming over the various labels to try and find what he was looking for. There were indeed propane tanks and he hoped Jezebelle didn't have any use for them, because they were all going to be used as improv grenades now. Flicking through more of the bottles, he paused only to let out a sharp whistle when he came to several containers of nitroglycerin. "Now we're talking," he murmured to himself with a smirk. He knew in the back of his head she probably used it for its medicinal purposes, knowing there was some junkie out there who got their fix from high-end heart medication, but for now it served another purpose. Now all he had to do was be careful with moving both that and the propane tanks. Easier said than done when he was starting to shake from the cold.
While Graham was busy being a kid in a candy store, Kismet had decided to trail behind and stick with Jezebelle. It looks like it's going to charge any second! What are you going to do?! She landed on the vampire's head, nuzzling into her hair while twitching her wings on and off. It was a valid question: what was a vampire in a silk robe and rain boots going to do to a demon?
Fear was not something Jezebelle was comfortable showing, but right now it was practically glowing out of her eyes. They remained wide as she assessed the situation, rummaging through the hall closet until her hands closed on the only long range weapon she owned-- a pistol. It seemed far too tiny to do the kind of damage she was hoping for, and opted to grab the fire iron, making a side mental note to better equip her front entrance with weaponry. This was getting a tad ridiculous. "I'm hoping to distract it, maybe even kill it," Jezebelle said, as she stepped out the front door. "Can familiars learn magic? Because if you could bless the bullets that would be peachy." The demon roared as Jezebelle stepped out into the rain, not entirely sure if Kismet would follow. In fact, she hoped the little moth stayed somewhere safe, since Jezebelle wasn't all that sure she'd stay with her if she jumped between shadows. Another shade would, definitely, but a moth in her hair? Maybe not.
"Want a fight?" she asked, and the response she earned from the demons sounded like a definite yes. It was horrific, huge in size, black as night with golden wings. It's eyes bore into her and Jezebelle clenched her teeth tight so as not to shake. The rain poured down on her, soaking her quickly, but she didn't have time to consider how ridiculous she must look. The demon charged.
Oh god, I WISH. That would be a little too convenient, now wouldn't it? If Kismet could learn magic, she would have whipped a spell out that banished the demon back to where it belonged. Well, seeing that wasn't going to happen, she opted to stay close to Jezebelle... until the beast began to dart right at them. Eeeeee! The little moth flew out from the vampire's hair, flying higher up for safety and feared for the worst. GRAHAM. WHAT THE HELL IS TAKING YOU SO LONG?!
Graham twitched for a second, not expecting to have Kismet bellow in his mind while he was trying to go about a balancing act with several tanks of propane - god bless vampiric strength, because that shit was awesome - along with a couple containers of nitroglycerin. Now was not the time to be dropping any of it and sadly he couldn't dart on up the stairs and be back by Jezebelle's side. That whole shadow jumping thing would have been good right about now. Tell her to hang in there, Kizzy, Graham returned the mental thought. As much as he didn't like the idea of Jezebelle fighting a demon alone, she stood far more of a chance against one than the last two people who were by his side in a demon fight.
"Shit," Jezebelle said, walking towards it as she raised the gun. The shot shook her slightly, but barely slowed the demon, making it angrier if anything else. "Shit, shit, shit," she muttered, then fired off another round before she had no more time to spare. She blinked into the shadows just as the putrid stench of the creature hit her, reappearing behind it in time to smash it over the head with the fire iron. Rather than wait to see how that effected it, she blinked again, this time farther away. If there was one thing to be thankful for, it was that the downpour and dark skies put shadows everywhere, even in the afternoon.
The gunfire made Graham freeze while heading on up the stairs, pausing long enough to hear another one follow right after. The sound of the demon's feet stampeding across the ground rumbled through him and sent a chill through the vampire's body. Graham cursed loudly to himself, wishing he could rely on more than his knowledge with chemicals to aid Jezebelle in a fight. From the sounds of it, she had at least a gun in tow, but that demon had a massive sword in hand as well. HURRY! And there went Kismet yelling in his head again. Good to know that the moth's voice could carry over a decent amount of distance. Kismet whimpered while eying the demon and Jezebelle, knowing that if she got too close to the creature it would squish her with no hesitation. The best she could do was put on her game face and twitch her antennas about as if they were pompoms. Jezebelle, hang in there! Graham's almost here!
Jezebelle wanted to thank Kismet for the words of encouragement, but couldn't drop her focus long enough to breathe a word. If the moth could read her mind, maybe she'd pick up on it, but then she really hoped that wasn't possible. She still had a lot to learn about familiars... so long as she survived this encounter. The demon was hardly slowing, yet Jezebelle fired a third round, this time aiming for it's eyes. Four, five, and the demon howled in agony as a shot finally hit home. Blood and puss poured from one eye socket as bile dripped from it's jaws. With only one shot left, Jezebelle doubted she could hit the other eye, so she held the shot, hoping for something better to do with it. Instead, she tucked the gun into her robe so she could hold the fire iron with two hands. "Any time, Graham!" she called out, jumping into the shadows as the blade grazed her shoulder. She screamed in pain, furious that she let herself take a hit, then jabbed the fire iron into the demon's eye socket before jumping away again.
And there went more gunshots. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Each time one went off, Graham clenched his jaw, praying to whatever the hell was out there that Jezebelle was fine. He wasn't so hopeful when hearing the demon cry out, but soon enough he heard her voice in the mix and instantly perked up. Sounded like she was holding up fine so far. Placing the containers of nitroglycerin to the ground outside, he reluctantly step on out and let the rain embrace him. Yeah, this was not his ideal scenario by any means, but the fact that Jezebelle was in danger was enough to spur him out for the time being. And the second he was outside, something peculiar happened - the demon stopped and turned to face him. Almost as if Graham was a giant magnet for this creature. Another ear-piercing screech shook the area as the demon came full speed at him with sword in hand. What exactly Graham had done to capture the demon's attention was beyond him, but he wasn't going down without a fight. Growling through his teeth, he took one propane tank in hand and whipped it towards the demon. Had he still been human, he would have been too slow to react, but sadly for the demon they were now on an equal playing field.
With a twisted cry, as if not amused by his antics, the demon swung his sword at the tank to bat it away. Wrong move. The brute force was enough to make the tank explode into a fiery pillar upon impact. Not only did the explosion take out half its arm, but now a fourth of its body was on fire. If its intimidating cries weren't horrifying enough before, then Graham couldn't describe what it was doing now. The sounds emitting from it were nothing but anger. This thing was pissed. And from the looks of it, an explosion was not going to slow it down.
Jezebelle clutched her shoulder, the sting of her injury more than she was used to. A demonic sword, she expected, would do more damage than a human weapon, and she could only assume that's what that was. She'd let the creature get too close, but it wouldn't happen again. For a moment, she thought it had lost interest in the fight, but instead it focused on Graham with in intensity that she hadn't expected of the demon. It had merely wanted to kill her, whereas it had to kill Graham. At least one thing was working in their favor-- fire seemed to do some damage. With the blink of an eye, Jezebelle was beside Graham, grabbing a propane tank as well as his arm. "Hold on," she said, then pulled them away from the house, into the shadows on the other side of the street. It would only disorient the demon for a second, but that should be enough time for Graham to attack again.
Graham was all set and ready to dive to the side or something before the demon came at him again, but then Jezebelle was suddenly by his side and then they were on the other side of the street. The poor guy didn't even have a moment to respond when she pulled him into the shadow with her, and still didn't have a response once they were done. Graham simply stood there a second, eyes wide as he actually wished that he had the capability to induce himself to vomit, because there was no other way to respond to that. Staggering a bit, he fluttered his eyes while clutching at his body, shaking as the rain soaked through. Why did it have to be raining now?! "The fuck just happen?!" He could feel himself giving out slowly while being embraced by both the moisture and coldness. Though he had to keep it up for a while longer, just to protect Jezebelle, especially when the demon finally came to its sense and realized that the two vampires had blinked to the other side. "Fuck, scratch that," Graham grumbled while reaching for the tank in Jezebelle's hand, taking aim for a second then chucked it at the demon. Though this time around, the creature wasn't that dense and caught the tank perfectly in its remaining hand. "...shit," was all he could utter out while staring.
"Should've warned you," Jezebelle said, the best apology she could muster in the middle of a fight. It had been so long since she'd learned to blink that she forgot how disorienting it could be on a new vampire. It was definitely something she'd teach him later... provided they lived. Though now that the demon was burning, she was feeling more confident in the fight. She watched as the second propane tank flew through the air... right into the demon's hands. Jezebelle smirked and pulled the pistol out of her robe pocket. "I can hit that," she grinned as she fired the remaining bullet towards the demon. Explosions weren't her thing, but triggering one that blew a demon to pieces? Priceless.
If only his eyes could grow wider, because he would have done just that. Having Jezebelle whip out her gun and lodge a bullet right into the tank was ridiculously impressive, just as the explosion that instantly followed was. He stood there in awe at the tank erupted with a booming echo with flames roared up and took out the demon's other arm. Looked like the creature was completely armless at this point, but that stopped it? Seeing that it was shrieking out and darting right at them, Graham was going to opt for 'no.' "The head," he struggled with his words, shaking from the rain swallowing whole, "go for the head." And preferably somewhere away from its line of sight, but he was too occupied on not freezing to death in the downpour.
Seeing as how Graham could hardly talk he was shivering so badly, Jezebelle decided she'd rather get him out of the rain, then deal with the armless monstrosity pounding towards them. She hooked her arm in his and blinked them back onto her front porch, unsurprised this time when the demon whipped around to face them. "Stay here," she said, abruptly releasing Graham to disappear once more. She didn't expect him to have a problem with that request, if he was even able to stay on his feet in the first place. When she reappeared, it was to grab the demon's sword off the ground, it's hilt burning her flesh as she picked it up. Burns sucked, but would heal in time, and the sword was the only weapon she could think of that would put the demon down for good. Jezebelle had been wondering how she'd manage with the demon charging at her, but that wasn't the case-- it was still focused on Graham, allowing her the opportunity to reappear behind it and smash the sword into it's skull.
And there they went blinking again, though this time around the new vampire collapsed to the ground once he was dropped off. As much as he wanted to learn about his new abilities, having a crash course in it while fighting a demon wasn't ideal in any way. Graham curled up while wrapping his arms around himself, wishing the numbing sensation encircling him would go away just as much as he wanted the demon to be gone. He was certain that the abomination was going to catch up to him and rip his body to shreds, though he managed to catch sight of Jezebelle jumping about within the shadows and reacted rapidly to the danger at hand. Well, a sword striking through the skull was one way to go for the head. His eyes widened while watching the demon flail about in agony before falling to the ground. Yeah, it didn't seem to like its brain being sliced into. Even while it was down, it still scrambled in a frenzied state, perhaps living strictly on an adrenaline rush and attempting in its last moment of life to try and finish Graham off. "You're fucking kidding me..."
Glancing to the side, he eyed the containers of nitroglycerin that were on the ground, still safe despite the demon's stomp. He could only imagine they were diluted to be less reactive, but it was still an incendiary. Grasping one of the containers cautiously, he did his best to steady his arm so he could at least get a somewhat clean shot in. Kismet hovered above, catching both a glimpse of her master in action and his destructive thoughts. Jezebelle, get back! Get back! GET BACK! And by the time the moth screamed out the words, Graham had launched the nitroglycerin towards the demon and managed to land it in proximity of its head. The explosion wasn't as strong as the propane tank going off, but it was enough to blow off half of the demon's head and leave the rest in flames. As the creature cried out once more, choking on its own blood and guts, it twitched about on the ground before finally becoming motionless. Graham stared at the burning corpse for a while, watching immense amounts of blood pool around it before lowering his head and curling up into a ball.
There was a point when enough was enough, and Jezebelle felt like they'd passed it at least five minutes ago. She'd let go of the sword when it made impact with the demon's head, and now watched the creature scramble around with it sticking out from the top. Dark blood spewed out onto the ground, and while it didn't look like it had long to live, it didn't seem to be stopping either. With no more weapons at her disposal, Jezebelle was running out of ideas. She was just about to go into a full blown panic when Kismet warned her of Graham's intent. Without the energy to blink away again-- something that usually seemed effortless-- she scrambled back away from the demon, flinching as fire engulfed it. "Finally," she breathed, watching it for a solid minute more before hurrying over to Graham. She wanted that sword, but she'd come back for it after it cooled down.
"Hey," she said, crouching down beside him. "Let's go in and get you warm." A hot shower was in order, along with a couple of phone calls. She needed to get him fire elemental blood and she needed it soon; she couldn't stand to see him suffer and he'd already been through so much more than a new vampire usually had to deal with. The least she could do would be provide him with actual warmth, and the only way to do that would be with fire elemental blood.
Graham lifted his head up to gaze at Jezebelle, visibly shaking now before her. Warming up sounded good even before the demon came around. Why exactly it was so intent on killing him over Jezebelle was beyond him, though it was dead now and none of their worries. "You doing ok?" His hand stretched out to touch her face, hoping that she wasn't as shaken up as he was. After taking a moment to stare into her eyes, he gradually rose to his feet and brushed the drenched locks of black hair out from her face. He ignored the spare propane tank and vial of nitroglycerin on the ground, far more focused on getting dry and warm. Well, at least warm for a vampire. Are you just going to leave it there?! Kismet fluttered around the smoldering corpse before heading back to the house. Demons didn't make good lawn decorations, but Graham didn't feel like going back into the rain to remove the creature. "Unless you want to chuck it in the fire place and keep the fire going."
In truth, the pain Jezebelle was feeling was more intense than any she'd ever felt as a vampire, but she knew Graham was more important at the moment. Her shoulder was still bleeding and her hands were black and charred from holding the burning sword, but both would heal with the help of earth elemental blood... which she might have inside. If not, it was another thing she could add to the list of blood types to search for. "I'll be okay," she said softly, figuring that was more the truth than telling how she was now. Kismet's question had her giving another glance towards the demon and she shivered, wrapping her arms around Graham and helping him inside. She did pick up the nitroglycerin, though, figuring that wasn't something she wanted to leave sitting on her front porch. "It's not going anywhere. I'll come see about it later," she told Kismet, then looked up at Graham. "You did well," she said with a little smile. "Thank you."
"You're thanking me? Shit, I should be thanking you for saving my ass and having all those toys at hand." Because if not, that demon might have been still alive and they had the possibility of being dead on the front lawn instead of the demon itself. Graham still did his best to put on a smile for Jezebelle, even if he was shaking. Then without another second wasted, he was back inside the house, already stripping himself of the soaked attire clinging tightly onto his pale form. He cursed under his breath, something about fucking hating rain, and briskly made his way to the bathroom in hopes to at least find a towel or twenty to dry himself off with. Before he could even find them, he entered the bathroom and turned on his heel to face the mirror... only to find no reflection greeting him. His eyes widened while letting out a horrified scream and collapsed onto the floor, dropping his drenched top in the process. If he thought the whole blinking thing was a mindfuck, then there was nothing to describe this.
"I couldn't have done it all at once," she pointed out. On her own, she wouldn't have been able to do half the things that happened; the split focus was what saved them, plus Graham's intelligence in pyrotechnics. Jezebelle knew the technicalities associated with creating bombs and fire, but it wasn't something she practiced. She let Graham go on ahead of her once they were in the house, taking the time to grab her cell phone before following him into the bed room. His scream had her running, till she came upon him and saw what had frightened him. "We never got to the part about what it means to be a Shade vampire," she said, her lips turning up just slightly. "Silly thing, no reflection, but I should've warned you." Stepping up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed the back of his shoulder. "Can I shower with you?" Besides wanting to be close to him, she wanted to make sure he didn't scald his skin off in an effort to get warm.
"...are you fucking serious?" He wasn't too sure if that was a good or bad thing, but having been used to seeing himself in a mirror for almost 32 years now and then abruptly lose that was beyond unnerving. "The hell am I saying, of course you are. Either that or you got some magical mirror or some shit." Graham was pretty sure he could get used to no reflection easier than the whole shadow jumping thing. At least not having a reflection didn't give him nausea. Though all of those worries were pushed out of his brain when Jezebelle snuggled in from behind him. Part of him wondered if she knew how charming she was, thus using it to her advantage, but after turning his head enough to eye the lovely brunette, he could see it in her eyes that she knew. If not, then she wouldn't be his little minx, now wouldn't she? "No, you cannot. How dare you even think I would want to remotely shower with you," he teased her with a overly dramatic stare before flashing a grin to her. Turning enough to plant a soft kiss on her forehead, lips trebling against her skin, Graham then murmured to Jezebelle, "Only if you help me get out of this fucking soaking wet get-up."
Now probably wasn't the time to tell Graham that such mirrors did exist; he had enough to deal with here and now without discussion on all the weird that could be found elsewhere. Rather than delve into that topic, she stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips, unable to feel the chill, but not missing the way he shivered. "Couldn't pass up an offer like that," she said as she slid her hands up under his shirt. It stuck to his skin as she pealed it off him, pulling it up over his head. "You know... some people are more sensitive when they're cold." Jezebelle smirked up at him before pressing a kiss to his chest, one hand brushing across a tight nipple as the other moved down to unfasten his pants. If this didn't distract him from freezing, nothing would, though she really wasn't in the mood to do more than play. Her shoulder still hurt, that damn demon's sword doing more damage than a normal weapon would. Luckily, her hands had started to heal, though she still used them gently.
Graham typically didn't find himself distracted when he was concentrating on something, but seeing that his mind was scattered about in hundreds of different places, it was far easier to catch him off guard. And seeing that Jezebelle was a pro at this... well, she had his full attention in a variety of ways. A pleasant chill jolted through his body as she teased him, his breath hitching sharply in the process. "I'm just sensitive in general, you should know that by now," he spoke while taking in the sight before him, quite enjoying the look of her soaked robe hugging onto each and every curve of hers. That alone aroused him, nevermind being teased by her. Graham's eyes stopped when he eyed the open wound on her shoulder, worried that she would be in pain, thus explaining why he leaned in to kiss around her shoulder, all while letting his hand explore the front of her robe and unraveling the ties that held it together.
"I know," she grinned, her teeth scraping lightly across one nipple. "Makes it even better." That was something she liked about him to begin with, and she had the feeling that being a vampire had maybe made it even more intense. Graham was feeling things now that he'd never felt before, his senses amped up beyond what a human could handle. While Jezebelle had gotten used to her new senses, they were still very fresh to Graham, so he could likely tell the difference. The kisses he placed close to her shoulder drew her attention, at first because of the proximity, and then curious to what he was thinking. "Magical injuries heal slower," she said softly as she unbuttoned his pants and began to push them down his hips. "I'm going to call a friend after we shower and see if she can't help us track down helpful." Earth elemental blood for her, fire elemental blood for him.
To say what he was feeling that moment was intense was putting it lightly. Now that he was, you know, not drunk or high beyond all belief, Graham could focus on every little thing Jezebelle was doing to drive him up a wall, or at least back up until his back was against it. For him, this was pure bliss. Almost rivaling his cocaine trips. Almost. "Just as long as this isn't hurting you," he cooed into her face, tugging at her robe enough to let it fall open. His hands instantly slid underneath to caress her damp skin, peeling away at the material with no rush at all. For the moment, Graham was content with running his hands all over Jezebelle, intoxicated with how she felt against him. "Are you sure you're going to do that right after we shower?" He quirked a brow up before shooting her a sly smirk. "I must not be distracting you enough." Because she sure as hell was distracting him, if that wasn't evident enough.
"Maybe not right after," she agreed with a smirk. She had to admit, this was a sure way to get her mind off the flaming demon corpse in her front yard. Jezebelle had always been sensitive to his touch, but her cold wet skin prickled up more than usual this time, her body instantly responsive. As soon as she could get his pants out of the way, she pressed her body against his and reached around him to turn on the water. Then she let her robe fall to the floor, revealing how very little she'd been wearing beneath her robe. Jezebelle didn't wait to let Graham remove her soaked panties, discarding them quickly in favor of pulling him into the shower with her. There was no need to rush, but she wasn't fond of the feeling of wet clothes herself.
Before he could get another word out, Jezebelle was there to full strip him and then drag him into the shower. Graham flinched at first with the water hitting his skin, stepping away from it until it heated up enough for him to ease back into. Hot water he could get used to, just like he could used to having a gorgeous, nude woman before him. "This might not be such a good idea," he pointed out while pulling her back to him, embracing her fondly and nibbled at her ear. "Don't think we'll get much accomplished when it comes to getting clean." That was the last thing on his mind as he nuzzled into her cheek and rested his lips against her skin. The whole fight in the rain put him into enough shock that it mellowed him out into something softer than he typically was. Though at the same time, Graham didn't mind being a bit more affectionate than savage, which was quite clear in the way he held Jezebelle.
Jezebelle hummed in agreement as she cuddled against him, her intent never having been to get clean in the first place. She'd seen him flinch at the first splash of water, but then sink back into it when he realized it was warm. With all the chaos that had occurred that morning, at least she could find one way to sooth him, even if it was with water. "I'm in no hurry," she pointed out as she closed her eyes and kissed his neck. "Though we'll want out before the hot water runs out." Though her touches had started out sexual in nature, she was calming down now that they were in the shower. Having the chance to hold him, to be held by him, she felt relief wash over her as their survival of the morning. She couldn't stand to be scared, but she had been terrified. Human or vampire, a demon could have killed them both, no matter what they were.
He chuckled while back up against the wall, still holding Jezebelle close while indulging in the hot water cascading over their bodies. As much as he couldn't stand water, something this warm was manageable, even more so with Jezebelle there. Being able to relax with her in the shower was quite the treat. "I guess the only question now is," he brought a hand up to tilt her chin up and force her face towards his, "how long until the hot water runs out?" Graham didn't give her a moment to respond. Hell, when did he ever? His lips were already against hers the second he finished his sentence, flicking his tongue out to taste her lips before deepening the kiss into something longing, yet tender. A moan lingered against his lips, vibrating against hers and cherished the moment. Not having to breathe as a vampires was starting to be more and more of a positive thing at this rate.
How was it they could go from fighting a demon to the death to fooling around in the shower? Jezebelle didn't know, considering how pleasant a distraction it was, though she thought it probably said something on how easily they could lose themselves in each other. The horrors of the outside world faded into the background as they indulged in the pleasures they could bring one another. Jezebelle smiled against Graham's lips, the answer to his question on her mind-- long enough. Her fingers ran up into his hair, brushing it away from his face, and she moaned back in response, body trembling beneath his hands. Her heart stayed quiet as always, yet the steady beat of the water against her back echoed the racing she felt. Graham still made her feel alive, and now that he was a vampire as well she knew it was him himself, rather than his blood, that did so.
Just because he was dead now didn't mean he suddenly lost the capability to live it up, and having once been a fire elemental, Graham was thoroughly enlightened with sex. That didn't seemed to go away with his new vampire traits nor did he plan on losing it. Feeling Jezebelle shake against him only caused him to pull the beauty into his body, crushing her against himself. Not once did he unlock his lips from her, fully intending to keep them sealed right there. His hand, however, were free to roam about her slick form, one of them tangled up in her damp hair while the other ventured down her side before planting a firm grip upon her hip, bringing her in enough to rock into her body.
She moaned his name against his lips, fingers tugging at his hair as he drew her close. Though Jezebelle was by no means inexperienced, sex was something she'd once feared and then rarely experimented with. Her sire had been traditional in the sense of what was proper a hundred years ago, and when the flame had dwindled down there was little chemistry left between them. As her only other lover by choice, what she'd experienced with her sire had nothing on the short time she'd spent with Graham. It was certainly nothing like this. She couldn't even recall taking a shower with him, let alone some of the other things Jezebelle was contemplating at the moment.
Hopefully the day would never come where Graham would cross paths with Jezebelle's sire, because he would have a word or two to twenty to have with him, along with a swift punch in the face. How someone could possibly neglect or mistreat any woman, especially her, was beyond him. All that mattered was that she was with him and not her sire, so that had to at least count for something. Her words vibrating onto his lips definitely counted for something, spurring him further to pursue Jezebelle. His hand caressed over her rear before dipping down to run several fingers between her legs, determined to tease her for a chance of pace before fully embracing the moment. "Hope it's not just the shower that's making you this wet," he chuckled with a groan while grazing his fangs across her lower lip.
She arched into him as his fingers teased her, slick breasts pushing against his chest, legs parting to give him better access to her body. If there was one thing she could always count on, it was Graham's ability to turn her on within seconds, his voice alone capable of evoking a state of arousal. The way those words rolled off his tongue would have done just that, had she not already been turned on. "The shower has nothing on you," she said. "I get wet just thinking about you fucking me." She smirked into the kiss, pleased with the feel of his fangs scraping her lip. At some point, she'd have to gorge herself on blood then let him feed from her, just to feel him take from her as she had from him. The eroticism of being bitten was definitely something she'd picked up after becoming a vampire.
"You must have quite the busy mind if just the thought of that gets you going." Knowing that was enough to stroke his ego to the point of being thoroughly aroused for her and was far from being shy to let Jezebelle know the affect she had on him. His fingers strayed on and off, tracing the edges of her delicate flesh and delayed his actions whenever his slight touches would elicit a reaction from Jezebelle. "Guess this just backs up my theory that you're more of a sex kitten than a lady," he teased her both verbally and physically, his lips exploring down her neck, dragging his tongue along before stopping by the base and sucking roughly. "Shit, you probably had this all figured out once the fucking demon was out of the picture." Again, wouldn't be the first time they fooled around after something dramatic like that. Somewhere in his mind, Graham was keeping count of all their sexual encounters and was pretty certain that 'times after a fight or death' was eventually going to outweigh 'times after nothing out of the ordinary happened.'
She could feel him hard against her belly and dropped one hand to stroke him, her fingers curling around the shaft as she teased the head with her thumb. If he was going to play with her, then she could offer the same, enjoying the wait while frustrated with it as well. "Who said a lady can't be a sex kitten?" she asked with a breathless little laugh. Most people that knew her would never guess her sexual appetite, only because she didn't make it public. She'd never thought it seemed appropriate to do so. As her lover, Graham got to see the part of her that no one else saw, and was that able to draw different conclusions. She groaned as he sucked at her neck, tilting her chin up as she closed her eyes. "It's the adrenaline," Jezebelle said, biting her lip through a groan. "Easy to go from one rush into another. I don't really plan it, but I admit I don't try to stop it either." Opening her eyes, she looked up at him, blood on her lips from the cut of her teeth. "Don't say you don't like it."
Looked like he was starting to get a taste of his own medicine with the way her hand was just beginning to work over his hard on. His lips parted for a moment, letting a slight gasp escape him before easing into a pleased moan. "Do I look like I'm not liking it?" He raised an eyebrow at Jezebelle, doing his best to keep a tight hold on the reigns that were bound to his lust. "Because if I am, then we might have a problem." A smirk curled up on his lips while a finger found home against her swollen clit and took great pleasure in kneading into her. If this was him not liking it, then god forbid what him actually enjoying it was like. "Either way, I approve of you being a scheming, little tease," Graham spoke lowly while bringing his head in closer to run his tongue across her lip to rid it of the blood that formed there, only continuing to do so for his own amusement.
"Somehow I think you're the one being the tease," she said, her body trembling against his as he began to rub her clit. Though her hand continued to stroke him, she was getting to the point where it was difficult to focus, her body wanting to press back against his hand and feel more than he was currently offering. The taste of blood on his tongue, even her own, only heightened the experience. Jezebelle slid her thigh up over his hip, frustrated when it slid back down, slick from the water. If being in the shower was going to prevent this from going further, then she was ready to move this to some place dryer. "Please, Graham," she groaned, nuzzling his neck before biting him gently. "I can't wait any longer." Rarely did she get reduced to begging, but Graham seemed to have a knack for it.