Who: Chuuya, Damien, Miriam What: drinks Where: Verdant? Somewhere else? When: backdated to the 13th Warnings: they are the warnings, but probably low Status: g-doc
Miriam made her way to the agreed upon bar for drinks with Damien and Chuuya. Hopefully this outing didn’t end in quite the same manner as testing out gravity on Miriam. Of course, the ancient vampire didn’t care much, but just enough given she liked having friends. Not that she didn’t love having Caroline in her life, but it wouldn’t hurt the brunette to branch out a bit. Plus, she enjoyed Chuuya a lot and Damien slowly grew on her.
She decided to change up her order and asked for a glass of bourbon when she got to the bar. Now that she could enjoy things besides blood, wine, and berries, Miriam thought tonight made as good a night as any to try bourbon. Once the bartender handed her the glass, she looked around to see if either of the other two arrived first.
“No wine tonight?” Damien slid into the empty barstool beside the other vampire. His blue eyes shifted from the glass in her hand and then back to her face. “What sparked this sudden change? Is the world ending?” Since he’d come to know Miriam, he’d only seen her indulge in wine. Seeing her with a glass of bourbon in hand was a curious development and he couldn’t help, but wonder if this was for another experiment.
Damien shifted his attention to behind the bar and caught the eye of the bartender on duty. Once they’d made their way over, Damien placed an order for a top shelf bourbon and then turned his attention back to Miriam and her mysterious glass of bourbon.
“Let me guess. Is this for another experiment? Please enlighten me with the details of this one. Does it somehow involve you breaking more bones?”
Chuuya had been the last of the trio to arrive. No particular reason why. Miriam and Damien just simply arrived before he had.
Once he spotted the other vampires, he made his way to the bar just in time to overhear what Damien was saying. He glanced over and saw he was right - instead of a glass of wine, Miriam had a glass of bourbon. He didn't think too much of it. He enjoyed wine, it was his favorite drink but he also liked other alcoholic drinks as well.
Still, he went along with what Damien was saying. "If you're doing another experiment involving breaking bones without me, I'm going to be disappointed," he spoke to Miriam before turning to order a whiskey.
Miriam rolled her eyes, but with a grin on her face. “No. The world isn’t ending thanks. I decided to change up my drink for once, but I think I’ll go back to wine after the bourbon.” The vampire took another sip. “I’m trying to introduce new tastes into my life, now that Constantine made a spell so I can eat more foods.” She clarified, “John. Not Johannah.” Given the female’s whole announcement regarding her teaching about vampires first, Miriam avoided the female version. She very much liked John, though. “But, it requires small steps.”
The vampire admitted, “I’m still finding it difficult to enjoy things with textures after blood and wine for centuries, but at least bourbon introduces a new taste.”
When Chuuya joined them, Miriam added, “I would never engage in more bone breaking experiments without the two of you.” Her tone implied obviously. Somehow they’d become a trio of friends and Miriam couldn’t imagine doing those sort of things without the two of them and their incessant teasing.
The bartender set his drink down in front of him and Damien took a sip as he listened to Miriam’s response. Wasn’t there some saying about variety being the spice of life? Not that Damien paid particular attention to any of that. “Too bad. I was looking forward to having a front row seat,” he replied. “But it’s nice to see you stepping outside your comfort zone of breaking bones and wine.”
Damien was unfamiliar with John, but he was well-aware of Johanna. The woman who he had flirted with at the bar. Damien turned her down and that was when she publicly started a crusade against vampires. It was clear she didn’t handle rejection well. It was rather amusing even if Damien didn’t like anyone digging around in his origins or weaknesses. “I am unfamiliar with John,” he replied vaguely. “Is he a witch then?”
Chuuya joined them and commented about how disappointed he would be if Miriam engaged in any bone breaking activities without him. Obviously, Miriam said she wouldn’t without the two of them. “Apparently, bone breaking and us are a package deal,” he said before taking another sip from his glass.
Chuuya never heard of either Constantine. He probably had seen them on the network (he did have a vague recollection of someone saying they'd teach people about vampires), but since he didn't know them, he didn't consider them important enough to pay attention to.
The bartender got Chuuya his whiskey, which he took a quick sip of. "Bone breaking is pretty much a given with me." He seemed to enjoy breaking bones or other types of torture more than the act of killing. Most of the time, killing was just a job to him. But why not have a little bit of fun before doing it?
“I feel certain that if more experiments occur with me as a guinea pig, you’ll have a front row seat, Damien.” A small smile. “After thousands of years, I should at least try a new thing now and again.” While alcohol did nothing for her, the vampire appreciated the familiar burn.
Miriam nodded. “Constantine possesses magic, yes. I like him well enough and obviously appreciate the spell he cast so I can eat food.” Made dinner dates with Shadow far easier, to be honest. “The other Constantine I have yet to meet, but she seems a bit more intense than John.” One Constantine in her life seemed sufficient.
“You? Like breaking bones? I never would have guessed,” Miriam quipped, dryly. “So, how are you two? Did you have a good trip, Damien?” She recalled something about Paris and asking people about trips seemed like something a friend should ask.
“Good. I’d be hurt if I wasn’t.” Damien enjoyed watching torture as surly as he enjoyed participating in it. “You should.” Though Damien doubted Miriam would like the bourbon, especially if alcohol didn’t really do anything for her anywhere. For Damien, it just took a lot of alcohol to have any effect on him.
Damien nodded. “If he was willing to help you, perhaps he isn’t bad.” Damien was not familiar with either Constantine, but he would agree the woman seemed a bit intense. “I would say intense may be putting it lightly.” Her post taking aim at all vampires because Damien refused to fuck her was dramatic. In a way, he was relieved he’d dodged that particular situation.
Damien glanced over at Chuuya. “I figured it was your default,” he replied. That and not caring about much of anything around him outside of Irina. He shifted his gaze back to Miriam. “It was a good experience. I haven’t been to Paris in some time so it was interesting to see it again.” Especially with someone else outside of his brother. “What about yourself? Do anything fascinating besides try that glass of bourbon?”
Chuuya sipped his drink, quietly listening to the two other vampires discuss the Constantines. "Wasn't she the one who offered to teach people how to hunt vampires and shit?" he asked, though he didn't sound particularly worried or even interested since he spoke in a rather bored tone.
"I do like using knives once in awhile as well." He usually carried one around with him, even if he didn't use it often other than for the occasional torture. "Paris, huh?" It was one of his favorite places and he liked learning about the language and culture. Though these days, he was more into learning about Russia thanks to a certain Tsarina. "À quand remonte la dernière fois que vous avez visité?" he asked Damien before turning to Miriam, also curious to know what she'd been up to besides drinking something other than wine.
“Yes, she certainly doesn’t seem to like vampires.” Miriam wondered why, but at the end of the day didn’t care. John liked her and they could chat, which Miriam liked. The vampire didn’t need to talk with anyone who seemed to dislike vampires as a rule of thumb.
“How could I not include my friend in any torture I undergo?” Only hints of sarcasm could be found in her response, although she smiled to show she held no malice. “John is nice enough.” A glance at Damien. “Oh. You’ve met her, I take it?”
“I attended Alyssa’s art show and bought a piece. Shadow and I are spending more time together. But, I do miss Paris. Yes, you and knives make sense.”
“Technically, no one should like vampires. We’re born killers,” Damien replied bluntly. “But she does seem to have a vendetta against our kind.” Damien knew exactly why she did, but he didn’t feel like sharing that particular story at the moment. Plus, it seemed Johanna had gotten over it following a few rounds of speed dating anyway. Maybe all she needed was something fuck her to ease some of that tension.
“And I met her briefly. She came in handy at the bar when I didn’t want to go outside to smoke.” Damien took a sip from his drink. He wasn’t planning on elaborating. There wasn’t really much to tell. She walked out on him after he’d refused her.
At Chuuya’s question, Damien looked over at the other vampire. “Quelques années plus ou moins,” he replied smoothly. It was almost always for business too. Damien rarely did anything for pleasure back in his world. He held far too many responsibilities to take frequent breaks. “And Miriam’s right. Knives make sense.”
He focused on Miriam’s explanation of her latest exploits. “So does that mean the two of us should be expecting wedding invitations?”
Damien did make a good point - vampires were dangerous and best avoided. Yet idiots still were attracted to them. Chuuya also felt there was more to the story but since Damien didn't say much more on the subject, he figured it wasn't important enough to tell.
"J'y suis retourné en janvier," he replied. "Before that was about a year ago, but I've been going since I found out my brother was made in France." No, that wasn't a mistake he made. Verlaine was actually an artificial lifeform, created in a lab. Chuuya himself was experimented on using the same research, hence why they referred to each other as brothers despite not being biologically related at all.
"The art show seemed to went well." He was sure Alyssa was happy about that, as were Claudia and Rebekah. "I didn't end up buying anything, but Alyssa's art is always interesting." At Damien's question, he sipped his drink to hide his amusement. "Do we get to be bridesmaids?"
“Well, apparently someone forgot to tell Shadow and Alyssa to avoid us,” Miriam quipped dryly, but with a small grin. “Speak for yourselves. I haven’t murdered anyone in.” Actually she had no fucking clue. There was a man in the American Revolution trying to kidnap a woman and Miriam felt rather hungry. Or did that happen in the French Revolution? “A few centuries.” A correction. “Anyone not a human.” Unlike Ysabeau, she didn’t go to town on witches after Phillipe’s death. “I don’t count other vampires.” Anyone trying to harm her family seemed like fair game.
Miriam could take a few guesses as to what happened, but didn’t want to press Damien. She’d learned her lesson well enough as to how to deal with her mercurial friend. As they spoke French, Miriam understood everything, but didn’t plan on interrupting. Living as long as she did, she spoke almost every language under the sun, including some dead ones. Okay, a number of dead ones, including her native tongue.
“Your brother was…made in France?” Chuuya always used precise language, so she assumed he didn’t make a mistake.
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t even marry my mate, but yes, if I ever get married here, I’ll ensure you’re both bridesmaids and Caroline can be my maid of honour.” To be fair, Miriam never needed marriage, not even back when it was the only thing a woman was expected to do.
“But you still have killed before. It doesn’t matter how long ago it was,” Damien replied easily. “Time doesn’t erase the fact that it happened.” For Damien, killing was killing. It didn’t matter if it was a vampire, witch, or a human. It was clear Miriam had standards. While Damien often avoided flashing his fangs as frequently as his brother, it was rare he had qualms about killing, especially if they harmed someone he cared for.
“Alors, tu as aussi un frère?” Damien inquired right after Miriam asked roughly the same thing. He doubted that was something one misspoke about and now he was curious to learn more about Chuuya’s sibling. If he was willing to share of course.
Damien was amused by Chuuya’s question and more so when Miriam said they could be bridesmaids if she ever married here. “And as long as we get to pick our own tuxedos for the occasion.”
"Or who it was," he added. Miriam might not count other vampires but Chuuya did. It didn't matter to him who or what he killed, he still would count it as a murder by his own hands.
"Yes," he nodded. "My brother is an artificial lifeform made in some French military lab. I had been experimented on using the same research. So we're not biologically related, we just refer to each other as brothers." Not at first since Chuuya hated Verlaine for killing everyone close to him. But he eventually came to understand him and while he never forgave Verlaine for what he had done, he still accepted him as a brother.
"I hope you do get married. I've always wanted to be a bridesmaid," he said sarcastically while speaking in a high pitched, girly tone.
Miriam supposed murder was murder. Not that she felt guilt about it, but the female vampire did try to limit her body count. “Fine. I have murdered people. It’s frowned upon back home, so I try not to do so anymore. We have vampires back home who suffer from blood rage. Thankfully, I’m not one of them, so I can control myself better than some.” Such as Ysabeau or Matthew.
“Like I would ever try to dictate what someone else wore.” Miriam wrinkled her nose at the thought.
“Your home life sounds most confusing,” Miriam’s soprano voice commented. “But, I’m glad you have your brother there.” The vampire had no siblings, just her chosen family and her step-son. She wondered, briefly, how Jason was these days.
At the high pitched voice, Miriam grimaced. “Yes, well, maybe one day you’ll get your chance.”
“Was that so hard to admit to?” Damien looked amused, but he found himself curious about this blood rage. It sounded like nasty business. “We have nothing like blood rage back home though some vampires just naturally possess better control than others.” And some never learned control at all. “I don’t know. Maybe you have a secret, fashionista side that we are unaware of.” Damen highly doubted it, but at least he had reassurance she wouldn’t dictate clothing choices for either of them. Not that he saw a wedding in her future anyway.
Now that was a story. Damien sipped his alcohol and listened intently as Chuuya explained about his relationship with his brother. So, they weren’t related, but similar situations helped them to bond with one another. He could say the same about his relationship with Jimmy. They were not related, but Damien considered her family.
“I consider a particularly close friend back home to be family. It is obviously a little different of a situation than yours, but I do understand,” Damien commented.
Damien also could not help, but grimace at the high pitch voice Chuuya used. Though, there was amusement visible in the depths of his blue eyes. “The dream is real,” he replied dryly.
Vampires weren't new back home since Stoker has been around for quite some time. But he hadn't turned anyone in quite some time until recently, so Chuuya had no idea about how blood rage affected vampires back home. Regardless, he seemed to have control over it quickly and never had any problems.
He snorted. "Yeah, right." He couldn't imagine Miriam being into fashion at all. Certainly not men's fashion.
"I guess. We didn't have the best start. He killed my friends and anyone else close to me or tried to. But I killed his only friend, so I guess we're even," he shrugged as he sipped his drink. The two brothers definitely had a complicated relationship at best.
Guess neither of them found the voice to be funny. Just when Chuuya was starting to feel comfortable enough around them to joke a little too. Guess it was a small sign that he shouldn't. "I can't wait," he said in his normal voice.
“Blood rage is genetic in our world. If you have it, the loss of control can be, as the kids call it, epic. And not in a good way. Since we don’t have compulsion and we prefer to not let humans know of our existence, it’s not a good thing and hard to clean up the mess.” Miriam didn’t mention the part where, after Marcus sired vampire children, Matthew went and killed off most of his grandchildren, because of the likelihood of blood rage.
“I don’t have it, but my best friend and his mother do. We assume Ysabeau’s sire carried it but…” Miriam looked at her drink. “We don’t talk about him, or the fact that he never asked Ysabeau for her consent to become a vampire. In our world, consent is fucking important.” If a vampire sired a new one, they explained everything being a vampire entailed. Matthew’s mother wanted to continue her life as a seer and produce children of her own, not sire them as a vampire.
“My best friend is why my mate died, so I kind of understand.” The scientist shrugged. She’d never forget, but over the centuries she’d made peace with Matthew’s role in Bertrand’s death. As much as she could. Bertrand sacrificed himself during the Crusades, so they wouldn’t take one of the de Clairmonts. Vampires were much harder to kill in her world, but they certainly could be killed, unlike a Mikaelson.
Miriam did not do empathy well, same as she didn’t always pick up on social cues or make small talk. While perfectly capable, the vampire found it harder to do the longer she lived. Plus, given that she’d spent pretty much her entire vampire existence as part of the de Clairmonts, the epitome of vampire royalty back home, and buried in research, she didn’t exactly see a reason to do so.
This didn’t mean, though the brunette didn’t notice the slight change in Chuuya after she and Damien grimaced. If she didn’t have enhanced hearing, Miriam would find it funny as fuck and still thought it funny.. But the high pitched hit her ears at an uncomfortable decibel. “You should definitely tell those types of jokes more often. My apologies for the grimace. Just a bit high pitched for my ears.” She offered a smile.
As Damien predicted, blood rage sounded terrible and signified a loss of control. From the way Miriam described it, blood rage could have nasty consequences, even for those not killed in its wake. Without compulsion, cleaning up that kind of mess was difficult. “Then I’m relieved we don’t have anything like blood rage in my world,” Damien replied. Because being changed in Damien’s world was not an easy endeavor, vampires did usually get consent before granting anyone immortality. “Consent is rather important in my world too.” In Midnight, there were rules to govern such things.
“Most family relationships are complicated even if they don’t involve death.” Though death was a binding force, wasn’t it? It certainly made things far more serious. More real. Damien and Bran became closer after they lost their sister. As vampires, they were closer still even if they picked on one another constantly.
Given Damien rarely showed emotion, he wasn’t always the best when it came to tact. Plus, he was starting to become comfortable with the other two vampires so he was finding it easier to show emotion. Like grimacing at Chuuya’s high pitched voice. However, that didn’t mean he hated the joke. He was actually amused by it.
“I found it amusing even if my ears didn’t think so,” Damien offered after Miriam spoke. Damien wasn’t normally nice so offering that bit of assurance to Chuuya was a rarity.
"Too bad it wasn't in mine." But he was sure whoever killed Akutagawa and forced Stoker to turn him into a vampire didn't care much about consent. He still had no idea who or why they started a vampire outbreak, but it was pretty bad back home. It spread much quicker than the werewolf one in South America.
"I wouldn't know. I don't remember my parents, so I'll take your word for it." The only family he ever had were the Sheep and the mafia. Obviously neither of them were places for healthy family relationships. Not that he believed they could be healthy anyway. Just like he didn't believe people can be kind-hearted just for the sake or it. Or things like hope.
He just stared at the other two for a moment before shaking his head. He didn't care if they found it funny or not. It just wasn't the normal reaction he got when he spoke in that voice. "Well, that makes two of us. It wasn't even funny." But that was how it was sometime. Others might find what he said to be amusing. Chuuya himself? Not so much even if he was the one who said it.
“I’m relieved you don’t have blood rage, either,” Miriam commented. She’d seen what it could do and the vampire didn’t love the consequences. Her eyes brightened slightly when Damien mentioned his world also included consent. “Consent should be important everywhere, but there will always be assholes who get off on power trips.” Gerbert and Juliette came to mind. What would have happened to the female vampire if Gerbert didn’t actually fucking drive her to madness and obsession?
She really liked hanging out with the pair of male vampires. Miriam could just be herself, even if she certainly remained the most scientific minded of the trio. “Yes. Death doesn’t always help, but even without it…” Miriam shrugged as her voice trailed off, not finishing the sentence.
Her eyes raised at Damien’s words to Chuuya, but she did smile. Even she recognized how rarely those words from her friend happened.
“I don’t remember my parents either.” Not really. When you’d lived as long as Miriam, people and places started to fade over time. Oh she still recalled a lot of things, but her human life? Even the person who sired her hadn’t felt important enough to hold onto.
Okay then. Miriam didn’t quite know what to say and, in an effort to not say the wrong thing, as she did from time to time, she finally settled on saying, “It was a funny image.”
“Because our change is difficult to say the least, consent is a must. The mortal must understand they may not survive the change.” And the vampire has to be okay with knowing the mortal may not survive the change. That was why rules existed in Midnight Harbor; to ensure humans and vampires were capable of living side-by-side and to avoid as much death as possible.
Damien remembered his parents. He remembered outliving them and secretly wishing he hadn’t. But he wasn’t at the point where he could get that sentimental with Chuuya or Miriam so he simply remained silent as they admitted to not remembering their parents.
The vampire was unsure what to say either. It was clear Chuuya was trying to brush off the interaction and Damien didn’t want to keep pushing it. He nodded along with Miriam’s statement about it being a funny image. “Yeah, it was an amusing image,” he added. Hopefully, that would end the conversation and they could move on to something that made Chuuya less uncomfortable.
Chuuya imagined Miriam wouldn't really remember her parents. She was 2000 years old, it was probably a long time ago. He wondered if Damien remembered his parents but since the other vampire didn't mention it, he decided against asking. Chuuya himself had lost all his memories before age seven thanks to the experiments. He did had a chance to meet his parents when he was sixteen but not to approach them.
"You guys are being so weird," he muttered. Seriously, they were being... nice, almost? He didn't know but it was starting to annoy him.
Miriam snorted. “I’ll stop being weird. As much as I can.” She ordered a bottle of wine, having finished the bourbon.
“I’m pretty sure your weirdness infected us all with that weird voice.” Damien turned his attention to the approaching bartender to order himself another drink. “Let’s move on to something that doesn’t involve weird changes in tone, shall we?”