michellewebster (michellewebster) wrote in stromaisleic, @ 2023-05-12 11:06:00 |
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Entry tags: | !time: morning, highlander: michelle webster, ☑day: six, ☒dropped: caroline forbes |
Blood
Who: Michelle and Caroline
What: Putting Words Into Action
When: Day Six (Back-Dated)
Where: Michelle’s cottage
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Michelle didn’t know how long it would be until Caroline showed up. She’d made her offer to donate blood after thinking it over. She knew Caroline was a vampire, and Caroline knew she was immortal. Secrets they both wished to keep. Feeding Caroline would help do that, and it wouldn’t do Michelle any lasting harm.
While she waited, Michelle climbed a ladder to resume working on the roof. The three-room building she’d claimed had a bedroom on one end, a central kitchen with a gas stove (useless) and a fireplace, and living space on the opposite side from the bedroom. The cottage was missing about a third of its roof. There was no door and no glass in the windows. The floors were of wood, and some of it was rotted. After considering her options, Michelle had opted for amputation.
She moved an interior door to serve as the front door. She was pulling all the intact slates from the roof over the bedroom, and using them to patch the roof over the rest of the building. She was also ripping up the floor of the bedroom and using the boards to repair the floors in the kitchen and living area. She’d use the extra lumber to repair or replace the shutters on the windows. The bedroom would be reduced to a stone shell open to the sky.
When she was done, she’d have a relatively cozy two-room house with a solid roof. No bedroom, but she planned to sleep in the kitchen by the fireplace for the foreseeable future. Perhaps someday she’d reclaim the bedroom if she acquired the materials she needed.
She was wrestling with another slate when she saw someone standing below…
***
Caroline knew that she was going to need blood. She was pretty good when it came to keeping her cool--she could survive off the blood of animals, like Stefan. She had incredible amounts of control, and didn’t want to hurt or kill anyone. Ever. For any reason. Especially not to suit her own needs. But having someone willing to feed her? That meant the world. She could even compel Michelle to forget about it afterward, if her ally wanted.
She finished the shelf she’d been working on at the growing library, then headed over to meet with Michelle at her place. Seeing the shack, Caroline was glad that her place was in slightly better shape than this one, though not by much. And she was incredibly thankful for her vampire speed and strength.
She lifted a hand to shade her eyes from the sun, and brought the other up to wave at Michelle on the roof. “Hi!”
***
“Hello!” Michelle called down. “I didn’t see you arrive.”
She lowered the slate tile she was holding in place, then paused to make sure it was stable and wouldn’t shift–or worse, fall off the roof. Satisfied that it was secure, Michelle climbed down the ladder and turned to face Caroline.
“Good to see you again,” she said. “I’ve got a good couple of days’ work ahead of me,” she said, gesturing at the cottage. “But once that’s done, it should be fairly comfortable. It’ll need cleaning, but that can wait until the interior is no longer exposed to the elements.”
She put her hands on hips as she studied Caroline. She didn’t look like a vampire, not least because she was standing in the sunlight without visible discomfort. She looked like a bubbly blonde woman with a friendly face. But then, Michelle didn’t look like she was nearly fifty, either, so appearances were deceiving all around.
“So,” she said, “how do we do this?”
***
Caroline gave a little wave to her friend on the roof. “Good to see you again,” she added, once Michelle was able to get to the bottom of the elevator. She wasn’t sure how to greet her ally here. Were they supposed to hug? To handshake? To high five? Fist Bump? So she simply stood awkwardly for a moment. It wasn’t like she and Michelle were the best of friends yet. Friendly, sure, but they had a ways to go yet.
“It’s good to do something with your hands,” Caroline responded with a nod. “Good to keep busy, and to get to see results from your work.”
“Inside,” Caroline said, motioning toward the front door. “It’s pretty simple, actually. Just a bite to the wrist. I can even compel you so that it won’t hurt or be frightening. I can compel you to forget, too, if you want.”
***
Michelle wasn’t sure how to greet Caroline either. Donating blood seemed like a pretty intimate thing to do. If she were a playmate here to have sex, Michelle wouldn’t hesitate to hug her–but in that case, they’d have at least hugged and kissed before. If this worked out, they’d be doing this regularly, so next time it shouldn’t be so awkward. She settled for smiling as well.
“I’m definitely making progress,” Michelle agreed. “But I’ll be glad when I have the roof completed, so I don’t need to worry about rain while I work on the interior.”
She led Caroline into the building. “Come on in. Let me give you the nickel tour while we’re here,” she said with a laugh. From the front door there were two doorways, neither with a door. “The living room,” Michelle said, pointing to the doorway to the right. “The kitchen is to the left. Watch your step, there are gaps in the flooring. I’ve pulled up the rotted floorboards.”
The kitchen had a fireplace as well as a non-functional gas stove. A nest of blankets lay against one wall opposite the fireplace. Michelle’s purse and pea coat hung from pegs on the wall. At the far end of the kitchen was another door. “That door leads into what is supposed to be the bedroom. But I’m using the roof tiles and the floorboards to fix up the rest of the house. I’m sleeping in the kitchen for now.”
“You can do that?” she asked. “Make me forget things?” She hadn’t thought about that. Still, it was something vampires in fiction often could. Now she wondered if Caroline had needed an invitation to enter the house. Did this cottage count? Did her living here make it a home despite its condition?
“There’s no need, though. I’m curious what it’s like, and a little pain isn’t a problem.” She’d endured far worse in her combat training with Ceirdwyn. She would survive and heal from any wound short of beheading. Learning to ignore pain, to continue despite disabling injuries, and go on to defeat her opponents was essential, and Ceirdwyn’s training was effective. Brutal, but effective.
***
Caroline was staying in the little house with the library. She had a lot of work to do on her own home, but the vampire speed was really making quick work of all of her chores. She hadn't thought about rain, was more covering the easier tasks first. But there weren't any gaping holes in the roof of her small space.
The words Come on in were enough of an invitation to admit Caroline into the house. "You think we'll have rain soon?" Caroline asked as she wandered into the house. it was a pleasant little place, and Michelle was making it even more hospitable. "You've certainly got your hands full with this house," she said. "And capable ones, too."
Together they moved into the kitchen and Caroline nodded. It looked cozy. She turned in the small space to face Michelle. "It's called Compulsion." She could make people do anything she wanted them to do, could clear their minds and relieve their emotions, wipe away their memories.
"Great." That made it all easier. "Take a seat." There were two chairs at the little table in the kitchen, perfect space to conduct business. "It's just like giving blood to the red cross." A little bite to the wrist, and Caroline could take just enough to get by.
***
“I don’t know,” Michelle said. “But it’s best to assume we’ll get rain and plan for it. Once I’ve got a solid roof in place, I don’t need to worry about it any longer. Three rooms would be nice, but I don’t need three, and sacrificing the third gives me more than enough material to fix up the remaining two. Then it’s just a matter of doing the work.”
“Compulsion,” Michelle repeated. “I imagine that’s a handy ability for keeping secrets.” She could have used it a number of times over the years.
Michelle sat down opposite Caroline and offered her arm. Just like giving blood to the Red Cross, she’d said. So no biting of the neck, then, presumably. That would be rather intimate, more so than tapping a vein in the elbow. Or the wrist, as it turned out.
The bite hurt less than Michelle expected. Human teeth didn’t penetrate skin easily; they crushed flesh and tore skin. Caroline’s teeth were sharper, sharp enough to cut instead of tearing. Michelle drew a sharp breath, but otherwise didn’t react and watched Caroline curiously.
***
It was certainly logical. And it meant that she was going to have a solid home under her feet. Caroline wondered if she should take a second look at the house she’d chosen for herself--maybe it needed the same sort of TLC, and Caroline just didn’t know it yet. Anyway, the blond vampire didn’t need as many comforts as a human did--the weather didn’t bother her as much--so she hadn’t thought about any of it yet.
“It is,” Caroline responded. “Though, when a vampire dies, all the compulsion goes away. Means the person can remember things they didn’t remember before, or is allowed to spill secrets formerly forbidden,” she explained. “It’s up to you if you want to try it.”
Caroline sat in the chair next to Michelle’s, and then took her wrist. She tried to be as gentle as she could; biting into the wrist and enjoying the sensation of the blood pulsing into her mouth. Eyes falling closed at the sensation, Caroline was careful not to take too much. Just like giving blood at the Red Cross, she didn’t want to do damage to her donor. When she finished, she pulled a clean bandage out of her pocket (former Girl Scouts always came prepared), and wrapped it firmly against Michelle’s wrist.
“There.” She didn’t spill a drop.
***
“That could be inconvenient,” Michelle mused. “Not for whoever died, of course, but if you’ve been keeping a lot of secrets and suddenly everyone can remember–and talk…yeah, definitely inconvenient.”
“No thanks,” Michelle said. “How many times can I get bitten by a vampire for the first time?” Then she chuckled. “Actually, I guess if I forgot afterward, every time could be the first time.”
The pain was minimal, and easily ignored. Michelle watched Caroline closely. She seemed to really enjoy drinking Michelle’s blood. Michelle had tasted enough of her own blood in training or in combat to be very familiar with the metallic, coppery bitterness of it. “What does it taste like to you?” she asked Caroline, when she was done. “You really seemed to like it.”
Michelle would have objected to the use of the bandage–she didn’t need it–but by the time she realized Caroline’s intent, it was too late. “Thank you,” she said. “Did you get enough? I can afford to give more.”
***
Caroline wasn’t sure why she was explaining all of this to someone who wasn’t from their world--someone who didn’t really need to know. Still, she liked the idea of having an ally in this strange place. She liked being able to trust someone, and really hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite her.
A smile crossed the blond vampire’s lips. She nodded. “If you change your mind, let me know.”
“It’s blood,” Caroline shrugged. “It tastes like blood. I just… like it a lot more now I’m a vampire.” For the last few years, anyway. “I can’t exactly explain it any better than that.” Then she nodded again. “I’ve had plenty. It doesn’t take that much to keep me strong. Thank you so, so much. It means a lot.”
***
“That makes sense, I guess,” Michelle said. If you subsisted on blood, it seemed reasonable that you’d like the taste of it.
“You’re very welcome. I’m glad to be able to help. Any time you need more, just let me know. That’s what allies–and friends, I hope–are for.”
She looked up at the sky, visible in place through the roof of the kitchen. “Well, I suppose I’d better get back to work. That roof isn’t going to patch itself.”
***
Caroline nodded. Friends sounded good. She wanted to have more friends in this place, and Michelle had been kind to her. “I’ll let you know.”
Then Caroline stood. “Good luck with it. I’ll leave you to it. I’m getting back to the library. I’ll see you later.” And then, with a gush of air, Caroline sped out of the kitchen, her super-human speed turning her into a blur as she headed back to her own home.