gʀɑɦɑɱ ɦɑʆɗɑʀ, ɛรquiʀɛ (businesslike) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-10-16 21:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, jonathan harker, lucy pevensie |
Who: Jonathan and Lucy
What: Checking in, and having tea
Where: J’s place
When: Friday night, I think
Rating/Warnings: It's pretty low
Status: Complete
It had been a while since Lucy had seen or heard from Jonathan and she hadn’t liked to ask her boss since he seemed to be really stressed lately. So she’d decided to go and call on him after work, she was still working later hours to fit in with Vlad but she knew it wouldn’t be too late for him. She missed seeing him around, even after his internship had finished he’d still called in which she’d been glad of and they had tea fairly regularly. Raising her hand she knocked on the door and waited. Lucy didn’t have to wait long. Jonathan heard her coming, heard her footsteps even before she reached the door - and the telltale sound of her heartbeat was more potent, a better way to announce her presence, than any knock she could muster. It was lovely, a sweet symphony, but he’d fed recently and there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d ever hurt her - more like these things he just noticed more these days. He opened the door, at first looking down through his lashes, almost shamefully, because it had been awhile since he’d seen her - then again, he’d been a recluse, somewhat, for a reason. Mostly that he needed some time to get used to all of this, and he still needed time but he also didn’t want to be alone. Perhaps he didn’t have the firm grip on control the way Vlad did, who had dreamed of being a vampire for centuries before changing here in the waking world, and perhaps Jonathan needed to feed more often than once a month at first - but that was temporary. Then he glanced up at her, eyes a blazing green; they stood out against his features, pallor making those cheekbones look even more prominent and sharper, like they could slice a throat. Before he’d been somewhat darker in terms of complexion, thanks to genetics, though now he was more washed out; a hint of the usual olive beneath the paleness. Probably was a little (a lot) different. “Lucy...” He attempted a smile. “Hi...you...come in, please.” The door was held open for her, Felix immediately jingle-jangling in to say hello. “Oh my goodness” she said as she took in his appearance before blushing a little at how rude she must sound as she stepped into the room bending to pet Felix but her eyes remaining on Jonathan. “Well I guess that answers a lot of my questions” she said as she stood properly once again. Her boss hadn’t said anything but then she supposed it wasn’t his news to tell. “Are you alright?” she asked him, “Do you need anything?” She didn’t particularly like the thought of being bitten but if he had needed blood she would offer hers. He was a good friend and if she could help him she would. “Felix...” Jonathan shooed the puppy, who was growing bigger by the day it seemed, and he previously had his fat paws on Lucy’s knees - stretching up to be loved on - but then he went running off into the other room; there were toys there to be squeaked. Plus food in the bowl. Much more important things. And it was polite of her to offer, but no, if he took a bite it wouldn’t end well - it depended on the type of vampire, he had come to find, but for him? When he bit someone it usually wasn’t just for an appetizer; he went for the whole meal. But anyway. “No, I’m fine, thank you though,” he told Lucy, and showed her into the living room. “Have a seat. I’m a good host still, I promise. Would you like anything? Then I can answer any remaining questions you have.” It was the least he could do. “He’s okay” Lucy said, she liked the pup he was very sweet and ridiculously friendly. While she wouldn’t give up Aslan for the world she had to admit the dog was very very cute. “Okay” she said smiling as she nodded before following him in and sitting down, “Tea would be lovely” she said, briefly wondering if he could still drink it and feeling a little sad if he couldn’t. “I do still have a few” she admitted, “But if I get too nosey just tell me” Tea it was, then. Jonathan had always been more a coffee person, but Lucy had gotten him into some different tea blends, during their lunches at the Consulate, and he also had English breakfast here for Vlad anyway. He went for the Earl Grey now, since it was easily dressed up, putting the kettle on and taking out two mugs - he could still drink and eat essentially anything, but actual food didn’t make him feel full, like it would for most people. It was all superfluous; he only really craved and needed one thing anyway. While the water boiled, he returned to the living room, settling on the sofa, trying to remember to blink. Vlad could get away with the creepy, unblinking stare but Jonathan wasn’t really that type - there was still a warmth about him, despite the chill of his skin. “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” he chuckled smoothly. “I don’t mind answering questions.” Lucy was rather proud of his tea education, she prided herself on helping him make the correct tea choices and their little tea lunches had been very enjoyable. Earl Grey was a good choice, it was a nice tea for a deep conversation. Which this may end up being considering the subject matter they were going to cover. “Well I guess the how is obvious, I mean it’s because of the dreams right?” she said, “So are you a full one? Like Vlad?” “Yes, fully now,” Jonathan nodded. Long fingers clasped, and unclasped, on his lap, his posture carved from marble, something reminiscent of nobility and that long-gone Victorian era. “I was, ah...changed? In the dreams, my second set. Bitten there too. But I woke up not fully changed here, and one more bite was necessary. My friend had a vision of what was to come, using tarot cards, so both Vlad and I knew...that he would be the one to finish what was started.” There was no way any other vampire would have been able to get close enough - that wasn’t even an issue. “He just needed some time to come to terms with it.” Knowing that you couldn’t do anything about it was also frustrating. But Jonathan had been glad for the bite, his ‘death’ and then the return. It meant he wasn’t living in an awkward limbo anymore, but instead the dust had settled and he could move on with immortality, and every heavy aspect that entailed. “Oh my goodness, that must have been so hard. For both of you” Lucy said, “No wonder Vlad was so grumpy” She’d noticed of course, he’d seemed easier to anger and like he was on edge all of the time. It must have been playing on his mind a lot. “So how is it going to affect the other aspects of your life? Your career and such?” she asked, she knew how hard he’d worked. Jonathan had to laugh a bit. Vlad was always grumpy (though he claimed otherwise - alright, and perhaps he did have his more lighthearted moments here and there), and it was simply part of his personality. Of course, Jonathan loved him anyway. “No wonder,” he agreed, sounding amused, as he got up to tend to the whistling kettle - it was extra loud to him, like the screech of a thousand banshees all to his sensitive hearing, and he moved quickly to take care of it. When he came back in, he was carrying a tray with a bit of a fancy setup - variety, at least, for Lucy. Cream, sugar, honey, lemon, whatever else she could potentially put into her tea. It was set on the coffee table, steam wafting up from the two mugs. “Luckily, being involved with International Law means I can take advantage of time zone differences with my work,” he explained. “I’ve got one very large case now that is likely to explode in a media frenzy, and that means adjusting my schedule to fit the court dates - “ Since they were talking everything televised, “...but otherwise, I’ll simply maintain a nocturnal schedule as best as I can.” He could function during the day, but would have to play with the weather and cloud coverage on occasion to get from Point A to Point B. Lucy had to admit she was impressed when he returned with the tray, he’d learnt well and she was quite proud of him for it. It was rather sweet. “Ah of course, I guess that is handy. It seems to work well for Vlad” she nodded, “So can you go out in the daylight without like blowing up or anything?” she asked, because she knew the stories as well as anybody about your stereotypical vampire. “Ah...well, I’ll turn to ash, if that’s what you mean,” Jonathan quipped. It was actually sort of frustrating because in the dreamworld he shared with Vlad, Dracula could be in the sunlight - his powers were simply weaker during that time, was all. Seemed like burning up in the sun was some sort of annoying invention that had infiltrated other versions of the story, yet it meant that Jonathan now, as a vampire, would quickly perish if he was exposed. “But I’ve been working on knitting the clouds how I want them to be, so to speak. Making fog and such. As long as there’s coverage I’ll be fine.” He didn’t anticipate going out during the day much anyway - that time was meant for sleeping. “Oh no, that’s awful. I’m glad I stopped by after the sun had gone down then” Lucy said, before she realised what else he had said, “Wait a minute, knitting the clouds? You can control the weather? That is definitely new I’ve not read about a vampire with that ability before” Knitting the clouds was such a strange turn of phrase - it made Jonathan snicker, at what he said. He went for the actual coverage, was the main point there. Anything to block the debilitating rays of the sun. “Vlad can do it too,” he added some lemon and honey to his tea. May as well put something sweet in there - he liked sweet things, still had somewhat of a taste for them. “But it’s not something to really go around doing, I suppose.” Messing with the weather patterns would probably snowball (no pun intended) into something else disastrous. Who knew. “It can range from cloudy skies to a whole storm. For me a lot of it depends on my mood right now. I just...don’t have the finely tuned control yet,” he said. Lucy hadn’t actually heard that turn of phrase before but she kind of liked it. It was a little quirky. “That’s amazing” she popped a little sugar in her own tea before picking it up. “I guess if you did it too much you might start getting the weather stations wondering what the hell is going on” she grinned. “I’m sure you’ll get the control you need soon” Lucy told him, “Vlad is helping isn’t he?” she couldn’t imagine him not. “Oh, he is, yes.” Jonathan sipped his tea - it went down easy, despite how he hadn’t really had anything besides blood lately. Made for an interesting cocktail of flavors and how it settled in his stomach. “He’s been there for me, all throughout everything.” They had even talked about getting married - well, Jonathan brought up the possibility, Vlad squinted at him and informed him that he’d say yes if asked, it was all very surreal. But he knew Vlad would stick to his word - Jonathan was due for more struggles, a fight between the human parts of him and the beast within. At least he didn’t have to fight it alone, and that was a comfort to him. “I’m glad you’re...fine though. Not nervous around me. I wouldn’t hurt you, I hope you know that.” “I thought he would be” Lucy smiled, anybody could see how much they cared about each other. They were very sweet together and Lucy would be rather excited if she’d known they had spoken about marriage. “Of course. You’re still you, I know that” she assured him, “And I’m glad you can still drink tea, our get togethers will just have to be in the evenings from now on. If you still want of course” Having get-together's with Lucy, just drinking and tea and chatting about anything under the sun, that seemed simple but it was important to Jonathan. He didn’t feel entirely like himself, in fact he felt a bit off-kilter and would for awhile as he adjusted to living with such a dark presence within him, but in this case it was the simple things that helped. And Vlad wouldn’t let him forget who he really was either, Jonathan knew that. “I’d love that, actually,” he smiled, a brief flash of fangs before they were hidden again. “You work the later hours anyway. I can always come by the Consulate like usual.” Lucy expected it would take time to adjust to something like that but she knew Jonathan would, she had faith in him. Besides he wasn’t alone, Vlad she knew would absolutely make sure that he was alright. And then there was Lucy herself and Jonathan’s other friends who would be around to help and support him too. “Wonderful” she said, part of her fascinated by that flash, “That would be nice. Vlad would like it too I think, we miss you around the office. To regular tea dates” she grinned clinking their cups before drinking her tea. |