Author: impetuous_force | Bella is careful.
Bella is careful to go to the magic shop during lunch - not at night, not when her parents might notice her leaving home, not when her teachers might notice her skipping classes. She is careful to wear her crucifix, carry her holy water gun, keep her demon whistle ready to hand. She is careful to wrap her occult purchases in disguising packaging: chip bags, gym clothes, grocery totes. She is careful to restrict herself to spells that are necessary - whether "necessary" means for the result or for managing her mercifully limited dependence on the damn things is always carefully recorded in opaque code in her notebook, and if the ratio gets too low, she goes cold turkey outside dire emergencies for at least three days. This is uncomfortable, and it kills her class performance and her temper for those days, but she has to be careful. Her parents don't want her doing magic. They're afraid she'll get addicted. (Done.) They're afraid she'll get snapped up by the USADI, drafted into casting more than she can handle or things that shouldn't be cast at all. (Not done; and another reason to be careful.) They're afraid she'll get a spell wrong and hurt herself. (Not done; yet another reason to be... careful.)
She is confident that witchery has saved her life at least twice, possibly as many as four times; she's sure it's saved others more than that. A month ago she located the hiding place of the Gem of Amara, determined it ludicrously easy to find, and conjured it to her for safekeeping in Forks under considerably more sophisticated wards placed gradually over the course of weeks. (Not in the house; any vampire with a non-vampire demon friend could bypass that protection and she doesn't want to put her parents in harm's way. But in a house, because the protection is non-negligible; USADI experimental reports say that squatters count as living human residents, and she can get into the basement section of a consistently occupied old Victorian close to the city walls without bothering - or alerting - those who make it their hangout.) With this gem more securely stowed, it will at least take longer for some vampire or other to come across it, render themselves invincible, and slaughter an entire metropolitan area before USADI calls in something sufficiently heavy-duty to get around the damn thing.
She's looking into how to destroy it, but while Forks has the advantage of safety, it also has the disadvantage of a relatively cruddy magic shop. The Witchnook is capable of special-ordering things, albeit with a lag time of weeks or months, but Bella's not sure how far to trust the proprietor. She supposes her parents don't know she's a witch yet, so it can't be "not at all", but, well. She'll come up with some other books to order in the same batch, as cover.
Bella is careful when she goes out at night. She wears her cross, she carries her holy water gun and her demon whistle. She sets her alarm clock at maximum volume for fifteen minutes after she expects to be back, with a note taped to it for her parents, in case she runs into trouble. And usually she doesn't go out at night at all.
Tonight she needs a spell ingredient that cannot be out of doors during the daylight without losing its potency, though, so if she wants to get it home at all, she is going to have to spend ten minutes walking to the Witchnook, pay for her twilight powder, and spend ten minutes walking back.
Forks has walls.
She'll be okay.
She'll be careful. |
Author: eversomuchfun | Halfway there, a stranger steps out onto the sidewalk in front of her, apparently out of nowhere.
He's young, about her age or a little older, and wearing a black leather coat with an excess of zippers and a feminine cut over dark grey jeans and a pink button-down shirt with a faint floral pattern. His boots are the kind that lace to just below the knee, also black leather, and have roses embroidered up the sides. The result is definitely... memorable.
"Hello," he says. His voice is pleasant and vaguely English. "I'm looking for the Gem of Amara." |
Author: impetuous_force | Is there any realistic possibility that this guy has chosen her to ask about the Gem at random?
Nope. There is not.
"How did you get in here?"
Because if she survives this encounter, it will be worth all the grief she'll get over going out at night to tell Charlie how the hell that happened. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Easily," he says, grinning. "Your security is good, but I am better. Now, your options: you can come with me and fetch the gem out of its clever little hidey hole for me, or you can come with me and watch me get it myself. I promise you'll like the first one better. Fewer casualties." |
Author: impetuous_force | "What if I don't think you can get it?" Bella asks. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Option two it is, then. Shall we?" And he half-turns, beckoning her to follow. |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella considers bolting. No good; she'd trip, he'd get her. She's got a better shot with the water gun; she reaches for it. |
Author: eversomuchfun | He steps smoothly back toward her, takes the watergun out of her hand, and tucks it into his pocket with unhurried casualness and inhuman speed.
"None of that," he says. "When I was alive I once beat a vampire in unarmed single combat, and whatever else you are, you are not a comparable martial prodigy. You are not going to solve this with violence." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Am I going to solve it with my scintillating personality?" she asks. She considers spells, discards them; considers lying to him that the water gun leaks, discards the idea. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Scintillate away, just as long as you do so while walking. I can also bribe you," he adds offhandedly. "You may recall Tony Stark's infamous laser pointers, if you were following the news a year or so back. The six remaining specimens and only copy of the plans are all in my possession. Once I have the gem, of course, it's all the same to me whether someone starts making them in bulk." |
Author: impetuous_force | Now there's an arresting idea.
She walks. She does not walk quickly, but she's not much slower than she was on the way to the magic shop, which he presumably observed. "I don't have any way to verify such plans." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Hard to do that without an engineer handy," he agrees. "But I do have the laser pointers, and it's reasonable that if I got my hands on the one I could get my hands on the other, is it not?"
He leads her along. Apparently he will not be relying on her to tell him where the Gem of Amara is. |
Author: impetuous_force | She squints at his face.
"But if you can get it for yourself what's the point of having me along, let alone trying to bribe me? You could have left me a nastily surprising empty hidey-hole." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "It will be more convenient to send you in after it than to arrange for its hiding place to no longer be a human living area." |
Author: impetuous_force | "How are you planning to demonstrate that the lasers are real, or is that not part of the plan?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | He produces a laser pointer out of some pocket or other, flicks the beam across his fingertips, puts the laser away, and shows her his burned hand as they pass under a streetlight.
"Clear enough for you, or shall I do it again?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "The internet rumors say they dust vampires instantly," she comments after a pause. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "The internet is, as usual, wrong. These models need about half a second shining directly on skin for the flame to catch. He was working on a wider beam, but—" He shrugs, looking away. "Didn't finish in time." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Considering that you don't have the gem of Amara now, I'm unclear on why you didn't destroy them. And the plans, if you have those." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "They come in very handy for killing other vampires." |
Author: impetuous_force | "The plans do?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "The laser pointers. The plans are mostly - sentimental in value." |
Author: impetuous_force | "...Sentimental? Seriously?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "After the vampire alliance killed Tony and turned me, I killed what was left of them, waited for the man who let them into our house so I could kill him too, and fucked off into the night. Surely that much at least is public record. If I can manage to get the plans to someone who is capable of putting them into production, that will be a lovely little grace note to the whole business." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I didn't follow the story very closely," Bella says, "so those details might be public but I didn't know them. And I suppose you didn't already drop the plans in the mailbox to some suitable company because you didn't want to get lasered the following month?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Yes indeed. Not that it might not come to that eventually, but I thought I'd try a better class of immortality first." |
Author: impetuous_force | "But you have no vampire friends for whose well-being you are concerned. So if you get the gem you'll be perfectly content to hand them to me and see everyone old enough not to point the light at their eyes carrying one." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Precisely." |
Author: impetuous_force | "How did you even find me?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "The name is not just a cute gimmick. I studied its previous home, concluded that someone must have conjured it away, and looked for anyone who had ordered the necessary ingredients for a long-distance conjuration at about the right time. You were the closest match. There aren't all that many uses for fresh dragon oil, even fewer in combination with frogs' toes. And then, of course, I looked for the best possible place in town to hide something which you don't want a vampire to find, but which they are almost certainly going to anyway - and here we are."
They have arrived at the right house. |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella shivers. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Well?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "I'm torn between wanting to get confirmation of my guess about what happens if I decline to help you, and not wanting to give you any ideas." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Take the deal and save yourself the trouble," he advises. |
Author: impetuous_force | She considers.
(She might be stalling, just a little; another twenty minutes or so and Charlie and Renée get a rude awakening...) |
Author: eversomuchfun | Sherlock produces a lighter and starts playing with it. |
Author: impetuous_force | "I'm thinking," she snaps. "The house isn't going to get less flammable while I think." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Interesting way to put it," he says, but he puts the lighter away. |
Author: impetuous_force | She scowls. She thinks. (She stalls.)
"Do you have the plans on you?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Yes. On a flash drive. No, I will not wait for you to go fetch a computer so you can have a look." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I wasn't going to ask. Since there are multiple pointers, plus the plans, can I get one of those objects before I go in the house, and then the rest when I come out with the gem to trade you?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | He produces a small USB key and hands it over ceremoniously. |
Author: impetuous_force | She takes it.
She steps away from him, shaking. "I've never taken the wards off before. I think I can do it in under ten minutes but I am not sure." And she lets herself into the squat's basement by the back door.
She waits till she's in before she checks for her phone and finds that she has been relieved of it.
"Fucker," she hisses under her breath.
What do I have -
The Gem of Amara, under wards that she can probably bypass in five minutes if that. Her crucifix. A USB key which may or may not contain plans for laser pointers. A staircase leading to a bunch of sleeping squatters, probably alcoholic, probably not possessed of phones - is it worth checking? - he'll hear if she wakes them; if she does that or takes too long he'll torch the building, of course. He can't know exactly where in the house she put it. She goes up the staircase, carefully, pressing herself to the wall to minimize creaking, and finds no phones lying around charging or blinking lights, and goes back down.
She has the alarm, set, ready to bring Charlie running. If she waits - he has a lighter but he wasn't carrying a can of gasoline; how fast will a house like this catch and burn without extra help? Or maybe he stashed lighter fluid here; he did know where it was already. She doesn't know.
She has paper and pen. (Always.) She tears out a sheet of paper, and writes, This USB stick may or may not contain the plans for anti-vampire laser pointers as developed by Tony Stark, PLEASE CHECK. She murmurs an anti-fire spell over the paper and the flash drive and the miniature cereal box she brought with her to disguise the twilight powder, then wraps the note around the box and tucks the USB into it. The key will not leave the house, not till he's gone, on the off-chance it's actually valuable.
She should've done that spell after deciding what else to do. She's a little keyed up now, magic is yummy, she doesn't have great data on how much having recently done spells affects her judgment. But she can still think, right, what does she have -
She's pretty sure if she wants to get out of this alive she has to bring him the gem. His argument about the laser pointers makes sense, he does look like Tony Stark's eccentric twin, he really might just hand them over, and then even if the plans are worthless maybe they can be reverse-engineered.
Fuck.
She picks through her wards, methodically, shivering with magic and fear.
She undoes the combination lock that sat under all those wards, and she opens the box, and she takes out the ring with the Gem set into it.
She opens the door again, but doesn't leave the building, yet. |
Author: eversomuchfun | Sherlock is waiting just outside, holding her phone. |
Author: impetuous_force | "You are a distressingly good pickpocket." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I'll take that as a compliment," he says cheerfully. "Trade you." His other hand produces laser pointers, one two three four, with successive flourishes. |
Author: impetuous_force | "You said you had six. Is there some way for this handoff to go that doesn't leave you with a nice big window for killing me?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I'm keeping two. I did say they were useful for killing vampires," he reminds her. "And no, there is not. But you could always stay in the house and toss it out to me, and I will toss you back your phone and shiny new death rays and be on my merry way." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Or you'll walk off with them," she says. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Or I'll walk off with them. But I have no good reason to," he says. "Whereas if I give you the lasers and your phone first, you have many excellent reasons to call emergency services or try to set me on fire." |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella considers this.
"You could," she says, "take out all the applicable batteries." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "There's a notion," he agrees, and he does. Two of the laser pointers take watch batteries; two take pairs of AAAs. |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella waits to be tossed her battery-free electronics, behind the threshold of the house. |
Author: eversomuchfun | He does that too. |
Author: impetuous_force | She catches the phone, and three of the laser pointers; one of them lands on the cereal box instead, and she has to go get it.
She puts them all in her bag.
And she looks at the Gem in her hand.
She does not know any spells to sabotage the fucking thing.
"What are you going to do?" she asks softly. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "The same thing I've been doing all this time, but in daylight," he says. "You probably imagine I'm going to kill lots of tasty humans, but it isn't true. I was bored of murder within a week of turning and I haven't done it since." |
Author: impetuous_force | That gives her pause.
"So if I just sit here," she says, "are you going to torch the building to chase me out?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I don't know," he says dryly. "Would you like to try it and see? It seems to me that in that situation each outcome is the opposite of how you'd like it: a murderous vampire will set the building on fire and get the ring, and a nice friendly one will wait patiently for a few hours and then go away and leave you to the mercy of the next fellow." |
Author: impetuous_force | "You explain how you found me by way of asserting that the name is not a gimmick, and then you seem so sure that some other vampire, not named Sherlock Holmes, would inevitably also find me," Bella observes. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Being Sherlock Holmes is how I found you first. I don't claim that I am the only vampire on this entire planet smart enough to make the same connections. Although I might be. Regardless, the other vampire is mostly rhetorical; the point is still that by staying inside you are arranging things so that I will get the Gem of Amara if and only if I shouldn't." |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella hmms.
With the battery out of her phone she can't check the time on it, and she doesn't want to ask him if he has the time. But she thinks she could make it home before the alarm if she concludes here quickly.
"On the premise that I'm going to get out of this alive," she says suddenly, "do you want to offer any incentives for me not to report your description, last known location, and gem possession to the USADI as soon as I can?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I can't think of any," he admits. "I suspect you will not be swayed by the fact that I would find it slightly inconvenient if you did, and you have no reason to believe that I will not be using it to kill anyone." |
Author: impetuous_force | "And I don't have any way to check up on you, not unless you take up permanent residence here and we continue not to have vampire-related deaths," she mutters. |
Author: eversomuchfun | He laughs. "I could do that." |
Author: impetuous_force | "...Are you serious?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Should I not be? I don't have a better destination in mind," he says. "There's a certain appeal to the nomadic unlife, but mostly what I'm looking for is something interesting enough to keep me away from sunrises. You're reasonably interesting. And the deer in these parts are very tasty." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Your sunrise-related behavior will be irrelevant with this thing." She holds up the ring. And with her other hand she pinches the bridge of her nose. "So I give you this, you leave, I take my batteries and go home, and I keep my mouth shut as long as I see you around too routinely for you to be nipping off to Port Angeles for snacks and Forks goes on with its lovely safety record. Yes?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "It's a deal." |
Author: impetuous_force | She bites her lip.
She tosses him the ring.
"Scram, I need to be home inside of ten minutes if I don't miss my guess." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Scramming," he says, and he gives her a wave and more or less vanishes instantly. |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella collects the batteries, puts one of the AAAs in one of the laser pointers and makes sure it turns on, puts her phone battery back in, and then goes as briskly as she can back towards her house.
She resets the alarm with a minute and a half to spare.
She updates her in the event of my death file on her laptop.
She will have to go get her twilight powder some other night.
It's for destroying the Gem of Amara, and she sees no strong reason she won't be able to perform the final act of will that constitutes the spell while the ring's on a vampire.
She'll quietly go about getting her materials and then if he doesn't behave she'll have her ace in the hole.
She goes to sleep. |
Author: eversomuchfun | The next day, the school is abuzz: there is a new student. His name is John Escott and he was orphaned by vampires; he believes one or both of his parents might have turned, and he wants to live somewhere safe and out of the way where they won't think to look for him and couldn't get in if they did. |
Author: impetuous_force | Oh lord.
Okay then.
This will pretty thoroughly qualify him as Probably Not Running To Port Angeles For Snacks.
She makes as though she doesn't recognize him, when he turns up in her bio class. |
Author: eversomuchfun | He tolerates being the focus of everyone's attention reasonably well, although it is clearly wearing on him. Yes, he is from England. London specifically. Yes, his parents were murdered by vampires, thank you for fucking well reminding him, he had almost forgotten, don't you have a class to pretend to pay attention to? |
Author: impetuous_force | And then the teacher sits him next to Bella, because Angela's out sick today. Just Bella's luck.
"Hi," she says. "I'm Bella."
He will not have to fake reacting as though her name is novel. He never asked for it. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Hello, Bella. I'm John, as you may have heard." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I have heard that." Well, she has. She passes him yesterday's class notes, meticulous and interspersed with bits of Angela's handwriting; this notebook is school stuff exclusively. "My lab partner is sick today, but she'll be back." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I wonder what they'll do with me then," he says dryly. |
Author: impetuous_force | "No idea." She starts setting up the slides for the observations. |
Author: eversomuchfun | 'John' assists as much as is reasonable. |
Author: impetuous_force | Class proceeds. She needs to lay eyes on him regularly to be confident he's not eating people. She doesn't have to talk to him. |
Author: eversomuchfun | At some point during the lesson - it's hard to tell exactly when - a certain water gun appears among Bella's belongings. |
Author: impetuous_force | She looks at it.
She does not smack herself on the forehead.
She just tucks it onto her belt where it belongs, biting her lip. |
Author: eversomuchfun | Her lab partner smiles slightly. |
Author: impetuous_force | Of course he does.
Bella goes on with the assignment. She hasn't had time to check the USB key yet; she's going to have to go back to the house and fetch it after school. She does not know what to make of "John Escott" or "Sherlock Holmes" at all.
One of the laser pointers is tucked up her sleeve, clipped by its pen-cap-like protruberance to a rubber band there; the others are at home waiting for her to find new homes for them for reverse-engineering in case the plans are bust. |
Author: eversomuchfun | Class ends. Next up: lunch!
'John' inspects the food, complains theatrically, and then gets himself an apple juice "because it's harder to fuck it up when it comes in a bottle" and retires to a table to drink it, discouraging visitors with sarcasm and glaring. |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella sits at another table, not with Angela as usual but with some more casual friends. She's mildly entertained by the complaints; that's one way to handle it. |
Author: eversomuchfun | Apple juice and misanthropy for lunch it is! Two great tastes that taste great together. |
Author: impetuous_force | Pfff.
Mike is being annoyingly solicitous to Bella today. She deflects him, gently, as though oblivious; she's known him since kindergarten and she's accustomed to him, but that doesn't mean she wants to go to dinner and a movie without at least four of their other friends along to make it clearly a group thing.
Presently lunch is over and it's time for World History.
Then gym.
Bella doesn't have to swing through the locker room. She does gentle mat-related exercises in the corner; Ms. Finch knows better than to demand that she learn floor hockey. |
Author: eversomuchfun | By chance, the new student happens to have gym with her.
Ms. Finch takes one look at his outfit - the same rather flamboyant one from last night - and says, "You don't have gym clothes yet, do you."
"Correct," says 'John'.
Ms. Finch sighs. "Fine. You can go sit with Bella." She points. "And please get some gym clothes."
"As soon as I can," he assures her, and goes to sit with Bella. |
Author: impetuous_force | "Hello again." She leans to touch the toes on one outstretched leg. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Here I am in tragic exile until such time as I obtain gym clothes," he agrees. "I suppose I'll have to get a job. Won't that be exciting." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Potentially. The USADI outpost is always hiring but I might die of irony." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He giggles. "You wouldn't be the only one. Besides, I'm sure they do more than wave a cross." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I imagine so. How did you get into town?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Oh, how most people do, of course. They waved crosses. I didn't flinch." |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella peers at the crucifix around her own neck. Everyone wears one. The worldwide adherence to Catholicism just about tripled over the course of the few years it took for vampires to be truly common knowledge, but the crosses and holy water work for everyone. "How'd you do that?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "It is possible to train yourself out of the habit." |
Author: impetuous_force | "It must be staggeringly difficult, for the tests to be so reliable regardless." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I have often been accused of excessive stubbornness." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Ah." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He shrugs.
"And that is the exciting story of how I entered the town." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Now I know, and knowing is half the battle." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He giggles again. |
Author: impetuous_force | Stretch, stretch, stretch. The other students are filing out of the locker rooms now to collect their hockey sticks. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "How are you handling your magic addiction?" he asks idly. |
Author: impetuous_force | "I take extremely careful notes on how I'm feeling about it, and when I don't like what I see I take a few days off, when I don't need to be in a good mood or accomplish anything. Is it obvious?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "'Obvious' is a word that rapidly begins to lose meaning around me," he says. "It's obvious to me, but then it's also obvious to me that Eric Yorkie fancies himself your secret admirer. People attempting to be casual around things that inspire strong reactions in them is - like flashing neon. You can't miss it. Well, I can't miss it. You see?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "Eric?" says Bella. "I knew about Mike, but Eric?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Yes. Eric. I suppose you needn't believe me if you don't feel like it." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I'd buy it, but I hadn't noticed." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Yes, I believe that's exactly my point." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Huh." Stretch, shift, lean, stretch. "I don't suppose you can teach people to do that? Or would be so inclined?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "...I'm not sure," he says thoughtfully. "I taught it to myself, but that's hardly the same." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Of course." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He shrugs. "Still, I wouldn't mind trying." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Really." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Yes, really. Why not?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "At the risk of jinxing my prospective lessons, I wouldn't characterize us as friends." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Yes, and? It might be interesting," he says. "Best reason in the world to do anything, as far as I'm concerned." |
Author: impetuous_force | "All right then. Let me know when you settle into a schedule, if you still find the notion interesting," shrugs Bella. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Will do." |
Author: impetuous_force | Stretch, stretch. "Did you find a place to live?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Not yet. I have hope, though, now that I'm everyone's favourite tragic orphan." |
Author: impetuous_force | "You're everyone's favorite antisocial tragic orphan who complains about the cafeteria food. If anyone starts making noise about sending you home with me because we're managing to have a civil conversation right now you'd better find a way to put them off before I blurt out to my parents that they mustn't invite you into our house." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "It's easier to keep up the cover if I'm not trying to mimic a fundamentally alien personality, and I assure you, if I had just lost my parents in a vampire attack two weeks ago I would be reasonably likely to punch the second person who asked me to tell them all about it. There have been five." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Oh, I'm not saying it's a preposterous thing for you to be doing, I'm just not confident that it'll lead to a welcoming berth somewhere." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He shrugs. "We'll see." |
Author: impetuous_force | After school, Bella fetches the flash drive. It checks out, although by the time she's run a virus scan and looked at all the files her mother is home from work and wants to chat.
The next day, Bella wakes up with Angela's cold. It's quite sufficient to keep her in bed all morning - her parents go off to work - she feels better around midday, and starts making relatively unproductive phone calls to various companies that could do with the laser plans. |
Author: alicornucopia | Angela, meanwhile, is feeling much better and is back in school today!
She misses Bella in bio, but sits next to the new boy. "Hello," she says. "I'm Angela. I was sick yesterday, I must have missed you when you first got here." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Hello," says the new boy. "I'm John, in case you are the one person in town who hasn't heard. I still don't have anything to take notes in, so you'll have to apply to Bella for those, but I have a pretty good memory so I think we can scrape by." |
Author: alicornucopia | "Someone mentioned your name but I wasn't sure if I'd heard it right. Bella takes wonderful notes," says Angela. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "She does. I was very impressed." |
Author: alicornucopia | "She practices a lot," laughs Angela, and she sets about meticulous lab setup. It's a very lab-heavy biology course. Angela is unusual in wearing not only the ubiquitous cross necklace, but also earrings and a bracelet; she could loan out half her vampire-repelling jewelry and be no less protected. |
Author: eversomuchfun | Well, every little bit helps.
Sherlock assists with the lab setup. He's very efficient about it. |
Author: alicornucopia | Lab ensues. Angela is quiet, not pensive or unfriendly, just - a quiet person. |
Author: eversomuchfun | He appreciates quiet! They have a quiet but productive lab.
After Bio, they are heading from the same origin to the same destination, so it's only reasonable that they end up walking together. Also, out of everyone present she is definitely the least annoying. |
Author: alicornucopia | Angela brings her lunch, and without Bella around she picks an empty table to sit at and eat her leftover rice salad and fruit cup. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Lucky you," he says, gesturing to her lunch with his freshly acquired bottle of orange juice. "I'd've brought one myself, but I ran into the slight logistical issue of not having a kitchen to cook it in." |
Author: alicornucopia | "Oh no, that's terrible. No permanent residence yet?" Angela, who will now be narrated as Angie, asks sympathetically. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Not yet, no." |
Author: alicornucopia | "Do you want help?" asks Angie. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "It would be much appreciated." |
Author: alicornucopia | "My family actually lives right within walking distance of the school, next door to the church around the corner," says Angie, "and we have a spare room - I'll need to ask, but it might work out." She mentions the church with the gentleness of someone who has been made aware that her new classmate might have a particular fear of vampires but doesn't want to poke at it directly. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "That," says Sherlock, "would be very kind of you." |
Author: alicornucopia | "You aren't wearing a cross," observes Angie. "Do you want one of mine?" She touches the one at her throat. "I have a lot." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I noticed," he says with a quirk of a smile. "I - yes. Thank you." |
Author: alicornucopia | She unclasps her necklace and offers it to him. Between it and her bracelet, it's the plainer, more plausibly unisex item. "You're welcome." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He takes it and puts it on with a sigh of apparent relief. |
Author: alicornucopia | Angie pats his hand, once, not too familiar, and smiles, and spears one of her peach slices. |
Author: eversomuchfun | He smiles back and drinks his juice. |
Author: alicornucopia | Lunch will continue to pass in companionable silence unless he chooses to say something. |
Author: eversomuchfun | Companionable silence it is. |
Author: alicornucopia | Bella is out sick the next day, too, but Angie is still well, in spite of having been to visit Bella the previous afternoon.
In bio, she tells "John": "My parents say it will be all right for you to stay with us at least to see if it will work out, and you don't have to come up with rent either, if you'll do a few things around the house and maybe look after my brothers occasionally. They're eight." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "That seems more than fair. Thank you." |
Author: alicornucopia | "You're welcome!" says Angie, smiling. |
Author: eversomuchfun | 'John' smiles tentatively back. |
Author: alicornucopia | Biology ensues. This is a lecture class. Angie does her level best to take Bella-quality notes so that she can bring them to Bella later. She has a copy of Bella's notes from the day she herself missed on hand. |
Author: eversomuchfun | Lacking a notebook, John just pays attention. |
Author: alicornucopia | "Do you have stuff you'll need to move in?" Angie asks Sherlock, between bio and lunch. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Not much of it," he says. "What I'm wearing, and a backpack." |
Author: alicornucopia | Angela nods. "You can just walk home with me after school, then, and I can show you the room and introduce you to everyone." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "All right. Thank you again." |
Author: alicornucopia | "You're welcome!" They sit down to lunch. "Do you want some of my sandwich?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Oh, I couldn't," he says. "You've been so kind to me already. If I'm going to eat your food at least let me be the one to cook it." |
Author: alicornucopia | "If you're sure," says Angie. She is apparently a unique soul who can say those words without implying that she is being less than perfectly literal with them. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Yes. Thank you." |
Author: alicornucopia | "It's no trouble," she assures him, and she sets about eating her lunch. |
Author: eversomuchfun | And her companion drinks today's symbolic beverage. |
Author: alicornucopia | After school, Angela locates "John" to show him to her house. "Are you ready to go?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Yes," he says, swinging the aforementioned backpack onto his shoulders. |
Author: alicornucopia | Angie's house is only a half-mile away. When they get there, her mother is pulling into the driveway with the eight-year-old boys in tow, who pop out of the car and peer at "John" like a pair of owls.
"Hi, guys," Angie calls. "This is John. John, this is my mom, Mrs. Webber, and my brothers Isaac, and Joshua." She points; the boys are fraternal and easily distinguished. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Hello, Mrs. Webber. Hello, Isaac. Hello, Joshua." |
Author: alicornucopia | "Hello, John," says Mrs. Webber. "You can come have a look at our spare room right now if you like." She shuts the door to the family minivan behind her and shoos the boys towards the house. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Thank you so much," he says, following hesitantly. "I can't express how much this means to me." |
Author: alicornucopia | "It's no trouble. We moved to the bigger house when we had the twins, but it turns out they won't stand for separate rooms," says Mrs. Webber lightly. The twins in question have already gone inside. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "That's sweet," he says, with a little more of a smile. |
Author: alicornucopia | "Isn't it just? Now, we aren't going to ask you for rent - goodness knows no one needs to be sent a bill after what I've heard happened to you, poor thing - but we can always use another pair of hands if you don't mind and it doesn't interfere with your schoolwork. Do you know how to drive? I know you're from England and won't have a local license, but if you know how I imagine you could figure out how to drive on the right side of the road quick enough." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I do know how, yes." |
Author: alicornucopia | "If you'd be so kind, when you pick up a local license, let me know, and we can talk about errands. In the meantime, Angie says you cook?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I cook," he confirms, smiling again. "Tolerably well, at that." |
Author: alicornucopia | "You can have as long as you need to settle in and familiarize yourself with the place, but if you do cook, please make enough to share. You can add things to the grocery list, of course," says Mrs. Webber. "Be specific about things like brand and amounts if you're not going to pick them up yourself - and what are we still standing on the porch for, it's chilly." She goes in. |
Author: eversomuchfun | He hesitates on the threshold, because bouncing off it would be a problem, but apparently her earlier invitation to come in and look at the room was valid. In he goes. |
Author: alicornucopia | It's a cute little house, lousy with crosses; if Sherlock cannot determine by decor alone that Angela's father is a priest he would do better to adopt "John Escott" as a permanent name. Mrs. Webber shows him each room on the ground floor, and then up to the spare room at the end of the hall on the second. It is painted pastel green and smells like potpourri. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Charming," he murmurs, setting his backpack down carefully next to the bed. |
Author: alicornucopia | "You can redecorate as you like within reason, of course," says Mrs. Webber. "I'll leave you be now unless you've got any questions?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "No. Thank you again." |
Author: alicornucopia | "You're welcome, dear," says Mrs. Webber. Apparently she is one of those people who calls everyone "dear".
She leaves him be. |
Author: eversomuchfun | He unpacks some clothes and sits on the bed and wonders what the fuck has happened to his life.
But - he thinks he kind of likes it. |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella is back at school the next day. On her second sick day she finally got someone from someplace's engineering department to take a look at the laser plans; she is pleased with herself. |
Author: alicornucopia | Angela walks "John" to school. |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella:
Is surprised. |
Author: eversomuchfun | John waves cheerfully. |
Author: impetuous_force | "Hi. Angie, what's going on here?" |
Author: alicornucopia | "We're letting John stay in our spare room," says Angie. "He needed a place to stay. And he makes really good pancakes!" |
Author: impetuous_force | "Pancakes." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "They were extremely well received," says John. "I'm an abominable snacker when I'm cooking, so I didn't quite manage to sit down and eat with everyone, but I've been assured that it's the thought that counts." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I see."
Bella acts perfectly normal throughout the day, including during Bio, when she and Sherlock and Angela all wind up tripled because they've all been working together in various combinations and the remainder of the class constitutes an even number. Including during lunch.
It's during Gym, which she and Sherlock do not have with Angie, that she says:
"So I haven't decided whether to warn her or not. Do you have any input?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I doubt she'd take it well. If she took it poorly enough, goodbye to John Escott. I'd have to leave. And of course you might have noticed there are no dead or missing people since I arrived. The fact of the matter is, there is nothing to warn her about." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I have noticed the lack of missing or dead people; you've presumably noticed the corresponding lack of a USADI team assaulting you. And now if you decide to alter anything about the status quo you have as a readily available hostage my best friend from since we were five." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "But then who would I make pancakes for?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "...Are you making fun of me? I can't tell." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I am making fun of you," he confirms. "But I mock with the truth. I've missed cooking. This bizarre experiment, going to high school, pretending to be human - it suits me." |
Author: impetuous_force | "It took you a week to get bored of murder, a far more popular pastime among your species. How long do you imagine this one will last?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "You'd have a better chance at understanding me if you forgot my species completely. Heaven knows I try to." |
Author: impetuous_force | "And what makes you so special?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "D'you know what," he says, "you may take that as your first assignment in observation and deduction." |
Author: impetuous_force | She blinks.
"What are the parameters of my homework exactly?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Figure out in what way I am different from other vampires, and why. For extra credit, figure out in what way I was different from other humans. Your available research material is the entire observable universe. There is no deadline." |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella snickers. "All right. I'll see what I can do." |
Author: eversomuchfun | Sherlock grins. |
Author: impetuous_force | "I'm actually a little surprised people aren't finding you more recognizable." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "People see what they expect to, on the whole. No one expects me to be who I am." |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella nods. "Any tips, or is your style more 'immediate unguided field assignment' than 'tutoring'?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I already know the answer," he points out. "It makes it somewhat harder to investigate from a position of ignorance. But to get a little more abstract - I'm sure you can tell for yourself which are the things about me that don't fit. Those are always a good place to start." |
Author: impetuous_force | "All right. D'you want my findings double-spaced?" Bella inquires lightly. |
Author: eversomuchfun | "A verbal report will do," he laughs. |
Author: impetuous_force | "It'll probably be easier to submit it written, even if I don't bother to type it up. I think on paper." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Oh, as you please, then." |
Author: impetuous_force | "What's it like living with Angie?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Unobjectionable. I don't mind the chores, I like to cook for them, and the rest of the time I can sit in my room with a book and no one gives me trouble." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Cooking is an. Interesting hobby." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "For a vampire, you mean? I had it before." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I didn't think hobbies usually carried over. So I guess this will go in my report." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "See how informative the universe can be?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "I'm so informed," says Bella dryly. "I'll have you all figured out any minute now." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He laughs. |
Author: impetuous_force | "What else have you picked up, besides my little problem with magic, and the thing with Eric?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Plenty. Name a person and I will tell you if there is anything interesting about them." |
Author: impetuous_force | She shrugs. "Angie. You've had plenty of chance to observe her." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "She's exactly as nice as she seems, which is a rare quality. No discernible secrets." |
Author: impetuous_force | "How about me, then?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Besides the hidden magic addiction? If I had to describe your most interesting quality in as few words as possible, I would call you unusually effective." |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella likes that. "What are you picking up on there?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "You conjured the Gem of Amara out of a cave," he reminds her. "You have a magic addiction which you keep under control for the sake of what magic can get you. You are uncommonly skilled at applying resources to situations to achieve the desired effect." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I figure out what I want. And then I get it." |
Author: eversomuchfun | Dryly, "I noticed." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Yes. Yes you did." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He giggles. |
Author: impetuous_force | "The Gem wasn't hard to find. I'm not a particularly good witch yet or I would have found a way to kill you with a spell when you asked after it." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Which would've been a shame." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Did you already know I wasn't a good enough witch to kill you with a spell, at the time?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I suspected." |
Author: impetuous_force | "What gave me away?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "It'd take a damn good witch to cast a spell faster than I could notice and stop you." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Unless they were very good at force-of-will, but I guess if you were tracking my ingredients you knew I didn't use that for the Gem." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Even force-of-will isn't fast, comparatively. But yes." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Isn't it? Are you faster than most vampires?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Yes." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Is that also part of my assignment to figure out or are you going to explain why that would be?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I've already given you a hint." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Hmm." |
Author: eversomuchfun | |
Author: impetuous_force | "I'm not confident your standards for hints are such that I'll recognize them as such while I'm in the 101 class," Bella says after a minute's thought. "I can think of things that are similar to hints, but nothing that's - obvious in retrospect when armed with the conclusion, like hints typically are." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I beat up vampires while I was still human. There could be several explanations for that, but the one that's true is that I was better at fighting than they were, and one of the specific things I was better at was analyzing and responding to situations quickly." He shrugs. "And now I am a vampire who is as much better at that than most vampires as I used to be better than most humans." |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella thinks.
Then she says, "I'm probably going to have a bad time of my research project if I lean too heavily on anything the USADI puts out, aren't I." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Very likely." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I remain open to the possibility that you're running some kind of prolonged con, but I cannot for the life of me determine why you'd want to." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Pure boredom?" he suggests, and laughs. |
Author: impetuous_force | "Pure boredom motivating you to attend high school, yes, highly plausible." |
Author: eversomuchfun | Sherlock giggles helplessly. |
Author: impetuous_force | |
Author: eversomuchfun | He grins at her. |
Author: impetuous_force | Gym class ends eventually.
Bella has the weekend, for her research project. She calls Angie at home; Angie obligingly mentions offhand that "John" is around, cooking more meals than not, so he's not taking the time away from school to sneak off to Port Angeles for dinner, it's a trip of a few hours and the Webbers would notice if he borrowed their car. Other than that, Bella mostly spends time trying to figure him out.
She searches the Internet for old news postings; she writes a lot. She draws little diagrams. She enumerates her assumptions, in ever-greater detail, and crosses them out when she decides she's not sure of them, and then from pruned lists she works forward again.
On Monday, she is perfectly friendly to Angie and Angie's new friend John both during bio and lunch.
At gym, she says, "The details are written down, and Ms. Finch will disapprove if I pull out a notebook now, but I could supply a verbal summary." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Go ahead." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Most interestingly," Bella says, "I think you are either a rapid-grown clone or some form of magical construct. Magical construct would explain more by itself - it explains almost too much; if you can make one at all you can make one with nearly arbitrary properties - but clone is more plausible given who you appeared attached to, and your characteristics aren't necessarily inexplicable even if there is not magic in operation to explain them." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Interesting theory. What's your evidence?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "Tony's birth announcement is about ninety percent of it. There's no motive to hide a twin, no motive to do it for fourteen years, no realistic chance of successfully doing it for fourteen years with such a high-profile family, and then when you showed up in public you behaved eccentrically, neither you nor Tony explained where you came from, and while there are plenty of theories about that you were only able to appear in the same place at the same time via sophisticated holograms I don't buy it, in large part because he left a body and you're talking to me. I don't have enough information to determine when you were either cloned or conjured up, though." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "The answer is cloned." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I would have been very embarrassed if I'd been mistaken," says Bella lightly. |
Author: eversomuchfun | He chuckles.
"And have you turned up anything else worth mentioning?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "I think," she says, "that what I know about you is consistent with you being, perhaps not one of those legendary vampires with souls, but one who is atypically motivated even given vampiric sociopathy. I'm not clear on what does motivate you, but I have no significant evidence against it being the avoidance of inconvenience and boredom plus some other features to round you out that I don't have information on." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "As far as I can tell, I don't have a soul," he confirms. "But the lack of it doesn't seem to be slowing me down. As you've observed." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Yes, 'slowed down' isn't the word I'd use." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He laughs.
"Is there a word you would?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "The lack of soul doesn't seem to... control you. I don't know to what extent this holds, but you have more impulse control than the average vampire or Angie would have been dead before I learned she was in any danger.' |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I have excellent impulse control," he says. "And very few impulses to kill people." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Most people have their souls driving. I've occasionally speculated about what I'd wind up like if I were turned, and I'm not sure, but the statistics don't look good. I still don't know why you're different." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I invite you to speculate." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I could guess at near random. I don't think I have the data to produce anything I'd dignify with the label 'speculation'." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Don't you? Review the facts, then." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I could attempt to correlate your irregularities with each other. But I don't know how you were cloned, why you present yourself as Sherlock Holmes when you are not disguised as John Escott, or what led you to kill the vampires who turned you - I could tell myself a story about the last, but only at the risk of anthropomorphizing you more than I'm confident about doing." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "You know that I present myself as Sherlock Holmes, that I seem more or less able to back it up, and that I probably didn't come by any of that naturally," he says. "What does that tell you?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "That I would need to know something about your unconventional and not-public-record upbringing to complete the puzzle," says Bella. "I gather that your education was accelerated and abnormally effective at rendering you able to act like you're sixteen when you're actually however old you are; I surmise that you were secluded until you caught up with Tony, or maybe only went out places you wouldn't be recognized; none of this spells 'fictional British detective' to me. Haven't you ever heard of the illusion of transparency? You obviously have an above-average ability to piece together clues about the world around you, but do note that you've never had to, in complete ignorance, figure out the history of your own life." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I chose the name Sherlock Holmes and everything that went with it, and then I learned it all. My personal hypothesis - and granted I have only the one case to study - is that my identity survived the turning process so well because I built it myself from scratch. Not completely, of course, but nearly so." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Interesting choice. Why?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I didn't have a name to start with, and we run spectacular in my family." |
Author: impetuous_force | She blinks.
"He didn't name you?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "He was twelve," says Sherlock. "He cloned himself because he was bored and lonely and wanted to see if he could. And then he defaulted to the reflex that afflicts so many geniuses - when confronted with a problem whose solution is not immediately obvious, give up completely." He shrugs. |
Author: impetuous_force | "Lonely children who content themselves with stuffed animals manage to name them, if not necessarily with care or creativity. I would be disappointed but not appalled if he had decided to call you 'Cloney'. Calling you nothing at all is a step beyond that." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I'm actually quite glad, on balance, that he didn't name me the way he would a stuffed animal." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Yes, I suppose that's reasonable." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He shrugs. |
Author: impetuous_force | "Well. My anthropomorphizing notions take a bit of a hit on learning this tidbit about your relationship with your - whatever." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Our relationship improved in subsequent years." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Could it have possibly done otherwise?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Oh, I'm sure it could. He did like me, even if he hadn't the faintest idea what to do with me." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Ah. And then eventually you got along well enough to appear together in public." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Eventually yes. And to appear together in private, for that matter," he says dryly. |
Author: impetuous_force | Bella snorts. |
Author: eversomuchfun | Sherlock laughs. |
Author: impetuous_force | "Did his parents even know about you?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "No." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I'm failing to come up with a mental picture here." She's been neglecting to do her crunches for too long; she starts up again before Ms. Finch comes over to investigate. "One person knew about your existence, did not manage to name you, and yet presumably however fast you grew you spent some time roughly child-sized and some possibly different amount of time child-competent and this means he managed to keep you, at minimum fed. And you randomly have a British accent, which could be a later affectation, I guess, and I'm not an expert at identifying fake accents, but my first guess wouldn't be that you developed it watching television. My next attempt at deduction is that he had some kind of help." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Before he created me, he wrote a fully functional artificial intelligence program, whom he named Jarvis. Jarvis spoke with an English accent, although not precisely the same one I use, and he was my main companion for most of my accelerated childhood." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Did Jarvis have the wherewithal to feed you when you were little, or did he just remind Tony?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "By the time I was old enough to form lasting memories, Tony did not need much reminding. Although I learned to cook as soon as possible after that, because he was consistently terrible at it." |
Author: impetuous_force | "That explains that, I guess, not that having learned how to cook needs particularly much explaining." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "It does explain how I got in enough practice to be so popular with my new hosts." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Angie swooned to me over your carbonara." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "And she was right to do so." |
Author: impetuous_force | "She keeps telling me that I should come over some night for dinner. Perhaps I should take her up on it." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I think you should." |
Author: impetuous_force | "What's on the menu this evening?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I haven't made specific plans." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Perhaps I'll drop by anyway. I'm omnivorous." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "If only I could say the same." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Yes, it's a pity there isn't a Gem of Carbonara." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Now that I would kill for," he laughs. |
Author: impetuous_force | "Would you not have killed for the one you've got on your toe?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Oh, is that where I put it?" he says airily. "I might have set the house on fire. I probably wouldn't have killed you." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Of course it's where you put it, although I hope you don't expect me to figure out which toe. Why wouldn't you have killed me?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Well, first of all, I wouldn't expect it to help." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Help with what?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Getting the Gem." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Well, no, I couldn't have been coerced into getting through the wards for you if I were dead," she acknowledges, "but, alive, I had - continue to have - the ability to tell on you." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "And yet, I got the Gem." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Yes. Via the aforementioned coercion. It was very unpleasant." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I'd say I was sorry, but I'd be lying." |
Author: impetuous_force | She sighs. "Of course." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He shrugs. |
Author: impetuous_force | "It's really a pity that your charming personality has the little problem of being attached to a sociopath. At any rate, I don't think you could have torched the building and not risked killing me. You had me very frightened and if I'd decided to inconvenience you I might have expected a fate worse than incineration." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Such as?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "I have a vivid imagination." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "If you've been imagining me as vindictive, you can stop. I am, but not for anything as trivial as interfering with my quest for immortality." |
Author: impetuous_force | "The fact that you have such a quest but do not consider it particularly important is bizarre to me. What things rate higher?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "All my strong priorities were murdered by vampires." |
Author: impetuous_force | "This is where I was going to anthropomorphize," says Bella. "You're saying that when you woke up Tony and - I'm presuming Jarvis? - remained strong priorities?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Killing everyone responsible for their deaths was definitely a strong priority, and stayed that way until I'd done it." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Because of their deaths," clarifies Bella, "and not because those people had done anything directly to you." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "They did also turn me against my will. It was an unpleasant experience. But yes, mostly for my family's sake." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I had been led to believe that the relationship between sire and childe was usually not an antagonistic one, regardless of the original relationship between vampire and victim." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Perhaps the relationship was diluted, because there were twelve of them." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Possibly. I don't know how it works. Why did they turn you instead of killing you too?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "My best guess is some combination of the following: I'd temporarily or permanently incapacitated eight of them already and they wanted me on their side; and they knew I wouldn't like it. I can't imagine why none of them thought about how those two things might interact unfavourably." |
Author: impetuous_force | "It doesn't sound like a winning combination for them, no." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "It didn't turn out to be." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Why did it matter to them that you wouldn't like it? What had you done to them? Tony was inventing the lasers; I didn't think you were involved." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Sadism? Spite? Revenge for fallen comrades? I didn't ask." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I suppose it wouldn't have come up in the ensuing exchange, no." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Exactly so." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Can I," says Bella suddenly, "ask you a favor? I have no realistic expectation that you feel like doing me favors, but you've surprised me before." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Go on." |
Author: impetuous_force | "In the event that I ever turn into a vampire - I don't think it's too likely, but you got in, I might eventually get caught doing magic by somebody from USADI and drafted, maybe Forks will get overrun, I don't know - you would notice, whereas I could probably fool a lot of my friends and family, and you could stop me from hurting anybody. If you were so inclined." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Interesting," he says. "I might." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Thank you." She shrugs. "Depending on what survived the process I might be relatively innocuous. I don't know." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I'm not especially eager to find out. Vampirism seems to make people boring oftener than it does anything else." |
Author: impetuous_force | "And I'm fascinating as-is, apparently." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Of course you are." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I fascinate myself. I'm not accustomed to fascinating other people." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Well, now you fascinate one more person." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Why?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Because I can tell you actually use your brain for something." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Everyone uses their brain for something." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "You use yours for interesting things." |
Author: impetuous_force | "That's not circular at all. Especially when you factor in that I mostly use my brain to think about myself." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "And the fact that you do that is interesting." |
Author: impetuous_force | "And I suppose your hypothesis for why you've noticed this and no one else has is that you're Sherlock Holmes." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Perhaps they don't find it as interesting as I do, because they are themselves boring people with boring priorities." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I don't think Angie is boring." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "She's not so actively boring that she's uncomfortable to be around, which is lucky for all of us, really." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Would you hurt someone just for being boring?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I've never had to live with someone who annoyed me before and I'm not keen to try it." |
Author: impetuous_force | "So you find her little brothers to be perfect angels and her parents scintillating conversationalists, then?" |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I stand by my description of the family as 'unobjectionable'." |
Author: impetuous_force | "If you hurt her, directly or indirectly, whether you're bored or otherwise motivated, finding a way to kill you will get very high on my list of priorities very fast." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He shrugs. "Which makes no difference to me, because I'm not going to hurt her. And I assume you're not going to break out the flamethrowers if I leave a chair untucked and she stubs her toe." |
Author: impetuous_force | "You know what I mean." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Do I?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "I think so. Perhaps I'm mistaken." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Perhaps before you issue a threat you should make sure your terms are clear. I think I understand you, too; what happens if we're both wrong?" |
Author: impetuous_force | "You were extremely vague about threatening me." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "I was as clear as I needed to be." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Do you think I need to be clearer about what I mean by hurting Angela? You may not value her life or happiness, but I think you can model me doing it." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Maybe I'm just unclear about the extent to which you expect me to protect her from random mischance, on top of just not eating her or her family." |
Author: impetuous_force | "I don't expect you to protect her from random mischance, but I will find random mischances extremely suspicious." |
Author: eversomuchfun | "Be assured that I don't care about your threat enough to cover it up if I did hurt her, which I still don't plan to do." |
Author: impetuous_force | "Your statement has been noted." |
Author: eversomuchfun | He shrugs. |