Give In To Me

Joshua chuckled at that. He didn't feel human by any means. He sat up a bit and rubbed his forehead. He felt like he had a major hang over. He sighed though and rubbed his eyes as well. "Well they've gotten pretty good with the venom now. That hurt like hell," he said chuckling a bit, trying to make a bit of a joke about all of this. He looked up once more and sighed. "Sunrise is in a few hours. You should head back to your base. I'm going to go stay someplace else," he said, looking at Reza now. "Thank you... for helping me," he said softly.
 
Reza looked uncertain for a few moments, mulling over something. "As much as I don't think my elders would approve of you," he said, "I think they should at least be made aware of that venom, and you know more about it than I do." It was a risk, but Reza was willing to take it. Besides, he didn't have any huge objections to sharing his haven with Joshua. He'd have to blindfold the man on the way there, though. Its location needed to remain a secret.

"Do you want to come back with me?" he finally asked, hoping he wasn't making a huge mistake.
 
Joshua was very surprised at the invitation, no vampire had ever invited him to their Haven. He would never attack a haven because it was just that, a haven. He respected the vampire clans to certain degree. So he always respected their havens. He has found a few havens in his life, he never attacked them or even planned to. He thought of it like a guard would never arrest someone for claiming Sanctuary in a church. He thought of it like that. He looked at Reza like he was crazy, or just playing with him but he could tell that Reza wasn't lying. He knew this was a stupid idea and that he would be killed but he nodded his head to him.
 
Reza gave a small nod of his own. "Right," he said, pulling out a strip of cloth. Usually he kept such cloth on him in case he had to bind a human's wound, but it would serve another purpose now. "Take this. When we get a taxi, blindfold yourself. I can't exactly let you see where this place is." The hunter would definitely be killed if he knew its location. At least the blindfold afforded him and Joshua a bit of protection.
 
Joshua nodded his head, taking the strip of cloth. He stood up and pulled his duster on a bit more. He still felt dizzy but he hid it almost as well as Reza hid his pain. "Lead the way," he said to Reza. He held onto the strip in his hand. He wouldn't let anyone take his weapons away. He wouldn't use them on any of the vampires there, but he would not give them up.
 
Reza managed to flag down a cab for them, and he quietly told the driver the address. Once the cab was on the move, he helped Joshua get the blindfold on. He had to make sure the hunter couldn't see, after all. It wasn't a long cab ride to the general location of Reza's haven, and he helped Joshua out of the cab and along the streets until they reached the place. It was only once they were indoors that Reza removed the blindfold.

The haven was made in a warehouse of sorts, though it had been fixed up and filled to meet the needs of Reza and his companions. There were several rooms around, one of the first including a couch with a coffee table in front of it. A hookah rested there, but it wasn't currently lit.

"This way," Reza instructed quietly, motioning for Joshua to follow him. If he didn't run into any of his elders, all the better. He just went straight to his room, shutting the door once he and Joshua were inside. It was small, but cozy. There was a bed, a dresser with Reza's clothes, and some spare weapons.
 
Joshua didn't make any mental maps, which he could have done to find his way there, but he respected that Reza didn't want him to know. He followed Reza to his room and remained standing once the door was closed and such. "It's a simple place, which would make sense," he said as he looked around. He looked to Reza once more, un-sure of why he was even here. I'm sure the elders would have come to find him if they really were interested in the venom.
 
"Well, my room is simple," Reza agreed with a shrug. "My elders have fancier rooms in here." He was feeling a bit awkward about the situation now that Joshua was in his room. Reza obviously had never brought someone back here before, and he didn't quite know how to proceed. That, and he was worried about how his elders would react to having a non-Assamite here. It actually worked in Reza's favor that Joshua wasn't a vampire. That half-vampire thing would likely be of interest to at least one elder, and the venom would be of interest, too. He hoped it would be enough for them to show some manner of mercy on Reza and Joshua.

One possibility for dodging this bullet came to mind, and he asked, "Do you feel any differently about me, after drinking some of my blood?" He was asking because consuming a vampire's blood could form a blood bond, which gave the drinker some very strong feelings toward the vampire. If the drinker was human, they'd become a ghoul bound to that vampire's service so long as the vampire keeps giving them blood periodically. For a vampire drinker, it's almost like artificially falling in love. Reza was wonder if Joshua was feeling the initial attraction stage of either effect. The ghoul thing would just make Joshua physically stronger, though it might give him one of Reza's special talents.
 
Joshua shrugged. "I'm not even sure. I've fought ghouls before and I've seen the signs but I don't feel any different towards you. Should I pretend to be? So your elders don't try and punish you?" he asked. He didn't have much ideas about the clans and their laws. He knew the general things enough to know when a vampire was not following them and that they needed to die.
 
Reza didn't know if he should be relieved or disappointed that Joshua felt no different toward him. Had he been hoping for the beginnings of a blood bond? He hadn't thought he'd been, but now he wasn't sure.

He shook his head at the offer of pretending. "You wouldn't fool them," he said. "And lying to them would do us no favors. We'll just have to choose our words carefully." They'd have to do that anyway, he supposed, but now things were a little more dangerous. He was scared for his well-being and Joshua's. If he got the man killed, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. Sure Joshua was a hunter and all that, but that didn't mean Reza wanted him to be killed.
 
Joshua nodded his head then. "Alright... I don't know how my blood might have effected you either, since its half human, half vampire," he said to Reza, unsure of how this would have worked out. Usually no vampire would want to stay near him, yet Reza had saved his life, brought him to his haven and was thinking of way to keep him alive. It was odd to him but it was appreciated none the less. He yawned though, his internal clock telling him it was going to be sunrise soon. "Sun will be coming up in a bit. I think we should sleep and I should hide or something..." he said, clearly unsure of what he should do.
 
Reza was trying not to think about that. He didn't think his soft spot for the hunter was due to him having consumed that blood, but that was a possibility. He hoped it wasn't the case. If he was feeling this friendly toward someone, he didn't want it to be artificial. Oh well. He'd know soon enough if he didn't take more of the man's blood. The feelings would go away in time if they were indeed a result of the blood.

"My elders usually sleep later than I do," he said. "Since there's only one bed, I think you should take it. I can sleep on the floor easily enough." His body didn't much mind weird sleeping arrangements. He'd sleep like the dead regardless.
 
Joshua nodded his head. "No, I'll take the floor, I've slept on worse things so it won't bother me. All I ask for is a pillow," he said softly. He pulled his duster off, setting it down on the table. He then proceeded to take his hidden weapons off. He had many small throwing knives, but he kept them in their sheaths since he had no intentions of killing anyone in this place. "No worries, I respect Haven's unlike some hunters," he said to Reza. He wrapped the weapons in his duster and then set them near where he planned to sleep.
 
Reza didn't like the idea of making a guest sleep on the floor, but he wasn't going to waste time and energy arguing about it. He shrugged it off and grabbed his pillow off the bed to give to the hunter. Reza didn't need it. He'd sleep regardless of the presence of a pillow. Hell, he'd sleep on a bed of rocks without issue. He was never like that while human, but things had changed a lot for him in his new life.

"Well, I hope you sleep well," he said awkwardly. He wasn't sure what else to say. The sun would be rising in a few minutes, and already Reza was feeling the usual drowsiness started to set in. He wouldn't be awake for too much longer, so he started to undress. Just halfway, though. He took off his coat, weapons, shirt, and boots. He left his pants on, since he doubted the hunter would be comfortable with Reza wearing less than that. Despite how nice of a body Reza had.
 
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