True Natures... with Zizikitty

[Tsimmu]

He laughed very slightly at the part about morals. "I don't blame you for that. It was kind of hard for me to picture in the beginning too.." He trailed off at the end of that sentence, as though his mind had gotten distracted, perhaps by a memory. But he shook himself and came back to the conversation.

As Neon listened to her explain, he was almost sorry he had asked her to share anything with him. Yes, he had opened up to her, and while he wasn't entirely sure why he had done that to begin with, he knew it had been the right thing to do. He honestly didn't feel like he had told her very much. He had only explained his situation as it had been for the past year, while the rest of his earlier years... those were very deep and dark indeed. Right now was a walk in the park next to that time of his life. He had read in recent years about werewolf social structure, but as anti-social as he was he hadn't really learned much about them first hand. He knew what the alpha, beta, and omega positions were, but he didn't know much about the individual packs of this city. Whenever wolves came here they tended not to discuss pack matters, and he was never even sure if any of them belonged to a pack but he would never have a good way of finding out without asking directly.

For a moment Neon was set in shock. Everything he had thought he'd learned about a pack being like a family unit was thrown out the window, and it depressed him. As he recovered from the shock, that same rage from earlier when he first noticed her state briefly returned to his green eyes. "Your own pack did this to you?" His normally quiet and submissive voice practically growled with the question. This was entirely wrong on so many levels. He saw the submissiveness in her stance, her uncertainty in herself and felt a kinship with her. His voice softened back down as understanding settled over him. "How could your alpha let him do that if he's sworn to protect you? That's not protection. That's exploitation." All his life he had wondered if he would have been better off as some kind of supernatural, and a part of him had daydreamed that had he been born into some kind of sect, it would have been like the werewolves packs were, a family unit. Neon was visibly shaken to learn that someone she was supposed to be able to trust was allowed to do this to her. It made him remember why he had opened up to her in the first place, and solidify his choice.

He made his decision to speak openly then, no more stepping around the subject. He hesitantly reached out and touched her shoulder with just the fingertips of his gloved right hand, hoping it would make her look at him. "Blade, I have a serious question for you." He looked at her closely, sincerity and intensity in his eyes and voice. "What would you be willing to do to make this," His pointer and middle finger ever so lightly brushed her jawline where a bruise was standing out in the dim light. "Stop happening?" After all the hurt he had gone through himself, he couldn't stand the thought of others being hurt in a similar way. He knew it happened all the time, to all kinds of people, but if he could see just one person better off, he would do just about anything.

 

[Zizikitty]

The look of shock was not lost on the lycan, though she only briefly looked at him when he spoke. His tone bringing a timid nod from her as she looked down almost in shame. It was foolish, to have to explain this to someone else. A pack was quite literally a family. Everything Neon had heard was what was supposed to be but yet it wasn't with Blade. The blood feud between the rival packs had been going on for centuries, the hatred between them too strong. Just like with Romeo and Juliet, both her parents died because of their union. How Blade survived was beyond her and Oak never spoke about it. Or rather refused to speak about it.

Her face contorted as she struggled to answer him. Opening her mouth and shaking her head as she sought the words. But there were none that came. She only coiled her arms around herself more and looked away. It was exploitation and there was no way around it. The only thing Oak did was protect her from the rival pack. He did nothing to stop any other brutality against her. There was no lying or getting around the fact that Oak didn't welcome Blade. She was tolerated and nothing more. But the cruelty was that the wolf in her needed the pack. Needed that social entity surrounding her, even if it wasn't loving or friendly. This animal need was compounded by the fact that Sunder simply wouldn't let her leave. The sadistic man seemed to enjoy tormenting her.

The reality brought forth a wave of emotions but Blade fought hard to keep them in check. Fighting the tears as a warm soothing hand touched her shoulder. The smell of Neon's spicy earth scent surrounded her. This close she was able to pin point the smell of cloves and cinnamon as his earthy smell. His touch brought her face to glance at him but the intensity and sincerity in his eyes made her keep looking. His fingers felt like feathers against her bruised skin, so gentle was his touch she almost didn't feel it at all. Without thinking she spoke. "I would give anything to make it stop… To get away." Her voice cracked as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"But…" She softly wiped away the tear but at the same time also brushing his hand away lightly. "You shouldn't worry about someone you don't know." Her words were hypocritical since she had worried about him just the night before. Blades dark eyes looked towards the ground as she spoke. "You have your own problems Neon. You don't need to worry about some silly wolves issues." She tried to smile and shrug it off but the smile quickly faded. "And… you shouldn't get involved… You could get hurt." She warned.

 

[Tsimmu]

Neon felt his heart clench oddly when she told him she'd give anything to get away. He knew that feeling all too well, and he felt sickened thinking that she was living the same kind of lie he had been put through once before. When she brushed his hand away he gave her a look that very solidly said he did not care about his own safety in this case. But oddly enough, he laughed. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm practically vampire fodder. I am constantly surrounded by danger." Her words did have merit, though. Why would he be sticking his neck out like this for someone he hardly knew? Why should he care.

"Look," He said, quietly, knowing he wasn't likely to get her to listen to him but willing to try anyway. "My worst problem right now is stage fright." That was putting it a little bit on the mild side, but he wasn't entirely wrong either. "And well... If I could get out of the situation I was in, I think you can too." He laughed nervously and shrugged his shoulders. "Besides," He sounded so nervous the word almost came out as a squeak, and he cleared his throat. "I... wasn't really talking about me." Neon looked like he was cringing as though waiting for a blow. "Marcel... he mentioned you during our talk. He's very protective of his employees. He wants to offer that protection to you, if you'll take it." He didn't pause long enough for her to respond before he held up his hands defensively. "It wouldn't be anything like my situation with him, though. I can promise you that." And he really could make that promise, for various reasons that he wasn't about to admit to her. "You don't have to decide right away. Just think about it."

Neon knew better than to think this would be an easy decision to make. The truth of the situation made it hard to imagine escape ever being a reality. But she had a golden opportunity of she wanted it. The road would not be easy, but she had the support of a Master vampire if she wanted it, no strings attached. Which was rare in and of itself. Neon glanced at the door to the club in thought. "Also. If you ever feel like you aren't safe, come over to my place." He pulled a scrap of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. On it was scribbled his address. "I'm really a lot less of a pansy than I seemed the other night. It's not all for show." He grinned and flexed his right arm at her, making the black leather strain ridiculously, trying to cheer her up with a little silliness, though the offer was entirely genuine.

The goofiness didn't last long though, and he gave her a sad smile. "Time to go back to work, I guess."

 

[Zizikitty]

A faint smile flashed on her lips although briefly as he mentioned being surrounded by danger. She supposed he had a point, as it would probably be like a deer or elk wandering through a pack of wolves. He was prey to them, possibly their favorite kind but this she felt had the possibility of being much more dangerous they a predator and prey relationship. Lycans were savagely brutal when came to dispatching those they deemed a threat to their pack. Or worse, an enemy. It would be a brutal, messy mauling by many lycans. A death she'd not even wish on Sunder.

She was tempted to explain this but decided not to when he started to speak. His words brought a real smile to her face. He was giving her hope, and it was kind. Even if she didn't believe him right now. But he went on to say that he wasn't necessarily the one offering protection. Her eyes looked to him and quickly filled with fear. "Marcel? But...!" Oh no. This was a deadly line the elder vampire was walking on. Possibly cocky thinking he could take a wolf away from her pack. Unwanted or not. She shook her head. "Does he even know what he's asking?! Just because Oak doesn't like me doesn't mean he'll just let me go! He'd never tolerate a vampire taking one of his pack members."

Blade shook her head no again. "I-I mean I'm flattered that he'd offer it but… No it would put so many in danger." But every once of her being, wolf included, bayed for her to take the option. To take the vampires protection. As she was sure he'd not take her money and use her for pleasure.

He surprised her further by offering his place as a sanctuary. Blade was so humbled by the offer she was at first speechless but found a small laugh as he flexed his covered arm. "You're ridiculous…" She said giggling and shaking her head before looking at him again. Her hand didn't hesitate to take his address however. Looking at it briefly she quickly tried to visualize where in the city he lived before folding the paper and stashing it in her pocket. "This may sound creepy but if I really wanted to find you, I wouldn't need your address. I'd just follow the smell of cloves and cinnamon." She said with a soft smile tapping her nose. "But thank you Neon." She nodded to him mentioning getting back to work. They had been out in the alley for a good minute and she suspected her other bartenders might think she might have ran off or something.

She walked back inside giving him one last thankful glance before returning to the bar. Thankfully for her it was right back to work and she didn't have much more time to think about what they had talked about. Though it was still in the back of her mind.

 

[Tsimmu]

Neon had just shrugged at her admissions of distress towards Marcel's decision. Neon honestly had no idea why Marcel had been so amenable to the idea. He had agreed without hesitation, leaving Neon feeling a little wary and confused himself, but in the end he had gotten what he wanted. How Marcel planned to make this happen, he wasn't sure of, but if anyone could be called a master of negotiation, it's Marcel. Other than that he could only guarantee one thing - when Marcel made a promise, he kept it.

What Neon was not aware of was that the ancient vampire had settled on this matter prior to Neon bringing it up, which meant he was going to be formidable in his keeping of this decision. Should she make the choice to accept his offer of help, of course. The vampires and weres generally kept to themselves, but since Marcel was the Master vampire of the city in which these two packs resided, he was feeling the effects of their petty arguments personally, and it was time to step in before the fight was brought directly to his doorstep. Unless, perhaps, it already had been...

Neon went back to his working feeling a little bit lighter but significantly more worried. Would she take the offer? And if she did, how was it going to affect him? He knew basically what would happen should she accept, and he was hoping she would. His mind was clearly elsewhere, and his work a tad distracted as he served, not nearly as perky as he normally tried to be around the customers. His mask was falling just a tad since their conversation, as he worried over her potential choice. He didn't care about the consequences, and he could see in her face just before they parted that she was hopeful. Well, that was certainly a start.

Before the night was over a nervous sounding vampire had called on Neon to come back to Marcel's office. Neon was hesitant, but before he could even reach the black curtain the old vampire appeared from the shadows and directed him to a corner just outside of his office. Marcel looked slightly ruffled, which was unusual, but his face was calm and his demeanor otherwise normal. Neon wondered briefly where he had disappeared to earlier in the night, but he knew better than to ask what the vampire did in regards to running the city. The vampire grinned at him, and Neon's mood fell instantly as he recognized why he'd been pulled aside. "A change in plans, mon ami. You will be going on stage tomorrow night after all, and we must discuss the... choreography." With a grin that said he was all too pleased with himself, Marcel led Neon into his office.

Neon was on the verge of breaking something when he left the office about an hour later, just in time for close. He headed home and practically collapsed onto his bed.

By the time his next shift rolled around he had suffered through a nightmare filled night, as his mind tried to imagine all the ways this night could go terribly, terribly wrong. When Blade came to work that night she would not see the young man at any of his normal serving stations, though he was normally among the first to be there. The night was a particularly packed one, with even more human patrons that usual. The whole club had an air of excitement to it, signifying that there was likely some kind of planned event tonight.