Chris Elkar

[chris-elkar]

Key Events

Daphne (sire): early days

Matthew: first bite, ending it

Withdrawal

Judas: making it official, argument and breakup, reconciliation

Teddy: mentor relationship,

Viv: first meeting

[ofwisdcms]

“I’LL BE SEEING YOU THEN,” Leila replied, returning the salute with a small nod. “Try not to innovate too much in the meantime.” With that, she turned and started toward the nurses' bays.

On her next day off, she would have to dig into the limits of blessing magic and how it might be combined with the blood magic she already mastered. Chris’s visit to the hospital was a lucky coincidence; with any luck, this was the start of something that could meaningfully change how she practiced medicine.

[ofwisdcms]

“THAT EXPLAINS IT THEN. You come by it honestly.” She nodded as he spoke about his own limits. “I can see your point.” For her part, she’d always been more willing to take her chances with the human body over anything with an engine or a battery. She was hopeless enough when it came to troubleshooting her computer.  

Then, remembering, she reached into her white coat pocket and handed him her business card. A courtesy usually reserved for patients or referral consults. “We should talk more.” She folded her hands back into her pockets. “Somewhere that doesn’t smell quite so much like bleach.” 

[chris-elkar]

"Sounds good to me." He took the card from Leila and tucked it into his wallet for safekeeping. "I don't have cards of my own, but I'll shoot you a text. My schedule is pretty flexible so whenever works for you works for me." He took a step back and gave her a mock salute to say goodbye.

[atwoodesq]

"We are more recently friends, so it was a bit more of a learning to know each other better." His and Lian's.. companionship? or wahtever it was, was still in it's infancy. Given their time in the dream he could at least hope that they would grow closer here in the outside world.

He chuckled a little, "Watson is my dog."

"Might seem odd given I'm a dog spirit but it's good to have company. As often as people say I should get a cat we really dont get along still." Cats had always irked him before he was this and now long after he'd become human ish too. Animals were still easier than people, he was trying to not reach that point again where both humans and supernaturals had started to drive him to insanity.

"Though I guess I'm not the only animal spirit that does though."

[chris-elkar]

"Ah, well I hope it went well." There was definitely more to this person that Elliot was getting to know, but Chris didn't think they were close enough in this reality for him to ask about it. Add to that the fact that Elliot seemed a bit nervous and he decided to keep it light.

"Judas told me that Naz owns bunnies, and half the werewolves I know have dogs, so it doesn't seem too odd." Half of him wanted to ask Elliot if he could understand what his dog said, but the other half wondered if that would be rude. He answered with a shrug before mock brushing at his shirt like there might be fur there. "I have my sire's cat, Rose. She's figured out that I can see her in the dark and don't have to sleep much, so she knows that she can get my attention whenever."

[ofwisdcms]

“I LIKE THE WAY YOU THINK.” Washed platelets could neutralize enough of the werewolf turning factor to make donation possible. It would mean they could even get around donor cross-matching, making the supply far more widely usable. Not a bad idea at all.

“Enchanted bags, then any blood drive facility would be able to establish their own supply. Almost like a protection rune.” It would take some doing to combine body magic with blessing magic —and ensure enough stability for reasonable shelf life— but there were others she could consult on the matter. The Effendi Coven, in particular, could prove a useful resource.

“I might have to take you up on that.” She made a mental note to follow up with Vivian about the feasibility of the idea. “You should give yourself more credit with the medical project ideas, you’re not half bad at it.”

[chris-elkar]

"My parents are both doctors, so I grew up hearing about this stuff from them, then I hear stories from Viv." He answered with a grin. It was always nice to hear that his ideas weren't completely crackpot, though he saw it as more following where Leila had been headed than going in his own direction.

"I guess with the medical ideas, I'm afraid of breaking something I'll never be able to fix. With something mechanical or chemical you can fix it or replace a part, but the human body isn't like that. It has limits, and when you break them you can't just go back." As he'd learned from personal experience., but they didn't need to get into that.

[cxrvantes]

She knew she was taking too many risks here. She was too eager, too careless. Her curiosity had always been a dangerous thing, it was why she died in the first place, a habit she never could unlearn. Rau gave the drink another sniff, trying to discern what type of liquor the blood giver had drank. She glanced at Chris, grinned at him, then took a sip.

It felt impulsive and animalistic, her instincts taking over in a way they hadn’t done so in decades. How many years had passed since she last tasted blood? The flavor briefly reminded her of her life in the wilderness, eating a fresh kill. However, the flavor was quickly dampened by the taste of alcohol. It made her recoil, and she pulled out a napkin from the bar to spit out the drink. She quickly extended it back to Chris. She looked startled, those had been too many feelings for such a short moment. “The alcohol ruins it.” She simply said, shaking her head a little bit before looking at him again. He really was a vampire, how interesting. She quickly realized that she could learn some things from him. “Do you like hunting?” She’d never tasted human flesh or blood, but she missed the taste of fresh meat, tearing into a warm carcass and letting the blood cover her snout. He seemed friendly enough, and she’d never met a vampire up close before, but she assumed that if they enjoy the taste of blood, they probably enjoy the thrill that comes with a good hunt.

[chris-elkar]

Chris couldn't help a snort at Rau's reaction. Turned out he was right about what her reaction to the taste would be. He took the drink and knocked it back before giving her a grin. "I did warn you." What, was he not supposed to have an 'i told you so' moment?

He stayed still while she seemed to look him over, waiting to see where it lead. "Do you mean for blood or as a hobby?" Chris had a feeling he was going to disappoint her. "I never hunted for sport as a human. And now I tend to go more for luring people in rather than trying to chase after them. Go for the good old 'little too intense eye-contact' and let someone convince themselves that it's a good idea to approach." There was also something nice about having someone come to you rather than the other way around. And it meant he hadn't had any problems with the new artemis rules requiring consent.

[isabellexlaurent]

Chris was the oddest man whom she ever met. He would eagerly take the blame for what was not his fault, yet when he earned praise, he would refuse it. The quality would be almost endearing were it not quite so annoying. Still at least he did acknowledge his contribution to the effort. Without a starting point, Vivian never would have been able to finalize her project while abroad.

Belle took a deep inhale through her nose. If the fledgling who once refused fresh blood did not care for the taste there was still a great deal of work to be done to make it palatable. "That's going to be something that needs immediate work. If there isn't a reason for the clients to actively choose the substitute, then it might as well not exist." Unless there was a crisis, their kind were far too picky. "We will need someone with a mind for marketing as well."

[chris-elkar]

He laughed. "I can see the doubt on your face." Isabelle wasn't especially emotive, but Chris had gotten good at recognizing her expression when she thought he and Viv were going down the wrong path. Maybe that was something they should talk about later. "We just need to change the filtration or re-distill a couple of the ingredients. This is just a chemistry problem, it's not fatal."

"I think beyond advertising it'll be getting buy in." He said in a more sober tone. "I think Teddy could be brought in with the argument for emergencies, but I imagine Leon isn't going to be a fan." Chris grimaced. "Given the little I know about some of his business."

[lindleycardan]

For: @chris-elkar Where: Chissob Hills, Vibefest

Time was never more important to Lindley then as it had been since she returned to the mortal plane. Every single human she met was always running a head of time or running late. Honestly it was a headache sometimes with how insistent they were about time and deadlines. Since she had put herself back in the human spotlight the deity was now subject to their expectations when it came to such things. Manager meetings, putting video, doing live sessions at the right moment all mattered when it came to time. Now she was “of the clock” if it were and her time was her own. Per Lindley’s world view, time was a construct which meant that she’d take as short or as long. The sea of shoulders and heads blocked her view in the crowded street as masses poured in and out of the various businesses as the block party raged on. There was absolutely no way she was going to be able to spot Chris like this. It had been some time since they had been able to hang out, he was no longer a bartender, and she no longer hung out around bars so their interactions over the past year had to be planned and not as spontaneous as the woman preferred.

Though his height gave him an advantage, Lindley’s gave her the disadvantage. Looking around for a stoop or anything to give her an advantage she spotted exactly what she was looking for! Mustering her strength she climbed up the city green light pole to view for surroundings as she hung on for dear life.  Among those shoulders and heads she spotted the familiar towhead. Frantically she waved him over from her perched spot. “CHRIS!!!

[chris-elkar]

He'd met Lindley while he was working at Liber because she'd been a semi regular. They were still texting to get together every so often, and he still followed her instagram, but she was definitely one of the people he'd missed when he changed jobs. She was also and interesting contrast to the other deities he knew who seemed to be more serious. But then again, Chris was less serious than most of the vampires he knew, so maybe that was why the two of them got along.

They had agreed to meet at one of the events in Garrond, but as he looked around at the crow Chris was realizing that they probably should have picked a specific spot. He turned when he heard his name and couldn't help a laugh when he saw Lindley on the light pole. At that point it was just a matter of weaving through the crowd till he got to her spot. "You turned into a monkey since the last time we talked." He held his arms out like he was offering to catch her, or at least give her a hand down. "Would you like some help getting down?"

[cxrvantes]

Rau kept her expression cool and collected while the man spoke, but deep inside she was starting to get a little concerned. She brought the shot glass close to her nose and gave it a sniff. The scent of blood was unmistakable, but it was also wrong. She was a carnivore by nature, so she could technically drink this without too much trouble, but the strange scent concerned her. Her brow furrowed and she looked up at him again. “What did you…” she forgot the word for ‘put’, so she resorted to mimicking her putting something inside the glass. “What is in here?” She asked. This man had to be a vampire, right? She’d never been so close to one before, so even though she felt intimidated, she was also curious. She still looked reluctant to give him back the glass, her questions had to be answered first. “If I drink this I’ll die?” She asked, still curiously looking at the glass and its contents, the smile still hadn’t left her face. This was odd, but entertaining. “I’m not a human!” She chided excitedly and with not a care in the world, the people around them were too busy listening to the music, not their conversation.

[chris-elkar]

He chuckled at her reaction, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think you'll die, but you might want to gag." He didn't know how someone without a vampire's tastebuds would react to a mouthful of blood, but Chris was pretty sure he would have found it nauseating. He leaned a bit closer to her and lowered his voice, but didn't attempt to take the drink back. Even with the crowd and music he didn't want too many people overhearing them. "It's a shot meant for vampires, so it's processed and distilled blood from someone who was drunk." This close he could tell she was a spirit, and the way she had said she wasn't a human made him guess that she had originally been an animal rather than a human who had died.

[ofwisdcms]

“NO, OF COURSE,” Leila immediately agreed. “Vampirism is blood-based; it would be a disaster.” She’d seen the worst of its capabilities in a teenage werewolf; his death was enough to keep her far from vampire blood. Still, what if all supernatural blood didn’t behave the same way? It stood to reason that the blood of a being created through genetics or a bite might be stable. “But werewolf blood. Or a witch’s blood.” 

Magic wasn’t directly transferable, but if there was a way to imbue her own blood with even a fraction of her blood magic… Just a small vial could be enough to stabilize the worst of her hypovolemic patients. “If you had the right donor and patient cross-match, you could buy someone time.” She hesitated for a moment. He’d been honest with her; he deserved to know the full picture. “I saw a patient a few months ago who was bitten by a rattlesnake. That was the least of their problems, but when we got them into surgery, it took nearly an hour for me to control the bleeding— the venom kept causing the blood cells to rupture, and I ended up having to use my magic more than usual. That’s an extra hour under anesthesia that could’ve been avoided, or an hour I could’ve spent stabilizing the next patient. If there was a way to be in two places at once…”

[chris-elkar]

"Werewolf blood could have the same turning problem, but I wonder if you could use something other than whole blood. Like if you could give someone werewolf platelets." If the blood even worked as part of the same species. It was kind of funny, a few years ago Chris would have been absolutely delighted to find out that supernaturals were compatible donors for humans, but now he was leaning away from the idea. Was that a good thing with him being more realistic or was he losing his humanity?

Chris leaned back against the wall and folded his arms as he listened to Leila. He thought for a moment about some way to fix the problem. "What if you could put spells on blood that was in a blood bag? Or could you create like... a magic IV needle that could enchant blood that goes through it. If it could channel your magic into it then you could keep your focus on the surgery as long as it didn't exhaust you." He made a gesture to indicate vaguely 'outside.' "You should come by the lab sometime, write some ideas and suggestions down."

[cxrvantes]

Turn Off the Lights // Rahui

Open starter for @vievecorcitystarters

Location: Absynthia

Rahui was thrilled to hear that she would arrive to Vievecor just in time for the festival, she loved live music, and was a big fan of various of the bands playing at the Absynthia.

She put on an all black outfit consisting of a cropped tank, jacket, cargo pants and boots. She arrived early in the day to drink, dance to Røz, and cause problems. The mischievous spirit switched between dancing, and walking around stealing lighters and cigarettes, only to put them back at random people’s pockets, for no good reason other than wanting to fuck with people’s heads in a harmless way. Eventually, she grew tired of that, and tried to switch her activity to lurking at the bar for a while, and snatching drinks out of the table whenever a bartender set one down. However, her activity was cut short when she stole her second drink, as a hand settled firmly on her shoulder before she could bolt. The spirit turned around, grinning at the stranger and taking a step closer to them, with their stolen drink still in hand. “Thank you for buying me this, you know I really appreciate it.” Her speech wasn’t entirely fluent, and her accent was strong, indicating she wasn’t too used to speaking in this language.

[chris-elkar]

He'd gone to Absynthia because he liked techno music, planning to grab a drink before finding somewhere to people watch. Chris had ordered quietly at a different spot on the bar and the bartender told him to meet at the end. He got there just in time to see someone else snag his drink with an expression that looked like she did it on purpose rather than by accident. "Give it a smell and then see if you still want it." He nodded to the small shot glass in her hand with a raised eyebrow. It was filled with blood taken from someone who was drunk so it would give a vampire a buzz. This close he was able to catch a bit of the woman's scent through the crowd and he was pretty sure she was either a spirit or a witch, so she probably wasn't interested in drinking blood. He could have let her drink it but that felt too mean and also might draw unwanted attention.

[isabellexlaurent]

"Because as much as I would love to, this isn't my bar." She doubted that Matthew truly would have cared if she did so, but it was a matter of manners. She didn't want Matthew to come into the hospital while she was working to give advise. In tern, she wouldn't mess with his clientele.

She raised a brow at the way that his hand clasped with the server. He was showing his youth, but it was sweet in a way. It showed that he actually had a friend or two besides Vivian. "She said that you were an important part of the project. You needn't downplay your achievements. I assume that you have tried the synthetic blood."

[chris-elkar]

He held up his hands in surrender. "I'll take the credit then." Though Chris felt like he'd missed an important part of it because Viv had come back and suddenly it was all done. Most of his work had been observations and measurements at the beginning, remembering his undergrad biology classes and how to use a microscope.

"Yeah I have. The taste needs some work, but it does what was intended." He thought for a moment about how to pitch it best to Isabelle, having to stifle a chuckle when his friend from before brought him a glass of bloodwine. Perfect timing given the conversation. "I don't think it's going to replace blood bags and normal feeding, but it'll be good to have if we go through another blood shortage or something like that."

[ofwisdcms]

THE MENTION OF WEREWOLF AND WITCH BLOOD sealed Leila’s interest. It only then occurred to her that there was more to his and Val’s work than benefitting the vampire community. “So you aren’t planning on stopping with synthesizing blood for consumption.” Fascination colored her voice, and she subconsciously leaned back against a nearby wall, settling in to listen. 

“Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more interesting,” she hummed. “A nuclear reactor engineer turned mad scientist.” Given the right time and resources, their work might go on to influence her practice. “If there are differences in the blood, perhaps the regenerative properties could be transferable. Imagine what that could do for medicine, blood transfusions alone could be curative.” Combined with her magic and surgical technique, the possibilities were unlimited. “Do you have many donors?”

[chris-elkar]

"Honestly you'd have to ask Viv about future plans for her blood development. That was mostly just the first example that came to mind." He'd been surprised like everyone else when she'd come back and it was all done. At the moment he wasn't sure about doing anything regarding humans because the risk of hurting them felt too high.

He shifted a bit uncomfortably at Leila's enthusiasm, not wanting to shut her down completely but also shuddering at the idea of using supernatural blood to treat humans. "I get where you're going with the idea but I don't think blood transfusions could ever be really viable. Just think about it with vampire blood, it's addictive to humans normally, and a small amount of blood is enough to turn someone who's almost dead. If someone comes in the ER and you use vampire blood, they'll heal, but that's because they've turned. So now you have a traumatized newborn vampire on your hands who doesn't really even have a sire."

[atwoodesq]

"Oh come on they weren't all bad." He chuckled altough a lot of them that were pretty awful, he still liked his. Back then he and Will had been getting into all sorts of trouble, maybe he could get the old friend to come have a bit of fun with him.

"The dreams are strange, they pull from our minds and from the world around us perhaps someone else named Auggie is running about and your mind asociated it the Mr. Lycaon. I imagine his family all would have liked to see him running about again." He chuckled a little, "I'm a spirit so the Zombies didn't really pay me any mind I instead got to enjoy a lot of time wandering collecting supplies. I was with a friend and her nephew through it, it was a nice change."

He still thought about that a lot the relationships he'd built with the two were changed now but he still felt that simillar desire to protect and comfort them. "It was nice to be able to run about properly again with Watson of course."

[chris-elkar]

"Same with vampires, so I was mostly protecting my people without having to worry much about myself." He shrugged. It sounded like Elliot had been with someone who was human or maybe a witch, but he and Elliot ran in different enough circles that Chris had no idea who he was talking about. "Are you not able to spend time with them normally? Schedules not working?"

"Who's watson?" He couldn't remember anyone in the city with that name, but that really didn't mean much given how many people there were.

[isabellexlaurent]

Good god he was playing the hero. She supposed the role did suit someone of Chris's disposition. He was always doing something noble if a bit foolish. This time, Belle was actually grateful for it. Alas no matter how much the times change, men still honor another man's claim to a woman over a woman saying no. She leaned into his touch, giving him the most simpering smile that she could muster. "That's alright, darling. You are most certainly worth the wait."

Once he left, Belle drained her glass, signaling for another as she regained her composure. "I do owe you for that. I would have so loathed to cause a scene." Especially considering that the modern age had cameras everywhere. She'd have been in Elijah's debt to make a video disappear should she have had to take matters into her own hands. "Were you truly at work or did something else keep you? And in the spirit of transparency, I already know all about your project with Vivian."

[chris-elkar]

"You're welcome." Chris backed off and sat back in his seat, tilting his head. "Why didn't you just glamor him and tell him to fuck off though?" He grinned at the person who brought Isabelle her drink and the two of them clasped hands briefly. They'd tried to explain what a dap was to Matthew and failed miserably, so he wasn't going to try with Isabelle.

"I really was coming from work. Traffic got me because a couple roads were closed." He answered with a shrug before raising an eyebrow. Viv said she'd told Isabelle about the blood project and gotten her approval. "I assume you mean her synthetic blood project. That's almost all Viv's work, I'm just helping advocate for it."

[isabellexlaurent]

Open Location: Liber

He was an utter bore. Isabelle had not the slightest notion as to what about her closed off demeanor said that she wished to speak rather than enjoy the martini, but the man assumed the empty seat to her left was an open invitation to join her. Perhaps he was a former patient of hers, long forgotten in some file that gathered dust in storage. He certainly apparently believed himself welcome to take certain liberties with the vampire elder. It was such a shame that she promised Matthew to be on her best behavior, but if he touched her leg one more time, Isabelle would be finding a way around that promise.

When the seat to her right was taken, she smiled sweetly, cutting the bore off. He had not stopped talking about himself all evening. She had the chance to pawn him off on the other person or they could bolster their own ego by playing the hero. "I do apologize, darling. He was keeping me company while waiting for you. I hope that I didn't miss you at a different part of the bar. I am so pleased that you've found me at last."

[chris-elkar]

He was supposed to meet up with Isabelle so she could check on him and make sure he wasn't dead or doing anything too stupid. Coming back to Liber the first time a while ago had felt awkward until he actually got there and saw the people he remembered working with and it was fine. From there it had become part of the rotation of places where they would meet up for these sorts of check ins. He hung back at first when he saw Isabelle talking to someone, but it became clear very quickly that she was not enjoying the company so Chris had no problem barging in.

He slid a purposefully over possessive arm around her shoulders. "Hello dear. Don't apologize, it's my fault. I had disasters at work that kept me late. Some people just don't get when they're not wanted." He kept his body tilted towards Isabelle but turned his head to fix the man with a dead eyed stare. He kept it up until the guy squirmed and scuttled away.

[ofwisdcms]

“YOU AREN’T FAR OFF.” Leila’s mouth tipped at the corner, something wry slipping into her expression. “That’s how they get you—first it’s a lanyard and a login, and suddenly you’re integral infrastructure.” She shook her head; it was still a wonder that she’d stayed in medicine as long as she had. “Even the non-medical projects sound like they’re a big deal to just ‘pick up.’” Research was one area of science she could never quite develop a taste for, though she’d always admired those who had. “From what I understand, the lab’s doing important work. You must be proud. What sparked your interest?”

[chris-elkar]

"I think the importance would depend on who you ask but at the end of the day I enjoy it so I'll argue for the value in it." He shrugged, well aware of the skepticism from some people, but Leila at least seemed to be on 'their side' about it. "Everything with the supernatural is so new that there isn't really a bunch of existing work or principles to be familiar with, so it's a lot of just pulling in whatever might work and running with that. It's a lot of back to basics. We can't start figuring out what the differences between werewolf blood and witch blood is until we know if there even is a difference."

"I became a vampire after an accident, but before that I was a nuclear reactor engineer for the navy. Obviously it's not the exact same job but it teaches you how to do research. I did something else for a while when I got back into town, and when Viv opened the lab she pulled me in."