luxetcinere:
“I mean collect in a… general sense,” Felix explained casually. “If they’re talented, or… unusual, or funny, I invite them over. Sometimes I see them again and sometimes they never come back, but… it’s like hoarding half the deck of cards in your hand. You never know when they might come in handy, even if it’s just to entertain myself,” he added. He was never at his best when he was bored and isolated, so collecting acquaintances solved a number of problems. “I’m a very social creature.”
“Never wrong, eh?” Felix laughed. “Believe me, I won’t have a problem correcting you.” Alek’s admission about vampires being viewed as vermin wasn’t a surprise. There were status levels in every society, even among the downworlders; warlocks and seelies never seemed to face as much scrutiny as werewolves or vampires. “Yes, well, the killing is…” Felix wavered his hand in the air as if to convey that he was iffy on that particular point. “But the blood-drinking, you can’t help, so I do try not to judge. I imagine it’d be like dealing with an army of righteous vegetarians or vegans. No one’s more annoying than a vegan.”
Felix leaned back into the sofa and shrugged in self-satisfaction as Aleksander’s face showed enthusiasm about the enchantment he’d done. If there was one thing he genuinely enjoyed, it was seeing others’ reactions to magic. “Is that so?” he asked, arching his eyebrows playfully. “Well, it’s a good thing it seems like we’ll be working together, then.”
He leaned in as Aleksander lowered his voice and explained the situation. Eighteen. Felix nodded slowly. That was young. Especially if she was out on her own, and… still adjusting. “What is she to you? Why do you care?” he asked, curiosity evident in his voice. He hadn’t talked to Aleksander long, and Felix could be wrong, but Alek didn’t seem the type to help someone simply out of the good of his heart. Despite the vampire’s answer, Felix had already made up his mind to help the girl. Even if just to annoy the clave, finding a way around their little tracker system. Oh, that would be sweet. And much as he hated to admit it, it was only a matter of time before he was stuck with a tracker too. He’d much rather test an extraction on someone else before he had to do it to himself. “Of course I’ll give it a shot. My magic hands,” he wiggled his fingers flirtatiously, “are good at what they do. And I like gifts. I think I’ll make up my mind about what I want from you later, though.” He sat up, ready to get to business. “So… when are we doing this?”
Invite them over? That thought lingered in Aleksander’s mind, a strange way to befriend a human. Though he practiced in a similar art, Alek never invited a mundane to his home. Only a select few knew of its location, mostly vampires themselves. “--and those that do not come back, what do you do that scares them?” Perhaps he showed his warlock markings, those were surely frightening to some creatures. Lifting his head, Aleksander could only assess that was true. Certainly being social granted the warlock some sort of popularity. As for Aleksander, he was a lurker, always pushing people away rather than collecting them.
“Try your hardest, but I have lived for over a hundred years. I am quite adversed in what is right or wrong.” And he did not take kindly to corrections. Hardly any one managed to try, though perhaps that was due to their fear of Aleksander’s capabilities. He was a natural killer, whether certain people wished to believe it or not. That part of his monstrous side would never fade away, he was a true demon. “Hm. Quite so. But vegan or vegetarian vampires would not last a day. Even those that eat animals surely could not last. I never met a vegan, nor had the pleasure of one’s taste. I can only admit that they would not be as tasty.” Especially if all they ate was greens.
Getting to his feet, the vampire wiggled around the couch and moved towards the curtained window. “Does that matter? The fact that I have a heart or not is nonsense, she is one of my people.” Or so apart of his plan. Felix collected entertaining people whereas Aleksander collected an army. Of course he never would admit to such things, that was one side of the coin no one needed to see. “I remind first being turned, it’s hard to manage without someone to guide you.” His father tried to, but only failure was met. Adverting his glare towards Felix’s hands, Aleksander let a small smirk pull up along his face. “That is a reason I came to find a warlock. I do not know of many so willing to go against the clave.” He would have asked a high warlock, but even then it was challenging. They would ask more question than one would desire, especially if it came to helping a vampire. “Later? That offer has an expiration date. Don’t wait too long or else poof, it’s gone.” That was not necessarily the case, but Aleksander did not particularly like the fact that he would owe a debt. He liked to be a free man, not one chained to some sort of offer -- but of course it depended on the case to case scenario and certainly the person too. “Night fall. I rather not waste my time. Does that work for you, or do you have some plans with one of your escorts?”
