A Vampire By Any Other Name

(Closed Kanaya Maryam RP blog, dependent to the SkaiaNet Institute group)

[dandroog-blog]

Dan: Consult Kanaya

[dandroog-blog]

That’s it. Act like you got the fear of authority for two seconds, even if you don’t give a rat.

Droog calmed his voice, but his shoulder stayed stiff under his ugly regulation polo. “If any teacher gives you lip about that, send ‘em to me.” She may be a security risk but she was also a teenager who needed a little kindness.

“Okay last question,” he cleared his throat and tried to relax to no avail, “is there anything i can do to help ya get along with the other students?”

[pioushemophage]

“I will do my best to outsource all of my disagreements to you, sir.” A bit of disrespect for authority crept back into her tone, but she was polite enough to keep from flashing a smirk at him.

“I do not see any reason why I would have any issues above and beyond the average individual my age entering a new school. I am yet to make much in the way of acquaintances, but...I would not think it cause for worry.” Kanaya’s expression seemed pretty much a perfect poker face even as she casually mentioned herself to currently be pretty much friendless. But that was a work in progress. “Will that be all, Mr Droog?”

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya: Hustle The Product

[damaramegidorping-blog]

Damara felt no need to freak out, she knew Kanaya was knowledgable about her stuff. However, Samara certainly did. Now, Damara may not change into Dakar or Samara often, but when she did, it was very sudden. Like, in-the-middle-of-a-sentence-sudden. There were signs, but with Kanayas angle it was impossible to notice them or they were too subtle.

For example, her eyes went completely blank for but a split second and in that second her eyes became as dark as the night. Also, in the exact moment Kanaya massaged her back, her whole body relaxed. She blinked only once and suddenly she wasn’t Damara anymore. She was Samara, as mentioned above. If one had done a scan on her in this exact moment, the parasites would suddenly have stopped moving and their activity would be equal to zero. They shut down and so did her barriers. 

“Wh-what?” her voice becomes a pitch higher and she starts looking around herself. She winces at the pain. For a moment, she just looks at Kanaya, her face impossible to read. Suddenly she grimace and starts crying. Bawling, would be a better word.  “Wh-what are you doing?” she cries, but she doesn’t do anything to stop her. She just covers her face in her hands “Th-that is v-very mean!”

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya might not quite have been able to see the face of her donor, but she could sense the change of temperament between the sudden slackness of her muscles and the increase in her heart rate. This was clearly a surprise to whoever it is - she recalled being warned of Damara’s other personalities. Though, it quickly became pretty clear that said personality didn’t recall exactly who she was.

Her eyes flew open, the sobs snapping her out of her hazy, arousal-like state almost as quickly as she entered it. The first instinct to reel back and run was suppressed by knowing better; the much better course of action, which she followed, was to grab a gauze pad, and immediately place it on the twin puncture wounds as she removed her mouth, spluttering apologies from a mouth that was slick with blood.

“Oh god, please don’t panic, oh no, oh no.” Her hands were a little shaky, but she managed to tape down the pad on her neck to stop the bleeding. Kanaya took a moment to lick around her mouth, so that as she tried to smile supportively her teeth wouldn’t be slick with blood. “I am dreadfully sorry, this must be very frightening. Damara consented to this, but I did not expect you to awaken. I am so sorry, please don’t cry, it’ll be okay!”

[dandroog-blog]

Dan: Consult Kanaya

[dandroog-blog]

Droog narrowed his eyes. “Stay right there.”

This kid didn’t realize it, but she had the touch. Here’s hoping he wouldn’t have to do something about it.

“I got two more questions I gotta go through. Do you feel comfortable getting to class?” His voice was oddly stern for a dude who usually didn’t give a fuck.

[pioushemophage]

The kid in question shifted oddly in her seat - it wasn’t as if she knew him, but the way he was acting all of a sudden was definitely not in accord with what she’d seen of him so far. With her hands placed in her lap, she sat up straight, trying to look like a model student.

“I feel comfortable navigating, yes, though I will likely do my best to sit far away from the windows. Hopefully teachers will be accommodating of that. I assume they will know enough about my condition to understand the need.” Kanaya spoke without inflection.

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya: Hustle The Product

[damaramegidorping-blog]

She flinched softly, even though she got a warning it still felt sudden to her. Chills ran up her spine, making her hits stand on end. It was hard to prepare for pain after all. However, it didn’t hurt AS much as she thought it would- after a short while it was more uncomfortable than anything. Either her natural sedatives kicked in immediately or Kanaya was releasing her own sedatives. Who really knew with vampires. 

“You really like this, don’t you?” she laughed. “Don’t get too turned on, hun, I need a cigarette-break right after this.” 

After a moment, it was barely felt at all, considering the fangs weren’t in the wound itself. Although it did sting, but that was to be expected. There was something incredibly unnatural about doing this, which continued to give her chills. Many scenarios ran through her head, where she would turn and harm Kanaya, or where Kanaya lost control. Even though they just met, she trusted her, so she doubted that would actually happen, but she still couldn’t help it. There was always the risk… 

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya almost had it in her mind to pull away and sass her out. This wasn’t arousal, though it was very close, and it was understandably easy to confuse, and yeah okay so it was pretty close? Not that Maryam was a particularly sexual person - probably the most chaste person in the building. Plus, as hot as the idea of biting people could be (which is not at all, no siree, she definitely doesn’t think about it at night sometimes), she was a consummate professional (maybe reconsider the phrasing).

As awkward as ever, the young vampire wasn’t quite sure what to do with her hands while she drained the vital fluids from this stranger. A little unnecessarily, she checked that the bandage and disinfectant was in reach of her hand, and that she could find them without looking. Her hands settled back on Damara’s back, and without really thinking about it she began to give something like a cautious massage, perhaps in an attempt to console and calm the other. Things would go a lot smoother so long as nobody freaked out. But why would anyone feel the need to freak out?

[dandroog-blog]

Dan: Consult Kanaya

[dandroog-blog]

“Don’t get hurt, and don’t get caught,” he sighed. The prospect of yelling at kids to stop scaling the building was dragging down his shoulders.

“It’ll take a month to get you cleared for free roaming access at night, and yer keycard won’t get ya into any buildings besides your own dorm after hours no matter what. But I can get ya a slip to take to Carver saying he has ta do his job and teach ya in the dark.” Dan was grinning a little. Someone else was going to share his suffering with these kids and their whackjob science problems.

At least there wasn’t any time travel.

Droog handed Kanaya two forms: REQUEST STUDENT NIGHT ACCESS, and REQUEST INDEPENDENT STUDY. “Security clearance has to go to the headmistress, independent study goes to Carver. You know where the gym is?” 

[pioushemophage]

“As I have no current desire to supplement my hypothetical crepuscular exertions with the preparation of illegal compounds in the chemistry labs, or ‘panty raids’ on neighbour dorms, I do not anticipate the limited access of such a keycard being an issues...and I certainly wouldn’t do such things with my own key card, lest I be caught. Many thanks.” Kanaya gave a little laugh, trying to indicate that she was joking, and timidly took the forms from him and slipped them into a pocket somewhere in her clothes. Probably her blazer, unless she had decided to start wearing tactical webbing for convenience (not a bad idea, now that she thought of it).

“I suppose I shall have to learn the location of the gym sooner or later. It will likely not be the most challenging hurdle I will overcome in my time here. Are there any other issues to address, or am I free to go? Well, as free as I’ll ever be.”

[dandroog-blog]

Dan: Consult Kanaya

[dandroog-blog]

“An old buddy of mine used to have army surplus emergency blankets he used to tape up his windows, worked like a charm. I’ll see what maintenance can do.” He scribbled, now in work mode, and able to ignore the cloak.

“Anything else? Do ya feel comfortable about getting to class?” Dan vaguely wondered if the other campuses had the same shapeshifting building problem.

[pioushemophage]

“Oh, I would not consider it a problem. Worst comes to worst, I could simply enter from the exterior. I have a high strength-to-weight ratio, climbing is very easy.” Though she was usually quite well behaved, Kanaya had gotten a bit of practice in the past from making the choice to sneak out of her bedroom to play outside at night. It wasn’t as if she had trouble being quiet. Though, to prevent trouble, maybe she could just ask...

“Uh, owing to my condition, I suppose you can imagine that it would be difficult for me to engage in exercise. Though I am yet to be headhunted for the football team, I do think it would be beneficial to stay in good shape. Thus, would it be impossible for me to get an exemption on night-time lockdown?” Just like with her breathing, Kanaya didn’t really need sleep. She did enjoy sleep, but it was essentially trivial to forgo it, and she oftentimes did so without even realising it when she was engrossed in something.

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya: Hustle The Product

[damaramegidorping-blog]

“You do this a lot?” her eyes wandered to her hands. “Or not often enough?”

God, she even had medical instruments. Well, better she did than not, but medical instruments had always made her nervous. It added a sort of seriousness to the whole scenario, however she was certain there was another reason for her dislike of it. There was so little she knew about herself, after all. Every day a new discovery was made.

“Whatever, lets get this over with”, she said with a sigh and tilted her head to expose her neck. “I don’t want to see you fangs actually pierce my skin so lets do it the classic way, if that’s alright. Besides it looks cooler.”

Although there was one thing bothering her. Her parasite had been on the move lately (nowhere outside her brain though!), and showed a pique in electromagnetic pulses, which they apparently use to communicate. She was hoping she wouldn’t switch to Dakar or Samara now, but she doubted it. Still, a warning had to be made despite it making her uncomfortable. 

“Hey, just so you know, I’ve got this whole split-personality deal going on, and I just might turn if the parasite in my brain decides you’re dangerous. In case I do, if I start crying, you’re in the luck. If not… Well, I’d stop if I were you”, she was trying to aim for ‘playful warning’ but she missed that by a goddamn mile. Shit, that was ominous. 

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya seemed a little taken aback, but then gave a polite, sort-of-nervous chuckle. “I suppose I am not quite in a position to make complaints; it would be the height of hypocrisy. I am a parasite on two counts, by my measure. I shall try not to startle you.”

With that, she settled into position behind her, placing her hands on her shoulders just to make her aware of where she was. Her head bowed to her neck, and she seemed to do something akin to nuzzling it, brushing her lips softly over the skin - in reality, she was searching out an artery to drink from, though the behaviour was unexplained and no doubts unnerving. And as she did, a jade flush took to her face. If her heart did much nowadays, it would have raced.

After a few moments, she settled into place, her teeth pricking the skin lightly. “I’m going to bite.” She mumbled, and then her teeth sunk hard into her flesh. Immediately, the taste of blood made her release an almost-sexual moan into the puncture wound, her lips pressed forcefully around the site of penetration. Her pupils dilated and her relaxed body seemed to tense up.

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya: Hustle The Product

[damaramegidorping-blog]

Haha, oh wow, this was so surreal. Pretty much the exact moment she knocked this lady opened the door, with a cloak and suave smile. If she wasn’t so nervous about the eventual blood-taking she would have pinched herself to see if she was still awake. And then she would have laughed. She did none of that now, though. 

“Uh, no not really. If I did, I wouldn’t be here right now, would I?” she said, with a cocky grin despite herself. “I’m in second year, so a Junior.”

She made her way into the fairly dark yet surprisingly neat room. Well, it didn’t smell like corpses like she had assumed, so that was a bonus. 

“I also have a few questions for you. What year are you in? Will this hurt? Also, are you good at history? Because I really need help with that”, she said. Oh man, she could really go for a smoke right about now. Her addiction would often act up when she was nervous, especially if it wasn’t something she was thrilled to do either. She had brought her cigarettes so she could immediately smoke once she was done here. Ugh, she could barely wait. 

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya gently guided her to sit down on her bed, and she fussed about in her closet, retrieving a small medical kit from underneath a pile of socks. As she sat down next to her she laid the kit out on her lap, removing bandages and disinfectant.

“I am merely a freshmen, but I believe I will have all of the skills required to complete your History homework.” After a pause to think, she quickly addended, “I understand that of course it is necessary to win your confidence - would a two-for-one deal on our first ‘appointment’ go a way to putting your mind at rest?”

She put the things to one side for now, laid out in a very systematic (and pedantically aligned) way. Her tongue ran over her teeth, and they felt as pearly-smooth and wicked sharp as ever.

“There will be a modicum of pain, and potentially a sensation of wooziness in the aftermath. I leave the site of draining to you. Anywhere with sufficient blood flow; the neck is a classic, but if that is overly intimate or too dangerous for your tastes I would be happy to drink from your wrist. There is the femoral artery, but the placement of that is...problematic.” Kanaya’s fingers nervously rapped on her thigh. “I brush my teeth very meticulously, and will disinfect your wound, of course.”

[dandroog-blog]

Dan: Consult Kanaya

[dandroog-blog]

“Welcome to the New England campus, little lady. We’re just gonna go over a few questions about getting ya settled in and then you can go.” He opened her file and went to the notes page, clicking a pen to write with.

“I hear ya have a condition. But it looks like the school has ya set up for the most part, blood bags, school doctors, the works. Anything you wanna add to that?”

Dan was doing his best to keep his eyes on the page and away from the fashion disaster Kanaya was to him. Droog went for “classy” fashion, and ostentatious crap like cloaks never sat wel with him. His loss really, I think the cloak is-

“Do you mind!” Dan yelled at his narrator.

Oh, sorry.

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya was sort of aware of his eyes on her - either the school was disastrously bad at doing background checks, or (more likely, seeing as she was pretty much clad from head to toe) he was appraising her fashion. As she sat there awkwardly in the chair in front of him, she mentally patted herself on the back for doing a good job picking an outfit. It was difficult to find something that concealed her skin and looked good, but if this classily-dressed fellow approved then she must have been doing a good job.

“Well, sir, my condition so far has been documented more thoroughly than I would be able to elucidate off of the top of my head.” She politely bowed her head as she tried to remember the things she had intended to bring up in conversation. “Would it be possible to get a more comprehensive way to remove light from my dormitory room? I appreciate that one cannot exactly board up my window for a number of reasons, but I would like to be able to sleep without worrying about waking up to my face burning.”

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya: Hustle The Product

[damaramegidorping-blog]

Now, this was just what she needed! The further into her classes she got, the more evident her gaps of knowledge proved to be and her grades were dropping fasten than a man tied to weights in the ocean. In other words, she really needed this help. And now. 

Damara studied it for a little while, nervously shifting on her toes. Was it worth it? Some blood for her grades? Yes, probably. Still, it made her a bit hesitant. Well, she doubted Skaianet would allow a murder to happen on their school and if she was in a dire emergency, her parasite would probably act out and cruel Damara would come crawling out. And cruel Damara wouldn’t stop at anything to assure the hosts survival. 

So, before she knew it, she found herself in front of the door to room N-212 with the notice in her hand. Oh, god why would she agree to this? But… Her grades… She forced herself to knock.  “Hello. I’m here for the offer”, she said.

[pioushemophage]

The girl, who sat twiddling her thumbs idly, jumped up from her bed so fast that her shirt made a sharp rippling sound. Kanaya often found herself damaging clothes by failing to be considerate of her own capabilities. Adolescence brought many challenges, but she doubted that most kids had to deal with ripping the sleeve off their shirt by taking it off too fast (she went through toothbrushes pretty quick on account of her razor-sharp incisors, but dental hygiene was one of her principles, understandably).

Before she met with her first donor, however, she turned the desk lamp on to fill the room with a soft yellow glow, under the assumption that whoever came to the door would probably not have night vision as good as hers. And then went on her thick cloak, purportedly to prevent any incidental light from the hallway from burning her; that had basically never happened before, though, no, she was mostly just doing it because she wanted to look cool. She swung the door open.

“You’ve come to the right place. I hope you’re not afraid of needles.” Her fangs poked out as her small mouth smiled softly. She quickly gave her guest a once-over, and invited them in. “I must ask...what year are you?”

[pioushemophage]

Kanaya: Hustle The Product

Amateur Blood Drive Will Do Homework For Blood Other Favours Negotiable Inquire At Room N-212

Kanaya pushed the pin through the last of her few photocopies into the notice board, hoping that somebody actually read these. Technically, her identity was masked between the low brim of her hat and the gloves she was wearing, but anyone watching would easily put two and two together - how many other six-foot goths with a taste for blood could this school have?

With that done (she had done the board on her floor last for convenience), she could return to her room, where the curtains were still keeping it in a state of dim twilight; her enhanced eyes worked just fine in the dark, but she would probably have to turn the light on if anyone came in. It was nice to actually be able to dress down a little, though - she cast off her cloak and blazer, and off came her gloves too. She even rolled up the sleeves of her blouse for the moment. Kanaya had been drinking from IV bags long enough to know that blood was a bitch to get out of clothes.

[dandroog-blog]

Dan: Consult Kanaya

Finally, an easy student. Droog flipped through the file: freshman girl, just transferred to campus, has been with Skaianet for years, yadda yadda. Now if only he had more coffee.

Stepping into the waiting room again, he saw a girl who looked like she was allergic to sunlight, wearing an outfit that looked, to him, a little ridiculous. Bingo.

He kept a straight face and said, “Miss Kanaya? You’re next. In the office.”

[pioushemophage]

It was a warm day - fortunately, Kanaya didn’t have much body heat of her own, because otherwise she’d probably be a well done stake by now, under her multiple layers of clothes and the cape she had drooping over her entire body.

She had chosen to lean by the wall, mostly to keep away from the windows, and to be quite honest she looked sort of awkward, not quite sure where best to put her gangly limbs. Apparently she was nervous, because she had accidentally been holding her breath for about five minutes.

“Hello Sir.” She gave a little curtsy with the folds of her big dumb cloak, and walked into his office.