( open log ) who's that creepin in the shadows

[worstpire]

WHO: Conrad Achenleck and YOU!
WHAT: Scoping out the town, now that it's dark outside.
WHEN: Day 46, nighttime.
WHERE: ERRYWHERE
WARNINGS: Conrad's mouth, will be updated if necessary.

It's been a really, really long day-slash-night-slash-day. Between Hanna's crazy "let's just walk straight into danger" plan, getting attacked by Robocop the Vampire Slayer, waking up in somebody's attic and getting cornered into telling strangers about his condition, Conrad feels like he's going to drop. Not that he can physically feel tired, but mentally, it's a lot to take in at such a nonstop pace. On top of all that, waiting in that unfurnished, dusty attic for the sun to go down without anything to do to occupy himself has been torture.

The sun does go down eventually, though, and as soon as it does, Conrad's headache seems to lessen. He creeps downstairs - not investigating the house too fully, lest he run into his broom-zealous buddy again - and quickly checks out the kitchen and living room - ugh, so not a fan of the basic decor - before heading outside and getting hit with the smell of sea air. Yyyyikes.

He'll be spending the evening like this: hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched up even though he's not cold, wandering the streets and investigating public buildings, maybe talking to himself a little. It distracts from his hunger, anyway; as usual, his sense of smell has amped up - as if he needs help finding food, ugh - but he's saving that last bit of blood until he's found a replacement. Logical action, Conrad.

He's also looking for any sign of a way out, but, well. That's a given.

Comments

[facilitated]

Laura is literally seconds from bursting into the room with the mug held high - which obviously means she's just going to lurk in the doorway a little more, because when it comes down to it she really isn't very brave. It makes for a massive relief when she hears Conrad, and she laughs as she peeks her head around the doorway, looking around for him.

"Oh man, I was so close to braining you it wasn't even funny." Yeah. Something like that. She grins though, beckons him through to the kitchen anyway and turns to head back to her favoured spot on the counter. "You want something? I'm gonna make some more coffee maybe, or tea or something. You drink that stuff?"

[worstpire]

Oh jesus, like he needs more injuries. He's glad they both avoided that one. Conrad waits a moment, then follows Laura into the kitchen, getting a better look around this time. He can almost smell the coffee, and he misses it.

Frowning, Conrad wrings a hand over the back of his neck, wishing he could sit and have a coffee with her. She seems nice. He can't even pretend, like he does at home; it would be a waste of coffee and effort.

"No, n--uh, not anymore," he mutters regretfully, eyes on the cupboard doors. "Ah... thank you for the offer, though."

[facilitated]

"Not anymore?" It probably shouldn't strike her as something so sad but it does anyway, and for a moment she pauses. What can she say to that though? She doesn't know how it feels, can't really begin to comprehend how different it must be. She just waits until she's back up on the counter to fill the kettle up again, and looks over at him with raised eyebrows.

"So ever since you got all like...vamped out, you can't have regular stuff any more? Not even burgers?" Someone's got to ask the important questions, don't they? Obviously burgers are a pretty big deal to miss out on, and if she's a little sleep deprived then her questions definitely don't have anything to do with that. She frowns for a moment, then just shakes her head. "Kinda sucks, huh."

[worstpire]

It does suck, and it sucks to think about. Not that he craves anything but blood anymore, but just... the normalcy of it all. Conrad sighs and leans against the counter, eyes sort of darting around the kitchen. The light isn't too bright, which is good. He's not looking forward to having another headache tomorrow -- and he should really be on the lookout for a mattress or something. He can at least make it looks presentable up there.

"Er, it's not... that bad. Just different." Self-consciously, he fixes his collar, reaches up to rub at (read: hide) the still-unhealed bite mark on his neck. He smiles a little, wearily. "I think I always drank too much coffee, anyway."

[facilitated]

Laura shakes her head a little, drumming her fingers on the counter for a moment before sliding back down off of it quickly. She can't help but be a little restless, she's definitely had too much coffee, and after a day of rushing around trying to get everything sorted for a funeral the next day, she's more than a little too buzzed to stay still for very long. She does take a few steps in towards Conrad though, reaches out and rubs his arm, before she's back to turning and making another drink. At least it's tea this time, she's at least trying to wind down.

"So is it like, rude of me to ask stuff about it? If you don't want to talk about it I totally get it, it's fine, it's just-" She shrugs, glancing over her shoulder to look at him before (rather loudly for the time) making up the cup of tea. "I don't know. I guess I'm a little curious."

[worstpire]

Conrad's hand comes back down, and he crosses his arms, shrugs somewhat sheepishly. If he could still blush, he would, a little, at the touch. He's not used to people showing interest in his life!

"Well, since you're actually asking first, I don't mind." He carefully avoids stabbing himself in the lip with his tooth, ow. "Just nothing... weird? Not -- ah. Go ahead."

[facilitated]

"Really?" It's a bit of a surprise, but clearly not an unwelcome one if the smile she's wearing as she settles back into her seat is anything to judge by. She idly pokes at the tea bag in the cup while coming up with the perfect question to start off with. It won't do anyone any good to ask like fifteen at once, after all.

The tea bag gets tossed in the sink, and when that's done she grins and sets the cup down, steepling her fingers lightly as she looks at him. "Okay. Nothing weird I promise, cross my heart and everything." ...She's not kidding, she actually does it. "How did it happen? Was it an accident, or did some dude ask you one day 'hey, wanna live forever'?"

[worstpire]

The arm-crossing doesn't last long; Conrad is fidgety. He uncrosses his arms and reaches up to rub at his neck again, suddenly itching for a sip of his dwindling supply. Ugh, he needs to find that doctor.

"It was an accident. Kind of, um, an abstract way of saving my life. Since. A... vampire. Happened."

[facilitated]

"So you got turned into one to stop you from being perma-dead?" Okay, it's safe to say Laura's fascinated already. It's bizarre as hell and she never once thought in her life that she would actually be sitting in a house, having a conversation with a vampire of all people. It probably should be terrifying, how weird life has gotten, but as long as she doesn't think about it too hard it's still kind of cool.

"Dude you're freaking wired to the ceiling. Sit down or something, chill." Last thing she needs in the house is another addict, but she's not going to say that. Instead she just keeps moving forward, rubbing her hands together lightly before pointing them towards him, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, I got one. Vampire mythology, what's true? Are you really put off by garlic? Can you turn into a bat? Do you sleep in a coffin?"

[worstpire]

"Yyyy--uhhh." He trails off weakly, then just... sort of hops up to sit on the counter, too. If Laura is looking, she should be able to see that unhealed bite fairly easily, but he's steadfastly pretending it's not there.

When she asks, he glances over at her, making a bit of a face. Not a put-off one, just... a slight face.

"Nnnnno." To all three. No way is he telling a teenager he can turn into a bat by accident and has no idea how to control it yet. "Haven't tried the garlic thing, but -- where does that even come from? It sounds ridiculous."

[facilitated]

She sees it, she definitely sees it. It's not exactly the most subtle thing in the world when she's talking to someone she knows is a vampire - though to be fair, she may not have noticed it as easily without that knowledge - but she's going to keep a lid on it for the moment. Sure, part of her is dying to just bombard him with fifty questions and eat popcorn through the answers, but that's not fair on Conrad. He seems like a nice enough guy, he's already being accommodating enough putting up with these ones. So instead she just taps her fingers lightly for a moment against the side, looking at him.

"God, I don't know. Mythology or whatever? I mean I'm guessing the sunlight thing is real, given that you're, you know, awake now." Never mind the fact that she's up too, that's hardly the point. Flashing a brief grin his way, it's clear she's a little amused as she continues. "What about mirrors? Come on, tell me that one's true. Can you see your reflection?"

[worstpire]

His response to that grin is to grimace slightly. This is one vampire thing he probably hates the most, even though it's probably the oldest one in the book. It just makes him think of the ball scene in Van Helsing, and -- eugh. That movie was so terrible. He really can help but smile a little, though, ruefully.

"No reflection, just fucking floating glasses," he confirms wearily. "It still really... really weirds me out. Hngh."

[facilitated]

"Jesus, I bet it would. Is that even something that you can like, get used to?" She poses the question pretty thoughtfully, but it makes something else click and for a moment she just gestures vaguely at him. It's not exactly excitement so much as her deeming this one very, very important. Important enough that she turns to face him, shifting around on the counter - and yes, she nearly falls off once. It's cool. She's got it.

"Hey, hey, hey. Uh, question, right? You don't get old and stuff, but you look like a regular person age. Are you secretly ancient? Because you seem pretty normal for someone who is like a hundred years old, but maybe I'm wrong. You could've learned that stuff, or maybe you're just super good at bluffing, I don't know. So are you old, like old as balls old?" For the love of God, who gave her free reign to pester the new housemate with questions. She raises her eyebrows at him, but falls silent after that, even clapping a hand over her mouth to make a point. And then ruins that point by mumbling through her fingers.

"That's the last one, I promise."

[worstpire]

Conrad almost laughs! He isn't, but it's kinda nice that she hasn't completely written off the possibility of him being a learned old dude in disguise. Alas, he's just a mid-twenties loser who doesn't even know how to be a vampire or a human anymore.

"Um, that depends on if you consider twenty-seven to be old as balls." Aaand people generally don't. "This is... uhh, relatively recent."

[facilitated]

"Twenty seven. I guess you're still kinda on the young side. Maybe." She grins as she says it though, even leans over and gives him a little nudge with her elbow against his. She's totally messing with you, Conrad. "That's way better. I mean, I'm sure being five hundred and whatever is good fun and everything, but it'd get real tedious real fast. You'd probably be a right grump."

Meaning that she doesn't actually think he is now, all things considered. She shrugs and picks up the cup again, peering at him for a second as she takes a sip, then tilts her head. Enough vampire questions, she can only put him through so much in one night, right? "So, what do you do with your spare time then? Any weird hobbies I should know about, collecting empty milk cartons, knitting with cat hair?"

[worstpire]

Oh, good, normal questions. He does appreciate the response, though; he doesn't want to come off as unfriendly or ill-tempered, it just... happens that way. Frequently. Especially lately. He's tired of getting walked on.

"Nothing to call the cops about," he says somewhat sheepishly. "Normally I'd be attached to a computer, doing design work, but since it looks like the last update around here was OS negative fucking fifty, I'll have to settle for raiding the library, or something." 'Settle'. He doesn't really look like that's a bad thing.

[facilitated]

"Good thing too, since we don't have cops here." And maybe that's something that should be worked on given the sudden appearance of bodies and the likes around here, not to mention disappearances. As for who would do it though, well she's got no suggestions. People tend to mess that kind of thing up.

"Yeah, the tech is a little dated," which is delivered with a slight chuckle - dated doesn't even begin to cover it, "But, the library's pretty good to be honest. Like I've got a whole heap of books in that room there I haven't taken back yet."

She shrugs as she points towards the room in question with her foot, swinging her legs a little before huddling up in the mug again. Might be nearly empty but at least it gives her something to do with her hands. "It's not the greatest place ever, I'll be the first to say that. Until we figure out how to go back home though, it's not- I mean it's not awful."