(Private) A Place to Opine

[Kenneth Gilroy]

“I accept your apology but you still haven’t answered my question. There may be no excuse but there must be reason. Otherwise you're just a mindless sycophant looking for orders from your Priscus and you won't survive long in Sacramento without becoming someone's pawn. I'd prefer you try to be more than that. Take control of yourself and your Requiem. You must have good reason and purpose behind your actions."

"So I’ll ask again, for what reason do I offend you?”

Arms still crossed over his chest the vermin lord’s eyes seemed almost lidless from lack of blinking.

[Kenneth Gilroy]

She couldn't really be this inexperienced? Her Blood's power and his instinctual reaction said otherwise but all her actions argued that she was younger than he'd thought. Or at least that her Sire had failed in their training. Some of it was understandable given what she'd said of New York but to not know how to look past the Curse of a cousin? That was something he would expect from other Kindred or a newly embraced Haunt. He had a sinking feeling that he might need to mentor Tatiana more than he just a stern talking to. Probably with a softer touch as well.

"Please, Miss Tatiana, there's no need to kneel. Have seat." He patted the bench next to him. Loath as he was to have the stench of honey any closer, he needed her to be comfortable. Though being seated next to the worm might not have been the best way to go about doing that.

"I normally don't pry too much into the past. So long as you don't have trouble following, I am content to let my family have some secrets. So, know that I only ask because I think it might help you to talk about but you are free not to answer if you'd prefer. What happened in New York?" The question was broad and open ended. It would be easy to assume he meant about her mistreatment by titled Kindred but he left it vague so that she could expound if she wanted.

[Kenneth Gilroy]

What part of his unbeating heart could go out to her did. However, there was a greater part that wondered how the family had come to such dire straits in New York. Why hadn’t the Priscus corrected or had a plan to correct the abuse being suffered? Those that could pass as other Clans could infiltrate. The sewers and subways of the city and offered plenty of opportunity to feed. How had they not built up a stronghold as Kenneth had? Perhaps they were as broken as Tatiana was. Theirs was the Clan of secret strength and hidden fear. Yet the pale woman that sat next to him yearned for ‘a glimpse’ of acceptance that she should already have had. The Clan should have done what they had always done. Closed ranks, circled the wagons, and protected their own. The fact that hadn’t… Kenneth found it troubling. By Tatiana’s own words, she had never even learned the skill to look past her family’s curse.

However, New York was far away. Too far to hope to lend the Nosferatu there support or to help heal the fractures that they seemed to prevent them from coalescing into a force to be reckoned with. Kenneth had to focus his efforts where they would do some good.

“Do you think I have not been tormented? That I haven’t seen how people look at me, Kine and Kindred alike?” That his Sire had resented his very existence and kept him under her thumb out of spite for nearly fifty years.

“You will never be free of your curse. You must learn to accept it. Use it. Let it become your asset. The stronger we are individually, the stronger we are as a whole. So when others laugh, or sneer, or torment you; you can smile inwardly and know you have the strength of the Clan in your Blood.”

“You will always have a place of belonging here. This isn’t like your previous home but even if that changed for some reason, you will always be a part of this family and we protect each other. We accept each. We see the curses and know to look past them as no one else can. If they come for one of us, we will stand together. If they destroy the Caldarium, we’ll flee into the Catacombs, regroup, and come back stronger. That is what it is to be Nosferatu.”

Coming from anyone else, it might have sounded inspirational. It was possible to tell that's what he was going for. But they way he cringed. How he could never seem to hold eye contact. The way he shrank into his seat without seeming to mean to. And most of all, the lack of power in his voice. He seemed more than ever, a worm; preaching from a high pedestal and about to fall.

[Kenneth Gilroy]

For Tatiana, it was like grasping a pallid leech's flesh. For Kenneth, he could almost feel scented oils seeping through her grip. He hoped it would wash off.

"Have a good night Miss Tatiana. Let me know if you need help in your endeavors."

End Scene