Black and Blue, But Not Quite Over

[Conner Wells]

Conner quickly understood what Maeve had likely meant when she failed to give him a landmark for the Barrens: they were few and far between.
Just past the city's western border, the Barrens stretched out over miles of farmland, a wilderness area, and precious little access to civilization aside from highways and a few civic buildings. Meaning food...real food...is scarce and more prone to fighting back.

And so it was the young Mekhet found himself wandering through the wooded areas in the bend of the Sacramento River, searching for any telltale flashes of vibrant blue that would alert him to Maeve's presence. Although, given his luck, she was likely faster than him. And now she was hungry.

[Maeve]

Maeve is hungry. Incredibly hungry. Her mind is a complete muddle of thoughts and it feels as though her body hurts all over in a way she hasn't really experienced in a long while. She purposefully didn't give Conner a landmark. She knew she'd want to indulge a little hunt... So, she moves herself to the most obvious place that she'd expect Conner to arrive.

Sneaky sneak - 3 Successes

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-10 21:14:05	Maeve rolls 5 to Sneaky sneak (Dex + Stealth) (10 Again)	8, 9, 10, 7, 5, 2	3 successes

True to her shadow nature, she walks with quiet, if not silent, steps. Bushes hide her and she can only help but wonder what it will take for her cousin to spot her. Or will she get to him first? She could pounce now. GO. No. Hold back. It is difficult for her not to just make obvious her superiority. To show her dominance. He is nothing. No, calm. Focus. Just a small game.

[Conner Wells]

As Conner surveyed his eventual place of exile, he couldn't help but find some measure of peace out in the woods. Away from the noise and the constant press of the Beast, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. Except for the hunger of course...that was the real trial of the Barrens.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-10 21:53:54	Conner Wells rolls 6 to Perception: Search the Forest (Wits + Composure) (10 Again)	4, 10, 3, 3, 10, 6, 1, 6	2 successes

A sound causes the Shadow to briefly whirl around, ready to react. But all he sees is a squirrel making its way through the treetops, mocking him with its arboreal agility. Next time little tree-rat, in a month or so you just might be my dinner. He allows himself a brief smirk; trips to the zoo had been a favorite activity of his before...
Forget the before! Focus on the now! The very real, stuck in a hole, monstrous existence now.
He briefly considers calling out for Maeve, but there was the ever so slight possibility that humans may be within earshot. And the last thing he wants was to put a potential innocent, or Maeve, at risk. And do the Shadow just continues to observe the nighttime quiet.

Just in case this becomes relevant, Conner has Def 2

[Maeve]

Look at him, not even noticing his Shadow Cousin stalking him. Good that he heard something. Makes things more interesting. She circles around, trying to find a good spot to pounce. She is careful not to disturb too much of the foliage and keep her feet from crackling upon branches, but she isn't quite as careful as she was before. Perhaps it is the hunger destroying her game. A pity.

Sneaky sneak - 1 Success

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-10 23:07:34	Maeve rolls 5 to Sneaky sneak (Dex + Stealth) (10 Again)	7, 4, 4, 10, 6, 6	1 success

When she finds what she feels is the right position, she jumps out from behind a tree, "BOO!" Her voice isn't that loud and it should have been kind of terrifying, but her doe like eyes somehow lessen that effect and it is more like a mere human jumping out.

Boo, intimidation - Fail

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-10 23:08:25	Maeve rolls 3 to Boo (Presence + Intimidation) (10 Again)	2, 1, 6	failure

[Conner Wells]

There it is again; movement in the underbrush. Conner turns his head just in time to see a full-grown, blue-haired woman jump out and actually say the word "Boo".
....What?
Conner takes a full few seconds to digest the sight, then his bemusement devolves into a chuckle. "Nice try, Maeve. But it's good to know your sense of humor is intact." It would certainly make his purpose here a bit smoother. "How are you managing out here?" The Beast within grumbled, as it always did when confronted with the ridiculous. There was no utility in this; no advantage to be gained. But it certainly had to be done.

[Maeve]

The blue-haired, forgettable shadow rolls her eyes, "It would've scared the shit out of you had I been a little more careful." Even looking at her, there is something completely off. She looks sullen to a degree, lacking any kind of luster. Even her blue hair seems faded somehow.

"I'm... managing. How's freedom for the month?" She crosses her arms, looking at him curiously. She isn't mad that she's got to do this first. She gets freedom afterwards, after all. He gets freedom and then thrown in the gutter for a wee bit. It'll be fine. ...fine.

[Conner Wells]

Conner takes in Maeve's worn state; the fire dimmed if only for a moment in her eyes and her stance. There's a flash of Bestial satisfaction in his core, seeing her so humbled. But more than that is the all-too-human guilt, knowing that he played a part in this.
Maeve's query is met with a wry smile, as if smiling through an amputation. "As well as could be expected: Quinn has me on a pretty tight leash in Court, which is still hell to get through. And my research so far has me convinced that not too many Kindred are excited to see the Lancea Sanctum returned to Sacramento." Yet another detail that he'd missed filling his Clanmate in on during that first Court. "But so far the Prince hasn't bit my head off yet, so there's a silver lining there." Baby steps were still steps after all.
Thinking about his impending exile sobers Conner. He imagines himself in Maeve's shoes: faded and lackluster while feeding on squirrels. All while the Beast within abandons its whispers and begins growling in his heart and mind. He looks his Shadow cousin in the eyes.
"Look, I understand this might not be what you want to hear in the moment but it still has to be said."
And there was the guilt again, and the gnawing worry that Maeve would bolt or pounce as soon as what was said was done. But Conner was well-versed in sitting on guilt, and he knew it did no soul well.
"I'm sorry. I was reckless, and stupid, and I set you back when you were working your way back into favor with everyone. You deserve better, and I should've known better." He lets those words sit for a moment. "I don't have any excuse for what happened, nor do I deserve one. But I've done some thinking and I want to just share what I'm facing just so that we can avoid a similar...misunderstanding in the future."

[Maeve]

Maeve leans her back up against a tree, her arms crossed and a leg up, pushing against the trunk as if she could lunge at any moment. But she doesn't lunge, she stands there, listening quietly. She's always quiet. Well, quiet until hell spills from her lips apparently.


"Alessandra doesn't seem to do much of anything." That's right. I used a first name. This isn't court. And then she has to wonder if anyone else is around to here. "But you know, comes with being old."


Then Conner begins apologizing and all her brain can think is 'blah, blah, blah'. He thinks the whole thing is his fault. "Conner, you don't need to apologize. Particularly not to me. This apology isn't even to me, it's to make yourself feel better about it. I mean, I don't particularly care, so, take that as you will."


She sighs. "Nah, I shouldn't have egged you on. Sometimes I get a kick poking. It's one of my flaws. I enjoy a game of chicken." Then she shrugs, "I didn't actually expect you to bite." She looks over pretty boy. Somewhat pretty boy. He wasn't particularly anything special. Not like Jack and those other guys. Or fuck, like Twist. ...and what the fuck kind of name is Twist? Focus.


"Look. Ya live and you learn and that's where you go from there, ya know? But I gotta know, how serious were you?" There is a clear amusement there. Not a game of chicken, just a friendly curiosity.

[Conner Wells]

Conner flinches briefly when Maeve mentions the Prince by first name, expecting Quinn's voice sharp and siren-like in her ear. But as far as he knew they were miles away from Quinn, at least for the moment. Or until she gets the idea to tap into our Blood Tie. Perhaps the fire wasn't totally dimmed.

Then Maeve brushes his whole apology off and his hackles go up. Insolent little...But rage as he might, he knew at some level she was right. Whether Maeve felt any guilt over what happened was irrelevant. He'd needed to apologize to somebody in the flesh, and somehow he didn't think Quinn was in the mood for apologies just yet. "I'll...keep that in mind." The feral annoyance palpable in his throat.

And then she...apologizes, in her own aggrandizing way, and the annoyance dips just a little. "Well, for the record, I wasn't planning on biting." ​Not that she needs to know exactly what was going on in my head at the time. "But my point still stands, I need to be more careful."

Maeve's last question put Man and Beast in a knot inside Conner's stomach, like feral cats going at it. No! No catfight thoughts! Focus! Conner visibly freezes as he processes his thoughts, perhaps a quirk of his undead biology. Then he meets Maeve's azure gaze again, and the words come heavy and deliberate.
"I was alone for a long time after the Embrace. Court was my first experience of being in a room with more than one Kindred at once. It was like the Beast was suffocating me. All my careful study and planning got shredded as soon as I entered that room. And then..." And there it was, trap or confession, it was coming. "And then you showed up; looking like a club girl who blundered into a Renaissance fair. Maybe it's because of the powers we possess, but you were one of the first Kindred I didn't immediately feel like ripping to shreds. And then we were talking about silly things like Shakespeare and graveyards..." His gaze drops just a bit "It was almost like being Human again."
He looks up at her again, daring her to laugh at him; to provoke him. "And yes, for the record, you were gorgeous. And bratty. And fearless." He takes one step closer, he knows she only needs one. "And I seem to recall hearing your voice hitch in your throat when I was inches from your neck. So yes, I was interested."

[Maeve]

If Maeve had a heartbeat, it would be racing. If she could blush, she would be red as a tomato. That's how she used to get - bright red. Her cheeks used to light up, this beautiful shade of deep pink, heating her cheeks, her throat, her chest. Blushing used to feel like a full body experience. If she were still human, she'd feel every ounce of that. But she's not. She's cold and dead, like a zombie with sentience and good hygiene.


She doesn't need to breathe, but she lets out a slow breath, as if she'd been holding one. It felt like she had been. It felt like she couldn't breathe. No, it felt like she was ready to lunge, that breath caught in her throat before taking the deeper one, releasing in an attack. No. No attacks. No...


He's egging her on in a game of chicken, just like she was, only she has less self-control. She has less self-control and she's desperately hungry. Her thoughts are fuzzy and all that is left is primal wants. She lets out another slow breath, trying to find a center to calm herself, to calm needs bubbling inside of her. Voices whispering in her mind things she shouldn't dare.


"You know, I think you're the first person who seems to actually take notice of me, and that's scary." She freely admits, "I'm a forgettable face aside from the blue hair I was wearing when I died. Yes, I like to talk about human topics. I used to be prideful about this life and now I'm bitter. This place makes you bitter and eventually, you have to learn to get over it. I'm not over it. Yet. So yeah, I act like a fearless brat, but I'm just as scared shitless as you are." It's odd enough being referred to as gorgeous, particularly with all the alien beauty in the room. Though... maybe that's what makes her pretty. She looks more human, even without the mask, even without the blush, than the rest of them.


"So. What do you want right now?" There is no hitch in her breath, rather a refusal to be pushed into a corner, even though she feels like she is. He only needs one step. She only needs one step. Is he going to take it? Will she? And what the hell will she do in either circumstance? She continues leaning against the tree, her bright blue eyes trying to gauge him. What the hell do you want?

What do you actually want? 1 Success

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-06-15 08:41:30	Maeve rolls 3 to What do you actually want? Wits + Empathy -1 (10 Again)	5, 6, 9	1 success

Empathy, looking for emotional impressions.