My Little Ventrue Pt. 06 Ch. 06

He shook his head and scrunched up his face until the thoughts faded. Now was not the time to have a debate about the roles of genders, in his head.

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~~Natasha~~

"Mister Mire?" she said into her phone.

"Come on Natasha, you know I never cared for the formalities." His voice was his usual calm, deep, confident self.

She stood in the Elysium Tower, and sighed, loud enough she knew Julias could hear her. It was one of the rooms where Antoinette kept various weapons, a small room with many hooks upon metal walls to hold an assortment of deadly tools. It was nothing compared to the Invictus armament room for size, but it offered the same tools: knives, swords, pistols, shotguns, even grenades and assault rifles. Holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder, she reached out, grabbed a pistol, and started examining it to make sure it was clean and operating.

"Sorry, J-Julias. I... I wanted to talk."

"About Jack, I assume."

"Yeah, and... and um, anything r-really."

"Well, the Invictus teams are heading out now. I got time to talk."

"I see." Nodding, she turned around to look in the mirror, and adjusted her vest holster. A suit with pants, and once she was done equipping herself, she'd put on the suit jacket, and go join the witches. "I'm... w-working with the witches. We're hunting the hunt-ters."

"Yeah, Triss told me. How's that going?"

That used to be such an easy question to answer. They used to be partners. Now, they were borderline enemies, different covenants. Every word she could say she had to filter and make sure it was safe to say. It wasn't that she couldn't do that, but doing that to Julias was painful.

"P-P-Poorly. We're hunting them in D-Devil's Corner, but the chances we'll just stumble ont-to them are... bad."

"Tell me about it. But that's why Avery's helping us out; they'll sniff something out. And hell, even the monsters are lending a hand. Who knows, maybe they'll stumble onto... some... weird inter-dimensional nightmare stuff." He chuckled after saying it. She didn't. Inter-dimensional nightmare stuff was stuff she'd gone through, fell through, had been rescued by Black Blood through, and took a stroll through with an injured, giant skeleton monster she'd dragged home through.

"How are... things, with J-Jack?" After learning about the boy's rage issues, his almost inhuman rage issues, she had to wonder how much Julias knew about that. Of course, the man knew Jack better than she did, and the two of them did training together, and worked together and... and he had to know.

"Jack is... walking a knife's edge. I know a lot about being trapped in your head; I imagine most of us do. But that kid is... he's... got some demons to work through, and this whole thing with his first family is going to push him off. At some point or another, his Beast is going to sink its teeth in."

"W-What are you going to do?"

"For now? Nothing. Jack's not other people; kid's a fucking porcupine when shit gets serious. He has to work through this on his own, to some degree. Maybe Antoinette can help him with these first steps, but it'll be a little while before my words can reach him."

She smiled into the phone as she picked a silver knife off the rack. Mire always was too wise. He had a heart of gold, and a coating of misery to give it all context, like the tragic hero who'd lost everything in a previous life. No wonder a troubled, unhappy girl like Beatrice found an escape out of Hell with him. But that wasn't fair, chalking it up to only Julias. The tomboy really brightened her old partner's life.

She was happy to be working with Triss. The others? Not so much. Jennifer was manipulative. Othello was lazy, but old and strong enough to pursue his Daeva obsessions when he wanted. Aaron was unusually calm and contemplative for a Gangrel. The problem with that, was how much that made him seem like a stalking predator, quietly waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He reminded her of a komodo dragon, happy to wait, bite when the opportunity presented, and let inevitable death come for the prey slowly. Solid, deep, unwavering eyes.

Her new companions were an interesting, deadly bunch. There were some Kindred in the Invictus and Carthians that were harmless, by vampire standards, but she could imagine all four witches being deadly in the right circumstance.

"I... I guess I d-don't... don't relate."

"Course you do, Tash. The way you lost your first family? That—"

"That's... n-not the same. They weren't m... m-murdered." Horrible as those memories were, she could not begin to imagine the anger going through Jack right now, and with his admission of his anger issues, he was liable to snap. As rare as it was, draugr did happen, and if Jack became one, Julias would never forgive himself.

"You should come by the mansion before sunrise, Tash. We haven't talked in a while."

"W-Won't Triss be there?"

"I can tell her I want to hang with an old friend."

"B-But Jack, and—"

"Jack is Jack. Jack is going to lay out the details of his circumstance in his head, make a link web, and run around it until he has some sort of understanding. Only when he's got a grasp on it, is he going to let anyone in. Like I said, maybe Antoinette can help him out in a way only a lover can, but she'd be the only one that can get through to him before he hits that 'click' stage."

"C-Click?"

"It has to click, he has to understand, like finishing a puzzle. Until then, the worst thing you could do is dump emotions on him. Hopefully Antoinette can push through that, cause otherwise, Jack's going to keep everyone at arm's length. Porcupine."

Sighing again, Natasha grabbed a magazine off the rack, took out the clip, and started examining the bullets. Silver. No, she didn't need this when she already had the silver knife Antoinette got for her.

"Matthew was here," he said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Avery paid a visit. Half to see what sort of weaponry we had, but half just to prove that we'd let her, I'm sure. Your relationship with him and Arturo going well?"

She smiled. Nice of him to remember, especially considering everything that was happening. "It is. They... they've had r-rough lives t-t-too, you know? Something t... to bond over. And they're n-nice." Very nice. Maybe a bit crazy once in bed, but for the life of her, she couldn't help but love that.

She checked a few more magazines, ensuring each worked, and ensuring each had normal bullets, before putting them into her holster. Fully equipped, pistol, ammunition, silver blade and normal blade at hand, she was ready to join the witches in Devil's Corner. Same perch as last time.

"If I had known you were bold enough to have two boyfriends at once, I'd have... you know what? I don't think I know any guys who fit that bill. You're lucky."

She was lucky. Grinning, she started up the stairs to outside. "I'll b-be there. Later tonight, I mean. Should I invite Jessy? M-Maybe, reminisce."

"Sounds good."

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Back with the witches. The four of them were sitting on an old apartment building's roof, legs dangling from the edge. Natasha didn't sit, though. She wanted to get up and pace around, not sit and be useless. Triss had insisted they were waiting in the prime place to spot potential hunter maneuvers, but it wasn't like the hunters were committing these rituals regularly, right?

Jennifer and Othello were dressed in very appealing fashion, of course, with lots of skin on display. It was strange, how both Beatrice and Aaron were more comfortable in typical Carthian streetwear, while Jen and Othello wore more expensive fancy clothes, but less of it. Othello didn't even bother with a shirt tonight, wearing thin black pants that were kind of baggy, and she was sure they were meant for the dance floor. A lot of muscle on Othello, and she had to admit, she liked his dreadlocks. Jen was wearing her suit mix again, with the white shirt open and black bra on display. She was very proud of her breasts.

Tash smiled, and looked up as she let her mind wander. Just a few days ago, she'd gotten within touching distance of Jack, fucking Antoinette's breasts. The boy was very attractive, a young man with as much definition to his body as Arturo or Matthew, just in a smaller size. And of course, the sight of Antoinette's enormous breasts, bouncing against his thighs, covered in cum, had been hypnotizing. Jack looked so happy in that moment, and confident too, enraptured in pleasure and more than comfortable enough to close his eyes.

He probably knew she'd spied on him. The boy wasn't an idiot, and knew she slept in the tower come sunrise, same as him. The Prince asking him to close his eyes was an obvious request for him to let Tash sneak a peek. Despite that, he'd continued to fuck the Prince's breasts, to the point Tash had run off, and the moment she found her boys, had indulged. What was it about cum on the skin, on the nipples, neck, lips, that was so arousing? These were not very feminine thoughts! Jessy was to blame, obviously. When in doubt, blame Jessy.

Stop thinking about sex. You went almost fifty years without sex dominating your thoughts all the time, and now was a good time to get back into that work-only mentality. There was work to be done, lots of it.

She shook her head out, and peeked over the side of the building. A couple of humans were chatting, boasting about a score, and sitting on some milk crates. She drifted to the other side of the building and looked down. More humans, three girls talking about a new building being built toward the city border, an apartment building. Listening a little more, they were looking for new corners to look for clients.

"M-Maybe we should go start investigating, eavesdropping on more kine?" she said.

Triss leaned back onto her palms so she could hang her head upside down behind her, looking at Tash. "That's not a bad idea. It doesn't get much darker than this chunk of Devil's Corner though. But, we could get down into the crowd if you want?"

"W-Will you—"

"Don't worry, I can cloak myself fine. No one will see the teeth."

Nodding, she came over to sit down again, and plopped herself down beside Triss on the outside of the group. "B-But, let's wait for a little bit."

"Sounds like a plan." Triss leaned back out over the building edge, and set her elbows to her knees so her head could hang. A buzzing sound announced she'd received a message, and she pulled up her phone. "Oh fuck, this man."

"Mm?" Jen said.

"Superman sent me an 'I love you' text. Randomly, no prompting. Ugh, clingy guys are such a turn off."

Natasha gasped, and stared at her. "B-B-B-B-B—"

"I'm kidding, Tash." The Nos reached out, and shoved her at the shoulder, hard enough to make Tash fall on her side. "Not about the text, though. Look." To prove it, she held up the phone. Yep, an 'I love you' text, from the strongest ancilla in the city. Leave it to Julias to say something so direct, with bold-faced confidence. So sweet.

"Aww."

Laughing, Triss put the phone away, started to bounce her legs on the building wall, and scanned the swarming kine beneath them. "How about you? You've been with those two werewolves for a while now. See that going anywhere?"

Uh oh, girl talk. She couldn't do girl talk to save her life. It was never a problem with Jessy though, and she didn't expect it to be an issue with Triss, considering how similar they were. But then, Triss wasn't the same girl she used to be. She'd grown.

"It's... it's um... I d-don't know."

"Two guys, one girl," Jen said. "Sounds like a recipe for confrontation to me. Men don't share."

Triss rolled her eyes. "And women do?"

"Better than men. Women are on a different wavelength." With a succubus smile, Jen leaned in to Triss, and set a kiss on her neck. And another, and another. Not Blushing Life meant the kisses were probably a bit dry, but that didn't stop Triss from rolling her eyes again, and smiling. She didn't stop her. She was enjoying it.

"Gender d-d-dynamics... aside, Matt and Art are v-very comfortable... sharing..." Thank god she wasn't Blushing Life, or she'd light up the whole roof with her blushing red.

"Well," Triss said, "I was talking more about romance. Lovey dovey stuff. But if you're looking to take the convo into sex territory." Through it all, Jen continued to kiss her neck, her jaw, her ear, while the two men kept eyes on the streets. Either they were very disciplined and determined, or a witch's life had desensitized them to the sexual display.

"W-W-What? I... I d-didn't... umm..."

Laughing again, Triss swatted Jen away. "Slut, keep your eyes out for anything suspicious." She looked back to Tash, smiling and gesturing over her shoulder with a nod. "Not to make light of the current situation; Jack's going through shit, and hunters are trying to kill us. But we need to blow off steam, and joking about sex? Good way as any. You know how often I found Jen here with two dicks inside her? Fucking, like, every god damn night, I swear, until she started sleeping with me and Julias."

Tash blinked, several times, and sneaked a peek past her to look at the boys. Again, all they did was watch the people below. It made her feel a little less bad about indulging being a little naughty, then.

"I... I um... they're... they d-do that with me, too."

"Now that," Triss said with a lick of her crocodile teeth, "is hot. There much kissing?"

"There's... a lot, of k-kissing."

"Now I'm jealous."

Jen laughed, and leaned in over Triss's lap toward Natasha. "Have you tried controlling the pace, when they're both inside you? I always found it very enjoyable."

So glad, so so glad she wasn't Blushing Life. "I've... I've tried, b-but they're both... so big, and strong... and werewolves are aggressive. Sometimes I can t-tame them, for a little while, but they eventually start to... to move... on their own."

Triss groaned, or maybe moaned, and stretched her legs out in front of her as she ran her palms down her pants to the knee. "Choking?"

"... y-yes," Tash said. Triss made more noises; definitely moans. "And, um, one time, they changed into this... in b-between mode? Something like, half human, half werewolf. They were a bit bigger, and... b-b-bigger." Arg, why was she sharing this information? Well, it wasn't like she wasn't used to being bombarded with sexual details from Jessy, and with how much her life had changed, now she was spying on Jack and Antoinette. One could only be surrounded by sex so much before it started to affect how you talked about it.

"Something between human and werewolf mode?" Triss said. "Sounds like... it'd be hard to fit inside you."

Jen licked her lips, and leaned in again to put another kiss on Triss's jawline. "Sounds delicious."

"Jessy's the one who's... b-been... getting Eric to fully transform, for sex."

Both Triss and Jen let out long, low moans. These women were crazy. Maybe it was a witch thing.

"That has to be dangerous," Triss said.

"V-V-Very, but... but Jessy is Jessy. If it means g-good sex, I'm sure she'll risk a lot of things." Laughing, Natasha looked back down at the crowd below. This was fun. Witches seemed to take serious situations with a slice of casual nihilism, and nonchalance. Now that she thought about it, the few times she'd run into Triss on a mission, years ago, the girl had a certain air of confidence that bordered on apathy, ease, or maybe carelessness. No wonder Jacob was drawn to her.

"Think you're interested in that?" Jen said.

"N-No! No, um... Matt and Art are already... it barely works normally! And, um-um-um... when they did that... that halfway transformation thing, they were even harder... t-to... you know." And again, both witches groaned with bliss. So lascivious, these witches. Not that Natasha could complain, considering what her sex life had turned into. "It... it's strange, for girls to be t-talking like this, isn't it? Men d-don't."

Triss and Jen both leaned back, and gave Othello a nudge. The beautiful man turned to face them, eyebrow raised, before he looked at Tash.

"She wants to know why men don't talk about sex with each other," Jen said, laughing. Yes, it sounded silly, cliché, to ask a question like that. Girls liked to talk, about romance and sex and everything. Guys liked to push heavy things and fix car engines, and stuff. The thought made her smile, silly stereotypes that didn't really describe Kindred all that well. Except, maybe, in this circumstance.

"Why would we?" he said. Tash giggled, and covered her lips, eyes wide. Whoops. But her antics only earned a smile from the man. "Guys like doing, not talking about the doing."

Triss frowned at the man. "Girls like doing!"

"Yes, but it's not the same. Men thrive on it, you know?" Shrugging, the man shook his head, causing his dreadlocks to bounce around a little. "Give a man a puzzle and he'll be content to work on it, alone, without a soul, for days. Women will work on it for days as well, as long as they have someone to talk to."

Jen and Triss groaned and rolled their eyes. But, Natasha had to agree with him, honestly. Julias was always content to just do something, while Jessy had to talk about it while doing it, or talk about other things while doing it. Or talk, in general; not boasting, just talking. Natasha was always the quiet one, in the Right Hands trio, but online, she was probably the most social of the three. The internet and introverts fit together like a glove.

"I think," Aaron said, "we should get down there, and start inquiring. Natasha, do you have the names of the two you found dead to the hunter rituals?"

"I d-do."

Nodding, Triss stood up, and punched her palm. "Time to hunt the hunters."

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~~Author's Note~~

Not much going on in this chapter, sorry; the folly of serial releases. But don't worry, things will pick up quite a bit.