My Little Ventrue Pt. 08 Ch. 03

"So it's finally over," Art said. "No more sweeps. No more worrying about getting shot in the back or blown up." He'd said those words before, but it was as good a conversation starter as any.

She nodded. "Mhmm. As long as Garry d-doesn't start a war, everything is peaceful."

"Way he tells it," Matthew said, "he's just taking back territory he used to own, and has no plans to throw the first punch."

"He's already thrown a p-punch!" she said. "He just hasn't taken it further than that. Yet."

The two boys looked at each other, not entirely convinced by what she said. But it wasn't like she was wrong. Garry may have thought what he was doing was justified, and it probably was, but he was fooling himself if he thought starting street fights and pushing Invictus out of areas they'd claimed, by using Terra Den's influence, was anything but throwing a punch.

Taking territory was a big deal. Kindred were paranoid, selfish creatures. They fought for territory because territory equaled more kine. As per the Prince's orders, the Carthians and Invictus were not to feed in each other's territory; the witches and dragons were free to feed anywhere, because they didn't really have territory or anything. After the purge, and then Tony's death, the amount of territory available had grown substantially, and the Invictus and Carthians both got greedy. And still, despite that, they continued to fight over food.

"Either way," Art said, "things have calmed down for now." He looked around slowly, scanning the occasional kine that walked by. Not many kine out this late in the Carthian district, except for the rowdier sorts.

Vampires did occasionally walk by, and at least one watched them from the rooftops. Well, watched her.

"I hope Avery c-can help keep it that way," she said. "She's friends with Garry, right?"

Matthew shrugged. "Friend is a strong word. But they're on the same wavelength... kinda?"

"Kinda?"

"Similar people, different ideas," Art said. "Garry has an aggressive side, and an aggressive streak ready to launch. He wants to fix this city. Avery, she... she's tired, you know? She's getting old, and was already tired before this shit starting going down. Stephanie died, then the rest of us started getting comfy here in the aftermath. Last thing she wants is to spoil what she's got here."

Right, right. Natasha and the others knew Avery was now looking to treat Dolareido as home, and had already been in the city for almost two years.

"I want you t... t-to stay," she said, nodding. Of course she wanted them to stay. She'd said it to them before, and they'd said they wanted to, too.

She expected them to say something romantic, based on the looks they gave her. Content smiles and warm eyes. But instead, Matthew reached down for her, and she outright squealed as the man put her on his shoulders. Her struggles were rendered pointless as the big guy pinned her legs to his chest where they dangled.

After an annoyed groan, she adjusted her suit pants a bit, and leaned forward to rest her elbows on the moron's head. Her lovable giant. Art laughed of course, when he saw the expression on her face, and she frowned at him before sticking her tongue out at him.

It was hardly becoming behavior for a vampire as old as her, or for these two men who were werewolves, and older than they appeared. But, it was fun, doing something stupid and silly like this.

"I'm... n-not against the pack d-doing things, to make Dolareido better, I mean."

"Your boss probably is," Art said.

"Maybe. She... she has p-plans for Dolareido, and a lot of that involves getting p-people to cooperate. She wants peace."

"Sure, but she sets the rules. If she learns that Eric's been doing shit that might really affect her city, in a pretty drastic way, she'll be pissed. If anyone in the pack does, she'll be more than pissed."

Natasha sighed and slouched over Matt's head. "I guess. B-But, you're a part of the city. And the Prince hasn't said you're not allowed to do things in the Hisil. If you think you can make a b-better city for kine by taking down some nasty spirits, I c-can't say you shouldn't."

Art gave her a suspicious glance from below. "But, you don't feel compelled to do so yourself."

"I... I uh..." It was such a complicated topic! It was hard to really summarize all the nuances involved, about the natural habits of kine, about controlling the Beast inside every Kindred, about keeping everyone peaceful while allowing for natural instincts to be satisfied. "I d-don't like seeing the kine get hurt either, but--"

"They're people," Art said.

"... they're food," she whispered, only loud enough for the two of them to hear. Art winced, and Matt's dramatic gasp was louder than her own whisper. "We try t-to be fair! But, we're not kine anymore. And... and I know for the Uratha, it's different, but for Kindred, we... we have to drink their blood to survive. Do that for a d-decade or two, then a century for two, and... and it's normal t-to become detached."

The two men looked at each other for a moment, sighed, and kept walking. A heavy silence settled on them.

She spoke up first. "Um, w-why do you two, do what you do?"

"Whatcha mean?" Matt said. Art looked up at her with similar confusion.

"Why do you guys try and help the kine? I mean, the p-people? For Kindred, we would do things like... hunt spirits and spider monsters like you do, to protect our food, or maybe to eat them if they were food. B-But, why do you do it?"

"For a lot of us," Art said, "it's a matter of our history, the Uratha's history. Some call us the Forsaken, because of what our ancestors did to Father Wolf. So now we try and fill in the old man's paws, and Luna gifts us for doing so."

"Inherited the sins of your parents?" Natasha shook her head. "I can't believe you'd d-do so much, for something that isn't your fault." Adam and Eve passing their sins onto humanity was just as idiotic an idea. Maybe Damien would understand their motivations better.

Matthew tilted his head up to peek at her, and she had to hold on to keep from falling off his shoulders. "It's not easy to explain. If you had the wolf inside you like us, it'd make a lot more sense."

She frowned down at him. Pack mentality? Kindred were obsessively individualistic, while the Uratha really treated their family, even their dead family, as very important to them. Even more important than their own lives. It was hard for her to think that way, when every instinct she had was to put herself first. She'd certainly fight to protect her friends, but, if Daniel died, she wouldn't suddenly feel compelled to do what he did and be the Prince's new Right Hand or sheriff or something.

"And," Art added, "we try to help people because, why wouldn't we? How couldn't we? We're a part of this world, this environment. Least we can do is protect it and get rid of the filth."

Matthew nodded. "Filth being assholes and nasty spirits alike."

"I... I'm not against you guys doing that," Natasha said. "I guess I won't be able to understand. My... B-Beast isn't... it doesn't understand." She gestured to a group of kine hanging under a nearby street light. "When I was younger, yes, it felt horrible, being... you know, a vampire, and having to drink from, and sometimes hurt kine. After a few decades, I kinda grew n-numb to it."

"I suppose if I had to survive on their blood, I might become numb to it too," Art said. "We've eaten animals, and spirits, but eating a human is forbidden. And... I guess we kinda think of ourselves as their protector. If the Gauntlet came down, it'd wreck everything humans have, you know? I guess it's... it's a hard difference between vampires and werewolves. Not that all werewolves are as nice as us, but--"

"B-But no vampire ever goes as far t-to help kine, as you do." Natasha rested against Matt's head as she absorbed that. Her boyfriends were the good guys, she was sort of a bad guy, relatively speaking. In Dolareido, the Prince considered it perfectly reasonable for vampires to kill humans, as long as it was handled well, with no media attention. Killing the prey was discouraged, but still allowed, and occasionally a vampire did so.

"Yeah," Matt said. "But, at the same time, you vamps here in Dolareido are a shit load nicer than the vamps we've dealt with before. Like we said, we've had a rough time of it in other cities. And Arturo's had it worst than most."

Natasha smiled down at Arturo. It was true. The man had come from Tijuana, where the vampires did not play around, killing kine without hesitation, and killing each other in regular turf wars. The werewolves had come and rescued him from that past. Rough stuff. It made sense he'd be looking for someone nicer than the vamps he had to deal with growing up.

She was nice, right? Most of the Kindred in Dolareido were nice, relatively speaking, and she was nicer than them, despite Maria's attempts to harden her. The boys liked her because she was nice. She liked them because they were nice! And, not nice, in a fun and sexy kinda way. But she was worried the differences between them would become a problem, and this conversation wasn't doing anything to settle her fears.

Back onto the other topic.

"B-But, Avery doesn't want you to interfere with the city."

"Yeah," Art said, "and it's irritating as fuck. She's trying to find a balance, to find a way we can do our thing, without stepping on the Prince's toes. Garry--"

"Garry d-doesn't care about the kine anymore than the Invictus," she said, a little more bite in her words than she planned. "Or if he does, it's only by a little."

"Either way, Avery wants to fit in. She's tired, and she's apparently found herself a man. But even she wants to help, try and clean up some of the shit in this city. If she does, she might piss off the Prince, and that'd fuck us over. Especially me and Matt."

"You t-two? Why?"

Matt laughed, and Art smiled up at her. "Come on, why do you think?"

"B... Because if you make the Prince angry, and she makes you leave, then we... w-w-we won't be together anymore."

"Yep," the said together.

Natasha grumbled, and clutched Matt's head tight as she slouched forward, and rested her chest on him. Her relationship was causing another to make a decision they might not otherwise. She hated that feeling.

"Not just us," Matthew said, voice bright, obviously trying to lift her spirits. "Mason and that Tilly girl are still an item. Brianna is... uh..."

"She's throwing herself into the deep end," Art said, laughing. "I guess she saw what Clara had, and wanted a piece too, except not with ghouls."

Natasha giggled, and started combing Matt's beautiful, long blonde hair as they walked. "She enjoyed herself at the b-ball," she said. The two men nodded. "But, um, Clara's still into Jack."

The boys looked at each other.

"Is she?" they said together.

Ugh, boys. Blind to everything.

"You saw her t-talk to Jack at the ball."

Matt shrugged, and Natasha bounced on his shoulders with the motion. "Yeah, but--"

"We just figured she was talking to him, friend to friend sorta thing, and were pushing past that unrequited love stage. They did go through hell, attacking the hunters like that." Art looked behind him, probably checking to see if anyone of note had taken an interest in their conversation. No one had.

"You didn't see the look in her eyes?" Natasha said.

"No," the boys said.

"She still likes him. And now, after... after what I heard, about what Jack d-did with the curse, she... she still likes him." If anything, she'd want to help him even more now. "D-Do you know if, um, she's still getting visits from Jessy's ghouls?"

Art raised a brow as he looked up at her. "You mean you don't know?"

"Jessy doesn't t-talk about Clara as much as she used to. Now it's always about Eric." Because the girl was obviously in love. "Eric Eric Eric."

"Eric is an interesting guy," Matt said. "There's something strange about him. Avery thinks Luna might have spoken to him, which is pretty damn amazing. Cahalith get visions from Luna, but to actually be spoken to by her is huge. Plus, his relationship with Jessy is pretty strange, too."

"Strange? Oh, r-right, the sex."

Art nodded. "You've seen how crazy we can get when we transform into the Gauru form. To be in that form for sex?" Rubbing his neck, he looked left and right again, the anxiety at the idea obvious. "I don't know. Maybe he's from a new wave of modern werewolves, who can handle that sort of stuff better."

"M-Maybe? His first time transforming, he killed, and ate some men."

"Yeah," Matt said, "which also makes us nervous. But, he seems to be fine with it. Probably didn't get addicted. Lucky. Mason had to deal with cravings for months, after his first transformation."

Uratha could become addicted to human flesh? Well, that was a little scary. Suddenly, a lot of werewolf folklore made a lot more sense. How many werewolves went nuts the first time they transformed, and were from then on addicted to flesh? Hungry, powerful monsters, stalking villages at night and satisfying their hungers on the villagers, even if they hated themselves every moment of it. Not a far cry from what vampires had to deal with all the time.

A strange thought re-emerged in her mind.

"Is... is there any way for your, um... lunacy thing, to n-not affect cameras?"

They both looked up at her, and she squeaked as she clutched Matt's forehead to keep from falling off again.

"Not that we're aware of," Art said. "Why? You want us to transform for the next movie?"

"No! No no..." Not that she didn't like the idea of two giant beasts ravaging her, thanks to Jessy forever planting the idea in her head, but there was a limit! "But, J-Jessy was interested."

The two men nodded at each other, coming to some sort of conclusion.

But Art shook his head after thinking about it for a moment. "Pretty sure there isn't a way. It's not really us doing it."

"Oh. Jessy will be sad."

Art laughed. "Oh, I get it. You've been watching her and Eric having sex, right?"

"I... um, n-not on purpose! She called me, and it was happening, and... yeah," she said. The two men laughed, and she knew she'd be blushing furiously if she'd been Blushing Life. "You t-two, why don't you ever get jealous?"

"Because we're gorgeous," Art said, laughing some more, and fist bumping Matt. "And we trust you. No harm in looking, right? I mean, sure, it's a little strange for us, but it is Dolareido."

She reached down, and punched Art in the shoulder. He didn't budge.

"Strange? You're t-two guys, who... you know..." Have a history of double teaming women. Natasha wasn't their first. "And you're not even from D-Dolareido!"

They shrugged again, and Matt spoke up this time.

"Yeah, it's a bit strange, we know. But Art and I have been through Hell, and..."

"And," Art continued, "we kinda just get along, you know?"

"I guess... W-What was your first time like? I mean, uh, when you two both... you know," she said. The two guys looked at each other, obviously not sure what to say. "Come on, I won't be jealous." Hopefully.

After some careful deliberation, they nodded.

"Sure," Matt said. "But, let's go somewhere private?"

"Is it... emotional?" she said.

Art laughed and shook his head. "No. Embarrassing."

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~~Beatrice~~

Jacob came for her, and she went with him. He didn't want to bring Jennifer, but Triss insisted. Jennifer had stuck her neck out for Triss on several occasions now, and deserved to be a part of this. More than that, Jennifer had been Julias's friend. She may not have loved him, or maybe she did in her strange sort of way, either way, she deserved to be a part of this.

Jacob took them out into the desert, and the two girls blinked at each other as they wandered the rocks and sand, draped in Jacob's Cloak of Night.

"Uh, where we going?" Triss said.

"One of my lairs is out here. It's where I've been keeping Elen," the old Nosferatu said with a grin over his shoulder. "Hard for Daniel to find anything out here."

Jennifer nodded. "I suppose if the sheriff is working by area instead of leads and clues, then yes. I doubt Daniel is so blind to your movements that--"

"The sheriff cannot find me when I truly do not wish to be found, Jen." Jacob laughed, a soft and sinister thing, and motioned for them to join him down in a small, rocky ravine. "He knows where my primary lair is because it serves me to let him. Come on, you know that."

"I do." Jen frowned at the man and his teasing. "But you underestimate the sheriff."

Jacob shrugged, and started down the ravine. "He underestimates me, I underestimate him, 'round and around it goes."

It was a long walk, and apparently, Jacob was in no hurry. If anything, he had a bounce in his step, and he skipped around a little as he guided them through the desert night. Well, it was kinda nice heading a few miles out from the city, and enjoying the quiet. And nerve racking. This far away from quality shelter was enough to make any vampire nervous.

"So," Jennifer said, "did you see Samantha again?"

The small misstep Jacob made would have been unnoticeable to anyone who didn't know the man. Triss did, and so did Jen. They smiled at each other before smiling at their boss.

"You were having fun with her, after the party last week," Triss said. "And, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were actually kinda enjoying yourself, talking with her. But we both know you were really just manipulating her to like you, so you'd have a way of manipulating Jack and the Prince, right?" She didn't need to be that harsh, but she wasn't down with Jacob being an asshole to Samantha. Jack didn't deserve that. Plus, Jacob liked it when she was harsh.

The look he gave her when he looked back at her, on the other hand, said something she didn't expect. Even with the bandage on his eyes, she could see a bit of hesitation in him, a bit of internal struggle. He was thinking about what to say, and Jacob never had to think about what to say. The fucker was so in tune with his thoughts, they flowed out of him in all their psychotic, genius glory, usually.

"Maybe," he said, with zero conviction. There was more to this than he wanted them to know.

Jen raised a brow, and picked up her pace to catch up to him. "Have you seen her again?" she asked again.

"Maybe."

Triss laughed, and jogged up to Jacob's side, opposite of Jen. "Ok, seriously, did you see her again? A lot of people were talking about it, you know. What the fuck was the leader of the Circle of the Crone doing hanging out with the Prince's new childe, they said." Not that she hung out with any of the other vampires, but she did creep around, go hunting and stuff. Vamps talk.

"You two whores just want to gossip. Sluts."

"Yes!" Jennifer said with a little cheer. "Gossip with us, boss. Samantha's cute, and close to your age." Triss and Jacob looked at her, eyebrow raised. "You know what I mean. She was in her forties when embraced. I bet you two get along."

Right, Jen was talking about how vampires generally didn't change much once they were embraced; except, when caused by long torpors, which Jacob had undoubtedly been through at least several of. But, the fact that Jacob had been embraced in his older years was obvious by the color of his hair: salt and pepper, and a couple inches long, a bit wavy, a bit full. He was certainly a handsome guy, Triss figured, for any woman in her forties, since he had that mature and successful look to him. And the eye bandage made him look mysterious. It made him seem dangerous and psychotic to anyone who knew better, but to a young Kindred like Samantha, he undoubtedly looked mysterious and sexy. A regular phantom of the opera.