First Date {Sam}

[Vivian Nazarova]

[atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/H2/Viv12.png,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/Viv1_02.png][atrb=style,padding:0px 50px;background-position:top;background-repeat:no-repeat;]   Why was she here again?   She had agreed to meet with a random stranger. That she had first met in a dark alley. In the middle of the night.   Was she completely insane? Vivian was certainly starting to think so. Hell, the man seemed to know more about her than she did and in what universe was that ever a good thing? Oh man, Ed would kill her if he knew for doing this without telling him.   Yet, for some reason, there she was, pushing open the door to the Three Broomsticks just after sunset like he said. Oh well. If she was kidnapped and staked she didn’t get to act all wounded puppy about it. She’d brought this upon herself.   The cheerful pub bustled around her and Vivian immediately started feeling out of place. She was used to the slightly grungier Hogs Head now and all this happy family friendly atmosphere was making her feel a bit like an outsider. She stiffened a bit, looking around desperately for the sight of the brown haired vampire and she immediately felt better when she saw him seated alone in one of the booths. Okay, good. All this wasn’t for no reason.   Hands in her pockets Vivian made her way over, bidding him hello in Russian once she got close enough. Still feeling awkward, she slipped into the seat facing him and as much as she wanted to ask him what the hell was going on immediately, she settled for a nervous “I hope I’m not late.”

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[Samuel Jacobs]

Conversely, Samuel quite liked this establishment. It was cheerful and family-orientated, much like himself. He could sip his drink (wine, heavily spiked with bagged blood), while surreptitiously watching the wizard families and their children. This was where wizards and humans were most similar. Children seemed to be the same in every species.

Drinking alone, he’d chosen some fairly boring robes, he’d clean-shaven and to reduce any suspicion that he was there for any other reason than to meet someone, he repeatedly looked at his watch and the door. He was hardly impatient – he could wait all night and the next for Vivian – but he found with mortals, they tended to get strange about lone men around their children.

He was glad to see that Vivian arrived earlier than he had expected. He waited until she was sat, greeting her with a warm smile and his own native greeting. “Guten Abend, Vivian.” He slid a second drink over to her which was dark in colour though slightly more dilute than blood. “I thought you might be hungry. Don’t drink it too fast; it’s a little stronger than you’re used to though I diluted it with plasma.” He was half-convinced she wouldn’t touch the drink. She had no reason to trust him that much yet but he hoped she might by the end of the evening.

“I’m glad you came, and you’re not late.” He sipped his drink and sat back in his seat. “So, do you have any questions for me? I imagine you do. You can ask what you like about the coven and myself, I’ll tell you what I’m permitted about the coven and whatever you like about me. What I can’t tell you is due to security reasons but if we can find we can trust you, then you might be privy to our politics.” He gave an apologetic shrug. “Everything you need to know, though, I can tell you. And I’ll tell you now though I know you might not believe me yet: You can trust my word. I won’t lie to you, I won’t deceive you. Everything I tell you is true to my knowledge.” Ironic, really, that he could tell her she could trust him but she might not trust him enough to believe him.

[Vivian Nazarova]

[atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/H2/Viv12.png,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/Viv1_02.png][atrb=style,padding:0px 50px;background-position:top;background-repeat:no-repeat;]   There he was again with that nice, polite, completely and utterly trustworthy manner that made her feel so confused. Because she shouldn’t trust him, had absolutely no reason to trust him, but he gave so many vibes of honesty that it wasn’t fair. Yeah, okay, so he was being a little bit cryptic with the whole ‘there’s super secret information I can’t tell you’ thing, but at least he was being open about it and she was willing to believe that it wasn’t his fault.   A drink slid across the table towards her and Vivian caught the scent of blood immediately. Sam was right, she was suspicious, but so as not to be rude she gave him a polite “Thank you,” and pulled it towards her, holding it in both hands as though she’d been drinking it for a while. It smelled normal, that was for sure, but then you couldn’t always rely on that to spot most poisons. Could vampires be affected by poisons? Would it be too paranoid to take it back to Ed to run tests on to see if it was spiked with something? Probably. It would be astoundingly embarrassing if there was nothing wrong with it.   Alright. Questions. Errr, drat. She probably should have given this some thought. Where did you start when you had no idea what was going on? Vivian stared at the table and mulled it over for a few seconds before looking up at him and finally starting from what she hoped was the beginning: “Why me?”

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[Samuel Jacobs]

Sam couldn’t fail to notice she didn’t take even a sip, but he had been expecting as much. It was no matter. There was plenty more blood where that came from. He took another drink from his own glass and left it on the table. He smiled at the question. “Why you?” His eyes stayed on her as he talked, flicking away occasionally so as not to make her too uncomfortable by constantly staring. “It sounds a little impersonal if I say we take in most changelings, but usually their sires are part of our coven, and they’re usually expected. You’re a little different. Dacian was not a part of our coven when you were changed, and we certainly did not expect you. If Dacian was simply a rogue, we’d ignore you completely, but as he had an affiliation with us in the past, we thought it fair that we should extend the offer to join us to you.”

Lying by omission was not strictly what he was doing. She hadn’t asked if Dacian was alive, and she had no cause to. He wouldn’t lie to her if she asked that direct question, but she was not ready to hear that particular truth yet. Better to refer to him in past tense. “Like any decent society, we look after our young. You’re just as important to us as any of our new members. Unfortunately we cannot hold the offer open for too long, and it won’t come around again, but I think you’ll be able to make the choice before that time comes.”

[Vivian Nazarova]

[atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/H2/Viv12.png,true][atrb=background,http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/1300666/Characters/Vivian/Viv1_02.png][atrb=style,padding:0px 50px;background-position:top;background-repeat:no-repeat;]   Okay, that made sense. The whole ‘trying to make you feel special’ thing they seemed to be going for was nice, but Vivian had never thought of herself as anything special in her life, so the specific attention was a little bit daunting. She felt a lot better knowing she wasn’t the only one being contacted, and it was more of a group invitation that she’d somehow been included in.   And Dacian had left. That was interesting. “Vhy did Dacian leave?” she asked, rubbing the side of the glass with her thumbs thoughtfully. Surely he must have had a reason for that.   “And vhy zeh hurry?” she found herself asking out of curiosity, hoping it didn’t sound rude. After all, theoretically she should have a lifetime to make a decision. Maybe it was a limited number or spots or something?

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[Samuel Jacobs]

Samuel pulled a face close to chagrin. “As you know, Dacian was always a little difficult. He joined the coven as a changeling, and stayed with us for a century or two. I think ultimately it was a woman that prompted his leaving, but he never really fit in. He was too independent. He had quite a few conflicts with other members he should have left well enough alone. He just couldn’t seem to help himself.” Samuel shrugged. Dacian was a prime example of a rebelling teenager. They could only hope he cooled off with time.

“The offer has a time limit because some vampires believe being a rogue, or being with a rogue too long will taint your ability to fit in with the group. As you’re still young, there’s still time for us to teach you good habits. There are some who would refuse entry to any changeling not sired by one of our own, and there are some like me who think there is always time for rehabilitation. The time limit is a compromise between the two opposing sides. You’ve already been without a coven for a few months and that would usually be too long, but your sire having been one of us, the offer expires at the end of this month.”

[Vivian Nazarova]

  The description of Dacian sounded a bit bang on. In fact Vivian was rather surprised he’d managed to stay with them for that long to start with. The Dacian she knew didn’t exactly seem to be the most social creature on the planet. Although was that the covens fault or his? It was a little hard to guess. By the looks of it he hadn’t been Mr. Popular in the time he’d spent there. Vampires were a little bit weird with that sort of thing so was she doomed to be stuck in the fringes of their society anyway because of who her sire had been?

  The other question had brought up a few interesting points too. “Vot do you mean ‘bad habits?” she pressed, trying to figure out what on Earth she could have done to earn scorn. Well, there was the whole thing that she didn’t believe in biting people without consent, but that wasn’t that serious was it?

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[Samuel Jacobs]

Samuel gave a nod, approving. “Good question. The coven has rules, practices. This ‘good habits’ are what sets us apart from the rogues. Rogues generally do not follow a code of honour. They do what they like with no regard for mortal safety. The coven coexists in peace with mortal society. We are even in contact with the wizarding Ministry. We regulate our members, and we punish those who do not conform to our rules. Those rules include things like not killing the humans we feed from, the way we feed, who we feed from. The reason Dacian has earned you our offer of protection what that despite his separation from the coven, he has never grievously broken these rules. He might not have been the most amiable man, but he always followed the rules when it came to feeding. No doubt he at least started to teach you all this.”

Dacian had mentioned to Sam that Vivian was a little stubborn when it came to feeding, but Samuel could not believe she would abstain entirely. Living off Dacian and Lenora was a temporary measure. The blood he’d given her was his own, though the dilution was human plasma. Weaning her off of vampire blood would be the first step to her settling in with the coven.

[Vivian Nazarova]

  Oh yes, that sounded good. Vivian was fairly big on the whole not-killing people thing and she nodded to let Sam know she understood. The more Samuel talked the better things were sounding, but still, Lenora’s warnings about the coven weren’t far from her mind. Granted, she had no idea if Lenora was a killer or not, but Vivian liked to think she wasn’t, so what was her problem with them then? The way Sam talked they sounded alright, but granted, she didn’t exactly know much and would never know the full story unless she signed up and joined.

  “Alright. Zhat sounds good,” Vivian admitted tentatively, trying to think of more questions that needed asking. “Vhere are you located? Vould I stay in Hogzmeade, or do I haff to go vith you somevhere?” she asked, and in her musing she distractedly raised the glass to her mouth to take a sip automatically without even realising she was doing it. Ooh yikes. He hadn’t been kidding about the extra kick and she put the back glass down in reaction to the stronger flavour. In all honestly, it’d probably take her a minute to two to realise fully that she’d even just drank from the thing.

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[Samuel Jacobs]

Sam picked up his glass and took a drink before he spoke again. He’d been pleasantly surprised as she sipped from her own glass. It was a good start. Her reaction to the taste enforced his smile, and the barest hint of fang showed at the corner of his mouth. Dacian and Lenora were a good deal younger than him, so comparatively his blood would pack a punch even though the effect would be short-lived. Nothing beat human blood for long lasting energy.

“I live and work in York, the main station of our coven. Most changelings live somewhere like Manchester or London, however. York is generally where the power resides.” He turned the stilt of the wineglass between his fingers, looking past the blood to Vivian. “I’m just the messenger on this occasion. I’d take you to the outpost where you’d stay, but it’s doubtful you’d see me often after that. You’d be put into the care of a sponsor. Usually your sire would hold that position, but these are unfortunate circumstances. Your sponsor will take the place of your sire, care for you, and teach you our rules until you’re ready to look after yourself. You’ll always have the protection of the coven, and you’ll find your own niche in our structure.”

His smile turned sympathetic. “Staying in Hogsmeade is not an option, I’m afraid. You’d have to stay with us until your ‘internship’ is over and that could be years, perhaps decades.”