chris-elkar

[chris-elkar]

"Meaning more that despite the title I'm a team of one. Viv's veto'ed some of my ideas, and getting that 'no' sucks, but we just move onto the next thing." He answered with a shrug. Jo's question seemed to be prying for drama but there was nothing to tell, and he wouldn't say anything if there was.

"I think it's more that people know things implicitly rather than knowing explicit measures. Like when you put your hand on someone's forehead to see if they have a fever; you can't really tell their exact body temperature from just that, but you know what the 'right' temperature feels like." Chris felt like he needed to come to the defense of supernaturals, which he figured was probably a good sign.

"Meaning she approves of everything you do, or you find ways to sidestep her?" Jo probed with a quirk to her lips. She doubted he'd admit to the latter so casually, but his phrasing had been ambiguous. Either way, she was counting on his reaction to give her more insight.

When Chris expanded on what his research consisted of, she blinked at him, surprised. "Are you telling me we don't know these things already?" Supernaturals really did think they were invincible. Some of them might possess magical healing powers, but how had they existed for centuries—millennia, even—without learning these things? They prided themselves on being superior, yet lagged behind on something so basic. "How?"

[chris-elkar]

"I'll take it under advisement." He glanced away in slight embarrassment at the mention of the guy being attractive. She wasn't wrong, but he hadn't quite been thinking along those lines and now he was. "Well if you want entertainment, Bea the second from the end there," He leaned over to more easily point out the correct bartender to Victoria. "enjoys having someone she can bitch about customers to, and she's really clever about it. So if you sit in her section and let her know I sent you, you will be anything but bored."

Victoria let out a soft huff of amusement. “I’m a psychiatrist, it’s the curse of the job.” She replied with a small shrug. “Plus, saying ‘because he’s hot and you seem like you could be in with a chance of something else, too’ seemed like an insufficient answer.” She added with some mischief, “Not really.” Victoria admitted, not wanting to admit that she came to these places in search of a distraction, because when she sat at home alone she felt like the walls were closing in on her. “Unless you have any suggestions that will keep me entertained for the evening?”

[chris-elkar]

"It's-" He sighed in frustration and scrubbed a hand over his face, trying not to say anything else that was wrong. He didn't want to fuck everything up with Gloria and have to claw his way back like with Judas. "I get that I've been lucky that Daphne looked after me and that I haven't had to hunt and kill people to feed. I get that I've been allowed to not be good at the more violent parts of being a vampire. Until I am though, I figure it's better to just stash me away in a corner where I might be able to do some good."

"I'm not the person you want beside you in a fight, but I'm who you want as backup. I can't hunt down a bunch of artemis crazies, but maybe I can..." There was an edge of desperation creeping into his voice. "find a way to... fortify human blood so it's more filling, so the next time there's a shortage things aren't as dire or make it easier to reset vampire bones if they heal too fast the wrong way so we don't have to re-break them twenty times."

"I won't claim to know much about the fourth dimension or how premonitions work, but what you were shown was an alternate future based on one single event that never happened. Any number of things could be different—including this." What Gloria did know was that it scared her. The suggestion of inevitability. Of impotence. She had been helpless once and had no desire to return to that feeling. "You just said it yourself. You don't even know if they are working on anything remotely similar. Perhaps finding out should be your priority before you set something in motion you won't be able to stop."

The judgment laced through Chris's words stung, subtle as it was. But it showed her she’d been right not to tell him anything beyond the bare necessities. "Yeah, well. We can't all be so lucky." The snap of her voice was cool and immediate. "Most of us aren't in a position that allows us to deny our true nature."

[chris-elkar]

"So far it's meant that I get to mostly do my own experiments as long as Viv approves, but really I'm just in charge of myself." He answered with a shrug. "One of the things I've been looking at is measures that we already know for humans; what's normal blood pressure for a werewolf? do elves have the same blood oxygen levels as humans? Everyone knows anecdotally that vampires run colder than humans, but how much colder are they? If we knows this stuff, it could be used to help with medical treatment for supernaturals when something goes wrong." That was the part of his research that he hadn't gotten any pushback on, so he figured it was the safest to talk about. Still, Chris shut himself up before he talked Jo's ear off.

"Evidence would suggest as much, but I meant the blood part. Because you..," she trailed off, gesturing at his head. The pitcher had at least been half full. "Nevermind."

The casual use of powers always irked her a bit, but Jo kept her features neutral as he sped up and down the hall, even offering Chris a small smile when he thanked her. Making enemies was not tonight's objective. "No problem. I'd want someone to do the same for me." It was perhaps the biggest lie yet. There was little she hated more than having to accept help.

"Even got a little tour of the place." What a lucky coincidence—she had her angle now. "Sounds important. What is your research about?"

[chris-elkar]

He smiled at Ophelia's assessment of him. "I guess I try to be." Even if there were times when it got him into trouble or multiple people who thought he was overly naive. He wiped his hands one more time on his pants just to make sure they were clean before taking her phone and putting his number in. "I have people who I can call if I need, so I figure I can do the same. I'll keep an eye out for your green storefront by an alley."

Despite their mutual frustration, Ophelia couldn't help a soft chuckle. It was a little relieving that it wasn't just her. Everything about the way the supernatural clashed with reality was more difficult than it should be. None of it was straightforward, easy to understand, easy to deal with. At least it was equally as unfair.

She nodded. "Yeah. You definitely can. Let me just..." She went over to the nearest trashcan to throw away the handful of glass pieces before reaching into her purse to take out her phone and handing it to him to put in his number. The spirit smiled fondly. "You're a pretty good guy, aren't you Chris?" The fact that he would offer to help if she got in any trouble just confirmed that for her.

[chris-elkar]

Chris nodded as he listened to Victoria, always enjoying a chance to see how someone else's mind worked. It was also a little flattering to hear Victoria's reasoning if that was a reflection of what she thought of him. "I'm pretty sure you just put more thought into that than I ever have." He admitted with a small embarrassed smile. "Usually when none of my regulars are here I just go on... vibes." He made a mental note of where the elf was standing and to keep checking in case someone else swooped in and looked at Victoria more directly. "What about you though? I'm guessing you came tonight with your own plans, any way I can help?"

Victoria watched the vampire, considering her answer for a moment. She usually would have kept any personal information she knew from a patients session to herself, but since Chris was asking a question that was directly related to one of their topics of conversation, she figured he was giving her freedom to speak. “Elves are a safe option. They’re more than just a bag of donated blood from the hospital, they’re a warm body with blood ready and pulsating, but they’re usually more docile of nature, gentle, and there’s also a good chance he’ll be willing, so it won’t play on your conscience later. His blood type isn’t what you find addictive or what you’d usually be drawn to, but he’d be sweeter on the tongue than a human or a witch— certainly more than a wolf, like a dessert, a treat after a rough start to the evening.” Victoria glanced back to Chris, her lips lifting slightly as he eyes roamed the wounds of his head that had already healed. “But that’s just a guess.”

[chris-elkar]

For just a moment a guilty image of Arjun flashed through his mind, but Chris said a silent apology before letting thoughts of deity slip away. He closed his eyes and finally kissed Judas. It felt so comfortingly familiar but at the same time made his stomach flutter. He slid an arm around Judas's waist and pulled him closer, trying to say all the cliche sappy stuff about how he'd missed this without actually saying it out loud.

Now it felt like Chris was challenging them, egging them on, and they were enjoying the way he was looking at them and leaning in closer, filling his space effortlessly. He had missed feeling wanted like this. "Oh, and what might that be?" he asked, brushing his nose against Chris's. He knew, of course, but he wanted to see if he would take what he wanted instead of waiting for it.

[chris-elkar]

Chris almost tilted his head before realizing that he should stay still so Judas could finish de-glassifying his head. "Maybe sometime later. If you go with me."

"Yeah, we just ran into each other randomly. I don't think she was seeking people out yet." Which made Chris debate for a second whether or not he should have told Judas that Gloria was back, but given how much they cared, he figured the pros outweighed the cons. "I forgot to get her number, but she's working in Leon's syndicate, so it would probably be easiest to find her through Leon."

Despite the blood still covering Chris's head, it was good to see him smiling and happy, especially because of something they had done. "Absolutely. I haven't gotten the chance to abuse my power yet. I could probably get you into Level 4 if you think you're up for it."

His expression fell next. "She is?" Was he so focused on his work that he hadn't heard already? "No, I haven't. I'll have to reach out to her."

[chris-elkar]

"Don't quote me on this, but I think the wine part of bloodwine isn't to sterilize it, it's to get drunk. It's something about the way it's made." Matthew would probably scold Chris for not knowing that, but then again Chris had just been the one serving it, not mixing it. He took the shards from her and used a little bit of vampire speed to drop them in a garbage can at the end of the hall and come back in a couple of seconds. "Thank you, really, you've saved me a lot of pain trying to find them all myself."

He grinned when Jo mentioned Viv, perking up a little bit. "Yes I do. Senior researcher at Ambrose Science, at your service." He ducked his head to give her a small bow. "It makes sense that we've probably run into each other if you've been by the building."

"Okay," Jo said, a note of wonder threading through the word as he started spouting scientific facts. Protocol demanded she get tested either way, but he didn’t need to know that. "What about the blood wine? As you said, your kind isn’t susceptible to infection or disease. So why bother making sure the blood is clean?" It could be, for all she knew. Learning the specifics of how blood wine was made had never been a priority.

Her brows rose at his somewhat awkward offer to toss the glass—they made an odd pair: one cupped palm of shards, four hands streaked in blood—but Jo tipped them into his waiting hand anyway. "Thanks." The few that clung stubbornly to her skin came away with the tissue.

She took half a step back, turning toward the bathroom, then paused. "Wait. I think I remember where I’ve seen you before." A beat. "You work for Vivian, don’t you?"

[chris-elkar]

"Yup." If Leon wanted to be a cat playing with his food, then Chris decided to be the least amusing mouse ever. "Pet project is going fine. I've been looking at the antibiotic properties of vampire blood. If you want to come by the lab, I'd be happy to show you a couple sample plates. I could even draw your blood for the demonstration." He wanted to throw in his own jab about Leon's business dealings or about maybe making some kind of positive contribution to society but held his tongue.

“Ohh someone’s feeling feisty tonight, aren’t they?” Leon’s voice was mocking and light, a smile on his face in response to the young vampire’s annoyance. “Don’t worry that adorable little head of yours though— I wouldn’t dare steal that title from you. I had just thought I’d see how Teddy’s pet project was fairing is all.” He gave a brief pause to administer a rather blatant judging look before adding, “I admit I had much higher hopes, but I’m sure you’re use to disappointing others at this point.”

[chris-elkar]

What was that supposed to mean? That he thought another vampire would come after Chris? Or did he mean demons? Or Calvin himself? Why did it matter that he could tell Chris was a vampire?

He watched the shadows shift, and took a step back so he was more directly under the light. The fact that he'd been able to move Cal meant that he wasn't a diety or a demon, and magic like that meant he must be a witch. So he was supernatural at least and probably not artemis, but that didn't preclude him being a serial killer. Chris shook his hand warily, debating giving a fake name for a second before deciding it was too much effort. "Chris."

"That's a very considerate offer," Chris said evenly, trying not to sound as unnerved as he was right now. "but no thank you. I can change when I get home." He had a change of clothes stashed in the shard, but he didn't feel comfortable giving Cal that much information about his habits and regular location.

Calvin hated to admit it, but the shove caught him off guard. You’d think after enough time around vampires, he’d stop underestimating how strong they could be. He wasn’t sure how old this one was, but the guy clearly had a grip on his own power. Even restrained, the push would leave a mark.

He hissed through his teeth, rolling his shoulder to ease the sting blooming beneath his skin. “Geez,” he muttered. “Aren’t you quick to get rowdy.”

Another sharp exhale followed, half pain, half laugh, before he shook his head and let the grin return. It wasn’t in his nature to stay rattled for long. “You’re lucky I clocked you as a vampire. Otherwise, someone might’ve come to breathe down your neck later.”

As if to punctuate his point, he tilted his chin toward the floor. His shadow began to dance, kicking up its heels in a wild, exaggerated cancan while his real body stood still and calm. A little show of magic. The shadow stilled and molded back to form.

Then he turned back and extended a hand like nothing had happened. “Let’s rewind a bit,” he said cheerfully. “Hi, I’m Calvin. I don’t mean you any harm. I was just gonna trade you my clothes because I felt bad for you.”

[chris-elkar]

"Nothing supernatural's ever as easy as it should be." He half grumbled-half sighed in agreement, because boy didn't he have personal experience with everything being complicated. "Could I give you my number? If you're around klin and run into trouble I'm usually in the area or know people who are." He gave her his most charming smile. "I promise I'll stop worrying then."

She let out a huffed breath, settling her hands on her hips. "If I could just narrow it down to a general area that would be much simpler, wouldn't it?" The spirit felt frustrated with herself. Why couldn't she just remember? At least a single detail, a street name, a storefront, something, anything!

Ophelia smiled at him, slightly tense from her irritation but in no way at him. "You don't have to apologize, Chris. I appreciate you trying to help me. It just feels like none of it is as easy as it should be, you know?"

She blinked. "Attacks. Right. Ah..." She ran her free hand through her hair thoughtfully. "To be honest, I don't have many close friends at the moment. But I can get around just fine on my own. You don't have to worry about me, dear."

[chris-elkar]

"Gee thanks." Though it was reassuring to hear they were at the point of Judas making jokes about Chris's fuckup. "You know there's a really easy way to shut me up, right?" He leaned forward and resting his free hand on the side of their neck so the two of them were almost kissing but not quite. God he'd missed this. "Also helps with the overthinking."

The look on Chris's face was cute and there was a hint of pride in them for making him look that way. "I suppose I can go easy on you," he replied, noting that Chris wasn't pulling away, instead touching their arm, a familiar affectionate touch. "You don't screw things up when you aren't talking like a jackass," they replied, reaching up to gently take hold of his wrist. "Just don't think about it too much."

[chris-elkar]

He switched between watching Victoria and trying to see who she was looking at, who she thought would be his type. The elf looked nice enough, like he was dancing on his own rather than no one wanting to be near him. "Could work. I'm curious though, why did you pick that one?" Victoria had been pretty tight lipped about what she thought of him, but he figured this could be a chance to find out a bit. Sort of like a reverse 'you are what you eat' where instead it was 'you eat what you are.'

“It’s in your nature to view the living as your food source. That is, after all, what they are. But—we live in the modern world, one that is full of organised chaos and suppression.” Victoria allowed a kind smile, “However, that doesn’t mean you can’t indulge once in a while. It’s all about control.” She reminded him, taking hold of his hand to guide him out of the hallway and back into the club. Victoria scanned their surroundings, patiently taking in the crowd of dancing bodies, internally crossing people off her list as she went. When she thought she had found someone perfect, the spirit leant in closer to Chris to ask, “What about him?” She allowed the vampire to follow her gaze to a young elf dancing alone.

[chris-elkar]

If it wasn't for Leon, she might not have become a vampire at all. He had a theory that Leon had taken Gloria in and liked her so much because he was the one who turned her. But all Chris had to back that up was bad vibes and half a hunch, so he wasn't going to say that out loud. Instead he just tipped his head in acknowledgement and kept his mouth shut about it.

"The fact that they found it before means that they will look into it at some point, now we have a head start. If I find anything promising and we can get someone inside Park's company that would give us a chance to see if they start heading in the right direction and cut them off." He'd answered the same sort of questions before, whenever he told people about his research they either had a reaction like Gloria's or they thought it was interesting. The same thing happened when Viv explain what she was looking at with vampire biology.

"At some point though it's so far in the future and there's so many possibilities that trying to think of absolutely everything that could go wrong just leaves you paralyzed. One of those possibilities is that I'll find absolutely nothing and change projects." He sighed. "I'm in the right place. I can't do 'contracts' for Leon, Teddy's letting me stay away from the bloodier side of clan business, but I can help us understand this all better."

"You don't believe that." Gloria countered evenly. She wouldn't let herself be goaded into sharing any details he wouldn't be able to stomach. The last thing she needed was Chris trying to rescue her. She wasn't being kept against her will, nor was anyone forcing her to do anything she didn't want to do. He would only succeed at getting himself hurt, or worse.

At his suggestion, she gave a small shake of her head, her gaze softening. "I can’t do that. I owe him everything. Whatever you think of Leon… I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren't for him."

Her brows knit together at the mention of some potential future, then smoothed out. "I don't. I never wanted to know. It seemed too much to handle at the time." Everything had seemed like too much to handle at the time, and if Chris was out there chasing ghosts, perhaps he should've opted not to learn about it either. "And what if you can't figure out how to reverse it? What if this time, you’re the one who hands them the blueprints?""

[chris-elkar]

"No one." He answered with a laugh. With Matthew, the incorrect blame stung a little bit less because he was already so used to it. It was weird, but Chris could swear he almost missed it. "I'm pretty sure this was just an accident, I think it fell off the edge of a balcony and it had to hit someone. He took a step towards Matthew, staying upwind of his smoke in a habit he still retained from being human. "What about you? You're not even inside yet and already running into trouble?" Chris gestured to himself.

They had not seen each other for awhile, but a recent dream made it so that Matthew did not mind it the distance. Best to ignore all that and pretend like he remembered nothing of Vievecor Academy.

"It has..." the fallen deity asked before taking a nonchalant drag from his cigarette as he vaguely wondered if he should offer to magically clean Chris up or not. "Who did you manage to piss off so early in the night?"

[chris-elkar]

"I've also met some witches with tech magic through my work. If you gave them a smaller area, they might be able to come up with some way to search through the pictures for green storefronts and alleys." He sighed and scoffed at himself, bringing a hand up to run over his head when she stepped away. It wasn't that he didn't trust Ophelia, he just needed that little bit of personal assurance. "Sorry, I kind of went into problem solving mode."

"Wandering can have it's own merits. Are you ok though? Like there's been worry about attacks, so do you have someone who you can call? Someone who's got your back?"

She nodded along, pulling out what she hoped to be the final piece of glass. "There we go." She used a gentle finger to move his hair, making sure that there wasn't anything else lodged in his skin. Luckily, that was it. "No big deal."

Hearing his suggestion made her pause. "Oh..." Could that work? VC was a big city, but it was a better idea than what she'd been doing: just wandering like a lost puppy. "Well I could try it." She tapped her chin idly, before remembering she was holding bloody tweezers. But she was an undertaker, a little blood didn't bother her. She just wiped at her skin. "I mean, worst case scenario it takes a long time to find, right? Probably easier than just wandering around."