#blood and sliicon

[eric-the-bmo]

Blood and Silicon ep19: A Few Stops Before We Go

[Summary: The boys prepare for the road trip to Chicago. Blake has a Moment, while Percy and Leo talk about religion and later fail with impulsivity.] @kentuckycaverats @sanguineasylum @zwoelffarben

CW: Self-harm, brief discussion of suicide (in terms of faking one's death) [yes ik this is a horror game, but im still putting those warnings here] ----

It's around 10:30pm; Blake asks Harrison for an extension of the trip, since Leo might need a while to process and grieve. He bargains for the extension to be a week, since he's had a wild month, and Harrison calls Leo over- Leo, who was busy writing in his notebook for planning what to bring on the trip, walks over, and they ask for his opinion. He agrees it's for the best (though in all honesty, he wouldn't have thought to ask for it by himself). Harrison says Leo's been trying hard; Just get it over with, then have a week to recuperate on the city outskirts. It's not good to linger in Chicago- don't come back there or deal with your mortal family once this is over.

They then discuss the way to fake his death via car crash. ["Well," Leo says. "Considering I have no experience faking my own death, I might need some assistance."] Both Blake and Percy aren't the most experienced with that though (Blake had simply gone missing), and they talk about getting a body double. Leo reveals he's got an eye tattoo on the back of his neck, and it turns out Blake knows some tattoo artists in Chicago (he might also be able to get into contact with someone who can help. Harrison asks if Leo had any issues in life others might know about- Leo admits he had gotten out of a bad relationship and can be kind of impulsive, so they settle on faking a suicide where he drives his car off into the water.

Circling back to the previous topic, Harrison says if they can't figure out how to get a body double in time... he gives them a number to call as a last resort, but if they call it the Camarilla might figure out they're there. Leo's expression changes as he realizes The Camarilla?? Runs his home city???? He takes out a cigarette.

Harrison drives off and Blake and Leo head over to Pauline to update her; she's not going with us, so we exchange goodbyes and "please be safe"s. She tells Leo that faking his death will be for the best, and that she and Blake will be there for him. They part ways; Leo makes a "see you next year" joke.

Blake calls a tired Wes and asks him to get a new phone for him, in the guise of him pretending to need to get a phone for a friend's Christmas gift. Wes agrees. Then Blake breaks his phone due to the whole "Hunters can track us" thing, and calls Nelida on Percy's phone. He tells her, in code, that there's Hunters around and to lay low for a while, stay out of downtown/their territory; she's incredibly confused at first and asks if he can visit later tonight to explain.

["Probably not. I got family to visit up in the warmer area for the holidays; You know how it is." "...What the hell are you talking about."] Blake says they can talk after New Years, and she says he better have a story for him when he gets back. They hang up.

Leo texts his sister that something came up with his plane ticket, so don't worry about picking up from O'Hare, but he'll make it to Christmas dinner. He waits a bit for a response (there isn't one, she's probably asleep), then follows suit in breaking his phone- but it takes him a few tries and he doesn't look cool at all while doing it.

Blake gets his bowie knife back from Leo, and the coterie gets taken back to their places to pack and prepare. Percy pays his rent for January early, packs some things, and thinks about getting another weapon. ["I've got a collapsible hatchet or acollapsible spear you can use," Blake offers. "Oh! That's rather funny, an ancestor of mine used to use spears." Percy says. "I'd be happy to take yours off your hands for a moment."] Leo packs some things as well, notably the presents and his vampire hunting kit- Upon a comment Leo makes about it, Blake is all "stakes don't have to be high-quality, you can also just use a chair-leg" (and Leo is offered by Percy to be taught how to do so). Percy asks if Leo knows how to use a gun- he doesn't, but reasons it'd be useful to learn, so it's agreed to teach him at some point during the roadtrip.

With everyone else taken care of, the coterie is driven to Buck's garage (a touchstone of Blake's) so our resident Gangrel can pack his things. Blake tells the others to not touch anything.

["You can look, you can maybe touch- But you don't take, and you don't leave." "I am not a petty thief, Blake," Percy states, "but of course." Blake looks at Leo- The Malkavian puts his hands in his pockets.]

Blake leaves the garage, puts his bike into a side garage, and heads off into a tunnel system to go back to his haven. -----

With the two other men by themself, Leo asks Percival about the Antediluvians. He learns they're the "apex of each clan," described by an anxious Percy, such as how Caine is the apex of all of them- and Leo, being an atheist, is thrown for a loop & is a bit incredulous over the statement that Cain from The Bible is the first vampire. Percy, in his own way, is all "well hey, we're vampires. Werewolves and warlocks exist. Why not stuff from the bible?" The prayer he did earlier is tied to his belief in Caine; upon Leo asking, he learns Percy was raised Protestant. He also learns Noddism is the study of this origin belief. [Percy: "Some people believe the wildest things [about Noddist lore]." Leo, deadpan: "Yeah, they sure do."]

Leo asks for tips on how to deal with the Camarilla. Percival advises to avoid interaction, and to not buy into any promises they'll try to make. Then Percy asks that if Leo's from Chicago, why didn't he know the Camarilla were there, or even what they are- didn't his sire tell him? Leo doesn't look at him, as always, and says there just wasn't time; He had to leave quickly.

Percy asks if Jeremiah has any affiliations with the Camarilla; Leo doesn't know, & says J might not talk to Percy even if he does manage to find him. The Ventrue says it's fine if Leo is hesitant to speak about his sire- it's fine to be suspicious of others, but don't be too closed off.

["You're never going to get far in this life by yourself." "...Well," Leo shifts his weight. "I'm sure I'll have company somehow."]

With the conversation dying out, Leo digs through his pockets for cigarettes and offers one to Percy. ----

Blake finally gets to his haven, activating one of those wall-mounted singing fish that's up near the entrance- Wes is startled awake from the couch and asks when the fuck Blake got that; about a week ago, Blake responds. He receives a new phone like he requested and fills Wes in on what's going on and what happened tonight as he packs some things- Wes is concerned about the hunters, and Blake implies it's been a while since he's dealt with them and trails off for a moment. Wes also has a fun reaction to finding out the fledgling Blake works with is from Chicago (and Wes says it's nice Blake is helping Leo out with the trip). They both tell each other to stay safe. Wes asks if he needs anything else, so Blake feeds on him a little bit before leaving. He pulls up his hat and hoodie as he leaves.

As Blake heads back through the tunnels, he can't help but think too much about everything going on; things are too similar. He feels almost sick, and leans against the wall with a mind swirling with repetitive memories and thoughts ("He's not here/It doesn't matter"). He activates his fangs and bites into his right arm, hard enough to get a point of aggravated damage. There's a moment of relief; not from the act or sensation of it, but because he did what needed to be done: punishment. He patches it up with a medkit, and makes his way back to the coterie.

---

Meanwhile, Percy is telling Leo that he personally doesn't view Caine as a God like the Church of Caine does. He recounts the story of Zillah to the Malkavian, citing that if Caine was a god, he would have known to not get tricked by the Crone. He belives Caine had this story written to have his childer remember the warnings against embracing for love- which are, as Percy states, that 1) Love withers upon the Embrace, and 2) There is an intrinsic horror in the bond. Leo briefly wonders if there were other loves Caine had, omitted from texts, or if she was the only one. The conversation circles back to Antedilvians as Percy briefly tells Leo a small handful of their supposed names; Saulot and Malkav, for instance. Leo goes back to the Zillah story and asks how Percy chooses to interpret the love withering; Percy states there's an imbalance between humans and Kindred.

["You have to find your own love afterwards." He's fiddling with his ring.]

Blake returns at this point, putting a fake license plate on his car, and leaves a note for Buck. He states he's heading out of town for a bit, so he borrowed some stuff, and he puts the note where he'd be able to see it.

The coterie packs their things into the jeep; Percy gets Kyra's spear as promised, and Leo is surprisingly gifted Kyra's pocket knife. Leo thanks him, but mentions he has no knife experience; he's a bit better with his fists, though, and Percy reveals he was a fairly popular boxer back when he was alive. Leo's a tad impressed. Blake presents Leo with three carved stakes for his hunting kit, and we all get into the car.

We head to a fitness center upon Percy's request, since he's at 3 Hunger, and he asks if anyone would like to come with- he's used to feeding with a pack. Leo offers to keep watch so Blake can stay with the car; he reassures the Gangrel that they can handle it (Percy adds it's a learning experience), and exits the car. Blake pulls Percy to the side before he heads off: ["Now as far as I know, just a heads up: I don't think your types usually hunts in packs."] Percy doesn't say anything about that. ----

Leo goes invisible to follow Percy as the two men eventually get past the front desk and into the gym's locker room; Percy's brought a gym bag as part of his cover. He waits until he finds a guy that matches his preferences (and Leo is impatiently wondering why he hasn't fed yet??)- and he finally finds one. He tells Leo to keep watch, and Leo confirms he heard this by tapping his shoulder. With a bad-ish roll, Percy's future victim sees him head towards his direction. Percy, who gained an extra Hunger along the way, acts as if he's going to open a locker nearby before grabbing him and starting to feed.

Leo soon realizes Percy isn't going to stop, though, and after a few fruitless efforts to get him to stop by tapping his shoulder, he decides the next best course of action is to punch him. Percy whirls around to look at him with frenzied eyes, absolutely more Beast than himself in this moment, and a part of Leo's brain absolutely panics; with a suddenly-awful headache he decks the Ventrue across the head. He does this again and Percy finally pulls away, regains himself, and apologizes for the slight frenzy. He sets his victim down on a bench, calls 911 with the guy's phone, and halfheartedly tosses it next to him. Leo has a million thoughts a minute running through his head over this whole thing, but stays relatively quiet. ["Don't linger on your feelings." Percy's trying to make his hair less disheveled. "You don't have to talk about it to me. Talk about it to Blake if it's going to bother you." Leo makes eye contact, staring daggers at him before looking away. "Let's just get out of here, yeah? We've been in here long enough." He turns invisible to sneak back out again.] ---

Blake is hanging up a call and sees them return: Percy is disheveled, and Leo looks shaken and kinda upset. He's tapping his fingers a lot. Blake asks what happened as the two of them get in the car, and Percy says they can talk while he drives. Blake is Concerned and turns on the car, muttering how he knew he had a bad feeling about letting those two head off, but nooo, no one listens to him.

[Percy finally speaks up. "If Mr Leo isn't going to tell you," He says, "I will for the sake of transparency. My Beast took the better of me; I took a little more tha-" "Ahbupbup- I thought we were gonna talk about it on the road!!" Blake peels out of the parking lot as Don't Fear the Reaper plays from the radio. "Let's make some headway!"]

Notes/Commentary:

WAgh ty Harrison for the extra week for Leo to grieve aaaugh

Leo canonically will Only use emojis if the person he's texting also uses them. His text to his sister had a little christmas tree emoji <3

We packed so much stuff....

LEO WITH GUN LEO WITH GUN HAPPENING SOON! Surely nothing bad will happen because of this. We're gonna get a Leo training montage probably /silly

BLAKE LORE??? CRUMBS OF BLAKE LORE???

I Cannot stress enough how good the tunnel/arm moment was. His player did an AMAZING job describing it all im Obsessed

Percy mispronounces Saulot since he's only ever read it btw, that's such a nice detail

Props to Percy for quoting the Book of Nod?? hello??

Love how Leo had a knife but decided to hit Percy instead. Ultimate Panic Mode said "taking out the knife is too many steps. Punch him" /lh

The locker room scene is also making me Insane btw, yall have no idea. There was also a huge vibe dissonance bc Life is a Highway was playing in the background.

Props to Leo for actively making eye contact, lets go king

This road trip is gonna be TENSE at first lmao, leo continues to go through The Horrors <3