Four!

[tobeajedi]

Who: Vima Sunrider, waking up from hiatusy coldsleep.
Broadcast: Video
Action: On the Heron.
When: 12/2

[Vima rubs her face and groans, making a face because wow, did she brush her teeth last night? And then her eyes pop open wide. When did she get back on the ship? She looks around... something is different. It's warmer, for one thing.

And then she spots the flat, circular portrait holoprojector laying on the bunk... she picks it up and she's about to turn it on when she notices her comm is broadcasting. She makes another face--obviously Atroma wanted to see her emotional reaction--but she might as well make use of it.]

Hey, if anyone's picking this up.

Is everyone else back on their ships? Have our hosts said anything yet? [there's a pause as she goes back through a few posts... uh...] I think I overslept.

Comments

[stefanged]

Gee, thanks. [He'd elbow her, but he feels like it would kill the moment.]

Yes... and no. Salvatore was a lot younger than me. [Technically speaking, since vampire.] He was seventeen when he died, but I'm twenty four.

[tobeajedi]

[Vima's eyes widen. Seventeen? He was just three years older than she is now.]

That's too young to die!

[seriously, thank goodness for reincarnation in that case.]

[stefanged]

Yeah. [He caves into temptation and pulls her in for another hug.] Yeah, it was.

Thankfully, he still got to... [he pauses] Vi, how much do you believe in other supernatural stuff? Like werewolves and vampires and stuff?

[tobeajedi]

[She hugs back. Him being a reincarnation would mean thst, but she had never thought he had been killed that early in life.]

Um... I don't know. I think I might have a different view of the supernatural than some people.

[What with rhe Force and all.]

[stefanged]

Um, well... [He doesn't quite pull away, even though he knows he should. He kind of needs this more than he's willing to admit.] Back home, they existed, and they were pretty commonplace.

It turned out that even though Salvatore died at seventeen, he uh, didn't die for real. He became a vampire instead.

[tobeajedi]

[Didn't die for real? Okay, now Vima gets the question about the supernatural. People in her life have become Force ghosts, but... it was still quite final.]

...And... being a vampire isn't all the way dead? [She pokes lightly at his chest.] You keep the body?

[stefanged]

Sure did. [He laughs, baring his fangs so she can see them. No true vampire face yet. He's not interested in scaring her with the truth.] See, if you die with a vampire's blood in your body... you kind of become one too.

It happened to Salvatore, and then to me. Completely unrelated circumstances, same end result.

[tobeajedi]

[She lets go and leans back to get a better look. This isn't the same as just being a Near-Human, then.]

I'm sure that's not a coincidence.

What does it mean to be a vampire?

[stefanged]

It means a lot of things. [He lets the fangs retract, if only so he can kep talking to her without an awkward vampire lisp] Vampire traits aren't consistent, and there will be a lot of people who try to convince you that they're bad. That we're - they're nothing but trouble.

[His voice's quiet, like he doesn't want to have this conversation with her, which may be why he reaches for her hands. He's trembling, even with that physical touch.]

Because uh, Vi - being a vampire means that you live forever, but in order to do that, you have to drink blood. Human blood, animal blood, substitute fake blood, it's all the same to some people.

[tobeajedi]

Oh, well. If that's all, I don't usually listen when someone tries to give me that kind of warning.

[She takes his hands when he reaches out, though--geez, he's shaking. What the heck have people done to him?

And when he talks about what kind of sustenance he needs... what, possibly, has he done himself? It's not a question out of fear, but she wonders.]

That's... one heck of a requirement. But I'm just making a guess that you drink the animal or substitute blood.

[stefanged]

Yeah, Atroma gives me blood substitute instead of protein. [Honestly, Stefan's not sure which tastes worse. His shaking subsides at how well she's taking this, and he's not sure if that's good or bad.]

I would've told you a lot sooner, but... ["But I was scared." The words hang on his tongue, so he instead says,] I guess I was waiting for the right time.

[tobeajedi]

I guess it does one good thing, then. I bet it's not much better than the protein goop the rest of us have to eat, though.

[Good, he seems like he's calming down. Vima grins--she can guess why he would have held off, if he had bad past experiences. And to be sure, "I have to drink blood" is a big deal to tell someone. But he's a sentient being, not a rancor or some other mindless predator.]

You don't have to worry. Trust me, being a decent person in the present is a lot more important than your species.

[stefanged]

Are people on the Heron still feeding you that? Remind me to make you stay for dinner next time.

[He's gonna feed her so well that protein goop will be nothing but a foreign memory. Or so he hopes.]

Thank you. If you ever feel like we're not okay, you let me know. [Finally remembering the shirts he'd brought, he holds up an infamous "share a soda with Salvation" shirt. It's a bit oversized, but it'd make a fine nightdress on her.] Oh, and - if you're still cold, I brought this. I figure you could layer it with your clothes or something.

[tobeajedi]

[She laughs.]

Sure thing. I'm there often enough anyway, might as well take advantage of your cooking and medical skills. [Not that she's been getting too scraped up lately.]

And I won't be shy. 'Hey, Stef, put the fangs away--they're making you lisp.' [CLEARLY, making light of it is the best thing to do. She takes the t-shirt--which, yes, is enormous for her, and grins.] 'With Salvation?' I'm not sure if that's a spelling error or a sign.

[stefanged]

They do not. [He sighs, almost exasperated, as he folds his arms. His voice is perfectly normal when he talks! It's magic!]

Pretty sure it's a spelling error. Remember those soda bottles we got? It's the t-shirt version, except worse.