[open!]

[pneumo]

Who: YOU! And Sascha...kind of.
Broadcast: n/a
Action: Various places
When: now!

Bloodsport

[ When Sascha wakes at his usual time of "when everyone sensible has gone to bed", it isn't really Sascha that wakes up per say. It's still his body, his memories and feelings and experiences are still there...but there's also more. Much more. The one who opens his eyes slowly and finds himself under the paw of an oversized wolf isn't the forgetful and over-affectionate creature who thinks himself a vampire, but someone else entirely.

Someone he used to be. Is? The conflicting memories and thoughts that assault him are disorienting enough that he defaults to autopilot as he pulls himself from beneath Bigby's limbs, giving his fur a habitual pat--but he's quick to leave after that. Those habits aren't his and the wolf, not his companion. He has never shared the company of anyone while he's slept. Predators don't lie with their prey, they don't socialize with them and befriend them as he...no, Sascha, apparently has.

He doesn't stumble into the halls nor show any other telltale signs of distress, but the way he carries himself and moves with a much calmer, more solemn demeanour doesn't fit the goofball vampire who normally roams the halls so late at night. There's definitely a different feel to him now.

It's not Sascha's habit but one entirely his own that drives him to pass by the rooms of each of his crew mates one by one, effectively stalking them and getting a sense of the real versus his memories. So, Bloodsport. The question here is are you awake, and do you have the heeb-jeebs yet? ]

Iskaulit + Other ships

[ There's an immense feeling of discord that comes from waking with the thoughts and memories of someone you've never been as though you were placed on top of an already considerably sizable amount. It's kind of like waking up one day and suddenly remembering hundreds upon hundreds of lives you've never actually lived even though it feels like you have. The creature that would be Sascha is experiencing that now: he knows the Fleet and doesn't. He's met the strange humans and mutants and others here, but hasn't. He can remember that each evening Sascha wakes he hops from ship to ship to check on certain individuals--a habit he breaks immediately when he heads to the Iskaulit instead after scoping out the Bloodsport.

It's irritating. Strange. He's not sure what he'd expected to happen once he had given into hunger and desperation and devoured himself all those years ago...but it certainly wasn't this. To remember who and what he is, why Sascha's never known any of that, and why he now chooses to keep more to himself than seek out his 'usuals.'

And of course by keeping to himself, I mean he's been straying downwind of the fox area, silently staring and stalking as he debates the point of hunting any of them when he knows it will do nothing to abate his hunger. The same goes for the others aboard the Iskaulit...they make for a much more tempting meal.

Heck, so does everyone else aboard the Atroma's fleet. So if your character happens to be unlucky enough to be wandering alone at this late hour they might just get the sense of being followed. Or hunted, depending on how good that sixth sense is.

Or you could just run into him on the Iskaulit being aloof and creepy. That works too. ]



[ ooc; for those not on my plurk SASCHA IS AUGMENT GLITCHING BACK THE MEMORIES AND PERSONALITY HE USED TO HAVE before he actually became "Sascha." Which means he's old and tired and he eats humans in his spare time so clearly this means you should come on by.

feel free to hit me up on plurk @ owlits/PM me if you wanna plot anything! ]

Comments

[passingthrough]

Everything okay? [She reaches out to brush his hair back. Sure, his response and body language was a little weird, but let's be real. Sascha is always a little weird.]

[pneumo]

[ he is, but the way he looks more surprised than enamoured by the attention is a little bit of a tip-off. He really isn't prepared for how Sascha's memories make him feel about this. It's kind of like running into Bigby, but....different. Something about it is different.

Bigby's a predator, like him. Kitty isn't. She should be food, prey at the very least. But all he can feel right now is an immense adoration that has him reach up to cup the hand she uses to set his bangs, incredibly mindful and careful about it in a way Sascha isn't. ]

...I do not know.

[passingthrough]

[That gets a thoughtful look as she takes in his reaction. Something is definitely different, but she hasn't jumped to "not Sascha" yet. She doesn't pull her hand away, just letting him touch her for the moment.] Do you want to talk about it? We could get a table at one of the bars.

[pneumo]

...I would prefer to be away from...lots of people. Right now. [ He's not sure about himself in that sort of situation. Heck he's not even sure about himself with Kitty, other than he wants nothing more than to be around her. ]

[passingthrough]

[Well, that's concerning and that's exactly what she is—concerned for him.] Where do you want to be, Sascha? [He's not known for being very aware of his needs and good at articulating them, but it feels like a place to start. She has no idea what's happened to leave him this way. Was someone a jerk to her potato? Actually, people are always jerks to him. That's kind of his normal.]

[pneumo]

[ Sad and true. In this case though no one's done anything in particular to slight him. It's just his own thoughts compounded by those from Sascha and the immense feeling of discord that comes from it all. He doesn't know what he wants exactly, other than to hold her close.

Sascha's favourite moments are when she embraces and cares for him. ]

Anywhere you are is fine. So long as it is...quiet.

[passingthrough]

[She curls her hand around his and drops it down to their sides.] I was on my way to the library. Seems like a good choice for quiet. There are some nooks in there.

[She hasn't missed that his speech patterns are different and she is putting together possible reasons for that but so much of Sascha is a question mark that she's never fully accepted at face value. He has shown her more serious, subdued sides before like when he told her how old he was. But augment glitch and a few other things have crossed her mind too. Regardless, it seems like he needs her right now, so she'll see what she can do.]

[pneumo]

[ He wants to be more convincing as Sascha but...well, it's not easy. He wants to act like himself. The consideration for Kitty is there, but it's not easy to suddenly change back and forth between the two when he's a muddled mess of two people.

Going to someplace quiet and secluded will be a godsend, and he nods his approval at the suggestion even as his fingers interlock slowly with hers. ]

Alright. [ He offers her hand a small squeeze in what he hopes comes across as gratitude and not so much desperation. ]

[passingthrough]

[For the moment she's fine with him being whoever he is. Whoever he needs to be. She leads him into the library and passes up looking for a book for now. Instead, she finds them a quiet corner with some seating and takes a place on the small couch, leaving him room beside her.] Seems like you have a lot on your mind.

[pneumo]

You have no idea. [ Really. Kitty couldn't have put it any more aptly, and even as she sits down he hesitates because he first inclination is not to sit next to her, but rather...on. Her. And that's just bizarre to him.

He settles for a compromise, instead leaning over her and bracing one hand against the back of the couch by her head. So he can duck his by her shoulder. ]

[passingthrough]

[Well, that's not the arrangement she was expecting, but she reacts to it calmly, bringing a hand up to gently stroke the back of his head. To be honest sitting on her would have been weirder still.] That's where you come in. We're not on the planet anymore. You'll have to tell me what's going on in there, Sasch. [Who needs the last a? Better nickname than potato?]

[pneumo]

[ The swell of emotion that comes from Sascha's memories and feelings when she does that is kind of overwhelming. His heart actually thumps in his chest and has him blinking as he stares down at her collar bone, thanks to his angle. He literally has no idea what to do with it other than to lift one hand, and cup the other side of her neck. Kind of like a heart-hearted embrace. ]

......

Katherine? [ The Sheol doesn't use names, it isn't part of the way he's lived. But he fails to find anything else to call her in order to try and convey the depth of what he's feeling. ]

[passingthrough]

[She was the first to go with a nickname, but she's almost surprised he even knows Katherine is her name. Hearing him use it is like a note that doesn't fit the rest of the melody. It makes her look a little more closely at the rest of the song.

Kitty never thinks of Sascha in any sort of sexual or romantic way. Even knowing he's at least a century older than her if not more, she's looked at him as someone she needed to help protect and guide. But is vibe, his essence, his particular make up of words and gestures is not that of a traumatized but eager adult child. It's enough that she retracts her hand from him because it's starting to feel like it's crossing a line she wouldn't cross. Not when she's with Winn and not when she doesn't know what's happening with Sascha.

There's no fear, but there is a gentle, self-assured confidence.] Sit, Sascha. Tell me what's changed.

[pneumo]

[ The first thing he should tell her is that he isn't Sascha--but instead he nods. And then sits beside her, as close as Sascha would but with none of the goofy leaning on or pining for attention. When he looks at her it's with an even and mature gaze that definitely belies a difference. There's an understanding there was wasn't present before. ]

...I remembered. [ What he is, who he is, and it's causing no small internal chaos for him. Even now he keeps his hand against her neck for want to remain in contact and close to her. ]

Everything, before humans gave me a name and began to call me "Sascha."

[passingthrough]

[Under the circumstances, she's not comfortable with his hand at her neck. It's not the danger of the positioning, but the level of intimacy. She takes his hand gently in hers and guides it down to hold it. She does give it a reassuring squeeze.

His revelation doesn't lead to a lot of surprise. Instead, it just makes his behavior fall neatly into place. Whether this is a permanent recovery or a temporary "gift" from the Atroma, she doesn't know yet and maybe it doesn't matter just now.]

Bad things? [Probably a lot of things. Centuries? It would be hard to ingest all of that.]

[pneumo]

I wouldn't call them that. [ Sascha might. Probably would. But he and Sascha have very different sets of priorities and morals, one Sheol in nature and the other nearly entirely human. Sascha would probably never forgive himself for half the things the Sheol has simply because it was how his kind lived.

He lets her move his hand, if only because of the squeeze and the fact that he's content simply to gaze at her right now. And because he threads his fingers with hers. ]

I just...didn't expect to. Remember, that is.

[passingthrough]

You're different. [She doesn't mean it in a harsh way. She's just trying to be honest and upfront. It's not surprising that a person's memories change them, but his whole bearing is different and she's noticing it more. Maybe he's revealing it more.] What did you remember that changed so much?

[pneumo]

I know. [ He's very different, hardly the same person. Isn't, really. He neither fully his Sheol self nor Sascha, but a combination of them--and so many more. ]

I suppose what matters the most is who I was before...everything else. "Sascha", and the others.

[passingthrough]

The others? [She tilts her head, looking at him curiously.] Tell me about it. Who were you before?

[pneumo]

Many people. So many I don't think I can rightly recall them all exactly. But before all of that...I was me. As I am now, more or less. I guess the cloest word that describes me is "monster."

[passingthrough]

That word has described me before. Why would you use it for yourself? Because you're a vampire?

[pneumo]

No... [ He chuckles, the sound not entirely mirthful. ]

Because I am Sheol. I am a creature which kills and eats all others.

[passingthrough]

[She wasn't expecting that, but she knows the word. At least she knows it in Hebrew. Hell, more or less, but not the Christian understanding of it.

But linguistics aside is he telling her he can or that he does or that he will?]

Sascha doesn't want to hurt anyone. [Probing.]

[pneumo]

[ He knows what she's doing, and he approves. Someone unused to the tactic would fall right along into it, and that's just the sort of clever woman he recalls. ]

No, he doesn't. He would rather suffer rejection and hatred for what he is than what he could do.

[passingthrough]

He and I have that in common.

You don't see yourself as Sascha, do you? [But its not that simple either. The way he reacts to her is informed by Sascha, isn't it? She's nearly sure.]