Came Back Haunted //Mortimer\\

[Keara Sonnet]

Would he ever get the hint? How many of his employees would have to go down before Ashton finally got the hint to just leave her alone? Keara had been distracted her tail for a good five minutes already, ever since she had arrived in Vienna. There were so many other things, countless things, that they could be doing with their employees. Send them after Death Eaters or have them push around more paper. But why keep following a vampire that was just going to keep shoving them right back where they came from? If Ashton though by having her tailed that he would learn any information about Centara, he was sorely mistaken. She had already given him enough, gave him too much whenever he had tortured it out of her. She didn't have the focus to turn off the pain like other vampires. She never did. Not until she had been told how to turn off her emotions. Somehow, the pain trigger had come with it. If he tried to torture her now, things would be different. At least, as long as she could keep him from performing whatever that spell had been that caused her body to go into starvation mode weeks ahead of what it should have. However he had taken the blood out of her system so quickly was still unknown. If she had heard his incantation, maybe she could do the research and she would be better prepared for next time. Hell, all of the vampires would be better prepared for if he tried it again. But she hadn't heard it. Too much going on, too much pain, not enough focus. But never again. If anyone tried anything, she was ready. Though, thus far, none of the people he had sent as a tail had done any damage.

In fact, none of them seemed to do much more than follow her. Which was why none of them died. Had one raised a wand to her, at least before she had gotten her emotions back in line, Keara would have killed them on the spot and sent them back to Ashton in a body bag with her compliments. That would have placed her right on the registered list without question, but reason to kill them never came up. Normally if she confronted them, they turned tail and ran back to their boss. Apparently they were getting bolder, however. The last few actually stood their ground until she made them back off. They were lucky they had gotten to her after Centara had forced the lights back on. Otherwise they would have never survived. She was pretty sure that the one following her now would be the same way. Too brave for their own good and she was going to have to fix that. It was just fortunate that Keara hadn't gone directly to her destination, that she had taken a detour for entertainment purposes. Her goal had been Der Keller, but she wasn't due there for another hour, and there were plenty of things she could think to do in the meantime. What was fortunate was that while Ashton might be aware of Der Keller, Keara wasn't sure if anyone else was and she had no intent of releasing that secret onto the world. She had already done too much damage. So the fact that they were so far away was good, it gave her a chance to get rid of her tail before going to the club. The moment she realized there was someone following her, which was just about the time she stepped across the Vienna city line, she had decided just to wander aimlessly. Time passed, enough time for the Ministry worker to give up, to go away and leave her alone, but he never did. Getting bored of the little game they were playing, Keara decided to head out of the populated area and to one of the places around where she was sure no one would be. A place she could confront the worker and have them on their way without raising suspicion.

Right. Right. Left. Straight ahead was the iron rod gate of the cemetery that housed plenty of important players in history along with people who just had plenty of money to buy their way in. Keara passed through the gates, disproving the theory people had that witches and vampires can't walk on hallow ground. So many myths, and so few of them true. The grounds were empty. It wasn't as creepy as movies made it cemeteries out to be, with the lingering fog and things that go bump in the night. It was just a place with headstones and dead people buried everywhere. Of course, it was daytime. The creepy things only happened at night. Keara smirked at her own thought, shaking her head. No, cemeteries were normal. Another myth, or ghost story, or whatever you wanted to call it. All she knew was the stench was overwhelming. Dead bodies buried in the ground did not smell that appetizing. Maybe that was the reason people thought vampires didn't walk on hallow ground? That it was the smell that drove them away, not just because they couldn't. Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised. If she had thought of another, more viable location, Keara probably would not have come to the cemetery, but it was the most reasonable of all choices. The only place in the area that was empty. So she merely closed off her sense of smell, allowing her ears to become her guide to the people around her. She could hear the faint footsteps of the person following her, so she continued to walk, weaving in and out of headstones and behind a few crypts. The person was keeping their distance, even taking different paths than what she had. They were good, much better than the previous ones. But still not good enough.

Keara waited until they got closer to the crypts before she climbed on top of the one she was next to and began to silently jump from one to the other. A second later she was standing just over the Ministry worker who was still blindly wandering through the crypts. Their heartbeat was increasing steadily. If she had a wish to smell, she would imagine concern would be in the air, maybe a tinge of fear, but she doubted that. Fear was becoming less of a reaction for those who followed her. Maybe they realized that she wouldn't kill them. "Do I have to force you back?" she asked in a more haunting voice than she had intended. Guess the tone came with the territory. "Or will you go like a good little worker bee you are?" This time a little less haunting, a little more suggestive. The worker stopped and looked up. Oh, no, there was the fear. Yeah, definitely fear. She didn't even need to smell. She could feel it. Keara wondered if they kept doing this, if she would begin to make a game out of it. Maybe see how much it would take to scare one of them into wetting themselves. Oh, that would be entertaining. The thought caused her to chuckle softly as she jumped down from the crypt and landed right in front of the male. He had a good six inches on her, but then most males did. Though height didn't matter. Her hand reached up and lightly touched the cheek of the male who quickly withdrew and backed up. She thought she heard him start to stutter, but no sound. Just a gulp. "Be a good boy, and run along home to Ashton. And please, try to convince him that this is not worth your time or money. He won't get what he wants." It wasn't a request, it was a command. And even though her compulsion didn't work on them while they were on whatever the Ministry had created, the same thing that kept their blood from being drinkable, her tone was enough. He turned away, about to apparate back to the Ministry where her message would fall on deaf ears. Ashton wouldn't listen, he would just send more. Keara would be alone in the cemetery for a while, but they would be back. Until then, she could enjoy some alone time.

But not alone. Her head turned to the side, her chin nearly touching her shoulder as she listened. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on the sounds. Rustling of leaves by the slight breeze, hoot of an owl in the distance, and footsteps. Other footsteps. Merlin, what now?

[Mortimer Blackwood]

Well, didn't this just feel familiar? Walking at a distance behind one Ms. Sonnet. Following on the tops of roofs and along the lines of fences. Silently, as he was accustomed to do. He could hardly believe that she was still here, after all this time she was still so very close. Naturally, if was in the nature of an orphan to stay close to home. Even if she didn't realize that was what it was that she was doing. A sly grin crawled across the features of the man following the man following her. While Mortimer was new again to Austria, he was hardly passing through. Because of that, he figured he might as well make himself known to the vampires in the area, those that needed to know who he was and why he was. It was just an issue of courtesy. Given that he was fond of drinking from, unwilling, participants. The non-human side of him didn't like to be stifled on the few occasions that he chose to let it out. He figured that this was likely going to be one of those times. He had no idea why this man was following Keara, he didn't need to know, he just knew that she knew, and was attempting to deter him with her path. Why she didn't just kill the large fellow he would never understand. Despite her size, she wasn't weak, just, well, weak in some aspects. Where was she taking them? Him, she didn't know Mortimer was even there, not yet anyway. The features of the tail's tail screwed up once he saw the iron gates. He didn't like iron. He was very opposed in many ways to iron. But he wasn't willing to give up his little game until his curiosity was sated. He hung back a little longer than he should, but he could still hear the human, so it wasn't likely that he was going to be losing anybody any time soon. With a grimace, he pushed past the gate into the cemetery. As he should have expected, the near wall of death stench slapped him across the face as soon as he had, almost causing him to stagger back. His fingers pinched his nostrils shut, like it would help much, as he moved forward again. Not needing to breath means not needing to inhale to smell the stench, it was just always there, overpowering his hundreds of years old nose.

Looking over his shoulder in the direction of the gate he considered leaving, was this really worth it? Just to make an impression? His urge for dramatic flair told him that yes, it was. His nose however, was singing a different tune. The fact that it was daylight, also urging him to go back home. He had chosen today for a reason, he argued mentally with himself. Right, he trudged forward with a lightness of foot that only the undead could fathom. Disgruntled he came closer to the party he was here to see, now that they were both stationary. Only thing bad about the cemetary, was there was a lot of open ground to cross. He wasn't about to duck and roll between the headstones. Thuogh, he could, in a pinch. "Do I have to force you back? Or will you go like a good little worker bee you are?" Shit. There she was, on top of the crypt. Still looking the same as ever, even if there was a different air about her this trip. Falling backward so as not to be noticed be her he lay in wait until she was done with whatever it was that she was attempting to communicate. He had told her once before there was hardly any reason the actually talk to a human, let alone try to reason with them. That wasn't from his experience as a vampire either, that knowledge came vividly from his human days. With his back pressed to the body of an angel statue, he listened. "Be a good boy, and run along home to Ashton. And please, try to convince him that this is not worth your time or money. He won't get what he wants." So, very, many, questions he had for her. Was this Ashton an interest of hers? He automatically wanted to meet the man, set him straight. No, he and Kea had never been that sort of item, not yet anyway, but he had always felt a pressing need to be the be all end all of men for every woman that he came across. Part of the reason he forced himself to come across as so very charismatic despite his actual nature. Jealously flooded his fingertips, and he was moving again before he knew what he was doing.

He moved with a speed that made the rest of the setting around him seem like a blob of color until he stopped. Whenever his feet abruptly came to a halt, his hand was already lodged inside of the chest cavity of the male in front of him. They were almost equal in height, though the human had a great deal of bulk on Mortimer. His hand shoved upward, wrappping around the blood pumping organ and squeezed, relishing in the look of shock on his face. Yes, it was always such a surprise to humans that they were, in fact, mortal. Extracting he heart from the mans body, he paid no attention to the fact that the body sunk to its knees and crumbled to the ground. Instead, he made a fancy show of tossing the heart into the air like it was a baseball, miming that he was striking it away and then tossing it 'over the fence line'. That should be a fair surprise for whoever or whatever the organ would land on. He only wished he could be there to watch it, instead, he had questions to ask. His eyes rounded on Keara, his dark red eyes glistening as he placed his brightest and most winning smile across his features. “Who's Ashton?”

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_{Word Count 1012
Inspiration silence
Tags Keara
Status Complete
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}

[Keara Sonnet]

Footsteps shouldn't be a concern. Not for a vampire. Footsteps just meant another person, another person Keara could out run, out gun, or kill if need be. Of course, she would prefer not to have to do any of that if she couldn't help it. Hurting people, and especially killing, only put her further down on Ashton's list, further towards the point where he would overlook it because of their deal and just slap registered across her file. Of course, she was already being followed. What more could they do? He would have one hell of a fight before he would get her into Azkaban. More than likely she would rip out her own heart first, something she had actually contemplated trying while he was in the middle of interrogating her. Fortunately, she hadn't gone much past contemplating when he had finally let her go, when they had finally come to an accord. Keara would forever regret giving him the information she did, giving him that sort of leverage against her own kind, but also making a deal with the devil. A devil that she wasn't sure would hold up his end of the bargain. But, nonetheless, she was being a good little vampire. Ashton had no reason to think otherwise. She hadn't killed, well, at least not while he was watching. If there was someone tailing her, she made sure to be on her best behavior. Even if she considered there was a chance that Ashton would find out about what she had done, Keara didn't take it. She only killed when the risk of him finding out was nil. Right now obviously wasn't that moment since he would know she had a tail. If that tail didn't come back, he would know who to point it to, so she always let them go. Let them run right back to where they came from. Apparently someone else had another idea in mind.

The fast movement caught her off guard, something that should have never happened. Keara had let herself assume it was a human, just someone having fun following two other people into a cemetery. Or maybe they had interrupted someone's grieving process. If it wasn't for the overwhelming stench of death surrounding her, she might have been able to anticipate an alternate scenario. Though she didn't need her nose to tell her what he was. Just the sight of him, the moment he appeared, was enough to tell her the species. His speed was incredible, fast enough that she had to focus a little harder to see him come out from behind the crypts. The person who was there, the person who the footsteps belonged to, was dead. How long? She wouldn't be able to estimate until she was able to smell again without the overwhelming rank of rotting bodies. But by his speed, she assumed it wasn't a recent siring. Her eyes followed him and she knew exactly what he was going to do. It was obvious. He wasn't headed in her direction so she had no reason to be concerned about herself. No, he was a vampire, and there was a human. Predatory instinct. Had he been upset that Keara wasn't going to kill the man? Some vampires didn't believe in letting a human live when face to face. Maybe he was one of them? She was about to reach out to stop him, violently. To tell him that this was not his place, that he had no right to come close to this human with her there. This was her human to kill or let live and he had no right to make that decision for her, but she was too late. By the time her hand even moved from where it was, he had stopped in front of the human and thrust his own hand into his chest cavity. Hers fell back the millimeter that she had raised it and remained there, her mouth set into a flat expression. He was fast, far too fast. And now he was the enemy.

Keara could hear his hand moving inside, hear the progression of bones breaking as he reached further until he grasped the still beating heart of the Ministry worker. She could hear it. Thump. Thump. Thump. It thumped against his hand one, two, three more times before he pulled back his hand, bringing the human heart with him. Keara could swear she had heard it beat one more time, heard it make one final plea to be left to live in its human host, but it was gone. To reiterate that fact, the human sunk to his knees, his body becoming a new still display among the crypts. He would fit in well here. His rotting body would just add to the stench, even more so since he was above ground. But, for now, the smell of his blood would help cover up the other smells in the graveyard, even if only slightly, though she didn't care to chance it just yet. Her curiosity for the smell did not outweigh the sudden anger she was feeling towards the vampire in front of her. As he toyed with the heart, Keara's hands slowly formed into fists at her side, her jaw working back and forth at each toss of the heart. Her eyes followed it for a few moments before the vampire finally turned to face her, before her eyes finally settled on the face of the vampire who had just ruined everything she had been doing so well to keep under wraps. A sense of recognition hit her the moment she saw his eyes, and that only made it that much worse. "You…" she growled, unable to believe how easily he plastered that smile across his face. He didn't even realize what he had just done, he didn't understand the ramifications that would come down on her shoulders now.

“Who's Ashton?” Keara took a step forward, about ready to punch him in the gut for eavesdropping, for even daring to butt into her life right now. He had his time to do that, he had it plenty of times in the past. But not now. Not when she had so many other things to take care of. She tried to find the words, but they were strangled by the frustration in her throat. Instead of giving into the urge to punch him into the gut, she gave way to the one to punch him in the face. It was more for frustration purposes than to actually cause pain because she knew she couldn’t, and wouldn't. The punch was only half the power of what it could be, and he was far too old for her to really do any damage, anyways. But it made her feel better. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Keara turned her back to Mortimer, walked a few paces, and unleashed another one of her punches on the crypt next to her. The name of a famous Chancellor of Austria became just a garbled mess of stone. Still not enough to feel better, but she could finally find the words she needed. "A problem that you just made a hell of a lot worse," she hissed as she turned around to face him again. Out of all of the things he could have done, why did he have to kill a Ministry worker? Most certainly she was going to be blamed for it. The death was going to be pinned on her and Ashton was going to rescind their deal. The only reason she had given up information on Centara in the first place would be meaningless because he just had to go and kill someone.

"Why are you here, Mortimer? If it's to cause trouble, congratulations, you can leave now," she added, losing some of the hostility in her tone as she placed her hands on her hips. It always seemed that when he came around, something went wrong. Of course, by the time he left again she wasn't too upset about him coming around, but why did he always have to stir up trouble in the beginning?

[Mortimer Blackwood]

Hungry. That was the only thing that death seemed to make him feel these days. Just a hunger for the blood that had been spilled. There had been a time that the idea of death would bother him, that just the idea of being in pain caused him fear. He had been just a child, he thought of all of his human years as his childhood. He had lived so very many lifetimes now. Human death, mortality, pain, none of it phased him any longer. He would outlive all of the humans that he came across anyway. He wasn't the type to make those after his own image. He had even managed to outlive most of the vampires that he had come to know. He felt no remorse to take a life, he felt almost nothing about it whatsoever. If this human had meant something to her, in any capacity, he was certain that she would find another that could fill the role fairly easily. If not, then next generation. They were always breeding, repopulating. Continuing on in the food chain that they thought that they were at the top of. He had no love for humans. Almost all of them were nothing more than annoying.

”You.” Why was nobody happy to see him? He was such a shiny person, he had come out into the daylight for her even. Anybody who knew him knew that he didn't like daylight, or the magic he needed to use in order to tolerate it. He could feel his bottom lip protruding, jutting out to his his disdain for her lack of enthusiasm. As if in almost slow motion, her fist came up to connect with his face, not enough threat to bother to flinch, not enough to even bother reacting, his head hardly even moved. It it weren't for the slight ripple in his hair, it would have seemed to miss him. He could feel the sting in his jaw, already starting to fade as his pout deepened. She was really upset that he had killed one tiny little human? She hadn't even bothered to explain why that was a bad thing, or any answer to his question. It had been simple enough, he didn't think that he could make it any more simple for her. If he had been the sort to allow himself to indulge in emotions, he might have been hurt, offended even at her lack of interest in seeing him. He didn't much care for it. "A problem that you just made a hell of a lot worse," his face scrunched just enough to seem repentant. He didn't feel bad, couldn't feel bad for killing a human. He knew humans had done enough to him in his lifetime. Dramatically, he glanced down at the body crumpled on the ground, obviously this wasn't Ashton, he didn't even seem like he was anybody of real importance, just some other run of the mill badly tailored suit to get in his way. Why was she so upset? The sound of her fist connecting with the stone of the grave was almost overwhelming given the mixture of the sharp sound and the smell of rotting and decaying flesh. His eyes instantly locked onto her frame. Obviously it was whatever was going to happen because of this death. She didn't really think that he was going to apologize for it, she couldn't. As her little tantrum continued, his pout turned into an amused smile despite his best efforts.

How cute. "Why are you here, Mortimer? If it's to cause trouble, congratulations, you can leave now," Aww, how quaint it was, her anger over some little bitty human. There was no need for it, Boyishly he kicked at the ground “Aw, shucks Keara” his flirting eyes lifting to her face “I just wanted to see you is all.” invoking his speed once more he was in front of her, staring directly into her dull red eyes. Obviously she wasn't as angry as she was pretending to be. His hands moved to either side of her hips in a gesture that wasn't quite friendly, but not overly intimate either. He wasn't here for that, not today. “You don't really want me to leave do you?” his voice like satin, letting go of her hips to cup her face “I just couldn't bear the thought of you not wanting me around,” he stared into her eyes, like a child begging his mother for just one more cookie, pleading that it wouldn't damage his appetite. Oh, pretty please Keara, can't I just stay for five more minutes? You know you wanna let me? She wasn't the reason that he was here, he was certain that she would see right through it. He was here anyway, she was just a perk. He liked to check up on his projects over time, and it was a very rare thing for him to find so very many of them all in the same place for this long. Because of that, he had no intentions of leaving any time soon. Not until he got what he had really come for. Besides, he was in the middle of a transition, from the life he had developed in the sixties into something more, modern. From the looks of it she knew well enough about the goings on of current day type clothing and stuff.

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_{Word Count 901
Inspiration silence
Tags Keara
Status Complete
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}

[Keara Sonnet]

Keara took in a deep breath as the dust began to settle from the crypt. The stone pieces were now lying on the ground. The name of the male who used to hold such a high position in Austria, was now reduced to rubble, his name scattered about in little pieces in the grass. It was funny how easily things could be destroyed. Build something up and make it amazing, just to have it fall at the drop of a hat. Relationships, careers, and for humans, life. This man had done so much with his life, worked all his years to become a top political figure, and now his name was reduced to dust. Would anyone even notice that his crypt had been disturbed? Was his name even remembered in anything other than a history book? Somehow, Keara imagined he had been forgotten long ago. No one visited his crypt, why would they? That was the good thing about being a vampire. Watch your back and you could live forever, making however many, or how little contributions to society that you wanted. No one really cared when you were gone because everyone you grew up with would be dead by the time you were, so there was no concern for a crypt. No need to make a name for yourself unless you desired. And there was no false hope that people would remember you throughout history. You just lived to live. Quite frankly, Keara was happy being a vampire. She loved her life. Of course, it was moments like these where she questioned how much she loved her life.

She knew the vampire behind her was pouting, she had seen a glimpse of it before she had turned around to punch the crypt but she ignored it. Mortimer always had a flare for the dramatics, something Keara had always tried to ignore as much as possible. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of apologizing for being so brash, though. He deserved it. He had no idea what he had just done to her life, had no idea the amount of problems she was now going to have to deal with because he couldn’t keep from killing a human. Grinding her teeth, Keara turned around, intending on yelling at him to get out the last of her frustration so she could start figuring out how to fix the mess he had just put her in, but the moment she saw his face. The anger melted away. He was smiling, obviously amused. She shouldn't have been surprised. He had always enjoyed when she got angry, when anyone got angry, actually. What vampire didn't? Anger was such a fleeting emotion, one that made people do stupid things like destroy a crypt or punch a vampire who hardly even moved. The smile became slightly contagious. Keara couldn't resist cracking a small smile as she thought of how pathetic she had probably looked. Anger wouldn't do her any good because the human was already dead, down on the ground in a heap. Anger wouldn't bring him back, nor would it change how Mortimer felt. He was a vampire and vampires killed humans. She wasn't going to be able to convince him that he shouldn't have killed the human. She would just have to deal with the repercussions on her own. Sighing, Keara shook her head slightly. She needed to get a handle on these emotions again. It was so easy to have life without them. Nothing bothered her ever. Now that they were back, she had to learn how to live with them again, how to not get angry so easily.

“Aw, shucks Keara.” No, not those eyes. Keara averted her own before his could make the connection. He had always entranced her, always brought her into his world with just a glance. He was good at that. But not this time. No, even if she wasn't going to stay angry, she was going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to her. “I just wanted to see you is all.” Keara rolled her eyes, tilting her head to the side a bit to look at him, but just as she looked in the direction where he was, Mortimer wasn't there. He was right in front of her. Smirking, Keara looked up at him, trying to avoid the alluring look in his eyes but it was so hard. As his hands moved to her hips, Keara couldn't help but give in. Merlin, he was so easy to fall to. She couldn't imagine how. Was it because they had history, or was it the fact that he was older? Keara always did have a thing for older men… “You don't really want me to leave do you?” Keara shook her head slightly. He knew the answer, he didn't have to ask. When had she ever not actually wanted his company? She was just upset when she had said that, an emotion she was sure she didn't see in her eyes any longer because it wasn't there. He always melted away the anger, melted away any emotion she was feeling. He just had that way about him. His hand left her hip and came to her face. The skin on skin contact was cold, but refreshing. It had been a while since she had anyone this close to her, and I was nice to know that she wasn't the plague like people made her out to be. “I just couldn't bear the thought of you not wanting me around." Always with the dramatics. Heaving her own dramatic sigh, Kears rolled her eyes. "I guess you can stay." Her own hand moved to his face where she ran her thumb along his jawline. He had always been so handsome. She tapped his cheek softly, giving him a sly grin as she pulled away from him and leaned against the same crypt she had just destroyed.

"So, are you going to tell me why you are here or am I going to have to convince you with other, various means?"

[Mortimer Blackwood]

The smell of broken limestone was helping to dilute the smell of death. He should thank her, the smell was getting overwhelming. He had never been very good at turning off his senses. He could see the tiny changes in her expression, wavering. She was going to give in to him, everybody always did. He had a face that was just naturally hard to stay mad at. So long as his lip stayed jutted out in front of him, so long as he kept his eyes in this way, she would cave. The second that she cracked a smile he was forgiven. Obviously, whatever fallout was going to come from the murder he had just so openly committed, it wasn't going to be something that hard to get over. He did, however, still want to know the answer to his question. As he had been expecting, slowly she cracked a smile. Good, then this little reunion could continue in the manner that he had been hoping for. If she was 'angry' with him the whole time it wouldn't be nearly as fun. "I guess you can stay." His grin was still spreading, wolfish in it's size. His hands moved back to her hips, urging them to dip like he was dancing with her in his excitement as her 'allowance' of him to stay in her company. Her hand on his face was cool, but not unwelcome. He was no stranger to physical contact, it just cemented that he was forgiven for whatever transgression that he had just laid at her feet. Allowing her body to leave his, he jumped lightly, landing easily on the top of the nearest headstone. Teetering with his hands outstretched on either side of his body. As if he needed help with his balance. Obviously he didn't. The movements just made him look more human. Balancing on one foot he bent his knee a little, dipping one foot down the side of the headstone like it was a balance beam as he started to 'wobble' toward the next closest limestone marker. Mostly, just to keep himself occupied. He didn't like standing in one place for too long, he tended to get bored easily. Not that her company was boring, not yet anyway. She no doubt had a lot of things to catch him on since the last time that he had seen her. Had it been here? He could have sworn that it had been somewhere in Italy? Some shop or another he thought. Her hair had been different at least, and she didn't seem to change her style very often. Something interesting had to of happened since then. If nothing else she could bring him up to speed with the political situation in this area. She was only his second social stop thus far.

"So, are you going to tell me why you are here or am I going to have to convince you with other, various means?" The grin that popped over his face was practically uncontrollable. “Oh, other various means, please.” he answered enthusiastically. That would always be his answer, given the choice. She shouldn't have even had to ask, she should have known his answer. Didn't matter what the situation was, he would always pick the difficult route, it tended to yield more, interesting results. Did he think that she was actually going to have a method of convincing of him? No. Dipping another foot he hopped over to the next headstone. “Honestly, I missed those legs of yours” he spoke indirectly to her, he could still hear her, unmoving. “Good enough reason to jump continents every now and then” he turned his head just enough to scan her legs suggestively. “Honestly, how stereotypically are we?” he teased. Hopping off of the headstone and crossing back toward her “Holding secret meetings in a graveyard?” his eyes rolled “might as well put a sign over your head screeching 'VAMPIRE!'” he said far too loudly for his own good, his hands accentuating his words. Why had she chosen this place over all others for this meeting? “You never did tell me who this man was? I'm very interested in knowing...” he moved back over to her, standing just less than a foot in front of her, hands crossed in front of his chest, gazing quizzically into her eyes. “Surely, not a lover?” from the almost offended face she pulled he grinned. Good. He was sure that she had had other lovers since they had last been together, how long had it even been really? He couldn't be sure.

One thing that he wanted to be sure to cover over the course of their conversation was why her family home had been decimated. Not that her family was an easy subject to broach given his unknown relationship with her late parent. Parents. He reminded himself softly. He had to get her to bring it up of her own volition. Somehow. “Come on, give me a bone here.” he grinned, his mind taking a turn for the, less wholesome. “Don't make me pump you for information.”

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_{Word Count 850
Inspiration silence
Tags Keara
Status Complete
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}

[Keara Sonnet]

Oh how Mortimer had his ways. Even as Keara leaned against the stone crypt, the settling dust getting all over her dress and boots, making the distressed leather a lighter grey instead of black, she could feel his fingers on her hips. Against her face. The icy feeling left behind by his cold hands against her just as cold skin was hypnotic. She missed the touch of another male, the touch of another person in general. She wasn't too picky. Intimacy was the same no matter male or female while the clothes were still on. Though it wasn't like she usually met other females who felt the same so usually her interactions were strictly male. And it happened to be that this male had a particular soft spot with her recently. Well, as soft as one could get with a vampire. The fact that his touch lingered in her subconscious was sign number one that he had too much power over her. Why did she let herself get into these situations with men? There was that one forty years back, a vampire who had convinced her that going on a murderous rampage wasn't all so bad. The consequences of that one had just been a lot of remorse about all the people murdered. Of course, their interactions hadn't lasted long. Had he told her about switching off her emotions, it probably would have lasted much longer. But once she had gotten past him, there were a few humans in line. They had all meant to be her toys, boys to just play with then leave, but somehow each of them had dug their feet into the ground and made a mark. After the last one, there was a bit of a dry spot until Damien. Oh Damien. How they had fallen apart after London. The Quartet had just collapsed when he had left. Of course, she had followed in an attempt not to lose him. He had meant so much to her at that time, the only human she had cared for so deeply to change locations for. Even though Liese and Jackson had followed, nothing brought the quartet back. It was probably for the best. Because as the quartet dissolved, she saw Damien less and less, resulting in a disconnect of their relationship. Yet another human that had a hold on her that was eventually destroyed.

Then there was Tristan. Merlin that was a lesson learned. All of it was. It had taken her so long to realize, but she knew now, she wasn't the type of girl for a human. They had a way of digging under one's skin and not letting go until they tore out and left a mess in their wake. Or it was just her weak resolve when it came to men in general. She honestly didn't know, but she didn't care. At least in general, vampires were easier to handle. But then again, here was Mortimer. He had met her when she had no emotions, when she was just a volatile mess that didn't care what damage she left in her wake. Did he realize she wasn't the same vampire he had met? That that version of her was some distant nightmare in her opinion? Sure, things had been easy and fun, but the repercussions of her actions weren't exactly pleasant. Killing mass loads of humans was not Keara's fantasy like most vampires. She killed to get by, sure, but never murdering entire families in one swoop. How many generations had she killed in one instance? Removing entire families from existence? The thought made her cringe, the icy chill his fingers left behind dulling in her sudden disgust. She hated what she had done, but she lived with those actions and moved on. But would he? Would Mortimer, the vampire who had been the most recent male to get his grip on her, accept that she wasn't the same vampire? Did it honestly matter? She wouldn’t change for anyone. Keara refused. She had done it so many times in the past and every time she was the one hurt. No longer. She just hoped that he could accept this version of her. He was the most fun she had when in Romania and, he could possibly be the most fun she would have in Austria. If he gave it a chance.

“Oh, other various means, please.” Keara watched as his grin only emphasized how much he seemed to like this idea. She matched his grin with her own. Of course, she didn't have ways to make him talk. He was much older than she was. He had gone through the whole gambit and back again. What could she offer that he hadn't had before? Or, in the other case, what could she use as torture that he hadn't withstood? Or that he would even feel for that matter? No, Keara had nothing up her sleeve. It was an empty threat at best and Mort knew it. She watched as he hopped from headstone to headstone, obviously amusing himself in his own mind. Had she noticed his inability to stay still before? Surely she would have. She could stay still for hours, not moving an inch. It was in a vampire's nature to not have to move, breath, blink. Keara took to that part of her nature, evident at the fact that the only thing that had moved since she leaned against the crypt was her facial features. It wasn't normal for her to move much else when not in the presence of a human. “Honestly, I missed those legs of yours.” Keara quirked an eyebrow, her grin turning sly. Withholding could be a method. There was no doubt in her mind that it wouldn't get him to talk, but she could at least play around with him for a bit. Lifting herself from the crypt, Keara leaned down and grabbed the hem of her dress with one hand, lifting it slowly to reveal a little more of her leg with each passing second. "You mean these legs?" She threw in both a flirtatious and a curious tone as she stopped raising the dress just below the top of her thigh. She let go of the hem and allowed her dress to fall back into place, lacing her fingers together behind her back. Casually, she strolled from the crypt over to the first headstone he had chosen as a perch. She stood behind it, blocking her legs from view as she bent forward at the hips. She placed one elbow on the tombstone and her chin on top of her palm. Her other arm draped across the tombstone as she smiled softly at him. Fortunately the air didn’t carry much of a wind. Otherwise, there would be nothing to keep her dress from bearing all, especially since Keara had chosen today of all days to go commando. Of course, it wasn't something Mortimer hadn't seen, but if she was withholding, that wouldn't help her case.

“Honestly, how stereotypically are we?” Keara glanced around the cemetery. The sun was lower than when they had first entered, but not by much. The effect was enough though. Long shadows were starting to be cast by the tombstones and crypts, just adding an additional touch of creepy to the grounds. Once the sun went down, the fog would probably start to roll in, adding to the ambiance that was a graveyard. Keara didn't mind them so much if it wasn't for the smell, but that was hard to overcome sometimes. Fortunately, the smell of fresh human blood and the crumbled limestone was enough to help block some of it out, but Keara still refused to breathe. She didn't need to, so there was no need to deal with the putrid stench. She only ever breathed for appearance purposes. Mortimer was already aware of her undead nature. No need to hide it. "Holding secret meetings in a graveyard? Might as well put a sign over your head screeching 'VAMPIRE!'” Keara chuckled as she looked back towards him. "A meeting implies you had all of this planned out, Mortimer. Apparently my methods are working. Maybe if I hide a little bit more of myself, you'll tell me why you planned to see me?" she mused, tilting her head to the side in her hand. It wouldn't work, she knew that, because the information he'd given wasn't anything new. He wouldn't have been here if he didn't plan it, unless for some strange reason he was already in Austria and just happened to cross paths with her. Somehow, Keara didn't imagine that was possible. She was really dying to know why he had been following her. What did he hope to get out of being here? If it was purely a booty call, he would have already progressed in his attempt so obviously it was something meaningful.

“You never did tell me who this man was? I'm very interested in knowing...” Keara's eyes lazily rolled from Mortimer to the dead body, momentarily forgetting that she wanted to know why he was here. Now all she could think about were the repercussions that were due to come down on her. Ashton would surely register her now. Her name would be plastered everywhere, she'd be labeled as a vampire and a murderer. Well, what vampire wasn't. It just so happened that for once, she wasn't responsible for the murder. “Surely, not a lover?” Keara's face scrunched in obvious disgust at his assumption. It actually left a bad taste in her mouth, one that made her want to gag. She bit down on her own tongue, piercing it through with her fang, just to fill her mouth with the taste of her own blood. It wasn't nearly as good as it had been when she had consumed it the day before, but it was blood nonetheless. And it got rid of that bad taste that was left at just the thought of her and Ashton being anything more than enemies. “Come on, give me a bone here.” Keara's face untwisted, leaving it straight with no emotion as she looked back up to him. Why did he want to know? Surely he didn't care if there were other men in her life? Certainly there had been. Not recently, of course, but before she had returned to Austria and even a few in the first months back. Mainly humans that she turned into a snack later, but some other vampires. None nearly as skilled as she would have preferred, but that sentiment wouldn't be voiced.

Ever since getting her emotions back, Keara seemed to be caught back in the web that was work. She was still managing Der Keller on nearly a full time basis while helping Centara with the vampires. Though, it seemed like Centara was into much more these days with how little they ever saw one another. Despite Keara declaring her allegiance with her once-again friend, she was still out of the loop on most things. Often, Keara wondered if she was actually doing all of the work. If Cen just sat around all day drinking and fraternizing with the vampires. Surely not, but who actually knew what the woman did all day. All that Keara knew was she had been put in charge of much more than she had ever imagined before. Centara had pretty much taken a leave of absence from the vampire training sessions. Kea imagined it was to keep her identity closer to the belt, despite that each vampire was compelled so that if interrogated, they would never remember who really led the vampires, only leading said person into dead ends. Though, one could never be too careful these days, what with the new weapons the Ministry had developed. Horrid things. Keara felt a shiver crawl down her elongated spine as she remembered the god awful time she had with Ashton last. Never again. “Don't make me pump you for information.” Keara chuckled as she rolled her eyes. "I would love to see you try," she purred, removing her chin from her hand and draping her arm across the other. The amusement disappeared as her lip twitched out of repulsion, her eyes roaming the dead body on the ground whose blood was helping conceal the smell of the dead. "He's Ministry. Sent to follow me and make sure I'm being a good little vampire." The tone of her voice was mocking, but it was truth. How they ever expected a vampire to actually be good was insane. "Ashton is the one who is handling the registration of our kind here in Austria. Turning us into names on a list to be watched and feared. Ridiculed and exposed. A list that everyone has access to and can peruse if they wish." Her shoulders tensed as she gritted her teeth for a moment.

"Things in Austria are much different than Italy. Or Romania. Or anywhere out there. Austria is heading this path to taking out our kind and they're getting other countries on this bandwagon. Leashing us like animals, creating weapons that can do damage unlike anything I've ever known." Again, her spine crawled as she remembered the state she had been in after facing said weapons for the first time. Begging for any scrap of blood she could get as she edged near petrification. The burning that came with his tainted blood and the spray he enjoyed using directly in her face. Even the spell that he had used to bring her so close to losing all mobility in her body. Each weapon on its own could be handled, but all of them at once was more difficult to manage. "He's been looking for a reason to register me, and I believe you just gave him such a reason," she added, motioning to the body. She decided to leave out the part about how the only reason he hadn't already written down her name was because of a deal that had been struck. She had traded information for her own sake. Embarrassing that she couldn't be strong enough to protect someone she thought she had cared for. He didn't need to know that information. And he wouldn't unless he used other means to extract it. She had no intention of letting his fangs get that close to her neck. Shaking her head, she looked back up at him from the body on the ground. "So thanks for that," she hissed softly, fully intending the malice that came with the words, but her face didn't show it. She couldn't be mad at him for acting within his own nature. Not when she had done that herself for so long. Tilting her head back, she allowed a small smile to cross her lips. "Your turn. Why are you here?"

[Mortimer Blackwood]

"You mean these legs?" The sly grin widened at the willing exposure of her leg. His eyes roamed freely over the flesh, she had invited him to look after all. His hand lifted in her direction, his fingers twitching in her direction as if to say, 'yes, those legs exactly'. He would have no objections whatsoever if she wanted to continue lifting the hem of her dress all the way up and over her head. It wasn't exactly what he had come here for, but he wasn't going to say no either. Those boots were adorable, she could keep those. Given the fact that there was blood on the ground not too far from them, she might need them. This was one place he had never lain before, a cemetery. He knew a lot of vampires woke up in their coffins and had to dig their way out. Not him, he had been cast into a gutter after being pronounced dead. His maker fished him out just before they dumped the weeks bodies in the ravine. Then, he had woken up the second time in her bed. He didn't even think that he had been on consecrated ground more than a dozen times in his almost five hundred years. Not sleeping, not other horizontal activities, nothing. This was a rare occurrence for him.

"A meeting implies you had all of this planned out, Mortimer. Apparently my methods are working. Maybe if I hide a little bit more of myself, you'll tell me why you planned to see me?" His brow furrowed and he 'tsk'd' her for her misunderstanding. “Not my meeting Keara. You were the one holding meetings, honestly.” his tone berating, but still light. How could he have planned the meeting whenever he had been the one to follow her here? His eyes ran down her figure, now obstructed from his eyesight. Pity. The disgust on her face at his suggestion of the either the man who he had murdered, or the one who had sent him being a lover was pleasing. He liked knowing that she didn't have on. No, the information didn't exclude the possibility, but it seemed unlikely. She would have just contradicted him if that were the case. "I would love to see you try," Oh would she? With his blinding speed he moved up behind her, his hand balling up the fabric on the front of her thigh, twisting it upward slowly, one finger at a time. “Don't tease me Keara, you know I don't like it,” she smelled so sweet, who had she eaten last to smell that way? It wasn't even a fresh scent, but it certainly was there. His eyes moved to the back of her head about where her lips would be, it was coming from her mouth. She had bitten herself? More questions were springing up. Letting go of the fabric and patting her on the rear he took a step away from her, chuckling softly. "He's Ministry. Sent to follow me and make sure I'm being a good little vampire." That was better, this was getting somewhere. Stooping to pluck a brown blade of grass from the earth he gave her her space back. Why would the Ministry care about the affairs of the undead? Was that why she was here? He could easily get distracted if he followed down that train of thought too far. Whipping his head back to Keara he focused. "Ashton is the one who is handling the registration of our kind here in Austria. Turning us into names on a list to be watched and feared. Ridiculed and exposed. A list that everyone has access to and can peruse if they wish." Registered? It wasn't the first time humans had attempted to exert some control over their kind, and it wouldn't be the last. He doubted it would stick, but if it was enough to bother her, he would have to take a look into it. Before, it had never been anything serious, just fleeting issues that could be shrugged off by those who knew how to walk the world undetected, like the two of them. She was old enough to have been above such things, if they were getting to her, well, that wasn't comforting in the slightest.

"Things in Austria are much different than Italy. Or Romania. Or anywhere out there. Austria is heading this path to taking out our kind and they're getting other countries on this bandwagon. Leashing us like animals, creating weapons that can do damage unlike anything I've ever known." His light nature was forgotten, the conversation had grown far more serious than he had anticipated. He took in every word that she uttered carefully. This was bad news indeed. Never again would he be a slave to any man or woman. He would not be leashed. Apparently he was here for more than one reason. “Weapons?” He tried not to sound too interested, but failed. "He's been looking for a reason to register me, and I believe you just gave him such a reason," his eyes trailed backward to the body already starting to rot. Oh, that was a bit of a snag. “if he knows who you are, why aren't you on this list? How do you know it's not just a threat, others have threatened before.” that might have been before her time, he wasn't certain. Certainly the first that he had heard of in Austria, or in this side of Europe at all. Apart from the Reich in Germany of course, they had wanted to categorize all types of everything. "So thanks for that," his lips pursed. He didn't understand. “Why don't you just kill the offending human and be done with it?” It was the simple solution. He didn't know what sort of weapons she was referring to, but they couldn't be that bad. Unless she had somehow gotten weaker. Emotions were a hindrance to her, sometimes. Other times, he greatly enjoyed her emotions. "Your turn. Why are you here?" But he wasn't ready to change the subject just yet. He couldn't tell her why he was really here, he never spoke of her, not even to Damon who shared the same nameless issue. In truth, that was just the largest of the reasons he was here. It would seem that Austria was growing in popularity over the last few years. “I've already answered that question Keara” he said with a gesture toward her legs. “If you choose not to listen, then asking is pointless.” his voice was still stern, but it wasn't supposed to be, his curiosity was just piqued. “Why is your ministry involved in the supernatural order in the first place?”

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_{Word Count 1122
Inspiration silence
Tags Keara
Status Complete
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}

[Keara Sonnet]

“Not my meeting Keara. You were the one holding meetings, honestly.” Keara was actually upset that he thought she was meeting the now dead male here. Did it look like she had intended on them meeting? If anything, she had been trying to get rid of him, scare him off, anything that would keep them from coming face to face but when he hadn’t stopped at the rod iron gates, when he hadn’t gotten lost in the labyrinth of the city, she had been forced to take other measures. No, she didn’t ever want to look like she was meeting a Ministry worker, because even if Centara was aware that Kea had let some information slip, even if she was aware that it would never happen again, just the slightest wind that Keara was meeting with Ministry workers would get her chastised. And now, after everything that had happened, Keara couldn’t tread water in comparison. It was amazing what a century could do when you only had one goal. Centara had proven that when it took her one strike to take her down. There was no intention for Keara to ever face that situation again. If it did in fact look like she was meeting these Ministry workers, she was going to have to figure out other methods to turn them away. Then again, after this, would it ever be a question again of if she was meeting them? Somehow, she imagined their methods of tracking her would be different once they registered her. Sighing softly, she shook her head and didn’t bother responding to him.

Keara looked up at him just in time to see him flash behind her, moving with the speed that was reserved only for those vampires who had plenty of life experience. He was fast, enough that her eyes couldn’t follow him the entire way, but she felt him the moment he was behind her. His hand grazed her thigh if only for a moment as he balled up the fabric against her thigh. Despite the knowledge that she would soon be watched even closer than before, Keara couldn’t help the building excitement in her gut that spread through to her limbs with each centimeter that his hand twisted. The excitement edged out the frustration and the anticipation of future events and only allowed her to focus on the close proximity. “Don't tease me Keara, you know I don't like it.” “Who’s teasing?” she whispered, being sure to have just that perfect mix of flirt and tease in her voice, just to add to the moment. She wanted to turn around, to press herself against him and remind him that she never could resist him. Every time he came around, any time he got this close to her, she couldn’t think straight. He had a way about him that could hypnotize you and make the rest of the world not matter. She wished she knew how he did it so she could resist, claim that there was at least one male in the world who didn’t have a hold on her. Unfortunately, Keara was completely aware that there wasn’t much of a cure for vampire seduction. It was just in their nature to be good at luring others into anything sex related. So she knew she wouldn’t be able to resist the urge, especially not as his hand revealed bits more of her thigh at a time, getting closer to where she suddenly wanted it to be. She could turn around, press herself up against him and give him no room to say no. And he wouldn’t, she knew him. But his hand released the fabric of her dress before she could even move. The involuntary smile on her face sagged back to a neutral expression as he patted her on the behind and moved away. Her eyes lazily rolled to him. “Now who’s teasing?” she questioned, trying to regain her composure. It was amazing how the moment he moved away, she seemed to regain all mental acuity. Had she done this to others before? Certainly she wasn’t as good as he was. Keara shook the thought as she straightened out and moved closer to the tombstone, pushing the front of her hips against it as she leaned forward.

Keara placed her hands gently on the tombstone, just outside the width of her hips as she watched his expression. She knew he would think she was crazy as he took in the information she was giving, and maybe she was. But Keara didn’t think so. No other vampires seemed to understand just what she had seen and felt when Ashton had attacked her. They didn’t understand that even though they were humans, they were still possible of making advancements in the way of vampires and werewolves that no one could have imagined. ”Weapons?” Keara simply nodded, a sudden dryness creeping up in her throat as she remembered the different types of weapons that had been used against her. She couldn’t even imagine what else they might have in their arsenal that he never even got to use on her. She felt bad for the poor bastards they had tested all of these weapons on. “If he knows who you are, why aren't you on this list? How do you know it's not just a threat, others have threatened before.” Another grimace, but this time she turned around and took a few paces away from the headstone where she had been leaning. “We had an accord, one made, sadly, out of desperation.” Ha. That was an understatement. Desperation didn’t even begin to describe the panic Keara had felt while she spilled most of her guts to Ashton. Fortunately, he hadn’t gotten everything he could have. She had been coherent enough to only provide him some of the lead incriminating details of the Austrian vampire hierarchy, but it was enough to give him leads. “An accord that was to end when I killed a human. Of course, don’t get me wrong. I’ve still been killing them, just not when one of his spies was around. And never one of the spies.” It had taken careful planning in some instances to be sure she was alone, but she wasn’t about to avoid fresh blood for Ashton. Even keeping from being registered wasn’t worth that.

“Why don't you just kill the offending human and be done with it?” “Oh, I have contemplated it,” she sighed, turning back around to face him with her arms crossed across her chest. “The opportunity never seems to present itself properly.” A lie, but not too far off. Ashton had his own safety guards in place to make sure Keara didn’t do just that. Not to mention all of those weapons at his disposal and his tainted blood. Even if she did have the opportunity, she would have to do it from a distance and magic was not her specialty, so she didn’t bother. It had just been easier in the long run to avoid killing where he would know. “I've already answered that question Keara.” She raised an eyebrow as she tried to remember when he might have indicated his presence here. Then he motioned to her legs and her eyes rolled. He was avoiding the true question, but she didn’t mind if he wanted to say I was for parts of her. At least that hopefully meant she wouldn’t walk out of this graveyard completely disappointed. “If you choose not to listen, then asking is pointless.” Narrowing her eyes at his tone, Keara realized he wasn’t about to change subjects any time soon. She had brought him too deep into this, brought him into a topic she did not feel like discussing right now because it led to questions Keara had no interest in answering. Questions about her past that needed to remain unanswered by all parties involved. It was beginning to make her on edge to think about what would happen if the Ministry did register her, if they did find out the truth about her history. Between her nerves of what they would do if they found out, and the pain Ashton had induced, Keara had no choice but to accept his offer. ”Why is your ministry involved in the supernatural order in the first place?” Shrugging, Keara began to move back and forth across the grounds, pacing slowly. While she normally didn’t mind standing still, when she was nervous or on edge, she couldn’t. Wouldn’t stand still. She was at that point. “If you find out, be sure to let me know. I think they’re just tired of not being top dog,” she replied, shrugging again as she walked an imaginary line in the grass, turned, and walked back again. She didn’t bother to add the part where Keara wondered if they were guinea pigs, being used as test subjects for these weapons.

Stopping her pacing, Keara hugged herself a little tighter before allowing her arms to drop. The nerves were getting to her. No one knew, not even Keara, the implications that would come out if the Ministry found out Keara had been born a vampire. “Why are you so curious anyways? If you’re here for my legs, then you’re becoming awfully distracted,” she said in an attempt to change the subject, trying to add as much inflection to her voice as she could to distract him. She wasn’t convincing, but it was the best she could do at this point. She didn’t want to think about what would happen. She just wanted to have fun. Or go to work. Or anything other than talk about the Ministry.

[Mortimer Blackwood]

Certainly whenever he had walked in here he hadn't been expecting to have a serious conversation. He had been thinking that he would just surprise her with his presence. Perhaps a little fun and a little teasing, instead he got this. Of course, he had wanted information about the goings on politically, but he hadn't expected to get so very much so quickly. Not that he was going to complain, might as well get the boring bits out of the way first and then he could enjoy himself a little bit more. The weapons concerned him just as much as the prospect of a list did. Keara wasn't a young woman in anything but her looks. Younger than he was, perhaps, but she wouldn't have brought it up if there wasn't something to worry about. In a strange way, he trusted her. Trusted her enough to know that if she said something was dangerous, it was dangerous.“We had an accord, one made, sadly, out of desperation.” That however, was misleading. An accord? With a human? He couldn't imagine what sort of circumstances would have had to be arranged in order for that to happen. He certainly couldn't imagine any set of events in which he would strike an agreement with a human. For any purpose. That wasn't just because he preferred his own kind, but given the impulsive and lack of foresight that most humans tended to suffer from, they were notoriously unreliable. Too reckless. They weren't to be trusted, how could she give up anything in exchange for anything else with a human, whenever they had no honor and could turn on her at any point? This Ashton had likely already put her on this list, and was attempting to manipulate her. He almost felt sorry for her for falling for it. Desperation indeed.

“An accord that was to end when I killed a human. Of course, don’t get me wrong. I’ve still been killing them, just not when one of his spies was around. And never one of the spies.” Given that she was likely already on that little list, he didn't feel nearly as bad as he ought to of for her. He did feel poorly that he was causing her problems, and stress. It almost sounded like, she was calling him reckless. He would quite like that if she were. What a good thing to have a reputation for now that he was making himself over, being reckless could only help his image. He was pretending to be a younger man this time around, given that he was perpetually twenty two, he was going to be twenty two. Whereas whenever he had been living in Russia, he was pretending to be in his thirties and just dashingly handsome. “Oh, I have contemplated it, The opportunity never seems to present itself properly.” “Opportunity?” he goaded, “What do you mean opportunity?” He had just taken a chance, killing that man just now, it wasn't like he had had to wait to do it. She should just wait until this Ashton fellow was having a lunch, and poison his sandwich, pop in and snap his neck while he was having his coffee. It had to be so much easier than she was implying that it actually was. Ah, perhaps she was just a touch too human or just keeping too much human company. “If you find out, be sure to let me know. I think they’re just tired of not being top dog,” Yes, the humans did like to think that they were in charge of things whenever they weren't There had been a couple of times in his life where he had attempted to follow their groupings and structure systems, but he hadn't found it very interesting. Keara was deflecting, obviously she didn't want to talk about this any longer. At least he knew enough now to ask others he was going to be coming in contact with shortly about them, see what there was to find out about this registration thing.

“Why are you so curious anyways? If you’re here for my legs, then you’re becoming awfully distracted,” Why was he so curious? The implications of what she was saying, if true, were huge. Registration was a global issue that vampires had been fighting for hundreds of years now. The step after registration was muggles finding out that their kind was real, and in turn all supernatural beings. They couldn't have that. It was hard enough to be what they were as it was. He didn't need his food source getting wise or defending themselves. Obviously it was something to worry about. Hoping that she was only saying that as a method of changing subjects already. He would let her off the hook, for now. He had other things that he needed to talk to her about and if he irritated her now, he wouldn't be able to pester her with questions later. Taking a moment to center himself he spun back around to look at her, she was such a cute little thing when she was irritated. “You're right, I am getting distracted.” he double stepped over to her with an enchanting smile. Once in front of her he sunk to his knees, his face looming close to her skirt, hands moving to the backs of her knees. A happy woman was a compliant woman, he had figured that one out quickly. His fingers kneaded into her skin softly, massaging up the backs of her thighs while looking up at them. “It's been such a long while since I paid these legs proper attention.” This was turning out to be a very busy and eventful week for him. Busy indeed. His face moved forward, grabbing her skirt between his teeth and tugging softly, before letting go with a clamp of his teeth. His eyes keeping contact with her, he started to nose her skirt upward. He had to get his information somehow, he was willing to work for it.
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_{Word Count 1004
Inspiration silence
Tags Keara
Status Complete
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}

[Keara Sonnet]

Keara could tell he was judging her, trying to figure out how someone so strong could give in to a human. It wasn’t on his face, there wasn’t any physical signs that were telling her that, she just knew. Because if it was her in his shoes, she would have been judging long before. Hell, she judged herself half the time. Asking herself had it really been that bad? Had the pain and suffering she was going through been bad enough that she had really resorted to making a deal with a human? No, it wasn’t the pain and suffering that had really been the push. She could deal with that. Maybe not as well as some vampires she knew, but Keara was familiar with pain. It was the thirst that had gotten to her. She wasn’t strong enough to avoid blood, she never had been. Nor had she ever cared to be. Throughout her life, Keara always had a fresh supply of blood at her disposal and she partook whenever she wanted. There had never been any reasons for her to ever concern herself with building up a tolerance to it. So when he had deprived her of it, when he had drained her entire body of the one thing that kept her alive, sort of, that had been where she had been pushed to the edge. Ashton had been the only source around, the only blood she could use to keep from becoming a mummy of herself on the floor, but he had been tainted. Even though starved, she had been coherent enough to know that if she bit him, it would only make it worse, make her starved faster. So she had been completely at his mercy. Pain plagued her body and thirst wrecked her mind, tearing her down to the creature that had given in, given him information and made a deal with the devil just for the smallest amount of blood that allowed her to go back into the club and recover. No, she knew that she hadn’t been crazy to give in, just weak.

”Opportunity? What do you mean opportunity?” While it shouldn’t have upset her that he kept questioning her, mainly because she was even questioning herself, Keara couldn’t help but feel the hint of anger creep up. Her eyes narrowed in response to his question. She didn’t need to explain herself, not to him, not to anyone. If she didn’t feel the time was right to kill the pest, then it wasn’t. Though, she couldn’t deny that when all of this had first started, the only reason she hadn’t killed him was because it had become a game. He would try something, she would knock him back down. It was fun in the beginning until it had gotten old. She had nearly killed him one time, just about ran back to Austria after she had found another tail, reaching the point where she was getting bored. If it hadn’t been for the fact that she had been busy at the moment, she might have done just that. It would not have been hard, similar to how Mort had just killed the man here. Of course, she would have done it with a little more flare, mainly because he deserved go to through a hell of a lot more pain after what he had done to her, but still death in the end. But she hadn’t. She had stayed in Romania and taken care of her business. There had been plenty of other chances that she could have, but in the end, she wondered what would it have really gotten her? Sure, satisfaction that she had gotten him back for what he had done, and knowing full well that she would be left alone again, but she was smarter than that. Even without emotions, she wasn’t completely compulsive. She knew there were consequences to her actions, emotions or not. He had power, and a lot of it. Friends, coworkers, people that would know who to go after. If she killed him, it would only make her even more hunted, give the Ministry even more reason to pursue their goal. If she didn’t attack him, it was to save herself from having to deal with even more people in the end. She could handle Ashton, deal with his following and his retorts. Who was to say she could handle with the next person that came down the pipeline?

But even if there was good justification, there was no reason to get upset at Mortimer for questioning her. So she pushed the anger aside and relaxed her features, still refusing to answer his question. Even if she wasn’t going to be upset at him, even if she was going to try and ignore the fact that he was doubting her judgment, he didn’t deserve an explanation. “You're right, I am getting distracted.” Keara quirked an eyebrow as he crossed over to her. Had he always been this easy to coax out of a conversation? Had they really actually had many conversations? Yes, she was sure they had, but none ever so serious. Maybe he was just as tired of talking about the Ministry as she was. Either way, she welcomed the distraction of his close proximity. Her eyes followed him as he dropped to his knees in front of her, slightly intrigued by the position. Had he really been serious about being there for her legs? She hadn’t thought so, but his hands reached behind her knees, his skin making contact and sending a chill up her spine. As he began to knead into her skin, the chills spread through her body. The only part of her that wasn’t feeling the cold contact of his skin on hers was the scars across her upper arm; the werewolf claw scars that always were a few degrees hotter than the rest of her. She turned her focus to that little bit of heat, enough so that she wasn’t completely taken by him as his hands began to move up her thighs, but as his face came forward, the fabric of her dress being pulled in between his teeth, she was mesmerized by him. Had it really been so long since she had been with a male? Surely not too long. Maybe a few months? Yes, that was long enough. Long enough for her to stop thinking about anything other than how he was moving up her dress, how his hands were working their way up her legs until he finally reached his destination.
~~~~
Once the tension that had built up in her body finally released, Keara looked at Mort with a bit of amusement and exasperation. “You need to come visit my legs more often,” she said, a laugh escaping her lips as her dress fell back into place. She grinned at him, her hand coming up and running through her hair as she fluffed it up, pulling the shorter of her hair out of her face where it had fallen in the heat of the moment. He did have a way with the women, didn’t he? He had never failed to please her any time they had come together, and most certainly didn’t fail her in that moment. But as his hold on her faded, as she gained her head back with his release of her legs, Keara knew this hadn’t been what he had come here for. There was another reason that he wasn’t stating, but she didn’t want to admit it. This was fun. This was what she had adored about Mortimer since she met him. He always knew how to have a good time and he had always kept things interesting. “How long are you staying in Austria?” she asked, her fingers raking through her hair again as she wondered if they would be seeing one another more often now. Keara couldn’t deny that she would enjoy having these little encounters more often. If he was going to cause her hell with Ashton, she might as well get something out of it.

[Mortimer Blackwood]

Mortimer missed the old days whenever their kind was practically worshiped. Not that it was supposed to be surprising, who wouldn't want to be worshiped if given the chance? Even more so given the way that his human life had gone. He missed the days where humans would seek them out, just begging to be food for them, begging for their kind to bite them. He supposed that if he really wanted to go looking, there would be some group of muggles out there that didn't really know of his existence and manipulate them. That almost promised to be a fairly good time. Mortimer didn't share a lot of vampire's enthusiasm for drinking from those unwilling, he liked when others sacrificed themselves to his angelic face. It was hard for him to think of humans as much more than food, sometimes attractive food, but food nonetheless. He just couldn't find it in him to empathize with her situation. He could however, empathize with what was under her skirt, unconcealed it would seem. He could smell her, as his nose pushed her dress fabric up and out of the way a little at a time, his eyes darting back to her own every few seconds, teasing. His hands slowly worked their way up the backs of her legs, squeezing her taut flesh as he went. He hadn't been lying about her legs, it just so happened that he also enjoyed where they met. He could have made a few comments about her going command whenever she said that she wasn't expecting him to show up. That she was far too accessible for just anybody, but the timing didn't feel right, not with his face so close to her intimate bits. Lifting her by her thighs with ease to come to rest on the headstone she had been leaning against, pushing himself between her legs.

- -

“You need to come visit my legs more often,” His tongue ran over his lips as a devilish smile worked it's way across his face. He loved positive reinforcement. Not that he had any doubts in his skills, he had been employed in this business far too long to think that he wasn't good at what he did. Women, men, the human figure whether it was living or undead, he was well versed in the things that were needed, the technique involved to achieve his goals. She was just one more satisfied customer from the looks of it. She could pay him in the knowledge that he was so badly looking for. How to work up to it, he should have worked a quick conversation in, while she was distracted and less likely to think too long on any of it. “How long are you staying in Austria?” Leaning backward onto his heels he brought his hands together in front of his body, looking up at her from where he was seated. Perhaps she had been serious about wanting him to come by more often. Truthfully, he wasn't certain just how long he was going to be in town. He knew it was going to be at least semi-permanent. There were too many of his friends around for it to by anything other than that. He had been looking into housing arrangements, not that he would have trouble finding somebody to take him in if he wanted. He could probably talk Damon into giving him a room, if he wanted. He just hadn't looked too far into that option. “That good eh?” he wiggled his eyebrows at her, not really looking for an answer to the question.

With a fluidity he rolled himself backward until he went from kneeling into a standing position in front of her, his hand coming up finally to wipe his face clean. “Not really sure yet,” he didn't want to expand. So he needed to come up with a better answer than that, one that wouldn't encourage further prying from her end. He was here for her and he certainly didn't feel like telling Keara about her. For a moment, just one long moment as he looked down at Keara, still perched on the headstone her dark brown hair curled itself, her face looking almost like another, angular square face overcoming Kea's. Blinking a little too long to shake her image from his head, glad that Kea's face was back where it was supposed to be. He would be here in town for as long as it took until he got the answers that he was looking for. Until he found a good enough cause to move on again. “I know you're looking for a repeat performance as soon as possible, but” he put his hands up in front of his body, as if he was bracing for something “give a guy a break!” not that he even needed one, he could have done that all day long. “Truthfully” he was lying, “The Russia scene got old...I'm still getting the smell of potato vodka from my pores” the best lies were often cloaked in truth. This one was, his hands moved to his soft patterned shirt “Just starting a 'new' life, more modern. This seems to be the place to be.” His hands moved to cup her face “All of my friends are here”

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_{Word Count 884
Inspiration silence
Tags Keara
Status Complete
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}

[Keara Sonnet]

Keara often wondered how such interactions went with humans. Over the years she had seen her fair share of human interaction, in both the emotional and sexual contexts, but she always wondered what it was like for them. As a vampire, she didn’t have the true emotions that a human did. Was there something more that they felt during such an interaction that she and Mortimer had just shared? Or did they feel the same? Or maybe even less feelings resulted? She had never been human, never had any memories that allowed her to understand how humans felt or thought. Therefore, it had always been a curiosity she held. Often times she wanted to ask other vampires how much they remembered of their human lives, how they felt then versus how they feel now in relations to certain… activities. However to ask that of them, would usually mean they would reciprocate. Keara would never answer that question to anyone, so she never set herself up for it. Instead, as she watched Mortimer lick his lips, and leaned back where he sat, she resisted asking him if he thought of the days. She held her tongue though, and merely basked in his outward amusement. He seemed to be enjoying himself. Good. She preferred him happy. In fact, Keara preferred anyone happy. The seriousness of their prior conversation had been completely unwelcomed and she regretted that they had even started down their path. Thankfully they had changed subjects easy enough, leaving the mood more than pleasant as Keara straightened out her dress and crossed her legs at the ankles, using the headstone he had originally placed her on as a sort of stool. She had no idea whose headstone they had just defaced, but it made for a comfortable seat. Not like they were alive to care, anyways.

”That good eh?”Keara gave a half shrug, an indifferent expression on her face, her attention turning to her nails. She began to Move one nail underneath another on the opposite hand, cleaning out the bits of dirt and dust that may have accumulated under them since the last time she had repeated this activity. Considering she normally did it when she was bored, there was hardly anything to clean out. However she tended to them anyways, not giving Mortimer the ego boost he didn’t need with a response to his question. Of course, her eyes flicked up to him for a moment and a grin flashed across her face, uncontrollable, before looking back down at her nails. She held one hand out in front of her, fingers splayed so she could inspect her nails. A ruse, but she knew the last thing the vampire in front of her needed was another ego inflating comment or action. He got plenty of those without them coming from her. When he began to move again, in that fluid, graceful manner that all vampires moved, Keara allowed her hands to drop to her sides and rest on top of the headstones. Her eyes watched him as he moved into a standing position in front of her. “Not really sure yet.” Quirking an eyebrow, Keara shifted her position slightly, a habit she had formed when she was a child to take away any possible suspicion of her lack of humanity. Even though she was around vampires or people who knew exactly what she was, Keara always shifted, blinked, even breathed on occasion. If one didn’t know any better, she looked like she could be human. But now, she just looked like a mix of sad and confused. Though it wasn’t abnormal for vampires to wander, Keara had to wonder why Mortimer was doing it. He always seemed to enjoy being in one place for at least a short amount of time. Then again, how well did she really know the vampire? Did he travel from place to place often? The few months where she had done just that were spectacular. If she hadn’t been pulled right back into her old life, she might have considered travelling again.

“I know you're looking for a repeat performance as soon as possible, but give a guy a break!” Keara shook her head a few times, rolling her eyes. He really was full of himself. Unfortunately, she had to admit that he had every right to be. But he seemed to be avoiding her question, not admitting just how long he intended to be in Austria or why he was even there in the first place. It wasn’t for her. She wasn’t important enough for that. Never in her life had she been an important person to anyone, someone that people would go out of their way to visit. So what was the real reason? Better question, why did she even care? “Truthfully.” Merlin, anytime someone started off a statement with that word, one had to question if they were actually telling the truth. It usually only came before a lie. After all, why would you need to tell someone that you were about to tell the truth? They shouldn’t have to even question it if you were a truthful person. But, again, she was analyzing for no reason other than just plain curiosity. “The Russia scene got old...I'm still getting the smell of potato vodka from my pores.” Keara scrunched her nose at the mention of potato vodka. “I much prefer mine to be derived from grains,” she mentioned as a side note, the contortion in her face disappearing as she allowed the thought of potato vodka to disappear back where it came from. “Just starting a 'new' life, more modern. This seems to be the place to be.” A smile, just a small one, was Keara’s response to that. He was far behind jumping on the ‘modern’ bandwagon. As his hands came up and cupped her face, the surfaces of her skin that he touched became colder, icy with the combination of both of their decreased temperatures. She moved her head into his touch, her eyes searching his face to see if he actually was telling the truth, if everything he was telling her right now was real or if he was just creating a story. But he had a good poker face, just like nearly every vampire in existence. She couldn’t find any signs that he was lying or telling the truth. It was one of those moments where her curiosity would just have to take the back seat due to a lack of any other discernible data. “All of my friends are here.”

“Friends?” Keara raised an eyebrow as a grin spread across her lips. “Watch it, Mortimer. Keep saying things like that and we’re going to tear down this whole façade that we’ve created. You know, vampires in a graveyard, defacing headstones.” Her eyes rolled down his body for a moment before raising back to his eyes, her grin turning sly. “After all, how many people have heard of vampires actually having friends? I’m sure they envision us as some sort of black widow. Use another vampire to get what we want and then…” She trailed off as her hand came up and a single finger nail traced a line across his throat.

[Mortimer Blackwood]

One of the most entertaining things about being around Keara was the knowledge that he held over her. The fact that she only thought that he knew him, that he was being honest in his attentions toward her. Like he could ever be attracted to her. He could only even remember one person in the last hundred years that he had been honestly attracted to. No, he had seen Keara come into this world. Watched her bizarre birth come true, and taken care of the loose ends that were her parents afterward. He loved knowing that if he were to ever tell her the truth, there was nothing that she could do. She couldn't intimidate him, she had nothing over him. Nothing to lord around that might harm him in some way. She would be simply devastated, no hopes to overpower him. He loved toying with that knowledge around her, saying things with a double meaning that would make so much more sense if she knew the truth. He had been watching her her entire life, she just didn't know he was around. He liked to keep tabs on his projects, it was just fortunate for him that she grew up to be so physically attractive. She was, different. She was more human than most of the humans that he had met in these last twenty years. He only allowed himself to interact with her every couple of years, she hadn't been around that long so it was fairly simple. Meant that she went through a lot of changes in between meetings, kept her interesting. He had found that being around one person for too long meant that they got boring, got to know them too well.

“I much prefer mine to be derived from grains,” “Of course you do,” he snorted at her comment, bringing his hands up and folding them across his chest. He knew that he moved a lot more than most of their species. He was almost the polar opposite of whenever he had been human. He had been forced to hold still, to not speak, to do as was commanded. He enjoyed the freedom he was afforded with his immortality, so he moved. 'Looking' human was simple for him, he hated to be still. Hated to be at rest, to think in the quiet for too long. It was why he talked so much. He noted her reaction to him wanting a more modern life with mock interest. Why was this so hard for people to believe? First Damon and now this? Why couldn't be modernize himself like they had done. He might be old, but he didn't look it, he didn't feel it like he had seen some of his age wandering around, so burdened down with their years of experience. He didn't understand why nobody seemed to think he was capable of it. He wanted to huff, but thought better of it. Tantrum wouldn't be the way to make his point, if would make him seem too young.

”Friends?” he nodded once, again wondering why that was a strange concept. “Watch it, Mortimer. Keep saying things like that and we’re going to tear down this whole façade that we’ve created. You know, vampires in a graveyard, defacing headstones.” Ah, well it made sense now. A real laugh resounded from his lips then as he nodded. “You're right! What am I thinking!” he grasped onto the sleeve of his cardigan, pulling it up toward his face like a cape and making an over the top hiss like the fabled Dracula would do. Taking a ceremonious step backward his eyes gave away the smile that was formed behind his make shift cape. “After all, how many people have heard of vampires actually having friends? I’m sure they envision us as some sort of black widow. Use another vampire to get what we want and then…” letting loose his cardigan he laughed again, letting his hands fall to rest on his narrow hips. Just the threat was laughable, even if he understood why she had done it. Not that it was too far from the truth, if he was really honest, that was what he was doing with Keara after all, she had just nowhere near used up her usefulness yet. Leaning against the nearest headstone he crossed his feet at the ankle. “Well then quick, tell me about your life, catch me up on all things Keara so that I can,” he dragged his finger across his throat. At least at this distance, any onlooker would think that was exactly what was about to happen.
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_{Word Count 770
Inspiration silence
Tags Keara
Status Complete
Template By Arro @ Caution 2.0
Picture By Credit pic here!}

[Keara Sonnet]

Despite the rough start to the day, Keara was actually beginning to think it would turn out rather well. Of course, there was still the dead body that she would have to deal with later on, but Mortimer had done well enough to take her mind off of that and put it on other more interesting things, at least for now. Like the fact that she knew very little about him. Now that she began to think of it, she didn’t even know his age, or what century he was born in, in that case. She didn’t know if Mortimer was his real name, though she supposed so. Not many vampires assumed alternate names unless they had an absurd reason to, and in those cases, she would never even find out if she pried. She had never fought him, so she had no clue how strong he was though, with their little bouts that they had over time, she had gotten the impression that his strength and speed were nothing to underestimate. Which, of course, suggested that he was much, much older than herself. Then again, she was less than a century old so it was extremely common to find vampires older than her. Why did she know so very little about him? Was he so secretive that he never offered up any information on himself, or was it just that she never cared to ask? Certainly she did ask questions, but as she thought of it, none of them went deep enough to touch a person’s character. They were all surface level questions. ’What have you been doing lately?’ ‘Where do you plan on travelling to?’ ‘Who did you have for dinner that smells so good?’ The last thought made her lip twitch slightly, but she didn’t allow the smile, mainly because there was nothing external to smile about. If she did, she would give away the fact that she was thinking, and rather in depth, about him. Which felt strange. No, it wasn’t that he was secretive, it was that she didn’t give a damn enough about anyone to really know them. And why should she? She had always prided herself on independence. Obviously getting to know someone wasn’t too high on her list in that case.

“Of course you do.” Keara looked at Mortimer with a sideways glance, not quite sure what he meant by the comment, but she left it alone. She could take it two ways, that either he didn’t care for grain derived vodka and couldn’t believe that she did, or that he expected everyone should prefer grains over potatoes. But as she righted her head, she once again didn’t care. She didn’t particularly care about much in ways of small talk, actually, or getting to know someone. Maybe that was why she really didn’t know too many people. Hardly ever did she hold a long conversation. Even this one was stretching past her normal limits. Most conversations were often interrupted with her leaving, or someone else stepping in to talk, or acts that were best not mentioned. But not very often did they last. How long would this conversation last? At least he had managed to maintain the bulk of her attention thus far, but already she found herself bored with the small talk, with the simple statements back and forth. That wasn’t a good sign for a conversation lasting too much longer. Too bad. She really did like being around Mortimer. It was just a shame that normally, when they were together, there were other people to help keep it interesting longer. It wasn’t too often that they were alone and when they were, well, there were other things to keep her mind occupied and from straying away.

“You're right! What am I thinking!” Keara couldn’t help a grin as he laughed. At least he did have a sense of humor. There was much to be said about that in a vampire community since most vampires failed at a decent sense of humor. Fortunately, that particular sense would help keep the conversation at least remotely interesting. Who knew, maybe this could be the longest conversation she’d ever held. Certainly was at the top of the list already. The only one’s she could recall beating it was a conversation with Tristan, maybe one with Centara some years back. The one with Ashton had come relatively close. Distracted. Again. As Keara refocused on Mortimer, he was now grabbing at his sweater sleeve and holding it up to his face in a cape like fashion. She tilted her head to the side and let out a soft chuckle as he mimicked the old day vampire movies. Merlin, humans really did have an interesting opinion on how vampires look, what with the capes, chalk colored skin, and even those huge fangs. Didn’t they realize how horribly large fangs would tear through skin? No, theirs were much more needle-like, able to penetrate the skin without doing too terrible of damage. Better concealed that way, too. And this whole cape thing. Merlin, didn’t they know anything? What would a cape do but give werewolves more things to grab hold of? She chuckled at the thought, and at the change in his posture. She knew he knew it was an empty threat. She would never kill him, not unless there was a damn good reason and, in any case, she would have a really rough time getting close enough to even damage him. He had years on her, minimum. If not centuries. Really. She needed to find out his age. Either way, he was faster and stronger. She wasn’t stupid. Keara knew when she was out matched and would never deny that she did not stand a chance against him. So why would she really threaten him?

“Well then quick, tell me about your life, catch me up on all things Keara so that I can.” As he mimicked her gesture, Keara let out another chuckle and shook her head a few times before going still again. She was still leaning against someone’s headstone, obviously not as a rude gesture against them, but because it was much more comfortable and if someone did happen to be looking in on them, it wasn’t odd to find someone sitting on something and hardly moving but every few minutes. It was nice not to have to worry about moving too often, even if she had pretty much engrained it in herself to act human when she was a child. “You act as if you’ve missed much,” she responded, raising her eyebrows slightly. Motioning over to the body still lying on the ground, Keara looked back to him and gave a small shrug. “That’s about all going on in my life. Don’t know what else to tell you, really.” Another shrug. Her life was pretty boring. Of course, if you counted being stalked by the Austrian Ministry boring. Or running a club made for vampires and werewolves with multiple branches across the world. Or helping train vampires for an inevitable war looming in the future. Sure, just another day. Certainly not as entertaining as when she had no emotions, though. “How old are you?” she randomly blurted out, finally unable to deny that she was dying to know. How many times had he shut off his emotions? Gone on little tantrums and left a massacre in his wake? She just had to know how old he was, how many years he had over her and how many times he could have done the things she did over and over. Curious how age does not define a vampire, a sentiment depicted through the entire vampire community, yet here, she couldn’t help but want to know. Somehow, just because experience and strength and speed were more important than age, she couldn’t put it past her thoughts.