maskormenacelogs | BROOK and road / Were fellow-travellers in this gloomy Pass,

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BROOK and road / Were fellow-travellers in this gloomy Pass,

WHO: Tobias Matthews and Jang Junseo.
WHERE: Probably Maurtia Falls.
WHEN: Probably late last month or early this month-ish.
WHAT: Junseo wants to know more about vampires, and Toby wants to find out more about what kind Junseo is. Also, video games.
WARNINGS: Vampires just wanna have fun. More to come if necessary.

[Since Junseo's network post asking about vampires, things had been busy enough that they weren't able to touch base about it for a while. But in that time, Toby hoped that Junseo might know more about himself. If he didn't, well... whatever. Toby figures they'll cross that bridge when they get there.

At any rate, they'd agreed to meet right at home for Toby, in the apartment he shares with Dorian. Toby had requested that they meet late in the afternoon, which would be a little dawn-ish for him, but no matter. Because that way, if things didn't really work out, they could part ways, and Toby would still have time to do whatever he fancied that night.

Unsure of how to prepare for meeting with Junseo, Toby decides to keep some video games handy. He also has some eternally fresh blood on hand, courtesy of a certain Jesse Pinkman. Dorian doesn't yet know about Toby's secret supply. So it's now a matter of waiting for his ditzy vampire friend to pop on by.]

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[ As dim witted and spacey as Junseo is he's got a good sense for time and place. He shows up at an apartment he's only been to once without getting lost a single time, and manages to show up five minutes early on top of it. It helped that it was late enough in the evening that there weren't a lot of people around to slow him down either.

Not that much slowed him down these days, because one of the first things he realized about becoming a vampire is he could (and often did on accident) move at speeds much faster than before.

It was handy, but it also meant you broke a lot of things if you weren't paying attention to where you were going.

He knocks on the door now, and shifts his weight from one foot to the other as he waits for Toby to answer. ]

Coming! [While Toby doesn't imagine Junseo the sort to care whether their apartment is tidy, he still gives it a final sweeping glance before answering the door.] Oh, perfect! Glad you made it!

[He steps aside and gestures in invitation,]

Come on in, get cozy, make yourself at home. Grab a seat wherever.

[From the entrance, one could see seats at the kitchen table and the comfortably worn-in sofa situated next to the coffee table in front of their telly in the living room.]

Can I get you anything? Drinks? Blood?

[ Junseo's own living space is a constant disaster, and the only times in his life he's lived somewhere that looked clean was when he was living with Jinseok who had maid service. So any mess Toby might have left lying around or forgotten about will, fortunately, go completely unnoticed by this kid.

Another thing that is going to be missed? His tendency to bleed from every orifice when he enters a home uninvited. That's probably a good one to miss for now, however.

So with the invitation keeping him nice and safe he'll walk right in and look around for seats before making his way towards the living room. ]

Uhm... yeah... it hasn't been that long since I had some, but...

[ Trailing off as he often does, without finishing that thought. ]

Drinks it is, then! [Toby's answer is almost cheerful as he closes the door and moves to pour a couple out. His choice: whiskey.] Blood can wait till later.

[He pours the drinks neat before taking them to the living room and setting them on the table before the other man.]

Here you go. So, is there anything else you've heard about vampires, or maybe read in books, seen in movies...?

[ Junseo hasn't actually tried to have a drink since becoming a vampire. For someone that used to pop pills on the regular he never was much of a drinker unless Jinseok got him one. Then again, after Sanguine alcohol felt pretty... weak.

Still he holds up the whiskey to his face to take a small sniff. It doesn't smell good, but Toby wouldn't give him something he couldn't drink, right? What with them both being vampires and all. ]

Uhm... yeah... I watched some movies, and I don't sleep in coffins, or die in the sunlight, and I don't think I can turn into a bat. But I also am strong and fast, and I think I see better than I used to? So that's the same as some of the movies... I don't have any extra super powers like in some of them movies though, so that kind of sucks.

[ This is incorrect, but he still doesn't know about his MoM given abilities. ]

[Toby's about to take a small sip himself when he notes Junseo's vaguely disgusted expression at the drink's scent. He pauses, carefully observing the other vampire as he elaborates.]

Oh? What do you mean by other powers? Something like hypnosis? [Just after asking, Toby raises his hand, motioning for Junseo to stop.] By the way, you don't have to drink it if you don't want to. Seriously.

[He does remember Dorian's party, when he first saw Junseo fetching drinks for himself and his most beautiful boyfriend Jinseok Jin. Seeing Junseo now, it's hard to say whether he actually feels comfortable with it.]

[ You spill a drink on yourself one time, and you never get to live it down. Though honestly? Junseo's a little thankful. He never expected to be handed something alcoholic like this, and while he wouldn't have minded while he was still human, the smell makes his stomach churn a little too much to be comfortable now.

With a sight he immediately puts the glass down on the coffee table in front of him. ]

Okay.

[ He's trying not to let how relieved show, but it's written all over his face. He does, at least, have the sense not to keep talking about the drink and making his host feel awkward for the gesture. ]

Oh... yeah I guess so? But like I can't hear people's thoughts or anything either.

[ The second is true, the first, ironically, is not. The woe to anyone Junseo tries to use a glamour on. He's more likely to melt someone's brain right out of their ears than he is to successfully convince someone to do his bidding. ]

Hmm, I wonder about vampires hearing people's thoughts.

[Toby had never heard anyone's thoughts himself, but he knew what sorts of effects he had on others. Especially once they looked into his eyes, into the darkness.]

Though it's not exactly the easiest thing, being sure you don't have those sorts of abilities.

Yeah... kind of! I definitely don't hear people's thoughts though, I am pretty sure about that one.

[ Then again his own thoughts are so distracting and scattered that it seems unlikely that he'd be able to pay attention to anyone else's even if he could hear them. ]

All right, then. Nix the, uh... telepathy, I believe it's called. But I won't be so quick to rule out other 'psychic' abilities just yet.

[Because Toby knows he used to have hypnosis before coming here, and glamour is one of the stereotypical vampire tropes. It could be consistent but might not be, and Toby just wants to be sure. Even if he doesn't know any real way to ascertain that sort of information.

Well, he does have some ideas. But he might hold those off for the future.]

Uh, what other things have you heard of? I mean, I think I've seen some weird young adult thing about vampires that... sparkle. In the sunlight, but that might've simply been fiction.

[ God willing Toby never, ever tries to get Junseo to test that particular ability. Not like anyone like Junseo needs the ability to make people do things for him even if he could use his glamour properly.

Then again, Junseo's boyfriend abused a similar ability, and at least Junseo wouldn't be so fast to whip his powers out at people.

As for the sparkle issue... ]

Oh! Yeah... No. I don't do that.

Got it. I think that's... a somewhat more modern addition to the lore, anyhow. Hmm...

[More thinking, a sip of his own drink, a glance at Junseo's abandoned drink, and then back to the other vampire.]

What about holy artifacts, like crucifixes or holy water and the like? Do those have any effect on you?

[Though those things might only be effective on vampires of the same faith. Too bad that he'd actually been practicing at all, maybe he wouldn't have a weakness to them if that weren't the case.]

[ Junseo has never, not once in his life even when human, come in contact with these kind of objects. His parents weren't Christians, so he never went to church, and even though he's seen enough movies to have seen stuff like this used against vampires it didn't really occur to him that it could even be a problem.

He stares at the table in shock for a moment. How common is holy water? Is he going to have to be careful around it? Will he just have to be careful around all water in case in it's holy? ]

No? I don't know?

[...Junseo's shocked expression is quite telling, Toby thinks.]

That's all right, then. I don't know there are many chances to accidentally find out. What about roses and garlic, do they bother or affect you in any way?

[ There are way too many things out there that could negatively affect a vampire, and Junseo's not exactly overwhelmed to be finding this out right now. He knew about garlic at least, but roses are new. ]

Uhm... I don't know? If I eat garlic I throw it up, but I think that is just the same as any other food...

[ He tried a lot of foods this way before giving up. Garlic was just one small piece of a bigger picture. ]

Do roses affect vampires?

It's said that certain types of roses can harm or at least repel vampires.

[In Toby's opinion, roses smell too strong. And he knows no other flower in existence that smells so much like death.]

Can't say I know for certain how effective it is, but I guess you've never heard of that.

Anyway, moving on... Have you ever been injured attempting to enter a house without an invitation? Say, like with breaking and entering or something of the sort...

[Because Toby doesn't need invitations, B&E used to be a rather regular thing for him back in the day.]

Woah...

[ This is definitely something Junseo has never heard before. He's also going to take it at face value for now. Never mind the fact that literally none of the rest of him as hurt him so far, better to just avoid roses, because obviously those will be the one things that'll actually do it!

... They won't. He'll be find with roses.

Other things he's done a pretty good job of avoiding so far. Entering a house without an invitation, and he stares blankly at Toby, like he's not sure how to respond to that. Junseo's moral compass can be a little wonky at times, but weirdly enough? Trespassing was one thing that always seemed pretty solidly not okay to him.

He stares blankly at Toby for a moment. ]

I haven't uhm... I don't do that?

[If only Toby knew what effect mentioning the roses will actually have! Alas, no clue whatsoever. Studying Junseo, trying to read through the other man's blank expression and coming up with nothing in particular, he manages a small smile.]

Well, that's good. Let's hope it stays that way.

[Because there's no telling how it could turn out if he has to. Maybe it won't be so bad, maybe he'll just be repelled and it won't be so big a deal. Or, it could be worse and perhaps result in pain and misery. And as frustrating as Junseo could be sometimes, Toby wouldn't wish any actual harm on him.

He hums as he thinks, then moves to grab a couple control pads for whatever MoM-PlayStation console he has. Tossing one over to Junseo,]

Can't think of anything else right now. Care to play a game?

[ The good news is that if Junseo tries to enter a house without an invitation he will recover from it.

The bad news is that he will erupt in a spray of borrowed blood, and if he doesn't get out fast while bleeding from every orifice he will eventually become a very unpleasant Junseo puddle on the floor of someone's apartment. So uh... better not to test that one probably.

He snatches the controller out of the air with ease. That's not a vampire thing though, even before he was a member of the undead Junseo has pretty decent hand-to-eye coordination.

Perking up he looks down at the controller in his hand, then back at Toby. ]

What game?

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BROOK and road / Were fellow-travellers in this gloomy Pass,

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