We'll just see about this...

[homeless_pard]

Who: Requiem and Jason
When: A day after the shopping trip? (long enough to set lights and get planters planted)
What: Trying to piece together just what the hell is going on here.

He was still braiding his hair when he stepped into the donor quarters. Sure, it was easier to just go to the club, but he wasn't always in the mood for the lights and noise, hence seeing if any of the donors were still available and willing...

...the donor quarters were always slightly brighter than other areas because the most common occupants were not vampires (not that the Circus was ill lit by any means) but it seemed even brighter than normal. Perhaps one of his meals yesterday had been high? It would explain the mild headache and sensitivity to light today? And would explain why he was loathe to go to the club. He was never at his best when post-drugging.

He tied off his braid with a leather thong then nodded, pulling his hood up. It was a 'necessary part of his character' the cape, and comforting besides, fewer people dicked around when it came to donating when he was caped. Something about the mystery and darkness inherent made them bend their necks to him easier.

Appearances. Feh.

He finally glanced around then blinked, those were...grow lights? Not sun lights, they didn't hurt, they were just bright. And plant troughs had been added, he could smell the damp earth and the tease of herbal scents just under the smell of bee balm blossoms. Well, that was new, he wasn't certain who had decided the donors needed such but he certainly wasn't going to complain?

He was half way to the planters, curious about what had been seeded, before he spotted the man on the couch. What was Jean Claude's pomme doing here? Their Master would have said if the man had fallen out of favor, and yet these were the general quarters. "...Jason?" Perhaps he'd brought a lover and fallen asleep waiting while said lover recovered in a room?

It seemed the most plausible answer honestly.

Comments

[jasonpschuyler]

Jason started and squinted against the lights with a soft curse. He was going to turn the damned couch around...

"Oh, hey Requiem," he mumbled sleepily.

[homeless_pard]

"Why are you sleeping down here?" he asked easily, holding up a hand to shade Jason's face? "Are you here with a donor?" He'd avoid feeding on that one if possible?

[jasonpschuyler]

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before sitting up. "No, 'm letting the new girl stay in my room for now."

He rubbed at his face. "I'd be in Jean Claude's room, but Anita was over..."

[homeless_pard]

"...new girl?" What? Someone who could displace a pomme?

Jean Claude wouldn't risk upsetting Anita, but, well, "Asher chose someone?"

[jasonpschuyler]

Jason frowned up at him in confusion. "No?" Then he made the connection and shook his head. "Oh. No. She's, um..." He was sleepily searching for words, but the blood loss probably wasn't helping. "Shifter, but not lycanthrope. Fell through a gate or...portal...or something. From another...place, world."

[homeless_pard]

"...pardon?" Wait what? Sure, there were non-infectious shifters out there, that was known, but, "and you saw this gate?"

[jasonpschuyler]

Jason shook his head. "No. Found her in a tree as a leopard. But she's definitely from somewhere else. She talks like she walked out of a Renn-faire."

He was still slurring a bit, but was waking a little more. "Said there was a hunter chasing after her for like two years, and her hands and feet are practically shredded."

[homeless_pard]

"...still?" he mused. A shifter that still bore injury? That was odd wasn't it? "And a hunter. Being hunted or chased is...a common gambit." For infiltrating an enemy camp.

[jasonpschuyler]

"Yeah, I said: she's not a lycanthrope. Doesn't heal like us. Shifts real easy, too." Jason blinked up at him in clear ignorance. "What do you mean, a common gambit?"

[homeless_pard]

"I'd like to speak with her if I may," he sighed. Forget feeding for the moment. "And it is common to craft a sympathetic circumstance when infiltrating an enemy." And it had been some time since they'd had to deal with the Council...

[jasonpschuyler]

Jason frowned, then laughed. "You're so paranoid, Requiem. She's not some spy, trust me. She's..." he paused, fighting through words coming to mind that he knew were a mistake to say. "She's genuine. She had me take her to the university so she could show them some dangerous herb she found in a tea blend and keep people from being poisoned."

He rose to his feet. "If she's awake I'll introduce you. She's probably going to try to get up and curtsy, so if you can convince her to stay off her feet, I'd appreciate it.

[homeless_pard]

"Herbs?" he mused, glancing at the grow troughs again briefly. "And that could have been manufactured as well. I've seen...a great deal." In his time, and if nothing else he could apply it to the Circus's security here.

And she curtsied in this day and age. Ah.

[jasonpschuyler]

Jason shook his head. "You'll see. I'm telling you, I've never met a girl like this before. She's definitely not from this world."

He gestured for Requiem to follow, shuffling down the hallway into what seemed like darkness compared to the bright lights in the donor quarters. He stopped at his door, giving a polite knock. "Khemrys?" he called softly, "are you still awake?"

[homeless_pard]

"Jason..." he sighed. How did he put this delicately? "There are a great many types of women you would not be prepared for." A great many. It was a sad truth but still!

The knock garnered a quiet, "aye lord?" She had had enough time to stitch together a shift of the mossy green fabric, though she still wore one of Jaosn's shirts over it for now? And actually had her feet soaking again as she was seated at the edge of the bed, sewing...something else.

[jasonpschuyler]

Jason snorted. "That's what you think," he preened.

"Can I come in? I have one of Jean Claude's people I'd like to introduce you to."

He slowly opened the door, peeking his head in. "Oh wow, you already made that? That was quick." Not realizing, of course, that it was basically an undergarment to her. "Your feet doing any better?"

And then he felt Requiem at his back. "Oh, uh, Khemrys, this is Requiem. He's one of Jean Claude's vampires. Requiem, this is Khemrys."

[homeless_pard]

"Jason...it's abundantly clear by how you comport yourself," he sighed. Perhaps the boy would grow up some day though.

"Of course lord," she blinked, rising exactly as Jason had said she would, though she stayed in the confines of the soaking pan? And curtsied.

Requiem analyzed the form of that action and nodded, "hello, lady."

"Lord Requiem," she greeted in him, gaze on the floor before she rose and settled on the edge of the bed once more. "They are easing in pain, lord Jason, thank you. And shifts are quite simple things, but comforting to have."

[jasonpschuyler]

"Did you want to try some of the ibuprofen? I know they have some stuff in the donor's quarters, and it helps with inflammation."

He saw her return to sitting on the bed, so he didn't say anything about the curtsy. Not that telling her she didn't have to do that would stop her. The thought made him crook a smile.

[homeless_pard]

"...I would enjoy examining such?" she admitted. Inflammation being another name for swelling and pain as she knew it?

"If you wish us to step away so you may add layers, lady, we will," Requiem noted.

"It wouldst be a boon," Khemrys admitted quietly.

He nodded, stepping back and pulling the door closed in front of Jason. "A shift is underwear," he supplied.

[jasonpschuyler]

Jason blinked at Requiem, then sighed. "I would have considered it some kind of nightgown or something, but I'm not surprised. She didn't have any clothes when she shifted, so she's just been wearing mine."

He eyed Requiem for a moment. "I'm going to grab that bottle of ibuprofen. Don't go interrogating her or anything while I'm gone." He jogged lightly down the hall.

[homeless_pard]

"Often it doubles as such for those with nothing else," he admitted simply. "But yes. Undergarment. I'll not go back in before you." He was just going to sort some of what he'd already observed!

"If she is genuine, Jason, fair warning. Giving her your clothing may give the wrong impression."

[jasonpschuyler]

Jason looked confused. "She didn't have any clothes. It's not like I could have walked her out of the park naked...or with a leopard limping around next to me."

He returned quickly with a small bottle in his hand and eyed the door. She should have had enough time, right? He knocked again. "Khemrys, is it safe to come back in?"

[homeless_pard]

"I meant continuing rather than asking one of the female donors," he noted simply. It was just fair warning!

"Aye, lords, apologies." She had the rough stitched skirt on now with the shift and one of Jason's shirts. She would FINISH stitching it later, pins would hold it for now!

"No need to apologize," Requiem assured. "I had some questions, once Jason doses you."

[jasonpschuyler]

Jason shook his head. "It's only been a couple days and she's already making clothes. She's not hurting anything by borrowing some t-shirts and lounge pants." He stepped into the room with almost a look of surprise that she was also nearly done with a skirt as well.

Jason cocked an eyebrow at the wording but crossed to Khemrys anyway. He demonstrated quickly how the cap opened and offered the bottle to her. "Usually two, no more than four at once. Human dosages, anyway."

[homeless_pard]

"That was not what I was warning you of," he noted quietly, just for Jason's ears.

She played with cap for several moments, making sure she understood how to use such, then took a tablet and...casually nibbled the edge of a pill to test what it was made of. Unpleasant, yes, but this was how she analyzed! Bitter, yes, very, but under that, and the empty, almost granule taste of the filler, hmmm, an acid? Some acid were of aid in stillroom so of course she understood how such might work. That noted she swallowed the one she had nibbled and handed the bottle back to Jason. The better to see how it might interact in her system alone! "Aids based in acids may cause damages," she agreed softly.

[jasonpschuyler]

He took the bottle and set it on the nightstand. "For later, if you want them."

He turned back to join Requiem, flashing him a look and mouthing 'what?'. The vampire was so paranoid in his old age. Maybe he just needed to eat.