Along the beach(Private)

"Kem...what you are saying, about being able to feel her and sense her. It sounds like bonding. Did you do anything that might form such a thing between you?"

Kem sat, thinking. He slowly shook his head. "No. Our relationship hasn't even been physical. I don't know what we could have done. We just talked... a lot." Lifting his shoulders he continued, "I didn't even know I could bond, if that's what happened."

It was the reminder that bonded pairs shared feelings that damn near floored him all over again. He blinked several times, trying to digest that.

"Oh. Oh, no," he said as it sank in. "If that's the case... what did I do to her tonight? Or for the last few weeks?"

He rested his elbows on his bent knees and put his head in his hands. "I really do have to find her now. And apologize if nothing else. You see why she needs to move on? What the hell am I talking about, Aishe joining Evenhet? Becoming a vampire? Not a chance. It wouldn't work. She loves her family, her job. What I could give her couldn't possibly make up for those losses. If I talk to her again, she'll understand. She'll know why I left and why it has to be that way."

He was well aware that he was rambling, but he simply couldn't fathom much of this right now. Bonded? She'd probably killed herself by now, he thought bitterly. Of all the things he'd done to her in the last few weeks, that was just the icing on the cake.

He nodded to Alfarinn when he suggested a drink, tempted to get good and wasted again.

"It will fade, won't it?" he asked, staying where he was for the moment. "The bond... if I stay away, it will fade and she can have her life back?"

It was about then that the rest of Alfarinn's words hit home. "Wait... you're taken? You leave for a year and you miss everything. And here I am monopolizing all of your affections."

Kem was intrigued, but somehow at the moment the knowledge that he was imposing made him feel just a bit guiltier.

Alfarinn poured two drinks and brought them over. Handing one down to Kem, he then stretched himself out to lay on his side on the floor, propping himself up on one elbow. It would seem that Kem came to the conclusion that they were indeed bonded, at least -that- didn't take further convincing. He waited as that thought process played itself out, taking a sip of his drink in the meantime.

"Yeah because she cared about you enough to bond with you so I'm sure she'll easily forget about you and move on. Kem, for whatever inexplicable reason the girl cares about you and I don't think it is just going to go away. If you were upset tonight, think, part of your feelings could also be her's and she probably hasn't been feeling cheery since you left either. "

Except for that brief moment she thought I was you... Alfarinn sighed at the two of them and how miserable they were making each other apart.

"Yes, it will fade. After a long time...a very long time. So now that you know... why don't you tell her you're okay and explain? Just as well use it for something good, right?"

Kem was still slightly dumbstruck by the fact that, for whatever reason, he appeared to be a bonder. He couldn't figure out how, but it made a whole lot of sense; why he'd been feeling things or thinking things, hearing Aishe's voice when she wasn't around. But for all of Alfarinn's well-meant efforts to convince him otherwise, he wasn't quite ready to believe so far as that they might be able to make this work, or that Aishe wouldn't be better off without him.

His thoughts still centered on setting things right with her, which in his opinion was still something along the lines of apologizing and promising she'd forget he ever existed. He quaffed his drink quickly, thoughtlessly, watching with detached amusement as Zoe crept out from behind the couch to sniff at Alfarinn's foot.

When Alfarinn suggested he speak with Aishe, he blinked at the man. "What, right now? No. How could I even begin?"

He shook his head resolutely. He was willing to stick it out a bit longer, to believe he and Aishe had somehow managed to bind themselves to each other, but he needed time to deal with himself first. Not tonight. It was difficult to believe he was sitting here having a semi-normal conversation when just a little while ago he was entirely willing to turn into a pile of dust. It was all too much; emotional overload. He'd speak to Aishe eventually but tonight would be a bad night to dredge through it all again.

He threw Alfarinn a glance of apology, having completely taken a mental stroll through the park, and raised his eyebrows as Zoe smacked bravely at one of the laces on Alfarinn's boots.

It gave him something else to focus on for the moment; aside from his own obvious inadequacies.


((ooc: permission granted for fierce kitty to stalk shoelaces))

Alfarinn decided it was probably best not to push Kem. If the man did not feel up to speaking to Aishe just yet then that was probably for the best, especially since he had told her to carefully consider her plans and she had yet to fulfill her goal of becoming a vampire.

Taking another swallow of his drink, he shrugged one shoulder.

"Just a thought. Please just promise me there will be no more fasting in your immediate future."

He was about to find something else to discuss when he felt something light hit his boot. Looking down he saw Kem's cat bating at his laces.

"I have a stalker"

He turned back to his clan mate, unconcerned for the fate of his footwear for the moment. There was a habit of his to tie his laces into double knots for several reasons, such as them not coming undone and embarrassing him in public and because several of his friends had telekinesis and the will to use it for ill purposes. It was better not to tempt Zone or even Kem with a loose lace or he was likely to find himself flat on his face.

"So what was the urgent matter with Nicholae that you mentioned in your message?"

Perhaps talking about that would take Kem's mind off his own problems for a moment and there was the need to know what that was all about from the wording of the email he'd gotten from MARI.

Kem considered. He didn't take promises lightly. He had distressingly little control over when these moods struck and found himself reluctant to make a promise he might unwillingly break. He settled for the next best thing, hoping it would suffice.

"I'll try." He meant that; it wasn't as if feeling depressed were a whole lot of fun. He didn't enjoy it. It was receding at the moment, however, and that left him hopeful of perhaps finding some resolution for his situation. He didn't think it was a stretch to believe that Alfarinn, with his ready empathic ability, would have a hard time understanding what he felt. Indecision, in Kem's opinion, was at least a step up from complete apathy.

Leaving Zoe alone since she didn't seem to be bothering his guest overmuch, Kem ignored her as she waged war on Alfarinn's boot-laces in hit-and-run fashion. "She'll get bored with your laces soon," he advised, omitting the fact that Zoe's boredom with Alfarinn's laces would most likely lead to her interest in other parts of his attire.

"Oh! Nicholae!" Kem had nearly forgotten about the young man from the other night. "That's a bit of a bind. I bumped into him at Liefde just a night or two ago. He was looking lost so I helped him get settled in." The grimace that crossed his features was aimed more at the fact that he wasn't enamored of big, multi-storied buildings than the idea that he'd managed to be slightly helpful. "It seems he's new to Nachton. I guess he figured after getting here he'd get a bite to eat. Reasonable, I'm sure.

"I don't exactly approve of his methods, and I'm fairly certain you're not going to either. He was using suggestion, according to what he told me." That alone was pretty distasteful in Kem's opinion, but Nic had seemed regretful enough and Kem was hardly able to pass judgment himself regarding peoples' feeding habits.

"The real trouble is, he found out afterwards the guy is Ellis' familiar - a guy named Addison. Apparently he didn't offer up that information. I'm not sure why; maybe he didn't realize what Nic was doing... although I would imagine any familiar of Ellis' is used to it, so why wouldn't he have?"

Kem shook his head. "Regardless, I told Nic to stick to Liefde for the moment. I wasn't sure what else to tell him, aside from 'good luck not dying.' I hope he's been keeping a low profile. He seemed misguided, but not a bad sort."

As he pondered the possible reasons for Ellis' familiar to not disclose his status, an even more distressing idea occurred to him. "Alfarinn - you don't think that Ellis would have set Nicholae up, do you? To get to you somehow? She would have had to know that this knowledge would reach you sooner or later."

That thought was chilling enough to evoke a shiver as he regarded his friend with his concerned, colorless gaze.

Alfarinn nodded in acceptance at Kem's statement of effort; he really couldn't ask for more than that.

He smiled into his glass at the assurance that his laces would not be in for a long siege and waited for the attacks to end. Zoe did look quite charming pouncing on them and he did his best to pretend not to notice at all lest she consider it beneath a cat's dignity to be the source of entertainment for the humans. He did, however, move his foot ever so slightly on occasion to knock the lace back down for her to notice again.

Waiting for the story of Nicholae to unfold, Alfarinn smiled bemused at Kem's grimace at helping the man settle in but then wondered if MARI had put the new vampire on one of the upper floors. Certainly she would have taken Kem's presence into consideration when she selected a room... unless Nic already had a room but then why would he have looked lost? Unless Kem was just using a figure of speech. It really did not seem to have any relation to the urgent information though so he let the thoughts drop.

At the mention of using suggestion in order feed from someone, he frowned. Well it was not quite the same as command,this person had to not be totally opposed to letting Nicholae get closer and feeding from someone wasn't quite the same as lowering their resistance in order to get them to sleep with you. He'd give Nic the benefit of the doubt that he was simply using his abilities in order to survive while he made connections in Nachton though he could not understand why a man that looked as good as Nicholae did would need to use suggestion at all. Still, certainly this had not upset Kem enough to consider it urgent.

Alfarinn blinked a few times...and then narrowed his eyes in confusion and leaned closer as if it would help him focus better and force some sense into what he just heard.

"Wait, say that again? Did you say -Ellis-?"

He could not have said Ellis, surely life could not get that complicated. Kem continued explaining the situation and it did appear that Fate was weaving in an odd thread of difficulty and danger in the form some familiar named Addison. Ellis, of all the vampires in Nachton... How did Nic manage to pick the craziest, most blood thirsty, territorial one of them all? That was some serious bad karma right there.

Alfarinn found himself hoping Simon managed to kill Ellis before the woman found out about Nic, unless she somehow already had...in which case life was going to get more interesting than he cared for really quickly.

"Well I would not put it past her to do something to set someone in Evenhet up but it would be difficult to prove and I am not sure what she could gain by it except to discredit some member of our clan. The worst to happen would be potentially banishing him from the clan for his crimes though and that would hardly help her in any way. Unless she wanted him for something herself...but if that were the case you'd think she'd steer him towards an Anantya familiar or some other way to get him banished and then welcome him to Tacharan with open arms, not put her own familiar out there for him."

He took a large swallow from his glass and finished his thought.

"Of course trying to discern the motives of a psychopath is enough to drive a person to drink."

With that said, he carefully untangled his shoes from the cat's grasp and went to pour another glass, bringing back the bottle to top of Kem's as well.

"The biggest question would be what to do about the situation without having to toss him out of the clan. I think the thing on our side is that this Addison did not tell Nic about being a familiar but on the other hand if she has reason to suspect that he used suggestion, well that might blow that one advantage that we had."

Kem watched Alfarinn carefully as his friend reacted to his news. When he blinked and then narrowed his eyes, Kem couldn't help but sympathize.

He listened as Alfarinn spoke, nodding with each point his clanmate made. He drained his glass a second time, ignoring the little voice in his head that niggled about overdoing it yet again. It wasn't something he often did, and he felt justified tonight. So much so that when he realized the bottle was empty, it was a simple task to simply reach out with his mind and grab a second from the cabinet in the dining room, setting it next to the first empty one.

"I don't see how she can blame Nicholae for using suggestion on an ordinary human, which is exactly what he believed Addison to be, and Addison, from what I was told, hardly did anything to disabuse Nicholae of that notion. While I can't say I would condone using suggestion at any point, I certainly can't blame someone else for doing what they have to do to survive.

"Of course, it's Ellis we're talking about. Like you said, trying to figure out her motives..." he shook his head, breaking off in midsentence, continuing on a different vein. "I told Nicholae I'd do my best to help him out on this one. So whatever needs to be done..." He lifted his shoulders, leaving the statement open. As it had on the night he'd met Nicholae, the situation gave him something to keep his mind occupied. Not the most honorable reason to help the man out, but the reason Kem embraced at the moment.

"No, its not the suggestion that is quite the issue...its distasteful of course but my point is Tacharan is going to claim that Addison did not mention his status as a familiar because he was too busy being coerced into being bitten. "

Alfarinn smiled in approval at the new bottle and then continued with his explanation.

"So he mentioned after he was bitten and this is the cause of the trouble? That can't be so bad actually... I mean I can't see this Addison person being so stupid as to actually -tell- Ellis of all people that he allowed himself to be bitten so she is likely to never know."

Nothing was likely to come of the whole issue, Alfarinn breathed more deeply as he relaxed once more. No familiar of someone like Ellis would mention to his mistress that he'd been bitten, it was a mistake and him and Nic likely both understood that. Taking a drink, he laid fully back a moment and stared up at the ceiling.

"Oh... unless... Unless this person is upset with Nicholae for using his abilities on him and then he might risk the wrath of Ellis in order to get even, hoping that he could make the whole thing appear to be Nic's fault. Whether she believes him or not, Ellis is likely to want Nic's head just for touching what's her's. "

So he needed to go back to thinking of what to do should she come for one of his clan mates. They really needed to know if this Addison spoke to Ellis or not but only Nic could afford to speak with him and that was likely risky if handled wrong.

"We could put security on Nicholae but that won't stop Ellis and will just get other Evenhet hurt or killed for being in the way. It is probably best that he stay inside unless necessary until we know for certain if Ellis is aware of what happened. If she is then I need to find her before -she- finds Nic."

Kem cracked open the new bottle and refilled his glass, offering to do the same for Alfarinn as well. As his friend spoke, he couldn't shake his previous concern that this was somehow planned. He wasn't sure of the reason for this sudden paranoia, save for the fact that his impression of Ellis from what he knew was that she was devious and untrustworthy, and that the actions of the familiar seemed quite odd and without logical explanation.

..."If she is then I need to find her before -she- finds Nic."

"This is exactly why I worry about the motives involved," he said, feeling slightly foolish for exposing his own insecurity on the topic. "Don't you see, that's exactly what you would do - what you would have to do in order to straighten things out for your clanmate." He punctuated his statement by poking his glass toward Alfarinn. "You, my friend, are entirely too predictable on certain matters. Although I don't exactly have the mind for plotting and scheming, I just can't help but think this whole situation is a bit off."

He cut himself off there, unwilling to risk looking completely oblivious just yet. Alfarinn wasn't stupid; Kem wasn't telling him anything he didn't know already. He was doing his clan leader no favors by insinuating that Alfarinn couldn't reason that out on his own.

Kem silently chided himself on his paranoia. The situation he was proposing was possible, but then again it was also entirely possible that it had indeed been an honest mistake on both the part of the familiar and Nicholae. He couldn't, and shouldn't, speculate when he didn't have the necessary information. Alfarinn, as an empath and as someone far more used to things like this, would be best suited to that.

Alfarinn frowned at the thought. Kem was right, of course, his actions concerning a clan member would be predictable. It was a shame Megan was out of town or they could both go, that would at least have been something.

"Well aside from taking an army of Evenhet with me to meet her, there is little else I can do. The council would consider the matter too trifle to bother with and they might also consider Nicholae completely in the wrong. Their judgment for having been brought into the middle of such a thing would likely be swift and harsh. Ellis will likely may us pay big time for this infraction but I doubt she will ask for Nic's head. That wouldn't allow her profit from the situation."

He took a sip from his newly refilled glass and thought about it some more and then leaned back once more and stared at the ceiling.

"Well, she could kidnap me but I don't really...."

Alfarinn stopped speaking as images of the Beast formed in his mind. Surely Ellis was not so crazy as to think of kidnaping an elder of one of the clans for such a project; that would get her killed so fast her pretty little head would swim. Of course just having the Beast made and using it on their kind was enough for them to condemn her to death. Alfarinn had to concede that she willingly burned those bridges and therefore had no problem burning a few more by doing other acts that would cause her to be placed out in the sun by the council.

"Well perhaps I could see it. Any suggestions?"

Suggestions, indeed. Throw Nic in a dark room and when Ellis comes calling, ask 'Nic who?' was the first thing that came to mind. Kem supposed that was out of the question, however. Probably the wine talking. He shook his head, lifting a shoulder.

"None that the average clan Elder can't think of," he acquiesced. "You know, don't go alone, meet her in a public place, bring plenty of ammunition. The usual."

He was quiet for a moment. Then, "Or you could just give her Nic. If she comes calling, anyway. No, I suppose that would be wrong. I promised to help, not throw him to the wolves."

With a shake of his head, Kem sighed. "Like I said, I'm not much for the plotting and the scheming. I wish I did have a decent suggestion, but you know me. If it doesn't involve a new book or a broken toy to fix, the best I can do is party tricks."

With an apologetic shrug, he added, "All this trouble for one very foolish person. Do you know what to do with him, aside from keeping Ellis from slaughtering him?"

Alfarinn chuckled at the suggestions for dealing with Ellis and nodded.

"Bring guns and a small army...check."

He pretended to look thoughtful at the idea of just giving Nic up but shook his head.

"No, there are some things that might warrant being banished from the Clan but those generally involve traitorous actions towards it. It is not an action that can go unpunished if Ellis comes calling but it does not change the fact that Nicolae is family."

Taking a sip of his drink, Alfarinn pondered somberly .

"So we can't throw him to the wolves even ones as dangerously homicidal as Ellis. Too bad she has already seen him... or perhaps not."

Alfarinn began to wonder if any of the scientists in Evenhet had worked out a way to alter a vampire's appearance on a permanent basis. I might not even have to be permanent; it would just have to be long enough to allow Ellis time to forget about Nic while still allowing him to go out and hunt. There was no real practical way of feeding and taking care of him within Evenhet long term but perhaps plastic surgery would be the answer. A vampire's body would revert to looking like itself once more fairly quickly unless some of the scientists had found a way to slow that down. If so it wouldn't hurt to ask. Otherwise they would have to go on hiding Nic and he would have to confront Ellis with some sort of solution before she killed him.

He turned to give Kem a surprised look but then decided that his train of thought probably was not hard to follow. At the question though, he shrugged.

"I don't know. You would not happen to have any idea what he is good at would you?"

Kem considered the whole situation as Alfarinn thought out loud.

"Too bad she has already seen him... or perhaps not."

Well now, that certainly brought a whole new perspective to things. Altering Nic's appearance, was that what Alfarinn was thinking? A brief image of Nic wearing a fake beehive-style wig and far too much eye makeup made him nearly choke on his drink, and he sat there blinking for a moment while it sorted itself out and went down the proper pathway.

"I don't know. You would not happen to have any idea what he is good at would you?"

Kem shook his head. "Honestly, we didn't get into that. I wasn't really in a horribly inquisitive frame of mind, and you know..." he looked away, over to the side, up at the ceiling, down into his glass, just about anywhere... "there were a lot of stairs involved."

Trying to ignore the various things that were often prone to happen whenever that particular topic was broached (eyebrows raised, mischievous smiles of amusement, and other reactions depending upon whose company he was in), Kem poked a finger into the air as if coming up with an idea. "I may not be much for ideas, but information I can do if you'll hold that thought a moment."

Closing his eyes for a moment in concentration, he focused his somewhat muzzy thoughts into a clear, precise notion. Although he didn't know Nic well, he did a reliable enough cellphone imitation to get by...

[I hope I'm not catching you at a bad time, Nic. Do you have a moment?]

He was quite involved in reading, mainly because it was that, watch television, workout, or go to the mall. He had already worked out earlier, there was nothing on television worth watching, and the mall...well, it wasn't his favorite place.

Someone, somewhere, at sometime, had given him a few paperbacks to read. If he remembered hard enough, he'd probably remember it was a kindly elderly lady he had met at an airport. She had finished reading them, and had just bought a new batch, when she told him to take them. He must have looked exceedingly bored that day, and rather than argue with her, he stuffed them into his satchel.

Now he was rather glad he had. He dug the first one out and found it more than hilarious. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter and Executioner...such a catchy name, and the stories were funny enough to have kept his attention into chapter five.



"What?!"

Nic looked around quickly. The voice had sounded like that Kem fellow...

"MARI...is that you?"

There was no one there, including MARI...how odd was that. He went to the door, opened it...still no one. Closing the door, he wondered if Kem was communicating telepathically. Nic hadn't had much occasion to 'chat' with anyone like that in, oh, a hundred years or so...pretty much not since shortly after he turned, and found out he and Iuliana could speak through thoughts.

He waited.

[Kem? Is that you?]

Kem waited a bit, wondering if Nic had ever had the opportunity to interact with many senders; for all he knew, Nic was one himself. As the seconds passed, he considered trying once more, for it only worked briefly and after a minute or so Nic would be unable to respond.

The response came, however, just at the tail end of what he would have expected to work.

[Kem? Is that you?]

[In the flesh,] Kem responded, perfectly mindful of the irony. [I can call you, if you prefer,] he offered politely.

Thinking he must have heard something else, and just thought it sounded like Kem, Nic walked back to the sofa. But before his ass hit the cushion...



Nic fell back into the corner of the sofa, and grinned. This was a pretty handy thing to have, he thought...and grinned.

[If you're really in the flesh, then somethings very wrong here...I don't see you, but I hear you clear as crystal.]

Nic wasn't sure he was communicating properly. This was different from suggesting, though, not drastically. Since Kem had gotten his initial response, he decided to continue on. Whether or not Nic could use the skill with anyone else, he'd be curious to find out.

[Feel free to go on, Kem...Roger.]

Even though the night's events had taken their toll on Kem's mood, he couldn't resist.

[It's Raaisu, not Roger. Look, I know this sounds odd, but I didn't have a chance to ask you before... what is it you're planning on doing here in Nachton? Sorry it's coming out of the blue... literally... but trust me, we're trying to help.]

And, to clear up what seemed to be just a little bit of confusion on the subject, Kem switched topics for a moment.

[Incidentally, you'll hear me crystal clear but if you wait too long you're not going to be able to respond. This cell-phone schtick is great for brief exchanges, but not so hot on the longterm conversations. And the day you can see me as well as hear me is the day I do this party trick as a full time job.]

He surprised himself with his long-windedness. Then again, he'd been drinking since... hmm. Yesterday? He glanced over at Alfarinn, awaiting Nic's response, and tapped the side of his head to indicate what he was doing, just in case it wasn't immediately clear.

[Do?]

Nic didn't really have any immediate plans, and fortunately was financially well off enough not to worry. However...

[I am an actor by trade, so I can 'do' just a little of anything; however, I did have plans to look at buying up some property...I'd like to try running a hotel, or even an elite residential complex. But listen, I'm financially sound, if that's your worry.]

Nic had no idea where this was going, but had no qualms about telling Kem anything he wanted to know. It was bloody well of the guy to have followed through this far for Nic.

[Do?]

Not a promising response, Kem thought with a grimace. All right, he was an actor. Come to think of it, he'd mentioned he had a thing for movies. Bit of an understatement on his part, perhaps, but they'd both had other things on their minds. Well, if nothing else if he were forced to disguise himself at least he could act the part.

He attacked that from every angle, trying to figure out how that may or may not fit into a larger plan. He was coming up with nothing but blanks. Looking at Alfarinn, he shrugged.

"You're really going to get a kick out of this."


Turning his attention back to Nic, he latched onto something else.

[What about buying property? Have you ever done anything like that before? Running a hotel or something of the sort?]

Kem sure hoped Alfarinn would have a few clues, because he sure didn't.

[I have purchased properties before, restored them, resold them, made a profit. It is one of the things I've found I have a knack for, since I've not been able to do much in Hollywood lately. That isn't where the bulk of my investments are, but it is a growing portion of my portfolio.

The hotel thing started out as a bit of a whim, but the more I thought about it the more I thought it might be a good challenge for me...something to keep me occupied, and...out of trouble...]

Nic cringed when he said that, however, unfortunately it was the truth. He needed something to do, and fast, and the more involved, the better.