Finders Keepers

[all_too_familiar]

Sometimes witches have powers before they turn. But this is rare, uncommon.

More often, a potential witch displays almost nothing out of the ordinary at all. Just, say, a little more skill with people, a little more natural charisma. An extra dose of something that could almost be called luck, if one were paying attention and on the lookout for witches.

There is one such maybe-potential, right over there. He's not from around here, but he is fluent in Italian and French and German and he professes that English is his first language and laughs when people call him a liar because of his perfect accent. He might not be the most powerful, but a polyglot witch could be useful for something. And who knows, maybe there's more to it.

Maybe someone would care to find out.

Comments

[honey_twining]

"What about? Where'd you hear of him?"

[all_too_familiar]

He's getting a sense of the vampire, even from this distance. What is that, feeling like a voyeur a lot? Hm.

"I'm a witch. Part of my power lets me find people. The other part - will not let me just see humans as food. I have been eating only horrible people that deserve it," except for the ones when he first turned, except for the ones his covenmates ate when he couldn't find them suitable food, weighing on his conscience like little anvils strapped to his feet, "but I want to know if there are alternatives, or if there's a way I can be safe around humans. My power led me here."

[honey_twining]

"We can survive on animals. Not everyone knows that, but we can."

[all_too_familiar]

"Oh," says Blair, blinking. "And no harmful effects?"

[honey_twining]

"Cosmetic ones. It tastes terrible. You'll be a little weaker. Nothing else."

[all_too_familiar]

He suspects he won't mind the taste, but the weaker... he bets he will. He likes being strong. But it might be worth it. He'll have to try it, otherwise how will he know?

"Okay. That's good to know, thank you. Did it cause the eyes?"

[honey_twining]

"Yes."

[all_too_familiar]

"Cool. I'd still like to meet Carlisle, if that's okay," says Blair. "If he can work as a doctor - I want to learn something like that control."

He is not exactly against killing people (obviously) but he really really really hates the idea of killing people he doesn't mean to kill. He has not slipped up once, since - since. He never wants to slip up again. Ever. Especially not with his sister.

[honey_twining]

"It's exceptional. I'm not sure it can be learned. But he'll be off work in a half hour."

[all_too_familiar]

"I can wait."

He tilts his head.

".... Are you a witch?" He wonders, on a hunch.

[honey_twining]

"Yes."

[all_too_familiar]

He suspects that prying beyond that is a bit - well, he recalls the last time he pried beyond that was because the prologue to murder. He does not want to murder this vampire. Or imply that he would in any way like to murder this vampire. He doesn't. Nor invade his privacy, despite his privacy invasion power of tracky goodness.

He nods, instead.

He decides not to bring up his potential as a witch being why he was turned. That just seems - broody and angsty. Pass on both.

[honey_twining]

"It's not why Carlisle turned me," Edward mentions of his own accord.

[all_too_familiar]

Mindreader.

He is not really offended by this, just taking in the new information.

"Glad to hear it. I hope he also skipped the, treatment I got as well?"

[honey_twining]

"Yes."

[all_too_familiar]

Hm, what is that, self-flagellation? Someone has also killed people. Blair is deeply sympathetic.

He nods, unwilling to actually ask the question he's thinking of How did it happen for you? because it's exceptionally rude and really private information and he actually thinks an apology for thinking it, he's really quite sorry, curious head, he can't help it.

"If it's possible to have a perfect record my sister might want to become a vampire," he says, instead. "I'm - not quite sure. It's hard to know." And of course, the vampire knows why. Blair's going almost entirely off of his power, just a signature of what she's like and all of the human memories are basically gone.

[honey_twining]

"I'm not sure it's replicable. For long, anyway. Carlisle's the only one I've ever heard of. His mate's only killed one, but still."

[all_too_familiar]

"I mean. How many vampires have tried?" he wonders. Because he thinks the answer is 'not very many.' Or possibly 'four.'

[honey_twining]

"Tried from day one? Three."

[all_too_familiar]

Blair feels that he did try from day one, just - he was given a nasty hand and, yeah, he was weak, fine, fair enough. He'd managed to stop himself from killing the fifth, then... Failed at that.

"Are there others that haven't tried from day one?"

[honey_twining]

"We have - we call them our cousins. A coven of three, who picked up the habit of eating animals later, independently of us."

[all_too_familiar]

"Ah. So it's a ridiculously tiny sample size."

That is incredibly depressing to him. Why don't more vampires try not to kill people? Oh right. Because they're delicious. And also probably some psychological distancing, un-personing them instead of admitting you kill people and that is wrong. Which his power didn't let him do. Thank you power, he loves you.

[honey_twining]

"Carlisle managed on his own with no witchcraft, Esme and I picked it up from him. Our cousins fumbled their way there via... getting to know... humans and redeveloping empathy for them."

[all_too_familiar]

...

Getting to 'know' humans. He briefly wonders how the fuck anyone could possibly manage that when humans are squishy before he shuts down this line of thought. He refuses to have sex with someone he could - break. That just seems like a great way to kill someone he would like to have sex with. If this means he doesn't have sex, fine. This is an acceptable loss if it means not killing people he would like to have sex with.

"Carlisle is ridiculously impressive," says Blair, because he is not the type to voice his musings on this topic out loud and will instead pretend he did not think about it at all. "How'd he manage it?" Did he get complimentary (ha ha) people for eating upon finishing turning, because if he did Blair is just going to call the man a witch whose power is people eating resistance because holy shit.

[honey_twining]

"He wasn't offered any humans. He came out of the turning alone," Edward says. "He starved, for a while, avoiding people. Eventually tried chasing down deer and didn't find them poisonous, just noxious."