Post by Alex Vipond on Aug 22, 2015 22:01:36 GMT -8
Alex Vipond: The crafts people and farmers were gone for the day, having closed up nearly three hours ago, but there was still plenty of cafes, restaurants and bars open. The retail shops, though closed, were still a source of window shopping, and Alex wandered through occasionally spotting something he thought Adrienne would like. "Have you found a girl yet, Ian? Or just a friend to hang with?" Alex pulled his gaze from the display to look at Ian, "I can't be your only friend, I don't have that many jokes."
Ian Lighter: ::he grinned at Alex's quip but answered.:: No not really. I was interested in going out with Maisie
Alex Vipond: "She seems interested in that snot nosed punk." Alex shook his head. "What is it about some chicks that like abusive assholes?"
Ian Lighter: Maybe she is attracted to the scent of angst... Seriously Alex. I think I dodged a bullet there...
Alex Vipond: "Who knows, but the kid acts like he's got a chip on his shoulder, and serious envy problem." Alex nodded. "And that could be. God knows, some women are best avoided."
Ian Lighter: Dont know whaqt he might be envying, but I can see serious problems there. Let her deal with them. She seemed nice at first glance, but uglied up with every subsequent exposure...
Alex Vipond: "Anyone with a pair that's dropped?" Alex shrugged. "She hasn't been a bitch to me, there's been a time or two when I've had a W T F response to something she's said but then, a lot of people cause me to have that response."
Ian Lighter: Not saying she's a bitch, just like you said, something she'd commented on that makes me wonder about her... for lack of a better word... character?
Alex Vipond: "That side of things, you get a lot whose ... moral compass if you will, is skewed," this coming from a vampire. Go figure. "The area tends to be a magnet for the dregs of humanity... all races, actually. Some of which I've not seen anywhere else."
Ian Lighter: How have you lived so long and not gone feral or whatever happens to old vamps.
Alex Vipond: Glancing around to make sure no one was listening, Alex then looked back at Ian, "By adapting. Not being stuck in the old ways. Music has helped. My love of music has allowed me something to focus on." Alex smiled.
Ian Lighter: :: wouldn’t have asked if anybody had been close, but he nodded:: You don't treat average people as if they are less than you. I get that vibe from others I've met.
Alex Vipond: "Some are just dicks. They allow ego to get in the way of simple decency... Or maybe some weren't decent to begin with." Alex looked at Ian. "And I don't see people as average. I see them as talented, creative, artistic, determined people."
Ian Lighter: ::what did you say to that kind of statement? He knew Alex was a good guy. He confirmed it every time he opened his mouth:: Well, yeah everyone has something they can do well.
Alex Vipond: "Exactly. Race really doesn't matter, it's what we do with what we're given that counts. We all are basically stumbling around in the dark, seeking our path. Some have found it, and follow it with conviction. Sadly, some are assholes."
Ian Lighter: :: he laughed, clapped Alex on the shoulder:: We're getting maudlin. Wanna get a beer somewhere?
Alex Vipond: Laughing, Alex nodded. "Definitely... There's a place here that serves damned fine fish and chips too." Alex changed course a bit, heading for the Sound View Cafe.
Ian Lighter: Sounds good, ::Walking beside Alex, he glanced around them to see if there was anyone giving them undue attention::
Alex Vipond: Fortunately, most were oblivious without the presence of a tour bus or someone deliberately pointing it out. Occasionally there were one or two who became aware and then next thing you knew, a crowd had gathered, but it wasn't as often as one would think. By and large, at home, and in LA, it was less of an issue. People in LA were used to seeing the famous, and semi famous, and it didn't really seem to faze them. Once they reached the cafe, Alex pulled the door open, and smiled as they were seen to a table. "Thank you," he smiled and nodded as he sat, "Blue Moon, and a plate of fish and chips."
Ian Lighter: Sounds good, actually so ditto. :: a smile to the server then as the waitress hustled away, he relaxed in his seat, and shot a glance around the room. Seeing nothing noteworthy, he relax further:: So, Alex, anything else I should be doing to fulfill my end of my employment?
Alex Vipond: "Just keep an eye on Adrienne. With her condition, she can't defend herself as she normally would so if anything goes awry, no matter the source, get her out. Her safety, the safety of our child, is your prime directive if you will."
Ian Lighter: Absolutely. I take her safety very seriously. I think she will listen to me in an emergency situation. She did that one time when that.. shifter came into the Diner at the Marina.
Alex Vipond: "If ever that Zero chick comes in, you walk her out, immediately. Do not engage in conversation with her, just get Adrienne and get her out. I don't trust the bitch not to start something, and Adrienne nearly shifted once already due to that bitch." Alex kept his voice low enough that no one outside the two of them would hear.
Ian Lighter: So Adrienne can't shift? :: voice kept low as well this was not typical dinnertime conversation::
Alex Vipond: "She can. But if she does, she'll lose the baby. So she's got to be extremely careful." Alex glanced around and then leaned back, a smile given as he tipped his head toward the waitress, their beers set to the table for them. "Thank you." Once she was gone again, Alex looked back at Ian. "Her kind have a high instance of miscarriage. Even a slight shift, could cause her to miscarry."
Ian Lighter: You'd think that there'd be some biological block to shifting, some built in biological imperative, in order to preserve the species of something like that. :: he leaned forward to ask softly: What is she?
Alex Vipond: "Different races may have, I've never really asked." Alex glanced around, and then looked back at Ian. "She's a shifter, but she's not species specific. Most shifters I know, lycans, for example, only shift into wolves. There are lions, panthers, tigers, I even met a shifter who was a bear, but Adrienne, her people, can shift into anything."
Ian Lighter: :: he digested this by taking a long swallow of his bear:: But what happens to the extra mass if she shifts.. into a mouse?
Alex Vipond: "That I don't know. There's some sort of ... molecular phasing, that occurs I guess. I'd never even thought about it until the rat showed up."
Ian Lighter: The.. rat?
Alex Vipond: "Some weird kid that used to hang around Kaly when she was here. Kaly was Mars' adopted sister."
Ian Lighter: Shifter or were-rat?
Alex Vipond: "Were rat." he nodded and then was once more quiet as the waitress brought out their order. Once she was gone, he looked back at Ian. "It's some sort of ... quantum fluctuation. Each proton or neutron is made of three quarks, but the individual masses of these quarks only add up to about 1% of the proton’s mass. So the scientific theory as to how they can change mass as well as form is there. Science and magic are ... hand in hand. What we know now, seven hundred years ago would have been considered witchcraft."
Ian Lighter: But that would make a rat that weighs one hundred eighty pounds...
Alex Vipond: "The mass, shifts, compresses if you will in a quantum flux."
Ian Lighter: I know alot of women who would kill to beable to compress their mass. :: he grinned and picked up a chip::
Alex Vipond: "Women, men..." He nodded, breaking off a piece of fish and dipping it into the sauce. "Can you imagine what will happen if people could change their physical attributes at will? I'm not just talking hair and eye color but facial features. It would make motor vehicles a nightmare."
Ian Lighter: :: He laughed aloud:: The DMV would lose its collective mind.
Alex Vipond: "People would have to be tracked by DNA." He shook his head. "Let's thank God, that's not an option."
Ian Lighter: It would change society as we know it.
Alex Vipond: "Not, necessarily for the better, either." Alex continued to eat, taking the time to glance around once more, making certain no one was paying them any undue attention.
Ian Lighter: :: he was taking a bite now and again:: You're right, they do make great fish and chips here
Alex Vipond: "I find I am becoming something of a foodie of late. Grilling my specialty, obviously but There are so many flavors that I just don't recall from my ..." he dropped his voice, "human life. Ranch dressing. Oh my God..."
Ian Lighter: :: he grinned:: I love food, all kinds,, but I can't say I've had an epiphany over Ranch dressing.
Alex Vipond: "But you've grown up with it, right? It's something you've known about all your life. Me? It's new. I mean not just from the stand point that it's only been in existence since the fifties and only popular since the nineties. We didn't have shit like this when I was growing up, and it's only been recently that I've been eating food without hurling."
Ian Lighter: :: he polished off his last fish cake:: What changed? ::Was wondering if it couldn’t also happen for Terri::
Alex Vipond: "Determination really. When I was first turned, I tried to eat as I always had. I avoided feeding. It made me ill." He shrugged. "I gave up. For centuries, I had a sparing diet. And then I met a woman, a fae, who was like..." Alex paused. "Have you ever tried to give up something you needed, a certain type of food maybe that you loved but maybe were allergic to? That's how it was with me. And then I met his fae and it was like giving crack to an addict. I craved her in every way there was possible." Alex shrugged. "And she made me realize how stupid it was to avoid a healthy diet. So I started feeding on a regular basis. I would feed, and wipe the mind of the donor of the event..." He shrugged. "It was something I needed, and I couldn't have them knowing what I was. I'd been run out of one village already for attacking a cow of all things..." Alex paused, "And then I met Meghan, and I tried to eat again, to fit in better. Sooner or later pushing my food around on my plate wasn't going to cut it. She learned of what I was before I intended, but she helped me. And with my healthy diet, my body working rather normally, food was no longer an issue."
Ian Lighter: :: he polished off his beer and regarded Alex as he told his story::
Alex Vipond: Alex shrugged. "It's amazing the things you'll do and try for a woman."
Ian Lighter: :: he held a finger up and pointed to their beers when the waitress looked their way:: Very true. ::Conversation halted as the server once more brought beers to the table, He nodded with a smile to the woman and when she'd bustled off, looked at Alex seriously:: If I am mortally injured, please don't change me, Okay? ::Okay he had been reading the popular fang fiction!::
Alex Vipond: Alex drained the last of his beer, and then leaned his forearms on the table as he contemplated the women he knew, and then he leaned back when the waitress arrived. When Ian spoke again, he looked back at him. "Well, generally speaking, blood given would heal wounds. But not everyone is willing to accept that offerance." Callie being one of them. "But if you don't want to have anything to do with such, I understand."
Ian Lighter: Heal without turning?
Alex Vipond: "Yes." Alex nodded. "Turning is a whole process...." He waved a hand. "So it's not a problem if that's what you're worried about."
Ian Lighter: Well hell.. :: he grinned:: Share a few drops with me then
Alex Vipond: Alex looked around, and then looked back at Ian. "When we get home, if you're still of a mind to do so..."
Ian Lighter: :: he blinked: Oh.. well I meant if I was injured.. what does it do to someone who is whole?
Alex Vipond: "Oh well yes, in that case." He shrugged. "It may make you feel... stronger perhaps. Overall healthier... maybe."
Ian Lighter: :: he put 30.00 on the counter. which should cover both meals:: Alex your generosity astounds and humbles me sometimes. Dinner is on me. But if I am going to be of any use to Adrienne in the morning, I need to get some sleep.
Alex Vipond: "I will not argue it." He smiled, and finished off his beer. "Okay, let's head on back."
Ian Lighter: Great. :: and he accompanies Alex back to the house::