Kinjaav

✹☽ Vampires of Redhaven ☾✹

@Cio

Beck snorted and laughed as she closed the van door. ”Sounds fun, can’t wait.” she replied. She noticed Nessa limping but said nothing, not wanting to hurt her pride any further than she’d already managed today. It made sense enough that a vampire with sensitivity to certain blood would have a reduced healing factor, if it was all to do with the immune system. That was her working, theory, anyway.
She got back into the bus and drove away, retrieving her phone from the glove compartment to let the cops know about the dead slayer and that she’d just lost track of the suspect.

✹☽ Vampires of Redhaven ☾✹

@Cio I had to laugh react to the last post... they’ll be so cute together once they both get over themselves. Which will probably be the slowest burn in the history of slow burns.

✹☽ Vampires of Redhaven ☾✹

@Cio

Beck cracked a smile; she had a feeling she was getting through, if only a little bit. She read the number and put it in a pocket on her rig. ”Maybe I’ll take you up on that.”
As if she would pass her offer up. It had been a chaotic few weeks, a lot of fighting and not a lot to fight for, so meeting Nessa felt like striking gold. She took a slight second to consider the intensity of that little feeling while she got out to let Nessa out of the van. She could have just unlocked the door from where she was, but in her slight distraction her body apparently wanted to go above and beyond. Whatever, she thought, returning her focus as she opened Nessa’s door, maybe not making the strongest eye contact anymore. If she got caught up on every little impulse she’d never get anything done, and what she was doing was bigger than her. Bigger than anything else she could do. It had to be, or she wouldn’t have done it at all.
”Your stop.” Beck quipped lightly, holding the door open like that was a normal thing to do for basically a stranger.

✹☽ Vampires of Redhaven ☾✹

@Cio

Beck rolled her eyes at Nessa's dismissiveness. "I meant next time, because whether I'm around or not there will be a next time." she said. "The Guard isn't the only game in town, and I don't know if you've noticed, but looking out for undead makes the living pretty trigger happy. Even if they aren't slayers."
She glanced at Ness just as she looked away. Her passenger was very beautiful, very mysterious... very stubborn. Very stubborn. She thought at first she was an older vampire based on her guarded nature, but after the events of the morning she wasn't so sure. It was a little unusual to see anyone but daywalkers and new bloods around humans; sure, all vampires had to find a human sooner or later but it was risky to live where you worked, so to speak. Especially these days, with all the bad press. But Nessa didn't act like a new blood, she was already so world weary and clearly wasn't half-starved like a rookie. No, she knew what she was doing, and Beck wanted to find out more.
Beck slowed the van and stopped in front of the bar, checking her mirrors to parallel park. "I'm just offering some help if you ever need it. Take it, leave it, that's your call. I just do what I think is right."

✹☽ Vampires of Redhaven ☾✹

@yoyohayli maybe Evren and Lucifer could interact? They’re both old heads lol. They might even know each other, or even be exes from hundreds of years ago?? What do you think?

✹☽ Vampires of Redhaven ☾✹

@Cio My post was short and took forever, but I’m at work so I plea not guilty lol. I think Beck still gave Nessa a lot to think about, though.

✹☽ Vampires of Redhaven ☾✹

@Cio

Beck considered this, drumming her fingers against the wheel a few times. ”So you instinctually sense imperfections in the blood, because it can affect you?” she prompted. ”What would bad blood do to you?”
She waited while Nessa formed a response and then added, ”And it’s not faceless research, it’s case study.” with the slightest edge to her words when Nessa finished speaking. ”Let me interview you and you’ll see what I mean. Hell, maybe I can help you out if you ever have a run in with cops or slayers again.”

✹☽ Vampires of Redhaven ☾✹

@Cio

Beck let out a snort at the first answer and quietly tolerated the second, keeping her eyes on the road but internally dismissing the thought that Nessa had taken a conscious action to spare her. It was a non-zero possibility, maybe, but Beck had fought off enough incensed vampires to know that state of mind wasn’t conducive to reasoned thinking.
The third answer rang truer to her; at the very least it wasn’t an obvious lie. She furrowed her brow slightly, considering this. ”Sounds limiting.” she said simply.
Beck had so many questions, and ached to properly interview her and get a clearer picture of what that entailed. ”Do you mean you can sense diseases, or maybe antigens? I thought it wouldn’t matter if you don’t have any vulnerability to illness.” she noted, taking a moment's pause and shaking her head. There would be another time. ”That’s really fascinating. We should talk about it sometime so I can get some notes, because I’ve never come across anything like that — anyone like you, not in all those tapes or binders back there.” she pointed with her thumb to the mass of research in the back of the bus.

✹☽ Vampires of Redhaven ☾✹

@Cio

Beck stewed in her thoughts for a few moments, replaying the events of the last hour (maybe less, who could say?) over in her head, going over her memories with a fine-toothed analytical comb. As she considered it all something stuck out, bothering her because she couldn't explain it. She glanced briefly at Nessa, not really wanting to provoke her any more but hungering for an answer.
"Ignore me if you want, but I just thought of something." Beck started, stretching and relaxing her hand against the wheel as a simple gesture of sincerity. "When that slayer kid came after us, you jumped on me before you stopped and attacked him. Why... what stopped you from killing me? It looked like you'd gone, I dunno, I'd call it feral; but you changed your mind. I've been at this for years and fought a lot of... a lot of everything, and I've never seen anything quit like that."

✹☽ Vampires of Redhaven ☾✹

@Cio

The bus was quite a spectacle, especially with its faded paint and boxy shape, but it was cheap to maintain and perfectly suited for Beck's purposes. On the inside it was worn but clean, clearly lived in but organized. The fabric seats were nearly threadbare in places but free of stains or holes. Two dog tags and a silvery pendant depicting a nun were hanging off the rearview window with, and they jingled quietly against each other when Beck shut the drivers side door.
She withdrew her car keys from a pocket on her rig and started the car. "Yeah, I know where that is. Hold on for a second." Beck made a point to throw the van into a speedy reverse, making deep and noticeable tracks in the gravel to turn out of the lot as hard and fast as the weathered vehicle could. She reduced her rate of speed, decelerating to a safe speed by the time they came to the end of the block. "If I've just seen a murder and I'm chasing a vampire, I'd get out onto the road as fast as I could to pursue them. Unfortunately I wouldn't call the cops until after I've lost track of the suspect. Sorry if I startled you, though."