forum you'll be sending me trash you should've left in the drafts (o/o, closed)

Started April 09, 2022 by Deleted user

tune

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Her eyes hardened. “Why?” With almost inhuman speed, she came up beside him and snatched the diary from his hands. “It’s not. None of it is.” She put it and the others back in their place and shut the drawer where she kept them.

Dorian moved back, lazily, like an old lion might. "Touchy. But understandably so. It must hurt, having lost so much. I know what it's like to lose people. Sibyl Vane, another. Probably the only woman I ever loved. She killed herself, you know. And so much potential lost! I just… I understand, with the death thing. It hurts." he didn't mean much of what he said kindly as a rule, but Dorian knew Mina would be receptive to this, or at least, hopefully she would be.

Her eyes narrowed, but then a sigh was released from her lips. Already, she was tired. At least she was more clear headed now. “Yes. Very painful.” Her eyes drifted, and she noticed the moth now crawling down her arm. Scooping it up with her other hand, she stared at it for a moment, then released it into the air. Hopefully it could find a way back outside.
“Who are you?” She asked suddenly. All she knew of him was that he was immortal, like her, but alive and human. That, and that he was astoundingly violent and persistent. Or at least, he was capable of being so.

"Call me handsome." a beat. "Oh, you're serious. Well, Dorian. Of the Gray family, much as I hate to admit it." he said, smiling slyly, like Mina ought to know who he was. "That's my name, if that's what you wanted to know. But if you had more to ask me… well, I'm sure I could arrange an exchange of information in some capacity."

She crossed her arms over her chest. The whole ‘socializing with another human being’ thing was coming back to her, little by little. She did have more questions. More and more by the second.
“An exchange of information… yes. I like that.” Then she glanced down at her bloodstained nightgown. “I’m going to change first. Leave.”
Although maintaining personal hygiene was difficult for her these days, she didn’t like feeling dirty. Not only did she look dirty, but she felt it, and that was worse.

Dorian left, closing the great oak door to her room behind him. He stayed outside, waiting for Mina to call him back, not minding the bloodstains on his tattered clothes, how he basically lacked a shirt right now and how that particular fact just might freeze him to death in this miserable castle.

When Mina called him back in some time later, she was wearing a dark gray dress that appeared to be from the 1830s, with a wide neckline and gigot sleeves. Her hair was down and she was in the middle of brushing it. She had remembered while dressing herself that you did something like this when you had a guest over. Though, Dorian was quite uninvited.

Dorian looked Mina up and down, seemingly approving of something. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes? So, are we going to discuss terms, then?" he said, smirking quite obviously.

Mina was not smiling. “Yes. I have many questions, but I know you are curious about me as well.” Setting down the hairbrush, she then twisted her hair into a simple bun. She had taken off her glasses so they wouldn’t interfere with her hair, and now she put them back on. She went over to the bed and sat down.

Dorian didn't respond to that at first. "You'd look better without the glasses, you really are an old crone, aren't you? Not as if I can claim otherwise for myself, but at least I have some dignity about it." he laughed. "But yes, I would like to get to know you, Mina."

She raised an eyebrow. She had noticed that he always seemed to do this; make a jab at her for her appearance or emotions and the like, seemingly at random. “Well, I’m sorry to say that my… my vampirism has done nothing for my vision,” she shrugged.
Silence then washed over her for a moment. After thinking, she looked up to him. “May we establish a pact of mutual trust?” She asked. “Both of us should be entitled to withhold information if we wish, and should either of us use the information we learn against the other, then…” she paused. “Well, if it were you, then I would have no qualms about having you as a meal. But if it were me, what would you do?”

Dorian chuckled. "I won't force you to share any details you deem too intimate, no. But trust me, I'd make your life hell with no chance for the sweet release of death should you ever cross me." he laughed, this wasn't a matter to take too seriously. Mina was a woman, prone to fits of emotion and fey fancies, although she was quite alluring in her own way and managed quite well to intrigue him. He knew she wasn't one to be trusted, however, she could just as well torture him in any case. He also knew he had one over her, in terms of advantages. His weakness was miles away, and one that she wouldn't think to ask about anyways if she saw it. On the other hand, she could be killed by the consumption of her heart, and he planned on making her beg for that eventuality should she cross him. "You go first."

Tilting her head at him, Mina said, “If I may say, I am curious as to how you would make my life even more hell than it already is.” Then her mind drifted. “I’ve never tasted the blood of another immortal before…” she murmured, half to herself. “Not bad, minus the beer…”
There was about fifteen seconds of silence before she remembered herself. “Oh. Me?” Suddenly she couldn’t say anything. What was there to tell? Well, a lot, but she did not think it was important or worth mentioning. This was also new; she had never told a living person these kind of things, nevermind anything else about herself in general. She sighed, “It is difficult… it has been so long…”

Dorian chuckled. “I prefer wine, anyways. And take your time, I’m immortal. I’ve got time to spare.” he smiled, but it was not a kind smile exactly. It mimicked the same expression quite closely however. He could pretend to be kind when it suited his fancy, that was quite easy for him. However, being pleasant was harder to fake.

Though she felt some discomfort, his smile eased her mind somewhat. She wanted to believe in the kindness it appeared to show. She wanted to, but there was something tugging in the back of her mind. She had seen how he treated the wolves, she was still wary.
And yet… “You knew of me. Do you know of my… my…” a pause, “my fiancé, Jonathan Harker?” Mina took a breath, apparently out of necessity, and continued, “He was kept prisoner here… by the demon that used to inhabit this place. And he… he was killed by that same creature.”

Dorian nodded. Saying anything would break the illusion of caring, and really all he wanted out of this was some short term entertainment before he killed Mina, most likely. Or at least, left her destitute in her castle, before he found some way to destroy the building and all her life along with it. It was simply a game to Dorian, none of this really mattered. If Mina proved to offer something more long term to fuel that hedonistic fire, he’d probably take it in that case.

“That’s actually where I had gone,” she continued tentatively. “I buried him some ways away from here. And… ah. This is the anniversary of his death. I can’t remember how long it as been… but I visit him at least once a year.”
She was still, a numb feeling creeping into her chest and limbs.

(Meanwhile, van Helsing in the Netherlands somewhere: REESES PUFFS REESES PUFFS EAT EM UP EAT EM UP EAT EM UP EAT EM UP!!!)

(I was just looking back at this and remembered that technically Van Helsing would probably be dead at this point so I’m imagining he’s doing it in his grave)