(A/N): So we're back in 1966 with Evie, Khal, Nuria, Nicholai, Grey and Minsi, in the aftermath of Khal's 'advice' for Evie. Foreshadowing, I guess.
January 16th, 1966
Evie
Pip? What the- falling duck, did Pip have to do with anything?
"I have no idea what any of that means, except for the last thing- well, sort of. What do you mean, 'Pip will set me free'? Pip, as in my friend, Pip? As in Philip?" Khal shrugged.
"I don't know." He didn't- how could he not. Know? "I would have to look deeper in order to know more, which I'm far too tired to do right now. I've already expended too much mental and psychic energy, and there's no telling how deep trying to look for answers would drag me. Look, Evie..." He hesitated, and he really did look exhausted. "I like you, I do, but... I'm not willing to put my sanity on the line to take a peek at something I probably wouldn't even be able to talk about." I blinked.
"Uh... your sanity?" He shrugged again, but Nuria- standing proudly by his side like always- looked incredibly concerned.
"It take a toll," He said simply. "Seeing the past, present and future- sometimes all at the same time- has a tendency to make Seers..." He winced. "Mentally unpredictable, so to speak." And yet... he'd been willing to do so to give us all predictions? To attempt to give me advice?
"Khal, I... I didn't know." He started to shrug again, but I kept going, essentially interrupting him before he could. "I understand now why Nuria's so protective of you." I think she started blushing again, but it was faint, so I couldn't really tell. "If my best friend was a Seer who was at risk of compromising themselves every time they used their power, I'd be a little overprotective, too." Thankfully, he huffed out a laugh.
"It's not every time," He explained, but it felt more like an excuse, to me. "Only when I push too far; try to see too much. The universe gave me a gift, but if I try to take advantage of its generosity, it will take everything from me, instead. I accept that risk. I could waste my gift- refuse to use it, and let what skill I have with it fade, but I would never be completely free of it, even if that was what I wanted. I'd still see glimpses, but be unable to investigate them- and inevitably, I would eventually suffer for-"
I went out on a limb and guessed, "Squandering the universe's generosity?" He watched me steadily for a second, then nodded.
"Quite. There's a balance that needs to be reached- a goal that's forever shifting, as I continue to grow and evolve as a person. As a human being, as a vampire, and as an individual. It's difficult to keep track of, but not impossible- and to tell the truth, I'd have to push rather hard in order to go off the deep end, but I fear..." Again he hesitated, for the second time in the span of a few minutes. I couldn't remember him ever hesitating in the time I'd known him before that- was it the lack of psychic guidance that was leaving him wary? "I know all of this because there are accounts of others, before and after and around me, who have pushed too far. I fear they didn't do so for power, but instead, for love." I had no idea what to say to that.
Nuria looked pained, and I wondered if she feared this too. If she was scared she might lose Khal not to the Hunters or some other external force, but to his own desire to help people. Losing him at all was bad enough, but that? I could understand her reluctance to let him proffer prognostications left, right and center a little better now.
"I fear they saw something bad concerning someone they cared about and tried to dig deeper, only to become stuck, like I did with Jerremyah." He winced at the memory, or possibly at the thought of being stuck like that. "It... it wouldn't be as bad for a human Seer-" What? Why not? "-but a vampire..." A heavy wince from everyone in the room, even Minsi. Okay, clearly I was missing something.
"I don't understand... why is being stuck so much worse as a vampire Seer?" He sucked his teeth, seeming reluctant to explain this to me. Or, I worried that he was reluctant to have to be the person to explain it to me- which meant it was far more serious than just his personal discomfort.
"So, Evie... Nicholai will explain it to you." It was clear to me that Khal was chickening out. Unfortunately, as I turned to the man in question, it was also clear to me that Nicholai had apparently been staring at me for an indeterminate amount of time.
To his credit, he looked just as shocked to be staring at me as I felt catching him doing so, but after he'd recovered, he immediately pivoted to scowling at Khal. Someone didn't take well to being embarrassed. "If you think-" I cut him off, not feeling even the slightest bit bad for it- serves him right for staring.
"Really? Wow, thanks Nicholai- you know I'm new to this, and it's really hard to get caught up to speed. It's so kind of you to help me!" I knew I was laying it on thick, but it seemed to be working- I just wasn't sure whether it was because he was actually being charmed, or because he was too bewildered to fight it.
"I- uh-" He blinked at me furiously for a few seconds. "...okay." Wait, really? I didn't think it would be that easy, but apparently Nicholai was a soft mark- who knew?
"Nick..." Grey groaned, scrubbing a hand across his forehead as though he was disappointed. "At least try to make it a challenge for her, you absolute clod." Clearly Nicholai still had the presence of mind to take offence to that, and glared at him with what seemed to be the power of nine hundred and ninety-nine suns, if not the full thousand.
"I could have sworn Yates left already, and yet I can still hear his asinine rambling," Ya- Oh, Jerremyah! "Put a sock in it, you hypocrite." Was that a reference to the fact that Grey had been flirting since he'd got here- and last night through the fireplace, too- or was he talking about something else?
Grey shrugged, lips twitching upward into a slight smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest. "At least I'm upfront about my 'weaknesses'. Everyone knows I'm a whore- it's kind of my thing. You, on the other hand..." He trailed off pointedly, and Minsi coughed out a laugh from my other side. Um... 'whore'?
"Sock." Was all Nicholai ground out, and Grey looked ceaselessly smug.
Time to redirect and defuse this bad boy. "Um, so... about getting stuck? Being worse for vampires?" Nicholai blinked, glared one last dagger at Grey, and recalibrated to a slightly more open countenance. He hadn't quite managed 'welcoming', but it was the thought that counted.
"Right, so, first of all, you have to know something about the way vampirism works. Because we're immortal and ageless, our brains have to work a little differently in order to cope." He seemed to be waiting for a response, so I nodded.
"Like how because you're so fast, your senses need to be better to keep up?" He blinked, then his eyes darted to something behind the couch- my money was on Nuria. When they returned to me, he looked vaguely impressed, if a little tense. Maybe he'd wanted the glory of explaining something to someone he'd thought was clueless- it was what I'd promised him, after all.
"Yes, actually." He still sounded surprised. "Our enhanced senses and certain special abilities- like our speed and lack of traditional appetite-" Which was probably the nicest way to say they didn't have to consume food to stay alive- er, dead- er... alive? "-do sometimes result in a... phenomenon, in which a vampire has a tendency to become... distracted by something, and lose track of things- or even to become unresponsive, for a time."
I felt my eyebrows furrow. "And that's why it's worse for vampires? Because they already have a tendency to get stuck?" He winced, and bit his lip- which, yes please! More of that, good sir!
"No," He said, and I couldn't even bring myself to be disappointed that I was wrong. "It's worse for vampires, because if we were to lose ourselves completely- as Khal is talking about a Seer doing-" His grey eyes bored into mine in a way that was far too distracting, given the subject at hand. "-it would be forever. They'd be stuck like that for eternity." ...Oh.
"Or," Khal spoke up from behind me, voice somewhat raspy. "Until someone puts them out of their misery."
(A/N): Evie: *using her innocent charm to manipulate Nicholai into doing what she wants*
Nicholai: *knowing she's manipulating him, but being so desperate for kind words that he's allowing it anyway*
Grey: 'Nick, please. I am begging you, for the love of everything magical- I know she's a willing, human, MUGGLE, female, but you have to at least TRY to keep it in your trousers!'
Nicholai: 'I lack both the trousers capable of containing my attraction, and the fucks to give about what you think of me or my behavior.'
Grey: 'Hypocrite.'
Nicholai: 'Oh, now I'M the hypocrite? That's rich, coming from YOU.'
So instead of 'flying fuck'- because I felt like Evie probably wouldn't use that word very often- I had her say 'falling duck', because falling is the opposite of flying, and obviously, duck sounds like fuck.
