"I was standing... you were there..."

[desperatebeliever]

Who: Luka Delaney, Jett Wilson and Seamus O'Reilly (later with Xavier Carlisle, Molly Pierce and Ben Knight)
What: Two worlds colliding
Where: NYC Kindred HQ
When: In the wake of THIS

After intercepting Molly Pierce which pretty much led to her attempt to brush him off, Luka never really expected her to relent on anything. In fact, after that, he had tried to get away from her, resolute in the fact she wasn't going to help him like she helped Jett and he even tried to fight her elaboration on the whole thing. He used to be such a quiet and together kid, but these days, his mind was all over the place, at best, and he developed a habit of being hooked on his prescription pain medication to numb some of the inner conflict.

But she had relented, he just wasn't sure on what. She told him to promise not to top himself last night, to get some sleep, and meet her back in that same spot the next evening at the same time. Luka didn't sleep. He barely slept much these days with insomnia plaguing him, and then the only time he would crash out would be when he got so exhausted he was almost losing his mind. Last night, nightmares had overridden everything. Flashbacks of Afghanistan, and then the night he got raped because it was fresh in his mind after Molly had pulled him into an alley. So, he freaked, but he admitted she wasn't to know it would trigger shit for him. In saying that, most shit triggered things for him, and it was why he wanted to just... shut himself off for good.

Here they were again, though, and he was silent, pushing himself right into the corner of the elevator with his arms crossed over his chest defensively as they rode up something like 30 stories. He hated heights. He wordlessly followed her up a long corridor and then there were glass security doors the lead into a large marble-floored foyer after fingerprint recognition got Molly in. Once in the foyer, Luka expected to the strip-searched or something, and he desperately hoped they wouldn't want an internal. Instead, he just had to give his name, his address (the hotel anyway) and give his fingerprints for the security register. What the fuck was this Mission Impossible fuckery?

And they were let in through another door by a butler-looking dude in an expensive suit and they were in this large apartment place. It was huge, open-planned with a large conference table to one side of the room and a living area with sprawling leather lounge and wall-sized TV screen and bar. He stepped inside behind Molly, hands buried deep in his pockets and looked around in awe. This place was fucking amazing... and they also weren't alone.

Comments

[itsmylife]

Jett had no fucking clue what was happening here. All this was still very new to him and he was learning. So much so that a whole lot of information was crammed into his mind to process, and he still was in the WTF moment over Luka standing there in front of him in a roomful of other Kindred. Then all of a sudden, something was making Seamus lose his shit enough that Xavier was intercepting, and rapidly. He had heard that Xavier could be a scary and dangerous bitch in the right circumstances, but this was the first Jett was seeing of it. Xavier was usually such a stunning and poised guy, but now he was actually transforming into a scary looking bitch just by a change in his face to overpower Seamus, who was also Kindred hulking out and looking like he wanted to pounce on Luka, hump him and feed from him like he had never fed before.

Jett didn't follow. Instead, he stepped up as close as he could get to Molly and even lodged himself in behind her because he was intimidated, and his other arm was now wrapped around Luka's chest protectively. It was an instinctive childer reaction from him, and in the long run, probably a relief for Molly that he still trusted her to protect him. And did he mention that Xavier in powerful Primogen mode was scary? Because it fucking was. Seeing this, Jett was really relieved Xavier hadn't wanted to punish him for feeding from Skye.

[allaloneinthemoonlight]

It wasn't easy, but it no one else in the entire world, Seamus would always submit to Xavier, no questions asked. Xavier was the Sire he had never truly had, and he had always kept Seamus' best interests at heart when guiding him and teaching him. This was a prime example of how many made the mistake of believing Toreador to me the weak Clan, concerned only with pretty things and holding themselves in higher regard above all others. When in actual fact, they could be just as much the terrifying and dangerous as the other Kindred Clans. In Xavier's case, perhaps more so. If Seamus didn't control himself and attempted to harm Jett's friend, Xavier would be the one to punish him.

It was hard, though. Near impossible to fight it and control himself. He forced himself to let go of Luka's hand, but the hunger to feed from him was swallowing him and he pressed his fist up to his mouth, working to fight it. It was a little easier once he broke eye contact with the guy, but on a whole, he had no idea what was happening to him here because he had never lost control like this before. He was going to put it down to the fact he needed to feed, and being in the presence of a mortal with a entirely fresh stock of blood must be doing this. He wasn't of clear enough mind to wonder why none of the others were forcefully salivating over Luka too.

[bloodstainedheart]

"Jett, Molly, take the young man through to the other room, please," Xavier requested calmly but firmly. He still had a hold of Seamus' arm and he really hoped he could get him to settle and attempt to be back in Luka's presence without losing control. "We will join you shortly." The boy needed more information before he blatantly witnessed any of them feeding. For a mortal, it could be a garish sight and Xavier had no wish to terrifying the boy, or lead him into becoming physically ill for watching something he wasn't emotionally prepared to see.

Ben stayed, but he knew to keep his distance for now. Xavier waited while Molly ushered Jett and Luka up the hall and then held his wrist up to Seamus' mouth. "Feed," he demanded and then cupped his other hand behind Seamus' head when he bit down roughly on Xavier's wrist and started to fervently feed from him. This week was leaving Xavier's own mood much to be desired. He was in desperate need for intimate time with his mate to relax and replenish, but with Brodie still unconscious in the other room, he needed to be here at HQ for now.

[desperatebeliever]

Once in the other room, Luka pulled away from them. "What the fuck is going on?!" he demanded, and now there was no holding the tears back. "I want to talk to my friend alone. Just let me talk to Jett alone!" he shouted at Molly, putting his hands up and grabbing at his hand because now he really felt like he was going out of his mind. He hadn't thought that guy was doing anything but being friendly, and just... friendly. What else could it be? But then suddenly that other guy was there scaring the fuck out of Luka and he was veering right into a really intense panic attack all of a sudden. His head was spinning, breathing was becoming really hard, and he was glad that Molly left him alone with Jett right before Luka lost his shit.

He leant heavily back against the wall and then sunk down it to draw his knees up and cover his face with his arms. He was sobbing by this point, fighting to catch his breath. "I-I'm going mental-- I'm going mental--" he sobbed through a choked gasp for air.

[itsmylife]

Jett didn't know what to do here. He was grateful Molly did leave when Luka needed to her too, but that meant he was left alone to try to calm Luka down when he was spiralling. Something was wrong with Luka, and Jett didn't have an iota of a clue what it was. At a loss of any other ideas, he just dropped down on the floor beside his friend and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. "It's going to be okay, buddy. I just... just... I don't know what you know and what you don't. I don't know how you got to be coming here with Molly, but I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry you have to face all this like this and I'm sorry that you probably have no fucking clue what's going on. I-I don't really either so much, but I can try to explain..."

Hopefully he had a shot to at least try. "Do you know what I am? Did Molly tell you that much? How do you know her?" he asked helplessly, rubbing Luka's back and hoping it would calm him down a little. Luka was trembling all over and if he couldn't catch his breath, not a single one of them could give him CPR. "Seamus was... he wasn't trying to hurt you, you know. At least, I don't think so. I think maybe that was the Kindred equivalent to a raging boner..."

[desperatebeliever]

Luka just felt like he was going to be sick, so he kept his head buried down in against his elbow as he tried to use some of those deep breathing techniques he had been taught my the Army psychs in the wake of everything going down in Afghanistan. It was after his operation that it came to light he was having flashbacks and panic attacks, when initially, Luka thought he might have internal injuries that were killing him. He had never had a panic attack that he knew of before, but now they were just something he was struggling to control. And who wouldn't fucking panic in the middle of a shitstorm like this? He was terrified and he he didn't even know completely why. Terrified, lonely, and lost. Yes, Jett was here, but was it even the Jett he used to know? He didn't want to let himself think it was only to be disappointed later.

"No," he managed to eventually reply, but his chest still felt tight and he was nauseated. That could be the lack of sleep, though. Why was it the first time he felt relatively okay in a long time was when that guy took his hand? "I don't know what you are, I just know it's something I don't get, but I'm fucking jealous of it because I hate this. I hate me. I don't want to do this anymore, all I wanted was someone to help me like they helped you. But no one cares that I'm losing my mind. They all just think I'm doing it for attention. That I should be better by now, because you were the one who got the most hurt. I shouldn't be wallowing in my own self-pity. But I'm losing my mind, and I don't know what's happening to me."

[itsmylife]

Something was wrong with Luka. Jett, of course, knew that his best friend had been discharged on medical leave from the Army because, following knee surgery, he wasn't fit to serve anymore. But beyond that, he hadn't received any further information on how Luka was holding up. Luka even stopped sending him emails, so Jett had just assumed he was fine. He wasn't fine. He was very, very much not fine and Jett put his arm around his friend, kicking off some small rhythmic rubs to his shoulder to try to get him to calm down. Is this why Molly brought him here? Because Luka was so fucked up? And did he just vaguely suggest he wanted to be Embraced, or worse, end his life? It was hard to really know without all the facts.

"Listen, Luka, mate, whatever help you need, I'll try to help you get it, but you have to talk to me, yeah? All this that you walked into, it's not what you want. Trust me, it's not. You're not like me, you never have been. I don't know what you know about it, but the only reason I am here is because it gave me the use of my body back. That's all. That's the sole reason. But it came at a high cost. It... it..." How did he explain this? He didn't even know where to start, he was so new to it himself. "There are other things to help you, you know. I can get that for you. These people, they're all loaded and they know a fuckton of powerful people here in New York. You're not just doing this for attention. It sounds like you've got some psychological stuff going on in there? Have you seen a doctor?" Yeah, it would not have been a good thing to have Seamus just fang into Luka if he was this messed in the head already. Jett knew Luka had depression in the wake of his sexual assault and then battled it all through the Army training, but this was much more severe now.

[desperatebeliever]

Luka lifted his head to look at Jett, somewhat exasperated and somewhat in disbelief. He looked normal, but he was far from that. "I saw you being put in a body bag," he told him, voice hitching with a sob as he face scrunched up a little when it just got too hard to try to wrap his head around it all. He was exhausted, and the stress was wearing him down. "She did this... thing to you, and you were put in a bag, zipped up, and hauled away to the morgue. I heard the security guide telling the morgue you were coming down. I heard the number of the drawer they were going to put you in. But... you're here, so she didn't kill you. That's really fucking hard to get my head around. When my head is just... it never switches off. It's all stuck in there, and it keeps coming back on me over and over and over again."

He wiped at his eyes and then nursed his forehead in his palm. "I've seen a pile of doctors. The Army paid for it all. I've got Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression. I know that shit. But knowing that doesn't take away that my life is shit. My family are arseholes, I'm too fucked to date anyone, and the only thing I've ever learn professional is how to fucking shoot people. Then I came here, to visit you. To try and ground myself and remind myself that I didn't have it bad at all. You were still here fighting every single day, after you saved my life. And then there's this chick there with you, telling you she can fix all your problems, give you a fresh start, immortality, have your body back. Only, she'll help you and not me. Because I'm a fucked up loser not good enough for anyone to give a stuff about."

[itsmylife]

Jett's eyes fell closed and if he could breathe, he would have sighed. He knew a lot of the older Kindred could breathe as an act, to keep up appearances. Some could eat and hold it inside them to keep up appearances, of which they purged later. Even some of the much older Kindred smoked simply for appearance sake. Jett was still way, way too young to know any of that. "Luk, Molly did kill me. She killed the human me, and then she, well, she turned me into something called Kindred. It's like a vampire, only very much not like the usual stereotype and definitely not like fucking Twilight. It's..." He paused and looked at Luka with a small shake of his head and then pointed to his face, taking Luka's hand and pressing his fingers to his throat. "Lean closer, I'm not breathing. I don't have a heartbeat. No pulse."

"I'm still wrapping my head around all of it, and honestly, it's still freaking me out. There's this guy, okay? I haven't met him, but he was Embraced with a lot of problems in the mind like you have, and he brought them all with him and now he's lost and suspended between our world and the one he left behind. I can't let that happen to you, mate. I won't. But it's true, I have my body back, and I have these people around me who have literally centuries of smarts between them. That guy out there, the one who was eye-fucking you? He was on the Titanic. And the other guy who called him off you? He knew Henry the Eighth. He was at court with him. But I'm going to show you, okay? Because you need to see it with your own eyes. Give me your wrist," he prompted quietly.

[desperatebeliever]

It was true. Jett didn't seem to be breathing at all, and Luka definitely couldn't feel a pulse, despite moving his fingers around a bit to locate it. These were all things he just did not think about and it was confronting. He was scared, but how could he not be? This sort of shit was fictional, in books and movies. Now he had to believe it happened in real life? He wanted it, if only to be released from the torment and shit that his life had turned into. He didn't have anything to live for, and if this was some sort of loophole to get rid of the shit life and still stay living? He wanted it. Only not Jett was apparently telling him it might not escape it at all and it could haunt him even more?

Fuck yes, he was scared. Fucking Titanic and Henry VIII? That was a serious fucking elaborate story if Jett was bullshitting him. Jett had never bullshitted him before, though. Never. In fact, he was the only person in Luka's life who had ever been honest and open with him. Which is why he trusted him, even if he was this thing he was saying he was, it was still more than Luka trusted anyone else. Jett was all he had left, and he wanted - no, needed - to understand this so he didn't lose his best friend forever. Wordlessly, he held out his wrist to Jett, blue eyes still red-rimmed and teary from his near breakdown as he watched Jett with a mix of nervous curiosity and plain fear of what he was about to see.