st_clare: (Default)
st_clare ([personal profile] st_clare) wrote in [community profile] birthright_rpg2013-09-11 07:18 pm
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A Relaxed Situation

It was amazing what a little physicality could do.

Julianna moved out of the hotel and into her apartment, which she'd leased furnished, and slept in a bed that actually belonged to her. She'd woken up the next morning with a bounce in her step. And a bite mark on the side of her neck, which she covered up with a scarf so she could pay a visit to the campus. She'd been on the phone with London the night before, looking for information on Rhiannon. The girl could not be allowed to outrun her forever.

She'd been surprised to discover that there was another Slayer in the area, to say nothing of the fact that she was a student at UNLV. She'd checked out her transcript and class schedule and found that the person in question wasn't trying to stay off the radar, which was encouraging. Perhaps this Slayer would be less of an incorrigible brat.

The Watcher posted herself outside of a classroom, giving half of her attention to some papers she was carrying. Her office was in this building, and they could retreat to the smaller space if the girl proved amenable. This was business to be dealt with behind closed doors, anyway. And at least this time she wouldn't be caught flat-footed only to be dismissed.

It would go easier this time. It certainly couldn't go any harder.
valerie_vause: (Default)

[personal profile] valerie_vause 2013-09-12 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
During the day life went on as normal. Valerie had no trouble in class, other than the occasional moment when her eyes would close and she’d open them to discover ten minutes had passed. For the most part nobody seemed to notice, and when they did it was with a grin and the suspicion that she’d been out late. Technically, that part held true, but she wasn’t one to run into a party or club to actually enjoy the festivities. She mingled to do her duty. Even when that meant she had to sacrifice sleep.

Today though, she felt wide awake. Fingers had bounced a pencil against her notes much to others annoyance but she’d been too focused to notice. Scribbling down words in between the odd doodle and sketch. She’d been working with wood lately, so she could get her hands on the chunks of waste material for her own use. Valerie had learned that you could never have enough stakes. Some were lost in battle or broken, others wore away and splintered over time. Though she had gotten an idea during class and drawn a bottle with a cross on front as a reminder.

When the class ended she got up and stuffed her books and notes into her bag. While everyone hurried for the door the blonde took her time adjusting the strap around her shoulder. It wasn’t until she walked into the hallway that she realised she still held the pencil. She twirled it between her fingers before shaking her head. In her peripheral vision she caught sight of a woman going over some papers but never questioned it further. Valerie opened her bag just enough to slip the pencil inside then turned on her heel.

Next stop, the cafeteria.
valerie_vause: (Gaze Down)

[personal profile] valerie_vause 2013-09-12 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
Valerie sipped at her water as Julianna went straight on to discuss things. Professional, she decided, and resisted the urge to tap her fingers against the glass. Optimistic as the blonde was, her posture changed when the topic turned out to be the girl she’d found half dragged behind the bushes. The shower hadn’t helped that night, she’d gone to bed feeling like a failure, wondering about the girl and what her family must be going through. She knew it didn’t do any good to obsess, but she always took it hard when it was fresh kill.

“I called it in.” Even to her own ears her voice sounded small. Valerie cleared her throat, teeth caught and chewed the inside of her lower lip before she continued, “Vampire attack. I tracked him to a party on campus, staked him when I got him alone outside. He was a new one, maybe a few days. I think alone, he’d tried to hide her where he’d…” She bit her lip again for a second. “He wasn’t very clever, not well hidden at all, right near the path. I don’t think he belonged to a group or nest.”

Another sip of water was taken as Valerie heard the next question. The ice cubes clinked and danced within the glass and she watched them for a few seconds before she looked back at Julianna. “I patrol every night.” The answer was completely honest. “Coming here I knew there would be some on campus, students are easy targets and with so many a few going missing wouldn’t look suspicious but… There are more than I expected. I mean I can handle that, it just makes me wonder why.”
Edited 2013-09-12 04:05 (UTC)
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[personal profile] valerie_vause 2013-09-12 07:38 am (UTC)(link)
In order to get caught in a lie you had to tell it, and Valerie felt at ease with what she had said. Which she was grateful for, as a guilty person might have squirmed when Julianna folded her hands and smiled. Instead she saw it as gentle kindness, in a reserved, Watcher like way. Though she did arch her eyebrows slightly, the common expression for confusion, when she said ogre. What had happened between the two of them? Rhiannon was doing her duty and Julianna appeared to be doing hers, where was the problem in that? “I don’t think you’re an ogre.” Though, the Watcher had the potential to frighten her, simply because of the power she held and what it could mean for her.

The complement hadn’t been expected and Valerie actually blinked, felt the warmth as her cheeks tinged pink. “I… Thank you, Ms. St. Clare, but I’m only doing my duty.” It wasn’t like she needed to be validated but it felt nice to be appreciated. In a world where she had to remain a secret it was rare that she got any acknowledgement at all, good or bad. Brian had been the only person she’d told about vampire’s, but she hadn’t mentioned what she was, and she didn’t feel like he was the kind of supernatural worth the Council investigating. He was human, and funny, and surprisingly sweet, and his mouth when he talked made her smile to watch.

Valerie caught herself smiling and cleared her throat to focus. The water was sipped at and she considered Sabra. It was too early to tell either way and she wanted to be sure first before subjecting the creature, the woman, through any more hell than it had already been. That and she’d made a deal, with the hopes of teaching it to spare humans as much as herself. If she fed on vampire’s there was potential. That being said, the blonde did have a few questions, and Julianna might be able to aid in the answers.

“I’ve only been here about a month so there probably is and I haven’t come across it yet. Although…” Valerie chewed on her lower lip, her voice when she spoke was hushed and she leaned forward a little in her seat. “I know the supernatural spectrum is quite vast, and a lot of demons know about vampire’s and vice versa but… Not many refer to them as being Maloker’s. I heard something call them that when I was fighting two in an alley, but I don’t know what it was.” Which was all technically true.

Valerie shrugged lightly a perplexed look on her features as she went on to ask, “I like to stay educated in those things, it makes it easier for me and safer for everyone else but I don’t have the knowledge you do, or the books and I was wondering… Do you know the kinds of things that would know the Old Ones? Or is it just common among some things? I ask because I’d never heard anyone other than my, well, other than Watcher’s when I was being trained talk about Maloker and the vampires.”
Edited 2013-09-12 07:44 (UTC)
valerie_vause: (Default)

[personal profile] valerie_vause 2013-09-13 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
“Thank you, Julianna.”

The words rolled easily enough off her tongue as she plucked the small square of paper up, and she smiled in a way that said she’d need to remind herself to call the woman by her first name. The entire process had been painless, and with that realisation her nervousness lessened. Not completely but enough for her to notice. Enough for her to feel at least somewhat comfortable with a relative stranger that knew the intimate details of her life.

Valerie stood up then, only to pause and listen. Yes, it was unusual, but at least the woman recognised that fact and smoothed over the potential paranoia that might have tried to sneak up on the blonde. If what the elder said was true then she had nothing to worry about. Watcher’s didn’t compliment abilities unless you had them, ego’s had nothing to do with duty, so she was safe to carry on with hers.

“If anything unusual happens on patrol I’ll make sure to give you a call.” She grinned a little, adjusted the strap of her bag, and said casually, “I have no doubt that if you need to talk to me you’ll be able to reach me.” Since they both spent several hours a day on campus it wouldn’t be hard for either of them to find the other.