tampered | Log: In Progress

Current Mood: uneasy

Log: In Progress

When: February 25, Evening
Rating: Teen
Characters: Rayne [

favored_son]
Summary: Rayne has convinced D to join her for an outing to Pandora's, no strings attached.
Log:

While the panthers made traversing the streets somewhat inconvenient, D did not allow the situation to bother him. He entered Pandora's as unruffled as usual, clad in his typical cloak, hat and armor. The dhampir did not know what to expect of Rayne, but he would not be surprised if she continued to pressure him to "lighten up". D did not begrudge the woman her own approach to life, but he was rather set in his ways and unlikely to change them after a few conversations with a woman he barely knew.

"You know, she does have a point," the parasite muttered, voice muffled by D's glove.

D tightened his fist in silent warning.

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She wasn't exactly sure why she felt the need to badger D about his lifestyles choices but seeing as how he was the only other dhampir in the City it made sense to try to help the guy out.

Of course there was still the matter of how Walter would react to this situation. It wasn't that she and Walter were committed to each other, far from it. It mostly due to the fact that D was Alucard's son and Rayne was well aware that D's parentage was a soft spot for Walter. At any rate she was be sure to make it up to him later.

Maybe Severin had been right in that she didn't think things through enough but seriously D needed to lighten up. And she was certain Alucard would not be the one to bring him out of his shell. No, if anyone was going to do that it would have to be an outsider like herself or Larmica even.

Since Rayne was playing the role of human tonight in even offering to go on a harmless date she decided to dress the part. Decked out in an elegant black dress that left just enough to the imagination, but accenuated every curve Rayne walked into Pandora's. The presence of her Brimstone broach only served to draw further attention to her assets.

Hopefully this doesn't turn into a train wreck, she thought with a heavy sigh. Now it was time to find D.

D stood as Rayne turned in his direction. He had shed his hat and cloak, and his sword rested against the wall behind the chair he had chosen. That Rayne was dressed as a human woman on a simple date did not escape his attention. D waited for the parasite to make a snide comment, but for once, the creature held its tongue.

Thankful for the small reprieve, D stepped forward to greet the other dhampir. "Rayne." He offered his hand so he could escort her to the table. Though D was often abrupt and unconcerned with social niceties, that did not mean he had never learned proper etiquette.

"D." Rayne said with a small smile, as she lightly took hold of his hand. Allowing him to lead the way to the table.

It did feel quite strange to be acting like a human. Especially when she didn't really need to eat food but this place was not as daunting as some of the other hot spots in the City. And she had promised no strings attached. It went without saying that D was attractive and she would gladly help him out of his shell..among other things but she did have self-control. Whether anyone else thought so or not. She had been trapped in the City since Christmas and had only been with two different lovers. Now that was a record for her.

"My such a gentleman," she said coyly. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long."

"I arrived shortly before you did," he responded. When they reached the table, he held her chair for her before going back to his own. If he was discomfitted by his choice of clothing in comparison to hers, he did not show it.

"You don't seem to have had any trouble with the cats outside." His voice was laced with approval, but only of the sort one professional might express towards another.

"Well honestly they do not seem very interested in me but even if they were I could easily handle myself. Believe it not I have fought in dresses like this many times," she answered matter-of-factly.

If she had to count how many times she had to go undercover to some big "how do you do?" she would need more hands. High Society vampires were more a pain in the butt then the bottom feeders that crowded the slums.

"I'm curious what have you been doing to pass away the time in this place?" Rayne asked, just as the waiter appeared.

D allowed himself a small smile at the comment about the dress. "Fortunately, that is not a challenge I have had to face." He felt more than heard the parasite snicker, mostly likely at the mental image of D in a dress, but let the creature be.

The hunter held off on answering Rayne's question while they placed their orders with the waiter. Once the man had gone on his way, D replied. "I have been spending most of it with my family." He was well aware that his status as Alucard and Integral's son was no longer a well-kept secret, and that Rayne knew of their relation. "You seem to have found ways to occupy yourself here as well."

Rayne snickered at that last comment. "Yeah, I have," she said, clearing her throat. Between her sex life and the whole mess with the Red God and his pet she had found many ways to keep busy.

"Though admittedly I do get bored at times. I'm use to traveling around the world carrying out missions for the Brimstone Society. All this sitting idle is making me antsy."

"You do not appreciate the vacation?" D inquired, arching one eyebrow in a sardonic expression. He was, in his way, teasing her. He would not enjoy his own "vacation" either, save for the fact that his family was in the City. For that reason, he was willing to put aside his frustration at the curses and at his absence from his own world and his mission there.

"Well he does have a sense of humor," Rayne said, snickering. A little light-hearted teasing never hurt anyone. "That's good to know because I was beginning to think you might be fun deficient."

"So how has it been to reconnect with your family again?"

She was curious considering her parents had anything but a loving relationship and well her father was a complete shithead.

The elder dhampir took a moment to consider his answer. In typical fashion, his initial response to the query was brief. "It's surreal." Upon hearing his parasite's groan of frustration, D cast a wry glance at his still-gloved left hand and did his best to elaborate, both for Rayne's sake, and to avoid any unwelcome commentary from his partner. "Before my arrival here, it had been quite a long time since I shared company with any of them, at least peaceably. That is strange enough, without adding the fact that for them, I haven't been born yet."

"Yes, I imagine it has been a little awkward for them but most of them seem completely accepting of you," She answered.

"So I take it, you and your father do not always get along in your time?" she asked, having picked up on the implication that the family he did see in his time was not quite on pleasant terms.

If he wanted to know about her upbringing she would tell him it would be fair considering her questions. She only wanted to know exactly what she was dealing with in terms of the isolation he imposed on himself.

D nodded, but held off of his reply again as the waiter returned. The man was quick to withdraw, and once he had, the hunter spoke. "My father is not entirely himself in my time. His aim seems to be to kill me unless I prove myself capable of killing him."

"Hmpf, sounds like he lost it. If it's any consolation I'm sure Alucard could still win father of the millennuim over my shithead father," she said picking up her glass of white wine and taking a sip.

Truly her father was never a good father too any of his children. So yeah she felt a bit jealous that at least D did know what it felt like to have a caring father.

"Yes, he did. I take it your father was the vampire?" In D's experience, it was the vampire parent who was the most unstable and the most likely to engender hostility in dhampir offspring, particularly if those offspring took advantage of their nature to hunt their undead kin.

"Yeah, he was...now he is dead. It took me almost sixty years but I finally got him before I was brought here," she answered with a smile.

Even if she had almost died in the process, it was worth it to be the one put Kagan down for good. "Unlike your parents, my mother and father were not in a relationship period. He just saw something he wanted and took it. I just happened to be the by product so to speak," she continued, a slight bitter undertone to her voice.

"That is a problem for many dhampirs in my world," D remarked softly, "provided they live long enough to learn the circumstances of their births. To have dealt with your father in that short a time is impressive." From what he had learned and could sense of Rayne, he suspected that her father had hardly been a push-over.

"Yeah, well he faked his own death so I had stopped looking for him and instead went after my half-siblings. I came across him during my last mission and we had it out once and for all. I'd probably be dead too. I was well on my well to dying after I finished him," she admitted, taking another sip of her wine.

"I had lost a rather large amount of blood and there was no source of replenishment in sight."

"But you found it here?" D's own food and drink was largely untouched. Like Rayne, he had no actual need of it. He was also more interested in her story than in the meal. It was rare that he met a dhampir with whom he was willing to hold a conversation. Part of him was curious how similar the dhampirs of Rayne's world were to those of his own.

"Actually I woke up in that fucking fountain and surprising enough my wounds were healed. Aside from being burned by the water I was fine. I can't really explain it. My heart still beats so I know I'm living. Go figure...one of the City's flukes perhaps?" She shrugged off the mystery of it. the City ws a pecuilar no doubt about that.

"Lucky," Left Hand muttered, and D immediately responded by clenching his fist again. Time in the City seemed to be making the parasite bolder, when D had thought the creature was already bold enough.

"Perhaps I have already mentioned this to you, but it probably bears repeating even if I have. Please feel free to ignore my partner. I do."

Rayne laughed. "I'm sure the little guy must get on your nerves at time but he does seem to care," she responded. "And did he mean by lucky?"

She was curious now, since she didn't really remember much about D's arrival in the City. She vaguely remembered him coming off as kind of stuck up but that was about it for details.

Before D could answer, the parasite jumped in, uncaring of the fabric that still separated D's hand from the open air. "The esteemed Vampire Hunter here showed up in the City with sun sickness, hawthorn poisoning, and a few stake holes through him. Not only that, but he decided it would be a fine idea to actually approach his father when he sensed him rather than do the intelligent thing and go the other way, seeing as we had no reason to believe Alucard wasn't going to pull another of his let's-see-if-you-die routines. I'm surprised he stayed upright as long as he did."

In response to this tirade, D merely sighed and finally picked up his drink with his right hand. He took a small sip, and when he set the glass down, he asked his parasite, "Are you finished?"

"For now," Left Hand replied glibly.

Rayne supressed a laugh not wanting to encourage the parasite further considering things were going fairly more decently then she had thought they would. "That is a rather long list of injuries and Severin tells me I'm reckless. It's good to hear I am not the only one," Rayne said jokingly. "I suppose I really would have been screwed if I had ended up in the fountain while still injured. As it were it almost killed me when I landed in it during my fight with the cult members," she added, her expression going blank before she shook it off.

"But I'd rather not get into talking about that."

"As you like," D conceded. He did not want to spend the evening cataloguing wounds, either, but his partner found an unsettling amount of glee in relating just how much damage D had taken over the years. Perhaps it was an attempt to remind the dhampir that he was not invincible. Seeing as D was well aware of this fact, he found the parasite's efforts annoying and often out of line. The dhampir doubted that Left Hand would be so rude as to give Rayne the same treatment. Still, it was best not to give him the chance.

In an attempt to steer the conversation towards another subject, D inquired, "Why is it you've taken enough interest to offer 'lessons', as you put it? You hardly know me, and I doubt Walter would be pleased."

"My partner Severin use to chide me on my impulses and I think impulse has a lot to do with my offer. Not knowing a person has never stopped me just ask Greed and Walter. The first time Walter and I had an actual conversation was about a week or so after he was judged," Rayne stately candidly. She was not ashame of the lifestyle she had chosen for herself.

"For people like us, I think it is important to stay connected to both sides of our nature. And for whatever reason you have disconnected from one side of yourself. Now that side poses a threat to any you might want to get close too. I think I could help you so I offered. Walter might be a little upset about it all things considered but he and I are not couple. Yes, we are certainly more than friends but we don't hold claims over each other," she admitted, taking another sip of her wine.

Fair enough, D thought as he listened to Rayne's explanation. Impluse and instinct were closely related, and dhampirs were often well-served by their instincts. Although he had no intention of embracing the same philosophy as Rayne had, there was no harm in letting her speak her piece about what she perceived as its advantages.

"I do not precisely disagree with you," D said. "My concern does not lie with your assessment so much as with your proposed methods."

"And which of my methods gives you concern?" Rayne asked simply. She had put a lot out there. She did not expect him to become like her, she was only looking to help him alleivate some of his tension. Perhaps then he could actually carry on a relationship here and there. The whole dark tragic hero figure was passe.

"That would be the sex and the blood-drinking from a live source," Left Hand immediately contributed. "He avoids the sex because of the blood-drinking, and the blood-drinking because ... uh, D, why do you avoid the blood-drinking?"

Another man might have rolled his eyes at the parasite's sudden consternation. D merely answered in a steady, calm voice. "Among other things, it is impractical and dangerous. As you should know." His next words were for Rayne. "My work is done in small, largely isolated communities where the people harbor an almost overwhelming fear of vampires. A dhampir that takes human blood is equal to a vampire in those people's eyes."

"And you mean to tell me that there is not any people in your world that would willingly let you feed from them?" Rayne asked.

One thing she learned was that were always humans willing to feed a hungry vampire. She had met several just in the City alone. There was certainly no way that D could convince her there were none in his time.

"This place is perfect to practice on. Especially since it revives the dead,"

"There are, but they would suffer for it, no matter how well I excercised control over my nature." In this, D would remain adamant. What purpose would he serve as a Hunter if those who hired him were exposed to new dangers because he took advantage of his hosts? "Those who are bitten, be it by a vampire or a dhampir, are murdered or driven into the wilderness if the one who bit them is not destroyed ... sometimes, they are banished or killed even then."

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Log: In Progress

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