Is it the Full Moon or are we Crazy? [Bennett/Faustus prp]

[Noir Songbird]

Faustus nodded slowly. "I see, I see." He said. "A large family? Adoptive, of sorts, then? Or is your father a busy man?" Nope, that wasn't an awkward question, not to Faustus. It was just a question. Did Bennet have many half-siblings, as he did?

"I understand my mother has made quite a few friends in her day, and that I have a few half-siblings and perhaps even nieces and nephews about." He said airily, as if it was of little consequence (and it was, why should he care about half-siblings he would never meet since Mother had thrown him out of the nest?)

"Mother was indeed a Gangrel, bottom of the totem poke, though." He sighed. "Wild and furious as any of them." He looked off towards the direction fo the woods. "Riff-raff, you say? And I'm sure you consider yourself fully civilized." He smiled at her. It wasn't a difficult assumption to make. She certainly was.

"I had no idea others held the Animals in such contempt," He had never really met any others. Not long enough to know their opinions on the clan of his birth. He tilted his head and watched her.

"Are you of clan stock, my lovely lady Bennett?" He asked. He had never been one to restrain his curiosity. It intrigued him, and besides, he had already told her of his mother's Clan. She also seemed to be fairly talkative to him, so he held out hope that his inquiry would yield an answer.  

[[Estelle]]

Bennett gave pause as he so boldly asked about her father being a busy man. Shock registered across her face for a split second at his question, but he quickly brushed past it, moving right along in his words. She watched him with the moon reflected in her bright eyes as he revealed more of his heritage. What would her father think? Not only was she out, away from the Cemetery, associating with a Gangrel child, but he was born from the low ranks? A sense of self-satisfaction settled over her. Not only was she truly enjoying herself, but if her father found out, he would be furious. Good.

Still, as he continued, Bennett had to question again, how he came to be as he was. A wild and furious Animal for a mother. A mad demi-god for a father. Yet he held conversation with ease. Her mind turned over the idea as she let him continue on, content to sit and listen rather than speak. Too often, she had to speak on behalf of Ashur. It was nice to be quite for once.

And as though he knew she had been dwelling on thoughts of her father, he asked the very question she would rather have avoided. Are you clan stock? A sigh fell from her lips as her paws stilled from their fidgeting with his card that she still held. How to answer that question? He had been honest with her, or so it seemed. Maybe he didn't even know to lie? Yet another interesting idea. She couldn't bring herself to lie to him, but still, it was one thing to upset her father, but even Benny knew well enough to not incur his true wrath by outing all of her status.

"I am of clan stock, if I'm being honest, Faustus," Bennett finally replied, looking away, out into the sea again. She quickly savored the way his name felt coming from her mouth, almost like she was meant to say it. It dawned on her that while he had called her by her name several times since she revealed it, this was the first time she had used his. "I often find myself dragged into my father's work. However, it brings me no joy. His missions--his thoughts--they are not mine." Leaning back into her seat, she kept her eyes out, distant. She was trying not to reveal too much. "But, unfortunately, family duty is an honor I must maintain..."

That seemed like a fair answer. For some reason, she didn't particularly like keeping secrets from him. He was easy to talk to. And he was honest. It was refreshing. But still, she had to protect herself, even if that meant protecting her father for now. She didn't not care for him, after all, he had raised her. She just...didn't agree with him.

 

[Noir Songbird]

Faustus nodded, and looked thoughtful for a moment, an expression that really did sort of look out of place on him. He was not, per se, a thoughtful sort, but every once in a while, he gave it an attempt or two.

"Well, family hardly makes you," he said, easily. "Not like you chose it. So what's stopping you from giving Daddy's nonsense a miss and just running off? Plenty of places in Faetasia to disappear."

Her situation was clearly wildly different than his own, since his mother hardly cared to bother to raise him. He wasn't suitable for her Clan, so he was cast aside. But...well, freedom could always be seized, could it not?

[Estelle]

 

[[Estelle]]

Her body was still as she watched him seem to think over what she had said. Had she been mortal, one could have said she was holding her breath with just how still she was. What would this strange Kat think? Was he perceptive enough to figure her out? To see right through her? Had she given too much away?

When he spoke again, all the tension released from her body and she relaxed once more. A small laugh even fell from her lips. Calling her father's business "nonsense." He certainly, clearly, had not been raised to have a healthy fear of his parents. There was some sort of truth to what he said though. You don't choose your family. She had just been stuck with her lot. Separated from her sister at birth, never knowing her or their clanless mother. Raised to be a "proper" young vampire by her father and the clan. She wondered what freedom would truly be like.

"Where would you go?" Bennett asked, tilting her head, meeting his eyes. "To disappear?"

It was an honest question. Even if she didn't feel like she could truly just run away, it was a fun idea. Her beach had been her haven, but she knew she couldn't really disappear here. Faustus had even discovered her without her noticing initially. Besides, she had things to do, still. Loyalties that she would chose to honor, not just the ones she felt like she had to.

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Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

Faustus tapped his chin, and thought about her question. He'd never really had to disappear; his mother never cared to seek him out and his father had much better things to do than worry about his children, probably. But Bennett was clearly not as free as he was.

He wanted her to be, though. Wanted to take her with him into the night, and never let her worry about her ridiculous family again.

"There are plenty of wild places in Faetasia," he said, finally. "Untamed forests. Mountains no one thinks to climb. It would be possible to make a very nice home there." He bared his fangs, amused. "Snack on hikers and travelers and other nature-loving idiots."

[Estelle]

 

[[Estelle]]

For the first time of the evening, a full smile stretched across her carefully painted lips. An unrestrained laugh tumbled from her throat at his words. She wasn't sure if he had intended his "snack" comment to be funny, but Bennett was absolutely tickled by it. Something about Faustus made her just want to let go of absolutely everything. Her family, her sense of duty, her need to be so prim and proper all the time. It felt absolutely reckless, but part of her was willing to let him lead her off into the mountains and the forests and never have to go home again. To find a new home wherever they were.

Oh!

That was a thought she hadn't expected. Not just wherever she was, but wherever they were. The smile from her laugh still rested on her lips as she thought it over. It was, really, too soon to be thinking of such things. But he just had this energy that made her feel like maybe it was an okay thought to entertain. Just running out into the wilds with no need to be bound by her lineage. Her tail swished about behind her, giving away her racing mind.

"Have you snacked on many, as you so cleverly put it, nature-loving idiots out there in the wilds?" She asked, eyes bright as she met his, leaning into his space. "Could you take me there?"

Soft silvery strands had slipped from behind her ears as she leaned towards him, resting on her hands. They were much closer than Bennett usually got to others. The Cappadocians weren't much for social interactions beyond necessary, and they were always so stuffy about it. How she loathed it. It was too dusty there in the catacombs of the Cemetery. She never felt like she really belonged there. Out here, under the full moon, unabashedly laughing with this man she had just met under, talking about running away, she felt more alive that she ever had amongst her father's books.

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

Bennett had a lovely laugh. Faustus tilted his head to the side, contemplating that realization. That he found her--and her laugh--lovely. That he wanted to keep hearing it, as much as he could. That if he could keep making her smile, he would be quite content.

Ah. That was a nice feeling. Faustus liked it very much.

"Oh, of course, plenty of times. When you grow up in the woods, they're the best food source about." He laughed, himself. "And I would be glad to take you wherever you want. Plenty of things to show you. Lots of places where you can get away from that silly family of yours."

Lots of chances to spend time with her. Lots of freedom to do whatever they wanted.

His hand moved closer to her. Perhaps involuntarily, perhaps thoughtlessly. Faustus was ever a creature of impulse, so really, sometimes it was hard to tell the difference.

[Estelle]

 

[[Estelle]]

“Hmmm…well…” Bennett chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully for a moment. “I’ve seen every bit of this beach by now. It’s one of my favorite places.” Her eyes glanced out over the water before returning to Faustus. “It’s so pretty here and, for some reason, not many others find their way here at night. Yet, you certainly managed to.”

She smiled at him, still amused that he had found her. For a moment, she wondered just how many nights he had waited to see if she would turn up. It wasn’t always a given that she would be here and there was certainly no schedule. Somehow, she couldn’t imagine he would have noticed a schedule anyway. No. Faustus certainly wasn’t the type for that.

“Do you have any favorite spots? Places you just…Go to?” As she sat here with the odd vampire, Benny found herself wanting to know more about him. Maybe she finally understood her father and the others endless interest in their dusty books and dirty graves. Because she felt like she could ask Faustus a million questions and still have more. He was fascinating and interesting and different. And she felt so light around him. It was such an unfamiliar feeling, but one that she wanted to hold into as long as she could.

“Like if I said ‘take me somewhere’ right now…where would we go?” She looked at him expectantly, lip still tucked between her fangs carefully, fingers still resting so close to his.

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

Faustuss nodded. "Some say that familiarity breeds contempt, but I find that's not true. To be familiar is to see all of something, and still look for new things in the sameness." It perhaps might have sounded profound. He certainly seemed to give his statement a certain weight. But he seemed to forget that he'd been thinking about it, when Bennett asked him a question, and his ears flicked as he thought.

She made him want to take things seriously.

"Favorite places...mm, yes, I know exactly where I would take you, if you asked." He smiled, eagerly. "I know the woods well--and there is a clearing, where I spent many nights when I was young and still finding my ways and means. A stream cuts throguh it. And when the moon is high, the whole clearing reflects it. A place of great magic, but more importantly, a place almost as lovely as the one I'd be bringing to it. Somewhere worthy of taking you."

[Estelle]

 

[[Estelle]]

An amused expression crossed her face as he turned the age old saying. It almost sounded like it was philosophical. Almost. But like many of the more eccentric things Faustus had said, it wasn’t quite right. Still, the sentiment was there, and she gave a hum of affirmation in response. She wasn’t willing to interrupt him to try and fully make sense of the thought. From how easily he seemed to jump from thought to thought, Bennett was certain if she actually interrupted, she would never get the answer to her question. Instead, she watched how the tips of his ears flicked, her own giving a similar twitch as he began to process her question.

And once more, she was glad she didn’t share the mortal affliction of blushing. Still, she turned her face away in an effort to hide how he had flustered her with a few words. Had he really meant to call her lovely? To have implied that she was someone special worthy of existing in such places? Thoughts raced across her mind, and she was doing a poor job of keeping her expression neutral. What was it about him that made her seem to lose her learned composure?!? Her eyes met the moon, still fairly low in the sky, but certainly raising, carving its path across the dark background. This time, she let her gaze stay there, trying to find some sense of calm from watching it. Her fingers itched to draw her rosaries through them. To count them. It was an old habit she had picked up from her father, though the spiritual meaning was never one she was close to.

After a long moment, with her face still turned toward the ocean, Bennett finally found her voice. ”You know, the moon is full tonight…” Her words were soft, a gentle smile on her pale lips. She glanced towards him once more, feeling, at least somewhat, more in control of herself. Another moment passed before the girl spoke again, realizing that Faustus may not catch the implied question. He seemed very direct. He didn’t hide in double meanings and suggestion the way so many of the clan vampires she knew could. ”Do you…could we lose the moonlight?”

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

Faustus never minded silence. It let him pick throguh the tangled burr that was his thoughts, prying them apart and laying them out so he might actually find the useful ones and discard the chaff.

He was picking throguh some of the ones related to Her--how she made him think that it might be nice to have a beating heart, to know if it would race in her presence. How he wanted to touch--but he would refrain, because if he was Too Much, All At Once, she might run away, and that was unacceptable.

He had to be Just Enough.

Just Enough was hard.

Her words drew his attention to the sky, and he regarded the moon, and he nodded.

"I think we could." He stood up. Extended her a hand. "Come with me."

[Estelle]

 

[[Estelle]]

Another smile broke across her delicate features. She followed his eyes to the sky, to the moon, before looking back to him as he nodded and stood. This was not at all how she had expected the night to go, but so far, it was one of the better ones she'd had recently.

Without hesitation, she placed her hand into his, holding tightly as she stood. Her mind raced, wondering if they would make it. Even if they didn't, surely the night would still be good. And if it was a place he had frequented before, if they got too late into the night, there had to be some safe hiding spot that they could tuck away into before dawn broke.

There it was again. Another thought that Bennett knew she shouldn't be thinking. It wasn't proper to hole up with someone she just met. Still, she simply ran her fingers through her hair, brushing that thought from her mind. Instead, she focused on how his hand felt around hers. It was a nice feeling. It was different. Bennett was finding that she was a rather big fan of "different" tonight. They did say people act up under the full moon. Maybe she could just blame it on that. But maybe she didn't want to.

"Let's go! She agreed excitedly, stepping away from her perch on the driftwood. It would be here another night. The girl didn't even spare her favorite spot a glance as she looked into Faustus' eyes, waiting to see which direction he would take her.

Noir Songbird