[ He should have been prepared for that, on some level at least. Nate already told him about vampires โ or at least the one that bit him โ and he's had more than enough time to deal with magic considering he has a power now, even if he can barely control it and doesn't really know what it is. But hearing it all at once is... a lot to take in.
Tim doesn't say anything for maybe a minute, his jaw working softly as he takes it in. ]
So d'you โ like, turn into a wolf?
[ Maybe he'll freak out about this later. Really freak out, not just stand still, gently nonplussed, chewing the inside of his cheek. He remembers wondering if Klaus could see his heartbeat racing sometime and it worries him a little that maybe he could. ]
It's not my preferred form, but before it was stripped of me thanks to an invasive neural implant, I could. It is not something to be trifled with or taken lightly. In short, you break every bone in your body in order to achieve the transition. Once you're a wolf, there's nothing like it. The freedom.
[ Tim pulls a face; he can't really help it. He glances over at Klaus, his lips pulled up a little at one corner. Weirdly, he hasn't had much exposure to the fact that some people lose powers when they come here, instead of just gaining them. ] So d'you need, like... blood?
It's a bit crass thinking of it like that, as I can still taste and enjoy real food. But, yes. Blood sustains me. Without it, I would desiccate. ( He only lets one moment pass before adding. ) You and every other person here is safe from me. I'm not the rabid sort. El has arranged for blood.
( He keeps back how classy he always was about it, compelling those whose wrists they fed from. Usually from glasses. But, with a daughter in tow, they did store their blood. They still drank from glasses. )
Okay. Just coverin' my bases here in case you turn on me. [ Which is a concern, but only in the sense that Tim doesn't reserve a whole lot of trust for most people without proof. ] D'you have fangs? Can't see any right now but then I ain't ever done a very thorough inspection of your teeth, so.
I'm told I have a baby face. This ain't about me, though. [ Their food is getting cold. Tim has another sip of wine. ] How are you not sick to death of bein' alive right now?
Well, truth be told I recently died. For good. And from dying, I came here. I see it as a second chance at raising my daughter which is, honestly, still more complicated then the thousand years I spent on Earth. ( He does pick up the glass again, moving back to the table. ) Over the years I've sampled all of life's pleasures. I've learned and studied. I ran for some time, for my life and my family's lives. Stick around for long enough and there's always something new to discover, always another purpose that sustains you. ( He sits then, gesturing for Tim to sit as well. ) I had thought I was done with it, with all of it. I actually felt at peace. ( And now, back out of his head. ) And here I am again. With Hope. And, with you. I believe the shrimp may be cooling off.
[ The whole time Klaus is speaking, Tim's kind of silently begging him to say something that isn't so heavy, so when he mentions the shrimp Tim practically leaps on it, moving over to the table and dropping down into a seat. He places his wine glass very carefully on a coaster, avoiding looking at Klaus while everything else he said rests quite heavily in the air between them, a presence he can almost feel.
It's hard for Tim to engage with people on this kind of level; he did all of his growing up in situations where people just don't talk to each other like this. No time for feelings. He was never especially open as a child, but almost a decade in the army plus a few years being raised exclusively by his father after his mom got sick โ those things will change a person. He wonders if he would have been any different if he hadn't enlisted. Probably he would've. Either way, he would've gotten out from under his father's thumb, probably gone to college somewhere and grown up normally. He's bitter, sometimes, and annoyed at the non-existence of this hypothetical Better Tim, who can express his feelings properly, who doesn't clam up so tight around people he likes, who maybe wants things like dates and boyfriends, who can sleep past six thirty and doesn't have to regiment his life strictly enough that sometimes it feels like he's living in a prison he made for himself.
To distract himself from all of that, Tim picks up a fork, stabs a single shrimp on the end of it, and eats it. ] This is good, [ he says, which isn't an answer to anything Klaus said, except maybe that last thing about the shrimp. It takes more effort than he'd be willing to admit to clear his throat and add, ] What d'you mean, you died?
I died. For good. I am an Original vampire, and indestructible at that, but one thing, the ash from a white oak tree that my mother used to help -- make us like we were, can kill us.
( This, he tries not to make sound as heavy as he pours some vegetables on his plate and sets the bowl back down. )
[ He hadn't even meant that, but maybe it makes sense, that he's not so easily killed. Except for when he is, apparently. Tim scoops some vegetables onto his own plate and nibbles at one thoughtfully. ] Y'know, [ he says, around a smile, ] I could slip on a banana peel walkin' down the street and die. You just said indestructible so easily.
I did, didn't I. And, if you died with vampire blood in your system, you'd wake up in transition. One drop of human blood and you too would live forever. Forever and indestructible are quite normalized for us.
[ That makes him laugh, another little exhale around a grin. ] You sound like you're sellin' it to me. Like, "for just twelve instalments of $49.99 you too can be immortal as fuck."
As fuck. I see that that term has staying power. ( He smirks, again. ) I wasn't offering. Unless you only prefer coming out at night. I don't have a witch in my employ, or my sister here to enchant a daylight ring for you. Nor would they have their access to magic. It would be quite limiting.
[ Of course, a daylight ring. Tim nods as if that's obvious. ] Yeah, nah, it's cool. I'm more of an early bird, anyway. And imagine if I went home all vampiric and shit, my boss wouldn't know what to do with me.
As a vampire, you'd be an every bird - and hopefully a more secretive one. It may not seem like it, but it is better to keep it under wraps under most circumstances not revolving around extra-dimensional kidnapping.
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Date: 2020-02-14 04:56 am (UTC)Tim doesn't say anything for maybe a minute, his jaw working softly as he takes it in. ]
So d'you โ like, turn into a wolf?
[ Maybe he'll freak out about this later. Really freak out, not just stand still, gently nonplussed, chewing the inside of his cheek. He remembers wondering if Klaus could see his heartbeat racing sometime and it worries him a little that maybe he could. ]
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Date: 2020-02-14 05:03 am (UTC)It's not my preferred form, but before it was stripped of me thanks to an invasive neural implant, I could. It is not something to be trifled with or taken lightly. In short, you break every bone in your body in order to achieve the transition. Once you're a wolf, there's nothing like it. The freedom.
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Date: 2020-02-14 05:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-14 05:14 am (UTC)( He keeps back how classy he always was about it, compelling those whose wrists they fed from. Usually from glasses. But, with a daughter in tow, they did store their blood. They still drank from glasses. )
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Date: 2020-02-14 05:59 am (UTC)[ He can't help it, it just blurts out before he can temper himself. He'd been expecting maybe a couple hundred at most, for some fucking reason. ]
Well, you look great.
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Date: 2020-02-14 06:27 am (UTC)It's hard for Tim to engage with people on this kind of level; he did all of his growing up in situations where people just don't talk to each other like this. No time for feelings. He was never especially open as a child, but almost a decade in the army plus a few years being raised exclusively by his father after his mom got sick โ those things will change a person. He wonders if he would have been any different if he hadn't enlisted. Probably he would've. Either way, he would've gotten out from under his father's thumb, probably gone to college somewhere and grown up normally. He's bitter, sometimes, and annoyed at the non-existence of this hypothetical Better Tim, who can express his feelings properly, who doesn't clam up so tight around people he likes, who maybe wants things like dates and boyfriends, who can sleep past six thirty and doesn't have to regiment his life strictly enough that sometimes it feels like he's living in a prison he made for himself.
To distract himself from all of that, Tim picks up a fork, stabs a single shrimp on the end of it, and eats it. ] This is good, [ he says, which isn't an answer to anything Klaus said, except maybe that last thing about the shrimp. It takes more effort than he'd be willing to admit to clear his throat and add, ] What d'you mean, you died?
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Date: 2020-02-14 06:33 am (UTC)( This, he tries not to make sound as heavy as he pours some vegetables on his plate and sets the bowl back down. )
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