Learned By The Book

[Jessica West]

As she'd expected, her new "little" (big)  assignment was particularly draining. However, Jessica wasn't one to be so easily put down. After some rest and a bit of reflection on what she'd need to do, the (relatively) young praetor set to work. She'd had to enlist some of the inquisitors to investigate the disappearance of the humans and try finding this mysterious sire (or sires) that was turning out new vampires. She'd also given a warning against possible gangrels, since the possibility for a few "failed" vampires was possible. Then she'd gotten some of the Curule Aediles to go and ask the missing humans' vampires if anything mysterious had happened up to the point of them vanishing. Some inquisitors were involved there too, but most of them were interrogating the new vampires.

Jessica was fine leaving that up to the Inquisition and not asking further.

Despite all this (and the amount of paperwork), she still had other duties to fulfill. Such as integrating some of the new vampires into the vampire society. Particularly if they had a bad sire or were just flat out refusing to learn. Lucy Serrano was one case she'd gotten a report on, one way or another. Jessica wasn't too sure why she was being brought in, but she'd try to understand more and, above all, do her job. Even if she currently felt like her head might explode.

When she heard the door open, she glanced up from her writing and offered a warm smile. "Oh! Hello there. You must be the one I'm supposed to meet with." She greeted, leaning back in her chair. Grateful for anything that would give her a short reprieve from her writing, she put down her pen and instead focused on the woman before her. "My name's Jessica."

[Lucy Serrano]

This was weird. Since everything shifted not all that long ago, everything had been out of the ordinary. There was no ordinary anymore despite how she tried her best to maintain it. Between the unlikely and unwanted turning and the destruction of her home, surely it must have been a given that instability was a great thing Lucy suffered from. None of this was fair.

And now she was being dragged here? Where even was here?

As a thief Lucy had always known which buildings to avoid. And of course, as someone unregistered she had known just how stupid it was to get mixed up with vampires in the first place. But her knowledge of them was as small as it was for most; they might have been neighbours in this epic city, but that didn't mean she had the means to learn anything. Until now, anyway.

When she stepped in the room, the newborn vampire was struck with yet another unfamiliar smell. Nothing of the one who turned her, like she had no part in this. But how could that be? She had an unfair hand in everything in Lucy's life now. She stared at the one so nice to her, remaining on her feet not far from the door that closer behind her.

"Lucy, hi." She greeted shortly, as it if wasn't already clear that she hardly wanted to be there at all; "What's going on?"

[Jessica West]

Right, there was always the confusing bit. "Does no one ever explain what's happening on the way over?" She muttered to herself. There was another thing she ought to add to her ever growing list of things to do. Apparently she was turning into a glutton for stress. But she could wonder about her masocistic tendencies later.

The vampire before her clearly had no idea what she was doing there, and didn't want to be there in the first place. "I'm a Praetor from the Magistrate. We help newly turned vampires with sires who are...not so responsible, or those having difficulty adjusting to their new life do exactly that: adjust." She explained.

"Basically I'm trying to help you get used to being, well, a vampire so you don't get in trouble with us, the Inquisition, or your neighbors." She added with a shrug. With a gesture she motioned to the seat on the other side of her desk. "You can take a seat if you want, or stay standing. Whatever you're more comfortable with."

[Lucy Serrano]

As she was spoken to, Lucy looked relatively dumbfounded by the information passed to her. Considering her transition, this all felt incredibly formal. Finally, she glanced to the seat offered to her and stepped towards it. But she ignored the choice for now.

She laughed dryly at the idea of a sire being caring. Perhaps that was an indicator.

"I gotta be honest with you, I dunno what an Inquisiton is." She started, and then she shrugged her shoulders; "I mean like I know, obviously - I used to live here when I was... Alive or whatever - but like I barely get what a Magistrate is and I've never heard the word Praetor in my bloody life."

[Jessica West]

And there was the dumbfounded expression that usually came with it. Although the laugh that followed was unexpected. If not slightly telling. Jessica put aside whatever emotions might come of it to answer some unsaid questions.

"I'll break it down for you." She assured. "The Inquisition is basically a police force made of vampires that makes sure other vampires and humans alike follow the rules." That was simple enough for her to explain. The Magistrate, on the other hand, was a little difficult. "As for the Magistrate...we're the people who make those rules and work with the Inquisiton to make sure they're followed basically. I'm a Praetor, which is...kind of like a caretaker? Or...a teacher maybe." She hummed in thought, brows furrowing a little. "Anyways, a Praetor looks after new vampires who, like I said, are having trouble adjusting. We also deal with registered humans and, again, the laws of the city."

She shrugged after. "Hopefully that was helpful. Did you have any specific questions?"

[Lucy Serrano]

It was a lot to take in. As of late it seemed all Lucy was trying to do was fit in a series she couldn't possibly understand. When given the floor she looked at least a little less confused. That must have been nice.

She ran her hand through her hair, drawing it all to one side idly. She couldn't help the way she moved; she wasn't nervous, but it certainly helped her think everything through.

"What's a sire?" Lucy asked her honestly. It was just as foreign a word as every other thing she'd been offered.

[Jessica West]

Taking it all in was probably confusing. As she looked at the new vampire listen, she couldn't help but feel sympathy. She had been in her shoes once, after all. Although back then, she didn't need to know about the Magistrate or Inquisition.

Fortunately she looked confident enough to ask a question. And an easy one at that. "A sire is the vampire who turned you." She explained patiently. "Usually it's up to your sire to teach you how to adapt and fit into the vampire society. Otherwise it's up to us. Any other questions?"

[Lucy Serrano]

Great, so now she had a title. This must have been what she meant when she spoke about an undeniable connection. Lucy wanted to scoff but instead she grinned with a sense of disbelief. It was hard to take any of this seriously.

"Wait, she's supposed to teach me?" Lucy asked then, and as she crossed her arms before her chest it was clear how difficult she found that, "Well that's bloody rich isn't it?"

More than that, it was a complete joke. She had to laugh again as she raised a hand and waved it to dismiss the concept entirely; "But wait, I guess the lotta you'd think dragging someone outta bed and forcing them to kill someone counts as teaching."

[Jessica West]

Well, someone had issues with their sire. Jessica didn't know the problem there, but from the sounds of it, it definitely had to do with the wrong kind of teaching. Jessica opened her mouth to reply, until the other brunette spoke up.

Then Jessica froze, like she'd turned to ice. After a second or two, she shut her mouth and eyed the other woman. Killed someone? Suddenly this whole meeting seemed a lot more necessary than Jessica thought.

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk with a furrowed brow. All of her attention was grabbed now. "She made you kill someone?" She asked calmly, although she felt the pricks of a more heated emotion trying to claw it's way up.

[Lucy Serrano]

Once scorned, it was incredibly easy for Lucy to bare a grudge against all vampires. She saw no difference between her supposed sire and the individual who sat forward before her. Reaching out, she moved close enough to press her hands against the back of the chair previously offered to her.

There seemed to be a kind of fear. No, not fear, but something was definitely wrong. Lucy couldn't correctly pinpoint anything in this life; she didn't understand what had her so shocked yet so calm.

"Yeah. Isn't that what you do?" Lucy asked her instead.

[Jessica West]

Was it fear? No, certainly not. Anger was closer.

"No. That isn't. At least, it's not supposed to be what we're taught." She replied. This complicated things and put a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach. The feelings of a headache started creeping up, and Jessica addressed them by rubbing at her temple.

"You're supposed to be taught control. How to feed from someone without draining them completely of life." She said, eyes shut for a second as she sighed. When she met the other woman's gaze again, there was a bit of a fire behind her eyes. Not at directed at her but someone else not present. "What your sire taught you was wrong."

[Lucy Serrano]

Lucy felt sceptical about the attitude she was supposed to be taught. Surely they were monsters on some level. Humans were food. She knew that. The rhythm of hearts drowned most senses, and she still didn't know how to handle it.

"Oh." A single syllable drop. She was definitely surprised. From a human perspective, Lucy knew to carry a sense of fear of all the vampire race. After all, she'd been unregistered to avoid everything she'd ended up causing.

"Well, fuck." Lucy declared with a shrug; "I never killed anyone till then." And to know she didn't need to was grave indeed.

[Jessica West]

Well fuck indeed. Jessica could understand the surprise. To most humans now, the vampires seemed nothing short of monsters. To some extent, they were. There was no denying the call for blood. But they had standards, dammit, or they were supposed to have them.

"Then let's start with that being your first rule: don't kill anyone." She replied sighing again. "Since you didn't know, it won't be held against you. Killing anyone else after this point though will get you in trouble." She warned. "Believe me, you don't want to get on the Inquisition's bad side."

But she didn't want to linger too much on one thing. Obviously there was more she needed to know. "What have you done since your turning? What's your sire 'taught' you so far? Maybe that'll give us a good place to start."

[Lucy Serrano]

Tapping her fingers against the edge of the chair, Lucy felt like she was being scolded. She knew it wasn't supposed to be such a way, but she had no idea what to expect from the vampire who laid down rules like they were second nature. Penny had been secular in her existence; she never mentioned this place, it's inhabitants or the rules that followed.

"Well I didn't get a choice in it, if that's what your asking." She replied. The turning hasn't been something she asked for. She hadn't needed it to survive, "She hasn't taught me anything. She took my home away - trashed it, I mean - so now I have to sorta live there. Maybe this is why." If she had ever had intention of teaching Lucy anything, that might have been why.

[Jessica West]

It was becoming very clear, without the other woman even mentioning it, that most of what she'd done hadn't exactly been by choice. Again she felt her blood boil in a surprising display. It almost felt like the liquid was pumping regularly now. Like she was alive again. But she wasn't about to snap at the one before her. That definitely wouldn't help anyone.

"I'm...I'm sorry you weren't given more of a choice with all this." She said genuinely, honestly feeling sympathy. "My own sire made sure we had one, and made sure we knew that something like this was never to be forced." It had happened before. Tragic maybe, but people did what people did.

Be that as it may, they couldn't exactly change things now. The other woman was a vampire and that was that. "I can teach you then, if you want." She offered. It was her job, after all.