2.00 Jyoti the Younger

Winter passes by in a flurry of activity.

Jet stays out all night and finally gets in trouble for it as it makes him late for school. He tries to tell his mom that he's working on an important research project, and this does not make her go easy and she is not fooled. He loses his car keys to her for two weeks.

So once she's gone back to her lab to work he leaves her a note about how he feels, ruining the entryway wallpaper in the process.

Jyo and Malcolm are back to talking on the phone when they can, as Graduation is right around the corner and there is no time left to waste if they want to become something they won't regret later on.

Jet really should be taking better care of himself, but for the first time he has a real passion project, and it's going to pay off big, it has to.

Mathew Singh is cornered for information. His father Mattias is known to be a part of the supply chain, though never proven to be directly involved.

“Don't you want to graduate without this all hanging on your conscience? You could lose the scholarships you're lining up- your dad is too stingy to pay for you to go and you need those!”

It doesn't take long for him to fold under pressure. His dream is to get every degree, then teach as a university prof. Jet is able to convince him that coming clean on his activities now will look better if it's discovered later on. Mathew hadn't wanted to get as involved as he has, being a coward and all. His story is easily secured.

They come to the local karaoke place afterwards, and Jet has a conversation with the bartender, who keeps his lips sealed about 'extra' business matters.

He'll give him a free hotdog to keep his voice down right now too.

To Everet, the whole thing just stinks. The more he digs, the more rot he finds. The mayor, at least a third of the police force, several employees at the hospital, which has unmarked supplies coming and going, and the science labs are producing synthetic blends that turn up in clubs and dance halls. Worst of all, although he was never able to stake down any of the teaching staff, the school has several gaping holes where the gangs have gotten in and done very well. There are a lot of kids that aren't seeking higher education, and there are even more young adults who are crashing and burning. Everet can't separate himself from the sting of his responsibility. If he manages to expose the people pulling the strings and sending the city into the spiraling chaos of self destructive indulgence, will the family really be able to extricate itself and stand unaffected? It's looking less and less likely. This is not the Starlight Shores that he grew up in anymore, and it's not the same place that his parents came to so long ago, full of dreams of a bright, glittering future. Good people have been driven so far underground there just may not be enough time and manpower to continue.

The new year brings with it Dustin & Meghan's second anniversary (a remarkable feat, considering their eldest child was born after they were married and is nearly 18). I'm calling it 20 years.

So they head out to a small outdoor cafe that was failing before the owner brought in a hot air balloon and just enjoy each other's company for once.

Nice. Subtle.

Nobody is piloting the thing, but the outside air is so cold that all it can really do is hover.

The toast function is too too adorable.

“Twenty years, and two kids.” Dustin muses while he pours.

“We should have another one.”

“Another year together, or another kid?

He shrugs. “Just wondering why my mind is thinking that way lately.” He confesses. “I'm going to miss the kids when they move out. Maybe we can take them on another vacation, like a graduation present.”

“I can agree with taking a vacation.” Meghan says slowly. “Other than that, you may just be crazier than I am.”

He puts his arm around her, unfazed. “I may just be.”

“I'm glad your research is going well, I'm just worried it won't be as simple as you think. You could be getting us into a lot of trouble, here.”

Just cleaning up the city, sis. We're giving venue owners and proprietors their own hotline to call if they're being threatened or taken advantage of so we can tell their story too. New performers will be offered free legal consultations on contracts so they can make more informed decisions. Everet's building up a few cases for when the police can step in.”

“Didn't you say you thought the police were involved though?”

Jet shakes his head. “It's the Mayor. He does a lot behind closed doors and the press is too caught up in his romantic scandals to think he's smart enough to be doing anything else. We think the police can be turned, Evert's starting to work freelance for them directly, get feelers out there to see who we can trust.”

“You know that's nobody right?”

Jet shakes his head. “We have to try. We grew up here, Jyo.”

“I know, I know...” She agrees to appease him. She does not have the same love of this city as he does.

On the first day of spring half the town is outside. Starlight Shores winters are icy and brief, making the residents restless to get back to their normal routines as soon as possible.

Must not bite in broad daylight...

 You are more in control than this.

Phew... tamed the beast. Meghan is happy where she is, leave her alone. 

Loki still gets off the lot as quickly as he can. Just in case. He never did have great self control, when it came to her. If he had, things would have been different.

And that's when Leon runs by, screaming angry thoughts about him. Loki has to wonder, has he ever actually met Leon as an adult?

Leon does not like the looks of that guy.

These two never bothered to look up to see if it was raining or snowing. Off in their own little world.

Loki is proud of himself. He is able to wait. He is still so focused on work, on creating things that would change the future, he barely has any time to think about Meghan, about how soft her skin must feel to him now, with his senses heightened. About how he could smell the excited quickening of her blood from across the plaza. It's all just science really, that's all the attraction is. He can still master himself.

He closes his eyes before looking up to adjust his mirrors. It doesn't work, the image of his desire to run his fingertips across her collarbone, or the soft skin of her neck, becomes overpowering the moment he shuts his eyes.

It's wrong to think of her that way. He doesn't want to. He must just be addicted to the thought of her.

A part of him just wishes she was still writing scientific articles. She was good at that. Dustin has distracted her from her life's work and it's a shame, really. She'd always used such a pragmatic method to present her data that it had sobered him up a little. Made him realize that she was where she was supposed to be, and he was happy to let her be there. Whenever he read those, things would snap back into perspective. She's allowed some time off from all her work, but write an article once in a while, damnit!

I could use the mental splash of water, he thinks.

By the time Jyo's birthday rolls around, he's fully back in control of himself. He comes in masked, so that nobody can sense him. He's not intending to stay for too long. He just wants to see it, and how they are all doing.

Hi cousin Ev!

“Your sister was born on a full moon, huh? That explains a lot.” He quips to Jet.

Dammit... back. in. control.

Leon enjoys being able to visit with the extended family, but there always seems to be something more going on below the surface. He's got a kid at home to look after, and even though it was great to get out of the house for a while, it may be time to head back in a bit.

That weird blond guy is back, for one, even though nobody is talking to him. Another guest that wasn't invited? Leon blinks, thinking he's just seeing things, and the guy is gone.

Loki rises from his perch in the kitchen and heads back towards the front door, having avoided revealing himself or interacting with anyone.

The party was brief, and boring, but informative. Dustin and Meghan really felt safe in their home, and had no idea who was over to visit on the best days. Meghan had gone up to sleep before the guests had even finished filtering out. It was no wonder that her children got to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it. Still unsure of his own motivations, he decides not to make any serious decision tonight. After all he has to learn more about Jyoti, the young adult before deciding if she's the kind of person he could ever seriously pursue. He doesn't need a companion for comfort, what he needs is a legacy of his own. To find someone worthy of giving eternal life to- in as much as vampires enjoy it with limitations- is a task worthy of taking time to contemplate and plan for carefully. He hadn't asked Lyra to come here at the last holiday party and 'scope things out' for him, that came from her own lifelong desire to recruit and transform new vampires to strengthen their society and bring in new ideas and 'life'. Loki doesn't share such aspirations, and is happy enough to have some significant part of the future to call his own.

His eyes slide over Jyoti's form as she eats happily (her parents never order pizza so it's a rare treat) and he walks by.

“Congratulations”, it had echoed with a familiar cadence in her mind. She feels the breeze of someone walking by but sees no one.

The house had been fairly haunted ever since uncle Eugene had died in the upstairs bathroom, but this didn't feel like Uncle Eugene. Assuming ghosts were even real in the first place.

Kevin is more than a little bit irritated with things by now. He'd taken his father's advice to heart and busied himself the last few years of high school, hanging out with friends less, hanging out with one of his favorite people less specifically, and studied fae magic more than anyone his age really needed to. He'd dug in deep, done what was asked, and when he'd had enough of being a model son and 'proper sprite', he'd walked straight into the the mess that was now her life. Jyoti is smarter than this... isn't she? She used to be. But it may be that somebody who was used to doing things their own way all the time was actually easier to mislead. It's unclear whether that she knows he is here, but she's been acting as if nothing is amiss.

'What does she want out of letting the vampires stick around', is a question he refuses to ask himself. The normal Jyo would be unaffected by who her new friend was, and parade them around to meet her other friends. The normal Jyo wouldn't keep everything to herself. To Kevin it's a huge indicator that she knows something is off, that she's keeping quiet about it.

It doesn't help that she doesn't seem to be telling anybody else what's been going on either, and Kevin now is too late to be able to really help her through the nightmare that vampiric obsession can be. Is she ashamed of something that's going on, cautiously hopeful, or thinking the problem would just go away? Does she even know what he is, that it's a problem? And what about Malcolm, who hasn't been around much again in the last few months. Does he know about this? Kevin shakes his head. He'd always gotten along well with Malcolm as they have some things in common, a similar approach to problem solving and willingness to fight for the right things and not back away when it counts. However, liking his personality or not it's clear that he's way out of the deep, or whatever that human expression was, and unable to help her properly shake off the vampire's (alarmingly increasing) influence.

And this is the same vampire-human hybrid that he'd sensed so long ago, at Jet's party. It's a faint, wispy feeling, but when enhanced by the full mood becomes the unmistakable signature of a new life force. Kevin is now certain of it. The unnatural magic mixed in a barely compatible non-magic shell rolled off of him now as he left, ignoring the fae's obvious notice of his presence. If anything, the vampire looks like he feels he can get away with anything.

Several of Kevin's questions are not answered though, such as how the vampire got to be here in the first place and when he had been able to meet Jyoti, who really did keep to herself and her known friends without deviation. She didn't go out and party, and could only ever be found at the gym or occasionally the park downtown when there was some kind of seasonal event.

Kevin could kick himself for staying away and listening to his father so easily. He could have done something about this, but how would he have known that the feeling he had gotten faintly on the wind that night was new magic exuded by someone so intent to stick around? It wasn't clear at the time what type of magic had lingered, let alone that it had begun to attach to someone living here in the house.

For all the times that Kevin had told Jyoti not to worry about what he was doing, and how the things he was dealing with wouldn't effect her- was now a good time to talk to her and eat his own words? She seemed to be in denial about the whole thing.

Better go get this over with...

(wait... not that way)

Kevin makes his way back outside as that's where Jyoti went. “Congratulations.” He begins, glancing over his shoulder. The feeling persisted. Had the vampire stayed, managed to hide somehow? It looked like he had left.

Jyoti noted his antsiness along with everything else. She wasn't used to seeing him so excited, it must be because of the moon, again. That was the only time he got so worked up. He'd flit around, finding problems that didn't need solving, all the while wearing a somber expression on his face. As children she'd catch the occasional glint in his eyes and she'd realized he loved it, this was his favorite night of the month.

She smiled at him, wondering how much more of him she was going to see after graduation. It was hard to admit that she missed him, and Howard, and all the other people she'd made friends with that had seemed to drift away from each other with time. “Enjoying the full moon, are we?”  

She watches him swirl his fingers around each other in a comforting, familiar gesture.

“Well I don't hate it.” He replied, hiding a grin with a duck of the head.

“You don't love anything really, you never say you do. So it must mean that 'don't hate is as close as it gets with you.”

He sighs in a tolerant way. Her observations are astute as ever. “I have a gift for you.” He says, changing the subject.

“I don't know what I'd do without you bringing me more dried herbs I can't do anything with. The other ones are all dusty already.” She says in a dry tone.

Kevin shakes his head. “The were important at the time, but not as effective. This is more immediate, and less tangible. Here, let me do something to help you out for a while.”

“What do I need help with, exactly?” The half-hearted challenge in her voice tells him that they're thinking along the same lines.

“I think you know,” He replies, cryptically and casually as ever.

She's annoyed by this but can't think of a good response.

So she just lets him work. She feels nothing when the golden twinkling lights absorb one by one into her abdomen. “My dad could show you a better trick if you'd like to be able to fly as well as sparkle.” She snarks, unable to be anything but sarcastic.

“Found your witty retort reserves?”

Jyoti rolls her eyes. “I meant thank you. I'm not sure what it is, but I know you've been trying to help in your own way.”

“Think of it like a charm.” He says. “Something for good fortune and clarity.”

“...and something that'll take care of your pest problem for a while.” He finishes.

“My what?”

Assuming you want it gone, he thinks darkly. He sighs slightly and changes the subject. “Do you feel like a dance, or am I too young a partner now? I know you want to, but won't because Malcom couldn't make it.”

“You have no idea what I want, as usual.” She deadpans.

“I've learned how to club dance in my spare time.” He says with a straight face.

Jyo can't mask her surprise. “Where the heck did you learn that from?”

“Wouldn't you like to know.”

She actually would. She's the first person he danced with after all, and he's too serious to be out playing around in clubs around a bunch of humans. Not that he minds humans, it's just that the one thing he's vocal on is that humans waste a lot time. Has he softened his stance on 'Fae stuff only'? She wonders.

But it feels nice to reconnect with him, she's missed him, so she focuses on letting loose and letting herself have fun. It was such a long road to get to graduation that it feels impossible that she'll be walking the stage tomorrow, diploma in hand. There isn't a rite of passage more important in the modern world than graduation, when school responsibilities fall away and shed with it one's youthful identity. She's an adult now, but tomorrow she will feel it.

“I'm tired, I have to get home, but-”

Christian didn't know Leon well enough to understand him. “If you're tired, that's fine, you have a kid at home to help with homework or whatever, I'll clean up out here by myself.”

“No, for some reason I feel like I need to stay a bit longer. It's just, colder than usual out, isn't it?”

Christian shrugs.

It's evident that the fae's magic is stronger now than Loki's. When Leon started really looking him over, blinking, focusing his eyes and gasped in surprise, the young vampire knew that he had been (at least partially) revealed. Not directly, possibly just in a certain radius from the house. Fae magic was very localized when only performed by one creature. Their power didn't come in great strength until it came in numbers, or layers. And Kevin alone could not produce a much greater effect than he already had.

He now detects a faint smell of spice coming from Jyoti's direction.

Well played, kid.

But Loki could wait, he always could. He didn't have to do any of this at all in fact, but it was a nice way to spend the time, planning out a long future in which he would come out on top. The fae were easily distracted and poor at keeping history- they were no match for the patience and determination of a night walker in the long run.

He walks away silently into the crisp evening air.

After a focused mental suggestion tossed out to make Leon think he was imagining things.

And once the fae is gone a few minutes later, he comes right back to the house. He doesn't need to avoid Kevin really, but why create problems that don't need to be there?

The charm that was cast is repellent, but not impossible to work around. He wasn't going to touch Jyoti anyways without her consent, so it's largely a useless gesture. Even more, it acted like a ward that Jyo herself, being non-magical and absolutely shit at detecting magic (even for a human), could not control. Probably a 'no touchy' spell with a sprig of 'don't enter this house uninvited'. tossed in. Which just proved that Kevin didn't know much about him, or that he could get an invite very easily as he and Jyoti were 'friends'.

He projects a quick 'think of me' suggestion and it sticks like glue. The fae had his heart in the right place, but certainly not his magic. He shakes his head at how easily the young fae was duped by his show of leaving. The fae were ever impulsive. No amount of magical ability could make up for a short attention span and general naivety. 

Fly fly away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In which Everet, who I've labeled a local crime boss, becomes an investigator. I had a good long, tearful laugh when the game assigned him that career. Ironically it was Leon, his older brother who I wrote wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps so long ago when they were all in Aurora Skies. Instead Leon became some kind of building superintendent-looking repair man to support his family and Everet, playboy and hooligan, took on the more challenging and moral job of sneaking around and exposing local crimes. Priceless.

Welcome to Jyoti's story! Dustin & Meghan had 60 blogposts. We ain't doing that again (if we ever want time to pass in this story). Jyoti's will be about 18-20 I imagine. Let's make it possible for me to write about.

Loki follows the Sparrows everywhere, they just never notice him. It's crazy. They didn't see him when he was married all that much, but it's spring now, or something.  

So I think that the vampires use mental abilities as much as normal communication and that it could be a real crutch, to them. Loki gets stuck in his own head, and it keeps him from being as clear of mind and purpose as he used to be. Also of course he happened to be in cafe when Dustin & Meghan went for a date. They never interacted with each other once, so there's that natural obsession I keep seeing manifest. To be fair, the few times I've played with Loki while Meghan is in town he gets letters from her too. They probably would have been pretty happy together and it makes me want to stick them together in an alternate save to find out. But, there's too much else going on after all.