sixwordstories | (no subject)

I might be. Who asks, and why?

[cautious feline is cautious. You don't smell human though which is why you got a response at all.]

It really depends on who's asking. [Adrien pushes his sunglasses down to reveal red eyes.]

Your mom.

[His own amber eyes flicker up and down the man.]

A humble servant. [He dips his head just slightly, but keeps his eyes locked on the stranger. Despite his answer, his voice is one that commands the attention of the area around them, nearly silencing everything else as he speaks.]

[Though his body looks perfectly human, his eyes all but glow and his voice rests strangely in the air. It seems to cancel out any other noise as it reverberates deep and smooth.]

A curious man looking for inspiration.

[There’s a long stretch of time where he just stares. It’s hard to tell whether he’s fuming or just bemused. Eventually he breaks the silence with a loud, clattering laugh.]

Not a master of insults, but a jester!

[Well, that's interesting. The eyes, the voice. One of Adrien's eyebrows shoot up. He takes a moment to think, then speaks, working on the assumption he's talking to either a demon or an equal.]

Magic. Necromancy, mostly. I dabble in a few other things as well. Computers, sometimes.

Necromancy and computers. A terrifying combination. [His attempt at humour is somewhat diminished by his unwavering gaze.]

What do you do in necromancy?

[A small, proud smile.] I have a servant on the city council.

[Now you have his undivided attention.]

How did you manage that?

Four hundred and fifty years of practice. And nearly a thousand years of family research into the topic.

It took you that long... Is it effective?

Raising a corpse is easy. Raising one that is pliant to its master's will, still retains the same personality it did when it was alive, and is able to be maintained to a high enough degree that it doesn't raise suspicion among the humans is something else altogether.

It is effective now. A few years ago he had a nasty bout of "skin cancer" while I ironed out a few issues with him, but now he is quite capable.

It might have been easier to work on manipulating the mind.

How interesting.

Possibly, but I have a long life and a vested interest in servants who are immune to sunlight, are hardier than normal humans, and can be controlled easier than lycanthropes.

Different solutions for different needs. How did you manage to make a thrall like that?

A lot of patience, the body of a politician, and several things I'd have been burned at the stake for in a previous century.

One thing I can say for this century. I don't have to worry about witch hunts.

[Thats a reaction he gets quite often] Yeah, she thought I was pretty funny too.

That sounds... comfortable.

What else did you need to use?

[He waves a hand, still with a large, toothy grin, fangs free to be shown although they aren’t massive.]

Move onto another one. I would not care for any mother or father I had.

Feeling is mutual. [he raises an eyebrow] Are you some kind of goth freak? I thought that was a teenager thing.

[His smile flickers a bit around the corners and he tilts his head.]

‘Goth freak’? What is that?

You know. [He waves a hand toward the guy] Fangs. Dark and ominous. Or whatever the fuck you're trying to be.

[His smile vanishes and gets replaced by an expression that is blank other than the hint of pride in the way he tilts his head up.] I have always been this way. I am not a ‘goth freak’. That must be something else.

Adults are so fucking weird. So what are you the master of, then?