knightsoflegend | open ♔ valentine's day

[ WHATEVER, SAM, CAROLINE DOES WHAT SHE WANTS. and what she wants is gingerly placing the books on the desk and then straightening up, putting her hands on her hips. ]

I've been dusting the library, which is horrifying by the way, and I noticed that some of the books were damaged and it looked like nerdy stuff you like so I found them at an old bookstore. As a thank you, for taking me shopping.

[Look, he loves google too, okay. It just doesn't work for everything.

He moves closer to her so that he can take a better look at the books, picking the top one up carefully and opening the cover, his eyes skating across the first page.]

You didn't have to do that. [He says it in a distracted way, because ooo old books. It's his version of shinies.

Finally, he looks up at her, clear gratitude in his eyes.

He may or may not be lacking in friends lately.] Thank you.

[ his gratitude makes a grin spread across her lips, proud and a little (too) smug. caroline loves making people happy and she's not against buying affection since right now she's not entirely sure she warrants it on her own. ]

You're welcome, I'm glad you like them. And I figured that even if I don't know anything about the creatures in the books, you probably do. And then... [ she shrugs, casual, like the idea is just occuring to her. ] You can teach me.

[It's not about buying anything for him. He bought her those clothes, after all, and he hadn't thought of it that way.

It's the thought that counts.]

Yeah, of course. [He closes the book, setting it next to the large pile so he can pick up the next one and check it over as well.] Even if I don't know it, I can probably find out. It's sort of my thing. [A brief pause as he gestures with the book between her and the pile.] ...Which you...clearly already know.

[ he's adorable. ]

Oddly enough I had noticed. There's a book on vampires in there, too. And unicorns.

[ that one is actually just the last unicorn and has happy valentine's day, nerd! love caroline scribbled on the title page. ]

[His wisdom checks are terrible as usual.]

Anything in particular you want to start with? You know, since you want me to teach you.

[ she shrugs, perching on the edge of his bed. ]

Anything. All I really know about are werewolves, vampires, and witches. Mystic Falls was basically a bad young adult novel. Except the vampires didn't sparkle.

Vampire lore is one of the most wide-ranging and it can sometimes be hard to tell the fact from the fiction. I had to completely relearn the facts, since they're much different here than they were where I came from.

[He tilts his head at her.]

That might be true for your world, too, so it might help to go over it here anyway.

Alright. [ she leans forward, smiling. (charm 35) YOU CAN'T FUCKING MISS THIS, SAM. ] Educate me, Sir Winchester.

[ does she really need to be charming for that? no. doin' it anyway. ]

[Oh. Hi. Yeah, no, he didn't miss that. His will save was a respectable 27, but he's still like oh geez pretty lady hitting on me what do.

You think he'd get used to this at some point. He doesn't.

He clears his throat before he...does the thing.]

A lot of the stuff that tends to carry over from story to story is true. They drink blood to survive, heal quickly, have heightened senses, speed and strength, and are weak to a stake through the heart and to sunlight. Silver and things that are considered holy also work, but otherwise they're pretty tough and resistant. They can't be seen in mirrors or in pictures, and take damage from running water. But they have some ability to dominate the mind, and some can also shapeshift into things like rats, bats, wolves, or even a cloud of gas.

[He pauses before he adds:]

There's actually a couple in the knighthood that could tell you what it's like form a more personal angle, though. Most vampires in this world tend to be on the far end as far as morals are concerned, but the ones here are definitely exceptions to that. They haven't caused any trouble.

Edited 2016-02-25 04:04 (UTC)

[ she listens with rapt attention, smiling to herself at his reaction. good boy. part of the reason she keeps questioning him about stuff like this is because she's trying to gauge what his reaction might be to... her.

it helps to know things, but sam was the first person to be nice to her. she doesn't want him to cut her out the way bonnie did, even if the two friendships are vastly different. ]

Dominate? Like weird BDSM stuff? [ caroline, focus. ] Why running water? That seems like such an arbitrary thing to be allergic to.

[He shakes his head.]

If someone is killed after being fed off of, sometimes the vampire can mentally dominate them for awhile before they die permanently.

[So pleasant.]

I'm not sure. Maybe because it's running water, it represents life, which would hurt an undead creature the way something holy or healing magic might. Or maybe it's because water is reflective like a mirror. Either way, older vampires don't like it much.

[He seems to be talking about this mostly in a scholarly way, without any real negativity. He's pretty invested in the whole nothing is black and white thing as far as moral areas goes, and his brother is dating a half-vamprie, so...?]

Edited 2016-02-25 04:25 (UTC)

That's... weird. Like, that's weird, right? Not just me? [ she fiddles with her ring, idly. ] Have you heard of vervain? It repelled vampires where I'm from, either ingested or if you were just wearing it, like a sprig in a locket or something. And it was seriously ouch making if a vampire touched it.

[And then he rolled a nat 20 knowledge check to know what...vervain is. Sam, you fucking nerd.]

Yeah, I've heard of it. It's a flower, also known as verbena. [He looks confused, then shakes his head.] I know it's used in some herbal medicines for several different conditions, but nothing having to do with vampires. [A beat.] Another name for it is 'herb of the cross,' so I guess it's not impossible, especially in other dimensions.

[ herb of the cross, that explains so much, but mostly she just looks charmed that sam is SUCH A NERD OMG. ]

Where were you when I was writing all my papers in high school?

[He grins and chuckles, shaking his head.]

On the other side of the Veil, apparently. [Pause] Or a different Veil, since I don't know...how long ago high school was for you.

[ watch her just not answer that not question. ]

A vampire turning into a wolf though, that's something. Especially since werewolf bites are fatal to vampires. [ a beat. ] Where I'm from.

[ her nose wrinkles and she looks up at sam with surprising openness. ] Does it ever get easier? Having everything you know be wrong?

[He just smiles.]

Yeah, that's not a thing here either. They're actually immune to lycanthropy.

[His expression softens a bit, and he nods.]

Yeah, but it can be a little slow. I find things that are different all the time, but you just...get used to it. We've actually got it pretty easy. At least our tech is in the same decade. Some of the people come through and have never seen a car before. Not that it's not hard, because it is no matter who you are, but it could be worse.

[She does not seem like someone who came through the Veil from a place in the middle ages, so he just assumes.]

[ she looks deeply saddened for people without iphones for a moment, nodding to acknowledge that she heard him even if he doesn't answer right away.

eventually, her thoughts get the better over her and she stands up, pacing a bit before she stops by sam, leaning against the desk with her arms crossed in front of her. ]

I really like being in control. I need control. I hate not knowing. [ the topic isn't important, if caroline is interested in something, she wants to know everything about it. like stefan on the first day of school. she needed to be good at being a vampire because she sucks at everything else. having to relearn what she is makes her feel awful. ]

Yeah. I did, too.

[He can be a control freak sometimes, too. And he hates when other people try to control him. Not to mention his entirely life recently has been about gaining control over some other aspects of his reality. But he can't...really talk about that too much.]

That's why I spent so much time in the library. I felt like I had really lost something, you know? And that I had to do whatever I could to get it back. [He looks at her sympathetically.] And I'll do whatever I can to help, alright?

[ he default is to turn boys into conquests, but she refrains for once and doesn't turn the moment into a way to get in sam's pants. it's either progress or she just feels that shitty. ]

Hold that thought. [ after a moment of concentration, staring at his throat, creepy veins start blackening her eyes, turning the soft green blue to soot as her fangs descend. she takes a step away from sam to make sure she keeps her considerable control (will save nat 20 haha canon) and shakes her head, the black fading back into green, fangs disappearing. ]

[oh, well, shit, that was unexpected.

To his credit, he got a 30 on his will save, so he doesn't look particularly freaked out. He does take another step back, reaching for a weapon that probably...isn't actually there, one hand up with his palm out just in case she actually tries anything.

But then she's shaking her head, and it becomes clear pretty quickly that she really was just giving him a demonstration to clarify things for him.]

You could have just told me, you know.

[No judgement. No anger. Sam Winchester has come a long way since his hunter days, okay.]

[ he's not running away. he's not yelling at her. he's not shoving her out of the room. he's just standing there. granted, his step back and outstretched hand isn't super but she didn't give him any warning. this isn't a particularly bad reaction, to tell the truth.

no one is crying, that's a first. ]

I... most people don't believe me. Does the offer still stand now that you know I'm a monster?

[His hand drops and he shakes his head.]

I would have believed you. My brother is dating a dhampir and those aren't even supposed to exist.

[He tilts his head at her, eyebrows raised like 'r u kidding rn.']

Unless you're leaving in the middle of the night to murder people for your midnight snacks, you're not a monster. It's about what you do, not what you are.

[He has a lot of experience with this kind of thing, okay.]

So yes, of course I will.

I don't kill people! I eat bunnies and bags of blood. I've only ever killed two people, and one was to protect Stefan from... [ her mouth falls open, suddenly taken aback by her inability to remember who the heck it was. ] Someone. The sheriff? I'm not a murderer. The knights found me because I knocked over a blood bank, no murder involved!

[ so in summary, caroline doesn't kill people. in case you missed that. ]

Edited 2016-02-26 19:45 (UTC)

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