achilles, come down

"Well, Jean-Claude, it sounds like you know your way around more than just a fine dining experience. You’ve been around the finest things in life, haven’t you?"Her gaze lingered on the playful smirk on his lips, her own lips curling into a knowing smile."But you’re right, there’s definitely a certain... artistry to a meal, whether it’s raw meat or a perfectly aged wine. Maybe it’s not just about the taste, but the experience itself—finding that common ground can be quite the adventure." She took a sip from her own glass, her eyes never leaving his. "Tell me, what’s the most unusual dish you’ve had in your time? I’m always curious about what other creatures find satisfying."

"you have no idea the extremes of luxury i've experienced in my life," was his response, crossing one leg over the other and revealing the footwear he currently had on - that was a pair of mules completely covered in light pink fluff. jean-claude wasn't so much like it these days, outfits cobbled together from various decades and styles, apartment and even business reflecting such a thing. an eye for taste was still there when it needed to be. "it is a great act, for one thing to become sustenance for another. there can be a certain pleasurable quality to it, especially for those of us that drink blood and those that give it willingly. if i were more poetic, i'm sure i could ruminate on it," j.c hummed, taking another drink.

“Our roots, I certainly like the sound of that.”  Bailey commented, watching her sire set the television where they could watch a film. 

her words were true, and yet jean-claude had a difficult time accepting them. it felt the longer it was left, the uglier it became, festering in his chest and infecting every cell within him - such was the curse of an over-thinking coward. he needs to clean up his act. j.c knew that, he just...hoped he would.

There it was, the other admitting his beauty.  There was relief in those words, she was concerned for his well being and at least there was still acknowledgement in those attributes.  “One of the most beautiful people I've ever seen.”  It was not a lie, when she first met him all those years ago at the bar she was working at.  Something about his features drew her in, even to this day, she couldn't put her finger on it.

he winked in response to bailey's agreement, grin on his face looking more natural as the two fell back into familiar patterns. between the two of them, jean-claude thought that she was the better looking - it was a fact. not that he'd ever voice such a thing, god forbid the vampire show a little humility when it came to his looks.

An age could mean a lot of things, Seo thought, but didn't ask further assuming the time has been long enough. She was unsure of how different his own feeding may be, she herself had always preferred to follow a stranger into the dark and take her share there, only in the recent years finding it easy to lure more specific prey in clubs and bars, taking more than their life in the process. It also reminded her of the times when her mentor had brought her to a palace and they had slowly went through the population in it, enjoying the torment that overwhelmed all the humans. One would think that such things would be beneath her, considering her own past of torment and terror, but no part of her regretted it after. "I just go around the loud clubs," she said as she got out of the car and followed the sound that seemed to be at least few blocks away, loud enough that they could both hear it. "But since the hour is late now, I would not go inside it, just find someone going home," she said in her emotionless tone, letting him in on her steps and letting him decide if he would follow her.

he walked alongside seo as the two made their way to common feeding grounds - that was, clubs, and the people inside them. jean-claude did occasionally follow drunks home but, had mainly seduced patrons and then got them somewhere more intimate before sinking fangs into necks. alleyways and toliets, the occasional taxi, rarely a bedroom. "seems we both have that in common," jean-claude nodded, though while she wouldn't go inside, he most likely would, despite the hour. "you stay outside then, i'll go in and find something delicious and easy,"

Naia grins and reaches for the malbec, pouring a decent amount into her glass. "Sounds like a date," she musingly teased before taking a few sips of the red wine. She hummed at the taste & looked over at the vampire. "You have such good taste, you know that?" She complimented him. She then turned to her food, taking another chicken head, more so playing with it as she took bites here and there. "I have to think of a good collaboration idea. Mind helping me out?"

he winked in response to her teasing, little playful smirk playing on his reddened lips, darkened from the potent mixture of blood and wine. "i do know that, actually," despite jean-claude's often eccentric nature, he had been raised around and alongside the finest things money could buy. even now, living in a much smaller place with much different means than he had been raised, j.c still had a duke's taste for certain things. "of course. some form of bloody dining experience. some vampires do eat raw meat, after all, some drink animal blood. there has to be common ground somewhere for the both of you,"

"Honestly, roman? I think you're desperate enough to try either way.”

you do what you think is best. jean-claude wasn't sure he knew what best was, especially seeing as he felt like he only had one opportunity to get it right. still, he would try not because it was asked of him but...because he wanted to. at the end of the day, j.c missed his lover terribly.

There was a very brief moment where Matthew thought of just walking away. It flashed strongly into his thoughts, he almost thought he'd done it but he had not, his feet remained rooted in place at the end of the aisle as he stared down it at the familiar figure of Jean-Claude. A figure that would always look like that while he would constantly be changing, every day subtleties lost to himself who looked at his reflection every day but likely noticed to someone like Jean-Claude who could compare what he looked like now to how he had looked before.

they're dancing around each other, jean-claude knows matthew's mask well, green eyes never once straying from him. he's filled out, bulkier than when he last saw him and some people would make a note of that being a sign of health. but - it's those eye bags that speak otherwise. he hasn't been sleeping well. the vampire's fingers itched, wanting nothing more than to pull matty to him and press kisses into newly-dark locks and insist he rest in his bed. it's more than that, though, it's an ache at how different he looks. that time has passed, an absence that shouldn't have occurred. j.c has spent time and time again replaying in his head how an attempt at reconnecting would go between the two, sat half on the roof of his apartment with a cigarette, staring silently into the night sky.

The progeny dare not prod Jean Claude for answers, she could tell there was something disturbingly off with her sire.  Perhaps in a week or two, the two could discuss such matters on a deeper level.  Tonight though, she knew he just needed to get out of his head and try to focus on something different.

once, jean-claude had been a good hunter, or at least a decent one, his grounds warehouse raves that went on for days or underground nightclubs where you could barely see your own face, nevermind anybody else's. biting into a neck, leaving someone propped up against a wall didn't raise many suspicions until daybreak, and others realised that the person wasn't sleeping, or completely zonked out on drugs but, actually dead.

Naia wondered what it was like to have the ability to manipulate one's mind & actions to the fullest extent. She supposed her siren song was something similar but it only ever ended in demise, at least in her & her creator's case. She'd never used it for anything but to eat. She hummed to herself before grabbing a chicken heart and plopping it in her mouth like a chicken nugget.

he could foresee that their shared meeting would be most interesting indeed, a pair of predators that would surely size the other up in a game of cat-on-cat, desperate to paint the other a mouse. jean-claude nodded, taking another sip of his concoction, mind prone to fantasies that were nowhere near the truth of things. it was simply silly over-thinking.

Naia cocked an eyebrow at the term of endearment as she watched him. She then laughed and shrugged. "I'm not disagreeing with you," she said. She could admit, she missed being out in the wild. Fresh food & at her thrill of the hunt. This life was different but she was grateful for more accessibility. Thank the rich for loving their wolf-bred animals. "Deal." She barely thought it over but if it was going to be free, who was she to say no?

a deal it was then, and next time it would be jean-claude's turn to host and provide a bloody feast for the siren sitting near him. it was definitely achievable, vampiric influence knowing very few bounds - and, it was something j.c was particularly good at. the simple suggestion to the malleable mind was all it took, stronger constitutions needed more pressing but still, would eventually break.

"That sounds unpleasant," she noted as she got into the car and referring to his original comment, having kept silent for the half minute they had walked in human speed towards the moving machinery. She thought over her first nights in Greywood when she had bitten the young man and felt ecstatic for hours afterwards. She could not remember another time where she would stop herself from finishing a meal. She fell back into her head and memories as not to pay too much attention to the car, the contraption still rather unfamiliar and not to her liking. As they slowed down however, she let the memory of Beatriz go and looked around, wondering if she knew the city. "Have you hunted recently? Or would you like me to take the lead?" she asked matter of fact-ly.

while her head was filled with thoughts of a first hunt, jean-claude's was absent from such things, no longer able to recall such an event. it had been a great many years since such a thing had even occurred, something that should come naturally to a hunter lacking. a restlessness felt itself settle in old bones the more he drove, perhaps the excitement of the hunt awakening the killer instinct inside. soon they both pulled up to the nearest city, time always feeling different to those who lived forever. "haven't hunted in an age," j.c lied, enjoying the clear disgust seo felt towards his particularly lazy lifestyle, grinning in her direction. "i'll let you lead, i want to see how our methods may differ,"

Once Roman managed to get everything off his chest, he felt the wet on his cheeks and there it was a doily being shaken at him.  The wolf reached for it and turned from Jean Claude for a moment to compose himself and wipe his tear stained cheeks.  A lot had been said, but he wasn’t sure any of it sunk in on the vampire.  Roman did not want more tragedy to fall upon his son, Matthew had enough heartache to last a lifetime.  And there was a terror inside Roman that if Jean Claude was not there for his eldest son’s battle, the two may not make it.

he thought about how lonely he had felt without matthew by his side, the mans absence felt on so many occasions. jean-claude found him in so many small places it was hard to keep an empty head, or to easily ignore. he'd tried hard to act fine, the vampire a natural at completely crushing his emotions and burying them 10 feet under but, even this was getting to him. roman's forceful tone caused him to flinch, a react he didn't know he had in him.

At her return, the progeny felt something different about her sire as he smiled towards her.  Something felt off, but she knew he was heartbroken and was most likely throwing off the ambiance of the night.  Right now, she felt powerless, willing to do whatever Jean Claude needed to help mend his broken heart.  Although she doubts one girl’s night would make much of a difference.  More than likely just add as a way for him to distract himself from his pain.

the vampire had never been one to confront his own emotions, especially the nasty ones, the ones that twisted up his insides and made him feel sick. there were aspects of his past, dark and daunting that jean-claude simply refused to think about - not so much focusing on being positive, just doing everything in his power to stop being uncomfortable. he'd been given not one, but two chances at life anew. it was impossible to come back normal after that.

"Malbec! My favourite!" She exclaimed. She shut the door behind him to her office and walked over to the coffee table that had the feast laid out for the two of them. Two cups full of blood & two more empty cups. The lamb was laid out on a plait with quail eggs, a chicken head & heart, & a rabbit's foot. Could be a feast for cannibalistic kings. "Just was lucky enough to have it in the budget," she said with a laugh before sitting down on the phlato green, velvet couch. She patted the spot next to her as she scooted over, allowing room for him. "I was trying to see if anywhere sold actual blood, but to no avail."

"naia, dearest," words punctuated as he sat across from her and set one leg over the other, hands clasped upon his knee as he spoke. "you really should let me get you some of the finer cuts. really, all it takes is a bat of my pretty lashes and a little vampiric hypnosis," jean-claude didn't use it often, only for silly things or when he didn't get his own way regarding prices and the last jacket on a rack at the thrift shop.