Who Are You and What Are You Doing in my Room? [Roderich]

Arthur, somehow, had found his way to the dormitories, after what seemed like many hours of trekking over to school, too prideful to ask for help. Alright, now he had to find room 22-B and meet his new roommate. If he even had a roommate (he hoped he didn't, he had never shared a room in his life, despite coming from a big family), perhaps his condition was enough that he wouldn't have to share although it had improved a lot lately, so he sort of doubted that. But what about the fact he was a dangerous creature? Would they put him with something he would consider a snack, or that he would wake up in the middle of the night. If they did, he'd try really hard to annoy him, because he might complain and they would have to move him to his own room.

He found the room, and there was already a name on the door. Damn. Although that did seem to mean also that his roommate was in an older year, since his name was on the door, interesting… well, he considered it a small mercy that this Roderich Eddelstein didn't feel the need to decorate his door with stickers and such rubbish, it spoke well about his character. He plunged his hand in to his pocket and found the room key amongst the detritus and junk he had yet to clean out of his pocket. He opened the door, seeing two suitcases beside two beds, recognising his on the more plain side of the room. It was a pretty standard two person room, two beds, two desks and two wardrobes, an ensuite bathroom and for some reason, a sort of kitchenette, with a fridge, a sink, I microwave and a small stove and oven. Not exactly a full sized kitchen, but a close approximation. Not that he would even use it.

However, one thing that struck him about Roderich's side of the room was how… plain it was. It had been decorated, but had the air of a nice hotel room instead of a teenager's room. He supposed Roderich hadn't left all his things, but still, he had expected a poster or two. It was all very clean. Not that he was complaining, but it wasn't what he was expecting.

Bah, didn't really matter. During the day he would be out at lessons and during the night he'd be out hunting (if they let him hunt, he didn't know) or generally prowling because the night time was when he felt most alive. He sat on the bed and got a book out of his suitcase, picking up from where he left off to wait for his roommate to come, the elusive Roderich. He couldn't help but think that name rang a bell from somewhere, maybe it was mentioned during orientation, but he that didn't make sense, and he'd had other things on his mind, like his sliced tongue. Not that it mattered, he wouldn't dwell, paticularily when Sherlock was just about to reveal the murderer!

((Sorry, I took a few liberties describing Roderich's room, but I figure that's what it would look like, especially on the first day of term. I sort of imagine the only messy thing is the amount if sheet music that eventually invades it >_< I can change it if you want though. ))

Roderich took his time returning from the orientation meeting. He felt no need to return to his room when he could enjoy the empty halls of the first day. All the new students would immediately rush off to their rooms to decorate and unpack, leaving very few people out and about. It was always a nice treat to admire the architecture with the lights on and when there were no students crowding him or rushing off to class.

After an hour of admiring, plus an impromptu trip to the cafeteria to hassle the cooks for food, Roderich finally made his way back to his room with a croissant in hand. He paused for a moment to glare at his name emblazoned across the door before continuing into his room. He would take care of the issue later. For now, he had to unpack.

For a moment, all was right in his room. The usual silence and austere interior reigned in a pleasant sort of way. That is, until his eyes were drawn to another suitcase taking up space. From there, his eyes pulled up to rake over a rather familiar form. It was one of the blond boys from the orientation. The vampire. He continued to stare as discretely as possible, somewhat displeased by the intrusion, but did not voice any complaints to his new roommate.

“Good day,” he greeted with forced politeness. He strolled across the room without another glance to the boy, instead concentrating on the pastry. As he nibbled away, the elder boy settled at his suitcase, pulling it open and carefully removing his clothes, books, and music. He set about arranging the items in their places with an obsessive sort of attention. He eventually seemed to realize he was being rude, because he turned back to look at the boy across from him.

“Ah...Welcome to the room? I assure you I will not be a hard person to live with...unless you start moving my things around...or decide to use me as a midnight snack,” he stated, trying to be welcoming, but sure he was failing. He was well-aware of the fact that he was not an easy person to live with. However, mentioning it did not seem like a good way to start their time together. It was much safer to just smile politely and try to radiate a welcoming air. Try.

He had never suspected that she was the murderer... what a twist. Which was surprising, becuase usually he had Sherlock Homes books figured out before Homes did, but it was a pleasant surprise to be fooled this time. Suddenly, he heard a noise and looked up from the book. Oh, he was Roderich, that was right, the boy from orientation, he remembered now.

"Good day"

"Hello, he replied softly, "Nice to see you again." As he had thought before, Roderich seemed a very calm and austere, his perfect ideal for a roommate, if he did appear a little forced at the moment. As long as Roderich didn't move all his stuff or leave his clothes over the room, he didn't care. He supposed they wouldn't meet very often considering Arthur was nocturnal, and he liked it that way.

“Ah...Welcome to the room? I assure you I will not be a hard person to live with...unless you start moving my things around...or decide to use me as a midnight snack,”

Arthur grinned slightly, rather amused that they'd had the same idea. "I can manage that, just don't touch my stuff." He said soflty, leaning in ever so slightly to try and catch the scent of Roderich's blood. It was only faint in the air, but he wrinkled his nose at the sour scent that tingles his olfactory senses, "You're a blood drinker. Creatures who drink blood don't have good blood to drink." He explained. He wondered what type he was, becuase as far as he knew, it was common knowledge amongst vampires, so he must be part of an isolated race, as apposed to a clan race, as vampires where. "Vampire, I'm sure you've guessed. You?" he asked, putting his book down as Roderich started to unpack. He should probably do the same.

He leaned over and started to take out his neatly folded clothes and books and music, putting them around his half of the room, leaving pleanty of space for his work. Carefully, he placed his laptop on the desk, then took the box containing his medicine out, awkwardly glancing over at Roderich as he did so, opening the box to check nothing had broken during the journey. Then, when he was sure it was fine, he went back over to his suitcase and pulled out his beauty that he had smuggled out of the house (and originally in to as well) his red Les Paul - Gibson. He would have the amps by tommorow, but they had to be sent by mail. For now, the guitar took its place beside Arthur's bed again, although it would be useless until his equipment arrived.

"Nice to see you again."

Roderich paused and blinked. Was it? He would rather have walked in to find no roommate at all, but...He could have returned to find a trouble-causing hooligan who left messes everywhere. He could have been stuck with someone who would go out of their way to put sticky fingerprints all over his things. Of course, the prissy boy knew very little about Arthur, but he did not seem like the kind of person to touch his stuff.

“Yes, indeed it is,” conceded Roderich. Most of his attention was then redirected to the process of placing books on his shelves. Pristine art books, beautiful classics, torn music, and worn textbooks were all arranged perfectly in alphabetical order on the shelves. If a single hand other than his were to touch them, he would know.

"I can manage that, just don't touch my stuff."

He glanced up from his work to grin at Arthur. “I would not dream of it,” replied the Austrian in amused tones. His amusement only grew as he watched the boy lean forward slightly to sniff the air. He always liked that skill, the vampire's sense of smell. In fact, their heightened senses in general amazed him. He did not posses the qualities, for he did not have to deal with bloodlust.

“Mm, good, just making sure. I do not sustain myself on blood, so I was not sure if that would make me smell good to you. Blood is more like candy. A treat I can eat when I crave it,” he callously explained with a shrug. Roderich finished putting his books on the shelf before turning to actually answer the vampire.

“I happen to be a Mahrt, or an Alp, or whatever name you wish to refer to me by.” He lazily sat down on his bed as he spoke, leaving half of his bags still packed. “I suppose we are not too common...Which is probably good. The less paralyzing, blood-sucking, dream invading demons the better, right?”

A slight smile settled on his face, and he leaned back on the bed, blatantly examining what sort of possessions his acquaintance owned. Watching the process of unpacking would save much of the hassle of social interaction. The items a person owned spoke more than enough about a person. For the most part, they did not show anything that Roderich disapproved of. He was rather curious about the medicine being pulled out, but the guitar stole all of his attention away.

“Ah...You like to play music?” he said, slightly excited.

“I'll refer to you as Roderich if it's all the same to you.” Alp, that sounded vaguely familiar, so Arthur supposed he had read about them in a book, though fact or fiction, he couldn't fathom, but he didn't remember any details, so there was no wonder of what if he read was accurate. He would have to read up on their kind, to make sure he didn't make a faux-pas somehow. Many creatures had something they were sensitive about, like a magical item or a centre of power, like a familiar, and it was easy to offend. For example, he would get very angry Roderich if he tried for any implausible reason to suck his blood, because feeding on the blood of a vampire (which, while not tasting good, held all the endorphins they excreted in their venom in massive quantities, and so could be used for a high, though that wasn't the point at the moment) was a massively spiritual thing for his kind, and was part of the bonding between mates. If Roderich did it to him, he would either hurt him very badly in anger or have to marry him, and he wasn't sure how appealing the latter was. 

He shrugged, since he slept so little, he was mostly indifferent to the existence of nightmare inducing demons, but the way he had said it was interesting. It was as if he didn't have a identification with his race, though he wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was because there simply wasn't many of them, and he hadn't met any. Or, it was a curse. He didn't know, could be simply that he didn't like his nature. “For us, it's the other way around,” He explained, “We sustain ourselves on blood and eat food as a snack. All we need from human food is the fibre, and even that is fairly nonessential, as we don't have to use our digestive system.”

When he was sure his guitar wasn't going to fall any time soon, he looked up, “Hmm? Yes,” He confirmed. Roderich looked as excited as he had ever seen him upon seeing the guitar, “I didn't blow a few hundred pounds on this to look at it. I leave buying overpriced, pretentious art to the adults,” He said, with a hint of sarcasm, but it was just his nature to lace his comments with sarcasm. “I learn piano classically at the behest of my parents, but I taught myself guitar because I enjoy it.” He said, “Why, do you play?” He wouldn't begrudge his roommate a few questions as long as it meant they got on. He didn't really want to get on the bad side of a nightmare inducing creature, even if he barely slept, he did sleep sometimes. And it could have been worse, he could have asked about his medicines. At least the guitar was something nice to talk about, instead of his fucking heart.

Roderich shrugged dismissively. “That is fine. It is probably much easier to just call me by my first name. As long as you are not making up ridiculous nicknames,” he replied. He snuggled a bit in the bed, but did his best to keep a dignified posture. He let his thoughts wander to all the other vampires he had encountered over the years. Not too many. The students roaming the halls at night all avoided each other. If one were to run into another, it was an unspoken rule to pretend it never happened. It made the vampires especially rare to run into. The extended period of time he would be spending with this one would be strange. Were two creatures based on malevolence even programmed to get along? The thought made him hum in interest.

He chuckled at the other boy's simple shrug. It was so dismissive that it was almost insulting. Roderich could not help himself as he spoke, “I guess you do not suffer from too many nightmares then. It is a horrible feeling, especially when they are recurring. It is even worse when you wake up unable to move.” The elder shifted, seeming almost smug as he sprawled out then propped himself up on a pillow.

“I do not know how you can stand it,” commented Roderich honestly, “I would miss the taste of real food...and some people's blood must taste horrendous. Aside from the disgusting taste of the blood of those who eat it themselves, which is disgusting, I cannot imagine how a human who has...not treated themselves well tastes.” He wrinkled his nose.

The Austrian rolled his eyes and scoffed slightly at the sarcasm. There was no need to be rude. Some people did waste the money, if only to pick up girls by “looking cool”. He took his time replying, instead choosing to admire the beautiful instrument. He wished he could stuff instruments in the room. Sadly, there was no room for a grand piano.

“It is gorgeous,” he finally huffed, before opening his mouth to brag. “I do not play the guitar, but I certainly respect those who do. I play the piano and violin. I am working on the flute, but I often get distracted by composing. It takes far too much time.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow, Roderich's words could easily be misconstued as a threat, but he supposed they were more of a warning of what he could do. Arthur would certianly do his best to stay on Roderich's good side, though it didn't seem like it would be too hard, they just had to keep to themselves. "It's not that I don't have nightmares, I simply have them less. I only sleep two hours a night." He said. Vampires needed very little sleep, much less than humans or other creatures.

"I do eat some 'real food', but it's not what I need to eat. And yes, all blood has different tastes. You never see junkies attacked by vampires because we don't want opiates in our system, even if they are easy prey, same with drunkards. A lot of things change the taste of blood to vampires, I don't know about any other creature, but hunting is rather a fine art with us. Different races taste different, different emotions, males and females, and different humanoid creatures, like nymphs and faires." He explained. Hunting was a fine precision in their culture, "It becomes a skill that many of our kind spend their life trying to perfect - the perfect blood. There are fairytales about our kind marrying humans because of their blood but I'm not sure how accurate they are. It all depends on what you like... some prefer the taste of fear, others the taste of pleasure, which is why we have endorphins. So, it depends on whether a vampire wants a willing victim or an attack." He stopped abrupty, realiing he had gone in to a very detailed explaination, and he was sure his roommate didn't want a vampire biology lesson.

"Thanks," He replied, touching the top of the guitar when it was mentioned, "I've always been rather interested in the violin, however, the sound it makes when you first attempt to play it has always put me off." He wrinkled his nose a little in discust, "It's extremely similar to the sound a cat makes when you bite it." He said from experience, "I never had the patience to get over that." He said. "Hmm, perhaps we could play a duet on the piano. I rarely have the chance to do that," He said. "And you compose? Interesting..." He grinned, "I would like to hear something you wrote at some point."

"Oh, one last question, what are the curfew rules like around here?" He asked.

Roderich nodded idly at Arthur. “You need not be asleep long for a nightmare to hit. You are merely lucky,” he murmured, watching Arthur carefully. He did not mean to be overtly threatening, but he wanted the younger one to be aware. For the most part, he liked to keep his powers to himself, to have an advantage, but he felt it would be unfair to a roommate. They ought to have a somewhat level playing field in case they came to hate one another. They could both harm one another, and he felt much safer with Arthur knowing it from the start. The only thing he would not share was the extent of the power stored in his glasses. That was only for him.

A strange combination of boredom and interest crossed Roderich's face as the vampire explained his race to him. Some statements did not interest Roderich at all while others had him brimming with questions. He did not appreciate the vibe Arthur gave about questions though. It made them feel unwelcome. They were unwelcome, but Arthur had practically intruded in his home, even if it was forced upon him. The least he could do was sate his petty curiosity. Underneath an exterior of cold, bored, and uninterested arrogance, Roderich was always horribly curious.

“What do you believe tastes the best?” inquired the Austrian, still keeping an apathetic facade. “And do you let your dinner walk away free, or do you end its life right then and there? If so, you are going to have to be careful hunting here.”

Roderich found himself laughing at Arthur's description of the violin. It was a quick and quiet sound, swiftly replaced with a small approving smile as the English-sounding boy continued adoring music. “The violin does make a horrible noise, though, maybe you should not be biting cats,” he commented lightly, attempting to keep his smile from growing again. “But as long as you are decent, I would love to play piano with you.” He hummed in thought. “And I would be honored to play something I wrote for you. We shall have to visit the music room eventually.”

"Oh, one last question, what are the curfew rules like around here?"

For a few moments, Roderich appeared to be confused. He barely payed attention to those rules, thus they seemed to be nonexistent. It took a few moments, but eventually the concept returned to him. “Actual curfew is at 10:30, but it is not exactly enforced. You can go out, most nocturnal students do, but do not cause trouble, make copious amounts of noise, or be too...obvious about it. Just keep to your self,” he explained with a shrug, before adding, “And do not worry about asking questions. I will answer almost anything.”

 Arthur breifly realised that perhaps he had not been quite as friendly to Roderich as he could have been. His roommate seemed to have questions but didn't look like he wanted to ask them for whatever reason. He felt a little guilty, considering Roderich had been mostly open to his comments, but sarcasm was just in his nature, because it made him less approachable.

“To be honest, I'm not sure,” He said, “I don't know enough to get a preference, but certianly pleasure is better that pain, and I like young men… around twenty to twenty five. I don't know why, but it's awkward, they're less receptive to letting us feed than young women, but other than that,” He shrugged, “I'm not picky. And I don't kill,” He said softly, but still rather offhandedly, “It's wasteful and too much hassle to clean up.” he pulled at the duvet, “Besides, I don't want to kill anything…” He said a little awkwardly, he wasn't a murderer after all, he had been brought up around humans. Besides, he found fear tasted bitter and unpleasant. “Leeches don't have to kill, or mosquitos, why should I be different?”

He grinned, “Sometimes humans aren't around to bite.” Roderich seemed to be watching him, instead of unpacking which unnerved him, it felt like he was in a fishtank. “I'm sure you're accomplished at composing, and I shod hope I'm competent at piano, I'm grade 9 already.” He said. 

He nodded, “Thanks. I'll be fine, I'm sure. I can perform a skill called shadow assimilation, which is common amongst vampires. It makes us harder to see, because we're part shadow.” He explained, picking up his guitar and touching the strings so he didn't have to pay attention to Roderich staring at him. “Cheers, it's good to know I have someone to ask who knows about the school. How long have you been here?”

Violet eyes tried to look away and pretend to be bored, but they could not manage it. It was very different to chat with a vampire than to be lectured on them in a strictly scientific fashion. It was much more fascinating. They were much more realistic this way. It was almost like the teachers knew nothing about the race.

“I imagine those who enjoy the taste of fear and pain are also the ones who enjoy sucking their prey dry. Pain...it makes one feel powerful. Do you often get a tinge of fear in your meals, despite measures to avoid it?” Roderich finally looked away from the boy to stare awkwardly out the window. “I have never tasted blood without a heavy dose of fear and pain. We obviously thrive on fear and pain. No endorphins and our teeth are not as sharp as yours.” He chuckled, but it was a nervous sound. Normally, he had not qualms with his methods of drinking or the way he thrived on fear, but in front of a vampire...It had more morals than he did. He almost felt guilty about the way he worked as a creature. He was not even as cruel as most Alp were. He scoffed, feeling lowly, but tried to push the thoughts to the side.

Roderich blinked, then smiled in amusement, “I suppose not. Your poor ears. Those animals are far too loud and have far too many claws.” He pulled his gaze away from the window to concentrate on Arthur, but he seemed to be unnerved by the gaze. Politely, Roderich pulled his gaze away to once again examine everything Arthur had unpacked. He was very pleased to see that all the items were put away nicely. Good.

He nodded happily as Arthur boasted about his piano playing skills, “Of course, good. We shall have to play once everyone is all settled in then,” he suggested with a slight smile. He listened to the boy pluck at the string of the guitar contently. “Just be careful. Do not get cocky. Some of the teachers are...ah...rather good at locating students.”

Roderich spent a few minutes with his eyes closed at that, merely listening. Students seemed to be in the halls once again, making noise and chattering with one another. He idly wondered how many of the older students also got roommates. Thinking on it now, it seemed like a good idea. The older ones knew how to keep from upsetting more violent students.

“I have been here since eighth grade. My parents sent me away as soon as they figured out what I was,” he chuckled sheepishly, “they hate it when I come home for summer.”

"Naturally," Arthur rubbed his neck, "The sensation is at first very painful, before the endorphins enter their systems. Unless you find a masochist." He shrugged. There was some sort of guilt on Roderich's face as he glanced away, and then spoke again, about the way his kind ate. He realised that there was some kind of guilt there about causing pain to others. "Pain is natural, pain is power. Vampires are atypical for our type." He attempted to assure him, "We developed painless methods of biting to avoid being ostrasized from mianstream society... it didn't work, as you can see." He gave an awkward smile. Their seperation from humans had happened many centuries ago, it didn't matter to him, but he resented that he couldn't be open with who he was with society.

"Yes, well, sometimes the blood is worth it, and besides, I have my own claws," He grinned, amused. After Roderich suggested they play together in the future, he gave a small smile, music was one of the few things he had to help him relax, it was something of a saftey blanket, but there was something nice about being able to share it with somebody who was not there simply to tell him where he had gone wrong or expected a performance from a protigé. "I would enjoy that very much indeed." He was relieved that Roderich was trying to make an effort now not to stare at him, it showed thought. "I'll remember. Thanls for the tip, I would hate to be caught. I always try not to get too big for my boots, self assurity leads to mistakes." He looked over at the window, if only he could shift like his brother, then he could fly straight out, but he had never learned how, he was too afraid of being trapped in his shifted form.

The noise started again, of students wondering about. The next stream of orientation meetings must have just finished, echoing down the onlycorridors, "Bit noisy," He commented idly, stating the obvious, he knew, but just as an offhand comment to fill the space.

He blinked in confusion and chose politely to focus on the first part of the statement, the second part just adding to the evidence that he was cursed to that form, and the part about his family was simply none of his bussiness, "Eigth grade?" he asked, he only knew the english system, so that mean nothing to him.

Roderich simply nodded in response. “I would imagine that even a masochist suffers a bit of fear at first. To be snatched up and bitten by an unknown person...that would be enough to startle anyone. I can not say that I would be calm in such a situation,” he admitted. Roderich had issues enough with merely being touched by others. To have someone wounding him, their mouth on him, he would probably throw a fit. He shuddered at the thought, but luckily found himself distracted by Arthur's attempt to make him not worry about his nature. It did not do much to comfort him in the presence of one more morally sound, but the gesture brought a small smile to his face. “Of course they did not accept the kind hunting methods. They were still being hunted. Humans like to think they are the top predator,” Roderich said whilst directing the conversation away from himself.

Roderich had to admit, he was very pleased that Arthur enjoyed playing music. Music was one of the few ways that the Austrian enjoyed expressing himself. If he could, he would only converse with music. It triumphed over “real” conversation. The raw emotion of music felt so much more honest to him. He smiled and nodded at Arthur. It would not even matter if they ended up not getting along; as long as he had another person to play music with.

“Good, good,” he replied, worrying over the younger boy that was gaining his favour so quickly. “Some teachers are a bit uptight about it, some are not. You just have to let the uptight ones think you learned a lesson when you get caught. It is practically a lesson of the school though; how to stay hidden.” He fiddled with his glasses as he spoke. While bestowing an annoyingly useless power of invisibility in the daylight, they were the only reason he avoided discovery at night, but even then, it required much stealth. Roderich could only hope Arthur realized this quickly.

“It typically is,” he commented back. “It is a bit of a sensory overload sometimes. Far too many loud and smelly strange creatures in one building.” He examined his nails while he spoke, not paying too much attention. He wanted to get up and grab nail clippers to perfect their somewhat long, aristocratic shapes, but that would involve going through his bags. Roderich was sort of hoping that they would unpack themselves if he left them long enough.

Roderich tilted his head and looked at the English vampire in confusion. Starting off home schooled, and then coming here, he never seemed to know the correct terminology for anything. He wracked his brain, but upon coming up with nothing useful he merely tried, “Ah...since I was thirteen? I have been here for five years?”

"Hmmm," Arthur disagreed with Roderich, "The hunt doesn't have to be a sudden thing. One might take weeks getting to know a victim before persuading them to allow them to suck their blood. It's why our kind are typically very beautiful, it's easier to persuade someone to let you feed from them. However, it tends to be that the more beautiful amongst our kind have weaker powers, becuase they don't need to use force to persuade a victim." He explained, "Although yes, if anyone, even a masochist was suddenly attacked by a stranger, they would feel fear." he conceeded.

Arthur would not admit that he would probably have the same taste for fear and pain that Roderich had described if not for the fact that he had been in a lot of pain as a child becuase of his heart. "Humans belive they're top when there is no top to the food chain. The hunter is always hunted by something," He idly identified with a grin.

He nodded, glad Roderich was around to 'show him the ropes' as it were. "I'll remember." He smiled slightly, lying back on his pillow, "Thank you." He said, trying to show that he was appreciative, and he didn't dislike Roderich, not at the moment, "I'll try and learn," He said with conviction.

He understood what Roderich was saying, the smells and sounds were assaulting his heightened senses, so his hand to briefly close his eys and try and shut them out.

"Ah, that makes sense now," He nodded, "I only just understand the British system. Is it done in grades here?"

Roderich hummed a small noise of agreement with Arthur, but he still remained slightly skeptical. “Certainly, certainly. One can persuade a person to donate their blood, but that is a bit of an effort for just one meal. I would guess that not many vampires spend a good deal of time building up a relationship and then maintaining it just for a little blood. Plus, that would be a rather cruel relationship. I would assume that a vampire that works that way has a stronger moral code, thus would end up feeling rather guilty about harming the person for food.” He abruptly stopped speaking, realizing that to argue with a creature about its own nature was a foolish thing to do. He hoped Arthur did not get annoyed. Roderich merely wanted to understand what he was going to be living with for the next year.

Roderich chuckled at Arthur's description of humans and their food chain. “It is a funny way the nonexistent 'chain' works. Some things that are hunted can hunt predators of predators...but the humans will not acknowledge that.” He loved the way humans would do anything to claw their way to a nonexistent top. The way they tried to escape their fear and somehow only caused more. Roderich realized with a start that perhaps he was more of an Alp than he thought he was. His fascination with fear surpassed a mere need for it. It dominated him.

He stood up once again. He only gave Arthur a quick glance, quickly noticing the boy trying to dull his senses. He dug through his bags, pulling out a mild, nicely scented candle. He lit it to drown out the horrendous smells that some of the students gave off. His nose was not nearly as good as Arthur's, but he could smell the students strange combination of sweat after a long day. He always had a carefully selected candle just in case. He figured the vampire would get even more use out of it.

Roderich muffled a groan at Arthur's request for him to explain the school system to him. He took his time answering, starting to pull his clothing out of his bags and hang them in the closet. It was a strange combination of outfits. Some were nice, quality designer clothes while others were old and ratty. He placed them in a colour coded fashion as he spoke. “Well, little Arthur, I cannot honestly say I know the differences between the formats. We have students and teachers from all over the world and they all call the years different things. I think it is a grade format? I am just a mere home-schooled kid who only knows he is eighteen and it is his last year here.”

Arthur enjoyed hearing Roderich talk, it was interesting, being able to hear a view of his race from an outsider's perspective, and he was intelligent and questioning, instead of listening solely to the sensationalised stories about their kind. His points were reasoned and true enough, "It is a lot of work, to convince someone, but remember that some vampires devote their life to the hunt, so it does happen," He explained, "And sometimes, it does happen that they feel guilty, I know of instances where our kind have stayed friends for years with humans they originally were hunting." He explained, but yes, Roderich did have some interesting points. "But the idea of taking care of those you wish to feed on before the hunt, isn't it the same as the idea as free range chickens? Kindness before cruelty."

"Humans can't see anything for their own image," He shook his head, "You're right, the smallest creature always hunts the top creature, like the flea on the lion." he explained, "Death is evverything it doesn't discriminate and every creature has the power of death." He momentarily realised he was being rather morbid, "Humans are afraid of death, so they make up structures that mean nothing to attempt to negate the effects. Religon, food chains, medicine, however useful that last one is, they're all there to help humans attempt to cheat death in their mind." Well, he was a vampire, of course he was morbid, they dealt in death, "But then, at the same time as they try to cling on to their weak grasp of mortality, they attempt to take it away from others. Their desire to create weapons is insatiable."

He sniffed the air of the room, so much better. The scent of perfume was a little overpowering, but better than the scent of perfume was much better than the smell of awful creatures, and he was glad Roderich had the foresight to bring scented candles. Sometimes having hightened senses was difficult.

Arthur dedinitely resented being called little, he was a little underheight for his age, and yes, he was a little younger than Roderich, but he hardly thought that qualified him for the title of 'little Arthur'. He didn't say anything, just scowled slightly in dissaproval. To be honest, he wasn't sure what to do with the news that this was Roderich's last year. Certianly, he wasn't sad, becuase he hardly knew Roderich, but it was a shame, becuase Roderich was intelligent and quiet, so he supposed he didn't want him to leave just yet, and he was sure they would get to know each other over the next few months, and he would miss him then, maybe.

Roderich hummed agreement where it was needed, nodding and listening attentively. As he spoke, he could not help but curiously examine Arthur once more. He was quick about it, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable under his gaze, but he wondered how Arthur hunted. He spoke in a very detached way about hunting methods. However it seemed like a personal question to ask. He rarely detailed his process when attacking, why should a vampire describe its own methods? Since he would most likely never be hunted by the vampire, there was not even a need for him to know. He politely chose to push his curiosity to the side. Perhaps he could ask that when they had lived with one another for awhile.

“I am not sure it would be the same idea as free range chickens,” he answered carefully, “Perhaps the basic principle is, like you said, kindness before cruelty, but I doubt there is any guilt left over after killing the bird. I think...it is hard to fathom the fact the chicken too has a sentient thought process since it cannot communicate with us. You cannot build a relationship with a chicken, but since you can relate and speak with your human prey, there is more of a relationship. More guilt.”

Roderich nodded as he listened to the morbid understanding of humanity. “I fear that one day humanity will be the only member of their food chain. The fear will not go away, they would hunt one another, but they are doing a pretty good job of it right now. Especially if the way vampires have to live is any indication...” he trailed off, wondering where the depressing thought process had come from. He glanced up at Arthur. “But that is merely a fear. At the same time, they do seem to be learning. There is hope yet, and I shall cling to it.”

“That is much better, is it not? Scented candles are a bit strong, but they do have their uses,” commented Roderich, a hint of kindness seeping into his careful voice. He turned his back on the seemingly more comfortable English boy, thus missing the scowl cast at him for calling him little. Instead, Roderich busied himself with placing basic food items in the kitchenette. Teas, coffees, flour, and things to be used in baking. He murmured something about needing to buy food in town before shuffling back over to his bags to continue pulling things out.

(( Sorry about taking forever, I really am, I just never got the time or inspiration... OTL Forgive me? *kisses feet guiltily* ))

Arthur didn't really tell people his hunting method. Not that it was too much of a personal thing, it just seemed strange to talk about. He did what came naturally, coercing, flirting and teasing his victims in to letting him have a bite. Certianly, it was something he had become better at with time, but it was all based off instincts. To him, there really was no way to explain how he hunted, apart from in impersonal terms, because it was the only way it made sense to him. He had never really cared about the hunt. As food, yes, but as an obsession, not as much.

“Perhaps,” He agreed, “But... You can't see how it is for us. Yes, we may be able to identify with our prey, becuase we are like them, and we may not be monsters, but they are still prey. The hunt is in our veins. There is no remorse. Let's say vampires are born sociopaths.” He suggested. It was an interesting conversation. They had hardly known each other half an hour and yet they were having a rather deep conversation. He liked Roderich already. A quote came to mind, paticularily pertinent in the current conversation, “Evil is a point of view. God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under God are as we are, none so like him as ourselves. Interview with the vampire.” He explained, “Perhaps not accurate in physiology, but still powerful.”

He pulled his legs on to the bed awkwardly, pressing his feet together and looking over at the window, “People talk of the end of the world happening in 2012...” he grinned in macabre amusement, “I have always known that it will be humans that bring down their own downfal.” He shrugged at the awkward mention of his people, and spoke when Roderoch trailed off. “That was centuries ago, it doesn't worry me, really. My parents lived it, but even they have given up worrying about what can't be undone.” He admitted, “There have been times we have been hunted and killed, but they are all in stories. Once we slipped in to legend, it became easy to hide. Who believes in a myth — well, except religious people.”A little strange, considering his quote earlier, but then, he wasn't exactly religious. He was a demon, after all. It was their place to be godless heretics creating havoc on earth.

Arthur sighed, “Humans, so optimistic...” He sighed wistfully. He believed Roderich was previously a human, something may have been mentioned about us, “We see death. Our existence relies on the destruction of innocents. Keep your hope, I like it.”

“Mm,” He nodded in agreement, I'll have to buy some of my own,” At least, that way, he could choose the smell. He watched Roderich unpacking things and lay back against his pillow. Looks like Roderich used the kitchenette occasionally. Well, good on him. Ever since he Arthur had set his kitchen on fire after he got the whim to make scones, he had realised it was just easier to get other people to make food and give it to him. At least he didn't get flour all over him.

His ears pricked as Roderich murmured to himself. “In to town?” Perhaps you could give me a tour. In the night, of course. It's unfortunate, but I have a rather... violent reaction to light.” He closed his eyes and gave a relaxed sigh. He wished the school was back in London, everything was still open after five in the afternoon. He hated small towns. Still, as long as there was pray (and he would probably go further afield for that anyway) and a pub to sneak out to, he was content.

Roderich let out a thoughtful hum at the vampire's explanation. He let out a small chuckle at the irony of the vampire using a quote that relied on religion to make sense, but other than that, he remained thoughtfully quiet. Eventually, the Austrian scratched his head awkwardly and started speaking, “I suppose that makes sense. You were never really human to begin with either. I think that would lessen any guilt that could have been conjured up.”

The alp blinked, then laughed loudly at the vampire's comment, “I am not sure they will let themselves completely wipe themselves out. They are sort of like cockroaches. Somehow they will find a way to survive whatever has come to kill them. That stubborn race will not fall so easily.” He stretched as he spoke, then looked around his half of the room for more things to organize and unpack. For the moment, everything seemed fine, thus the Austrian shoved his nearly bags underneath the bed. Roderich dusted himself off, as though ridding his body of whatever bacteria could have been on the floor before moving over to the Kitchen to sit on one of the stools.

“It is probably best not to try undoing the past anyways. It is much easier to live in legend. If anyone were to try and change it...I do not think it would yield a welcome outcome. To move from hiding...You would certainly start a whole new cycle of hunting and killing,” agreed Roderich. He did not want anyone to reveal the world of “myths” that lived secretly beside the humans. Far too many protective measures would be put in place. The alp knew that if it did happen, the fact he was a malevolent creature by nature would get him killed far too quickly. Some humans may stand up for the cruel creatures' rights, but he knew they would not be truly welcomed. It would be like welcoming serial killers into society.

Roderich scoffed at Arthur. “You ought to work on your optimism, vampire. You do not have to be human or a benevolent creature to see the good things that could happen. You thrive on death and destruction. I thrive on fear and insanity. You have to have a good outlook or you too will go insane.”

The alp leaned lazily against the kitchen counter, chin in hand, exhaustion setting in. “Certainly. Though, there is not much point in visiting at night. The only thing open after dark is a pub. There is, however, a series of maintenance tunnels under the town that connect all the shops if you ever really need anything. I will show you them, but you ought to know that they require around a minute of walking in the sun to get to.”

((I love towns with maintenance tunnels. 8D You never have to go out in the cold in the winter!))

He shrugged, "It is easy to identify," He admitted, "But when we're hungry, that morality turns off." He smiled slightly and dropped it, deciding morality conversations about the feeding habits of his find was a little too much, considering they had meet, what, an hour ago? Not even that, most likely.

He sighed, "True, true," He conceeded, "I suppose every war has a winner and a loser. Even if there's only one person left, he still wins." it didn't concern him, he supposed, he was a vampire, certianly they were mortal, what creature wasn't? But their lifespan was greater than that of the average human, so they didn't think of death in quite the same way. Although, large wars tended to wipe out many of their people, they weren't immune to flesh wounds.

"We're too demonised now." Arthur agreed, "You see the reaction of those in the school, even they see our kind as monsters." He sighed, "Sometimes I believe rightly so." He conceeded, "Vampires are very animalistic in nature. This... awareness and conscience has grown within us. But underneath rational thought are powerful instincts that run deep and violent." He admitted awkardly. The instincts could be hard to control, and it had taken many years to grasp enough self control that he wasn't afraid of hurting anyone with a blood supply. He was still a litttle scared, though he would never admit it.

Artuhr smiled wryly, "I don't fear insanity, not really." He admitted, "I'm sure our race are born already half insane anyay," He snorted. "By human standards. And yes, I do have optimism, simply not as often as you, Alp" he sniped, resenting being called by his species name, so, extending to curtesy back.

"Ah." Arthur said awkwardly, "I'm violently resistent to lights." He admitted, "I burn and loose my eyesight. So even a small dash would be hard. Oh, I have a darkness umbrella," He said, "it casts a permanent shadow." He expained.

((A quick apology first. I was super tired when writing this...so I have no idea if it makes any sense what-so-ever. 8D))

It suddenly struck Roderich that the English boy in front of him was terribly arrogant. For the most part, it did not bother the alp in the least, for he too was an arrogant creature. He tolerated arrogance in most, not all, but most. Somehow though, the words that Arthur uttered bothered the Austrian. It was as if he believed himself completely separate from the affairs of the humans and, perhaps, everyone else. Perhaps it was the remaining human in Roderich rebelling, but it did bother the older student. The affairs of the humans did matter.

“You just have to be careful as to who that winner is. Sometimes, sometimes, the winner is capable of horrible deeds,” said Roderich carefully, not wishing to get on the bad side of his roommate by arguing with him. Perhaps it was merely a mistake, a misinterpretation. Time could calm the hidden and worried human.

He laughed awkwardly, thinking of the reaction the nymph had when learning that Roderich was an alp. “Most certainly, but that is just silly paranoia of the students. Fear. I admittedly adore the taste of it when it is caused by me, but I suppose it must bother some of the other races. Especially the hypocrisy of it. Every one of us in this school is a monster, but so are the humans. It is sort of beautiful.”

“Do not be so sure, Arthur. I deal in insanity and the mind. The moment you fall into insanity I am sure our necks will be torn asunder,” he growled grumpily, dismissing the snide tone. He disliked insanity being made light of. Roderich saw far too much of the mind when delving into dreams. It was a wicked place, and all the optimism in the world could not hide the nature of some species from the alp. In some creatures, he delighted in their loss of mind, but others...Well, Roderich valued his life.

“Ah, good, good. You will be needing that umbrella. Otherwise you will find things a bit boring around here,” hummed Roderich with a shrug, his tone returning to its regular polite sound.

Arthur, admittedly, found the other boy, arrogant. This shouldn't have bothered him, he had grown up around such people. However... It brought out his own arrogant side, so he found himself distancing himself as he had been raised. He liked to think he was mostly human, but around the company of people who were the same as him; blue blooded, then he would simply become that of his upbringing. Not only that, but he felt like he had to justify himself in his action, justify the paracitic way they lived, and the only way to do that was to do what he had always done, a seperation of the human and the vampire. However, he still realised his arrogance and could tell that it was bristling his roomate for whatever reason, and he prefered to be able to live with him instead of fall out on the first day over something so trivial. He had attempted beforehand to conceed the argument to Roderich, but the Austrian had replied straight back and continued the argument. It was...infuriating, though the topic was rather stimulating, clearly it was causing friction.

He grinned slightly and shook his head, “We are all capable of wicked deeds. Some just hide that more than others. The desire to punch someone in the face is the same as one to commit genocide, just at...different levels. You or I would be more likely to punch someone in the face, I think, but we have to be scared that the person who has stronger desire, isn't the winner of the war.” He brushed a lock of hair out of his face and smiled a little, “However... I would argue that in war, neither sides truly win, they both suffer terrible casualties. In the perfect war, the winning side must not be hurt.” Why did he keep coming to pliosophical arguments with Roderich? Perhaps the fact that he was good conversation and intelligent. Not that he was complaining, unless they started to fight. Arthur wasn't sure if he would be big enough to back off again.

He grinned a little, amused, “The irony of this world is perfectly balanced, wouldn't you say? Most people don't see the small beauties in the world, it passes them by. My eyes are better than theirs, I can see them...” He looked  down at his hand, “Vampires have the mind of an animal, but also the body, heightened instincts, it's helpful.” He scowled lightly, not wanting to talk about himself again, “Humans are afraid. They are born crying.”

He chuckled a little, “That is true. But I still don't fear it. I would be insane, would I know?” He grinned cheerfully, in a way he realised was rather innapropriate, but he was scared of his nature; insane was their default, he had experienced loss of control, when he was small and new to the intincts. He had subjugated his instincts after that to make sure it never happened again, and one could argue that perhaps he had done it to a slightly dangerous degree, not that he would want to admit it.

He sighed and stared at the blackened window, “I imagined... Sometimes it's hard being restricted like this. Dull.” He wrinkled his nose and went back to playing with his guitar.