one day this will fade {open}

[Mordred Le Fey]

"Wait, your parents are vampires?" Mordred let out a low whistle, leaning back again in his chair. "That, my friend, is very cool. Never mind the nobility crap, you should be using that as your lead in with girls."

Mordred suddenly had images of a legion of vampires, following him as he advanced on Camelot to claim the throne and overthrow Arthur... it was a glorious vision... but he had definitely been reading too many history books. He shook his head slightly, pushing the thought away as an image of what Tristian's face would look like if he did anything like that entered into his mind. It was weird there was no mention of him in these books he'd been reading... and it wasn't helping with his delusions of grandeur. After all, overthrowing the childless uncle from the books would be very different to taking on the hoardes of Camelot offspring that apparently hadn't existed in Monmouth's Camelot.

But then, vampires hadn't existed in Monmouth's Camelot either...

"Blood magic..." Mordred was intrigued. Of course, he had his own magic and his own powers, but blood magic was something deeper, more ancient. Something he would love to possess. "So when are they going to turn you?" Mordred asked, fascinated by his companion. This was definitely someone he wanted in his camp, this future vampire.

He was surprised at Costin's invite, but pleased, and he nodded slowly, attempting to hide his excitement with faux nonchalance. "Well, I mean next time you head back I suppose I could tag along. I wouldn't mind a change of scenery. And I've never met a vampire."

This. Was. Awesome.

[Costin Dracula]

Costin could not begin to fathom how a girl would want him just because his fathers were vampires. Maybe if he was a vampire himself, that would make sense, but right now...he was no one, really, he was worth nothing until one of them finally decided he was worthy of immortality. And Costin's desire to be a vampire was really not due to any ambitions of conquest, although perhaps after a century or two that might be on the table. No, he wanted to be immortal because he wanted to be limitless. He wanted to be able to go anywhere, do anything, have the option to do what he wanted with his life because he wasn't limited by a pesky lifespan of eighty or ninety years.

Then Mordred asked the question, the one Costin had been asking himself for years now. When were they going to turn him? He wished he had an answer. If he'd been completely sober he would have lied, said it was just at the end of the school year, or some finite date like that. But he wasn't sober, as evidenced by the fact that he had invited a near-stranger back to a home he didn't even want to go to himself.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "We're still working out the details. They're both insistent that I get the 'full human experience' first." Yes, that sounded convincing. At least it sounded like they had a reason for withholding their greatest gift from their only child, instead of just being awful and stingy about it.

"If you're lucky," he said, grabbing a nearby chair and dragging it over so he didn't have to keep perching on the table, "I'll be the first vampire you meet, and you won't have to tangle with my fathers at all. They're...well, they're not very sociable, to say the least."

[Mordred Le Fey]

"The full human experience?" Mordred repeated slowly. "What does that even mean?" He took another drink from the flask, holding it up to his eye when only a trickle came out. "Ah crap..." He started feeling his pockets, looking for more drink while Costin spoke.

"Unsociable vampires... well there's something unexpected." He joked, giving up on looking for booze and pulling the bottle of pills out of his pocket again and throwing a couple more into his mouth. "Ok, so we need to get you the full human experience..." Mordred's mind was running a mile a minute thanks to the pills, he was full of ideas and psyched by all the vampire talk.

"So, what haven't you done? Let's get this experience done so we can get you turned!" He jumped up, clapping his hands loudly, ignoring the loud shushing that came from four different directions.

[Costin Dracula]

Costin didn't have the slightest idea what would qualify as the full human experience. That was because he'd just made up the idea on the spot, just to excuse his pathetic human condition. But it occurred to him that he didn't have to know what it was, because it was something his fathers had made up even in his contrived story. "You know, I'm not sure," he told Mordred. "They're annoyingly unspecific about it. I can only assume it's something stupid like...climb a mountain, eat fresh seafood, drink a well-aged bourbon. That kind of thing."

He was mildly concerned that his new...acquaintance (Costin had never used the word "friend" to describe someone and he wasn't about to start right now)...was being a little reckless with his recreational substances, but Costin had no basis for comparison, so he wasn't going to speak up about it and make an idiot of himself. Although...now Mordred was asking him about things he hadn't done, and that was a long list of things Costin had very little interest in traveling down.

"Perhaps we should...be outside of the library for this discussion, no?" He glanced around, suddenly a little self-conscious that he was involved in a conversation that had warranted a shush from the library. Costin was cruel and sarcastic and had very little tact when it came to personal relationships, but he knew protocol, and he knew you weren't supposed to take drugs and get loud in a library.

[Mordred Le Fey]

Mordred laughed out loud at Costin's suggestions. "Those are all crap, anyone can do them - hell even vampires could do those things." He climbed onto his chair and sat back on his haunches, thoroughly excited at the idea of helping Costin achieve the full human experience. "But if you're sure, forget the mountain, we can get a helicopter, there's a good seafood restaurant in town, and I have an excellent and incredibly expensive selection of bourbons back at my house. So we've got the rubbish ones covered."

At another SHHUUUSSSHHH, Mordred turned on the chair and yelled at the student nearby, "SHUSH YOURSELF, WE ARE PLANNING THE FULL HUMAN EXPERIENCE HERE!"

He may have taken one too many pills...

He turned back to Costin. "No, I've got it. Human experience number one - shouting in a library." He grinned at Costin. "Go ahead. Extra points for yelling a profanity."

[Costin Dracula]

Well, Mordred wasn't wrong. Vampires could do those things, but that was not the point. "They could do all of that," he agreed, "but it isn't the same. Apparently there's...the taste of food and drink that aren't blood, which does nothing for them at all, and climbing a mountain isn't the same when you can just leap and fly up to the summit." He shrugged. "I'm not particularly interested in any of that. I don't really enjoy food, it all feels so pointless, I'm really only waiting for my real life to begin, you know?"

The more time passed, the less bothered he came by the idea that they were irritating other people in the library, but he was still caught off guard by Mordred's suggestion...or insistence, whichever it was, that he swear out loud in the library. What an idea! He tried to imagine his fathers' reaction to getting a letter saying that Costin had been thrown out of the school library for swearing loudly, and he was so delighted by it that he perked up a little in his chair.

"Damnation!" he said, a little too loud for a library, but not that loud. He cleared his throat and tried again, much louder this time. "Damnation!

[Mordred Le Fey]

Mordred literally laughed out loud, losing balance on his chair and having to grab on to the table to stop him falling off. Ignoring the increasing shushing and furious glares, Mordred tried to catch his breath as he looked at Costin.

"Damnation? That's it?" He started laughing again, absolutely thrown by the unexpected innocence of his new friend. "That is not a profanity! That is adorable, that's what that is."

He stood up, grinning widely as he looked down at Costin. "This, my innocent little friend, is a profanity." Taking a deep breath, Mordred threw his head back ready for his shout.

"FUCKADOODLEDOOOO!" He crowed like a cockerel, a huge grin on his face.

[Costin Dracula]

Costin flushed, a little embarrassed. Damnation was a perfectly good swear word, he thought, there was nothing wrong with it. Also, nothing in creation could have possessed him to ever say anything so undignified as "fuckadoodledoo" which he was quite certain was not an actual word. He wasn't sure he'd be able to live with himself if he went around saying things like fuckadoodledoo, although Mordred certainly pulled it off alright.

"I'm not adorable," he hissed, heatedly. "I was raised with manners, that's all. That kind of swearing, it's not...it isn't my style. But..." Well, if Mordred wanted him to be offensive, that wasn't exactly difficult for him. He just didn't do it through made-up profanity, that's all. He glanced up at Mordred, and pressed his lips together thoughtfully, toying with phrasing.

"The blood of innocents will flood these halls!" he shouted, much louder than the damnation had been.

[Mordred Le Fey]

Continuing to grin like a crazy person - which at this stage wasn't all that far from the truth - Mordred waited for Costin's response. Mordred had upped the game and he couldn't wait to see how Costin would respond. He laughed again as Costin hissed defensively at him, and raised his eyebrows, folding his arms and waiting for Costin's second attempt.

He was not disappointed. With a howl of laughter, Mordred reached over and slapped Costin on the book, thoroughly impressed by his outburst. "Fantastic!" He was almost crying with laughter as a furious librarian made her way over to them. "Blood of the innocents - that, my friend, was genius!"

"What on earth do you two think you are doing?!" Mordred bit his lip to try and control his laughter, and failed completely as the librarian hissed furiously. "Get out!!!"

Mordred looked at Costin. "Fancy taking this experience somewhere else?" He grinned.

[Costin Dracula]

Costin had given up on all hope of returning to reading his book (not a great loss, considering how dull it had been), and whatever twinge of regret he might have felt as the librarian stormed over was easily tempered by his satisfaction at Mordred's approval. Costin didn't often try to impress people, but there was something about this one, something that made him want to go along with Mordred's suggestions.

In one instant, Costin had the sinking realization that Mordred reminded him of his father. Uninhibited. Full of bravado and irritating charm. A terrible influence. Strangely charismatic even though he didn't even really seem to be trying.

And yet, despite that realization, Costin found himself smiling, not a half-smile, not a strangled grimace, but a full smile that cut across his face as the librarian ordered them to leave.

"The lady asked us to leave," he said, giving the librarian a wild-eyed, almost manic smile. "We should leave. Before we start with the DECAPITATION." He stood up, wondering for a split second if he ought to return his book to the antique books section, before deciding that the librarian probably wouldn't let him do it anyway.

[Mordred Le Fey]

Mordred snorted as Costin responded to the librarian. This guy was hilarious, and Mordred had decided, in his drugged up haze, that they were going to be BFFs. He put his arm around Costin's shoulders, and attempted to rearrange his features into something resembling a serious expression and failing completely.

"My good lady, I apologise profusely for my comrade's behaviour - we will be on our way and take our ritual sacrifice elsewhere." He bowed slightly as he led Costin away and towards the door, breaking into fresh laughter at the enraged and shocked look on the librarian's face.

Reaching the door, Mordred spun around to face the library again. "GLORY TO SPARTA!" He bellowed at the top of his voice, before turning and leaving the library.

He turned to Costin outside. "Alright, so what's next on the human experience list. What else haven't you ever done?"

This was turning out to be an excellent evening.

[Costin Dracula]

"He's lying," Costin said, matter-of-factly. "That's a false apology right there. We aren't sorry at all. And I would do our sacrifice right here, only I suppose the books would get a bit bloody, and I'm not completely uncivilized." He grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and allowed Mordred to lead him towards the door, leaning back over his shoulder to shout one last time. "BLOOD AND BONES FOR THE DEMON KING." He had no idea what he was trying to achieve by saying any of this, but it was enjoyable, anyway.

He tucked his hands into his pockets, soaking in the suddenly potent air of the night, taking new appreciation in the subtleties of it, the little shifts in the breeze that danced across his skin.

"I can feel everything," he said softly, suddenly almost reverent. "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" He wasn't really avoiding Mordred's question, he was just trying to figure out what answer he wanted to give to it, what he wanted to say that wouldn't make him sound culturally illiterate or worse, adorable again. "I've never killed anyone," he admitted. "I know I just said all that about blood and bones and dying innocents, but I've only ever watched murder, I've never been involved in it."

[Mordred Le Fey]

Mordred couldn't help but grin as Costin expressed the effects the drugs were having on him. He closed his eyes and lifted his face to the sky breathing deeply and allowing the effects of the drugs to wash over him too, his senses heightened as he felt the breeze across his skin and smelt the damp of the evening.

He opened his eyes quickly as Costin spoke again, and looked at him sharply, surprise registering in his face. "Well, you get straight to the point, don't you." Mordred laughed. "We might have to build up to that one..." Mordred paused, looking thoughtful. He wondered... could they do it? Weird stuff happened here all the time, could they...? It wasn't like he hadn't killed things before, he was a renowned hunter in Camelot, but he'd never killed a person.

"Maybe we should build up to that one..." He grinned, an idea entering his head. "How about starting with this - have you even been in a bar fight?"

[Costin Dracula]

There were many things Costin had not done in his life, and a lot of them would probably have delighted Mordred much more than murder, but Costin wasn't drugged out of his mind enough yet to risk Mordred hiring him a professional lady of the night or something of that sort. He breathed out a quiet laugh, looking down at the sidewalk, and pulled one hand out of his pocket.

"Raised by vampires," he said, by way of explanation, gesturing towards himself. "It's like...you know, I know in my head these things aren't normal in society here, but...when you're around it every day from your earliest memories, it's hard to pull yourself out of it."

He shook his head slowly at Mordred's next question, tucking his hand back into his pocket. "I've never had any reason to fight anyone in a bar. I've never really gone to a bar, aside from wine bars. I don't like any of the people there, and the alcohol isn't any better than the stuff at home, so I've never seen the point. Are you telling me bar fights are an integral part of the human experience?"

[Mordred Le Fey]

Raised by vampires... Gods Mordred was jealous of that. Sure, his mum was cool, she could be pretty badass herself, but Costin had hit the jackpot in the parent lottery, for sure.

He chuckled at Costin's question. "It's an integral part of my human experience." He grinned, putting his arm around Costin's shoulders. "I think we've found out next experience. And if you don't like any of the people in the bar, then you've already mastered the first step. Step two is get horrendously drunk - and we're halfway there already - and step three is simply be as obnoxious as possible." Starting to walk away from the library and in the direction of the town, Mordred smirked at Costin. "And, my new friend, you have me for that. If anyone knows how to rile up a drunk thug in a bar, I do. Let's go get you a black eye."