forum vespertilio sanguineus | sci-fi vampire rp | 1/3

Started October 13, 2022 by @knightinadream group

tune

Avital lifted their head as the door opened. 'Damn, there goes that…' They thought. Maybe an oversight. They leaned back, arms crossed. Five seconds into this and already something messed up.
They watched Crowley drop some files on the desk. Avital eyed him in a way that could have been described as judgemental; His eyes were surprisingly light. "Huh." But he was confident. Impressive, on this case already? It was a patronizing sort of respect, but they didn't realize this. Kind of ironic as well, considering they were only 188 years old.
Quick evaluations aside, Avital had to continue the interrogation in some form or fashion. How embarrassing. They attempted a confident front. They were aware it wasn't the young man's fault, but that didn't stop them from being a bit annoyed with him, however unfairly. "Thirty people have been reported as missing over the past three years, likely by a single person or group. Almost nothing to go on as to who they are or what had been done to the missing persons." Avital attempted eye contact with Rafael. "I don't suppose you know anything about this?" They looked around and grabbed one of the files, listing off twenty-two of the names of the people who'd gone missing before standing again. They set the file down and adjusted their sleeves. "Should have started this investigation way earlier…." They mumbled angrily.

Crow hummed at Raphael's response, raising an eyebrow as Avital plowed through the inmate's disinterest with facts from the case. The youngest vampire still wasn't quite sure how to interpret Avital's appraisal of himself, but he was certain that, at the very least, the other wasn't particularly thrilled to have him there. 'No matter, he thought, squaring his shoulders. 'I can work with that.'

"I want to be clear about one thing," Crow announced, finally pulling out a chair and sitting with his legs spread around the backrest. He leaned forward, hands clasped together on the table and staring intently at Raphael. "But first, a question: Do you know why you're being interrogated?" He tilted his head and waited a moment—not nearly long enough for an answer to be provided—before continuing.

"It's not because we—and by we, I mean the Protection Agency, of course. It's not because we think you have anything to do with this case." He let that sink in. "It's because you've been around for a lot longer than the majority of our kind. You're more knowledgeable and more powerful, and better yet, accessible–" Crow gestured around the interrogation room before his gaze landed on the tracker around Raphael's wrist. "—meaning you're currently our biggest lead in discovering whoever's responsible for this. Do you understand?"

This time, he did wait for a response.

(You guys are so good at drawing for real though.)

Rafael shrugged at Avital's question. "Maybe…" There wasn't a single ounce of an expression till he picked up what they mumbled. He chuckled underneath his breath in an instant. These investigators and VHIPA vamps and people are quite amusing. Perhaps he might enjoy this.

The names flew around his mind. When you are vampire his age, your memory can be faulty, even when memories are just recent. Some of the names sounded familiar, or at least the first names did. He wasn't sure why too. Well unless….

"Hm?" Rafael shook his head. The question may be rhetorical yet he replied with a simple "no". He copied the way Crow tilted his head. It gradually yet gracefully tilted to the same side. He didn't blink. Sometimes he finds it that it makes other uncomfortable, yet he never had tried it around younger vampires.

He noticed that Crow was looking at the bracelet. Faking sighing, he turned his wrist to take a look at the wretched thing on him. Believe him, he would have picked something much better. Defiantly something like a black leather watch.

Covering his hand, Rafael laughed for a moment or two. His hand rested on his knee. "Yes…I do, Crow. I understand very clearly." He rolled his eyes. "Hopeless as always."

"Are you laughing?" No, he wasn't. It was more of a soft chuckle, actually.
Avital felt their face color. Never before had they forgotten to introduce the subject. They scoffed at their own incompetence and rested their hand on the table.
The man stared- As if to try and prove something, Avital stared back. Vampire or not, it was second nature. 'Hopeless'. They couldn't help taking offense, but they knew he was right. Avital clicked their pen as a means of stimulation. They considered repeating their question, but waited. "Nothing?" They continued after a few seconds anyway. They counted, actually. Eleven seconds. Avital glanced up at an analog clock on the wall. Ten minutes to talk, wasn't it? Unless they tried to bargain for more time, but it was unlikely if there was literally nothing to be written. 'This is getting nowhere.'
Avital picked up a different file, silently this time, in search of something else that may connect.
(Thank youuuu :])
(Also sorry this is short and how long it took to get posted-)

Crow arched an eyebrow at the nickname. He definitely hadn't introduced himself as such, but he decided to ignore it, just as aware of the time limit as Avital. He chuckled at the bluntness of Raphael's statement, saying, "That's exactly right."

"We are hopeless… Kinda like you, locked up in a cell all alone for months." The amusement fell out of his tone entirely and Crow's face grew uncharacteristically serious. "As old as you are, you must know just how quickly the months can turn to decades. Centuries, even." He leaned forward even more, voice low, but not quite a whisper.

"I know that right now, you probably have no reason to care about these missing people. But you have reason to care about yourself—your future. Do you really want to spend it in a bright cell, isolated from the world? The Protection Agency, myself included, is willing to appeal your imprisonment if you cooperate in helping us find the ones responsible," he explained. "The choice is yours. Either tell us what you know, or suspect, help us find the ones responsible, and earn your freedom back. Or, in four minutes' time, you can be led back to your cell for God knows how long, rotting, wondering whether it would've been better to take the offer while it was there."

Crow leaned back, lacing his fingers together and bringing his arms up to stretch out a kink in his back, before settling comfortably with a far more neutral expression on his face than the one from moments before. He fixed his gaze on Avital all of a sudden, eyes flickering to the pen and back.

"Would you stop clicking, please? Raphael is about to speak." The barest traces of a prideful smirk flickered across his face, only for the scientist's eyes to see, before he turned back to the inmate with a polite smile and bright red eyes ablaze with a challenge—daring Raphael to disagree.

Another shrug. For already having terrible experiences being stuck in cells since before his afterlife, this is kind of amusing. There's something about making younger modern vampires annoyed or frustrated that is a bit funny too. The amusement fell short once he heard the other laugh a little.

Well the two are both trying to prove a point. He kept on staring at Avital, with occasional looking at Crow then at the pen. Rafael leaned forward with his hands on the table. Believe him, this cell he's stuck in is actually better than the one he spent only eight hours in. The thing is, he died and woke up as something different in those eight hours. Right here and now, he doesn't think there'll be any major changed to him.

Rafael eventually relaxed himself in the chair. He had to process a lot of English; you'd think a vampire of his age could do so in seconds, but no. Once the VHIPA vamp was done, he decided to stand up. He strolled over to their side.

He spoke in Hungarian, "Rafael wasn't going to say anything…" Glancing down at the files on the table, he picked up the first one. Flipping it open, he looked down at his picture amongst the other information. He saw the word "family" once with a bunch of other words, nothing else, then proceeded to throw the file at the tinted window.

Strolling back to the chair, he plopped himself down in it. "You know they threw me to you guys….just so they can keep you distracted from everything that they do. I'm always thrown around, it's been the same since I had a beating heart." He tapped his knee for a second. "Eh, the only thing that I know about some of them is that they're nothing but mortals. Might've slept with some….that's it."

A smile pressed onto his face. It dissolved in seconds before he spoke again. "And if you really do decide that it's best if I help you…please get out of this dull thing…." Rafael motioned to his gray prison uniform. "This is atrocious. I looked better wearing my peasant clothes and my own blood."

Crow was definitely confident, alright. And what he proposed was a big offer, and therefore a desirable one. 'You could learn from him,' Some kind of parental voice echoed in their head. They chose to ignore it. From yet another quick analysis, out of the corner of their eye, he seemed actually comfortable here. Hands outward, that'd indicate-
"Would you stop clicking, please?"
Avital's stare shifted from Rafael to Crow. He smiled slightly. Their hand froze and they set the pen down on the table, returning it to their hip. Instead of berating the man or completely losing it, they focused the energy on Rafael as he walked around the room. He spoke some other language at one point, just before tossing a file at a window. He returned to his chair.

"You are. It's going to take a while, though. I'll need to buy more time once it's up. But, as-." Avital glared at Crow. "As Crowley said, we still have… three, for minutes? It seems you actually don't know much about this. But even with nothing, I bet we could find something." They said vaguely. "So, how old are you? I assume you've got a few hundred years on me, let alone Morton. Again, to quote what he said, you're definitely one of the oldest around." Their voice was back to its normal, jaded tone, one they assumed the others hadn't heard. They hated it, but at least hoped now it'd diffuse any angry demeanor they'd previously put on. It was a swift change in energy, Avital knew, but mostly out of spite. Like they'd let that man- only, what? Twenty?- get one over on them. Ha! Avital Sagire liked to think they were merely driven, competitive at most. They thought, by suddenly changing their own mindset and attempting to be above someone else, they were competitive and not biased, spiteful, or an angry person in general. And by doing this, they also made themself a hypocrite.

Crow didn't speak Hungarian, but he was left with the distinct impression that he was being mocked. His brow furrowed at that thought, but relaxed when Raphael picked up one of the files.

'Well, there's no harm in informing him further', he thought, right before the eldest vampire promptly chucked the file across the room.

And indignant, "Hey!" escaped him–those were important files, entrusted to him nevertheless!–but he fell silent when the inmate continued to speak.

He glanced at Avital, gauging their reaction. His lips twitched downward at the drastic change in the other vampire's demeanor, and Crow decided right then and there that he would not be trusting of this Avital Sagire, no matter that he had to work with the scientist. Anyone that could conceal their emotions just like that was a beacon for trouble–Crow knew that firsthand.

He hummed in disapproval at the scientist's questions, interrupting with, "I think there are other things worth discussing with our remaining time. Getting to know each other can come later. Namely, I want to know," he shifted his gaze back to Raphael, an eyebrow arched. "What size clothing do you wear?"

It was as good as any official "Welcome to the team!", if Crow's inviting grin was anything to go by.

(yessss. also mad respect lmao)

Rafael pretended to yawn. He might know something related to the case. Even if he didn't play a part in it, he probably knows much more than the forensics specialist and VHIPA vamp. And he can get out….

He tilted his head. How old is he? Definitely is a question for the VHIPA and not him. Rafael leaned back, taking a look at the file he had thrown onto the floor. He remembered it said something, or at least there was a guess. Who knows? Birthdays weren't a thing for people like him.

"500?" He tapped his bottom lip a couple of times. It makes sense. "I have to be around 500, maybe 502 if it's been over four centuries since I was turned." How has he ever made it up to this point? Most vampires can't even handle losing their humanity or the realization that they'll never age.

His brow arched up. What's size again? Anything Rafael has worn was either big or tight on him, and it all worked out fine. He knew that society measured such things, yet he never really bothered to learn. If it fit one way, then he'd wear it.

"Hold on…." Rafael took off his shirt. There's always an annoying itchy tag inside these things. Holding it in front of him, he found a white rectangle that had two letters in bold. "XL?" He looked up at Avital and Crow. Rafael held it out so they can see it. "That is what it says…."

Avital remembered their notepad as Rafael responded to their question. They clicked the pen, only once, for the ink. They wondered if it'd bother Crow. Unfortunately, probably not. They quickly scribbled his exact words.
What size was he?
Oh, the clothes.
The clothes?
Avital whipped their head around and looked at Crow, no longer angry but confused. They were aware of his request, a fair request. But they assumed that'd be when he could actually leave the cell. "Now?"
The scientist looked back at the prisoner, who was in thought. He started to take his shirt off. "Sir, that- That won't be necessary." The scientist looked away. "Okay, then." They mumbled, eyes staring into the paper in their hand.
"That is what it says."
Having already accepted Rafael's request, half to avoid further tension than they'd already created -since Crow had already agreed- and the other to get some information out of this man, it again dawned on them that he was a prisoner. "By now I assume you're just coming with us, somehow? Something could be sorted out. Unless-" No, that wouldn't work. They couldn't possibly sneak out. 'I can just fill out some paperwork or convince them to let us leave for an hour or two. Even if it'd take a while.' "Actually, never mind."

"XL," Crow repeated in a mumble, quickly typing something into his phone before glancing up with yet another bright smile, seemingly unfazed by the now shirtless prisoner in front of them.

There was something curious about the way Avital seemed to stop themself midsentence, and Crow regarded them carefully. "I don't know what just occurred to you, but rest assured that I'm not plotting anything."

He paused, mentally cataloging their remaining time before typing something else on his phone. This time there was a 'whoosh' sound as a text message was sent, followed by a click as he turned the phone off. "Nothing illegal, at least," he amended somewhat cryptically, pocketing the device and winking at Raphael.

With that, Crowley strode to the window and stooped over to collect the case file that had been thrown, calmly combing through the dislodged papers and reordering them correctly. "It seems to me like you weren't the most informed, either, Avital Sagire. The Agency requested you, specifically, for this investigation, seeing as you're this fancy forensic scientist from the city and all. But, if I had to guess, I would bet they don't trust you all that much." The "either" was implied, but not stated, as Crow focused his ruby gaze on Avital through the mirror-like widow.

"But, as you said, this investigation should have been started far before now. And I agree. Too much time has been wasted already. Which is why…" He trailed off, tilting his head as the sounds of clinking from the other side of the door registered in his sensitive ears.

The guards from before stepped back through the door, one of them holding a bundle of outside clothes over his arm and a sour look on his face.

"…Which is why," Crow continued, "the Agency is…speeding up the protocol normally required."

He let the two guards take over for him as he leaned against a wall to observe.

(Yeee Rafael is being held by VHIPA. Really appreciate the response Veere. It's all good!)

Once given confirmation, he took another look at the tag. An XL….Human measurement systems make absolutely no sense to him still, and it's been centuries. His eyes squinted at Crowley then at Avital. Then he slid the shirt back on.

Funny how usually that gets some sort of reaction. Now it was not his initial intention to get something out of taking his shirt off. The old vampire was genuinely unsure and confused for a second.

Rafael slightly turned his head to the right. His lips formed a frown. Why even go over to pick up such useless papers? Now they are the ones wasting his time! As he crossed his arms, his head perked up in the direction of the door. The faint click noise ringing in his ears.

The guard with the bundle of plain clothes approached him. Out of basic instinct, he scorched the chair back. It made a screeching noise as it barely slid against the floor. While Rafael was ready to fight, the guard just dropped the clothes on the table in front of him then walked back.

Another one placed another file down by Avital then the two left. Rafael stared at the clothes. "So is that what this ugly bracelet is for?"

"Nothing illegal, at least." As Crowley retrieved the case file Avital furrowed their brow and considered this.
"It seems to me like you weren't the most informed, either, Avital Sagire. The Agency requested you, specifically, for this investigation, seeing as you're this fancy forensic scientist from the city and all. But, if I had to guess, I would bet they don't trust you all that much." 'Fancy forensic scientist?' Technically true, but the wording was patronizing, to them at least. They were about to drop a bit of their exterior and counter the statements when the door was opened. It seemed to alarm the prisoner, but the guard ended up just leaving some clothes and then leaving. Another file was dropped in front of them and they didn't answer Rafael's question.
They flipped through the file, in hopes of some actual information. While they did this, they "calmly" poked the metaphorical flame.
"Crowley- or would you prefer 'Crow'?- I don't know about you, but although I've been given little information I think they trust me- a 'fancy forensic scientist'- just fine. Less than I'd prefer, but still. I've been in this agency for a while." They would have added another rude comment but decided they had been blunt enough for a few sentences (again, hypocrite).
Once they had actually paid attention to what they were sifting through, Avital's eyes widened. "Well, then." Photos. Awfully gritty and blurred, but they were photos. They put a few on the table in hopes of making some of them out in the light.