UTasteSoSo

Benji watched the TV and the chaos that it was showing. Whatever it was it had effected the city and beyond. The young Kindred didn't know much about the end of the world but this seemed like the beginning of a lot of those types of movies. He sat quietly and took the now bloodied mug of cocoa from the man feigning a sip. "Thank you."   More or less Benji watched the news idly keeping an eye on the doorman as he went.    

Benji was miffed that they were not able to get past the door man but he knew too well what his clanmates might be capable of. He could have gone too but didn't want to pique the man's curiosity further.    "What is all that about?" He motioned toward the TV and the 'widespread violence' they were reporting. Perhaps tonight's event was was much bigger than he would have taught.

Benji had dropped into a sullen silence as the group had traveled to Freddie's. He wasn't sad for the loss really but the overall situation was shocking. The 'episode' and the spider head were traumatic but seeing more than a few rather influential kindred end up greasy ash was something else entirely. Benji did not feel safe and the hope for that comfort he might have had a few hours ago was completely washed away like a sandcastle too long on the beach.   The boy perked up when he realized the ruse, "I am so tired."  He punctuated his statement with a rub of his small hands over one eye and a quick but deep yawn. He looked up again at his companions, "Where is uncle Freddie? It's too cold out here." He was no child but he had been one and in many ways was one much longer than any mortal might contend, so he laid it on a bit thick with the routine. 

Benjj did hesitate but only for a moment. He shook off the haze once more and moved to follow the group. "Yeah, I wanna get out of here and we need to sort out what all happened tonight. I'll come with."   He hustled up to stay with the others, pulling his backpack tight around his shoulders and his hoodie up over his head. The techno was still thumping faintly from the heads phones around his neck.    "You all saw HIM, too? I never gave that type of thing any real thought but I knew that it was him. Like there was no room for doubt." He paused as they walked and then spoke again, "What the f*ck is going on?"

Benji took the head and tossed it into the middle of the room towards the reaming kindred assembled there. The dull thud of it hitting the floor made him smiled as he turned on his heel and made for the stairs. He took the stairs down, two at a time trying to keep up with Elizabeth, but was quickly left behind.  When he emerged he found her already speaking with Mary and Jack, standing over Freddie's body   "I think I picked a bad event to make my social debut. This is really bad stuff. A talking head and multiple dead kindred, not to mention the prince's childe and the mass hallucinations. What the f*ck is going on? None of this makes any sense."

Benji's anger flared when the head was dropped into his hands. He wanted to crush it or smash it against the wall like an over ripe pumpkin, but Elizabeth's words cut trhough the red haze.    "How is it that she simply does not know anything? Is it some kind of trick? She has to know...    He let it go when she spoke of Freddie, "I don't know. Where is Jack and Mary? We may need to check on the lot of them, fighting or no."

Benji listened as the head spoke of mortal gibberish. He finally acted and moved toward Hannah and the head, more or less heedless of the rest of the carnage. He moved with purpose and a strange confidence. It was as though he was stronger, tougher, his blood was singing to him and he could feel its power. He strode forth, all 4' nothing of him and crouched so he could speak directly to the woman's head. He didn't really give Hannah any notice as he began speaking.    "Stop blathering about that bullsh*t. There are more important things to discuss." Benji could feel his beats writhing in his chest, howling for release. Anyone watching might have noticed the wild look in his eye, tinged with the bravado of a school yard bully. "Do you know who Susanna Landry is? Did you and your people have something to do with her going missing?" Through clenched teeth and near blinding anger he continued, stooping down to get right in her ear. "I swear I will pulp what's left of your miserable body if you don't tell me, or maybe we can find a stray mutt to play fetch with. I know I am small but I bet I can toss you a fair distance."

Yves was not pleased with the level of answers. They felt much like receiving a question in reply than a clear, definitive answer. It was much like the conversations they had had at the feast. He finally asked the question he had been avoiding.   "What no am I now to do?"   This was the first time he allowed any real emotion to enter his voice. This question was of a deeper variety that wished for a deeper answer. Yves had only given real thought to his immediate survival since his turning but now he had to think about the future. His life was surely forfeit should Hardestat come back in to the picture. He seemed wholly incapable of executing that fiend's wishes as Amisa and Claudius were simply overwhelming and e did not know if they would accept him into their fold either. He could not go home, not yet anyway. So there was a very real question of what he should do. A question that he simply did not have the answer for. 

Benji walked slowly toward Hannah though his attention was drawn to the head. He stared at it intently and with a look that suggested wonder more so than horror. He did not speak but stood still next to his clan mate and looked past the normal and into the veil beyond. He wondered how this 'person' came to be this way as he stared straight into her soul.    OOC: Aura Perception 1 success

Benji awoke to the throbbing bass in his head set as another ACID TRANCE track dropped. You would think that would be a thing that might jar someone as they regained consciousness but it was nothing compared to the fractal voices, screaming within his head, threatening to shatter his mind! Malkav's face exploded with shrieking laughter in his brain.    He stood and tried to shake away the static before he noticed that he was not the only one that suffered that fate. He looked for Jack first and then Mary. Neither were in eye sight.    "What the F*ck just happened?"

Benji's mind was not often clear and certainly not calm but when the assault came it was something so utterly overwhelming that it dwarfed every voice, thought, or affliction within. He spun inwardly as the face came to the fore. He knew who it was without knowing. It was a face that etched itself in madness within his very vitae. It was the face of their progenitor. It was the antediluivan Malkav. So profound was the revelation that Benji reached toward it without reaching but was still so far away that he might as well be reaching for the moon in its silent orbit in the sky. When he failed to grasp him his world went black, there was an instant of silence and calm before the abyss took him. It was so peaceful and serene, then nothing. Benji smiled as he collapsed to the floor. Techno still drumming away in his head phones. 

Benji had only one thought as the sabbat-spider-tzimsce cainite did its thing. SUZANNE. If this was really some sort of sabbat creature than it might know what happened to her. He remained quiet as the others hemmed and hawed over the incident and the tow brujah compared egos. He just watched the action and waited for an opportunity.   

Yves did his best not to squrim under the scrutiny. He knew better than to believe he was safe but the immediate danger might have passed for now.    "I have only the barest understanding of our condition. I have experienced the danger of fire and sunlight but I understand so little. What makes you and I different from Lord Claudius or Bajazet? How do we find the safety needed to slumber as we do and then go about taking what we need to survive from those around us? I have learned a little of what I am now capable of but what that truly means is beyond me as of yet. I am a newborn once more and trying to make sense of the world around me for a second time."   Yves was sincere in his desire for understanding. He wanted the questions answered and had three more for each he asked ready for his sire. He had deep seated anger within him for what they had done to him but he was willing to set that aside to assuage his curiosity and more importantly so he might learn how to live this new life. 

Benji made his way from the stair well a few minutes after Corbin's arrival. He took note of those that were already there and of the surprise that the prince's childer had just deposited on table. He did see a few women, some he new to be of the rose and others he had yet to meet. The ones he knew were all Suzanne's people. They had been kind enough to him then, it remained to be seen if they would keep that same tone with him now that she was away.    

Benji slowed enough for this very antiquated woman to speak with him. Ignoring her calling him child, "I think the show has already begun. We are about to miss it."    The child vampire resumed his pace, and plodded up the stairs. He did not tire as a mortal might and made quick enough time to get to the fourth floor before he missed too many of of the almost certain fireworks.      **away and up to the 4th!**

Benji stared hard at the action but made no move to withdraw or make way. He simply watched with almost dispassionate interest on hsi face. he might as well be watching it on television. Jack's commentary on it not being Suzanne was comforting though Benji hadn't thought it would have been her to be honest, he still felt like she was alive, even though it seemed that was not the case at all. whoever's head was on the bag however was having their very own unfortunate time tonight.    He nodded at Jack when he commented about the blood and the WHAM, Casamir stepped in and lost half of his face!   The blood splattering was enough to draw Benji from his reverie. His eyes focused on the crimson vitae that stained man's shirt and dripped freely from his face. It was all he could do not to move closer involuntarily. Instead he steeled himself and stood up, moving to Jack as he tasted the blood that had dripped from the head filled sack.      "Anything?" The boy kindred asked his clanmate. He was not yet able to sense the emotions attached to an object but he knew it was possible and was close to putting it together himself. He had seen Suzanne do it with ease on many an occasion. Very useful. "To cause a stir like this, break every rule of elysium, attack a kindred under the prince's protection, and use his powers in this place. Well that breaks all the rules now doesn't it?" Benji mimicked the scornful tone of a harpy when he made his last statement.   "I think there will be show upstairs. Want to take the stairs, Jack?" with that Benji moved to the stairs taking them two at a time like the child he still seemed to be, until he reached the fourth floor and the show he was sure was happening above.   

Yves made the very mortal pretense of sighing before he continued, "The only fabrication is that of my prying information from him. What he gave me was of his free will, thought at his master's urging. In truth if not for Roderigo's word Hardestat would have killed me in Lord Claudius's manse. Be it pity or some thought that I might be useful, I do not know. Though, I am grateful for it." He allowed that to settled before he continued once more. "Instead, your enemy took me prisoner and interrogated me about your dinner. He was less than pleased to find out that I was simply a meal and not full of your secrets."    "Nothing else I have said has been false. I do indeed need answers and I hope to find them here. My only other option was to die as Hardestat's prisoner. Staked somewhere to watch a final sunrise by his own words. No, I did not lie about anything else, though I omitted much in the presence of Hardestat's man."    "Your enemy sent me here to die, truth be told. He told me that I might live if I were willing to attempt to insinuate myself with you all. He gave me his man and sent us on our way. I suppose he gave me Roderigo is some vain hope that I would somehow not only comply but see success, but in truth he believes me worthless, expendable, and so should you all kill me then it is no real loss at all."    "I do not care about his agenda, nor do I understand your own. I just want my answers so I might decide how to go about rebuilding my life, whatever that might be."

Benji nearly did not register the commotion as he was so enraptured by Agnes. Once the altercation became physical though he was quick to gawk with the others in attendance. Bad behavior was never something to make public but wnatonly attacking the sheriff in the prince's new digs and Elysium was on another level.    "Jack, do you see the bag?" Benji's Imagination began to run wild. He was very interested to know who that belonged to prior to it being stuffed in a pillow case. 

"Oh, should I not be angry then? You culled me from the herd like so much cattle to be toyed with and devoured, and then when it was no longer time to play you threw me in front of damnable Hardestadt to be fodder for that meat grinder. So yes I am indeed angry but I will not allow that to cloud my vision." he let that sit for a pregnant moment and allowed his visible ire to settle. "That all being said I am left with little choice but to find you all so I might do whatever it is our...kind do. I have nothing. No real knowledge of what this is, save for the little I have pried from Roderigo." He smiled for a moment only, "I will say though that forcing my will upon him was not nearly as vile as I thought it might be and perhaps even a bit enjoyable. Having been on the other end of that same treatment so recently I was... surprised at that reevaluation." he once again directed that at Amisa with smile.    "I know that coming to find you all would put me in mortal danger but to be hunted down by Hardestat did not see to be a better choice. That being true I cannot return to my home so with nothing more to lose except this life I have been so graciously given I am here now. I am certain that you feel little or no pity in my situation nor any remorse for your participation in taking everything I know from me, but I am hopeful that I might appeal to you regardless."   Yves stopped and would have taken a deep breathe had he still the need, "Lady Amisa, you made me what I am and as such you are my sire. It might not have been a choice you would have made under differing circumstances but it is the simple truth of the matter. Assuming you do not take back what was given here in this Inn tonight, I would implore you to help me. I have so many questions have so very few answers."

Benji smiled, "Oh yes, I know it. Thrice-damned I like to call it. Kindred, Malk, and eternally ten f*cking years old. I must have done some horrific sh*t is a passed life."   Yes, of course. I was introduced. When I was sired you might say things would have gone bad for me when they brought me before the prince, but Suzanne stepped in and took me as her ward. Since then I have just stayed as quiet as possible."    He pondered the other question for a moment longer though, "I doubt many would be afraid of me, though I am fine with them underestimating me. Kid face doesn't mean neonate you know. I think I am friendly enough. Useful is where I am trying to go and what I am hoping to be. I spent too long hidden away but I intend to make up for it."   Benji's attention shifted faster than a humming bird on a caffeine high when he spotted Agnes. He did not know her but the woman was immaculate, beautiful and moreover her hair was stunning. Woman were a constant source of consternation with the boy. He was ten and pre-pubescent at the time of his embrace. He never knew a sex drive or the turmoil of hormones but in their absence he had developed a near obsession with them. Nearly all of his artwork was of that same focus. He stared longer than was polite and continued for some time after it was no longer so. He studied her and had every intention of her being the subject of his next picture.

"Thank you Bruce. I look forward to hearing it." Benji then turned his attention fully on Jack. He seemed likable enough on the surface. To be fair it seemed all pf those that shared hsi blood were decent enough as Kindred go. "She did what she could but she was... er is of the rose so. She did introduce me to Mary though. " There was a moment of sadness in that slip up. "I know I look young and I also know I have not done much in the way of socializing over the years but I have been in Baltimore for many years. Suzanne was good enough to shield me from a very final fate that would have been my end had she not intervened. More or less I found it safer to simply not participate. Out of sight, out of mind. She is not here anymore however so I thought it might be better for me to start making some... friends."   Benji smiled in a way that seemed at once childish and at the same time disturbing. An adults expression on a child's face. 

Yves did nothing to hide his surprise as the duo came to them without so much as whisper. He was genuinely shocked as he was simply not yet used to dealing with the likes of Kindred and Cainites. Still they had found exactly what they had come for. Now it was time to sell it.    "Lord Giovanni. Lady Amisa." He says in greeting as he takes a seat with his Sire and Claudius. " I suppose I should not be surprised that you found me before I could even begin to look for you. It seems you have brought my plan to conclusion already, my lord. I used this one to bring me to places that you all might be in hopes of reuniting." He says 'this one' about Roderigo, in a way that suggests contempt. "I am sure my death was all but certain when last we saw one another. Pitting your dinner guests against that host was as much a slaughter as your feast was to be. Fortunately I have more sense that most of your late guests."   Yves looks at Lady Amisa allowing himself to remember just how lovely he thought she was just a two nights prior. "I am glad to be able to see you again, My lady."

That was very interesting. Perhaps he might be able to assist in finding out exactly what happened to Suzanne. "I understand the need to have something to focus on. I will have to keep you in mind. There are always things that need looking in to."    Benji shifted the conversation once more, "Bruce, I see your guitar is in hand. Would you be willing to share your talents with us?"

Yves carried his bulk into the Inn once Roderigo had attended the horses. He surveyed the room and it's two occupants. Finally settling on a table where the two men could sit while they planned their inquest.    "Tell me what went on when last you were here with... them, Roderigo. Perhaps we might sort an plan of action."   Do you know either of these two?" He asked of Roderigo. "Or do we proceed to make some inquiries and see who notices?"    Yves was no sleuth but he thought that if either of these two had ever hosted any portion of the conspiracy or were pawns of the group themselves. It might be likely that asking after them would generate some attention. 

Benji smiled at Bruce's description of jack. He imagined the man ranting about conspiracy theories and wearing a tin foil hat. "Are you an investigator of some sort, jack?"   The idea crossed his mind that Jack could be of some help to him if he was actually an investigator. At that though the headphones that sat around Benji's neck began playing a track that was one of his favorites'. He turned it up so Bruce could hear it.