Vampire the Masquerade: Genesis

6. Preparation & Socialization

Alexander wasn't at all surprised- rather he had expected it to occur at some point or another- when Elijah stormed into his office, nearly ripping the doors off their hinges.

"What the literal hell is up with that girl?" The blond demanded with a growl, pointing out the opened doors as if she were standing there.

"More accurately, what the hell is she." Alexander corrected with a sigh, standing from behind his desk.

"I take it you noticed the... unusual aura that she put off. From physical touch specifically- not just close proximity."

"It felt like the Beast was almost... scared? I have no clue! All I know was it wasn't normal- even for our kind." Elijah seemed to shudder involuntarily. Alexander nodded.

"I merely shook her hand and my Beast flinched at the contact." 

The younger brother's eyes widened.

"Like it was in pain or something?" Elijah inquired with a furrowed brow. The elder brother shook his head, still not entirely certain what had happened. "More like it was surprised."

"Anyway," Alexander changed the subject. "I figured you might have some decent insight, considering you went ahead and stalked her- without my instruction to do so." He fought the urge to throttle his brother for his inability to follow protocol.

"But," He digressed. "it would seem we're both back to square one."

"Do we know what clan she is- Is she even Kindred?" Elijah questioned, visibly stressed by the idea alone. The prince shrugged- something he didn't do very often- which concerned the younger Ventrue.

"She has a pulse- an actual pulse- not a simulated one like we do." Alexander answered.

"So she's alive? Well, that crosses out Kindred, Gargoyle, Demon, Wraith, or Promethean..." Elijah mused. "What about Lupine?" He suggested.

Alexander just shook his head.

"Were she Garou," the brother corrected using the politically correct term- the one preferred by those accursed werewolves. "she would've sensed what we are on sight alone." He argued simply. Elijah only nodded.

"A witch then?" He then offered.

"Tch. She seemed too clueless to be one of those wretched curse-slingers." Alex countered in disgust.

"A fledgling witch?" Eli amended his earlier thought.

"With that kind of presence?" The older scoffed incredulously at the idea.

"Right, gotcha..." The blond muttered with a roll of his eyes; Alex wasn't always the most open to suggestion.

"Fae or druid?" He tried again. By this time, Alexander was fairly annoyed with the incessant, and seemingly endless questions that his younger brother was spewing, so he spoke according to such feelings.

"Again, anything even remotely supernatural would've sensed what we are- she just seemed uncomfortable being around us." The tone of his voice was sharp, almost threatening, but Elijah knew well that he was only putting on an act in hopes he would stop asking. To his credit, the method did in fact work and allowed the prince to change topics slightly less awkwardly than it would've been otherwise. 

"So what's she like?" The Ventrue questioned, curious both because of the potential threat and curious as to what Elijah thought of her; the teen rarely took an interest in the living.

"How should I know- we only talked for maybe five minutes!" The blond snapped impatiently.

"Still longer than I did." The Elder countered dismissively, silently amused by how flustered Eli was becoming. "What did you two talk about?" Alexander inquired.