alderwitch

"I can honestly say it never even occured to me to try one. Unless I'm drinking regularly, I don't think I could unless it was the blood test kind." Taylor said as she took another sip of her tea. "Short of mystical intervention, I can't see that its possible and there hasn't been any weirdness going on to restore fertility to vampires going on. At least nothing I'm aware of. I did summon a goddess and a genie last month though so it was odd even by my standards."

The aparment that Jack returned to was a good deal more festive than the one that he'd left. For a mystic who could lift a car with a glance and tuck it into her pocket with just as much ease, getting the fir tree up in the corner by the fireplace had proved an easy task. The tree was decorated with scarlet and red, which blended well into the apartments dark and glossy finish, most of the ornaments already hung on its green branches and a few packages tucked underneath. A box half filled with ornaments sat open on the table next to a cooling mug of cider and the remains of a once thick spool of ribbon. A cheery fire crackled in the rarely used hearth, one of the many advantages of their penthouse. New stockings were draped over one of the couch cushions haphazardly. As for Jack's bride, she was floating above the coffee table, lips pursed and ornament in hand as she tried to decide on the perfect placement. Apparently Taylor felt that tree decoration demanded a certain degree of perfection in the placement of ornaments. Unaware of Jack's scrutiny, Taylor plucked a red ornament from the tree and replaced it with the gold one in her hand. She floated to the ground, bending to place that one on a lower branch before she stepped back to examine her handiwork. With her hands on her hips, Taylor tilted her head to the side. She was dresse for the evening but as usual, her feet were bare with her shoes kicked off in one corner. Jack had learned by now that there was almost always one pair of shoes abandoned under the coffee table.

"Legally? None. There are no laws currently governing the use of powers like I and Mark have, and everything else is aboveboard. My folks have agreed to legally emancipate me if I need it. Now, were it to get brought up in public media, I suppose I could end up facing an uncomfortable level of scrutiny, but there is nothing *wrong* that we're doing." Alex assured her as she swivvled to face Erin, "Ethically, I think we're okay as long as we use the money we don't need to give back. I think superheroing is about more than facing villians. This will he'll with that part."

Taylor inhaled her tea at the question and choked and sputtered for a few moments before she cleared her airway enough to answer the question. "Three to five years ago," Taylor answered finally. She coughed again before taking a tenative sip to soothe her throat before she continued, "And Jack's the only person I've ever been with and he's been a vampire for years. An Ubangi hex is a far more likely possibility, or a grue super flu. I hesitate to say anything is impossible but that is certainly up there."

"No. I heal preternaturally fast, so I'd be vastly concerned if that was acting up. That would have to be some potent curse," Taylor shook her head grimly and fiddled with the napkins in the cheery basket in the center of Stesha's kitchen table. She sighed and sat back in her chair and switched her fiddling to the band on her finger, twisting it back and forth guiltily. "I should probably mention it to Jack but I didn't want to worry him when I have no answers. Its not like he'll know more than I do already."

"Of course. Who else is going to help him come up with things like the 'stygian black well of my tormented soul' without teasing him mercilessly," Alex giggled, her hazel eyes sparkling with fond amusement. "I intend to save all his books of poetry so that when he gripes about where his kids 'get this kind of stuff. Seriously, how hard is it to be a white middle class teenager', I can just point."

"Not with sausage but the smell of my mom's pork pull at the last family dinner made me sick as a dog. But that really never smells good. She's not a great cook, honestly," Taylor confessed, accepting the glass of water with a grateful smile of thanks. "Not that any of us would ever breathe a word. I told her I had the flu." Taylor wrinkled her nose up after swallowing.

Taylor shrugged her shoulders, her expression pensive, "I'd love you to be there for the wedding but if you can't I understand it. I'm not going to hold your dislike ofJack against you or anything. Even Jack can admit its warrented. And he's the only vampire I spend time with. Its not like we're inviting any of his people to the wedding.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Taylor knew that talking was a mistake the moment she opened her mouth. She didn't need to breathe after all but she took in air when she spoke automatically, which included the merrily sizzling smell of sausage. Turning from sickly white to downright green, Taylor clapped a hand over her mouth and vanished, automatically taking the fastest route to Stesha's restroom. If the sausage hadn't done the trick, a second telportation certainly did. After several minutes and the sound of water running, Taylor emerged apologetically from the restroom. This time she took the slow route of opening the door.

Alex laughed and shook her head hard enough to set her curls bouncing, "Mike doesn't take notes in the journals he carries everywhere. Instead he doodles in the corners and writes dark and grim poetry. Although its gotten a bit lighter lately." She ducked her head at that, a blush turning her pale chinks a bright pink. Her smile softened before she shook herself a bit to answer Erin's question, "It'll probably take a bit longer than that but it won't be without reward. As its a real corporation, if tiny, I have to follow wage laws for the work you do. At the moment I have you set up as minimum wage but with some stock in the company." Alex looked up at her with wide hazel eyes that seemed a little mischevious. Considering that the stocks in the end would be worth more than any wage she could pay, it was a good hearted sort of sneaky.

"No big catches," Taylor agreed, her nose wrinkling up as the smell of cooking meat began to fill the air. Her stomach lurched dangerously and she took a step back from the microwave. Drawing only enough air to talk, and that through her mouth, Taylor added, "Its a weird curse, or hex. Whatever it is. Seriously, who curses someone with exhaustion and nausea. If I could still get the flu, I'd blame that." Turning paler, Taylor was glad when the timer went off and the sizzle stopped. Hopefully the slow roll her stomach was doing would follow suit.

Alex shrugged with remarkable unconcern, "Its just one more of my projects to Mike, I'm sure. He listens good naturedly when I babble about them and doesn't give it more of a thought than that. I don't really mind telling him but it hasn't come up. Kinda like me asking him about his poetry I guess."

"Since Christmas but only in the mornings. It might just be from being tired, I suppose. By mid afternoon I can land on a pin. As an added bonus, it doesn't make me sick to my stomach anymore either." Taylor said dryly as she dutifully filled the pot with water and set it on the stove. "It might be a curse, maybe, but my research hasn't turned anything up." That finished, she plcked some grapes from a bowl and began washing them in the sink, stealing one or two in between conversation, "Jack moves silently enough but not so much the conversations on the phone."

"No, Freedom City is a dangerous city for vampires with all the super heroes around. There was a purge a ways back and they've kept a deliberately low profile snce then," Taylor confirmed with a shake of her head. "You're not too likely to run accross one and honestly, you wouldn't find them a threat. Most vampires are no where near as powerful as Jack. There's only a handful of dangerous elders. The rest are about as scary as your average mugger, or less."

"I haven't mentioned it to Zoe or Mike. It is my giant brain to do what I'd like with it. In Mike's case he'd try to help and there really isn't anything for him to help with." Alex shrugged her slender shoulders, her fingertips clicking away without pause at the keys as she chatted. "Honestly, I intended to make my fortune in college but I'm planning on jumping straight to post grad work now so might as well get on with it. Neither Mike nor I are planning on careers that pay super well so this will allow us to pursue those plans without financial concern."

"That sounds great. I'm starving. Can I help with anything?" Taylor asked curiously as she pushed away from the couch to follow her into the kitchen. She gestured and returned the ornements to the branches with a wave of magic. That spell at least wasn't acting up. "I'm a little underslept I think. I keep napping on the couch and its not enough rest I think. Jack doesn't sleep at all, so unless I head into the bedroom, I stir as he moves around the apartment."

"Orgy? Cake? Ew." Taylor's expression screwed up in distaste as she made a mental note to pester Jack about any other vampire customs he'd forgotten to mention in his 'oh, just some politics' summaries of his vampire day, "Honestly, Jack is the most humane vampire I've ever met. Most of them really are monsters in human guises. Jack thinks his people can find redemption, I don't think its actually the case for most of them."

"Zoe's still testy over the last time I 'meddled'. I have a feeling she wasa daddy's girl. Mike doesn't set off her temper half so often," Alex said wearily as she ran her delicate fingertips over her neat writing. "At this point she'd probably insist that she's going to join Eddie's band and be famous and rich and in love forever and ever. I'll cross that bridge when I get there, I guess."

Date: January 3rd, 2010 After arranging a breakfast date with Stesha, Taylor teleported directly to the plant controller's apartment. Rather than her usual easy landing. Taylor lurched into existance and stumbled sideways once her feet hit the ground. Muttering a stream of gritted cantonese cuss words, she righted herself and closed her eyes until the world stopped spinning with her fingertips massaging her temples. "Would you mind if we go some place within walking distance? There's something off with my teleport spell lately." Taylor asked once she cautiously cracked an eyelid open and was sure she wasn't going to be vilely ill on her friend's carpet.

"[Color#008080]You don't need to sleep like the rest of us, which means you can keep up on market fluctuation better than anyone. The buy and sell margins are pretty small to maximize profits." Alex beamed at her and gestured to the pages of her notebook. "I've tried to minimize the amount of times I'll need to use my powers as it doesn't really seem sporting. I haven't mentioned it to Mark yet but I don't think he'll be difficult to convince to help."

"I can't buy stock in my own name but the corporation I got James to help me set up can. Playing the market takes a series of educated risks and a bit of luck. The trick is to buy shares low when you know they're going to rise and then dump them when they peak. Between knowing the details of the companies we're investing in, and a bit of help from Mark, its a sure way to gain the liquid capitol we need to start making some real money. See, I have a chart," Alex turned and pulled over a sparkly rainbow notebook filled with neat columns of information on the stocks Alex had researched. It appeared that instead of taking calculous notes, ALex had plotted out the optimum range to buy and sell stock for hundreds of companies. Someone had been using their esp powers for personal gain it appeared. Alex beamed at Erin, "We just have to include some calculated losses as we'll.

"I don't think so, and he hasn't bitten Moira. He's not even sure what her immortal blood would do to him," Taylor muttered, her face scrunching up again. The relief she felt at not having her blood compared to Moira's as well wasn't something she wanted to examine even a little bit. "Most vampires can't wander around in sunlight but Jack can, he's just weaker then."

Taylor wrinkled her nose up, her face squinching in distaste. She still wasn't sure if Scarab's trip through Jack's memory lane was a good or a bad thing. It did give her the answer to Stesha's question. Jack might be peeved about the frank discussion after the fact but in Taylor's book he owed her friend a little bit of honesty. "Well, it was a bit of a mixed bag really as far as his emotions went and I'm sure he'd like to offer you an appology for his behavior but what startled him is, well, you don't taste like a normal person. Your plant based abilities I guess change the flavor. Once he jerked back he was a little bit horrified about the fact that he couldn't just go on a date with a nice girl without, ah, that."

"There are different breeds of vampire and there's a wide variety of abilities betwen them so the answer varies depending on the vampire. As far as Jack, yes, he can both mess with people's minds and their emotions when he's, ah, feeding. That's a pretty common gift for vampires as it helps them survive in secret. Any emotions he creates fade over time but the editing of your memories is more or less permanent barring intervention. Jack could give you back all of your memories of that night, as could Scarab. But, he doesn't gain any power over your from having fed from you. He can't control your mind, or tell where you are, or thrall your emotions now any more than he could before he fed from you." Taylor reached up to fiddle with the necklace around her throat, her fingertips brushing over the pulse at the hollow of her neck unconciously as she did so. Her cheeks were turning pinker and pinker as she forged onward with what was obviously an uncomfortable topic for her, "Even when he's not messing with people's heads, its not painful most of the time. It's a usually concious effort on a vampire's part to hurt someone with their bite. Its only because Jack jerked back that there was even a mark afterwards."

Taylor shrugged at Stesha helplessly, "I don't know. I don't really analyze it anymore. For whatever reason, I both love and trust Jack and it makes me happy in a way I never expected to find. Everyone finds it hard to believe, I know, but he really does return the feeling." Waving her hands as if to brush the topic away, "I really didn't mean to get into all of that. I just wanted to appolgize for any hand I had in the farce the other day and see if I could make it up to you. Is there anything else I can answer?" Taylor hesitated then added gently, "You can ask me about any of the vampire stuff if you have questions bothering you.