In the Blood, Midori

[Kieran Brady]

After running into a bloody werewolf at the Magical Creatures shop, Kieran had to resort to finding a wizarding household and scavenging one of their pets. It had sustained his need for magical blood for the time being, but soon, he'd require it again and he wasn't keen to scrounge for food like that again.

He drank pig's blood, or stole human blood from blood banks, but still, from time to time he craved the heartbeat lingering in the blood. It had been so very long...

A colleague of his suggested that he see a magical blood expert - a witch - based at Cambridge University. Kieran was rather unique in the vampire community that he'd been a sorcerer before changing. Most vampires were turned Muggles with no inherent magical ability beyond that which their state gave them.

It was late at night when Kieran decided to investigate at Cambridge - he always did impeccable groundwork; time was meaningless, after all. Dressed in black, he slid from shadow to shadow in the long corridor - inhuman in his stealth. He paused at seeing light pool from under a door and his eyebrows drew together at the sight of a duck nudging the door open.

It waddled towards him - Kieran scented that indescribable taint of magic on its blood. He smiled, fangs gleaming in the silvery moonlight. Perhaps he could have a snack now and come back to see the good doctor later.

He sidled forward silently with inhuman speed, and the duck quacked in alarm. "Fucking shut up," he hissed, glanced up sharply and in a flash of a second, he'd moved, pressed against the outside wall, out of sight of whoever was opening the door further.

[Midori Black]

She had been working late, later then usual on a few things that had been rushed to her. She did not mind... it kept her mind off of the things that really were bothering her. Like the pressure from her mother to get married and have children. But also the fact that she figured that she and Ric would probably be separating soon.

It wasnt that they weren't getting along anymore, or that they had an arguement. No, it was more because of the pressure from her mother that she knew that this was not going to last. Granted, she liked Ric, Alot, but she was getting to the point that she was starting to think about her future and the poissibility of children. She really wasnt ready yet, but then again, who ever was.

It wasnt that she no longer wanted to be with Ric, she actually would have liked to stay with him for the rest ofher life, but she doubted he wanted the same things. And it was up to him to change, that was if he wanted to. But even though they were friends and she knew they would stay that way, and the sex was great... she just doubted that he would want to be that man for her that she honestly ultimatley wanted.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, she leaned back from the microscope and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her hair was still blonde and she was itching to change it back to her normal colour as well as cut it. Maybe tonight she would... since she had kept the blonde for a little too long. Longer then normal... she had done so because Ric liked it. But it was her hair, and she could change it if she wanted.

Standing up, she stretched and decided to toss it in for the night. Her vision was getting blurry which meant time to quit. So she cleaned up, placing her samples safely in their proper place, and after some tiime, she took off her labcoat and hung it up. Flipping the light, she went back to her office, to get her htings, and Al who had decided that he wanted to stay with her tonight. He must have sensed somehting was wrong because lately, he would not leave her side... not even to go and bother Miles.

He quacked at her. "Yes, its time to go." She let Al lead, since for some reason he was also her guard dog... what good that would do. A lrage Malard gurad duck. Shaking her head she chuckled and headed out, Al beaking the door open she made a slight detour to get her mail when she heard him Quack in alarm.

This had her outside quickly, her wand ready as she bent down and picked Al up. Something alarmed him for he made that one sound only Al could make when something threatened him, or her. She heard someone say something... a shut up but her guard was not down at all. "Hey... "

[Kieran Brady]

Kieran could have jumped up onto the roof of the building, melded into the evening shadows and returned another time, but on the light evening breeze, mingled, the woman who'd called out, slight tension tightening her voice, smelt of magic and blood. His eyes blazed red for a moment before he tightened his control.

The witch he'd been seeking, he thought, and stepped out from behind the wall smoothly. An eyebrow rose as he took in the slender, blonde woman. She seemed young, younger than he'd have expected.

She held a wand in her hand. Silly, he thought, if he'd not been a sorcerer and vampire. There was some innane law about Muggles and secrecy this century; witches and wizards had been mercilessly persecuted in recent years.

He smiled slightly, not broadly enough to display fangs. "My apologies for startling you," he said smoothly, his voice lightly lilted with a remnant Irish accent, although it had been tempered by hundreds of years spent all over the globe.

He was pale, but not unnaturally so. His appearance didn't overtly suggest vampire, and thus far, the only person in England's wizarding world to pick him out as such was that fucking bitch of a werewolf.

[Midori Black]

With narrowing eyes, she slowly put her wand away. It was kind of difficult to stand at a defensive posture while holding a snarling, mumbling duck. Al was so agitated by something that she could not quite get exactly what. But whatever it was, it was giving her a headache to go on top of the headache she already had.

She looked at the shadow, still standing quite defensive. You never knew what could happen. And since she had the ability to blink, she wanted to be ready if something was going to happen."You did not startle me, but I don't suggest skuling around in the shadows. Especially on a college campus." She did not say why, that was the reason, she wanted anyone who thought they might want to try something to know that they might be making a mistake.

He stepped out a little further from the shadows. She noticed he was pale and she had noticed that his had a bit of an accent. It was kind of like hers. Hers riddled with british inflections since she grew up with an english father, and a mother who lived in a county where people often learned to speak a little better when they spoke English.

[Kieran Brady]

Kieran was amused by her admonishment. There were several students dotted around campus; he could hear them, sense them, moving in the buildings and walking across dimly-lit quads to their residence buildings.

"I'm afraid your charming ... duck, put me in a highly defensive position," he said, not bothering to hide the sardonic edge. "A most interesting pet," he said, eyeing the bristling duck. Obviously it sensed he wasn't entirely wizard or human.

"Actually," he said, switching to business, "I was looking for you, Doctor Black," he said. Perhaps just to scout out the area, but now that she was here, he may as well see if she was all her reputed talents were.

Now that he'd stepped closer, he felt an uncomfortable tightening of his vampiric awareness. If she could find a way to give him a synthetic supply of blood with magical properties, it would make his life so much easier. He was a man of many means - wealth, artifacts. He was sure he'd have something to trade her for it.

[Midori Black]

She sighed and wished she could calm the damn duck. He muttered and squirmed and the images running through her head were very distracting. She was catching something along the lines of predator, food, and other things. Not that she would be surprised. She had met several predators in human form that she really did not worry. But there was something a little... disconcerting.

She looked at him and shook her head. "He's not a pet." Al most definitely was not. He had just followed her and more or less moved in. She didnot mind... he was a rather entertaining companion. She still had no idea what Al really was, but she did not mind.

With a slender eyebrow raising, she mentally cursed the college for putting a picture of her in their faculty book. She liked being anonymous. "Oh? It is a little late you know." She was a little irritated, mostly from the headache, and secondly from her thoughts and what she really did not look forward too.

[Kieran Brady]

He surveyed her calmly with dispassionate, unblinking eyes. "He certainly looks like a pet," He paused, then smirked. "Or a familiar." By saying that, he was letting her know that he knew what she was; a witch, in this Muggle territory.

Kieran cast his eyes to the clear night sky. For him it was early, the night was young still and he'd only been up a couple of hours.

"Perhaps it is," he agreed with a shrug. "I can return ... later, if you wish." He spread his hands. He disliked being out during the day; it interrupted his sleep cycle.

"I wanted to talk with you about your research," he said, hoping to pique her interest. "You deal with blood, yes?" Of course she did, his senses told him. She radiated the scent of blood practically.

At least he'd eaten after rising, and the scent wasn't too overwhelming or taxing on his iron-clad control.

[Midori Black]

She gave him a look. "Do you know many people with a pet Duck?" She asked. Her head was aching and she needed to get somehting to help for that, or else she was going to be really bitchy. Al sure was not her familiar, he was just... Al.

She sighed and shook her head. "Give me a minute." She sighed and thought it over. "You are here now, might as well find out what you want." She could blink Al home, and return in a moment. But after she found out what this man wanted.

She nodded. "Yeah.. thats what I got the Doctorate in." She was getting bitchy. "Yeah... " She turned and went back to the door she came out of. "Well come on then... We can go back to my office and you can tell me why you are seeking me out at..." She glanced at her watch. "11:45pm."