Clearing the Air (Dismas/Jai/Jory)

It was early in the evening when Jai finally asked him. He'd known his Sunrise had something on his mind, but as was habit, Dismas had waited patiently. He wasn't surprised by the question, not really. Humans did have an odd sense of owing one another.

It was a bit later when he stood in the living room before the fire, a steaming travel mug with a lid in his hand. He'd asked Jai to bring Jory. As it seemed they'd be residing as a trio for some time, there were things which needed said and air which needed cleared.

Jory released Astra once in the door, and after shaking out her coat she trotted off to his bedroom, where she could easily nose open the door to get to her things. He hadn't spent a lot of time with Dismas, the vampire, and a vague memory from his last lesson with Magadia somehow made him feel a little apprehensive, even if he couldn't remember exactly what it was. "Hi," he said, giving a little wave and glancing toward Jai.

Jai threw a quick glance at Sunset before looking at Jory. Well, in Jory's general direction. He couldn't quite meet his eyes. "So hey... remember what you asked me about before?" he asked, hands shoved deep into his pockets. "Um, I asked S...Dismas and... like..." He gave a jerk of a nod toward the vampire. "He wants to talk to you. Well, us. I'll be there and everything."

"Oh," Jory breathed. Well, at least he didn't have to do it alone, and it would have to happen at some point, right? He took a deep breath, nodded, and then stepped forward. "Can't stay here for free forever, you know?" he asked when he was closer to Dismas. He tried to put some of the confidence from his last lesson into his words and posture.

The vampire's lips curved into an approximation of a smile. "Sit, please," he said, rather than answer Jory. "Jai, you as well. And do relax a bit. I believe there have been some misunderstandings, some due to my tendency toward solitary activities and others... well, let's call them cultural differences." Whatever the majority thought, Dismas had a conscious mind and disliked the labels of beast or part-human so often attributed to his kind.

Although Jory wanted to judge as little as possible, it was difficult to think of I require drinking the blood of others to continue living as a mere cultural difference. Still, he sat on the couch, folding his legs half-underneath him to sink comfortably into the cushions. "I guess we should've done this sooner, I just...didn't know how long I'd be staying." He reached for a loose pillow and pulled it to him.

Jai sat pressed against Jory's side and, after a moment, he slung one arm around Jory's shoulders. He crossed his ankle over the opposite knee, nervous, but mostly curious. If Dismas didn't make him out to be a fangbanger he'd be fine. He gave Jory's shoulder a light squeeze. It would all be fine.

"You seem to be laboring under some misconceptions," Dismas said. He set his mug on the mantelpiece, then turned to face the couch and the two young humans settled there. "I don't require your money. I have enough of my own to live as I please. What I do require, I have access to." Meaning that he didn't need Jory's blood. He preferred fresh blood of course, but he was well-enough established at his age. He had control around humans and enough sources that he wasn't starved as so many were.

Dismas sat on one of the two chairs in front of the fire, angled toward the couch and the wall of glass which looked over the pool and the back yard. "Jai owes me nothing. You know this, don't you?"

Jai looked down at the hand that lay on his thigh. "Yeah," he said. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he wasn't going to argue, either. He loved his life. He was pretty much free to do whatever he wanted. Dismas insisted he keep healthy, but he wasn't about to argue. He felt the best he had in probably his entire life.

Dismas looked to both of them now. "I am one hundred and fourteen years old. I lived a mortal youth. I have seen generations change and the world changes quickly. I asked you to live with me, Jai, for many reasons. Your potential attracted me. Your talent attracted me, and perhaps part of me lives vicariously through you. Jai has a lack of fear that I find impressive. This is what Jai gives me." Dismas looked to Jory now. "I receive companionship, I receive insights to a world it's difficult to keep up with. Your joys bring me joy," he told Jai.

"Jory, I don't feel as though you owe me anything. You are, in part, perhaps an extension of Jai's happiness to me. You are young. I feel great potential in you. If you choose to talk to me now and then, maybe to confide in me in time, if you treat Jai well, then I have everything I need and need nothing more."

So he was to be given a free home because he had a gift. Was he to be some kind of fashion accessory? Was this one of the things he had been warned against years before? The charity of someone based on his talent, something like that could easily boost his ego, something Jory knew could be a bad idea. "So I get to stay just by pure stroke of luck, so to speak," he said. Some hellish form of luck, but luck nonetheless.

Dismas could feel the displeasure in the words, the distaste. "I have offended your pride," he said. "Can you not conceive of generosity for generosity's sake? Inclusion based on mutual friendship?" Though friend wasn't quite the word for Jai's relationships with either of them, it was the closest approximation that fit them both.

"What would you have me do, Jory? Take money which you could save and use for yourself? Let it sit unused? Donate to a charity of your choice and do good for your own soul."

"Sorry," Jory said, lowering his gaze. "I didn't mean to be ungrateful or something, I just...I'm not used to people not expecting something in return." He focused on a glittering, subtly-rainbow ring on one finger he'd gotten years before from the owner of a candy shop. People gave for money or favors, or sex, or love. People didn't just give for no reason, right? "If I give something now, then you can't cash in on a favor later."

"You're drawing perilously close to offense," Dismas said, eyes flashing. "I do not cash in on favors, and I do not practice subterfuge. If living here makes you feel cheap, by all means, seek a home of your own, but I will not take your money simply to appease your guilt." Dismas stood and caught up his mug. "Think a bit longer before you throw away this... stroke of luck."

When Jory didn't say a word, Jai leaned forward to watch Sunset leave. The vampire's footsteps were silent as he went down the hall, but Jai knew where he was going. He turned to Jory. "He said he didn't want anything, why did you keep going?" Jai had told Jory the same thing, but had agreed to ask anyway. He looked at Jory, then back toward the hallway, wondering if he ought to go after Sunset.