you're hearing rumors and you can't stomach the thought of someone touching my body

[dazzlingyou]

WHO: The Shade and Edward Cullen
WHERE: a coffeeshop somewhere in the city
WHEN: Afternoon time on Thursday
WARNINGS: Bad ass old men.
SUMMARY: A conversation over coffee that will not turn into anything more. Sorry, Shade, he's not that kind of girl.
FORMAT: WHATEVER. Quick to start out.

[ Edward doesn't order anything, instead taking a table away from the entrance. He wasn't expecting a lot of privacy but he'd go for as much as he could get. This man - Shade - was intriguing to him. He hadn't managed to tail him in any way in the city despite his efforts, which only served to intrigue him further. He was glad that he could find such interesting people in this city, whereas back home finding interesting people took a century, as was the case with Bella.

He watches the door, his face free of any emotion. Except possibly boredom from the thoughts of hipsters and teenagers also in the coffeeshop. ]

Comments

[foreshadower]

Waiting? Oh no. I find it where I can. You must understand that my world has hardly been left wanting for something of interest. Very similar to this world in recent years. During a period in the the 20th century... [ He trailed off with a light shrug, the early part, well, he amused himself in his own ways. Fighting in WWII, why not? Searching out thinkers and demagogues where he could. Doing what he must for a price, another amusement. He wasn't quite so proud of that now, but he was hardly ashamed. ]

[dazzlingyou]

Yes? [ A prompt for him to continue. The brief thoughts that filtered out to him were intriguing, to say the least. ]

[foreshadower]

The early 20th century had its own problems, to put it bluntly. I traveled the world in that time, mostly. A joust or two with a certain figure who is no longer among the living.

[dazzlingyou]

Ah. All centuries have their problems. [ Carlisle said so often. ]

I never ventured abroad in that time, instead taking to the crowded city streets of America for a few years as I tried to rebel against my new family.

[foreshadower]

As the young are wont to do. [ He smiled grimly. His own wanderlust never quite ebbed, but when he could step to the shadows to appear in another city or country, it was easy to wander and still return to his Opal.

At least at home, and there was a thought for Edward to enjoy. The thought of a city with soft edges and he thought of it with pride and a longing that was hard to construe as anything but love. ]

And how does one like you rebel against your family?

[dazzlingyou]

[ It's a fond contact-memory, if anything. Those thoughts - the nice ones - were his favorite. ]

We consider ourselves vegetarians. We do not feed on the blood of humans, instead turning to animals for sustenance. For a few years I ... neglected to follow the diet, so to speak. [ But he mostly attacked criminals so it was ok. ]

[foreshadower]

You rebel. [ He said it with a sardonic note of laughter in his voice. He thought of the hundreds he killed, but he could hardly remember their fadces, or much of anything about them, other than the fact that he'd taken them down with nary a thought. ]

How noble of your family.

[dazzlingyou]

[ Funny. Edward remembers each of their dying thoughts. ]

We try not to make the news like others do.

[foreshadower]

[ He had his significant kills, of course, the ones he remembered, but he didn't think of those. They were oft prompted by other memories. ]

Odd, I found it quite easy to do both, as long as I worked outside of my home town. Most didn't know I even existed, you see. Not until the advent of the super hero. [ The first Flash. ]

[dazzlingyou]

A real one, you mean, not one found in fiction.

[foreshadower]

Yes, yes. [ He waves a hand dismissively. ] I do mean a real one. I should hardly think staging robberies to get caught by a no-name fake would be worth even my overabubdance of time.

[dazzlingyou]

How many real superheroes have you met, as opposed to just vigilantes?

[foreshadower]

[ The Shade simply laughed. ] Far too many, my boy. I was around when they began to make their faces known in my world, after all. [ There wasn't a mental list, but for a moment, he did think on his experience with superheroes. Flash the first and second, Ted and Jack Knight, even Mikaal Tomas. Others, of course. He was known by others, although... ]

I hardly make it a habit of inviting them over for tea, you understand. They and I have certain moral differences. The same with vigilantes, but I know fewer of them. They're always so grim. [ He says it before he takes a surreptitious sip of his own drink. ]

[dazzlingyou]

[ Edward inclined his head, face blank as he processed that. He had assumed, of course, that vigilantes and superheroes were always grim. Then again he had never spent much time thinking about them. ]

And what moral differences would that be? Certainly nothing too horrifically drastic.

[foreshadower]

That depends on who you ask. [ Shade masked his somewhat self-satisfied chuckle with another indulgence of his coffee, before he set it down, steepling his hands. ]

I have lived a long life, and there have been certain actions that would perhaps be considered morally reprehensible. All very grim, and dark, and hardly conversation for polite company. [ Murders, assassinations, thefts, but those seemed petty when stacked against his other travesties. ]

[dazzlingyou]

I appreciate you holding yourself back. [ It was always funny how he was considered 'polite company', even back in Forks, despite his monstrous new biology. This man - the Shade - had earned himself a top spot in those in this city he wanted to keep an eye on.

He wasn't worried about the safety of the city, more curious about this man. What he's done, who he knows. ]

Of course, everybody does some things that could be considered morally reprehensible. It's just bad luck that those who live longer have a higher number than what is considered normal.

[foreshadower]

A long life means that you must experience more. It's to be expected that people who live longer would commit more questionable acts.

[ He smiles, but just sips his coffee. ]

And you? Have you committed some?

[dazzlingyou]

More than my fair share, I would say. [ Nobody was morally perfect, except perhaps for Carlisle. While he'd like to say every man he's killed was a criminal, it wouldn't be true. There were a few that were innocent, merely wandering home when he, starved for blood, pounced. He tried to bury those memories. ]

But when one is not in the right state of mind, that is to be expected.

[foreshadower]

Ah, yes. In the wrong state of mind. [ He pauses, before he laughs. ]

I suppose for some, it would require that.

[dazzlingyou]

Hunger for my kind is much different than your own.

Other than that, however, I try not to go out of my way to commit morally reprehensible acts.

[foreshadower]

Of course, of course. I suppose not being human puts a new spin on things, at least it did for me.

[dazzlingyou]

[ Oh, so he was one of those. ]

So you prefer to abuse your power simply because you are not human?

[foreshadower]

Abuse? [ He lifts an eyebrow. ] I would hardly call it abuse. I simply did what I was hired for, or for my own amusement. I wouldn't say that some parts were enjoyable, but they were necessary. [ The killing, obviously. ]

Sometimes, it takes a direct approach.

[dazzlingyou]

A direct approach to prove what?

[foreshadower]

There's nothing to prove! [ He just lifts a shoulder. ]

It just takes a direct approach to get what you need. For some time, what I needed was something to do. People hired me to perform a service, and I did so. I occasionally do still, if needed.