In God's name - Godric

Ava knew the situation was uncommon. But she liked it in a way. She was never much for the traditional friendships and such. It just seemed boring to her. But maybe it was just because she was actually a little lonely. She just mostly knew friendships from movies and such, and the ones where you only talk about boys and clothes and the next party was so boring. She wanted something exciting, something that wasn't always easy, something with constrast instead of just one color. And maybe that was exactly what she saw possible with him. Something different. She smiled at him when he confirmed he was happy about her being alive. "Me too," she said and let a short chuckle brush past her lips.

She nodded when he had another question. He didn't seem to want to bring it up, or he at least acted like it was a sore subject to him. "Did I?" She couldn't remember saying his name, but she remembered the memory. "I saw something just before... You know." She looked down and moved the fabric of her shirt through her fingers. "You and some angels. They took your wings" She whispered the last word, as she was afraid it might be a trigger for him.

Godric didn't know what to expect from his question. He simply nodded when she asked if she actually did, and tried to hide his discomfort at the thought of someone not-angel knowing his real name. But maybe she couldn't remember it? Maybe he was lucky enough that it was a secret still. He didn't want anyone to know his true nature, how he'd been God's creation, and how he now was cast aside like as if a dog had decided that its toy just wasn't good enough anymore.

When she spoke of seeing something before her death, he looked directly at her, questioningly, but he kept quiet allowing her to finish her explanation. An explanation he'd never seen coming, one that gave him even greater discomfort. She had seen his banishment? He kept looking at her, the shame of his past brought up for him to remember in great detail. He'd almost gone insane from it but now he was here. Still not quite right in his mind, but going towards the right place. Even though Celeste had just sidetracked him. Celeste. That angel he hoped to never meet again.

He sighed, looked upwards. The roof of the car blocked his view towards the sky and maybe it was for the better. Oh, how he hated the Heavens. "Yeah," he confirmed, still gazing upwards, looking calm but also with a hint of his shame shining through his eyes.
"Yeah, they did.. That's what happens when you're not perfect.. God gets pissed and decides to be a douche bag," he didn't mean to keep it going, explaining more than she probably needed to know. He knew she wouldn't go to Heaven if she died. Well, probably not. Some were extremely lucky to gain God's favor, but not him.
"My name is Godric now, not.. The other name," Godric glanced towards Ava, looking closed off but also more vulnerable than he would ever in his life care to admit.

Ava had never thought much about heaven or hell. She didn't know if she was good enough for heaven, but was she really bad enough for hell? And what now? Would vampires even go to either if they died? She felt her thoughts running with the subject going to just everywhere to try and figure out what would happen when she would die. Because she probably would. She was too naive and trusting to survive in this world. She knew that. It was only by dumb luck she had survived the first attempt on her life. She didn't think she would survive another.

Ava didn't know everything from that memory, but she still thought the judgment had been unfair. He had just been pushed aside with no second chance. That was hardly fair. Maybe that was partly the reason she was giving him one now, why she didn't treat him like just her murderer, because he was probably much more. And she wanted to see what else he had to offer. So far he had shown kindness, worry, grattitude. That was all good things, weren't they?

She looked up at him when he confirmed that she had said his name. It was strange she didn't remember. She continued looking at him as he explained. "I thought he was supposed to be just. What I saw, that wasn't just." She sent him a smile when he introduced himself. "I won't tell anyone the other name." She reached for his hand to give him a handshake. "Nice to officially meet you," she said and held his hand a bit. "I want you to know that I don't blame you for what happened." She let go of his hand, realizing she was probably very cold.

Justice was what you made of it mostly. For Godric, justice was a flighty thing. It was mostly made up by mankind, as a set of rules and guidelines, but for some it just wasn't justice and for others it was. It was very subjective when all was said and done. "You might have seen it as unjust. The other angels didn't," every single one of them. They'd all looked at him like he was some sort of monster for being tricked into comitting homicide. He sighed again just at the thought. He'd never felt so alone when he was cast out. And somehow, he kind of felt the same way today. He would probably always be a loner. The wolf without its pack.

He nodded in understanding when Ava said she wouldn't mention his real name to anyone. The handshake was awkward at best, but also quite professional, a thing Godric understood and liked because he was better at keeping things on that level. Godric kept her hand in his until she herself withdrew, barely even noticing how cold she was. Maybe because he was pretty cold himself. In truth his hands were very warm, perhaps too hot at this very moment.
"I'm uh, grateful that you don't. Not many would say that after what I've done to them," Godric admitted, though he would also have said that he was almost the same as a messenger, paid to deliver the message, not to have his own agenda. But he was pretty sure Ava understood that.

"I think I can drive now," he started the engine of the car and put both hands on the steering wheel before he was overcome with a sense of self-doubt that he had never experienced before. "But I think I might need your help to stay awake.. It's okay if you don't want to, and of you do, I'll get you a cab from my place.. All paid for, of course."

Ava was still young. She didn't she every grey zones. To her, injustice was injustice. At least that was how she thought about until she heard his words. "No I suppose that makes sense." She looked outside a moment. "But I don't like God," she then said and half-expected her to be struck by lightening. "Do you think he heard that?" She whispered and looked around a bit.

He felt really warm. It was nice to feel that warmth again. That was what she missed the most. She didn't felt cold like when you were sick or playing around in the snow. She was just reminded how cold she was when she touched something warmer, like his hand. She eventually removed her hand and felt thankful she wasn't able to blush at the moment. And that just also reminded her she needed some more blood. "I just saw part of how you were treated after what happened. I just thought you should have a second chance."

She nodded when he said he could drive now. "Oh... Okay. Yes, I would like to help. Can we maybe just swing by the school first. I need to get something." She was already beginning to hear his heartbeat, his pulse, the blood in his veins, the smell of it. Veins began appearing underneath her eyes that were turning red. She closed her eyes and focused on anything else but his blood, and returned to her natural more human like state. She had not controlled that very well at the start. She had been close to killing somebody, but she was luckily stopped before she could. She looked out the window, contempt on not letting his blood tempt her.

Godric looked at Ava as she said she didn't like God. He could only agree but at the same time he could see that she was getting a bit paranoid at what she'd just said. "No, he probably didn't. He's too busy looking down at every one to single one person out. Well, except for me I guess," he shrugged. He felt like his heart warmed up by the fact that Ava thought he deserved a second chance, because that's how he'd felt back then. That he'd been tricked and that he should have gotten exactly that. But that didn't happen. "God doesn't really do second chances. Only in really rare cases.. But I appreciate the sentiment," he smiled a tired smile.

It seemed Ava was on board for helping out. Her talking would help him stay awake for the car ride and he really needed that. It was that or call a cab and since his suit was bloodied, that wasn't an option really. He started driving as he noticed out of the corner of his eye how black veins appeared under Ava's eyes. She must be hungry. He pressed a bit harder on the speeder so the car went ahead faster. "Of course," he promised.

The ride to the school was pretty much uneventful. It went by with almost no chatter from Godric's side of the car. But they were now at Athena Academy and Godric had let Ava go inside, he himself waiting in the car because.. Dirty suit. Whatever she was getting in there, it took some time and Godric actually managed to fall asleep while she was away, until she opened the door again and he awoke, startled by the sound. "Did you get what you needed?" he asked in an alert, but also tired voice, while he started the car-engine once again.

Ava looked over at him when he spoke. "Well doesn't that make you special in a way? I mean... He gives you attention, and even if it's not the best kind, it's still attention." She was lacking parental attention like that herself. She had never felt like she was her mother's first priority and her father bailed before she learned to talk. "You're welcome," she said. She didn't know what else she could say.

She went into the school and walked straight to the kitchen where there was a fridge for the students who needed blood to survive. She opened it and sighed defeated when it was empty. Who had taken all the blood? She had to do something. She went into her room and grabbed her bag, looking through it for anything that could help her hunger. She spotted a squirrel outside and for a moment, she considered going after it, but that just seemed worse for her than starving. She just took her handbag with her and went out to the car again.

She sat in and looked at him with a smile. "Yes," she lied. She would be okay. It was just about control. She could do it. "So why don't you want to sleep? Wouldn't that be good for you right now?" She would sleep if she was him, but then again, she didn't really need it as much anymore. She still slept, because it felt weird to stay out all night. She just didn't sleep as much as she once did. She had been walking around the streets late at night. It was strange seeing the world like that, all closed off and abandoned.

Godric didn't answer her question. He just shook his head because even with the attention of the mightiest being in the world, it wasn't the kind of attention he would ever want.
As Ava sat in, Godric felt like there was something she wasn't telling him. But it seemed that she had her handbag with her and that would probably be the thing she needed. So he didn't push it any further, instead driving towards his own home in a safe speed.

"Of course I want to sleep. Just not out here in a car. All kinds of things could happen," he smiled at Ava as he turned down left at some point. The music still sounded in the background on the radio, a fine tune, not too pumped up and not too lazy either.
"It's much safer to get back home," Godric was a paranoid man. Some would say to the extreme, but Godric had a job that could make him a target for people who wanted revenge. And his home was probably the safest place he knew. That, and he had guns back home. There was no guns here, the angels had made sure of that.

There was almost no traffic on the road so they got to Godric's house pretty fast. But getting out of the car once they'd stopped was another story: Godric still wasn't very sure on his feet and he stumbled a bit as he got out, but he leaned against the car he slowly recovered his balance before walking to the front door. "Come on in. You can wait inside while I get you a cab," he unlocked the front door letting Ava in before closing the door behind him, also locking it, because, hey, paranoia was one hell of a drug. "Do you want anything while waiting? Oh.. Right, sorry," he'd completely forgotten that vampires don't need anything but blood. And only three things in this house contained that. Himself, Ava, and his cat. And the cat wasn't down here.

Ava could see his argument, but she didn't know why it helped that she was there? She just went along with it. He probably had his reasons. "Yes, of course," she said agreeing with his statement about home being safer. She felt like that too, which was why it had been so scary leaving home to go to school here.

She looked at the house through the front window, before leaving the car. She looked at him when he went to the front door. She followed him inside. It was happening again, the vampire features appearing. She made the mistake of breathing in through her nose, picking up on his scent. It smelled so good. She stood with her back to him, doing everything she could to not loose control, but it was already to late. "No..." She whispered. She should just go. She walked towards the door, but then picked up his scent again. In an instant, she was over him, biting into his neck.

She could do nothing else but feeling the blood filling up her system, tasting it. It tasted as good as it tasted. She was holding on to him, not seeming to letting go anytime soon. She couldn't, she was just so hungry.

There was no reason to feel alert, that's how Godric truly felt as the door closed behind him and he was about to start taking the jacket and shoes off. He could hear Ava whispering to herself but he didn't think that much on it, instead starting to walk towards the kitchen. He could use a drink. But he only got as far as the door connecting the entrance to a hallway when sharp teeth bit through the soft skin on his neck, making him stiffen in surprise, but oddly enough he didn't fight her as she started drawing blood from him, instead allowing her to do it. He didn't want to hurt her. She was physically stronger than him and her grasp on him was tight enough that he could not break free without using his powers. And he'd done that before, scared her. He didn't want to do that again. He didn't want to see Ava so frightened that she couldn't move. And he didn't want to inflict pain on her. So he did the only thing he could do in this situation: Standing still and letting her drink. She was probably hungry after all and she had given him blood, so he saw it as a pay off anyways.

It wasn't before the fatigue built up in his body that he started to try and get out of it. A headache was starting to throb and he felt weaker and weaker by the second, having to put a hand on the door frame in order to stay standing. Even that didn't work after a while and Godric fell to his knees breathing fast as his heartbeat increased. He put a hand on Ava's, squeezing it, trying to get in contact with her. "Ava," he spoke, strained as he now also grabbed her arm with his other hand. It was becoming too much now. "You need.. To stop," he was trying to tighten his grasp on her, but his hands were too shaky. Hopefully she could hear him and maybe.. Just maybe stop. Before it was too late.

Ava was not thinking of Godric as a person, he was just a prey, a means of survival. She was not thinking, it was all about survival to her. She held him in a strong grip. He was quite a bit tall than him, so she had to stretch her body as much she could to get to his neck, which didn't make much of difference. Her balance was steady as a rock in the wind, unmovable even.

Ava followed him down as he got on his knees. She felt the squeeze, heard him say her name and she slowly came to her senses. She pulled away from him and looked at him underneath her grip. "No... I'm sorry." She looked at him in horror. She hadn't meant to do this. This was the last thing she had wanted. She didn't want to hurt anyone ever. "I'm so sorry," she cried and laid him down gently. "Please don't... don't leave me." She bit into her wrist again. "Drink, please just..." She put her bleeding wrist near his lips. "I'm sorry," she cried again. She was not equipped to handle this at all. She kept a close eye on him, her vampiric features had retracted, but his blood was still dripping from her chin.

Godric had tried something similar to this before. He had been stabbed many times with the job he had and he knew exactly how it felt when you were suffering from blood loss. But that didn't mean it wasn't extremely uncomfortable, it just meant that he knew he could survive it, because he wasn't just a normal human being. He released his grasp on her when he finally felt her teeth withdraw from his bloody neck. The energy to hold on to her just wasn't there. He was tired, his head hurt and he didn't have any balance at all. Without her holding him, he would probably have fallen directly on his face, but instead he was carefully laid down on the floor as he closed his eyes, and just allowed her to do it.

He moved his face away from her bloody wrist, put his hand around it instead, making sure she didn't bleed it all out, because she had just been hungry and he didn't want her to get hungry again. That would be counter-productive. "No," his voice came out weaker than he thought and he opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times, trying to seem like it wasn't that big of a problem, but at the same time his heart was racing, making him feel worse.
"Not leaving.. Staying right here," he smiled up at her, trying not to freak her out too much. "I'm f.. Fine," he kept lying, but that was his own defense mechanism setting in. He was always a calm and collected man after all and that was a mask he wore as much as ever possible. While he tried to calm Ava down, his free hand reached into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out a handkerchief which he attempted to cover the bite wound with, but his movements where slow and sluggish. It was difficult to to do that one, basic thing.

Ava was trying her best to stay calm and not let the panic of nearly killing somebody take over. Instead she should focus on him, keep him alive. She was confused when he refused the blood. "But.. You'll die," she said softly, the shame and regret clear in her eyes. She never wanted to be like that, like a monster. She knew he wasn't doing great, she could hear it. Which made her even more scared that he was dying, that she had killed him.

Ava dried her mouth when he said he was staying. "I'm staying too then," There was no way she was leaving him like this. If he wanted her to leave, he would have to throw her out, and that was not happening. "You don't have to pretend," she said. She felt horrible but now was not the time to focus on her. She saw him try stopping the bleeding but being able to. She sat down next to him and gently took the handkerchief and pressed it softly again the wound. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked carefully, looking at the wound to see how bad it was. It was scary to know she could do something like that. That she could have killed him, that she maybe would have if he hadn't pulled her out of it.

Godric simply smiled again as Ava said he would die. It wasn't his time yet, he knew that. Because he was an old man, when all was said and done, and old men didn't die that easily.
"I won't. I've tried similar before.. Didn't die," he spoke, still weak as hell.
He laughed as she said she was staying too. He wouldn't even be able to kick her out if he wanted to. He was on the floor and not likely to get up any time soon. His laugh quickly died out as he felt out of breath and he attempted to slow things down. Just breathe normally, which was really hard when his heart was beating faster than some of the worst techno music out there and he felt like he could only draw really shallow breaths. If he hadn't through this before, he most certainly would have thought that he was dying, but he was experienced with near-death scenarios like no other person he knew.

"Alright.. I'll try not to," that was going to be hard, considering how much he preferred to be cool and collected. As Ava sat down next to him, now less bloody around her mouth, he looked up at her, raising an eyebrow as she took the handkerchief from him. That was until she lightly pressed it against his neck where the wound was and he chose to just let it happen, while he tried to calm his body down. It was really fighting the blood loss that he knew was going to be okay later. As she asked him if he would be okay, he weakly squeezed her wrist.
"Things might look ugly from where you're standing," he had to regain breath after such a long sentence. "But trust me," he let go of her wrist as she would have likely healed by now. Only to put his hand on her arm, a bit more flat and not in a grip anymore. "I'll get better.. I'm a survivor, just like you,"
he smiled again and then closed his eyes, feeling the exhaustion and weakness take over his whole body. "But I do feel like a wet, soggy noodle right now,"
Godric then admitted, laughing another strained, quickly-dying-out laugh as he attempted to sit up, only to collapse back down on the floor agaain. Yup, he would probably stay here for some time.

Ava felt a little more at ease when he said he had been through something similar. It also made her sad. Nobody should have to live through something like that multiple times. He laughed. That had to be a good sign. His heart was beating very fast. She needed to stop the bleeding somehow, for real. "Should I... Should I stitch it up?" She had never done it before, but she just wanted to do whatever she needed to, to make his chances of survival the best possible.

Ava smiled, although not as bright as normal. She appreciated he would try. She couldn't ask for any more, could she? When he squeezed her wrist, even if weakly, it comforted her a bit. When he talked, told her that he was a survivor, she believed him. When he called her a survivor too, she just brushed some hair behind her ear. She was embaressed, because she didn't see herself like that at all. "I won't let you die anyway," she promised - or threathened - him.

She let out a light chuckle at his words. She took the hand he had placed on her arm, and instead put it against the wound. "I'll be right back." She went over to get a pillow and a blanket. It might get bloody, be she was just trying to make it more comfortable for him. She returned and gently lifted his head to put the pillow under it. She then put the blanket over him. "I can wash it, or pay for something new." She put her hand back on the wound to keep pressure on it.

Godric knew the wound wasn't that large. It was bleeding, sure, but it was just a couple of entry points for her teeth. "None of us thrashed around when.. It happened. The wound didn't get ripped open too much.. I think.. It'll be fine just to keep it covered," he said as she asked if she should stitch it. He wasn't even sure if she would be able to, he didn't even know what she did for a living after all. She was probably a student of sorts judging by her general age, but what did she even study then?

He smiled a caring smile as Ava promised him that she wouldn't let him die. It almost even sounded like a threat, the way she said it which he found funny.
As she took his hand, placing it over the handkerchief covering the wound, he tried putting on as much pressure as she'd done, but it was exhausting him just to do that and he found that the pressure was getting way sloppier as she went away for a while allowing him to actually stay silent and feel just how tired he was. He was still very weak and he could barely even hold his hand over the wound by the time Ava was back to put a pillow under his head. It felt way better than to just lay directly on the floor and he sighed as the blanket got added as a comfort. Well, more than that, he found he had breen freezing up until now. The minute she put her hand back on the wound, his own hand fell flat to the floor. "It's okay.. I'm more worried about my suit.. If I have to be honest.. And that's not your fault, I ruined it before you arrived," explained before his curiousity got the better of him.

"What do you study?" he'd just remembered that she actually did go to school. Otherwise she wouldn't have asked to swing by the Academy after all. Meanwhile there was a moewing sound behind him as his cat finally chose to show up. It padded all the way to the both of them, looking up at Ava, before it curled up next to Godric, giving some it's furry warmth to him. He could still swear, that cat knew stuff it shouldn't know.

Ava was trying to not be selfish, to focus on him in all of this, and she was doing okay. She didn't make it about herself, but she had so much inner turmoil. She was not sure she could ever forget herself for this. "Okay," she obeyed when he said they just needed to keep it covered.

Ava thought it was best to not move him right now, so she was going to make it as comfortable for him here on the floor. She looked at his suit when he brought it into the conversation. It was not looking in it's best shame. "And dry cleaning is not a option," she said studying the dirtied clothes. It still sat so deep in her, the urge to preform magic. She could have fixed it if she had her magic still. "Maybe a witch could fix it," she suggested and looked back in his eyes.

Her lips formed in a small smile when he asked about her studies. "Psychology, drama, litterature and dance," she said with a proud look in her eyes. She looked around when she heard a cat meowing. It moved over to them, just looked at her before laying close to Godric. That was cute. "What it's name?" She hesitated petting it, even if she wanted to. She just knew animals sometimes picked up on things humans didn't. Maybe it had sensed she was out to hurt him and was now protective of it's owner. Besides, being rejected by an animal was probably worse to her than being rejected by a person. Animals only did things like that if they really didn't like a person or was frightened off them. People were more complex. She was already hard on herself because of this, she didn't need to add the possibility of being rejected by anyone, not even a cat.

Godric smiled again when Ava mentioned a witch being able to clean his suit. He wasn't that worried. It would probably be a bit to the pricy side of things if he were ask a witch to do such a thing. He just shook his head carefully as to not fuck up the neck wound even more.
"I'll just buy a new suit," he said, almost jokingly, still trying to calm his rapid heartbeat by forcing himself to take deeper breaths. Ava's proud smile was contagious because it just suited her so well. It made Godric so happy for her too.

He reached up to gently pet the cat as it lay next to him and it's soft purring sounds began. "His name's Vooodoo. That's what his last owners called him," he hadn't changed it because he was really bad at giving pets names. The cat looked up at the girl meowing softly as it moved a bit only to headbutt the hand that was covering the nexkwound gently.
"And uh.. He's kind of.. Weird.. Not like a cat at all," Godric proceeded to explain, as he gently let a shaky hand run through the cat's fur.