He Who Would Valiant Be

[Chriekel]

In theory William Palmer didn't care. That was the point of him, curled tight under layers of bedclothes. He had cared. It had been a thing for centuries. He'd cared and he'd been properly rewarded for his stupidity.

So now he didn't care, because that simply made more sense. He forgot the love of a woman he'd never truly known, of children and even grandchildren he'd cursed by virtue of his mere existence.

If he had done nothing of value then he had at least done nothing of importance. He was an innocent man, truly neutral.

Or so he said, and so he forced himself to think. And yet...

They kept knocking.

"Yes." William said,stumbling upright amid a shower of drained bottles. He steadied himself and drew his phone. "Just coming....I'm-" He read the first message.

"Take care of her."

Well shit.

William read the message again, but it didn't get any less clear. The complex calculations of what he owed to Xervy didn't unequivocally mean he had to do anything. She owed him blood, arguably twice and she was choosing to ignore that.

On the other hand, right here right now..

William opened the door, blinking uneasily in the sudden sunlight.

"William Palmer, Esoteric books. Can I help you?"

[KsshqKla]

A small girl stood there, She looked to be around 12, though she was actually 15. The sunlight cascaded about her long blond hair, that reached her waist. She had on a light green sundress. She looked up at the man with her soft pink eyes and offers him an envelope.

Inside simply reads Take care of her

[Chriekel]

William bent down for a moment, carefully studying his guest as he took the envelope. The petite blonde was about as nonthreatening as he could envisage, and yet given where she'd come from...

He scanned the brief message.

"Take care of you?"

He wasn't an impressive figure in the moment, wearing only a dressing gown and black and red striped pants. On the other hand his gaze still succeeded in spite of these obvious problems in conveying the weight of ages.

He glared down, at least two feet taller than his little guest.

"Where is she?"

[KsshqKla]

The small girl looks up and smiles "Xervy said you'd take care of me from now on" The girl shakes her head "Xervy's hunting, she said... " She looks down at her shoes. "She said she couldn't protect me anymore, that I'd um be safer with you~." She looks back up at him and smiles again. "Hi, I'm Haruka, um" She fidgets a little "I um guess you're my new caretaker Mr. Palmer."

[Chriekel]

Well that was hardly uncommon. Vampire's bonds with mortals were never built to last. Still, this was hardly acceptable...

"So we both guess. I guess." William turned away, leaving her to stand outside in the rain until she crossed the threshold herself. "Or do you need an invitation to step inside? Did she leave me a little girl or a little vampire?"

Not that it mattered, but it helped to know what he was dealing with.

[KsshqKla]

Haruka pouts, "I'm a girl, not little." She scuffs her heel against the ground "It's just my blood makes me look little."

It wasn't her fault, she never asked to be this tiny.

[Chriekel]

"Your size isn't at issue here." William got the sense that her size was a sore point. Although that could imply any number of things.

The immortal child. A petulant and bloodthirsty monster. Innocent yet monstrous.

"Are you human?"

[KsshqKla]

Haruka pouts "then don't call me little." She sticks her tongue out, It was indeed a very sore point.

Haruka smiles, she has small fangs, "Xervy said I used to be human, does that count?"

She didn't remember much from before she met Xervy.