2026-03-21 13:45 - 22:49 PST
Kingsnake checked in on Kaveh and Jensen. They spoke about what happened at the gala1, and Kingsnake informed them about Kiri, Javier, and Olive’s disgruntlement at not working with Mazhar2.
Then, they spoke about Neres, and that was where it all went wrong. Kaveh said he was planning on visiting her soon, and said that with all that had happened, and her difference in demeanor around Kingsnake since the arrival of Mazhar made him think to go sooner. Kingsnake bristled a little. They had something like a heart to heart, Kingsnake confiding she felt pathetic, unable to help Neres. They hugged, and Kaveh began rocking slightly. This was the breaking point.
She accepts the hug, up until the point where he starts to rock her, then she starts to resist, lightly pushing him away unless he doesn’t let her go, in which case she’d push harder. Her eyes narrow back to their serpentine form, glowing intensely as she meets your gaze. Kingsnake speaks firmly. “Stop. Just stop. I can accept a hug, or a shoulder to cry on now and then, but you say you don’t want me to feel pathetic and then you treat me like a child. It’s infuriating. I’m 33! I was 29 before I died. I’m an adult. I feel like this happens every time I confide in you.”
Jensen would see Kaveh’s body go entirely rigid, gaze affixed on Kingsnake’s eyes, her gaze growing more intense and unnerving by the second. To Kaveh, you feel entirely unable to move, unable to speak, and unable to avert your eyes. It is a moment of powerlessness. She grabs his chin with her hand, tilting his head upwards as she stands to in order to maintain eye contact, until she is standing over him. “I am not incapable, nor am I a child. Don’t treat me as such, and we won’t have a problem. I respect you, and I appreciate you, but that respect only goes so far. When I draw the line, you should listen.”
Jensen yelled at her to stop, accidentally activating Presence, Dread Gaze. Kingsnake was immediately terrified and began to flee, leaving Jensen in shock at everything that had transpired, and Kaveh incredibly saddened. Then, she called Neres and left for the Sacramento History Museum3. Some final soliloquies.
kaveh stares at the light on the ceiling, it reminds him of those eyes…the light brings him comfort, despite the fear of fire he had mostly overcome it, he would usually stare at the fire in the forge, or the red hot metal, it brought him warmth… it reminded him of what the sun could feel like, it reminded him of what could have happened on that day if he hadn’t met thalia, he stares, and stares and stares, he sees those same glowing eyes, at times he swears he sees the light focus on him like theirs eyes do, he stares, so intensely that he almost forgets to blink…blink and even in the darkness those eyes still linger, the eyes, no…the light… hope…he had slowly fallen for neres…because of her eyes…he wanted to protect neres…he wanted to protect kingsnake…because she reminded him of himself, how he felt on those last few years with the camarilla…pain…had he over stepped? Was he in the wrong? Had he flown too close to the sun? Was he at fault?…yes…he had misread her feelings, he wished to help and he made things worse…no good deed goes unpunished kaveh…no good deed goes unpunished…in the beginning she would snap at him, he thought maybe she just didn’t like him but after trying…after trying she slowly warmed up to him…so it was him at fault…HIS incompetence…slowly he began to view her as his own…like ember…like jensen…perhaps he shouldn’t talk to her anymore…perhaps he should stay quiet and only speak when spoken to with her…that may be best…would it?…it’s clear that she doesn’t like him…is that really true? She seemed like she was sorry…no… it was him at fault…it’s clear that his actions had lead…to this…he stares at the yellow eyes in the ceiling…his body frozen like it had been a while ago…he stares and stares…staring at the eyes for comfort, staring at the sun for hope..staring at the light to comfort him…
Alone, Jensen prays. He prays like he always has, reaching out to God to maintain his feeble faith and to prove that he is still worthy of God’s love.
And yet again, he feels that no one is there to respond.
He finishes his prayer and stands up. Everyday, a tiny part of himself gives into the vampire life, as something to be treated as normal than to be feared.
It scares him. He thinks about his meeting with Father Frances. Overcome with emotion, he had given himself up temporarily, to ignore his faith for the sake of indulging in a corrupted one that provided him comfort.
He knew it was a mistake to give into such temptation, but he found himself repeatedly dipping back into it since then. It just felt…so natural. That it should work like this.
It must have been how his sire felt, to surrender on his internal battle and give into his worst instincts. Jensen tells himself that he could never be like his sire, but it becomes harder and harder to resist the temptation to just give up and accept the way things are.
Regardless, he needs to prepare for Father Bernard’s arrival. He’ll have to get to work soon, to prepare for the confrontation.