The Mountain and Mohammed

[Existentially Odd]

Graciously, Kerr inclined his head in acknowledgment of her subtle message, appreciating it to the degree that he stood and approached her, grasping her shoulders briefly and leaning down to kiss each of her cheeks in turn, whispering his thanks as he did.  With a final, brief squeeze, he straightened away, nodded and stepped back.

After waiting a moment to see what sort of farewell Jack would give, Kerr hooked his index finger casually around Jack\'s and led him from the room.  "This won\'t take a moment, I hope you don\'t mind, but I just have to go and give someone who lives here a message," he explained as he climbed the stairs, trying not to think too greatly on all that had passed in the library but focus instead on what was going to happen imminently.

"If you like, you can take the keys and go and sit out in the car?" he offered, pulling the metal objects from his pocket and holding them up as a point of reference, ready to offer them over if Jack indicated he wanted some time alone.  "I don\'t anticipate that this message will take too long to deliver, but with Digital you just never know!"  He smiled quietly to himself as much as to Jack, wondering if he should\'ve brought his other notes, in case something enlightening happened.

[Trillian]

Jack didn\'t feel that a kiss upon Sabrina\'s cheeks - like Kerr had given - would be appropriate, though he did usually follow the customary display.  This time, however, he held back and offered a smile instead, and a nod, along with a pleasantly spoken, "It was nice to meet you," before turning back to face Kerr.  He was glad to have the contact he did, however minimal it was, because it was a sign that he was no longer on the outskirts with Kerr.

"I would rather be with you," Jack said formally.  He wondered at this person named Digital, for it seemed an odd kind of name.

[Existentially Odd]

"Alright then, it\'s up this way," Kerr agreed with a wave of a hand that indicated the stairs that led from the lobby.  He replaced his car keys as he began walking again (his hand remained in his pocket in a fist, when he was done) but kept the finger contact with Jack the whole way to the door with the mouse nailed to it.

When they reached the bizarrely-labelled portal, however, Kerr dropped Jack\'s hand in order to knock on the door.  He didn\'t spare a glance for his companion as he waited to see if his rather loud knock would be answered or not; instead, he stared thoughtfully at the speared mouse, wondering idly how bad it had been to deserve such a violent end.  He unconsciously tucked his other hand in his pocket as well, leaving him with two balled fists in his pants and some hunched, rather reserved shoulders giving out messages on his behalf.

[Malkavian Riddler]

DIGITAL had purchased new clothes, but hadn\'t put them on yet. He\'d hung them up in his closet and stared at them for what felt like hours. Unaware of how much time was passing, he didn\'t realise that almost an hour really had passed as he stared at the hanger which held the white fur coat, pale blue jeans and on the shelf above, the hat that had been labelled \'cat in the hat hat\' in a fancy dress shop he\'d wandered into. The tall red and white striped hat was something that had caught his attention immediately and he\'d laughed and laughed a great deal in the store - enough for the sales assistant to begin acting nervously around him, enough to get a rather marked discount on the hat, possibly to get him out the door.

He\'d put on his orange biohazard suit again at dusk, when the sun finished setting and cast an purpley-pink glow on the darkening sky. It felt familiar. Even though he had his new outfit in hand, he didn\'t feel ready for it yet.

A loud knocking at the door got enough of his attention for him to turn his head that way. After a moment of staring blankly at the door and listening to his voices chatter, he smiled a broad smile and launched himself at the door in order to grip the knob and throw the portal open.

"Kerr!" he announced with glee, ignoring the fledgling beside him in order to throw his arms around the Oligarch with glee. The irishman had given him something big to burn, and now he would do anything for Kerr. His loyalty had been clinched by such a deal.

[Existentially Odd]

There were a few awkward moments where Kerr had to get his hands out of his pockets in order to return the hug - which had surprised him to the point where he\'d taken a small step backwards before he\'d managed to regain his footing and wrap his arms about Digital\'s middle, chuckling at the affectionate display.

"Digital!" he announced with equal fervour and gave the young vampire a squeeze.  "I\'m glad you\'re home, I came to tell you that I\'ve organised something for you to... uh, well, help me demolish - a block of flats I\'ve bought, in the Brazilian Quarter," he told the Malkavian in a far more modest tone of voice.  In fact, only supernatural hearing in a very close vicinity would hear what he had to say, for he didn\'t think it wise to go shouting about he fact he\'d bought Digital a building to burn.

Certainly, he had an expert demolition crew on hold, waiting to clean up afterwards, and they\'d been told that he was going to give a friend of his just starting out in the wrecking business a chance to test his skills, but no-one beyond that needed to know.  The fact that the fire brigade would be called did worry Kerr, and he intended to make a hefty donation to the service\'s coffers somehow - perhaps some tickets to their ball, the irony in that would be grand - to make up for it.  He also hoped Digital would be skilled enough to not let the buildings either side of the block he\'d purchased burn, but he\'d deliver that warning when they got to the telling of the address.

For now, he had to wait until his initial bit of news sank in and Digital let go of him to look at him.  "Does that sound like an acceptable thank you gift, to you?" he cooed hopefully, his mouth close to the other vampire\'s ear.

[Trillian]

Jack was intrigued by the computer device nailed onto the door, wondering what such a thing meant.  He could hear movement on the other side of the door, shuffled sounds before heavy steps and then was startled to see the adversely clothed vampire launch himself onto Kerr.  He was ready to pull the brightly clothed creature off when he realised that Kerr was now returning the hug and speaking in intimate tones to the vampire named Digital.
 
A wave of jealousy flared in him at this display and he scowled at the pair of them before lowering his head and glaring a hole into the carpet between his feet.  He was waiting for an introduction, and when it came he would lift his gaze and attempt to act civilly - as long as the affectionate display didn\'t last too long.

[Malkavian Riddler]

The hug was tight and true, and when he felt Kerr\'s arms wrap around him, he giggled mightily.
 
It had been an acceptable gift the instant the voices had shown him what Kerr had planned for him, the instant before Kerr had told him himself - the reason for the Malkavian to have thrown himself against Kerr like that in the first place. Something big to burn; how glorious, how magnificent, how enticing and exciting, how he adored Kerr now for that. Nay, it was love. He could feel his heart expanding to let a new person into it. He loved so many people - almost everyone he met seemed worthy. They were all good to him, here in this city.
 
He worries / He fears the sirens / He fears the crossed vehicle more than he fears the red
 
"It will burn from the outside in," Digital swore with relish. "The meat in the sandwich will cook without toasting the bread," he promised, knowing Kerr was concerned about such things. He removed himself from the closeness in order to lean back, his hands slipping from around Kerr but not entirely leaving him, resting instead on the other man\'s hips. "You\'re here to talk with my voices," Digital told him, awestruck that the voices - ever whispering, irritating shrieking things that they were - had grown silent after this information was passed to him. They quieted with sex (which was why he tended to go out looking for a lot of it) and now it seemed they could quiet themselves in Kerr\'s presence.
 
He could love the other vampire for that, if nothing more, though he knew such a thing wouldn\'t last.  He sensed their eagerness, his own eagerness, and wondered if the voices were him, after all.

[Existentially Odd]

"Excellent," Kerr told Digital approvingly, his tone relieved because he\'d been assured that the fire would be appropriately contained.  The Irishman was slightly disconcerted (though he really shouldn\'t have been) that the Malkavian knew of the reason behind his visit before he even got a chance to voice it, but he accepted the fact willingly enough.  He wondered, in fact, whether he would even need to give Digital the street address after all.

He was entirely flabbergasted by the younger\'s next words, however, his mouth dropping open in consternation as he was accused of visiting for the sole purpose of interrogating Digital\'s voices.  His own hands were on the other\'s hips as he shook his head adamantly.

"No!  Not at all," he cried earnestly.  "I only came to tell you about the building, I - well, we," he corrected awkwardly, remembering in his shock that he actually wasn\'t alone - enough to drop his hold on Digital and take a step back, turning so that his partner could be included in their conversation at last, "came to see Sabrina about some things.  Digital, this is... Jack," he introduced, indicating the fledgling with a wave of his hand.  "Jack... meet Digital," he finished, making eye contact with the enigma that was his beloved.

Despite himself, he couldn\'t help but wonder what the empath would make of this bundle of confusion - even if he truly hadn\'t come to rile up the voices.  He couldn\'t deny it had been at the back of his mind, though.

[Malkavian Riddler]

He liked the way Kerr fumbled an explanation that he wasn\'t here for the sole purpose of talking to Digital\'s voices.  Such an accusation hadn\'t been made.  It was the fact he knew what was going to happen during their visit that he\'d told Kerr about.  Intentions were another thing altogether.

Digital turned to look at the one who Kerr was gesturing to, announcing him as Jack and then turning the introduction towards him.  Digital frowned his confusion and sought to correct Kerr on his mistake, looking first at \'Jack\' and then at Kerr.

"That\'s not Jack.  He\'s Not-Ben."

Digital stared at Kerr for a short moment before declaring: "Your first guess was the right one."

[Trillian]

Jack decided fairly quickly that he didn\'t like Digital very much at all.  The eerie gaze behind the goggles wasn\'t a comforting one and he wondered how Kerr had met this vampire - let alone befriended him.

When the \'not-ben\' comment was made, Jack\'s eyes narrowed at the extravagantly dressed vampire before him, the orange vision not breaking his concentration as he sought to read the other\'s mind for clues as to what he meant.

As soon as his mental scan touched the insane one\'s mind, however, he weakened at the knees, cried out a soft plea to Kerr, and reached out for the dark Irish vampire beside him in attempt to hold himself upright.  He hadn\'t been ready for the visions he\'d seen when scanning Digital\'s head.

He wouldn\'t be doing it again in a hurry.

[Existentially Odd]

"Which--?" Kerr frowned, only managing to get one word of his question out before Jack did a fainting damsel act beside him.  Instinctively, he reached out and caught the other, though he had to step closer to pull him back into an upright position and remained that way, with an arm firmly about Ben\'s waist to support him while he frowned at him.

"Digital\'s mind is a labyrinth," he warned his fledgling belatedly, feeling guilty for not warning Jack sooner.  Still, the being didn\'t tend to rely too heavily on Ben\'s powers, so he hadn\'t anticipated that he\'d try to read such a twisted mind.  "You\'ll be alright," he whispered, smoothing his free hand across his fledgling\'s forehead as if his touch could quiet the storm that had been transferred inside.

"Which first guess?" he then inquired of Digital, turning his attention back to the other vampire (he graciously ignored the Not-Ben comment, despite agreeing with it, so as not to anger Jack).  His free hand fell to Ben\'s chest to hold him steady there - though it wasn\'t as if the youngster was staggering; Kerr believed his support would likely be unnecessary in a few moments but he would wait for Jack to step away before he let go, just in case.  A mind fuck was a mind fuck and he\'d been there often enough to sympathise and understand that the consequences of such could be unpredictable.

[Malkavian Riddler]

The voices cackled with glee as soon as Digital felt a presence in his head that was beyond the voices themselves. He wasn\'t too sure what was going on but the voices converged into a state of frenzied babble, like bees humming around an attacked hive. He realised what had happened after Not-Ben tottered and was held on his feet by Kerr. It was more reason to mistrust the one who was in between.

"The first, the primary, the initial assumption!" he clarified with urgency. "Not-Ben, Not-Ben, Not-Ben!" he squealed, then pulled away so that his back was now to the half-open door, and as it opened further he took another half-step back so he was in the doorway proper, away from Not-Ben and Kerr.

"He knows nothing now, will know everything later, things he shouldn\'t know, things that belong to others. There will be cats! A pied piper enters the picture and will play his flute. The cats! The cats with swirling tales that cry the attention of Seuss and co. I will be Seuss. I will be one of the cats! I will follow, follow, follow the brothers until they eat each other up!" He stared wide-eyed at Kerr now, shaking his head until the voices stopped their nattering and only a single message was clear. "You forgot to go to the concert. He had two tickets for you."

[Existentially Odd]

"Cats?" Kerr queried, his expression completly puzzled.  So much for his elegant ignoring of the Not-Ben reference; the truth was apparently stark and undeniable to everyone.  Still, it was the reference to cats with swirling tails that had his mind occupied right then; cats that would cry Digital\'s attention (if he was Seuss) and of which he would become one.  Kerr had heard the name Seuss before but couldn\'t immediately place it (not having paid a great deal of attention to children\'s literature in the last century... or any other century), which was not helping his confusion just then.

"Follow which brothers?" Kerr asked Digital, setting aside the notion of cats for the time being.  The concert reference also left him befuddled until the image of the handsome young vampire he\'d met at another concert rose in his mind; Chet.  Of course.  "Oh, shit.  Is he mad?  About the concert?" the Irishman asked Digital (as if the wildly-dressed vampire was secretly on the phone with him and could easily tap into such an answer).  "We meant to go, Ben and I, but... he got lost and Jack appeared and... I completely forgot all about it," Kerr confessed, gnawing on his tongue stud as guilt rippled through him.  That night seemed a life time ago... everything on the other side of Jack\'s appearance seemed a life time ago, though.

[Malkavian Riddler]

"The hooded brothers.  Secret brothers."  Digital pushed his room door open wider and moved further into the room, looking over his shoulder a couple of times to see if Kerr and Not-Ben would follow.  "You have blinders on.  You won\'t see for a very long time."  He moved to his wardrobe and pointed at the clothes inside on display - whether Kerr was in the room or not.  "Seussology.  The piper will be much more dangerous.  The King also has his eyes closed because you\'re his eyes.  He\'s too busy training monkeys."  Digital paused, then looked about the room with confusion, his gaze settling on his posters of fire.  "Thank you for your thank you, it is a good gift."

[Trillian]

It was after this interesting display that Jack realised what was going on and who Digital really was.

"A prophet.  You\'ve come to see a prophet," he said quietly, but loudly enough for Kerr to hear.

They were always quite mad.  Very suddenly, Jack was no longer intimidated or threatened by the vampire named Digital.  He felt he had the upper hand now.

He remained close to Kerr though, just in case.