taxonomites | IV. [Visual] and i can't sink any lower

This is probably the five location change Harvestman has made since he got there, this dingly little room with no windows. He's got a history of reasons to keep looking over his shoulder, and everything about Taxon puts him on edge. The fake sun, the vampires, the Hunters - everything freaked him out just a little.

Nevertheless, he looks pretty relaxed in a white wifebeater, scarred dogtags exposed and dangling from his neck, and drinking from what would seem to be a juice bag with a straw. It's too bad that 'juice' looks a little too suspicious to claim it's Koolaid, but he's finally given up on the hiding the fact that he's got fangs. He opens his mouth, and given the nature of Taxon at the moment, the following comes out:

Follow the rainbow my lucky omen
There ain't no pot of gold, just copper tokens
I found the key to life, the lock was broken
All my accomplishments are best left unspoken

My horror story is nearly over
I said I'm sorry, but I was sober
I beg for mercy from my infernal friend
The one that drops the nails into my coff -

And it's ended, quite abruptly, with a hand clamped over his mouth. Harvestman rolls his eyes heavenward (those little furry monsters have to be somewhere; the sky is as good of a bet as any.)

"What the fuck was that? Seriously, what the fuck? Can't you furry little assholes go for something classic? Nirvana, Metallica - shit, I'd take Iron Maiden. What the goddamn fuck was that."

He pauses. "I was gonna say something, but fuck it. This music shit is irritating."

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Excuse Shane while he's briefly confused about what Harvestman is trying to say. His first instinct is to defend Levi, ignoring the last part.

"He's been doing just fine, actually," Shane replies with only the slightest hint of irritation. "And he can't fix us being stuck here, but he's done the best he can. That's all I can ask for. Doesn't bother me."

Shane pauses, then starts, carefully: "What's your problem with him, anyway?" ... Oh, yeah, Levi's talked about Harvestman.

Harvestman held his hand up and ticked off fingers one by one. "He's a vampire, he sired you, he sired you knowing what it would do to you, he's been dead long enough to leave a lotta bodies in his wake, he's always got power over you being your Sire - your relationship ain't ever gonna be equal, no matter what you think. You want more?"

"Okay, first --" Shane bites his lip so he can make sure his thoughts are in order before they spill out.

"You're a vampire too. And don't think I didn't know what I was getting into. I --" He pauses, falters, because he doesn't like to talk about this. "I asked for this. Look, I don't know you. You don't know me -- you don't know us. So don't think you can just -- tell me what our relationship is or isn't, man."

"Yeah. I'm a vampire. I know how the Sire and Sired relationship works. Or how it's supposed to work, considering mine dumped my ass the second she could. Look, I ain't judging you on what your relationship is or it ain't - but it's another reason on the long list of reasons why I can't trust folks like him."

Harvestman sighs, making a dismissing gesture with his hands. Enough about Levi. "You need, though, some influence that ain't him, 'cause he won't be enough. You need to find distractions, distractions that work, and you can't do that when he's the only distraction you got."

Shane sighs. "He just wants to help you. I can't make you trust Levi, but I swear - he's different. And seven years ago, trusting him was the best decision I could make."

He looks solemn for a moment before following that dismissive gesture, eyeing Harvestman curiously as he shifts in his seat. "I have other distractions," he protests halfheartedly. "But... sure, alright, I'll go with it. What do you mean, exactly?"

"Seven years. I've known folks longer than that who stabbed me in the back, it ain't an incentive."

Now they were talking. "Right, you laugh at me, I'll punch you." Through... the screen, he clearly thinks these things through. "But something I do is I go dancing. Go clubbing - not to get laid, not to get a bite of somebody, just to go dancing. I miss body heat, being 'round it for me helps. But not with him, that won't help you focus, and not by yourself if you don't think you could handle it. Just an idea. For me, sex with living folks also helps a lot, but I don't recommend it if you already got problems. That's just how I work, anyhow."

Uncomfortably, Shane runs a hand through his hair, briefly glancing upwards. Clubs. The experience is different for everyone, but it just reminds Shane of hunting, hunger, and the first time Levi took him to a place like that. How much control he hadn't had. Right now in Taxon, he thinks, it would be similarly difficult. He already feels set back by the steep change in routine.

"Maybe it's just me, but I think clubbing would be the last thing to distract me from wanting to hunt."

"Figures. Like I said, you're twitchy. It's easy to tell. I'd recommend some other things, but they ain't... pleasant. Got hobbies?"

The strangest thing is that this is actually a conversation. Harvestman doesn't sound judgmental or resorted to making snide comments.