It's All Just Spider's Play [Devyn]

[Kenzie Price]

It was risky, breaking into the apartment of a Councilmen.

Risky, but the reward was worth it. The vampire supposedly had food, and a lot of it, despite vampires not necessarily needing as much food as humans. Though Kenzie knew she was supposed to feel guilty about stealing from someone, the time for guilt had passed. She no longer cared about anyone else but herself and her little urchins. Besides, the vampire would be fine, especially with as much money as the Council filtered into his pocket. 

Getting into the apartment would have been difficult, had she not been gifted with the ability to practically altar reality. All Kenzie had to do was tell the apartment building that it had an extra vent system built to take her directly to the apartment, and then it was done. She spent the next hour crawling through the vents, up a few flights every now and then, before she finally reached the wall of Apartment #10EF. She popped the head of the vent off, then stood and dusted the grime and dirt off her knees.

It was a huge apartment, much too large for one person, but Makenzie didn't care about how big it was, although she did take a moment to look around and scrunch her nose; the Council always seem to bask in too much excess. It was more than Kenzie would ever see in her life, but that was beyond the point. All she wanted right now was to find the kitchen, grab what she and the little ones could use, and then get out. After that, she could leave the same way she had come.

Kenzie grabbed a nearby pillow, shaking the contents free of its case, and started towards the kitchen. Anything non-perishable went right into the makeshift bag. Canned soup, canned vegetables, canned this and that -- it all went into the bag. In fact, Kenzie was so intent on finishing her job that she didn't realize something was watching her. Several things, actually.

The little girl had only just turned away from the kitchen when the first spider launched itself at her.

WORDS ;; 374
THOUGHTS ;; Maybe I can actually eat??? no??? sPIDERS!!!!
OUTFIT ;; [ CLICK! ]
TAG ;; Devyn Hardwick
CREDIT ;; tomorrow from annie

[Devyn Hardwick]

-----------

Devyn had been out for a bit to get some fresh air. He'd left his spiders out so that they could get some exercise, and intended to return and get them back into their homes after a little while. The last thing he'd expected to see upon opening the door was the whole gang jumping at a young girl he'd never seen before. Looking down at the ground to make sure none of his babies were on the floor underfoot, he walked into the room and stood over her, his lips pursed and eyebrows drawn.

"I don't believe I know you," he said, staring at Kenzie, then glancing over to the food. "Oh, you're taking food from me." Crouching down, he still managed to tower over the young girl, one of the spiders scuttling up his leg and back and eventually resting on his shoulder. "Do you need food? Are you hungry? I can feed you if you're hungry, so long as you don't intend to kill me. I'm not exactly poor, and I've just got an influx of more money."

It didn't take him too much longer to notice that the spiders weren't biting her. "And the kids seem to like you just fine," he remarked, holding out a hand for his tarantula to crawl onto. "So that's a good sign. They, um, they do usually bite people that break in, so I guess you're probably okay. Do you want to talk for a bit? I haven't got anything else going on the rest of the night. I was just planning on sitting down and watching a documentary on trapdoor spiders. If you're not well-fed, I'd like to change that, even if it means I've got to put off the documentary for a day."

He held out his hand to her, smiling. "I'm not cross or anything. I figure you had a reason, and if you didn't, then that's a reason in itself, and you don't appear to have broken anything, so."

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words || 333 ||
notes || spider nerds, spider nerds, hear whatever the spiders heard ||
tagged || Kenzie Price ||
mood || affable ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||

[Kenzie Price]

At first, Kenzie was absolutely terrified.

What seemed like hundreds of spiders moved towards her, jumping at her. For a moment, her heart stopped, and she could have sworn that her life flashed before her eyes, as short as it might have been. She fell to the ground, her hands coming up to cover her face. A scream passed her lips. The hairy leg of a spider brushed against her cheek, effectively silencing her. 

But to her utmost surprise, the spiders did not try to attack her. They did not bite or try to kill her. Instead, they all began to crawl over her, to tug at her hair and each trying to get her attention. It was enough to make her pause what she was doing, halt her fear, and begin to play with them. After all, they were quite soft, and the fur was tickling her lips and cheeks and fingertips.

While she was distracted, another approached her. This one was not a spider, however, but a man; a vampire. Even worse, he was the Councilman. For a moment, Kenzie considered darting out the door and never returning; after all, the last way she wanted to die was via a vampire. From what she had heard, it was the same as dying of blood loss, but with a lot more pain and humiliation. Kenzie had been humiliated enough as a child.

But the vampire did not attack her; he did not try to rip her throat out or snatch her up. Instead, he offered her food. He offered her a lot of food. Too much food for Kenzie to consider ever turning down, especially with the little gang of urchins depending on her. 

"'Ey," she said, extending a hand so a spider could crawl and nuzzle her fingertips. "I ain't about to turn down free food. Got a family t' provide for, y'know?"

If one listened close enough, they might hear a bit of an accept, and perhaps even a hint of a lisp, in the girl's voice. The accent was obvious; born and bread New Yorker. The lisp was a bit faked, something Kenzie had taken on as a child in an effort to seem younger and smaller. The younger ones always received more food and more aid, and Kenzie needed more. 

"What's your name?"

WORDS ;; 388
THOUGHTS ;; Hey, this is a pretty cool dude. And spiders!!!
OUTFIT ;; [ CLICK! ]
TAG ;; Devyn Hardwick
CREDIT ;; tomorrow from annie

[Devyn Hardwick]

-----------

Devyn nodded attentively, his brow furrowing. "You've got a family to provide for? You... I don't mean any offense by this, but you look quite, um, quite young. Certainly not old enough to be working legally, which I suppose is why you're here. Is your family rather large?" Even though she'd just broken into his home, Dev was already starting to feel very sorry for the girl before him. She looked like she was just breaking into her teens, and sounded a little younger than that. Maybe she'd just hit puberty a little early.

"My name's Devyn," he said, offering her a hand both to shake and to help her up. "Devyn Hardwick. Eleventh Moon of the Vampire Council. And my kids--well, pets, I suppose, but they're very close to me--are currently crawling on you. I'm, um, I'm very fond of spiders. I'm surprised they didn't bite you on sight, actually. Bit glad, too. You'd have been a goner for sure if they had. Sofia's a brown recluse." He pointed at one of the spiders resting on Kenzie's chest. "That would've been unpleasant for everyone, but especially you, and I would've felt really bad. They're not usually all over the place like this.

"Anyway. Back to the point. You need help. I'm pretty good at providing it. You've got a lack of resources, I've got an abundance. So, er, if you need any help or stuff or anything, really, just let me know and I'll do my best to help you out. I rather like helping people, so."

Devyn wasn't really the bragging sort, so he didn't name off all the people he'd helped or all the ways he'd helped them. He just stood quietly as he waited for Kenzie's response, glad that he'd caught her in the act so that he could help rather than simply returning home to find the place ransacked.

He was a bit thirsty, though, he remembered, and concluded that he should definitely grab a blood pack while he was getting food items for the girl when they sat down to eat.

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words || 347 ||
notes || none ||
tagged || Kenzie Price ||
mood || chipper, thirsty ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||

[Kenzie Price]

Unable to help herself, Kenzie giggled, one hand coming up to cover her mouth. The spider on her knuckles took this opportunity to jump from her hand to her head, nestling into her hair. "Guess you could say it's a big family," she admitted, one shoulder rising and falling in a half shrug. "But 'm the main provider. Ain't none of us got any mothers or fathers, so it falls to the biggest an' the oldest to get us on by."

And that was the truth. The little ones couldn't go out by themselves, as they would either get snatched up by some creep, DHR, or some other adult. Their faces were often the cutest, and usually they could get the most food, but the main priority of the little gang was to provide and care for those younger than the majority. That was why Kenzie and the handful of other teenagers went out to steal and snatch.

She lifted a spider to her face, let its little furry legs rub against her lips. 

"Spiders tend to like me," she admitted, glancing at him above the arachnid. "I'm not sure why, though. They just... like me. They've never bit me. They listen to me. I don't think any of my little ones have been bitten by a spider since I was in charge of looking around the hideout." Another half-shrug. "Either way, I'm not dead, and neither are any of my little ones."

That was when she looked up at him and, in a daring move, decided to ask, "You mind if I heat up one of them microwave meals? Been a while since I ate, and crawling through the vents ain't exactly my idea of a good time."

WORDS ;; 310
THOUGHTS ;; Maybe I can get a meal or two??
OUTFIT ;; [ CLICK! ]
TAG ;; Devyn Hardwick
CREDIT ;; tomorrow from annie

[Devyn Hardwick]

-----------

Devyn took a breath, holding it in his lungs a little too long. So they were a family of orphans, then, a group trying to provide for themselves. He mulled this over for a little, considering what he could do to help. "Is it, um. Is it particularly difficult? I mean, you were going to steal from me, so the answer is probably yes, but... I'd like to help however I can. Are you all homeless as well, or do you at least have a roof over your heads? If not... well... I'd, um, I'd like to offer. I've got quite a lot of space, as you can see, and quite a lot of food. The spiders aren't usually out of their tanks, either, so the little ones wouldn't be in danger, and neither would your family."

Nodding attentively, Devyn smiled. "Most of them don't bite so long as you don't scare them. I've always been very gentle with them. I've loved spiders ever since I was very young, and they've... never bitten me either, though I've never been able to talk to them. Wish I could." He laughed a little, grinning at Kenzie. "It, um, it's a bit rare, actually, to find someone else who likes spiders." He let Clarissa, the tarantula currently resting on his upper arm, play around his palm. "I don't believe you've mentioned your name."

As soon as she mentioned it, Devyn was walking carefully over to his freezer, waving her over. "Go right ahead. I don't mind at all, actually. I'm going to grab a drink while you choose what you'd like, if you don't mind." He opened up the fridge, grabbing a water bottle filled with deep red liquid and opened it. Some preferred blood warm, but Devyn had never been particularly picky. He found that it kept better cold, anyway. He opened the top and took a long drink from it, savoring the feeling as it ran down his throat. Man alive, he felt better. He took another swig, then closed the top and put it back in the fridge. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to be rude. I've just, er, I've got needs too."

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words || 363 ||
notes || none ||
tagged || Kenzie Price ||
mood || pretty good ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||

[Kenzie Price]

As soon as she had permission, Kenzie was up on her feet and hurrying to burrow in the freezer. Spiders either moved out of her way or clambered up her pants, depending on their mood. Kenzie didn't mind, though; she loved spiders. She loved the way they seemed to understand her, even when no one else did. And so she gently shooed them out of the way as she opened the freezer, admonished them quietly not to get locked in as she shuffled through the food.

Once a proper meal was chosen, Kenzie hurried over to the microwave. In fact, she was so intent on getting herself something to eat that it hadn't even dawned on her the Councilman had asked her a question. It wasn't until the microwave began to count down two minutes that she dared to answer, either; she was a hungry little tyke.

"Long as they don't hurt my li'l ones," she said, licking her thumb so she could pick up frozen strands of cheese from the plastic wrap. "'M protective over 'em. All we have is each other, y'know? But, hey, adding another into the fold won't be such a bad idea. Hopefully." At that last part, she shot Dev a look, as if daring him to do anything to her or her little ones.

She returned to her food, snatching the hot plate out of the microwave. Once her fingers were properly singed, she replied, "Name's Kenzie," between blowing on her fingertips. "I already know who you are, Mr. Devyn, so there's really no need in trying to introduce yourself that way. You got any forks 'round here?"

Kenzie wasn't sure if vampires needed food like humans did. There was food here; that much was obvious. But she wasn't sure if it was for show, for comfort, or actually for use. From what the child had heard, some vampires still tried to act like humans for the safety of their own sanity. that would have been an interesting thing to study, if she wasn't so hungry right now.

Perhaps that was why she couldn't wait. Her stomach reminded her of its lack of food and, without waiting for Dev's answer, Kenzie tucked into the waiting pizza. She didn't even care that the cheese was a bit too hot, or that the pizza sauce dripped onto her chest.

All she wanted was food.

WORDS ;; 398
THOUGHTS ;; Food!!
OUTFIT ;; [ CLICK! ]
TAG ;; Devyn Hardwick
CREDIT ;; tomorrow from annie

[Devyn Hardwick]

-----------

Devyn nodded, opening a drawer and handing the girl a fork. "I hope we'll be able to get along quite well. I think both of us would rather not have a bad experience with the other." He watched the spiders crawl on her and around the apartment, raising an eyebrow. "This is actually quite strange. I've had a lot of people working for me die because my babies can sometimes get quite aggressive when they're provoked. But since they actively like you, rather than just putting up with you, I don't think we'll have any trouble on that front."

The Councilman shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, quickly withdrawing his right with a package of M&Ms between his fingers. "Huh. I thought I'd eaten these already. Would you like some?" he asked, shaking the bag in Kenzie's general direction. "Back to the original topic--how many kids are we talking, exactly? I know that one of the apartments down a few floors can hold quite a few people, and I'm more than willing to have this be a sort of headquarters. I'd certainly like some compensation, in the form of small favors, if you're willing. If you're not, though, I'm perfectly alright providing you all with food in your stomachs and a roof over your heads. Hot and cold clean running water. That sort of thing. I don't think any of you really deserve to be out on the street... or wherever you are that you don't get enough food."

He pondered this for quite some time, tearing into the bag of M&Ms and shaking out a few into his hand, then placing it between the two of them as he popped the ones in his hand into his mouth. "Actually, if you could do some favors for the Council, that'd be absolutely fantastic. Don't think they'd be too hard, and if they were, I'd go with you if I sent you out at all. But I think this would be good. You'd still be able to get out of the house and do things, and you'd be safe and all that. Works both ways, I think."

Devyn smiled. This seemed like it could work out pretty okay even if the children didn't want to volunteer to help the vampires--after all, since losing Camilla, he'd had a hole in his heart made by loneliness that all the spiders in the world couldn't fill. Maybe this could be a solution.

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words || 413 ||
notes || wow dev way to be depressing at the end there ||
tagged || Kenzie Price ||
mood || thoughtful ||
credits || better by cat and the menagerie ||