Thunder Storms.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Taxi was never a big fan of weather in general. It just wasn't part of his lifestyle. Nighttime should just be void of weather entirely, it was such a waste. The rain, or the fog, or the humid nights. But tonight was the worst of all. Some sort of a weather bank had rolled it and with it had pulled along horrible black stormclouds. They were pounding down rain, beating on peoples roofs and on the poor battered umbrellas, mercilessly pounding out huge raindrops. This still wasn't the worst part of it, though. No, there was that powerful lighting crashing down everywhere and filling the sky with ghastly light. And then the thunder would follow, and he was always too scared to count the time between the white skies and the claps of sound.

It was just so unmusical, all of it. The blonde couldn't appreciate the sound of waterdroplets everywhere, and he certaintly wasn't going to be singing in the rain anytime soon. Quite the opposite, really. Something about this weather just made him scared out of his mind. Every second he was running through the streets and splashing in puddles just added to it. Because something had convinced him lightning was going to strike him, and just lay him down. Maybe it was a fear of the wrath of god, maybe it was just because he already heard those statistics of how likely it was to get struck. Perhaps it was even all the horrible bedtime stories he had heard as a child. Whatever it was, he knew where he wanted to be right now.

The undead man was throttling Quinns door with his fists, anxiously glancing back over his shoulder. Oh god, there it was again! Lightning filled the sky. It never seemed like it was that far away, and then that sound, how it rocked the entire city. It didn't matter who you were or how nice your hair was (Mind you, his was soaked) the weather was indiscriminately cruel. As soon as the door was opened Taxi would hurl himself at whoever presented themselves and probably never let go.


(Private Rp.)

[Obelisk]

He'd liked storms as a child back when he was human, back when he was alive. Something had changed as the years passed and he no longer enjoyed them as he once had; somehow they'd lost their wonder and their splendor. Lightening was no longer awesome, just flashes in the sky, and thunder was nothing more than a loud, rumbling noise.

Everything was so much more extravagant as a child.

And he didn't like storms anymore because they reminded him of the time he did. Quinn still had the human tendency to reminiscence about times past and people lost. He hated it. It was annoying as hell and just brought down his entire goddamn mood. It was so easy to go on each day without looking back but, then, all of a sudden, his memories would come from nowhere. That's one of the main reasons he did his best to keep himself from boredom. If his mind was occupied with other things -- current things-- he wouldn't have any time to remember.

Now, however, there wasn't anything occupying him and therefore nothing to save him from falling into that unloved spiral of remembrance. Right now his thoughts were on his childhood. He'd been twelve at the time, his brother, Silas, sixteen. They'd been stuck inside due to a similar storm as the one raging outside his apartment window. He recalled his father sitting in his armchair, reading a book on mechanics. His mother had been in the kitchen baking cookies, humming a tune he couldn't quite recall in its entirety. (This bugged him for some reason, pulled at his heart in ways he didn't like.) He and his brother had been playing scrabble on the floor. It was an insignificant memory, but often those were the ones he recalled with greatest clarity.

He still had trouble remembering faces, though, so out of sheer frustration he opened that pandora's box that sat in his closet. Inside were pictures and various other trinkets. He'd picked out one in particular. It was old, sepia-toned, and depicted the image of a modest family of four. His eyes settled on the face of his mother. Silas had always looked like her and Quinn more like his father. He sighed and placed the image facedown on his table next to a half-empty bottle of scotch and an overflowing ashtray.

God. Sometimes he wished he could just stop giving a shit.

A frenzied knock on his door snapped Quinn out of his reverie. The man was up in an instant and pulled the door open to his room, nearly letting the cigarette fall from his mouth as he gawked, shocked as a frightened blond hurled himself towards him. Quinn's heart nearly leapt to his throat as worry shot through him.

" Hey, hey," He spoke softly, strong hand rubbing at the man's back as he held him. "Taxi, what's wrong?"

A million scenarios ran through his head as he fretted over what might've happened. Was he hurt? Did someone harass him?

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Taxi never even had time to worry that Quinn might not be there, that he might not be home, and that he would be forced back into that cold and wet miserable night. Instead he was greeted with a nice dry body to force himself on, which he did. The blonde mop of hair nestled into Quinns chest while his arms found themselves pulled tightly around his neck.

What was wrong? This was a bit difficult to say. Taxi wasn't a shy person, nor was he easily embarassed. But still, being afraid of storms was a bit, uh, odd. Usually children were scared of these things, not full grown... adults? He supposed he was an adult, so this was certaintly a stupid fear. But it was a phobia nonetheless, so he ended up saying it in a whisper. He would only tell Quinn, though. "I-I'm afraid of lightning." The confession would only reach the ears of his lover because he knew he wouldn't laugh at him, no, he would make him feel safe.

For some reason, he just did. It was this building, this room. Taxi usually forgot where places were, hell, he proably wouldn't be able to find the way back to his hotel room. But he had remembered the way here. Even in the midst of thunder and lightning he had found his way into Quinns arms and really didn't ever feel like leaving. It couldn't hurt him here, not even if the entire city collapsed around them.

[Obelisk]

Taxi had been wrong about one thing. Quinn did laugh, but it wasn't a mean, cruel sound. The younger vampire did find it a bit humorous for a grown man (and long-lived vampire) to harbor such a phobia. He found it funny, yes, but he laughed that soft chuckle of his more so because he found this little part of Taxi's psyche endearing.

" It's alright, just a bright light." Quinn consoled, voice a little demure. He was feeling inexplicably tired, but Taxi had been a welcomed pick-me-up as well as a welcomed distraction. The taller of the two pressed his lips against the blonde's forehead before ushering the frightened man inside, closing the door with a light shove of his foot.

Quinn lead him to the single wooden chair he had sitting next to his table and motioned for him to sit down. "Shit, you're all wet." With that, Quinn rummaged around his bathroom for a towel and emerged with it in hand. It wasn't as if vampires could catch a cold but he knew how uncomfortable it could be to be thoroughly soaked to the bone. Besides, he was feeling sentimental. He'd admit to that when hell froze over.

With the faintest huff of a laugh and a small, good-humored smile, the man slung the towel over Taxi's head and rubbed gently, soaking up any excess water. He left the towel alone, allowing Taxi to do the work (he'd do a more thorough job) and kneeled down. Green eyes flicked to meet the older vampire's and Quinn's smile grew into a cheeky grin.

" You were scared... so you came running to me, huh?" The man couldn't help but feel cocky. It was in his nature.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

The laugh didn't bother him enough to draw anything other than a frown from the blonde. The words didn't help much themselves, and it actually caused him to mutter something along the lines of the millions of volts of electricity, but all was mended with the kiss to the forehead. Taxi allowed himself to be sat down, pulling his legs up to his chest and resting his chin inbetween his knees.

The towel was barely even noticed, as his now green eyes had found their way over to the table by his side. What was this? There was a bottle of booze, which he couldn't identify. And next to that was an ashtray that hadn't been emptied out in forever. Not odd, really, it was actually quite expected. But that wasn't what had him staring at the table. There was a photo on it, turned upside down so that he couldn't see what it was. He barely even heard Quinn, but he turned so that their eyes would meet just in time.

"What of it?" A bit of a pout, taking the towel and drying himself off better. Pout turned to smile and he finished the masterful art of poorly getting himself dry. Yellow hair poofed up a bit, but it was as messy as ever. "Who better to run to, then a big sexy srtong man." This wasn't a question or an idle comment, this was stated as a matter of fact.

The older man looked back over at the photo, then back at Quinn, cautiously, warily. "Whats that?" It was a purr, really, or started out as one. And then thunder crashed outside and he absolutely shrunk back into the chair, eyes wide.

[Obelisk]

Taxi's pout and "compliment" only served to widen the man's grin. Quinn's ego purred, even with the sarcastic undertones of the German's words. He was the type of guy who liked the thought of being needed, even sought after. Humored emerald eyes wandered over Taxi's face, and Quinn was feeling better already.

Or not. The smile disappeared and he immediately dropped his gaze to the object in question. He stared long and hard at the picture, as if willing it to go away, to retreat to its rightful place in the cardboard box. He should've just thrown the damned thing in the dumpster like he had planned. He could never bring himself to doing so, however. Attachments to his former life still ran deep.

"It's a picture." Quinn said finally, voice distant. His eyes flicked back to Taxi.

"Just a picture."

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Just a picture translated as, it's a photo, look at it. Sure, he felt bad, especially with the way Quinn seemed to turn to worse. But his curiosity wouldn't be still so he reached over to take a look. It couldn't just be a picture if it bugged him this much.

It was obviously an ancient photo. Four people, two younger ones. Obviously a family, oh, Quinns family? Made sense. He had a brother, then. At one point. And a family. That one was Quinn, yeah, for sure. But to Taxi, this photo, quite honestly, meant nothing. The vampire couldn't make the connection from himself to the past. Sure, he had one, and as mentioned earily he didn't forget it, just chose to ignore it. But as far as childhood, or lost relatives?

None. Everyone was still alive, and annoying as hell, and ancient. It's something he could never quite grasp about others of his species, when they always got all sad about their families that were long and gone. Never had he had this.. emotional attachment. There was no love in his bloodline. Just that, blood. Taxi held the photo, cradling it in his hands, then looked down at Quinn. "Tell me something? About you?"

"...Please?"

[Obelisk]

Aspects of who you were in the past tended to get lost within the shuffle of time and the drastic changes in society. Quinn was a fledgling by anyone's standards and didn't have many years on him, which made it that much harder to let go of his former life. His family had been close-knit, their bonds forged by a deep understanding and honest affection. There'd been love there, despite all the shit Quinn had pulled in his youth (and there'd been a lot.)

He was a man of over eighty years old and he still missed his mother. It was ridiculous but it was the truth. Quinn seemed to have not heard Taxi's words. In fact, the man seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, green eyes still on the other's face but glazed over, distant.

He blinked and saw that Taxi was now examining the picture. Now that Taxi had seen the little paper window into his life, Quinn knew there'd be questions. Questions that wouldn't go away unless he provided some measure of answers to them. He moved, now kneeling at the man and chair's side so that he might examine the picture held within those two pale hands.

Quinn drew in an unneeded breath, released it, and collected his self. " That," He began, voice a little tired, " is my mother." He pointed to the woman with dark hair. She was pretty but not beautiful, not in the traditional way, at least. She radiated strength even through the image. " She stayed at home, took care of me and my brother." He then pointed to the older boy, " That's Silas, my older brother. We never really got a long." A small smile, amused by some memory that had surfaced. " And that is my father. He ran a gas station and auto repair shop." His index finger led their collective gazes to the tall, stern-faced man. He looked strict, but still somehow (despite the black and white picture) seemed to harbor a glint of humor in his squinted eyes.

The younger vampire fell quiet, eyes wandering over the photo. He'd said his piece.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Taxi paid attention, listening thoughfully to Quinns words. It wasn't everyday somebody told him these things, usually he wouldn't care enough to ask, or become close enough to somebody to care. So it wasn't as though he heard a lot of these explinations of family, and he was keenly interested in who these people were. After all, if they were who Quinn loved, then...

Green eyes trailed the moving finger, switching from face to face, absorbing the information. A mother? She looked like she was a great mother to him. The notion of a mother brought fourth a sudden surge to memory in Taxi, which he repressed quickly. He had a brother, so Taxi was right about that. Silas? Odd name. But from Quinns expression, the smile, it seemed that even thought they 'never got along' the sibling still drew forth good memories. The image of his father reminded the German of Quinn himself. All said and done, Taxi couldn't help but continue gazing at the old photograph.

"They sound wonderful." It was distant, as his mind was elsewhere entirely, and he certaintly wasn't smiling. Sadness had nearly coated his features, showing itself in the droop of his eyebrows, the tiniest hint of sorrow in his eyes. It was the lack of a family unit, or rather, having ever experienced a human life. Most vampires could fall back on their memories of childhood, but, he couldn't. Taxi had never been a child in the classical sense. The notion of dismay was quickly washed away when he glanced down at his lover. Something struck him as odd, suddenly. He hadn't mentioned his parents names, but he had said his brothers. Why? Never having been a shy creature, he posed a question. Besides, he'd rather hear Quinns voice than the boom of thunder or the pounding of rain. "They're... gone, then?"

Those same stolen eyes had also figured something out from this. Quinn was young. For him to even have a photo, of when he was a child, but still in black and white, he couldn't be all that old. Hundred years, tops. Not that this was all that odd, he just hadn't quite made the connection before.

[Obelisk]

Quinn said nothing for a long while and instead just stared intently at the picture. It was almost looking at someone else's family but he knew all to well that those faces belonged to people he'd once loved dearly. Before being turned, before being shot out of the sky, before the war -- they'd been his entire world. Now that they were gone his "new" world was one of sin and debauchery. He'd feel no guilt for it though.

" Yeah," He whispered out finally, voice still a little distant. His eyes moved away from that picture and drifted to Taxi's face. " Yeah, they're dead." There was no use in sugarcoating it and hell, he'd had plenty of time to come to terms with his loss. Still, sometimes it bothered him. He didn't want Taxi's pity. He hated anyone feeling bad for him. But... to have someone care enough to feel for him was nice. No one had cared that much for as long as he could remember. Of course, he'd never let anyone get so close as Taxi had now, but that was splitting hairs.

" What about you?" The man questioned? He didn't know why he was curious. Maybe it was because he'd shared an intimate detail of his life and felt that Taxi should return the favor. Or it was because he just wanted to know more about his lover.

Most would wager on the latter.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

He bit his tongue. So they were all dead. Sometimes there were wierd stories, of like, being turned with your sibling, or your parents turning you. This wasn't the case. He was actually rather glad, as these turned out of be horribly disturbed vampires. Well, more disturbed then vampires normally were, anyways. Atleast Quinn had told him.

"Me?" A bit of shock. Nobody ever asked him. This was wierd. Oh well, his lover had told him, so he might as well. Besides, Taxi did keep a photo with him, next to his credit card. Fingers shoved themselves in his pocket and he drew his wallet out, and rummaged around till he drew it out. It was actually rather new looking, couldn't be older then a few years.



The blonde leaned over the edge of the chair and gave it to Quinn, placing the other image back on the table where he found it. It was actually rather hard for him to draw the words up from his throat to explain his family, as they were all alive. Well, as living as the immortals ever could be. Teeth pressed themselves hard into his lip till finally he reached to point himself. "That's me, of course-" That slim white finger shifted over to tap the man with the white hair. How to explain this one? "Dimone, my uncle, the younger of the twins. You.. you can't tell in the photo, as we kinda hid it, but he's 8'9." Taxi avoided mentioning his general appearance other then his height.

He also had purposely skipped over the tiny woman on the chair, moving onto the purple haired girl. "Kochi, Dimones daughter. My cousin, but, we were raised as siblings, born within weeks of eachother." This one wasn't actually hard and he didn't mind mentioning her name. Of course, she was an insane raging butch, but he didn't need to say that. Who was left? Right. A perfectly manicured fingernail drew itself over the image till he landed overtop of the remaining male.

He then drew his hand back into his lap, pulling his legs into his chest once more. This was hard for the German, who spoke quietly, not looking at the photo now. "Kefka..... My, my.. Mein Vater."

[Obelisk]

Quinn was somewhat surprised that Taxi kept a picture of his family. He never pegged the man as the sentimental type, but then again, he never did know much about the man -- save the fact he was dynamite in the sack. He found himself eager to see what Taxi was ready to show him and moved up, head leaning against the blonde's shoulder as his eyes fell upon the picture.

At first he didn't know what to think. Quinn hadn't witnessed many strange things in his life, other than his encounter with vampires and the occasional werewolf. That said, he shouldn't of been as shocked as he was. But as his eyes wandered from person to person he couldn't help but wonder if the photo had been doctored. The elder woman was tiny and the uncle was just plain eerie looking. His cousin was pretty but... wow, a tail. The father appeared to be sure of himself, cocky even.

" They seem...nice." Quinn eventually managed.

At the change in Taxi's demeanor, the man gave pause. He pulled away so that he might examine the blonde's face and he was not pleased with what he found. Far be it for him to pry, but Quinn was worried.

"What's wrong?" He paused then spoke a little more softly, "You and your father have some...issues?" Taxi didn't have to answer if he didn't want to. Quinn just wanted to give the vampire a chance to talk about things if he felt the need.

Talking... that was one thing that they hadn't had much of in their relationship. And despite the less-than-happy subject matter, Quinn found it....nice.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

"Nice?" Taxi couldn't help it. Quinn was trying to be nice. He shouldn't laugh. But he was sent into a fit of giggles, that was, untill the power flickered. The storm was getting closer, crashing down all around them, and threatening to snap away the power. Being in the same room as Quinn suddenly wasn't good enough, he scrambled from the wooden chair and down into his lap, green eyes wide. The photo had flown somewhere in the move, but he couldn't care less. The term quaking in fear applied here, hands clutching onto the taller man for dear life as though he was going to drown.

As soon as he calmed, though, he continued to explain his family from the comfort of the other mans lap. "I guess you could say that, but you could say that about any of us. We're all fucked up, and not in the good way." He managed to smile, a cute amused little thing, pulling up the side of his mouth and perfect little lips every so slightly. "Hell, i'm the most.. normal one." The blonde thought about explaining their odd appearances, to clear up some confusion. But then that would mean he'd have to say her name, and that was something he really, really didn't want to do. Taxi didn't even like thinking the name of his grandmother. There were legends of that crazy bitch being able to hear her name from miles and miles away.

Of course, she was in Germany, with Dimone, but still. Oh right, his father. "Me and my father don't.. understand eachother, you could say. He's a um, money hungry business man who is so incredibly controlling over everything he can't deal with having sex with living women so he fucks corpses." There wasn't a snarl on his face, in fact, Taxi seemed nothing more then happy to discuss this. It wasn't every day he got to rant angrily. Besides, it kept his mind off the scary as hell weather that was going to kill him. "And he calls me a freak for being gay. Huh. Go figure."

[Obelisk]

Quinn could only smile sheepishly at the sound of Taxi's laughter. Yeah, he guessed he'd been kind of silly, what with that "nice" comment, but he hadn't known what else to say. The dark-haired man thought that Taxi found the tone of his spoken word humorous; he had no idea it was because his "nice" really didn't cover it.

Before he had a chance to reply, the blonde threw himself into Quinn's lap. He encircled the other within his arms and held him there. Now it was his turn to laugh. Quinn's chuckles were warm, smooth, and quiet. He rubbed at the smaller man's back in an attempt to sooth him. It still amused him that Taxi was afraid of the weather, but everyone had their phobias. Quinn had issues with dark water.

The chuckles and smile died immediately when Taxi spoke of his father. The sicko was a fucking necrophiliac? That was just... disgusting. Quinn had heard of it but always thought it was a hoax, something you only saw in the movies and shit. He couldn't imagine how weird it would be to be related to someone who screwed dead bodies on a regular basis. He swallowed and managed to gift Taxi a small smile.

" Well, hell. Now if that isn't just disturbing as fuck." He said, voice carrying a hint of sardonic humor.

" He must be pretty fucking warped if he thinks being gay is worse than screwing dead bodies. I mean, come on, right? Where the hell does he get off?" Quinn sighed and shook his head lightly, leaning forward to press a kiss against the smaller man's forehead.

" No wonder you always seem to be out an about. God knows I wouldn't want to go home to that."

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Taxi shrugged, snuggling his head into the crook of Quinns neck. "Can't do anything about it." It was obvious what he meant. The blonde knew he was a kept thing, something which was in no means independant. The notion of him surviving all by himself was ridiculous, so he had no choice but to remain loyal to his family. Not that it bothered him all that much, he had accepted it over a couple of centuries. It didn't mean he couldn't whine about it, or do an imitation or two. "Atleast i'm mostly left alone now, ja? No more, Mortimer, go marry that girl, Mortimer, go join the army, Mortimer, stop getting blood all over my new white carpet!"

It only took him a second to realize that in his mockery of his parent, he had revealed a rather important detail he hadn't previously be let known. Oh. This was unfortunate. Quickly the gears of his brain turned, till he came up with an appropriate distraction. Anything so that Quinn wouldn't notice the massive error he had made or bring up that horribly embarassing name.

"Enough about me, though-" It would also seem that his lover now had the pleasure of experiencing an incredibly talkative Taxi, something that usually only happened when he was as nervous as he was now. He never once forgot about the weather outside, or stopped thinking about what he would do if the lights went out. But he could distract himself and the younger man with talking. Which was actually rather nice, as for being with Quinn so long, it had never occured to him how few words they had exchanged.

"Tell me your greatest fantasy." A devilish little smile coated his features, arms slipping around the mans neck while keeping himself seated comfortably in his lovers lap. Taxi honestly had no idea what Quinn was going to say, or what context the question was going to be taken in, but he was curious to hear what he had to say.