EMPATHY, ;; tag jasper

[HEIDI GERVAISE]

The flight was unbearable, at least near the end. As a lapse in judgement, Heidi had fed before departing Italy, but she had not absolutely glutted herself on human blood. Trapped two miles above the earth's surface in a flying metal tube with wings and potential victims measuring in the hundreds, she clutched hard at at her knees with her hands, knuckles stone white (but wasn't the rest of her?) just because anything else -- food tray, arm rest, head rest -- would probably be crushed to powder beneath her grip. If the person seated next to her panicked, heart pounding, blood rushing to fill his cheeks with color, impulses crackling with fight or flight, Heidi didn't want to think of the delicious consequences. The Volturi, the rest of them, would not be too pleased with her, and her only current goal was just to please them.

In her aggravation, Heidi managed to be the first off the flight, up and out before the man beside her could valiantly offer to help her with her carry-on. The vampire left him in her wake, stunned and wondering if this was what jet lag was all about. Sea-Tac was crowded, filled with people who fit into one of two categories: in too much of a rush to watch where they were going, or stranded, delayed, and angrily waiting. Somewhere, too close, children were screaming. High pitched and sour, it caused Heidi to pick up her pace now to a brisk human walk, heels tapping out her emotions in sharp, stiletto counts. This. Sucks. Stupid. Seattle. Why? God! Perhaps volunteering herself for this endeavor was a mistake...

Like a child, hunger made her huffy.

The stay was torture. Seattle was not what she had been expecting. The people were kinder than in other major U.S. cities she had visited -- not as brash or as rude. The sidewalks were wider. There was a balance between charm and metropolitan atmosphere. There was no great history, but there were beautiful places. For several days Heidi had tried to purposely put herself in the line of danger, if danger were a possibility. She made herself a target, a pretty girl, all alone, apparently weak, wandering down alleys and deserted streets in the dead of night. She used herself as bait, attempting to lure any mindless newborn or at least attract the attention of a mature vampire who may be more familiar with the situation she had come ahead to investigate. Heidi could not even manage to get herself mugged. A short stretch of epic failure continued, and, utterly dejected, Heidi gave up with that approach and moved on to her next task: Find Carlisle Cullen.

So far, her experience in the states had been fraught with disappointment, but this, this was bliss. It had been said once that a man would commit his life to a demon, so long as it was a beautiful demon. Heidi lapped contentedly at his neck, a kitten quietly serving itself as the milk spilled over, soaking into his clothes, running down his limbs, dripping away, lost forever, sopped up by dank soil. His heart was so loud, the arteries in his throat echoing the surprisingly strong but exponentially slowing rythm. Her hold on his arms was vice-like, pinning them. His head was tilted away, allowing adequate and open access to the territory her lips claimed. He whimpered and whined, but she was so entranced by the taste of him that Heidi confused pain and misery for something more intimate and satisfying. He never screamed, not because he wasn't scared for his life, but because she had whispered that this was really what he wanted, to be with her, and help would never come for him anyways. The human mind, glamored by her beauty, by her power, helplessly and hopelessly agreed.

Did he curse himself for wandering into the woods alone? Was his life flashing before his eyes, everything that occurred before he sullenly meant to hike his troubles away by leaving the civilized world and breaching the woods of the Olympic peninsula's forests? Probably, but Heidi neither knew or care. Her own thoughts were swimming, floating away under a wash of red waves. In this state, who would ever wish to swim back to shore and worry about some frail mortal things few years spent meandering a corner of the planet? It mattered very little to her how he came to cross her path while she had left the city behind her to feed on silly, lost lambs just like him. It only mattered that he tasted of richness, sweet with age and vigor, with undertones of the heady note that was confined solely to the blood of men and unique amongst every one of them. So, in a state of mind that bordered on both madness and ecstasy, Heidi finally quenched her long parching thirst.

[JASPER HALE]

This was partly the reason that Jasper preferred to go hunting with Edward, or Alice. Emmett seemed to bugger off constantly, or maybe he just buggered off on Jasper. Either way, Jasper had lost Emmett, so he was on his own for the moment, tracking a stag through the trees. Truth be told, Jasper wasn't actually hungry, and he knew for a fact that Emmett wasn't either, but there hadn't exactly been anything better to do, and Jasper liked to take up any opportunity he got to feed. It was his instinct reaction to trying to live peacefully among humans; feed every chance you got to lower the chance of losing control. It was easier for him this way, though the term easy couldn't ever be said about Jasper. Each day was a struggle, not having that satisfaction of human blood, but each day he was around a bounty of humans was even harder. Why did there have to be so much temptation? For Jasper, it was like an alcoholic living in an off license. There was no escape from the thing you craved most, yet really didn't want to succumb to. It was the succumbing part that Jasper struggled with more than any of his family.

But Alice made it all the more possible for Jasper to cope with this lifestyle. And he really wouldn't want to return to drinking human blood either, if only for the fact that he had to suffer alongside his prey when their emotions reflected the situation. That was perhaps the most painful part of drinking human blood, in Jasper's opinion. Animal blood wasn't as bad, mainly because the deer and bears were always on red alert, and Jasper secretly convinced himself that if he didn't get this animal, another animal or vampire would. And most other humans lived off animals in some form or another too, which gave him a little more peace of mind. But he had to quench his thirst, otherwise, who knew what would happen. That wasn't something he cared to think about.

Not bothering to find Emmett, Jasper continued to stalk the stag, silently watching it through a small break in the trees as it nibbled at the undergrowth. When the wind picked up and decided to change direction, Jasper made his move, slipping towards the deer, grinning at how slow it was to understand it was being preyed on even. But the wind change had other things in mind for Jasper, and he snapped himself to a stop as he smelt it. Human blood, exposed, tempting him. He froze, watching the deer run off through the trees. His meal was getting away, and all he could do was stand there, to stop himself from turning towards the temptation. Unfortunately for Jasper, wherever this injured human was, it wasn't far from where he was standing, and Jasper suddenly realised that he was feeling so much fear. Not his own.

Unable to do anything but follow the scent and emotions pulsating from this person, Jasper walked into the direction of the wind, only to come across a woman, and man. It didn't take Einstein to figure out what the woman was doing. Though he didn't want to walk further, his mind subconsciously forced his legs forward until he was standing right in front of them both. The man's eyes shot towards Jasper, followed by an influx of the help signal. It was practically suffocating, the amount of fear and desire to stay alive, that this man was forcing onto Jasper; and it instantly repelled Jasper from wanting some of his blood. But the smell was just as over powering, and Jasper closed his eyes, trying hard to concentrate on what he wanted more. Which wasn't this man's blood. Human blood. It was horrible. It made Jasper's eyes roll back inside his head under their eyelids, as if he was slipping into unconsciousness. If he had a heart, it would have been beating harder and faster than the victim's. Images flicked in front of Jasper's eyes as he stood there, trying to focus. But the more he focused, the more the images turned to desire, desire to drink the blood. How sweet it smelled, like a cherry to an apple. How smooth it felt, like silk to felt.

"Stop it!" Jasper yelled suddenly, his eyes springing open, a look of pure disgust on his face. It appeared as though he was ordering this woman to stop, however, he had actually yelled at himself, for letting himself be indulged in the thoughts of what it was like to drink human blood. He was disgusted with himself. How could he possibly think like that? After everything he'd experienced previously over that lifestyle, how could he just let it all flood back into his head as if it were what he wanted? It wasn't, and he knew that, consciously and subconsciously. It was pathetic. He had to be strong. Take control of himself and the temptation and just say no. That was easier said than done, though.

[HEIDI GERVAISE]

It has been said that many of the sensations to do with consuming food and drink have more to do with pleasure and less to do about sustenance. People should eat to survive, but there were many things that humans put in their mouths that were not necessary to their survival or even moderate well being, but they could not give up simply because these dishes tasted too good. They were favorites. They could not be done without. It brought people great joy to consume these particular items. People were always drawn to what made them feel better, things that they wanted, never just what they needed.

When one cheats death, moving from human being to something greater, to a vampire, the senses heighten. Hearing, feeling, smelling, seeing, and tasting is now a more complex experience. The memory of food is suddenly better than the new experience of it. What was once delicious is now bland, tasteless, and disgusting. The only thing now that tastes better than before is blood. The dark, old metallic smell is more floral, sweeter, and far more satisfying. The only comparison that could be made is to a highly addictive drug. Upon sensing it, Heidi felt she must have it. When restricted from having it, she would do almost anything to get it. And here, draining this man of his life, teeth buried into his flesh with lips pressed hard again his throat, there was very little that could stop her.

"Stop it!"

Well, just because he yelled it, didn't mean she would listen. It did, however, get her attention. Heidi's eyes fluttered open slightly to perceive this male vampire in front of her, agonizing and angry. Here, drinking her fill, lost in the feeling of feasting, she could not understand his contempt. Had she offended him? Had he been tracking this human? Impossible. Heidi had herself come across this hiker and seduced him into being her kill. If in fact she was in this other vampire's way, he would've made himself known far earlier. Still, Heidi was too social to be selfish with her food. She detached her mouth from the man's neck, soft as a kiss, and licked her teeth before smiling at Jasper.

"What's wrong? I'm more than willing to share," she offered, flirtatious in her tone, but it was a terribly, terribly difficult thing to mean. In Volterra, there was no shortage in victims. Blood flowed, and sharing a meal was not hard. This, it was slightly uncomfortable. This was Heidi's first drink since coming to the states, but here, alone, she didn't want to offend someone who wanted to claim the territory for his or herself. She could hold her own in a fight, but she never wanted to. The Volturi name was often adequate protection, but even Heidi was smart enough to watch her step in unfamiliar places.

Apart from the pounding, frightened heart of the hiker, her thoughts began to sober up and focus on the here and now. The male vampire looked... disgusted? Well, that couldn't be right. Looks she were used to were of longing, lust, want and desire, never of disgust, and in all of her memories Heidi could not remember one fraction of a moment where anyone had ever looked in her general direction with a face like that. When those heavily lidded eyes of hers opened up more to take in this new vampire, she finally noticed it -- where her eyes were a stark scarlet, unmissable without the protective and disguising color of her blue contacts (which only worked half-way, creating an unique lavender), his eyes were a deep golden hue, like aged jewelry or autumn leaves freshly turned. She had heard of this, hadn't she? Perhaps this vampire here staring at her in such a discouraging way (the more he did it, the more she thought she didn't like him) was part of the coven she was meant to find, the Cullens. Aro had warned her that they were strange because they posed as a family, not in the way Heidi thought of the other guard as family, but in that they called each other mother, father, brother, sister, son, or daughter. In the way Heidi perhaps wanted the Volturi to be.

'Shit...'

How terrible would it be to fail before she had even tried to befriend, or at least investigate, this strange vegetarian family. She had been sent with a gift to deliver. If now she had offended a Cullen, and he, no doubt, would tell the others, how welcome would she be? Worse yet, how would she explain to the leaders upon her return? A bit panicked, and probably overreacting, she tried to tap into the more conscious aspects of her own ability. If she knew his desires, Heidi hoped she could gain some advantage, unaware that this vampire had an ability all his own. It did her no good. All she could sense was that he was fighting some inner battle, some greater turmoil than her presence in his backyard. First he wanted to take her up on her offer, than he didn't. The back and forth was dizzying. She quickly recoiled, thinking it was better to try not to pay attention. It was less of a headache.

[JASPER HALE]

The temptation was more painful than anything else. Yet, pain was something Jasper had slowly become accustomed to over the years, in the sense that all pain seemed to present itself in the form of a dull numbing sensation. It was as if Jasper was slowly becoming comfortably numb, as Pink Floyd had sung about. However, despite being accustomed to pain, Jasper was not immune to it, and there was always a moment when he could not, no matter how hard he tried, ease the pain of certain things. And the temptation of human blood, flowing freely in the near vicinity, tempting him beyond sanity, was one of these certain things that could send Jasper into convulsion if he succumbed to it.

Every inch of him was agitated, impatient for him to give into the temptation and just go crazy with hunger. Yet Jasper was stronger than this. He could do it, if he stayed focused. The desire to join this female vampire in her feast was only second to Jasper's determination to refuse said desire. If he could just make himself walk away, he might be able to possibly be proud of himself. However, putting his legs into action was much harder at the present moment. His mind was conflicted between conscious and subconscious goals, which made it hard for his brain to signal his legs into any form of action. Not even into an action that Jasper wanted to avoid, which involved crouching down.

Inwardly, as the woman raised her attention to himself instead of her victim, Jasper prayed she would fight him off, force him to retreat. Even hurriedly drain this man's blood would suffice for Jasper. Just any way to prevent him from tasting the glorious smelling liquid. Then he was distracted slightly from his thoughts, her own emotions engulfing him; a strong blend of false willingness and discomfort. Jasper read the signs clearer than he needed to, but was glad he could sense the lie she had spoke to him. Yet, as much as she disliked to offer her feast, her words penetrated Jasper's mind and repeated themselves over and over, like scratched CD, stuck on the same two seconds of a song, nagging away at his mind. It was unbearable; controlling. Jasper struggled immensely to find himself again, desperate to focus on anything other than the offer she had presented to himself.

'It is inhumane, Jasper. You are stronger than this, Jasper. What would Alice think, Jasper? Where did Emmett get to, Jasper? Remember how much it hurt everyone last time, Jasper'

Despite his best efforts to focus his thoughts on something to deter him from the pungent smell lingering in his nostrils, Jasper wasn't succeeding too well. However, he was still rigid, a clear sign that he was doing better than when Bella had only just broke the skin on her finger that evening. It gave him a tiny flicker of hope, of confidence; the hope and confidence he would usually receive from Alice, had she been by his side right now. Jasper's attention was once again diverted once again, by another new stab of emotions from this woman. Dislike. Envy? Jasper was a little unsure on that last one, but it made his face falter for a second before he re-composed himself to present a much more harmonious expression, yet still as stiff as before. It honestly was the only way Jasper knew how to cope with type of situation. Believing he was frozen reassured him that he wouldn't jump at any sudden movements, despite how much he knew he was nowhere near being frozen.

Finally Jasper let himself speak. "Thank you, but please continue without me..." it was a pathetic attempt at keeping his polite usual self, but the inner desire to cave into the temptation in between them was powerful enough to completely alter Jasper. In ways even he was surprised at. He wanted to scream at her to stop him, prevent him from intruding, attack him for invading. Anything that would take away all this drama, the pain. As glorious as the blood smelt, it stung Jasper, as if a wasp had flown inside his nostrils and stung him numerous times. He did not want this. Yet he did. The confusion only made the pain more unbearable. "Please," Jasper whispered, his eyes closing again, rolling back inside his head as if he had been knocked unconscious by a heavy blow to the head. This woman's sudden panic didn't help Jasper either. It only heightened his struggle, making his face twitch, several nerves going crazy for a moment.

Jasper couldn't let himself go on any further. If there was one thing that could comfort him in this type of situation, other than Alice, it was a false sense of security. He concentrated hard for a moment, despite the fact he was finding it hard to focus, but slowly, as if a fog had decided to settle over them, an invisible cloud of comfort weighed down. Jasper could feel it touch his head and then slowly float down towards the ground, until he was covered in it completely. It was a slight relief, though he knew it could only work so well for so long, until something set him off again into an unwanted frenzy. He just need to hold out until he could make this woman understand.

[HEIDI GERVAISE]

Heidi continued to stare at him, all too aware of the hiker in her grasp, too tired to struggle and now too weak to move. Despite the luxurious bounty waiting in the veins of this human's soon to be lifeless shell -- and it is never as good when they are completely lifeless -- those red eyes would not be torn away from Jasper. There wasn't anything particular about him. He was not exceptionally beautiful, not any more than the average of her kind, but she had the good sense to tell that he was, in fact, not average at all. Whether this made him better or worse, that was anyone's guess. The only thing that Heidi ever knew for sure is that unless a vampire was another member of the Volturi, it was a given that he or she was not better than Heidi. Perhaps it was this ego that made her comfortable, a cushion from the troubles of regular nomads and now vegetarian covens below. She was selfish and thought too highly of herself, but she was ever the flirt in nature. She was always social, only just out of reach, and that's the way she preferred to keep it. Just because she thought too much of herself didn't mean she wasn't willing to play nice. In her mind, Heidi thought this was benevolence.

If they were being polite, she was going to follow suite. Minus the staring, but that she couldn't help. This man was standing statue stiff, spine ramrod straight. That was normal amongst her kind. What was not normal was his demeanor, his overall expression of pain, the unsaid impression that somehow Heidi might have just ruined his day just as much as he ruined her standing with Carlisle Cullen. Oh, worse yet, could this in fact be the Carlise Cullen she was meant to find? There was another rush of panic, but it disappated as quickly as it came. There had never been a social situation in this life that she could not have go her way. This strange vampire was understanding enough to suggest that Heidi continue without him. He was not aggressive, but then again she had never heard of someone turning down a shared sip.

'Vegetarians are weird,' was her immature analysis.

There was a time and place for ethics, but the borderlines were grey and fuzzy and often times too microscopic to see. In a world with no written laws, only retribution and consequence, the use of her abilities was often a game. Heidi used it to bring little lambs to their slaughter, and sometimes, when she was feeling particularly merciful, she would make her prey believe that it was a lamb's every joy to feed a hungry wolf so that they'd march into their own funerals with smiles and sunny dispositions. At her cruelest, she made these lambs believe that there was hope, that some kind force would save them from death until the very last beat of their hearts, until conscious thought was a distant memory. Adrenaline is a delicious spice, that something extra to add to the pot. That's lost when the victims give up hope, but just because Heidi made them believe, persuaded them to know all was not lost with every fiber of their being, didn't make it true. Just because you want something bad enough doesn't mean you're ever going to get it; it's a harsh lesson, especially coming from someone who couldn't remember the last time she needed to want for anything.

On the subject of today, in this exact moment, her steps would have to be more ginger. For now, Heidi intended to work things out the old fashioned way. There was no telling what would upset the leaders, after all. Some times their intentions were unclear, though when you've grown to such a tremendous age, Heidi supposed that the only thing to do to entertain yourself was to just make life purposefully hard. Too bad it's the people around you, below you, that suffer. Heidi could, for all intents and purposes, demand that Carlisle march back to Volterra with her, insist that he stay, make him tell her everything she knows, but Aro specifically said that wouldn't do. There was something about these Cullens that was of particular interest to him. That could go one of two ways: vampires who found themselves of interest to Aro were either inducted into the guard or decimated. There was no option C. Still, looking at Jasper, she couldn't say which fate she would prefer for him. Well, really, it wasn't her business to guess at Aro's decisions anyway.

"My name is Heidi Gervaise," She said sweetly. Presumably she would've offered hand to shake, or in the fashion she was more used to, be kissed, but for as coherent as she seemed Heidi was still in the lesser throes of blood lust. Releasing her grip wasn't really an option without conscious, considerable effort. "I'm not from here," she continued, an invitation for more. A word, a thought, anything she could use from him to go off of.

[JASPER HALE]

The discomfort of the situation only worsened as this female vampire stared at Jasper. And it wasn't so much the fact she was staring, it was how she presented the gesture. An act of superiority. At least, it felt that way to Jasper. Although he couldn't be sure whether it truly was superiority that she was offering to her surroundings, Jasper still wasn't impressed with with the motion, even if he was judging it wrongly. Jasper didn't take kindly to a superiority complex, if only for the fact he'd dealt with the likes of Maria on a similar scale, and frankly, it reminded him all too closely of her. Maria wasn't a being that Jasper loathed, by all means she had started his journey to Alice, if he wanted to give her credit, yet Jasper wasn't going to openly express how he liked her even for a slight moment, based on the fact she'd made him suffer too much.

His nostrils flared momentarily, with each non-existent breath he drew in. One would have perhaps wondered why Jasper would continue to draw air in through his nose with the malicious aroma stinging him each time he did so, but for Jasper, even if he stopped it would make no difference. There would still be that bloody aroma, linger in his nostrils, like a terminal illness, ready to pounce the moment his immune system faltered. His immune system being his self control.

Again a heightened sense of panic rose through Jasper, but it disappeared before he had a chance to ponder it, which he wasn't going to question, either. Still, Jasper didn't quite understand why she would in any way feel the need to panic. Sure, he had intruded, but he thought by now he would have made it clear he wasn't consciously interested in her meal, despite that his instincts were trying to tell him otherwise. Perhaps she thought all his efforts at restraint were threats, or warnings, or some other Godforsaken attack. Jasper inwardly hoped she wasn't reading him this way. The last thing he wanted was to appear standoffish and threatening. His morals and ethics voted against that sort of thing, and they always had done, so naturally he didn't want to appear this way.

Heidi Gervaise. That named sounded somewhat familiar, but Jasper couldn't put a finger on it, and nor did he care at the present moment. Whoever she was, couldn't she understand that Jasper was struggling here? Obviously not, but Jasper wasn't about to start being rude just because he had his own problems. It wasn't fair to put that sort of thing on someone else, let alone a completely stranger. Or supposed complete stranger. "Um," Jasper began, closing his eyes in concentration as his mind threatened to snap at the sudden change in his state. Even speaking changed his control in the tiniest way, and that wasn't a good feeling. "Jasper Hale," he finally forced out, screwing his face up. However, the presence of his false security linger over himself made him grateful, if only for the fact it was providing a little more aid for his self control.

"I'm not from here."

The urge to smile at that comment came about, but Jasper resisted, knowing full well it probably wouldn't seem polite, and not do himself any good in his situation. For a moment, Jasper wasn't exactly sure how to respond, amongst not wanting to say anything else because at the moment it was about as enjoyable as losing to Emmett. However, once again, Jasper didn't want to appear any more rude than he obviously already was. "I live just over the other side of the forest, by the stream," or did he? Caught up in all the self drama, Jasper had actually forgotten where he was presently. He desperately searched for the will to move his eyes, slowly moving them to stare out the corner of his eyes, before out the other corner, taking in his surroundings. Oh, what did he care? If she wasn't from around here, she obviously didn't know the other side of the forest, so Jasper decided he didn't need to worry himself over it. Worry was merely only going to put more strain on himself. Strain he wouldn't welcome, and therefore wouldn't bother with.

OOC: BLEH, SORRY >_>

[HEIDI GERVAISE]

"Jasper Hale," he had said, and somewhere she was reassured. Hale, not Cullen, hopefully meant that nothing was ruined ('No' she thought to herself, 'There was never any risk of me ruining things at all'). Hale, not Cullen, meant that Heidi had found her first potential source of information and maybe even entertainment. And if perhaps he could stand to be more social, there existed the chance where the two could see one another on a different occasion in a friendly way. A companion in these new parts could be nice, but as it was going, things weren't looking so great.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jasper Hale," Heidi said in her lilting accent, still not letting this poor impression of his quell her amicable nature. Words sounded softer the way they rolled off of her tongue. The way she said things almost sang like a lullaby. The way they felt was magnetic, not for what was said but simply how she always seemed to say it. "You're the first vampire I've seen in a while." It was a matter of reference. Days apart from the other Volturi was a long time to her. After her 're-creation' into Henri's play-thing, the longest she had been away from other vampires was mere weeks, and even that was a one time occurrence. It was her newborn rampage before Eleazar picked her up and took her away, but that was over a half-century ago. After that, Volterra was her home and she never meant to part from it. Heidi was only in the states because this was her one great chance to prove herself.

The hiker had been moving, in the human way at least. The heart would beat, the blood would pulse under the skin, fingers would slowly, almost imperceptibly, draw inwards before flexing outwards. Perhaps, somewhere under those protective boots, his toes were doing the same thing. It was nothing large, nothing threatening, and nothing anyone would notice unless they were the sort of creature that didn't unconsciously bend and twitch like humans did. With the victim as weak as he was, Heidi had largely ignored these fractions of actions. It wasn't as if he could fight back, and, as stated before, he had been convinced not to anyway. It was only when he lifted his head, using her own stone-strong arms to push himself upwards, opening his mouth to take one last gasping breath, that Heidi broke her gaze away from Jasper. The hiker shuddered before falling limp, that last inhalation wheezing back out, released by muscles no longer controlled by a brain or powered by other delicate organs.

'Ugh,' she thought, letting her prey drop. It crumpled into a heap, far more flexible than he had ever been in life and sickening in his impossible positioning. And there it was, the expiration date. Like water that wasn't quite cold anymore or soda that had lost its carbonation -- the satisfaction it used to give would no longer be present if she continued. The blood will never be quite as refreshing as it once was. Funny, Heidi thought even the blood of a human after it had just passed was better than animal's blood, but she wasn't hungry enough for either at the moment, or brazen enough to share her opinions with her vegetarian company. He probably knew it just as well as she did; heavens only knew what these vampires did to keep away from it. That sort of self control was something Heidi probably wasn't capable of. If someone had told her she could only feed on deer or pigs or whatever lower creature these woods inhabited she would be sure to do the opposite, binging on every person she could find. Her scarlet eyes lingered on the lifeless body, looking disappointed, but appearances were more exaggerated than her actual feelings. Oh well, she had not let most of it go to waste.

In this brief moment of distraction an idea struck Heidi. It was late in coming, but sometimes that was the case in her little bubble head. Perhaps that look of pain was caused by her? If those silly animal rights activists were disgusted by other people wearing fur, could a vegetarian of her kind be truly disgusted with someone feeding, well, normally? The similarity was loose, but in her mind it was explanation enough. It said something to her character as well; she had just likened humans with a luxurious mink coat -- potential pets, but better off serving Heidi's, or any vampire's, purposes. Now, in all actuality, Jasper had come across Heidi and Heidi was not forcing him to stay, but that was not where her thoughts veered to. She had a normal abhorrence of Debbie-Downers, and felt compelled to fix him. In that same manner, Heidi thought she could help solve this awkwardness.

"Do you want me to leave? You don't seem... comfortable." but even her statement was intoned in such a way that it sounded more like a question, as if she wanted to be corrected and reassured that she wasn't really the problem. He had been incredibly understanding of her. Jasper hadn't tried to tell her what she was doing was wrong, and she would return that kindness. His way of life was not one that she agreed with, but here, today, she could respect it. If Jasper asked it of her, Heidi could haul up this nearly drained corpse and leave this new acquaintance behind all by his lonesome.

[JASPER HALE]

Heidi offered a sense of reassurance to Jasper, and he wondered why she was feeling reassured. Had he said or done something that had caused this? He was unsure, and puzzled. What was there for her to be reassured over? Was his presence enough to make her uncomfortable? Jasper suddenly felt as if all his efforts to appear polite and honest to his true persona, a gentleman, had been a failure. Was he really coming off as such a person that Heidi was not comfortable around? It occurred to Jasper that maybe she wasn't used to people such as himself, but then it registered that she was also being polite, and he questioned himself again.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jasper Hale."

In that case, why the sudden reassurance? It was rather baffling, but Jasper honestly had no idea how to approach the situation, if only for the fact he wasn't sure he wanted Heidi to know he was capable of empathy. You could never be too careful with strange vampires, despite how uncool others seemed to find Jasper's gift. He often felt neglected in regards to gifts, especially standing alongside Edward and Alice. There was no competing with them, even though Jasper strongly disliked serious competition. But people just forgot he had a gift too, however slight it was, and sometimes it got to him. Was empathy not classed as special? He didn't know. Still, he tried to ignore how he felt about gifts. If anything, his was just a nuisance to him. Being smothered in other people's emotions constantly.

"And it's an equal pleasure to bask in your beauty, Heidi Gervaise," Jasper replied politely, finally deciding to acknowledge how beautiful Heidi truly was. However, as stunning as she was, Jasper secretly couldn't help but compare how he perceived her against Alice. Certainly she was beautiful, but for Jasper, Heidi barely came close to how his eyes viewed Alice. Obviously Heidi was not his type. There was only one type for Jasper, and in came in the form of Alice. Thinking about her, seeing the vivid memories of his wife, Jasper smiled to himself. He couldn't help it, and nor could he help comparing Heidi to Alice. It actually wasn't very like Jasper to do it, and he mentally slapped himself for doing it. Maybe Emmett was rubbing off on him. Or Rosalie.

"Oh? I'm surprised you haven't seen any others. There's a few of us around here," Jasper commented, smiling amusedly as he looked into Heidi's eyes. Crimson eyes. Jasper had long forgotten that vampires naturally had those bright red eyes, even though it wasn't long ago red eyed vampires had been in his company. Despite once having the same red hue to his eyes, Jasper found it oddly disturbing to see them again, now his own eyes were a much more subtle topaz colour. When he'd first met Alice, it had taken some time to remove the red hue from his eyes, and he'd resorted to wearing contacts around humans, giving him pure black eyes constantly, despite the red hue, which slowly had faded to sienna, before hitting terracotta and finally reaching the topaz hue like Alice's. Jasper noted to himself that he much preferred gold eyes to red ones.

With every second, the smell of Heidi's victim dampened, slowly losing it's pizzazz, sending relief through Jasper, if only it was slight at the moment. The blood's aroma was still mighty strong, yet not as overwhelming as it had been moments ago when he was alive. Death was not something Jasper liked to see, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit glad that this man was no longer pulsating with fresh delicious tempting life. It was a horrible thing to feel, but it was for the better, Jasper decided. At least this way he had no contact with this man's death, and he could continue guiltless. Although, he had watched him die, stood by while his life had been drained by this very attractive vampire. And that was enough for Jasper to feel guilty for the rest of his eternal life. Enough for him to feel as if he could have saved the man, helped continue living a happy and fulfilling life. Yet he hadn't. And it would eat away at him, even though he knew that even his attempts would have not paid off. They would have possibly caused him to aid in the man's death. And Jasper would prefer to stay as Switzerland, and not take sides.

Jasper, however, was not sorry he was gone for the moment, despite what feelings Heidi threw at him. He didn't blame her though. Her meal had basically just gone cold, and no one liked a cold meal. Well most normal people, and vampires. It wasn't as if he would ever drain leftovers from a dead deer. It would most likely make him gag, so he understood why Heidi obviously was disgruntled over the permanent death of her 'supper'. "I'm sorry you missed out on... him," Jasper said, a little uncertain, as he pointed to the limp hiker. "Please don't hold it against me. I didn't mean to intrude," Jasper went on, his tone sympathetic, but not completely apologetic. How could he be completely sorry this man was dead when it gave him so much relief to have all that blood slowly going bitter, becoming less tempting by the second? He couldn't, and he wasn't going to lie about it either. Not to anyone, particularly himself.

"Do you want me to leave? You don't seem... comfortable."

A initial reaction of shock hit Jasper, before he smiled at Heidi and shook his head. It was very polite of her to suggest it, but he honestly could stick it out now, without the suffocating smell of her meal. "Oh no, please do not leave because of me! I'm just a little new to the vegetarian way of life... Still,' there wasn't complete truth in his words. Jasper was technically not new to vegetarian way of life, yet he struggled with it insanely. He tried his best, but he figured perhaps he was still relatively new to it, alongside the rest of his family. "I should be fine, now that he's, well, gone cold," he added, gesturing once more the hiker who was no longer with them.

[HEIDI GERVAISE]

"And it's an equal pleasure to bask in your beauty, Heidi Gervaise," He had said, and she couldn't help but smile. Flattery was the key to her very being. The more this Jasper Hale spoke, the more she enjoyed it and, in equal measure, the more her original dislike of him began to falter. This vampire's language had a sense of charm that was lost in modernization. Even if it wasn't outright, she could hear some age in that gentlemanly demeanor for simple fact that very few this day and age could be so verbally flowery, almost poetic in how they formulated their sentences, without risking sacrificing either masculinity or dignity. To Japser it seemed natural. By this Heidi figured he was old, at least older than herself. Still, he sounded completely american in his accent, so how old could that possibly be?

Her sense of world history had never been great, but somewhere between one hundred and two hundred seemed right. At the very least, Heidi could average, so, in her mind, she decided one-fifty was appropriate. Yes, she was probably wrong or completely off the mark, but Heidi didn't acknowledge it. She could always ask, but it didn't seem important. Some vampires took it as a point of pride, assuming age with power. The Volturi took a different stance, though many in their ranks were well over the half-century mark: power in numbers, in reputation, and supernatural abilities. This brought to mind the only tactical thing Felix had told her that actually stuck, "There are all sorts of things one can do to relinquish an upper hand. Don't let them betray you." Or something along those lines. Heidi couldn't remember it verbatim. On second thought, she may have cut apart two seperate lessons and merged them together somehow. Heidi should have inwardly scolded herself for not paying attention, but really, she didn't have self-control enough to force herself to think of boring things as important. She had always left tactics to the others. Perhaps that was they were advancing, and Heidi felt left behind, but odds were that she would never put two and two together.

"Oh? I'm surprised you haven't seen any others. There's a few of us around here." Immediately, Heidi should've thought to ask if this Jasper was acquainted with a Carlisle, but her line of thought had been distracted (which was so easily and often done). She felt something stir in him, a sort of longing and adoration, something she could easily recognize, but for once, the object of her company's affections was not her. Still, Heidi's ego remained unbruised. Her kind had a habit of attaching themselves entirely to another. Mating for life seems much the understatement when mortality was never an issue. These feelings were strong and often unbreakable. The empirical evidence existed that some of these relationships were more impermanent than others, and Heidi had gathered it herself. "Oh..." The sound escaped from behind pursed lips, more at her realization than what Jasper had said. Whoever he was so attached to, though, it didn't seem like an attachment she could (though in her mind she said 'cared to', implying her own volition) break.

Her eyes fell again on the pathetic body of her fallen prey. 'Crumpled' seemed the best description. Hold it against Jasper? She couldn't really, not with the haze of bloodlust clearing from her mind, as if a fog had cleared in her consciousness and once again she could see her surroundings for what they really were and not through the imperfect senses of someone in a daze. Gently, Heidi shook her head. "You couldn't possibly intrude, so apologies are not necessary. If anything, perhaps it is I that should be saying my sorries. If you maintain a residence close by, then I'm sure I've stepped onto land you and these others you've mentioned claim." It was always a risk, in new places, and some were more defensive about it than others. Supposedly that's what all this mess in Washington was about: claiming land. It made newborns and mature vampires alike seem like common human gangbangers.

It was sweet of him to be so... understanding, especially considering their differences in opinion on human life, whether Jasper was new to these manners or not. While he spoke, Heidi thought him to be kind and warm. Friendly. Her thoughts drifted though. Watching this body, Heidi realized that it was already in the process of decomposing. The stench would turn, at least enough for their heightened senses to be able to tell, in under an hour if not less. This was a triviality that she had not dealt with in years. The disposal of human visitors to Voleterra's inner sanctums were left in the capable hands of the less important. Heidi walked the meals in, someone else dealt with clean up. In this situation though, there existed an apparent care about humanity from these 'vegetarians'. Did this also mean an necessary adherence to human customs? She would generally leave the hiker here, to be fed on by scavengers and carrion eaters. They had bears here, didn't they? Isn't that what's mean by the circle of life? This particular moment though, in an attempt to be diplomatic, Heidi made an offer she had never before made in her life: "I could bury him. The end of her statement tapered off, as if she were asking for permission or disapproval. This was unfamiliar ground, and she wasn't entirely sure of her footing.