(Ok, I’ll reply first, then give the explanation.)

(Alrighty.)

{Lucci just chuckles. Dianne, however, seemed less amused. She swiftly kicks Armin’s junk, grabbing him by the coat and winding up to slug him.}
Dianne: “You A$&HOLE! You know how f’ing painful that would have been for me?! I would have been off my feet for weeks! Oh, but you think it’s all a joke, don’t you?!”

{Lucci quickly got between them, keeping Dianne from beating the crap out of Armin, trying to calm her down amidst the insults and swearing.}

(So, you remember how Dianne got her power by undergoing that ritual, which had a side effect of making her immortal. The specifics of this are as follows: Periodically, her body undergoes a cellular reset, making her physically identical to how she was when she underwent the ritual. The force that causes this is magical. Now, this force works in unition with her immune system to destroy pathogens and prevent lasting cellular change. However, Vampire Venom is specific in that it causes radical cellular change. Even if it wouldn’t turn a non human, that magical force that resists cellular change

...would recognize the venom as a threat and attack it, causing an adverse impact on Dianne, as her body would be convinced that it is sick. Does that make sense?)

(Yeah, that makes sense! That's a very well-thought-out explanation, I like it. :D Out of curiosity, has she ever actually had this happen to her before, or does she just know that it /would/ happen?)

(Also, would a werewolf bite have a similar effect, since werewolves can also Turn humans?)

(It happened. XD Some punk at some point who didn’t understand how vampires work bit her and she had a bad time. Glad the explanation made sense.
I have about 65% of her world and stories and mythology figured out in my head. I just haven’t put any of it to paper.)

(Yes, it would. Any substance that causes substantial cellular change would have this effect.)

(Ahh I see. Also, if you have a computer, you could write down all your character information in text files. That's what I do (though it means I have like 40 different files for character info on my computer XD).)

(Yeah, I probably should. I just don’t have much time to do that. Btw, I have my first ref for Caelum city RP basically done, I just struggle with backgrounds.)

Armin reeled back from the kick, dropping to his knees with a strangled groan of pain. //I had no idea that would happen! What the hell is wrong with you!// he said telepathically, allowing both Dianne and Lucci to hear it.

Rex had stepped forwards, holding the notched and damaged cutlass, ready to intervene if Dianne tried to attack Armin again. Ivy, on the other hand, had moved further back, looking alarmed.

(Cool! I'm looking forward to seeing it. I'm still waiting for other people to make refs too, so it'll probably be a while before any Caelum RPs are held.)

Dianne: “What’s wrong with ME?! What’s wrong with you, biting me like some g-damned feral!”

Lucci: “Dianne, it’s fine! You’re fine, nothing happened, relax!”

{Jerry runs up to Armin.}
Jerry: “Armin, are you ok?”

'If anyone's acting feral, it's you,' said Rex, still standing nearby with his sword drawn. He spoke quite calmly, but there was an edge to his voice. 'Lay a finger on Armin again, and I'll bite you myself. And /I/ won't suppress the vampire venom.'

'I've been better...' Armin replied through clenched teeth. 'I'll be fine, just give me a minute.'

{Lucci gives Rex a look of "Are you kidding me?" Dianne, on the other hand, was basically foaming at the mouth with rage.}
Dianne: "Don't you /dare/ threaten me! It was a sparring match! A duel of skill with a blade, not a fight with a teething infant!"

Lucci: "Wait, wait, wait, stop. Stop. Calm. Down."

{Dianne stands there, breathing deeply to calm down. She looks herself over, seeing the blood on her armor and the bite mark in her hand. She then closes her eyes in a pained expression.}

Dianne: "...I-I'm sorry...I just....I lost my temper...I was just afraid of having to go through that again..."

{Jerry just pats Armin's back, chuckling slightly.}

Jerry: "You're alright, buddy. Take your time."

Rex eased off, lowering his sword. 'I understand that,' he said. 'But vampires never inject venom unless they're trying to Turn someone... or they're young, inexperienced and stupid.'

In the distance, Ivy stopped walking backwards and began to cautiously approach the group, assuming that the conflict was over.

While everyone else was talking, Armin had managed to pull himself to his feet. Limping slightly, he took a single step towards Dianne. 'Here's an idea,' he said. 'Do something about your fricking anger issues before someone ends up dead because they looked at you the wrong way.' Without waiting for any response, he shifted into hawk form and took off, flying out of the park and into the main city.

{Dianne watched as Armin flew away, then looked at the ground.}

Dianne: "...f#$k..."

{Without another word, she walks out of the park. Lucci trots up to Rex, motioning to the sword.}
Lucci: "Here, I'll fix the sword before we return it."

{Jerry watches Armin, then Dianne leave, looking concerned. After a moment's debate, he decides not to follow either of them.}

'Well, that went well,' said Rex gloomily after watching both of them leave. He handed Lucci the damaged sword with a nod of thanks. 'You don't seem particularly concerned, though.'

Ivy joined them, looking in the direction Dianne had just gone. 'Honestly, I swear our little group is just a magnet for drama.'

{Lucci takes the sword, causes the blade to become sub-molten, reshapes it to fix the gaps and cracks, and cools it. Handing it back, he nods in understanding.}
Lucci: "It'll be fine. That needed to happen. I'll apologize to Armin later. But honestly, who the hell bites other people in a sparring mach?"

{He then turns to Ivy.}

Lucci: "Eh, true enough. but it's just a part of life."

Rex examined the sword with a curious expression, impressed by the lack of damage.

'Well, we vampires /are/ kinda known for biting things... Yes, biting someone in a sparring match is stupid, but I think he just got frustrated by Dianne outmatching him so easily and wanted to retaliate /somehow./ And Dianne completely overreacted. Armin had no idea vampire venom could harm her, and yet she would've beaten the crap out of him - for no good reason - if you hadn't stepped in.'

{Lucci just rubs the back of his head.}
Lucci: "Well, the last time that happened, it was a little traumatic for her. Still, I suppose that's no excuse for her kicking him somewhere so painful...And didn't I warn him that she was physically stronger than he was, and tell him not to let her grab him?"

Rex shrugged. 'Eh, he probably forgot. Or maybe he didn't believe you and thought he was strong enough to take her on. He's an idiot sometimes. But still... if he had actually infected her with vampire venom, then her reaction would be completely justifiable. But he didn't. She attacked him /after/ he said he hadn't done it.'

Ivy sighed exasperatedly. 'I don't think we need to argue over who's right and who's wrong here. They were /both/ being stupid.'

Lucci: "Well, yeah. But now, at least Dianne realizes that she needs help. And honestly, Ivy, with the way you treat Armin, I'm surprised you're concerned for him at all."

---

{Meanwhile, Dianne had gone to Pythia's temple. Responding to the knocking, Pythia is met with a very solemn looking and bloody Dianne.}

Pythia: "Dianne?! You're back, but...what happened?"

Dianne: "I....I screwed up, Pythia..."

Pythia: "Let me take care of these wounds first, then we'll talk about it...Who the hell bit your hand?"

Rex nodded. 'Ultimately, I'm just glad nothing worse happened here today. Things might've gotten ugly if you hadn't been here to intervene.'

Ivy narrowed her eyes at Lucci. 'Just because I don't like him very much, doesn't mean I want to see him get beaten up or killed! I'm not /completely/ heartless.'

--------

Armin flew to the north side of the city, all the way to where his house stood. The house was built in a quiet area, and the street was currently deserted. He swooped down to perch on the chimney, ruffling up his feathers against the cold. After that, he just sat there, staring blankly into the distance.

//What a cra.ppy morning.//

{Lucci gives Ivy an unconvinced look.}

Lucci: “So, it’s too far when Dianne beats him up, but you shooting him is ok?”

{Lucci turns back to Rex.}
“That’s precisely why I’m here.”

Ivy looked embarrassed. 'Th-that was a one-off! And I didn't even really mean to shoot him. My finger slipped on the trigger.'

Rex eyed her. 'Yeeeah, sure it did... Anyway, I'm going to go return this sword to the royal armoury before anyone notices it's gone. Frederick didn't exactly tell anyone he was giving it to me.' He turned to Lucci. 'What are you going to do now?'

{Lucci shakes his head at Ivy’s statement. Looking to where Dianne walked, and then to where Armin flew, Lucci answers.}

Lucci: “I’m going to talk to Armin. Make sure he’s ok. How about you?”

'I might go talk to him later, too,' said Rex. 'I'd like to make sure he's alright. I'd just better return this sword first... anyway, see you later.' He shifted into raven form and took flight out of the park. After a moment's hesitation, Ivy left too, not saying anything.

{Lucci nods and walks around the corner disappearing from sight.}

---

{Not a minute later, he appears from behind the chimney on the roof where Armin sat in bird form. He speaks to him with telepathy.}

Lucci: //Hey, Armin, how you holding up? I'm sorry about not blocking Dianne's foot...but for the collective good, that had to happen.//

Armin, still in hawk form, stared at Lucci for a moment without blinking. Then he responded in kind: //It's hard not to hold a grudge when I know you could've easily prevented that, but at least you didn't let her tear me apart afterwards. That counts for something. Anyway, what 'collective good' are you talking about?//

{Lucci sighs and sits next to Armin.}

Lucci: //Well, as I’m sure you’re aware, dragons are extremely prideful. So much so that they would even refuse help with issues, no matter how glaring it was. However, I knew that if Dianne’s anger got the best of her, and she hurt someone she cared about, well, it might be enough to break that pride.

Armin considered this. //That makes a lot of sense, actually. I hope your plan works and this wasn't all for nothing.// He stood up on the chimney and peered down at the street below to make sure it was still deserted, thinking people might be concerned if they saw Lucci and a hawk sitting on top of his house. But there was nobody in sight. //So, where's Dianne right now?//

{Lucci looks at Armin with a concerned expression.}

Lucci: //She went to Pythia for healing and a shoulder to cry on. Unfortunately, a side effect of breaking a dragon’s pride is often depression. Why do you ask?//

Armin shrugged, as best as he could in bird form. //No reason, really. I was just curious.// Then he caught sight of Lucci's concerned expression. //Why did you /think/ I was asking?//

Lucci: //To go over there. Make things worse. Honestly, you should give her space to reflect. You can talk to her again once she decides to go to anger management.//

The hawk turned to eye Lucci. //I'm not going to do that. I'm not stupid, and I don't even want to talk to her right now. If she wants to talk, she can come to me.// He looked away and added reluctantly, //I should probably apologise at some point, though. What happened is partly my fault. I made some pretty stupid decisions in that fight. I went into it thinking I had a good chance of winning, and kind of forgot all about your warnings.//

{Lucci just chuckles softly.}
Lucci: //Yeah, but honestly, you could have won at least once if you had been patient and let her tire herself out. She did just come back from a cross country journey. But seriously, who /bites/ other people in a sparring match? Honestly, what were you thinking?//

The hawk opened its beak slightly in what was probably meant to be a grin. //Being slow and patient isn't my style.// Then he let out a quiet sigh. //Honestly? I don't know what I was thinking. All I remember is that she was pulling my sword out of my hand and I saw biting her hand as the only way to stop her. I blame vampire instincts.//

Lucci: //And most dragons settle things through physical altercations, so one could argue that her reaction was just her dragon instincts. My point is, you both need to be held personally responsible for the way you act. None of this blaming your instinct or your past. You're both sentient beings.//

//I'm not using my instincts as an excuse for anything. What I did was my responsibility, and I accept that. I was just saying that instinct was what influenced me to do it in the first place. It was my fault that I gave in to it, instead of resisting the impulse.//

As Armin spoke, he spotted a dark shape glide down from the sky to land on a distant rooftop. The raven eyed him, then Lucci. Guessing that they were busy talking, it settled down on the rooftop, content to wait until they were finished.

Lucci: //Good. Just making sure. Oh, Looks like Rex wants to talk.//

(To Rex) //Hey, I think we're just about done here, If you want to talk to your friend.//

(Yup, he is.)

The raven stretched out his wings, leapt off his perch, and glided over to join Armin on top of the chimney of his house.

//Hello, Lucci. I hope I didn't disturb your conversation.//

Lucci: //Nope. I was just about to go talk to Dianne. He's all yours.//

Rex nodded in acknowledgement. //See you around, then,// said Armin. //Thanks for stopping by to chat.//

{Lucci nods, walks behind the chimney, and disappears}

---

{Meanwhile, Dianne and Pythia were talking about what had happened.}

Dianne: "...Well...that's what happened."

Pythia: "...Ok....You definitely could have handled that better...But why the hell would Armin bite you?"

Dianne: "How should I know? But that's not the point...I completely lost it...If Lucci hadn't been there, I don't know how far I would have gone..."

//...So,// said Rex after a long pause. //You alright?//

//I think so,// replied Armin.

//Good.// And without warning, Rex gave Armin a shove, nearly making him fall off the chimney. //What in god's name were you thinking?! Fighting her in the first place was a bad idea, but then you go and make everything worse by ignoring Lucci's warnings and acting like you know everything? If he hadn't been there to step in, you'd probably be dead or in hospital right now.//

Armin leaned away. //Well, I just--//

//You and I did this kind of stupid sh!t all the time when we were working for Sargon and had nothing to live for, but you should be acting more careful now! You finally have the chance to live your life in peace, and you're going to throw it away by putting yourself in situations where you could easily get killed?//

//Rex, I had no idea she'd react that way.//

//So? You knew she had a short temper, and you chose to risk provoking her instead of playing it safe.//

//Also, who the heII bites someone in a sparring match?// Rex continued. //You're not back on the streets of Shacklestone, where you need to do anything just to stay alive! You were sparring!//

//I wasn't--//

//What would've happened if Lucci hadn't been here, huh? If you and Dianne were alone together? Then you'd have much worse things to worry about than her kicking you in the--//

//Rex,// said Armin in an exasperated voice. //Stop the lecture. I know. I screwed up, and I know that what happened is partly my fault. I already talked about this with Lucci; I don't need to discuss it again.//

//...Oh.// Rex subsided into silence. //Fine.//

(Epically long Rex rant)

Oof. Rex let him have it.)

{Pythia pats Dianne on the back in an attempt to comfort her while Dianne cradles her head in her hands.}

Pythia: “Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s not like you would have killed him.”

Dianne: “Are you sure? One time, some drunk bast.ard tried to grab my...well, something inappropriate, and I beat him to death with his own arm...”

{Pythia looked mildly disturbed by that, immediately retracting her hand.}

Pythia: “Oh, well...Armin didn’t do /that/...right?”

{Before Dianne could answer, there was a sound at the door.}

Lucci: “Actually Dianne, you would have sent him to the hospital, but you wouldn’t have killed him. May I come in?”

//...Sorry,// said Rex. //I kind of made it sound like it was all your fault. I think it was more Dianne's fault than yours. I've been around for over 200 years and I've never seen anyone get so angry over such a small thing.//

//Yes, you have. Remember that time someone called Sargon ugly in front of Ana?//

//Oh, yeah...//

Another long silence ensued. Then Rex spoke up again.

//So, how about we go and have a drink? For old times' sake? It's been over 150 years since we drank together, and I'm betting I can still handle my liquor better than you.//

Armin chuckled. //We'll see.//

Without another word, they jumped off the chimney and headed off towards the nearest bar together.

Pythia: "Yes, come in."

{Lucci walks inside and sits across from Dianne and Pythia. Dianne speaks, sounding rather annoyed.}

Dianne: "What, Lucci?! Can't you see that I feel bad enough? I could really do without the lecture."

{Lucci sighs and takes a moment before speaking.}

Lucci: "I'm not here to lecture you. I think you already know, you need help."

{Dianne laughs a cruel and mirthless laugh.}

Dianne: "Oh, yeah, I bet you think some random human who sits in a group of other irate idiots has the right idea of how to help /me/. I'm not going to therapy, Lucci. Those dumb-f$ @ks can't even help themselves, let alone me..."

Lucci: "I know. They could never understand where you're coming from, and if you were to try going, they would think you're clinically insane."

{Dianne laughs again, but the laugh quickly degrades into sobbing.}

Dianne: "Well, maybe they're right. Maybe I belong in the f&*king nuthouse. 'Cause god knows I can't be around my friends without hurting them."

Pythia: "That's not true!"

Lucci: "Dianne, you can be around them. You're not a threat, but you are short fused. You just need a little help, that's all."

Dianne: "Oh yeah, who could possibly help me?"

Lucci: "Me."

(Made another new room, we can continue there!)

Ok