Joseph merely nodded at Orion's words and bowed low as he left, more than happy to be dismissed from the slaver's presence. Narrowly avoiding a disgusted look in his eyes, he wondered off to view the other slaves before the main auction at 3 o'clock. 

~*~*~

Erik noticed the way that Alexi kept staring at him. As a cell Leader, you had to learn to read body language and to work with other people. But he could not have imagined that the human was thinking that he was attractive. His body was pale, inhumanly so, and it was covered by clearly visible scars from firefights and from occasionally being out in the sun too long on a mission. A vampire's wounds healed a thousand times better than a human's, but over 200 years of fighting, some of the worse wounds had definitely been severe enough even to scar a vampire.

He nodded at the human's words, a somewhat guilty look crossing his visage as Alexi spoke above how much pain he has been in.

“I've been alright. Better than you look, at least. I don't like having someone's emotions that aren't mine. Even if they are positive. It's like a second set of notes in my head, and it's threatening to override my real one. I didn't ask for your emotions and I'm not sure if I want them. I don't like the idea of sharing my...” Erik stopped short, standing up from his chair, eyes widened in complete panic. 

"Damnit, Damnit! Sharing my mind! I … We can't take the next one. I'm a fucking idiot! I can't let you read my thoughts! Even if your intentions are good, I know too much! Cell locations. Leader's names and contacts. Black market suppliers... I can't just share that information with you, even if you weren't a slave owner who somehow had enough clout with the police to get me before I was put up for auction!” Erik paused, just now realizing that he was standing and pacing around the room as he spoke. “I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Alexi. I don't want you to suffer anymore. But I can't do it. I can't continue a link with you. Not if it means you can read my mind. We'll find some kind of an antidote for you.” The vampire backed away, as if being further away from Alexi would remove the idiocy of what he had allowed to happen.