Tom was correct in his guess that he\'d stopped too soon. As Reed was a full head shorter than his very tall companion, Reed felt his frustration retaining a physical presence in his chest as muscles tensed. He could still see however, for the doorway was wide enough to let two people through (as long as both persons were narrow shouldered, for Reed would have to angle himself to slip through the opening Tom had allowed). He was not going to squeeze past like some wispy little girly limboing her way to the bar around more prominent bodies. If he had to get somewhere, he\'d elbow or shoulder his way through - but as previously with the lack of strength and dominance in his guiding hand, so too did he not wish to push past Tom in such a manner. He wasn\'t exactly going to make submissive accomodating movements either.
A scoffing sigh from behind him told him they were holding other people up by standing in the doorway like this. Fuck them, he thought, they can wait. If they dared say something, he would turn and snarl, otherwise they could be ignored.
When the declaration of the club not being a fake was voiced, Reed kept his expression blank but a new kind of tension worked its way into his body. The only vampire he\'d known about was Tom. To think that there were many more of them in this city to warrant a nightclub meant that this was a different kind of dangerous situation - not the kind of danger he was addicted to. He trusted Tom\'s vampirism (to a degree), but he didn\'t know about anybody else. Vampires were predators, in the most essential sense of the word - he\'d survived Tom, and would continue to survive Tom, but others? Who knew what they were like? Who knew how they would view the human species? Who knew how they would see him? Would they take time to know him as Tom had? No. Especially not here, in a place like this. Risk.
Risk? That was another thing. Risk what? His blood? His life? He\'d seen a sign which he\'d thought was decorative but now he wondered. It had said "Risk it all" among the industrial hazard signs and danger warnings.
Thinking of that sign had him thinking about the rules now, and this hit him hardest, now that he knew they were probably just as true as this vampire club and what he had to risk being here. The idea of a council that named itself an Oligarchy (and what kind of fucked up word was that anyway? He\'d have to Google it) was a great deal worse. This meant there were so many vampires (and other shit, species he\'d glossed over but would now go back to read on his way out) that they needed a bunch of them to make sure they didn\'t... what? Impede the natural resources? A cold chill ran up his spine that made him stand straighter.
His gaze flicked to Tom who was grinning at him like he was about to go base jumping - he had that look in his eyes (and only a second had passed since Tom had spoken to him and the jumble of thoughts and realisations flew through his head).
Well, fuck. Reed\'s heart sank. Tom, of course, would want to investigate this city to the fullest. Reed himself didn\'t want to hang around at all, he wanted out, right now, before he even went in, but he couldn\'t leave without losing face.
"What the fuck are you waiting for?" Reed said, grinning back manically, the forced smile feeling like a grimace and rubbery on his face. It was a smile he practised in the mirror though, and he knew that it would pass for what he called his \'crazy-fuck grin\', the one that would likely mirror Tom\'s own. "Let\'s rock!"
Adrenalin began to course through him as he faced his fear. A real fear. Nothing he felt when about to jump or climb. This fear tasted oddly sour instead of crisp and fresh. He found he didn\'t care much for it, but damn if he was going to let it get the better of him.