Shadows and Dust

[Saiketsu]

The cigarette burned more vehemently on the paper, drawn in graphite, than did the real thing, made with paper and tobacco and God knows what else, sitting in the ash tray next to his hand. He couldn\'t place why this was, but, then again, neither did he concentrate on it, his focus drawn to the skulls and demons rising in the smoke. These faces he saw from his burning cigarette seemed less real than the ones he had drawn on his paper with pencil. The graphite made the skulls, the faces, the demons, the spirits, seem so much more real.

Nikolai couldn\'t help smiling down at the paper in spite of himself, his fingers ashened from the faintest smudging. It was a confusing feeling he felt, a mixture of fright, anguish and, yes, a tangible pang of excitement. It broke his focus, making him look up at the excitement of the humans, eyes placid and impenetrable.

Smoke filled the room, clouding the murky lights which hung over the pool tables and bar at other sides of the room. But this smoke, this unmoving, stifling smoke had no faces, no demons. No, the only faces here belonged to the physical people, the mortal --and maybe the immortal whom found it easier to conceal themselves from the eyes of others -- people. Here, the regulars, dressed to the nines and already smashed. The bikers, burly and bearded with black leather jackets with the motorcycle brand of their personal choice on the arm and back. The hookers in short skirts, flirting with anyone paying in cash. The girls, winking and giggling with their apple martinis or whatever they drank. The classic "greasers" as he liked to call them, shooting pool with varying ability while trying to get lit at the bar. Conversations of different sorts mingled with the clinking of bottles and the clacking of the glass balls of the tables. Somewhere on the other side of the bar, a couple of men were having a heated arguement about some form of sport. Closer to him, some hooker in a blue skirt was taking a seat next to a regular with a wife and three kids waiting at home.

Nikolai sighed to himself, his eyes roaming about the room, finally settling upon a table where a couple of girls sat talking about blow. One of the girls, a blonde named Jen, with long feathery hair, let her eyes wander onto his. He responded with a wink before breaking the connection, pretending to refocus back on the paper before him. He heard her giggle to her friend before they stood and walked by him, leaving the pool hall to take a call from a dealer know as Jackson. Jen winked back and Nikolai\'s eyes followed her out the door, smirking with closed lips.

And stowed in his jacket pockets, two kilos of blow that needed to be sold. He sat back and waited, watching the smoke curl upwards.

[Fell]

Sticks and Stakes Poolhall wasn\'t somewhere River would normally visit, but that was mostly because it was a little bit out of his way. Despite this, though, he was here. It was because several of his co-workers had been extolling its virtues the previous day during their break from dancing. They had insisted that the redhead try the place, even going so far as to say they would give him a collective 10$ if he did so before their next practice. River, who had been planning on visiting the place anyway, just laughed and told them to keep the money, that he would visit the place the next day.

"The next day" was today, and River was fulfilling that promise when he stepped through the doors of the place looking too light and airy to be alive. He didn\'t disappear as an apparition might, though, but looked around with a soft smile and continued into the place.

Well, isn\'t this an interesting place, River thought as he waled through the smoky room. The smoke made him happy, actually - contrary to what one might expect from looking at the young man. Smoke could be beautiful, and mysterious. There were faces and castles and worlds in smoke, if only you could see them. River reached out to the ambiguous cloud, batting at it ever so lightly. His motion made the smoke around him swirl, and, just for a moment, River could see a dragon.

"Rahr," the redhead whispered back to the ephemeral being, his words themselves carrying the picture away. That, too, made him grin. River continued down the length of the hall, moving towards the back where the bar was. "Do you have apple juice?" River asked, his voice sounding the way he looked; light and ethereal. The bartender blinked for a moment, then chuckled condescendingly. "Liquor too hard for you?" the barkeep asked, his voice containing a rather sharp, mocking edge to it. River didn\'t rise to the bait, but instead propped himself up on an arm and smiled congenially. "Apples taste better," the redhead responded, which just made most of the people around him roll their eyes.

But River didn\'t care. He never really had, not when it came to what people chose to think about him. Apples did taste better then decayed grapes. Apples were lively and friendly, and they grew into other things. Decayed grapes weren\'t nearly as good nearly as much of the time. The alcoholic drinks just tended to look nicer, which was too bad. Then people missed out on apples!

[Saiketsu]

His senses wide, lingering throughout the room like tentacles of a creature of the deep ocean, Nikolai felt so unfocused. All about him conversation drifted, lifted towards the ceilings and dropped, bouncing off of the walls. Laughter, giggles, beer and... Apples...

Nikolai\'s eyes shifted towards the bar curiously. It wasn\'t every night that all a person wanted in a bar was apple juice. And as he came to think of it, he couldn\'t think of any instance where a human would order an apple juice in a bar at all.

The red-head at the bar was clearly new and not only because of his choice of drink, either. No, there was a completely different aura around him, one that Nikolai had rarely felt before. It was strange and unreal. Surely even the humans near him would pick it up too, if only faintly.

A curious Nikolai stood, leaving his drawings and the demonic cigarette there on the table. He walked up to the bar and sat down a seat away from this newcomer, looking out at the liquor before him, the clacking of the glass balls on the felt tables mildly distracting. "Apple juice," he started quietly, off-handedly, hoping to get the other\'s attention. "An interesting choice for a newcomer. Most go for the whiskey or scotch their first time here." He smiled gently and meant nothing offensively and hoped that this young man wouldn\'t take it so.

[Fell]

River halfway noticed it when a slightly effeminate young man sat a stool down from him, but didn\'t stare or pay him much mind. The apple juice was wonderful, even though it wasn\'t anything special. There was just something lovely about the colour, the flavour and the texture... Or maybe I\'m just reminiscing about my childhood, River thought with an inward chuckle.

"Apple juice." The soft words caught River\'s attention easily. After all, it wasn\'t too noisy around them, and where else nearby was there apple juice? River turned his head to face the boy who\'d just recently seated himself there, moving a hand up to prop up his head as he did. The redhead smiled as Nikolai continued, amused by what he said. "Most people probably don\'t appreciate fruit as much as they should either," River stated with a similarly gentle smile. He took another sip of his apple juice, an exceedingly pleased expression crossing his face as he did. The human turned back to Nikolai after he finished. "Ahh... And besides the glories of fruits, I don\'t like alcohol very much," River admitted with a sheepish, if pleasant, smile.

[Saiketsu]

The response made Nikolai smile slightly wider. "Well that\'s a new and certainly refreshing response." From a new and seemingly refreshing person, he wanted to add but held back from doing so.

This young man seemed so pleasantly different from all the rest of the mortals in Stakes and Sticks tonight. This young man seemed real, as real as any person could be, and yet, so unreal and uncanny at the same time. A pretty face, wonderfully bright eyes and of course the almost preternatural red hair flowing down his back. And his distaste for alcohol, the enjoyment of the apple juice intrigued Nikolai all the more.

"I\'m Nikolai, by the way, or Nikki if you prefer," he said, offering the human his hand to shake, one of his better smiles lining his lips.

[Saiketsu]

please ignore this post. thanks.

[Fell]

River smiled, then laughed lightly. "Try the apple juice - it\'s more refreshing than words," the redhead responded jokingly. He looked down into his glass, than up at the dark-haired man before him, then grinned and offered him the glass. "You can even have a taste of mine," River added. He had never minded sharing. When he was young, everyone had shared everything, so it was in his bones by now. He and Songbird, especially, had always used any one thing as though it were two. It had been very nice.

This man also seemed very nice, or at least friendlier than many people in this city. And he had yet to tease River for preferring apple juice to liquor! I wonder - Oh, well he just told me! the redhead thought, smiling at his own folly. "I\'m River. It\'s very nice to meet you!" River responded, his eyes pleasant and charming. A light breeze blew through the pool hall, probably spawned by someone opening the door. As light as it was, it made River\'s overcoat blow and swirl gently, giving him a misty, dreamlike appearance even as he sat in a bar and drank apple juice.

[Saiketsu]

The vampire looked down at the glass and back up at the young man quickly, still smiling. "I\'m more of an orange juice person myself. Never really liked apple juice," he lied. Nikolai actually wished he could take up the other\'s offer. He had loved apple juice. But it was oh-so-nice to be offered by such a beautiful person.

River, he thought it over in his mind, smiling at the young man. It seemed to fit so well to him. It was the perfect name for such a being. "Well, River, that\'s a very interesting name. Also very refreshing, if it\'s not to bold to say. I like it. \'River\'. Yeah, it flows well."

"So what brings you to Stakes and Sticks, besides the apple juice?" Five minutes in and I\'m already digging this guy, he thought to himself, smiling inwardly. He seems so different from everyone else here. The noise and the clatter of the pool hall had seemingly died down with River\'s appearance, the setting and mood and understandings all changed slightly, altered as easily as the breeze blew and twittered his coat.

[Fell]

River blinked a moment, then laughed - that same free, light, bell-like laugh - at Nikolai\'s puns. Even if they weren\'t intentional, the redhead found them very funny. "Flows well, huh?" he asked, his hand still at his mouth from his laugh. River grinned happily, clearly amused. "Well, thank you! I appreciate it," he said, blinking a slow blink of pleasure. Never had he gotten such a funny reaction to his name. "If only more people had good senses of humor..." River said softly, leaning his head lightly on his hand. He swirled the apple juice in front of him, just enjoying the colour. I think tonight will be good, the redhead concluded, his grin widening a little bit at the thought.

"A recommendation!" River proclaimed. He did say it like a proclomation, too - a little serious, a little formal, and a little proud. It was clear he was joking around a bit, a conclusion helped by the fact that he chuckled lightly after his words. "I was told to come here, though. Somee of the other dancers recommended it, and... Well, I suppose it\'s always nice to visit a new place!" River explained, his eyes pleasant and bright. There was so much life in him! It seemed to overflow out of him, bringing everything around him into sharper focus. It was almost as though even the things around him held life, so intense - but softly so - was his presence.

"What about you?" River asked gently, dipping a finger in his juice and bringing it to his mouth. He\'d only wanted a taste, that time. Fingers were excellent transports for tastes, too. People just forgot about them after they turned 10. It really is a shame, River thought, eyes turning sad for a moment in mourning for all the lost inner-children, those beings whom adults so often pushed to the back of their minds and forgot about until their mid-life crisies. If only... River let the thought hang, even in his own mind. He smiled at Nikolai, sad and sublime, and half lost in the dream he must have come from.

[Saiketsu]

The simple way he tasted his juice caused Nikolai to smile. He couldn\'t tell whether that was just naturally him or whether River was teasing him. Nikolai supposed that he liked it either way. But me? I\'m a blood-thirsty creature looking to push blow to kids and drain a few people dry in the process.

"It\'s the personality of the people that brough me here!" He chuckled. "No, it\'s the excitement here. I came in one day out of pure curiousity and, I don\'t know, found most of the atmosphere to my liking. The drunken stupors can be just as intense as the pool games and the under-the-table betting here.

"And every once in a while, in walks a fascinating personality which seems to block out the typical bar scene. And it makes the night go by so pleasantly." Nikolai looked away slowly, pretending to fiddle with something in his coat pocket, not out of embarassment or anything, but rather it felt needed.

A small packet of a white substance hit his hand and he held it for a moment before sighing slightly. He was tired of knowing he had the drug on him at the moment. Nikolai felt no need to do Doxy\'s work. Not right now anyway.

He turned back to River with a light smile. "So, you said you were a dancer?" He didn\'t bother to hide how interesting he found that fact. How very exciting.

[Fell]

River smiled back at Nikolai, his smile as free and light as he laugh. He hadn\'t intended the gesture to be a teasing one, and in fact it still didn\'t occur to him that it might be taken as such. River was simply being River, in all his quirky glory. Nikolai\'s candid answer to his question made River\'s grin grow wider. The redhead just couldn\'t figure out why Nikolai had looked away at the end. "Well, that was a very honest answer," River said, his voice thoroughly amused. "And a much better one than mine, I think," he added a moment later, bringing a hand to his lips in a pensive gesture. Pensive, but still so light! Still so... free. Many people seemed to be bogged down by their thoughts, but River seemed to be uplifted ad elevated by them, taken to places that most could but dream of.

People always ask about the dancing! River thought, smiling somewhat sheepishly at Nikolai. He didn\'t mind at all, as he loved to talk about it, but it was a trend he had noticed. "Yes, I am! I do modern dance, and I also act. It\'s the dancing I love, though..." the redhead answered, his eyes drifting upwards as he thought to their current choreography. River really liked what they were doing with it at the moment. "There\'s less of a script, you know. But also kind of more... You can say more with your body than you can with your words, usually," the redhead stated, his voice partially dreamlike.

River looked upwards a moment more, then closed his eyes and smiled. When he opened them, it was as though he\'d returned from wherever it wasd he\'d gone. "What about you?" he asked pleasantly, interested in learning more about his bew friend.

[Saiketsu]

The vampire smiled at his newfound friend, hesitating a moment before answering. "Hm. That\'s a pretty loaded question. I suppose you could say I\'m an artist. A poet, singer, drawer, for lack of a better term." Don\'t forget a pimp, a dealer, a junkie, oh yeah! and a vampire! Nikolai thought bitterly. "I do a bit of everything, paint, sketch, sculpt, write. I try not to limit myself in such aspects, and neither do I have a preference, I suppose. Just..." He placed the back of his hand on his forehead, playing up to a tragic cliche, "trying to get by as a starving artist." Nikolai chuckled and put his hand down, feeling ridiculous.

"I just figured I wouldn\'t go into the \'Nine-to-five\' workforce if I didn\'t need to. Never really liked the sound of it. Working at a desk on paperwork or computers? No, not for me. Nope, gimme a sheet of paper and a pen and I\'ll give you something much better than a bank statement in black ink." Nikolai smiled.

"But what about you? What made you get into dance and acting?" Not that I can\'t see why it would fit you.

[Fell]

River laughed lightly at Nikolai\'s show of drama. "I wouldn\'t have pegged you for an artist, somehow," the redhead said, still chuckling lightly. "Though I suppose I should have noticed. You have a sketchbook with you and everything!" he continued, reaching out to brush the aforementioned object with one slender finger. River propped his head up again, looking over at Nikolai through curious, bright eyes. He would have liked to ask the other man more about his chosen profession, but Nikolai had beaten him to the punch! Ah well - there\'s always more time, River reasoned happily, dipping his finger into his juice for another taste.

"Oh, I never really knew why... I suppose because it\'s what I\'ve always done!" the redhead said, chuckling a little bit as he remembered how he and Songbird had spent their time inventing new tribal dances and things. "You should have seen Song and I when we were little... We danced all the time," River said softly, tapping the surface of his juice with one finger, making ripples. And then Ecstasia and I made new dances, different dances, the kind I could never have made with Song. I could never stop dancing, now... the redhead thought. Reminiscing about Ecstasia was always so bittersweet, but it was because of Ecstasia that he could dance in front of so many strangers with so little shame. Because of Ecstasia that he could truly dance at all.

"The acting simply followed the dancing. I suppose it was my first real musical that did it," River laughed, remembering the rendition of West Side Story that had encouraged him into the theatre. "West Side Story. The dancing fights were just so much fun!" the redhead went on, breaking into a full laugh as he recalled just how silly, and how wonderful, it had been to do. "Oh, but that was a long answer. I\'m sorry!" River said suddenly, turning his head back to Nikolai with a sheepish smile, one eye closed half in a wink and half in apology. Leaning forward, he decided to press on about Nikolai. "What about you? Why art? It would certainly be easier to just... Oh, I don\'t know, sell drugs or join a gang or something!" River said, chuckling. He had meant the comment as a joke, a satire about how difficult society made it to be a freelance artist, and he didn\'t know how close to home he\'d come. So River waited with those same bright, curious, friendly eyes, eager to hear another\'s story.

[Saiketsu]

He chuckled half-heartedly at River\'s off-handed question. This strange creature named River; Nikki wondered if River knew how close to the truth he actually was with that type of a question. What was he thinking of at this very moment? Half-looking at River\'s hands as they moved, Nikolai found himself slightly enrapt and the simple gestures of the other man made Nikki want to draw more within the sheets of paper of the sketchbook.

"I like it. Well... I love it actually. I guess you could say that living poor and scraping by makes me feel human most days, with my ass dragging along the ground. Plus, I\'ve got opinions I\'d like to express. So why not try to make a lifestyle out of that? That\'s what I live for.

"But West Side Story! Man, that takes the cake! What\'s it like for you, if you don\'t mind me asking? I\'ve never had that ability to get into center stage with all eyes on me. Must be some feeling..." He smiled easily.

[Fell]

Human? River thought curiously. Most people would have said "alive" as opposed to "human", which made River wonder about this other man\'s species. The redhead didn\'t think about it in the manner most would, though - he wondered about it with the same casual way someone might wonder whether or not someone was American Indian or Hispanic. After all, the supernatural wasn\'t so strange to River, who\'s life had been rife with oddities ever since his birth.

"So long as you\'re doing something you love, I guess that nothing else really touches you..." River said with a soft smile, his eyelids drooping in a dream-like fashion. Happiness... that was what was most important in life. So seldom did he find someone who agreed! And someone who didn\'t think of trials and tribulations as a horror, but instead as something that made one feel.... "human". River knew he liked this boy already.

The easy smile Nikki gave helped as well. River beamed back. "Oh, it\'s not so much about being centre stage. After all, you\'re up there with a lot of other people," the redhead said, sounding just a mite bashful. He had played a lead role, it was true, but he didn\'t really want to tell Nikki about that. Being centre stage wasn\'t so important. Usually, River didn\'t even remember the audience was there while he was acting! It was only afterwards, when they were applauding, that he returned to reality. "It really is fun, though, to get to make something like that come to life on the stage!" River admitted with a delighted little clasp of his hands.