Author Topic: New York, New York  (Read 79867 times)

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Offline Trillian

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New York, New York
« on: June 01, 2009, 02:38:11 PM »
AFTER THAT FATEFUL NIGHT in Risk, where Kerr had kissed him and they\'d had a falling out, events had happened very quickly. After hearing a speech he\'d tried his best not to hear (but how does a fledgling keep their sire out of their head when they had superior talent) and could only resent as he escaped into the night, a long walk home had been the only time he\'d taken to think things through. With a decision made at the end of it, arriving at the beachhouse several hours later, he\'d stayed in the daylight hours asleep in his bed until dawn, when he\'d risen earlier than usual. He packed one large and one small suitcase with necessary clothes, leaving behind a lot more than he could take, keeping his journals but not the computer, throwing whatever else he thought would be useful into his car, and saying as little to Kerr as possible, avoiding him as much as his sire would let him. He wouldn\'t have said anything other than \'bye\' and ignored anything else that was shot his way. Short of being Dominated by Kerr, there was nothing the other could do to change his mind. He was leaving, and that was that.
 
It had taken him weeks, hopping from motel to motel during the day, sleeping in the bathtub if the room\'s windows had shifty light-letting curtains. He\'d not really planned his destination, but he was conscious that he was still using Kerr\'s money every time he swiped his bank card. Eventually he ended up in the most anonymous city of all, New York.
 
His car earned him appreciative stares and that\'s when he realised what he had to do to really escape everything that had tied him to a past he didn\'t remember. The car had always been his, yes, but it had been a bomb, not the luxury he had now, and if he wanted to live here, in this congested city full of lonely souls living together, it was more so a liability. He would have to garage it and it would only end up costing him money that he didn\'t have. Selling it put a pang of hurt in his heart but it was a bittersweet decision, for it would truly make him free, it would give him the ultimate fresh start. An eternal future without a past.
 
Selling it turned out to be a great deal easier once he found a caryard he could park in front of. The caryard itself was closed, but housed similar cars - though the newer version. Those who came and looked mostly had the money to buy, and he turned down the first offer that came to him for his car, settling on the second because it sounded ridiculously overpriced. He\'d shown the papers for his car, he\'d shown his I.D., everything was in order, though he knew his buyer was suspicious but didn\'t really care, considering they\'d just scored a bona fide 1969 Dodge Charger in mint condition. He\'d walked away with a pile of cash and they drove away with his car. The only thing he\'d kept was one of the keyrings - the bat an old schoolfriend had given him, knowing his love for all things vampire. So much for letting go of the past.
 
He found a building that had apartments out to let that was tolerable. He didn\'t care how his place looked, but the smells assaulting his nose had told him when to move on and when to investigate further. It was early morning but New York truly was the city that never slept. He walked into a place where he was asked if he wanted a room for the week, night or hour. After a moment\'s silence as he processed the meanings behind such a question, he answered with the longest timeframe and handed over some of the money he\'d received from the sale of the car. Paying in cash didn\'t have the landlord batting an eyelid - something else Ben processed a variety of possible meanings behind - and he was given a key and some vague directions about the number of flights to travel up and which door to take that would be his room.
 
When he got up there (six flights of stairs and without a working elevator) and dumped his stuff by the door, closing it behind him, he was surprised that the furniture was of a much better quality than he\'d imagined, as well as the walls and carpets. It was clean, and though he could smell the lingering odour of fried food permeating the walls, it was something he could put up with.  The most interesting thing about the apartment he\'d received, was whoever had this apartment before him had blacked out the windows.  He considered what such a thing might mean, and was busy walking around the single bedroom apartment familiarising himself with everything when there was a knock at the door.
 
He hesitated before going to it, already tense on the thought that maybe someone wanted to help themselves to some of the cash they might have noticed he\'d paid with downstairs.
 
"Yeah?" Ben asked through the door, without opening it.
INFUSCO : Ben : Hugh : Lan Bao : Mick : Todd : Vincent : Win :
HALFLIGHT : Graille Min Sayer :

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2009, 10:09:46 PM »
Ben would hear nothing but silence for a few moments, followed by the restless shifting of shuffling feet, like the person outside his door wasn\'t sure he wanted to be there any more - and he wasn\'t.  Frowning and gnawing on his lower lip, Daniel looked down the hallway towards his own little apartment and then back at the door before him again, debating.

"Aziz?" he eventually asked, knowing that that voice had not belonged to Abd-Al-Aziz but needing it confirmed anyway.  Even if they had not been the gruff, barking tones of the vampire that lived in this apartment (as far as Danny knew), he might just have a visitor over... not that the bastard had had a lot of friends.  Not with his asshole of a personality.

Daniel certainly couldn\'t even be counted amongst the \'friendly\' number, such as it may have been, but he and Aziz had had an arrangement and disappointment was trickling through him at the idea that that was about to be reneged on.  Right when he was close to completing the bridge in his latest work, too; it was so bitter, the mortal could taste in and hear it in his own deep voice.

"It\'s Daniel!" he called out then, raising his voice slightly, thinking that it needed to carry past whoever the person at the door was and into the apartment to the one he wanted to see.  The one he needed to see.  The old lady in the apartment behind him started screeching obscenities simply because she\'d heard him identify himself and she believed he was there to bother her - but she didn\'t care and didn\'t want anything to do with him, according to her.  The number of colourful ways she told him to fuck off made that abundantly clear.  He ignored her though, frowning instead at the door in front of him.

Please be there.  Please... God I need it, PLEASE be there! he thought as he stood there, his sneaker-clad toes tapping quietly now, in time with the fingers drumming on his thighs.

He wore extra-baggy, rather ragged-looking blue jeans that pooled around his ankles fashionably.  There were three belts criss-crossing his hips at different degrees (one of them was inside the belt loops of his pants) but the jeans still looked precariously positioned so that his boxer shorts were displayed, because his thumbs were tucked into the front pockets and a couple of chains and a lanyard also dangled down his legs.  He wore four layers of clothing on his upper body, beginning with a black T-shirt at the base and ending with an unzipped hoodie on the top, the whole ensemble looking slightly askew due to the bulging messenger bag crossing his chest from his right shoulder to his left hip.  He had a silver earring in his left ear and a fuzz of dirty blonde curls sitting atop the right half of his forehead - they were peeking out from beneath the black beanie he was wearing but no other hair was visible at the back or sides.

It was the set of headphones resting about his throat that set Daniel apart.  They weren\'t modern earbuds set discreetly into his ears, connected t a high-priced ipod tucked into a pocket somewhere, but heavy-duty headphones with a cord that snaked down into that messenger bag (another anonymous black cord dangled in a short loop from the bag itself but only the musically learned would recognise it to be a microphone cord).

Other than the very serious sound system he appeared to be wearing though, Daniel looked to be a fairly usual twenty-five year old man.  He was prettier than most with his very pouty lips and long, thick eyelashes surrounding his bright blue eyes but he attempted to disguise that by not shaving and keeping a rash of stubble upon his youthful face.  The way he was biting his lower lip and frowning now also helped relieve his burden of attractiveness, but should the portal of his desire open before him any time soon, that expression would melt away into one of reserved hopefulness instead.

Until he got some sort of answer one way or another, however, he would stand there tapping nervously - a habit he no longer even tried to deny.

Offline Trillian

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2009, 10:37:38 PM »
Daniel?  Ben had a name and so it suddenly felt alright to open the door.  Really, was he expecting to be attacked?  He\'d just walked the streets of New York with thousands of dollars shoved into his jeans and hauling two suitcases and the most anybody had said to him was \'sup?\' as he\'d passed them by.  Mind, it would be ironic to be attacked now.

Ben reached for the doorknob and turned it, thumbing open the lock and realising as he opened the door that he hadn\'t bothered to put the chain across the doorway which was attached there for such a purpose.  It didn\'t matter until daytime anyway, for that was when he was the most vulnerable.  As the door swung open he was faced with Daniel before him, and it was about this point that he was very aware of the thirst gnawing at him.  It proved well enough that he wasn\'t a fledgling anymore - that three years really had passed - because he hadn\'t drunk anything tonight.  The craving was mostly apparent due to the proximity of excited blood being pumped around in the body before him.  Ben\'s gaze dropped to take in the appearance of Daniel in front of him, seeing the clothes and the headphones before anything else.

Because he was listening for music, he heard it, the tinny sounds of a fairly heavy beat and Marilyn Manson croaking his way through a different version of a well-known pop song.  Ben knew it wasn\'t coming from the mortal carrying the sound equipment in front of him but from a few floors downstairs, playing at a fairly reasonable level - though his hearing easily picked it up.  It was an interesting backdrop of sound adding to the noise of traffic below and the high pitched swearing across the corridor which was moving away at a slow pace, lowering in volume and tone even as the doppler effect carried it away.

The youth in front of him looked like he\'d come straight out some ultra-modern cinematic hip-hop feature, about a rising star.  Someone like Eminem perhaps.  Ben was immediately intimidated by the other\'s appearance and added intensity.  Obviously he was here to visit

Aziz?

the person who\'d rented the apartment before him.  The one who\'d blacked out the windows and apparently left without telling his friends (or neighbours?) that he was going.  Perhaps something worse had happened to him, considering Ben could now hear sirens warbling in the distance that took priority over Manson, but then they faded away.

He realised belatedly that he\'d just opened the door and started checking out the guy before him, looking at his clothes and carried equipment before staring at his face questioningly.  He was being rude - and though New York had a reputation for having rude locals living within it, he didn\'t want to add to that particular atmosphere.

"Hello?" he asked finally, his hand still resting on the doorknob on his side of the apartment and he was mostly leaning on the door\'s edge, feeling the jamb pressing into his side.  It leant a gritty reality to the scene before him, to which he couldn\'t yet make sense of.  He hoped the fellow before him would help make sense of it, but he couldn\'t shake the feeling that he was going to be asked for drugs - or if he wanted to buy them.  He must be wrong about the junkie aspect though (even though he was getting junkie vibes), because he doubted many junkies would be carrying serious sound equipment around with them.  Wouldn\'t they sell it for more drugs?
INFUSCO : Ben : Hugh : Lan Bao : Mick : Todd : Vincent : Win :
HALFLIGHT : Graille Min Sayer :

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2009, 06:30:23 AM »
Daniel\'s face had fallen as soon as he\'d sighted what he\'d expected to see - not Aziz.  Immediately, his gaze had slid brazenly past Ben and he\'d even leaned up onto his toes and craned his head to look around the stranger presented to him.  He needed to see a little farther into the apartment beyond, not caring about the guy in front of him at this stage - even though he was aware he was being checked out.  Being checked out was nothing unusual in New York, and not a worry when folks\' hands were visible; he\'d figured that out within two weeks of arriving in the big city - from a very nothing town in the midwest where nobody ever became somebody, no matter how talented they were, because the place was just too damn disconnected.

The suitcases sitting harmlessly in the middle of the floor (well, the corners he could spy, anyway) gave away the fact that some changes had definitely occurred with regard to ownership of this apartment but until he spied the empty wall beyond Ben\'s shoulder - where Aziz had kept a massive Levha wall hanging that had had something to do with God being the knower of everything (though that had been Aziz, in Danny\'s experience, for he\'d read his mind without blinking) - he wasn\'t convinced.  That wall hanging had been the most important thing Aziz had owned though, a beautiful tapestry of delicate weaving, gold threads combining to depict script from the Qur\'an.

With an exhalation of disappointment, he pulled back and settled into his spread-legged slouching stance again - he had a habit of hunching simply because he was always bent over the recording equipment in his messenger bag, listening to his samples, not because he was especially long.  Daniel was three inches shy of six feet and the clothes he wore disguised his body well enough to mean he could never be intimidating in that sense, either.  For now, however, his shoulders were rolled forward and his fists pressed into his jeans pockets because he was unhappy.  Seriously unhappy that he wasn\'t going to get the fix he needed.

His gaze travelled reluctantly from the ground upward but when it got to the stranger\'s eyes he did a comical and very obvious double take.  His heart flipped over and he blinked like he didn\'t quite believe what he was seeing.  He didn\'t.

His eyes.

Though your average schlum on the street would\'ve believed those eyes were contacts, Danny knew better.  He spent a great deal of his time at Liquid Empire for one thing, a club/haven for vampires.  That supernatural quality was common in such a place and he\'d have been able to pick a vamp out of a lineup at fifty paces, with eyes like those.

Thing was, Aziz had left the apartment and it had immediately been taken over by another vampire?  What the hell were the odds of that being a coincidence?  Daniel believed them to be impossible, quite frankly, and suspected that this guy - whoever he was - had to be an acquaintance of Aziz\'s somehow.  This meant one of two things; either he could get Daniel back in contact with Aziz or he might be open to performing the same favour the dark, broody vampire had.  Danny didn\'t care either way, as long as he got bit sometime soon.

Urgently, he took a step forward and stared intently into the strange vampire\'s eyes, like he might find the answers to his questions written in their silvery depths.  Damn, but they had to be one of the coolest pairs of optics he\'d ever seen - it was an idle thought running through his multi-string mind but the eyes were impressive enough for the thought to surface quite strongly before sinking back down into the depths again.

"Hi.  Can you help me?" he asked conspiratorially, his voice extremely low so as not to carry beyond the vampire\'s hearing - it was obvious in these few words that he had a great deal of experience in speaking quietly so that only a vampire could hear him.  "I need to find Aziz, do you know where he went?" he asked, his tone implying that Ben\'s answer was a foregone conclusion to him; of course he knew where Aziz was, because he was a vampire now inside another vampire\'s apartment.  They had to be part of the same network.  Daniel\'s blue eyes blazed with renewed confidence, only inches away from Ben\'s own.

Offline Trillian

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2009, 09:03:54 AM »
What neither of them knew, as they stared at each other - one with the impression that the other was part of a serious network of supernatural beings and one simply wanting the other to go away and leave him alone - was that Ben had been assigned to the apartment by the landlord below, based on two factors, both concreted in first impressions.  Ben was dressed nicely, (though casually) in bluejeans and a crisp cream coloured button-up shirt.  His polite manner and well-kept hair leant a hand towards him being associated with being well-raised, and less likely to trash an apartment that was furnished with quite nice things - thanks to the tenant that had done a runner before him.  The second thing that had the landlord handing over the keys to that particular apartment, was that Ben had shown his driver\'s licence as an I.D. and signed in under his own name after requesting to pay by the week.  In this building, the landlord didn\'t ask for I.D., didn\'t care who stayed, as long as they paid in advance and didn\'t break anything.  He\'d figured this honest looking kid would take care of a room that deserved someone a little better.  So Ben had been given the better apartment based on two minutes worth of conversation.

It hadn\'t exactly been a coincidence that he\'d landed that apartment, but the fact he was a vampire taking over another vampire\'s apartment was certainly of slightly higher odds.  Obviously it was possible, for it happened.

Now, as Daniel asked Ben for help - which had the blonde raising his eyebrows slightly and wondering what to say without promising anything (and finding he didn\'t need to, because the actual request came a short moment later) - he frowned and wondered why the other would think he knew Aziz at all, never mind where he was.  It wasn\'t usual for the next person to live in a house or apartment and know what had happened to the previous owner.

"Um, no, I don\'t know Aziz," he said, stepping back a little so he could reclaim some personal space.  "You can check with the landlord if he left a forwarding address," Ben suggested helpfully, but doubted that this was the kind of place anybody left a forwarding address from.  He shifted weight from one foot to another, figuring that Daniel would probably leave now, and Ben was getting ready to close the door.
INFUSCO : Ben : Hugh : Lan Bao : Mick : Todd : Vincent : Win :
HALFLIGHT : Graille Min Sayer :

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #5 on: June 03, 2009, 04:26:06 PM »
Sensing that he was about to be shut out - and away from what he craved - Daniel\'s hand left his pocket at a rapid rate and the fingertips pressed to the panelling of the door, holding it open.
 
"No, but wait!" he said hurriedly, his voice taking on an edge of desperation, his expression pleading.  "You have to know him, you\'re one as well!  And you\'re here!  In his apartment!"
 
Although the mortal was obviously agitated and highly concerned he wouldn\'t get his fix, he still had the presence of mind to keep his volume at little more than a hoarse whisper, so that only the vampire would hear him.

Offline Trillian

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #6 on: June 03, 2009, 05:10:23 PM »
"I don\'t know him," Ben disagreed, taken aback by Daniel\'s insistence.  He didn\'t really know what being \'one as well\' meant, though there was a niggling doubt at the back of his mind that told him he really did know what Daniel meant, thanks to some blacked out windows lending him a clue.

He knows
He knows what you are
That Aziz guy was a vampire
And he knows you\'re one as well
But how


Ben looked from Daniel\'s hand on the door to the young man himself, wondering if he was going to be let off the hook anytime soon.  It was interesting, that Daniel wasn\'t raising his voice in the slightest even though he was obviously getting upset.

"Look, I\'m sorry.  I\'ve only just got here, about five minutes ago.  Your friend\'s already left.  Ask the landlord if you don\'t believe me," he said, attempting to shunt the problem of Daniel\'s hunt for information onto the building owner (or manager) or whatever he was, for the second time.
INFUSCO : Ben : Hugh : Lan Bao : Mick : Todd : Vincent : Win :
HALFLIGHT : Graille Min Sayer :

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #7 on: June 03, 2009, 08:23:45 PM »
The more they talked, the more Daniel got the feeling that he was holding a handful of sand that was drying quickly and slipping out between his fingers no matter how hard he squeezed.  He\'d had a plan in mind and he was borderline compulsive in following through on what he\'d made up his mind to do; change threw him completely off track and the foul mood that resulted would ruin his whole night and completely screw over his schedule if it happened.

He couldn\'t afford that.  A guy had promised to get his demo to a guy who knew a recording company guy and even though these things were longshots, he followed through on all of them because something had to pan out eventually.  He also had to keep it fresh because he was constantly evolving but he hadn\'t finished the final track of the three he wanted to present and time was of the essence... he couldn\'t bear the thought of going to Liquid Empire when he\'d had such a simple plan in mind - get home from work, go visit Aziz and go back to his apartment buzzed and ready to create.  Except the asshole had apparently decided to skip town.

Sand through his fingers and a burning, spinning wildness caused by loss of control in his chest... he had to do something.  "Well... are you hungry then?" he pleaded, need shining from his eyes.

Offline Trillian

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #8 on: June 03, 2009, 10:47:14 PM »
The question was so upfront that it had Ben mentally reeling.

"Wh-what?"

Fuck, he hated stammering, and it was even worse that he\'d stammered on the answer of that particular question.  If he\'d tried to portray himself as human to ensure that this mortal - in case he really had guessed correctly that Ben was a vampire - think that he was mistaken.  Perhaps if he\'d suavely said something like \'are you trying to ask me out to dinner?\' or even something simple like \'I\'ve already eaten\', it would\'ve been enough to send Daniel on his way.

The problem was, he was hungry, and the thirst was quite apparent the more attention it received.  The instant he\'d opened the door to find Daniel thrumming energetically on the other side of it, he\'d been aware of the fact he hadn\'t yet slaked his thirst tonight, and it was starting to distract him.  Focussing on selling his car and then finding a place to stay had been enough to keep his mind off his hunger, but now it was in his face, literally on his doorstep, and he was entertaining the idea of allowing Daniel to offer himself up like the eager morsal he was.

Such a thing was dangerous though, to allow someone to know what he was and where he lived.

Damage is already done, you might as well take advantage of a free meal

And if Daniel lived in this building, like Ben suspected he did, then drinking from his neighbours was a bad habit to start a new place with.

But it could also be terribly convenient.  A convenience that the vampire who lived here before you obviously took advantage of.


It was guesswork, though.  It was all guesswork, and Ben toyed with the idea of exploring his budding talent and scanning Daniel\'s mind to confirm if he really did know if Ben was a vampire

what else would such a question mean, dickhead?


or if Ben was being paranoid.

Still, enough time had passed between them now, that the single stammered question/answer he\'d given Daniel was now being reacted to.  The moment had passed to fix it up, to offer something neater, and all he had left was what Daniel said to him in return.
INFUSCO : Ben : Hugh : Lan Bao : Mick : Todd : Vincent : Win :
HALFLIGHT : Graille Min Sayer :

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #9 on: June 04, 2009, 06:53:02 AM »
The notion that a guy with eyes like those would feign innocence was amusing on some level, but Daniel\'s only focus was that his glaring uncertainty was a chink in his armour, a way to weasel in.  He obviously wasn\'t advertising his immortality - who would? - when he\'d apparently just moved in to a new apartment complex, so he was thrown by Danny figuring out what he was.  That was cool, he believed it worked in his favour, rather than the vampire\'s (for once).

His expression became less pained, his pressure on the door less firm, the distance between them a little closer as Daniel sidled forward, wetting his lips as he thought hastily.

"Look, you don\'t know Aziz - that\'s fine.  I guess it\'s just weird luck that you\'re here, in his place, and he\'s booked.  He was a prick and I won\'t miss him but he and I used to have an arrangement, see, he\'d feed from me every week or so.  He\'d get a meal and I\'d get an open invitation to The Buzz," the mortal grinned, believing that all vampires knew that their bite was a sensual and chocolate thing (because he\'d never had any experience with brand new fledglings or badly-raised ones that had no understanding of their powers), sharing his secret name for it just to present himself as more friendly.

"I need it, man," Daniel said more soberly (though he was sounding more like an addict by the second, even performing a little bob to punctuate that his whole body was craving).  "It clears my mind, it gets me to the place... a... a place where, where, where I can hear myself!" he exclaimed, his words slickening as his tongue moved faster in order to convince the vampire that he should take pity on him.

He clicked his thumb and third finger together on the word \'hear\' and it sounded very loud to even his ears, considering how quietly they were talking, but it didn\'t stop him.  He was just getting into the groove of his appeal, shaking his head like all modern day youths do - to communicate sublime agreement, for he was thinkinga bout all the wonderful feelings the bite gave him and it was like music in his mind already, his head swinging in time to an unheard beat.

"Please," he beseeched Ben through desperate cornflower blue eyes.  "I know you don\'t know me and I\'m all up in your face and whatever, but I just live down the hall and I\'ve been going to your club since I was sixteen - I\'ve even played there a couple of times," he said proudly, lifting his hands as he spoke and pulling back the sleeves covering his left arm.  He turned his hand over and flashed a beautiful curling, intricately entwined (but shapeless as far as form went) purple tattoo on the inside of his wrist, like it would mean something to the vampire.

"See?  I\'m safe.  I know what you fellas are all about, you can trust I won\'t go mouthing off if you do this for me.  I won\'t hang off you or nothin\', I know you gotta\' be settling in and all, I just... just take me in, have a taste and then I\'ll go.  I\'m totally clean," he vowed, making a ridiculously young two-fingered boy scout salute with his right hand as he released his left and it dropped back to his side, thumb curling back into his jeans habitually.

Offline Trillian

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #10 on: June 04, 2009, 07:10:16 AM »
Ben, faced with the blurted knowledge that poured out of Daniel like a local vampire encyclopedia, had a decision to make, and he made it fairly quickly.  Reaching forward, he grabbed Daniel by his arm and pulled him into the apartment; not gently but it was also far removed from throwing him around.  Once Daniel was past the doorway and Ben could close it, he locked it - both locks this time, the deadbolt and the chain - and turned around so he could face the mortal in his apartment.

A groupie
one of those guys you didn\'t like at Risk
and now you have him in your new home
he\'d throw himself at anyone


It wasn\'t the offer of a drink that had Ben acting on impulse, but rather the knowledge of a club - a club that operated much like Risk, though likely it was called something else.  He had to know what it was called and where it was, it would make things a lot easier on him here, if he had a place to go that was safe like Risk was - full of willing bodies that already knew, or he could even buy it over the counter in a glass at the bar, and find out where to get baggies of it.  Oh God, it would make things so easy.

"I\'ve only just arrived in New York," Ben admitted, staring at Daniel and not bothering to deny anything.  The realisation had finally come to him that his eyes had given him away, to someone who already knew about vampires such a thing was screamingly obvious.  In a population where contacts could come in the form of smiley faces, Ben\'s iridescent gaze didn\'t make too many people look twice, but to a groupie - there was no sense trying to fool him when he already knew.  "The club I used to go to was called Risk.  What\'s the name of the one here?"

Forget about The Buzz, forget about the fact Ben\'s senses were screaming at him to attach himself to a willing neck and feeeeeed.  He wanted Daniel wanting, and eager to please him in order to offer up the information he needed.  It was easier than rooting around in his brain.
INFUSCO : Ben : Hugh : Lan Bao : Mick : Todd : Vincent : Win :
HALFLIGHT : Graille Min Sayer :

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #11 on: June 04, 2009, 07:16:54 AM »
Daniel blinked as he was pulled in rapidly - more rapidly than he\'d been prepared for, but it impressed him rather than scared him.  Once he was inside and freed, he felt nothing but relief, watching the vampire as he pulled his headphones off his neck and then set about removing his messenger bag with all the care a loving mother would use to remove her firstborn from her hip.  He spoke as he removed his gear.

"Liquid Empire," he responded immediately, taking all this in stride and not considering lying, since he believed his mind would be read anyway.  He hadn\'t had any weirdly errant thoughts that made him realise he was being scanned yet, but he supposed that would come - unless this guy was way older than Aziz had been.  "Welcome to New York.  What\'s your name?" the mortal grinned, hands going to his hips as he straightened, his worldly possessions now carefully on the floor behind him, leaning against the wall.

Offline Trillian

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #12 on: June 04, 2009, 07:29:45 AM »
"Ben," he informed Daniel, automatically providing his name to the question.  It wasn\'t in him to use false names or change his name when changing cities, though he didn\'t provide his surname to Daniel like he had to the landlord downstairs.  He\'d unconsciously figured that Daniel wouldn\'t care about his full name, he just needed a name to put to Ben so he could rap on his door in the future.  The thought of this set Ben\'s lips in a grim line but he could establish boundaries straight away, and hopefully that Aziz vampire that Daniel had known had trained him somehow.  Daniel hadn\'t a high opinion of him, considering he\'d called him a prick, and Ben figured that might be an option - to not be nice or kind to Daniel and maybe he\'d stay away more often than not.  Though, it was unfair to think the mortal would do otherwise, as he\'d already promised that he wouldn\'t be clingy.  It was hard to know where he stood at this present moment.  He was staring at Daniel now, free of his equipment and standing expectantly.  "What street\'s it on?" he asked, unsure if the club would advertise itself in the Yellow Pages.
INFUSCO : Ben : Hugh : Lan Bao : Mick : Todd : Vincent : Win :
HALFLIGHT : Graille Min Sayer :

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #13 on: June 04, 2009, 07:42:42 PM »
A slight, contemplative twist at the corner of his mouth was all that gave away Daniel\'s impatience at Ben not making a move on him already, and then he answered the question posed calmly.  The new New Yorker would likely not know the exact whereabouts of the street he named, so he gave an exact description of how to get there as well, informing the immigrant that he now lived only ten blocks from a club he was sure to love - it was partly the reason Aziz had lived here, he believed.

While he was talking, he removed his unzipped hoodie jacket to reveal a form-fitting black woollen jumper (another, mustard yellow layer showed through on his chest, resting between it and the black shirt) with sleeves that he fiddled with as he spoke, because they were slightly too long.  When he was done, he gave an affable shrug and looked pointedly around the apartment.  "So... where do you want me?" he asked, his gaze coming back to rest eagerly on Ben.

Offline Trillian

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Re: New York, New York
« Reply #14 on: June 04, 2009, 10:03:26 PM »
Ben was surprised to receive the detail he did, and was impressed despite himself of Daniel\'s foresight, to explain how to get to the club.  Ben had lucked out, choosing the place he had, in more ways than one.  He wasn\'t sure what Liquid Empire would be like, seeing it was situated in a cheap part of town, but then, Risk had been in the Industrial area of the city, among warehouses and out of the way of the general public.  Perhaps the poorer areas kept their information to themselves.

When Daniel\'s announcement came next, about being placed, Ben could only stare at him incomprehensibly for a moment.  It dawned on him, belatedly, that he\'d more or less accepted Daniel\'s offer to drink from him.  This made him feel on the back foot suddenly, like Daniel had the upper hand instead of him.

Take charge, Ben
You\'re the vampire
You\'re the one who takes the lead


Easier thought than done, but Ben pressed on with confidence that seemed to spring from nowhere.  He felt ridiculous and out of place, but he was acting and speaking in a manner that seemed a lot cooller than he really was.  Sometimes, he was lucky enough to run on auto-pilot.  It was the same way he\'d had the courage to talk to Kerr and offer himself up as a donor - it would be that way now, with Daniel.

"The sofa will be easiest," he said, moving to it before waiting to see what Daniel would do or if he would reply.  He stood for a longer moment than necessary before plopping himself down on the surprisingly comfy two seater and waiting for Daniel to join him.  Being on the sofa meant that Ben would have to hover over the mortal to feed from him, but that was okay because it meant he would be in the controlling position.

Sitting down in a strange apartment filled with strange furniture and smelling strange smells about to drink from someone he didn\'t know certainly wasn\'t settling him down.  The uneasiness persisted, though he did his best to ignore it in favour of presenting the calm and collected vampire that he was trying to be.
INFUSCO : Ben : Hugh : Lan Bao : Mick : Todd : Vincent : Win :
HALFLIGHT : Graille Min Sayer :