Lacking Interest

[pinkroses]

((Reserved for Mal))

Risk was buzzing tonight - as William had quickly discovered, it was buzzing like this most nights. The scents of blood, alcohol, sex and smoke hung heavy in the air and the noise was deafening, but Will had quickly learnt to block it out. His mental barriers were up on full as well, there were too many young vampires here, and older ones who simply conversed mentally. Will wasn’t practised enough with his mental skills to be able to listen in subtly, and he didn’t really care enough about what they were saying to bother, but he could put up a mental barrier and keep it there, stronger than rock.

The blonde vampire was perched on a stool by the bar, ignoring the press of humans and vampires trying to order drinks, whether alcohol or blood. He leant back against the bar, resting on his elbows, a cigarette dangling from between the fingers of his right hand, one long leg stretched out before him, resting on the floor and the other bent at the knee, his foot resting on the bar of the stool. Those legs were clad in tight dark demin jeans which fitted him well and ended in a pair of black boots. On top he was wearing a metallic silver shirt which matched the grey colour of his eyes. The top few buttons of the shirt were undone, showing the silver cross which hung around his neck, resting on the pale skin of his chest. Although he looked alert, there were dark circles under his eyes from a restless day; he’d barely slept, but he knew that after a drink he would feel much better.

Will didn’t really like Risk. It was too crowded, too busy, too many people attacking his senses, humans trying to get his attention, rubbing up against him unsubtly as they got served at the bar, wanting the buzz that comes from being fed from but they quickly lost interest when they discovered he wasn’t responding. He didn’t quite know what he was looking  for, or if he was even looking for anything. He knew he should drink, after all, that was why he had come here (it was easier than finding and manipulating someone on the street), but his grey eyes were staring blankly towards the crowd, not really focusing on anything specific. He was aware of the people around him and if anything threatening or of interest came towards him he would snap out of this daze in an instant, but right now he was looking above the crowd, half watching the stairs which lead to the VIP lounge, without any real intent.

Blinking slowly he flicked the ash from his cigarette into an ashtray on the bar and took a drag, but as he exhaled he returned to his previous position as though he hadn’t moved at all.

[MythsAndLegends]

((I found it! And I did have enough time for a quick post. ))

Ari had been extremely busy since his return from Europe, and he could not deny that the stress of returning back to the Sacramentum after being gone for several months was tasking upon his mental sanity – though he never feared he would lose that, though it sometimes felt like it could be in jeopardy. Currently though, his recent meeting with Charon that lasted only a few moments had given him even more to worry about. Apparently one of the younger fledglings was getting out of hand, and he required someone to deal with him – it was one of Ari’s duties to make sure things like that were taken care of. Little did he know that it would be this frustrating just trying to find the boy…

Instead, he figured he might as well take a few minutes to relax and recuperate. Not like he couldn’t use it! Ari worked hard to further the Sacramentum. Maybe not quite as hard as Charon did, but Ari was certainly up there. After taking his break in the VIP lounge of the club called Risk, which was not always too Ari’s tastes, he slowly descended the stairs, his keen eyes gazing out across the entire club that he could see, his mind sending out tendrils of his mental will in search for his prey, but it was soon clear that he was not present in Risk – at least not yet. Ari did notice an open space at the bar, and being that he was extremely in need of supplements of a particular red coloring, he made his way over and leaned against the bar near a man who did not look all too pleased with being there.

Ari placed his forearms up against the bar, leaning on his elbows and lightly massaging his temples as he looked over at the bartender, who promptly brought him a fine wineglass filled to the brim. He picked it up delicately and drained the drink in one big gulp, then turned back out towards the crowd.
Ari was always easy to pick out in a crowd due to the odd clothing he always wore. Today he had chosen an outfit of all black. A long sleeved overcoat that was pulled tightly over his extremely muscled, yet wiry body, fastened in a slightly old-time oriental fashion, off to the side of the chest utilizing several silver straps that fastened under his armpit to a set of matching straps that came from the other side of the coat that had been covered. The coat extended down over his legs which were clad in loose, black pants of an extravagant silk making which were pulled down over the tops of his black boots. He had his long, dark hair pulled back and tied into a short ponytail, but despite his interesting attire, his quarry might not be as easy to spot as himself. He sighed deeply.

Ari then turned back to the bar to pick up the freshly filled glass, slowly sipping at it as he watched the members of Risk bask in the secrecy that was provided by the club from the outside world, reveling in the various pleasures that could be gained in the arms of a vampire or just another. As he watched, Ari realized, that despite being a vampire himself, there were few he could ever relate to among his species aside from possibly Charon and his long dead friends who had been Charon’s Fledglings. It had been centuries since Ari had cried, but if he had been capable of doing such, evoking the thoughts of those three who he had loved for so long would have been all it had taken to reduce him to a heap of misery. But Ari, the right hand of Charon in the Sacramentum was beyond that, and instead he fixed his face into an emotional barrier. There was nothing that could hurt him – not anymore.

[pinkroses]

Will blinked again as a figure interrupted his view of the stairs, someone, obviously a vampire, descending them. His grey eyes narrowed as he finally focused his gaze, watching the dark haired vampire as he made his way into the crowd, but then Will lost sight of him - this place was too busy for someone seated to be able to keep an eye on one person easily and Will didn’t care enough to be bothered moving.

Just as he was about to revert to his previous state of uncaring blankness the figure reappeared, surprisingly, right next to him. Will glanced sideways at him as he took another drag on his cigarette, watching the vampire order and drink the blood. His clothes looked a little out of their time, but the black made him blend in with many of the other guests of Risk, yet there was something about him that Will couldn’t quite put his finger on. Possibly the fact that he was wearing a long overcoat in an already hot club. He didn’t exactly look ready for dancing, but whilst Will looked more prepared for the clubbing scene, he definitely didn’t feel it.

His gaze turned to the glass of blood, a slight pout on his lips as he considered getting a glass himself, but drinking blood out of a glass, even warm, didn’t quite feel right to Will. He didn’t bother hiding the fact that he was staring at Ari as the dark haired vampire in turn watched other people in Risk. He looked just as blank as Will had before, like he wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on around him. The blonde made a quite ‘hum’ noise as he spun on his stool towards the bar and stubbed out his drink. The bartender met his eye, but Will shook his head slightly, indicating that he didn’t want a glass of blood. He was just taking up a bar stool for no reason.

Once the cigarette was out Will’s eyes turned back towards Ari - he didn’t like crowds, but Will could easily block them out to focus on only one person and although he needed to drink, he found his interest peaked when he considered this vampire. He was older that Will, the blonde could feel that, and he’d come from the VIP lounge, which meant he had to know more about this place. Will wasn’t especially interested in finding out more in depth information - he’d probably just forget about it in a few days anyway, but he was somewhat interested to know why this figure looked so out of touch. Surely if he’d come from the VIP lounge he had to have some interest in this place?

Will leant forwards towards Ari, resting one elbow on the bar whilst the other rested casually on his knee.

“I would have thought you could get fresh, rather than resorting to a glass,” he said, pointedly glancing towards the glass Ari was cupping before his gaze returned to meet the matching grey eyes across from him. His accent was a mixture of English and American having been raised in England, but centuries in this country had faded it as the melting pot of America had created its own selection of accents.

[MythsAndLegends]

((A little short post because I must be getting off now. ^.^))

Ari was plainly aware that the man next to him was keeping an eye on him, but with a mind like Ari’s it’s hard to not know when someone was looking at him, but he kept to himself for the time, figuring that there was no reason to really get involved with him despite the man’s obvious interest in him. As he spoke to Ari though, it had merely become an unavoidable confrontation, especially with the disrespect the man had for him.

His eyes lowered to the glass for a mere moment before he moved them to look of to the side towards the other vampire, a much more crude version of the species as far as he was concerned, but then turned his head entirely to face him, the instant his eyes locked he stabbed out with his mental probes that no vampire in the club, aside from possibly Charon – though Ari did not know if Charon focused upon his mental abilities as he had – and pulled forth the man’s name, “Yes, will, I likely could, but such a barbaric act is not something I like to partake in. I prefer a simple glass here and there, but you are young yet, and might someday understand what I do.”

He turned back to look out over the dancing crowds, “Though, despite the passing of time, most vampires become addicted to the thrill of taking blood straight from the “tap” as some might call it. I do not, not for a long time.”

[pinkroses]

Will visibly flinched as Ari’s mental probes forced their way straight through the barriers he’d had up and a pain shot through his head, making him lift a hand to his temple as a scowl crossed his face. Will didn’t have many mental powers, but a strong barrier was something he knew how to put up and to have it ignored and forced past so easily was disconcerting, especially since Will rarely gave his real name when asked, so to have it ripped from his head so easily was painful. He hadn’t had his mental barriers tested for some time, and never by someone so powerful and so much older than him. Demons Will could keep out, vampires a couple of hundred years older who were trying to pry, but the vampire before him was over a millennium older than the blonde and had much more practise.

His grey eyes squinted at Ari, only half hearing what the older vampire was saying since he was still reeling mentally. And right now he wasn’t too keen on listening too carefully to what Ari was saying after all, he was too pissed off. He listened enough to know that this bastard was being patronising and annoying and Will couldn\'t be bothered with dealing with that when he\'d just been trying to make small talk. If this was what he got for his troubles then he wouldn\'t bother.

“Fine, whatever. Guess I should tell you to go fuck yourself since no one else would bother with an asshole like you,” he snapped, his grey eyes still narrowed at the ancient. Will had spent the first decade of his life being mentally dominated and his skills being considered worthless, he wasn’t going to hang around and have that done to him again so he stood up in a smooth movement and stalked away from Ari disappearing into the crowd, slipping easily through the gaps in the dancers without disturbing anyone.

The blonde didn\'t bother looking back, but he could feel that the older vampire wasn\'t following him. There was still the sense of age around, but the feeling Ari had given him was fading, being replaced by different feelings as he moved through the crowded club. The thundery look stayed in his eyes so when one human tried to approach him and Will turned his gaze on him the human backed off quickly, moving away to try his luck with a less moody looking vampire whilst Will kept moving. He wasn\'t really heading anywhere, he still didn\'t know Risk well enough to have a favourite spot to go to, he just wanted to stay away from Ari. The confusion in his mind from a forced entrance was gradually fading though, which was a relief.

[Existentially Odd]

Tom\'s eyes had widened and he\'d just about choked on the laughter he\'d kept in at hearing the big, old vampire called an asshole.  He wasn\'t sure what had happened to anger the blonde across the way (Tom was sitting on Ari\'s other side, thinking he sounded like a fucking tool right before he was told he was by Will) but when he got up and stalked away, the redhead felt very much like cheering.

Instead, he took the better part of valour and got up and walked after him, waiting until he was a few steps into the crowd before he burst out laughing.  He got a few strange looks but it didn\'t deter him from chuckling as he caught up with his target.  Eventually the guy slowed down and Tom was within reaching distance; he slapped a hand on his shoulder as he came up beside the blonde vampire and grinned down at him.

"Man!  That was fucking classic!" he commended loudly, thumbing back towards the bar to make it obvious he was talking about Will\'s insult.  "What a fucking tool that guy is!  High five," he encouraged, raising his right hand (which was not resting companionably on Will\'s shoulder still) for it to be slapped.  It was a rather uncool gesture for such a tall, coolly dressed vampire to make - he was wearing black motorcycle boots with light blue jeans, a dark orange cotton shirt with black pinstripes (open at the collar to reveal a silver necklace upon his freckled skin) and a black leather coat that reached his calves - but he seemed too overcome with enthusiasm about the swearing to care.

[pinkroses]

Will stopped walking and quickly spun around, shrugging off the hand on his shoulder as he moved, his hands clenched into fists, but they remained down by his sides. He blinked quickly as he realised that the ancient that he had been half expecting to see had been replaced by a cheerful redhead who stood half a foot taller than him, which meant that Will had to readjust his eye line quickly. His eyes, which had darkened in his anger, lightened as he was surprised, but that, and the blink to readjust, were the only indication on his face that his anger had been changed into something else.

He raised an eyebrow as he took in the sight before him, gazing at the raised hand for a moment. Was this guy serious? After a few seconds the angry glare faded slowly from Will’s face, and it was replaced by something which looked a little like amused curiosity, although he didn\'t quite smile - the scowl had diminished though. It wasn’t difficult for Will to realise what the younger vampire was talking about, but there was something enjoyable about leaving the figure hanging.

“Obviously I agree,” Will said simply, returning his gaze from Tom’s hand to his face as he spoke, then his gaze flickered past his shoulder in the direction of the bar, a cool glint returning to his eyes.

“Do you know who he is?” he asked, nodding in the direction of the ancient. If he’d just offended someone who was well known, it was probably best to know about it. And the redhead seemed to know enough about the other vampire to know what a shit he was, unless he was just enjoying the tension.

[Existentially Odd]

"Ah, cold, man," Tom condemned the blonde\'s silent refusal to slap his broad palm as he dropped it out of the air and hooked his thumb into the corner of his front pocket instead.  It was obvious that he wasn\'t too broken up about being left hanging when he gave a shrug and followed the stranger\'s line of sight, looking back towards Ari.
 
"Nah.  Not his name, anyway," he amended, turning back to look at his new companion.  Considering he didn\'t know his own name, however, that was hardly surprising.  "I do know he\'s one of the crew that own this place, though," he imparted, his sensuous mouth splitting into a broad grin and his eyes twinkling blue for the time being.  "You, my friend, just insulted one of the very people that could have you thrown out and barred from this place!"
 
At the conclusion of his little speech, he laughed raucuously, obviously finding the prospect of his companion screwing up his chances of remaining a Risk regular quite funny.

[pinkroses]

Will exhaled briefly, not quite snorting in frustration as the redhead explained who the ancient was. He pursed his lips and ran a hand through his hair, the frown returning to his face again for a moment as he glanced around, but he couldn‘t spot any bouncers headed their way - not yet at least. But as Tom entertained himself laughing Will gave a small shrug. So what? So he might get barred from a club, well it wasn’t like this was a regular haunt of Will’s. He was used to having to hunt for food, having it served up on a plate like this was a luxury, but one Will hadn’t got used to.  And all of the clingy groupies… well, it wasn’t a luxury he would miss much.

His grey eyes returned to Tom’s as he waited silently for his companion to stop giggling, wondering whether he was drunk or just very excitable.

“It was worth it though. He was being a prick,” Will said, shrugging again as he accepted his fate, whatever it was. If he got banned, well, they‘ve have to find him to tell him that first. The throbbing in his head from Ari shoving his way through his mental blocks was still present, although it had lessened considerably now and a slow smile spread over Will’s face.

“I don’t know my way around this place, I’ve only been here once before. Know any good spots to avoid the bouncers?” he asked with a grin up at the redhead.

[Existentially Odd]

"Oh yeah, the guy\'s a total fucking tool," the taller vampire agreed consideringly when told Ari had been being a prick.  When asked if he knew a place to avoid the bouncers however, he raised his eyebrows, wondering if maybe that was a pickup line - it wouldn\'t be the first time and he hoped it wouldn\'t be the last, but he preferred they come from women all the same.

"Uh... out in the back rooms, I guess," he said slowly, "but you generally only take mortals out there to feed - you know the place in that sense... right?"

[pinkroses]

Will tilted his head to the side as the back rooms were mentioned and glanced that way, eyeing up the corridor. He hadn’t been down there before, or heard what they were specifically designed for, although it was fairly obvious as he watched people head towards them. Given the redhead’s explanation, heading down there alone or with another vampire might attract more attention, which hadn’t been Will’s intention at all. And besides, Tom didn’t sound overly enthusiastic about the idea, which Will couldn’t quite understand since he’d been so cheerful just seconds before. Still, it didn’t really matter since the blonde couldn’t spot any of the bouncers heading their way, or even looking at all interested in them. Perhaps, if there wasn\'t going to be trouble, he would check out the back rooms with a human to feed from later that night.

“No. I drank from a mortal in a booth last time and I had no guide,” Will said as he turned his face to Tom’s again. Well, that wasn’t strictly true, a vampire had approached him and mentally encouraged two humans to join them, which Will hadn’t been overly pleased with since he’d wanted to do his own exploring around Risk, taking his time. And even heading home with the vampire (Will couldn’t even remember his name it had been that mind numbing) after drinking had been a disappointment and a bore. Will had got fed up with him before they got anywhere near the events his companion had planned and sent him away before getting back to his apartment. Overall a fairly disappointing night.

“Ah well, no sign of trouble anyway. Perhaps I won’t be getting banned tonight,” he said, hooking a thumb into his jeans pocket, unconsciously mimicking Tom’s stance slightly. “What did he do to get such a low opinion from you?” he asked, wondering whether the redhead had a valid reason from disliking the ancient or whether he had just overheard some of their conversation. If he was just going by the conversation Ari and Will had had then Will guessed it would sound like he had overreacted, but it was the mental probe he had objected to so much. Perhaps the younger vampire had enough mental ability to have picked up on that though, Will didn’t practise many mental powers so he wasn’t sure exactly what could be accomplished.

[Existentially Odd]

The redheaded vampire shrugged, unsure whether his companion\'s response meant that he still wanted to be shown to one of the rooms out the back or not - his opinion was that no amount of running and ducking would evade a Risk bouncer should they target you as their prey, so it was a damn good thing they weren\'t after him.

"Nah, I reckon you\'re fine.  You\'d have known it by now if there was an issue - he\'s a bit of a limp cock, from what I\'ve seen, anyway.  I\'ve seen him around a bit recently and every time he opens his mouth, he about sucks the intelligence right out of the club," the redhead laughed irreverently.  "He\'s a tool, I tell ya.  So... you\'re pretty new to this place then?  To the city too?" he enquired conversationally.

[pinkroses]

“Yeah, I am,” Will said, giving a small nod, smiling at the redhead’s description of Ari. “I got here about a week ago. I heard a bit about it so I thought I’d check it out,” he said, speaking about both the city and the club. “How long have you been living here? Would you recommend it as a place to live?” Will asked with interest. He’d had a little look around at some of the apartments in the city, but had so far been living in a hotel, which was fine by him for a while. He had enough homes in other cities around the country, but what harm could one more do? He hadn’t quite made up his mind as to whether he wished to stay here though. It was certainly interesting - there were so many supernatural creatures, but maybe a few too many. And the rules that were pinned up - Will certainly hadn’t done more than glance at them, but it seemed like there were a lot of things that needed to be kept in check.

“I’m Will, by the way,” he added, holding out a hand to Tom to shake, although after leaving the younger vampire hanging with the high five he half expected the same to be done to him. Will rarely gave his real name, but since Tom had heard him and Ari speaking he guessed he would have heard the use of his name which Ari had ripped out of his head. Maybe he hadn’t picked up on it, but there was no point lying when he could so easily be called out on it.

[Existentially Odd]

The taller vampire winced thoughtfully as he was asked what sort of place the city was to live in - as if he was debating between two diametrically opposed ideas (which he was, in a way) and couldn\'t figure out which one to go with.  He was saved from answering immediately by Will introducing himself and he shook the other vampire\'s hand without thinking about leaving him hanging.

"Will, okay," he nodded, doing his best to commit the name to his terrible memory.  At least it was simple - but perhaps so simple it would slip right out of his sieve brain.  "I answer to just about anything, can\'t remember my birth name," he admitted with a shrug and a lopsided grin.  He tapped his temple with the tip of his index finger pointedly.  "Mind got a bit addled through the last two centuries and it didn\'t really seem important.  People just generally talk at you or call you the name they feel most appropriate at the time - usually asshole, for me, but I just don\'t find that\'s as catchy - so you just call me whatever you think I look like, to you," he advised, giving Will an encouraging smile.

He likely wasn\'t going to be believed, but he was rather sick of being called Tom - the name Reed had given him - so he purposely didn\'t give it out.  He\'d begun rather liking Indiana but then he\'d chosen to sever ties with that name connection, too, so maybe it was time for a change for good.  Perhaps Will would be the one who would either tap into his memory to find his real name, or he\'d be granted something new to identify himself by.  Either way worked for him and instead of answering with his opinion on living in this city (which would not be a short conversation), he watched Will expectantly, waiting to be gifted a new name.

[pinkroses]

Will’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched Tom, trying to figure out whether he was telling the truth. But then he gave a small shrug as he figured it didn’t really matter. So what if he didn’t want to, or couldn’t, give his name, or if he was a little messed up in the head? Will had met people who seemed much crazier than this guy.

He gave a grin as Tom went on, offering the blonde an opportunity to give him a brand new name. “Well this certainly sounds interesting,” Will said, lifting a hand and gently tapping at his chin in a thoughtful pose as his gaze drifted over Tom. The idea of trying to pry into Tom’s mind didn’t cross Will’s as he wasn’t practised enough at it to be able to, but plenty of other ideas crossed his mind as he eyed him up and down. Well, he was tall, gorgeous, funny and slightly crazy. But it was definitely the red hair which stood out.

Will vaguely tried to think of the names of famous redheads, but his own memory was pretty terrible and his history knowledge was appalling so the only redheads he could think of at short notice were the Weasley’s from the Harry Potter books. And Nicole Kidman, but he doubted a girl’s name would be overly popular.

“Fine, how about George?” he suggested. Short, simple, easily remembered, or forgotten. And he didn’t have to tell the redhead where he’d plucked it from. It wasn’t the most exciting name that Will could have come up with, but that didn’t matter, after all, it wasn’t like he was naming a child, the name could always be rejected.