All Work And No Play Makes Jake And Vomas Dull Boys

[Black Philip]

Work, work work, Oligarch Jake McCloud though to himself dispassionately.

He was sitting at Risk, the VIP lounge to be more precise. It seemed like an odd place to do business, but Jake and his partner in crime Vomas had agreed another night in the Oligarchy would have killed them. Jake wasn\'t at all convinced Vomas had been in favor of the idea to mix work and pleasure. It was nothing about the way the sterling good looking vampire had addressed Jake during their exchange about where to handle the night\'s affairs, just Jake inferring the way he thought Vomas was conditioned based on prior observation. That\'s all. Jake had grown to like Vomas a lot. The vampire had been so kind as to fudge the paperwork of Jake\'s illegal fledgling Sam. Ever since then, Jake had respected Vomas as a great leader and as a good friend.

Still, Vomas didn\'t know how to have fun; a fact Jake suspected Vomas himself would agree with. Jake knew how to work, but Jake also knew how to let go. The Ventrue knew how to party almost as well as the Toreador. Jake had grown tired of the Oligarchy\'s stuffy chambers and ugly office chairs. He\'d decided he required a change of scene to properly due the cities work. As a result, he\'d casually suggested the change of scenery. To his great surprise, Vomas agreed with only a slight encouragement. Perhaps Vomas was looking to let off a little steam of his own? Jake dared not assume such matters. After all, it had been two years and Jake had never seen Vomas cut loose. He often wondered what his co-worker did on his nights off. Yet, considering that Jake worked those evenings, he never was available to find out.  

They were sitting in a small, comfy booth, tucked sweetly away from the bar. Jake was wearing a black V-neck and a white cardigan over it. His hair was combed neatly, and his shoes were his favorite converse. He wore skin tights jeans with the thought, After all I am in Risk.

He smoked. An ashtray had been provided and Jake had put two sin sticks into already. He was working on a third. They were examining a file that needed an executive decision. They\'d been discussing the case for so long, Jake had grown incredibly bored. He sat smoking. He thought Vomas said something and returned his attention to his friend and co-worker.

"What," Jake mused. "I\'m sorry, the smoke is getting to me." The lie was weak.

[Saccharin]

"I said that I don\'t understand why you bother with those," he repeated, gesturing to the ashtray. Amazingly, many vampires did, though they received nothing for their efforts. He supposed they could be used to assist them into appearing more human-like, but since prices of cigarettes had gone up and many states had made it illegal to smoke within so many feet of businesses, it was becoming a rare thing to see even humans smoking.

Vomas waved his hand in front of his face, clearing the wisps of smoke from his view. Every time he took a breath to power his words, he had to deal with the stench. He\'d been tolerant of the first cigarette Jake had lit, but as more followed, he\'d finally decided to say something about it.

He closed the manila folder he\'d been going through and sat back. The only concession he\'d made to going out was to have removed his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his black dress shirt. Now, he sought to loosen his tie, his long fingers working at the knot. "Do we need to take a break?" he asked. "You seem distracted."

[Black Philip]

Jake cut a sassy smile at Vomas\'s obvious annoyance. Vomas was much more proper than Jake, and the blue blood loved it. The Ventrue thought about the parties he\'d attended in the twenties, and pictured Vomas sitting with the tycoons and bootleggers who had formed Jake\'s closest friends and allies. Vomas would have been horrified at the group\'s utter lack of decor.

Jake decided to be kind, and extinguished the cigarette as a show of respect.

"I smoke for two reasons," Jake explained. "Reason one, I like the heat on my lungs. Reason two, it\'s simply become a bloody habit. I picked it up during my time in Paris, and I\'ve been doing it ever since."

Jake\'s eyes looked towards the curtain that lead to the main part of Risk. He wanted to dance. He wanted to feed from a cute young neck. Yes, Jake definitely wanted a break. He looked Vomas over, and decided his friend could use one as well.

"Yes, a break would be lovely," Jake mused playfully. He shut his own file without another word.

[Saccharin]

The silk of his tie made a hissing noise as he drew it from around his neck. With great care, he folded it into a square roughly the size of his palm and then slid it into his jacket pocket. "Of all the things you could\'ve picked up in Paris, it was smoking," he observed. One corner of his full lips twitched, almost like he was trying to smile. If nothing else, his fellow Oligarch was often a source of amusement.

Deftly, he gathered the folders spread across the table and then placed them within the dark leather briefcase that rested on the booth next to him. Even if he hadn\'t thought it safe to leave all that information out, he would\'ve been uncomfortable leaving things in a state of disarray.

"What will you do with your break?" he inquired, thinking he might utilize his time to finish the writeup he was doing of Risk since its renovation. With that in mind, he pulled from his briefcase a small notebook and pen.

If Jake didn\'t stop him, he\'d spend the next few hours going from room to room, taking brief notes. It was sufficiently different than the case they\'d been working on for Vomas to consider it a break.

[Black Philip]

Jake watched Vomas fold the paperwork with such delicacy it made him feel bad at his job.

"I picked up many things in Paris," the vampire mocked. "I can\'t remember most of their names, but there was one boy named Jean Michael who was as good a lover as he was a meal."

Jake cocked an eyebrow. Was Vomas seriously thinking of working throughout the break? Jake was not going to let that happen. Jake wanted to see a different side of the vampire who was his equal. Besides, Jake had Conner do the paperwork on risk months ago. He\'s even submitted it to Kerr for final approval. Either Kerr hadn\'t gotten around to signing it, or the papers had been lost in translation. Either way, Jake had back ups and would email them to Vomas the following evening.

"I\'m afraid that doesn\'t fly Vomas dear," Jake said sarcastically. "What you meant to say is what are we doing on our break."

Jake searched the uptight vampire for a reaction.

[Saccharin]

He glanced at his pen and paper. "I\'d planned on doing some observations. I assumed you would find something to entertain yourself with. I inquired because I was curious."

The vampire was made uncomfortable under Jake\'s penetrating stare, but he schooled his expression into polite blankness until it dawned on him that he\'d been invite to join Jake.

"Oh," he said, eyebrows raised. "I don\'t know. What do you suggest?"

[Black Philip]

Jake smile became more sinister. Vomas\'s reluctant yes was more than enough for Jake to take action.

"We will be dancing and feeding," Jake stated happily. "I need to cut loose, and I hope you don\'t take offense, but Vomas you really need to cut loose."

Jake started to get up. He wanted to go to the dance floor. He looked to Vomas.

"Let\'s undo a few of those shirt buttons.," Jake teased. "I\'m sure a vampire of your beauty will have no trouble finding a dance partner."

[Saccharin]

"I don\'t dance," he stated as he began the arduous task of untangling his long legs from beneath the booth they\'d been sitting at. "Never understood its purpose," he said, and then stood.
 
The great difference in their heights was again made obvious to him as he looked down dubiously at Jake after he made his final suggestion. "I did undo one," he said, hand going to his throat where he\'d popped loose a button after removing his tie.

Even though he\'d agreed to join Jake on his endeavor, he apparently had no plans to make things easy for the other man.

[Black Philip]

"Well, it\'s a start," Jake admitted. "As to not dancing, that can always change. I\'m sure a man of your ability can pick up a new skill."  

He took off the cardigan, and was now wearing only his V-Neck. He folded the garment and tossed it in the booth where he\'d been sitting. This area was guarded by Mimics, and since all Mimics who worked at Risk also worked at the Oligarchy, Jake felt confident neither his cardigan or his paperwork would be taken.

He looked Vomas over. He\'d forgotten how tall the other vampire was. Jake looked upward. If they ever kissed Jake would have had to stand on his tiptoes to reach Vomas\'s lips. Jake liked that in a man.

"Please let me undo just two more," Jake asked sweetly.

His youthful appearance often allowed Jake to mimic the patterns of a young boy. He found if he asked in this youthful tone, older people usually allowed him to do what he wanted. He only hoped Vomas would find his act cute.

"It\'ll make you look so sophisticated," Jake assured. "With that suit, and your hair, why you\'ll look like a D&G model."

It was at this point Jake realized Vomas probably didn\'t know who D&G was.

[Saccharin]

As predicted, Vomas had no clue what a D&G model might be. His first instinct was to assume it was a vehicle of some sort, but it didn\'t make sense for Jake to want him to look like a vehicle. Not wanting to appear ignorant, he didn\'t ask for elaboration.

Now, looking sophisticated was something he did understand, and he didn\'t see any harm in looking sophisticated.

"I can do it, though," he said, looking down while he undid an additional two buttons. He let his arms fall and lifted his eyebrows at Jake. "Better?"

[Black Philip]

"Much," Jake said approvingly. Vomas already looked much less uptight. Jake began to think about what the next logical step in loosening up the vampire would be. Like an answer to a prayer, Jake\'s hunger kicked in. He suddenly knew where the pair were going.

"Come with me," Jake requested. He attempted to grab Vomas by the hand. If Vomas accepted Jake would lead him to the dance floor, so they could find people to feed from.

[Saccharin]

When he realized his hand wouldn\'t be released after Jake took it, enough time had passed that it would seem rude if he pulled free. So he let it be and allowed Jake to lead him where he would. His eyebrows lowered fractionally in confusion as he was taken from the VIP area without stopping to browse the selection of donors available to them there. Since he\'d explained he didn\'t enjoy dancing, he\'d assumed they\'d pursue feeding, but that didn\'t seem to be the case.

First, he\'d been convinced to reveal a thatch of dark chest hair by unbuttoning his shirt, and now it seemed he was being dragged toward the dance floor against his wishes.

That would not do.

He stopped just before they reached the milling mass and shook his head.

"I don\'t dance," he repeated as he pulled his hand from Jake\'s.

[Black Philip]

Jake let out a sweet chuckle. Of course Vomas didn\'t dance. It completely went with the rest of his character. Jake decided not to try and force Vomas into doing something he was dead set against. After all, he gotten Vomas this far, and if he pushed too much Vomas might cancel the evening.  

"Very well," Jake said teasingly. "I\'m starving. This place is crawling with hot young men for us to feed from. The real tasty ones are on the dance floor. Want me to snag one for you? I think I can pick up a hottie."

Jake winked and waited for an answer. He hoped Vomas would say he wanted to pick his own dinner. Then he would have to at least go out on the dance floor, and then maybe Jake could make him dance. Jake had constructed this all in his head as he awaited Vomas\'s reply.