Past Rekindled

[Trillian]

FUCK, HE LOVED THE TROPICANA room.  Even more so, he loved to fuck in the Tropicana room.  It would\'ve taken his breath away, if he\'d had breath to begin with.  He fancied he took their breath away, whatever pretty young piece of ass he brought up there with him.  They were always out of breath by the time he finished with them, anyway.

He\'d tried to live up to the Tropicana room standards by getting himself a conga line of sorts.  He was up to the fifth pretty young thing for the night, pounding into his tight ass while looking at the ocean view, with sand between his toes.  At first Lazarus hadn\'t worked out how to use the hammock for a proper fucking, but with a bit of experimentation, he found that it was best to have his consort bent over and clutching it.  There was a really nice bounce-back from it.

When he came back downstairs in order to have a bit of a rest and find himself a number six in his conga line dance-fuck-fest, he hadn\'t bothered to properly dress - his intention to go back upstairs as soon as possible with the next contender.  As a result, his shirt was open, he only wore jeans and he had no boots on his feet (or socks), which left them bare.

He thought himself a sexy mess, and certainly received many admiring looks from the groupies around him.  He had enough of a selection that he dawdled over his choice, and it was over the heads of the eager fuck-bunnies that he saw someone of greater value.

"Oh, wow," he said softly, not expecting to see him again.  Even though he\'d heard that Halwyn was back in town, it was one thing to actually lay eyes on him.  "Get out of my way," he said conversationally to the groupies around him.

"FUCKING MOVE!" he roared when he tried to take a step and two mortals decided to rub themselves against him in unison - probably trying for a two-fer.  Both skedaddled when he yelled at them, and the frown on his face was replaced with a wide smile as he approached Halwyn.  His old friend.

If Lazarus was the type to show how he felt, the smile would be uncertain.  As it was, he portrayed nothing but bravado.

[Saccharin]

Halwyn had just settled himself at the bar when he turned his head (along with most the people around him) to search for the source of yelling, half expecting there\'d be further signs of a scuffle once he located it. With as crowded as the club was that night, a brawl - even if it started out small - had the potential to spill over into other groups, resulting in a fight of epic proportions and that, as far as he was concerned, would be a grand thing to witness.

The disappointment he felt when he didn\'t find what he\'d been looking for faded when he caught sight of an all-too-familiar blonde making his way toward him. Yelling and potential fighting forgotten, he hastily slid from the barstool he\'d been perched on and closed the distance between them, his arms open and ready to encircle the taller vampire.

Halwyn\'s memory was short, and even if they\'d parted on bad terms, he would\'ve greeted the ancient in an identical manner. Like a dog ecstatic to see its owner, he\'d always forget that he\'d been stuck in a kennel all day. Unfortunately, he didn\'t have a tail to waggle properly, so he would make do with crushing Lazarus against his chest and exclaiming about how happy he was to see him again.

This, of course, would last only as long as Lazarus permitted it (if he\'d allowed it to happen in the first place).

[Trillian]

When Halwyn came towards him with an eager grin and the obvious intention to embrace him, Lazarus\' broad grin felt a great deal more natural on his lips.  The pair looked like long lost lovers, reunited in a vampire club.  Observers would be forgiven for thinking such, or that they had a sire fledgling relationship.  Only a very few understood exactly who they were and their coming together made them very uneasy.

"Halwyn, you bastard, you left without a word," Lazarus admonished gently, but still clung to his old friend.  Funny, he felt nothing sexual towards the extremely good looking dark haired vampire, theirs was a platonic pairing (though they\'d had some sexually charged scenes between them, with the sharing of sexual partners, drinking groupies, and such - it was just what being friends with Lazarus was like).

Damn, he couldn\'t even remember how they\'d met - he just remembered how they\'d parted.  Halwyn had disappeared.

[Saccharin]

"Yeah, sorry about that. Things got crazy," he said, taking a step back to break their hug, but still maintaining a light grip on Lazarus\' upper arms. "But hey, I\'ve been back a couple years now and don\'t plan on going away any time soon."

Intentionally, he was shifting attention away from himself and the fact he\'d behaved more like a rabbit than a vampire all those years ago. Seemingly everyone that had issue with the entire city knowing who they were and what they were about had come out of the woodwork and he\'d been convinced they\'d end him given the chance. So he\'d burrowed into the ground, planning on staying out of the open until everyone forgot who he was and what he\'d done. Half a decade hadn\'t been nearly long enough for that to happen, but he didn\'t feel a pressing need to tuck tail and run again - not when Kerr and the rest of the Oligarchy seemed set on ignoring him as long as he didn\'t stir up another revolt.

"Shit, man. How\'ve you been? You weren\'t here when I came back, so I thought you\'d found another city to hang out in." He grinned widely, exposing his fangs. "Couldn\'t stay away, huh?"

[Trillian]

Things go crazy, or you did?  How are your roses and those fucking stars, Hal, ol buddy?  Still talking to you?

Lazarus beamed broadly at Halwyn, throwing an arm around his shoulders and leading him back towards the stairs even as a few questions were thrown his way.  He intended on taking Halwyn into one of the rooms (not the Tropicana room, which smelled of his sex and the history of the many sweaty mortals he\'d fucked), so they could have a bit of privacy.

"I found myself a new city to live in, but it doesn\'t have the same... flavour, as this one.  I made an impact here, and it is more of a home to me than any other place."

Halwyn was inspiring a sober truth from him, and he wondered how that had come to be.  He\'d bared his soul to this vampire; a vampire he hadn\'t taken under his wing as a adoptive fledgling (common), a vampire he hadn\'t sired (not as common), and one he hadn\'t slept with (extremely rare).

"Thanks to the generous qualities of the new leader that overtook me as the head of the Oligarchy," he began snidely - but also testing the waters to see how much Halwyn knew of his past, he certainly hadn\'t had control of the Oligarchy for too long - "I have been allowed to stay in this city.  As long as I don\'t cause trouble, of course."

He winked and then he laughed heartily.

[Saccharin]

"Kerr," Halwyn remarked with a exasperated sound that was something between a huff and a sigh. "He came to see me, you know. Well, no, you don\'t. But anyway. He fucking came to my place and talked at me for a while. Said something about you being a Luminary. That right? Were you going to dismantle that shit from the inside?" It bothered him less to think of Lazarus trying and failing to put an end to the Oligarchy than of the ancient willingly involving himself with the organization.

Before he could say anything else to incriminate either of them more than he already had, they\'d turned into the first available room, the country cottage themed one by the looks of things. Halwyn\'s expression was a mixture of horror and amusement as he stood with Lazarus and observed their new setting. Were they for real? Who the fuck could get their rocks off in a room that looked like it\'d been decorated by a sweet old grandma?

"My, what big teeth you have," he muttered, shaking his head and then laughing under his breath.

[Trillian]

At the \'big teeth\' comment, Lazarus took a quick look around.

"Fuck, I thought this was the diamond room, whatever that\'s called," he snarled, reaching for the closest quilt and ripping that down off the wall.  He also didn\'t appreciate the cosy feel of a cottage in the woods, or a pseudo bed and breakfast in the heart of English country.  Bed and breakfast to Lazarus meant waking up with a tasty mortal.

Yum.

"To answer your question as we came up the stairs," he began, discarding the quilt upon the floor and then flopping upon the very soft mattress (and rather enjoying its cushiony comfort), "I\'d got rid of the dragon that was at the head of it.  Halen something or other.  Big fucker.  He disappeared into ash after a little bit, which is convenient for the cleaners."  He barked a laugh, placing his hands beneath his head.  "I got myself this ring out of it," he said, removing his newly moved right hand to present a garish amethyst bauble upon his ring finger.  "Blocks mental attacks," he said with a thrill, for he was no longer at Kerr\'s mercy in that respect.

He waited for Halwyn to digest this information before he continued.

"I was leader for a while.  One big fucking party, and wish you\'d been around at the time, old friend.  You would\'ve enjoyed it.  Then somebody grew a fucking conscience and led a fucking coup, putting their puppet Kerr up as head.  If I can find a way to take those fucking demons out, they\'re gone!" He snapped his fingers, to indicate how quickly they would be gone.

[Saccharin]

Lazarus had taken down a dragon? Did those even exist? Well, duh. Of course they did. They had to exist to be gotten rid of. His imagination took him hostage for a moment as he pictured the blonde facing off against a creature he\'d only heard of in stories, appearing something like a knight, but minus all the bulky armor because he didn\'t think that was really Lazarus\' style. The helmet would probably fuck with his hair, anyway.

He tuned back to the ancient\'s speech as he talked about being a Luminary, experiencing no small amount of regret that he\'d missed an opportunity to enjoy himself like they had in the old days without demon spies breathing down his goddamned throat. Thinking of them, he turned to look over his shoulder and reassured himself that the door that\'d closed them off from the rest of the club was still shut.

They\'d made him paranoid, the fucks.

"There\'s a whole clan of them," he said, a frown tugging his mouth downward. He moved to lean his shoulder into the wall near the spot the quilt had been displayed until Lazarus had torn it down, then crossed his arms over his chest, causing the sleeves of his black t-shirt to strain against his biceps. It wasn\'t because he was built; it was because the shirt was too tight to begin with.

"I may as well be a fucking ant as far as demons are concerned," he grumbled. "It\'s not the same with you, is it? You\'re old, man. And shit, you got rid of a dragon. It\'s no big thing to you, right?"

[Trillian]

"I found out how the demons worked when I was leader," he began, not wanting to give bad news. "They\'re called Mimic Demons, and it means something, unfortunately.  They take on the powers of the being they\'re battling. I might be able to fight myself because I know my strengths better, but I can\'t fight a whole clan as you pointed out."

He shook his head with regret. "I never got to find out their weakness."

He didn\'t want to tell Halwyn he thought it was a lost cause, he had appearances to uphold, but he couldn\'t see a way around it.

"So where do you hang your hat these days?" he asked cheerily, his tone changing quite suddenly.

[Saccharin]

He was disappointed they couldn\'t easily be rid of the demons, but was cheered immensely when Lazarus directed the conversation toward him. More than anything, the vampire enjoyed talking about anything that involved himself.

Halwyn pushed himself from the wall and sidled over to a chair he suspected would smell like mothballs then sank into it. "Got a place downtown," he said, tapping his fingers on the armrests. "Capital something or another is where it\'s at. Wasn\'t much to start with, but since it\'s been decorated, it\'s not half bad." The tapping halted. "I got a pet. She\'s the one who decorated it. Spent a fuckton of money, but that\'s what it\'s there for. To spend."

His fingers resumed their rhythmic beating. "What about you? Where\'re you living?"

[Trillian]

Capital, yes, he knew that building.  Kerr himself had lived there until he\'d taken over the penthouse at the chambers.  He nodded, to let Halwyn know he was familiar with it.  Nice place, really.  Tallest and newest building in the city, if he recalled correctly.

He\'d taken a breath in order to ask a question about the pet Halwyn had got himself, when it struck him that Halwyn had used a feminine prefix.  The breath was held while the other vampire continued along his vein of thought, turning the questioning back to Lazarus, while the blonde Ancient glared at him with incredulity.

"She?" he spat out with venom.  "What the fuck are you doing with a she?" he asked, though it was rhetorical.  He really didn\'t want to know.  Oh, there was a time he\'d had to be sympathetic to the female cause - especially when he\'d been magically turned into one by Sabrina, fucking cunt - and this was after that business with her niece.  That felt like a hundred years ago rather than the near-decade it actually was.  Lazarus no longer thought about his one sexual foray into the womanly world, and it had only served to make him hate the fairer sex all the more, for confusing a previously clear path.

"Get rid of her.  Unless you don\'t want me to visit you," he added slyly, hoping that Halwyn would continue being spineless in the face of confrontation.  He\'d always been a little out there, but he\'d also always ingratiated himself to Lazarus also.  How much could the Ancient twist him around his little finger?  It would be good to feel the way.  If Halwyn allowed Lazarus to muscle out the female pet, then it was win-win.

[Saccharin]

His eyebrows dipped low as he stared at Lazarus and tried to figure out whether his friend was being serious or not. There had been no laughter or smile to let him know it\'d been a joke played at his expense, though, so he was being serious.

He frowned. Sachi could be draining sometimes, yes, but it\'d never occurred to him that he should put her out on her own. He\'d dragged her all the way from her home in New York to live with him and made a deal with the devil so he could keep her; he couldn\'t just get rid his little doll, even if it was Lazarus demanding it.  

"You know I want you to visit, but I really like this one. She\'s..." He smiled widely and it was like sunlight breaking through the clouds after a long winter. "She\'s always so happy when I come home. Happy I\'m there. Like genuinely happy. Even if I\'ve only been out a few minutes, she greets me the same way." He smirked. "I have no doubt you\'d happy to see me, but not in the way she is."

He continued watching Lazarus, wanting to see his reaction and hoping he\'d drop the subject but prepared for the possibility that he wouldn\'t.

[Trillian]

Lazarus looked at his friend with tight-lipped regard, displeased that Halwyn hadn\'t immediately offered to put out his female pet at Lazarus\' insistence. So, he\'d lost ground here, if he wasn\'t worth a pet.  Mind, if he\'d wanted Trey gone back in the day, Halwyn would likely have made a protesting noise. Lazarus decided it wasn\'t worth the push.

"Sounds like someone has a soft spot for simpletons," Lazarus barked a mean spirited laugh. Who else greeted their masters with unconditional love and eagerness except canines and retards?  "Alright, keep Fifi, I won\'t let myself be scared away by her," he said, getting around his earlier threat and moving around on the bed so he could lay on his stomach and look at his friend with his head propped up by his hands.

[Saccharin]

"It\'s why I like you so much," he retorted cheekily, at the same time reaching behind him to grab a lace frilled pillow that he chucked unceremoniously at Lazarus\' face. He doubted the ancient would actually let it hit him, but he felt a surge of child-like glee that it might, seeing as how Lazarus had his hands up underneath his chin like he did.

[Trillian]

Lazarus allowed the pillow to hit him in the face.  When it fell away from him, he had an eyebrow arched imperiously.  He could\'ve caught it, considering his talents, but guessed it would likely delight his childish friend, so had chosen not to.

"Yes, so funny," he said blandly.  "What\'s the address?"

[Saccharin]

Halwyn pouted briefly, disappointed by the lackluster reaction he\'d gotten out of Lazarus. It was an act, he was sure, because Lazarus just didn\'t want to encourage him to toss another pillow his way by letting on that he\'d been annoyed. But even if that hadn\'t been the case, it was best that the blonde had responded the way he had. As soon as Halwyn caught scent of someone acknowledging a behavior of his, he\'d repeat whatever he\'d done because he wanted reactions, whatever they might be. Not responding was the most effective way to make him stop what he was doing.

He shifted in his seat, scooting backward a few inches and sitting up because the pillow wasn\'t there anymore to prevent him from doing so. "Downtown. Main street, Capital Building. Really can\'t miss it, has to be the tallest residential building around. I\'m in 2503, so a ways up. Have a fucking fantastic view. You\'d like it I think." Not content with sitting still, he slid down in the chair again, pushing his feet out and then crossing them at the ankles. "So you never said, where you living at? Near me at all? That\'d be cool if you did. Could come by more often then."

[Trillian]

When Halwyn said he lived at the Capital, Lazarus first widened his eyes, then he smirked, and by the time his friend had stopped talking, Lazarus started to giggle.  He didn\'t often giggle, he more often chuckled, but this couldn\'t be described as anything but a giggle, for it was somewhat girlish and bordered on hysteria.  It turned into a full belly laugh, which had Lazarus rolling over onto his back and clutching his sides.

The Capital, of course.  He could almost consider it the centre of this city, the heart, perhaps.

"I\'ve taken over a house not far from here, to the east," he said once his laughter died down, though a few snickers remained to punctuate his sentences.  It was a lie, also, for he\'d found himself an abandoned caravan and had been sleeping in there, while he\'d been checking out houses in the slightly better part of town, shopping for something more worth his while.  "I\'m not particularly attached to it, so I can get myself something closer to you.  Unless you have a spare room you\'d like to offer me," he stated, wondering if his friend would offer Lazarus the easiest path.  The fact he had a female pet annoyed him, but he could stomach Fifi as long as she was appropriately respectful.

[Saccharin]

With the befuddled smile of someone who wasn\'t sure what was funny, but didn\'t want to appear as if they weren\'t in on the joke, Halwyn watched Lazarus until he stopped laughing. The smile became broader, bordering on a grin when the subject of moving in with him was broached. "I do have a guest room you could stay in," he said excitedly. "Then you wouldn\'t have to go house shopping unless you really wanted to."

He stood, straightened the front of his shirt because it\'d bunched up with the way he\'d been slouching, and then started pacing while chattering animatedly about how easy it\'d be to do all sorts of fun and exciting things if they lived together; it\'d be like they were family and really, he considered Lazarus part of his family, like his brother. What a brother should be, anyway. He loved his older brother, and always would, but he\'d started feeling like he didn\'t want to have anything to do with him, and it sucked, but whatever. If Lazarus was there, he didn\'t need his real brother.

He stopped pacing to level a 100 watt smile at Lazarus. "So whaddya say? Wanna move in?"

[Trillian]

Lazarus watched Halwyn with marked interest.  His gray eyes followed the other vampire\'s form to and fro as the invitation came with more than a hint of excitement.  Predictable and wonderful, his old friend Halwyn.  Now Lazarus remembered why he\'d missed him so badly for a while, before he\'d diverted his attention onto something else.

"Of course I do," he said smoothly.  "And there\'s no time like the present."