Barflies

[Malkavian Riddler]

Ash and Ichabod had arrived at Risk together, after Ash picked up the other vampire and drove him to the club in his little red sportscar - driving sedately at first until his maniac side surfaced and they sped through the streets weaving in and out of traffic, ignoring red lights and dodging the odd pedestrian.

In Ash\'s opinion, the club was pretty quiet because it was a Monday night, but even for a quiet night, the dance floor still had a good number of bodies grinding, twisting or shuffling, the booths and tables were mostly occupied, and there were only a few seats available at the bar.  Ash figured maybe half the rooms upstairs were available, and wondered if Ichabod would be game to take a mortal up there.  Looking sideways at his newest buddy, he wondered if Ichabod had ever gone up there.

"The bar," Ash said, smacking Ichabod in a friendly way upon his shoulder to get his attention, then swaggered over to where some empty bar stools were.  He sat upon one, leaving Ichabod to choose whether he wanted to sit on Ash\'s right or left, because there were vacant stools either side of him.  The movie star had planned it that way, because sometimes they could get lucky with a mortal taking the seat beside and they could pick up without having to work hard.  "Want a drink, take the edge off?" Ash asked, raising his index finger to hail the bartender their way.

[pinkroses]

“Yeah. Definitely,” Ichabod said as he sat at Ash’s right, hooking his feet onto the footstep of the stool and dropping his hands to curling his fingers together in his lap. He had had difficulty deciding what to wear, but finally settled on a pair of dark denim jeans, black boots and a dark green shirt - which used to bring out hints of green in his brown eyes, but now his black eyes showed no hint of colour.

Ichabod was kind of glad it was a quieter night. Sometimes it seemed a little overwhelming when there was so much going on. He’d found it especially so when he’d first changed and everything was brighter, louder. And he felt like he should be so much more confident, more in control now he was a vampire. It seemed like the complete opposite.

Well, at least his nose had healed up properly now, that was one less thing to worry about as long as that jack-ass wasn’t here again. But at least he wasn’t alone this time - Ash was here too.

“I’ve never been good at, sort of, approaching people in clubs. And then if they come up to me it’s just… weird. And it’s usually because they recognise me because I was with Ben,” he said quietly, knowing Ash would be able to hear him over the music as the bartender for the drinks. Ichabod had drunk before he left that evening too, but was always craving more.

[Malkavian Riddler]

Ash looked at Ichabod on his right and nodded at Ichabod\'s comment.  He knew what it was like to be recognised because he was with somebody well known, but he also knew what it was like to be recognised because he\'d started gaining fame of his own making.  He hadn\'t quite made it before becoming vamp, and it still grated on him.  He could\'ve got there, he was sure.  He\'d been getting there, anyway.

The two of them were dressed similarly tonight, in the same shade of dark jeans and same style of black boots, and they both wore green shirts, though Ichabod\'s was darker and plain, while Ash\'s was a mixture of thin green stripes.  He also wore a leather strap around his neck with a square amulet on it, a rooster silhouette on it, which was the chinese zodiac year of his birth.

"Yeah, I\'ve been through that," Ash said agreeably, "and it annoyed the fuck outta me.  Famous sires suck," he said, and they received two glasses of blood as he finished speaking.  It was fast service, but then, everyone else at the bar had been served and there weren\'t twenty people milling around shouting their orders.  "We can drink to that," he said, handing over a fifty note and watching as the barkeep left to make change from it, taking his glass before he got his money back and raising it towards Ichabod so they could clink them together.  The glass was warm in his fingers.  "Here\'s to having time to ourselves because our sires are more interested in politics," he said cynically, while smiling.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod scooped up his glass as Ash did, but hesitated for a second before clinking it gently against Ash’s and taking a sip. It wasn’t like that though. Kerr wasn’t more interested in politics, he hadn’t wanted to become an Oligarch and then Luminary, he’d had it all thrust upon him and was just doing what he had to. No, it was Ben he was more interested in. And always would be.

“Who was your sire? If you don’t mind me asking?” Ichabod said, after taking a moment to let his black eyes scan around the room. He wondered if it was anyone he would have heard of - the way Ash said it made it sound like it could be. And Ash himself had been an actor, maybe it was someone in those circles. Also, anything to put of the inevitable hunt was also a plus.

[Malkavian Riddler]

"Aw, Isaac Abrams.  He\'s a well-known Hollywood agent, but he stopped taking on more actors once I was made his fledge.  He\'s the Baron of Hollywood too, so... that\'s kind of like the Luminary of his area.  LA has a few of them though, and I don\'t really know or care how it works."  Ash shrugged, then took a big swallow from his glass of blood, before the bartender came up to him to give him his change.  He pocketed it and swivelled on his barstool, so that he now had to look left to see Ichabod beside him, and he leant back on the bar upon his elbows.  The entire club could be seen from his new position.

"See anything you like?" he prompted bluntly.  If Ichabod had thought he could stall Ash\'s desire to get the ball rolling with hookups (blood or otherwise), then he was mistaken.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod was fascinated by the start of the explanation about LA’s vampiric system, but it was obvious Ash didn’t want to go into it further, now or ever. Maybe he could find out some other way… or go there. Just a short trip, that would be cool. Ichabod had never done all that much travelling, so LA seemed worlds away.

The brunette paused for a moment before following Ash’s lead, turning his stool in a smooth movement so that he was looking out over the club properly. It wasn’t as busy as he’d seen it sometimes, but when everyone was moving so quickly it was hard to focus. And how were you supposed to tell what people would be like just by looking at them? Some of them were gorgeous, completely out of his league, men and women alike.

It was like a meat market - only at a butchers your steak couldn’t tell you they actually didn’t want to go home with you, so fuck off.

“Yeah, loads. But they’re…” They would be interested in Kerr, Ben, Lazarus, Ash. Not the fledgling who couldn’t even take a human home when they were throwing themselves at him.

“I don’t want to choose someone who’s just going to say no,” Ichabod said bluntly, glancing sideways at Ash.

[Existentially Odd]

Not too far away from Ash and Ichabod, a short, buxom blonde stood against the wall, her gaze roving the club nervously.  She was wearing a white satin blouse with a scooped neck (that advertised a generous amount of cleavage), a too-wide black belt that did nothing to alleviate the impression of a short, well-endowed torso and a tight black A-line skirt that almost reached her knees.  She wore black ballet shoes with little white bows on their tops and held a drink in her right hand, down by her side, her left arm defensively crossing her body to grip her other forearm rather tightly.

The expression on her pretty face was stoic, though she did seem skittish about being alone in the club, which was why she was up against the wall.  Her best friend had come here with here - it was only her second time at Risk - but had gone off with some vampire that hadn\'t been interested in her when she\'d looked scared by the suggestion she\'d play with her friend\'s long, lean body in one of the rooms upstairs.  Last time, they\'d been drunk from by the same vampire, one after the other, and it hadn\'t got weird like that; her friend had fallen into a hazy doze while she\'d got super horny and laid.  She wasn\'t sure she was game to do that by herself tonight (even if she\'d shaved her shapely legs specially), though.

For something to do, she took a swig of her cocktail, enjoying the warmth of the vodka seeping through her, making her relax.  After she\'d lowered her half-empty glass to her side once more, her left hand raised to fiddle with her stylish up-do, fretting at the blonde strands that spiked their way out of the knot at the back of her head, fanning above it like a golden blonde crown.  She ruffled her straight fringe next, knowing her hair was still perfect and she shouldn\'t mess with it, wishing she had her glasses on.  They were generally used for reading but since starting to wear them regularly, her eyesight had deteriorated and she was having trouble making out things in the distance now, too.

Everybody in the club - unless they were in the perfect zone of vision a metre or so before her - was a bit of a blur, which also wasn\'t helping her confidence.  Shapes moved around in front of her, causing her to tense frequently, but none of them stopped or said anything to her, so she relaxed immediately once they moved away, leaving her to her own devices.  Without her wing-girl she didn\'t have the guts to offer herself to a vampire (especially since she couldn\'t assess for herself from a distance whether they looked like fun or a true risk, as the club advertised they would be) and she doubted she\'d be noticed back here.  She was twenty-five but she didn\'t look legal, considering she was the height of a twelve year old and unless they had a thing for voluptuous breasts (which, admittedly, many men did), most didn\'t consider her much of a prospect.

Unable to see clearly, the blonde therefore remained a wallflower, unaware of Ash and Ichabod shopping for a prospect like she could be and keeping herself amused by wriggling a little to the beat of the music and sipping her drink every now and then.  It had been expensive as hell but also very strong as far as alcohol content went, both aspects a recipe for making it last.

[Malkavian Riddler]

"No?" Ash asked, incredulously.  "Have you ever met anyone here that said fucking no?"

He prodded Ichabod in the ribs so the younger vampire would know he was having a friendly jest.

"If someone says no here, then they\'re special, and trust me, I doubt there\'s anything special in this club.  They\'re bite junkies, and you\'re a good looking vampire, so that combo alone\'s gonna get you a good deal."  He grinned lecherously at Ichabod.  "It\'s not a matter of picking who seems to like you, it\'s more picking someone you seem to like.  They won\'t say no," Ash inisisted, and the blonde hiding herself against the wall caught his eye.  "Do you like girls?"  He gestured with his glass towards her, uncaring if she caught the movement and hoping that she would.  It would make things easier if she and Ichabod flirted silently with their eyes for a little bit.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod felt his cheeks flush with the little blood he’d had tonight and he cringed as Ash poked him, but tried to smile all the same. No, they didn’t say no, but other people swooped in, caught their eye, or Ichabod got in his own way.

It was kind of nice to be told he was good looking though, even if it was by a friend who was trying to make  him feel better - and someone who’d fucked his sire and his blood brother, so Ichabod had no interest in pursuing that line of interest.

“Yeah, I do,” Ichabod said, glancing in the direction Ash was gesturing in, spotting the blonde easily enough. It had been a while since he’d been with a woman, but his last truly human relationship had been with one. Lore. She’d broken his heart, put him onto the downward spiral which had lead to this. But Ichabod knew he couldn’t blame her for any of it really.

“She’s cute… looks kind of young… but yeah, she’s pretty,” Ichabod said, watching her wriggle in time to the music, looking sort of nervous, but pretending not to. He’d been there himself plenty of times before.

“You think I should go talk to her? Or… what?” he asked, glancing back towards Ash. He hated approaching people and usually waited for someone else to pick him. Because that always went so well.

[Malkavian Riddler]

"Considering you want my help and that\'s why we\'re here tonight..." Ash drawled, finishing his drink, "then I wouldn\'t be much help if I didn\'t at least start something going for you."
 
He wasn\'t going to be a poor wingman, that was for sure.  He placed his empty glass on the bar behind him, between himself and Ichabod.
 
"Fucking blood sticks to the glass in this place," he commented.  "It\'s like they\'re trying to get you to swipe your finger in something from the get go."
 
And with these poignant words, he took his leave in order to approach the girl he\'d seen that he thought a good match for Ichabod.  He sauntered over casually enough, though if she noticed him early enough in his walk over to her, she would know he was heading directly for her.  A broad smile was on his face, and as soon as she noticed him coming her way, he lifted his head a little in a pseudo nod (except it would come off as arrogant).
 
"Hey babe, you shouldn\'t be on your own," he said, with a line that had several ways of closing depending on how she reacted to him.  He shouldered the wall beside her, so that when she looked in his direction, she would be able to see past his shoulder at the bar - at Ichabod watching, hopefully.

[Existentially Odd]

She swallowed, blinking as the handsome man - she assumed vampire - swam into view and straightening up away from the wall.  After she\'d done so, she offered a tentative smile, for even though he was spitting out ridiculously tired lines, he was good looking in a bad-boy sort of way and she could imagine him drinking from her.

"Why not?" she prodded in a sweet voice, trying to look suave as she took another careful sip of her vodka cocktail, the sweet, fruity taste quickly burned away by the generous amount of alcohol in it and enlivening her throat on its way down.  Likely, it was the fact that her glass was almost empty (when had that happened?) that made her brave enough to play along with the stranger that had approached.

It was also just as likely to be boredom and an eagerness to do something risky tonight.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod froze, wide-eyed as Ash began to make his way towards the blonde, unsure whether he was supposed to be following, or staying where he was. Ash would have gestured for him to follow or something if he was supposed to go, right? Fuck, Ash was going to go over there, make her swoon, scoop her up and then Ichabod would be stuck here on his own. Great. Brilliant. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Shit, when had he turned into such a pussy? Ichabod really had no clue. Still, if that was how it was going to go Ichabod wasn’t going to make a fool of himself by following after like a lost little puppy. So he stayed where he was, perched on the stool, trying to focus on sipping his blood slowly rather than gulping it down as he watched Ash chatting to her.

[Malkavian Riddler]

Ash laughed softly.  "You\'re in a club like this and you have to ask me why not?" he gestured at the workings of Risk around them.  Even though he\'d admonished her for her question, he leant closer so he could drop his voice and talk directly into her ear in order to be heard.  "Better to be with a nice vampire than available to a nasty one," he said, pausing for a moment before continuing.  "A nice one has his eye on you right now, at the bar."

He pulled away from her, just enough to see if she was looking in the right direction.

[Existentially Odd]

Her heart sped up and she shivered a little as he leaned close to whisper in her ear, awareness pulsing through her.  She\'d been contemplating arguing about why she was alone in here and that it was fine to be so, as far as she was concerned, but hadn\'t managed to get her words out in time.  Her tongue felt thick in her mouth, her head swirly from the alcohol.

She giggled for no real reason beyond the fact that she was a little drunk and felt she was silly for being in the predicament of not being able to see very far.

"Well, I can\'t see the bar," she confessed.  "I left my glasses at home.  Is he cute?" she enquired brightly, sort of looking in the bar\'s direction before she focussed back at the vampire before her, a winning smile shifting her face from pretty to beautiful.  She was happy to play along with anything, as long as it got a vampire at her neck sometime before two o\'clock in the morning (by which time she planned to be at home in bed.  Probably alone).

[Malkavian Riddler]

Was he cute?  Sure, not that it mattered, he figured.  Even the nosferatu got willing donors in this joint, he\'d seen it with his own eyes.  Ick.  He supposed there might be more than quite a few fang-followers that would say no to that, but yes, Ichabod was cute, and he told her so.

"He\'s a nice looking guy, yeah.  Matches your age, I\'d say.  Of course, he\'d be a hundred years old and you wouldn\'t know," he hinted.  He knew the older the vampire, the more respectful and willing the donor.  He\'d misled quite a few donors into thinking this about him, but he hadn\'t exactly said his age to them.  He figured it would likely come up in conversation when this chick met Ichabod, but by that time the kid would be on his own with a head start.  "Come meet him," he said, and it wasn\'t up for discussion.  He took her hand, clamping down on it but making sure not to squeeze, and tugged her in order to have her follow him back to the bar.  If she put up a fight, he\'d stop and ask her what was wrong, but he guessed she would likely just join him.

He hoped Ichabod didn\'t mind a bit of a buzz.  She seemed like she\'d had a bit much to drink.