Restless Heart

[Trillian]

Dressed in black jeans and a white button-up shirt open at the throat, clean black hiking boots on his feet, Win entered the doorway into the open foyer. The cloakroom on his left and stairs in front of him, he avoided both and headed for the bar. It was three people deep so he stood at the outer edge and waited for his turn.

While he waited he checked out the floor, seeing that all of the couches were crammed with people enjoying themselves. The music was loud but a lot softer than most nightclubs; a common theme in vampire clubs. There was a stage but the band seemed to be on break, or maybe they were playing upstairs. It was interesting how he couldn't hear the club upstairs; there was some kind of dampener effect in place. He could feel the magic around him. Walking into the club had been a bit like piercing the filmy, thickened skin of a custard. Not terribly pleasant but once past it, there was a payoff.

A mortal with an excited heartbeat brushed past him while holding two drinks close to his chest. Win made eye-contact with him and smiled; practised enough to reveal only the tiniest bit of fang. Win also shifted mostly out of the way but not quite enough. The mortal's eyes widened before he grinned back before continuing to the recipient of the alcohol. Win followed his path and saw that his friend had managed to pull a vampire to him already. Hmn. He wasn't about to muscle into another vamp's play, even if he did have two mortals, he might not be the kind who liked to share.

After another twenty minutes, Win had a glass of heated red in his hand. He worked his way out through the throng and drank it quickly before it cooled. Replenished, he sent out mental feelers to see who was keen on hooking up but was distracted by something on one of the television screen up on posts around the place. It had been showing music videos but now there was some kind of advertisement on it to do with mobile phones. He stared up at it, watching as 'Lovebite' marqueed across the screen, only looking away when he was spoken to.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr went very still, apart from performing a slow blink. "Pardon?" he asked and swallowed, his voice tight.

Jeanne grinned, slow and sultry. "You heard me," she said, looking pointedly at his lap.

He shifted in his seat - on the other side of her desk - clearing his throat and resisting the urge to cross his legs. "I don't think that would be appropriate."

Their business meeting had been going so well, too. He'd come to find out who supplied Venture's blood, wondering if they were prolific enough to supply his potential future business - it was all in the early stages still, he was just establishing the lay of the land, as it were - and Jeanne had given the information he sought. But then she had to go and ruin it. Kerr thought he wouldn't be nearly as uncomfortable if he wasn't so tempted to comply with her wishes.

A husky chuckle derided his discomfort. "Inappropriate?" she queried, looking like she found the word delicious.

"Yes!" he agreed, his voice sliding up an octave in his defensiveness.

"You have never struck me as the shy type. And you seem to have much to be proud of," she purred cajolingly.

"Okay!" he declared, standing suddenly and forcing a smile as he fussed with his leather jacket. It sat over his olive green T-shirt and blue jeans just fine but fiddling with it gave his hands something to do. "Thank you so much for the information. I just hope your contacts will be able to meet my needs."

Jeanne's face lit up, her eyes twinkling hungrily as she leapt upon the opening. "If not, I will--" Kerr held an imperious finger out towards her and she stopped speaking, her lips pursed in a wicked smile. The unspoken words hung in the air between them anyway. She appeared, standing, before him in a blink. "It has been wonderful to see you again," she breathed, grasping his hips and leaning close to kiss his cheek. "You are welcome here any time," she continued, switching to the other cheek.

Kerr looked down into her dancing eyes, a wry smile twisting his lips as he shook his head at her. "Merci beaucoup," he murmured and moved to kiss her cheek, only to be met with her mouth. He wasn't even surprised. With some difficulty, he broke away from her and left her office, travelling through the VIP area and the nightclub unknowingly wearing some of her sienna lipstick. He looked around as he went, gradually relaxing. It wasn't until he was downstairs that he decided he was thirsty enough to get a drink. He'd worked his mental barriers against the ancient vampiress hard and it had wearied him.

Thinking there might be someone he could pick up quickly, Kerr was disappointed to see that the downstairs lounge was crowded. There was a dizzying amount of patrons roaming around and he quickly decided going to the bar would be a better idea... except it was packed. Gnawing on his tongue stud with indecision, he watched it, trying to gauge the wait time. Noticing he'd stopped by a kindred with a beautiful face and the most delightful curly hair, Kerr eyed the empty glass in his hand and then looked up to make eye contact with him.

"How long did it take you to get that?" he queried with a friendly smile, wondering whether he could last the drive home or if it'd be worth the wait to drink here. Thirst was making him impatient and the decision was much harder than it should've been.

[Trillian]

Win's gaze raked over Kerr's face and body, drinking in the sight of him. Muscular, charismatic, and wearing lipstick in the 2nd degree. Even so, when they made eye contact, Win was aware that Kerr's pupils dilated, so he found Win attractive in spite of his recent feminine interactions. He didn't need a racing heart to know when someone liked the look of him.

"Twenty, twenty-five minutes," Win estimated, then looked over at the bar to see if it had changed. If anything it looked busier. "This place is jumping. Something special going on?" Win reached up to stroke his thumb against the other vampire's lips, wanting to swipe some lippy off and show him.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr frowned at the news that the wait was that long. Of course, the more he thought about drinking, the more he wanted to. He was debating whether or not to pull rank or head back up to the VIP area (what did he pay all that money for, if not swift service?) when his companion spoke again.

"Special?" he repeated, lifting his eyebrows as he thought about it, looking around the room. "I don't think so, I think it's just-"

He broke off and flinched back as a hand came towards him without warning - though not far enough that the younger vampire didn't make contact with his lips. Kerr's eyelashes fluttered as he saw a lipstick-smeared thumb held in front of his face but then he scowled. "For fuck's sake," he muttered and rubbed randomly but harshly at his mouth instead. He then raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips in his companion's direction. "Is it all gone?" he queried, twisting his mouth from side to side, modelling for a verdict.

[Trillian]

"Mmn," Win murmured, nodding and rubbing his thumb against his fingers to spread the lipstick around before wiping his fingers on his jeans. "Would've been more fun to kiss it off," he said, then looked around them at the heartbeats all around. There were so many people, he could feel them at his core - their heartbeats were mesmerising. "Why aren't I seeing anybody drinking?" he asked, as if he hadn't just suggested to the other vampire they would've had more fun kissing. "Is there a rule against doing it here? Am I going to have to bring them back to my hotel? It's a hell of a walk."

And he'd only just got here. How sour it would be to discover that this was a pickup club and not a drinking club.

"I'm Win, by the way," he said, reaching out a hand to lightly hold Kerr's elbow.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr blinked once, slowly, at the suggestion it would've been more fun to kiss the lipstick off him. It made him reassess his companion, his gaze travelling over his tall, light frame, lingering on his delectable eyes and a decidedly kissable mouth. His body quickened with awareness and he found it difficult to process his attraction and the continued conversation. He really was thirsting.

"Uh, yeah, it's against the rules to drink in the open here. There are rooms through there to use," he pointed, "on this level and more upstairs. The ones upstairs are cool, they're behind two-way glass and it feels rather... voyeuristic to drink and... whatever else in there," he grinned, leaning towards Win as he touched his elbow and introduced himself. "Kerr. And where are you staying that it's such a long walk?"

[Trillian]

Win stepped closer to Kerr, getting into his personal space.

"Whatever else," he repeated with a grin and a sly look. He understood. The request for where he was staying was conversational enough that he didn't think Kerr was necessarily trying to get info out of him. "I came into the city a couple of weeks ago and stayed at a hotel called the Majester. They served blood for room service, so it was convenient but too pricey. I couldn't charm them into thinking I'd paid for the room either so now I'm staying at this other place called The Tropicana. I think they normally rent rooms by the hour," Win said, giving Kerr a cheeky smile. "I haven't been in the city for very long. Took me all that time to even find this place."

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr's expression shifted through surprise, interest and wariness before landing on calculation as Win got really close to him. He liked that the other vampire was almost as tall as him and surprisingly forthright. His words represented him as carefree yet astute and he was obviously a free spirit to have been in the city as long as he had and have no permanent address. How long until he moved on?

"There's a better option, in the heart of the city. The Luminary. It's not just a better option because I own it, either," he shrugged and flashed a confident grin. "It's a hotel that caters to supernaturals - we even have a meeting spot filled with mortals available on the Lovebite app. The standard rooms are reasonably priced, the view's spectacular and the amenities are second to none. You should consider switching," he prompted, raising his eyebrows in silent challenge.

[Trillian]

"Reasonably priced," Win repeated with a smile after a moment, once Kerr was done speaking. A waiter passed close enough to them that Win could deposit his empty glass on the man's tray before turning back to the tall, dark and handsome fellow with the Irish name. So Kerr owned a hotel called 'The Luminary' in the heart of the city? It sounded like an expensive place. "Yet another hotel I can't charm people into thinking I've paid for the room. It sounds amazing, but I don't want to burn through my bank account. I'm wanting to put a deposit down on a place but I haven't figured out this city yet."

Win spied someone else's thread on Kerr's otherwise impeccable shirt and he plucked it off his shoulder, shifting close enough that he was almost chest to chest, though he was a little to the side, as though they were having a secret conversation instead of speaking about mundane things. The position leant a little weight to his next words.

"A shame, because I'd love to switch. I hope that's also something you do," Win said, dropping his stare to Kerr's lips where the lipstick was no longer before lifting his eyes to make contact with Kerr's again.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr was debating the wisdom of inviting Win back to the hotel (and even considering comping him a room, though he barely knew him) when he moved even closer and picked something off his jacket. The comment about switching was confusing until the pointed look at his lips and he realised Win was asking if he was only into women. He chuckled, finding himself staring into warm brown eyes alight with mischief.

"Yeah, I do," he grinned and it was on the tip of his tongue to mention Ben but he shied away from it, surprising himself. Was he interested in Win like that? Sure, he was cute but acting on it still felt a long way away to Kerr; avoiding Ben's name was a deliberate choice though, and... unnatural. Deceitful? He wasn't sure. His thoughts flustered him, reminding him of his time with Jeanne and his thirst.

"So here's the thing. I could line up over there for twenty-five minutes," he tilted his head towards the bar, keeping his gaze locked on Win's, "or I could hunt around for someone to drink from or I could drive home and do either in about the same time as it would take me to wade through the throng at the bar. What do you think I should do?" he raised his eyebrows, his tongue rolling in his mouth so that his tongue stud tapped the roof of his mouth.

[Trillian]

"The first is boring," Win said immediately, glancing at the bar and shaking his head at it. He turned back to Kerr, tilting his head. "And the second sounds intriguing if you'll let me see your moves," he said, grinning at Kerr and interested in his reaction to the voyeur idea. He'd said something about some feeding rooms upstairs with two-way glass and he'd seemed pretty open to it at the time. "The third," he screwed up his nose, "is only good if I'm in the car with you."

Was it a good idea to get into a car with a man he'd only just met and he could sense was twice his age? He wasn't getting any weird vibes from him. There was something compelling about him, very charismatic. The woman who he'd let near his lips had obviously felt it.

Win could feel his dick stiffening a little and he shifted position, putting his weight on his other leg.

[Existentially Odd]

"You could come with me," Kerr agreed, nodding. The notion of bringing Win home made him feel fluttery and want to assign a whole lot more meaning to than he felt appropriate at this early stage. He didn't know Win but he seemed sweet and the flirtiness was alluring... plus, the idea of twisting his fingers through those curls was one that wouldn't die no matter how many times Kerr tried to push it away.

"We could see if I can set you up somewhere worth switching for." Even he couldn't keep a straight face after that and his grin felt like a lopsided invitation. "I dunno' about watching. You prefer that to participating?" Funny, Win didn't give off that vibe.

[Trillian]

"Prefer is a word I wouldn't have used," Win replied, screwing up his nose momentarily. "I'm easy, though." He shrugged, his eyes sparkling with mischievous delight because his being easy was hardly a revelation.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr laughed again, shaking his head briefly at the unsubtle wordplay. If it had come from a mortal or someone not sporting lips like those, he likely would've rolled his eyes and politely excused himself. He was indulging Win because he was cute and unabashedly honest... in a cheeky yet secretive kind of way. Jeanne could take a few pages out of his playbook.

"Well, I'm asking what you prefer," Kerr challenged with a smirk. "Stay here and go upstairs or leave and find you somewhere else to live?"

[Trillian]

Win's cheeky demeanour changed gear when Kerr smirked at him. The other wanted the choice to be made, which meant he wanted someone decisive.

"Show me this fantastic place you have," Win said, lowering his head so he could peer up through his lashes at Kerr, his voice dropping to sound more serious, losing its playful note, though the smile was still on his face. "I'm up for being wowed."

Challenge accepted and handed straight back.