Messages

1

Club Zero / Re: Segue

« on: February 05, 2020, 04:22:24 PM »

Fuck your chances. The way he saw it, he wasn’t disrespecting no one. If anything, he was savin’ her bartenders the trouble of having to serve up to anyone who weren’t a real customer.

After expelling an irritated puff of air from his nostrils, Jesse complied by way of stepping out from behind the bar. That woman was aggravating as a rock. It was likely she could argue with a fence post. Her warning wasn’t enough to deter Jess from taking advantage of her current distraction and snagging up another bottle of something random on his way out; whatever it was, he held it not-so-inconspicuously within the open front of his blazer.

When came the enthusiastic call of his name, Jesse slowed his pace. His focus snapped toward Trick, snagging momentarily upon the blonde fella at his side. “Well, I’ll be,” he drawled, slow and cool, as he came to a stop near enough to avoid shouting, “Didn’t think you’d actually come.” Titivatin’ aside, our Jess looked heaps better without a bruise beneath his eye.

2

† OUT OF THE CITY † / Re: That Sweet Vitamin V

« on: February 04, 2020, 02:05:58 PM »

Our Jess squinted to make out the silver lettering on that card, dismissing its odd shimmer as an effect of the venom. He placed it within the fold of his wallet, returning it to his back pocket thereafter. With a singular nod and an eloquent grunt of affirmation, he stood to make his way, albeit slowly, toward the staircase and out of Apep’s nest. Eventually, he made it to his car and sat at the driver’s side – smoking up a chain of cigarettes, before mustering up the needed sobriety to drive himself back into the city.

3

The Carnival & Caravan Park / Re: I Wanna Get Better

« on: February 04, 2020, 01:52:38 PM »

“Oh!” Ash gushed, expression brightening as she pressed her hands together in enthused supplication. “Yes! Let’s ride the Ferris Wheel! I’d bet the view is incredible!”

4

City Streets / Re: A Fresh Start

« on: February 04, 2020, 01:50:11 PM »

“Okay, sure,” she said, reclaiming her phone and taking a moment to pull up the cheapest hostel’s GPS location; she’d begin the route once they’d made it back to her car. After flashing a smile toward Mitri, she swiveled on her heels to face and advance upon the karaoke joint’s entrance. She lifted a parting wave to the clerk as the ascended the stairs and exited to the street above.

5

Club Zero / Re: Segue

« on: January 23, 2020, 05:04:16 PM »

If Jesse’d been a mite smarter, he might’ve suggested that he’d only be in the way if he were turned to stone in his current position behind the bar; more of an obstacle for Phaedre’s on-the-clock workers than an example. Sadly, if our lad’s brains were leather, there wouldn’t be enough to saddle a junebug. Instead, all he offered up in response was a dismissive, “Naw.”

6

Club Zero / Re: Segue

« on: January 16, 2020, 02:27:39 PM »

Jess paid no mind to Phoenix’s warning of, “Oh buddy, you’re totally fucked!” Weren’t even enough cares in him to offer up a shrug to convey his dismissal. He reckoned he didn’t need to, anycase. It would come across just fine all on its own. Let him be ‘fucked.’ Hell, he might even like it.

Just as he was fixin’ to swallow down his second glass, the queen bitch turned up with his promised fucking – snatching the glass from his hand and orbiting him like some come-hither tyrant bent on gettin’ on every single one of his last nerves. Gone were the nights of having enough rope to get away with near about anything but murder. Felt like his damned leash just kept tightening.

“Well, hey there, puddin’-pie,” he drawled slow and cool, layin’ the southern honey on thick. “Ain’t you precious, comin’ by to check in on me – but don’t you worry your pretty little head none, I ain’t got a shift tonight.”

When Phaedre’s tour of him came full-circle, Jesse lowered the bottle of whiskey to his side and a little back, adjusting his hold so that the neck sat cradled loose between his index and middle finger. He was of a mind to make off with it, but someone else had cut him to the chase. His attempt to glare at whoever’d robbed him of his potential good-time was thwarted by Phaedre’s caressing hands on his jaw; so, instead, his scowl was aimed at her.

7

The Carnival & Caravan Park / Re: I Wanna Get Better

« on: January 14, 2020, 05:45:46 AM »

“Oh,” Ash began, likewise pausing to look at their surroundings, just outside the food stalls; they’d almost made it. “We didn’t, but... I’m not sure I want anything anymore.” Her anxiety had mellowed out a tad on its own, and she doubted she’d find anything with alcohol in it, anyway. “We can just go somewhere else, unless either of you would like something?” With a glance at Sam, she awkwardly amended, “Err... Or just you, Dreki,” focus turning toward the part-angel instead.

8

† OUT OF THE CITY † / Re: That Sweet Vitamin V

« on: January 12, 2020, 02:54:45 PM »

With great effort, Jesse steadied his focus upon Apep’s outstretched palm. His lashes swept low in a slow and interpretive blink, then conveyed his belated understanding by way of leaning forward to aid in the retrieval of an ass-flattened wallet. He thumbed open the fold to pull out a stack of crisp bills that amounted to a little over a grand; mostly hundreds, with the sporadic twenty dispersed throughout. It was all he had on him and, though it was no paltry sum, he placed the pile within Apep’s open hand without hesitation or ceremony.

9

Oceanview Heights / Re: Confrontations

« on: January 12, 2020, 12:44:47 PM »

Zach was quick to shake his head. “I didn’t catch it all. I was trying not to eavesdrop,” he explained, the pinch at his brow deepening marginally. Unintended or not, he couldn’t help but feel his own measure of guilt at having intruded on their private conversation.

After a pause, he settled against the couch-back and rose a hand to his nape; restless fingertips worrying in some semblance of massage. “... If you want,” he responded, punctuating the statement with a shrug.

10

The Carnival & Caravan Park / Re: I Wanna Get Better

« on: January 12, 2020, 11:17:15 AM »

Ash lifted her brows marginally as the phone was thrust in her direction. With Dreki stationed between her and Sam, she had to awkwardly twist and bend to peer at the screen; a hand instinctively rose to the edge of the phone, but her fingertips were careful to avoid Sam’s.

“Whoa! It really does look just like him,” she confirmed. She hadn’t paid enough attention to the arrangement of his freckles (Sam must have spent a lot of time admiring them to recognize their precise pattern), but if someone had told her they were twins separated at birth, she’d have believed it. “Wild,” she said, exhaling the word upon an astonished breath, before lowering her hand back down to her side and easing back into her previous stance.

11

Club Zero / Re: Segue

« on: January 09, 2020, 08:14:48 PM »

Weren’t a single opponent worth his time of day in the ring tonight. Not for fighting, and not for watching, neither. With no one making any fuss in the club proper, and nowhere for him to focus his energy, Jesse was wound up tighter than a three-day clock. It didn’t help matters none that he was suited up in his Sunday best. Still, he did clean up nice in all black, with the top few buttons of his dress shirt left undone beneath a blazer worn casually open. Being sober as a judge, though - that was a problem he reckoned he could fix.

With all of the swagger of a proud peacock, he beelined for the bar. He didn’t queue up and wait for service as he ought have. Nah, our Jess hadn’t the patience. Instead, he made his way behind, snatching up a glass along the way; like he owned the place. Pulling a bottle of Jim Beam from the well, the one Apep had just so pretentiously spurned, he poured himself a healthy measure - only to down it and pour again. His second glass he raised in salute to acknowledge the snake demon, lifting two fingers from the neck of the bottle to offer some semblance of a wave toward Phoenix.

12

† OUT OF THE CITY † / Re: That Sweet Vitamin V

« on: January 09, 2020, 05:32:12 PM »

Jess began to shake his head but halted the motion before he could complete it. Hadn’t there been something else he was looking for?

He pulled out his phone to consider and closed his eyes against the glare of the screen - returning it to his chest pocket shortly thereafter. Nope. It took his drug-addled brain a while to conjure up the thing he’d wanted without the added help of his mobile device, and even longer for his mouth to shape its name.

... “Lovebite?” Might’ve been a longshot, but asking never hurt nobody. He’d heard of the app not long before and had downloaded it; it had required an access code, though, and he hadn’t one of those. Still, he’d wanted one. He wondered what kind of trouble could come from baiting a vampire. The fun kind, he reckoned.

13

Oceanview Heights / Re: Confrontations

« on: January 09, 2020, 05:10:12 PM »

Likewise, Zach released a heavy sigh through the passage of his nostrils. You think? The thought was transmitted unbidden along the tight line that was their bond. When he spoke, however, he did so patiently. “What about it don’t you understand?”

Expecting Jerry to have understood what he’d done wrong, he supposed, was an overestimation of his emotional competence. He wanted to get it, though, and that was almost enough to redeem him in Zach’s eyes. Maybe it was brotherly love that allowed for Zach to always give Jerry the benefit of the doubt, or maybe it was the sire bond - but he knew his brother would never intentionally cause Mal any harm. If he’d truly understood the impact of his actions, he’d have never made them in the first place. He could be thick as hell, but he did care. His guilt was proof enough.

14

Westward Apartments / Re: The Impression That I Get

« on: January 09, 2020, 04:14:48 PM »

Again, Aislin fell quiet. She didn’t feel comforted by Dreki’s maybes, but it did help to know she had someone to call if she needed to. Would avoiding going out at night even keep her safe? If a vampire wanted to, could they come into her home? Or, like in some stories, would they require an invitation?

... “Does a vampire need to be invited in?”

15

† OUT OF THE CITY † / Re: That Sweet Vitamin V

« on: January 07, 2020, 12:10:02 PM »

Jesse was drawn partway out of his moonstruck haze by the motion of the bottle being placed by his side. He played possum for a while longer, tears finally spilling from the outer corners of his eyes to bleed into the beaded sweat at his temples, with no effort made to catch or cover them. Either his brand of toxic masculinity wasn’t the kind that found shame in weeping, or he was still too far gone to care.

Wordlessly, he sat up to reach for the bottled water, unscrew its cap, and drink deeply. It had helped. Cleared his head a little, but didn’t do much to sober him. Still, our Jess had been through the best and worst of it. His peak was over; weren’t no way to go from there but down. He might’ve thanked Apep after he’d had his fill on drink, but when he cleared his throat, there were no words to summon. Instead, he set the near-emptied bottle aside, and snorted back a congested intake of breath.

He needed a smoke something bad.