Arriving at Bliss

Verite · I see Un-Dead people!

Arriving at Bliss

Faith · Vampire Reporter Extroardinaire

After an annoying night or two, it was nice to unwind in a place where you actually wanted to be. Although it was kind of sad when you could say with absolute confidence that you always perched on " the usual bar stool." But what Faith couldn't argue about was the view from where she sat. Most of the dance floor was easy to see, as was just about every person coming up to and going away from the counter (at least this one) and she was enough out of the way so that the usual human, and not so human traffic, didn't bother her too much nor she them.

Plus her favorite song was playing, and there was a guy with a nice ass standing

just a couple of feet away and come on, who didn't like that combination. Aside from heterosexual males with bad taste in music? Yet another reason Faith was thankful for being a girl. That and it gave her an excuse to wear raspberry colored lycra mini dresses and hold color coordinated drinks. Like now for example. The huge glass of something pink and blended, cooled her fingers while she bopped her head along with he beat of the music. It was relaxing in a way back alley confrontations with assholes, weren't.

Life was like that sometimes The simplest things brought the most pleasure. But that was way too deep for Faith at that moment, what she wanted was something wholly mindless and fun. The Inner Valley Girl in demanding to be let out into the general population. Chiyah, like that was gonna happen, oh my gawed. Still, it brought a leering grin to her lips when Mr.. Tight Buns bent over to help a tall blonde who "accidentally" dropped the tiny sequined box one might call a purse. Now there was a view. Apparently the blonde agreed, because the sight of all that man goodness bending and flexing caused her to heat up to a point where her shoes began to melt.

At least that's what Faith assumed happened when Blondie suddenly teetered over and elbowed the Vampire's drink hand. The pink stuff took this opportunity to defy graving and make like Lava out of the glass. With a yelp and inhumanly fast reflexes Faith moved her hand away from herself just in time to prevent most of the pink mess from ending up on her dress. Not fast enough to keep it from spilling on the counter though and splattering Mr.. Tight Buns's back and the Blondie next to him. Promptly Faith's Inner Valley Girl burst free like some giant pink Cool Aid Man screaming "Like, Oh YeAHHHHH!" as she glared at the mess. "Like, Oh My God! Thank's so freaking much like you know?!" Blondie's chagrin wasn't enough for Faith, as the vampire slid off her barstool and glared metaphorical daggers at the two. Because clearly the guy with the ass was at fault too.

Plus him grinning and eyeing Faith's slightly stained dress didn't earn him any points. "Like ugh, get away from me." Losers, she added mentally while stalking away from the duo. Pulling the Vampire thing and draining them both dry seemed like too good an idea for her to stick around. Although the more bodies she put between herself and Blondie and Mr..Tight Buns the more Faith wanted to giggle. After moving through the crowd she ended up exactly three feet from where she sat and sighed. Bliss on a busy night was definatly a feast for the senses and a challenge for physics.

Giving up on trying to migrate to a different part of the club, Faith just leaned against the counter and watched the as the nearest bar tender tried to blot the mess she sort of caused. Plucking a coaster slash napkin from a stack near by, Faith "helped" by dropping a couple on the puddle nearest her, only to notice that she had more of the stuff on her than she thought she did. With a grunt, she eyed the material while her inner Valley Girl wanted to go back and gag Blondie with a spoon. Yup the dress was totally ruined. Looking up Faith found herself looking at a guy who was "looking" for Chad. For some weird reason she thought of Charlie's Angels and what "Chad" had meant in that film and laugh snorted. Which was SO not cute. Naturally people looked, some made faces and Faith just grinned at the guy with the stained shirt and motioned to her own splatter decoration. "Love the bold touch of color on you. It's very...very fashion forward."

Chad · Bliss Head Bartender

-Chad knew the comings and goings of most of the vampires in the city. It had nothing to do with psychic ability and nothing to do with being like the fang bangers who hung out at the club all the time. He was just one of those people that had a seemingly natural way about him that made people all but spill their guts on the bar top. The phenomena was a combination of good liquor, excellent personal skills, nice smile, and a longstanding reputation for knowing how to keep a secret. Might say he was just a natural barkeep. Not that his mother would ever be happy about the fact that he had dropped out of medical school to pursue a career at the club of a Master Vampire. But since when did mothers ever understand anything?-

-After sliding a martini glass carefully across the bar to a customer he headed over to a new man that had just pressed through the crowd at the bar. Chad looked him over carefully, giving a head nod to knock the long blonde hair back from his face. He'd been about to ask what he could get the man when he announced that he was looking for....him. Smiling he knew that really looking for him was just a means to an end. Looking for Chad really meant looking to see if Chad could help you find someone else.-

"I'm Chad." - A hand was extended across the bar towards the new undead. Not implying he was newly a vampire. Just new to Chad and this place. - "What can I do for you?"

-The process was interrupted by Faiths appearence and comment. Chad had little names for the vampires at Bliss. Jessie was of course The Kid. Ghost was Whitey. Faith in his head was Sarcasmo. Sometimes he wondered if there was anything deeper than that hidden in the blonde. Guess her Master would know better than Chad. And speaking of which.-

"I think Azraels looking for you Faith. Seemed like he had a bone to pick." -Chad gave a winkand a smile that was very genuine.- "Just giving you a heads up there trouble maker."

Verite · I see Un-Dead people!

To Verite, the occurences seemed to happen at the same time.

He smiled lazily and was about to reply to Faith (with something appropriately inappropriate, such as, 'Looks like we've both had a spill...why don't we go somewhere and get into something a little more comfortable...like my bed?') in a way that would answer her and yet buy him some freedom (if a line like that had the effect it should, which would be to utterly piss off and disengage any respectable woman at whom it was slung) to pursue his interests here -- with a purposeful glance down her spilled-upon front that lingered on her more protrusive orbs of flesh for good measure --

And then the buff blond guy was standing before him and claiming the name of the one he'd been told to find.

Caught between the two, Ver exhaled. What to say to whom? And before he could inhale once again, he caught Chad's aside to the pretty, young, damp vampiress and froze. There it was. If Eden wasn't to be trusted, he'd just landed on absolute proof that the man--or angel--who might have been only a dream to him was real, and here, in this city...if not in this very bar?

"Actually..." He interjected, glancing between them. "I was looking for Azrael myself."

But it had to be remembered that Verite, for all intents and purposes, to any and all creatures around him, seemed to be a human.

If there was one thing he could do well and with consistency, it was this: to blend, to be what he wanted to be (so long as it fell within the races of humans or vampires). Even the unnatural attractiveness of his race would be slightly muted to their eyes, and he would seem--well, rather average-looking. Almost forgettable, though he did seem to possess a fragrant, mortal blood beneath his his skin. These effects, along with the other misperceptions he wilfully elicited, made his overall being seem so different from his true self that they--the vampire nor the all-knowing, all-remembering barkeep--would likely not recognize him if they saw him again in his natural state. That was on purpose.

But therefore, this request for the archangel was bound to seem a strange request.

-- Edited by Verite on Wednesday 12th of August 2009 07:48:35 PM

Chad · Bliss Head Bartender

"Of course you are."

-Chad could only laugh good naturedly at the seeming coincidence of the moment. Blue eyes went from Faith to this new vampire with humor in them. Sometimes fate just stepped in to lend a hand. Down the bar someone was trying to flag him down and Chad looked that way a second before turning back to the two.-

"Go ahead and take him with you Faith. I'll call ahead and let Azrael know you're coming."

-Might seem simple, but Bliss was so well fortified, and the catacombs below even more so, that Chad wasn't really worried about this new vampire being a danger to anyone but himself. So he didn't have to be too cagey about letting Faith take him backstage and then down to those secret lairs beneath Bliss. Besides, with the way things in the city were stirring up among the vampires he doubted Azrael would mind having a visitor.-

-Giving a smile and a nod of farewell to both vampires he headed down the bar towards the eager customer. When he got there the girl was all ablush and asking him in a hurried whisper if this was a club with zomg real vampires. That made Chad smile brighter and give a wink as he began mixing her a drink.-

"Stick around and find out. There's all kinds of things here you won't believe."

-- Edited by Chad on Thursday 13th of August 2009 12:40:07 AM

-- Edited by Chad on Thursday 13th of August 2009 12:40:33 AM

Verite · I see Un-Dead people!

Again, Verite's attentions turned to the blonde and he offered a lazy smile, glad the fortunate timing of the barkeep had prevented him from wise-cracking at the girl for the sake of a little privacy.

"I guess I'll follow you then?" He asked with complete humility, already mentally working through his options. If he was about to disappear into the depths of this club alone with the vamp, especially one affixed to Azrael (though he could tell she wasn't of his (their) Court), he might need to re-think this 'human' shield he wore. It'd gotten him through the door, but truth be told, he hadn't thought much beyond that.

But she was young, that he could also tell. Shouldn't take too much trouble to confuse her a little bit about what she thought she'd sensed or seen--if it came to that.

Ver gave a short nod--eyes meeting and holding Chad's for an extra moment--and said, "Thank you." With just as much firmness and sincerity as he'd given Eden for the ride. He had a feeling he'd be seeing much more of this guy.

Which would be fine, since the 'keep was human, so, once again, it wouldn't be too difficult to throw a little who-what-where at him later on. If necessary. And if his powers allowed it. (God damn wonky powers.)

Then he rose and moved from his position at the bar to greet the vampiress. "Lead the way."

Faith · Vampire Reporter Extroardinaire

Cha-ching! Or rather ka-plonk, because that was the sound of Faith's jaw hitting the counter top when Chad piped in.

Trouble maker? Who her?! Never. And she was in the process of denying any such accusation and pointing out all the ways that she was not a trouble maker (some of them actually true) when both Chad and the other guy dropped the A bomb.

What ever effort Faith was exerting in picking her jaw back up, failed and the thing plopped back on the counter and the blonde vampire just stared at the blonde bar tender with a look that was part confusion and part "the hell?!" Because come on, who in their right mind told the conspiracy nut that Area 51 was real and that the person to guide you to it was standing next to you with a daiquiri drying on her clothes.

Not that Ver looked like a conspiracy nut, but Faith liked the damn mystique that came with the whole Creature of the Night package. Even if it was mostly stereotypical and cliché, it was still fun damnit. Once Chad departed, Faith tried hard not to glower at his retreating back. He just put her in an awkward position after all and that did not lend itself to friendly smiles. But one somehow managed to find its way onto her face and as "The New Guy" put his fate into her hands and told her to lead on Faith took a moment of her own to do some serious ogling. All in the same of science, er precaution. Yes, precaution because being careful was smart. Ahem, didn't hurt that he had a nice ass, er, smile.

Without bothering with the "oh I'm just a simple human girl out in the big scary world" show, Faith just let her otherness through. Her eyes didn't flare red and her fangs didn't pop out like ... things that popped out, but the whole Valley Girl vibe fell away under the weight of the un-death that gave her life. Which was ironic enough and catchy enough it was a shock no one managed to needle-point it on something.

With a tilt of her head she looked The New Guy up and down, taking stock. He was human. Sort of. He didn't smell human, but then again Faith wasn't a dog so her sense of smell only went so far. It was the vibe coming off of him that she liked. Even if he didn't register 100% homosepian on her radar he didn't register as a Tarakian either. There was no aura of anger, hatred, the overblown inferiority complex (sprinkled liberally with body odor), if anything he seemed...nice. Which was a mistake Faith made often only to have it come and bite her in the juicy bits, but hey! Can't be all safe all the time now could you.

After slapping on a fantastic, pearly white flashing, smile that was powerful enough to draw Verite's eye from her cleavage (which was kind of impressive thanks to the boning of the dress) to her face Faith pushed away from the counter and motioned for the pretty guy to follow. While moving through the crowd of dancers toward the hidden entrance that would lead them to the Secret Honeycomb Hideout, Faith glanced over her shoulder and this time, she did flash the pointy set of chompers.

"Sooooo, how'd a guy like you end up in a place like this?" And boom, it wasn't even a pick up line. "And how do you know Azrael? I mean is this a social call or business or..." the rest of it, Faith let trail off into the ether so that The New Guy could fill it in for her.

Verite · I see Un-Dead people!

Verite threw a handful of cash on the bar for the helpful bartender who'd tendered him next to nothing, yet the only thing he'd come here for, unknowingly. Then he rose and began to follow the undead girl, (remembering not to follow quite as gracefully and step-for-step with her as he was capable of), and they wove through the crowds to the Employees Only Past This Point doorway that was probably not labeled as such, or in any way at all.

He liked it when her fangs revealed themselves behind deceptively soft and feminine lips. He'd never for a moment taken her to be human (at her age, she could only hide so well, and not from a vampire of his experience), but there was something honest about a vampire whose fangs were right there where you could see them. Popular fables aside, the fact that humans had come to trademark vampires by their fangs wasn't necessarily a key facet to the race as Ver saw it. They had their grace, elegance, cunning, charm, strengths, powers, etc, after all. They did feed on blood, that was an important aspect, but the fangs were merely the tools, so to equate the species to them seemed to Ver much like crediting Shakespeare to his quill pen. Nonetheless, he did like to see those sharp weapons exposed, because they were beautiful and truthful. Some days he had a secret wish their species didn't have to hide. Perhaps it was because all of the hiding that was already forced upon him, by nature of his more secular race.

Speaking of hiding. Now that they were alone in a hallway/tunnel/passage, he realized that he would get caught if he went from human-seeming to vamp-seeming in front of this woman. Only one Court did that at his heightened skill level, and it was too much of a dead giveaway (literally). So, crossing his fingers that his powers, which only worked half the time these days, would hold out, he began slowly revealing his natural state to her and his mind began to nudge up against hers suggestively, but unnoticeably, telling her that he had walked in as Heliotrope and that it was the only state she'd ever seen him in. Given her age versus his, as well as the characteristics of his survival power, this convincing should be effortless. By the time they were halfway to their destination, he would exit her mind without leaving any trace that he'd ever dipped in and modified it.

Faith would now only have ever known him to be a Heliotrope vampire. And suddenly there was a much more obvious reason why he and Azrael might have wanted to meet.

“I think I might stay in Rome awhile.” He answered. “Azrael is an old friend.”

And the poor pretty blonde vampiress would have neither the choice nor inclination to disbelieve it.

“And how do you know him?” One hundred years ago, when Ver was last on the radar, vampires were pretty hesitant to co-mingle Courts, so it did seem truly strange that she seemed to be familiar if not friendly with the Heliotrope master.

Faith · Vampire Reporter Extroardinaire

Paranoia - is a thought process characterized by excessive anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. However, as times evolved and people have found bigger and better words to describe the same thing, or going even further as to create a system of grades and levels with which to describe and judge the severity of those very things they've spent such a long time to describe. Case in point, one could have just called Faith anything from Fucking Paranoid, to Cautiously Reserved, to Carefully Vigilant. Although the most accurate description might have been Recklessly Curious with a smidge of Defensive Paranoia. Paranoia was good, it kept one on their toes and always looking around. Seeing how "being safe" and "face value" were quickly evolving into outdated concepts. No way in hell was Faith taking anything at face value anymore, or feeling safe anywhere outside of her home sweet nest. And maybe with a giant gun in her hands. Yes, the gun thing tended to make warriors out of the limiest of cowards.

Thankfully none of the Recklessly Curious thoughts were directed at Verite as Faith guided him smoothly through the security check points. Their destination was not the heart of the Catacombs were everyone gathered and had access to just about every tunnel, room, nook and cranny of the place, but at Faith's guidance they headed for an offshoot that Faith lovingly termed the Reception Area. It was a hole in the wall. A minor cavern that with proper track lighting and cheap furniture could look a lot like a subterranean version of a doctor's office waiting area. All they would need would be some industrial strength carpet in a calming dusty rose with flecks of gray and blue. Some cheap laminate wood furniture with cushions that matched the carpet. A plant or two, some musac, and magazines and newspapers a few weeks out of date. It was all there in Faith's minds eye (which was as clear testament as any that sometimes, she really gave stupid things way too much though.)

With a journalist's natural born curiosity she was racking up a thousand and six questions to ask the Vampire behind her. Yes a Vampire, and if she got the feel of him right, one that was quite a bit like Azrael and Ghost. Not that she was about to go "Hey! You're just like..." Keeping her lip zipped and her thoughts clear, she kept those revelations to herself. Funny, but she found it funny how for some reason she didn't realize the similarities between The New Guy and her Master. Granted the lack of a black leather trench on his back and a scowl on The New Guy's face might have had something to do with that. Still, weird. Five minutes ago Faith was sure she'd have pegged the guy as human. Maybe? Probably not, why else invite him back here, Chad's "go ahead" aside.

Weird.

With both a mental and a physical shrug, Faith let that thought go and as she entered the last security pin on an electronic lock. As the door that barred their way swooshed back and out of the way Faith turned back around to face Ver and just then she grinned. The question about how she knew Azrael was a good one. She wasn't of his Court and duh, they were quite different creatures weren't they. And as she kept flashing her pearly whites at The New Guy, there was nothing evil, or sly or "gee wouldchalook at this" about the expression. Faith was just in a good mood and she wasn't too shy about showing it off. Plus what ever Verite was putting off, she kind of liked it. If she had to classify him right then and there she'd have put him in the "cool" column where all the cool people went. Didn't mean she was about to tell him everything there was to tell.

With one hip planted firmly against the edge of a stony doorway, Faith slid an arm across the open space and leaned at an angle, pretty much creating a frame of limbs around the frame. If Verite wanted to get over the threshold he would have to duck under her arm. Hence why it was there.

"How I know Azrael? Oh it is a very long and complex story. But since you're old friends maybe it's better if he'd be the one to tell you." The unspoken "if you two are Indeed friends" remained unspoken because some things just did not need to be said out loud.

-- Edited by Faith on Wednesday 19th of August 2009 12:31:57 PM

Angel of Death · Seductive Death

~What is the point of life? Why are we here? The living were not the only ones who asked these questions. With all there rushing from one place to another they missed everything. They bothered to ask ridiculous question without really wanting to know the answers. Beneath their skin where the blood ran hot was a cool world of the spirit that most of them would rather die than confront. A world of tenebrous connections between this world and what came beyond it, a maddening whorl of activity unseen by the eye. To be a part of that world was to dwindle at the edge of the abyss, to look into the emptiness of everything and see nothing. That speck of light that hangs in the heavens leads only to unfathomable darkness. That was the truth, as he saw it anyhow, that in centuries of searching for knowledge he had found that the greatest substance in all of creation boiled down to....nothing.~

~Oddly, this didn't depress him. In an almost contrary way it gave him a greater appreciation for his existence outside the flow of life, and more of a yearning to be close to those things beneath the ether that he could command. So Azrael had made his home among the dead. Beneath Bliss, down windind stairs and passages, past the concrete, past the architects designs, was a labyrinth beneath ground that housed him and his people. Catacombs as old or older than the city herself. A place people had dug deep within to bury their dead when the Romans weren't a people, when tribes dotted the land and prayed to the wind in the trees and danced in the flickering light of bonfires on the hillsides.~

~The fact that he had desecrated parts of the Catacomb to make his home there, seal it in, finish it out, and make it liveable was a fact he could care less about. Azrael knew the dead better than most, and none of them had been complaining. Not yet anyway. As he sat in his La-Z-Boy, watching the crackle and pitch of the telly he felt the brush of warmth against his legs that meant Arthur, their furry white housecat, was making himself a bed on Azraels shins. How he'd ended up with a cat in the mix on top of the rest was something of a mystery to him. Just a few years ago he'd been a loner, nearly sucking the soul out of anyone who got close to him. Silent had changed that. Starting with her his life had begun to reform. Though their lives had gone in opposing and nearly never crossing directions he still felt gratitude to her for that fact.~

"Gonna be a big night you mangy git." ~The cat looked at him questioningly and made a faint mewing sound.~ "Time to make some bloody changes."

~And this was what happened when the dead kept to themselves too long. They found themselves in an armchair, drinking whiskey from the bottle and talking to a bloody pet. With a low hiss Azrael lifted one leg and gave a shake that made Arthur leap off the outstretched footrest of the La-Z-Boy in a panic and leap up to the mantle over the fireplace. He'd been planning his next move for awhile, watching the city and listening to what his people had to say about things. Waiting you might say for the situation to change, but when time had passed and he found that things were no closer to changing he knew that it was time to make a move. Now or never as the yanks might say.~

~Feeling the familiar pressure of Faith in the winding tunnels of the catacombs and the almost palpable curiousity of the spirits dwelling there as she got nearer he pushed at the footrest with the heels of his black motorcycle boots, slamming it shut so swiftly that the whole heap shuddered beneath him. There was someone with Faith, a familiar precense that Azrael only knew from associations of an otherworldy kind. Not a ghost or a spirit, nothing so obtuse, a living sort of breathing creature whose acquaintance he'd made not so long ago in a period where he'd been using astral projection to gather knowledge. Very curious indeed. Now what could Ver be doing here? Looked like the seven ton sleeping pill the man had taken wore off.~

~Spinning around in the La-Z-Boy he stood in one smooth movement. His movements were not of this world, the shadows seemed to cling to him as he went towards the opening in the tunnels that would lead Faith and Ver into his dwelling place. Eyes as blue white as chips of ice watching keenly as he used his power to settle the restless spirits who were even then huddling around the two newcomers curiously. Azrael parted the dwellers of the realm of death like a veritable unseen Red Sea to allow entrance to his 'home'. For this place of death and dreaming had become a home. Somewhere between Faith and Ghost, before the others had joined them, that's what had happened.~

~When his eyes locked on Ver for the first time, seeing him not as a cosmic being of ether dust but an actual physical human being his well sculpted lips parted and he laughed. This unassuming man was not what he had been expecting. With a bottle of whiskey held by the neck in one hand and his usual black leather trench coat swinging at his calves almost like a modern day cape Azrael was everything a millenium era vampire should be on the surface. No sensual sweeping gestures or electric vibes coming off him, just the cold of death hidden in his arctic eyes.~

"Ver, mate. I didn't think I'd see you this side of the grave. You've come on a rather unusual night."

-- Edited by Angel of Death on Wednesday 19th of August 2009 02:00:29 PM

Faith · Vampire Reporter Extroardinaire

(( The Second Act Starts Up Here! ))