The Bright Lights

[holiday_pirner]

"This girl was hogging the mirror. She's wearing blue velvet bellbottoms, you don't need a mirror to tell you that's wrong." Holly slid in beside Daniel, fluffing out her hair and closing the tab on her handbag.

She plucked the cherry out of her cocktail, looking up at the vampire. "Did anyone try to steal you away?" The brunette scanned the crowd surrounding them. "Tempting you with their scandalously exposed necks."

Another plus of hanging out with vampires was they could hear quite well over booming bass and synth. She knew Daniel could hear every word she said, and she didn't have to go home with a sore throat at the end of the night.

Comments

[daniel_stacy]

“No, but there was a scandalously exposed ass crack,” he said. He made a clicking sound and jerked his head to the woman standing behind him. The redhead knelt with a knee on her bar stool and forearms on the counter, looking like she planned to pounce, jungle cat style, on the bartender. At least two inches of seam showed between her midriff top and her pants. The woman coyly twisted her ankle in a circle.

“It’s taking all my willpower not to dive into the fault line,” he said.

Daniel grinned into his beer.

[holiday_pirner]

She rolled her eyes, discarding the stem on the damp napkin that rested on the bar. "I'll leave you two to get better acquainted, then. I got an offer I couldn't refuse, anyway."

Holly motioned with her eyes toward a man holding court in one of the leather banquettes. His personal mission statement seemed to vacillate between Freddie Mercury and Ponch from CHiPs.

"What do you think? Love connection?" The brunette smirked and took a long sip of her drink.

[daniel_stacy]

“Sexy,” Daniel agreed. He lifted his drink to the man with a fuzzy helmet of hair. “A mustache and chops. I salute you.”

He put his back to the bar top and rested his elbows on it. His ankles crossed and he became the picture of confidence. The trip down to Searchlight had done him some good, Daniel having reignited his old ‘live and let live’ (‘exist and let exist’?) philosophy. He felt loose. Slap-happy.

“By the way… man, you look awesome,” he said to Holly. Next to her, he probably looked like a slouch.

[holiday_pirner]

"High praise," she said, grabbing his chin and guiding his mouth toward hers. She planted a lingering kiss, then smiled. "I like it. A lot."

It was a lot more fun hanging around this place with a date. Holly took a moment to admire Daniel's five o'clock shadow while she finished off her drink.

[daniel_stacy]

“How’s the apartment search?” He put his fingers on the small of her back. It was easier to be around Holly in the din of a bar. Sensitive vampire ears had difficulty discerning her pulse from the next person’s, which saved him from a mental tug of war wherein his demon compulsively listened for it and he neurotically tried to stop listening, over and over ad nauseum.

‘I don’t hear anything… oh hell yes you do, and it sounds like tasty music… nope, I’m not paying attention… hey, do you hear that, buddy? It’s blood!’

[holiday_pirner]

"I found something promising, but Julianna happens to live there. How fun is that?" Holly watched a barback swoop in and take her empty glass. She leaned closer to Daniel.

"I suppose it doesn't matter. It's a big building. But I don't want her catching you on a Walk of Shame." The brunette smirked, tugging on his belt loops.

"I think she knows about your fang problem."

[daniel_stacy]

“Pssh!” Daniel laughed and shook his head, a cocky look on his face. “From what you’ve said, I’m more concerned about witnessing her walks of shame.”

Still, she had a point. It couldn’t be good news to have a watcher – and any associated slayers – knowing where he spent his nights. The last thing Daniel wanted was to get staked while he trotted out of Holly’s building with a stupid ‘just got lucky’ look on his face.

He downed some beer. “You think you’re gonna take it?” If Holly signed the lease, they’d just have to be careful.

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel thumped his mouth and looked up and down the alley. No sight of the guy, but he smelled blood. Nostrils flared. His head snapped to one side as his nose keyed in on that warm, ferric scent. Daniel’s forehead crested into a demonic ridge and he growled. The guttural noise transformed into a frustrated groan of, “Ugghhh, crap.” He turned his face away from the brunette and held up his palm as a visual barrier, like that meant it hadn’t happened.

He tried to drown out the ruckus in his brain.

‘There are two sides to that neck. Jump in, join the fun!

‘Forget her. Who wants to share? Bite Holly…

‘No! No. Bad idea.

Interrupt. Be the man.’

He raised a hand. “Hey! Hey,” he called out. “People here!”

[holiday_pirner]

Holly's first instinct had been to walk away and pretend like she hadn't seen it. She'd have to think about that later, because she was pretty sure that wasn't a healthy response.

Then Daniel spoke up, and Holly took what she hoped was a subtle step behind him. Maybe it was a good thing his 'other' face was showing. Maybe this happened all the time among vampires, a social faux pas.

The female vampire looked up, yellow eyes narrowing as they locked onto Daniel.

[daniel_stacy]

If Daniel had coloring, he would have blanched. He reached backward and felt around to make sure Holly was behind him.

“I mean,” he said, “This isn’t the greatest spot to kill somebody. There’s—” he looked around helplessly for a reason and spotted lights at the end of the alley. He gestured emphatically “Cars! Employees taking smoke breaks. It’s just… you know it’s bad for our—” He scowled at the woman with her shoulders to the bricks. “Why aren’t you running?”

[holiday_pirner]

"You just grabbed my boob," Holly whispered. She thought maybe if she whispered, she wouldn't anger the vampire. Then the brunette remembered she was most likely heard, anyway.

The girl against the wall straightened, fixing her top. "Because I wanted to be bitten?" She rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and the vampire smirked.

Holly folded her arms and bit her lower lip.

[daniel_stacy]

He took his hand off Holly’s boob. His shoulders sagged in relief that he didn’t have to take a stand just to save face.

“Really?” Daniel took in the unexpected twist. “Why?” he asked. “That’s a…” he stretched an open palm towards the fanged woman, then rubbed the back of his head.
The vampire wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary; nothing he wouldn’t do himself, given the opportunity. The odd part of the scenario was the blood donor. Maybe he should ask the vampire how she managed to line up a sweet gig like that.

Err… maybe not, since Holly seemed to prefer him picking off strangers to opening the same vein twice.

‘Yes, Holly. The girl standing behind you.’

“Nevermind. We’re good here.”

[holiday_pirner]

Holly didn't know whether to laugh or be mortified. She could probably manage both at the moment. "Come on, let's go back inside."

The brunette took one last look around for Mystery Man, but they were the only ones currently in the alley. She turned back toward the staircase.

[daniel_stacy]

“I can’t believe you said bouncer,” he huffed, putting back his own shot and tapping the bar, signaling for another round. “Bouncers are pricks. No offense,” he said to the bartender, just in case he was friends with the oily fucker at the door. He picked up the miniature glass and waited for Holly. He liked that she could hold her liquor. Particularly well for a small girl, too. It was a testament to how much of it she drank.

“I don’t think I’d do a good job,” he said. “I’d just undo the rope and let everybody in. Especially…” he leaned down and touched foreheads with her, “…if they looked like you,” he joked.

[holiday_pirner]

She joined him in the second drink, sliding the empty glass back. She wasn't going to tell Daniel that straight tequila made her mouth dry. "I need a beer. I don't care what kind," Holly told the bartender instead.

"Okay, but what do you do for money? I had wondered that before actually, but I was a little preoccupied with --," and the brunette gave him an up-and-down glance with her eyes. "Well, you know."

That reminded her of something. "Hey, do you want to see something cool?"

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel knew. It contributed to that satisfied smile. He held up a two so the bartender would give him a beer, too, although he did care what kind, which was stupid considering the taste didn’t vary much on his palette. He drummed his fingertips on the bar. “Uhhh, for a while, I was living off my trust fund. Don’t just me. But now I’m coasting on fumes so I’ve gotta figure something out.”

He did a double-take.

“What about you? Vegas doesn’t come cheap.”

[holiday_pirner]

Holly shrugged, looking away. "My dad's estate was left entirely to me. And my mother's, although her's was a lot smaller. And I don't have any siblings, so." She punctuated the sentence with a long pull from her beer.

"Come on."

She turned and led him through the crowd again, this time to a place she knew quite well. The brunette knew no one was paying attention. She opened the coat room door.

"I discovered this when I -- um, was here last."

[daniel_stacy]

Okay. So they had danced into uncomfortable territory. That was clear. But Daniel made an exasperated face when she took off, abruptly discontinuing the conversation. “Holly— you— god.“ He sighed. She really did not want to talk about her life. Up until that moment, he hadn’t even known her mother was dead. But he played along and let her take the lead across the club, at least until they stopped outside a coat room.

He raised his eyebrows and pointed into the room. “You serious?”

Not that it was a bad idea, going in there. But she couldn’t be more obvious in her attempt to shut the topic down. Holly was actually hiding in a closet. “Alright.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I think I’m starting to get what’s going on, but I want to make sure. So… you want a guy who looks good without a shirt on and gets you drunk and it might even be okay if he doesn’t have a soul, because he won’t ask personal questions.”

[holiday_pirner]

She leaned against the wall, speaking more to her shoes than to him. "That's not -- ," she broke off, looking up at him. "That's really oversimplified."

Holly played with the row of black rubber bracelets around her left wrist. "You'll always be you. Forever. And I'm not just talking about looks. I'm not shallow, Daniel. Because I like you, how you are, and...that's appealing."

The brunette could feel things inside spiraling out of control. Usually it made her defensive, but she didn't want to be that way with him. "I've known plenty of people who act like they don't have a soul. But they don't make me feel like you do."

She fought against the discomfort. "You know...happy. So if you ask me something personal, I'll answer it. I won't run away." It was only fair, after all, considering what she had asked of him at his apartment.

[daniel_stacy]

“Ehhhh….” Daniel waved a hand in a so-so motion. Really, it was counterproductive, because as much as he liked the way her mouth fit on his, he liked it elsewhere, too. But her fingernails were a real distraction. He looked down and fixated on the sight. Men were visual creatures; Daniel was not an exception. “Ho’ boy. Yeah, fuck it.” He put his hands on either side of her face, stooped, and kissed her so hard their teeth collided. “Ow.” He laughed and went in again. In a coat room, there weren’t any guarantees of how long until someone barged in. He made a grab for her skirt hem and yanked it up. “You should never, ever wear pants,” he mumbled.

[holiday_pirner]

She grinned against his mouth, her thumbs wrapped in the belt loops. "We can negotiate on the pants. If you agree to never wear a shirt." Holly slid it off his shoulders, letting it fall carelessly to the ground.

The brunette moved until her back was against the wall. She could feel the bass from the club's sound system reverberating against it.

[daniel_stacy]

He hooked his index fingers into her panties and tugged them down her legs. He knelt to untangle them from her shoes and let his eyes meander, taking the long route to her face, getting so distracted in the process that he struggled past the second shoe. Daniel got back to his feet and slung the tiny article of clothing around his finger.

Swoop-swoop-swoop...

"Or these. Useless. Save your money."

[holiday_pirner]

Holly couldn't concentrate enough for a clever reply, so instead she took his bottom lip between her teeth, biting gently before running her tongue over it. She had been wanting to do that every time she watched him talk.

Her fingers concerned themselves with his pants, the button tab and metal teeth of his zipper, in particular. The brunette decided subtlety had flown out the window -- or onto the floor -- so she mimicked him by tugging the jeans down his hips.

Her eyes locked onto his, and she flashed back to the motel room, the way she fit over him, looking down to watch his reactions.

"Your turn, Stacy."

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel propped his forehead on hers and studied her eyes from close range. Mischief made his shine. “Scoot over a little bit,” he coaxed, nudging Holly away from the solid wall and in front of a closet full of coats. He stroked his palms up and down her ribs a few times. On the last time, he slipped his thumbs under her shirttail.

“Arms up.” He carried the fabric up over her head and elbows.

But when he got to the wrists, Daniel twisted the shirt and knotted it around the coat bar. A firm tug confirmed that the brunette wasn’t going anywhere unless she brought the bar down with her.

He hiked up her skirt and picked her up. “This work for you?” he asked.

[holiday_pirner]

She could feel a very specific tingle starting in her feet, working its way up her body. Holly nodded, her mouth inches from his. "Yeah, that's...good."

The brunette wrapped her legs around his hips, nails digging into her palms as she felt how solid Daniel was against her.