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]

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]

Daniel gave a two-fingered wave and followed Holly into the club. The door slammed shut on his heels. He leaned back and covered his face and then dragged his fingers down so he could see her. It made his eyelids droop. “That was bad,” he mumbled. “I’d rather interrupt two people screwing.” Most of his awkward feelings came from the unresolved issue between Holly and him. He wasn’t sure of where Holly stood on his own blood-drinking condition. He would bet money Holly didn’t know where she stood, either.

Yet it kept slapping them in the face--

‘FANGS!’

-- begging to be dealt with.

“One time I came home from college and walked in on my mom screwing her attorney on the couch,” he said, changing the subject. “He was wearing business socks. I remember yelling, ‘You’re cheating with a guy who wears socks when he fucks you?’ ” Daniel shook his head. “It’s funny what sets you off.”

[holiday_pirner]

She had to laugh at that. "I kind of feel your pain. My mother went through this boyfriend-hunting period after my dad left." She leaned against the railing. It really was a good vantage point, offering at least a 270 degree view of the club below.

Holly gave Daniel a smile. "That was brave of you, down there. Embarrassing, but brave." The brunette was sure about one thing, she didn't have any wish to witness a vampire brawl.

[daniel_stacy]

“C’mon, I think I can take a—”

Chick.

His brain slammed on the brakes before his mouth could finish the sentence. Even so, Daniel wasn’t sure how to wrestle out of the albatross hanging in the air. How did he go from receiving a compliment to insulting the female gender in two seconds flat? His cheeks puffed out as he exhaled. “I mean, she weighed what, a buck ten?”

Yeah. Nice save, slick. Change the subject, fast.

“It’s funny, that guy just buzzed right past them.”

[holiday_pirner]

She watched and nodded, highly interested, as he tried his best to switch gears.

"He was too weird. I don't want to think about it." Holly watched some paint flake and peel off of the metal railing. "Maybe it was just a one-off."

Of course she knew deep down that she was brushing the issue aside. That was the curse of being self-aware with no motivation to change anything. The brunette looked up at Daniel.

"You promised me shots."

[daniel_stacy]

“This is true.” And a tipsy Holly was a handsy one. He didn’t mind that. Seizing the opportunity, he grabbed her fingers and led her towards the metal staircase. Daniel nudged aside the couple locking lips and parted the sea of people until he found enough room for them to stand, side by side, at the downstairs bar. He whistled to get the bartender’s attention. “What do you like, tequila?” he asked, turning to look at her in close quarters. He tried to guess her poison: whichever was most likely to get her fucked up fast, he figured. Maybe he should’ve gone straight for the grain alcohol. He stared at her mouth and hoped it could be passed off for lipreading.

[holiday_pirner]

"Tequila is fine."

She leaned against the bar, watching the bartender pour. "You know, you could work here," she remarked to Daniel. "As a bouncer or something. I mean, you have the strength, and you can tell when trouble is afoot."

The shot was slid toward her, and she picked up the miniature glass, downing the alcohol. "I can't believe I actually said afoot." Holly wiped her mouth.