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[noah_restic]

The frenzy in the crowd died down to a manageable level in the space between fights. It was in that fissure that Noah moved. Despite his human status, he blended in well, his unoffensive appearance a boon here. He sidled up to the bar and ordered a drink. Noah was officially, as of ten minutes ago, off the clock, having settled a debt for his boss. It had involved one incinerated vampire, but that was an easy mess to clean up.

He turned, back to the bar as he drank, scanning the room. People, to use that term very loosely, were already jockeying up around the ring for the next fight. Noah didn't mind the lack of a clear view; he had more room to breathe back here.

A sharp laugh from stage right caught his attention, then a flash of vibrant red. The dark-haired man straightened, interested. He had seen her wandering this place before, but this was the first time she had come anywhere near him.

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[deannas]

"Four hundred, four fifty, five hundred." Deanna counted out the money from the won bet. Her compatriot thought she was insane, betting on the spritely girl in the cut-off shorts. She was David to the behemothy-David in the fight ring. As strong as vampires were, they weren't always smart. And this girl was. The redhead would remember the girl for future.

She turned back to the bar and ordered a vodka tonic, which the gentleman to her left offered to buy. She would've accepted but he then propositioned her, which brought the sharp laugh that reverberated across the room. Clearly a newbie to the club.

Drink now in hand, the redhead turned and leaned against the wooden bar.

[noah_restic]

Noah watched her counting the bills. She knew what she was doing. Some of the other people in the club, not so much.

"With how often I see you here," he began, his tone neutral, "I'm surprised you're never in the ring." His words were punctuated by a cheer in the crowd, and even his human senses could pick up the scent of blood in the air.

[deannas]

"I have nothing to prove." Which was technically true; the vampire had lived (and fought for her survival) for two centuries. She wasn't a pacifist by any means, she just picked her fights more carefully.

Heightened senses told her what she'd already suspected. "You don't see many humans in a dive like this."

[noah_restic]

"No, you don't often see them," he agreed, almost smiling as he finished the rest of his bourbon. He set the empty rocks glass on the polished bar.

Noah gestured to the monolith of a creature in the ring, standing victorious. Some kind of demon, he guessed. "He seems to care. It's probably the only higher thinking he experiences."

He turned back to the redhead. "I guess that makes you evolved."

[deannas]

"Heh." She took a swig of her drink, enjoying the slight burn from the tonic as it passed over her tongue. If she held the ice in her hand, it wouldn't melt. Nothing melted the redhead's exterior, not even the 'evolved' compliment.

"I'm going to save you the embarrassment, because I think you're fairly new and someone's probably fucking with you, but you're really not my type.

"You know. Because of the dick."

[noah_restic]

Now that brought a full-on smirk to his face as he fought back laughter. "Oh, that's good." Noah flagged the bartender and pointed to his empty glass.

"Because you're really not my type, either. You know, because of the being dead part."

The empty was replaced with a tumbler full of dark amber liquor. "This one's on the house, Noah."

He raised the glass in salute, looking at the vampire as he took a long pull.

[deannas]

"Someone's got a friend, Noah," the vampire ribbed. He didn't take things too seriously. It helped in a place like this. Flash your ego to the wrong person and a minute later they could be wearing your teeth.

She held out her well-manicured hand. "Deanna. From what you said earlier, I gather you've been watching me."

[noah_restic]

The offered handshake made him raise his eyebrows, but he returned it regardless. "No, only watching in general. You just happen to be noticeable."

Noah nursed his second drink. "But I doubt that's unintentional on your part. It takes quite a lot to stand out in this crowd."

[deannas]

"It's a gift," she replied with a wry smile. Deanna put down her tumbler and dug through her purse to retrieve an ever familiar silver cigarette case. She took a slim stick out and held it out.

"That's not entirely true. I mean, it is, but I want to be known here. I want my name to get out into the underground." She leaned in and whispered. "You can't get to the top by remaining invisible."

[noah_restic]

"And confident, too," Noah remarked. "Aren't you concerned that someone -- or something -- will come along, wanting to be the new bigger and baddest? That puts a big target on your head."

He swirled his glass, watching the water from melted ice mix into the bourbon. "Unless you're well past caring. Is that it?" Noah tilted his head. "Have you lived long enough?"

[deannas]

"There's always going to be a challenge, that's part of the thrill." So much for being a gentleman, Deanna thought, now reaching into her purse for her zippo. She lit the stick and took in a large amount of smoke. When you didn't need air, it never burned the lungs.

"I should clarify. I don't want to run everything. But I do plan on making a name for myself. To part of the upper pantheon here in Vegas. Where people nod as I pass by, and say, 'Don't fuck with her; she offed a Slayer'."

[noah_restic]

He watched her light the cigarette; he wasn't about to jump for someone who wasn't paying him to. "Lofty goals."

Noah's attention turned back to the ring, or what he could see of it, anyway. "But there's something to be said for flying under the radar. I know a vampire out back who might agree with me, if he weren't a pile of ash."

[deannas]

A plume of smoke sailed over Noah's head.

'I know a vampire out back who might agree with me, if he weren't a pile of ash.'

You didn't need to truss up Deanna with rope, sprinkle her with ginger and call her Pancake Betty. She got the undertones of the statement.

"What'd he do, go for an uninvited snack? Or was this more... personal?"

[noah_restic]

"Neither," he replied, his tone and demeanor casual. "This is, or was, a work outing for me. Now I'm just letting off steam."

Noah took the silver case from her, putting a cigarette between his lips. A spark appeared, seemingly from his fingertips, and the end burned red as he lit it.

He handed the case back to her.

[deannas]

Grabby much?! If you looked at the (long) list of pet peeves, up near the top would be people invading the vampire's personal space.

She was about to break a few of his fingers when she saw him spark up the cigarette without using a lighter.

"Neat trick," Deanna admitted. "So when you said ash..."

[noah_restic]

"I meant ash," he finished for her. Noah inhaled, letting the smoke out in small bursts of gray. It joined the haze of the overhead lights. No one wanted to miss a single drop of blood, so they were brighter than the usual bar's.

"I would never have come here if I didn't have to. I'm not interested in being known. If people want to walk by me without a second glance, so be it. I know what I'm capable of, and that's enough."

[deannas]

"So why approach me?" Deanna was curious. For someone who wanted to blend into the background, he picked the shiniest woman in the room. She ran a finger over her cream-colored satin jacket. Thank god she took out the shoulder pads when she bought them; some people just had no taste.

[noah_restic]

"Trust me, no one here will remember me later. They'll remember the redheaded vampire who counts her money and struts around like royalty." Noah deposited an inch worth of ash into one of the black trays.

"I'm interested in powerful people. They're useful."

[deannas]

"And you think I'm... useful." 'Good to know.'

Deanna took another drag on her cigarette, and exhaled a long stream of smoke. She flicked her end into the ashtray, then picked up her glass from the bar. "I'm usually good with accents. You're definitely Eastern European. Ukrainian?"

[noah_restic]

"On the nose," he answered. Just half-melted ice left in his glass now. "That was my past life, though. I'm red, white, and blue American now."

Noah was being sarcastic, but his heritage really did mean little to him. He had no loyalty to the place, or its memories.

"But you must know what that entails, if you've been around as long as you act."

[deannas]

"I'll choose to take that as a compliment," Deanna replied. She took a sip of her drink, and frowned. The melted ice diluted the sting of both the alcohol and tonic.

The vampire's green eyes met his. "I lost my accent somewhere around nineteen twenty. Being foreign didn't play well when I got off the boat on Ellis Island."

[noah_restic]

Noah nodded, in agreement and at the confirmation of his guess. She had been around. "And I'm sure you've left a trail of bodies from New York to Vegas."

There was no judgment in his voice. He had done his share of destruction. It was only more organized now.

"If you want your name known, you should put out an invite. Preferably written in blood."

[deannas]

"That, I think we have in common." Deanna gave Noah a knowing smile.

She thought on his last statement, swirling half-melted ice in her drink. She caught the cigarette, now almost all ash, residing in the ashtray. She butted it out.

"I need to address it to a specific person, though," the redhead continued. "A blonde slayer. Met her at the Skylark just over a week ago, but didn't get her name. She was chummy with a dark-haired slayer named Rhiannon, and friendly with another vampire named Theresa. She was the only one not to give her name. I'd like to show her that not all of us play nice."

[noah_restic]

"So you think she disrespected you." He had learned quickly that supernatural types, especially the veterans, made a big deal out of respect. Really, Noah considered it ego-stroking, but some things didn't have to be said out loud.

"Do you have a plan?"

[deannas]

"Not so much disrespect, more that she'll drive a wooden stake through my heart the first chance she gets, because that's her job."

Deanna finished her drink.

"As for a plan, I'm open to suggestions."

[noah_restic]

Noah chuckled a little at that. "It seems like you run a higher risk of her doing that if you provoke her, but okay. You're the expert, I'm sure." He finished off his cigarette.

"I think you know how to get someone's attention. A slayer, her life is her work. You attack what she cares about the most."

He didn't mention that a pissed off slayer was a potent one. Deanna had to know that.

[deannas]

'You attack what she cares about the most.'

Deanna thought back to the elevator. What blondie seemed to care about was that boy. Hmmm, good place to start...

"Keep the fires burning, Noah," Deanna proffered as she dug through her purse to pay for her drink. "And I'll see you around here at Second Circle I'm sure. If things pay off, you might have a new client."