Rent's Due
Oct. 27th, 2013 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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When she finished a shift waiting tables at Cool Beans but it was too early to go home, Maddy sometimes curled up on a couch and read a used book. Those days generally corresponded to that time of the month when her landlord was hanging around looking for rent money, and she didn’t quite have it. Today, she was curled up with a copy of Stephen King’s novel Pet Sematary. She had slipped her shoes off and tucked her feet under herself. Her toes flexed in a pair of socks with black cats on them, and her fingers sifted through the ends of her hair.
“Hey Malcolm, bring me another coffee,” she called.
“Get it yourself,” grumbled her coworker, who was drying a load of dishes and stacking them on a shelf.
“I’m not working.” She flipped to the end of a chapter and skimmed a page.
“Are you paying?”
“No.”
“Then get it yourself.”
Maddy sighed and dragged herself off the couch. The novel, which she set upside down on the fat, upholstered arm, slipped to the floor and lost her page. She crammed her feet half in her shoes and stumbled to the counter, where she dangled her empty cup by the handle. “Meet me halfway.”
He scowled and took the mug.
“Hey Malcolm, bring me another coffee,” she called.
“Get it yourself,” grumbled her coworker, who was drying a load of dishes and stacking them on a shelf.
“I’m not working.” She flipped to the end of a chapter and skimmed a page.
“Are you paying?”
“No.”
“Then get it yourself.”
Maddy sighed and dragged herself off the couch. The novel, which she set upside down on the fat, upholstered arm, slipped to the floor and lost her page. She crammed her feet half in her shoes and stumbled to the counter, where she dangled her empty cup by the handle. “Meet me halfway.”
He scowled and took the mug.
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on 2013-10-28 02:37 am (UTC)The vampire was loitering just outside of Cool Beans, picking imaginary lint off of her matador jacket and wondering if she was being weird. She'd thought about waiting until the place was closing, but that would have been too stalkery. The plate glass window of the coffee shop was freshly washed, the lack of smudges and fingerprints making the interior look even more brightly lit. It was just past dark.
She finally pushed the door open, listened to the merry jingling of the bell as she stepped inside. The smell of brewing coffee competed with the odor of old floor wax. Theresa saw Maddy passing off a cup to a cranky-looking dude, touched her hair self-consciously.
"Maddy, hey."
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on 2013-10-28 07:23 pm (UTC)Malcolm dropped a bowl in the sink.
“Relax,” Maddy whispered. “I’ll tip.” Sometimes she swore the guy was on his period. She stuffed a couple of bills in the tip cup and he visibly relaxed, the right wheels having been greased.
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on 2013-10-29 01:12 am (UTC)She should probably put a buck or two in the tip jar too. Cranky Pants looked like he'd just discovered his boxers were in a knot. Theresa folded her arms on the countertop, inhaling the scent of strong coffee and separating the sound of one heartbeat from another. If they brewed it right, she'd actually be able to taste it.
"What's up with you tonight? How's the coffee-slinging business?"
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on 2013-10-29 02:18 am (UTC)no subject
on 2013-10-29 03:07 am (UTC)"I saw you guys on stage the other night," she said. She would forgo mentioning what else she'd been up to, because she was embarrassed by her backsliding and didn't want to talk about it. "You had a really good set."
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on 2013-10-29 06:46 pm (UTC)She set the mug on a table and stretched over the couch arm to grab her paperback. She had lost her page, which meant she would have to flip until something looked familiar, and it would be her luck that she’d cast her eyes upon that part where Gage the toddler got mowed down by a semi again. She didn’t have a weak stomach, but damn, that was just disturbing.
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on 2013-10-29 11:58 pm (UTC)Theresa said it with a slight smile, but it was partially true. She was taking baby steps towards adapting her unlifestyle, but those steps were tiny and hesitant. Sometimes the truth really was worse than a lie.
"I did talk to Mike, the manager, about the job booking gigs. Is he always that grumpy?"
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on 2013-10-30 12:26 am (UTC)"And Mike's not so bad. You've just got to learn how to handle him." No doubt the vet would take offense and this idea of him being managed by a woman who weighed a buck ten soaking wet, but he wasn't around to hear it.
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on 2013-10-30 09:57 pm (UTC)She took another drink of her beverage, settled on a fresh topic of conversation. "So what's new with you besides rocking out?"
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on 2013-10-30 10:13 pm (UTC)"Do you do Halloween?"
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on 2013-10-31 01:55 am (UTC)Halloween on the Boulevard had always been an occasion, with the drag queens and trannies making a mini-parade of it in their best feather boas and rhinestone-studded tiaras. The previous year, Theresa had dressed up as Magenta. She'd almost talked Dane into being Frank N. Furter, but when he turned out to not have the legs for fishnets he settled on Riff Raff instead. The memory of it made the vampire smile wistfully.
"I had to miss Gore Fest because I caught some kind of weird bug. Hopefully there'll be some kind of public event for Halloween." This one without an elevator for her to get trapped in.
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on 2013-10-31 02:13 am (UTC)She picked at a loose thread on the arm of the couch.
"Last year I worked in a haunted house. I got to pretend my throat was slashed. Chhhht! Ahhh!" She clutched her throat. "Fake blood squirting everywhere. It was awesome. One kid actually passed out."
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on 2013-10-31 03:07 am (UTC)Whoops.
Theresa tried to cover for the verbal slip by adding, "I mean, horror's a pretty broad genre, and there's always crappy interpretations of the classics. Your book-writing friend probably knows that for a fact."
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on 2013-10-31 04:59 pm (UTC)So Theresa believed in the undead. She wondered what else her new friend believed in… Mummies? Wolfman? Alien invasions? An ancient key that opened mystical portals, hidden in plain sight around a skinny girl’s neck?
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on 2013-10-31 09:43 pm (UTC)Well, that was nice and awkward. Change the subject. "Mike actually did say that he was going to give me a trial run at the club. I have six weeks to prove myself, try and bring in more business and book even more cool bands."
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on 2013-10-31 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2013-10-31 11:55 pm (UTC)Theresa took another drink of espresso, noting that the little cup was getting close to empty. If she asked for a refill, would Malcolm get pissy? She could at least offer to pay this time. She needed new shoes.
"You wanna do something sometime? After Halloween, I mean. We could catch a movie, maybe grab a burger." And I'll try not to think about how easy it'd be to pin you down and take a bite out of your throat.
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on 2013-11-01 01:08 am (UTC)A record deal. Fat chance, she thought. Who would ever discover a band like theirs in Las Vegas? People didn’t come to this city to discover talent; they came to pimp it out. But she said nothing because the sentiment really was appreciated. It was a hell of a lot better than being beaned in the head with a beer can while some asshole yelled, ‘You suck!’ and grabbed his dick.
“Pizza, though.” She twisted a hank of hair around her fingers and gave it a testing tug. “So where are you gonna start? Looking for bands, I mean.”
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on 2013-11-01 01:41 am (UTC)She also might swing by WNLV, see if anyone there knew about decent local music. There could be some stuff going on at the campus of UNLV too. She didn't know if she didn't look.
If nothing else, this would keep her off the streets, and off her back.
"What do you like on your pizza?" she asked Maddy. "You don't have, like, any weird allergies or anything, do you?"
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on 2013-11-02 03:39 am (UTC)Maddy shifted her legs off the couch and let her socked feet rest on the floor. "Change of subject. I've been thinking just now, and the way I interpret the situation, you owe me a favor. I mean... one could say that your new-found employment is a direct result of my referral, am I right?"
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on 2013-11-03 03:28 am (UTC)Theresa drained her cup, held it by the little handle. Caffeine didn't affect her one way or the other anymore, so another espresso wouldn't hurt her. "Gimme one second," she told Maddy, then levered her weight off of the couch and made her way over to the counter. Malcolm squinted at her suspiciously, but when she dragged out her wallet his brow smoothed out.
She brought back the newly-full cup, sat back down. "So. A favor. Anything specific?"
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on 2013-11-03 10:30 pm (UTC)Maddy pulled out a fresh pack of cigarettes and began to tap them into her palm.
"This has zilch to do with the fact that I boned their bassist a few times last year and he stole one of our riffs. Scout's honor."
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on 2013-11-06 12:11 am (UTC)"And Scout's honor, I believe you," she told Maddy as she took a sip from her fresh cup. "The a-holes of the world should not always get to the front of the line. Or line-up. You know what I mean."
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on 2013-11-06 12:53 am (UTC)The waif-like brunette propped herself against the arm of the couch with all the confidence of local royalty. As the darkness increased outside and Malcolm turned up the interior lights, their reflections sharpened on the window pane. If Maddy noticed that Theresa didn't have one, she kept her trap shut about it.
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on 2013-11-06 01:54 am (UTC)"When does this place shut down for the night?" she asked the mortal. "You gonna be okay getting home by yourself? If you think Vegas is a pit in the daytime, it's really dangerous at night."
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on 2013-11-06 02:04 am (UTC)She took a drag of her cigarette. Did she have a sign on her back that said 'tourist' or something? If Theresa kept implying she was a newbie, she was going to get her feelings hurt. She flicked her fingers at a porcelain ashtray.
"We close at midnight."
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on 2013-11-06 03:06 am (UTC)Uncharacteristically abashed, the vampire looked down into the thick dark liquid that filled her cup, played with the ends of her streaked hair. "I know self-defense stuff," she said after a short silence. "I know I don't look dangerous, but usually two people are more likely to avoid bad situations than one."
Fuck, she wasn't angling for a bite, was she? Yeah, Maddy looked pretty edible, but she wasn't usually in the habit of being actually friendly with her dinner. Nothing would sour the mood faster than for the mortal brunette to see her other face. It was severely unlikely that Maddy would be as accepting - or as fucked up - as Holly.
"But I totally respect the fact that you can take care of yourself."
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on 2013-11-06 04:41 pm (UTC)"I overreact to everything. I did get mugged once, but all he got off me was ten bucks and a coupon for a free happy meal."
She stubbed out her cigarette.
"What kind of self-defense? You know, karate, kung fu, what?"
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on 2013-11-07 04:13 am (UTC)She play-flexed her slender arms, offered Maddy a smile. "I'm probably gonna get some flyers printed up for the club," she added. "If I take a few over to the campus, that should help with word of mouth. When I was still in California, UCLA had some bands who played shows in local places. Maybe it's the same here."
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on 2013-11-07 05:16 am (UTC)"Buuut... if you were to host a battle of the bands, and say, advertise it on the campus radio station, you might net the same people."
She bent down to properly lace up her pair of red Converse high-tops.
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on 2013-11-07 02:50 pm (UTC)"So if you give me your number, I can call you at some point about that movie," she said once she felt she could maintain her poise. "I haven't gotten a phone installed yet, but there's a booth just around the corner from where I live. Then we can split a pizza."
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on 2013-11-07 07:35 pm (UTC)Maddy stuck her arms and head inside a Yankees sweatshirt and pulled it into place on her small frame. It was two sizes too large, something she had borrowed without asking from Mikey’s closet. She pulled a necklace out of the collar.
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on 2013-11-08 12:36 am (UTC)The vampire levered her weight off of the couch, slapped her pockets. "So. I'll call you in a few days, as soon as I get some more of my shit together. Have a good night."