stand_and_delivia: (Default)
[personal profile] stand_and_delivia in [community profile] birthright_rpg
Above ground? A haunted house attraction - and one which had done brisk business during the recent Hallowe'en season. Below? Ragnarok... A supernatural-friendly bar, for which the former provided the ideal disguise for whoever wished to attend.

Sometimes, there was an act booked. An act who would have to be introduced. Other times, like now, not so much. Which left the venue's four-armed entertainment manageress able to retire to a small booth off to one side. In one hand, a glass. In another, a chocolate biscuit. The lower pair idly shuffling cards, flipping them from one palm to the other.

It was the looming shadow which caused their owner to glance up.

"Hello, lovey," she greeted. British accent; not like most of those in Nevada. A little lower-class than one might expect of her, too. "What'll it be? Business or pleasure...?"

on 2013-12-10 04:43 am (UTC)
valerie_vause: (Laughing)
Posted by [personal profile] valerie_vause
Valerie’s first thought earlier that night, after she had scuffled with a particularly odd looking demon, was to bury him somewhere in the nearest park, but it hadn’t come to that. He’d sneezed blue mist that had taken her by surprise, more so when one of his horns fell off. Unaccustomed to that sort of thing she had blinked and tried not to laugh. So, they talked. He wasn’t actually a bad… Whatever he was, apparently he fed on embarrassment from people who were particularly clumsy. There were worse things, so in her book that made him harmless. In the spirit of parting on relatively good terms, minus a horn, he’d shared the location of a bar he frequented.

At first she’d walked off highly suspicious that it was a load of rubbish. Until her feet carried her to the location and low and behold, it was real. Ragnarok was filled with all sorts, and as Valerie took a tentative step inside, nobody so much as glared. The blonde let out a breath and found herself actually cracking a smile. In a place full of content demons she could almost feel like she belonged. Strange, but nice.

It had taken half an hour, four drinks, and a large tip to finally get the bartender to tell her the name she’d been looking for. Deanna. According to him, a fight broke out between her and another vampire a while back at one of the underground places she’d yet to discover. Valerie had felt quite pleased to know that, and for good measure, ordered another drink.

Finding her feet, drink in hand, she’d wandered through the crowd curiously, enjoying the way others seemed to interact. Sure, she’d been in bars before that catered to the demonic but they were hellish, prone to fights for the sheer sake of it. Ragnarok was entirely different. “Oh!” Valerie had been so busy leaning against the booth that she hadn’t realised it was one. “Sorry.” She said, a bit bashfully as she turned to face the woman. With an extra set of arms. If she were shocked it didn’t show, then again with the particular crowd inside the place, it wasn’t anything that unusual.

“I…” Valerie shrugged lightly, a bright smile being offered as she sat down. “I guess pleasure? Maybe business?” She grinned a little, “Lets go with the first one, it sounds better. So what do you do?” The question was genuinely curious, akin to a child asking to see a magic trick.

on 2013-12-10 05:43 am (UTC)
valerie_vause: (Gaze Down)
Posted by [personal profile] valerie_vause
Truth be told, Valerie was staring more at the biscuit that found itself nibbled away to nothing than she did the four hands that waved in an almost sad spectacle that had no doubt lost its lighthearted charm over the years. Really, two extra hands didn’t bother the blonde. In fact, in some instances, she’d quite like a spare set of her own. Rather than say that though she took a sip of her drink and eyed the woman with a gentle skepticism.

“I’m talentless.” The words were uttered with a shrug, only to register belatedly. Quickly Valerie blurted, “I mean I have talent, just not the kind worth displaying on a stage.”

With a cringe she took another sip of her drink then set it aside. Out of courtesy she ran her palms across her thighs then smiled slightly. “Palm reading it is then.” The price thing had intrigued her enough to at least give it a go. If it was bunk she’d give her ten dollars, a fair price for brief entertainment.

“Alright.” She said, placing both hands palm up on the table, “Let’s do this.”

on 2013-12-11 03:11 am (UTC)
valerie_vause: (Smile)
Posted by [personal profile] valerie_vause
Valerie didn’t comment on the topic of self-esteem. It had just been a slip of the tongue, part of her cover, it wouldn’t do to announce she could decapitate a demon from fifty yards if she had the right weapon. She had talent, just not the kind that could be shown off. “I quite liked them dipped in cups of tea, milk and dark, both delicious.” Valerie nodded towards the biscuits with a small, bemused grin. In England, they had been a treat of sorts after a long day.

The gentle touch to her palms tickled, but she held herself still and watched the woman instead. Fascinated, really, to see if the woman could tell her anything. Valerie considered her skepticism healthy, but knew deep down that there were things out there with very real gifts. “I had no idea you could tell conscious and subconscious apart from my palms.”

The words were said in awe, no teasing at all as she listened to the woman. What was she… Was she talking about when she was called? Or Elfleda? Maybe this had been a bad idea after all. Yet, she couldn’t quite bring herself to take her hands back. Instead, she seemed glued in place, eyes briefly wide with surprise. “I guess there was, I suppose I did, things were… Out of my control.” The words were soft, cautious, as she chewed her lower lip, waiting for more. As far as starts went, the woman was off to a reasonable one.

on 2013-12-11 04:08 am (UTC)
valerie_vause: (Shirt)
Posted by [personal profile] valerie_vause
The amount of information the woman had shared had been too staggering to be coincidental. Palm reading it seemed was a natural gift to the woman, and though Valerie had known the risks, she couldn’t help the way she sat there in silence, hearing her life reach the point she was at now. Perhaps the brightside was that she hadn’t been told that she’d die in around two weeks, which, she had subconsciously feared would happen the moment her hands had been taken and inspected.

“When you say romantic, and another woman do you mean…” Valerie’s face tinged pink but she chose to pretend it was the alcohol and nothing more. “I mean, she’s not, in the romance category, right?” Well, given that she’d never made a point of defining sexuality beyond its fluidity the question seemed curiously valid. Not that she thought she’d be randomly dating anyone else, but still. Unless she meant Elfleda, in which case, no.

Funny, being told she was where she needed to be should have brought comfort but all it brought Valerie was confusion. She’d planned on attending UNLV for years before actually getting here, and now that she made it was as if things were shifting into some sort of supernatural place. Like a puzzle that was almost complete, and she was just in time for the big reveal. Honestly, it unnerved her, but then again destiny had a cruel sense of humour when it wasn’t been so deviously twisted.

“No pressure.” She’d said with a slight grin. “I don’t know how much I can help but, well, I’m built for it so I might as well give it my all. Nothing else I really can do.” The tone was breezy as she sipped at her drink, as if she had no idea they were discussing events that would no doubt be of the supernatural variety. A slight shrug was offered afterwards as if that somehow meant it made sense.

on 2013-12-11 06:02 am (UTC)
valerie_vause: (Laughing)
Posted by [personal profile] valerie_vause
Ooh. Huh…”

Valerie’s features were a rare mix of puzzlement and embarrassment. Clearly the girl wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted, now that she knew it could go either way with whoever had been mentioned. Which wasn’t to say she wanted anything at all, the mere fact that there was alleged options, that was what made her stomach churn. For someone who wanted to live life while she could, she certainly played it safe. “Well that’ll keep the future interesting, I guess.” She added with a twist if lips, somewhere between a wry grin and a cringe of uncertainty.

“Thank you.” The blonde almost gushed from the offered biscuit and the reassuring squeeze of hands. Maybe the alcohol was starting to hit her. Pale fingers snagged one but before she took a nibble she added warmly, “I’m Valerie, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Then she did nibble at the biscuit, with a happy sounding hum as she listened to Livia. Now it was her turn to laugh, and she managed to cover her mouth just in time otherwise the poor woman would have been covered in crumbs.

“I don’t think getting paid for helping will ever happen but it’s funny to think about.” Actually it would probably fall under extortion if she sidled up to strangers being attacked and requested payment for dusting the bad guy. Still, at least it made her grin. “But you know what?” She asked Livia, regarding the woman softly as she took a small bite of her treat. “If you say the message is good, then I believe you, and that’s all that really matters, right?”

Edited on 2013-12-11 06:04 am (UTC)

on 2013-12-17 05:35 pm (UTC)
valerie_vause: (Smile)
Posted by [personal profile] valerie_vause
“Yeah.” Valerie mused lightly, picking up her drink to take a gulp, “Just a bit of fun.”

At least, that was how she chose to look at it. Like cracking open a fortune cookie, reading the message, and ultimately scrunching it up in favour of eating the sweet treat that had encased it. What Livia had shared, or what her palms had inevitably told her, things were… Okay. No random catastrophe lurked around the corner to snuff out her existence. Rather, if there was, she could at least enjoy the ignorance of it for a little while longer.

Shoulders lifted then in a somewhat playful shrug before she fished her wallet out of her pants pocket and thumbed through some of the bills inside. She plucked up a few and slid them across to Livia with a curious look. “Does forty sound reasonable? I’m a bit new to the whole palm-reading thing, I don’t want to you know, under-pay.”

on 2013-12-23 06:20 pm (UTC)
valerie_vause: (Freedom)
Posted by [personal profile] valerie_vause
Perhaps it was the honesty. Perhaps it was the gentle physical contact. Whatever it happened to be in that moment it resulted in an extra ten dollars, so that fifty was slid towards Livia with a vaguely cryptic smile. Kindness always did tug at her heartstrings whether Valerie liked to admit it or not. Regardless, the vibe from the woman across from her was genuine, and that made all the difference.

Strangers to one another and yet without any hesitation an invite to more was offered without so much as a single string and the blonde chewed on her bottom lip. In a bar full of demons she’d never been more accepted, then again, they didn’t know what she was and if they did… If they did…

“Livia I…” One, thick swallow was given as Valerie fingered the edge of the card with the woman’s name and number on it. Such a simple thing full of possibilities. Would she turn from her? Alert the others if she so mentioned what it was that she did on a nightly basis? Could she understand if a true friendship was to be formed? Did honesty really matter when they’d just met?

Yes. The voice in the back of her mind seemed to say.

Valerie tried to smile, she really did, but it came off as more of an apologetic cringe as she chewed the inside of her lips and looked around the place. The blonde let out a breath and finished off her drink in a few gulps, all the while carefully eyeing the woman across from her. She licked the remaining liquid off her lip and sat forward, voice a mere whisper as she spoke.

“I’m not just human and I’m not… Not quite a demon either.” Bitter, nervous laughter escaped then. “Well, I suppose that depends on who you ask. What I’m trying to say is… Despite being what I am, being here in this place it’s… Freeing. I like it, and I’m not ever going to cause any trouble here. I wouldn’t. It’s only fair you know because you’re… You’re giving me a sort of olive branch and I so very much want to take it, because honestly, I don’t really have friends and you’re pretty damn cool and would make a wonderful one, so uhm….”

Valerie could taste the copper tang of blood, a result of nibbling too hard at the insides of her lips but chose to ignore it as she took a deep breath and arched her eyebrows. “Yeah I really need another drink, can I get you one?” The tone was honest and hopeful.

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