A Vampire's Conundrum

[tiny_dancer81]

Theresa was grouchy.

While Halloween was a favorite time of year for her, the same could not be said of Christmas, which just reminded her of when she was still human and living with her parents. There was a reason she had started to run away. And the holiday music just made it worse.

Things at the Dive had been going all right. The New Year's Eve show was being put together, and she'd discreetly made sure that The Frayed Nerves would be playing later in the set this year. There had been some griping, but she'd smoothed it over before Mike could get wind of it.

Not that she had returned Maddy's phone call. She'd listened to the message repeatedly, but never called the other brunette back. Now that it had been so long, trying to make contact again would probably make her look weird. But when she was weird, maybe that wasn't so bad.

She knew the reasons she was blocked about it, which was why she was knocking on Daniel's door tonight. She'd deliberately been walking a wide circle around his neighborhood on the off chance that she might run into Holly, but she'd done some recon earlier and found the mortal not around. Maybe they were on the outs too?

Comments

[tiny_dancer81]

"Please don't be gross."

Theresa looked at the television to force herself to stop making that face, played with the ends of her hair. "She's not all bottled up, at least she wasn't the two times I've seen her. She washes cars to make the rent, for fuck's sake. And okay, so she's cute. But I don't know why it's different."

There was a silence, during which a commercial for a car dealership came on. The salesman had hair that rivaled that of a televangelist. Hadn't Nehru jackets gone out of style with disco? The vampire snorted.

"I killed when I first rose, but I only did it once. One thing Dane said that wasn't half-assed was that not all of us have to leave trails of corpses in our wake. He really kind of sucked as a sire, but that he was probably right about. So I don't know if she'd be safer if I left her alone or if I should just try to control myself."

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel stared at the commercial, too, with its dizzying array of fonts and colors. ‘NO MONEY DOWN!’

“My sire says that people have different purposes. Some are for eating, some are for fucking, and some are for both. She’s a piece of work.” He flipped channels, going from an episode of Cheers to static to a workout video with Richard Simmons and a gaggle of women in leg warmers. “I really am starting to think that my inner demon’s on spiritual happy pills. I just don’t have that… throat-ripping… you know.” He morphed into vamp face and snarled, then back out again.

[tiny_dancer81]

Theresa actually giggled watching Daniel's face shift from vampire to human and then back, but her eyes were serious. She couldn't look at the aerobicizing women on the TV screen. Seeing all those legs moving in step with one another made her feel weird.

"When you live the way I was living before I was turned, you learn to keep your head down and stay out of sight. Maybe that's why I don't see the point of killing for kicks, because it probably causes hassle that I don't need. Maybe I'm not mean enough either."

The one exception to that was the walking turd who'd torched her sire. What there'd been of her relationship with Dane was complicated, but his final death had left her alone and without guidance. If he'd been around, she might have been able to ask for his advice on how to un-knot this current dilemma.

"So what's new in your world? If you're still paying the rent on this place, I guess that means you figured out the art of theft."

[daniel_stacy]

“No, actually,” he held up a finger and dropped the remote control in the process. It bounced off his kneecap and into Theresa’s turf, “I got a job at Ragnarok. You are looking at the club’s newest bouncer. I had to wheel and deal with the boss on my uniform. She actually suggested a jewel-encrusted speedo. I had to convince her that it would be taking the word ‘bouncer’ way too literally. Balls just…” He made a hand-to-hand juggling motion. “Flying around.” He squinted an eye. “You know, I think she may have just been fucking with me, now that I’m telling you this. Anyway, once D finds out I’m employed, she’ll shit a brick.”