Curiosity

[tiny_dancer81]

She'd meant to check out Ragnarok anyway.

The upper level of the attraction was a haunted house, and Theresa entertained herself by trying to tell what species some of the staff might be. She even struck up idle conversation with a couple of them. When the vampire was pointed towards the entrance to the lower level, she descended the stairs, then paused at the bottom step.

She didn't even know if Katherine would show up or was going to be around. The other vampire had seemed like the secretive type, but Theresa's curiosity was piqued enough that she at least wanted to have a look around.

There was a bar, and she ordered three shots of tequila. She would hang out and see what happened. There were worse ways to kill a night.

Comments

[stakes_and_daggers]

What a difference a day made... Gone was the cocktail dress and Theresa's initial assumption of Katherine preferred mode of clothing turned out to be an apt one. Joan Jett with fangs pretty much described her style and the accompanying swagger when she came through the door, both looked and felt a lot more natural.

After a few moments' worth of scanning the customers, once a drink was securely in hand, Katherine glanced back a second time at the smaller brunette, frowning before making sure the features more or less fit from her memory.

"Usually, I try try to stay away from places like this," she began, moving over. "Too much of a target. On the other hand, it does have this on tap, so..."

Gesturing with a look down at the contents of her glass, Katherine was, by no means, the only one to have ordered something a typical human bar would never even think to serve. Her own choice a deep crimson, for obvious reasons, but there was an added alcoholic kick to it.

[tiny_dancer81]

"I like mine fresh."

Not that Theresa was looking down on Katherine's beverage of choice. But drinking was drinking and eating was eating. One of those things was not like the other.

"Nice boots," the shorter vampire said as she finished off her third shot. She herself was wearing cargo pants and an old Doors t shirt she'd bought in a thrift store in L.A. A new pair of Nikes encased her feet. She was gradually spending some of the money she'd been socking away from her last erstwhile profession, expanding her wardrobe and buying a few pieces of jewelry. Nothing too fancy, but a few things she liked.

"So what's the big mystery?" she asked Katherine, having ordered a second round of shots. "And where'd you slip off to at the Christmas thing?"

[stakes_and_daggers]

"Hey, 'bite is right'... Not gonna' pass it up, though."

Katherine actually had a little bit more of a preference for biting than some of her brethren, like how some people got a buzz out of a morning run. If someone handed her the world on a platter where humans had the stuff sucked out of them by machines, she would consider that a con, not a pro.

There was more of a casually smiling nod than verbal thanks, as Katherine gave a responding glance down at her footwear. "You want some just like 'em, I can show you who to snack from," she observed, effectively telling Theresa all she needed to know about the other vampire's 'purchasing habits'. Besides, it wasn't as if most shops were exactly open for business after daylight hours. Stealing as new or taking from one's latest victim, was just the most practical option in most circumstances.

Big mystery, huh? Katherine had wondered if the girl figured it out for herself or not.

"Got contracted to deliver a hurt-shaped lesson to a Slayer..." There was a relaxed drawl to the way Katherine said it. Not that she couldn't be boastful, but it didn't come across as mere bragging. Head dipping to take a swallow from her glass, while a drinking neighbour did similar to something pink with an aromatic yellow foam to it. "Not the easiest job in the world, but since I've got experience in that department... Just wish they'd wanted something more permanent."

[tiny_dancer81]

Slayers again. Theresa wondered which one it had been.

"You're a hitwoman?" she asked Katherine with a little more interest. She could actually picture that, and she wondered if the other brunette used a knife or a gun. A sudden mental image of Katherine using a sniper's rifle popped into her brain. The only thing that made it weird was that she was wearing the cocktail dress from the Christmas ball.

"Those girls are supposed to be pretty hard to kill," the diminutive vampire said. "I heard a rumor that one of them got run down a car and still kicked this dude's ass. How did you do it?"

[stakes_and_daggers]

"The way I hear it, they've got some kind of... Vampire ESP - hence, the crowd. Not sure if it's true, but why take risks, y'know? They're like the Supergirl crossed with the Duracell Bunny, except way more tasty. Gives you the hots, too. Dunno' why, but I ain't arguing. Must make 'em nympho as hell, if you ask me... Like, all the time."

What else did Katherine have to go on but supposition? Although, technically, Slayerhood could give the girl in question a buzz. Just not 24/7.

"Found her, waited around and..." Katherine mimed a short, sharp stabbing motion. "Not my preferred method, but if she pulls through this? Now she's got a hard-on for me, I'll get another chance..."

[tiny_dancer81]

She still didn't know who the 'lucky' girl had been, but it probably didn't matter. Still, Katherine's ambition to bag a Slayer set her apart from most vampires, who weren't either brave or stupid enough to confront one of the chosen. Theresa pondered that for a second.

"So you get, like, money for that?"

How much was a Slayer's life worth? If the taller vampire's attitude was any indication, she'd have done it for free. But if you were getting paid to do what you loved, wasn't that the best of both worlds?

"What's the going rate?"

[stakes_and_daggers]

Quite honestly, Katherine had no reason to yet reveal her target's name. Had assumed the 'what' was more important than the 'who' of it. Certainly didn't suspect the other vampiress might have known them. Knowing that would have led to Katherine being the one to ask some questions, not the other way around.

"Job's a job," the elder brunette shrugged. "But some pay better than others, sure... Let's just say I could buy a place like this and still have beer money left over."

[tiny_dancer81]

"Fuck. Seriously?"

Now Theresa was interested. Like most members of the oldest profession, she was a capitalist at heart, even if she hoarded money rather than spend it. Being more or less free what to do what she wanted now, she was taking small steps towards forging her own path. What her own path entailed had yet to be determined.

"Blonde or brown hair? The Slayer, I mean?"

[stakes_and_daggers]

"Seriously."

Not above a boast, but not about to start trumpeting it, either. Not quite yet.

"Red," Katherine said, then smiled. "Brunette, actually... What makes you say blonde or brown?"

[tiny_dancer81]

That meant it was Rhiannon. She was probably supposed to feel bad about that. She kind of liked Rhiannon, at least more than she liked Valerie, but that made it a low bar to leap. A couple of beers and a conversation about sex did not a friendship make.

"No reason," Theresa answered with a one-shouldered shrug. "A little bird told me those girls can be sneaky. Like, they're basically secret agents and stuff. James Bond with tits."

[stakes_and_daggers]

There was a snort captured half-way between Katherine's throat and freedom. "That's, uh... Quite the visual, yeah," she agreed with a chuckle. "But you're better off thinking of She-Ra."

Supergirl could fly, after all. Didn't want Theresa getting too many false assumptions. The day a Slayer could fly was the day the world would turn crazy.

"Without the sword, that is. Although, not always..."

[tiny_dancer81]

"Seems like guns would be easier. Not that guns really work on us, but they would on them."

Theresa said it off-handedly while digging out more money for another round of shots. She was getting used to drinking straight tequila, although it was a definite change from margaritas. That asshole at the Hart who wouldn't give her Deanna's room number better not have kept that bottle for himself. She might have been reasonably even-tempered for a vampire, but she could still twist somebody's nut sack until they yelled uncle.

"So is that the whole reason you're here, to stage a hit?" she asked Katherine. Maybe she should stick close to this one for a while. Doing what, she had no idea. She doubted the older vampire wanted a sidekick, and she wasn't really the type to engage in overt crimes. But if there was something to be learned, maybe she should make an effort.

"So it's kinda like an escort service or something, setting that up?" she queried. "The client gets in touch, you make a deal, and somebody gets the business."

[stakes_and_daggers]

"Guns do work better." Katherine stated it with neither smile nor laughter. A clear inference of her vampiric nature not having boosted her ego to the point of not caring for non-fanged options. At least, not for jobs. "Takes the fun out of it, but they're better, sure. For human, anyway."

The reason she was here? Hmm...

"Something like that," Katherine judged, taking a further swallow from her glass for thought. "It's mostly 'cause I want a crack at a Slayer. Heard there's this town putting out some big ole' psychic SOS; Searchlight, but..." She waved a dismissive hand. "It's a shit-hole, don't bother. No cover, no nothing... And you've got miles to go to reach shade if you're caught out in the day. It's like someone made that place with us in mind. Getting this job was just a bonus."

A shrug. Katherine dipping her head for another sip from the glass and then pausing.

"Why? You looking for career options?"

[tiny_dancer81]

Theresa had heard about Searchlight, but she was more of a city type/ Psychic energy didn't interest her and she wasn't superstitious. So she'd stay in Vegas and do her thing, thank you very much.

"I don't know," she told the other vampire. "Maybe. I'm still sort of new to the area, but Las Vegas isn't that much different than Hollywood. I'm still networking, I guess you'd call it."

It wasn't that she didn't like working at the Dive. Mike was a nice guy, and he'd given her a break when she'd asked for it. And the new year's show was shaping up to be a success. But there was no law against moonlighting, right?

"I'm not exactly combat-ready," she said. "But I deal with people a lot, both over the phone and in person. Like...an agent. Or something."

[stakes_and_daggers]

Katherine just gave her a look.

"You got turned combat-ready," she dead-panned. "What, you don't practice? Neither do rattlers."

It was spoken with a little shrug given at the end. The elder brunette quirking features, as if to infer the girl needed to look in the mirror. A proverbial one, anyway, given their lack of reflection. Not that Theresa was a first. Sometimes you came across someone who didn't realise their own talents. Something the mortal and undead world, alike, seemed to have in common.

"How long's it been?" Katherine asked, turning more squarely towards her. Brow raising enough to crease across forehead. "Since you lost a pulse? 'Cause I'm guessing not long..."

[tiny_dancer81]

"Five years."

Theresa didn't know what 'practice' meant. Killing at random was not her thing. She didn't even pick fights. It was better to be sneaky rather than over, at least in her opinion.

"I do feed on humans," she clarified. "But it's usually easier to let dinner come to me."

[stakes_and_daggers]

Katherine had opened her mouth to say something, but there was something about the phrasing of Theresa's last. She fed on humans? Let them come to her? Katherine frowned. maybe it was intuition, but the choice of wording just seemed odd. Out of place, somehow.

"How'd you mean?"

'I do feed on humans'... Why would Theresa, a vampire, be telling her that? Could be nothing, but it was sticking in the elder brunette's mind.

"What was your last kill like?"

[tiny_dancer81]

Theresa blinked. That was an unexpected question. Her expression turned inwards as she called up the memory.

"He wasn't that much bigger than me," she said reflectively. "Early twenties, but small for his age. I pinned him down with my knee and dragged his head back so hard that some of his hair came out. He cried the whole time. Before it was over, his bladder let go. I had to throw the jeans I was wearing away because I couldn't stand the piss smell."

With the exception of the urination, she'd re-enacted what Dane had done to her. The significance of that was too bizarre not to ponder. The diminutive vampire scowled.

"Is it normal to want to do something over and over, even if you don't actually do it? Not just killing, but anything?"

[stakes_and_daggers]

There came a dark little giggle from the other vampiress. Being a nocturnal murderess meant gaining a lifetime's worth - sometimes several - of gallow's humour. The way people succumbed to fate as they were released into death... There was poetry to it, yeah. But also, a hell of a lot of toilet humour.

How someone pleaded for their life or refused to depart this mortal coil; there could be immense comedy value in that - and undeath had a way of teaching you how to appreciate it. Or at least, it did when you were a demon wearing someone's corpse. Even if your perspective and memories were those of that person.

That was why Katherine gave an eventual confused frown, expressed through her smile, at why the girl scowled.

"What... Like an obsession? Depends what it is... How'd you mean, like killing?"

[tiny_dancer81]

Theresa didn't know how to explain it, not in a way that made sense. Lust was recognizable to her, and therefore comfortable. If she ever ran into Deanna again, she was going to try harder to behave properly.

But she didn't know what the hell this thing with Maddy meant, if it meant anything. Wanting to bite and not stop was part of the overall condition of being a vampire, but she'd been avoiding killing for a while. She didn't even know why she wanted to know what it all meant. Maybe it didn't mean anything.

"Did you ever meet a human, and you just wanted so much to eat them, only it snuck up on you?" The shorter brunette folded her arms across her chest, leaving her latest set of shot glasses untouched. "It's like that."

[stakes_and_daggers]

"Uhhh..."

Snuck up on you? Katherine half-winced in frowning confusion. She wasn't quite getting a handle on what the girl was inferring. She rubbed the back of her neck and made a noise, trying to figure this verbal puzzle out.

"Not really," the elder vampiress admitted. "Like... Suddenly realising they're bite-able? I don't get that, no... It's pretty obvious from the get-go, if I'm in that kind of a mood."

Maybe Theresa meant it in a different way, but Katherine could only interpret the statement as meaning some kind of a delayed hunger reaction and that wasn't something she could remember experiencing. Not sober, anyway.