New Year's @ the Strip!

[birthright_npc]

The festivities on the Las Vegas strip were your basic police nightmare. A mile-long stretch of the boulevard was blocked off to traffic so that revelers could stagger drunkenly down the middle of the street. Food trucks and street vendors sold pizza, cheese steaks, popcorn, cotton candy, and plastic cups full of beer. Some sold pre-mixed margaritas and daiquiris. At each major intersection, a stage showcased performers and music pumped from speakers mounted on the light posts.

It didn't seem to matter that it was December in the desert. There was plenty of body heat to go around.

At midnight, several large screens would broadcast a countdown before fireworks lit the sky.

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Strolling the street fair

[ghargreaves]

Gerald had heard talk of the street fair, and learnt from the hotel concierge where it would be happening. He decided to go for a stroll and see what the Strip had to offer in the way of New Year's Eve celebrations, curious as to whether the 'undead' would be making the most of the alcohol-imbued party-goers, and if any of the Slayers Julianna had told him were in town would be there. He didn't know them by face, but over his many decades of working with them had developed a fairly good eye for identifying the girls. Their demeanour, posture, attire, all had a certain 'uniformity' even when it was immediately identifiable to the untrained eye as similar.

Dressed for the cold, his scarf tucked into the buttoned up overcoat, and his cane in hand, he made his way into the throng that was gathered in the closed-off area of the Strip, a flask of scotch tucked into the breast-pocket just in case he couldn't find anything there that would suffice as decent refreshment.

[daniel_stacy]

The view from the top of the Philly cheese-steak truck wasn’t bad. Daniel had climbed on board and let his legs hang off the aluminum roof. It was just enough of a height advantage; he could see most of the block near the Frontier hotel. He had a jack and coke, which he carried out of a hotel lounge without any trouble. The vampire watched a stage performance featuring Las Vegas showgirls in feather boas and headdresses.

A nearby clock read 0:44:36. The seconds counted down. Glittery confetti already covered the sidewalks. People staggered, laughed, toasted each other with cheap beer.

Under his feet, a woman made dry heaving noises.

"Hey," he banged on the side of the truck, "You mind taking that down the street? You're killing the ambiance."

She hobbled off with a hand over her mouth.

[ghargreaves]

"You must have a rather good view from up there," Gerald said, standing aside as the woman made her way past. He watched her until she was well past 'splashback' distance, then turned his attention to the young man up on top of the truck.

[daniel_stacy]

'Human. Older. Slower. Cane.'

It sucked, but that was how Daniel's brain worked now. Words flashed into his consciousness from someplace deep. The gut instinct was always to scout for potential prey; it was rest of him that flagrantly ignored the instructions.

Cane is wood. Broken wood is a stake.

"Yeah, and if someone yells 'FREE DRINKS', I won't get flattened in the stampede." He drank his watered down cocktail. Earlier he had taken a bite of cheese steak, just to see if it went down well. It did not. He wasn't sure if being vampire made a difference.

[ghargreaves]

"Rather smart thinking," he told the young man, looking around at the crowd. "In my day it used to be a tree, or lamp post. Didn't have these confounded monstrosities churning out plastic food," he said, tapping the wall of the van with the end of his cane, as if berating it for its very existence.

"Can you see where there might be some sort of stage, or whatever? A central point? Where the midnight count might be called?" he asked.

[daniel_stacy]

"MGM Grand," Daniel said. "That way." After pointing southward on the boulevard, he emptied the cup and pushed himself off the edge of the truck. His feet came to rest a comfortable distance from the other man's.

Daniel idly rubbed his stomach, where the sandwich had settled into an uncomfortable lump.

"What's that like?" he asked, suddenly struck by the fact that he hadn't spoken to a person of this age bracket since he was turned. "Watching things change so much? I'm being serious. I'm not trying to be an ass.'

[ghargreaves]

Gerald looked the young man up and down, considering the question before answering. He started strolling again, leaving the young man to decide for himself if he wished to tag along and listen. "There has been a great deal to observe and see change, when you consider that my boyhood was spent in far different pursuits than today's young lads."

He looked across to see the young man fall into step beside him, before continuing. "But what's it like to watch it change?" he repeated, considering the actual question. "At first you don't even notice it. It's just all too close. But as you get older you start to look for the familiar and it disappears to be replaced with the new, and then you realise that what you are thinking is different to what many others around you are thinking, what you expect is no longer expected by others, and the world is moving in a direction that isn't the one it used to be taking."

He stopped walking and turned to look at the man beside him. "And what made you ask that?" he asked him. "Most young men would ask about what has changed, how is it different, but you asked what it's like to see the change. That's different."

[daniel_stacy]

“Eh…” Daniel raised his shoulders in a prolonged shrug. “Curious, I guess. I uh… I’ve got a grandpa. He’s much older than you, of course. Anyway, he’s getting on in years. Can’t be easy.”

The vampire had no such grandfather, but it had only recently occurred to him that he might make it past his first decade. He’d live forever, a geriatric in a twenty-something body, and watch everyone around him die. Daniel didn’t know how he felt about that.

Strolling the street fair

[ghargreaves]

"It's as easy as one wants it to be," Gerald replied, his cane tapping on the ground at the end of the swing as he walked again. "Yes, the agility isn't quite the same, and the ailments are more common for those who suffer them, but it takes very little effort. And if you keep people around who are young, or at least young at heart, you can sometimes forget," he said, pausing for a moment and looking at the young man. "Except of course when those young remind you of their agility by sitting atop a van," he told him with a sly grin.

Re: Strolling the street fair

[daniel_stacy]

“Oh don’t feel bad. I got a boost.” Daniel smiled. He wasn’t altogether sure why he was walking with the guy, but why not? As they made progress towards the main stage, he had to conclude he liked the cane. Much classier than a walker with tennis balls stuck on the legs, anyway. “They say there’s more people in the city for New Year’s than any other time of the year.”

Re: Strolling the street fair

[ghargreaves]

"Do they?" Gerald replied, proceeding again, cane tapping lightly on the pavement as they walked. "Which would of course lead one to the summation that if anyone wanted to cause mischief and mayhem among the masses, this would be the time and place to do it. Or if they were looking for a crowd to disappear into, this would be the perfect place, would it not?" he mused, curious as to why the young man was accompanying him, but nonetheless happy for the company. He did in fact believe very much in what he had said, that keeping the company of the young did help to keep in touch with the ways and language of youth of the day.

"Tell me, what is a handsome young chap such as yourself doing talking with an old fossil such as myself, when you have the greatest pick of many a nubile young partner of whichever persuasion to choose from?"

Re: Strolling the street fair

[daniel_stacy]

“Well, I’ve already got a nubile partner,” Daniel said reasonably. “At least until she tells me otherwise.” He tipped his head to allow for part two of the admission. “Of course, I have no idea where she is on New Year’s Eve, which is probably a bad sign, but I’m not the type of guy to make assumptions.”

He gestured across the way.

“What about you? You’re a dapper guy, plus you’ve got the accent working for you. Where’s your classy lady friend?”

Re: Strolling the street fair

[ghargreaves]

Gerald smiled as he glanced across at the young man. "My classy lady, as you say, has departed this world, and gone with our daughter to take care of Mother." The pain was no longer what it was, even at times like this, as the passage of the years had given the wounds time to heal. Instead it just left an emptiness that nothing could fill, ever. Even the anger and torment had gone, as there was none to blame, none from whom to seek answers, or against whom to have retribution. It had been the elements, and conditions on the night. Black ice, a corner, and a stone wall. His wife and their daughter both were taken from him in a simple car accident.

All the years he'd spent working with the Council to aid the young Chosen in their development to face the evils and demons, and none of it had mattered a damn when it came to keeping his wife and daughter safe from the vagaries of the weather, and road conditions. His fervour for his role had died a little that night, and in its place had come the a different purpose.

He turned and started walking again.

Re: Strolling the street fair

[daniel_stacy]

"Man. Sorry to hear that." Daniel turned his face away so the man wouldn't see him cringe. He scratched his eyebrow. He'd stumbled into sensitive territory. Daniel wasn't good at managing emotions when he was alive. Now it was worse. "Here's hoping the next world's better than this one."

Daniel wondered where his soul had gotten off to when he died. The soul left, the demon set up shop, but still, shouldn't he know? Shouldn't he feel whether it wound up in heaven or hell?

Re: Strolling the street fair

[ghargreaves]

"Indeed," Gerald agreed as they approached the edge of the crowd that had gathered around the stage where technicians were fussing around in the background, a large screen showing a combination of nothing, a large clock face, and various snippets of other 'Las Vegas-y' types of displays, one of them stopping to stare up at it, telling another what was happening, before returning to look at the projector positioned to project onto the large white display.

"Especially for things like that," he added, indicating the screen with his cane.

Out on the balcony

[cian_oneill]

Cian hadn't been happy with the idea of Rhiannon walking through the street fair, but knew she would want to at least be there, if only to just 'be there'. So he'd booked them a room on one of the lower floors of a hotel that overlooked the area of the Strip closed off for the festivities. As he brought her a drink, out on the balcony, he grinned and quirked an eyebrow.

"Does this constitute a 'dirty weekend'?" he asked, sitting down next to her and propping a foot up on the balcony.

Re: Out on the balcony

[rhiannon_lee]

“It constitutes a different one than I planned on having.” Rhiannon cradled the glass between her palms. It was chilly. She shivered in loose-fitting cotton pants and a sweatshirt. It wasn’t her ideal New Year’s outfit, but the waistband on her jeans felt like murder. Numerous protests didn’t stop the medical team from doing emergency surgery, and Rhiannon was in no position to assert her body’s miraculous ability to heal. Katherine’s knife had punctured the left kidney and left a new pink scar inches from the first; same knife, same vampire, different night.

A recovery room nurse had eyed the old scar and remarked uncertainly, “Well that’s rotten luck,” as if at a loss of what else to say. Rhiannon kept silent and stared at the ceiling, growing angrier as the anesthesia faded. On the other hand, getting a room on short notice was the result of remarkably good luck and a guest cancellation, so she didn’t plan to treat Cian to an evening of sharp, cold ire.

“Thanks.” She lifted the drink.

Re: Out on the balcony

[cian_oneill]

"Might be summin' t' do wi' the fact it's a Tuesday too," he replied, leaning over and touching his glass to hers. "Y' never did tell me what y'd had planned," he continued, then pressed a kiss to her cheek before sitting back in his chair.

If the medical staff had had their way she wouldn't have been allowed out, the damage to her kidney and side, causing concern to them. But then they didn't know her healing abilities and it was only the fact that the wound wasn't showing any signs of infection or weeping, that they agreed to let her leave, begrudgingly. 'Try and keep away from knife-weilding psychos,' the nursed had told them as she had taken back the signed discharge papers. Cian gave her a rueful smile behind Rhiannon's back as she had started out of the room. 'Yeah, I'm workin' on it,' he joked, carrying the bag of things he'd brought her the morning after the attack, and surgery.

"I'm guessin' it wasn't convalescing," he told her before taking a sip of his drink.

Re: Out on the balcony

[rhiannon_lee]

“Nope.” She shook and then tipped her head, as if in consideration. “And I’m not saying there definitely was an outfit… but I’m not denying it either.” Rhiannon’s tongue clicked in her cheek. “Rain check.”

The thing about a kidney injury? There was no comfortable way to sit in a hardback chair. The feather pillows Cian had brought from the bed helped, though, and she resettled herself in the cloud of white.

“I owe you.”

Re: Out on the balcony

[cian_oneill]

Cian's eyebrows lifted, his head leaning to one side as he looked at her and grinned. He was now intrigued, but wasn't about to start questioning her, happy to wait until she was better, and ready to make good on that rain check.

His eyebrows lowered again at the sound of the words, accompanied by her expression. I owe you.

"Oh?" he replied nonchalantly, "I mean other th'n the rain check?" he added. He looked at her, snuggled into the pillows and reached over to brush an errant strand of hair back off her forehead.

Re: Out on the balcony

[rhiannon_lee]

“For making me take an ambulance when I wanted to get in a cab. For your gorgeous ruined suit. For bringing me here when I would’ve felt pathetic on my couch. Lots of things.”

Rhiannon wanted to be on the street below, not out having fun but patrolling. People were always bitten on New Year’s; the prospect of all those intoxicated people was too much for a vampire to resist, and the city was less one slayer because her guts couldn’t take a punch tonight. But Cian was here and he got her as close to the action as he safely could.

She reached over and plucked his knee. “Don’t listen to me, I’m being weird.”

Re: Out on the balcony

[cian_oneill]

He reached over and took her hand, holding it in his. "Dry cleaner said they'd be able t' get th' blood out, seems it's not such a strange job for them," he told her with some amusement, "and believe me, that's no' the weirdest thing I've heard this week," he added with a small grin.

He hadn't told Rhiannon what he'd learnt about the tall redhead she'd pointed out at the ball, after the attack. He'd been asking around again, trying to find a lead on the whereabouts of the one called Katherine, or if anyone had heard anything about the hit. He knew that if this guy was going as low as to go to a vampire to hurt Rhiannon he had gone way beyond any edge, and Cian was quite comfortable with the idea of protecting Rhiannon whatever it took. She may want to take the guy out, but Cian would be there as back up in case things didn't go the way the Slayer wanted.

Re: Out on the balcony

[rhiannon_lee]

“I thought you were gonna say it’s not the weirdest thing you’ve gotten on your suit.” Rhiannon pressed her thumb into the fleshy part of his palm and rubbed in circles. She quirked an eyebrow and looked out over the railing. “Last year, I spent New Years in Time Square. That was hectic. I’ve never seen so many vampires. I saw one grab a girl and dip her, like that picture of the nurse and the sailor kissing. By the time I got close, he’d dragged her onto the sidewalk and left her curled around a fire hydrant, like she was just a drunk taking a nap. Right there in plain sight.”

Re: Out on the balcony

[cian_oneill]

The muscles in Cian's jaw tightened and he looked over the balcony, the crowd below in the street starting to get thicker as the casinos, restaurants and bars started to empty, the time drawing closer to midnight.

"Aye, 'nd I know y' want t' be down there," he told her, giving her hand a squeeze. "T'night y' just got t' oversee," he told her, "I c'n go and do any housekeepin' y' see needin' doin'."

Re: Out on the balcony

[rhiannon_lee]

Rhiannon wrinkled her nose, but she knew he was right. She’d favor her side, which was the same thing as drawing a big ‘X’ on her body for a vampire to punch repeatedly. So she sat on the balcony and let herself look and listen, taking sips of her drink and occasionally pointing out absurdities to her boyfriend. After about ten minutes, she suddenly sat forward.

“There.” She pointed at a woman on the street. “That’s Deanna. The redhead from the other night.” She looked at Cian. She wanted to know why Deanna had nodded at her like that and taken off after Katherine. Had she found out anything? More importantly, was it knowledge she’d part with? They weren’t exactly allies, but it was worth a shot.

Re: Out on the balcony

[cian_oneill]

Cian looked down and saw the tall redhead, recognising her from the night at the Ball. He looked at Rhiannon as he stood up. Leaning over he rested a hand on each arm of the chair, head lowered and looking her straight in the eyes.

"Promise me you will stay here?"

Re: Out on the balcony

[rhiannon_lee]

"Oh, sure, sure... If you promise not to get in a fight."

Rhiannon raised her eyebrows at him.

She swatted his pant leg.

"Go."

Re: Out on the balcony

[cian_oneill]

"Promise," he said, tempted to cross his fingers on each hand out of sight beneath the arms of the chair, but resisting. He grinned and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Behave," he told her as he straightened and was gone.

[deannas]

Street margaritas. This was why Deanna loved Vegas.

Street margaritas and easily preyed-upon drunk tourists. These reasons were why Deanna loved Vegas.

Street margaritas, easily preyed-upon drunk tourists and twenty-four hour gambling. These were among the many reasons Deanna loved Vegas.

That it was New Year's Eve made the vampiress laugh, because honestly? How could you tell the difference?

A Were and a Vampiress meet

[cian_oneill]

Cian had already scoped out the stairs and was quickly down on street level, weaving his way through the throng that was drunkenly meshing into large amoebic masses, then almost as if bifurcating, becoming two, then four, then reuniting. Cian managed to make it through one particular mass just as the reunion happened and he let out a small laugh at the plaintive calls of some members of the mass who were telling him he should join them.

"Next time," he said, not even breaking his travel as he turned to locate Deanna. It wasn't difficult to pick her out in the crowd, the statuesque figure as different to those around her as a sharp volcanic core in a sea of seething foam. He made sure to circle around and approach her from in front, wanting to make sure there was no mistake, that he wasn't on a mission of murder but instead looking for answers.

Green eyes met over the heads of the bowed crowd between them, Cian holding his hands up, as if to confirm the lack of weapons, and lack of intent to harm as he approached.

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[deannas]

A copped feel here, a grope there; the redhead was so distracted by the variety on the strip she'd almost missed the man intentionally walking against the flow towards her.

And with his hands in the air, a ... surrender? That made no sense. She looked at him more closely, and recognized the face. She'd seen it across a room once before, standing next to the slayer at the Skylark benefit.

No, not surrender. More... 'I come in peace'.

"I'm guessing you don't think I stabbed your girlfriend," she offered as greeting. (It's not like the throng of revelers would be listening.)

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[cian_oneill]

"Aye," Cian nodded, eyeing the vampiress and sidestepping a stumbling pair who surged between the two of them and staggered off, oblivious.

"I know y' didn' do it," he told the redhead, eyes returning to her face. "She saw who it was. 'nd I heard y' went after her," he said, wondering if that tidbit of information was true.

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[deannas]

"Call it a moment of weakness." Which, after finishing a third of the tequila left at The Hart for her by Theresa, she'd decided it was. "I promised not to leave any bodies that night, and I didn't like the idea of someone else taking that shot."

Deanna kept one eye on the (at least in relation to her) tall man and the other on the crowd. A frat boy made a play for her boob as he brushed past, which she narrowly avoided.

"And given the mix of scents on you, I'm going with 'attempt' and not 'success'."

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[cian_oneill]

"We're lookin' f' the one who did it," he said, with a simple nod, not about to give away any information on Rhiannon's health, or whereabouts, especially to one who freely admitted to wanting to do something similar to the Slayer.

"Or the one who paid her," he added, head angling slightly. He hadn't been able to find out anything about Duncan, the only word he'd picked up being that there had been a hit, paid well, and it hadn't been a local job. No-one knew who had called it.

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[deannas]

'Oh you clever boy.' He'd only confirm that the Slayer had survived the assault, but nothing more. And then there was the cocking of his head with the statement that the assailant had been paid. To see if Deanna knew anything more.

"She was definitely trained," the redhead replied. "And she knew the lay of the land, access and exit points. I'm betting this was planned well in advance, which means she's spent time in Vegas.

That was as helpful as Deanna felt. That someone had found Rhiannon first and got a clear shot... that made her jealous. That she was willing to go after the would-be assassin, that was disturbing.

"But maybe you're not asking the right question. See, if I wanted someone dead -- by proxy -- I'd want to be close by to enjoy her final moments. Also, sending a vampire, and using a knife instead of teeth? Seems to me like your girlfriend was supposed to live through the attack."

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[cian_oneill]

Her comments left him with more to ponder, given that they had only decided at the last minute to go to the ball. And it wasn't as if they had advertised their attendance, the only ones knowing being a couple of the girls in the cafe at Cottonwood, and whoever Rhiannon might have told. So it seemed that while it was planned, it wasn't planned specifically to happen there, that just presented the perfect opportunity for the attacker to do the deed and disappear into a crowd. His mouth tightened as he thought of what he'd like to do to the smug-faced coward Rhiannon had identified as Katherine.

"Cowards send in someone else t' do their dirty work, and this one's a coward if ever there were one," Cian growled, a great deal of self-control being used to keep his body at ease, and his face calm. "Hidin' behind th' skirts 'f his paid lacky."

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[deannas]

As the man spoke, she watched his body language, studied the intonation of each word. The anger radiated off him like a dry desert heat.

"You know who ordered the hit." Things were getting interesting.

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[cian_oneill]

He eyed her, a tiny lift of the chin lending some sort of confirmation to her statement. "Aye. A coward," he repeated, still seeing Rhiannon's face as she told him who it was, even as she was lying there in the hotel.

"Did y' catch her?" he asked Deanna, "Katherine?" he added, confirming that they did know who it was who'd done the stabbing.

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[deannas]

Ah, so that was her name...

Deanna considered telling the truth just then, that she'd spent a few brief seconds with the other vampiress, had spoken near gibberish before storming off back to the hotel.

But where was the fun in that? The redhead liked to play games, on occasion. She was also very good at running a long con.

"Caught her as she was trying to crawl up a fire escape a block from the Skylark, traded a few blows. I wasn't exactly dressed for a drawn-out fight, and she used it against me."

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[cian_oneill]

Cian's eyebrow arched slightly as she spoke, taking her words with a large grain of salt. When he'd asked around after the attacker by name he'd heard nothing of her having had any scuffle after. But he realised it wouldn't be something she'd admit, so it would only have been eye witnesses who might have been able to report on it, and there was no saying there were any.

Except Deanna.

He shrugged. "She'll pay," was all he said, then added, "hope she broke a nail," in a soft snarl, something he hadn't said in a very long time, and wouldn't mean anything to anyone except him, and a long gone companion of his.

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[deannas]

"Good luck with that," she offered. "I can tell you this much. Katherine is old...er, like me. We're a lot harder to kill."

A group of three girls stumbled into their path, and one, a blonde, careened into the redhead. She took mental note. The girl was going to be the redhead's noisemaker shortly.

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[cian_oneill]

Cian's eyes narrowed as he watched Deanna look at the girl who bumped her. "She's my favourite kind, a coward," he told her calmly, "and they all have a price." He gave a cold smile as he added, "and she's been paid hers."

He glanced after the girls then looked back at Deanna. "Thanks for the information though, I'll be sure to keep my eye out for the 'oldies'," he added, pushing his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[deannas]

"One man's coward..." she began, before trailing off. Deanna, like Katherine, picked their battles. Except that one time she went up against a telekinetic on a whim and got glass jammed in her throat. You were more assured a win if you knew your enemy, and Rhiannon had clearly been studied.

Studied. Student. Teacher. Watcher. Council.

Who else would hire a vampire to kill a Slayer?

Deanna smiled at the man, a mischievous grin. "Thanks for the info. Give my best to your girl, and tell her I hope she gets better soon."

Re: A Were and a Vampiress meet

[cian_oneill]

He gave the redhead a brief nod and turned, making his way through the crowd to the girls who had bumped into Deanna earlier. He picked the one who looked up at him first, the least drunk, and told her to get her friend home, but not take any alleys or empty streets.

"Y' gotta be careful who's out t'night," he added, the girl looking at him strangely, but at least apparently taking in his warning.

He didn't go directly back to the hotel, but helped another girl pick up her boyfriend who'd just lost an argument with a pole he'd tried to climb as a dare, and failed miserably. He sighed softly to himself and looked around, slipping into a side alley and making his way around to the back entrance of the hotel. He wasn't about to lead anyone watching him back to where they were staying that night.