destinystrings | Slow Down, You Crazy Child

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Slow Down, You Crazy Child

Who: Maugris and Johnny for the first thread, then Maugris and OPEN
Where: A little restaurant in Virgo near the border with Libra, then wandering through the city back in the general direction of Pisces (so somewhere in Virgo, Leo, or Capricorn)
When: July 12th; just after nightfall, then during the 13th hour
Summary: Maugris finds someone he's got something in common with and has some dinner, then decides to see this whole 13th Hour business is about.
Warnings: Probably nothing in the thread with Johnny. 13th Hour threads will probably involve violence, possibly accompanied by foul language.

Maugris stepped off the tram, grateful that they ran as late as they did. He'd probably end up walking back... but considering his plans for the night after this, that might be just as well. He glanced around, and yes, there was the restaurant.

He really, really hoped this was the right move. But if this Johnny guy was Kindred, he might know if there were others in the city - and how things got managed around here. If he was really, really lucky, there might be some sort of system set up for getting ahold of blood without going after people at all. But he'd just have to see... hopefully they could talk privately enough to manage this.

Oh, well. Nothing for it but to find out. He took a deep breath, a habit he'd never quite shaken, and stepped into the restaurant.

---

Well, that had given him a lot to think about. Maugris whistled to himself as he headed back toward the apartment building. Slow down, you crazy child, you're so ambitious for a juvenile - but then if you're so smart, tell me why are you still so afraid?

He took his time, enough that he was certainly still out when the sky turned red and the buildings changed around him. His lips twisted a little - the changes were an unpleasant reminder of Metatropolis's fate - but he kept going, still whistling nonchalantly. When will you realize, Vienna waits for you? It was still a long walk back; time to see if he could entice something to come out so he could give this Persona thing a shot.

What turned up gave him a bit of a start - a little floating cape with a jack o'lantern for a head. "You're not one of the Pumpkin King's, are you?" he asked. "I don't even have his damn ring anymore." The Pyro Jack just laughed at him and twirled in a circle, and flames spouted from its lantern. Maugris dodged away, but not fast enough - the flames licked at his jacket, and he couldn't help but cry out as the flesh of his arm started to burn.

But the damage - though it was quite nasty - wasn't the worst of it. Vampires feared fire even beyond their ample reason to do so, and while Maugris usually managed to resist, this time the Beast's instincts were too strong for him. He broke and ran, running as fast as he could away from the source of the flame. But the Pyro Jack had found prey now, and it followed. So anyone else out and about would find a vampire deep in Rotschreck being pursued by a laughing Pyro Jack.

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Johnny had been working all day on the new house he'd gotten for Otoha, Desco, and himself, so he was a bit grateful for the break the preplanned dinner offered. Besides, this was the first vampire he'd seen in a long while. He never thought he'd miss his own kind, but there was a small part of him that apparently did. Maybe it was homesickness.

Johnny made his way to the restaurant he'd specified and waved to Maugris when he spotted him. The scent that hit his nose only proved he hadn't been wrong. An easy smile crossed his face as he approached. "Yo. Glad you could make it. Did you have any trouble finding this place?"

Maugris smiled back and headed over to meet him. He gave Johnny a long look, mostly because he was checking up on the other man's aura. Yes, that was definitely a vampire. He gave a long sigh, relaxing slightly. He'd been grateful so far that no one had noticed him looking less than healthy - with so little blood in his system, he couldn't really spend it on looking alive.

"No, no problem at all. How's it going?" If Johnny was going to start cordial, Maugris was happy to keep it up. He wasn't sure what to expect once they were in private, but that was no reason to make a scene in public and scare the normal people. After dealing with his own world's Kindred - an entire society of territorial, predatory schemers - Maugris could get... a little suspicious of strange vampires.

He shrugged and moved to get the door for the other vampire. "Things are excellent, thank you for asking. I assume you cannot wholly say the same though, am I right? You look ill." As soon as his companion was in the restaurant, Johnny led him to a table in the back for a bit more privacy. It was a nice enough place, fancy as Otoha would call it, but not by Johnny's standards.

"I also assume you'd rather keep your status a secret seeing as you were speaking somewhat cryptically."

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Just a bit hungry." As they settled into the booth in the back, he lowered his voice a little and added, "This is just how I look when I haven't fed for a while. I look better after."

Maugris was aware that he was a bit low-rent by the standards of some vampires - he figured this was a fairly nice restaurant, if not an incredibly fancy one. He nodded slowly, rubbing his forehead. "I'm used to us keeping things secret. I know unusual things are a bit more open here, but I figured people might still react badly to vampires. Judging by what the little demon girl said, not everyone will, though."

"Little demon girl? You must mean Desco." Yeah, he'd been creeping on some of the other conversations in that post. "Yes, while I haven't gone about parading what I am, I think you'll find most people simply don't care or can't judge." His expression darkens ever so slightly as a thought occurs to him. "Well, none of the visitors like us. I would..take care with the natives in general. Some things have happened before your arrival that have cast us in a somewhat unfavorable light. I'm sure you'll have the opportunity to learn all about it."

Johnny sat back in his chair and pulled a small box out of his pocket which granted him a cigarette. He lit it and put it between his teeth before offering the box to his companion. It was a bad habit he'd found himself indulging in once more, outside of the house and away from Otoha's watchful gaze, at least.

"So, you haven't fed in a while. Can I take that to mean you don't actively hunt and attack humans, then?"

"That would be her, yes. She did say she knew vampires..." He sighed at Johnny's explanation. "Okay, so most of the visitors are fine, but somebody screwed things up for us with the natives. That's honestly better than I expected. At least I can get Phantom Girl to understand I was serious about the no-sun thing."

He shook his head at the offered cigarette. Lighters were very seldom bad enough to set off Rotschreck, and it wasn't like his lungs were going to get damaged, but he'd just never been in the habit of smoking. He privately suspected a lot of vampires who still smoked just had an oral fixation problem. "No thanks.

"And no, I don't usually, not unless I don't have another option. Feeding on animals can get you funny looks where I come from, but so can not being an asshole." This was a lie - Maugris did have a territory where he regularly fed from humans, but he tried to be as humane about it as possible. He didn't usually take enough from anyone to leave them more than a little woozy, and tended to trick people into it - which, thanks to the Kiss, usually left them not knowing anything had happened at all. Besides, from the sound of it Johnny approved of not attacking humans, and Maugris didn't really want to alienate the few other vampires in the city. "Besides, even if I was just going to go around attacking people, a lot of Kindred where I'm from are... particular about territory."

The comment about vampires being assholes makes him chuckle as he pockets the box again. "Well, you'll find that there are no territories here. Well...I suppose there's one and that would be a single human under my protection, but I doubt I have to worry about that from you. As far as I know, we're the only ones of the visitors. Of course, honestly, I haven't gone out looking."

He pauses, eyes drifting about to the humans and other creatures dining in the restaurant while the smouldering stick finds it's way to Johnny's fingers. "Of course, that means that our particular dietary needs aren't all that well met." Not like his last city that sold blood packs in the local market. As entirely unhelpful as that was to him personally. "There are a couple options open to you, as I see it. There is a chance the local hospital might be willing to part with some of their bloodpacks once told about your condition, there is the local animal population although, in this place, there's no guarantee it won't actually be a demon of some sort."

For the first time since he started talking to Maugris he hesitates and even looks a little uncertain but it disappears soon enough. "I doubt this will work in time for you, but it's something to keep in mind: there may be someone among the visitors who would be willing to be your personal juicebox, this is the option I've found myself utilizing. I imagine a relationship like that would take some time to develop however, so it doesn't help you right now." His chin came to rest in the palm of his free hand and gold eyes simply stared at the other man. "Unless of course...how helpful is drinking the blood of your own kind in your world?"

Maugris frowned a little. Okay, Johnny had a friend who was off limits, fair enough. "I'm not actually sure what demon blood would do to me. I think I'd want someone with a very big stick standing by just in case if I ever tested it out. But I should be able to tell normal animals from demons, at least."

He sighed a little, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've never actually tried getting blood from hospitals before. I know people who do, but it's usually an under-the-table thing where they know someone on the inside. Having somebody I'd feed from regularly... basically what you said. It's a nice option if I can get someone willing, but that would take a while." He also wouldn't be getting a lot of blood at once, which meant trying to use his Thaumaturgy a lot or to heal quickly would be a problem. All the more reason to get to work on that whole Persona business.

He glanced up at Johnny warily. "... Vampire blood works, sort of. Though obviously it makes the other guy hungrier. The real problem is that drinking vampiric Vitae causes a blood bond. This sort of... mystical connection that makes you inclined to serve the person you drink from, a kind of obsessive love. I don't know if that would happen with your blood, since I'm guessing that was an offer, but it's hard to know for sure."

He was operating on the assumption that Johnny was a relatively nice guy and wouldn't end up trying to force or trick him into drinking to take advantage of that particular issue. It was better than finding out one way or the other after the fact.

"Really?" That was new information to him, he'd never heard of something like that happening. There was, of course, the bond between a vampire and the one who made him, that was understandable enough even if he'd never had to feel it himself, but a bond like what Maugris was describing just sounded like a demon's curse to him.

"Hmm...well, I've fed our kind back home and some in the city I was in last as well, nothing like that ever occurred. I can understand your hesitation, though." His thoughtful look morphed into a playful smirk. "Don't worry, though, as handsome and charming as you are, I assure you that isn't the type of relationship I'm seeking!" The playfulness slips away and his smirk fades more into a smile. "I'm only looking to help."

"Right, well, uh." Maugris looked just slightly uncomfortable - he wasn't entirely used to being flirted with. Well, except by one person he knew who hit on everyone, so it hardly counted. "It... should be fine." The initial bond was weak enough that he ought to be able to make himself avoid Johnny of his own accord and give it time to fade.

"It may not happen with you at all - if it does it shouldn't be more than I can handle. It's not a bad idea to try." If only because Maugris was starting to get to the point where he needed to avoid seeing or smelling blood of people he didn't want to attack. Some of Johnny's would give him a couple more days to work out a long-term solution, or at least get better at catching animals.

Johnny tried to keep his amusement limited to the small smirk on his lips; it had really been a while since he'd purposefully made someone uncomfortable with his flirtations. Well, anyone who wasn't Otoha. "Right, then! How would you prefer to do it? Perhaps a wine glass or would you rather drink straight from the source?" It wasn't a come-on. Not in Johnny's mind. But it certainly came out like one.

"Ah... I think a glass might be better." If he'd had the blood to spare he might have been blushing. Flirting was a lot easier to deal with when he knew it was coming from someone who did it with everybody. Besides, it was easier to be surreptitious with a glass, and sucking on somebody's wrist in the middle of a restaurant would raise some questions.

Not that he hadn't had problems with blood in a glass before, too. But some people were just stupid

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Slow Down, You Crazy Child

A vampire dinner

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