Fantasy blood and silver

[leif]

Sybil had gotten a sort of routine going ever since she’d moved here. She goes out to the bars after sundown and chooses someone to feed on, getting them to bring her back to their place and feeding on them there. She tries to knock them out first, not wanting to have to kill them. She would have killed them if she had to though. She had found that men were much easier when it came to trying to get invited into their house, so she mostly went for men despite not having any interest in them herself. That part actually helped her not feel so bad about it at least. Tonight she was going out as usual, but this time she’d decided to try a different bar, not wanting to stick around the same one too much and get noticed.

Peeking out her window, Sybil saw that the sun was going down so she started getting ready. She walked to her room, picking out a tight black dress with lace designs that accentuated her body. It was a little shorter than she was all that comfortable with, but she found it was easy to get a guy's attention in something like this. She slipped on some black heels with red soles, followed by a necklace. Walking into the bathroom, she grabbed her makeup, focusing on black eyeliner and red lipstick. Once she was sure she would get someone’s attention, she grabbed a purse and walked out, heading to the bar.

When she got to the bar, she immediately had picked out a few guys she thought she could easily get. She walked up to the bar first though, looking to the bartender “Old fashioned please.” She glanced away, locking eyes with a guy she noticed looking at her and smirking at him. She gave him a look and he followed it by walking up to her. “Can I get you a drink?” He asked. Nodding, she gestured to the drink that she had ordered, “You can pay for that one if you’d like.” She grinned at him, picking up the glass and taking a sip of it. As the man started to sit down next to her, she looked past him, noticing two women talking to the bartender. She knew she couldn’t get distracted right now though, not while she was getting hungrier. She leaned in to whisper something to the man next to her, taking the chance to breathe in the smell of his blood.

Dani unfortunately had work tonight, but she was glad her friends would at least keep her company while she was working. Night’s she could talk to them were always better because then less people would bother her with their life story. She was only bartending because vampire hunting didn’t exactly pay the bills. Bartending wasn’t that bad of a job though, it was just when creepy old men would hit on her that she got annoyed with it, but even then she was able to get good tips out of them so she wasn’t complaining too much. She made two drinks for her friends, passing them over to them. “You guys are lucky I work here and can get you free drinks.” She wasn’t really supposed to, but no one enforced it either.

Hearing someone come in, she looked over at the door to see a girl with long blonde hair walking in. She seemed to have an air of confidence about her that made her stand out from anyone else Dani usually saw in here. She was used to seeing regulars in this place, she was sure she’d never seen this girl in here before. Making her wonder if she was new to town or just visiting for whatever reason. Hearing her drink order, Dani made it, setting it on the bar in front of her before going back to her friends. “You ever see someone that dressed up for this bar?” She asked, nodding her head in the direction of the blonde woman. She had found that most people in this bar were here to drown their sorrows so this was something new to see here.

It wasn’t long before she saw one of the regulars going over to talk to that girl. He wasn’t terrible looking, but he definitely didn’t look like he’d be this girl’s type. So she was very surprised when the woman showed any interest in him. Her confusion was clear on her face as she looked back at Imani and Gabriella, but she quickly shook her head, deciding it didn’t really matter that much. It was just a slow night so she really didn’t have anything else going on. “You know you guys don’t have to hangout with me while I’m at work, it’s okay.” She said, not wanting to bore them. Though she was glad they were there, otherwise she knew she’d be dealing with some of the more annoying regulars right now.

 

[Lucyfer]

There were plenty of bars in the college town of Marquette, most of them catering to the ever-shifting group of college students that came through. There were a few more ‘regular’ bars that catered to the locals, or more of the long-term students and graduate students. One of these was known as the Seven Saints, and that was where Imani Jones and Gabriella Bellamy often found themselves.

It didn’t have the best environment, admittedly, but it wasn’t hyped up with partying students and cramming, anxiety-ridden messes, either.

Most importantly, it was where their friend Dani worked, and that meant paying less – a perk that brought equally mischievous smiles to both Imani and Gabriella’s faces. “I know, I know,” Gabriella agreed, taking her amaretto sour in hand as Imani brought her spiked coffee to her lips, allowing an agreeable hum to follow the first sip.

“I’ll just make sure to cover you tonight,” Imani promised once she set her drink down, “No one makes drinks quite like you,” of course, Dani had experience with figuring out what her friends liked, “We still have plans to catch that film at midnight, right?”

Gabriella nodded. It was just a stupid action flick, but it should be mildly entertaining, and she knew how important it was to do more with Imani. She was getting terribly jealous of her and Dani’s “outings”.

They let Dani continue preparing drinks, talking amongst themselves as she did so. Their attention did turn to the woman who entered, all dressed up like this was one of the college bars. Imani ignored her almost immediately, but Gabriella let her attention continue to drift. There was something off, even if she couldn’t immediately place it.

At Dani’s query, she still chuckled, and offered, “Likely a college student who thought this was one of the college bars,” although she didn’t seem bothered by the environment, which suggested otherwise. She seemed confident enough in this environment. ‘Well, I suppose if you just want to get laid, going to a place that reeks of desperation also works.’ Though she didn’t have to put in that much work to get attention.

Well, if she was that desperate, perhaps she didn’t mind female company? Gabriella couldn’t keep up a relationship in her line of business, but a fling or two was fine. “I think I’ll go find out, though,” Gabriella took her glass and left the stool.

“Hey! Gabby, we have plans,” Imani tried to emphasize, but Gabriella just gave a waving gesture. She knew, she wouldn’t forsake them – getting a number wasn’t that bad! Still, Imani pouted in her seat and turned back towards the front, visibly sulking – half to get sympathy, half because it did bother her that she remained so easy to turn away from.

“Maybe we can just go to a movie, bet she won’t like being left out,” that was genuine bitterness talking, though, before she tried to drown it in the bitter coffee – well, once bitter coffee. It’d been sweetened deliciously. She couldn’t stay mad too long with that taste in her throat.


Gabriella, for her part, took advantage of one simple fact: the woman seemed much the same pallor as herself, and had blonde hair. There was an easy way to approach based on those similarities alone, and she reached out to touch the woman’s shoulder and draw her attention – also letting the silver bangle she wore touch that bare arm in the process.

One could never be too careful, “Hey, sorry to disturb, but I’ve noticed your make-up since you came in, and I need to know what you’re using on your lips, because they look amazing.”

 

[leif]

Dani nodded, “Yeah we can head there after I’m done with my shift.” She did want to spend more time with Imani, it was hard because they couldn’t bring her with them on their outings and they couldn’t tell her what they were doing so she just felt left out all the time. The last thing Dani wanted to do was leave her out, but they didn’t have much of a choice.

She glanced back over at the woman who was dressed up, nodding in agreement, “Yeah probably.” She would have expected her to leave right away if that was the case though. Maybe she just didn’t want to admit the mistake and leave now. Either way, she saw plenty of weird people so she figured this couldn’t be the weirdest thing she’d seen here at least.

Dani raised an eyebrow at Gabriella as she said she’d find out. “Oh yeah, you’re gonna go find out?” She said, “Have fun with that…” She gave her a teasing look before looking back over at Imani and shaking her head. “Well this could be entertaining at least..” She said with a little chuckle as she looked at Gabriella walking over to the girl.

Dani heard the bitterness in Imani’s voice and looked over at her, she did feel bad that Imani felt so left out all the time. She sighed and shook her head, “Don’t worry, we’re gonna get to that movie tonight. I’m sure Gabby won’t back out of our plans.” She said, grabbing a cloth and starting to wipe down the bar with it. She glanced back over at Gabby for a moment to see how her conversation was going. “See it looks like that girl is getting ready to leave anyway, we’ll be at that movie in no time.”



Sy found things were going much better than expected, finding someone quicker than she expected. She was thinking she should try to get them out of here soon. It didn’t seem like it’d be all that hard either. This guy seemed desperate enough. She gently rubbed her hand on his arm, looking into his eyes, fake laughing at his jokes. “You’re so funny,” She lied. He was not funny, she found him very bland, but that didn’t matter.

Looking him over, Sy said “So.. how about we take these drinks to go?” She smirked at him, “I’d love to see your place.” She grinned, he looked pretty into the idea. It seemed like she was going to be able to feed sooner than expected with how easy this guy was to get. She was beginning to think she should have been coming to this bar the whole time. She would have thought the bars filled with college students would be easier.

Suddenly she felt a searing pain on her arm, letting out a sharp gasp and quickly turning to pull her arm away. She grabbed her arm, looking to see the culprit was that girl she had noticed talking to the bartender. “Oh.. sorry.. you startled me.” She said, trying to play it off. Still she couldn’t quite figure out why that had happened, glancing to the girl’s wrist she noticed the silver bangle and quickly realized what had happened.

“I believe it’s a matte lipstick from Yves Saint Laurent..” Sy did not want to stick around and chat now that she knew this girl had a pure silver bangle on, so she said, “I’d love to hang around and chat, but we were actually just leaving.” She glanced back over at the man next to her who looked a little confused by the interaction between the women.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Entertaining huh?’

Imani still wondered at what relationship Gabriella and Dani had. They were always going out together, and it was no secret that Gabriella exclusively went after women. Dani’s tease was lighthearted enough, that Imani could hope and be concerned simultaneously for what it meant.

Although, it did seem that Gabriella was striking out.

It didn’t make her less bitter. She was still trying to get away. “Yeah,” she agreed half-heartedly with the assessment, anyways. “Wonder how she struck out that fast, anyways,” she tried to find some humor in the situation, though one answer would be fairly obvious: it was possible the other simply wasn’t into women, and really wanted to get out of there with their date.

Although, their choice was a bit…surprising…Imani wasn’t about to start judging too harshly. Everyone had their tastes, after all, regardless of their looks. “What is it you two always do, anyways?”

Of course, Imani had been told many variations of it. Still, she knew something was off with it. Maybe she’d catch some honesty from Dani this once. Or maybe she’d run off and tend to her customers again, and pretend Imani never asked.




‘Damn it.’

Of course the pretty one was a vampire.

It was only too obvious by the reaction. That was why Gabriella always wore these things, why she always checked. Vampires in a college town wasn’t unusual. It was easy enough for them to blend in, and most of the time, Gabriella could let it slide. However, at Dani’s bar, she couldn’t. She wasn’t going to have this place become a hunting ground.

Not to mention, if Dani realized there was a vampire here, she’d lose it.

Still, Gabriella smiled and shook her head, dismissing the apology, “That was my fault, I should be apologizing,” she looked only disappointed as the vampires insisted she was on her way out, “Oh, at least let me get your phone so I can put my number in, I’d really love to see more of you. I’m Gabriella Bellamy.”

The name might mean nothing, or it might mean everything.

It was hard to tell with American vampires. In Europe, the name Bellamy would have held more weight, and the silver wouldn’t be considered a coincidence at that point. American hadn’t quite caught up to these things, yet.

She was completely ignoring the man, though she assumed he’d have to start paying if he’d been keeping a tab like most people. That would at least give another moment’s disruption when Dani came to pick that up.

 

[leif]

Dani glanced over at the girls talking and nodded, “Yeah I don’t know…” She chuckled a little. She was surprised by how fast she’d struck out. But it was possible the woman wasn’t into other women. Still she didn’t think Gabby would be shut down that fast.

Glancing back over at Imani, Dani bit her lip nervously. She was unsure of how to answer that question. “Haven’t we told you already?” She said, looking around for something to do to get out of answering that question.

Dani looked back over at Gabby and that other woman, trying to change the subject. “Looks like she might be getting a phone number though.. Maybe she didn’t strike out.” Now she was even more confused. It had definitely looked like she had struck out before the way the other girl seemed like she was trying to leave.

She watched the two for a moment, using this chance to avoid going back to that question Imani had. So when she saw the guy over by them was ready to pay, she was relieved. She walked over and got him his bill.



Sy shook her head “Oh don’t worry about it..” She said, just trying to get out of here. She didn’t wanna stick around too long. She figured it was probably just a coincidence that she had a silver bracelet, but either way it didn’t make her too eager to be around here much longer.

“Oh uh.. Sure.” She opened up her contacts in her phone and handed it over right before hearing her name. “Gabriella.. Bellamy? Nice to meet you.” Now she knew she needed to get out of here, recognizing the name from when she lived in England. There was no way the silver was a coincidence with a last name like that.

She held her hand out for her phone, wanting to get out of here quickly. She glanced over to the man next to her who still hadn’t paid for the drinks. “You wanna go ahead and pay now so we can head out..?”

“I mean if you wanna bring another girl into the mix, I’m down.” The guy said, winking at Gabriella, earning a look of disgust from Sy. “She’s way out of your league.” She said to him, annoyed by his comment. “And so am I, so how about you pay for those drinks before I change my mind?” She watched as he clearly thought over his choices and then quickly turned around and called over the bartender so he could pay.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘You’ve never told me why I can’t come.’

Not in any way that actually made sense to Imani. The reservations were only for two? There was only enough space for two? Sometimes, it just didn’t fit, and all Imani wanted was a good answer! Of course, she wouldn’t be getting it now.

She should have known.

Okay, she did know.

Dani was on the job, after all, and there was a convenient reason to pull away as she was called to go help the man with his bill, while Gabriella was adding her digits to another woman’s phone. ‘Hope you don’t get a call back.’ It was bitter, and it was needlessly cruel, and Imani felt guilty for it immediately.

She tried to swallow it down with another drink.

‘Didn’t even humor just doing something with the two of us….’ Of course not. Imani had said it in anger. In bitterness. She had only inspired guilt, and that would make Dani want to keep all three of them together.

It still hurt.

~***~

The repetition.

The pause.

Whoever this was, they knew the name, and they were still trying to leave? ‘Young or foolish.’ Or suspected they were already about to be hunted. “Mmm, yeah, I’m sorry, I’m really only interested in her,” Gabriella gestured to the vampiress, “but if she wanted to let you watch….” A giggle, as if she wouldn’t mind that.

Of course that wasn’t how it was going to be.

She did begin to put in her name, and her phone number, as the man went to pay.

She also lowered her voice to a whisper to speak, “You really don’t want to leave here with him. I’d rather not kill you, but if you hunt here, I’m going to have to.” Her tone lost all semblance of warmth as she saved her number, and offered it back to the vampire. “I’m willing to talk.”

The vampiress had already rather harshly shut the guy down about being out of his league…it might be harsh yet to brush him off again, but really, could the guy blame her if she had someone else interested?

 

[leif]

Dani tried to listen in to what was going on with Gabby when she was helping the guy with the bill, but she didn't get much information from that. She took the guy's card and went back to the register with it, ringing everything in and then bringing his card back to him.

She sighed, walking back to where Imani was.

Checking the time, she said "Not too long before I start closing and we can head out for that movie." She looked over at Imani, raising an eyebrow whens he realized Imani was looking a little upset.

"Is everything okay?"

Dani knew Imani was probably annoyed that she hadn't really answered her question, but she didn't know what else to say. She couldn't tell her that they were hunting vampires, that wasn't exactly something they went around telling people.

She just hoped that Imani understood that they weren't leaving her out because they wanted to, they had to. But she got the sense that Imani was feeling left out a lot lately.



Sy gave Gabriella a look when she made a comment about him watching, just shaking her head.

She watched the man go to pay before hearing Gabriella whispering. She growled slightly, frustrated. She'd have to find somewhere else then..

Grabbing her phone back, Sy said "Aw you want me so bad you'd threaten to kill me just so I don't go home with someone else.. how sweet." She gave her a little smirk, though on the inside she was nervous, on top of that she was hungry.

"Fine.."

She turned to the man who'd just paid. "Thanks for the drink, but something's come up.." She said to him, watching his face drop as he realized he wasn't getting anything tonight.

He was never going to get anything from her of course, but he hadn't known that until now.

 

[Lucyfer]

Dani returned as if nothing was wrong, though at least she quickly caught on to the fact that something was up. Imani sighed, trying to push her frustration down, only for it to spike a moment afterwards as Gabriella called over to them, “Hey, I might need a rain check for the movie – but you two should still go see it!”

“Are you serious?” Imani called back, but Gabriella was already turning away, waving it off as she returned to the stranger.

Imani glared a moment, but looked away and tried to bank her anger once again. “Yeah. Everything’s fine,” it wasn’t, obviously. That was a terribly passive answer and she huffed, adding, “Look, I’m okay if you two want time on your own, or even…you know, whatever the hell Gabriella’s doing, but I’d rather not feel like I’m not even a second priority. If you guys don’t want to be that good of friends, just tell me. I can take it. I have some acquaintances I could put more time into.”

But she really liked them.

In spite of all of this, she did. “I shouldn’t be bothering you like this at work,” but that move by Gabriella, just waving off movie plans to go off with a stranger? That was low.



Gabriella kept up that pleasant smile, giving a hopeless little shrug at the suggestion, as if she was truly that stricken by the vampiress. Just about any other human would have been, as the man so obviously indicated. “Sorry,” she gave a wink to the man as his face fell. He hardly knew what he’d been saved from. It was better if he thought it was just an unlucky night for him, of course.

At least he didn’t get needlessly irate over it.

Gabriella held up one finger, “One sec,” she moved to the bar, but didn’t get closer to Imani and Dani. She knew what hell Imani would rain down, so it was better to just call from afar, “Hey, I might need a rain check for the movie – but you two should still go see it!”

“Are you serious?” Imani’s outrage was obvious, but Gabriella pushed her guilt down as she set the empty amaretto glass down, slipping one of those silver bangles around the cup. She and Dani didn’t have fully perfected ways of signaling each other about vampires, but she figured that would suffice.

Dani had to know she wouldn’t just leave without good reason.

She’d catch the eyes of the vampiress once again as she headed out, “So, what is your name?” Small talk, until they got somewhere else.

 

[leif]

Dani looked over, hearing what Gabby said and raising an eyebrow. Something was definitely up because she knew how important doing stuff together was to Imani, there was no way she would just leave like that.

Looking at her curiously, she noticed her putting the silver bangle around the glass. Her eyes widened at that, realizing what that must mean. There was no way she had put it there by accident. She sighed and looked back at Imani, knowing she couldn't explain why Gabby wasn't coming to the movie.

"No.. Imani, we want to hangout with you." She said, sighing, "I'm sure Gabby has a good reason."

She glanced back over at the glass with the silver bangle around it, "She wouldn't cancel on us without a good reason."

She really hated lying to her. "How about we just go to this movie just the two of us...? Gabby can come with us another time." She suggested, hoping that Imani didn't really think they didn't like her. They did! It was just hard when they had so much going on that they couldn't really talk about...



Sy watched as she called out to her friends, glancing over at them and seeing that it was the bartender and that other girl. She couldn't help but wonder if those two were hunters too, but she figured if they were than Gabriella would have said something to them about it rather than just cancelling on their plans.

She sighed and walked out with her, "Sybil Blake.. Sy for short." She crossed her arms. She liked to go by Sy because she found that Sybil was a little old fashioned for the modern time she was living in.

"And you're a Bellamy.. I think I may have met one of your relatives somewhere down the line.." She said, looking over at her with a raised brow. She knew of the Bellamy's. She had been under the impression that they were only in Europe though. So she was surprised to find one here.

"So are you taking me somewhere to kill me out of view of your friends?" She asked, half joking.

She didn't really think this girl was about to kill her. But she was still cautious, knowing her family name and what she might be capable of. And she probably had plenty more silver on her than just those bangles.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Yeah, she wanted to get laid, and that’s apparently a good reason in her book to blow off a friend.’ Imani didn’t look satisfied with Dani standing up for Gabriella right then. What other reason could there be? She bit back a comment that maybe Gabby wouldn’t cancel on Dani without good reason.

She was insisting that she wanted to hang out, and it sounded sincere. ‘Or maybe that’s just your lovesick heart.’ Always possible.

She gave a small smile, “Yeah, I still want to go to the movie,” she agreed, “but…I just don’t understand why you two are always making plans without me, even when you know I have free time. It feels like you’re hiding something from me, or…I don’t know. You know, once or twice I could believe.”

It had been more than once or twice, of course.

And she just really wasn’t getting it.

She shook her head, though. “Probably a chat for when you aren’t running around serving drinks.” Maybe after the movie, or maybe on the way.

~***~

“Mmm, yes, my family is mostly in France of late, but we do still have more holds in Europe. I come from the French branch, my family moved here a year ago,” Gabriella had no qualms explaining it. Her family wasn’t in this town, and if anything happened to her, Dani would know. She’d be able to reach out to her family to let them know, too.

Then, well, Sy would have a problem.

Gabriella shook her head, “I’d prefer to go to your place to talk, though I imagine you’re as reluctant to show me where you live as I am to let you know where I live, so I thought we’d take a walk around campus. Anyone overhears us talking, they’ll think we’re creative writing majors,” she chuckled. “The long story short is, my family is in American to start creating order here, and order doesn’t mean recklessly killing every single one of your kind.”

They assumed vampires had some sort of use, the way wasps did, though God only knew what that use was. “It does mean warning you off of that place, because another hunter happens work there, and she’s…well, it’s personal for her, let’s put it that way.”

 

[leif]

Sy nodded, "I see.. I thought your family was in Europe so I can't say I expected to find one of you here.."

Hearing her talk about going to talk at her place, she shook her head right away, "Yeah I'd prefer not to go to my place." She thought walking around campus sounded like a fine idea. It also showed she definitely wasn't trying to kill her because a college campus wasn't exactly the best place to go killing someone. Then her explanation about what they were doing in America confirmed it.

"Creating order?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "How do you plan to do that?" She looked over at her, thinking that seemed like an impossible task even if they were recklessly killing vampires.

Hearing her warning, she nodded, sighing, "So.. you mean she'd kill me if she got the chance?" She asked, assuming that was what she had meant by it being personal for her. She had encountered vampire hunters before so she was somewhat familiar with those who had their own personal vendetta.



Dani looked at her with a sigh, she was glad she agreed to still go to the movie, but she didn't know how to explain this to her. "I'm sorry.. I-" She sighed, not sure what to say.

"I wish I had a better explanation, but.. seriously we do like you and want to hangout with you."

She was still serving drinks in between talking to her, so it was a little difficult to even talk about it. She knew if they did talk about it outside of here, she still wouldn't have a good explanation. She really liked Imani, but it wasn't an easy thing that she could just tell her.

After running around to give people their drinks, she came back to Imani, hoping she could get her to feel better somehow.

She handed her a drink saying, "Here, I made you your favorite drink, on the house."

 

[Lucyfer]

“It’s a rather difficult process, but tends to involve setting up various points of contact throughout the States, finding agreeable hunters, as well as finding agreeable vampires,” there was no real issue talking about this on the street, either. Most people would still think it was somehow school-related, so Gabriella felt little need to mask what she was saying.

She rarely did.

She’d learned early on most people weren’t going to start believing in these things anytime soon, which was how it should be. “And yes, that’s precisely what I mean. She doesn’t discriminate between those of you who kill their prey every time, and those of you who are a touch more discrete, as I’m assuming you are,” she glanced up, “I hope you’re not going to make me regret that assumption.”

It would be her luck that in trying to create the points of contact here, she’d mistake a feral beast for someone with civility all because they were pretty and appeared to be hunting discretely by picking on drunk men.

~***~

‘The truth would be nice.’

It was obvious that Dani was avoiding saying something, which started to make Imani worry. Was one of them sick? ‘No, that still doesn’t explain Gabby’s behavior tonight.’ Right, that was still problematic. She didn’t know how that could tie into everything else, unless there was just some issue with her presence.

‘Maybe it’s just Gabby?’ That seemed odd.

Gabby and she had been friends for a bit longer, even traveled together! Could Gabby just be getting sick of her?

Dani returned with her drink, and she chuckled a little. At least some of the small things were remembered, “Thanks, but you’re not off the hook,” she said, somewhat playfully to take the bite out of it. “I’m going to expect some sort of trip in the future to make up for all of this, and all the trips you take with Gabriella.” She pointed out.

 

[leif]

Sy nodded, she could imagine it was difficult. Especially considering even the agreeable vampires she mentioned would be trying blend in. It wasn't like there was a way for them to know which hunters wanted to kill them and which just wanted order, like Gabriella said she did.

Glancing over at her as she talked about the other hunter, she nodded, "I would consider myself discreet.." She said, crossing her arms. She wasn't the type to go around wreaking havoc or anything.

"I prefer not to kill them, it's too messy and I don't like dealing with the bodies so.." She shrugged.

She knew there were vampires out there who enjoyed killing and would do it for the fun of it, but she wasn't one of those. She didn't enjoy killing. She did enjoy holding that power over someone where she knew she could if she had to, but she didn't want to usually. Unless she had something against someone, but she didn't talk to enough humans to make that many enemies out of them.



Dani sighed as she told her she wasn't off the hook. Nodding, she said "Alright we'll plan a trip of our own then." She hoped this would make her feel a little better at least. Plus she did like the idea of doing that, it was just that vampire hunting took up a lot of her time.

"We can invite Gabby too or it could just be the two of us.. whatever you want." She looked at her with a little smile.

She really just wanted to prove to her that she did care about her. If she could she would spend more time with her, it was just hard with all the hunting. She was still looking for the vampires that killed her parents and she wasn't going to stop until she found them.

"I'll just have to figure out my work schedule, but we can figure something out, okay?" She said, looking at Imani. If this didn't help her see that she did enjoy spending time with her than she really wasn't sure what would. Besides telling her the truth, but she knew she couldn't do that. She had considered telling her before, but she knew she shouldn't.

 

[Lucyfer]

Sy claimed to be discrete. For the moment, Gabriella would have to believe her. Of course, neither she nor Dani had noticed anything in town, so that had to mean something. They’d found other vampires here before, usually because they’d made a ruckus. Sy could be a decent partner to start bringing some semblance of order to the area, although Gabriella got the feeling that would also come with some difficulties.

The campus would take time to come into sight, but Gabriella at least paused at a bus stop that would be able to take them that way. There was no one else waiting, currently. “I’m planning to open a few businesses up here in the future as fronts,” Gabriella offered, “a nightclub closer to the campus businesses, a hotel in the same area, and more of a hunter’s bar in the area we were in.”

It was one way to start putting down roots.

“The first two would be more to help your kind connect with each other, and provide a safe place to hunt. The same for the hotel; I know lodgings can be difficult when one is still getting oriented to things like social security numbers, birth certificates, and all other forms of ID,” a small chuckle, though it was true.

Of course, having ID also helped hunters keep track of their activity, but in theory it helped them both. Telling her this, was mostly to let her know there was a plan in the works. Acquiring buildings, getting business off the ground, that took some additional work and funds. She was making progress, and trying to get a few others from Europe over here, but she knew she also needed American hunters involved. She hadn’t yet told Dani; she knew the other woman wouldn’t be a fan of it, yet.

~***~

There was a part of Imani that wanted to completely ignore Gabby and just go off with Dani. Of course, she knew that was one part bitterness, and one part just wanting more time to be with Dani on her own, rather than all together, chasing after some foolish hope. She also knew she shouldn’t let bitterness guide her decision, either. “Maybe we can start figuring it out, and if Gabby can’t come, we don’t change plans….”

That felt fair.

A little vindictive, but fair.

So she nodded, and sipped her sweet drink as Dani promised that they would make a plan around her schedule. “Okay,” she added, before allowing a wide smile, “We’re going to make this a great trip!” She had to hope for that, to think that way, so that it would become true. There was so much they could do, after all, even nearby!

She was already starting to go through numerous ideas of things within three hours of Marquette that would actually interest Dani, too. Sure, art museums were great, but she never got the vibe that Dani appreciated them much. Might be worth asking, but there were still plenty of other things. Zoos, aquariums, a convention center about two hours away that seemed to host something every other week…perhaps they’d just pick a week when they were hosting something they were both into….

She brought up her phone to start looking at that schedule.

 

[leif]

Sy looked at her curiously as she talked about opening businesses as fronts. She wasn't sure how she felt about the idea, being wary of hunters. It could be a good idea, she thought, she just wasn't sure.

"And what about the hunters who won't agree?" She asked, thinking about the bartender she had told her had more personal reasons for hunting.

"If there's hunters who don't agree wouldn't something like that be the perfect place for them to hunt? Somewhere full of vampires." She knew that one rogue hunter trying to attack any vampire wouldn't be an issue with so many other vampires around to help, but she knew there'd probably be more than one hunter who didn't agree to this and they could group together and attack. That was one of her concerns.

She also wasn't totally sure if she could trust Gabriella yet. She could be lying about all of this. She didn't know why she would go through all this if she was lying, but still she had to be cautious.

"And then there's the other issue of getting other vampires involved... I'm not sure how many would be interested in this." She knew others would be skeptical about this too, knowing a hunter was behind it.



Dani nodded, "Okay, that sonuds fair." She said with a smile, she liked the idea of getting some time with Imani. She wished they had more time to hangout, but the vampire hunting did take up a lot of her time.

She wasn't sure what they would do, but she was sure there were plenty of things to do.

"Yeah, we'll figure out something really fun to do." She said to her, while pulling out her work schedule and looking it over. Having this job on top of being a hunter could be a lot sometimes, so she just hoped she was able to find a good time to do this with Imani. She knew how important it would be to her.

Soon someone came over, ordering a drink. She made it and handed it to them before going back over to Imani.

"Any ideas on what we could do?" She asked curiously. There was no rush in finding something to do, but knowing Imani she figured she'd already be thinking of ideas in her head.