Baltimore, Late Sunday Night

[nookiepowered]

Of course after all the time she'd spent stuck in this town, it was as easy as walking through a door. Or a gate, or a trellis or whatever it was the clerk from the bakery had rushed out of while Bo was standing near the causeway trying to decide how she was going to pick a Viking. Look for one whose kids had more than the usual number of bruises?

"Where the hell did you come from," when he almost knocked her over, and "Baltimore," with a blink like she was the crazy one for asking, and here she was, in an alley behind a bar on Front Street in the middle of the night.

Of course it was as easy as walking through an alley, and this time that wasn't sarcasm; it only took a few passes through the neighborhood before there'd been a knife pricking her side and a rough hand taking its sweet damn time patting her down for a wallet in places where it was kind of unlikely to be.

Good enough, she thought, turning into the touch instead of holding still. It was a gamble with a weapon on her, but she was starving, and if she did get wounded, a feed would fix that up. "If that's what you wanted, honey, all you had to do was ask."

He was a big guy, and thank God, he didn't look tweaked, just shocked at Bo's words, or her smile, or maybe it was her actions, when she put one empty hand on his waist and raised the other to his face. "Sorry," she said, quick enough that he wouldn't have time to react, and more sincere than he probably deserved. She didn't like to kill; she just had to eat.

Then she was on him, and it was a little late for sorry.



[Off-island, NFB, etc. Up SUPER early for massive SP, for one who knows who he is, except he doesn't yet. DAMMIT.]

Comments

[chosehumanity]

"I'm fairly certain of that," Mitchell said, looking at her with a wary kind of curiosity. "There's a couple of us running around the island, and none of us ever managed that."

[nookiepowered]

"The island." Some things called for the facepalm to be literal. "You're from Fandom. Of course you're from Fandom. There's Vikings; why wouldn't there be vampires."

[chosehumanity]

"Well... Just the one Viking," said Mitchell.

Who seriously missed way too much. But was going to be nice and not out Eric.

[nookiepowered]

Yes, Mitchell. Don't out the guy who doesn't actually give a crap and already got outed by Jessica, except Bo was too stupid to believe her.

"Have you been on vacation or something? The Devil's Nest is swarming with them. They hang out in the lounge and drink mead and sing stuff in Icelandic."

Said the girl who'd been there a week and worked one shift at the Devil's Nest. This conversation wasn't getting any less ridiculous, no.

[chosehumanity]

Yes, well, it was only common courtesy, really. Mitchell was kind of banking on Eric upholding the same.

"I... was away for a bit," he said, pulling a face. "I missed Vikings. Kate's going to be insufferable."

Because that was the important thing here.

[nookiepowered]

"Is that one of the other vampires?" Forgive her for being a n00b and also fixated on THERE ARE PEOPLE KIND OF LIKE ME I AM NOT THE ONLY WEIRDO MUTANT FREAK IN THE WORLD.

[chosehumanity]

"...What?"

Mitchell blinked, then shot her one of those looks that read what are you on. Because clearly she could divine Kate's human status. "No!" A beat. Calmer: "No, Kate's human. You can't... tell, about any of us?"

[nookiepowered]

"What, I'm supposed to have impossible-monster-people-dar? I wish. Up 'til you started going off like the Fourth of July in my mouth, I thought I was the only one of us in the world."

[chosehumanity]

"...Oh, nice mental image," Mitchell had to comment. (Not that you weren't hot, Bo, but he had a girlfriend, and-- so not the time.)

[nookiepowered]

She gave a distracted shrug, but had the grace to give him a "Sorry. But that was.... Jesus. To coin a phrase. It's not like that with..." She nodded towards the slumped-over mugger. "Humans."

Which was maybe the first time she'd ever phrased it that way; she'd always at least pretended that freak or not, she could still use that word for herself.

[chosehumanity]

"You weren't going for any bodily fluids I know of," Mitchell said. This was... probably a little hypocritical in the face of him lecturing her on her word usage, but it couldn't be helped. "Maybe supernaturals have more of... whatever it is you were trying to eat."

[nookiepowered]

She could tell him the answer to that one, at least, though in light of unfortunate word usage all round, it was, well.

"It's, um. Sexual energy."

[chosehumanity]

"...Get out," Mitchell said, staring at her. "Seriously?"

[nookiepowered]

"Like I'd really choose this moment to start making shit up? So you've never heard of...whatever I am?" Time for some righteous sorry-for-herself-ness. "Great, I'm even a freak among freaks."

[chosehumanity]

"I know about incubi and succubi," Mitchell offered, "But only in the fictional sense."

He attempted a smile, now, because of course the whole feeling-sorry-for-herself business was the one thing that was going to turn him right around. "But there's loads of supernatural beings out there. Your kind is probably just a little less... obnoxious."

That was a good way to describe Herrick-style vampires.

[nookiepowered]

"I doubt it." Even if the idea that she had a 'kind' -- and it might have a name that she could go look up -- was both terrifying and hopeful.

Bo jerked a thumb towards Mister Tall, Not Especially Dark, and Snoring On The Ground. "He'd have been dead if you hadn't pulled me off him. I can't stop feeding once I start."

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell smiled thinly.

"That's always the problem, isn't it," he said, casting a look down at the man in question. "One of many reasons why I'm on the wagon."

[nookiepowered]

Who they probably ought to be getting the hell away from before he woke up, come to think of it. Bo took a step towards the nearer opening of the alley before turning back to stare at Mitchell. "You can do that?"

[chosehumanity]

"It takes work," Mitchell said, turning around and following her lead without having to hear another word. "But yeah, basically."

[nookiepowered]

"That's..." Making her irrationally jealous, was what it was, so she didn't turn back again; she wasn't proud of the look on her face. "Nice work if you can get it. I've tried stopping; I just get weak and pass out. Most times it went that far, I ended up draining the next person to come near me before I was even really conscious yet." Which usually meant it was someone who'd been trying to help her. "I'm more dangerous when I haven't fed."

[chosehumanity]

Great. "Some of the vampires are like that," Mitchell said, choosing not to get into his own difficulties right now. His shoulders slumped a little as he thought. "And you really-- can't stop?"

Christ, if his own thing was something his life depended on-- what a nightmare.

[nookiepowered]

Bo shook her head, watching her boots move along in front of her almost like they were somebody else's feet. She'd never talked to anybody about this before. Besides herself and occasionally God, who never had anything useful to say back.

"Not by myself. Sometimes I get lucky enough to set things up so I know I'll get interrupted. Otherwise..." She nodded back over her shoulder towards the alley. "If I have to take somebody out of the food chain, it might as well be the kind of predator that preys on people just because they can."

[chosehumanity]

Ouch, unfortunate flashback to the Chief Constable and his kiddie fiddler. Mitchell briefly shut his eyes, and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "It's still killing," he said, though he didn't sound unsympathetic. "Maybe one of the other supernaturals can... get you what you need."

"I mean, I feel like I can sleep for a week, but not like I'm permanently damaged."

[nookiepowered]

"After ten years of this shit, the one thing I don't need monstering advice on is how killing people is bad. I got that down." Because she was so very, very old, yes.

Wait, why was she arguing with the freaking Fourth of July? Now Bo did finally turn around to look at him. Speculatively. "And I feel like I could stay awake for week. That was some kiss."

[chosehumanity]

"Woah," Mitchell said, holding up his hands. "I have a girlfriend."

And Bo was very hot.