Magic In My Veins

Samantha often times had a guilty look to her, but it was really just nerves more often than not. And being in a rather public place that wasn’t unlike a giant party, certainly made her nervous. It reminded her of high school and how out of place she just was at these things. Needless to say, the man now standing before her made her trip over her own feet. “I-I- I… wh- no. I’m not- no trouble- none. Not from me. I promise. I was just looking around. Finding all the exits. It’s uhm.. important. To know the exits. Fire exits, too, even. It- sorry. I- I swear I’m not looking for trouble.” A bit of a rambling problem was also a nervous habit, along with her stutter; it made for an easily embarrassed Sammy-Joe.

Izaiah stood there getting more bewildered by the minute as the girl in front of him got more anxious and panicky. He had no idea he was that terrifying a person. He listened to his explanation and nodded his head. What he thought was suspicious behavior was paranoid behavior instead. There was always a reason someone had to know all the exists and it was usually because of a past event. He held up his hands in surrender and tried reassuring her. “It’s alright please calm down. I apologize, usually when people are looking around and acting dodgy it’s because they’re up to something not because they’re anxious and I didn’t mean to make it worse. Are you okay, do you need water or anything?” 

“No trouble at all.” The surgeon smiled pleasantly, blatantly ignoring the person who was trying to pick a fight with her. Thankfully the bouncer came at the right moment to save her from having to deal with the other. “They were just leaving, weren’t they?” She looked over with a look that clearly stated that their conversation had ended. With a huff, they walked off. Jessica turned her attention to Izaiah and gave him a warm smile, “Thanks, I didn’t know how to politely get rid of them.” 

Iz watched quietly as the woman dealt with the person harassing her on her own with the help of his presence. Once the walked off he eased his stance and turned to face her and returned her smile. “It’s not a problem at all, and sometimes being polite isn’t the best or the quickest way to handle people like that.” Izaiah didn’t recognize the woman in front of him and figured it wouldn’t hurt introducing himself in case she needed any more help. He held out his hand and smiled a bit wider. “I’m Iz, I work here pretty much every night. If you need anything just come and find me, or if someone is bothering you again just signal and I’ll be right over.” 

Maxine didn’t appreciate the man hitting on her - he had way too much to drink, and even she knew when there was a line of when to give up and leave someone be. One thing lead to another, and her heartbeat didn’t even rise as she used a hand to take one of the strangers’ and twist it behind his back. She was in the middle of threatening to break his wrist, when a familiar face walked up. Frowning for a moment, she shrugged, but didn’t let go. “I love a good flirt, Pretty Boy, but there are limits.” Twisting a little more, she finally released the wrist, shrugging a shoulder and giving the other an innocent look. “You don’t think you could of stopped me, do ya? We know I’d have you on your ass in under sixty seconds.” She was back to smiling, being in complete amusement, and not being sorry for nearly breaking someone’s wrist in the least.

Izaiah watched the scene unfold with Maxine for a minute before he stepped in, but he couldn’t hide the amusement on his face as he watched her almost break the dirt bag’s wrist. “Alright tough girl, try not to kill all the patrons will ya? That’s my job, and even then, Alec doesn’t particularly like his customers being sent to the ER, or the morgue” He laughed as she started joking with him again and shrugged. “I’d probably only have pretended to try and stop you, I can’t stand people like that. And I’m sure I could hold my own against you and if not, there are far less attractive people to get my ass kicked by.” 

“Not if you get this asshole out of my face. Mad because I won’t serve his underage ass,” Nessa said when Izaiah turned up at the bar where a customer was yellimg at her for denying to serve the 20 year old an alcoholic drink, “I like my job, and would hate to loose it so quickly.”

Izaiah nodded at Nessa and stood facing the kid. “You’re not over here trying to get this lovely bartender fired are you? Because that would be a mistake, as would getting aggressive, so my suggestion kiddo would be to leave...quickly...right now.” Izaiah watched the kid frown at him and slam his hand on the bar before stomping away cussing. He shook his head in annoyance and turned back to Nessa. “Hopefully he got the message. Everything else going alright tonight? Sorry I haven’t had a chance to come over here, been really busy. You okay?” 

“The throwing out part, maybe. The talking? Not so much. I feel bad for them actually, they have to deal with your annoying ass the whole time.” She snorted as she set down her drink. “Is this why you like your job so much? Just getting to toss people left and right like luggages? Fuck, and I thought I was an asshole.”

Iz rolled his eyes at Ren’s little jab and pretended to laugh. She did like poking fun but he supposed he deserved it for his comment a few moments ago. “That’s not the only reason I love my job, but it’s definitely a perk. The job’s a good way to meet people and it keeps me occupied.” He put his hand on her shoulder and smirked. “You’re definitely still an asshole though.” 

Alec grimaced as he relented, “Yeah, I you’re right. I suppose it is for the better that they be able to walk away from the place unassisted. I suppose this entire PG-13 atmosphere just has me rather lacking in entertainment.” Though it was true that the both club bars were still fully open to those of age, it seemed that a good chunk of that demographic was more interested in ‘the kids’ to really be up to their usual misdeeds. It left the vampire feeling like he was stuck watching a filler episode of his favorite TV show. He let out a grunt of his. “I only put that ting in as a filler. I plan on having an actual DJ on the books, preferably with decent music taste…or at least decent enough for the environment I plan the Canopy to be known for. I’m glad you enjoy your job, Iz, because I’m already planning on expansion.” His lit up at the man’s last suggestion. “You know, now that you mention it, it might be time for that Open Mic portion after all.”

Izaiah had to agree with his boss. As far as events went, he preferred ones that were 21 and over, they tended to be a bit more amusing and a lot less screaming teenage girl. He had hoped to deal with that particular breed as little as possible in his adulthood, but he supposed sometimes you had to make sacrifices. Iz laughed as he listened to his boss explain himself and then went straight faced at Alec’s statement. “I’m fairly certain whatever “talents” these people have will be far worse then listening to Taylor Swift on repeat. Are you absolutely sure about this? And what do you mean by expanding and what does it have to do with my job?” 

Kieran let out a slightly humorless chuckle as she recalled that blasted pool party. “Honestly, you dodged a bullet. The entire thing was a mess but, then again, so were several of the party goers once the thing got underway.” Herself included, unfortunately. A genuine chuckle followed at his remark, as her face went into a grimace. “Yeah, in my line of work, I’ve come to learn that teenage girls are just as capable of all the shenanigans that teenage boys are. Some, even worse,” she said, her hands now going to her pockets. “Of course,” Kieran stated, patting one of the packs secured to her thigh with a velcro strap. “I figured Bjurman was likely to file a repot, so I went ahead and started on for vandalism. If we find anything, we’ll get in touch. I didn’t really get a chance to watch it, they had me on perimeter duty. However, I got to hear the highlights and the second half seems to have been one for the ages. You?”

Izaiah had heard that there had been issues with the gathering but wasn’t entirely sure of the details. “So, what exactly went down at this pool party and how can we avoid it here?” He saw her grimace as she agreed with him and informed him she was already way ahead of him. He chuckled a little and nodded his head. “Well I certainly appreciate the efficiency and I’m sure Alec will too.” He smiled at her and shrugged. “I’m not much for watching high school sports games, besides I was here helping the boss man set up for the big party. It’s not too bad of a gig and Alec is pleasant enough to work with.” 

Audrie was sat at a table, picking lightly at the plate of food she’d gathered for herself. She hadn’t eaten since lunch and was absolutely starving, she shoved a small sandwich in her mouth and chewed happily whilst watching the crowd around her. She saw it too, the young boys beefing up to each other and her eyes rolled, standing up to work damage control. The man reached them before her and she stepped lazily to his side, looking at him sidelong “now, now. They’re just kids having fun. They wouldn’t want to cause trouble and get kicked out, I’m sure of it” her gaze moved to the boys, her arms folding over her midriff as she arched a brow at them.

Izaiah heard the feminine voice add into his reprimand and continued staring the boys down. A minute ago they had looked like they would both try and fight him but now they were looking nervously back and forth between the two adults. Finally the scuttled off with their tails between their legs. Iz turned to the woman who had walked up and tilted his head in acknowledge meant. “I appreciate the back up, saves me from having to injure a bunch of kids. So, you’re not just here to reprimand children are you? Cause I think I got that covered.”  

Alec watched with rapt attention, as if the fight that was possibly about to unfold were the year’s biggest UFC matchup and not a bar-brawl in the middle of his own establishment. True, he should probably be a lot more concerned with ensuring this went absolutely nowhere, but he had been playing the dutiful role of Community Concerned Businessman, and this was the most exciting thing to happen so far. As the men began to retreat and head towards the back exit, Alec just called out “If manage to find your balls again from wherever they ran off to, be sure to upload it to YouTube.” He chuckled at his own remark and finished his drink, turning at Iz’s words. “Oh come on, Iz. I knew you had it handled from the word go, and besides this was a lovely distraction from yet another Taylor Swift song being played over my sound system.”

Izaiah rolled his eyes and cross his arms over his chest, even his relaxed pose was standoffish. He chuckled slightly at his bosses remark before responding to him. “I appreciate your faith in me. If I’d known you wanted a show I would’ve kicked their asses from here till forever, I figured you’d want them to actually be able to walk out of the bar not crawl.” Iz grunted in response at the pop star playing on repeat over the sound system. “To be fair, you are the one who put in the new system that lets patrons pick their own music. I personally think you should’ve just left it up to the bartenders like it had been. Besides, you had to know giving teenage girls such power would not go well.” He laughed at his bosses expression and shrugged. “You could always change it and listen to 50-60 teenage girls whine all night.” 

Picking up on the fact that there had obviously had been some misreads on the situation on both their parts, Kieran relaxed and offered a hand. “I’m Kieran, and don’t mention it. I’m pretty sure what you heard is what led to what happened in there. Looks like someone might’ve dropped a cherry bomb into one of the toilets. I figure you probably just missed them,” she said by way of explanation. “I think everyone charged with an keeping an eye on things, be it law enforcement or even the chaperones, are a little on edge. The last town gathering didn’t end on the best of notes. Sorry for being a bit apprehensive.”

Izaiah took Kieran’s hand and shook it. “Yeah I hear you. I wasn’t actually in town for that, but I heard it was pretty bad. It’s why my boss has me roaming the floor. But if what you say is true, we’re gonna need a plumber and not the clean up crew. You’d think it’d be teenage boys pulling these pranks, not teenage girls.” He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “Alec is not gonna be thrilled about this little development. Would you mind letting me know if you figure out who did it? Anyway, how did you enjoy the game?” 

Alec had been roaming around the bar, trying to find something to keep him occupied when he heard the all too-familiar tone of his bouncer about to have to address a situation. He was nothing if not curious, so of course he made his way over. When the other person ceased all motion at his approach, Alec simply stated, “Oh no, don’t stop on my behalf. I’m just here to watch things unfold.”

Izaiah saw his boss approaching and smirked slightly, he did always have a knack for showing up when things were about to happen. He supposed it came with the territory of owning a club. Iz turned his attention back to the two guys in front of him both of whom looked like they still wanted to duke it out but only with him now instead of each other. “You two are welcome to try and keep up the hostilities to which my response will be to physically and painfully remove you, or you can leave on your own. Up to you.” Iz knew he wasn’t all that physically intimidating, but he’d been told some of his facial expressions could freeze blood. Luckily it worked and the two men left without much of a fight. Let them kill each other outside, it wouldn’t be his problem anymore. He turned to his boss and tilted his head in greeting. “Hello Alec, everything is going great, how are things with you?” 

Kieran glanced up from where she was adjusting her sidearm after taking a step into the ladies’ room. There was clear confusion on her face as she simply replied with, “Uh, I don’t think so…unless you’re the person I should speak with about the mess in the far left stall of the girl’s room?” The deputy wasn’t entirely too sure what to make of the guy’s haughty approach, but she figured he was probably either one of the club’s bouncers or one of the outsourced security guards the Bjurmans had coughed up the cash for.

Izaiah stopped when the woman turned around and knew she was familiar but couldn’t figure out where then saw her gun and realized. “Sorry deputy I heard a commotion over here and came to check it out. I’m actually not allowed in there, however I can get one of the female workers here to take a look at the issue. I’m Izaiah, I work here, if you need anything, just come and find me and I’ll be sure to try and help you out.” He knew she was probably put out at having just been stopped but he was just doing his job. At least he hadn’t man handled her or else he’d have a real issue. 

“I’m sure the sherff’s department would rather have them caught than killed.” She rolled her eyes as she swirl her drink with her straw. “So what? No fun time for you? Sucks to be you then.” Ren took a sip, letting out a quiet yet satisfied ‘Ah!’ as she released the straw. “Did you watch the game? Football’s weird.”

Izaiah smirked and leaned against the arm of the seat Ren was occupying. He could stay here a bit longer as long as his eyes kept roaming the club. “What are you talking about? This is fun. I get to talk with people and pick them up and throw them should the occasion call for it.” He laughed a little but shook his head no. “Nah I was here helping Alec set up for the festivities. Did you see it?” 

“Wait, we’re trusting the safety of literally everyone in the damn town to the new kid? Like, what the fuck? Shit, this is how people die in movies. Weird ass decisions.” Ren would actually be interested to see if some poor soul decided to come here and cause a scene, with most of them having more strength than the average mundane, it would not be anyone’s best night to mess with this place.

Izaiah laughed at her reaction and shook his head. “Seeing as everyone is allowed in here tonight, it doesn’t make much sense to have the more experienced bouncer standing out there staring at nothing. Hence, I’m in here and newbie is outside. Besides if anyone gets past him, they’re in for a hell of a surprise, especially with you and I here. Just have to make ya mad.” Iz knew Florencia was sensitive about her powers so he hoped she was in a good enough mood where she’d let the joke go. He hoped.

“Look at you.” She snorted, coming from the side when she spotted the familiar man, “Scaring the kids now?” Continually walking past Izaiah, the fire witch took a seat nearby before turning her attention back to him, “Didn’t think you’d be working the room though. Thought you’d be helping out behind the bar.”

Izaiah turned his head to see his Ren walking by him with a slight smile on her face. At least it seemed like she was having a good time. He gave the kids one last look before he walked away and stood near her. “No, the boss pulled me away from my usual door guarding and put a newbie there. Figured I’d be better off stopping fights from happening out on the floor. You taking the night off from the bar?”