David

𝖂ho would’ve ever thought those of us who were turned on their own terms and volitions may not have the best interests of the few in mind, Michael? Some of our kind are just the same as they were as humans, cold and rotten to the bone, right?

𝕾etting your expectations too high for people often leads to disappointment…and betrayal…I promise you, it’s better to be self-made by you and those you can trust than controlled by someone you can’t.

Oh, you wound me, Michael-is there something you intend to imply about my nature? If so, c’mon…Be a big boy and share it with the class-Implication is its own kind of leech just sucking all of us dry.

𝕴ronic? Is that what you think it is, Michael? ‘Cause if you haven’t forgotten, I seem to remember telling you I was giving you a way out of your troubles, all that you’d have to sacrifice-that if you drank this you’d be “one of us, forever” and you took it. Said you would “like that” too-Don’t say I didn’t tell you what you needed to know ‘cause you didn’t like the hand you dealt yourself there, boy.

𝕸ost of us not turned by force were rarely given the full fine print of it…What it really means to be one of us with all the gory details. You’re not alone in that. Didn’t believe in any of it either until I had to, Michael. Once you start feeling the symptoms of the transformation process there’s no going back to naivety in the dark…

𝕹ever heard of that happening before, Michael. Hmm, would ya care to invite me inside so we can see what you got with that-this strength of yours in action?

The boardwalk was empty and the last few street lights had been turned off a while ago. Victoria sat on the empty stage that was built beside the beach her face bloody from her prior meal. She picked at her nails trying to get the blood and grime off her. She didn’t know why she decided to hang out on the stage or even why she was out this late without the boys but she didn’t know she felt sick after her meal. It wasn’t often she felt like this but her skin was itching, her blood burning under it and her stomach aching probably from something her meal had prior to his death. She knew someone had been watching her, not an actual person or anything but a figure of the night. She didn’t care she knew whoever it was would reveal themselves when needed and she knew it wasn’t anyone wishing her harm. Sooner or later she pulled a joint out her pocket it was a bit crumpled but she didn’t care as the lighter she grabbed lit the paper and the smoke filled her lungs. “What do you want babe?…” the question was so a matter a fact it was almost shocking to her as she asked it out into the dark.

(Anyone else)

“𝕳ope I’m not interrupting anything.” David had come on out from the shadows of the now unlit stage, his body leaning against the scaffolding and cage lazily, expression ever unreadable as always as he pretended to look at his own sharp fingernails instead of at her, flexing them with every word he spoke. In truth, even before he turned his head to get a better look at her, clear-he’d been observing his girl sitting out there all on her own for long enough that it seemed she’d taken notice to him. “Pretty little thing out here…Alone…A tragic sight, isn’t it?” He mused coyly, his eyes unblinking and unnaturally bright even as the stage wasn’t anymore.

The blonde slowly began slithering towards her, his hands behind his back with a friendly smile spread across his face. “Seat beside you taken tonight?” It didn’t matter if it was, he’d already plopped himself down beside her-where he belonged. “Now! If I didn’t know any better I would’ve thought you didn’t want to see me tonight.” Even when she seemed on edge or irritable he couldn’t help himself from pulling on her leg a little, slinging his arm around her with a confident ease he often exuded. “Messy girl.” He crooned, putting his finger under her chin to gently guide her face over towards his. Upon doing so he pulled out a white handkerchief and began wiping away at some of the blood on her face. “Shouldn’t you be with the boys tonight?”

“Theres no need to mother me ya know….” She pulled away from his touch lightly, she knew he’d just grab at her again but this was the game she liked to play with herself, pulling away from the things that love and care for her.

“𝕺h, don’t want you to get lonely…” He looked down at the handkerchief before lightly flicking it at her shoulder, playful, trying to cheer her up in his own kind of way. “Not without any company to maintain.”

“Besides…If I don’t take care of my own then who will?” The way he deadpanned it made it sound like it should’ve been obvious to Victoria too-That what he was doing was for her and her only-that he had her best interests at heart always. “Looks to me like you could you the help, Victoria.”

David coughed, waving the smoke away from him when she blew it in his face. Though buried under all that smoke was laughter, more amused than pissed at her-impressed, really-the kind of trick he would’ve done if he was her too. “Ah, as it would appear.” He patted on her back lightly, pulling her in tighter than before, so tight now it would’ve been bone-crushing if they didn’t have the strength and healing to mend it. “You didn’t answer my question.” His voice grew more serious. “Enough bullshit. It doesn’t suit you. We both know I see through it. I won’t tell if you won’t. Come on…Tell me…Why are you out here alone tonight?” The older vampire sounded almost worried for her, even if he hid those thoughts away by taking the joint out of her hand and taking a puff for himself.

She picked at her skin now the blood since dried on her face and such.

𝕯avid shrugged his shoulder in spite of being entangled with the girl, rolling his eyes with an impish smile. “Ever learn to share?” He teased. “What’s yours is mine.” That roguish prodding of his seemed to all disappear as she continued on speaking. “Don’t we all?” His words stark and sobered.

“Easy to get lost in your mind when you become sentimental…Searching inside for something missing-” His eyes darted away from her as he spoke up.

“There you go!” It didn’t take much for the blonde to drop it…abandon the forlorn in favor of the animated and more-alive…Talking about something he loved in music. “Nice…Plan to play for me? I’d love to hear what you got.”

“You know no matter how much i feed im always still so hungry… which sucks.” She tried wiping the blood on her lips away but the dried blood stayed as she only painfully roughed the skin up “God and it sticks! It always sticks it’s terrible….”

“𝖄ou know I used to play…Guitar. You’ll be able to play without the pain one day too.” He gently grabbed one of her hands in his, rubbing it. “It’s all about feeling the strings, not fighting them…Getting so lost in the sound of your instrument you don’t know if you’ll ever come back to this place…I can teach you.”

“The hunger’s a part of it…Being one of us.” David gave that same hand a gentle squeeze. “Never fully goes away, feeding helps with it, but it only really lasts for so long til you need to eat again…But!” The blonde clicked his tongue. “You learn to ignore the feeling in time. Makes the meal sweeter-more satisfying to eat on an empty stomach than a full one.”

“Hey.” He called out abruptly as she kept trying to clean herself off to worsening effects. “It’s alright. I got you.” David assured her. “I promise you, we’ll take care of it when it won’t hurt as much to do it.”

“You’re right too…. And you know i hate when you’re right…” she sniffled the tears falling to fast to catch as they mixed with the dried blood on her face. The copper smelling liquid now going soft with the wet salty tears.

“𝕹ot any sweeter than you, Toria.” He smiled, something warm and genuine on his lips rarely seen…letting the girl pull away enough to wipe her tears even if he wanted to hold on for longer if he could.

“I’m rarely wrong though, aren’t I?” It was a ridiculous statement to hear out loud said so sincerely it wasn’t hard to see if David really believed in it as much as he did. He tried to wipe away some of the tears off her face himself without it being too painful for her to bear.

The blonde turned his head down, suddenly looking at his shoes like they were the most exciting view in the world while his eyes darted around. “Try to think of it…as the perfect opportunity it is more than the burden it isn’t.” He tried to advise her. “It works better like that.” Once given the chance at a conversation switch he took it to deflect. “Never looked silly to me at all before, girl.” He finally looked back up at her, smiling again. “If you think it’s time to head back we can…” The tone of his voice was patient and coaxing, gentle…like he could wait all night for her if she asked him.

“Could we look for seashells on the way back Echo? I promised Marko id find him some cool ones…” she mumbled on about colors and dynamics of shells.

“𝕬h, well, no time to go like now, huh?” He stood up beside her, their hands still intertwined together. “How are you supposed to enjoy yourself in these exhausting conditions?”

David laughed lightly, the repeated use of the nickname adorable and her wanting to help Marko out even more so. “Can’t say no to you, can I? Not when it’s for a good cause too…”

“Nothing if not known to be a little dramatic in my beauty…Besides, I’d say you look as good as me right now-If only you could see yourself the way I do-”

@santacarlasiren

𝕯avid was sitting in an old, decrepit looking lifeguard chair in need of fixing on the beach under the boardwalk. Whistling to himself after a show as he cleaned that handkerchief he took around everywhere when he heard a girl’s voice call out to him. This wasn’t completely to be unexpected for the vampire, he liked to whistle to keep it from getting too quiet but also as a way of drawing out anyone near. Most people weren’t by the beach this late at night, except the annoying surf nazi kind-and if they were then they were also the type of person to be alone looking for something to find. Always an easy feeding if he’s seen one, even if he’s already fed well for the night. Never could say no to seconds…dessert…In spite of the fact Dwayne had more of a sweet tooth than the platinum blonde ever could.

He adjusted himself in his chair, waving at the girl slowly and coyly like he’d been caught red-handed doing something he shouldn’t be.

“Just wanted a little fresh air.” He grinned, his hand up near his face. “It’s nice down here…” The blonde moved his head, looking around. “Quiet…Nobody around this late but me. Might even get lucky tonight-” Under the boardwalk had a reputation for being where kids went and made out with each other, but the sly expression and the way he sniffed indicated he meant a different kind of lucky.

David rested his arm out on the rickety armrest, fist holding his face. “Shouldn’t I be asking you the same question? Gotta come around here a lot to notice I’m always down here, ah. Never seen you before. Enlighten me.” The vampire pointed at the girl. “Tell me about yourself, stranger…Give me a name to call you by-Least you can do after that little entrance. Now I’m dying to learn more!”

She leaned forward and grinned mischievously. “What, there’s nothing wrong with going for a night swim. The water is warm this time of year.”

The red head leaned in closer like she had a secret to tell. “If you must know, I go by Mallory. I would love to chat, but I’m afraid I’m having a hard time hearing you from all the way over there.”

Draw him in.

“𝔚e all do what we gotta do to pass the time around here.” David shrugged, his arms out wide as he twirled his index finger in a small circle lazily. “Not as fun for the locals as it is for the tourists…”

“Never would’ve known…” The vampire shook his head, face scrunched up slightly with a forced smile. “Oh, not a big swimmer-But, I like watching it…the shore and the sea…the waves. Real reason I’m out here tonight.” His face softens with nostalgia for a different time. “Pretty during the summer, isn’t it?”

The blonde tilted his head, still smiling as he readjusted himself in the chair. “Well, Mallory…” He clicked his tongue. “I’m David,” David put his hand to his chin. “and like I said I don’t dig the water…” He wagged his finger at her slowly. “Shouldn’t I…be asking you…” He beckoned her towards him. “…To come to me…”

The vampire was a lot of things, oblivious wasn’t one of ‘em. Could tell this girl-Mallory was trying to pull something over on him…Can’t trick someone who does these kinds of tricks himself. But, one of the things David was-was bored. Boredom makes people do crazy things. Curiosity of the girl’s real intentions and a hunger for excitement combined with a certain cockiness that she can’t really hurt him led him to indulge in the worst. The blonde always willing to bet his life on a thrill.

With an overdramatic sigh he stood up, slowly climbing down from the chair and walking to the edge of the sea, boots one step away from touching the water if he walked any closer to her. “Alright, can you hear me now?”

“Loud and clear!” She chirped. She scanned him up and down. He looked sharper up close; ready to fight. His eyes gleamed with something predatory. Mallory could smell the faint whiff of blood, but it wasn’t his.

Mallory inched forward slightly, still keeping her bottom half under the water. “Why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself. I don’t want to keep chatting about just me.”

Mallory should just go for the kill. That’s what a normal siren would do. Yet, Mallory ached for knowledge. Most people tried to run when she questioned them, which led to a meal but no answers.

“𝕳aven’t really talked about you at all tonight, have we?” David questioned, a little snarky, a little friendly too…Eyeing her with a kind of suspicion. Took one to know one-someone with a hunger inside but a curiosity to satiate first…picking and playing at a meal.

Didn’t seem so different that way…Him and Mallory-“Lucky for you, you got someone who doesn’t mind indulging in questions, Mallory.” The blonde shrugged with his arms out in front of him, sitting down in the sand now to be closer to eye level with the girl.

“Promise you I’ll clear up any questions you may have.” The vampire did a small scout salute with a smirk for extra measure as he continued on with talking about himself. “Local…Been here a while, in a band on the boardwalk…my brothers and I. Might hear us play sometimes.” Even now David wasn’t above the brag.

Everything he was telling her was all surface level, the kinds of stuff you could’ve figured out on your own if you wanted to. Wouldn’t have told her more than that-Knew Mallory wasn’t someone he could trust.

Didn’t help the girl didn’t smell entirely human either, but neither was she one of them given her choice of water…

“I have heard music, but it sounds strange. What do you use to make it? What are shoes made of? Who’s the guy on the shinny things you people use to barter? What doe-“

“𝖂asn’t expecting those kinds of questions.” The vampire chuckled, taken in by how…utterly clueless the girl was acting about it-going on about day to day human life like it was some big novel concept to her when it wasn’t to him anymore.

“Hmm, well we’ve got…” David held his hand out, counting with his fingers as he went on. “Dwayne on bass, Marko’s on guitar, and Paul on drums. I do the singing…Know what that is Mallory?” He pointed at his lips. “Comes from the mouth. All good things do.” He winked at her, playful-the rest of his responses almost patient with her in spite of it. “Shoes can be made of…many things.” The blonde kicks a little bit of the sand with his boot. “These are leather, made from animals-and it depends on…the currency you’re thinking of. Could be a lot of different people.” He nodded, clicking his tongue.

He grinned as her face grew redder. “Don’t have to get all bashful on me. I can take it. Now! Ever gonna tell me what you are? ‘Cause judging by the questions that haunt you so much I doubt you’re human.”

She listen with rapt attention as David explained other details about humans. Humans wore animal skin? They have multiple currencies?

Then David clocked her. Shit, she was terrible at this. Maybe she should kill him now?

“I can’t do that.” She said in a quiet whisper.

“𝕾hould sing for me sometime then, Mallory.” He grinned smugly. “Show me what you got.”

Within the second of the girl grabbing his wrist David hissed at her like a feral animal would. On natural survival instinct and adrenaline alone he pulled away and kicked the rock she was resting on.

His boot falls into the water once he’s done with her. “Ah! Fuck!” The vampire groans, scrambling away quickly…from the edge of the sea like the water alone was enough to hurt him much less Mallory herself. He sits up enough to assess the damage on his foot, panting.

Then as shocking as it is, he looks back at her. Still grinning ear to ear even as he looks exhausted from the little scuffle they just had.

David claps for her, chuckling. “Almost got me!”The blonde more excited with the attempt at killing him than he ever could be angry at her for it.

They both panted for a bit. He looked happy? Excited? It was electric.

Mallory gave a slow and dramatic bow. She was still shaking with adrenaline. Her stomach knotted and twisted with hunger. He wouldn’t go down easy. He was a wild thing.

“No one’s ever gotten away from me before. I should be the one applauding you.”

𝖂hen Mallory bowed, he kept on clapping. “Bravo! Bravo!” He cheered her on. Couldn’t stop himself from a little monster-monster appreciation. Knew how…impressive the trick she pulled was, would’ve been done for if he wasn’t waiting on it.

By the time that boot hit ‘em the burning wounds on his leg had already begun to heal and close up…and in their place new ones came.

It’s…Lucky it’d all be over soon. Didn’t make it easier for him in the moment. With a deep breath and a level of…determination mixed with a natural lack of survival instinct he grabbed the boot and began putting it back on.

“Guess I did get lucky tonight.” David chirped. “Never forget your first.”

“Really think you can pull me under, ah? Got a little…fight in me. Slippery-Hmm, I’d like to see you try.” He taunted, daring the girl to try again if she could as he laced up his boot back up. “Take it your meal of choice then is more…” The blonde sniffled. “Cannibalistic?” The vampire clicked his tongue. “Still haven’t told me what you are yet…Trust me, Mallory-I can keep a secret.” He grinned.

David’s face slowly hardened, voice growing colder as he spoke. “All beings need to eat something to survive. Do what you gotta do to get it. Nothing taboo in that. Just the way it is. I know what that’s like more than you’ll ever know.”

“My taste is far from Cannibalistic.” The red head looked at David. He didn’t seem to care if it was cannibalism. Maybe he too ate humans? Which would mean he isn’t one.

“Fine, I’ll bite.” Mallory huffed. With her arms, she hoisted her body out of the water to sit on the rocks. She tried to be careful not to splash the leather clad boy, but there may have been a few drops.

Her tail draped at an awkward angle on the rocks. She had to be careful of her spines and fins. Her gills on her stomach fanned open and closed.

𝕯avid takes a long, hard look at her-Really taking it in…Her tail and gils…

“Guess that explains why you needed me…to come to you.” The blonde chuckled, not in shock at all. Seen a siren or two before in his time-always a handful the fishes were.

After he finished up tying his shoes he stood up again, brushing the sand off his coat and walking back closer to the water-regrettably knowing better than getting close enough for her to touch him again.

“Could’ve just said so…” David continued, putting his index finger to his chin-gazing at her with a kind of curiosity and clinical coldness. He tilted his head, beaming at her.

“C’mon…I don’t bite.”

Mallory floundered off the rock, hitting the water gracelessly. When she surfaced she was breathless, trying to steady herself again.

“He… hehe. Maybe you were right. Fuck. Not very powerful of me.”

𝕯avid cackled when she hit the water lacking in grace, was about as far away from a friendly sound as you could think of…something much crueler in its cadence.

“You ok there, Mallory?” Would’ve forgotten he’d just about almost died from how he was acting now…So smug and in control of the situation again.

He shook his head at her and clicked his tongue. “Now that’s gonna leave a nasty mark on ya before it heals.” His grin grew wider, basking in a teasing sadism.

Didn’t find the fall embarrassing from her but more-hysterical in its execution…A sea monster that couldn’t keep up her own balance. Wasn’t so scary now-even if she’d never been scary to him at all in the first place.

“𝕯on’t want that, do you?” He observed as she filled her hands up with more water. “Take it you need that shit?” He pointed at her, waving his finger around. “Never stop breathing, Mallory…Gotta keep a lot of water in those lungs-”

“Course I did…See ‘em all the time…” David retorted, harpoons got nothing on a stake or silver…or a cross…“Must be out there fishing for a real kind of catch…” The blonde nodded with wide eyes before looking at his fingernails. “Easy to see sirens are just big fish anyway…”

𝕯avid looked up from his nails, expression almost bored looking, not seeing any issue in what he said at all. Was…hard to offend the vampire in a way he’d ever let show on the outside. “Don’t take it personally.” He responded dryly, smoothing out the side of his hair. “Must’ve touched a nerve there…” The blonde chuckled, acting like this was all some kind of joke to him. “Such sensitive creatures, right?”

“Ah, someone’s nosy…Curious kind…” He snarked condescendingly, like an adult talking down to a child-“Take it from me: bad things happen to the curious ones.” It was clear to see a thinly veiled threat in his words. “Why should I tell you anything…about me? Already said I don’t like water. Should’ve been enough to know.”

In a moment, her back was turned on him and her tail was raised high in the air. It came down with a large thump, water sprayed in a wave onto the blonde. Seconds later, Mallory was right onto of David. She was out of the water, but the now wet rock was enough to sustain her for a while.

𝕹ot hard to see that David was unhappy with all that water splashing all over him.

His whole body was burning and he had the marks to prove it. His hands and face were covered in all kinds of unmistakable burns, smoke erupting from a couple of the deepest ones, eyes glowing a startling yellow…Far from the natural bodily response to a little water…David didn’t scream or cry. but his hand was clenched up tightly into a fist-face cringing from the pain even if he didn’t want to show it. “Wear it like a badge of honor, huh? Doesn’t look like you lead with that tonight.” He grinned, left eye twitching a bit with a right mix of agony and the madness of trying to keep it together in front of her.

Against his own preference, the burns started to heal all on their own at an inhuman speed, only giving Mallory more ammunition as to what he was. “Some monsters don’t want to be known…found, Mallory.”

It made sense now.

“I’ve heard stories passed down from generation. Stories of pirates who would kill their whole crew and throw their bloodless corpses into the sea. Stories of men who burned in the rain but never seemed to die.”

Mallory peered back into those yellow eyes. They shined with something feral, just like hers did.

“𝕬h, look at you…All knowing now. Know what a vampire is but don’t know what shoes are made of, Mallory? Priorities…priorities…”

Even when backed up into a corner like this, David wasn’t one to go down without any kind of fight.

“Been around a long time…Never pillaged or plundered the sea…” The freshly revealed vampire swung his fist in the air mockingly. “Not my style…More of a land lover.” He waved his hand-and the thought at large away. “Never said shit about what you eat, Mallory.” The blonde corrected, wagging his finger at her with a smug look spread across his face. “Just messing around about what you are. Didn’t know that wasn’t fair game…”

“Maybe you dodged a bullet cause of my resistance…Can’t imagine I taste very good that way…Already cold and dead before you even get to drag me down under…”

David blinked a couple of times, trying to get his eyes to return to their more-“natural” appearance. “I’ll keep your secret as long as you keep mine, fair’s fair. No need for fighting between us…”

“I think knowing about fellow hunters is more important than the shit humans wear in their feet.” The siren tried to move back a bit but wasn’t getting anywhere. “And I could still eat you. Dead or alive, your body is still food.”

Mallory wanted to keep fighting, but she knew she couldn’t right now. She had to get back in the water.

“𝕮an try all you want, Mallory. I admire the dedication and all but, I’m not scared of you. I never will be.”

“Not personal either…” He shrugged to the side coyly with his eyebrows up…trying to look small and sweet instead of the hunter they both knew he was. “Not scared of anything.” He gestured at her with an open palm. “Haven’t been in a long time.” David closed his palm up for extra measure.

“Aw, looks like you’re running out of air again…” The blonde smirked, index finger touching his thumb. “Might wanna do something about that.”

“Keep up a low profile? Oh, Mallory!” He leaned to the other side lazily, gesturing out in front of him. “Already told you…I’m in a band that plays on the boardwalk. Most of the town knows who I am…Don’t you see? Food doesn’t have to be hunted for-It comes to me all on its own…Someone they know they can trust…”

She was going to die.

“Look, I get that you’re some big man up here, so I’ll keep my lips shut as long as you do the same.” Her voice came out quickly, panic slowly rising.

She turned around to look at her tail. There was the issue. One of her fins must have gotten lodged under the rock.

Damn it.

Mallory tried to raise her tail, the fin not giving. She had to keep going. Her body screamed for her to stop. She couldn’t. Not in front of him.

“𝖄ou’re in pain, Mallory.”

David was stating the obvious as much out loud. He was grinning with an almost sadistic and feverish delight at the girl’s panicking, not taking her suffering seriously in the slightest while the pleasure in it took its hold. But, basking in it like it was a kind of karma and consequence for what she’d done to him moments ago.

Once he realized the fin had ripped his look shifted. Jaw tightening, face scrunched up a bit eyes so wide they might as well be bulging out of his own head.

He turned away from her while she fought back her cries, moving his jaw.

When he looked back at her, he began to recompose himself up a little. Taking a deep breath and relaxing like his reaction before had never happened at all.

“You ok there, Mal? Can I call you Mal?” Wasn’t like him to worry…about strangers…but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t wanna know before he went.

“That isn’t my name, but I’m in no position to tell you what you can and can’t do.” She let out a dry laugh. That laugh ended with a cough and a hiss.

The siren resumed her effort to push herself back. The rock was very dry now. Scales scraped against the hard stone, making a sound similar to glass shattering. Bits of orange and white covered in red followed her like a trail.

Mallory collapsed a few feet from the edge. Her body was on fire. Her lungs were screaming for the ocean.

“𝕯on’t look fine to me…” David rotated his neck in a small circle, whistling. “Neither do you sound fine either, friend.” The blonde vampire took a sniff of the air. “I can smell it, you know-the blood coming from you tearing yourself apart to look all tough in front of me…”

“Flattered…But, unnecessary.” He kept on going. Never seemed to know when to stop, even when it should’ve been obvious to. Maybe that or he just didn’t care as much about it as he should-He slowly walked closer to her, daring to risk it all cause she was already in so much pain.

“Here…Tell me if there’s anything I can do to…assist in your recovery.” David sneered, holding his hand out to her, already prepared for if she tries to drag him back down again. “How long will it take to heal you right up?”

“Can you even heal yourself from an injury like that, Mallory?”

“𝕳ey, Mallory…” He walked even closer, finally stopping at the edge of the water. “Don’t focus on the pain…I know that’s easier said than done…Focus on me.”

“Night walkers? You make it sound so…scary-The night is…Nice…You get used to it.” David smiles fondly, taken away by his thoughts. “Not much left to be afraid of anymore…” The blonde vampire snapped his fingers and ran back up to get his handkerchief. “Here…” He tried to hand it to her. “Do you think you can apply proper enough pressure on it yourself or…do I have to?”

He was helping, believe it or not. Their banter was keeping her focused on something other than the pain (she was still very much aware of the pain, but she wasn’t freaking out about it as much).

“𝕯on’t have a lot of those, just the one…” He held up the handkerchief and shook it in the air a little for dramatic effect. “We got a beach towel nearby at least…” He pointed over at a garish looking towel most likely left there and forgotten by a tourist.

David scrunched his nose up, narrowing one of his eyes, and scratching his head to pretend to think about her demand. “Mmm, can’t imagine your blood would taste all that good, Mallory. Must be mostly seaweed down in there…” He turned his head, going back to teasing, after all she did start it this time which encouraged him to keep going at it as a needed distraction.

“Besides, siren bonfire’s got a ring to it…Even if it’s not preferred by me…Not as fun when you’re dead…”

𝕯avid didn’t have to be ordered around twice, not when he could tell how much she needed him to do it…All he had to do was follow through…And so he did-

“If you insist.” He shrugged, shoving Mallory back into the water with a significant enough force. Trying to hide his concern for her as he does so behind a little violence in the shove-“Now! Feeling better at all…Mallory? Could always shove you again for extra measure if needed…” The blonde took a deliberate step back from the water, hands behind his back in case she tried to pull anything on him again.

Mallory didn’t speak. She was embarrassed, not only for her predicament but for the way she acted.

“I apologize. Like I said, sirens are proud creatures. We would die over something like a name.” She grimaced inwardly. “I thought I was better than that. I guess old habits die hard.”

The red head put a hand on her fin. The bleeding would slow.

𝕯avid’s nose flared up from all the blood entering the water, the flow of crimson he would’ve desired more than anything in the world in any other situation if it hadn’t been in the water. So the predatory vampire relented-even so he had promised, albeit jokingly-not to take a taste of the siren and he intended to keep it even as difficult as it was right now. A man of his word, David was…

The blonde occupied the tense silence by watching the girl with that familiar smile even as the scent burned into him with every ounce of hunger it carried.

“There’s no need for apologies. The only one of us that really got hurt here was yourself.” Noticeably the vampire didn’t apologize to her for, well, antagonizing her in the first place. “Pride is a…dangerous thing, Mallory.” He narrowed his eyes, nodding his head.

“All that pride’s gonna get ya hurt again someday if you don’t do something about it in time.”

“Hmm, guess it is, isn’t it? Don’t really have to breathe anymore…Not with my own afflictions-haven’t had to in long enough but it’s instinct…Never really did stop breathing.”

“𝕿ell me about it…Been living here a long time, Mallory…Got the exhaustion on my face to prove it too.” He pointed at the eyebags under his eyes with a kind of self-deprecation that was drowned out in his own ego and irony. It was unknown to him if they came from what he was now or what he was before…Knew better than to think about it so he waved his hand instead…

David laughed at that last part. “What I wouldn’t give to put my legs in the water again without them burning all up into just ash and smoke.” It was a joke with a quiet longing to it beneath the surface, one he’d never easily admit to since he takes “pride” in his own vampirism more than anything. When she flicked that rock at him he hissed, sticking his tongue out at her and giving her the shoulder playfully. “Now that wasn’t really all that necessary of you, Mallory.”

𝕸allory’s laugh was enough to garnered the vampire to take a step back, hunched over with a disapproving expression as he kicked the air in front of him. “Don’t have to compare me to a wet cat like that.” He slowly smoothed out the side of his hair with furrowed brows. “My kind burns under water I could swim just fine in life. Not that it really even matters anymore.”

That question alone was enough to make the blonde take a pause to really think on it…“Well, my heart used to beat…Air necessary then, had to breathe…Still hungry but the hunger was less than it is now. Body warm to the touch knowing one day it wouldn’t be warm anymore-That one day you’ll grow old and die and you’ll be alone when you do…” David put his fist to his cheek, sounding almost nostalgic for another time-the time where he was alive. Deliberately trying to dodge the more difficult question at hand: what it had been like for him to be human and who he was when he was one of the living and not immortal.

𝕯avid turned away from the siren at her request to probe his life…Crossing his arms before finally saying something to her about it. “This world chills us to the bone…Not much for family if you can’t choose it for yourself.”

His words carried an ache in them. “Thought I could be free, never got that far until I was already gone…But, now I do have a family. I found my brothers-who’d do anything for me and I’d do the same for them too.” That ache went away and in its place something more fond and wistful grew in his chest instead. “All alone out here, Mallory?” Fair was fair, if she was gonna mess around in his life he got to pry in hers too.

“Do you see any other sirens around here? No?” Mallory made a clicking noise in the back of her throat, a sound that seemed to help her focus.

𝕯avid’s eyes, now far away from the siren girl looked back up at the sky too. Taking in all the pretty stars as he tried to shake off the scars of the past she asked him to open up for her.

As Mallory began speaking to him about her past, the vampire slowly started to turn back around to her.

“Everyone’s got opinions on who you are and what you should be.” He sympathized with her and what she was saying to him. “Doesn’t make any of ‘em true, does it?” David moved closer to her. “I know what it’s like to feel that way…Alone…Scared…Looking for anyone who’d care about me. They say you can’t choose your family, Mallory. I say, it’s easier when you never even had a family to lose.” He grabbed her hand, hissing slightly from how wet it was. “Already got me for starters.”

She bears jumped out of her skin when David grabbed her hand. She could smell his burning flesh. “I tried to kill you not even an hour ago and you wish to call me family?” Her eyes were wide with dilated pupils. Her spines stood on edge. This must be a trick, right?

𝕯avid’s pity for Mallory only grew and grew the longer she spoke. “You’ve lost a lot. Sacrifices had to be made on your path to actualization…”

The vampire saw Mallory in all the lost souls he collected, in himself he saw her too. Another one in need and he wasn’t anything if not a giver-“Families aren’t always as simple as they look, Mallory. The worst of ‘em…Well, the leave bruises and scars that might never heal.”

“But, look at me…A forgiving kind of person…” David held up his hands that had been burned before by her. “I’m all healed up now. Bet I can heal you too. Always the ones who think they’re worth the least that are worth the most. The types I invest my time into…”

“𝕹o need for technicality, Mallory.” David was amused by how literally the siren took everything he said-so proficient and smart yet oblivious in regards to human life with her quirks…“Always are so literal. I meant the more…subtextual kind of healing. We don’t all wear are pain on our bodies. Some of it is more…inside of us. That’s the healing only I can assist you in…Provide for you. And family isn’t always genetic either. My family was found…Yours can be too. Just haven’t…found it yet. Trust me, me and my boys love new friends.”

“Not much you can offer me.” He said dryly. “On account of your permanence out at sea.” The platinum blonde clicked his tongue, holding his index finger up. “But!” He put his hands behind his back, tapping his foot expectantly. “As kind of a boy as I am I never would say no to assistance from you whenever I needed it. Though that is what a family’s for…Looking after each other. I’ll look after you so long as you’ll look after me, starfish girl.”

“𝖄ou’re cynical, scared…Have all these about family you don’t understand-Don’t trust so easily either now, do you?” The hope in the siren girl that things were looking up, could finally go her way wasn’t lost on David. “Issues running deep in the family will do it to you-give you no way of knowing who to trust in the world…”

“The boys and I have our own…eccentricities. We’re not all the same as close as we are. We may have our disagreements and bicker like boys do, ways we clash-but we never really stay apart for long. What we have is about as perfect as it can be, Mallory. Wouldn’t have it either if we didn’t take that risk for ourselves. All you have to do to have that too is try…Let me…do the rest.”

But, she trusted David. Despite everything that has transpired, she trusted him.

“𝕾o, we got a deal!” David put his arms up in the air with excitement before clasping his hands together in front of him.

“Trust me, Mallory you won’t regret this little truce between us-it’s all for the good of you and me! You’ll be able to see it too eventually…”

“Normally I’d agree to shake on it…” The blonde said affably, punching his own chest. “Seal the deal and let bygones be. But! Well, looks like we do have ourselves a problem...” He snickered.

“𝕿here we go!”

“A nice…proper handshake for two new pals like us.” David took Mallory’s hand and gave it a firm and tight shake, moving their arms up and down in a swinging motion as he did it.

𝕰ventually the blonde caught on to all the ways in which Mallory was oblivious to how to end a handshake…Letting go of her himself to spare her the further indignities if he could. Though that didn’t stop a smile fighting from creeping on up on his face anyway now, did it?

“Like a school of fish we swim together, Mallory…My boys in me. We’re all a family. Dwayne, Marko, and Paul-sing together, feed together, like all families do.”

𝕯avid’s brows furrowed, nose scrunched up…eyes narrowing a little bit too as he slowly began talking again. “Oh, live in the old iron works factory near Coronado Bluff, overlooking the hill…Probably don’t know it given your…” He waves his hand, gesturing at her. “Condition…A hundred years ago, hmm-give or take a two, the earthquake hit it-those who didn’t die from the disaster itself were trapped. Ended up killing just about everyone inside it…” The vampire’s voice trailed off, head down as his own eyes darkened before he deflected away from it.

“Star…is different. Not one of us yet. Not all the way. But, she will be in time.”

The way David spoke about it, the way his mind seemed to be trapped in the factory.

𝕯avid’s shoulders went up at the question about the earthquake, already giving himself away-more than he would’ve liked if he could’ve helped it…He was blinking more, eyes darting around at anywhere but at the siren as his hands fidgeted.

“Been around a long time, Mallory.” He looked back up her before looking back down again. “Was there for a lot of things…”

“Wonder away about it all you want now.” The blonde said dismissively. “It doesn’t matter.” He smiled at nothing, but neither did it quite reach the depth of his eyes. “I’m not weighted down by the tragedy of the world, a tragedy that’s not mine to bear and carry.”

𝕯avid rolled his eyes, tugging on a strand of hair framing his face that had flown out before looking back at Mallory with a bored expression and tired eyes.

“Didn’t know sharing was two-fold, Mallory.” His lips curved upwards into a forced smile, would’ve looked like he was gritting his teeth-“You’re prying…” He drawled slowly. “Into things you don’t understand and don’t need to.” He didn’t appreciate the call out at all as he flexed his fingers instinctively. “If I had known I wouldn’t have paid a mind at all.”

“𝕹ot insulting anything, Mallory.” He corrected her, wagging his finger at her with a kind of condescending air about him as he kept on going in spite of the girl’s exhaustion. “You’re a smart girl…” He drew a small circle in the sand with his boot as he spoke, kicking a little bit of it up and in the air. “Wouldn’t waste my time talking to anyone not worth it…Not smart or challenging.”

“Your apology is well accepted.” He clasped his hands in front of him with a loud clap to it. “I’m a forgiving man.” David boasts without a trace of humility in sight. “Not one to hold a grudge unless made to…”

“𝕬nd smart you are!” He pointed emphatically with mock enthusiasm before clasping his hands together. In truth, David looked bored-always did. Seemed to be his natural way of looking-both interesting in everything and nothing, bored by all even if he wasn’t. Hard to tell what was real and what wasn’t with him. Must’ve driven everyone he knew crazy.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Stubbornness is the key to survival. It keeps people like you or me alive when the world wants us dead. Trust me, Mallory I’ve already taken flight in more ways than one.”

“𝖂ell, if you wanted to see if I could fly…” The blonde took a step back, ringing his arms and stretching his neck theatrically before taking off and floating up above the siren and the sea.

Dangerous and reckless, wasn’t it? If he fell he might as well have been grilling himself from the inside out but, pride and hubris overtook survival instinct. A need, not want to show off to Mallory. “Would’ve been willing to lift you out of the sea if only you weren’t so fragile.” He sneered at her snidely. “Don’t wanna see you get hurt, friend.”

𝕯avid waved at her from above as she marveled at him, the pride inside him only…expanding under her praising. “Glad you like what you see then, Mallory.” He hummed.

“Freedom in a flying state.” The vampire agreed. “Has its benefits, as you can see…One of ‘em…At least…What we’d all do to soar above those of us still weighed down by the world…”

𝕯avid’s eyes widened, dark brows lifting, and a smug lopsided smile spread across his face-looking impressed in his own way.

“Guess that answers my question of how far you’re willing to swim away from here.” He nodded, eyes glimmering with delight. “Australia, huh? Land of kangaroos and the plague.” His fingers moved with every word he spoke, though his smirk never once moved in all the dramatics. “It feels nice, doesn’t it? Knowing nothing in this world can stop you when you feel like this…Sounds to me like you know the feeling…”

“𝕱ellow land liver of only the herbivore and hind leg walking variety.” He recited with humdrum, waving his hand before placing it under his chin and turning his head up at her. “Keep their young in a pouch…”

“Right…Only something I can do…Something you can’t do too.” He clapped enthusiastically with a chuckle hearing the siren use the expression properly, like a kindergarten teacher would for a student. “Good girl. I’m many things and lucky is definitely one.”

“𝕳ow can you blame me, Mallory?” He responded. “There’s nothing wrong with taking pride in your…accomplishments is there?” The vampire was many things, humble rarely one and he knew it.

When the seaweed makes impact, David hisses again before putting one of his hands up in front of him. “Point taken…” He snarked. “Learn to enjoy a joke, friend. That’s all it really was. Wasn’t worth the assault by sea.”

“𝖂ouldn’t dish what I can’t eat for the world.” He corrected her on her wording, slightly off in its attempt but almost there, right? “If you think what this is-is some kind of ‘hissy fit’ then you really don’t know anything of humanity at all, Mallory. We’re known for our dramatics…” David rolled his eyes at her own hissing. “Cat boy?” The blonde repeated, clicking his tongue. “Butttt why?” He tried to feign innocence, flicking his wrist. “Now-you don’t have to be so prickly, girl. All that water must make you clammy.”

The vampire didn’t even try to hide the smirk on his face. “Only thing I’m scared of is whatever noises you’re trying to make at me…And badly too, if you can take the criticism which it seems you can’t.”

𝕯avid let out a cold chuckle, joining in with the girl’s more silent kind of laughter even if there was no amusement to be found in his voice.

“Careful, Mallory…” He coaxed at her sweetly. “There’s rarely ever a reason to quarrel…To call me names…Especially…when I haven’t done anything to deserve it. Not only do ‘kitties’ hiss but they bite too.” He shook his head with the thinly veiled venom and threat-his smile so tight it must’ve looked painful to see when spread across his face.

“𝕹ah, I’m sure.” There was an irreverent shrug to the things he said. “Serious as can be.”

He gave the photographer a lazy salute. “Scout’s honor…Swear on my own life…” David traced a small “X” over his unbeating heart with his clawed finger... “Cross my heart…” Before flicking that same index finger up at the sky, his head tilting up gently towards it too. “Hope to die.” The way he said it, with a small snicker though not insincere, almost made it sound like an inside joke between two friends, both of which couldn’t ever die…

“Wouldn’t lead you astray on purpose. Nor would I lie. Doesn’t benefit either of us now, does it? All it seems to do is waste our time and we’ve got plenty of it to waste already, friend.”

For all his playfulness and joviality, his words carried a seriousness and their own weight in them. When it came to someone of his cryptic and hard to read nature the moments that always stuck out the most were the ones that were more sobered up. The moments where the older vampire just said it like it was, as rare as those moments were-often buried under the mind games and pretty lies he spun for anyone who listened to his hypnotic and lulling speech.

It was one of the starkest differences between the other boys and their leader, that colder stoicism hiding away beneath the smiles and snide remarks. Wasn’t hard to tell he was the oldest…The most experienced and scarred by life-Nor the reason why he was the one followed…From the way he talked to the way he moved there was something artificial and ancient about him, yet deceptively young and vibrant too. Conflicting, might’ve been the right word to describe it…

In spite of the ways he was prone to self-obsession and pride, David had already made his mind up tonight was about Val in the moment, selflessness wrapped up in his thinly veiled selfishness…In truth everything to David was about himself in one way or another, even if it didn’t look like it…Now it was too-this was about his own entertainment and assessment on his new friend as much as it was about her own issues. Even if he did want to see her cheered up more genuinely, those thoughts were in the back to seat to his own desires for the evening always.

The ambient silence of the boardwalk was a usual kind of sound for the platinum blonde. Never did take well to silence really…David didn’t. But this was a welcome one…A familiar one. People playing their own games-in a more literal sense trying to win a prize out of life, the drunks and addicts looking for a fix, it was off-kilter and shady, never knowing what was lurking beyond your glance. It was desensitization in its rawest and most distilled and untouched, but it was home to him now…Comfortable.

Maybe that’s what made it all so dull now to his unblinking and glazed over eyes all things considered.

Upon the clinking noise being acknowledged, David didn’t say anything at first. He’d heard it before it was mentioned but instead took to the rhythm, feeling it pulsating across his enhanced hearing and body. A tick of hers he looked to relish more than detest. “Nice set you got.” He admired her bracelets. Pretty, metal, and clunky-just like how he and the boys liked them too…Had similar pairs for that reason. “It’s normal, you know…We all hold on to parts of ourselves we know we shouldn’t…Chasing our own normalcy again. Isn’t always easy to let go-”

David gestured at the set of keys he wore around his own neck, though they made less noise they were ever present in most of his outfits, on stage or otherwise. Not easy to unsee when attention was brought to them.

At the promise, Val felt the corners of her lips twitch upwards into a smile. Damn it all, somehow he knew the best way to put her mind at ease. He casual, relaxed about the matter - it was something she shouldn’t have been jealous over, but yet, she was.

As the two of them walked, her eyes briefly glanced down to the keys around David’s neck. The collection was impressive, to say the least, but they weren’t just novelty items. They looked old, worn… almost like they’d been actively used as actual keys. There was the occasional shine from use, yes, but that left her wondering how long he had been part of this life.

“Good to know some habits never die. Least, this way, I don’t have to explain much about my own.”

Or maybe she did. Better yet, maybe she could. David had been around Santa Carla far longer than she had, probably - he had years, maybe even decades of living in countless places. He probably knew far more vampires than she did. Like the ones he wore around his neck, maybe he could help provide a key to the truth.

“...lost one of ‘em, you know.”

No turning back now. She’d already said more than she would’ve liked around David - what was yet another truth of hers that he would know about?

“It was the first thing I bought myself in Santa Carla, too. Looked like it had a… a buncha chains all wrapped around my wrist, but it was all one piece. And the sound it made whenever I walked around? Fuck, I actually miss it.”

Idly, she turned her wrist one way, then the other. The way the metal clinked against one another was there, yes, but the chains were noticeably lacking. There wasn’t any sort of depth to the sounds, nothing like that first true purchase of hers.

“No matter where I wore it, I felt safe. Like I was walking to my own rhythm. Then I lost it ‘round the night I… became half.”

𝕬t seeing Val smile, David did too…There wasn’t much he wanted more out of the night not for himself than the photographer to be at more of an ease, which she looked to be now…At least, more than she was before when they started talking about these things…Before he’d given her a promise as strong as their bond.

He felt her eyes looking down at the keys around his neck after he brought attention to them-the familiar but faint jingling sound with every step they walked…The noise of different kinds of metals clashing and colliding that didn’t quite go together but looked like they did on the surface-in the last century of life the platinum blonde had lived many different places and lives, each key a memory of a time and a memento he kept in spite of what he preached with volume-Some things too just sentimental and close to part with.

“Shouldn’t have to explain yourself to anyone, Val…You’re not looking for trouble by just existing as yourself in the world.”

“People who care don’t matter.” The older vampire’s face tensed a little as he spoke again, a subtle painful flinch of experience always better not to draw attention to…“Think how much happier you’d be if you didn’t worry so much what everyone thought and just…were.” That was the way he lived, the way he taught all his boys to live-even if it rang so hollow when brought into comparison with the subtle flinches and the ways his eyes darted away when questioned about something too close to him.

Though his attention was turned away from that when Val brought up her missing bracelet.

David listened quietly…with interest, he was good at it when he wanted to be. Taking in every word spoken to him regardless of how he reacted to it on the surface.

He maintained a cold stoicism through the whole discussion, never letting it slip to Val too much what he thought about what she was saying…If hearing her made him feel vulnerable himself in his past or not-Instead keeping his hands in his pockets and looking ahead of him.

“A tragedy…” He said at last, his fingers now playing with the keys as he spoke. “Easy to lose things around here…Don’t know what I would’ve done if it was mine…A rhythm broken up might be the saddest sound there is.” Ever the problem solver, David snapped his fingers abruptly. “We can try to buy you another one…”

“We’ve got time for replacements…Or you could have one of mine-if that’ll make you feel you whole again.”

Since starting his undead life, Marko had been expressive. His heart was worn on his sleeve, emotions displayed on his face with no intent to obscure them like others did. His hobby of sewing had become a habit of making his own clothes and accessories...his gender presentation yet another way he expressed himself. While his style often settled somewhere between masculine and feminine, with features of both...other times, it would swing entirely into either extreme.

That day was a 'heavy-leaning feminine' one. He had spent some time in front of the mirror in his room perfecting his makeup; pale pink eyeshadow, black mascara, eyeliner, a soft pink blush and darker pink lipstick. It softened his already gentle face, he thought, pleased with himself when it finally looked flawless.

The outfit was next. It had been a lucky find in one of the many clothing stalls on the boardwalk: a flowing, pastel pink dress with white dots, which had only needed a few adjustments to fit his frame. The hem swished around his knees as he gave a twirl in the mirror, fixing the off-shoulder short sleeves and adjusting the large white bow in his golden curls.

Though pleased with himself, even Marko would admit the shoes were...challenging. They were pretty, absolutely; white, heeled ankle-boots with little hearts carved into them, but they had taken some...adjusting and practice to walk in without tripping. He would have to ask Rose how on earth girls danced in heels.

It was only when he left his room that Marko's smile faded a little.

Despite how pretty he felt, the thoughts that crept in said differently. He had never presented quite this feminine and soft before in front of the others. It was a complete change in style, something...cute and sweet and helpless. What if the others laughed? Or just politely dismissed him? Or ignored him?

No...he couldn't think like that, Marko told himself, walking with his head held high and a little sway to his hips. It would be fine.

Everything would be...fine.

𝕺ne thing David never liked to do was stifle the creativity of his brothers. The appearances they kept up as a group more…coincidence than expectation from him. Freedom, meant freedom of expression as well. Not being bogged down by fashion conventions…rules. He wasn’t judging, neither was he purposely disparaging in that way…More of a supporter than one of those with critiques of how each of them looked…He knew better than most the way the world was…Willing to chew up and spit out anyone who wasn’t like the mold set.

The platinum blonde had been watching his lover get ready for a while…Far enough away from the boy to hopefully not go noticed for staring. It was a habit of David’s…Observant, his nature for hunting and innate curiosity turning to people watching. Wouldn’t take him for a stalker in his mind, just someone clearly interested in the lives of others.

Eventually he chose to make his presence known by letting out a wolf-whistle at Marko, the kind of whistle that conveyed an interest in appearances, one which he had…The two-note glissando doing the talking for him. “Look at that…” The older vampire slowly stalked his way near with that conniving posture he always had, taking in the outfit, the makeup, those boots, all of it the curly blonde had chosen to exude for the day…“Aren’t you sweet?”

It wasn’t a secret at all that Marko’s always been the most…fluid in those freedoms of expression he’d been given. Wore his heart on the sleeves he made…For the pigeons he loved, the family he cherished-his partners he held onto and adored-this counted for his fashion too, never knew what you were going to get but well, David always enjoyed the surprise.

“Heard around there was a princess just looking for her prince?”

His finger was twirling a strand of longer hair in the back of his head flirtatiously, matching the saccharine smile on his face. Though his eyes were warm with a kind of quiet and stoic approval of the way the other vampire had chosen to take dress. Not as loud about it as Dwayne would’ve been if asked, but the thought was there. There’s few things he liked more than seeing Marko in his own element…Free, and showing himself off to the world.

Having experience with female courting of the previous generations and letting it show, David took Marko’s hand and slowly twirled him, careful to catch him by the waist so he wouldn’t fall in the heels.

“You’re so beautiful…”

The older blonde put his head on the younger’s shoulder, humming in a sweet type of awe.

The gentle spin, the hand on his waist. The younger blonde's smile hurt his cheeks at it all, a soft giggle coming from his chest. Within the moments of David finding him; he had gone from being weighed down by small nagging worries like needles pricking his fingers, to feeling like he was walking on clouds and his heart was beating once again. His partners always had that effect on him, Marko gladly bringing his free hand to entwine with David's, pressing close to him and tilting his head. It would let the older smell more of his scent, to nuzzle more against him.

“𝕿ry not to cry too hard, Marko.” David said, almost like he could read the pretty boy in his grasp’s mind…Which he all but might’ve been. “Wouldn’t want you to mess up all that makeup…So well-applied, isn’t it?” It took a steady hand to apply something as well as Marko did, knew perfection like that wasn’t easy…It took effort and sacrifice to build.

When Marko moved for him to, the older vampire took a deep inhale…Trying with all his might and all he could to get the best smell of his partner in this state. Curious…more than a little, wasn’t he? If the golden blonde had put on any perfumes-even if the enhancement of their sense of smell already gave way for him to smell every cosmetic spread across the gentle face he loved…Though no product under the sun could hide away the familiarity of his scent…Oh, it made him sentimental every time he got even the smallest whiff of it, like a blanket near a fire…Cozy and secure while the cold world took a backseat to them-

“Know all kinds of things about all there is, sweetheart.” He winked before gently grabbing his love’s hand and holding it up for him to kiss. “Back when I was alive there was more…rules and stipulations on mating…and how to find the one to have forever with.” David dipped Marko.

𝖂ouldn’t hurt a fly for the world, Star. It’s the other things around that might draw worry instead…

Max hadn't been the best father to his boys. He knew that now, had come to that painful realisation some time ago. In his effort to 'raise' them as best he could, to be independent and resourceful, he had only pushed them away, driven them to despise him. It was his own fault, he knew, his own selfish and short-sighted acts...hence, why he had been trying his best to repair things.

A long talk with David one night on the boardwalk some time ago had...began that process. It had led him to now, where he had actually gone to one of the bands' weekly shows. Max had known about his boys becoming a band, of course, but had never actually attended before; rock music wasn't his 'thing', he found it too loud, and the entire punk scene was utterly foreign to him.

Feeling completely out of his depth, Max managed to get a good viewing spot near the front of the stage. He knew David would see him anyway, he would be a fool thinking he could hide, so may as well get close. It meant less people crowded him, more focused on the band...and meant a better view with his handheld camcorder.

𝕯avid hadn’t expected to see Max out in the crowd that night…Another Saturday night in Santa Carla always promised a show for him and the boys and never once had the older man in glasses shown up to one before. Made aware of the band and their practices, yes, in attendance? No-Wouldn’t have expected anything different from him…Typical Max being behind the times with more demure tastes than his eldest.

So, imagine the surprise it was when the platinum blonde’s eyes were met with the camcorder towards the front of him. Typically if a fan was caught filming he’d blow the lens a kiss or a wink…Ever basking in the crowd who adored him…But! Well, something about it being his old man filming made David feel almost shy again-like a young boy who’s dad had shown up for his big recital…Didn’t stop him from following through with the rest of his lewd and sultry show routine, always careful to never look at the man that made him as he did so.

𝄞⨾𓍢ִ໋

“Usually thought of our fans as a younger breed than you, old man.” He came up and cornered Max after the show with a sly expression, not all together sure how to address the man in front of him now that they were on better terms. “Didn’t take you for a punk, Max.” He crossed his arms, eyes scanning across his sire deliberately. No longer cruel in his glance but curious why tonight he had chosen to stop by. “Always were more into the classics.” The younger vampire clicked his tongue. “Can’t say we disagree there.”

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense now!” He clapped. “Ever going to tell me what you thought of it…” The blonde had taken the camcorder out of his hands to play around with it. His statement was direct, almost bored and uninterested at all but there was a small yet unmistakable trace of vulnerability in what he asked. He didn’t care what Max thought, but he did. He really did. “The show?”

That voice, usually either so sly and wicked or cruel and mocking, sounded...bored, with a hint of something hopeful. His son...wanted his thoughts. David really wanted to know if he liked the show.

His oldest was trying to connect with him. Maybe he hadn't completely ruined any chances of their bond returning after all.

"It was fun," he answered, a bright smile gracing his face for the first time in quite a while. As always happened when he was particularly excited or anxious, he began to ramble. "A-All the others play so very well...and you...you were astounding up there! Not just your voice, but your voice is beautiful son, I-I mean your presence, I certainly could never have the confidence for any of that! Even if the songs aren't my usual fair, I did find myself enjoying them, did you and the boys write them together? Oh, gosh and the way you handle crowds, how happy you look up there, I -"

𝕬s Max spoke, David kept his eyes on anything but him. Where his eyes were instead remained fixed on the camcorder in his fingers, gently feeling every inch and crevice of the device that offered him a way to view the world through his sire’s perspective for a fraction of their time…His mind already retreating into curiosity about what a tape like that would look like. With delicacy-careful not to break the man’s things for once, he put his own eye up to the viewfinder…A giddy smile and wave greeting Max on the other side of the camcorder, so childish of someone who had as much age and experience as he did on his side.

It was Max’s choice how this conversation went. If the old man had negative things to be said he would’ve been met with another smug grin and snide comment about how the old geezer needed to get with the times the way they had too…Ending all of it with the blonde walking out on him and going back to his brothers and their eager fans waiting for them, drowning himself in all the adoration and the approval of the ones that matter to make what Max had said disappear from his head. Whatever it would’ve been.

“Always a sweet talker…Max.” He snarked off, his words not really matching the rare, genuine, and softer smile on his face that much. “A flatterer too…”

Hadn’t really expected the older vampire to be this enthusiastic. But! Well, the enthusiasm was not only welcomed but returned in full by the younger of the two. “We write them together…Joint effort and collaboration is the crux of how we do everything as a family and band.” He said slowly, a look of sentimentality and fondness etched in his expression. “Couldn’t do it without each other. Marko on outfits, Paul on songwriting, though Dwayne keeps looking for a shot…” In all of this familiar unblinking exuberant excitement that overtook David’s demeanor he’d gotten a little lost in what he was saying, unlike Max however he wasn’t one quick to apologize-Just veering the topic back to where it was before like it had never happened at all.

“I’m front man, the one everyone likes…Guess if we don’t count those from the venues that kicked us out for being more than they bargained for. Must’ve had an appetite for trouble, friend.” The blonde winked, trying to get his point abundantly clear. Usually these were the kind of jokes he made with his boys, but not Max. Never hurt to try it, huh? Another thing to share if they could-

“Don’t sell yourself so short, old man. Confidence isn’t an inherent skill, something you’re born with it’s something you learn for yourself…A shield. Wasn’t always able to do this either. If I can do it, so can you…right?” David handed Max back his camcorder. “Maybe you just aren’t seeing things the right way…”

When the wink was given at him, Max did blink rapidly, most in surprise. David never made those jokes with him...so it took him an embarrassing minute to get the joke, chuckling shyly and rubbing the back of his neck. "O-Oh, well you know, some people just don't appreciate talent when they get it. Certain...types of art can leave some people feeling a little gutted, a little...drained by the experience," he joked.

"As for my own confidence..." at that, his soft smile grew somewhat saddened, vulnerable. "You have far more...going for you than I do. You're in your prime, for one. But..." he shook his head, giving his own more charming smile. "That isn't a matter for my son to be concerned about..." the smile relaxed, becoming more sincere, voice softer. "I truly am proud of you, David, for everything you've done. I-I know I haven't always showed it...or...ever, really."

𝕯avid’s smile only grew wider when Max waved back at him…Seen by the younger vampire in the viewfinder. A part of him wondered what it was like…Watching their show through such a small-minded view of the world, even if the perception of the camera might’ve been clearer than what the glasses the older man wore would show-if he even needed those anymore to wear…Ah, never likely to know if he didn’t ask…

Max’s shy chuckle was meant with an eager cackle from him…Wasn’t an especially good comeback but the fact the man was trying at all had to count for something at least, didn’t it? Never thought he’d see the day he got to laugh with the man who sired him into this life about what he was now, what the man made him be-Didn’t seem as funny before as it did now, to share in that humor and laughter about a weight between them, one that had been crushing him down for decades.

“Are you past your prime or just think you are, Max?” He questioned. In truth, when he was alive the blonde had thought Max must’ve been lonely, it was one of the reasons he did so much to occupy space in his life, so he didn’t have to be alone anymore. That they had each other now instead-“You’re forever alive, friend. Don’t let the rest of the world pass you by because you’re too afraid to take a chance on something. We both know there’s more to you than meets the eye, ah…” He shot the man with glasses a lazy finger gun. “Unless you’re chicken or something, hmm.” It was a childish dare and one Max likely wouldn’t fall for, but the taunt was more playful than cruel in its use as he rested a hand on his hip.

Something about Max telling him how proud he was of him made David almost pounce and also wobble into the bench seating at once. Couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard that one before-Maybe he said it more than he thought but wasn’t really listening. The two were on different wavelengths for so long it was like the other wasn’t being heard at all…

With a steady breath he didn’t need, he kept on going. “Performing is everything I thought it would be. The bright lights burning, the music pulsating so loud you can feel it etched in you by the end of the set…Think of it as…the best drug you’ll ever take, the prettiest addiction there ever was. Never would stop for the world if I didn’t have to…Best of all, I’m doing it with the best of the best too…” Wasn’t going to brag about himself without giving his boys the credit they deserved. “The fans make it all the more sweeter. Being adored like that would make us all do crazy things to keep it…Won’t ever feel more special than when up there…” He pointed back up at the stage nearby.

The boardwalk was empty and the last few street lights had been turned off a while ago. Victoria sat on the empty stage that was built beside the beach her face bloody from her prior meal. She picked at her nails trying to get the blood and grime off her. She didn’t know why she decided to hang out on the stage or even why she was out this late without the boys but she didn’t know she felt sick after her meal. It wasn’t often she felt like this but her skin was itching, her blood burning under it and her stomach aching probably from something her meal had prior to his death. She knew someone had been watching her, not an actual person or anything but a figure of the night. She didn’t care she knew whoever it was would reveal themselves when needed and she knew it wasn’t anyone wishing her harm. Sooner or later she pulled a joint out her pocket it was a bit crumpled but she didn’t care as the lighter she grabbed lit the paper and the smoke filled her lungs. “What do you want babe?…” the question was so a matter a fact it was almost shocking to her as she asked it out into the dark.

(Anyone else)

“𝕳ope I’m not interrupting anything.” David had come on out from the shadows of the now unlit stage, his body leaning against the scaffolding and cage lazily, expression ever unreadable as always as he pretended to look at his own sharp fingernails instead of at her, flexing them with every word he spoke. In truth, even before he turned his head to get a better look at her, clear-he’d been observing his girl sitting out there all on her own for long enough that it seemed she’d taken notice to him. “Pretty little thing out here…Alone…A tragic sight, isn’t it?” He mused coyly, his eyes unblinking and unnaturally bright even as the stage wasn’t anymore.

The blonde slowly began slithering towards her, his hands behind his back with a friendly smile spread across his face. “Seat beside you taken tonight?” It didn’t matter if it was, he’d already plopped himself down beside her-where he belonged. “Now! If I didn’t know any better I would’ve thought you didn’t want to see me tonight.” Even when she seemed on edge or irritable he couldn’t help himself from pulling on her leg a little, slinging his arm around her with a confident ease he often exuded. “Messy girl.” He crooned, putting his finger under her chin to gently guide her face over towards his. Upon doing so he pulled out a white handkerchief and began wiping away at some of the blood on her face. “Shouldn’t you be with the boys tonight?”

“Theres no need to mother me ya know….” She pulled away from his touch lightly, she knew he’d just grab at her again but this was the game she liked to play with herself, pulling away from the things that love and care for her.

“𝕺h, don’t want you to get lonely…” He looked down at the handkerchief before lightly flicking it at her shoulder, playful, trying to cheer her up in his own kind of way. “Not without any company to maintain.”

“Besides…If I don’t take care of my own then who will?” The way he deadpanned it made it sound like it should’ve been obvious to Victoria too-That what he was doing was for her and her only-that he had her best interests at heart always. “Looks to me like you could you the help, Victoria.”

David coughed, waving the smoke away from him when she blew it in his face. Though buried under all that smoke was laughter, more amused than pissed at her-impressed, really-the kind of trick he would’ve done if he was her too. “Ah, as it would appear.” He patted on her back lightly, pulling her in tighter than before, so tight now it would’ve been bone-crushing if they didn’t have the strength and healing to mend it. “You didn’t answer my question.” His voice grew more serious. “Enough bullshit. It doesn’t suit you. We both know I see through it. I won’t tell if you won’t. Come on…Tell me…Why are you out here alone tonight?” The older vampire sounded almost worried for her, even if he hid those thoughts away by taking the joint out of her hand and taking a puff for himself.

She picked at her skin now the blood since dried on her face and such.

𝕯avid shrugged his shoulder in spite of being entangled with the girl, rolling his eyes with an impish smile. “Ever learn to share?” He teased. “What’s yours is mine.” That roguish prodding of his seemed to all disappear as she continued on speaking. “Don’t we all?” His words stark and sobered.

“Easy to get lost in your mind when you become sentimental…Searching inside for something missing-” His eyes darted away from her as he spoke up.

“There you go!” It didn’t take much for the blonde to drop it…abandon the forlorn in favor of the animated and more-alive…Talking about something he loved in music. “Nice…Plan to play for me? I’d love to hear what you got.”

“You know no matter how much i feed im always still so hungry… which sucks.” She tried wiping the blood on her lips away but the dried blood stayed as she only painfully roughed the skin up “God and it sticks! It always sticks it’s terrible….”

“𝖄ou know I used to play…Guitar. You’ll be able to play without the pain one day too.” He gently grabbed one of her hands in his, rubbing it. “It’s all about feeling the strings, not fighting them…Getting so lost in the sound of your instrument you don’t know if you’ll ever come back to this place…I can teach you.”

“The hunger’s a part of it…Being one of us.” David gave that same hand a gentle squeeze. “Never fully goes away, feeding helps with it, but it only really lasts for so long til you need to eat again…But!” The blonde clicked his tongue. “You learn to ignore the feeling in time. Makes the meal sweeter-more satisfying to eat on an empty stomach than a full one.”

“Hey.” He called out abruptly as she kept trying to clean herself off to worsening effects. “It’s alright. I got you.” David assured her. “I promise you, we’ll take care of it when it won’t hurt as much to do it.”

“You’re right too…. And you know i hate when you’re right…” she sniffled the tears falling to fast to catch as they mixed with the dried blood on her face. The copper smelling liquid now going soft with the wet salty tears.

“𝕹ot any sweeter than you, Toria.” He smiled, something warm and genuine on his lips rarely seen…letting the girl pull away enough to wipe her tears even if he wanted to hold on for longer if he could.

“I’m rarely wrong though, aren’t I?” It was a ridiculous statement to hear out loud said so sincerely it wasn’t hard to see if David really believed in it as much as he did. He tried to wipe away some of the tears off her face himself without it being too painful for her to bear.

The blonde turned his head down, suddenly looking at his shoes like they were the most exciting view in the world while his eyes darted around. “Try to think of it…as the perfect opportunity it is more than the burden it isn’t.” He tried to advise her. “It works better like that.” Once given the chance at a conversation switch he took it to deflect. “Never looked silly to me at all before, girl.” He finally looked back up at her, smiling again. “If you think it’s time to head back we can…” The tone of his voice was patient and coaxing, gentle…like he could wait all night for her if she asked him.

Since starting his undead life, Marko had been expressive. His heart was worn on his sleeve, emotions displayed on his face with no intent to obscure them like others did. His hobby of sewing had become a habit of making his own clothes and accessories...his gender presentation yet another way he expressed himself. While his style often settled somewhere between masculine and feminine, with features of both...other times, it would swing entirely into either extreme.

That day was a 'heavy-leaning feminine' one. He had spent some time in front of the mirror in his room perfecting his makeup; pale pink eyeshadow, black mascara, eyeliner, a soft pink blush and darker pink lipstick. It softened his already gentle face, he thought, pleased with himself when it finally looked flawless.

The outfit was next. It had been a lucky find in one of the many clothing stalls on the boardwalk: a flowing, pastel pink dress with white dots, which had only needed a few adjustments to fit his frame. The hem swished around his knees as he gave a twirl in the mirror, fixing the off-shoulder short sleeves and adjusting the large white bow in his golden curls.

Though pleased with himself, even Marko would admit the shoes were...challenging. They were pretty, absolutely; white, heeled ankle-boots with little hearts carved into them, but they had taken some...adjusting and practice to walk in without tripping. He would have to ask Rose how on earth girls danced in heels.

It was only when he left his room that Marko's smile faded a little.

Despite how pretty he felt, the thoughts that crept in said differently. He had never presented quite this feminine and soft before in front of the others. It was a complete change in style, something...cute and sweet and helpless. What if the others laughed? Or just politely dismissed him? Or ignored him?

No...he couldn't think like that, Marko told himself, walking with his head held high and a little sway to his hips. It would be fine.

Everything would be...fine.

𝕺ne thing David never liked to do was stifle the creativity of his brothers. The appearances they kept up as a group more…coincidence than expectation from him. Freedom, meant freedom of expression as well. Not being bogged down by fashion conventions…rules. He wasn’t judging, neither was he purposely disparaging in that way…More of a supporter than one of those with critiques of how each of them looked…He knew better than most the way the world was…Willing to chew up and spit out anyone who wasn’t like the mold set.

The platinum blonde had been watching his lover get ready for a while…Far enough away from the boy to hopefully not go noticed for staring. It was a habit of David’s…Observant, his nature for hunting and innate curiosity turning to people watching. Wouldn’t take him for a stalker in his mind, just someone clearly interested in the lives of others.

Eventually he chose to make his presence known by letting out a wolf-whistle at Marko, the kind of whistle that conveyed an interest in appearances, one which he had…The two-note glissando doing the talking for him. “Look at that…” The older vampire slowly stalked his way near with that conniving posture he always had, taking in the outfit, the makeup, those boots, all of it the curly blonde had chosen to exude for the day…“Aren’t you sweet?”

It wasn’t a secret at all that Marko’s always been the most…fluid in those freedoms of expression he’d been given. Wore his heart on the sleeves he made…For the pigeons he loved, the family he cherished-his partners he held onto and adored-this counted for his fashion too, never knew what you were going to get but well, David always enjoyed the surprise.

“Heard around there was a princess just looking for her prince?”

His finger was twirling a strand of longer hair in the back of his head flirtatiously, matching the saccharine smile on his face. Though his eyes were warm with a kind of quiet and stoic approval of the way the other vampire had chosen to take dress. Not as loud about it as Dwayne would’ve been if asked, but the thought was there. There’s few things he liked more than seeing Marko in his own element…Free, and showing himself off to the world.

Having experience with female courting of the previous generations and letting it show, David took Marko’s hand and slowly twirled him, careful to catch him by the waist so he wouldn’t fall in the heels.

“You’re so beautiful…”

The older blonde put his head on the younger’s shoulder, humming in a sweet type of awe.

“𝕱ar cry indeed…” His attention made its way back to the cat, speaking to her. “Don’t like those surf Nazi shits out on the beach, girl?…Can’t say we like ‘em either-Maybe you’ve got what it takes to be one of us…” David looked at the pigeons the cat’s eyes were locked on to, mouth ever a bit agape with brows shot up, pointing back and forth between the two types of animals. “And are you so sure cats and pigeons mix?” The blonde put his hands on his hips, eyebrows furrowing now in kind. “Wouldn’t want to see feathers fly off.” He shrugged.

“You raid pet stores the way Paul raids for a grocery…” He flicked his wrist flippantly before moving his hand to adjust his glove. “There’s no reason to fear…We’ll worry about it when the time comes…Hunger is inevitable, better to stay in the present than not at all-”

Marko notices her staring at his pigeons, ekekekeking at them, and he waves it off. "Yeah. They're safe up there. It's too high for her to get up there, at least at her age. I can train her to ignore them or just be chill around them so they'll be fine in the future. I wouldn't do this if it meant putting my pigeons in danger, trust me on that."

He lets out a wheeze of a laugh cause yeah it's true! He's constantly in need of pet supplies with all the animals he likes to help out around town so he is indeed raiding pet stores just as much as Paul raids the local grocery store when he gets the munchies.

"Yeah yeah. Gotta let this little princess settle in to our little home. I'll raid Paul's food stash later and hopefully find some chicken. Thankfully he knows how to store his food." He adjusts his hold on her and just smiles fondly at her.

“𝕹ever thought you would, Marko.” David knew probably better than anyone else at all that wasn’t the smaller boy himself how much his pigeons meant to him. His flock he loved to dote on and take care of…A nurturing boy with teeth and the heart of an individual set on expression…One of the things that had always stuck out to the platinum blonde vampire for as long as the two had known each other.

“If anyone can tame her all on his own it’s you.” His words were warm, trusting of him to know what the cat needed even if her interests looked like they could be taking a turn for the bleak at any moments notice now. Marko knew animals as well as David knew his boys after all. “If you’d ever be so willing or in need, I’ll always be here to…enlist my support and help.” He gave Marko a lazy two finger salute with a smug expression.

David always liked to offer his support to his boys and their hobbies and interests, providing the breeze for his favorite bird to fly in whenever ways he could. Didn’t know as much about birds as the golden blonde did but he imagined it wouldn’t be hard to keep up with training an animal given his experience offering guidance of similar qualities to a more human kind of breed.

“A feast befitting of a princess, dontcha think?” He put a hand on Marko’s shoulder and patting it, careful to not disrupt the little furry one in his grasp too much. “Paul can spare the chicken. Besides I doubt you’ll hear him complaining about having to go back out to the store…Think he likes getting lost in those aisles and making us think he might never come back.”

“Only you would be thinking about dressing her up already.” David prodded at him even if there was no real bite to it. “Hmm, well nothing like matching with your shiniest pet, ah…”

The boardwalk was empty and the last few street lights had been turned off a while ago. Victoria sat on the empty stage that was built beside the beach her face bloody from her prior meal. She picked at her nails trying to get the blood and grime off her. She didn’t know why she decided to hang out on the stage or even why she was out this late without the boys but she didn’t know she felt sick after her meal. It wasn’t often she felt like this but her skin was itching, her blood burning under it and her stomach aching probably from something her meal had prior to his death. She knew someone had been watching her, not an actual person or anything but a figure of the night. She didn’t care she knew whoever it was would reveal themselves when needed and she knew it wasn’t anyone wishing her harm. Sooner or later she pulled a joint out her pocket it was a bit crumpled but she didn’t care as the lighter she grabbed lit the paper and the smoke filled her lungs. “What do you want babe?…” the question was so a matter a fact it was almost shocking to her as she asked it out into the dark.

(Anyone else)

“𝕳ope I’m not interrupting anything.” David had come on out from the shadows of the now unlit stage, his body leaning against the scaffolding and cage lazily, expression ever unreadable as always as he pretended to look at his own sharp fingernails instead of at her, flexing them with every word he spoke. In truth, even before he turned his head to get a better look at her, clear-he’d been observing his girl sitting out there all on her own for long enough that it seemed she’d taken notice to him. “Pretty little thing out here…Alone…A tragic sight, isn’t it?” He mused coyly, his eyes unblinking and unnaturally bright even as the stage wasn’t anymore.

The blonde slowly began slithering towards her, his hands behind his back with a friendly smile spread across his face. “Seat beside you taken tonight?” It didn’t matter if it was, he’d already plopped himself down beside her-where he belonged. “Now! If I didn’t know any better I would’ve thought you didn’t want to see me tonight.” Even when she seemed on edge or irritable he couldn’t help himself from pulling on her leg a little, slinging his arm around her with a confident ease he often exuded. “Messy girl.” He crooned, putting his finger under her chin to gently guide her face over towards his. Upon doing so he pulled out a white handkerchief and began wiping away at some of the blood on her face. “Shouldn’t you be with the boys tonight?”

“Theres no need to mother me ya know….” She pulled away from his touch lightly, she knew he’d just grab at her again but this was the game she liked to play with herself, pulling away from the things that love and care for her.

“𝕺h, don’t want you to get lonely…” He looked down at the handkerchief before lightly flicking it at her shoulder, playful, trying to cheer her up in his own kind of way. “Not without any company to maintain.”

“Besides…If I don’t take care of my own then who will?” The way he deadpanned it made it sound like it should’ve been obvious to Victoria too-That what he was doing was for her and her only-that he had her best interests at heart always. “Looks to me like you could you the help, Victoria.”

David coughed, waving the smoke away from him when she blew it in his face. Though buried under all that smoke was laughter, more amused than pissed at her-impressed, really-the kind of trick he would’ve done if he was her too. “Ah, as it would appear.” He patted on her back lightly, pulling her in tighter than before, so tight now it would’ve been bone-crushing if they didn’t have the strength and healing to mend it. “You didn’t answer my question.” His voice grew more serious. “Enough bullshit. It doesn’t suit you. We both know I see through it. I won’t tell if you won’t. Come on…Tell me…Why are you out here alone tonight?” The older vampire sounded almost worried for her, even if he hid those thoughts away by taking the joint out of her hand and taking a puff for himself.

She picked at her skin now the blood since dried on her face and such.

𝕯avid shrugged his shoulder in spite of being entangled with the girl, rolling his eyes with an impish smile. “Ever learn to share?” He teased. “What’s yours is mine.” That roguish prodding of his seemed to all disappear as she continued on speaking. “Don’t we all?” His words stark and sobered.

“Easy to get lost in your mind when you become sentimental…Searching inside for something missing-” His eyes darted away from her as he spoke up.

“There you go!” It didn’t take much for the blonde to drop it…abandon the forlorn in favor of the animated and more-alive…Talking about something he loved in music. “Nice…Plan to play for me? I’d love to hear what you got.”

“You know no matter how much i feed im always still so hungry… which sucks.” She tried wiping the blood on her lips away but the dried blood stayed as she only painfully roughed the skin up “God and it sticks! It always sticks it’s terrible….”

“𝖄ou know I used to play…Guitar. You’ll be able to play without the pain one day too.” He gently grabbed one of her hands in his, rubbing it. “It’s all about feeling the strings, not fighting them…Getting so lost in the sound of your instrument you don’t know if you’ll ever come back to this place…I can teach you.”

“The hunger’s a part of it…Being one of us.” David gave that same hand a gentle squeeze. “Never fully goes away, feeding helps with it, but it only really lasts for so long til you need to eat again…But!” The blonde clicked his tongue. “You learn to ignore the feeling in time. Makes the meal sweeter-more satisfying to eat on an empty stomach than a full one.”

“Hey.” He called out abruptly as she kept trying to clean herself off to worsening effects. “It’s alright. I got you.” David assured her. “I promise you, we’ll take care of it when it won’t hurt as much to do it.”

Although it was obvious that someone like herself should stay far away from guys like David. But somehow she finds herself crawling back to him after their encounter. Of course, he was an asshole for nearly making her fly off a cliff. Then again, she was in the moment and barely watched where she was going. But Amelia also kept her word on making a deal with David that she had to do whatever the winner said.

At this moment, the dark haired girl was waiting after the show by the stage, wearing a pink pastel top, high waisted shorts, washout out denim jacket, and converse. Her long dark curls flowing free in the summer breeze. As soon as David left the stage, Amelia comes out of hiding, "Nice show out there, pretty boy. Finally decided to stay and watch this time"

@hiphopgirl16

//OOC: Thought of doing a jump skip for the time being

𝕿he routine of a life like his made it hard for David to know what day it was anymore…How much time had really passed between his last encounter with the girl. Partied all night…Performed most of them…Slept all day until the sun went down and it was safe to go out and roam the night. It had been another good show for him and the boys, though bad shows were rare for them now. That cocktail of routine, of doing the same thing over and over again mixed with the way the blonde’s mind was one to disassociate-get lost in all the music until it was time to end it and go off-always had time to kill after a show. Most nights looking for a feed or a fan if he didn’t go out on a ride.

Tonight he hadn’t broken a sweat, hard to sweat when your body didn’t produce a kind of warmth like that anymore. Not the littlest bit tired yet, used to the theatrics of the punkish and sultry attires and body glitters that came from a life like this. Just when he was about to change for the night he saw Amelia waiting for him. Huh, hadn’t expected to see her so soon after their last encounter, whenever ago that was now-The night she’d almost went off the cliff during their race off Coronado Bluff…

“Well, look who came back to grace me with her presence!” He taunted at the girl. “Haven’t seen you around here in a while…Glad you could join us tonight.” The blonde vampire grinned at her, putting his fist to his chin and taking in Amelia’s outfit for the tonight. “Ah, back in the pretty pastels too, girl. Missed them-” He pouted. “And you…I can put on a good show if you stay around and watch.” David shrugged with a smirk and snicker back on his lips.

“Well, if that’s what you want then I’ll stay and watch your little show. Like I said, I’m a lady of my word since you clearly won the race in our last encounter”

𝕯avid hadn’t forgotten their deal. If he won she was his to do whatever he saw fit with. Even if he didn’t win by entirely fair means, they were fair to him at least. The vampire was as much of a sore loser as he was a sore winner in that way. What he had intended was to feed on her…Drain her dry…But, after learning about her past he didn’t find himself as hungry for her as he was before.

He had to admit, the girl kept him on his feet. An interesting girl she was-That was rare with a human…She was enticing and free even if he would’ve never guessed she had that in her from that first night they met.

Her boldness had taken him by surprise again, but it wasn’t met with contempt but returned in full. “Whatever I desire, huh?” His grin widened. “With all my heart, pretty girl?” His voice was husky and filled with temptation and promise just to see what she’d do with it.

There it was again, her pulse racing at the very sight of the platinum blonde. Of course she didn't want to make it obvious, but teasing the other made it all the more thrilling and somehow made her confidence shine. Normally she wasn't this bold, but with him it was different. She then pulls away from David, just a bit but still close enough that he could reach out to her, "Why don't you think about it for a bit, I'll be right outside waiting for ya"

𝕲irl kept only getting bolder and bolder, her attempts at flirtation were sweet-cute in their kind of way…For someone so insistent on him having to have her in whatever way he did she didn’t act so helpless in the chase between them-Never really did.

Amelia was a cub in the lion’s den…Roaring in the face of the leader of the pride. Maybe she expected no consequence for it…or in truth, maybe she wanted it…The consequence, the bite, the thrill of the dance. Confidence wasn’t what he thought of when he saw girls who defended the integrity of the Phantom of the Opera’s emotional standing to another kind of monster in swatches of pink, high strung more appropriately would’ve fit that description…Pride and confidence wasn’t something sold in spades but a thing to work towards, a goal about the climb more than it could ever be about the destination-looks like Mia had that confidence in her. Aw, it made the ride all the more sweet!

Eventually he showed back up to find her. His shoulders up, but his head turned downward. The blonde’s face was more coy than sly as he slowly put his arm out, beckoning for her. “Don’t keep me waiting…I have a dressing room if you wanna go somewhere more private.” He put his index finger to his lip, shushing himself. “Unless you’re too shy to come, Amelia…even if you don’t have a choice.” The blonde’s eyes were down at his hand where he was adjusting his glove, deliberately ambiguous in what he meant and wanted.

Amelia smirked and makes her way toward David, "Aren't you gonna buy me dinner first? Then again, the night is young and I'm fulfilling your heart's desire tonight. It's all about you and I won't back down on my word"

Without any other question, Amelia followed the platinum blonde to his dressing room, taking in the surroundings before removing her washed out denim jacket. It was surprisingly warm for a dressing room, then again it was the middle of summer and the lights from the stage probably made it a bit warmer than the room should.

“𝕾omething tells me dinner’s already arrived tonight.” He grins, whatever kind of meal he was talking about still to be decided by the time they reached the other side of the vampire’s door…David agreed the night was still young-They had the time to see wherever the night may take them. For someone as strategic and free as the platinum blonde the most exciting thrills for him in life to chase were the ones wrapped up in spontaneity more than structure…He sought to engage himself in the most adrenaline he could feel, chaos so unmanageable that he had to feel new things to control it the way he controls all the surrounding chaos in his life. A puppet master who lived for when a puppet pulled him away in another direction…

As she followed him further into the back of the stage, it became apparent just what deal she was in for…Lights growing dimmer and dimmer, all noise began to fade-Really was nobody else back there but him and her. No one to come between them if needed.

David’s dressing room was not what you would’ve expected it to be. Whereas the man was known to be a cold and unusual presence the room was warm and inviting, full of sentimental trinkets from his past shows…Pictures of him and his boys littering the otherwise bare and uninteresting walls. This was a private space, rarely seen by anyone but the boys and him-and the ones who did often weren’t heard from again as it was. Without a moments notice once the door closed his arms were around her neck, voice sweet under hooded eyes.

“What I desire is you, Amelia.” He said simply as he slowly began moving hairs of hers away from her neck, staring for a long time with hungrier eyes than any human should be capable of having as she was finally in his grasp. “You really are something special.”

Although it appeared like any normal dressing room, the was one thing missing. Mirrors. There wasn’t a single mirror in sight. Not on the walls or the vanities. Something feels wrong, very wrong. Amelia had to think of something, feeling David’s eyes watching her like a hawk if she said or did anything to piss him off. She had to remain calm, go with the flow but not make it obvious.

“Is that so? What part of me did you find so ‘special’? It’s not my little sob story is it? Or the fact I let you win the little race?”

“𝕺h, don’t worry it. No need to be afraid.” David crooned. He could see the shudder running through her body, the way she’d been looking around the room for something, anything but him. The lack of mirrors on the walls raising alarm bells all in her mind. The only mirror in the room being one attached to the vanity against the wall-Covered up and hidden away under a cloth. Strange wasn’t it? What kind of singer doesn’t need a mirror…

“Don’t look at the dressing room, Amelia…” He gently grabbed her face so she couldn’t keep observing anything else in the room that wasn’t him. “Look at me…Just get shy staring at my own reflection…” His face remained unreadable every step of the way, eyes almost unblinking as he looked her up and down. “I’ve been waiting for you since the night we met.” David tilted his head, his hand closest to her hair delicate as his fingers ran through it. “Wouldn’t expect me to keep on waiting wouldja?” The platinum blonde pouted.

“‘Cause I can wait if I have to…I’m a very patient kind of man, Mia. I’ve waited this long, come this far…But, I don’t like being denied what I want when it comes down to it…”

“Enough racing, making small talk.” His eyes wouldn’t pull away from her neck, the glance he’s giving it just so…hungry for her in whatever way he was-what he desired out of her. “We both know how this is gonna go. Don’t fight it and give in.” He grinned. “To the feeling…to what the body wants…to me…Think of it, like one of those books you like to read…Every Christine needs a Phantom, right? The beautiful misunderstood monster inside who wants to have her…Waiting to be let out onto the world…”

Not even the very mention of her favorite book was able to bring her back to whatever the other was trying to pull. Finally, Amelia grasped onto something long and hard, "And I thought you said to never stop fighting"

𝕯avid hissed for a second time since he’d met Amelia when she hit him with the hairspray bottle, losing his grip on her completely and stumbling back in shock. After everything him and her had been through now he hadn’t expected her to take another swing at him. “What are you doing, Amelia?” His voice was mostly steady, even if his balance wasn’t. The tiniest little trickle of blood escaping down his nostril for her to see…“Nice shot. Looks like you got me again.” He wiped away the blood onto his thumb, staring at it with a wild and feral expression.

He drawled on, voice taking on a sing-songy cadence as he continued. “But, that wasn’t what we agreed on…For our little game.” Without a second waiting any longer he licked the blood off his thumb, body tensing and head turning with a kind of euphoria in the taste of it. “Got a runner…Girl who likes to be chased…”

“Where do you think you can go I won’t find you?” The lights above them began to flicker down the hallway as he followed her, her denim jacket hooked around one of his arms. “I’m never far behind. There’s no way out, Mia. One last chance. Come back to me. Thought we had a spark between us…Think how fun it would be if you stayed!” His voice was soft as it was before, pleading with her. “C’mon. I don’t want to have to make you-” David’s eyes narrowed as he gestured in front of him, pretending to contemplate. “But…I will. Dontcha see? If you leave tonight it’s because I let you.”

His voice was soft and inviting, she wanted to resist but yet she couldn’t. Her eyes glared at David, “Only if you’re not planning to kill me or some shit. I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours, but if you do that shit again I promise you I won’t hesitate to make you bleed again”

“𝕺h, Amelia…” David put his hands up defensively. “Never said I was gonna hurt you…” He smiled. “Just wanted to see what you’d do when I touched you.” The blonde vampire drew an “X” over on his chest with his index finger. “Cross my heart…” He flicked that same finger up, his posture slithering with a downturned head. “…And hope to die.” His voice was low, slow and quiet at the grin on his face came back at full force, wider than it been before.

“Come on! Blood’s not such a bad thing, is it?” He tried to reason with her, the girl had already backed down a lot since he’d started taking…Poor thing hadn’t even moved. “We all got it…Rusty…Sweet…In a crimson liquid…” He tilted his head innocently. “Gotta be careful now to not get it on your jacket! That kind of stain leaves a more permanent mark on the flesh…”

David hadn’t been all that worried about his bloodied up nose…Knowing it would heal all on its own in no time. All he had to do was wait it out and it would. “…Sounds familiar.” The only thing keeping him from going rabid from how good her blood smelled to him was his own staining her wrist instead. The scar a reminder of her past and their nights before-He grabbed her wrist and gently ran his finger down her scar-not too painful, but a little bit still. Ever the sadist David had his limits when his bleeding heart got like this.

“Those types never go away.” He let out a cold laugh. “Don’t have to be such a negative, Amelia!” His tone took a turn for the playful and jovial as he took a look at his blood on the wrist. “Aw, more of a positive myself.”

Amelia’s eyes traced over to the scar on her wrist, watching the platinum blonde tracing the pattern with his thumb. This time she didn’t fight against him, but allowed the other to examine it as his blood ran down her thumb to her wrist. The feeling of guilt starts to take over, seeing she did hurt him out of fear.

“Guess blood isn’t terrible. But with a past like mine, blood and pain used to help relieve me of my suffering years ago. Almost died when I cut myself while I overdosed as a kid. I admit, I sometimes missed the pain back then.”

𝕬s Amelia let him feel her scar, he clicked his tongue a couple of times in a concentrated repetition. In her letting him touch her it was an act of trust…The vampire seeing her so clearly now. Hardly what he would’ve expected from the girl who’d just punched him a second time moments before…His blood on her wrist where blood had stained her own flesh at a time forgotten.

“We both know that wasn’t going to work, right? Scars…close up. All wounds do…Even if they leave a more permanent mark in their wake…And you'll still feel exactly the same as you do now. I've been right where you are…Doesn’t get better than that.”

David’s own relationship with his body and injury wasn’t what they were talking about. Neither was it something he’d choose to discuss with Amelia willingly, even as his words were as much to himself as they were to her. Only could hope the girl hadn’t caught onto that part…as much as she could. Upon her acceptance of the invitation back into the space beyond his door he patted her hand, nodding with a gentle smile. “Never said our deal was off, Amelia. You were the one who took to running.” He teased her.

𝕯avid caught on to the blushing but chose to ignore it for now-but taking further note of how easy it was to get a reaction out of the girl like that. “Whatever you say.” He chuckled, shrugging theatrically, shoulders up and hands out in front of him. “Criminals are bound everywhere, especially at night like now, Mia.” The vampire continued. “Don’t say it to frighten you, but warn you…” As he watched the red blood stain the white handkerchief he was transfixed…hypnotized, would’ve left his mouth watering if the blood was anyone else’s but his to smell.

Once they made it back to his dressing room he closed the door again. His slouching posture perked up at the question before he walked over to Amelia to hand her the jacket and scrunchie she desired from him. “Agree to disagree there.” He grinned, the blonde didn’t feel the stuffiness. Humidity was rarely a problem for his kind, never broke a sweat these days much less needed to remain somewhere cool, so long as they weren’t out in the day. “I don’t mind it…The air in here.” He inhaled deliberately, drawing attention to the air he didn’t need to breathe. “This place has its perks…its quirks. I like it, don’t you?”

𝕯avid glared at the small but unmistakable silver cross bound around the girl’s neck, a cross and silver on their own already bad enough but together a frustrating thing to see, right? She’d worn it before the last time they spoked too-Oh, how much he would’ve wanted to rip that thing off her neck himself if he could. “I appreciate it.” He forced another smile on his face. “Your flattery and compliments…Think of it…as my…home away from home. An oasis at the end of the storm for me and only me to enjoy.” Didn’t care to mention how much him and the boys fed in here-easy to assume she wouldn’t have cared to known that.

While Amelia’s arms were crossed across her chest, the blonde put his hands on her waist, pulling her towards him, deliberate in his actions as she spoke to him. “Looks like there’s nobody here in need of saving...Just us.” The vampire snarked. “Living in the dark forever isn’t such a bad way to go, Amelia.” His voice was husky and slow as he drawled on, the rhythm felt more like a kind of hypnosis than words even if it wasn’t. “I like the dark…Most of us here do. Quieter-less noise and bright light blinding you to who you are…” He leaned so close to her face he could kiss her now. “Should come on and join us sometime-we’re all friendly and nice to our own…”

𝕰vidently Amelia had caught on to the glares, opting to remove the cross and leave it behind and away from her…A mistake of hers, really-but an appreciated mistake to the vampire who had already been injured by the girl before without much push and pull from him, at least not as much as there could’ve been from someone of his power all things considered…His grin took a turn to the triumphant regardless just from seeing her without it…the pendant. Likely thought he didn’t like it, which he didn’t though not for the obvious kinds of reasons you would-

“You’re chilling, Amelia.” He deadpanned, even if it was already obvious from the way she shivered under his touch. “A shame you thought the room was too cold-could’ve made it hotter for us.” David winked, like what he said was a secret between only them now. “It’s alright. I’ll keep you cool so you don’t get too warmed up.” When their lips combined he couldn’t fight off the smile he gave her, the thrill and fireworks of this unspoken connection between them not ending with a bang but something warmer and sweeter than expected carried its own kind of excitement. “Hmm lucky one I am indeed.”

𝖂ith Amelia leaning against the table, David took his chance-pressing his body against hers and trapping her between the table and him. The century of life the blonde had lived now had given him all kinds of experience in the way of physical affections and what the body aches for…and needs…Didn’t know how experienced the girl was herself, but he knew it from the moment they kissed she would be quickly satisfied by him.

The longer they kissed the more feverish it got on his own end, tongue slipping in to examine her own mouth with his…Hungry, curious, and desiring in all the ways he did as she examined him with her fingers.

A soft moan escaped Amelia’s lips as they kissed, moving herself on the table to sit, knocking over god knows what was on that table at this time, too focused on the pleasure. She pulls away from a moment to catch her breath and removed her pastel pink top to reveal a bralette of the same. “Still wish to keep going, David? There’s still time to say ‘no’ if you don’t want to, I’ll do as you say as part of the deal”

𝕺nce Amelia sat herself up on the table he put himself between her thighs on the edge…Both of them on the edge of something else beyond that table underneath her. He watched her remove her shirt and stared at her bra with hooded eyes and a feral eagerness buried away under all that calm and experience-his patience was wearing thin and his desire winning out the longer it took. “Gorgeous girl.” He hummed.

David maintained memory of their deal, hadn’t forgotten what he wanted either is what he’d have-though that often was the case regardless of if it was a part of bigger game of cat and mouse or not. Upon being asked if he wanted to go on and continue he delicately grabbed one of her bra straps and pulled it down over her shoulder with a smile. “I’ve got all night if you do…” He muttered before pulling away enough to take his own shirt off, beckoning towards the girl again with his finger the way he had that first night before, bringing them full circle. “The way I see it is you want me and a part of me wants you too…”

𝕳eard you were feeling a little warm out there on the beach today, Michael. Here…Come on and let me cool you off if you need…Though you wouldn’t ever hear me complaining now if you were to take your shirt off around me…Modesty is overrated when you look like that, right?

𝕬w, suppose you’re right then. Though it does sound fun, doesn’t it? Us enjoying the sun together-If only, right? As for the…other question bothering you, Michael-my body temperature isn’t always the warmest given my own state and conditions-all you have to do is let me hold you and you’ll feel better in time-Don’t take it you like the sand? How everywhere it gets-can’t handle something a little rough and course on ya there, Michael?

𝕺h, Michael you’re never an inconvenience. You’re anything but, boy. Wouldn’t want either of us to burn, but you especially. Something tells me you get particularly whiny and pouty when you’re all cooked up by the sun and the beach…All you have to do is ask and I’ll hold you as long as you need to relax. I got you always. I’ll be here waiting beside you til you need me. You’ll get used to all the sand, all of us locals already are…used to it even if we don’t like it. Never seem to go back home at daybreak without a bunch of it in the lace ups…

𝕸y word is gold, Michael. Stronger than silver, stronger than how it sounds too-Wouldn’t’ve thought you’d want to watch me to burn…Nobody digs the eye of their affections just about all grilled up by the sun, less delectable that way. Mmm whatever you think…If that’s what helps you sleep at night, Michael. I’d never make fun of you. No, all my teasing has no harm in it-dontcha see what I mean by “whiny”, boy? Now! As for the sand, that’s a harder bridge to cross…Given the afflictions of my kind I recommend trying to dust yourself off before you go home, and always empty out your shoes before you go back inside too while you’re at it.