troublemaker.

Austin’s eyes wandered to the collar as he nodded, smirking just a bit. “Fair enough,” he said, nodding. “But, hey, I suppose any time to yourself is a good thing, hm?” He shrugged his shoulders a bit. The way he saw it, there were worse ways the other could be spending his time. He cocked his head just a bit, and held out a hand towards him. “I’m Austin,” he said simply.

☾

Mirroring the stranger’s movements, Kade shrugged. Considering he spent most of his days in the Pits or in his cell, there was some truth in that. At least he hadn’t been required to work today and better yet, no one had seen the need to rent him. But his peaceful beach day could end at any moment, something he hadn’t forgotten. When Austin offered his hand out to him, the human slid off the float and downed the rest of his beer as he stood. Knowingly withholding his name he offered the other a cocky smile. “Austin,” Kade replied as he slapped the empty bottle into the other’s hand and brushed past him. I could use a drink.”

Sean wasn’t in a hurry, so he sent a few guard to go ahead and break him a little for him, after all with this new curfew, he had to cut his torture shorts, which was a shame, but the other wasn’t worth renting just for Sean to beat him up, they still had a few hours, and Sean could do a lot with that time.

When he entered, he smirked at the other words. “I agreed.” He said. “Why don’t you lick it back.” he suggested, but the other new exactly that it wasn’t a suggestion. he particularly enjoyed when some of the blood went to the floor, and he stood there waiting for the other to lick his own blood back into his body.

☾

If looks could kill, the guy standing in the cell would have dropped dead the second Kade spared him a glance. Sadly, that was not the case. But the human’s gaze still didn’t falter as he pushed himself up, finally managing to get to his knees despite the pain. With one final wince, he was standing again, swaying slightly, but standing nonetheless.

Tommy was just looking out to the horizon, feeling every bit of him wanting to reach out to that freedom that’s calling to his soul. The day of freedom he was being allowed now he was surely appreciative of, but there was nothing like being able to just run as far as the eye could see. Of course he never planned on doing any swimming, never quite had the talent for it, but the sight even with the sun blazing down on him was magnificent to him. He lingered briefly and was brought of his little trance when he can hear someone directly behind him. He takes one last look before he would turn to the voice, not at first recognizing him as he gives a nod of his understanding and starts to walk away, but soon he would be slowing down to turn and take a second look, finding the younger male more familiar this time around, “I’ve seen you before, at the pits, right?”

☾

There was a momentary bit of peace and Kade relaxed once more against the float and dipped his hand into the water. But, not a moment later a voice broke through the ambient noise and Kade couldn’t help but deflate a bit at the mention of the Pits. “Yeah, probably,” he sighed before taking another sip of his beer and tipping the neck of the bottle toward the other. He wondered for a moment what fights of his the guy had seen. Hopefully, a match he won. “Can’t say I recognize you though,” he eyed the guy’s collar. “They got you workin’ the Pits now too?”

.

Delphina looked at him as she noticed his eyebrows raised. “Fish person?” She said utterly insulted. To reduce her species to such a term made her blonde boil. She didn’t even bother answering him. She instead pulled herself off of her floaty and into the water she swam up to him narrowing her eyes a bit before getting them to be soft and sweet. She reached up pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head. She began to sing softly, sweet notes to pull him into her lure. Studying his face to make sure her influence took hold of the human. “You’ve been very rude to me, haven’t you?” She inquired with a devilish smile. 

☾

Kade watched amused, head titled to the side of the float as the mermaid slipped into the water and approached him. Letting her pull up his glasses, he drunkenly admired her face close up now. She was pretty certainly, not too bad of a view. His focus on her, however, waned and the human found himself drifting off. “W-Wait–” His consciousness faltered and though he remained awake, he didn’t exactly feel in control of himself. The sudden feeling was new and he wondered, albeit slowly, what was happening to him. It felt similar to the influence of a succubus but he felt so much more...at peace. 

“No, I’m not lost,” he said with a smirk. He finally did move out of the way though and sighed. “I didn’t see you there,” he said simply as he shrugged. “So, you enjoying yourself, then?” he asked.

☾

The sunshine was finally back and warming his body so Kade hummed happily to himself. But he peeked open an eye again when the superior addressed him, a bit surprised someone wanted to bother trying to keep him company. Although, the guy was much more mild mannered than most of the others he’d met here and thus a bit more palatable. “Trying to but y’know,” Kade gestured to the collar around his neck. “I’m always at someone’s beck and call...”

True to form, Kade took the first beating from the guards in stride. Though it was worse than what he usually got dealt in the Pits, it still wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. After all, they couldn’t break him beyond repair when he was worth more in one piece. But of course, he’d once again run his mouth off to someone who wasn’t appreciative of his tone or his attitude. So now, there he was, battered and bruised in an isolation cell awaiting another beating. Except this time when the cell door opened again, it wasn’t the guards. The face of the man he’d insulted instead stared down at him.

Ears still ringing and vision blurred from the blood that dripped down his brow, Kade glared up at the figure unappreciatively. “Y’know a lot of other leeches in this town would consider this a waste of good blood.” 

.

Laughing? He was laughing at her. Her flushed cheeks darkened with her rage. She glared daggers at him with her blue eyes as her jaw clenched. But he seemed to be as relaxed and care free as could be. She blinked at him, a mermaid princess. “Well I’ve never heard of her…” Del said sitting up proudly as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “And if she were real then I’d certainly know who she was, so she must must be one of your silly landwalking fabrications!” She humpfed turning her nose up a bit. “I can’t talk to seagulls, they are birds…” Del scoffed, very much confused by this rude airbreather thoughts on her kind. 

☾

"Oh?” Kade teasingly raised a brow and it arched up above the dark frames of his sunglasses. “You know about most fish-person royalty then?” In all honesty, part of his teasing was his own curiosity. His family hadn’t dealt with mermaids or sirens all that much. Did they even have kingdoms? He wouldn’t be all that surprised if they did or if that was just another dumb human fabrication. 

Though Alara had meant it when she said she wasn’t going to tattle, it still wouldn’t help him if someone else stumbled upon them- and if that happened, more likely than not it’d get back to her father and then she’d be the one in trouble for being in the company of a human. She could’ve decided to save herself and leave the man there, as if she’d never seen him, but somehow that didn’t sit right with her either. Besides, what he said about being out in the forest, in the quiet, it resonated with her- she couldn’t deny him a moment of peace considering what he must go through on the daily, could she? 

It wasn’t until Alara noticed that he was plucking weeds that she moved closer to him, and before even she knew it she was kneeling beside him and covering his hand with one of her own. “Please don’t, this is their home,” she said, as she picked up the severed weeds, her attention entirely on them as she cradling them in her palm. As she held her cupped hands over the spot where the man had plucked the weeds, they began to emit a warm glow for a couple seconds before going away. When she drew back her hands, the weeds were intact once again, swaying gently in the breeze. It was only then that she realized what she was doing, and a faint blush dusted her cheeks. “I’m sorry, it’s just- well, we come out here to enjoy the quiet and the serenity, we need to take care not to overstep our welcome, you know…?” Suddenly feeling a little awkward over her instinctive reaction, Alara sat back on her heels and cleared her throat. “I’m Alara.” 

☾

The woman was quiet and Kade didn’t hear her as she approached him and knelt beside him to cup his hand. He flinched away from her and pushed himself back flat against the tree he’d been leaning against. By the time he glanced back down at the pulled weeds, they were once again intact and surrounding them was a faint glow. Though magic such as this had always secretly fascinated him, Kade masked his interest with indifference. “They’re just weeds,” he said tiredly instead of offering his own name. Kade pushed himself to stand once again–mostly to put some distance between him and her again. The name Alara rang a bell and brought on an uneasy feeling within him though he wasn’t entirely sure why.

Wandering to another nearby tree, he leaned against the trunk and ran his hand idly along the bark. For a brief second he wondered what it would be like to have magic–power–the same as her. How different would his life have been, if he’d been born anything but human.

“You should go,” Kade finally stated. “It won’t be pretty when they find me.” Because really, it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ anymore, simply a matter of when. With the damn chip inside him and the collar, it wouldn’t be long until a guard was sent to come collect him. 

.

“Its nice to meet you,” she said offering up an awkward little smile of her own. She turned her attention back to the line, waiting for food, her mouth starting to water as the funnel cake was dusted in a flurry of powder sugar. She brought the plate over to where he sat and set it down in between them. She smiled sheepishly before tearing off a peace and popping it in her mouth. “Mmm, it’s hot,” she warned with a giggle. “But really delicious, thanks again.” 

☾

 When Dory finally settled at their table with the funnel cake, Kade tilted his head and studied the sugary treat a bit skeptically. It smelled amazing but looked sorta odd. How were you supposed to eat it? After watching the young woman tear off a bit of the cake, he did the same. It was hot, like a loaf of bread fresh out of the oven. When Kade finally got a taste of it, he hummed to himself quietly. It was a lot better than he’d envisioned and a bit addicting with all that sweet sugar on top of it. “Sure, no problem.” Thanks wasn’t really necessary, but the human thought it was sweet nonetheless. “I’ve never tried one,” he mentioned absently. “So it was hard to say no...”

“I mean, that’s a matter of opinion…You’re on my menu and I always have the last say” she stated, moving her foot and placing it down square on his chest to keep him there. “I could perhaps drown you in the sea instead?” she offered, giving a grin and showing off perfect white teeth “Everyones so distracted, they wouldn’t notice”

☾

When the woman’s foot came to rest on his chest, Kade stiffened. Drowning wasn’t exactly a pleasant thought, especially in only four feet of water. For a moment he considered kicking her other leg out from under her now that she was precariously posed but he was too unsteady lying the way he was. Bitter and feeling cornered, Kade glared up at the succubus. “Cheery thought.”

-

Daniel had never cared for rudeness, with humans in particular, and the longer he spoke to this boy, the clearer it became that he was everything the vampire detested. He would have been nice about tapping his blood, but now, it seemed he also had to teach the slave some manners. He looked back at him with a neutral expression at the glare, a hint of amusement in his eyes when the human actually tried to threaten him. “I am almost tempted to let you have a stake, just to see you fail to use it.” He glanced down at the handkerchief, but didn’t move to pick it up. “Dracula, very original. I would have let you leave after taking some of your blood, it would have been no more than that, but I can see you are overdue for someone teaching you a lesson. Although surely I am not the first to want to punish you? Not with a mouth like yours.”

☾

Considering how collected this particular leech was, Kade guessed he was old, a couple of centuries old at least. Pride and overconfidence, the human found, was usually their only downfall since their skills had time to sharpen. For a moment he actually wondered if he could stake the guy in the heart–how difficult would it be really if he caught him off guard? He’d dusted a vampire before after all–albeit a much younger one likely. When the vampire mentioned punishment, Kade shook his head lightly. There was always at least one superior that tried to teach him a lesson, but it never really stuck. He was too damn proud. “Yep, get in line,” he answered dryly. “Turns out most of you are easily offended control freaks.”

Austin was enjoying himself. He didn’t mind a little fun in the sun, and he was just happy to enjoy himself and not have to worry about actual responsibilities for a start. He chuckled, glancing over at Kade. “My bad,” he smirked, though he didn’t rush to move out of the way.

☾

When the shade didn’t move, Kade popped open another eye and craned his neck up to see who it was still in the way. When he’d gotten a good enough look, he leaned back against his float and took a swig of his beer. “You lost or what?”

Del made a sound of high pitched protest as she once again looked at the rude boy. “You are in the presence of a very well respected merlady, you should be so fortunate. And you dare insinuate that I’m just some big…..” her cheeks flushing with irritation. “Beluga!?” She used her tail to splash him with water. “What is an Ariel!? It sounds rude! Like you! Maybe you’re the ariel!” 

☾

The human flinched a bit as the cold water splashed against his skin. At first he was pissed and sat up on the raft ready to tear into her. But he blinked a moment, trying to put together what she’d insinuated from him telling her to move. It was pretty funny so he had to laugh a bit. Relaxing a bit, he realized she was more whiney than the cruel type. “She’s a mermaid princess,” he clarified with a chuckle, shaking a bit of water from his hair. “So I think you’re better suited for her given the tail. Talk to any seagulls or crabs lately?”

“And you’re my lunch, little hunter…” Theo said simply, setting her hands on her hips and tilting her head as she looked down at the other “You can’t have thought that this whole gathering would be easy for you?”

☾

Catching a glimpse of the woman in the water near him, Kade rolled his eyes. “I’m not on the menu, red,” he said, glaring out from behind his sunglasses. “I don’t feel like dealing with anyone’s shit today.”

The boy wasn’t very polite, not even a simple ‘thanks’ offered in return for Daniel’s help, but he was bleeding and could be forgiven - for now. The vampire allowed himself to shift slightly on the sand, lean closer and take a whiff of the boy. He ignored his sarcastic tone, brushing it aside. “You do,” he said sincerely. “Smell good, and taste good too, I imagine.” His mind was already running with ideas of different meals his blood would go well with - although straight from the source would be quite delicious as well. “You are lucky I have the day off. But once I return to work, I will want to tap some of it.” He said it with a finality, letting the human know he had no choice in the matter.

☾

Tap some of it? That didn’t exactly sound pleasant. Then again, humans didn’t exactly have it easy around here. Kade glanced over at the vampire, this time not holding back his usual glare he gave superiors that bugged him. The statement held a finality to it he didn’t like but there was little he could do–something that only pissed him off more. Kade did not like helplessness. “You try to tap into me and I’ll tap into you with a wooden stake.” He knew it probably wasn’t all that threatening to some bloodsucking ancient being, but it was the best he could manage. And he did mean it. The human stood now and threw back the bloody handkerchief to the man. “Suck on that for a while,” he smirked. “Cause that’s all you’re getting, Dracula.”

They watched him closely, thinking the man was having way too much fun floating around. With a wicked grin, something the drunkard would miss, they waded over to where they were. “You look far too comfortable.” Was all they said before pulling the float upward knocking him into the water, drink and all. “Now that’s better.” Now things were getting far more interesting, nothing like causing some trouble to lift their mood.

☾

Before he could answer, Kade found himself slipping underwater. The ocean felt fucking cold after he’d been lying in the hot sun and it took a moment for Kade to gather his senses as he got to his feet. It was definitely sobering. Now waist deep in the water, what beer and salt water was left in his bottle, he tossed out toward and onto the asshole who’d flipped him over. “Eat shit, blondie.”

“I appreciate that,” Dory smiled as she tucked some of her dark hair behind her ear. She took the money, and was pleased he said he would join her. Normally she would be too shy to even make eye contact. However when someone showed her such kindness seemed like the logical step to make an effort. “Sounds good, I’ll be over in a sec. Oh! My name is Dory by the way.” She said giving a small awkward wave. 

☾

“Kade.” The human offered his name with a slight smile, albeit a bit of an awkward one. This sorta gesture of kindness wasn’t exactly familiar territory with him. Kept too busy with his work and the harassment from the guards, he didn’t get many chances to help look after the other humans though he’d wanted to. Easily enough he found a seat in the shade and waited for his new...acquaintance (?) to join him. Deep down he was...actually looking forward to trying funnel cake. He didn’t think he’d ever had any before.