Drain the Old Kings

Tyson bore his teeth as he scowled at the other man, his more primal side easily showing because he was surrounded by so many unknown supernaturals. “Gifts? Man, you have to suck blood to survive and you can’t go out in the daylight. I’m not sure why you think that’s a gift.”

Osiris was silent for a moment as a wicked grin slowly crept up his face. "I get to thrive off of the life force of others, gaining strength from their sacrifices to me... I live like a god. Why would I trade that, for pathetic mortality?" As he spoke, he inched closer to the other, his gaze and his words both dripping with insane malice. 

She saw his blue eyes before anything else. The girl didn’t know why they were so striking, or why they’d stuck in her memory so sharply, but without even taking in his whole face she knew it was Osiris. Her heart fluttered a bit in her chest, the organ fighting to join the butterflies that had gathered in her stomach. Even with the chaos around her, she was a bit starstruck, but she gravitated over to him, giving him a look of concern as she reached her hand out timidly to place on his arm. “Are you okay?” She asked, wide green hues searching his face. “I-I can’t believe this is happening. I was really hoping it was going to work.” Gabrielle confessed with a sigh.

@osiris-moriconi

Osiris was lost in his own world of thought, pensively observing the chaos around him with the shadow of a grin on his lips. The touch, admittedly, startled him, and he shied from it immediately. He turned to spit venomous words at whoever dared disturb him, but the sound died as he saw a soft and familiar face. It was the fangirl from the other night. “Gabrielle.” He breathed her name, still a bit taken aback by her sudden appearance. It took him a moment to register her question, but then he responded with a soft smile. “Oh, i’m great, dear.” He replied in a gleeful manner completely unbefitting to the situation. In contrast to his own feelings, she seemed rather upset, and he didn’t want to scare off the girl who had so kindly fawned over him. He placed what he hoped would be a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Holding onto hope for something so uncertain is a sure fire way to get yourself hurt. There were only two ways this could go.” He finished speaking, proud of how well he had dodged around mentioning his own exuberance about the failure, while still managing not to agree with her concerns. However, there was a conscious effort going into maintaining a sympathetic face when all he wanted to do was smile. 

Leech scent was closing in on Ty from every angle, mixing in with the scent of other werewolves and the distinct smell of humans. His nose scrunched up in response to the overwhelming mix of smells, but his face quickly soured due to the vampire’s words too. “What’s up your butt? Are you jealous your name didn’t get picked?”

For a moment, Osiris merely glared at the man, overwhelmed by the anger that the other’s words had elicited in him.  When he spoke again his voice was cold. "How dare you imply that I would be so impertinent as to sign away the gifts that were bestowed upon me. You may be so ungrateful, but i am not."   

Lienna was looking forward and down, watching her feet go in front of the other. The boy’s look was missed, though it would have little impact if she had seen it. If he didn’t want to talk, there was plenty of room on the trail for the both of them. Lienna lifted her gaze just in time to see his little smirk peak out from behind that scowl. Instantly she didn’t like it. “You trust that today’s witches have the capability to undue what witches did long ago?  I haven’t even met with any of these witches yet, so I’m not sold.” The cure to be real would be a dream come true, but it also felt too good to be true. “Well, I hope it works out for the best and doesn’t get messy.” There was heavy emphasis on the word messy, staring him down slightly.

As she went on, Osiris found his head shaking and his scowl becoming more pronounced. “I don’t know them, so I don’t trust them to be able to do anything. I'm just saying that logically, they should be perfectly capable of it. But anything can happen. I've no bet on either outcome." Her final comment elicited a bark of condescending laughter from him. "Oh, come now. What fun would a happy ending be?" There was a malicious sort of glint in his eyes as he tilted his head and stared at the girl. As he finished speaking, there was a sort of outcry from the practitioner's circle. He glanced towards it then back to her, joyful anticipation written all over his face. “Well, looks like we might just have our verdict already.”

She smirked slightly, nodding at his reply. “That’d be because I’m not a vampire or a werewolf. The cure is for blood cursed, not for Fae. I was born immortal, not made.”

Originally posted by joewright

Her words piqued his interest, and his brows crept a bit higher up his face. “Oh? Is that so? How interesting...” In all his years, he’d never met a fae before. Or, at least, not that he knew of. This supernatural summit was certainly broadening his horizons. He was about to question her further, find out what he could about her species, but there was a sudden uproar from the witch's circle.  He spun his head around so fast he nearly cricked it. He turned back to her, excitement sparkling in his eyes. He remembered that she was also indifferent to the cure, and jutted out his hand for her to take. The crowd was thickening, and he didn’t want to lose her. “Well, shall we go catch the climax of the show?”

“You didn’t have to say anything,” Almeria stated, her head held high. As he prattled on, Almeria’s jaw clenched and nostrils flared. Gifts. Gifts… The word bounced around in Almeria’s head like a ball. He sounded just like John. She had been mere hours out of labor before that monster bragged of the gift he would give her before forcing his blood into her mouth and shoving his fangs in her throat. “You young vampires are so damn arrogant,” she smiled bitterly and shook her head, something like pity shining in her eyes. 

Osiris could help but let out a bark of laughter at her words. Young vampires. “How assumptive of you, darling. Arrogant i may be, but young i most certainly am not.” Even in his sour mood, he managed a grin. He couldn’t know for certain, she might be older than him, but even so, he couldn’t be considered young in any sense of the word. Even by vampire standards. He was opening his mouth to further defend himself when the sounds of screams and general chaos nearby caused his words to falter and die in his throat. Through the din, he could make out one particular phrase arising from many a mournful spectator. It’s failed. He slowly returned his gaze to her, grinning like a madman. “Well, well, well...looks like their ‘hope’ just wasn’t enough to make the magic happen, eh? Shame.” He pulled a simpering face, but it wasn’t enough to hide the glee laced through every muscle of his expression, nor the face that he was holding back laughter.

“That would certainly make things interesting.” Delphine said with a soft smile. She nodded, taking a small sip before tuckig the flask back into her bag. “So…” She mused aloud. “If this magical madness does work, would you give it all up? I don’t believe I have the option, not that I’d take it.”

He watched her take a sip of the flask, and it immediately made him thirsty, for something a little more potent then alcohol. His eyes flashed to her jugular for the briefest of moments, but he pushed the thought out of his head. It wasn’t the night for that. At her words, he looked at her like she was mad. “Not for a king’s ransom.” He replied slowly and deliberately. “Why don’t you have the option? The witches seem pretty willing to perform this...idiotic cure, on anyone who wants it.”

“Is there?” She raised a contemplative eyebrow at the statement. “You’re still here, aren’t you? You may think these people are all fools for having hope of a cure, you may think you’re superior to that…” Her hazel eyes locked onto his. “The truth is, you still cared enough to come here tonight. You care enough to see what the outcome is. That’s all any of us are here for. So, what gives you the idea you’re any better than the rest of them?” This man’s arrogance rubbed Almeria the wrong way. Truth be told, if it weren’t for John, Almeria would want to be mortal again. With mortality came hope for a future, for something more. Instead, she was stuck as she was all those years ago.

It was always one of two reactions when people talked back to Osiris; explosive, unforgiving anger, or amusement. This girl was really expertly walking the line between the two. He didn’t know whether to smile or snarl. “I never said i was any better than the others who are here to spectate. I can respect the intrigue around the event, and the cure itself. And yeah, i’m damn curious as to what’s going to happen tonight. But i have no respect for the fucking rats in there trying to ‘cure’ themselves and their clans and packs from the gifts they’ve been lucky enough to receive.”

Delphine shrugged. “Either or. I don’t much care one way or the other. It doesn’t affect me.” The siren flicked her hair over her shoulder as she riffled through her clutch, pulling out a small flask. “There’s no open bar, so I brought reinforcments. Want some?”

For what felt like the first time that day, Osiris’ features softened for the briefest moment. It was nice to finally meet someone else who wasn’t so uptight about all of this, and wasn’t so fussed about the outcome. Sure, he was against the concept of the cure, but no matter the outcome, he stood to benefit. He shrugged before replying. “Neither do I. Though, if it fails, i hope it fails spectacularly.” He glanced down at the flask, and was actually a little touched by the offer, but shook his head. “No. Thank you. This night could end any number of ways. I want my wits about me. Just in case.”

Almeria stood silently on the edge of the group gathered. She never did like crowds - it overwhelmed her senses, made her feel vulnerable. Anyone could be snuck up on in a crowd, even a vampire. So she stood, watching the others, observing. Just as well. She was the newcomer, the nomad. She knew no one and no one knew her. She preferred it that way.

She watched one person in particular. His shoulders were tense, each breath methodical, as though trying to keep himself tame. Then, he lashed out. A cigarette. Sad. Almeria never had understood the point of them. When he turned on her, she merely tilted her head a bit, a dull look on her fair face. “Are you proud of yourself, than? You yourself are part of this circus.”

For some reason, her apathy annoyed Osiris. Although he wasn’t consciously aware of it, he really thrived off of getting a reaction out of people.He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at her. “There is a big difference between the freaks in the the ring and the audience, sweetheart.” He shot at her with a sneer.””You don’t see me in there,” He gestured aggressively towards the crowd. “Dancing about like a trained chimp for a bunch of witches, holding out hope for some miracle cure.”  

Delphine was wandering about trying to scope out the general mood. Everyone was either nervous, or annoyed, or just intrigued.  She caught a glimpse of the vampire she’d met a few nights before. The leader of the Moriconi clan. He looked less than enthused to be there. She raised her eyebrows, trying not to be insulted by his words as she smoothed out her dress. “Well,if you’re going to speak to me like that, than I’m quite glad I missed your show. I’m just here for the entertainment.”

 He hadn’t recognized the girl at first, but her words jogged his memory. Osiris gave an unamused sort of ‘hmph’ and crossed his arms. “Still your loss,” He insisted. “But there will be plenty more opportunities.” He added dispassionately. He didn’t even have the drive to be cocky today with all of this nonsense going on. Her last words did catch his attention though, and he cocked a brow. “Oh? And what’s ‘entertainment’ for you? If it succeeds or fails?”

Ivy recognized him from the stage, but she wasn’t familiar with his band or his name. She loved tattoos, but she wasn’t one to get them frivolously. Each one she had was special to her and held meaning, so she wasn’t big on getting random ink just for the sake of getting it. “I don’t know if you’re being serious, but I’d need to actually know your name for that,” she laughed, brushing off the offer. She figured he was probably more interested in getting her alone than in actually permanently emblazoning his name on her skin, anyway. 

“I suppose that is true.” He conceded after a moment of playful deliberation. “But I’ll have you know I am always serious.” The gravity of his tone was contradicted by the smile that immediately broke across his face. “I think i’ve ever got the perfect place for it.” He took a step closer to her and as he spoke again, he slowly dragged a pointed nail across her left collarbone. “Osiris...Moriconi.... Oh yes, it would be perfect. Add some flowers or something around it if you like to make it match the others, eh?”

A show like this was the perfect opportunity for Phoebe. A crowd of people, half of whom were intoxicated and half of whom were well on their way there, but all of them just looking for an opportunity to take their frustrations out on each other. Humans were fun but predictable when you got a little liquor in them. What wasn’t predictable about tonight was that the show was actually decent, and it was a hell of a distraction although Phoebe wasn’t going to admit that.

When the show was over the dark haired girl clapped with the rest of the crowd, a smirk permanently glued to her face. She was a lot of things but a groupie wasn’t one of them. Phoebe watched the artist wander off the stage, quirking one eyebrow as she watched the musical instrument trailing the ground. It was enough to make her stand up from the stool she was perched on and start wandering toward him. 

Darling. She scoffed at the greeting, shaking her head. “I don’t want your signature. I just thought I’d let you know you’re going to ruin that thing if you keep dragging it around like that.” 

The second the woman entered into his line of sight, Osiris’ immediate first thought was that she looked severe. It wasn’t quite enough to intimidate him, but her appearance was such that as she approached he found himself standing up a little straighter. When she spoke, every suspicion 0he had about her was confirmed. She reminded him of a grade school teacher he once had, but hotter.

“Ruination is part of the cycle of creation and life. Everything has its time.” He glanced down at the guitar. “I’ve had this for literal ages now. And i’ve plenty more. It’s no real loss to me. Nothing’s really unique or special in the grand scheme anyway. Why worry for one measly guitar.” With that, he shrugged and cast her a crooked grin. “To whom do I owe thanks for such...friendly concern?”