#caelestisopen

Evenings were easier than daylight. Partly because he had grown so used to existing in the dark and using the early morning hours to sleep; since arriving there any day he managed to get out of his apartment without falling down the fire escape or out the front door felt like a victory. Half the time it didn’t happen and he wasn’t used to feeling clumsy but work was a necessity and so was attempting some degree of a normal life. Slinking around at night was, in theory, left to other creatures. 

It didn’t stop him from doing it occasionally though and right then, dusk heavy at his back and the false-light fading away, August felt oddly groggy and unfocused. It was that city making him lazy with a sense of implied security that he didn’t fully trust yet. Restless, heavy eyelids threatened to give out on him and he toyed with the notion of heading home, would have abanonded hs perch on the street-side bench, if not for a flicker of sound. 

His ears weren’t any sharper than most normal humans, a strange oddity compared to the sum of his kind, but strong enough to hear the rattle of motion when someone was around. He barely glanced up from his seat, things weren’t the way they used to be and every little sound wasn’t something horrible about to happen; he kept reminding himself of that. 

The warmth of the artificial lighting reminded him of the sun, and the air that was inhaled into his lungs seemed so pure and real - it was peaceful here, a place to forget about everything and everyone while he could. Just him and the reminder of his time before the fog had ruined and destroyed everyone’s lives throughout the entire world. 

Until he heard static on the radio attached to his uniform before a voice spoke more clearly: There’s been an assault reported just outside The Flux. Police on sight. One seriously injured with a stab wound. Medics arriving shortly. 

Sighing, Lucian rose himself from a bench deep within The Alcove. Although he didn’t need to go, he wanted to. Though at the moment he was without his partner. It didn’t matter too much. Under the influence no doubt, drugs might have been involved as all these types of assaults are. 

When he arrived at the scene, many had crowded around the victim and immediately Lucian hurriedly pushed his arm in front of the crowd. “Back off, everyone! This is a crime scene.”

Caspian sat at an empty table, looking at the others chatting away, dancing, laughing in front of him in Incognito. Glancing down at his drink, he lifted it up and downed it in one go, the warmth of it coating his throat. It was then when someone had decided to sit near opposite him at the empty seat beside him. Perhaps they didn’t even notice him sitting there considering how still he was being, as solid as a basilisk. 

“If you’re going to sit there, at least do something useful. Care to entertain me in conversation? Or perhaps you have a cigarette I can lend?”

He had originally gone towards the blood bank, but when he heard about how some cafes actually fused blood and coffee together he changed his direction without thought. Except while he was walking by his lonesome, and very much blind, self it appeared that there were plenty of people that were happy to take advantage of his disability. Lorenzo wasn’t a violent man. He swore it up to the stars and even down to his sister’s grave that he wasn’t. The only times he ever did anything aggressive was when he was trying to protect himself, and that was exactly what ended up happening within the next few steps he took. 

Though he had his guide stick out, it was mostly for appearances. He didn’t need one in all honesty since he could echo locate his surroundings, but it saved everyone the hassle of wondering why he wore sunglasses day and night. So as he tapped his way down the sidewalk he had some surprise company. Lorenzo blamed his lack of awareness on the general shitty condition he was running at, but when someone crowded his space out of nowhere he knew that nothing good would come out of this. The person wanted his money, of course, and after several tries of trying to walk away the stranger made the foolish move to lash out at him. The man’s fist connected with the side of his cheek and a part of his lip, but that was the last straw before he snapped.

For a man that was calm most of the time Lorenzo was actually livid then. To be fair, though, it was highly uncalled for to be mugged in the early evening. Without hesitation Lorenzo let his centuries worth of experience take hold over his body. He struck back quickly and that was all it took for the thief to take out a knife. How stupid. The man was quickly disarmed, twisted and thrown over his shoulder with a solid thud. 

There was groaning where he had thrown the attacker, and he had the fleeting thought of actually extending his fangs but he didn’t. He was appalled at himself for not noticing just how close he was to being starved. With a huff and a quick tug and smooth over his suit he stepped over the fallen man. His tossed guide stick was battered, but it wasn’t broken. As he went to go pick it up he noticed that someone else was near by. Whether they had been here this whole time or had just so happened to stop at this moment was a mystery to him. 

That didn’t stop him from straightening his posture as he took in several deep breaths to get rid of the simmering anger that resided. He must have looked the sight with his hair disheveled and blood smeared across his mouth and chin. Just the smell of his own blood spiked the hunger that sat heavily in his gut, but he did everything he could to remain steady before he did something rash. He knew he wouldn’t just attack someone mindlessly, but being this close to needing to feed was never fun or easy for any vampire. 

Before he came to Caelestis he had set himself on a ‘strict’ diet. Strict being that he had plans for what, when, and how much he would eat. His phone was set on a bunch of timers, and he did rather well with keeping up with it. That was until now. He was new to this whole island, and the first thing he set out to do was to find a good place to nap. Sure, sleeping in his own apartment was dandy and all, but there was a difference to that and sleeping outdoors where he felt more comfortable. Guy found a nice shady place somewhere at the park and plopped his fat ass down to catch a few z’s. It took a few seconds for him to knock out, and when he woke it was because of a sudden blaring that vibrated madly in his pocket. That made him get up before he proceeded to run face first into a nearby tree trunk. The impact to his face made him push back with his arms and swat the trunk, but he didn’t do anything else besides rub his nose with a grumble.

Henry had gone through one to many drinks in the first hour of the ball and his thoughts were beginning to fog over. He’d flirted with several strangers and even spilled his drink all over the suit of one of them. He was cussed out and others had to practically hold the man back from attacking him. While Henry had been nervous about getting into a fight so soon into the night, the thought didn’t entirely scare him. But even in his mentally incapable state, the familiar knew he needed to slow down or he’d be getting himself in more trouble. He receded to a back corner of the hall where people went if they were done dancing. He definitely wasn't drunk enough to get on the dance floor. Or maybe he was. He’d had about 5 drinks in the span of 50 minutes.

A stranger had crowded into his space without Henry’s knowledge and he glanced up with half-lidded eyes when the man was within arms reach. Whether he was doing it on purpose, or accidentally, Henry didn’t mind the comforting heat. While sober, he probably would have told the guy to back off. “Come here often?” He slurred the words with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, breath hot in between them. He couldn’t be bothered to figure out who the man was but he didn’t break eye contact- it was easier to look while intoxicated and hidden by a mask. 

Was he security detail for this ball? No, not even a little bit. Not whatsoever. Did that stop him from crossing his arms in front of him, picking out a corner of the room, and guarding it with all his life? It sure as hell did not. For Blue, it was easier to attend events with a large body of people if he didn’t technically attend at all. Who was going to bother a guy who appeared to be working? And since he was, in fact, a bouncer, he was good at looking the part.