"Oh. Yes, I can do that. Where would you like to go? And ... will you be wearing that?" His question made him grimace, as if it would bring down her hellfire.
He was partly correct, and she wrapped her claws around his throat and pulled him down to meet her at eye level. He squirmed but otherwise did nothing but smile awkwardly. She could swear he was enjoying this.
"You think what I wear matters? I'll be next to you, but hiding with a discipline, dumbass. No one will notice me. You'll get us a nice meal with that devil charm of yours, and then we'll eat."
"I see ... I think Bloodlust will work well. Once seated, no one will notice your differences in the dark. Just, please don't kill anyone there."
"Bloodlust is in Invictus territory."
"You'll be hidden, right? And with me anyway. No one will question."
She let go of him, and clicked her teeth side to side. She'd seen the outside of Bloodlust many times, but she'd never dared go in, not even while hidden. A place swarming with that much life and that many bodies so close to each other, it would have struck too close to painful memories.
But this time she'd have her man here to take her. Different circumstance, right?
"Alright, let's go," she said, and slipped her claws into her jeans pockets. It took only moments to step out of the catacombs, and the empty cemetery provided no distractions from stepping onto the road.
Julias followed up behind her in a short jog until they stood side-by-side.
"You look lovely tonight."
Oh no he fucking didn't.
"Spare your bullshit."
"What? It's not bullshit."
"Really?" She turned to him, and opened her mouth to its fullest. When she wanted to, she could open that crocodile smile until it was ninety degrees apart, and he'd be able see down her throat and how long her tongue was.
He didn't even blink.
"You know Maria, Viktor's partner, is a Nosferatu right? Are you trying to scare me?"
"Maria doesn't have an extra fifty teeth."
The man shrugged.
"Come on. I thought you wanted to go out and enjoy yourself? Is it so hard to believe I don't find you hideous? Here I thought that's how we got into this situation."
" ... fine." He had her there. She'd asked him to do this because it seemed like he'd been sexually attracted to her. Fucked up reason to ask for such a stupid favor, but fuck reason.
The walk was otherwise uneventful. Julias tried to make small talk, but she ignored it. She wasn't interested in his ridiculous attempts at normalizing this absurd affair, but he did not relent. She had to threaten him before he shut up.
The Invictus half of South Side district was always alive, lights everywhere, and people wearing nice clothes walked down the nice sidewalks and into nice buildings. She avoided this place. Not only was it Invictus territory, but she used to live here and in this life. Twenty years was not long enough to forget.
"Ah, we're here." He motioned to the Bloodlust, and stepped up to the bouncer at the door. A nod and handshake and they were in. Invictus, and Ventrue in particular, were connections incarnate. Julias could probably shake a hand, call in a favor, and walk them into any club or business in the city. How fucking nice for him.
The inside almost blinded her senses. She had to put up a hand and partly cover her eyes at the weird array of smells and sights. There was a white light that pulsed with the beat-heavy music, but between it was the constant dull red lighting that must have been just enough for humans to see. People danced with each other in a dancing center, and booth seats lined the walls.
"So this is how the rich nightlife plays out," she said with her shoulders almost touching Julias's arm. "Fancy clothes, fancy personalities, but when it gets dark they grind like bunnies." She motioned to the dance floor where they were, indeed, grinding like bunnies.
"Yes. People come here to relax, get laid, or just meet. Admittedly, people here are a little more open-minded than other places. That's why I come here." He pointed to one of the two staircases that lined the walls, leading to a second balcony floor. "Come. It's quieter up there, darker."
"Lovely." With a groan, she followed her knight up the staircases. The balcony floor was indeed less populated, and the white pulse light didn't shine very much up there. There were booths with people in them, and as much as they were hidden in the dark from each other, she could see them just fine with Kindred eyes. A lot of them were kissing, some were chatting, some were fucking.
"Just lovely."
"I could have taken you to an opera, but I believe you said you wanted to eat?" He turned and grinned at her.
"Yeah. Yeah fine." She did like metal operas, maybe she'd try a normal opera. Later.
"Here's an empty spot." He grabbed a booth near the back, and stood by it with a palm open toward the seat. The Ventrue was waiting for her to sit first.
She rolled her eyes and sat down. Even if she wasn't using her Nosferatu abilities to hide, she doubted anyone would notice her back here. Part of her felt offended, but another felt relieved. She could stop taxing her vitae so much to hide.
Julias sat down next to her, and shifted on his hip to look at her with a smile.
" ... what?"
"What what?" he said.
"Why are you smiling at me?"
"Oh, was I smiling?"
"Yes you were fucking smiling you bastard." She sneaked a hand underneath the table and grabbed at his leg hard enough to pierce his skin with her claws. He winced and shifted around, but otherwise stayed quiet. "Stop making fun of me." She dug in a little deeper. Were he still alive, his blood would have been dripping down his leg.
"I ... I'm not. Really, I'm not." He cracked another smile, though she could see it mixed with pain. Good.
"You're making me angry. Just get us something to eat, Superman."
" ... ok."
She hurt him. Physically, of course, but she saw that look of sadness on his face. Now she felt guilty. Guilty and angry. Was it so weird that he was trying to be nice to her? She did save his life after all. That was Kindred business though, or so she thought, but then...
"Fine! Fine, talk," she said, and his smile returned immediately. He was like a weird hybrid between a valiant knight and a manipulative trickster. She couldn't quite place him or his motives, and it was driving her insane. "Talk about ... you said you hadn't been with a vampire in fifty years. I see you hook up with kine all the time, why not Kindred?"
"I don't 'hook up' with kine."
"Ha! Yes you do, you slut. I may never have sneaked in here but I've sneaked into other clubs. I've seen at least two dozen different women either go home with you, or straight up fuck you in the club while you drink them."
Ho ho. The mighty Ventrue was squirming with embarrassment. Point for her.
"That's ... I like to see them happy."
"You fucking what?"
"I like to see them happy. I make sure they all know it's not a relationship, but to see a human simply ... give in to pleasure and relax and enjoy themselves. To be happy for just a few minutes. I like that." He shrugged at her. "You ever seen a vampire be happy like that? Ever see a Kindred stop manipulating, scheming, planning, for just five minutes to enjoy a Kiss, or just a regular kiss?"
She stopped, and stared at him. That sounded familiar.
"Kine don't think outside of a week, maybe a couple years at most. I can't have a conversation with a Kindred without them planning out fifty years in advance. Viktor, easily a hundred."
" ... yeah, that really does fucking suck." She flicked at her earring chain and scratched at the table. The Carthians were not nearly so long-sighted and boring as the Invinctus, and she found even them trying to talk with.
"Julias!" A squeal of a voice came from the stairs, and a woman skipped over in her ridiculous heels. She was barely five feet tall and was wearing an open-back dress with a short skirt, dark red. Fake tits too. Typical bimbo blond. Julias was smiling right back at her though.
"Hey Kristen. Get the job?"
"No!" She humphed like a child and hooked her arms under her bosom. "They gave it to some dumbass. Glass ceiling, am I right?"
"Completely right," Julias said. Did he really know about this random woman's life? Did he actually fucking care?
Beatrice's eyes opened wide when he gestured to her.
"This is my date, Scarlet."
" ... h-hi." Beatrice sank into her booth, and made sure her hair framed over her cheeks, where her extra teeth were. Talking with a kine like they were friends was not what she had planned.
"A date? Julias you make me sad. I thought you said you weren't interested in dating."
"Well, Scarlet is a special case." Julias winked at her. She was going to kill him later. "We met a couple weeks ago, and she roped me in."
"Lucky girl." The bimbo stared right at Beatrice, and gave her a big smile of absolute obliviousness. "And here I was hoping for another one of those special kisses."
Beatrice twitched. Julias was Kissing the same people multiple times? He was letting them run around knowing that?
"Well, actually, Scarlet here is really shy, but she gives the same kiss