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Post by Cassie Vimes on Feb 2, 2009 21:56:29 GMT 1
”Yeah,” Cassie smiled, pleased that Dacian liked travel. It was a pretty big part of her life and had he said anything to the contrary it would have put a little bit of a strain on the conversation. Not that conversation was exactly top of her list of things to do should this encounter continue for much longer. ”I must like it, or I would have settled down before now. Perhaps gone home.” She had fond memories of Australia and yet she hadn’t considered going back. It was almost like the real deal would ruin the picture she had of the place in her mind.
She lifted the mug once more, wanting to drink as much of the coffee as possible before it cooled down. However, Cassie used only one hand to hold her drink this time, leaving the other resting on the tabletop and in contact with Dacian. Her gaze following his down to their joined hands, a matching smile on her face. The game they were playing was almost childish, mirroring each other’s movements, egging each other on to take the next step. The outcome though, well, that wouldn’t be childish at all.
”Ooh, I’ve been to a lot of places.” She tilted her head to one side, trying to decide where to tell him about. Dacian probably didn’t want to hear about every single airport and magical ministry building she’d stopped off in to portkey or fly out of. ”I’ll give you the highlights, or we’ll be here all night.” Cassie quipped, making it quite clear she didn’t intend for the two of them to be talking the night away.
”I went to South Africa first, not quite willing to give up the sunshine. Then Rome, which was amazing so I somehow managed to get a job in a coffee shop. Of course I don’t speak a word of Italian so goodness knows why they employed me in the first place. Needless to say the job didn’t last long.” She chuckled and took advantage of the pause to take another sip of her drink. ”After that I made my way across Europe, ended up in Paris for quite a while. France is a brilliant country don’t you think?” [/font]
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Dacian
Vampire (A)
Creature of the Night
Posts: 330
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Post by Dacian on Feb 2, 2009 22:37:17 GMT 1
First stop, South Africa. Dacian had left much of that whole continent unexplored. Except for that one incident in Egypt, he’d avoided returning there. The weather a turnoff and the company could be… turbulent. Too many ghosts, physical and mental, lingered there for his liking. It seemed she enjoyed the sunshine – what could you expect from someone from Australia (another sunny place he had avoided like the plague) – so the rest of her adventures might be met with similar unfamiliarity.
Ah, Rome. He had been there a few times, usually on business. The locals could draw attention to themselves and with that many tourists around, the ‘accidents’ could draw a lot of intercontinental attention. Sometimes the troublemakers needed rousing, or decapitating. Dacian’s speciality.
Then onto Europe. His favoured stomping ground except for one place in particular, which turned out to be her next stop. He involuntarily pulled a face that looked as if she’d just suggested dog faeces smelled of honeysuckle. France? A brilliant country? His nose maintained its disagreeable wrinkle as he fought hard against the urge to tell her just what he thought of her brilliant country. “I don’t like France.” He managed, very diplomatic, “The people are…” He appeared to be leafing through his vocabulary to think of a suitable word, “Uncouth.” There was no love lost on the French from the vampire. It was a timeless grudge that he had cultivated since an early age, born of distrust, hatred and warfare. His and their country had warred since before his birth until after his death. He was justified in hating them as wholly as he did.
Trying his hardest now to smooth his expression, he rolled his wrist to gesture his want for a less aggravating subject. “So why Scotland? It doesn’t seem like your style.” He asked, mentally compressing that old anger into its compartment of repression in the back of his mind. He laced his free hand with the one beside her hand, hoping his eyes had lost that blistering fury that accompanied the thought of his eternal enemies. He glanced away, closing them for a moment while he calmed himself, opening them only when he was sure they had returned to their more neutral expression. He flashed an apologetic smile in the form of a curl on one side of his mouth. “Sorry, sore subject.” He mumbled, hoping it was sufficient enough that she wouldn’t bring it up again – it would really ruin his game if she was stubborn about it.
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Post by Cassie Vimes on Feb 3, 2009 0:16:35 GMT 1
Okay so she hadn’t exactly opened up and started regaling him with interesting tales and amusing anecdotes from her travels, but at least the places she was mentioning seemed to mean something to Dacian. Cassie’s curiosity was piqued. He was clearly more worldly wise than he let on, but before she could turn tables and ask him if he’d been to any of the same places things took a sudden and unexpected turn for the worse.
At her mention of Paris his face twisted into an expression of utter disgust and loathing. That wasn’t quite the reaction she’d been expecting. Cassie could only stare, eyes wide with shock and more than a little confusion. For the first time she considered pulling her hand away from Dacian’s, finishing up her drink and heading back to her room at the Three Broomsticks. She shook the feeling off, so he didn’t like France, that was no reason to turn tail and run.
”So I gathered.” Cassie smiled wryly at his announcement that he wasn’t fond of the country. Personally she’d never had any problem with the French being uncouth or even remotely impolite, but everybody had different experiences and clearly Dacian’s had been less than positive. Cassie was curious, but not enough to push matters, she’d much rather they go back to good natured flirting. If only so he’d lose that look of hatred in his eyes.
Dacian seemed just as keen to move onto a neutral topic and Cassie moved the hand that was touching his, resting her fingers over his wrist as he seemed to shake off whatever bad memories she’d inadvertently awakened. ”I’ve spent so long around non-magical people I thought it was about time I stayed somewhere with other witches and wizards around.” Cassie had never quite gotten into the habit of calling them muggles, since she’d never really had a magical influence as a child. “Where better than Hogsmeade?”
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Dacian
Vampire (A)
Creature of the Night
Posts: 330
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Post by Dacian on Feb 3, 2009 0:50:11 GMT 1
He did not miss that slight deviation in her pulse. She’d seen that fury, and it worried her. It should. If she connected it to the predator inside him, she would have been on her feet and running instantly. Mortals usually had a sense for danger and while they might not be able to define it, they sometimes got that ‘gut feeling’ that something was wrong. If he played it right, he didn’t raise suspicions, but trust the French to ruin things for him. Luckily it appeared she was staying. He hadn’t scared her off completely.
At the touch of her fingers on his wrist, he looked quickly to her face. Something else about the game he had forgotten was voluntary touch. Usually his prey only touched him to get away. A kick, a punch, never a gentle touch, especially not on his wrist. The area was a sensitive one; when it was your main source of blood, you tended to become more aware of just how important it was to defend your wrists. The vampire almost shied away, but he steeled himself and left his hand there, moving the other to rest his palm over her hand. With a conscious effort, he ‘absently’ rubbed his thumb over the fabric of the glove over the thumb he’d now taken possession of. It was an easy habit to be deathly still, and he had to remind his digits to be fidgety so the mortal effect was more complete.
After giving her a thankful smile, he seemed abashed at her reason for being her. “Ah, well you’re out of luck there – not a magical bone in my body.” He patted her hand apologetically. Continuing the charade as if he was expected to know the intricacies of wizardry would make things difficult, so it was best to provide some half-truths to keep it running smoothly. “So you’re a witch, huh? Funny, where are the warts? You don’t look particularly green either.” He winked, turning his hand over under hers so he could hold it with both hands. “I can see why humans might be dull, though. They aren’t exactly exciting, are they?” He was deliberately avoiding the pronoun ‘we’ to include himself in the human classification. If she wanted to assume that’s what he was if he wasn’t a wizard, that was her own mistake. So far, he hadn’t told one lie to her. Except for the one about not being sure about the Irish coffee, but that was a little white lie any red-blooded male would use in conventional flirtation.
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Post by Cassie Vimes on Feb 5, 2009 0:03:49 GMT 1
It was strange, Cassie couldn’t really feel the warmth of Dacian’s hands through the fabric of her gloves. Then again her hand was already pleasantly warm thanks to the coffee she’d been holding and she could feel the repeated brush of his thumb over hers. A light touch that sent the smallest of thrills up her spine. His smile was returned with ease, mainly out of relief that she had not annoyed him too much and ruined the connection between them.
Cassie’s eyebrows quirked in surprise as Dacian admitted he wasn’t a wizard. For some reason she’d assumed that everybody she ran into in Hogsmeade would be magical. Not that it made any difference to her, she’d grown up in an non-magical environment. ”Really?” Cassie asked, looking at him with increased interest (if that was even possible). ”How did you end up in Hogsmeade then? If you don’t mind me asking.”
She laughed as he compared her to the stereotypical witch. ”I don’t break out the warts and green skin for just any man I meet in a pub you know.” Cassie told him with a wink. ”Special occasions only.” Her eyes flicked down to their joined hands, her hand now nestled between his palms. Short of playing footsy with Dacian she didn’t think there was much else she could do to get closer to him from across the table. Somehow she didn’t think he was really the footsy type.
It wasn’t that she wanted to get away from muggles, although the less time she spent around their mobile phones the better, it was more that she’d wanted a change. Cassie never had been very good at sticking to the familiar. ”Aww, I don’t think humans are dull.” She denied, smiling sweetly at him. ”I don’t need magic to have fun.” The way Cassie deliberately quirked her eyebrows left know doubt as to exactly what she meant by fun. [/font]
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Dacian
Vampire (A)
Creature of the Night
Posts: 330
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Post by Dacian on Feb 5, 2009 1:37:33 GMT 1
So non-magical folk piqued her interest more so? He gave a closed-lipped smile of smug satisfaction. This tactic of feeding in little truths was working well. Why hadn’t he tried it before? Because the truth was dangerous in a normal situation and there was little to no point in it when dealing with humans. They were easy to fox, and even easier to eat. Witches provided a little bit of a resistance and even a worldly vampire like Dacian practiced some healthy caution. If they could conjure sunlight as he had recently discovered, he had good reason to be wary. In his mental ranking of potential threats Cassie scored quite low but as was his general experience with women, if she found out he’d been lying, she would rank quite a lot higher. By not lying but not giving all the details, he had an excuse to fall back on when the game crumbled down around his ears.
“It’s a long story, really. I came here to get away from someone but I’m not sure how long that will work.” He grimaced, leaving it vague. He imagined she would fill in the gaps herself, though he doubted she would guess whomever he was hiding from was out for his head. He had a habit of not making friends. “I was beginning to regret hiding here of all places, though recently I’ve discovered some perks.” He squeezed her hand, mirroring the quirk of her brows. “Tell me, Cassie; what constitutes a ‘special occasion’?” He asked, refraining from making eye-contact until after the question, his expression smooth and almost eager when he finally met her eyes. He let her see a little bit of that hunger, a mild dose that closely resembled lust. His lips parted for a moment before he reined it in and composed his expression.
“Ah, sorry. I must be bothering you – you came here to have a drink, not to be…” He paused as if searching for an appropriate word while he listened to the sound of Edward’s footsteps on the stairs, “Ogled at by company-deprived strangers.” He looked to their hands with something like akin to yearning. “You’re good company, Cassie, we should do this again – properly – sometime.” He leaned across the table, studying her from just more than a foot away. That’s how Edward would see them as he entered the room. Dacian was acutely aware of the man as his dark eyes memorised the young woman’s face. Then the seriousness was gone and with casual ease, he lifted her hand delicately to his mouth with her fingers perched over his. He laid a polite kiss over her gloved knuckles, his eyes on hers to gage her reaction. It was an old-fashioned move, yet he pulled it off with practiced ease. He kept hold of her hand afterward with an anticipatory look on his face.
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Edward Johns
Adult (A)
The Hog's Head Barkeep
Totally screwed.
Posts: 118
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Post by Edward Johns on Feb 5, 2009 12:14:29 GMT 1
It had been a slow day and so far very disappointing day at the Hog’s Head for Edward Johns. First, the barkeep had had not one answer to the add he’d put up at the school. No one seemed interested in earning a bit of extra cash which was strange, especially with Christmas coming up. Although only twenty, Ed felt years older than the students at Hogwarts. As soon as he’d left school he’d thrown himself into work, travelling cost money. No matter how many times you quite literally charmed the pants off airhostesses the plane tickets were still expensive.
The second bit of disappointment the man had had was that over the course of the day hardly anyone had come in. Naturally Edward blamed his ‘guests’, actually he only blamed the male vampire. He was fucking creepy with a capital fuck. Even though he hadn’t told a soul about vampires in his basement, somehow people just knew to stay away. Vampires were creepy guests that were bad for business, that much the barkeep had figured out.
A black bundle of fur and some outraged cries broke Ed’s grandpa like train of thought. Earlier, to distract himself from the lack of patrons he’d made the mistake of winding up Rowdy. For an hour the Labrador puppy had been tearing around the pub. Of the people that were in there, most of them thought the dog was hilarious but the ones who’d had things stolen out of bags and pockets weren’t finding Rowdy as amusing.
As Ed turned to see what the sudden noise was about he spotted Rowdy bolt up the stairs, someone’s purse in his mouth. The woman who owned the purse, after she’d finished cursing at the dog, turned her abuse to Ed. With an apologetic grimace the man raced upstairs after the puppy. Rowdy was waiting for his owner up at the top of the stairs, head cocked to one side and purse in mouth.
“Give it here boy,” Edward cooed and just as he was about within reach Rowdy bolted off through the open door to the apartment man and dog shared. All through the flat the dog raced with Ed not far behind. After much crashing into tables and falling over couches the man emerged victorious from the flat purse in one hand, a wriggling mass of black fur in the other. A quick glance to his watch made Ed laugh a little out loud, he’d spent fifteen minutes chasing Rowdy.
Halfway down the stairs Rowdy stopped squirming and began to press close the his owner’s side. This had been the puppy’s normal reaction to whenever Dacian was around. “Stupid vampire,” Ed grumbled. First he scared of his customers, now he was scaring his dog. Already angry with the vampire, what he saw at the foot of the stairs pissed him right off. There was Dacian in the face of a pretty blonde Ed was sure he’d never seen before. If only she knew the look of lust on the creature’s face was really a look of ‘I want to get you alone so I can suck your blood.’
“Oi, you! Get the hell away from her,” he called from across the pub, wand drawn. Ed had Lumos Solem to hold over Dacian’s head and he was definitely not afraid to use the spell. "Mate, you really don't want to hook up with this one, trust me," he said to the girl. Looking at her face closer a feeling of faint recognition washed over Ed. She reminded him of Cassie Vimes but it couldn't be her... surely.
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Post by Cassie Vimes on Feb 5, 2009 23:08:28 GMT 1
It hadn’t exactly been the answer Cassie was angling for when she asked how Dacian had ended up in Hogsmede. What she’d really wanted to know is how he’d come to know about magic at all if he wasn’t a wizard. However his answer was interesting enough that she didn’t feel the need to keep prying, distracted instead by a whole host of new questions about exactly who he was getting away from. An ex-girlfriend perhaps?
It was a little early for her to be asking such personal questions though, considering they’d only been talking for about ten minutes, so she settled for grinning as Dacian alluded to possible perks of staying in Hogsmede. Cassie nodded in agreement, she’d definitely be sticking around if this was the kind of company she could keep. ”Oh, you know…” She pretended to be in serious thought, ”Birthdays, Christmas, dates, Tuesdays… All the important things.” Cassie joked.
If she’d thought Dacian had been looking at her with any kind of intensity before she’d been completely wrong. Cassie felt a shiver of delight run down her spine at the lust in his gaze. Which was why she was utterly confused when he announced that he was going to leave her to enjoy her drink alone. She wanted to say ‘No! I like to be ogled! Ogling is very welcome.’ But somehow that lacked a little finesse and just made her look desperate.
”Definitely.” She just about managed to say instead, disappointment clear on her face. For a moment when he leaned closer Cassie thought he was going to kiss her, wouldn’t that have made the impromptu goodbye totally worth it, and she had to forcibly stop her eyes from fluttering closed and her lips forming a pout. Instead he only studied her, her breath hitching has he lifted her hand to kiss the back of it. Well that was… Odd. Odd, but charming; it made her smile warmly.
Then she was completely distracted by some guy. Some hot, Australian guy yelling at Dacian. Either Hogsmeade was just populated entirely with attractive men or Cassie was the luckiest girl in the world. She studied him more closely, tipping her head to one side and squinting as if that would help her to understand the strange niggling feeling that she knew this man. The chance of her knowing him just because he was Australian was slim. It was probably just the familiar accent.
Unless…
”Edward Johns!” She practically shrieked, jumping up and dashing round the table towards him. Cassie didn’t wait to see if he recognised her too, she just launched herself at him, flinging her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek. ”You total wanker!” She was still grinning as she said it, letting him go for long enough to elbow him sharply in the ribs before she was hugging him again. ”You got tall.”
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Dacian
Vampire (A)
Creature of the Night
Posts: 330
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Post by Dacian on Feb 6, 2009 0:20:56 GMT 1
It looked like he’d won this round. She seemed as interested as he could hope for. When his chaperons were busy, he would have to seek her out. Probably on Tuesday. Edward made it to the bottom of the stairs, and he turned at the first volley of shouting. With an innocent expression, he released Cassie’s hand. He raised a brow at the sight of the wand, pulling a sour expression now that he was faced away from Cassie. With a huff, he resumed the blameless expression and turned bodily in his chair to face him. He’d been expecting this sort of reaction, but the unidentifiable expression that clouded his face when he looked at Cassie was unexpected.
Without answering to the provocation, he followed Edward’s gaze to Cassie. She had a similar expression on her face and then the realisation dawned on it. She recognised Edward and as she practically vaulted the table to embrace him, it seemed she knew him well. Dacian became instantly resentful. How could he me out-manoeuvred by Edward of all people? The limp excuse for a womaniser had every B cup and upward wrapped around his little finger.
Dacian stood, his chair scraping loudly on the floor to draw the attention back to him. “Ahem.” He looked to Cassie with wounded eyes. “You might have told me you were here to see Edward.” He glanced to the barkeep with a little more strength. “What gives you the authority, Ed, to tell a woman who she can and cannot ‘hook up with’?” He managed to say it with a mildly calm voice, though his ire was building. He’d known Edward would ruin his fun, but not on this scale. “I’d appreciate it if you did not slander me in a room full of your patrons.” If you could call three a roomful, “You know not one real thing about me.” He was playing up the kicked puppy look for Cassie’s sake; though it was becoming increasingly difficult not to kick Edward in the only things he seemed capable of thinking with. Why did he get to have all the girls, and consequently, all the fun?
Fairly ill-tempered by now, the vampire performed a commendable calm expression as he looked to Cassie. “Edward is misinformed.” He told her simply, covering any slur on his character he might impart once he was out of earshot. “I’d like to see you – on a Tuesday if possible.” He smiled a little at the private joke. “Once you’re… reacquainted, find me. Please? I’m sure Edward trusts your judgement enough to tell you where I’ll be.” He started off across the bar, pausing before he was out of sight. “Just… knock first?” Having her walk into his basement with a potentially volatile young changeling in there might put her off a little. Raising his hand to his head, he casually saluted the young Australian woman and disappeared into the back of the pub.
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Edward Johns
Adult (A)
The Hog's Head Barkeep
Totally screwed.
Posts: 118
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Post by Edward Johns on Feb 6, 2009 9:34:12 GMT 1
Cassie Vimes, the girl before Edward looked so much like her. It couldn’t be her; he’d left her behind in Australia so long ago. It was probably his memory and mind playing tricks on him; it wouldn’t have been the first time. Not a day when by where Ed didn’t think of Cassie so naturally his eyes played tricks on him. But as it turned out, they’d been right.
The girl’s reaction was so unexpected it made him jump. Holy crap it was Cassie. “Oh wow, hi,” he laughed. Ed was at a loss for words, what could he say to a girl who he hadn’t seen in so long? His heart skipped a beat as she planted a kiss on his cheek and for the moment, Dacian sat forgotten. Tightly he hugged her back and started to go into shock from the unexpected surprise. “What are you doing here? Did you know I was here? How is everyone back home? How have you been? God I haven’t seen you in so long,” he chattered excitedly.
Rowdy, forgetting the vampire and feeling his master’s excitement at the girl, began to squirm and yip excitedly. It was only when Dacian spoke did both Ed and the puppy quieten down. Trust him to ruin the moment.
“You’re a danger to be around; I don’t want you anywhere near Cassie,” Edward growled, moving himself between her and the vampire. He handed Rowdy to Cassie and raised his wand. Dacian could have any girl he wanted but not this one. He wanted to cry to the world that if the vampire, or anyone else for that matter, touched a single hair on Cassie’s head there would be hell to pay.
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