Sephora Forrest
Vampire
Dhampir
Enjoys a bite to eat from time to time...
Posts: 145
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Post by Sephora Forrest on May 14, 2009 6:02:51 GMT 1
No cold flakes fell from the sky; but the dark grey clouds looked ominous and heavy. More importantly; they also prevented any remaining sunlight from filtering through. This meant that it was safe for her to come out and play. The street was virtually disserted as she crunched along the snow covered sidewalk, save for one black cat who hissed at her as she passed. Sephora had had to resist the urge to bare her teeth and his right back; instead opting to simply bend over to the cat’s eye level and glare. This seemed just as effective however, with the cat high-tailing it over a dumpster.
Sephora straightened herself and dusted her clothes off before inspecting the building she had stopped in front of. It appeared to be a semi-rundown pub; but then again, many country pubs were. This place was practically upmarket compared to some that she had visited in the past. And pubs like this tended to off more… meals, let’s say, than fancy joints - who tended to throw out their drunks. There was a rather large sign with a bloody pig’s head above the door; apparently this pub was called the Hogg’s Head; charming. She rolled her eyes and slipped silently through the door.
The interior of the Hogg’s Head was mildly less dingy than the outside; whoever owned the place had clearly put some time and effort into making it more inviting. Sephora assessed the patrons quickly, and it seemed that despite the owner’s decorating skills, the pub had managed to attract some shady looking characters. Excellent.
Sephora strode over to the bar and asked the man behind the counter for some red wine; preferably in a wine glass. Even though she was here; running around a wizard’s village, she had not been born a witch and had only discovered the magical world be accident on account of her neighbours when she had lived in Australia. She propped herself up on one of the stools and continued to survey the other customers. Unfortunately, it seemed too early in the afternoon for anyone to be sufficiently out of it, meaning that she was in for a bit of a wait. This was annoying, as she hadn’t had a ‘proper’ meal in weeks, but she was just going to have to be patient. Damn.
She sat there, drumming her fingers on the table top; with a sullen expression on her face. The wine wasn’t the same as what she was really after, but it would have to do for the moment and it would also give her something to fiddle with while she waited for any potential victims to enter her radar. When the bar tender handed over her glass, Sephora nodded her head in thanks; at the same time catching a whiff of his ‘real’ scent. Not bad actually; not bad at all. If all else failed, she could hang around until closing time and then pounce. Feeling rather cheered at the thought of a relatively full stomach; her lips twitched up into a half smile and she kept one eye constantly on the bartender; Sephora sipped delicately at her drink, swirling the deep red liquid around in a thoughtful fashion.
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Post by Silas Rosier on May 14, 2009 9:54:02 GMT 1
Getting rid of Ed for a sec, otherwise Si will just immediately try to pick a fight with him and ignore everyone else.
Silas had lost track of how many days had passed since Dacian’s death. To be honest, he didn’t really care. All that mattered was that the bastard was gone. Still, after the vampire’s overdue demise he couldn’t deny that he was breathing easier, as though an enormous weight of tension had been eased off his shoulders. It was rather liberating.
Since the night at the Shack he had neglected to pay Edward a visit, mostly because the bartender had only ever been a source of stress relief, and now, for once, that wasn’t necessary. Still, a drop-in seemed overdue, considering Silas had – you know – kidnapped Edward’s girlfriend and somehow gotten away with it. Well, that, and he was bored and hoping to score some free alcohol.
Back in his office at Scores, Silas automatically went through the familiar process of packing away the empty whiskey glasses on his desk, grabbing a coat and enchanting the room to keep trespassers out. Once he was satisfied that everything was relatively in order, Silas made a motion with his wand to relax the anti-Apparition charms over the building for a few seconds, then disappeared on the spot with a faint pop.
The evening air caused Silas’s breath to form a billowy fog as he Apparated outside the familiar building of the Hogs Head pub. Fuck, how he hated the cold. Without loitering, he pushed open the door and stepped inside to the appreciated warmth of the tavern.
In contrast to the scruffy regulars, Silas looked rather out of place, as though he’d stepped into the dingy pub by accident on the way to a business meeting. Paying no mind to it, he strode over to the bar while casually straightening the lapel of his jacket. Movement on the staircase leading up to Ed’s residence caught his attention as he walked, and Silas glanced up in time to see a pair shoes disappearing upstairs that looked suspiciously like Edwards. Inwardly he cursed. Damnit. Only just missed him. Oh well, that meant the liquor was unprotected.
Taking the opportunity provided by Ed’s absence, Silas crossed directly through the divide into bar with only a courtesy glance at the girl seated there. After all, how was she supposed to guess that he wasn’t meant to be back there? She was young, and looked approximately like a seventh year, or maybe even a little older, and his gaze lingered on the glass when he noticed that she was casually swilling what looked like wine. Heh, the girl had taste then, and it earned her a swift nod and a half smile of recognition before he back to looting.
Believe it or not, the alcohol wasn’t the first thing he went for. Instead, he knelt down, and on a shelf below the bar quickly spotted the sawn off, double barrel shotgun that Edward had shot him with about a week prior. Ed wouldn’t mind if it was modified slightly, surely? The shotgun gave off a dim, blue glow as the Backfiring Curse settled, then faded back to normal, leaving the weapon looking as untouched as before. Perhaps Ed would learn his lesson about muggle weapons after accidentally shooting himself in the face when he next pulled the trigger.
Satisfied, Silas then picked up a bottle of a Swiss absinthe and straightened up whilst twisting off the lid. It was a drink that he usually found better mixed, and Silas found his attention drifting back to the wine-glass the girl was still nursing. Damn. Now he was in the mood for some. “What’s that you’re drinking? Any good?” he enquired lightly.
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Sephora Forrest
Vampire
Dhampir
Enjoys a bite to eat from time to time...
Posts: 145
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Post by Sephora Forrest on May 14, 2009 11:40:18 GMT 1
The bartender left the bar unattended; something which she found rather foolish, and walked up the stairs to the second floor. She watched him go with a rather bemused expression on her face, and then returned her gaze to the dusty bar. In any other circumstances, that would have been rather amusing. A man bursting rather suddenly through the door caught Sephora’s attention. He at least didn’t look as though he had just gotten up out of the gutter, which meant in her mind that he probably had far too much money. Sephora continued to watch him as he walked over to the edge of the bar, glanced at the retreating form on the bartender and then invited himself behind the bar. This rather curious behaviour made her stop swirling the wine around her glass and watch. The man seemed to look at her for a short moment, giving her a nod and a half smile before ducking down behind the counter.
Sephora continued to watch with interest; thinking that perhaps the man was trying to steal some alcohol. She wasn’t going to do anything to stop him; it wasn’t her pub after all. After ferreting around for a short time, a feint blue glow was emitted from beneath the counter. Maybe not something as innocent as stealing after all. Sephora knew virtually nothing about how wands and spells worked, but she guessed that whatever the man had been doing behind the counter, it wasn’t exactly friendly. She was most definately not going to find out what he had done either in risk of setting whatever he had placed down there off.
It seemed at though the man had two motives and this time she was right on target. When his head appeared from below the bar a second time, he was holding a bottle of hard spirits; twisting off the lid as though he was going to take a swig of the stuff with nothing else. Sephora raised an eyebrow, but then dropped it when he turned to look at her, and she suspected her drink. “What’s that you’re drinking? Any good?” asked the man in a light manner; but all the same, she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. He was clearly a hopeless alcoholic, but at least red wine was better than spirits. “Sangre Vino,” Sephora replied mildly, restraining a quiet chuckle. ‘Blood Wine’ how very cliché. She doubted that the man would even know what the name meant, let alone it’s significance to her. She held up her glass, letting the meagre light filter through it in a way that only made her stomach clench in hunger. Damn; she was going to have to feed soon. “It’s one of my personal favourites, but I usually don’t drink much,” she continued, half smiling. She didn’t really plan to spend long in this little village; there were too many children around which dramatically reduced the list of ‘food’. Still it might be worth her while just to find out who was hanging around in the area. “Nice place this… there isn’t anyone who's actually dangerous hanging around here is there?”
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Post by Silas Rosier on May 14, 2009 13:59:51 GMT 1
At the first word out of her mouth Silas almost did a double take. That accent. Ergh, he’d know that accent anywhere. Was Australia trying to do a reverse convict exchange or something? He was fairly sure the U.K was meant to be sending their trash to Australia, not the other way round, yet for some reason everyone out of that damn country seemed to be flocking to England, settling in Hogsmeade, and lurking around the Hogs Head. Maybe Ed was putting out pheromones. Never the less, Silas remained stoic about it and made an effort to concentrate on what she was saying as opposed to how she said it.
When she asked about anyone dangerous Silas felt the corners of his mouth creep upwards in his first genuine smile of the night. Hah, there had been someone who could have qualified, then Silas had driven a stake through his chest. Problem solved. Did that mean he won the title? “Ed might serve you dishwater instead of liquor, that's about as dangerous as Hogsmeade gets these days,” he replied in reference to an incident that had happened between them before.
The girl seemed bored, or at least distracted by something. Silas couldn’t help but note the smiles she was giving seemed to be only for politenesses sake and didn’t extend up to her eyes. Maybe her friends had ditched her? It wasn’t exactly common for a woman of her age to head to clubs on their own, or at least not in his experience. Still, her problems weren’t his. He glanced at the stairway. Ed, what the fuck was he doing in taking so long?
“Sangre Vino, was it?” Silas repeated absently, drumming his fingers once on the bar while trying to recall if he’d heard of it before. He’d never personally tried the stuff but it certainly rang a bell. Possibly something that Scores also served in that case. ‘Vino’ was an Italian word, he remembered vaguely. Nothing wrong with a good quality Italian wine. Immediately he glanced down behind the bar at the correct section and found the recently opened bottle near the front. “Ah, here we go,” he said cheerily, leaving the absinthe on the table in order to pick up the wine and check the label. “Spanish? Nice.” Italian. Spanish. Same difference.
He started searching through the stacked glasses. ...Oh come on. No way did Ed have an absinthe bottle without the proper glass. Ah, bingo. After extracting one from the heap, Silas poured the wine up to the dose line and took an experimental taste. If by experimental you meant downed it in one go. Fairly decent. Strong aftertaste. Yeah, it’d do. He quickly refilled up to the dose line with the absinthe, then mixed the rest with equal parts red wine and water to distil the bitter flavour and alcohol content to something that wasn’t lethal even for him.
“What’s your accent? Australian?” he asked as he crossed around to the right side of the bar to take a seat. He knew the answer to his question already, of course, but he detested long periods of silence and people tended to enjoy reminiscing on their home country, which might give her something to rattle on about for a while as he waited for Ed to appear from wherever it was that he’d gone to.
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Sephora Forrest
Vampire
Dhampir
Enjoys a bite to eat from time to time...
Posts: 145
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Post by Sephora Forrest on May 15, 2009 8:37:55 GMT 1
Sephora noticed that the man grimaced ever so slightly when she spoke; maybe her eyes were simply playing tricks on her, but she was sure that for a brief moment something she had said had annoyed him. Oh well, it’s not like there was much that she could do about it. More confusing was the fact that just after this his lips curved up in a smile. Did he have seriously weird mood swings or something? Despite her best efforts, Sephora felt herself being drawn into conversation with him; he was very odd and she wanted to find out why.
The man ferreted around to find a glass; and then proceeded to mix himself a rather potent cocktail in her opinion, but then again, the things that she usually drank would probably make him sick. He circled the bar and came to sit on the public side on a bench nearby. “What’s your accent? Australian?” he asked, and it was very difficult for even her to tell whether he was being sarcastic or sincere. Most people from other countries had a rather skewed opinion on what an Australian accent sounded like; so on many occasions they did not recognise that she was Australian, only that she was from a foreign country. All the same, she was only Australian because that was where she had grown up, and now actually resented the place. “Yeah; but I was born British - I was raised in Australia,” replied Sephora, unable to quite keep the bitterness from her voice. Talking about Australia stirred up unpleasant memories that she would rather not be reminded of. “You’re British I take it?” she asked, though it was rather obvious from his accent; turning her head inquisitively in his direction. Mistake.
She had caught the very tail end of the breath he had just used to speak to her, and with that breath came the true scent of his blood. Never before had she smelt anything like it; possibly the single most enticing, delicious scent she had ever smelt coming from a human. Maybe it was just her stomach speaking, but Sephora was sure that she had not once in her short time being a vampire smelt anything quite like it. Oh yes; there were certainly ones that were rather tasty, but she had never come across this blood type. She wasn’t exactly what you would call fond of the O types; far too common and was a mix of everything with muddied and mixed the taste in an unfavourable way. A’s were decent, but she had thought that her favourites were B’s. She wondered if perhaps this man had a rather unusual blood type, but there was no way that she was going to be able to find out.
Snapping out of her thoughts Sephora had to resist the urge to shake her head to try and rid herself of the need to feed right then and there off this man in front of everyone. She doubted that the man alone would be able to stop her; but perhaps the pub full of wizards might. And then where would she be? Besides, Sephora also knew that if she tried to feed off him now that she was likely to kill him; considering how hungry she was. Blood that smelt like that was not to be wasted by drinking it all at once; it should be savoured. She hoped that her momentary lapse in concentration had not shown, and turned back to the man with the rather yummy smelling blood with a genuine smile on her face now. She would get to know him, form a relationship that was close enough to avoid suspicion and then keep his blood all to herself... That is, if he would let her. Never before had she actually had to worry about what another person thought of her. Sure, keeping him to herself was a little selfish, but then again… Sephora really didn’t care. She didn’t have to answer to anybody; did not have to live up to any expectations, so she really didn’t care what others thought of her and her actions. It wasn’t like any of them knew her well enough to judge what she did anyway.
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Post by Silas Rosier on May 16, 2009 9:34:22 GMT 1
Hmm, she was rather pale for an Australian. Although, Silas supposed that living in Scotland for any period of time would do that to someone. Six weeks of rain was practically summer in this part of the Northern Hemisphere. Even Edward and Cassie, who had arrived impossibly brown, had been steadily losing colour since their arrival and now almost matched the rest of the locals. Silas absently noted that girl’s tone would give Dacian a run for his money, but considering she was drinking wine and not throwing up he wasn’t feeling particularly wary. Yet. Gah, why did everything keep coming back to thoughts of Dacian all of a sudden?
The bitterness in her voice in reference to her time in Australia didn’t escape his notice either. Well, if she didn’t like Australia she’d walked into the wrong bar, owing to the fact the owner and his girlfriend were as Australian as you could get. Silas was interrupted from asking any questions about the subject by her quick bouncing back of the topic, but he wasn’t sure if she wanted to avoid it or was just being polite. “Grew up in London, yes,” Silas admitted, leaning forwards to rest an arm on the bar and giving her a sidewards glance before raising the glass to his mouth.
He paused for only a moment to regard the flavour. The grapes and aniseed had combined for an almost painfully bitter taste that burned more than whiskey on the way down. That didn’t matter, he wouldn’t even feel it after the first glass, and the flavour wasn’t what he was there for. He just needed to get rid of the fatigue, difficulty thinking clearly, headache and spontaneous hand tremors he knew for a fact would go away after he’d finished with it. How long had it been since his last drink anyway? Few hours? He’d lost track.
Better get names out of the way before it got too awkward later down the track, too. “I travelled a lot though. Ever been anywhere interesting, Miss...?” Silas asked by way of conversation, turning his head to her on the last question which probably just inadvertently sent another trace of his blood type her way, now laced the with the fresh alcohol on his breath.
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Sephora Forrest
Vampire
Dhampir
Enjoys a bite to eat from time to time...
Posts: 145
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Post by Sephora Forrest on May 17, 2009 12:00:49 GMT 1
“Grew up in London, yes,” replied the man; allowing Sephora to further pull her thoughts away from her stomach. She really was going to have to learn a bit more control. Especially if she was going to make this man into her personal chew toy. It then occurred to her that she might want to find out who she was messing with. If he was important or influential, she might really have to be cautious. Heck she didn’t even know his name. With her usual victims none of these things mattered; since she was never going to see them again. But now she must proceed with caution.
“I travelled a lot though. Ever been anywhere interesting, Miss...?” continued the man, inadvertently sending another potent cloud of his blood’s aroma, and Sephora had to blink several times and take a deep breath to steady herself. “…Forrest,” said Sephora, holding out her hand and flashing what her best man-eating smile, “Sephora Forrest. I guess you could say I’ve been around the place as well. Although…” She glanced around. Maybe part of her problem was that she hadn’t eaten boring human food since lunch time yesterday. “Actually, I’m really hungry right now; does this place serve any decent food? Where has that bartender gone? I feel like a bite to eat right about now!” demanded Sephora, suddenly changing topic and looking around furiously. It was like her stomach was controlling her thoughts! So annoying.
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Post by Silas Rosier on May 17, 2009 16:25:39 GMT 1
Little bit prone to mood swings, this one. Or maybe something was just making her uncomfortable. In any case, that was the second time now that she’d shifted awkwardly and Silas frowned with a hint of uncertainty at her behaviour. Before he could ask if she was alright (out of curiosity as opposed to any actual regard for her health) the girl flashed him a toothy white smile and was miraculously back to normal. Huh, alright.
He didn't fail to notice that Sephora had neglected to ask for his name in return, but Silas was in no hurry to provide it. If she cared, she could ask. At least she hadn’t made the polite, stock-standard inquiry about what he did for a living yet. The honest answer had a tendency to shut conversations down pretty quickly.
As she started getting agitated about the lack of service, Silas glanced up at the stairs to once again see no sign of the bartender. “I know the feeling. Ed can’t be trusted to run a flea circus, let alone a pub. Hang on, I'll go get you something,” he said flippantly, leaving his drink unattended and crossing around to the other side of the bar to the kitchen door before she could protest. Hey, if Ed wasn’t going to do his job, then Silas was happy enough to take matters into his own hands, and whatshername was free to come along. Besides, he could easily deal with irate cooks. “Well then, Seph – I can call you Seph, right? – what do you eat?” he asked with a smirk, turning to look at her whilst drumming his fingers lightly on the wooden doorframe.
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Sephora Forrest
Vampire
Dhampir
Enjoys a bite to eat from time to time...
Posts: 145
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Post by Sephora Forrest on May 18, 2009 11:47:08 GMT 1
Sephora watched with interest and surprise as the man got up; left his drink and crossed to the other side of the bar and laid a hand on a doorframe there that Sephora led to a back room or kitchen. “Well then, Seph – I can call you Seph, right? – what do you eat?” asked the man; apparently ready to dash off and find her a meal. That was awfully nice of him, and she wondered what had prompted it. Also; no one had called her by her nickname since primary school; and even then she had mostly kept to herself. “Um… the rarest stake they’ve got in there, please,” she said hesitantly, still rather taken aback by his offer. She also rarely used her manners with men she intended to feed off. Actually she hadn’t used ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ for quite some time now. The pure abruptness of the man’s question had shocked her into old habits.
She hopped up, not wanting to sit there and wait and slipped around to the other side of the bar. “Cooked obviously,” Sephora added quickly before he could get any funny ideas, “Do you do these kind of things often… oh I’m sorry, I never did ask your name!” She had been so focused on her stomach that she had forgotten to ask this most basic of questions. How very stupid of her. It would have been a serious flaw in her plan to make him into her very own blood bank if she didn’t even know his name. She inwardly berated herself and felt like punching her stomach as another hunger pang rippled through it. Would it ever shut up?
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Post by Silas Rosier on May 18, 2009 12:39:28 GMT 1
Silas waited at the door when he saw the girl get off the stool to accompany him on his raid. She seemed a little hesitant, but he payed no mind to it. “What, walk into bars and help myself? Just here,” he laughed in reply. “I’d rather beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. Silas Rosier, nice to meet you,” and with that, he opened the door to the kitchen and stepped inside.
The lone cook was, predictably, rather unimpressed. The man huffed visibly, narrowing his eyes as he caught sight of the two people who had just walked into his small, obscenely clean kitchen without permission. He stared forwards, waving his arms in annoyance. “Oi, you’re not supposed to be in-”
“Yes we are,” Silas countered, flicking his wand as he walked in, and a well placed Confundus charm struck the man squarely in the chest. “Ed asked us to pick up some orders.”
The chef blinked, swayed for a moment as though unsure where he was, then muttered a “Help yourself,” as he turned back to the fryer.
“There we go,” Silas said cheerily to Seph as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. He glanced around the kitchen and caught sight of a shelf full of freshly prepared meals awaiting one of the waitresses to collect and deliver them. He quickly began browsing through; keeping an eye out for anything that looked like veal. Might as well get something for himself while he was there. “Anything you like?”
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