一期一会 » MEETING ONCE IN A LIFETIME

[stormbelow]

He didn't stay in the nexus after the encounter left him all tense and anxious, two sensations he'd pretty much been hoping to avoid for at least a little while longer while he got things back to normal. He didn't even bother finishing the rest of his errands; there was no time for that.

Instead, he goes straight back home. The second he sets foot in the house, he senses around for Harvestman's presence, hoping like hell that he won't have to track him down anywhere else.

"John?"

Comments

[stormbelow]

"What about incubi?"

[fuckvampires]

Harvestman's look is decidedly unhappy. "As long as none of them fucking touch me."

[stormbelow]

"Erasmus' strip club has a few private rooms in back that aren't for lapdances et cetera. At least, they aren't explicitly for that. It's not the most innocuous venue, but it would be very safe for all three of us. But, honestly, you could pick anyplace familiar out in the human world and just be subtle about it. You're part of a coven, remember? You have the run of the entire United States."

[fuckvampires]

"I... I don't know where to go," he says lamely.

[stormbelow]

Arashi sighs, and stares at nothing on the counter for a second or two.

"All right. What about a rest house."

[fuckvampires]

Try as he might, there was no objection he could think of against that idea. He obviously tried, though, before sighing. "Fine. I'll see if he can wait a little longer."

[stormbelow]

"I'm sure he's on the edge of his seat," Arashi murmurs, filling up his glass again.

[fuckvampires]

Harvestman gives him a dirty look and considers taking the alcoholic blood away, but maybe Arashi would be less obnoxious while drunk.

(This is clearly wishful thinking.)

"We're going to have to meet him in the Room, or something. He can meet us in twenty minutes."

[stormbelow]

Arashi pauses before drinking, narrowing his eyes. "I thought he was too busy to meet us anywhere but HQ."

[fuckvampires]

"Maybe," Harvestman pauses, stressing every word. "He considers this important enough to work around his schedule. And since you got your shorts all twisted up and he's walking into a vampire's den, he's bringing a friend. I'll vouch for him, by the way. If it makes you feel better."

[stormbelow]

"It doesn't." His eyes narrow further, although he does shove the bottle aside. His faith in Harvestman's character judgment has been crumbling at the foundations lately. "A safe house is not a vampire den. It's a safe house. He shouldn't even be allowed near it because he's a hunter, but I'm the one chaperoning, here."

[fuckvampires]

"He doesn't know that, does he?" Maybe it would help if Harvestman was not the point of communication between the two of them, but too late now. "And he ain't bringing another Hunter. Happy?"

[stormbelow]

"No. What do you think makes me happy? Who is he bringing, that is not a Hunter and that you think is so trustworthy?"

[fuckvampires]

"A vampire. Comes up to about here - " He waves a hand an inch over his head. "So you could take him in a fight. Not that there's gonna be a fight, right? So don't worry."

He pauses, the sarcasm dying down. "Who is this for, Arashi? If it's for you, I ain't going."

[stormbelow]

Arashi almost points out that very often size matters exactly not at all when it comes to vampires, but it's really too late to change anyone's mind and he just wants to get this over with. Harvestman's question makes him frown; it checks his temper, but something about the way it's said, he doesn't like.

"This is all you. That's the only reason I'm going."

[fuckvampires]

Harvestman holds his gaze for a moment. "Okay," he says quietly. "Because this is hard for me, and meeting Gabriel and Martín is the biggest step I can take right now. I know you want this to go faster, but I can't. It hurts too much."

[stormbelow]

"That's not--" He stops, and pauses for a second or two before trying again.

"I want you to be safe. I'm not going to be satisfied about that until this meeting is over and you're all right. I don't get any calmer than this when I'm worried. But I'm on your side here, understand?"

[fuckvampires]

He sighs. "I do. I know, I do. It's just... Gabe is sticking his neck out, doing this for me. He's doing it entirely behind Brisbane's back, he's skirting the treaty laws - he wouldn't do that for no reason. I know he's just a Hunter and I get it, but believe me, he does to. He ain't human either."

[stormbelow]

Arashi doesn't know how to explain to Harvestman why this doesn't make him feel better, without upsetting the other vampire more, and at this point he figures the argument should probably be dropped in any case. He seems to have gotten as much as he can expect by way of circumstances, without losing the meeting altogether.

"Fine. I will keep my mouth shut and the glaring to an acceptable minimum. All right?"

[fuckvampires]

"Thank you." Harvestman reaches up to brush a hand against Arashi's cheek, pressing his other hand against Arashi's heart. It was a gesture he'd taken up since Arashi had come back, to feel for his heart beat. To check, maybe, that his eyes didn't fool him, and the hole was truly gone. "Are you alright with going now?"

[stormbelow]

"As much as I'll ever be," Arashi mutters, although he deliberately dials back on the aggressive edge to his voice. He's simply resigned to this, now, because he wasn't exaggerating; he won't be satisfied until they're both out of there, safe and sound.

Impulsively, he reaches up and slides a hand through Harvestman's hair, coming down the side of his face to rest against his throat. "You can do this, you know. I don't trust your friends, but I have faith in you."

[fuckvampires]

"That's fair," he says amiably. "I don't trust your friends either."

With a grin to show that he was joking (or was he), he kisses Arashi quickly, slides his hand into the vampire's own, and gently leads them toward the door.

T Gabriel wasn't dressed as casually as before; he wears sturdy boots and dark clothes that had seem some where. There is a definitely curve to his jacket where he keeps a concealed gun. He wears what seems to be his default expression, one of cautious openness. The teenager standing next to him look all of fourteen or fifteen - Latino and with a thin, leanness that echoed Harvestman's own build. The sleeveless Lakers jersey he wears reveals bare arms covered with tattoos, curving loops on his forearms and elaborately designed crucifixes on his upper arms. There is a chain hanging around his neck that looked identical to the one Charlie had.

"Hey, man, you live!" Martín greets Harvestman with a grin and a hearty handshake. His accent somehow manages to be less thick the the older vampire's Southern twang. "We had doubts."

Gabriel smiles thinly, nodding at Arashi.

I have had this open for days and forgot to hit Post :| :| :|

[stormbelow]

Arashi's attention flashes briefly but efficiently over the one he doesn't recognize; he doesn't return Gabriel's nod or his smile, because a promise not to glare so much included absolutely nothing about remaining stoneface and cold throughout the entire proceedings.

The alcoholic blood is keeping him sluggishly warm, at the very least; not quite enough to turn him into the mess he usually gets when he's drunk, but enough to stay more or less quiet, as Harvestman does what he needs to do.

The new vampire never leaves his attention, however -- peripheral or otherwise.

fuuuuuuuck everything

[fuckvampires]

If Harvestman notices this, he duly ignores it to sling an arm around the young vampire's shoulders. "Your sister let you walk around with your tattoos out like that? "

"Dude, she's my sister, not my mom. Besides, I'm not, like, going out in public or anything, that'd be crazy." Martín leans over Harvestman's shoulder to look at Arashi, then very obviously mouths 'Super Goth' to Harvestman. For that, he gets the lightest tap on the arm by the other vampire. "She says she misses you, by the way."

"Fucking liar."

"Okay, what she really said was that she misses having a punching bag that whines. Same thing for her."

"Your sister is a psycho."

"I hate to be abrupt." Gabriel gestures to get Harvestman's attention, but his eyes remain on Arashi. "But I really am on a tight schedule today, and I know you'd rather talk in private. We should probably go." To Arashi, he says pointedly, "I'm sorry about Dallas. That was unexpected."

"Ah, man, Dallas did something? Is that why we're here? She's intense, man, my sister loves her." The sudden excitement on Martín's face dulls at the sight of the instant clouds on Harvestman's face. "She didn't shoot nobody, right?"

[stormbelow]

Arashi's only real reaction to the new vampire is a potentially record-breaking eyeroll, as the chatter drills fresh holes through the migraine already forming inside his skull. Other than that, he only just manages to avoid throwing Gabriel a poisonous glare, because he promised he wouldn't. If he was here for his own sake, he'd be interested in going a few rounds on the topic of "Dallas" with Gabriel, even just to blow off some steam.

"Let's get this over with," he says, and casts an icy look in the direction of the younger vampires before he finally turns and heads to the nearest door, withdrawing his keys. "Don't make noise, don't draw attention to yourselves. There's no reason for anyone to give a shit that you were ever here."

The key twists in the lock, and Arashi pushes the door open, leading the way into the most innocuous rest house in northern California, making it well outside the attention of the hipster baby vamps in both Los Angeles and the Bay Area. His blood checks them in, and instead of going upstairs, he takes them underground, ignoring so many closed, silent doors to choose one that has a long, almost violently gothic dining room on the other side of it.

At least here, they'll have the room to talk without being surrounded by red and black beds.