Marius didn't have nights off all that often, and that was for a reason. Actually, there were multiple reasons, including the fact that Eden didn't want to hire more bouncers than he needed to if Marius could work just about every night. Otherwise, it was because he preferred to be busy, and there was nothing quite as busy as a night at All Hallows. He had a habit of stopping into the club even when he was off, unless he had specific reasons for having a night off, and that didn't hurt Eden's decision to have him scheduled pretty constantly. Tonight was one of those unexpected nights off, and sure enough, he was sitting at the bar with one of those 'special cocktails' made for vampires, laughing at some stupid joke another customer had made for his and Nikki's benefit.
If you hadn't known he was a vampire right then, you probably wouldn't have expected it.
Actually, that was true most of the time. He wasn't weak or harmless, but he was one of those guys that just put out this 'you like me, I'm a good guy' sort of vibe, and it wasn't anything magical or supernatural with him. It was his laugh, his easy smile, and his casual dismissal of anything short of a life and death problem. He got along with people, and that was perfectly demonstrated by the conversation he was having with the guy, who was WAY beyond drunk and making really, really dumb comments. It was funny, though.
Harmless fun.
Ah, harmless fun. Of course, that wasn't to say that harmless was the only kind of fun that you could have, even if it was the kind that Diana was planning on tonight. Which wasn't all that unusual, thank you very much.
Still, she wasn't planning on starting anything.
Much.
If she didn't amuse herself with the smaller things - or let herself be amused, more often then not - than she would have died centuries ago from boredom and tedious monotony. And... well, sometimes the smaller things included messing with the heads of those around her. Still, that was all, and only if things proved duller then she was expecting inside.
Diana had never been to All Hallows before; she'd heard of the place but had never investigated. However tonight, after hearing enough to make her curious, she'd finally decided to step in. The bouncer and the demand to check all weapons was somewhat amusing - if she really wanted to kill someone then asking her to leave behind any of the weapons that she didn't carry unless she was hunting or something of the kind would hardly stop her - but she supposed it was for appearances sake. Not everyone who came here knew about Nyeusi.
It made her wonder how she could mess with the minds of a few of those who didn't. Hmm....
Smiling a little to herself, she walked into the bar.
Hmm, well this was an interesting place. There were low, colored lights and blacklights that were making some things glow a brilliant white, figures moving up on the stage - winding and twisting - music throbbing like a heartbeat as they danced. She looked all around her with a slight smile, breathing in and smelling... oh, smelling all sorts of things.
Including some interesting things over at the bar.
She wound her way over towards it, and about halfway there things got even more interesting. A wolf. A wolf, but not only that unless she missed her mark. Diana laughed a little - she'd smelled wolf at the entrance, of course, and vampire, but they weren't there. It had disappointed her, at the time. But now... oh, how interesting.
She slid over next to him, glancing him up and down as she came - mmm. She smiled at him when she finally reached the bar, her power all around her like a spiderweb. "That," she said, nodding at his drink, "looks good. What is it?"
Considering how easy-going and casual Marius was, there was the little fact that he really wasn't easily impressed. An old vamp was just that: an old vamp. Especially here at All Hallows, he wasn't all that concerned. Age didn't matter here. As with most of the supernatural clubs in New York, it was neutral territory, and mostly because Eden didn't want customers or employees getting picked off. Can't show up to work or spend money in the club if you're dead. No, no, no, Marius' boss did NOT approve of that.
Thus, the woman who sat beside him didn't worry him in the least, though she had his complete and undivided attention instantaneously. The drunken idiot lost his charm rather suddenly.
"It is phenomenal, that's what it is. I believe Nikki calls it....O Positive? Yeah, I think that was it. He has a habit of carding anyone under 8 or 9 centuries, though," he warned her playfully, though there was an ulterior motive to it. He could tell she was older than him, by quite a bit, but he also knew she had to be hiding her true age. It was pretty hard to make yourself seem older, so he was willing to bet that she was faking being younger, which wasn't surprising. Most vampires did it. That meant she was old, though. She seemed around 5 or 6 hundred years old. That was why he'd said 8 or 9. He didn't exactly expect absolute honesty because the old vamps lived on deception and half-truths, but he was interested in her answer.
Actually, he didn't understand it, but he was interested in anything she had to say. She was beautiful, and just seemed incredibly charming. Naturally, that made him wonder if talking to her at all was a good idea, but he pushed that idea aside for the moment. Nikki was nearby, just in case he got too messed up all of a sudden, and this WAS Eden's place. Being related to a Guild Leader had a way of making trouble in your club something of a faux pas, even if you didn't actively throw that around.
Ah yes, Diana tended to make an impression on quite a few people, but most of all on wolves.
She'd made an impression. It made her smile.
She laughed at his joke. "It looks phenomenal," she said, looking into his eyes from under her lashes - flirting, just a bit. Her silver-colored eyes danced. She laughed again when he mentioned being carded for it. "Oh no," she said, almost mockingly, that edge of wicked laughter still in her voice. "But maybe you could help me get around that, mm? I promise I'll be good."
He'd have believed it if she said out loud that she usually made an impression on people, without even thinking twice about it. He didn't have to understand it to know it was true, though he definitely wasn't a mortal wolf. He knew there was something about her and that it probably wasn't just her looks and natural charm, but he didn't know what. His self-preservation skills were just on very low power right then, and he didn't know why.
He didn't mind, though.
She'd definitely made an impression, so she had every reason to smile. In fact, he wanted her to smile. She laughed at his joke, and he flashed her a brilliant smile in return, pleased with himself for it. She made it even better a second later.
"Oh, honey, I bet you'd be good," he offered up, unable to really help himself. Part of his impulsive behavior tended to include speaking, though he didn't mean any offense by it. "Hey, Nikki! Two more of whatever I'm drinking!"
That was how she was getting around it, and he wasn't even asking about age again. Wasn't it rude to ask a lady her age? Yep. It didn't matter, anyway.
Good thing it didn't matter - Diana didn't really care to flash how old she was. Well, some days. This was one of those days. Maybe later she'd let it slip that she was actually over 2500 and just see how people reacted.
Yes, she knew, but she looked so much younger....
She laughed a little, inwardly, then laughed out loud a second later at his comeback. "Maybe later on you'll see," she said, almost purring.
If she ever let it slip that she was ten times his age, he'd probably choke. He was better just not knowing. Ignorance COULD be bliss, as long as she didn't try anything crazy with him.
He wasn't going to lie, so he was hoping she didn't mind some truth out of her company. Either way, she was getting it, because that was just how he was. She was leading him on, and like an idiot, he wanted to be lead. He didn't see anything wrong with it, so hopefully Nikki would if it got potentially bad for him. Even vampires could end up as victims sometimes.
Marius made a really bad victim.
"I think I'd like that," he told her honestly, leaning in a little. Why did she smell so good? Normal people did NOT smell that good! Actually, she smelled like....
He got a little closer without even thinking about personal space, suddenly much more serious, and took in her scent with less distraction from the rest of the smells in the club. Wolf. He turned his face up to hers, still very much in her space, and flashed her wolf amber eyes. That was definitely wolf, but she was a vampire...
He'd never met one like him before. Nikki had been a shifter, but he was a cat. It was cool, but still a cat. This woman, though...."You're a wolf. My God, that's amazing. I'm changing my answer. I definitely want to see whatever it is you're promising."
He didn't care what it was. As far as he could think, it could only be good.
Sometimes she wanted to make other people choke. Sometimes she didn't. Right now... well, right now not so much - it was fun to see what you could do other ways.
"Yes," she laughed, "I am." She let him lean in closer; she really, honestly, did not mind at all that he was invading her personal space - it wasn't an invasion. Invading would have implied, after all, that he was unwanted. He wasn't. "You'd really think that there would be more of us, wouldn't you? Such a pity that there aren't." She smiled at him, tilting her head a little and loosening her grip, ever so slightly, on the power that she held over wolves. It was almost an automatic reaction after so very long, to get all canines to automatically be that much more willing to please.
Not that she needed to, really, but as mentioned the reaction was almost automatic; unthinking. Besides, what harm could it do her? As far as she could tell he was the only wolf in here (which would have been a pity if he were not both here and... well) and others wouldn't be able to sense this power anyway. It was a natural charisma over all things canine, that was all. Having a power that was quite often useful and which no one even noticed could lead to slight abuse of it over the years.
The many, many years.
Besides this, Diana basically did what she wanted and there was very, very little you could do to stop that.
And then she pulled back a little, if partially only to tease. "Promising?" she asked, eyebrow cocked elegantly, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Oh, I don't know about that."
She had no idea how much of a pity he really thought it was, considering being a vampire effectively banned him from belonging to a real pack, and he it wasn't like his 'family' at All Hallows was less than he'd have liked, but it was different. He wouldn't trade them, but if they could have been wolves instead? He missed that.
Promising? She didn't know about that? Wait a second!
"You said you 'promised to be good'," he reminded her with a bit of a smirk, making it no secret that, yes, he'd put a little twist on that in his own mind, though he knew what she'd meant. "And I want to see anything you're promising."
At least, he thought he did. Naturally, he didn't know exactly what he was dealing with.
Diana laughed. "All right, I'll give you that one. You're going to hold me to that, then?" Her lips curled up into a smile that she half hid behind her drink, almost coyly. Over the glass, her eyes stayed on him.
Smiling, Diana sipped at her drink, then lowered it to the bar again. "I was right, this is good." She looked back at him, a hint of a laugh in her voice again. "Obviously, you have good taste. But then I could have guessed that."
She cocked her head a little, curious. "You work here, don't you?"
She played coy rather well, like any good she-wolf should, in Marius' opinion. He loved it when they did that. "Oh yes, I'll hold you to that the best I can," he promised, since he couldn't force her to do anything and he knew it, but he was very certain that he wanted her to follow through on that one. He had NO idea.
He smiled and dipped his head in silent acceptance of her compliment, not about to brag about his taste, but certainly thinking it. He'd someone managed to end up talking to her, hadn't he? Of course, she'd approached him, so it was her taste that mattered there. He wondered if he was in good taste.
"Me? Oh, yes! I'm off tonight, but I work here most other nights," he answered without hesitation, working on his own drink. He almost choked when he realized how his answer sounded, though. "I mean, yeah, I work here, but I work the door."
That didn't sound any better. He didn't want to just come out with it like he thought being a stripper was a bad thing, since he didn't. He liked the men and women who danced there. He didn't want to do it, though.
"Bouncer! I'm a bouncer. I don't get on stage. Or dance."
Yeah, that was graceful. He was going to shut up now that he'd totally mauled that. Who said being a vampire made you instantly smooth? She made him feel like a teenager again.
Diana laughed a little at how flustered he was getting, but not in an unkind way. Mind you, not in a particularly kind way either - it was just a laugh. Only a laugh.
And then, at last, "Bouncer! I'm a bouncer. I don't get on stage. Or dance."
Diana sighed a little. "Ah, I see."
She was laughing. Great. Just what he wanted. Maybe he was better joking with the drunk....the drunk that seemed to have wandered off. Damn.
Wait. What was with the change in mood? He told her he was a bouncer, and she sighed? Why? Did she think he was a dancer? Oh, Hell! She seemed disappointed! Why was she disappointed? Didn't most people look down on strippers? He didn't, but he didn't know how the dancers handled it. Being on stage would have made him feel like a sex object, and that would have just made him feel uncomfortable. He'd laughed, but politely declined, every time that Eden tried to get him up there.
He'd never met a woman who thought he SHOULD be on stage. What the hell?
"Is that...a bad thing? You thought I was one of the dancers?" he asked, just clarifying. Really, he wouldn't have even cared if there wasn't that something about her. He couldn't even place it. It was just something, and it made him want her happy.
Ah, he was a wolf shifter - of course he wanted to make her happy!
Diana had no qualms in shamelessly exploiting that fact.
"Yes, I guess I did," she said a bit hesitantly, raising an eyebrow a bit curiously. "I... I guess I just thought wrong, that's all. I'm sorry if I offended you or something. But really, you could be." Quickly, as though the motion was almost automatic (calculating thing that she was), her eyes flicked over him.
Almost hastily, she turned back to her drink, then glanced back over at him. "Forgive me for saying, but you do have the looks."
As a vampire, he really would have had more of a leg to stand on if she wasn't ten times his age. Really, who would have expected him to even have a chance? Nobody could have. This was a weapon made specifically for someone like him, and he fell for it. Hard.
Fortunately, she hadn't yet suggested anything horrible or exerted too much influence over him. She'd been subtle, which was probably in her best interests with Nikki behind the bar. Nikki wouldn't be old enough to really STOP her, but he was a good safety-net. He could alert others if there was a problem and Marius wasn't able to.
Of course, the thought of a problem hadn't even occurred to the wolf. The only problem he saw was the misunderstanding with this lovely lady, which he had to try to make right.
"No, no, you didn't offend me," he told her quickly, trying to figure out how he could explain to her that he was actually worried that he'd disappointed her, without actually saying it.
Wow, she'd totally just checked him out, and then there was the compliment. This wasn't just a simple 'you have good taste' sort of compliment, either. He knew that the dancers were extremely attractive, and he'd been content at the door. She was telling him that he was attractive enough to be a dancer. Normally, he'd have laughed and thanked her, but wouldn't have worried about it, but coming from her? He actually flushed, not an easy thing to accomplish with him anymore. He was confident, always, and she kept throwing him off. What was going on with this?
"I...thank you. I just, never really thought that was one of those things I wanted to do. Eden tries, but I see how people look at the dancers. I don't want to be stared at like some sort of sex object all the time. I'd rather stand at the door and deal with people as they come in. At least most of them don't look at me and start thinking sex," he explained, though he couldn't deny that it happened sometimes. Being a vamp let you in on those thoughts. Some people showed up with sex on the brain, and anyone related to the club was getting that reaction. He ignored it.
"I suppose," Diana said, sounding more thoughtful. "But there's a power in that. Being able to control the way that people think? The way that their thoughts go? The pattern that their minds set into? Of course there's power in that. When you can control what people think then you can do all sorts of things."
Just look at her.
She glanced back over at him again and grinned a little. "I think you'd be good."
He thought about what she said, really unable to refuse at least considering it, and he could see her point. The dancers held the crowd's attention, used the music and the way they danced to affect what the audience felt about the performance. On the nights that Eden called for something special, he'd heard the human heart rates shooting up at different points in the evening, and it was all because of what the dancers were doing.
They DID have a large effect on people, but the largest part of that effect was making their watchers think of sex, and the different things they'd like to do. He'd always looked just as he did now, so if she thought he 'had the right look', then he'd always had it. That didn't mean he was used to that sort of attention all the time, though.
There was also the fact that dancing wasn't nearly as easy as it looked. How did he know this? Because Ivi had been trying to teach him how to dance since she started working at the club, and it had been a long, difficult process. Being a shifter and a vampire didn't automatically make it easy, though he had a bit of an advantage over humans in that respect. He was getting pretty good, but he wasn't EVER letting Eden know that. As far as Eden knew, he didn't want Marius within a few feet of that stage.
"You really think I'd be any good?" he asked, a little surprised at the show of confidence on her part. Usually, he wouldn't have cared. This made no sense. "I still don't know. Maybe it's just stage fright," he offered instead, smiling some. That was a much easier excuse.
"Well," Diana said with a bit of a smile, "you seem like you'd be good - why on earth would I have said as much if I didn't mean it?" She would have, of course, if she'd wanted to get something out of him or get him to do something (she did, actually - let's see how far she could push this) but would he think that of her? No, of course not. Would he even suspect she was trying anything now? Of course not. He was a wolf and she... well, she was herself.
He might be a vampire, but that honestly didn't really change matters all that much, not when she was so much older and more powerful - she was a Silver, after all, and a bit arrogant about that fact. Well, she had a right to be.
"You... I could be wrong, of course, or I could be seeing things that aren't there, but you move in the right way. In addition to other advantages." She smiled a little, lightly, and ran the pad of her fingertip around the rim of her glass.
"Yes, I think you'd do well," she said, and then sighed with a touch of melancholy. "Which really is something of a pity, since I won't ever see you dance. I'd have liked to."
Again, she had a point. He couldn't see any reason why she'd say it if she didn't mean it, but he also wasn't so sure about doing it. If she'd have dragged him off to some private space to get busy, that'd have been a different story, but there were a LOT of people around here. He didn't want her upset, though.
No, he didn't suspect her of a thing, unfortunately, and definitely wouldn't accuse her of being wrong. He wouldn't exactly say she was RIGHT, since he wasn't so sure about it, but she wasn't wrong. She had a perfectly valid theory, and the only way to test theories out were to just do it. The problem with that was that he really didn't think that dancing in a room with so many people, particularly people he knew, was a good idea. She seemed to think it'd be a good idea, though. She seemed to think he would be good at it, and he knew he'd gotten better because Ivi told him so. That didn't mean he felt like parading that fact to the entire club.
It'd take more than a little sadness to get THAT.
Great, what was he supposed to tell her? He didn't want her upset or disappointed, but how could he fix this one? Preferably without losing his clothes in front of everyone? "Could we go somewhere else?" he asked, and he actually wasn't trying to take advantage. He was just trying to save his poor pride. If she amped up her charm, he might not care, but for the moment, he did.
Diana tilted her head a little to the side, considering. First of all, there were certain benefits to the 'alone' mentioned. Lots of them. That, all by itself, made it tempting. But... there were also a few things going for the other argument.
One was that Diana really was something of a troublemaker. Nothing like some out there, and she wasn't often into anything like mindless destruction, but trouble could be interesting and when you were as old as she was... well, playing with people was one of the few things you had left. Technically not really, of course, but after living for over two thousand years you usually had exhausted just about every other possibility for entertainment, leaving you to fall back on tweaking things slightly and seeing what would happen; what you could change.
Let's tweak it.
Diana grinned, just a little, and let her grip on the power that she had over canines of all description loosen. That was how it worked, after all, the charm that affected dogs and wolves - as well as their shifter counterparts - it wasn't a passive power that she called on. It was always around her, surrounding her like the air that she usually breathed, though she didn't really need to - but it was uncomfortable, to stop breathing unless she had to. It wasn't a physical discomfort, of course not, but closer to a mental one - Diana had been a wolf shifter when she was alive, and now that she was a vampire her sense of smell was just that much stronger. She liked scents and liked using that which she smelled - which was difficult to do if you weren't breathing.
But the power.
It was always with her, and rather then calling on it when she wanted it, she loosened her grip. It was not something like turning on a light bulb, but more like uncovering it when it was already lit. The more she gave, the greater the power.
"Why?" she asked in reply to his question, tilting her head a little to the side and blinking at him with big, silvery eyes - she could always get a private performance later, she was sure of it. Right now... well, she'd push and watch what happened.
Marius liked to think that he was an individual who had experienced many things in his lifetime, but this was new. Even in those last moments of his mortality, he hadn't felt like this whole world had shrunk down to this one moment, this one person. Here and now, it was all Diana. Everything he was, everything he felt, everything he thought.
It all revolved around her.
He didn't even actually notice it, not consciously anyway, as he pulled his leather jacket off and let go of it over the stool behind him. He wouldn't have known why he did it if he'd been asked, but he did, and then the coat was forgotten for the time being. He had tunnel vision, and the light at the end of the tunnel was this beautiful, magnificent woman asking him why.
Why?
He turned amber eyes on her and tilted his head, obviously well beyond just 'caught up in her', and his expression remained entirely open and honest. Why? "Nevermind. Here is fine."
If that was what she wanted, he was fine with it.
And here she was still holding back! Diana grinned a little - she loved being her. His eyes were turning golden, which she supposed made a kind of sense - it was because he was a wolf shifter that her power affected him, of course.
She watched him take off the jacket and drop it carelessly, casually, and it was almost as though he didn't even notice. Her eyes flicked from the coat to his face, and she smiled a little, very sweetly and very hesitantly and hopefully.
"Are you sure?" she asked, tone hesitant. "If you're not...." The vampire trailed off, then shrugged.
"I would like to see you dance, but...."
Of course he was.
Sadly, he really didn't even notice his coat anymore. Once he dropped it, it wasn't a part of his world anymore. Nobody else in the room was, except her. She looked so hopeful as she spoke to him that he couldn't dream of refusing her.
Of course he was sure. He was absolutely certain that she'd have it if she wanted it.
That was a pretty big change from a moment ago, when he was unsure even with her influence surrounding him. Without her 'charm', he'd have politely refused, without the slightest doubt. He'd taken to learning from Ivi because she was hot, and because she'd bugged him until he gave in. The fact that they tended to fall into bed, figuratively speaking, afterwards only sweetened the deal. That didn't mean he'd ever actually intended to dance for anyone, particularly in a public environment. If he was lucky, nobody he knew would be paying much attention, and anyone else would just think it was normal.
He didn't seem to be all that lucky that evening, but he could hope somewhere in the back of his mind.
That kind of hoping would only be DONE in the back of his mind, since the rest was focused on her, and pleasing her. She wanted to see him dance, and so she would. First, though...
He took her by the hand to tug her towards a chair that was on a lower level than a barstool (only a few feet back from the bar). Naturally, she could have refused, but if she was asking, there was no reason to refuse. Fortunately, he wasn't overthinking this, and he managed to catch the beginning of a song. One he knew, and liked, actually (Heaven's Lie, by Lacuna Coil, as suggested by Cody (http://search.playlist.com/tracks/Heaven%27s%20a%20lie%20lacuna%20coil)). The lyrics made it ironic, but he wasn't thinking too much into those. He was thinking more about getting her into that chair, then instituting the 'rules'.
"Touch all you want," he whispered into her ear, and then it was begun.
Some of the dancers had different rules, sometimes even for different customers. Some said, 'No touching', others offered up minimal touching, and then there were those that just allowed it. With anyone else, he'd have probably said 'no touching' (or not been here at all), but not with her.
He started slow, gyrating his hips to the song's start in front of her, instead of right in her space, and it was only as he began running his fingers down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt as he went, that he really entered into 'lap dance' territory.
Oh, God, Diana, what did you do?
Diana, meanwhile, was enjoying twin delights - first triumph (even if she knew that she always won over her wolves, she still loved the feeling of winning the little games she played) and second eye candy - because he was eye candy, and just like she'd guessed, he knew how to move. She wouldn't have been asking for this if she hadn't actually thought that he could dance; she liked winning, but that didn't mean that she'd lower herself to just anything. But there was a certain way that dancers moved, and he'd had some of it. Not as much as some others, of course, but he'd said that he wasn't a dancer.
He could just dance, that was all.
He'd told her that she could touch as much as she wanted, and she did - interacting, almost becoming as much a part of the dance as he was, if in a more passive role, rather than simply being a spectator.
Bare arms, bare chest - she trailed her hands across them, moving with him, watching him.
'Eye candy' wasn't a term he'd have applied to himself if asked, but he wouldn't have argued with her. He wouldn't have argued with her about anything, though. That much should have been obvious by now, but if it wasn't, there it is. He'd have done essentially anything she wanted.
Thus, the way his shirt dropped away from his shoulders to be forgotten on the floor.
If he was getting any looks from anyone else, he didn't notice it, but it was likely that he was. Lapdances usually did, and this wasn't exactly 'Ladies' Night'. Marius usually avoided that night like the plague, so he wouldn't have been in there on his night off (not to mention, Eden made him work EVERY Wednesday night as bouncer, just because the snake thought he was good-looking enough to usher horny women into the club). Now, he would have been hoping that most of those horny women were at home.
With his luck, some of them wouldn't be.
She was trailing her hands over his arms and chest, a factor that helped exponentially in getting him truly interested instead of just 'charmed' into it. She was beautiful, and she was touching him. He didn't need much more than that.
He leaned forward, placing his hands on the back of her chair to steady himself so that he could practically drape his body over hers, demanding close contact while still moving to the rhythm of the song. She was close enough to his chest that she could have pressed her cheek to it if she'd wanted, his hips much closer to her stomach, pressing close and suggesting things that were way more obscene than clothing would allow.
What was ironic about the whole situation were the lyrics being repeated in the song. 'Set me free, your Heaven's a lie...'
Of course she was beautiful, she was a vampire, they were always beautiful, and it must be admitted that Diana, with her long, lean build, looked more like a model then a good deal of the vampires out there, no matter how gorgeous they might be. Her eyes were another point in her favor - certainly exotic, with their silver blue color, and certainly unexpected with her golden skin and the dark hair snaking over her shoulders, but they were more naturally so almost than could be believed. Eyes like hers would have been usual on someone with blonde hair and very fair skin, making them... unexpected, to say the least, but still they worked for her.
And those silvery eyes were half-lidded now, watching him as he leaned over her, just far enough to give him room to move - gyrate - in tempo with the music. Her hands slid down to his hips, and she did press her cheek against his chest, arching her back so that most of the rest of her was pressed closer as well. And then she turned her head a little, pulling back just a little, and licked him.
Mmm.
Her eyes were enough that he could get lost in them, if he weren't already so lost. As it was, he didn't really have much else to lose right then.
Except clothing.
He had some more of that available, though he wasn't quite equipped to really strip for anyone. It wasn't like he made it a habit of wearing anything that a woman might consider 'sexy' (nothing more than a pair of silk boxer shorts, which he liked for the texture, not the look) under that pair of jeans. Yes, tonight it was jeans. He wore black slacks when he was working, but tonight hadn't been a scheduled work night.
Based on the red-eyed glance he was completely oblivious of receiving, someone else was aware that he'd taken on some unexpected 'work'. Eden would be pressing this issue later, but for the time being he'd just watch from afar. Marius never noticed. All he cared about was Diana.
Who had just licked his chest. His head had been facing her, his hair falling around his face, but he tilted his head back with a small gasp as first her cheek and then her tongue trailed over the already warm, bare skin. His back arched towards her almost involuntarily with the way his head had fallen backwards, and one hand finally left its place at the back of her chair to pull at the button on his pants.
Diana knew that there were people looking at them - but let them look, what cared she? All that was really important right now was the body above hers, moving to the background rhythm that was thrumming in the background, almost a heartbeat, in her ears and the back of her mind, almost in her eyes just because of the motion, electric guitar running through the melody like breathing. Voices singing words about lies and love, heaven and freedom.
As they did, Diana pulled him down closer to her while he reached down to pull with the button and zipper on his pants; she kissed his collarbone, his neck, pressed herself closer again. When his pants did come off, her hands glided back down again, fingering the silky material almost teasingly.
"So, should I tell Eden I need another bouncer, then?" Nikolas asked, arms folded across his chest as he leaned in an erect-but-slightly-amused position against the nearest piece of furniture that would support his form. Next to him stood a gorgeous brunette vampire, one who'd absolutely had all of his attention until she herself had turned to... watch the show.
"Well Marius, I never knew you could dance," Elke sang. She didn't seem amused, but rather pointed with her words. She recognized the feeling she had - the woman obviously had the same line of power she did, just not with cats. Must've been with wolves obviously, which meant there was little Elke could do to stop it. She inwardly was reminded of Sigried and her love of abuse, and narrowed her eyes a little.
Nikki draped a casual arm around the shorter Elke and smiled glibly. His Elke. Oh, he could smell other cats all over her, but right now, they weren't around, were they? "Don't stop," he said, holding a hand up to a no-doubt stunned Marius. "Shake your salt shaker. I've got my hands full," he laughed. Of course he did. He didn't want anyone else near Elke. If he found out she'd made Marius, he might get a little jealous.
And... and interruptions. Diana didn't quite glare over at the two vampires who had suddenly decided to interfere, but the quick glance that she cast over wasn't exactly grateful. Still....
Diana hadn't scaled her power back earlier, simply because why? Now, however, she did some - enough to allow Marius to reach a bit more normally - she could have kept him a bit more entranced and there was nothing that any of them could do about it, but.... At least the song was almost over. And at least they hadn't stepped in earlier.
Diana let her power slip down.
'Stunned' was something of an understatement. One second, his pants where dropping down around his thighs (just because they couldn't go any further without some specific move on his part to remove them) and Diana's hands were moving against him in ways he liked, and then it was like color returned to the rest of the world, and he could hear Nikki and Elke talking.
Oh, God, Elke.
He pushed off of the back of Diana's chair to straighten instantly, not at all thinking about the fact that Diana had done anything to cause that, other than ask, but definitely taking note of his surroundings rather suddenly. Elke was there, with Nikki (which wasn't much of a surprise, since Marius had seen her with cats before and knew how they reacted to her), but she was there. Watching him wiggle around in front of some other woman.
Well, it wasn't like he and Elke were really a thing, but that's what they essentially were. No official couple, but he loved her. She'd saved him, she was the sweetest woman he'd ever known, and he'd never really felt a whole lot for mortal women since he was mortal himself. It was just Elke.
So what had happened with Diana?
His pants came up with a slightly shocked, but apologetic look at Diana (who hadn't done anything wrong, as far as he could tell), and it was only after they were buttoned and in a much more pleasant (to him) situation that he glanced around for his shirt. What else had he been wearing? His coat. Putting his shirt on, then looking for his coat, happened to be the plan for distracting himself long enough to figure out what the HELL had happened. He didn't even want to LOOK at Elke more than that first time, considering the look on her face. Nikki looked more amused than anything, which meant that Marius wouldn't be hearing the end of this from him anytime soon.
Great.
By the time he had his shirt on and buttoned, he felt a little more like himself, and finally looked up at Elke again. He felt like a little kid, or more appropriately like a dog who'd been caught doing something wrong, which wasn't something he was used to. He typically used his own sense, and didn't get into messes like this. Diana had just...gotten past his usual blocks on the subject? Good God.
"Ivi talked me into learning," he explained to Elke, his voice even more apologetic than his look towards Diana had been. "I'm sorry, I never meant to..."
Do anything like this.
At all.
As for Nikki's question about Eden? Amazingly, a vampire could manage flushing if he'd fed recently enough, and Marius had. Just thinking about it set him off, and he shot a less pleasant look towards the bartender. He couldn't really blame Nikki for getting distracted and not talking him out of it, not knowing how cats reacted to Elke, but the idea of telling Eden about it wasn't so nice.
Don't you dare. He really will, you know.
He'd startled back from her, fumbling with his clothes and - in general - acting like a dog who had just been caught doing something very bad. To be perfectly honest, it was rather annoying. After all, what had been so very wrong? Nothing, nothing at all. Besides that, he was a wolf. Wolves - and dogs - were hers. And this new woman, the one making him so very uncomfortable, smelled of cats.
With a slight sigh she stood up, quite aware that she wasn't all that he was focusing on anymore. What a pity. Of course, it was because of her - she was the one who had tightened her grip on her power again. Not blocked entirely, of course - it was still there - but it was less, and therefore.... Oh well. "I was right," she whispered to Marius, "you are good." A note of sincere appreciation in that sentence. If only he'd been able to finish.... And then she turned to the other two vampires - the bartender and this vampire woman who smelled of cats and had interrupted them. Irritating - oh well. She'd have to convince Marius to finish his dance later, that was all. She smiled at them, seeming just slightly confused, just slightly embarrassed. Acting normal. Not that she had any real reason to, other then the fact that she actually didn't want to start anything much. "Hello?"
"I'm... sure she did," she said, brows raised. Her tone of voice was light, distracted. She nodded a little, making a mental note that she couldn't get mad at Ivi, because Ivi was... Ivi. She relaxed against Nikolas, using the cat guiltily as support for her own shock. She pressed her lips together as she regarded the other vampire. Elke was considered old by the normal standard, but this one was older.
"I see you've met my fledgling," she said, the warmth somehow drained from the normal joviality of her voice. Diana wouldn't know any better, of course, but Marius sure as hell would. She cursed the power she held over felines, because it did her no good in this situation. This was one of the reasons she didn't keep close with other shifters, but Marius had been an exception. Raphael... was a personal thing, and Marius was her one exception.
"Adelaide," she said, introducing herself. Nikolas, at the moment, seemed content to sniff lightly into her hair. It wouldn't have been so bad if she wasn't literally using him to stave her own temper, but as it stood, Nikki would be quite useless for the moment. The cat merely turned black eyes toward Marius and offered some sort of smug grin, as though he were thrilled that Marius was in trouble, leaving him wide open for more attention.
Shock?
Had Diana known what this stranger was thinking, she probably would have smiled. Well, smiled about that part, anyway.
"I see you've met my fledgling," the other vampire said lightly. Diana arched an elegant brow.
"Oh, he's yours, then?" She smiled a little, then looked over at Marius warmly. Marius, who'd reacted slightly to the others words - only there was nothing wrong with the words. The tone, perhaps? Diana hadn't sensed anything in that either, but one never knew.... Diana gave a slight, internal frown and let her grip on her power loosen a little again. Nothing much, nothing even noticeable to anyone but Marius - not much even for him, just enough to catch his attention.
Because really.
She was a cat person.
Notwithstanding this, Diana turned back as the other introduced herself and smiled slightly in return. "A pleasure to meet you, I'm sure. I'm Diana."
~*~*~
Slight powerplay done with permission.
He may have flushed even further when Diana told him that he was good, mostly because just thinking about the situation made him feel like an idiot. What had he been thinking?! He never did things like that in public! Ivi had taken forever to talk him into learning from her, and that was in private. He'd sworn even when she showed him that he'd never do anything with it outside of when she was showing him. He'd agreed to get her off of his case, and because he liked her. She was...odd, but a good person. She just had her issues, and he could understand why.
He stiffened ever so slightly when he heard the way Elke mentioned him as her fledgling, not sure exactly who she was mad or upset with, but he was guessing it was him. He shouldn't have done that, so why had he? Good God.
He'd actually, despite her tone, been edging a little closer to Elke almost subconsciously, though he was definitely putting out some effort not to get irritated or a little jealous with Nikki's reaction. Most of Elke's cats didn't get quite so smug. Of course, Marius didn't usually do stupid things in front of them that upset Elke, either. This was just a ba---
What? Diana? Had she said something to him?
He blinked at her, trying to remember. She had his attention, though he couldn't remember that she'd addressed him. She'd spoken to Elke, certainly, but him?
Diana?
"I...didn't even know your name," he told her suddenly, realizing it. It made him feel even worse, actually. He'd never been the sort to do something like that. Shouldn't he tell her his name? Wasn't it wrong not to? He was torn, since this whole situation felt like he was butting into a conversation between parents or something. Would Elke be more upset if he told Diana his name? Would it upset Diana if he didn't?
This was going to drive him crazy.
She laughed a little - Ivi, of course. Ivi had tried to convince her to learn to dance inappropriately, and Elke hadn't crumbled to the adorably Dingo's wishes quite so easily, though her pout was hard to resist. Elke could see how she could have conned Marius into it, but still - dancing for a woman whose name he did not even know?
(Marius, really? What's gotten in to you?) she asked silently, directly to him to lessen interference from Nikki and Diana both.
To Diana, she smiled blithely. "Mine, yes, something like that. It seems like you're more of a dog person than I am, though. My sister has a similar power, except with Serpiente. We'd been wondering if we'd ever meet anyone whose reach extended to the rest of the animal kingdom." Elke was genuinely interested, if not a little too polite, but that was simply her nature. She was the quiet, jovial sibling, while Sigried was the one most likely to cause a scene.
It was for the best.
"I..." Diana started, and then stopped as though confused. "I admit, I do love dogs, but what has that to do with anything? And anyway, why on earth would I consider your fledgling a dog - he is a wolf, true, but so am I. Would that not be slightly hypocritical?" She paused. "I'm sorry, but that was what you were saying, was it not?" Sure, make Elke look like the bad guy here.
Ha ha, Diana. Ha ha. Elke might be being polite, but Diana didn't want Marius thinking that he liked her because she was using some sort of power to charm him. Even if she was. But when in doubt, deny everything and she was a nice, kind, wonderful lady who wouldn't lie, now would she? She let her power slip another hair, still undetectable. Of course she wouldn't.
Hah. And again, hah.
Diana blinked innocently - anyone could tell you that a vampire even as old as she felt like at the moment was hardly innocent, but not everyone could tell you that she wasn't innocent in this - and this stranger didn't know her any more than Diana knew Elke.
Diana smiled a little. "There doesn't seem to be many vampires who were once wolf shifters around, does there? I don't believe I had met another until tonight." Which was a lie, but it WAS true that she'd hardly met any, and she'd been around for twenty five hundred years. She turned to Marius. "I didn't think that you have either, have you?" Her smile grew slightly softer. "It was... nice."
"No. It wasn't," Elke said, unwilling to play into the game. It was hard to make Elke look like the bad guy, regardless of what power anyone held. Her nature simply didn't go that way; it would have been like taking a green card and telling someone who could plainly see colour that it was red - it didn't compute.
"Do have a care towards the company you keep, Marius," she said directly to her fledgling. She wasn't interested in this conversation anymore. Instead of asking Nikolas to walk her to the door, as had been her original intention, she simply pushed away from the counter and passed the current company, a coil of angry power in her wake. Elke may have been serenity and calm blue oceans normally, but her energy had a flavour of angry spice all its own when provoked. She was not young; perhaps not as old as Diana, but certainly not weak.
She walked to the back of the club, and vanished from site, snapping the bond she'd had on Nikki rather abruptly - enough that the man shook his head a little, his black eyes playing between colours for a moment before returning to normal.
Nikolas had moved to follow her until the proverbial string broke between them, and he pulled back, recoiling as if he'd been slapped. The hell? He shook the fog off of his brain and gave a brief nod towards Marius. "You might want to get back on the door soon," he said, a little irritated that Elke had left. He couldn't help but attribute it to the current situation as it stood, but he didn't have any proof, and that wouldn't work.
The graceful cat leaped over the counter top and began to fetch drinks for customers with his normal precision and grace, still a little moody as to Elke's sudden departure.
The problem with that was that Diana probably would be able to convince Marius that red was green, that the sky was yellow with purple polka dots, and they were all living upside down if she decided that she wanted to. She wouldn't waste her time with such foolish things, but if she really wanted to she probably could. Not that it really mattered - Elke was gone and Diana didn't have any real interest in making her look like a villain anyway.
"Oh no," Diana sighed, "I think I offended her." She looked very downcast at the thought, sighing a little as her mouth twisted unhappily. "I'm sorry," she said, turning to Marius. "... Marius?" Diana shook her head a little. "I can't believe I didn't know your name either. I'm sorry. I...." Diana's voice trailed off and she shut her mouth without finishing whatever she'd been starting to say.
She slid back into her former seat at the bar and looked at her hands, which were in her lap.
Let's see what Marius would do.
He would have answered Elke's mental question if he'd had an answer, but he didn't. All she'd get was a wave of confusion out of him, because he had no clue what had caused him to behave in that fashion. He frowned as Elke called Diana 'more of a dog person', but surprisingly not because of the 'dog' comment. It was the mention of Sigried and Serpiente that followed that had prompted the frown, since he'd seen Elke's sister at work quite a few times over the years. Elke never treated her cats that way, but Sigried completely charmed snakes and manipulated them into whatever she wanted. They never even knew what she was doing to them, and were powerless to refuse.
Had Diana been doing that to h---
Hello!
He blinked suddenly and tried shaking out the fog in his head rather suddenly, realizing he'd lost his train of thought. He didn't know that Diana suddenly had his attention back because she'd loosened her grip on that charming power of hers, but the fact of the matter was that she did. That didn't mean that he hadn't understood what Elke was saying, or that he wouldn't think about it once Diana was gone and his mind was his own, but his thoughts were sidetracked for the time being. Really, that wasn't good, since Elke was obviously upset. He was going to have to do some serious work to fix this with her later, and hopefully figure out what the hell had gotten him so messed up, so that it wouldn't happen again. He didn't get it.
He nodded at Elke telling him to have a care towards the company he kept, fully intending to, though he had to wonder if she was really talking about Diana. His temporarily lost thoughts about her power aside, he liked her, and she didn't see bad at all. This was going to have to be something they talked over, so that he didn't remain so confused. At least he didn't seem to be the only one confused. Nikki shook off Elke's charming influence, even though she hadn't really done anything to him, and the first thing he did was tell Marius to get back on the door. "This was supposed to be my night off," he remarked, almost wistfully. That was what he got for taking nights off. He needed to just give in and work every night, and he'd avoid trouble. Well, until Eden decided to drop by and say that he saw the lap dance he'd given Diana.
That was inevitable.
Diana. She was suddenly speaking, and he looked to her as she did, following her back to the bar. His clothes were still messy and haphazard, which prompted him to actually straighten them for something to do with his hands, but that didn't mean she had his attention any less. Why was she apologizing? She hadn't done anything wrong!
"No, don't worry about it. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I don't usually do things like that. I really don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry, it won't happen again," he promised, though he was definitely confused on the issue. Considering the fog surrounding much of that event, he didn't quite remember that he'd been unsure of doing it right up until she'd upped her power, and he didn't know that he'd cave as soon as she did it again. He wasn't likely to be doing it of his own choice, though.
"No, I upset her - and I asked first if you'd dance," she said, still with that expression, heavy and depressed. Idiotic cat woman - or whatever she was, a vampire who apparently had a power over cats or some such thing. That was what Diana had gathered from what she'd said, in any case, and there had been something about her that just made Diana dislike her.
Of course, she could also always just blame that on the other vampire coming along and ruining what had been going along as a lovely time....
Hmph.
Thinking of it, however, made her curious. She looked up at Marius. "I'm sorry, but do you know what she meant when she called me more of a dog person, and talked about her sister? The dog person I suppose I can understand, but... I don't know, it still seems odd to me to make that generalization simply because you are - or were - a wolf shifter and... well, I would like to get to know you better, but I don't quite understand the rest of what she said. What in the world does the rest of the animal kingdom and snakes have to do with wolves? Or dogs, for that matter."