Night's Omen

Danielle decided she liked this place. The owner was an interesting fellow, the entertainment was good, and most of all, she could come in here and get lost in the crowd without recognizing absolutely anyone here yet. The club attracted a different breed of magic and creatures, she found, and she enjoyed her anonymnyty this far.

She sat at a table in the back of the lounge, staring fixatedly on the small red lamp that housed a candle, bathing her table in red light. She idly ran her finger on the edge of her wine glass, lost in her thoughts.

C?leste was proving herself to be a very interesting woman, indeed. She had all but replaced Aurashka in Danielle's mind as a sort of mother figure. She praised Danielle, challenged her mind, encouraged her talents.

She was also convinced that C?leste knew of Marcus' wherabouts. Danielle had somehow come to the conclusion that he was not dead, just vanished. She was currently trying to figure out what she would have to do to find him, or who she would have to kill. Whatever it took, really. She loved her brother more than life itself, more than... more than Ash, even.

Ash. She hadn't seen him since the whole.. incident. She wondered how HE would react to her newfound friendship with the white vampire.

Why he was here, he didn't know, but maybe it was to get away from his own place.  Everyone knew him there, everyone knew something was different, and he was tired of fielding questions.  He was having enough trouble as it was without dealing with everyone trying to find out what had happened and why he seemed a little...off.  So, he went somewhere else for a little while.  Makes perfect sense, right?

Absolutely, except he ended up finding someone who knew him anyway.  This particular person was welcome, though.  Was he welcome around her, though?

He tested his luck despite his doubts, and slid into a seat at her table as smoothly as ever, his every movement screaming 'feline', but he couldn't help it.  He was aware of it, though.  Would she freak out?  "Dani?  I haven't seen you in awhile, are you alright?"

Danielle barely glanced up for a moment, still fixated on her horrible obsession with finding Marcus. Someone's voice broke into her thoughts though, and grey eyes flicked upward to that face she'd always found so perfect.

"Ash. Have a... seat," she said comically, as he had already sat down across from her. She rested her arms on the table, leaning forward slightly to hear him better in the crowded, dark lounge.

"I'm perfectly wonderful, thank you for asking," she practically purred. Ah, Danielle was never this content. She smiled, however, and looked at him with those hematite-hued eyes, the adoration she had held for him fleeting, replaced by something else.. it was hard to tell what, though.

"I see you've finally taken off that.. thing. I heard you'd returned to the Hollow but I have been busy and hadn't had a chance to stop by. I killed my final fish and decided to get a small rock garden, and that has been working well for me."

She sipped her wine, loving her some Zinfandel. She couldn't find how exactly she wanted to reguard Ash at the moment. C?leste had proved that Danielle shouldn't have to fall all over someone, to beg for their affections like a silly schoolgirl, and so she wasn't. She was playing it cool, and calm, wondering if he would start adoring her now or if she would have to slip something into his damned drink.

Alright, something was wrong.  He was instantly on guard, knowing that there was never a point in time where Danielle was this pleased.  He was also a bit...disappointed that she hadn't felt the need to make time to at least see how he was once she heard that he was back at the Hollow.  "Well, I'm glad you've finally found the perfect pet," he told her, smiling a little.  She needed rocks.  They didn't die if they weren't fed.

"And, ah, yes, it's gone.  That happened well before I returned to the Hollow, though.  Couldn't go walking around the bar like that, could I?" he asked, attempting to keep his tone light, but the mere memory of the incident was humiliating, and a bit depressing.  That a vampire had managed to damage him like that was positively atrocious.

"You said you'd been busy.  Work?" he asked, interested in what she'd been up to lately.  Without him.

She reached across the extremely small table to lightly touch his chin. "I'm glad it's gone. I'm glad you could make it go away," she said, meaning of course that she was glad he'd worked at putting all of that stuff past him.

She withdrew her hand and picked up her wine glass again, taking another swig. She loved the sweetness of the drink, though the alcohol had no effect on her whatsoever. Witch blood, gotta love it.

"Work? Well, some. I made a new friend and we've been spending some time together. It's really a... a welcome change from all the chaos in my life." Ah, a friend. But who could this be? Danielle of course spoke of C?leste, but from the way she said it... had Danielle met a.. a boy?

His eyes returned to hers, looking much more like himself than he had the last time she'd seen him, when she touched his chin and spoke to him so softly.  He wanted to hear her speak to him like that, and he wanted her touch.  He'd never been a touchy person, but Morfeus had changed that, using touch as a reward.  He couldn't help or shake it.  

Just like he couldn't help wondering who this friend of hers was.  They must have been spending a lot of time together, especially if this person was calming the chaos in Dani's life.  Doing what Ash himself used to do, and wanted to continue doing.

Had he been replaced?

"Oh?  That's good to hear.  Where'd you meet this new friend?" he asked, trying to show interest.  Positive interest.

She smiled again, a languid sort of grin, and whoever she was thinking about must really make her happy for that sort of facial expression. "Oh, oddly enough, on the street. It really is amazing who you can run into.."

Even if Danielle had mentioned the gender, at this point, Ash might still be worried about her behaviour. She had never.. ever showed interest in anyone before. Well, except him.

She reached out again, touching the tip of his nose with her fingertip and smiled again - ah, and her attention was suddenly on him once again. She lit a cigarette and glanced around the room before decidedly focusing back on Ash.

"Have you been getting into anything at all? I spoke to Aurashka while you were recovering, but I haven't seen her since." There was a... dry tone in her voice that was hard to place. She still respected the woman, but she had been replaced.

Oh yes, he was worried.  He didn't know what to do about it, though.  He did know that it was like a kick to the head, seeing her like that over someone that she'd met out on the street.  Someone who'd distracted her from coming to see him when he needed her, after she'd promised him.  

"Ah, no, actually.  I've just been getting back into the hang of things at the Hollow, trying to assure Dave that everything is alright," Ash answered simply, shrugging some as though it were no big deal.  Dave had been seriously worried, especially when Ash first arrived back at the Hollow with Ian.  That hadn't been fun.

She sipped her wine again as he spoke, thinking about the last time she actually saw Dave. It had been a while. She remembered Leander, but Dave was a blur right now. Maybe it was the stress.

"Well, I'm sure the Hollow is glad you're back as well. I bet he and that other frail-looking tender had their hands full without you. How can it be a neutral ground if there is no Hellcat to see that it stays that way?" she asked, her words almost cruel in their reality. She didn't mean them that way, though.

"I'm surprised to see you here, honestly. I'm glad, but surprised. It's an interesting place. Full of people who are after magic, or already have it, but... relatively calm. Like you could get lost in here."

"Leander?  Yes, he did show up just in time.  Dave needed the help," he responded, nodding.  Her comment about the 'Hellcat' struck a chord, though.  It probably would for awhile, since he didn't like being the Hellcat for real.  It was a nickname, one that had actually been amusing up until recently.  Not anymore.  "Indeed.  I just hope I'm up for the job, still."

Somehow, he had room to doubt himself, and that was probably because of Morfeus.  He didn't want to tell Dani that the vampire had shown up at the Hollow, at the one place that was supposed to be Ash's safe haven, and probably because she'd try to blow something up.  Or maybe she wouldn't?  If she really didn't care that much, then maybe she wouldn't.  He didn't think he wanted to know if she wouldn't be upset.

"I don't generally like this place, but it seemed like a decent enough distraction.  I may not approve of Aristide's ways of accumulating power, but he and I get along well enough," Ash said simply, looking around.  This place, like Aristide's magic, seemed so much more alive than Ash's.  The triste's magic was smooth and cool, not vibrant and living like the Hoodoo priest's.  

Danielle chuckled, openly. She had since dropped the last of her morals surrounding who she judged for how they acquired the things they had. Let he who was without sin cast the first stone, and surely Danielle wasn't even CLOSE to being able to throw one of those babies.

"I'm glad you're back at work. I might come visit you sometime," she said with a smile. "Maybe I'll bring my friend. She might want to meet you." Ah, the truth finally comes out. Though in this day and age, Ash would have to flat out ask if he wanted some sort of "are you together" information, because Danielle should have bought stock in ambiguous sayings.

Ash felt a little better upon hearing that the friend was a woman, though it did strike him that such a fact didn't necessarily mean anything.  Could Dani be in love with a woman?  Who knew?  Danielle was unpredictable sometimes.

"I'm glad to be back at work, especially considering the alternative," he said lightly, ignoring his own insecurities regarding Dani's affections.  "I would like it if you stopped by, though."

Maybe she'd have a little more faith in him if she saw him at work.  He had to rely on instinct at work, so he didn't have time to overthink things, he just did his job.  He was more normal, usually.  Not always, but usually.  

She grinned. "Sure. I'll try to make some time. I almost stopped in tonight, but I saw this place and decided I needed to quiet my head for a while." She wondered if Papa Aristide knew some of the people in the community came here to calm themselves rather than rile themselves up.

She stood up, empty glass in hand. "I'm going to go get a refill. Want anything?" As she walked by him, she placed her hand on the back of his neck, giving him a light scratch. This movement was purely experimental, however gentle the gesture seemed.

Danielle had noticed Ash responding to touch in a way he had not before. In fact, she could remember a time where even a light jab in the ribs earned her nothing more than a confused blink. Interesting, she thought. Very... interesting.

He nodded his understanding at her reasoning for stopping in the Mojo Lounge instead of the Hollow, though he saw the irony in that fact just as she did.  He didn't blame her, though.  He'd come here for the same basic reason, since the Hollow held so many memories and reminders that he'd nearly been broken.  

At her question, he glanced down at the drink he'd barely touched and shook his head, offering a small, polite smile.  One that vanished rather quickly as her hand scratched at the back of his neck.  "Tha--"

Before, that wouldn't have done anything except get a tolerant smile from him, since he'd never really reacted all that strongly to being touched.  He'd never been a touchy person, and he'd grown up in an age that wasn't really conducive to casual touch.  Since Morfeus though, things had changed.

He couldn't help it, after having endured what he had, so he leaned back into her touch, eyes fluttering shut as a soft cross between a purr and a growl issued from his throat.  

Danille had perhaps not been quite as prepared for that as she thought previously, and though it did not show in her actions, she held back a bit of nausea. What had they done to her Ash? They had been so alike at one point, and now they were entirely different.

The Witch, however, was very good at hiding this, and so masked it with feelings of neutrality, as she had before when she had things to hide from the Triste, and with a smile, withdrew her hand and went to the bar. Luckily the magical energy in the lounge was so strong that she didn't have to hide herself too hard - the lounge seemed to cloak her FOR her.

As she waited on her drink refill, she stood, pensive. She would have to tell C?leste about all that she had found thus far - maybe the vampire had some insight she had not considered yet. After all, C?leste was very intelligent, and she had been around for quite some time.