Night's Omen

Ivy stood in front of the beautiful dressing mirror of her comfortable hotel suit, running a delicate comb through her gloss-black hair. She was dressing for the evening - she had told that small fox child if she behaved she would take her out  to a real dinner. Ricky, of course, was meeting them there. Her darling brother did little without her company. It was sick, but as a vampire, rules of humans didn't apply any longer.

"Zel, hand me my lipstick," she said, hand outstretched. The M*A*C tube of 'Rage' lipstick sat on the counter just out of her reach, and Ivy's fingers wiggled at it, showing Zel precisely where it sat. "Hurry up now, and then I'll brush that rats' nest of yours and we can go eat. You've been very good this week, very good indeed."

She spoke through clenched teeth, as though reminding her not to screw it up now.

Zel was standing quietly off to the side, doing her best to be both there and not there at the same time. There if she was needed, but not distracting. It was rather difficult at first, but a thing that she was relativly good at what with the practice she'd had. Not as good as she could be, of course, which was a thing that Ivy was helping her with, but better then some. That was a good thing.

"Zel, hand me my lipstick."

The arctic fox quickly looked over to where her hand was pointing to... and then froze, blinking. Oh dear. Ivy, after all, didn't have only the one kind of lipstick, and Zel hadn't been long aquainted with the stuff at all and some of the containers looked so similar and- Well, she'd always been quick to learn but some things were just ridiculous!

"Hurry up now, and then I'll brush that rats' nest of yours and we can go eat. You've been very good this week, very good indeed."

The vampire impatiently indicated the little tube that she wanted and Zel quickly retrieved it, feeling somewhat relieved that she'd been given the hint. Quickly, without further delay, she handed it over and then retreated back again.

Zel was glad that she'd been good - well, she had been trying even though really the noodle thing hadn't been her fault.... Still, apparently from the tone she was using Ivy hadn't exactly forgotten. Zel looked down, blushing slightly. "Thank you, Mistress," she said in a small voice, still sounding slightly ashamed. She didn't usually mean to cause trouble, it just sort of... happened.

After Ivy expertly applied the blood red colour to her pouty lips, she leaned forward and with a pinkie smudged her smoldering eyeliner just a hair more, completing the look of the steriotypical, perhaps, creature of the night. Ivy's short hair was brushed, and arrow-straight as always, laying flat at her head but always glossy. She wore tall black boots and a short red skirt, with a black tanktop over that, Swarovski crystals lining the straps.

She turned as she adjusted her necklace, a series of small black beads strung so tightly 'round her neck they looked like a choker, and reguarded the small blonde that stood just off to the side of her. "Okay. Sit on the stool," she commanded.

Zel really WAS a pet to Ivy. She wouldn't sell her to those dirty Japanese businessmen, not this one. Even after aquiring her through a roll of the dice, Ivy grew... fond of her in a way. She bought and sold ruthlessly, but Ricky had convinced her to keep Zel around. For now, anyways. Stability, he'd said, might be good for her.

She picked up an expensive hairbrush - everything Ivy owned was expensive - and began running it through the fox's fine blonde strands. She talked to her as she brushed, though it was fairly obvious she did not require any responses. Zel was effectively in her animal form to Ivy.

"The restaurant Ricky picked out is supposed to be pretty nice, so no messes. And for God's sake, no noodles. Oh, I don't even know why we bother - we're vampires, we don't need to eat. I guess he just likes to pretend we're a family. You don't really match though. You can be adopted."

Ivy tugged at a particularly stubborn knot, and then reached for her spray-in conditioner. A few squirts and it was free. "Now," she said, standing back so Zel could look in the mirror. She reached for a cigarette - she ALWAYS smoked.

"Get changed so we can go. Wear the blue dress. It brings out your... eye." Ivy frowned as she spoke, saying the last half of the sentance slowly as though she didn't know whether it was a compliment or an insult. Whatever. "And I've got a green ribbon," she finished. There. Sort of a save.

Zel stood quietly off to the side as Ivy finished artistically applying her makeup, and then she was ordered to sit down. She did immedatly, of course, and then sat still as the vampire began to brush her silky hair.

It was a strange sensation, there was no denying that. She wasn't really used to things like someone else brushing her hair, and it just seemed... oh, she didn't know. Nice, though. She sat quietly, almost in a trance at the strange-nice feel of it, and listened to her owner talk.

"The restaurant Ricky picked out is supposed to be pretty nice, so no messes. And for God's sake, no noodles. Oh, I don't even know why we bother - we're vampires, we don't need to eat. I guess he just likes to pretend we're a family. You don't really match though. You can be adopted."

Zel sat dreamily until Ivy stopped brushing her hair and then peered obediently into the mirror. She did like what she saw, the platinum blonde of her hair so nice and smooth, shining softly in the light. It looked very pretty. She didn't like it so much when Ivy then reached for yet another cigarette and began to try and breathe a bit more lightly. She hated the smell, it stung her nose; but far be it from her to ask Ivy not to do so. She was her owner, her Mistress. Zel just tried to keep from showing any signs of discomfort.

She waited for a moment more and then nodded and almost scampered off to follow her instructions. Blue dress, that was good. She liked her blue dress. She quickly slipped into it, and then came back.

~*~*~

I realized at the same time that I realized the word 'owner' in relation to her was just fine with her... Zel would drive Ebere completely nuts if they ever met. *laughs*

Ivy leaned back against her dresser, making motions for Zel to do a turn so she could observe her outfit. She tapped her dark fingernails to her chin and made a thoughtful noise. Brushing a strand of her dark hair from her eyes, she sighed in an almost tired manner.

"Okay, I think we can go, now. Should we take the Mercedes or the BMW? Ah, I'll let you pick if you promise to be on your best behaviour tonight." They had a driver, of course. Ivy was wealthy beyond any man or woman's wild dreams, what with her little business of the slave trade.

Her cellular phone rang, and she reached for the little Dior carry-case, pulling out the thing littered with purple Swarovsky crystals she'd allowed Zel to carefully glue to it. The fox, like all small animals, seemed to enjoy shiny things, so occasionally Ivy let her use some of her energy for artsy things. She imagined the girl was running low on little glittery gems, and made a note to have their servants pick up more on their next town visit.

The little fox twirled happily when Ivy indicated she should do so, enjoying life exactly how it was. That was one of Zel's secrets, really, she was happy with what life had allotted to her. It was wooooonderful! Well, all right, the smoke wasn't exactly the most pleasant thing to have hanging in the air like that, but look at how much outweighed it! And then Ivy was talking to her, so she stood still and blinked her big, mismatched eyes up at the vampire as she listened closely. She'd be very good, yes she would! She didn't want to do anything that would make her Mistress unhappy, after all! Look at all the good things that Mistress let her do! Look at what they were doing now!

"Yes, Mistress," Zel said, and then tried to remember which was which. Ivy had explained before, of course, but it was rather difficult to keep everything straight sometimes - after all, most of this was new. She thought hard for a moment, then sighed a little and gave up trying to remember. This time she would just have to pay close attention so that she could make sure she would know next time. At least there was another way that the cars were different, she could use that. "Could we go in the red one?" It was such a pretty car. Zel wished she remembered which one it was! She liked it quite a bit.

Zel smiled as Ivy pulled out her cell phone and the little purple crystals flashed merrily, like sunbeams brought inside. She'd had to be very careful when she was handling them and the sticky glue, but look at how pretty they were! She was glad that Ivy had let her put them on.

Ivy nodded to Zel absently, and then began speaking in Japanese on her cell phone, presumably to Ricky. She spoke fast and in a loud voice, and it was not all happy. Zel had been around long enough to pick out certain words, but when Ivy spoke this fast it was hard to even distinguish those.

She looked at the servant by the door, still waiting to get signal the driver in the large garage, and looked away, but then said something and lowered her phone.

"What are you WAITING FOR? She said THE MERCEDES. I don't have ALL NIGHT," she snapped, whipping her head back to the phone. Whatever Ricky said on the other line then calmed her down quite a bit, because she relaxed and her tone took a more soft approach. She reached out to usher Zel forward to the doors as the purple cast of the HID lights shone on the drive in front of the massive doors that lead outside.  

Zel sat patiently and as still as she possibly could, so that she wouldn't distract Ivy if there was anything else that she needed to do. She distracted herself by trying to understand what Ivy was saying - she was very smart, after all, and quick to learn and had managed to pick up more then just a few words, but... nope. She couldn't distinguish a thing. Or- wait. She thought that she recognized something that Ivy had been saying- and then suddenly the vampire took the phone away from her ear.

"What are you WAITING FOR?" Zel squeaked at the sudden sound, so sharp and loud and annoyed-sounding and then quickly covered her mouth with her hands to try to avoid making further noise. Besides, it hadn't been her that Ivy had been yelling at- but she was already continuing. "She said THE MERCEDES. I don't have ALL NIGHT."

And then she got back on the phone and talked a little while longer until she didn't sound so annoyed any more, and then they were leaving. Ivy made shooing motions with her free hand to indicate where Zel was to go, and she scampered off in that direction as the purple lights played over the ground and walls and the two people walking down.

Mercedes, Zel told herself firmly as they approached the candy-red car. Mercedes has an 'r' in it, and that's for red.

And she climbed in, then turned into a fox and curled up so that her nose rested on her tail brush as she looked up at Ivy.

Ivy rolled her eyes at her idiotic servents and climbed into the back of the Mercedes, motioning for them to close the door after Zel had entered. They always wanted to watch the small fox shift, like she was their circus toy. Well, she wasn't THEIRS, she was HERS. She huffed angrily and rested her hand on Zel's side, enjoying the feel of her fluffy white fur.

"Ricky says he's got a surprise for me, tonight, but I don't know what it could be," she said aloud to the fox, whom she told most everything, though she didn't really know why. Perhaps it was because she reguarded the girl more as a pet than anything else. Pet don't tell, and they don't talk back.

"What can you get for the girl that has everything?" she asked with a laugh. She narrowed her eyes at the driver. "GO," she snarled. What is WITH these people tonight?

When they arrived at the restaurant, she waited for someone to open their doors, and climbed out gracefully. She strode inside, Zel close behind but never -even- or -in front- of her. Ricky was seated back at the corner table in the private section, where they would not be interrupted.

Zel let her eyes drift half closed and made small contented sounds as Ivy ran her fingers through her fur. Oh, but it felt nice. It felt ever so nice to be petted that way - nice in a way that nothing else felt like. Well, nothing Zel knew of, anyway. Nicer then just about anything else.

She listened with half an ear to what Ivy was saying, quite distracted by the glorious feeling of the soft stroking, utterly, blissfully content. When the did arrive and Ivy, regretfully, stopped petting her Zel yawned, streached, and shook her coat out before almost reluctantly turning back into a small blonde child before slipping out of the car after her owner.

She was careful to stay a few steps behind Ivy at all times, and careful not to let everything else distract her too much. Of course it was rather difficult at times, but she was good.

She carefully followed Ivy to a corner where Rickywas waiting, and then slid into a seat herself, smoothing her dress carefully as she did so, after recieving a nod to indicate she should do so, and where she should sit.

Ivy waited as Ricky leaned forward and gave her a kiss, which was appropriate at a glance but inappropriate by nature, especially from a brother to a sister. She pulled back and sat down, and then waited as the server situated Zel next to them.

"Now, tell me, what is this news?" she asked. Ivy was aching to know. Nothing got her excited quite like a surprise, especially when it was for her. She wiggled around in her seat she was so anxious, and it might have actually been funny considering that she was usually so serene and quiet.

"Well", he began with a small smirk. He smoothed his black shirt down and rubbed a thumb at the red lipstick Ivy'd left printed on his lower lip. Ricky's features seemed almost predatory, no matter what expression he wore. Maybe it was the way his face was shaped, or his voice, or everything about him, but he suspected that this somehow bothered Zel, and so he bared his teeth at her as Ivy turned her head for a moment, and then snapped back to his casual smirk.

"I have word, and I don't know that it's true.... that there might have been a Rajar shifter spotted in the city."

Ivy dropped her napkin. "What?" she sputtered, utterly surprised. She looked at Zel, jaw dropped, as if to say, 'Is he serious?' She looked back at Ricky. "Are you absolutely certain?" She was almost shaking with -need-. "Where? Male or female?" The demands poured out instantly.

"Whoa, whoa. That's all I know for now. Just calm down. I'll be sure to look into it... I just wanted to let you know. Can we order now?"

Ivy made an angry noise, but silenced her questions for the moment. She would find out more later, she was sure of it.

Zel shifted a bit uncomfortably in her seat as she looked around her, and then Ricky caught her gaze and bared his teeth at her. She bared her little sharp teeth at him as well, for a second, and then realized what she was doing. She was being bad - she had promised Ivy she would behave. Immediatly she pulled back and focused, very hard, on being good.

Focusing on that, on being good she listened to Ricky as he talked and became... confused. What is a Rajar? Zel wondered bemusidly. Then she had a somewhat horrible thought. Would Mistress prefer to have one to me? The thought made her sad, as she suspected that Ivy would, and then confused as she remembered that things that made Ivy happy were supposed to make her happy. But... she wasn't, so apparently she was being bad again, even though she had promised!

And so suddenly she was trying as hard as she could to be happy because Mistress was happy because she'd want another pet more then Zel. Oh, it was confusing.

~*~*~

:heart:s Zel

Ivy allowed her dark sibling to order for both she and Zel, and she turned and spoke quietly to Zel as he busied himself.

"A rajar is a type of shifter. They're rumoured to have been either fictional alltogether or so rare they may as well not exist at all. They're like manta rays," she explained, her eyes becoming wide. "They fetch a high, high price on the market, but I don't know that I'd want to sell one, boy or girl. Something like that would be... unheard of."

She grinned, actually grinned, at the little fox, and then glanced back at Ricky before lowering her voice while he answered his phone. "Of course, if he's telling the truth, anyways. You know how men are."

Know how men are? Yes, Zel did, but she was used to it at this point, so she didn't quite understand Ivy, but she nodded and smiled anyway, and then nibbled on a bread roll. She smiled at that. It was so nice.

She hoped that Ivy found the rajar, if she wanted it that much. Zel, after all, was at the bottom of the pecking order, so she should want what the people above her wanted. It was only right.

Ivy sank back in her chair as they ate. Ricky spoke to her occasionally, but she didn't have much to say for the time being, so all he got was half responses and barely-there attention. She was too busy attending to Zel, anyways. She cut up the girl's food for her, because the last time she'd attempted it on her own she'd slung a steak near across the restaurant, and Ivy didn't want that happening again.

She snapped rudely at a waiter when her water was low, and then made sure to snarl at him as he scuttled away upon refilling it. Ivy was in a bad mood, for some reason.

On the way home, Ricky rode along, forcing Zel to sit across from them both with his arm smugly around Ivy. She stared out the window, saying very little until they got to the house. Once they'd stepped outside, she pushed open the front doors, but didn't enter.

"Zel. Go inside. Ricky and I need to speak," she commanded.