Night's Omen

"Err, yeeeaah," she said, acknowledging the bit about him being cars. "That's always good to hear." She took her water and sipped on it quietly, happy to have it. She still caught herself, even after so long, doing human things. She'd mostly stopped breathing, but she still did it from time to time out of frustration.

"I'm glad they're not all like me," she said to Darren, patting Fairfax's hand lightly as she felt the heat of boyish embarassment radiating off of him. "Then nobody would like me, at least, not as much as they do. I wouldn't be special anymore," she added with a wink. It was a playful wink, though, not flirtatious - Elke wasn't much of a flirt, come to think of it. She was too... motherly for that sort of thing, it seemed. Or perhaps she'd just never found anyone who struck her fancy. Theron was something, but then again, not too many men OR women compared to that trickster.

"You still haven't met my sister, you know," she said thoughtfully.

Fax set his drink on the bar and accepted the napkin with an incoherent murmur of what might have been thanks, wiping his shirt down somewhat in vain. He had the misfortune of wearing a tidy little button-down in white, and the coke would undoubtedly leave a stain. Damnit. Giving a particularly large splotch one last futile pat with the napkin, he looked up in time to catch Elke greeting Darren.

His flush returned with reinforcements. He wasn't sure what was worse: the fact that he was sitting there like a git with coke up and down his front, or the dainty European kisses that elicited such a smug expression from the bartender.

Wait. No. He was sure what was worse.

He hunched over the bar and fiddled with his glass with one finger, still warm from his flushing (Curious; was it embarrassment or jealousy?), paying little attention to Darren's side of the conversation but unconsciously perking up when Elke spoke. She patted his other hand, which was resting on the counter, and with a guilty jolt he realized he hadn't the slightest idea what they were talking about. He focused, trying to call to mind what Darren had said in order to provoke Elke to say something like "then nobody would like me" (what an idea!).

...Vampire?

........VAMPIRE?

Now, it was very possible that Fairfax had already encountered a vampire before this point, and simply hadn't known it. He'd been told what they were, he knew they existed, and he was thusly extremely unsettled about the whole business-- but he hadn't actually MET one yet. Sure, Mr. Leone had expressly informed him that they weren't ALL bad, but he'd also mentioned how dangerous they could be. That was enough for Fax. (Really, it took lamentably little to worry/frighten/panic him.)

The sudden realization that this beautiful, charming lady, this Elke, was a VAMPIRE...

SCOOCH. He jerked his barstool away so abruptly that it almost tipped. His light green eyes were wide behind his glinting lenses, and although he already had a rather pasty complexion, he looked a touch more pale than usual. "Guwhahwa?!"

...Well, he'd meant to say "Vampyre?!"

Darren was even more disbelieving of Elke's remark about nobody liking her than Fax was, and that was perhaps because of his interactions with her.  He just couldn't fathom someone not liking her, period.  What wasn't to like?  She was beautiful, really nice and easy to get along with, and she made him feel good to be around.  Of course he liked her, and he took it as a show of good taste out of Fax that the other guy agreed.

"I doubt nobody would like you," he told her honestly, shaking his head some despite her playful tone.  She probably knew what his opinion would have been on that subject.  Then, there was the mention of her sister.  Naturally, he had no idea who Sigried was or what she was like, since Ash had been the one behind the bar the last time the other vampiress was in the building, but one thing was absolutely certain in his mind: Elke was better.  He didn't HAVE to met Sigried to know that it just wasn't possible for her sister to be even better than she was.  In this, he was correct, but he had no basis for comparison, just blind faith.  "I wouldn't mind meeting her."

Of course he wouldn't mind meeting her.  He was a cat, so he was Elke's area of interest, and she HAD taken an interest in him, albeit a friendly one.  He didn't know he NEEDED to be safe from Sigried's whims, but he was.  Theoretically, anyway.

Fax, though...what was wrong with him?  Darren's eyes flicked to the other man in startled curiosity at his sudden reaction, and he had to confess that he had no idea what Fax had just said.  What was his problem?  "What was that, Fax?  You kind of...garbled that all together there."

Considering his own opinion of Elke, it didn't even OCCUR to him that Fax might be reacting to her.  Ridiculous!

"Just be glad you're a cat, my dear," she said, trailing a finger beneath Darren's jaw like you would do to a cat, scratching lightly with the tip of her long-but-not-scary nails (they looked more like a short French manicure than anything ornate). "Sigried would have her way with you if you were anything else, but she knows to stay away from my cats." Yes. They'd had this fight before. Elke had won. It was one of the few fights the sisters had ever had, but it had been nasty.

She looked at Fax as he almost teetered out of his stool, and cocked her head to the left a little. "What?" she asked. Her brows furrowed in genuine confusion. Elke could read the feline mind well, but she chose not to. She didn't know Fax's apprehension towards her was because she was a vampire, but then again, it could be expected. Her breed wasn't known for being quite congenial.