Musical Drama [Sterling]

[Fawn Banks]

 It had been a few weeks since she'd broken up with Luca - unceremoniously, actually, by him coming home one day and her being gone with a note that explained how much of a prick he was. She wasn't really feeling bad - she wasn't feeling good, either, though, so it was tough to say what was running through her head when she walked through the door. Maybe she just wanted to see him. Couples who were bad for eachother did that constantly: make up, break up, rinse, repeat. The fact that he was a vampire, and not young by any standard Fawn knew (though he wasn't nearly as old as plenty in the city), had only become a problem recently. She'd been inducted into Crimson as a trainee, finally, and he'd had a field day. He'd always liked the fact that she'd been a shapeshifter before, but once she'd become a trainee, he'd taken to calling her ugly names and basically starting arguments that were based solely around the idea that her job was to kill vampires - which wasn't true.

She rolled her eyes as Tajo looked at her ID, snatching it from his hands with perfectly manicured nails. "Seriously?" she asked, her tone scoffing.

He shrugged his broad shoulders and undid the clasp for the rope, allowing her to walk past the line that wrapped around the building. "You'll always be the baby in there, Fawn!" he said with a smirk. "Try not to kill anyone, huh?"

"Word travels fast," she observed. It didn't seem like anyone was happy she'd made it so far in Crimson in such a short time. Of course not, and why would they be with Luca telling them all sorts of bullshit behind her back.

She probably should have seen it coming a mile away, but honestly, she hadn't thought that Luca had been that pissed off. He acted like nothing bothered him, and since he'd been such a tool to her before she left, she kind of assumed he'd be over it. When he got on stage, they went right into their first set. Fawn grabbed a drink and listened, inclining her head every so often as she recognized parts that he'd practiced and things that he'd written. Some of the lyrics were magnets she'd arranged on the fridge, while others were things he'd whispered to her as they snuggled on the couch. Then he sang the song he'd written for Fawn, except it was like some fractured fairytale version of what it had been.

"Thanks for coming out to support us! Be sure to grab a CD on your way out. We're Fawn's Ashes!"

She was waiting by the stage when their set was over, and she grabbed him by the arm as he stooped down to hop off, yanking him so hard he almost lost his balance - almost. Without hesitation, she put her palm flat on his throat and began to hustle him backwards, closing the gap between he and the wall quickly. With a thump, she had him pinned, though not lifted off of the ground quite.

"You've got to be kidding me," she yelled. It was hard to hear over the general music of the club, and most people weren't paying attention. Even if they had been, she really didn't care. "Fawn's Ashes? And you turned my lullaby into like, my funeral dirge?" she demanded. She was hurt.

"Hey, why don't you calm the fuck down?" he snapped. He pushed at her with a brutish swat, causing her to release him, though it didn't make her back off. He was taller than she was, so he leaned down in her face and pointed when he spoke, clearly so that she couldn't have a chance of missing what he said. "You left me, remember? Got your shit, moved out, so yeah, I'd say I'm not kidding at all. It's my creative property, and it's my right. Just because you wanted to join up with one of those hunting guilds and be all super-rodent doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing what I do best," he shouted back. He stuck his finger in her face when he did so, knowing it would piss her off.

Fawn grabbed his finger and yanked it, breaking it at the joint - not that it mattered. She was pretty sure she said, "I'm going to kill you!" and that was when they started fighting. She really got him a few times while he yelled about her rodent speed, but it was only brief before Fawn felt her body go up in the air. She kicked out, catching Luca across the face with her heels, but Bart had a pretty good grip around her waist. He hoisted her over his head and carried her to the front door, depositing her outside.

"NO," he commanded, blocking her from going right back in. "Stay out here and cool off!"

"It's bullshit!" she protested, flailing and pushing on Bart. The large bouncer didn't move much, since he was made like an iron stove, and he put his hands firmly on her shoulders, forcing her to stop shaking about. Luca had called her a rodent.

"Yes, it is bullshit," he agreed, his deep voice causing her chest to rumble a little. "But you're not doing yourself any favours by picking a fight with him in there," he reminded her. "Now, I will go and fix that mess you made, and you stay out here and don't come back inside until I come get you. I love you Mouse, but you need to seriously calm the fuck down."

And because Bart always ended conversations when he called her Mouse, which was his own special nickname for her, a much kinder version of Luca's rodent, he turned and went back inside, leaving her beyond the rope and just slightly away from the crowd. Fawn didn't have anything to throw anymore, so she just settled for stomping her foot like a girl. "Damnit!" she yelled. She felt like he'd sided with Luca. It wasn't true, obviously, but that was how it had felt. She wanted to cry, and she wanted to hit something. In that order.

[Mikhail Nygaard]

It wasn't common for Sterling to go out and see shows, but one of his friends had suggested he go see this new band called Fay's Ashes or something. In reality, he didn't care, but the girl was insistent on going to see this band and he was the only one available that evening. So, he went with the girl. But the band didn't really impress him. Nor did his friend; she ran off to the bathroom and was intent upon hitting on that singer. He could care less.

But the fight was something that had caught his attention. She got violent fast with that guy, and he wasn't entirely sure as to why. She was carried away by the bouncer, and he wondered what had happened.

So he downed the rest of his drink, and took off after her. His friend was just going to try to get in that lead singer's pants, and Sterling could deal with that bitching later. She wasn't that interesting, anyway.

[Fawn Banks]

Fawn was sitting down on a bench on the phone, ranting to her roommate about what had just transpired.

"I know, right? So first he goes all batshit and then I'm the bad guy? And he's writing songs about me - and, oh, my GOD, he's got groupies," she hissed into the phone, waving her free hand around as she always did expressively. She happened to glance over her shoulder to see Sterling headed her way, and turned back around.

"I gotta go," she said, her tone matter-of-fact but carefully neutral. She hung up and stood, sliding the phone into the back pocket of her slim-fit jeans. She tossed her long, straight blonde hair over her shoulder, ignoring the fact that it was hotter than hell outside on the street. The humidity didn't help, but you know, she was so angry that it just sort of rolled off of her in waves. When she focused on him, he almost looked like one of the guys that hung around Luca, and she opened her mouth to say something incredibly bitchy -

But then he passed under a street light and she realized that she'd never seen him before. "Hey," she called, her head tilted to the right just a little bit. "Did you have to get away from the shitty music, too?" she asked, a little smirk on her face.

[Mikhail Nygaard]

He wanted to laugh a bit when he heard her yelling about groupies. She had this attitude that had him curious. The singer and her knew each other, clearly, why else would she be so mad?

"Not my thing," he shrugged, "My friend wanted to see this band. But she ditched me for that singer."

He couldn't lie, it was a little frustrating, because he knew he'd have to stay around here long enough till she was done, since he also was her ride. Used, again. But there was a bright side to coming here. At least he hoped so.

"I'm Sterling," he took a few steps forward and extended his hand to her.

[Fawn Banks]

Fawn laughed out loud when he said his friend had ditched him for Luca - it was a single, loud crowing sound, one that made her toss her head back. Damn, the girl had fire, that was obvious just from ten seconds of being in her presence. She held her hand out to him, clasping his firmly and drawing herself a little close when she did it; it wasn't aggressive, just mischievous.

"Well, I wish her the best of luck," she said, her words pronounced clearly. Sterling had seen the fight, not that she was aware, but he could gather that they didn't like eachother from the way she spoke alone even if he hadn't. "That's my ex, and he's a grade A toolshed, so I'm sure she'll be calling you in a few days to regret her decision. I'm Fawn." She smiled, and it wasn't as grim as her words - no, it was more... perky.

"Let's take a walk," she said, nodding her head to the right. She was still holding his hand, and if he pulled it away, she'd probably let it go, but she didn't seem keen on it at the moment. His touch made her senses tingle, an odd feeling - Fawn was a Nevla, and as such, she and snakes didn't particularly get along, but she fought the urge because he was new, interesting, and he was taking an interest in her.

He also didn't call her a rodent, which was a point in his favour.

[Mikhail Nygaard]

He'd caught the firery personality, and just how forward she was. Actually, he liked it, "I'm sure she will, she tends to do that. He seems like an ass, anyway. But It's nice to meet you."

Rodent? He wasn't one to throw around insults like that. Even if this girl wasn't the best thing in the world for him, he believed in giving everyone a chance. So far, he saw no reason at all to be worried. Possibly not the best course of action, but he really didn't think he had to worry with her.

"Sure," he smiled, taking a few steps forward. He didn't let go of her hand. Blame it on liking the touch, but if she wasn't going to let go, then he wouldn't either. What was the worst that could happen, anyway?

[Fawn Banks]

Well, with Fawn, a lot could go wrong, actually. She wasn't obnoxious in the sense that she'd pick fights with random people, but damned if that girl had a serious sense of not knowing when to back off of a fight she'd already committed to. It was probably rebelling from her upbringing, or her natural instinct taking over. It certainly didn't help now that she was a trainee in Crimson and was encouraged to scuffle, although she was sure that once word got back to Connor about her fight tonight, she'd get a sternly worded letter or something. She was glad he wasn't big on lectures, but she'd probably end up having to swim 100 laps or something to 'cool off'. There was no telling what Shannon or Stavros would make her do.

She laced her fingers into his, swinging her arm a little as she walked. She was incredibly childish sometimes, and this was one of those things that just made it obvious. Wait until you see her in a ball pit at a Play Place. She bit back any remarks pertaining to Sterling's friend or to Luca or anything else that had just happened, glad that Bart had thrown her out on her ass very suddenly.

"So, what were the rest of your evening plans? It's still early, though I didn't really have a solid idea of what tonight was going to be. Usually when this stuff happens I just go somewhere and hang out for a few hours to chill out. I may seem high strung, but I do like my down time," she added with a grin. High strung didn't begin to explain Nevla - they were always gogogo, but Fawn had found a few ways to relax. Climbing somewhere incredibly high and staring at the city didn't hurt her any. She wondered if her new companion was afraid of heights at all, and glanced back at him when he wasn't looking.

He didn't seem like he'd be afraid, but she'd been wrong before.

[Mikhail Nygaard]

He smiled at the way she swung her arms. It reminded him of when he was little, and he certainly didn't mind it. Fawn seemed fun. High strung, maybe, but still pretty fun. He could hang around with her for quite a while.

"I don't have any plans, actually," he seemed quite relaxed for the situation. As for climbing? It depended with Sterling. He did prefer to be more on the ground, but that was more when it came to flying in airplanes or something that you weren't holding onto. Climbing, maybe he could do. He wouldn't exactly tell her no if she put up the offer. Looking at the city from high up? He liked that idea.

Though they clearly had different forms of relaxing and letting go. He preferred his bike for so many reasons. Or, looking at the stars. That was cool, too.

[Fawn Banks]

"Then I guess it's you and me," she said. Though their path seemed aimless, Fawn was actually leading them somewhere. She was lucky that it wasn't terribly far - though if she'd have known he had a bike, she might have asked for a ride. Fawn had always been into them, but if her parents had ever found out - that would have been the end of it. Of course, now she didn't have that to worry about.

"So, what's your story?" she asked as they walked. They were in step, and she enjoyed the unity of the movement. Fawn was always in motion, it was just what she did. She liked timing, for things to be in rhythm. She had a high aptitude for music, if she could sit down and figure an instrument out, but as a child she rebelled against the standard classical ideas, and thus ended up in ballet instead - which she hated. "Or should I go first?" she added, trying to decide whether to go left or straight.

She decided on left, and abruptly stopped and waited for a crosswalk sign to let them go across the street, although truth be told, both of them probably could have made a run for it. Her night would not be improved by getting smashed with a car, though, and she'd make a very bad first impression.

[Mikhail Nygaard]

He would have offered if he'd known they had a destination, but he didn't. It was fine with him, though. It was warm out, and he could take advantage of that more with walking then he could with a bike. Besides, depending on how this went, he'd likely give her a ride home. He didn't mind, really.

"You go first. If you don't mind," he said, shrugging a bit. He wanted to see what he meant by "story", because he could talk for a bit about some things, but he wasn't just going to give everything away. Not if he didn't have to.

He turned right along with her, barely missing a beat. They might have been a half second off it she didn't stop. But he did. His eyes skimmed the street for a few minutes. He was always observant in times like this. Considering he hadn't been around here much before, he decided to just try to see if anything caught his eye. Maybe give him a reason to come back.

[Fawn Banks]

 They were in a decent area, so Sterling might notice random cafes and art galleries, but they weren't precisely in downtown metro central. Fawn only knew where they were because she'd made this journey from the club to her 'spot' so many times. And actually, she had several spots around the city - buildings that she could sneak into, or construction sites that had veritable jungle gyms of machinery and steel construct for her to play on. She tapped her foot in time with the flashing hand, and then as the little walking man appeared she'd already begun to move, careful to take note of anyone who felt so inclined to run that light. It was busy, but not gridlocked, which meant less crazy drivers.

"Well," she began, trying to decide what she'd even meant by her own question. Fawn was open, though, and most of her life was available if someone but asked. "I was born in California, and my dad was a prominent attorney - also, very human. Mom was just a filing clerk, but he sort of fell for her, or that's the version I got, and so I came about shortly after. They got married, life was good, and then the firm he worked for went bankrupt. I went from having everything at my fingertips to having virtually nothing. It was bad - had to go from a private school to a public, which doesn't sound horrible unless you have to do it. Kids are little bastards, and suddenly my old friends were telling me I was 'unfortunate'. I still don't know what that means - a synonym for poor?"

She shook her head, and paused to scrape a piece of gum off the bottom of her shoe, leaning against Sterling for support while she stood like a flamingo with her pocket knife's blade against the base of her foot, muttering something about 'disgusting'. Once she'd stopped, she flipped the knife closed and pushed it back into a random pocket, then continued on. "So - turn left here - we moved from the neighborhood we were in to a considerably smaller one, and this was when I was about, hrm, ten or so. From ten to about fifteen my parents couldn't get a bill paid on time between them. I don't know if you've ever been to Los Angeles, but it's not cheap. Dad finally got picked up by another firm, and everything since then has been really strange. They tried to put me back in private schools, but after all of the BS I went through, I was happier without. I turned eighteen and rode a scholarship out here, which I lost," she smiled blandly, "because I was too busy making kissyface with Luca. I bounced a few boring jobs, and some not-so-boring, to my current gig, and just recently finished unpacking my room in my new place."

She took a deep breath, and held up the hand that was twined with his, freeing her index finger to point up. "We're going up there," she informed him. "Freight elevator. Come on." And with a nod, she was tugging him to the back of the building.

"So, not to unload on you or anything, but that's the long and short of it. It's not meant to sound like a riches to rags to riches story, but when you have it, then you don't, you see really fast how fucked up people can be. My parents act like nothing ever happened, but when I go to visit them we fight because I'm not going to put on a dress and make nice with the people down the road who wouldn't let me come to their kid's birthday party because we were "poor". California is a bunch of stuck-up assholes," she concluded.

[Mikhail Nygaard]

Well, that was quite a tale she had to tell. He raised an eyebrow at Fawn's story, "It sounds like they don't know the meaning of unfortunate."

His story wasn't exactly unfortunate, he couldn't lie about that.  but he was a bit more curious about where exactly they were going. Freight elevators? Where were they going? But in actuality, he didn't mind. Learning something new was fun, and so was Fawn. He could handle a bit of curiosity in his life.

"Guess it's my turn," he said, with a little smile as he walked along. He figured they'd have to wait for this elevator anyway, "My dad was a scientist doing some research in Peru when he met my Mom. One thing lead to another, I guess, but she wound up pregnant with me, and then they got married. So I was born there while he finished up his work, and then they moved back to Connecticut."

He took a deep breath, "But they realized that they didn't exactly get along very well. Cultural differences."

Really, it was the best way of saying 'my mom can turn into a snake and so can I oops she forgot to mention that to my dad'. He shook his head a second, "So it wasn't easy living in that house. People thought I was weird at school, too. It's a culturally diverse city but everyone's been born and raised there so you don't see a lot of kids who's parents insist on certain traditions. So I wasn't liked too much when I was little. When I got older people stopped caring about that, but I found something to focus everything on. I got into motorcycles some time in high school and my dad's friend taught me some stuff and let me watch everyone at the shop. It's interesting what you can pick up just by watching someone do it enough times. I can't put an entire bike together by myself, but I can tell you a lot more than most people I know can.

"A few years ago, someone brought in a broken down bike," he was looking up as he observed the building, "And I wanted it. I spent two years fixing that thing up. While my parents just continued to hate each other. And eventually my mom left. She went and found some other guy to hang around with. I guess he made her happy or something. But I moved out and got suggested to work in a shop that had an apartment right above it, so that's what I've been doing since I got here."

He hesitated a moment, before he spoke again, "I wouldn't say my life sucks, though. I figured out what I want to do with my life."

And it was true.

[Fawn Banks]

"Motorcycles, huh?" she she said, leaning against the wall of the freight elevator. Her scratchy voice rose a little, as did her eyebrow, and she grinned a devious grin. "You'll have to take me for a ride sometime," she told him. Fawn turned and scratched her nails through her hair, standing straight up, and then slumped back against the wall again with a sigh as they waited for the sluggish thing to move upward.

"Sucks about your childhood. At least when you got older people stopped caring," she said, her voice lacking the bitter tone that she wanted to spit. People never forgot, and they never stopped caring - not where her parents lived. It was like some sort of Big Brother Popularity squad. She didn't even know. She rolled her eyes to herself and sprang up as the elevator finally lurched to a stop.

"Ready to climb?" she chirped, already racing out the door. She looked over her shoulder at Sterling and grinned. "Catch me if you can!" And with that, she took off down the hall - and the Nevla was known for speed.

[Mikhail Nygaard]

"Well, I wouldn't mind," he said, giving a smile. Not many people were okay with Sterling taking them on his bike. The girl who came here had insisted that he go slow on these streets. He would have asked her if she'd ever been on a bike, when the elevator opened.

He wasn't fast-cold blooded creatures rarely were that fast-and it didn't help that he'd taken a few seconds to figure out what was going on. Climb?

He took off after her, finally. He might not be able to catch up, but at the very least he didn't want to lose her.