After Hours {tag Connor}

[Connor Batten]

There was a problem with the way trouble presented itself to Connor, and that problem involved the fact that they were close enough to the party itself that he wouldn't have thought a vampire would be stupid enough to try an attack, and he couldn't be sure if the woman before him even WAS a vampire.  He learned the error in not assuming the worst answer to be correct in both of those questions rather quickly.

He made a very good attempt at getting out of her reach when the woman launched herself at him, his hand immediately shooting for the knife he'd worn hidden on himself that night.  He was surprised to find his fingers brushing over an empty sheathe, and his eyes widened in sudden alarm and pain intermingled as the vampire's second blow struck her target.  He took a backhand in the face, and felt long nails catch his cheek.  He reeled, just from the strength behind it, but it wasn't as though he'd never been hit by a vampire before, or that he was just any normal human anymore.  He knew he was in a load of trouble, though.  He didn't have a weapon on him, and he thought fast about where that knife could be.  The last time he remembered touching it had been the first time Val had him smashed against that tree, and right after drawing it, he'd been bitten.  He didn't remember having it at all after that.  Had he dropped it and forgotten to retrieve it?  That seemed likely.

Surprisingly, he didn't even think to call out for Val, but he wasn't shielding, either.  He was tired, unarmed and under attack.  He was not ready to die.  He didn't have the time or effort available to expend on shielding. 

She was coming at him again, spurred on by the scent of his blood on the air, and he smirked somewhat from his kneeling position on the forest floor.  He pulled one leg up to plant his foot on the ground and simply waited for her to reach him.  At the last second, he stood, swinging a rather thick branch as he did so to use the momentum from standing as well as from her attack, not to mention his swing.  This wasn't a metal weapon, so he had no illusions about its strength, but he knew it had to hurt her when it completely shattered against her body.

It hurt him just to have been connected to it on one end.

The force of the blow reverberated through both of his hands and into his arms, which hurt like hell, but it had to have hurt her worse.  He got out of the way FAST, lest he get mauled just when he thought he might be doing alright.  He didn't get far before agony tore through his left leg, and he was suddenly on his face in the pine needles and dirt. 

Not good.

[Stormy Quattrone]

Val sped towards the source of Connor's pain in response to some feeling he couldn't understand and wasn't in the mood to. Even with the strained sort-of truce between them, something still pulled him to respond with ferocity when he felt his bloodbond being threatened. The bond, yeah, that had to be it. It wasn't as though Val actually cared what happened to Connor.

Connor had so better be in a real shitload of trouble for the mental circles Val was beginning to run in.

~*~

As it turned out, Connor was in a shitload of trouble. Val saw red for the split second it took to get between his bondmate and the other vampire and send her for a one-way trip into the nearest tree. He was lucky she was young and still mostly weaker than himself. He was also lucky that he'd had the element of surprise. There were other auras in the air, and probably some that were there but hidden, and he wouldn't catch them off guard again.
"You had better be able to stand on that," Val said of Connor's injured leg as he pulled the man out of the dirt. Maybe it was just him, but he felt stronger being near Connor. Not strong enough to take on everything that came out of those trees, but not as invalid as he had been in fights past. "What did you do this time? Who was she?" It wouldn't occur to Val that the attack was unprovoked.

[Connor Batten]

Really, Connor thought his ass was about to get torn up, or eaten, by that bitch.  He wasn't used to having help show up in the nick of time, and that was actually a refreshing change of pace.  He was still conscious and not in danger of bleeding to death or suffering some massive injury yet.  Sure, his leg felt somewhat like chop meat, but hey, that'd heal up.  No broken bones, so far as he knew. 

It was very nice to catch Val sending that crazy lady airborne and into a tree, as well.  Connor was willing to say that he was impressed.  See?  Val didn't HAVE to be a victim. 

"Of course I can," he muttered regarding standing, and he was going to stand no matter how much it hurt.  He even brushed some of the dirt off of his clothes, as though it wasn't a big deal.  The leg hurt, but it was usable, and he wasn't having Val carry him out.  That'd be embarrassing.  Being blamed for being attacked wasn't any better, though. 

"What?!  I didn't do anything!  She was just there all of a sudden, and she jumped at me!" he snapped back, obviously unhappy.  The people chilling out in the trees didn't need to see them disagreeing, but Connor couldn't recognize the presence of auras as well as Valerie could.  He could use common sense, but that didn't leave him sure as to whether that woman would have attacked alone, or if there was someone else involved.  That was up in the air, depending on motive.  He didn't know what the motive was, considering he hadn't done anything to provoke her.  "I've never even seen her before, Val."

I dropped my knife while you were chewing on me.

He didn't bother to push the thought through that the bitch was lucky he had, or she'd have gotten a knife to the chest instead of that branch, but he didn't think he needed to.  He snuck a peak at his former attacker for a moment, trying to get a good look at her now that she wasn't trying to kill him.  He still didn't recognize her.

[Stormy Quattrone]

"Good." Val wasn't going to carry Connor unless he absolutely had to. It would be undignified.

An impressive distance away, their attacker was getting woozily to her feet. Valerie frowned in disappointment; he had hoped her spine would snap. "Then she is either the underling of someone else you have angered, or she is an idiot. Débutants sourds-muets," he scoffed. He was playing up the idea that he thought she was alone, even if he knew that those around them wouldn't buy it. Some of them were displaying their auras because they were too young to hide them. Some were doing it to indimidate.

It was working.

Connor being unarmed was not what Val wanted to hear, but as that was apparently his fault, he chose to ignore it. She is not alone. There are at least three other presences I feel in the trees, though I doubt that is all there are. Most are fledglings like the one here. The rest... I cannot tell.

"Bastard, you weren't supposed to be here," Val heard the vampire girl mutter to herself. Ah, so this had been planned. Still, her words confused him; why would whoever sent her think that Val would not rush to his bloodbond's aid? Did he and Connor really present themselves as that broken of a pair?

...Probably.

Sudden movement from another young aura. The vampire by the tree was still cracking bones back into place, but she would be back at them soon, and they were about to get company. Better warn Connor-

And then Val found out what it was like to play american football. Without warning he was tackled and sent rolling, the vampire who had jumped him going along for the ride and pummeling Val along the way. This vamp was stronger than the last, and old enough that he had been able to hide himself from Val. Not good. The message was loud and clear: the enemy wanted to separate them.


(("Dumb fledglings."))

[Connor Batten]

He initially took Val's appraisal of his attacker to heart, assuming that if either of them had a chance at being correct in evaluating how many vampires were in the immediate area, it'd be the vampire.  He didn't realize at first that Val was trying to mess with the vampires in hiding, or that there WERE any, but he DID know that he hadn't pis-- ooooh.  There HAD been that Diana woman.  He'd pissed HER off, he was pretty sure.  This would have been an awful lot of effort just for that, though.

Huh.  That would suck.

He decided right then and there that if they both survived this, he was going to stop trying to piss off people who might kill BOTH of them for it.  He was used to having his own life threatened because he didn't like to shut up, but it wasn't fair to Val to put him in that situation.  Of course, getting himself killed might kill Val at the same time, but they didn't know that for sure.  There was the chance Val wouldn't die if he did, especially this early.  Considering Val's explanation of their surroundings, that was a chance they might have to take sooner rather than later.  It was a little disappointing to Connor to have to consider it, but he wasn't afraid.  Just...irked.

Val wasn't supposed to be there?  Connor's eyes darted to Val, assuming that it really HAD meant that it was his fault they were being attacked.  It hadn't occurred to him that they might have attacked him because they thought he was the weaker of the two.  Unarmed, he had to admit that he was, though he still wasn't helpless.

He didn't have the chance to prove his ability to do anything as that vamp attacked Val, though he made the point clear that he wasn't complete cannon fodder when he smoothly fell backwards in a split second to avoid a similar attack from someone else.  Hunter skills added to bloodbond-enhanced speed worked out to his advantage, but he wasn't dumb.  That was already five vampires.  The three youngsters, the first attacker, and the surprise guy.  Connor couldn't take on four vamps completely unarmed and already hurting some.  Val looked busy.  So, change in plans.

"HEY!  LEECHES, HEY!  Come on, you goddamned bloodsuckers, come and get me," he shouted, throwing a rock he'd found on the ground directly at the one tussling with Val.  He had to find SOME way of getting its attention, after all.  He seemed to have managed that, but just in case they changed their minds, he flicked the whole group off with both hands, turned and shot off into the woods. 

Had he mentioned he could stand?  His leg felt like it was on fire, but Connor had never been an entirely normal, sane individual.  Who could kill sentient beings for a living and not have something slightly off?  He got a thrill from dangerous situations, and the pain in his leg as he ran through the woods as fast as he was physically capable of running only spurred him on.  It reminded him of just how much worse it would be if they caught him.  He didn't wan to be caught. 

You better be getting the hell out of here! he shot at Val as soon as he heard the sounds of pursuit, and he knew they weren't going to let him go easy.  If his blood smelled and tasted even HALF as good to these vamps as it seemed to be for Val, they'd follow just because he'd gotten scratched by a few branches and a thorn bush he'd almost run into nearly immediately. 

At least he had the sense to run TOWARDS the party, even if he knew he'd never make it.

[Stormy Quattrone]

Connor's rock got the vampire's attention, in an offended, outraged sort of way. The attackers didn't seem to have expected Connor's... lack of conventional strategy when it came to combat. Frankly, Val was getting more and more the feeling that the vampires had been expecting them to lay down and die on command. Sometimes his race embarrassed him.

Connor wasn't far behind, though. Val was no fighter, but with the leech distracted he managed a well-aimed punch and a shove that got the blasted weight off him. Just in time to see Connor flip the vampires the bird and tear off into the woods.

Val would murder the Hunter himself.

"Ce mal," Val's remaining attacker cackled, sounding amused. "She was right, you are getting stronger." Though on his side, the vamp managed to kick Val in the face before the latter could duck. This one was indeed powerful, and Val saw stars. It was more instinct than combat intelligence that got him twisting away from the second kick, this one sweeping through where his skull had just been.
"And faster."
"Lâches mous, you fils des chiennes." Val wiped pain and blood from his eyes. "Attacking a man when he's weak."
"I thought I said you are not weak?"
Instead of correcting him (he'd meant Connor), Val teleported the heck out of there. Connor had some pissed off vamps on his tail and was going to be in serious trouble very soon.

~*~

Teleporting was an exact science, one which Val wasn't bad at. He appeared exactly where he'd meant to, right in Connor's path. Val had had two meals from his bloodbond tonight and felt refreshed enough to get them both out of there without a hitch. All he had to do was grab Connor and go.


(("That hurt."
"Gutless cowards" "sons of bitches"))

[Connor Batten]

Connor might have resented the 'weak' comment out of Val, but he couldn't have argued it.  He definitely wasn't up to his usual level of acceptable trouble, which would have included these assholes, and he'd been unarmed.  That hadn't happened to him in a very, very long time.  He was intending to make this the last.

He kept running until he seriously thought his leg might give out, even though he knew they were just playing with him.  They were vampires, and he was hurt.  They could have caught him by that point, if they really wanted to.  They were waiting for him to fall, which was part of the reason he fought so hard not to.  He knew that if he got close enough to help, they'd take him out before he got there, and hopefully Val was either gone to someplace safe, or cooking up some sort of plan for getting them out of there alive.  At this point, Connor would have been alright with either, considering it WAS his fault, but he had a preference, and that was anything that involved him not getting torn up by a bunch of vampires.  It seemed the only fitting end for a hunter, but he wasn't ready yet.

Fortunately, Val wasn't ready to just leave him there, either.  Connor wasn't quite expecting to have the vampire appear right in his path, though.  That would explain why he hadn't been looking up at the right moment, and why he didn't have the chance to stop when he did.  He slowed down, a surprised look in his eyes, but it wasn't enough.  He hoped Val had braced himself, because when they impacted, Connor himself had to wince.  He twisted mid-step to put his back to Val, in the hopes of not hitting the guy in the chest with his shoulder or arms trying to save him some hurt.  It seemed to go against anything he'd learned to put his back into a fall instead of trying to save himself with his arms or shoulders, but hurting Val would be worse for their situation, and his leg just about gave out right then, anyway.  He was going down whether he liked it or not.

[Stormy Quattrone]

Teleporting was an exact science. Connor, on the other hand, was not. Val should have prepared himself for something like this to happen, but in the heat of the moment his only thought had been to get out of there, in whatever way possible. He had not been thinking about Connor's current level of distraction, the pain in his leg, and how little warning Connor was actually getting before he would have had to slow down. In Val's defense, he hadn't been certain of how far to go, either, and had had to make the distance judgment in a matter of seconds. At the very least, he appreciated the effort Connor made to not break his ribs when he crashed into the hapless vampire. It was not the first time Connor had sent his vampire partner headlong into the ground, though it was the first time he hadn't done it on purpose.

Val had been facing Connor when they impacted, fortunately, so he only got the proverbial wind knocked out of him as they hit the dirt. Later he would be furious to find mud smeared down his best jacket and matting his carefully groomed hair. For now, he concentrated on not getting headbutted by the back of Connor's skull, and once that was done he grabbed a handful of whatever part of Connor was nearest - an arm, he was fairly sure - and teleported them both to the first out of the way location that came to mind.

So maybe the Ramsa High School parking lot wasn't the best of choices. Shut up. He spent a damned lot of time here, and the place was empty.

"Get... off," he gasped, tipping sideways to help Connor along with that. "What the hell kind of strategy was that?"

[Connor Batten]

Connor just about had the wind knocked out of himself with this stunt, and he coughed a little as Val pushed him off.  He rolled fairly easily off of the vampire, just trying to catch his breath (Val didn't NEED to breathe, but he certainly did).  Val's question had to wait until he could talk, and he wasn't bothering to get off of the ground.

Sorry, pavement.

"It was a strategy that included getting them away from you long enough for you to do something useful.  Like this.  Besides, it was my fault they attacked me, anyway.  You getting killed over it would have been stupid.  Where are we?" he asked, changing the subject.  Val would likely jump right back to that subject, but hey, he tried.  He didn't say anything regarding himself getting killed over it, and he personally hoped Val didn't have anything to say, either.  He knew he'd be disappointed, though.  Val always seemed to have something to say.

Glancing around, he didn't need Val to tell him where they were, but the vampire probably would, anyway.  They were at the High School in Ramsa.  What the hell?  Why had he taken them there?  Connor could understand why Val even knew where it was, since his girlfriend went to school there, but why would he go there after a fight?  It totally blew his mind.  Val was going to need to be taught a few things about fights and what to do afterwards.

[Stormy Quattrone]

Valerie grunted. "So you decided to get yourself killed instead. Genius." With Connor no longer crushing him, he was able to get to his feet and brush some of the dust off his clothes. He could feel something wet and goopy splattered all over his skull and determinedly put it out of his mind. Later, he could pick the disgusting bits of leaves and mud out of his gorgeous hair LATER. Now, he had to keep Connor from picking on him for his choice of location.

Wait- nope, too late. At least it was just a simple question. "Ramsa High School. Inquire further and I bite you." He wasn't in the mood to explain why this was the first "safe" place to have come to mind. The reason was cheesy and dumb and too complicated to verbalize this late at night after a run in with murderous youngsters.

Val had had his share of crappy Hallow's Eves, but this one, by far, sucked the most.

"Now that we are no longer in danger of our lives, care to elaborate why this was your fault?" Val didn't know for sure if it was Connor's fault. Connor had just mentioned that it was his fault they had been attacked, so Val was going to run with that until they discovered otherwise.

[Connor Batten]

"Ah, but I didn't get myself killed.  It makes all the difference," he replied, in much better spirits after escaping death.  Nothing like having a bunch of vampires on your tail and escaping them to brighten your day.  Or night, whatever. 

"Ramsa High School.  Man, you're giving me some serious pedophile vibes, here," he remarked, mostly joking.  Mostly.  It made sense, but it didn't sound good that it was the first place he'd thought to go.  Connor hadn't 'inquired', either, so he was safe from that threat.  It worked perfect.  It was like he was more on his game than before the Great-Mad-Dash-To-Not-Die.  Not at all unusual that he was thrilled with the near-death experience and Val was pissed.  Connor hurt, but he was happy to be alive.

As for why it was his fault, he was surprised to hear the question.  Surprised enough that his good humor faded some, and he just looked confused.  "I don't know.  I mean, they attacked me, not you.  And I did piss off that bitch, Diana.  Maybe they were hers.  I don't know of anyone else I pissed off.  Did you?" Maybe it wasn't his fault, after all, but that would be out of the ordinary.  Only Tabitha had attacked him that first time without it being his fault.  He didn't need another one of those.

[Stormy Quattrone]

Not dying would make a difference to someone who was still alive. Val, who was the immortal undead, could no longer identify.

He should have known that Connor would ignore the request completely, even with a threat attached. Was nothing sacred? Val turned his face away to hide a blush that, thanks to Connor's blood, had strength enough to color his cheeks. "Heather insists that I drive her home every day. I spend a lot of time here." That wasn't the whole truth. Val spent a lot of time here because he was, technically, stalking the girl, although he'd begun to do much less of it lately, in light of certain developments. He also came early a lot, so he could sit in his car and contemplate deep thoughts.

He also didn't have a life.

"If Diana were to attack us, I imagine she would have done it herself," he replied, thankful for the change in topic. Concentrate on the problem, not the messed up ways he occupied himself these days. "And the vampire I fought with..." Should he mention certain linguistic details? It would almost certainly put the blame on Valerie, because who ELSE would have a mass of French vampires after him? Connor would probably laugh his damn head off. Merde. He could keep this to himself, except the vampires had targeted CONNOR. He had a right to know.

"... The vampire I fought... He spoke French." Val sighed a sigh that was half groan. "So it is entirely possible they are connected to me." If they were, Val was going to be mad. He had made a career of not making enemies.

[Connor Batten]

Connor dropped the issue of Heather and the school, simply because he didn't really have the right to say anything about it after the time he spent with Lore.  He wasn't going to throw stones.

Not at Val, anyway.  He liked throwing stones at other vampires, obviously.

"Oookay," he remarked, listening to the comments about Diana, and not knowing who else it could be.  He didn't have any other vampires who'd bother to do that.  Unless...they'd never found Tabitha's accomplice.  They had no way to identify him.  Could it be him?  That thought was enough to make Connor himself pale a little, though when Val finally dropped the bomb about the language issue, he relaxed a little.  That was better than it being Tabitha's friend.

"Okay," he repeated, though not nearly the same.  "So, it's your fault for a change.  I can handle that.  Any idea who would want to attack me out of your old friends?  I mean, I just met them, and I don't think I pissed any of them off, did I?" he asked, completely ignoring the fact that he was still sitting on the pavement.  His leg hurt and was probably bleeding, but he wasn't going to worry about it until they were done.  He wasn't standing, either.  Looking up at Val, however undesirable that was, could be better for now.

[Stormy Quattrone]

"I did not say it WAS my fault, only that it might be," Val said, bristling. He was really uncomfortable with the thought of being in trouble, especially with his own kind, since the majority of them were more powerful than him without trying. He got lucky sometimes on a one-on-one basis, but if a really strong vamp took a crack at him? Not a chance.

But he couldn't deny the coincidence of meeting his old friends, who happened to be French, and then getting attacked by vampires who spoke French so soon afterwards. He was an idiot of he ignored something so obvious. "They are my old friends, Connor, as in I may not know them anymore. Although that's not to say such behavior would be out of character." Vampires killed humans and each other for power reasons more often than not. The mere fact that Val had acquired another bloodbond might be reason enough for any one of them to decide to get rid of him, and he explained as much to Connor. "Our strength is nowhere near what I remember of theirs. Still, that doesn't mean they wouldn't kill us for our POTENTIAL threat." The life of a vampire sure was glamorous. What Val wouldn't give to be considered lower than dirt again. Vampires generally ignored weaklings.

[Connor Batten]

Val might have been all bent out of shape by the idea that it might be his fault that Connor was attacked, but Connor was nowhere near bothered by it.  It was a rather refreshing change of pace for him, though the next time they attacked, he might not be so innocent in it all.  He HAD tossed up two birds at them.

That was the problem with vampires, especially.  They were too damn proud.  Connor could flick off a hunter and they might get nasty, but they'd get over it.  Those vampires would remember it.  Maybe he shouldn't have done it, though he didn't really regret it.  They were vampires, and they were not Val.  That was all that mattered to him.  Vampires who were not Val weren't likely to get much of a good reception.

"Wonderful, you used to hang out with homicidal maniacs who might think that we might get powerful, and might thing that they might kill us.  I'm glad we're clear on all that," he remarked in false cheer.  "I really hope they don't expect us to take that sitting down."

The fact that he was currently sitting down wasn't lost on him.  Sometimes, irony was fun.