| Leah and Braden meet |
[05 Jun 2007|09:53pm] |
As Braden laid his three pieces of luggage on the bed, he sighed out of complete lack of anything stimulating. He’d been in his hotel room just long enough to take a lengthy piss and raid the mini-fridge while trying to get the T.V. onto something fun.
Like pornography. Instead, he got Jeopardy.
“…I’ll take The Afterlife for eight hundred, Alex…”
“This is a place of extreme torment, where there is said to be ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’…”
“What is a fucken hotel room” he muttered under his breath in response to the droning, dull voice coming from the far side of the room.
This was torture. Braden was not going to take minutes upon excruciating minutes to unpack when there was a casino with a full bar and pretty waitress’s right below. So still dressed in his dark maroon T-shirt and dark jeans, he grabbed his wallet and downed the rest of the joke of a bottle of vodka as he made a bee line for the elevator, and the salvation that waited for him at the end of the elevator ride.
"Bartender, gimme another." Leah ordered, already half in the bag as she sat at the aforementioned full bar. Four empty glasses rested in front of her and the hybrid didn't plan on slowing down until the sun was above the horizon.
After the near death encounter with Vicky, she'd changed out of the costume and gotten the heck out of Fang Noir, driving just down the strip to her favorite casino and walking straight into the bar. It was a crowded joint and she'd been hit on several times already, but the seat next to hers was vacant as she'd shown a decided lack of interest in the hopefuls who'd tried to pick her up. She was in no mood to flirt with tourists tonight, her normally insatiable appetite dormant.
The blame for what had happened could be laid entirely at her feet: Vicky's personality was being distorted out of all recognition and it was all Leah's fault. If she hadn't done that 'favor' for Elfleda, the Vampiress would still be her cheerfully erotic and tasteful self. Instead, the stone was twisting her into nothing more than a sadistic killing machine.
Something had to be done, but. Leah had no idea how to fix things without pissing off an extremely powerful being that could do all sorts of nasty things to her without breaking a sweat. Would getting rid of the stone restore Vicky back to her normal self? Leah didn't know that either.
Strolling through the casino, Braden eyed several tables of various card games. Any kind of gambling suited him well enough, and often he came away with his pockets much more full than when he arrived. He’d always shrug his shoulders modestly as he left the table.
What could he say? He just seemed to be a lucky guy.
And that (in)famous luck appeared to be kicking into overdrive as he spied an empty bar seat next to a pretty girl. His grandpop had told him on several occasions that heaven was made up of empty barstools next to attractive women. Only Grandpop tended to use more colorful, descriptive language. Such a charming little man. Funny as hell.
Braden slide into the seat with ease, and nodded at the bartender’s quizzical look. “Bottle of Jamerson, for starters,” he requested. “And a nice tall glass of ice, if ya’ don’t mind too much.”
( Problem solving )
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