New Friends at Flannigan's

Touched by Fallon's concern he tried to reassure her. "I am ok, thank you though."

Looking at his thumb he showed it to her after he wiped it off on the napkin. "See, all better."

There wasnt even a mark left and he wiggled his thumb up and down showing that it worked just fine. The time he sliced it with a knife had been gruesome with the bone showing through the large gash in the flesh. At least scars did not show. Generally he practiced with sticks from then on, though he could use the thin throwing knives it was easier to avoid injury without sharp blades.

Spending time with Fallon had him recalling his first years as a vampire. They were not really the best of memories. Full of hunger and hiding, pain and loss. Vowing to make hers better he returned his attention to the table.

Glad to hear he was okay, Fallon turned her attentions back to the others at the table. Thinking now might be a good time to stretch her legs, and make sure her mascara hadn't run down her face, she leaned back into Cyrus' ear.

"Excuse me then, for just a moment."

Standing up, she looked at Aishe. The other girl had already been to the ladies room, so she didn't think she would want to go again. Fallon gave a smile and a glance around the table, and then went in search of the restrooms.

Aishe stood when Fallon did, seeing the glance the woman cast her way. Nothing like a good chat between women in the bathroom... it seemed like Fallon had something to say that she wasn't comfortable saying in front of the men. She seemed fairly shy.

Standing, she once again took the role of 'more outgoing,' something she seemed to be doing a lot of lately, and said, "Wait up Fallon!"

Looking back at their companions, she gave a mischievous grin. "I think I still have some sand in my.... hair."

With a wink she turned and walked alongside Fallon, showing her the way to teh restroom since she'd already located it once.

((ooc: permission to read into the unspoken!))

Hearing her name, Fallon stopped and turned around. She was glad Aishe had decided to join her. It was silly, but it made Fallon feel good to think this other girl wanted to come along...even it if was just to the rest room.

Reaching the door first, Fallon held it for Aishe, and followed in, behind her. But once inside, Fallon was hesitant to say anything. Walking over to the sinks, she washed her hands and then looked into the mirror. Mascara and everything fine. Cheeks a bit rosier than normal, but that happened to her when she felt a bit out of place.

"Thanks for coming along. Sometimes all that testosterone makes me nervous. You may not have caught on, but...I tend to be on the quiet side...and with men, it tends to get really tiresome. I've...not always known men as nice as Cyrus."

Apologizing was part of Fallon's nature, and while she hoped to change things about herself, it would all take time.

"Are you part of Cyrus and Peter's clan too?"

Cyrus had intimated he and Peter knew each other, and belonged to 'Mai's' clan. Right or wrong, Fallon assumed Aishe knew that much about her frisbee partner. And finding the need to talk to a female about the changes she had and was going through, she hoped maybe Aishe could fill her in.

It never occurred to her that she was talking out of school...bringing up a subject that Aishe wouldn't understand.

Aishe felt her eyes grow wide, although she hid her startlement quite well otherwise. What was surprising was Fallon's openness when she mentioned clans. Aishe could only assume one thing, having already put two and two together as far as Peter was concerned. So it seemed Cyrus was a vampire as well. Not surprising, again, she wondered if she'd met nothing but vampires and their familiars since arriving in Nachton?

Her quick mind working overtime, Aishe made the assumption that quite possibly Fallon was a very young vampire, or a new familiar, or something of the sort. Aishe had certainly learned enough to know to be incredibly careful when discussing the topic with someone she'd just met. That realization led her to place her hand, very gently, on Fallon's shoulder.

"You must be careful who you say such things to," she advised, her voice low. Even as she spoke she carefully made sure there was no one else in the bathroom.

They were alone, fortunately. Aishe smiled at Fallon. "And in answer to your question, no. I'm not a part of their clan. I belong to another one entirely." She stopped, considering. She certainly did belong to Evenhet, but in what capacity? Even she was unclear on that. She was neither vampire nor familiar; could she claim protection from them? Was she entirely safe from the attentions of other vampires? She had assumed so up to this point, but there was some doubt.

"I met Peter shortly after arriving here in Nachton," Aishe explained, shaking her hair out... it did have some sand in it, still. "We're just friends. I think he sees me as a little sister, of sorts."

Curious now about Fallon, she looked at the other woman's reflection in the mirror. "How about you?"

Had it not been for Aishe's hand on Fallon's shoulder, Fallon would have quickly taken her words as chastisement. But the other woman's tone and manner was of such patience, and understanding, Fallon just accepted the words as those of caution.

She did have to admit, along with getting used to her new found power, and physical changes, the familiar need for covertness was still necessary.

It did not bother Fallon that Aishe was not part of the same clan. Her knowledge of clans was minute anyway, and Fallon had never been one given to prejudices, or segregative tendencies.

Being part of a clan, any clan, Fallon again assumed that meant Aishe was a vampire. She had come to assume that pretty much already, but now didn't doubt it at all. Who else would belong to a clan?

"Please, forgive me. I am not one for seeking out strangers to talk to at all, much less offer up such personal matters to. I've just been quite through the wringer lately, and nothing about the way I used to be, seems to follow what I am becoming."

She sighed, before turning away from the mirror, and facing Aishe.

"Are you...very old?"

That seemed an easier way to ask if Aishe had much experience as a vampire. Age, she didn't think, mattered to them, as it did to humans.

Aishe's smile didn't diminish. She almost had the sense that Fallon was something of a kindred spirit. At any rate, they were both new and a little out of place in their respective surroundings.

"I'm not a vampire," she corrected. "I'm just your average, run of the mill human. I know that sounds odd; I'm not even a familiar. I guess then, I can assume you are a recent addition to your own clan?"

So Fallon herself was a newly-turned vampire. Aishe was a little envious, but that certainly didn't keep her from feeling a tentative sort of sisterhood with the shy woman before her.

"I can empathize with the way you feel, too. Since coming here I'm also different from how I once was. Perhaps not in exactly the same way as you, but I know how it feels."

It seemed perhaps Fallon had questions, and sometimes it was just easier to talk girl-on-girl, as it were. Aishe certainly hoped no one in Evenhet would hold it against her for chatting so openly with vampires from another clan, but perhaps she would limit her interactions with them after this... a bit. She didn't want to be perceived as looking elsewhere to obtain her goals. Her loyalty to Evenhet was absolute, and growing stronger with each person she met and liked.

Again, had she been talking to someone else, Fallon was sure she would have even gone to far as to recoil from the next words. Having just told a human that she was a vampire, was surely something that just wasn't done.

But again Aishe responded in a way that put Fallon at ease. It stood to reason if Nachton was home to so many vampires, there would need to be humans around that knew, and co-existed with that knowledge.

"Familiar?" Had Cyrus mentioned that word? From an old Dracula movie, Fallon seemed to remember some squirrely little guy...Igor? He ran around eating bugs and bowing to his master. An involuntary shudder ran down Fallon's back at the thought.

"I am recently turned...but no member of a clan, as yet. My...creator..."The last word wasn't spit out as it could have been, but was said as if it had a bitter taste.

"..was clanless, you see. However, Cyrus has offered to...petition his clan for me."

The look that came across her face now, was one of almost adoration. For her, Cyrus had now become a champion, and she felt she owed him her life...almost.

"How is it you belong to a clan, and not be a vampire...or...familiar? Do they accept humans as well?"

So many new things to learn...it was a good thing Fallon had an open mind and love for knowledge.

Aishe could hardly dodge the topic now, so she simply leaned against the countertop in the restroom and continued her explanation.

"Of the three clans; Anantya, Tacharan, and Evenhet, the one that believes quite strongly in co-existing with humans is my own clan, Evenhet. The reason why I came is... well, it's a long story, I suppose, and probably not best dredged up in a public restroom. Suffice it to say I would like to join my clan in a more... permanent capacity, and I am therefore learning the ropes, as it were, before that decision becomes final. If it ever does. The reason behind that decision... well, like I said. It's probably not a bathroom conversation. But I'd be happy to explain, another time."

She knew her cool demeanor was probably rattled, and she might have sounded a bit stuffy, but in truth Aishe was happy to get along so well with Fallon, for although she'd met some incredibly wonderful people at Evenhet, she really hadn't made any good friends. That would come in time; she knew her presence there was probably unsettling for the moment and that time was really the best answer to that.

For the moment, she focused on Fallon's previous statement. "So, it sounds as if you were turned against your will. I'm sorry. But Cyrus seems to care for you, and there are some very kind people in Nachton, be they human or vampire."

She smiled at the woman before her. "It will be all right. I know it must be odd, and there's so much to adjust to, but you'll have help."

Anantya...that was Cyrus' clan, and Peter's too, it seemed. Hopefully, Fallon would join that clan, as well.

"Evenhet...that is one Cyrus mentioned, along with his Anantya...Panos said he had been part of a 'bad' clan. I guess that leaves Tacharan."

The whole clan business was just too abstract for Fallon to completely understand. However, to co-exist with humans seemed strange. While she knew it had to be, to live in harmony, they had now become food to her, and she no longer saw them in the exact same way.

Not that she saw Aishe as her next meal. But she guessed her connection to humans as friends would be on a smaller scale now, than her connection to them as her source of survival.

Keeping her voice low, Fallon couldn't stop the questions.

"So, might I ask...this permanent capacity...vampire, or familiar?"

Her choice to become a vampire wasn't her choice, at the time. However, given the choice of that over death, and she was glad Panos chose as he had.

To choose to become a familiar, was beyond anything Fallon could comprehend.

"This might sound really weird, but I do hope you say vampire, because of you say familiar, I'm going to probably drive you crazy with questions as to why."

She smiled a small smile, as if to again apologize for continuing to be a burden...

"I was turned against my will, but I now believe the person who changed me, did it with good intentions. I don't know where I would be today though, had I not run into Cyrus. He's a strange man, and I'm not always sure he's too happy for having met me, but so far he's been nothing but patient, and helpful."

Caught up in the moment, and relieved to have a woman to talk to, Fallon hugged Aishe, very briefly, before blushing and moving away a bit. She surprised even herself with her action, and stammered.

"You are right though...this really isn't the time or place to go into a lot of details. Maybe...if you're not too busy...maybe we could get together for dinner some night...but only if you really want to...or have nothing better to do."

Casting her eyes downward, while rubbing her torn cuticles, Fallon waited for a possible rejection, but hoped for an acceptance.

Aishe nodded at Fallon's assessment. So Peter and Cyrus were Anantya? That, as she'd learned since arriving, was Mai's clan. Fallon would be in good hands, if she was accepted. She didn't know how it worked.

When Fallon's questions kept coming, Aishe laughed softly. No wonder she felt kinship with this woman... they were both ceaselessly curious.

Fallon

"So, might I ask...this permanent capacity...vampire, or familiar?"

"Vampire," Aishe clarified. "I have considered the ramifications of being a familiar, and while the idea of being a blood donor doesn't faze me in the least, the idea of losing any amount of free will is quite terrifying. For those who have become my friends, I don't mind helping out at all. That's how it works, right? Friendship? But as far as being a familiar..." She shrugged. "I am myself and I must remain myself."

Aishe listened attentively when Fallon spoke briefly of her own turning. She knew full well that although her indoctrination into the society and culture of vampires had been unbelievably full of kindness and understanding, that was not always the case. What she knew of Kem's past from her trip to Egypt, and what she'd gleaned from her odd feelings, would have told her that even if it hadn't been confirmed through her time spent in Nachton.

When Fallon invited her to spend more time together, however, she returned the woman's hug warmly and beamed at her.

"I would love that. I really haven't done much in the way of applying for jobs yet, so I'm free just about anytime. Here."

Taking the ever-present notebook and pad from her purse, she scribbled down her cell number as well as her number at Liefde. "Call me anytime. And just say when and where. I'll be there!"

Aishe gave one last critical look at her appearance in the mirror. She was going to need a fine-toothed comb to get her hair well and truly clean.

Once again Fallon relaxed, relieved in an odd way, to hear Aishe's choice. Her curiosity towards familiars would need to be appeased though. She might ask Cyrus about that more, later.

And friendship or not, Fallon was pretty sure she wasn't the type to offer up herself as a source of blood. Though she knew if it were to help Cyrus, it wouldn't even be a question. Few were held in the esteem Cyrus was though.

It was nice the way Aishe just accepted Fallon's invitation as well, and taking the paper from Aishe, Fallon exchanged her cell phone number for the other.

"I hope you mean that. Once I get settled, I'm pretty sure I'm going to want to continue this talk, in a lot more detail."

Seeing there was nothing left to be done to her own appearance, Fallon turned towards the door, to return to their table.

Just now noticing a bit of sand on Aishe's shoulders, Fallon brushed off the girl's back a little, and smiled again.

"Wow, you really did get a lot of sand on you. You're a good sport Aishe..."

Aishe tucked Fallon's number into her purse. "Of course I mean it! Why else would I say it?" She grinned.

As Fallon brushed sand from her back, Aishe gave her hair a last good shake. "When I was growing up, I was taught to enjoy life pretty high on the list. I believe it came just after 'go to college' and 'be polite.' Having done the first, and being marginally successful on the second, I feel obliged to apply myself to the third."

Opening the door and holding it for Fallon, she asked, "Shall we go make sure the men can still stand straight?"

"What a great way to see things, and aspire to live.'

Though it had never been any sort of option Fallon had an option to, in her past, now that she had control of her future, she made a mental note to keep that as her main focus in life now.

"Well, you know...the enjoying life part...college and being polite are something I can cross of my list as well."

Walking back to the table Fallon could see the three men were still there.

"I don't know Aishe...shall we test them? It's a little difficult to say if they can accomplish that, while they are still sitting."

Fallon laughed lightly at the small inside joke she and Aishe now had, and sat back down next to Cyrus. Again, as she sat down, she briefly and softly scratched the sensitive area behind his ear, and then giggled. Though she knew his leopard would never be anything she would joke about, or consider as anything but the dangerous animal it was, when he was human, she still seemed to see that feline part of him.

"Did we miss anything?"

Cyrus drank the last of his beer and debated on pouring one from the pitcher. Deciding to wait a few minutes he studied the other occupants in the bar. Nothing more than the last night, rowdy irish men for the most part. He realized there was only four women in the pub, Fallon and Aishe making two while the waitress counted as three. The other woman was there with a date rather than part of a group. Noting the discrepancy he worried about the ladies taking overlong in the restroom. His fingers drummed briefly on the table as he gave them just another minute to linger.

He smelled Fallon's scent and was highly relieved. The scritch behind his ear was nice and brought a smile from him.

"We made sure to wait for you both with baited breath." He grinned at them. "Though I never understood the need to visit a restroom in a pack, even a small one."

Aishe spread her smile around, directing it at Cyrus as she reseated herself at the table.

"It's a natural urge. When a woman sees one of her own heading for a restroom, she's compelled to follow along."

She wondered what the deal was with the ear-fondling, but figured maybe she could ask about it when she had some time to chat with Fallon. Was it a vampire thing? Or was it just a Cyrus thing? Curious.

Why was he not surprised that Ashie followed Fallon? That aspect of women did seem to have changed much in his life, they always went off together, with few exceptions.

Savoring the scotch he was just as happy to wait for them to return, although he was getting the nagging feeling he was interrupting. He probably should get going soon as it was, he did need to check in and things. But not just yet, besides, it would be rude to leave so soon.

Smiling at both Cyrus and Aishe's comments Ambrose shook his head slightly.

"I'd say it was a very powerful instinct. Seems to transcend culture and nationality too. I wonder how far back in history it goes?"Â?

Aishe put on her most missish, prim, schoolmarm-ish expression and looked down her nose playfully at Ambrose.

"As a fully qualified archaeologist, I can guarantee you that women have been visiting the facilities in groups since our knuckles were still dragging on the ground. While evolution has been kind to us in the sense that unlike men, we've gotten beyond the knuckle-dragging, evolution is not perfect - so we are compelled to continue to go in pairs."

That said, she sat back and smugly sipped at her soda with a wink at Fallon.

Ambrose blinked incredulously at Aishe and her very scholarly manner.

“I have never dragged my knuckles on the ground. Okay, once maybe twice but there was a good reason both times.”

He said it very seriously but was grinning at the same time. He didn’t think she’d take him seriously.

It was interesting that she’d be an archaeologist. He didn’t think there’d be a lot out this way to dig up and study. But his experience with archaeology was the occasional Indiana Jones movie.

A brief glance towards Peter, and Fallon wondered if the big man had big things on his mind. Or...maybe in larger groups he tended to quiet down, much like her. He hadn't been shy on the beach earlier, so she knew he was a friendly sort.

Catching Cyrus' remark, and then the tail end of Ambrose's statement about ladies visiting the restroom in pairs, Fallon was about to make some statement, but Aishe beat her to it, and responded in a much funnier fashion. Fallon laughed at the wink, and was glad to see Ambrose had a sense of humor too. How nice it was to be able to make such silly comments, and not be afraid of how they would be taken.