For All Appearances... (attn: Damaris)

Amir wasn't a stranger to the night club scene in Nachton. Not when his body clamored to be fed every 48 hours or so. More, when he had the time. This particular club, he'd been to on occasion but never for very long. If he were going to go out to enjoy himself he would go to Shades'. That was almost like a home away from home away from home.

This club was for the younger crowd. It was well out of the way, cheap, loud, and had a pretty low standard for entry in Amir's opinion. Like any college kid, he sat himself at the bar with a glass of beer that he sipped on. He hated to get drunk and he didn't particularly enjoy feeding from them either, but blood was blood when it came down to it and his need to drink would override his personal preferences any night.

That said, the glass he had now was mostly for show. He hated the taste of it but plenty of guys in here were holding similar glasses, if not doing harder stuff. A few women had come onto him and he'd danced with one or two of them, playing his role with Damaris. They were together but not quite 'together' for the evening although they were hinting strongly that they could be heading toward a long night together. The idea wasn't appealing to Amir and he doubted it was to Damaris either.

He had spotted one of their targets already, a young man who appeared to be in his early 20's but was closer to 100. He was blending in with the crowd, not making too much effort. It seemed to come easily to him. Amir hadn't seen his companion yet but they didn't always go out together and tonight, it might just be the one. They would have to see.

Damaris 11 years ago
She wasn't quite ready to revise her opinion of Rashid. He'd still been a bit of an ass and she didn't think it had been an act. However, once he settled down a bit he was a livable ass and it wasn't like she could judge too harshly she had a bit of a personality problem too just of a different sort.

The nice thing about having an older partner for the night was he was patient. Damaris had been out with younger Hunt members and they could start to get edgy. Rashid gave the impression of being relaxed and patient without sacrificing alertness. You had to appreciate that.

She was no slouch when it came to moving silently and smoothly but even Damaris had to admire Rashid's ability to do just that. Just a second after him Damaris floated along in Rashid's wake. She took up a position just to his left close enough they looked like they belonged together but far enough away that he'd have a free range of motion if the two free lancers jumped them.

The girls Damaris would prefer to leave alive, witnesses and all, which meant she wanted to hit the guys before they fed. But Rashid wanted to wait, he was right, there was no reason to rush. If these two were hungry enough the clanless might do half the job for she and Rashid.


"They probably have the same idea we do."

She said knowing that Rashid had the same thought. It would be a fine place to feed from a couple of unwary young girls. They were still waiting, but waiting with a purpose now and Damaris was ready to go, alert for Rashid's signal.
Amir 11 years ago
Amir and Damaris followed the four people by tailing them while they were still on populated streets. Soon enough they moved into a side street, the girls still talking and laughing, apparently no idea what was about to happen. Amir rested against the wall of the building by the entrance to the little street. It was pretty well deserted, and whatever the rogues had told the women, they were buying it. Oh, there were a couple little places here but for the most part it was off the beaten path and no one would question two guys groping their dates.

He gave them a minute, well aware that Damaris was waiting on him to start the festivities. Finally he grinned at er, shifted with smooth speed and precision, and darted impossibly fast into the street. No one ever gave much of a shit about a smallish canine, and these guys were no exception, barely batting an eyelash as they each bit into a tasty human.

Quick as a eyeblink Amir was back on two feet. "You stay right there," he told one girl. "You too," he told her friend. His Command was solid, and neither one was about to move anyway.

As soon as he'd shifted the vampires had turned toward him. The younger one launched himself at Amir, who met his ineffective charge with his long blade in his fist. He slashed the rogue's chest, punched him in the throat, whipped his foot up and kicked him. The hand that had punched buried itself in the rogue's shirt so his kick didn't knock him out of reach.

Hefting the younger one up Amir tossed him at Damaris. Then without turning around, feeling the older vampire at his back, Amir whipped his hand and his blade back behind him. The vampire jumped back; Amir turned. They sparred for an entire three or four seconds, an exchange of fists and feet the human eye could never hope to follow, but it was over before it began. The rogue had absolutely nothing on Amir.

Hands whipping in front of him, not bothering to use his blade, Amir stunned the man with a quick jab to his collar bone, breaking it, and following it up with a thrust up into his face with the heel of his hand, shattering his nose.

Grabbing him by the front of his jacket Amir inhaled deeply.
"Good for you," he purred, sharp teeth glinting in the dim light of the alley. "You get to play Scooby-snack tonight."

He offered the man a friendly smile then dragged him in and bit deeply, fully intending to drink him dead.
Damaris 11 years ago
What kind of woman let herself be felt up in an alley? It was just flat out low class. Granted she'd done it once or twice but usually there was a reason for it, it was part of a greater plan and a way to get close to her target these two had no such excuse. It wasn't her problem though.

Before she could finish the thought, one second Rashid was there, the next he wasn't. She growled a bit to herself when he shifted and took off without her. But he did have the better disguise a jackal could just be a stray, a wolfhound was going to attract notice. Once he'd commanded the women she darted across the road. It was a good thing she had too, as no sooner than Damaris had joined him than he'd all but chucked the younger of the two at her. It felt a little like being thrown a bone, but it was also an effort to work together. Undoubtedly Rashid could have handled them both.

The boy stumbled a bit, found his feet and although he'd thought to go and help his friend Damaris put herself right in front of him. He started but didn't hesitate before drawing back to punch her. Using her telekinesis she caught it and just grinned at him. It was a cheap trick, it never lasted, but it could be a fun opening volley. After his initial surprise the younger vampire came after her.

He was young and not exactly well trained at that, it was simple enough to turn the momentum of his attack against him. It was tempting to play with him, but she didn't want to screw up and lose him, worse yet have to have Rashid clean up after her. Punches were thrown, kicks, the clanless even tried to bite, Damaris was fairly certain that was desperation. Pleased with her wardrobe choice of the heavy boots, she broke his knee. With a cry he crumpled but kept coming. A bit more scuffling and a kick to the face and Damaris had him on the ground, a boot on his throat.

Their orders were to kill both rogues. Her first instinct had been to decapitate, stake or leave them in the sun. Turning at the silky sound of Rashid's voice she saw his plan. She shrugged philosophically. That was practical. They might be young, but vampire blood was still better than human blood. Not caring about the two women, they'd have different memories in a few minutes any way, Damaris reached down and grabbed her sparing partner by the collar and dragged him up preparing to take a bite out of him.


"You know Scooby and Shaggy were both high the whole time right?"

She quipped at Rashid before sinking her fangs into the young clanless and drinking deeply. It was rather freeing not to worry about whether or not your meal lived. They very much had crossed the line between donor and victim here.
Amir 11 years ago
As soon as blood hit his tongue Amir was gone, tuned out, his long eyelashes fluttering closed and brushing against his cheek bones as he drank like a man dying of thirst. It took one hell of an appetite to drain a grown man dry; normally a pint was satisfying. Amir was not your average vampire though. He could feel the rogue's life draining from him as he drank and it only made him drink harder, faster, taking everything and giving nothing. All that mattered was the blood. He dug in even deeper with his fangs, practically mangling the clanless man's throat.

When he couldn't hold any more, he released the vampire, his hand whipping out as the man fell, long blade slicing cleanly into his neck and driving through his spinal cord. He hit the ground with a hollow thump and began to turn to ash almost immediately.

Amir gave a long sigh of satisfaction and Damaris's words finally filtered through to him. He lifted a shoulder; she was busy with her own drink. He was, however, definitely a little buzzed after that. The rogue had been both buzzed and slightly high himself. Amir had the pleasure of those muted sensations now. He hated them, but his preferences there always took a back seat to his need for blood.

Wiping his mouth almost delicately he stepped over the pile of ash to the young women who trembled against the wall of the nearby building.
"Now now, don't worry," Amir said. "You're probably going to have a visit soon from an acquaintance of ours. Here is what you need to tell them."

With soft, silky tones he quickly built several layers of Command that would stand up to even the trickiest questioning. There were ways to know if someone was influenced by asking the right questions - unless he person doing the Commanding was aware of what those questions could be and had built in a logical failsafe, as it were. With his thousands of years doing so to werewolves, Amir was excellent at making sure their activities wouldn't be discovered. The women would go home none the wiser, and questioning would only make it seem like they barely remembered the night's events through a haze of pot, alcohol, and the lull of having been bitten.
Damaris 11 years ago
It was like going to a buffet, not something she usually did and was very much over indulging but once in a while over indulging wasn't a bad thing. Damaris didn't waste any time savoring or anything like that, she just drank, and drank. She wasn't going to need to et for a while and was rather glad she hadn't had a drink in the club, even though she and Rashid had been waiting quite some time Damaris wouldn't want to compound the mild buzz with whatever this bastard had had.

Once she was finished, although there was probably blood to be had, but she didn't think Rashid was into sharing, at least not with her, she followed his example, pulled a blade from inside her boot and removed the man's head from his shoulders. There were now two lovely piles of ash in the alley as she cleaned off her knife and shoved it back in her boot.

Since Rashid was handling the commands, and quite adeptly from what she could hear, Damaris kicked at the ash to break them up. The rouges would figure out these two were missing soon enough, they'd probably assume they were dead but she'd let the wind help them out and maybe delay the inevitable for a day or two. As she minimized the piles she kept an eye out for anything that hadn't crisped up nicely, rings, watches anything that might identify the clanless.

Clean up wasn't glamorous but it had to be done. By the time she'd finished it seemed Rashid was too. The women looked thoroughly disoriented and glazed over, although some of that might have been whatever they'd indulged in while in the club.


"Pretty little things aren't they. They'll do the job nicely, shall we stick them in a cab and send them home?"

While not overly concerned about the girls' well fare she'd hate to see them accosted and lose their 'witnesses'.
Amir 11 years ago
Amir didn't take more than a minute or two to build the lies into the girl's heads. They were drunk and high; their wills to resist was practically nonexistent. Which was good, because he was half drunk and high too, although he handled it much better.

When Damaris asked about a cab he turned and raised an eyebrow at her.
"No," he said, "we shouldn't."

He steered both women out toward the more populated area of the strip after biting each one, certain they wouldn't remember his doing so.
"We just convinced them they've seen a territory battle between a bunch of clanless. I somehow doubt the victors would have the courtesy to get the cattle a cab afterwards."

No, let the women be freaked out. They were marked, and hopefully would still have some fading bruises by the time they were caught up with and questioned. The bruises from a bite faded very quickly, but a fellow vampire who was looking for just such a thing might be able to discern them and Amir suspected the rogues would move quickly once their companions were determined to be dead.

Satisfied that the two girls were stumbling in the direction of a safer area of town Amir nodded to Damaris.
"Let's make sure nothing else happens to them between here and the Strip though."

The Strip was lively enough to be populated all hours of the night. They were slightly off of it right now but the girls appeared to be heading toward their homes like Amir had told them to. They probably didn't live together.


"We can trail them all the way home if that would make you feel better," he said neutrally. He wasn't criticizing. If Damaris wanted to make sure they got home safely, they could split up and tail one girl each. A cab wasn't a good option though.
Damaris 11 years ago
Damaris managed not to roll her eyes. She and Rashid hadn't worked together before and she hadn't said anything to indicate she was planning anything other than just putting them in a cab and waving as the girls disappeared into the night. She had assumed that a few additional commands would be given to them, more of a story and some nice details. But she hadn't said that so Damaris couldn't fault Rashid for giving her that look. He wasn't even being as much of a jerk about it or treating her like a completely green fool, so she grudgingly gave him a couple of points there. Of course he wasn't being totally gracious so she wouldn't give him full marks.

Nodding she followed along with Rashid keeping a decent distance as the girls toddled along. Thank god they weren't running screaming, that would be more attention than they wanted.

All in all it hadn't been a bad night, so far and baring anything else, she'd say successful. She still wasn't totally comfortable with Rashid. He'd been an ass off and on and she didn't like his lack of communication and that kind of explained why she wasn't totally at ease with him. A couple more nights out and she'd probably get the hang of working with him, and the same would go for him although Damaris wondered if Rashid would even care about being comfortable working with someone else. She shrugged it off though and kept and eye on the girls as they approached the Strip.


"One or both of them might live in a crap neighborhood. They went to that hole rather than Eternity for a reason."

They were young, probably broke, or near broke, just out for a good time a few drinks maybe a dance and shag. They probably didn't have much money for rent. Damaris knew she was probably being overly protective and a little obsessive but she wasn't going to make any apologies for it.
Amir 11 years ago
"Well yeah. They're college girls. And they're obviously high. Of course they went there."

Eternity was pretty upper class. Super exclusive. With all the options available that wasn't going to be any college kid's first choice.

Damaris seemed to need to make sure the girls got home all right though. Amir was in favor of that, if only because they were now witnesses who would steer any questions away from Anantya.


"All right," he said agreeably. "I'll follow that one." He pointed randomly to one girl, and struck out after her. Looking back over his shoulder he said, "See you back at HQ later."

He didn't tell her to be careful or any such bullshit. She was Order of the Hunt. She'd be careful, or she'd be dead. That was what happened.

With a sigh, Amir walked down the street in the same direction as his mark, not looking at her and varying his pace so it didn't seem like he was following her. He'd make sure she got to her home all right but he wasn't about to go make her a glass of warm milk or fetch her fuzzy bunny slippers for her.


((ooc: Amir out))
Damaris 11 years ago
Yes she probably was being an old woman about this, but Damaris didn't really care and she wasn't giving any excuses. At least Rashid wasn't grumbling about it.

"Smashing. Then I'll take the other. Have fun."

Damaris followed after target, apparently the girls didn't live in the same direction so she and Rashid quickly became separated. But it wasn't either needed the other to hold their hand. She ambled after the woman sometimes falling well behind and occasionally passing her. She did wish the woman had a bit more urgency about her, but if that was the worst she had to say they weren't doing too badly.

((OOC... out as well))