The City Never Sleeps {Site-Wide Open}

[Kazooie]

[googlefont="Playball"]

New York, New York. So nice... well, you know the rest. 

Even back when humans thought they were alone, New York City bustled at night. Taxis filled the streets and pedestrians would carry on between home, work, school, parties, bars, shopping, and so much more that carried on even into the wee hours of the night. Of course, as the war between supernatural creatures dawned and the vampires took the Big Apple, the night life only got stronger and more wild. The day was the only "safe" time for humans who still stayed in the city thanks to the glories of sunlight. This lead to a divided New York, busy both day and night but with entirely different types of people.

There were times, though, when things were strangely quiet. It happened twice a day--dawn and dusk. The setting of the sun caught most human attention and they ran back to their homes for the night. There was peace in the city for maybe a half an hour. And then, as soon as the sun was nestled just beyond the horizon, the vampires would emerge and take over the city once more. But night didn't last very long, and the rising sun brought vampires back hastily into their own dark worlds for a rest, and there was peace again before the humans ventured back out into the daylight. 

Times Square was one of the places to be during those odd times of peace. If one could manage to find a way there with most human taxi drivers long gone and all vampire taxi drivers unable to come out into the orange-red light of the setting sun, they'd see a far different scene from the films and television shows of childhood. Certainly, the bright lights of signs and advertisements hadn't changed much since before the war, but the streets and sidewalks were nearly bare. 

*******************************************************

Kazooie thought about all those things and more as she wandered about the square. It'd been quite the delay to get here, and she had arrived at LeGuardia airport nearly a week after her intended arrival. The time in Dublin was not ill-spent, but New York City had been her dream since both bear and bird had decided to take wing to America.

There were many shops whose doors were closed for the half hour, a sign that they employed both human and vampires but could not get the humans to reconcile their differences with the supernatural. She did notice that one shop was open; a strangely small bakery that sat in the midst of large buildings that screamed SALE and blinded your eyes with adverts. It was the name that drew her attention--The Puzzle Piece. She smiled and subconsciously put her hand on her signature necklace, a jigsaw piece with a red feather. 

Do I go in?

NOTES ;;
[[This is a site-wide open thread. That means that any character can join at any time. Additionally, any character may leave at any time, so long as it's made clear that this is their intent. Finally, post order matters slightly less due to the more chaotic nature of this thread. For example, if Kazara and Guinevere are talking, they will stick to a posting order, but Tamiel and Raf (who aren't involved in that conversation) would not have to wait for Kazara or Guinevere to post before they do. However, if Jophiel wanted to join Kazara and Guinevere, they would post their interaction with the two and then wait for both to post before posting again themselves. This allows for more freedom of interaction between characters while still keeping the posts in an understandable order.]]

WORDS ;;
[[About 470.]]

[Tamiel]

[googlefont="Amatic SC"][googlefont="Loved by the King"]

i'm one part saint and two parts sinner
and the last part is still on the line

logan holloway

~~~~~~~~~~

The front door of the bakery burst into hundreds of glass shards as the bloodied body of a man with red hair tumbled through the newly formed hole. He came to a rolling stop several feet from the door, or at least, where the door used to be, sitting up and picking clear shards out of his skin. He glanced over at the other redhead--the one outside, not the one that had just tossed him out of the bakery--and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry you had to see that," he said, still getting pieces of Aleena's door out of his flesh. The wounds were already starting to heal up, but he had a feeling that things weren't going to stop here.

Standing up and brushing himself off, he braced himself for the next assault. He'd sort of deserved it after sleeping with the Thrall's vampire without her knowing about it, but... well, only so much could be done, and he'd have felt bad if he'd used his newfound abilities on her to calm her. No, he had this coming, and he was going to see it through.

Never mind that the redhead nearby, the only other one on the street, was incredibly attractive. And he was wearing a collar. Oh, say it wasn't so. The possibility of getting into bed with someone that didn't have an angry thrall ready to tear his head from his shoulders got him a little excited--maybe a little too excited. Quickly, hopefully quickly enough that Aleena wouldn't notice, he slapped himself to distract from the imminent arousal. That could wait until he was back in one piece... and certainly, following this, he'd need a little bit of time before he was back in that state.

Tamiel hoped that she'd just break his spine or something and get it over with. Then everyone could go along their merry way and he wouldn't have to deal with getting new clothes that day.

~~~~~~~~~~

word count :: 325 ::
notes :: boop boop ::
tagged :: Aleena Leatherby, Kazooie ::
outfit :: here ::
mood :: pain + arousal ::

[Aleena Leatherby]

Aleena was less than thrilled with the situation.

She attributed it to her protectiveness, as it could be nothing else. Who Rafael hung out with was none of her business. Or rather, it shouldn't be. He was a grown vampire; he was a vampire over thrice her age. But still, upon hearing that he was found in the company of a demon, she worried. Demons were tricky things. They could twist their words and steal your soul in an instant. They could raise an army of damned souls to rip the flesh right off your body. They could do all that and so much more. But even worse, they weren't even allied with the vampires.

That's what she told herself, as the anger rose. She was angry that Rafael had gone out and done something as stupid as getting in bed with a demon. She didn't care who he slept with; she didn't even care what orientation he was. That was none of her business.

Okay, so she had assumed he was straight, and that had been a mistake. She was trying to get out of that habit, of assuming everyone she met was straight. Perhaps it would have saved her some heartache and confusion, if she had just asked. She could have known he was gay from the moment they met, and then they could have started their relationship with absolutely no romantic thoughts hanging in the air. Not that she was jealous, nope. Just a little achy. But that wasn't the demon's fault.

So it wasn't because of jealousy that she grabbed the demon by the back of the neck. She had nothing to be jealous of, since there was no way that Rafael could have ever been hers. Nope, it was simply her protectiveness taking control. This demon had slept with her vampire, and she could not allow for that to continue. If he was human, sure. Perhaps even if he was a Plus, since she was one. But a demon? Now that was going too far.

So with all the strength she could muster, Aleena threw Tamiel from The Puzzle Piece.

That's not to say she opened the door and threw him out, as that would be too easy. Instead, Aleena had simply chunked him through the door. Glass shattered and wood cracked, but that didn't matter to her. All that mattered was this predatorial little asshole was out on the street, and hopefully away from her vampire.

"An' you're payin' for the door!" She snarled, ripping what was left of the door off the hinges, and threw it at him.
 

WORDS ;; 435 ;;
THOUGHTS ;; Angry Aleena ;;
TAGGED ;; Kazooie ; Tamiel ;;
MUSIC ;; Television ;;
OUTFIT ;; [ Click! ] ;;
OUTFIT ;; joan by heather dale ;;

[Kazooie]

Kazooie jumped back in shock when Tamiel came flying through the glass. He had only just missed her, for she stood about a foot or two from where he stopped rolling, and she was thankful she had not been any closer. As she was about to ask if he needed help, the man sat himself up and started plucking glass shards from his exposed arms, the flesh visibly healing itself. The bird had dealt with a lot of shit in her life, but she had never met someone who could just take glass out of their flesh like they were plucking their eyebrows. 

And then, to top it all off, he apologised to her. To her. Not to the woman in the shop, but her, for... basically what amounted to being beaten up in front of her. She looked over him and a smile flickered across her face. 

Damn, he's hot. I have no idea what he is, vampires burn and he isn't... But he's hot.

Kazooie didn't know a lot about the world's different creatures, but vampires were still quite the mystery to her. From what she understood, they burned in the sun, didn't bleed, didn't have a reflection, preyed only on humans, and were huge on the whole BDSM thing. She was wrong, of course, about nearly everything she "knew" about vampires, just as she was wrong about many of her preconceived notions of witches and fae. Experience had simply not come to her yet.

"It's not a problem for me, dude," she responded to him, her left hand playing with the bangle of her collar. She had bought it (and the rest of her outfit) while in Dublin, figuring that if a bird was going to have any chance in the world of vampires, she'd have to dress like one. She looked back to the Puzzle Piece, where the very angry woman was storming towards the opening. "I'd be apologising to that chick for whatever you did to her."  

Kazooie offered her hand to him to pull him up, but before he could take it, the woman had chucked the remnants of door out to the sidewalk. The bird ducked--and the frame managed to land like a winning toss in a game of horseshoes. Dead ringer. That chick has some strong arms.

"Are you okay?" 

NOTES ;; ~[dead ringer lololol]~
MOOD;; ~[startled, turned on. the usual for the bird]~
OUTFIT ;; ~[Click!]~
TAG ;; ~[Rafael Ramón de Leon, Tamiel, Aleena Leatherby]~
LISTENING TO ;; ~[Drumming Song, Florence + the Machine]~
WORDS ;; ~[390 or so]~

[Rafael Ramón de Leon]

WORD COUNT [ 573 ] MOOD [ alarmed ] OUTFIT [ click! ] MUSIC [Princess Mononoke soundtrack] TAG [ Tamiel ] NOTES [ n/a ]

Rafael considered himself incredibly lucky to be in the position he was in. If you looked at the boy he had been and compared him to the man that he'd become, you wouldn't even believe you were looking at the same person. He had been raised in a two-bedroom home that could be accurately described as a “hovel”, surrounded by his parents, his grandparents, his uncles and their wives, his aunts and their husbands, and all of his cousins. Even with all of the people that could do so practically breaking their backs working to make what money they could – some of the kids working three, maybe four jobs – they could barely afford to live in the house that they had as well as eat, and their landlord made it no secret that they would all be on the street if they missed a payment. The children were put to work as soon as they could form coherent, complete sentences, and the grandparents kept it up until they were a day from death's door, but still they struggled to even survive. One day, after watching his best friend lose his arm to the factory machinery, Rafael told himself that he was going to live a better life than all of this. He was going to make himself into something so that his family would never go wanting, and his children would never have to live through the same horrors he had seen. He'd only ever had one wife, but she'd left him after his accident. He had never had a single child. But still, he had used tooth and nail to claw his way to the top he'd so aspired to. And now? He was a world leader. He could afford whatever he wanted – to the point that he lived in a penthouse apartment and had bought his thrall and best friend a bakery and warehouse as casually as if they had been candy bars. Rafael Ramón Hernandez de Leon was living a life most people didn't even dare to dream of. It was said thrall's said bakery that he was heading for that very moment, in fact, to bring her surprise coffee. Rafael had discovered, after their escapade, that Tamiel's blood allowed him to go into sunlight for a few hours at a time, and so he'd kept a bit of it and informed Charlotte of its properties. He and the rest of the council had a few sample bottles on hand; Rafael was an abnormally early waker, so he was the one that mostly used them. As his car pulled up to the bakery, the vampire noticed several things. One: Tamiel was on the ground outside, next to a very androgynous (leaning towards the feminine) individual. At least, he thought the man on the ground was Tamiel; he was skinny enough to pass and seemed to have the same general shape as the fallen angel. Two: The door of Aleena's bakery was... no longer existent. Rafael motioned for his driver to hurry with the wheelchair, and started wheeling himself towards the scene as soon as he was properly seated. “What in the everloving hell is going on here?!” It was the first time he'd raised his voice in years – it was also the first time he'd had an accent in years. He held the Starbucks cups, having to fight very hard not to squeeze them. post template by Tony

[Everett Vernon]

It was nice to actually be able to go out into the sunlight now. Meant that he could get more done at his shop and make more money. Not that he wasn't already rather well off, but always having some extra cash on the side was a perk and he got to do more of what he loved best, hunting in the day time and riding his bike on the high way while the sun went down just brought a sense of calm to him.

He took some of the special vials of blood that was given to him, all the council members had gotten one. He didn't want to waste it to much, but he needed to get his deer stand fixed and get ready for the up-coming hunting season that was starting in less than a week. He was in New York to get some supplies, he had a guy that could get him the best hunting equipment around and for alot less.

A crash to his right suddenly brought him out from his thoughts and he merely took a step back when a guy came crashing out from the door to a bakery. He glanced down at the man and looked up to the unhinged door well what was left of it anyway. Whatever the guy had done must have been bad and he didn't know if sticking around to see what happened next was a good idea.

Already a small group of people were forming around the discarded door that was in ruins and he just mentally groaned to himself and said nothing. Another council man who seemed too maybe know what was going on here and who this people were spoke up and asked the very question that he had wondered of.

Someone certainly has a temper. He commented mostly to himself and couldn't help but to almost cock a half heartily smirk.

[Tamiel]

[googlefont="Amatic SC"][googlefont="Loved by the King"]

i'm one part saint and two parts sinner
and the last part is still on the line

logan holloway

~~~~~~~~~~

He should have remained calm. Calm, composed, and rational, that's what would do him best. Consciously, Tamiel knew this. But he also had a reputation to uphold as a demon, and there was now a small crowd gathered around him as the two vampires--obviously of the Council, two that had partaken in his own blood--and he felt a surge of pride. Aleena could have never made her dear vampire come out into the sunlight if she'd tried. If she didn't know that... well, she was about to.

"Well, look at all the people showing up!" he remarked, his voice biting. "Isn't it funny how I made it so that these fine Councilmen can come out while the sun is still up? Or did you not know?" His eyes glinted, a bit more dangerous than he'd meant to be. "They can enter the sunlight because of my blood. And you have the gall to get offended over me having a night with someone you've otherwise got all to yourself. You know, where I come from, we call that selfish. I thought it was completely obvious who his heart belongs to, and it certainly isn't me."

Then, he started to Speak, his voice commanding total attention. "You're not going to hurt me again. Not today." He took a pause, laughing a bit, then continued. "We should try spending time together at some point when you've got all this drama worked out."

It took several seconds for the seriousness of the situation to set in. "What have I done. What have I done, I'm so sorry." His knees buckled, and he winced as his legs made contact with the broken glass once more.
"I'll pay for the door, yes. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Curling in on himself, he tried to force himself to breathe. "Councilmen, I'm very sorry I've wasted your time. I'll pay you as soon as I can, Rafael. I'm so sorry this happened." The apologies spewed forth from his lips, but they never once sung louder than the rolling waves of self-hatred that were now assaulting Tamiel. How could he have let himself lose control like that? Aleena would never forgive him--he'd wanted to be friends, but now that was completely out the window. He'd made a bad example of himself, and now he was going out spouting off with his Speech in public and making a big deal out of everything.

At this point, between the embarrassment, the residual arousal from being surrounded by attractive men, the emotional assaults from all around him, and the draining effect of using his power, Tamiel wasn't certain he could stand again.

~~~~~~~~~~

word count :: 440 ::
notes :: the Divine Speech (in bright red) is usually directed at an individual but can make other beings feel complacent/cooperative as well for as long as he speaks. ::
tagged :: Aleena Leatherby, Kazooie, Rafael Ramón de Leon, Everett Vernon ::
outfit :: here ::
mood :: violently emotional and can't cope ::

[Aleena Leatherby]

At Rafael's appearance, Aleena immediately skittered back.

She hadn't been expecting Rafael to show up, at least not yet. The sun wasn't completely down. Granted, it was dusk, and Rafael probably could have been outside (albeit uncomfortably), but that didn't mean he made a habit of popping up while the sun was still peaking above the horizon. His sudden appearance, combined with the way he raised his voice, made Aleena's heart sink into her stomach. She knew he wasn't going to be pleased with her, even if she had done everything for him.

The woman opened her mouth, to try to explain something, anything, to Rafael, but Tamiel cut her off. If the Plus had not been embarrassed before (she had), she was even more so now. Her eyes switched between Raf to Everett, who had somehow shown up at just the wrong moment, to the demon, and then back to Raf. A quick, cursory glance would have revealed that there were tears in her eyes. But Aleena knew better than to show her pain to anyone and instead blinked a few times, trying to clear them.

"I'm sorry," she choked out, more to Rafael than anyone else. "I didn't know-- I don't know why I--"

That was a lie. She did know. She knew exactly why she had beaten the shit out of Tamiel and thrown him through her door. She loved Rafael; absolutely adored him. The few nights they spent cuddling so he could feel warm wasn't enough for her anymore, and to find out that someone else had just waltzed into his life and taken what she desired so... It had been too much for her. And now all of this was getting to be too much. Already, she could feel her fingers twitching, her hands clenching.

And then she was darting inside, hurrying to the back room. 
 

WORDS ;; 335 ;;
THOUGHTS ;; Sad Aleena, Teary Aleena ;;
TAGGED ;; Kazooie ; Tamiel ; Rafael Ramón de Leon ; Everett Vernon ;;
MUSIC ;; Television ;;
OUTFIT ;; [ Click! ] ;;
OUTFIT ;; joan by heather dale ;;

[Kazooie]

Kazooie watched cautiously as more people arrived on the scene. The man who had been thrown out the front door spoke of the other two who had shown up as Councilmen--probably referring to the Vampire Council, she realised in shock. As he continued to speak of blood and a one-night ordeal, it dawned on the bird that the man before her had slept with someone the woman was probably seeing. She moved closer to the shop; it a gutsy move but she wanted a better view of everyone so she could jump in to mediate the situation if needed. 

What she wasn't expecting, however, was the realisation of who the man was. That was Logan Holloway, the famed English writer. She had seen him on BBC 1 once, promoting his most recent book Oblivious Memories. He'd written a great deal of tragedies, some of which Zooie had read, some of which she couldn't stomach--she much preferred the ones that had equal parts comedy and tragedy. And this man, this internationally recognised writer, apparently had blood that allowed vampires to walk in daylight without even a sunburn.

And he was calling the other woman selfish for her jealousy and pain. That was a huge error on his part.

She was about to step in, but then there was suddenly something different about his voice. Kazooie might have been afraid, if she hadn't been completely enraptured by the pleasant sound. His voice was smooth and full and practically tangible; it danced around in her mind in a way similar to the way Jareth King's had in the club in Dublin. It wiped her mind of any concerns she'd had with his previous behaviour, and numbed her thoughts pretty efficiently as well.

"We should try spending some time together..."

Hell yes we should, the dazed bird managed to think, glancing at him a bit further down than was socially acceptable. He felt aroused by something, that much was certain. There was a silence, and she managed to shake the feeling of an empty mind soon enough to notice that the woman had fled back into the shop. When Zooie looked back at Logan, he was back on his knees. He may as well have been crying, it was clear that he was feeling like garbage. She walked up to him and carefully kicked away some of the glass before squatting down to his side.

"Hey, dude. You need a hand?" She asked, offering hers again. "Or maybe some therapy? I can give you both, and maybe a drink or two." 

NOTES ;; ~[Zooie then goes around and hands everyone a business card "GET MUSIC THERAPY FROM ME IN THE UK I'LL GIVE YOU YOUR FIRST SESSION FREE" ok not really but still]~
MOOD;; ~[Concerned]~
OUTFIT ;; ~[Click!]~
TAG ;; ~[Rafael Ramón de Leon, Everett Vernon, Tamiel, Aleena Leatherby]~
LISTENING TO ;; ~[Broken, Seether (don't judge me it was on a writing list I made several years ago)]~
WORDS ;; ~[425]~