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1. His plans for London mostly went like this: try to avoid dying, and don't make any unnecessary enemies. Simple, straightforward, and unfortunately, harder than one might hope considering Millicent's recent edicts. Let's kill humans, let's kill werewolves, let's piss off half the known factions. The vampires back home didn't exactly value lives, and certainly most of them wouldn't care about humans or werewolves, but at least they valued subtlety.

His concern, of course, was that when those other factions got angry they wouldn't target the one who had made the edict, but rather, the ones that were far more accessible and easier to kill. Namely the newer vampires, like himself. Not that he was going to hole away and hide. Instead, he was going to head out and go drinking. After all, if all of this led to an all out war, Thomas might as well enjoy things before they got worse. Besides, maybe hitting the bars he'd learn something useful. Or meet a delectable new friend. Having relocated, he did need to rebuild a network of people he could rely on for a bite, after all.

That was his excuse, at least, for going to the bar, throwing back cheap alcohol (why pay more when nothing tasted right, after all), and flirting with anyone who caught his eye.

2. After dining on a nice young lady that night, Thomas noticed she seemed a bit woozy, like maybe he'd had too much to drink. Or maybe she had, since he did notice her drinking a glass of wine before she'd gone with him. Either way, he was not letting her walk home on her own. That was why he currently was walking around the dark streets of London, a woman leaning heavily against him, quietly directing him to her apartment.

An apartment where, apparently, the entrance that she needed was around the side of the building, toward the back. Well, in that case he was particularly glad he didn't let her walk back on her own, he thought as she directed them into the dark, secluded area. This certainly didn't seem like the best area for a woman who couldn't even walk straight. He focused on their surroundings more, taking advantage of the fact that he could see just fine in this lack of light to keep an eye out for potential dangers.

3. The downside to needing to operate at night, of course, was the fact that most businesses were only open during the day. This meant that Thomas had to wake up as soon as the sun set sometimes, and rush out to get any errands done that he needed to get done, unless he wanted to use the last few minutes of darkness in the morning. That, however, left the risk of the sun rising while he was out, which was far too dangerous.

Which, of course, left him with a very impatient cashier at the local beauty supply store as he decided just what product would be the best to take care of his gorgeous, perfect locks.

"Come on, we close in five minutes," he heard her snap, and so he grabbed both bottles he was looking at.

Slowly sauntering out of the aisle, one bottle in each hand, Thomas made eye contact with the woman, a slow, apologetic smile creeping across his features. "I'm sorry," he said, "You didn't have my usual brand, and I wasn't sure what to go with. Although I suppose with hair as lovely as yours, I should have just come to you for advice in the first place."

Because flattery and flirtation were the way to get out of every problem...including getting a few more minutes to make shopping decisions.

4. Choose Your Own Adventure

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"I'll head outside. We've bothered her far too much already."

Thomas was sure this was all very distressing for her, and he'd hate to make it worse. Besides, he was certain this would be amusing once he got outside. Even if he wasn't a vampire, looking at the boy, Thomas was pretty sure he could take him.

Heading outside, Thomas set his bag on the ground outside, wanting his hands free, even though he doubted he'd need any help to win this. As he walked away from the building, he felt his fangs extending. Glancing back, he looked to see what the boy was going to try.

That was the beauty of being turned when he was so young. Unless someone knew exactly who and what he was, Cooper was consistently underestimated as just being a dumb, mouthy teenager. Once they were in the parking lot, Cooper pointed over to where his motorcycle was parked beneath a streetlamp. "That, over there? That's what I'm gonna be runnin' you over with." Looked like he wasn't joking about running Thomas over after all.

"Last chance, pretty boy. Walk away from this with your dignity still intact." Otherwise, Cooper was going to punch him as hard as he could with all vampire-backed strength he possessed.

"You do realize...I'm a heck of a lot bigger and stronger than you. And that we're getting in a fight over..." Well, what were they even fighting over, really? Bubble bath vs. conditioner? The lines in beauty supply stores? "Essentially nothing."

Not saying he wouldn't fight, but Thomas definitely wasn't planning on landing the first blow. Or walking away. Walking away just meant this kid would think he'd scared Thomas off with sheer intimidation, and that would just be pathetic. Even if he did go through with this for whatever dumb reason, Thomas figured he'd just do enough that the kid knew not to pick random fights with strangers.

"Is that a crack about my height?" Alright, that made the old vampire more steamed than anything else. If Thomas had been hoping to avoid confrontation, he'd just picked the wrong thing to mention. Yes, he was shorter than most men these days. Blame being turned during a time period when the average man was only five foot six. He also looked a bit scrawny, since he'd never quite grown into himself before he'd died. "'Cause I will let you know I am a helluva lot stronger than I look."

With that, the vampire aims a punch right at Thomas' throat. No one ever said that he was above fighting dirty. He's fast and strong. It is very apparent that Cooper is far stronger than any seventeen year old has the right to be.

When the boy assumed he'd been commenting on his height, Thomas opened his mouth to respond. He didn't get a chance to say anything, though, because Cooper quickly followed it up with a comment about being stronger than he looked, then punched, proving that it was very much true.

Thomas staggered back, grasping his windpipe and struggling to breathe for a moment, his hair falling over his face. If he'd been human, he'd probably be on the ground right then, possibly with a crushed windpipe or a pulverized throat. In that moment, one thing became imminently clear. This guy was definitely not human, and that changed everything. Thomas hadn't been making a crack about the other guy's height. He'd been trying to warn him off, hoping to make the guy realize he was getting into something he couldn't handle. Not really wanting to beat on a guy who couldn't defend himself.

Standing there, choking and gasping, it suddenly became painfully clear to Thomas that Cooper was not the one he needed to be concerned about. Which meant that he wasn't holding back.

His head snapping up, Thomas revealed his face, fully vamped out with extended fangs and reddened eyes. With a hiss, Thomas lunged at Cooper, trying to tackle him to the ground.

Cooper watched with an impassive face as the other man went staggering back. That blow should have put a normal human down. It gave him pause, allowing time for Thomas to recover. He just had a single moment to register that he'd gotten himself into a fight with another vampire before he was tackled to the ground.

In terms of sheer bulk, Thomas was heavier and could easily weigh him down. A couple of thoughts ran through Cooper's head in a few seconds as he hit the ground. One, he had to get out from under Thomas. Two, he didn't know how old the other was, but Cooper had to assume he had brains on his side if not brawn. Three, he had to strike back and fast if he wanted to end up on top in this conflict.

He extended his own fangs. "You picked the wrong vampire to mess with, bucko." Turning his head, he bit down on Thomas' hand. The younger vampire tasted like cologne and other products. Ick. What a terrible flavor.

"Ow! Fuck, ow!" Thomas cried out as he felt the teeth sink in. He started to pull, before realizing that would just tear the flesh, and his eyes widened in horror as he figured out what could happen.

He had no idea how old this guy was. If he was enough older than Thomas, (and at Thomas's age, many vampires were) then drinking his blood like this might give him a control over Thomas that he really didn't want to give to a guy that wanted to run his head over with a motorcycle. Getting his ass kicked was one thing. He could take that. Possibly letting this guy hijack his body, though? He wasn't going to let that happen without a fight.

Using his free hand, Thomas swung his fist at the other vampire's head as hard as he could, hoping the blow might loosen the bite.

Cooper felt the blow hit him on the temple. The movement was enough to jar his jaw, removing the needle-sharp teeth from where they had punctured Thomas' hand. There was a taste of blood in his mouth from where his flesh had torn.

Cooper didn't know the age of the vampire or even if he was younger than him. He also hadn't gotten too much of his blood. That was a chance he was willing to take. Bracing one hand against Thomas' arm, he issued a command. "Stop fighting me." If it worked, all the better. If not, he was going to have to find another way to get this great lump off of him.

It might not have worked on a lot of vampires, but Thomas was very young and didn't have much experience under his belt. He hadn't even realized his mistake, though he was quite aware of the fact that his hand was bleeding, until he heard the command, and a compulsion came over him to stop attacking the other vampire. As he slid off the other vampire, climbing to his feet, Thomas began to panic. He wanted to put some distance between himself and the other vampire, but it didn't seem like it would do much good when the other vampire could just command him to stop and take a beating.

So instead, after taking a couple steps back so he wouldn't be in immediate swinging range, asked, "I don't suppose there's any chance you'll just chalk this up to me being young and dumb and let me walk away, is there?"

And from there, there wasn't much to do other than brace himself for whatever was coming next.

Edited 2016-05-27 23:31 (UTC)

Cooper got back to his feet, massaging the edge of his temple where he had been clipped. He was going to be bruised tomorrow, that was certain. "At least you have the sense t'admit it," Cooper said irritably. He hadn't retracted his fangs. Frankly, he was mad and intended to stay mad a good while longer. "I've a good mind to tell you t'go stand in traffic till you get hit by a bus." He would do so in good conscience knowing that Thomas would survive. That wouldn't prevent it from also hurting like hell.

Still, he must be a young one, less than fifty years old if Cooper was able to control him. He wasn't about to order him off to his doom without first giving him a lecture. "You must be new, so as a general tip, I'd recommend not attackin' the locals unless you know who they are. Islington doesn't take kindly to having their members attacked." Yes, he was blaming this entirely on Thomas despite the fact he was the one who had been picking a fight.

Thomas's own fangs had retracted. There was literally no point in being ready to fight if he could not make himself do so. If anything, the only thing that might pay off is trying to make it clear that he considered the fight over. Naturally, he picked up on the fact that he was being blamed entirely, but he wasn't going to point that out. As much as he didn't want to be hit by a bus, there were certainly worse things to make a vampire do. Thomas didn't want to convince him to consider those things.

Even if Cooper landed the first blow, and was the one to get Thomas riles up in the first place.

"Actually, I'm a member, too. Just a very new one." So it was understandable that most of the vampires in the nest wouldn't recognize him. "But I'll keep that in mind. I didn't even realize you were a vampire until it was too late to turn back."

He hadn't known for certain until the other vampire had extended his fangs and said he was a vampire. Super strength didn't always equal vampire, after all. Not that he necessarily would have stopped even if he'd had the chance. He'd been far too riled up at that point to want to do anything other than fight.

Edited 2016-05-28 15:12 (UTC)

"You're a member?" Well, that certainly surprised Cooper. He made a sound of disapproval, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Tch. Standards must really be slipping." He didn't think much of Thomas to begin with, but this really sealed the deal.

"I am serious about watching yourself around here. You never know whose a fae, a hunter, a fae hunter." It would have sounded more absurd had Cooper not tangled with one not six months prior. It had led to only bad things like going on an out of control fae blood bender.

He tilted his head, watching Thomas with a studied air. He wasn't just going to let the young vampire go. A suitable punishment would have to be thought of. He was just as likely to let his anger as his mischievous side decide this.

Well it wasn't like he had any rank of any sort, but he was indeed a part of the nest. He let out a soft, irritable snort when the other vampire said their standards must be slipping, but he couldn't say he was surprised at the comment. They hadn't exactly gotten off to the best start, and it wasn't like most of the vampires had thought that highly of him at the last nest he was with, either.

"I'll be more careful."

He meant it, too. He usually didn't get this sloppy, and while this time was entirely because this guy had pissed him off, the fact was, a hunter could realistically do the same thing. Get him angry, get him sloppy, get him to confirm for them that he was a vampire.

He waited while the other vampire studied him, wondering what he was going to decide to do, since he clearly wasn't done. Still, the advice made him feel a little less nervous. It could be worse, he told himself. At least this guy didn't want him to go off and get himself killed. By a fae hunter. Which Thomas was absolutely sure could be a thing, because sure, why not? It wasn't like he knew what sorts of vocations fae could take up, he generally didn't hang around them.

For all his dismissive talk and anger, there was a genuine sentiment behind Cooper's words. He remembered very distinctly what it was like to be a young vampire and all the perils that had come with the territory. How he'd survived getting staked in his early years was more due to luck than anything else he'd done back in the nineteenth century. If Thomas was Islington, that made it one of Cooper's duties to make sure he didn't get staked at the earliest opportunity.

"Now, what to do with you?" Cooper narrowed his eyes, which then lit up with a glint that promised nothing that Thomas would like. He grinned, his fangs on prominent display. "I've got it! I command you to go home...and shave your head bald." Just about the only thing that Cooper had been able to pick up about this vampire (besides the fact he was as dumb as those bunnies that ran across the road right in front of cars) was that he was probably a vain little fucker. Men didn't usually care that much about shampoo and conditioner unless they were. He figured that was a just punishment for tangling with him.

Thomas's eyes went wide with far more shock and offense than when Cooper suggested that he should have him stand in traffic. Even more, in fact, than if he'd gone through with that plan.

"You bastard!"

Clearly, Cooper knew how to hit someone where it would hurt. Not that he could do anything about it. Thomas already felt his legs moving, so he snatched up his bag. Sure, he wasn't going to have a chance to make use of his conditioner now, but his hair would grow back one day. And when it did...he'd be ready.

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