In fact I have been all over town

[outstandingbalance]

I. Hoar's Head (Closed to Evie)

Who is Natasha to argue with good atmosphere? Evie described the place as Marie Antoinette's attic, which is both amazingly accurate and misses its exact charm. It feels private, which Natasha respects, and there's something about it that's not as masculine as a lot of bars. She doubts she needs to worry about fights breaking out over a girl or the latest football match.

As she walks toward the bar, she scans the room for Evie. She couldn't be the first one here, could she? It's five past ten now, and Evie didn't strike her as the type to be late.


II. Guilty Pleasures (OTA)

It's been a while since Natasha said she'd stop in, and it might be too late now. She's heard that Kenzi's not around anymore and that was supposed to be her reason, right? Keep an eye on the girl. Give her a friend, someone who knew what she was going through. Someone who wasn't her sire to help her adjust. Natasha considered not even coming in...

But here she is now.

If nothing else she's hoping to see how Cherry's doing, that she was safe and comfortable since Natasha and Evie rescued her last month. Make sure that she's back to normalcy. That's why Natasha comes in on Lady's Night. Or it's a good excuse to come in on Lady's Night. Either way.

It's well into the evening when she shows up, taking a seat at a table near the corner with a good view of the room and orders herself a gin and tonic. She keeps an eye on things from there, not asking after Cherry directly or looking for Jean Claude. If either of them actually want to speak to her, she imagines that they'll know she's here before long. Maybe it was a passive approach, but she was fine with letting them decide whether or not they wanted to talk to her again.

In the time being, well, she has plenty of money.


III. Dark Corners (Closed to Arthur)

Natasha tries not to think about how long it's been since she fed, but it's not very successful. The thirst won't let her forget it. Even if it's not at the front of her thoughts, it's always there somewhere in the back of her mind.

It's been about the same length of time since she's had sex. Not unrelated. The two things had often gone together for her, and while she'd played with the idea a little, even gone on a date or two, but it never went anywhere. Natasha wasn't in the place for a relationship, and she hadn't wanted to lead anyone on. But there's no reason she shouldn't have some fun.

Tonight, she doesn't intend to give anyone the wrong idea. She walks into the bar knowing what she wants. It's a little bit more upscale than most of the dives she frequents, and the dress she wears could be shorter, could be tighter, but she's dressed to attract attention rather than deflect it. If she turns heads, it's intentional.

She smiles when she spots a familiar face. She remembers Arthur from Lancelot's birthday. Their chat had been fine—and he was certainly attractive enough. Internally, she shrugs. Why not? She could do a lot worse. She'd even considered making a play for it at the time, but Arthur had left with another woman and no hard feelings that he had.

But if she's going to get a second chance?

Natasha sits beside him at the bar, crossing her legs pointedly as she swivels an eight of a turn toward him. "The accountant, right? You might not remember me..."



IV. Fresh Air (Closed to Eames)

On the street, panting warm night air and trying to calm a raging thirst: not Natasha's finest moment. She's not even sure what she left behind her. She thinks Arthur was saying something as she disengaged and chased herself away from the situation, but she hadn't registered what he was saying over the pounding in her ears. Perfect.

She leans back against the brick wall behind her, steadying herself.

"Shit." She is a mess.

And now she has an audience.



V. After Hours (Closed to Daryl)

Looks like Natasha is going to have a chance to do some of the tourist things after all. Maybe she should have begged out, but Daryl and asked her if she wanted to go and she'd said yes. It's not like she really had anything better to do. It's not like she doesn't want to spend more time with him. Daryl has been good for her, refreshingly nonjudgmental for all his awkwardness.

She waits for him to meet her on the street near near the Redbright Institute. She's still not entirely sure this is a good idea, but as far as bad ideas go, she's had a lot worse.



VI. Grocery Delivery (Closed to Alex))

Alex has been relocated to a nondescript little apartment in a bad neighborhood, paid for in cash by Natasha with a little extra to keep quiet. The landlady is a Russian woman in her sixties, and after a hushed, serious conversation in their native language, Natasha was confident that money wasn't the only reason she wouldn't mention the suspicious circumstances of her new tenant's arrival.

It was a good move, for the short term at least, and Natasha was starting to think that she might just be able to keep the werewolf alive through the end of the month.

After a few days in the new place, Natasha checks in again. She brings two bags of groceries, since Alex still shouldn't be outside where she can be seen. Even during the day, there were too many ways word could get back to the nest if she were spotted. Or that word could get back to the Night Council. Either way, the end would be about the same outcome for both of them at this point.

"I brought you a couple of steaks," Natasha says as she brings the bags in. "I wasn't sure what else you'd like, so I went ahead and guessed." Her tone is light, inviting Alex to let her know if there was anything in particular that she'd like in the future. "There's a book of sudoku, too."

Once the food is on the counter, she turns and takes in the flat quickly. No sign of trouble, at least.

"Anything else you need before I get out of your hair?"



VII. Choose Your Own Adventure

(Don't see anything here that strikes your fancy? Then let's do something else. Hit me up on plurk at sarosaron!)

Comments

[longterm]

Cesare laughs and shakes his head. Natasha has some guts, he'll give her that. But he isn't there to score and won't pretend that he is.

"If I had plans like that, she wouldn't still be on stage by now," he says casually. It's a statement of a fact rather than any form of posturing or boasting. Cesare does not play the long game, not in regards to women anyway. He's far too fierce and ruled by his emotions for that.

Tonight he's merely admiring. After all, isn't that what you're supposed to do in strip clubs?

[outstandingbalance]

"What, you just see what you want and take it? Right then and there?" She raises her eyebrow, but otherwise, she's willing to let the topic go. She's hardly invested in proving that they're similar, or that she's somehow an equal. As long as it's clear she has no intention of being submissive without actually challenging him, then she's more or less in the right place.

"You might want to update your approach."

[longterm]

She speaks as if he would simply take the women on the stage, as if they were both animals in the wild. It bothers him slightly and he pulls a wry smile. Not quite, Natasha. Not quite. He's too respectful, albeit swift in his actions. He adores women. He's just quick to adore them too.

He doesn't deny her claim outright though. He doesn't feel the need to defend himself to her. Nor does he explain that it works fine for him. He thinks that's pretty clear.

"I don't waste time. If you don't then neither will she. You'll learn." It's not as if Cesare has had five hundred years to figure out a method or anything.

"Sex is sex. It hasn't changed."

[outstandingbalance]

"You say that as though you don't have all the time you could want." She settles back a little in her chair. For a moment, she keeps him in the corner of her eye even as she watches the stage, but her gaze slips sideways as her thoughts drift back to a few memories.

"Maybe it hasn't, but there's plenty of ways to do it. You're not going to tell me that as old as you are, you haven't tried anything new."

She plays it off as a joke, but she's thinking of specific things. Older vampires who'd gotten bored over the centuries, or jaded. She might be young, but for most of her time as an immortal, and even her last few years as a human, she'd slept mostly with other vampires.

She's not sure she believes it's that simple.

[longterm]

Cesare smirks and shakes his head. She couldn't be more wrong and it amuses him that his words could be interpreted that way. He knows it's his own fault for making his answer so ambiguous and it surprises him. He isn't normally the type to be unclear.

"I'm saying that as old as I am, nothing is new." He's had a long time to experiment and try out new things. Eventually all the ideas, no matter how crazy, begin to repeat. Cesare has tried taking things slow, dabbled with the idea of a slow burn, but that doesn't mean he has to like it or stick with it. By this point he knows what he enjoys and what is worth his time.

[outstandingbalance]

"Far be it from me to tell you what's new to you," Natasha says, smoothing out.

She casts him a sideways glance, her lips twitching. "You know I'm mostly trying to get a rise out of you."

[longterm]

Cesare doesn't miss a beat. He's far from easily flustered and even if she's trying to toy with him, he doesn't care. He barely reacts to her words and is calm. There's no defensive shrug of the shoulders or amused curl of the lips. Instead he simply asks her a question in response.

"Do you think you succeeded? Was it enough or do you want to try again?"

[outstandingbalance]

"That's the question, isn't it?" she answers evenly, her gaze level as she meets his. A little smile tugs her lips. It's an expression that implies more than it actually reveals.

"I guess I'm satisfied for now."

[longterm]

Cesare's gaze dips down over her face for a second in a moment of perusal. He's curious about her. She's challenging and she isn't afraid of it, particularly for someone so young. He's noticed that he's spoken to her a couple times now and he knows surprisingly little about her. He knows facts that he has strong armed out of her, yes, but emotionally she's...slippery. Cesare can deal with slippery.

"Good. Then we can move on to why you're really here." Go on, Natasha. Give him some clues as to who you really are and what you're really up to.

[outstandingbalance]

"You're the one who sat down with me," Natasha says, sidestepping almost instinctively. She knows he hasn't forgotten that, the same as she knows where they are when she lifts one eyebrow and adds, "Or were you confused why I'd be here specifically?"

A quick glance at the stage implies that should be obvious.

[longterm]

Cesare rolls his eyes.

"You expect me to believe you're a john?" Cesare knows what johns look and act like. He's been surrounded by them for hundreds of years, even acted as one on occasion. Natasha doesn't exactly fit the bill. She can look longingly at women all she likes: Cesare isn't going to believe she's he type to pay for them. That activity is saved for people who are jaded, cold and either have too little or are too confident to lose.

[outstandingbalance]

"I didn't say I was a john. That doesn't mean I'm not here to see the dancers." Which, in fact, she was. Not because they're attractive, though the view doesn't hurt her feelings. She's not in a hurry to explain her reasons to Cesare; she never is, and in his case in particular she doesn't have mean to explain her motivations if she can avoid it.

"Maybe I'm hoping to run into a friend."

[longterm]

Now that makes more sense. Cesare smirks, seemingly satisfied with her answer for now. It seems reasonable that Natasha, being the type to slum with animal blood, would make friends with some out of luck stripper, just like how Cesare is the type to be friends with the club's owner.

He leans in slightly, curious. "What's her name?" Cherry? Crystal? Brandi?

[outstandingbalance]

"You're making fun of me," Natasha says then, turning the conversation back on Cesare. She'd rather not reveal her connection with Cherry, for various reasons, but the fact was they weren't really friends. Kenzi or maybe Jean-Claude might have been called that, maybe, but even that would be a stretch.

Luckily, the situation gives her plenty of opportunity to be coy.

"Is it really funny I might have a friend or two here?"

[longterm]

Cesare doesn't shy away from her question, smiling and nodding instead.

"It's fucking hilarious. The young, lost vampire befriending the young, lost stripper. I couldn't have come up with a better story myself. I bet you two make a fascinating pair."

From his point of view, Natasha has to be friends with this dancer girl, if not something more. Why else would she be so secretive about it? Quite frankly, this is something Cesare would love to see. He's seen a lot of things in his time, but he just might have found something new.

[outstandingbalance]

"I'm glad you're so entertained." She says it wryly, her gaze dropping to the table. She doesn't have any particular inclination to correct whatever narrative he wants to project on her. If he finds her amusing, if he thinks he understands her, then he can. It might give her an advantage in the future. She doesn't encourage his interpretation, exactly either—there's something to be said for giving people just enough information to draw whatever conclusions suit them.