What Lurks Beneath the Sky

"I would have proffered 5 years but I'll take months." Victor said. He sighed again and reluctantly continued down the stairs towards the bar. Coming down closer the the floor he saw Pete standing behind the counter with a disappointing look in his eyes, "What's the matter?" he said attempting to be cheeky but being foiled by more of his unearthly spluttering cough, "Not happy to see me so soon?" Victor turned away from the bald man and scanned the room, his gaze resting on Asura. He strode over towards him and the unfamiliar girl he was with, still coughing but this time covering his mouth to stop spraying everyone with his red mist.

As he approached he noticed the wet patch on the table in front of the girl. She was obviously not drunk enough to have spilled her drink and the far off look in her eyes told him almost the whole story. "Oh," some form of compassion came into his voice, "My dear, are you okay?"
 
Thankful for the interruption of the obviously ancient Vampyre, so she didn't have to answer Asura's question so soon, and in front of everyone, she stood up to see if she was at all feeling the effects of her drinks. Nope, the shots and beer hadn't even begun to affect her. Veela's high tolerance for alcohol never goes unnoticed, so it's bound for someone to eventually ask her of her drinking secret, though it's no secret.

"So the name's Victor, eh? I swear I've heard that name somewhere. Aren't you famous for something?" Veela looked at Victor, eyes wide with anticipation, then abruptly went back to Asura, whom she'd been secretly eyeing since the rooftop. "Asura, care to introduce me, or are you too drunk? Don't let a woman outdrink you! I may be a fire mage, that also has the ability to lightly control air, but I can still drink you under the table." Veela laughed a cute little laugh, which is one she hadn't heard in quite a few years. It had actually startled her.

Veela sat back down, and downed yet another drink, awaiting the reply of Asura patiently.
 
"Veela, this is Victor. He is an... hehe... OLD friend of mine and Pete's. About 2046 years OLD to be exact. We met him when he wasn't as decrepit as he is today which was about oohhh... fourteen years ago. He likes a good old sleep in." said Asura as though he was giving a dating profile. "As for drinking, I haven't even started yet!" lied Asura. The alcohol had in fact taken a slight foothold. "Well, of course being a fire mage, you just burn off all of the alcohol in your stomach!" He took another shot of the Curioc followed quickly by another and discharged the excess electricity. Scratch the slight foothold. He knew he got especially hammered while drinking Curioc. He forgot right up until now. He shook his head quickly, in a vain attempt to blur the effects of the alcoholic beverage but to no avail. He knew he was going to make a fool of himself sooner or later. He downed another shot. Big mistake. He turned to Veela. "Y-...You're pretty..." he said right before falling off of his stool, smashing his face into the floor. "Wow... You're shoes are pretty too..." he mumbled before he managed to stumble to back up onto his stool.
 
"You know, you need to learn to drink. I may be able to create something to kill off the alcohol so you can, you know, function properly?" Veela looked at Asura, who had recently ate dust off the floor, figuratively speaking. "Though, I thank you for those kind compliments, no matter how drunk you are. Though, I could take advantage of this, if I wanted to."

Veela picked Asura up off the floor, and propped him up on the stool, holding him so he didn't fall again. "I think you should lay off for a bit, and drink this." She conjured up some sort of liquid using her powers over fire, which she was sure would kill the alcohol effects rather quickly. "We'll need you if we go anywhere anytime tomorrow and we don't need you hung over." Veela rested her head on Asura's shoulder for a second. "You're powerful, and I'm getting tired of using so much magic to protect only myself."
 
He heard her say something about taking advantage of him and responded with a slurred "Yesh plees..." with a slight chuckle. He downed the firey liquid that he couldn't really taste by now since his tastebuds had gone numb. He then realised that Veela had rested her head on his shoulder. He tried to contain a shiver of exitement. It had been years since he had some kind of even slightly intimate contact with a member of the opposite sex. He edged his hand up from his side and slowly around her waist. "I need just need a bit of extra stability..." he lied, blushing. "So, what's your go, chief?" he said casualy to the large man who was sitting at a table near the bar, nursing a beer.
 
"All you had to do was ask, and I'd have let you. Though, you can keep your hand there, I don't mind." Veela was blushing at this point, and looking down, and then at him, as casually as possible.

"Yeah, what's your story, dude?" Veela was also waiting for an answer from the large man who had came in a while earlier.
 
She fell absolutely silent. Her only task now was to get drunk, very drunk. Beer after beer after beer were drained.

Andy had been laughing non-stop at first, while still buzzing. By now, however, completely drunk, she was quiet and somewhat moody. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she continued drinking. What was going through her mind at that moment, exactly? Not even Andrea knew, she was drunk and senseless. She glanced at the old vampire, much older than herself, and nodded in greeting, continuing to drink immediately.

Of course, now, her uncomfortable feeling of being in a closed space was gone. She felt more relaxed now, and it showed in her posture. Her stiff shoulders had fallen into a laid-back position and her legs, which had been tapping the floor nervously, were calm and strewnnout under her table.
 
Grant turned towards the mage asking the question. He'd overheard him called Asura. "My names Grant if you really care. Most Don't." Grant shuffled uncomfortably on his stool which wasn't easy with his size. "I'm old, not as old as the blood sucker there but old enough to to be able to teach all of you a thing or two. Which is feat when you're a void summoner" A dark look passed over his face. "Look I'm not here to chat, I'm sick of these mage hunters hunting us like rats in the alley ways. We're better than them!" The air began to shiver around Grant, scars on his arms and face began to split slighty. "I want to take the fight to them and you look like the only people capable of helping me pull it off in this rotten city" Grant relaxed his fists, his anger subsided and the scars slowly stopped oozing. "Just think about it. I won't let them do what they did to me to anyone else... Never again." Grant lifted the beer to his lips and downed it in one swift motion. "Another!" He called to Pete the bartender. "And make it stronger this time." Grant turned back to the table with a new drink in hand, a gentle smile playing on his face. This was the place he thought, this was the place...
 
"Hot headed void summoner...." Veela had muttered those words under her breath. Though she felt a shift in the link, it didn't bother her, as she's encountered other summoners before. "You may be able to shift the void, Grant, but being so hot headed will get you killed one day." Veela's glance shifted from Asura to Grant in one swift motion. "I'm a fire mage, and my fire isn't even as hot as your head." The bad insult was obvious that the liquor was beginning to kick in.

"You want to get us to join your cause. That's obvious. You had basically spoke a recruitment message while slamming back liquor." Veela stared at her free hand for a moment before glancing at Asura. "Both Asura and I, being our own entity, meaning him being here, and me on my own elsewhere, had been fine up until now. Yes, I had gotten into a little trouble today, but nothing a few minor explosions didn't fix."

Veela rested her head back on Asura's shoulder. "This isn't the place to recruit bodies for your cause man. Sorry."
 
"I agree" Victor said, straightening up after trying to comfort one of the girls there, "This is not a place for people who want war." He stepped away and turned back towards Pete. "I've had enough of war and I'm tired of it." Balancing on his cane and sharing a look with Pete which sent shivers down his ancient spine, even after all he'd seen, and strode back towards the stairs leading to his room. "I understand what you're doing but like Veela said, this is no place to recruit people for you CAUSE."
Victor then began to move silently back up the steps towards his solitude.
 
Asura wobbled dreamily whilst trying to blow a lock of Veela's hair out of his face. "I... Uh... *hic*... um... agree with Veela. I've gotten on just fine so far with just me, Pete and Vic and I dare say that things have gotten a tad better for me since Vee decided to make an apearance." He smiled. "I've been down the gurellia warfare path before, man. And it's easier to run than watch the people you care about drop dead around you like flys..." he said before turning back to face the bar.
 
Grant groaned. "Wait old man. I might have crushed this whelp of a mage for her ignorance but maybe you're right. I lost my wife... my family, to those damned mage hunters. I want revenge but maybe now isn't the time" He looked down at the bottle. "War is coming one way or another." He turned to Veela. "You're going to have to pick a side then. In the mean time, another drink. Hell, drinks all around, what have I got to lose anyway!"
 
"What do you mean, 'sides'? You are either a mage or a hunter, and right now, I would rather drink myself to the point where I pass out in a nice comfortable bed next to this lovely young woman beside me. I'm too drunk for politics and bad momories haha!" he chuckled as he placed his head leaning aganst Veela's.
 
"I've picked my side, and the man I'm going to follow, well, is right beside me." Veela looked at Asura, who has been looking at the bar. "I feel safe with him, Victor, and Pete. Andy is pretty cool, but quiet. I'd like to get to know her more as well." Veela looked back at Grant. "War is coming, but we will not be involved. There are many ways to stay hidden, and in that aspect, I am a master." Veela, at this point had gotten up.

"Grant, I know you've been hurt, and I know you think that winning an unwinnable war is a good way to break your sadness, and reconcile a lost fate, but I think I speak for us all in here, when we say we are going to have no part of it." Veela lifted her arms, so-as to make a T with her body, palms up. "In this room, all around you, you see some powerful people. We may not be the best around for mages and Vampyres, but we are masters of what we have. We don't need flashy spells, or ways to subdue another persons magicks. We use the small defences and, if needed, attacks we have to protect ourselves, though it rarely comes to that."

Veela, now looking back at Asura, had gotten rather flustered even speaking about war. She wanted no part of it, so she motioned to Pete to get her a room immediately. "Pete, if you would, grab me a case of your strongest beer and a bottle of your strongest liquor. I would like to go to the room." Looking back at Asura, smiling a cute little smile, she bent down and whispered in his ear. "Would you like to join me? I really don't want to be alone. Don't worry, this isn't what it seems to be. I'd just like some alone time with you, as I've grown fond of you. You know how to get to me." And with that, she got up, and walked to the now open door to the room that had been set up for her. "I'm not ignorant, nor am I a whelp. If I didn't like this place, it'd be blown up by now."
 
"'I have seen war, and I hate war'," Andy quoted, finally speaking. Her voice slurred, but she was still lucid. She stood up abruptly, her nerves rising again. "I have to go, I'm tired and my head hurts," she said, and she briskly began walking out of the bar. Her cheeks were a crimson colour and she stumbled.

"Nice meeting you all, but I think it's high-time I got out of this establishment," Andrea told them, bowing slightly. "We'll meet again, tomorrow probably."

She exited the building and looked up at the sky. It was night, from what she could tell, which was perfect.
 
Pete smiled gently to Veela and Asura and made a circular motion with his forfinger pointing upwards. Once more, the sound of grinding stone made itself known and Asura took Veela's hand as they went upstairs. Once there, spread otu before him was a room with low angle red and blue lights that shimmered and a roundish bed with rose petals leading up to it. "Woah..." said Asura in amazement. He then stamped heavily on the floor three times and shouted "Pete, you cheeky old fucker!!"
 
"'I have seen war, and I hate war'," Andy quoted, finally speaking. Her voice slurred, but she was still lucid. She stood up abruptly, her nerves rising again. "I have to go, I'm tired and my head hurts," she said, and she briskly began walking out of the bar. Her cheeks were a crimson colour and she stumbled.

"Nice meeting you all, but I think it's high-time I got out of this establishment," Andrea told them, bowing slightly. "We'll meet again, tomorrow probably."

She exited the building and looked up at the sky. It was night, from what she could tell, which was perfect.
 
"Sorry I'm late!" Maggie apologized with a quick smile that she inwardly hoped was as endearing as she was striving for. Getting only a mild glare in response, she quickly hung up her deep brown cloak and grinned. "Oh, you know the wait is worth it," she said, quickly sidestepping the snap of a towel as she set to work. She usually wasn't this late to work, but most of the customers were regulars tonight so she easily fell into the groove of things. Scooping up a tray on her way by the bar, she collected glasses from the empty tables and took orders from those whose glasses were running low, never once writing anything down. Soon laughing at the joke of a patron, she slid back behind the bar and began mixing drinks with deft fingers.

[Apologies if I'm intruding, I was interested :x]
 
Hearing someone downstairs, Veela wished she hadn't gotten so flustered. She loves to meet new people, but the only one she wanted to concentrate on at the moment, is Asura.

"You know, I'm glad you decided to come. Though, you are right. Pete is rather cheeky, but I like his style!" Veela looked around the room, smiling a great big smile. "When I seen you, I sensed something in the air. Something I haven't felt before. It wasn't your electricity, but it was your personality. I feel safe around you, Asura. I'll be honest here." Veela looked down at the floor, sliding her feet around on it. "I don't want to leave. I don't mean leave the sanctuary, though this one is nice. I mean I don't want to leave your side." Veela, at this point, was staring at Asura, bright eyed, and blushing.
 
Grant sat quietly at his table. Apparently he was wrong, these were just a bunch of children hiding from the world around them but what could he do. Everywhere he looked all he saw were men and women hiding from the law, no better than common criminals and they were happy to live this life!? Maybe using magic that blurred the line between pleasure and pain had blunted his senses. Grant traced the a scar that ran up his arm as he scanned the room. What was busy only moments before seemed almost desserted. Behind the bar stood Pete with his barmaid, still at the bar was the water mage raven. "I guess you must enjoy this weather?" Grant walked over to Raven, "I haven't been out to the fringes in years. Does George still run that old store? Best pies in Hiorn he'd say. Good times they were. Lucy loved spending time out there with the kids at her families place..." Grant managed a smile "Two drinks barmaid, one for me, one for this lovely young lass."