Remember When? ((Eska Morreau))

[Lincoln King]

Lancaster's wasn't the usual haunt of one Lincoln King, in fact he probably wouldn't be in here if he wasn't avoiding the repercussions of an altercation. The man rushed inside the building, ensuring the door shut behind him and that he stayed clear of windows. Lincoln gave himself a moment to regain his breath, smoothing hands back through his dark blonde hair to settle it and ensure it was in place. He'd managed to piss off a rather volatile creature that tried to sink teeth in when he'd used sorcerer abilities to harden his skin and he'd had a damn of a time trying it on for size. The distraction had given Linc time to throw a few punches and make a break for it.

Having settled himself into some semblance of calm and collected, rather wishing you could smoke inside places these days, the young gentleman slipped further into the bar. It was a nice, clean place, looked like it served more wholesome types than most of the places in this city. A safe space, somewhere people could hide it and gather back a bit of mental stability away from the big, bad world. He hated to admit that he sort of liked it. There was a decent crowd, not overtly popular at this time of night but it was still early, he figured it would only grow in numbers of the next few hours.

The bar beckoned, Lincoln throwing himself into a seat and fishing his wallet out of his jacket pocket. "Scotch, neat." The bartender had barely opened their mouth to ask what he'd wanted before he'd barked his order, interrupting the question and causing the cheery smile to falter. His own lips quirked into a smile, something faintly apologetic in it as he handed over some bills, ensuring a large tip was included. "Appreciate it." Waiting for his drink he glanced around the bar, spotting a face that seemed familiar, but she looked different.

Older, sure, they all looked older but something else too. He wasn't convinced it was the same girl he remembered from school, she'd been a few years younger than him anyway and they hadn't exactly but been best friends. More like reluctant acquaintances, Lincoln had defended her once against some pent up bastards and they'd gotten to talking. She was alright, he'd decided and they'd been nice enough to each other since. Lincoln, of course, had moved away to study and he heard she'd left town too. He didn't hazard an approach, not yet, but when his scotch arrived he eyed her over the glass, enjoying a small sip.

[Eska Morreau (DELETED 8550)]

Eska didn't normally go out in public.
She wasn't shy or afraid, just naturally suspicious of everyone around her. She had found Lancaster's purely out of luck and it seemed like a safe enough place to explore. She sat with her back to the bar, her hand toying playfully with the dagger that rested hidden under her coat. Eska knew no one here and after ordering, she sat in silence, observing the patrons as they chatted about nothing and everything in particular.
I wonder which ones are vampires, she thought. And how many of them are human? It was hard to tell so she contented herself simply with looking around.
There was a man sitting a few metres away, nursing a glass of scotch in one hand. Eska normally would pay no mind to the stranger but he had been studying her guardedly over the rim of his glass. He was wearing a well tailored suit and his hair was immaculate. In short, he looked well groomed, someone who was used to looking this way even after fights and clearly enjoying the attention he received from it.
That was when she noticed the small cut over his knuckles. It was a mild thing but now he had noticed her staring back and he looked up.
Of course! Eska slapped herself mentally. Ever since she had come back from Alaska, she had seen no one here whom she knew. Half her family was dead and the few friends she had were gone, the thread of their lives separate from hers now. His name was...Lincoln, Linc when they were younger. He had grown into an imposing figure but the same self assured smirk was still on his lips. He didn't wave a hand in recognition or give any sign he had seen her. This irked Eska a little but she smiled and stood up, still checking to make sure her weapon was well concealed. No need to get kicked out of this establishment, especially if they had a weapons policy.

[Lincoln King]

His hand stung slightly from the earlier scuffle, stretching the skin across the knuckles as he wrapped his hand around the glass. The more he watched her the more he was convinced that she was indeed Eska, an old school acquaintance. Their eyes locked briefly, the woman moving to her feet and Lincoln following, rising to let his leather loafers take his weight. Her smile was one of recognition, the pragmatic approach would be to hazard a cautious smile in return, but Lincoln wasn't in the mood for having the affectation of a man who had paused to consider and plan out his pattern of speech or every passing look. What was the point? They knew each other, and he was content to make it known.

An irrepressible grin took hold of his features, giving him dimples that belied his true nature, giving him a look of boyish sweetness that would be perfectly on the devil himself. "Eska? Welcome back!" He exclaimed, finishing his scotch and slapping the glass to the bar top, feet carrying him to close the distance between himself and Eska. His arms opened wide, only to close around her midsection, tucking her into a warm but short hug. "Congratulations, you grew up, especially in the front region." He laughed, glancing down to where their chests met. He had no real interest in them, but it was a way to gauge reaction, to set her off kilter and gain the upper hand while she processed the comment.

Then again, perhaps she'd remember him well enough to shrug it off, to laugh along and realise he was just winding her up.

[Eska Morreau (DELETED 8550)]

"You didn't think I'd stay a shrimp forever, did you Linc? Besides, you've grown to- more or less," Eska replied. She was a bit taken aback by the hug, almost an abrupt invasion into her personal space but knowing Linc, an old classmate and one time friend, he was gauging for a reaction.
One she wouldn't give.
She shrugged it off and sat facing him, her mind working double time to remember everything she could about Lincoln King. He didn't seem to have changed a bit, he had just sort of filled out more, an imposing look that seemed to want compel the onlooker to look away or cast down their eyes.
She didn't ask him how he was or what he was doing in Harper Rock again. For her, those were conversation starters that seemed to forced, too normal for the kind of friendship they had shared. What Eska really wanted to know was whether her old friend had changed like she was afraid he might have. He certainly looked good enough, put together...timeless.
That was the word.
Maybe he is a vampire, she thought, then what?
She studied the bar a little more before her eyes came back to rest on his hands. Those knuckles. Everyday household scratch? Maybe. Or had his prey been struggling in his or her last minutes? Eska laughed out loud at this, eliciting a questioning but amused grin from Linc.
"Your hands," she began, cautiously but firmly, "what happened to your hands, Linc?"

[Lincoln King]

She wasn't wrong, Lincoln King had not only filled out and gained more definition to his muscle, but also stood at a cool 6'3", and a half if you asked him, these days. The near permanent smug expression, self-assurance and unwavering sense of style were all the same, perhaps a touch more wildness to his eyes. Those same green eyes, the ones that were almost grey in the right light, looked over with a hum of consideration sounding in his throat. "I guess it would be kinda weird if you didn't age or grow at all, right? Spooky." His brows hitched, a smirk curving his lips as he released the woman and turned back to reclaim his place at the bar.

He followed her gaze, scrubbing self consciously at the backs of his hands, softly rubbing his knuckles against his palms just skimming to check how tender they were. Not the worst he'd had. "Some crazy asshole tried to bite me, can you believe that? I mean seriously BITE me. Bath salts, Eska, i'm telling you the drugs in this time are being cut with something crazy. People are batshit, and that's coming from ME, the King of all Shitlords." And proud of it. Lincoln wasn't ashamed of his nature, he was a boss, who gave a damn? People still seemed to like him no matter how obnoxious he could be.

"What the hell brings you back here though? I mean, i've got the good old family business to learn, and more of Mother's money to waste, but you? I thought you'd run and never look back."

[Eska Morreau (DELETED 8550)]

"That's...complicated, Linc," Eska replied.
She was weighing her options here. How safe was it to tell Linc what she had become? Sure, they had shared enough secrets when they were younger: Eska knew almost everything there was to know about her friend's personality and he knew the gory details of her mother's murder to understand her reasons for fleeing Harper Rock the first chance she had gotten.
What she didn't dare tell him was that she was a paladin. There was something she didn't understand though, and it had to do with Lincoln's attack. He said someone had tried to bite him. That was definitely a vampire. She didn't want to broach the topic without sounding too obvious so she diverted his attention back to the question at hand.
"What am I doing here?" she asked herself aloud, turning to stare at her friend. "I'm here because of Trinity, my niece. This is her home and I came back so she could see how beautiful the city used to be."
That was partially the truth. Trinity had never known her mother, Eska's sister and this was a good way to honor her memory. The part she left out though was that she was looking for her sister's killer. She had avenged her mother but her sister's memory still bothered her, a stain she couldn't remove like blood on clothing.
"You've changed too, Linc," Eska said. "How did someone like you fend off a vampire?" The question was meant to shock him, catch him off his guard and she waited for a reply.

[Lincoln King]

Her speaking of complications had him scoffing, but he didn't raise his voice to argue, instead lifting one of those slightly damaged hands to signal the bartender to bring them another round of drinks. He looked remarkably disinterested to the naked eye, a man who existed purely to look bored in the face of the common peons that surrounded him day in and day out. Anyone who knew him for long enough knew better, Lincoln was listening. It was the slight cant of his head, the occasional impatient flick of eyes in her direction that spoke of his curiousity at her words.

The niece, here for the niece. Seemed innocent enough, but he wasn't convinced that was all, not with how long she'd taken to share her information. Lincoln wasn't about to press it, instead reaching for his scotch and sipping it to give him something to do while he waited for more questions.

He'd changed? No ****, he'd changed. He was about to comment on that fact, make some other brash joke when she spoke of vampires. Ah. "I got rock hard, naturally..." He laughed into his glass, taking a neat sip. On an exhale he muttered. "Ah, ****." Hand reaching to adjust his dark blonde hair as if it weren't already perfect. "I'm not even kidding about that part, it was why he was so mad, my skin... Look, I can do some stuff, no big deal, it's a family thing. It started in High School, towards the end of it, I got trained and... I'm more useful than some attractive, rich son of a gun." He retained that smug smile though the slightest hint of frustration was tugging at the edges of his lips, a tightness that in Lincoln could quickly turn to anger. His temper was a match, just waiting to be struck.

[Eska Morreau (DELETED 8550)]

"You're a sorcerer."
Eska drew a neat whistle and swirled the ice in her glass, studying the beads of moisture as if she had seen something interesting in them. Her old friend really had changed after all. Of course he had.
The whole of Harper Rock had changed. She didn't know how, maybe the vampires had always been there but were good at concealing themselves, or maybe they blended in so seamlessly with the rest of humanity that it was hard to tell the difference; either way she knew they what they were and Lincoln sure as hell did too. She would never have penned him for a sorcerer but stranger things had happened and the fact that he was downplaying the incident showed his clear unwillingness to pursue that line of conversation.
Eska didn't push it.
Instead, she finished her drink in one gulp, waiting for the dutch courage to come so she could do this. She leaned in closer to Linc, an unobtrusive motion that might have looked as if she were about to tell him something. Instead, she pushed the edge of her coat slightly away from her body, revealing the hilt of a katana she had named Needle Lily, her weapon of choice and prized possession.
"You're a sorcerer, Linc old buddy. Now take a guess at what I am and I'll give you a quarter. Like old times."

[Lincoln King]

The low whistle made his eyes narrow slightly, the man not hesitating to follow her example and down his second drink, giving a sharp little sound as it burned in his throat. A good burn, the kind that reminded you were alive. Eska was look suspicious, and the way she leaned forwards most men would assume she was going for the kiss, but he knew better. His eyes followed hers, taking a brief look at the sword she carried. "That is not exactly subtle, kid..." He scoffed, he had a pistol strapped on under his jacket, less obvious perhaps but it wasn't nothing.

A sorcerer, she said, and Linc's mouth barely twitched in response. His gaze shifted to look around the room as if her saying this out loud hadn't bothered him, the hard set of his jaw no more pronounced and it could be disguised under a wince of pain or as a result of concentrating on look disinterested. His usual state.

"I'm going to assume it isn't just a coincidence that you know the damn terms, Eska."

Lincoln shrugged, practicing the perfected art of looking disinterested. "Not sure i'm up for guessing games, especially if your only clue is... That thing." He gestured vaguely to the sword, trying to keep his voice low enough to not arouse too much suspicion.

[Eska Morreau (DELETED 8550)]

Eska rolled her eyes.
Of course he knew what she was talking about but Linc had always been one for games. Well if a game was what he wanted...
She leaned in closer, an invasion of personal space if ever there was one and dropped her voice a notch. "You know exactly what I'm talking about Linc. Don't tell me you haven't been taught about us in whatever posh magic school you got to go to. But let's make this easier shall we?"
Eska knew this wasn't her, the alcohol was making her brave, dutch courage and she pushed her limit just a little more. Flipping the small dagger that was strapped to the inside of her boot, she pressed it against her friend's ribcage, under the table and smiled sweetly.
Just two people having a conversation here, nothing to see.
"Now Linc, it starts with a P and end as with an N. Any guesses?"