A Homecoming Gathering of New and Old Faces. (Open)

[Cliff Worthington]

The sun was well down as Cliff rumbled back in town on his new black harley street glide. He hadn’t been back home in years, but much had changed. Cliff decided first thing to do was take a drive around the town, let people who remember him see that he was back.

Cliff pulled over, his brows furrowed. A fadebeast? Shaking his head, Cliff slide off the bike, and loosened the leather vest he had on to give him more freedom to fight. It didn’t take him too long to dispatch the creature.
Reaching into one of the pockets in the vest, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up, placing the filtered end between his lips. His eyes darted around, looking for more things to battle, but came up with nothing in the current area.

Cliff slipped out of his vest on the way back to the bike, examining it for tears, and making sure all four patches remained. The top rocker declared which group he was currently with, and it read “Tattered Remnants”. The middle patch held the emblem of the group. For him, it was a tattered non descript flag with a skull in front if it. The bottom rocker only read “nomad”. The last patch was on the front. It was a black diamond with a 1% in the middle.

Seeing everything was in place, Cliff climbed back onto the bike, and continued making his way through the city, only stopping twice more to dispatch fadebeast.

Cliff found his way to the saloon,parking in the front and made his way in, phone in hand as he fired off messages to everyone he knew, telling them where he was at.

Cliff slid into an empty booth and finally signed onto the crownet to the family board, announcing his return there as well. With that being done, he lit another cigarette, placing the filtered end between his lips again.

He probably stood out in there now, in his biker vest, sleeveless black shirt, blue jeans, and boots. On his right hand, he had a single ring with the figure of a winged angel on it. His guardian angel.

[Verena (DELETED 10032)]

[WEARING]

The blue haired woman checked her phone briefly as she sat at her desk and her fingernails drummed upon the desktop for a moment in thought. A case file sat upon her desk and she pondered upon its contents for a moment. Her little sister’s killer had been a case left unsolved. The police couldn’t make heads or tails of it and the signature was just so uncommon but couldn’t be linked in Edinburgh and unless another case popped up just like it, then chances were the case would go unsolved. Even a profiler could only do so much before having to call it a night. However, if they were looking at a first kill and the killer had gotten a taste for blood, he could be one of those serial killers that drew out their kills over long periods of time. That was the worst kind of killer, for it made them all the more difficult to solve and find the killer responsible. However, now she had all the time in the world. A patient woman to find a patient killer.

Brown eyes looked at the screen in thought before she rose from her chair and flipped the case file closed. Finally she slipped the file back into a drawer at her desk and walked around it to pick up her coat from the coat stand as she made her way to the door. She needed a drink, a stiff one at that and she had heard of a saloon that she had yet to try out. Upon locking the door to her apartment behind her, she smile and nodded to someone as they stepped off the elevator and she dashed over to slide her lean form into the tiny box which would take her down to ground floor.

Verena left the Veiled Tower and walked the streets, knowing full well where she was going. While it was night, she wasn't afraid, rather the opposite. Comfortable one could say. Comfortable and less afraid of what could happen amidst the shadowy corners of the night. The woman was a vampire and less likely to be permanently dead, of which she was thankful towards her sire for that. Another thankful characteristic was the fact that her complexion wasn’t exactly pale per say, as she appeared to be normal, a human. For the most part, it was a blessing in disguise, she surmised as he heels clicked upon the pavement. For it made her human customers feel more at ease so then they would tell her all about their problems. It was getting the vampiric customers in through her door. They seemed less willing to talk about their issues, which, for the most part she couldn’t blame them.

She had run into some… Unexpected things herself, but she had a whole arsenal of tools to help her cope. Others were not so lucky, which was why her door was open to both vampire and human. Another factor being, that she also wanted to study the psyche of a group of vampires, seeing as there was no research currently present on vampires in the field of psychology and she wanted to be the first.

However, those thoughts were put to rest as she spied the harley sitting outside the saloon and she couldn’t help but reach out to slide her fingers down along its side. While it wasn’t her style of bike, she still admired the model. It couldn’t be helped, or it could, she just didn’t really want to ignore that. After a day listening to people, sometimes it was the simple things like admiring something that she would one day add to a collection of bikes, that could make her day ten times better. After that brief pause she pushed through the doors to the saloon where the crowd was slowly returning to their routine which seem to have been interrupted by someone, namely herself with her usual blue haired stopping way. However, there seemed to be someone on everyone’s lips, due to the fact that he stood out because of his biker vest and she wondered about this particular man. Who was he? She asked herself inwardly as her brown eyes sought out the figure sitting at a booth smoking a cigarette.

Heeled steps made their way towards the occupied booth and she paused only briefly to note the dead heartbeat within the man’s chest. Finally she slipped into an unoccupied seat at his booth, 'While I would have said that cigarettes could kill you to a normal person, it probably wouldn’t be true in this case. Verena said as she angled her head and offered a smile to the man. ”My name is Verena, Verena Crow and you are?”

[Suzette]

Suzette Broussard was a loner. She always had been but after the fall of her father's empire, she had become almost a hermit. She ran her own businesses very successfully and worked on her fighting skills a couple of times a week, but otherwise, she stayed home with her cat. No better conversationalist could be found, at least not on this continent.

One of the few places she would go besides work and home was to the High Noon Saloon, and that was only because of Pru. Prudence had at one time somewhat 'adopted', Suzette. The two seldom ever seemed to spend any time together... however, Suzette still used the backroom of the saloon to spar in every so often.

Tonight had been one of those rare occasions and after a satisfying few rounds of kicking each other in the face, the sparring partners had all parted ways. Suzette didn't even know any of their names, nor did she care to.

Having taken herself to clean up her face before leaving, her nose wrinkled in distaste upon exiting the restroom. Someone was smoking. INSIDE the bar. How utterly foul. Wasn't there a law against that sort of thing?

Her eyes followed her nose and saw where the grey cloud of stink hovered not far away and with her stick firmly up her arse and swearing in French under her breath, Suzette Broussard marched right over to give whoever was smoking a piece of her mind.

"Excuse me," The petite brunette said haughtily, not even bothering to look directly at either vampire or she would have recognised Cliff; "But you are aware, are you not? That you may NOT smoke in here. No?"

[Cliff Worthington]

Cliff listened to the chatter around him, knowing that most of them were talking about him. A few of the older regulars may even remember him from years past, but no one dared approach him. Cliff didn't smoke the cigarette, just let it rest between his lips, staring down at the phone, awaiting a message back from anyone that he used to know. Maybe they all got new numbers? Even Marty didn't respond.

Cliff glanced up and towards the back room, wondering if anyone was still using it. His mind wandered to all the fun fights that happened back there between people. He missed the real fight. A fight between two supernatural creatures. Not these petty fights he had with rival bikers which ended quickly, even though he was holding back most of the time.

The crowd seemed to shift once again, and he overheard talk of a blue haired girl. His interest was peaked for just a moment, but his phone went off. Marty had finally replied which made Cliff just a little happy. At least someone he knew was still around and wasn't dead. He fired a reply back, letting the man know where he was, and that he had returned, and that he would be requiring his services again.

Cliff hit send just as a voice that was directed towards him reached his ears. He looked up and took note of the woman who sat at his booth now, and his eyes narrowed. Cliff reached up and pulled the cigarette from between his lips, a frown clearly on his face. He glanced from the cigarette to her face, and back to the cigarette. A thought of shoving the cigarette into her eye crossing his mind, but he refrained for the moment. “Who I am? I'm Cliff of the line Worthington. Co-owner of this Saloon.”

Cliff leaned back to watch for a reaction. She was a pretty girl, but could she fight? She must have been turned since he had left the city. He knew the majority of vampires back then, but her name didn't ring a bell at all and with that color hair, she would have stood out. He was curious about her, but he wouldn't let it show. His cold eyes lingered upon Verena's face until a voice tied to a few memories of his past broke his gaze. Cliff glanced at the woman, and for the first time that night the corner of his lips curled up into the slightest of smiles as he rose from his seat.

“Suzette Broussard” His voice was rough and deep. “You might take better care of looking at who you are speaking to, before you tell someone what they can or can not do.” He replaced the cigarette between his lips, still not actually smoking it. His eyes raked down the woman's form, taking in the familiar sight before offering her a seat at the booth as well. He had always liked Suzette. Not only was she pleasing to the eyes, but she could fight and had a good head on her shoulders.

[Verena (DELETED 10032)]

Verena watched the man speak as if he was high on the food chain and being as she was a baby vampire who wasn’t yet established, he probably was. However, it was his attitude that made her somewhat curious, but also spoke volumes of caution. The vibe that she got off the man was dangerous and Verena wasn’t in any real position to engaged in any sort of fighting. Which actually made her think that she should start some sort of self defense class. It would be rather humorous if a vampire did show up to one of them, however, because of her natural complexion the woman would fit right in. So it wouldn’t be as if she would have to disclose the fact that she is a vampire. Or she might have to, she’d just have to look around.

A hand rose to rub her jawline as brown eyes watched the man for a moment as he spoke highly of himself being a co-owner of the saloon that they were in. It actually made her think that someone should cut his legs out from underneath him and burn the place down. It did give her an idea though to work upon later. Just because she helped people, didn’t mean that she wasn’t above biased thoughts and opinions. However, the woman wasn’t about to act upon such dark thoughts just to cut a man down half a size or more. Although, she was going to put a pin in it and think about it later. It depended on circumstances. No she wasn’t rash and she didn’t do anything based on personal feelings, otherwise she wouldn’t be professional at all.

The woman licked her full lips to begin speaking until they were interrupted by another woman. She watched as the man across the booth as his lips give the slightest of smiles and she realised that the man must be rather familiar with the other woman, especially when he gave her a warning that the other one might laugh off, or not. While she could always try to predict the outcome, there was always room for error even as the man invited Suzette to the booth, which she found funny. Why? Because Verena had invited herself to the booth that they were currently sitting in. What could she say? She was a very confident woman.

However, as she was watching the pair, Verena suddenly realised something. Although there was only one killer in her sister’s case, there was also victimology that she hadn’t completely covered. Victimology without a biased opinion. The woman rose from her position then and slipped out of the booth. Any of her sister’s reactions or actions was more than likely a crucial factor in any case. Even background was important. How had she overlooked that? ”Well, it has been rather interesting talking to the two of you, but I almost forgot a crucial factor at work.” Verena chuckled at that and made her way out of the saloon. Half of the conversation was non-verbal, a factor that most people were not aware of. It was called body language and whether they understood her or not, it didn’t bother her. Even though Cliff and Verena had only said a handful of words to each other and with that, she returned to her apartment.

[Suzette]

"Bien sûr, je savais que c'était toi, Clifford. Qui d'autre serait si égoïste..." She said with a wave, as if to dismiss the idea that she hadn't known to whom she had been speaking.

Cliff had been absolutely right, of course. But there was no way Suzette would ever admit to that. Instead, she arched a delicate eyebrow at the larger killer and rolled her eyes when he offered her a seat. But less than a minute later she did take a seat all the same. "and you are not even enjoying it, all you are doing is stinking up the air." She scolded him, once she realized he wasn't inhaling, her voice thick with disdain.

The brunette gave Cliffy the stink eye but the corners of her lips were twitching with the effort to stay still, as she was mere seconds away from actually smiling.

”Well, it has been rather interesting talking to the two of you, but I almost forgot a crucial factor at work.”

Suzette blinked and looked up at the strange female who had risen from her seat, and to whom Suzette had never spoken. She narrowed her eyes to say as much, with her nose stuck up in the air. A sharp retort was on the tip of her tongue but remained unuttered, as the unknown woman made her exit too quickly to exchange any barbs.

"Était-ce quelque chose que je disais?" She muttered, with a delicate snort, and then turned to address Cliff directly."And I was just about to criticize you for your failure to make introductions. Tant pis. There will be plenty more opportunities to come, j'en suis certain.

[Cliff Worthington]

Visibly flinched at being called Clifford. He hated that name. He hated that people assumed that was his name. He wouldn't correct her though. His eyes turned to Verena as she spoke her dismissal and promptly left. Cliff shrugged it off. Maybe he scared her? He could be quite frightening at times. He was amused by this. Thinking about tracking her down and just being a pest, an unholy nightmare for her.

His eyes flashed to the woman at the table remembering she was there, then glanced down at the cigarette. He plucked it from between his lips, crushing it in his fist then dropped it on the table before him. “Habit. It helped me blend in while I was out and about,” It was an excuse and untrue. He was already reaching for another one, but had to remind himself it wasn't needed.

“As for the girl, her name is Verena Crow or something. Literally just met her right before you appeared, Doesn't look like the type who would come in here.“He look towards the door again, once again thinking about tracking her to find out more. Cliff mentally shook himself, focusing on Suzette again, a smile tugging onto the corner of his lips. “First night back in Harper Rock, and I've ran into three fade beasts, didn't miss those ugly things one bit.” He leaned forward now, his face growing serious. “What all have I missed. What do I need to prepare for. What is the situation in the city.” All questions he needed answered quickly before he returned to life here in Harper Rock.

[Suzette]

Her eyes narrowed as she read Cliff's body language and she filed away his reaction to being called Clifford for future use, then gave the male her sweetest and most innocent smile. Another wave of the hand and the subject of the blue headed woman was dismissed from her thoughts. There had been nothing about her that Suzette found interesting and apparently she wouldn't be of any use to tease Cliff with, either.

A sculpted eyebrow arched up at the man's talk about the fade beasts he claimed to have slain and Suzette chuckled. She had never seen one herself and didn't care. "What have you missed, my friend?" The brunette tutted prettily and shook her head from side to side. "I'm not the news lady now, am I? I've been barely back myself but a few weeks and between getting my businesses back up and running... and working on my training, I haven't paid much attention to... current events."

It was true. Suzette had zero interest in anything that didn't affect her directly... or offer her an opportunity to make money.