Fangs and Scales [PRIVATE]

[Maria]

Maria chuckled as she heard him get distracted and apparently hadn't seen her mess up, too busy with his own issues, "Exactly!" she said cheerfully. Good or bad at it, it was still very entertaining. She was having plenty of fun, crashes and all. Laughing through most of it unsurprisingly.

She managed to glimpse seeing Marty take a drink and realized she had also not taken a sip for awhile, proceeding to make a different result from the same mistake as Marty as she took a sip and immediately coughed setting it down while still coughing into one arm, half laughing as she did so, and swerving like a chicken being chased. His own accidents as a result of drinking only further caused her to cough, this time just from laughing.

Maria did manage to get herself under control, a few smaller coughs later, car wise included. She finished about middle in all. Which, given the circumstances, wasn't awful. But definitely showed she didn't quite have it. Chances were she probably wasn't going to improve by much. She leaned back in the chair, full smiling, quite amused more than feeling glory, though she did raise her arms with a quiet cheer as she saw she at least beat him. "Heh, well at least I have something to claim!"

The figure behind Marty didn't stop her smiling, yet. Marty tried to be friendly, but the response made Maria **** her head. If it weren't for that she already knew, she'd have had a much more visible reaction. She was used to hiding herself however, while human at least, and that had transferred at least somewhat into her acting ability. Marty tried to joke it off, but the guy was pressing harder. Apparently he knew for sure. There were ways, and there were people she heard who could see automatically. She hoped they weren't one of those.

She stretched and twisted in her chair leaning over from the side so they could see she was paying attention. At least two of them were already moving from. The last one hesitated. "Come on man." She held her cup in the air and took a sip, "The Whiskey's worth a shot." she held her mouth open as she waited for the pun to dawn on them before chuckling regardless and getting back in her seat.

Like him, she had powers of influence. It was one of the things really that she was what made the Sirens so dangerous, any of the three kinds she knew of. Though, she'd never actually seen a Harpy in person. Hopefully, those bonuses of influence would be enough to push the problem away.

As she twisted to sit back in her chair she shrugged, almost apologetically even, to Marty. Personally, she wished she could do more. She had an odd view of vampires if compared to most others, humans, sirens, probably even vampires. Her acceptance of what he was was fairly fast, though, there was certainly still fear in it. Truth was, she'd be just as afraid of a Jorogomo with their rather cold attitudes and territorial nature. Thank goodness she hadn't run into too many of those. Her problems, usually, were with just keeping her secret, which aside from that slip up, hadn't bee hard so far. And avoiding 'trespassing' if another Siren was nearby. Or at least, not looking to be a threat.

[Marty James]

As his attention lingered in Marias direction, he could not help but smile. She just kept surprising him. If he had to guess, she had helped convince those guys to go away. This could have been his imagination, but Marty knew there to be more than meets the eye with her. She was beautiful, and those were normally the dangerous type. It was not something that worried him, but only intrigued him. He wanted to get to know her better. Was already hoping after tonight they could hang out again. " Worth a shot? That was a good one. " A smirk would follow his words, as he stood. Taking up his ale, Marty would finish off what was left in the glass before setting the empty aside. Taking up his shot of whiskey, he would drink it down in one go; as if it were water. His vision would blur a moment, and he would set the now empty shot glass aside so he could rub his eyes.

The drinks were starting to catch up with him again. Marty had been drinking already for much of the night; before running into Maria. " You know, they might be back." Shared as his eyes would linger at the bar. Watching as the men would order drinks and head back to a table. His attention turned back to Maria then as he spoke again. " Humans… I can't blame them though. They have a right to fear vampires. Some vampires are capable of some scary... stuff." He caught himself again before cursing. " I'm low on the power side of things, not a powerful vamp by any means. There are some who could look at those guys and know a great deal about them."

His mind would wander to a paranoid place, this too was likely influenced by his alcohol consumption of the evening. "They could be paladins for all I know…" He regretted saying it, the moment the words left his mouth. If they were paladins they would have attacked already. Marty told himself this in thought, but it didn't make him feel any better. " Maybe we can still get a couple more games in, before the nights over? I'm going to go get some more shots. You want another shot? I'll get us a couple and just close up my tab.." He would excuse himself before wandering over to the bar with his empties.

Once at the bar, the bartender had some kind words to offer. He had questioned Marty about if those guys had been bothering him and mentioned if they were a problem he could have the guys thrown out. Marty assured him everything was ok, for now. He ordered five more shots, before paying off his tab and tipping the bartender very well. He would drink one of the shots, before taking the four back over to where Maria was. Setting the shots down, he took one in hand. " So what's the next game I can lose at. I mean play and enjoy? " Laughing, as he drank the contents of the glass before setting it aside. He told himself to slow it down, he managed to fight the temptation of drinking the other shot right away. Reminding himself he still had to make it home. Having a tome made things easy, but he would rather sleep in his own bed and not an uncomfortable chair at Pandemonium.

[Maria]

They did indeed choose to leave. And she smiled as Marty got her pun, "Saw a chance and had to take it." she laughed before taking in what little sip was left of the whiskey. She still had all the ale to go through. Not the fastest drinker, at least for the whiskey. The ale would almost certainly go faster. Wasn't even because she was concerned about the alcohol itself. It was just the sting it had. Marty didn't even remotely have that problem. For a moment she wondered if it was because he was a vampire, but there were definitely regular humans who'd done that, so maybe that's just how he was with alcohol.

He mentioned they could be back, she frowned, didn't really have much to say. He was right, of course, not that she knew what to do about it. She doubted they'd attack her, but she couldn't be sure that they'd have the self control not to go after him. He even gave reasons for their fear, and then giving her a little tidbit about his own power level. Not high, according to him. Well then he was in the right company, not that she said it out loud while around other humans. That was not to say she was closer to human than her own, she was certainly still fairly capable with her powers. But there were members of her race capable of far greater power than she could manage to muster. Still, she spoke up, "Not to be critical but...I'm not convinced it's just about power. Some of it yeah for sure, but you also don't see them going after the mayor much. Or the military. Powerful as one vampire can be, a government is pretty dangerous too. But they're used to governments."

He also said they could be paladins, she grimaced. She didn't even know how her abilities would work on paladins, how much harder it was. Or if they worked at all. In truth, she'd never knowingly seen one in person just like vampires...well, till today. "Yeah uh...don't know what to do about that." she admitted before hearing him suggest a few more games. He must not be worried. She still didn't know how it'd all go, maybe it'd make more sense not to think about it. Wasn't like leaving would necessarily solve anything anymore than staying and finding out. "We can give it a go! Don't know if I'll actually end up drinking more than this, haven't even finished the ale, but we'll see." she finished with a quiet laugh before taking a larger swig of the ale. 

She ran her finger on the rim of the drink, occasionally glancing at the men from earlier. Eventually managing to pull herself from the thought and taking another swing of the drink, if they were gonna attack, they would. She'd find out sooner or later. She wasn't even the likely target anyway. Marty came back and she smiled more cheerfully again, laughing at his comment on losing, "HRMMMMM." she scratched her head and looked at the other games, "Do a, uh, shooter? That one looks like one of those two player zombie apocalypse games?" she pointed one of them out. Admittedly, she looked a bit uncertain if what she was saying was actually accurate. It looked two player, but she didn't exactly come here too often so if it was actually cooperative or not was up in the air.

[Marty James]

With her game suggestion, Marty could not help the smirk that held upon his lips. " Zombie apocalypse… Sounds close to reality, yeah? Wonder if they will ever make a game based off our city. Now that would be crazy... " He laughed a little, as if this were funny. Honestly it freaked him out to think about it still. What if it really was the apocalypse and this was just ground zero? Marty mentally told himself to shut up, as he made way to the shooter game. It was indeed two players. " Alright! One good thing about killing zombies this way, you don't have to deal with the smell! " He spoke a little too loudly. Realizing this, he tried to tone it down some. Typical of having a few too many, he tended to get a little overexcited and loud at times. This was not problematic in loud crowded places, though was far more noticeable in the current setting.

He would rub his hands together, before picking up one of the plastic guns attached to the game. " Let's see how these zombies compare to the real thing. Gotta love decent animation, but such games are usually a little on the cheesey side. Now Hollywood has definitely gotten a good idea on zombies. Wonder if anyone has come here to do research for a zombie movie? Wonder if they will end up making a movie about Harper Rock?" Rambling on, he would wait for Maria to load up the game with quarters. " Or a Harper Rock zombie video game! Where vampires get to be the good guys and save people from zombies. Yeah, that would be neat. Maybe make the zombies a little more intimidating though. Like they were in that one movie…

His mind was momentarily drawing a blank. " I Am Legend! That's it… Wait, were those zombies? Whatever they were, they were creepy. Have you ever seen that movie?" Asked, as he would glance over to Maria. Marty was big into movies and his favorite television shows. Though he knew some people didn't enjoy such things. Marty always enjoyed a good storyline. I Am Legend had been an interesting cinematic adventure to get lost in. He could not imagine being so alone like that. It would be a nightmare. Not to mention the twist ending, in the end where the main character won and lost. Marty could only hope that when the end came for him that it could be that way. That no matter the tragedy, something good could come of it.

He quickly gave his head a shake, as his thoughts started to go dark. Yet another downer of drinking. Holding a smile, he would continue to chatter on. Reflecting the conversation back to Maria, and his curiosity of wanting to know more about her. " What sort of movies or books are you into? I have always been a big fan of supernatural type genres." Laughing a little, he realized the irony of such a statement. Figures the interest in something like vampire fiction, and he had ended up a vampire himself. Not that he felt relatable to any portrayal of a particular fictional character.

[Maria]

She chuckled at the similarity to reality, "Oh thank goodness it's not gone quite that far yet. At least our zombies are..." she was about to say mostly contained, but that wasn't quite accurate. There were definitely a number to be found on the streets, not including things like mooncalves which, thank goodness, she hadn't had to fight just yet. "Eh, ever mind."

She started counting coins needed as they walked over and continued talking, "Euck, the smell is definitely one of the worst. I swear you could sell rebreathers near the Quarantine Zone and make a fortune." she agreed in slight disgust at it, "On the upside I guess it's hard to sneak around when wreaking like an uncleaned wet dumpster."

Maria laughed again when he said that sometimes the animations were cheesy, "Well personally I don't think realistic animations are the best choice for an arcade game." she responded taking another drink of her ale. She was already down to half on that one. Much more willing to take the bigger swigs. He prompted the idea someone might come to Harper Rock in preparation for a movie, or a video game. And then the thought of vampires as the protagonists in that story. That almost immediately made her feel kind of sad that such a thing was so quick to come to his mind. But, really, it was just evidence of how villainized vampires had become.

He suggested they should be more intimidating in such a game, which was fair, even she wasn't super concerned about the difficulty of going to the Quarantine Zone. He tried to bring up an example which took a moment before he mentioned I Am Legend. "Oh ho ho, no no!" she said waving her hands just a bit in opposition, "Seen it, good movie, not too fond of those zombies being a thing that's messed up! Won't get over the dog, ever!"

She certainly liked the movie, but at the same time, not one she watched often. It was just...rather depressing really to her. Scary was ok ow and then but the movie was just so sad. Of course, no doubt her own need to investigate and be around others probably only further emphasized the loneliness that showed up in the movie. And her connection for animals made the dogs fate far worse.

She started inserting the coins as he asked about what movies or books she was into, and mentioned his own preferences. "I like a lot of different stuff. But I've always loved the ones that are investigative. When I was younger stuff like Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys or Father Brown were definitely pretty high on the list. And uh, culture thick ones. That sounds weird...uh, like Star wars, or Lord of the Rings. They have so much detail that you know there's more that you don't even see. I don't think it being supernatural or sci fi plays as much as the other bit."

A clap of the hands as the machine accepted all the coins and she clicked the button to activate both players and it brought up the 'chapter options.' She went over the buttons real quick trying to figure them out, trigger, some button on the side of the gun, and a reload button. She took another swing of the drink, probably only one more after that and it'd be empty. "Heh heh, let's see where this goes hm?"

[Marty James]

Marty would cringe a little with mention of the dog from I Am Legend. " Aw! How could I forget about the dog! God that was awful…" Thinking then it had been awhile since he last seen the movie. As of late he and Cato usually binge watched TV shows. He had never had a pet before, but could imagine the loss of one would be quite deviating. It was often said most pet owners loved a pet like family. He knew what it was like to lose someone important. He had lost much during his life, having just been a boy when his father had passed away. Marty had lost his daughter before she was even born, but had loved her like they had shared a lifetime together. He had lost his wife Grace, in a divorce, not long after that. Then his best friend, as he had sent Marty off to Harper Rock, where he had then been turned. Marty had cut all connections with anyone from his human past after that.

Things had worked out for those he left behind. He had heard a couple years back his old friend and his ex Grace ended up getting married. They had a family now, something that had depressed him to the core at first. Now, he could be happy for them but he hoped never to have to see that happiness with his own eyes. He told himself none should want to see him now, not with what he had become. Maybe his grandmother, but his mother would likely think him possessed by something evil, that her son was long gone and dead. She and her family had always been very religious, but it had never been something forced upon Marty. Now that vampires were outed, it was likely they had put two and two together.

As Maria went on to mention film/book genres she enjoyed, Marty could not help but nod in agreement. They were all great works he too had enjoyed over the years. " All great. But Tolkien! What a world he created!" He would laugh to himself, before speaking again. " As a young boy, I told my mother I wanted to be a Hobbit. She hated it when I would run around outside without shoes on…" His words would trail off, surprised at how easily he had shared a silly moment from his youth. Maria was easy to talk with, and didn't seem to judge harshly like some.

As the game would start,he would look at the plastic gun in hand wondering how he was supposed to select things. Looking to Maria, he would follow her lead and soon the game would be in motion. He was a fair shot but would have had better aim, had he not been swaying a little. Standing steady was not easily done at the moment. Still, he was enjoying himself. Calling out to Maria now and then, when she would get a good shot. " Nice one! " He also found himself cursing under his breath at times when he would miss. Mostly he laughed, smiled and truly enjoyed himself. Time was slipping away fast, and with a glance at his watch, Marty knew he would not be able to stay out much longer.

[Maria]

Maria shook her head again when it came to the dog. It always hurt the most for them. Losing an animal of course couldn't even compare to losing a loved one. But her inherent leaning towards nature, which had resulted in a particular love of animals, tamed or not, probably meant she felt it a lot more than a lot of people did.

She knew nothing of the difficulties of those who were turned to vampires. It was hard to consider the fullness of such issues when it came to families, and whether or not relatives or friends would accept such a change. Maria had no such issue. In truth, she didn't exactly visit with many of her kind. Perhaps that was for the best. Without the organization that some of the vampires had, they weren't exactly easy to track down. Well...unless you went to the Caverns. She'd definitely been there herself but she avoided it. Encantado and Jorogomo both stayed there for some reason. She was surprised one side didn't push the other out but perhaps it just was't worth it.

She enthusiastically nodded in agreement on Tolkiens world, chuckling at his comment on wanting to be a hobbit, "I wanted to be a wood elf. And learn all the languages." she said happily thinking on it. In truth, there were parts of that life that really weren't far from her reach. Sure, their magic was out of her grasp. But a Siren's age seemed to be less precise than a humans. She wandered if she could live long enough to learn every language humanity had to offer, if she even had such skill.

Ad so the game began! Maria was not the best shot, truly, her skill was actually in closer ranged combat than with firearms. Or, preferably, causing someone to not fight at all. She was enjoying herself regardless, giving comments of her own, or just noises depending on the situation. Sometimes a little close to a scream when she nearly died followed by a laugh at such a reaction. Today was such a peculiar day.

[Marty James]

He did not find her mention of wanting to be a wood elf surprising. Maria seemed the type who was very into nature. There was something special about being out in the woods. Marty missed long walks in the wilderness, but that was not exactly possible for him; unless he wanted to lose a limb. Now learning every language, that would be quite a task! Marty knew just enough to get him by during his travels but had never mastered another language other than English. " Do you speak any other languages? Would be neat to speak Tolkien's elvish. Although I don't know how useful it would be. Sure sounded fancy in the movies. " Marty couldn't help but imagine himself saying something in elvish, and sounding like a complete idiot.

Between taking shots at zombies in the game, Marty chatted about Lord of the rings a little more. " Have you watched all the movies? I loved the animation as a kid. Want to say I found the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the library, at my grandmother's house. Quite an intimidating sized book, when all three are together. They didn't think I could finish it, but I did!" He had gotten The Hobbit after that, and then read Lord of the Rings all over again. Books had always been a comfort for him. They were always there and the endings never changed. Very different when compared to some of the people from his past.

" Was a bummer how they left Tom Bombadil out of the live action films. They left out a lot but the movies were already quite long. " Having tried several times to watch them all back to back, he had not yet been successful. This could be due to the drinking games he and Cato would play. Like taking a shot everytime someone said Gandalf. " What even was Tom? A Hobbit an Elf? A wizard? I honestly can't recall if it ever said. " He thought about checking it out in his book later, but remembered that was one he had back in the States. Marty had quite the collection but never made it back to get all of his belongings. At least they were in a safe place, or so he hoped.

His attention for the game was slipping. He laughed when he heard Maria scream. Looking over to see she had almost died. Sharing a laugh, he failed to save his own character. The insert more coins flashing on his side of the screen. " How am I so bad at this?! " Words shared with a laugh, as he would put the plastic gun back into its holder. Leaning against the game, he was content just watching her play. " Realize we will not have time to play every game. I have to be inside when the sun comes up. Was wondering if you wanted to hang out again sometime? I could give you my number, and when you have a free night maybe give me a call? " He felt as if he were acting desperate and hoped it was not coming off as pathetic as it sounded in his head. They had talked about other things, like dancing or lazer tag. Marty wouldn't even mind going for another swim; in cleaner water of course.

[Maria]

She bobbed her head slightly side to side as he asked if she spoke any other languages, "Yeah I do speak French but nothing else...for now. But I would totally trade that for Elvish if I could. That sounds awesome, also I would absolutely buy, like, Galadriel's robes and just walk around the forest singing. That would just be epic! Then again...maybe I could try and look up some songs and just learn to do that part. Still, would be totally enjoyable to just do it in elvish on my own."

He asked if she'd watched all the movies, even the animated one. "Ooof, specifically Aragorn yes...was he even wearing pants? The live action ones were so much better. The books were great of course, in all honesty, I did have a bit of trouble with them. Took me a long time to actually manage my way through. Didn't even remember all of the first one by the time I finished the last. Should probably think about getting back to them sometime."

She slapped her leg as he mentioned Tom Bombadil's lack of presence, "I KNOW! RIDICULOUS!" she nearly shouted before covering her mouth and looking around apologetically to see if she'd bothered anyone. " Oh Oh oh! I...dagnabbit. I used to know that. I think he was supposed to be like one of the original humans or something? I feel like I remember a line specifically referring to why he wasn't effected by the ring. Something about him belonging only to himself? Maybe...maybe I'm imagining that." She got hit in the game and instinctively ducked chuckling slightly nervously as she looked at her health, "I listened to someone talking about it once on audio, I think they compared him to Adam? Like Adam and Eve from the bible?I think Tolkien was supposed to be Catholic or something so he probably has symbolism that I didn't recognize."

Maria smiled at his comment of being bad at it after he died, and she scrambled to keep up with the zombies."Harder to shoot when it's harder to stand." she joked in regards to the alcohol, though she wasn't even sure vampires could get drunk.

It really didn't take her long to end up following him and she finally was able to take a breath rubbing her eyes before taking a swig of what was left of her drink and realizing how taxing such a simple game could actually be sometimes, he said he'd have to go but they should hang out again. She smiled, "Yeah that'd be a good idea! Should I give you mine? Heh, maybe some day I'll even be able to get that Yacht and we can go for a proper swim." She made a clicking noise with her tongue, "If uh...you can get out of Harper Rock, or something. I'm not even sure there is really good places for that around here."

[Marty James]

It had not come as a surprise to learn she knew French. They were in Canada after all. Finding himself wondering if Maria was a native to the area. The supernatural felt to be concentrated within Harper Rock, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Marty could not help the way his smile brightened, with mention of wearing Galadriel's robes and singing in elvish. This was simply because he could totally picture her doing such a thing. Nodding in agreement, that would be epic. He imagined the reaction of a complete stranger coming upon such. Much like his own reaction of first meeting Maria. Surprised, he had been in awe.

Finding himself laughing, with mention of Aragorn's lack of pants. Her reaction to his mention of Tom Bombadil endearing. Paired with the way she had covered her mouth apologetically; his smile felt unfading. The theory she shared, of Tom having been the first man, he found interesting. Symbolism held strong within the works of Tolkien. Marty found he missed the past days of book clubs and the likes. To sit with colleagues, friends and family; discussing literature.

"Harder to shoot when it's harder to stand."

With this he laughed,and had to comment, " Very true! To be honest, I had been drinking a little before our paths crossed. Contrary to popular belief, some vampires are still affected by such things. I consider it a guilty pleasure, but perhaps endulge more than I should." His smile grew a little shy, knowing he had a problem. Tonight he was taking it light, though he was a little drunk. There had been many nights of the past he could honestly never remember what had happened. Tonight was not one of those nights, this was something he never wanted to forget.

With mention of getting her number, he pulled out his phone. " Yeah, just give me your number and I'll text you so you will have my number. Definitely would be fun to hang out in a yacht. Want to say I could get out of the city easily, but clearly I can't pass as human as well as I hoped." Made in reference to the two men from earlier. " I could be a stowaway? " Joking, as he amused himself the thought of being smuggled out of Harper Rock. When Marty got her number, he would send a text her way, * How about we go dancing the next time we hang out? *