A simple night (open)

[Alexis Gainsborough (DELETED 4582)]

Alex found herself sitting in a small coffee shop, she didn't know the name of it or really care for that matter. She looked out just watching the people go by between sips of the warm latte she was drinking. She took a deep breath and let out a little sigh as she thought about her time here, it had been a few months since she had arrived and things were so calm and peaceful here. A little smiled tugged at the corner of her lips before she looked back down at her cup and held it with both hands before taking another sip.

Life here was peaceful oddly enough, even with all of the critters going bump in the night. She wondered if that was part of the reason things were so quiet in her life. Sure there was an occasional blood thief out for a quick score but how was that anything worse then what she grew up with. She took another sip of her beverage before looking at her hand. Half covered with the sleeve from her hoodie and her thumb sticking out of a hold in the side she examined her nails picking at one for a moment before she caught herself trying to remove the black polish from them. She muttered to herself, "This is why the never stay nice." Knowing full well that was not the reason they were in this state.

[CharlotteC]

As the sun had sunk below the horizon, Charlie started to become aware of her surroundings, had begun to take in everything. She could tell she was safe in her bed but when she opened her eyes, she was oddly unable to see. She went to take a breath and found out why she couldn't see as she inhaled fur. Her little fur ball was laying on her face. She sighed and lifted the little guy off her face, setting him on the bed beside her as she opened her eyes again and was thankful that she could see. "You know, you'd think you'd be more comfortable sleeping on your bed instead of sleeping on my face when I am dead to the world little one." She said in a light voice, gently scratching his head before she sat up and glanced around. Everything still looked the same, stuff was relatively untouched. Though she could tell that Temp had dropped by because there was more stuff for her to sell or use to make the things she needed for her side jobs.

Sighing she got out of bed and went about getting ready to go out. She needed to pick up some things, sell things, basically just get a lot of stuff done that she had been a bit too scared to do given her recent attack. Before she left she made sure to call forth some of her shifter powers to make sure that when she went out in the world, those that had attacked her wouldn't be able to tell it was her. Or at least would have a far harder time telling it was her. She set everything up, locked everything up and hit the button just outside her door to the elevator. When she hit the lobby she did a quick check to see if she could find a willing 'donor' but it seemed that all the donors were out and about so she took a breath and headed on out. Today was a good walking day so that is what she did until the smell of Java began to sing to her like a siren to sailors on the open sea. Ahh she missed a good caffeine buzz but at least she could still enjoy the flavors of the coffee.

Walking into the coffee shop she walked over to the counter and looked at the barista for a moment, then she smiled to the woman and leaned against the counter, making sure her messenger bag full of stuff to sell didn't bump against it as well. "Can I get a Grande Mocha Latte?" She asked with a sweet, almost child like tone, it was one she often used with the shop dealers around here. For some reason, one that she was starting to understand, this tone, this sweetness, made them far more likely to give her a good discount on things.

"That will be a dollar." The lady responder, she smiled as she handed over the money then watched as the woman tilled it away and went to make her drink. As the drink was being made, Charlie turned to lean against the counter, looking at everyone in there, taking everyone in, assessing who may or may not be a threat to her. She noted the girl sitting off by herself, picking at her nails. It was something charlie herself did, which is why she really only wore colors that seemed like they should have chips and dings in them. Mostly, black. Charlie turned when the woman set the cup down for her and smiled as she took it into her hand. "Thank you." She said politely before she moved over to sit at an empty table. Setting her cup down, Charlie reached into her bag and pulled out her laptop, opening the thing so she could see what was going on in the 'world' of the vampires as she liked to think of it.

[Alexis Gainsborough (DELETED 4582)]

Alex looked up when she heard someone else arrive. There were a few others sitting around but none of them were very interesting. The best distraction was the two girls sitting a few tables from her talking about the boys that were interested in them and so on. This woman who entered seemed a little more interesting although she was not quire sure why, there was just something off about her. Alex never considered that she may be using something to alter what she looked like but then again she had just started to dabble in the shifter tree and this woman looked far from the monster Alex had started shifting into when she needed to.

Taking another sip of her warm drink she watched and listened all the while enjoying the warmth of the liquid, coffee may not have had the same hold on her as it did before but it was still oh so good. The words slipping past this womans lips made her smirk, the sweetness seeming a little out of place but at the same time somehow soothing. It was another odd observation but one that was quickly fleeting. Seeing her shift Alex quickly went back to her nails. Trying her best not to draw to much attention to herself, at least at the moment.

Curiosity always got the better of her in the end and she looked back up only to see her working on something. Eventually Alex stood up and grabbed her bag, a cute little backpack purse thingy that clearly had seen a little use. She walked over to the table the woman was sitting at and tossed her back on the table before pulling out the chair across from her and taking a seat. "Hi. What are you working on?" She asked before taking another sip of coffee. This was pretty out of character for her but she did like to push buttons at times just to see how someone might react.

[CharlotteC]

"********... nothing of importance... unbelievable ********... nothing there... nothing there also..." She said softly to herself as she opened page after page then went through them, looking at each one with only a split second, not that she needed more than that - photographic memory had its perks. Of course, it also had its down falls, not nearly as much as it had when she had been human, but still there were times when she felt as if her mind were just cluttered with information. She sighed a little and then jumped nearly out of her skin when the bag hit the table her laptop was on. The impact even made the laptop shudder a little. Charlie's chocolate brown eyes lifted and she pushed some of her hair out of her face as she glanced up at the woman just as she was pulling out a seat to sit on.

Charlie pulled her screen down a little as she looked at the woman and then leaned onto the table, one arm bent so that her chin rested in the palm of her hand as she looked at the girl. "I was just reading some of the CN, you know how things on there are." She said with a slight shrug. "Can I help you with something or are you just in need of someone to talk to?" She asked with a light laugh. Either way, she would be open to the new situation. If the girl needed help with something, she would - to the best of her ability - try to help, if she just needed someone to talk to well in that case she was more than able to help. She smiled a bit more, looking a fair bit more open to the idea of being social than she had when she had sat down and opened her laptop. Of course, when she was concentrating on things on her laptop, she pretty much forgot the world existed.

"Either way, I'm pretty much open to meeting new people. I'm Charlie. You are?" She asked as she held out her hand to the girl over the top of her semi-closed laptop.

[Alexis Gainsborough (DELETED 4582)]

"Oh yeah there is always interesting stuff on there. I think I spend half my day just trying to keep on on whats going on around the city." It may have been a bit of an exaggeration but it wouldn't hurt. "What was that last thing I was looking at..." He said mostly to herself as she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through a few things for a moment and looked back up again realizing she was being rude. "Oh well I guess it doesn't really matter." She slipped it back into her bag tucking in the bottle of perfume and a few silver pens that slipped out as well. With a smile her eyes met hers and she said. "Oh I am not looking for anything special, I just haven't seen you in here before and not to be rude or anything but you seem a little different then the normal crowd in here so I figured I would come say hi."

She reached out and took Charlie's hand shaking it firmly. "Nice to meet you I am Alex." When they finished she set her hands back in her lap, trying her best not to start picking at her nails again. "So what brings you here today? I like to come here for the people watching personally."

[CharlotteC]

A small smirk and a chuckle fell from Charlie's lips as the girl spoke and then pulled out her phone to check for something she had been reading on the CN. When Alex slid her phone back into her pocket, Charlie couldn't help but watch where she put it. It wasn't that she was planning to rob the girl, but as a pick pocket and a thief she just naturally looked for the people and their mistakes with things like their cell phones, wallets, and sometimes the drugs that dealers carried. Usually though, when she picked the pockets of gangsters all she got from them was ammo. Not that she would complain, she was still sort of a bad shot and the gun she used took the ammo she took from them. Charlie shook herself out of her thoughts as Alex shook her hand and she smiled to the woman politely.

"Yes, I am a bit different, but then again who in this city isn't a little different?" She said softly before she continued on, "As for what brings me here, for today it's the wifi, I love a free wifi signal." She said with a laugh and then continued on "And the cops are staking out my apartment complex. Cops and I aren't on the best of terms" she said. Some times this weird inability to lie was annoying, this really wasn't the girls business but at the same time, it's not like Charlie would hide who she is or what she does if she was asked plainly. "Now that I am here though, I think I may stay for the pastries and coffee. Is that any good?" Charlie asked as as she looked at the girl's coffee. "One thing I have noticed about this city in the short time I have lived here, the coffee seems to be pretty good everywhere."

It was true, at least when she thought about it. And as she thought about it, she probably liked it because she couldn't feel the caffeine anymore. Instead of drinking something just to get the buzz, she was drinking something because she truly enjoyed the taste of the thing she was drinking. Perhaps though that was just because she was a vampire now.

[Alexis Gainsborough (DELETED 4582)]

Alex was a decent shot but you wouldn't know it by looking at her. Her movements gave away a few others things about her but it was hard to hide things from people who did similar things, slight of hand was the only thing that kept her alive for a bit so it was second nature.

"Thats true most people in the city are a little odd." She mused looking past Charlie to the random people behind her for a moment. Alex smiled and nodded. "Yeah a good cup of Joe and a decent signal will keep me coming back. The interesting people and perhaps a good conversation are always a nice bonus. " She said before taking a sip of her coffee, she did enjoy the people watching. Alex smirked a little. "Yes well the cops always seem to come in during the least oppertune times and then when you do need them well... they are no place to be found. I do my best to make sure they don't find me out front holding a pack of matches when the flames start up." She chuckled softly to herself as she built that mental image. It was just an old saying but still a funny image. She took another sip of coffee and leaned in. "So if you don't mind me asking. Why the interest?" It did spark her interest but she wouldn't push to hard although she had to ask.

Shrugging she said. "I don't really know about the pastries but the coffee is pretty good. I only wish it worked a little better but the taste did grow on me, nice to have something warm and a little less metallic tasting every now and then. Honestly I have only tried coffee in a few places. I tend to find a place I like and keep going back. I'm not sure if its just sticking to a pattern or loyalty but..." She shrugged again. "I guess it doesn't really matter."

[CharlotteC]

Charlie gave a little bit of a laugh as she looked over the girl when she asked about the interest. Why shouldn't she be interested in if the coffee was any good? Oh yeah, she was one of the lucky few that could still retain the ability to eat and drink unlike so many others that she had heard about. She sighed ever so softly after a moment and then just gave a shrug. "I'm a fan of coffee." She said with a soft smile, still looking at the girl for a moment before she glanced around the area to see who was in ear shot. "One of the lucky few you can say who doesn't get sick." She added on.

It wasn't usually like her to hide things, in fact she often told the truth, but thankfully the logical side of her mind made it so that it wasn't so much her lying in her thoughts that made her speak the truth but learning how to dance around the truth so that the truth was still there but she didn't up and say 'hey i'm a vampire' and end up getting herself killed again. She closed her eyes and shook the image of the gang that killed her and then looked at the girl once more. "Though I understand about Loyalty, when it comes to these places, i'm as loyal as they come. However, if it's one thing I've learned in my line of business, it's best not to have too many patterns. Especially recently. I tend to keep from sticking to patterns now. It comes in handy in this town."

[Alexis Gainsborough (DELETED 4582)]

Alex tilted her head to the side a little confused by her statement. "What do you mean get sick?" It was the first time anyone had mentioned that to her but she could understand that some might adjust differently after such a large change in life. She seemed to stare off into space for a moment but when she came back a few seconds later she said. "I didn't realize that was a problem for some. I will have to keep that in mind." It might just come in handy one day.

She leaned in and listened intently to the next few words, It was clear enough that this person was into something a little less then respectable. She looked down at her coffee for a moment getting lost again for just a moment before she took a sip and said. "Yes patterns tend to get you into trouble. They can be really hard to break though." She bit her bottom lip looking up again but after a moment a little smirk crossed her lips. "Then again they can get you out of trouble as well. Sometimes when someone is looking for you its good to just sit and wait someplace you know they will be." She shook her head. "Sorry I am just getting lost in though. Guess I have a little trouble separating my old life from my new one." She looked down and started picking at her nails again. "You never did say what kind of work you did. Not that its any of my business but um..." she quickly glanced around just to see if anyone might be paying attention. "You wouldn't know if there are any good pawn shops or um you know places like that around here would you?"

[CharlotteC]

Charlie gave a small shrug to the girl when she had questioned about getting sick. "I've just heard that certain paths have a problem with digesting food, that is if they even eat at all. It's kind of weird, but apparently, I don't get sick because of what I am. I don't know." She said as she looked around for a moment and then looked back at the girl nodding to her words. It was weird that it was a problem for other vampires, but she had been told that because Allurists were the most human apparently they got the perks in that regard.

Then the girl asked about what she did and Charlie sighed a little, she had hopped the girl wouldn't ask, because then she could easily blow off telling the truth. Now she really had no choice. "Well I guess the thing I am best at doing is being a Hacker, but I've also been starting up with Thievery, Breaking and entering and also making a lot of the things I need to do say breaking so I don't have to kill guards. I really hate when I am forced to kill an innocent." She said, she knew by now she had said more than enough but it was all the truth, she hated to kill unless she absolutely had it.

It wasn't so much that she was protecting the fact that she was a vampire, she couldn't care less if someone knew she was a vampire. No it was more the fact that she had a fear of being killed again, as well as a dislike for anything violent. That didn't mean she couldn't fight, just that she hated doing it. She shook her head as the girl asked her final question and she smirked a bit. "That last part though, that I could help you with. Given what I like to do around here, I know quite a few places where one could sell stuff they have lifted off other people or from other places. Actually, I think there is a place right down the street." She said as she looked out the window and then smirked a little more at the girl.