Girl Talk [Shan]

[Zelda (DELETED 4403)]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--


<Zelda> The night was young. Zelda was showered, and dressed; a nice, light, summery dress. Yellow, the skirt swishing around her knees. Her feet were clad in a pair of roller skates - bright pink ones, this time, the wheels worn down due to use, the leather a little cracked but still servicable. She had, somehow, got a hold of a tennis ball. She had, somehow, ended up in an empty warehouse, rolling around and around and tossing the ball against the wall. Watching it bounce. Catching it. Throwing it again. She sighed - this was getting her nowhere. She leant against a wall and pulled her phone from her bag. She pulled up Shan's number and shot her a text: "I'm bored. What r u up 2?"


<Shan> The moon was gone. Disappeared from the night sky, being reborn again tomorrow, hidden from view for tonight. Shan's arms were clad in long black sleeves that were crossed over chest, and Shan was leaned against the brick wall watching. Waiting. She was on the hunt, stalking. She had found the perfect prey while standing outside across the street from a rather shady establishment, the tall brunette with long wavy brown hair stepping outside into the cool night air. Shan loved the weather on these nights, the way the cool air matched her cool skin, making her feel like she was standing in a nice summer breeze. Eyes flickered to up the street then back again, just as her phone vibrated in her pocket. Muscles tightened in her jaw as she felt interrupted for some reason though the person texting her couldn’t have known better. She plucked it from her pocket easily and scanned over it, reading the Ebonics quickly as it was intended. One hand typed a reply. "Not much. Lets meet up." She decided, turning and walking along down the street as Seraphine caught up with her at that point in time. "Keep an eye on her." She instructed her thrall bluntly.


<Zelda> Zelda continued to lounge while she waited for a reply, her green eyes swallowing the interior of the warehouse as if she was only now seeing it for the first time. The silence was a noise in and of itself, broken only by mysterious rumbles and ticks. She had no idea what this place might have been used for, but it was cleared out now, mostly, leaving a bare empty space. She imagined what it might be like to install a derby track in here. What it might be like to put together a team. Her thoughts were interrupted as her phone buzzed. She grinned and straightened up to reply: "Yes! Im at a warehouse, somewhere in Honeymead. Westwall, maybe? Where r u?"


<Shan> Seraphine nodded at Shan to indicate that she understood, and Shan left her there to do her stalking for her. She had been standing there at the apex of the alleyway staring at the doors to the establishment for what seemed like days, though was probably closer to the better half of the day. She thudded along, feeling a bit tired as she didnt get much sleep the night before, the way her mind thought over past events and mulled over a sea of emotions that had swelled within her. Ever since her resolve to be a better person, Shan had issues with those pesky things. Feelings. Emotions. They all swirled underneath the surface, threatening to break free and send her mind into a tailspin she knew she wouldnt be able to control. She lifted her hand with her phone in it once more as it went off, ripping her from her contemplations to scan over the words. She didnt need to look around to answer the question of where she was. She was on her hunting grounds, the place she frequented the most in Harper Rock. "Im near Coastside. Westwall works."


<Zelda> The skates thundered against the cement as Zelda rolled toward the exit. She jumped over the threshold, from door to pavement, twisting in a circle as she checked her phone. The screen, for a second or two, was just a blur. She paused at the corner of the street and smirked. Westwall. Yes, okay. That could be done. But Westwall was a rather place to meet someone - they would have to be a little more specific. Down the street a little ways, Zelda gazes around. Where could they meet? There was the pub. But neither of them... well, Zelda knew that she herself wouldn't be able to drink anything. The bridge wasn't too far away. Zelda stopped there, leaning over the railing to watch the water speed by beneath her. "Im on the bridge." She texted, then turned, leaning her elbows against the railing as she waited, watching the passer-by, scanning the faces for the one that she would recognise.


<Shan> Clanking along up the street, Shan's eyes never stopped moving. Watching, waiting. She was always on the look out for trouble. Danger. Either of the two, and they always seemed to follow her around these days, the way a moth is drawn to a flame. She knew it most likely had something to do with the fact that she was killing women of Harper Rock, cutting their bodies up and dumping them wherever she could like they were pieces of trash. And to her, they were, nothing but low life women who sold their bodies to the upper class men of Harper Rock, and she hated that. She read her text and didn’t bother replying, sliding onto the tram and emerging in the area after a minutes ride, stepping out of the station and heading to the landmark that Sparky had given her. She nodded at the woman, "Hey."


<Zelda> The breeze sifted against Zelda's skin, fingering through her hair, which she didn't have tied back. It was loose, as it usually was - she probably should try to tie it up when hunting. Should probably try to keep the muck out of it, but that's what shampoo was for. She got a few a looks as people passed her by - she just nodded and smiled and they kept walking. The stars danced and blinked overhead - that was where Zelda was staring, when the voice broke into her aimless thoughts. She wasn't thinking about much. She tried not to think about too much. Her head fell forward and she greeted Shan with a rather large grin. "Hey! How you doin'?" she asked, stepping away from the railing and rolling forward, closing the gap between herself and the other woman - Shan, who was slenderer, taller, and a tad (maybe a whole lot) more Amazonian than Zelda could ever hope to be.


<Shan> How you doin'? Zelda had asked her, and Shan swallowed as she stopped, shoving her hands into her pockets of her faded jeans that had seen better days. She felt her shoulders shrugging, as if that was any kind of proper answer to give, though the action had been more involuntary than anything. How was she doing? She was drowning, honestly. Swimming through a deep end of gunky, thick, heavy emotions that all had their grip on her and were slowly dragging her down. She felt like her head was just above the surface, and that if it fell beneath that she would surely drown - though she knew it wasnt possible for a vampire to do, it didn’t negate how she felt. But as she looked at Zelda, at the woman's grin, she couldn’t help but not want to let her grey skies rain on the woman’s parade. "Alright, I guess. You?"


<Zelda> There was a hesitation in Shan's reply. A shrug, given before the words; and the words weren't heartfelt. At least, from where Zelda was standing, she could tell that alright wasn't exactly bursting with exuberance or excitement. The glow of Zelda's grin dimmed a little as she rolled forward a little more, her, shoulder nudging against Shan's. "Fine, fine," she said. It wasn't a lie. She wasn't overly excited about anything. And Zelda, too, had her woes - a human boyfriend whom she had inadvertently sent into a tailspin. She didn't know whether she'd broken something, but she figured it was for the best, in the end. She slid her arm around the other woman's waste. A light hug. "Let's go somewhere. Where do you think we should go?" she asked. She wanted to ask whether everything was actually alright - but the middle of the bridge wasn't the kind of place to start that conversation.


<Shan> The way Zelda broke the distance between the two never really bothered Shan. She hadn't ever had a problem with personal space or contact. She only had a problem with being in a closed space with others around, a large group where she felt like she was closed off and couldn’t escape. Sure, she might even be a little claustrophobic, but she probably wouldn’t ever admit that to anyone. But being outside, on the bridge, she only turned and looked over at Zelda who wasn’t too much shorter than herself with her skates on. She stared for a moment, though not harshly or judgingly. Thinking. Shan jacked up a brow then at Zelda, moments before a smirk curved her lips up on one side and made a dimple show pressed into the side of her cheek. "There's a club down the street?" She offered, though that was all the information Zelda was going to get out of her initially.


<Zelda> "A club, huh?" she said, arching her brow. There was something about the way that Shan smirked that had Zelda wondering what exactly she had in mind - what kind of club? She tried to recall exactly where they were and pull on her own knowledge of the city and its attractions, but she couldn't remember what was just down the road. She should. But she doesn't. Still. She used to go to clubs all the time, when she was human. When she had all her human friends - the ones she couldn't really keep anymore. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been to a club where she wasn't there just to find her next meal; where she felt she had to leave because she couldn't really make solid new acquaintances with new human friends. But here was Shan. Not human. Perfectly reasonable. Zelda nodded, maybe a little too enthusiastically. "Yes! Okay. Lead the way, Shan. Shan... is that short for Shannon?" she asked, randomly, stepping back and away as she waited to follow Shan's lead.


<Shan> Shan simply nodded back at Zelda, her smirk still dashed on her lips as she strolled along the bridge to the sidewalk then turned left to follow it down to the next streetlight. Her boots thudded as she walked, not much caring for being quiet or silent as she moved along the pavement. She shook her head, giving a short chuckle. "Not short for anything. Means something about god being grateful. Or gracious. Or something." She shrugged briefly and raised her brows over at Zelda. "Where'd you get Zelda from? Isn’t that the name of that one video game?" She asked, pursing her lips to the side for a moment. She knew it was. Zelda. That one game where that one guy walked around with a flute. How gay. She thought, smiling lightly. Very lightly.


<Zelda> Zelda's skates are far noisier than Shan's footfalls. She hardly noticed how much noise the other woman might have been making. Zelda was always thundering along - it would have been far odder to her if they were moving along in absolute silence. Perhaps it was fitting; Zelda could be a bit of a storm when she wanted to be. Though lately she felt as if she were going through a bit of a drought. She rolled her eyes. "******* hate that game. I didn't choose the name Zelda. It was given to me by my mother - in her time, the game didn't exist. I was named after Zelda Fitzgerald. Wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Authoress - though her talent was eclipsed and even stolen by her husband," Zelda explained. She always hit this roadblock with her name. Too often was it the first thing anyone commented about her, as soon as she introduced herself. She huffed, a little irritated. "Nyla likes to call me Pixie. Maybe I should get a name change..."


<Shan> Her brows raised as she seemingly hit a nerve with the other woman. Shan herself didnt have any problems with her own name, not many people knew what it meant and how much she detested it herself. But that didnt much matter as she scoffed over at Zelda and shook her head. "Nah. If you change your name to Pixie I'd have to shoot you." She admitted, still shaking her head though it was clear she was joking. "Besides. I call ya Sparky, not Zelda. I didnt even know your name wasnt Pixie until you told me otherwise." She shrugged again, glancing up at the sky. Tonight was a night she hated the most, the way the moon was hidden from her. Though it wasnt much different from the full moons for her either. "A name isnt what defines a person anyways."


<Zelda> "No, I suppose you're right. But maybe I'm a bit of a half-hearted feminist. The Zelda in that game is some whimping princess, damsel in distress type. And I don't ever want to be a ******* damsel in distress," she said. She'd hate to think that anyone would hear her name and immediately compare her to that idiotic character. Maybe it was what had defined her - getting to high school and wanting so much to rebel against that feminine stereotype that she finally fell into her own shoes - or skates, as it was. A girly girl who liked to beat people up, and loathed being treated like just another piece of meat. It was the one bee in her bonnet. "So what defines you then, Shan?" she asked, eyes gleaming as she glanced sideways at the other woman.


<Shan> "Huh?" It slipped out before she could contain it, and drew her lip in to bite into it for a moment though the fang didn’t pierce her skin. It was clear she didn’t know how to answer that question. She drew in a deep breath, trying to pin down the right words. "I'd like to say my sire, but she doesn’t even remember me right now. I’m not exactly sure what it is that defines me..." The unsure feeling in her rose up into her throat and she struggled to swallow it down. She almost wanted to cough at her answer. It wasn’t like her to not know. A few days ago she would have said her own individuality, but right now she didn’t even know who she was exactly.

[Shan]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--




<Zelda> Zelda recalled the last conversation she and Shan had had. About her sire. That issue seemed not to have been resolved, then. It didn't matter that Zelda didn't have all the details, however; that Shan hadn't filled her in about anything that may have occurred in the interim. The redhead rolled her eyes. "That's noble and all. But... like I couldn't ever... as much as I love Nyla, but to think that she might define me scares the **** out of me. How you see yourself shouldn't depend on anyone else. You shouldn't have to rely on someone else to ... make you feel like you exist. Right? So I assume you haven't... fixed things with her yet?" she asked. She was abrupt. She wouldn't be Zelda if she weren't abrupt.


<Shan> Staying silent as she walked, Shan let out the air that she had sucked into her deadened lungs in a loud huff. She knew Zelda was right, but she couldnt for the life of her place her finger on who she was at the moment. She didnt want to admit that she was in the process of trying to better herself, though to fully explain herself it seemed necessary. "Im trying to be different." Yeah, that explained a lot. She stared at a dog that started to growl at her as they walked by, and resisted the urge to bare her fangs back at it. She turned her attention back to Zelda and shook her head. "I dont know how."


<Zelda> So, this was it, then. This was why the 'alright' that Shan had offered Zelda hadn't exactly vibrated with the ring of truth. This must have been the thing that was bothering the other woman - she was trying to find herself, but getting lost in the process. Zelda frowned down at the growling dog - she hung back momentarily to reach down to pet the animal, which seemed to change its attitude entirely as soon as it caught Zelda's scent. It's tail wagged, but it otherwise allowed Zelda to leave when she hurried to catch up to Shan. "Then don't... think about it too much," she said with a frown - the frown dimpled her cheeks, and clouded her green eyes. She'd never really had that kind of predicament. She'd always been sure of herself. She tried to please others, but only to a point. "Just be. And do. Don't... I don't know what I'm trying to say," she said with a sigh, her fingers fiddling with the skirt of her dress, swishing the material around her legs. "Have fun. Live in the moment," she shrugged. "That's my philosophy."


<Shan> Zelda hung back and pet the dog, Shan not stopping as she only turned slightly to see her do it then righted back on the path she had been taking them. She smiled wryly, almost sadly. She had a dog growing up, that got hit by a car by her asshole neighbor who frequently brought booze over for her alky mother in order to get in the woman’s pants. She sighed, what were these things she was feeling, so deeply all of a sudden? She almost felt the urge to throw up, the way they were making her stomach flip at the same time it felt like a giant cinder block was in it. Zelda resumed her position next to her, and Shan looked over at her though she glanced to the sidewalk here and there to make sure she wouldn’t trip over herself. "Well. You'll be glad to hear we are about to then." She grinned a fangy grin at Zelda, pointing to the club that had a scrolling marquee above its door. "WOMEN'S MUD WRESTLING" Scrolled through it, blinked, and flashed. Shan made her way for the door and opened it for Zelda. "Ladies first, lovely."


<Zelda> Zelda snorted when she saw the sign. Women's mud wrestling? Well, okay. The place was bound to be full of beady-eyed men, perverts of a sort. And the women? Were the really in it for the fun of it, or were they merely acting like the pieces of meat that men wanted to treat them like? As she glided past Shan, she arched a slender brow. "You're not thinkin' of trying to get me covered in mud, are ya?" she asked, amusement lilting her tone regardless of her initial disdain. Maybe it would be a classier establishment than she had assumed; maybe she would be pleasantly surprised.


<Shan> Shan laughed. She laughed, and shook her head as Zelda entered and Shan followed after her. Inside it wasn’t run down, or anything of the sort. It wasn’t a hole in the wall as one would have imagined from looking at the building outside. It was rather modern, sleek black and red designs covered the tables and walls, and the bar looked to be made out of straight black onyx. There was a ring set up to the left, where most of the people were surrounding and cheering, though it wasn’t the type of event where you would find strippers or gross nasty men. Shan had taste, and wouldn’t have taken Zelda to one of those places - though sometimes she did visit them. "Don’t need a ring to do that." She joked, shaking her head at Zelda as she led them to a couple of seats by the elevated portion of the stage to the right of the ring. She reached up and pulled her hair back into a pony tail and used the scrunchie on her wrist to effectively keep it maimed back.


<Zelda> Zelda's curious gaze travelled the interior of the establishment as they entered. Her misgivings were alleviated a little as the sleekness of the interior spoke of something a little more tasteful than men betting on women as if they were dogs in a dog fight. Mentally, Zelda compared this sport to her own - to roller derby. There were no similarities. Not really. Hers was a sport. This... if these women really wanted to wrestle, they could do it without the mud. "I might be persuaded to have a mud fight with you, Shan," she began even as she took her seat next to the woman. "But I'd have to warn you beforehand that I don't swing that way. I tried, once, but it didn't work out," she said. She laid a hand on Shan's shoulder in mock consolation. "I'm sorry. It's not a rejection. I love you... but just not like that...." she said, managing to hold her consoling frown for all of one second before it broke into a grin.


<Shan> They sat, and Zelda put her hand on Shan's shoulder as if to apologize for the fact that Shan didnt turn her on so to speak. She blinked at Zelda though, had the woman just told her she loved her? Even in a purely platonic way, Shan felt weird to hear it. It made her stomach clench and flip again, swimming deeper into those emotions that she didnt have until af ew days ago. She offered her own smile at Zelda, though she didnt grin, her eyes narrowing on Zelda as she spoke. "Glad you arent knocking what you havent tried." She admitted, and it was the truth, that she was glad the woman wasnt harping on her own lifestyle. She patted Zelda's knee briefly before a waiter walked over and asked them if they wanted anything. Shan blinked at the question, realizing that she didnt know if Zelda was one of those who could eat normal food or not. She shook her head, looking over to Zelda questioningly.


<Zelda> It felt odd to have someone ask them whether they wanted anything. Zelda had to blink, too - would they be allowed to stay, if they weren't actually going to be spending any money? Or was this what the mud wrestling was about? Would they be spending money on the women in the ring? Zelda shuddered at the thought, but ended up shaking her head at the waiter, too. "Not yet," she said, as if to reassure him that they might, even though they wouldn't. She had no idea why she cared anyway - she wasn't normally a stickler for any kind of rules. Her expression, when she glanced sideways at Shan, was indicative of I wish. She missed the effect of alcohol, sometimes, though she was quite confident of her ability to have a good time without it. As soon as the waiter has walked away, Zelda returned her attention to the interrupted conversation. "No, would never knock something I haven't tried," she said with a smirk. She remembered a similar conversation she'd had recently with Nishaa, who seemed incredibly put-off by Zelda's continued interest in penises. "But I really do just prefer the menfolk," she said with a shrug.


<Shan> Shan raised her brows at the fact that Zelda had turned down the waitress. It surprised her, honestly, that she said no, only because of how much she reminded her of her sibling who was one that could eat. Though the thought crossed her mind that she simply wasn’t hungry, so Shan didn’t jump to any conclusions just yet. She nodded at Zelda, leaning back in the booth and comfortably raising her left leg to place her ankle on top of her knee. "I can spot a good lookin' guy, but they just don’t do it for me." She admitted, giving her own shrug back to Zelda, tipping her head to the side briefly as she looked at her, that slow spread of a smirk dashing her lips once more. "I'd never think you would knock something you haven’t tried. That’s never seemed your style Sparky." She resisted the urge to reach out and ruffle the woman’s hair, instead simply reaching her arm up on the side that Zelda was not and placing it along the back of the booth. She figured if a guy saw Zelda and was interested, she didn’t want it to seem like she was claiming her. Shan surveyed the crowd of people there, though they weren’t many, and she idly wondered who was there for what purpose.


<Zelda> "Nope," Zelda said with a tight-lipped grin, the kind of grin that a very proud woman might wear. The dimples pressed into her cheeks and her hair flicked momentarily as she shook her head. "I should have been a back-packer, really. There's nothing I won't try at least once," she said with a definitive nod. Life was there to be lived, so why the **** not, right? Go hard, never lose sleep over mistakes made. It just wasn't worth the time. Zelda tilted her head to the side as she, too, observed the crowd. Subconsciously, her flickering gaze was searching for one man in particular. But of course he wasn't going to be there. "So what does it for you, then?" Zelda asked, again with the curiosity and the abrupt questions. "What turns you on?"


<Shan> Shan smirked very lightly at that thought, of Zelda being a back-packer. Shan herself had been one for several years, floating from city to city, picking up odd jobs here and there to get by. She had done most everything at least once, even had an expensive eye surgery done to get the colors of her iris' changed to the crimson red color they now were. That adventurous side of her had died out though once she had been turned, though the spark in her heart that had her keep her individuality had stayed lit, the shadow realm had slowly broken her to the point that she had spent the latter of the last year fixing herself back up. She pursed her lips at that question, then licked over them as she watched a woman exit the back and step into the ring. "I have a specific type." Though she admitted that, there was clearly more to it as she shifted against the booth a little.


<Zelda> Zelda was watching, too, as the crowd and the participants prepared for whatever was going to start down below. Always a little restless, Zelda didn't sit completely still; her feet rolled back and forth on the floor - where some people might tap their feet or bounce their knees, Zelda rolled. Back and forth. Like an impatient child, even though there was nothing she was waiting for. She wasn't impatient for anything, though it might appear that way. One hand rested protectively over her bag, while the other raised to idly curl a red lock of hair between her fingers. She was silent, for a few seconds. She assumed that Shan would continue - elucidate what her 'specific type' was. But she wasn't forthcoming. Zelda tore her gaze away from the people below and instead turned an inquisitive eye on Shan. "... which would be?" she asked, completely uncomprehending that Shan might be holding back on purpose, for some reason or another.


<Shan> A second woman exited the back, both dressed in bikinis and nothing else. Shan let her eyes dance between the two, one blonde, the other brunette. She smiled lightly, nodding and taking two slips of paper and a pencil from the guy walking around passing them out. She separated the two slips and handed one to Zelda, along with a tiny pencil that looked like it had come from a golf courses scorekeeping stocks. "She raised a brow at Zelda at that point, staring at her intently before she turned and wrote down a time on the piece of paper. "Write down how long you think the match will take." She instructed, contemplating in her mind if she really wanted to tell Zelda exactly what it was that was her vice. She decided after a moment, looking back to the woman with a bit of an evil smirk. "Torture." She admitted finally, giving her a wink before holding out her hand to take the slip from Zelda.


<Zelda> This was the lark, then. How long would they wrestle? Zelda didn't know. She had no idea. What signified the end of a match? Surely it wasn't mud wrestling to the death. Was it just when one or the other surrendered? Was it when one or the other was completely covered, head to toe, in mud? If the former... really? Would it really get that rough that one of them just couldn't handle it any longer? Zelda shrugged and wrote down a random time on the slip of paper before handing it back to Shan, the one worded answer taking its time to register in Zelda's brain. She was waiting for a physical description. Particular physical traits that might turn Shan on, rather than what activity. Zelda narrowed her eyes. She wasn't embarrassed. Not really shocked, either. But, as always, curious: "Okay. Yes... " she said. She and Elijah had their moments. Some rough and tumble, but... alright, so it didn't really compare. But compare to what? "Like... actual legitimate... string you up on a bed of spikes torture?" she asked, leaning forward a little, conspiratorially, but otherwise the two women, to any onlooker, could be talking about their favourite beauty products.

[Zelda (DELETED 4403)]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Shan> She put the two slips together after writing their names on them - Sparky for Zelda, of course and Red for herself - it wouldn’t do them much good for anyone in this establishment to know their real names so she stuck with simple nicknames. Holding them up for the same man who had passed them out to begin with, he muttered a thanks under his breath at her as he took them and put them in a small container already filled with them from the other participants in the club. She nodded at him as he walked away and gave him a faint smile. She raised her brows at Zelda, unable to help the devious smirk on her lips. She gave a roll of her shoulders, tipping her head to the side and then upright again as her arms crossed over her chest and she leaned back against the booth again with her far arm draped across the back of the bench again. "Sure. Whatever makes you scream." She said rather flatly, clearly it was true as she hadn’t said it in a joking manner. Shan thought on it for a moment, the fact that she liked to hear those ear piercing screams and watch a persons fight with death end in a loss as their very soul left their eyes. What had made her so dark of a person, she wondered idly, eyes glancing to Zelda then to the ring as a giant inflatable kiddie pool was placed in the center of the ring and buckets of mud dumped into it.

<Zelda> Zelda watched the guy walk off with their slips of paper. She glanced back down at the ring, but though she was seeing what was happening she wasn't really deciphering it. It was just images on her retina, things that she was seeing but which she wasn't comprehending. Her thoughts were far too preoccupied with what she was learning about her friend. Because, yes, she considered Shan a friend even if she could only count their meaningful conversations on one hand. She nodded, before her lips parted to ask the obvious question. "So... you like to make your partner scream, not the other way around?" she asked. She wasn't judging. She was definitely just very curious. She'd not met anyone before who'd admitted to this kind of fetish. Partner. That was such an odd word to Shan, especially talking about this kind of thing. Shan never really considered having a partner during the act, ever. She didn’t see it as something lustful or attached to the emotion love. She only saw it as something to partake in for sheer excitement. She scoffed lightly and shrugged. "Yep. Though 'partner' probably isn’t the right word to use, honestly. I prefer... participant." She smiled a bit wider, tips of fangs jutting into her lower lip again. "Though most would call them victims." She left out the end of that sentence, that it was the police force that called them that and that she was most certainly a wanted person; though the police hadn’t exactly placed her face with the crimes as of yet.

<Zelda> Zelda shifted lightly in her seat. She still wasn't seeing anything. She wasn't aware of the scent of so many warm humans around them, or of the earthy smell of wet soil drifting up to them from the ring below. Her gaze drifted, glazed, as she was instead trying to imagine the kind of scenario that Shan was painting for her. Zelda was pretty acceptable, for the most part, but her mind was drifting in a way she wasn't sure she liked, or was comfortable with. Sure, she had her own victims. Sure, she killed every now and again. But she didn't take any particular pleasure in it. Wouldn't cause pain for her own gain. She understood the fetish in the bedroom insofar as domination and submission. But... participant? Victim?! She shook her head. "So, they're not willing participants? They're... people you pull off the street and you... you... " she wouldn't say the word. Couldn't. She licked her lips and skirted around it. "...kidnap them, make them scream, before killing them?" she asked. She thought they'd been talking about sex, but now she was starting to wonder if they weren't talking about that at all. At least, she hoped they weren't.


<Shan> Shan chuckled, a smug look on her face. It didn’t matter to her, if they were willing or not. She made them scream regardless, and it truly excited her to find that she held the role of God at times. "I don’t sleep with them. No point. That’s not what excites me." She informed, rather lax on the subject as she lounged next to Zelda. She looked over at her, eyes clear and signature red intent on Zelda. "If that excited me more than killing them did, then I'd do that." She shrugged. It didn’t much make sense to her to partake in an activity that didn’t excite her like the other did. "I’m fucked up, I know." She admitted, giving a light shake of her head before looking back to the ring once more. The woman had gotten in and were trudging around in the pool full of mud, and the announcer was having them start the clock. She narrowed her eyes after a moment, staring at the women who entered into a grapple, though her thoughts dashed along the subject Zelda was inquiring about. Back to thinking about what it was that made her such a dark person, Shan idly wondered if it had anything to do with how she was raised. Beaten, abused, and still rising up above it all. She had the upper hand now, and she was determined to shove humanity's face in it. Though thinking about it after a moment, she wondered if she would ever get over being so bitter. Would it be hard to do?


<Zelda> "Hm," Zelda sounded. It was a thoughtful murmur in the base of her throat because she didn't know what to think or how to feel about this revelation. Shan didn't have to share and it might be unfair for Zelda to judge - but that was the risk that Shan had opened herself up to. Zelda glanced sideways at her companion, seeing the woman in an entirely new light. This was one thing that they did not have in common. And she wondered, were she human - would Shan see her only as a victim, as someone to kidnap off the street and torture for shits and giggles? She wanted to say that fucked up was an understatement but instead only cleared her throat. She started to think maybe Shan was asexual, uninterested at all in that kind of thing - but then how would she have realised that she was more interested in women than in men? Zelda still had questions. Something, perhaps, to clarify. "So you don't ever crave a partner, then? To feel...." she paused, searching for the words. She summoned her own memories, of time she spent with Elijah; felt the flutter in her chest and in her loins. "Tenderness, and... oh, that flood of desire when someone touches you just right....?" she stopped, before risking getting a little too graphic.


<Shan> Shan's eyebrows furrowed as she stared more at the ring. Her lips pursed at her own thoughts, though that was about the only reaction she gave outwardly to Zelda's inquisition. She sighed, reaching up to smooth her hand along her hair that was pulled back until her hand hit her ponytail where it smoothed over it and twirled it once. "Not... lately, at least until recently. I told you before, the Shadow Realm really knows how to break a broken person." She gave her a one sided smile, a sad one really, which was weird for her to be outwardly showing any kind of emotion. She had been changing, and she want sure she liked it, but she couldn't stop it. It was like a growing child, the way they had no choice but to go through their growth spurt. She rubbed her cheek then with curled fingers as knuckled smoothed over her skin there. "I don't kill people very often... and I sleep around even less." As if that helped any.

[Shan]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--




<Zelda> Zelda's hands smoothed over her own dress. It was a topic that she herself had unearthed, and she wasn't about to run away from it. At the same time, however, she didn't want to push too much further - not with the stuff that she wasn't sure she was comfortable with, anyway. People had their kicks, she supposed, and Zelda herself was up in the air about how to consider humans. She used to be one. Now they were food. Now, she was learning that the majority of her 'kin' considered humans as less than equal to vampires. She would compare Shan's need to torture humans to that of a serial killer - or, if not that, than instead to humans who liked to torture animals for nothing but the pleasure. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't ever considered morally correct, and Zelda herself was a bit of a softy when it came to animal rights. Still, outwardly, other than this, Shan had shown no traits that Zelda disliked. She was torn. And so she tilted the conversation in the direction she'd meant it to go to begin with. "Until recently? You mean... you met someone? Or there's someone you feel... tenderness toward and they... don't know it?" she asked, arching a brow and turning a glittering curious gaze toward her companion.


<Shan> The brunette slammed the blonde into the mud, and the crowd went wild. Shan glanced over at Zelda and stared at her out of the side of her eyes, one brow raised higher than the other. "What, you mean like, Nyla?" She asked presumptuously, giving a smile before shaking her head. "I don’t know." And that was the truth. Shan didn’t know anything right now, in terms of how she was feeling. Her smile faded a bit before she drew her bottom lip in and ran her tongue along it in thought. What was happening to her? She clearly wasn’t used to being unsure of anything, let alone herself and her own emotions. She was struggling internally with them now, and she felt like it was going to rip her apart from the inside out. "I know I'm content." She added, finally after a moment of contemplation. That much she knew. And even then, she would go as far to say she was happy, even though she hadn’t. She felt that much didn’t need to be said, though it could if Zelda specifically asked. The blonde now had the brunette in a mud filled choke hold, though that didn’t last long as the slippery substance allowed the brunette to free herself and body tackle the blonde back into the mud. Just then the waitress came back, and asked the two of them if they wanted anything again, her tone set into somewhat of an expecting one.


<Zelda> Zelda blinked. Like Nyla? Did that mean that Shan had a thing for Nyla, and Nyla knew nothing about it? Or was Shan just pulling a name out of a hat for the sake of comparison? Zelda's mouth opened, and then shut again. When next she opened her mouth, the question had formed solidly and wasn't the garbled mess that her brain had previously wanted it to be. "You're content, but what you're saying is that beyond that contentment you'd actually really prefer if ... if Nyla could touch you just right and make your heart sing?" she asked. This time, she asked with a grin - she was hardly paying any attention at all to the wrestling match below. Maybe she would, if it were two men - but whoever thought of objectifying men like this? No one. The waitress chose that moment to interrupt them, yet again, and Zelda's mouth snapped shut. She noticed that the waitress's name badge said 'Mary'. Zelda chuckled internally and turned her beaming grin toward the expectant woman. "I'd really appreciate a Bloody Mary," she said, maybe a little too suggestively.


<Shan> Shan looked at the waitress, though she laughed, not at the woman but at the drink that Zelda had ordered. Sparky sure has a sense of humor. She thought, shaking her head and reaching into her back pocket for her wallet. She pulled out a twenty, handing it over to 'Mary'. "Keep the change." She offered, tucking her wallet back into her pocket safely. Her phone which had been vibrating for the past half hour finally got the best of her as she plucked it from her pocket and scanned over the notifications on the small brightly lit screen. She simply turned it off and repocketed it, clearly nothing more important than what she was doing at the moment, eyes watching the waitress walk away before they turned back to the ring. The brunette had pinned the blonde successfully, and was being crowned the victor. Shan couldn’t help but notice how close the time of the match was to both of their slips. It would be interesting if one of them won, she thought, eyes turning back to Zelda finally to give her a smirk that seemed glued to her face tonight. "It’s not touch that my heart longs for Sparky. That’s a bit too shallow for my taste." She shrugged, "Try... looking into someone’s eyes and seeing right down to the bottom of their souls. That very moment when the world stops around you and everything in sight but the person in front of you goes blurry, shadowed even." Jesus. Did she really mean that? What the hell was happening to her hardened heart? She swallowed briefly and blinked a couple times at her own words.


<Zelda> Zelda continued to grin. She'd have to pay Shan back - she wanted to apologise and say she really just wanted Mary to **** off, and that whatever concoction was brought back, Zelda herself wouldn't be able to drink. But the continuance of the conversation had Zelda's apology side-tracked; though she would pay Shan back later, she was now far too preoccupied with the latest confession. Not a cold-blooded serial killer, then. This was more like it - and there was no denial, either. Shan had the hots for Nyla. That the conclusion Zelda easily jumped to. She settled more easily into the booth and resisted the urge to check her own phone, to see if she had a message from a particular someone. "Oh, yeah. I get that. The eyes I like to gaze into are the clearest blue. I mean, **** - I hurt him, and I saw it. Deep down in those eyes of his, like I'd stuck a knife into his soul and all I wanted to do was dive right in and kiss it better," she admitted. The words rushed from her, and she'd have blushed, had she the ability to do so. She'd not admitted this out loud to anyone. Hell, Elijah had told her he loved her and she'd been too afraid to return the sentiment. "But, you have to admit, there is something to be said about touch, too. It's not just skin against skin, it's not as crude as that. It's... it's electric. Like... touching them, holding them, you can meld together to become one," she said, eyes focused on the two women below, betting that they weren't feeling something so damned miraculous as all that.


<Shan> She shook her head, clearly disagreeing. She didn’t have to admit anything, and so she didn’t. She shook her head, moving to uncross her legs before recrossing them at her ankles, stretching her legs out in front of her as she looked over then at Zelda. She blinked, what had gotten them into such a serious conversation? Shan wondered if Zelda had meant for that to happen, though that didn’t mean that she stopped listening. It was interesting to her to hear that Zelda had managed a deep wound on a male, for some reason. She hadn’t thought the eccentric woman capable, honestly. "I don’t know about all that, Sparky." She trailed off, her attention swaying to the male who had walked up on the two of them. He handed her an envelope, and she laughed. It was addressed to 'Red', so she knew immediately what it was, in that she had won the prize of the competition. She shook her head, no, she wouldn’t be needing this prize. She fished the two tickets out of the envelope and placed them on the table, sliding them over to Zelda as the guy walked away. "Here, I won’t use 'em." And for good reason, when looking at them one would see the giant words "LADIES NIGHT" written across them with a picture of a male stripper on them just under them.


<Zelda> Zelda grinned down at the tickets and took them, gladly, though she had no idea who else she'd ask. It seemed all her female friends were only interested in other females. And she couldn't claim any other friends, besides. And anyway, in that moment, she was thinking only of how she could demand a private strip back at Elijah's penthouse; like the one she'd witnessed the last time she'd demanded he shower because he smelled like dog. "You don't know all about what?" she asked, finally, having waited for the club's employee to walk away first. "About touch? I can only assume, then, you've just never been touched right. Am I right?"

[Zelda (DELETED 4403)]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Shan>She shrugged, shaking her head as her crimson eyes stared at the table in front of them, at the marbled design swirling around on the top of it. It was like it had been kissed by smoke; the way each swirl led into another, that split off into two or three more, connecting and swirling, twisting and turning. "I've had my fair share of intimate moments. I just got bored with that kind of stuff. Not to mention... women are clingy bitches." She chuckled, her head shaking again as she glanced over to Zelda. She hadn’t meant her in particular, and she was positive the woman would know that, her smirk dashing her lips only reassuring.


<Zelda> Zelda snorted. She knew that Shan wasn't referring to her - and she would hope not, too. Zelda was far from clingy. In fact, the very thought of love or marriage scared the **** out of her - it was never something she thought would fall on her shoulders. She leaned forward, almost conspiratorially. She opened her mouth, then shut it again. A frown marred her normally smooth brow. There were things she wanted to confess to Shan, but she didn't know whether she should. She remembered the way Elijah had reacted, when she'd told him it was probably best that they go their separate ways. In her case, she wasn't the clingy one. He was. "I ah... I have a clinger," she said, eyes raised to Shan's, though her head was slightly bowed, her hair falling forward in a red wave. She arched a brow - if Shan wasn't interested in hearing about Zelda's love life, she'd dismiss the statement, somehow. If she was interested, however, she might indicate that Zelda should go on. And so Zelda waited, still unsure.


<Shan>Her eyebrows raised as she smirked a bit wider, leaning her head falling to the side as she contemplated that. The woman had her own clingy companion, and Shan knew that it was a guy, seeing as how the woman didn’t like women in that aspect. Shan found she was curious, and that she wanted to know more. She normally didn’t want to know more, normally didn’t find herself being inquisitive about someone else, normally didn’t care much less what kind of relationship they were in. But Zelda always held her attention, so she couldn’t help but to ask. "Yeah? How’s that working out for ya?"


<Zelda> "Well," Zelda started, then cleared her throat. She shifted a bit in her chair, her fingers playing with the corner of one of the tickets that Shan had given her. She was aware that, perhaps, Shan knew of her habits. She'd come to Nyla's aid when they'd been searching for that thrall of hers after spending a few heated hours with Elijah. But she hadn't discussed it with them. For all they knew, it had been a one night stand. "Well," Zelda said, with a little more confidence. "He's kind of... he's human?" she said sheepishly, the last word inadvertently lilting upward in the form of a question. "I don't... really know how it's going to work out," she admitted.

<Shan>Shan had to stop herself from letting out a laugh, though it wouldn’t have been a boisterous one, only one of surprise, really. Human? How the hell did that work, did she constantly break him in bed or something? Shan couldn’t imagine it, honestly. Her lips formed a thin line as she pursed them, and she blinked a couple times trying to comprehend it all. "Seriously?" She asked, though she could tell that the woman wasn’t joking. "Huh. Now that is interesting." She rolled her shoulder in a half shrug, switching her feet around so the other was on top, still outstretched. She found it interesting, very much, that Zelda had chosen a human to attempt a relationship with. Perhaps it spoke to her inner desires; maybe the woman wished she could be human again, live the life of a normal young female adult in roller skates. Who knew. Shan smiled then. "If he cares, he'll find a way to make you happy." That was good advice, right?

[Shan]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--



<Zelda> Zelda arched a brow. Yes, seriously. She treated the word as a rhetorical question. She wouldn't answer it, except with the smallest of nods. Interesting? Zelda wanted to debate the point, but she gave up before she even began. Yes, it was interesting. Stupid, really, rather than interesting. She heaved a sigh and crossed her arms over her chest, the pout on her lips similar to that of a confused three-year-old. "Yeah, maybe. At his own detriment, though. I mean, it's not going to last, right? If he doesn't... if he doesn't, well, turn," she said, almost painfully. "I tried to tell him that. That it was better to just go our own ways but he wouldn't let me. He wouldn't let me leave his side for.. two nights, at least. I scared the **** out of him," she said, still looking at Shan as if Shan would have the answers.


<Shan>Shan tried to understand everything that Zelda was saying, and it seemed in a nutshell that the woman at least understood the capacity of the relationship that she had with the guy, in the facts that it probably wouldn’t work out unless he was turned. But it also sounded to Shan that he was the stubborn type, although the way she made him sound, Shan was sure that she herself would have already shot the guy just for being so damn clingy. "He sounds like a woman." She snorted then, stretching her arms above her head then interlacing her fingers and putting her hands behind her head.


<Zelda> Zelda snorts. "Yeah, maybe," she said. It wasn't that she didn't open up to people - she opened up to people all the time, if they were willing to have that kind of conversation. Zelda still wasn't sure whether Shan was actually interested. There were no questions, just statements. Derision, maybe. Zelda pushed her fingers through her hair. The whole situation came crashing back down upon her, even though she had previously thought she was over it. Obviously, she wasn't. "But he's not. I just don't think anyone's loved me quite like he does and... and... well maybe they have but I just walked away because I couldn't return it. But I think... I think I might?" she cringed, inwardly and outwardly. She hadn't admitted it to anyone, not even herself. And now it sour, as it slipped from her lips.


<Shan>"Walk away, or love him?" Shan eyed her, blood reds staring at her with a kind of intensity that only a predator would give prey. She wanted to know, she wanted to know exactly what Zelda saw herself doing in the situation she had placed herself in. Zelda was talking about love, and Shan was curious to see how the woman was handling it. It seemed like she wasn’t, honestly, the way she kept revealing her statements in the form of questions. It was clear to Shan that she was second guessing herself left and right over the subject of him, and that at this very moment, she was asking Shan for advice. She sighed lightly, shaking her head. "You do what comes natural to you. If you feel like loving him, then love him. If you feel it’s natural to push him away, then do that. In the end if it’s meant to be it'll be." Shan shrugged, it was simple, honestly. She saw no point in fighting the future.


<Zelda> It seemed to simple, that answer. What will be, will be. Zelda didn't feel like the world could be so simple. Used to be, that she did. And in every other aspect of life, she thought just that. Hell, she should have flipped her **** when Nyla kidnapped and turned her. Forced her, in a way, to either die or become a vampire. She should still be flipping her **** regarding the random crap that happened every night - the new abilities she discovered, always catching her off guard. Although, in the beginning, she did freak out a little bit, it was only natural and it didn't last. She accepted. She moved on. What will be, will be. Besides, the new discoveries were exciting, now - she almost couldn't wait for the next one. Love should be a walk in the park compared to having one's life flipped on its head, but Zelda felt like her innards were curling themselves all up in knots, and her brain couldn't quite handle the capacity of questions that she had for herself. "I'd have walked away already if I didn't love him. He held me there but I am stronger - I could have left. But I didn't have the... the emotional strength to. So I think that means that I do. I do love him. So I just... continue as we are and wait? Wait for him to grow old and die? The questions will need to be asked, sooner or later, and he needs to make that decision," she said.