[Open] The Bar (Thread to Mingle In)

[Pi dArtois]

The bar was long and mahogany, custom created by the designer and carpenters to fit along the far corner of the pub and act as the show piece of the pub. Beside it nestled the pool tables and straight across, in a direct line of sight to the bartenders was the stage, and the fireplace neatly tucked into the corner, a favourite in winter when the chill of the weather outside drew people into the bar.

To the right of the stage was the door leading up to Bunk, the Backpackers connected to the pub, it's small rooms hosting internationals staying for short sojourns through the small town and others (mysterious others) who come to stay to visit.

It is a comfortable place to pull up and pass the time. You would never know it was owned by two vampires, one a soulful musician with a wanderers heart, hell bent on preserving his humanity and succeeding and Pi the blood thirsty killer whose tiny stature and small elfin features belie the deadly intention that is never to far from the surface. Together they have created a warm, welcoming and music filled pub that welcomes vampire and human both and both mixing and mingling together in its cozy atmosphere.

ooc: This thread is created to use as a casual way to mingle at Lancaster's without having to create your own thread. An IC staff member will jump into this thread to RP with you if you post, so feel free to join whenever and however you'd like.

Please note - because of the nature of this thread, there is no posting order. It is very organic, fly by seat of pants RP

[Silhouette (DELETED 6077)]

Hair fell in her face as Silhouette's head turned to find the building labeled as Lancaster's, a lounging pub a seemingly homeless stranger had directed her to, if she had need of some comforts of home without the actual home. She tucked her hair back behind her ear, and suddenly very dreadful of entering this possible den of people, turned to the small cutaway that contained two doors. Silhouette, head down, swung the left door open to find a cozier den than she'd expected. She shrugged her small pack up onto her shoulders and slowly scanned the room as she walked, noting the fireplace that she knew she'd be sitting at later and the stage in the corner. But for now.. a nice seat at the bar to the right with a comforting drink in her hand sounded passably nice. Although with the happenings of this month, she couldn't picture anything being particularly pleasant. She also wondered, with a dark sense of humor.. if she could still be influenced by alcohol as a woman with her new found condition.

She slid onto a stool, placed her pack so that it leaned against her foot, and waited to be served.

[Pi dArtois]

Slow nights were a bit like thick molasses. Time dripped in slug like globs, music drooling its way through the monologue of time and stretching it thin and brittle. Pi was eager to get out. She loved people, talking to them, smiling and listening to their stories (it wasn't always the case, but she was learning) but tonight, she wanted to be out more than she wanted to be in.

Her wolf wanted to run. She itched to feel the breeze ruffle through her teeth as her tongue lolled out to taste the chill wind as her paws crunched through unbroken snow. Soon. Soon.

The night manager would be here soon to babysit the patrons into the early hours of the morning, to free her up for her nocturnal wanderings. To free her wolf who paced so close to the surface of her skin.

Her smile was automatic when the woman sat, moving naturally in front of her with a smile. "What can I get you?" she asked. The assumption being of course, that the other woman would buy something at all. The woman was pale, with dark hair that look like it had a tendency to fall into her face (often) and dark eyes, grey and skin that was smooth and pale. Pi shifted her cursory gaze, waiting. the woman could be vampire, or she just could be naturally pale. These days it was hard to tell, especially as some vampires could drink (like Elliot) and some couldn't (like herself).

[Silhouette (DELETED 6077)]

A woman with an almost elvish beauty stood glowing before her when she looked up. Was she human? vampire? It was silly to suspect everyone and anyone of being a vampire. Without giving it too much more thought she reached into her pocket for cash and met the bartender's eyes.

A light alcohol was all she could handle before, and she'd always had a deep hatred for men who didn't control their intake.

"How much for a Sangria?" This seemed drinkable.

The corners of her mouth twitched slightly as she mentally noted the humor in her request- only due to the first four letters of the drink and it's shared similarity to the first four letters of her new true drink of choice, however grotesque the thought was.

Her throat did have a bit of an itch to it as she considered the warmth and thickness of blood. And she hoped she could stave it off with real drinks, even if just for a few hours until she could find someone alone.

She'd been lurking around the city for at least a week, making her lucrative way through town and learning a thing or two about her new powers. She'd started figuring out that if she focused on a person she could send thoughts from her own mind to another's... or see what they've seen- although that was a new discovery and she saw vague flashes before she could no longer focus. Maybe she'd mess with some of the riff raff that wandered in some time.

[Pi dArtois]

“$7.50.” Pi answered, the verbal exchange one she’d had a thousand times before, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing untoward, a normal transaction between people with no other questions asked. They were in a pub and a drink was ordered. Although the wolf crawled under her skin Pi still smiled and flashed her greeting at the woman as she answered. Maybe her eyes blinked to wolf, maybe her smile was a tiny bit feral, but none of it impacted her service, quick and efficient, a rote practiced so many times her movements were smooth and economical (and maybe, just a touch too fast to be explained by human economy).

Pi played the part of normal easily, a second skin worn loosely and comfortably. Elliot had won a hard fought battle with her about their humanity and the ridiculousness of losing empathy and goodness just because they were turned. She of course, argued that she’d never been that good before turning so his argument, by that rationale was rather flawed, but in his way (and it was a methodical water dripping tenacity sort of way), he had changed her. Given her veneer a believable affability. An affability she was coming to believe herself.

“Here you go.” Pi said, placing the wine glass in front of the woman, then pouring the rich liquid into the glass before placing the bottle away. “New to town?” she then asked, because it’s what you asked to new people (who weren’t regulars) and because that molasses moving second hand of the clock hadn’t released her to run through the loam of the good earth.

ooc: Feel free to skip Pi when it comes to Sil failing at drinking :) Aliyah can totes help and I'll swing Pi in laters :)

[Aliyah]

The door to Lancaster's flew open with flourish, releasing some of the warm air out into the blistering cold. Aliyah shivered at the sudden temperature change. Despite her body's natural body temperature being well below any warm-blooded animal, she simply couldn't adjust to such drastic differences fast enough. Maybe it stemmed from her overwhelming hatred of the snow and cold, or she just really was that terrible of a vampire. She had never heard anyone else in her bloodline claim they couldn't handle a little cold. It wouldn't be the first time she was the black sheep of her family.

It was a pretty slow night, but Pi was at the counter and waiting a lone woman, so Aliyah practically skipped over, hopping onto a stool a few down. Before speaking, she slipped her gloves from her frozen fingers, but kept her jacket wrapped tight around her torso. She slipped her purse into her lap, and finally focused her attention on the woman behind the bar. "Hey there, Pi. How are you, tonight?" she asked the matriarch of her bloodline with a bright smile. Pi and her significant other, Elliot, had served as makeshift sires for her, as she was basically the family orphan. And the blonde how come to see Pi as the darkness to her light. While Pi's dark hair and confidence exuded a clear threat, Aliyah was more bubbly and open and easily put into a fit of anxiety. And each day, she found she wished she shared Pi's attitude.

Aliyah knew the question would arise on what she wanted to drink, and Pi knew better than anyone that she would be having anything alcoholic to drink. She wrinkled up her nose, and without giving Pi a chance to ask what she would like to save some time, "Could you surprise me?" she asked with a cant of her head, unsure how else to ask for the only sustenance she could have.

She rubbed at her temples, having never before had to try so hard to hide the truth of her affliction. It wasn't often that she ventured out into the public eyes, and the only reason she was here tonight was due to the fact that she lineage owned the place. She felt comfortable knowing that Pi or Elliot were just a call away. Her blue eyes caught onto the woman down the bar and she offered a small smile. "Hello. Sorry for just barging in. I know the lovely bartender, and I wanted to stop in and say hi to her. I'm Aliyah," she explained, offering out a hand.

Gosh, she needed out more.

[Silhouette (DELETED 6077)]

Silhouette picked a ten from the mass of dollars she'd pulled out, and set it on the counter as the woman poured her drink. She thought the bartender looked very regal, as if she were not only elvish in appearance but rather an elvish queen

She took the drink, freshly poured and looking delightfully fruity. As her hands wrapped around the drink she noted she felt nothing of the coldness.

A blonde woman emerged then, brighter and bubblier than it seemed this place could allow, and yet she was nearly dancing across the bar, sitting just a short ways from Silhouette. Trying to avoid the excess attention Silhouette had made sure to keep her eyes as low as she could, yet the bubbly princess introduced herself- catching Silhouette off guard, as she hadn't socialized much beyond her late fiance in the last nearly two years. She managed the twitch of a smile and a curt nod before replying to who she now knew as Pi (which made her sing the 3.1459 chant... and simultaneously consume some delicious apple pie...)

"Just arrived last week, unfortunate circumstances" She raised the cup to her lips and tilted back, eager to fill her mouth with the burn. But there was no taste, and as the liquid cascaded paste her tongue, her throat closed, retracted as if there were a club of consumables and this sangria was NOT on the list.

Silhouette's eyes widened in surprise tried to turn as she sputtered and coughed the alcohol onto the bubbly princess. Horror washed over Silhouettes face, embarrassment would have washed across her as a deep crimson flush had she been human.. and with a leap toward a napkin holder, she began thrusting them toward the targeted woman as if she would simply dissolve if she weren't dried immediately.


I'm sorry, I'm sorry Oh my God I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!

Her mind was calling out apologies as she scrambled and she was so frantically disappointed in herself she couldn't tell if she was pushing these thoughts or if they were truly her own

So much for vampires having grace?

[Aliyah]

She offered a small smile as the woman nodded in greeting and turned back to answer a question that Pi must have asked before she had entered. People seemed to come and go from the city as if it were a subway station on the A train, and it was often unfortunate when those people seemed to meet an awful end. She didn't want to assume that the circumstances the woman spoke of were that like her own, or so many others of the city, but it was hard not to jump to such conclusions. After all, she was pale enough to pass for a vampire, and she didn't exactly give off the overwhelming impression of life. Still, it made life interesting, to say the least, when she could always imagine the way people died. And that alone was morbid enough to last her an eternity.

Before she had a chance to react, the dark-haired woman coughed up the alcohol onto her face and upper torso. She gasped and stood with wide eyes, her arms spread out with an occasional drip falling from her fingers to the floor. It was a moment later that the woman was thrusting napkins at her, which she took in her hand and began to dab at her shirt. "Let me guess...you are new to the lifestyle, aren't you? Don't know about the...aversion to food and drinks?" she whispered, trying to keep the hint of disdain out of her tone. It was an honest mistake to make if the woman was new to vampirism, and if it hadn't been for Elliot, she would have likely done the same. Still, that didn't make being covered in alcohol and saliva any more attractive or entertaining. Just gross.

Her eyes fell closed as she sighed, looking to Pi for possible help. "Do either you or Elliot keep extra shirts in the office?" she begged, looking at the woman miserably. If it turned out that they didn't, it would easy enough to go into the office and Tome to the Den. From there, she could portal to Corvidae. However, if she did that, she wouldn't want to leave the rest of the night. And with Dhara being so busy with Calen, it would make for a pretty lonely evening. Hence why she was out, in the first place.

[Silhouette (DELETED 6077)]

As the princess was taking the napkins, she'd whispered a bit about vampirism, Silhouette knew. She gulped unnecessarily and her mouth opened in surprise. How could she tell? What if she had truly choked on her drink? would she believe that? Should other vampires know she's a vampire? So many thoughts raced through her mind at once and she dearly dreaded these exact situations. She reached into her bag, pulling out a cotton button up shirt, it's soft green fabric slightly wrinkled from it's clumsy packing.


"I've got spares. Not many, but they're cheap so I can always get another. " Her eyes did not leave her feet as she set the shirt on a stool between them.

Nerves frayed in Silhouette and the itch in her throat was distracting her at the same time. As she thought about scratching that itch, her fangs slid out and Silhouette slammed her mouth shut, digging the fangs into her bottom gums. The pain was intense and her face scrunched up.

She glanced from Pi to Princess and then dashed to the bathroom... eager to doctor her gums and figuratively catch her breath. Because unlike when she was human the anxiety she felt didn't crush her lungs, but the mental blender was set on high and with her seemingly telepathic powers..that seemed extremely dangerous in public.

[Pi dArtois]

Pi was making change for the new woman when Aliyah entered, swapping the ten for the remainder, putting it on the bar in front of the woman.

“Bonjour Aliyah.. cava?” Pi answered, turning towards the door, her hand reaching under the bar to open the warmer there, pulling a bottle out of the special refrigerator. It looked like wine, and when it poured, it might be thicker than its Bordeaux cousin but no one ever watched too closely, nor cared, nor said anything when Pi placed the bottle back into the special refrigerator and pushed the door closed with a click.

Humanity was a wafer thin cover for acts that are almost, terribly human but so terribly not. Just like the drink Pi nudge towards the blond family member.

Except Aliyah never got the chance to drink her glass, or to even touch it before the new .. vampire, yes it was most definitely a new vampire spewed its guts all over the blonde. “****.” Pi stated, tracking silently the movement of two vampiric hands, one trying to pat, the other trying to retrieve and pat herself. Neither really making much headway for the wine had already soaked through shirt to skin to stain everything in between.

“In the office, are some staff shirts.” Pi offered, “Help yourself.” She finished before taking the glass she had filled for Aliyah, sliding it over towards the woman with the face clearly expressing her frayed nerves and what looked like near hysteria.

“Please… sit.” She offered, pushing the full glass to the front and tapping the rim. “As Aliyah said, You… are only going to be able to eat.. or drink.. this, from now on.” Pi explained, the glass, half full, red as the darkest grape. “Please.. oui?”