Childlike Curiosity.

[Harvey (DELETED 5982)]

Harvey plopped himself down against the hard concrete curb, knees tucked up against his chest as he half leaned back onto one elbow. It was nice, for once, just to sit back and watch the world around you. Being back in a place where they speak your language and it's not blistering hot was a plus, not to mention being in Canada again, despite it not being his home.

Cars drove by, people walked on, everything seemed normal in the world around him, but not within. Heartbeats. It's not normal to hear a person's heartbeat from five yards away, is it? To smell iron constantly, to have to keep rubbing your eyes to wipe away the sight of open wounds. At first he assumed it was just bad memories, Harvey had seen his fair share when he was in the Congo. But this was different. That was war, hatred, anger, confusion and pain. Something else made Harvey Douglas smell blood, half-taste it in his mouth, make his entire body go rigid whenever someone got too close.

Something primal.

How long had it been? Days, weeks, over a month since some stranger took a bite out of his neck. An infection maybe, but he'd seen those as well, this wasn't any normal kind of wound, if it even could be called that. It wasn't bleeding, hardly left a scar and only itched whenever someone stepped too close to the battered man.

Taking a cigar from his denim Jean pocket along with a small, papery booklet of matches, Harvey Douglas struck a match, lit the cigar and happily puffed away. He was back, and it was time to raise a little hell.

[Nikolae]

Nikolae Dragomir scrolled through the text on his phone, mentally calculating the time it would take to acquire the objects his first-borne had asked for. His lips twitched in a ghost of a smile - there was a pretty good chance Chai, Mordechai, would get them first. Nik was nothing if not a lover of competition, and the hulking man always gave him that. Always kept him on his toes. The kinship that was building in the Dragons cold heart for Mordechai was foreign but welcome. He genuinely liked the guy. He nearly laughed out loud at the revelation, but shook his head and tucked the phone back into his front jeans pocket. He had time to stop for a bite, as it were, and deposit the wad of cash in his pocket. He'd stolen it from the creatures he'd been killing in the Castle, and picked up wallets strewn all over the place. He was pretty sure the wallets were all that was left of unsuspecting humans that had wandered into the place. The Dragon grimaced - those poor souls had no doubt been ripped to shreds and then some. Not the best way to go.

He passed by a stranger sitting on the curb as he stepped into the building and bee-lined for the ATM. He deposited the money - nearly 20,000 this time - and made an idle glance at his account numbers. He was making up for the cash he'd spent making his slice-and-dicer unbreakable pretty quickly. He had a bag full of vampires ashes too, that the shop would pay a decent enough amount for. No other reason to pick the dusty **** up. He turned and left the place to find a meal for the night, pausing just outside the door as his gaze fell on the disheveled form of that stranger still sitting there. His slitted pupils zeroed in on the male, taking in all the little nuances that pretty much screamed what he was. A vampire. And judging by his gaunt, painfully pale features, a new one at that. Possibly hadn't fed, what, ever? The Dragomir grimaced and bit back an irritated sigh. It was a sigh he was all too familiar with - hadn't he once been that half-confused, blood-starved creature? To this day he still only had hazy memories of what he'd done to survive. But those weren't pretty. He'd spend eternity doting on Azraeth to make up for the way Nikolae had turned he and his twin brother Azariel. Ariel wouldn't accept the doting affections, though. He'd settle for free gifts though, Nikolae mused as he rolled his shoulders back - the picture of non-threatening.

Nikolae hesitantly sat down, a respectable distance from the stranger but still close enough that it was obvious he was sitting there for a reason. "You new here in town?" He finally asked, draping his arms lazily over his bent knees. This wasn't comfortable, and it wasn't clean. But it was a far cry from the sewers the Dragon had once been forced to hunt in. He grimaced and eyed the man again skeptically. He could lead the guy to those sewers to hunt for rats, but that particular meal was anything but tasty. "I'm Nikolae. Dragomir." He smiled kindly - a feat for the cold-hearted Dragon - and dipped his head in greeting.

[Pi dArtois]

There weren’t supposed to be people camped out on the sidewalk as if the concrete was a park and an ideal place to lounge. Their feet where hanging over the edge of the pavement, bums resting on the edge of the path and it was cold, damn cold. Two men, now that she was in a position to see them. On her ***, on the pavement behind them, her hip stinging from the knock it had taken by the self same concrete.

“Merde!” she uttered, sitting up and ostentatiously rubbing the *** side of her hip.

Nope, she had not expected men to be sitting where they were sitting, at all. Sure she might have been a vampire but that didn’t mean she was going to prance about with no clothes on, or like these guys, sit on the sidewalk as if this was the middle of summer and the weather was particularly pleasant for sidewalk sitting. I mean, who sat on sidewalks anyway, even in the summer. Especially outside a club. Maybe they were drunk, Pi thought sitting up slowly. Maybe they were drunk and were sitting there waiting for a taxi because the bouncers wouldn’t let them back into the bar, being drunkard and all.

It was the location outside the club that Pi didn’t see them, didn’t register their location until she was on top of them, a group leaving creating a sidewalk blindspot she hadn't realised hid two men until it was too late and her foot was in danger of planting itself on the hip of the first one. She had caught a glimpse of dark hair, wavy before she toppled over, adjusting her position so she didn’t fall face first into the lap of the first guy but rather ungainly landing with a thud half on top of them only to roll off and behind.

Her right arm caught most of her weight as her feet slipped out from underneath her, which saved her face from planting itself nose first into the hard surface, the rest of her body hadn’t fared the same fate. Instead she had to rely on her heavy winter jacket and skinny jeans to deflect injury there and they were less than useless.

“Je suis desolete.” Pi replied, apologizing for falling down on top of them, but her tone clearly unapologetic as she sat up, her hand that was patting her own *** stopping while she took the time to survey their rather impromptu ménage.

She wasn’t hurt, not by any means. She just found herself in an awkward position and a rather embarrassing one too. The scarf she wore had slipped loose of the position she’d been wearing it, high on her chin, wrapped a warm fluff around her ears. Blue eyes flashed between the two men she’d just half fallen on.

Pi's Attire

[Harvey (DELETED 5982)]

Harvey was taking no notice of his surroundings, let alone the man who made his way into the club and back out. It wasn't until a body was being sat down near him did the man even bother to take his eyes from the glow of his cigar, looking to the stranger.

'you new in town?'

Harvey tilted his head to one side slightly, looking around briefly to determine whether or not the man was speaking to someone else. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by his, Nikolae's, introduction. With a brief nod he smiled, mumbling around the smooth brown paper “Harvey.”

'Merde!'

A word. French. Something he recognized. Not much else warning was being given until yet another stranger had simply fallen on top of him. He'd been awake for twenty, MAYBE thirty minutes and they were all flocking to him, how unusual. Harvey looked over at the woman as she gathered herself and sat, nodding once. “Are you alright, or do you usually dog pile people on the curb in this neighbourhood?”

He took the time to look over the two of them, looking like a pair of pair of photo shopped underwear models in the flesh. He became very suddenly aware of his lack of hole-less shoes, or clean pants for that matter. Did he stumble in some convention for pretty people or something? Harvey scooted away slightly from the two, clearing his throat once more to speak.

“To answer your previous question, yes. I'm new here.” He tried his best casual smile, feeling the dimples forming in his cheeks, his teeth pearly white despite not having the chance to brush them for quite some time.

[Nikolae]

Nikolae nodded to the mans response. A name, Harvey. Something different, but not so different that it had Nik cringing. Some of the people in this town had the most bizarre titles and names. Hadn't there been some strange creature bounding around the city a few years ago claiming to be batman? He shook his head ruefully at the half-memory, and began to extend his hand for a shake and formal introductions when a woman suddenly collapsed and sprawled over them. The Dragon stiffened, narrowing golden slit eyes at the woman suspiciously. He knew instantly she was a fellow immortal, though he was pretty sure he'd never met her. Which didn't mean much, he still was making up for lost time in that regard. She was speaking french, though, which he took to mean she'd been a local or at least Canadian before being turned.

"Let me," He said at the same time Harvey spoke. He winced at the mans smart words and shook his head, reminding himself that the young vampire wasn't one of his blood. He'd recognize a Dragon a mile off with the eyes of his lineage. Placing a hand carefully at the woman's elbow he carefully hefted her weight up and back to push her off of them. "Are you alright?" He asked, emphasis on the word 'are' as his brows lifted curiously.

His attention was diverted again by Harvey, and he tilted his head at the mans odd reactions. He was smiling but it was with anything but mirth. Nik briefly considered getting up himself and walking away. Somehow the fledgling had managed to keep himself from burning to death in the sun, so he must know something afterall. He tensed, then relaxed again and shook his head. "Have you eaten?" He asked the man abruptly.

[Pi dArtois]

Pi wasn’t clumsy by nature, how could she be when she could scale walls with her hands and feet and had power to do **** no normal human being could do, but no amount of super voo doo power could change the laws of natural physics (okay they could, but this was different). And sneak attacks by meandering humans out of a noisy nightclub, thrown together with curbside loungers equaled somewhat hilarious mishap. And not in her favour.

Most of the hilarity being at her expense it seemed.

And what she received were two very different reactions from the men sitting on the curb, each as dissimilar as night was from day. One, shot her a flippant quip and a tossed look before continuing on with the conversation as if nothing had happened.

The other, held out his hand, his grip firm on her elbow, supporting her back and helping her right herself. Old world concern, and a deferential consideration.

Both reactions gave her pause, the first because the man was so obviously unkempt, clothes far from clean, and in weather like this obviously inadequate for the conditions his shoes were in sad shape indeed.

Her gaze was trained on the scruffy one even as the other helped her to straighten and it was then she realised the gentleman, the one with the wavy dark hair and solicitous nature, was like her, vampire, blood sucker, night walker, and by his look as it slid across her features and back towards the man he was sitting next too, she’d bet a gold guinea – he suspect what she was too.

“But of course.” She answered, her words in answer to both of their questions, her smile a little self deprecating at her currently awkward position on the concrete next to (and behind) them. "Thank you." She added, directing the question towards the man who helped her right herself.

She wanted to stand (and pretty soon she would). Seeing as she was now, mostly just blocking the sidewalk, it seemed a prudent decision, but she vacillated, turn between standing and leaving and … god, she had no idea what good she thought she would do here.

Except, she hadn’t spent the first year of her life as a vampire as Under Secretary building what she had for new vampires without some deeply held concern for zhow those abandoned by their sires fared. It had been, the single driving focus of her early vampire years and the only reason she had created the Training Room, which stood, not one block away from this very position.

A normal person would have walked away by now. Dusted themselves off, with pink cheeks made redder by marked humiliation at what had occurred and mumbled a rather haphazard apology before skulking away in the hopes that the moment could be forgotten as quickly as it had happened.

Except, she was no more normal today, than she had been three years ago, when the younger (more impressionable) Pi had thought she could help change this new world they’d lived in. And failed.

“I… own a place close, a Training or .. gymnasium. It .. there is a small abandoned shop next door, where.. it’s safe to.. eat.” She offered, her words a little slower than she would like as she tried to wrap the offer in bland terms for any uninitiated ears. But the more experienced vampire would understand what her offer meant, a private building, with no prying eyes and low security. Safety, to eat, to teach a new vampire how to eat... safely.

[Pi dArtois]

Pi dusted herself off, her hands running down her hips, wiping themselves along the outside of her thighs as she stepped back, her steps taking her back and away from the two sitting there on the side of the street.

The city had taught her many things in how to handle yourself when you ran across instances of something different. Be cautious, be helpful, but sometimes it was the better part of valour to be scarce. Like now. Exiting after such a clumsy entry seemed like a very good idea; sticking around an unacceptable option, steeped in silence stretching awkwardness.

“Feel free to go if you like, you can’t miss it. Just behind the bank, is an abandoned .. building. It’s good, if you want… privacy.”

She finished, her smile in place she turned to leave. “Good luck.”

Turning slowly she started back down the street, heading to Lancaster’s and leaving the men to their own devices.