< Tayden >Tayden never thought he’d be in this position. Sitting in a bar or club without Anika, as this was her sort of thing, than his. He would follow her just about anywhere, because they had seen the best and worst of the other. Truth was, they were more friends than anything else, with the occasional perks of sex and blood. One night, he knew they would go their own way-but Tayden never believed it would be because she had died.[Open to Vampires or Blood Dolls with access to The Dungeon]
What they had was a sweet set-up. She fed off him, and he off her every couple nights. They worked together as a cohesive team, and now that was gone. And while it had only been two weeks, Tayden needed the blood of a vampire. It was just a simple fact. He couldn’t get stronger if he didn’t get it.
Tayden looked down at the whiskey in the glass he had been babysitting for the better part of half an hour and sighed. He wasn’t good at this sort of thing. How do you ask some vampire if they can give you some of their blood? He’d done it before, but very few of those scenarios worked out well in his favor. Yet, here he was. In the throngs of vampires in their very own refuge.
The Necropolis.
He scanned the well known named vampire club and its outlay as he sat at the bar. There was an office of sorts to the right corner and the tender came around asking him if he wanted something else and Tayden just shook his head no before he grabbed the drink and moved around the club. He took a seat near the stage, watching the house band perform as his eyes darted around for potential vampires he might try and approach. But first, he needed a little liquid courage.
<Amalea> Inventory and ordering was a pain-in-the-rear making the redhead extremely happy that she only had to do so once a week. The automated inventory system employed for the higher-end product certainly helped, but there was still a fair bit to be done. Vampire tastes, she had found, tended to be fickle and fluid seemingly changing depending on which direction the wind blew. After a couple years in the business, though, Amalea had learned a couple tricks to keeping a decent stock sure to keep her customers happy.
Fingers flew over the keyboard as she entered the last few numbers. Double-checking her work, she saved her work. Leaving the computer to run all the reports, the human decided to venture to the main part of The Necropolis to see what was new and exciting. On a normal day, she saw the club for only a couple minutes as she walked through to the entrance of her domain. It didn’t seem so long ago that she had approached Amara about a job in the Necro.
Never in her wildest dreams did Lea ever consider that one day she’d be in charge of The Dungeon, the vampire-exclusive portion of the club. It wasn’t something she’d change though. Nodding to the bartenders as she approached the bar, she was pleased to be greeted with a cranberry spritzer. Taking it with a smile, she turned to glance over the gathered crowd. It always nice to see humans and vampires mingling together, even if some of the humans were unaware that vampires walked among them.
< Tayden > “Well hey, cutie.” Tayden looked up from his drink to see a woman standing across from his table, with her own drink in her hand. “Well, hey.” Tayden offered the woman a smile as he glanced her over with his own two eyes. The first thing he noticed was the cut and color of her dress. The material hung to her every curve like it had been fitted especially for her and flattered her form entirely. Then his eyes moved to her hair color, which was a sandy color blond. He didn’t have a thing against blond’s, Tayden just never felt attracted to them, no matter how pretty they were. And she was very pretty. Stunning even.
“Want to sit down?” he offered the woman, gesturing outwards to one of three empty chairs at the table he just claimed. ”Love to.” She said with a wide smile, pulled a chair out and sat directly across from Tayden. The third thing he did was to see if the woman was breathing and she was. He would make their conversation short and to the point before she got bored with him and moved on to a different person that captured her attention. ”I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in here before. You new in town?” She asked while raising her glass up to her lips.
“No. I just never had a reason to come here before.” Tayden admitted as he swirled the liquid in his own glass around and then took a quick sip of it. ”Why did you come tonight then?” The woman set the wine glass down and inched closer, staring deep into his eyes. She was trying to make a connection with him for whatever reason and Tayden couldn’t be more interested. He needed blood, but not her blood. “Because I had nothing better to do.” Tayden shrugged his shoulders before the woman got up after a roll of her eyes and moved away from his table after muttering ’jerk under her breath. It seemed the truth wasn’t always appeasing to everyone.
<Amalea> From her vantage point, Lea smiled as she noted a few of the regulars in their usual spots - some at the bar with others in the dimmer back booths. It was always nice to see familiar faces along side the unknowns. She had to admit that she missed the times when she knew nearly every person that walked through the door, but she still enjoyed her position. There was a certain satisfaction in running The Dungeon and providing discreet service to the vampires of Harper’s Rock.
The house band was popular as always though the night was still a bit too young for the dance floor to be completely full. There were a couple of human couples by the looks along with a quite drunk group of females off to one side. Catching the bartender’s eye, she nodded towards the group - an unspoken, but understood, signal that the group was now cut off from further drinks before they could cause a scene. Lea knew she wouldn’t have to tell the staff such things, they were very well trained, but it never hurt to let them know she had their backs.
It was the blond-haired woman that caught her attention next as she slid into a chair at an already occupied table. A singular eyebrow rose as the woman left the table mere moments later in a what appeared to be a huff. Apparently she hadn’t gotten what she wanted from the man seated there. Setting her empty glass on the bar, Lea made her way over to the table in question. “I’m sorry. Was she bothering you?”
< Tayden > Tayden’s line of vision shifted to a door in the club towards the right side of the club. This probably wouldn’t have happened, had Tayden not watched the woman that had been sitting across from him not even a few seconds ago, go to another part of the club to find something he couldn’t and wouldn’t offer her. And when he saw someone wearing something...bold, he would put it as, go into the door that had just been closed, Tayden’s interest was gathered on what was behind that door.
Maybe a back way out of the club? A very important person room? A private party room? A place to eat, even, maybe. The possibilities were endless in Tayden’s mind, but never, did he actually think it to be something other than a place that was typical or had been heard of being in a club before.
A redheaded woman came to the table, blocking his line towards the door for only a second as she approached the table. He didn’t even know she was talking to him-because Tayden wasn’t the guy that a lot of people approached. He was pretty ordinary, quiet and
tended to blend in for the most part. Until you knew him and knew that he drank vampire blood every couple nights.
He looked around, expecting for the redhead to have been talking to someone else at a different table, only to see she was standing next to him, waiting for his answer. “Hmm? Oh!” Tay laughed and then waved a hand in the air, dismissing the woman that had been there a few minutes before. “No. It was a short and sweet conversation.” He informed the woman with the red hair, in disbelief that this was now the third redhead he had encountered in less than two weeks. Harper Rock was getting better and better in Tayden’s eyes. “Do you know where that door leads?” She had to have worked here, because she was asking about that woman and the small scene the two of them had made for other tables nearby to see and hear.
<Amalea> Lea had to stifle a light giggle at the man’s bit of confusion. After all, it wouldn't do to laugh at the customers.his laugh, however, was a rather pleasant and welcome sound. It suited him well, she thought. “Glad to hear that. We have a very low tolerance here for people who bother other patrons,” she informed him with a smile. “We want people to be able to enjoy themselves.”
The redhead glanced towards the door she had exited not too long ago. She had come to the conclusion long ago that those who didn't know about The Dungeon tended to fall into one of two categories - fledglings who hadn't been told the secret and those humans who were unaware of the supernatural. There was a curiosity as to which of the groups this man belonged. She knew she could find out easily enough, but prefered to play things by ear for the moment.
“I do, actually,” she grinned mischievously, “Would be a crying shame if I didn’t know anything about the club I manage.” Gesturing with her hand, she indicated the room they were currently in, “We’re currently standing in the Necropolis. The door leads underground where The Dungeon, an exclusive club, awaits.” Lea didn’t want to give too much away until he gave an indication as to whether or not he was to be trusted with the real secret of the underground facility.
< Tayden > Tayden listened to the red head and then smirked a little. “Probably would give you a bad rep on yelp or something if you didn’t know.” He agreed, with a nod of his head before the smirk vanished and Tayden was chuckling again. He knew the name of the club, but didn’t know why it was named what it was named. He figured it was some sort of Italian or latin name for something, and that was good enough for him-other than the most important thing he knew about. Supposedly there were vampires that came here a lot, and maybe one of those vampires could help him out.
Tayden couldn’t help but try and figure out if this woman in front of him was a vampire or not. He glanced around, but each time his eyes swiveled back in her direction, he was looking for the telltale sign that this woman was breathing. Without being so obvious, or making it look like Tayden was staring her her boobs. He wasn’t that sort of guy-sure, tayden liked boobs as much as the next guy, but he didn’t need to stare at them. Nothing got accomplished by staring at them, other than making a woman feel very uncomfortable and referring to him as a creep or pervert. Everyone’s seen that in at least half a dozen movies.
“Like a VIP sort of room?” Tayden asked, mildly curious as to what exclusive meant in this sort of club. Money, reputation, etc, etc. Could be a lot of things in a club. “Or is it something that people book for their friends? How much does something like that run a person?” Tayden didn’t have a lot of friends, but he was trying to dig around just enough to figure out what this dungeon place was really about.
<Amalea> She laughed softly at his joke about Yelp. Honestly, she wasn't really sure if the club was even listed on the site as she had never thought to check. The red-head made a mental note to look into Yelp and sites like it. The customer reviews would be interesting to read, but she sincerely hoped damage control wouldn't be necessary.
Lea found herself idly wondering about the man seated in front of her. She was almost certain he wasn’t an older vampire. He didn't act like one based on her own experiences. For one, he wouldn’t have asked such questions and for two, most of the older ones really didn’t have more than a basic understanding of modern technology. Unlike a novice, she didn't assume anything from his choice of drink. While most vampires couldn't consume alcohol, there were certain ones, like Amara, that could even if no benefit was gained from it.
Honestly, she didn't care much either way as long as he didn't try to hurt anyone as she rather enjoyed trying to figure out if someone new was human or vampire without using her powers. It was a fun game she played with herself and helped hone her observation skills. He was a bit of an enigma, though, which was wonderful but made trying to gauge what she should disclose about The Dungeon difficult.
Finally, Lea decided on a basic version of the truth. “It’s more like a VIP area than an area for hire.” The red-head paused for a moment to consider her word choices, “To be completely honest, it's more like an entire separate nightclub geared towards a very discerning set of clientle. I wouldn't even be able to give you an estimate on booking it for a private function as no one has ever asked about it before now.”
It was a rather interesting concept, though, that perhaps she would have to consider another time. Hosting private functions was certainly one way to utilize the space and expand business. “Might have to consider that for the future. It has plenty of space for large functions.”
< Tayden > The woman seemed to be pretty forthcoming with information that was asked of her. Tayden appreciated it, even if he didn’t understand how a club could have a club and what the clients would be in there, compared to here. Dare he ask? Tayden wanted to know, because he wanted to know if he was the sort. Or if he wasn’t, why he wasn’t. Why were none of the people up here, down there?
“Depends...can you afford to do a party more than another club scene downstairs?” Tayden asked, looking the woman in the eyes. “Might have to look at liquor sales on each night and only make it rentable certain nights of the week. I imagine any club would make a killing on Thursdays through Saturday-early Sunday mornings pre bar close than you might make for a private party.” Tayden shrugged, offering his two cents worth, even if the woman hadn’t asked for it. He wasn’t the type to screw over a business, or anyone, really. And since it had been his suggestion, he didn’t want it to kick the woman in the butt later.
“What sort of clientele?” Tayden asked, his eyes going back to the ever present, yet ever ominous door that was for certain people-potentially not him. “Can I see? Check it out? Might want to rent in some night in the future. Never know.” Tayden said with a small grin, before taking another swig of his drink, eyes roaming off the door to the people in this club and not the special one downstairs.
<Amalea> Amalea had to admit she was more than a bit impressed by his break down for trying to decide if a private party would even be profitable. She had to be honest and say that the thought of renting out The Dungeon for the night (or day) ever occurred to her. It would be an interesting way to drive business and perhaps spark interest from new patrons, but only if it’d be profitable. She would have to look into that later along with the possibility of potentially renting it out to humans during the day. For the time being, her guest was far more deserving of her attention.
“It’s certainly something I probably should consider looking into even if it doesn’t end up being financially viable at this point in time. If it’s not viable, I should be able to also see the problematic areas that would need addressing. I really can’t see a downside to taking the time to do the number crunching, so thank you,” she smiled at the man in front of her. It really was a great idea and was one she hoped would work out. It had some fantastic potential.
How does one explain vampires to someone who may not be familiar with the city’s darker side? Perhaps the real question was ‘should someone explain vampires to someone they don’t know?’. Her answer was almost always ‘No,’ as silencing a human who took the news badly was a rather messy affair. It wasn’t something she was familiar with given she had never had that particular discussion with anyone nor was she particularly keen to do so. A half-truth would have to do for now, “The usual clientele are the sort that value their privacy and the ability to let their guard down and truly enjoy themselves in a safe, secure setting.”
Could he see it? That was the million dollar question if there ever was one. “I don’t know, can you?” she asked teasingly. “Sorry, old joke thanks to an English teacher I had in fourth grade who’d always say that when you asked if you could use the restroom.” She wasn’t entirely convinced he was being serious about potentially wanting to rent it, but she could tell he was genuinely curious what lay beyond that forbidden door. A quick glance at her watch told the female that the club wouldn’t be too crowded yet, though there would still be a fair number of fanged patrons already partaking of the facilities.
In the end, it was his good business sense and suggestion that swayed her towards allowing him entry. She suspected he’d make a good employee if he was seeking a job and for that, he’d have to know about vampires. Well, no, he didn’t have to know, she supposed, but it would make things easier later on if The Dungeon started offering rentals. If he reacted badly, she would just have to ensure things were taken care of, but for now, she’d have to see how things went, “Sure, we can head down and you can get a look at the facility if you’d like.”
< Tayden > Tayden laughed lightly as the redhead turned his own question around on him. He had a teacher like that towards the end of elementary school. Probably everyone did at one time or another. To him it seemed like teachers couldn’t wait to get the upper hand on a kid every now and again. To him it was like who cared? Everyone knew what the kid meant and was asking. But that was teachers for you. He had always been an above average kid-not exceptional and not one of those who stuck out-mostly C’s and B’s. So Tayden knew what it was like to be asked that question. Only now it seemed different and didn’t spark an eye roll from the guy like it had back then. He just waited, amused.
He had to admit that when she first started talking about the place downstairs that he wasn't surprised those people liked their privacy. There were no windows and the only way down seemed to be through a door that always stayed closed, minus an occasional entry or departure from the secret room. However, Tayden was surprised when she said he could go down there and look around, given all things the woman had said about clients wanting to be private and their activities too. “Cool.” He said as Tayden finished his drink and then stood up and offered her a hand. “I’m Tayden. Or Tay. Whichever works for you.” He didn’t care, it wasn’t like the nickname was overly special. His sister called him that, along with at least two others he knew off hand at a quick thought. “Now that you know my name, if anyone comes around blabbing about the facility-not that they will-but if they do, you know who to look for.” He added in, just in case she was wary of bringing him into a place that was supposed to be so...guarded? Secretive? Maybe both? He wasn’t sure what word to use, but it was somewhere between the both of those words. Tayden stood by the table, with enough distance away from the woman as to not make her uncomfortable. He would wait until she decided to keep going and allow him entrance, or to last minute turn him away.
