Path of the Vampire forum

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Open to Meara, Flynn and Lea (if she wants to join. SURPRISE). Cameos from other characters welcome in the form of texts, phone calls, or walk through appearances. Just be sure to poke me, Meara, and Flynn via PM to make sure things are copacetic from a storytelling point of view!

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For what was likely the first night in several weeks, Flynn hadn't bothered to venture out into the darkened streets and down into the abandoned series of sewers that were inhabited by the cultist vampires of the Disciples of Crow. Between the chaotic business at the law firm and the long nights with Azraeth, the exhaustion had finally caught up with him. Where he usually had what seemed like boundless energy as he left the office, the setting sun had him feeling worn down and just...tired. It was possibly just the mental strain from a long day, with far too many demands on the part of his coworkers, and a little relaxation would do him wonders. So, rather than plan out a night of bloodshed and violence, his plan had just been to settle in at his partner's apartment to avoid the possibilities of being summoned there, as he so often was. Due to the approaching winter, the days were shorter with the sun setting earlier, meaning his vampire counterpart was already gone when he'd arrived. He send a quick text off to the man in question that he was there, and then settled down on the bed with a book in hand to pass the time.

It hadn't been too long before Azraeth appeared, with more annoyance in his expression than the human had ever really seen. Without a word, Flynn had set the book aside and waved his boyfriend over; an invitation that didn't need to be offered twice, as the vampire took up the usual place pressed against his chest. The Paladin listened quietly as the story was relayed to him, fingers working themselves through the vampire's dark hair, nails lazily dragging over his scalp. As the story came to a close with news of the poor soul being knocked out cold, Flynn smirked even as his silence continued. It was one of those situations where Azraeth seemed to speak his thoughts out loud, rather than actually expect someone to reply to him, as he even went so far as to answer his own question in regards to Meara. Having forgotten that Az had even made plans with the fellow Dragon, the human briefly considered leaving them to their devices for the night, then just as quickly brushed that thought away. For one, the vampire was talking about walking into potentially dangerous territory. While Flynn was clearly the more vulnerable one of the duo should **** go south, the pair had operated as a team since Longslade. If Az was going, then so was he. Tired or not. And two. The human highly doubted that the vampire would have let him leave, regardless of what the plan for the night had been.

As his partner left him to send a text off to Lea, Flynn sat up and leaned forward so that his elbow could rest against a knee while reaching up to take off his glasses. His eyes tracked every move that the vampire made, watching him as if to assess how likely a possibility he found the theory to be. Only when his boyfriend mentioned his lack of pants did the Paladin snort, his gaze immediately dropping below the waist as he wandered off. "Let's assume for a second that you are on to something..." the human finally said, his voice relatively soft considering that Azraeth was no longer in the room, but he knew the vampire would be able to hear him just fine. "There is no saying how deep this could go. We could literally be jumping into a rabbit hole, and not even know it. And the fact that it was a human that approached you..." So, he wasn't always the one to err on the side of caution, but his companion did have a point. Something about the story was off. And that was half the Paladin's problem with it. A human approaching a vampire these days took some balls of steel, and this one hadn't seemed to think twice about it.

There was no need for an answer on his boyfriend's part, because the human fell back against the bed with a groan, his eyes locked on the ceiling. So much for his night to relax. Dammit. "Assuming that Lea doesn't have any information, do you remember anything about the guy or what he might have said that would give us a starting point? There are dozens of black market shops in this city, and I don't think it would be time efficient to go skulking around them, hoping to come across a human with a surplus of blood at low prices..." Maybe Flynn was starting to spend too much time with Az. He was beginning to work through his thoughts out loud.

With a soft sigh, the Paladin pushed himself up from the bed. If he was going to be going into some lion's den, the least he was going to was have a damn pick-me-up, first. The only question remaining was coffee or tea?

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After Humanity Week and Halloween, Meara had been texting with Flynn and Az about different adventures that were going to be had outside of business activities. There was the Apiary, which she was sure would be amazing with its immersive arts experience. She had hoped they would go before she was contracted to play there; that way she could get a feel for the place and look for its best acoustic spots. She too was going to be starting lessons with Az again so she could learn how to do rituals. Meara was still fascinated with what appeared to be the intersection of the mystical and spiritual elements in the simple practice of communing with the fae spirits, or whatever they were.

But first; movie night with Az.

Maybe it was Meara's playfulness and refusal to grow up, but she loved children's animated movies. She had even dressed as Merida from Brave once, thanks to her trade mark fire red hair. To mark the occasion, Meara had stopped at the grocery and got a bag of popcorn, some glass-bottled sodas, peach rings, and some raisinettes. All the goodies had been packed in a canvas bag so they wouldn't tip when she traveled on the train ride from her place in the Beta Towers over to the Dragon Towers where Az and presumably Flynn lived. She put out some food for Willow, and skipped off on what would be about a twenty minute jaunt across town.

The redhead was relieved to have some people to tag along with. Her apartment seemed so cold an empty anymore, and as an extrovert that could be draining at times to the young allurist. She hadn't seen Rowan in weeks now and was starting to grow worried about her. Maybe she had gone looking for Enzo, who also had been missing of late. Sure she had Willow, whom had the energy stores of a toddler and kept her on the run. But the Corgi couldn't talk to Meara about her concerns about the state of the city after the fight at the research facility. Maybe it's because she never figured out where it was. Maybe its because she heard of the really intense fighting and that really wasn't her scene. But something about all of it caused her to want to stay away, and it seems it was for the best she did. It was almost like it had all been one huge trap to damage vampire-human relations. But what to do now? Maybe Az would have some words of guidance for Mea.

Meara's thoughts would return to the present as she exited the train and headed into the building, and hurrying into the elevator. The lift dinged, causing her to rush off down the hall and came to a stop in front of the apartment door. She straightened up a moment then pounded on the door with her right hand. "Az!" The redhead bellowed cheerily to announce her presence. "I brought snacks!" If Flynn was there hopefully this offering would get her into the paladin's graces.

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The apartment was starting to look like a tornado had hit it with the epicenter being the dining room and kitchen. One would hardly recognize that there was a dining table buried beneath the layers of books and paperwork laid out upon it if not for the six chairs around it. The kitchen fared a bit better though the counters seemed to be covered in a fine brown powder. How the owner of the kitchen managed to remain clean and white was a mystery even to her as she began to wipe the counters clean now that her latest creation was in the oven. Amalea hadn’t started her day with any intentions of baking anything, but as she had begun to go through everything scattered on the dining table, she had become overwhelmed; the need to clear her head had led her to the kitchen and one of her favorite pastimes.

With the timer set, the red-head returned to her disaster in the living room. With a sigh, she surveyed the mess wondering how she ever managed to work in these conditions. Granted, this was her latest pet project that she’d been working on for months now, though most had no idea it was in the works. Legal, of course, had been brought in early on given the sheer amount of paperwork and red tape that was expected. She hadn’t been disappointed in that regard. The only other person who even had an inkling what she was considering was Azraeth. Aside from being her brother, he was also her new assistant at Aubrerouge, at least for now. She hadn’t told him yet, but she was planning on making him her second-in-command once he had gotten settled in and comfortable with all the businesses within the Aubrerouge family.

Her nose twitching, she set about trying to organize the chaos into piles that would cover each division of the new venture. It would be a lot easier to go through each of the six piles than to find the paperwork she needed in that sea of paperwork the table had been moments earlier. The hotel and restaurant division piles were set aside for the time being as they were pretty straightforward; once they were properly set up, they would run themselves. While they weren’t the focus of the venture, they were key elements so she intended to ensure they were well thought out.

The research division was one she had thought the government would have given her the second-most trouble one and she had been correct, but it really hadn’t been much of a hassle. They had given her more issues over Sanguine and Crimson than they had this division which had been a shock. Perhaps they had decided she knew how to run such a facility; she wasn’t about to tempt her good fortune by asking. Outside of the main division, which she had known would be the longest to get approval for; the main concern seemed to be that all laws and codes were followed with a very strong emphasis on adherence to PIPEDA. She had found that a bit odd given it was well known she owned and operated a blood services center. The best she had come up with to explain it was that with children involved they were being extra cautious; something for which she couldn’t fault them.

Her phone vibrated a second before the text tone she had for Azraeth sounded. Before she could reach for the device to see what was up, the kitchen timer went off demanding her attention. Once her brownies were out of the oven and set to cool, she returned to the phone wondering it if was going to be a personal or business message. Reading and rereading it, she frowned as she contemplated its meaning. It wasn’t quite business but it would certainly affect hers if it was more than a rumor. None of her employees had mentioned anyone trying to sell bagged blood thus far, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility that one might try.

Given she already had her phone in her hand, she rapidly sent off messages to her staff wondering if they had heard anything of the sort. Perhaps they had been accosted by one of these persons on the streets; she certainly didn’t expect them to report details of their personal life, but it could be a start. Rather than reply directly to Azreath, particularly since the man lived next door, Amalea headed to her bedroom to gear up for an adventure. If she knew her brother, he’d want to head out and investigate. Research was typically her deal, but in this case, pounding pavement was going to be the best way to do that.

Having pulled on a clean pair of jeans, she unlocked her special cabinet surveying her options for a moment. A wicked looking dagger found its way into a holster around her ankle while a cousin of it was secured on her upper arm. Another of the blades disappeared down the side of her jeans. A couple of properly holstered firearms came next with the extra clips of ammo being slipped into concealed pockets. Pulling on a maroon sweater, she checked the mirror to ensure everything was covered. Satisfied with her weapon and clothing choices, the red-head removed a pair of throwing daggers from the cabinet before locking it up and heading for the closest mirror. Her hair was swiftly twisted up and secured with a concealed clip before each of the throwing daggers was added as a decorative, but deadly, touch.

Her phone had gone off several times as she had gotten ready, though in checking the messages she hadn’t been surprised to see it was her staff getting back to her. As she had expected, there had been many negative replies with a couple saying they had been approached. One message stood out to her and she suspected it was important. Shoes were pulled on with haste as she collected her keys. She did stop in the kitchen to collect a plate of brownies and some blood-jello bites before heading out of the apartment. Once everything was locked up, she walked over to the appropriate door and pounded on it.

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Meara gave a delighted giggle as she was swung around, landing gracefully as she was set down. She turned on the ball of her foot and headed inside the apartment, seeming to glance around for any sign of the other man's presence she was sure would be here. As she didn't see the other brunette, she placed her bag on the coffee table and started unloading the contents that seemed no worse for wear so that they might be shared. "I fed before I got here. But I appreciate the offer though. I'll stick to my peach rings." Her slender fingers undid the twist tie on the pound bag of gummy candy and dug her hand in to grab a handful.

She would pop one into her mouth and chew as she listened to what Az had to say. "Mr. Ryder? Is that Flynn?" Meara inquired with a smile as she gestured to the man before she continued on to think of the human blood peddler Az described. "Is this an unusual occurrence? The blood sales outside the black market stores." She asked inquisitively as she put another gummy in her mouth. "I mean forgive me for being naive, but I don't really understand the normal behavior of these dealings in town. I have been approached by Blood Thieves that want to buy blood off me. Not that I know what they would do with it. I can't claim I've see it happen in reverse, so maybe it is weird." Fingers ran back through her hair as Meara slumped down to sit on the couch. "Should we look into why this is happening?"

Soon enough, Flynn did appear and explained that they were indeed going to figure out what was going on instead of movie night. Sure she was a little disappointed, but Meara would get over it pretty quickly as this sounded fun too. Meara was always up for a good adventure. "I'm poorly equipped for escapades like that presently, as I don't have a single weapon on my person right now. But if I stop back home..." She was going to continue but was instead startled by a knock on the door, which must've mostly closed behind her after she made her way inside. "You didn't tell me you were inviting more people to our shindig, Azzy. Someone nice I hope." She teased playfully as she waited for Az to go answer the door and explain why the woman was here. She thought that might be Amalea, but she wasn't a hundred percent sure. They had never been formally introduced despite Meara running into her several times at Voodoo stuff and other events around town.

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(dont mind me posting out of turn >> just picking it up after i was gone for a bit)

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Meara listened intently to Az's description of events, causing the petite woman to furrow her brow in thought. Why would a human try to drastically undersell the main black market blood? They couldn't make a profit that way. Unless they were more concerned about moving the merchandise. Hmm now that was an idea."Makes me wonder if he was selling blood leftover from the scientists that might have the cure in it, or some other nasty kind of poison. Why else would he take a loss on his product?" As she mused, Meara rose from her seat on the couch and picked up her handbag.

"Its nice to properly meet you, Amalea. You can call me Mea." The redhead said with a curtsy before starting to go through her purse. She took out her ID, the debit card and her phone, before stuffing them in her jeans pockets. "As much as a flamethrower sounds fun, its not my style anyways. I'll be right back." She stated before hustling off down the hall to the bedroom indicated. Slender fingers pried open the box and liberated a small handgun, a holster, and several magazines of ammo. She would make Flynn or Az carry the rest of the ammo she couldn't fit in a pocket. A small knife was retried as well. As she walked back to the group in the other room, Meara worked on attaching the holster's to her thighs. When she would put her coat back on it would mostly cover the weapons. Besides, most of the town carried weapons because of the "supernatural threat." It wouldn't look out of place at all.

"So where do we start this ops mission?" She asked of the paladin, mystic, and blood thief. She was sort of the junior agent in this quartet, so she was eager to learn more about the underbelly of the town they all called home.