bike parts, bike parts everywhere

[runningred]

{from here.}

Jay's room is something of a mess. There are designs and schematics all over the place. The table is covered with electronic components and prototypes. He's been tinkering a lot lately.

Jay laughs and sheds his jacket, kicking off his boots. "Sorry for the mess. I've been kinda busy lately."

Comments

[runningred]

"It was meant as a complement." Jay chuckles.

"Seems to be, yeah." He muses, staring up at the ceiling. "I was putting it down to blood on an empty stomach."

[onceaviking]

"Could be," Eric replies. "Could be increased exposure. Could be me. We don't really know how it works."

He palms himself.

"And I don't mind compliments. "

[runningred]

"Why would it be you?" Jay asks, curiously. "Has something changed since last time?"

He breathes a sigh and runs a hand over Eric's chest and stomach, watching him touch himself.

[onceaviking]

Eric shrugs.
"Part of my duties is to keep vampires in line. But there are rules governing the procedures. My Queen had someone she needed gone discreetly without too much consideration of protocol. "

He smiles.

" I may have accidentally ripped out her throat instead of staking her. With my teeth. "

Another shrug.
" But it was little enough, so your idea about an empty stomach are probably right. "

[runningred]

"Oh." Jay raises an eyebrow but doesn't judge. He's had missions go that way as well. Rarely to the point of ripping throats out with his bare teeth but he has gotten messy and close. "So the blood of other vampires makes you stronger?"

He stretches and leans across to kiss Eric's chest again, "I suspect it's the same of drinking on an empty stomach - gets you drunk faster and leaves you drunk longer."

[onceaviking]

"It does," Eric says, carelessly.
" That is why I'm not supposed to be drinking it."

He looks up at the ceiling.

"Then again, there are plenty of things, I'm not supposed to be doing that I am doing anyway."

Such as, well, Jay.

[runningred]

"Hey, you did what you were told. The Queen wanted her gone, she's gone. The how doesn't need to be discussed, just that it's done." Jay speaks from experience. Results trump method.

He grins and kisses the cleft of Eric's chest. "I take it that feeding off me in front of everyone at the bar caused a bit of a stir? I got the impression that despite my best efforts, I didn't endear myself to Pam."

[onceaviking]

"Pam doesn't like humans," Eric answer.

"And she is loyal. Lazy and greedy, but extremely loyal. She sees you as a risk and as she doesn't know about this place, she probably thinks you are more of a problem than you truly are. A problem she wants to protect me from. The feeding was the least of it. Me inviting you is far more worrisome I should think."

[runningred]

"Then I don't visit again. Easy. I can't be a risk to you if I'm never seen. Let me become that scruffy one night stand that never gets mentioned again." Jay waves it away, falling back to the bed. "Besides, as nice as your club was, sad little goth kids are not my scene."

[onceaviking]

"Pam will do as she is told," Eric says, flatly. "And she knows that. It is impossible for her to disobey me."

He sighs.

"But I agree. They are annoying. Luckily, there is little I have to do, apart from sitting there. "

[runningred]

"Still, better not to give her cause to make her worry that I'm a threat."

"It's a pity really. Groupies on tap like that, you could be living large. I'm sure there are some who do. Or is that against the law for you guys?"

[onceaviking]

"It's vital that we are not seen as a threat to humans," Eric replies. "Everything has to be safe and consensual. Or in keeping with the Eleventh Commandment. Not in my district though. If people go behind my back, they will be found out and they will regret it."

He sounds smug.

[runningred]

"So you have to be seen to be drinking the bottled shit so none of the sad little children can get grumpy and claim you didn't ask first." He nods, seeing the sense in that. "No wonder you turn up here so hungry."

"So is that why you throw the guy off the stage?"

[onceaviking]

"No, we just make sure that it's consensual," Eric says, demonstrating a rather unorthodox understanding of that particular concept.

Glam outing someone into submission isn't exactly what most people would call consensual.

"No. He was talking back. A newcomer who'd been lax in reporting his arrival as he is required to do under vampire law. You have to be firm from that getgo."

[runningred]

"But none of the mascara brigade do it for you?"

Jay chuckles warmly. "You certainly made a show of it. He won't forget that in a hurry. Nor will anyone who saw it."

[onceaviking]

Eric shrugs. "Occasionally I'll pick one. Or Pam will pick one for me. She knows what I like. And you're right. Everybody else's impression was just as important. If they fear you, they stay in line. Mostly anyway."

He stretches. Slowly.

"I am one of the oldest vampires around in that area. They won't try anything."

[runningred]

"But you make sure they know they're nothing but a snack? Seems like the best way to keep them from getting involved in your business." Jay muses, stretching out as well.

"Over a thousand years, I guess you must be. I'm guessing not all the vampires of the old world found America quite as appealing."

[onceaviking]

"It has happened that one or two got ideas, but that gets dissuaded fairly quickly."

Or glamoured away.

"Not everyone did, no. And the rest of us have spread out. My maker is in Dallas. There are others. We don't get in each other's way. "

He seems relaxed. And willing to talk. A contrast to the snarling predator previously.

[runningred]

"Haven't found anyone worth keeping around yet? I'm surprised, handsome guy like you." Teasing much.

"Makes sense, each of you looking after their own territories. Do you get to see much of each other?"

[onceaviking]

"I don't keep humans, Jay," Eric replies, looking up at the ceiling. "It doesn't hold my interest."

Though this business with William Compton and the waitress does pique his interest. For purely strategic reasons of course.

"We are not really social creatures. But I'll know if he wants me. To come by. "

[runningred]

"Is probably a good thing." Jay chuckles, sitting up. He knows he won't make a very good pet. Not for long anyway. "Besides, we're suckfully fragile creatures."

"Yet you and Pam so tight. Or is she still too young to be out on her own? I noticed she was a little rough in her feeding when she had a go with me."

[onceaviking]

"That you are," Eric agrees.
"And, as I said, Pam is lazy. She isn't going to make an effort unless she has to. At least not for you. "

He looks over at Jay.
" There are no set rules for when it is time to move on. Some never do. "

[runningred]

Jay chuckles and rubs his neck, remembering the burn of her fangs. "I guess she sees no reason to be gentle with a blood bag. I have to admit it makes me appreciate your effects all the more."

"Pam might be lazy but she seems to manage the bar well. Gives you time to do what you need to do."

[onceaviking]

"She does," Eric says, not addressing whether or not - and certainly not why - he is making effort.

"She bitches a lot but she's good at what she does. And some things do have to be handled by me. It leaves me time to do that. "

[runningred]

Jay chuckles as he stretches again. "It's a pity me being around is a liability. You could do with an extra bouncer."