Tequila! (open)

Her mother would've been mortified - little Dawn heading out to a location with flamenco dancing in a white dress! For shame! Her mother had been of the opinion that only red and black were appropriate colors for the dance. Of course, she also felt that hair was supposed to stay its natural color, so obviously she was fucking clueless. Grinning as she ran her fingers through her currently crimson hair, she shook it happily. Maybe dear old ma would have accepted the compromise of red hair for the dance.

Laughing aloud at her thought, she headed into the festive environment. She'd been a good dancer once upon a time, but no practice for so long...she was probably rubbish now. Can't win 'em all. Heading straight to the bar, she was pleased to see an habanero infused tequila - maybe this place knew what they were doing. That would be a serious find - she missed real Mexican food, and everyplace else had been rubbish to what you could get in LA. Ordering a couple of shots, she leaned on the counter and surveyed the crowd - a wide mix of folks, to be sure, but no one she knew.

Well, someone would likely turn up - fun like this brought out all sorts of interesting people. If not, well, then she'd meet someone new. Lovely worst case scenario. Winking at a stranger who'd heard her order, she slammed back one of her fiery hot shots and started looking for fun.

Dawn Ratana 16 years ago
Looking around, she waved off the waiter that was heading their way for the time being. Sliding out of her seat, she headed over to the nearest busboy who was busily clearing tables.

"Oy, guero!"

Startled by the woman behind him, he nearly dropped the dishes he was placing into his bin. Stammering a quick, accented "Y-yes?" he managed to regain his composure quickly. Clearly he wasn't used to being addressed. Even better. Starting in in Spanish, Dawn began her interrogation.

"Ok man, here's the deal. We're gonna get a shitload of food tonight, and I wanna make sure all y'all's cooks're upta snuff. Does everyone back in that kitchen know their shit? Don't fuck with me on this, I know good cooking."

A little surprsied at the direction the conversation was taking, he paused, considered and answered.

"Well, there's a northerner that's not much good, and a new guy I don't know well yet, but he makes the best tamales outta the lot."

After a brief discussion over specific dishes, she was satisfied. Grinning, Dawn snapped her fingers at a passing waiter, who came over, a confused look on his face. Switching into English she told the guy

"Ok, get this shit down for that table over there. I don't care if it isn't your section. This guy will tell you what chefs to use for each plate, cool? Good. If any of the food's shitty, I'm holding you accountable waiterman, because I've got it on good authority that some of these cooks know their shit and others are just ok. So here goes - one of each type of enchilada, two of each type of tamale, one vegetarian burrito, one each of the regular burritos, one chimichanga muerte, one of each variety of taco, chile verde, chile colorado, chicken mole, menudo, a ceviche tostada, two chile rellenos as hot as you can get them...yeah...that's it for now. If everything goes well, the tip will be worth it, man."

Wide eyed, the waiter continued to write frantically with her rapid speech. Switching back to Spanish, she told the busboy

"Make sure the right chefs get the right orders. Take care of us tonight, eh?"

Slipping the busboy a fifty, she walked away, the pair heading off hurriedly toward the kitchen. The rush back there would be starting soon from how this place was filling up - their order was tough, but she had no doubt they'd be taken care of. Sitting back down, she smiled slightly and winked at Amberelle.

"Hope ya boyfriend shows so'e don't git stuck wi'tha bill."
Amberelle DeEspionne 16 years ago
Giving her friend an arched eyebrow as she approached one of the young men clearing off a nearby table, Amby didn't voice her puzzlement. Listening in as the other Anantya spoke, she nodded faintly in approval of the girl's tactics. When a waiter joined those two she listened closely. Amberelle just blinked at Dawn's rapid fire directions, and after a moment she shrugged faintly and chuckled while giving her fellow tablemates a bemused smile. In a quiet tone, just above a whisper she explained to them. "Dawn can be quite the little General it would seem." Not sure if either of them spoke Spanish, she elaborated slightly. "It looks like our order has been placed.. I hope no one really did have their heart set on something specific after all."

Dawn's comment on paying for the enormous feast she had just ordered made the blonde burst out laughing, and she laid a hand on the Californian's arm gently. "Don't worry, if he stands me up I'll just cover the check and make him pay me back somehow." Golden eyes twinkled with mischief as she thought of just how the Englishman in question would have to do so. Shaking her head with a giggle, Amby smiled briefly before squashing down that train of thought.

"So tell me, Peter.. are you a native of this fair city? I know us ladies are all fairly recent transplants.. what about you?"
Peter Haines 16 years ago
Peter took a sip of water, "It would seem so," he murmered in response. Dawn ordering was something that the busboy would probably not forget too soon. 'She definately seems to be a free spirit...' he thought before catching himself, 'or to have a free spirit within her... no that would mean possession...' Peter was so busy trying to figure out how to describe Dawn that he almost missed Amberelle's question. "Hm?" he looked up at her, blinking blankly behind his sunglasses before his brain got caught up to his ears. "Oh, sorry, I was... anyway, no, I transfered here about a week or so ago, so I'm still relatively new. What is it that you do here?" 'Fairly recent transplants' was an odd way of saying it, he normally thought of transplants as a changing pots for plants and well... Peter's eyes flicked down before he brought them quickly back up. Part of his mind thought, 'They look real...' while the other part told the first part to shut up. How was someone supposed to carry on a intelligent conversation when their mind is in the gutter? Unlike the ladies his body was still that of a 19 year old, however old he actually was, so his hormones were still screwing with his mind. He had managed to keep them down until now... At least he had the sunglasses so no one noticed where his eyes had been roving.
Alexandra 16 years ago
Alex did her best not to let her mouth fall open as Dawn ordered the food, she had no clue what was being ordered but she trusted the young woman enough judging from the way she talked about the food to know she would order something good.

Sipping her wine she quietly watched the conversation take place between Amby and Peter, watching Peter as he spoke she hid a grin behind her wineglass, it was clear from his facial expression that he was checking Amby out, even if she couldn't see his eyes behind the sunglasses he was wearing. leaning into him slightly she placed her hand on his arm.

"Checking out the goods darling?"

Letting her fingers linger a little longer then needed she winked at him before taking her hand away, at that moment one of the waiters returned with fresh drinks and a plate of tasty looking nacho chips.
Dawn Ratana 16 years ago
Winking at Amby, she replied, dripping with sarcasm

"Oh, I'm sure that th'payback'll be just dreadful fr everybody."

Realizing that Peter had been spacing out, Dawn swiveled her head toward him. There were plenty of distractions arrayed about him - one for any flavor, or an excellent selection of attributes to mix and match. Snickering at Alexandra's addition, Dawn decided that she liked the woman.

Realizing she'd missed the tip, she piped up.


"Hold th'phone...transferred? Like to th'college'r sumthin? Or...a job? Oh, and I'm here fer trainin' and do some DJ'in."
Peter Haines 16 years ago
Peter looked up at the touch as if he had forgotten she was there, "Hm?" he asked before realizing what had been said, "No! No, I uh, sorry. I just got lost in thought there for a second..." Which was true, even though it didn't sound as such. Peter had found out in previous years that, for some strange reason, if he got lost in deep thought when sitting his gaze tended to drift to upper-middle sternum height for most people. Of course that was hard to explain, expecially women who thought that you were looking a bit lower. He was saved, however, from making a useless attempt at proclaiming his innocence by Dawn's question. "Oh no, I already graduated college." He paused for a split second wondering what their reaction would be to his job. For some reason people tended to be a bit more careful about what they said when an officer was around, something about the 'anything you say can and will be used against you' just made people cautious... Oh well. "I transfered over to Natchton as a Crime Scene Investigator and Detective for the Natchton Police force. I'm off-duty now of course." he said nonchalantly before taking a sip of water.
Alexandra 16 years ago
Did he just say he was a cop? An off duty Detective.. how interesting, giving the young man a smile trying to stay friendly, she never was one for the law, which wasn't a strange thing in her field of work.

"So you're a man of the law, how... interesting, did you ever get to bring in a big bad guy?"

If only he knew he was sitting at the table with two assassins, taking another sip of her wine she winked at Amby over the rim of her glass.


Amberelle DeEspionne 16 years ago
Perking up, Amby returned Alexa's wink before smiling at Peter. So, you're a CSI? Like on the television show? I bet you're the Nick of the team hmm? The blonde gave him a flirty grin and giggled. I would just love to know all about how they find muderers and criminals and those bad guys! 'It never hurts to keep up on the forensics techniques of the people who will be investigating the murders I commit,' she thought and her eyes sparkled. Even if she considered herself retired from the assassination 'biz' she was still a bloodsucking vampire and invuldged the whim to kill a few of her victims on occasion.

Pausing, she frowned thoughtfully. However, I'm not sure that over dinner is the best place to discuss such messy, gross things.
Dawn Ratana 16 years ago
"Oh! Or didja like haveta cut off someone's hands like Denzel told Angelina to in The Bone Collector? That was MESSED up. Oh, and...yeah, maybe not right 'fore food. Sorry."

Taking a moment, Dawn did some math in her head. Wrinkling her nose a bit, she looked back at Peter with a new train of thought. He'd been through college, police academy, and been in place long enough to get a transfer to Nachton. If he were an ace, that would still put him around 26 at the very earliest...but he looked like a high schooler. Kind of like she did. Or Amby did. He wasn't Anantya, or he'd have checked in.

"Damn man! You gotta be at least mid-twenties then! Y'all age well in your family, eh? I figured ya for...ah, nevermind. You prolly git sick'a hearin' that."

Unable to figure out a way to broach the subject, she left it to Amberelle. Besides, she didn't know Alexandra well enough to speak freely in front of her. But maybe someone else would pick up the ball on this one.
Alexandra 16 years ago
Aging well was something Alexa knew all about, hell she had been looking mid twenties since the 16th century! talk about having a beauty secret, smirking she listened to Dawn talk like a motor gone wild, in the mean time she was enjoying the food and the company, stealing small peeks at Amby now and then as she silently observed her recently found friend.

"Age is such an overrated subject, ins't it? someone can look a certain age but it can be one big lie, nowadays with all the cosmetic surgery one can look young for years"

Picking up a nacho she bit of a piece, chewing slowly she closed her eyes letting her senses take over as the spicy food flooded her taste buds.
Peter Haines 16 years ago
He returned the smile to Alexandra. "Any big bad guys huh? Well... I did help in the detainment of an PCP user who was 6' 5" and upwards of 280 pounds... after the drugs wore off he wasn't that bad a person per say but any of the other officers there would agree that he was big." Probably not the answer she was looking for, as a joke answer that wouldn't have the question asked again it was lacking, but other answers wouldn't have been a good choice before dinner. He turned towards Amberelle at the mention of the CSI Show, "I've only ever seen CSI once and wasn't paying attention much to the names, so I don't know who Nick is, but I can say that the techniques they use are pretty much the same, the timeframe is off and processes that take weeks happen within a commercial break, but besides that, sure, you could say it's just like the television show." Peter had been asked by a lot of people why he didn't watch CSI, his answer was that if he wanted to see people do Crime Scene Investigative work he might as well go back to the office so he would get paid for it. Dawn's comment derailed that train of thought however and left Peter with a slight loss for words. Peter had never seen The Bone Collector and was now quite sure that he wouldn't want. He to tried to think of some intelligent answer but gave up and responded with a blank and slightly disturbed look. Part of Peter knew it was a bad sign that he hadn't noticed the chips show up, but his mouth was on autopilot. "Yeah, I get that all the time, I mean people keep thinking I'm joking when I say I'm 35, and almost everyone treats me as if I just got out of high school, all because of..."Â? He paused as his brain caught up to his mouth, 'Oh boy...' he thought. His mind fumbled before recovering, "...of some strange genes."Â? he finished. He hit his chest lightly a couple times before making the 'clearing throut sound'. "Sorry, must of had something in my throat."Â? He took a drink of water, 'Too close,' he thought, 'Way way too close' then started to reach for one of the nachos before stopping. "You know, I forgot to wash my hands, if you excuse me. I'll be back in a moment."Â? Peter apologized, sliding his chair out and walked towards the bathroom. He needed to regroup himself, or else he may wind up divulging something that he shouldn't. He opened the door to the otherwise empty bathroom his left hand unconsciously reaching for his brown notebook and pen.
Amberelle DeEspionne 16 years ago
Amby raised an eyebrow at Peter's retreating back, pursing her lips and making a small hrm noise. Either he wasn't quite comfortable juggling three attractive women all grilling him at once, and to be fair she was quite sure a good amount of men would be uncomfortable doing so, or their dining companion had another reason for his rapid retreat from their table. Sighing and shrugging a shoulder at the other two women as if to say she was quite clueless, the blonde plucked a topping laden nacho and brough it to hover in front of her mouth. Dropping her voice to be audible to just them the Anantya whispered, By the way Dawn.. Alexandria here is.. ermm.. on the same dental plan.. as us. She just isn't in our network. Grinning, she chomped the chip and mmm'd happily as the flavors danced on her tongue. The Creole always enjoyed finding quirky ways to subtly explain kindred.

Golden eyes strayed to the doorway as another group entered and was greeted by the host. Somewhere inside she sighed softly when she didn't see the face she had hoped for but was beginning to realize with a sinking feeling probably wasn't coming. Amberelle squashed down those thoughts and nudged her clanmate with an elbow. Dig in girl, these're good. And of course we need to get stuffed with this before we go and dance.. Only fair to the rest of the soon to be losers here, right? Snorting then bursting into giggles, she grabbed another chip.
Dawn Ratana 16 years ago
Raising her eyebrows as Peter left the table, Dawn proceeded to wrinkle her nose and waited until he was out of earshot.

"Gotta be gay. No tent pole when he'as headin' t'the john."

Grinning at Amby's wordplay, she nodded. If there was one general rule of the vampire world it was that they were generally pretty hot. Granted that there were some hot humans...it just certainly helped guarantee an upgrade to immortal status. Winking, she spouted

"Well damn girl, throw your set in the air!"

Waving off the chips, Dawn grinned.

"Nah, I'mma wait. Any monkey kin make nachos...I gotta let my mouth dance wit' th'real deal first. Gotta judge'm fair."

Glancing off toward the restrooms, she asked no one in particular

"I wonder what his deelies, tho. He don't look 35, but don't really match anyone's recruitment paradigm, what. Neededta wash'is hands my ass. One'a us shou go call'is bluff."

Grinning wickedly, she winked at Alexandra.

"So...you'r me? Amby's gotta benchwarm this'n since she's staring SO LONGingly at the door, moonin' over Prince Charmin'. Dude...even if he don't show, you kin still'ave a good time."
Alexandra 16 years ago
Raising a delicate eyebrow at Peter's response and him leaving the table in such a hurry Alexa just shook her head, turning her attention back to Amby and Dawn as the blond let her cousin know she was one of them she gave Dawn a toothy grin showing her the tips of her fangs for a few seconds.

"O yes, wonderful dental plan, all though I'm not a huge fan of the group dentists"

Grinning she took another nacho, just then the rest of the food arrived with a very exciting looking waiter followed by a maitre D carrying several chilled bottles of wine to match the food and other servings, the spoke quietly explaining what everything was and then left as quickly as they came.

"Gotta give the staff in this place credit, they work fast"

Laughing softly she gave the other 2 women an amused look, picking up her wineglass she held it out in a toasting gesture.

"To good food, pretty women and good dental health"
Dawn Ratana 16 years ago
"Hea hea whaaaat!"

Drinking off the rest of her beverage, she waved the waiter back over.

"We need Coronas, too. Thanks!"

Going to work with a knife and serving fork, she started mixing and matching the food on the plates, serving a slice for everyone and leaving the rest in the middle.

"Okay! I dunno'ow familiar y'all're, so th'firs slivers're chile rellenos, chicken mole, yeah, that's CHOCOLATE up ons, an everyone knows tacos. Iffin' ya don't like sumthin, just leave't fer Rupert an' th'staff! Eat up!"

As she prepared to take her first bite, Dawn realized that they were being watched. It seemed a lone man at the bar was sizing up their table. Very comfortable within her element, she took a quick bite of the mole, licking the sauce deftly from the fork. Giving him a head nod in greeting, she gestured to the other open seats at their table. He'd either accept or not, at his leisure.

"Dessert options're definitely lookin' up."

Giggling, she unceremoniously devoured a taco.
Peter Haines 16 years ago
Peter splashed some water on his face, setting his brown notebook, pen, and sunglasses on the counter to do so. He ran his fingers through his hair before he picked up the brown notebook. He reflected on interaction; he had noticed the wink between Amberelle and Alexandra. Of course that could mean that there was a joke that he was the butt of or they didn’t think he was a detective (wouldn’t be the first time). The pause before the word interesting made the wink slightly more suspicious. Amberelle’s flirting would have made him suspicious if he hadn’t seen reporters try it before. He may look young but he had gathered enough cynicism in his almost annoyingly long youth to guess that it meant she wanted something. She probably wanted to know what she had asked, but the reason why she wanted to know it, well... that could be anyone's guess. Of course he hadn't told her about his technique of talking to the murder victims but he hadn’t told anybody that, mainly because of the strange looks he got when he did. Out of the three of them Dawn seemed to be the only one without an ulterior motive or something she didn't want him to know, but Peter had met good actresses before and with both her friends in the ‘suspicious’ pile, Peter wasn’t going to assume anything yet . Yet while he was thinking on it, How the hell did they get him so close to saying he was a werewolf?! That was the most frustrating part, they were better then some interrogations he'd watched, or maybe that’s just because this was the first time he had been on the receiving end. Three women had wrapped him around their respective fingers and... stupid hormones. That was probably the reason, now that he thought about it. He hadn't been able to keep a cool head with some parts of him starting to run warm. He set down the notebook and started to wash his hands when another thought came to his mind; they wanted him to tell them a story! What kind of trouble had he gotten himself into?! He decided to watch out for Dawn in the future, but that still didn’t solve his problem of finding or making a story. He put his brown notebook away right next to the white and put his sunglasses back on. The white notebook. He reached into the coat pocket and pulled out the notebook. He prepared himself for further interrogation, and, moment later, he walked out. The story probably wouldn’t come up immediately, but he was ready now with (hopefully) one hell of a ghost story. He noticed that the food had arrived while he had gone, 'They're fast' he thought. “Hello,” he smiled as he sat back down, "What'd I miss?".

((OCC: Sorry for taking so long, RL called and I had to answer.))
Alexandra 16 years ago
Listening to Dawn's explanation about the food Alexa smiled, tasting little bits of everything she enjoyed the rich tasting Mexican dishes, as Peter returned she gave him a small smile in welcome.

She could sense something about him, a certain uneasiness, some kind of edge about the way he moved and looked at them.

"Welcome back and you didn't miss much except the food arriving which you came back for just in time"

Gesturing for him to dig in she sat back, crossing her long toned legs at the knee she quietly observed him, picking up a nacho she nibbled on it, her dark eyes watching him intently.
Amberelle DeEspionne 16 years ago
Amberelle had taken her friend's advice and focused simply on having a good time. Already she'd taken a bite of several of the dishes and was pleased. In the middle of a bite of the Mole, which she had never dared to try before because it just sounded so odd, she simple gave Peter a look that said welcome back and continued to chew away happily.

Well I would never in a million years have done it, but that chocolate chicken is really good! The blonde grinned at the others and handed Peter one of the small spare plates the staff had thoughtfully included. Don't be shy Peter, you had better grab some before Dawn eats it all! She laughed lightly and smiled. Serving herself one of the ground beef tacos she set about topping it with salsa and sour cream.

Their waiter returned with several chilled bottles of Corona and frosty mugs. Setting them down neat the center, he inquired about the food before asking if anyone needed anything else. Her mouth full, Amby simply lifted her tequila glass and gave it a wiggle.
Dawn Ratana 16 years ago
Patting her washboard stomach loudly, Dawn laughed.

"Yup! Eat up, son! I can really put it away! Trainin' puts my caloric intake off th'charts, an's been a big week!"

Taking a first bite of the relleno, she smiled around the fork. He was looking a little stiffer in the neck, not so relaxed. They were making him uncomfortable, but he wanted to be polite. How quaint...he might be too adorable to bite after all. Ah well...it looked like there were plenty of likely volunteers around the bar if he was too squeamish to be an easy donor.
Alexandra 16 years ago
Observing while eating, Alexa took her time to enjoy the food and the company, licking her fingers from eating a cheese covered crispy something her almost black eyes danced across the people sitting at the table with her, Amby she knew, she liked the other woman alot, since they had first met they had formed some kind of bond, maybe it was the French blood, maybe it was just the blood in general, smirking slightly she picked up another piece of finger food.

Dawn was something else, she could tell from the was she spoke and carried herself that like Amby she was a younger vampire, not that that mattered, it wasn't about age, it was about knowledge, cause in the vampire world, knowledge was power.

Moving her gaze back to Peter she saw him swallow, his adamsappel moving as he did so, taste looking neck if anyone asked her, it had been a while since she last fed, this human food was nice, it was tasty but it didn't stop the hunger.

"I'm not worried about calories at all, I work out enough to stay in shape."

Recrossing her toned legs she smiled sweetly at Peter.

"Tell me Peter, you must work out to be in such wonderful shape"

Smirking she licked her fingers getting rid of the tomato sauce clinging to it.