Oh, that's what QWERTY means!

'Huh. I did not know that.'

Carol stood on the sidewalk in front of the Qwerty Cafe staring up at the sign.
'Q...W....' She looked down at her cell phone's keypad and snorted.

'Wow, I am SO blond.'

Pushing in the door into the internet cafe, Carol peeked in her head looking for Brian but was surprised to be surrounded by about two dozen geeks. Her lips curled into a smile and she let out a sort of combined giggle and snort. A sniggle. Or a...gnort. Anyway...


There were dozens of PC and Mac computers lined against three of the four walls, open booths lined the window and in the corner was a small but apparently effective espresso bar (if the jittery laughter of the barista was any type of testimony). Carol watched him make cup after cup of coffee for the patrons in the cafe and he seemed to be loving every minute of it. Suddenly he seemed to notice her.


'Oh no, no, I'm good. Can I sit...? No, no, don't worry about it. I'm gonna...yes, I'm fine, I'm going to sit...wow, no, no. Help the next person, yes, that's a good boy. Stay. Stay boy! Stay!'

Carol made her way to one of the open booths next to the window and threw her itty bitty bag down on the table top. She had left her big bag at home, opting not to look like a crazy college student with her lap top, black berry, cell phone and a change of underwear. Well, her little bag had a spare thong in it but that was just for saftey sake. One should always be thong prepared.

Looking down at her cell phone she noted the time. It was just after six in the evening and the sun was making its way down behind the buildings, covering her part of the strip in darkness. She knew what that meant and tried not to think about it. But Ellis appearing out of thin air and throwing herself in the opposite side of the booth was a stark reminder.

Ellis Duban 15 years ago
Ellis emerged from the shadows of the downtown inhaling the last bit of her cigarette. The sun set peacefully and without malice behind the skyline of Nachton's skyscrapers. The last bit of the sun playfully burned her exposed skin causing a steamy halo affect as she fell in step with the other pedestrians. Flicking her stub of a cigarette to her left, she stepped off the sidewalk and blended into the chilled night.

There had been little else on her mind, other than Simon, as of late. However, this evening she needed to make a few contacts regarding a pet project she had started investigating before Simon and her abduction by the werewolves. A pet project, she thought with a smile. If Kyle Evans knew she referred to his harrowing situation as that, she was fairly certain he'd be just a little pissed.

Ellis continued her purposeful gait across the sidewalk toward the internet cafe that she saw Carol step into. Carol being the person who had been in Kyle's apartment before Ellis had her own encounter with him. Carol would undoubtedly ask why she cared, even just the tiniest bit, for Kyle Evans.

Why did she care? Guilt maybe?

Ellis felt the blending aura play with her hair and toss it about in an unseen gale. Stopping outside the cafe she reflected on her question. Why did she care? Shrugging to herself, Ellis figured it was just because she had nothing better to do. Or was it because she had nearly killed him after he saw that vulnerable side of her. Guilt or revenge. Meh, she thought and convinced herself it was out of boredom as she stepped into the cafe behind another patron entering.

Carol was sitting with her front facing the door, her back near the wall. Ellis smiled wondering if Carol wasn't being just a little paranoid about someone dropping in on her unannounced. Snorting softly at the irony, Ellis cruised up to Carol's booth and looked at her for a moment. Her blond hair was as honey dew as ever, her skin pale and delicious. If the blond knew she was there, she gave no sign of it. No shiver, no look passing over her blended aura. Oh well, she thought and released her blending as she sat loudly at the booth.

As Ellis slapped her hand on the counter, Carol and the surrounding patrons jumped at her sudden appearance. Ellis admonished herself for always needing to have a grand entrance. Looking down at Carol's hands she watched the little blond ball them up into bloodless little punching bags.


'Hi there,' Ellis said with a smile.
Carol 15 years ago
Carol jumped and suppressed a yelp as Ellis appeared out of nowhere and settled heavily into the seat across from her. Her hands automatically balled up into bloodless little white balls. With her heart threatening to burst out of her chest, Carol did her best to give a calm and controlled response.

Spreading her hands out, she felt the blood rush back to her fingertips and imagined little crescent moons on the inside of her palms.
'What do you want, Ellis?'
Ellis Duban 15 years ago
Ellis slouched into the seat and smiled at Carol's controlled but tense question.

'That's what I always liked about you, Carol. No bullshit, just cut to the chase.'

She reached into the breast pocket of the soft leather coat that the Mercs had returned to her before the uncomfortable bonding discovery at the Domicile. Pulling out her pack of cigarettes and silver lighter Ellis centered both items on the table in front of her. Behind her the jittery Qwerty employee stopped by their table as he was making his rounds.

'Ma'am, you can't smoke in here.' His voice was high and tight and his breath wreaked of coffee.

Without looking at him Ellis replied in a soft voice,
'Go away.'

'But ma'am,' he started again.

Ellis turned to look at him and let the smile fade from her face. Her pale green eyes centered on the young man's throat and she narrowed her eyes just slightly. Her right hand hovered over her pack of cigarettes, waiting.

'I'm going away now.' And jittery coffee employee did just that.


Looking back at Carol, Ellis tilted her head and let her blank, death filled expression crack into a smile once again.

'I was just wondering something, Carol. Wondering if you could maybe help me.'
Carol 15 years ago
Carol's eyes flickered to the door behind Ellis and then to the clock hanging above the espresso machine. Brian would be walking in any minute and Ellis was the last person to know about him, especially with her precarious situation with Simon. But Ellis' request distracted her from her nervousness totally.

'If I can...wait, what?' Carol's face tightened up in confusion. 'I don't know where Simon is, if that's what you want.'
Ellis Duban 15 years ago
Ellis missed Carol's nervous look at the door and instead reached into her pack of cigarettes, pulling out a stick. Tucking it into her mouth, she laughed softly.

'No, finding Simon isn't too difficult these days.' She more or less mumbled to herself recalling her talk with him several nights ago. Reaching out Ellis picked up her lighter and flicked the flint, igniting it. She held the flame just beyond the top of her cigarette and looked past it into Carol's face. It was tight and red again. Clearing her throat, Ellis extinguished the flame, leaving the unlit cigarette in her mouth.

'I know. Awkward, isn't it?' Ellis played with her silver lighter in her hand, flicking the flame and then extinguishing it. 'But Simon isn't why I'm here,' and then she added with a malicious smile, 'not that I'd need your help with him.'

Ellis flicked her lighter again and brought the flame up to her cigarette, lighting it. Inhaling deeply she set her lighter back down on top of her pack and centered it again in front of her.


'Talk to me about Kyle Evans.'
Carol 15 years ago
Carol held her tongue, trying to dodge Ellis' verbal jab. She failed miserably. However, Ellis once again caught her off guard with the mention of Kyle.

'What about Kyle? What do you want with him?'
Ellis Duban 15 years ago
'What about Kyle? What do you want with him?'

Carol said that with obvious, and careless, disrespect, but Ellis let it go. Hurting Carol would do more than push Simon away, in fact, Ellis knew touching even a hair on the stupid blond's head would cause an annoying fuss.

'Kyle seems...out of touch. Distressed. Quite frankly he seems off his rocker. I know you've noticed. After his recent attack', Ellis shifted in her chair looking out the window as she talked around the cigarette in her mouth, 'he seems to have changed. Now, he's a good little bean. I like him and he's awful cute.'

Ellis shrugged and moved her pack and lighter to the right away from her. 'I just want to know why.' Pulling her cigarette out of her mouth, she pointed it at Carol. 'And I know you can find that out, if you haven't already. Have you?'
Carol 15 years ago
Carol sized up Ellis with a look full of distrust and disdain. She couldn't figure her out anymore. It was as if Ellis had changed, kind of, but every now and then she'd see a trace of the old clan leader. Ellis was nothing if not ruthless. Every action had a motive and it always benefited her in some way. But Carol couldn't see a favorable end result with Ellis helping Kyle. It could just be curiosity, shit she was probably bored, Carol figured. Maybe...or maybe it was guilt.

God of fucking course, Carol thought to herself as she mentally narrowed her eyes at Ellis but tried keeping a straight face. It was Ellis that attacked Kyle and her looking after him was her way to make amends? Get closer to Kyle or Simon, maybe. Carol put on her best poker face and threw down.


Shaking her head she admitted she had not heard anything.
'But I haven't been looking, not really.' Carol shrugged. 'There isn't much to Kyle that we've uncovered, but you know that. He's a hack alcoholic who did a good thing once and the world seems to be repeatedly punishing him for it.'
Ellis Duban 15 years ago
'A good thing once. Somehow, I don't think Mr. Evans sees his out of character heroism quite in that light.'

Ellis looked over her shoulder and spied a coffee cup on the booth behind them, waiting to be cleaned up. She reached over and poured what was left of its contents on its saucer and brought it back to their table. Tapping her cigarette ashes into the cup, she took a moment to reflect.

Kyle's history, prior to his ten year stay in Nachton, was hazy at best. Other than hailing from Las Vegas, there was nothing overtly suspicious about his existence. That much Ellis did know, but it was prior to his famed arrival to the Nachton Times she was interested in.

Ellis' resources were unlimited, at least where money was concerned. Carol though, she had a way in procuring missing tidbits of information. Bottom line was - Ellis was going to have to be nice.


'I'll admit that I'm in no position to even ask for you to help me with information I could beat out of someone, but staying anonymous is necessary. I'm just concerned about Kyle.' Ellis shrugged casually and let that sink into Carol's pretty little head. Ellis was never one for explaining herself, but for the time being, that was the best she would do.

'Tell you what,' Ellis inhaled the last bit of her cigarette and dropped the butt into the empty coffee cup. She blew the smoke up above her head and watched the smoke plume. 'We can call it quid pro quo. Do this for me and I'll do something for you?'
Carol 15 years ago
'You...do something...for me.'

It wasn't really a question if her monotone voice was any indication. Hell, Carol could think of a hundred things she could ask for from Ellis.

Stock in Bit-O-Honey.

Money.

Power.

Simon.


'How's about you drop dead, then we can call it even?'
Ellis Duban 15 years ago
Ellis nodded and smiled. Oh, Carol...she thought.

'Darlin,' Ellis stood up and slid into Carol's side of the booth, making sure to press up against the blond until she could hear her heartbeat threaten to burst out of her chest. 'I could have killed you a thousand times over by now.' Then, leaning in so close that her lips nearly touched Carol's ear, she finished her business with her.

'It's just something I haven't gotten around to doing just yet.'

Ellis rubbed her nose along Carol's jawline and inhaled the little blond's sweet scent. She shook dramatically and then slid back out of the booth.

'Good talk, Carol, but I gotta go. Places to destroy. Things to steal. Ta!'

And with that, Ellis left.

((ooc - Ellis out))
Carol 15 years ago
It was like being touched by a snake.

How she was ever attracted to Ellis was beyond Carol. The allure of being a vampire, the night life and the power maybe...but now? It took everything to remain still as Ellis basically threatened her life. Anytime. Anywhere. Carol knew Ellis could have but just hearing her say it made her stomach clench tightly and retreat behind her kidneys.

Carol remained staring forward as Ellis slid up against her, breathing in her ear and lovingly rubbing her soft skin against hers. God it disgusted Carol and the whopping fifteen seconds Ellis spent doing it felt like a lifetime.

She was still sitting there when Ellis slid out of the booth and took her leave. Carol didn't even see Brian walk in a full minute later. She was just sitting there, trying to work up the nerve to wipe the spot Ellis had touched but was afraid her old lover would see. So Brian sitting slowly down in the booth, in her direct line of vision, startled her nonetheless.
Brig Jameson 15 years ago
Of all the fashion fads he had seen over the years, his most favorite was the Fedora. Brig twirled his flint gray madison with the center dent crown on his index finger as he casually strolled down the Strip. He played with it more than he wore it, but on occasion he'd catch the hat by its snap brim and flip it onto his head. It settled softly onto his sizable noggin as he pushed into the Qwerty cafe to meet Carol.

She was sitting to his right in one of the booths, facing the door. Brig stood a moment looking at her; her face was pale and her eyes fixed on some point across the room. By the looks of it, she was staring right through him. Brig looked around and pushed the door back open but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Turning back to Carol he ran his hand in front of him, in her line of vision, but she didn't flinch.

Brig walked slowly to her booth and stood for a moment. He reached up and took his hat off as he settled quietly into the booth across from her.


'Carol?'

Her face was tightly pinched and she could see the terror in them. She didn't answer him. Brig rested his fedora on the table and said her name louder this time.

'...Carol?'

That time she jumped and her eyes focused in on him.

'What's wrong? You look like you've just seen your death.'
Carol 15 years ago
It never used to be like that, the tainted feeling of Ellis' touch on her skin. It used to be glorious. Carol had always looked at Ellis with such wonder and desire, a woman so beautiful and so void of regret. The power oozed out of every pore and her touch was almost magical. Carol lived for sex with Ellis and no one else ever entered into her thoughts.

Not until Simon.

She sat there, frozen with fear and disgust as Ellis gently touched her. Skin to skin contact made her conscious regress into a cocoon inside her, waiting for the few moments of Ellis to be over. How different life was only a short three years later. How different fucking Ellis was compared to Simon. Both were amazing lovers, givers and takers. They both knew when a soft touch needed to be exquisite pain, when coupling didn't compare to teeth.

So different now, Carol thought as she closed off her senses and hid within the confines of her mind. So quiet without Simon.

'Carol?'

Carol snapped back to reality at the sound of Brian's charming Scottish brogue.

'What's wrong? You look like you've just seen your death.'


She blinked and cracked a smile at the irony of his statement.
'Boy, you don't know the half of it.'

Here was Brian, older but not, she thought to herself. Refined, handsome, but somehow younger than he seemed. Oh there were fine crow's feet at the corner of his eyes and gray streaks in his auburn red hair, but his entire body screamed youth, passion and fucking...different. Her smile widened just looking at him. He was entirely different than Simon or Ellis. He was away from that dark world and normal.

Thank God he was normal.


'I thought I saw someone wearing last year's Prada shoes.' She shuddered melodramatically. 'Frightening!' Her small hand reached across the table and ran a finger of the felt of his Fedora.

'Ready?'
Brig Jameson 15 years ago
Whatever it was that was bothering seemed to dissipate. The shadow of concern left her face and was replaced by the usual exuberance that captured his interest. He watched her run her finger along the crown of his fedora and he let his concern fade into desire, but something told him to be careful. That little voice in the recesses of his mind that knew better, that recognized that type of scared look on a woman's face and her ability to let it go like a whisper in the night was, at the very least, questionable - all this and the voice was warning him, but when he looked into Carol's deep blue eyes, he opted to ignore the voice.

Besides, what the worse that could happen?

Brig grabbed his fedora with one hand, and with the other, took Carol's hand and he slid out of the booth with her. In one fluid movement he flipped the gray madison onto his head and ran his finger along the rim.


'Aye, lassy. Let's go.'

((OOC Brig and Carol out))