elastic love / introduction

[Character Graveyard.]

[align=center][div style="width: 400px; line-height: 100%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; color: black;"]A human in a group of supernatural beings, like vampires and werewolves. What could possibly go wrong? For a majority of her life, Antonia had been alone. Her mother had died not long after she had been born and her father had overdosed on pills. It wasn't the easiest life, but she had managed to handle it so well. She hadn't been completely alone for a few years though. That's when she had her little brothers. Three cute tykes. It was a shame that she had lost all of her family, but the young woman just had to move on. That's why she had come to San Creado, to start a new life for herself. Rumors had said that supernatural creatures lived here, but she had ignored every warning from everyone.

The red-flannel wearing blonde-woman had strolled upon San Creado's small town, her hands in her pockets and she was humming a tune. Blue-eyes would glance around, taking note of the buildings- a grocery store, a dinner, a mini-mart and a town hall. What a lovely town, though it seemed nobody was out-and-about at the moment, so she would have to stand around and wait.

[alexander]

[div style="width: 45%; margin: auto; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify"]Fortunately for Antonia, the first person she would encounter was Alexander. It was close to sundown, which meant it was safe for them to be out and about, along with all the other creatures of the night. The vampire walked along the boardwalk, batting their eyelashes at cute werewolves and occasionally taking sips of the blood soda in their hand. It seemed that it would be a quiet night for San Creado, at least until the rest of the vampires showed up.

They turn a corner and their wandering eyes fall on Antonia, a brow raising in curiosity. The woman wasn't standing too far from the welcome sign, looking like she might be a bit lost, or maybe just confused. Alexander takes one more sip of their drink before throwing it off to the side, uncaring of where it landed. They're sure some witch will find it sooner or later and use it for a spell. That happened with most thrown away things in this town. They walk casually toward the stranger, lifting their fingers in a peace sign in greeting. "Hey, little lady. What are you doing out here, all alone?" They question, voice teasing, lips curling into a smirk. They come to stand beside her, giving a quick once over and noting the rather fashionable flannel shirt she was wearing. Nice. They liked her already. If she stayed, maybe they could swap fashion tips.

Huffing through their nose, Alex leans into the girl's side, bumping their shoulder against hers. "So, what, are you new around here? Lookin' for a place to stay? We've got plenty of apartments, or ferris wheel carriages, if you're into that." They snicker, offering Antonia a genuine smile.

[Rialto]

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So, so many things could go wrong with a fresh, beating heart amid a bunch of people that liked what fresh, beating hearts circulated. For one, vampires, it seemed (that's to disregard the blatantly small sample size, but who here was rallying all the vampires to check?), had a penchant for getting up in someone's face and never leaving them alone, and their incessantly blaring presences were just about enough to send that fresh beating heart around the bend. That was good for no one's heart at all. Double trouble.

That was to say, humans were fine. Tourists came and went, cameras around their necks, clothed to circumvent the heat but careful with appropriate coverage because the sun certainly burnt fiercer. Humans and vampires alike, UV-vulnerable roasty toasty princesses - both cut from the same cloth. Nothing had so great an effect as undiluted blood did, but blood ice cream was so good.

This girl, eyes giving the surroundings a cursory scan, had a stance almost entirely relaxed. She was humming. For Rialto's part, he strolled through the town in silence, sweeping past others with nary a glance between them. Somehow, even with his marketing attempts, there were few that truly committed him to memory; he didn't sell every day, and the days he kept himself flat (or as close to flat as possible, curled up with the floor radius being only three quarters of his height) in his carriage only accumulated. Seeing a human waiting for something on one of his walks, he wasn't in the least bit surprised.

"I can vouch for the Ferris wheel carriages, miss," Rialto piped up, flip flops crunching over gravel as he rounded the corner - really, impeccable timing - with idle fingers tugging the end of his ponytail. He had a smile spreading over his face, languid and bright, stopping on her other side and letting one of his hands fall onto his hip, counting off the other. "It's cold, cramped, creaky..." Then, totally honest, he dropped his arm and said, "I absolutely adore it." He flashed her another kind of smile, just a little more sly. "How about it?"

Now wasn't the time to scare people off by walking sideways across a building to meet them.

© MADI

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[CATHERYN]

The town of San Creado is not so much decrepit as it is halfway abandoned. Those who live here don't really actively contribute to the upkeep of buildings and structures, but at least they try to make sure that there are still livable spaces scattered around, even if they're hard to find. Sometimes Catheryn chances past a squabble for a place to rest, usually werewolves fighting over some twisted version of territory, but she's never had to fight someone for somewhere to stay.

The vampires in San Creado aren't usually disturbed by the others who live here, if only because they exude some sort of aura, a vibe that says don't mess with them. If there were less of them, then Catheryn thinks they'd be challenged more. As it is, they're mostly left alone, and she's absolutely okay with that.

When the sun starts to dip below the horizon, she sets aside her knitting needles and the ball of yarn she'd been working with, standing up to stretch before crossing to the window of her bedroom and vaulting out smoothly, landing on the ground with a quiet huff.

The house she's claimed for herself, and therefore the rest of the Vamp Gang Gang, sits near the boardwalk that leads to the beach, and she often enters and exits through her second floor bedroom window, because going through the front door means having to go past the kitchen, where questionable things are often happening. Alex and Rialto always seem to find something to fight about, and Catheryn would rather not be present at one of their arguments.

Today, it's quiet when she leaves, and for that she's grateful. The nice feeling, however, quickly dissipates when she rounds a corner and spots not one, but two of the other vampires who currently reside in the town. The fact that it's Alex and Rialto just proves that the universe just isn't looking out for her today.

Catheryn glides smoothly up to the both of them, raising a single eyebrow at the new girl they're surrounding. Huh, it's a human. They don't get many of those this late into the evening, tourists come and go but mostly in the afternoon, when the sun is blazing hot and there isn't the creeping uncertainty of darkness to make them question whether or not the town truly is haunted.

"She's in town for three minutes and already you're bothering her," Catheryn intones, allowing her pale blue gaze to bounce between Rialto and Alex before finally settling on Antonia. Hmm, she doesn't seem too afraid, perhaps humans have become more durable since Catheryn last came into contact with them.

[Character Graveyard.]

[align=center][div style="width: 400px; line-height: 100%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; color: black;"]A look of slight discomfort would cross over the blonde woman's face for a brief second as Alex and Rialto approached before a awkward smile formed on her lips. She had taken note of the blood soda in the non-binary person's hand and she had caught a glimpse of pointed teeth when Rialto smiled in her direction. The rumors had been true, but she hadn't excepted them to be like this. Her azure-colored eyes would focus on Alexander as they lightly bumped their shoulder against her own. "I'm Antonia. I'm here to join." Then the woman would glance towards Rialto as he came to a stop on her other side and she would respond with a brief roll of her eyes. "No thanks, I'm good. I'll settle for one of the apartments."

Then she heard another voice. Another woman, by the sound of it. Toni's blue-hues would land on Catheryn and a coy-smile would form on her lips and the hint of a blush could be seen on her cheeks. She was pretty, but she didn't have the confidence to tell the other that, plus she didn't even know her.

[CATHERYN]

The thing about San Creado is that they mostly get drifters, people who come in and out, never staying for long. Catheryn doesn't really mind the ebb and flow of the town's population, as long as they don't bother her, she doesn't care how long they stay, be it three minutes or forever. This, though, this is different. They haven't really had someone ask to stay, at least, not that she can remember. People usually just waltz in and claim an apartment, and no one asks questions about it. Perhaps humans have some sort of moral code that dictates that they can't just walk into someone else's house and fall asleep.

Marko would do well to learn from that.

"If you want to stay, feel free," Catheryn says finally, thinking that perhaps Antonia needs some sort of verbal confirmation before she feels comfortable with claiming a space for herself. She'll have to learn to toughen up soon, though, if she wants to live in San Creado. Here, it's survival of the fittest, and unless you have the protection of someone stronger, you're going to have to learn to fend for yourself.