The Wolf in the Sheep's Pen(open)

[heyyew]

Awwwww… Capone had been hoping that he’d play along with the secret girlfriend thing. Could have been fun. Technically she could play the role by herself as the forgotten ex. But naw.

This place was getting crowded quickly though. Most everyone had similar, if not worse degrees of sun burns. And those long sharp fangs… Probably vampires. Ezra’s question both echoed her own question and confirmed her theory.  What were a bunch of vampires doing out here at this time of day? The youngest at least looked like he’d dressed to protect himself. But the others? Not so much.

Capone wouldn’t say that she was afraid currently, but she was getting more on guard the more vampires piled into the cafe. They seemed more than friendly, and so far as she could see they weren’t nearly as armed as she had made herself with her hidden blades strapped to various places.

She could probably handle one or two of them if things got messy… She doubted they would though. This town’s economy seemed dependent on tourists. Leaving their victims for dead wouldn’t bode well for that. Still. It might be wise of her to vacate the vicinity pretty soon. Unless this cafe served its drinks with blood in them odds were that she herself would look more appetizing than anything on the menu.

That being said, it looked like a decent percentage of the native’s population were vampires. So that wasn’t actually out of the realm of possibilities.

“Name’s Calibe, and I’ve been on the look out for a rare book.” She introduced herself simply, taking the last sips of her drink. “Now if you might pardon the question… But I must ask… Does this town’s Bloody Mary’s come with real blood?”

Probably a bad question to ask. But it was too funny not to.

[alexander]

[align=center][div style="text-align:justify;width:45%;font-family:verdana"]Alexander doesn't acknowledge Ezra until he's standing right in front of him, burgundy eyes dragging lazily away from Capone to give him a once over. "Lookin' good as always, Ez." They purr, purposely deepening their voice, wiggling their brows. The man always seemed easily embarrassed, an ideal target for a vampire looking for entertainment. They laugh at Marko's quip back at the man, nodding their head along. "What, do you want the sunlight hours all to yourself? Give us a break, hun, our old human hearts yearn for the sun." They place a hand over their chest, turning their head to look dramatically out the window - only for it to be blocked by Rialto.

The vampire almost laughs when they realize that Catheryn and Rialto had arrived at the table at almost the same time. Now that the whole gang was there, Catheryn had no chance of getting back her peace and quiet. Alexander reaches out and tugs at a piece of Rialto's hair in greeting, pouting their lips at Cat. "Ah, Cat, don't be like that! We all just love you so much, can't get enough of ya! That's why we follow you around." They're teasing, though they did love Catheryn.

They turn back to Capone, offering her an apologetic smile. "Don't mind them. They're all heathens and barely civilized, especially Rialto. On that note, don't buy any of his things. They're of no use to anyone, honestly." They're daily task of trash talking Rialto's etsy projects: done. They settle their chin into the palms of their hands, legs starting to bounce up and down below the table. "You're looking for a book, huh? Well, if you don't mind hanging around with this crowd, we could stop by the library and some book stores together. Maybe we'll find it. Teamwork makes the dream work, right guys?" They glance up at their friend's with a raised brow.

[CATHERYN]

"I would like you to stop," she says, in direct response to Alexander as they lean in close. She spends enough time with the lot of them as it is, what with how often they come across one another in the quiet town, Catheryn really doesn't need them to be following her around as well. (She knows Alexander is joking, but it's always best to cover all her bases.) Usually it's not an issue, because she mostly spends days at home, and she knows both Rialto and Marko like to take refuge wherever they are when the sun rises, so they don't cross paths until the night falls. Today is, evidently, an outlier.

Catheryn sighs, for what feels like the fourth time in three minutes, and resigns herself to a morning of conversations that will quickly escalate into arguments and probably get them all kicked out. The forest nymph might be old but Catheryn doesn't doubt that she definitely could still pack a punch. Also, it would be weird to fight back, especially since they have no need to be violent to one of the upstanding business owners in town, she doesn't want to chase people away before they get a chance to settle down. They're vampires, not monsters. "You'd have to ask for it," she says in response to Calibe, a rare smirk gracing her features, "but it doesn't cost more so, little victories."

San Creado is actually very accommodating to them as vampires, no one has actively tried to stake them, or throw holy water on them in the street, and that's about as good as Catheryn expects it to get; the fact that there's blood sodas, and other blood-infused delicacies, being sold throughout the establishments in town means that not only are the townspeople okay with vampires, they're actively trying to capitalists off of the existence of them, which sounds bad but in reality has quite a promising outlook. "We can't leave until late afternoon," she reminds Alexander, turning to fix them with a stern look. They all can burn in the sun for all she cares, Catheryn isn't going to expose herself until she's safe. She's definitely patient enough to wait.

[Rialto]

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Rialto weathered the yank at his ponytail through a snap at Alex's hand with his teeth, stopping short by a hair, and didn't so much as flinch at their next words - he merely got comfortable, throwing one leg over the other beneath the table and looping his arm through Marko's before the fledgeling had any time to resist. Clear eyes fixated on the woman, class written on her handbag and subtle eyeliner, blue marked with appraising interest and his small smile unyielding. "No doubt," he answered Alex promptly. No naysaying allowed, Cat. "What are tour guides for? We have your back, Miss Calibe."

He drummed his fingers on his cheek before spreading them apart, head tilting closer towards Marko. "Might depend on what kind of book," Rialto continued, with a quick wave at one of the waiters over Calibe's shoulder. His local haunts were restricted to his own place to stay and other hidey holes in plain sight, not quite this tame cafe whose primary traffic consisted of - as was suspected - tourists, but Rialto made scenes. He had one favourite. They knew. "Would you happen to know the title?"

The others merely came to gossip? Well, so did he. Only, preparation was his surname. Not five minutes later, there was a quaintly red frappe deposited before him on the table, accompanying the only other drink. Rialto took a sip, and coyly lifted his head off his hand. "I do like to read."

© MADI

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[heyyew]

Were they really going to follow her? Oh god. Great. If they were going to follow her they’d see what she was going to get anyways. “The series’ name is Black Butler. I'm looking for the Book of Atlantic, preferably the whole thing in graphic novel form rather than individual chapters.” It didn’t always used to be rare. But the world in the state it was nowadays? It had significantly dropped in its prints after the apocalypse. It was a little embarrassing to admit her manga obsession. Buuuut.... Whatever. It was a good series.