I've got thousands of stories, you've heard them before.

[allbloodyhail]

CHARACTERS: BELA & SPIKE
LOCATION: the bar or something
WARNINGS: general douchebaggery
SUMMARY: Spike tries to comfort Bela by drinking with her. Yeah, I know. Backdated to 7/27.
NOTES:


[Spike, true to his word, was still frozen to the spot on the holodeck of whichever floor he was at. He wasn't sure which one he'd told her or if it was the right one so he waited, eyes darting around the room though he stayed in his stupid freeze-frame stance.

Finally, he began to cramp and dropped his arms--only for Bela to stroll through the automatic doors. He sighed, a heavy, put-upon thing. All that comedic setup and for no reward. Such was his life. Unlife.]

You look even more like you could use that drink face-to-face. [i.e. you look like crap, Bela. Let's get pissed.]

Comments

[onsilksheets]

You took it off her. Like some kind of trophy. [Her gaze falls on the jacket for a moment, then back on his face. Oh, she was getting those waves off of him.]

And you also feel guilty about killing her, right? [It's asked in a soft voice and Bela is erring on the side of caution because she doesn't want to anger a vampire.]

[allbloodyhail]

[He laughed, hollowly, taking a sip from his glass.]

Guilt is a funny thing.

[onsilksheets]

I wouldn't know much about that.

[Which was true in a lot of ways. She didn't have much to feel guilty about.]

[allbloodyhail]

Thinking that's for the best, luv. [He still couldn't look at her. It wasn't even so much the guilt, as everything that came after.

And then something happened. His demeanor flipped on a dime and he almost-smiled up at her.] No point dwelling in the past, though, is there?

[onsilksheets]

No. Suppose there isn't. [Except for the fact that she dwelled on it almost everyday, wondering what her life may have been like had the circumstances been different.]

Doing that just brings the mood down and we're not here for that, are we? We are here to get smashed. Though I may get drunk before you on account of me being a human.

[allbloodyhail]

I'll just have to drink faster then. [With half a smile, he made the rest of his drink disappear, regarding her in such an uncharacteristically serious way as he set down the snifter.] ...You ever kill anyone?

[onsilksheets]

[The question threw Bela for a loop and she drains the rest of her glass before placing it down, letting the silence linger for a moment or so longer. She did have an answer for him, but it would only dredge up bad memories for her; Bela didn't want to right now.

But she could tell Spike something else.]

Maimed, not killed and only if the situation called for it. I have a handgun and I use it for my own protection. Sometimes, I attract danger and I need a failsafe.

[allbloodyhail]

Most beautiful women do. [There's a hint of a smile, lip twitching as he takes another drink.] Attract danger, that is.

[onsilksheets]

[If anything, his words give her a bit of a lift and something else to focus on. Bela smiles and it reaches her eyes this time.]

It's my curse. [The smile turns into a slight smirk.] But thanks. For thinking I'm beautiful.

[allbloodyhail]

It's not just me thinking it, I'm sure. Otherwise you wouldn't be cursed at all.

[ spike pulls out his cigarettes, brushing a finger idly over the label. ] You mind?

[onsilksheets]

Very true. I've been complimented a few times here.

[Though some times mattered more than others and they lay with a certain individual who wasn't on board anymore.

She shakes her head at his question, somewhat amused that he even asked. It was polite.]

Go ahead. I think it would be interesting to watch someone who can't technically breathe, smoke. Besides, it's a free country. Or ship in our case.

[allbloodyhail]

I can breathe, yeah. Just don't have to. [ his smile fades as he lights up his smoke, eyeing the space peanuts on the bar rather than her face. ]

Who was it? The one that... Is he still on board?

[ he tries to sound mild about it, but spike has a good mind to kill him if he is. ]

[onsilksheets]

The one who fed from me?

[ no point in treading lightly around the topic as far as she was concerned. it was already out there in the open. ]

He's long gone. Back to wherever he came from. [ Bela takes a healthy swig from her drink. ] Why? Were you planning to defend my honour or something?

[allbloodyhail]

Was just wondering, that's all.

[ it was lame, but he wasn't saying anything else about it. ]

Are there others? Like me? That you know of.

[onsilksheets]

There are a few vampires on board.

[ Bela replies, the beginnings of a smile forming on her lips. ]

But I daresay they're nothing like you.

[allbloodyhail]

No. [ he lifted his glass in acknowledgment, boy did he like her already. ] They wouldn't be, would they?

I'm one of a kind.

[onsilksheets]

No argument from me.

[ she clinked her glass off his before taking a small sip from it. ]

I'd like to think I'm fairly unique as well.

[allbloodyhail]

Yeah? How so? [ he tapped the bar for another round and knocked the rest of his drink back, eyes tracking back to hers when he was done. ] I'm all ears, luv.

[onsilksheets]

Well, I'm a thief and con artist who occasionally contacts spirits for information. People hire me to take items that have supernatural qualities about them.

[allbloodyhail]

You don't say. So that makes you, what? Like a medium or some such.

[onsilksheets]

Not exactly. I use a spirit board to contact them with. Easy when you learn how to use it.

[allbloodyhail]

Isn't that kind of stuff... bad juju? [ it's said in a teasing manner, but he isn't exactly kidding. messing with the dead never ends well in his experience. ]

[onsilksheets]

[ a shrug. she's got bigger problems to deal with back home. ]

Maybe. But the rewards make up for it. The spirits point me in the direction of a priceless object, I steal it and sell it to a buyer. Huge payout.

[allbloodyhail]

[ you become more attractive to him by the second, bela. ]

Can't argue with that, yeah? Money talks louder than juju.

actual gushing over this thread *_*

[onsilksheets]

And money can sometimes make a problem go away. Or make people talk.