Roleplay Test 🌹

[ohdanny]

What: A RP test
Where: Ireland, a pub
When: A rainy night
Who: Closed (complete)

[ It's a cold, wet and miserable night. Typically British weather, you might say, if you know anything about Britain. Especially Ireland. It might be the Emerald Isle, but you have to see it from the rain. But if there's anything Ireland isn't going to run out of, it's pubs, and that's where you are. ]

[ Maybe you took shelter from the rain. Maybe you're on holiday in town and someone recommended the place to you. It doesn't seem like a tourist trap, though. Maybe this isn't where you meant to be, but you got lost? Whatever the reason you're here now, and it seems like half of Dublin is too, so you may as well make the most of it. ]

[ There's a man sitting on his own at the far end of the bar, nursing a whiskey. He seems oddly dry given the weather outside; has he been here a while? Or maybe he just has a good raincoat. After all, the woollen green one that he's wearing fits him like a glove and there's a few ominous lumps around the waistline. But the other patrons of the bar seem to be giving him a wide berth and indeed, some of them are even shooting him hostile looks. ]

[ Perhaps you're one of those people - perhaps you know who the dark, curly-haired be-hatted stranger is, perhaps you don't. The man raises his mug to his lips and takes a long drink of his whiskey. Perhaps it's you his gaze settles on as he glances across the busy room. ]

Comments

[bluemooncross]

[Why was he here again? He hates this place. The smell of beer, of sweat and salt. It's all so nauseating.]

[Oh...Right. He remembers now. 'Food'. This is one of the only places still open, after all...]

[He doesn't exactly blend in, unfortunately, and looks a bit like he may be the bartender's son visiting from college. He's not even drinking, either.]

[But he won't be long, he just needs to-]

[...]

[...He wasn't followed here, right? Nah, he's just imagining things.]

[Clearly]

[ohdanny]

[ Had the kid walked into the bar with a parent or an older sibling in tow Daniel wouldn't have batted an eyelid. The pub served food, and kids were allowed in bars to eat with their parents, these days. Of course that hadn't always been the case but then in Daniel's life there's been a time where anyone could drink, anyway. But the kid had arrived on his own, like a little lost, bedraggled puppy and sure, maybe he was old enough to to drink and just had a baby face or something but there was something about him. Something almost familiar. ]

[ She takes another drink of her first whiskey of the night before biting the proverbial bullet. ]

"Isn't it past your bedtime, kid?"

[ Her accent is English, tinged with Irish. She's been here a lot, in recent centuries. Her voice is also low; after all, she has an image to maintain of masculinity, after all. So far no one has called her ma'am or miss and that's perfect. She has a lot of practice after all. It's not that she doesn't want to be a woman, but not everyone in this part of Britain is a friend and the less her enemies can learn about her, the better. This isn't a good place to let her guard down. ]

[bluemooncross]

[He tightens his shoulders. Ahh. Great. He starts to turn around.]

Look, I'm not a-

[He stops for a second, brow furrowing. Not again. Even with his eyes, it's too damn dark to make out faces. Or maybe he's too hungry to see straight. Are the excuses he gives..]

-kid. I'm 22.

[Twenty-two. That's old enough for pubs, right? He always forgets...]

Besides, who are you. My mom?

[His voice doesn't help conceal himself, either. Even though he looks vaguely the age he says, he sounds like a tourist that flew in straight from New York.]

[ohdanny]

[ She sighs. She came here to drink a little too much, scout out the rumours that there was a rogue werewolf in the area, and wait out the rain. It's a long walk back to her bed and breakfast if she has to go around the river - which she does - and she doesn't want to have to walk it in the rain. Not for the first time, she wishes she had a more convenient 'curse' to deal with. But what she does have to deal with right now is an inability to cross running water and what looks to be a runaway kid. ]

"Twenty two, huh?"

[ She snorts. He looks about sixteen but who is she to judge? She looks to be in her late twenties or early thirties and that's... Well, it's far from the truth. And besides, she's not a paragon of virtue herself. If the kid wants to kid, the kid wants to drink, and at least he doesn't look like he's sizing up whether or not he can take her in a fight. The pub is full of the supernatural; for one night, she just wants a drink. ]

"You shouldn't drink on an empty stomach, y'know."

[ Downing her whiskey she calls over the barman. ]

"Another Glenfiddoch, no ice, and two bags of cheese and onion."

[bluemooncross]

[Oh yeah, he's totally sixteen. He's been sixteen for a while now.]

That is what I said.

[He shifts in his eyes, taking glances at the window outside. He seems to lose his train of thought for a moment, and flinches when she speaks again. He didn't exactly expect her to stay around...]

Huh? I'm fine.

[The counter in beside him is empty. Almost as if he didn't think to order anything. Not that it'd be suspicious or anything.]

[ohdanny]

"Pull the other one - it's got bells on it."

[ She snorts, again, but follows his line of sight as he glances outside. Is there somewhere else he wants to be? Somebody that he's waiting for? The kid is almost impossible to read, and there's something at the back of her mind trying to get her attention. The words 'FAMILIAR' and 'DANGER' come to mind, but there's a werewolf in the corner, watching the football, and there's a salt trap outside what looks to be the private room at the back, so that's not exactly a surprise. ]

"Where're you from? The US?"

[ She tosses him one of the bags of crisps, with a practiced movement. A casual flick of her wrist, and then she looks away from him, giving her attention to tearing open her own bag. Not that she's really ignoring him; it's just that she's very good at making it look as though she is. She shoots the television screen a sideways glance, looking at the weather forecast scrolling along the bottom of the screen along with the score. Damn. It's going to rain all week. ]

[bluemooncross]

[Chris takes the bag and frowns. Oh great, because this will totally help him. Spoilers: Vomit is in his future. Still... Appearances and all. So he makes a slow motion to open the bag and take a chip out to place in his mouth.]

Mmm? Err, yeah.

[Not a lie. He came from the US, at least, and he's spent most of his time there...but that's probably not quite what she meant.]

Do you usually do this with new people, offer them food?

[He continues to fidget, looking at him (no, he hasn't realized) for a moment. Should he...? He wrinkles his nose. He didn't smell right but...really, was it a time to be picky now?]

[ohdanny]

"When they look tired, hungry and suspicious?"

[ She continues to not look at the kid as he opens his chips, savouring her own. (She hadn't planned to have anything to eat while she was in the place but these are good crisps; higher quality than the usual pub thorough-faire.) Calm, casual, that's the way to deal with this. Really, she should have let it go but she had eight hundred years of hunting under her belt and her instincts wouldn't let her just ignore the feeling that there was something more than just a kid, here. ]

"I guess I do, yeah. So, what brings you to Ireland?"

[bluemooncross]

I...d-do not.

[Somehow, the stranger has managed to make him feel embarrassed. He rolls his eyes, eating as if being forced at gunpoint, which with a gaze like that, doesn't feel inaccurate.]

I'm a tourist in a new town, stuck in a pub late at night. Excuse m-me for not looking comfortable.

[He shrugs, and draws his hand away from the chips, leaving them on the counter.]

Vacation. I wanted to get away.

[ohdanny]

"Are you lost?"

[ She raises an eyebrow, her very best 'older sibling' voice on. Perhaps that's why she's taking such an interest in the kid. He's about the age that she remembers Chris - maybe a little older - and he looks a little like her younger brother, too. But Chris has been dead for hundreds of years. Wandered away on his own just once, and a vampire got him. God, she still can't forgive herself for not keeping a closer watch on him. ]

"There's a good B&B across town, not far from the information centre."

[ She pulls away from the bar, looking through the inner pockets of her coat, doing her best to hide the things she has in there that really shouldn't be in a pub. A vial of holy water, some garlic powder (the best she could find on short notice), a whittled hockey wicket that does nicely as a stake. In the end she finds what she's looking for, and hands him a leaflet; Welcome to Dublin. ]

[ And then that last line of his gets her attention all over again, just as she was starting to relax and enjoy her evening. ]

[bluemooncross]

[ He can feel him curl into himself a little. Something about his tone made him feel...small. Like Daniella. ]

Y-Yeah, something like that...

[ He picks his head up and smiles toothlessly. Maybe now was his chance? He really hated doing this... But he needed to do something soon before he went crazy. ]

[ Still, he always hates compelling people... ]

Could you...walk me there? [ Chuckles ] I'm not that great with directions.

[ohdanny]

[ She raises an eyebrow at his grin, wondering where it came from. Maybe getting something in his stomach was just what he needed? Either way, he's smiling again and maybe that means she can get on with her evening, guilt-free. She hums thoughtfully, chasing her crisps down with some more whiskey and trying to work out how she's going to pay for her drinks when he starts talking again. ]

"I... sure."

[ It's all she can do not to sigh. She hadn't wanted to go out in this rain, and didn't really want to end up accountable for some runaway kid. ]

"Once the rain's off, alright? Then I got places to be."

[bluemooncross]

[ The reaction could have been worse, but waiting isn't really in the cards for him. ]

Come on, it's just rain. Let's go.

[ He stands up from his seat and holds a hand out for him, hoping this compulsion lasts. It's not exactly something he likes to practice. ]

...Please?

[ohdanny]

[ She laughed, darkly, continuing to drink her whiskey. Why she's telling him why she doesn't want to leave yet he isn't sure, but something about him has suddenly begun to inspire trust. It's not an emotion she often feels these days. ]

"Yeah, but we have to go 'round the river and frankly, I can't be arsed yet."

[ As the kid stands up she rolls her eyes, looking at her drink as though it's the elixir of life. She really doesn't want to have to leave it behind, and she definitely doesn't want to have to go out in the rain. But maybe they should go now; after all, the rain might not be stopping any time soon.]

"We could split a taxi?"

[bluemooncross]

[ The river? Eh? He almost wanted to ask but... dammit, the hypnotism was holding, and he really didn't want to test it now. ]

Okay, sure. Let's do that.

[ He leans his head forward slightly, frowning slightly, and the hand still outstretched ]

I can cover the taxi, [ He says, with no money in his pockets. ] so don't worry about it.

[ohdanny]

"Well if you're sure..."

[ She isn't sure, but what's the harm in getting a taxi with the kid? She's heavily armed, if he turns out to be some sort of creep, and looking him up and down she's pretty certain she could take him in a fight, anyway. He's probably not supernatural, she supposes, but there's still that little voice at the back of her mind and she keeps one hand on the dagger tucked into her belt as she fishes for as much of the price of the whiskey and crisps as she can find and follows the kid out of the pub. ]

"You got folks you need to call? I have a phone..."

[ She doesn't take his hand; she's never needed that before, and he's a big kid, he doesn't need her. But she sticks close by him, sheltering herself from the rain with one arm and the lapels of her coat as she hails a passing yellow taxi. ]

[bluemooncross]

Mmm? No, it's fine. You don't need to call anyone. I...

[ He stops once they leave the pub, hesitating as he starts to sway. His ears are starting to ring, and his mouth is dry... This is starting to go on for too long. He reaches out to hold the brick wall beside him, steadying himself. ]

H-How far was this place again?

[ohdanny]

"Half an hour."

[ She shrugs, starting to get suspicious of the kid as the rain hits her face. She shakes her head, fog clearing from her mind, and she hesitates at the taxi door. ]

"Longer if we had to walk - look, kid, are you drunk or something?"

[bluemooncross]

U-Umm, yeah. 'lil bit.

[ Whatever makes her less suspicious. He laughs, weakly. He really overestimated himself... ]

H-Hey, umm, [ He gulps, his voice small. ] com'ere for a second?

[ohdanny]

[ Daniel raises an eyebrow. Okay, now she's listening to the alarm bells. Something is very, very wrong and she begins to consider if she was a bit hasty in assuming there was nothing weird and supernatural going on here. She studies him up and down, looking for some sort of clue as to what is going on. Is he a pervert, or a monster? ]

[ She takes a step back when he laughs and asks her to come closer, before narrowing her eyes and slamming the taxi door shut. There's no way she's getting in a taxi with this kid. Her hand slips subtly into her coat, fingertips dancing over her makeshift stake. Fuck. Fuck. How did she not see it sooner? ]

"You're not drunk, are you."

[ It's more like a statement than a question. ]

[bluemooncross]

[ Come on, why isn't he listening already? He doesn't have time for this shit. ]

Of course I am, now c'mere. I... I-I can't-t walk on my o-own.

[ Hurry up. He's almost about to...black...o... He lifts his head sightly, the streetlamps shining on his eyes enough to show irises a much darker shade than the baby blues they were indoors. ]

[ohdanny]

"Fuck."

[ Vampire. He's a fucking vampire. And he cast a fucking glamour on her? After seven hundred and something years, it was hard to imagine she could be so stupid! She's painfully aware of how many CCTV cameras there must be on this street alone and the fact that she can't very well draw a stake in the middle of Dublin. Especially not right outside the pub; there's a load of drunk and drinking supernaturals in the pub behind her, and much as she'd like to take a flamethrower to the entire place (not that it would kill all of them, anyway) it'd be more trouble than it was worth to draw that much attention to herself. She was already known in Ireland without putting a target on her head. ]

"Fuck."

[ She isn't sure what else to say at this point, and she can hear the growl in her voice as the kid's eyes flash so dark - and hell, how young was he when he was turned? It's almost a crime - and he stumbles in the lamplight. She takes another step back, making no attempt to help him stand up again. She might not be able to kill him right here, right now in the street but she's certainly not going to help him, either. Doing her best to commit his face to memory - and damn it, to add insult to injury he really does look so much like Chris, and it just makes her even angrier - she moves her hand further around her belt, looking for her hip flask of holy water. ]

"When did you last..."

[ She shudders, eyes narrowed. ]

"Eat?"

[bluemooncross]

[ Danny, it's okay. The police will only ask "Why is that person stabbing air?" ]

[ Damn the sun and soil, why did the compulsion have to drop now?? That has to be why he stopped, right? Maybe...Maybe he can still convince him anyway? He gulps again and trembles as he tries to keep his posture, but fail finds his shoulders drooping under their own weight. ]

Hahh...ha, ha. [ He shakes his head. ] No-Not f-for a while. Maybe we should g-go g-get a bite to eat?

[ Seriously Chris, puns at a time like this??? ]

[ohdanny]

[ She does decide to grip the kid's shoulder, then, in a hold that is far too tight. She squeezes, digging in her fingernails and although she does (roughly) pull him to his feet she also pulls him close, hissing in his ear. It's a gamble; she wants to keep her throat as far away from his teeth as possible. ]

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

[bluemooncross]

[ He stumbles, but lands with quite a jolt against the stranger's side. There's...something to their words, that sparks something in his mind, and elicits a sudden, dry, mad laugh. ]

Ha...Hah, ha, ha, ha, HA... Christ... You s-sound like my sister.

[ He rolls his head to the side, then to the other, slowly. It's only slightly, but his voice sounds different, more...lispy, the s's slipping on his tongue. Not quite snake-like, but...different. He laughs again. ]

You're not very smart, are you? [ He grips the stranger by their shoulders, surprisingly tight for someone so delirious. ] You shouldn't get close to strangers...

[ohdanny]

"Yeah."

[ She hisses, her tone of voice like poison. ]

"And you look like my dead little brother. Funny how that happens, isn't it?"

[ It's not funny, not at all. They're in the middle of Dublin, at night, just outside a pub and surrounded by CCTV cameras and - oh, they're not beside an impatient taxi driver anymore, the man's clearly given up. But they are in public and here they are doing the fucking danse macabre. Daniel can't make a move without getting the kid off the streets and if the kid isn't too blood-starved to care by now, he'd know that he couldn't kill her in public, either. No wonder he'd wanted to get her into a taxi, or a hotel room, or a dark alleyway or riverside footpath where nobody could hear her scream. He was behaving as though he hadn't drunk in days and like a fool, just 'cause he looked like Chris, she'd let herself be taken in. ]

[ She flinches when he suddenly grabs her back and like lightning one of her hands wraps around the cap of her hip flask and the one on his shoulder lashes out to grab his throat, squeezing tight. Whether she was hunting or dealing with creeps in clubs, Daniel knew how to defend herself from stronger men and women. Then again, vampires are strong, and it takes more effort than she cares to admit, after two and a half mugs of whiskey, to put all her weight into her legs and shove him against the pub wall. The swinging sign shakes as they hit the stone, and she prays to God - if he still listens to her - that they aren't attracting too much attention. ]

"You're messing with the wrong hunter, kid. Get the fuck out of Dublin and I won't kill you. This time."

[bluemooncross]

[ He rolls his eyes. Are all hunters this talky? This...was probably his first time facing off against one, Bel had always taken care of them before... (He'd think, if he had the mind to. Sadly, he doesn't.) ]

[ He grunts, head hitting the wall and mouth open, revealing teeth. Fangs. Tiny ones, like they were stunted, but there and quite obviously sharp. ]

I h-hear that a lot.

[ He rolls his head forward, eyes fully black and face dull. He's too hungry to care, to think,even. ]

'You sure about that?

[ He flexes his shoulders against the wall to push against her. Making a decent effort. A tremendous one, given his age, but... he's also starved, and weak. ]

[ohdanny]

[ She's talkative, when she's upset. He always has been, and she suspects that this time, it's given away the game that he is she. (Not that it matters so much this century whether a monster hunter is a woman or a man, but it's a habit that's stuck over the years. And then of course there was the time she'd managed to get the upper hand against that succubi because he hadn't bothered to try and seduce her. But that was another story, and not the matter at hand right now. ]

[ God, but the kid's still trying to fight her? Her mind is clear enough to see past the glamour now, and it almost makes her want to laugh, if she wasn't so angry. He's probably not a kid, she keeps telling herself. The poor guy was probably just turned young. He's strong, but untrained, that much is obvious, and it's probably what saved her life. His attempts to push her away make her budge a little, but it's nothing she can't deal with. All the same, she finds herself veering away from the teeth, perfectly aware of how much danger she's now in. ]

"I don't want a scene, kid. Get out of Dublin, find some cow to drain or something."

[ Can vampires drink from animals? She'd never thought to ask one, and the thought is briefly amusing. ]

[bluemooncross]

[ It's kind of pathetic, really. For his age, he should have turned this person into a pile of bones and skin by the time to taxi had left. But... He's weak, even when fed. So despite the budge and the jaw snapping, there's not much else to worry about. ]

Fuck off. You're not the one in danger.

[ Wrong. See above. ]

[ Well...Maybe if the hunter gets cocky again and gets too close... Even in his wild state, Chris can feel his stomach churn at that thought. ]

Why bother? Do you really think anyone is paying attention? The pub? Please...

[ He starts to struggle. He just...needs leverage...And he can end this soon. ]

[ohdanny]

"Trust me kid, I wasn't born yesterday."

[ No, she was born centuries ago. It's not that long to her birthday, all things considered, but it's been decades since she's anyway been interested in celebrating it and even longer since Daniel gave a damn herself. She almost chuckles at her own joke, and wonders if perhaps monsters would be more careful if they knew some of the hunters were as old as they were. Not that she'd planned that. She'd had to be so fucking stupid as to accidentally make a deal with the Crooked Head, wouldn't she? ]

"The pub's full of hunters."

[ It's a bare-faced lie, but she wonders if his senses are dulled by his hunger. In actual fact it's full of people who might even hold her down and let him feed. Monsters are more careful these days, but they're still monsters. But the longer she pins the kid, the less she wants to kill him and the more she wants to just get him out of Dublin and just go to fucking sleep. She's getting too old for this shit, and she doesn't want to kill a kid. ]

[ Her mind made up she takes him by the shoulder and spins him, trying to force one arm behind his back for leverage. ]

"You're coming with me."

[bluemooncross]

[ And he wasn't either. Yet he still acts like a fucking child and rolls his eyes. Jesus, he could talk, couldn't he? ]

[ He wished he would stop talking, maybe drop his guard or- ]

-Chhh!!

[ A hiss lept out of his throat as he was forced around and he found himself powerless to stop it. Dammit. He thought he had them fooled... ]

What?? You decided not to kill me here, then??

[ohdanny]

"Just shut up and come on."

[ She grunts, looking up and down the street, wondering just where it is she plans to take him. Make to her hotel? The rain is starting to ease off at least, so they can go the long way around. Or perhaps she just needs to find a dark alleyway. Right, because that's a good idea. It's just what she needs to do to make this stupid plan of hers even worse, and yet she starts off down the street, looking for somewhere quiet. ]

"What's your name?"

[bluemooncross]

[ You know, it'd be really great if he could move right now. But, the pin he's under is a lot stronger than he's willing to admit and, dammit... He's too hungry. Like, reaching past rabid starvation and now just into...this. ]

[ He grunts, snarling with his head hung low. ]

C-...Chris...Why d'you care?

[ohdanny]

[ She freezes, almost losing her grip on both his arm and her own sanity at the name. Chris. Damn it all, he even shares a name with her dead brother. She wonders if Christopher might have shortened his name had he lived in this century? She expects so. But whether he knows it or not this kid has managed to find a weakness in Daniel's impeccable armour. Crom Cruach will not get his blood tonight. ]

"Fuck you, that's why."

[ She grunts and starts walking again, faster this time. She's well aware how ridiculous and childish she sounds, but if she doesn't stay angry she'll talk herself out of this reckless, stupid, sentimental idea of hers. She continues to keep an eye out for somewhere quiet until she spots an alleyway with no obvious CCTV cameras, and drags him down it with one hand, pulling out her stake with the other. ]

[ohdanny]

CONTINUED: Argument Meme