(OPEN!) "The Way It Should Be, a Vampire Roleplay" co-owned by ELC and CS (T-T+)

Elouise smiled slightly when she heard Danielle charge the woman extra. She had always liked her.

She glanced up from the Frappucino she was making to see a guy sitting at a corner table reading a newspaper, but every so often she saw him slyly look up in Danielle's direction. She gave the woman in line her drink and tapped her friend's shoulder lightly. "It would seem you have a secret admirer," she said pointing towards the boy.

Elouise almost winced as a powerful scent rolled over her. She looked around mildly dazed. She saw the newcomer enter the cafe. While she couldn't figure out why, she knew he was bad news.

((XD))

Danielle noticed a man staring at her and Elouise... he appeared to be some sort of vampire, but none like she'd ever seen before. She shrunk a slight bit away from the counter, a tad bit creeped out, and a little bit scared. He seemed dangerous... as well as suspicious. But maybe that was Tommy's paranoia rubbing off on her.

Huh. Tommy... he usually would have texted her or something by now, to check up on her. Even though she was at work.

There was that shady-human figure at the corner table by the door, reading the paper... though they hadn't turned any pages lately...

"It seems you have a secret admirer..."

"Um, hold on a sec, Elli," she said, getting out from behind the counter, and approaching the "man" at the table.
---
Tommy felt even less comfortable/comforted as the strange vampire walked in. He seemed different. Too powerful. This wasn't particularly good... and the way he eyed the girls behind the counter. He glared slightly at the page in the paper, mentally staring the vampire down.

"Hello sir."

A voice interrupted his thoughts, one all-too familiar.

"You know, we don't appreciate loitering here, so if you'd like to order something..."

Down went his paper, and the hood of his jacket. Danielle stared down at him, her arms crossed, a slight glare that wasn't entirely serious.

"Um... hi. Sorry," he murmured, somewhat embarrassed, staring at the table now.

"I'd prefer if you'd not stalk me. But as long as you're not here to loiter... anything you want, Tommy?"

"Well, I guess a hot chocolate wouldn't kill me..."
----
Yeah, and neither will the vampires...

"Alright, no problem."

Danielle wrote down the order, as though he was just a casual customer, even though he'd never dared to enter the actual cafe before. She nervously moved to the strange-red-headed vampire, feeling hypocritical immediately.

"U-Um, hi. What would you like to order, sir?" she requested.
----
"No, I'm well-aware that that's your own blood. We're supposed to have heightened senses, are we not? What happened to you?" the woman persisted. She was somewhat concerned, and she wanted to put a hunter in his place, if that were the case. They didn't need anymore of this senseless violence around here.

Tatiana's nerves shot up as she realized the discomfort level go up. She could practically read it on the faces of the girls behind the counter, and even a few of the customers sitting around. She bit her lip and walked to the counter. "Could I have a hot chocolate and blueberry muffin to go, please?" She'd rather be at the shop, and for the first time, she agreed with her parents. Maybe moving here wasn't such a good idea She thought.

"Hey! I wasn't kidding about the chit chat thing! I didn't just come for a drink!" Leonardo said, not angrily, maybe a little attention seeking, he had picked up something about the secret admirer by the door. He also smelt a reaction from another male in the room, blood flow increasing, and he could tell the eyes were on her. "Quite the man killer." he muttered. noticing an increase in sidelong glances, and some other... hormonal reactions. He heard the door open, and then close, and with it came the unmistakable reek of TV, and the even more unmissable scent of the king of Traditionalists himself, Drucillius. Leonardo smiled, slightly. Things were beginning to get fun. He had met Drucillius before, but he doubted that he would remember Leonardo. He had admired the Vanghulf when he was young, but once you became as old as he was, you realize that admiring is for the week. Unless you're watching cartoons, then it is appropriate. Leonardo's rules to life, lesson one. But he couldn't help but wonder what he would be doing here, a simple cafe, it didn't seem to be like him. There was indeed something big going on, and Leonardo had a feeling he would be spending more and more time at this Cafe than he had previously thought, all the more reason to learn about the staff, if he was going to become a frequent visitor.

Charlotte ignored the 'concerned' vampire behind her and continued walking home. It was obvious that the blood covering her was her own. But she couldn't-- wouldn't tell anyone what had actually happened (although it was pretty obvious). Charlotte had (stupidly) agreed not to tell, and she was going to go through with it. It was her problem, not anyone else's.

Finally Charlotte's apartment building came into view and she sped up her pace, more than ready to be inside in the warmth and quiet. Then she would be able to really evaluate her injuries and do something to help them heal. And rest. Resting had never sounded so good as it did right now. Even if she just crawled onto her couch, it would be so nice to just rest... after setting her alarm clock for 6:00 am, of course.

Elouise nodded at the woman's order, she slowly assembled the order. For reasons that she didn't understand her hands were shaking. It was like her instincts knew something was wrong, but her brain didn't understand the threat. She nearly dropped the muffin before handing it to the customer. She watched Danielle with worry etched in her expression.

Jesse gripped the table with his hands as sweat beaded at his brow. His anxiety surprised him. Why do I care about this girl, it can't be simply that I feel a similarity to her. He noticed many around him watching the girl just as he was. At least I'm not the only one who thinks there's something seriously wrong.

Danielle glanced over at Leonardo, as he had spoken. He seemed to be quite the attention-grabber, that vampire... perhaps he enjoyed the spotlight.

"One moment please," she replied to him, almost impatiently, staring at her current, questionable, customer.

"Sir?" she asked again. This guy didn't boost her confidence at all...

""Quite the man killer."

Danielle blushed profusely, and glared over at the obnoxious vampire, who put the eyes now on her.

"Please tell me your order," she practically begged, wanting to get behind the counter as soon as possible. She hardly noticed the worried-filled glances of Elouise and Jesse, though she knew she was probably worthy of concern at this moment.
---
Tommy glared at the white-haired vampire, who seemed to be enjoying himself far too much. He moved his bag closer to his chair, to have it be more easy-access, just in case. Though he didn't want todraw any attention upon himself here...
---
The woman put her hands on her hips, and watched as the girl walked away. She would have to follow up on this sometime.

Tatiana gave a sympathetic look. "I know this feels really scary, but... you know it had to happen eventually, right? Just deep breaths, calm your frantic mind. I'm sure everyone is feeling the same dread. I can't say it'll be alright because well, it probably won't." She said in a hushed voiced. "How much do I own you?" She asked, voice normal and reaching for her purse.

Drusillus looked to the girl, and the hostility seemed to melt away from his face, instantly becoming a normal ordinary man, with an air of confidence around him. "I'd love a coffee, if it isn't too much trouble, ma'am." His voice was angelic, and seemed to sooth the tension that had come over the cafe since his arrival.

"Black...and if you don't mind me asking, is that man over there harassing you, miss?" He pointed to Lenardo's back, but his attention was on someone else.

His eyes casually went to the boy just behind her, and a small smile spread on his lips that the girl wouldn't notice. It seemed to scream Try me, human. Try me.

"Oh, I'm so very sorry," Elouise apologized. "That would be 5.79 please. And you're right, I knew this was coming. Have a nice night." She put her hands on her hips and took the girl's advice. Her anxiety wouldn't help anything, least of all Danielle. She should just get out of here while she still could but she found her feet rooted in place. She smiled slightly to herself remembering something her mother had said, "She's more human than vampire."

She observed the man's answer finding herself a little less tense. She quickly put together his simple order and set it on the counter, hoping that he'd just take it and leave, and take this uncomfortable atmoshpere with him.

Leonardo looked back over his shoulder at Danielle, he had smelt her blood welling in her cheeks. He had made her blush, he gave himself an internal applause. "I speak only truth, except half the time." he said, quite seriously. He noticed who she was serving. Not a good person, not a good person at all. "Don't waste your time with him, he's a terrible tipper." he said, while keeping his voice calm, he knew better than to hang around Drucillius too long, especially if you were a human. He edited this thought, "Especially if you were a half breed... or an MV, or parent of a half breed, or- TVs have a lot of anger issues." This was his conclusion. Either way he kept his eyes fixed on the pair. He watched his human act, his ability to hide his vampirism was astounding, and sickening. His trickery was obvious to any vamp with a brain, but humans simply couldn't resist him. "Nice to see you Dru." he said, not to reveal his real name. He may be the cops doggy, but that didn't make him a total traitor.

(EDITED!)

Charlotte walked into the building and pulled her keys out when she reached her apartment. Her door was shut and locked as quickly as it had been opened. Walking to her bedroom, she set her alarm clock and carefully sat down on the bed. She would have fallen onto it, if not for her injuries. Charlotte knew that a rib was broken, and that seemed to be the worst damage, so she just re-wrapped it and lay down, falling asleep quickly.
-----
Garrett hated his life looked at the clock and saw with despair that he still had hours to before his stupid extra long shift ended. Sighing, he took a notepad and started doodling on it. He doubted any more customers would come in tonight. It had been slow enough earlier, so he doubted it would be better now that it was even later.

Danielle oddly calmed down, when the vampire appeared to turn more normal, a common-looking man, almost human, with such a perfect voice. She nodded to his orders, writing them down carefully and quickly.

"...and if you don't mind me asking, is that man over there harassing you, miss?"

He gestured to Leonardo. "That's alright. Don't mind him, I'm sure he's just a little... off. I'll be back with your order in a second."

Danielle walked back behind the counter, not noticing how he glanced over at Tommy. She watched as Elli placed the man's order quickly, and then noticed the odd and embarrassing vampire talking to her again.

"Don't waste your time with him, he's a terrible tipper."

She rolled her eyes. "You're extremely obnoxious, you know that?" she said, glaring slightly at him.

Drew? Hm... okay, then... she thought, when Leonardo mentioned his name. That obnoxious vampire knows him? Huh... weird...
----
Tommy immediately felt threatened, pulling up the bag, though he knew it would do him no good. This vampire, even more so than the rest of them, could easily snap him like a twig, and it somehow seemed that he'd be more difficult to kill than the average vampire...

Tatiana gave a weak smile as she grabbed $6 from her purse. "Here. Keep the change. And thanks, you stay safe. Stop by the book shop down the street if you're feeling too anxious, I guarantee you that being in there will settle you down for awhile. Or at least provide a safe place. Go ahead and invite your co-worker. Well, anyone that's the innocent party, really." She added on, feeling like it was the least she could do.

However, as she turned to head out the door, she realized it wasn't even safe to leave. She gulped down the rising nerves. It will be O.K. You convinced your parents, now convince yourself. It will be alright. It will. Maybe. No. No. In the end, everything WILL be alright. Somehow.... but the road to alright will be very bumpy. Tatiana felt the heat from her jacket begin to climb. It felt stifling. She closed her eyes and breathed out. Opening her eyes, Tatiana began for the door.

Elouise thanked the girl for everything and wished her a nice night. She suddenly remembered something, she went into the back room and dug through her bag closing her fist on a bottle of pills. She unscrewed the cap and took one. She immediately felt better. She felt more stimulated, like her emotions had been aimless and now they were on track and under her control. She strode back into the warm room ready for just about anything.

"You should see me when I'm trying to be obnoxious." Said Leonardo. fiddling with the cap of his blood supplement. "This is me being sweet, and polite." he continued, sarcastically. "But you might want to consider not hanging around him. He's into some creepy sex stuff." he said, slightly seriously. Although he did give an alternate reason than, he may want to mutilate your corps and suck up the reminance. He nodded like a waitress would to try and convince you to go bigger on your purchase.

Tatiana took one last look at the showdown going on and left. Before she knew it, she was in front of the store, unlocking it. She opened the door, flipped the sign to open and finally began on her hot chocolate. Her heart was thudding in her chest, and she realized how lucky she was. Taking a bite out of her muffing, Tatiana decided that giving that math problem another shot might help clear her mind and calm her down.

Danielle watched him, and raised an eyebrow at first, and then felt thoroughly creeped out with his mentioning of his description of the guy presented at him. "Um, well, thanks for the warning," she muttered, going back to behind the counter.

"You can take waitress duty now, Elli," she said to her quietly, and almost apologetically, but not particuarly. She'd rather like to avoid these customers now.
-----
Tommy winced, and still held his items. He might actually need them now, he realized. Danielle was in danger.

He watched as she set his hot chocolate atop the counter. He took his items along with him as he took it off, and thanked her.

"Stay away from those guys," he said to her, as discreetly as possible.

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about me, Tommy. I'll be fine," she said, a typical response, though it seemed her confidence now faltered.

"Alright... whatever you say," he replied, not meaning what he said. He sat down, and sipped the chocolate, pulling out a random book from his bag. It was odd, that he had a zip-traveling case with him in a place like this... which had everything he needed for the hotel that night.

And then he realized:

He had everything but his key-card.

"Dangit," he muttered. Oh well... it was very insignificant right now...

"Mission accomplished." Leonardo thought to himself. He put a happy with himself face on, for scaring the waitress away from Drucillia, though he believed that he had scared her off solely with how he talked about Drucillia, not taking his own creepiness into account. He finally opened the supplement, thinking he deserved a victory drink, he tilted his head back and shoved the top into his mouth, letting the smooth red liquid go into his mouth. Once he could taste it his eyes flew open in shock. He slammed the bottle on the table and spat the blood out of his mouth creating a deep crimson spray. "POISON!" he yelled and started scratching at his tongue, oblivious to other people around him.

((Haha..Tommy!!!))

Jesse relaxed a little and realized the coffee cup he had tried to drink out of was bone dry. He walked to the counter and asked for another. As he waited for his coffee he debated leaving. If I want to survive to see another day I might want to get out of here, but that girl. He took his coffee and sat back down taking a swig in thought.
---
Elouise smiled weakly at her coworker. "Sure I'll take my turn." She noticed her hot chocolate from earlier, the whipped cream was entirely gone and the M&M's had lost their color. She tossed it into the garbage and sighed in regret. She noticed the coffee from earlier still sitting on the counter. She picked it up, walked over to the scary man's table and deposited it there. She turned back to the counter.

Danielle automatically stared at Leonardo, as he spat out blood supplement, yelling "POISON!" at the top of his vampire lungs. Those in his unfortunate spitting distance were splattered with a slight coating of the drink, now.

Poison...? How is that poison? It's just a stupid vampire energy drink...

She left the counter and told the angry customers that they now didn't have to pay for their drinks, as they cleaned themselves up, and left. She sighed, and wiped the table, glaring at Leonardo.

"Was that really necessary?" she said to him, accusingly. She put her hands on her hips, looking angrily at him. He was so utterly dramatic...

Drusillus took the coffee from the table, smiling softly at the girl as she went back to the counter. His eyes looked to Leonardo, and his smile hardened into a grin. "Leo...you certainly haven't changed since I last saw you." His voice was still soft, but there was a hidden edge to it that the vampire was certain to pick up.

He took a sip of his coffee, and his smile was normal once more. "Nice collar."

While the waitress was distracted with the angry customers Leonardo turned hi head to the side not fully facing Drucillius. "I could say the same for you Dru, but then it would be a lie, because now you have an army of darkness... which is bad for me isn't it? I mean I'm already on your hit list for creating a halfling already." he said in a hush so that only Drucillius could hear. "Oh yeah, this thing." he said, and tugged at the collar a little bit, but stopped when vomit started to rise in his throat. He didn't plan on making more than one mess in the cafe tonight. He swallowed, gave a disgusted look at what he had done, shook his head and then spun in his chair to face Drucillius. "It's a really a long story, but I'll give you the ending, somehow I ended up being a little doggy for the cops. As much as I would like to say they see me as a German Shepard, or some form of attack dog, I think they know I'm too cute for that, so I'd say I'm like a shiatsu." he continued and stared at Drucillius for a moment before spinning back around sensing that the waitress was now returning, and that she wasn't at all happy.

"Yes it was. I haven't tasted something that bad in years mademoiselle, I don't know your name yet. You try being a vampire." Spat Leonardo. He then paused for a moment thinking about how that sounded. "That was not a threat." he added. He took out his wallet and put a 50 on the counter. "That should pay for mine, the ones I ruined and then some." he said, returning her angry look. "Oh and by the way, you should be thanking me, because now instead of feeling bad for yourself all the time you're feeling angry at me. I made you forget your worries." he told her, and smiled at her.

Elouise grabbed a chocolate almond biscotti from the jar on the counter and slipped it into her mouth. One of my favorite things about this job.

She looked around the room to see everyone sipping on drinks so she pulled her sketchpad and pencil out of her apron pocket. She had a still life due for her art class at the U, and she still hadn't picked a subject. She absentmindedly sketched the empty coffee cup in front of her.

Danielle continued glaring at him. Well, sure, it probably wasn't like what this guy, "Leo", apparently, might have been used to, but...

"You try being a vampire."

Well, that would suck, but... umm... questionable way to put something...

She took a subtle step back, before he added, "That was not a threat." She sighed, as he slapped down a 50 on the table. That was quite a lot, for just a blood substitute and spitting at some people by accident. She was about to say that he didn't have to, because it was definitely "then some", before he gave her an angry look.

"Oh and by the way, you should be thanking me, because now instead of feeling bad for yourself all the time you're feeling angry at me. I made you forget your worries."

Then he smiled. She was about to glare at him again, and she realized, he was actually right. The girl glared at him, but less seriously now, smiling slightly to herself.

"Alright, alright, thanks. My name's Danielle, by the way."

She pulled out the clip-on nametag she forgot and put it at the top of her apron. "Sorry about that."
-----
Tommy watched the exchange between the two vampires, and then the one between Danielle and the guy who'd just spat out blood sub... it hadn't been great to watch, especially for him, but he did anyway. And when Danielle's anger subsided, the way they looked at each other made him felt a small bit more angry than he needed to be. More so because this guy probably wasn't safe... especially from what he'd strained to hear in the conversation of him and the dangerous, most threatening guy.
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Andrew cleaned up his couch, and then sat down. He had a television somewhere, but he hardly used it... he didn't really have much need, except to see the news to keep up with what was going on in the city. Tonight was entirely uneventful... perhaps he should "hunt" tonight anyway... or not. He sighed, and stared out at the bustling city. It was the perfect place, where he lived. Overlooking everything. He didn't need anymore for this night. But being in here for the night without anyone seemed so boring, so much like a human. A lonely human, for that matter. A very unfortunate one, surrounded by all they could possibly want and unsatisfied.

He slipped on his jacket and made the journey back out into the city. He'd do something tonight. There were other Traditionalists, perhaps they were meeting for something. It seemed like things were tense tonight. For reasons he did not yet know...

Until he reached the street across from his. From what he noted, there had been a truck, one with a human, and a Modernist Vampire... the scent had been different earlier, from across the street, but now it was obvious. A true half-breeded human.

This was the last straw for the night. Perhaps he should locate them...

No, not now. You don't want to draw attention to yourself.

Contacting another "Traditionalist" Vampire would most likely be the best path. It seemed there was one, in the cafe. He entered, taking a seat a few tables down. The place was disgusting, reeking of human food and blood substitutes, but it was possibly tolerable, at least for a little while.
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Tommy noticed as another vampire walked in... what was with this place?! He still didn't intend to leave, however, until Danielle's shift was over. He took his bag up, and walked up to the girl at the counter. She was, again, obviously, a vampire. She seemed to be absentmindedly sketching an empty coffee cup.

"Um... can I have a regular coffee please? Two shots of hazelnut and one cream..." he asked. He really wished he could get out of here, but he also knew he "shouldn't"...