Wild Thing AU or Canon: Canon Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Date: December 2016 Notes: While never stated in an epilogue, Leah's 'wish' was to give up her half-breed status - and she didn't mean becoming fully human either...
Leah rose up from the sandy surface of Waikiki beach, her breathing slightly labored from the exertions she'd shared with her latest meal. The demoness smiled down at the man passed out on the beach below her as she brushed herself off in the light of the full moon, the marine was a magnificent specimen and she'd drained as much as she could without causing long term injury or death. There was no altruism in her restraint: food-stock such as that had to be preserved and encouraged to reproduce itself, fate willing she would be around to feed off of his descendants one day. A great deal had become clear to Leah Allen that day in July more than two years gone when she'd shed the last vestiges of her humanity.
She shimmied back into her nearly skintight outfit and glanced toward the lights of the hotel district a quarter mile or so back down the beach. It was getting late enough there weren't as many people out, but she should still be able to find someone to snack on before retiring to her hotel suite and sleeping the morning away. The succubus started on her way, barbed tail swishing back and forth as she walked barefoot in the sand.
The last time Victoria had walked those beaches, had been just before war broke out - literally. The vampiress never had figured out what caused her to be sent back in time for those memorable few weeks, nor what had brought her back to contemporary times. The islands went by a name which, back then, she had been unfamiliar with. The US Navy base, she had no particular reason to keep in mind, beyond how it simply existed. Only later, shortly before the air raid had begun, did she realize it was Pearl Harbor.
She had escaped with her friend, only just in the nick of time, but it had been no illusion. Later research had proven that much - as well as a historical photograph.
Private nostalgia was the reason she was on vacation there, arms crossed, feet casually kicking sand along, every so often. Gaze looking out to sea, as the calming swell of ocean waves washed up along the shore. The world had changed so much since then. Weird, perhaps, but Vicky often reckoned that things might have somehow turned out good, had it not been for such a disaster. Not that she was complaining about her regifted vampirism, by any means. Had always been grateful for it, to a greater or lesser degree and fully intended to see if it really was possibly to live forever.
Perhaps, if she lasted that long, this would be a good place to return to, at the end of the world.
What caused her to turn head was a particularly strong whiff of... Something. Something potent, yet familiar. Predatory senses cued forward, brow frowning, as she peered through the gloom and saw...
"Leah...?"
The succubus stopped her progression toward her hotel and turned her attention toward her questioner. There were few who knew her real name in these parts, that was something she was careful about handing out, even in these more enlightened times. There was something familiar about that voice, and the scent as well.
"Vicky!" A wide, delighted smile broke out on her face and she changed direction to meet up with the vampiress. She enveloped her friend in a tight hug, arms as well as leathery wings wrapping themselves around Victoria briefly before the succubus pulled back to arm's length and looked at her fondly. "It's great to see you! How long has it been? Three years? Four?"
"Um..."
Victoria was a little startled, to say the least. She had broken out in a hopeful smile, at first, but had never expected to see her friend looking like that. Had kept in touch with her, of course. Exchanged the odd telephone call, E-mail and even letter, but only an ambiguous reference of 'changes' had come her way. Changes which had, apparently, registered as positive, but Victoria had not pressed it, thinking they were perhaps financial. And if Leah's scent had a habit of driving the brunette's vampiric nose a little wild, before, then it was now of several orders of magnitude above that.
Oh boy...
An awkward rub was made to the back of neck and Victoria's usually graceful class took something of a back seat for the time being.
"Two," she finally answered, before squinting and saying in disbelief, "You've got fucking wings?!"
Some of the changes had been financial, as she was much better at obtaining 'gifts' from men who struck her fancy than she'd been as a girl even before her wish. But Leah still was well aware of what Victoria meant, and the succubus consciously dialed back her pheromones as much as possible to give the vampire's sense of smell a break.
"Yeah, aren't they great?" She flexed, letting them extend to their furthest extent before folding them behind her back again. "I guess I do look a bit different, but the trade-off was definitely worth it." Granted, she'd been in-mid feed when the event occurred and the question asked of her, but the succubus didn't think she would have changed her answer even if she hadn't been under the influence at the time. The only real complications in her opinion were in finding clothes that didn't clash with her new skin tone and made allowances for the wings and tail: she'd had to have her outfits custom made ever since.
"You know how you were able to taste again while still a vampire? Well, I got in touch with my demonic side."
"Wow."
Victoria could not really think of anything else to say, but her facial expression showed she was impressed. Her smile only bemused, because of just how radical the changes seemed. A little, "Look at you!" As she circled the self-same friend who had traveled with her to this very place, so long ago. Then a note of laughter, as she approved the look with a smiling nod. "Hot stuff, Leah," she congratulated. "At least now I know who to go to if I need someone down with the 'sexy demoness' thing. Damn..."
Not just because of how exotic it was, either. Leah had grown that little bit more into that most attractive of qualities: Self-confidence. Not that it had been lacking, before. But the girl had matured.
"This is probably the wrong thing to say, but... If I was still human, I'd probably be tempted to let you drain me dry, just for the thrill of it! You able to fly with those things?"
Leah preened at the praise and attention. The succubus might have 'grown up', but she was as vain as she ever was if not more so. Vicky's words meant a great deal to her and she didn't bother to hide it.
"Thanks! It would definitely be a thrill," she winked playfully at her friend before sobering slightly, "but I don't go that far very often anymore. Attracts the wrong kind of attention you know what I mean? Besides, 'catch and release' lets them grow and make the next generation of hunks to feed off of down the line."
At Vicky's question about her wings, Leah nodded and extended them out again. "I can, but only for short periods of time. I go too long and it tires me out pretty quick."
The succubus retracted her wings and regarded her friend with a critical eye. "You're looking pretty good yourself, Vicky. Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Hawaii?!"
"Still, though... It'd be an adventure..."
The words trailed off, but one could see in Victoria's eyes that she was intrigued at the possibility. She seemed to be attracted by exotic extremes: Vampirism had been the obvious example. There was always a chance that she might have died happily in her maker's arms, had they decided to simply drink her to death. Then, much later, there had been the confession to a Slayer named Rhiannon, that she had found herself getting secret sexual fantasies about being slowly, gradually staked through the chest. Something which she would not have actually indulged in, but which turned her on.
All things considered, it probably made a lot of sense that the idea of being literally 'sexed to death' was alluring to her, on so many levels.
Listening to her fellow brunette, Victoria slowly caressed hair behind one ear in the early evening breeze, returning to the usual curve of relaxed smile her friend would recall so well. "Because I didn't know you'd be here, goose!" She admonished with a playful nudge of hand at the young woman's ribs. "Besides, it was a last-minute thing... Y'know, there was this Russian girl who had wings. She was more of a... Friend of a friend, though. I always figured she'd end up in a circus or something. Kinda' quirky... You, though! You could easily do TV! Heck, do a talk show! 'Sex Tips With The Succubus'!" She spelt out, using hands to gesture the title in air. "I know someone who tried that, once, but... I think the studio turned into a death-orgy. Heh, the insurance claims were a nightmare."
"Adventure huh?" Leah's eyes gleamed slightly in a mixture of curiosity and amusement before she let the idea go for the moment. "It could be at that."
"You know me, someplace with warm breezes and sandy beaches and I'm a happy girl." She shrugged in amusement. "I kind of think of Honolulu as my home base these days, but I've been known to hop a flight to Rio or Havana every now and again. I even made a trip back to Vegas last spring, for old time's sake."
Her tail swished back and forth as she considered the idea of a talk show for a moment. The idea did sound halfway interesting, maybe she'd talk to her agent about it. Then again, it did sound an awful lot like work. "Maybe I'll try it sometime, but I can kind of see why it could get out of hand. The kind of energy that could build up would be irresistible, then again it might be fun." She was reminded of the orgy she'd set off in Las Vegas, after draining a Russian girl...
"Wait a minute, Russian girl, with wings? Is she a redhead, speaks in gibberish?"
"Um... Sounds like her. Name started with an 'S' - can't remember, right now. Then again, I suppose a lot of them do."
Not that Vicky planned on revealing her own confrontation. It had been back when she went particularly dark and was severely tempted to drain the girl. Only her then-girlfriend, Mallory, had prevented death or worse from setting in. she still communicated with her, too. Albeit, from a distance.
"I'm here with Star. Uh... I don't remember if you knew her," Vicky frowned, wiping a hand slowly through her own hair from in front. "She used to own a nightclub in Vegas. Oh! Oh! She was in that first film I did! What'm I saying? She's famous! Of course you know her! It's Star!"
Leah licked her lips unconsciously at the thought of the redhead and her seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy. It had taken the succubus days to come down off that high, and she'd cut a swath through the Vegas club scene which was still talked about in hushed whispers to this day. She wondered what it might be like now that she was fully a demon and not some weakling half-breed version? Maybe one day she'd run into the girl again.
"Of course I know Star! Who doesn't?" Leah grinned. "But she was my roommate for a while, back before we both got in touch with our demonic sides and she got famous. I never met anyone who could shop like Star, that girl has a knack for the deal."
She nudged her friend in the ribs playfully, in conscious emulation of Vicky's earlier gesture. "So you two shacked up huh?" She grinned at the vampiress and imagined the two of them together. What a pair! "Good for you! We'll have to all go out to eat while you're in town. It'll be like old times, we can feed off the same guys too." After all, she had no need for their blood, only their life energy.
"Where are you staying? I have a suite in the Royal Hawaiian, I'm sure I could rustle up a nice dark bedroom for you two if you wanted."
"That thing everyone wondered? Where my character turns her? It's true... That's how it happened."
The pair had always been ambiguous over whether it was genuine or not. More than a few copies of the film had been sold, based purely on people trying to figure out if it was the real deal or not. Victoria always got a kick out of verbally teasing interviewers who asked about it, but was rarely up front about the truth of it. Leah, though... Sure, why not?
And she had the proudest little grin as she said it.
Ah, the early times... When it was all about flirtation and intrigue. These days, though, their dynamic was a lot more romantic - and Vicky was quite a bit in love with her. Had taken a while, but they made it. Still used seduction, every now and then, to lure in prey, although Victoria considered herself and Star as a definite couple.
Times were good and she was thankful for it.
Brow raised at the suggestion of going out as a three-way dining circle. On reflection, though, hmm... Her friend had a point! "Waste not, want not, right?" Victoria decided, smiling. Under other circumstances, they might well have all met at college or the like. Yet, here they were, a little luxury-focused demonic threesome, draining their way across the world. Funny how things worked out, wasn't it?
"Oh, it's this new place. It had this deal for undead couples; we got this room they call the 'Crimson Sunset'! It's like a honeymoon thing? But specially tinted windows and, well... Let's just say the bathroom 'water supply' is definitely to our taste...! Weird how times change, huh?"
The vampiress was drawn into an impulsive hug once again. "I'm really happy for you both, Vicky, it's great that you two are an item." Leah told her again. She wasn't the type to settle down with one partner, it literally wasn't in the nature of the creature she'd become, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate it in others. If Star and Vicky were happy as a couple that was good enough for Leah.
"Definitely waste not, want not." She agreed, licking her lips and imagining the swath they could cut through the Honolulu night life. Star was similar to Leah in her love of nightclubs and parties, and Vicky was no slouch either. The combination of a succubus and two seductive vamps would be a sensation that the Island would never forget, and Leah found her tail swishing back and forth in anticipation. Damn thing had a mind of its own sometimes.
So maybe it wouldn't happen this evening, but it would happen before the two lovebirds left Hawaii.
"Amazing how times change," she agreed with a teeth baring grin as she let go of Vicky and pulled back a pace or two. "Me walking around in the open looking like I am? A few years ago they'd have probably called out the Army." She chuckled at the image and shook her head. "Not that it would have done them any good. It'd be sending lambs to the slaughter."
"I'd heard about some of the hotels catering to the undead, but you're the first vamp I've run into since I came back to the islands last month. I liked the Royal Hawaiian when we were here in '41, and they renovated it up to modern standards a few years ago so I decided to stay there while I'm in town this time." Another toothy grin as she remembered the reaction of the management staff when she checked in. "They were very accommodating."
"Have you had anyone to eat yet? I was going to look around for a snack to take with me for bedtime before I ran into you."
"I think maybe you'd like someone to call the Army out to get you..." Victoria replied with a smirk. Almost ever since she had hired her as a dancer, it had soon become clear how the girl's mind worked. "I'd forgotten the hotel's name, actually. I don't suppose you still have that archive photo I got for you of our time here?"
Looking back on that time, it was curious to think on how she had felt. There was no guilt, which made the metaphysical issues a little fuzzy, but Victoria definitely remembered how she had been made fully human. A good thing, too, because there was no way for her to know how a potential victim would have affected her own family's history.
That and the fact she had ended up there in broad daylight.
Perhaps, now that she was able to get the benefit of tasting ordinary food products, it made sense that she had now come full geographic circle and met her old friend here, once more.
"Y'know, Star's doing something for a couple of hours, but I think I'd like visiting the old place, again... Oh, God - you didn't get our old room, too, did you?"
"You know me too well," Leah agreed, chuckling. She was something of a slut, but it had been in her nature even before her change. Now it was practically a job requirement.
"The picture? Yeah, I have it on my dresser back at the hotel." It was one of the few pictures she had from her old days and a reminder of a happy time.
Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember exactly what room number they'd had back in 1941. "I don't think so, but they redid most of the actual hotel rooms and I'm sure they've changed things around some as far as numbers go. We didn't have a suite last time did we?"
Inspiration struck and the succubus grabbed hold of her vampiric friend and extended her wings to their furthest extent. "I'll show you!" A push off with her knees and furious flapping from the wings soon had the duo airborne and Leah aimed for the open window of her hotel suite in the 'pink palace of the Pacific'.
With a squeak of surprise, Victoria clung to her for dear unlife. This, she had not been expecting! "Leah!" She cried out and suddenly found the possibility of being able to heal from spinal injury a somehow much more important issue than ever before.
As they began to glide through the night air, though, the fanged brunette's hold relaxed. Victoria looking down below and feeling eventually confident enough to utter laughter at the thrill of such an extreme mode of travel. Shooting through the sky, latched onto a beautiful sex demoness? Scratch one more thing off her 'Things To Do Before You Get Staked' list.