The Universe's Mixer

Lestat was hoping that Bella would finish reading about him soon, and that he'd see her again. He rather liked Bella, and he didn't really understand why. But for now, he sat in the same outdoor cafe where he'd sat with her, watching people.

An untouched cup of coffee was in front of him, as was a notebook and an old-fashioned fountain pen. He wore his sunglasses, even though the sun had recently set. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he looked, for all intents and purposes, like a normal, if pale, young man.

This evening in particular, his attention was drawn to the redhead.

He could feel the power that was within her as if it was trying to touch him. It'd been the same with Rowan, with Merrick, with many of the Mayfairs. He squinted his eyes, trying to determine--nicely, without interfering with her mind--who she was. Hadn't... wasn't there... there was someone. There was a witch. Had Spike mentioned her? Had Buffy? It didn't matter. Lestat knew enough to realize this was one of their people. A witch of Sunnydale, rich with power.

The vampire smiled. And he waited for her to pass. And when she did, he said hello to her and invited her to sit down.

Fred was feeling different lately. Oh, she'd been having very interesting dreams, and she'd been allowed to work on some very high tech equipment. She was helping, but she'd felt..different recently. It wasn't a good or bad different, although she did feel a craving. It was one of those cravings she couldn't quite figure out for what exactly she was craving. She couldn't name it, and if she could just name it, maybe then she'd be able to get back to feeling normal. Not that she really considered herself all that normal.

As if the City felt a need to help her out, or give her yet another distraction, she received an invitation from the City Institute. They were thinking of holding a panel for the leading scientists and thinkers on the interplay between science and magic or supernatural. The invitation was to a private meeting, and she guessed it was part of whatever was going on to find answers about the City. The Institute was starting to wonder? Maybe it was someone who was part of that meeting? There'd been flyers, she was pretty sure of that.

She knew she should probably sit at the computers and do more work, but the programs she had running, which didn't seem to be giving her more information than she'd already provided, were working well enough on their own. She wasn't needed.

Fred dressed in her more scholarly gear, even the glasses not that she always needed them much lately, and headed out to the Institute. She'd found the small conference room that looked set up for a small round table discussion, or debate; it even had snacks: small sandwiches, chips, crackers, pastries, juice, water, soda. It didn't look like a lot of food, but she'd guess at least five or six were expected. Scholars, thinkers, did like the free food and usually tried to sneak some home.

Fred Burkle settled down in a semi-plush swiveling rolly chair and waited. She didn't want to touch the snacks until others were there. It seemed more polite. She was a little excited; it'd been a while since she'd gotten to have an in-depth conversation of this kind.

It was a typical day for Jesse Custer. He moved about The City, watching out for things he could help with. Seeing if there were any new faces about. Occasionally playing with the stupid fucking phone thing that The City had given him. Occasionally even doing the right thing with it. He had breakfast in a diner and lunch in a diner. It didn't compare to Zoe's cooking, of course. Nothing compared to a nice home cooked meal. But Jesse just wasn't the kind of guy who spent a lot of time doing his own work in the kitchen. There were simple things he could do, eggs, bacon, pancakes for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. But sometimes it was just easier to eat someplace else. Besides, it meant that he didn't have to clean, either.

He was currently standing outside said chosen lunch establishment, lighting his post meal cigarette. He looked in the direction of a couple of young guys who were having an argument about god. He shook his head.

"May not be no God here," He said to himself. "But he existed at one time."

Not to mention there was, well, himself. Maybe people didn't pray to him and ask him to bless their dinners and watch over their sick grandmas, but there were people here who knew very well what he could do. People who trusted in his abilities. Maybe one or two who revered him. Just a little.

He turned to walk from diner and continue on his random path through The City and came face to face with a blonde. At least he didn't actually run into her like he had Castiel. Didn't do much good to be God if you couldn't so much as tell when another person was walking toward you.

"Scuse me, darlin" He gave her a smile and waited for her to go around so they didn't end up doing that stupid dance trying to get by one another.

He was just in the mood for a light snack. Something quick. What the humans liked to call 'fast food'. He didn't want to have to hunt down Fred for it, it would take too long. It also hadn't been a very long time since he'd fed on her last, and wanted a little more time to go by before they saw each other again. Let those dreams get in there good and deep. He also didn't want to ask Baba. She was not the sort you went to for a quick meal. Baba was to be enjoyed. Savored. And on top of that, they had experiments to run, didn't they? He couldn't just ask her for something as powerful as her blood and then tell her that he had to run.

The sun had only just gone down. He'd been up for almost two full hours before sunset. He could tell that the blood he'd already taken from the ancient hag was wearing off. But not as quickly as he'd thought it would. Soon, though, he would be waking just before sunset as he had previous to ever knowing her. He still hadn't dared to go outside until the sun was dark, however. He wasn't foolish enough to try that this late in the game and without the help that Baba Yaga had promised him. Instead, he'd been irritated for those entire two hours by the new day girl. She talked his ear off. With the most inane crap he'd ever heard in his life. He didn't know if she'd been trying to impress him or flirt with him or if she'd been highly nervous. It didn't matter. By the end of the two hours, he'd really felt like killing her. If hiring a day girl wasn't so tedious, he might have.

He'd left as soon as he could, not saying a word.

Not knowing where he was going, he'd just started to walk. As he walked, he realized that he was a little bit hungry. Thus, the snack. It really hadn't taken him long to find somebody suitable for his needs. A lovely young lad walking by himself. Eric had taken him down quickly, sweeping him into an alley quickly, and before the boy ever knew what was going on. The kid was right around the age of 13, Eric thought. Young. Tasty.

His fangs slid easily into the flesh and Eric got ready to have his mini meal.

Baba had told him to come to this book store and pick up a book for her. But that's not the only thing she'd said. She'd told him that the girl who ran the store was named Beauty. Eric was well aware of the Beauty and the Beast tale. He'd had no doubt that Baba's interest in this girl was because of that. She also told him to taste Beauty if he could. Baba wanted to know if Beauty tasted the same as she did. If she had the same kick. Eric thought that they were both aware that there was no way Beauty would be on par with Baba Yaga, not really. But he understood what she wanted.

Beauty was a story the way Baba was a story.

Just a little past dark, Eric found the store that Baba had pointed him to. It didn't make itself hard to locate, which was nice. He might have been irritated if he'd had to work for this endeavor. After all, it wasn't really anything more than an errand. He was not an errand boy. Somehow, though, he'd found himself agreeing. Maybe some curiosity about this Beauty had snuck in. Wormed it's path through his brain to the point that he'd been unable to resist. Or maybe it was just because it was Baba asking. Either way, the ease of finding the place worked in the favor of both women.

He walked through the front door and a bell rang. He'd been expecting that for some reason. And there was a smile on his face. Something that wouldn't have happened if he'd had to work for this. The place definitely smelled like books. But not the way that most book stores did. It smelled of old books. Powerful books. Books that had been around for ages. Their pages slightly yellowed and carrying the scents of their previous owners. He liked this smell.

Eric made his way leisurely toward the counter.

Patience was a virtue. Unfortunately, it was not one of Harley’s. It never really had been, actually. When she wanted something, she found a way to make it happen, even before she’d met her Puddin’. Now when she wanted something, she generally just took it. A reflection that did nothing to lighten her gloomy mood as she sat parked atop an office building, watching the two most likely exits to said structure.

This had seemed like fun when she thought of it three hours ago. The fuzz did it all the time. The vinyl vigilante practically lived to do this sort of thing. Which only reinforced Harley’s professional opinion that Bats was cracked in the head. Normal people did not put on tights and masks and skulk around rooftops, it wasn’t a healthy expression of emotion.

( What it was, currently, was a dead bore. )