Chuck E Cheese Is Romantic Who: Brianna/Derek What: The Tour Begins Where: Las Vegas, Downtown Cocktail Room When: Present Ratings/Warnings: Low-ish
The first stop on the Amazing Cool People Vegas Tour was a low-key, quiet lounge called the Downtown Cocktail Room. As the Uber pulled up to the location, Derek turned to face the woman in the car next to him. He gave Brianna an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry,” he told her, “this place isn’t loud or crazy. I think you’ll like it.”
The vampire slid out of the vehicle, standing next to the open door so that she could get out, too. The temperature that night was in the high fifties, a very gentle breeze ruffling his hair. He was excited to be socializing with her someplace outside Le Breeze, and with her looking like Brianna.
Brianna took a deep breath and followed Derek out of the car. She had accepted his invitation to check out the 'cool' places after the Samhain party and hoped that some of the magic from that night would linger on a little, giving her this new-found freedom. She knew deep down it was going to be more dependent on her own efforts, but at least that night had given her a taste of what it could be like if she did master those abilities, and she liked it.
As she straightened she automatically ran one hand down her hips to smooth out the wrinkles from sitting in the car. As Derek closed the door behind her she looked around, and up at the entrance, releasing the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. The lights reflected off the gold embroidery in her sky blue cheongsam, and highlighted the matching blue silk shawl resting on her shoulders, covering her arms.
She smiled at Derek as he straightened and placed her hand inside his offered elbow. "I'm sure I will," she replied.
Derek returned her smile, glancing down briefly at her hand on his arm. He had assured Brianna that there were no expectations for tonight, beyond him wanting to spend time with her. As they entered the cocktail lounge, they were greeted by subtle ambient lighting, red curtains, dark furniture, and warm-toned walls. A double-sided bar was in the middle of the lounge, and on one wall was an abstract mural.
“Do you want to order drinks, then go sit over there?” The vampire indicated a corner of the room with comfortable looking arm chairs surrounding small tables.
Having been running a professional eye across the establishment from the moment they’d entered she noticed the decor and detail that made the venue very comfortable and welcoming. She nodded her agreement. “I’ll have a dry martini, with a lemon twist,” she said, the closest thing she could think of to what she normally drank, a special concoction created by her mentor, Cassandra. While Derek ordered the drinks Brianna made her way across to a small table with three chairs placed around it, taking her place in the seat with a view of the room. She watched as Derek chatted with the bartender, noticing his comfort with talking with people, and the way his smile usually elicited one in return from whoever he was talking to.
She loosened the shawl and let it slide from her shoulders, falling into a soft pool around her hips and placed her purse on the table before settling back into the comfortable arms of the chair.
Derek returned from the bar holding both of their drinks. For Brianna, a dry martini with a twist. For him, a Red Wedding, a cocktail comprising jalapeno liqueur, lime juice, and cream soda, amongst other exotic ingredients. He had almost chosen a drink called Sake Stackhouse because it was a blood red drink garnished with a plastic pair of vampire fangs, but resisted the urge.
He set them down on the table and took the seat next to her. “Thanks again for coming out with me. It means a lot, and I’m happy to be here with you.”
She picked up and took a sip of her drink and nodded, then looked at him. “Thank you for inviting me!” she said in reply. “And remember, your reputation as a tour guide is on the line here, but I have to admit we’re off to a good start!” she laughed before taking another sip from her drink. “Do you come here often?” she asked as she placed her drink back on the table.
“I’ve been here once before,” he told her, grinning, leaning back against the leather-covered back of the chair. “When I was thinking about places I thought you’d like, this came up to the top of the list. It’s lowkey, classy, beautiful.” Derek shrugged, looking around. “So, it was easy to make the connection to you.”
While Brianna was used to being paid compliments in her workplace it was different here, and she could feel a slight rise in colour in her cheeks as she lowered her eyes to her drink. When she lifted them again she was giving him a sideways grin. "Low-key, huh? I wonder what Diana would think of that?" she joked.
“We’ll just have to wonder,” Derek remarked, smiling. He took a careful drink from the fancy cocktail glass, oddly nervous about the thought of spilling it all over himself. “But for the record, I much prefer Brianna to Diana.” The vampire shot her a sly look.
"I'm glad to hear it," she replied, laughing softly. "I suspect that I would get some rather strange comments if I had to wear that outfit on our tour! Not to mention the staff at work wouldn't be able to resist some sort of teasing. Though I had wondered for a brief moment about holding a staff party at Lux, see what everyone turned into when they arrived, could be a great team-building exercise!" she laughed.
He laughed, too, setting his drink down just as carefully. “You could do that,” Derek agreed, “or there’s Chuck E. Cheese. Nothing says team-building like mediocre pizza and the screams of children.” The vampire tried to mentally picture Brianna at such an establishment; he fully cracked up when he thought of her diving into the ball pit.
“Sorry,” he told her. “I have what can nicely be called an overactive imagination.”
Arching an eyebrow she looked at him askance. "Oh? Should I be insulted? Or just worried?" she asked, never having actually been to a Chuck E Cheese.
“I’d go with a balanced mix of worried and amused,” Derek replied amiably. “Mostly because I’m now thinking about adding it to our tour. How do you feel about talking, animatronic mice?”
For reference, in case she had never been to a third grade birthday party, he used his phone to Google an image of the lively pizza place, including the plastic habitrails that the children climbed through, and held it up for her to see.
She couldn't help but laugh, seeing the children enjoying themselves, the bright colours and climbing gyms again something she'd never had the chance to experience. Her father, to help her deal with the beginnings of her abilities, had kept her close, hers and Juliet's parties always celebrated at their house, with people brought in to entertain.
"They look like they're having fun!" she exclaimed, "I have never been to one, but I have heard about them. Weren't they getting rid of all the animatronics?" she asked.
Derek’s eyes widened. “Are they? They can’t do that. They’re an institution. My childhood memories.” He squinted, looking closer at the phone. “I think I dress kinda like Chuck E. Cheese.” The vampire closed the image before it could be burned into his brain.
Brianna shrugged lightly. "I don't know, I thought I heard one of the housemaids saying that the other day, she was going to take her kids there for a party, and didn't know if it would be the same without them?" She paused for just a moment as a smile spread across her face. "So it was a toss up between Hans Solo and Chuck E Cheese for you for the party?"
“You’re picturing me as a mouse now, aren’t you?” Derek grinned knowingly at Brianna. “Honestly, though? I think there are plus sides to walking around wearing a giant mouse head. Like number one, you can spy on people. Who would suspect a six foot tall pizza mascot?” The vampire paused in the middle of his tangent, shooting her a self-deprecating smile.
“This is probably not adding to my appeal, I just realized,” he laughed.
Her eyebrows arched and eyes wide Brianna gave him a look of complete innocence as she sipped from her drink. As she lowered it a huge smile was revealed and she raised a hand to cover her mouth as she nodded and carefully swallowed the alcohol. "Oh but seriously, who wouldn't want to go out with a six foot tall fast food mascot mouse?" she said with exaggerated shock. "After all, appearance isn't everything, think of the discounts! Especially at party times!" She couldn't hold the expression much longer and ended up laughing, then adding, "you do make a rather dashing Hans Solo though, almost as good as you do a dashing Derek!"
“Dashing Derek,” he repeated thoughtfully. “I like that alliteration. I respectfully request that you refer to me exclusively as Dashing Derek from now on,” he joked. At least, he hoped she knew that he was joking. The vampire decided to press his luck. “And you’ll be Beautiful Brianna.” He raised his drink in a silent toast, forgetting his concentrated effort not to spill.
Brianna laughed softly and lifted her glass to meet his. “To Dashing Derek!” she declared, holding her glass aloft.
“So, what do you think of the tour so far?” he asked her, gesturing around them. “I know this is only the first stop of many, but I figured I’d check in, as your personal guide.” Derek smiled at her over his glass.
“So far, so good!” she replied after sipping her drink and taking another look around the bar. “The atmosphere is lovely,” she continued, and she could tell Derek was going all out to make sure she was enjoying herself, “as is the company,” she added, taking another sip of her drink as her eyes smiled at him over the rim of the glass.
“I do like the size of your tour group,” came next as her glass was lowered, her voice shifting to adopt an ‘upper class Bostonian’ accent, her expression changing to imitate that of a client making an assessment of the service. “And your choice of venues is impressive, but I will have to defer my final judgement until we have of course completed the full itinerary.”
“Ohhh,” he said, drawing the word out as he gave her a chagrined expression. “Did you think this was just me and you? That’s my bad.” Derek held up his phone. “I actually invited everyone in my contacts list. Lots of vampires.” He nodded solemnly.
Her eyes widened for a brief moment as she swallowed, then laughed shaking her head. “Careful, that could really put a crimp in your style,” she told him, an eyebrow arched as she looked across at him. “What if one of them was more dashing? Or even debonair?!” she suggested.
“More dashing than me? That sounds like utter nonsense,” he said, imitating her affected accent from earlier.
“Probably,” she agreed with a laugh, but then paused and asked, “but then how well do you know all these other vampire friends?”
“I actually don’t have many vampire friends,” Derek admitted with a smile. “I had a lot of friends as a human, then I was alone for a while. Definitely lonely. I like being around people.” He looked up at her meaningfully.
“Especially when they’re as nice to me as you are.”
She smiled at the comment, but also felt a touch of sympathy for him. “Alone? As in after you were turned?” she asked gently. She had seen flashes of different things that one time she’d let herself ‘see’ what had gone on. The visions were disjointed, and painful, and she didn’t want to bring those up, but she was also curious as to how a person as young and outgoing as Derek would manage, especially as he was going to be as he was now, basically forever.
“Have you ever seen your family again?”
“Yeah, but then I met Ronnie, and we’ve been friends for years now,” Derek assured her. “So not alone for too long.” At the mention of his family, he looked down at his hands.
“A couple of months ago,” the vampire began, “I went to go check up on my parents. I was worried they were in danger. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but my dad saw me, and I had to explain what happened to me. It was hard making them believe at first.”
"How long had it been since you'd seen them?" she asked, seeing his reaction to the mention of his family wasn't easy. Her own family's dynamics were so far beyond the 'norm' it wasn't funny, and she wondered what it would be like to have a 'normal' family life, one you could miss.
“That was the last time I saw them,” he said. “The one and only time. I don’t know if they need me around anymore, they got so used to the idea of me being dead.” Derek realized the conversation was going into darker territory, and shook his head with a soft smile.
“It’s not so bad, though. I have more friends now. One of them glows,” the vampire assured Brianna.
Brianna's drink was halfway to her mouth and she was quietly pleased she wasn't in the middle of taking a sip. The glass paused, a look of bemusement on her face.
"Glows?"
Derek watched her do a double-take with an amused expression openly displayed on his face. There was something inherently satisfying about catching Brianna off-guard. “Yeah, she can turn into a glowing orb of light. She’s one of my best friends.”
"A glowing orb of light," Brianna said, watching him as she repeated his words slowly. She was becoming familiar with most of Derek's facial expressions now and could see not only the fact he wasn't trying to trick her, but that he was highly amused at her own reaction.
"And this 'glowy orb' friend, do they appear when you've been enjoying a few too many cocktails, or partaking of a few illicit substances?" she asked, her bemusement clear.
“Well, that has happened,” Derek admitted with a grin. “But it was purely coincidental.” He raised his glass to his mouth with aplomb, and he didn’t even spill. It was definitely shaping up to be a good night.
“She really does exist. I know this for a fact because I’ve talked to her and my other friend Brian at the same time.”
"Ahhh, but did your other friend Brian talk to the glowy orb too? And had he been also partaking of the same substances at the time?" she asked, her smile wide and a sideways glance being thrown at him.
The vampire had to search his memory for a moment. Did Shimmer glow that time in Lucky’s? Derek was fairly certain that she had. “He did witness the glowiness,” he told Brianna. “But I can’t speak to what may, or may not have been, in his system at the time.”
And then he grinned. “Are you telling me that you’re having a hard time believing in someone that can turn into a glowing orb? You’re talking to a vampire,” Derek reminded her.
She took a sip from her glass and lowered it to the table. "Yes, and I've known about vampires for a long time, and demons and shapeshifters, or were, or whatever else they're called. Plus immortals and the fae folk," she continued, then paused before angling her head and giving him a curious, questioning look. "But a glowy orb?" She quickly straightened up and held out her hands. "Oh! Don't take this the wrong way, I know you're not lying to me, I can see that! I guess I'm just trying to get an image of what it… your friend… looks like."
He chuckled, then assured her, “I know you don’t think I’m lying to you. Mainly because we both know it’s nearly impossible to lie to you.” Derek thought for a moment about how he would describe Shimmer.
“She looks like a normal person most of the time,” the vampire explained. “If you saw her on the street, you wouldn’t know she’s any different. Unless you talked to her.”
"And what happens when you talk to her?" She asked, bemused as a myriad of options ran through her head.
“Well, she’s…” Derek tilted his head, suddenly stumped for words. “She’s going through a rough transition, not being from, uh — “ He broke off, glancing about to make sure no one was nearby, sneaking a listen. “From around here. So, sometimes she can get confused and excited. She’s super nice and friendly, though.” And then he smiled, leaning toward her just a bit.
“Almost as nice as you.”
Now Brianna laughed, shaking her head but smiling in acceptance of Derek’s compliment. “She sounds intriguing,” she replied, “you should bring her to le Breeze. Oh, wait, do glowy orb people eat?”
Derek watched her smile, the way it made her eyes crinkle, and seeing it made him smile, too. “She can eat cheese. A lot of cheese. Do you have one of those fancy cheese boards on the menu at Le Breeze? She’d probably love that.”
"Well it just so happens we do, and quite a selection it is," she replied. "And not just a cheese platter, but also cheese fondue finds its way onto the menu from time to time, depending on Chef's mood that week."
“Oh, she would love fondue! I’ll have to tell her about it,” Derek replied excitedly. He would describe it to her as a bubbling fountain of cheese. “How are you feeling, by the way? Being out and about, away from Le Breeze?”
She reached for her drink, picking it up again and looking around the bar. "To be completely honest with you it feels… when I think about it… sort of odd?" she said hesitantly, then looked at Derek and added quickly, "which is nothing to do with you, or this place, just me." She paused for a moment then tried to explain. "Except for Samhain, which was completely out of this world, it's been so long since I've been anywhere, and I guess being in a similar place I expect to see my staff, or customers I know." She looked around the room again and shook her head lightly. "The odd feeling is not knowing anyone, except you, and not knowing the place. It's… odd… not a bad odd, just a different type of feeling."
Derek nodded understandingly. “I get that,” he told her, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “And I hope you know that if you feel like it’s too uncomfortable, all you have to do is say the word and you can go back home,” he added. “You’re not obligated to stay here.”
Her eyes widened as she swallowed a sip of her drink and she shook her head. "No, no, it's fine, this is great!" she explained. "If it's any consolation it's just what the doctor ordered!"
Radek had suggested that they try her going to other venues to experiment with the controls she had been perfecting since their extension of her training. When she'd told him of Derek's offer he'd agreed it would be good for her, as Derek would be her 'anchor point', a familiar face to focus on should she need it. And he knew of some of her abilities.
"And I mean that literally, as in Radek suggested I try going out, see how I manage," she explained with a . "And he was pleased when I said that you had offered to take me on a tour. He was super impressed by the way you didn't tell him anything about me too," she added with a grin and wink.
“Really?” he asked, with a pleased grin. Derek felt rather oddly proud that the doctor trusted him around Brianna, even with knowing about his past. It was almost as touching as the fact that Brianna herself trusted him, which was the most important thing. “Well, I didn’t feel like it was my place to tell him about you, in case that was something you didn’t want Radek to know,” the vampire explained. “To me, it’s just a matter of respect.”
She couldn't help but smile and thought it was very cute, and rare. Her past experience with boys who claimed they were men did not involve a great deal of trust or honesty. "Just so you know, for future reference? Radek and some of his friends, and my employer know about my… abilities, and are in fact the ones who've been teaching me, and helping me learn how to manage them." She paused and looked down at her hands for a brief moment then looked up again. "If it wasn't for them all I don't know where I'd be… literally." She looked around the bar, a small shiver running down her spine causing her to frown momentarily before looking back at Derek.
He caught that frown and shiver, and he wanted to reach out to her with a comforting gesture, but knew that wasn’t likely to feel comforting to her at all. Derek briefly wished they were back at Lux and he could hold Brianna’s hand. “I’m glad that you have people supporting you,” he told her earnestly. “And, hey, we have that in common,” the vampire added with a soft smile. “I don’t know where I’d be without Radek, either.”
While she knew Radek had a certain clientele who sought his services outside the normal medical facilities for a variety of reasons, the immortal never spoke of his patients other than the general mention of a mutual acquaintance having been made, if it came up.
"Oh?" She didn't know what it was but something made her look around again, mid-thought. Again she couldn't see anyone drawing her attention, and she turned back to Derek, this time not trying to conceal that something was wrong.
"He's a good friend to have," she said a little vaguely, looking at Derek, then adding with a tight smile, "and where is the next stop on our tour?"
“Are you okay?” he asked, instinctively lowering his voice and casting his gaze about. Her demeanor had definitely changed, and his hand hovered just shy of touching her arm. Derek looked at their almost-finished drinks, then back up at Brianna. “We can go to our next stop now, if you’d like,” the vampire told her, raising an eyebrow.
She nodded gratefully, responding "Yes, that would be good," while resisting the urge to glance around again, instead gathering her shawl from where it was pooled around her hips. She drew it up to her shoulders and tied it in place with a practiced flick of the wrist. "Where to next?" She asked as she stood up.
Derek led them out of the lounge, and it wasn’t until they were out on the street that he turned to her, concerned. “Was something bothering you in there?” he asked, glancing back at the bar. “Or someone?” The vampire felt something familiar rear up inside of him, and he mentally tamped it down. He was getting ahead of himself, and too eager to look for trouble where there might not be any, two things he was consciously making an effort to remedy.
Her eyes darted back to the entrance and then up to Derek's face. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "It just started to feel like we were being watched, which sounds stupid and paranoid, and I'm sorry, but I do want to see what's next," she told him, not wanting to put any sort of damper on the evening. "Where to next?" she asked him, managing a genuine reassuring smile.
“Hey,” he said, ducking his head down a little and looking into Brianna’s eyes. “It’s not stupid at all, and I don’t think you’re paranoid.” Derek pushed away the urge to go back into the lounge and investigate further. He knew she wasn’t comfortable being there, and he didn’t want to put a damper on the evening, either.
“Since no tour would be complete without a stop for food, our next destination will be dinner,” the vampire told her. “Are you hungry?”
She nodded, smiling, and relieved she hadn't wrecked the evening. "Yes, I am!" she replied, then realised something and looked at him sideways. "Is this going to involve a large mouse mask?"
“Maaaaybe,” he teased, grinning and resisting the strong urge he suddenly felt to lean in and kiss her. Instead, Derek pulled out his phone to input their next destination into the Uber app and get them a car.
“I’m just kidding,” he assured her. “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by our next location.”