Tiernan (pixielated) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2020-08-07 21:47:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | penny norton, tiernan smithe |
Sparkle and Shine
Who: Penny Norton, Tiernan Smithe
What: Reconnect
Where: Iris
When: Present, Night
Ratings/Warnings: Language?
Tiernan loved music. It was a natural sort of magic that everyone could enjoy and create. People never even realized it, he thought. The way a song could cast a spell, even when there was no true magical intent behind it. He had seen it a thousand times over during his centuries on Earth: people moved to tears by an opera, people drawn to dance to the synchronized electronic blips and bleeps of a deejay, even throngs of voices singing together in unison, people who had never met before that moment banding together and bellowing the lyrics of a song they all knew and loved. It was magic. It really was.
Iris was one of the better places in the city to spend an evening. There was always something happening there, music and performers and the breadth of humanity, all crowded together. It could even feel like a religious experience, Tiernan mused, had he any use for religion. Plus, the bartenders rarely gave him shit for the number of virgin daiquiris he could slam back in a single evening (brainfreeze notwithstanding). All in all, it was a lark.
Tiernan liked to people-watch or, rather, people-listen. There was a guy at a table a few feet away, whining to his pals about the great girl he had somehow accidentally cheated on, on multiple occasions, and eventually lost to his infidelities. Tiernan was torn between giving the guy a boost of luck for future conquests or giving him a swift kick in the ass for being such a moron, when a familiar face caught his eye. He couldn’t help but grin.
Penny laughed.
It would’ve been drowned out beneath the sound of the house music, the noise of conversation and the murmur of glass settling against moist rings left on wood tabletops like Sigils. Her smile was wide. A group of gentlemen had gathered around where she was standing, her hand would come to rest on one of their chests. She had been playing humans for a long time; most of the time it was men, sometimes it was women, but her prey was almost always up to code.
She wanted the bad ones. The sick ones, the ones who thrived on impulse to hurt and maim. As if she could find a monster more grotesque than her in mankind, the search was ever long.
The man would lean over to whisper something into her ear, her cheeks would redden though she actually felt no emotion for the human.
Then her eyes lifted and she caught sight of a familiar face. This time her smile really was more genuine. To the stranger she would turn and excuse herself. He protested, of course - they all did - and Penny was moving away fluidly.
“My friend,” she murmured, sweeping up next to the pixie. Penny sat down, taking her time to get settled.
“I don’t know if you checked the weather lately, kiddo, but you’re in the middle of a desert,” Tiernan teased, delighted to see the siren on dry land. It was easy to fall out of touch with people when you were facing down eternity. It always seemed as though there were so many occasions rising in the future where you could reconnect. Sometimes, you did; sometimes, you didn’t. Tiernan was glad to see that the former would prove true for Penny.
He didn’t mind rubbing shoulders with the other-than-human crowd. Tiernan was a fan of the Lion King mentality -- the circle of life and all that -- so what Penny did to stay potent and pretty was no skin off of a pixie’s nose, so long as she didn’t try and take a bite out of him. Last he checked, his sort weren’t typically on a siren’s menu anyway.
“It’s about a five hour schlep to the Salton Sea if you’re desperate,” he went on, a goofy grin splitting on his face, “But I’m told it stinks like hell these days.”
He lifted his drink to his lips, taking an obnoxious slurp on the bright blue plastic straw tucked into the banana daiquiri he had already nearly finished. That was another part of his theory of survival; let the humans poison the hell out of themselves and their world, he didn’t much care. He always had a back-up plan and so long as he could grab a Frappucino now and again, what were a few sea turtles with nosebleeds to him? Sucks to be them, but it was their own fault for not evolving fingers to flip off the litterers, right?
He pulled at the straw until there were only dregs left in the glass, shivering just slightly at the hit of sweetness and the chill of the crushed ice against his teeth.
“Seriously, though. Look at you. Gorgeous as ever, kiddo. What brings you to Sin City? Or are we not calling it that anymore? Hell if I know. It’s been an odd decade.”
“Have you not been to the Bellagio?” She laughed. It had fountains for days. “And the Tao has a saltwater pool. There’s water if you know where to look.” Plus being a DJ she had access to a few places but of course she never truly trusted anyone. It was essential to blend in and shift with the cultures of mankind. Otherwise she would starve and that was no good.
“Oh you’re always good for a road trip, though.” Joking. She was joking about that, unsure if she could handle an hour much less five with the pixie on a trip. At that point he might start to look delicious. She had no hunger for the fae or really anything that wasn’t human. Perhaps it was because humans were easier to subdue, or maybe it was because others were immune most of the time.
A flip of that blonde hair over a shoulder, “You’re so sweet. And you haven’t changed at all. Still as annoying and darling as you’ve always been.” She laughed softly. “It’s still apparently called that - and everyone seems to think they can take secrets from this place with them.”
“How have you been?”
Tiernan chuckled. “I hit the Bellagio pretty regularly, but I’m not there for the water features. You been to Spago? They got a Baked Alaska there that could bring you to tears.” He closed his eyes a moment to enjoy the reverie of the memory. Vegas was the city of excess, and Tiernan loved it. He’d hit all the high points around the world, visited every metropolis and explored its wonder, but Vegas is where he felt at home. All of the luxury of haute couture and haute cuisine with a certain willingness to look the other way and an aura of permissive gluttony permeating the place.
It was heaven.
Opening his eyes, he frowned at his empty drink and absently swirled the straw around the glass. He’d be needing a refill, or three. Nothing paired quite so well with the two chili dogs he’d had for lunch than a belly full of ice and syrup. “Me? I’m pretty good. Makin’ it a home-away-from-home, right? Park me at a table with a good view and something sweet, and I’m golden.”
He grinned at her again and scratched absently at the stubble on his chin. “You’ve got the view covered this time around. Though I may need some shades with the way the lights are hitting off that skirt of yours. You got stock in the sequin industry?”
“Really?” She inquired. Those manicured eyebrows would arch. “I’ll remember that.” She loved raw; meat, fish, human, but baked was alright and she could tolerate it. Then again, it was rare she was going out to dinner. Especially not since meeting her new vampire friend who she was especially fond of. But it was noted regardless.
His empty drink was noted. What a shame. Penny turned to the bartender, crooked a finger in a come hither motion and made a circle around the pixie’s empty glass. “Don’t keep my friend waiting.” Never polite, yet she got what she wanted. Those green eyes turned back to her friend. “You are pretty good,” she purred. That finger would graze against the underside of his chin.
And the observation of her skirt had her grin, “I love to sparkle. It reminds me of home. Speaking of, I love this shirt.” She grasped the collar gently, tugging at it. “You’ve gotten so stylish.”
Tiernan gave the bartender a polite nod and held out a rolled twenty as a tip; money meant very little to him and he knew the service industry was a bitch. He took a few turns as a barback in the 16th century and the ache in his feet and constant irritation were not easily forgotten. Besides, the guy didn’t even flinch and throwing together another booze-free sugar slushie; he earned it, as well as the hit of luck on the cash. He’d be getting above average tips for the rest of the night, at least.
“Darlin’, you don’t need the sequins to shine like a star,” Tiernan said, turning back to his conversation. “Maybe like a sea star,” he added, a twinkle of mirth in his dark eyes.
He flipped up the collar of the brightly colored flowered shirt he wore beneath his black suit coat, making it stand up obnoxiously for a moment or two before flattening it back down with a chuckle. “Gotta fit in, don’t I?” he told her. “This place… this city... it’s a goddamn box of Crayolas most days. The tourists, the high rollers, the performers… if I’m gonna play native, I gotta look the part. Besides. It looks damn good on me.”
He chuckled again at his own moment of overblown ego, and took a long pull on the straw in his new drink. Pink plastic now, clashing with the red of the strawberry, but still about as bright and colorful as the rest of the Vegas madness tended to be. Tieran loved it.
When he smiled again at Penny, it was a little more subdued, but just as genuine. “Seriously, though. It’s good to see you. Been knockin’ around on my own for longer than I realized. Running into a friendly face… it’s good for the soul.”
He’d been a bit more of a loner than he had realized. Seeing Penny’s smile had reminded him how important it was to connect with people -- or sirens -- once in a while.
“Oh, you’re so sweet,” she giggled. She had to blend in the way the rest of the supernaturals did, so why not rock what she had? The sequins accented her frame and brought the food. So really she was like a meat skin lighthouse for humans. But then wasn’t that what regular humans were?
“I can’t argue with you. You look good.” She fed his ego a little, he was useful. “The lights and the music are fantastic. I can get into nearly any place in the city.” That was the beauty of her work, her name got her places. It would change again in a few years but that was the price to pay.
And then her smile became more genuine. “I’m glad to see you too, really. We should get ice cream soon.”
Tiernan nodded. “Lappert’s has a great mocha chip!” he said happily. Never let it be said that Tiernan didn’t know his ice cream; he had a mental short list of all the best parlors in just about every major city worldwide. True, some were probably long closed -- it had been a century since he’d so much as looked at a map of Vienna, for example -- but at least he had an idea where he could start.
“Shit, did I interrupt snack time?” he asked, noticing that Penny’s most ardent admirers hadn’t dissipated with her dismissal of them. “Go get your fix, kiddo. I know where to find you now, I can talk your ear off another time.”
The gesture of her fingers between them was simple - you and me - when he mentioned the place. “We will go.” She didn’t care much for ice cream but that was the sacrifice you made for your long term friendships.
Her eyes would cast a glance back at the table she had left - the eyes of the men there would’ve shot daggers into her friend - and then Penny smiled as those green eyes returned. “I’ll have leftovers at this rate.” Leaning over, she pressed her mouth against his cheek. “Don’t wait so long next time.” She didn’t even care about the lipstick print she’d left there. “I’ll see you later.”
And then she was gone, back to the table to ensure her appetite would be satiated.