Isabella Margaret Delallo (bad_ass_babe) wrote in btvsal, @ 2009-12-01 14:45:00 |
|
|||
Current location: | Club L.A. |
Current mood: | blah |
Entry tags: | isabella delallo, place: la, ~meeghan gregory |
Helping Out (Pt. 1)
Who: Isabella and Meeghan
Where: Club L.A.
When: Sunday Morning, Nov. 29th (around 1am-ish)
Warning: For a couple uses of the F-Bomb and some partial nudity
Isabella had landed LAX approximately three hours ago, caught a taxi to her moderately priced hotel room... and then decided to go out. After a shower and a change of clothes, of course. Normally she wouldn't have bothered, but she'd slept odd hours on the plane ride over, thus resulting in a strangely hyperactive Watcher (strange, because she wasn't usually a hyper person). She entered Club L.A. a little before 1am, wearing form-fitting black jeans, a grey singlet top, over which she wore a slightly tattered leather jacket. If it hadn't been so late in the evening, she would have gone to Rupert Giles', but as it was, however... she was here.
Her blue eyes scanned the bar, and she wondered how many vampires were there (occupational hazard, you see), before settling herself in a stool. It looked like the place was starting to die down a little, but that wasn't about to stop her from ordering a beer. Mm, beer.
Meeghan's last set of the night, or morning as it seemed to be at the moment, had just ended when Isabella entered the club. Making her way down from the stage dressed in a pair of grey with pink leopard pants and black ruffled gothic top and her trademark black spiked leather choker collar, Meegs headed toward the bar ordering her usual H2O on the rocks as she settled down on one of the stools. The young woman had a habit of not consuming any alcohol when she performed at the club, doing so Meeghan felt would only soil her her performances. And she liked having all her senses crystal clear when she was up on stage singing.
Isabella glanced at Meeghan in her peripheral vision... she had a pulse on her neck (what little Isabella could see of it), so she relaxed immediately, taking a swig of her beer. She honestly didn't know what to expect here. L.A. wasn't London, after all. The rules were a little different. She kept still, but her eyes followed every person with interest. The trouble was? She didn't have any supernatural ability, she couldn't sense any evil creatures. Vampires, Demons... it was pretty easy to spot a perv, but that was about it. But, she'd rather be here than in that stupid hotel alone, going out of her mind.
No sooner had Meeghan received her water on ice drink then she felt an arm drape around her shoulder and find herself cringing at the familiar sound of a masculine voice. "Nice set you put on, Meeghan babe." Came from the guy now sitting on the stool next to her. Meeghan simply kept quiet shrugging the guy's arm from her shoulder. Some men just didn't know what the meaning of "not interested" meant. It was a nice try that didn't last long as the man's arm looped once more around her shoulders a bit more snuggly. "So, what do you say we get out of here." Getting a bit more physical Meeghan removed the guy's arm from her shoulder with the following words. "Not a chance Asstair." And in an attempt to distance herself from her semi stalker Meeghan moved one stool over only to be followed by the Alistair guy who once more placed his arm around the young woman.
Since Meeghan was now sitting right next to her and she could hear exactly what was going on, Isabella scowled and swiveled in her seat to face them. Good God, some people didn't get a hint, did they? She set her beer bottle down with a loud thud and leaned across the bar, shooting daggers at the guy, "Is there any reason why you're bothering my girlfriend?" She asked, hoping the younger woman would get the idea and play along. It was... the simple way to end the conflict, or she thought so, anyway. The other way to end the conflict would kind of hurt. ... Hurt him, anyway.
"This is a private conversation Miss Bitch." The guy directed toward Isabella with a bit of a sneer before returning his unwanted advances toward Meeghan. "What do you say we get out of here darling. Got place not to far from here." He said and being ever so insistent about it tried pulling Meeghan off her stool. "As if!" Meeghan growled physically pushing the guy off her once she found herself on her feet. "You've really got a dense space between your ears if you won't take no for an answer or heed my girlfriend's warning to back off." Yep, Meeghan had caught the other woman's hint and was willing to play along if it met getting away from the creepy Alistair and his unwanted advances.
The insult didn't bother Isabella so much, since she'd heard worse, but the fact that he'd touched Meeghan without her permission? Didn't fly with her. She got out of her seat and stood in front of the other woman protectively. One thing she didn't like? Was pushy people who didn't know when to stop. "I suggest you leave," she said to him, trying to keep her voice even. Their little... argument was starting to draw attention. Maybe that would be enough to deter him... Isabella rolled her eyes at the thought. At least she had witnesses to say that she was defending her "girlfriend", if it came to it.
"God damn dykes." The guy grumbled harshly to Isabella and Meeghan before stalking off not so much from what Izzy said to him, but more toward the fact that he had caught sight of one of the bouncers ambling his way in their direction. The interrupting woman was one thing, but tangling with a club bouncer wasn't a situation the man wished to find himself in.
"Thanks." Meegs said appreciatively with a little bit of a smile to the woman. "Some guys just don't know how to take no for an answer." An answer Meeghan had been giving the man for the past couple of weeks to no avail.
"I don't think he knows the meaning of the word," Isabella muttered, watching the guy as he made his exit. Her hands were still clenched at her sides, she was not a happy camper. "I'd suggest getting a restraining order... and maybe asking the bouncer to escort you to your car. Actually, do that." She clenched her jaw and willed herself to calm down. It was working... gradually.
"I think he finally got the hint drilled into that small mind of his." Meeghan responded. It wasn't like she planned on leaving at that moment and she figured when she did depart the club her semi stalker would have been long gone, though just as a precaution she'd probably ask one of the bouncers to trail her home as since she didn't live all that far from the club Meeghan had a tendency to walk to and from her gigs there.
"If you say so," was Isabella's very succinct reply. She grumbled and returned to her seat, and her... slightly warm beer, but hey, she liked it that way, so at least something came out of the encounter. "I'm sorry, people like that just rub me the wrong way... and you're welcome," she added belatedly, realizing that Meeghan thanked her for the save. Sometimes she didn't hear or see things so clearly when she was angry, heh.
Meeghan gave it a good ten, fifteen minutes before she was sliding off her stool to make the few short blocks walk from the club to her studio apartment. Finishing off a second glass of water the ebony haired singer trailed slowly through the slow emptying club toward the exit. Hopefully the Alistair guy would have been long gone as she was assuming he would be.
Well, at least Meeghan had a straight mind about her, Isabella thought... still, that didn't stop her from following the girl out of the bar, keeping a safe distance so as not to be noticed. She at least wanted to see if the girl got home okay, because that guy? That guy was bad news. She didn't need superpowers to sense that.
And Meeghan didn't need superpowers to sense that she was being tracked back to her apartment. With the late hour and darkness having ruled the sky for quite a few hours now Meeghan would have been foolish not to keep well aware of her surroundings, and it was the hairs raising at the nape of her neck that left the young woman with the feeling that she wasn't walking in the direction of her home alone. Very few were out and about at this hour so Meeghan would have to rely only on herself if she was indeed being stalked to her residence. And one way to find out was to dip quickly around the closest corner and wait pressed up tight to the side of the building with her little thing of pepper spray clenched within her fingers, and at the ready, watching the corner she had just rounded.
With her hands stuffed in the pockets of her leather jacket, Isabella squinted into the darkness as she noticed Meeghan take a turn down an adjacent street. Thinking nothing of it, she followed at an amble, her hands still in the pockets of her jacket. Which... probably wasn't the best place to keep her hands, but it wasn't like she suspected Meeghan would be on to her, or anything.
And just as Isabella rounded the corner Meeghan didn't hesitate in reacting. "What do you want!?" She demanded leveling the pepper spray device to her followers eye line. A brief flash of confusion then flickered in those dark eyes of hers as Meeghan recognized the woman from the club who had come to her rescue. That though didn't have the young woman lowering her defenses until she found out just exactly why the woman had been following her through the dark streets.
"Jesus Fuck, Woman!" Was Isabella's very clever reply. She didn't respond well to threats, but since her hands were occupied and there was pepper spray in her face, she was forced to analyze the situation. Since she kind of liked the use of her eyes. "What the fu--..." she sighed and went for honesty, "I was making sure you got home safely."
"Shoot, you could have offered to escort me home back at the club instead of risking a blinding for life." Meeghan said with instant relief and lowering of her little container of pepper spray. Not that Meeghan felt she would have needed it, but she wouldn't have declined the woman's offer if she had put it out to her. And it was only then that Meegs allowed herself to get quite the good look at the other woman beneath the illumination of the street light above them. Quite the looker she was, a bit older then herself, but a looker just the same. Something Meegs could appreciate. "I only live a couple more blocks from here." She said tucking away the pepper spray.
"Alright, then," Isabella replied, allowing herself a minute to calm down. She tended to get angry a little easily... although, maybe that was just the jet lag finally settling it, it was hard to say. "Would you like an escort home," she joked, allowing a little smile to emerge, but she didn't wait for an answer, either. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Meeghan. And you are?" Hey if the woman was going to "escort" her the remainder of the way to her apartment the least she could do was give her name.
Isabella pressed her lips together, why was she involving herself again? Oh, right. That was just her way. She feigned indifference, but she really did care. How annoying. "Isabella. It's a pleasure," she laughed. Given the situation of their meeting, she kind of had to. It would have been sad, otherwise.
"So. You always go around playing white knightress in shining armor to damsels in distress." Meegs asked a bit teasingly as the pair started up the walk again toward her apartment, though at least is was a side by side walk instead of Isabella trailing a short distance behind Meeghan trying to keep from being noticed.
The older woman laughed and shook her head, "no, no. I... don't go out much," she said, which... also happened to be a complete and utter lie. She did go out, and she did help people. Just not usually from humans with evil intentions in mind. That guy really wound her up and she idly wondered what she'd do to him if she ever saw him again.
Somehow Meeghan found that a little bit hard to accept. Maybe it was the body language of the woman or the way she had conducted herself back at the bar. Whatever, Meeghan didn't think Isabella was anywhere near a homebody, but she wasn't about to voice that little opinion of hers. "Judging from your accent, which I find makes a person more attractive, I'm taking it your not from L.A." Whether it be a guy or girl, Meeghan had always found a person with an English or Australian accent quite appealing.
"No," Isabella admitted. It wasn't something she could lie about, after all. Her accent was... distinct. "Londoner, born and bred. Are you from around here?" She asked, willing to do some small talk... since there wasn't much else they could do at the moment. Unlike Meeghan, she didn't have the advantage of distinguishing accents here. To her? Everyone sounded American.
"Been here in L.A. for a couple years now." Meeghan informed the woman to add a bit to their bout of small talk as their walk took them closer to Meeg's place.
"Fair enough," Isabella replied, figuring the girl preferred to have some privacy. It was irritating to her that most people wouldn't shut up about themselves, honestly. "Are we far?" She barely refrained from saying 'Are we there yet?' Since that would have been rude...
"Another block and a half." Meeghan answered when questioned in reference as to how much further it'd be to their end destination. Being used to making the walk it didn't seem like it took her all that long to reach the apartment after departing the club. And tonight? Well it seemed like it was only taking half that time in the company of another person. Talking, even small talk as was going on between the two women, made the time pass by even quicker then it usually did for the ebony haired woman.
"Do you ever think that you're tempting fate, walking home alone this late at night?" Isabella asked... she normally wasn't so polite, but didn't have reason to swear her head off and be rude, either. She glanced at Meeghan out of the corner of her eye, she didn't particularly like the energy of some younger people, but Meeghan held her interest, possibly because she was so... damn mysterious, it was hard to say.
"I don't think about that." Meegs returned. "Nor do I think there's any reason to drive such a short distance when there's only a few short blocks between my place and work. Has worked well for me up til now so don't see any real reason to change my routine." She informed the woman as they drew nearer to her apartment. Besides she had her pepper spray which Meeghan felt was a suitable weapon at her instant disposal.
Isabella actually grumbled at that and rolled her eyes, "A lot of people get into that mentality, then? Robbery.Rape. Even if you think you can defend yourself? You can't. It's a false sense of security, thinking you know everything. Thinking that you're safe - you're never safe." Feeling herself getting worked up, Isabella took in a breath and looked away from Meeghan. "...It just seems foolish to me," she murmured, ever the hypocrite... since she did exactly the same thing. Only... she was the only one who happened to have a God complex.
"Well, I was able to defend myself against you." Meeghan tossed back with a slight grin. Wasn't that she had actual had to have defend herself against the other woman it went more along the lines of having caught her off guard as brief as it had been Meeghan did hold the upper hand for that short span of time. "Anyway, not like I walk foolishly down dark streets I tend to keep quite aware of my surroundings." The younger woman acknowledged.
"Fortunately for both of us, I intended you no harm, but you have to wonder..." she trailed off, looking away from the younger woman, squinting her eyes at something indiscernible in the distance. It was ... probably a shadow, or something. "... what if you were bested? What if someone was stronger than you? Faster, don't be so fucking..." she trailed off and sighed again. "Presumptuous. That's just dangerous."
"Guess I'll just have to learn how to better protect myself." Meeghan said to the other woman. Isabella had made solid points there and it would be foolish for Meeghan to not heed them, or at least try making herself better at defending herself against possible threats. L.A was full of places that offered self defense and martial arts classes. And with being in conversation with Isa, Meeghan wasn't as aware of her surroundings as she should have been, thus she hadn't caught the same shadowy something in the distance that her escort had.
Isabella clenched her jaw as they came closer to what she perceived to be a threat, hopefully it was nothing, a car passing by ... or a cat illuminated oddly by the streetlight. She didn't believe it for a second, the cynic in her thought it was something worse. "Yes, I think that would be best..." she murmured, stretching out her arm in front of the other woman, slowing their pace.
"What?" The word coming out in barely a whispered voice when Meeghan her steps slowing with Isa's arm extended outward to block her way. Meeghan's hand found her little canister of pepper spray as her eyes flickered briefly around to try and catch just what the other woman had. Something definitely had to appear out of place for Isabella's guard to have gone up as quickly as it had.
"Maybe nothing..." Isabella murmured, not wanting to give their assailant away that she was on to him, or her. Only… he, or she, seemed to realize that something was amiss as soon as their footfalls changed pace and within that split second, emerged from the street corner directly in front of them, lunging, tackling Isabella to the ground. "Fucking Dyke!" He yelled, throwing a few quick punches to her ribs. She grunted as they hit, figuring anything louder would just egg him on…
"Dumbass!" Meegs practically growled, the pepper spray slipping from her fingers when she threw herself at the guy after he got in a couple punches to Isabella's mid section. "Stay out of this, bitch." He snarled back at Meeghan tossing the girl off and away from him into the side of the building. "I'll take care of you later." The words added just before he directed his attention back to Isabella. "One fuckin dyke at a time." A wild fury seeming to have caught his eyes.
Isabella took the punches with a grim sort of determination, for a guy as big as he was… he didn’t hit as hard as she expected. Sure, it hurt, but she thought she, a female, hit harder than him. And, to prove this fact to herself, she connected a staggering blow to the side of his head and got to her feet, "what did you say, motherfucker?" And out came the bitch in her. She was not amused.
Crashing backside into the side wall left Meegs momentarily dazed, but she didn't stay down for long even though she moved a bit unsteadily to regain her footing just as her stalker guy voiced an answer to Isabella. "Said you're a god damn dyke." Glaring at the woman while swiping the back of his hand across the side of his mouth to wipe away some of the blood that flowed forth. And then he was launching himself again at the older woman. Some guys just didn't know when to stay down.
While yes, Isabella was older, that didn’t mean that she had slow reflexes. As he lunged? She threw a punch. Right to his face. He staggered back slightly. Alistair, the fucker, had a look of shock on his face, before throwing another quick jab at Isabella’s ribs, winding the older woman. She recoiled, gasping for air (motherfucker) and then? Crash-tackled him to the ground, kneeing him in a very sensitive area before giving him one final punch to the face, knocking him out cold. Who said women weren’t the stronger sex? Seriously?
"Wow. You really flattened the bastard." Meeghan said clearly impressed by how the older woman handled herself and the guy. If Isabella hadn't walked her home from the club Meeghan wasn't sure where she'd be now as she knew she definitely wouldn't have been able to handle the stalker guy in the same manner, and same force, that Isabella had just had. "Do you know now that you're my hero." The ebony haired girl said a bit teasingly as she gave Isabella a once over just to see if she had any visible wounds or injuries from the physical altercation with Alistair. If the woman didn't seem fit enough to be on her way Meegs was going to be quite insistent in that she stay the night up at her studio apartment. She didn't have a spare bed, but she did have a couch that was comfortable enough.
Isabella tried laughing but hitched and sucked in a breath, feeling her lungs constrict with agony. Fucker. She gave him a quick kick to the ribs, deciding that he needed a taste of his own medicine. After which... she felt a little better. “I don’t know about that,” she murmured, and since the guy was unconscious? She decided to pants him, and use said pants to tie him around a lamp post. She didn’t have a pen to write “stalker” on his forehead, like she’d hoped, but… being tied to a lamp post? Was enough for her. For now, at least. "You wanna hurt him? Now’s the time. I’ll turn a blind eye." Since knocking him out wasn’t enough for her, by the look of it… she wanted him to be punished.
"I think you've done enough damage to the creep." Meeghan declining the offer of adding more injury to the man who had been beaten into unconsciousness. Sure Meegs could have given him a swift kick or two to the abdomen, but beating on a guy who wasn't conscious just wouldn't set all that well with her later on and Meegs knew that. If he had still been within some of his senses Meeghan probably would have given him a bit of her own painful inflictions.
She tried laughing again, but sucked in a pained breath as soon as she tried. Her ‘for now’ thought turned into a ‘punch him the gut’ thought, which she did once, feeling a lot better for it. "Sorry, just... felt like doing that," she murmured, taking a step away from the guy and clutching a hand to her ribs. Damn, while she thought he was weak, he still managed to do some damage...
"Come on." Meeghan moved toward the other woman with a gentle slip of her arm around the Izzy's waist. She hadn't needed to ask as it was quite evident Isa was injured by the way she clenched at her mid section, though how badly the injuries were Meegs could ascertain at the moment. Maybe once she got her upstairs to her apartment she could get a better fix on the situation.
With a pained little gasp, Isabella did as she was told, letting Meeghan lead her along to … wherever it was they were going. She really didn’t need to help the girl; she didn’t need to lift a finger at all, since most people wouldn’t have. But she wasn’t most people. She did what she could, where she could. Even if she wasn’t thanked for it. "Sorry," she kept on murmuring, since it was the only thing she could think to say.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Meeghan expressed quite sternly as if it weren't for the woman walking her home who knew what condition she'd be in now. "And I have much to thank you for." She said while getting the woman settled down on her sofa. "Does it feel like anything is broken?" A medic she wasn't so Meegs was going to have to go with whatever the woman told her, hopefully that wouldn't include a trip to the emergency room.
"No... no, I’ve had broken ribs before," Isabella admitted. Of course, what kind of situation she’d been in for that to happen was anyone’s guess, as she didn’t elaborate. She brought her hand to her ribs and explanatorily touched the area, wincing each time she found a particularly painful spot. "Bruised, I think… less painful," she explained, giving Meeghan a weak smile. "Do you have any ice?"
"Yeah, and this isn't exactly how I go about things when I get a girl up here, but I'm kind of gonna have to ask you to remove your shirt." Meeghan said with faint traces of a smirk playing at her lips before wandering off to the bathroom and then making a brief trip into the kitchen area. Normally the removal of any clothing by a "guest", whether male or female, would lead to a more intimate situation, but that wasn't exactly the case in this situation. The younger woman returned with ice packed in a towel and some gauze she had located to wrap Isa's mid section as Meegs thought it might help ease the pain of her bruised ribs.
By the time Meeghan returned, Isabella had only managed to get out of her leather jacket. She was still wearing that singlet top and she had an aggravated expression about it, stretching... kind of hurt right now. She was thankful for the ice, but shook her head when she noticed the gauze, "I won’t be needing that," she murmured. "I will... need help out of this, though," she added, tugging at the hem of her shirt. She pursed her lips together, feeling weak for having to ask.
Meegs nodded understandingly and set the ice and gauze down on the table momentarily so she could assist the woman in getting her shirt off. "I'll try to do this as easily and with as least discomfort to you as possible." Meegs said as she had no idea what kind of pain bruised ribs caused a person, though if Isabella had suffered broken ribs before as she had said then she'd probably brace herself against any pain the removal of her shirt would cause. "I've got aspirin." Meegs offered once she had the woman's shirt off and tossed over the back of the couch and reached for the towel packed ice to offer to the woman.
Isabella whined a little as the shirt came off, but then relaxed her posture. She was dreading the moment she’d have to put the shirt back on, honestly. "Maybe later," she said with a small smile, figuring she’d test the waters for a little while before considering it necessary to take pain medication. She was the kind of girl who toughed it out, usually. She took the packed ice in her left hand and leaned back against the couch; bruises were already beginning to appear across her ribs. With her shirt and jacket off, it was easier to tell that she worked out. She had muscle tone in her arms and her abdomen. She gingerly put the pack to her ribs and sucked in a gasp, "...cold," she smirked, rolling her eyes at herself.
"I'd guess the ice pack would be, but it'll help the healing of the bruising your ribs suffered." At least that was Meegs thought as she wasn't a doctor and was doing the best she could to help the woman. "You're going to be ass sore in the morning." Meeghan added when she finally noted the bruising that started showing on Isa's mid section. "Could move you to my bed where you'd be a bit more comfortable," which meant that Meeghan would be the one sacking out on the couch that night. It was quite obvious that the younger woman was a bit awkward having to deal with situations such as this as she encountered them so rarely. If ever.
"Oh no, that’s not necessary," Isabella replied, tilting her head to one side to appraise the younger woman. "Are you okay?" Since it occurred to her that she didn’t ask. Of course, she could be forgiven this one time, since her mind had been otherwise occupied. After a few seconds, she glanced around the room, looking for exits out of habit. She always wanted to know her options; it made her feel safer somehow.
"Just feel a little bit out of my element here." Meegs told her with a half laugh. "Normally when I have someone up here it isn't exactly to try and mend them." Meegs grinned a bit sheepishly as she settled down on the arm of the sofa knowing the woman would catch her drift quite easily. "Just feel like I should be doing more for you seeing as you rescued me from what could have been a very ugly encounter for me." So yeah, Meeghan was feeling a little bit useless at the moment in not being able to help Isabella more at the moment.
Isabella chuckled weakly and leaned her head back to give Meeghan a very amused, if not a little sleepy, smile. "Normally I’d be all for that, too. How frustrating," she replied, no hint of a lie in her voice. "And you’re doing fine; the talking helps take my mind off of it." She blinked and repositioned on the couch, lying down flat on her back. It felt a little better, not much but... a little. "You don’t mind if I stay a little longer, do you?" She asked, since she didn’t plan on moving again anytime soon.
"I think you'd be more comfortable in my bed, but if you're insistent on laying out on the couch...so no I don't mind you staying here a little bit longer." Meeghan told her sliding off the arm of the couch to wander out of the woman's sight only long enough to retrieve a pillow from her bed and extra blanket from the closet. "Might as well make yourself as comfortable as possible." The younger woman said upon her return lifting Isabella's head just enough to ease the pillow gently underneath it before spreading out the blanket over the prone woman on the couch before she resettled herself on the arm of the sofa just at Isa's head.
She sighed contently as the blanket was set over her and gave Meeghan the little bundle of ice to set aside. Well, wasn’t that sweet? "I’m not a fan of kicking people out of their own beds... unless they hog the covers," she added with a smirk, allowing her blue eyes to close. "Thank you," she murmured, as she absently rubbed at the knuckles of her left hand. She didn’t doubt for a second that she’d be confused and achy in the morning, but right now? She was oddly comfortable in this strangers home. "Stay here," she mumbled, a half-request, half-demand.
"The least I could do." Meeghan returned at the thank you offered before she set off to the kitchen to place the towel wrapped ice in the sink. "Sure." She answered on her return to sit on the arm of the couch once more with a gentle brushing of fingers over the other woman's hair. How could she not accede to Isabella's request. At least until the woman allowed herself to fall into a restful sleep, at least Meegs was hoping she would despite the injury to her ribs.
A small contented noise bubbled inside Isabella’s throat as she felt herself begin to relax. Her first thought before drifting off was of Rupert Giles and how she would have to explain her little adventure to him come morning, but that worry quickly drifted away as she finally gave in to exhaustion, much easier than either woman could have anticipated, and drifted into dreams.