hot_guitarist (hot_guitarist) wrote in btvsal, @ 2008-09-30 12:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | jack delany, place: la, ~mandy |
Down and Out
Who: Jack and Mandy
Where: The Viper Room
When: Night
Le sigh. Another night, another trick, another reminder of how blase' her life had become, when even HER life seemed boring. Amanda had been hanging around the Viper Room all night, and mostly been approached by people just wanting to flirt, or people who wanted more, but were frankly too skeezy or dirty to even consider. She leaned on the bar, her lean, almost snakelike form clad in a second-skin leather miniskirt with black fishnets and combat boots, a spiked black choker, and a cut-off Batman t-shirt which showed off her pale, creamy midriff. A bored little grin tugged at her blood-red lips, while her dark eyes surveyed the club.
Jack was on his fifth or so drink. The bartender kept taking the empty bottles away, so it wasn't like he could keep up with that. Moving to LA had obviously been a complete disaster. Well, it had been for his family. His only daughter, his little girl, had become a vampire. He supposed he should feel lucky or grateful that she hadn't immediately come home to kill or turn him but...this wasn't exactly what he wanted for his little girl! Not Mere! She just wanted to act like nothing was different, but he was having a very hard time doing that right now. So, instead, he just sat here, in different bars every night, and drank. He hadn't been this upset when his wife left him all those years ago. He just wasn't sure what he would do now.
Well, well, well... just when Amanda had all but given up on anything exciting going down, she spotted not only some fresh meat, but fresh meat in the form of a pseudo-celebrity: Jack Delaney, guitarist of Daylight Dies. They weren't exactly superstars yet, but they were generating a lot of buzz in the area. What the hell was he doing here? And looking so miserable? She simply HAD to check this out. Slinking her way over to him, she purred in his ear. "I have to know, sweets... what's a gorgeous, almost-famous guy like you doing getting all liquored up and looking like someone just ran over your puppy?"
If he hadn't been so out of it, Jack might have been more in a playful mood. Right now, though, not exactly feeling the fun. "Well, I wouldn't say that someone ran over my puppy, per say." He finished off the beer in his hand and ordered another one. He actually turned and looked at the person talking to him, and found her to be a lovely girl whom, otherwise, he'd be all over in seconds. "Can I buy you a drink, though, lovely? Maybe I'll tell you about it."
"You can buy me anything you want, honey." She gave him a lazy smile and leaned in a bit. "I'm Mandy."
"Jack, although you seem to already know that." It didn't really shock him, since he had numerous people approach him now he was in LA. "Nice to meet you, Mandy." He flagged the bartender. "Give Mandy whatever she likes."
She looked at the bartender and grinned. "In that case, I'll take a house in the Hills, a Ferrari, annnnnd... ooo... a private plane."
The bartender looked at her quizzically while Jack just laughed. It was probably an alcohol fueled laugh, but it was the first one he had in days, so it worked for him. "I can't provide all of those just yet. How about we start with a drink," Jack said. "We'll see about the rest when I get a little more famous." Even drunk and depressed, his nature had him still flirting a little.
"How about... *I* have a drink..." she put a hand on his, trying to make him put down the drink. "And you let yourself get a little less drunk?" She whispered in his ear. "After all... can't much enjoy the things I have to offer if you're too blitzed to stand..."
"I can certainly still stand. I've been much drunker than this." Of course, those were all much happier drunks. Still, he wasn't *that* drunk. Still, he let her take the drink from his hands, for the moment, anyway.
She felt a pang of sympathy there... she knew damn well Jack's reputation... and if he wasn't flirting up a storm? Something was DAMNED wrong. "So talk to me, sweetie... what's got you so down?"
"I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you." Jack didn't know what this girl knew, and he wasn't really in the mood to come off like a drunk crazy to someone he didn't know. "Let's just start by saying that I'm regretting the move to LA because of the...er, effect that it's having on my kid."
"I heard you had a kid... isn't she in the band touring with you guys?" Mandy was silently wondering if the daughter was half as hot as the father.
"Yeah, she's in Suicide Messiah," Jack told her. "I thought Sunnydale was bad. I didn't realize she would pick up the wrong person one night." Now he was just babbling a bit, but he really couldn't help it. He hadn't talked to anyone in days.
"Oh man..." Well, Mandy's first thought? Raped, or impregnated... something like that. "What happened to her?"
If only it were something so mundane. "Well, I don't know exactly how to put what happened to her." Well, he could just blurt out vampire and be done with it, but that might not go well at all. "She's a completely different person now. Much more...I don't know." He shrugged.
"Wow... is it like.. a fame thing? I mean, she can come back from that. Sometimes, once reality kicks you in the ass... you realize what's happening." The guy seemed REALLY upset though... it couldn't be this simple...
"If it were only something so simple as fame going to her head." Really, how could Jack put this? "If I tell you something, promise not to think I'm crazy or blame the copious amount of booze I've been drinking?" Damnit, he had to tell someone.
"Well... the crazy part? Deal. The booze? Maaaaybe." She smiled playfully, just hoping to cheer him up a little.
A half-smile appeared, but even that was short lived. "You believe in vampires? Things running around in the dark, drinking blood, going 'bleh' at you or whatever?" He held up his hands and even wiggled his fingers when he went 'bleh.' "My own daughter just got turned into one."
"Aw, shit." She didn't look even slightly skeptical. "I hate to say it, but the fact that you're still alive speaks volumes." She'd been making money as in info broker for several vamps and demons almost as long as she'd been working the streets. "The girl must love you, seriously. I know how that shit works, and it amplifies every aspect of you."
He arched his eyebrows a little at her non-reaction, but, being from Sunnydale, it didn't really shock him all that much. Vampires were obviously everywhere, as he had found out. "That's what she told me. Had no urge to kill me or...turn me." He couldn't help but shudder at that, considering the 'ick' face she made when she said it. "She's not out rampaging or whatever, but it's not exactly what you want for your kid, you know?"
"Of course not..." She frowned, and sweetly stroked his cheek. "If it helps at all... I know quite a few vamps that, while not exactly model citizens, don't kill innocent people, and manage to live decently productive lives."
He couldn't help but lean into the touch a little. "That's reassuring to hear. Believe me." If anyone could pull it off, Mere could. Still, it hurt to find out things like this.
"Hey..." She felt like hell doing this, but a girl's gotta make money, right? "For the cost of a few more of those drinks, I could do a few things to get your mind off of your problems..."
Ah...a working girl. "Didn't realize I was getting to the age where I had to pay for it," he said with a grin. He looked like he didn't really mind the idea, though. Hell, being told by someone else other than the vampiric daughter that she must love him enough to not go with the killing made him feel a bit better than he had in days.
"Then... let's see what we can do to make you feel a little better..." Clearly, Amanda's night was picking up.