Bethany Richards (hard_edge) wrote in city_limits, @ 2009-04-13 21:52:00 |
|
|||
Current mood: | contemplative |
Entry tags: | bethany richards, thea daughtrey |
Getting Better Acquainted
Given recent events -- mainly her fight with that Slayer a month ago and the entire fiasco surrounding Faith Lehane being in prison -- Thea found herself curious as to just what it was Slayers were and did. She knew some of the basics ... superpowers, fast healing, an innate hatred of all things demonic and undead ... but despite everything Grace told her, Thea wanted a Slayer's perspective.
How did the demon fighters operate? What made some Girl Scout goody-goodies, while others operated strip clubs and went to jail for murder?
Inquiring minds wanted to know; Thea thought she probably should've asked Rose during their last sit-down, but the subject never came up. Thea could think of only one Slayer she could turn to for answers who wouldn't automatically turn her into a pile of dust; sure, Faith Lehane had been imprisoned for murder, but Thea remembered how righteous she seemed to be in their lone encounter. A Slayer put away for murder and palling around with a neutered vampire like Avery ... the vampiress figured whatever oversaw Slayers wouldn't be too happy with her.
Remembering her first encounter with Bethany, Thea decided she was probably her best bet. Wearing an inconspicuous gray hoodie and a relatively new pair of jeans she's swiped from a JC Penney after-hours, the vampiress walked into Devil's Own, giving the bouncer at the door a wink and a smile on her way by. Wandering through the patrons and smirking at the dance moves on-stage, Thea sauntered to the bar, ordering a Bloody Mary, extra blood.
Taking that first sip, Thea scanned the crowd. No Bethany so far, but she hoped that would soon change.
The woman in question appeared a few moments later clad in a figure-hugging black dress, slit so high you could see the skin of her thigh, and six-inch high stiletto heels. She was seeing somebody to the door, having finished talking business with her. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and the lips that pulled into a smile were painted a shade of red that most could pass off as the color of blood. A brief brush of manicured nails over the young woman's shoulder and she was ushered out, leaving Bethany with her constant companion Ralphael, who she leaned in close to exchange words with.
She'd lost one dancer and was in need of another; it made sense to start scouting Chicago for new talent.
Bethany released a breath and turned her head, allowing her gaze to linger on the dancers. Not much had been damaged by Gold Dust's sudden departure, the girls had picked up her extra shifts with a startling speed that reminded Bethany of the vultures she'd seen out in the Nevada desert. Nobody was mourning Gold Dust. Bethany's steps were shadowed by her young bodyguard, who by now had mastered the art of staying out of sight, something Bethany was grateful for.
The Slayer found her way to the bar and with a snap of her fingers she had a Martini drawn and placed in front of her.
Glancing to her right, Thea smiled when she saw Bethany for the first time. Seeming to have appeared out of nowhere, the Slayer was looking particularly elegant, and the vampiress made a mental note to find out where she got that dress from; Thea wasn't sure if she had the figure for it, but damn if she didn't want one of her own.
Without paying for it, of course. Who the hell would want to do that?
Taking another sip of her drink, Thea leaned back in her stool. The music was a dull thump in the background, allowing the vampiress to speak up without having to yell. "Just who I was hoping to see," she said. "And aren't we fetching tonight. Got a date with James Bond or something?"
Bethany turned her head at the voice and settled her gaze on Thea, offering the vampire a twitch of her lips. "Does a woman need a reason to look good? I think not." She winked and picked up the cocktail stick and olive, sliding the fruit between her lips before chewing at it slowly. The Slayer turned to face Thea and rested her hip on the bar, the move highlighted the hourglass figure the material clung to.
"What can I do for you, Thea?"
Letting her eyes take in Bethany's frame, Thea couldn't hide the smile. For the briefest of moments, the vampire allowed herself to wonder what it would be like to bed a Slayer. A once-in-an-unlifetime opportunity to be sure, since the entire species was allegedly devoted to eradicating anything that moved around in the moonlight with fangs. Still, it was an intriguing thought ... even if Thea realized it more than likely would never happen.
Unless she managed to capture a particularly weak or stupid one and turned her into a slave of sorts. That was an idea that had some potential.
"Guess you could call me curious," she began, finishing off her drink. "I wanna know about Slayers ... I know the basics, just want an insider perspective."
Bethany considered the vampire's request before she turned to the bartender, speaking to him quietly for a few moments. It wasn't long until a bottle was passed across the bar and clasped in the Slayer's hand. "Follow me," she murmured with a gesture of her hand, indicating that Thea needed to come away from the bar.
"We can discuss this in private." Bethany preferred discussions like that be done behind closed doors; less chance of somebody overhearing and taking it upon themselves to act like the stupid idiots that apparently came naturally to most of the human race. Bethany turned on the pinpricks of her heels and moved through the crowd, sashaying her way through it.
Ralphael's eyes watched, as did the bodyguard's, but both were reassured by a glance over her shoulder by Bethany.
Following Bethany as suggested, Thea noticed the glances from the man at the door and the bodyguard. She smiled a little, her youthful inexperience telling her she would be able to take them if they tried to make a move on her. In truth, though, Thea wasn't eager to find out whether she could; the vampiress wasn't here for trouble. She just wanted to ask a few questions.
Trouble could come later. After she'd taken care of some business.
Once away from the earshot of just about everyone, Thea stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans, cocking her head to the side. Her black ponytail draped over her left shoulder, the vampiress took in the sights around her, impressed with the lavishness of it all.
"Was gonna read up on them," Thea lamented, "but this store I tried wouldn't let me in. Like, I could open the door, but I couldn't get in. Thought that was only people's houses where that happened."
"Could be some sort of magic," Bethany said as she rested the bottle down on a small table set out in front of her newly-bought couch. The other had gotten a little ... messy. "Protection spell, that sort of thing." She gestured for Thea to take a seat as she crossed over to a small bar, fishing out a couple glasses.
Her safe was protected by something similar; only Bethany could touch it.
Bethany slid onto a cushion and folded one leg over the other, helping herself to a drink.
Sitting on the plush couch, Thea felt herself sink into the cushions. Alive or dead, there were few feelings as nice as sitting in a new couch. This one was obviously new, given the strong scent of leather and the way the cushions were still soft. The vampiress smiled at the feel, closing her eyes and imagining for a moment she was still in that three-story house her family had when she was but five years old, back when her father was still around and money wasn't so scarce.
Jolting herself back to the present, the vampiress leveled a gaze at Bethany. "I've already tussled with two of them," she said. "Didn't get the one's name, but she seemed pretty down-to-business. The other one ... well, last I heard, she was stuck in county, which I don't know about you, but that's pretty damn funny.
"Still ... why is you get the annoying-ass hero wannabes, then you got the cool bad-asses who use their powers to have a bit of fun?"
Bethany's lips curled into a smirk at the mention of Faith's predicament. "Really funny, considering that they're supposed to be the good guys and we're supposed to be the bad guys. In my opinion, she got exactly what was coming to her, throwing her weight around like it's some God-given gift when she just happened to have a stroke of luck in the grand scheme of things."
She took a sip from her drink and leaned back into the couch, considering Thea's question. "To be honest, I don't know myself. Isuppose it's a lot to do with the Slayer in question? I knew from the moment I could form thoughts for myself that I was meant for chaos and I had more fun breaking the laws than I did following them." She laid her arm outacross the back of her couch and tapped her nails against the leather. "I wasn't about to change who I was and what I wanted just because I happened to be picked out of millions to be a Slayer. I have a mind of my own and I chose exactly how I wanted to use the power, unlike so many of my counterparts who simply fall in line."
Bethany pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't follow, I lead."
Thea smiled at that, nodding. It made a lot of sense, really ... but it did beg the question. Who was there to keep the little bitches in line? Obviously, these girls didn't just automatically know what they were, did they? That seemed highly unlikely.
"How did you find out you were a Slayer?" the vampiress asked, folding her right leg over her right and leaning against the back of the couch. Again, her frame sank into the cushions, and Thea allowed herself a momentary sigh of contentment. She might've been dead, but that wasn't going to prevent Thea from enjoying some of the simpler pleasures.
Especially now that she had all the time in the world.
"I mean, does Ed McMahon come by your house with a bunch of balloons and big thing from Publishers Clearinghouse? 'Congratulations! Your mission in life is to kill vampires! Hope you weren't looking forward to turning 30!'"
"From what I know," Bethany began, "a Watcher or somebody is supposed to come out to you, tell you all about your new-found powers." She buried her fingers in her hair and smirked. "Nobody came knocking on my door. I guess with that many Slayers, it would be hard to tell where to start, not that it would have done them any good to come to me. I probably would have sent them back to England with teeth missing and broken bones."
She took another sip of her drink. "Me? I was a Slayer at the tender age of 16. It started with small things like noticing I was stronger, faster and I healed quicker from injuries. It made me start asking questions and it's truly amazing what sort of answers you can get with enough money." That was one thing Bethany had never been lacking in.
Bethany wet her lower lip and chased the taste of the alcohol on it. "There's a Council, in England. They're supposed to be responsible for the likes of me."
Thea blanched. Council? Watchers? That sounded a little disturbing, even a bit pervy. Especially the fact that this Council was in England -- there was nothing attractive about that, Thea didn't think. The last thing she would've wanted if she'd been a Slayer was for some Prince Charles lookalike to be knocking on her door with his buck teeth and stiff upper lip talking of a destiny.
With Thea, talk like that would've resulted in a knee to the family jewels.
"So this Council ... tracks girls down and is all 'Hey, fight the vampires!'" Thea guessed, shaking her head. "And the dumb-asses actually buy it?"
Bethany laughed at that and swallowed back the last mouthful of her drink, nodding her head. "You've seen the evidence that suggests that they do. Hook, line and sinker." She rested her glass on the table and eased back into the couch, relaxing her frame into it. "I've never really cared to know their motivations behind their actions, that would take effort on my part.
"We don't get along, fellow Slayers and I."
"They don't like me, either," Thea smirked. "Not the two I met, anyway. Faith, though ... she's got this friend. Little punk named Avery, poor excuse for a vampire. Kid's got fangs, don't got a soul, yet he goes out of his way to not hurt people.
"Little fucker even has a job. What the fuck, right?"
The whole thing still didn't sit right with the vampire. Who the hell just accepted some old British guy coming to them telling of a mystical destiny that involved monsters and an inevitable early death? Who was thatgullible? And who's idea was it to create Slayers, anyway?
Whoever it was, if they were still around, Thea would have to give them a good, swift kick in the nether regions. That was worthy of rendering one infertile.
"What kind of Slayer tries to act all good, runs around with fruity little vamps and gets herself locked up?"
"A hypocrite," Bethany said very simply. "I haven't met her and I can't say I care to. At least I know who I am, unlike some people who seem to act holier than thou whilst they're doing the exact same things they condemn you for." She brushed off some lint on the hem of her dress and just shook her head at the narrative about the vampire.
"I knew a vampire once, fell in love with a Slayer, turned into this ..." She stopped, trying to figure out the best way to express what she was trying to say. "Lovelorn puppy, it was sickening."
The vampiress' brows arched skyward in a disbelieving gaze. "A vampire and a Slayer in love?! What the fuck?!"
If the Council was a hard concept for Thea to wrap her head around, the thought of some forbidden romance between vampire and Slayer was impossible. Thea wasn't a stranger to tales of star-crossed lovers -- she actually managed to pay attention in English class when they read Romeo and Juliet -- but the vampiress just didn't get it. Who would be so deficient?
"Says a lot about her," Thea smirked. "Bitch couldn't even attract someone with a pulse."
"I think it was more an obsession on his side," Bethany commented. "His name was Tristan, had a screw loose if you ask me." She still wondered what she had seen in him, maybe it had been the fact he was a vampire and she liked the idea of being with one. Not that it mattered, she had Darian now.
She brushed her fingers over the silver choker around her neck, adjusting it to settle the stone at the hollow of her throat. "Then there is the tale of Buffy Summers and her countless vampire lovers." The Slayer leaned forward and poured herself another drink, it wasn't like she had to worry about getting drunk, it took a lot more than a couple glasses.
Thea bust out laughing. "Buffy?!" she asked incredulously. "The forces of darkness were thwarted by someone named Buffy?!"
Hilarious -- and pathetic all at once. Thea shook her head and took a breath to calm herself, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye and letting out another few chuckles. It was one thing for a Slayer with a normal name to kill a few demons or vamps -- a Jennifer or an Amanda or something like that. But Buffy?! Thea went to high school with a Buffy -- airheaded little bitch cared about little else than cheerleading and finding the smallest pair of panties ever.
The thought of her possibly being a Slayer was just too funny. Though Thea didn't have aspirations of killing one, she wasn't sure she'd be able to resist if she ever came across that one.
"And how is it the world hasn't ended yet?"
Bethany lifted her shoulders. "I have no idea." Not that she was in favor of the world ending, as she happened to like it enough to keep the Earth turning on its axis. "Apparently, she managed to save the world on more than one occasion. Amazing, really." She took a sip from her drink and tipped her head, brushing something off the back of the couch.
"I have as little to do with my fellow Slayers as I can get away with."
Thea gave a nod, scratching the back of her left arm and chewing on her lower lip as she pondered a few things. Faith aside, the other Slayer she'd fought proved to be quite the challenge, very businesslike in her approach, and the fight was certainly one Thea didn't walk away from cleanly. Part of the vampiress wanted another shot at her, but she wouldn't go out of her way to find the Slayer.
The longer she went about this vampire thing, the more Thea was starting to appreciate the value of self-preservation. Whether that meant dressing not to call attention to herself or not actively seeking out a Slayer, Thea was starting to learn the value of patience and subtlety.
It was still hard at times, but she was getting better at it.
"What does it take?" Thea asked. "To kill one?"
Bethany seemed to give that some thought. "Grit, determination, perseverance, smarts and cunning." She paused, finishing her drink with another swallow. "It also depends on the Slayer and how good they are, some will go down without much of a fight, but others? Will fight tooth and nail." She rose to her feet and wandered over to the bar, plucking an olive out of a nearby container.
"It's not something you can decide to do one day and bam, there you have it ... one dead Slayer, you'd need to be ready for it and her." Bethany turned and rested back against the bar, slipping an olive into her mouth. "And nobody says you have to fight them on their terms."
Advocate for dirty fighting, her? Never.
Thea smiled knowingly. "Not gonna go out of my way to find one," she offered. "But next time one of them tries to step to me, it's gonna be on like Donkey Kong."
Whatever that meant.
Bethany lifted her eyebrow. "That conjures up some interesting imagery." She smirked. "Just do me a favor? No beating your chest." Bethany winked and turned to pluck out another olive, knowing how addicted she was to those things.
"I know there's one or two Slayers floating around this city."
Another smile, accompanied by a single nod. "No worries," she said. "I'm starting to learn the value of keeping my head low. Always did kinda, being a thief and all, but now that I got superpowered girls with pointy sticks after me? Even more so."
Funny how the police were no longer a concern for Thea. Sure, they could still be a hassle now, but it wasn't like the pudgy donut lovers could actually kill her or anything. Bullets would hurt, and getting arrested would suck, but Thea knew she was so much stronger than all of them, she could probably have a nice little bloodbath if it came to it.
Still, that would probably get Slayers involved. Which ... no.
"You ever thought of killing one?"
Bethany folded her arms across her chest and nodded her head. "On occasion, but then I weighed up the pros and cons, and figured it would be more trouble than it was worth. Do-gooders always have backup, you ever notice that?" She pushed away from the bar and wandered over to her window, checking on the club as she flicked open one of the blinds.
"Like my bodyguard, for example," Bethany said. "She got herself mixed up with one of them and from my understanding told this do-gooder that she didn't feel the same way about him so Faith jumped her." She closed the blind and turned back to Thea. "That's the problem with do-gooders, they can't keep their noses out of each other's business."
"Fucking patsies," Thea agreed, standing and glancing out the window before the blinds closed again.
"Well ... thanks for the answers," she added, feeling like she had a better understanding now than about 20 minutes prior. The whole thing was still pathetic, and Thea had to be honest with herself and admit she was tempted to tear a Slayer's neck open and just chug like she was at a kegger, but she ultimately knew better than that.
If killing a Slayer was in the cards for her, then great. If not, then she'd be satisfied with making sure one didn't kill her.
"Any time," Bethany said with an easy shrug.
She heard the sound of a fight over the blaring music and tilted her head, locating the precise spot. "If you'll excuse me, I believe there's something I need to attend to. Enjoy the rest of your evening and you know where I am if you want me." With a smile and a wink, the Slayer left her office and made her way through the crowd, intent on removing the cause of the problem from her club.