Ticking like a time bomb, drinking till the night's gone Who: Graham and Jace Where: Somewhere on the poorer side of town When: 11pm-ish
To say that the vampire was a complete mess was putting it relatively lightly. He had managed to not kill his best friend just to get a high during his withdrawal episode, but since then Graham was in sheer agony while waiting for Jace to show up. Parking his Chevelle outside of an abandoned house, he snuck inside and sat down in what was suppose to be the living room. The vicinity was bare, complete with tarnished walls and no lighting. It didn't matter to Graham if there was a proper light fixture, seeing that the street lamp that was barely glowing outside was apparently enough to give him full blown night vision. Whatever, it worked for what he was trying to do.
And what exactly was he doing to pass the time? Cutting cocaine, what else. He sat there as he sliced the white powder on the sheet of glass into three different lines, stared at it while twitching his fingers against his lips for a minute, then piled them all back into one massive lump and recut them again. No matter how many times he did it, he found himself starting all over again. It was either do that or sit there with a nervous twitch in five different locations in his body. Had he been able to breath, Graham would have been slowly hyperventilating with short breaths and sweaty palms. Instead, his eyes remained wide as he twitched around and did his best to concentrate.
The cocaine wasn't the only candy he got for his friend. To the side there was a bottle of Reyka, a pack of Djarum Blacks, and the biggest cup of hazelnut coffee he could buy in town. If he wasn't broke before, this officially did it for Graham. Jace had to spit up something in exchange for the drugs or else Graham was going to have to go crawling back to Jezebelle and beg for money. It broke his heart that he wasn't able to buy that gorgeous white and gold Gretsch guitar to replace his electric that he had broke earlier that day, even more so when it was his first guitar, but at least he had his acoustic. Drug withdrawals did strange things to people. Like how Graham finally threw down the straightedge and crawled back until he hit the wall. His arms wrapped around his body in an anxious fit as he tried to calm himself down. Head tilted back, his frantic words left his trembling lips as if he was both possessed and hysterical. "Please show up. Please show up. Please show up. Please show up..."
Graham had been somewhat...enthusiastic to say the least, about their meeting when Jace had spoken to him last. Poor guy must've really needed a fix if that was the case, and Jace was never one to turn down a friend, especially when it resulted in him getting as fucked up as possible. He wasn't entirely sure what was one the menu for this evening, probably just some booze and pot considering how much Graham's eyes lit up the last time Jace had displayed a baggie. It had taken him a little bit to find the place that Graham's directions had led to, not necessarily because Jace didn't know the area, primarily because this place was in the middle of some bubmblefuck cluster of houses in the middle of a labyrinthine suburban block.
Double checking the address, Jace shrugged and headed on inside. Technically it wasn't breaking and entering if you don't break anything right? Meh, it wouldn't be the first time. Looking around inside the darkened house Jace called in, "Helloooooo? Graham? You in here buddy? I'm violating everything I've learned from horror movies right now." With a sigh he stepped inside knowing that Quinn would be sure to lecture him on this later. Flicking his fingers in his usual lighter motion he caused a small flame to spark on the top of his thumb giving him at least a little illumination inside the house.
It had taken him a few minutes to locate Graham, but boy did he ever locate the guy. When he first saw the Gollum-esque incarnation of his friend trembling against the wall he was reminded of a few people he'd seen on the road who'd really needed a fix. Graham looked like the worst of them times ten. "Woah there bud, you do not look good at all. Even for a dead guy." This was by far much worse than he'd seen anyone when they were on pot, which is probably why it wasn't too much of a shock when he noticed all the cocaine lined up on the floor. Aha. Well that would certainly explain it. Looking down at the white stuff Jace cocked his head to the side for a second, "Ya know, I've never really been one to do blow Graham, but I'm pretty sure you need this more than I do. So...snort first, ask questions later?" Sitting down on the ground by the pretty little lines nicely arranged for him, Jace took out a dollar bill from his pocket and rolling it up to do just that.
So that's what a fire elemental smelled like in the flesh. Even in his broken, drug-craving state, he made damn well sure to remember that smell. Thus far, everyone smelled different, but it seemed like people with distinct supernatural affinities had a flair to them of some sort and a fire elemental was one he wanted to keep fresh in his memory at all times. He never said a thing to Jace and only stared up at his friend, eying the flickering flame that was floating above his thumb. The fire didn't scare the vampire and instead intrigued him for a second. Once his wide eyes were ripped off of the spectacle, he focused - or at least as much as a strung out addict could, anyways - on the fact that Jace was here. Finally here. That meant they could get straight to business.
Without saying a damn thing, Graham was on the other side of the room to slam the door behind Jace shut. He could get used to the spurt of agility that was now in his body, that was for sure. With his back to the door, he eyed the fire elemental plopping down, hoping that he would enjoy himself. Right then, Graham was far from enjoying himself. Fluttering his eyes, he swore lightly under his breath and rubbed the back of his neck as a jolt of discomfort overwhelmed his body. It had been a long while since he experienced such withdrawal from drugs and just wanted Jace to not waste a second of it so that he could finally get what he needed.
He actually wanted to thank Jace for taking the time out of his life to meet up with him and be a helping hand. Graham could count on one hand the people who knew he was a vampire and the count of those who were willing to let him drink from them was even lower, considering that count consisted of just Jace. Had he been in a reasonable state of mind, he would have just laughed the whole scenario off and let the fire elemental know he was a life saver, but twitching in a fit of withdrawal was never a positive state of anything, thus explaining why Graham merely snapped with a growl, "Hurry the fuck up."
Okay, that was creepy as all fuck, and yet that really didn't stop Jace from trying that first line. And that first line certainly didn't stop him from snorting the second...and the third. Yep, moderation was for people who didn't have hungry little vampires to feed. This was the funniest thing Jace had ever heard at that moment, which caused him to shoot up from where he was standing, skin momentarily ablaze with a very bright fire. Forcing himself to pull back before he lost clothing he started practically cackling, "Holy SHIT Graham, this stuff is awesome!" Picking up one of the cloves he stuck it in his mouth and lit it with his finger...producing something akin to a thumb sized mushroom cloud of flame that momentarily lit the room like a flash grenade. "Did you see that?! Fuck!"
There was pretty much no sense going on in Jace's mind right now. Sure he'd tried a little blow while he was out and about but never had he gone this far with the Columbian nose candy. There were about fifty streams of consciousness going through his mind right now, and he could sort through all of 'em, which was good because someone had to. Right now though he was really only saying every third word from those things, so the entire sentence he said to Graham sounded like it was being said through a drive through speaker which cut out every two seconds. Snatching the bottle of Reyka, Jace began to chug that thing like he was in some kind of contest because if one drug made him feel this good then why not do all the ones in the room at the same time? "Ohmygodthisisthegreatestthingeverit'slikeI'mfuckingfiftygirlsatonce! Nowaitit'sbetterit'slikeI'mfuckingfiftyONEgirlsatonce!"
Yes, he was going to be sick tomorrow at the very least, but right now he was helping out his friend. Oh wait, he still needed to do that didn't he? Holding out his wrist to Graham he said, "Shit dude you've gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta try this!"
Good to see that Jace was willingly snorting the cocaine, because Graham would have pulled out the supplies for injecting heroin he had in the other brown bag to force into the man's system. Jezebelle would have been pleased to know that someone enjoyed her specially made batch of cocaine. Better than the shit in Miami was how Graham initially described it after his first taste a month ago. The fact that Jace suddenly blazed up with fire didn't make Graham flinch. He was too busy slowly sliding down to the floor with a hand clamped over his nose to even worry. The last thing he wanted to do was lunge out and suck his poor friend dry from blood, but that scent wouldn't leave him alone. As Jace continued to consume the various goodies that were before him, Graham began to twitch around for another reason. That savage side of his vampire self was wanting to come out and play. Graham desperately tried to hold back for as long as he could, but the scent - oh, fuck everything, that fucking SMELL - just filled up the room and overwhelmed him.
And he could hear Jace's heart racing rapidly as the cocaine consumed him. And he could almost feel the warmth that was emitting from him. And he could smell the freshly lit clove and strong aroma of the vodka. And now his blood pumping through his veins was pounding in his ears. And he couldn't stop staring the entire time. And then Jace had to hold out his wrist and say those very words.
And then Graham snapped.
The first second involved launching himself from the wall towards Jace and by the time another second ticked by, he had the fire elemental pinned up against the parallel wall, one hand against his throat and the other holding the wrist her offered. It never once hit Graham that perhaps he was hurting his friend, because before a third second could pass by, he had sunk his fangs into the elemental's forearm and drank greedily from him. The fact he was feed from a male initially grossed out Graham, but a male who was wasted on a variety of sins and just happened to be a fire elemental? Oh, that shit was way too good to pass up. Letting the hot blood splash against his tongue, he couldn't help but moan at the sensation filling him up. Not only was his icy body warming up in and instant, but the high Jace was experiencing was now being passed onto Graham. That agony he felt a moment ago due to his withdrawal was fading away into nothing. And even though he technically had his fill in blood to last him for the night, he continued to drink with no intentions of stopping.
Wow, that was fast. It had been a while since Jace had to deal with any vampires and he'd really forgotten how fast they moved. Not like it was particularly difficult to catch him off guard though seeing as his head was swimming even before the rapid blood loss. Now this wasn't the first time Jace had been bitten, which is probably why he wasn't too wigged out in the first place. Still, you never really managed to get over the feeling of having somebody bite into your skin and then use your veins as their own personal drinking straw. Graham was really enjoying this, and Jace even managed to raise an eyebrow a little at the groan. Wow he'd really needed that fix hadn't he?
After a few moments, he needed to shake his head to keep it above water and started to move his arm a bit. "Graham, okay you've gotta stop. Gimme a sec to rest up." Hmm...still drinking. That's less than great. Clenching his fist, Jace slammed it into the side of the vampire's head. "Graham! Get offa me buddy!" Yeah that didn't do much, even if he wasn't already beginning to really feel that blood loss his friend was a vampire now. Added defense to the measly punchings of mere mortals was something of a bonus that came with the territory. "Graham! GRAHAM! I am giving you to the count of fucking three!"
Struggling for a moment, Jace tried to resist all the drugs in his system telling him to freak the hell out before he said, "Alright then, let's establish some boundaries." Rather he sorta of mumbled that, but that's what he really wanted to say at that point. With all the focus he had left he conjured as big a ball of flame as he could floating above his hand...about three inches from Graham's face. His friend's eyebrows would be a small price to pay if he could get outta this mess.
As much as Graham loved fire, he did not love the sensation of it being that close to his face. When he was a fire elemental, it felt like a lovely girl licking at his skin, but now it felt like he was going to fucking die. The instant that fireball was in range of him, Graham felt himself snap back to reality and jump away from Jace, rolling on the floor in his state of panic. It didn't even occur to him that that throbbing sensation on the side of his head was thanks to Jace's fist saying hello a bunch of times. He had been too focused on getting what he needed to even be aware of reality, like potentially sucking Jace dry.
Graham took a second to lie there, basking in the warmth that flowed through his body and the different highs that were consuming his mind. "Fuck," he uttered out with a wicked smirk on his lips, followed by an amused cackle. Yup, he was gone. No question about that. At least the twitching was gone and he could relax. After licking the stray drops of blood from his lips, he turned to eye Jace to see how he was doing. "You... ok?"
The instant Graham pulled away, Jace's fireball sputtered to nonexistence and he slumped to a floor. Thank goodness it snapped him out of that so quickly, because it was about a second away from fading away on its own and then he would've been right truly fucked. Leaning against the wall he let out a low groan and slowly managed to somehow pull himself up. Okay, probably sometime tomorrow he was going to be in far more pain than this was worth, but right now his blood had been thinned and most of it was alcohol and Bogata bullion. Managing to let out a low, raspy giggle he replied, "You are...in so much trouble when this wears off."
Yeah they would probably have a serious talk before doing this again, but right now the whole incredibly horrifying scenario was just a little too funny in his eyes. "You..." he laughed, probably with a little too much frenzy to it than he meant, "almost accidentally killed me!" He coughed for a second, finding this whole thing hysterical and practically doubling over, "Quinn is going to eat your face off!"
Thank god his inner-vampire was quiet due to having its fill of sweet blood or else Graham would have laughed in Jace's face and not give a shit if he died. Whatever humanity he had left lingering in that undead body surfaced and his brown eyes fluttered in the darkness. "Didn't mean to, man. Guess I shouldn't have waited this fucking long to get a fix, but-" He let out an euphoric moan as he took another minute to let that cocaine high wash over him. "Fuck, I missed this." Well, if Jace didn't realize how much of a coke addict his friend was, now he certainly did, because Graham had more or less turned into a purring kitten over how content he was. The vodka and clove was a nice aftertaste, too, definitely taking the hyper edge out of the cocaine. Granted his senses were still pulsing due to the drug, but he didn't mind. He never did mind to begin with.
Slowly sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and took in all the different sounds and sensations around him. The gentle breeze blowing by sounded like a tornado whizzing by and the creek of the wooden plank beneath him sounded like a piercing shriek. And Graham was loving every second of it. His wide, intense eyes looked on over to Jace as he kept grinning. "Seriously, man, believe me when I say I couldn't control myself for even a fucking second. Wish I could explain it." It was exactly like that time he killed that homeless girl just to get himself fed. Was it going to be like that every time he fed from the source? No, Jezebelle had fed from him just fine when he was human. This couldn't be entirely normal, right? "Maybe next time I'll have more control. I'm still a baby to all of this shit, you know."
Jace was breathing heavily, and the thought that perhaps he needed some sort of medical attention crossed his mind more than once. "I'm gonna...I'm gonna flip you off when I can lift up my finger." He was still giggling, and a smile was on his lips more on the ludicrous position he was in and the fact that he was still thankfully alive. "I've got no problem helpin' ya out Graham, but why doncha practice on a few hobos before we do this again okay?" He'd probably feel bad about that later on...but more likely he wouldn't. Because seriously? This was not a position he was entirely willing to re-enter anytime soon.
"I don't guess you've got any cookies or juice or something? Or maybe a pillow?" Jace was beginning to feel really rather sleepy, and it was getting just a little bit more difficult to speak. He couldn't forget the reason he was here originally though and asked, "You're feelin' better now though right? If I went through this shit for nothing..."
Graham merely laughed along with Jace, seeing nothing wrong that very moment until Jace requested something to drink and perhaps a pillow. Last thing he wanted was his friend passing the hell out on him. He didn't feel like bringing his body to the hospital to try and explain that one. Scanning the room, he eyed the cup of coffee and snatch that while jumping to his feet, wobbling a bit in his drunken state. "You just saved me from a whole world of fucked up pain, my friend, and to that-" He knelt down to pass the coffee cup to Jace right before plopping on over to his side. "-I owe you." Graham wasn't going to clue him in on the fact that he already killed one hobo. No need to put the fear of god into the fire elemental. "And you sadly still owe me for the cocaine. Jezebelle would kill me if she knew I gave that shit away for free, but I'll give it to you for half price, ok? The least I can fucking do." Ok, maybe coughing up money after escaping death wasn't Jace's ideal way of spending his cash, but Graham would make sure it was worth it for him. Hell, the guy was high off his ass, right? That had to be taking the edge off of the pain.
Later on Graham was going to hear about this, but for now Jace wasn't really in the mood to argue. Picking up the coffee and chugging it like he hadn't had anything to drink in weeks, he wiped the back of his hand across his lips. "Okay that feels better." Reaching into his jeans he pulled out a wad of cash and tossed it his way. "I didn't know how much to bring so I just bumped into a few people outside of those upscale apartments on the other side of town. Cherry...something I dunno. Anyway there's $500 there, so enjoy." Honestly Jace could probably have made a pretty good career criminal if he ever actually sat down and saved any of the stuff he stole. Unfortunately, Jace was a very big fan of tipping...and he was shit with math.
Reclining against the wall, he let out another loose series of giggles. "Okay well I guess that stops any thought that you might've been joking about the whole vampire thing. That's...kinda intense. How'd that happen? And don't just say you got bit." Because honestly? Yeah a few innocent Q&A sessions were the least that Jace could try and squeeze outta this scenario, and he undeniably had quite a few questions.
It was a tough call trying to figure out if Jace's horrid math skills were indeed a good thing, seeing that he was throwing $500 at Graham. Now I can ALMOST buy the Gretsch... Maybe it also helped that his friend was obliterated for the next couple of days and- wait, he stole this from some yuppy people on the nice side of town? Really? That's all it took? Well, damn, more power to Jace then. Either way, Graham figured it was best to let the man keep the rest of the cocaine in the baggie. It wasn't much by Graham's standards, but it was worth it, especially if he already said he'd give the drug to him half off.
After securing the money into his no longer empty wallet, he rolled onto his back and relaxed for a moment, his entire head spinning. It was hard to focus on Jace's words when his body was just throbbing with ecstasy. Something about how he became a vampire? He didn't catch the whole thing, but at least that explained why he chose his response, "...I got bit?" Tilting his head back to eye Jace, he could tell from the look on his face that that wasn't the right answer. Apparently the guy wanted details, which he didn't blame him at all. Graham had been just as curious about the whole procedure before he was turned. Shifting a bit on the ground, he looked up at him and explained further, "I was more or less sick with my life as a human and realized that I could get away with being myself as a vampire. I've known this lovely vampire for a month now - she actually made your fine ass coke for you - and she sort of seduced me in a sense to join her. Has its ups and downs, but once I adjust to everything, this is probably the best decision I've made in my life." He smirked for a moment while letting out a chuckle. "Like living it up in some luxurious home with a hot as fuck drug dealer? I don't think it gets any better than that." And it really didn't seeing that Jezebelle loved him. Stilled scared him to some extent, but in his drugged state of mind he just cooed lightly at the thought.
Jace's eyes narrowed as he tucked the baggie into his pocket and listened to Graham's initial reply, "I said don't just tell me you got bit!" Honestly, wasn't he listening to a word he was saying? Granted it was becoming increasingly difficult for Jace to listen to anything his friend was saying, what with all those pretty colors obstructing his view and all, but he was certainly trying. As Graham listed off what Jace would later refer to as his, 'undead retirement program', he couldn't help but nod along in agreement. "Wow, that's...pretty kickass actually. I mean, can't really find fault in that logic. You didn't like how your life was currently going to you reached up and grabbed the bull by the nads and turned into a vampire. Just like the old saying." He wasn't entirely sure if that was an old saying, but if he started saying it now, then in the future it would be an old saying. Since we all know time is cyclical then that means that it's in actuality an old saying now, so either way Jace was technically right. GodDAMN this was good coke.
Cracking a smile and chuckling Jace shook his head, "Look at you, a few nights ago you were all mopey over some broad who kicked you out. I leave you alone for how long and now you're immortal and living with some hottie drug dealer. Ain't you ambitious?" Taking another sip of the coffee, Jace thought for a moment before adding, "The real question is, what're you gonna do now? I mean, if I were in your position I probably wouldn't be leaving the house at all, but I'm sure she'd like a rest every now and then."
Well, that was the first person to think that his whole vampire gig was 'kickass.' Hey, whatever worked. Graham was finding more downs than ups in it that very moment, though he knew in the back of his head that if he sucked it up for a while, then all would be well. Jezebelle would be there to help him out. Speaking of which... "In all honesty, I've been with said hottie drug dealer for a little over a month now. Remember when I said I had somewhere to be that Saturday night?" With a shrug of his shoulders and stretch of his limbs, sighing out loud as the cocaine continued to flow over him, he rolled his head back to eye Jace some more before going on. "Well, that was the night I got turned." Probably one of the few things in his life that he actually set a date aside for. Granted he showed up at Jezebelle's place unannounced, but it was a step up from typical Graham behavior... which still wasn't saying much, because... it was Graham.
And after staring at Jace for a while, he scrunched his face together while examining the features on his face. He wasn't sure if the night vision was being wonky or if the booze and drugs were getting far more to his head than normal, but... "The fuck happened to your eye, man? Shit, you probably NEEDED a night like this after Mike Tyson socked you in the face." He tried rolling over to get a better look, but that only resulted in him shifting some more on his back and getting nowhere. Drugs are bad, mmkay.
Jace's eye widened at the revelation, well yes, I'd imagine that smexy immortality time would probably trump most forms of debauchery Jace could come up with even with the assistance of the sin pit, Las Vegas. "Little over a month eh? And just eternity left, have fun with that." The idea of staying with a woman for over a month alone terrified Jace, but to be with one for eternity? He actually almost heard his testicles screaming for sanctuary at the very thought. "Still, if you're having fun, I'm not one to judge. Kudos for being braver than I in that regard sir, as Quinn would say," and here Jace donned his Irish accent (which really wasn't bad considering), "May ya be poor in misfortunes and rich in blessin's. May ya know nuttin' but happiness from this day forward." He'd toast with some form of alcohol but...oh wait he had some of that, so he lurched forward and took a congratulatory swig from his booze.
And then Jace blinked slightly at Graham's next question. So we were now onto his eye, well that certainly took a while for him to notice now didn't it? Frankly Jace still wasn't sure how to explain his little interaction with the pink haired fury that was Roxy...but frankly he found it as hysterical as anyone else so might as well go with the bandaid method. "A were-penguin cold cocked me. Go figure right?" God he loved this town.
"I fully plan on it," Graham replied with a massive grin, bearing his fangs and all. With the texts that both him and Jezebelle sent back and forth, he couldn't wait to sober up and head on back to her home - our home, OUR home, douchebag... - and finally see her in the final gift he gave to her. Well, he would love to be there now in his drugged state of mind, knowing full well that that experience would be awesome, but seeing that he could barely roll over, let alone drive back, he was going to have to have some patience. He also appreciated Jace's words, knowing that it had to be painful for the guy to say those very words. Jace praising him and his eternal relationship? Oh wait, he was drunk... and high. Forgot about that.
"...wait, I'm sorry, I just thought you said a were-penguin decked you." He fluttered his confused as fuck eyes while tilting his head to the side. "Unless Mike Tyson is a were-penguin. How... does that even work? Don't penguins like, peck or some shit? Not slug you in the face?"
Hell yeah Jace was drunk and high, no WAY he would ever utter something like that unless some form of chemical relaxation was involved. As far as Jace was concerned he wasn't going to settle down until he found just the right woman...even if that meant trying out ALL of them that were out there, which was pretty much what he intended to do. In response to Graham's confusion Jace threw up his arms, "I know right?! But c'mon man don't you know a thing about weres?" He'd grown up around them practically since he was a tot, so Jace knew quite a few of the ins and outs, enough to the point where he knew not to underestimate them even when human. "They're strong no matter what shape they're in, and this one was usin' all of her Hulk strength to try and force one of my baby blues out the back of my head."
He thought for a moment, "You'd probably be able to take 'em on and come out on top, but it'd probably be close. I've come into contact with some vamps in my time and they're pretty damn strong, as is the standard were. Unfortunately I don't have super strength...and I'm not about to hit a girl no matter what she is so I pretty much just took it." He wasn't planning on lighting her on fire either, sure he'd wave the flames around to get people to back off but he'd never officially off'd anybody yet. That wasn't a threshold he was planning on crossing anytime soon.
Telling Graham that, hey, you know, his strength was on par if not better than a were's was probably not the most brilliant idea in the world that exact moment, but... yeah, Jace was obliterated. There was apparently no stopping him in that department. Graham was actually about to say something about that, because the idea of having such a power trip was awesome, but then Jace had to mention the one tidbit about his injury that made the vampire snort. "You got punched in the face... by a girl?" And with that, he just lost it. Oh, and laughing was a high of its own with all the different substances in his system. After a couple solid minutes of cracking up, he just rubbed his eyes, finally rolled onto his stomach, and grinned at Jace. "Shit, what were we talking about? I'm losing track of every-fucking-thing right now." Yes, drugs were bad, though there was no telling Graham that in a million years.
Jace frowned momentarily...and then proceeded to crack up as well. At first it was at the sheer outrageousness of what happened to him, but after a few moments it just boiled down to him laughing because his friend was laughing and after a bit of doing that it took him some remembering to figure out why. "Oh yeah! Because I got decked by some chick with superpowers and you're a twat." No insult there, Jace just said it matter-of-factly. "Trust me dude, you'd have been in quite a world of hurt had you taken a swift hit like that when you were human. They're stronger than a standard person by quite a bit, and pretty much move faster than you can see." Raising his hands up to form little scales he finished with, "Now were you to attack her in your current state...and by that I mean vampire and not tripping complete balls, it would probably be even. You can laugh all you want, but there's no way a regular person is gonna be able to stand toe to toe with 'em."
"Might just be me, but you almost make it sound like you want me to take this little girl on for you." Again, Jace was just feeding to Graham's ego with information about how strong and fast her was. Typically, he wouldn't believe him, but he knew how strong he was just from the sheer destruction of his room from earlier and being able to fuck up all sorts of shit with a plastic guitar. And speed was a sure thing, seeing that he had Jace against a wall in two second flat while he was sitting in the opposite side of the room. So could he really take on a were? Well, there was only one way to tell... but he wasn't going to beat up a penguin chick just to find out. "Either way, maybe you should stop pissing off the ladies and they'll... you know, not give you a black eye or some shit. I hear respect does wonders theses days." He gave his friend a serious nod with wide eyes, only to stifle a laugh towards the end. It was difficult to keep a straight face when the cocaine was thinking otherwise.
He held up his hands, "No no no no no no no no. She's one of Sai's friends...for some reason I'm not entirely sure. Maybe they meet up at the ol' were-clubhouse or something and discuss how much they hate silver. Point is, I'm just gonna let her do her little penguin thing and give a wide berth in general." Jace let loose a loud harumph in reply. "I'll have you know that I was on the penguin's bad side for protecting a friend of mine who's a girl. So ha! Either way I'm screwed!" Jace was never anything but a gentleman around the ladies, albeit more of the roguish 'I can get a date out of you with a bet but you'll enjoy yourself anyway' kind of gentleman, but he still thought that counted. "I respect them perfectly fine thank you very much, and another thing..." and then Jace was out cold on the ground passed out. Just toppled over like Vizzini and there was nothing he could do about it.
If Jace honestly thought that Graham was to somehow keep up with his rambling then... well, he was completely wrong. He lost the fire elemental up until he mentioned the penguin was a friend of Sai's, and then Graham was gone. Completely lost. So maybe it was a good thing the guy eventually slumped over and passed out cold. Blinking, Graham craned his head back to examine Jace, still hearing his pulse beating in his ears. Yup, still alive. Nothing to worry about. With a forced sigh, Graham remained lying there for a while longer until the cocaine crash finally hit him. He wasn't sure which was worse to stomach: the withdrawals or the crash. It felt like someone just punched him in the gut and told him his favorite puppy died via some evil villain putting it in a bag and throwing into a rapid river. Well, that was the only way he could describe it, because it was either that or simply 'it sucks.'
He eventually forced himself to sit up once the high was gone, wanting nothing more but to go home and curl up in Jezebelle's arms for comfort. Oh, that was right. Said vampire was back home trying out the corset he bought her along with some old, fancy dresses... all while 'entertaining' herself. That was perfect grounds for him to leave right then. Jace would be fine. Besides, he was in an abandoned house in the poor side of town. No one would know he was there. Slipping off his jacket, he threw it over his friend's body, knowing it was the least he could do. That and leave the alcohol and cloves behind. After putting up with that bullshit, Jace was going to need that.
Graham slowly rose to his feet, still wobbling as his mind remained a bit fuzzy. Probably not the best condition to drive home, but he wanted to be with Jezebelle, and that was enough incentive for him. Shuffling on over to the door, he propped it open before looking over his shoulder to eye Jace, a slight grin tugging at the corner of his lips. "Thanks, man. I owe you big time." With that said, he slipped on out quietly and closed the door behind him. He had a lady waiting on him, after all.