finding a safe place Who: Grayson and Saoirse When: Mid-evening Where: Heme
Saoirse had felt assaulted by sound the second she snuck in the back door at Heme. Good to her word, she’d promptly made way to the girl’s bathroom with all possible vampire speed to wash away all the blood. Then she’d just... sat there a while. Everything was so loud. She kept hearing things she didn’t want to, and no matter what she did, she was incapable of blocking it all out. Finally she accepted that it wasn’t going to get any better, sucked it up, and headed out into the bar to find Gray. She had just had him in her sights when she caught a stray thought from a vampire from another house. The guy had always given her the creeps, and around the time she heard him wonder if her skirt could get any shorter, and whether or not she had freckles anywhere else on her body, she knew she was in great danger of losing all control of her verbal filter. She shot the guy a dirty look and hurried over to Gray. Oh boy. How to explain this one.
Grayson was, so far, having a calm evening. The angelic blood helped with that, of course, something he might not have always gone for but tonight it felt warranted. He couldn’t help the feeling that he was waiting for something to happen, good or bad, and he still couldn’t keep himself from checking the headlines for updates as they came in. Putting his Blackberry back in his pocket for the millionth time, he looked up over the bar and spotted Saoirse coming towards him, as well as catching the eye of the vampire leering at her. If Seer’s glance didn’t get the guy to back off, then Gray’s certainly would. His face softened once he glanced in Saoirse’s direction. She looked like she meant business. “Saoirse,” he smiled, “what’s going on?”
Saoirse was momentarily amused with the thought of just what Gray would do if the creeper didn’t back off (which he did), and then she was immediately horrified with herself. DAMMIT! I don’t want to be in his head! If possible, she wanted to be in Gray’s head even less than she did in Nic’s. It just felt wrong. “Please don’t think so loudly,” she blurted out with a scowl. Then she blinked. Shit. She had indeed said that out loud. Well, great. “Er. Well. Funny-” she cringed briefly at a particularly nasty thought from an unknown vampire, and after her right eye actually twitched, she managed to finish her sentence. “...Story.”
He blinked. “I’m sorry, but what?” Had she just said something about - thoughts? Though Grayson was sure there was nothing wrong with his hearing, today of all days, it almost made sense that something else might happen to complicate things that much further. Something of Seer’s, however, was likely to be on a much smaller scale than the demons and angels and god only knew what else might be outside Heme’s doors. Stepping away from the bar, Grayson laid a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s find a quiet place, and you can tell me all about it.”
Ha. Quiet place. That sounded amazing, and also slightly impossible at the particular moment. All the same, Saoirse allowed herself to be lead, happy to take any relief she could possibly get. “Did you know,” she murmured quietly, “That necromancer blood makes you a vampire telepath? Because I sure as hell didn’t.” Not that she’d had any choice in the matter at the time. Well, she had. She could have just bled out, but - wonder of wonders - she didn’t want to die anymore! Funny how that worked.
With Heme being used as a shelter, a quiet place was not exactly easy to find. Normally, Grayson didn’t mind, the dull roar of a bar feeling like a second home to him for more years than he could count. Right now, though, whatever she was going to tell him wasn’t for everyone’s ears, and he brought her back to his office, gesturing for her to go inside ahead of him. “I did not know that,” he said, brow furrowing. “Dare I ask why you had necromancer blood in the first place?” The only necromancer Grayson knew was Nic, the bouncer, and he didn’t know the man very well. This was going to be some funny story of hers.
Here was the part where Saoirse half-expected to get torn a new one. Once, just once,, she would love to be able to come to Grayson with good news. Not ‘oh yeah, I got fubared in another new and creative way’. She didn’t know how she get getting herself into these situations, but she did know that anyone in their right mind would eventually decide it wasn’t worth putting up with. “I got attacked by a demon,” she said, once the door was closed. “In the parking lot. It ended up slitting my throat. I was losing blood fast, and not healing, so after Nic killed it he volunteered and I drank from him. I didn’t want to, but I didn’t feel like I had any other option at the time.”
Grayson’s first reaction was actually one of concern. He’d seen how Saoirse had fought the last demon - she was strong thanks to being a newbie vampire, this was true, but there was so much yet that she didn’t know. If she’d been attacked by herself, and Nic hadn’t been nearby to help out, what would have happened then? Thanking whatever gods there were he’d been drinking angelic blood that evening, and therefore was a little calmer than he might have been otherwise on a day like today, Grayson just watched her face for a moment, trying not to imagine her throat slit. “You knew there were demons about, and you went out alone?” he asked, hoping he was wrong. What if Nic hadn’t been willing to offer her blood, what might have happened then? In the moment, his worry was winning out over his anger, probably a side effect of the angelic blood. He’d get to angry later.
Saoirse sighed faintly, and nodded. “I didn’t have anybody to give me a ride in. I knew you’d have your hands full, I didn’t want to ask you to come get me,” she answered. “I stopped at each shelter along the way, getting the news update and figuring out whether or not it was safe to go on. I thought I could make it running.” A mistake she definitely regretted now. She hated how she was always doing this. Why was it so hard to remember that she had people that cared about her now?
She did have a point; he probably shouldn’t have left Heme on a day like today, knowing he was needed here. But for Saoirse? Yes, he would have, if it meant insuring her safety. Hearing that she’d stopped at each shelter along the way only to still meet a demon when she got here was only faintly reassuring. There was still the fact that there was one right outside his bar doors, and Gray hadn’t even been aware of it. “Next time,” he paused, “I hope there is never a next time, for the record. Regardless; I never want to think of you putting yourself in danger. Even if you think you’ll be all right.”
Saoirse was waiting to be torn a new one, and not entirely sure how to react when it didn’t come. “I’m sorry,” she said, knowing she owed that much. “About that... I need to learn how to fight. Not that I’m going to go looking for this kind of thing, but... well, if it had been you, you probably would have known how to handle yourself. I just relied on instinct, and that clearly wasn’t enough.”
Grayson rubbed at his temple a little, both worried and disappointed at the same time. No matter what happened, he didn’t like the fact that she’d gotten hurt, regardless of how it happened. Regardless, it was done now. “You weren’t a soldier in a previous life,” he pointed out, glancing up at her. “Basic defense and fighting skills, however? Those are always worth learning. I’d rather you didn’t need to use them on a demon, however.”
“I’d rather not, myself,” Saoirse said. “But this is twice I’ve come across one now. If I didn’t try to learn at least the most basic self-defense, what would that say about me?” Like Sookie Stackhouse. How many books and how many near-death experiences, and the dumb blonde never looked in to how to defend herself. “I’m sorry, Gray. I’m gonna try to not let it happen again.”
He nodded, “At that is something I can teach you.” Even if he didn’t look like it, most days. Classy business owner by day, secret badass at night. Or was that the other way around, considering that he was a vampire and never slept? He reached over to take her hand, giving it a little squeeze. “It’s all right, it’s done now.” And she was healed up, which was always a good thing.
Saoirse found herself smiling at his thoughts without realizing it, at least not at first. When she caught herself she mentally scolded herself. “I’m certainly paying for it now,” she sighed, squeezing his hand back. “It’s only vampires, but... it’s way more than I want. I don’t even like using the empathy we have.”
The second part of her problem hit him again; she could hear vampires’ thoughts. His thoughts. That should have bothered him, but in the moment, it did not. What did Grayson have to hide from Saoirse? “I’ll admit, I had no idea what necromancer would do to one of us before this,” he said. “The good news is that it will be temporary, until the blood works its way out of your system.” By the time she was “used” to it, if there was such a thing, it would end.
“I hear his, too. Nic’s,” Saoirse added, her tone hinting as to her displeasure as far as that went. “Temporary is good, but it’s driving me insane. There are some things I just don’t want to know. Some people whose secrets I could go a lifetime without knowing.” She paused. “Present company excluded of course?” She hoped that went without saying. After all, he was the one she’d run to. Perhaps strangely, she’d never worried that she might hear something she wouldn’t want to with Gray. She just hated feeling like she was invading his privacy.
Grayson only raised an eyebrow at that. He didn’t know Nic well outside of Heme, and their relationship was a professional one. That being said, one’s thoughts weren’t really meant to be broadcast, and there were a lot of things he was better off not knowing. “But of course.” Grayson’s secrets weren’t really secrets when he’d made a point to tell her she could ask him pretty much whatever she wanted. His history was not always pretty, but at least he was always honest about it. “Is it quieter for you, being back here, away from the crowds?” He didn’t want her to leave Heme, and certainly not by herself, but he had plenty of staff on hand to run the bar itself. There was nothing that said Seer had to deal with anyone else if she didn’t want to.
“Much,” Saoirse admitted, with a slightly relieved sigh. “I hid in the girl’s bathroom for a while, but people are in and out. It’s kind of weird. When doors open, I get louder bursts. I wouldn’t have thought walls had a lot to do with telepathy.” Then again, she never really thought much about telepathy at all. She had been perfectly happy in a telepathy-free universe. She put on her best suck-up smile, but she was unable to remove the sheepish quality from it. “I’m hoping you can find something for me to do that is decidedly away from the majority of the bar’s undead occupants for a while.”
“Me neither. But, like you, I mostly only know how to deal with our empath powers, never any of the other abilities that are out there.” And even those Grayson didn’t use all the time, otherwise he’d be so overwhelmed by everyone else’s emotions that he’d never be able to get anything done. Saoirse didn’t need to try and pretend like this wasn’t hell for her, he imagined it would be pretty awful, and thankfully it wasn’t permanent. “I’m sure we can figure something out,” he said, “though I do not wish the burden of all my paperwork on anyone.” Inventory counts and ordering? One of the evils of the job, one Gray was good at, but not necessarily anything he liked to do. In truth, he’d been planning to put all that off until Monday at the earliest. Demon apocalypse was a good enough excuse.
“You think overwhelming emotions are bad, try resisting the urge to smack somebody for something they didn’t even say,” Saoirse replied. And then she realized she was replying to his thoughts, not what he’d actually said, and she scowled. A lot. “Sorry. I keep doing that,” she said. “So if you want help with those inventory counts and whatnot, now’s your golden opportunity. I don’t know how much good I’ll be for anything else.”
Having her answer his thoughts as if he’d said them aloud? That was a bit disorienting, and the look on Grayson’s face said as much. He cleared it with a shake of his head, however; it wasn’t as if he didn’t know what she was currently capable of ahead of time. “Only if you’re willing, it’ll at least keep you off the floor for a good long while. Perhaps I’ll take your place making drinks.” It wasn’t as if he didn’t know how to do it, after all, and it had been a while since he’d showed that off.
“I’m willing to do whatever keeps me away from the general population,” Saoirse agreed. She almost suggested he keep her company, but she was still of the opinion that the poor man worked too much. He might have fun working the bar for a change, and she wasn’t about to take that away from him. “So whether it’s paperwork or washing glasses in the back room, I’m really not picky.”
He nodded, understanding her reasoning. And, if there was a break in the night, he would come back and keep her company. Why wouldn’t he, when she was well aware of what he thought about her by now? “I’ll let you choose,” he said, “and I promise to do my best tending bar in your place, snappy comments and all.” After all, you couldn’t run a place like Heme - or hell, like his speakeasy, back in the day - without those skills. Anyone who thought Gray was all straight up business clearly couldn’t picture him when he’d been a younger man.
Saoirse found herself grinning just as much at his thoughts at what he actually said. She still hated the invasion of privacy, but dammit, it wasn’t her fault. “The snappy comebacks are a requirement,” she confirmed. “People come to expect it. I’m sure you won’t disappoint me.” Actually, that’d be pretty impossible. Though it was the sort of thing she’d really love to witness for herself. Maybe if she got used to the voices in her head she’d check in on him, too.
Grayson couldn’t help it, he laughed. “Snappy comebacks, got it,” he said, giving her what was meant to be a mock salute, but was a touch too stiff to really pull it off. Some things were just ingrained in him after all these years. It took him a moment, but he pulled out a couple folders for her, pointing out each one as he spoke. “These are the last counts I did, should you get bored. Wine, liquor, and of course, blood. I just need to know exactly what we have on hand, I can do the ordering half later.”
“Oh, Gray... you need to work on that,” Saoirse giggled. But it was good to see him trying to loosen up. She took the folders and nodded as he spoke. The tasks did indeed sound boring, but tonight she would consider that a good thing. “No problem.” Nice, monotonous tasks in a place where she wouldn’t risk bitchsmacking anybody. Perfect.