Who: Bart and Sid What: Bart letting a fellow teenager crash in a room that he’s not paying for. When: Uhh… 8ish, pm timeframe? Where: Sunset Tower Hotel where we indulge our guests with 24 hour security and complementary breakfasts Rating: TBA
To say that there were no vampires within a one mile radius of the hotel would be a lie that most would discover and crack down on during their first sweep of the surrounding area. Telling somebody that at least a mile of grass and street and sidewalk was avoided by the undead wasn’t the correct way to word it, but that was okay, considering that most of the hotel’s regulars didn’t know enough to brag about their lack of lurking fiends. Knowing or not, it was good for business, the fact that any vampire with a good head on its shoulders would know better than to have dinner anywhere near the building that was full of light, chatting men and women and fine Egyptian linens.
A five mile radius, swept clean of vampires and most demons, was excellent for business. But to knock down a few egos, Impulse didn’t do it for business and would never say otherwise. He didn’t get handfuls of money for what he did, and he didn’t demand that they give him anything in exchange for her service. He could take out a hoard of the undead in a matter of seconds, could throw a few stakes through chests and then get back to patrolling the streets like a good little hero was supposed to do.
So the hotel was clean and safer than most places, making it an exceptional place to stay during the sun’s vacation. A kid who could move faster than the blink of an eye was enough to keep the monsters away. At least, it was enough to keep the smart ones from sneaking in too close. The cocky ones on the other hand, sometimes liked to investigate and meet the speedster face to face. Their meetings never ended in anything but near-violent finishes, and Impulse constantly walked away with nothing to show but a handful of ash and on occasion, a discarded weapon, if he was lucky enough to get one who carried protection in the form of something that wasn’t a set of fangs.
The employees knew that they had some teenage boy who kept them safe and in good business because of that, but he wasn’t sure if they knew who was under the hood. There was only a small portion of kids staying at the hotel, but the speedy flash of red didn’t exactly have to be staying within their walls. He could have come from anywhere.
But he didn’t.
The teenage boy standing in the lobby didn’t wear a costume of any sort, but with the way the receptionist was looking at him he almost suspected that she knew who he was. Kate was still fairly young and she probably knew him better than the rest who worked within the hotel. He stopped to talk to her on his way in and on his way out. He sometimes even came down from his room when he wasn’t planning on leaving, just to prop himself up against her desk. He was doing exactly that now, stealing those little chocolate mints while the young woman spoke of the troubled city and the absence of sun.
The taxi had already been sent to pick up Sid and with the guy’s exceptional driving, the car would be skidding to a stop any moment now. Until then, Bart entertained himself by listening to what Kate had to say on her chosen topic. She could be interesting when she wanted to be, which was most of the time, and because she knew how to keep a conversation going, Bart could stand and take in her voice without desperately wanting to crawl away.