Alright, back after a super long gap. No excuses, really just happened. College is starting back up in a week so I decided to do a bit of writing before then. Not really happy with how this turned out, but no way am I going to re-write it XD
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The teeth-jarring rhythm set by the corner-mounted loudspeakers made speaking at anything past arm's reach an exercise in futility. The air reeked of smoke and alcohol, while a set of light displays placed prominently above the dance floor hammered into Morgan's eyes. All the place needed was for the counter to be sticky to complement the horrible taste of his drink, and the establishment would have been successful in assaulting all five of his senses. Frankly, he loved it.
Marius and Samantha sat opposite of him, happily downing another set of shots despite the harsh effects the substance generously described as vodka would undoubtedly have on them. He couldn't really blame them, it was their last night in Hollywood before they had to start back home, and they were free to drink to their pleasure as neither of them had drawn the short straw back at the hotel.
The small vacation had been exactly what they had wanted. They did the tours, went to the clubs, got incredibly lost multiple times, and finally decided to one last night on the town before the boring car ride home. Of course, letting Marius pick the venue led them to spending the night in a hole-in-the-wall establishment named "The Industrial Pit."
"Hey, Morgan, could you do me a favour?" Samantha was gesturing vaguely in his direction, cheeks rosy enough to give away her state even without the significant slurring on her sentence. "Can you go order us some food?" Suddenly a look of rapturous realization appeared over her features, "Like cheese sticks! Let's get cheese sticks!"
Morgan slid out of the booth, quickly ducking a playful swing from Marius as the stockier fellow tried to catch onto him, indistinctly asking for hot wings as well. "Alright, I'll go order some bar food, because that has always been a great idea. Don't worry Sammy, I won't forget the cheese sticks."
The section of counter reserved for placing food orders was a bit less crowded, allowing him request his food without a great deal of elbowing and shoving. He had waited only a few moments, leaned against the bar's surface, before he glanced to his left to note that he wasn't alone.
Her dark skin implied a Hispanic heritage, with liquid brown eyes and the dark hair to match. Tall, with a significant chest and flared hips, the best phrase he could think of was 'statuesque,' and it certainly fit. When she spoke, her thickly accented voice seemed to cut through the noise of the club with no hindrance, "You are with the group over there, yes?" Morgan followed her finger back to his table, where Samantha and Marius' laughing was muted by the thumping base.
"Yea-" Morgan's voice cracked, causing him to stop and blush as the strange beauty's smile widened further, her eyes never leaving his friends. "Yes I am. We're on vacation. You know, a bit of a celebration that we made it through another semester of college. We ju-" He stopped speaking as she raised a finger to his lips, the contact cause his face grow even hotter, to the point where he was slightly surprised she hadn't burnt her finger.
"Sorry, but you are not who I am after. Your friend, the tall dark haired fellow. What is his name?" She had finally turned to look him in the eyes, and if she hadn't seen his embarrassment before she certainly had first row seats for it now.
Although he wanted to balk a bit at her blunt attitude, he couldn't seem to find the nerve. Morgan had heard the phrase 'predatory' used to describe some women in the past, but he was sure they were nothing like her. She looked at him with a sort of patronizing humour, the same you give to a toddler who has become convinced they are your equal. "Marius. His name is Marius."
Her eyes left him, allowing his breathing to resume its normal pattern. "Thank you. Do try and be careful around Sabrina, she is incredibly quick to anger." She stood quickly and with absolute poise before leaving him for the table he had left his friends at, leaving him to puzzle out the meaning of her parting statement.
Doing his best to retain a small amount of his pride, Morgan made to turn back around, only to be greeted with a face less than a foot away from his own. With a quick backwards jerk of his head, the newcomer came into better view. The new woman was on the opposite ends of the spectrum as the other. His new rather short compation looked as if standing up she would barely breach five feet, and had the sort of pale-looking skin that came from living in an environment that didn't get as much sun as most, but it only made her sable-coloured hair stand out even more. Morgan had only a few seconds to try and figure out what was happening before the stranger hopped off of her stool, crossed the small gap between them, and climbed on top of his lap, announcing herself in a very obvious English accent. "I've decided I like you. My name is Sabrina, and yours is Morgan."
Meanwhile, Morgan was doing his absolute best to remain conscious as all the blood flowed directly to his head, causing any of the blush that had settled to return threefold. Trying to find somewhere to set his hands that would not be inappropriate, he opened his mouth to reply but seemed unable to think when her pale grey eyes locked onto his. For just a moment, he saw something flicker behind the colour, and his thoughts became blurry and hard to focus. "No need to be upset, sweet thing. You like me too, don't you?" Did he? She was very attractive, for sure… "Aww, is your head all fuzzy? That's okay. You probably drank too much." How could he have? He had limited himself to one to make sure he would be ready for the long trip home. On the other hand, ever word she spoke seemed to convince him more and more of how right she was. "In fact, we were just about to head back to the hotel room, weren't we?" Obviously, or else she wouldn't have said so and he would have been grabbing his coat.
On the way out, Morgan spied Samantha passed out, head resting on the table with a significant portion of her hair soaking in some spilled drink. He started to go and check on her, but a petite hand around his wrist stopped him, and drew his gaze back to a set of flawless grey eyes that had once again started to flicker. "She'll be fine, you already called her a cab." How nice of him to make sure Sammy was okay. "Ariella, we're heading out, their friend isn't going to wake up for a while." The darker skinned woman gave a sharp nod before continuing to lean into Marius.
There was a period of time that occurred after they left the club, of that Morgan was sure. His next clear thought however manifested whilst he lied in bed, naked, and her the same English voice as before, "I want to show you something…" A blinding pain manifested in his neck, and before he knew it he was screaming.
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Morgan's eyes shot open to the sound of his bedroom door being kicked in. The Lunatic rolled from his mattress, snatching the large revolver from under his pillow to point it at the intruders. Standing in the doorframe with shotgun at the ready, Marius had obviously just gotten up for the night, still in his boxers from sleeping. Behind him and slightly to the right, twitchy young Heather had the small submachine gun pointed under the Gangrel's arm. With a sigh, Morgan stood from his crouch while lowering the gun. "Why did you kick in my door?"
Marius shot him a rather spiteful look before also standing at ease. "Because you were screaming your lungs out! Even Heather heard you, and she was in the living room." Morgan shot a quick glance at his ghoul, who game a jerky nod before her never-restful eyes returned to their darting movements.
Placing his gun back beneath the pillow, Morgan straightened out his sheets. "I apologize for the inconvenience. I believe I suffered from a nightmare, or possibly a hallucination. My clan makes it hard to differentiate between the two." Taking a few quick strides to put him past the other occupants of the apartment, he gestured for Heather to put her gun away. Despite initially being reserved about the girl, he had to admit she was comforting to have around, and having someone who could travel in daylight was quite handy. Her loyal and competent service, combined with her being a slave to his blood and unable to betray him in any way, made him quite fond of her. In fact, if he were to analyze his own feelings thoroughly, he might even trust her.
Marius rand a hand through his hair before pacing after the ghoul obediently following her master. "Yeah, alright, just…try to stay calm, alright? We're going to see the Voerman sisters tonight and you know how they can be.
Morgan paused, and for just a split moment delved entirely in the Malkavian Network. He was immersed…surrounded…struggling…drowning… and then he was back. "Yes, Marius. In fact, I believe I can safely say I have a better handle on how they think then you do."
