West Dallas
West Dallas is a largely blighted area of poverty. Several geared-to-income housing projects are in the beginning stages of springing up along the streets in these neighborhoods. For the most part, the area is classified as 'industrial' and plays home to quite a few warehouses, bars and salvage yards.
Oddly enough, it is also home to the historic Belmont Hotel which rests on a beautifully landscaped bluff overlooking Oak Cliff.
Dinner time! Well, for some, sure not everyone eats 7.30 PM sharp. For a fact the French don't, but they always were a bit silly. There's a fair amount of traffic by the bar, the hotel, a few restaurants, but luckily Josephine doesn't find herself surrounded by the masses when she patiently in line for the bank terminal to withdraw some money. If she's able to, that is, resources have been thin lately. A little too. Now if only her editor's advance deposit has been made.
Generally Oliver has very little money in his day to day account, not surprisingly a large amount of his income is paid in cash of course, but of course sometimes you have to declare earnings, especially when you're considering buying property, so a cash machine is needed. He's more worried that he's forgotten his pin than he is that there won't be any money there.
Josephine taps her card on the back of her hand while waiting, softly humming something completely incomprehensible, until it's her turn. She doesn't look left or right, that would generally be a good way to get a mugger's attention and draw him your way. So she steps up to the machine when it's finally her turn, pushes the card inside and punches the numbers. Can be seen crossing her fingers in the hopes that something is withdrawable. There's a full three seconds of complete silence. Then, without any attempt to keep her voice down, a stunned, "Fuck me."
:You contact Oliver: He can sense her reeling, repeating over and over before she's startled like that, "Vijftigduizend. Vijftigduizend piek. Holy shit. De fucker. Vijftigduizend…"
Stepping forward slightly Oliver lets his cheerful mask slip to a more wry smile as Jo swears, really people should pay more attention at cash machines, he does take a quick glance around, but he doesn't say anything, his hands slipping into his coat pocket.
:Via telepathy: Oliver says, "You should be more careful Jo, you never know who could be about."
Abruptly, a fluffy white head complete with rabbit ears shoves itself in front of Oliver's view, partially concealing Josephine while a pair of large, curious violet eyes peer over her shoulder. In a curious, amiable voice, the teenager asks, "Why? What's wrong? Did you find something good? Or bad?" Teddy doesn't seem to recognize the distance rule involved with cash machines, literally an inch or two behind Jo's shoulder. He didn't give any sign or sound that he was approaching, either, so neither of them get much warning - and one might want warning in the case of someone wearing a bunny hoodie. Just saying. Either way, he seems friendly enough, leaning far to one side so that he mostly balances on one foot, arms held out at his sides. Peeeeek.
Something makes Josephine flinch even before an oversized vampire bunny decides to peer over her shoulder, wide, startled eyes staring straight into Theodore's and only slowly comes the sense to cover up that tiny little screen screaming her money's worth to the rest of the world. Apparently, she's good for 50.001 dollars and 52 cents. "Will you /piss/ off?!" She pulls back an elbow in order to ram it into the bunny's ribs. Self defense 101.
To say Oliver's startled by a vampire would be a lie, he's not as afraid of vampires as most would be, an apparently chipper vampire dressed as a bunny however does take some getting used to. "Hey, you can't just go looking over someones shoulder like that. It's bad manners, that's private information." He talks quite reasonably to the vampire, although the set of his feet implies he's getting ready to react to anything he might have time to, after all he's not going to put it passed someone dressed as a bunny to be totally insane.
:Via telepathy: Oliver says, "Right… I missed most of that, but that's what I mean. You should know who's about when you're at the Cash point. It could have been a mugger just as easily as me."
Theodore points his finger and Jo's elbow bangs into it, though he personally doesn't much move, "Ooh. Careful. You almost hurt me." He blinks curiously back at Oliver, twitching his nose and tilting his head back so that the hood falls off, "Huh? Why? I'm not going to share anything." He changes his interest in Oliver, though, meandering closer to peer at him curiously, the light breeze in the night air causing his soft hair to fluff up a bit. If he's a vampire, he's definitely not the most intimidating one ever seen, lifting his sleeve where it overlaps his hand and rubbing it against his nose contemplatively, "Besides, it's not safe, the two of you being here all by yourselves in such a bad place. There are some mean gangster vamps around here somewhere. They'd nibble on you if they caught hold of you." He lifts his hands and makes them into claws, wiggling them for effect. Rar.
"Ow?!" That'll probably be a fingertip sized bruise come morning and Jo fingers her elbow, grimacing. Maybe her ego was bruised as much, since the expression seems a bit excessive. She breathes deep. And again, turning only to find Theodore's back turned on her. "Asshole," she mutters, taking her chance to give him a shove, straight into Oliver or not. "I- /We/ can take care of ourselves. Understood. Or…" Well, that bit she hasn't figured out just yet. Meanwhile, the little screen keeps asking if she wants to withdraw, or not.
:You contact Oliver: Josephine is a little too busy to answer, her guard fully up, shields in place, but she feels rather scared, he can get that much.
Nodding to Theo Oliver removes his left hand from his pocket, a fair sized silver chain is wrapped around his fist, hanging a good foot from that's further chain, ending in quite a large silver cross, it's bulky to say the least. "Yeah, I like to be prepared." His tone's casual as he slips the whole thing back into his pocket. "Still thanks for the suggestion." He doesn't mention that he always keeps a silver load in the concealed gun he carries. "It's good of you."
Theodore blinks in surprise and turns to look at Josephine, his entire figure drooping slightly, "I-I'm not an asshole… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." While vampires are pretty good at deceit, just from having to use it as a shield so long, Teddy honestly looks like the hostility is effecting him emotionally. The silver chain he scoots away from, but he just taps his index fingertips together while rubbing his foot against the inside of his calf and looking both apologetic and hurt. Sniffle. The droopy young man reaches back to pull his hoodie back up, tugging on one of the ears in a habitual fashion.
Josephine really doesn't know what to do, the surprise over Theodore's remorse a big as over Oliver's chain, even if she understands what it's for - she reaches out a hand, palm out, to shush the latter at least. "For fuck's sake…" she mutters. "It's alright. Okay? You," to Theo, "Will stay right there and you," to Oliver, "Keep that put away. And just let me do my thing here. Period." Another look to see if everyone is staying in place and she turns back to the machine to retrieve her card. It's slow and an impatient foot taps the pavement. So she has a chance to glance at Theo again. "Was that true?"
:You contact Oliver: Josephine sends out to you, "But please, keep that chain close by?"
His hands still in his pocket Oliver studies Theodore. "You don't watch other people dealing with their personal business, doesn't matter if you'd tell anyone or not, /you/ don't have the right to know." He turns to Jo. "Don't worry, I didn't mean to threaten him with the chain…" Despite the fact it's almost certainly what happened, and not true. "I just thought he'd rest easier knowing that we're at least a little prepared."
:Via telepathy: Oliver says, "I always keep it close by, partly because I suspect he is telling the truth."
Theodore puts up his hands as if Josephine were wielding a gun when she tells him to stay put, though he blinks curiously at Oliver only to point a finger at him, arms still up, "Excuse me, but just because ATM's have been around forever for you doesn't mean I feel the same way. Everyone makes mistakes and you are being very judgmental." Huff. He blinks as his words are interrupted by fuzz landing on his cheek. He proceeds to puff air at it, closing one eye at the same time; this is his expression when the question is turned back to him. He cants his head, opening his eyes to stare blankly at Jo for a few seconds, "…was what true?"
How long can you keep your guard up against an oversized bunny? Despite herself, Josephine's expression softens at Theo's display and a rueful smile starts. "It's… Okay." The card emerges and she takes it quickly, pocketing it back in her wallet which in turn is pocketed in her coat. Once that's done, she takes a step to the side to allow others to work the machine. "It's just that…" Teeth bite her lip as she reaches out to pick up that bit on his cheek, "Were you joking about gangsters? What about that sh-" She swallows the rest, with half an eye on Oliver.
Oliver steps forward and puts his card in the machine, he draws out his money quickly, always with at least half his attention on Theo, it's not like someone can't want to kill you while dressed as a bunny, but his tone which has been fairly neutral does become just a little more cheerful again. "No harm done right? It's just best to give people their personal space."
:Via telepathy: Oliver says, "You really think there aren't vampire criminals? I mean can you imagine how good they'd be at it?"
Theodore goes back to tugging on his ear, apparently having forgotten the smidge of white fluff on his cheek, "Oh, the gangsters? No, I wasn't joking. It's mostly a rumor, though. /I've/ never seen them, but I don't hang out here too much. I was just walking around." He shrugs casually, letting go of the ear so that it bounces a bit, then shoving his hands into the fluffy front pockets of the jacket, rocking back and forth idly, "My name's Teddy! I have a hard time with personal space. I don't know why. I'm very huggy. That's what my friend says. He lets me stay at his house sometimes, but he has to cover up the windows and stuff so I don't get all burny." He wrinkles his nose at this last, then shifts from one foot to the other, a generally fidgety sort of rabb - er, vampire.
Brows draw down, back up again, Josephine torn between the severity of the topic and the adorable sight of a youth with bunny ears. "Weird…" she murmurs. "How old are you, Teddy," she ventures carefully before she introduces, pointing first at herself then at the other, "Jo. Oliver." Her stomach rumbles, but she tries to cover it up by clearing her throat. Her fingers flick the bit away. On second thought, they dig into her jacket and she pulls out her cigarettes.
:You contact Oliver: Josephine scoffs, "'Course not. But they've Grant." Pause. Very deliberately, "Grande. Granting. Granting them."
It's a good job that Olivers mental shields are so good, it's also a good job that he only shows what he wants on his features, because the drainer in Oli's starting to think that all his birthdays have come at once, but he simply nods. "Well Teddy it's good to meet you, I say a good rule of thumb's to always keep out side of arms length of people you don't know when possible, and never look over their shoulders." He shrugs looking to Jo.
:Via telepathy: Oliver says, "Vampire criminals in Austin and Houston, even heard rumours of them in New York, makes sense if you think about it, let 'em sink their teeth into mundane crimes, stops 'em sinking their teeth in to the population right? Anyway how you doing?"
Theodore flicks out his fingers and pokes them with the other, his brow furrowing in thought until he looks back up at Josephine with a sunny smile and says, "Four hundred and forty-five… or nineteen. Either, really, or both." He crosses his fingers together at this last, clasping them over his chest and dropping them to his hips, palms stretched outwards. He peers curiously at Oliver, then back to Jo and smiles again, "It's nice to meet you! …and I guess so. Still. I like getting close to people. Vampires are cold, you know? But people are warm. It's nice." He bumps his linked hands against his lower lip contemplatively, cocking his head to the side and bouncing on his heels a little. He twitches his nose again and eyes Josephine more closely, asking, tone a touch fretful, "Are you hungry? It's cold out here. Being cold and hungry means you could get sick!"
"Ah." Four forty-five. Her lips repeat the number without air passing. She purses them for a moment, but shrugs in the end. "You seem… Young." She sniffs and starts to light a cigarette, a cheap, awful smelling brand and smiles around it, "Here, fire, warm. Nice. Who needs food, neh." But her mood sours when she remembers the enormous amount on her bank account. "Besides, one beer is as many calories as two sandwiches." But her heart really isn't in it. Her eyes shift to Oliver and the woman briefly lifts her shoulders, telling him casually, "Okay, I guess. Thanks for leaving the whiskey behind yesterday."
Nodding Oliver looks at Jo for a moment, his expression thoughtful, it's quite possible he didn't hear the stomach. "I was actually going to ask if you'd like something to eat… that way I can charge it to expenses." He smiles slightly looking to Theo. "I didn't think Vampires /felt/ cold in themselves?"
Theodore taps his fingers together again, pursing his lips before he explains, "It's more like when you go out in winter and then come inside. You didn't realize you were cold until the heat hit you. You know?" He peers curiously at Oliver, then shakes his head slightly at Jo, frowning concernedly, "Food is good for you… and I guess I am. One thing about being old is that new things happen all the time! That's like being young, right?" He smiles cheerfully all over again only to blink and check his watch, "Speaking of food! I'd better go get some TrueBlood before my movie starts. Sometimes, if they don't serve it, they'll let me bring it in, but it's never polite to try and argue, you know?" He ruffles his hair back and adjusts his hoodie, lifting a hand to wave at them both with another bright, warm smile, "It was nice meeting you. Please make sure to get something to eat, Jo! Going hungry isn't good for you! Bye, Oliver! I'll try not to get so close next time!" With that, the young looking vampire takes off down the street at a light jog - eerily and apparently accidentally silent.
Josephine can only stare after Theodore, blurting a soft, "Wow. That was different." She missed Oliver's look, but bites the inside of her cheek, considering, as she now turns to him, "Didn't you think that was different?" When his offer registers, her mood drops further. "I, uhm…" She frowns and buys herself some time with pulling on that cigarette, "Not tonight, okay? I've got something to do first and I'm not sure how long that's gonna take." Uncomfortably she touches the spot where she put her wallet. « Shit » A sniff, straightening of shoulders and deliberately, "Go get your dinner Oliver, okay?" Wink. "And buy me some tomorrow."
Nodding Oliver sighs with a glance to Jo. "It was… was he really dressed as a rabbit?" He shakes his head slightly looking at Jo. "You take care then, but I will hold you to that, and I will see you tomorrow."
:Via telepathy: Oliver says, "He's either incredibly dangerous, or incredibly lucky, I suspect I will keep him at much more than arms length if possible."
Who's going to complain when someone will buy her dinner. Josephine sure won't and she nods, moves to stand right beside him, standing on tiptoe to apparently say something into his ear. Instead, he feels teeth graze, but she does say as she lowers herself again, "Tomorrow." And oh, she didn't just pinch his behind?!
Oliver smiles faintly, then slowly he turns to look at Jo. "I look forward to it. Take care Jo." He then begins to look for his restaurant of choice.
