Grisly Bar
Worn wooden floors stained with ages of spilled drinks (and worse), creak under the feet of patrons as they enter the dark, disordered room. Though dust has settled over a lot of the establishment, making it appear abandoned, the flow of customers would speak differently. Dirty glasses, some with sticky yellow patches in the bottom where beer or scotch has been allowed to dry, stand on one end of the bar. Several of the windows have been bricked up to prevent vandalism, but create a great fire-hazard. There is a tarnished mirror on the wall behind the bar with a chipped and fading Art Nouveau nymph painted across the bottom.
Wet and rainy. That is enough to keep most away for the evening, and couple that with the fact that it's a Tuesday, the customers are not really out in full force.
Each time the door opens, it lets in the wind and the rain and the humidity preceding and following each that enter. One that visits the bar doesn't appear to be terribly put out over the weather, his short blonde hair plastered to his scalp, the black of his shirt and jackets sticking to his body. The bartender seems to recognize the man, and with a frown, quickly sets out a bottle of synthetic, popping the cap before he turns away to serve what few customers he has.
~~~@~~~
Bones had only arrived a few minutes prior, and was still prone to dripping on the bar from time to time as his long hair shed it's moisture. It drapes over his face as he leans forward in front of his half empty bottle of Tru, his slumped posture evidence of his boredom. Looking up, he spots an immediate solution to his problem, the first person to walk in alone since he got there, and a vampire no less? Perfect.
A Cheshire cat grin forms across his face, and he gives a flick of his head to clear hair from his eyes before standing up and walking towards the stranger. Upon closing the distance, he shoots a hand towards Marius to offer a handshake, the leather sleeve of his jacket creaking a bit as he straightened out the arm.
"Bones." He says in simple introduction, still grinning. "Dont tell me, lemme guess. Uhhh.. Danmark? Sverige? Norge?"
He waits a beat, but gives up quite quickly at guessing the stranger's nationality. "Cmon, help me out blondie."
~~~@~~~
Marius doesn't even bother checking to see if the door closes behind him as he steps in, and he scans the immediate area, his gaze.. empty and dead, his expression a blank. Satisfied, though it doesn't register upon his face, he turns to see..
…a hand thrust out, attached to a rather messy.. vampire.
He stands silently a moment and waits; and when the other speaks, it becomes plain that the other has absolutely no idea. The pin that he wears upon his jacket is a dull bronze, but it is something of a badge. It is increasingly obvious, however, that it's no help.
His voice is low, barely a whisper but more than audible for a vampire before him. "Marius." There is no hand extended in turn. "I will wait for your next words before I act." First and only warning.
~~~@~~~
Bones showcases his propensity to wear his expressions on his sleeve, proving himself the exact opposite of the chilling blankness sitting still in front of him. He cocks an eyebrow up high, and is actually, for one of the first times in his life, stunned into silence. "You'll… what?"
He pulls the hand he had stretched forward in greeting back, and brings it up to scratch the top of his head. "You'll wait for my… isn't that what everybody does? Like, y'know, wait their turn to talk." He looks down and away for a moment, still quite puzzled, untill an open-mouthed grin suddenly brightens his weathered face. "OH! I get it now! You were threatenin me! Ahahaha!" He laughs loudly, not a hint of recognition at the danger he's putting himself in. "Oh man, that's a good one Mari. No offense pal, but I aint afraid of ya. Maybe you should try a little harder next time eh?"
~~~@~~~
Is this thing actually a vampire?
More to the point, where is this youngling's Maker? Marius ignores the TruBlood set out, and ignores the eyes that are trying not to stare at the pair, but it is a trainwreck. Quiet bets are being taken across a couple of the tables, though the
smarter ones are keeping out of it. 'Nothing happened, nope..'
With a move born of supernatural speed coupled with the experience of knowing the best angle for the least possibility for escape, Marius reaches out to grasp the other vampire's throat, lift, and takes a step forward, into the 'personal space' of the pirate to set him off-balance. His voice is a whisper, accented in his native german staccato, "We are going outside to discuss this. I will not before the eyes of the two-natured."
~~~@~~~
Bones barely sees the arm lunging towards him, and in truth might have the slimmest of chance at avoiding being caught up by Marius' grasp, provided he was more aware of the whip's intention. But the simple calmness of the man had perfectly disguised his underlying aggression, and Bones was left too stunned to do anything but be lifted off of the ground.
Bones' grin leaves for only a few seconds, replaced by the sheer surprise of his current predicament, but before long he begins to chuckle, a smile back on his face. "… Aite." He says simply in response to Marius' demand, his arms lifting up to cross in front of his chest. "Are we walkin? Or are you gonna carry me?" He looks down and takes note at just how far up he was off the ground, but then quickly matches eyes with Marius again.
~~~@~~~
The thunderstorms allow for a certain amount of privacy in that very few lambs bother to venture out. Dry, wet.. it makes no difference to Marius, and this evening, the rain comes down… and down…
Twisting his hand to assist the other's head to turn to look in the direction of their progress, the Whip begins to walk towards the door, and uses his foot and Bones' body to open it before him. Unwieldy, certainly, but it seems that it's something that Marius is used to, such as it is.
"Now," his voice is still low, and currently, the fangs are still tucked 'safely' away, "who is your Maker and why were you not instructed correctly?" He hasn't yet let his grip loosen, nor has any flicker of emotion entered those cold, crystalline blue eyes. "Speak now."
~~~@~~~
Bones can't help but chuckle again as he's escorted out of the bar by his neck like a bad kitten being moved by it's momma. The rain hit him immediately, and he closes his eyes to let it wash over his face just as a clap of thunder brought with it a strike of lightning, briefly lighting up the whole scene. He's aware of the reality of the situation, that there was the slim chance that this was his final night of unlife. Somehow, even knowing this, he feels no fear.
"Oh, sure. NOW you wanna have a conversation? Is this how you always meet new people? You must be real popular." He chuckles again, not answering Marius' question right away. "Me and my maker parted ways three centuries ago, pal. Now you gonna let me go, or am I gonna hafta hurt you?" It was Bones' turn to give warning, though in fairness, he wasn't in much of a position to be even the least bit intimidating.
~~~@~~~
Marius releases his grasp only once they are outside, very much confident that the other vampire has no hope of escape. The rain falls upon him, the drops of rain falling in rivulets down his face, his clothing soaked. The lightning off in the distance is ignored, though for any onlooker, it would serve as a suitable backdrop to the entire scene.
"Three centuries. And you are unaware of the proper greeting to give to your betters." There is something about this vampire that gives him the impression that it's ignorance rather than stupidity that he has not been given his proper due. "I will give you the lesson."
Marius' voice is firm, a solid sound in the pelting of liquid. "You are responsible for knowing who your liege is, who the Sheriff is, and who occupies the position of their sword arm." He pauses before asking, "Do you know of them?"
~~~@~~~
Bones lands perfectly on his feet, his knees not even bending as he comes to the pavement with a clop and a light splash. His hands go into his jeans pockets. "My betters? Lesson?" That confused arching eyebrow returns once more, seemingly backing up Marius' theories about Bones' ignorance. "Liege? Sheriff? Sword- wait wait wait."
He pulls his hands from his pockets and holds one up palm-first towards Marius, urging him to slow down. "I don't know what the fuck you're talkin about Mari. Who the fuck are you anyway? You givin me some kinda history lesson here? I don't really give a shit about what vampire did what, or to who, or when, okay?" Evidently, he misses the present-tense nature of Marius' question.
"If there's some sorta important vampire rule everybody knows that I don't, just tell me alright? That way I can avoid getting a fuckin lecture again."
~~~@~~~
Marius takes a step forward even as the hand comes up, palm-out to try and get him to slow down. "The name is Marius. I am the sword arm of the Sheriff.. the.." he pauses, and for the first time, a hint of a smile tinges the lips, "executioner to her Ladyship's judgments." There's a hope, anyway, that that could mean that he won't give Bones that final death. One of those pesky vampire laws, after all.
"If you live within this City, you must know these things. Should you leave this City, you need to tell her Ladyship and introduce yourself to the new lord or lady of the city in which you find refuge." Here ends the lesson.
Now, Marius' fangs drop as he leans forward, "You are lucky I believe that you were never instructed, youngling. If I thought you were being impertinent, you would be meeting the sun affixed upon a crucifix."
~~~@~~~
Bones does his best to listen to Marius' words, though his expression looks like that of a bored student being told of how something's about to be attached to his permanent record. When the beginnings were explained, he looks down and pinches at the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache, another odd human-like quirk that seemed to have no physiological reasoning behind it.
"So.. okay there's a chick in charge, and I gotta introduce myself to her. If I leave, I gotta introduce myself to whoever's in charge of the next city."
He looks up and sees Marius approaching him with fangs drawn, and a crease of irritation forms on his brow. Bones really doesn't understand how serious this is. At all. "Imperti…. what? I don't even know what that word means. My maker didn't fill me in on all this polititcal bullshit, so cut me some fuckin slack and put away your pointies." He takes a step forward, and starts genuinely glaring.
"I aint a sheep that you can chase into a pen, and I'll follow your weird ass rules, but not because you fuckin scare me. I weren't afraid of no man in life, and that shit aint changed."
~~~@~~~
The aping of breathers annoys Marius probably more than the words that exit the vampire. They're beyond that, and for a man centuries dead, it's inexcusable. Particularly when speaking with another of his own.
"That is the only reason you have not been given your final death at my hand." Marius doesn't back down, but rather, lashes out to strike the man's face. With breathers, the Whip would pull his blow, but here and now, the entire force of his strength is behind it. "You are under the authority of the powers within this City."
To answer the age old question. Marius Schlachter prefers to be feared than loved. Period.
~~~@~~~
Bones had never felt the force of another vampire's blow, but he took the strike well considering. In the blink of an eye, before even a lightning bolt could have found time to strike, he was struck down to one knee by the force of the blow, his palm striking the wet pavement to keep him from continuing downward. He had never felt that much power strike him before.
As he gets back to his feet, he tastes a few drops of blood in his mouth, and while that normally wouldn't have been all that unusual, this was differant. This was blood was his. His eyes turn to Marius' face, and he runs his tongue over his teeth, feeling that his fangs had already brought themselves out by sheer instinct.
"So.. provided neither of us end up destroyed, nobody needs to know what happens tonight, right?" That grin creeps back out, this time with fangs drawn. "I'd hate to think that you needed to go runnin' back to momma to tell on me. Because I ain't had a fair fight in three hundred years, and I kinda miss-" he cuts himself off mid sentence, trying to give himself the element of surprise as he aims a punch towards Marius' mid-section.
~~~@~~~
What a sight, two vampires fighting on the sidewalk outside of Grisly's in the pouring rain, each strike seemingly underscored by the rumble of thunder that runs through after the bolt of lightning flares. Marius holds his ground, waiting to see what the other does after his strike.
It's not that the older vampire minds that Bones regains his feet, no.. If there was a crowd, they'd tell the pirate vampire to stay down, to take it as a victory that he remains to live another day, but that is obviously not to be.
What Bones probably doesn't know about his opponent is that he has literally been in war after war for the last 600 years, and only three months in the City. And here, those he serves are worried he's getting soft? A professional veteran against a drifter pirate…
Marius' visage turns blank, the lack of effort to approximate a human expression obvious. Not even the gleam of battle rises in his eyes… yet. There is no fear to feed off of, nothing that he enjoys other than the act of fighting itself.
Marius' hand strikes out to catch the punch that is aimed for that 'center', and in gripping it tightly, will twist it around until the sound of bones snapping can be heard.. hand, lower arm..
~~~@~~~
Bones falls to one knee again, a snarl of pain leaving him through tightly clenched teeth. As much as Bones loved to fight, Marius was too fast, and Bones had just had too much time to get soft. He reached forward to rather weakly grip his fingers in the material of Marius' pant leg in a silent plea for him to stop, as well as an admission that.. yeah, you broke my arm.
He looks up at Marius, that bare-toothed snarl quickly creeping to a familiar grin, a bit of his own blood still staining his teeth. "Okay, maybe I got a little ahead of myself talkin' bout fair fights…" he said with a chuckle, looking at what used to be his arm, a little inhale of breath through his teeth at the sight of it. "I'm guessin' no man's ever got the best of you, eh?" He said as his eyes pull away from Marius', and he looks down at the pavement beneath him, grin growing larger.
The hand that was gripping at the leg of his pants sprung into action with a speed approaching that of Marius himself, although from his position there was no blow he could deliver, and so he settled for a bit of moral victory by… tugging down Marius' pants, tearing a bit of the likely quite expensive cloth away in his fingers".
~~~@~~~
If it would make Bones feel any better, Marius' own 'betters' fully believe he could take a vampire that was centuries older than himself to their final death. However, that isn't mentioned in the brief scuffle.
Marius' response to the question regarding being bested is given an answer, "I still live." Makes sense, yes?
Feeling the bones crumble under his hand, and the reaction from the other, he keeps the pressure on for a few more heartbeats.. and he feels the rough tug, and the ensuing tearing of fabric away from his leg. Looking down at the pull, Marius moves his leg to kick the other man away from him, at the same time, releasing the hand. "Consider your lesson while you recover."
~~~@~~~
Bones is sent skidding into the side of the bar by the kick, a rather painful journey along the pavement before he hits with a rough thud into the uncovered bricks of the Grisly. He grunts at the pain of being forced so viciously into the structure, but despite his shattered arm, he keeps grinning as he stumbles his way up to his feet, and tries to take a step towards Marius as if to prove his durability, only to find a slight twinge of pain in his chest in taking that step. He clutched at at it with his good arm. Marius had broken at least one of his ribs.
A bit more crimson was coughed up to stain his lips, some of it quickly being washed away by the rain, but he spat some of it into a puddle just for good measure. None of it seemed to dampen Bone's mood, his smile having not been moved. He tucks the scrap of Marius' pants into his pocket, and speaks in a growl even more rough and strained than his usual tone "Yer fuckin good, Mari." He said with a chuckle. "But you're still an asshole…" With those last parting words, he sprinted off in a flash, the rain spraying off of him like a sprinkler as he tore through the night and back to a place to lick his wounds.
