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Post by Elizabeth Koch on Oct 26, 2011 2:46:03 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/2hxwqau.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #2a160f; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]"You talk like you're two separate people. Corvin is like..." She huffed a breath, almost seeming irritable that she was about to say something dorky. "Like Clark Kent's Superman. He's your armor. You become him and go onstage, perform. Offstage, you're Mike. Or something like that. Right? Louis tried to explain the whole dual-personality thing to me once. Of course onstage personalities are different. Unless he lives in your head!" She widened her eyes dramatically, looking comically horrified. Her wrist was still sending Zaza all sorts of things that she was trying to ignore. Attacking beautiful men in chinese restaurants was not on the acceptable list of things one could do in public. "I can pretend not to be impressed. I'm fairly good at that. I think. Are they really pretty? It might be kind of hard if they're really pretty." Laughter filled the booth, cheery and real. "I won't giggle. Much. I'm not gonna make any promises, actually. For all I know, I'll be drunk and suffering from giggle fits every five seconds. Not that you'd tell anyone, right? What happens here is supposed to stay here or something." She frowned suddenly. "Is that really a true statement? Or is that just used to draw in the tourists?" "You have good taste, Mike. Because you live here and I, quite obviously, am one of those annoying tourists I'll go quietly. Next time I'm calling the shots. Although next time I might show up in your club wearing the shortest skirt I can find. My new goal? Outdo the boys at your club in sexiness." Zaza nodded decisively, but was unable to hold the determined expression as laughter bubbled up. [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location:Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Till the World Ends - Britney Spears Outfit: Jean shorts, a stripped red top, and black flats. Notes: She's decided to treat him like she would Ki. As an attractive male that she trusts. [/style] |
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Post by Michael Sapiye on Oct 26, 2011 2:55:24 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i53.tinypic.com/348r4wo.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #4f4a5e; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]"You're doing it again," Mike pointed out gently. But then he smiled and started ticking them off on his fingers as he answered her statements and questions one after another. "Yes, it is like wearing armor. It's not me all these men and women are petting on, leering at, groping, sometimes licking, it's just the part I play. No, Corvin doesn't live in my head. Yes, all of them are pretty one way or another, it's just a matter of what your tastes are. No, I wouldn't tell anyone if you got drunk and giggled. Yes, what happens here stays here, except for the chlamydia. Yes, I have excellent taste, especially in women, food, and booze. Yes, you can direct the course of our next date. No, I am not going to try to dissuade you from wearing the shortest skirt you can find to the club, just as long as you don't let any of the other boys give you lap dances before I get my shot." Whew, he'd almost run out of fingers. [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location: Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Worry About You - Ivy Outfit: Jeans and a black silk buttondownNotes: Too many topics, brain hurts. [/style] |
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Post by Elizabeth Koch on Oct 26, 2011 4:03:10 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/2hxwqau.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #2a160f; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]"Lots of pretty guys. Check. Thank you for keeping my dirty secret. I promise not to let anyone else give me a lapdance until you do." She met his gaze, burying cocky-Zaza in the basement of her mind. "Would it bother you terribly much if I did show up at your club?" If he said yes, she wouldn't show up. She would wait outside until he was Mike again and then she'd drag him sight-seeing. Finding her plate mostly empty, she picked up her tea cup instead and inhaled the scents coming from it. "Is it hard? Going from Mike to Corvin and back?" She kind of liked his stage name, it had a certain way of rolling off the tongue. Zaza sipped her tea, gray eyes dark with thought. She was not the type to be jealous and so she felt no anger that the man sitting across the table probably flirted with hundreds of women. He'd said he liked her and she believed him, any wariness of being just another notch on his belt had dissipated already. So, now she was letting curiosity run it's course. [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location:Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Till the World Ends - Britney Spears Outfit: Jean shorts, a stripped red top, and black flats. Notes: Calmer, less giddiness. [/style] |
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Post by Michael Sapiye on Oct 26, 2011 9:55:35 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i53.tinypic.com/348r4wo.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #4f4a5e; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]"No, it wouldn't bother me. I like the club, if I didn't I wouldn't work there. It's stagey and more than a little ridiculous, but it's also fun. Always new people to meet, you never know entirely what you're going to find when you start your shift, and it's kinda awesome getting paid to dance around acting sexy." He was working on clearing his own plate, he'd spent more time talking than eating, which was a bit of a shame given the food. "And switching back and forth isn't hard most of the time, but every once in a while it can be. Usually when there's somebody I meet at the club and then see again outside it. Part of the, I don't know, fantasy I guess is this idea that how I am in there is how I am all the time. Like maybe I walk around shirtless and wearing body glitter to the grocery store, rub up against the checkout girl and whisper 'paper, please,' into her ear. Sometimes people seem disappointed when they figure out it's not like that, can be hard on the ego." Mike smiled at Zaza, finding that he really liked this calmer version of her, as he'd hoped he would when he went digging for it. "Not gonna ask you about your job, it might be indiscreet. But tell me about your family?" Family was huge for Mike, the most important thing there was. Plus, it would give him time to finish his fried rice and Mongolian beef. [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location: Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Worry About You - Ivy Outfit: Jeans and a black silk buttondownNotes: Remind me sometime to tell you the tale of the Stripper Who Saved Christmas. True story, too. [/style] |
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Post by Elizabeth Koch on Oct 26, 2011 13:12:36 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/2hxwqau.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #2a160f; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]Nodding, Zaza swallowed some more tea down. His explanation had her imagining him literally rubbing up against some poor checkout girl and she struggled to keep her face smooth. Failing miserable, she released the laughter that had been bubbling. "Sorry. I was just..you and glitter and checkout girl. All I could think of was that that poor girl's head would probably explode." Shaking her head, she scooped some of the last of her beef lo mein onto a fork. "You can ask about the job. It's part of the family life anyway." She paused, thinking long and hard how she was going to answer him. "My family is everything to me. I have three older brothers, so I've been kind of trying to prove myself since I was very little. Especially since they're all great hunters. The parents are currently out of the picture, but they're safe and as alive as they can be over in Europe." Zaza skipped over her parents' whereabouts, not wanting to linger on why they hadn't come back yet. "I grew up with my brothers on the road, so they were my best friends, my sworn enemies, my entire world. Still are. When we were kids we'd play pirates and zombies in the car. If it wasn't me getting kidnapped, because I was the youngest and the smallest, it was Louis. Louis is the sweetest man you'll ever meet, and it always comes as a shock to people who find out about his double life. He's not made for hunting, my Louis. His heart is too soft. His twin, on the other hand, Henry loves hunting." "Henry, in some ways, is still trying to prove himself. It's harder for him than it ever was for me. Being the only girl gave me a spot, but he's one of three boys and his identical twin is a genius when it comes to technology. He just wants a purpose. He thinks I can't see that, but I see far more than any of my big boys know." She took a breath, paused a moment to savor the last name on her tongue. "Flynn. My big bad wolf. My hero. Flynn is the fearless leader, the eldest, the one who struggles to keep everyone in line and herd us in the direction best suited for our family. He took Mom and Dad's leaving the hardest. In the dictionary, when you look up 'Overprotective Brother' Flynn's name will be there. In the end though, Flynn is the least complicated of all of us. He was the one created simply to travel and hunt. He is the steadfast rock we cling to when everything seems at a loss. I don't know that my brother knows how to give up." The dark note soured her tongue and she finished off her tea to wash the taste away. "We come from a long line of hunters. The Koches go way back to the beginning of something or other. Not sure when it started, but for as long as I can remember, the family history book has stated that wherever there has been something killng innocents, there has been a Koch. In an odd sort of way, our last name has a sort of celebrity status. Or it did until the Winchester brothers showed up on the scene and started killing all the major players on the board." She stopped. "The point is, my family means everything to me. In some ways, I'm just as bad as those Winchester boys. If, and when, the time comes, I will gladly lay down my life for my family." Zaza wrinkled her nose. "That got kind of dark at the end." [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location:Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Till the World Ends - Britney Spears Outfit: Jean shorts, a stripped red top, and black flats. Notes: Family is a touchy spot, and kind of a dark zone. [/style] |
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Post by Michael Sapiye on Oct 26, 2011 15:19:10 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i53.tinypic.com/348r4wo.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #4f4a5e; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]He smiled, crooked and fond. "No, it's okay. Family can be like that sometimes. It's love and loyalty and determination and sometimes there's something a little grim about it." "Family's the only thing that really matters to me. Though we're," a hint of a teasing smile, "less with the celebrity and more with keeping to the old ways. We're Quinault, one of the Pacific Northwest tribes. Actually technically it's 'Quinault Nation', but that's a BIA designation, they lumped together what was left of four tribes who all looked alike to the outsiders and called it a nation. The tribe itself is only about 1600 people, only maybe 400 of us who actually know the old ways, speak the language." He picked up his own teacup. "I've got eight sisters, five older and three younger. Boy children are big in our culture, so growing up as the only boy in such a big family was--" he smiled widely, "weird. Half the time being spoiled, half the time being ganged up on by the girls for being the odd man out. Leah, Faith and Mia, the three oldest, they're, what's the phrase? Irish triplets. The three of them are only 22 months apart. They've always worked as a unit, they're all married now and their husbands are hopelessly outnumbered, so are their kids. Sophia's the one who was my othermommy, she's five years older than me and for as long as I can remember she's the one I'd go running to if I couldn't find my mother. Still do. She's the only one who's off the reservation, she's a lawyer in Seattle. She keeps saying she's coming back to Taholah, but I don't think anybody but her believes it." "Jocelyn's three years older than me, she's never quite gotten over being pissed off that she wasn't the baby any more. She and I fought like cats and dogs the whole time we were growing up, we're mostly over that now though if I'm gonna get in a fight with one of them, it'll be Jocelyn. Eve's a year younger, we bickered growing up and get along great now. Lillian," his voice softened, "Lily, she's my baby. Five years younger than me, she's a freshman at Puget Sound University, wants to be a teacher. Caroline's my Dad's girl, she's three years younger than Lily and after she was born my mother made Dad sell a car so that she could afford to get her tubes tied." He laughed at the memory. "So yeah, I get how your family can be the best thing in your life, and kind of the worst because they're the one thing you'd tear the world apart to save." [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location: Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Worry About You - Ivy Outfit: Jeans and a black silk buttondownNotes: I refuse to let the sisters become PCs [/style] |
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Post by Elizabeth Koch on Oct 27, 2011 1:20:26 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/2hxwqau.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #2a160f; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]Zaza smiled. "You completely get it. You're really the first person I've met who really understands. I knew it wasn't just my line of business that made family so important." She frowned. "Sadly, that makes my beloved brothers my biggest weakness. Or rather, me theirs. I don't go out into 'the field' much. The first time I did, Flynn had to save my ass, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here today. I threw a tantrum." There was some embarrassment in this fact, but it was true and she wasn't going to shy away from it. "Simple salt and burn. But the ghost tricked me. I freaked out. Wasn't pretty. After that Flynn forbade me from ever going back out on a hunt again." For a second, she considered broaching the possibly sore topic of his nation's history. Deciding that was a conversation best saved for a later time, Zaza left that be. It would be intersting to compare their very different heritage. She could tell him when the first Koch had set foot on American soil and where they had come from. And yet, she thought she might find his heritage far more interesting, and quite possibly very sad. She tried to imagine life with seven other girls. "I can't imagine. I mean. All those girls. I have enough trouble getting Henry out of the damn bathroom. Something about competing with Edward Cullen, I think." There was a sinister edge to her voice, as though she was getting a jab at her brother in an old fight while he wasn't around to defend himself. "Do you ever experience overprotective brother syndrome? You know, being the only boy and all." Zaza paused when the waiter brought their check. Speedy little thing. With the check came fortune cookies and she eagerly picked one up, ripped the wrapper open and snapped the cookie in half. "Plan for many pleasures ahead." She nodded at the cookie as though accepting it's advice as golden. "In bed." She grinned, amused now. [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location:Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Till the World Ends - Britney Spears Outfit: Jean shorts, a stripped red top, and black flats. Notes: Silly jokes and checks. [/style] |
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Post by Michael Sapiye on Oct 27, 2011 4:49:39 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i53.tinypic.com/348r4wo.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #4f4a5e; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]Mike laughed and took another swallow of his rapidly cooling tea. "You caught the part where I'm a territorial guardian, right? That 'guardian' part is embedded deep in the personality." He grinned at Zaza. "I used to drive them crazy, trying to shelter them from every little ill wind. Especially the ones that are eight to ten years older than me. But in all fairness, they did the same to me." Another laugh, warmer and distinctly fond. "When I was seventeen my girlfriend cheated on me with her ex. My sisters broke her leg in four places. It was a big scandal in town for a while. Of course, it's a real small town, but still." He picked up a fortune cookie and snapped it in half, pulled the slip of paper out. "'You have an open and giving nature.'" He didn't add the rider, just smiled wickedly at Zaza. There was a steep natural point to Mike's eyebrows, and they tapered off sharply at the outsides (that being their natural shape but somewhat enhanced by waxing them), which made his face particularly suited for dark, devilish expressions of glee. [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location: Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Worry About You - Ivy Outfit: Jeans and a black silk buttondownNotes: Interpret that as you will. [/style] |
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Post by Elizabeth Koch on Oct 27, 2011 13:24:51 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/2hxwqau.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #2a160f; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]"Man, I think you're family might outdo mine. Although I've yet to have a reason to break any of my brothers' exes limbs." She liked the sound of his family. Not to mention the way he seemed so damn different when he talked about them. Zaza had to admit, he became more interesting with every twist of the conversation. Meeting his rather wicked expression, she laughed. "I bet that's very true of you." Sucking down some icy water, Zaza slid out of the booth. She picked up the bill and found herself actually surprised by the number staring back at her. "It's not that bad. I mean, despite everything I'd said I'd still half-expected a huge number, but this really isn't that bad." Setting the bill down, she dug around in her pockets for some form of cash. Despite what he'd said, she still felt sort of bed for grilling him earlier. Throwing a twenty down, she looked back at him. "I know what you said, but call this my apology for earlier. Grilling isn't usually my style. Well, it kind of is, but...Anyway, you can pay me back with that giving nature of yours later." Amusement filled her voice again and the curl of her lips suggested very wicked things. "Besides, I don't need to be spending all of your money." [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location:Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Till the World Ends - Britney Spears Outfit: Jean shorts, a stripped red top, and black flats. Notes: Transitional posts are freaking hard. [/style] |
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Post by Michael Sapiye on Oct 27, 2011 16:00:09 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i53.tinypic.com/348r4wo.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #4f4a5e; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]"You're stealing all my fun," Mike complained mildly as he tossed down another twenty to cover the rest of the bill and a good tip. "I love coming to places where they know what I do for a living and then paying all in crumpled ones and fives. They get so squirmy about it." He stood up and waited for Zaza to finish collecting herself. "You're driving, you're the one with the post stolen car. All I've got are feet and wings. We're heading north on Grant for about a mile, then east on Calaveras to a joint called True. Fancy sign, but the inside hasn't been updated since 1982. You keep looking around for guys in gold chains to be doing blow off the black-glass tabletops." He really loved that club. [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location: Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Worry About You - Ivy Outfit: Jeans and a black silk buttondownNotes: On the road, then? [/style] |
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Post by Elizabeth Koch on Oct 30, 2011 1:23:15 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/2hxwqau.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #2a160f; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]Zaza laughed. "Torturing the fine business folk of the town, that's such a bad thing to do." She nodded calmly, having expected the idea that she was driving. With the bill paid, she grabbed his hand and led him outside to her stolen car. First she stopped at his door and opened it for him, like a good date, closing it only once he was safely in the confines of the leather seat. With quick strides, she moved back around to her side in order to climb in and turn the car on. The girl waited just long enough to make sure they were both buckled in before she threw the vehicle into reverse and pulled out. She had them on the road and roaring towards their destination in a matter of seconds. Zaza specifically stole fast cars for the fun of driving them. She had a fairly sharp eye for cops, which is the only reason she'd avoided getting any serious tickets thus far in her short little life. She followed his instructions, focusing more on the road than him for a time. "Don't mean to ignore you. I'm usually the navigator in the truck, but that doesn't mean I'm a walking GPS system. I've been to Vegas before, couple years back, so I have to remember how things work. Hunters usually stick to small towns, ones that either straddle the highway or only have one entrance and exit. Makes navigating the big cities that much more interesting." She glanced at him. "So, no men in gold chains? I'm kinda bummed out." The grin that slid onto her face was easy, yet subdued. Her concentration was on not getting them killed. The only reason she'd not yet bought a car of her own was because she wasn't into taking on the responsibility of watching for moron drivers. At that thought, she swerved neatly around a car that was pulling out of a parking lot and into two lanes of traffic. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened. It was all fun and games when she was alone, then again it was easier to be reckless with one's own life than it was with others' lives. Finally, she pulled into another little parking lot and found a spot within sight of the door. "I'm not the best conversationalist when driving. Hope you weren't too bored." Turning the engine off, Zaza opened her door and got out of the car, her gaze focusing on the club's sign. "You weren't kidding. Very nice sign. You said the interior is retro?" [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location:Dragon Phoenix Restaurant, Las Vegas NV Music: Till the World Ends - Britney Spears Outfit: Jean shorts, a stripped red top, and black flats. Notes: VOILA! [/style] |
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Post by Michael Sapiye on Oct 30, 2011 3:34:02 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top][atrb=style, background: url(http://i53.tinypic.com/348r4wo.jpg) center bottom no-repeat; outline: 2px solid #4f4a5e; width: 500px; height: 600px; padding: 0px;, bTable]"Oh, there are men with gold chains," he promised her. "Hairy ones. And it's not retro, my dove. It's old. Old and very slightly nasty. But the music is late-nineties alternative, the drinks are cheap and generously portioned, and the dance floor is active and semi-violent." As they got out of the car, Mike waited on the sidewalk for Zaza to come around, then caught her hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing first the back of it and then, again, the inner wrist. "You are very, very beautiful and a menace to society. I'm never riding in a vehicle you drive again." He smiled as he said it, but he meant it as well. Mike kept hold of her hand to keep her from heading straight to the club. "Pull an ID and whatever you need for running to the bathroom or whatever out of your purse, and if you want to keep a weapon hide it well." You did not want to be carrying a bag inside of True, and in fact Mike pulled everything except a spare hair elastic and an ID, debit card, and a single 20 dollar bill out of his pockets and dumped his wallet and house keys into Zaza's purse. "Don't ditch me tonight or I'm screwed." He gave her a quick smile and then once both of them were stripped down for action they plunged into the noisy shifting darkness of Mike's favorite skeezy dance club. As promised, the decor was straight out of a bad 80s action movie, lots of pink and blue neon, tarnished brass and smoked glass. The DJ was spinning Papercut by Linkin Park at brain-melting volumes and the place was about half-full but already throbbing with the sheer chemically-enhanced enthusiasm of the crowd. He led the way over to the bar where he got the attention of the bartender by the simple maneuver of leaning across the broad glass-and-brass bar top and kissing the man squarely on the mouth. Luckily the guy seemed to recognize Mike and a quick exchange took place that went like this: Mike handed over the twenty, his debit card, and Zaza's bag. In return he was given a row of six shots of vodka, a dish of lemon wedges, a bowl of coarse bar sugar, and a sharply sexual bite to the bottom lip. When that was done Mike slid three of the shots over to Zaza and took one of the lemon wedges and dunked it into the sugar to coat the cut flesh. "You don't want to do the dance floor here totally sober," he informed her at a low shout. "Three and three and we'll go get our dance on?" He didn't wait for her answer before knocking back his first shot and then biting down on the sweetened lemon to take the burn away. [style=padding: 0px 15px; font-size: smaller;] Location: True, Las Vegas NV Music: Worry About You - Ivy Outfit: Jeans and a black silk buttondownNotes: This is reminding me all too much of college. [/style] |
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