First Kisses drabbles

[lone_defender]

1: Tag in your character

2: Others tag with a drabble of how the first kiss between the two of them might go/have gone. It can be serious or silly, long or short. It can be AU if they've already kissed. It could be in the city, it could be (an AU?) before the city, or it could be after the city.

3: Respond OOC or respond by posting a follow up

Comments

Armand | The Vampire Chronicles

[destenebres]

[trickster_mk2]

Gabriel knew what he was looking at the moment it stepped into the Devil's Nest. He'd not met the creature before, but you didn't have to with those things- they wore flashing neon signs over their heads as they walked about, all pretty and eternal and evil as sin. Well, eviller, all things considered. This was Greed's little friend, the one that had visited before. Gabriel could tell; vampires left a trail of shadow in the air, undetectable by the human eye but it was there- black as pitch against all the vibrant colours of living breathing people

[destenebres]

The question startled him for a moment - startled him, and got his hackles up. He wasn't used to being recognized for what he was on sight by anyone but his coven.

But he didn't let that show - he was too well-trained against showing his hand in any way. He merely peered up at Gabriel from beneath his lashes and grinned as he settled in on a barstool, every inch the recalcitrant schoolboy. If one could ignore the fangs.

"That would depend whose laws we're playing by here, wouldn't it?" He asked, voice as pretty as the rest of him, with an accent that might be Greek, might be Italian. "Under American law, I suppose I'm not. But pick a country in western Europe - I'd be legal enough there."

If he was aware of the double meaning in that statement, he gave no sign of it.

[trickster_mk2]

Touché.

Gabriel inclined his head, because fair was fair, it was a good answer. The angel could respect that where-ever it came from, and perhaps some of the tension he felt, some of the innate mistrust calmed. Just a little. "Well, I guess that as we're not in Europe or the States, it doesn't matter much either way, does it?"

And so saying, Gabriel reached his hand down, taking his own glass of something sticky and bright-green from the shelves below the counter, took a swallow, keeping his attention on the young creature. It really was a pretty thing, they always were though, right? Attracting prey, etc etc. Although frankly Gabriel could guess exactly what sort of prey was attracted to the boy in front of him.

Ha, boy. He could have been a thousand years old or more.

"Well, as you're legal, I suppose I can get you a drink. What'll it be?"

[destenebres]

Gabriel was entirely right about the sort of prey the vampire usually attracted. He tried to be at least a little humane in his feeding, to take only the dying or the suicidal, but when he found that sort, the ones who were so very attracted to young boys... then, he couldn't help but play with his food.

But this wasn't a hunt, and there was no need for him to do anything but sit pretty and make small talk with the bartender.

He smiled at that question, humming thoughtfully as he looks over all the alcohol on offer. "Vodka and lime, " he decided after a few moments' thought.

[trickster_mk2]

"Vodka and lime coming up." Gabriel repeats, and has it ready in just a moment, pushing it across the bar-top with his fingertips. It's not a challenging drink to make; more-so than pulling a pint and less physical than making a cocktail but that doesn't mean there's no effort put into it- the corkscrew of lime hooked over the lip of the glass is pretty enough, probably not something most people would expect from a place like this. But Gabriel likes surprising most people.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that sort around here, anyway." Gabriel says with a shrug. "And if there are, you might have to beat me to them. Can't stand humans like that spoiling my town."

He pauses, someone down the other end of the bar heckling for his attention, but Gabriel waves him off, another of himself stepping out of the space the angel has occupied and heading in that direction, seeing to the patrons down that end. "So, are you planning to see the boss this evening, Morning Glory?"

[destenebres]

Gabriel's pegging him as a vampire so quickly startled him. This was the real shock, and the ease with which the other man had seemingly read his mind... he has to quell an instinctive reaction to the implied invasion, bottles the anger and fear.

Only to be left too surprised to do anything with them when a duplicate of Gabriel steps away to deal with the heckler down the bar.

"Well, I was," he drawled, and it took every ounce of his composure and self control to keep his voice so even. "But I do believe my plans have changed."

[trickster_mk2]

At the change of expression, the note of surprise on those almost angelic features, Gabriel has to laugh. The kid is adorable, really, even for a blood-sucking murderous creature. It's not very difficult to put those centuries-old misgivings aside, and for that Gabriel chastises himself. But doesn't stop. What is he doing, showing off? Probably, that's just what he does.

“We all have our own little party tricks.” He muses, taking another swallow of his own drink, his energy focused on the boy in front of him even while his other self is busy laughing and serving drinks a few feet away.

Of course, the news that plans might have changed is very interesting indeed. Not only because an ugly, jealous little bit of Gabriel wants to keep this pretty, young looking, slender thing away from Greed. Not that Gabriel has a snowballs chance in hell of ever stopping the Avarice from doing anything but...

“Oh? And why is that?”

[destenebres]

He doesn't take kindly to being laughed at, not by anyone - but in this instance, wariness and caution override his anger.

It takes him a moment to regain his composure, lashes lowering in a move that could almost be called coquettish as he plucks the slice of lime from the rim of his glass. He bites in delicately, letting the juice run over his tongue.

Then he glances up at Gabriel, drops the lime back into his glass, and offers him a smile. Sweet, with just the barest edge of wickedness. "Because I've found myself in far more interesting company."

He likes Greed well enough, feels a certain kinship with his fellow monster, even. But he prefers him in small doses.

[trickster_mk2]

Oh kid, Gabriel’s not laughing at you. He’s laughing with you. You’re just not laughing.

Still, he’s sort of pleased that he’s more interesting than Greed, although he’s momentarily letting that slip to watch those pretty lips curl around the bright-green wedge, making them even redder in comparison. The damn leech is as pretty as a picture, isn’t he, and he knows it.

He snaps himself out of it, inclining his head in thanks. “Now that’s very flattering. For that, the drink is on the house.” He grins another one of his wide, bright grins, all knowing and self-satisfied.

“You can call me Gabriel. None of this cloak-and-dagger nameless nonsense, okay?” He says, and finishes off his own cocktail, setting the glass down and letting it refill itself of its own accord. No cloak-and-dagger but Gabriel’ll be damned before he lets the opportunity slip to have some fun.

[destenebres]

He knows it well; it's one of the main reasons he became what he is. His sire loves beautiful things - including the mortal boy Armand had been.

And judging by the self-satisfied gleam in his eye, the momentarily smug twist to his smile, he also knows Gabriel was looking.

"It's a pleasure, Gabriel," purring emphasis on the word pleasure, "I'm Armand."

[trickster_mk2]

Yeah yeah yeah, Gabriel knows. He was looking, and after spouting everything he had as well. He’s not about to blame the leech, although he’s certain that part of the reason he was looking was more than just mortal appearance- there’s something in the creature’s pose and that knowing cast to his eyes that makes Gabriel very much aware of himself, and his actions.

So he leans up, and away, although not exactly out of the sphere of the vampire’s influence. “A pleasure for you, or for me, Armand?” He asks, because it seems like a very fair question. He’s enjoying himself, it has to be admitted, and for a vampire, the company isn’t too bad.

“So, tell me. You’re not recently turned. What’s the story?”

[destenebres]

All vampires have an ability to glamour humans - all of his sort of vampire do, at least. Armand's tends to be stronger than most, sometimes beyond his conscious control, even.

"For both of us, I would hope." He's all innocence as he responds, and fully aware of the myriad ways that innocuous little statement could be interpreted. But then, that's part of the fun, isn't it?

Then comes that question, and he stops smiling. He toys with the glass as he gathers his thoughts, watching the light refract through the facets and hit the bar.

"There isn't much to tell. I was bought from a brothel by the man who would be my sire - not that I knew that at the time. He fed me, clothed me, and eventually turned me." He shrugs, takes a pull from the vodka and lets the burn of the alcohol bring him back to the present. "That was five hundred years ago. And here I am."

[trickster_mk2]

"That's just the answer I was looking for." Gabriel says, and moves to top-up Armand's drink, keeping his own expression and tone just as innocent as his amber eyes flicker back over the young man. These sorts of dances are always the most interesting.

He settles back again then, with his lime-green cocktail, taking another swallow and watching, taking it in. He's a Messenger, and he doesn't believe in the phrase there isn't much to tell, because a story isn't a linear thing, it goes in all sorts of directions, it can be told from a thousand angles and it will change as it ages. But he doesn't say that, only lets the young- maybe not so young man speak.

And watches the reaction to the burn of the vodka. "Is there something you'd prefer?" It's gently asked, not a hint of judgement there, despite how good Gabriel is at judging. Five-hundred and some years old or not, sometimes a little bit of comfort is required.

[destenebres]

The story he's told glazes over a great deal: his childhood in the slums of Kiev, the Monastery of the Caves, his kidnapping by the Tatar raiders. His fanatical devotion to a God who, five hundred years on, seems like nothing so much as an absentee landlord.

Hadn't that, after all, been the lesson of his little sojourn in the sunlight? He had died, and there had been nothing. Nothing to prove that all he'd believed in for all these centuries was real, or had meaning. Not even a devil put aside for him.

"No, this is fine." For just a moment, every one of those five hundred years is visible in his eyes, and there's no chance of mistaking this creature for a boy. Then he smiles, a touch sardonically, and it's all gone again as he raises his glass to Gabriel before taking another sip.