i, i, i will battle for the sun, sun, sun, sun.

[kingofrooks]

Who: Eric Northman [vampingitup] and "Matches Malone" [kingofrooks]
When: Night of the 18th
Where: Fangtasia
Summary: New drug is in the market. Eric is not pleased. Matches takes a gamble. This will not end well.
Warnings: Identity porn, vampires, drug use, graphic violence, and now sexual themes and consent issues. Eric Northman and Matches Malone. This is not going

Comments

[vampingitup]

Eric had been nursing V for months, giving it several new names and circulating it by its new method of distribution. Stamp books, each with a printed spot of blood in the center of them. They were even circulating here, but the circulation was still small, exploratory, and with Godric's appearance Eric wanted to keep it even more under the radar.

But he didn't much appreciate people cutting in on his business.

Whatever this new drug was, he wanted to find out how it worked, and establish whether or not it was a threat to his business. V could cause very different side effects depending on who took it and what their mood was like. If this drug were any more steady...

But he had established, through experimentation, that it had no effect on him. Whether it was because he was a vampire, or simply a very old one was questionable. He needed a human subject; someone who would do anything for money. He lifted an envelope high enough over his shoulder to be seen--stark white in the darkness.

"Your bonus, Malone."

[kingofrooks]

It was a game the two of them played, staying and circling within their boundaries, their secrets tucked beneath their own cloaks and shadows. Eric had never asked Matches what he did on weekdays; why he was never once here in the club on weekends- why he simply disappeared then. In turn, Matches never asked what was the real ingredient in those little stamp books that was distributed throughout the club.

This was the dirtiest part of his business. To allow for drug sale and atrocities to happen so that he could stop the worst parts. It was why Matches Malone was the least-used of his personas; why he kept him on the down low and only broke him out sometimes. The only reason why Matches had a steady job was because he needed one to not appear suspicious; to not appear and disappear at will.

That, and extra income was useful. He had never really knew what it was like to lack money, and he was learning it quick and sharp and bitter, like medicine injected on his tongue

[vampingitup]

"Can't a vampire reward his most useful employee without being questioned about it?"

He liked Malone. Most of the time. The times he didn't like him were for precisely the same reason as the times he did like him. He knew. He wasn't as dumb as he looked; he knew when to ask questions, when to shut up. He knew what Eric wanted to know. He knew when he was wasting his time.

It was dangerous, but it was useful. Like having an attack dog that might just as well turn around and bite the hand that fed it.

But it was a daywalker in his employ that Eric could trust to be capable, even if he couldn't always be sure he could trust him.

"I'd like you to have a drink with me. Discuss...business. I just thought we'd get this out of the way first."

It was a downpayment. Matches knew it as well as Eric did.

[kingofrooks]

'Most useful employee'. Get this out of the way first. Oh yes, Matches definitely knew that it was a downpayment. Downpayment, and blackmail at the same time - because Eric was lying down his expectations, and if Matches retreated, if he backed out now, what little trust he had managed to gain from this man would be taken. It was all or nothing, this game - it always had been. Interacting with Eric Northman was akin to stepping on a tightrope