OTA

[jageskro]

Sometimes, bar fights just didn't happen the way you wanted them to. As in, they were cut short before you got much more than a bruise and a cut on your cheekbone. Jag was pissed off as he stumbled away from the bar, holding a kleenex to his cheek. With his other hand, he was fishing his mobile out of his pocket. Who knew, maybe Coby would be in the mood for a little mutual pain tonight. Or even just a blowjob, Jag wasn't going to be picky.

He threw the kleenex in the gutter and scrolled through his contact list, but before he could find Coby, he found himself shoved up against a wall in the deserted street. By a woman. A really fucking strong woman, who licked his bleeding cheek before telling him, "You're delicious."

"And you've got weird kinks," he muttered, eyes flicking away from her and at the nervous-looking girl behind her.

"Are you sure you should be doing this?" the girl asked, switching from foot to foot. "The sheriff -"

"The sheriff isn't here," the woman cut her off, then grinned at Jag, baring bloody fangs.

Before he could think anything of it, pain lanced from his neck as she buried them there. "Fuck," he muttered, not exactly sounding as if he disliked getting his blood sucked out of him. Not as long as the pain of those fangs didn't go anywhere, anyway.

"Just, maybe don't kill him?"

The vampire pulled back from him with a roll of her eyes, still holding Jag against the wall. His neck was still hurting beautifully. "Of course I'm going to kill him. I'm tired of being on a leash. Do you want a drink, or not?"

Right, okay. Wonderful pain was one thing. Being drained dry, another. "No one's killing me," Jag muttered.

"Oh yeah?" The woman snorted. "The food thinks it's got a say in..."

She never finished her sentence, as Jag's fire washed over her. Jag expected it to hurt the fuck out of her, and make her back off. But apparently vampires were extremely flammable, because she caught on fire properly and was reduced to ashes within seconds.

"Fuck," Jag said again. He looked up at the girl vampire, who screamed and then ran off, faster than his eye could track. "Fuck," he repeated, and began to sag to the ground now that no one was holding him up against the wall.

Comments

[hollow_moon]

Val wasn't looking for Jag, in fact, he'd been actively avoiding him for a while now. However, as he'd wandered out of a pub a few blocks down, the wolf had caught a scent it refused to ignore.

It wasn't unusual, and though he was a little dunk and his bed was singing to him from miles away, he found himself being led by his nose. When he saw Jag, he very nearly turned and left. However, the wolf was stubbornly loyal, and he found himself rooted to the spot.

"A good night for you, I imagine?" he asked softly, assuming the man had been in a brawl- Even though the wolf sensed something more.

[jageskro]

Jag was still trying to catch his breath, and convince his legs that they could carry him, when someone turned the corner, and... fuck his life. What had he done to Fate, seriously? "Really fucking not," he answered, his voice more than a little rough. His neck still smarted, and he brought his fingers to it mechanically, found them wet, and looked at the blood there as if he didn't realise fully what had happened.

[hollow_moon]

The wolf inside snarled at the scent of blood, but Val only frowned.

"Fuck, you're bleeding," he said softly, making his way over and crouching beside the other man. "Is this... Were you bit?"

[jageskro]

"Fucking vampires," Jag answered, trying to stand to get away from Val. He didn't need this shit on top of everything else.

[hollow_moon]

Val wasn't in the mood though, and pushed him back down.

"Stop it," he growled, more wolf than man for a moment. Agitated, he ripped a strip of fabric from his shirt and folded it, pressing it into Jag's palm.

"Hold that against the wound for now. I'm going to get us a cab. I have something back at my office that should stop the bleeding."

[jageskro]

"I don't need you to take care of me," Jag protested, even as he pressed the fabric to his neck. It fucking hurt, and not in a good way now, even through the quickly vanishing haze of alcohol. He leaned his head back against the wall and sighed out in frustration.

[hollow_moon]

"Tough shit," Val replied firmly, pulling his phone out and then deciding it might be best if they just returned in the car he'd parked one block over. He wasn't so drunk he couldn't drive, and a cab would only ask questions.

"You don't want my help? Well, I don't want you bleeding out on the pavement, and since I'm not the one currently bleeding from the neck, I think this is a quarrel I'll win," he huffed, pulling Jag to his feet and starting to walk.

[jageskro]

Between the alcohol and blood loss - non-life-threatening though it was - Jag still had a tough time walking without someone's help, and he was leaning heavily against Val. "Now you're getting bossy," he muttered to himself.

[hollow_moon]

"Now really isn't the time to be a twat, Jag," Val replied, not impressed and jaw setting into a hard line.

[jageskro]

Now felt like a perfect time to be a twat, but Jag sank into sullen silence, focusing on setting one foot in front of the other.

[hollow_moon]

The jaguar was looking as posh and pristine as ever, and Val only let go long enough to open the door.

"Try not to bleed on the leather, wont you?" he asked as he helped Jag into the car- Though it was little more than an act. He didn't give a shit about the leather, not when Jag was hurt.

[jageskro]

"Yeah, that'd be a fucking shame," Jag muttered as he dropped inside the car. He was still holding the piece of fabric to his neck, but it was soaked through, and he dropped it over the door and onto the ground with a wince.

[hollow_moon]

Val said nothing, focused now only on getting them to his office quickly.

"How are you feeling?" he asked once they were moving. "Are you lightheaded at all?"

[vampcharmante]

Like sharks, vampires were very sensitive to the scent of their prey. Unlike sharks, those vampires who survived were the ones who ignored blood on the air. The scent was faint, just enough to catch Janette's attention, so she heard two female voices talking about the sheriff and what he would or would not approve. It was that, not the blood, which made Janette go to investigate.

She landed around the corner, not wanting to draw attention to herself even now, and came around the corner just in time to see the flame lick out and consume the attacking vampire. Fire. One of the few things Janette truly feared. But the Community couldn't risk someone with magical fire remaining aware of the existence of vampires, or having reason to hate them.

She took a breath to steady herself, her fangs staying hidden and eyes their brilliant blue despite the fear. "Are you all right?" she asked, her voice soft and French-accented. "You're bleeding." Janette pulled a simple black handkerchief from the pocket of her burgundy trousers and offered it to him. It would slow the bleeding and get the temptation of it out of sight while she determined her best course of action.

[jageskro]

"I'm so fucking tired of tonight already," Jag muttered, not really in answer to her words, but he did reach out to take the hankie and hold it to his wound. He was pissed, pissed off, and had lost blood. He was staying on the ground for now. And here was a posh bint ready to play good samaritan? "I'm all right," he told her. "Cheers for that. I'll be fine." Could she sod off already? The last thing he needed was for her to get an ambulance.

[vampcharmante]

The last thing Janette would do was get an ambulance, but she couldn't leave him out here bleeding on the pavement either. "Of course you will. Get a drink in you and a bandage for your neck and you'll be fine. But I doubt you'll find either sitting there inviting another attack."

[jageskro]

"Let them try," Jag muttered, although even he could see the sense of getting off his arse. "Just... give me a minute, yeah? I was just attacked." He eyed her curiously. "How d'you know about them?"

Anyone who didn't would already have rung the emergency service.

[vampcharmante]

Janette obviously wouldn't take this kind of threat back to the Lenore, but they were still on the street and not far from the bar he must have come out of. Too public for what she might need to do.

"I know what I saw," she told him, which was true, but nowhere near all of it. "And what I can see now. There are all kinds of strange things in London, as there were in Paris. But I've never seen fire act like I saw tonight."

[jageskro]

"Yeah, I'm a fucking wonder," Jag wryly replied. He didn't even feel a little bad about what he'd done; she'd been going to kill him.

[vampcharmante]

"You are certainly something." Janette looked deeply into his eyes as she put a hand on his elbow to urge him to standing, and the rhythm of her words synced to the beating of his heart. "Let's get you away from here, hm? It isn't entirely safe for you here."

[jageskro]

Jag hadn't really wanted to move, but suddenly it felt like a great idea. He pushed up to his feet, remaining standing with her help. "Yeah, I should get home."

[vampcharmante]

He likely wouldn't even notice how much of his weight Janette took as she started walking him around the side of the building and off the street. "Let's start with you letting me take a look at your neck, and you tell me what you know about... them," she said, the suggestion all he would need to go along with her.

[jageskro]

"Well, I didn't know they were that inflammable," Jag answered with a wince, leaning heavily on her as they walked. "I don't know much, really. They like blood?" It wasn't really his problem - until they attacked him with the intent to kill, anyway.

[vampcharmante]

Once they were off the street, Janette leaned him against the wall. Well, leaned... pinned, almost the same thing. "They do like blood, yes," she agreed, "but there's nothing to be afraid of." Her eyes flashed to yellow-amber as she moved the handkerchief away so she could get a look. The blood was slowing, but the wound wasn't healing on its own, and she couldn't make him forget about vampires or the attack, if there was proof of it there on his neck for him to see and feel.

She'd have to heal him. "This won't hurt at all," she said, keeping her eyes on his as she nicked her thumb on a fang and dragged her blood over the bite. The marks healed in a matter of seconds, not leaving so much as a bruise.

[jageskro]

Jag knew, distantly, that he should have cared, but really, none of it mattered. Whatever she said went, and it didn't hurt. He was leaning back against the wall, waiting for her next words.