milliways_bar | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Armand wanders downstairs, leaving Richard asleep and worn-out in their room, looking self-satisfied.

He orders a cup of blood substitute from a waitrat and sits at the bar, watching the other occupants.

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A young man, perhaps a bit older than the boy with the blood, looks over for a moment, making eye contact, and then sighs and goes back to reading his newspaper and sipping at his coffee.

He nods his head to the 'paper. "Anything interesting going on in the world?"

"That would of course depend on what you found interesting."

His voice is quiet, but carries well.

He takes a sip of the "blood", and regards the man. "Well, news. How are things, for example, outside of Milliways? Last time I left, I was not gone long enough to take in much of Rome beyond The Vatican and The Pantheon."

Armand knows immediately that this gentleman isn't human, as much as he may look it. So he treads carefully.

He looks at the young-seeming vampire.

"When are you from, boy?"

"Earth, 2001. But I've been around since the 1500s, easy," he says with a grin.

"You're... older even than I?"

"Ah ouais, m'sieur... I have been here since before you were turned, since before you were born, and I have come to this place from a later date than you."

There's no real expression on his face, and he takes a sip of his espresso calmly.

"You're... time?"

He can't place it. Something off.

Something... different.

He laughs.

"Non. I am not Chronos."

"Then how do I know your presence?"

He looks at him curiously.

"You are... not Him? I know Him? So why are you so familiar?"

"That would depend on who you meant by Him, m'sieur."

He takes a calm sip of his espresso, eyes not leaving the vampire's.

"Him... God. Dios. Dieu. Dominus. Our Father, who art in heaven?

"You feel like him, yet unlike him."

And that scares Armand.

"I would say that there is a family resemblance, but I'm afraid the relationship is simply by marriage."

His expression has not yet changed.

"Marriage."

His voice is flat.

"Now, seriously, who are you?"

"I am Natasha. Who are you?"

"Armand du Romanus. And perhaps I should rephrase the question. I am a vampire. And you are..."

He makes gestures with his hands, eyebrows raised.

"An Incarnation, m'sieur Armand. And I know you are a vampire. You are merely lucky that you feel more like Nick than you do Alucard."

He sighs. "An Incarnation? Damnation! You're infuriating.

"And I don't know any Alucard."

He grins.

"Spot on the nose, m'sieur. Precisely. On both counts. And it is well you are not like Alucard... I find myself rather angry with him at the moment."

Armand's eyes fly open, and his eyebrow raises.

"You have got to be kidding me. You can't be... the Morn... Lu... Sa... MEMNOCH?"

What little colour there was in his face has drained, and he's fighting not to run away.

He raises an eyebrow, but otherwise does not particularly change expressions, although he is rather amused by this reaction.

"The third option you almost chose is closer, m'sieur. I am not Memnoch."

"They are one and the same, my fr... sir."

He catches his breath and looks away. "Why are you here?"

"On the contrary, m'sieur, in my world they are all very different. And I am here because my wife and her daughter insisted."

"Then you have no business here? You aren't here to take anyone?"

He looks worried.

"Non. This is not a place of business, at any rate. And if by 'take,' you mean 'turn'...?"

He raises an eyebrow at the vampire.

"I mean Take, to Hell? Or whatever you'd like your realm called, Sir."

His flesh crawls.

"Non. Not to Take, nor to Turn. On the contrary, that is why I am rather angry at Alucard at the moment."

It's not very nice for Armand's flesh to be crawling. It's not like he's actively doing anything... not manifest at all, really.

"What did this Alucard do, to get You angry at him? Must take some feat."

He's just not comfortable in the presence of the other side of his Saviour and God is all. Nothing personal.

"He drained a young man named David, out by the lake last night. I do not know if he planned to turn him, or simply to kill him... but I was rather upset at the time, before I even left the bar, and the combination of factors... well."

There could be zillions of Davids in Milliways.

"He's another vampire, then?"

~~Dear Armand: get your priorities straight. --Mun.~~

"Non. As I said, I was angry... and the young man had clearly had enough pain already without becoming one of Mine, either way. I took him from Alucard, and brought him inside."

"I meant, Alucard is another vampire, then. The young man's unfortunate if he's not been fed on by one of our own; vampires from other words are cruel and wicked creatures.

"But the young man is okay, this David?"

He tries hard to still the feeling in his stomach. Can't possibly be his David.

He sighs.

"I did what I could for him, of course, but it is as well that several of his friends came over to help... especially his friend Charlie, who took him upstairs eventually."

He hesitates a moment, and then sips at his coffee.

"David... very tall, very pretty, angsts like a sunovabitch?"

He sighs.

"Sort of... Asian-looking?"

"Oui, m'sieur. Do you know him, then?"

His face isn't quite closed off, but it's not particularly open either.

He places his head in his hands.

"Oh, David, what have you done?"

He stands suddenly, eyes furious. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to take my leave. I need to find that bloody idiot and make sure he's okay."

He nods, once, just a slight inclination of his head, and is gone.

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