milliways_bar | (no subject)

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"But musing what an easy thing it were to mix our opiates in a larger cup," Autor says, patting the counter in preparation to hop over it. "And drink, and not perceive"—and here he hops—"sleep deepening lead his truer kinsman up, like undistinguished Night, darkening the skirts of Eve.*"

After a few minutes of setting up his prior preparations, the boy reaches for the specials board. "Good night, Bar."

Bitter Chocolate Aria
Hot chocolate & one croissant

Submission Sonata
Virgin strawberry & wasabi daiquiri

Ode to Blood
Giga ant eggs, sour apple juice, seltzer water, flavored ice

Fiery Trigon
Grenadine, lemon juice, apple juice, passion fruit juice, & cinnamon

Silent Overture
Free coffee if you can prove that you’re knighted

Note: Virgin bar.

[This post is open forever.]

*Ode to Sleep , Richard Chenevix Trench

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The boy jerks back at her touch, though his reaction is more his being startled than annoyed. He clutches his cup and stares at the wood grains.

When he raises his head again, he has donned his characteristic smirk, a protective a garment as his blazer. "He told me, quite reasonably, that he did not appreciate being provoked," Autor says, and holds her gaze. "Make of that what you will."

And then would be when she doesn't just touch his wrist. She grabs his elbows, looking like she's holding back the urge to shake him.

"It means you provoked a vampire, Autor." This is a horse of a different color than just feeling threatened by a vampire. Her eyes are blazing. "What the everloving fuck did you think you were doing?"

And here he grins at her. Shakily, but he grins--his first reaction to danger is to smile at it, and this isn't any different. He tries to hold up a hand, but her grip on him is too firm. Ow, Rae.

"In my defense, I didn't know he was a vampire when I started talking to him," he says, and pauses to think about his phrasing. He's well aware that his words will tip her reaction one way or another.

"He... intimated that being bitten was a thoroughly satisfying experience, so I asked him why he didn't ask me outright," he says, and quickly adds: "He asked if I was offering, and I said no, naturally."

"But you stayed, even when you found out what he was," she says, deathly serious. There is no kidding around, when it's vampires. "Even knowing that he could've taken what he wanted even if you didn't offer."

The vampires here are not like the vampires back home, and even those could break a person's will and make them say yes.

"This vampire is dangerous." It feels a bit like saying rain is wet. "Eric's not something to take lightly, Autor. I've run into him before."

"I'm well aware of the danger," Autor says softly. Now. He wiggles a bit, trying to disengage himself from her grip. "Milliways welcomes powerful creatures, and it's only a thin veneer of civility that protects us from one another."

He tilts his head. "Eric said he wouldn't do anything, primarily because he'd be reviled, and he wants to stay. That, and I suspect you'd make his life hell. Still, I'll try to avoid him."

The kid blinks. "Apropos of nothing, do you know if he has access to the library?"

Rae lets go of Autor's arms, abruptly. "I wouldn't make his life hell."

It's the knowledge of her inability to lie believably that make her next words ring true.

"I'd kill him."

Autor adjusts his glasses and looks away. Words have fled his swollen tongue, and his chest hurts.

"Which would make me sad," the boy eventually says. "Not for his sake, but for yours."

She could say something about necessary evils, but it'd ring even more false than usual.

(You'd think killing vampires would feel like community service, like doing good, but it doesn't.)

Her fierce look softens slightly at the sight of his awkward care. "I'd live with it." A long moment later, to cover her lack of comfort, she adds:

"I don't know of any reason why he'd not be able to get into the library; other vampires have struck in the library before. It's where Jane Austen was attacked, some years ago."

Autor's jaw sets at her statement, but rather than arguing, he lets it drop. Some other day, perhaps.

At her comment about the library, though, the boy pales. "Ah. Well. That's good to know," he says, swallowing, "because I sleep there, out in the open."

"This, among a number of other things you've done recently, is not a smart thing to do, Autor," she says, feeling tired. "You need an actually defensible place to sleep, not a public area."

When you're not the guaranteed top of the food-chain, you think about things like this.

Autor sighs. He knows that look. And he has thought about that, especially since the encounter with Eric, which is why he asked.

He offers her a shrug and a smile. "Yes, but I do have the key to it for a reason," he says, and shows off the chain from around his neck before tucking it back in behind his cravat. "I don't suppose we could ward a magic carpet?"

"Most things like it in my world are warded against things like flying into stuff at high speeds, crashing without warning, and catching fire, but I'm not a wardsmith," she replies.

"The point about the library is that it's a public space, even if you have a key to it. Vampires can only come into a private or residential place if invited, but that doesn't cover public spaces, even if the door is locked."

Autor is well aware of that, but until now he'd successfully ignored it. In fact, he's now well aware of a lot of the dangers of vampires, due to the research he's done after Eric's successful attempt to make him marginally uncomfortable.

"I had a room before, but I only spent four to five hours per day in it," he says, furrowing his brow. "But after I received my sylladex and earned my carpet, my life was portable, just as I like it. So why not surround myself with books? Living in a library has always been sort of a... well, a dream I've had."

And Autor doesn't dream.

The boy purses his lips, a little annoyed. "What a terrible inconvenience this is."

I wonder if I can make a bargain with them? No, Rae would kill me.

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