Blood in the Canals (Venice and Vampires)

[Purple]

Rosetta Anamaria Corvino (known as Raven or Ravenna)

"Ah! La Signorina Ravenna! Coffee tonight?" a waiter asked as she walked past her usual cafe, her heels clicking over the stone walkway.

"No, not right now, Paolo," she replied with a smile. It really was tempting to stop and have a cup, read the day's paper and watch the tourists on the canal. However, she couldn't just yet. She needed a different kind of drink tonight.

"Alright then," Paolo said, "Buona notte, Signorina."

"Buona notte," she called back, but she was already scanning the area, looking for a likely meal. She spotted it in a man, about her age, leaning against the railing of one of the canal bridges. He wasn't tall, but he had a good build and a decent face, but that hardly mattered. The important thing was that he smelled delicious. And he was alone. The man was looking down into the murky water of the canal, his face portraying his loneliness. He wanted a companion, that much was clear. Rather than approach the man, Raven began to cross the bridge, as if she was just going on her way. When she reached him, however, she stopped and hugged him from behind, putting her head on his shoulder, next to his face, as lovers often did.

"Ciao, darling," she said in his ear. He jerked a bit at first, startled, but after a moment, while still confused, he clearly welcomed the presence of a woman.

"Hello," he said slowly in English, his accent not European but American.

"Ah, I've been looking for a nice American boy," she replied in his language.

"Really?" he asked, smiling.

"Mmmhmm~" she purred, taking a deep breath of the scent of his blood. Her eyes shifted from their usual brown to a deep red as her fangs extended to be useful. Before he could say anything more she pressed her lips to his neck and bit down, feeling the warm tasty liquid flow into her mouth. The man froze for a moment but then immediately relaxed as the venom worked its magic. Passersby would see nothing more than a woman kissing her lover's neck, a bit too passionately for public, perhaps, but hey, this was Venice after all. It was no uncommon sight.

Raven took in several mouthfuls of the man's blood before removing her fangs from his flesh, running her tongue over the punctures to seal them and stop the flow. He had passed out by now, from the venom rather than the lack of blood, and she carefully turned him and settled him on the ground with his back against the railing, leaning his head down on the right to hide the cuts from those walking by. So the American had had too much wine at dinner, and it was catching up with him. Also no uncommon sight. The vampire smirked, stroking his hair for a moment.

"Sogni d'oro," she whispered.

She stood and continued across the bridge, leaving the man to wake up a few minutes later and wonder what the hell had just happened. If he remembered it, then it would feel like a dream, and he would go back to his pining all the more wistful, but if he didn't remember at all, then he would think that he had indeed had too much wine and either head back to his hotel or go get more. Raven, however, was on her way. She entered an alley once she'd crossed the bridge, not at all bothered by the dark, as she toyed with the idea of going to one of her favorite clubs now that she was well-fed and well-energized.

[Kage]

Oh he didn't feel good... not at all. The boy's stance wasn't straight like it would have normally had been on a good day, rather, his shoulders were hunched over and his head was hanging. The vampire's gloved hands were in the pockets of his pants, his messy hair even just a little bit messier than normal as he staggered around the streets of Venice, Italy. Many people would have thought the boy to have been drunk, or perhaps exhausted-- to Vezio it felt like both, though he was leaning more towards exhaustion. You see... he hadn't had anything to drink for four and a half weeks now, and he was just about to reach his limit. He might not have been just made, but Vezio was still very young in a vampire's life- only five years in to be exact.

"Vezio, you wanna come to the bar with us?" A familiar voice suddenly called, the tone older than Vezio's own, but still somewhat youthful. He turned to see who it was and stared at the man with low, tired, black rimmed eyes.

"N'ah... I'm good tonight Angelo, you go on ahead." V answered with a drained, scratchy tone.

"Hey man, are you sure you're okay- you want me to take you back home, you look awful." Angelo began to step towards his friend.

"No, no-- Go ahead, I was just on my way home now." With that Vezio turned and stepped off, his feet dragging and his body swaying slightly. Oh god he was so thirsty, his throat felt dry and with all the different scents of blood going by him, his eyes were already a deep maroon. He was starving.

The Vampire nearly tripped over his own feet as he turned into an alley between two buildings, putting a gloved hand to his throat as he leaned his shoulder against the wall, breathing in deeply and slowly. He wanted to drop right there and not get up he felt so weak- man, he barely wanted to wake up this morning! But he wasn't stupid, he knew that he should wait until at least dusk with such a thirst- he would probably draw too much attention trying to feed from a female. It was always hard for him to get a girl to feed on, it seemed.... Damn female vampires had it easy- every man was a god damned whore, and he knew it... The girl would just have to act all sweet and whatnot and then-- bam! Meals for them, it wasn't fair, or though Vezio thought.

[Purple]

Raven sensed another of her kind at the same moment she saw him stagger into the alley from the opposite end. She raised an eyebrow as she approached the figure slowly, wondering why this vampire had let himself go thirsty to the point of exhaustion. She herself fed every two weeks like clockwork, letting herself push it a day or two at the most. She hated that feeling of tiredness, that dragging she got when she hadn't had blood in awhile. She was like a human who had to have her coffee every morning, except, well, quite different.

"Are you alright?" she asked when she reached the boy, who was leaning against a wall with his hand against his throat. She could see that he was a mess, about to pass out. The black-haired girl shook her head, muttering, "Mama mia, ragazzo. Do you want to die?" She put her arm around the boy's waist and slung one of his own over her shoulders, mostly carrying him in the direction of her apartment. She could have easily thrown him over her shoulder and carried him, but that would have looked odd to anyone who saw. She didn't need her neighbors talking more than they already did. Raven rolled her eyes but continued on, determined to help the boy, whether he liked it or not.

[Kage]

"Hey.... hey.... What'r'ya.... Auugh..." Vezio groaned, feet dragging as the girl lead him along. The boy's eyes, no matter how strong of vision he had, began to un-focus and focus again. It was but a few messily minutes and he had passed out cold against the girl's side.

--Timeskip (of grossness- To Vezio)--

By the time V had woken up, or rather, obtained a clear mind, he felt much better. He could feel blood pulsing through his veins once more, as well as-- wait... what was that?! Vezio sat up and licked the roof of his mouth with his tongue before sticking it out, the taste not very appetizing.

"...'The hell did I eat?" He muttered, the look on his face a mixture of disgust and distaste, his nose wrinkling slightly as he ran his hands through his messy hair. "...- And where am I?" He looked around, the place not familiar to him, although he could tell he was with another of his kind, that sense was flaring in the back of his mind.

[Purple]

Raven went from her room, where she'd been reading, back into the living room where she had left the boy, walking over to the black leather couch. She grinned. He didn't like the taste of his meal it seemed. Granted, she hadn't been too fond of this particular flavor at first either, but it was one of the easiest meals to get, perfect for an inexperienced vampire, and it started to grow on you after awhile. An acquired taste you might say. The girl went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of red wine so that he might wash the taste away and because, well, she liked wine. It was hard not to in Italy.

"I'm Raven, or Ravenna, if you like. This is my apartment," she said, handing him a glass and adding, "I'm surprised you've never had prostitute before."

Normally she didn't go for prostitutes, not when she could get something better, but she usually ate out, and she needed something she could bring to the boy so that he could be fed without having to be conscious. The hooker had been a little surprised to see him passed out on the couch, but a little nip from Raven's fangs and all was well. Who knew vampires could get take out?

[Kage]

"Vezio, you can call me V." The boy took the glass in his hand and swished the drink around before sipping it. He nearly spit it out at the woman's next choice of words. He used his thumb to wipe a drop of the red wine from his bottom lip. "Prostitute? Oh lord- I didn't touch her did I!?" Vezio suddenly jerked the glass back against his lips and downed the drink hastily, swishing his mouth out and parting his lips to take in a breath of air, his fangs extended at the thought of drinking blood earlier.

The vampire's mind went back to his meal. ".... Lord- I bet you she had AIDS, I just bet you she did!" Vezio muttered, literally licking the side of the glass with his tongue, getting the little drops off of the rim. "Lordo..." He muttered, sticking his tongue out again at the thought of biting into the neck of a hooker. "Was she smoking? Please tell me she wasn't smoking when you found her?" V looked up at the older girl, his dark brown eyes in a fake plea.


((*Lordo= gross.))

[Purple]

"Nice to meet you, Vezio," she said, laughing at his reaction. Some people were just so uptight it was funny. She herself was quite the opposite. She tended to accept all people and situations no matter what. A few of her friends were prostitutes even, though they were vampires, so of course they didn't have any STDs. Still, it wasn't very nice to turn up your nose at even human prostitutes, who very well could. Blood was blood, wasn't it? And when you were starving, well you couldn't exactly afford to be picky. Of course, after the fact, when you were no longer so desperate, then you could afford to be disgusted, she supposed.

"Shut up, you can't get AIDS," she said, rolling her eyes, when he went on. "But no, you didn't touch him, and he wasn't smoking. Didn't smell like a smoker at all, even." Raven returned to the little kitchen and brought the bottle of wine back into the living room, refilling his glass and taking another sip of her own. The black-haired girl took a seat in the armchair that was the only other seating besides the couch, watching Vezio curiously.

"You know, I'm wondering. What led you to be wandering around so thirsty and tired?" she asked.

[Kage]

"Oh well... I didn't know that." The younger of the two puffed his cheeks out slightly, the effect rather adorable on his already smooth, roundish face. "And at least he didn't smoke... smokers' blood... tried it once- bleck. Rather not try it a second time, if I can." Vezio sat there, swirling the wine in his glass lightly before his muscles locked up.

".... Oh god did you say "He"...?" The vampire immediately stuck his tongue out and gave a fake gag, turning his head to the side. "Oh my- you couldn't have gotten a female?! God forbid I- and he- and I and the-- Aaugh! I didn't do anything that involved more contact than a simple bite, did I?" The young vampire looked over at the woman and shuttered, his eyebrows pinned down to give him a troubled look. "Because I have to admit, if I'm that hungry I don't normally care for the best blood... but sometimes it'll go the other way." The man shuttered once more, taking a good, long sip from the red wine. He could feel his fangs, extended at the conversation of having a meal and from the affect of the wine, clinking lightly against the inner rim of the glass in his hand.

[Purple]

"Vampires can't get any sort of disease, even those normally transferred through blood," she said matter-of-factly. It wasn't really surprising that he didn't know. Most vampires, especially younger ones, didn't know the details of vampire nature unless someone older had taught them. Slayers knew these things, though. They were the ones who kept track, who studied every aspect of vampires, trying to find a weakness. They never did of course.

"Hey, I was the one getting the hooker, wasn't I? I wasn't about to get a female, even if she would go for that!" she snapped. "But if it makes you feel better, he was knocked out before you even bit him, so there was no contact other than that." Raven shook her head and drained her wine glass, immediately pouring herself another. God this guy was such a priss. It was a wonder he could survive in this city. Granted it was possible that he hadn't been here long, and even if he had, if you had money you only ever saw the nice, sugar-coated version of the town. Still, who shoved a stick up his ass? The dark-haired girl refrained from asking, however. "You might switch some of those lordos for grazies, you know. You would have never found a meal on your own," she said instead. "Which brings me back to, what the hell were you doing letting yourself get that low?"

[Kage]

"Grazie." Vezio muttered plainly, finishing off his glass and leaning forward to set it against the table. He put his elbows on his knees and threaded his fingers together as he stared at the other. "And as I said before it's hard for someone with a face like mine to find a chick- or guy...- that's willing to step back even a few feet away from people." The vampire sneered lightly, lifting his hand and scratching the side of his cheek with his index finger. "It's a bit difficult to pick up a quick meal without the chick screaming some shit like 'rape' or whatever when you're a guy. They tend to have that... 'slow relationship'," here he made air quotes with his fingers. "-issues. You know the whole 'take me out to dinner,' blah, blah- high maintenance, blah crap."

The man swiped his hand in the air lightly as if batting away at the thought. "If it were up to me I'd yank one back, bite 'er, and get the hell out of there. But no, civil distress is just another reason to have a Slayer on my ass... and I'm not stupid enough to lie about the lack of experience I have with this whole concept of being something I thought only a little fairytale, you know what I mean?" Vezio lifted an eyebrow at the girl sitting across from himself. He sighed lightly and ran his left hand through his hair before turning his brown eyes up at the ceiling, leaning against the couch with an arm slung around the back. "Plus I'm stressed for who knows what reason." V closed his eyes and heaved another sigh. "You saved my ass.... I thank you."

[Purple]

"Male vampires, unless they're hookers or just the one night stand type, usually go after homeless people, drunks, drug addicts, criminals, that sort," she said, "They're easy to get to and don't generally make a lot of noise since they probably don't want to be found any more than you do. There's also hookers, female ones, but obviously that wouldn't appeal to you." Raven rattled off the facts easily, but she couldn't help but grin at the end, teasing him just a bit. Vampires' habits varied depending on their gender, age, and even race sometimes, and Slayers were trained to know what the standards were for each group and look for the signs of it. They typically kept track of the all the homeless in an area, as well as some of the shadier types, to make sure they didn't start disappearing. That was probably why Raven didn't turn her nose up at hookers or anyone else really. She'd been hanging around them all her life, making sure they didn't get themselves killed.

"And according to their code, Slayers can't kill you just for making a scene. That's the one concession we got out of them back when they reworked everything. However, most Slayers are always looking for an excuse to pick a fight with a vampire, especially if they're in groups, so you're right to be careful," she told him, praying to some long-forgotten god that he wouldn't ask her how she knew all of this. She looked down at her hands when he spoke of his lack of experience, remembering. She didn't know what he meant. She had never known what he meant, never had the luxury of being able to pretend that this was all just fairy tale. However, the girl's head snapped up when he mentioned being stressed, a grin spreading across her face.

"You're welcome, and now I'm going to save your ass again," she said. Raven stood and went into the room that served as her bedroom, quickly shoving a few extra euros into her pocket then returned to Vezio. "Come on," she said, pulling him off of the couch by the hand, "You're stressed, so we're going clubbing."

[Kage]

"How do you know so much about Sla-- Clubbing?" Vezio raised an eyebrow as he was hoisted from the couch and lead out the door by the other. "What, like dancing? Phh.... I haven't gone clubbing in about a year, what makes you think that would kill some stress?" V muttered, though he closed the door behind himself as they left the room.

The vampire shook out his head and ran a hand through his messy, curly hair before he stopped walking and stepped back once. "Can I at least change?" He muttered, looking down at the 'nice' clothing he'd had on. After all, he had been at his parents house earlier that morning, and seeing as how his father was always so proper... what could you expect? "I mean, I can't run in these- much less dance." Vezio lifted his eyebrows twice before giving a grin, his canines glinting slightly. "It'll be quick, I swear- I don't live that far from here."

[Purple]

"Well, there are plenty of things people do in clubs besides dance, but yes, I mean dancing," she said with a grin. She could tell he'd been about to ask her about her knowledge of Slayers but ignored the question in favor of the topic of clubbing. She wouldn't lie about her knowledge, not unless it seemed that the other person would tear her apart for having been a Slayer. At the same time though, it wasn't something she liked to talk about, and she would avoid it if she could. "The fact that you haven't been in so long is why it will relieve your stress. Dancing always does," she said, still smiling.

She looked over the boy, nodding her agreement. He wasn't exactly dressed for the evening ahead of him. Of course many people went clubbing in clothes similar to and even fancier than his, but Raven firmly believed that they were crazy. If you were going to be dancing all night and lightly getting sticky and sweaty, you didn't need to be wearing nice clothes. You had better have comfortable shoes at the very least. She herself was wearing a grey square-necked baby doll top, short denim shorts, and a pair of old brown combat boots. As a vampire she wouldn't sweat, so she wasn't worried about that so much, but still, she would be as comfortable as possible.

"Alright, lead the way," she told Vezio.

[Kage]

Vezio let his hand drop to his side before he took the lead and began down the somewhat crowded street. Nighttime seemed to be the most favored time of the Italians, it seems. The lights of shops and restaurants were bright, some reflecting into the water if they were near a canal. He lead Raven over a small bridge, between alleys, and then finally out onto a sidewalk that rimmed the waterside. Vezio set his foot against a small set of steps and reached into his pocket to fish out the key to the small house, mushed against others along the street.

Pushing himself inside, he flicked on the lights to reveal the empty living space. It was small, yes, but that was because it was just himself living there. "You can wait in the living room if you want to." Vezio held an arm out and pointed at an open doorway that lead into said living room. There was a couch and two seats angled beside it so that they faced the glass coffee table in front of the t.v.
As he walked up the staircase he began to unbutton the shirt and threw it over the bedspread once he'd entered his room. He learned quickly after being bitten that he didn't need sleep, and didn't have the desire to; however, he'd rather take a nap on the bed rather than downstairs on the couch. Besides... it made him seem normal if he had any human company over. Like, say, his parents.

As he promised, it was a very quick change. He wasn't one to just linger around, wondering what to wear. Vezio came down the stairs, finishing putting on a black leather vest, studs running along the folded edges. Underneath the vest he wore a white shirt with some sort of black design splattered on the front of it; all of this was complimented with his black jeans (which could be qualified as skinny, but really weren't), and his knee-high black leather combat boots. Vezio had actually run a brush through his normally curly, messy hair and ran his hands through the locks with a bit of gel, so now the orange-ish strands weren't as messy, but still lingered in his face.

"Alright, let's get going." He started, stuffing his wallet in his back pocket and hooking his thumbs in the front pockets of his pants, shoulder hunched slightly as he peeked through the doorway. "I don't know where you were going, so lead the way." Vezio motioned towards the front door.



((*- Shirt, vest, hair. You'll have to envision the pants and boots >3>))

[Purple]

Raven walked around the living room, examining the furnishings rather than sitting down. It was a nice place, nicer than her own but not nicer than she could afford. She just didn't care much for decorating it. When Vezio returned she looked over his outfit, grinning at his choice. It was a little on the punk side, but it was much better than what he'd been wearing before.

"It's not far from here," she said, walking out the front door and heading for her favorite club. It was just a couple blocks up the canal and while not one of the cities more famous clubs, it was all the better for that. It was crowded of course--a club was just no fun if it wasn't crowded--but it was never so crowded that you couldn't even get in the door. When they reached the club Raven nodded to the bouncer and gave him a bill to cover both Vezio and herself. He nodded back, stamped their hands and sent them into the pounding music and pulsing lights of the club.

"So why don't you go clubbing more often?" she asked, only slightly louder than a normal speaking voice. Most had to yell to be heard here, but she knew that with his vampire hearing it would be no problem.