The Park [Thursday Night]

[bridge-carson.livejournal.com]

The barrier had once again proved uncrossable, though it *had* yielded slightly this time. Discouraging, but progress was progress, he supposed.

And now he was wandering around, curious to see if there was anyone else out this late who could be of any use to him.

[ooc: for drlambert. that they talked is okay for broadcast, everything else NFB.]

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[drlambert.livejournal.com]

She hadn't planned on wallowing in her failure...but she found herself wandering the park, hands stuffed deep into her pockets, and wondering what she might could do to boost the efficacy of the treatment. There hadn't appeared to be short-term side effects and so she wondered if, perhaps, there wasn't an answer in there, somewhere.

Of course, hovering outside, surrounded by the warmth of mortality, the endless array of beating hearts, maybe walking in the park so soon was such a good idea. With a sigh, she flopped down onto the bench. Darkened eyes studied the reflection of moonlight on the surface of the pond.

[bridge-carson.livejournal.com]

This was new.

So far, the *students* he'd encountered had all had aspects he could play with. But she... *her* inner demon was a little more, well, literal.

Trying to coax it out would definitely be fun.

"You're up late," he states the obvious as he sits down on the bench beside her.

[drlambert.livejournal.com]

Nat recognized him as one of the kids from the school. She wasn't sure she could put a name with the face, but she racked her brain, trying. "Night shift," she said with a smile and a shrug. "Even on my nights off, it messes with my sleep.

"What about you? No early class in the morning?"

[bridge-carson.livejournal.com]

"Bridge Carson," the djinn supplies. "And nope, no classes at all on Fridays."

Cow's blood is so... unsatisfying. He sends out the tendril of thought carefully, the mental equivalent of a whisper.

[drlambert.livejournal.com]

She drew her coat a little tighter around her, feeling the beast within shift ever so slightly, as it strained against her control. Beside her, she could hear Bridge's heart beating normally, rhythmically, and calmly; with each contraction, she could hear the blood rushing into and out of the muscle. Her gums tingled, canines threatening to descend, even as her eyes flecked with gold.

Closing her eyes, Nat swallowed. No, she insisted. Now is not the time for this.

When she opened her eyes again, the gold had subsided...even if it lurked just below the surface. She forced a smile. "I vaguely remember what that was like. 'Course, I can't really complain... I only work three days a week at the clinic, anyway."

[bridge-carson.livejournal.com]

The smile she gets in return is a genuine one, because he can sense how close she came to giving in. Feed, he whispers. You crave it. Warm, fresh... not bottled and served cold, that's not *natural*. Okay, and technically vampires didn't fall under most people's definition of "natural", but details.

"It's a pretty good deal. A change from classes every day like it was at my old school."

[drlambert.livejournal.com]

Her stomach grumbled. Oddly, she felt a whisper across her mind, a whisper that sounded a lot like LaCroix. Or at least, what it said sounded like LaCroix -- "not natural." Wasn't that one of his remarks about her choice of food?

Inwardly, she railed against the whisper. Yet, as much as she railed, the vampire within pushed harder. She could feel she was losing her grip. It became even more evident as she found it impossible to swallow back her fangs this time.

Nat forced a flicker of a smile, careful not to expose her teeth. "I...I'm afraid I'm not feeling so well. I should...go." And she knew already where she would go; it was a foregone conclusion now. She wanted so much to cry, to scream for help...but who here would help a vampire? Someone who, at this moment, would just as soon dine on them as speak to them?

"Excuse me."

She was gone in little more than a blink, rushing off to the shadows.