come out come out wherever you are

[bitterchill]

Ari patrols most nights. He frequently whistles as he does so. He's on friendly terms with many of the people of the town, though some of them think he's a dangerous weirdo. (They're not wrong, but it's not very polite to say it outright like that.)

Vampires still come to Sunnydale. Because it's Sunnydale, and because vampires are idiots. The ones who live here already, though, have picked up a habit of either visiting the kosher butcher's or the bite shop, or moving to LA. Or having their heads ripped off by an excessively cheerful blonde half-Kal'shekk witch.

Speaking of the kosher butcher's, he pops his head into that alleyway. Maybe he'll see Mr. Ray, that nice vampire chap who comes by for some fresh cow's blood every Thursday. (Ari acts cheerfully oblivious to the fact that every vampire he knows is blind terrified of him. Some of them are alright when he keeps them from eating people; being unrepentantly amoral doesn't have to mean you're not a nice person.)

Comments

[unmarred]

"I don't like killing people and try to avoid it as much as possible." He gestures around them. "Hence the grocery shopping."

[bitterchill]

"I approve of grocery shopping! I recommend it to all of the supernatural residents of the area. I appreciate your initiative in doing it before I brought it up, gold star."

[unmarred]

"Thanks," he snorts.

[bitterchill]

"You'd be shocked how many don't think of it! And I don't give out gold stars lightly, not even to pretty and interesting vampires."

[unmarred]

"I'm flattered. My name is Mark, by the way."

[bitterchill]

"Hello, Mark By The Way. Sorry for not asking, that usually comes later in the routine and you kind of broke the pattern on me."

[unmarred]

"It's a habit."

[bitterchill]

"I don't doubt it. You seem like the type who's too interesting to get boxed in."

[unmarred]

"Perceptive of you."

[bitterchill]

"I pride myself on that."

[unmarred]

For some reason this causes Mark to giggle.

[bitterchill]

Ari never argues with an opportunity to laugh with someone, even if they're probably laughing at him. He laughs at himself all the time, why should he get all the fun?

[unmarred]

"I like you," Mark asserts. "You're fun."

[bitterchill]

"I'm glad! It's sad when people don't like me, I think they must just hate happiness. And of the things I pride myself on, being fun tops the list."

[unmarred]

"Is there a particular reason why you've taken it upon yourself to threaten all the local vampires?"

[bitterchill]

"I don't like it when they kill people, and I'm uniquely qualified to do something about it. Unless the Slayer shows up or something."

[unmarred]

"Slayer?"

[bitterchill]

"You don't know about the Slayer? Man, vampire education has gone downhill. The Slayer is a teenage girl with amazing strength and speed and combat skill, which she uses to kill vampires and various nasty sorts of demon. Generally accompanied by middle-aged Brits who... tell her about prophesies and things, I think? I don't know, they're apparently a necessary part of the equation."

[unmarred]

"I haven't seen one, but then, I haven't been a vampire very long."

[bitterchill]

"Ah, new blood. So to speak. I mean, I can teach you the various information you'll need, if you like? I'm pretty well up on vampire culture."

[unmarred]

"Do tell. So far I've discovered by experimentation that we catch fire in sunlight and that it's very hard to kill us but decapitation will do the trick. And the thing with crosses."

[bitterchill]

"Any blessed objects will do the trick for burning and death and etcetera. And massive trauma, and sticking bits of wood through your chest, though I'm not sure why anyone would choose that last instead of just getting an axe blessed by their pastor or something, and it's quite unreliable if you miss the heart anyway. There's this mythical thing called the Gem of Amarra that would make you invulnerable, it's a bit of a vampiric Holy Grail. Let's see, what else... I presume you know about the face thing, I've known it to come as a surprise to newborns. If you make it past two millennia or so you get interesting and unique powers, that's a thing. Not sure what else. Oh, yeah, you can't enter private residences uninvited."

[unmarred]

"The face thing is annoying. Define 'massive trauma'."

[bitterchill]

"Construction equipment is generally involved."

[unmarred]

"Go on."