[Fiction] Babylon Reborn: Bottoms Up

[Velvet]

October 14th, 4:08am.

"Twelve cases. What the hell am I going to do with all of this?"

With a sigh and a quick shake of her head, Velvet straightened slowly, having leaned over to examine the wooden crates that had arrived only that evening, bedecked with Japanese stamps and markings that looked to her like bad stick figures staging battles on the rough boards.

As a "club-warming" gift, Long had apparently shipped in twelve cases of sake of varying qualities. He'd even informed her of this little present on the OpNet, but staring at the neat rows of large cedar boxes was still a bit surprising.

Okay. First thing's first. He sent you booze, so you thank him, offer to share a bottle, and then go home to crash once everything's cleaned up.

"Right," she said aloud, smoothing imaginary creases from the front of her dress and walking purposefully out of the stockroom. "Drink sake with a giant tiger, try not to let your teeth chatter in complete terror, and remember to smile," she admonished herself as she moved toward the foyer once more, hoping to catch Long before he was herded out with the last vestiges of the late-night crowd.

Truth be told, Velvet was exhausted. She'd just spent the last six hours in heels, all but running from one floor of the club to the next as needed in her role as hostess to the countless novas who'd flooded the newly-opened Babylon. Her face hurt from the smile that'd been plastered across her lips all night and she was fairly certain that there was a run in her stocking and her eyeliner was smudged. She wouldn't know how successful (or unsuccessful) opening night had been until the next morning, and at this point in the evening, she didn't care.

A drink sounded marvelous.

[Long]

Long nodded to those he called friends as they left and made his way to the bar. He'd promised Velvet he'd share a bottle of the Sake he'd brought her once everyone else had left. His nostrils flared briefly as he worked out her scent from all the others that had been in attendence and his ears picked up the shounds of her heels clicking on the floor. "Intoxicating, aroma really. Thankfully I'm not like some others." His voice was a low whisper hardly audible at all.

He vanished and reappeared in a flash of blue light with yet another box in hand. He'd forgotten the serving set at home, luckily it was nothing to retrieve it. Through a bit of tweaking, his body shifted into the form he'd grown accustomed to using to avoid disturbing others. A long mane of straight raven-black hair fell down his back as his fur disappeared except for that on his tail. His Eufiber reformed into a black and red tuxedo and black leather shoes. What skin was visible still showed his black striping, but that was one of the tradeoffs for this form. He set the box down on the bar and removed the lid carefully. He deftly removed three each of the porcelain cups and matching boxes. He knew which one he felt like trying tonight, simply because he knew it was a rare vintange recommended by the Toji himself, saying his grandfather had brewed it originally half a century ago. He set the Third cup on the bar and waited for the hostess of the evening and The Doorman to finish their obligations of the evening.

He thought back on all the things that had happened since the buisness in Amsterdam and sighed as he took a seat on the stool closest to him. His tail lashed about idly behind him. Life had grown to complcated. At least for a little while tonight it wouldn't be so bad. He knew Revenant didn't fear him, and he hoped silently that Velvet didn't as well. It had proven hard to make new friends once he'd ceased being an Elite. His past haunted him and his reputation for efficiency and fury preceded him almost everywhere. "It's nice to get away from the rest of a world, if only for a little while."

[Warren Verona]

In the private parking lot behind Club Babylon Revenant stood silently with his arms folded adamantly across his chest, as always, doing his best to be as creepy and unsociable as possible. The chilly October air did nothing to cause the amazingly resiliant nova any discomfort as he watched the female staff of the club walk to their respective vehicles.

"Go with them please?" Velvet had asked him five minutes prior of his current gargoyle routine. "They aren't going to learn to trust you unless they see you making an effort to look after them. Trust me, dancers need to feel safe, we know there are a lot of whackos out there."

So here he stood near the exit as the as the lovely dancers and servers of Club Babylon all filed through the exit. Most made a rather obvious effort to either ignore his presence or walk the long way around him, while the remainder was just too busy talking on their cell phone or to the person next to them to even realize he was there at all.

He didn't mind either way. He knew they would never like him, or accept him. He was good at pushing people away and then finding ways to make it their fault. Between a cautious glare launched his way by a timid shot girl and the air head dancer gabbing on her cell phone about all the celebrities she met that evening Revenant failed to take notice of the young, dark haired, Native American beauty who called herself 'Midnight' approach him. She had walked midway to her car before turning around and coming back to get something off her chest.

"Warvenant..." the word jumbled as the dancer stumbled, not really sure what she was allowed to call him. He shot her a sudden icy glare in his typical fashion. Midnight flinched under his gaze, suddenly afraid.

"It's Revenant." He said matter of factly. "What?"

"Uhh, I'm uh, you know..." she tried to say, attempting to disguise her inability to talk straight at the moment to the chilly evening air. "I'm sorry you had to um... come down there tonight... I didn't mean-"

He could see, behind her veil of jitters, that she was trying. Trying to do something that none of the others on the staff had dared to attempt, she was trying to make conversation. "You did nothing wrong." He cut her off in mid sentence, holding up his hand to prevent her from speaking again before he was finished. "You're beautiful. Expect men to fight over you, and expect me to crush their skulls when you get tired of their drama. It's what I'm here for, to keep you," he gestured to the parking lot and the collection of assorted beauties gathered therein. "And them, safe. Don't hesitate to call me, I'll come running."

Midnight blushed slightly, it was difficult to notice with the cold October breezes but her flattered smile gave her away. "Th-thanks." Her tension seemed to dissipate greatly as managed to actually look up at him eye to eye. "I hope I never have to ya know? But, if I do i-it's good to know you'll be around." Slowly the women stepped away from him, extending her thumb in the direction of her car. "Well, I uhh, sh-should get going. Tell Miss Vincent I said congratulation of the opening. Good night..." he grinned like a schoolgirl with a crush. "Revenant."

Warren chuckled at her attempt to use his moniker. "After hours, you an call me Warren." He smiled back, his tough guy walls slightly battered down by her courage and pretty smile.

*****

The warm interior of Club Babylon seemed so quiet now, dead quiet, just how he liked it. As he walked into the bar on the first floor and the smell of smoke and alcohol assailed his nostrils.

"Yo! Vivi! His necrotic chorus of souls that passed for his voice swam through the room. "C'mon, time to celebrate! Break out the booze, I want to toast to the night and get you incredibly drunk and take..." Rounded the corner and saw Long preparing drinks in the large first floor bar. His voice trailed off, startled for the second time tonight by the presence of a third party to which he had no contingency for. "Ad... vantage of you?" Caught red handed in a good mood the hard-core bad ass known, as Revenant had nothing to follow up with that may redeem his street credibility.

"You're not Vivi..." He pointed out in a manner that only the mighty Captain Obvious could have done better.

They stood there in the bar, in a comedic, yet awkward moment.

[Long]

"Hello to you too Revenant." Long's smile is devilishly mischievous, They'd spoken of his feelings for Velvet before, but this had confirmed it. "And no, I'm not Velvet, but there are two bottles of Sake here that are begging to be shared. I'm sure Velvet will be be along in a moment or two, then we can all sit back and relax."

He nodded, knowing that he'd seen something Revenant definitely didn't want seen. He'd keep his secret, it's something friends did for each other after all. Besides by the end of the night, they'd both have enough dirt on him to buy more than a few secrets worth of his silence.

"I must say you clean up nicely for a deadman. You've got a great gig here, and you seem to really enjoy it. That is a good thing."

[Velvet]

As Velvet made her way towards the front of the building, wincing at every step, she finally gave in and bent down to unbuckle the narrow straps around her ankles. Within moments, she'd not only removed her shoes, but the 'battle damaged' stockings as well and was happily curling her toes in the plush carpet of the hallway. Ohhh, that's just heavenly. It was then that Revenant's otherworldly voice echoed through the now-quiet club, and she grinned in spite of herself, narrowly resisting the urge to send her reply straight into his brain.

"Don't get your boxers in a bunch, Sunshine. Be there in a sec," she called out instead.

There was a bit more spring in her step when she passed through the archway that led from the back office and storeroom into the bar, carrying her shoes in one hand and tossing the ripped nylons into the wastebasket behind the counter. When she straightened again, bracelets clinking around her wrists, she noticed two things: Long stood at the bar, arranging what looked like a small serving set, and Warren was busy looking somehow both guilty and utterly perplexed, like a child who's just been caught playing truant by a parent who wasn't supposed to be home.

"Well," she interjected, filling the quiet moment with her voice as she leaned over the bar. "Looks like everyone's here. I'm sure you boys know each other already, mm? I admit," she added with a chuckle, "I'm definitely in the mood for a drink or two, but I've never had this stuff before. What're we looking at?"

[Warren Verona]

"Long?" Revenant said, a slightly perplexed look upon his face as he tried to make heads or tails of the Tiger man's new form. He listened to Long as he spoke, even offering a mischievous grin and a cocked eyebrow at the mention of free booze.

"Clean up nicely for a dead man?" Revenant repeated Long's observation. "Look who's talking 'Tony'." He replied sarcastically while grinning at the man most novas feared and would probably not have the gall to smart off to him, nor offer up the charming middle finger to accentuate his sarcasm. But Revenant was not most novas. He did not fear Long, animals like Revenant and Long smelled fear, and grew fat on it. He respected him, as a warrior, as a man, and that's about it. The two had never had any real opportunities to build a foundation 'friendship', just 'respected acquaintance'.

Warren looked over to Velvet, who even after an entire night of stress and worry, still managed to look ravishing. "You, Ms. Vincent, were fantastic tonight. I heard a lot of people talking and they were ecstatic about you and this place." He leaned over the bar and gave her a hug with one arm, supporting himself with his opposite. "I knew you could do it." Warren whispered, winking at her he broke off the hug.

His hands smack together with a loud 'pop' as he turned away from the bar. "Pour me a tall one! It's all water to me. Get the drinks pouring til me speech starts slurring and the ugly people start looking good!"

It was time to drink.

[Long]

Long nods to Velvet and smiles as he extends a hand to her. He minds his claws carefully, silently cursing that he hadn't addapted them yet. "A wonderful Opening Night. I am sure everyone had a great time." He nods back to the serving set on the bar.

"As for what we'll try tonight, There are two bottles of koshu or aged sake, among those I sent you. This particular set is fifty years old and I'm told has a taste akin to spiced honey. I've had it before, but never more than thirty years old. I'm told it only gets better with age however." If you'll excuse me a moment, I'll retrieve it."

Long follows his nose back to where the crates are and uses a claw to remove the lid of the crate and carefully retrives one of the large Sake bottles. He returns to the main room and smiles. "It has waited fifty years just for tonight, come, let us just relax and drink as friends."

He sets the cups in the boxes and bours each cup in three motions and sets the bottle back on the bar. He raises his glass to Velvet and smiles. "To a Wonderful woman and the rebirth of a dream."

He turns and raises the cup to Revenant. "To the Man Death couldn't keep a hold of, May the Man with Scythe leave you be."

[Velvet]

Ha! We'll see if it's all water to you after this, Sunshine, she thought gleefully, but simply smiled at Long's toast and lifted the small cup before her in acknowledgement. If their plan worked, Revenant would be dancing on the tables before the night was over.

"Bottoms up," she declared, tipping her head back and draining the glass in one long gulp. Almost instantly, she regretted it, never having tried sake before and not expecting it to be quite so... potent. Her eyes widened and she quickly replaced the cup on the bar, managing a choked laugh as it clinked against the counter. It burned its way down her throat and into her stomach, and never before had she been so acutely aware of precisely how long that journey was.

Holy hell, he wasn't kidding! This stuff has some kick to it.

"Note to self," she gasped, still chuckling as she struggled to regain her breath. "No sake shots. Good grief!" A slender hand pressed against her chest, as if that would somehow quell the fire.

[Warren Verona]

He threw the shot of Sake back like it was water. It was just something he was accustomed too, alcohol hadn't affected him in several years. His heightened metabolism destroyed most poisons and pathogens long before they could take their affect on him.

But not this. It burned. It tore through his throat and set a fire in his stomach, and he wanted more. Long was already pouring the next 'round'. Revenant did a well enough job of hiding the effects of the first shot. "Ugh, Death. Fuckin' amateur. Keep em coming Long."

Each took their small cups and raised them. Warren spoke up, turning to Velvet and raising the small cup slightly. "To Velvet, and her dreams. May Morpheus bless you always as he did so tonight."

He raised his cup to Long. "And you, you my friend, may you call The Gods of War to you, and seek a life of honor, free from all false pride and may they cover you with death if you should ever fail. May you stand and look on, as the armies of the world hail you without end, and their praises of your victories carry long and far throughout the land."

He said no more. He let his words carry their own weight as he tipped back his cup and felt the fire once again burn in his stomach.

[Long]

Long poured the drinks as was needed and nodded to Revenant's toast. They had each called the other what they really where. Death itself, The Beautiful Dream, and the God of War, he silently wondered if he was alone in recognizing that. "Thank you both. I should mention this particular sake has rather high potency for it's variety, The brewmaster is revered for the strength of his works. Rather his family is at least."

He sits and takes sever pulls, savoring the heated ichor's taste and the sensation of it warming him fromthe inside out. "So Velvet, how do you think things went off tonight? What are your thoughts on who showed up and who did not?"

[Velvet]

Not being one of those who are incapable of learning from experience, Velvet decided to finish this cup a bit more slowly. She strolled back around from the "working" side of the bar and all but slithered up onto one of the velvet-draped stools.

"Well, for starters, I think they missed a good time." She grinned at the imposing ex-Elite over the rim of her cup, taking a small sip of the slightly tart, slightly sweet drink. "I wish I could've thanked your wife in person for what she did, her help, but I understand why she wasn't able to attend." The former stripper twisted the cup in her hands thoughtfully, one long, bare leg crossing over the other as the slit of her gown's skirt allowed the shimmering black material to simply slide away.

"I think everyone else that mattered was at least able to put in a brief appearance, and I did get to meet quite a few new people. Next time I hold an event like this, however," she chuckled good-naturedly, "I'm hiring someone to plan, organize, and run the whole thing, and I'm sitting at home with a bottle of wine and some chocolate."

[Warren Verona]

He tossed back the second cup recklessly. Holy fuck... what is this stuff. He thought as his gut churned the alcohol. It had been years since he had anything thing in his system capable of affecting him and quickly it began to be processed by his body.

He chuckled at Velvet as she mentioned wine and chocolate keeping her company while she was at home for the next one. "Oh no... don't even think of it. If I'm suffering here with those asswipes then so do you." He slid his cup over by the decanter for another refill, not relizing that he was inviting nothign but pain and a hang over if he continued. "Over all though it was good. But you..." He pointed at Velvet. "You need to start wearing an earpiece, I need to be able to get ahold of you. Long and I had to break up a little mess earlier and I couldn't keep you in the loop at all because who knows where you were. There has to be a way for us to keep in touch."

He glanced at Long, andthen to Velvet. "Hell, I'm just trying to keep you ladies safe, ya know?" He swung his hand from Long to Velvet, as if he was inviting Long over to her. "Tell her Long, tell her how hard it is keeping an eye everywhere while playing bodyguard. Maybe she'll listen to you."

[Long]

"Eyes Ears, my sense of smell, it was alot to take in tonight. Enough that I got tired and just dialed it all out eventually. I quit trying to single out individual things and just started enjoying everything as a true blend. It's much easier to remember that way."

He nods to them "The use of a low level Psychic link could prove advantageous to you both in that regard, though that can be pretty invasive. But I agree you might want some means of contacting each other in case of trouble."

He smiles and pours another glass. "You Know, in hindsight I shouldn't have used That particular form. That could have ruined months of careful planning. But Dear God it was fun to make an Elite crap his pants. I haven't done that in six years."

[Velvet]

The sound of Velvet's laughter rang out through the empty club, full and good-humored and not a little surprised.

"Sorry, sorry. Not laughing at the situation," she assured her two companions between peals of mirth, "I just never expected to hear the phrase 'crap his pants' from someone like the great Long." She took another sip from her cup, followed by one more to finish it off, and shivered bodily. "I don't know where you got this, but it's in-fucking-credible," she giggled, already feeling its effects and trying to remind herself that Warren was supposed to be the one getting plastered, not her.

"Although..." A slightly more serious expression settled over her features as she considered Long's suggestion. "Some sort of link wouldn't be a bad idea. I'm just not sure how Big Bad over there would react to it. Whattaya say, Sunshine? Wanna give it a shot? I'll go easy on you."

She winked at Long as Revenant shot her a skeptical glance.

"Maybe."

[Warren Verona]

There wasn't much eye contact going on. Warren's eyes were fixated completely on Velvet’s smooth, bare legs. Her gown had slipped far enough to the side that it left him wondering why she was even wearing it, at this point it was all the way up, just a an inch shy of her hip, an inch shy of revealing whether or not she bothered to wear anything under it for opening night.

"Maybe." She grinned, finishing her statement and catching him red handed in a dirty thought.

Warren waved his hands, to help express his discontent. "Aw, hell naw!" He exclaimed like a refugee white boy straight from the ghetto. He didn't think anything of it, but the three quick shots of sake strong enough to bring an elephant to it's knees were beginning to tumble through his speedy metabolism.

"Da las thing I want is people crawling in mah head." Long and Velvet easily noticed the difference in speech. It had only been ten minute or so, but he hadn't actually been affected for quite some time so his body was absorbing it's effects quickly. "you get all in there and nose around... the next thing I know I'm sporting pig tails and some large mongoloid is snorting a line of cocaine off my erect jimmy. No. Thank. You."

He tapped his cup on the table, more to mean he was thinking than asking for another drink. Not that he didn't end up with one, a more attentive man would have assumed by now that these two were actually getting him hammered deliberately. "Okay. Fug it. Let's do it. I ain't 'fraid." He slammed back another cup of liquid courage.

[Long]

Long nods. "I can establish the connection, thus opening all of our minds to each other. You only show what you want to for the most part, but it is possible to search for information if you'd like."

He nods to Velvet. "I can get you more of this variety if you like. It's one of the better ones, which is why I chose it."

He looks to each of them as he finishes the cup of Sake. "Would you like me to open the channels between our minds, or should we imbibe a little more liquid fire before we lay everything bare for each other?" He smiles mischievously, revealling his enlarged fangs. "This is the fun part."