[ - Black Halo Inn & Tavern - ]

Pick.

Poll Whore.	42.8%	[ 740 ]
I love the place.	12.4%	[ 215 ]
Heh.	6.1%	[ 106 ]
Shadow? 0_0!	22.9%	[ 396 ]
>_>	15.6%	[ 270 ]
Total Votes:			[ 1727 ]

[Mademoiselle Alvinette]

Natalie narrowed her eyes. "And just what the blazes do you mean 'you think I can do better'?" she snapped, her ire rising. "I'm an adult and I can choose my own dang friends, y'know!" She crossed her arms. "And as I have told you repeatedly, the shop may have its flaws, but it's full of decent, caring people who've enriched my life in more ways than I can count! Y'know, you accuse me of havin' a childlike view of the world, but I think you're the one who has his head buried in the sand!" She huffed. "And even if my worldview is a little childish, well...maybe this world needs MORE kids!"

She stared at the man for a long time. "Seriously, what is your deal? I'm not vain enough to think you have some kinda crush on me. Because if you really liked me, you'd treat me with a heck of a lot more respect instead of takin' me on like I'm some kinda project or somethin'."

She took several deep breaths, not wanting to punch the man quite yet. That could come later. Right now she wanted answers. "How did you find out about Solomon's? Did somebody give you a tip, or do you just have some kind of internal radar or whatever? And again.. How. Much. Do. You. Know. About. Me? There has to be a real reason why you're fixated on me, and I wanna know what it is!"

The man seemed to really enjoy making her angry, and that made her want to smash things. What the Sam Hill was his problem anyway?

Vintrict

[Vintrict]

Mademoiselle Alvinette

Yes, a lot of the things he did were very disrespectful, and he understood all her anger. But he was taking it lightly, and sat there, looking at her baring eyes. There was a reason he was being like this. However, he wasn't going to tell her. Then something would drift down onto the table in front of her. Food. A plate full of breakfast. It had steak strips, fried eggs sunny-side up, and three strawberries. Next to come down was a smaller plate with three pancakes upon it. She could see the steam rising from them, showing they were freshly cooked. A contained with blueberry syrup awaited to the side. Finally, a container of coffee came down, completing her balanced breakfast.

"You know why you're so tense? You're hungry. Go on and eat, first. You slept quite heavily."

[Mademoiselle Alvinette]

The kidnapping by a mysterious man, the isolation, the floating food...Natalie was beginning to get some very bad flashbacks from something that had happened to her not long after she'd moved into her current home. A vampire from another planet, whose family was here scouting the blood supply, had kidnapped her on the trumped-up premise that she knew too much about him (when she'd really known next to nothing about him) and had strong-armed her into signing a contract to be what amounted to his pet, with the main difference that he wasn't going to drink her blood because of its abnormal qualities. Throughout their brief "friendship," the vamp had followed the emotional abuser's handbook to the letter, and it had taken Natalie a long time to stop being timid after the contract had been dissolved. And now Natalie was feeling even more anxious. I'vegottagetouttahereI'vegottagetouttahere...

"I'm tense because you knocked me unconscious and brought me out in the middle of nowhere, you big palooka!" she snapped. "I don't think I feel particularly hungry right now, but you go right ahead," she added with a sigh. "How long was I asleep?" Her stomach chose that moment to growl, but she wanted proof that she wasn't going to be drugged if she ate breakfast. There were other kinds of drugs besides knockout drugs, and she didn't want any part of any of them.

Vintrict

[Vintrict]

Mademoiselle Alvinette

"Listen, if you want an apology...I'm sorry, okay?" He waved his hand at her. "Things have taken a bad turn, and this is where we're at. I can't give excuses for what I have done, either. You're going to have to trust that I'm your friend in this situation."

He stood up to his feet.

"If you won't eat cause I'm right here, then I'll walk away for a bit. You're fine here. No vampires to hurt you here. No shooting, no shouting, none of that goofiness that was back there."

He walked over to the window, hands in the pockets of his pants, gazing out onto the expanse of grass and trees.

[Rune Slessiane]

♪♫~Rune~♫♪

Dance with me across the ocean floor
Sail away to heaven's open door
Step right up you're the next contestant
In this sweet charade
Take a number, wait while I twist your fate

"Oh Vinny vin vin what have you brought home now?" Came an melodious voice, drifting from the rafters.

Staring down at them the woman sat, toned bare legs dangling over the rafters, her head tilted down, tresses of white with golden ends tumbled over her shoulders, framing her delicate face. Bright eyes the color of molten gold stared down, gleaming with curiosity and a hint of mischief, full sensual lips curled into the faintest of grins.

"Is she a new toy?"

[Mademoiselle Alvinette]

Natalie rolled her eyes. Sorry my hind foot! she was thinking. If you apologize that flippantly and think you're off the hook, you've got another think comin', because it's pretty blatantly obvious that you didn't mean a word of that. You may think I'm naive, and I may make mistakes, but I'm not stupid. And it's not the vamps and the guns I'm worried about; right now it's YOU.

She gingerly took one of the strawberries, hoping she wouldn't regret it later. It was delicious, and she'd always loved strawberries. Maybe, maybe, she wasn't about to be drugged.

And then a melodious female voice from above startled Natalie. A new toy, she said? Natalie didn't know whether to be horrified or just a little amused that Vinny had just been caught in the act of...whatever this was that he was doing!

"Oh! Hi!" Natalie said, chuckling and waving up at the woman sitting up in the rafters. "So he does this kinda thing often, does he? Interesting..." She grinned wickedly. Not so alone anymore, were they? "Say...can you tell me where we are? I woke up this mornin' and I have no recollection of arrivin' here in the first place!"

((I am giggling. rofl ))

Rune Slessiane

Vintrict

[Vintrict]

(( emotion_facepalm Ruuuuuuuuune))

Vintrict knew that sing-song voice. He turned around, raising his right hand to his temple in a gesture of slight annoyance. She had the best timing, didn't she. And here he was trying to make Natalie stay more trustful of him.

"She's not a toy, Rune," he said up to her. He wasn't going to take the effort to try to defend himself. "She's a guest here."

The dragon's presence was a blessing and a curse. It depended on how things went, her behavior, and any following consequences that may come from taking Natalie away.

He looked over to Natalie. "I brought you here for business reasons. You can hound me more later."

[Rune Slessiane]

Mademoiselle Alvinette

Vintrict

"Vintrict is like the community bike, he wants eeeeeveryone to ride him." Rune sang teasingly, following with a giggle. "Well only those with delicious curves, nice breasts and the right holes."

With another chuckle, she would shift her gaze a moment to Vintrict, eyeing him mischievously before answering the woman's inquiry as he location. "You my dear are at the Black Halo, a remote little establishment ran by the Lord of shadows and his dream."

Her intense gaze locked into Vintrict, "A guest so you say. Did you roofie another? I thought you were going to get help about this."

((Sorry took so long.))

[Mademoiselle Alvinette]

As irked as she was at Vintrict for pulling that little stunt that had brought her here, and as anxious as she was to hear what the guy actually wanted versus just having him skirt the issue AGAIN, Natalie found herself very glad that Rune was there. She's sure got his number! Natalie thought, highly amused in spite of herself. And I'm gonna have so much fun asking her about this guy!

"Does Vinny boy have a little problem puttin' girls to sleep?" Natalie asked with a raised eyebrow. "I was kinda beginnin' to wonder! And y'know, I so see him as some kinda Casanova type." She chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Anyway...where exactly is the Black Halo?" she asked, looking from Vintrict to Rune. Well, she had a feeling Vintrict wouldn't say anything, but with Rune in the picture, she might. And meanwhile, she wondered if she was in danger of being dragged somewhere else so there would be no witnesses...

((This is hilarious! I'm having so much fun. rofl ))

Rune Slessiane

Vintrict

[Vintrict]

More like a curse the more Rune talked. He knew how much trouble she liked to stir up. He didn't think she would be doing it with him. However, he couldn't fault her for it. She was just making fun. He didn't know if she was doing it on purpose or just being playful. All he knew is that it was going to make it harder for Natalie to see him in a better light. Instead of saying anything, he placed his hands back into his pockets, looking off to the side. He didn't look happy, but when did he ever? Maybe she would finally be focused enough to eat.

[Rune Slessiane]

Mademoiselle Alvinette

Vintrict

"Vinny kills females of the non-human category, and tries to woo those of his tastes." Rune sang happily, swaying slightly with each word that flowed so eerily gracefully from her lips.

"But where you ask? I dunno, for I just think of here and here it is I come. But I know from where you were taken. So say the word and I can return you Does that sound appealing to you?" She asked, glancing towards the now brooding Vintrict at the window.

She was curious as to why he brought the woman, conquest or actual business.

[Mademoiselle Alvinette]

Natalie chuckled. It was pretty obvious that Vintrict didn't kill all non-human females; otherwise the dragoness would have been dead by now. But Rune seemed to know the guy pretty well, so Natalie was listening, though she knew Rune was probably mostly teasing.

"So how many does he go through a week?" she asked, grinning mischievously and finally deciding to eat. If Rune could port her back to Solomon's, then maybe she was safe from any side effects of eating whatever food Roofie Boy served her. "And I'm not quite ready to go back, though I might have to take ya up on your offer in a few minutes. But first, he's got a lot of 'splainin' to do."

Rune Slessiane

Vintrict

[Rune Slessiane]

Mademoiselle Alvinette

Vintrict

"Yes I am rather curious as to his reasons for bringing you also. The hunter bringing you to a den of monsters." Rune said as she fixated her gaze on Vintrict.

"Got some splaining to do Vin."

[Vintrict]

Vintrict sighed, eyeing Rune from the corner of his eyes. All this would be for nothing if she was capable of porting her back. As upset he may be inside, he shouldn't let it bother him. If one plan failed, he could try the next one.

"Then you might want to sit tight if you want me to tell you things. It'll take more than a minute."

He walked over to the chair across from the couch and sat down in it lax style, his white hair settling on his shoulders. He looked at Rune as she eyed him, as if she was now judging him. He looked back at her. It would be ironic if he ended up eating his own words about bringing her somewhere safer.

[Mademoiselle Alvinette]

Natalie found herself quirking an eyebrow once again. "A den of monsters, eh?" she replied. "Okay, so now I'm even more interested!"

She noticed that Vintrict didn't look too happy about Rune's ability to port her back. GOOD! If the balance of power wasn't all in Vintrict's favor, then maybe Natalie could get some leverage somehow. This whole affair was getting more and more interesting. So there were some non-humans who were safe from Vintrict's bullets and judgment? Hmmm. So what was this guy about anyway?

"Well," Natalie said, sitting back and crossing one leg over another, an expectant look on her face. "Looks like there's two of us now who want answers. Time to start spillin'!"