Open Finished The Darkness Within

The full moon was still a good ways away, but sometimes Vladimir could feel it waxing and waning just like one might feel their heart beating. And this month it was especially acute. Though he wasn't sure why, but even his blood thirst - the one he shouldn't have or suffer from anymore, was just riding below the surface. He craved blood, the rich irony taste of it, warm and thick, thicker than any water and more quenching too, as it slid down his throat.

Sitting alone at a table, Vlad watched darkly and with barely disguised contempt as the pretty waitresses waited on the tables, serving beer to men like him, well, maybe not exactly like him... but men who were here desperately looking for company, someone that might listen to them, or if they were lucky, and the gods were favoring them, show them a good time, or take pity on their sorry lives... which annoyed Vlad to the core. Such pathetic behaviour made him want to smash the heads of these sorry excuses for human beings and make them beg before he ripped their throats apart.

"Miss," Vladimir said as he reached out and grabbed the hand of a waitress who happened to be walking by. "Can I get a double whiskey neat?" he asked her, flashing her a warm, charming smile. A smile that contradicted and hid the simmering rage and bloodthirst that Vladimir was feeling at the moment.


(Open thread. I just need one willing victim, I mean, participant. Or two. XD)

Drinking deeply of his whiskey when the waitress brought him his drink, Vladimir quickly ordered another one from the girl. And it was this drink that he was waiting on when a familiar figure approached his table.

"Konpeito," Vladimir said with a nod as he looked the young man over. He looked slightly different tonight, but not enough that Vlad would not recognize him.

"Have a seat if you like," he said gesturing to an empty seat across from him. He had not expected to see any of his patients here tonight, but as he eyed Kon, he had a feeling that the young man would be interesting company... or at least interesting enough that Vladimir could maybe push to the side his overwhelming need to hurt somebody.

"I often come here to unwind," Vladimir said as he looked at Kon with a slightly guarded expression. "Especially after a stressful day at work, and lately, it has been extremely stressful," he confessed as he watched a pretty blonde haired girl, about eighteen, walk by their table.

"The full moon is soon," he explained as he continued to watch the girl. "And all the wers start coming to me, looking for momentary relief. They can feel the change starting in their bones, sort of like a dull ache or a slow-growing feeling of anxiety since they know what's going to happen, but they can't stop it..." he remarked grimly.

"Regretfully, no..." Vladimir replied as his slate-blue gaze returned to the table, and with it to Kon. "I'm afraid my work and my research absorb most of my time," he explained in a calm, almost controlled tone. "Most days I go from work to my lab, and if I am lucky back to home."

Staring at Kon thoughtfully for a moment, Vladimir took a drink of his whiskey before continuing... "How about you? Do you hang out with friends much? Or are you a loner like me?" he asked, his attention now fully on Konpeito

"Very well," Vladimir relented a little, "I will keep that in mind, and thank you for the offer," he said. Vlad was actually grateful that Kon wanted to reach out to him, even if it didn't show that much. However, Vladimir also knew exactly what he was and what devils drove him, and deep down, he knew that he was not the type of person one should ever make friends with.

"I am honestly not the greatest at socializing, and when you attend to thirty or more patients a day, meeting more people is often the last thing you want to do," he explained as he nodded in greeting to someone walking by.