Ember of the Night || Xera & Jude
jude-devine:
Jude arched an eyebrow at her comment as she strutted past, teasing, “Thank you… I think. I’m just going to take that as a compliment.” Hopefully she won’t ever feel the need to truly test that theory. While he could certainly hold up to a lot more abuse than most humans, he was far from fireproof. Though the success of his cause hinged on recruiting a couple loose cannons like Ember, before he lit any fuses, he needed to make sure he was out of the line of fire. Thus tonight was all about getting on her good side - or trying to. He’d been lucky so far. Now that they were at the bar, he just had to keep the momentum going.
It helped that she was such a pretty thing, and there seemed to be some degree of mutual attraction. He didn’t miss the fact that he was managing to hold her attention while everyone else in the room might not have been there at all - with the exception of the bartender, whom even Jude had to admit was rather striking. He didn’t make their association known as Ember greeted him, instead enjoying the young man’s sheepish reaction to his new nickname. He was a little slow to get moving after taking their order, a bit like a deer in the headlights, but when Jude’s card was passed across the counter, he shuffled off to get their drinks.
“Sounds like it’s going to be a good night,” Jude remarked with a pleased smile. It wasn’t going to be a cheap round, but he hadn’t brought her here on a budget. He was idly watching the young man behind the counter when she volleyed her question about dancing, prompting him to blink and take a second look around the bar. He didn’t see anything resembling a dance floor, much less anyone dancing. Truthfully, under most circumstances, he didn’t enjoy it, but she’d given him the perfect out, “You know, I really just like to watch…” Their rum arrived at exactly the right time, on the coattails of his innuendo, and picking up his glass, Jude smirked as he toasted, “Cheers.”
Once they were finished with their shots, they could take their beers to go - at least over to the pool table that currently sat, ignored, in the corner of the room. Pool was a much more appealing idea, and he nearly made the mistake of agreeing with her when he caught that devilish glint in her eyes. Thinking it over for a second, it clicked what she was implying, and he laughed even as he shook his head, “I can handle myself. Sticks aren’t usually my preference, but what the hell. It’s 2018. Let’s play some pool.” Jude picked up his beer with one hand and motioned for her to once again lead the way. As they drew closer to the pool table, he offered, “I rack, you break?”
He was cute, it was true, though that was just a physical thing and Ember wasn’t interested in anything more at the moment. She highly doubted a simple conversation with the man would hold her attention, as well as his credit card and the alcohol, would. She was looking for fun, not to have her ear talked off. She wanted alcohol and laughter, which, at least one of the things was being paid for by Jude. He wasn’t a sleaze like the dead guy in the alley and, if it turned out, that he was some sort of killer, he was in for a painful night. Ember wasn’t a nice person.
The fire in her veins danced at her fingertips, waiting to be set free. She just smiled at the man beside her, a look that said all too clearly that his choosing to take her comment as a compliment was a good idea. It was also important for him to be mindful of the fact that she had no qualms about leaving his body a charred wreck in an alleyway as well. It was, after all, her main purpose in life. Her good side didn’t typically exist, though perhaps he could stay on the side in which murder was focused on passers-by and not on him. “Fun for me, for sure. For you... jury’s still out.” He seemed like he needed to loosen up or like maybe he’d forgotten what fun was.
She picked up the shot the bartender with the pretty eyes had supplied them with and promptly poured it into the beer she’d ordered. A grin spread across her lips as she picked up the combined drink. “I bet you do,” she said in a singsong voice before putting the drink to her lips and pouring almost the entire contents of the glass down her throat. She barely even tasted it before she set the glass on the bar top. “Gonna need another one of those, hot stuff,” she said to the unknown bartender. She barely even caught the stunned and shocked look on the handsome features. She just gave him a bright smile, lightweight and full of pleasant emotions.
Once she had her second drink in hand, she followed Jude over to the pool table, a bounce in her step that handed been as noticeable before the drink had been given to her. It was hard to describe the behavior of Ember when watching her from the outside. One might think she was just an overly joyful creature, bright and sunny, but the truth was much more sinister. The bounce in her step had nothing to do with how happy she was but everything to do with the excitement that flowed through her as she came down from the high of the kill. The prospect of more fun only gave her more reason to feel light-hearted. Her second beer was set on a round table in the corner, right next to Judes before she went for a stick of her own. “I’m good at breaking things,” she said smoothly. “That’s the best part of the game.”
