( semi-open ) love is a many splendored thing

[samlicker81]

Who: Everyone who signed up for SHIPPING
Where: All around Wonderland! See below for specific locations.
When: Tuesday, September 9, evening
Rating: PG13 just to be safe, but if anything gets steamy (she hopes it does), I can up the rating.
Summary: Becky sets Wonderlanders up on blind dates. Also, will be image heavy.
The Story:

You receive a letter under your door sometime on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 9. This letter will be addressed to you in fancy script (Becky's best attempt at calligraphy) from a "secret admirer." You might be wondering, but it isn't February! What's with all the romantic nonsense? Well, my good friend, romance can be celebrated on more than just one day out of the year. That day happens to be today. The letter will ask you to meet your secret admirer at 6PM at a designated location. You'd best not be late! A night of romance (and perhaps even intimacy) awaits you! At least, she hopes so...

Comments

[oversight]

[ Blake gets it, he really does. It's a fine line between being tolerant and just being done, and it's always carefully walked in Wonderland, isn't it? There have been plenty of times when John's been tempted to just rage against their treatment, but every once in while, like now, it doesn't feel like it's the worst sentence he could be serving.

He shakes Angel's hand firmly with a nod and a warm smile. ]

Angel, right. John Blake. Nice to finally meet you.

[ He gives that hand a squeeze and then nods toward the romantic setup. ]

Let's get a bit drunk, yeah?

[vampdetective]

[As prisons or hell dimensions go, Wonderland is among the more tolerable -- there's plenty Angel hates about the place, but if the worst he was going to get tonight was a flop of a blind date and a bottle of wine?

He was okay with that.

He smiles thinly, taking John's hand and giving it a firm shake in reply.]

Sounds good to me. As much as I can, anyway--

[Drunk was hard for vampires. Really hard.]

Kind of have a high tolerance for alcohol. But I'll pretend if it makes you feel less alone.

[He's a giver.]

[oversight]

Pretend? [ John laughs. He's managed to build a decent tolerance over time, but he's never once been in a position where he feels he needs to pretend to be drunk to save someone else embarrassment. ] Naw, I can pass—

[ ... ]

Well, no, okay. Not exactly gonna let this wine go to waste. Prob'ly only need half to make myself into a total dipshit, so—

[ Moving to the perfectly placed setup, he grabs up two glasses and nods toward some pool chairs off to one side. ]

So, why the high tolerance? Don't exactly seem like you're a heavy drinker. Not with that physique.

[vampdetective]

[Angel moves towards the chairs as directed, his hands deep in the pockets of his coat, something he insists on wearing even as he moves about the mansion most days. It's only when he's confined to his own room or maybe the library that he goes without it. Makes him feel a little more at home.]

I-- thank you?

[It comes out tentatively. Was that a compliment? He's not so great at picking up on that kind of thing.]

It's not so much a heavy drinking thing as it is a-- vampire thing?

[What he is hasn't been a secret for a long, long time.]

Metabolism is too high for alcohol to make much of a dent.

[oversight]

[ It was a compliment, yes. You're welcome. ]

Ah, that's... certainly a vampire thing. I guess.

[ Blake starts peeling back the foil on the bottle of wine, but his eyes are on Angel the whole time. This isn't exactly a date, no, but it doesn't mean he can't get to know the guy anyway. ]

Christ, that's gotta be somethin' else, right? How much alcohol would it take? Bottles?

[vampdetective]

Sorry.

[He's pretty sure he might have gone and made this more awkward than it already was. He motions vaguely towards his mouth before hooking one of his index fingers into a makeshift fang, rather than putting the real thing on display.]

Forget sometimes that not everyone knows. [Or cares.] I'm, ah-- strictly animal blood, for the record.

[Aside from a few slips, but he's trying not to think about those.]

Possibly the better part of a bar? It would be tough to drink enough of it fast enough to make it effective.

[oversight]

[ If Blake's any bit fazed or surprised by the details, he doesn't show it. Instead, he nods at the upfront admission and goes to retrieve the corkscrew. ]

Better part of a bar. That's— [ He shakes his head. ] —impressive. Maybe a bit unfortunate.

[ In a somewhat practiced manner, he pops the cork on the wine and then offers the bottle out to Angel. ]

Does the blood make you feel drunk?

[vampdetective]

Makes it a little more of a chore than getting drunk really should be.

[Hence why he doesn't usually bother -- but as the bottle is offered to him, he takes up a glass for himself and fills it halfway. Like they'd agreed on, no reason to waste it.

The next question is food for thought. It doesn't, but-- Meg's had, and so had Ruby's, but including that information meant that he would have to admit to himself that he'd let it happen, and that wasn't something he was ready for.]

Not drunk, mostly just fed. Some people say human blood makes you feel euphoric, but it's just the adrenaline rush. Animal blood is just-- food. [Lousy food, but it's what he needs.] Can't really let yourself think of it as anything else but fuel.

[oversight]

[ John holds out his glass expectantly and leans somewhat casually nearby the vampire. The longer he spends in Wonderland, the easier it is to understand all the nuances that follow around a person that's something other than human. ]

Sounds like a challenge. You eat other stuff?

[ Because he's answering these questions mildly and without being offended, all Blake can figure is that Angel's been at this for a while and he's found there's little reason in being anything but blunt. ]

Like spaghetti?

[vampdetective]

On occasion.

[He pours John a glass as well before setting the bottle aside, right back where they'd found it in the first place, then pauses to taste his own wine before elaborating.]

I can, but it doesn't nourish me. Sometimes you get cravings. Not as good as it would be with human tastebuds, but I work with what I have.

[He's become especially fond of Wonderland events that turned him human.]

You're taking this pretty well. Meet a lot of vampires?

[oversight]

Mm, not as many, no. But I've met my share of angels an' demons an' aliens so... [ He shrugs. It had been hard to be surprised after Pinkie Pie, to be perfectly honest, and that way day 2 for Blake.. ] Hopefully you're not too bummed the novelty's lost it's luster.

You seem pretty modernized. Not-so-Nosferatu, if you get my meanin'. Not sure if that means "older'n shit" or "freshest undead in town."

[ Blake coughs. ] Just assumin' the undead thing. No offense.

[vampdetective]

Older than most. At least where I'm from. Two-seventy-five and some change. [Give or take a couple of years. It's hard to keep track of them after awhile.] Most don't make it this far. Get reckless and end up on the end of some hunter's stake.

[Or if they're really unlucky, they meet up with the Slayer.]

And no offense taken. 'Undead' is still politically-correct, last I check. [He smiles.] I try to keep up with the times. You stand out like a sore thumb if you don't.

[oversight]

[ There's an appreciative whistle. Man, who doesn't wish they looked good for eternity. It almost seems unfair. ]

Yeah, well, near as I can figure, not all vampires are created equal. Pretty sure they're not all the same. You might think it's politically correct and then some other-universe vampire comes strolling in with their picket signs.

[ He might actually like to see that. ]

[vampdetective]

[To a degree, it is unfair. Most of the people who get to live forever don't deserve it. Aside from that? Really not all it's cracked up to be.]

Already met more than a handful of different types of vampires in this place. You're right on the money with that one. No two are exactly the same. Some are closer to human. Others are more like what I'm used to -- soulless shells that used to be people until the demon kicked them out of their own body.

[Whoever they were in life, there's never anything of them left.]

[oversight]

[ It sounds... familiar enough that it leaves Blake to really think a moment. And then drop back whatever's left of his wine in one smooth motion. ]

How many—? [ He grimaces as the wine catches up to him. Honestly, he's not much for wine but even he suspects this is an awful vintage. ] How many are there? —vampires in Wonderland, I mean.