Abstract Art. (open)

[MavericksChild]

She had taken to art again. Holed up in her room, Mav had made long drawn out strokes on her canvas. A twist of the wrist and the paint swirled. She loved the swirls and contrast of the paint. It was so different from the deep red of blood, almost alien. It seemed that every so often, Mav went into a kind of trance such as this. A kind of sleep. She closed herself off from the rest of the city and simply existed. She didn’t feed, didn’t kill, and barely mumbled a word to her mother when she drifted past her doorway.

This was the second time in fact, that she had done this. She had painted hours into the night and on her canvas before her lay a scene. It wasn’t what she had typically been painting. Where bright blue skies, rivers and trees would have been, lay a man disemboweled. Her painting was dark. Blacks, midnight blue. Deep, deep reds. It was like looking in through a window to her real world. And that was enough to cause Mav to gently lay her paint brush on the tray of the easel.

She stared at the paint as it dried. The drying process always enraged her. Her beautiful colors fading to a matte broke her heart over and over. “You’re calling me, aren’t you?” She spoke softly to the subject in her painting. “ Do you miss me? Do you wish for me?” She smiled at it and paused for a few seconds. “ I know. I’m coming out. Stay where you are.” She spoke again, this time as if answering the painting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[An hour later]

Mav watched her feet as she walked down the sidewalk. She marveled at the way the cement gave the illusion of flying beneath her as she moved. The longer she watched, the faster it went. The faster it went, the faster she walked. She wasn’t watching where she was headed. And frankly, it didn’t matter to the real world. In her mind, she went to him. The one who she’d painted. And he didn’t exist.

[MavericksChild]

Her eyes began to pick up the distinct hints of color in the cement. Blues, oranges, browns. The small rocks were catching her attention. She imagined them to be fruit flavored and every so often would stop on her path and scratch at one of the tiny pebbles. None ever came lose for her to taste.

This in it’s self was a bit disappointing to her, but the truly disheartening thing was, when she finally stood full and took in her immediate surroundings, she realized that she was no where near where she should be. Although, where she should be was very much up for debate at the moment. Mav now found herself a bit torn. She could turn back, and retrace her steps, or she could carry on and hope that she found what she was looking for. Who she was looking for.

Sometimes, when you don’t know what to do, doing nothing at all is the best choice. And this is exactly what she did. In a manner of speaking. Mav quietly noted that she had stopped in a business area. Small shops stood on either side of the street. Some geared towards human, some towards creatures of the night. Although to the unaware human, they would all appear “normal”.

One such “normal” place held interest for her. If for nothing else, she hadn’t visited a place like it in a very long time. Slowly at first, her feet treaded towards a small café. But as she began to take in the scent of human food and vampire food, she quickly became in a hurry to arrive. She stopped just outside of the doorway and took hold of the scold metal handle to the door. She remembered this place. She’d had a visit with Grin here once. And oddly, the only thing she really remembered about that encounter was him ushering her out of the door and his large red umbrella.

A smile cracked on her lips and she yanked the door open. Immediately the warmth and scent of living beings enveloped her. She inhaled deeply while taking her first step inside. A waitress smiled at her as she brushed past. A old couple glanced up at her as she went down the small isle towards a small table in the back. Mav’s eyes blinked slowly, lazily as she gazed around the place. It was quaint. A mom and pop joint. Home cooked meals and good conversation. She read the sign over the cash register as she sat in an old wooden chair.

“What will you have hun?” chirped a friendly high pitched voice.

Dark brown eyes moved from the sign, to a woman. The same one who’d smiled at her before.

“ Meat. I want meat?” Mav answered a little unsteadily. “Raw in the middle and lots of seasoned salt please.” She paused. “Just bring the container of seasoned salt.” She mumbled a little more about needing to taste as the woman walked away with her order in hand. Now curious eyes set to watching again. She wondered, did other vampire come to these places? Maybe hunting prey? Maybe that question would be answered while she waited. Then again, maybe not.

[valion]

The man had jabbed idly at the damp, soggy pancakes that were strewn about the chipped glass plate that sat infront of him. He grunted and tossed one over, continuing his mutilation from there, while taking a hand and tracing the "intricate" designs about the glassware. He sighed tiredly, leaning back in the old, creaky wooden chair probably sat in upon by hundreds of patrons that would slip in and out of this diner. The idea was repulsive. It made it want to get up and sit in another chair, but what was of that chair? Just the same one. He rolled his eyes at his idle, wondering thoughts. He had all the time in the world, and he wasted it on little things.

He creaked back on the chair a few times more, rocking to and fro, threatening to snap the poor, brittle legs. Leaning back to the orginal angle of what was deemed proper of sitting in a chair, he took a few more jabs and the boring pancakes. He came to this place every once in a blue moon, and yet, ordering something, he never would eat it. Everytime he caught a whiff of the syrup or butter on the food, it made him gag. So he just stopped breathing. Always taking in thought of what people thought of him, what was he doing? Why isn't he eating? Is he an alien? He sometimes wondered the same things of himself. What his purpose, anyways? Was it just to annoy people? Kill? Hunt? Ugh, and he would most likely wonder of this for the next...Million years. Or until everything went extinct. He quietly whispered to himself,"Oooh...Dear, what shall I ever do...Having the next so many years, doing nothing except my usual things..." He shrugged and stabbed the messy, warm cast iron fork at the plastic cup filled with coffee he had ordered. Why? It made him seem normal. He tried to seem normal all his "life", if one were to call it that. He didn't like attention. It annoyed him. Though, he could never help contributing his two cents to everything, though it usually got him in trouble, it was worth it. He liked his opinion to be heard. He got off on it. Was quite the...Odd thing. But no one was normal

The jingle of the door hitting the bell made him curse out loud, interuppting his train of thought. Few people around him looked, and he pretended not to notice. He grunted and got up from his chair, learning he had spilt the cup of coffee; the vile substance running over the table and spilling on his pants, which made him realize it in the first place. It was all their fault. Who ever had come in. He wanted to do something about it. But why make a scene? Maybe in the alleyway. He'd stalk them. He went up, grabbing the napkins from the container, ripping them too hard from it and lifting the crummy thing in the air, only for it to be dropped loudly on the counter. Nothing ever went right in his days. He had flicked his eyes quickly, catching a glance of who the hell had come in. He just caught a quick glance, noticing the paint on their hands and spots caught on it's shirt. He looked up a bit more, catching the face for a moment. Seeming familiar, he stared at it from the corner of his eye. Then again, he saw everyone, so he passed the thought by on who it could be. The thought made him gag even worse then the food he had gotten almost everytime he came here. He drifted back to his table, who the person could've been angered him even more. Ugh. The mossy orbs of his eyes looked back up at the person as, who had he identified to be a she, spoke. What were the chances? It was her indeed. The bloody chances. Rolling his eyes, he spoke up for the check of his food as he rubbed at the coffee that had managed to slip onto his chair. Lame.

[MavericksChild]

She had been eyeing a small toddler. The girl had beautiful golden curls. The kind of curls that you almost had to reach out and touch, just to see if they were indeed as soft as they looked. Her eyes had been following the grain of the hair. Admiring the shimmer of gold’s and whites in the individual strands. She really loved blonds. They made her think of purity. Angels. The sun blinding your eyes. A small smile spread on her lips as she contemplated stealing the child. Large, innocent blue eyes made contact with her own dark, brown eyes. In that way that only a child can look at someone. No shame, no fear. Absolutely no proper etiquette.

Someone called out for their check. A male voice. An irritated voice. Reluctantly, her eyes shifted from the sun child to the direction of the voice. Mav snorted softly. Valion. And so here was her other vampire. Young. Full of piss and vinegar. He was quick to go on the defensive and their conversations always ended badly. Could she have asked for more? If nothing else, seeing him here would mean alleviated boredom. But then, she wasn’t really bored. -She- was going to have some meat.

She watched him quietly as he cleaned a mess he’d apparently made. Her head shook a little in surprise. He was more of a toddler than the golden haired beauty. At least she had the good sense not to throw a fit.

“Valion.” Mav called down the isle. “ Panties in a bunch?” as soon as she spoke to him, her mind switched gears and she began to wonder how the meat would taste. How much longer would it be? Should she eat the child instead? She could always put seasoned salt on her…

[valion]

He was still wiping up the black liquid that was all over the table. He picked black coffee because it made him seem like an overrated buisness man. He was anything but that, regardless. He had been spaced as he prayed to whoever, that Mav, the lady who always grated on his nerves, who tested his sanity sometimes with her twisted, backwards phrases that actually made him think. What a rare thing that was...For he had usually gone about doing things with what his instict told him, not his mind. When it came to acting normal, he had to try. Quite hard. Not to attract attention. He was never really into the public scene, only recently starting to take to it about a year ago, previously he had solidified himself from society to sit like a lifeless being (Not that he already was one) in his room and just stare at a blank wall. Maybe this was where his sanity wore short? So easily breakable? Or maybe it was just Maverick. Yes, that was it. It was all Mav's fault. Blaming her for everything was the easy way. It was quick to judge too. Pfft, he had always done the short way and easy way through things. Like he had other things to do? Only realizing this after he had made his choice on what to do with a decision.

Anyways, by the time he was just about done with cleaning up, the soggy pile of wet napkins starting to build up next to him, his body had frozen. He stood still, hand clenched into a white knuckle grasp to the napkin, nearly ripping it as the devious, atrocious voice had broken the silence, like a hammer to a thin sheet of glass of thought he had been having. Although, Maverick wasn't all that bad. She had her perks. Music taste, especially. It was just to the point of his. She had also turned to actually liking him when they had their especially rare conversations of music. Seeming to like Baroque more, for he wasn't the biggest fan of it, he still was quite entranced by it. Sometimes, she confused him with her attitude swings towards him. He was just happy enough he knew only limited things about her, for most of them were good, and finding a flaw to her personality would make him cringe. He liked the idea she didn't take anything, and had a bite worse then her bark.

He had slowly released his grip and picked up the force of his fist down on the flimsy wooden table, hearing small little snaps of fragments of wood. Though, breaking the wood sounded like a nice idea. Slowly, he turned the lip gnawing he had realized he was doing, twisting it to a smile, and he could've sworn his eye was twitching or something. Turning his body over to where the voice chirped, yet sounded like a pair of nails on a chalkboard (Seriously, he never got that, for nails raking down on a board never made him cringe or something. It still made a snappy metaphoar.) Grunting, he had looked up and forced himself to look like a slick man that was all good and such. He was good at that. Making himself look differently then what he felt.

Before she spoke, he had noticed her eyes in a raw lust, pointing like a pair of icy daggers to the little girl to his right. This made him snicker.

"Pfft, please. I didn't think you stalked little girls for just your own personal fix and gain. Boy, I'm low, but that's just..." He had rolled his eyes and slipped himself slowly closer to him, up to the next tier of tables as he waited for the black little book he could slip his cash into. Though, as usual, he would just stick some Monopoly cash into it and prance off like a little school girl who had just did something bad,"So, Maveeeerick, must you come so often to me? I told you to keep our forbidden love under the radar, ya'know? Or did you just need to see me? I don't blame you at all. I'm irresistable, I know." Arching a sly brow to her, he kicked one leg to the side, like a cool guy in highschool. Who was against the man. Though, his slick movement had resulted in just an embarresment of himself as the table was too far away, and he had stumbled. He struggled back to his orginal stance, promising himself to not do that again. "Impressing" someone, and seeming laid back all the time was not one of his things, sadly.

[MavericksChild]

Her head tilted to the side slightly as she watched the odd spectacle of Valion. Seriously, who was he trying to put on? Himself she hoped.. A small smile cracked on her lips as she listened to him. Was he tooting his own horn? Convincing himself perhaps. A sort of wishful thinking. And Mav even felt slightly embarrassed for him as he fell. Even she had never done something so idiotic in her time.

She almost slid her chair out, to help him when he righted himself. She got the impression that he was hoping that no one had noticed his little mishap. But that could have been her imagination.

“ Why Valion, you know I’m like a moth drawn to fire. How could I stay away from you?” The sarcasm was heavy on her words. He would know, but to those around them, she purred them like a lover. “Please, have a seat. I’m waiting for meat. Would you like to join me? You don’t seem to be doing so well with that standing thing.” She flashed a smile at him.

The waitress came with a plate in hand. Bottle of seasoned salt in the other.” There you go hunny! Enjoy! Can I get you anything to drink? Coffee to keep you up?” The woman looked at Mav with an overly friendly smile. She’d tip this one good. “Steak sauce?” The woman nodded and went off to retrieve the condiment.

[valion]

The man would chuckle quietly to himself,"Oh, I know. Our...But a secret. Who could resist me anyways?" He arched a brow for a moment, a smile creeped up on the right side of his lips. The left side of his face really never seemed to do much, but it looked perfectly normal.

Shrugging, he placed his foot behind the leg of a chair and pulled it out, twisting it a 90 degree turn, and before noticing the waitress trot over in the cliche way he had seen in all those movies with the diners. He just happened to notice she was chewing; no, smacking the gum with her teeth. It drove him crazy. He was tempted to lean over to her and whisper for her to stop, it's annoying. Valion never seemed to care what he said to people. He did the oddest things, too. What was the worst that could happen, though? A smack? Pfft, had enough of those already. He finally pivoted himself over and sat himself on the chair, staring at the peice of meat, the small amount of red juice seeping out onto the plate before flicking the soft ovals of his eyes back up to the lady,"Mm, not into feeding on the usual?" He twirled his hand about, indicating all the other humans around, stopping with a point to the person next to him, who's aroma was particulary nice,"I find the stalking part the best, ya know? In the horror movies with the clutching her purse in the lithe light of the moon travering down the sidewalk, and hearing weird noises? Oh, god, that's the best part of it." He would lean forward, creaking the chair forward towards her in an incline,"And the last thing they hear is the faint pop. Then it's all wonderland for them." He shrugged and returned the chair on all four of it's legs,"If they struggle, it's fun, too."

Some may call Valion, the feeble, yet odd man, insane. He didn't show it much. Attention drew if he did. He usually acted like the usual person walking and enjoying the day. He talked alot, too. He liked voicing his opinion, aslong it was subtle and it didn't create a commotion. Maybe it was because he eventually had broken a few years back, and eventually gave up on everything, and just went about life like a playground.

He started to idly tap the tips of his nails against the table before whispering a gentle question, his eyes staring somewhere off in space,"Do you have a favorite part, Maverick?"

[MavericksChild]

“I do.” She stated simply. Her mind didn’t click immediately, that it might be proper to finish her thought. Finish telling him exactly which part was her favorite and possibly her dislikes as well. But click it did. Mid-lick. She was bent over her plate, caught in a long drawn out lick of the meat. Her tongue had curled just at the tip, taking in the juices. Her brows knit, and she slowly pulled away from the meat.

“ Ah, I love the intimacy. It’s something that I don’t receive often in our world. The only problem is, that it’s so fleeting. I think… that I walk away feeling more empty each victim.” She pursed her lips softly as she contemplated this small fact. She had never really thought about it before. Never dug that deep into the whys of why she did something. It surely wasn’t the blood. There were times that she went weeks, sometimes months without feeding.

It was those brief moments, when the human held her. Kissed her. They wanted her, be they male or female. And she could allow herself the luxury of pretending it to be true, for she knew that they could never hurt her. She would hurt them.

She was a bit slow in the mind it seemed. Again, the thought crept up on her, that she had just shared something semi deep about herself with Valion. The man who took every pot shot that he could at her. A smile spread on her lips again. She could hear him now in her mind ‘Awww is Maverick loooooonely?’ She almost hoped that he would. If he did, she planned on ripping his face off.

[valion]

Valion had always taken to teasing Maverick when he had the chance. Though, even if he found it amusing and fun, some times he regretted it. Rarely. He listened intently as she spoke, analyzing every bit and peice of what she was saying, to see if he could get a jeer or two out of it. It almost seemed if Maverick was depressed at times. Lonely? Pfft, why would she be lonely? Although she had a dark, sadistic, cruel side to her, a bright point or two stuck out to him.

He scratched at his chin, that was a tad stubbly, for he had not taken to shaving in a bit. He hated having a porcupine strapped to his chin that raked whatever it touched. He did like scratching at it though. It felt nice in a way. He would scratch at it for a bit more until, oh, Mav was still there looking oddly at him. Curling the hand back over the back of the chair. He oddly couldn't get over the thinking of that she was lonely in a way. But, his common sense told him that she was pulling his leg. Of course, he knew about her past.

"Well, you may need therapy, Maverick. I heard that helps. I've always wanted to be a therapist just to scrawl random things on a notepad while listening to people whine. Then, I would promptly lose my job for teasing my clients." He sighed and looked to the floor in disappointment, not only in his little joke, but by, with all that time and statement he was provided with, that was the best he could think of to throw at her. He wasn't very bright at the time being. The sudden smell of what she was licking or whatever she was doing to the meat hit his nostrils. He recoiled. What the hell? It reeked of salt and it was horrificly raw. Yes yes, he knew, he was of their kind, but Valion had really never taken to biting off raw flesh off of the prey. If he was really that hungry, he would go hunting in a forest in cook it, but taking all that addictive red fluid out of whatever he planned on attacking,"That smells horrid..."

[MavericksChild]

Therapy. Perhaps she did need therapy. But really, how does the damaged seek repair truly? And what vampire wasn’t damaged goods? They all had their quirks, all had their moments of insanity. Be it the ancient that didn’t know how to integrate into current society, or the newly turned fledgling that refused to take life for survival. Mav was mixed somewhere in the middle.

She didn’t recoil from death, like so many of the newer generation. As a matter of fact, she sought it. And she had never had problems conforming to the times, until recently. That contributed greatly to her loneliness. Her one and only rest had in a way been the downfall of her. It was a shock to wake and find that so many she once knew gone. The ones she loved severed and moved on. Or even those who were yet to sever, distant and angry.

She just couldn’t meld with her world. Although she did try. Legion was a good example of that. The need to connect with the more social. It had been disappointing that her hopes in him had been misplaced. Her own doing really, but it had left her all the more disconnected. And so even now, as she sat in the diner, licking her precious slab of protein, she was still distant from the world.

“You find me offensive either way, so I don’t see why this should bother you.” She indicated the still seeping piece of steak. Mav didn’t fail to noticed that he really didn’t take a jab at her for her answer. Curious. Maybe something about her expression conveyed that she would do horrible things to him if he started up. Then again, maybe he just realized that he didn’t have to try and top her at every given moment.

She looked down at her plate. The salt lay caked a centimeter deep on the entrée, with one long path licked off. It tasted rather delicious to her. “So why are you not off wooing the girls or something? Why sitting alone in a diner?” Her question was nothing more than mere curiosity. She knew he had taken another on after Rile had left him.

[valion]

The man chuckled, rolling his eyes,"Mm, well, that peice of...Whatever that is, smells repulsive." He teasingly would lean in and take a whiff of the girl himself,"You, though, don't smell as bad." A smile crept to his lips as he leaned back in the chair with a creak of the brittle wood.

He once again, opened his mouth to speak. He was quite the talkative one, and he felt like, sometimes, the world needed to know what he was thinking. Other times, he was as humble as a peasent. Ego? Maybe. Why live this endless, dragging life, depressed and saddened? Take advantage of what you have, aslong as it isn't worth it. Rile. She was worth it. Atleast he thought that at first before she had left him to go hump something else out of pity. He had gotten over her rather quickly. She was one of the worst hypocrits he had ever met. She had flipped out because he had moved onto someone else so quickly. Then, she goes and binds to someone in a week. Did she date him for a week, hump his leg 2 times, then dance off to the Hall? He snorted. Whatever, she was just a phase now. One time, she had called him all these names that humored him, and in the next day, she apoligized and said she didn't mean it.

The facial expression she had given to him, he knew she had known he hooked up with someone else. It had been two and half months he had been with her. He had to admit, she was glorious at first. There seemed to be no flaw about her. Her attitude was that of a saint. Cute, patient, but she was too nice. She didn't have an attitude; one with a kick to it, atleast. After those months and a half, it started to get old. He had lost interest. If he were of human nature, he wouldn't mind so much. But, if he had to be with someone for eternity, he wanted him to enjoy being with them. He had ended that relationship a day ago.

"I like to gaze and pick out my prey." He flashed a sheepish smile, trying to make it seem like he actually meant it. His screwed up mind still hadn't gotten over the recent thoughts. "I don't have anyone to woo anyways." He hated being single. He liked having someone by his side, to talk to, to touch. He guessed it was why he got over people so fast. He needed someone. Having trouble swallowing this new idea, he pictured himself as some pathetic man-whore of a sort. He burned for that one he wanted to spend eternity with.

"And what're you doing here? Meeting someone?"