Late night meetings

[liam tudor]

Night had finally come to the small town of Shine Falls as Liam sat lazily on one of the side walls in the stables. Te silver moon shone through the small windows and a large door in the front, making eerie shadows on the walls as warm winds passed through the trees. It was so late into the night he was fairly sure no one would be around. It wasn’t that he really feared people, but he enjoyed the silence and peace. A cherished time he could be himself, or to a point.

So tonight he was taking the quiet and using it to draw any horse that caught his eye, including his own Phantom. It was a dark mustang, not even fully broke, but was likely the smartest animal on four hooves. Even though Li was a private person, he couldn’t help but visit his new companion. It would be an interesting trip when he takes his first ride. As he finished the shading of his nearly done picture, his eyes looked toward the door as both he and Phantom sensed a presence. The teen could easily tell this when the horse shifted and neighed warily. Who could be here this late at night? Not wanting to seem interested, he resumed his sketching and acted as if he didn’t notice..maybe she wouldn’t either.

[victoria payne]

Victoria Payne wasn't exactly one to do what people thought a young girl like her would, though she liked surprising people. Her day had consisted of a meeting between Serenity members and a couple hours working at one of her mother's catering jobs like she did now and then to help the woman out. Other then that her day hadn't been all that interesting, she'd managed to catch her father's coat tails on fire before leaving the house; though that only made him chuckle as it was a complete accident. But now she found herself riding one of her horses, as she had a few; this one was quite young still but very talented in jumping which was what she was up to now as the two pit bulls she owned watched from their curled up position by the gate to the jumping arena. She laughed softly to herself as her mind wandered a little before she took the last jump of the evening and dismounted Mystic Tigress, who was named for her chestnut and orange shaded coat and the black of her mane and tail and the black strip along her spine.

She pat the horse's neck and smiled as she neighed softly in response, pulling the reins over her neck she led her out of the arena and the dogs followed behind them as they walked back towards the stables. Sure it was later at night then you'd expect most people to be here, but this was one of her most favorite times to ride; when many of the people that came through during the day were gone or inside one of the buildings where a few stable hands lived. The arena was lit so there was no danger really, there was a light switch on a pole sticking out of the ground which she'd flicked off after leaving. As she entered the stables she noticed someone else was inside, not like she minded much. The two pit bulls eyed him carefully and inside Victoria something went off as her nose flinched a little. He wasn't just any ol' someone... that much was obvious, specially by the way her dogs were now watching him as she tied Tiger up to one of the bars of her stall so she could take off her tack and groom her.

She didn't say anything yet, she wanted to see if he'd speak first. Though most people that came here later in the evening weren't much for talking. She unhitched her horse's saddle, pulling it off and setting it up on the door to Tiger's stall before running a brush lightly over her and patting her neck. The dogs proceeded to lay themselves out of the way, but near enough to keep an eye on Victoria; though she didn't exactly need their protection or anything, but they were good dogs.

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OOC // i tend to ramble a little bit. =) but i'm not a stickler for other people's word counts as long as it's over the minimum. haha. =)

[liam tudor]

There was no way he would speak first. Out of probably everyone in this town, Liam was the least confrontational. The only time he would ever respond first is if he was blood hungry or someone was in danger. Otherwise one should not count on him reacting first. So even after his eyes briefly spotted a coming intruder as well as her dogs, he kept his body completely still aside from his moving pencil. Minutes passed as he watched her through the corners of his eyes, attempting it as secretly as possible. From what he could tell she appeared around his age with dark hair and an attractive appearance. The halfling could also since some familiarity about her, reminding him much of his dad. Perhaps she had the gift as well..it had to be by the way she carried herself.

Sighing inwardly, Li found himself annoyed with this girl. There really wasn’t any reason for she hadn’t even said one word, but her presence seemed to walk on what little privacy he had. Still remaining seated he turned a page of his sketchbook and returned to his work. Little did she know, he was now drawing her. Liam normally didn’t draw people, tending toward animals and nature, but he had to make use of her untimely appearance. If she wasn’t going to leave any time soon, he might as well get her picture. His father might be able to tell him who she is. To this thought a voice in the back of his head countered Why don’t you just ask?

[victoria payne]

Victoria herself had moments to where she preferred to keep to herself, like others that came in late at night that's usually why. She liked to be at peace with her horses, not be surrounded by other people. Not to mention Tiger still got a little aggravated around large bunches of people, which was probably why Vicky never shared an arena with more then a person or two when she was on Tiger. But the horse was getting better, that much she was glad for. Pulling off the reins she rubbed the bridge of the horse's nose with a light coo of a sound and the horse neighed in response. "Beautiful horse." Victoria commented easily, figuring it was something nice to say and at least it'd be saying something. She led Tiger into her stall and shut the door behind her. Picking up the saddle and blanket and the reins she walked across the isle way to the tack room, flicking on the light with her elbow and putting her tack away. She liked the set up of the barn, it was rather big as a lot of people in town stabled horses here if they didn't have barns on their own property. The tack room was right next to the feed room, unlike some barns which had them at different ends of the barn. She filled a bucket with water and one with Tiger's food and walked back over to her stall, filling up the containers and laughed when she heard a loud neigh from the stall next to Tiger's.

"Alright already, hold on." Victoria laughed at her impatient stallion, filling up the water bucket and feed bucket once more and setting them down in front of the door to his stall.
"Some horses just don't know how to wait their turn." Victoria laughed softly. She turned her attention to the young man, her attention having left for a few moments whilst she'd fed Tiger but now she noticed him sketching something. There was still something familiar about him, but Victoria was smart enough not to come out and plainly ask if he was a Gifted or something like it. She could be wrong and he could just be an every day young guy, around her age by the look of it; and with the fact some people didn't exactly accept her kind she wasn't going to come out point blank and ask. Maybe beat around the bush for a moment if her talking managed to start up any sort of conversation at all. "Dragon you are my most impatient horse ever." Victoria laughed as the horse pushed his muzzle against her with a neigh of annoyance. She opened the door to his stall, pouring the water and feed into their holders inside the stall and pat the horse before leaving him and putting the buckets back. She marked on the board in the feed room, which was pretty much there to let the stable hands and such who was fed and when. It was a good system to have so they didn't over feed the horses.

"So what's your boy like?" she asked, looking back over to the boy after a moment, running her fingers through her hair after removing the hair tie that had been in it so her hair hadn't gotten in the way during her ride. She knew being what she was that she was more of a rare kind, most of her own pure blooded kind had lighter features including hair. Though half breeds appearances were more determined by anything but their Gifted blood if there was any in them.

[liam tudor]

His pencil never seemed to stop, even as he had an inward argument with his braver conscience on what to do next. It wanted him to be forthright and open, ask the girl and get an answer. It was the piece of him that was left from his sister's unneeded death. Perhaps Li considered his once outgoing nature partly responsible for it. If he hadn't been so bold, wild, and stupid, Chelsey might have been alive today...but the truth was she wasn't.

So now that's why he rarely, if ever, listened to that part of him. It only led to trouble and sadness and he wouldn't have that. That's why he now was the opposite, reclusive and shy, toward even his family. It was his way of repressing what feared him most. Himself.

His thoughts and inner conflicts were then distracted as he heard her speak. Not really expecting it, it caused him to glance fully at her for more than a second. He almost wanted to laugh as it seemed she was flirting with her steeds. Just because he was shy didn't mean he had no sense of humor. But as soon as she noticed him, his gaze averted quickly once more back to the sketch.

As she was feeding her horses it seemed the girl had forgotten him, but since she seemed to be finished, her attention appeared fully on him. This made his once relaxed body stiffen slightly, almost making him fall. Why hadn't he tried to disappear? He wouldn't have really, but he could give that illusion. But now it was too late and she was asking questions...well really a question..What was Phantom like?

A long silence fell as he tried to seem as if he hadn't heard, though the halfbreed could easily sense her waiting. He would have to answer. So in a quiet voice, not even looking at her he replied, "Not sure..Restless and smart was what...I was told. I just got him."

[victoria payne]

There were moments in her life where she could tell you she was unsure about things, as she got older she became more unsure of certain responsibilities expected of her. When she was little there wasn't much for her to worry about, she could be a normal little girl and do normal things one her age should do. The only thing her parents really watched for was any sign of what her power might be. Just because your parents had one type, didn't mean you'd have one related to theirs; all powers and all Gifted were different in their own way. Victoria on the other hand showed something they weren't expecting, signs of more then one power. Which had been unheard of for years, pretty much since the Old World had existed. It was one of the reasons she was now expected to be leader of the group formed for those like her. But Victoria didn't exactly like the idea of being told to lead a group, when she was still unsure of a lot of things in her life. But she did it the best she could none the less.

She'd realized, in the time her thoughts had taken her away; that he'd spoken. She smiled at this, her ears listening to him speak whilst they pushed out the sound of her horses eating. She noticed Dragon out of the corner of her eye as he ate greedily like he always did and she was still smiling, more so thanks to the fact of being around her horses always put a grin on her lips. "He looks strong." she replied to the boy, looking at his horse a moment but not taking more then a step or two forward. She could tell the young man had a shyness to him and she didn't want to spook him or anything, she was being careful and watching his reactions to her own movements and words. "Have you tried jumping him? Restless horses seem to be good with jumps, as they just can't wait to get over them." she laughed softly, looking back to Tiger and the young horse had stopped eating to watch the conversation going on between her master and the other person inside the barn.

"Tiger here absolutely loves jumping and Dragon here is a sucker for cross country endurance." she smiled slightly more as she spoke of two of her horses, patting Dragon's neck as he'd stuck his head out into the isle way with a bit of feed stuck to his bottom lips and Vicky laughed as she brushed it off for him.

[liam tudor]

His comment only ended with silence which only gave the lad mixed feelings of both relief and dread. Relief came from the possibility his response was good enough for no more questions. He never like a barrage of questions which usually started to get personal at the end, but awkward silences weren't pleasant either. This seemed to be where this was going, so hence his dread and approaching embarrassment.

By now, most guys his age would be all over this conversation, likely putting moves on a girl as pretty as she was, but instead, Liam was huddled on a stall separator like a scared mouse. How pathetic was that? Having his mother's vampire's blood, flirtation and conversation should have been his territory. After all, their kind had to be charming to survive and right then he felt lacking...

In an odd way, this also was likely from his fear of hurting others. If he acted more like his true nature, he would be a danger to all. He had to resist the urges and that was that. Though now as his thoughts mused on what he was trying to hide, Li remembered it had been more than a week since his last feeding and the thought of blood had resurfaced his hunger.

So when she started to talk again, his attention wasn't fully focused as he cursed himself inwardly. The only response he could muster was a shrug and a nod to all she had offered. He really hoped she didn't take this as him being rude. He could feel his canines lengthening slightly and there was no way he was going to show her. Even if her presence seemed different he couldn't assume she was like him. He didn't even know her name.

Seeing as he had no other option, he got off the railing and jumped to the straw covered floor, quicker than any human probably could. Turning away from her he made for the door and in a muffled tone said, "I gotta go.."

((She can stop him if you want..))

[victoria payne]

There were often things in this town the humans had no idea how to explain. More then likely a vampire or lycan got a bit too rambunctious and caused trouble. The big difference between the two is vampires could help it most of the time, lycans had no control what so ever nor did they remember anything the next day. Victoria had always thought of these creatures as something not to be afraid of, but merely cautious towards. For years her own kind had tried to avoid both, but when your own friend is turned into a lycan you tend to turn away from what your family always thought about them. Then again Victoria rarely shared these same thoughts with her family too begin with, most were still stuck in the old ways; even if none of them came from the old world they still acted like they knew everything about it.

Something was changing as the moments passed by them though, something about the boy had become more familiar as she watched him. But rather then stare she moved her eyes away from his direction to look towards Dragon who was watching him nearly as carefully as she'd begun to. Even with the wolf inside of her, thanks to her shape shifting ability, she didn't have as good as senses as the animals. At least not in this form, but she had sensed something about the man earlier. Perhaps he was gifted as well, or at least a half-ling. But by the way the animals were watching him now, she wondered what his other half was. Not that she was afraid, merely her curious nature getting the better of her. As he scrambled to leave she watched his movements, something clicking inside her and she raised her hand with a quick "Wait!" from her lips and a bale of hay near to him erupted into flames. "Damn it." she cursed, having done the same thing to her father's coat tails only a few hours ago. She hated when her power randomly did things like that, it was never good for her. As she pulled herself back a little the fire died down and out, leaving a charred pile of hay where it had sprung to life.

She looked around, wanting to make sure no one else had been around to see that. Then again she still didn't know what to make of the young man who'd been standing there to witness a fire sprouting up in front of him then dying down and being extinguished without any help from anyone else. "Uhm... sorry about that." she bit her bottom lip, rubbing the hand she'd raised seconds ago and staring down at it. She had terrific control most of the time, but two mishaps in one day? Man was she stressed out.

[liam tudor]

If his mother actually knew how he felt about her side, she might throw him out the window. It wasn't that she hated him or anything, but she was proud of who she was. Many a time she had reasoned that humans eat meat as do animals to survive, so how his blood any different? She had mentioned that experienced vampires needn't kill if the meal was freely given. They could take only what was needed to sustain the vampire.

Liam felt differently, at least in his sake. In vampire years, even as a halfling. he was just a baby. Even though blood wasn't his main means of food, the kid still required a good bit every week. But, much to his parents frustration, he refused it until the last possible moment, causing his body to weaken. So now he was trying to get away before his hunger overwhelmed him. There was no way he would want to hurt this girl, even if she had intruded on him.

But then out of nowhere a bale of hay burst into flames just as he passed. As some burning straw landed on his clothes and skin he could feel the searing heat. Jumping back instinctively, he brushed at his clothes and tried to block the light. When it started to dim though, Li turned to the girl to stare, his brows now furrowed in thought.

Had she been the one to do that? He knew it hadn't been him. If it were, he would have seen through it. She had raised her hand and now the girl was apologizing as if she was admitting the event. In a quieter voice, the 19 year old spoke, "So..your Gifted as well?" As he questioned, the glint of his fangs could be seen in the moonlight..

[victoria payne]

Distractions... it was easy to say that Victoria could be distracted too easily for her own good. She'd often sit in her room, playing with her fire which was her primary ability as far as she knew. At least it was the first one she showed real signs of, the rest came later which surprised others completely. It was unheard of, then again so was a Gifted with dark hair. Most of the time the only ones with Gifted blood and dark hair were half lings and she knew easily she was a pure blood. But before her stood a half ling, with slightly dark hair; as with all half lings there was one side that was dominant and one side recessive, Gifted genes were always recessive to everything else. Especially lycan genes, when a Gifted became lycan they lost their power completely and a child of the two would never have a chance at one. It's just how the genes worked.

He was talking to her now, her accidental fire had gotten him to stop and address her. She could notice more about him though, there was a reason he'd tried leaving but she was too persistent and curious for her own good that she just couldn't let him leave quite yet. "Yeah... I am. Are you a half ling?" she asked him, looking him over a bit more as she kept playing with her hands against her stomach and biting her bottom lip. A light flickered near her as her nerves and curious nature built up inside her, it wasn't often you'd run into another supernatural person. At least not as of late and if you did, they weren't exactly open about it. There were people in their world that hated them for what they were, even some of their own kind hated them and considered them to be abominations. So pretty much she was taking a big risk talking to him about it but she didn't exactly feel anything bad around him. She searched her feelings and she felt curiosity and enjoyment from running into a half ling. Every half ling was different and if he had Gifted blood in him, perhaps he had an ability? It wasn't easy for half lings to half one, what with the Gifted genes being recessive to everything else so of course she was curious.

"Sorry about the fire though, it's kind of random some times." she smiled as she apologized to him again, the light nearest her flickering a little bit more before glowing bright and steady once more as she shifted herself and moved forward a couple of steps. The animals were still uneasy, but most animals were like that around creatures they didn't know so it was understandable.

[liam tudor]

His blue eyes continued to watch her with a strange intensity. It was a look he could only give when his vampire side took control for on any other terms Liam would have looked away. Though as he gazed into her curious seeming sapphire gaze, the teen could not look away for the life of him. Besides, part of him was curious as well. In his time here he hadn't met anyone like his parents or himself. Secrecy was a big thing for their safety, so being the obedient son, he never ventured to find the others.

Yet here, at this moment, a Gifted stood before him. What was strange though was unlike his father, she had dark hair. Was she trying to trick him? Luckily all these questions and observations seemed to be the right thing to distract his hunger..at least momentarily.

But then she returned his question for her own, asking if he was a halfling. Finally coming into his senses, Li adjusted his stance and looked away. Wasn't it fair to tell the truth like she had done? Or should he remain silent and let her guess? Running a hand through his hair, he finally nodded quickly. If she noticed fine, if not, so be it. He wondered whether she thought he had a gift or not. His dad had told him most halflings weren't expected to have them and that he should be thankful. Though most of the time he didn't. When she apologized again for the scare, he shrugged and glaced her way, "That's ok..You just need to practice your aim.." He had meant the last part as a joke, but thinking he wasn't very funny, she might miss it all together..

[victoria payne]

Victoria knew she should let things be, let him be on his way out of the barn like he'd intended on moments ago. But Vicky wasn't like that, it was hard for her to just let things go. There was something about him, he wasn't just any ol' person; he was like her in some ways. Then again he was also different, very much so by the looks of it as she watched him carefully. She should have just watched him walk out, rather then try and stop him and accidentally set that bale of hay on fire. Which in itself was a dumb move, seeing as someone could have walked into the barn the moment she'd done it. Someone that she didn't want knowing about her powers, like an exterminator or a frightened human; both very bad things. Vicky had to learn to be more careful but she was still young and there was still a lot to learn about her powers; even if she'd had them for a while now it wasn't exactly easy to learn about them when you had to hide the fact you had them from most of the world.

"Right... aim." she laughed softly, noticing his attempt at a joke and she smiled at him. At least he was trying to make light of the situation and she could see how eager he was to leave and yet he stood there. Though she didn't really mind, she was glad that he had turned around and hadn't left yet. She was always too curious for her own good and there was nothing different about that two. "So do you have a power?" she asked, running her hand along Dragon's nose when he nudged into her arm to get some attention from her. He was always like that, wanting to be pet and loved on when ever she was around. Then again that's what made him a good cross country horse, he always wanted to be better then everyone else and receive more love in the end from winning. She wondered if she should tell him that she some how had three, it was uncommon and very strange for that to happen and yet so was her hair. But she kept it to herself for now, still curious about him and knew talking about herself wouldn't be all too appropriate right about now.

[liam tudor]

She did happen to laugh at least a little, But Liam was pretty sure it was just there to make him feel better. He was aware that his humor had pretty much died the day his sister passed. When he was younger though, Li had been the opposite, joking and pranking where ever he went, but now he rarely cracked a smile and seldom if ever laughed. It wasn't that he was emo or critically depressed as some might think, but without his sister he felt like the odd one out. Alone with no one to relate to aside from his parents. That was part of the reason he found it difficult to even speak to another without have the feeling he was being judged.

Though when she laughed, he returned her smile with one of his own, but that only lasted until she started asking more questions and this time on his power. As soon as she finished the phrase, his face almost became stony. Unlike some, he didn't really like his 'gift.' Since it had manifested, it seemed to only bring the negative. After all if someone described it in a single word, it would be deception. How could anything positive come from lies? In his darkest thoughts, the halfling sometimes began to believe he was meant for nothing but evil. That perhaps it was his destiny...So after a long pause he shook his head, "Not really.."

[victoria payne]

Victoria's own sense of humor wasn't exactly unique, but it was certainly leaning towards it. She could easily make a joke out of a lot of things, then again she could understand most jokes which was lucky for her. Even the dull ones which certain people thought were funny and other people didn't, Vicky was just very observant. But his joke had been funny and her laugh had been real, she could just sense his unease and wasn't exactly sure what to say to him. So far she hadn't gotten much of a reaction out of him the way she would get from others, but it just made her more curious if nothing else. Which was probably why some people found her annoying, she was overly persistent half the time for her own good. But she just couldn't help it, if she wanted to know some thing she'd pursue the matter until her curious nature left her and so far it was stuck with her.

Victoria didn't mind her gift most days, she had fun with it. From time to time she'd use it to entertain herself, like sitting alone and letting flames grow and dance around in a bucket or something else so it wouldn't spread without her meaning to. Then there was her shape shifting, that had to be one of her favorite things in the world. Shifting into the wolf and running through the woods. Then again there were some moments that being the wolf got her into trouble, specially when she ran into campers that thought it was fun to throw rocks at her. "Not really? What's that mean?" she asked with a small laugh, running her hand along Dragon's nose as he neighed to gain her attention once more. He was certainly the most selfish horse she'd ever owned but she loved him anyway. Pepper eyed the young man carefully, not sure about him but then again Pepper was over protective of Vicky. "I'm Victoria Payne by the way, but most call me Vicky." she smiled at him, patting Dragon's neck and moving away from him to take a step or two closer to the young man.