isabellexlaurent

[isabellexlaurent]

Isabelle opted out of the tasting. With her connections in the community, she preferred a more private experience with Black explaining the notes to her. Instead she'd taken a glass of red to the vineyard. There would doubtlessly be those who indulged in a hunt through the vines, and the least she could do to assist her host was make certain his precious produce didn't get trampled before it ripened- or perhaps catch some misfortunate to lay the blame upon. Truly the night was so young.

Then there was that delicious sound calling to Belle like a siren. She followed it deeper into the vineyard, focusing on the way that the blood quickened in her prey's veins. It went from a soft thud to a fluttering drum, each step causing it to echo through her body. Then there was the panting. The poor creature was truly terrified.

Apparently he was willing to come to her. Belle smirk as he took in the way that the crimson liquid stained her pristine dress. Taking the edge of his tunic in her hand, Belle used the white material to clean up the stain. "This is what happens when one isn't careful." The stain seeped into the material, looking very much like blood spilled but sweeter.

Open starter @vievecorcitystarters | Vineyard

Nari wasn’t sure why he agreed to attend the event. It seemed like a ridiculous idea for a large portion of the supernatural community to be leaving the city and attending festivities in a secluded vineyard instead. The fact that the festivities were hosted by vampires also did nothing to soothe Nari’s unease. Given his rather brutal history with the species, the golden rule was the only reason the elf tolerated them and even then he did his best to avoid them at all costs. It was only his position at the council and the solidarity needed between the species, did he suppress any loathing he felt towards them. Still, since his return to the city he had been trying to be open to new things and this happened to be one of them.

But that feeling of unease had only increased the second he’d stepped through the portal. He could sense some form of magic at work, so he tried to distract himself at the one singular food stand and the wine tasting. Later, when the magical creature's blood-wine tastings began, Nari swiftly excused himself. The idea made him want to scream and so he had removed himself out of the closest exit and straight into the fresh air of the vineyard. Being away from the crowds made him feel less overwhelmed and he released a slow breath as he walked in amongst the vine rows. He could feel his heart thudding nervously, the slow rise and fall of his chest becoming quick. He felt like he could hear the slosh of sea water around him, the ever-present memory of something he had tried very hard to forget, rearing its head.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. It was easing to let his concentration slip when he felt like he was spiralling and he rounded the corner, the vineyard rows suddenly feeling like a maze, to knock into somebody, spilling some of the red wine he’d somehow retained in his grasp this whole time, now onto their attire.

[isabellexlaurent]

"And here I thought you liked a bit of impact play." She watched as her little snack sashayed out of the room. Such a pity. That one would have been fun to enjoy the entire night, but Belle hardly could ignore the proprietor- even if he was an old friend.

Belle turned to Aries sitting primly on the couch. Heaven only knew what secrets the room held, but there was little doubt that it was best kept that way unless Aries decided to install security cameras somewhere just out of sight.

"Now be a good boy and sit." He already chased off one toy for the evening. The least that he could do was keep her company until she found something else to pique her interest.

"I would have expected you to be playing with some pretty thing or supervising from a throne on high. What has made you descend into the rabble. Don't tell me that you have nothing better to do."

Aries bounced his foot, a slow rhythm against the silence. His smile stretched, but no laughter came. “What a pitiful joke. Knocking a man down before the punchline.” He ran his thumb over his lips and slouched into the arm of the couch.

It stank in here—sex, sweat, blood, and hot leather. Scents that once thrilled him, now dulled to routine. A cocktail of indulgence turned stale. His nose no longer stirred by any siren call, and his body… not repulsed, exactly. That wasn’t the right word.

He still enjoyed his time here—commanding, yielding, playing both master and slave as it suited him. But boredom was creeping in again, curling around the edges.

Not that he planned to change anything. Not yet. He was still hunting for his next intrigue—someone to bind into a different kind of contract. Something more cerebral. Something with teeth.

“No,” he said at last, voice light but firm. “All I wanted was a joke, and you didn’t satisfy the craving.”

He rose, tone still playful. “I’ll be going now.”

[isabellexlaurent]

"You are the only one mad enough to threaten a vampire's well-being." The ring kept the vampire perfectly safe as long as it remained on her finger. Within less than a moment, Belle could toss any brave enough to try and rob her into the sea. Jo apparently had enough intelligence to keep from physically provoking Isabelle; she just had to be a pain in her ass.

With a quiet groan, Belle placed a ribbon in her book. It would be easy enough to engross herself in the novel. But the detective had difficulty getting the clue that she wasn't welcome somewhere as proven by the fact that she sat in the sand getting a few grains onto Isabelle's towel.

"Hardly. It's called strategizing." She stared out into the ocean, thinking of all the harm that a few daring human's caused. Thankfully most of her sisters remained safe, but there were enough from her former clan to bother her. Besides, Jo wasn't completely wrong in suggesting that Isabelle was a possible target. "Well tanning is terribly unhealthy nowadays given the hole in the ozone layer, but judging by your pallor, it is not an activity you partake in all that often."

“So your guess is no,” Jo surmised, her gaze catching on the title of the novel Isabelle was reading as she stepped closer. “That’s fair.” The front cover alone told her it was something she wouldn't be caught dead reading, but she doubted the other woman had picked it for how intellectually stimulating it was.

“No, I meant for you. I’m not the one risking scorch marks.” Jo didn’t wait to be invited—Isabelle would sooner gnaw off her own arm than offer pleasantries—just dropped unceremoniously onto the sand beside the vampire, still dressed in jeans and a black tank top that probably made her look like she’d taken a wrong turn on the way to work.

She reached down and plucked a handful of sand, letting it run between her fingers. “You went so quiet. For a while there, it seemed like you were hiding in your tower, afraid you’d be next on Artemis’s to-do list.” Her eyes flicked sideways, just briefly. “And now you’re here—sunbathing.”

[isabellexlaurent]

Belle's Dionysus Party Outfit- Eris

[isabellexlaurent]

"You could try, but I doubt that you would like the results." Belle sat up, pulling the glasses on. She didn't need to see Jo to know that it was the detective bothering her on a rare day off. Pity that her darling sire sibling hadn't taken Jo with him wherever he'd deemed suitable for his disappearing act.

"I have a list of colleagues if you are looking to obtain medical intervention for yourself. The first step on a healing journey is admitting that there is a problem." Isabelle had no idea what it was exactly that Jo wanted. The beach was far too empty and peaceful for there to be an official reason for Jo's presence. Then again, the detective did have a knack for showing up at the most inconvenient of times.

Jo leaned against a nearby rock, her eyes narrowing in playful scrutiny. "I wonder if I could pull that ring off your finger before you could rip off my head." She crossed her arms, watching Isabelle carefully. "Or are you actively trying to burn to a crisp? Because, y'know, I'd be required to call that in."

She glanced out at the waves, the sunlight catching her eyes for a moment and sighed dramatically. "Though, I’m afraid we don't have any competent psychiatrists in the city. For that, you'd have to go elsewhere."

[isabellexlaurent]

Location: Beach

For years after she was turned, Isabelle mourned the loss of the sun. The ring for protection came soon enough after, but that brief period of time when she'd been confined fully to the shadows made her long for the warmth and brightness she'd so often taken for granted. The night was her natural habitat, but those fleeting moments of daylight when she could take off her heels and feel the warmth of the sand between her toes was indescribable. She came to love the way the light glinted off the waves momentarily blinding her. She'd admit to none of this, but on a quiet summer's day, the beach proved too tempting for her to simply ignore.

She'd spread out a blanket on the sand, laying out with a pair of glasses perched on her head and some tawdry novel in her hands. The sound of the surf soothed her into a state of reverie where none of the problems of the world could reach her. Her eyes grew heavy. She blinked once, twice, fighting the pull of slumber.

[isabellexlaurent]

Her eyes flickered to the mark on his wrist. That seemed new, but Isabelle would not ask him about it unless he brought it up. She imagined that it was the result of yet another traumatic incident in Louis' life. While she had taken him on as a patient mainly to insure that the golden rule remained intact, she still had a duty as his doctor to see to Louis' well-being.

"I can imagine. There was an increase of need at Crimson Vale as well. I'm certainly glad that I am able to fit you in. The stress you are under has to be taking a toll." She smiled sweetly, pulling out her pad and a pen. "Are you ready to start or would you like to settle in and chat for a while?" She'd already canceled all the appointments for the rest of the day in preparation for this. She'd keep him in the office as long as needed.

"That's quite pretty." She nodded to the tattoo. "Does it have a personal meaning of any sort? I always wanted one, but I couldn't commit." She laughed lightly, attempting to be relatable. "Too many choices of what to put and where. I commend you for your ability to overcome that obstacle."

The appointment felt odd, something he didn't really need to have now that he knew why he couldn't remember things. For the most part he'd chosen to take the slower return of his memories. There had been a general thought that returning all of them at once would be, unhealthy. Given the context the witch that had given him the tattoo artist had said was enough for him to agree.

He made his way to her office anyway, he'd been working to avoid handling the realtiy quite yet. Louis took a deep breath before stepping inside he gave the secretary the same warm smile he always had before he heard her voice through the door. His hand moved to the new mark on his wrist and could swear he could still feel the gun on his skin. "Hey Doctor." He gave her a smile as he stepped into the familiar office where until christmas he'd explained the 5 year memory gap and about the strangers that would talk to him on the street using his middle name. "I'm okay, thanks. I know it's been a bit, been covering as many shifts as I can especially since the black outs." His other hand idly moving to his wrist and his thumb brushing on the tattoo like it was a worry stone or to cover the new marking.

[isabellexlaurent]

"Is that a compliment or an insult, Remington?" She laughed off the jab, placing a peck on Elliot's cheek to soothe the hurt. Between the influence of the drinks and seeing one's ex, it the perfect recipe for an awkward encounter, yet he navigated it perfectly.

The vampire smirk, placing her drink down. "A beau on each arm. Aren't I the lucky girl." She winked, enjoying this side of Elijah. She certainly had no qualms with entertaining both men for the evening. "I do wonder if there is a private box for this production. It would make quite the scandal for three elders to be seen together privately."

"Quite a long time. It's good to see." Internally at the mention of his behavior with Naz he cringed a little he had been an ass. Whatever was in that green potion had not been good for him and he was quite unsure on where he and Naz would be in a few days given it all. He shook it off and took another drag from the blue drink before looking between the two. "A momentary lapse in personality. I promise that has been remedied." He lifted his drink to him with a smile. "I'm willing to share since Belle has already agreed to do so. And I am certainly not one to deny her. At least join us for the rest of the party unless you happen to catch the eye of someone else."

[isabellexlaurent]

[isabellexlaurent]

Rachel Weisz

[isabellexlaurent]

Given what a little birdie told her, Isabelle would be having a long talk with Teddy and his paramour. There was a reason that Louis had his memories erased. While such things were not always fair to the humans, the golden rule dictated the necessity of the action. Now she magically had an opening in her schedule should Louis wish for a sooner session than the one scheduled. Wringing the neck of the meddlesome human would need to be scheduled for next week. After all, it was not fair punish the idiots without knowing exactly what Louis learned.

Placing the "raspberry" tea to the side of her chair, Belle crossed her leg, watching the clock tick the moments to their appointment. Louis was seldom late. She wouldn't need to wait long. Hearing her secretary greet someone, Belle called out permission to come further into the office.

"Louis dear, do come in. How are you?" She rose from her chair, shutting the door behind him. "Would you care for anything before we start? I know that it had been some time since our last session. I look forward to hearing your progress."

@louisnotjack

[isabellexlaurent]

Between meetings, planning, and social gatherings, Isabelle rarely had a moment to herself in the past few months. The threat of the humans drew ever closer as their methods evolved into something that actually threatened the supernatural community. The elder vampire grew tired of the shadows. No longer anticipating an attack, her actions grew bolder and less paranoid. She needed a break.

Vicium might not be her usual haunt, but it was what she needed this evening. She needed to let go of everything for one night and simply be. Her plan was to lose herself carnally for now should the right treat come along.

Walking through the building, she watched a few of the shows, finding nothing to her taste just yet. Surely this was not the best that the place had on offer. She'd be sadly disappointed to find nothing thrilling within these walls.

Pulling a pretty but shy thing from the fringe of the crowd, Belle lead her victim into the VIP room. It would be easy enough to remove any memories should they prove not to her liking. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to their throat, biting in a way that would have the human unable to distinguish the pleasure from the pain.

With a groan, Belle sat up, licking her lips. "A joke? You mean like your level of patience, Aries." The vampire waved away her snack. "Is there a reason you are interrupting my dinner?"

where: vicium with: @isabellexlaurent

---

Aries stepped into the so-called VIP room—or at least, that’s what it would be called if it weren’t the haunt of the vampires he kept on retainer. They loitered here in velvet-clad shadows, trading their glamouring talents for the usual trade: free-flowing blood from guests and a menu of bodies, ripe for their picking.

He didn’t come here often. Usually only when someone got handsy or loud, and he had to drag them in by the collar to have their memories scrubbed before dumping them onto the street like spoiled meat.

But tonight, his reasons were different.

Aries had no need to charge for his time, which made him something of a rarity in a place like this. He cost nothing but a good time. Still, the night had been unbearably slow, and he'd already declined too many offers that had nothing worth providing.

So, he sought out better company.

He found it, as always, in Isabelle, who spent her spare moments rinsing memories. Aries eased onto the leather couch beside her, nearly bare save for a pair of loose black pants. He settled into the cushions with a practiced grace, hands folded on his knee, one ankle crossed over the other.

“I’m incredibly bored,” he said, drawing out the final word. "Tell me a joke."

[isabellexlaurent]

"I'm sure our dear Mr. Remington would not allow you to get far." She winked, seeing the way that Eli still stood close to Elliot despite reaching for her own hand. If she didn't know better, she'd say that the witch elder had developed a bit of a crush on Elliot- not that Belle could blame him. Eliot was the very definition of charm.

Thinking about Eli's behavior this evening did feel a bit off. She wondered which of the concoctions he had consumed. Surely not the yellow. It had been her drink before converting to champagne, and everything was going swimmingly. The green brought out the envy in Elliot, and the blue drink had changed his mood but not quite as much as Eli's demeanor shifted. That left purple, orange, or red. "I am touched that you would allow me such a role tonight, but I would not dream of monopolizing your attentions. If Elijah is willing, I don't see why we can't share."

"Only trying to learn from your charm, Atwood." He slid away from Elliot to catch Isabelle's hand, lifting it to kiss the back of her knuckles. He did feel a little cold on the side where he'd stood against Elliot but ignored it. "I could never hope to upstage you, Isabelle." There was a part of his mind that wondered what the hell he was doing, but it wasn't loud enough to completely shake whatever liquid courage he'd gotten. "Think of me as an interlude, a momentary distraction."

[isabellexlaurent]

Whatever was in this new drink clearly put Elliot in a better mood. Belle feared that there would have been blood spilled from how Elliot glared at certain parties. She'd need to thank Artus later, although where in the crowd he'd disappeared to, she couldn't tell. It was all a sea of brightly colored costumes and decorations.

"If I didn't know better, I would think that you were envious of the fact that Elliot asked me to be his date?" Her eyes drifted to where Eli's hand remained firmly around Elliot. No one could fault the witch for his good taste, but his actions were far more brazen than usual. It was her turn to pout as Elliot echoed the sentiment. "Indeed it does. Shall I flitter off and leave you wo alone?"

"Sour mood, even Isabelle says you're pouting." He reiterated with a smile, pleased that Isabelle had taken his side in their relatively shallow argument. Though what she said about Naz almost confirmed it for Elijah that Eliiot had been the person he'd seen glaring earlier when he'd danced with her.

Elijah was reminded of the fact that he still didn't know if the drinks had different effects when he caught Artus walking away out of the corner of his eye and looked to see a blue drink in Elliot's hand. What had he been drinking before? "I don't know. You're his date tonight Belle, what do you think?" For some reason he was reluctant to move his arm from where he'd slung it around Elliot even as he mentioned his connection to Isabelle.

[isabellexlaurent]

Between the way that Eli easily toyed with Elliot's horns and how he leaned into her touch, she noted the elder acted very unlike himself. It could have been the drink, yet he often went around almost as uptight as Matthew. Remington deserved a night to lose his inhibitions.

Leaning over, she placed a chaste kiss on Elliot's cheek. "Merely getting another refreshment, darling. I did not mean to leave you." The vampire would have offered to get Elliot a drink as well, but he was contenting himself on the rainbow elixirs. If her date wished to indulge, she would scarcely be the one to stop him. And Artus so gallantly did the deed for her.

"It is a shame to see Elliot pouting so. I do appreciate you trying to cheer him up. I thought a dance with Naz might have done the trick, yet it only served to upset him more. Do tell how we might cheer him up."

"Thank you Elliot. Though I think you've hit a good mix between dapper and on theme." He reached up to tweak the horns on Elliot's head. His focus on that meant that he was caught off guard when Isabelle seemed to appear in front of them out of nowhere.

"All I've done is to be charming all night." He learned into Isabelle's touch for a moment before shifting sideways to loop his arm through Elliot's. "Which is why I was trying to cheer up Mr. Atwood here who seems to be in a bit of a sour mood." Elijah hadn't thought dancing with Naz would make him react this way, but it seemed like he had to make some amends.

[isabellexlaurent]

"Gentleman." Belle looked between Eli and Elliot. She couldn't tell whose heart was racing faster this evening. The cause for Elliot was rather obvious given the looks he shot at every suitor his ex-wife charmed. She took a sip of her champagne, raising a brow at the fact that both men were holding colored drinks. While the golden brew she'd ingested changed noting to her knowledge, it was becoming increasingly clear that the more colorful drinks were enchanted.

"I leave Elliot alone for a few moments and come back to him pouting." Belle playfully ran a finger down his cheek. "What have you done, Elijah?"

@atwoodesq and @isabellexlaurent

Elijah had loosened up a bit and had one of the red drinks after Rei assured him it would be fine. So far he felt drunk but wasn't sure what other effects it had. He'd felt slightly warm and dropped his jacket and tie off at the coat check but kept his long embroidered coat hanging off his shoulders. It was the most interesting part of his outfit. He was making his way along one of the paths when he spotted a familiar face. He leaned up against a tree beside them, slumping a little so he could look up through his eyelashes. "How's your night been so far?"

[isabellexlaurent]