Summit Theater Entertain me

At Fringe
Look

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Riddhi was here because, like many in the lobby that evening, she wanted to be entertained.

She did enjoy the theatre, often indulging in many shows throughout her long life across the world. Summer meant she wasn’t able to enjoy as much of the theatre festival as she would have liked but thank goodness for late night shows!

As Riddhi sat in the lobby, waiting to be ushered into the theatre space, she glanced around at the decor. It was lovely. Not amazing, nor the best theatre space she’d ever been to. But good enough. She wondered why it distinctly smelled of cat. Shifters?

She accepted a program from the usher at the door and made her way into the theatre. Finding a row that appealed, she squeezed down the aisle until she found the perfect seat. She gave a smile to the person who took the seat beside her and suddenly found she wished she had invited someone to attend with her that evening.

"Have you seen many shows this week?" Riddhi asked the person sitting next to her, because, of course, she wanted to be entertained.

look 4 l8er, is bat

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That was a familiar face, a familiar presence.

Abner had decided to hit up the festival one more time before it closed, since it'd been a pretty successful hunting haunt last time. This time they hadn't come as a human, instead they'd fluttered in to meet the bright lights and happy screams in the body of a small white wisp. It was easier to watch and get around this way, they'd always considered themself lucky to have gained such a small and skybound form.

They hanging from a lamp post and searching for a meal when they saw her, the vampire with the newborn from Kaida's meeting. A potential clutch mate, someone he might do well to get to know. Ugh, he hated "getting to know" people, it was never really worth it in the end. But she was powerful, at least as powerful as he was, which gave her at least some intrigue points.

He followed her into the theatre, and though he too loved to be entertained, the actors weren't his primary interest. The small white bat wondered how long it would take for her to recognize his presence, or if she'd known he was there all along. Stubbornly, he refused to be the first to make a move.

The person next to her offered a very noncommittal answer, vague and boring, and Riddhi bit back the desire to roll her eyes as she glanced back at the stage.

It was then she smelled them. Felt him. Another vampire.

Except, difficult to point out in the crowd as Riddhi subtly peered around. She mumbled beneath her breath, knowing a vampire, if they were aware of her, would be able to hear her speak.

"Good evening." They were as powerful as she was. But again. Lots of people inside the space. Difficult to pinpoint where the feeling was coming from.

Abner heard the voice, he was tuned into her already. A polite mumble, acknowledgement of his presence. He fluttered but didn’t make a sound, perched at the back of the theatre below a fire alarm. He preferred to stay out of sight, it was fun to make people search.

"Where’s your pet newborn?" he replied with a question, wryly, beady black eyes boring into the back of her head.

Riddhi smirked at the question. Recognized the voice though not entirely able to place where he was. Abner, right?

"Why?" She inquired just as wryly. A glance over her shoulder at the person behind her. Who blinked at her and then looked back at their seatmate.

Hehe, she glanced to no avail. Abner had the best seat in the house, unbothered and hidden with a view of it all with enhanced vampiric eyesight. If a bat could smirk, Abner's bat did so now.

"Not a helicopter mom then?" they answered her question with another question, eyes only briefly shifting to the stage as the director came out to give a their drabble. The audience clapped, but the bat didn't make a sound.

Riddhi's smirk didn't fall from her face as she peered up at the ceiling, searching for what she assumed was a vampire in disguise. Or maybe he could turn invisible also.

She joined in the clapping, albeit belatedly.

"Should I be?" Two could play this game, Abner. ;)

Abner snorted at the response, pleasantly surprised. They didn't know what they were expecting from her, but they almost always judged people as 'boring' before they knew them. It was up to everyone else to prove them wrong. Riddhi's willingness to play along gave her some points ;)

"Don't ask me, I don't have one," and they had no plans to. Creating a vampire was just work, responsibility, or the decision to leave someone behind. Why bother at all?

He didn't have one. It was probably wise. Riddhi could be smart when it came to certain things. Impulsive at other times. Especially when it came to siring friends. Perhaps it was abandonment issues. Mommy issues? Call it what you want.

The show was starting but Riddhi's attention was entirely focused on her future clutchmate.

"Do you have a habit of hiding?" She decided to ask, smirk still on her face. "I like to hide too."

As the lights went down to pitch black, Riddhi tapped into her magic. When the stage lights came up on the stage, it would appear as if no one was sitting in her place.

But she remained there for now. Invisible.

A habit of hiding? Abner chuckled, "You see more," when nobody sees you. No appearances to put on to please the crowd, just a wisp in the night, observing the sprawling mass of people. Abner loved hiding in the shadows, it was the most free of places.

So did she, the woman vanished from sight, where their eyes had been trained on her dark hair he was now staring at the back of someone else's chair. Now they were both just two ghosts with no bodies, unseen by each other but felt and heard. "Neat trick, useful," they commented, "I'm jealous."

Riddhi stood, her presence known only by the confused patrons who moved their knees out of her way while she climbed through the row back to the aisle.

"Understandable." She muttered quietly, a smirk in her voice as she stepped in the absolute incorrect direction away from Abner.

"What can you do?"

Abner could tell she was on the move, they followed the ripple of disruption throughout the audience. Once the wave of confused patrons ceased their grumbling, they figured she must be out. From here she could be anywhere, and that would set anyone unnerved. He didn't know if or when she'd found him, and that tugged a bit at his confidence. Abner's gaze flitted about, as though he might catch a sliver of her form out the corner of his eye.

Tone more of a monotone drawl now, "I'll show you if you find me."

Hmmm… Riddhi was curious about his power but didn’t like the idea that he may use it on her.

Still, it was a challenge she accepted, and she stopped, not sure which direction to move in.

"I hope it’s not fire." She smirked. Though, secretly also hoped it wasn’t.

The dark haired woman was still invisible to him, but that didn't stop Abner from searching for her. Was this what it felt like to others when he spoke like this? A disembodied voice, potentially anywhere. It was spooky, somewhat thrilling.

"You'll have to wait and see," they replied teasingly.

Riddhi thought she heard his voice more clearly that time and as the actor began their first line on stage, she turned around. Almost a one-eighty from the direction she'd been facing. Closer, but not a direct line towards him as she walked.

"Tease," She told them with a wry smile.

Abner's reply was an amused hum, a low and vibrating tone that would reach only her ears. Wherever she was. Closer perhaps, her voice had been louder. But not close enough, not yet.

Hmmmmm... They didn't speak again, merely offered a low hum that hardly reached her ears over the sounds of the actor squawking on stage.

She continued to walk in the same direction, towards the exit, not quite towards him.

She was taking her time, and that was making Abner antsy. She better hurry up, they wouldn't hang there all night.

"Do you want a hint?" they drawled, sarcastic and teasing.

Riddhi continued to head just slightly in the wrong direction, until they spoke.

She pouted and crossed her arms, not that he could see her.

"Yes."

"Fire alarm," what a hint, truly a give away! Because Abner was so nice, so giving. Now she just had to find the little red alarm, and there he'd be.

Hopefully at least now he'd know she was coming.

She saw the white bat as soon as she sought out the fire alarm.

A smirk they wouldn't see flashed across her features.

"That wasn't a hint. You just gave yourself away!" She spoke in hushed tones as she approached slowly. When she was far enough towards the back, she reappeared and gave him a grin.

"If you set me on fire, I will haunt you." A warning.

Abner scoffed at her comment, "I'm impatient," came their casual rebuttal. After a few more seconds a figure reappeared, a silhouette darkened by the dim of the theatre. They both blended in to the shadows quite well.

"Not ready to die again?" they teased, fluttering tiny pale wings and turning their head to face her.

Now there was a layered question, even if he had meant it to be teasing! It gave Riddhi enough pause to consider him. At least they probably wouldn't be able to do anything as a bat.

"Hmm. I quite like being around." Her eyes narrowed in the darkness but her lips were curved upwards in a Cheshire cat's grin. Abner, unknown mostly to Riddhi despite that night, was an unpredictable entity. Riddhi had a habit of making friends with the unpredictable sorts.

Better than enemies, she supposed.

A good answer, definitely the expected one. Abner didn’t reply with agreement, rather he waited in the quiet before asking, "Outside? Show seems boring."

He’d never been paying attention anyways.

The show was quite boring in comparison to her new companion. Riddhi answered him by walking out the door of the theatre, holding it open so he could fly out in front of her, if he chose.

Abner followed Riddhi's lead, dropping down from their perch and towards the sliver of light now slipping in from outside. Eyes adjusted quickly to the differences, the louder pulse of the city street beat against their ears.

They hovered before her, a small ghost, "Can you fly? Or are you one of the unlucky ones," they asked in a tauntingly playful tone.

Riddhi looked around them to make sure they were not attracting any attention. In the shadows she went and when she emerged, she was a tiny brown bat. An answer to his question.

She flew higher into the sky and expected them to follow.

The white bat hummed, "You've got it all then, lucky you," and took off after her, beating small wings against the gentle night breeze. They'd fly higher until they matched her pace, and flew at her side.

"I like your ears."

Yeah, she had it all. Except any fledglings who looked up to her. Or cared about her.

Anyway.

Riddhi didn’t know if it was a compliment or not but she decided to take it as one.

"Thank you," The little bat replied as she soared through the sky, wary not to go too fast and lose him.

"What do you think of our to-be leader?" She asked then, not bothering to hide her smirk.

Abner fluttered along behind her, a little bat tailing another, bigger, different little bat. Riddhi then asked the obvious question, what did he think of the clutch, of Kaida?

It's easy to answer honestly when your answer isn't all that telling, "Don't really know, I'm waiting to see how it turns out." There was some humor in their tone, in the nonchalance of it all. They knew what Kaida had told them, but words were nothing against what time would eventually tell. "I'm interested enough to stick around."

Riddhi soared through the air, flapping her wings and enjoying the feel of the breeze against her skin. Flying was always so freeing.

Interested enough to stick around was good enough for Riddhi and she threw him a sideways bat smirk.

"Good." Riddhi found she meant it. She was curious to see more of Abner. Even if their clutch-to-be wasn’t hell-bent on fostering an air of togetherness. Unity. They just needed the numbers.

"Have you been in a clutch before?"

Good, heh, so Abner had made themself interesting enough. They returned the bat smirk, a strange little twitch of their nose and ears.

"30 years with my first clutch, fell apart, been on my own since," the band of artists, Petra and her children. Abner always thought he was her favorite, and she had been one of the few people he'd ever trusted. But she was gone, and Abner had since trusted no one but himself.

Ah, so he had a bit of experience then. Longer than Riddhi had ever stuck with one clutch. She flapped her little wings and continued to fly, fluttering upwards in a circle until she was behind the other bat.

"What happened?"

What happened, what a lovely question. One that friends might get an answer to, like he ever had of those anyways. Riddhi, definitely, was not that yet.

"Fell apart," they replied, casual, offering nothing more. That was personal, Abner didn't feel like sharing. She'd understand, she probably had loads of buried memories that she didn't want dredged up.

"You been in a clutch?" they diverted, fluttering underneath her to fly on her other side.

Riddhi wasn’t going to get anything more out of him, which was unfortunate.

Her gaze followed him as he fluttered beneath her to the other side.

"Yes. A couple. I’m not the biggest fan of them but I see why they’re necessary sometimes."

A couple of clutches meant she likely had more years under her than they did, they wondered just how long the little brown bat had been haunting the skies.

"Not fair that getting stronger means needing people," he replied, humor humming in his throat.

Yes, she agreed. It would be easier to not need people even if Riddhi secretly craved connections with other vampires. It was easier to pretend she didn’t. Safer.

"Strength in numbers, blah, blah, blah," She smirked and flew higher into the sky.

She was flying higher and Abner followed. They usually stuck closer to the ground, easier to flit about and between buildings and trees, less out in the open. But this would do fine, they weren't stalking anything after all.

Not yet, Abner would love to change that.

"Strength in numbers but a vampire king, almost doesn't seem worth it when you think about it."

"You only have to stick around long enough to get what you want out of it," Riddhi said with a small shrug of her wings mid-flight. She planned on sticking around a while. Hopefully.

She wondered if Abner would want to do the same.

"I'll wait and see how it turns out," they hummed in response, nonchalant, as if how it turned out meant no difference to them. Honestly, they sort of hoped it would, could be a fun new chapter of their eternity.

"You wanna grab a bite? I said I'd show you my trick, haven't gotten to yet."

A bite sounded good to Riddhi, and she was curious about this little trick of his.

"Lead the way," She replied, ready to follow them towards the ground.

Abner took that cue and dove back down, wings flapping against the wind. They parachuted when they were at tree level, pale pink wings outstretched to catch the breeze. From there it was a simple flutter down to a branch, where they could wrap little tiny bat toes around a twig.

Hanging upside down they craned their neck to search for Riddhi, to see where she'd land. They'd perched in a tree in the middle of a natural area, above a sidewalk where people still poured this way and that. A good place to pick a meal.

Riddhi began her descent towards the ground, the treetops far beneath them for how high they'd flown. She swooped down and landed on a branch not far from Abner, hanging upside-down to view what they had in store.

"Can you do it like this?" She asked, assuming the answer was no. But he might be able to!

"No, wouldn't that fuck though?" they sneered, turning their gaze away from the other bat and down to the crowd.

There were plenty of people to choose from, all enjoying the fringe festivities. "Who do you want?" they asked, giving Riddhi the choice. A treat, on Abner.

"How about them. The person in red." Red meant the blood wouldn’t show, right? >:]

The person in red, Abner's beady black eyes swept back and forth over the crowd until they settled on a very average looking man in a red hoodie. Probably 30 something? Enjoying the festival on his own. Perfect.

"Red it is," Abner replied, then dropped to a lower branch, following the man along his path. He was headed away from the most crowded areas, which was good for them. Once he was alone enough, Abner would strike.

Riddhi followed close behind, dropping from one branch to another, eager to see his power manifest. What could it be that it helped with feeding?

As the man in red made his way to a more quiet area, slipping into an alleyway, Riddhi laughed a little. It was almost too easy sometimes. Still, she eyed Abner, waiting to see what they would do.

An alleyway! Pathetic, almost too easy of a meal. A mouse cornering itself for the cat to come find. Abner fluttered down, grabbing hold of the brick along the alley way wall. The white bat watched the man pull out a cigarette.

He waited until the man had settled in a cloud of smoke and closed his eyes, then Abner took off. A flurry of pale fur and leathery wings, morphing quickly to be a tall pale person looming behind the human. Before red shirt had time to react, Abner's icy hand grabbed a wrist.

And just like that the man was out. Dropped to the ground, a heap of bones. His cigarette smoldered against the concrete.

Riddhi swooped down to join Abner, waiting for them to show their power first before transforming back into her human form. What he could do visibly shocked her. He rendered the man unconscious with a touch. At first, she thought he might be dead but she could hear his heartbeat when she strained to listen.

"Impressive," Riddhi replied, a smirk returning to her lips as she studied the unconscious man. Not a power to be taken lightly.

The woman with dark hair reappeared at the edges of Abner's vision, and they were pleased with the surprised expression she wore. His power was impressive, useful, convenient.

"I can tell you what he dreams about too," they returned, crouching before the sleeping blood bag at their feet, "but that bit isn't as useful."