Rice Bluff Taste of the Rockies

outfit!

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Pete didn't have any plans for Halloween, which was always a dangerous setup. She needed very little reason to go full Jersey, and truthfully the only reason she wasn't out egging houses was a lack of company. Most of what made petty vandalism fun was having a friend to do it with!

So, alone, restless and with very little money to burn, she noodled her way out to Rice Bluff - dirty, lying girl of her dreams. She chose a bar she was fairly sure she'd never frequented and scoped out the place, noting the age and apparent income bracket of its customers. Lots of people went out on a night like this, so she had to shoulder her way up to the bar, baring fangs at everyone who looked her in the eye; from there she leaned and observed until she saw her moment.

She lifted an almost-untouched pint of beer from beside an unwary man and drank sloppily from it as she relocated to the other side of the bar. Mmm, light beer!!

Was it wrong of Gideon to find joy in watching his coworker run himself ragged?

Bus duty always sucked and on a night like this poor Saul had his arms full of dishes and half drank beers, his sweat haphazardly flopping to the ground and into the unsuspecting’s food. Gideon creased his brow with his pointer and thumb, hiding a short chuckle at the middle aged man’s poor performance at entry level work. He’d give the benefit of the doubt to most in this situation, but Saul treated him like a kid, so it was instead amusing. The man did finally make it back to the bar and drop off the dishes even if he broke a couple in the process.

”Lend a hand, maybe?” Saul barked at Gideon as he was pouring some already plastered patron a light beer to pile on.

”Do I seem free to you?” Gideon snapped in response, motioning his head towards the line forming.

While the bustle always proved to be a struggle to keep up with, Gideon still did find the energy to enjoy Halloween. His face painted as a standard skull from the nose up, leaving his mouth and cheeks his normal pale complexion. He wore a campy pull over sweater with cats wearing witch hats and cartoonish skulls, and from his ears he’d hanged long and dangly tombstone earrings. He couldn’t keep track of the standard issue compliments he’d received.

And without prompting, he watched a woman dressed like a vampire steal a swig of the beer he’d just dished out to the patron in front of him. That seemed pretty on brand for this place. Another short laugh escaped him, but was interrupted quickly by Saul’s hand on his shoulder. Ah, that common indication that it was his turn to roam the establishment without the comfort of a bar between him and the patrons. It was probably best for him to stretch his legs anyways.

He decided that the drink-stealing woman was a good a place as any to start and approached her as traipsed carelessly about the place.

”Can I get you anything?”

Pete's delight at being approached by a little man in skull makeup and dangly earrings was immediate and obvious. She beamed, then hissed at him, showing off some profoundly believable vampire fangs! (They were believable because they were real. Hyena, not vampire.) "Vhat is zis drink, baht piss?" She waggled the pint glass at him, already half empty, deciding on a Dracula accent on a whim and committing to it hard. "I vant sometzing stronger!"

He rose an eyebrow at her. Anyone who could afford fake fangs that nice had to come to here and steal beer, then complain about its quality, was certainly a character. Best not to rile up the unruly.

”Oh pardon me, Countess, we’ve just run out of blood.” His words were fun and his tone was tired.

”Unfortunately all our stolen beverages taste like shit, but if you bought a drink the result may be a bit different.” He offered her a cocky smile and a light flourish of his earrings.

All that effort to paint his face, and he didn't want to joke around with a vampire? She hissed at him again, throwing up her free hand. "Vahmpire curse!" Except he kept talking, and seemed to brighten up. Her theatrical scowl inverted. "I vould pay good money for a virgin," she stage whispered, tipping her glass back and draining it further. "But you hahve no more blood."

She was pretty dedicated to the accent it seemed. But she was fun and it was Halloween, no reason for his sulking from being overworked and sharing the time with a shitty coworker to ruin her night. He did however need to work and he couldn’t have her stomping through her stealing drinks from people less oblivious and wind up with a bucket full of complaints.

”Well, it appears we’re at a strange and spooky impasse here. How about, since you clearly can’t go out in the morning for them, I make you a midnight Bloody Mary? That oughta put a dent in your never ending thirst, your unholiness!”

A good answer! She hissed again, because she was enjoying doing that, and grinned at him over her empty glass. "Zis pleases ze Countess. But make it ehxtra strong. I need a kick in the coffin." And she would follow him placidly enough back to the bar, throwing her hands out behind her to flourish her cape. As far as she was concerned, she'd found the most interesting party in the establishment and would attach herself to him until he was drained dry! Ah ha ha!

Oh, good! She was now following him. Maybe this would lead to some temporary entertainment or an absolute dissection of his patience. Either way, Gideon was internally screaming.

”Let us make haste, countess!” Oh god was he getting into the spirit of Halloween beyond his make up and jewelry? What was she doing to him?!

Gideon led the fanged woman back towards the bar where he slid beside Saul in order to begin making her drink. Ignoring Saul’s fervent glare he continued to smile at her.

”So do you have any plans beyond getting black out for the evening?” He spoke while he made her Bloody Mary with just a touch, well, maybe a lot, more vodka than it would normally call for.

She leaned over the bar, tits threatening to spill out, and grinned at what she was pretty sure had been a generous pour. No doubt she was gonna pay a generous price for it. "Vell, since you have no blood of virgins. I must go out into ze night, find a victim, and suck zem of zeir juices!" She squeezed the air between them, to be sure he got it!

What did real vampires do on Halloween anyway, she wondered? Nab trick-or-treaters for a sugar high?

Gideon went under the assumption that she’d likely already had one too many and now questioned if it’d be the responsible thing to hand her a morning cocktail with a weighted vodka-tomato ratio. There wasn’t any clear indication he could find but the thought had finally arrived in his head. He again concluded that his stubbornness and overall protective nature of the people in Rice Bluff shouldn’t be the cause of someone else’s diluted celebration. While she was borderline flashing him and creating a scenario in which entertainment was now colliding with a bit of discomfort, he slid the drink over to her and politely requested the nine dollars she owed him. Not letting the transaction linger in the conversation he kept his smile, placing both hands on the bar in a fashion stereotypical of employees in dives like this.

“Is that so? Maybe take your virgin-nabbing somewhere else in the county.”He leaned in like he was about to spill a secret. ”I hear there’s a killer around these parts lately, you best be careful.” Gideon spoke with a falsely spooky tone. The festivity of Halloween and the tone of their conversation made him feel cheeky to say such a thing.

Besides, she was a normal, pleasant bar-goer. She’d have nothing to worry about.

Nine dollars. Rice Bluff, what was happening to you? She fished a wallet out of the layers of her costume, peeling a twenty out and letting it flutter toward the bartender. "Keep ze change, I haff no use for human money."

Her new best friend leaned in, and she followed suit, smiling, always wanting to know a secret. He spun her your basic spooky Halloween murder tale, to which she had no objections and absolutely zero suspicions. "Ahhhh, a killer! Tell me, how doz he dispatch his victims?" Awaiting the payoff, she slid the Bloody Mary within reach and slorped it.

Hey she tipped 122%, nothing to be upset about there. He took her money to the till and broke it up before dumping the extra bills into the jar atop the bar counter. Gideon then slid, literally and quite dramatically, back to his spot in order to continue his tale.

Leaning back in he began,
“Apparently they’ve been seen in a bright red mask and stalking the alleyways by this very bar. However, there’s only been a couple sightings of them so no one has registered any more details then that. They’ve only ever found bloodstains beyond that meaning that no victim has been seen before or after. They seem to be pretty good at what they do. No trail, no victim preference, it’s all a big mystery still. Maybe you’ll see them whilst you hunt in the night for those who’d never lain with another!”

He used a very overdramatized tone and lots of fun hand gestures that made his earrings swing and bounce.

Gideon couldn’t help but wonder if he was a bit too arrogant. She seemed to be interested in the tale. Whether that meant she believed it or not; he supposed it didn’t make much of a difference.

To Pete's detriment, it didn't once cross her mind that Gideon could be telling the truth, let alone that he might be the one out doing vigilante work. He was just...so human! So small and breakable. No one like that actually messed with supernaturals, because if they did, they ended up dead. Like, a lot of them. A lot of people fucking died.

She tapped her chin with a crimson-painted fingernail, pretending to think. "To me this sounds like another vampire. Blood, costume, disappearing body. Perhaps...it is my cousin Vlad." She pondered this as she took another high-propane swig of her bloody Mary. "Haff you seen them yourself, comrade?"

At some point her vampire impersonation had slid into an impersonation of her Russian bear friend.

The one thing that seemed to be evading both Gideon and Pete’s mind was that Gideon wasn’t afraid of any supernaturals. Not only did he not think himself very incapable of perishing but he hadn’t really gathered how close the supernatural community had been to him. Clearly, far closer than he could have hazarded to guess. The culmination of arrogance and passed success in his endeavors really made him believe that there wasn’t a throat in the county he couldn’t dry out.

He smiled and stood straighter at the mention of the killer being a vampire. He did act a bit like a vampire, didn’t he? Gideon had never made that comparison before and he quite liked it.

”Me? Oh god no.” A chuckle following his words. ”I limit my time in this area to when I’m being paid. I’m not super interested in becoming a corpse myself.” He motioned to his makeup. ”Contrary to popular belief. I certainly don’t recommend you look for him though. Like I said, he doesn’t seem to have a type of target.”

Oh, fuck. Gideon tried his best to hide his panic. He never told her it was a male.

Again, Pete didn't notice. Who didn't assume a serial killer was male? If anything, the decade-long hyena she'd been harboring picked up on an elevated heart rate, a sense of startle that entered the air between them. But it was nothing noteworthy. Mostly she felt like this story had fizzled out instead of getting interesting. "Oh, my child. But you would make...very beautiful corpse." She reached a long arm out in an attempt to stroke a finger down his cheek. "Don't worry about me. All vampires share kinship, and we much look out for each other. We only fight over the virgins."

Now, either he would be done with her or he would find something else to entertain her with. She had his number.

No matter how much time he spent with her his sense of confusion about her behavior only ever abated slightly. Even after spinning a horror filled yarn to her she didn’t seem to waver. It was still in spirit with the season. Her demeanor seemed to change a bit though. She spoke the same but her accent dropped. Was he just being hyper aware out of fear that he’d just outed himself as a killer? He was a bit lost in contemplation as he felt her finger
strike his cheek. It was… odd. But was quickly replaced by the shove of his shoulder by Saul.

”Hey, day dreamer. You’ve been off for ten minutes. Take this shit elsewhere.” He shook his head and snapped back to the present. Had he really been here for six hours already? Well, shit.

Gideon turned back towards Pete. “While you’re staving off hunger you mind if I join for a drink? I can’t imagine you’ll find any virgins in this place so you might need to wait a while,” He joked.

She pierced an olive on one fang and hissed at the other guy, her fingers twitching ominously. From context it sounded like her little skeleton man's night had ended, which was...interesting! She looked at him sidelong as she ate the olive. "Vhat do skeletons drink?"

"That's an excellent question," He mused. "Considering my complete and utter lack of organs to digest anything on a normal day, I don't tend to often consume any liquids." He reached under the bar and pulled out a bronze goblet, something much nicer and cleaner than most of the glassware laying around. He proceeded to pour vodka from a bottle and ginger beer from a tap into it simultaneously then topped it off with a single ice cube.

"But on Halloween, I drink Moscow Mules."

He walked around the corner to meet Pete on the other side. "I'm Gideon, by the way. Oh! Forgive me where are my manners." He bowed deeply.

"Your vileness!" Gideon declared.

Gideon! What a silly name, no wonder he acted the way he did. Being Gideon didn't leave you a lot of options. She straightened up as he worshiped her, her mouth twisted into a pleased, superior smirk. "They're better vith mule blood. Just sayink."

Leaning back a little on her stool, she considered him, his tough sissy short guy vibes. A fellow freak, definitely. "My name is Gabrielle. But you may call me the Countess. Look deep into my eyes, and I will bind you too me." She waved her hand mystically in front of him, casting her spell.

”I’ll have to try it some time.” Gideon spoke as he pulled another stool. It was indeed relatively comical to watch him get into the stool as they were clearly not designed with people under 6’0” in mind. After he’d adjusted enough to be decently comfortable, he took a long swig of the cold drink with no straw. It was harsh in his teeth but he didn’t show it. Instead, he decided to follow ‘Gabrielle’s’ orders.


This would be an interesting enough time killer until the wee hours of the night. People would be out late, so his second job would have to wait til’ beyond the hour of witches, likely.

What he wasn’t so sure of was why he was so complacent with looking her dead in the eyes. There was an air about her. Something different then other bar patrons held. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

”Is this what vampires do to make thralls?” He leaned his head sideways, clinking his earring against the goblet. ”I must be too powerful to subdue, Countess Gabrielle.” A shit eating smirk spread across his face.

She grinned in response, flashing pearl-white fangs again. "That is because I have not suggested you. And call me the Countess. What I have done is only put an oath of loyalty onto you." Yeah, that sounded good! She brought the bloody Mary back to her lips with some delicacy. In the slow moment it took to drink, she considered him some more, squinting like a cat. "Are you going home to your boyfriend after your shift?"

Suggested? Some weird form of her deeply integrated cosplay he assumed. She was dedicated to the night if nothing else. Her unwavering in her costume was still entertaining though. Certainly enough to keep him enraptured.

”My apologies, the Countess.” He began. ”And no, no partner to speak of. As it turns out I’m considered to be rather insufferable!” Or at least so some of the crueler patrons at Franklins had said.

”What about you? No Vlad on your arm tonight?”

She nodded sagely, or sort of tried to as she swam her way through the middle half of her drink. Vodka fumes! "Because of your personality, shoor. You hoff to make people talk about zemselves if you want zem to like you." Or you had to be a dazzling Edward-type vampire, but not everyone was like her and could pull it off. She bit into a pickle. "Vlad is my cousin, you pervert. And unfortunately, my lover...he met a tragic end recently." Big blue eyes gazed wistfully out the black of the window. "I accidentally murdered her in an alleyway."

Ouch. He knew it was probably true that he was not easy to mesh with. Still, not a fun thing to hear. Had to respect that honesty though. Gabrielle was a strange one. Gideon held a smile through it all, just grateful for the company tonight. Even if she’d just said she murdered her lover in an alleyway.

Well, she wouldn’t be the first to kill someone in alleyway.

”Well that is tragic indeed. How did that come to pass?”

Crunching her way through pickle and olives, she daydreamed tipsily about how a vampire’s girlfriend might meet their end. "Oh, it is too sad to tell. You get scared by an alley cat and zen next thing you know, you are covered in blood. Of course you understand."

She sighed, leaning back and feeling the conversation start to peter out. If she left now, she’d have maybe ten minutes to enjoy a bit of drunkenness before gliding back into sobriety. And she had shit to do! Children to scare, windows to break.

This sense of urgency made her throw back her drink. Cough a little from the sediment. "All right, sweet boy, I have vompire businesses to attend to.". She flashed one last fanged grin. "As we say I’m Transylvania…stay spooky."

It was intriguing to hear when people told him something might scare him. He doubted anything would scare him. Nothing short of someone teleporting in front of him without warning. But when would that happen? Never, that’s when. He nodded in acknowledgment and had expected her to continue with the tall fables but instead she offered her leave. Unexpected, but not unwelcome.

He stood up and bowed in reverence. ”I wish you well, dear Countess!“ He smiled and waved her off as if she was truly a queen.

This was great timing actually, as he had just thought it a wonderful night to go moonlighting.