Midnight Bliss [Anyone]

[poss]

To say she was surprised that he agreed to the adventure she had offerd, would be an understatement. An uplifting feeling overwhelmed her, excitement and a bit of a thrill. It had been quite a while since she felt that way. What with the field of work she was in, it was rare to have a chance to read a few pages of a book let alone swim, but the opportunity always taunted her from just across the street in the past few weeks. Everyday that she stepped in to her car and brought the engine roaring to life, she couldnt help but glance over at the high chain link surrounded waters. It was on her 'to do' list since she 'moved in' to the motel. Okay, since she chose a parking spot is a better way to put it. She grinned, flashing her teeth with the excitement. "I should mention it is after hours, and this will mean scaling a ten foot fence to get to the water. Still interested?" She asked, a teasing raise of her brow yet again as she questioned his sense of adventure. Well if he had suspected she was a cop earlier, surely breaking the rule tonight would change his mind.

She was about to turn and begin the trek down the flooded sidewalk when he offered her his hand. She tilted her head as he spoke of standing on his feet and took a step over to him, looking down at his nice shoes, and then the large boot she wore. " Uhm.." she started before bending at the hips and reaching down to her boots. A quick snap on a few of the stainless clasps down each calf and she stepped out of the boots with a smirk. "Wouldn't want to scuff your shoes, Mr. Erif." she giggled as she scooped up the booted under one arm. She was barefoot now on the sidewalk as she stepped closer to him, lifting her left foot first and placing it on the top of his shoe, followed by the right.

Gazing up at him she couldn't help but laugh, realizing that now one hand was taken by the boots. Perhaps she made things worse when she was only trying to make them better. Her free hand took his, squeezing lightly. She was still laughing softly as she smiled up at him, "Do I have to jab you and say giddy up, or do I just hold on tight?" she teased.

[lucius]

The grin on his handsome face grew as she mentioned the necessity of breaking some rules. Perhaps she was not as in deep with the law as he had originally anticipated. "Ah, fences, rules. They mean no matter to me. I have a habit of defying things," said Lucius. Like gravity, as they were about to find out. He had always enjoyed mildly pushing his limits in areas that posed no major threat to his well-being or business. Lucius was confident that crossing a fence to enjoy a little dip in a pool would not bring much harm to either of them as well, and as such was more than willing to participate in such an exciting little moment to steal.

A chuckle passed through his lips for yet another time this night as she took off her shoes to stand on his feet. "Oh, you didn't need to worry about that. They're replaceable," replied the elder vampire. And ruined enough as it was, what with the weather being as it was. He did not mind too much at all, though; he had a countless pair of shoes at his disposal and could always find new ones to put on if any become damaged beyond repair or want for his particular fashion senses as they were.

When she stepped up onto his feet and wrapped an arm around him, he cast her a smile, wrapping both of his hands around her and holding her lightly--but safely--against him. Her comment made him laugh gently. "I'm no horse. Jabbing may result in unwanted circumstances. Just hold on tight and enjoy," he said, winking at her as he slowly levitated off of the ground with her. Keeping his gaze focused on Ana and her reactions, Lucius slowly began to float with her several meters above the ground, going over the flooded area as he did so.

[poss]

Shrugged as she laughed at his comment in response to her taking off her boots. It was the polite thing to do, and that was part of who she was. Considerate of others. Standing on his shoes bare footed, one arm wrapped around behind him she was nervous. Only a few months ago she wouldn't have been in this close to a vampire unless she was ensuring it was dead. Well, deader, as back then she also considered them 'walking corpses'. And now here she was, standing pressed against a vampire, one she had just met tonight for that matter, and about to levitate off of the ground. It was a good thing she had yet to sense any hostility from him, otherwise she would have thought twice about busying her hands in such a way that would not allow for the using of weapons. At the moment, however, it was not even a passing thought.

She was caught by his eye contact as they began to levitate, and it took her a moment to realize they were off the ground. The first hint was the movement of the brick wall out the corner of her eye, and instantly she was taken by surprise, wrapping her arm tighter around him and pressing herself against him in fear she would fall. Her fingers kneaded in to the material at the small of his back, not taking in consideration the wrinkles it would leave due to being so wet. Her heart raced as they began to move. It was a rush. When she drove her car, it was always at mach III, but here, now, standing on Lucius' shoes bare footed and clutching to him as they lifted from the ground, she felt an overwhelming sensation to hold on for her life.

The first few moments passed as they moved, and already she felt much more at ease. It was just the initial 'take off' that had startled her, and she relaxed her grip, fingers no longer grabbing at the material of his jacket. "This is.. absolutly amazing. Why would you ever walk?" she asked with mild humor, looking up at him, her chin almost resting on his chest due to the close proximity.

[lucius]

Lucius watched her reactions to the levitation with amusement, his gaze never leaving from her as he took them above the ground. He felt the surge of surprise as she noticed they left the ground, and his perfectly in-tune senses heard her heart beat quicken. He could heart heartbeats from afar very well, able to match their beatings with a clap of his hands, and knew well that hers was picking up for a brief while as she was taken aback by his little trick with the floating in the air.

The feelings of her increasing her grip on him did not concern him much at all; in fact, he had to admit to himself, he rather enjoyed Anastasia being this close to him, despite he rather unappealing characteristics of hunting down and killing his kind regularly in the past. A chuckle left his lips as he tilted his head at her. "Nervous?" he asked, that friendly smile remaining fixated on his handsome face.

Her question was met by another chuckle from Lucius, smiling softly at her. "Oh, it would draw attention to myself. Besides, it's a bit more tiring than walking. Have to think about it when I want to get it willingly going, though sometimes it has a habit of going off when I'm particularly sad or happy," said Lucius as he continued to levitate with her through the streets, her motel growing closer and closer to the duo to, the people across the street, as she promised, locked up and fenced in.

[poss]

She couldn't help but bite her bottomlip as she nodded a response to hs question of her being nervous. There were more reasons than the fact they were levitating, but surely he fully understood. She used to be a vampire huner, and going from slaughtering to embracing was quite the turn around. The stret passed by quickly beneath them, but not enough to make her want him to slow down. Lets admit it, she enjoyed going fast, this the muscle machine that was the only vehicle parked inthe motel parking lot as they drew nearer. She almost asked him to go faster by the time they were within half a block from the pool, but held back with an amused smile.

"Mr. Erif, have you just told me one of your weaknesses? Not so wise..considering who I am, wouldn't you say?" She joked, tightening the grip of her arm around him in a 'nudge-nudge' sense, trying to make light of the fact that she used to slay his kind without any thought other than 'cleanse the planet of walking corpses'. She grinned at him, laughing without holding back at her own comment, hoping he never took it too seriously because she surely hadn't.

The building was large that blocked the pool from the street, but ti was well maintained, and rather luxurious. The waters were a lukewarm temperature, and rippled by the descending rain. She hesitantly peeled her gaze from his, and motioned toward the pool, "Well, it looks like they left the 'OPEN' sign on, so I guess we could always used hat as an excuse for scaling their fence..." she joked, looking back up to them as they reached the building.

[lucius]

The vampire elder laughed at her comment as he slowly began to descend before the pool, his eyes gazing around once to survey the surroundings, noting what must have been her full car sitting in the motel parking lot across the street from where he was landing them. "I suppose it could be considered a weakness. But, you don't scare me," he shot back playfully with a smirk, his gaze settling on her. He knew she was no doubt formidable with so many kills under her belt, but he was no ordinary vampire and had a rather annoying habit of being very good at surviving. Though, that was not why he said what he did; he truly felt no hostility or danger from the young woman standing on his feet and floating with him through the air, and thus had no reason to be frightened of her in the least. He held no concerns.

Landing at the pool, his look at the open sign and grinned. Ah, legal loopholes. Not that he would quite need them, but it did not help to have such things backing up any wild acts like they were to engage in momentarily. The pool looked inviting enough, even with the storm and the rain being as it was. Satisfied, he settled firmly on the ground, his gaze locking with Anastasia's for a moment before he unwrapped his arms from around her to help her off of her boot. "If my stocks ever collapse, I suppose I could open up my own little travel/shuttle agency," he said self-deprecatingly, smirking.

He looked over at the inviting-looking pool, nodding his head in approval. "Not so bad," he said. There was an indoor luxury pool in ZaneCorp tower that tenants and employees used at time, beside the workout and weight room. It, too, was a rather nice pool, but at the moment there was something more enticing about swimming outside with the rain falling about them.

[poss]

The night was silent in terms of movement. No other wandered on the streets, and certainly no one in the building that was adjacent the pool. To one side of the chain link was a rather large park, meant perhaps for dog walking or joggers. It was not well maintained, the grass was long and unruly, and tree branches were only skeletal remained in some places. It surrounded the entire one side and rear of the pool, and to the other side was an old gas station called 'Ma & Pa's", which had been closed hours ago. She enjoyed filling up there, old Ma * Pa were friendly and reminded her of her grandparents from when she was growing up. They never had any other staff, it was a business they said they had started when hey had first gotten married years ago. She suspected they were not human but couldn't be certain, for the building was almost rubble and yet they still held a youthful appearance behind their wrinkled masks. Oh the mystery of todays society.

Anastasia laughed as Lucius responded with a quick come back, and she shook her head, stepping off of his shoes and on to the concrete beside the pool with her bare feet. "I will remember that, although I do hope you never have reason to be." She responded with a friendly smile and a shrug. The smile, however, did not last long before twisted in to laughter as he commented on a shuttle service. "Now that.. would be a very good idea. You should get on that before someone steals your idea." She winked, turning to face the vast expanse of open water behind her.

The deep blue water lapped at the edges with a calm, soothing effect that the sound of the ocean had on senior citizens. The rain was not a full out downpour anymore, but still continued to fall, dappling and dimpling the surface that reflected the soft light of the moon that now peeked through the cloud cover intermittently. Taking a few steps closer she outstretched her barefoot, dipping in her toes only to hum in approval, "Mmm.. very nice. I was expecting more of a bone chilling temperature, but I am sure this will merely freeze the top few layers of skin."[/b] She joked. It was actually rather warm and it eased any thoughts of changing plans for the night. She turned back to face him, "So vampires have no quarrel with water? Let us hope a priest has not bless this pool and its contents then... for your sake."

[lucius]

The vampire elder also hoped that he would never have to look at her as an enemy; she seemed to be pleasant enough, and perhaps, one day, could be of use to him if he ever found himself in a sticky situation, which was bound to happen occasionally thanks to the creatures he worked with frequently. Lycans were not known for their friendliness, vampires were not known for their mercy, black angels were not expected to be the most trustworthy of types, and humans were.... human. That is, small-minded, self-centered, short-sighted, dim-witted, and overall inefficient and dangerous to anyone with half a brain, most of the time, at least. He shook these thoughts from his head, laughing at her other comment. "Oh, I'll make sure to send my lawyers over to the patent office right away so no one can steal it," replied Lucius with another soft chuckle.

Lucius took a few steps towards the pool so that he was now standing at the edge of the water, gazing curiously down at it. "Some vampires have water problems. A lot of it depends on age, who their sire was, where they were turned, et cetera. Water does not affect me all that much. I grew up near the sea, and am far too old to be affected by such trivial things," he murmured, reaching down with his hand and running it through the water, enjoying the feel. Holy water made him uncomfortable--and large quantities enough to stop him from crossing certain lines--but holy symbols in general did not bother him. He could readily walk into a Church unaffected, much in thanks to a Catholic pope he was spent several years with learning unpopely things.

Standing tall again, satisfied with the water, he grinned, partially to himself. A swim sounded very enjoyable right now; Lucius rarely had the time to just sit back. So, in very fluid motions he removed his jacket and his shirt, his upperbody now bare to the rain as he also kicked his shoes off, reaching down and grabbing his socks as well. Soaked as they were, he did not bother stashing them anywhere safe, just allowing them to rest beside the edge of the pool. Free of his shirt, the vampire flashed a grin at Ana before levitating himself over the pool and then dropping into it, sending splashes her direction.

[poss]

Small-minded, self-centered, short-sighted, dim-witted, and overall inefficient and dangerous. Well, Anastasia would agree that she was dangerous, but lets be happy that Lucius kept such opinions to himself- she being human and all. When in a bad situation, she saw herself very efficient, and rather dangerous. But self centered, small minded, etc, those were not just thinks that stacked up to describe her. She would put her life before that of a strangers in time of danger, and would readily take a hit for anyone who did not deserve it. She had spent many nights in a hospital bed, mostly knife wounds, but also several car accidents (would be why she never road with another police officer in their car, they seemed to be accident magnets) and a few gunshot wounds as well. Other caused were blunt objects knocking her unconcious, and a few that even today she could not recall their reasoning due to concussion.

She watched him strip, hesitant now to do the same. Sure, men had a lot of advantages, and this would be one, but that was not her reasoning. It would be the weapons. The fact that she hated to swim clad in straps that held high silver content knives, and submerging her gun was acceptable, but she hated to do it. The weapon could still fire under water, it was the cleaning afterward that she didn't look forward too. To this point, even through the length of their midnight stroll in the rain, her 9mm had remained dry. Tucked in close, and hidden beneath the leather jacket for more reasons than just concealment alone.

The moment she felt hesitation to strip even her jacket off, she grinned, watching him levitate over the water before falling in and splashing a tidal wave of the warm water all over her. Already bare foot, she set her boots down and unzipped her black leather jacket. The shoulder holster was not the only weapon that came in to view as she pulled the jacket from her upper body, but also the wrist sheaths on each arm containing a 6" blade. She was calm, still fully dressed beyond the jacket, in a black tank top and black pants, and acted as if the weapons were simply something like lingerie: embarassing for a moment but not important later on.

She set the jacket down, slipping the shoulder holster off and unbuckling it from around her waist. She tucked it in to her jacket, and wrapped it up to keep it out of the rain, then continued to remove the wrist sheaths with the sound of Velcro and a buckle. As she did so she walked close to the edge, curling her toes over the ledge, looking in to the depths to find him before asking with the raise of a brow, " Do I have any reason to want to wear these in to the pool with me, Mr. Erif?" She asked. She wasn't the type to beat around the bush, so why not put it out there that she had trust issues, and that her weapons were her safety blanket. She wasn't just questioning whether he had malicious intents, but more so.. what if someone else did? What if while they swam, er weapons out of reach, they were attacked? A man as wealthy as he was would surely want to protect himself, not the vampire hunter, and then she would just be a sitting duck. Not exactly acceptable.

[lucius]

Lucius came up from under the water, his hand running over his face and through his hair as he resurfaced before shaking his head and some of the water from it. Now wading in the pool, his blue gaze focused on Ana, waiting for her to come in and enjoy the water herself, as it was her idea and all. His eyes went over the weaponry as it was revealed, curiously looking it over, his mind identifying and registering the type of the weapons that were seen. Quite the typical assortment of arms needed to fight vampires and other creatures of the like, he noted. That that were too difficult for him personally to withstand, but enough to cause trouble for younger kinds of dark time creatures.

After focusing the weapons, his blue gaze refocused on her herself for a moment, noting once more that she had quite a certain attraction to her. Beautiful and deadly. He noticed that, throughout history, that peculiar combination always seemed to work out best despite the circumstances of the sides one found oneself on. Death and beauty. It was an interesting thing that they were so commonly linked together, the slayer-turned-personal trainer before him being no exception to that odd rule of things.

As she approached the edge and inquired about the weapons, he looked at them for a moment before his gaze found its way to her own, his eyebrow arched curiously. "My dear, if I had wished harm upon you or wanted to kill you, you would have been dead some time ago," said the ancient vampire honestly. He had plenty of opportunities to end her life or her freedom presented to him throughout their chance meeting and subsequent conversation so far, and had not taken any yet. In most of those situations, the fact that she was armed would have changed little in the success of what he would have sought to accomplish, hence it would mean little whilst enjoying time in the pool. And, if my some odd act of misfortune they found themselves in the poor graces of other baddies like the Lycans, well, he had leverage everywhere, and if that failed was very good at getting out of things. No, he had nothing to be concerned of, and thus was sure that she ought to have nothing to be concerned of either.

[poss]

Death wasn't something she liked to be paired with when describing her, but it was the most common of the descriptions people gave of her. Her dark features, the bold confidence that was not in any way hindered by her height, and of course her knowledge of weaponry. Perhaps she first realized how dangerous she was a few years ago when the laundromat she dropped her clothing off at was refused by management, as the old man stared at her like she was a murderer. I guess blood stained clothes on a daily basis dont go over very well with people who are not used to the scene.

She unbuckled the wrist sheaths, the glittering blades remaining enclosed as she turned her back to him and set them down on top of her jacket. All she wanted was his word. She knew that he could have taken her life on several occasions tonight, and yet she had never sensed any hostility. But when the vamps reach that peak age of 1000, she stops trusting her gut instinct, or the 'sense' of the situation all together. Hooking her fingers under the hem of her shirt, she pulled it up over her head, only to realize it was the only dry article of clothing she had left. Anastasia tucked it in to her jacket along with the pistol and holster. Next she undid the belt at her waist, a three prong buckle to the thick article unhinging with a clank. Heavy duty to help carry the weight of a gun on her hip when it was not over her shoulder. Unzipping the oversized black pants, they fell to he ground freely as she stepped out of them.

We can't be sure if he would notice her swimming attire of matching lacey red undergarments, or the two other sheaths, encasing identical 6" silver blades that were above her ankles. Turning again to face the pool she stepped over to he edge, sitting on it and hanging her bare legs over the water to unbuckle the sheaths. They were not comfortable when they got wet, nor when she was wearing the knee high boots. Tucked away inside of the, they were for more of a 'later' weapon, after any initial attack, but were hidden from view during pat downs otherwise.

Setting them on the edge she pushed her palms down beside her, lifting herself from the ledge and swinging forward to slip in to the warm water. It was refreshing, and warmer than the night air had been. She slipped beneath the surface with no more than a ripple effect rather than a splash left in her wake.

[lucius]

The intriguingly mysterious and apparently resourceful woman had even more weapons hidden throughout her body. Lucius had assumed that she was armed, but not nearly as armed as that. Apparently she was the type of be ready for a huge fight at all times; useful to have around in a sticky situation, he was sure. Despite her beautiful and somewhat diminutive form, she was certainly not to be underestimated in the slightest, he concluded. However, his focus on how armed she was once again dissipated as she continued to undress some more, being unable to, between swimming around in the pool, scan her over. Yes, she was certainly attractive, and seemed so much less dangerous without the clothing and armory around her. Though, she still maintained that confident quality about her, despite Lucius sensing some added level of distrust and uncertainty within her as she disarmed. It was interesting.

Wading in the deeper end of the pool, he watched as she gracefully descended into the water, hardly causing a stir. The vampire elder submerged into the water once more, being able to move fluidly through it. Oxygen was of rather little importance to him, so he could stay submerged for some time, and he knew how to keep his eyes open and see well beneath the water. It allowed for easy moving throughout and around the pool.

He swam towards Ana, popping up from the water right beside her, a grin on his face as he wiped some water from it. "Refreshing, no?" he asked. The water seemed extra warm to him, though his body temperature remained very cold, causing a steamy mist to rise from any of the skin he exposed to the night air again, his cool body not adjusting its temperature to match the waters. It had the nice bonus of keeping it perpetually warm for him. "So, were you expecting a fight tonight? I'm surprised you don't set off alarms walking around with that many weapons."

[poss]

Lets not mention the larger blade that was tucked in to the back of her pants that she had not brought in to view. It wasn't that she was hiding it, it would simply be difficult to remove it when it was attached to the belt that held her pants up. Such baggy pants helped, the pockets full of extra clips of ammo, and at times a few other odds and ends. The jacket, the leather bulky and not showing off the shape of what was concealed beneath it, was also worn more for concealment measures than comfort, and it was nice to have something that didn't stain too easily. Blood was a bitch to get out of most materials.

Under the water, the noises of the water stirring were thick, deep, and exaggerated like that of a dream. It was not perfectly clear or varying its pitch in most cases, and she found it relaxing. Hands pushed back through her hair while she was under the surface, eyes closed and thus not noticing the vampire swimming in her direction. Why didn't someone cue the Jaws soundtrack?

Pushing off from the bottom to rise to the surface, her head was tilted back as sh ran her palms over her head, smoothing the hair back. It was no longer tangled and blowing across her face, now it was manageable and slicked back. She opened her eyes to have Mr. Lucius Erif right infront fo her, and she widened her eyes in an expression of surprise, but nothing more. Anastasia couldn't help but grin when he questioned the weaponry that she carried around. Surely it added several pounds to her, not including the boots that she knew weighed at least 15 lbs together. With that thought she was amazed he didn't comment on hos heavy she was when they had levitated with her standing on his feet. Surely he had noticed.

"My security blanket." She commented on the weapons as if they were the blanket of a young child, you know the one I am referring to, the toddler who carried around a blanket and cries every time you try to take it away to wash it. Yeah, thats the one. "I have been known to shower with them." Laughing at her own paranoid actions that were all too familiar to her. "It is common for me to have someone slip in through a window or poorly secured door in the middle of the night. Being a hunter I guess put me on a few too many peoples hit lists, and they don't seem to have memory loss either. But.. should I be telling you this, seeing as I will be moving in to an apartment in your tower? I guess that hints that I may not be the best tenant you have had."She raised a brow in question as she teased. Bullet holes only add to the decor, wouldn't you say? Ana leaned closer to him, looking around as if she were sharing a very private secret. " Yes, I sleep with them too." she murmured with a wink.

[lucius]

The vampire elder was about to make some smart and jesting comment about her having such an excessive security blanket, but instead thought better of it given his own situation. He, too, had quite a security blanket, though far more convoluted and complex than a few simple weapons. Over the centuries he had built up this information empire around him, burying himself in security and technology while removing himself from the rest of the world and its feuds in order to ensure his own peace, stability, and prosperity. Though, the more he thought about it, the more concerned he felt about it. Yes, he surrounded himself with such things and such situations to keep himself secure, but security blankets offered something extra than just the feeling of safety. They triggered a certain closeness, fondness, gentleness, pacification. He had nothing like that to keep close to him or take comfort in. Yes, he was surrounded by luxury and security, but not true comfort.

Though, he blamed himself entirely for sticking himself in such a situation and took responsibility for it, which meant no pointless musing over it. He focused again on the pool and the comfort a midnight swim could bring. Lucius focused on her still, nodding to what she said. He knew what it felt like to be on certain hit lists. For centuries vampire hunters had tried to take him down, mostly back when he was more active in the affairs of vampires and bringing damage to humans. He had to move from certain towns now and then in order to avoid being threatened while he rested. It was an annoyance, and a fear, so he understood her plight.

"I'm pleased to know this, actually. I'll increase the security to your floor. Not that I anticipate many problems; it is unusual for anyone to try break into ZaneCorp Tower, and when they do their usual target is downstairs-- the vaults. I think you'll be able to sleep a little better in your new apartment," he said, winking at her as he waded in the water beside her. Another soft chuckle escaped his lips. "And, perhaps, you can sleep without the equipment, unless you're just that kinky and enjoy that type of thing."

[poss]

Being on the move so often lately she found it hard to have a sense of security. Everything was changing around her. She had been in several different city over the past four months, and only now did she actually plan on sticking with this one. It was the only police force she felt respected on. Sure, it was simply because they didn't want to deal with her when they didn't have to, but it allowed for a type of freedom the other squads she had joined didn't have. She never got pulled over for speeding, which she had a bad habit of doing, not any other traffic violations for that matter. And when you live in your car- that is about all you really have to worry about.

She laughed at his comment regarding her weapons in bed. "Well, Mr. Erif, they do offer me things that a man could never." Fighting the urge to smile, a smirk twisted her lips and sh cocked a brow. "But I do thank you for the offered sense of security. I must say, surely it will take anyone a while to find me. Who would suspect me to be living in ZaneCorp tower when, you, Mr. Erif, are the head man?" Nodding slightly, she was sure that it was a good ploy. A few months of safety and privacy in a place to call her own, she was more than excited for tomorrow, hoping that she got another night off so that she could move in her things.. from the trunk of her car.

With that she closed her mouth, sealing her lips and sank beneath the surface, bare feet pushing off from the wall behind her and shooting her off toward the deeper section of the pool. She followed along the bottom, fluid movement of her legs as they were held together rather than kicking separately, one hand gliding open palmed over the bottom tiles as she examined the glistening beauty of their marble appearance from the rippled surface of the water. Turning around once she found the greatest depth, she pivoted to face the direction she had came to see if he had followed. She had a lot of practice being able to hold her breath. Some of it was from just being in shape, but perhaps the two attempts to drown her by foes helped in the situation as well.