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The bar isn't overly crowded, currently, but still a fair amount of patrons clustered around the bar and a handful scattered around tables. The atmosphere is a bit dark and dingy but pretty chill.
Finley is sitting at a table in the corner, people watching. It's easy to overlook them at first. Unless you have a beast. They have a mug of beer in front of them but it's mostly ignored as they slump down in their seat, idly fidgeting with an ink pen to keep their hands busy, occasionally scribbling doodles onto a napkin. They're draped in dark, baggy clothes, a long coat over it all, and wearing this mask:
A man enters the bar, and like some western scene in a saloon, the talk dies down for a moment before people start pointedly ignoring him. He moves with a sway to his shoulders like some kind of large cat, dressed in a leather jacket, t-shirt, black BDUs, and boots. He approaches the bar and orders a drink in a quiet voice, and then turns to scan the room. Those who can sense his beast can feel that it is somehow even more vicious than the average vampire, seething under his skin. Sensing the other vampire in the room, he takes his whiskey and makes his way over. “Mind if it sit?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
Finley's beast is a quiet, scuttling thing, spider-like. A flash of fang hiding behind dark corners and the sensation of creepy-crawlies over skin.
They watch Guy as he comes into the bar, the pen hovering in the air above the napkin. When he approaches they pause, letting the pen drop to the tabletop. A quiet nod, and a gesture for him to sit with their hand.
He sits down, taking a sip of his drink. “Guy Dagenham. Have I seen you at the Academy?” He pauses. “Yes. But I don’t know your name.” His deep voice carries despite the noice in the bar, but is still quiet enough that those even a table over probably couldn’t hear him with human senses. “Good to meet you.”
Finley has been seen at the Academy! Mostly following Tahmina around like a lost puppy. They're fairly new though--new to town or recently embraced? Uncertain.
"Finley," they reply, their voice also naturally quiet, though carries less easily. Though they have a fairly prominent lisp that makes their words slur here and there. "Nice to meet you too."
Guy’s only been around for about six months himself, and isn’t very social. This is odd behavior for him. “Finley...” he says to himself, as if committing it to memory. “Well. Are you...well?” He seems to be struggling with what words to use.
The Nosferatu nods in reply to the question. Their eyes crease a little, a sign that--maybe--they're smiling softly behind the mask. "You didn't... say your name."
He pauses. “I did. My name is Guy Dagenham. It was the first thing I said.” He doesn’t inflect much, but he doesn’t seem annoyed or offput by the question, just recalling what happened earlier with his answer.
Speaking of Tahmina, by (probably) pure coincidence this happens to be when the Daeva slips into the bar. She's dressed down at the moment, with a pair of jeans and a loose sweater, her head covered loosely with a light scarf as it usually is. Despite her age, Tahmina continues to bear a high Humanity and blends in well among mortals, especially with the Blush of Life active, and while she's a pretty woman, she's far from being a head turner, so hardly anyone without a Beast takes notice of her entrance. For those who can sense hers, though, there's no denying that hers is a predator not to be underestimated.
It takes only a moment for her eyes to find Guy and Finley across the room, and her face brightens with a smile as she heads in their direction.
Finley hesitates, staring for several seconds in muted horror. "...Oh. Sorry..." They lean back into their chair, looking like they would very much like to just sink into it and disappear. They might have, if it wasn't for the third kindred joining them.
They immediate look relieved, that flash of social-panic fading. Their hand lifts for a little pleased wave as she approaches the table.
Guy looks up, studying the figure approaching. “Wilkommen, Con—Tahmina.” He hasn’t brought himself to formally speak to the Confessor, but they’ve met, as Guy can be found at the Academy with some regularity since waking. “Are you well?” he asks with exactly the same tone as he did Finley, like he was practicing before.
"Hello Finley," Tahmina says to her adopted family member, along with a smile that makes it unmistakable that she's pleased to see zhem here. Her voice is lightly accented with a mix of Persian and French, a decidedly unusual combination that's also quite pleasant on most ears. Her eyes glance down at the doodles on the napkins, then shift over to Guy. "Thank you, Mr. Dagenham. Or Guy? Which would you prefer in this sort of context? I'm doing well. Better, for running into you both here. And yourself?"
The doodles are mostly random shapes and swirls and scribbles mingled with the occasional chemistry diagram--which are drawn with cartoonish faces added on. They stare at Tahmina for a moment with clear fondness in their dark eyes, before focusing back on Guy. The pen is picked back up to fidget with.
“Guy is fine. People tend to use my whole name, though.” He’s quiet for a moment, then shrugs. He seems to genuinely consider her second question. “I am fine. Good to be with...others.”
"It certainly is," Tahmina agrees, while her smile once again brightens her face. She glances around like she's looking for someone, just for a moment. "I'm supposed to meeting someone here, but since they're not here yet I can stay and chat for a bit. I've found this bar to be a pretty good one for people watching in the past, but it looks like a quiet night, tonight." She turns back to Finley at this point and asks, "which nights were you working this week, by the way? I apologize if you already told me, and I forgot."
"Being around others is... good for you," Finley agrees with a slight nod to Guy, though it sounds more like they're echoing something often told to them rather than... being very passionate about the idea. Tahmina's apology gets a little shake of their head in reply. "Monday, Wednesday, Thursday." Then an inquisitive look to her, curious why she asked.
Guy seems content being quiet, sipping his whiskey again. He glances around the bar, and no one seems to be willing to meet his eyes.
"Oh, wonderful! Tomorrow night I'm supposed to be meeting with Shiri Touati about an artist I want them to meet," Tahmina explains to Finley, clearly getting excited about the timing on things working out. She actually fidgets a little with enthusiasm over the idea. "Have you met Shiri yet? They're a darling. If you haven't met, I was going to suggest that you come by and I can make an introduction." Then she asks Guy, "have you met Shiri, for that matter?"
Finley shakes zher head--zhe hadn't met Shiri yet. The Nossie hesitates before speaking again though, a little uncertainly, "I don't... know much about... art? You're sure?"
He hesitates, not wanting to talk over Finley. “I have not. Are they...” He pauses, unsure of his words. “Associates of ours?”
"Oh, that's fine," Tahmina says with a little wave of her hand. "I just want to be sure that you get a chance to meet more of the prominent people in the city. Especially the sweet ones who are likely to look out for you because of your connection with me. Plus, they're one of my favorite people. But you don't don't have to if you're not comfortable, either." This is said with exactly the kind of tone that might come with a 'dear' at the end and a light pat to Finley's cheek, from some people. In her case, it's just the tone. "I think they may be one of your distant cousins, actually," she tells Guy.
"No--" Finley says a little too quickly. "I'll go." Zhe click-click-clicks the top of the pen a few times rapidly, then force zhemself to put it down before it can get annoying. "Meeting more nice people would be... good."
His head turns at the pen clicking, and his eyes flicker to Finley as zhe comments about meeting people. “A cousin...ah, I see,” he says as he nods to Tahmina. “Meeting them could be enjoyable.”
"Splendid!" Tahmina says with a soft clap of her hands. "Come by my house around 8?" It's almost certainly not the first time that Finley has come by Tahmina's house, which is a cute little place that is far more sedate than someone might expect from a Daeva elder. "I'll see about getting you in touch, Guy. Do you mind if I pass on your contact info?" She glances toward the door at someone who just came in, someone without any Beast to note. "Oh, there's my company for the evening," she says. "I should leave you two be. It was wonderful to see you both, though."
“You can tell them,” he says with a nod. “Güten Nacht, Tahmina, it was...good to see you.”
Finley glances over to the person coming in, then scribbles down a note on the napkin--8pm, Tahmina. Zhe stuffs the napkin away into zher coat pocket afterwards. "Bye. Thank you." Few words, but an abundance of gratitude in zher soft voice.
"You two enjoy your evening," Tahmina says before breaking away with a wave and a friendly smile to join the man she'd been waiting for.
Once the elder has slipped away, he turns to the person beside him. “I am sorry if I make you uncomfortable,” he says gently, a hint of emotion actually slipping into his voice.
Finley's brows crease a hint as zhe focuses back on Guy, staring for a moment before zhe shakes zher head. "No." There's a few seconds pause. "Who is your family?"
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