#❛ ✖︎ — int — harper ╱ ada. °

[silkchvffon]

last one for @invcntions, ily.

SHE TRIES NOT TO STARE, but it's honestly very hard when it's the first time she's seen three of them in the same place. harper knows there are more, has tracked them down thanks to a blonde one that's been on her radar for a few months. she never thought she'd be this lucky though, stumbling onto some sort of vampire collective. she's scanning for weak spots, trying to figure out who'd be the most sensible to take out first, when she makes eye contact with the dark – haired woman across the bar. heart skips a fearful beat, but harper knows better than to let it show and holds her gaze instead. after all, they're both just supposed to be two humans having a drink.

[silkchvffon]

SHE'S TRYING TO PIECE IT ALL TOGETHER, which is easier said than done when it's her first time experiencing anything like this. « daddy as in foster daddy, i assume ? » she asks, head tilting inquisitively. « know is perhaps not the word i'd use. he's quite ... enigmatic. but whilst his stories are sometimes incredulous they are also wildly interesting. almost as if he lived through them himself, » harper adds thoughtfully, musing aloud to see if she can elicit any sort of reaction from the vampire. « i see. it's sweet of you to take care of him. » that's what family does after all, even if harper has her suspicions about this particular one. « are you staying for a while or ... ? »

there's something about harper she can't quite put her finger on — a mystery perhaps, that ada simply wants to get to the bottom of. or something else. either way it's different. “ a little like that. ” a faint smile turns up on the corners of her lips at the question. “ more like foster siblings. ” ones it's difficult to explain she only gained a few months ago, so she doesn't try. it's far more interesting to listen to harper anyway, features brightening quickly at the mention of the history class. “ oh, so you must know daddy jude? ” she jokes lightly, if only because he's not around to hear it. “ i've always found history classes to be quite reductive, but his do sound fun. you'll have to let me know how you find it, i can pass on anonymous feedback. ” and if it gives her a reason to get harper's number there's at least chance the town might get a little more interesting. “ not quite. juke's been going through a tough time recently. bad break up. ” with his human life. “ — suppose i just thought he could do with family around. i'm not exactly... the most natural of role models. and this is where the family are. ”

[silkchvffon]

GAZE DRIFTS OVER THE VAMPIRE, and harper's lucky suspicion and appreciation looks very similar. surely she wouldn't be attacked in a crowded bar, but then again: they are three. if they wanted a massacre there's no doubt in harper's mind they'd be more than able to create one. « it can be most dangerous in my experience, » she beams, taking a sip of her virgin drink, vowing to stay alert under her entire stay. « can't say i have. they your siblings ? » she throws another glance at the couple in question, sitting forlorn by the bar, entertaining each other with low chatter. for being killing machines they sure look uncomfortable around people. « oh, very boring, i'm afraid. i'm from just a couple of towns over and decided to take some history classes. heard the program at this local college was quite ... unique. so i'm staying for a semester or two. » if only to keep an extra close eye on the professor. « how did you guys end up here ? i take it it wasn't for the likes of our friend gareth. »

in all ada's complaints about her current home, the lack of attractive women has to rank rather highly towards the top of the list. harper offers at least a temporary pause to that, smile beaming back at the other female's introduction as an easy laugh slips from her own lips. “ me? totally harmless. i mean, for the most part, as much as conversation with any girl can be. ” features tug up in a lightly joking smile. harmless isn't the full picture, but she certainly doesn't have any intention of being anything besides that when it comes to some girl sat alone at the local bar. “ i'm just here on babysitting duty anyway — you ever tried raising a twenty-eight year old? it's exhausting. ” she jokes, gaze pulling momentarily over her shoulder to the other two before returning to rest on harper. “ thankfully you look like the sort of person who has a far more interesting conversation to offer about how you've ended up in this place. ”

[silkchvffon]

IT'S INCREDIBLY WEIRD, BEING SEATED HERE, together. harper can't recall ever having a proper conversation with a vampire, not more than insults and warnings and threats being hurled in unison anyway, and whilst she's aware of the monstrous charm they bear she is also not immune to it. the woman is gorgeous, harper would have to be blind not to notice, but she has to be dumb to be fooled. and harper is not dumb. « he looks like a hoot, » sarcastic comment is delivered upon gazing at the man in question. eyes soon find her company again, harper not daring to look away for too long. « ada. pleasure. i'm harper, » she beams, accepting the hand with a firm shake. « and conversation with you ? that's completely harmless ? » she seriously doubts it.

“ local enough to know if you're alone here by yourself for another few minutes gareth will be making his way over. ” she smiles, straw plucked from her drink to gesture softly in the direction of a middle-aged man scanning the room from the bar. “ he's harmless — but still, the conversation might kill you. ” she can't really blame him for it, especially when she's also never been one to pass by the chance to talk to a pretty woman at a bar. lips still pull to an impossibly brighter grin at the confrimation the stranger hadn't been looking at the other two, as if the gaze caught across the room wasn't quite enough. “ in that case, you should know i'm ada. ” she offers, hand extended to the other female in a potentially out of place formal greeting — one of the few she's never been able to fully let go of in the modern day.

[silkchvffon]

IT'S TOO EARLY FOR AN ENCOUNTER. harper wants more time to figure out just exactly what she's up against, but she knows things rarely go according to plan. her career is based on a lot of skill and experience, and a good handful of sheer luck. « i take it you're not ? » she asks the vampire, carefully digging for information. she may as well have some fun if she's stuck here for a while. « oh, i know. but i don't really care to be polite. » she mirrors the woman's smile — it's not hard to act interested when she truly is, though not for the reasons her newfound company may think. « well, that works in your favor then. though to be honest i wasn't looking at either of them anyway. »

she's bored. always bored. sure, there's something unexpectedly quaint about having a place to call home, and people to play family — but it doesn't pass the time in the way ada's used to. it's why she doesn't hesitate when dark eyes clock the female on the other side of the bar, weaving through the bodies to slot into the empty space in front of the other woman. “ you're new. ” an easy observation. there's been no one like her in this town before. “ and a tiny bit rude, no one ever teach you it's not very polite to stare? ” the words tease lightly, lips curling gently up at the edges when there's no real confrontation to the tone. “ you should know, if you were looking over at one of them — ” she nods her head gently back in the direction of where she's left juke and frances alone at the bar. “ she's as good as married, and he's — well, he's not remotely up in your league. ”