Heartthrob

Esthrielle stayed for a while, letting hours pass, telling stories about her home - which held Purity and EJ in rapt attention - and getting filled in on what EJ and Purity, respectively, had been up to. The pinkette and the blonde tried to be as tactical as they could with the information given, omitting the cruel truth of Purity's deception with the flesh and her attempt to come onto her now-lover, conveniently forgetting that EJ had been feral earlier in the week, and glossing over their romantic strife. EJ, still a bit drunk on fresh blood and the tingling touch of endocrine ecstasy, couldn't help but spill it about her night with Judas.

Both members of their atrophied audience were somewhere between aghast and allured as Esper James detailed her evening with her boss. "Well, f-first, she told me she wanted me to be hungry for the evening, and so I, uh, I didn't take my pills, as per her request... A-And then she picked me up in a big limo, and we went out to eat..." EJ's voice was sing-song as she summarized her day of play, but both onlookers pressed her for details, Purity hiding her surprise well, Est simply grinning as she began to put the pieces together.

"Okay, o-okay! So... We got in the limo, and I was wearing a really cute outfit, and Judas was dressed to the nines in like a fuckin' suit or something... And she poured us a lot of champagne... It was really tasty, and we talked for a while, so I, uh... I got kinda drunk. Y'know... and then, we pulled up to a butchery I'd never been to before, a real fancy place..." EJ's inflection was a reflection, mirror-sheen words casting emotional tinges of adoration and relish. Purity put a finger to her lover's lips and held it there for a moment, only removing it when their lips neared and embraced, a reminder of who EJ truly belonged to. At least, to a degree.

"EJ. Sweetie. Let's skip to the juicy parts. You seem quite... excited to tell us about them, and we wouldn't want to delay you. Would we, Esthrielle?" Purity's baby blues darted up to meet Est's ruby reds, and the Italian cackled with the voice of a hyena before giving a hurried nod. The affirmation appeased the busty beauty, and she gave Esper James a gentle squeeze, their nudeness and sweat-damp making their flesh stick. She nestled EJ's more diminutive form into her embrace, an act both affectionate and fairly possessive.

EJ didn't seem to see what she was being baited into, and so she nodded with fervency, more than eager to do as the woman holding her dictated. Her body ground against the pinkette's as she snuggled up closer, her head now resting as much on the pillow as Purity's chest, before she spoke again.

"Welllllll...! We ate, and it was really good, plus she bought us more wine with donor blood in it from Peru, I think she said... And, erm... While we drank, a-and ate, some really nice steak from a real farm... She kinda worked me off? I guess~? Edged me all the wayyyy home until we were back at her place..." A giggling spate rippled through her then, the blood's grip waning, but her own elation at relished memories coming to bear. The cyborg echoed her, immune to the emotional turmoil Purity felt roiling in her heart's core, but all too happy to pull out the popcorn and laugh along with the performers.

Purity, however, was in strife. The very woman she had felt a connection to, had finally felt herself to be close enough to love, had also lain with the woman in charge of Purity's years of serial abuse. It was shocking, and by Purity's new expression, she hadn't the emotional wherewithal to hide it. Esthrielle was yet cruel, or perhaps indifferent. She pressed Esper James further. EJ couldn't see what this story was doing to her lover, after all.

"Alright, so she sucked you off in the back of her fancy car, took all your life essence a vampire can, and brought you home? What happened next, blondie?" Lips wavered as an attempt was made to repress the smile she now sported, staring intently down at the two lovers, but it was futile. New Way or not, the juice and drippings of watching another's secrets laid bare in front of their own partner was irresistible.

EJ perked up, the espresso shot of playful encouragement energizing her to continue. "So! We got back to her house, she helped me inside, showed me around... Took me up to her b-bedroom, eheheh, and then she, erm... Well, she started with her mouth, vampire oral fixation and stuff, but then once that was done-" She was stopped in her tracks by the cold wall of a warm palm, her makeshift body pillow putting a halt to the retelling of events.

"EJ! I... I think I've heard enough, yeah? I'm... I'm glad you had fun, but... Eugh. Fuck. Look, we said we wouldn't lie to each other anymore, right? Well then I'll be honest. I don't really wanna hear about you getting topped and fucked by a Tsang exec, especially one as abusive as... Judas. She was bad to you, remember?" Purity's right hand left EJ's body, returning soon to brave the loose tangle of cornsilk hair. Her other hand, holding to Esper James's stomach, gave her another squeeze.

EJ's words died in her throat, a true death for little verbal citizens. The catch in Purity's voice, the insistence of that soft press to the ghoulette's midsection, the way her body tensed as if straining to exert itself, or holding back from exertion... EJ was starting to reach the end of her blood-high, and even if she wasn't, she had developed some skill at detecting the moods of her superiors in her line of work. Purity was holding back plenty. Composure remained unblemished, for now, but one more strike of the verbal hammer would chisel the placid surface of Purity's emotional state into shards.

"Ah... Yes. Let's be done. I'll, uh, I'll tell you more later, Est. But it doesn't... doesn't really m-matter that much. You're right, Puri, she... she w-wasn't good to me. For a long, long time. T-Took her damn long enough, if she was, erm... N-Nevermind. Let's talk about something else." Her lips were sealed subsequently, with little fuss but a lot of anxiety. She didn't want to upset Purity. Some part of her was still mad at Purity, but once had been rage was now little more than a dull ember, and it was an ember undeserved for Purity's heart.

The other woman let out a held breath, the warmth of her sigh setting EJ's ear to tingling as the breeze passed. The release of tension was palpable both physically and emotionally, the atmosphere in the room quickly returning to one of casual warmth, but not quite free of the talons which held tight their throats.

They mingled for moments more, but eventually, as minutes turned to hours, the revelations of the moonlit morning they had awoken into had eaten into Purity's patience. Esper James was ousted from their shared bed, causing Esthrielle to initially look away as the ghoulette's nudity was bared, but she certainly snuck a peek when her sensors told her the other women weren't gazing her way. Purity's voice shook as a fault line's bedfellow, her LED-lined irises gleaming with tears yet to be allowed to form or fall.

"Y'know, EJ, I really do love you. I do. I really, really do. But... If you're still so caught up on your abusive Tsang boss bitch or whatever, maybe you should...! Maybe you should take some time, and actually think about who treats you better! If you're so fuckin' excited about getting fucked by whatever woman will take you, maybe you should fuck off to the bar and have a little fun! Realize how much worse everyone else is at it...!" The cherubic curves of her facial structure had been warped into a cruel visage of barely-composed rage and bitterness, waters of sorrow in her eyes like acid eating away at what composure she still kept.

Esper James was stunned - it was as if she had been punched, the sight of Purity's burning tears and fierce grimace socking the ghoul straight to the gut. Every ounce of remaining spite she felt towards Purity for her earlier transgressions was swept away in that instant; instead, a new desire to prostrate herself and beg on hands and knees for forgiveness arose. She hadn't even considered that Purity rejecting her, or giving her some form of pushback, may affect her so tremendously. Her knees shook with emotion.

A brutal, bloody war began inside EJ's mind and throat, desperate to say something, but too shaken for such action to occur. A hand was opened and outstretched, her right going out to try and place itself on Purity's shoulder, but from behind Esthrielle slung an arm about the ghoul's midsection. Following close behind, a synthflesh palm - tasting of silicone and the distant earthen flavor of gun oil - covering Esper James's lips.

The rasp of steel fangs brushing against one another as Est's mouth opened sent a dread electricity into EJ's ear. "I think that's a great idea. We'll go have some drinks, let you, ah, cool off. Besides. Won't be good for your mental health if you're cooped up all day." The rasp again as her maw was set to grin, attempting an expression of comfort and sympathy, but rarely is the muzzle of a wolf placating to sheep.

EJ's already wide eyes snapped even wider, internal focus on her own gaze evoking the thought of shining spotlights into the dark. Fuck, she didn't really want to go to the club, especially not in her dirty clothes she had brought along, and more importantly, not when Purity was so distraught about something the timid little meat-eater had done. But perhaps, she thought, Est was right - perhaps Purity just needed some time alone, to breathe, to process things.

They hadn't even been official when EJ had fucked Judas, anyways! It was in the past. Purity had already taken the position of being her first, why did she care so much that EJ had - in the past - been so familiar with another woman? EJ could get past Purity's body count. Why couldn't Purity get past hers? At least, that was the general idea of the train of thought within the frantic secretary's mind as Est started to pull her away, off to go get dressed.

Hoodie? Check. Sweatpants? Also check. Skate shoes? Check as well. Est helped EJ fumble her way out of nudity as best as she could, but once EJ's only remaining clothing options were all donned, those strong, artificial hands went to put the gifted (and now bugged) choker around EJ's neck. The ghoulette drew away instinctively, baring her teeth and furrowing her brow, yet the Italian was insistent.

"Oiiii, EJ! You're a wanted fucking criminal now, right? Might get snatched up? I mean, do you even remember how we met? Some dude had you cornered in an alleyway. You're way too, ah... we'll say cute to go there alone, or at least without someone who can find you and help you in a pinch. Put the damn tracker on." Just from the weight of Est's words and the memories they invoked, EJ relented - she lifted her chin, presented her neck, and allowed the choker to be applied.

It was her first time properly wearing it. It was... surprisingly comfortable, or so she thought. The press of the metal heart silhouette to her long-since-sculpted-away Adam's apple was like the thumb of a lover, and the leather band made the rest of the fingers in the inhuman hand. They called them chokers for a reason, as it were, but thankfully second-living didn't need to breathe quite so badly as the true-living or even most Wayfinders...

And then, they were off. Kell gave them a wave goodbye, offering Esper James a new knife for her pocket - a small pocketknife, but still advertised as silvered - and then returned to watching anime on her phone as they slipped out. It was deep in the evening now, probably about midnight, but EJ didn't dare check her phone for fear of finding more messages from Judas. The pair began the long walk free from the industrial district, EJ's heart still heavy and conflicted, Est keeping her close with a single hand.

-

The streets of Vitus's downtown were packed with people, living and dead, as was always the case when nightfall came. Regardless of the day, it was as if entering the midst of a jungle: myriad animals in human form wandering the smoggy night, eating flesh, hunting other types of meat, drinking and making merry in the way of beasts. Blood and butchery are the way of Vitus's wildlife, and no life is wilder than mankind. It's only natural that every sidewalk is crammed with every walk of life one may imagine.

A few catcalls come from the mixed crowd, for EJ and Esthrielle both, sometimes both of them at once - complimenting their looks, admiring their outfits, adoring their apparent closeness. Propositioning them for a group affair in the closest dark alley. EJ shies away from these at first, face burning with shame - she instinctively clings to Est, taking strange solace in the subtle scent of her synthetic body, but after Est begins to fire back at their lecherous audience the ghoulette becomes more bold.

Est, for her part, allows one or two hollered bits of commentary on the exotic look of her skin and hair and the way her own teeth seem to be a matched pair for her 'girlfriend's', but once a man with greasy hair and an exposed midriff stops the pair and offers money for services they would prospectively render, she fires back. Unlike EJ, Est is brusque, and fiery - she takes less than a speck of shit from anyone more as they proceed to the Jezzebelle, her figuring being that familiar stomping grounds would benefit them both.

The bleary-eyed bouncer doesn't check their IDs. One look at Est is all it takes for him to step aside, powerful but sluggish arm holding the door wide for the pair to slip into the club. The inside is as it ever was: filled to the brim with wannabe-socialites in leather, latex, and PVC shoehorning themselves into any crevice they can find, bodies pressed together and grinding in a vague approximation of dancing. The creak and snap of conflicting outfits is drowned like a bag of kittens by the bass-laden howl of enormous speakers, their drone and pulsation causing even the particle-laden air to emulate the throb of a frantic heartbeat.

Scents were a haphazard minefield of cold blood, nicotine vapor, sweat, and countless types of cologne or perfume. EJ didn't even try to focus on it after one whiff, her bloodhound's nose only deeming fit to perceive Est's own aroma of motor oil, gunmetal, and silicone. It had quickly become an aroma of comfort, one that set EJ at ease and caused her troubled emotions to settle if only for a moment - with the addition of her natural inclination to lean into the woman who had promised to protect her from dangers, Est had rapidly set herself up as a pillar of security.

A voice pierced the crowd's deafening thrum, masculine and familiar, radiating from the bar. "YO! EJ! Girl, how are you doing?! Come the Hell over here!" EJ's head snapped towards the salutations, and Est's followed suit. It was, of course, Roth - the implacable barman of the Jezze, ivories on display from a cheerful smile, those faux-silver plates on his fangs catching some of the dancefloor's scattered polychromatic rays.

EJ gestured with her head towards the bar, and the two made their way over - stepping over spilled drinks, stumbling drunks, and lost accessories. By time they arrived, Roth had already poured them both a drink: something unfamiliar, though, and reeking of strong alcohol. "Hey, EJ! God damn, it's been a bit. Last I saw you, Purity was feeding you drinks like you'd been in a desert. Heard she mighta spiked one of 'em, though, maybe that's why you two ain't been around much recently. Normally she's here every damn night. Glad to see a little roofie isn't enough to steer you clear of us!"

He laughed, and winked, the sound as rich and deep as the mahogany of his skin. His dreadlocks now bore new adornments - little rings and pins, silvered from the looks of it but likely just steel, a scattered mix of them bearing red faux-gemstones to match the refractive quality of his eyes. He pushed the drinks towards both women, the implication of charity prompting EJ to reach for hers immediately. His words, and the memories of her last time at the Jezze, were both a bit unsettling - but in the end, she could tell he meant well, and was just trying to be friendly.

He spoke again, giving the pair little time to even attempt an answer. "Ey, yo, you've got a new girl here with you, yeah? I saw you here a few days ago, though... Never forget a face. You had on a HATE FUCK band top, right? Love those guys. Their new single, 'Fuck You 'Till You Bleed', is already in my top five. Music video for it's great, too." His smile was as solid as stone, as implacable as a raw cliff face, uninterruptible as a mountain. He gestured towards the other drink, eyes locked on Est, and for a moment his brows furrowed deeper - but then returned to that mask of mirth he normally bore.

Est spoke up first. "Well, yeah! I've seen HATE FUCK live, a couple times! They were awesome. Hit the stage bare naked from the start of their set, and by the end of it, everyone was bleeding. Desmond's fuckin' synth shorted out from all the blood dripping into it, hahaha!" It seemed genuine - Est's expression rose and fell at the correct times, her emotions were in line with what she said, the inflection in her voice was pitch-perfect. EJ had never guessed Est would be a HATE FUCK fan, or really any of the more extreme acts that came out of the West. The Italian had always seemed like the type to listen to hymnals about God or something.

Maybe that was just EJ's bias talking, though. Being raised from birth to see the East as an evil, hyper-religious cult? I hadn't done good things for her perception of its denizens.

The ex-secretary spoke up now, wanting to give Roth a response before she sipped the free drink. "Yeah! Look, if she did roofie me, she was also good enough to not fuck me till I woke back up, hahaha! But we've both, uhh... been busy. Lots going on. Big wheels turning all the time in our lives. You know how shit is." And then, a sip - nay, a glug of the drink. It was strong, strong as a bitch, but the blood was donor just by the taste, and whatever was mixed with it gave it a fruity, savory flavor.

Pineapple, brown sugar, the copper tang of blood... But also the zest of citrus, the calm of mango, and the thrilling headrush of caffeine, all having a little liquid party atop floorboards made of woody, powerful alcohol. It was like someone had distilled a barn fire into liquid form, then decided to use it to make rum punch, and tossed in an energy drink for good measure. EJ found herself simultaneously disgusted and enticed by it, her initial swallow leaving her grimacing even as she readied for another, longer pull from the glass.

Roth laughed again, nodding as EJ met the drink, watching her reaction with amused attentiveness. "So, you got it in, yeah? Or whatever the equivalent is? Good girl, little lamb, I had my doubts, but... Seeing the way you two were hanging off each other on the dancefloor was nothing short of miraculous. I've never had kids before, but I felt like a proud father watching you with her. And damn, guess you hooked another, eh? Popular little lamb. Bitches love a vulnerable little piece, don't they?"

Roth's grin turned conspiratorial, and he shoved EJ's arm gently, careful to avoid the one holding her drink. EJ had already begun to forget about how upset Purity had been, and the guilt was drowning beneath the tide of donor blood and strong alcohol. As an added bonus, Est's protective hold on her became subtly more possessive once the blonde began drinking, pulling her close enough that EJ could just lean on the still-organic torso of her companion.

Est opened her mouth to speak, but was cut short in an instant as someone's hand laid itself on the shoulder opposite EJ - another hand laid itself on Esper James's shoulder, respectively. The pair turned as one, and even Roth seemed a bit surprised by who he saw behind them, but he didn't say anything.

Ebon hair in a curtain of midnight, draped over a face speaking of Eastern descent, near the Philippines back when the Philippines were a recognizable individual nation - eyes of crimson, alive with a cruel spark of concealed sadism, peered out from behind the inky veil of her locks. Her features were elegant, just like her physique, and she radiated vampiric influence and pheromones like a censer emitted frankincense smoke. She was dressed in club apparel, shockingly: a black v-neck with the image of an anime girl being disemboweled by other anime girls upon its face, with a similarly coal-toned blazer over top, complete with a lapel pin of a bloody maw. Tight crimson chinos and pristine black fashion boots completed the ensemble, along with a spattering of darkly-toned makeup.

The woman's smile, though, was what really drew the eyes, and what made EJ's heart go cold enough to rival a Siberian winter. Perfect, immaculately maintained ivory, normal on most people of affluence in Vitus due to the advancements in biotechnology. They were, however, plated in gold. Real gold.