Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Dusk till Dawn

Dusk till Dawn is a coffee house open twenty four hours. There are boths, couches, tables and window seats with cushions. Around two a.m. was pretty quiet but two people manned the counter. Two young college students, a male Dean and woman Beth.

Mary sat at one of the corner booths with many cushions almost cut off from the rest of the coffee house. She was reading a book while drinking a warm beverage.

The bell over Dusk till Dawn's door rang as Jeremy pushed it open and walked into the room. The smell of coffee assaulted his sensitive nose, but there were considerably worse aromas to be immersed in. He survived the room, dark green eyes washing over the establishment. Hands in his pockets, he walked over to the bulletin board, scanning over the missives with an arched eyebrow. Taking a card off the board, he read it over while murmuring to himself, "A 'discete' cleaning service. Fascinating."

"Can I get you anything?" a young college student asked. She was blonde and had blue eyes wearing a Dusk Till Dawn shirt.

Turning toward the voice, he tilted his head to the side, examining the girl for a moment before walking over, "Yes, I rather imagine you can." His voice was refined, educated, perhaps with a hint of an accent, but nothing too pronounced. His gaze rose to the menu board, "Is there some manner of special, be it daily or house?"

She blushed a took a step back "We have a house special called Dark Soul." its a black tea blend. The young woman says answering the attractive gentleman. She looked at him carefully then glanced back at the far booth area.

"I can get you a cup if you'd like." she offers.

His eyes cut back to the young woman as she gave ground. The predator in him noticed such movements while the vampire appreciates her cheeks flushing with blood. He turned and looked toward the booth she’d indicated with her eyes, arching an eyebrow.

With a smile, he inclined his head back to the barista. “I prefer tea to coffee at this time of night. One Black Soul, if you please. Lord knows I seem to have misplaced mine.”

She laughs a little smiling and turned away to make his tea. She walked behind the swinging half door and grabbed a cup. Filling it with water she asked "What brings you here at this hour?" she was always curious about the patrons of this business. Factory workers, dead beat poets, vampires....

"I work nights," the vampire replied with a light smile. Sensing she perhaps wanted more, he continued on. "I'm a therapist who specializes in dream and sleep disorders. While there are those in my field who keep proper office hours, I feel the night is simply more appropriate for such endeavors."

"And yet," He picked up a tin of mints and read the label as he spoke, "In addition to being something of a night owl and appreciating your extended hours, I'd also heard some peculiar things about the shop." He sat the tin down, letting the moment linger for a bit before explaining, "Namely you've all manner of teas. Many of my patients enjoy a cup while we work together."

She let the tea steap while they spoke allowing it to become full flavor and watched him as he spoke gauging weather he was vampire or not. Sometimes it was very hard to tell.

"Oh yes. Mary travelled all over studying teas and coffees before opening her shop." she said pleased then handed him the tea. Taking the gamble "Its on the house " she added smiling with a twinkle in her eye.

"On the house?" Jeremy asked in a curious tone. "Seems an unreliable business model, but I appreciate the generosity." After a gracious inclination of his head, he went ahead and pulled out his cell phone, which was in a wallet case. He plucked a bill from the case that he otherwise would have used to pay for his drink, folded it and slipped it into the tip jar. Then, he drew forth a business card and sat it on her register, "For you. I find night workers often have difficulty with sleeping and dreams. Returning the kindness, your initial consultation would be free."

He lifted the cup in silent toast to the clerk and carried it over to a bookshelf, looking over the books and magazines that were freely available for people to peruse as they drank. He didn't, in fact, begin drinking. Rather, he cupped his hands around the very hot cup, enjoying the intense warmth.

"Thank you." she says taking the card. "If you wish to speak to the owner she is at the far end in a booth." she adds with a smile.

He would find all manner of books and magazines but if he traveled towards the back he would notice a trend of rarer books of religion and occult.

Thus explaining the glance toward the back booth. He noted the clerks advice quietly, his gaze cutting over to the back booth. The owner 'hanging out' at her own shop. Interesting. His attention turned back to the bookshelf, methodically looking over the various tomes and magazines. Jeremy paused as he reached the more arcane section. An atheist, he had little patience for religious tomes, but some of the occult books made him smile, at least until he hit upon a particular volume.

The older book was partially worm eaten, and was a translation of Cotton Mather's personal journals. He'd been influential during the Salem Witch trials, and knew much more about the supernatural than any mortal should. Jeremy pulled the tome off the shelf and walked back toward the owner's booth. "Pardon my intrusion." He gestured to the book, "I'd like to purchase this from your shop."

The younger woman puts a bookmark in her book and sets it aside. Her brown hair fell in waves past her shoulders and her blue eyes were bright. She smiles looking at the title and state of the book "That is great. Megan will be able to ring that book up for you at the front when you are ready." she then takes a sip of her tea, a blush coming to her cheeks. Back this far no one usually ventured and on this night they were alone.

"What is it that intrigues you about that particular book?" she asks morning for his to take a seat across from her.

"Ahh, that was easier than I thought it would be. I hadn't thought these books would have been for sale. Looked more like a borrower's library than a sales rack." He glanced back to the clerk, "Megan? Very well." He started back toward the front, only to pause as the owner asked him a question.

Jeremy took the offered seat, setting down his tea cup, well away from the book. "Well, I have a professional interest in the occult. My particular studies share little in common with the women that Mather's harassed, but I belong to an association with eclectic interests and this novel will be of interest to others, allowing me to leverage it for favor, or trade for something more personally useful."

She used her gift of Auspex to see the gentleman's aura. Gauging if he was human or supernatural. Her blue eyes growing wide as she surveyed the gentleman and his morality only for a second.


"Books of a more rare nature are kept elsewhere." she says with a grin, her eyes bright and welcoming.

"You perhaps misfiled this one, if I'm to be honest. Honestly, this particular tome shouldn't be in open circulation. I recognize the Salem Witch trials are popular, but Mather was a scholar of the supernatural, specifically on ways to identify and destroy all manner of thing that goes bump in the night." Jeremy smiled slightly, "Assuming one believes in such foolishness, of course."

Her sight tells her he is a vampire, like herself. She smiles more openly "Well its a good thing you wish to purchase it. However now you will be making the purchase through myself." she takes a sip of her black chai tea.

"You see books that rare and of that nature are far more valuable than money. A trade or a favor would work." she leaned in a said in a softer voice like cotton "I am always looking for new gifts to learn."

She then sat back confident in her words that they in dead are alone and sitting out of earshot as the owner can put off a aura of 'In working do not come near me.' this section of the store was always empty.

"It seems in my effort to be honest, I've weakened my bargaining position and you are taking advantage." His finger traced around the rim of his still untouched tea as he looked at her with his own inhumanly perceptive eyes. Jeremy's aura had the distinctive pale, coldness of a vampire, and was perhaps even more cool than many, with blue and lavender being the primary colors in play, even after the terms of their bargain had changed. "I'll be careful of making that mistake again."

"Taking a closer look at you and your aura, I suspect I know the sort of gifts you're curious about. Much of my knowledge is ... privileged. Secrets my clan does not share with the uninitiated." He offered her his hand, warmed from the tea, "Jeremy Kline, Tremere."

She smiled "Mary Loggins, Toreador." she introduced herself in return. "And pray tell which gift would I want to learn?"

"I cannot answer specifically, Ms. Loggins," Jeremy replied simply as he brought his hand back across the table. "I'm not one to delve deeply into the desires of others. I would assume you mean the gifts of our kind, specifically the power our blood grants in the form of disciplines. There could be other gifts you're eager to learn, I assume. I can, for example, write equally legibly with both hands, but that seems a less interesting gift to study."