Girls, Be Ambitious (Miss Sirene, Please)

[lily tomlinson]

After the message had been left on Sirene's phone, Maddy had dutifully erased her messages, returned Frost's call and spent a good portion of the evening talking and goofing off. Basically, just enjoying her night off before getting ready to go harass the town.

She'd arrived at Axed early, and had spent the time relaying the current story of the day to Addy, all started by Liam making a stupid comment about her training attire and Maddy then proceeding to pull out an axe and try to lop off his head. All fun and games, until Liam decided to get his knickers in a twist and complain about women never being nice to him. Well, gee, wonder why that happened?

Needless to say, Maddy was slightly irritated by him, but mostly amused. Men were such dingbats. Well, most people were dingbats. This is why she had a very selective group of friends. Made for less headaches and annoyances.

By the time the clock rolled round for Sirene's arrival, Maddy had situated herself at her usual table after threatening those who occupied it away. The drinks were piling up, quickly turning into empty glasses. Hey, she could hold her liquor. Drinking problem? What drinking problem?

[shinigami]

Enter, stage left: Sirène. Sirène, with a distinct sort've sashay; real ladylike, nearly delicate, certainly suggestive. The shapeshifter -- there couldn't be any doubt as to what she was; it was written in the way she carried herself, written in the way she held her head, the way her hips swayed -- looked the bar over until her gaze snagged on Maddy's table with its city of empty glasses. Then she smiled, easy, archly. The look had been one of cool appraisal. Place seemed rough. Well, Maddy picked it; of course it was rough. The name was probably more literal than figurative. Aw, Maddy.

The woman (of the vavavoom, femme fatale variety) glanced toward the bar proper, but she didn't stop there first. Nope; she went straight to Maddy's table, no deviations.

There was some benefit to be taken from watching her walk. Woman made walking look real good. Real good. Woman made walking look like the next hot television program.

"Mad. Sorry, but I hit no one on the way over; would've damaged my car. Who's this Liam boy anyway? That psychotic you work with? I have three important questions: How are you? What are you drinking? And what's so great about this Axed place, other than it's named for your favourite weapon?"

[lily tomlinson]

Maddy sighed in disappointment. "Pity. I could have bought you a new car, too." But she smiled to show she was joking, raising her glass in a mock toast. All confident sarcasm, reckless arrogance, careless, violent elegance. That was Maddy. "Liam.... Why yes, he is that psychotic. I made the mistake of sleeping with him a few times and now he won't leave me alone. Le sigh."

"And your answers are: Irritated and steadily becoming drunk. Grave digger. And the drinks are the best in town. And if you so much as become a crybaby, you're most likely to be Axed. Literally. This place is Laid-Back central."

She took a long swig of her drink, which was a disgusting shade of brown, but tasted quite wonderful. And one of those was like a swift kick against the head. It really lived up to it's name. Too many of those, and you'll be digging a grave on the floor.

"And now my questions for you: How are you? How's the wedding planning? Aaaand-" by this point she was slurring her words quite happily, "Are you actually wanting to go through with it?"

[shinigami]

"Then I am buying your next drink." Sirène is cool and precise in her generosity. "In fact," and she raises her voice with effortless ease. A woman used to projection. Authority. Attention. Also, she makes eye contact with a bartender and, somehow, the same way a cat might unsheathe a single claw, has unsheathed a credit card, slim and silver. "I'll get everybody's next round."

And once that's resulted in a crush at the bar, Sirène'll ease fox-dainty onto a chair at Maddy's table. Her purse is set down beside the mountain of shotglasses. Then? Then Sirène gives Madeline an up-through-the-eyelashes sort've look; as indirect as she rarely is. "Mad, baby, once you've made the mistake a few times it's not a mistake any more; it's a problem." There's a perplexed wrinkle-of-the-nose. "Isn't he a really violent vampire?" Then she smiles, slice of the moon sharp. "And was he any good, at least?"

Her turn. The smile fades a little. "Meh; I already dislike Las Vegas. The night air gets in my teeth." She snaps them, to illustrate her point. "Also, I need a personal assistant. Quit your job and come work for me!"

Then: "And the wedding proceeds apace."

Brief pause. "I said I'd go through with it," she says, as if that's enough; for Sirène, it is. Her word once given. Sirène's friends -- and Sirène's enemies -- know that once she's said she'll do a thing it will get done. Or she'll die. It's simple. "Besides, Dante. He's Dante. He's obedient, but not too obedient; he's big; he's great in bed; he smells nice; he uses soap without prompting; wants kids; is smart; we've had some good times; can take care of himself... I probably love him. He loves me. We love each other. What could go wrong?"

Another brief pause. She reaches over to tug on a piece of Maddy's hair. "You're going to be my bridesmaid, right? I'll let you carry an axe. You can beat Dante's best man with it, if you'd like; I really dislike him."

[lily tomlinson]

"Heh. True. It is a problem. Liam is generally a problem." Maddy shrugs, leaning back in her chair and propping her legs up on the table. She's definitely got no problems relaxing in public. "But hey, I can't help it. I liked the sex. But after a while, I got bored. And I really don't feel like getting mixed up with him and his new soulmate. Cause ew."

There's a brief shudder and she downs another drink. "Can't quite my job, either. Sorry, Sirene. Not unless you want to deal with Seth. Actually, why don't you? I could be part-time on both. But I'm not saying that to him. Heh. Uh-uh. No way. Not in this life or any other."

Maddy swung her arm into the air, snapping a finger. She was good at demanding things. People just knew instinctively not to sass her. Might have been the axe stationed at her side. Maybe. And a waitress promptly cleared her empty glasses from the table and set a new one down. Good girl. She loved this place. Great service.

There was a moment of silence while she takes in the rest of Sirene's words, drinks up some more. Drinking problem? Pssh. Don't know what you're talking about.

"Probably love him, eh? You sure that sounds sufficient? Of course, what could go wrong when you probably love a guy."

"

[shinigami]

But after a while, I got bored. That's what Maddy says; Sirène raises both eyebrows, cool as cream; then she shakes her head slightly. Tsk, tsk. What a shame. Poor Liam; his reputation is tarnished forever. "Soul mate, hm?" She says the word, as if she's tasting it. "Those stories rarely end well; is she appropriate?" Meaning, is she at least a Night Worlder? That's right: Sirène liked the gossip.

Sirène also pouts super appealingly. All soft, all winsome; plush of lip, the sense that it wasn't really for real. That she was just a poor girl who needed help. So misleading. Fox fire, darling. Fox fire.

"Aww, but Mad, baby; I'll pay you better." Beat. Then, crisp again, laconic again: "Besides, you know I don't like to share. I'm just no good at it."

It was true. Sirène was rather territorial. Also, Mad had been there for the Great Toothbrush Freakout. Before Sirène'd met Dante, she'd been around the block a few times; Maddy'd been crashing on the couch from a night of debauchery when she'd seen one of Sirène's boyfriends wandering through the kitchen with Sirène's toothbrush in his mouth. MAYBE she'd warned him to hide it. MAYBE she'd sleepily threatened him. Whatever she did, what happened next, when Sirène walked out of the bedroom and saw him, was not pretty. Fur flew. Literally.

"That said, tell me about your boss again; this Seth guy. I'm sure I will have to deal with him eventually." Distaste pretty much sums up her attitude about that. Distaste, and efficiency -- it'd hafta happen, clearly. Didn't he have some Japanese slave shapshifter making weapons for him? These sort've details were why she needed a personal assistant, damn it. One who was competent. Most unlike her current.

The whole probably love him line was ignored. Pointedly. She and Dante would be happy, damn it. Nothing would go wrong. Because it wasn't allowed.

"He also has impeccable timing," she murmurs, when her phone beeps. A text! And she texts back. Not excessively, but it goes like this.

D: u havng fun?
S: yes
D: talkng bout me?
S: yes
D: mad, yes?
S: y
D: the psychotic one??
S: not psychotic, enthusiastic
D: ha, ha, say hi

"He says hi."

Then the phone: snapped shut.

[lily tomlinson]

"She's a treehugger witch. Very......." Here was a long pause as Maddy's lips curled in obvious disdain. "She's a total Daybreaker, for sure."

Another shudder. Another drink. Man, she's gonna hit the floor soon. The room was even making pretty swirls.

"As for Seth, Liam likes to call him a God. I suppose he kind of is. Original vampire. Very good at always knowing everything, and getting what he wants. He's pretty awesome. And.... well, Sirene, do you really think you could afford to pay me higher? Cause, with the money I make, I can afford to buy myself several private islands. And that's just a year's salary."

"You would also be talking about Pystol. She's not a slave. Her family has worked for Seth as weapon smith's since the beginning of their line. She's awesome too. Made me a cool retractable ax. And Frost one that has a recall system."

[shinigami]

Maddy's disdain at the word daybreaker makes Sirène laugh: smoke and autumn leaves; brandy poured over ice and honey. Sirène's laughter is as ultra-feminine, as sensuous and soft, as she appears to be. A couple have sent over drinks; she takes a second to flick a gaze over them, choose her poison and imbibe it. You'd never guess where her sympathies lay. You'd never guess she had sympathies.

Dismissive: "I make it a practice never to pay enough to tempt anyone with their own private island. Private islands are dangerous, Mad; there are sharks, and tsunamis. But it sounds as if you must have loads of money stockpiled; quit anyway, work for me."

But she smiles after a beat to show that while, yes, she's being serious, she's not going to push it very much longer; at least, not now. "Well, that's nice to hear." Re: Pystol not being a slave. That said, Sirène still doesn't approve completely; she never will, shapeshifter line wasting valuable resources on an original vampire's lackeys of all things.

Her eyes narrow, shrewd and sharp. "You, my dear, are about to pass out; your eyes are doing that spinny thing they do; we're leaving. I want you to show me some other watering hole options before you pass out. The passing out should happen at the end of the night. C'mon."

[lily tomlinson]

"Pffffffft," Maddy slurred, raising her glass in protest. "An Englishman- or woman- is not drunk so long as she can hold on to a blade of grass and not fall off of the Earth. I'm go-ooooood. Peachy. The world is dingy spinning colors. Huh. I think I will pass out soon. Heh. Heh. Heh. Heh. Fun!"

[shinigami]

"For me?" Sirène yoinked Maddy's glass of protest out of her hand. "Thank you." And she made it go bye-bye, made it disappear; no more alcohol in that glass. The fox-woman blinked twice. Precise. Her pupils dilated; that really was a hardcore drink. There's a flush that creeps up 'neath her skin; she scratches behind an ear. "And I'll keep that bit about Englishmen and women in mind next time I'm in England -- meantime, up you get! Up, up! You're at least going to pass out in a gutter like a respectable member of Las Vegas' population."

And Sirène will hustle Maddy outside. It's the principle of the thing, damn it.

[lily tomlinson]

"Issssh'not.... shhh'not yooooourssssss," Maddy said, reaching out towards the glass only to find her hand going in the opposite direction than she wanted to. "Hey. Hey you. Hand. Not cool. Get over there. Gimme that. Driiiiiiiiink. Fine! Yoush wanna play that way? Fine! Fine! I'll go!"

There was a moment of glaring at her hand.... which was beginning to double, and then she rolled out of her chair. Yes, ROLLED. There was a moment where face met ground, and then she was stumbling toward the door.

"Steal mah drink. Fine. Fine! Be that way. Fine!"

[shinigami]

Movie reel time. Movie real time. What does this mean? This means that we have reached the point in a film or a book where smack is about to get laid down. Epically. If this were a movie, there'd maybe be slow motion; if it were a book, well, you'd just know. Since Sirène and Mad live in the ugly real world, there are none of these things. There is, instead, a dark van. Not black; how obvious can you get? Just dark. Maybe navy blue.

Also, it pulls up just as Maddy stumbles out of the front doors of Axed. It idles. Nobody gets out. Why should they? They're suspicious; something to notice that isn't the very, very real threat in the alleys on either side of Axed -- and the alleys around Axed make for perfect camoflauge, because where besides the Black Iris is a very real threat more likely to hang out? You just learn to ignore the very real threats, and stay alert.

The very real threat? Three lurking badguys. Well. Depending on which side of the fence you're standing. They don't straddle the line. The fact that they're attacking someone who's just come out of Axed? A sign of desperate derring do.

But wait -- attacking? No; no attacking yet. Somebody in the van, when Madeline drunkenly stumbles onto the sidewalk says, "Frost, Madeline; relative to Frost, Eleanor; righthand woman to Marquis, Se -- "

"DON'T say his name."

"Uh. Right. That vampire guy. Friend of Siddal, Sirene. Real name: Unknown."

"Okay, great."

"Do we follow this one? Think they've already met up?"

---

Meanwhile, inside, Sirène had stayed put for a second, watching the line of Madeline's spine as she weaved out of the bar. Then, Sirène had shaken her head, glanced heavenward, thought about sending a text off to Dante but decided against it, and then shimmied out of her chair. The drinks, bought and paid for.

And she would've been outside already, too, were it not for somebody falling off a chair and asking for help. Sirène stops to haul the drunk back up, one-armed and stronger than one would think she would be. Then again, isn't that the M.O. at Axed? Inhumanity has its perks.

[lily tomlinson]

But Maddy is too drunk to have noticed these things. Oh, she could still kick some ass with her axe if she wanted to, but she was quite enjoying the spinning world and drunken stupor at the moment, thank you very much.

So the van? Pssh. Like she cared. And the plotters of doom? Ha! Bring it. She'll fall on them, and possibly throw up. How about them apples, eh?

The curb was looking mighty lovely from her weaving standpoint as she waited for Sirene to exit the bar. Very lovely. Oh. There she went, plopping down on the curb and laying her head on the nice cool, grimy cement. Man, if her coworkers could see her now. Oh, wait. They've already seen a drunk Mad. And it was always such an amusing sight.

What was takin' Sirene so long anyhow? Well, fine. Fine. Maddy had a new friend, and his name was Mr. Curbside.