The Three Fools Tavern

The Three Fools Tavern had been the first bar on the island that served human food, a tavern reaching back to medieval times. Or at least they liked to pretend they were. In reality, the bar had been built only 20 years prior but flavor was something they enjoyed to bring out. In fact, it was fairly obvious if one thought about it and realized the bar was on the first story of one of the many sky scrapers that made up Electric City.

Katrina was not one of those people who considered their attempts. In fact, the old time flavor reminded her of home, or what used to be home. Now her home was nowhere really, thanks to the Communist regime that had taken over. The Naughtsian woman sat in a table in one of the many corners, a feature that had been carefully chosen for the tavern atmosphere. She quietly nursed what the locals called a White Naughtsian, though she had never seen the drink in her homeland. She was not quite sure if the man from the previous night would show up, and would take it as a confirmation that he was indeed the vampire she hunted.

To be perfectly honest, she had hardly expected to run into him during her lifetime. Her previous family members never had. And if he was the vampire her family hunted, she couldn't help but wonder if she could kill him.

Dmitri entered the tavern, looking around for the woman from before as he messed with his umbrella. Spotting her in a corner, he made his way over to her. When he was at the table, he bowed to her, saying, "Zdravstvuĭte*, Miss Kuzlov. I apologize if I made you wait long." He smiled, despite his inward feelings. The longer he spent around this woman, the more likely she was to realize who he was. Years of practice kept the worry off his face, however. He looked at her drink and, while he knew what it was, he had never ordered any, preferring to keep to wine while in public. "Is that any good?" He sat down as he spoke.

((* = Hello))

Katrina offered him a nod of understanding, a small smile appearing on her face. "I have not waited long. This drink is what they call White Naughtsian. It is... too tame for my taste. Needs Less cream, more vodka."

Dmitri chuckled a little at what Katrina said, musing, "People outside Naughtsha can't handle even that much vodka." He looked at Katrina herself, smiling as he said, "You look lovely today." It never hurt to begin a meeting with a compliment, Dmitri thought, and it was true that she did look very nice. Whether it was because she was the first Naughtsian woman he'd seen in a while or not, though, Dmitri couldn't tell.

Katrina raised her eyebrows alightly, replying, "I see you have new suit. I prefer Naughtsian styles to Coxish, though. Less... complex and snagging."

Dmitri made a sound of agreement, saying, "I do, too, but it doesn't hurt to fit in. Of course, it would help if I knew where to buy Naughtsian clothing, too." As an after thought, he added, "And don't forget that Naughtsian clothing is more comfortable, as well." Dmitri didn't like how tight the waistcoat and overcoat felt in other nation's fashions, and much preferred the baggy style of Naughtsian wear. He looked at his own coat as he sighed, wishing he hadn't lost his things back in Phiah.

A small smile and chuckle escaped Katrina's throat. "You buy Naughtsian clothes in Naughtsha. At least good Naughtsian clothes. Sometimes they sell Naughtsian clothes in other places, but they always do it wrong. Always too tight or with their own... creative flare." Her smile disappeared a bit when she remembered the state she had seen Naughtsha in before they had left. Losing one form of chaos for another. When the Notzar was still alive, they were on a heavy lookout for rebels and supporters of the rebellion. Once the Notzar was taken down, men were hunting in the streets for nobles and Notzar sympathizers. It almost hurt to see her home, the home her family had liked in as long as anyone could count back, in such discord.

Dmitri nodded when Katrina spoke, having seen a couple of clothes that matched her description. With a hum, Dmitri decided to ask about Naughtsha, since she had seen it more recently than he had. "So, Naughtsha... How is it...? You say your family fled because of Bolshevik?"

"Naughtsha is not well. Last we had seen, Bolshevik were marching through streets," After a moment, Katrina considered her audience and switched into Naughtsian. "[They are looking for any non-sympathizers and magic users to bring in to the state. As well as any one of noble blood who have not sworn their allegiance to "the good of the people", or so they call it. It was a very strange time, and I have not had contact with any friends for the last 2 months.]"

Dmitri listened intently as Katrina spoke, nodding with a sigh when she finished. In Naughtsian, he replied, "[I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure they're fine.]" Leaning back in his chair as he crossed his arms, Dmitri commented, "[I would say this was just a phase, and the Notzar would be back in power soon, but with most of the royal family gone, as I've heard it,]" Dmitri hadn't been in Naughtsha for over a hundred years, and had heard very little about what was going on in his Mother Land, but he did hear that all of the royal family were killed. At least, most of the main family. "[There's no Notzar to take his place...]"

"[Not even extended family, or so I hear]." Katrina replied. "[It is a sad time for our motherland.]" She finished, a sad look in her eyes.

Dmitri looked at Katrina, regretting bringing up Naughtsha. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Have you been in Electric City long? What is there to do here?" He was about to mention that whatever she said was preferably indoors, but he decided he needed to give her as little suspicion as possible that he was a vampire, and showing his aversion to water would definitely be a clue.

"[I am only resting for the time being,]" Katrian responded, avoiding eye contact. She was indeed spending some time resting, but only between vampire hunts. She was currently in the stage of looking across newspapers for signs of breakouts. In fact, she was on her way to Phiah after reading a report about a vampire appearing there and attacking someone.

"[Ah, I see. Well, I know how precious resting can be. Perhaps I should bother you later?]" Dmitri made certain to look a little concerned. He wanted to make it look as if he really did care, not that he didn't want to be here. He did wonder, however, what caused her to break her eye contact with him, but he figured it was the previous topic.

"[Ha! I can take plenty of time off resting. I am a free lancer, I do my job whenever it comes up,]" Katrina replied, leaning closer to the table and taking on a slightly more dangerous tone. While she loathed to admit it, she could be a bit of a confrontational drunk. Luckily, she was only slightly buzzed.

"[Oh? And what job would that be?]" Dmitri leaned in slightly, as well, as if Katrina were about to tell him some secret. He mostly acted in response to her, and half-wondered if the vodka mix drink was getting to her.

((Also, sorry about my post before this. I forgot those brackets got rid of my text...))

"[I kill vampires. Naughtsian, Coxish, it does not matter to me. All vampires that come across my hands are dead,]" She replied, pointing at her heart with a cocky edge to her voice.

Yep, that proved it. She was definitely the Kuzlov he thought she was. Dmitri feigned a surprised look, exclaiming, "[Is that so? You sound very confident. Do you very many kills under your belt?]"

~~

Ivanna had continued following Dmitri, and was listening to his conversation with the Naughstian woman. When she said that she was a vampire hunter, Ivanna immediately began to worry about Dmitri, even though he seemed to have the situation under control, at least for the moment. She began thinking of ways to part the two, to keep the woman from finding out about Dmitri.

"[I have killed three vampires in my time. I run close to my fourth,]" She replied.

Sitting in a corner, matching a group of day laborers drink for drink, was a massive red haired man currently attempting to hide a rush of panic. He pegged the blood sucker as soon as it hit the door and kept a careful eye on him as he sat down and started gabbing with some woman, "Prolly a thrall" thought Erik to himself. This didnt bode well at all, best case senario, the vampire was here on business unrelated to him, which still left a vampire in the city, with apperant allies. Worst case senario, he was one of the Lords, which ment he either had to destroy the corpse, or get Sarah out of the city as quickly as possible. Erik had to keep himself in check though, because on the off chance that this was just some roaming dead man, Erik REALLY didnt need two clans after his hide. "If only I cou' unnastan wot da 'ell they're babblin aboot." He thought annoyed as the man across from him promptly lost the drinking contest.

"[A fourth? You've found one here?]" Dmitri tried to look a little scared, as would be normal for a human who thought a vampire could be in the same city as them. Of course, even as a human, Dmitri was hard to scare, but he had blown his cover once before by not acting more concerned, and he was determined not to make the same mistake.

"[Perhaps, perhaps not. There have been reports of a vampire on Phiah,]" Katrina continued. "Where there is one blood sucker, there is always more," She finished in English. She laughed a bit at the comment, despite the fact it was hardly a joke by anyone's standards. With a gesture to the bar tender, she demanded, "More vodka. Just vodka, no White Naughtsian."

Dmitri laughed nervously, surprised at how real it was. Probably because the vampire she mentioned was him. "That's true." He replied in English, turning his attention to the bar tender along with Katrina. "I'll order one, too." His attention back on Katrina, and unable to think of anything else to talk about, Dmitri said, "You look more than capable of taking care of yourself, but such a job must still be scary."

"Wot tha 'ell?" Thought Erik to himself. He had origionally labeld the woman as one of the gore guzzlers puppets, but now it sounded more like she was some hunter the sipping snake was having fun with. "Course tha' could jess be wot they want me thinkin." Erik thought, getting a headache only partially related to the copious amounts of booze he had just ingested. He half wished Sarah was here, on the one hand, she might have not let him drink without stabbing him with that stare of hers, but on the other, she'd probalby have a better idea of what was going on at the fanged flirts table. "Ah suppose tha best bet'll be ta fallow the bastard fer a bit." Erik finally resolved, "Sarah aught be at 'er books this time 'a day, and I doubt tha beast'll be causing a ruckas in tha day, wote'er 'is intentions."

"It is not scary at all if you know where they are. However, some vampires are good at hiding themselves from the public eye. They can feed for years as doctors or noblemen," She replied, glancing up and remembering her own notes and the notes of five generations of vampire hunters before her.