"Another beer," the boyish redhead called out her order from the end of the bar. "You might want to go easy on that," Circe said, the blonde beauty smiling down at her gently, "I think you've had enough." She looked up, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes as she said softly, "I still feel the pain, so it's not been enough." "What's your name, kid?" Circe asked, putting the bottle of beer down in front of her. "Sue," she sighed, quickly twisting the cap off of the beer as she anticipated, "and no, I don't want to talk about it." Circe shook her head, turning to scan the bar and check on the other patrons. She smiled as her gaze lingered on the back wall and the massive mural that was painted up on it. The woman stood in the forest, drawing a bow back smoothly, her slim athletic body scarred and battered. Still she was beautiful, a warrior facing her enemies with strength and courage. Just below the image a simple line of text read, 'The Daughters of Artemis.' There were several vampires eyeing each other cautiously, but the truce over the bar seemed to be holding. A succubis danced on one of the tables but she had been wise and took her shoes off, so that was all right. Other than that it was just the usual mix of dabblers and magically touched people who occupied the tables. The tawny haired young woman made her way through the crowd without any seeming effort, her very presence enough to move the people aside. She flashed a cocky grin as she reached the bar, her leathers hugging an athletically slim body. "Hello, love," she bent forward across the bar to kiss Circe gently on the lips. "Diana," Circe smiled at her lover, "what kept you?" Diana placed gloved hands on the top of the bar and vaulted over in a single smooth motion. "Don't scold me," she protested, "it wasn't my fault." Circe raised a single eyebrow, "What happened this time?" "The cutest little thing tried to pick me up," Diana leaned against the bar casually as she told her lover, "too bad she ended up being a he." Circe snickered softly, "What did you do?" "Bought her a beer to apologize for the confusion," she laughed. Diana looked around the bar with a false sort of casualness, "You know about Susan and Erin?" "Hmm," Circe nodded slightly. The couple was a mild scandal in the community, in all honesty. The black haired vampiress Susan had taken up with a common waitress, and a not terribly beautiful one at that. Of course once you met Erin, none of that mattered. Even with her short brown hair in a ponytail, brown eyes behind comfortable glasses, and lanky frame she was so kind and engaging it quickly won you over. Still, there were a lot of girls who had their sights on Susan and having her becoming unavailable had made a lot of them very irritable. "We don't take sides in this sort of thing," Circe firmly reminded Diana as she added, "we've always kept the bar neutral." "It's gone beyond just a few pranks around Erin," Diana said to her seriously, "someone took a shot at beating her up." "Doesn't she teach self defense on the side?" Circe smirked. "Yeah, they certainly ended up regretting that plan," Diana agreed, "but I don't like seeing things like this happening." "You're far too compassionate," Circe murmured, taking a damp cloth and wiping off the bar. She thought for a moment before saying, "Let's put the word out, then. If we hear about anyone taking a shot at the two of them, they'll get permanently banned from the Daughters. That should make a few people think twice." "You got that right," a pretty blonde noted as she came up with a empty mug. Her face was beautiful even with the slight scar she bore and the dress she wore revealed her entire back and the glinting, metallic gold tattoo that covered it. "Refill, Elizabeth?" Diana asked as she took the mug from her hand. "Please," Elizabeth purred, leaning forward a bit to reveal the swell of her breasts. With an admiring smile Diana watched Elizabeth saunter back to her party, hips swaying. "That Jess Drake does good work," Circe noted, taking in the golden tattoo. "That wasn't what I was looking at," Diana laughed. "Bad girl," Circe grinned back. Up the bar Sue was drunkenly talking to a slim, blonde haired young woman, "Not only did she have an affair, but they kicked me out of our carpool, too." "Poor dear," she murmured, studying Sue thoughtfully. She smiled slightly, taking in the muscle under her T-shirt as she said, "I'm Lina, by the way." Sue blinked at her drowsily. "Hey Lina," she tried to straighten up a bit, "are you doing something later tonight?" Lina reached out to squeeze the muscle in Sue's arm. "I guess I am know," she answered,. enjoying the happy look that spread across Sue's face. In another part of the bar the succubus smoothly stepped down from the table top, the buzzcut young blonde grinning impishly. "Thanks," Hunter said, enjoying the sensation of a lingering hand resting on her firm bottom. "You're welcome," Dr. Katherine Delafield murmured, the older woman's face just a bit pale as she met Hunter's amused gaze. She quickly removed her hand from the jeans covered flesh, silently cursing her lack of self-control. Hunter stood closely to the older woman, the crowd around the table easing off now that she had stopped her wild dancing. "You could just have left that hand there," Hunter said to her in a husky voice, "I didn't really mind." "I don't know what came over me," Katherine turned her face away, cheeks red. Hunter reached up, gently stroking a red cheek as she murmured to her, "Oh, I think I know what came over you... I did." "I'm not...." Katherine shook her head. "Do you have to be?" Hunter asked, moving slightly towards Katherine, the musky scent of her body washing over her. "You're a beautiful lady," she said as she dropped her voice to a sultry purr, "and that's enough." "I'm old enough to be your mother," Katherine shook her head woozily. "Then you were an awfully young mom," Hunter's voice washed over her, that breath stroking feverish skin. "What do you want?" Katherine asked, meeting Hunter's eyes. Hunter pulled her close, their bodies fitting together perfectly, "Just you," she answered, licking Katherine's neck with a quick stroke of her tongue. "Looks like you win the bet," the pale vampiress noted as the three women watched them leaving the bar together. Nocturne sipped at the red fluid filling her glass, the brown haired woman enjoying watching the people going by. "It was nothing," Dominique waved casually, her red hair flowing around her. The leather clad woman made a face, "Unlucky in love but good at gambling." "Mistress," Natasha gently chided her, the brunette maid still dressed in her black silk maid's uniform with white apron. She tilted her head slightly, "You know that Lisa cares for you." "As long as I pretend to be a human woman and hide my true form," Dominique sighed. She brightened slightly as she looked over at Nocturne, "And how is your Anne?" Nocturne actually blushed slightly, her pale form highlighting the rush of blood. "What do you mean?" she asked unconvincingly. Natasha smoothly poured, refilling their wine glasses as she said, "The young lady comes over regularly now and I doubt it's just to be your bedmate." Finished she settled down on her knees beside the table, the image of a perfect servant. "I've told you all about my woes with Lisa," Dominique reminded her with a smile, "not that you haven't had a ringside seat." Nocturne took a drink, stalling for time. "I care about her," she finally conceded, "maybe I even love her." A sigh, "But I don't know how she feels." "Have you tried asking her?" Natasha asked softly, her white maid's cap shining in the carefully dim light of the bar. "An easy thing to say," Dominique murmured, her thoughts on her own situation ass she added, "but harder to do." "We haven't spent much time away from the bedroom," Nocturne conceded with a faint blush, "for all I know she considers me just to be a bedmate." "I don't think so," Natasha shook her head, "from when I have spoken to her I'm certain that Anne regards you fondly." She smiled wryly, "But I don't know if she loves you." "Then maybe I should take her out," Nocturne mused aloud, "and give her the chance to get to know me a bit better...." Back up at the bar Circe wiped the counter off, a smile on her face. "What's so funny?" Diana asked curiously, kneeling down to stock the fridge with bottles of beer. "Just wondering how they'd react to knowing who we really are," Circe admitted. Diana chuckled softly, "What, that you're the original sorceress Circe and I'm the former goddess Artemis?" She looked out at the bar patrons fondly as she murmured, "Either they wouldn't believe us or just not really care." That brought a laugh from Circe, "You know, you could be right." Author's Notes: This is set in the same world as "Blood, Sex and Magik" and "Descent" and features characters from both of those series. I may or may not continue this, depending on how I feel and if I get some good ideas for further episodes. I am planning to move two chapters of "Blood" over to this fic later, as well as possibly tying in other fics to this series, we'll see.
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