Arlo James

See what it's like to be a vulture's lunch

She had a nice laugh. For such a strange girl- and she was strange. Arlo had already clued into that. Still, that laughter that fell from her lips saw that simper return to his own all the same as he proudly displayed that picture of himself and his little pet resting upon his shoulders. His newfound companion had obviously been anticipating a legitimate woman as opposed to a Panda. The amusement hardly lost on Arlo in turn. He could hardly help that grin that danced on his own features the way any proud owner of a pet surely did, the man taking some sense of pride, however misguided, in having another acknowledge that his Little Bear was, in fact, adorable. The woman assurance she would hardly take offense at having seen him fail on the ice however was met with a shake off his head.

"You don't know this Panda, she might not be graceful but she can be damn judgemental. You should have seen the look she gave me the first time I took her on my bike."

Hell, he was fairly sure she hadn't actually forgiven him for that. It was hard to tell. What with her inability to talk and all and yet he was mostly sure she had been scowling at him. Mostly. That almost rueful smile touched his lips once more, Arlo perhaps giving away more of that very being he truly was then he had intended in that moment and yet, when that hunger had no hold upon him he was sure he was almost, well, fun. The way he used to be before any of this....vampire shit. He was slowly finding his way back to the person he had been and yet all the good intentions in the world didn't make a meal. The man unwilling to lose his meal tonight even if she was cute and good company. If he didn't have the intention of eating her he'd almost have considered making some attempt to befriend her. Arlo determined, for now, not to allow himself to dwell on those facets off his own nature as the pair so momentarily became lost in that conversation, each of them, perhaps, falling a little more into that charade then they should have. At least until her scent seemed to cloy the air around him, reminding him again why he was here, forcing him to show his hand in that game he'd led them down. Arlo so unable to prevent that shift within his gaze. Something entirely predatory. A look he loathed upon himself and yet was powerless to stop. He was hungry and she smelled...delicious. That alone so shattering whatever innocence had remained of that moment.

He hardly expected her to melt from his grasp in those seconds that followed his efforts to restrain her. His fangs barely scraping the flesh of her neck only to have her vanish into nothing, that shock alone seeming to jar him from that bloodlust even if only momentarily as her words seemed to echo from anywhere and everywhere all at once. An illusionist. Once that element of surprise was lost he so often chose to simply flee and yet something about this woman was almost....daring him to try otherwise. Just to see if that taste could be earned. Her sarcasm met with his own, Arlo almost enjoying that challenge as he searched for her in the darkness. Those words finding him again. What was in it for her? Fair question. He turned lightly on his feet once more, searching for those illusions as they appeared around him. Arlo making some effort to pinpoint the source of her voice even despite the impossibility of it. His vampire senses extended. His voice following a moment later.

"You get the best feeling you've ever had in your life. I'm not a regular vampire. My bite does things to other vampires, believe me you'll like it. Everyone likes it. You get a meal too, I'll find a human for you to feed on to replace what I take. I'm generous like that- usually."

That crooked simper tugged slightly at his lip again, teasing her despite the truth of his words. He'd made sure Sebastian had been fed afterward, he could do the same for this girl couldn't he? Maybe she'd be inclined to play along. His own affinity hummed readily to his fingers then, Arlo more than willing to 'play' for at least a little longer. He was hungry, after all and yet he was almost equally as intrigued by just what this woman could do. She hadn't turned on him like so many others did at least, not yet, Arlo watchful for it all the same as those almost silken words found him again, agreeing to his conditions, that added little clause seeing him pause.

"What exactly do you want?"

Well- it didn't hurt to ask, the woman far vaguer then he liked and yet for now his mind was readily focused on winning that game. How hard could it be? Her whisper that they were more than illusions all but ignored. An illusion was an illusion wasn't it? Sure it looked real, but that was it. Arlo's interest far more focused on finding the real one amongst those lies. Those webs were flung easily from his fingers then, striking all three of the nearest illusions at once, Arlo allowing the barest pulse of electricity to ripple through them, that electricity failing to conduct and showing up that ruse. A small grin of satisfaction touched his lips before he let those webs fall, teleporting himself upward to land like a gargoyle on the upper roof- affording him a view of that street below. His bright blue eyes found that final illusion in the dark as that web was fired towards it, this one widening like a net to ensnare her. Those words of praise she offered were hardly unheard, the vampire scowling slightly at the realisation he'd failed to find the real one. Arlo oblivious to those far darker thoughts that turned in the woman's mind, his own so warring between hunger and amusement with the entire charade.

"What on earth-"

The words had barely fallen free off his lips as that mist suddenly seemed to rise out of nowhere, suffocating the darkness and clouding his own vision over. It was thick, heavy, almost oppressive, one hand waving automatically in some vain effort to dissipate it. That ghostly fog almost seemed to glow, as if only further proving just how unnatural it was. Well this was unexpected. His vision of that street below was all but gone. Arlo scowling readily now. She didn't want him on the rooftop, that much was clear and yet the street below hardly seemed that much safer, one hand lifted to run back through his near-black hair again as the young man seemed to contemplate his options. Fine. He could play. He supposed. A soft exhale parted his lips, Arlo disappearing from atop that roof to reappear on the street below and within that fog. His hands folded into his jeans pocket, he felt almost cold and yet really he was sure he wasn't. A trick of his mind. Associating fog with cold. That was all. She had to be in here somewhere, right? Maybe he couldn't see, but that hardly meant he couldn't smell her if he had too. Her blood held a perfume all its own and yet that was hardly the only skill at his disposal, Arlo reaching down briefly to let his hand touch that ground below- those webs shooting off in all directions to snake along the ground, spreading out as far as he could push them. If she moved. If she walked. If she touched even one of the strands of that web he'd be sure to feel her now. Arlo momentarily rather pleased with his ingenuity before striding forward into that mist. He could smell....something to be sure, faint, distant and yet he was almost sure it was her blood. The vampire readjusting his path now, facing her directly from some distance away though he hardly knew it. Arlo beginning to walk ever so slowly towards her- those whispered words finding him again.

"Pretty sure that's my line babe, if I'm the spider. You know I can smell you right?"

He spoke out loud and to that mist, assuming she had some way of hearing it, the man mostly sure he was going in the right direction even though she was still a ways off. Arlo suspecting she wasn't in this mist at all but outside it, watching, wasn't that cheating? He needed more rules next time and he- wow. Something was touching his web, he could feel it. Something was touching almost six strands at once! Behind him, to the left, someone was....rolling on it? Had a human walked into their game? No, he'd have smelled them, besides, it was bigger than that. A car? No it was moving. What on earth was it?! For several moments Arlo forgot about finding that woman entirely, the man turning behind him to peer into that foggy darkness at something coming closer and closer with each passing moment. His azure blue gaze focused on that moving shadow that slithered from the depths, eye widening at the sight of that giant snake that slithered towards him.

"Heeeey....Chicka? This....can't hurt me right? Illusion yeah? I mean...its fucking big."

There was a nervous edge to that laugh all the same. Whether he truly expected an answer he hardly knew. Arlo merely watching it rise upward then, the man momentarily caught between staying still and trying to run, that snake affording him no true opportunity before it lunged. He flung himself sideways in those last few moments, those vampiric reflexes perhaps all that had saved him then, those giant fangs crushing into the concrete and road below, leaving a rather gaping and very real hole in their wake. Arlo merely stared at that crumbling concrete. Alright then. That was....strikingly realistic. Maybe letting it get hold off him was not a truly good idea and yet this game was getting a little more...real then he anticipated. Whatever words he'd been about to offer were all but cut off, that snake striking again as Arlo dove for cover a second time, his feet scrabbling on the ground as he simply, well, ran. There had to be an exit to this mist right? Right?!

"Fucking hell!"

How big was this thing? That snake seeming to barely have to move to strike, a building losing part of its wall as the creature struck again. He was running out of options. He couldn't keep running forever. That snake readying itself for yet another strike, Arlo so abruptly teleporting himself upward as high as he could into the night air above, that snake rearing up and out of that mist beneath him with jaws agape. That entire scene surely making for one hell of a sight and yet his plan had consisted only of escaping the creature, not how on earth he intended to get down, gravity rapidly beginning to plunge him back to earth as he so frantically attempted to twist his body to face that snake as he fell. Arlo unleashing the full force off that webbing affinity then, firing wave after wave of that sticky web at the creatures jaws as he fell- the vampire making some desperate bid to bind its jaws closed, to cover its eyes and face, its head swung wildly now in some effort to free itself. Arlo teleporting once more to the nearest rooftop, fingers catching onto the gutter as he crash landed and all but hung from it now, his other hand firing that webbing still. That snake fighting so desperately to be free from it. He couldn't keep holding it. It was going to eat him, this was how he was going to die. His energy was going to run out eventually. He couldn't fire spider web forever and electrocuting something that size....injuring it enough to bring it down.....he'd be lucky if he didn't knock himself unconscious. She didn't need to know that though, right? The devil is in the details after all.

"How about a draw!? Call off your snake and I won't electrocute it into oblivion. That's fair right? We can......renegotiate terms."