The Sharpest Lives [Nisha]

[Angel Malcon]

Give me a shot to remember, and you can take all the pain away from me.

The West End was abuzz. It was always busy this time of night, when the evening shows ended and the supernatural came to see the midnight matinees. After the advent of supernatural beings, West End started working around the clock. The museums hired second staffs to work the night shift (maitainence was done on Tuesday, the day the museums were closed), and sometimes a play could have an entire second cast and crew for the nighttime runs. The clubs, however, remained the same, being that night was their time before as well.

A kiss and I will surrender.

However, some exclusive clubs had opened. Any active member of the nightlife knew that The Rhinestone was a werewolf club, The Cell Block a vampire club, and the Toreador a strictly human club; there were many such distinctions in the West End these days.

The sharpest lives are the deadliest to lead.

Angel Malcon, however, knew that even among these, there were clubs that only dealt with very certain types of people. The Ship's Mast made no distinction between vampire and human. To get through the doors, you needed only one of two things: fabulous wealth, or a vouch from a ranking member of Izan.

A light to burn all the empires, so bright the sun is ashamed to rise and be.

Angel had been a spy for Izan for eight years now; considering the danger of the work, this was considered a mark of his skill. He was well-known in The Ship's Mast, and therefore needed no one with him to get inside. Once he was settled at his usual place at the bar, he ordered what was also his usual first drink, a ginger ale and VO (a Canadian whiskey). Before handing it to him, the bartender sipped it once, something he did with every drink in the house. However, what some would see as impertinence was actually quite appreciated here; every Izan member, especially those as ritualistic with their drinks as Angel, knew that poison would be a quick, easy way to get someone out of the way, and there were rare poisons known to knock even vampires out of the game.

In love with all of these vampires.

Angel looked around. The Ship's Mast wasn't very active, an odd thing for a Friday night. High-ranking members of Izan often threw parties here, depending on the occasion; Angel himself had had his last birthday here with a few friends. Mostly, though, people came here to get the scoop on what was going on in Izan society these days. Not only within the crime family itself, but also in high society, since many of the well-to-do citizens of London thought it stylish to come to the Ship's Mast as well; it was considered quite a daring change from other exclusive clubs.

So you can leave like the sane abandoned me.

Angel sipped his drink again. If there was one thing a spy appreciated every now and again, it was a slow night.

[Nisha Sohalia]

The rich and well-off's of London were always people Nisha tried to avoid. The bland parties, hollow conversations about politics and family matters and the constant advances from young men towards her. The last could have been what made her start socialising with humans, they rarely made passes at her knowing that they would have o chance if it was them who made the first move. Nisha has also loved how care-free and realxed humans act, so unlike the stuck up and pretentiousness of the vampire high society. This of course has never sat well with her family who were always apologising to other families when Nisha flat out refused to accept any of the marriage proposals put towards her.

Tonight, much to her displeasure, Nisha is been taken out by her two older brothers. In the car they sit on either side of her, walking to the door of the Ship's Mast they walk on either side of her making her feel more that she's been escourted to a prison than to a club for a night out. "Please try to at least look like you want to be here Ni". She glance at her brother and puts on a faked smile, something she has become very adept at putting on. "See sis it's not so hard". Nisha just sighs and follows her brothers into the building.

Her eldest brother Richard puts a hand on her shoulder and leans in close. "Stay here the whole time we're here okay. We don't ask much of you but just this once can you at least make an effort to talk to people. You're liking for humans has already caused some shame to our family". There had been a time about ten years ago that Nisha was involved with a human who had asked her hand in marriage. She had accepted and the two had eloped to esacpe her families anger. Three days later Nisha had woken up to find her fiance gone, the scent of her brothers hanging in the air. They had found them and killed her husband to be. When she had been brought back home everyone knew about her 'transgression".

"Fine I'll stay here just to avoid your bitching when we get back to the house". Before her brothers can say anything she has walked away in her typical flouncy manner. From her purse Nisha takes out a lollipop and heads towards the bar, taking a seat and ordering a drink.

[Angel Malcon]

The sound of the door opening rippled through the quiet of the lounge. Angel, with his back to the door, didn't turn, but he heard the movement as almost everyone else did. He thought nothing of it; if the three people who came in knew him, they would talk to him, and if they didn't, they wouldn't. He'd reached the point where he didn't really have to actively socialize himself.

When she sat down at the bar, however, something in him clicked.

That voice, that posture, that beauty. The dark chocolate hair, the round face, the knowing brown eyes. The little smirk that played its way across those full lips. The flowing clothing, always perfectly tailored. The slender, clever hands. Angel's memory was near-perfect even for a vampire, but he didn't need any such advantage to recognize Nisha Sohalia.

He'd known Nisha since he was a small human boy. She was over a hundred years his senior, and had known his grandfather back in the day. His family, a bunch of lawyers and politicians deeply embedded in Izan, had been closely knit with hers, since often they were clients. Angel had grown up around her, while Nisha stayed the same, stayed constant, and stayed lovely.

She was his queen bee, his first crush. She sparked his desire to become a vampire. And she was the very first woman to exploit Angel's weakness for beauty, even if she didn't know it.

He still had that weakness. Looking at her now, he didn't even mind it so much.

"I haven't seen you here in some time," he said, keeping his cool. He could do this. He was Izan's best spy and the most eligible bachelor in London's vampire society; surely he could hold a conversation with a lady.

[Nisha Sohalia]

Well it had certainly taken a bit longer than she had expected but up came someone to talk. She had been expecting a human male, not that vampires males were any better, but at least a vampires know how to act around eachother while humans are usually stuttering and always giving compliments, it just gets annoying at times when all you want is to have a normal conversation. At first she pays little attention to the man who has come to talk to her, spinning the lollipop on her lips a few times before turning. A small smile comes to her lips. Though he had aged some since they had last seen eachother Nisha could not mistake Angel's darling boyish looks. "My how you've grown, I remember you when you were a little boy". She places her palm on his chest for a moment. "I remember you when you were human, how things have changed indeed".

She puts a finger underneath his chin and lifts his head a little. "Still got those gorgeous eyes, not that you needed becoming a vampire to improve your looks. Don't let my brothers see you getting to friendly with me, they'll start making plans to have us paired off with eachother. I say good luck to them". Nisha gives Angel a quick kiss, the strawberry flavour of her lollipop transfering onto the male vampires lips. She is perfectly aware of the affect she has on men no matter what their species, even a male werewolf has been known to have his knees turn weak when she turns her charms on them.

"My little Angel". It was the name she used to call him when he was younger. Her little Angel. "Please join me for a drink if you're not already engaged with anyone here, I'd rather speak with you than anyone else in this place". A flutter of he eyelashes and his hand held in hers should be enough to make him agree. When she'd known him as a human Nisha didn't deny that he was attractive, but he was young then and she had easily snubbed him for the affections of another human. But now he is older and well-off, he would have to be to have gotten into this place. Money isn't everything for Nisha but it does help to get her to choose you over someone else.

[Angel Malcon]

"My how you've grown, I remember you when you were a little boy. I remember you when you were human, how things have changed indeed."

She put her hand on his chest. That was fine; they were old friends. Her voice had the same languid, warm contralto, her words the same smooth eloquence. But she was right -- when she'd been gone, Angel had gone to college, become a vampire, worked and mingled in Izan. He'd moved on. He'd grown up.

"Still got those gorgeous eyes, not that you needed becoming a vampire to improve your looks. Don't let my brothers see you getting to friendly with me, they'll start making plans to have us paired off with eachother. I say good luck to them."

Then she kissed him. So much for moving on.

As soon as her lips touched his, they both knew he was hers. The taste of her lollipop lingered on his lips and he resisted the urge to lick it off. It was such a little gesture, so spontanteous, as to make him remember everything about this woman that drove him crazy as a teenager.

"My little Angel," she said, just like she used to. He still, occasionally, had dreams of her saying that. "Please join me for a drink if you're not already engaged with anyone here, I'd rather speak with you than anyone else in this place".

He nodded, feeling that familiar flutter in his chest that happened anytime a woman -- especially one as beautiful as Nisha -- made him feel special.

"Of course," he said, finishing off his first drink and ordering his customary second, a glass of blood-laced red wine known as the Captain's Order. "I'd never refuse to share a drink with an old friend." He quirked an eyebrow and glanced across the bar at her brothers before looking back to her. "I trust your brothers are well? And your parents?"

[Nisha Sohalia]

Smiling, Nisha takes Angels hand and leads him towards an empty booth and sits beside him one of her arms looped through his. "My brothers are fine. Still holding onto their elitist views that vampires shouldn't be mixing with humans and werewolves. Still give me lectures every time I come back to the house after a night out and they can smell the scent of humans and wolve so me. To them they see it as me 'tainting' out blood line or something. In the long history of our family there has never been a vampires that was once human, we have always been vampires of pure blood. I don't know how they do it myself, sticking to just vampires makes life so boring, and been with a wolf is just exhilerating as there's always that risk that their blood might somehow be transfered to your body and the urge to bite them is just so great. As you can tell though I have been able to keep my composure". She rests her head on Angel's shoulder, sighing softly. "Father still won't talk to me at all. I've always had the suspicion that it was him who sent the wolves to attack me that night in the hopes of killing me and so getting rid of the 'taint' in the family. Mother is a bit more civil but not by much".

"My brothers keep trying to set me up with men from the well off vampire families. You know once they even tried to arrange a wedding without me even meeting the guy. Luckily for me the guy wasn't looking for a wife who was a woman who would stand up to him and talk her mind but I don't think that even a marriage to a high society vampire could get me back into the good graces of my father and mother. What about you Angel have you been breaking hearts? Attracting the young ladies. Tell me Angel what made you want to become a vampire? Why would you give up the beauty of the sun, a beating heart and the feeling of been alive. If I had been born a human I don't know if I'd have given those things up even for the power and immortality of the vampires, or maybe at least not until I was a bit older. Sometimes I can smell the sunlight on humans and wolves and I can only imagine what it's like to feel that warmth on my skin".

Nisha touches his cheek softly with her fingertips. "Would have been nice to have met you again before you'd become a vampire. I'm glad to meet you again either way". She sits back looking over Angel. "You make a fine vampire, I think that it suits you very well".