As Arnold and Jessi leave Court, Jessi says "This club Ah want to go hunt at, it's a kinda rough place. Y'wanna change or anythin'?"

"I've got a change in my truck. It'll just be a moment."

Arnold goes to his vehicle and changes his clothes. Soon he's back with Jessi "Ready to go."

Grabbing Arnold's huge hand in her small one, Jessi asks him, "So, whatta ya like t' do when you ain't bein' a lawman? Whatta ya do for fun?"

"Recently I've been getting into the nightclub business. I currently manage the Avalon, which is the Prince's Elysium. That's why I didn't want to go there tonight. I've been enjoying it. It's lucrative, it has its perks, and I can do much there without having to be seen - working through the employees there and my ghoul. I'm finding I like business management."

"I don't set aside much time for fun, though, really. I enjoy my work, and I'm dedicated to it. I just don't think about fun very often." Arnold shrugs.

"What about you?"

"Ah like t' dance," Jessi says, lifting her arms and swaying her hips as if to a beat. "Ah like live music. 'Casionally Ah like t' git high by bitin' someone that's high, but mostly just on pot or sumthin' like that. Ah like stealin' cars an' drivin' fast." Jessi grins. "Ah s'pose Ah shouldn't oughtta say them last parts to a lawman, but Ah don' ever steal from other Kindred, less they stole from me first. Ah like t' git in fights sometimes."

"An' Ah love t' fuck," she adds, flicking out her tongue to lick her lips.

Arnold chuckles "I don't care about Kine laws being broken, unless the Masquerade is compromised."

"I, too, like to get in fights. And I enjoyed dancing tonight, it's been many years since I've danced."

"The same can be said for fucking." He shrugs

"So what is this place you had in mind?"

"A club. Sort of punk, Ah guess. Loud music, people dress rough. There's a guy there, he wants me, Ah been teasin' 'im, but waitin' 'til after Ah'm legal to feed on 'im. Well, Ah'm legal now. Let 'im think he's gettin' what he been wantin, then Ah'm gonna have 'im fer a snack. He looks strong enough, Ah might give 'im a little mah blood, maybe slave 'im onea these nights."

Her eyes sparkling, she asks Arnold "Ya okay watchin' that?"

Arnold smiles down at Jessi "Of course I am. I'm quite eager, actually. You might not always see me, but I'll be there watching."

He didn't stand out so much at the rougher sort of club, and he briefly wonders if he's been before to the place she has in mind.

"Jus' so you're the kinda man that likes to do more than jus' watch," she says.

After a moment, more seriously, she says "Other thing 'bout this place... Ah ran inta some others new to town, them Carthians... that one guy, Dicky. His parents done named him right, f'sure. An' the Asian girl an' that other girl, the one said she was a liar. But there was some people there, kine... they was watchin' us, and one a them, she knew 'nuff to pull a lighter and click it in Dicky's face t' freak 'im out."

She chuckles. "He ran 'round like a monkey on crack, pretty funny... but them breathers knowin' somethin' up with us, what t' do... not so funny. So, if any of them are there 'gain, Ah'll point 'em out, subtle-like."

"I do more than just watch, but tonight I'd like to see you do your thing. I don't often get to enjoy seeing a beautiful woman hunt."

Arnold's smile disappears slowly while Jessi talks, and he seems thoughtful. It seemed like he would still have to remain very vigilant tonight. No rest for the weary.

He nods "That is indeed very disturbing. We'll be careful, then."

"Shall we, then?" He asks

Jessi smiles at the "beautiful woman" comment.

"We shall," she drawls. "It's right up on th' next block."

Arnold has seen the place... mostly catering to a younger crowd. Loud music - screaming and noise, really - lots of attitude, leather and raggy clothes. Far as he's seen, the local Kindred haven't paid the place much notice.

Arnold looks around the club, taking it in. He considers that he might have to make this part of his rounds. He follows behind Jessi, though after some time he drops back a bit. Allowing her to have some space to operate. He picks a place in the crowd where he can keep his eye on her. The jostling mass of people in the place break on his solid form like water on rock. He cuts a somewhat imposing figure, standing at least a head above the rest of the crowd, stock still. The riled up young people around him pay him little mind, too absorbed in their own enjoyment.

He sees a lot of people - guys, but also some women - give Jessi a look as she works her way through the crowd. Finally, she works her way over to a tall guy in black jeans, black t, spiky dyed-black hair, Doc Marten boots and about a dozen facial piercings. He's hanging with some other guys - young men, none probably older than 25 - but as soon as Jessi arrives, his attention focuses on her.

Arnold sees her chatting the guy up, occasionally saying something to one of his friends, but focusing mostly on him. In short order, his focus is 100% on her... his friends might as well not be there.

There's a live band playing tonight, young people dressed in ragged clothing that sound to Arnold a lot like the sort of music that was popular 20 or 30 years ago. After Jessi has chatted up to the guy for about 5 minutes, the band starts another set. About half of the people in the club ignore the band, but some others watch, or dance. Jessi goes the watch route, but as she does so, she backs up against the man, grinding her ass against him. He puts his hands on her hips, and after a bit she moves them higher. Not turning around, she continues to watch and grind.

After about 10 minutes of this, she turns toward the guy. Arnold sees her say something. The guy nods and she holds up her two fingers and points to the back of the club, where Arnold sees the restroom signs. He nods again and she heads that way, hips swinging. On the way, Arnold sees her glance his way, smile and wink.

Arnold watches the man he deduces is Jessi's intended vessel for a moment before wandering over in the direction of the bathrooms. Finding Jessi there he smiles at her.

"Everything going according to plan?" he asks quietly, looking away while he does so that it doesn't necessarily seem as if they're speaking to each other.

Jessi nods, grinning. "Uh huh. Ah told him Ah had to use the little girls room, an' when I got back, I'd go out to his car, out back this way." She points down the hall to the club's back exit. "He says he gots a big, old black car, so you kin go out that way an' hide, an' I'll bring him out, an' you can watch."

Her eyes sparkle as she asks Arnold, "Ya want me to jus' bite him on the neck, or would ya rather see me do it more nasty than that?"

Arnold looks down at her, smiling. He reaches out and tweaks her chin gently saying "It's your show, my dear. I would have you do it your way." Still smiling he backs away, turns, and exits the club the way Jessi had showed him. Outside, in the parking lot, he finds a dark spot and vanishes.

Vanishes

He finds a car that matches Jessi's description and watches the door to the club, waiting on her and her vessel.

Arnold doesn't have to wait long. He locates a likely candidate for this young man's car -a rickety, older-model, black Ford LTD, clunky but huge - and a short time later, Jessi comes out the back door of the club, dragging the young man by his hand. He points to the car Arnold noticed and she nods and keeps dragging him toward it.

Once there, she hikes herself up on the hood of the car, her legs spread wide, and pulls him close, wrapping her legs around his thighs. He's so much taller than Jessi that they are face to face this way, and Jessi kisses him voraciously while pulling his shirt up and running her nails lightly up and down the pale skin of his back and chest and ribs. The young man similarly pushes her top up to touch her. Arnold is able to clearly see the tattoos on her hip and abdomen... sworls of color, flowers, flames. Unseen, he's also able to hear her describe a smorgasboard of sexual delights she might perform for him once they're in the car.

Not surprisingly, the young man is quick to unlock his car, front and back seats alike.

Arnold watches, rapt. He moves in so that he's close enough, almost, to reach out and touch the couple. His eyes travel the lines and swirls of Jessi's body art as he watches them.

He smiles, invisible in the darkness, enjoying the feeling of being an unseen observer to this act.

Jessi readily hops into the back seat and moves over for the young man to do the same. In an instant, she's removed her top. Arnold can see she has the blush of life active.

"C'mere, you," she says, beckoning him with two fingers. He quickly gets in back, closing the door.

As soon as the young man is in the back seat with Jessi, she climbs around and straddles his lap, sitting down and kissing him on the mouth and the neck as he explores with his hands. She remains that way for awhile, the two of them kissing and murmuring lustful comments, before sliding a hand down between them, stroking the young man, then opening his pants. "Pierced here too, hm?" she murmurs. "Ah like that."

She alternately strokes and teases him with her hand. "Ah have a few places Ah want to put this," she tells him. "An' I know which one I want to start with."

Arnold watches as Jessi gets off the young man's lap and shifts so she is kneeling on the back seat and leaning over with her face in his lap, and listens to the young man groan and urge her to continue as he runs his fingers through her curly, blond hair and along her smooth, tatooed back.

"Patience, sugah," Jessi coos, looking up at the young man. "Ah guarantee, ya ain't never had it like this before."

Jessi lowers her head again.

That's when Arnold sees Jessi has extended her fangs.

Up until then Arnold had felt some envy for the non-disfigured man in the car with Jessi.

Arnold remembered feeling the Kiss, on the night of his Embrace. He's seen, in mortals, the ecstasy they feel when a vampire bites them, draws blood for them.

Despite knowing that, when Jessi extends her fangs, his envy for the man's position disappeared.

The young man gasps with pleasure-pain, his eyes roll back, and Jessi feeds. She takes her time and drinks for awhile, but the young man is still breathing when she finishes. She kisses his cheek, then leaves him in the back seat of the car, exhausted and with pants undone and a blissed-out expression.

Walking back toward the club, Jessi looks around for Arnold.

Arnold materializes out of the darkness in front of her, the big man seeming to step out of a shadow.

He wears a peculiar type of smile, one that nobody in Sacramento had seen before. He doesn't speak at first, just looks at her, and then he chuckles darkly. "Bravo, my dear. Truly a sight to behold. Feeling better now that you've fed?"

"Lots better!" she says, smiling and licking her lips. "Now that Ah've taken care of dinner, let's get to the fun stuff!" She grabs for Arnold's hand, moves close to him and puts his hand on her outside hip. Arnold can feel her body is still warm with the Blush and with the blood taken from the man in the car.

"So, did it turn ya on, watchin' me?" she asks, looking up at Arnold with those sparkling blue eyes.

Arnold simply replies, looking down at her. "It was an exciting show, a very arousing performance. Were you showing off for me? Or do you always toy with your vessels in such ways." As he speaks he moves his hand around on her hip and lower back.

"Oh, a li'l bit a' both, I s'pose. Ah like t' mix in a little fun with mah feedin', an' I wanted t' give yeh a show as well. Excitin' an' arousin', like yeh said... that's what I was goin' for."

Moving against Arnold, Jessi says "So, yeh hungry too, or would yeh like t' go somewhere an' show me how excitin' and arousin' mah show was?"

Arnold's hand moves down Jessi's body, lingering on the small of her back before sliding down to gently squeeze her butt. He looks down at her eyes, seeming to be having difficulty deciding. Finally he sighs "I, too, should feed. After all, I suppose that the more I've consumed the more I'll have for later."

"Would you like to help me? You were so successful getting your vessel to follow you out here." He brings his hand up and touches her face, smiling down at her. "Do you think you could bring one out for me? Oh, and I'm not picky about gender like some younger, more insecure Kindred."

"Just bring someone out and I'll do the rest." Arnold assures her.

"Sure, sugah, Ah kin do that," Jessi says, wiggling her rump in Arnold's big hand. "Won't be more than a few minutes."

She tiptoes as close as she can get - which isn't very, given Arnold's size - then puts her hands on his shoulder to pull herself the rest of the way up for a quick, teasing kiss. "Be right back!"

Jessi puts some extra sway - extra even by Jessi standards - into her walk as she heads back into the club.

As Jessi disappeared back into the club Arnold, again, melted into the shadows. Safely Obfuscated from view he waits for Jessi.

Vanishes

As he stood in the darkness, watching the door, his mind turned toward Jessi. At first he wondered, again, what the woman's angle was. She must have one, he figured. Perhaps she thought that sleeping with the Reeve would gain her some sort of favor? If that was the case then she would be sorely mistaken.

His thoughts soon turned away from suspicion, though, traveling along the lines of how he might like the night to go from here. It had been a very long time.

It's not much more than 5 minutes later when Jessi comes out, holding the hand of a young girl with pale - almost pasty - skin, short, red hair, dark lipstick and eye shadow, short skirt, nylons and a black sleeveless t-shirt with no bra. The girl looks a little more bashful than one might expect given her fashion sense, and more than a little tipsy.

They pass so close to Arnold that he could have reached out and taken the girl now, but he waited to see what Jessi would do.

"It's okay, honey," Jessi says. "Ah could tell right off, way you was lookin' at me, yeh was curious. Well, now it's time t' do somethin' 'bout that wonderin'."

Jessi leads the girl over near some cars, leans back against the trunk of one and pulls the girl close. She whispers "C'mon. Ah gar-un-tee ya'll like it." She flicks her tongue over her lips and pulls the girl in for a kiss, holding her hip and wrapping her legs around the other girl.

Arnold's arms reach out and grab the pale girl, leaning in, sandwiching the Vessel between Jessi and he. He wraps one arm around her midsection and with the other he jerks her head back and buries his teeth into her neck. As he drinks, the girl's punctuated struggle ceases and she goes limp in Jessi and Arnold's grasp. The hand not holding the girl's head caresses her body while he enjoys the taste of her blood and the feeling of her between the two Kindred. He licks the wound closed and draws away, letting the girl slide to the pavement.

Once she's no longer in the way he moves in and kisses Jessi hard. She can taste the fresh blood in his mouth. Almost unconsciously he activates the Blush of Life and suddenly his dead body is filled with living sensations that Arnold Culler had not known for centuries. Maybe part of him was still human after all.

Jessi returns Arnold's kiss with passion, licking the girl's blood from his tongue and fangs. When she pulls away, she's flushed.

"Ah was gettin' jealous, seein' ya feelin' her up while ya fed on her," Jessi says. "But it turned me on at th' same time."

She takes Arnold's hand and places them on her body. She feels hot, as warm as the unconscious girl's blood, and she shivers at his touch. At the same time, she touches him. Smiling and looking up at him, she says "Looks like ya got sumthin' too. That sumthin' better be for me."

Arnold begins moving his hands over her body, leaning in to kiss her while enjoying the sensation of her hands on him. Suddenly he reaches down and grabs the wrist of the hand she had been touching him with, looking down at her and almost snarling "Not here."

Jessi's eyes widen at Arnold's reaction, but she doesn't say anything, or resist his hold on her wrist.

He pulls her by the wrist to his truck. He considers the back seat for a second, but who was Arnold kidding? He was as big as a house. It wasn't happening. "Come on. We'll go to my place." He says, climbing in the driver's seat.

"Yer place sounds great," Jessi says, climbing in the passener's side and snuggling close to Arnold.