Sharpe/Dom - Erzabeta - "You Smell Like Him"
He was disappointed, no way around it. The bounce in Richard's step had long since fizzled as he pushed through the door of Erzabeta and out onto the sidewalk. He had hoped to run into Elijah tonight, he could stand a dose of imp but instead would have to make due tending his garden or reading a book.
Dom pushed by the crowd waiting to go in, the looks of venom aimed at him caused his grin to widen; the bouncer knew him and he started to sail through the doors, stopping short as he smelled Eli. Well, it made sense, this being his club and all... but the scent was outside. "Eli..." Turning, he spotted a much larger man; definitely not Elijah Wood. "Oh... your... you..."
"I suppose so..." Richard was a little taken aback by the strange and abrupt greeting. "Elijah is not inside, if that is who you are looking for," he offered.
"No... I thought he was out here..." Sniffing he air, Dom's eyes focused on the other man... vampire again. "I smell him on you."
"We are... friends," that was about all Sharpe was willing to offer to a stranger.
"Ah, so are we... I mean me... him and me I mean." Closing the distance, Dom eyed the stranger, taking in his much taller height and wider shoulders. "Good friends?"
"New friends... but I'd like to think that we are close..."
"Aha..." This man could give lessons on answering without answering. "Dom Monaghan." Holding out his hand, he tipped his head to the side, a small challenging smile playing at his lips.
"Richard Sharpe," he gave the other vampire's hand a firm shake.
"Pleasure, I'm sure." The manners long ago taught to him surfaced, causing the smaller vampire to nod his head as well. "Would you like to go in for a drink?"
"Might as well," Richard shrugged, an attempt at nonchalance. He was interested in knowing more about his little imp, and this vamp could prove an interesting connection.
Nodding to the bouncer for the second time that night, Dom headed toward the entrance, trusting the other to follow.
Back into the fray, Richard followed the cocky little vamp back into Erzabeta.
Grabbing a table that two other guys were about to sit at, Dom grinned, the barest hint of teeth showing. Pulling out a chair, he sat and nodded toward the other one. "We'll probably have a waitress here in a minute or two."
"No rush, the night is young," Sharpe was a bit shocked at Dom's bold show of fang in a room filled with humans, but like Elijah, this place was anything but ordinary or tame.
"True, and we have all the time in the world." Letting the thrumming beat wash over him for a moment before looking at his companion. "So... how long have you know Eli?"
"Not too long, just a couple of months," Richard glanced across the table at his companion. "Not as long as you I'm sure."
"Yeah, I've known him... maybe a hundred years, give or take." Dom caught the attention of a server who indicated they'd be over shortly. "How'd you meet the blue-eyed wonder?"
"Ran into each other in a bookstore one night. Well, I should say he was eavesdropping on a conversation I had with a student and then cornered me into conversation," Sharpe chuckled at the memory. "He's a bold little scamp."
"He's that and more!" Dom grinned, knowing exactly what the other vampire was talking about. "Eli's bold and brass and just... ballsy!"
"Aye," Richard agreed. Before he could speak further on the issue, the waitress approached the table. He ordered a simple beer, before gesturing to his companion.
Placing his own order, Dom turned back to the other vampire. "What do you do?"
"Full of questions, aren't you Dom?" Richard was amused by the other vamp's curiosity. "I'm a professor."
"Ahh, a man of letters? A learned man... What do you teach?" Resting his elbow on the table, Dom cupped his chin and gave his full, undivided attention to the vampire across from him.
"What any of our kind in his or her right mind would," Richard chuckled. "History...."
"Ahh," Raising a finger, Dom grinned, "History as the books have it, or history as it was lived?'
"A healthy bit of both," Sharpe smirked before turning to the waitress, retrieving his glass. "Can't veer from popular public opinion too much, they couldn't handle how things really happened, but I can spice it up and make it real."
"Pretty popular teacher then?" Nodding his thanks, Dom took a sip before placing the glass on the table.
"I demand too much from my students to be too popular." After he made the statement, he remembered his first meeting with Elijah. A smile played across his face as he continued, "in fact Elijah approached me after I finished chastising one of my students."
"Ouch... what'd they do wrong?" Dom studied the vampire before him, his interest rising as an idea took hold.
"Approached me outside of my office to complain about a grade," Sharpe took a sip of his beer before he continued, "I was being generous the first time I graded the piece of shit paper. I didn't have the patience to deal with him at the time unfortunately."
Dom was confused and his expression showed it. "So wait... how'd Eli get there?"
"I'm sorry when I said outside my office I meant completely outside my office," Sharpe corrected himself. "I was sitting in a bookstore when the student approached me and the little imp was listening in."
"Ahh, okay!" That cleared it up for Dom and he grinned, "Never knew when to keep out of things... Why were you in a bookstore? Aren't you surrounded by them all day?"
"I suppose you are right about that," this little vamp was a quizmaster. "But I am fond of them. What about you? How did you and Elijah meet? What do you do?" He gave a little wink, "you aren't the only one who can ask questions."
"I don't 'do' anything... when I was turned, my maker - disappeared one night, leaving behind his house and all the goods in it. Since the budding neighborhood thought me his son, I inherited it all." The shrug was very elegant, a gentle lift and drop of shoulder. "Had to sell off a few pieces to survive, and things just got better from there."
"How long ago was that? Its always so difficult to determine a vampire's age."
"I was turned... close to - hell, just under three hundred years ago." He blinked, amazed at how much time had passed since his unwanted turning.
A sly smile spread across Richard's face, "there is some small part of me that enjoys when much younger looking men are older than I am."
A slow blink and Dom stared at Richard, "Do they now?"
"Well, you are one hundred years older than me, and I bet you still get carded."
"Not here at least." Grinning, he looked over the crowd, then back at the vampire near him. "Been a few places that did... thought it was funny."
"You didn't answer my earlier question," Sharpe was in fact curious to know the answer. "When did you meet Elijah?"
"Oh, about a hundred years actually. We uh... it was an interesting first meeting." Dom grinned; remembering how had been between him and Eli.
"Seems like there is a story behind that."
"Oh there is...." Taking a drink, Dom licked his lips and began to speak. "Roaring 20's... the Jazz age... all those lovely descriptions... I'd been invited to a soiree - my hostess knew me to be a vampire and thought it to be quite the rage to have one in attendance. I wasn't the only one there though... One other, Elijah Wood, was there as well. We - were cordial, to each other." Here Dom grinned to show how the word was more a euphemistic expression than reality.
Richard stayed silent, hoping that the vampire might elaborate.
"He was a right snarky little brat. All toffed up and strolling about the place." The memories of that time filled Dom, causing the smaller vampire to give a wistful sigh.
"I'd have liked to see that," Sharpe gave a little laugh. "If he was such a brat, why seek him out?"
"I actually bumped into him at the bar... and being the suave gentleman about town that I was, made the startling discovery - sharing it with him of course - by blurting out... you are a vampire!" Laughing at his own joke, Dom upended his glass and drained the remainder.
"Very suave indeed," this little vampire was quite the amusing storyteller.
Grinning, he spun to face the other vampire, "Eli was so nonchalant about it, looked at me, quirked that brow of his and agreed."
"Friends ever since, huh?"
"With bumps, but for the most part, yeah." Dom didn't add that he'd die for Eli. "So... tell me about you and him."
Richard shrugged a bit, not quite sure where to start, "what would you like to know?"
Confused by the shrug, Dom frowned, "What... this is probably going to sound incredibly old fashioned, but... considering I've almost 300 years old... what are your intentions toward him?" Dom hadn't missed the smell of Eli and sex on the other vampire. While Dom wasn't jealous... and he truly wasn't, both he and Eli have had lovers over the years, he wanted to make sure no one hurt his friend.
"I haven't been asked that question in quite a long time," Richard mused. "He is... very important to me Dominic. I can promise you that I will do everything I can to make him happy until he doesn't want me around any more."
"If you make him happy, he'll never want you to leave." Dom was serious, but his eyes had a light in them.
"That is what I'm hoping for."
"You do realize, I'll be around now, right?" Showing full teeth with his grin, Dom nudged Richard under the table.
"Is that a threat because you are planning on causing me trouble," Richard's voice was low, controlled. Asking his intentions was kind of cute but he wasn't sure what to make of this.
"Don't get your knickers in a twist granny..." Dom sighed, exasperated with how some vampires could be so damned prickly at times. "I meant, he and I are best friends, so you'll probably be seeing more of me. Sheesh!" Leaning toward the other vampire, Dom grinned, teeth showing. "If I was threatening you, you'd know it..." Eyes flashed red then diminished, leaving his crystal blue shining bright.
"Well then Dom," Sharpe relaxed, unafraid by the smaller vamp's show. "I look forward to seeing more of you."