Dead Roses [Saressa/Piper]

[Piper]

She twirled a single red rose between her index finger and thumb. The flower, having been pressed between the pages of her diary for at least twenty years, crackled with every movement, its stiff petals hardly budging from the flattened mold. In a few hours, the clock would announce the hour of three, and she would call off her date for another night. Still, she refused to give up the hope that Gavin would show---almost sixty-eight years late.

Despite the fact that the pub remained open at all hours, the area seemed abandoned. The weekday, a Tuesday, always seemed to deaden business. Piper lingered in the doorway for a few more minutes before the bar finally captured her attention. She took slow steps, her black heels clicking as she moved across the hardwood floor to an open stool. No one noticed the dressed-up Hispanic or the dead rose clasped in her hand. Smoothing out her chocolate-colored halter dress, she slid onto the stool and dropped her rose onto the counter.

“Wine, please. Chianti.” The bartender didn’t say a word regarding her request; he merely turned and went about preparing her drink.

She tugged her purse strap off her shoulder and rifled through the cluttered bag for forty coins. Before the bartender could set the drink on the counter, she’d handed him the coin and mumbled a quick gracias.

“Did you want something to drink, Mama?” She didn’t glance to either direction, but the bartender knew she wasn’t referring to him. “I know you don’t care for wine, but I could get you a scotch. You used to have a drink every night before bed, but you remember that,” Piper smiled and took a sip off her wine.

No one sat to her right or left. In fact, no one was anywhere close to the woman. She spoke to her dead mother as if the woman were right there with her---she honestly thought so. Emptying her glass, she sat the wineglass back upon the countertop and turned around on the stool, pressing her back against the edge of the bar.

“He’ll love the dress you chose,” she continued speaking to her mother. “We’re going to go to dinner, and then perhaps we’ll catch a movie, like Scarface.” She swung her feet back and forth, her dress rising slightly above her knees. “No, Mama, it’s the older version with Paul Muni. And I know I have to be at the hospital later.”

Piper rested her elbows on the bar and tilted her head back. The woman hadn’t worked at the hospital since 1941, and all her patients were long dead; in fact, her own fiancé, Gavin, had died in her arms. She walked the fine line of insanity with grace, merely waving the bartender over and ordering another glass of wine.

[Saressa]

Saressa murmured something in Egyptian before she shrugged out of her black leather jacket as she walked into the pub, keeping her back to the room.

Her attire this evening had been a pair of low rise dark blue jeans with rips in each knee, a dark green tank-top, and a short-sleeved button up white tee that was left open.

Kneeling down to tug the pant leg over one of her Converse All-Stars, Saressa straightened up and tugged off her baseball cap with a sigh, dark brown hair falling over her shoulders.

Upon turning around, surprise crossed silvery green-blue eyes as she spotted Piper sitting alone as usual. A saddened expression crossed her face for a moment. Saressa had met her only a few nights ago, but she already felt a connection to the dark-haired vampiress.

Shaking away the saddened expression, inwardly hoping that Piper hadn’t seen it, she made her way over. “Hey Pip,” She chirped, hoping her voice sounded cheerful as she waved her hand.

Her gaze traveled over her friends outfit, and Saressa knew that Piper had to be waiting for Gavin once again. ‘I wonder when she’ll realize he isn’t going to show…’ She frowned inwardly before taking a seat beside her on a bar stool.

As the man came up to get her order, she asked for a beer and dug the proper amount of coins from her pocket and gave it to him as he placed down her drink before going back to what he had been doing.

“Merci,” Saressa thanked him in French, and she watched her friend talk to her ‘mother’ before ordering another glass of wine. Insanity wasn’t her area of expertise, and she was obviously going to keep her comments to herself unless asked.

[Piper]

She turned her dark brown eyes to her friend, a smile blossoming on her glossed lips. Piper hadn’t touched her new glass of wine, and she put it off once more to turn back around on her stool. In all honesty, she knew exactly what the other woman was thinking. Piper should have painted her nails the berry color to match her lip gloss!

“I always run into you here. I think you like this place more than I do, Saressa.” She folded her hands in her lap. “Mother likes your shoes,” she said softly, her tone almost like the brief chiming of a small bell.

Piper dipped her head and hid behind her dark-brown curls. Reaching out her hand, she placed the rose right before her full glass of wine. She’d actually ordered the drink for Gavin; he shared her love of Italian wine. Peaking through the strands of her curled hair, she focused her gaze on the beer before the other woman.

“Gavin and I are going to see a movie. I was just telling mother,” she brushed her hair behind her ears to see clearly. “Do you like movies?” She loved to talk, so she often rambled on for some time before the other individual stopped her and managed to squeeze in a reply.

She swirled the glass of wine in a tiny circle, looking down at the liquid with a frown. More than anything, she longed for her humanity. Gavin liked her much better with a pulse, or so she thought; she hadn’t found the time to ask him his opinion. He was always so very late.

[Saressa]

Smiling in turn, she chuckled. “It’s a bit easier to find entertainment in the taverns around here.” Raising the glass to her lips, she took a sip for a moment before listening to the chime of her friends voice as she talked.

Inwardly, she was glad that Piper didn’t have telepathy – invasion of her mind wasn’t exactly one of her favorite things in the world.

Looking down at her shoes, she gave a gentle smile once again. “Thank you, they’re a bit old though so I’ll be getting new ones soon.” The words were soft, she had yet to see Piper’s mother and she felt odd conversing with thin air.

But, never the less, the vampiress had met a lot of lunatics in her past – Piper wasn’t anything like them. “That’s great! Which one?” She questioned, managing to squeeze it in after Piper had said it. Listening to the rambling, she hid a grin. She didn’t mind listening, talking wasn’t her strong suit unless it was to get herself out of trouble.

“I often find good horror movies, makes me realize how much better I am this way rather than human.” She gave a gentle chuckle, to show she was joking. As Piper’s gaze lowered, Saressa couldn’t help but watch the wine swirl in the glass.

The frown on her friends lips made Saressa inwardly cringe. Sadness wasn’t something she had been talented to handle. As a human, she focused on hunting and protecting others not caring about their emotions. Now, someone close to her tears up, and she immediately feels terrible.

“So how are your patients doing?” She questioned softly, her voice sounding a bit hollow but full of enough emotion to have Piper shrug it off if she were to notice something different.

[Piper]

Piper crossed one leg over the other and tugged the end of her dress down to her knees. It took her a moment to think of every single patient under her care. There was the blind man, Richard; the scrap metal man, Eddy; the quiet woman, Sophia; the one-legged man, O’Hara---she merely nodded in response. Her patients showed no improvements, but their conditions never worsened.

“They’re doing well. It’s card night again, but I think I’ll try to spice things up by betting with pieces of candy.” She sipped at her wine, rolling the liquid over her tongue to savor the taste. “You know, they never get any worse, but they never get any better,” she said her thoughts aloud.

The noise in the tavern rose to new levels with each and every arrival, but Piper hardly noticed. For once, her short attention span released its hold on her mind. She began to wonder why it was that her patients needed her so much. Nothing had changed in such a long time---not one little thing. Her mother continued to say what she’d always said, nothing more and nothing less. Gavin remained away.

“Don’t you think it’s odd?” She didn’t expect the woman to answer her, but she waited for some sort of response, just in case. “Would you like to meet her, Saressa?” Piper twirled a lock of hair around her index finger.

The ambiguous her might have confused Saressa, but Piper knew exactly what she meant when she spoke those words. She wanted Saressa to meet her Mama, even if Piper truly couldn’t see the woman. She matched the voice in her head with a location and expression; she made due with the bits and pieces insanity provided.

“She’s shy,” she repeated as she often did.

[Saressa]

Listening to her friend, Saressa wondered how Piper didn’t question how these people remained alive for so long. She knew how traumatic it was to watch someone she loved die, could that have been what happened with her? For weeks after her little brothers death, she had seen him everywhere and finally Dante had to knock her senseless to get rid of the visions.

Leaning back against the bar, she took a drink of her beer as she continued to listen. “That sounds cool, I’m sure they’ll enjoy it Pip.” Saressa gave a gentle smile, the tips of her fangs visable past her pale lips, before inclining her head slightly. She had noticed that they remained the same, it showed she could tell something was up.

“It is odd… have they aged ever?” She questioned, unable to refrain from lifting her eyebrow. Surprise crossed her face as she was asked if she wanted to meet her. Exactly who was Piper talking about? Letting the question sink in, she knew that it had to be either one of the dark-haired woman’s patients or her mother.

Remembering something about Piper introducing her to her mother one day, Saressa took a guess to say that it was her. As Piper spoke ‘She’s shy’ it confirmed her thoughts, being able to recall the way her friend described her mother.

Nodding her head, Saressa smiled. “I’d love to, Pip.” Maybe one day, she’ll be able to help Piper realize that the woman wasn’t there, maybe even that Gavin wouldn’t come. But until then, she was going to be there for the other, just like her friends had been there for her.

[Piper]

Piper purposely ignored the woman’s question and slid her empty wine glass back and forth across the bar top. She knew she needed to introduce Saressa to her mother, but she remained quiet. First, she noticed the ticking clock on the far well; then, she noticed the shuffling of feet across the creaky floors; and finally, she noticed the scent of blood that lingered in the air.

“I always run into you here, Saressa.” She repeated her earlier words, her mind off the subject of her mother. “You know, you should come to the movie with me. Gavin’s running late again.” Piper spoke in a tone that sounded more like a sigh.

She tapped her fingertips on the bar, drumming to the rhythm of a song that refused to leave her thoughts. Index. Ring. Middle. Index. Repeat. Minutes passed where she just tapped on the wood. And as soon as the song came to an end, she turned her brown eyes back to Saressa.

“I like your hat.” Her eyes moved to the baseball cap and then back to the other woman’s face. “Mother’s waiting for you to say something. She’s right here, you know. Such a shy woman…,” she trailed off.

Her right heel clicked as it came into contact with the stool, and the innocent smile fell from her face. In her thoughts, she wondered if Saressa disliked the idea of meeting someone new. Piper wondered if the infamous American pig had done something to her dear friend.

“I should be going soon,” she said softly to herself.

[Saressa]

Watching her friend with a small frown upon her lips as she made note of being ignored, Saressa decided against bringing up the age of those Piper took care of. “Sounds great,” She chirped, smiling lightly to lift the corners of her lips. At least it would keep her own mind off of her boyfriend, or as Piper has seemed to find amusement in calling him 'American Pig.'

At the information about Gavin, the vampiress let out a small sigh as she listened to Piper tap on the counter, her thoughts slipping from her mind. Although the Lakers was a basketball team, Saressa had gotten a baseball cap with the team logo on it.

She hadn’t even thought of which cap to grab on her way out the door – all she knew honestly was that she needed to get out of the house and away from her own mind for a while. “Thank you.” She smiled softly, as she finishes off her beer, the vampiress waved the ‘tender down for another glass of wine for Piper, this time adding one for herself.

Saressa leaned back a bit, digging out the correct amount of coins for their drinks and placing it on the counter as the man gave somewhat of a glare to her before placing the new glass and filling them both near the brim.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms Dolores.” She gave a small shy smile in the direction of where she hoped Piper’s “mother” was located. As Piper spoke softly, Saressa managed not to give a sigh as the smile fell from her friends face.