One Year Later AU

[echolls_cursed]

After six months in New York, Logan couldn't say he was that thrilled to be back in LA. Not that New York had been fantastic either, though the change of diet had been nice. People out there tasted better. Fresher. Less like fake tan and carrot juice and more like good wine and stake.

He'd only been back a day though, and the fact that he was already bored out of his mind was a bad sign. Sure, he'd upgraded to a better hotel with a bigger room and better staff who could better serve his needs (nothing better than a hotel run by a fellow Vampire to call home), and yeah, after his latest business venture he had more money than he'd need for the next three decades or so... But he was bored. Bored of LA. Bored of everything. Maybe it was time to try somewhere new.

Europe has always been very vamp friendly, or so he'd been told, and he wondered what Italy was like this time of year.

An older man came to stand beside him, leaning against the bar and looking him over. Human, late thirties, good health... and a stake in his coat pocket. Thrill killer. There was always one that snuck into the club, if it wasn't this guy, it would be someone else. When he reached out and stroked Logan's cheek, Logan smirked, tilting his head and playing the role of naive young blood. Five minutes later and they were in one of the back rooms... ten minutes later and Logan was back at the bar, blood on his shirt and the wooden stake sitting next to his beer like a trophy.

Hunters weren't like the rest of LA. They tasted just fine.

Comments

[little_moons]

I figure the whole black leather thing's been over done. Hiding in the shadows, and stalking my pray. Whatever. Some things just don't change, and it's always been easier just to let 'em come to me. Using my body to get what I want pays off, and I don't really see how that's a bad thing.

Still licking my lips clean from my last kill, a girl dumped carelessly behind some crates in the alley, I slip back inside the club, brushing against the moving bodies on the dance floor and slipping up to the bar.

It's about time for me to get the fuck outta this town, and I promise myself the beer I buy'll be my last in this club. I don't even know what the fuck I'm still doing here. Like I'm just... waiting.

All the sudden my whole body tenses up, bristling and going on alert, this sharp buzz kicking on just under my skin. You can always feel when there's another one like you in the room, but this is different.

His face is turned but that doesn't matter. Huffing out a laugh, I reach out and pluck up the stake from beside his coaster, clotted blood smearing under my thumb.

"Well... Look who's home."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Broadway wasn't my scene," Logan said in return, ordering another drink and turning a little to look at Neil.

He was still the unkempt hooker he'd been a year ago, scrawny, lazy looking, moving in a way that invited people to try and take him home. He couldn't help but sneer a little at that, and he turned back to the bar.

Nothing changed. LA was still just LA, down to every last boring detail.

Logan on the other hand, well, he'd taken a new route. He'd taken investing his money into his own hands. Really, he'd sort of had to after killing his accountant. He was now the proud owner of a line of hotels... some restaurants... and more property than he knew what to do with. He'd taken to dressing the part as well, his hair gelled into place and suites that actually fit his body.

"I thought maybe you;d have left town by now. Don't you get... tired of it all?"

[little_moons]

"You hate it so much, what are you doing back?" I ask, dropping the stake down on the counter and knocking back the last of my beer. "But look at you... Going a little overboard with the whole corporate thing, don't you think?"

I let my eyes drag over him, from the polished shoes and the well tailored suit, manicured and clean cut. He looks good, but there's also something weirdly obnoxious about it. What the fuck's the point? Trying to live in a world we just don't belong anymore.

After a few months, when I could leave Logan's side without feeling like I was gonna die, I slowly started to find my confidence again, what little I had, and I don't meet his eyes looking for approval. He left and I'd pretty much accepted he might not be coming back.

Doesn't mean I'm not sorta... interested in the fact that he's back, on some level.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I look good," Logan replied, "And I'm back because I was crazy enough to think I'd be happy here. I'm thinking about Italy next. You know anything about Italy? I haven't been there since I was twelve."

[little_moons]

"Seeing as how I haven't been anywhere outside of Kansas or LA, then I'd say no..." I tell him, arching a brow and thinking about all the times I thought about going to New York since he left. Not even to follow him. Not really. Just to get the fuck out. New York always seemed like the place to go. I could do New Orleans but I never did go for all that Anne Rice bullshit.

"Hear its one of those places you're supposed to go before you die. Guess I missed out on that one... Don't see too many suits in a place like this," I say, reaching out and brushing my finger over a spot of blood on his collar.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I'm slumming it," Logan said simply, tossing enough cash on the counter to cover both their drinks, and getting to his feet. "I'm heading home, I'm not inviting you to come, but I assume that you plan on following me anyway."

[little_moons]

"Uh, no... actually, I wasn't," I laugh, giving him a look, "I'm sorta done with the whole stray dog routine. I got a place of my own now, I don't need to trail along behind you, begging for scraps."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Your loss," Logan said simply, slipping his hands into his pockets as he turned and headed for the door.

[little_moons]

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that," I snort, slipping past him and out into the misty rain, thinking for a moment, "God, he really is that big of a dick."

But then I remember, of course he is.

Licking the smudge off blood off my thumb, I crook a half grin for no reason at all and flick my longer hair out of my face, waiting near the sidewalk and trying to decide if I wanna take a cab and get the fuck outta here or take a walk and find myself something else to eat.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Stepping outside, Logan looked Neil over again, quirking a brow at the other boy before starting to head towards home.

He'd already extended an offer for Neil to join him, albeit not in a traditional manner. Still, it was the most Neil would get. His hotel was only the next block over, and that was all the time Logan was giving the other boy to change his mind.

[little_moons]

Huffing out another laugh, I slick my hand over my hair and take one last look at the line of taxis pulling up out front, flicking rain out of my eyes before chasing after him. I've got a tight grip on his wrist before I even open my mouth, stopping him mid step and risking the almost inevitable punch to the jaw.

"I'm not going back with you to some fucking hotel room and your briefcase of tricks. I'm done with your hotel rooms."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"It's a penthouse, and it's not just a hotel, it's my home," Logan replied, twisting out of Neil's grip. "If you think I'm going with you to some slum, you can think again. I have an image to maintain... So if we aren't going to my place, you better think of something worth my time."

[little_moons]

"I actually don't live in a slum, but whatever. I'm talking about getting the fuck outta here. Outta this fucking nowhere town. I mean, what the hell are you even doing here, anyway?" I ask, hand clamped down hard on his wrist 'til he shakes me off.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Business is what I'm doing here," Logan said with a frown. "And where the hell are we going to go, huh? Want me to call my people and get us a private jet, I could, but where are we gonna go, Neil?"

[little_moons]

"Thought you just said you were itching to go to Italy," I say, arching a brow at him, "Anywhere. Hell, find a map. Fucking China, I don't care. Fuck your business. Like you don't have enough money already."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I'm not flying to Italy tonight," Logan snorted. "You want to go someplace? I have a place in Utah. Ski town. Haven't been there since I was sixteen. Dunno what we'll do for food... I'll have to call ahead and make some arrangements," he muttered.

"Unless you have a better idea."

[little_moons]

"Why the fuck not?" I ask, stepping back to lean against a nearby lamp post. "I mean, are there even people in Utah? You know, other than Mormons?"

Looking him over curiously, I say, "Don't you ever get tired of room service?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Don't you ever get tired of acting like a hooker to get men to look at you?" Logan asked. "Creatures of habit, that's what we are. And there won't be room service, it's a vacation home, not a hotel. I'm calling ahead to see if we can get some meals. It's a small town, not a city. Someone goes missing and people'll get nervous. I need to secure us a delivery service before we head off into the wild. Maybe just arrange to have a weeks worth of food waiting for us."

[little_moons]

"Actually, no. Why'd you turn a hooker if it bothers you so much?" I ask, quirking a bemused sorta grin.

I don't want a fucking vacation. I want to get the fuck out. Few days in that place and I'll split. Head to New York myself, or wherever the fuck.

"You act like this is a business, you know that?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"If this is going to turn into a lecture, can we skip to the end?" Logan asked, looking bored as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Are we going, or what?" he asked Neil, making it clear that arrangements needed to be made.

[little_moons]

"It wasn't a lecture, it was a question," I say, fishing a cigarette out of my pocket when they misting rain starts to clear up.

"Alright. Show me your parents ski lodge, whatever."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Half an hour later, and They were in a taxi, heading to the small airport he used to house his jet.

"I used to love to ski," Logan said, staring out the window. "Used to surf too."

[little_moons]

Slouched down in my seat, I watch the water droplets roll over the windows, catching the light in a thousand tiny flecks of red and yellow. It never rains in LA, seems like, and when it does, there's always something wrong about it. Dirty or something. I don't even mind a little dirt. Maybe I just fucking hate this place.

When he breaks the silence, I'm actually startled, tipping my head over to look at him and letting a slow, lazy smirk curve my lips. "Night surfing."

I wouldn't have guessed that. Doesn't seem to fit, not on the surface, but little glimpses... things I saw over the months before he disappeared... Maybe its not so weird after all.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"No... I mean when I was alive. I'd go out early, just as the sun was coming up. It might be the only thing I miss about being human."

The lights on the landing strip were bright, and Logan squinted as the car came to a stop.

"That's our ride," he said, pointing at one of the planes and opening the door.

[little_moons]

"I know, I'm saying you still could," I say, voice pitched low and my face hidden mostly in shadow. Then we turn a corner and the car's flooded with light, enough that my eyes start to burn.

Climbing out of the car, I walk around to stand next to him, squinting toward the small jet waiting on the runway. "Not bad."