rockandrollvampire | Games are afoot

Games are afoot

It's been a while since Gus and Toby's first raucous night together, though the vampire is honestly feeling all the better for it. Their getting together isn't a regular thing, but God is it the kind of distraction and stress relief he needs around the ever present loneliness and heartache that fills his life. Sure, he's got other things he can do and other friends to visit, but it's nice to occasionally get out of the apartment to be a monster with someone who enjoys it in the way Toby only wishes he could let himself get to. Days are still long and insufferable, but at least nights can be less so with a single phone call and a trip to the Nexus.

The house that his monstrous friend is holed up in has become a familiar sight. So much so that Toby doesn't hesitate to PINpoint in a few feet back from the front door after tonight's invitation for a 'game'. That could mean literally anything where Gus is involved, but the vampire is a bit beyond caring right now. Whatever this thing they're doing is, it doesn't need to be any more complicated than two people taking out their frustrations on one another in the most ruthless of ways.

He rather casually leans against the door frame as he gives a good knock, grinning when the butler opens it a few seconds later. "Your employer in?" he asks charmingly. "I believe he was expecting me tonight."

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The butler, who looks like one of those Lurch types, is tall and thin, with a pale face. He does not speak at all, for as much as Toby knows. He just nods, and opens the door, gesturing to Toby to follow him inside.

He walks slowly upstairs, to a large studio room. One of the many rooms that Toby has not seen yet.

Inside is Gus, with a large camera around his neck, and he is taking pictures of still art. There is a large plush couch nearby. He looks up and grins, that playful grin of his, when he sees Toby.

"Toby... my dear... come get naked. Let me photograph you."

New rooms are always fun to explore, though this one is less interesting than some of the others they've been in together. Couch looks comfy enough for anything, though, so Toby gives himself over to the idea of using it (and possibly ruining it) sooner rather than later.

Or so he thought until the suggestion of having is photo taken was given.

"No." It's an immediate, reflexive reaction. Toby's not sorry for it in the least. He crosses his arms in front of his chest and glares at Gus. He's grateful his cheeks can't flush and his heart can't race to give away his discomfort. It's been several decades since the last time anyone offered to take down his visage, and he's not forgotten where that led last time.

"I'm not consenting to any photos. Put that thing away, lock it far away, and then we'll see where the night goes."

"No?" Gus turned, a little amused at first. And he watches as Toby crosses his arms and glares his way.

"There is no way I am putting this away. It is my masterpiece..." Gus ticks his tongue lightly. "But I won't take your picture, if that is what you want."

He dispenses with the 'Gus' façade, letting his white skin and green hair be revealed again. And goes back to taking pictures of the fruit.

"The lighting has to be perfect. It has to describe my despair..."

The vampire makes no move to get any closer as Gus turns back to his subjects. The request has triggered something he usually keeps deeply buried and it's not something he can just get over the way mortals get over being ill.

"Your despair?" His tone is a bit mocking. "Something for the lost love of yours? You never speak of anything else in such a way."

"Something very special..." Gus stares through his lens for a moment. And then he pushes over the bowl, letting everything fall onto the floor. The ceramic bowl smashing into several pieces.

He takes a photo. Then picks up a piece. Cuts himself with it... and lets the blood drizzle over the scattered mess.

And he takes another photo.

"It will bring her great pain. I wish I could see it."

The display of anger doesn't scare Toby in the least. Given Gus' current state, it's actually a bit annoying. Couldn't he have come up with any better ways to get his former lover's attention?

"If you want to see her reaction so badly, why don't you give it to her yourself? I get the feeling you know where she is."

"I do..." Gus leans back a little. And stares over at Toby, a little smile on his twisted lips.

He removes the camera, and lets it dangle from his fingers for a moment.

"But it would do nothing for her to see me."

"And I need her to truly realize what kind of monster I am. She is not like you... she doesn't see that."

Toby decidedly steps out of the line of view of the camera. If Gus raises the camera at all, he's prepared to make a run straight for the door at his top inhuman speed. There will be no photographs of him, today or any other day.

"So you're sending her photos of fruit to get the point across?" He's skeptical and now rather curious about the actual end goal Gus is going for. "What good will that do? Being a monster is always best expressed in person, if not to the person you're trying to convince directly then you go through their closest friends."

It seems so obvious to him that he doesn't quite comprehend that, just maybe, Gus has already thought of that.

"My dear Toby... that is exactly why I knew you would understand..." Gus moved to the couch. He dropped the camera on the floor, where it was laid forgotten.

And he patted the couch beside him, an offer if Toby wanted to accept it.

"You go through their closest friends..." Gus presses a button, and a large white screen dropped down. And a projector from the wall started to whirl. And there... big as the giant screen, were photos of various people from the Nexus.

There are close-ups of a few certain people, like they are staring into the camera, without even knowing it was taking pictures. Caspar. Amelia. Cricket. Danny. Horvath. Cassian.

"The fruit... is simply because I can't make it easy on her. Just give her the pictures. No... no no no… I am going to make a giant puzzle. Using pieces of each picture, even the ones of simple fruit, to confuse her. She will recognize some of them... but she will never know. What. It. Means..."

Gus closes his eyes with a sigh. "Not you. Those were just going to be mine."

He's not ready to accept the offer to sit just yet. Coming down from the heightened place of unease he was sent into when the request for a picture was given requires a lot more time and booze to move on from. Watching the camera clatter to the floor does help, though.

When the screen appears and photos of various people appear, the vampire's eyes immediately widen. Apparently this has been something on Gus' mind for a long time if he's gone this far. "How'd you get these? These people obviously didn't pose for any of the photos. It feels like you took a page out of a spy movie when I look at them." It's the best Toby's got for an explanation. Much of his Earth's modern technology is still a bit out of his reach.

However impressed he might be by the camera work, Gus loses most of his make-up points with that last statement. "Well you can forget it. No one gets a photo of me. Ever." No portraits. No photos. Nothing. Never again.

All this makes him wonder something else. "What are you trying to play at anyway? I understand obsession as much as the next man, but isn't this a bit much for trying to win your lover back?"

"I have my methods..." Gus presses another button. And sits there in silence, as the butler appears with a tray with a large bottle of scotch, and two glasses. The silence continues as the butler pours the scotch. And sips at his, as the butler gives Toby his, before the old man leaves the room.

"I GET that now..." Joker growled, a low unhappy sound that vibrates on his tongue. "I wasn't asking again. I was explaining why I wanted it in the first place. I simply DID NOT know that it would make you uncomfortable."

Gus laughs. Short and hard. "I am not trying to win her back."

"I want her to hurt. To feel such pain... that she can never get it out of her head. That it haunts her for the rest of her unfortunate, insignificant life."

Toby watches Gus closely as silence settles between them. However much of a monster Toby knows he is by very nature of being a vampire, it seems his companion has decided to be even more of one by choice. It's a bit unnerving, but the man's business is his own and so long as he doesn't drag Toby down into whatever shit he's doing, the vampire is content to let it be. Poking his nose into things that seemed interesting or strange has only made things worse for him in the past, after all.

There's a small scoff in response to the upset in Gus' tone as Toby sips at his scotch. Whatever. It's a tantrum and it'll pass. Toby doesn't owe this man any kind of explanation and as long as he doesn't ask again or take it by force, they're fine.

Well that... is... intense. His brow furrows as he takes another sip of scotch and he can't help but ask, "Why bother? I know she hurt you, but I'm sure she lives with that already. What's it going to help to mess with her like this?" He honestly can't imagine any situation in which something like this makes any kind - sane, chaotic, or otherwise - sense.

Gus presses another button. The photos on his movie screen is soon replaced by an actual movie. A classic black-and-white. There is no volume, just the movie flickering, with Gus' attention mostly on Toby.

"Do you really want to know?" He mused with a smile. "Or would you rather just let go, and watch this movie with me?"

This obsession is taking everything he's done to others in the past and turning the dial to thirteen. It's a dangerous thing, and one Toby's not eager to get in the middle of. Whatever Gus' problem is with his ex and whatever fallout may happen between them because of this compulsion to be a monster isn't his to deal with. All Toby wants is to be left to his own to drink and blow off some steam how he chooses while he copes with the loneliness.

For better or worse, he's keeping his fucking nose out of this. Any and all repeats of him walking into shit that sounds interesting and dangerous have been canceled after where the last attempt left him.

"Let's stick to being acquaintances who enjoy tearing into one another," he answers smoothly. He cautiously takes a seat on the couch next to the other man, but makes a show of (carefully) kicking the camera far out of reach. That done, he turns to Gus and raises his scotch with a look of muted amusement on his face. "Things between us don't need to be any more complicated than that."

"My my my… someone is full of himself. If you thought I wanted something more complicated...." Gus chuckles, and shakes his head.

"Seriously..." Gus takes a breath. He expected a little excitement from Toby. Or at least a desire to create some chaos. But he can work with what he was given.

He rolls his eyes at that comment. "Asking me to get involved with your schemes for harassing your former lover is a bit more involved, wouldn't you say?" It's certainly nothing he'd ask someone to take part in unless both parties had some past relationship with the person on the receiving end.

After a sip of scotch, he adds, "I've had enough trouble in my life that I didn't choose that the last thing I want right now is to willingly open myself up to it. If you're looking for something other than sex and violence between us? I'm out."

"I never asked you to be involved." Gus clicks his tongue. "The intention of showing the photos, is for down the road... if or when someone asks you about them, you can make your excuses to leave the scene. Stay uninvolved..."

"Fuck that whole concept of opening up to others. Not my thing."

"But it sounds like it has been on your mind." Gus arches an eyebrow. "Do I need to give you the same speech?"

Why is he so goddamned good at getting himself into these weird situations. This is the last conversation he ever expected to be having with Gus and he realizes now - far too late again - that he's talked himself into a corner. Toby sighs heavily and runs a hand through his hair, looking decidedly away from the other man to give himself a moment.

"I'm rather bored of speeches so I'll skip this one, thanks." Being snarky isn't particularly helpful right now, but it's such an ingrained habit at this point that it happens automatically. It gives him time to think as well, for what little good it'll do him in the moment. He's never been good at planning or getting things to work in his favor, so everything happening at once when he's least prepared for it is making it worse.

That and he's still uneasy after the whole camera incident. No matter how much he tells himself that it's fine and that it's not a problem now that the damn this is across the room, he's still shaken and it's making everything that much more difficult to deal with.

He needs to get out. And for the first time in years, he's able to both recognize and want it while the easy opportunity is still available to him (or so he hopes).

"Look, I'm not in any mood for games after all this. It's best we forget all that's happened tonight." The vampire pushes himself to his feet quickly, setting aside his still mostly full glass of scotch. "We can try again another night if we're both feeling up to it."

Mood killed by a fluke. Damn. At least it doesn't happen too often these days.

"I'll see myself out, unless you want your man at the door to do it." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cigarette, rubbing it between his fingers in preparation for lighting up the second he's outside. This is going to be a night for at least a pack and a bottle as soon as he's back to his world, he can tell that already.

"Are you expecting me to stop you? To ask you to stay?" Gus chuckles lightly. If Toby wants to leave... he can. Gus really isn't concerned about the other man's issues right now. Or why Toby is so upset.

"Take a bottle of scotch with you." He flicks his eyes to the movie screen.

"You're weird about where I go in your house, so I thought I'd give you the option to have me shown out." Obviously that wasn't necessary but whatever. He's so over tonight and whatever the hell Gus is playing at.

He turns to the door, raising his cigarette laden hand over his shoulder as a sign of farewell. "I'll pass on the scotch. Thanks for the drink." With that he steps back out through the house exactly the way he came, pausing only long enough outside the front door to light his cigarette before PINpointing back to his world and away from all the oddities and trauma that got brought up inside.

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