Date:         Wed, 28 Apr 1999 19:01:37 -0400 
From: vampwrtr@INNOCENT.COM 
Subject:      Bird's Eye View 01/01 
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU 

usual disclaimers.  permission to mel to archive.  it's an odd ditty, but
what the heck.  beers and twisted threats may be sent to vampwrtr@aol.com

FOREVER KNIGHT

"Bird's Eye View"

He watched her virtually float through the room, her grace and elegance
never in question.  At times, her beauty even bordered upon breathtaking,
at least in his opinion.  She moved throughout the crowd, nodding her head
to those she knew, a slight smile touching her lips when her eyes locked
with one she favoured.  Her red gown flowed easily behind her, and her dark
hair neatly framed her pretty face.  He had often wondered if the name of
the place had anything to do with the colour of her hair.  He shook his
head smiling to himself.

She came to alight upon a barstool, smiling sweetly.  And how deceptive
that smile could be, should her mood suddenly shift.  A glass of the house
special was placed in front of her and she daintily sipped at it.  He
smiled again:  She was a woman of much paradox and conflicting signals.
Her smile widened in the direction of the front door to the club, and a
moment later, the blonde detective entered.

Now there was a body of confusion if he had ever seen one.  He was a
vampire, but he didn't really wish to be; he was Janette's lover, sort of,
but he wasn't; he loved his father, but he hated him.  Janette greeted Nick
with a soft kiss on the mouth, and another goblet, this one filled with
bovine, was placed upon the bar.  They smiled and exchanged pleasantries,
but he could see that, as was often the case, Nick had 'wandered in' on a
fact finding mission.

It was as he had so often witnessed; Janette was happy to see Nick, then
irritated that he was merely using her for information, then finally, sad.
The sadness is what had always confused him.  It was not as if Nick
pretended to be another way, or that he ever made his Raven appearances for
any other reason.  No, it was always this way.  But somehow, Janette
refused to accept it on some level.

As he continued to study them, Janette and Nick suddenly turned toward the
back hallway; they could feel it.  He looked about the club, and noticed
that most of their kind had at least glanced toward the back hallway; they
could all feel it.  A presence so strong, it could swallow you up, without
even trying.  A moment later, he appeared, clad in his customary black, his
mask of disinterest firmly in place.

LaCroix looked around, causing most of the curious onlookers to quickly
avert their eyes, lest they be noticed, or worse, noticed with disfavour.
A small smile pulled at the corners of the ancient vampire's mouth;
intimidation was such an easy game to play.  His gaze moved toward the bar
and his two children.  His slight smile turned into something somewhat
nasty as his eyes landed upon Nick.

"Well, well, it would appear that the good detective needs information yet
again."  He paused, his smile widening as Nick's air turned dark, "How nice
to see you Nicholas."

Nick ignored the barb and turned toward Janette, placing a small kiss upon
her cheek, "I'll talk to you later."

Without another word, Nick left the bar.

Janette turned on LaCroix, "Why must you do this always?"

An eyebrow feigning innocence quirked up at her, "Whatever do you mean,
Janette?"

"You know exactly what I mean, LaCroix, you do it on purpose."

"Do what?"

"Chase him away."

LaCroix looked away and then took a seat next to her, smiling, "Now,
Janette, you know he only came here because he needs information.  I merely
called him on it."

Janette made a slight sound of disgust, somewhere between a snort and a lip
smack, "You are such a child."

A slight snicker was heard from behind the bar, and when the icy glare of
LaCroix turned upon him, he realised it had been uttered from his lips.  He
smiled sheepishly and quickly turned away, finding something else to do on
the other side of the club.  However, he could still hear their
conversation.

"Insults will win you nothing but my wrath, Janette," LaCroix paused, aa a
dangerous smile began to curl his lips, "Are you sure that is what you
wish?"

Janette turned away from him, then sighing, finally looked at him once
more, "Non, that is not what I wish."

He kissed her lightly on the forehead as he stood, "I did not think so...."

Dismising her, he turned to walk away, but her voice stopped him, "What I
wish, is that we could be a family again."

LaCroix stopped cold, but did not turn to face her, "We cannot always have
what we want, Janette.  I should think after more than a thousand years
upon this earth, you would have learned that by now."

Without waiting for a response, LaCroix retreated to the back hallway and
the safety of his soundbooth.  Janette sighed and nodded once again to the
bartender, raising her empty glass.  Without hesitation, he filled it.

As she stood to go she picked up her glass, "Maurice, I'll be upstairs if
you need me."

He simply nodded to her as she left the room, her beauty and grace having
been slightly dulled by the one he knew she still loved.  Maurice couldn't
help but shake his head to himself.  Such a strange trio were they.  There
was hatred, fear, obligation, strength and distrust swirling all around
them, and yet there was one immutable fact that he garnered from their
family dramas:  There was love somewhere at the foundation of it all, of
that he was most certain.

A voice pulled him away from his thoughts, as a customer called for a
drink.  Maurice set down the bottle he was still holding and walked over to
the small man at the end of the bar, demanding a beer.  He smiled as he
allowed the foam to froth at the top of the pint; he had landed in a most
interesting place, with a bird's eye view of three of the more interesting
specimens of their kind.  If he were still in the business of Psychology,
he would have found it most challenging to write a paper on their antics.

He gently set the beer down in front of the diminutive man, absently taking
the brightly coloured bill thrust at him.  What would Freud have said about
the three of them?  Sigmund always made everything about sex and
parent/child relationships.  Maurice had to stifle a laugh at the thought;
perhaps just this once, it would have been true.  His eyes sparkled with
mischief as his mind moved to the next logical place.  How could he ever
have explained LaCroix, Nick and Janette to Freud?  No, the three of them
were best left up to the imaginations of the truly demented mortal
minds......

fin

28 April 1999

end part 1/1
vampwrtr@innocent.com
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