Bored at Night

Night had just started to set in, and Irene still had no plans. She always had plans for the night, even if they weren't big plans. But she didn't really feel like doing any of her usual night programs. She wasn't in the mood to go out of town, she wasn't in the mood to go to a club, anything.

With a sigh, she threw on a jacket and walked out the door, sure that she could find at least something to do. She was getting really bored at her house, really bored.

She walked around aimlessly for some time, just looking around at the town, hoping that something would give her an idea. Finally, she came across the Grill. It was the only thing that she could think of doing, going into the Grill and getting herself something to drink, so she did so.

There weren't too many people in the Grill, and that frustrated her. She had thought that it would be packed, as it was a weekend's night, but there were just a couple of people. With a small sigh, she sat down on a booth and hoped her night would get a little more exciting.

James had spent the afternoon running around to different stores doing errands for his mother who was busy at their house doing chores and usual upkeep. He had a list of things to do, laundry, some shopping, and he wanted to pick a gift up for Bonnie before their picnic date that was coming up in a few days. He decided he needed a break after realizing how late it was, and walked into the Grill, red shirt, blue jeans, and a dirty old leather jacket on that his dad used to wear before he had passed. He proceeded to walk up to the bar, hoping he could get away with a drink, being underage, he asked the bartender "Hey man, could I get a scotch" and began hoping that the bartender wouldn't ask for I.D.

Irene turned her head towards the voice, sure that she recognized it, though it was not very familiar, just faintly familiar. And sure enough, sitting at the bar, was a person with whom she had already played several drinking games. James, she was sure was his name.

With a small smile and renewed hope that her night would become more interesting, she got up and made her way to James.

"Hey James!" She greeted him as she sat beside him. "Came in for a few drinks?"

He waited as the bartender didn't bother asking for I.D. His guess was that James was 21 due to his stature and facial hair. As he began pouring the scotch, a familiar voice began talking to him, and he turned around to spot Irene walking his way, and then he tried to put on a smile, even though he was there to try and drown his sorrows and try not to get his blood drank, "Hey Irene," He replied as she sat beside him, "Yea, just a busy day of running around. Picked a little something up for Bonnie though," He looked down to his necklace, to make sure he was wearing vervain. "What about you, came in for a snack?"

Irene signalled for the bartender to get her a drink too. They all knew what she wanted to have, and they knew that they should bring it fast. She wasn't a very patient person, and pretty much everyone who dealt with her eventually came to realize that it was pointless to try and make her pacifically wait for something.

"Not really, no. I just couldn't think of anything better to do." She replied. "Home was boring, so I came here."

He glanced to her as she waved for a drink, James wasn't sure if she would go for the neck or the alcohol. He hadn't been with Irene since he found out about Vampires, so he wasn't sure if she was the fresh type or if she goes for the bag, and since Stefan seems to be the only one that drinks animal blood, that excluded her. He then looked from the bartender back to her and replied. "That does sound boring for someone like you" He told her, hoping it wouldn't hit a nerve. He had a tough time warming up to the idea of vampires, let alone being best friends with them, hence the somewhat cautious behavior.

Irene could see James tensing up just slightly and she had to hold back a laugh. She wasn't used to having people being tense around her because she was a vampire, as the humans that knew what she was were already used to the concept of vampires, and she had to admit it was kind of fun.

"Yeah, very boring. I usually have at least something planned for the night, but today I just couldn't think of anything." She commented. "But what do you mean someone like me?"

He waited there for a reply as he sipped his glass of scotch, looking at the bottles of alcohol on the back wall. "Yea, I'm sure there is a party or something going on right now, there usually he is." He told her, taking another sip of the scotch before setting the glass down and looking toward her, and lowered his voice to somewhat of a whisper. "A Vampire" He didn't know how she would react as he looked at his glass and the alcohol inside, swirling it around.

Irene was definitely having more fun than she should be having by watching James' tension around her, but she didn't plan on stopping.

Picking up her glass of Whiskey, which had been hurriedly served, she smiled.

"Yeah, we get bored more easily. And we're rather dangerous when we're bored." She smirked as she said the last sentence.

He took another sip of scotch before finishing off the glass. "Hey barkeep, how about a double?" He asked before the bartender began pouring. He turned his attention back to Irene as it was sitting there on the counter, "Yea, that is what I've heard, infact, I remember vividly well the way Damon threw that car on the fire because he was bored." He told her, taking another drink of his scotch before continuing. "He seemed more of the explosive type, then dangerous" He smirked, continuing to remain tense.

Though Irene really didn't want to let her mind wander to the place it was wandering, she couldn't help it. It happened every time she was caught off guard with a Damon-related comment. Soon enough, she was thinking about him, and her mind didn't seem to be able to stop.

"Yeah. I think that's why he's dangerous, besides the fact that he's really smart. There's no predicting what he's gonna do, or when he's gonna do it." The last part was said in very faraway voice.

She didn't care where she was or who she was with, she was completely in her own little world. A very tiny part of her mind really wished someone would throw a bucket of cold water on her, though.

James glanced to her, setting the glass onto the counter as she replied. She seemed normal enough, nothing like the ripper he had heard a few things about. "So he is smart, so that is why the car ended up on top of that bonfire? Yep, seems smart to me" He said, as he rolled his eyes a little bit and looked back to the bottles of alcohol before taking another gulp of his scotch double. He didn't feel like staying sober that night as he was sitting in the grill talking to a vampire.

Irene was rather glad to be brought back to the real world, but she would much rather have been brought back by some other comment. It went completely against her better instincts to care about someone said about someone else, but she really couldn't help it.

She clenched her fists and sent him a very angry glare, but did nothing. Bonnie would kill her if she hurt him in any way.

"He's impulsive too." She said, trying, and failing miserably, to sound calm. "Which doesn't mean he's not smart."

He could see her fist clench together out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't seem to be scared at all about it. Could have been the vervain he was drinking, or that he was dating a powerful witch, he wasn't exactly sure. He didn't see the glare, but knew she was thinking something in that Vampire head of hers'. He took another swig of his scotch before he heard Irene reply. "Yea, Damon is that too. Doesn't seem to think about consequences for his actions." He told her, as he thought back to that day and all the pain that had happened, those injuries that even Vampires had a hard time healing from.

Irene relaxed slightly, wishing that they could talk about something else, but the topic seemed to be quite defined. She didn't have anything against talking about Damon, in fact, she could talk about him all day, but she just didn't want anyone saying anything bad about him.

She took a swing of her glass and turned her attention to James. "Sometimes it's best not to." Irene commented, her tone much more under control.

James could tell that Irene seemed a little on edge, too. His guess was their topic of choice, or rather, his topic of choice. He glanced over to see her take a drink, but her attitude seemed a little less intense now, but he thought it best to stay away from the subject that is Damon. "Yea, well for Vamps probably." He took a drink of his scotch, again, before changing the topic. "So..." He wasn't quite sure what topics Vamps liked to talk about. "Are those blood bags getting any fresher?" He asked, still tensing up a little bit at the thought of decapitation.

Irene laughed at James' question. She was glad they had changed the topic, and she most definitely was glad that he hadn't asked why she was acting so strange. She had no idea what she would have answered.

"I don't drink a lot from blood bags, but I suppose it isn't. Fresh blood is so much better, and much more fun to drink." She replied, smiling slightly as she thought of a nice drink. It had been some time since she had last fed, and she was starting to get hungry.

The laugh that erupted from Irene's mouth seemed to make James jump a little bit, almost spilling his scotch. It took a few seconds for him to calm down, but when he did he seemed to laugh a little about it too. Although he wasn't sure what they were exactly laughing about. And then he took another sip of his drink before she replied to his question. "Yea but with fresh you need to kill, or at least feed on living humans, seeing as decaying ones don't have any blood really left, and after that blood coagulates, I'm sure it would taste even more awful then animal blood."

Irene was rather surprised by James' comment. Must humans would rather not think about things like that, and the few who did didn't analyze the subject as deeply as James did.

"Yeah, I suppose it would taste awful." Irene said, almost wincing as she thought of something that tasted even worse than animal blood. "But there's no need to kill. It's only a matter of knowing how much blood a person can lose. And though blood bags come in handy when there aren't any humans around or when it's necessary to lay low, fresh blood is so much better that it's worth the trouble. Sometimes choosing a human to feed from is a lot fun."

He listened for her reply between sips, getting down to finishing off his glass. The burning sensation the scotch gave his throat seemed soothing now as he comes to the last few drops in his glass before asking the bartender for another. He turned his attention and hearing to Irene, who began talking about blood. "Yea. All thick and bubbly sort of blood, I could imagine. It would be liked really big chunks in tomato juice while also passing it's expiration date." He took another slow sip of his alcohol before replying, "That is true. I guess. I'm thinking you like draining them right up until they just have enough to survive, or that is what it seems like." He told her, he knew she liked something like that, the way she was describing it to him.

As they kept on talking about blood, Irene's hearing started to pick up the sound of heartbeats all around her. She was getting hungrier by the minute. In an attempt to control her hunger, she finished her glass and turned her attention completely to James, trying to ignore the sounds that came to her ear.

"Unless I'm not hungry, then I stop before." Irene told him."But usually, yeah, I drink until they have just enough to survive."

His heart seemed to stay at a steady beat throughout the entirety of their conversation, not seeming to jump or slow down, constant. But he still remained tense, although it was beginning to loosen as he was began getting more relaxed as Irene turned to face James. "Well atleast that is better then some of these other people in this town. Some just kill for the fun of it." He told her as he smirked a little bit and took another drink of his scotch. "All this talk about blood is probably putting you on edge, we could change the subject if you want."

Though the conversation was putting Irene a bit on edge, she wasn't sure if she wanted to change the subject. She had never really had a good conversation about blood, and she was rather enjoying it. She shifted on her seat as she thought about it. The only reason why Irene would actually change the subject was her fear that she would get too hungry to control herself, but then a thought came to her mind. She had never been bothered by that before. Shaking her head just slightly at herself and wondering if she wasn't spending too much time with humans, she took a sip of her drink and smiled.

"No need." She replied. "Unless it's putting you on edge."

James noticed her slightly move in her seat a little bit, not knowing whether or not it was because of the topic at hand, or she was just getting bored. He didn't bother bringing it up, he found it wasn't a good thing to get on a vampire's nerves because they could easily snap his neck without breaking even a nail. He looked at her as she shook her head, before she replied. "Not at all, why would talking about *blood* put me, a human, on edge? Unless you thought I was some weak stomached human who wouldn't even be able to handle dating a witch, or being friends with other vampires or hybrids". He said, taking a sip of his scotch.

Irene chuckled slightly, wondering what was going through his head as they talked. She had never had the experience of being human and interacting with vampires, especially vampires such as herself, hunters. She had only been the hunt once, and she hadn't even been aware that she was being stalked. All other times she was the hunter.

"I would never think that." She replied, smirking. "But I have to admit I didn't think you'd get this far into the conversation."