What could go wrong?

Date and time: 16/12/2021
Place: The Elysian Casino
Weather: Raining
Sorrundings: People attending the casino.
Outfit: Black suit and tie. His jacket is in the wardrobe.
Dedicated to: @Lucille

It had almost been a month since the poor girl had died. James had ben cursing himself ever since. He usually respected his victim’s boundaries, but the event had just been a little too hectic and it had ended up being more of a forceful act than a consented act. It weighted heavy on his shoulders, and it wasn’t really like he could rant about it without boring Rebekah, and besides from her, he had his dancers and designers who worked under him – and they certainly shouldn’t know about his troubles. To be honest, he didn’t really care that the girl died, he cared more about the fact that he hadn’t been good to her.

So, what better way to get your thoughts on something else, than to go to the newly opened casino? He had been here for a couple of hours and had been winning on a streak – of course with a little cheating when it became difficult. As of right now, he felt he deserved a little break from the games and went to the bar to get something to drink, patiently waiting for service. He sat himself on one of the stools and folded his hands in front of him on the bar top.

Nights on a Sunday were always a little slower, than any other day. Of course, there were always the addicts and those that just wanted to escape the day that would show up. Now, somehow, Lucille had ended up covering most of the shifts for tonight. Something about River needing to take care of something and needed Orion and Kali to come with him. It, if she was being honest, had felt more like a punishment because she hadn’t really been around all that much. But what could she say? Aaron was just much better company than River’s ugly mug.  

She had rather quickly noticed the other demon that was sitting by a couple of different games. How he had kept whining. Now there was a strict policy about using abilities to cheat. Just as there was against counting cards. So, she had kept an eye on him, for other reason of him being an incubus, and a rather attractive one at that. It wasn’t like she was blind.

After a while she had been called behind the bar, there were some problems with the tabs, and there was a need for refills of the kegs. She was highly overdressed for this kind of work. Looking up, she noticed that the demon had moved himself towards the bar and had sat himself in one of the stools. She walked over and started lining up some glasses. “Rough night?” she asked, not really caring about the fact that he had been winning. He seemed more like a person that was trying to escape something. “What’s your poison?” she asked, looking up with a smirk before she started making him what he ordered, and pushed the glass towards him. “on the house” she wiped down the counter and looked towards another customer and walked over giving them the two beers they wanted, took the payment before she walked back. “Mind if I join you?” she asked, making herself a dirty martini.

James looked up and eyed the succubus on the other side of the bar, putting up glasses. He pulled on a slightly crooked smile as she asked about his night. “Rough month,” he forced a short laugh before he leaned a little back. “For tonight, an Irish coffee,” he responded. It was a little more down to earth in his own opinion, and he wasn’t really looking for anything that screamed liquor. He looked up at her with slightly hungry eyes as she said it was on the house. “One could almost confuse you from an angel,” he complimented her and took a sip of the drink. “Thanks,” he then said, in appreciation of the fact that she had made it on the house. It wasn’t like he was in loss of money, but it was nice when someone did something for someone else. For a moment he could sit by himself and enjoy his drink while the succubus attended other costumers. When she came back, he eyed her as she asked if she could join him. “Not at all,” he replied and eyed a free seat next to him, not really knowing whether if she was off work or just in need for a little break and a chitchat.

She looked up as he told her that he didn’t mind. A crocket sensual smile formed over her lips, as her tongue glided over her teeth. Well, he had called her an angel. Some would most certainly object to that statement. Her blue eyes shinned as they looked over the beautiful incubus. Now it was always different when two from the same species as them met. Because it was a dangerous game that could be played. One that might not have the most, what could you say, favorable outcome. She placed her hand against the bar and twirled the drink in her hand before taking a small sip. Her eyes lingered on him, before her attention was briefly called towards one of the tables. Seemed like someone thought they could try to start a fight. She took the walkie-talkie, and spoke into it, saying she needed eyes on the craps table. Before she put it away and looked back at the must better distraction.  “Sorry about that, now you have my undivided attention" she purred, before walking around the bar and sat down next to him. Turning in the stool, so her foot was gently placed against his leg. “So, want to talk about your rough month?” she asked, taking another sip from her martini.

He had allowed her to join him, and he could see how she was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. He then straightened up a bit and took a slow sip of his drink. He gave her a glance to notice just how she looked. She definitely looked great, but it was also a very difficult to find a succubus or incubus who didn’t look… Tasty. That was the purpose of them after all. To lure people in so they could feed from them. Even though one of the tables behind him seemed to rumble a bit, he didn’t even give it a second of his attention. He studied her movements as she picked up her walkie-talkie, watched how her lips moved as she spoke to it and how her eyelids slid over the eyes as she blinked. Beautiful blue eyes. “Undivided attention even. You got me flattered,” he said spilling a grander crooked smile. His eyes followed her as she got onto the other side of the bar to sit next to him. She played her game good as a succubus, with her foot on his leg. The subtle hints of attraction and want for physical touch. He only let his eyes linger on his drink shortly while he thought about her question before he looked back up at her again. “I’ve just been rough on myself,” he said. He clicked his tongue a little thoughtfully, “It’s almost like my appetite hasn’t been the same,” he elaborated before he sipped his drink.

She gave him the time he needed. Well, it wasn’t the first time she had played the psychologist for someone that felt like the whole world was against them. More than once actually. Only to realise that all they did, was tell her how great they were, and how unfair it was that the rest of the world couldn’t see it. Spoiling his fun when all he wanted was just give people a good time. She could have killed him right there and then, if it wasn’t for the fact that it would be killing herself. Lucille kept her promise and didn’t let her eyes flicker away from his body. Giving him her absolutely, undivided attention. Now, she wasn’t stupid. She knew somewhat who he was. James Miles, it had to be. Quite popular when it came to people interested in dancing, and of course, if you knew a little about the Sinclair’s. In particularly one. The first witch. She had always found it interesting that a witch of her status, had chosen to be with an incubus. A dangerous game to play. Then he finally answered. Rough on himself? Interesting. Even more so when he explained that his appetite hadn’t been the same. “First time? Want to talk about why you think you feel like that?” she asked, because she had experienced it herself. The slumps that came with being a succubus with a conscious. So troublesome that you wanted to make sure that your victims wanted to be with you. Then there was the whole, not killing, even though it happened. “So, you are here to see if something can inspire you?” she asked, letting her tongue glide over her lips after she had taken a small sip from her drink. Catching every single drop of martini.

She seemed to understand what he meant. He looked towards the many bottles on the other side of the bar as she asked if it was his first time. Well, the first years of his life as an incubus, he didn’t care about consent, so it wasn’t really his first time. “It’s the first time I’ve lost my appetite like this,” His eyes caught hers again. He wasn’t really looking for a psychologist, if so, he wasn’t really the right place. “I am here to get it off my mind,” he replied, and noticed how she let her tongue glide over her lips, his eyes locking on them shortly. James wasn’t about to mend his own mind because he knew that he would have to learn from the experience and to correct his faults. He always strived for perfection, and the experience with Lara had been far from perfect. “But please, if you can inspire me, I’m not going to tell you know,” he said with a light smirk, inviting her to do whatever she believed would inspire him. Who knew, maybe it could increase his appetite, since he was only really getting something because he had to keep himself alive. He didn’t get anything to feel stronger or because he wished for the pleasing taste.

She nodded “And then we’ll get it off your mind” she added with a seductive smile on her lips. Letting herself, while her fingers danced over contour of her lips, to take in his beauty. The dark eyes, his heavy lashes and he eyebrows only making the look of his eyes so much more intense. Having trouble with eating. It was interesting, even if their species was created to be beautiful and alluring, there were still incubus and succubus she wouldn’t touch with a ten feet pole. Her left side of her lip slowly glided up, as she took her fingers away. Almost matching is very subtle smirk, mirroring his own. That sounded like a challenge. And even though it had been long since she had let herself get excited about something. She felt drawn to this. “Challenge accepted” she exhaled with tempting voice, as her fingers caught the small spear which on its end had an olive. She let it rest on her tongue before closing her lips around it and pulled the olive off it. Classic move, but who had ever hated on the classics. “Well then, follow me” she purred as she got down from the seat, turning her head looking over her shoulder. “But be careful, you might never want to leave again” she said a little mysterious as she walked towards the back of the casino, leading them into some of the VIP sections. She stood by the door. “Just don’t eat the lotus” she warned him with a small smirk on her lips, as she opened up the door to the heaven of people being entertained by beautiful people. Now this wasn’t just some lousy stripper club. This was class, where you could either gather your appetite by the beautiful people and their exquisite body control. Because these people, could actually dance. And beautifully so. Or you could buy them to follow you up to a room. All of this, very willingly, much like vampires’ parties and having people that willingly wanted to give their blood to them. Which there was as well. “Anyone that catches your eye?” she asked, turning towards him, taking a glass of martini from a passing tray.

James smiled when she mentioned that she would get it off his mind. He believed it would be quite the challenge for the succubus. As she let her fingers dance across her lips, she made him look at them. She knew how to play her game; he would give her that. The only thing was, that he never really played like she was doing, and maybe she was doing this, because she knew that incubi and succubae didn’t have to be attracted to each other, even though they were created to be alluring. Because even though they didn’t share thoughts, he too had incubi and succubae he wouldn’t dream of being with.
She called it a challenge, which, she should be more than welcome to see it as. Because he had his doubts that he would really find his appetite tonight. He kept the smirk as she took the olive off it’s stick.
He got up from his seat and followed her as she led him somewhere. “In your dreams, pumpkin,” he replied to the fact that she believed that James wouldn’t want to leave ever again. He looked from her curved up at her as she warned him not to eat the lotus. He didn’t reply to it, but he was quite certain that he knew what it was about. She opened the door and he immediately saw how people were being entertained. His eyes wandered over them, and he could simply smell on the atmosphere what was going on inside of this room. His eyes watched them carefully, shortly stopped at few at them admiring before his eyes continued off. They sure had some beautiful people working for them. She heard the succubus ask if his eye caught something. He licked his lips a little. “No,” he said before he looked towards her, “Don’t get me wrong, all of these people look wonderful,” he looked back out at the crowd. “But it doesn’t make my teeth water,” he said and looked back at her, knowing very well it wasn’t the right way to say so, but there was nothing that he really seemed to want. Nothing seemed to wake his appetite.

She turned around as he told her that there wasn’t anything in the room that he wanted. Now, that was something that was rare, not unheard of. She had met men and women, with rather peculiar tastes. But somehow, she felt that his problem was more of the fact, that he had just lost interest. Which was, something else entirely. Then was the question, would anything she showed him, be enough to break away from that bad memory. Or were there some deeper layers connecting to his little problem?
“Alright, then, come with me” she turned around, winking towards a beautiful young woman. With beautiful shiny black hair, waving back and forth every time she took a step. In complete control over how she carried her body, just to make people let their eyes linger just a moment longer. Curves, and a beautiful smile and eyes that could lure the last dime out of your pocket, if you weren’t careful enough.
But Lucille wasn’t going to try to force anything on him, before she had figured out what the real problem was. So, she showed him to one of the private rooms, pulling the curtains after she had stepped into it. The sound of the music was greatly subdued, making it evident that the curtains had some kind of magical power to be somewhat sound prof. Making it perfect for the people that wanted privacy with the person they had paid for. “Something you would like to drink?” she asked, before she sat down in the beautiful bourbon brown couch. She leaned back, pressing a button where she ordered them some drinks. “Now, what is that you truly desire?” she asked, no she didn’t have River’s powers, but she could still lure it out of the most people she met. James on the other hand, was quite the enigma.

She told him to follow, and he did so. Normally he wasn’t much for following orders, but in this case, he did. She was friendly, and seemingly understood that he wasn’t in the brightest of moods, as if she knew it herself too well. James turned with her. He noticed the woman with beautiful hair, but his eyes never lingered. The interest simply wasn’t there. If he wasn’t careful, this could end up with being his death; starving himself.
He was shown into a room where he entered and let one of his hands scratch the side of his cheek a little before he turned to look at the succubus once again as she asked him a question. At first he didn’t say a thing, before he noticed how she could order, which made him order some rum. He let his hands find their way to his pockets while she ordered for them. When she turned her attention towards him again he let his tongue glide over his teeth. “Desire?” he wondered raising his brows shortly, before he narrowed his eyes a little, “I think desire is quite dead now,” he said licking his lips slowly, thinking about the words that left him. It was odd how his heart beat a little differently after those words had left him. Besides, there were so many things in life he wanted. So, so many things, but it was only a very small amount that he would ever be able to get. “Even if it’s just within reach, and if I know that I want or need it… I just doesn’t motivate me to actually get it?” he said even though it could sound a little odd and vague. He didn’t  know how to explain it, but he couldn’t make himself put a target on someone as of late.

“hmm” she hummed, letting her eyes blink for a moment as she took him in. It was a dangerous thing for an incubus or succubus for that matter, to lose their appetite. Not something that happened often, and it would indeed be something that would end up costing his life if he didn’t find it again.
“So, something had killed your desire, or your lust to actually be with another being?” she asked, letting her fingers dance over her ear as she slowly removed her earing. Then her fingers found the pins and hairband that had held her hair back. With a shift motion she shook her head and her strawberry blond hair danced over her cheeks and down her back.
“Is it something that has happened before?” she asked, then turning her head towards the table that made a small sound, and she pressed the button and a silverplate with their drinks came up from the middle of the table. Then her fingers opened the buttons on the jacket of her suit and then shrugged it off. Making her somewhat more comfortable where she was sitting. Her green eyes never leaving him.

He gave her a little nod to confirm what she had said. The day with Lara had truly killed his desire to be with others, though there had of course been days where he had been with Rebekah. It was different with Rebekah, but maybe it was also because he couldn’t really eat that much from her. He would rather spare her that. His eyes shortly followed her movements as she took of her earrings, followed by pins and the hairband that had held her hair in place. Her movements were delicate, and it didn’t surprise him that she was a succubus. Everything was so calculated and perfect. “Not like this. I’ve always been able to… Correct whatever mistakes that had been made,” now, it wasn’t always just manipulating a person’s mind to forgetting something had happened, it could also simply be talking with them about what had happened and what they were going through. Very psychological. His dark eyes turned to the table where their drinks appeared. He took his drink and a sip from it while he out of the corner of his eyes could see how she opened her jacket. He had this feeling, that she was going to test him in some way, and even though he shouldn’t he already felt like his mind was preparing himself to resist whatever she put up.

“Hmm” she hummed, when he told her that he was always able to correct whatever mistakes that he had made. That was a dangerous game, always changing the outcome of something. Because she was quick to figure out that he didn’t mean in the sense of forgiveness, rather he would do something to make sure that everything was going according to his plans.
“So, you ended up doing something that you can’t take back, and now you are going to punish yourself until you starve to death?” she put it quite bluntly and lifted a brow as she let the light brown coloured liquid swirl around in her glass. Her eyes followed it around before she placed it against her lips and took a small sip. Then she leaned forward and placed the glass back on the table. “Now James, where is the sense in that?” she asked once more, letting her tongue part her lips and as it glided back her teeth graced over the bottom lip, as her eyes slowly narrowed.

James usually corrected his faults in many different ways. The most grant faults were most often corrected with memory manipulation, but everything else, he tried to make up for it. James was a quite decent man and grant faults were rare. James nodded his head a little to the side, almost a shrug, when he was asked if his plan was to starve himself. “More or less,” he mumbled. It wasn’t because he had planned to starve himself, but he simply couldn’t get himself to eat. God, he didn’t want to compare himself to the girls on his dancing team that had eating disorders. With a sigh, he closed his eyes, listening to how she sipped her drink. He looked towards her as she asked him where the sense was in that. Using his name. He was certain that he hadn’t presented himself. He wouldn’t do that in a place like this, not yet at least. For a brief moment he just wanted to figure out where she had gotten his name from, only to figure that there was no access. “There is no sense to it,” he replied quite calmly and turned directly towards her.

Her eyes narrowed as he told her that it was his plan. Then he agreed with the fact that there wasn’t much sense to it. She didn’t understand, why was he doing it then? He seemed like a man that took what he wanted, even if it was done with respect, he was silver-tongued enough to charm people into saying yes, without them knowing what they were saying yes too. Her tongue ran over her teeth before she folded her lips for a moment, thinking about what she was going to say. It was a tricky situation, because she couldn’t just turn on his passion nor his hunger. Instead, she got up and sat down beside him, giving him a small smile, placing a hand on his shoulder giving it a small squeeze. “You know, I’m actually really sad to hear that happened to you, it must weigh a great deal on your shoulders, if it’s making you starve yourself – I just, maybe try to explain to me how it’s going to help anything that you are doing this too yourself?” she whispered with a caring voice, letting her hand glide from his shoulder towards his neck. Not that it did anything other than just resting there, seeing how he was reacting to her being this close.

She sat down beside him, and his head followed her. His eyes shortly glanced towards the shoulder she was squeezing. There was something about it that made it seem unreal. Maybe James had just gotten more pessimistic? She tried to comfort him, to tell him that it must weigh greatly on his shoulders. Well, it certainly did. He scoffed of himself, followed by a little chuckle. He shook his head and looked away from her. “There’s no sense to it. It won’t help or undo the things I did” he replied, almost feeling how his heart ached for that truth. He felt how her hand traveled and with a deeper breath he looked back at her, “Stop that,” he whispered to her, though his voice seemingly didn’t sound rejecting or harsh. It was soft, and almost welcoming.

Even though his voice might tell her, that he didn’t want her to continue, she let out a soft breath and did as he asked. Because even when a body could tell you something words didn’t, words had more power and should always carry more power.
Not that it meant she moved away, but her hands were softly placed on one side of her thigh and the other rested just above her knee. “Is there something else that is bothering your mind?” she asked with a soft smile letting her eyes rest towards him, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to get to know him all that well. Especially since she was quite sure it would never be a commitment that would benefit either of them. Not when Rebekah had a tendency to visit River from time to time, doing other things than just talk business, as what was the word that was spoken when they were asked where they were going. And here she was sitting with the old witch’s husband that was clearly withering away in some kind of messed up punishment. It gave her the feeling that he might not be Rebekah’s first priority, and therefore, was he ever really listened too? Or just walked all over, and got the love that he could get, when she wanted to give it to him? If that was the case, it was a feeling she understood all too well.

She removed her hand, which he partly appreciated. She was persistent with helping with easing his mind. She was quite kind, to a fellow demon. He doubted she acted like this towards everyone. But maybe it was just the succubus and incubus attraction that was talking. He narrowed his eyes a little, as she gave him another caring question. “You’re good,” he complimented her. Now, it could mean a lot of things, but for him right now, it meant that he appreciated how she got his mind onto other things, and how she handled things. Mind games when it was handled by the kind of demon they were. “What do you prefer?” he avoided the question. “Poor unfortunate souls?” He leaned a little more back in the couch and turned more towards her, letting his arm rest on the backrest.

A smirk pulled one of her lip’s sides upward.
She was good, that she knew. She had lived for a very long time, far longer than many might think given how she was still hanging around River. Not that it was something she overly enjoyed, not when one thought about just how long she had protected his sorry ass.
Lucille started laughing as he asked her if she preferred poor unfortunate souls. “No, not really” she shook her head, “no, I prefer complex creatures, I like those that might seem to others as a failure or as you so kindly put it; poor unfortunate souls” she licked her lips and turned her body so she could lean over her crossed legs and take her glass of whiskey. Taking a small sip, she placed it back on the table and then turned towards him again. “Is that how you see yourself, an unfortunate soul? Or a man that is stuck in a situation, where he has no idea if he wants to get out of it, punishing himself not only for mistakes that can no longer be undone – but something tells me that this isn’t really what is it about” she let her tongue glide over lips narrowing her eyes for a moment. “How old were you, when you lost the love of your life?” she asked him, rather straight forward, she knew. But how was it; it took one to know one?

Lucille shrugged titling her head “Maybe, maybe not - in my experience I’ve encountered that even the smallest things from our past, or big events that we might just not think of as a problem anymore, has tremendous impact on how we see things now” then he opened up and told her that she had died while carrying his child, a sad smile formed over her lips. “I’m sorry for your loss” she said, but yes, then she thought it could be the reason why he was doing this. She gently took his free hand and pulled it towards her. Her fingers started to knead over it, almost massaging it without getting too close to him as he hadn’t wished for before.  
“Tell me about her?” she asked gently, giving him a soft smile as her eyes drifted towards his lips before letting her eyes lock with his again.

James furrowed his brows a little as she mentioned how events from the past still could impact how people saw things. Well, he knew it from how everyone had so called childhood traumas. His being quite dramatic if he had to say so himself. But events from when he was an actual adult? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. People had PTSD, of course people with past traumas, big or small, could affect one in the future.
James let a short chuckle leave him as she told him she was sorry. He didn’t really believe it, no stranger would actually feel sorry for someone – and yet, here she sat and tried to make him feel better. Oh, how she messed with everything. She took his hand and started to knead it. He looked up at her as she asked about Angel. He looked down at their hands, licking his lips, a small smile spread on his lips, before he looked back up at her. “She was human and had this ability to induce joy, so there was never really a dull moment,” he explained and looked down at their hands again, “I would almost say she was my sun in everything,” he laughed through the sadness that spread in his chest. “So, you bet everything got quite dull when she died,” he licked his lips making himself remember the moments just after her death, how ruined he had felt. Everything had been so dark to him. Then he picked up the good moments and a little smile grew on his lips again. That might be one of the reasons why he loved his memory manipulation. He was able to see the memories so clearly. “She was a slender and yet voluptuous Latina woman,” he said and studied Lucille’s hand for a moment. “Her hair was always glossy. Jet-black and complimenting her large brown eyes,” he said, picturing her for himself as he spoke of her. “A very loyal woman.”

She listened; maybe that was one of the things she enjoyed so much by being in her company. Not only did she let people speak their minds, but it was clear that she intently listened to every word spoken and let them turn in her head; not that she had anything she could say or do for James, she was pretty sure that whatever he was doing to himself, was an effect of losing this love. Her hands gently let go of his hands as she looked at him with a soft smile, letting his hand rest against his knee unless he wanted to pull it back; then, she wouldn’t stop him.
“I can understand why you must miss her dearly,” she said with a soft expression, knowing a thing or two about loss, not that she had ever had a life on her own. She was always enslaved one way or another, constantly ripped away from people when she finally made a connection. She would have loved to at least have been in a situation where she had experienced what he just described to her, someone that was the sun in her life.  
“I might be the romantic in me, but even if one would always wish that the people we hold dearest wouldn’t leave us, one way or another, it is better to have experienced this type of love than not at all? And do you believe you are living in her memory and how she wanted you to live if she saw you now? Starving yourself?” her fingers again reached out and let her index finger catch his chin gently. “Are you happy, James?” she asked him, “and have you been happy since she had to leave?” she added, knowing it might be a soft spot, but she was here to see if she could get his appetite.  

She was a good listener. He didn’t mind how she let go of his hands only to place a hand on his knee. He pulled shortly on one of the corners of his mouth, as told him that she understood why he missed her. He had often thought about erasing Angel from his own memory, but he knew that it would be risky and that he could ruin more that he would ‘repair’.
He pulled a slightly crooked smile as she tried to be optimistic. Wasn’t it better to have experienced it? A scoff meant for himself left him as Lucille mentioned how Angel would be thinking of him if she saw him now. She caught his chin, and he looked a bit up from where his hands were in front of him. She gave him all kinds of questions. The simplest ones were so difficult to answer, mostly because he might be in denial. He wanted to reply but nothing came from him. No words, no scoffs, hums, tears. Nothing. The questions repeated themselves, time and time again. “I have my days,” he responded to the last of her questions. “But as of right now, this moment; no,” he replied. His brows moved a little closer to each other, “Are you happy?”