Long Live. // Luke Hemmings 5SOS (Vampire)

Chapter 4 - In Control

"So... Be honest. You enjoyed the set?" Victor asked Rosemary as he sipped his cocktail. She took a long, drawn-out sip of her own drink, maintaining eye contact as he waited for her response. She noticed how intensely Victor was staring into her eyes, and she held her own.

"I actually did." Rosemary's eyebrows raised with the statement, her lips pursing into an impressed expression.

"Why do you sound surprised?" He chuckled, his eyebrows stitching together in subtle confusion.

"Probably because I am. Up until you were literally performing, I was expecting you to be a couple of amateurs that Steph was promoting as some kind of dare or something... And y'know, the name doesn't help - or the fact that I couldn't find fuck all about you online." Her matter of fact statement combined with her nonchalant drink sipping took them off guard, earning a shocked laugh from Steph who quickly slapped her hand over her mouth.
Luke held back a chuckle of his own; he knew Victor wasn't expecting the brutality that came with her otherwise desired honesty, and he enjoyed the fact that his bandmate had clearly failed to charm the new beauty on the scene. He loved to think that Victor was panicked - after all, his charm always worked.

"I'll... take that as a compliment." Victor smiled with suspicious, narrowed eyes as the corner of Rosemary's mouth curved upwards. She knew what she was doing with her words; she saw the cockiness radiating off of the man. She loved the thought of finding a weak spot in that attitude of his and stifling it with her own. It wasn't necessarily a malicious response... just a bit of casual, cruel fun.

Victor realised that he had to take a different approach.

"We play here almost every night. We don't get a lot of new people, but the people that are already here have formed a community, in a way... Kind of like a family." He softened his expression, pressing his lips together in a gentle smile. Rosemary scanned his face, then glanced around the room at all the strangers who seemed to be off in their own world.

"So that's why you're not being mobbed at this bar right now." She cocked her head to the side and pressed her tongue against her cheek as if she'd just solved a riddle. She glanced around at the people scattered throughout the room before looking back at Victor curiously. "They all know you, huh?"

"You could say that." He nodded, glancing over at Steph who bit back a sneaking smirk. If Rosemary had noticed that expression, perhaps she'd have questioned it - but her focus had moved to her drink again, as she took another long sip. "We all know each other, and we see each other as... equals, so they don't do stuff like that."

"And that's why I couldn't find anything about you online, right...? Must be a tight knit community."

"We like it that way." Luke interjected lowly, making the two turn their eyes to him while his eyes stayed glued to the bottom of his empty glass.

"...Steph, another round, please." Victor requested with a wave of his hand before turning back to Rosemary, whose drink was near enough finished. "So... tell me a bit about yourself."

"Like what? My favourite colour?" Her words, dripping with sarcasm, were slightly muffled as she lifted the glass to her lips once again to finish it off. "Steph, can I get another vodka lemonade instead? On Victor's tab." She grinned, looking at the dark haired man teasingly and seeing the strangely impressed expression on his face.

"There is no tab, sweetheart, it's on the house." His lips curled into a devilish smile, whilst Rosemary only shrugged and placed her glass down. She wasn't impressed by his apparent power play - she was, however, enthused by any chance at free drinks. "So what do you do for a living, darling?"