RESPLENDENT

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Taxi couldn't be angry at Silas for not agreeing with his sexual lifestyle, afterall, he'd be dealing with this issue for six hundred or so years. And well, as for the werewolf killing, he couldn't help but he a bit squicked about that, that natural dissuasion towards werewolves was still present and always would be. It was built into his genes, vampires verses werewolves, forever and ever till eternity was done existing. Quinn's older brother was a snarling spitting hairy beast when that special time rolled around, and Taxi WAS rather smug that he was clean with his food. Most of the time. Sometimes.

As the sweater-armoured man carried on, his expression gradually morphed. At first it simply stopped being nervous. And then a little quirk of his mouth upwards, only to grow into a small smile, giving birth to a full toothless grin. But when he was done and said everything would be A.O.K. it seemed to span from each side of his face and was full of so many pretty white teeth, the rather sad excuse for vampire fangs apparent. Even the glazed-over-with-death eyes seemed to share the expression. The blonde attacked Silas in a hug whether or not he wanted it, squeeling out a, "Of course I won't!! Thanks, Puppy, I feel much better now and am very glad you're not dead!"

His victim was rescued from the hug by Gabri, who was a fairly sad excuse for a rescuer on account of having his face smooshed against the concrete. "EEEEE! MAUSI!" Concern marred his smile, releasing Silas and rushing over his his friends side. The high-pitched screech would be enough to wake up anyone and anyTHING in the vicinity, including poor Quinn. "MausiMausiMausi!! Are you okay?! Are you bleeding??!! Does it hurt?? Do you want me to kiss it better? Are you ok! TALK TO ME GABRI!" This was of course accompanied by shaking him by the shoulders, probably distressed more than the reaper himself.

[Obelisk]

Taxi really was a ball of energy and sunshine, which was strikingly odd since the vampire was, well, a vampire. Just a step above a zombie, really, or that's how Silas viewed them. Not that he'd met a zombie before and he certainly hoping to be spared that bizarre notion. He could only laugh and hug the German before the honk of the car horn sent him jumping a good foot into the air. Off Taxi went in his usual form, energetic and full force. Silas simply opened the passenger side door and poked his head in, eyes on Gabri's face.

" Are you okay?" He asked, concerned but not worried. The honk of the horn was probably just an accident. Or a prank. At that thought Silas lifted a brow.

"What the hell?" A stifled, groggy voice drifted out from the coffin of the car trunk. Quinn grunted in a scrooge-like fashion and literally crawled out of the trunk like someone who had just risen from the dead. He felt stiff and just generally unpleasant, not that that was much of a surprise.

His foot caught and he fell forward onto the ground, sending up a plume of dust in his wake. "Fuck." It was more of a complaint than anything. Having slept so soundly, Quinn was somewhat bewildered. He looked around and all he could see were road and desert. Taxi was spazzing out about something, though, but what? What the hell? Where were they? What was going on? Time to investigate.

Rubbing at his face, Quinn was at Taxi's side, poking his head down to try and catch a view of inside the car and Gabri.

" Did he freak out again?" A rude question, maybe, but it wasn't spoken as such. That was the first thing that had popped into Quinn's mind. "Where the hell is...oh. There he is." Quinn had caught sight of his brother, so that much was okay. Now, what about Gabri?

"Taxi, I think you're giving the guy brain damage." He was shaking the human a lot, after all. Quinn was doing well with not getting jealous over how doting and concern Taxi was over Gabri, but that spark was still there, threatening to set off into a flare at a moment's notice.

[Rip]

Gabri was confused. He was not entire sure how he ended up on the ground; he might as well have fallen out of bed during the middle of the night. Not hurt, not spazzy, not afraid, just wondering what the hell. He had about enough time to start picking himself up, face all screwed up as he tried to make sense of it, when a fucking earthquake started shaking the entire-

Oh. It's just Taxi. Shaking him. Ow.

"HIN. NY. I. AM. FI. NE." Trying to push his friend off as kindly as possible and retain from internal injuries. That, Gabri would fully admit, would be a incredibly embarissing death but a hilarious one no less. Once he had gotten him off, IF he had, he'd shake his head, eyes rolling a little bit until he blinked hard. His brains felt liks scrambled eggs. "I just tripped... out of the car. I'm not really sure how that happened, but ok. I'm fine." To demenstrate that he was most certainly not dying, he stood up (holding onto the car door though, since he was now incredibly dizzy thanks to having shaken baby syndrom), took off his hat and shook his head while running his fingers quickly through his hair to get the gravel out. "See? Fine." Looking up was the first time he noticed Quinn and Silas. That caught him a little off gaurd, but he recovered.

"We're in Arizona. I hit a pothole- sorry."

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Even after Gabri finished running his fingers through his hair and asserting that he was well and healthy, the vampire still wasn't satisfied. Mouth was a straight line bordering on a frown and eyebrows scrunched up and downwards, and he grappled the other mans skull and groped it thoroughly before stepping back. "Ok, you're alright, no brains are leaking out..."

And then it turned into a full out frown and the blonde flicked his friend in the forehead. "Be more careful, Mausi!! You're very fragile and if you head comes on I can't put it back on!" Tone was scornful and he was probably seconds away from wagging his finger, because how dare Gabri hurt himself! This was the problem with humans, they were always dying and hurting themselves. How irresponsible. Really. God.

Any anger (well, it wasn't even anger, just mild disgruntlement) was forgotten as he recalled that Quinn was up now. The older vampire moved to his lovers side and grabbed his arm, clinging to his side as he had the habit of doing. Taxi wasn't worried about giving the reaper brain-damage, his head was already pretty damn messed-up.

[Obelisk]

"Arizona?" Quinn repeated thoughtfully, taking a long look around them. He'd done a lot of traveling during his extended life and he knew the states pretty well, but at present, it was difficult to think. Actually, he did feel pretty off. Hell, he hadn't eaten in a long time and that thirst was back with a biting vengeance. Quinn's emerald gaze lingered on Gabri too long. There was menace in his eyes and a certain, unfathomable hunger and lust. Quinn snapped his head away with an annoyed growl and glared out into the darkness of the road.

Soon a bright headlight entered into his vision, a small dot on the horizon at first, but it grew as it approached. Immediately by the rumble of the engine Quinn identified the vehicle as a motorcycle. He'd expected it to pass them by but then the quick scream of a siren was given, harkening them to the arrival of a highway patrol officer. A cop. Fantastic.

Silas was at his brother's side, squinting into the brightness of the headlight. A figure emerged from the whiteness and stalked towards them. Maybe it was a little suspicious to be pulled out on the side of the road, all lingering on one side of the vehicle.

"You guys in some kind of trouble?" The cop asked moving his gaze from person to person. At first Quinn had thought the man was accusing them of something but quickly realized that he'd been asking about a different kind of trouble-- medical, mechanical.

"No sir, we're fine. Just taking a breather." Quinn replied easily, eyeing the cop as a starving man might a feast. The officer noticed the strange look and it put him on edge. Something was off. Something wasn't right. He kept cool, though, not wanting to alarm them of his suspicions.

"I'd like to see your license and registration, please." He asked but it was an obvious demand, standard procedure.

Silas turned a concerned gaze to Gabri and Quinn followed suit, but his eyes were less concerned and more knowing. There was no way that the escapee from a mental ward had a license on him. And Quinn somehow doubted that the car they were using was actually owned by the Polish man. The vehicle was probably in the system already and listed as stolen. Fantastic. That left one choice.

Silas seemed to guess his brother's intentions and shook his head.
"Quinn." He said sternly but his brother turned a deaf ear to his concerns.

What happened next was something of a fiasco. Quinn approached the officer with a predatory gait. The officer drew his gun and demanded Quinn stop. Quinn refused, shots were fired, most finding purchase in the vampire's chest, some rocketing towards the ground. It wasn't easy to stop a vampire, especially a hungry one. The violence ended with the officer's dead body slumped on the ground and Quinn wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand.

His werewolf brother was already back in the passenger seat of the car, refusing to watch or be a part of the disgusting antics.

Quinn set about robbing the corpse of items of value-- money, a gun, a police radio. He stood and approached the others, looking like a male lion that had just eaten its fill -- satiated, lazy, and pleased. At least Gabri wasn't looking like a meal anymore. Quinn sniffed and spoke as if everything was peachy keen.

"You wanna drive or should I?" He asked Gabri but his eyes slid to Taxi and he instantly became distracted, leaning down to bite and nibble at the man's neck and ear. He licked that smooth span of skin that covered the blonde's jugular and looked at Gabri out of the corner of his eyes. " Well?" He repeated the question. " I don't think we should hang around here for long." A positively roguish grin followed his words and Quinn continued to his public display of affection, the wounds in his chest already beginning to heal.

[Rip]

If Gabri hadn't been so incredibly oblivious on account of sleep deprovation, he would have noticed that familiar look Quinn was giving him. The last time someone looked at him like that Gabri ended up with a blond terror taking sips of his throat, resulting in one of the most stressful, tiring evenings he ever had. He promised himself after that little incident that it wouldn’t happen again, or at least not without one hell of a fight. Finally, his dull eyes happened to glance that way and catch a hold of that nasty hint. The boy’s face turned ugly and challenging- contradicting it’s usual passive expression. If the motorcycle hadn’t pulled up, he would have said ‘back off’, or something of similar effect. However, there was different trouble now. Worse trouble.

Of all the rotten luck. Was God angry with him? Was this some type of fucked up test? Whatever the reason, Gabrjel groaned when the man pulled up and put on his best innocent face… which really wasn’t hard at all. Apparently Quinn was taking charge of the situation, which could only end in one way. The Pole did not look remorseful. On the shoulder of cop sat a two headed crow. Each head sported a twisting grin, shineless eyes, and ill intent. They were laughing.

Laughing at the cop, who was about to die.
Laughing at Silas for being squimish.
Laughing at Quinn for being an animal.
Laughing at Taxi for being the cause of this.
Laughing at Gabri, who was another step closer to death.

Gabri considered reaching for his hatchet, but then came to the understanding that Quinn was doing the judging tonight. He was right, of course.

“You’re not as cruel as Taxi.” He said allowed, looking at the body and doing his best to avoid EWGROSSSTOPIT theature. It was bad enough when he saw a man and woman kissing- he wasn’t quite ready for much more then that. Driving… drivingdriving… he might have cried. Apparently, going all day wasn’t good enough. Goddamnit- wait. Gabri’s eyes flashed. “Not yet.” He rubbed the back of his head, thinking.

A voice was speaking in rapid tones in his brain, bouncing off the corners of his mind. Blood, quinn, bike, corpse…

It wouldn’t explain why the man was completely dry. It ALL wouldn’t come out. It was the best they could do though. Gabri might be a doormat, a meek little submissive puppy, but he was still a serial killer who avoided capture for years.

“I know your dumb right now,” He said this kindly, remembering how ridiculously trippy Taxi got when he had dinner. “But try to listen to me.” He bit his own thumb thoughtfully, calculating. “I need you to crash the motorcycle. Make it a bad one. I’m sorry Quinn, it’ll need to be you. You’re the one who has all his blood. Make it fatal.” Another pause. “I’ll pick up the bullets on the road.”

That was the hard part. He had no way of knowing how many shots were fired, how many were impeded in meat-head’s body, or how many were scattered in the sand. It would have to do, though.

“… then someone will have to recreate the injuries you get from the crash on him.” A small gesture towards the late Mr. Policeman. “It’ll take them longer to find out. We might get lucky, even. They might not suspect murder.”

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Taxi was unconcerned with the appearance of a cop. It didn't phase the elder vampire in the least. Afterall, up untill a while ago he had been a pampered rich boy who the law couldn't touch. And even then, he had someone to clean up his after-murder messes for him. Still yet, in the past when he had been bothered by police forces the blonde delt with them ruthlessly. As for his beast-like slaughtering, fingerprints weren't in the system, he didn't even EXIST legally, and he couldn't be killed. Taxi was risk-free. No need to think about it, if it was needed, the man would die.

... Just like that, actually. Quinn was always so damn sexy when he hunted, the way he stalked forward with that predatory gait, the way his eyes looked, but afterwards was always the best part. Attention was drawn away from this post-feeding splendor was Gabri spoke, slowly turning his head while angling it to give Quinn better access subconsiously.

There was a look of stunned admiration in Taxi's eyes, but that was about all there was. Everything behind them was fairly blank, and the fact his greens were glossed over wasn't helping the vacant-stare that it degenerated into. Gabri was talking about something, something that sounded very smart, no really big words but he said it in a way and looked at them in a way that said he was saying something intelligent. Even a hand gesture! Wow. Taxi may have been paying more attention to his surpisingly smart friend if he wasn't distracted.

"Mmm. Liebe, hurry up and kill yourself," He had gotten that part of it atleast. "So we can makeout in the backseat."

[Obelisk]

There was an obvious shift in Quinn's train of thought, but the pause didn't last long. Just long enough for him to think, hey, wow, Gabri's pretty damned smart. Then the vampire was back mouthing at the German's neck and it was obvious that there was only one thing on Quinn's mind at that point. At Taxi's insistence, however, Quinn managed to pull away. The vampire swallowed and sent a look towards the bike now bereft of an owner.

"Mmmm. Alright." The man practically purred and made for the bike, but not before darting back to steal a long, raunchy kiss from Taxi. He grinned and winked at Gabri, still very much aware how uncomfortable his and Taxi's antics made the human. Actually, both Gabri and his brother were uncomfortable. Oh well. That just made for some entertainment on his part.

He swung a leg over the motorcycle, shifted until he was comfortable and turned the vehicle on. It came to life with a rumble and that brought a near manic grin to the vampire's face. Mechanics and the science behind them brought him no small amount of joy.

Slowly he turned the beast of a vehicle around and then, without ceremony, he was off speeding down the street. The faster a vehicle could go, the more Quinn liked it, and from his perspective, the boys down at the precinct were getting spoiled with this kind of power. He almost didn't want to wreck the thing, it was a work of engineering art.

There was no way he could keep the damned thing, though. He spun it around when he was a distance away then really put it to the test. Quinn pressed the throttle to its maximum and he laughed as the speed jumped and he was sent shooting down the interstate.

Once he was sure he was traveling as fast as the vehicle would allow, Quinn leaned over sharply, ruining the balance. His body was sent tumbling and scraping over the rough surface of the asphalt, bones snapping, flesh and skin burned and ruined by the insane friction. The bike itself catapulted and flipped, the metal sending a flurry of sparks into the air. Finally both Quinn's body and the bike skidded to a stop.

As Quinn's eyes open, he was staring at the open expanse of the desert sky, greeted by twinkling stars. That had hurt. That had hurt pretty damned bad. He could feel his just-won meal seeping out of him, the majority of the blood pooling around his head. His right arm was snapped, his ribs fucked to hell, and Quinn was pretty sure his left femur was broken. That suspicious would be confirmed if the man could lean up and see that his bone was clearly sticking out of the flesh of his leg.

Quinn didn't move, however, and just laid there.

His brother may have been impervious to true death in most cases, but witnessing a loved one go through that extent of damage was enough to pull Silas from his seat in the car. The older Belmont was at his brother's side, kneeling down, afraid to move or touch him.

"Jesus, Quinn. Are you alright?"

Quinn's eyes rolled to his brother and his handsome face was scraped and bruised and bloodied, but his smile was an roguish and daring as ever.

" Dude, I'm already dead. It's not like I can die again. I'm fine." Quinn grinned and it split the scab that had formed on his lip, blood trailing down his chin. " Now where's inspector gadget? Go get him so we can finish this shit." Quinn couldn't even remember the rest of the plan. Then again, he hadn't really been listening.

Silas sighed and held his face within his palm, shaking his head.

"You're all insane." What else more could he say? The statement pretty much summed the entire situation up.

[Rip]

There were numerous potential distractions that wanted nothing more then to divert Gabrjel's attention. The rats were back, of course, and were mobbing the street like a squirming, itchy flood. They parted only when the vampire on the motorcycle came barreling along, screaming that roaring noise of machinery. The few rodents who were either too slow or suicidal to get out of the way and were run down, the soft bodies sqirting out black guts. The crows circled in the air, cawing and screeching. Giant snakes slid below the surface of the sand. Shark fins poked around the cactuses. Gabri ignored them all and picked up the bullets, as many as he could find with acute eyes. The crows even began to help, peaking at the hidden ones until the Pole recovered them.

He didn't wince once, not even at the crash, though he did stand on the road, along side the sandline, to make sure Quinn didn't explode. That had been a posibility he realized in the beginning, but the risk was so low that he didn't bother informing either Taxi, Silas or Meathead.

"I'm glad you didn't catch fire." His voice was sincere. "Please don't move yet, Quinn. Wait until you aren't bleeding anymore. Silas, could you please help him to the car when he's better." He would have prefered if Silas hadn't run out at all, but they probably wouldn't investigate footprints if it looked like a simple accident anyway. As long as Quinn didn't bleed drops back to the car, it should work. He looked over his shoulder. "Taxi, could you make the same injuries on Mr. Policeman, please, and then carry him to where Quinn is and put him in the same position? I would do it, but they'd reconize my fingerprints, and that would be very bad. We can leave after that."