Abby loves the place already. The band is phenomenal, even without a singer. It's dark, with only the light on the stage and behind the bar, and candles on the tables. She grins and walks over to the bar. As she sits, an older man walks over to her smiling.
"Well, look at that. We haven't seen a new face in here in ages. Been just the regulars for as long as I can remember. What's your name, sweetheart?"

Abby smiles and laughs. "I'm Abby. Beautiful place you've got here."

The older man stands a bit straighter and smiles at the compliment. "Why thank you, Abby. I'm Scat. I own the place, and it's nice to meet you. Can I get you something from the bar?"

Abby smiles at the man. "Just a coke. I'm here more for the music than anything else. I love blues and jazz."

Scat's smile widens, makign his way over to get her soda. Time seemed to fly by, and before she knew it, Abby had been talking to Scat for about an hour. She loved it here. The music was getting to her, and she got a wild idea. "Hey Scat, I have a proposition for you."

Scat laughed. "Well now, Abby. I haven't been propostioned in quite a long while. What do ya got for me?"

Abby laughed, smiling at Scat. "How about you let me sing here a few nights a week? You won't have to pay me, unless you want to. Either way, I keep tips. "

Scat looks Abby up and down. "Girl, I don't even know if you can sing. You know your blues and jazz, I'll give you that. "

Abby grins at him. "Fine. I'll go up there and sing one song. If you like me, we shake on it. If you don't, no problem and no hard feelings. Deal?"

Scat stands quiet for a moment, taking it all in. Finally, he smiles again. "Deal." Scat comes out from behind the bar and walks Abby over to the band. He quickly lets them know what's going on, nods his head to Abby and goes back to the bar.

A smile spreads wide over Abby's face, knowing just what she wants to sing. She whispers in the piano players ears, and he smiles up at her. As Abby steps up on the stage, the melody of 'I want a little sugar in my bowl' begins. She starts to sing. Heads turn towards the stage, staring at Abby as she belts out the song.

Scats jaw drops as he stands behind the bar. Abby's mind was completely on the music that played. This is what she needed, something to concentrate on, something to do to keep her mind from wandering.

Walking in off the street Gabriel paused in the doorway to brush the wrinkles out of his shirt as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dimly lit bar. The hairs on the back of Gabriel’s neck suddenly stood to wary attention as a low rumbling growl welcomed him from the darkness within. Where there had been only shadows a moment before now stood a wall of muscle straining at the dark blue cotton shirt that was attempting to contain the immense bulk of Mickey the doorman.

“Jesus Mickey, get over it. Anyone would think it had been your blood.” Gabriel snarled with disdain as he moved to sidestep his way past the wolf into the bar. He didn’t get far as Mickey twisted his huge frame but a tiny fraction to all but block his path.

A large paw of a hand dropped heavily on Gabriel’s shoulder forcing a grunt to escape the necromancers lungs as Mickey pushed him forcefully back into the door frame. A toothy grin was plastered on the werewolf’s face showing off his impressively sharp canines. “New rules Fischer, no weapons in the joint.”

From somewhere within the bars shadowy interior came Gabriel’s saviour in the form of a gravely voice filled with weary amusement. “Mickey stop harassing one of my regulars will ya.”

Lowering his hand reluctantly Mickey released his tight grip on Gabriel’s shoulder and took a step back to allow the man to pass. “I’ve got my eyes on you Fischer.”

“That’s a good boy Mickey, obey your master.” Gabriel taunted as he pushed himself away from doorway that had been digging painfully into his back. “It won’t be too long before we’ll have you rolling over and playing dead.”

Abby stands on the stage, her eyes closed, singing her heart out. After the first verse, she really starts getting into it. It had been so long since she had been singing for anyone, she loses herself in the music. Soon, she's pacing the stage and looking at the people in the front row.
All too quickly, the piano player is playing the end. She wishes she could stay up there forever. She smiles at the crowd and half bows, their shocked faces turning to smiles as they start to clap.
With an ever widening smile, she walks over to the bar and straight up to Scat.
"Well?" she says with a smile.

Scat is speechless. Slowly, a smiles spreads across his face to match Abby's, and he extends his hand. Abby laughs and reaches her hand out to take his, giving it a shake. "I think this deserves more than a soda. Care to make your new singer a rum and coke?" Abby asks with a grin.

"It would be my pleasure, darlin" Scat replies, turning to pick up a glass.

With a face of thunder, Gabriel weaved his way around a couple of empty tables heading straight for the long bar situated at the back of the club. The day had completely drained him leaving him short tempered and irritable. The last thing he’d needed was the bouncer of his local watering hole giving him endless grief about an incident he knew nothing about. It was the same dance he and Mickey had been playing for the last six months, trading verbal volleys at each other knowing that if it ever came to blows Gabriel would be leaving in an ambulance if he was lucky or a meat wagon if he wasn’t.

Scat was serving a pretty young lady at the bar, but upon seeing Gabriel’s expression as he stormed up he made a quick apology to the woman and attempted to head the man off before he gathered steam. “Hey Gabe, ya mind not winding Mickey up. Last thing I need is an angry werewolf scaring off my clientele.”

“Sorry Scat,” Gabriel sighed as he came to rest his arms on the bar with a tired thud. “But you should really think about putting a leash on that mutt.”

“I’ll make you a deal my friend.” Scat said with a mischievous grin and a twinkle in his eye. “I’ll buy the collar but you gotta put it on him.”

Gabriel just stood there silently staring at Scat before a warm chuckle slipped out from his lips now curved up in a lopsided smile. “Maybe some other time Scat. Like when I’m feeling suicidal, or looking for cheap cosmetic surgery.”

“Looks like you’ve had a bad day.” Scat questioned as he reached beneath the bar for Gabriel’s crystal glass and the bottle of whiskey he knew the man partial to. “Woman troubles?”

“Woman troubles or troubled by women. I can never tell if that’s one and the same thing.” Gabriel laughed with a gentle shake of his head as he took the bottle and filled the half the glass with the amber liquid. “No it’s nothing that sinister. Just lost a piece of my soul this morning and it’s left me feeling a little lethargic. Now enough about me, was that I new singer I heard as I walked in the door.”

Scat’s raised a questioning eyebrow at the talk of losing a part of his soul. Even after all the time he’d spent getting to know the young man Scat still had trouble deciding when to take him seriously. At the mention of a new singer Scat's face lit up in a brilliant smile. “I certainly do have a new singer.” He grinned enthusiastically turning to the young woman who had been standing quietly unnoticed beside Gabriel throughout the entire conversation. “In fact I was in the middle of serving her when you rudely interrupted.”

Abby grinned at Scat as he turned, just about to start on her drink when a scowling man approached. She probably would have thought he was good looking, had it not looked like he had just sucked on a lemon a few seconds before he made his way over. She didn't look at the man as he talked to Scat. He smelled of death and something else, almost dark. Animator for sure, more likely a necromancer. So, she stayed just where she was, still riding the high of being up on that stage. A few people happened by, smiling and telling her she had done a great job. She smiled back, turning back to the bar at the mention of 'the new singer'.

"That would be me. And it wasn't that rude. I'm from New York. I've seen worse," she said with a shrug of her shoulders and a mischievous smile. "Abby Ross," she says, extending her hand.

"Gabriel Fischer." He replied cringing on the inside as he took her cool hand in his. It was a lucky thing that he didn't embargoes easily or his cheeks would have been flushed a bright scarlet by now. "And as s a fellow New Yorker trying to make his way in a new city I should really know better. Scat if you'd be ever so kind please ensure that all off Abby's drinks are placed on my tab for the evening." Gabriel said flashing Abby a genuinely apologetic smile as he shook her hand.

As she withdrew her hand from his, Gabriel felt a tingling of energy escape from her tips of her fingers to run down his arm. Curious he thought to himself , wondering if Abby would consider it rude of him as he extended his mind and power gently towards her.

Abby raised an eyebrow, smiling back at Gabriel as he shook her hand. The cool pulse of the moved under his skin. Yep, definitely a full on necromancer. They seemed to be popping up more and more often lately. "Pleasure to meet you, Gabriel. It's nice to see another New Yorker around." She nodded her thanks as he told Scat to put her drinks on his tab, smiling at Scat as he turned to make her long awaited drink.

Pulling her hand away, Abby felt a light and gentle pushing of energy, cold but not altogether uncomfortable, moving across her skin. So, the necromancer wanted to see just what she was made of. Slowly, Abby lets her shields drop into place, high walls that kept others out herself locked safely within.

Still smiling, she wagged her finger back and forth towards Gabriel. "Now, Mr. Fischer. You really should ask first."

“My apologies Ms Ross.” Gabriel laughed knowing he had been caught in the act of what amounted to a metaphysical peek up Abby’s skirt. The simple fact that she had sensed his intrusion was enough to demonstrate that she had some ability. Shutting her mind and power from him just moments later however pointed at far more skill than a simpler dabbler in the arts could ever have achieved.

“I hope you can forgive an inquisitive man but I find it best to be considered rude and know whom I’m dealing with, than polite and ignorant.” Although it was far more common for Gabriel to be employing this sort of behaviour in the darkest depths of nightfall in the middle of a cemetery, habits were heard to break.

Reaching for his drink Gabriel held the glass to his lips, breathing in its smoky smell before taking a sip of the rich peaty liquid as he looked upon Abby thoughtfully. “Is it still too late to ask?”

Scat returned, bringing with him Abby's drink. With a smile and a wink at the old man, she took it and took in a long sip before looking back at Gabriel. "Please, it's Abby. Ms. Ross makes me feel old," she says with a small shrug and laugh. "No apologies are necessary. Just remember that curiosity an lead to trouble."

Still smiling, Abby moves to sit in the stool nearest her, pulling her drink along with her. She idly moves her finger along the top of the glass, still watching Gabriel with interest. "It's never to late to ask. That doesn't mean I won't say no, Gabriel," she says, raising an eyebrow. "Is it alright if I call you Gabriel?"

“Gabriel if you want, but my friend’s call me Gabe.” He smiled as he sat himself upon the stool next to Abby. “And any friend of Scat’s is a friend of mine.”

Reaching for the old dust covered bottle he refilled his glass a second time. After the day he’d just had added to the minor blood loss, he could already feel the alcohol having an effect upon him. If he had any intention of driving home tonight he’d have to make this drink his last or treat himself to the adventure that was a late night Miami taxi.

“So Abby,” He said with a playful smirk as he placed his glass down on the bar. “Are you talking curiosity in general or are you the trouble you’re trying to warn me about?”

"Well then, Gabe it is," Abby says, returning Gabe's smile and holding up her glass. "To new friends." Clinking her glass with his, Abby takes another long sip, finishing her drink and setting it on the bar. "I'll take another one, Scat. It's not every night I get a new job. I think I an afford to do a little celebrating." Scat chuckles, taking the glass and moving away to make her another drink.

Turning back to Gabriel, Abby watches as the man takes the bottle from the bar, pouring himself a second glass. His hand was shaky as he poured the liquid and set the bottle back down on the bar. "You'd better watch it there. Looks like you're already hitting your limit for the night," she says, crossing her legs as she watches him.

"Curiosity in general. But, you never know. Trouble seems to follow me around whether I like it or not."

“Friends.” Gabriel echoed as he raised his drink to meet Abby’s. The crystal and glass chimed loudly as they touched; the sharp sound cutting through the low murmuring of voices that floated around the bar as the patrons waited eagerly for the band to begin their next set.

As he’d placed the bottle back on the bars polished surface he’d noticed the tremble running along the length of his arm. He’d stared accusingly at the guilty appendage until the trembling in his fingers ceased before pushing the bottle back across the bar to Scat who’d just finished pouring Abby another rum and coke. His state hadn’t gone unnoticed by Abby who was now sat there watching him intently.

“You could be right.” He grudgingly agreed as he pushed the half drank glass across the bar to where the bottle still resided. “Just put those back under the bar for me Scat and grab me a bottle of water.” Scat raised a questioning eyebrow as he removed the whiskey from Gabriel’s sight. It would have been the first time the bars owner had ever seen Gabriel ask for anything other than his usual drink.

Turning back to Abby, Gabriel looked curiously at the mysterious woman before him. “Why Miami? Of all the cities in the world this is the last place I’d think a jazz singer with a tendency to attract trouble would head.”

Scat seemed happy to make her another drink, as if her celebrating their new arrangement was his way of toasting to it as well. Though he did stop, faltering a bit as Gabe pushed his bottle of what looked like scotch back across the bar. With a wary shrug, the old man did as he was asked, placing the bottle back down under the counter. "You may want to at least finish that glass, son. You know as well as I do that putting it back in the bottle makes the rest taste downright awful." Leaving Gabe's class on the bar, Scat set Abby's glass in front of her with a smile before moving down away from them to take care of what looked to be another regular.

Looking back at Gabriel, Abby gave a soft shrug of her own as he asked just what had brought her to Miami. "Well, I wanted to get out of New York. I figured either the west coast or somewhere down here. Miami sounded better to me that having to deal with the nutjobs out in California. That and I'd hate to have to switch time zones." With a bit of mystery in her smile, Abby lifted her drink and took a sip before setting it back down on the bar. "What about you? You're another transplanted New Yorker. What made you head down here?"

“Sun, sea and sand.” Gabriel answered without a moment’s hesitation. “As you can see I really need to work on my tan.” He said as he shrugged his suit jacket off of his shoulders to expose his pale arms sticking out of the short sleeved shirt he was wearing.

Hanging the jacket over the side of the high backed stool Gabriel absentmindedly reached for his class before remembering with a sigh that he couldn’t drink any more tonight. Not one to be wasteful he realised that the half drank whiskey could still be of use to him as he reached into a pocket for a small silver lighter and a small red pouch made from crushed red velvet, placing both on the bar besides the glass.

It was then he noticed that Scat had forgotten about his bottle of water. Looking along the bar he saw that the elderly barman was preoccupied with another customer so he turned his attention back to Abigail. “To be honest New York was getting a little intense. Miami just felt like a good place to chill out a little while I decided what to do with myself.”

"Sun, sea, and sand... and a whole lot less attitude," Abby said with a laugh, taking a sip of her drink. Scat walked by, placing a bottle of water in front of Gabriel with an almost apologetic smile as he made a drink for someone further down the bar. Abby watched with interest, her eyebrow raised as Gabriel pulled a small pouch and lighter from his pocket and placed it on the bar. Laughing, Abby lifted the sleeve on her shirt and showed an expanse of pale skin. "Yeah, a tan is something I could probably use as well," she said, letting the sleeve fall back into place.

"New York, intense? Of course you must be talking about another city altogether. New York is one of the most laid back places I have ever lived." Before the words had finished leaving her, Abby was already chuckling. "Wow, I couldn't even finish that with a straight face."

Gabriel grinned slyly as Abbey took notice of the items he’d placed upon the bar. Nodding his thanks to Scat he unscrewed the bottle and took a long refreshing pull of the chilled water. “Damn.” Gabriel laughed as Abbey raised her sleeve to expose a pale arm. Gabriel lifted his own arm to compare their respective tans before shaking his head in playful dismay. “I think we may have moved to Miami just in time Abby. If our skin had gotten any paler we were in danger of becoming transparent.”

He laughed when Abby joked about New York being a laid back city. Compared to city they’d grown up in the rest of the world always felt like it was in the middle of waking up while the big apple was just starting an all night bender.

“Well I’m glad you couldn’t keep a straight, you have a nice smile...” Gabriel said before pausing sharply midsentence. “Sorry that was wasn’t supposed to come out like a cheap line.”

Taking the velvet pouch in his hand he loosened the drawstrings then poured out its contents onto the bar. It was a horrible looking bracelet made up from strands of hair and bone. As it sat their innocuously before them Gabriel could all ready feel its dark power crawling back across the bar to him. Looking up at Abby he waited to see what she’d make of it.