Round Two Bitch ain't living long, son

fit
New moon, don't worry about it. :)

---

She'd fucked up. With everything on her mind with Riddhi and Devin and their newfound—relatively speaking—family, she hadn't mathed out her feedings well. Kaida wasn't starving, barely more than halfway there in fact. And the new moon was a shit time to hunt. But the night after the new moon was inconsistently better. And she'd be hungrier then. The night after that would've been the clear choice, but then she'd be near starving. I'm-taking-your-blood-if-I-have-to-level-a-city-block-to-get-it territory.

Less than ideal.

So out of bad options, the best was to get this shit out of the way, right? But then the uptick in chances for an Incident™ meant probably not doing this near home. And maybe not near Devin's or Riddhi's either. Ridgefield and Alder were out. And Alameda had Fatass McSpotty on fucking permanent neighborhood watch, apparently.

God fucking damnit.

But the old stomping ground wasn't such a bad alternative. She'd almost considered swinging by for a peek at her old house. Where Yuna crumbled in her arms. But then she realized that would be stupid. Not tonight.

Round Two. Even if she didn't pick someone sloshed off their ass, witness accounts were conveniently fuzzier where alcohol flowed. Always easier that way.

So she'd tromp up to an occupied pinball machine, in no mood for sauntering or moseying. Silent, staring at the current player, she'd plunk a quarter onto the glass near the plunger.

Next game, motherfucker.

look, super not worried about it

---

He'd been here before and nothing bad happened!

There was also just no way he'd get attacked again. THRICE? In two months? Couldn't happen. Statistically not possible, and Ness knew all about statistics, he was a living rstudio. His statistical assurance didn't stop him from being careful when going out though. He had his lighter, he had autonomy over where he put his fucking eyeballs, he had uhh, a crowd. Mostly he had the lighter, something that comforted him even if he'd never had the guts to use it.

All this to say, Ness felt good about going out tonight. He drove, which meant he couldn't drink, which meant no stupid mistakes beyond his usual aura of idiocy. He just wanted to play some arcade games and maybe meet some new people!

He'd been playing pinball for longer than he should've, but there was no time limit when he could start the game with his mind. He was wrapped up in a long volley when the clatter of the coin caught his attention. He turned towards her, looked down —and down— and grinning settled his gaze on her nose. No sorry, lips. No sorry nose. The machine flashed and whirred as the little ball sunk past the flippers.

"Hey! Yeah sorry," he stepped back from the machine, gesturing towards it.

Taller than most of her targets. It was legitimately annoying as fuck to have to levitate to reach some motherfucker's throat with her teeth. Yeah, yeah, just put them on the ground first, but that was a lot more attention grabbing than the classic that's-probably-PDA-don't-look-too-close.

Still, she took a long breath in through her nose as he scurried out of her way. Psychic, no doubt. And not quite meeting her gaze. Possibly an informed psychic. Possibly just a shy boy. Her look didn't exactly encourage steady eye contact, except as a challenge.

Dangerous. That was the takeaway. Was he one of those flame throwing fucks? No way to know. Less a problem than it used to be, but still. The smart play would be to walk away and find a blander meal.

"So what's your deal?" she asked boredly as she slipped the quarter into the slot and pulled back on the plunger. Focus seemed to be on the game, not him. Flames wouldn't stop her; not if she hit hard enough. But the ideal result was avoiding spilling any of that blood on the ground. What a waste.

So talk, still playing the role of "cool girl," see if she could draw him in.

What's your deal, implying that he had a deal. A deal beyond playing pinball? A deal beyond being here tonight? His deal as in why he was by himself? Hmm. Maybe she was flirting with him? By domineering this interaction that they were having. It wasn't not working.

Ness kept a distance for a number of reasons, but primarily (because it truly takes several instances of getting burned before fearing the heat) because he didn't wanna be a hoverer. He was a shy boy, thanks, and he wanted to be polite.

"I uh," he'd spent too long thinking about what she meant instead of planning an answer, "I dunno I'm pretty good at pinball." Grin :D

An idiot, then. Or just put off guard by her whole approach. Both? Could be both. Easy enough for her to think as much. Barely turning her head, she glanced sideling at him and his ridiculous grin before refocusing on the large metal marble careening about beneath the glass.

"Wow." Emphasis on the period, dry as could be. It was a difficult balance, being mean enough to make him want to change her mind, but not so mean that he decided it wasn't worth the effort. The parameters didn't lie in the same spot for everyone, so she was trying to play it pretty safe. Not mean so much as unimpressed.

For her part, Kaida was no pro pinballer. But heightened reflexes paired with razor sharp vision did a lot of heavy lifting.

"That why you came out here tonight?" Ding, ding ding brrring. "Pinball?" Trying to lightly imply maybe she was here for something else.

Horny idiots made famously bad choices. Maybe start nudging him toward that cliff.

Ness was still being cautious, even if she was pretty and he was a sucker. Luckily she'd given him something new to look at, the little silver ball clinking against the bumpers. He was impressed by the skill, chick had insane reflexes. Which also; good at pinball = sexy.

Her dry response didn't feel mean, just teasing, so he scratched the back of his head and snickered. Hehe, yeah.

"Not just pinball," he replied, eyes on the game as he sunk his hands into his pockets, "out to meet new people. Who like pinball."

Hmm you know what, he wished he had a drink. He'd look cooler holding a drink.

More than a nibble at the hook. Good; a nice little psychic high would do wonders for her mood the rest of the night. Time to stop fucking around.

"Yeah?" That same dry tone, low for her size. Kaida had long made a habit of speaking in the basement of her register. This wasn't why, but it did lend itself well to this hunting tactic.

After one last blast with the right bumper, she turned her back on the game entirely, as though she'd grown bored with it and didn't care to continue. Leaning the small of her back against the top edge of the machine's very front, she tilted her head slightly and looked up at this tall drink of red cells.

Hoping to surprise him into giving his gaze with the intensity of her own.

"How's that going?"

There was some so addictive about her power, Ness felt himself heating up under her gaze. The gaze he still refused to meet, eyes shifting down to her lips when she turned her full attention to him. There was every chance she was just a very hot woman teasing him (the ideal option), but he really didn't want to be wrong and regret it. He'd been uncharacteristically pale these past few weeks.

His heartbeat stuttered, forcing some color to his cheeks.

"Pretty good, yeah," nice one. Super smooth. "I'm Ness," he offered a hand for her to shake. An introduction and a tactic, though if she was icy cold he wouldn't know what to do. He didn't plan that far ahead.

Still a no. Still unclear if that was the sign of a knowledgeable bloodbag or the nerves of a boy with too much blood being diverted from his brain. Safer to assume the former. Actually...

She listened to the heart beat, the irregular skip. The barest frown, eyes falling to the hand offered alongside a name. One shaped brow arched delicately, with no immediate movement made to take his hand. Her left elbow did slide back, coming to rest a jacketed sleeve atop the pinball glass just behind her.

Not enough blood in his brain. A mostly steady but slightly troubled pulse. Wariness to meet her gaze. That delectable psychic scent.

This boy had been fed on relatively recently. Now that was just inconvenient.

At last her right hand moved, slow and deliberate. But before it touched his, the trajectory shifted. Kaida reached past his hand, lightly pinching the fabric low on his shirt and pulling it taut as if she needed to get a clearer, unwrinkled look at the Rubik's cube design. Her mind was elsewhere, running through options. She wanted this meal.

"You seen nervous, Ness." Gaze was still on the pattern, and she didn't let go of his shirt when her eyes lifted once more, seeking his yet again.

"Are you scared of me?"

The longer she forced him to stand with his hand outstretched the redder he went. He almost gave up and pulled it back down, fumbled over some apology or explanation and then saw himself out. But instead she finally made a move.

Ness breathed a short clip of air through his nose that made his chest hiccup when her hand moved past his. The pressure of her grasp had his collar cutting against his nape, he hunched forwards to accommodate. He was much larger than her but he didn't feel it.

Even as the scale tipped from "hot chick" to "hungry vampire", Ness couldn't help but feel that heat of attraction. Heady, this close to someone, already a bit frazzled and dizzy as it was. He tried to ignore it and focus on what he knew. Danger, he recognized it. Reactively he squeezed his eyes shut, refusing that cold gaze.

"Ahhh-" a breathy warble of distress, "I, umm. Sorry. Yes."

The closed eyes were damn near confirmation. Traumatically fed from, apparently. How sad. Really tragic. She felt for him. So deeply. Yup.

Paragon of empathy right here.

This being a typically smooth feeding was pretty well out the window. Suggest, bite, suggest again, byeee. That was the ideal. Having some trouble with step one here.

But there were advantages to the informed fear. Leverage. Something to lean into.

Kaida pushed off the machine. Standing in the boy's space, she stepped the tip of her boot onto his toes. Barely any pressure—she probably didn't weigh enough to cause much pain there anyway—just enough to make her proximity clear. Still holding his shirt with her right hand, the left rose to trace fingertips along his chin. Dark eyes were glued to his eyelids. Her voice was soft, a little breathier than before.

"What are you afraid I'll do?"

Benefit of eyes closed; he was certain his brain was his. Consequences; he couldn't see, and he wasn't prepared for the further invasion of space. He flinched and shuffled back when he felt the pressure, but was held close by the hand in his shirt.

There was one thing different about this encounter than the others, he wasn't alone here. There were lots of people buzzing and laughing- and probably assuming they were just flirting. He could shout, make a scene and maybe scare her off, but any of those thoughts were cut off by the finger at his chin. Close to his throat. Full body shiver, the voice that came out of him was wavering, the words jumbled.

"I can't I- it's been like three times and I'm so exhausted, I can't give you any." Please.

"Can't?" she echoed. Fingers slid lower, down his chin to glide along his throat, perhaps feeling for any telltale little pockmarks, not yet fully healed. Her hand at his shirt twisted, twining more fabric around her iron grip to keep him close.

Of course she knew how this looked to everyone around. Assertive flirtation. Look how dainty and delicate she was next to him! What threat could she pose? How much more predatory this would appear were there positions reversed. She liked that turnabout. His fear. Reveled in it.

She always had. Her fucking turn.

But. Leaving him to convulse his way into a coma and eventual death wasn't what she wanted. Not really. Not with other possibilities laid out.

Glad she hadn't killed him. The other. Didn't want to regret this one, minimal as the feeling would be.

"I've got a deal for you, Ness." Almost a whisper as she pressed closer still. "I give you some of mine, let it make you feel better. Then I take yours."

I give. I take. No room to mistake where the power lay.

His eyes were still closed, the ghost of a touch from his chin to the soft of his neck felt like a threat from where he stood. It pulled a foreign strangled sound from his throat, eyes pinching shut tighter. Somehow, this was the worst. Worse than the eerie woman by the river, and the aggressive tattoo chick at his van. This woman was so calculated, so collected. She withheld any telling emotions and Ness didn't know how close he was to pushing too far.

He still had his lighter, he could still yell.

Then she offered him an option, a deal, a give and take. The other vampire had posed it the same way, and he'd been just as empty at the end.

"What does that do," he replied, tone softer still.

Questions were good. Questions meant he wasn't panicking yet. Like before there was a balance to be struck here, keeping him frightened enough to be compliant, not so frightened to kick in lizard brain fight or flight.

That would be such a fucking headache.

"It keeps me happy. It keeps you alive. Probably a lot of other people here too." Fingertips still tracking, tickling. A gentle caress, back up the side of his neck, his jaw, tracing the outer lobe of his ear.

"Lot of witnesses here, Ness." Getting some mileage out of that name. That joint intimacy and threat. "Lot of collateral if this becomes a problem for me." On her toes, leaning in all the more, breath against his neck.

"Nobody wants that. A little taste of me and you'll heal." Enough, anyway. "Then you repay the favor."

That wasn't exactly an answer, but he couldn't have really expected her to give him a supernatural science lesson. Not with the way she was tracing his skin, leaving goosebumps in her wake and a confused heat mixing with the cold fear. Sensitive places for those fingers to explore, sue him.

Her threat extended beyond him as she leaned in closer, the air of her exhale tickling even more. Fuck, he wanted to run. And make a scene. And punch her and also kiss her. He wanted to go home.

"I-" his voice cracked, he winced at the sound and swallowed. "Can-can't you choose somebody else?" It didn't have to be him, he didn't want it to be him. He didn't want her to be lying, and for him to end up hemorrhaging from blood loss. He wanted to play pinball and live his stupid life like he used to. His hands wrung together in front of his lap, an anxious fidgeting.

Choose someone else. Yeah, she could. She didn't want to. There'd been no other alluring whiffs of magic tinged blood in her brief circuit. She'd already set out the promise of the pleasant high in her mind, and a new moon mind in particular resisted change.

Pitiful as he played, he wasn't getting out of this so easily. Who fucking cared that he'd apparently endured this three times already in recent history? Everyone's got trauma, you fucking pathetic...

Previous trauma or stressor?

Why did that cross her mind? Stupid fucking form she hadn't finished. It wasn't the same. A few measly feedings he'd clearly walked away from without serious injury couldn't compare to everything she'd...

Goddammit. This wasn't fun anymore. She didn't really get why, but this wasn't fun. She had him scared; there was no need to keep twisting the knife.

"Listen." No more teasingly gentle voice, whispered and mocking. She spoke evenly, still low, the way she would outside a hunt. Kaida's fingers stopped teasing as well, palm coming to rest against his much warmer cheek.

"I don't want to hurt you. I really don't. I need food and I've chosen you. Follow me outside, drink a little of my blood to heal, let me drink a little of yours, and I promise you'll end this night better off than you started it."

Resisted change, but wasn't completely immune to it.

Listen, she demanded, as though she wasn't all he could hear. Everything else was white noise, there was just the darkness of his eyelids and the low rumble of her voice. It changed after that, from that cruel teasing tone that had his heart doing back flips to something steadier. He latched on to that, hopeful that this was the voice of mercy.

The hand at his cheek made him flinch, a consequence of the cold and the anticipation. He buckled down on shut eyes, scrunching a little harder with a deep breath.

He didn't know if he could trust her, he didn't think he should. But that hand on his cheek was soft, and he wanted comfort so badly.

"Okay, okay," a hurried nod, "just don't fuck with my brain, please."

Hmm. A hard request she'd make no promise over. But there was no benefit in scaring him further by saying as much.

But she didn't need him to open his eyes, to fuck with his brain, to further demonstrate just how outclassed he was. That seemed a risk with playing... good cop? She didn't really have a term or solid strategy for this. Not a lot of precedent. But it seemed important to keep a firm hand, even alongside the reassurance.

The actual gentleness, relatively speaking. Not just the baiting illusion of it.

"Breathe, okay? I've got you." Neither hand pulled away, the one cupping his cheek nor the one bunched in his shirt. "You're safe. Safer now than two minutes ago. Than you've been all night." Eeeh, Kaida didn't expect much faith from him on that front, which was fine. She just didn't want him flailing. She knew her intent.

Leaving her eyes their natural shade—no impactful advantage in letting them shift when this fucker refused to open his own—she nonetheless wrapped her power around him, lifting him ever so slightly from his feet so she could walk toward the exit while guiding his effectively weightless form.

Not entirely inconspicuous, but not too disruptive without a close look. Which she was banking on nobody giving.

---

hit

Ness wanted to trust her, he wanted to let her words sink in and ease his worries. But he kept imagining himself in a pool of his own blood, a body in an alley. She was taking him outside where no one would see, and despite her assurances there was nothing keeping her from killing him. Nothing.

She gave the illusion of safety and choice, all the while clawing at his face and shirt. It was a lot, it was too much, and the breathing he was doing was far too quick.

As soon as he felt her magic pull him off the ground his eyes shot open, down at the ground, down at her.

"Wait wait wait," a frantic whisper. He probably wouldn't have ended up feeling off balance if he'd kept his eyes shut. Instinct kicked in and he grabbed for her shoulder to steady himself. "I- can. Can we stay inside?" Not the question of a man who feels safe.

This motherfucker.

Three pleading requests back to back to back. Maybe she should just fucking pick someone else. But that couldn't mean leaving him like this, scared of her, knowing what he clearly did. That would require the brain fuckery, so one way or another she couldn't keep entertaining these pleas.

Kaida stopped in her deliberate stride, expecting even slowed movement toward the exit would incite deeper panic. A glance went to his hand at her shoulder. Violence was considered. Of course it was. But he hadn't initiated contact; her usual rule didn't apply.

"Ness." Slow, deep breaths on her part. She wasn't famished at the moment. His saving grace. "I'm trying very hard to be accommodating here. Patient. You're beginning to make that difficult." Sounding nonthreatening was not her strong suit.

"Where in here do you suggest we go chew on each other without drawing attention?"

He heard the beginning of exasperation in the tone of her voice and he knew he was pushing it. Too many requests and she might rescind all the accommodations. Just be calm, don't do anything stupid. He had to trust her, that wasn't one of the choices he got to make. If not trust, at least acquiesce; a baby bird nestled in her cold hands.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," he assured her, still holding her jacket. He hadn't really thought of a good answer to the next question, he just didn't want to be so far from people. "Bathroom? Or like, the corner." The corner, up against a wall or something. He could act! It wouldn't be hard.

Corner was... No one would ever appreciate her fucking sacrifices, her consideration, but the corner was a very bad idea. It would be too easy—much too easy—for some bouncer or busybody or whatever the fuck to interrupt them. Interrupt her feeding. On the new fucking moon.

Cue bloodlust, a huge fucking mess, and almost certainly multiple fatalities. But of course the trembling boy in her hands didn't have the context to understand that. What he was asking.

"Bathroom," she allowed, voice remaining steady but a touch more firm. That would be fine; let everyone assume they were locking themselves in there to fuck.

His eyes were open now, but being dragged behind a locked door by a crimson-eyed demon woman probably wouldn't help his mental state. So fine, still keeping her gaze dark as she pivoted and floated him to one of the ungendered restrooms.

Inside, if he wasn't going to raise more objections. Don't raise more objections, Ness.

---

hit

Bathroom was worse than corner in his mind, but better than outside. At least the bathroom added another complication to her escape. Might dissuade her from leaving a body. He hated that he'd been reduced to thinking of himself as a body so much recently, but such was the life of a psychic.

Another hurried nod, he swallowed, tried to be steady and not too pitiful. Didn't feel honest though, and when she began to move him again he jolted. It was a strange sensation, floating just out of reach of the ground. He might've asked to walk if he didn't think she'd freak out on him. He didn't want that, he wanted to keep her kind, or at least this hollow mimicry of it.

His gaze flickered between her face and the bathroom door.

Through the door. Maybe she was just helping her drunk friend go hurl. Kaida preferred this imagining in the heads of onlookers. Significantly. But it didn't matter.

All that mattered was that she got him over the threshold, closing and deadbolting the door before releasing her metaphysical grip. Hopefully he remembered how to stand.

Blowing a relieved sigh—without an audience, this was much less anxiety-inducing—she turned to face her prey whilst shrugging out of her jacket. Designer white tee beneath left her arms exposed.

"Guessing you've never done this," as she hung the jacket on a hook bolted to the door. Based on his question about what it'd do. She ought to warm him then.

Lifting her left wrist to her mouth, fangs which had slid free upon the click of the lock tore into her own flesh. Mindful of the tendons. Pulling a face for the flavor, she approached, offering the open wound.

"You're not going to like it, but it'll make you feel better." Once the flavor was out of his mouth.

Ness had managed to steady his heartbeat, quick but not stuttering. That was until he heard the deadbolt click behind him, a new wave of fear sending fresh blood beating through his veins.

Moments later the magic dropped him like a scruffed cat. Unfortunately for him, and maybe her, Ness was a notoriously clumsy guy. He'd blame it on his physical and mental state, the stumbling trip forwards as soon as his feet hit the floor. He didn't have time to care about how useless he looked, he'd committed to eyes open and they needed to be on her. He whirled to face her, a nervous arm crossing his chest so he could scratch at the opposite shoulder. Dark brown eyes watched her, following the movement of her wrist to her lips, then stressing over the sharpness of her fangs.

He refrained from shrinking back when she approached, the black ooze from her wrist had stolen his attention. It looked foul, it reminded him of the grease that painted his fingers after tampering in the hood of his car. Eyes up to her face again, realizing that was all the instruction she had.

"Just," a pause, another glance to the wrist, "lick it?" He didn't want to do that. Beyond the flavor it seemed awkward? Crazy that his brain still thought to worry about appearances in a situation like this.

Hooh boy. She was beginning to think "just breathe" had been too advanced an instruction. Kaida stared at him a moment, eyes hooded, brows raised. Right hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

This was not a convenient meal. Slow inhale, long exhale.

"You're going to need a little more than that. Lips on my skin, suck. You'll need a solid mouthful." Fucking hell, she may as well be breastfeeding him. Reminding herself that there was no call to rush, further breaths accompanied careful steps. Closer. Slowly, like she was approaching a baby deer and trying not to frighten it away.

God, fuck, this gentle approach was a chore. She felt ridiculous. If she'd just moved on him immediately, grabbed ahold and flew them both outside and up to the roof...

Well, that would have pretty definitely left her with a body to deal with, given prior feedings. Fuck. A lot of misfortune in her choice of prey. None of which, she'd grudgingly remind herself, was really his fault.

Don't look at him like that, he was trying. He really was, it wasn't his fault his brain didn't have enough blood. He knew what the look meant, let it stress him out further. He didn't want her to be disappointed or impatient, but fuck he had questions and concerns. He couldn't get it wrong.

"Okay, okay." His tongue wet his lips, pulling the skin between his teeth to chew as he stared down at her wrist. She moved closer and to prove a point to her (and himself) he didn't flinch, didn't move. His eyes flickered back up to her gaze for a brief moment, searching for... something. Reassurance, approval, at least understanding.

Ness went for the wrist, hunched at an awkward angle to reach with his mouth without contorting her. God, he looked stupid, he felt stupid. He tentatively brought the black blood to his lips, eyes on her face so he didn't have to see the disgusting substance he was about to eat. As soon as his mouth closed around the wound his eyes pinched shut and he pulled off reactively with a discomforted grunt.

Not his fault. Not his fault. Not his fault.

The immediate revulsion apparent just as he almost made some fucking progress, it wasn't surprising. That helped it be less aggravating.

"Yeah, it's nasty stuff," she acknowledged rather than sighing once more. Something close to commiseration. What young vampire hadn't hit upon the notion of possibly feeding on themselves? And been themselves repulsed and disappointed. That was many decades removed, but yes, her blood was vile.

"Sit, Ness. Tilt your head back, open your mouth." Simple directions bluntly given. He could interpret it as the toilet or the floor, she didn't care. Floor would be easier but...

Kaida gripped her wounded wrist, positioning her fingers so compression would leave the bite marks exposed, allowing her to squeeze... not drops exactly. Globs? Into his mouth. Two or three would do.

Ready, she nonetheless waited for the inevitable hiccup that would force even further accommodation. How had this boy survived his previous encounters?

It wasn’t just the flavor, the texture was horrific. Pretend it’s rice pudding, his mom’s arroz con leche, and the chunks aren’t, uh. Wow awful, worse. He forced himself not to gag, cheeks blanched.

He nodded with her statement, eyes still closed and face still scrunched. She gave a new order, one that was honestly a relief, his legs didn’t really want to work anymore anyways.

"Okay." He backed to the toilet, because even though he was about to suck dumpster grease out of her veins he couldn’t justify putting his hands on the bar bathroom floor. This new position was just as awkward, maybe more so? He felt like a baby bird in the worst way, she might as well have been throwing up into his mouth.

At least this time he had no questions, just sucked it up and swallowed, eyes finding hers from a new angle. She was just as pretty from below, a useless thought.

There you go. She lingered to ensure he swallowed, but it wasn't like he'd want to keep it in his mouth. Releasing her wrist, she flexed the attached fingers. Annoying; she wasn't carrying anything to bind the wound. But it wasn't like she exactly bled anyway. Not a lot of value in pressing some hilariously thin paper towels over the marks. It was fine.

Her right hand moved to... What? Pat his shoulder? That felt so fucking stupid. Kaida just retreated to the other corner of the small room, back to the door. The jacket remained hanging, not interested in risking rubbing remnants of her putrid blood inside the sleeve. Instead she just leaned back against the door, against the jacket, bending the right knee to press the sole of her boot against the door as well.

They'd have to wait. It wasn't like instant regeneration. They'd be in here for a while as his marrow ramped up the blood production. Not a convenient meal.

"So," she began, idly patting her thighs with her hands. "Pinball, huh?"

This was fucking awkward.

Finally, after too much, she decided he had enough. Ness smacked his lips, squinting as he discovered the flavor lingered. It was like rotten egg, lightly sulfuric.

He glanced around as she backed away, waiting for some magic feeling to rush through his body and make him feel better. It didn’t come quick, he wasn’t sure it was coming at all.

His hat had fallen off at some point, it lay in a mystery puddle by the door. He went through the idle motions of tending to that problem, fluffing up his hair. Like she might judge his hat head.

After silence had lingered a bit too long, long enough for his nervous heart to start rabbitting again, the vampire broke the silence. He mimicked her hands, bring his own to his thighs and patting. Something to do.

An awkward chuckle, he swallowed, "Yeah, I uh. I like games, the classics and stuff." Normally he’d be eager to go on about his interests, maybe drop some nerd lore on her. But right now it felt a bit empty. Just filling the space with meaningless banter to keep from spouting more questions at her.

The classics. It was a funny term to a vampire, but she knew what he meant. Games that were older than him. She avoided the obvious but obtuse joke about how much he must love Go.

"And meeting new people." What he'd said he was here for. Clearly that hadn't gone his way. But he was still going to be better off when he got home than when he left, so it was hard to feel bad about that. Well, for a lot of other reasons too.

Don't check your wrist like it's a watch, Kaida. She was stuck here until she could get her meal; being a bitch about it wouldn't help either of them. But... Fuck, maybe there was at least a semi-productive use for the time.

"What's your dream?" That was such stupid phrasing. Stuck in her head anyway. "What do you want most?"

Oh right that too, meeting new people. He nodded, brought his thumb to his other wrist to press circles against his pulse. Nothing different yet, he was still lightheaded and breathing shallow. How much of it was nerves and how much was the blood loss, he didn’t know.

The question she posed next would’ve felt normal on a first date, but as her meal cowering on a toilet he was suspicious. Eyes flickered back to her face as he analyzed what the fuck she meant. Might be meaningless, just a little deeper than the rest of the small talk they’d made thus far. Paranoia suggested that he was being judged, his choices weighed on her scale of importance or something. Probably not that, he was a ridiculous over thinker.

"Uh," a dumb sound, "I guess uh."

"To be happy?" Too broad? Fuck he didn’t know, he had other answers if that wasn’t good enough.

To be happy. Useless fucking answer.

Relatable.

She sighed again, leaning harder back against the door and dropping her foot before sliding down. Both knees bending, she came to a seat on the floor, letting the back of her head thunk against the door.

"Yeah. That's the best answer I've come up with too." Unsatisfying as fuck.

Elbows near her knees, hands rested more or less wrist to wrist between. She let them flip up and down a couple times, testing any damage she'd done. Seemed okay.

"How's that going?" An echo from before he knew she was out for blood. She looked back over to him, attentive.

Hm, as she agreed with him again he felt a pang of something beyond anxiety. Curiosity blossomed in his chest, he found himself scrutinizing expressions and tone. He couldn't figure out what she wanted from him, really, beyond words and blood. But he was eager to try and provide, keep her calm and keep his body as whole as possible.

If she wanted to get philosophical, fuck, okay.

Ness leaned forwards to rest elbows on knees, hunched forwards and head low. "Umm," he thought, glancing back down to his hands.

"Aside from, from this. I think pretty okay." Pretty good actually. He was happier than he'd been before the move, happier than when he'd been clinging on to a relationship the other person had already checked out of.

He attempted a small smile, just a faint quirk of lips.

Ooh, some light guilt tripping. Pretty strong impulse here to be a sarcastic fuck. "Oh really, you're not having a good? Locked in here with me and you're anything less than thrilled to fucking death? How very dare you."

But no shit he wasn't having a good time, wasn't happy. Still lacked the context for how unbelievably kind she was being. Especially for this night, moon bullshit. Could've been way easier if he'd just given her his gaze out on the floor. But yeah, yeah, that would also have made him much easier to dispose of. Fair enough.

Mocking him wasn't going to make her feel better. Been there. Still trying something else tonight.

"You can forget this, if you want. Go home after and never know, not have to dwell on it. I can erase it all when we're done." A mercy. Sort of.

Would she forget chunks of her past, given the option? Well, she'd spent a lot of time with stronger vampires, could've asked at any point. Yet here she was. So.

"No," it was a hurried response, urgent.

"I don't, no I want to remember," he slowed down, squeezed his wrist. "If that's okay." If she wasn't planning on forcing the night from his brain meat, he didn't want to forget. Not that it was a memory he'd cherish, but it was experience. More than anything he feared the emptiness of a gap in his memory, and what his brain might conjure to fill it.

"What's your name?" Change the subject, please don't mind control him.

Unfortunate. Most likely she was going to do it anyway, hit him with the classic ultimatum at the night's end. "Look at me or lose a piece." Repeat as needed. That would go much another for them both if he wanted the memories gone.

But there was room here to continue trying something else. Something new.

Kaida rose from the floor. No hands, all legs and core bracing against the hard surfaces behind and below. Easy enough when her strength far outstripped her mass. She approached once more, cruising the small space with both hands up, palms forward. Nonthreatening, right?

Yeah, something something vampire strength, could put a fist through his skull if she wanted to bad enough. She was trying, okay?

"Ness." Calm and measured, stepping up to the wall beside the toilet to again slide her back against it, down into a seat on the floor. Right in front of him now, sideways but head turned to look up at him.

"Does it worry you that I know your name? What you look like, how you sound? One of your hangouts?"

No.

He shouldn't have asked that, probably, definitely. Why would she want to tell him her name? Especially if she wasn't going to strip the memories from his head, why would she want him to know? They weren't friends, she was being kind to prey not an equal. He stiffened as she rose, breath hitching in his throat. He remained frozen as she moved towards him, and for the brief moment she hovered over him he thought his mistake might've been lethal.

But then she sunk to the ground and he remembered to breathe. Frightened eyes scanned over her, head still hung, knee jumping.

"Uh," he had a question to answer and very few functioning braincells to comprehend it with. It wasn't something he'd worried about until just now actually, so, "Yes."

A soft nod, movement slow. She'd caught the fear response on her approach. Expected it. Nurtured it through the first half of their interactions. "Because you don't know what I'll do with that information after tonight. You can't. But you do have the option to avoid this place forever."A small gesture to the door, indicating she meant more than just the bathroom.

"This place and others like it. Anywhere you might run into me, or others like me that maybe I told all about you." Text chains about a dangerous flying vampire. Fuck whoever started that, goddamn.

"What if you couldn't avoid these places? What if you had to find someone at least once a week?" Again the gesture, though this time just between the two of them. Find someone the way she'd found him. "Had to, or you'd die?"

Wonder how that marrow's coming.

"You already know more than enough to make me worry."

Ness knew he was frustrating, even his friends got irritated with him sometimes. Magnify that, make it dangerous, as much as he feared her he couldn't help but feel grateful. She'd been so patient thus far and he was aware, she could've made this all much worse for him. Still could. He sat on a pin tip, balancing above the threat of her nature with nothing but her own resolve holding him aloft.

So he listened, watched her, tried to still his leg and failed miserably. He didn't quite catch on to her meaning until the last sentence. Panicking would make it worse, don't panic.

"I-" he couldn't argue with such sound logic. He tried though, "I know other vampires though and I- I haven't told anyone about them." His blood was pumping faster now, but he was too focused on her to notice.

"Then you know some reckless idiot vampires." No great bite to the words, impulsive as they were. She remained seated, head turning to face forward as she pondered, giving him her profile.

He knew others? Anyone she knew? Unlikely. And even if they were familiar, the odds that would be a positive association were even slimmer. She could ask, but if he answered it wouldn't exactly be comforting. There he'd go telling someone about them.

It was... feasible she needn't blank his memory. There would have to be other concessions though. Insurance. That she was even considering this was fucking stupid.

Everything about this was fucking stupid.

Listening for his heart, it was more rapid than she'd have liked. Goddammit. "How're you feeling? How's your head?"

Ness flinched a little at the words, but honestly what had he expected? She was smarter than him, she'd probably already considered everything. He wouldn't argue with her about it, even if he knew at least one of his vampires wasn't an idiot. Fuck he wished Misha were here.

Hm.

Ness could text him, let him know what was happening, stall until he got here. He could do it hands free, the only thing that might give him away would be his eyes. Bright neon fucking yellow, christ. He could do it though.

But he wasn't that brave. He was reactive not proactive, with the survival instinct of a rock. The "what if" of the scenario was too scary, so he'd let her keep all the power. Continue relying on the kindness of this beautiful stranger.

She snapped him out of his thoughts with the question. He realized he'd been staring at her lips and quickly looked back to his wringing hands. Then her gaze.

"Okay," he said with a small nod.

Okay. Maybe just answering what he thought she'd like to hear. What would irritate her the least. Eh.

Still too soon, but she could get some things out of the way. It wouldn't be much longer.

"What's your preference?" Neck twisting, her head angled to face him full on once more. Hmm. Eye contact? Brief, but more than she'd gotten so far. Promising.

"Wrist? Neck?" Giving him the option. Another first. She almost added "Dick?" just to see if he'd take the bait. Let her kill him without feeling bad about it. But no. That was not the game. Not the goal.

Okay was good enough, it had to be good enough. She was hungry and he probably couldn't stall any longer without facing some consequences. He wet his lips and swallowed, then held out his wrist. It was what he was used to. Less intimate, further away from his head and chest. Ignorance told him that it was less dangerous this way.

"Wrist," he said, short and sweet. Then he gave another weak smile, less pallid this time.

Wrist. Her preference as well, when she didn't need to play it off as something else. When she wasn't demonstrating the ease with which she could turn the moment lethal. So ideal for this circumstance.

But she shook her head, lightly patting the air between them with one hand. "Soon. You're not ready. I can hear your heart."

So this just to kill him anyway for a meal she could technically wait days for. Stupid.

"How many do you know?" No clarification, facing away from him again. Profile.

Oh! Yeah cool, cool. She could hear his heart. Cool.

Ness brought his hand back to his lap to absentmindedly pick at his fingernails.

He probably shouldn't have dropped that he knew others, it hadn't helped much (that he knew of) and now he was going to have to elaborate. Or not. Maybe elaborating would prove her point about him telling, and give her more reason to wipe his memory. But lying might earn him pain.

"Three that uh, drank my blood," and maybe that was as far as her questioning would go.

Three. Nothing new there. He'd mentioned as much earlier. Or at least three feedings. She had assumed it was three different vampires, because one would have to be... Something. In order to feed from him twice in a month and not make any effort to speed the healing.

Kaida nodded faintly, still watching the door more than him. "And you haven't told anyone about them, huh? Why?"

Ness didn't know if having her attention split between himself and the door made him feel better or worse. On one hand, he was away from that piercing gaze and had the opportunity to breathe again. On the other hand she was harder to read this way, and the not knowing was what stressed him out the most.

At least she wasn't asking for names. He only knew two of them anyways, and one he definitely wouldn't share.

"One of them is my friend," he replied, trying to relax back into conversation. She was close but it was okay, this was okay. He opened up his posture a little, from hunched to scratching at the back of his neck.