Brickley Street Question #2

... Could wait.

Right now, Veronica was trying to keep her cool as she added the finishing touches to her make-up, wondering if Sam was the type to come upstairs to her apartment or if he'd be honking outside from the street. Maybe he'd send a text and she'd run down. Hard to say really how a one-thousand-plus vampire from Roman times would treat his date. The romantic in her hoped for flowers or something really fucking cheesy to be brought to her door. The realist told her not to get in over her head. She'd had her heart ripped out of her chest before.

A vampire could probably actually rip her heart out. Like physically. But that was somehow less concerning to her.

So. Veronica waited at her dining room table, dressed and ready to go as the clock neared eight, wondering just how he'd proceed when he arrived. Judging every move, because that's who she was.

---

Look
Apartment

The Ring
Outfit

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Samuel was not the romantic type, nor did he really consider this a date. More of a polite invitation with a human who perhaps had too many questions, maybe he even felt bad for dragging her through a haunted house on her birthday. Although he tended to swing in the opposite direction for dating, Samuel didn't really bother with labels. Who knew what tonight was?

He knocked on the door at exactly 8:00 not before or a moment after, he was painfully on time. It was only proper.

Veronica looked up at the sound of the knock, her breath hitching in her chest as she quickly looked at herself in the mirror before opening the door with a friendly smile!

No flowers. Shame. That was fine. She was also severely overdressed compared to him which was normal for Veronica. She didn't bat an eye at it.

"Hi!" She chirped. "You look nice!" Said because it was polite.

Oh, dear, he thought to himself. She really had done herself up and perhaps he should have been a bit blunter with her from the start. Poor thing, he wouldn't dare embarrass her now.

"You look good as well." He smirked, fishing in his pocket for a ring and then extending his hand out to her. "I felt silly arriving at your home without carrying something as a gift, so..."

Handing her off a very old ring. it wasn't anything spectacular to the plain eye, but it was a gemstone ring from his hometown, a carving done by someone he knew before his time as a vampire... Truly priceless.

He gave her a ring!

An old-looking, kind of ugly but in that charming old-fashioned way, ring.

UHHHHHHMMMMMMM.

Veronica was tempted to make a joke about it being too soon for him to put a ring on her finger, but she thankfully refrained in lieu of accepting such a strange and probably priceless gift.

"Thank you. This is very kind. Um. Do you want to come in first or shall we head to the restaurant?"

Veronica realized she didn't have a gift for him. Other than like. Her blood. But was it too soon to offer that?

Samuel had the pleasure of having centuries under his belt in the art of studying facial features. He wasn't perfect in his craft, but Veronica willingly wore many of her thoughts so clearly on her face that he felt like he could reach over and touch them. How delightful, but he wasn't cruel enough to make that known.

She was entitled to that privacy, no matter how boldly she sported otherwise.

"Might be best to take you to the restaurant, not sure if you have a bedtime coming up soon." Teasing her entirely.

"Ha, ha, you're so funny!"

Veronica rolled her eyes playfully with a laugh, sort of relieved to head to the restaurant, uncertain if she was ready to like welcome a vampire into her home yet!

So, she left him briefly at the door to grab her coat. Once it was on, she threw him a grin.

"Ready."

She stepped outside to join him in the hallway, ready to head to their destination.

car

---

She made quick work grabbing her necessary items for the evening and they began their stroll down the hallway. He'd lead her to his vehicle, not parked far from her building, even going so far as to open the door for her on the passenger side.

If she stepped in and sat, he'd wait until she was settled to close the door carefully. In a casual stride, he'd cross the distance to get in the driver's side, starting up the car and looking over at her.

"So how often do you go to this place?"

Making small talk as he drove them.

It was a nice car. Like. Really nice. Stupidly nice.

Veronica let him open the door for her and stepped inside, sitting in the passenger seat and buckling her seatbelt.

"I've only been once but it was pretty good." She was about to comment on how she didn't know how he'd like it when another question popped into her mind.

"Can you eat? Food?"

He was about to make a joke regarding her 'favorite' food choice if she'd only actually been once. How could someone decide such a silly thing? He didn't, however, have the time, because she asked a ridiculous question and he laughed.

Eyes only pulled away from the road once, revealing that wolfish smirk.

"Technically, yes, but it's quite a ghastly display, so it's better if I leave it an no."

A ghastly display!

"That bad, huh?"

Veronica smirked back at him before looking at the road ahead.

It wouldn't take them long to get there. She practically lived around the corner from Brickley Street.

He didn't even need to look to know she was smirking, who wouldn't smirk at someone who couldn't consume vile human foods.

Thankfully for Samuel, he couldn't remember the joys of food, but he was often curious by the smells they emitted.

"Very bad," His eyes made eye contact with the place he suspected it was and looked at her, "look familiar?"

Veronica looked back at him and nodded cheerfully. She had no reason to not be cheerful that evening, even if Sam was a vampire.

It just made him more interesting, really.

"Yes!" Unbuckling her seatbelt, Veronica gathered her purse in her lap and opened the door to step out.

Samuel appreciated her cheeriness, even though he did find her willingness to dine with a vampire rather foolish--he would not hold that against her. She was, after all, very young, and Samuel had promised that she was safe with him.

He stepped out, wanting to walk around and open the car door for her, but she was a little on the fast side, so he met her at the door, holding it for her to finish getting out. Kindly, he'd offer her an arm to walk inside where he had, without a doubt, called to make a reservation regardless or not if it was the norm.

The man liked preparing for the worst, so naturally, he called ahead, getting them a relatively nice table by a window so they could peer out and enjoy the evening.

"Do you drink? They mentioned a famous red blend." Not that he would be partaking or anything.

Oh! What manners! Veronica smiled warmly and took his arm, cheeks blushing either from the cold or from feeling cared for, even if it was just an arm offered to her! It was still something, and she was feeling rather starved for attention these days.

As they entered the restaurant and were shown to their table, Veronica nodded.

"Yes. I drink." She tended to prefer mixed drinks and cocktails over wine or beer but she could partake in being a little classier at a classy place.

"So. If you aren't eating, are you just going to watch me eat? Seems unfair." She frowned a little.

They found their seats, helping into hers before he sat across from her. She made the comment about him not eating and he tried not to laugh.

It was rather strange, he supposed, but not for him. How many times had he taken colleagues out for a meal and chatted them away while they dined.... He supposed, for her, though, it would be a bit awkward, but not for him.

"Why? Do you have some strange way of consuming you'll be embarrassed for me to witness?" He teased, leaning in his chair a bit and quirking his eyebrows playfully.

Veronica gasped and shook her head, a playful frown tugging at her lips.

"No! I'm a perfect lady." Whatever the fuck that meant. Gosh, he was looking at her though, and she was all the more invested in the discussion as she, too, leaned in. Quieting her voice, she asked:

"Aren't you, um. Hungry?" Err. "Thirsty?"

She grimaced a little, still finding it difficult to find the right words to say.

He chuckled lightly at her 'lady' comment, dismissing it and it's validity.

Define a lady.

Her second question however, barely caused his eyes to flick and his expression softened.

"Hmm, I suppose, but I'm not making a mad dash anywhere to stick anyone." He explained casually, although his tone did drop a bit.

Hm.

HMMM.

"Well, what if..." Veronica trailed off and pointed at her neck, eyebrows up as she waited to see how he'd respond.

He disliked the way she was looking at him, the way he could hear her brain clogs clicking.

Oh, dear...

"This is not the time nor the place, no?" He quirked his eyebrows right back at her.

Was she that eager to get bit?

Well, obviously she didn't mean here and now, SAMWISE. Which she decided was his full name because he was old and Lord of the Rings was old right?

Anyway, Veronica laughed and said as much aloud:

"I didn't mean now." Then shrugged her shoulders. "No pressure, obvee."

'No pressure', followed up by what he assumed to be slang for the word 'obvious', which wasn't entirely 'obvious', obviously.

He smirked a little, crossing his arms a little, staring at her a little.

"-And when did you mean?" Fine, if she was making all these plans without him, he might as well hear them out.

"After I eat." Veronica shrugged her shoulders again like it was obvious.

"Like when we leave here."

He found it entertaining that she felt the need to fill in so many blanks. Yes, it was entirely HIS fault that he was laying out so many open spaces, but it was simply because she offered such interesting answers he couldn't help but lay little traps. They were not done with ill will, in fact, it was done purely because she was a rather interesting little human. So young, the young one's always tended to be a bit more unpredictable.

Scratching at his chin, Samuel offered the faintest smirk.

"Hmm, maybe."

Yes.

MAYBE.

She was willing to like donate her blood and she got a fucking MAYBE.

Veronica laughed and looked at the menu.

"Alright." A MAYBE!

She tried not to huff openly.

Samuel forced himself not to roll back his head and laugh at her expense, making him poke more over how huffy she was getting over this. However, he wasn't THAT shitty of a vampire, so he'd keep his impish behavior to himself.

"Tell me what you prefer here?" He would, of course, have to order SOMETHING to avoid the suspicious gaze of other onlookers.

Veronica gave him a sheepish glance over her menu.

"Don't laugh."

She began.

Then continued:

"I really like the fettuccine alfredo."

Perhaps he had teased her a bit too much, so he quieted down.

"Hmm, I suppose that is what I will order as well then."

That way she could at least have leftovers, right?

It was kind of him to order the same thing, assuming it was meant for her. Who else would it be meant for, Veronica?!

So, it was decided then. All they had to do was wait for the server to return.

"So, Sam. What else can you tell me about you?"

He was decidedly more interesting than she was.

He stopped, sitting, watching her, she wanted to know more and for a moment he considered.

Samuel hardly felt like an interesting man, there was a wide gap in his timeline, so he wasn't sure how to entertain this question.

"Hmm, afraid I'm boring, what are you curious about?"

"Well. Like. How did you become this way?"

What was his origin story or whatever?

Samuel tilted his head back and groaned, why did she want to know so many boring things?

Most vampire-turning stories were stupid.

Graciously, the waiter finally returned with little glasses of water and they were finally able to order.

Once the waiter was out of earshot, he'd entertain the question.

"My father had me murdered." Spoken casually, mostly because so much time had elapsed, he hardly felt ill toward it.

He groaned, dragging his feet then gave some information about his personal life that Veronica didn't expect after the server left. Sam said it as if he was telling her he did the laundry.

"What??? Like what the fuck?" She whispered, leaning in. This was crazy! Like some fucked up movie. Made her own parents look like saints by comparison.

She sounded surprised, still managing to whisper, and Samuel blinked at her innocently.

Belatedly, he often forgot how unusual this must sound, but for the time he resided in as a human, it felt mostly normal.

"Mm-different time period, Dear Veronica. Hardly news worthy." Winking to downplay.

Didn't matter if it was a different time period! A parent had tried to kill their son! Veronica was beyond flabbergasted. Maybe he was just used to it but it was a shocking discovery for her!

"Wow. That's. Still. That's wow. What did you do?" Asked in hushed tones, riveted by the drama she was creating in her own brain.

Samuel blinked.

Oh dear, she really was quite clueless about vampires, huh.

"I died." Point blank, because how else does one become a vampire!

Veronica frowned.

"Well, that was certainly implied when you said you were murdered."

Beat as she leaned in a little more.

"I meant, what did you do when you woke up? Did you get revenge?" She whispered, eyes wide and curious.

His brows quirked.

"Revenge hardly seemed necessary, I moved on to study medicine." Samuel was hardly the avenging type, especially since murdering a prominent Patrician man in the height of the Roman Empire was highly frowned on. It would have been a suicidal move to both him and his mentor.

"Revenge is a nasty business." He warned, having seen too many vampires AND humans race to their graves in the name of 'revenge'.

It was the less interesting answer, even if it was the smarter move.

Veronica had just hoped for a juicier story then 'my dad had me killed, I came back and became a doctor'. Boring!

Still, she didn't let her disappointment show in her expression. That would be rude, Veronica.

"So, you're like a doctor now?"

"Something of that sort, were you looking for me to be a raving murderer?" He teased, clearly reading her disappointment and it amused him.

He wasn't the most entertaining vampire, the lad was more interested in science, advancing technology for the greater good, and fixing things--he didn't have time for boring nonsense like violence and danger.

Boring!

"No," She replied quickly. "Certainly not. If you were, I’d be a bit more concerned." Veronica just liked a good story. Besides, if he murdered his father for having him murdered in ROMAN TIMES, she’d get over it.

"So. Doctor Sam, did you always want to work in medicine or the, uh, herbal arts or whatever it was called back then?"

"Asclepiades or Hippocrates" he corrected.

They had not always been referred to as doctors, but she'd hardly know that, so there was no fault to be found.

"Yes, I've always been fascinated with healing the human body, or understanding things from a scientific standpoint." Which is how he turned his first human, a bittersweet memory that pulled a softer smile to his face.

He said words. Veronica recognized they were words. She couldn't spell either of them for the life of her. But they were words!

"I imagine you've experienced a lot of discoveries along the way, what with modern medicine or whatever."

Samuel felt a little bored by her question, he really didn’t find himself THAT interesting. He liked observing, finding things, but standing on the sidelines were hardly news worthy.

"I suppose," he hummed. "And you? What would you do now with your modeling?" He assumed that was her career still. Objectively, she was beautiful, so he couldn’t see why she’d need a career change yet.

Yeah, Veronica wasn’t really interested in talking about scientific discoveries in the medicine and scientific worlds. As the topic of conversation circled back to her, she shrugged her shoulders a little.

"I don’t know yet. I guess I have to see what sort of scene is in Ridgefield first. See if I can get some gigs, perhaps. I’ve still got an online following, so there’s content to create for them at least."

Curious, so she really did move here on a whim.

"Such a career jump..." He questioned, finding it odd that a model would choose to go somewhere her occupation wasn't guaranteed.

No doubt she was running from something, but what?

Veronica honestly didn't know what he meant by that. Was it sarcasm? Or did he mean just moving across the pond was a jump? Hard to say.

"I don't know. I guess. London's boring now anyway."

Not true. Not really.

London felt a tad more exciting than being surrounded by rocks and cows... Hmm.

"Oh, really? Do tell, I'm not sure if I've ventured that way since your lifetime."

Samuel had to pause to consider the last time he had been. Wow, he really felt old.

As the old/young man spoke, the server was gracing them again, bringing out their meals, delicately topping their plates with sprinklings of fresh parmesan.

"I just got sick of the city." Sick of her parents too though she hesitated to say it aloud.

Their food was here. She picked up her fork after placing her napkin in her lap and took a bite. It was good.

Tired of the city, not Samuel could relate, but Veronica hardly looked the type to get bored with a city.

No matter, the food was here, and the moment the waiter looked at them to ask if they needed anything else, Samuel used a suggestion to 'not notice that he wasn't eating'. A kind thank you and he was back with Veronica.

"An entire city becoming boring?" He teased, "I wish I had your tenacity to devour a landmark so quickly."