The Drunk Poet Height deficiencies

Attire

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Arabella felt the need to brush up on some newer healing practices, something nagging at the back of her mind that she needed to brush up on it all. She had heard of this book store that doubled as a bar, so she traveled to it with the intent to see what they had in their collection that she could purchase. There was a soft hum leaving her as she entered, remembering to not breathe so that she wasn't overwhelmed with the smells.

Stepping up to the reading area, she was hunting through the books available and finding one on first aid, another on burn wound care but the one she needed was too high for her.

Looking at her heeled boots and biting her lip a little bit out of nervousness, her hazel eyes looked around until she found someone who was at least taller than herself and approached them. "Excuse me...could I bother you to reach a book for me? I don't trust myself on a step stool with these shoes, " she said apologetically as she asked for that touch of aid.

Chuck loved to read in his free time, and seeing that his vampiric curse left him with much of it to spare, he often found himself visiting libraries and bookshops. The Drunk Poet struck his fancy today so he'd found himself there. He gave the bar area a wistful look before deciding that no drink there was worth the aftermath, and then headed to the area in which the books were located.

He started poking through the bookshelves for titles that looked interesting to him when the young blonde stepped up and asked him a favor. His brows furrowed as his search was interrupted, but he knew it was best to be polite so he pulled his attention off the shelves and placed it on her instead.

After a short pause and a quick glance at the vampire girl's shoes, he answered the question. "Oh, all right. Though I'll admit, wearing something more appropriate would have saved you plenty of trouble."

Chuck glanced up at the shelves. "Now, which one did you want?"

The young looking woman hadn't overly expected the snide feeling comment about her footwear. If she could flush a little she probably would have but instead just bit her tongue and offered a little bit of a sweet smile, "I didn't anticipate needing to step on a stool coming here and I don't want to risk slipping and an embarrassing situation, " she explained. She was a lady after all, she was not going to embarrass herself in public.

At least that was her hope.

Smiling, she pointed to the one with the blue binding labeled 'Modern Wound Care' on it, "That one if you wouldn't mind, please, " she asked, her tone polite and a little formal sounding as she asked.

He could have responded snidely, saying something about how a girl her height should always be prepared to need a boost, but that would have been unnecessarily rude, wouldn't it?

Instead he merely chuckled to himself, then allowed his gaze to follow where her finger had pointed to. "Modern Wound Care," he read the title, a hint of curiosity in his tone as he turned to face her briefly.

Without saying another word just yet, he looked back to the top of the bookshelf and reached out for the aforementioned title, then pulled it out with ease. It was when he handed it over to her that he finally posed the question.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Normally Arabella was very mild mannered but his tone from the jump for just a bit of help rubbed her the wrong way. It was no matter anymore thankfully as he went and retrieved the book for her and then held it towards her and her rather growing stack of books in her hand.

The question was then met with a shake of her head with a small smile.

"Given what we are and how healing is...not the greatest unless you have the talent for it...I think it's best to be brushed up on the latest techniques since going to a hospital is ill advised unless you work your way through doctors and nurses. That alone is tedious so, I am brushing up to become better knowledge about it, " she told him with a small smile. She could stitch and sew but wounds were varied and not all were the same.

Plus side, at least vampires couldn't get an infection as far as she was aware.

The girl unexpectedly gave him a mouthful of an answer, and every word of it was the truth. Plainly stated was yet another reason why vampirism was more a curse than anything else. At least she wasn't injured at the current moment, nor would she be likely to suffer from a fall any time soon.

Not with him around to gather the books that were too high up for her.

"See? Always good to come prepared." Chuck said, smiling thinly. If she took the comment as an allusion to her poor choice of shoes, she'd be right in her assumption.

He returned to the bookshelf he'd been searching through before, then pulled out one with a black leather cover soon after.

"I was thinking of brushing up on the law, myself. Even though the chances of it being of use to me now are pretty slim."

Poor man had to deal with Arabella's wordy answers, she tended to be chattier when she was flustered or nervous.

The allusion between what he said and from what she'd just asked of him, would be met with a lifted brow and a pursed smile, "Generally but I come from a time where asking for help for something isn't frowned upon. " she countered sweetly. Her tone was ever kind and polite but a slight jab at his remark about her foot wear.

Now a brow raised on her once more at that.

"Are you or were you a lawyer? "

The jab didn't go unnoticed, but Chuck decided to let it slide. Commenting on a young lady's shoes had probably been overstepping, anyway. Though still, giving out advice never did hurt anyone for the most part, so he felt no regret in speaking his mind.

Chuck inspected the book with the leather cover, gave his head a slight shake and then returned it to its original spot. He was about to pull another one out when the question was asked. He paused, fixing his gaze on the girl with a mostly neutral expression upon his face.

"I was, yes. But those days are far behind me, I'm afraid."

That perplexed her, why couldn't he continue? Technology today allowed for a great many things that she'd learned and if he could harness it, he could continue his passion if that was law.

"You could still you know. What sort of lawyer were you, sir? " she asked, her tone polite as she inquired of him curiously. Her hands adjusted their hold on the books she carried but the weight of them did little to bother her as she spoke with the strange vampire.

Perhaps he was past the age they allowed lawyers now? Maybe too old in both human and vampires years if that was possible.

This girl really could talk, couldn't she? That, and she had an unrelenting curiosity about her. From what he could tell, she was intelligent and that was a quality which he very much respected. However, she was wrong about his career having any more lasting power, unfortunate as it was.

And now in being asked, he probably didn't have much of a choice but to relive the reason why by telling her the story.

"Oh, no," he answered, shaking his head. "I retired two years ago." He paused, allowing silence to fill the room for a couple of seconds. "But I worked in the criminal defense department, if you really must know."

Perhaps that would be enough to satisfy her interest, though he had his doubts.

He retired two years ago and the silence that followed allowed for her to fill in the blanks. He must have been turned just those few years ago and probably retired due to the stress of his new life. It was only her assumption but it was something that she understood.

"Oh, isn't that a dangerous type of lawyer for the type of people you represented? " she was curious, she knew little about law's and layers so sadly he was going to have to deal with another bought of questions from the young looking vampire.

The girl was smart, but apparently inexperienced in some areas. Since she seemed eager to learn, Chuck would be sure to correct the error in judgement she'd made.

"Oh, so you're under that misconception, aren't you? That us defense lawyers are dishonest, untrustworthy characters? I'm sorry, my dear, but there you have missed the mark."

Pulling out the book he'd been gripping onto for a little too long, he went on. "We're not unethical or dangerous. Most of us aren't, at least. Sure there are bad eggs in every profession but generally speaking, we don't lie or cheat on behalf of our clients. Our cases are built off of logic and facts."

Chuck examined the cover of the book in his hands, then cracked it open. "Now for an attorney blemished with vampirism, all that logic goes straight out the window. There's a reason the law doesn't favor us monsters. One might bloodlust in the middle of trial, for instance, and cause more damage than the potentially guilty client they're defending."

With the book still in hand, he moved over to sit on a couch situated close to the young blonde and heaved a sigh.

"I had to quit, but I had more reasons for doing so than that."

Blinking a bit before shaking her head, "No sir! I was nearly asking because it's what I'd heard and I wanted to know if it was right or wrong, I wasn't accusing. " she told him. This man was defensive, irkingly so that she felt rather jumpy around this vampire.

A word he said though stuck out to her, monsters. Were they monsters? To some probably but they were still people, "That's where control comes in...if you keep things in check, no matter the case and so long as someone isn't actively bleeding or trying to attack you, I do believe you'd be fine- if that was the path you still wanted to take, " she told him. She may look young but it felt like he was the baby vampire compared to her.

"I am sorry to hear that. Even from my time, finding a good lawyer was always tricky. Do you have something else you want to persu? " Arabella asked curiously, adjusting her books against herself a bit.

Here he could sense she was telling the truth so there was no reason to argue on that subject any more. He had found the way she'd phrased the question a bit accusatory but he was willing to let it go. There was no use aggravating her, which he suspected was how she might have felt.

Chuck hummed thoughtfully as she explained the process of staying in control. As helpful as the information was, though, he was done with lawyering for a reason he was not inclined to get into with her.

"I appreciate your confidence in me but I'm afraid that I've moved on," he said, sighing afterwards. "I like to think my future is in music now. Though brushing up on the law never did hurt anyone." A thin smile followed his words. It wasn't as if he'd lost complete interest in the subject just because he'd left the career.

As he said he has moved on, she would just let it be. She didn't know him and it wasn't her place to tell him what he should or shouldn't do but she also didn't believe in giving up on things either. To each their own it would seem like.

"That is very true...I've never had much patience for the jargon myself but its not a bad thing to at least have some knowledge about, " she told him with a nod, "What instrument or instruments has your attention? " now that was a topic she was better at given what her and her brother did for fun.

It seemed she was willing to move on as well, and he was pleased with that. They were better off not opening some of his old wounds regarding why he'd felt the need to retire. Even two years later, they still felt fresh.

"I guess for some it may take getting used to," Chuck answered her, chuckling at the law being referred to as jargon. He was well-versed and never had too much trouble deciphering it himself, but could understand how others could have difficulty with it. But that was enough about this topic. It was time for a more lighthearted subject.

"I'm a pianist," he said proudly. "And yes, I do compose my own melodies." He paused and looked up from his book to see how she would react. "I may have also dabbled in the guitar, but it's been years since I've picked that old thing up."

Arabella smiled at that, understanding that some things were just a pain to understand compared to other things. She was honestly just glad that she wasn't a lawyer past or present because that felt like a thanklessly tiring career.

Now though, she listened with an intent curiosity and then just went wide-eyed, "You have the same talent as my brother...I am not great at writing pieces but I love playing them- do you have a style you lean more towards? " she asked him curiously.

"I myself prefer the violin or the harp, " she told him, a small proud smile on her face evident as she spoke of her favorite instruments. She needed to refresh a little on the harp but that wouldn't be too hard with Ceri there to lend a hand.

She, too, had a sibling as it turned out, but one that was still around by the sound of it. Sadness glazed over his eyes for a fleeting moment as his sister came to mind but vanished just as quickly as it came. He was in the present now and didn't at all wish to upset this young lady with bringing up his past.

At least she seemed much more interested in the topic of music, enough to ask him about the genres of music he leaned toward.

"Well, I wouldn't claim to be the modern age Beethoven, that'd be aiming too high, but classical music is where I take the most inspiration from."

Chuck's brows raised slightly as she revealed herself to be not only a violinist but also a harpist. "The harp? That isn't so common these days, which I'd say is an unfortunate thing. They're very elegant instruments." He paused, thinking. "You wouldn't mind if I asked you when your interest in it first began?" Perhaps she wasn't quite as young as she looked.

"There is nothing wrong with aiming that high...we have so much time to practice it, it wouldn't surprise me if you- or someone like us, surpassed his beautiful pieces, " she told him with a bit of a smile. She did enjoy his music, there was passion in it and it lived on through the ages of time since his death. To have a piece that was comparable? What a dream to aspire to.

"Classical is beautiful, there is a never ending trove of styles to pick from and musicians as well- have you listened to Antonio Vivaldi by chance? " she asked curiously. They were before her time of course but close enough that she was privy to a lot of his music.

A little head dip and a bashful smile crossed her face, "They are and picky. You can't have anything on your hands when you play or you risk damaging the strings or making an awful sound but oh what a beautiful sound they can make, " she said with a little smile before tilting her head thinking for a moment, "It had to be when I was a little girl, walking in the old shopping district of England with my mother and I heard someone playing- turns out we were close to an outdoor wedding and in the gazebo was a band and there was a harpist. Even though the piece was larger than me I became entranced with anything string but mostly those two...up until my own passing, my mother happily encouraged my love of music as she believed it made for a well rounded young lady. " she told him, a bit lost in her memories. She ached for her mother still, to hold her again, to play music for her again.