1x1 Choco & S o l a c e

[t i r e d.]

"Not too bad." It took Leita a second to notice his hesitancy at her embracing him. She let go of his solid body and backed up enough that he would have space. She made she she didn't move far enough that she'd have too far to go if she need him though, and his arm was still perched along her shoulders. She gazed back at where she had touched the wall.
Smash.
Her head whipped to the side, but she didn't know where the noise had come from. Didn't know if it had come from outside her mind at all. And she couldn't look at Kerith to see if he had heard it because she was completely blind.
Tinkling glass.
"Let's go." Her voice was small, the space between her and the walls of the cave and Kerith's arm and her shoulders infinite. She was alone. "Please. Let's leave." she was shaking, her chin quivering as she fought back the tears that swamped her eyes. She tried to bolt away, but she only managed a single running step before the cave wall was pressed against her palm. "No!" the tears were leaking into her voice already. She hunched her shoulders, knowing she'd have to wait for it to be over before it would be safe to make noise.

[Choco]

Kerith frowned at her, wondering what was going through her mind that made her feel so.. Bad? He slowly nodded, pulling her closer once more and starting to walk back. "Okay, we've leaving now. Does that make you feel better?" He asked, leading her towards the exit of the cave. He had never seen a girl act so oddly, but he could understand why. She had probably started to freak out because she couldn't see anything. Yes, that had to be it. What else would it be?
He paused once they were in front of the steps once more, glancing around before lifting her up. It wouldn't be safe for her to go up the stairs because it was so dark. "Trust me, alright? We're going up the stairs then I'm putting you down." He soothed, swiftly going up them then putting her down once more, just as he had said.

[t i r e d.]

Leita whimpered as strong arms pulled her away from her hiding place by the wall. They guided her back towards the outside, but it wasn't until the person's voice had been talking to her for a moment that the owner of the voice's name swam to the surface of her mind. Kerith. He lifted her into his arms, and she stared blankly at his shirt. When he placed her back down on the ground, she grabbed his shirt in a white-knuckled fist. "I didn't do it." She said, her voice flat. Her eyes had dried up already, and they were clear as she looked into his face. Her breath hitched, and she couldn't hold his gaze anymore. There was barely any light out here, and although it wouldn't reach the level of darkness the cave had, it was still too much, especially now that she was already shaken. She gripped her side with the hand that wasn't gripping Kerith's shirt, holding herself together.

[Choco]

Kerith decided that this had all happened because she hadn't eaten. The lack of food was making her feel faint, and she was living in her memories. It all made sense to him, even if it wasn't the truth. He gently guided her, feeling a tight arm around her shoulder just in case she tripped or paused, his eyes darting to her then to the ground, making sure there wasn't anything in the way. He swiftly decided he would make her explain what the memory was to him once they got home, because he was extremely curious about her life - more so then he probably should be.
He was starting to debate whether he should really be selling her, since she was extremely interesting. He frowned at his thoughts, telling himself that he was being silly and that of course he would have to sell her. Otherwise, it had all been for nothing and he got nothing out of it.

[t i r e d.]

Leita's eyes refused to focus, even she directed them towards the ground. She didn't want to fall. In this state, she probably wouldn't feel it, but it would do her no good. She blinked a few times, trying to see. It didn't help. His arm did, however. It didn't help her sight, but her mind, keeping her grounded in the here and now. And that was the best she could hope for, with the sun ridding itself of the last of it's shadows as it fell out of sight in the sky. She kept her hand on his shirt, her fingers toying with the soft fabric as they walked. Instead of thinking about her surrounding, or the people she'd left behind or when everything had fallen apart, she studied the way Kerith moved. Not with her eyes, which still weren't working right, but her other senses. His arm moved slightly every time he took a step, but it was almost too subtle to notice. He was graceful, that was obvious, but he was also still. She stopped when they reached the door to the house, looking back to him for guidance.

[Choco]

Kerith wasn't thinking about much. He was more focused on making sure she wouldn't fall then where they were going, so he was surprised when they arrived at his house so quickly. He opened the door for her, his gaze traveling up to her face to see how she was taking it all. He was surprised when their eyes met, and he looked away, leading her in and closing the door behind himself. He locked it to make sure nobody could come in - he didn't like sudden visitors - and also so she wouldn't be able to get out as quickly if she ran off.
Staying with his plan, Kerith led her to the kitchen, letting go of her once she was near a chair. "Sit down, Leita." He said, glancing over at her. He then looked back at the bowl of pasta and the jar, and put the jar in the fridge. "Are you hungry?" He asked, just as he had a while ago.

[t i r e d.]

Leita sat down, hard. She folded her hands in her lap and pulled her feet beneath her, shaking her head when Kerith asked if she was hungry. She had bad habits of skipping meals already, and that was even when she wasn't distracted like she was now. Her large brown eyes followed him as he moved, but it was like she was doing it on autopilot. There was no real thought behind her actions or her expressions, right now she just did.

{Sorry it's so short. It's 3am for me, and I'm exhausted x.x}

[Choco]

(No problem~)

Kerith slowly nodded, his gaze flickering over her. He knew that something was wrong - he wasn't that stupid. Even if he hadn't been human for a hundred or so years, he knew their reactions, feelings, all of that. "What happened? Is it to do with your father dying, or the fight you had with your mother?" He asked, assuming it was one of those two. He was sure that it was, but if he wasn't right, then he would accept that too. He walked over to her in his normal, slow, graceful style, sitting next to her casually and leaning against the table. His eyes were searching as they stayed on her face. Since he didn't obey most of human etiquette, he didn't think staring was rude, and so he stared a fair bit at people until he got what he wanted from them.
The vampire ran his hand through his hair automatically, noticing it was no longer damp from his shower earlier. His gaze flickered to the clock and he wondered why she was not yet sleepy. Surely it wasn't normal for humans to stay awake till this time?

[t i r e d.]

Leita stopped watching Kerith as soon as he sat down. "It's both. My father and mother fought, viciously. Eventually my dad decided the only way he could deal with it was to come home drunk. The fights got worse." She snorted softly. He'd only been thinking of himself all those nights that he'd come home with a slurred hello for his daughter. "He came smelling like liquor often, and on those nights he'd say hello to me, and then I ceased to exist. When mom saw him sitting in the floor, his eyes glazed as he pretended to watch TV, she'd yell. But most nights it was worse than that, and my mom, not my drunk father, but my mom, would throw wine bottles at his head, demanding that he leave. He never did. Somehow he always managed to evade her long enough that she would simply slam the door to her room and disappear for the rest of the night." She drew in a deep breath. "But they forgot about me. A lot of the time I wouldn't eat because the fights started before dinner and didn't really end until long after I should be asleep. I sit and wait though, to make sure they were okay. I got hit a few times, by stuff they'd thrown. I don't think they ever realized it though, I was always quiet and hid the marks."
"I decided I wanted to leave one day, a year ago. Just a spur of the moment decision. I knew Daddy would be really drunk when he came home, so I packed a few things and left. I was gone two days. Only two days. Once I'd decided I'd rather have a home with parents that fought than no home at all, I came back, but by then Daddy's suicide was all over the news. The night I'd left, he'd downed a bottle of sleeping pills. My mom looked at me and jabbed her finger into my chest and screamed that it was my fault. I'd killed him." The flatness of her voice broke for just a moment. "She was so angry. She's been yelling at me instead of him ever since, but I can't yell back at her. She was my mom."

[Choco]

Kerith stayed silent the whole time he was listening to her speaking. He nodded when it was appropriate to, but otherwise didn't speak. He was glad that his childhood had never been as bad. He frowned as he remembered what his childhood had been like. It had been merry, and very relaxed. Yet it was such a long time ago, and he was amazed how differently humans had changed since then. In his family, that would have never happened. He wished that he could turn back time to that day he was in the forest and live a happy life, but knew it could never happen. Once he thought about it, he realized how much he had lost. He could've had a close to perfect life. He had been born a male, into a high ranked family, with good looks. If only he hadn't been reckless and wasted it all on that trip.. He realized, with a jolt, he didn't want Leita to waste her life the way he had wasted his.
He slowly nodded to her, looking back at her. In a way, he had saved her from a much worse life. She probably would've committed suicide herself, eventually if things had continued in the way that they had been going. He sighed softly, not sure what help to offer her. He slowly stood up and took a step towards her, his human instincts acting up. He gently put his hand under her chin, lifting it up so he could see her face. "I apologize for your loss. If you wish for me to, I can visit your mother and speak to her? You may watch, from a distance?" He offered, since he had no idea how else to make her feel better. "Come along, you should probably be going to bed. Even if you don't want to sleep or can't, it will be better for you to be laying in a bed rather then sitting up."