1x1 with Archaic and empirium

[XLOVEr]

1x1 between myself and Archaic

[XLOVEr]

Name: Lucien Alucard

Age: 23 (actual age: Unknown)

Description: This parcticualr vampire stands at about 5'8 with dark unkept hair and a pair of intriguing eyes that never stay the same color. He is well built although wouldn't call himself buff in any sense, as any other vampire he has more strength then any body builder.

Personality: For someone who's lived over a thousand years old he's quite ignorant, Lucien never found a reason to really learn anything useful and preferred to instead live as if he wasn't already dead. He's done so much over the past thousand years that studying subjects like math or english is just irrelevant to him. He's more into art, paiting, dance, writing, all forms of art. He's even made poems, and a few sketches of women he was friends with (when they were alive). He keeps all of these things in his room, which reflects himself, cluttered, a disaster waiting to happen.

History: He has so much of it that it that he himself doesn't really remember much, although he has a collection of journals (around 7 of them) he wrote in after becoming a vampire. He likes to hide them so good luck finding them by chance, you'd really have to be snoping to come across one or two.

Occupation: Does he really need one when he's a vampire?

Affinity/Ability: Intuition, leadership

Likes: animals, specifically dogs and cats. Garlic with his pizza (no vampires are not allergic to garlic),

Dislikes: Priests, their just too odd for him, bugs (though he likes to kill them).

Other: Dont touch his books

[Archaic]

Name: Alaine Warsaw
Age: 21
Description/Faceclaim: (picture) Mousy-brown hair, a little past shoulder length; grey-blue eyes, pale skin, about 5’6”; a little on the chubby side, curvy figure. Doesn’t wear makeup, hair is usually in a ponytail or braid.

Personality: Quiet and observant; prefers to do things alone and go her own way, even if she typically seems sociable and/or fine in a group (she’s not ._.). She’s creative and enjoys to draw and write. Enjoys the country more than the city and loves to wander in the woods and fields, as well as stargaze and watch the moon at night. Has a bad habit of being present but not there, especially in group settings or activities; generally keeps emotionally distant from people though she’s friendly enough on the outside. She’s had bad experiences in the past and is mostly bound and determined that no one exists who could really get through to her, which in turn leads to her not reaching out. She’s dreadfully lonely at times but, due to aforementioned reasons, doesn’t have much drive to reach out. Though she’s guarded, she can be very caring and protective of those she’s close to. Alaine has always felt different and out of place compared to everyone she meets, as if she were from a different century entirely; she prefers the “old-fashioned” way of doing things and would far prefer to write letters than send texts. Has a strong moral compass and high standards which she’s often mocked for.

History: Alaine was homeschooled all her life, along with her five younger siblings; one of her passions was art/drawing, which—along with writing—was something she could constantly be found doing. Her family moved multiple times throughout her life, causing her to be closer with her siblings than with friends outside of the family and creating in her a sense of wanderlust and restlessness. If she stays in any one place for more than a couple years, she starts getting antsy and wanting to move on. Eventually Alaine reached the typically college age; she’d never wanted to go to college, but her parents encouraged it. Finding a somewhat-happy medium, Alaine takes online college courses from the security of her small cabin, about thirty minutes from the nearest city and far back in the woods. Offering her services a freelance artist (and working a few jobs during highschool), she makes just enough to pay her bills, buy her meals, and keep her old truck running.

Occupation: Freelance Artist

Family: Allan Warsaw (father), Livinia Warsaw (mother), Truth (sister, 19yrs), Gracelyn (sister, 18yrs), Ezra (brother, 16yrs), Elijah (brother, 15yrs), Joy (sister, 13yrs).

Likes: Art, writing, animals (horses, cats, and birds especially), the outdoors, night, the stars and moon, alone time, wind, her family, black-and-white shows/movies
Dislikes: Art “rules”, large groups and parties, staying in one place for too long, wolves, dishonest/two-faced people

Other: Has a few dark freckles up the left side of her face, on her shoulders and back, and on her arms that, connected properly, form constellations. Alaine has a sort of cowboy/cowgirl vibe; almost constantly in jeans and cowboy boots, usually has a bandanna somewhere, and owns two cowboy hats though she rarely wears them in public.

[Archaic]

The trip to town wasn’t one Alaine made often, and especially not at night—but this was an emergency, and desperate times called for desperate measures.

She hated driving in the city when it was dark, and she hated walking around the streets under the orange glow of the streetlights. It had an interesting, otherworldly feel to it, yes, but there was also the paranoid feeling that she was being watched. It was unavoidable though—the store she needed was a small one in the downtown area, crammed amid some of the bigger franchises and almost lost in the alleys. To look at it from a distance you might think the place was some sort of witchcraft shop or black market outpost—but in reality it was the loveliest little art shop Alaine had ever come across, and at the moment she didn’t care what it looked like so long as it had what she needed.

It was an odd time to pop in, perhaps; after all, little self-run shops like this weren’t usually open at 10:34pm. But she knew the owner, a quirky little character called Ms. Jimmins; Ms. Jimmins was all but a hundred years old but acted like a spry young hooligan of eighteen, laughing and giggling and chatting you up about anything you wanted to know and even some things you didn’t. She and Alaine had bonded somehow and the spunky old lady had confided in the girl that she was often up all hours of the night, contrary to popular belief, and if Alaine ever needed anything she was to come by the minute she needed it and Ms. Jimmins would see what she could do.

Alaine reached the shop, peering in through the darkened windows. Past all the clutter she could see lights on in some of the back rooms where Ms. Jimmins lived, so she knocked a few times and waited. A few moments later the door was flung open, the bell attached to it giving a pleasant little ding as Ms. Jimmins squinted up at her visitor, exclaiming, “Why, Alaine, dear! Goodness gracious, what are you doing out here? You’ll catch your death of cold!”

“Ah, it’s not that cold,” Alaine chuckled, stepping inside after the old woman and explaining, “You said to drop by if I ever had an emergency, and I’m afraid the time’s finally come.”

“Oh dear. What happened?”

Alaine took a deep breath. “You know that multi-media piece I told you about? With all the birds?”

“Yes...”

Alaine let the deep breath out. “I was working on it and I had it almost done and all that was left was this one part of the background and I needed this one specific blue and I could’ve sworn I had it but I looked and I couldn’t find it and I took the place apart trying to find it but it’s completely gone and in the process of looking I bumped into a shelf which made the lamp on top fall over which was the only light I’d had on at the time so it went dark and I was stumbling around and I tripped and fell into something and when I got the lights on again—”

“Oh no,” Ms. Jimmins interrupted, guessing correctly where the story was going. “Not your piece!”

“Yes my piece!” Alaine replied, having taken a second to catch her breath. The mingled rage, grief, and despair was plainly evident in her tone as she pushed some loose hair back from her face, sighing heavily, “Anyway, it’s—well, I think it’s mostly salvageable, maybe, but I have to get working on it right away and I need some paints and a few pencils.”

“Well then, right this way,” the old shopkeeper replied promptly, turning on her slipper-clad heel and marching into the cluttered maze of art supplies that was her shop. She flicked on a few lights, rifling through the shelves and crates before bringing out several selections of paint and pencils.

Alaine picked out what she needed and was reaching for her wallet when Ms. Jimmins stuck her slim, wrinkled little hands out, exclaiming with a laugh, “Oh-ho, no! None of that, dear, you just take what you need and run along.”

“But,” Alaine began, shocked. “These paints are imported—”

“Imported from an old friend who’ll send me three dozen more the minute I ask at less than half price,” the old woman cut her off dismissively. “You go right ahead and take those, Miss Warsaw. They’re on the house. After a night like you’ve had, you ought to take whatever money you’ve got and go get yourself a hot drink—go to one of those fancy little coffee shops and get some hot cocoa or tea, it’ll do you good. Now run along, go on! Off with you!”

“Ms. Jimmins—”

“You’re welcome, dear, goodnight!”

With a mischievous smile and a laugh, the old woman pushed her customer and the art supplies out the door with another pleasant chime of the bell.

Alaine almost wanted to cry, but she held the tears in, shouldering the bag full of paints and pencils and shoving her hands into the pockets of her denim jacket, striding back out onto the streets. She had to park a good ways away; the city was always packed full of vehicles, no matter what time it was, and she seemed never to be able to park within four blocks of the place she wanted to go. She had no intention of going to a coffee shop, even though Ms. Jimmins’ advice had been sincere—she just wanted to go home and enjoy what was left of the autumn night before she collapsed from exhaustion.

The rhythm of her boots on the concrete lulled her senses for a moment and she let her thoughts drift off, back to her ruined art—off to tomorrow, to what she’d have breakfast, to anything that popped into her head. She didn’t stay distracted for long, because she knew it was a bad idea not to be alert downtown at 10:45pm, especially as a young woman who just so happened to have forgotten her switchblade in her haste to get her art supplies. But, she was distracted for a moment nontheless, and it was just long enough for someone to slip around a corner ahead of her and lean against a lamppost, waiting for her in the ugly orange glow.

Alaine’s pace faltered just for a second as her grey-blue eyes darted around, trying to look for another way to go; she turned her head and suddenly realized there was someone behind her as well, walking with their head down and steadily catching up with her.

“Aw crud,” Alaine hissed under her breath, hands making fists her pockets. It would be tonight of all nights that I forget my knife. Typical.

She tried to keep her expression and body language neutral, walking calmly but confidently forward. She neared the figure waiting by the light; it was a man, sporting the scraggly beginnings of a beard and a stained hoodie.

“Hey,” he said as she approached. “’Scuse me, lady, you got the time?”

“No, sorry,” Alaine replied curtly, barely glancing at him. Before she could quite get past the man he’d jumped forward, blocking her path and spreading his arms.

“Hold up, missy,” he said, grinning slyly. “You sure you don’t have the time? Well, that’s alright...maybe you’ve got something else I could use.”

Alaine stopped abruptly, stiffening and scowling. Before she could protest she heard the scuff of shoes against pavement and looked over her shoulder, spotting the second person, another man, just a yard or two away and coming closer.

They’d be disappointed if they tried to rob her, all she had in her wallet were two twenty-dollar bills and maybe a stick of gum.

“Look fellas, I don’t have time for this,” Alaine started, attempting to sound careless and standing leisurely, as if she could totally beat them up. Which she probably couldn’t. “I’ve got a canvas waiting for me at home and it’s not gonna paint itself.”

“Aw, that’s a shame,” the guy in front of her sneered, coming closer. The one behind grew nearer as well.

This isn’t working. A small twinge of panic set in. She tried to run for it but the guy ahead jumped to intercept her, catching her and throwing her back. The guy behind caught her, holding her arms and exclaiming to his partner, “Come on, hurry it up! Try the bag!”

“No, wait a minute,” Alaine protested, twisting and kicking and trying to get away as best she could. “Get off me! Let g—”

The man holding her clamped a large hand over her mouth, muffling her voice as she continued to struggle.

Oh, awesome. I’ve always wanted to be mugged.

[XLOVEr]

Lucien pinched the bridge of his nose, deep in thought. He never knew how much thinking it could take to decide against two options. Well correction, he did know. He knows everything he'd ever want to know, living a thousand plus years has it's perks after all. Although at this point he should know which option to choose but the music in the grocery store was definitely not helping him think at all. The aisle was empty save for himself and the five shelves bursting with products freshly stocked for the average customer. Well he was not the average customer and choosing which dog food to buy for Pebbles was frustrating. This particular rescue liked to change his diet on almost a daily basis, which would be fine if the dog hadn't already gone through every single brand of dog food at the local Walmart.

The process of elimination seemed to be his best option at this point, first thing to go has to be Kibbles 'n Bits, Pebbles never eats any of it. Dog Chow was the second, and Alpo was third to leave his list of options.

Pebbles I swear when I get home your gonna love this dog food or you'll be eating Dog Chow for the rest of your life AND YOU WILL LIKE IT. With that outburst out of the way, Lucien decreased his options down to two. In the end it ended up being Blue Buffalo that won the spot in his empty cart. If he really wanted to he could just carry it but he didn't need any more attention from others, as every person who walked past aisle 7 gave him a confused yet concerned look as he'd been staring at dog food for the past twenty minuets or so.

With his choice of dog food Lucien headed for the next aisle, he still needed milk, eggs, and bread. Vampires don't need to eat but he liked food, and how else would he keep up his facade of being human to his friends? How would they react if he just didn't have a kitchen or any food to fill that kitchen?

Throwing milk into his cart he proceeded to the next aisle, which was full of teenage humans, who were being obscenely loud. Their loud chatter came to a halt when he walked into the aisle, he often got this reaction from others, not because he was a vampire but because of the handsomely good looks given to him as a child. He tried to not mind the staring of the teenagers but he also couldn't help but to stare back. Not because any of them interested him, but because staring back at people who think it's okay to stare at others is just too much fun to pass up.

As per usual they laughed and huddled up in their group to talk about if Lucien had a girlfriend or not, too bad for them he was way too old for them. Though one did smell particularly yummy. But he had self-control, which didn't come easily yet was natural for a being who'd lived longer than Jesus was alive.

If he happened to find her alone in the street at night with no one else around it might have been a much different story, which was too bad seeing as the girl was definitely his favorite blood type. He couldn't help but to peer into the younger girl's mind, a habit he couldn't seem to shake.

I've seen him before, he looks too familiar. I wonder if I should go back and talk to him... no no I shouldn't he didn't seem to recognize me so he isn't anyone I actually know. Okay Doritos, Funyuns, Popcorn- crap we forgot milk in the last aisle... The girl started to think back to when Lucien first rounded the corner and into the aisle wearing a black turtleneck and matching jeans that seemed to tight for comfort but definitely made any teenage girl wish he was dating them. Nope nope Milk, I just need to get him... I mean milk. I should definitely go talk to him,no no..... he definitely reminds me of a vampire but they aren't real. Not that I definitely wouldn't mind him su-

This was definitely going in the direction he wanted it too but he also didn't want to hear the rest of that sentence, sometimes just hearing the someone wanted to get their blood sucked by a vampire just wasn't appealing to him. He was disappointed though, he still needed to get some of his shopping done, he still needed bread. He looked down at his list and shrugged before putting his hands deep into his pockets, the only things that were in there were his phone, the brand new Galaxy Note10 because why not, his car keys, an outrageously expensive handkerchief, and his shopping list of course.

Taking out his phone he checked on the house cameras, if he planned on being late then he needed to check on Pebbles, the dog was sound asleep. The food bowl was thankfully empty and everything seemed normal, not a thing out of place except for the food bowl where Pebbles seemingly thought was a good idea to put in the middle of the kitchen. With a heavy sigh he looked up from his phone to see the girl from earlier standing no more than two feet away from him.

She was obviously nervous about something and couldn't seem to reach the top shelf of the chocolate milk. Taking this chance he kindly reached over the shorter girl and grabbed it for her. "You didn't happen to want this did you?" He asked in a controlled friendly tone, a smile slowly spreading on his lips. The girl seemed to jump back in surprise though he knew this was all really just an act to get closer to him. He would go with it though, he was hungry after all.

"Y-yeah t-th-thanks." She said, obviously stuttering more than she should have been. Although he was pretty close to her, seeing as he couldn't have reached the milk if he was standing four feet away from her. " I-I was wondering if you were doing anything later.. if you're free I want to invite you to hang out with me and some of my friends?" Lucien contemplated this for a moment before shaking his head, "No, I'd honestly rather to just hang out with you. I'm not good with many people," He said in a low tone, this was how he lured his meals in, normally all women, he'd drink their blood, give them food and send them on their way. It was a give-give situation. And tonight would be no different... but he was hungrier than usual and the teen standing before him was quite small for her age and held his favorite blood type in her precious veins.

When being a predator it could be hard sometimes to control himself, especially when it was a night like tonight where it was cloudy and dark outside where all the other scum of the city would be crawling looking for their next meals, which unfortunately for them was all monopolized by none other than him. His hand grazed the girl's shoulder before he thought about what he was doing, the blood in her veins was already pulsing steadily from being so close to a cute guy. Before his hand could touch her shoulder the girl spoke up.

"So what do you want to do?" She asked before looking into his eyes. She looked startled, "Your eyes just changed colors is that like a cool new contact thing?" She asked, in awe. "Yes it is," He said gruffly before looking away, "We can go to one of my favorite places if that's alright with you." The short blonde shrugged her shoulders, he could feel her eyes boring into his left temple.

"Okay so how about we both finish shopping pay out and then go? If you don't want to I totally und-"

"That sounds good to me!" Letting out a sigh of relief Lucien took a few steps away from the blonde, he couldn't let himself loose control over the pulsing of the human heart in the middle of Walmart where everyone could see, he needed to be in the chill of the dark night brewing outside. Both of them finished their shopping in little time, the girl bidding goodbye to her friends, all of them gesturing for her to call them afterwards.

After the departure from her friends the blonde looked over at him nervously. They were walking shoulder to shoulder as they left the store, the automatic doors closing behind them.

"So what's your favorite place like?" She asked, nervously playing with the corners of her phone. He didn't know how to answer her question, his favorite place was a dark alleyway that could very well be a murder's favorite place. He just liked it because it was quite warm there at this time of night, and he didn't ever worry about someone seeing him feeding. There was one time with a homeless guy looking for bread... but he just threw bread at the guy and told him to run if he didn't leave. He didn't need any convincing after retrieving the bread and sprinting off in the other direction.

"Ummm, it's warm... it doesn't look the best but no one will bother us there.." He smiled reassuringly at the girl. She nodded before shivering and taking a step closer to him, "How long does it take to get there? I'm cold" She laughed a little, her shoulders shaking more as the cold set in.

Lucien was struggling, he hadn't fed since last month which was a stretch even for him but when it came to his favorite blood type he was having trouble. Gladly they were nearing the alleyway that he had fed at last month as well. "Well looks like luck is on your side today, we've made it," He said, taking her hand and leading her deep into the alleyway. It got warmer the farther they walked.

Lucien abruptly turned on the girl, eyes flashing crimson as he spread his hand out against the wall behind her head. He peered into her mind quicker than a second.

I definitely wouldn't mind it if he was a vampire. This was all he needed before he lowered his mouth to her jugular, fangs sprouting from his gums. His fangs easily punctured the vein, allowing the girl's blood to flow into his mouth.

The blood was flowing easily now, some of it spilling onto the concrete in large droplets, his nails dug into the bricks that made up the alleyway. The blonde in front of him, though he couldn't see her because his eyes were closed too focused on the euphoria of drinking blood, her eyes fluttered. A sigh escaped her lips as she became increasingly limp in his arms. He knew he should have stopped drinking her blood by now but sometimes it was too hard to stop. Being a predator made him this way, he actually didn't care what happened to this girl, he didn't even know her name.

The only thing keeping the blonde on her feet were his arms and the wall, from an outside perspective he probably looked like an animal, he felt like one.

The girl's body slumped against the wall as he realized there wasn't any blood left, and someone had stepped on his bread. His head snapped up as he could see two men and a woman at the end of the alleyway. He didn't dare look at the blonde on the ground as he zoned in on the two men and woman. His feet moving before he realized it.

One of the guys had stepped on his bread, which was quite expensive compared to what he used to pay for a loaf. He knew it was the worst idea ever but his senses were still erratic and his eye color was still crimson as he emerged from the ally. As he emerged he made sure to hide his fangs, and wipe his mouth quickly. Blood coated his shirt but looked more like a random stain on his black turtleneck. His dark hair was messed up from drinking blood and he probably looked like a regular citizen as he approached the two guys, blocking the path of a woman.

He knew exactly what was happening here, "Hey," he said simply, his voice deeper than usual. Drinking blood made him a thousand times stronger, "What do you think you're doing?" He was a vampire but the one thing he couldn't stand over these thousand (plus) years was some of these human men who thought they could just take.

[Archaic]

All three people—Alaine, the guy with his hand over her mouth, and the guy currently grabbing her bag of art supplies—paused in surprise at the appearance of the stranger.

Restrained and awkward as the situation was, Alaine couldn’t help but stare at the newcomer for just a second. He was...well, he was attractive, she had to admit it. But, like most attractive guys she’d met, he probably knew perfectly well how appealing he was. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was an absolute jerk. She wouldn’t be surprised if he just happened to be a good-looking bum, coming out of that alley the way he had.

But no...his clothes were a little too nice for that, and something about the way he carried himself...what was that stain on his shirt…?

“We’re just helping the little lady with her bags,” the guy reaching for Alaine’s bag said with sarcastic innocence. “You against chivalry or something?”

She tried to protest but her voice was muffled by the second man’s meaty paw over her mouth; she was rather surprised by the two thugs’ blatant mugging with the newcomer standing right there. Weren’t they intimidated at all? He could call the cops or something!

As if they’d read her mind, the guy holding her said gruffly, gesturing at the stranger with his chin, “Jake, get him out of here.”

“Right.”

The guy with Alaine’s art supplies—Jake, apparently—nodded and turned, tossing the goods to the ground carelessly. She let out a muffled yelp of frustration at the sight of her precious paint tubes rolling across the concrete. Those cost money, darn it! Along with paint she realized there was a loaf of bread near the alleyway’s entrance; one of the thugs seemed to have crushed it. Where did that bread come from…?

While Jake stalked towards the newcomer, Alaine took her chance, biting down on her assailant’s hand. He let out a short exclamation of surprise and pain, his hold on her slacking a little; immediately she wrestled away from him, diving for her spilled art supplies.

Yes, she probably should have run, but--art supplies, man. She couldn’t leave them!

She’d barely picked up two of the paint tubes when the unnamed thug lunged after her, catching hold of her arm and yanking her back. In the process he stomped on one of the tubes. With a pop the little container burst, splurting a lovely royal blue pain all over the concrete.

“Ah!” Alaine let out a small cry of horror, which quickly turned to rage.

What did these guys want, anyway? Couldn’t they just mug her quick and run off like ordinary bums? Why’d they have to be so weird and persistent?

“That—paint,” Alaine growled between her twisting and struggling. “Was—imported!”

She tried to yank her arm away from the man but only succeeded in hurting her shoulder; the guy snatched her wallet from her back pocket, released her arm with an extra shove, and ran off, leaving his buddy Jake to deal with the stranger from the alley.

[XLOVEr]

This was quite a scene if Lucien was being honest. If he hadn't just drank someone dry he would have laughed at the man when he lunged at him. Or maybe wouldn't have done anything, waiting for the shock when he tried to shoot him or punch him and he didn't even flinch or even say ouch. Humans were always surprised by his seeming lack of emotion, he did have emotions, just like any other regular human being. Maybe he could have dodged the attack or just simply strike the man holding the innocent woman who was currently yelling about paints, but he didn't. He decided to have a little fun, which wasn't any since it was only two human males.

Firstly, Lucien stuck his right foot out while leaning his body to the left, humans were naturally slow and he was just faster. Even as a regular vampire who hadn't eaten he would have been able to do this as well. He was just more efficient now. And it looked like he had found desert, and something to make up for the ruined bread.

The man lunged at him, yet tripped over Lucien's foot which resulted in a painful sounding snap. Without looking over he already knew which bone was broken. The man's left wrist had been crushed in an attempt to catch himself, which was impossible to do so when a vampire gives you a little push to the cement. This was not satisfying.

Lucien grabbed the man by the left wrist squeezing as hard as he could, he couldn't kill him but knocking him out would do. Who would be is desert? And who would make up for the bread if he killed the man? So deciding to spare the poor soul he smashed his knuckles into the man's left temple.

With one man out of the way Lucien turned back to the man holding the woman who he still didn't know the name of. "You know I think I actually have that exact paint at my house..." He said, voice still deeper than normal from his dinner. He just couldn't help himself when the man furrowed his brows at him, seemingly angry at him, for what reason was unknown to him. Okay yes he actually did know why but did Lucien care? Not. One. Bit. Without a second thought Lucien was behind the man and woman before they could blink an eye, hand gripping the man's hair, lifted him off the ground and then threw him back onto the cement in a flash.

He should have been a superhero, but his ways of dealing with people weren't.. ethical. Which was why before the girl could even glance at the man who was... something other than a man, he covered the girls eyes with his hand. He was unnaturally faster than usual today, maybe because of the girl's blood being his type. Whenever a vampire drank his 'type' of blood they could get so much stronger than a normal vampire. Which was why grabbing the paint, the bread, and spiriting the girl down the block and away from the mess was easy as pie.

"Don't freak out," was the first thing he said as he let go of the girl, hopefully she wouldn't wander back to the two men. He needed to have desert and didn't want to explain after the girl was on her way.

"If you want I can give you the blue paint you need I have some at my house from a friend of mine.. "

[Archaic]

First of all, don’t freak out? Alaine resented that somewhat. How could you could cover someone’s eyes and run off with them and expect them not to freak out?

Of course, she wasn’t panicked; strong emotion wasn’t something she was accustomed to feeling except for every now and then, and currently she just felt confused and a little annoyed. And curious. Very curious. She’d been told before she was too curious for her own good, but to be fair, she'd never acted on it half the times she’d been intrigued by something.

As soon as the man let her go she turned, looking at him warily as he mentioned paint.

Go to a stranger’s house? In the middle of the night? That didn’t seem like a smart thing to do just then. It didn’t seem like a smart thing to do, ever. But… Darn it, she needed that paint. That specific paint, not just any blue pigment. And if there was any chance this guy had it… But no, she could always just go back to Ms. Jimmins. Right? She’d feel bad for disturbing the old woman again; maybe she should wait until tomorrow.

Alaine’s jaw set for a second in frustration. That art wasn’t going to finish itself, and it wasn’t going to be finished at all if she didn’t get more of that paint. Her muse was dying for the night and it was dying quickly—she had to decide fast.

Uuuuugh this is the worst idea in the history of ever I’m such an idiot-- “Uh—yeah, actually, if you can spare any. I’ll pay you back.”

The words left Alaine’s mouth before she could think about it again and once they were out there was no going back. Welp, I’ve done it now. If I die, I die. I probably had it coming.

She tilted her head at the stranger, a strand of loose hair falling into her face. She realized she must look like an absolute mess and felt her face heat up slightly in the cool night air; clearing her throat awkwardly she reached up, trying to fix her mussed hair the best she could and adding, “Uh, thank you, by the way. For saving me. I owe you one. Well, two, if you let me use the paint.”

She glanced around, trying to figure out how far the guy had brought her. “Too bad he grabbed my wallet, but I guess you win some, lose some.” She laughed a little in an attempt at joking, but it came out as more of a nervous chuckle.

“My name’s Alaine, by the way,” she said abruptly, remembering her manners. She gave up on her hair momentarily, extending a hand automatically and waiting for a response.

[XLOVEr]

Lucien was just itching to get back to those two men, clean up the mess he left in the alleyway and have desert. This was all he could think about. Someone would definitely find them sooner or later, maybe he could tell her he needed to do something before going to his house but she couldn't come with him.

That would definitely be suspicious. Especially since i just invited her to my house, I can't just bail. But maybe I can use her unease with going to maybe come to a compromise? No he didn't need to go to such lengths, he'd just make sure to make this visit to his house a quick one. Which also wouldn't be perfect either, he'd just hope for the best, that by an hour from now the bodies were still there. He'd get his late snack in, clean everything up. Nothing to be seen here. Most humans didn't venture out this late at night, so he didn't need to worry.

He was suddenly pulled from his internal conflict, realizing he hadn't been listening to the woman standing before him who'd been talking the entire time. This was one of his many bad habits, he couldn't stay grounded when he got caught up in his internal monologue. The only thing he could catch was that she wanted the paint and wha-.

Lucien finally got a good look at the woman. Her hair dirty-blonde hair was a mess despite all of her efforts to fix it, it didn't seem messy though. It looked nice on her, even though the situation that caused her messed-up hair was definitely messed up. She didn't have any makeup on at the moment since she seemed to obviously be in a rush.

Though she definitely didn't need it, being a vampire he's seen a lot of women, like millions of them. He''s seen all shapes and sizes, skin colors and in all different parts of the world, all of them were different. He'd met someone like her once, maybe a few times. The girls who didn't care, the ones who were definitely the main protagonist of a novel. All in all he 'liked' her.

He'd definitely poke into her mind if he wasn't... interested. Normally Lucien wasn't interested in humans. But she was a oddity. She didn't seem to want to have anything to do with him, despite him being handsome, maybe it was the lighting or something but she just seemed different then others.

But Lucien didn't allow himself to get close to others, and this wouldn't be any different. Setting this resolve, he reached his hand out to meet hers. 'My name's Lucien, and you don't need to worry, why would I save you if I was just going to murder you later?" He knew this was the worst joke to make right now but he couldn't help himself. He knew this was definitely not funny at all, but it actually kind of was. Being as someone who's lived long as heck he didn't ever worry about running out of time. Never felt rushed, which was bad when he was with someone who was in a hurry. "Sorry bad joke, shall we go?"

[Archaic]

She shouldn’t have laughed, she really shouldn’t have. But she did. Maybe it was the adrenaline and the sleep deprivation and the fact that is was kinda funny, but in case Alaine laughed.

She cut herself off quickly, clearing her throat and putting on a more serious face. She realized she was still shaking his hand and quickly let go, saying briskly, “Ah—yes, we should go. Thank you.”

Oh my gosh. I must be some kind of idiot. He literally just made a joke about murdering me and now I’m going to his house.

Staying up till 2:00am the last couple of days probably wasn’t the best idea because it seemed to be affecting her judgment. Normally Alaine would never in a thousand years go with some strange, handsome man to his house in the middle of the night because that had ‘BAD IDEA’ written all over it in neon red. But maybe it was like how she’d laughed a moment ago—the sleep deprivation and adrenaline was messing with her mental processes, making her think creepy jokes were funny and that she should follow a random guy to his house for paint.

Did she even need that paint? She could come back tomorrow and get some more from Ms. Jimmins, no problem. By now she’d about decided to just forget her artwork and go to bed when she got home, but thanks to her big mouth she was now waiting for—what was his name? Oh crap, he’d said his name already and she already forgot, what a moron—oh, no, wait. Lucien. That was it.

Okay, Lucien. That is seriously a demon name, and I’m just gonna...walk home...with a stranger...named after the devil...in the middle of the night. Oh yeah, that’s bright. That’s real bright. I should’ve gone into physics.

Her inner dialogue, as it so often did, dripped with sarcasm. She was frustrated at herself for multiple reasons, but the main agitator was probably the fact that she’d stuck her foot through her own painting not two hours ago. Yeah, that was really starting to bug her. Scrapping the whole thing and doing something else was starting to sound like an appealing idea.

Alaine glanced over at Lucien, trying to covertly study him. She’d been told she was good at judging character, but in her current state she doubted her abilities. Like she’d noted before he was attractive—whether she liked it or not—and his clothes seemed nice. It might’ve been safe to assume he was well-off, at least more so than herself. His air was a casual sort of air, despite the fact he’d just saved her from two random thugs...he didn’t seem to have broken a sweat or even be out of breath. She was sore and a little winded from just struggling to get away. And those eyes...she couldn’t quite seem to catch them in the light, but before she thought they’d looked...amber? A sort of reddish-brown, maybe?

Boy, she wished she’d brought her switchblade or even her phone, crummy as it was. Not like she ever used it for much, but at least she could threaten to call somebody if he tried anything funny. Though...again, maybe it was the rush and the exhaustion talking, but...he didn’t seem like he would try anything “funny”.

“So, uh,” Alaine cleared her throat again, trying to make conversation. She would’ve preferred quiet, but somehow she felt like she needed to say something. “Where do you live? In town?”