stark the slayer

Tala grinned, leading him outside and heading for Whitmore’s. She hoped Noah wouldn’t be working, still trying her best to avoid him. She felt like she was starving, though, so the hunger drove her toward the restaurant, glad she could go somewhere with Stark where he wouldn’t feel awkward with her eating and him just sitting there doing nothing. She had no idea if the warmed up blood at Whitmore’s was any good, but it had to be better than the cold blood bags at the blood bank.

“Here we go~” she sing-songed, opening the door to the restaurant and showing him inside. She spoke to the hostess and got them a booth, heading over there with him. “I don’t think they have as many options as far as blood types, I think they only have the As. Is that okay?”

Stark walked alongside her to the restaurant, then behind her into it. He looked around to assess the place as he waited for her to return from speaking with the hostess. He followed to the booth and sat across from her. 

“Oh, yeah. That’s fine. I’m not very picky when it comes to the type.” He admits with a shrug.

“You know you can file an official complaint for that, right? I mean, I’m not sure what they’d be able to do … blood has to be stored a certain way to stay fresh. Well, not fresh, but … drinkable? I don’t know. I’m sorry you don’t like it, though,” Tala said, realizing she was rambling as she moved to grab her shoes and pull them on. She stood, then, and grinned over at him. “Shall we go?” she asked, holding her hand out to him. A small, vindictive part of her kind of hoped that Noah saw them together, though she tried to suppress it.

“Yeah, well.” He laughed a small bit as he followed her to the door. “I don’t think the government gives any fucks about me or my drinking preferences. If anything, I’m sure they would be happy to hear I’m suffering.”

As he finished speaking he noticed her hand and couldn’t help from smiling to himself. Sure, he had a tough exterior, but he was a sucker for romance. He missed having someone to really care about. This was certainly refreshing. He took her hand in his, being conscious to not hold it too tight and hurt her. He managed to keep a casual and cool facade as he did it, though, not wanting it to seem obvious that he was being gentle with her. He nudged the door open and led her out into the hallway. “We shall.”

“I used to eat deer straight from the ground when I was a dragon,” Tala admitted with a faint grin. “Not sure I can stomach such raw meat in this form, though.” She sat up, reaching to grab her clothes from off the ground. “We should go to breakfast. Whitmore’s got an amazing breakfast menu. They even have blood on tap if you can pay. It’s a little more expensive than the blood bank, since they’re technically not supposed to sell it, but they warm it up for you and everything.” She gave him another grin, as she moved to start pulling her clothes back on.

“Mm. Deer is delicious.” He muses before standing from the bed. “Blood on tap? Huh. Honestly, anything has to be better than the garbage they give out at the bank. I’m in.” He declares as he pulls on his shirt.

“Sort of,” Tala admitted, rubbing her forehead. “My body heals itself, so I’ll be fine in about an hour.” She gave him a small crooked grin. “You wouldn’t happen to have any food around here I can have for breakfast, do you?” She knew it wasn’t likely, since he was a vampire, but she couldn’t help but ask.

He was silently grateful to hear she had healing abilities. Not that it stopped him, but he was always wary of having sex with non-vampires simply because of the fear he would hurt his lover. That is, unless she enjoyed the pain.

“Err, no. Not unless you like the taste of stale blood.” Stark grinned over at her, then licked his lips. “I could run over to the grocery store and pick you up something, though.” He offered casually.

Tala was unused to waking up in an unfamiliar setting, so when she opened her eyes and realized she wasn’t in her own bed, she panicked internally for a moment. Sitting up, she grimaced at the pounding headache she had, clutching at her forehead. It took her a minute to remember where she was and why she was there. She pulled the sheets up over herself, when she realized she was naked. Squinting, she glancing around until she saw Stark on the couch. She smiled a bit sheepishly.

“Sorry,” she said weakly. “I don’t usually spend the night places. I must’ve passed out.”

Stark heard her moving in the other room and immediately folded over the page he was on. He waved over at her with a goofy grin before standing from the couch and moving to the bedroom. “Morning Sunshine.” He joked as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “Can dragons get hangovers?” He asks curiously and eyes her. She did seem to be a little off, but maybe that was something beyond the aftermath of alcohol.

He rolled over and did his best not to disturb the sleeping girl beside him, standing from the bed and wandering off until the living room.

He sat down on the couch and began reading a novel, every hour or so glancing into his room to check if she had woken up yet.

@dragon-tala​

Aya responds with a tilt of her head and a quirk of a brow, a smile dancing on her features dangerously. She’s been with other supernaturals before – never ones as strong as a vampire before, so the experience itself would seem enticing based purely on the experience alone – but she was built for this. To be an ideal partner. To get what she needed to survive. It just happened practice made perfect, too. She shrugs her shoulders, noting the teeth gnawing at his lip, her own plump bottom lip catching in her teeth for a moment before she speaks. “Oh, I don’t know. Body language is so fickle. I’ll need to hear you say it.”

He chuckles at her words, mostly because it was clear they both understood he was picturing the two having sex. He didn’t need much more convincing, though. If she wanted to hear him say the words, he would say them a thousand times over. He was more than willing to give her everything she wanted.

He leans forward and closer to her. “Yes. I’m thinking about having sex with you.”

“Yeah, well, you know how you always hear about dragons collecting treasure and sleeping on piles of gold and stuff? That’s not all myths and legends. We do like having stuff. I don’t know why. Maybe we think we’re going to use it some day, we just never do but we’re always thinking ‘but I might need it, so I’ll keep it for now’ and ‘for now’ just because ‘for forever’ without us really realizing it,” Tala rambled, taking Stark’s jacket from him in order to pull it on, stepping outside with him.

Stark listened to her and smiled. Usually, the drunk ramblings of a girl he was about to take home didn’t keep his interest. She, however, was much different. “That must mean you have some interesting stuff. You’ll have to give me a tour sometime.” He said as he lead her in the direction of his apartment complex, which conveniently wasn’t too far away.

Tala laughed at his joke, loudly and for perhaps longer than it warranted. Then again, she was drunk. “I don’t know if you’d like going to my place,” she admitted. “It’s kind of a hoarder’s den. Stuff everywhere.” She laughed again. Noah hadn’t minded it, but Noah wasn’t like most people. She tried to push the thought of him from her mind with a quick shake of her head.

Stark finally lets go of the girl to open the door, then holds it for her. “Dragons are hoarders, huh? You learn something new every day.” He chuckles and shrugs off his jacket to hand to her. “My place it is then.”

“Well,” she breathed, and the blush that lit her cheeks was purely involuntary. “Thank you for choosing to see that in me.”

It was almost mechanical, the way she loosened in his presence. Subconsciously she remarked on his talent that saw him knowing exactly what to say, and though she cursed the inevitable, she allowed herself to warm to him. Never mind her being compelled. she was also acutely aware that he might be dangerous. The vampires she had socialised with were exceptions to the species; Felix was also Fae, and she had met Athira selling flowers. Despite Athira’s gentle ways, she now knew of her dreadful past, but the repentance the girl had shown moved Nimueh to bestow total trust in her control. She did not know Stark, and she was not stupid; she would have to keep her wits about her.

She nodded at his words and stared at him intently. “God,” she mused, “What a funny thing to mention.” A soft smile ghosted her features as she adjusted her coat around her frail frame. Falling silent, she took in his apparent wisdom and felt her anxieties begin to evaporate.

Stark nodded thoughtfully at her reply, pausing for a moment before speaking. “It seems no one is ever satisfied with the power they have. It’s always too little or too much.” He muses, before turning to look her in the eye. “What’s it for you? Do you wish for more power? Less? Or perhaps just none at all?” He questions before answering the question himself. “I find myself wishing for both. It’d be nice to be more powerful, especially in a town full of almost only powerful beings. Though, I too often long not to have to fear hurting someone accidentally just by touching them.”

“Well, you know. People are afraid of what they don’t understand. The usual.” She replies with a shrug, but she can’t help a genuine smile and laugh at his reaction. It hadn’t necessarily been what she expected given peoples’ prior reactions to her abilities, but it was a welcome change.

“Oh?” She leans forward in her seat some, elbows on the table as she quirks a brow at him. “Does that mean you’re thinking about having sex with me?”

Stark chews down on his lower lip when he hears her speak the words. If he was human, his chin would surely be dripping in blood by now. Instead, the delicate pink flesh healed as quickly as he bit down.

“I’m sure you know the answer to that.” He murmurs with a smile as he eyes her up and down. He was most certainly imagining having sex with her now. What she would look like under him, if she could keep up with a vampire’s strength, what her blood would taste like.

Tala jumped slightly when he gave her backside a squeeze. She couldn’t help but laugh, though, grinning up at him. “Maybe we should,” she said with a nod. There was a part of her that knew Noah wouldn’t approve, but maybe that’s why she wanted to do it. It would at least shut up that part of her for a little while, at least.

Stark moves off the dance floor and pulls her along with him, a grin still plastered on his face. “Alright. So then, do we choose the vampire’s cave or the dragon’s lair?” He asks in a joking tone as he leads her towards the door.

“I can remember the blood bank” he nodded. That shouldn’t be too hard to remember. 

He couldn’t help from laughing. “Yeah, no shit. I meant so you could write down the address of wherever it is they’re hiding your brother.”

When it was dark out. That made sense. He nodded a little as Stark suggested the meeting time and place. “Am I supposed to bring anything?” he asked, as it seemed Stark had more experience in this kind of thing than he did.

He thought about that briefly too before shaking his head. “No, not really. If you have a bad memory, I would bring something to write down the location with. Otherwise we should do fine with just our supernatural abilities.”

“I mean between permanent smells of antifreeze and vodka radiating off me how could I not be?”

She tilts her head thinking, “I don’t work Wednesdays. But no pants Wednesdays is a standing tradition so I might be busy. Uh, I”ll try to make it.” She nodded with a shrug.

“Don’t worry, pants aren’t necessary!” He calls back to her with a wide grin as he walks off.