自在

How foolishly noble this young man was, believing that a distraction from him would spare the women Laurent had been set on saving for later, and yet so unexpected from a human. Upon being selfish by nature, most would simply find the first opportunity to save themselves at the expense of strangers. Then again, it seemed Takao’s main motivation behind such a decision was purely to receive this “good karma”. Was that not selfish in and of itself? All of this brought so much amusement to the vampire that he had to resist the urge to break out into full blown laughter. He wasn’t about to let Takao know that he delved into his thoughts and was very much aware of his intentions. Instead, he maintained the same jovial attitude as before, his expression never once giving him away as he looked at the restaurant the other mentioned.

It appeared to be a quaint place, if inexpensive. Naturally, the aromas of the food wafting from the restaurant itself were unappetizing to him, but certainly it would do for Takao. Plus, it was probably popular, considering the fair amount of people dining in. 

“We can go here.” Laurent replied with some measure of approval, turning to face him once again. “If that is where you wish to go. But excuse me just a moment. I’m afraid I must say my goodbyes to the women I was just speaking to.”

He approached those women with just a few strides on his part and quickly expressed that while it was a pleasure to have met all three of them, he now had to part ways for he had just encountered an old friend of his that he hadn’t seen in months. Despite their initial protests, they eventually understood and began to leave, though not without making sure to exchange phone numbers with him. Clearly, they could not go without knowing there would be some way of speaking with him again. As he waved them off, Laurent realized that it was a pity, really. He had so been looking forward to his meal this early in the night, but he supposed it could wait. After all, there had been times in the past where he had gone on without his sustenance for far longer. 

He then turned back and walked towards Takao, patting his shoulder gently as he passed by him. It was meant to be taken as a sign for him to follow, seeing as Laurent was already making his way to the restaurant they’d agreed to going to. When he found himself at the front door, Laurent opened it enough for the other to walk in before him.

“It seems they are letting people sit themselves, so choose wherever you’d like to sit. It’s all the same to me, really.”

Takao looked on warily as Laurent went back to properly part ways with the women, he expected them to exchange contact information but he also just wish that it didn’t happen. If only he could allow the women to see for themselves what kind of beast they’d allowed themselves to be so intimate with. With a condemnatory roll of his eyes; basically all he was capable of as to not seem like he was a mad man raving on about the existence of vampires-- he waited contemptuously for the other to come back over.

As the women strolled along, and Laurent was left solely in the company of Takao-- who almost immediately shifted his attitude towards the other. His face no longer held an indifferent stillness, he’d allowed his lips to frown and his brows to furrow. He didn’t want there to be any sign at him actually enjoying himself, not in the presence of someone that he was completely disgusted by. How depraved. He thought as the other passed him by languidly, giving him a slight tap on the shoulder. Even physical contact was enough to make him physically sick, how would he even maintain his appetite with such a person sitting directly across from him? Still, he’d already agreed to this, there was no backing out of it now and he couldn’t deny that he was practically starving at this point. He moved to follow the vampire towards the restaurant entrance.

He walked through the opened door and looked immediately for a seat that wouldn’t have them in the center of the room. A corner booth, was what he had his eyes set out for. He paid no attention to the decor or any of the general splendor to be found in the area’s furnishings. Which was a shame since the place had been decorated quite nicely in shades of red and black. Usually he would’ve been taking it all in to gauge how the food would taste, but now he was just concerned with satisfying his hunger, not his taste buds. He’d scarf this whole meal down if it meant getting home faster, getting away from Laurent faster. 

“That corner booth over there is fine,” he said hurriedly, putting his body into motion before even completing the statement. He made his way over to the area he’d sought out, it was basically empty, probably because it had the worst view of the streets and was probably a likely place to have employees forget about you. Anything to lessen the stomachache he would feel from watching Laurent interact with people as if he was an actual person.

Entertaining. Somehow, it was what he caught himself doing in the presence of certain humans, more so for his own benefit than theirs of course. At the end of the night, all this build up of tension would result in a much more satisfying meal. And he knew that would be the case with the three ladies that were currently the main focus–or at the very least, most–of his attention. 

He had been taking a walk, partially to clear his mind from a full day of sleep and partially to spot out a potential victim, when one of the three of the women had dropped their wallet on their way out of a restaurant. Being the gentleman he was, he picked it up and handed it to her with a smile. She had thanked him, and they had been about to be on their way again, when one of them stopped again to ask Laurent a question. One thing led to another, and now they’d been standing there for a good twenty minutes, Laurent having successfully wrapped the three of them around his finger. 

They loved him, despite the fact the three were married and with children (a little something he’d gotten from a quick look into their minds). And it seemed that now he’d made all thoughts of their domestic life fade away with a simple display of his charm. When he caught the scent of someone very familiar to him, however, he turned his attention away and looked directly into the eyes of the person in question. His smile brightened once more, and he told the women to wait for him for just a moment before approaching Takao.

“Again we meet in the most unexpected of places. Surely it must be fate bringing us together.” He ended his last comment with a chuckle. “But let me guess, from the state of your appearance you must have had a rather long day. Since we are friends now, allow me to treat you to dinner. It’s the least I can do.” Friends was hardly the appropriate term to be used to describe their relationship, but considering the given situation, he would stick to it for now.

He stood there, legs fidgeting as his brain sent all the proper signals to turn tail and run away-- whilst also sending signals to remain firmly planted right where he was. As the other approached, he felt dread set in upon his body like dead-weight. 

It didn't come as surprising that Laurent was able to maintain this effervescent disposition, for Takao was now acquainted with his duplicitousness. He was a snake, and snakes were good at quietly maneuvering through and around situations with little effort whilst cloaking themselves from uncareful eyes. His attention shifted briefly to the women he’d just been speaking to, all of whom were unaware that this man probably viewed them as his next meal. The mere thought of someone so lackadaisically interacting with people with the hidden intentions of murdering them sent another wave of discomfort through his body. 

“Yes, very unexpected.” He practically mumbled in response. Seeing a man who at any moment could kill him with very little effort for the third time in how short a period? Not to mention the vampire knew exactly where he would lay his head to rest every night? Thoughts he still was coming to gripes with were resurfacing as he realized that running into him on the streets was only to be expected as well. If Laurent was right, and it had been fate bringing them together, Takao must’ve racked up quite the fair share of bad karma lately. Perhaps when he went home he’d make a list reevaluating his life up to this point, and figure out how to turn fate back in his favor.

The other continued talking when--

Friends. He almost felt the urge to correct the other, make it clear that their relationship (if that term itself was even appropriate) was far from friendly. To even thnk so was pure bullshit, and Laurent showing concern for his day was even more bullshit. But he quickly realized that by going inside to eat with him, the three women would probably live to see another day. If he could take advantage of that, then maybe these were the first steps to getting karma back on his side. He seemed to forget that one isn’t supposed to do a good thing for the sake of receiving good karma. Nevertheless:

Ah, that eagerness towards the vampire’s departure was quite apparent now, and Laurent couldn’t help but allow himself to laugh. This meant at some point, the human’s irritation must have outgrown his fear, something that rarely—if ever—happened whenever he approached a human like this. Then again, he’d only done it a very few times, and more often than not the human ended up dead. The last time he’d let someone live…well, he didn’t want to think about that now. What he did want to focus on was the fact that this human, Takao, definitely would prove that he was worth sparing.

"Yes, I will be leaving now." He said, sweeping down into a bow. "Like I said, I didn’t intend to take any more of your time away from you." 

“Auf wiedersehen, Herr Miyake~.”

And with those final words he vanished just as quickly as he had entered the other’s home.

In lieu of the vampires departure, anxiety that’d welled up within Takao-- to a point at which he’d thought impossible to further withstand-- had ebbed. Gone with a speed that matched the others very disappearance. Although it couldn’t be said that it was relaxation or relief that replaced the anxiety. But rather a sense of dread, distant at first, but grew as his time alone increased. 

Breaking his stillness, he now moved through his home, still with caution as if the creature could’ve showed up again without warning. His breaths matched each hesitant step as words of said creature began to echo in his memory and bother his very soul. "Auf wiedersehen." He was well aware of its meaning, and use as a goodbye. But what he was also aware of was it’s literal meaning, ‘until we meet again’. What if when using these words, Laurent had intended to imply that this would not be their last encounter. Though the fact was made clear several times throughout their encounter, none had been as straightforward and blatant as such. Causing a sudden realization to overcome him. 

-- He’d be back. 

His torpid movements ceased, bringing his hands up slowly towards his head. He ran his fingers betwixt long black tresses with delicate, yet shaking fingers. That first night was brutal, tonight itself was a challenge overcome, he wasn’t quite sure he was ready for a third. The mere thought led him to become even more mentally and physically tired than actually having the vampire before him. 

After a few moments, his apparent delight brightened his features once again as he began to draw himself away from him once again, but not without, of course, an affectionate pat to the younger male’s head. “What ever gave you the impression that I was playing any games here, Takao? What do you think of me? A child?” Technically, this entire situation could be called a game, which in turn would make him a child, but the vampire could care less. As long as he was being entertained for the time being, that was all that mattered. It certainly was more than he had received in years.

"But don’t fret. I didn’t expect to take too much of your time away from you. I know you’re quite the…busy man.” He said, motioning towards Takao’s desk with his hand. “I mean, what kind of civilized person would I be if I disrupted an artist’s flow of work? They are important in are society, as are musicians, but I am sure you know that already.” This viewpoint was perhaps a bit biased seeing as Laurent had once been a musician himself, but honestly, he felt the need of reassuring it—even if the other person fit into one of the aforementioned categories. There were too many people he’d encountered over the years who failed to see the truth behind it.

His breathing had slowed and was elicited in a quiet, prolonged fashion. By doing this he wished to calm his increasingly unsettled nerves. When Laurent asked if he thought him a child, he didn't bother to respond. Even though he did not, for a child was usually tolerable, and not often completely irritating by intent. Through a single blink he rolled his eyes and moved his gaze from the other. Having it now fall upon that of a clock that hung on the wall across the room. It had grown so late, what time was it when the other had first showed up? How long has he been here as a fork at Takao's side? It felt like hours. Another feeling presented itself amongst his exasperation, and that was exhaustion. 

Even as the other had, coincidentally enough, brought up how he'd been taking time away from the focus of his work. Eyes remained focused on the clock, watching the hand that counted each second make its way around. It seemed to be the only hand on the clock that actually moved, even as he could see minutes pass the other hands remained stationary in his eyes. 

Upon the vampires final words, his desire to 'see what he was dealing with', and the mention of his merit as an artist. Takao's attention was begrudgingly returned to his guest. How ironic, for him to say that as an artist he's important and meaningful to society. Yet prior to this that factor seemed negligible to him, "do intentionally try to pose as a threat to anyone you deem important to society?" His inquiry was very likely to be met with laughter or with no response at all. So he continued speaking. 

"I cannot say I’ve ever met a Takao before." Laurent started up again suddenly, sparing him a glance. "Until now, of course. I don’t much tend to visit Japan very often. I only dropped by this time for some…business I had to attend to. You know, old friends beckon. Contracts expire.” He spoke as if the other understood every word, as if he knew what he’d meant by his ‘business’ here in Japan. Obviously, he was well aware that he wouldn’t know even the beginning of it, but at least he was telling the truth—even if it was rather vague.

"But to be quite honest with you, I haven’t been here since the sixties. And let me tell you, Takao, things have really changed. Far more than I anticipated, actually." He paused, walking silently as if he meant to go straight for him, but instead he took a slight detour into the other’s kitchen. The vampire stopped in the middle of it, taking in a full breath of air before tilting his head to the side so that his eyes zeroed in on whatever the first thing was that caught his attention.

"—Did I also mention that I did not expect to be running into someone like you? I actually planned to leave tonight, but…" He trailed off, the answer being pretty self-explanatory at this point. And not to mention, he was currently focused on his refrigerator, opening it to fully examine its contents. Really, it was all for the sake of curiosity. It wasn’t always that he decided to look through the home of a human. The refrigerator’s contents were nothing less than he had expected. It was filled almost to the brim with food, some of it not very pleasant to look at, much less to smell. Gradually he closed the appliance once again, laughter spilling from his pallid lips almost as soon as he had done so.

"It’s too bad. Full of so many different delicacies, yet, not a single thing to sate a starving vampire.” And now, he was truly just messing around with the poor boy. Laurent was smarter than to present himself on an empty stomach; a stunt like that would be awfully masochistic of himself. Still, he couldn’t deny the very dull burning sensation in his throat…

"—Ah.” The vampire had been just about to head back into the living room when a thought came to mind, bringing himself to a sudden halt. “My, where are my manners? You’ve told me your name and now it seems I’ve forgotten to tell you mine.” He pondered for a moment, regaining his step until he stood at the archway of the kitchen with a smirk on his lips.

Why the hell was he talking so much? He couldn't possibly believe that one cared about his last visit to Japan, that they would sit back and exchange pleasantries? Takao reasoned that there were very likely two reasons he continued to drone on like this. The first was that he likely wished to elicit as much fear as possible through perpetuating his presence here. The second was that he simply must've adored the very sound of his own voice resonating. Both were very likely, if not absolutely true. 

Whilst the vampire lingered about in his kitchen, he'd taken it upon himself to move away from the wall he was previously pressed against. Moving further towards his couch. His mind wrapped around the crippling thought of how this creature had managed to gain entry to his home and that now there was no plausible means of getting rid of him. He was far too weak and slow, as proven in their initial encounter. Which meant that he was trapped, within the confines of his own home ironically enough. Cursed with having to listen to that dreadful voice sounding continuously. 

When the other had commented on the sating of his thirst and the insufficiency of Takao's food supply, he did feel a much lesser version of his aforementioned fear, yet now it was overpowered. Quite frankly it only added fuel to his irritated fire. Leading him to think again about how this guy just kept making these vaguely threatening comments, most likely for the sake of watching him writhe with fear. He sighed, and took a seat on his couch, running a single hand through his hair. As the other emerged now, and formally introduced himself with a name. Something else he didn't care about. 

His expression then turned complacent, gaze directed now at the boy. Perhaps he had to take a different approach to this.

"Would you not find yourself interested in someone whom you’ve found yourself unable to kill?" He paused for a moment, taking a single step in his direction. "Would you not want to find the root cause of what prompted such a behavior—especially when you’ve killed so many before him without the slightest morsel of hesitation?” Another pause. “I believe that in itself should explain more than enough.”

Really, that was only partially the truth—if barely the truth at all. He could have easily said, I’ve been bored for a very long time and have picked you at random to provide me with entertainment, but he deemed that to be simply too dull and dry. Why give him that when he could possibly alter the situation, make it seem much more dramatic than it actually was? That should certainly elicit an amusing reaction.

Again, he took a few steps closer to him, only stopping once he realized there was a question that’d been on his mind for some time. It was probably a bit off topic considering what their conversation up to that point had been about, but the vampire could care less.

Yet again the other began to draw nearer to him, and as if perfunctorily, he drew further. Unfortunately for him, doing so meant that he would find himself stopped by the beam of the archway to his kitchen. All he could hope for is that there would be enough space kept between them so he wasn't completely cornered. His mind was so preoccupied that he'd just barely caught the others seemingly random inquiry. 

"Wha-- my name?" With that his first instinct was to demand why he wanted to know. But his fervor was lost betwixt dismay and he instead began tripping over his words. It was just his name, but something about speaking it was enough to make him anxious. For what did this creature plan to do with such information? What could he do with such information? Or was it just mere curiosity? Perhaps him just being polite (yeah right).

Well he did say that he'd no intentions of hurting me, that is, if he wasn't lying just now. I can't even trust this asshole. Then again how hard would it be for him to find out? I'm not exactly unknown to many around here. And how would he respond if I didn't tell him-- he is a monster after all.