Untitled

…

A nap didn’t sound bad right about now. He was sure that if he closed his eyes longer than a couple of minutes; he would be out like a light. “Planning a nap for the near future right now.” He said honestly. Paul knew that the nap would be the only sleep he would get for tonight as he was on duty tonight and be patrolling. “Don’t know how much help it will be, but I’ll make sure to make it at least two hours long.”

“Sounds like you have some experience in that department.” Deflect, deflect, deflect. Paul didn’t really like mentioning how his life easily slips into a personal hell. Too many moments of things going well and then just tanking immediately after. Though know that he thought about it it was probably not very gentleman of him to direct the conversation to her when it was about him in the beginning. “Hopefully soon it will be over. That’s all I’m hoping.”

there was a part of aranya that envied paul. he got to do all of the things that she couldn't do. eat, sleep and so on. while aranya couldn't do any of those things. if anything, it made her wish she could be human again. "two hours tops should be good enough." she noted. unless he wanted to sleep longer which was probably a better idea. but to each their own. or what ever that saying was.

"oh i do." she very well did have a lot of experience in that department. though some of those things she didn't talk about all that much. "watching my parents grow old while i didn't is one of them." she hated that more than anything. her parents and brother were the three people she missed the most. her brother especially seeing has she had lost track of him over the years. not knowing truly what happened to him. it pained her to not know.  "might be a weird question but do you want to go for a walk?"

🧚‍♀️

AT LEAST, her rejection had been polite. people were so…rude these days. although, alice always extended the benefit of the doubt, even to the crabby ones. “fair enough!” this wasn’t something to push onto somebody else, so they left it at that. alice, of course, didn’t have to worry about health benefits, but that wasn’t a conversation she was going to entertain. “i think it has to do with the burn and the buzz.” they thoughtfully answered, as if there wasn’t a cigarette in her hand. it made her seem shallow, she told the truth, “i’m trying it out as an accessory, some people look so cool when they smoke.” alice then took another drag and turned to the other, dainty smile lighting up her face, “is it working for me?” 

"for some it's the buzz, for others, it's most likely addicting."  that was what she had assumed though. aranya herself would never smoke or do anything like that. to her, smoking wasn't exactly cool. or appealing. "honestly, your sense of style is enough to make you look cool." she pointed out as she looked over at her.  if there was one thing she had noticed first about the other, it was defintley her sense of style. aranya was a fashion designer after all. and noticing one's fashion taste was high on her list.

…

‘Now what?’ his thoughts asked him. He didn’t really think about what would happen if she did stay. Paul just didn’t want her to leave and now that she did; he was lost. He didn’t even know the girl’s name. He ran a hand down his face, of course he would be the one stuck in a situation like this. The lack of sleep, the arrival of vampires, and now this; the universe had to be out to get him. ‘Or maybe this was suppose to be a break from all that.’ That thought had him growling mentally. Even with all the lore about imprints and documentation they have about what it truly meant; they had no clue. Specifically, he had no clue what any of this meant. It was then when the thought crossed his mind, ‘Did she even know what was going on?’ It wasn’t like there was vamp 101 for shapeshifters, the only thing he knew was that if you see then snacking on a human to rip their heads off. 

The question made him realize how bad he must look. He shifted so that he sat bit straighter and puffed his chest out to give the illusion that he wasn’t about to pass out any second. “No, I couldn’t sleep.” The short response was as much as he could give. ‘Thought this was suppose to be easy? Wasn’t that what all the old men used to sing around the campfire or did I miss a session?’ He silently scolded. Paul let out a strained cough before he fixed his response, “I just had a rough night, lifes been a little-y’know.”

"you really should get some sleep." she noted.  the last thing she wanted was for him to pass out from the lack of sleep. despite not needing to sleep herself, she knew how important it was for some people to sleep. and to get a good amount of hours of sleep in too.  "or maybe just take a nap." she suggested. sitting up a bit more in the seat, she didn't know what else to really say. in a sense, this was sort of awkward. especially with not knowing what to really talk about at all. but just being near him was more than enough for her.

"messed up?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "life is like that. everything can be going fine and then all of a sudden, life decides to mess everything up." she knew that all too well. her life had been going well before she was turned. there was nothing she could do about that now. "the only thing you can do when it's like that is work your way through it."

🔮

Nora chuckled and nodded at the other’s comment. “Very true,” it was never something Nora was embarrassed about. Her family didn’t have money, it wasn’t that unusual and if she had ever asked for something new her grandmother would have bent over backwards to provide it, but Nora never was a material person. She’d rather her grandma spend money on her for books or new albums to listen to. Not the trendiest fashions. Grams had a cooler closet to steal from, anyway. “That I can work with,” she smiled, taking another drink of her coffee. She wasn’t sure what help she would be if she were looking at designs for anything of extravagance. At Aranya’s dismissal of food, Nora nodded, understanding. “So… how ‘bout those designs?”

"before i became a fashion designer, i would always buy used clothes. in some cases, i would re design them too." or as it was called, give it an update. with most clothes she got from used clothes stores, it was easy to update them and make them look trendy. setting her pencil down on the table, she turned a few pages back in her sketch book. "i've been thinking about doing a boho chic style for my spring collection next year. i want the clothes to be comfortable too." she noted before turning the book towards nora so she could look at them. "comfortable yet trendy at the same time. i did have some other ideas too."

🔮

As Aranya confirmed that Nora could sit with her, she was eternally grateful as she sat down in front of the other. Nora muttered a small ‘thank you’ and immediately took a sip of her latte, also being eternally grateful for its warming purposes. “Designs?” She asked, her interest piquing, raising her eyebrows and shifting her gaze to the sketchbook on the table to see if she could get an early sneak peek. “I have to forewarn you I’m not exactly the most fashionable,” or at least, Nora didn’t have the means to be. Most of her clothing were either thrift finds around town, hand me downs from her grandma, and some things of her mom’s she had kept. Taking a bite from her pastry, a cheese danish, she covered her mouth to keep herself from looking impolite as she spoke. “Oh! Would you like a bite?”

"not the most fashionable?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. "something tells me you've never got yourself new clothes before." maybe she was wrong, but it was a feeling she had. despite that feeling, she never wanted to assume anything until the person said so themselves.  "i usually tend to make clothes that are more on the comfortable side. so it's fine." she never did like fancy dresses or suits. even if she did design a few them with each collection she did.  at the mention of the food she had, she shook her head. "i'll pass. i'm not really hungry at the moment."

He ignored the comment about the food. His appetite for once was long gone which was weird as it usually was an endless pit since he started shifting. The alarm bells that set off were also ignored.  He footing shifted as he stood there, the bundle of nerves that he could feel gathering; bursting. Paul thoughts jumping from ‘if she leaves is that it?’ to ‘maybe he should just let her leave?’. He never hated his inner thoughts more than in this moment. The reality was that he didn’t want her to leave, but it was like his genetics were ripping themselves apart on what to do. He didn’t trust his own words, but he also didn’t move from where he stood, “Stay…” The rushed harsh undertone made the word come out more as a demand than a suggestions causing him to flinch, “please.” Paul added on. 

he really did want her to stay.  placing her book back down on the table, she sat back down on the seat.  a million thoughts raced through her head. would she had seen him again if he hadn't wanted her to stay? truthfully, that wasn't something she wanted to think about.   she wanted to see him again. which was strange for her.  there was something about him that drew her in. and she couldn't figure out what it was exactly.  looking at him again, she couldn't help but to notice the lack of sleep it seemed he had gotten.  maybe others wouldn't have noticed, but she did. "did you get any sleep last night?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

His eyes followed her hand and just noticed the sketchbook that had in front of her. ‘That does make more sense now.’ He thought, but his pride was held to high to let her know that he was too busy in his thoughts and being ignored than the answer simply being that she was busy.  “You wouldn’t be able to get it if you tried.” ‘Did he just tease her back?’ Paul internally scowled at the realization. It barely been any time and he was already treating her as though he forgot what she was. ‘if you want me to leave just say so.’ That sentence triggered something inside him. he still was confused as to what all of this was and it wasn’t like he could just go ask someone about it. No one else that he knew so far at his type of situation. but whatever it triggered, it was strong enough to have him stand up with her. The rubbing of the wooden chair and the floor was louder than intended, but he ignored it as he reached out to stop her from leaving. “Wait, you don’t have to go.” 

"part of me is actually jealous of you. feel free to eat another one for me." that was what she missed the most about being human. the food and drinks. she missed those days of eating her mothers home cooked meals.  grabbing her sketch book as she stood up, she truthfully didn't expect him to stand up too.  the words though that came from him surprised her the most.  did he actually want her to stay?  standing there, she couldn't help but to gaze at him.  was almost expected him to let her leave. "so, you want me to stay then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. if he really wanted her to stay, she would. she wouldn't walk off if that was what he really wanted. "i'll stay ifyou really want me too."

🔮

Nora had learned early on in life that cafes were always gonna be crowded, at least in Seattle. They were known for their coffee, after all! Most days, Nora didn’t even fiddle with trying to get coffee at a cafe, but on this particular day when she had nothing to do, it seemed like it was a good idea to grab a latte, a pastry, and people watch. She did just that, but it didn’t take long for Nora to notice that after she received her drink and food that there that most of the seats were filled. 

Never one to stray away from meeting a new face though, Nora picked the friendliest face and made her way over, attempting to get the girl’s attention. Of course she seemed more focused on her work rather than some grungy young adult waving her over and Nora was ready to tuck her tail and move onto the second friendliest face. Luckily, Aranya finally looked up. “Oh, I was just asking if I could sit with you? It’s a little….” she trailed off, motioning to the filled seats. “Crowded,” she completed the sentence before following up with, “I promise I won’t be a total nuisance!”

she honestly should have been paying attention. but getting lost in her thoughts had become common. especially when she was working on designs. setting her pencil down, she smiled a bit. "it's fine, you can sit here." she didn't mind if anyone sat there. especially with how crowded it was. she understood  how hard it was finding a place to sit. she wasn't like some people who wanted the table to themselves.  "i don't mind you sitting here at all. plus, it means i can ask you for some feedback on a few designs i'm working on." she noted. getting feedback from at least one person would be nice too.

He was sweating, uncomfortable, and overall confused. He hadn’t been able to get any sleep the past couple of nights and his runs weren’t doing anything to help. It was the tugging in his stomach that left him staring at his ceiling and the annoying pull that had him gravitating towards civilization rather than running deeper into the woods. The thick winter coat he wore was amplifying his natural body heat; if anyone would look closer the boy would appear sick from how red his face was. 

Paul escaped into a cafe in hopes of shedding the jacket and possibly grabbing a few muffins while he cooled off. Finding a table in the corner, he slipped the jacket off and opened his first muffin. Maybe the muffin was that good to where he didn’t notice the female that sat across from him or maybe his ancestors pulled some strings to where he wouldn’t notice her sitting until the last minute. It was the familiar tug in his gut that had his eyes wandering towards the door and then the scent registered. Vampire. But with his luck not just any vampire. “This is a joke, right?” The muffin he held dropped onto the paper that it was held in and he just stared at the person who took it upon themselves to sit in front of him. No response. ‘This has to be a sick joke.’ He thought as he just stared. Deep down Paul wanted her to look at him and see if maybe it was a fluke, but he also wanted to slip away unnoticed. The former won. “You just gonna steal the seat at my table and then not acknowledge me?” 

maybe she should have paid attention to where she was sitting. or better yet, who she was sitting across from. she never expected to run into him again.  but this was seattle. even if the city was big, it was still possible to run into someone again. "to be fair, i was working on something." she pointed out. was it not obvious with the sketch book she had been looking down at. closing the book, she placed down the pencil she had in her hand. "at least i didn't steal your muffin." she teased as a small smile formed on her lips. did the muffin look good? absolutely. if she was human, she would have gotten one.   "if you want me to leave, just say so." she spoke, standing up from the chair. did she want to stay and talk to him? yes. but if she wasn't welcomed there, she wouldn't hesitate to move to a different table, or leave the cafe all together.

TOBACCO HAD BEEN THE CRAZE for as long as alice could remember and for a one-hundred-and-twenty year old vampire, it was a miracle they had yet to pucker their lips around a cigarette. posted up on a wall with her very on pack of american spirit’s, she took a drag, coughed curiously, then shook her head. without verifying who was beside her, they asserted that, “you know…these really aren’t as good or as glamourous as i thought they might be.” a shrug, maybe it was a vamp thing. “oh well.” they should’ve guessed it. alice proceeded to take another puff, then turned to the person standing beside her, “want some?” 

eyes looking down at her sketch book, aranya had tuned out almost everyone near her. mainly due to her wanting to concentrate on what she was doing. though after a few minutes, she snapped out of that, raising an eyebrow, she looked over at the female who had asked her a question. "no thank you. " she replied . "i honestly don't get why some people like smoking. doesn't exactly seem healthy."