[Jaykobell]

The pale, young woman threw out some garbage as she started to settle down for the night. It was a bit of a ritual every night, where she would shut off her electronics, get her things ready for the next day, and then get rid of some stray papers or debris before finally going to bed. While she wasn't exactly one for routine, it was just a series of events that had settled into her life, as it were.

One would think that taking care of her large mansion-like house in the quiet, calm outskirts of Lamenolai — all thanks to her father, of course — would be impossible for just one person to keep clean, but the woman's mansion was surprisingly clean from top to bottom. Perhaps the fact that she lived alone, with no children or boyfriend, was why there was little mess to clean up. Instead, the house was filled with prestigious items, from rare paintings to unusual display items such as vases, sculptures, and many more. It had a feel that mixed both ancient and modern into one; one factor that helped with the former was the thin layer of dust on the said items. They weren't disturbed all that often. The young woman lived alone in her mansion, with the occasional visit from her older brother. Otherwise, she had all that space to herself, and for whatever or whoever she saw fit.

There wasn't even any security for the mansion: she had no need for it, really. She didn't bother to lock the windows or install a security system, whether electronically or by hiring bodyguards. Lamenolai was extremely quiet in these parts, and the town was populated by equally rich citizens who had no need to come pilfering her own mansion.

As the night started to settle, stars shining with the moon in the sky, the woman took one last quick look around the floor to make sure everything was order for the night. Once she was satisfied with the state of things, she slowly headed for her room, where a massive king-sized bed sat against the back wall, right in the middle. This, too, was a large bed that only welcomed one person, despite the fact it could accommodate about three people.

She sat on the side of her bed and slipped off her slippers before laying down and pulling the covers over her shoulders. She shivered a little, with winter slowly rearing its head; still, her long nightgown would be enough to keep her warm for the night, once she was truly settled in.

With a relieved and long sigh, she put her head against the pillow, closed her eyes, and let herself relax to sleep.

[zapdragon555]

Lamenolai was not Dukhaan's territory. First off, it was way too quiet. Scary quiet.
The quiet of complacency, of comfort... and of all these damn rich people.

Dukhaan stayed in the shadows of the mansion, his heart hammering fast in his chest. This was different than where he lived. Where he was from, if you stole, you'd get shot. Plain and simple. Easy. And it was safer, because there wasn't anything good to steal anyway. But here... even in the outskirts of Lamenolai, there was danger. Where it wasn't just blank countryside, it was people wanting to throw you in prison. Dukhaan couldn't handle prison. Death, sure. Locked up in a confined area for years on end? No. All aboard the train to fuck that ville.

So that was exactly why he wasn't going to mess up. He was armed, first off... no, not with a gun. Dukhaan's mom didn't have any guns in the house, and never wanted them. Too dangerous, with Jadyr coming around so much... So Dukhaan had taken a knife from the kitchen instead. It was pretty dull, but... maybe it would be good for something. Not that Dukhaan wanted to kill anyone. He really didn't, honestly.

But he also didn't want to die. Or go to jail. Scratch everything he said before about being okay with dying. Dukhaan really wasn't okay with dying. Oh, god, he should just go home. Forget this. They can pay bills some other way, just save up a little more, it'll be fine. Oh, just grow a pair and go in there...!

Steeling himself to any further conflicting thoughts, Dukhaan ran up to the mansion on light feet, gritting his teeth to keep his breathing as controlled as possible. He held his breath as he approached the window, staring at it like it was a snake, as if it were going to bite him. Rich people usually had alarms. Were there alarms? Would it go off if he touched the window...? Dukhaan swallowed, trying to fight back the creeping fear in his throat, and he reached out to gently touch the window with his fingertips...

Well. So far, so good. Dukhaan let out a breath of air, pressing his palm to the cool glass of the window, then squinted at it. How to get in... how to get in... Breaking it would be a bad idea. And he couldn't even hope to cut the glass with his knife. Maybe one of them was open... though, that would be silly. It was almost winter, after all... Dukhaan's shaking fingers could attest to that. He should've had the thought to bring more than just his thin zip up jacket.

Wait a second. Dukhaan blinked, pressing on the window, then found the bottom of it and lifted upwards, nearly gasping out loud as it slid open. Just like that. Unlocked? Really? Dukhaan stared at the open space incredulously, then sniffed and carefully climbed in, his feet silent on the wooden floor... until it creaked, and he hissed air through his teeth in a sharp curse, already losing his balance and thumping to the floor with a grunt.

[Long ass post pfft sorry about that, the rest will be a lot shorter probably. x'D]

[Jaykobell]

Every night, it was the same routine. Turn off things, prepare other things, throw away things, and then sleep. Then she would wake up the next day, get dressed, and spend her day however she felt like it. Considering the richness of her parents, especially her father, there was honestly no need for her to work. Still, when she felt lonely or just bored, she often offered her services for some volunteer work.

Yes, everything was relatively the same every day, give or take.

When she heard one of her windows opening, it did prompt her to open her eyes. Since she was facing the other side of her room, however, she just assumed it had been a bad gust of wind. It wasn't unusual for the weather to pull tricks on her during this time of year, when it got extremely windy and unpredictable. After a few seconds of silence, she sighed and slowly lulled herself back to sleep, closing her eyes again.

And then the noises continued as she heard the floor hiss with a loud creak. That, however, was a noise she didn't usually hear, regardless of season. If her brother or anyone from her family were staying home, then she had no reason to worry: they would get up during the night for various reasons, and this being an old mansion, the floors, walls and doors creaked often. The thing was that no one was visiting her at that time.

Her reaction was unlike that of a regular human, which probably would've been to stay in bed, still, hoping that whatever had wandered in would wander back out. She, however, had absolutely no fear for whatever she would find in her room, be it an animal or a human, and she walked around her bed and towards her window with no fear in the back of her mind.

Still, she was surprised to find a young human male there, sprawled on her floor. She blinked bright blood-red eyes at the thief, putting a hang to her mouth. "Oh, my... Are you okay?" she asked with a soft, quiet voice, sounding genuinely concerned for the well-being of this stranger. It was only a few solid seconds later that she realized this was the most inappropriate thing she could've asked. "Oh, I mean... What are you doing in my house? Did... Did you get in from the window?" Better, but there was plenty of room for improvement. Regardless, she lacked any fear a normal human would've experienced, had they found a burglar right in their bedroom.

[zapdragon555]

That was a voice. There was someone in the room, holy-- "Shit!" Dukhaan gasped softly, scrambling into a sitting position and pressing his back to the wall, the windowsill just above his head. "Shit--I mean--oh, god, okay... okay, lady, um... I-I mean Miss..." Dukhaan's words stumbled and fell all over each other, his posture seeming to shrink under her red eyes. Despite their kindness, and odd color, Dukhaan saw only a scathing stare, and he quickly defaulted into old tactics, raising his hands in a gesture of peace and smiling as friendly as he could, which just came out in a twisted nervousness. "Uhhh... well, y-ya see, Miss... I," he paused to clear his throat, willing his voice to stop trembling. "I did come through the window. Yup. You are a hundred percent right, there. As for why I'm here..." Dukhaan mumbled, one hand on the windowsill, his weight shifting as he slowly began to get to his feet. Maybe if he stalled her long enough, he could make a break for it...

"Ow--fuck!" Dukhaan hissed, a spike of pain shooting up his leg from his ankle, and he quickly sat down again, biting back a sting of curse words. "Sorry--ugh..." he muttered, staring at his ankle, then back to the woman, eyes flashing with fear. He couldn't walk. He must have twisted his ankle... Oh, god, he couldn't walk, he was going to jail, he was definitely going to jail...!

[Jaykobell]

When the stranger realized that she'd caught him red-handed and started swearing, she jumped just a little, mostly out of surprise. Admittedly, she hadn't expected him to react so surprised, either, considering he was the one trying to break in — or so she could only assume. If he just needed help, like using the bathroom or the phone, he could've knocked on the front door, right?

She had little chance to place in a word of her own as the burglar tried to explain himself. His reaction wasn't what she'd expected from him, as he tried his best to look harmless and friendly. His language wasn't the most eloquent, but she didn't mind the swearing, honestly; though his stuttering and his uncertainty sometimes made it a bit difficult to really understand what he was trying to say. Although, he did confirm that he'd come in through the window.

She jumped a little again when he yelled in pain from trying to get up. It seemed like her initial question hadn't been so wrong, after all, as the thief experienced what seemed like an awful pain in his legs. "Ah! Are you okay?" she asked a second time, although she felt more comfortable this time around. "Did you hurt yourself getting in through the window?" Slowly, she started approaching the thief. If he was injured, then she would be able to help him. She had a lot of things to help with injuries and illnesses in this massive mansion, and letting this thief go while he was injured would just be terrible for his legs — or whichever part of his body was injured. "I could've opened the door if you'd knocked or rang the bell."

She went as close as she possibly could, bending down just a little and stretching out her arms in order to reach for his legs. "Where does it hurt?"

[zapdragon555]

Dukhaan was so busy trying to keep the tears out of his eyes that he didn't notice her coming closer until he could see her arms reach for his legs, and he drew in a sharp breath, his hand flying to the inside of his jacket and pulling out a knife, jamming it in her direction threateningly. "Hey! Don't touch me, lady!" he snarled, trying to shuffle further away, pressing up against the wall. He gripped the knife, the tip of it visibly shaking with nervousness. "I-I can hurt you, okay? So don't touch me!"

It didn't immediately occur to him that this woman could indeed be completely harmless, and in fact genuinely wanting to help. Rich people were never genuine, Dukhaan thought. Always some ulterior motive. At least, that's what most people said. And at least, that's how Jadyr was. Dukhaan scowled, gritting his teeth and wincing audibly as another wave of pain washed over his leg, and he nearly dropped the knife, one hand going to barely touch his ankle. "Ah, christ..." he breathed, his face pale. How on earth was he going to get out of this...

[Jaykobell]

She stopped in her tracks when the thief pulled out a knife, backing up just a little. She put her hands over her chest, palms facing him, but mostly just to tell him she meant him no harm. The knife had been unexpected, but that also wasn't quite enough to scare her. The way the thief acted, he looked like a scared, defenseless animal who was trying to survive, trying to scare others away because of his injury. "Oh, there's no need for that," she whispered, though she gave the thief a bit more time in order for him to gather his thoughts, and so he could realize, on his own, that she wasn't a threat to him. Not to mention, the way he spoke cemented the thought that he didn't sound or look that menacing, regardless of what he had been trying to do.

When he nearly dropped the knife from the pain, the pale woman kneeled in front of him and tried to go for his legs again, although her hands stopped short of them. She didn't want to frighten him again; although getting stabbed by the knife wasn't really that much of a problem to her - she'd cut herself enough times cooking food! - she preferred to avoid that pain. "Where does it hurt? I can help you," she asked him, and although her red eyes could be considered a little unsettling, her voice hid nothing malicious nor any ulterior motives.

[zapdragon555]

Dukhaan hissed air in and out through his teeth as he tried to meet her eyes with defiance, but it quickly faltered, his golden eyes flickering with pained tears. "M...my ankle," he muttered, glancing away, his knife gripped so hard in his hand his knuckles were tinted with white. He flicked his eyes back to hers, and tensed, realizing they were a bright red, and a thump of fear made him sit up straighter. "Um--w-what're you gonna do to me?" he asked, his voice rising in volume slightly, as if it would make himself look bigger or tougher.

Slowly, he lowered the knife, but kept his hand on it as he shifted his leg a bit closer to her, wincing. At least, he figured, rich people weren't savages or anything. She wouldn't cut off his leg, and probably wouldn't hurt it any worse... besides, she looked kind enough. Not because she was a girl--no, Fradzita had kicked his ass many times over, as much as he hated to remember such a thing--but because of her soft voice, her eyes filled with an earnestness that Dukhaan was not accustomed to.

[Jaykobell]

She could see the thief struggling to accept her help, though she couldn't quite tell why. Well, he had broken into her home; it was probably weird, getting help from the person you were about to rob. That didn't really worry her at all, though, to be honest.

After a bit of patient coaxing, he finally dropped his guard down enough to answer her question. When he said that his ankle was hurting, she immediately assumed that he'd sprained it getting in through the window. He'd been fine initially, and she couldn't imagine him having broken it, given the circumstances. Had he broken his foot, it would've either been bleeding, or it would've been positioned at an awkward angle. He could still move his legs, too, so it was very likely that it was just sprained. "Oh, don't be silly: I just want to help you," she assured him, putting one hand over her chest, just to show she was telling the truth. "You're hurt, so I can't just leave you like this."

She could tell he had a hard time maintaining eye contact with her, but at least it sounded like he was willing to cooperate with her, going so far as to lower the knife. He even stretched his legs a little closer to her, which was definitely appreciated. "From the sound of it, you probably sprained your ankle," she pointed out, and she put her hands on the foot that seemed to be tormenting him. "I'll need to take off your shoes if you want me to take a good look, though. Is that okay?" She was barely applying any pressure on his foot, though she was clearly ready to take it off so she could see the extent of his sprain better. He would need to be barefoot for her to take care of his sprain, either way. That knife was still in his hand, and he still looked somewhat wary, though, so she preferred to ask before doing anything to him.

[zapdragon555]

Dukhaan blinked, the woman's voice having lulled him into something like calmness, but as she reached for his shoes he tensed again, golden eyes flashing. "Don't," he started, then paused, trailing off and blinking. "Oh... agh... I mean... yeah, go ahead, but... but give them to me. The shoes," he quickly added, tilting his chin up slightly, as if to appear more confident. Of course, no confidence could cover up the fact that he was genuinely worried she might steal his shoes. His mother paid good money for those a few years ago and there was no way Dukhaan was losing them, over his dead body.

Dukhaan glanced away for a moment, shifting against the wall, and his grip around the knife loosened so that he could lightly fiddle with it in his hands as she worked. "So... er... ma'am," he began, poking the tip of his finger with the dull knife point, frowning at the tiny acute pain in his fingertip. At least it was a distraction, and it kept him grounded to the present, kept him from panicking too much that he was going to have trouble walking and, indeed, would have trouble getting home. "...Why exactly are you helping me, anyway?"

[Jaykobell]

She blinked when he hesitated over the shoes, even clearly tensing up as she reached for them. Initially, she thought it was because he was in pain, and that he was afraid he would be in even more pain if she forced his shoes off. She was surprised, then, when he clarified that he just wanted her to give them back to him. "Oh, silly, you don't have to worry about that. I already have enough shoes to last me a lifetime," she told him, tilting her head and giving him a small sheepish smile. "You don't seem to be my size, anyway," she added, grinning a little bit at him, just to try to lighten his mood. It was then, when she showed her teeth, that something else stood out about her besides her pale, almost-white skin: a small pair of sharp, long, and pointy canines.

But there was no time for that, as she started gently getting his shoes off his feet. If he'd sprained his ankle, then she would need to put ice on it to help with the swelling, if any; and doing that with his shoes and socks on wouldn't work at all. She started by untying and loosening his shoes, making sure that she wouldn't need to literally force them off his feet.

While she was doing that, the thief went on to talk to her a little more. She stopped what she was doing to look up at him, noticing he was prickling his finger to the tip of that knife. At that moment, she immediately knew that he was nervous, and it further cemented the fact that this boy looked and sounded nothing like a savage, heartless thief. She hesitated for a second in answering him, passively staring at his nervous tick before answering him. When she did so, she looked back up at him, she smiled at him again — and it felt like there was something in that smile that wasn't there earlier. "I told you: you're injured, so I can't just leave you like that," she answered, smiling a bit more before returning to his shoes. "You sound like a nice boy," she added, getting ready to finally take off his shoes. "I'm sure you had a reason for breaking into my house."

She paused for a second, and then she looked back up at him. "I'm about to take off your shoes, okay? It might hurt a little bit," she warned him, as she would inevitably have to move his feet in order to take the shoes off. With that warning given, and with a few extra seconds for him to steal himself, she went on to gingerly and gently slip off his shoes off his feet, one at a time.

[Hahahahahah homg Elanor you're bordering Mary Sue territory stoooooooop. :,0 But I swear there's a reason why she's literally not afraid of anything. And actually WE NEED TO TALK PLOT THINGS... I will be invading your inbox shortly.]

[zapdragon555]

Dukhaan seemed to relax somewhat at her assurance, and he sighed through his nose, deflating a little. "Yeah, alright. Thanks," he muttered softly, his expression far from hostile anymore but also not quite friendly. He blinked once, then looked up at her face as she smiled, and he didn't seem to register what he saw straight away. At the moment he was far too distracted by how of her rocker this girl must be to think he had a 'good reason' for breaking into her house. Like, yeah, he did, but that didn't mean she was supposed to know that. Or think that. Ever. In all honesty it just gave Dukhaan the creeps; no one was this nice without some ulterior motive...

And then she smiled at him again, and he really caught it this time. "W-what the fuck!" he cried, jumping like some wounded animal, nearly smacking his head square on the wall and missing it by a breath of air. "Oh, jesus, your teeth. What, um. God, okay, uhhh y-you have weird teeth, I mean, that's rude but. Um." Dukhaan stopped short, trying to figure out what he was saying, trying to figure out if he'd seen it right. "Um. Uh... are... a-are they supposed to look like that?"

[Jaykobell]

While things seemed to be going a little bit better between them — as awkward as their meeting had been, and continued to be — it somewhat took a bad turn when the thief literally jumped in fear. Even the woman was caught off guard then, letting go of his shoes and jumping just a little from his own cry. Had she hurt him? She'd made sure to be as slow and as careful as possible while handling his shoes, but maybe his ankle was really that badly sprained?

It took her a few solid seconds of dumbfounded silence for her to truly understand his words about her teeth. "My teeth?" she echoed, and, still a little confused, she brought a hand to her teeth to know what had unsettled him so much. It was only when he asked if they were supposed to look that way, and once she'd touched and felt her longer canines, that she realized what had scared him so suddenly. "Oh..." She closed her mouth and put a hand over her face, hiding her mouth. She hesitated to give him an answer, considering how he'd reacted.

"Have you..." she started quickly, her voice muffled behind her hand. "Have you not seen a vampire before?" she added, putting her hand down and resting both of them over her thighs. As young as she looked, she'd already been alive for quite some time: much, much longer than any regular mortal human. She did think that vampires were well-known in society, enough that even those who'd never met them didn't react this way.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, genuinely regretting the fright she'd given the thief. "I don't think about how I look anymore. I didn't mean to scare you." She'd smiled and showed those canines to many a person in her lifetime, and she would certainly continue to do so; but few and very, very far between were those who had reacted so terrifyingly to her appearance.

[zapdragon555]

Vampire. Vampire. ...Riiiiight.

"Aha... ahahaha, oh geez lady, ok, you got me good," Dukhaan said with a shaky grin, seeming to deflate against the wall. Nevermind how genuine the woman seemed to be; clearly she just wanted a good laugh. That was why she didn't freak out when he fell in, she was just waiting for someone to scare. "I'll admit, those look pretty real," he said, brightening a little. "Though, you know, October's been over for... for awhile now. So, like..." Dukhaan trailed off, peering at her face for a moment, then swallowed, a little nervous-looking.

"Damn, those look real, though," he mused, repeating himself, settling back against the wall and shifting his leg just a bit to indicate she could continue with whatever she was going to do to his ankle, an easy smile on his face. "You didn't scare me much though. Don't even worry 'bout it. I gotta commend you on the prank, though."

[Jaykobell]

Two options presented themselves to the woman, at that point: either she could play along with the fact it had been a prank; or she could insist that she was telling the truth. It wasn't uncommon for the children to be mesmerized and even amazed to be meeting a vampire. Adults, though, all reacted differently, since they were more aware, typically. Admittedly, denial was a reaction she'd gotten before.

She never really knew how to insist that she was telling the truth about her origins. Vampires were known for biting and drinking blood, but that wasn't quite the best way to show her roots. The little thief was already nervous and wary enough; she didn't want him to think she'd been leading him along this whole thing by making him believe it had all been a "prank".

She smiled nervously at him, the canines showing up again, against that pale, almost-white skin and those red eyes that looked just ever so slightly different from those of a normal human's. Her smile, this time, looked more embarrassed than anything else. "It's... not a prank, though," she said simply, but that was all she had to argue with him. She tilted her head and rubbed the back of her neck. "But I can't really show you besides biting you..." Which, of course, the thief wouldn't let happen; admittedly, she wouldn't like to be bitten, either.

"Oh! Instead..." The idea came to her like a flash. Yes, humans didn't like being bitten, but for the sake of showing the child... She could just bite herself. "Let me show you." She opened her mouth and brought her arm to it, the canines just hovering right over the flesh. And then, the pair went down, sinking right into the skin, breaking it and getting blood to ooze out just ever so slightly. An unusually bright red blood trickled down her arm slowly, and when she pulled out the teeth, the canines were stained with that same color.

"See?" she asked, showing the thief the bite marks. Anyone would've find it alarming for her to now have two small holes deep into her arm, but she wasn't worried. After just a few seconds, the blood stopped leaking and the holes started to scar and heal; and before long, it looked like nothing had even broken through the skin of her arm. "They're not fake. I'm a vampire," she added, stating something so surreal as just another fact of life.