((The night after Mistress Home Alone))

Guy sighed as he walked down the street. He hadn't yet fed for the night, which was the point of being in this particular part of town. It was know as the Fang Strip, IE the place where anyone wanting to be vampire food went to search fro their fix. He shook his head. It wasn't the prettiest part of town.

"Do these people have no sense whatsoever at all?"

It had been a long time since it had rained in this part of town. Even being near the ocean, the water in the clouds had refused to fall until now. Little droplets of water fell from the sky, leaving large puddles on the sidewalk near the Fang Strip. Everyone was filing out from the rain and into one of the clubs around this place. Everyone, except for a single wereleopard who was sitting in an alleyway, waiting for nothing in particular.

It had been almost three years since he had been attacked by the wereleopard, and he still wasn't used to the stange new feelings that came with the new form. The wereleopard that had bitten him hadn't even stayed to help him with what had happened. He had left Pierre to fend for himself, and if he killed people, then he did. He was gone now, though, and there wasn't any use in worrying about what had already happened. He had, only soon after being bit, made up his mind, though, that he would just run his life as usual . . . and hope he didn’t kill anyone by ignoring what had happened.

Sighing, Pierre looked up into the sky, letting the rain fall down onto his face, and drip down his chin. He didn’t notice the vampire standing not twenty feet away from him. He never noticed anyone these days, only people that he needed. Which were, counting all of them: drug dealers and people with money that he could get from them.

Guy frowned as the light rain started to fall. He was given to understand that Miami normally received abundant rainfall so he had ventured out with an umbrella. He frowned slightly as he opened it. He really didn't want to have to go into one of the clubs in the area. They really didn't look like the kinds of establishment to have the class to be enjoyable for him.

His thought was cut as he noticed a young male just sitting in the rain. Guy frowned even harder. He felt the slight swirl of energy around him that indicated lycanthrope. He wondered what the poor boy should be doing out in the rain. He moved to stand beside the lycan and held the umbrella over the lycan. "Shouldn't you get inside, mi piccolo*?"


OOC:
* mi piccolo = my little one

Pierre blinked and looked up at the man standing above him. He looked kind as he held the umbrella over him, letting the rain miss the lycanthrope that was sitting on the ground. Of course, it really didn’t do much good, as he was already wet, but Pierre thanked him anyway. He stood up, and ran out his navy blue button-up shirt out. It and his jeans were only slightly wet after he got done, and he looked up at the man.

Pierre didn’t really understand what the last part had been, though he suspected it to be something in French . . . or maybe Italian. Shrugging it off, he sighed and pulled his arms into crossing in front of his chest. “I can’t go inside,” he said in a small voice, “I don’t think they would appreciate it if a soaked teenager walked into their club. Pierre looked over to the door of the club, and then turned back to the man, stealing a glance from his eyes. They were dark, even so to where he could barely tell the iris from the pupil. In comparison to his bright green and brown eyes, his were dark holes. Pierre blinked, bringing him back to reality as he cleared his throat. “I’m fine.”

Guy blinked at the boy in front of him. Upon listening to him, he grew concerned, and assumed the boy was underaged. "Teenager? What in the world is a child doing in this part of the city? You should be at home, in bed. Then again, maybe that's my age speaking."

Guy winced as the boy met his gaze and clamped his power very hard. He didn't want to scare the boy by rolling him. He smiled, and tried to appear as harmless as possible as he held out his free hand to Pierre. "At any rate, I may be immune to pathogens, but I still don't want to stand in the rain all night. I am Galeno, or Guy if you prefer."

Pierre started at the man for a few moments. Immune? he asked himself. And his eyes... this power... The wereleopard had known that this man had to have been of a supernatural race, but he didn’t think that he was a vampire. Pierre’s eyes widened as he quickly looked down at the ground, studying his town converse. He had looked a vampire straight in the eye. He could have been rolled, or bitten, or killed. The boy wanted to hit his forehead, but thought better of it in the presence of the older man.

He smiled, a quick twitch of the lips as he took the man’s hand in his. It was true. His skin was hard and cold, and yet soft. He felt no pulse as he shook hands with Guy. He had never really met a vampire before. Not many people in general were very interested in talking to a homeless teenager with raging hormones and even worse attitude. “You should go inside then, if you want,” he said, making no move to join the man, and forgetting that he had to let go of his hand before he could leave.

Guy shook his head at Pierre as the young man look down. "You need not fear me. It is against the human laws for me to use vampire trickery to feed, and further it is unlawful for me to feed on anyone underaged." He assumed that "teenager" meant underaged, but he wasn't used to American terminology.

He tightened his grip a little on the boy's arm as he attempted to pull the boy to his feet. He smiled again at the young man. "Perhaps, I wasn't clear. That was an invitation for us both to move someplace dry. I passed a delightful looking all night coffee establishment a block or so back."

“Underaged?” Pierre asked, looking up at the man’s face. He didn’t meet his eyes, but let his eyesight fall on his lips. Looking at his nose would have been too close for comfort, and looking any lower, then he would know for sure that Pierre still didn’t trust him. “But, sir, I’m nineteen,” he said, trying to sound less matter-of-factly than a normal nineteen year old would. To a vampire, he didn’t want to show being an annoying little teenager. That would only result in something he didn’t want to fathom.

The vampire then brought him to stand, with a firm grip on his skinny arm. He didn’t struggle, but he was getting a bit cautious around the vampire. Why would someone care if he was getting wet or not? It wasn’t like it was hurting him. Shaking his head, he sighed lightly. He really did want to go with Guy, but he wasn’t sure if it would impose or not. “I don’t know. I’ll drip water everywhere. . .” he said uncertainly.

Guy noticed that the young lycanthrope wouldn't meet his eyes any longer. That stung him slightly that the man would be that afraid of him still. Upon hearing his age he smiled a little more. He may get a meal out of the boy, but more than that, he was truly worried.

"Don't be absurd, mi piccolo. Anyone who goes in now would be wet. But, I will not press the matter." His smile slipped into his blank face of mild interest. He began to turn away from the young man, "I would, however, enjoy company. If I may ask, what species of are you?"

Pierre smiled as he saw the fine smile that formed on the mouth of the vampire. He was happy about something, and, for some reason, it made Pierre a bit happy himself. At least Guy had ceased to ask him to go into the café soaking wet. If he had learned anything while in the orphanage during his life, it was to have manners. Certainly he was more wet than another person who actually had an umbrella. He had actually been sitting out in the rain.

Pierre let out a questioning glance as the vampire in front of him put on a blank face, not smiling anymore. Had he done something wrong? Certainly not. He looked up and into Guy’s eyes. Maybe it would be okay to trust this man. “I’m a wereleopard,” he said. His glance turned to look up at the umbrella. “And . . . we could go for a walk, I guess.” He cursed himself mentally for blushing at the last part, looking down, and shoving his hands in his pockets.

Guy's face moved back into a true smile when the lycan met his eyes. Perhaps this wouldn't come back to kick him in the derrière too badly. He started walking again standing rather too close to the lycan but not wanting either of them to be out from under his only moderately sized umbrella.

"A leopard? That's very interesting. I'm given to understand that your Nimir-Ra for this city is both a powerful and kind woman. In which direction should we direct our walk?"

Pierre kept his hands in his pockets as the two started walking together under the medium-sized umbrella. He noticed, soon after they started walking, that a few drops of rain were still hitting his shoulder from dripping off of the tips of the umbrella. He frowned and moved closer to the vampire, succeeding in getting out of the rain. He was, though, extremely close to Guy, close enough that, if he tried, he would be able to see the true color of his eyes. In which, he did.

The vampire’s eyes were not black, but a very dark brown, like Pierre’s hair. He blushed a bit and turned to look in front of them, as not to trip over some random thing on the sidewalk and embarrass him more. He nodded, and brought his hand up to the nape of his neck, rubbing it a bit. “I don’t care,” he said, answering the last question that the vampire shot at him, “I really don’t have anywhere to go. So, I guess you can choose.”

Guy noticed the young leopard move closer to him and bliush. Guy had had 275 years of life to learn human emotions and years in the rpesence of Belle Morte to know of sexuality. He contemplated for several moments and did the only thing he could think of to try and put the leopard at ease. He shifted the umbrella to his left hand and slids his right around the other man allowing him to come as close as reasonably possible without appearing to be more than it was.

"We are both cold and you are wet micino," he said out loud, although his inner voiice, the blood lust was saying 'he's interested, and probably yummy.' He have his blood lust the mental equivalent of the glare it deserved. As a master vampire he could rule himself, and as a human and a man, he was more concerned about the man plastered to his side than feeding. He looked down at the young man and pulled himm off in the direction of the tourist area of the club strips.

Pierre’s eyes widened as the vampire pulled him closer to get under the umbrella better. At least this way he wasn’t getting his shoulder wet anymore. Though, he was blushing so hard at this very moment that his face was as read as a tomato. And, for some reason, as he leaned on the vampire, he felt a bit of heat. Vampire’s aren’t supposed to be hot. Well... not in that context. Whether it was him or the vampire, he didn’t know, but it felt good.

As the vampire spoke, Pierre could feel himself growing even hotter. He didn’t know what the vampire could have done to make him feel this way, but he knew that he couldn’t find it in himself to say anything back. He merely nodded.

((Ugga... that was short))

Guy took note of the embarassment of the smaller man. He laughed openly as he made one the few truly human gestures he still had, a simple shoulder squeeze. "You are embarassed little one. I've had nearly 3 centuries of practice in being inoffensive and neutral and yet the simplest of gestures from me embarasses you. What is wrong Micino?"

Guy did a mental double take on himself. The young leopard was close enough he could simply drop his shields and let his power tell him everything about the young man's life. As if on que, his power came to the thought, but he pushed it back inside his pools of water but not before he caught a quick glimpse inside the man. Guy had the grace to blush himself at the one thought he pulled.

Guy turned them around a corner into the blinding lights and deafening noise of the tourist strip. He pulled them over to what he knew to be a vampire friendly street vendor. "Would you like anything?"

As he felt pressure on his shoulder, Pierre shook in a quiet shimmer of his shoulder. It sent a tingle down his shoulder and his back. For some reason, this man just made him and to lean over and hug him, or at least cuddle. He felt as if it would make him feel better if he was around the vampire beside him.

Suddenly, Pierre felt a bit more than a tingle go up his spine. It felt as if he suddenly had a little bit of a dizzy spell, but it didn’t last long enough for him to think about it much. He shook his head a little bit and tipped his mouth into a small smile. He looked up to see what Guy was doing, and caught a bit of a pink shade on the vampire’s cheeks. Had he blushed? And if so, what for?

The vampire took him over to a street vendor, located close to the tourist trap that they had close to the clubs, and for a good reason, too. Even drunk tourists were customers if they came into the clubs. He made it toward the vampire, being sure to keep up and not get left behind. Without thinking about it, he laced his arm around Guy’s. “I’m fine,” he said quietly, yet still looked over what the vendor had, and shook his head whenever he was offered anything. He didn’t have the money, anyway.

Guy noticed the young leopard looking at him, and felt himself desire to turn even redder. He wondered why hte man reacted as if he had blushed, then the thought came. Of course, the young man couldn't throw off his glamoir. The thought mollified him somewhat and he wondered just how red his power was making him appear to those that couldn't resist it.

Guy smirked unconvinced as the leopard told him he didn't want anything. He made a quick note of what the leopard seemed to be eying the most and bought one for him anyway. Leading him away again and sitting down at an umbrella covered table he looked at the cat, "That too, was meant as an offer, micino. I'm a vampire, I can't eat or drink anything but blood."

He invited the man to sit down beside him. There was possibility in the leopard, that he could feel. "So, where to you belong piccolo eccitante* and what were you doing in the district, since I warrant that blood donation wasn't your intention?" Guy blinked inwardly, unsure if he had just called the leopard what he thought he had. That was an odd reaction, especially considering his normal attitude towards anything along those lines.
________

* little hot(attractive) thing

Pierre blinked only once as the vampire brought him to an umbrella-covered table. Guy sat down there, and motioned for Pierre to join him. He did, and without very much effort on his part, because he knew that he wanted to sit by the vampire. He wanted to be close to him. And so, he sat down, his thigh brushing Guy’s.

He had noted that Guy had bought him the one thing that he had been eyeing the most out of all of the various foods that the vendor had: chocolate-covered pretzels. He didn’t want to open them up and devour them too quickly, but since he had left his home out of fear of his parent’s prejudices, he had not had this snack.

Smiling fully, he opened the bag and began to munch on them one-by-one. As the vampire started asking questions, Pierre turned to look at him, this time looking into his eyes without fear of anything bad happening to him. “I live on the streets here,” he said, not exactly wanting to explain, but knowing he had to. “I get money from the people who visit the clubs before they enter.”

The old vampire looked at the young leopard eat the pretzels. Something so simple seemed to light up the boy so much. It made him feel somewhat better himself, although the fact that he still hadn't fed was starting to become a problem. Sure, as a master vampire who had fed the previous night, he could go without feeding for at least 2 more days without any really dangerous side effects, but he still wasn't at his best without some blood.

He quirked his head to the side. He'd picked up a street urchin. Well, bad choice of language, but effectively the truth. "I am truly sorry to hear such a thing Micino. I would offer you a safe haven for this evening, but first, I'm afraid I must find myself a willing donor of blood. Perhaps if you will remain at a designated spot I could come back in an hour or so?"

“Really?” Pierre asked, suddenly interested. He continued munching on his chocolate-covered pretzels that Guy had bought for him as he thought on it. If he offered up his blood to this vampire, and donated, then he might be able to stay with him. Could it be possible that he could get this vampire to take from him, and then take him home? Or would that be abusing his hospitality?

Pierre looked down to the bag of chocolate-covered pretzels and suddenly had a keen interest in them. If the vampire could put him under his spell with a glance like all of the vampire experts said, then could he possibly see into what Pierre wanted? He blushed. That was a thought he didn’t want.

Sighing, he started playing with his thumbs, twiddling them absentmindedly. “Well, you know . . . ” he started, trying to think of the best wording for this. “It would be easier for you if you had someone already who could feed your hunger and . . . well, I wouldn’t mind.” Pierre looked up expectantly.

The vampire looked down quizically at the leopard. Well, the offer did match what guy had read from his earlier slight indiscretion. He muttered to himself, "Il micino può chiedere che cosa desidera."

He ruffled the leopards hair before moving to stand a safe distance away from him. "If you truly wish to, micino then come. Otherwise, allow me to go feed and I will return. Blood not freely given tastes horrid."

Pierre felt a hand on his head just before the vampire that was once sitting beside him decided to stand up. The leopard looked up quizzically, wondering what he had said to make Guy walk away from him. Then, the vampire stopped and stood away from him.

He was about to stand up and quickly walk over to the vampire, but thought better of it. He stood there, thinking about his options. Walk away? No, because he knew he wanted this... but, if he wanted this so badly, then why was he testing him? Pierre blinked, obviously confused and looked at the ground, thinking.

Clearing his throat after only a few second, he looked up and confidently, but shyly, walked over to the vampire. He would not be a coward and shy away from this one feeding. For all he knew, it could feel good to him.

Guy smiled at the leopard as the young man walked towards him. "Very well, mi micino. Let us move someplace a little less public."


***Closed, Continued in the Strigoi Estate***