-Kira-

The silence between us was strange.

Strange in a 'I'm not used to silence feeling this way, especially after that kind of conversation'.

I was used to that choking sort of silence, the one where I knew I had to scramble to fix something, or something was about to go horribly wrong.

This was comfortable, if I dare to even call it that. He'd said what he wanted to say and left me to ponder it without any disruptions.

And somehow, with the weight of the topic at hand, he didn't seem to hold any of it on his end.

There weren't any glaring nudges, any pressing expectations, nothing. Instead, he just continued to stare at the fire that was now warming both of us.

I was still admittedly fascinated by how the light from the flames reflected in the gold of his eyes.

I drew my knees up to my chest, taking the chance amongst the movement to subtly trail fingers over where his fangs had been.

Freedom. He'd offered me freedom. Eventual freedom, but realistically, what other choice was I going to get.

I wasn't exactly the biggest fan of what my life has turned into, yet at the same time, if I even happened to escape from here now, where would I go?

Freedom, Erik's cure for me, royal access given this floor, and a vamiric prince's sworn protection until then.

A very strange vampiric prince, but nonetheless...

The risks that came with his plans were oppertunities if looked at differently, and a part of me was scared that I was just conforming to that thought process out of hopelessness or something else born from my life getting fucked over three consistent times.

I too stared at the fire, letting it all sink in with no rush.

I already felt like I had my answer, but I just wanted to be sure of it before I spoke it out loud.

The resorces on a royal floor were too good to pass up. So was my cure.

For that, I could agree to his terms.

After all...

My gaze trailed back to him, sending unwelcome memories of what we'd done in his bed through my mind.

I tensed and sucked in a quick breath, averting my gaze before my thoughts decide to get even worse.

I really needed to work on when those kinds of thoughts enter my mind, but my reaction to them had that glowing gold of his eyes now focusing on me with a raise in his brows.

Ooooookaaaaay let's focus on literally anything else.

"So, what's up with that club you frequent?" The words just poured out of my mouth with no foresight.

It was the only thing I could think of.

Cool Kira, really straying away from that topic, aren't you?

I was mentally punching myself, nearly missing the way his eyes narrowed in confusion, and he blew out what sounded to be a breath of a... laugh?

It was so quiet and quick, I couldn't hardly tell.

"You mean the brothel?" He poked fun at my terminology for it, barely straying from his typically stoic tone. In my defence, I dont think I was completely wrong, "There's not too much to tell about it. The ins and outs are kind of alot to explain unless you're there to see it."

My mental misery died away, and I was now left a bit more shocked than anything that he was actually engaging in this conversation.

He just never seemed interested, although this was the best I think I've ever seen him look. energy-wise that is.

No one in my prior life tended to care about my seemingly restless thought process getting turned into words.

Here was a little different.

Riley was good at engaging in my conversations, Derryk typically just listened and added advice when prompted.

My knees lowered, favoring something closer to a criss-cross way of sitting.

"Oh come on," I began, "I don't need to know all of those details, but you've gotta at least have a couple crazy stories right?"

He looked to just take me in for a second, gauging my sudden boost in demeanor given what it's been for the past... while.

After that awkward-as-hell moment after he clung to me like his life depended on it while drinking my blood, and now this peaceful conversation in the dead of night over the glow of a fire... I had no idea what the proper way to act was.

If I really was to be living with him for the next few years of my life, I suppose I wanted to at least try to make it a bit more bearable.

"Stories, yes. For you, no." He spoke. Oddly in a way where it didn't feel like he was completely shutting me down, "Seems a little unfair to the ladies involved."

'ladies'. God, he was old.

"So what, you don't kiss and tell?" I prodded.

"I hardly kiss as it is. Not on the lips at least."

I thought back, prodding through my memories of that night, only for that reason.

I wasn't exactly used to kisses as it was, but assumed that others were.

"I noticed. What's up with that?"

He shrugged.

"Dunno. It seems a little too intimate and compassionate for a one-night fling." He explained.

Okay...

"Having your dick in them isn't intimate enough?" I deadpanned.

This time, I was sure he laughed. One of those quiet, breath-only ones, but still.

It was strange. It was like that fatigue was permanently a part of his being, but this new liveliness showed itself in different parts.

"Having my dick in them," He repeated, with an amusement in his voice that I'd never heard before, "Is part of the deal. It's what I'm there to do and it's what the instinct runs off on. Swapping spit is a different kind of trade and not one too many humans want to dabble in with me anyway."

That pierced tongue of his ran over the fang closest to me to further prove his point.

"I highly doubt that many of them are gonna place trust in a vampire for one night not to pierce skin during a kiss." He finished.

I guess he's thought about this quite a lot. Then again, why wouldn't he?

He said that my blood 'helps' so by that logic, I could only assume all the other weird shit he does 'helps' too.

It was strange how different my thought process around this situation had become.

My world suddenly didn't feel like it was trying to crush me because it already had. Now I had to start over.

And with him... I dunno. This weird acquaintanceship has been all over the place for a variety of different reasons, and I think right now, I just wanted things to be 'normal' while they could be.

Something light-hearted. Something stupid. Something you'd expect from a late-night conversation where at least one of us is nearly half asleep.

Both of us just slightly with our guards down. For once.

"Would you?" I asked.

He blinked at me, momentarily confused.

"Pierce skin?"

I nodded, and he again waited a moment before responding.

"Maybe," He finally said with a hint of a smile, "It'd certainly make things more interesting on my end. It could be fun."

I put the pieces of what he'd said together on my own, trying so hard to will myself not to think about what that 'interesting' would entail.

Staring down at the hands I had on my legs instead, I just mimicked one of his earlier laughs.

"I'd ask you something similar, but I think I've already deduced all that I've needed about your sex life, and those stories are more sad than crazy." He went on.

His words stung for only a moment, poking at a wound that hadn't yet completely healed.

He made a slight humming noise that proved that he noticed as much.

"Too soon?" He questioned.

"Yes but no," I replied, looking back up to meet his gaze with a slight melancholic smile, "The humor is mixing weirdly with the regret... and the truth in it all. Give me a week or so before the depreciating jokes show up"

"Got it," he assured.

Again that silence overtook us. The comfortable silence of two strange individuals just existing in the same room.

There was a peace I wasn't used to in not having to always feel like I had to keep a conversation going. Like I didn't need to be on a constant emotional watch over the other person I was living with just to make sure that we were constantly on good terms.

Jesus my ex really fucked me up.

If it was bad enough for me to notice a lack of it here of all places.

wow...

The crackling from the fire seemed to be enough to keep us both content and in fact it pushed the tiredness that had escaped me earlier to make its return.

My thoughts were exhausting enough, and there was a contentedness that came with the few conversations I'd shared with Lucien.

A part of me wanted to cling to this moment of normalcy, but the other didn't want to risk making things weird with the route my thoughts were taking.

I raised my arms above my head, initiating both a yawn and a stretch.

"Alright," I started with a sigh, pulling myself up and off of this couch, "I think I'm good to try to fall back asleep. And uh- as for your offer..."

His brows rose just a notable amount.

"I'll accept."

"You sure you don't want to wait until morning to give me that?" he offered, and a part of me appreciated it.

But I shook my head.

"I don't know if I wanna trust the mood I'm gonna wake up in tomorrow, but right now my head feels clear, and I want to take advantage of that while I can."

He looked a lot more understanding than I was expecting and nodded his head in a way that oddly felt more like a bow.

"I get it. We can figure out the finer details later," he promised me again, "Go get your rest, Kira. Goodnight."

I opened my mouth to utter some iteration of 'goodnight', but it got caught in my throat for some reason that I couldn't manage to pinpoint.

So instead I just turned and walked straight into my room, hoping my brain would stop rushing in order to finally let me sleep.