I ignored the continued remark about gophers, and preceded to guide him towards the proper house. The faster we were indoors and away from the eyes of the public, the better. I felt a sting of fear as I realized pictures may have been taken...if anyone spread the image of us here, we were surely going to be tracked down. With renewed anger I jabbed again at Aidan, planting the butt of my cane into his shoulder with very little restraint. When Aidan responded by smacking my cane away, I refrained from jabbing him again, though the thought surely crossed my mind several times. His antics continues of course, from the vulgarity of his gestures, to the drunken footing. I watched as he nearly belly flopped onto my porch, with a grimace I respond to his comments, my voice unwaveringly agitated. "I try to avoid defecating in my own backyard, and if you touch anything on this street, or anything in a five block radius, I will personally feed you to the weres." With that I made my way up the stairs.

I had of course expected Aidan to make himself comfortable, as he always did. I closed and locked the door behind us, holding my palm against the wooden frame a moment, my eyes closed and my mind trying to piece together the night's events, it was all so sudden and insane. In that brief moment I realized something that had been weighing heavily on my heart, something I didn't want to say, yet it was quickly becoming the 'elephant the room'. Turning to see where Aidan had gone, I first spot his Whiskey bottle, noting its location so I could quickly dispose of it. Then of course the trail of dried mud that was sloughing off his shoes. Worse than a pet...

Taking a few steps towards him, I watch his expression as his eyes make out the room. It was modest, yes...but there were memories and hints of a strange life, if you chose to see them. There was a large bookcase that stood against the far wall, it's shelves packed with stories of legends and vampiric myths, a bible, gardening books, and a few mens clothing magazines. At the top were draping vines and flowers that wrapped around the wooden frame, a sweet fragrance drifted from them like the scent of honey. There was a radio in one shelf, no television, and a mortar and pestle on a glass coffee table, ashes were scattered over the glass, the draft from the door seemingly the cause of the mess. Beneath the table was a book, open and very worn. The title was unseen, though I knew it to be my Herbal Tea book, something I'd gotten from a little Wiccan store downtown.

My blue eyes went from Aidan, to the table, and back to Aidan in a calm, yet curious manor. Somehow I knew he was going to interfere with my things, give me endless nonsense about how I chose to live my life. And as he turned to face me, it began. "I had to downsize, slaves are hard to come by these days, I can't be bothered to upkeep a mansion myself. Speaking of upkeep...how about you show my furniture some respect and not cover it in your filth? You smell like two month old sweat and Whiskey...and it's really quite appalling."

Then Aidan speaks again, and it is tinted with the emotion he'd began to show earlier, and I couldn't help but soften my own tone, my affection for this friend of mine, this man I'd known for so many years, and nearly died with on a few occasions...was, really the closest person I'd ever had in my life, and I couldn't honestly say I hadn't missed him, muddy boots and all. Though I was a deeply passionate, and emotional being, I was not one to show it much, and so I deflected the response a bit, while still allowing him to realize I had in fact...missed him. "I wasn't sure you'd still be alive. Considering last time we met...you were ready to end it." My eyes seemed to grow darker, the shadows on my face growing more gaunt as I watched him, remembering the events that had transpired the last time we were together. I had truly feared he would be dead...and I would be stuck in this endless existence forever, alone. The pain that day had caused me was not evident on first glance, but if one were to dig, to really look at my belongings, you might find a few things that would indicate a man who may have once or twice in fact...considered ending it as well.

MORTIMER EDWOUT DRAVEN
Vampire | Induced Sedation Power

character by fayrii, html by nook <3