He was getting suspicious... Ana could see the suspicion in the set of his features.

"Tokyo was very... crowded. People everywhere," she replied carefully. "The crime rate was surprisingly low, and the windows on the buildings were all very clean and reflective." She'd had to turn nocturnal for a month after her stay in the city because of how badly she'd burned. "Technology was very cutting-edge, though." At least, for the time.

There were a few moments of silence after that, and she could feel Bain watching her, as if trying to figure out what she was. She looked over at him.

"You're quiet again... What's on your mind?" she asked. Perhaps this way, she could figure out what he thought, and could steer him from the truth...

Bain nodded as he listed to her description of Tokyo he had figured that it would be like that there, maybe he should start putting some money aside… he stopped mid thought as she spoke again.

“what’s on my mind?” he repeated to himself. “well it really it just seems odd” he waved his hand vaguely around indicating all of the different items she had. “I don’t even know how you would have obtained some of these items let alone in just good condition” he smiled slightly in spite of himself. “though I’m not really a collector so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about” he was suspicious of the amount she traveled but he figured he didn’t was to seem to rude…


“there is one thing that does bother me though… I thought I heard a cat hissing earlier… and I have yet to see one” he held a confused expression for a moment then shrugged like it didn’t really matter.

Ana froze when he mentioned hearing the hissing. Desperately, she fished around for any point that night when she'd made such a sound and mentally cursed herself when she remembered opening the blackout curtains. She'd thought that the thunder drowned out her reaction to the lightning, but apparently it wasn't enough.

"A cat?" she repeated. She shook her head. "No, I don't have a cat... Though it might be nice to have a cat. The landlord doesn't allow them, though... Allergies, apparently."

When Bain didn't look convinced, she fished around for something else to explain the sound. Heating system? No, the building wasn't that old... Air conditioning? No, they'd turned it off, it was nearly October, after all... Air vents, electronics, anything?

No.

Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire.

He waited quietly as she though about what he had said the answer she gave…. Wasn’t exactly an answer. He gave her an odd expression, was she trying to divert the subject?

Bain watched curiously as Ana seemed to fish around for some way to explain the hissing noise. He was originally going to pass it off as maybe just his imagination… but now that he saw her reaction he couldn’t help but wonder what she was hiding… finally he broke the silence.

“so… if not a cat then what made the noise?” he could almost feel a smug smile coming on as he watched her squirm. He just couldn’t understand what would get her so worried over a noise…

"I honestly couldn't tell you," Ana replied. Something wasn't right here, he knew too much... Was he putting it all together? As far as she knew, he hadn't thought about sensitivity to sunlight, though he may have taken the hint from the lightning and the blackout curtains... She was also fairly sure he hadn't seen her tap those people at the club, either, so she should still be safe...

Perhaps she could tell him... It would be nice to have an ally that she didn't have to worry about being torn apart by, and Bain seemed to have a good head on his shoulders... Wait, why was she even considering that? She couldn't tell him, he'd think she was crazy. And if Ana was being completely honest with herself, she kind of liked him.

Kind of.

It seemed strange that she had seemed worried about giving an answer to his question and then just blow it off as nothing. so she couldn’t tell him huh… he would drop the subject for now but he would have to ask again later on to see if she would respond the same way.

The room once again turned silent as she seemed to be considering something. Outside the storm began to lessen from a violent storm into a pleasant shower littered here and there with thunder. He wondered if he should continue to stay.

“hey” he said breaking the silence. “have you ever wondered what it would be like to be someone else” he watched for an expression. The question had been random he knew but he was always curious with new people he met. What their reaction would be to those kind of questions, it never ceased to amaze him on what other people could come up with. Besides he hoped that this would divert her attention from his previous questions so that she would relax a little.

"I guess it would depend on who that other person was," Ana replied carefully. "For instance, I would much rather be myself than some blonde airhead with no more brains than would fill a bottlecap. But then there are also those who I would love to be, if only for a day." She sighed wistfully. To be human again, if only for a day, that would satisfy her for the next hundred years. Eternity was a long time without some of the simple pleasures that humans had. To eat food, to dream while asleep, to not have to worry about being in the sun... She shook herself out of her musings.

"Did that answer your question?" she asked.

He let loose a low chuckle at her response. “yes” her replied smoothly “I to would much prefer you stay who you are verses a ‘blond airhead’.” he smiled at her she could be quite entertaining he thought silently to himself.

“well” Bain said as he stood up. “I should probably get going…” he first stretched then looked down at Ana. “its getting late and I still need to eat.”

"Actually, I think it's more like it's getting early..." Ana mused. She stood up and walked to her blackout curtains. Sure enough, there was a faint glimmer of pink on the horizon. Turn she went back to where Bain was standing.

"I would offer you something, but I'm afraid you'd find my pantry bare, as it were. It's not often I go shopping," she said apologetically. She walked with him to the door and opened it for him. "It was a pleasure talking to you, Bain," she purred. "Perhaps we'll see one another again."

when she opened her blackout curtains his eyes widen in surprise as he took in the rising sun. “I’ve been here all night?” he said unbelievingly. He couldn’t believe it was already morning it had only seemed like he’d been there an hour.

He looked down at her when she spoke. he nodded showing that he had heard her, still slightly stunned that it was morning already he fallowed her to the door. He stepped outside and turned to say goodbye. “perhaps…” he said smiling. “after all we do have a class together” he winked at her the swiftly turned around heading for the exit.

As soon as he was home he was going to stuff his face with food and fall into bed for a few hours, screw school he could miss a day. He smiled to himself thinking about the last few hours. Those hours had seemed like nothing… he would have to keep that in mind when he saw her next. Her company had defiantly been enjoyable.

Once Bain was gone, Ana went back to sit on her bed. Her loft seemed strangely empty now, as if some essential piece of it was missing. She waved away the notion. She was about to turn three hundred and thirty-seven, after all, and she spent a good three hundred of those years as a solitary creature. Now she suddenly needed some human's company? Of course not.

Gracefully climbing onto the bed, she blew out the stubs of the candles and curled up on her side. Her last thought before she allowed her body to shut down was that perhaps she wanted Bain's company anyway.

She was woken abruptly a while later by pain. She was sitting up before she realized it, hissing and baring her fangs and cradling one of her arms to her chest. The source of her pain was obvious: her arm was burned. Looking around quickly, she found the source of the burn: she'd left her blackout curtain open, letting the noon-day sun spill into the room and onto her bed.

Getting up, she quickly closed the blackout curtain, blocking out the painful sunlight. Then she carefully examined her arm. From her wrist to her elbow, her once-pale skin was an angry red, blisters already forming. Some blisters seemed to have already burst, and the edges of the sores were starting to char and turn black. The direct sunlight must have been shining on her arm for at least an hour to burn her as badly as it did. It would take a while to heal, two months or more.

Unable to go back to sleep after having been awoken so harshly, Ana reluctantly showered and dressed, being careful of her burn. Instead of a corset, she settled on a soft blue cashmere sweater. It was late enough in the year that long sleeves on a cool day wouldn't be questioned, so it woul be easier to hide the burn until it could heal.

Unwilling to go out into the sunlight again, Ana waited until dark to go out to hunt. This time, she chose an out-of-the-way poetry cafe as her hunting ground. She fit in well enough with the pale teens, and was able to tap a few of them easily. Satisfied, she made her way slowly back towards her apartment, hoping that she wouldn't run into anyone familiar on her way back.

After Bain had eaten he plopped down on his bed and reclined himself so he was propped up on his pillows. His roommate was already gone, probably to his classes Bain mused. As he laid their, he thought about the night. Ana was different than most of the girls he had had contact with. There was something about her that just seemed appealing. With that last thought he turned on his side and willed himself to sleep.

Hours later he got up and cleaned himself once he was dressed he decided to head out to get food. He didn’t quite make it before his roommate caught him. annoyed he sighed inwardly as he had to explain to an irritated roommate where he had disappeared to last night… shoving the other males irritation aside. He made his way out into the streets to find some food.

He ended eating at a small dinner. Once done he left to go back to his dorm. Crossing the street he saw her. she was wearing a long sleeve shirt, which seemed odd to him because so far he had only seen her in short sleeve tops. “Hey Ana!” he called out to her before he caught up to her.

“evening” he said calmly as he gave her a small smile he wasn’t quite sure why he was smiling but oh well she just seemed to have that affect on him. “we’ve got to stop meeting like this” he said jokingly though it did seem funny that he kept running into her.

Ana was surprised to see Bain walking towards her from the other side of the street.

"Bain?" she said in surprise. Discretely, she glanced around to make sure that there weren't any other vampires on the street. No sense in someone mistakenly thinking she would share a meal... She smiled at Bain.

"We seem to be meeting in the strangest places," she agreed. Teasingly, she added, "Are you sure you aren't stalking me?" Now that Bain was closer, she realized that he smelled good. She couldn't identify what exactly he smelled like, and figured it was his own personal scent because there was no lingering trace of alcohol as there was from cologne. She pulled the sleeve of her sweater down a bit before he got close enough to notice, making sure the burn on her arm was covered.

It wouldn't do for him to see it and start asking questions.

“no, I’m pretty sure I’m not stalking you” he said thoughtfully then smiled down at her. “you would make it easy though… you do seem to show up wherever I am” he lifted his head an looked around them. it was still a little crowded, he figured it was due to people seeking night clubs and bars. When he went to turn his head back toward her his gaze caught two figures that stood stock still watching them.

his features took on a neutral expression as he openly watched them. Their gazes met for a few minutes until then turned and disappeared behind a corner. He had the strong feeling that they were trouble but shrugged off the feeling and turned back toward Ana. If they were watching them then he wanted to get Ana away from the area before something happened.

“so where are you headed?”

Ana followed Bain's gaze and saw the two figures in the shadows. So, they weren't alone... As far as she could tell, the two were vampires, but from the distance, she couldn't tell their age. When they realized she was watching them, they met her gaze boldly. So, they wanted to challenge her... She glared at them, silently letting them know they were out of their league. They two held her gaze for a moment, and then turned and went back into the shadows.

"I was actually heading back to campus," she replied to Bain, turning her attention back to him. "Would you like to join me?"

That way, at least, she could keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't end up as someone's meal.

“gladly” he said happy that she was willing to let him walk with her. he wondered if she had seen the two that had been staring at them pushing the though aside as well as the ominous feeling he had. He walked side by side with her toward their campus.

((>.< im sorry its so short!))

((it's fine, i have a plan))

The two walked in companionable silence towards the campus. They were almost back when Ana sensed the two vampires from before. They were closer now, close enough that she could tell that neither of them was more than fifty years old. Neither of them were old enough to be daywalkers, and they were probably trying to snag a quick meal before daybreak. Before she could open her mouth to tell Bain to hurry, the two vampires came out of the shadows.

"Well, well, look what we found," one of them said. He wasn't much taller than Ana herself, and had spiky blonde hair and green eyes. "Care to share your meal with us, girl?"

"After all, he looks like a bit more than you can handle on your own," his companion added. This one was Asian, with pale olive-toned skin and dark hair. Instead of dark eyes, though, he had grey eyes, betraying his mixed heritage. Both of them tried to take a step towards Bain, and Ana glared at them.

"You're both out of your depth on this one, boys," she said distainfully. She was prevented from saying anything else when Bain stepped in front of her, as if to protect her.

A sneer etched onto Bain’s face as he watched the two that had appeared from out of the darkness. he had known they were trouble but he hadn’t expected them to fallow them this far. Listening to the quick exchange of words Bain sidestepped in front of Ana. He wasn’t to sure what she had meant but he was damn sure he was not going to let her get pulled into a fight and get hurt.

“I’m not sure I know what your talking about…” he said nastily as he indicated their mention of him being a meal. “but I suggest you leave before I ram your skulls into the concrete” he said in a low dangerous voice indicating that this was no idle threat. He stood tall using his height as an advantage and slightly moved his feet to shoulder length to give him good balance.

His hopes were that he could intimidate them because his main concern was getting Ana to safety. But if it came down to it he was fully prepared for a fight. He had a nasty temper and he had been in more that his fare share of fights, these two should be nothing he thought silently.

"How cute," the Asian vampire cooed, "he's trying to protect her."

"He doesn't even know, I bet," added the blonde.

Ana sighed. She'd been hoping to avoid this... It seemed that it couldn't be helped. She looked at the two newcomers.

"Neither of you are old enough to be away from your sire," she spat. "You aren't even daywalkers yet, and you think you can walk in on my business? Go find a hooker to tap or something." She stepped around Bain, putting herself between him and the vampires. As intimidating as he looked, neither of them would be cowed by a mortal.

Their smirks turned to glares. The Asian bared his teeth at her, and she could see the glow from the streetlights glinting off of his fangs.

"You think you can tell us what to do?" he snarled. His partner snarled at her as well, hissing and baring his fangs. Both crouched slightly, preparing for a fight. Instinct took over and she did the same, hissing back at them and baring her own fangs. She sensed Bain take a step back behind her, and vaguely wondered if he was going to run.

He glared openly at the two not wanting them to think he was completely lost by the situation. He listened silently to Ana as she spoke the words seemed to fly over him. ‘what is she talking about?’ he thought frantically.

When she moved to stand in front of him Bain silently cursed. ‘stubborn female’ he thought irritated. His irritation was quickly replaced however by wonder and alarm as he saw the fangs protruding from their mouths.

Bain took a step back at hearing the noise escape her lips. That hissing noise… he had known he had heard hissing when he had stayed at her place to stay out of the storm he should have persisted to know the source of the sound! He took a moment to process what was happening around him.

Steeling himself up he took a step forward to where he had originally been standing. He may not know fully what was going on. But he like Ana and he would be damned if something happened to her. he stepped to stand next to her and prepared for a fight.

What was he doing?! There was no way he could take on a vampire on his own, let alone two! The thought of him getting hurt beause of her made her angrier, and she hissed louder. The two vampires took a step back.

"I am older than the two of you combined," she snapped at the vampires. "And I'm older than you'll ever get if you start a fight with me!"

The two watched her warily, not sure if she was bluffing or not. She hissed at them again, reinforcing her threat.

"...Not worth the trouble when your food fights back," the blonde finally said. The Asian nodded in agreement.

"She wants him so bad, she can keep him." They backed away and both of them faded back into the darkness. Sighing in annoyance, Ana straightened up again and took a deep breath to calm herself. Then she turned back to Bain and waited for the inevitable.

Bain looked at Ana from the corner of his eye as her hissing got louder and more dangerous. He was slightly taken aback when she said she was older then both of them combined… then what was she? He relaxed into a normal standing position when the two scurried away.

Hearing her sigh he turned to face her. he watched as she slowly turned toward him. he gave her a weird look. He couldn’t decide what she was let alone if he should still be standing here. She was not human that was for sure. But its not like she had hurt him yet, and she did have her chance last night.

Deciding he was ok at the moment he gave her questioning look. “so…. What are you?”

Ana sighed. She knew that question was coming.

"Walk with me," she said. "It's better to keep moving at night."

As they walked, she tried to think of a way to explain what she was. Finally, she settled on something.

"Tell me what you know about vampires," she requested. At his suspicious look, she continued, "I'm not trying to change the subject, it's completely relevant. But I need to get a feel for how much you know."

He eyed her suspiciously as she asked him about vampires, she wasn’t hinting at…. Putting the thought aside he held up his hand and ticked off a few things that he had heard.

“drink blood of the living, can’t come out in sun light, silver and a cross can kill them or at least wound them, umm” his eyebrows forwarded in thought as he thought of all the things that went with vampires. “their stronger then humans, as well as faster.” He then put his hand down. “I think that’s about it”

he then looked down at her. “your not indicating that you’re a vampire are you?” he raised one eyebrow at her. the idea seemed ridicules to him but then again those two had fangs… and she was hissing and he knew for a fact humans did not make that sound.

"So you know the sterotypical things, then," Ana concluded. "Then you're about half-right. I'm what's called a daywalker. I don't burn in the sun the way you're thinking..." She tugged up her sleeve, revealing her burned arm. "At least, not immediately." She pulled her sleeve down again, even the soft cashmere chafing against the burn. Then she continued.

"The part about the blood is right, and the part about the speed and strength. Crosses don't do anything, though. That's just something that Hollywood came up with." She looked at him, and could still see disbelief in his eyes. "You still don't believe me, do you?"