Almost like home

He pouts and makes it to the windowsill with a single leap, making room for Rose to follow as well, and flops down onto the bed when she does come in.

"But it's been so long since we saw each other! And I've been busy. Really busy." He tries to explain, but he's not so sure she'll believe his story. Frankly, he doesn't care. It's the truth and if she won't take it... then oh well.

"Oh, where are my manners," He laughs softly and sits up. "I'm Neon, in case you've forgotten my name."

She jumped through the window not shortly after he did and nodded at the name.
"Thanks. That was what I was thinking." She answered as clearly as she could.
She sat on the window seal and turned to stare out at the sky, bending one of her legs in front of her and casing her left arm around it.
"Care to explain?" She murmured and then looked back to him, taking in everything about the room.
Reminds me of home... She thought and sighed in her mind but didn't break the look on her face to Neon.

"Explain? Explain what?" He blinks, still smiling a clueless smile. "Why I disappeared?"

How can I explain to you, Rose? Would you even believe me if I told you..? He laughs a little before sighing and standing up to throw off his cloak. Underneath, he's wearing a white dress shirt, no buttons, a thin black turtleneck that cuts off in the middle of his abdomen, and black slacks tucked into dark red boots. The rifle is taken off and slung onto the bed - carefully, though, so the bayonet blade doesn't catch onto the cloth.

"I told you, I was, and still am, working," He says while smoothing dark green hair down over his over-sized and pointed ears to hide them from view. He looks over at her and smiles again, still. It seems that he's never not smiling, and one can only wonder how he does it. "I get paid, dearest Rose, to kill."

There. That's about as blunt as he can get it. And that's probably all she needs to know right now. She can infer the rest if she wants. Or if she can.

"I see..." She said, completely understanding for the most part. "And one thing..."
She jumped off the window sill, undoing the button holding her cloak together, and throwing it to the side of her so it would land nicely on the chair, somehow.
She let out a soft breath and pulled her hair into a ponytail, the red bangs falling into her blue eyes.
She dusted off her shirt that was cut off above her stomach and then she removed her belt, tossing it over to land on her cloak. Her shorts were tightly worn on her and her boots, though comfortable, weren't as high as Neon's.
"Don't ever call me dear. Or it's the last thing you're going to say." She scowled and then crossed her arms back in front of her again.

Again, Neon pouts in disappointment. Well, there goes one term of endearment. I suppose 'hunny buns' wouldn't let me live any longer, either.

Where did those days go, when he could shower her with praises and sweet little words, though only half-real when putting emotion into his words. He only wished those days could come back. If he could, he'd build a time machine and reverse everything that's happened, everything he's done, and avoid all that he would do in the future.

But he can't, so all he can do is live in the present. And live it, he will.

"Fine, fine, if you say so.. sweetie," He aware of what he's doing, and he's just teasing her. He knows what's heading his way, if any at all, and he's ready for it.

She growled at 'sweetie'. That wasn't any better, but not worse as well.
In a moment she was holding him by the neck, his feet still grounded to the floor. She leaned to his ear and her sickening voice left her lips, "Did you just call me sweetie?"
She was shaking from this adrenaline rush but she wanted to hold herself back at the same time.
This isn't something I'm used to... You have to get used to it... She told herself, but then shook it off, not loosening her grip on Neon's neck. But why does this all seem so familiar? Has he called me these names before, or was it someone else? Someone close...
Whatever the case, she wanted to hurt him now, just for calling her a simple word. Rose would've been nice to her but guessing at how she took sweetie and dear, Rose wouldn't even cover any of those damages.

Okay, so this might not be what he expected to happen. So she's changed quite a bit, he can see that. That's not to say he's disappointed. Far from it. It's good that she's grown up emotionally, if not physically.

Lingering on the past too much never does one any good, after all, and he knows by personal experience.

"I did." He replies with a pained wince, though still smiling.

The vicegrip on his neck probably won't ease up any, and he's not sure he can heal from a broken neck before the oxygen deficiency gets to him. Translation?

He's not sure if he'll live past this, if he doesn't play his cards right. So, shuffle, shuffle, pass them out again.

"Okay, okay, I won't call you those anymore~" He half-whines in a raspy tone, gripping at her wrists, though not hard enough to hurt. "Let go now? Please?"

She jumps back at the way he asked and then covered her mouth, "I'm... I'm so sorry!" Touching her temples, her mind races through what just happened.
She turns around and lets out a long breath of air. She stared out the window for a few moments before deciding to speak again.
"I'm... so sorry. I don't know what came over me." She closed her eyes disappointedly and turned back to him, hoping he was okay.
She opened them again and you could just see the change in how her emotion had gone from one thing to another.

Surely she was bipolar, she just didn't want to admit it.

"It's fine, really~" He coughs lightly to add dramatic effect, but smiles at her all the same. "You're quite strong now, aren't you~?"

So she may have grown physically.. but her muscles aren't any different from so long ago, and she really doesn't seem to have gained much height at all. He'd hoped it wasn't true, that she hadn't been turned into a vampire for real.. but it was the only way she could survive, after all.

He could blame himself for allowing her to become one.. or he could praise himself for saving her life*. Though indirectly, of course.

"It's good to see you're well now. Goodness knows how sickly you were back then..."

*Rose and I have worked out a backstory for these two, but we're not really putting it there all at once just yet~

She nodded at the faded memories now coming back to her.
"Yes. Really now? It was quite sad." She started and looked down at her feet, embarrassed to look back up at him. "Didn't know why I was dying first off. But hell, I'm here now. Lively and hopeful I guess you can say. Sad for my... I guess we can call him my father though he isn't, wasn't able to survive." She stopped for a moment. "But if he didn't do what he did, then I wouldn't be where I am right now!" She smiled somewhat and then finally made eye contact with Neon. "I guess things happen for reasons. Have to forget about the past and move on with the future." She seemed to hopeful now, just to be able to find one of her friends from so long ago. But at the same time, she didn't know how much she could trust him, because he did leave her after her father had passed.
"But that's that. I don't know what was really killing me back then, but I'm glad I don't have to worry about that anymore!" She chirped a little and then re thought about what she had said, hoping she didn't give away anything about her vampire-self.

She didn't want anybody to know, nobody at all. They would all see her as a blood-sucking leech, a monster, something nobody wants to be around, and she didn't want that. She even wanted to hide it from her only friend, which didn't seem so wise, but she doesn't trust anybody. Only herself.

If Rose was a monster, then Neon would have to be... something worse than a monster! He keeps quiet, though, and doesn't tell her that he already knows what she is. It would mean that he knew her 'father' was one as well. And that would rouse suspicious and raise many, many questions that were better off left alone.

"Indeed, I'm sorry about your father.. burned to death, was he? I remember the fire.. I was afraid you would get caught up in it as well." He was afraid of that, and seeing her here and now helped ease the fears of killing someone who shouldn't have been killed.

"There's always the chance that it was a heart disease.. cancer, tumor, many things," Neon shrugs and smiles. "In any case: you're alive! And that's that."

He wonders how long she can keep up the act of being normal.

"Ah, it's still early. Are you hungry? We could get breakfast in the hotel, if you'd like." And now that he thinks about it... that blonde didn't eat breakfast either.

She thought for a moment, thinking through what she should say. I don't eat food... I drink blood... But... I guess if I have to convince him I'm a normal human then I really should...
"Yeah. I'm sort of hungry." She said, turning on her heel to grab her belt. A fake smile came over her lips as she steadied the belt around her waist. She reached into the small pocket on the left and pulled out jewel, one of the last memories of her father.
She turned back around after squeezing it in her hand and slipping it back into the pocket.
"Alright!" She said with a kind smile. "Where to?"

The short moment she takes to answer convinces him that she really has been turned. But, again, he's not worried and he doesn't let anything slip through his own masking smile.

"Alright then! We'll go down in just a moment."

Neon hops to his feet and pulls his duffel bag out from under the bed. The rifle is slung over his back again and the cloak goes on over it and the bag, hiding both underneath the cloth. He pulls up the hood and stuffs his hair back so it doesn't show form under the hood.

"I didn't let the guards search my bag, so they think I'm dangerous or something," Which isn't really far from the truth. Then again, he won't attack anyone but his target(s), so there's really nothing to worry about. "It's hard to hide from them, but it's fun too!"

Then, he walks to the door of the room and opens it, holding it open for Rose. "Ladies first~"

She grabbed her cloak and put her arms through it as she turned to the door.
"Alright. I guess I'm fine with Lady." She stifled a laugh and walked out the door like a normal person.
As she was walking out the door, her hands rose to the button on her cloak in less then a second.
Everything she was doing was so fast, it was what she was used to. She never hung around people without wanting to kill them, but Neon was different. He was a friend. Surprisingly she actually admits he's a friend to her.
She buttoned up the cloak and then turned to Neon in a swift movement.
Maybe I should tell him... She thought to herself, but she still needed more time to think, maybe she would think about it during breakfast. Who knows?

Unlike Rose's, Neon's cloak is just a giant piece of cloth with a hole and hood for the head, and doesn't require the hassle of fumbling with tiny little buttons that could snap off if pulled on hard enough. It was cheap, but still useful.

Despite her inhuman movements, Neon can still catch glimpses of it despite how she's trying to hide it from him. Instead of mentioning it, he merely makes his way downstairs to the lobby.

Something catches his eye, but by the time he turns to look, it's already gone. Still, his attention is no longer spread out, instead focused on searching the room for that same thing again. And then he sees it, or him, in the corner.

"I... have something to take care of, Rose," Neon turns and gives her and offhand smile, still rather distracted by remembering that the person is. "Could you, um, save us a table? I'll be back.. soon."

She rose an eyebrow for a moment before nodding, "Sure..." She said with a slightly confused voice.
She turned on her heel and looked through the lobby, seeing very many tables that were unoccupied. She didn't know whether to ask someone if she had to wait or just go ahead and take a seat.
She wasn't really that hungry either, with as many people in the room as there were, she was lucky. Sure she's been living like this for 27 years, she hasn't been able to come over the fear of jumping someone in a shear moment.
She took up the courage to go and sit at one of the tables in the corner, near a couple who had been talking for a few minutes. She sat there and closed her eyes, looking like a statue now, wondering where Neon had went.
He wanted to know if I was hungry... Why would he leave in just a moment... and so quickly... She sighed and leaned back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Neon sidled up to the man he was keeping an eye on. He's jumpy and keeps shifting, casting wary glances at everyone who passes by.

"Sir," he Elf begins with a haunting smile. "Could I have a word with you outside? It's much more quiet than in here."

The man doesn't want to, of course, and it seems like he's waiting for someone, but the obvious threat in Neon's voice makes him reconsider. In no time at all, he's cornered in an alley not too far from the hotel.

"Please tell me where your base is, if you will," The request is emphasized by the muzzle of his rifle pressed against the man's chest. "And please hurry. I've got a date waiting for me."

"You-- Who are you?!" The man sputters, trying to find a way out of the situation he's somehow landed himself in.

"Your headquarters," Neon repeats none to patiently. The safety on the rifle is taken off with an ominous click. "Now."

When his request is refused yet again, Neon sighs. He made sure to move them far away enough so that a normal human wouldn't hear, or would at least mistake the sound for something else, but knowing Rose.. she'd hear it loud and clear.

Oh well.

"There's more of you running around, anyway." He sighs, and pulls the trigger. The gunshot rings loudly in the alleyway and the man slumps over, dead. And with that, Neon whisks out of the alley and takes a different route back to the hotel in record time, plastering on another smile that hasn't fallen yet.

A quick scan of the lobby and he finds Rose's red head among the crowd, immediately making his way over and sliding into the chair in front of her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," He says, lacing his black-nailed fingers together under his chin. "He wouldn't talk."

She looked up at the moment she heard the gunshot, knowing that nobody else in the room would hear it but her.

When he sat down in front of her at the table, she leaned forward and let some words exit her mouth in a very soft whisper. "Did you..." She stared into his golden eyes, trying to find an answer to her not finished question.
She shook her head after a half of a second and then finished her question, pointing to where the rifle was. "Did you use that?" Her voice was still soft so that nobody around would hear what she was saying.
It was just how she was, she was so used to talking to herself under her breath, so nobody else would hear what she was saying, that way she would remember what she said earlier.
And it's not like he can read her mind, that would be weird. So weird for her.

"I did," He isn't surprised that she heard the shot, so he just smiles and shrugs. "Just doing my job."

Neon waves over one of the working girls and orders a plate for each of them, then turns back to Rose after the girl leaves. The hood stays on, in case a guard takes the chance to walk in and sees him. He still has work to do and really wouldn't like to be thrown out so soon.

"So, Rose," Neon starts, clasping his hands together on the table. "Where have you been all this time?"

She looks away the moment he told her the answer and glanced to the waitress when he called her over.
"Been wandering." She answered to his question, resting her head on the palm of her hand. "A lot." That's really all she's been doing, all she can do to be honest. "I haven't done anything else to be honest. Look around, find people. Talk..." She continued under her breath.
Drink... She thought but didn't dare say, that would give it away.

"Hmm," He leans his chin on a propped up elbow, looking at Rose with something akin to curiosity. "Haven't tried to get a job? Might provide some distraction from a dull life of wandering around. That's what I'm doing."

His job takes him far and wide, which he really doesn't mind.. except it's a hassle to get back to the client. Sometimes he thinks they're just sending him to random places to see if he'll come back alive, like that one incident with Rose. But he'd rather not think about that right now, or at all if he can help it.

It's so amusing how they're both trying to keep secrets from the other. Except that he already knows her secret.

She shrugged and smiled a little, pulling out the jewel she had earlier, fiddling with it in her fingers.
"Don't need one. I get by with what I have." She looked to the side and kept her eyes from locking with his again.
I should tell him... She thought to herself. He would be the only one to know... She held onto the jewel and let out a sigh, turning her head back to look at him. "I haven't looked for one. Just for the sheer fact, I don't need one."
Hopefully he would be able to take the hint, she didn't like telling people things herself, she liked to just let people figure it out. It was so much more fun that way.

"Don't need one?" He tilts his head to the side and a stray lock of hair falls in his face. "Because don't need food, no?"

He can read the signs. She wants him to know, is hinting it, but won't say it out loud. Well, if she won't, he will. Quietly, of course, so no one else can hear. He's not that stupid. No doubt his next words will result in something bad, though.

"You're not really alive, are you, Rose Curel." A statement. Not a question. Just a statement. Because he's known all along and doesn't need an answer. He leans forward a little, lowering his voice whilst still having a small smile on his face. "..Or should I say, Ms. Vampire."

She narrowed her eyes and then let out a growl, taking his words as a bad thing. "That's Rose." She said and then clenched on the jewel again, stopping and letting it fall onto the table before she crushed it.
"My name is Rose..." She glanced around the Lobby and then back to Neon so no one would hear. "Not Ms. Vampire."
Swiftly, without thinking, she took the jewel and put it in her pocket, all in less then a second, then right after she went back to glaring at the man in front of her.
Yes she wanted him to know. But she didn't want him to say his reactions like that, it sounded like he was insulting her, not being a nice friend about it. But like she thought before, maybe he wasn't a friend, maybe things have changed.
A lot of things might have changed in the last 27 years.

"Oh, but that's what you are, Rose. A vampire." Neon laughs lightly and leans back in his seat, looking to side and the couple who were now holding hands and exchanging tenders words of genuine (eurgh) affection. "I'm just kidding~ You're not the only one who has things to hide."

He might as well tell her, in case she doesn't know yet. Or in case she's forgotten what he is. The latter seems more likely to him. Neon glances around quickly to make sure no one's looking, then lifts a handful of hair from the side of his head, revealing a pointed elfin ear.

"At least you can hide what you are easily." He had to grow his hair out long enough, or wear cloaks and hats all the time.