Burning Bright

[Saiketsu]

The vampire murmured darkly. "I heard that, you brat." There was the uncanny desire to explain to her that he bathed as much as she did, but she would never no it because he kept his bedroom door closed and generally took a much shorter amount of time to do so. Girls and their habits. Damien rolled his eyes casually.

"I picked that out because it was a lot softer smelling in the box." Which wasn\'t true in the least. He knew that the soap had a kick of scent, but it was one of the only soaps that complimented her natural scent, one of the only soaps that wasn\'t obnoxiously overpriced nor suspiciously small. It was one of the only soaps he could stand the smell of also. The major reason her scent was so strong in the room was because her skin was still damp and complimented the bought product too perfectly. It began to pull at his jaw after a while. Ace was tempted to say "and because I thought you might like it."

All he heard was the scratching of her pen on the paper. Damien found it actually calming, knowing things had gotten back to the original routine. The next night he would find himself a victim in order to quell the rising Thirst. He didn\'t want to remain locked up in here anymore than she probably did. How nauseating it was to be there for a few wakeful hours.

A thought flickered over his mind and the silver eyes fell from Storm for a moment, lost in thought. When he looked back up  at her some moments later, he found the courage to ask. "Storm?"

[The Cedar Witch]

Flipping the page, she started anew. A different portrait. But the one whom she had decided to draw spoke, breaking her concentration for a moment. "Yeah?" she looked up, eyes soft and brown. Not that she showed it in her face, but her heart jumped for a second when he said her name. More out of nervous anxiety, feeling like he was going to ask her something important.

[Saiketsu]

He paused, suddenly feeling extremely awkward for even calling attention to himself. Damien wasn\'t so sure he wanted to ask that question anymore. But his mouth stumbled ungracefully over the first word. "Would- Would you like some company during the day?" Out of habit his eyes drifted to the floor before he lifted them to watch her. "I realize that you\'re here alone all day long. I was just thinking upon how maddening that is sometimes.

"Do- Do you desire company?"

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm snickered, shaking her head and returning her gaze back toward her drawing. Why was he stumbling all over his words all of a sudden? It was an easy enough question to ask, anyway. Nothing invasive on either of their parts, at least she didn\'t think so. Besides, who would she enjoy the company of? Pierre? It\'s not like there was anyone she knew in the city that walked in daylight.

"I\'ve always been alone. I don\'t mind it." her expression was thoughtfully, and she glanced up to his face to check if her proportions were correct. Of course, this wasn\'t obvious, considering she would have been quite embarrassed if he found out that she was drawing him. "Why, worried I might get myself into trouble?" her voice was soft, and the pen paused mid-stroke as her eyes returned to his. "What\'s it matter to you anyway? It\'s not like I bother you during the day, do I?"

[Saiketsu]

"No, I know that. I just also know that this apartment is maddening at times. I mean it\'s not as if you sit down and watch TV ever. You... draw. On paper, on walls, whatever. But how long can that possibly be entertaining for hours on end, day after day?

"I\'ve remained awake during the day before. It\'s easier than it may appear for me. Technically I don\'t need sleep often considering it won\'t kill me anyway. I was just wondering. That\'s all." He paused, letting his eyes fall to the floor. "It\'s not like we\'d be able to go anywhere, but, I don\'t know. Maybe it would be less ... Prisoner-esque to have some kind of human... well, live contact."

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm averted her eyes, focusing on the drawing again. As calm as she forced herself to be, her heartbeat hammered against her will. What was she getting so flustered about? Calm down, Christ. It was a nice thing to offer, something that completely caught her off guard. It was cute, really, how he had that round-about way of offering to stay up for her sake. No, not cute. What was she saying?

"So, what. You want to stay up with me? Keep me company? Is that what you\'re saying?" she smiled, cheeks still tinted with red. And as gracefully as she could manage, she stood, gathering her notebook and a few more pens together before walking over to the living room. She sat, eying him quietly before returning to her sketch. The drawing gradually became more realistic the more she added detail, and the girl looked up every so often, half for reference and half to make sure he couldn\'t see what she was drawing.

[Saiketsu]

His eyes flashed down at her drawing for a moment before resting on her. He leaned back casually in his chair, arm hanging over the arm of the loveseat. "Only if you want me to." When she didn\'t respond, Damien glanced down at her drawing again, wondering. "What are you drawing?"

Her cheeks flushed red, her hands busy sketching, her eyes refusing to find his. It wasn\'t a question he typically asked anymore, knowing full-well that he usually wouldn\'t understand wh she was drawing whatever she was drawing. But he wanted to know why the girl was having such a large reaction to him and his questions. What exactly was going on?

[The Cedar Witch]

Really, she wasn\'t trying to draw him, it was just happening. By now it was a little more then a portrait, her sketching had moved to accommodate his arm, going of the page. And it was beginning to look more like a college human figure drawing, something that should be on sketchbook and not lined paper. He spoke again and Storm jumped.

"What?" Perhaps too quickly she shifted in her seat in order to tilt the notebook toward her and away from his line of sight. She glanced up, fighting the red that was tinting her cheeks. Why are you so nervous? Cut it out. Just draw something else. The girl flipped the page, careful not to revel anything that she was drawing beforehand.

"Nothing, just doodling." A nervous smile. She went back to drawing trees, something much safer and easier to explain. But for whatever reason, the bark that had sprouted so easily from the tip of the pen before wasn\'t coming out right, and she fell back to drawing him. Hand studies, something she used to do back in high school when she had large amounts of paper at her disposal. If she had graduated, she would have been an art major for sure. But for now, it was just a hobby. Storm glanced up at him again, eyes following the curve of his arm to get it "just right". The pen was beginning to skip.

[Saiketsu]

"What are you drawing?" Before she could even blink, his hand was pushing at the corner of the notebook, tilting the image towards him. Before Storm could even react, he saw her pen gliding over the outline of a hand--his hand. And before she could react, he had let go of the image, and gave her an indescribable look. It was something mixed with confusion, shock, and embarassment.

Why on earth was she drawing him? His hands? Was this the blushing? Was this... What was this? And why did he feel so... uprooted by it? Damien had a hard time regaining his composure. It wasn\'t often that things caught him off guard nowadays. But this had certainly taken the cake. "So is this what you\'ve been hiding from me all along? What, is that entire notebook filled with sketchings of my hands?" He hated to think of what else she was drawing... His figure... his face.

[The Cedar Witch]

"Jesus Christ not the whole book! Just this page!" Face contorted with embarrassment she pulled the book sharply away from him. "I was practicing form from a model. They do it in art school." She was stuttering all over the place and she didn\'t like it. Very quickly Storm regained her composure, sliding an easy mask over the entirety of her flustered before standing up and walking back to the kitchen.

Relax. You didn\'t do anything wrong. There isn\'t anything you need to explain to him. Stubbornly she sat, setting her left hand down next to her to use a a study. Frustrated with the skipping pen, she tossed it to the side and looked around for another one. The fact that she could not find a working pen in the closest proximity didn\'t help, and she sat back down, more distressed then before. Quietly the girl began to flip back to the first portrait, taring her "talent" apart the longer she examined it.

There wasn\'t any reason for her to be getting this upset. Really. There wasn\'t anything that she was doing that was out of the ordinary, more then usual anyway. What was going on with her today? Storm sighed, running her fingers through her hair and moving to gaze at her work on the walls. Change the subject.

"Didn\'t you want me to wash this off sometime? It\'s been up forever."

[Saiketsu]

He eyed her suspiciously as she stood and stalked back to the kitchen. He felt bad for getting her upset with him, but it was no more than usual. Cautiously he responded to her with an even tone. "It brings a change to an apartment which can get old after years of living here.

"Why? Are you uncomfortable having it up there?" The vampire falt as if this was quickly becoming another one of their games.

[The Cedar Witch]

"No, it\'s fine. I just..." Storm sighed, forcing her heart to beat at a normal pace. She turned to face him and spoke up again. "You were so upset when I first put it up, remember?" she offered a shy smile, eyes raising slowly to meet his. It was odd to her that it had even remained on the walls after that first night. Odder still that he hadn\'t scolded her for making small alterations to the mural and adding to it every so often.

As much as she wanted to draw attention away from her drawings, she couldn\'t help but bring it up again. "Are you mad at me for drawing you? I mean, I won\'t do it ever again if you don\'t want me to..." her eyes shifted to the floor between them, fluttering between red and orange. "Trees get so dull after awhile, and it wasn\'t like you were moving much," she offered, half hoping that it would somehow explain why she was drawing him to begin with. Not that it mattered, considering she barely believed that argument herself.

[Saiketsu]

He continued to watch her, moving as little as possible. "Mad at you for drawing me? No, Storm. It takes a bit more than that to get me riled up." Which was true, completely. His defense was, why would she want to draw him?

Another idea flashed over his mind. What if that\'s how he could keep her company? He hated the idea of leaving her alone all day on the day after her birthday. Maybe if she was so contented with drawing him... The thought made him feel ridiculous, childish. She was a grown woman now, fully able to take care of herself in an empty apartment. Why should he feel bad about leaving her alone all day?

Becuase this was all because of him anyway. Damien sighed inaudiably. "Well," he paused, hesitating with the words, knowing why his emotions were mixed. "What about a live... well... almost-live model?" The vampire grinned crookedly, laughing at his awkwardness internally.

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm looked at him incredulously for a second, eyes swimming between red and blue. "Please, don\'t do anything for my sake." she rolled her eyes, smiling nonetheless. "You\'d have to stay still without looking stiff, for hours maybe, without falling asleep." she uncurled her legs from underneath her and standing slowly. Turning from him for a moment, the girl took a good look underneath the piles of discarded sketches, walking away from the kitchen with a pencil between her fingers.

"You sure you\'re still up for it? I\'m not going to force you." her face was flush and she fingered the pages of the notebook nervously before sitting down on the couch across from him. Something hung in the air between them, something she could not place. It had replaced the awkwardness that had been present for the few months past.  It was now that the Akari wished she had a real sketchbook for once. Either that or blank walls to draw on. Maybe she would actually have to start washing the kitchen walls.

[Saiketsu]

Damien threw a glance over at the window in the kitchen. It had been a while since he stopped up the light and had no idea if it needed to be tampered with before they started. Depending upon how long this took, the sun could rise and burn holes in his skin before he could actually move. Another little nasty scar that burned freshly every night.

"Hold that thought." Damien stood and went to the window after fetching his roll of trusty duct tape. Sure enough there was a gap between the dusty tape and the glass which would refuse to disappear when he pressed it down. Appearantly someone had tried looking down into the street.

Instead of bringing it to attention, Damien pulled off a piece of tape and stuck the fabric down to the glass. Perfect. The sun was a few hours from rising yet and he hadn\'t felt fatigued in a while. He could avoid the sun easily enough during the day, sleep actually a habit rather than an actual need, though it did help to clear the mind. The vampire crossed the room and seated himself across from the young lady. "I think I can sit still for a few hours, Storm. I just hope you can." And he settled himself in, allowing his mind to tick away while he watched her.