Excuse the mess.

[Havok]

The number of patrons dwindled to two and Aton wiped the counter once more. He figured he\'d let them stay ten minutes after closing time before he asked them to leave. He leaned on the cool granite counter and slid a salt shaker from hand to hand.

"..but her boss, Paul, was actually the one fucking her cousin!" finished the twenty-something year old man sitting at the table closest to Aton. He laughed riotously at his joke but the younger woman across from him chuckled halfheartedly. Aton smirked after trying not to.

They had finished their espressos twenty minutes ago but the young man evidently hadn\'t realized the conversation ended a while back. The girl\'s fake laugh ended with a sigh.

Aton had been observing the city residents since he moved in two weeks prior. This conversation was too painful to have taken place between supernaturals. Human speak usually lacked refinement. He had anticipated more supernatural folk to walk into The Painted Bean, but it seemed humans enjoyed it most.

"I\'d better go," she said. They left and Aton walked up to the door to lock up. He watched them stand outside of the cafe as the girl extended her hand for a shake. The man seemed disappointed but accepted the handshake. Awkwardly, they started walking in the same direction.

The deadbolt clunked. Aton was glad his shift was coming to an end. He began to turn to walk to the register for the evening count when he saw a shadow move on the other side of the glass door. He had a visitor.

[skeggsismad]

It had taken a greater portion of the evening skipping around town for Emil to notice that he had lost a treasured possession. Even he wouldn’t deny that he was a bit materialistic. When you paid your weight for a pair of sunglasses it was rather bleak and depressing when you lost sight of them…and lucky for the vampire, he recalled where he had set them, and exactly why.

Perhaps a few hours ago he had been within The Painted Bean- so briefly that it had taken him ten minutes of sit-down backtracking to remember that he had. Magnolia, or ‘Maggy’ as everyone had nicknamed her, had a caffeine addiction so severe that it almost was troubling to Emil even though he’d known her not longer than a week. After moaning and groaning about it the group of about seven or so individuals swung into the quaint café, Maggy ordering her drink with a couple of her girlfriends while Emil and his two comrades crowded around near the door. The vampire had been mid-story, and during a dramatic sway of his hands he had whipped off his sunglasses (that were totally unnecessary considering he hadn’t seen sun in over two hundred years) and placed them on a coffee table nearby. Once Maggy had been served her drink, they all had headed for the hills, and Emil had completely forgotten the brown-tinted Tom Ford brandname shades.

Emil wasn’t quite familiar with The Painted Bean and wasn’t sure the exact hour that they closed. It didn’t occur to him even that the place would close for the night…didn’t humans need to be able to access their fancy dancy coffee at all hours of the night? In the cinemas he had seen a variety of shows including college ready students who spent their entire PM hours with a cup of java close in hand trying to read that last page of book before the test the next morning.

Emil walked down the street casually, in no particular rush, towards the store. He even managed to catch a glimmer of the handshake that Aton had barely witnessed shortly before he came to a halt at the door. Attempting to open it, Emil found that  the door wouldn’t budge. His eyes drifted perplexedly to the area the hours were displayed and saw clearly that the establishment had closed a few minutes ago. But he could see, too, there was somebody in  there. Surely if he explained the unfortunate circumstances the worker would allow him to come in and search for his sunglasses. He didn’t see the sunglasses where he had left them, but he supposed all of these stores had lost and founds in the back of them.

“Sir o’er yonder! I know it’s beyond closing time, but I believe I’ve misplaced something! Wouldn’t you mind letting me take a look-see?” He spoke with a friendly smile; loudly enough that he thought any mortal would be able to hear him from beyond the glass. He had on a non-patterned gray v-neck shirt coupled with a black jacket that wrapped around it, dark jeans that matched the jacket and brown leather dress shoes…presumably all garments were of the same brand name and expensive. It was casual attire for a casual night out- though with the misplaced items, Emil decided this evening might not go as planned.

[Havok]

Aton pivoted towards the voice at the door. He made sure to wear a look of displeasure on his face. After sauntering over, he realized that he recognized the man from earlier in the evening. Several hours before, the man entered The Painted Bean with beautiful company and what seemed like the most interesting story to share. Looking at the stranger, Aton suddenly felt lacking. It was a feeling he couldn\'t quite describe. The man who\'d lost something seemed important and interesting. Aton\'s shorts, white cotton tee, and running shoes topped the opposite end of the luxury spectrum.

Because he cleared the table at which the man\'s friends were standing nearby, Aton concluded the gentleman was here to reclaim a pair of sunglasses. He held one finger up at the man.

"One sec." He walked quickly to the counter and grabbed the sunglasses indelicately. He would be held accountable for any situation after-hours, so he decided not to risk letting the man into the cafe. He unlocked the door and began to open it but realized something shocking. The man wasn\'t human.

"You\'re... you\'re a vampire." He stared at the man as he slowly moved the glasses towards him. The vampire was uncharacteristically dark and Aton hadn\'t bothered eavesdropping on him earlier, so he hadn\'t realized the presence of a supernatural until it was just the pair of them. Aton knew he should have been cautious, but the vampire\'s presence thrilled him. He swung the door open to full capacity with a wide grin on his face.

[skeggsismad]

Though he didn’t intend it, a part of Emil’s mind did shudder when he closely examined the attire of the employee. Obviously the café was casual and he didn’t expect someone who worked there to be decked out in a business suit…but the fashion taste of the other male was rather bland. Didn’t everyone like to feel dressed up and pretty? He couldn’t imagine walking around like that . Perhaps the other fellow was having a bad day. Poverty was no excuse, really…for it was amazing what one could do with clothing from the thrift store with a few modifications. Although the stranger’s attitude at first was alarmingly standoffish, Emil retained his energetic and inviting atmosphere.

Nodding his head and responding verbally to the stranger’s request that he wait a minute,

“Of course, Pumpkin, take your time with that. It’s much appreciated.”

When Aton returned and opened the door so that Emil could reach for his glasses, there were two reactions that came about at once. One, a cringe from the fact that whoever this man was, he’d just ‘outed’ him supernaturally for all nearby ears to hear, and two, that he’d noticed a tiny scratch on the lens of his sunglasses. His first impulse was to cry out in protest over the imperfect object, and for the moment he started longingly at the accessory in his hand like someone who was mourning the death of their puppy.

 The moment faded rather quickly when he remembered that there were more important things to take care of than the soiled glass. He tucked them into the breast pocket of his jacket, tossing his hand to his chest and gasping as if he had been severely insulted. The whole thing was too dramatic and theatrical for whatever had occurred to insult him so.

“By Jupiter! What a thing to say about a stranger! Of course not!”  Emil spoke back loudly, projecting his voice so that even those who hadn’t heard the stranger’s original statements would be able to hear his words denying that he was a vampire crystal clear. Soon after, he gave a wink to the fellow standing in the doorway in front of him indicating that he was joking, sauntering into the room as if he owned the place with a gleeful look plastered on his face. He made sure that the door was closed behind him before he spoke again.

“Suppose I was?” Emil asked with a grin that matched Aton’s, with perhaps a hint of mischievousness.

Extending his cold hand towards the younger looking male, Emil started introductions.

“Emil Elwira. Pleasure to meet you, darling.”

[Havok]

Aton hadn\'t expected such a forceful retort, but it seemed the man wanted to be heard. Perhaps he shouldn\'t have made such a bold accusation out loud in public. The man walked into the cafe as if Aton had invited him right on in. He couldn\'t help but chuckle. Closing the door behing him, Aton thought about the danger he was putting himself in. Exposing your knowledge of someone\'s identity when they clearly don\'t want to be identified couldn\'t be a good thing. The man introduced himself kindly enough so Aton decided that Emil meant no harm and reached his arm out to meet the vampire\'s. He considered himself a good judge of character, and Emil seemed genuinely kindhearted. Upon first contact, though, Aton thought about his virtue. Surely vampires can\'t be good. His little experience with vampires vindicated the goal of his original mission: Protect the humans from the evil dead.

The skin was cold. Extremely cold. But this vampire wasn\'t like those he had heard about.

"I\'m Aton. I\'m an Angel." His smirk slowly faded and his expression became more pensive. Sure, Aton was completely open to learning about Emil, but would Emil share the interest?

"I\'m not entirely sure if telling you that was a smart move, but I did it anyway. I\'ve heard about so many despicable things vampires have done. Am I wrong to trust you?"

During this brief exchange, Aton was circling around the vampire and his grin towards the counter. Despite not being parched in the slightest, he wanted to drink water. Perhaps because it was just something minuscule to keep his hands busy while his mind raced about the potential for danger. He sipped the glass of cold water and then ran his fingers through his fine hair debating whether he was overreacting. After all, the vampire staring at him seemed as calm as could be.

[skeggsismad]

Upon his handshake being accepted, Emil felt a warm and fuzzy feeling bubble inside of him. It was possible that he might have found company for the rest of the night! Emil was one of those types that didn’t like to be by himself, unless it were for a task like writing his Sire. Otherwise he tended to get restless and sometimes he felt like was about to go out of his mind. Indeed, perhaps the only way he had survived immortality all of these years was surrounding himself with the living so that he too could fill the thrills that they felt, the same ones he had when he had a beating heart. Not that he  thought of himself as dead…no! Emil was stubborn. He’d never think of himself as a walking corpse…he was just… ‘unique’.

“Hold on, let me say that a couple of times, just to get it fresh on my tongue. A tan? No no…Aaaa….Aton. Aton, yes? That sounds about right, but pardon me! It’s quite the unique name.”

Indeed, Angels were of a rare species and he was fascinated by them…although, he had a near explosive situation with one of them when he had first met them. It didn’t seem that many Angels were too keen on vampires, and he couldn’t possibly imagine why. It wasn’t like he was a demon or something! He was basically human with a few add on perks- if you could stand to stretch the truth that far like Emil often liked to.

“An Angel you are! I would have never gotten these back had you not swooped in to save the day like that! A sweetheart, truly. I’m glad that you told me because I couldn’t quite place the smell, and I’d say you’re of the rarities in the world. I’ve met individuals of your kind, thrice!”

As he spoke of his sunglasses he gestured to him, and his speech patterns were full of liveliness and exclamations, as if he was excited by the mere thought of everything. His eyes seemed to haze over and his expression shifted a tad to a look of puzzlement…as Emil had totally lost where he was in the conversation. It happened often when he got carried away on tangents.

“Including this time, of course. Oh yes, but what was thou going on about?  Right, ‘tis clear as day now. Why, wouldn’t it be silly if someone didn’t put faith in someone every now and then? Everyone gets lonesome. Well,”

He was responding specifically to Aton’s concerns, which in themself had been troubling to the vampire. Deep down in the innards of his self-denial filled mind, Emil could acknowledge that he knew vampires had a general bad rap and for the most part they were creepy crawlers out to get everybody. He couldn’t count the amount of times a vampire had wanted to pick a fight with him, and besides vampire hunters and demons, no other species of creatures had tallied up that large of a sum in ways of conflict provoking. All of this was buried quite deeply inside of his mind, however. Emil was as likely to admit he thought vampires were dirty slimes as he was to admit he had poor fashion taste and didn’t take care of himself physically- likely as in never .

“My good friend Lamar is somewhat finicky, but even he on occasion longs for company. What say you about friendship and trust? There ought to be a little give and take! Even if I have these pointy things,”

Emil opened his mouth wide enough to display his fangs and pointed to them, giving a playful wink at Aton. Really… he didn’t think he was one of the bad ones. But there was no way to prove it, was there? Usually he didn’t encounter this problem. With as friendly as he was, few people doubted him unless they were purposely being rude towards him or were scared out of their wits.

Emil found that, it might have been the second option. Aton was pacing around and he seemed…nervous. Heaven forbid that anyone would be nervous in his company! Emil approached the male leisurely and attempted to place a hand on his shoulder, a soothing gesture that would soon turn into a little soothing shoulder rub if it wasn’t fought off the moment it was put down.

“Dear…are you alright? You’re almost shaking like jelly!” Emil said with enthusiasm, although his face was less of a smile than it was a frown with glimmers of concern in his eye. Had he said something to make the Angel feel uncomfortable? Hopefully he hadn’t done anything that was rude in Angel-customs. Emil had some rigid set of polity standards he held himself, and he’d been the definition of embarrassed if he had managed to tip-toe on anyone elses’.