Bring on the Wonder

[skeggsismad]

“WOW!  I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ask! I mean, I asked, but I didn’t mean to say it, it just came out!”
Jeffie proclaimed, eyes wide and looking a bit mortified. He even took a couple of steps away from Sam, feeling the inexplicit need to create some distance and formality.  In an attempt to comfort him, Emil reached his arm out and put it around the Nymph’s neck.

“ Ooh, you’re burning up!” He muttered softly to Jeffie, knowing that Sam could hear them but at the same time distinguishing that he had only been talking to Jeffie. Jeffie didn’t respond verbally, only blushed. His skin tended to heat up whenever he experienced strong emotions.

Now the elder vampire turned his attention to the fledging, smiling brilliantly. He was always flattered when people took notice of his attire and always ready to chatter away about it.

“Why, thank you dearie. Fifth avenue, New York! Most of my wardrobe was built there. The jacket and slacks are Canali and the shoes are Salvatore Ferragamo. This shirt, though, I proudly proclaim as my own design. It’s hand-woven raw silk. Although, I suppose all of that information is as necessary as a hole in a bridge if you aren’t into fashion!”

He chuckled, waving his hand in the air and ending the laughter with a relieved sigh.

“I’m sorry to go on, I always go on and on and on,” He motioned his hand and formed into a mock mouth, batting his fingers up and down as if to demonstrate someone who was speaking to much.

[Idrial]

When Jeffie backed away from Sam she didn't understand why, it was a simple mistake and with the look of horror on his face you'd think she was ready to knock his socks off. She didn't even bother mentioning him mispronouncing her last name, it was kinda adorable on his part. When Emil mentioned Jeffie burning up she couldn't help but grin, he wasn't the only one who was burning up in this situation. She knew just how quickly she could make a mistake when among the older vampires and it was nice to see that Emil wasn't one of those arrogant vampires.

"You have good taste Emil, a little formal for my taste but as you can see I know very little about fashion. I can color coordinate exceptionally well but that's about it." Looks really didn't matter to Sam, she liked people for who they are and not for what they look like on the outside. She really never took much time to her appearance unless it was for a special event, even then she really didn't over do it with the makeup. So far she liked Emil and Jeffie they seemed like a good couple, they seemed very happy together.

"I don't mind people babbling it keeps me entertained," she gave him a giggle. "If you don't mind me asking how long have you been a couple ? You look good together." She gave them both a warm smile, they were both very lucky to have one another.    

[skeggsismad]

Emil might have gone on about how fashion sense was in most people acquired and it was never too late to get into fashion, had the woman not ended her comments the way she had. He didn’t know how to react to the question and he turned to his side, only to see Jeffie’s jaw stiffen. He could tell that Jeffie was controlling himself to make sure he didn’t look shocked. It was also clear that Jeffie wasn’t going to say anything and it was up to him to clear up the misunderstanding.

“Oh! Jeffie and I, we’re just good friends is all,” Emil spoke softly. He didn’t want Sam to feel bad about her assumptions even if he was baffled by them. People always seemed to be insinuating he was dating the male friends he took out in public and it had always confused Emil; he’d never quite understood why they always seemed like they were a couple.

“But don’t worry yourself- I won’t give you a sound thrashing for that! I don’t typically give anyone a sound thrashing, for that matter!” He said with a chuckle.

“Unless they spill red wine on your carpet,” Jeffie interjected.

“Well…yes,” Emil shook his head slightly. “I suppose I do hash out a sound thrashing if someone spills red wine on my carpet. It’s just- oh, it takes hours to scrub out and sometimes you have to replace the whole carpet and it’s just a mess, really.”

He sighed, remembering how he’d vented about Lamar’s spill-and-ditch antics not so long ago to Jeffie. As Lisa-Joe had pointed out quite recently, Emil could sometimes be a gossip.

[Idrial]

Sam's eyes grew wide like a couple of cabbages, she couldn't believe she had made that mistake. She saw Jeffie tighten his jaw, she wasn't sure if it was out of anger or shock. Her shoulders became square and flat while she straightened her standing stance; hands folded behind her back. Well she made it and now she had to deal with it. She was little tongue tied and it was a good thing Emil liked to talk as she was trying to figure out how she was going to back peddle out of this one.

She was glad he was not one for thrashing people, that didn't usually work out for the people on the other end. She'd be respectful, calm and polite until the other party raised his or her voice or insult her directly. Then the gloves were off, Jake often said her words could sting like bee's but she didn't like using words to hurt people.

"You scrubbed it out ? No wonder it took you hours, it's dab not scrub silly." She shook her head with a smile on her face, "My mother used an old recipe that worked great for red wine stains. One cup of hydrogen peroxide and a teaspoon of dish soap. You dab it till you get most of the stain out rinse with warm water by dabbing it again. You let it dry and as it dries it the rest of the pink just magically goes away." Listen to her giving cleaning advice, plus it didn't just go away the hydrogen peroxide pulled it out of the carpet and since hydrogen peroxide turns to water it encounters air the stain would evaporate with the water leaving nothing behind; simple grade five science her mother use to say.    

[skeggsismad]

“Does that really work?” Emil exclaimed, having been enlightened with a new bit of knowledge.
“Why, I’ll say! I’ve never heard of such a trick. I suppose that may be surprising considering how much time I’ve had to investigate solution to wine stains, but I think it’s a matter of not wanting to be the house cleaner. I’d rather hire someone to mop the floors than to do it myself- it’s not necessarily that I think the work is beneath me exactly but it’s so tedious to do! How can people stand to clean their homes and not go mad from how dreadfully mind-numbing it is!”

He shook his head, shrugged his shoulders and made a goofy face. Some things didn’t make sense to him but he supposed c’est la vie.

The vampire turned his attention to Jeffie who’d been remarkably quiet ever since the whole ‘boyfriend’ misunderstanding. He seemed out of character and Emil felt helpless since it wasn’t exactly appropriate to discuss things out right in front of Sam.

“Jeffie, are you feeling alright? Do you want me to drop you home?” Emil offered. He knew Jeffie could tire himself out quickly with all of the energy he expended.

“Yeah, I think I should get going,” Jeffie drawled dully.

“Alright, Jeffie.” Emil spoke and then fixed his gaze back on Sam.

“I’m charmed to have met you tonight, sweetheart. It was really quite pleasant! I’d invite you on a night out on the town but I’m sure you’re already quite busy tonight.”  He got the sense that it would be interesting to meet Sam in a one on one environment to get to know her, at least, it would be interesting if he was careful and managed not to offend her.

“Would you like my card, darling, in case you’d like to keep in touch?” He asked, almost as if they were long-lost friends from Highschool that had randomly bumped into one another. Certainly he wasn’t treating her as he should have been: she was a utter stranger and already it seemed they’d established what Emil would call a ‘friendship’! 

[Idrial]

She felt as if she had crossed a line and she had taken a step back away from the two, her hands nervously clasped together as Jeffie was no longer looking at her which made her feel really bad about her comment. Suddenly she couldn't hide it and her right hand slowly made it's way up too the cease in her arm, she dug her own nails into herself causing some pain. She always seemed to make mistakes when it came to older vampires and she didn't like putting Jeffie in that situation, she had no clue why she had said it now as it sounded stupid and ridiculous.

Jeffie wanted to go home and Sam couldn't make a fuss over it and she politely nodded her head at him, "Well it was nice to meet you both. I'm actually just starting my night but you both look tired." She wasn't sure how to take Emli's offer as she reached out and took his card. She shoved it in her pocket quite quickly trying not to scrunch it in the process. They had at least kept her entertained for a bit until she fucked up, she always hated doing that around her elders. 

[skeggsismad]

It was hard for Emil not to notice Sam’s reaction things. He felt a pang of guilt wash over him and knew instantly he had to fix the miscommunication. Jeffie was uncomfortable and he’d take him home, but he needed to talk to the young vampire before he departed so he didn’t leave such a sour taste in her mouth. It was hard to tell exactly what she was thinking, but it couldn’t be good Emil figured, not with the woman digging her nails into her arm.

He turned to Jeffie.

“Why don’t you go wait in the car, sweetie? Here are the keys.” Emil pulled the car keys out of his pocket and pressed them into Jeffie’s hand. The nymph gave a puzzled look but when Emil narrowed his eyebrows Jeffie left without question. As soon as the nymph was out of ear range Emil turned back to Sam.

  Where to begin? He wondered.

“Honey, talk to me. Are you okay?” He spoke gently, face melting in a gust of sympathy. He didn’t go on further and assure her that it was alright to be honest like he might have done with a human. Truthfully Emil was still testing out the waters with Sam. She was younger, yes, but she was still a vampire and he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries and treat her as if she was still a human.

[Idrial]

She really didn't want to talk about this but she looked into Emil's eyes, she took a deep breath as it was just him and her now. Jeffie had now left and she felt a little more at ease, her posture relaxed just a little as she steadied herself for Emil's question as it threw her for somewhat of a loop. She was still leery about sharing what she was feeling but she felt she owed him an explanation after how she had acted.

"I'm sorry it's just -" She stopped trying to get the words in her head in order before she said anything more as she needed to be more confident which was proving somewhat hard to do currently. "I'm sorry for my impersonal question. I'm just not very good with talking too older vampires as I seem to fuck up." It was a blunt but true statement, she wasn't very good in talking to older vampires.

[skeggsismad]

Emil frowned a bit. He didn’t really like the way Sam had corrected herself in the beginning of the sentence because he recognized what that technique was very well. It was the same technique he employed when talking to older vampires- there were certain lines that weren’t crossed and composure had to be maintained. But if he could manage it, he didn’t want Sam to behave that way with him, at least not when they were alone.

“Oh, honey,” He said soothingly as he shook his head in disagreement. “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay? Do you understand that?”

He paused and let out a sigh.

“Know this- I’m in no way obligated to tell you this, but I think it’s something you need to know.” He gave the disclaimer and then proceeded.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, sweetheart. The reason this meeting was cut short wasn’t because of my offense, but because of Jeffie’s reaction. It’s just, oh, we meet a few weeks ago and I think that Jeffie has developed a bit of a crush on me and I think he was really quite embarrassed that someone might have been able to tell.”

[Idrial]

Sam nodded her head in understanding, she would have been awfully embarrassed if she had a crush on someone and a complete stranger just pointed it out. She felt bad for Jeffie and hopefully the car ride for them wouldn't be too awkward for the both of them. Her stance relaxed a little and the nails that were digging into her flesh ceased, she had felt a little better by his explanation of the situation.

"Still even in that case I still made your night a little awkward now." Her voice was steady and was interlaced with some warmth, "I can notice the little things it seems." She shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal, "Sometimes when I point them out I don't understand how impacted someone could be, to me it's just an observation it's nothing personal." She was young and Sam understood that but being a Ventrue made everything even more complicated as so much was excepted from her own kindred.    

[skeggsismad]

Sam seemed to be relaxing a bit and Emil was relieved.

“Ohh, darling, please- it’s not your fault at all. Eventually this would have come out, anyway. I don’t want you to feel guilty.”

He wanted to reach out and touch her to comfort her further, perhaps a hug, but he found he was unable to do so due to his fears. Even if she was incredibly young, he didn’t need to force a hug on her if she didn’t want one. She might feel obligated since he was older. Yes, it was better to act with restraint until he was more familiar with her.

“I do need to be going to take Jeffie home, but maybe if you want to talk later on we can? I don’t know what you have planned for the evening, but the night is still young and after I drop Jeffie off I’m certain I could find something for us to do. But if you’ve other plans, don’t feel obligated. It’s only a friendly offer and I won’t be offended at all if you reject.”

He wanted to make it clear to Sam right up front that he wouldn’t be using his age as a way to manipulate her into doing things she didn’t exactly want to do. Maybe Sam wasn’t like he was of course, but Emil remembered what it was like to be so young and feel so bound to do whatever someone older asked. Even to this day he experienced the phenomenon with older vampires and it wasn’t a pleasant situation at all to be forced to act as someone's call-boy.

[Idrial]

"Well how about after you drop off Jeffie you can decide whether you want to come back." Sam wasn't sure he wanted to come back but she really didn't want to change her plans. Not because she didn't want to spend some more time with Emil it was because she was on a mission tonight and she planned to finish it.

"I've been at going to the museum for a long time and I would like to finish it tonight so those are my plans. Apparently there's a rumor there is a secret on this very floor in one of the exhibits and I want too see if I could find it." She had made up her mind when she first heard the rumor through a university colleague and that night she decided to check it out. Only to realize that this museum with seven floors was a lot bigger than she first thought and it was only fair if she went to one floor at a time. It had been a daunting task and a wonderful experience as it kept her quite interested as she majored in literature.

"If I don't see you I'll understand. I have your card so I can give you a call and we can defiantly do something in this city." Sam had relaxed to the point were her nervousness had rid itself from her body, her hands were no longer clasped together but at her sides. Emil was very understanding and she was grateful and a little sad that their night might be ending soon.     

[skeggsismad]

It was hard to determine what Sam’s comments meant. A lot of the context depended on tone and body movements and he didn’t know the vampire well enough to be able to read her accurately. Was she hinting that she’d prefer to be alone and trying to dismiss him in a pleasant way, or did she actually want his company but was stating her true preferences upfront? Emil couldn’t tell. If Sam would have been an older vampire he might have assumed the most likely context and done with it, but since she was so young, he felt he could press her about what she meant without any major repercussions.

“I must ask, darling; do you want me to come back or would you prefer to browse the Museum alone? I’m in no way doubting your words, sweetie, but I think that it’s best I clarify so that there are no misunderstandings. Why, I’ve had enough of those lately as it is!” He let out a chuckle, even though the misunderstanding he had recently wasn’t exactly funny. Lamar’s life had been threatened and he could have been dead had it not been for the damage control he’d done. Somehow, though, in the context of this conversation he could laugh it off with a shrug.

[Idrial]

"Of course I want you to come back." She exclaimed with a wide smile, "I like having company especially when there isn't a soul around." She knew too well about misunderstandings as her and Jake had one last night which caused her to stay out a half hour before the sunrise; he was not happy. At that point she didn't care she just went straight to bed and she didn't talk to him for a whole day. It was somewhat unnerving the way they treated each other at times, she wondered if she would ever have a relationship with the man that made her very dreams reality.

"Now the question is do you want to come back. I've made the offer and now the ball is in your court." She gave him a small curtsy. She very much hoped that he would come back and if not she would call him up and make arrangement's for there next socialization meet and greet.

 

[skeggsismad]

Emil gasped dramatically after the question was asked, eyes widening and face displaying shock of sorts.

“Of course I want to come back, sweetie!” He proclaimed loudly and confidently, giving Sam a wide grin and a wink to accompany it.

“I’ll see you within the hour. Hopefully I’ll be able to find you in this place when I return- my! It’s so ginormous!” He looked around the room to emphasize how large it was.

With that he bowed to Sam, grin still on his face, excusing himself from the room and back to his car where Jeffie waited.