It’s winter in the city. The snow was falling lightly from the night sky. However, the snow went unnoticed by the woman walking down the street with a dog at her side. She was carrying a newspaper in her hands, the classifieds section to be exact, while the leash attached to the dog was draped over the dogs back. There really wasn’t much reason for her to hold onto the leash when out walking with her dog. Her dog never left her side. Not unless she was told to by her owner anyway.

The woman walking down the street was actually dressed for the weather. She hadn’t wanted to bring any attention to herself tonight and had opted to dress the way the mortals in the city dressed for this time of year. She was wearing a black heavy coat that went down to her ankles. It has dark grey fake fur around the neck, the arm openings and around the bottom of the coat. Upon her dainty feet are black winter boots with the same fake fur around the top of them. There were no heels on the boots.

What she’s wearing under the coat doesn’t matter at the moment since the coat is buttoned all the way from the bottom up to under her chin. Waist-length red hair flowed freely down around her back. She had considered pulling it back into a french-braid but had changed her mind when she realized she would then have to wear something to cover her ears like the mortals did. Trying to look like a mortal at the moment was such a pain in the rear. She would have preferred to just get up, get dressed and head out to do what she was currently doing. However, she didn’t want to draw any attention to herself in the least tonight. That was the only reason she was dressed as she was.

Just what was the woman, and her dog, doing out in the middle of the night walking down the sidewalk in the falling snow carrying the classifieds section of the newspaper? The answer to that was actually quite simple really. She was house hunting. It was high time the vampress started taking care of herself. That meant trying to find her own house that would allow her to keep her dog as well. She had been doing a few odd jobs here and there, so had been able to save up enough money for a deposit, a couple months rent as well as utilities on a house. She just had to find one that wouldn’t say no to her keeping her dog. Hell would have to freeze over before she’d give up her precious dog. Right now, it felt like Sasha was the only friend she had.

Thus far, her search for a house, not an apartment, had turned up empty. None of the rentals thus far would allow pets, or if they did, they had to be small pets. Sasha was far from being small. So the vampress trudged on through the lightly falling snow, looking at rental after rental. She refused to go into the bad part of town to look at those dumps. While she didn’t want a house that would cost an arm and a leg, she didn’t want to live in some little dive either. That just wasn’t her style.

A soft sigh escaped from the vampress as she crossed off yet another house rental that had said no to Sasha being there. “This is harder than it seems, Sasha,” she said quietly to her canine companion. Sasha lifted her gaze towards her vampire and whined softly. The vampress reached out a hand to rest it upon Sasha’s shoulder. And that would be how the two of them would be seen walking down the street; a woman with a newspaper in one hand, the other on her dog that was walking at her side.

The only friend she had? Actually, Morose would be pleased to know she thought this because that meant she was copping, without him. Alone. If she were copping without him, it meant she hadn’t needed to change him in the first place, all she’d needed him for was to learn that she didn’t need anybody. That left a bitter taste in his mouth, but the fact that she didn’t need anyone meant that only Jex was left to care for.

But he didn’t know this yet. All he saw was his gentle Enyo alone in the street clutching a newspaper and that dog Sasha. He, unlike her, would have drawn attention to himself no matter how he dressed because his clothing always drew attention, his red hair and blue eyes always gained attention but besides that, his skin was so pale now that it was nearly translucent. The blue veins beneath could be seen like running along his arms and neck and even a few in his cheeks like markings on a map. And even with this pale, sickly look, his still had that everlasting appearance that made people think ‘lovely.’

He was not dressed for the weather. He was wearing his typical long pants with their too-wide legs to cover his long legs. The stitching in them was black so that everything there was black and the silver of the zippers and rings, the pockets that lead nowhere. His shirt was quarter sleeved, ending just below the elbow, with a neckline that dipped in a curve to show below the collarbones. What was visable of his arms and chest were scared, on his chest marks like the ones on his hips, fingernails. On his arms, marks that shaped in the exact size and shape of his own fangs. Around his throat the cross still wasn’t present. His brilliant red hair isn’t so messy as it was the last time they’d spoke, it’s cleaner, but it’s not done up. His bangs hang longer, to his chest now and his sad eyes haven’t grown any less sad.

His boots are bigger, platforms lifting him another two inches on his already tall height, but he still slouches around the shoulders like he’s trying to be shorter. There’s no make up like usual, there is no blood at all, no pulse. He’s dieing slowly, but when he reaches the brink he will feed again, renewing himself for another two weeks. He can’t die until His Enyo and His Jex are both taken care of, Enyo by herself or someone better then him and Jex by his god.

He moved along the sidewalk behind her, coming to her side and slowing his pace to match hers. Apparently his time alone has been put to use practicing to walk quietly. Not really. Actually he’s just stopped fighting the fact that he’s a vampire and he’s let the abilities flow freely. Often he doesn’t realize that he’s hiding in shadow when he isn’t thinking about /not/ hiding. He doesn’t realize he’s speaking too quietly for the human ear or shouting too loudly for it. He doesn’t notice when his foot falls became as silent as a shadows or when he’s stopped breathing. Sometimes he’ll black out and find himself on the roof of a building, having climbed the verticle wall without realizing it was not natural to do so.

Morose is fading. Someone, or something, else is taking hold now.

He didn’t say anything like he normally would, no greeting. He found himself falling to silence more often then not. He simply walked at her side in a silence that was eriee and extended not only to his not speaking but also to everything, silencing the rustle of clothing or the footsteps on the sidewalk.

Just because the vampress thought of Sasha as the only friend she had right now did not mean that she was coping very well with it. The only reason she hadn’t yet slunked off to some dark, dreary corner of the world was because someone had to take care of Sasha. She couldn’t very well leave her dog with no one to care for her. The dog was far too attached to Enyo to go with anyone else at this point. She was, by now, so attached to Enyo that she wouldn’t even stay behind at her former owners home while Enyo searched for a house of their own. No, Enyo was not coping very well with being alone at all.

The vampress sensed him long before she, or Sasha, heard him coming. She could always sense him. Could he sense her in the same way? Or had she finally succeeded in learning how to get that wall up to hide how she was truly feeling? Yes, the vampress had been practicing that quite a lot lately; hiding her feelings. Especially because she had come to feel quite empty inside. There was something missing from her life, if you could really call it a life. She knew what that something was but was doing nothing to try to fill that empty void any longer. Did that mean she was giving up? Pretty much. As already stated, she hadn’t yet crept away to a dark, dreary corner of the world to fade away yet because of Sasha.

She felt him come up beside her and fall into pace with her. His not saying anything actually didn’t surprise her for some reason. Nor did she say anything as of yet. What she did do, however, was change hands that the newspaper was in so that the hand nearest to Morose was now empty. That empty small hand reached over and slid easily into his much bigger hand. Her touch would be cold as ice. Because her very long red hair was hanging loose, he would not yet be able to see her face. She hadn’t, yet, turned her head to look at him either.

Why was her touch as cold as ice? Why hadn’t she yet turned her head towards him? The answer to that was actually quite simple really. She’d stopped feeding. She’d stopped feeding entirely. It had been several months since she had last fed. She hadn’t turned her head towards him yet because she didn’t want him to see that. It would, however, be easy to tell from the coldness of her skin that she’d not fed for a while, but it wouldn’t tell just how long it had been.

What had caused such a change in the vampress? A deep depression had set in. A depression that she had not been able to shake at all, unlike the former times when she had become depressed. And why was she out here searching for a house anyway? Didn’t she already have a place to live?

He didn’t yet know that she was searching for a house or he would have wondered that himself. Yes, he could still sense her. Maybe not her unhappiness because his own and her’s and Jex’s all in his mind, all the unhappiness combined, despite that his was already an overwhelming amount on it’s own, was a mixture that he could not separate. He felt all of them but he could not determine which belong to whom. She could sense him when he was barring her out of his emotions only because so much of the little energy he maintained was being put into use on that barrier. He might feel like what most people thought death felt like. Empty but not empty, a hazy sense of being that moved about blindly and slowly. He didn’t feel real.

When her fingers slipped into his, he closed his big hand without hesitation, engulfing her hand in his own and another feeling is there, accompanying that sense of merely being. His closing his hand represented their continued friendship but his hand completely hiding hers inside of it, he was showing her how much he protected, and was willing to keep protecting her. Her icy fingers told him all he needed to know, without seeing her face. He knew because it was familiar, he knew how cold one would be on so many days, weeks, months without feeding.

He didn’t say anything as he continued to walk. He didn’t ask her where Cheddar was because he knew already, somehow he knew that something was wrong there. He didn’t ask her why she’d not been feeding, he didn’t need to. And he didn’t ask her was she was doing, it wasn’t necissary to know. All that mattered was, where ever she was going and whatever she was doing, as long as it insured he could still protect her and Jex both, he would go with her.

The way his hair feel to one side of his face made a red curtain between them just as hers was, she could not see his face and he could not see hers. But he knew what she looked like. He knew that she knew, even if she thought she didn’t, what he looked like. If she looked at him now, pushed back those long bangs, she’d find his eyes closed.

A sound that mortals would call a ‘sigh of relief’ escaped from her as his big hand closed around her own cold, dainty hand. With that simple gesture from him, she was reminded of their continued friendship and suddenly no longer felt so terribly alone. At least for now anyway. She knew that the empty feeling would return the moment they parted company yet again. They always parted company. It seemed that the two couldn’t be around each other for very long before something happened and she said something stupid thus resulting in them ending up in an argument or something.

She finally lifted her head and turned it towards him. Her long red hair easily fell to the side, enough to be able to make her face slightly visible. Her usually bright green eyes were very nearly transparent due to not feeding for such a long time. Her skin was just as transparent as her eyes. Blue veins lined her face almost entirely.

“I’ve missed you,” she finally said. Her voice so very soft that only he, and Sasha, would be able to hear her.

He didn’t reply. The sigh was such a ...foreign sound. Such a human sound. He’d not sighed in a very long time. Pity. He was suddenly reminded that he’d not breathed in quite some time too and this brought him back to reality, pulled him out of that strange, empty place where he went more and more every evening upon waking. So he filled his lungs needlessly with air and let out a long sigh that could have been a single pant, lost from all the other breaths in the rhythm that came with panting.

His hand stayed curled around hers, his eyes still closed. Why were his eyes closed? He couldn’t remember. So he opened them.

“You can call me when you miss me.” He didn’t sound disgruntled, only straightforward. Jex and he didn’t have a phone in the apartment of course but she knew what he meant.

For quite some time she hadn’t taken any sort of deep breath. Only enough to try to pass herself off as mortal when needed. Otherwise, it actually hurt to breathe too deeply.

“I know,” she answered quietly.

“I just...”

Didn’t want to be a bother.

“I’m glad you’re here now, though.”

Even though I didn’t call.

He nodded.

He knew what she was going to say. It's almost like two kids who've grown up togather to the point where they could complete eachothers sentances. He knew she thought calling would be a bother, with out actually ever hearing her say that's what she thought.

"It wouldn't bother me." His tone implied 'you know that.' His thumb moved against her hand once and he wasn't breathing again. But his eyes were still open and roaming around the scenery. Where were they? He couldn't recall getting here, only that he'd found Enyo and her dog here.

"I'm always here." Leave it to Morose to say something so strange but so very true.

She figured that he’d have known what the rest of her sentence was going to be without her having to say it. That was just how they had grown to be it seemed.

“I’m house hunting,” she answered his unspoken question.

How did she know? She just did.

“I’m having a hard time finding some place that will let me keep my dog.”

Sasha lifted her head towards the two vampires briefly before returning her gaze to watching ahead of them.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He'd gladly pay for it. Even though she wanted to. She'd expressed thanks for paying for her home up until she had moved in with the demon but he also knew she was more self-reliant then she'd thought. She showed him examples of that over and over through the time they'd been togather.

He looked downward at Sasha when the hound looked up, his face turned towards hers. They looked like a very sickly pair.

"You'll need too look..." Pause. "Normal...if you want someone to consider letting you rent or buy their home." Yes, he's suggesting she drink. It's unlike him but it's apparent that he's serious. And his tone wasn't disapproving at the suggestion.

“I...”

Didn’t want to bother you with it.

Actually, she didn’t want to bother him with her problems. Although, it seemed like her entire being was nothing but one big problem.

She knew what he was suggesting and was actually a bit taken aback from it. Hearing him telling her that she needed to look a bit more... normal... sounded so... odd.

“I...”

Pause.

“Can’t...”

Feed that is.

No further explanation at the moment.

Considering being told to look normal is coming from someone who looks so unnormal would suprise me too. At any rate, he didn't look at her until she'd finished her stammering. And when he did look, his expression was clear. Even with someone who didn't know what he felt, didn't know what he might say, could have figured that look out.

One slim red eyebrow had lifted into a questioning arch. He knew why he couldn't feed. But she'd never had any remorse for it until he'd berated her with words. Was it his fault? The question leapt to his mind before he could supress it and he felt another ounce of guilt add to what was already there. Why not? Why could she just suddenly not feed?

She felt his expression before she saw it. While they had been walking, she had turned her head forward and down slightly again so that her hair had gone back to covering her face. So when she felt him looking at her, she lifted her head and turned it slightly so that her hair would fall out of the way again. She had never looked so terrible. Why did she let herself get like this?

She dropped her gaze again. Her hair returned to covering her face, much like a shield in a sense. “It’s not your fault,” she said quietly. Even though the air around them was so very cold, there was no puff of air in front of her when she spoke. Not like there was in front of Sasha as she breathed.

She didn’t know how to explain why she couldn’t get herself to feed. She just... couldn’t. When things had stopped being right at ‘home’ was when she had stopped feeding entirely. It just didn’t feel right... feeding that is... anymore for some reason. Of course, she really was too depressed to care.

“Please believe me when I say that it’s not your fault.”

Cause it really isn’t. Not this time.

He shook his head. He could feel that she felt it wasn't his fault. But that was only what she felt. He felt like it was his fault. Somewhere deep down, or maybe not so deep, she had a reason for not feeding, she just didn't know what it was. What if it was him? There was no way for even her to know that really.

For the first time since he'd slipped up beside her, there was some substance to him, feeling wise. He felt like he was there, but he didn't feel like a human. Not anymore. Blood. She needed it, he would get it for her.

The thought first made his barier faulter, then made him feel lustful for it, then appaled. He shook his head fiercly to clear the thought away.

"You look dead. No one wants to sell to a dead person."

No. It really wasn’t his fault. Even if he wanted to try to place the blame upon himself. It honestly wasn’t his fault.

“I look dead...”

Pause.

She almost laughed at that.

“Because I am dead...”

Talk about a slap in the face. A slap in the face to herself really. That was the first time that she has ever referred to herself as being dead.

He didn't say anything for a moment. It's almost like his responses have slowed.

"Exactly," he replied finally. "Which is why no one will ever sell. You need to look alive." He could make it sound so simple. But he knew it wasn't that easy for himself and if it was suddenly so hard for her to feed, it wouldn't be easy for her anymore.

His eyes drifted closed slowly and all expression drifted away from his face. He continued to walk with her at her pace but he didn't seem to be looking.

Sell? Who said anything about buying a house?

“I was just looking to rent a house for now.”

What was the point in buying a house when one planned on slinking off to a dark, dreary corner of the world after her dog died?

Sasha was about three or four years old right now. That meant that Enyo had at least a good ten years with her dog.

“Can’t look alive when one doesn’t feel that way.”

That just about sums it all up in a nutshell, eh?

He didn't respond at all. In fact, he didn't act as if he'd even heard her. This wasn't like him, and he knew it.

"Rent or sell, no ones going to give it to you."

Then he was gone again, just that empty, seeping feeling, a bodiless limb holding her hand. This was where he went when he had no one to care for before. Now it seemed he couldn't stop sliding into that place.

"Would you feed if I did?"

That's really a big leap for him, considering at one point he'd have let them both starve to death before making that deal.

Whoa.

Back up.

What did he just say?

She actually stopped walking and lifted her head to look at him entirely. Her hair fell completely away from her face, showing just how terrible she really looked.

“What?”

She sounded honestly surprised, and a whole lot confused, by what he’d just said.

She stopped and he didn't notice, because his eyes had closed, until his hand tugged against hers. His eyes seemed to take eternity to open, and he can say that and truely appriciate it now that he understood what forever was suposed to mean. But they did eventually, and it took forever longer to get his head to turn before he finally turned his whole body to face her.

Zombie. That's what he might remind you of.

"You heard me." He's only going to say that one time. "Would you?"

Nothing was making any sense to her right now. Nothing had made any sense to her for a while to be honest.

“But...”

You don’t feed.

“Why?”

Why what?

That could imply so many things really.

“Why would you...”

Do that for me?

He didn't answer. He hung his head just a little bit, which nearly brought his chin to his chest since he already usualy hung his head and slouched, and let his eyes close again. He looked more then just dead now, he looked tired and worn. He shook his head.

Because I swore to take care of you and this isn't taking care of you. Because I killed your want for blood even though you need it.

"Does it matter why?"

Because I love you.

He pulled on her hand as if tugging himself closer to her, not pulling her, and held it up against his chest. It wasn't pulsing with a heart beat. He lowered their hands to her chest and again, there was no heartbeat. This isn't right. It's usual for him to have no pulse but her?

He opened his eyes. "Feed. I will too."

That's what you want isn't it? For me to feed?

She just stood there, staring at him. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this really Morose? Or was it just someone who looked like Morose?

No.

There is only one Morose. There will only ever be one Morose. And he really is standing right there.

Does it matter why?

Well, yes and no. But she wasn’t going to press for an answer.

She offered no resistance as he held her hand up against his chest. Feeling no heartbeat didn’t surprise her because, for Morose, it wasn’t unusual.

She stared at him, in a confused manner, as he moved their hands to her own chest. There was no heartbeat. She hadn’t felt a heartbeat in her own chest for some time now. She’d already grown used to the feeling, or lack of feeling.

“Morose...”

She paused. She really wasn’t sure what she was going to say.

“I...”

She knows what she wants to say but is unsure of how to say it.

“I’ve already made you do something you didn’t want to...”

Become a vampire.

“I can’t do it again...”

Meaning, him feeding just to try to get her to feed too.

Morose let their hands fall to their previous position, hovering between them and just hanging. His blue eyes had always been intense and he’d always been a stubborn one, right from the beginning, but the intensity in his eyes now was much more then ever before, almost a faint desperation with that edge of knowledge, the look of someone whose recently realized something they’d been trying not to for a long time.

“You’ve made me do nothing.”

You see, recently Morose has realized that while he’s been blaming Enyo for making him what he is all this time, since he’d spoken to Asher he’s been scoffing at the law that said ‘no one can make a vampire against their will.’ That’s when he realized that Enyo didn’t make him do anything. She killed him, yes, and she tempted him (roughly) with her blood, but no one can make someone drink or eat. That’s why he’d played anorexic while in the orphanage. They could make him go to bed, get out of bed, they even chose his name and how old he was and where he would live. But the one thing they could not control was whether he ate or not.

Enyo tempted him. He drank. It was him and no one else that opened his mouth and drank. Guilt compelled him subconscincly to blame her but really it was all him. He’s just coming to terms with this. This is what is in his eyes.

“Feed, Enyo. I need to as much as you do. Jex will worry. I am worrying,” about you.

The vampire woman dropped her gaze to the ground. Her long red hair draped around her face as she did so. There was so much confusion running through her right now that it actually almost weighed heavier than the emptiness she felt inside. Hearing him say that she’d made him do nothing wasn’t making any sense to her. Perhaps it was because she couldn’t think clearly due to having not fed for so long now. Or perhaps hearing him saying these things just didn’t sound like him at all.

“But...”

She was stammering. Unsure of what to say. Wait. That’s not true. There was so much she suddenly wanted to say but just wasn’t sure how to say any of it. The last thing she wanted to do was say something that would upset him and make him angry at her. She didn’t want him to go away. She didn’t want to lose him like she was losing everything else. Including her own sanity it seemed.

“But... I...”

Made you what you are.

Made you bite me that one night.

Make you angry all the time.

Jex would worry? About her? Surely not. However, him saying that he was worrying, without having to finish his sentence, made her lift her gaze from the ground. She looked at him through nearly transparent eyes. You couldn’t hardly tell that her eyes were really supposed to be bright green at the moment. The blue veins all over her face surely made her look hideous. She wouldn’t know really. She’s not looked at herself for quite some time. Remember, she can see herself in a mirror.

“I... just...”

Can’t.

“Everything is just...”

Wrong.

“I... just...”

Want to crawl away and finish fading away.

Why couldn’t she get herself to say any of these things out loud? She’s worried about making him mad at her, of course. She’s always worried about making him mad at her. That’s the story of her life it seems.

Jex would worry about him, he’d meant. But he’d probably worry about her too, if only because she was Morose. She made him, he loved her, Jex knew that.

“But nothing.” It’s the firmest he’s sounded without fighting with her. “You made me do nothing. Did you think you had that kind of power over me? Enyo, God made us with free will, not even He can make us do anything.” Well, if you were worried that this wasn’t Morose and just a look alike, that ought to tell you otherwise. How many other vampires preach the word of God?

Everything he’d said had been said with his eyes closed and his lips barely moving. When he opened his eyes again it was to look at her, squeeze her hand a little in his hand, and push down every one of her arguments.

I can’t. “You can.”

Everything is just... “It can be fixed.”

I just...the implications were clear to him. He of all people knew what she was feeling and he took a very challenging step towards her. He’d done that before. Then it had meant your not the sire anymore, I am. It probably meant the same thing this time too.

“You won’t.” He wouldn’t let her. His body was just nearly touching hers and his finger, just one, slipped under her chin and held her face up to look at his. “Your going to feed because you need too. I’ve promised you, I’m supposed to take care of you and I will.”

Things don’t seem to be going as planned. She’s supposed to be doing ok so he can die when he needs too. She’s not ok though. His eyes dropped a little and then slid closed again.

For the first time, she didn’t gag or baulk at his mention of ‘God’. Remember what happened the last time he had merely said the name? She had very nearly puked out everything and then continued dry heaving for some time. This time, there was no reaction at all from her as he said it.

It was so strange hearing him telling her that she could feed. It just didn’t seem right. It’s always been the other way around. Never has someone had to tell her that she could feed. And especially not Morose.

“How can you be so sure?”

That everything could be fixed.

She felt, rather than saw, him take that challenging step towards her. She’d dropped her head even lower as he did so. Instead of shrinking back from his challenging step towards her like she’d done before, she just stood there. She felt, and looked, so defeated. It went along with that empty feeling. There wasn’t even any resistance from her as he lifted her chin.

Did things ever go according as planned? Her own ‘life’ hadn’t even gone according as planned. Everything about it was just... wrong... now. She’d thought she was going to be okay. She’d thought she had found someone to be happy with. Someone to love her and such.

She closed the small distance that had been between the two of them to press her forehead against his chest. She really did make a piss poor sire, eh?

"I... don't know..."

About anything anymore.

Her head being pressed against his chest was unexpected but nothing happened at all. He didn’t move his hands, his body, nothing at all. The touch was only mildly unaccepted while he took a moment to hesitation where he tried to open his mind and make himself think about this. Would it be better for her if he stepped back and made her stand on her own, made her stand there and look at him, or would it benefit her more to be held? Some how making her stand on her own felt like neglecting her and pushing her away so he slowly, very slowly as if everything was going this slow, raised his arms around her body and pulled the rest of her against him.

“Because I'll be fixing it.” Sure that is. Morose doesn’t do something unless he means to, he doesn’t make a decision unless he’s sure. No questioning it. And he doesn't make promises he can't keep.

She didn't know anymore. He knew that feeling too.

"Do you still love me?" What did that have to do with anything? His eyes closed again and his arms were loose around her. It's easier to stay himself though when he's got so much to concentrate on. Otherwise he may have slipped to that place by now.

Part of her had expected him to pull away from her or something. When he didn’t, a small wave of relief washed through her. Then she felt his arms go around her and pull her the rest of the way against him. She brought a hand up and took hold of a small section of his shirt in much the same way a child will do with their parent.

Because I’ll be fixing it.

If only things were really that simple. Or were they? The vampress just didn’t know anymore. Everything seemed complicated these days. So terribly complicated indeed. She wanted to ask him how he was going to fix everything when, to her, none of it seemed fixable. But she didn’t. She didn’t ask.

“Of course I still love you.”

She sounded confused as to why he was asking that. She could never stop loving him.

He little height and his extream on, made taller by his thinness, made quite a difference standing together like this and her head only came to rest on the low portion of his chest.

“Then you still know something don’t you.” It wasn’t a question. It was almost like he was showing her that, by being someone standing on the outside of her problems, he could see things clearer, see things that she couldn’t. I just don’t know anymore was met with an example of something that he knew she still knew about.

“I love you, too, Enyo, which is why,” and he leaned back so that he could look down and see her. “You need to feed. And I need to feed.”

She might notice, he's not once hesitated through all of this.

The difference in their height went unnoticed by her. She had grown used to it and was not intimidated in the least by it. To anyone who might pass by, the pair would probably be mistaken for ‘young’ lovers embracing or something of the sort.

She caught on to what he was doing, what he was meaning, when he made his comment after she said she still loved him. She seemed to slump against him a little bit as that sank in.

“But is it enough?”

Enough for her. Enough for him. Enough to try to will ones self into continuing to ‘live’.

“You’ve changed...”

Her voice is low. She had noticed that he hadn’t hesitated once through all of what he had been saying. That was what had brought on her last comment.

"Yes." You've got to know something. She already knew Morose was a very religiously deep pers...er. vampire. But no one but Zach knew he was a hopeless romantic too. Love, every kind of it, is a very big deal. That's why he's so uptight about being an orphan. His parents hadn't loved him in some undying fashion that he'd come to believe families should.

And he loved Enyo, he protected her. And as long as she still loved him, and needed him, he'd stick around. Besides, whats a little more suffering (staying alive a little longer instead of dying after Jex dies) for the matter of love?

"Everyone changes," he replied, unwilling to easily admit that he was changing because he was opening his eyes to the truth finally.

At one time, Enyo had been a hopeless romantic. Now she wasn’t so sure. There was so much she wasn’t sure about. She had thought she’d found love, not just love between two friends, but real love. Or at least, as real as it could get for her. Only to end up being empty and alone again.

What would Morose do if she ended up needing him, and loving him of course, for eternity? What then? Would he go through with his plans to let himself die still?

Everyone changes...

“I guess they do.”

She’d been almost reluctant to say that. Especially since she was currently searching for a new place to live.

“I guess they do...”

Morose? Eternity is a long time. He doesn't believe that even the imortal can live for that long. Only God is Eternal in his eyes. If she ended up needing him forever, he would have to think on it but yes, he probably would stay, unless that dieing because times change thing set in on him. You know, the one that Asher warned him about.

He squeezed her lightly in his arms and then pulled her back, steping out of the circle of her arms and taking her hand again. "Feed." It's not a matter of question. It's more like an almost-demand.

Enyo hadn’t yet been affected by the times changing thing. Not yet anyway. Or was it starting to affect her? No. It really wasn’t. Not yet.

Her arms fell to her sides as he pulled her back. One hand raised slightly as he took her hand again.

Feed.

She knew there was to be no more questioning or trying to stall from the inevitable. He was telling her, not asking her, to feed and she couldn’t bring herself to go against his ‘order’ any longer.

Wait.

“My dog...”

She didn’t want anything to happen to Sasha during that inevitable feeding time.

Another thought came to her mind as well. In the past, she had been able to lure her prey to her by her looks. Now, she wasn’t near as beautiful looking as she was when she kept herself fed. And she didn’t have the strength to ‘conceal’ her current looks.

He dropped one hand to the back of Sasha's neck, unafraid of the consequences of how the dog might react. Really there wasn't anything to fear anymore, except of course, God. Any wound could heal, and he could be killed just like that.

Maybe not even God.

His faith is still tettering on a line.

The hand on Sasha's neck was meant to be said that he would watch the dog. He would keep Sasha from following her and he would keep the hound protected too.

He saw the hesitation however and knew. "Lure them." It's not hard. All you need is for someone to look you in the eyes and you can trap them. He's never done it before, but he's felt that he could. "Or come with me," he won't be killing to feed. The cow blood was still there and as long as it was, it was an option.

Sasha lifted her head towards him as she felt his hand on the back of her neck. She looked back and forth from him to her vampress and back again. No one else had touched her unless she initiated it. So this was actually a surprise to the dog. However, she didn’t growl or snarl or try to bite. She knew that this was someone her vampress was close to.

Enyo looked from him to Sasha and nodded her head briefly to the dog. It was her way of telling the dog to stay put without having to actually open her mouth and really say it out loud. She watched as Sasha lowered her rump to the ground. Sasha wouldn’t budge from where she was now sitting until her vampress told her to.

Enyo shifted her gaze back to Morose as he seemed to know what she had been thinking. Her gaze lowered to the ground at her feet before her quiet voice came out again.

“But... won’t you...”

Hate me.

If I kill someone.

To feed.

Cow blood. *shudders* That was something that she would probably never return to. At least, she would if her attempt at feeding from someone failed.

"No," he replied. He wouldn't be happy about the killing at all, nor would he be pleased or willing to discuss the matter later, but he wouldn't be angry. He would probably, however, hound her later about not killing the victum. Asher didn't have to kill them so why did she?

He stroked a big hand down the dogs neck once, twice, three times, then moved to the edge of the sidewalk, sitting down at the curb beside Sasha, his long legs pulled up close to his chest and leaned forward to rest his cheek bone on one knee and watch her.

She nodded briefly at his reply. The vampress moved to crouch down in front of her dog to kiss her on the nose. “You stay here. I’ll be back,” she whispered softly to her dog. Sasha bobbed her head slightly as if she were saying ‘okay’. Enyo the stood up and turned slowly away from her dog and Morose. She was hesitant and unsure, but she finally began to move away from them.

The vampress moved into the shadows and began to head down the street. She didn’t want to feed in front of Morose. It still felt terribly strange that he had been so insistent about her feeding. She wouldn’t be able to do it at all if he was watching.

She went several blocks away from where Morose and Sasha were waiting for her. She kept her head down so that her hair blocked her face from anyone. A spot was picked to stand and wait. Wait for someone to come along. She just hoped that she wouldn’t falter once it came right down to it.

It seemed that she didn’t have long to wait as someone came around the corner and headed up the sidewalk in her direction. It was a man that was probably in his thirties or so. He was stumbling slightly, which meant he was drunk. Hopefully that would make him easier to lure in.

“Excuse me, sir,” she began without lifting her head. “Can you help me by telling me where I am on this map please?” She help up a folded paper which, to a drunken eye, could very well have been a map.

“Sure can,” he answered and stepped towards her.

Once he was near enough, Enyo lifted her head and moved her gaze to directly meet his. “Thank you, sir. Your help is greatly appreciated.”

“Ain’t no problem, miss,” he answered without moving his gaze from hers.

She began to walk backwards into the shadows. The man seemed to be obediently following some unspoken command. His gaze not once left hers. It didn’t take very long to end up deep within the shadows. No one passing by would have been able to see them if they were to happen to walk past.

Once she had him securely in the shadows, the vampress let the newspaper she had passed off as a map fall to the ground. “Come here...” she told the man quietly. The man moved towards her without giving it any thought at all. It seemed that she hadn’t lost her ability to lure men in at all. In front of her was the proof of that. When the man was close enough, she lifted a hand up and placed it on his arm. The man leaned down closer to her and looked like he was going to try to kiss her.

This was just the opportunity that she needed. She brought her other arm up and wrapped it around his neck to pull him closer. As his neck came closer to her mouth, her fangs began to make themselves visible. Vicious fangs. Hungry fangs. Without so much as a second thought, the vampress easily sank her fangs into neck and caused two punctures in it. From those two punctures, she began to feed hungrily from him.

She sucked nearly every drop of blood from the man through his neck before she let his limp body fall to the ground. She stumbled backwards a couple of steps and had to place her hand on the nearest wall to steady herself. The vampress actually gagged as she stared down at the man. He was still barely breathing. He wasn’t dead yet. Could she do it? Could she finish what she’d started?

No. She couldn’t. Enyo couldn’t do it. Kill the man, that is. She turned to hurry back down the direction she had come. Her movements weren’t nearly as graceful as they should have been. Her heart was starting to pound within her chest again. But it hurt. After having not had it beating for quite some time, the blood now coursing through her veins was actually causing her pain. Physical pain.

It didn’t take her long to reach where she’d left Sasha with Morose. Her jerky movements took her right towards the dog. Sasha had seen her vampire and her entire hind-end was wagging like crazy. Enyo stumbled forward and dropped to her knees in front of Morose and Sasha. She made a gagging like sound before moving to wrap her arms around her dog. There was still blood on Enyo’s mouth and such.

“I... I...” she stuttered in a whisper.

“He... isn’t...”

Dead.

She couldn’t even seem to bring herself to finish her own sentence. Nor could she bring herself to look up at Morose.

He’d sat in that same feeble-like position, waiting patiently for the first few minutes. Or, so it seemed. He’d only waited patiently for a few moments before his eyes closed and he stirred, stretching out his long legs, reaching over his head and spreading his fingers. Shirt sleeves slipped back, revealing scars and pale flesh. Then he was moving.

He stood up and walked a few paces before he opened his eyes and shook his head and returned to where he’d been sitting, then spun to walk again. The pacing continued for a few moments before murrmered words started. He began to talk to himself, or rather, to someone no one else could see.

Then footsteps drew him out of his memories and he stopped pacing, stood still for a moment, then crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his head, leaned up against a pole so the entire front of him was leaning into it, forehead resting against it, and he watched her out of one eye.

“That’s good,” he replied, his tone was gentle and lucid, almost slow and dreamy. He blinked, nodded, stood straight, then crouched down beside her and watched her hug the dog. Tipping his head sideways, he reached out and rubbed away the blood with his thumb. “That’s good,” he repeated.