((Okay, I wasn't sure if humans could post here but I figured I'd give it a shot. If you have to go ahead and erase this topic))

Aspen slipped, silently, into the graveyard. Her eyes passed quickly over the huge crypt. She always felt a slight shiver everytime she glanced at it, so never would she dare to stare too long or go too near. So she ignored it's existance, not knowing why it bothered her so much. This was one of her nightly walks to see the graves.

She glanced at her watch, it was about two o'clock in the morning. Every morning she was up at about this time because of the nightmares about the accident, so what better way to spend it then here, thinking about the memories she did have of her parents. She didn't know anyone in the graveyard, but she always felt closer to her parents when she was there. Plus, this place wasn't visited often. Not many people liked the idea, she guessed, of going here. She figured she would be the only one to come visit the dead and pay her respects. Afterall, who wants to be alone for eternity? She didn't think they would mind the company.

Aspen pushed her hair out of her eyes and shivered once more as a cold burst of air hit her. It faded quickly though and she forgot it had come. She shrugged to herself and walked to a grave nearby. The name on the headstone was nearly worn off and she found she could only read a few letters. This was the grave she visited every night. Something always drew her to it, though she couldn't figure out what.

She kneeled down next to it and sighed as her hand touched the ground above the grave.

"Hello again," she said aloud, her Irish accent coming out strong. Even after all the years here it had never faded. Her voice sounded strange and too loud for the consuming silence around her, so she stopped talking. She didn't want to wake the dead...

Bliss stared intensely at the dirt near his feet, his back leaned against a tree, and his hands in pockets. His mind was on Morrigan. She was acting so strange lately. Not feeding as often. Retiring to bed early. Not talking much. She was even ditching Amadahy and himself some nights to go who-knows-where.

A voice caught his ears. A young woman. Mortal. He lifted his blonde head to look at her. She was visiting a grave. Bliss smirked. Odd that a mortal would appear at the graveyards so early in the morning. He pushed worries of Morrigan aside and walked towards the girl. He was not smiling, his stunning blue eyes seemed sad.

"Hello, miss" he said, his voice breaking the silence,"I'm sorry to disturb you during mourning, but I am concerned. It is dangerous here, this late at night." Bliss sounded serious and sincere. His British accent remained mostly hidden.

Aspen sat still for a few moments and listened to the wind. It wasn't until she heard a voice next to her that she came out of her oblivion. She jumped up. It was a man's voice and her first thought was that the voice had come from the grave she kneeling near, but when she looked up she saw his face.

"Hello," she said softly back. Her bright green eyes met his blue ones and she felt a slight shiver go through her. She didn't know if it was out of fear or from the cold. It wasn't often she ran into someone while visiting the graveyard and the man was right, it was late. So what was he doing here?

"I couldn't sleep," she replied after a moments pause and turned for a second to watch the sky. When she turned back she noticed the sadness in his eyes and she frowned, but didn't say anything. It wasn't something she'd normally ask a stranger about. Maybe he was like her, maybe he was here because he lost someone he loved.

"I guess I never thought about the danger, really. I've never run into anyone out here before..."

"I suppose that's true," Bliss replied, his voice trailing off, his eyes looking eslewhere. He seemed to lose focus for a long second, then suddenly remember the girl. He ran a hand through his messy hair and returned his gaze to the stranger.

Bliss cleared his throat. "Seems the letters need to be redone," he said, pointing at the fading words on the tombstone. "Since I was rude enough to interrupt your visit...may I ask, out of respect, who is this you are visiting, ma'am?"


Shall not forget my manners, the vampire thought. He bent over to look more closely to the grave. Luckily, he had fed recently. His flesh was pinkish enough to seem alive. If only Morrigan would drink more. We have bags of blood always stocked. I don't know why she is not feeding...where is she anyway?

His right head, which was still resting in a pocket, felt around for a cellphone. Feeling nothing, he recalled he put the phone away. Morrigan did not like it much.

Aspen watched as the strange man turned away for a second, seemingly lost in thought. She was about to say something after watching him curiously for some moments, when he spoke...finally remembering she was there and her question was lost within his.

Aspen looked over at the grave and sighed, shrugging slightly.
"I don't know," she said softly, "There's just something about it that makes me want to talk to whomever it was. My actual family is buried a ways away...almost in another world..."
Her voice trailed off and she looked at him for a moment, then laughed out loud and ran a nervous hand through her hair.
"I guess that sounds silly. I just felt...connected somehow." She laughed. "Is that odd?"

She suddenly became sullen and looked away shyly, biting on her bottom lip. She couldn't help but think about how odd this situation was. Here she was, in the middle of the late night (or early morning), and talking to a complete stranger. For all she knew he could be a rapest((sp)) or a serial killer...yet she didn't feel any odd vibes coming from him.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" She noticed he had been a bit...distracted.

Bliss almost chuckled. She did not know the person within the grave. But he admired her kindness. She seemed to trail off when she mentioned her parents. If only she were a vampire...Morrigan would have her name and origin listed somewhere, Bliss thought, then added, Of course, her blood could just as well be in a labeled bag in Morrigan house. His avoided the mortal for a split second. Sometimes it was hard to look at his...food...while it appeared so innocent.

He pulled his hands out of their pockets and scratched his scalp. A sighed escaped him. "Um...well," he began, but paused to scan the yard for a distraction. None appeared, so he continued, looking at the girl this time. "I come here to think from time to time. Figure it's a great place to be alone."

Which was not entirely true. Being a meeting place for vampires, he bumped into company from often. The woods were the best secluded area. The occansional vampire was not bothersome, though. Besides, Bliss did not like the woods much. Too much lore surrouned them. Every "wanna-be vampire hunter" searched through the dark trees, only to picked off, one-by-one. Bliss enjoyed that game in his younger years.

"The dead always listen...and never talk back," Bliss said, grinning.

Aspen smiled at his comment, her pale cheeks brightning some...half with embarrassment.

"I guess that's true. And I figure, no one wants to be alone for eternity, right?" She looked up and met his sad blue eyes, wanting to figure out the secret beneath them.

"I think I come here for the same reasons as you...to be alone. Like I said, it's not often I run into someone around here. I come every night, just to..." Her voice trailed off once more as she searched for the right words, "To be close to my family." She closed her eyes and lifted her head to the sky, taking in a deep breath.

"It's like when I'm here, I can feel them, even if this isn't their home." She let out her breath and looked back at him, shrugging. "You know what I mean?"

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment once again. He had chuckled at her earlier and this made her feel even worse. She was opening up her mind to a stranger.

"I'm sorry, I'm rambling." She looked away, focusing her eyes once again, on the stars.

Bliss was amused that he had not seen her before. According to her, she came every night. Since he came often, he felt like a fool for not noticing a young lady in a graveyard. Perhaps, it was best that way. Seeing that he was not very thirsty, he would not kill her. On any other night of meeting her, he might have done otherwise. Everything happens for a reason," he concluded.

"No need to apologize. Not at all. Rambling is good," he told her, tracing her gaze up to the sky. She must be looking at the stars, he thought, sighing again. I need to stop sighing like that...

"I know what you mean. About feeling them close by, that is," Bliss said, keeping his focus on the sky as well. No use creeping the girl out by staring at her. "I, too, try to stay connected to my lost loved ones." An odd sensation passed down his spine. Must have been a chill. He suddenly felt cold and alone.

Aspen took her gaze from the stars. It made her sad to look at them. It seemed as though the stars were as numerous as the dead and for some reason, that bothered her.

She shook her head, as if chasing away the thoughts floating around in it. She hadn't come her to mourn, but to rejoice in the memory.

'Death should be a celebration of life.' Everytime she repeated that thought in her head, she felt better. Everything happens for a reason and she had to remember that.

Once again she realized she was lost in thought. She had been staring past the strange man and almost didn't catch what he said. He was looking at the sky as well and she found herself wondering what he was thinking.

She nodded slightly at what he had said. That was when she realized, given the odd situation this was, that she should ask his name. With a name, she might feel a bit more comfortable and less like she was intruding on his thoughts. Plus, in her mind she could add a name to the face and stop calling him stranger.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your name?"

Bliss faced the girl, staring into her eyes. Amadahy, his "child", was correct. Looking into the eyes of a mortal could bring tears. He swallowed a gasp, rubbed his eyes, and ran his fingers through his hair, again. Why was it so difficult sometimes?

"James William Bliss," he told her, "Most call me Bliss, but you may call me whatever you like." He was staring at the girl now. Observing her. She seemed young and so sad. There appeared to be a burden on her shoulders. Bliss understood, completely, what that felt like. A burden was the reason he disappeared from Morrigan's arms so many years ago. He returned to her, only to discover he had a new burden. But was troubling this young lady? Mortals problems were always so poetic. Like Romeo and Juliet.

"And what is your name?" He asked.

Aspen watched him for a moment before she replied. He looked, for a moment, extremely sad, but then he rubbed his eyes. Maybe he was just tired.

"Bliss," she repeated softly, "Well then, Bliss it is."
That was nice...easy to remember too. She sat silent for a moment. He seemed to look at her with a question in his eyes, though she couldn't tell what it was. Maybe it was simply curiousity or maybe she was imaging it. She had a way with that, though some people say it is simply her intuitive nature. She usually guessed correctly. There was something bothering him as well. She could tell ever since he had showed up here. She looked at him, cocking her head sideways, as if studying him for a moment, but then swallowed the question on her lips as she heard him as her, in return, for her name.

"Oh!" She laughed slightly, mostly to herself. She hadn't even thought about giving him her name. "Aspen Raen." She didn't bother with a last name. Her name was always in the papers and she didn't like to be recongnized for her articles. Plus, not many people in world were called Aspen.

"Most people call me Raen," she shrugged, "but you can call me whatever you'd like as well."

((sorry if this didn't make a lot of sense. *is distracted*))

Bliss nodded. "Aspen Raen. Fine name, if I say so myself," he said, "I'll call you Raen, since most people do." He forced himself to look at the tombstone. If his eyes were fixed on it, he couldn't stare at the girl. Odd that a mortal could fluster him so. Being that he normally paraded around killing them...cruely...through illusion and deceit. He sighed, despite himself, noticing his eyes had wondered to the girl without his control. Amusing, she was not lost in trance around him.

Oh, wait. I'm not using my "charm", he thought, glad that he was not. Women drooling over him all the time just because they saw his "mask" was draining. His "mask" of an angel helped to keep him under the radar and in people's best wishes; yet the gawking was annoying. To converse with a mortal woman like a mortal man was nice. A change from the gloomy norm.

"So, how long ago...did your loved one pass away?" Bliss had to ask, out of kindness and respect. He genuinely wanted to know. He meant no offence by it, which was evident in his soft tone.

Aspen smiled at him, despite the awkward situation. She guessed she couldn't be the only person in the world who wanted to visit a graveyard at night, so was it as weird as she thought? She shook her head to herself, almost forgetting for a moment that Bliss was there. Bliss, as in, happiness? He certainly didn't seem happy at the moment. She frowned as she watched him, wondering what was bothering him. It seemed for a moment that he couldn't even look at her. She shrugged it off. It was probably because he was lost in thought.

She hadn't even been thinking about her family at the moment he asked how long it had been. In fact, she couldn't remember why she was there for a moment.

"Oh...uh...A while ago. I was only a child." She shivered suddenly as she felt something creep down her spine. Only the memory of a dream. Once again, she shrugged off the eerie feeling she kept getting.

"What about you? I mean, that is why you are here, isn't it?"

An orphan, he thought, How sad. Bliss could remember the day he lost his parents. Once he had become a vampire, he tried to live among his family and friends as he had before. The plan failed, since his new blood and cured him of the illness. How could one explain becoming suddenly well after years of slow death? After a while of akwardness, he left his home to explore. A few decades later he visited home and to his dismay, his parents were dead. His family was withering away. He did not linger there long; the pain was too much.

Bliss licked his lips and tried to smile, but his expression was more pain-filled than merry. "Not tonight. No," he said, almost too softly and sadly, "I'm just worried about a close friend, that is all." He stared at the grave, wondering what had become of his family. "I like talking to the dead," he told her, letting out a little chuckle, "It may sound strange, but the dead keep secrets. I can tell them anything."

Aspen smiled. Oh, yes, how well she knew that much. The dead do not talk, she had learned this over many nights of revealing her secrets to someone who could not hear her.

"It is not strange, but why are you worrying about a friend in a graveyard? I mean, of all places, why not with your friend?"

Aspen's eyes went wide. She had noticed the pained expression on his face. Why had she asked such a stupid question, so blunt at that. She sighed allowed.

"I'm sorry, that is none of my business."

Bliss glanced at her and smiled. "No, it's alright," he said, "My friend, she is not always open about her feelings. She's so independent it's hard to get through to her sometimes."

Saving his family in the back of his mind, like always, he relaxed. He shrugged his shoulders, stratched his neck, and glanced around. "Why the graveyard? I'm not sure," he half-way lied. He came there because of his coven. Speaking of vampires, he did not want one to take this girl. He did not feel like explaining why he had not finished her. He did not know why himself. The urge to persade her to leave nudged him.

"Um...I was about to head out. Maybe to a resturant or something," he said, softly and almost nervously, "Care to join me?" Bliss hoped she would accept. Another vampire could appear at any moment and make things more complicated. Of course, he was a complete stranger to her and a male. She may not trust him. He flashed her his sweetest and most charming smile yet, hoping to coax her into leaving the graveyard with him.

Apsen looked at him, supressing the urge to ask him more questions. She could tell that he had a reason for being there, but he obviously didn't want to talk about it. She let it be. They had only just met and he didn't have to tell her everything, she realized. It was only reasonable that he didn't, though she couldn't help her curiousity.

But when he asked her to join him, she couldn't resist the charming smile he had flashed her, even the fact that he was a complet stranger didn't bother her at the moment. She wondered if it should have, but he had seemed so nervous in asking that she couldn't help but smile back and nod, despite her usual reserved attitude.

"I'd like that." The graveyard was not a perfect place to chat and she was starting to feel like she needed to leave. A resturant or something sounded good to her. A lot less depressing, that's for sure.

"So then," she said smiling her first real smile of the night, "Where to?"

There was a sparkle in Bliss' bright eyes. He was glad and pleasantly surprised she accepted to come with him. "Do you have a favorite place in mind? I was thinking the Squisito," he said, patting his stomach.

While waiting for her answer, he tried to guess where the "his girls" were. Morrigan was probably haunting the darkness of the streets or creating twisted things in the basement. Amadahy? She was an easy one to read. She was more than likely in a bar weeding out young men from consumption. He left the house at sunset, escaping into the fading light as mist on a breeze. Morrigan was in the shower when he left. Amadahy was still sleeping; that girl was lazy. Now that he thought about it, he had been here in the graveyard most of the night.

Aspen suddenly looked away shyly. "I don't get out much. I've never been there before, so I guess a change would be good. I usually order in." She bit her bottom lip and looked up at him, feeling a lot like she had in high school. Why was she suddenly feeling shy again...not that it was anything different but just a second ago she had been willing to tell him anything. She took a deep breath in, trying to calm her nerves. He was cute, but this wasn't a date. She'd have to remind herself of that, before she started tripping over her words again. She only just met him...and in a graveyard of all places. She wasn't even too sure he was safe.

She looked back up, surprisingly composed and not seeming shy at all.
"Anyway, that sounds good."

Abruptly, she cocked her head sideways, a question in her eyes as she noticed he was lost in thought.
"What are you thinking about?"

Bliss blinked and focused on Aspen. "Oh, nothing. Just wondering where my roommates are," he said, "They're busy little bees."

"Squisito is a nice place. Good Italian food, cheerful people. I like it," he told her, "I hope you like it too." He bit his tongue and stared at his feet. Why did say that last sentence? He sounded like a school boy. A 169 year old vampire talking to a young lady as if she were the first female he ever met. Outlandish! At least there were no butterflies in his stomach. By now, it was usually the young lady's blood that stirred in his belly. Maybe that was why he felt so akward.

He stuck out his elbow, offering an arm for the lady. He guessed it would be a kind gesture.

Aspen smiled again, her cheeks flushed. She didn't know why she felt so comfortable or safe with him, but she was willing to accept it...for now. She felt her cheeks get pinker as he suddenly looked at his feet. Was she making him nervous? Her eyes lit up, amused. That rarely happened. Then again, it had been a while since she had been in the company of a male.

"If you like it, I'm sure I will too." She took his arm, grateful for the kind gesture. He was a gentleman.

"Let's get out of here."

"Indeed," Bliss chirped, smiling down at Aspen. He was careful not to walk too quickly. As a vampire it was easy to accidently bolt down the street, or bruise a strange with a hug, or even use a gift by habit. Despite his worries, there was a skip to his steps now.

Maybe tonight I can pretend to be mortal, He thought.

((ooc: Meet you at Squisito under "Graveyard Friends" K? ))