Navene sat in the back corner of Mel's Diner. Just back from work, his white oxford shirt was unbuttoned and the sleeves ruffeled up. Underneither was a white wife beater and his pants were as usual, black jeans. His hair was ruffled, and there was a smudge of black grease on his left cheek that he was unaware of. Infront of him was a small order of fries, which he was slowly picking at. In one hand was a lit cigerette, Blacks, his favorite clove brand. A freshly poured cup of black coffee was on the other side of the plate, and his other hand held a paperback book that he held open. His eyes read, moving as they followed each sentence. Absent-mindedly he took a drag of his cigerette and after a moment exhaled the strange smelling smoke, not at all like regular cigerttes.

"Well that sucks."

He thought out loud as he read of his favorite character's death. Folding the page corner to mark his spot and throwing it into the booth beside him, Navene picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip, before taking another drag on his ciggerette and ashing it in the ash tray.

"I should quit these. Am I pathetic, who else goes out to dinner by themselves?"

He asked himself in a dry tone, low enough that no one else with human hearing capabilities would be able to hear him.

Nikolaos walked in to the diner. Sure... eating was no longer a pleasure of hers but it was nice to get something to drink once in awhile. Sunset had come just a few moments ago and Nikolaos had left the catacombs under Saint Mary's church.
She sighed and listened to the wind as it pushed her through the door of the diner. A voice inside muttered something about going out to dinner by himself or something.. she let the words wash over her and her attention faded slightly. She listened to the bell ring softly behind her and approached the counter.

"You do" she thought simply, her emerald eyes meeting his. She smirked, a perfect smile, hiding her fangs. Something stirred in the air but she didn't pay it much attention before she sat down on a stool. The tender or waitress or whatever the hell must have been in the back so it was just him and her. She nodded slightly to him and smiled ever so slightly once again. She ran a hand through her red hair before picking up a menu and throwing it away wistfully. Food... she had to admit she missed it a teensy bit. Mortal was her last thought.

Navene was suprized at the smile he recieved from the red haired woman across the room. He smiled back shyly, not showing any teeth. It vanished back into an expresionless look shortly afterward. His dark brown eyes locked with hers as she looked at him. For a moment he seemed frozen before breaking the gaze and eating a cold french fry. He took another drag on his cigerette, savoring the taste for a moment before blowing out all the smoke. Although Navene was too shy to full on look at the woman or start a conversation with her, he did look at her out of the corner of his eye as he took a sip of his black coffee. Bitter, yet the familarity of the taste suited him well.

Nikolaos smiled. He was shy... she could sense it. But she also could sense his eyes watching her. She smiled and turneed to him, standing up. "I'm Nikki" her voice was warm and she only jumped slightly beforehand when he was caught in her gaze... eh- too tired.

Nikolaos felt the usual urge to lick the blood off a bleeding throat and the images finally cleared. No, tonight was not a feeding night. She would stick to schedule. She only had these sorts of cravings once in awhile. She smiled again at the starnger and looked to the new starnger walking in.
"And what's your name?" she asked the one with the coffee. Sheer Curiousity. She couldn't help herself.

Navene looked up at her, ever more suprized. Navene wasn't usually the type to be noticed by girls. He was quite, what strange apeal he did hold in appearence was usually clouded by his work clothes and whatever residue had left it's mark on his skin, this time a small smudge of black greese. He sat in corners quitely, brooding over a book. Most girls didn't dig that. And here, a gorgeous and apparently young girl stood unfront of him, giving out her name.

"Er, hi Nikki."

He said softly, his voice low and quite. A slight pink tinge came to his cheeks as she asked for his name.

"I'm Navene."

He said, putting out his cigerette and turning to face her. He hated his name. Never in his entire life had he ever heard of someone else named Navene, not even an alternative spelling pronounced the same way. There was no way to turn Navene into a nick-name, and it made him stand out more when applying for jobs. People usually couldn't tell what backround it was, and honestly he didn't know either. Navene even sounded a bit girly.

After a moment of silance he realized he was being a bit rude. He motioned to the seat across his table, another booth sit.

"Would you like to join me?"

Navene asked sheepishly.

Nikolaos smiled softly. "Navene..." her voice was soft. "I like the name" she paused. "Unique... my full name is Nikolaos if you can believe it.. Such a hassle to teach people how to pronounce it" she smirked and nodded.

"I'd love to join you.. I'm quite bored actually... nothing to do tonight and I'm not really in the mood for a club or food... just a drink would be nice" she said in a blank voice that gave away nothing. No need for ANYONE to know what she was. Besides... playing human was fun!

"Thanks. Most people find it wierd I guess. I like your name as well, however."

Navene smiled softly, eating another cold french fry and taking a sip of his coffee.

"I'm not a big fan of clubs. I don't know, too many people. I had to work at one the other night, just repairing music equipment for a live band . . . lets just say I wasn't paid nearly enough to do it again."

He said softly, still a bit shy around Nikki. Navene poured a bit more mustard onto the side of his plate, before dipping another french fry into the yellow sauce.

Nikolaos smiled. "Thank you very much" her voice was soft. Yeah... he was pretty shy... she could feel it. Cravings.. not a good thing but she restrained them.

Nikki laughed. "Clubs.. yes, quite sweaty and quite annoying" she remarked with a small grin on her lips. Yes, why did Nikki go to clubs? To find some drunk guy... and what? Oh yes... suck their blood, drink her fill until life welled up inside of ehr and she built up her power structure... Interesting.. She was sure Navene never did that sort of thing. Unthinkable for a human. She almost laughed.

Navene shrugged.

"I mean, a lot of my favorite bands play in clubs, so I'm forced to go to them. But most of the people aren't really there for the music, more there for molesting little girls in the crowd and drinking their asses off."

He said before taking another sip of his coffee. He was suprized at how eaisly he could talk to Nikki. Ususally in this situation, he'd clam up and stair awkwardly at the floor.

"But it's worth it I guess. I don't know, I guess it's appealing to some people."

Nikki laughed softly and a small brush of power escaped in that laugh, rolling over the air like a quiet Irish breeze. She cut the power off abruptly and prayed that no freaking psychics or mysticsc were int eh room. her control wasn't tops this last at night.. She refused a sigh and smiled at Navene.

"Molesting little girls? Nice choice of words Navene... but most girls go there to be molested.. I of course have to beat men off with a stick" she smirked and added. "I'm being sarcastic. her voice was dry but her eyes lit. he was nice.. a nice human.. She missed being human. She did. Eight hundred years and she missed being human... Wow.

"I suppose" she added lightly. "It is appealing for differnt reasons... some good, most bad" she shrugged. "That's how the world is..." She almost shook her head in disgust at the world, almost.

Navene laughed softly at that, nodding.

"Yeah, that is how the world is I guess. Kind of pathetic, humanity."

He said musing, dipping a few french fried in his mustard before eating them. The young man slumped against booth he was sitting in, sighing. A waitress came over, looking slightly annoied.

"Sir, if you're going to stay here you have to order something else. We have a one item per hour policy."

Navene looked down at his fries. They weren't even half way eaten. He had really only come here to read, without the odd end distractions in his appartment.

"I'll get another order of fries, and another cup of coffee."

He replied before looking over to Nikki.

"Do you want anything?"

"A glass of wine would be fine for me..." she said softly, a small smile gracing her lips. Her wine came and she sipped it delicately. Nice to know she could taste something... A yes... nice but not as nice as blood. Nothing was better than blood. She almost shrugged. At least she wasn't a cannibal. Then she'd be more than damned. Hmm, interesting random thoughts.

Nikki smiled. "What are you reading?" she asid, gesturing to teh book. She liked reading... Too many books for every year she lived.

"Oh, nothing incredably interesting. I'm a bit of a nerd, it's just some science fiction I picked up in my spare time."

He picked up the book and put it on the table between them. "The Queen of the Damned" by Anne Rice. Navene laughed at himself.

"I guess I should be reading something a bit more mature, but I find it interesting enough. Besides, reading about vampire's has always suited me better than reading about real people."

In reality, this was just a coincidence. Navene didn't suspect a thing out of the ordinary about Nikki, besides that she was talking to him.

"Lestat kind of annoies me, I'm a bigger fan of Louis."

He said, taking a bit of a french fry before realizing that Nikki probably didn't have any idea what he was talking about.

Nikolaos sipped her wine without a trace of laughter. She was good at hiding things.. conceling emotions. Right now she honestly felt like laughing... laughing until all eternity came to an end. It was really too much... Anne Rice? Queen of the Damned? How much more ironic could this moment get? Nikki would bet it could get more ironice and any normal human wouldn't laugh.

Her eyes were slightly amused as she commented. "Jesse was my favorite character." Yes. Nikolaos admitted it. She had read the book, wondering what Anne Rice was writing about... Turned out, she wasn't that far off. A bit on the close side for vampire-kind but she really didn't care too much. Humans were too opossed to magic and death.. anything wierd they'd simply not believe... Nikki was always superstitious.. maybe that's another reason she wasn't surprised when she was turned... though being rolled by a vampire is something you'll never forget though her memory of the bite was a little fuzzy. Damn him.

"How far are you into it?" she asked. "Or are you re-reading?" she sipped her wine casually, basking in the irony of the situation and letting laughter bubble up inside her, though she did not let it out.

"Jesse's interesting. I have to admit when she got her spine broken I was heart broken. I love her character, though I don't like her as much as the older characters. I'm almost done, I just read when Akasha dies and hear heart and brain are eaten."

Navene replied before finnishing off his coffee. When his plate of new french fries arived, he began to pick at them slowly, dipping them in mustard instead of ketchup.

"I like Khayman as well. He seems to be an all around good guy. I don't know, I'm no vampire expert really. Haha, more of a science fiction expert. Never did out grow these."

He shook his head at himself slightly, looked at the book lying on the table.

"I like some of the lines she uses though, and her description of beauty. It almost makes me visualize it in my head, but not quite."

Another french fry, and Navene found himself feeling awkward without a conversation.

"So . . . what brings you to Mel's?"

The young man asked, then feeling stupid. Obviously she was here to eat! He felt like kicking himself, but refrained.

Nikolaos smiled. "Beauty is a complicated thing.. at least, to me I think--" she smiled, her fangs not showing. Perfection with Practice. God, she loved being so old. Ha! What kind of a woman says that? A vampiress. That's who. Nikki felt her eyes rest on the book. Eating brains... Yeah. She definitely didn't like that part. Cannabalism at it's worst. Sortof.

Nikolaos smiled and it was pleasent, almost amused but she was sure he wouldn't get it. "I wouldn't want to disrupt your reading.. I myself like privacy when reading my books" she smiled. "And I'm here for a drink simply. I already had dinner with my brother before coming here" she smiled. "He's engaged." Sowing lies and deciet. Her karma this week was going to be.. hmm.. she didn't know but it'd be negative.

"Oh it's quite alright. I was gettinga little sick of that book anyways. And congragulations for your brother."

Navene ate another french fry, internally laughing at his own situation. Here he was, in the cheepest clean restraunt he could find, eating the cheepest food they offered, with a perfect stranger. Well, it'd be better than what he'd be doing at home - sleeping.

Nikolaos smiled. "My brother is very happy... Almost too happy. Quite unnerving actually" Lying was a specialty and she had learned to create alibies over the years. She smiled. A mortal human.. He seemed nice. She was being civil. Great. Maybe that would take the edge off the karma when it came around.. maybe. She had also been harming a few humans on nights to get her share of blood...

Nikki leaned against the bar and sipped her wine. "So.." she said softly but a curiousity lit her eyes. "What brings you here Navene?"

"It's clean, it's cheep, and it's better than being home alone at my apartment."

He said honestly, taking another sip of his coffee.

"Just off from work really."

Navene shoved his book back into the bag he had next to him, and lit himself another ciggerette. For a moment he considered asking Nikki if it would bother her, but then again, he was in the smoking section. The scent was not of the usual tobaco, but of cloves that had a slightly sweet scent. He took a drag and blew the smoke out, leaning back into the booth he was sitting in.

"I really should quit these."

He mused to himself.

"Maybe" she said softly, a small smile on ehr lips as she settled herself, relaxing. She had never smoked but the small scent of cloves hung in the air. She preferred the smell of sage but hey, who was she to argue. All those herbal remedies her mother tried to use on diseases. When technology improved Nikki learned.. herbs and magic don't always save you and hell, magic isn't even real.

Navene looked at Nikki, raising an eyebrow. Had she really heard that? He had barely muttered it. He shrugged, and took another drag on his ciggerette. Well, even if they put tar in his lungs, it did calm him down a good bit, help him relax.

"Yeah. Well, when I start dying of cancer, maybe I'll quit. For now . . . well I honestly don't care about myself to quit."

He leaned back into his booth chair and sighed, taking another drag of his ciggerette.

She didn't say anyhting. He brushed suspision aside. Slip up. Even a eight hundred year old vampire could mess up at times. She smiled and sighed. "If you're waiting for cancer to quite then you're right.. You don't think highly of yourself."

She paused, curiousity filling her eyes. "May I ask why or is that too personal for a stranger?" she asked, sipping her wine.

The brown eye's set in Navene's skull faded and seemed distant. Silance rung through out the restraunt as he thought. The ciggerette in his hand turned into a cylinder of ash as he failed to continue smoking it, let alone ash it in the ash tray. After a few moments, his eyes returned to normal and he shook his head slightly; he seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"What the hell. Who are you going to tell anyways? It's not like everyone's dying to know my deepest darkest secrets."

His voice was quiet, but had a somewhat harsh edge to it.

"I don't know, I don't have any worth. I'm rather pathetic, sitting at home on friday nights. I don't have any friends, family, or anyone to care for save a cat. I jump from job, apartment to apartment, fleeing any relationships I think I might become attatched to. And it's not that stupid guy 'comitment' fear. It's more of a fear that if I care for something, even myself, I'll loose it and be devistated. It's not worth it."

Silance returned as he closed his eyes and hung his head, waiting for Nikki to make fun of him or ridcule him.

Nikolaos didn't even flich as his words cut the air like a knife.. or fang. It depended on which you thought was sharper. She paused for a moment, eyes thoughtful before she turned to him.

"Navene.." she replied in a soft tone. She tried to make it sound soothing or scomforting but she couldn't really tell. O well.
"You're right. I have no one to tell. I have no familty at all and friends are nonexistant." she smirked and continued. "I do not have a cat" Yeah... lighten the mood. She knew it was to no availa nd she pressed on, setting her glass down on the table and leaning slightly towards him.

"If you do not meet people, you cannot care and if you cannot care you cannot loose right?" she said. "Now, you're misrable and pouring your troubles out on a strange girl in a diner... wouldn't it be best to love and loose than to never love at all." she let her voice trail off then added. "The reference to quote was intended. Nikki shook her head. "What do you want me to tell you besides that.. the only other thing I can ask is why you don't want to love and who was it that hardened your heart? Who did you loose Navene?" her eyes were serious and truly intent upon his words. She was feeling compassion? Shit. Lovely.. just lovely.

Navene knew tha Nikki was trying to be comforting. And usually, people could be comforted by words. But he didn't look up, and it didn't make him feel any better. Who was she to ask about Eeva? It didn't matter, it wasn't as if speaking about it would bring her back. None the less, he might as well get all the anger out now.

"Her name was Eeva. She was my fiance, and pregnate with our child. They both died in pramature child birth."

Navene's words were low, soft, and extreamly harsh this time. It also had something more to it, a cracking when he said the words 'Eeva' and 'child', a sense of pain. He didn't look up.

"To go through that again? I wouldn't do it for the world."

"Ah" Nikolas said the word softly and with an emptiness to her voice. It was empty and so were her eyes. They were void of all emotion and she touched a hand to his shoulder, almost tenatively. "I am sorry for your loss" She stood.

Silence crashed over them as waves crash over shores and she looked at him, really looked at him.. a broken man. Broken because he lost his child and love in one night.. or day. Funnt how she always thought night instead of day. She sighed and ran her hands over the pockets of her dark jeans. "Their death was unavoidable... do you believe in Fate Nevene? Or God?" she paused and added softly. "Or neither...." her voice trailed off delicately.

"I don't believe in anything."

He said, for once finally looking up at her. Looking at the book in his pack, he laughed softly.

"The bible, the Torah, Sid Arthur, it's all fabricated lies to help us sleep better at night. There is no god. There never was, and there never will be. When we die, we rot in the ground, nothing more. Our whole lives are complettely pointless. Fate? Hah, right. Sure, we all die, that's inevitable. It's a matter of random chance of when it is and how. A matter of science."

Navene ruffeled his hair in thought.

Nikolaos smiled and laughed softly. "Maybe if you believed in lies you'd be better off" she suggested, a glint in her eyes. Yes, God. She believed in that. She also believed she might just be damned to hell. Nice motivation for redemption. She almost laughed.

"C'est la vie" she said with a smirk. "This is life" A perfect French accent/ Yes yes.. she had been a busy little vampire over the years... learning languages, educating ehrself as women were never allowed to do before.. in Breifne, long ago... When she lived. Her thoughts trailed away and she shrugged.

"Pain happens Navene and avoiding it will only make it greater and more terrible than ever before when it comes back. A sort of haunting.. but-" she paused and added.

"That's just my theory..." Nikki gave him a smirk that said so many things her eyes didn't. That she had endured pain... and could still smile, even if it was a lie. Somethimes you had to believe in lies... just to keep your sanity... Nikolaos was more stable than that. Yeah, vampires weren't wishywashy! ha!

"I'm still testing that said theory"

Navene shook his head.

"I cannot let myself be ignorant, cannot force myself to believe something I know to be false."

After thinking about this for a moment, he shook his head.

"Well, I don't know for sure. But I can't force myself to believe in anything my heart and head tells me to be false. I wish I could, believe me. Ignorance is bliss. But you can't gain innocense back. Hymen's don't heal and reclose, to put it bluntly."

She laughed. "Yes.." she whispered before returning to her usual voice. "Ignorance is Bliss yet Bliss is not what you want. You want what you lost. You are wallowing in self pity and you believe there is nothing left... why then.. have you not died Navene?" she asked, not taking up a chair beside him, sliding it under her legs gracefully, a liquid movement.

Yells and cheers, Phantom shadows on the moon, fres rising high and voices ringing. How she longed to dance barefoot in the village the city of Breifne with ehr mother once more. She too wanted what she lost. Now she settled for waltzing with strange vampires and exchanging witty repartee with Aztecs.. great. What an improvement from sorrow.

"Honestly? Because I don't have the guts to do it myself. I don't want to die persay, but I can't say I'd mind much. And it's not a self pitty thing. It's more of a bitter angst that resembles a bad short story."

If there was one thing Navene did take pleasure in, it was making fun of himself. As horrible as that sounded, it made him feel better to atleast recognize he was pathetic.

"I'm not complettly enwrapped in it. I paint, make music, that's why I'm not dead yet. But at the same time, I'm already dead."

Navene had no idea how ironic it was that he was speaking these words of "I'm already dead" to Nikki.

Nikolaos chuckled softly. "Navene.. you are not dead.. merely--" she paused. "I suppose you could use the word lost.. Sure.. painting and music are wonderful things but they express life.. life.. you seem too empty Navene" she commented. She paused. Nothing she said would help this human.

"You're also stubborn to listen to any words on my lips" she added with a faint amused smile. A sigh escaped her lips as darkness fell even heavier outside.

Navene looked over to her on this one, laughing softly.

"Yeah, I guess I am pretty bullheaded."

He lit himself another ciggerette, determined not to let this meeting end on a sour note. It had been good company up until this little chat, why ruin the meeting?

"So. Besides talking to random strangers about their past lives, what do you like to do?"

Navene asked in attempt to start conversation.

His attempt to salvage this conversation was most amusing and brought a smile to her lips. her emerald eyes laughed as she spoke.

"I suppose I do like art and I love a good book. I also enjoy moonlit walks and parks.. anything with nature. Favorite color is green of course" she added with a smirk. Home.. Ireland, grass so green...

She also didn't really want this to end sourly, the human was nice. A little unorthodox with his ideas and convictions but sure.. he was nice, a nice human whom she believed an aquaintance.. she had been dead too long to make nice this fast. Was she getting soft? No.. she simply wasn't as mean as some.. she remembered being human... she wasn't one to discriminate or seperate- until feeding night.

"Green and grey are deffinatly the best colours, even if grey isn't techniquely a colour."

Navene said before taking a drag of his ciggerette and smiling. He exhaled, making sure to blow the smoke away from Nikki.

"I'm a paganistic nature lover as well, the city kills me. I would much rather live where there were acctually trees. But wherever I can survive I guess. Art is good as well, the good thing about this city is that there are good sources of viewing and creating art."

He took a sip of his coffe, his black hair falling in his face until he pushed it out of his vision and took another drag.