Path of the Vampire forum

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

Saige: Opening the door to the shop, Saige looked around. "Neat!" She grinned, though not too big in case a human was around that could see her fangs. Entering more fully, big warm ocean blue hues danced around like a kid looking at presents around a Christmas tree on Christmas morning, three bags on each side swayed in her hands. Her sire Juliet had given her a lump of spending money, so she had decided to go shopping, ending up here. "Hello?" She called out, curious if anyone was there so late or if they had just forgotten to lock up.

Velia: The store tended to be relatively quiet this time of night, but Velia didn't mind that. It gave her time to catch up on paperwork and do all the jobs that her staff either chose not to do or failed miserably at. She'd been just finishing up some of said paperwork when the sound of the door opening caught her attention, but it wasn't until after the voice filled her shop that she looked up. She'd sent her last employee home over an hour ago, leaving just her to man the shop for the next few hours. She wasn't exactly a people person, but her enthusiasm for what she was selling had a tendency to make up for it. "Well hello there!" She smiled, her snake bite piercings gleaming from the fluorescent lights as she took in the appearance of the shopper. "What can I help you with tonight?"

Saige: Despite the door shutting behind her and for in her the rest of the way in the shop, she liked what she had just walked into. She never once in her life had ice skated, and just the thought of doing it made her excited. Maybe she would buy some skates, maybe not, but the woman who got her attention made her blink. Clearly the woman's outer appearance wasn't what Saige was expecting, tipping her head to the side slightly as she crossed over to the counter and stood in front of it. "Do you work here?" She asked curiously.

Velia: The woman arched one eyebrow at the question; she wasn’t sure how she wanted to answer it. Had Oria failed to fix a sink again, causing someone to fall? Had some other disaster happened in the store when she hadn’t been there? The thought made her almost want to lie, in hopes of talking the woman out of any type of lawsuit. She decided against that, however, as the customer didn’t look ragey at all. “You could say that… this is my store. Is there something I can help you with?”

Saige: She raised both brows at the woman. "Your store? That's so cool!" She smiled, looking around, she lightly shook her head, instantly confessing. "I don't know the first thing about ice skating." She looked back, her soft smile not faltering. "I have horrible balance as is." She giggled softly, swaying from side to side lightly to adjust the bags in her hands. She stared then, her soft smile reaching to touch her eyes as the warm blues only got warmer. "Those piercings are cool... Did they hurt?"

Velia: Such a shame she thought, for a person to not know anything about skating; it was such a beautiful thing. She couldn’t help but laugh at the customer’s next statement though, her grey eyes shining with her amusement. “For a second, maybe, but I didn’t mind at the time.” The tattoo on her back had been a much longer process, but by then she’d learned to appreciate the sting. “Would you like to have a look at some of the skates? Maybe we can find you a pair to get you started?”

Saige: Her eyebrows rose as she admitted to the piercings hurting, her nose scrunching up at the thought. She herself couldn't do it, couldn't find it within her to endure any kind of pain if she didn’t have to. And that was purely optional - an option she chose not to take part in. She nodded at the woman's question, moving to set her bags down at the side of the counter, bending at the knees and not her hips so as to not flash the woman while in her lacy skirt. Standing and facing her she clasped her hands in front of her with an excited smile, nearly flashing tips of fangs but not. "I'd like that very much."

Velia: “Excellent!” She grinned, flashing her teeth as she did. She’d never had a problem with her fangs showing, thankfully. She was fairly sure that the woman in front of her was a vampire anyway, so she wasn’t that worried. She didn’t even bother using the energy required to forcefully project her shadow out from her as she made her way around the counter to the main shop floor. “What do you think you might be interested in; figure skates, hockey skates, speed skates?” She leaned against the edge of the counter and eyed the bags of stuff. “If you want, I can put those behind the counter in case someone else comes in?”

Saige: She blinked, shrugging softly. She herself wasn't sure what she would be interested in, though she loved trying new things. "I don't know... What would you suggest for a first timer?" Her eyes slid to the bags lazily, shaking her head no. "They'll be alright, I'm sure." Saige had a level of trust most others didn’t, and because of that very level of trust Juliet had been forced to turn her in fact. She trusted the bags would be fine, turning to look back at the woman as she outstretched her hand to her daintily, not necessarily in the form of a traditional handshake. "I'm Saige by the way." She smiled then, and if one was looking close enough they could see just barely the tips of her fangs. She was so new at all this, her excitement had overwhelmed her and she had forgotten to try to hide them in that instant. Remembering, she softened her smile that reached her warm eyes still.

Velia: “Mmm, well. It would depend really.” She’d noticed the tips of Saige’s fangs, which only made her smile more. Her instinct had been right. Sliding fully out from behind the counter she made her way over to one of the nearer shelves. She tried to make a habit of not wearing her trench coat when she was at work, but she also wasn’t a fan of wearing a store logo. Instead, she usually kept it simple with a black t-shirt over her jeans. The shirt wasn’t excessively tight, but it was by no means loose either, as she hated the feel of a loose shirt beneath her coat. “Why don’t you have a seat and we can do this the fun way?”

Saige: Nodding with her smile, she instantly did as instructed, not having issues with doing anything 'the fun way.' She giggled lightly and slid onto the nearest bench, knees together and to the side with her hands neatly tucked in her lap. "I like the sound of that!" She nodded excitedly, biting into her lower lip gently with that light smile. "How long have you owned this shop?" Her question came out softer than her other words, not wanting to ask a question that may not want to be answered, though the curious red-tinted brunette a words had slipped on regardless.

Velia: The nearest rack held figure skates, though she bypassed the plain white ones and went instead to the top rack. She turned her head to eye Saige’s feet before grabbing a box and making her way back to the bench. “I opened this place up back in January. It seemed like a good next step for me.” She set the box on the bench next to Saige and slid the cover off, revealing what was inside. The boots themselves were a bright pink colour until they met with the bottom of the boot which was the traditional brown style. All of her skates came already equipped with their blades, as she didn’t have the equipment there to affix the blades and didn’t want to make her customers wait. “What do you think of this one?”

Saige: She watched the woman move to grab a box from a top shelf as she adjusted her spaghetti strap shirt that matched her light blue skirt. Moving her hands back, ocean blue hues eyed the box. The second it was opened and the contents shown to her, those warm blue hues lit up like stars. "Oh! They are wonderful!" She exclaimed, moving a hand as if to touch one but stopped just shy and withdrew, though her eyes never left the skates.

Velia: The girl’s enthusiasm was delightful and Velia couldn’t help but smile at it, not that she really cared to. She noticed her hesitation so quickly grabbed a set of blade guards that they used for the customers who wished to try the skates on and snapped it over the blade. “Would you like to try it on, then?” She held the skate out as she said it, allowing Saige to take it from her if she wanted to.

Saige: Blinking at the now safely bladed skate held out to her she gave a look of excitement to the shop owner. "Could I? They are simply perfect!" She reached daintily to take the skate, bending with her knees more to the side to slip off one of her flats. Setting it aside, she moved expertly and slipped the skate on. Her one leg was now a good two inches taller than the other, a bit more of her thigh showing off as her skirt hiked up gently on the one side. She tugged it down as best as she could, grinning down at the skate, staring at it unlaced. "It fits perfect!" She looked up at the other woman, nodding enthusiastically, "You have a good eye!"

Velia: “It helps” She murmured, doing her best not to stare as it wasn’t exactly polite to check out the customers. She was the boss, after all, so she should probably be a good example. “Would you like to try the other one and try walking? It’s not the same feel as skating, but it will at least show you how the support feels.” She already had the second guard slipped onto the remaining skate as she held it out. Her time at work wasn’t always enjoyable and she found herself almost wishing she’d picked a more plain skate; something to keep her there longer, looking for something fitting.

Saige: She raised both eyebrows at the thought of trying to walk on the thin blades. Now that would probably be interesting; the sight of her stumbling around like a two year old learning to walk. She smiled sheepishly and shrugged, figuring if she was going to buy the skates, she might as well try it. Nodding and taking the other skate, she repeated the actions and put it on as her skirt rode up the same as before ever so slightly. She held her hand out to the other, clearly unsure of herself. "Would you mind helping me up?" She gave her a soft smile and tipped her head to the side lightly as if trying to encourage her.

Velia: Velia was hesitant, but after a moment she slid her hand into the other’s and took a step back to help her stand. “Of course. I wouldn’t want you to fall or anything.” She eyed the floor which wasn’t very forgiving, but it wasn’t any less forgiving than the ice would be. “It might take a while to get used to; people are rarely instantly comfortable in these things.”

Saige: Nodding with her normal soft smile, she pulled herself up with the other woman's help. "That's so sweet of you to say." Gripping onto her hand tightly, her grip clearly too tight to be a simple human, she wobbled for a couple seconds and moved to take a step. Though the second her left foot left the floor to take that fated first step, she started to lean and fall over, her eyes going wide as she clutched to the woman's hand and tried not to fall over into her with a sharp gasp of unneeded air.

Velia: Velia realized what was happening and without even thinking her arm was shooting out to get a sturdier grip around Saige’s waist. “Woah there…” Her words were quiet, her attention more focused on waiting to see when the woman in her arms would get her footing back.

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

Saige: Blinking, Saige locked eyes with her, a soft blush dashing her cheeks as she had just fed earlier in the night. "I'm so sorry..." She said softly, finally blinking and gaining her footing. "I told you I had no balance... If this doesn't prove it, I don’t know what does." She giggled softly, slowly slipping from the woman's arm as she fully regained composure in her footing; though her shy blush remained. "I should probably sit down." She laughed lightly

Velia: She laughed, unable not to. As Saige gained her footing and slipped away she allowed her to do so, but was prepare to catch her again if need be. As a vampire she shouldn’t get too hurt if she were to fall, but Velia didn’t want to let her do so anyway. “It takes practice, I’m sure my first time on skates resulted in a fair amount of bumps and bruises as well.” She didn’t want her to give up on the idea altogether, as skating was such a freeing experience in Velia’s mind. Nothing could help you shrug off the bad and bring yourself the calm of a free mind quite like the cold air stinging your cheeks from the breeze you created.

Saige: Silently Saige agreed, she may have been clumsy but that didn’t mean she wasn’t determined. And it showed as instead of taking a seat, the tiny blonde took another step, then another, until she found her hand slipping from Velia's and she was standing a good distance from the bench. She beamed, her eyes curving upwards as she couldn’t help but stare down at the gorgeous pink skates, her hands at her sides holding her skirt back to admire them. She looked up at Velia, giving a soft reassuring nod. "I'll take them!" She didn’t even ask how much they were, that thought clearly didn’t bother her as she had the money to spend.

Velia: Saige’s excitement was definitely contagious. She found herself selfishly wishing she could make the girl stay, but surely she had other things to do? “That’s great! There’s a lovely arena in Wickbridge that’s open all year long. It’s a nice place. They have midnight skating as well, which is definitely a help.” And, of course, if she happened to be there sometime when Velia was… that would be okay. “Why don’t you slip them back off while I get you rung up?”

Saige: She giggled softly at the woman’s statement, not putting two and two together that she had figured out Saige was a vampire, she simply nodded and made her way carefully back to the bench, hands out at either side of her to assist in the balancing act as if she were on a tightrope walking across the grand canyon. Sliding down on it from the side as she resumed her previous sitting position with elegance, she reached to slide them off one at a time. "I do think I will try it, sometime soon. Do you go often?" She called back to the woman over her shoulder.

Velia: As soon as Saige sat down she scooped up the box that the skates had come in and made her way back behind the counter. She scanned the box first, and then grabbed one of the skate bags she had behind the counter; it was a pink similar to the skate boots, with little blue flowers on it. Next she grabbed a set of pink skate guards and scanned them through too, followed by her code to take the price of the second two items off of the bill. “I go as often as I can, at least three days a week usually. I prefer to go every day, really, but when you own your own business that doesn’t always work out.”

Saige: She nodded at the woman’s words, slipping back on her matching light blue flats one at a time as she got up and steadied herself, wow, that was different. She grinned, the sudden thought crossing her mind to idly wonder why Velia was in the shop so late. "That’s wonderful! Maybe I will see you there sometime." She slid from the bench and carried the skates over, noticing that she woman had included a pair of matching blade guards. "You didn’t have to do that! I will pay for them all." While she said that she couldn’t help but think that she should have said 'my sire', and gave a soft giggle. Juliet’s money had bought all of the stuff she was toting around with her, the six bags of random things that she had still sitting right where she left them as she had predicted.

Velia: “Oh no! It’s a gift for a first skate purchase. It’s store policy.” She lied, though she could totally make it store policy to cover her tracks; she was the boss. “And it’s entirely possible, if you head out for the midnight skates. Those are the only ones I can go to, after all.” She grabbed one of the I.D.F.K. merchandise bags, they were extra sturdy so they could handle the heavier weight of some of their products, and started putting the products inside. The skates she put in their box first, so the blades wouldn’t be tempted to cut through the bag. “Oh, you may want to get these sharpened before you use them. The arena has a place, but they usually close earlier in the evening. We have a machine to do it here, too, if you’d rather come back and have it done here.”

Saige: She giggled again at the woman, tipping her head, she stared at Velia. Gosh, she's got such pretty grey eyes, she thought, dropping her own to watch her bag up the items with a gleeful smile. "Oh, you're a night owl too?" She asked lightly, glancing back up to the woman curiously. She did have pale skin, and she was in her shop this late... And to make the statements she had, Saige was left to draw only one conclusion at that point. "I think I will come back. You've been so kind..." She tipped her head to the side lightly, "I don’t think I caught your name? Forgive me if I have."

Velia: The grin returned, not that it had really gone anywhere. “Of course. It’s quite helpful to be one, don’t you think?” She winked then, unable to resist the urge to do so. “The sharpenings will be complimentary, of course; we like to take care of our customers.” Not to mention, that if it was a night when someone else was here until close Velia could always be on her way out to the rink at the same time Saige came by, right? “And I’m sorry, how awfully rude of me. My name is Velia (pronounce Vee-lee-a) Russo. And it’s been a pleasure to make your acquaintance this evening; I hope your experience was enjoyable as well.”

Saige: She blinked at the wink, then grinned from ear to ear, displaying fangs in her excitement. Velia was one of the first vampires she had met aside from Juliet and a couple of the Altaires, and that simply elated her. Saige just couldn’t be more excited in this very moment. And a complimentary sharpening? She just couldn’t believe the woman’s kindness. She blinked and nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yes, Velia, I most certainly have enjoyed myself! And I didn’t fall too, so that’s a plus!" She giggled, bending down and to the side to pick up her bags with one hand, which was quite awkward, being heavy on one side. Though Saige righted herself and turned back to the counter, giving Velia one of the warmest smiles she could manage. "The pleasure has most certainly been all mine."

Velia: She didn’t want to say anything, because the cute factor was through the roof, but she wasn’t sure if Saige knew what she was doing or not. Leaning in she whispered, even though there was no one around to here. “You should be careful about smiling though, don’t want to show too much, hmm?” She winked again, before straightening back up and rattling off the price. If it was lower than what the normal price was for it, it was unlikely that Saige would know the difference.

Saige: Raising both brows, she dropped her head, trying to contain her smile. She was just so new at all this, that she couldn’t help it. And because of that, she lightly drew a breath to calm herself. She just couldn’t help herself sometimes, though most of the time she was shy and not so eccentric, tonight just wasn’t one of those nights. She raised her head, giving a slight gasp as she had forgotten about paying for the skates. She dug around her purse that was in her other hand with the rest of her bags, looking for her wallet. She felt the familiar leather and pulled it out, placing it on the counter to flip it open and pull out the correct amount of cash, sliding it across the counter to Velia with that warm smile that reached into her ocean blue hues. "I can’t help but smile, I just get so excited sometimes." She giggled lightly and moved to put her wallet back in her purse.

Velia: “There’s nothing wrong with smiling, as long as you watch what the smiling flashes.” Ringing in the cash, the sound of the door springing open surrounded them. Velia hated that sound, really, but she hadn’t found one that didn’t make a loud ding each time it was open; security issues, probably. She slipped the money into its respective place and then shut the drawer back, handing the receipt over to Saige. “Would you like to sign up for e-mails on special sales and promotional offers in the store?” As she asked, she was already handing over the pack of sign up cards and a pen. “Your information will be kept in the strictest of confidences, of course.”

Saige: Saige nodded smiling warmly still. The woman had a point and Saige idly thought she just had to remember to keep them hidden. She took the receipt, and the pen and pack of cards nodding. She put her bags down again, having grabbed them up in her right hand - the woman was clearly strictly left handed as she started to scrawl her email across the paper. Thinking for a moment, she wrote her phone number down too, not mentioning it as she silently handed the two items back and bent to tuck the receipt into her purse. She picked up her bags again, reaching to pick up the bag of her new skates. "There's my phone number too, you should call me sometime... I'm sure you could teach me a thing or two about skating." She added finally, giving the softest smile possible.

Velia: She would have blushed if it were something that she was prone to do, she thought. She’d never been a blusher, though and now seemed a silly time to start. She didn’t want to comment on the phone number thing, realizing that she’d already taken a few liberties that weren’t quite professional. “Well, I have been skating since I was old enough to walk… so I wouldn’t be against helping a person out if they wanted…” The answer seemed vague enough to her. She handed the I.D.F.K. bag over and gave another smile. “Whenever you’re ready to try them out, just come back and we’ll get them nice and sharp for you.”

Saige: Nodding once more, she smiled and dropped the bag to her side clasped in her right hand, bending to pick up the others and distribute them expertly between the two hands. Clearly, she was a shopper, and having no problem with them. "Of course. I'll be sure to come back as soon as I can." And she would, too, probably be back by the end of the week. "Good evening, Velia." And with that, she nodded sharply and turned, heading to walk out with a light bounce in her step and a smile on her face.

Velia: Making a note to make sure she started bringing her skates to work with her, she flopped down on the stool behind the counter as she watched Saige go. Velia really did hope that she did come back. It was an odd thought for her, as lately she’d been more of the mind that the less interaction she had the better it was. Things changed though, if the last year had taught her anything it was definitely that. Things change.

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

The following night...

<Velia> She nearly forgot to grab her trench coat before leaving her house, but had remembered to grab the bag with her skates in it without even thinking. It seemed unlikely that Saige would return so soon, but she didn’t want to be unprepared if she did. Having her excuse all ready would definitely be a help.

With her bag slung over her shoulder she headed off to the station, not wanting to take the extra time to walk, and headed over to Veil Towers. It was a lovely building and a great place for her shop, though she did wish it was closer to the station. She’d probably have more foot traffic if that were the case. She made it inside just as the evening sales clerk was heading home, the night shift taking over. She waved to them, ignoring the looks of surprise at her extra cheerful smile, and then made her way to the back of the shop to get some paperwork done.

<Saige> Saige had her bag that said 'I.D.F.K.' on it, strolling along with a slight bounce to her stride. She was smiling softly, even waving to random people as she walked along. Crossing the street over to Veil towers, she stopped just outside the building. I wonder if she is there. I do hope so. She thought idly, staring up at the building with warm ocean blue hues. Giving a slight purse of her lips in the smile, she shook the thought that maybe Velia wouldn’t be, pulling the doors open and heading over to the store she had stumbled into the night before on accident while shopping. In addition to her skates she had picked up some things for Jules' apartment, some random knick-knacks that she had hoped Jules would like, including a kitty cat salt and pepper shaker set for the kitchen. Pulling open the door to the skate shop, she slipped just inside and crossed over to the counter; that same happy-go-lucky bounce to her step.

<Velia> The girl at the counter looked up, with a fake cheery smile on her face ready to say hello like she’d been told. The smile slipped away, however, as she saw the bag – her eyes going wide instead. “Oh no! Is something wrong with your purchase?” The girl had never been happier that the boss was in, as she wasn’t very good at dealing with upset customers. There weren’t that many jobs whose schedules didn’t conflict with her college classes, though, so she was working on it.

<Saige> Something wrong? Saige tipped her head, frowning a little. "No, of course not. Velia told me I could come get a free sharpening?" She placed the bag on the counter, smiling lightly to not show off her fangs. "I bought them last night... they are wonderful." She wanted to ask if Velia was there, but she held her tongue as she didn’t want the woman to freak out even more. She looked around, not seeing her, she sighed lightly. Bummer. Maybe she is in the back. She quickly smiled at the woman and started to open the bag, realizing she had grabbed -everything-, she idly giggled.

<Velia> The sales clerk was at once suspicious of the woman in front of her. Her Boss wasn’t exactly stiff with things, but random free sharpenings outside of a promotion didn’t seem like her thing either. Maybe the girl just didn’t see Velia around so thought she could get away with saying that the boss said something? Luckily, Velia was in the store so if this was the case, then the customer wasn’t going to get away with it. Normally she would have just slipped out back, but with her suspicions up she didn’t exactly want to leave the customer unattended.

Instead, she smiled at the girl. “Just one second and I’ll call in back. I’m not qualified to do the skate sharpenings. It’s a safety risk.” That wasn’t a lie, as she was rather new and hadn’t gotten the required safety training yet. Without another word she picked up the phone and dialed the extension to Velia’s office, which was right beside the room where the equipment for the sharpening was.

Velia picked up after the first ring, seeing that the call was coming from the front room and not wanting to make her employee wait. “Everything okay out there?” The girl was good at her job, but still got a little nervous at some things. “There’s a customer who requires her skates sharpened, should I send her down?” “Oh no, that’s okay. I’ll be up in just a second.” The girl at the desk smiled at Saige as she set the receiver down. “Someone will be with you in just a moment.”

<Saige> All Saige could do was smile at the woman behind the counter lightly, nodding gently as she stated she couldn’t do the skate sharpening. That made sense, and she pulled the bag with the skates in it out and set the other one aside. Leaning into the counter, she wondered who the girl would call as she watched her make the phone call. She shifted her weight and crossed her legs while standing, resting an elbow on top of the counter and her chin in her palm, her free hand started to idly play fingertips at the edge of her light pink shirt's hem. Her khakis were rolled up an inch, resting just below her knees as she tilted her head lightly to admire the store once again from the night before. It was well stocked, and well organized, and she quite liked the feel of adventure awaiting her every time she walked in.

The many boxes that lined the bookshelves drew her attention as she idly wondered if Velia had known everything that was in each one; the way the woman had seemingly known exactly which box to pull for Saige the night before was impressive to her, and she smiled lightly at how well the woman was at eyeballing Saige and knowing which skates would fit her best. Not just in size, but style as well. It was like they were tailored right to her, even though Velia didn’t even know Saige until last night. She wondered then what the woman had done with her phone number, as she hadn’t called, though it had only been one night so Saige couldn’t quite blame her. It probably would have been a little overbearing of her, right? She nodded lightly at her thought as she waited for the person that the woman behind the counter said would be right with her.

<Velia> While it was a bit unusual for the clerk to call down like that for a simple skate sharpening, Velia figured that for some reason she didn’t feel comfortable leaving the till unattended to escort the customer down to her. It wasn’t a big deal, anyway, as she was in a good mood and therefore didn’t mind the extra trouble. She was dressed similar to how she’d been the night before, except the shirt she was wearing today was a light blue instead of black.

She took the few steps up from the back of the store to the main floor and then stopped. She hadn’t expected it to be Saige, figuring it would be at least a couple of days before she came back in (if at all), but there she was. She was so glad that she’d brought her skates. “Saige! How nice to see you again. Ready to try out your new skates?” The smile she gave the other woman was huge, the delight at seeing her causing her grey eyes to sparkle in a way that didn’t happen often.

<Saige> She stood upright as she heard her name, looking around like a deer in headlights. Realizing it was Velia, she beamed back - though was extra careful not to show her fangs that she was -still- having trouble controlling. She had just gotten a couple blood heals from Phoenix due to not being able to make it all the way home last night, being caught in the sun as she rested in an alley that wasn’t dark enough to shield her. Once fully healed, she went home, tucked her stuff away, and headed straight back with the bag that Velia had given her the night before. "Velia!" She giggled softly, shaking her head lightly. "I don’t know... I didn’t do so well on dry land let alone ice. Will you sharpen them for me though?" She smiled warmly, holding out the bag that had her skates in it easily. Sure, it was heavy, but being a vampire had its quirks as it swung lightly in her curled fingers. What luck! I’m so glad she's here. Her smiled warmed her eyes even more as she tipped her head to the side and admired the woman’s shirt. "I like your shirt, it’s nice."

<Velia> “Of course I will…and I’m sure you’ll do just fine.” She beamed back, reaching out for the bag without moving her gaze from Saige. “Do you want to follow me? You can see how it’s done, if you like?” It wasn’t unusual for people to come down. Some preferred to, though most browsed the store while their skates were being sharpened. It was a personal choice and Velia usually didn’t mind either way, though tonight she hoped Saige would choose to follow her instead of staying up there.

<Saige> Her eyebrows lifted in excitement as she was offered the choice to view the sharpening. "Oh, I'd like that very much! How cool, to be offered that." She nodded a couple times sharply, her brown curls waving lightly in the air and against her shoulders as she reached up and touched the barrette that held back her bangs to the right side. It had a little pink butterfly on it, and Saige had picked it out for herself yesterday just before coming into the shop and stumbling across this wonderful little piece of adventure to herself. She just loved the idea of ice skating, but she was also afraid of not being good at it; though the woman would accept the challenge when the time came. She handed the bag over and prepared herself to follow Velia, both hands tugging slightly nervously at the hem of her shirt before looping thumbs into the belt loops on either side of her hips.

<Velia> Her grin widened, though she wouldn’t have thought that possible, and then she turned and made her way for the steps to the back room. “Watch your step.” She called out, over her shoulder, not wanting the girl to take another tumble in her store. The steps weren’t bad or anything, but if someone wasn’t paying attention they might not realize they were there. “Are you heading out to the arena tonight to try them out?”

<Saige> Saige was ever so grateful Velia had told her to watch her step. She might have been a vampire, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still clumsy from her human days. She followed after the woman, most certainly watching her step as she ascended down the stairs after her. "Oh, I was thinking about it, yes." She admitted, her smile remaining on her face. "It is a nice night out..." Her statement trailed as she shrugged and nodded, though Velia couldn’t see her as she led the way. "If I do, maybe you could join me? That is... if you don’t have too much work to do." She offered, though she suddenly had the thought of falling on her rear and Velia laughing at her, she was sure she could find it in her to laugh at herself and her clumsy nature as she usually did.

<Velia> Her back was still to Saige, so it didn’t matter that she beamed extra wide at the question. “I was actually just about to head over to the arena.” She pointed to her back that was just by the bottom of the stairs. “All packed and ready to go.” See, she knew that would come in handy. She led Saige the rest of the way into the small room used for sharpening and switched on the overhead light.

“You can take a seat over there.” She pointed to one of the chairs that she kept down here for when the customer chose to come down. “We prefer customers not be too close, just in case.” She gave Saige a smile and then another wink before turning on the machine and getting to work on the skates.

<Saige> Saige grinned as she heard that Velia was planning on going skating. The thought of making a new friend elated her, and it seemed she had done just that by stumbling into the shop the night before. She just couldn’t be happier at this moment. She had a family that was helping her every step of the way - something entirely new to her, in that she hadn’t had a family for several years now - and she was seemingly succeeding at making a friend, and the two combined just made her face simply light up and glow as she moved to take a seat lightly on the chair off to the side, warm blue hues fixated on the woman as she started sharpening the skates. It was loud and noisy, but the sparks are what frightened her - the fact that Velia didn’t seem to care about wearing any protective equipment didn’t help. Saige always had been the caring type, so she spoke up over the sound of the grinding metal. "Shouldn’t you wear goggles or something? You don’t want to get hurt, right?" Though she herself stayed just a far enough distance as she crossed one leg over the other at the knee.

<Velia> Grinning, she turned the machine off temporarily and grabbed for the tool for the toe pick part of the blade. It was adorable. “If I were one of my employees, I’d have a whole lot to say to them about not wearing the gear. But no, I’m not worried. I’m fairly sure I can take anything this machine could do to me.” She turned the skate upside down so she could check the blade, making sure that it was all set before setting it off to the side and grabbing the second one. “I can put it on though, if it’ll make you feel better?”

<Saige> Hearing her say that, with that grin, made her smile simply at her. "No, I mean, if you're comfortable with it... don’t mind me." She bit her lip lightly, not trying to be a menace or a pest. She would let the woman do as she pleased. "After all, I’m sure you've done this enough times. There are just a lot of sparks coming off the blade." She added, trying to explain herself but thinking that instead she just made herself sound like more of a pest. "I'll shut up now." She rested her hands one on top of the other on her top knee, softly staring at the skate that she had finished and admiring how sharp the blade actually looked.

<Velia> With a soft smile, Velia reached over and grabbed one of the pairs of goggles, keeping her eyes on Saige as she slipped them on. “I don’t mind…” She murmured, though it wasn’t exactly true. She found the goggles made her vision worse, with all the imperfections in them. She usually wore them, though, when the customers were human so it wasn’t a huge deal to do. With that taken care of she turned the machine back on and started working on the second blade. She found the work soothing, whereas most of the employees hated having to do it. It wasn’t nearly as soothing as actually hitting the ice, but it was definitely nice.

<Saige> She blinked and smiled warmly at Velia. She didn’t have to do that, didn’t have to appease her like that. Saige found her admiration for Velia growing; as did her smile. That was so nice of her. She thought, tipping her head to the side as she watched her work. She did it so expertly, so easily, like it was second nature, and Saige liked that about her. She blinked as she suddenly realized something, giggling very softly at the thought; she dashed her warm ocean hues to the side and did her best not to glance over at Velia, though she just couldn’t help it. She had realized she liked Velia, she liked the way the woman carried herself, the way she spoke with such confidence; it was incredibly inspiring to Saige.

<Velia> Before longs he was switching the machine back off and removing the goggles so she could get a better view of the blade and work on the pick. The whole process didn’t take very long, not if you knew how to do it anyway. She grinned, seeing that it was all set, and set it down beside the other one. “See? Nothing to it!” The goggles went back to their place and then she was grabbing the skates back up, checking to make sure the blades had cooled down. “Do you have the guards right there? It’s best to put the guards on so that there’s no damage to the bag and no accidents.”

<Saige> Saige nodded, pulling the guards out of the bag she had toted along with her, and stood to cross over to hand them to her. "Thank you so much Velia. I really appreciate this." Her kindness showed, giving a soft smile to the woman before she looked down at the skates. "They look wonderful and you did it so fast; clearly you have done this before!" She giggled, reaching out to press her finger to one of the blades, feeling how sharp it was, she pulled back and nodded. "Yep, they are sharp!"

<Velia> “They’re supposed to be. They work better when they’re sharper. They dull down with each use and you may not even notice, but when you get them sharpened again? You’ll notice how much better they work.” She slipped the guards effortlessly onto the blades and then slid them back into the pink skate bag. “If you don’t mind waiting a few minutes while I talk to my employee we can head out together?”

<Saige> She raised both her eyebrows excitedly again, her warm blue hues connecting with Velia's pretty grey ones. "Oh, I don’t mind at all!" Truth be told, she would have waited all night if she had to, silently browsing the store or finding a silly game to play on her phone, like Sudoku. She picked up the pink bag, nodding lightly as she moved towards the door. She figured Velia didn’t want her waiting down there, next to all that dangerous equipment, and quite frankly Saige didn’t want to be near it unattended; even if it was off. You never know, she thought, giving Velia another warm smile as she stopped at the door and waited for her.

<Velia> She followed quickly behind Saige, trying to pretend she wasn’t using the opportunity to look over the other woman, as again that was highly unprofessional of her. She picked up her own skate bag before following her up the stairs, the pure black bag slung over her shoulder easily. She could have run into her office to grab her trench coat, but that would have meant an unneeded detour and she really didn’t want to do that. So instead, she continued up the stairs behind Saige.

Her conversation with the sales clerk was brief, just reaffirming for Velia that the girl knew what to do to close up if she had to and that she would call if anything major happened and Velia was needed. She didn’t think she’d be gone until close as the midnight skate only lasted an hour, but she wanted to make sure everything was set for it just in case. Finishing up with her conversation she made her way over to Saige. “I’m all set; we should get there just as the zamboni is off. It’s usually fairly quiet this time of night, sometimes only a couple other people show.” She said this with a grin while pulling the door open for the other woman.

<Saige> She watched as Velia spoke with her other employee, idly thinking how professional the woman could be, as far as she herself had seen. She smiled lightly, tipping her head to the side to watch Velia more closely, her blue hues dancing over the woman lightly as she settled her eyes on the woman’s skate bag. I wonder if her skates match her bag like mine do. She blinked as Velia started coming towards her, quickly shifting her eyes to the door as she bit on her lip and wondered if the woman saw her staring over at her. Not giving it time to think twice about it, she smiled softly at Velia's grin and her words, then giving a look of surprise. "Oh, really? The place all to ourselves? That simply sounds amazing." She nodded in thanks and slid through the door, though she was simply too polite to leave it at the nod. "Thank you," Her smile didn’t fade as she slowly started to walk to the right, hoping it was the correct direction, though knowing her luck, it wasn’t.

<Velia> She followed Saige, seeing as how right was actually the right way to go to get to the elevator leading down to the main floor. Velia hit the call button for the elevator and then leaned against the wall next to it as she waited. Veil Towers was quite large and it could take a few minutes if the elevator was up on one of the higher floors. “I doubt we’ll have the whole place to ourselves. There’s usually at least one or two other people there. They wouldn’t bother to keep the late time slot open if it was completely empty.” If it got to that point, Velia was fairly sure she could make a donation of sorts to keep the time slot open. She could also just reserve the rink for an hour. It would be more expensive than simply going at a regular time, but Saige was right: a rink to themselves did sound awfully tempting.

<Saige> Saige stood in front the elevator, both hands clasped in front of her on the handles of her newly sharpened skates’ bag. She nodded with a smile to Velia as the woman leaned against the wall and the two waited for the elevator. "Still. Almost to ourselves. Better than a crowd." She admitted, idly thinking that if there was a crowd there, she would be way too embarrassed to even put on her skates. She was feeling quite thankful in that moment, and her smile showed as it warmed her already warm ocean blue hues deeper.

<Velia> When the telltale “ding” sound of the elevator came, Velia took a step back just in case there were people looking to exit the elevator. As it turned out, it was completely empty so she made her way inside and slid her hand out to keep the doors from closing before Saige joined her. “I definitely prefer it to a crowd. Even…before…I still went skating the late slots, when there were just a few people around. You can’t stretch your legs when the rink is packed.”

<Saige> Saige thought it was nice of Velia to hold the doors open for her. She smiled and stepped in daintily, turning around to stare at the lights over head as Velia allowed the doors to close. She blinked as she realized quickly that Velia was talking about before being a vampire. That slightly surprised her, as she glanced over to Velia. That seemed something close friends told friends, and she simply grinned at her. "I can imagine Velia." She nodded lightly, "I've never done anything even close to ice skating. I rarely went out for walks as is." She herself admitted, divulging a little about herself in turn. "I've always lived a quiet life."

<Velia> Not anymore… was the thought that popped into Velia’s head at that comment, but instead of saying that aloud she simply smiled and pressed the button for the ground floor. “Mm, speaking of that. There are two ways we could go about this thing. We could walk over to the arena, which is about a dozen or so blocks from here, less if we cut through an alley or two, or we can head over to the station. It’s just a couple blocks from here and there’s a station just a couple of blocks from the arena.” Velia didn’t mind either way, really, as both ways would give them some time to talk.

<Saige> Saige didn't like the idea of cutting through any dark alleys - being shifty since her turning, since the homeless man had tried to hurt Juliet and just about nearly killed Saige herself. An uneasy look crossed her eyes as she glanced at Velia, standing dead center in the elevator still, she felt the urge to reach for the metal bar attached to the wall in front of Velia. Swallowing rather dryly, she righted herself and drew a deep breath. "Maybe the station would be best."

<Velia> Something felt off, but Velia couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She wasn’t exactly the best at detecting that sort of thing. Instead of dwelling on it she shrugged it off just in time for the elevator to come to a stop, the ding to sound and the doors to open up to the lobby. “The station it is!” She waited a moment after stepping off of the elevator to make sure Saige was with her, before heading out through the main doors. Once outside, she made sure to walk beside Saige, instead of walking in front. It seemed more sociable to do it that way.

<Saige> She stepped off the moving contraption as soon as the doors opened, smiling as Velia agreed so easily on the station. that’s so nice of her. She is so nice, she thought, stepping gently next the woman as she started to stroll along. Saige didn’t mind the silence; she had a life filled with it before, though this was not that life. "So, Miss Velia. Tell me something interesting about yourself.... Aside from the fact that you own a store." She giggled softly, walking with that signature happy-go-lucky bounce in her step as her bag swung lightly from side to side matching the way her hair swung at her shoulders.

<Velia> This was definitely not one of her strong suits; the small talk and getting to know people. She was used to finding out details about other people; finding their secrets, not revealing her own. She opened her mouth to say something at least, but couldn’t come up with a thing to say. It wasn’t that she couldn’t think of anything, but wasn’t sure what the appropriate type of response would be. “Turn left just up here…” It was a few steps further before she replied further. “I’m not sure where to begin…” That was the truth, which made her feel better about it. “Is there something specific you’re interested in knowing?” That would be easier maybe. A simple question and answer session. She could do that.

<Saige> Hmm. So Saige clearly had to be specific, and she furrowed her brows lightly in thought as she wondered what she'd ask first. "Well, I kinda want to know everything..." She glanced over then back to the corner as she made the aforementioned left. "Let's start with pets. Do you own any?" She giggled lightly, looking down to her bag then back up to Velia.

<Velia> “I don’t, actually. I’ve been thinking about getting one now that I’ve got an actual house with lots of extra room. I’m not sure what kind to get though. I’m not sure that I want a cat, really… and I’m not sure what to do about a dog during the daytime. Can’t leave them cooped up in the house all day.” Velia shrugged her shoulders at that, before turning to make her way into the station. She’d been thinking about a pet ever since the night her sire had shifted into an animal, but she didn’t want to be one of those neglectful pet owners.

<Saige> Saige giggled softly as she followed her into the station, making her way to the train. She spotted a comfortable enough looking bench long enough to seat two, and decided that would do quite well as she made her way over to it. Tucking her knees together traditionally, she looked over at Velia with her warm smile. “There are always other animals you know. I used to have ferrets, in fact." She nodded, moving on to her next question. "So, no pets. Maybe a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend?" She giggled very lightly, glancing away then back as she blushed very, very lightly.

<Velia> She couldn’t help but blink at the change in conversation. In her mind, the jump from pets to significant others seemed rather drastic. Velia cleared her throat as she sat down next to Saige, shifting slightly in the seat. “Uh no. No one else. Just me.” The question itself was too close to the thoughts she’d been having about the cute customer with the absolutely adorable blush. She’d never thought that was her type, really, but for some reason with this woman it worked.

<Saige> Raising both brows, she nodded. Good to know. she idly thought, clutching to her bag that she had placed gently on her lap over her skirt. Shifting to draw one leg up over the other, she rolled her neck so her chin met her shoulder and looked over at Velia, that same light blush dashing her cheeks still. "So no one but you. That sounds lonely... I would know." She smiled lightly, "have you taken to your sire like I have been so lucky to?" Saige hoped the response was yes, that Velia had at least someone in her life that meant something g more to her other than just a friend as she was with her. She released her bag with one hand; idly scratching at her knee as her palm edged her khakis up to do so. Replacing her hand on her bag, she shifted lightly again as her warm blue eyes were accented by her lightly dashing blush at her cheeks.

<Velia> “I don’t mind it.” The words were the truth, a fact that resonated in her voice as she spoke them. She was definitely content with her life even though she’d had less than a year to get used to the new turn it had taken. “My sire is…” She stopped there, debating how exactly to describe Oria. “She’s lovely, really, even if she likes to make a nuisance of herself.” She couldn’t help but smirk as she thought about it. She didn’t say any more, though, not quite sure she wanted to divulge just how much of a nuisance her sire had been lately.

<Saige> Her smiled warmed as Velia spoke fondly of her sire. She was glad that Velia at least had that relationship with her sire. The warmth showed on her face as she continued looking at Velia with those ocean blue hues. "That's good! She sounds lovely!" She giggled softly and bit her lip, tuning her head forwards. Her eyes lit up as she suddenly had a plethora of questions. "What's your favorite color?"

<Velia> What was her favourite colour? What kind of a question was that? Should she say that she loved all colours equally? But that wasn’t even true. Some colours were pretty horrendous, but that didn’t mean she had a favourite. “Uhh…” That wasn’t very charming, but she was at a total loss. The feeling as the train came to a stop gave her a distraction though, which she was ever so grateful for. Who would have known she’d be running from a question so simple? “This is our stop… the rink’s just a little ways away now.” With that said she stood up, instinctively holding her hand out to Saige as she did.

<Saige> Said watched her seemingly struggle with the simple question. Her smile grew as she struggled to keep her fangs hidden, though she had been working on it and not being so excited helped as they didn’t show in the grin. The train stopped and Saige looked around, as if she was wondering why the train had stopped, then looking back at Velia as she mentioned it was their stop. She was glad that Velia knew her way around, and blinked at the woman as she held her hand out to her. Saige blushed lightly, bringing a hand from her bag to slide it daintily into Velia's. "Thank you so much." She pulled herself up gently and squeezed Velia's hand before sliding it gently to readjust her shirt and move to exit the train in front of Velia; though she stopped and waited for the woman to take the place beside her as she raised her brows lightly. "Do you not have a favorite color? I could understand that, I like light blue and pink equally." She tipped her head to the side and started to walk, both hands clasped around bag handles in front of her again. "Do you have a least favorite, then?"

<Velia> What was Saige’s fascination with colours? Velia had no clue and was still at a loss at how to answer her. There were plenty of really nasty colours out there and it wasn’t something that she ever put much thought into. Until now, which unnerved her a bit. “Um. Not really? Colours are colours, I guess…” Instead of focusing on her lack of a real answer on the question, she found herself wondering at the feeling of loss she’d felt as Saige had pulled away after standing up. She was acting all sorts of strange tonight and wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

<Saige> Wondering if she was going the right way or not, she looked to Velia as she told her 'colors were colors'. She felt comfortable around Velia, that much she knew. "Oh, that's okay. They really are just colors." She gave another warm smile and lifted her brows. "What's your favorite season? I like autumn... The colors are always so vibrant around that time of year." She bit her lip, idly thinking that Velia had to of been wondering what it was with her and colors. "I just like the vibrancy. So alive." She added, giggling softly with a soft shake of her head.

<Velia> Smiling, even if she didn’t quite understand the fascination, Velia nodded her head as Saige talked. “I guess I’m just not used to rating things and picking favourites. Things have their uses and drawbacks. We’re going to need to cross the street just up ahead.” She pointed to a building across the street before continuing. “That building there? That’s the rink.”

<Saige> Saige nodded. That made sense, as the stopped suddenly at the sight of the building. It was large, and she admired the architectural design as she started walking again, still staring at the building down the street with wide ocean blue hues. "It's wonderful!" She beamed, glancing to Velia as she quickened her pace only a little. "We'll come on!" Her excitement dashed again as she felt her fangs slide out, then back in just as quickly. She blushed and shook her head, giggling. "I need to work on that."

<Velia> Now this excitement Velia could understand and she grinned over at Saige before quickly checking to see if anything was coming. The night was quiet and they’d managed to time it perfectly as there weren’t any cars currently driving through. “Come on then!” With that, Velia was jogging across the empty road to get over to the rink. She didn’t dare go too fast but didn’t want to go too slow either and risk a car showing up.

<Saige> Saige blinked, grinning back, she kept pace with Velia as the two managed to cross the street okay. She slowed down enough to run a hand through her hair to push it out of her face and continue their stroll to the rink, though in her clumsiness she tripped on a piece of concrete that was a little taller than the last, stumbling lightly as she bumped into Velia's side. She blushed madly, rightly herself as she regained her footing. "I'm sorry I'm just so clumsy." She cleared her throat, laughing lightly, "I can't help it. I'll probably end up falling pretty bad at the rink a couple times."

<Velia> The clumsiness had been why Velia hadn’t wanted to run too fast across the street. She allowed herself to wrap her arm around the other woman, if only for a moment while she righted herself. She was possibly going to enjoy this night’s skating even more than usual. “Everyone does their first time out. It would be kind of spectacular if you managed to go the whole time without falling. I’ll do my best to keep you from getting too hurt, at least?”

<Saige> Saige smiled and nodded, her giggle vibrating through her as she nodded. "Yes, my savior." She grinned again and stayed at Velia's side, a little closer than they had been moments earlier. Hey, who was Saige to stop her clumsiness from drawing her closer to her new friend? Saige enjoyed the closeness; it seemed to fill that lonely part in her, the same part that filled when Juliet was running her fingers through her hair. "I hope I don't get in your way too bad." She never was one for getting in people's way as she leaned against Velia lightly.

<Velia> Even if she had felt Saige was getting in her way, which she didn’t, she had a feeling she wouldn’t be saying much. She thought, maybe, that she’d come to crave Saige getting in her way. She reluctantly pulled herself away from Saige so she could pull the door to the rink open allowing Saige to enter. “I’m sure you won’t get in my way too bad. There’s a lot of ice out there, after all.”

<Saige> She smiled warmly, entering the building as the sudden rush of coolness hit her cheeks, and she clutched to her bag and shut her eyes while standing just past the entrance of the door. Taking a deep breath, she took her time relishing the different scents and sounds the rink held out to her and her newly heightened vampiric abilities. Blinking then, she tipped her head slightly and looked back over to Velia. "Oh yes, there is plenty of ice." She added silently in thought, that I am sure I'll be getting hurt on. Though, the thought itself was disheartening, Saige took the challenge in stride. "So how does this work?"

<Velia> “Well… first thing…” Velia slipped inside and around Saige as she said this, going over to the window just inside of the door. They hadn’t gotten there terribly early, so the window was already open. “Two skaters.” She’d been here enough to know the price without being told, so was already slipping over the correct amount of money as she said it. The employee behind the window smiled at them and wished them a good time as they added the money to the drawer. “And now we go in to see if the zamboni is done yet.”

<Saige> Saige watched as Velia paid for them both. "Oh! You didn't have to... I could have..." She blushed, shaking her head as she smiled, tilting to the side to smile and nod at the person behind the counter. "Thank you, it's my first time." She wasn't sure why she had added that last part, other than that it was the truth. She looked around, simply smiling as she figured she'd let Velia take the lead.

<Velia> With a grin, she winked at Saige. “Oh no. My treat. It’s no problem, really!” She led Saige through another set of doors, bringing them into the actual ice rink. The Zamboni was over halfway done, as evidenced by the mostly glistening surface of the ice. There was nothing quite like skating on a freshly done ice with nice sharp skates. Velia couldn’t see anyone else getting ready to go on, though she doubted it would stay that way the whole hour. Velia sat down on a bench close to the arena door and started unzipping her skate bag.

<Saige> Saige's blush only grew at the wink; giggling lightly and nodding as she followed after her with that happy-go-lucky bounce to her step. Sitting next to Velia, she glanced around and stared at the ice for a moment before unzipping her bag and pulling the skates that Velia had picked out for her to rest them on the ground at her feet. Bending to slip off her low-top light pink converses one at a time, she set them aside as she set to putting one skate on and lacing it up as best as she could. "Maybe next time you'll allow me to return the favor." Her smile was broad as she tied a double looped knot and moved on to her other skate.

<Velia> The skates Velia pulled out of her bag were very different from the ones Saige had. Velia’s skates were the typical black hockey skates, nothing fancy besides the neon green laces she’d switched out the plain white ones for. After slipping them on, her fingers easily curled under the laces to pull them tighter one section at a time, starting with the lower sections. Once they were sufficiently tight, she quickly moved to tie them in a bow. The laces were just the right size for how she liked them, making it so she didn’t have to curl the laces around to take up the excess amount. “Maybe…” She grinned over at Saige after both skates were properly laced up, before turning her eyes to watch the zamboni finish its journey. “Maybe after tonight you’ll want to run for the hills?”

<Saige> Saige looked over and grinned back. She looked down at Velia's skates, softly admiring how shiny the black part was, and how bright the green laces were against the skates. She pointed at her skates before going back to finish up her other. "See? Vibrant." She giggled and sat up, putting her hands on her knees as she smiled warmly at Velia. "If you think I'm not up for the challenge, you are sadly mistaken." She nodded, still smiling.

<Velia> “Oh no… I’m sure you’re quite up for the challenge. But you may blame me for talking you into this when the time’s up and you’re realizing just how much the ice hurts.” Velia stood up as the zamboni drove off the ice, holding her hand out to Saige again as she did so. They still had to wait for the door to close before they were allowed out on the ice, but that would only take another minute or so. “Ready then?”

<Saige> She giggled and shook her head. "I'd not blame you for my adventurous nature Velia." She blinked as she held her hand out to her again. She's so kind.. She smiled warmly and slid her hand into Velia's, pulling herself up as she only wobbled a little. "I think I got this." Though she didn’t let go of Velia's hand right away, she gave it a soft squeeze and nodded with a deep audible breath. "I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be." She blushed very lightly at the thought of falling on the ice, and how ridiculous she must have looked, finally dropping her hand as she watched the big doors shut behind the zamboni.

<Velia> “Oh good. I’ll hold you to that then.” She resisted the urge to make another grab for Saige’s hand as she pulled it away, but restrained from doing so. She was pushing enough boundaries as it was. Instead, she went over and pulled up the handle to the door so she could open it, giving them access to the shiny surface of the ice. “After you?”

<Saige> Saige followed after her, slowly at first but picked up stride as she finally reached the wall containing the rink. She put her hand to the wall, looked over at Velia with a soft smile, and stepped very slowly and carefully out onto the ice. Hugging to the wall from the inside, her knuckles were white where she gripped the small ledge. "Oh dear..." She blinked and kept her eyes on her feet, careful not to distribute too much weight on either foot to cause it to slip out from under her. She giggled and looked over to Velia again, grinning. "This isn't so ba-" and with that she fell, losing her concentration as she hit the ice hard, bottom first, then an elbow. She bit her lip to not cry out, sitting up and rubbing at her elbow. "Ow."

<Velia> Saige’s fall happened almost in slow motion for Velia. She had to stop herself from moving to catch her, knowing the movement would be far faster than what a human could do. Still, she cringed at the sight, hating that she had to let it happen. Once Saige was down, Velia took a small step onto the ice gracefully going down to one knee as she slid over to the fallen woman. “Let me see…” she whispered, reaching out for the abused elbow.

<Saige> She blinked warm ocean blues at Velia as she slid over on one knee. So graceful. she smiled very sheepishly and crossed the arm upwards so her hand grabbed her opposite shoulder, looking to try to get a view of the nice bruise that had formed easily. It would be gone in a few hours, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt as she allowed Velia to inspect it. "I don't think I broke it..." She muttered, cringing only slightly at the pain as it traveled up her arm.

<Velia> “Nah, you didn’t fall that hard. Plus, we’re fairly resilient.” The sentence seemed vague enough to her, nothing specifically supernatural about it. Some people were just tougher than others, after all. Velia let her fingertips move along the area that had taken the beating from the ice. Smiling, she left the contact there as she brought her eyes up to Saige’s. “Ready to try again?”

<Saige> Saige drew a deep breath and nodded. "I am." She was clearly determined to get the hang of it as she smiled warmly. Velia's touch was comforting, and her elbow almost didn’t hurt any more as she just kinda sat there. "My butt is cold." She giggled, blushing heavily as she finally moved to plant her hands on the ice and attempt to get up by herself.

<Velia> Realizing what Saige meant to do, Velia easily went back up to her feet and held out her hand yet again to the other woman. “Here, let me help. You’ll be less likely to fall right back down this way.” It was the truth, even if there was the ulterior motive behind it. This whole night was becoming an ulterior motive though, and Velia was sure she was about as subtle as an explosion.

<Saige> Blinking, she nodded. That made sense. She took her hand once more, twisting to get a foot under her and lift up, gasping as she almost fell straight back again, and she clutched to Velia's hand and pulled herself towards Velia as she threw an arm around her shoulders; as if there were sharks under the ice waiting for her to fall through. She blinked, her blush only growing darker as she laughed silkily. "I'm sorry!" She righted her skates under her and gained her balance, her laugh turning to a soft giggle as she just didn’t know what more to say, clearly embarrassed.

<Velia> Instinctively, Velia moved her hands to curl around Saige’s hips as she felt the arm go around her shoulders. She had no problem standing just like this as she waited for Saige to gain her balance; in fact she welcomed the opportunity to do just that. She’d never done this before, really, and was starting to see the appeal in it. She’d worried she’d miss the feel of letting herself go, but she found that wasn’t the case at all. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. Really. We were all beginners at some point.”

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Saige> She nodded, tilting her head down for a moment as she was glad the woman had her hands around her hips; it added stability as she found she was afraid to let go for fear of falling again. She drew a deep breath, "I appreciate the help Velia." She looked back up, staring into the woman's grey hues as she smiled lightly and quickly pressed a kiss to Velia's cheek. Pulling back, she slid her arm from around the woman's shoulder very slowly, being extra careful not to fall as she moved her hands overtop of Velia's and grinned. "I'm sure I couldn't have done this without you, catching me before I fall." And she was, entirely sure of that fact as she simply smiled warmly at her. She liked Velia, and was glad she was there.

<Velia> “It’s no problem, really. I’m enjoying myself.” After Saige disengaged from her, Velia skated backwards just a little ways so she was just over an arm’s length away. “Let’s see if we can add some more owwies, shall we?” She grinned, quirking an eyebrow as she looked at Saige in an almost challenging manner.

<Saige> Thinking she was already out on the ice, and already had one bruise, she figured what the hell as she beamed at Velia. "Alright!" She nodded, moving slowly to skate towards Velia, though the two stayed their distance as Saige moved her hands to Velia's forearms and gripped. Thinking she had the hang of it, she slowly let go to put her arms out on either side of her with her elbows slightly bent. She was watching her skates again, and looked up once more at Velia as she asked a question. "How do you make it look so eas-" she gasped as she slipped once more, clearly having trouble concentrating on the task at hand long enough to stay upright, going down for the count as she fell once more and slipped from Velia's grasp. She stuck a hand out to break her fall, her other reaching to grab Velia's in mid fall which did little to help her at that point as her palm hit the ice and twisted her wrist back. Pain dashed her now watery blue hues as she whimpered lightly and rolled her wrist trying to get the pain to go away, gripping at Velia's hand tightly; not thinking about it.

<Velia> The moment Saige whimpered in pain Velia was down on the ice, completely uncaring as the cold ice soaked through her jeans. She pulled Saige up into a sitting position so the other woman could rest against her before moving to inspect the injury. They were resilient and they did heal fast, but that didn’t mean things like that didn’t hurt. She wrapped her fingers lightly around the wrist before turning her gaze to Saige. “How bad does it hurt?” Her thumb absently stroked over the inside of Saige’s wrist as she asked.

<Saige> She blinked away tears, trying to toughen up ever since her turning, she bit into her lip at the pain that felt like hot little tiny needles poking straight into the bone. She leaned against Velia as the woman inspected her wrist this time, and Saige blinked over at her. She cares. Saige dashed her hues down as she felt the thumb rubbing against the sprain, soothing it instantly. Looking back up at Velia, she locked eyes with the woman. "It's...” She thought to tell the truth, but decided against it as she didn’t want to seem like such a baby. "... It's not too bad." Though her eyes told a different story.

<Velia> “Uh huh…” Velia moved her free hand down to lay her palm flat against the ice for a few moments, bringing the temperature down even further than usual. Once completed, she moved that hand over to switch with her other hand, bringing that extra cool surface directly into contact with Saige’s wrist. “Is that better?”

<Saige> She blinked when she was caught in the lie, shaking her head very lightly as her long red/brown hair swayed along with it. She stared at her wrist as Velia planted her hand against the ice. Saige thought it was just to steady her as she was leaning pretty heavily, but she was too focused on the pain at her wrist to do anything about that at the moment. She gasped as Velia put her now cold hand against her wrist, half out of pain, and half out of instant relief. She bit her lip, flexing her fingers lightly as she felt the tendons and muscles tense then relax under the coolness. "Mmhmm." She looked over at Velia then, and simply stared at her for a moment before closing her palm into a light fist. "I'm ready to try again." It clearly still hurt her, her fingers instantly uncurling, but she was serious as she gave a small determined smile to Velia.

<Velia> “Are you sure…?” Velia was all for continuing, but Saige had already taken a few bad spills so close together. She didn’t want her getting seriously hurt, after all. She didn’t want her to give up, either though. Velia bit her lip lightly, the thumb of her other hand moving lightly over Saige’s wrist as she thought. “Maybe we can try keeping contact for a while? Until you get used to it?”

<Saige> She just kind of stared at Velia at her first question, afraid to answer in case she blurted out no. She really wanted to get skating down pat as she really wasn’t good at any other physical activities. Gun? Hadn't touched it since Vigilant showed her where the safety was. Sword? Dropped it and had to go back for it after running screaming bloody murder from her first encounter with a zombie. So she was more determined than ever to get this right; despite the pain. And she liked the idea of being close to Velia regardless. The woman made her feel safe, like Juliet did. She nodded and blushed at the thought. "I'd like that..." She stuck her free uninjured hand out so Velia could help her up again.

<Velia> Saige’s determination was definitely something to be admired. She’d seen people quit trying after just falling once. Velia maneuvered herself out from supporting Saige so she could go back up to her feet, balancing herself perfectly on her skates as she reached down for the offered hand. “Maybe you’re just getting rid of all the big bumps all at once?” Velia felt it was unlikely that Saige would never fall again, but some people liked to hear things like that. Right?

<Saige> She pulled herself up using the hand offered, teetering before she reached and grabbed Velia's other hand. Giving a soft wince at using the now sprained wrist, Saige then offered her toughest smile. She didn’t want Velia to think she couldn't handle the pain, though she barely could, so she focused all her concentration on the ice and held tight the woman's hands in front of her. Awkwardly trying to skate at first, her ice cold butt hanging out then bringing it back in, she finally managed to get a good push to propel the two across the ice a couple feet. She grinned and gave off a soft giggle she kept her concentration down at her skates. "I must look ridiculous."

<Velia> A chuckle escaped Velia as she shook her head. “No, no. Not ridiculous at all. Cute? Definitely.” She hadn’t meant to say the second part, only think it. It wasn’t until a moment afterwards that she realized she’d let it slip. “You’re doing great!” The last comment was said in an attempt to divert attention away from the slip. Velia wasn’t quite ready for the evening to end, and a creepy statement like that could easily cause that to happen.

<Saige> She blinked, her grin not fading in the least bit - though a blush did cross her cheeks as she let out an embarrassed giggle. She only blushed harder at the second comment, shaking her head softly though her eyes didn’t leave the ice as she pushed the two of them further. "If I concentrate hard, I can get a rhythm." She glanced up with her blush, and smiled sheepishly. "And still look cute." She giggled again, not letting Velia get away with the comment. She looked back down to the ice, almost slipping, but regaining her determination as she gripped less tightly to Velia but still held onto her hands.

<Velia> Saige may have been looking down at the ice, but Velia rarely glanced away from Saige. She wasn’t the type to feel attracted to people often, as she was usually more focused on other things than that. She’d never felt that attraction for someone who looked like Saige before, either. The same things she was finding absolutely adorable at the moment were things that she’d rolled her eyes at before. If anything, this made her even more curious about the woman in front of her. The more she was curious, the more she couldn’t keep her eyes off of Saige. At this rate, by the end of the night she’d be absolutely miserable to have to watch her go.

<Saige> Saige glanced up at Velia again, staring into the woman's grey hues. They were enticing, as if they were hiding so much behind them that was just out of Saige’s reach. She giggled, shaking her head as she looked back down and concentrated again. Though she had a question. "So... Uhm, can I ask you something Velia?" She knew the answer was probably yes, but she also felt it was common courtesy to ask before blurting out a question that could be perceived as personal. Skating a little more smoothly now, she put her confidence in her feet finally as she peered up at Velia with those warm ocean blue hues of hers.

<Velia> Velia blinked and nodded, her brow furrowing a bit. Saige had already been asking questions, so she wasn’t exactly sure why now, all of a sudden, she felt the need to ask permission to ask a question. “Of course you can. As long as it’s not about my favourite colours. Because I assure you, I really don’t have one.” The corner of her lips curled in a small smile at that, trying to distract herself from the worry.

<Saige> She laughed lightly, smiling broadly. Velia had successfully lightened the mood. "Do you, ya know, like being who you are?" She raised her brows as she asked, biting softly into her lip before looking back down to the ice. What she had wanted to ask was 'what' not 'who', but she figured Velia knew what she was asking. She slipped again, gripping tightly to Velia's hands again as she giggled lightly. At this point she could fall again and she wouldn't have cared. She was clearly enjoying herself as her smile simply would not fade.

<Velia> That hadn’t been what she’d expected. She hadn’t really known what to expect, but that question threw her a bit. “I… it’s okay?” Velia frowned, trying to put her answer into words. “It wasn’t what I expected for my life, obviously… It suits me though, I think.” She tilted her head then, studying Saige in a different way than what she’d done earlier. “How about you? Do you like who you are?” Her tone had changed to one of concern, worrying that the real reason for the woman’s question was that she wasn’t happy.

<Saige> Seeing the woman frown made her blink. She hadn't meant for the woman to frown at that. She smiled at the woman's responses though, nodding as she squeezed one of her hands in reassurance. "It most certainly suits a beautiful lady as yourself Velia." She gave her a warm reassuring smile, looking back down to the ice before back up almost immediately as the same question was proposed to her. "Ummm..." She thought for a long moment, unsure of her response until it dawned on her and she grinned up at Velia. "Of course. I likely wouldn't have met you if I wasn't... Well, if this hadn't happened to me." She nodded, though she slipped again and fell to a knee, sliding on it as she dropped a hand from Velia's to the ice to steady herself. The moment she had her bearings and pushed the pain aside she steadily got back to her feet and retook the woman's hand. "Ouch." She furrowed her brows lightly as tried not to put any weight on that leg.

<Velia> The grin that Velia had at Saige’s comment about her being beautiful was just about impossible for her to push down. Watching her fall again, however, quickly put a stop to it as she winced instead, hating that her favourite pass time was causing Saige so much pain. They’d made it a little ways down the ice anyway, and were close to one of the benches along the side of the ice. During a game the bench would be filled with skaters fully covered in their protective gear, all watching the play greedily as they waited their turn to get back out there. During regular skating, it was the perfect place to stop for a minute and catch one’s breath, if needed. “Why don’t we take a break for a minute? There’s still plenty of time, no need to rush this…” If Saige tried to shake her off again, she’d insist. She wouldn’t go so far as to forcibly make her take a break, but she’d figure something out.

<Saige> She didn’t want to take a break, though her elbow, wrist and knee protested her thoughts to say no to Velia. "I want to say no, but my knee protests." She laughed lightly, reaching to hold onto the ledge of the bench as she quickly figured out the door to swing it open and nearly trip into the bench area. Stumbling, she turned and brought both hands to Velia's one, pulling her lightly into the area with her; giggling. "I'm in no rush to fall again; I'm in a rush to be able to skate without you constantly worrying about me getting hurt all the time." She pulled the woman to slide onto the bench with her, blushing at her own words.

<Velia> She made sure to sit on the same side as the knee Saige had fallen on. She couldn’t help but smile at Saige’s persistence; it was adorable. She’d already stopped caring about pushing barriers. Letting go of Saige’s hand, she moved her hands down to gently move the injured leg up and onto Velia’s own. She let her fingers move gently over the knee, watching Saige carefully for any indication of pain.

<Saige> She giggled softly at first as Velia pulled her leg atop her own, Saige putting a hand against the bench on the other side though she found she couldn't put any weight on it as she leaned instead against Velia's shoulder. Though when Velia's fingertips hit a tender spot, she gasped and then put a hand to her mouth to muffle a groan. With wide eyes, she swallowed gently and dropped her hand from her mouth to put it on top of Velia's, curling her dainty fingers around Velia's hand softly. "It's alright. I promise." She did her best to be reassuring, though it really did hurt; she knew the pain would leave eventually. Giving Velia a soft nod, she leaned to rest her chin on top of her shoulder, warm blues staring at her with a soft smile. "You're being cute too you know; showing such concern for little ole me." She giggled softly.

<Velia> The pain filled gasp made Velia cringe yet again and wish that she had some type of a healing touch. She would sit there as long as it took to make the pain go away. “M’not cute. Guilty, maybe, for talking you in to this…” The guilt was starting to weigh on Velia as she continued to move her fingers along the injured knee, careful not to press upon the same spot that had caused Saige pain just moments before.

<Saige> Saige laughed a little. "You are cute, and you know it." She brought her free hand up to poke a finger at Velia's cheek lightly, dropping her hand to slide it under her chin and rest it against the other woman's shoulder; giving her shoulder reprieve from her chin bone as she squeezed it softly. "You do know this was my choice, right?" She asked inquisitively, allowing Velia to dance her fingers along her knee. She liked how much Velia cared if she was hurt, and in that she liked how much Velia showed it - even if it was subtle. It showed Saige a little bit about the woman she was slowly coming to adore.

<Velia> Her smile returned as she let her hand rest lightly against Saige’s knee before turning her head slightly, not wanting to push the head off of her shoulder. “Mmhmm, yet you seem to be worried about me having to keep it slow while you learn. So until you stop worrying about holding me back, I will continue to feel guilty about it.” She winked over at Saige, before gently squeezing the other woman’s leg, away from her knee. “Ready to go back out?”

<Saige> She stared her warm ocean hues at Velia. Not wanting to move, she thought about her response carefully. "Hmm, I think it still hurts too much." Though it did still hurt, it wasn't anything she couldn't handle as she simply shrugged lightly; trying to hide her blush at the simple lie. She moved her hand from the bench and poked at her knee, making a soft wince as if it hurt, trying to make it seem credible.

<Velia> A frown overtook Velia’s face at the wince, and she immediately turned her gaze down to the leg in her lap. “Maybe we should call it quits for the night?” Her hands went back to running lightly over the knee, even more careful to avoid that extra sore spot now.

<Saige> She couldn't help but grin at that moment. She really did care. Even if it was in the form of guilt. Saige giggled softly, shaking her head lightly. "Okay, maybe that worked a little too well." She blushed in the admittance. "I’m quite alright to continue if you would like." She looked back out to the ice, as if she was challenging it to stare back. "I'm determined to spend at least more than five minutes standing up out there." She bit her lip then, pulling back reluctantly and rolling her wrist before sliding her leg back down to the floor, as blade hit mat she stood easily and grinned at Velia. "You can't possibly expect me to be -that- easily discouraged." Though in some instances she was - take the zombies, as she hadn't stepped foot in quarantine since - but this was just a little ice and she wouldn't let it keep her from achieving her goal.

<Velia> All she could do was shake her head before standing up with Saige. “You do impress me, that’s for sure.” The sentence was said more to herself than anything. Without waiting for Saige’s reaction to that, Velia was stepping back out onto the ice and turning back around to face the other woman with her hands held out to her. “Come on then, let’s see if we can add some more colour to you.”

<Saige> She blinked at her first comment, almost grabbing to stop the woman as she slid out onto the ice, but Velia proved too quick for her own reactions to be able to ask. She stared dumbly at her for a moment with a silly smile, giggling and nodding. "I do like colors." She smiled warmly and took her hands as she stepped out with her onto the ice. Her balance had seemed to strengthen since her last fall, and she willed herself not to fall again as she started skating again, pushing Velia along with her. "How do I impress you? I barely impress myself." She admitted, smiling sheepishly before looking back down to her feet, half watching hers, half watching Velia's. It was helping to see someone else do it, and do it well at that, her mind working in overdrive as she concentrated on staying upright.

<Velia> “You impress me by being here; by trying. You didn’t know how to do this, you walked into my shop and now you’re trying. Even though it’s not easy and you’ve already gotten hurt for it, you’re still trying.” Velia shrugged her shoulders, though kept the motion minimal to keep from throwing Saige off balance.

<Saige> She blinked again. "That's impressive?" She glanced up in time to see Velia shrug lightly and she grinned. "Good. Cause this really isn't easy." She took it in stride, moving them slowly across the ice. She idly wondered something then, and bit into her lip. Clearly she wanted to ask, but she refrained as she simply stared down at her skates that were slowly gliding her across the ice with one short push after another. She drew a deep breath, still focusing. "Am I doing it right?" She just couldn't help but ask, hoping Velia didn’t mind in giving her a few pointers.

<Velia> She didn’t even bother looking down, as Saige’s skates were very much less interesting than her face. “You’re doing fine. It’s all about getting used to it for now, anyway. We can work on technique after…” She stopped there, realizing she was assuming that Saige was going to want to have anything to do with her later. They had only just met, really and it was unlikely that she didn’t have friends of her own who might want to go skating with her.

<Saige> She leaned in, waiting for Velia to finish her sentence. When she didn’t, Saige started trying to finish it for her, like it was a game. "After... I fall a couple more times? No, after I take you down with me?" She giggled, "After this time? And next time maybe?" She raised one brow lightly at Velia, not really even thinking about skating anymore, she didn’t even realize that she was doing just fine and not falling for once, staring at Velia with a soft stare. "I'd like that very much." She nodded, giving Velia such a warm smile that it reached up into her eyes and warmed the warm ocean blues even more - if that was possible.

<Velia> She laughed. How could she not? “I will see it as a personal insult if your falling doesn’t cause you to take me down with you at least once.” Velia squeezed Saige’s hands before continuing. “It possibly won’t be for a while yet… one doesn’t become a perfect skater overnight, after all.”

<Saige> "Then it's settled, we simply have to come back so I can get better." She giggled and looked down. Giving a very soft gasp as she realized she was doing just fine without falling, though she instantly gripped tightly once more to Velia's hands as her body went a little more rigid. That didn’t help, it only made the skating harder as she just simply didn’t want to fall again - though despite her mind screaming DONT FALL![i/] - she did again anyways, a soft 'ack' escaping her lips as one hand slipped from Velia’s too slowly to reach behind and break her fall. She cracked the same elbow as before against the ice again only more harshly this time. Yelping, she squeezed her eyes shut and released Velia's other hand to grip at it holding it tightly to her body. She finally gasped out a pain filled breath as her lips trembled and eyes sprang tears. "Owwwwy." She stammered out, sitting up and rubbing her elbow softly, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "That really hurt."

<Velia> This was too much. Velia didn’t think she could take watching her fall again. She crouched down until she could curl her arm around Saige’s middle, squeezing tight in reassurance before using her own strength to pull her back up. She could probably carry her back to solid ground, but that would probably cause stares from the employees. What she really wanted to do was teleport them both out, but again that would only cause problems. “I’ve got you. Just trust me.” The words were whispered just next to Saige’s ear as she held the woman tight to her. Velia began to skate, as slowly as she could, back towards the gate.

<Saige> Gasping as she was picked up and brought back to her feet, she brought a hand up to wipe at her cheek lightly and then moved it back to her elbow. Blinking, she blushed heavily as she was held onto and skated across the ice, goose bumps trailed down her neck as she sucked in a deep breath and tried to offer a smile to the ice. How can I not trust her? She's done nothing short of show me kindness. She blinked as she realized they were going to the gate. "Is the session over?"

<Velia> “Mmhmm. It is…” Whether the time was up or not, the session was over. Velia didn’t know or care how much time had actually passed, or how much time was left. She stopped skating before they got to the door, letting them drift to it so there wouldn’t even be a need to stop. Velia kept her arm securely around Saige’s middle and used her free hand to pull up on the cord that would allow the door to open. “Just a few more steps now…”

<Saige> Saige didn’t want the session to be over; she was enjoying herself despite the pain she was enduring. "Darn. I thought I was starting to get the hang of it." She leaned against Velia as they drifted close enough to the door that she could step out of the rink, though she hesitated. Not because she didn’t want to fall, Velia's arm around her waist had taken that fear clean away; but more so because she didn’t want to pull away from Velia and the hesitation struck her as a surprise. She finally stepped out after that long pause though, shifting to keep her feet under her.

<Velia> “There’s always tomorrow…” Velia was also reluctant to let go, but followed Saige closely off of the ice only stopping to pull the door back shut. She hovered, her hands already out and ready to catch Saige at a second’s notice if she were to fall again. Once they’d made it safely back to the bench, Velia knelt down in front of Saige and began untying the other woman’s skates. Once one was off, she grabbed one of the rags out of her own bag to wipe off each blade before putting the blade guards on. Once both of Saige’s skates were off, she moved up onto the bench and began the same process with her own skates.

<Saige> Tomorrow. Saige blinked as she sat down and almost moving to untie her skates but Velia had beaten her to it. She smiled sheepishly as her hand never left her elbow. "You didn’t have to do that." She was clearly trying to be independent, watching as Velia wiped the blades clean and then moved to sit on the bench next to her in order to do the same with her own skates. Saige reached down with her uninjured hand and picked up her skates by their blades as well as their bag as she brought the three items to her lap and put her skates in the bag. "Tomorrow sounds lovely." She said finally, nodding gently as she gingerly set the skate bag aside her with her injured hand and moved to put her shoes on. "Maybe tomorrow I will learn how to break my fall better. My poor elbow." She frowned lightly as she sat back up; trying to survey it's damage which was hard for her to see without a mirror. In turn she made a face, her tongue stuck out and caught between her teeth as she tried harder, eyebrows knitted together and one eye shut.

<Velia> Looking up just in time to see the face Saige was making, Velia was unable not to laugh at it. The woman was definitely adorable. She slipped her sneakers back on before grabbing up both her skate bag and Saige’s as well. Her free hand was held out to Saige, as Velia was definitely not ready to call it a night yet. For one, she had full plans of getting some ice on all of Saige’s injuries. Her original plan of teleporting them out of here wasn’t gone completely, she just had to get them out to an alley first. “Come with me?”

<Saige> She raised both brows as Velia laughed, only making the face soften until she realized it was the face she had made that made Velia laugh. She smiled sheepishly again with a soft blush, looking down as her foot scuffed against the floor. She giggled lightly idly wondering just how funny of a face that must have been, looking back up to find Velia now standing in front of her with her hand out, asking her to go with her. She had to ask?. She grinned and nodded, slipping her uninjured hand into Velia's to stand and squeeze into her hand lightly. "Of course." She kept her injured arm hugged tightly to her in an upwards bent position and as she stared at Velia she couldn't help but to keep her grin through the pain of moving her multiple injured body parts.

<Velia> As soon as Saige’s hand was in hers Velia began making their way back outside. She ignored the window clerk’s puzzled look; she’d never left before closing before. Instead of heading back the way they had come, Velia took them around to the side of the building so they could slink in between the arena and the building next to it away from prying eyes. Turning to look at Saige she quirked an eyebrow at her. “Ready?”

<Saige> Following along almost next to Velia as she grinned, she gave a little wiggle of her fingers to the clerk before the two slid outside. She raised both brows as she was led to the alley behind the building. She bit her lip in protest, not liking the dark alley, though she was sure Velia knew what she was doing. She blinked her warm ocean hues at Velia's question. "For what?"

<Velia> “For this…” She winked at Saige before closing her eyes and concentrating her energy on the woman in front of her and her house in Swansdale. Picturing the driveway and front lawn was easy for her to do. She could see the steps leading up to her porch. She moved her hands up to Saige’s shoulders and concentrated even more, feeling the power move through her as the feeling of something solid against the palms of her hands was suddenly gone. She opened her eyes to double check, never having teleported someone else before. Without wasting another second she closed her eyes again, her thoughts going back to her house as she concentrated on following suit, the power rippling through her within seconds.

<Saige> Not sure what to think, she couldn't help but giggle and stare at Velia, watching the woman carefully and curiously. "For wh-" she blinked, "-at... Woah!" She looked around, suddenly standing in another place, in front of another place, one she had never seen before. She was most certainly not ready for that, gasping as her injured hand reached up to cover her mouth that hung open slightly. Velia appeared then, as if out of thin air; Saige just blinked and stared. She pointed then, at Velia, still at a loss for words.

<Velia> Grinning at Saige, Velia moved the two skate bags over her shoulder and then reached out again for the other woman’s hand. “Would you like to come inside? I don’t have much in terms of food stuff but I’m sure I can find something nice and cold?” She squeezed the captured hand and started making her way to her front door, figuring there would be resistance from Saige if the woman didn’t want to join her.

<Saige> She blinked. "Is this... this is your house? It’s gorgeous!" She admired it as she absentmindedly slid her hand into Velia's from her mouth and allowed her to pull her along. What a gorgeous house. She didn’t put up any fight as her knee hurt so bad she sort of limped along. "Something cold sounds wonderful right now, actually. Aside from the hard ice I kept smashing into." She smiled sheepishly.

<Velia> As soon as the door to the enclosed porch was open, Velia scooped Saige up and continued inside to get to the front door. She carried the other woman inside and sat her gently down on the couch before going back to place the skate bags down by the door. She didn’t have an actual kitchen, as there was no reason for her to have food in the house, but she did have a fridge/freezer deal for keeping blood in. She opened the freezer and grabbed a couple frozen blood packs which she brought back to Saige, holding them out to her as she sat down beside her.

<Saige> She gasped lightly as she was lifted up, her arms instinctively moving around Velia's neck as she giggled lightly. "You know, I’ve noticed you are a lot stronger than you let off." She smiled as she slid into the couch, watching Velia curiously. The woman struck her as someone she had come to enjoy being around, though she didn’t really not enjoy being around others, she found that Velia was different. She actually wanted to learn more about her, know more about the woman that seemed so... withdrawn at times. Of course, that only incited her curiosity more, and she grinned as she took the blood packs from Velia and put one on her elbow, setting the others in her lap. The other injuries could wait. "This is a very lovely house, Velia."

<Velia> “Thank you… it’s a recent purchase. It’s much bigger than what I really need, actually. But it’s nice to have a place that’s mine.” She moved back so she could pull Saige’s injured knee back over so it was lying on top of her leg. Her right hand moved to grab one of the blood packs off of her lap to hold against the sore knee. “Do you have a place in the city?”

<Saige> Saige gave a slight wince at the movements to her injured knee, shrugging softly. "I’m staying at the Altaire apartment... though it can get crowded at times." She set the blood pack to her thigh and rested her elbow on it, moving to grab up the final one and set it on top her wrist with another soft wince. "I hope these stop hurting soon. Though I won’t let them stop me from going back out there." She gave a soft reassuring smile to Velia.

<Velia> She nodded her head, gently moving the cold blood pack around Saige’s injured knee as she listened to what the other woman was saying. “You’ll heal quickly, no worries there. You may find yourself healing quicker later on too. I heal quicker now than I did when I was first turned.” It took her a moment to think of what to say to the last part. Velia was a big believer that skating was a great release and that everyone should at least give it a try, but she’d never actually been there to watch someone learn before. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She’d watched everyone else learning when she was too, but she’d been so young then that she didn’t remember it now.

She wondered if this is how her parents had felt, watching her fall before she’d gotten the hang of it – or if they’d had to find something else to do to occupy their concentration so they wouldn’t see. The thought made her remember that it had been a while since she’d gave her mom a buzz. She made a mental note to do that and do it soon before the woman worried too much.

<Saige> Smiling, through the pain, she rolled her elbow on the ice pack that was at her thigh, gently clinging to the one overtop her wrist. Not surprisingly her elbow hurt the worst, and she was sure that if she had hit the ice any harder on it either time her elbow would have cracked the ice. She bit her lip and nodded at the mention of healing quickly, warm ocean blues glancing up to the woman in front of her as she simply stared. Velia was very pretty, and Saige couldn’t help but admire the kindness the woman was showing her, despite the fact that she had probably not had incurred the injuries she now had if she hadn’t insisted Saige try it.

Though Saige had always been one to take up a challenge, as long as it didn’t involve violence, or at least violence she could make the decision not to partake in. "That interesting, I wonder why that is." She simply stated, her eyes not leaving Velia's face. "I think it’s wonderful, being in this new life... though I just can’t stand to read about all the violence in our little city. It truly breaks my heart." She dashed her eyes to her knee, blinking, then back up at Velia. A hint of sadness shown in those blue hues of hers, though she did smile lightly at Velia again. "That feels good, thank you."

<Velia> She was at a loss as to what to do now. She hadn’t really thought much beyond getting Saige out of there so she could tend to the sore spots. Velia had only met the woman the night before and here she was sitting next to her on her couch. Luckily Saige was talking enough to keep the conversation going, which was definitely a blessing. Left to her own devices the conversation would have likely ended before they even made it to the rink.

“I try not to read too much about that. I’m used to seeing the less than pleasant things, though. The job I had when I was still human wasn’t always that pretty…” Her shoulders shrugged at this as her fingers moved to prod lightly at the injured knee in an attempt to gauge how much healing had already taken place.

<Saige> Blinking at Velia's words, she tipped her head to the side to rest it against the couch as she continued to ice her elbow and wrist, opening her mouth to ask her a question. Unfortunately for her the sudden pain that shot up her leg prevented her in doing so, and instead she sucked in a sharp breath at the fingers poking into her injured knee. "Oh! Owow." She bit her lip then, eyebrows furrowing as she leaned forewords and instinctively grabbed Velia's hand, giving a soft groan as she squeezed lightly her hand. The blood pack at her wrist slipped and fell to the ground, and Saige looked up at Velia, blinking as she then smiled sheepishly. "Still tender." She managed, blue hues locking on grey ones as she blushed. She was clearly embarrassed that she had to be taken care of, as her hand slid from Velia's to brace herself against the couch and take a deep breath. "Though... it’s not as bad, honestly." She couldn’t lie, and she idly started to think that she had done that just to get a little closer to Velia. She liked her, liked her a lot, and she was glad that she was in her presence at this very moment.

<Velia> “Sorry! Sorry!” Velia immediately pulled back and placed the cold blood pack back against Saige’s knee. “It’s good that it’s feeling better though…” The fact didn’t make her feel any better about causing her more pain, though. “Maybe next time we can do something less dangerous?” The words were out of Velia’s mouth before she realized what exactly she had said and by then it was too late to take them back. What was it about Saige that made her completely unable to keep herself from blurting these things out? It was odd, very odd – and had her even more curious about the woman beside her.

<Saige> Saige giggled lightly and nodded, her blush only growing as she reached down to retrieve the blood pack from the ground and dust it off - not that Velia's floor was dirty, it was more so out of habit. She was a clean freak, she would admit to it openly as she placed the dusted off blood pack back to her wrist after rolling it around a couple times. "Mmhm, like... bowling. Or paddle boating." She giggled again and looked over to Velia, nodding a bit more as she rolled her foot around on her ankle of the leg that was drawn across Velia's lap. Her foot had started to fall asleep, and just the thought of 'sleep' did make her yawn widely, and she steadied the blood pack against her wrist before covering the yawn daintily. "Ooh, apparently I'm tired." She smiled sheepishly at Velia again.

<Velia> “Oh!” Her eyes sought out a clock, but apparently she’d not thought to put one up. “Do you know what time it is? We should make sure you have enough time to get back before sunrise…” Velia was very much reluctant to let the night come to an end, but she didn’t want to be the reason that Saige ended up burnt. She could always just teleport her home, though she didn’t know how to teleport someone actually inside somewhere so it would still have to happen with enough time for Saige to get herself inside. She still didn’t move Saige’s leg off of her lap, or move her hand away from tending to her knee though.

<Saige> Saige hummed out a response, shaking her head against the couch as she looked at Velia and smiled warmly. She was hurting, and exhausted from her concentration being used to try to learn to skate, as well as being teleported didn’t help. And that tiredness showed on her face, on her features as she reached for Velia's hand and squeezed it again, though softer this time. She didn’t want to move, and to be honest, didn’t want to go anyways either. She closed her eyes then, and thought to ask to stay, but all she could do was offer a light shake of her head again.

<Velia> Saige’s response made her frown, a flicker of worry making its way through her mind as she took a more thorough look of the other woman. Without thinking her hand moved from the blood pack on Saige’s knee to stroke along her cheek. She stopped mid motion – her eyes going wide as she did. “I… umm. No? That’s not a time…” She realized that the words didn’t exactly form a coherent thought and that she hadn’t moved her hand away, but she found herself too perplexed with her actions to care much.

<Saige> Saige didn’t blink, didn’t move, and didn’t pull back as Velia's hand found her cheek to brush against. She did manage a darker blush, and a warm smile, opening her suddenly tired eyes to stare at Velia. She half hummed out a short giggle, and closed her eyes again, her words almost a whisper as she spoke as she normally did. "No, no isn’t a time... and neither is umm." She moved her head slightly to the side, half nuzzling into the lingering touch at her cheek. It was welcoming, though it wasn’t warm in the least bit, Saige was sure that her blushing cheeks would warm it quickly if it remained there. She knew the sun was coming up, and the second it would she wouldn’t be able to do anything but sleep. "If the sun is coming up... I don’t stand a chance." She shrugged ever so gently.

<Velia> She was reluctant to move her hand away so she didn’t. She was also very reluctant to see Saige go, but didn’t dare risk her getting burnt. “Should I call you a cab…?” There was no disguising the reluctance from her voice. She also wasn’t sure teleporting would be the best idea, seeing as how it wasn’t a power that Velia used often. She’d hate for this to be the time she screwed up, sending Saige somewhere that wasn’t safe instead of the place she had meant to. “Or is there someone else who could come get you?” Again, the reluctance was evident.

<Saige> Shaking her head lightly against the hand at her cheek, she mumbled out a ‘no.’ Sure, she could have probably had her sire teleport her home, but she just didn’t want to even do that this point. She liked the way the couch felt against her skin, and she liked the way she felt safe in Velia's house. Even though she was hurting, she was slowly starting to slip into a drift sleep, and it showed as she mumbled her words. "Maybe... I could just... stay here." She truly hoped Velia would be okay with that, as she yawned again and nuzzled into the couch which caused her hair to fall into her face overtop of Velia's hand.

<Velia> Someone she didn’t really know staying in her house? While she was reluctant to see Saige go, she couldn’t help the momentary rigidness that overtook her body at the thought. It didn’t even last a second before she was relaxing again and letting her thumb move absently against Saige’s soft skin. “Yeah… you can do that.” Velia wouldn’t have her sleeping on the couch, though. That seemed poor form – getting her hurt and tiring her out just to have her sleep on the couch.

Careful of all of Saige’s sore spots, Velia moved forward to scoop the other woman back up into her arms and made her way upstairs. Before long she had made her way into her bedroom and was leaning down to gently put Saige down into her bed. She hadn’t made it after getting up (she never did), so it was easy to pull the blanket over her – effectively tucking her in.

<Saige> The woman had effectively picked her up, and even though she was tired, she slid her arms around her neck instinctively. Resting her head against her shoulder, she just couldn’t find it in her to argue about staying on the couch as she was carried up to the woman’s bed. She took a deep breath, inhaling her scent as she stayed against her until she was slid into the woman’s bed. Reaching both hands up to the pillow, she sighed out the breath as she smiled warmly and snuggled into it. "Smells like you." She muttered, drawing her knees up to her chest so she was curled comfortably into the fetal position. And in seconds, she had passed out, clearly comfortable and secure in where she was - though even if she wasn’t she still wouldn’t have been able to help but to pass out.

<Velia> She stood there for a moment just staring down at the other woman before turning and making her way back out of the room. She made her way across the open area to her study. Most of her house was fairly open, but her study had an electronic lock which she quickly put the combination in for. The sound of the door unlocking reached her ears and she swiftly opened the door and made her way inside. Just inside of the door was another keypad, which she put yet another code into.

She waited, the sounds of the shutters moving down over the windows echoing throughout the house. The shutters were made of solid metal and would block out all of the suns rays. She could have simply removed the windows, but she liked having them on the house. Plus, a house with no windows just looked plain weird. Each of the shutters had a curtain that went between it and the window, so anyone looking in would see the curtain instead of the more intense metal that lay just beyond it. It helped to keep up appearances, after all.

With that done, she left the study – the door automatically locking as it shut behind her. She hesitated just outside of her bedroom door before deciding that going back in there was probably a bad idea. Her lack of impulse control throughout the night would most likely not improve by going back in. Instead, she opened up the linen closet just outside the door and grabbed an extra pillow and blanket before making her way over to the upstairs couch. It wasn’t nearly as comfortable as her bed, but once asleep she wouldn’t care about that anyway.

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Saige> Saige stirred lightly, her grip on the pillow that she had been sleeping on all day tightening for a moment, then she gasped and sat up, eyes wide, before she exhaled a sigh of relief. It was just a dream, a nightmare, and it wasn't real. That soothed her for a second, and then she suddenly realized she had no idea where she was. The room wasn't familiar to her, and because of that, she nearly freaked out in her mind. Where... who's... when... She tried to answer the questions that swirled in her head, to no avail, until she took a deep breath of air to try to calm her mind. The scents came to her then, and she blinked, Velia's. A soft smiled curved at her lips as she pushed the covers aside and slid out of the bed the woman had placed her carefully in, stringing fingers through her long curly hair to try to straighten it and untangle its mess of knots that it had incurred while she slept. Feeling satisfied with it, she got up, and set to making the woman's bed, even tucking the bottom of the sheet under the mattress carefully before pulling the comforter up over it and setting the pillows on it in a decorative fashion. Smiling and nodding to her bed making abilities, she turned contentedly on a heel and made her way for the door, opening it only to find Velia passed out on the couch right outside the door. Saige couldn't help but to smile softly, the sight of Velia almost guarding the room protectively, as if Saige was to be protected against intruders, made Saige only giggle softly. She reached out with a dainty hand and gently poked a couple fingers into the woman's shoulder. "Velia?"

<Velia> She hadn’t been much of a sleeper as a human, but since being turned she found she slept quite deeply and much longer than she would expect. The shutters in her house were timed to not go up until an hour after the sun set and most days it wasn’t until that happened that she actually awoke. Tonight was different, as instead of the harsh sound of shutters raising it was the gentle touch of another person that was bringing her from her slumber.

Velia sat up with a start at the touch, her eyes wide and her hand immediately finding her gun that she’d placed beneath her pillow as she went to bed. Her house may have a kick *** security system in place but that didn’t mean she took chances – especially not when there was someone else… Oh. Right. Saige. She dropped the hand with the gun back down to her lap before she’d even managed to fully extend her arm. “Oh… Saige.” She slipped the gun back under the pillow and then brought her hands up to wipe at her eyes before stretching until she heard and felt her spine popping. Relaxing back she gave Saige a sheepish smile. “Sorry, m’not used to having other people in my house. Did you sleep okay?”

<Saige> Saige blinked, pulling back at Velia's sudden awakening. She stared at the gun that the woman had almost pulled on her, taking a step back and wrapping her arms around her middle as she frowned. So quick to resort to violence, and Velia hadn't even been awake for two minutes! This truly disheartened Saige, though she understand why the woman was so on edge, she still couldn't help but to feel threatened by her instantaneous actions. And it showed, though she swallowed harshly and took a deep breath, trying to shake it off. "I... uhh..." She stared at the pillow that the gun was under, unable to find it in her to finish her sentence fully.

Why had she done that? I’m not a threat to her. Why does she sleep with a gun? That doesn’t seem safe at all... how concerning... She stood there stepped back, uncomfortable with knowing that the gun was that close to her and that clearly Velia had no problems using it. Chewing on her lip, she furrowed her brows at her. "Why are you sleeping with a gun? Most people put their pulled teeth under their pillow; not guns. You even get money that way." She then offered a small smile to Velia, though she was dead serious, the look she gave was a mix between happy and confused. Warm ocean blues trained inquisitively on Velia as Saige didn't even answer her question, at least not yet. She would, in a moment or two, or maybe even later if she lost her train of thought again as she just had.

<Velia> She blinked at Saige’s words, realizing just how bad she’d messed up. She’d always been a bit on edge when it came to her protection, something that had only increased after being turned. Grabbing the gun back out from under the pillow, Velia quickly removed the clip, turned the safety on and then bent down to place both gun and clip beneath the couch and out of sight. Once that was done, she grabbed hold of the blanket that was still draped over the rest of the couch and pulled it away, patting the spot beside her even though she doubted Saige would want to sit down next to her right now.

“Sit with me?” The amount of self doubt in those words surprised Velia, as she wasn’t usually one to let such things show. She was doubting herself right then, however. It was hard not to with the looks of unease that she saw on Saige’s face.

<Saige> Watching as Velia grabbed the gun back out from under the pillow, she bit her lip, and then sighed relief as the woman started to take it apart. She herself knew how to at least handle a gun, Vigilant had been sure to show her that, and so she smiled broadly when she watched her flip on the safety and then stow the gun away underneath the couch. That made her feel more safe than if she were holding the gun in the first place, and she nearly clapped for Velia because the woman had done something that made her feel proud of her. Velia (at least in Saige's opinion) didn’t need a gun, she was a vampire! She had a feral ability that no wild animal could match, and there were plenty of wild animal mauling reports out there day by day. So Saige was sure that if Velia wanted to do some damage, she could have without the use of such a violent death causing weapon of destruction. Blinking at the request, she simply did as asked, and moved to take the seat without any hesitation now that the threat of perceived violence was gone. She reached up and pulled her hair back, putting it up in a low pony tail. "I slept very well, thank you so much. I hope this couch wasn’t too uncomfortable, you know, you could have left me on the couch... or joined me in the bed. Neither would have bothered me at all, honestly." And it was the truth, as Saige couldn't tell a lie.

<Velia> Her muscles loosened in relief as Saige did in fact sit down next to her and proceeded to answer her question as if nothing had happened. Something had happened, however, and Velia didn’t think it was wise to not address it – even if it may make things bad again. “As a human I spent my time tracking people down and following them; trying to find answers to questions. It was not always the safest of jobs and the habit of making sure I had a form of protection on me at all times isn’t one that death took from me.”

Velia’s head went back against the couch cushion as her eyes slid shut. “There are those who know about what we are. Those who seek to destroy us.” Her head turned then and her eyes opened back up to look at the woman next to her. She opened her mouth up to continue, but realized that she was again about to say something far too forward so closed her mouth back up without saying a word.

<Saige> Saige blinked. Well, if she had asked for a response or not, it seemed she was going to get an explanation regardless. And she didn't mind that, really, if anything it helped her to understand Velia better, and she smiled while Velia spoke because of that. Listening intently, she blinked wide ocean blue hues at Velia. Clearly she had no idea that there were those that hunted them, that knew of their existence and the simple thought scared the crap out of her. And that was apparent in her nervous shifting, the way her fingers started playing with each other, fidgeting in the moment as she thought about what kind of person it would take to do such a thing; kill another living being creature. How horrible... She blinked down at her lap then, shaking her head. Such violence... She frowned, then looked back over as Velia had seemingly wanted to say something but stopped just short of uttering it. "What is it, Velia?" She asked lightly, though a look of concern and pleading settled on her face. She wanted to know what Velia had to say, and if it was information that she didn't know, she then certainly wanted to know.

<Velia> The impulse to keep her mouth shut was overridden by the obvious distress she saw in Saige. “I was just going to say… that if you stay over again, I’ll be sure to keep my gun elsewhere so you aren’t troubled by it.” Her shoulders shrugged and then she was moving her head back to look straight forward instead of at Saige. “I’m glad you slept well, though. Sleeping here was no trouble at all. I promise.”

<Saige> Saige raised a brow lightly, her smile broadening. "Oh yes, I'd like that very much!" She giggled and nodded enthusiastically, keeping her head turned to the side and trained on Velia. She couldn't help but to keep dashing her eyes to the woman's piercings, then back up to those smoky grey eyes that drew so much of her attention to the woman she was easily growing attached to. Smiling gently then, she reached out and touched one of the piercings with a fingertip, then quickly drawing her hand back and giggling like a silly kid. "You lie."

<Velia> The touch to her lip brought her attention swinging back over to Saige more so than the woman’s words. “I do not… I slept on nothing more than a fold out couch before I came here. It took me ages to get used to sleeping on an actual bed and by times I find it easier just to sleep here anyway. Seriously, it wasn’t a problem at all. It wouldn’t have been very hospitable of me to make you sleep on the couch – you’re my guest.”

<Saige> Saige smiled and shook her head, her warm smile only warming her eyes even more at that point, and she couldn't help but think about how kind Velia was. And in that moment, she thought about the woman being concerned for her injuries, and bringing her to her home to ice them for her, and she gasped. Her injuries! The looked down and studied her knee, even venturing to poke steadily at it with a fingertip before gleefully giggling and moving her hues to check her wrist. Rolling it around easily, it clearly wasn't injured anymore as she beamed and tried to check her elbow, that injury had been the worst one. Not able to see it, she made that same odd face of closing one eye and sticking her tongue out to bite into it in desperation, craning to look but still not being able to discern if the injury had healed overnight or not.

<Velia> It took all Velia had not to laugh at the expression on her face, before carefully moving her hand out to grab the arm, checking for herself that it was all better. She smiled at Saige, not bothering to move her hand away from its resting spot. She was at a loss as to what to say next. The awkward feeling of it made her shift slightly on the couch cushion, trying to come up with something to say – anything. “Umm… Are you thirsty? I have some extra blood packs if you are?”

<Saige> Blinking up at her, Saige had noticed how the situation had seemingly gotten awkward for Velia, as the woman struggled to find something to say. But that was just it with Sage - she didn't need anything to fill that void, the silent moment between the two was more than full-filling as she focused on the simple touch to her now uninjured elbow. It was so comforting to be touched, Saige thought, and she smiled warmly as it turned her eyes up in that warmth. "Uh... sure!" She beamed.

<Velia> Nodding her head, Velia gave a reassuring squeeze to Saige’s arm before releasing it and getting up from the couch. She didn’t waste any time in making her way back down the stairs to get to the fridge. The blood packs from the night before were still littered on the couch and floor downstairs, but she didn’t dare use them. They’d been left out all night and she had no idea what would happen to blood if not stored in a cool environment.

Reaching into the fridge, she grabbed two cold packs from the fridge and proceeded to pour them in to separate plastic red cups. The cups had covers and red straws as well, as Velia wasn’t one who liked to really think of what she was doing as she drank blood. She didn’t always use blood packs, but even when she drank from a human she didn’t have to actually watch herself drink the blood.

With the cups filled and the covers on she made her way back upstairs, taking her seat back beside Saige and handing her one of the cups before taking a drink from her own.

<Saige> Saige was clearly sad to see Velia get up and distance herself from her, though she had said that she wanted something to drink, she obviously hadn't thought it through that well as she resisted the urge to get up and follow Velia around like a puppy dog. Sitting with her knees together and to the side, she swooped one foot behind the other as she silently sat there, thinking silently to herself about the absolutely wonderful time she was having with Velia. The rink, then the teleportation, then the beautiful house and incredibly comfortable bed, she just couldn't help but grin. She idly wondered if Jules had started to grow curious as to where she was going all day, though she did manage to drop by the store twice now; she often went for days without talking to her sire. And though that didn't drive her crazy, it still made things difficult for her in terms of trying to fit into the Altaire family. She sighed softly at the thought of only knowing a few of them, but then smiled briskly again as soon as she spotted Velia coming back up the stairs with the cups. Taking hers in hand, she set to use both hands, one guiding the straw to her mouth. Taking a sip, she smiled. "Well this is nifty!"

<Velia> Grinning, she nodded before taking another sip. “Mmhmm. Some might think it’s weird. I haven’t had all that long to get used to this whole thing though… it’s been less than a year since Oria turned me. It still creeps me out a bit if I actually think about it. I mean…” She wrinkled her nose then, staring down at the cup. “This is blood. That used to be in someone’s veins. Keeping them alive. And now I’m just… swallowing it.” She shook her head before looking back up at Saige and giving her a smile. “I get over it usually, but it’s helpful to not have to think about it I guess. When I actually feed off of a human? The whole thing seems so surreal that it’s hard to actually think about it.”

<Saige> Saige brought a hand up to her mouth, pinching her forefinger and thumb together and toying with her bottom lip as Velia spoke about the blood. Yes, Saige was even more new of a vampire than that, she had only been around for about a month now, and yet it didn't entirely gross her out that she needed blood to sustain her life. After all, when one thought about it that way, a human needed it just as badly as a vampire did, and if she needed to ingest it instead of simply producing it like a human did, then so be it, she'd do what she needed to in order to survive. Besides, she could never leave Juliet, not after what the two had been through to keep her alive. She dropped her hand to her lap then, thinking about the first time she fed off a human. It had been a teenage girl, with short red hair a freckles that splattered across her face like paint thrown on a canvass. She giggled then, shaking her head. "When I feed on humans, it’s..." She blushed, simply unable to finish the statement, and even then, not entirely sure of which words exactly to use even if she could finish the statement. But she couldn't, and she simply dropped it as she cleared her throat and put her straw in her mouth, even if she wasn't drinking, glancing up to Velia with those harshly red cheeks of hers that gave her away in her thoughts.

<Velia> “It’s…?” Velia quirked an eyebrow at the other woman as she took another sip, the moment of unease passing as quickly as it had come. It always did. She was more curious about whatever thought had passed through Saige’s mind before she’d shut it down. The blush that now stained her cheeks did nothing to help the curiosity. For some reason Velia almost needed to know the end of that sentence, even if she couldn’t quite put her finger on why that was.

<Saige> Saige blushed harder and gave off an embarrassed giggle. Of course Velia had wanted to know the rest of that thought, and of course Saige just couldn't find it in herself to lie, or come up with something else that could fit that thought and still be half the truth. She pushed a hand to her face to hide her blush, her giggle only echoing lightly in the small room. "It's irresistibly... intimate." She admitted, glancing over to Velia with that embarrassed look plastered on her face. She couldn't believe she had just divulged that to her, though deep down, she actually could.

<Velia> She couldn’t help but smirk at the comment. “Oh.” She paused then, unsure how to really respond to it. “I suppose it is. Or could be. In the moment I’m always too overcome by the ridiculousness of the fact that I’m now a vampire to really appreciate that, I guess.” She shrugged then and took another drink from her cup before placing it securely between her legs so her hands could be free.

<Saige> Her blush didn't really fade as she took another sip off her drink, giggling as she sat back on the couch and started to lightly swing her legs to and fro, heel and toes dragging just barely against the floor as she did so. "Ridiculous? I don't think so... I mean, we are what we are now. Not much we can do to change it except accept it." And in that statement her realism showed, the fact that she was indeed a realistic being shining as she simply smiled with the straw still in her mouth.

<Velia> “Oh I’m not… It’s not that I want to change it? It’s more that I still find it strange. Unbelievable. I mean… we’re freaking creatures from legends. If you went and told someone you were a vampire they would probably roll their eyes at you and ask if you sparkle or some ****.” She grinned, her memory going back to the night she’d first run into Oria. “I guess I haven’t gotten over that yet? It’s not that I’m not okay with this life, just that I haven’t…caught up with it yet.”

<Saige> Saige could understand that, could wrap her head around the fact that Velia just hadn't gotten to the acceptance stage yet. For Saige it was almost instant, sitting in the nasty sewers fresh out of her turning, staring at Juliet and the woman's fangs. For her it hadn't gotten more real than that, and she had figured she had no other choice other than to accept what had happened to her. Shifting against the couch she more turned towards Velia, sipping away at her drink, nodding. The blood was good, it wasn't the best, but it was good as she idly thought about where it could have come from while she listened to Velia. When she was done talking, or seemed to be done, Saige licked over her lips and smiled warmly. "You've got some running to do then! I do hope you have some good running shoes beautiful." The last word slipped out, her soft spoken voice surprising even herself as she curled her lips in on themselves for a moment of seemingly regretted words. Then giggling and blushing again, she simply averted her eyes and sipped more at her drink.

<Velia> She had no idea at all how to respond to that. She looked away, her fingers toying with the plastic cup as her brain tried to come up with something to say. Anything would be good, really. Instead, she just sat there in awkward silence with absolutely nothing jumping into her brain to say – not even something ridiculously stupid. Her mind was just blank. Her mouth didn’t even open and close like a fish she was at such a loss.

<Saige> Looking over at Velia again, she smiled warmly and reached a hand out to squeeze the woman's knee affectionately. Finishing off what was in her glass, she made a slurping noise through the straw and then held the glass out to Velia. "Thank you so much, I feel much better already." She nodded lightly in her statement, agreeing with herself as she moved to stretch her legs out in front of her, keeping them crossed at the ankles.

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Velia> At the touch to her knee, Velia’s hand immediately found its way on top of Saige’s in an attempt to keep her hand there. She didn’t register the movement until after it had happened and couldn’t find it in herself to take the action back. Her head turned back so her eyes could lock on Saige, even though she still didn’t know what she should say. She didn’t even reach out to take the offered cup as if that might break her concentration away.

<Saige> Saige stared at Velia in return, glancing to the hand over top of hers at the others knee. Looking back up, she leaned closer into Velia and smiled warmly. She had so many things she wanted to say, to just blurt them all out right then and there at the woman, but she bit her lip first, collecting her thoughts and finally coming out with one in particular that she felt summed all the others up quite well. "I like you, Velia." It came out in confidence, her words strong yet soft as they normally were. She held the eye contact, but not wanting to make the moment too awkward, she offered another squeeze to the woman's knee.

<Velia> She couldn’t help but smile at that. The words were simple, really and considering the circumstances. “Well I would hope so… seeing as how you spent the day in my bed and all.” Velia grinned then, unable to help herself and then moved her hand off of Saige’s long enough to slide it underneath instead, lacing their fingers together. It was a very forward move, for Velia anyway, but it had seemed almost natural to do.

<Saige> Saige blinked, her blush instantly darkening on her cheeks at Velia's statement, even though she had known the woman had meant it in the most literal sense, it sounded entirely dirty and she couldn't help but giggle sharply as her mind slid into the gutter on that one. She gripped into Velia's hand as the woman had interlaced their fingers, and Saige leaned more so that she was resting her chest against the woman's side and her chin on Velia's shoulder. "You made it sound so dirty." She smirked lightly.

<Velia> “That wasn’t my intent…” It hadn’t been, but that hardly meant it wasn’t what she was thinking now, especially considering the proximity of Saige now. “You did though… I’m the one that tucked you into it.” At that, Velia pinched her bottom lip between her teeth enough to keep her from saying anything else, but not so much that it would necessarily be noticeable to Saige unless she was paying enough attention to that particular area.

<Saige> But she was, her warm blue hues staring directly at Velia's lips. She couldn't help it, and at noticing the woman was biting into her lip, she withdrew her hand from Velia's and reached up slowly to draw her thumb across the bit lip. She smiled then, warmly. "You really should have joined me. I hate waking up alone." She did, to the point that sometimes she woke up and started crying, being by herself truly made her feel alone in the world and she didn't like it one bit. In that instance she had an urge, and though she didn't do anything to quell it, she didn't act on it just yet.

<Velia> She resisted the urge to pout as Saige’s hand was moved away from her own – a fact she was glad of as she felt the soft touch against her lip. The joy at that touch was quickly replaced, however, as Saige’s words penetrated. Velia couldn’t help but freeze, a sad look overtaking her eyes at the thought that this was a usual occurrence for the other woman. Velia had been so caught up in her feelings, as they weren’t exactly common for her, that she hadn’t yet stopped to think that maybe this was something that was all too common for Saige. She very much didn’t like that thought.

<Saige> Noticing the different look, her hand slipped from Velia's cheek to find its way back into Velia's hand at the woman's knee. Blinking, she tried to figure out what it was that was making the woman look at her with such sadness. And it affected her, seeing Velia not happy made her not happy. "What..." She frowned, slipping her arm around Velia's lower back, she tucked up against her before she finally realized what it was that she had said that struck Velia so sharply. "Oh! No, I'm staying at the Altaire apartment... I always wake up with someone else in the room... not my bed, silly." She explained, shaking her head lightly with a light reassuring smile. "I've nowhere else to stay at the moment... but I kind of like it, I wouldn't want to live on my own." She said softly.

<Velia> “Oh… Yeah. Of course.” Velia felt like an idiot. What was wrong with her, anyway? This wasn’t like her at all. “I’m sorry. I’d swear I was coming down with something if I didn’t know that was impossible…” The words were more grumbled than anything as she squeezed Saige’s hand reassuringly. “I’m sorry if your waking up here was less than pleasant… that was not my intention.”

<Saige> She giggled, squeezing her hand lightly as she moved the two from Velia's knee to her own, almost trying to pull Velia in against her. Saige found it cute that Velia was trying to explain her thoughts to her, when the woman didn't owe Saige anything. She tipped her head to the side slightly, then back upright as she grinned. "I don't think you could ever have ill intentions towards me, Velia." She giggled lightly, shaking her head gently again. "You're so sweet..."

<Velia> Sweet was not a word that Velia felt was used often to describe her. She was usually too standoffish for that sort of descriptor to come out. “I didn’t think it proper…” She shrugged then, deciding to leave it at that as she focused more on the fact that her hand was now on Saige’s lap instead of her own. Saige had been the one to do that. Velia gave another gentle squeeze to Saige’s hand before smiling at her. “Do you need to get back? People aren’t going to come breaking down my door worried you’ve been taken are they?”

<Saige> She giggled, shaking her head. Juliet was a good sire, but Saige didn't always need to be around her sire, twenty four seven like some of the other vampires seemingly needed to be. "My sire trusts me. Umm, I don't... really talk to anyone else right now. I mean, I talk to Miss Verbena, and my grandsire Phoenix, but no one else really...." She admitted. She was a social butterfly, but that was mostly superficial. "I like to say hi and wave at other people a lot, but no one will come knocking down your door for me. I'm all yours." She blinked, that last part slipped out, though she simply grinned as she shifted lightly against Velia and gave her an embarrassed giggle that matched her blushing cheeks.

<Velia> “Oh… well. What should I do with you then?” She’d given up hope on getting control over these thoughts that kept making their way out of her mouth. “I don’t think I have much around here to do…” It was the truth. The rooms were sparsely decorated and there wasn’t much for entertainment value. She wasn’t the type to sit around and watch television, so she didn’t have one. She wasn’t the type to have company over, so she didn’t have any games or anything like that lying around. For fun, Velia went skating – and she wasn’t feeling quite ready to watch Saige get hurt like that again.

<Saige> She bit her lip at the question, it seemed like Velia had read her mind, asking her a question like that. Saige knew what she wanted to do, but she just couldn't seem to find the courage to do it, which wasn't unusual for her. She wondered if she should continue to teeter on the cliff she was on, or if she should just take the dive... She instinctively leaned and pressed her lips against Velia's giving the woman a gentle kiss before pulling back and replacing her chin on her shoulder where it was. She beamed. "There is that..." She giggled, "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that."

<Velia> She squeezed Saige’s hand again to keep herself from reaching up to touch her lips. She swore her lips tingled from where Saige’s had touched them. It made her have to give another squeeze to Saige’s hand as her lips tugged up into another smile. “It couldn’t have been longer than a day or two… either that or you’ve got some explaining to do.” Velia arched an eyebrow at the cute face perched on her shoulder. She somehow doubted that Saige had been stalking her prior to showing up in her skate shop.

<Saige> Her, a stalker? The very thought made her laugh lightly, shaking her head as she glanced down at the hand in her lap squeezing her own, then back up to the woman's grey hues. They were captivating, drawing her in at every chance they could it seemed, and she couldn't help but to swoon again. She was just so happy, that Velia hadn't rejected her and pushed her away, and was also very happy that she had made her smile the way she had. "These past few days have seemed like forever to be honest." She admitted, grinning sheepishly, she ducked her head to hide her face against the woman's shoulder.

<Velia> Adorable. She really was. “Are you trying to tell me that being with me makes time drag on and on…?” A small chuckle escaped Velia at the end of that and she finally slid her hand out from the other woman’s so she could brush some of the hair away from Saige’s face, allowing her fingertips to linger against her cheek as she did so.

<Saige> She bit her lip, nodding against the woman's shoulder, blushing gently at the fingertips against her smooth skin on her cheek. She giggled then, tipping her head to press her cheek more firmly against the woman's fingertips. "Yeah, but in a good way. I don't want it to end." She admitted, biting into her lip again. What was it about Velia that had her talking so freely? Admitting to things that she didn't normally. "I mean..." She smiled, unsure of how exactly to put it. "I just enjoy spending time with you." Yes, that was put how she felt quite well, and she grinned at those words.

<Velia> “Mmhmm… I seem to enjoy spending time with you as well.” Velia moved the pad of her thumb against Saige’s cheek before sliding her hand back down to lace her fingers back with Saige’s. “This still does not answer what we shall do though? I’m sure you’ll get bored before too long if we just sit here all night.” Velia seriously doubted her conversation skills would last long enough. At least if they were doing something else it might distract Saige from her complete awkwardness in social situations.

<Saige> She raised her brows, beaming. Velia had admitted to liking her right back, enjoying her company too. Her smile seemed to be pinned to her face, the way she just couldn't get it to go away. And she wasn't complaining either. "Hmmm." A couple thoughts crossed her mind on what the two could have done to pass some time, though she didn’t voice those ones. She had gotten what she wanted - a kiss - though she wouldn't have minded another, she couldn’t find the courage to steal another one. So instead, she raised a brow in thought. "Do you know how to dance?"

<Velia> “Umm… no? I mean. I’ve gone to clubs and stuff before a couple of times… but I never really did the whole dancing thing.” Velia was fairly sure she’d mostly just stood around awkwardly trying to fade into the crowd. “Is that what you’d like to do? I’m sure we could find somewhere to go if you like?” She would probably be just as awkward now as she was then, but Saige had gone skating with her so it would be only fair. Maybe it would be different now… going with Saige instead of the group of friends she’d always gone with back in Toronto?

<Saige> She simply beamed. "Oh yes! We should go to a club!" She nodded as she pulled back from Velia, though she stood, she didn't release the woman's hand as she pulled gently on her to encourage her to join her in standing. "C'mon, let’s go see if you've got some mooooves." She grinned, and as she said the word 'moves', she swayed her hips side to side, each sway bending a little at the knees before giggling and standing back upright. Clearly Saige liked to dance, and had no qualms showing off her own talents in the area.

<Velia> She stood as Saige pulled on her hand, smiling at the girl and giving her hand a squeeze. “Did you…want to go home first?” Velia’s eyes moved down over Saige’s clothes, the same she’d worn the night before for their skating trip. “We could meet up at the club? Or somewhere else and go to the club from there?” Velia’s gaze moved back up to look into Saige’s eyes. “Or we could just go straight from here… Whatever you’d rather do.”

<Saige> Grinning, Saige laughed. She hadn't even realized that she was still in the same clothing from the night before, the way she was enjoying herself in Velia's company. Nodding, she moved to pull Velia closer as she stepped into her at the same time. "I should probably go home and change.” Her words were soft, as usual, and had no echo as she licked over her lips lightly and stared into Velia's grey eyes with her warm ocean blue ones. Again, she found herself swimming through their captivating nature, melting against the grey as she swam around in them. She giggled and bit into her lower lip again, leaning against Velia.

<Velia> The feeling of Saige being close to her was definitely one that Velia wanted more of. So, she wasn’t exactly happy at the thought of Saige leaving even if it was only temporarily. She knew it was probably a good idea though as Saige obviously had people who cared for her, even if she’d said they wouldn’t worry – not to mention the clothes thing. “So… where and when should we meet up, then?”

<Saige> She tipped her head to the side in thought, her eyes shifting off to the right as she thought. She remembered passing a Dark Eden, but was that even a club? She had no idea as she looked back and shrugged. "I need to shower, and do my hair too." She grinned, thinking about the phone call to her sire that she would be making the second she walked out the front door. Her cheeks started to hurt she had been smiling so much, so hard, so wide. "Meet me over at Beta, in forty five?"

<Velia> She nodded, that was plenty of time for Velia to get ready. She’d maybe actually end up sitting outside of Beta with plenty of time to spare, unless she found herself at a loss when it came to picking out an outfit. She normally didn’t worry about such things… so maybe tonight she would. She moved her hand up to Saige’s chin, tilting her head up as she leaned down and pressed her lips to Saige’s for just a moment before pulling back away. “I’ll be there… do you know how to get home from here? Swansdale station isn’t far from here, just a couple of blocks to the North West…”

<Saige> Saige was sure she felt her heart flutter as Velia tilted her head up to kiss her. It was like time had stopped, like she had focused on nothing else but the single sensation at her lips, and when the woman pulled back, Saige offered a very soft, short whimper with her elated grin. Then the question was posed to her, though it clearly either went in one ear and out the other, or bounced off both of them in her moment of concentration. Her tongue slid out over her bottom lip quickly, absorbing the taste of the kiss as she giggled and blushed. "What?"

<Velia> Her hand stayed on Saige’s chin, her thumb moving to follow the path that her tongue had just taken. “Do you know your way home from here? I live in Sparrow Lane… it’s just a few blocks from the Swansdale Station.” She moved her thumb to stroke along Saige’s cheek again. “Where we didn’t come here through normal means… I just wanted to make sure you knew your way home before letting you go out into the night.”

<Saige> Saige blinked, leaning against Velia's hand as she welcomed the touches to her face and chin. She shook her head. "I don't know for sure, but I'm positive I could figure it out." She spoke quietly, her lips barely parting for the words to slip out as she stared into Velia's eyes still. Captivating. Purely captivating. And Saige couldn't get enough as she willed herself not to blink out of habit. She wanted to soak up the moment as much as possible, giving Velia's hand a gentle squeeze as she fought the urge to playfully turn her head and nip at the woman’s hand.

<Velia> “I could teleport you to the station? You should be able to find your way from there, yes? I don’t think I could forgive myself if I ended up getting you lost…” Velia shook her head before offering a weak smile. The thought was not one that left her feeling good. Vampires weren’t indestructible after all, even if some acted like they were.

<Saige> Her smile only grew, though it hurt, she didn't care. She nodded, figuring that would probably be best, and it would help to squash any worries of Velia's that she hadn't gotten lost or not. "Sure, I need to grab my skates and my purse though. I think they are downstairs?" She asked lightly, though she didn't make any movements towards the stairs.

<Velia> She nodded before reaching down and grabbing the two cups and making her way towards the stairs. She always made sure to wash the cups out as soon as possible; not exactly sure what kind of state dried blood would leave them in. It was just an icky thought, really, as people washed away dried blood all the time. “They should be right by the door I think?” She raised her voice a little, as Saige was behind her now instead of in front of her.

<Saige> Saige watched the woman move, and though she would have grabbed her cup up for her, she figured it was best to allow Velia to do this for her as she was indeed her guest. Smiling genuinely, she followed after her. "Then I'll grab them right away." She nodded, though Velia couldn't see her, as she clasped her hands in front of her and took the stairs one step at a time.

<Velia> At the bottom of the stairs Velia moved in the direction of the fridge, setting the cups on top of that for now. She’d run them in to the bathroom after Saige left to wash them out. Once that was done she made her way over to the door, leaning against it as she waited for Saige to grab her things. The closer she got to their parting the more she felt it, but it was just for a short while. Plus, she had to put some calls in to make sure the store knew she most likely wasn’t going to come in tonight. She didn’t need to be there, really, but where she usually was she’d want them to know not to expect her. “So… forty-five minutes… outside of Beta?”

<Saige> She nodded at Velia again, still following behind her, then sidestepping to bend elegantly to pick up both her skates bag and her body bag of a purse. She slung her purse over her shoulder, then clasping her hands on her bag in front of her as she fought the urge to frown. This was the parting, and she didn't want to, but it was only going to be for forty five minutes, and she was sure she could manage that time period, in getting ready and accomplishing what she wanted to get done. Maybe even her sire was at the apartment, and she could kill two birds with one stone. She wondered what her sire would say as she smiled to Velia. "Yep! That’s where the Altaire apartment is, in Beta." She informed, making sure Velia understood why she had chosen that specific building.

<Velia> She nodded her head before moving off of the wall and taking the necessary step to bring her back in front of Saige. Once again she tipped the other woman’s head up and leaned down, stealing yet another kiss from her lips before straightening back up and winking at her. “I’ll be there…” And with that, she closed her eyes and felt the power inside of her grow as she focused on Saige, using her powers to teleport her to an alleyway just outside Beta where there would be less chance of her being seen appearing out of nowhere.

<Saige> Velia had stolen yet another kiss, being much bolder than Saige ever could be, and in the brazen behavior Saige couldn’t help but giggle against the others lips. Her cheeks darkened heavily at Velia's action, as simple as it was, she smiled so wide she was sure it was stuck on her face now. And then the wink and Saige could have sworn she had melted against Velia then, leaning heavily into the woman before swallowing audibly and standing back up straight. And then suddenly she was in an alley, staring at the building that was Beta towers. Damn she is hot. She thought, leaning against the wall of Beta for a moment, collecting her thoughts.

Velia had seemed to trance Saige, to make her feel like she was the only other person in the world that mattered at that moment, and because of that she suddenly found herself wishing she could have made the time thirty minutes instead of forty five. She giggled again, her smile not fading as she made her way inside to the Altaire apartment. If her sire wasn't there, she would call her after her shower.

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Velia> Her house felt strangely empty now that Saige was gone, which was absolute ridiculousness. Her house was always empty feeling, so what was it about Saige that made it seem somehow less empty? Velia just stood and stared at the spot where she had been just a moment before as she thought. She didn’t stay this way for long, not wanting to take any longer than she had to get ready and make her way to Beta. “Get a grip…” The words were quiet and spoken only to herself in an attempt to snap herself out of it. She had somewhere to be, after all.

She turned and grabbed the cups, taking them into the bathroom to wash them out as she pulled out her phone and called into the store. The call didn’t take long and she was hanging up just after she was done washing out the cups. She left them there on the counter along with her cell and made her way over to the shower, turning the taps on and shutting the glass door to allow the water to warm up as she removed her clothes. She kicked the pile over against the wall before stepping into the shower and getting clean as quickly as she could.

The water was turned off and Velia stepped back out, uncaring of the fact that she was leaving wet footprints along the tile as she made her way over to the cabinets to grab one of her big fluffy black towels, which she used to towel herself off enough to not leave a mess all the way through her house and then wrapped around herself for the trip upstairs.

Once up in her room she opened up her closet, grabbing a pair of faded blue jeans and tossing them onto the bed before taking a look at her shirts. They were mostly all t-shirts of one colour or another; nothing special about them. She looked through them three times before deciding that none of them would really work for…whatever it was that was happening tonight. Her eyes glanced down to the cardboard box at the bottom of her closet and with a reluctant sigh she picked it up, dumping the contents out onto her bed.

This was where she kept all of the clothes that her friends had given her over the years – the ones they never really expected her to wear but knew she wouldn’t throw out if they were given as a present. The majority of the shirts in there were way beyond Velia’s comfort zone and were almost immediately tossed back into the box before she could lose her nerve and go with one of the t-shirts after all. The process of choosing the right one took longer than her shower had, but eventually all shirts but one were stuffed back into the box and back into her closet.

She didn’t dare hesitate too long, so quickly got dressed and made her way back downstairs. She’d left her normal trench coat at the store the night before, so had to grab her other one – it was much dressier than her usual one and beige instead of black. With it, she grabbed a pair of black boots with just a small heel that went up to mid-calf. They were the only really dressy shoes she had and didn’t get much use, but she zipped them up anyway and threw on her coat before making her way out of the door.

Beta Towers wasn’t very far away from the Wickbridge station, so Velia managed to get to the front entrance with 5 minutes to spare. She took a quick look around for Saige before taking a seat on one of the benches just outside of the door. If she’d have known which apartment Saige was in, she might have gone up and knocked on the door… or maybe she would have done the same thing. She wasn’t exactly sure. For now, she sat there and watched the people walking by as she waited.

<Saige> I wonder if she feels the same. Though she did kiss me... twice... An excited giggle slipped past her lips as she made her way from around the building, pushing through the building doors to get to the elevator. Pressing her thumb to the up button gently, her grin only grew as she waited for the metal contraption to join her on the ground floor to take her up to the third one.

I wonder where we will go. I hope it’s loud, and colorful! I do like colors. Like Velia's hair. It’s so vibrant! And her eyes, I could swim around in them for hours... She blinked as she realized she was gushing in her head over the wonderful woman she had just met days ago, giggling as she blushed to no one in particular and slid onto the elevator quickly. Clearly she was excited to get the night underway as she just simply couldn't stop beaming.

Saige slipped into the Altaire apartment, quietly. She wasn't sure who was there, if anyone, and because of that she made sure to not raise any alarms as she shut the door quietly behind her. Of course she would have been just as quiet regardless, because that was just the kind of person she was, but she was also very considerate of others and because of that she was simply trying to be quiet lest there be people sleeping in the barracks style bedroom in the back.

Heading down the hallway after kicking her shoes off, her bare feet padded against the cool wooden floor even more quietly than her very girly flats had. She hadn't changed, and she knew she needed a shower especially since her incident at the ice rink the night before, and so she moved to the bedroom and peeked inside. Thankfully there wasn't anyone else in the room, as her warm blues slid from bed to bed, each as empty as the last.

Smiling gently to herself, she slid into the room and collected a pair of jean pants that hugged her curves easily, and a cute light pink and yellow blouse. Sliding out of the bedroom she moved into the bathroom, shutting the door before flipping on the light switch to illuminate the small area. Setting her clothes down on the toilet, she moved to turn the shower on and proceeded to start to clean herself up. After showering and changing into some clean clothes, she grabbed up a brush and started brushing her hair in order to pull it back. All of this seemed like second nature to her, like she was just going through the motions as she set the brush aside and tied her hair back with a thick black scrunchie.

She shrugged and bent to collect her clothes, heading back to the room with them as she dumped them on her bed and sat down, pulling her purse into her lap. Rummaging through it for her cell, she frowned at the sight of the gun that Juliet had given her. Picking it out of her purse by pinching it between her forefinger and her thumb, holding it out in front of her like it was a bottle of pure poison. "I hate these things..." She stared, warm blue hues dashing over the weapon in clear distaste. It was then that Athena had interrupted her, scaring the crap out of her entirely before she turned and started up a conversation with the woman.

The two sat in the room, on her bed for a good thirty minutes before she realized what time it was and that she was now running late. Jumping up and grabbing up her purse, Saige leaned to press a kiss to Athena's cheek before dashing out of the room to the front door, throwing on her flats and throwing open the front door; nearly forgetting to shut it behind her in her haste to the elevator. Taking it down to the ground floor, her eyes got wide as she realized that she had forgotten to call her sire. "Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed, digging through her purse to find her phone, pulling it out to press and hold the number two button down, it instantly lighting up and automatically dialing her sire for her.

Sliding out of the elevator and pressing her phone to her ear, she re-slung her purse over her shoulder and made her way past the doors to outside. Spotting Velia, she made her way over to her. One, two, three rings. "Hello! You've reached Juliet Rayne. I'm sorry you've missed me. If it's an emergency, please send me a text message. If it's a business inquiry, please leave your name, number and the best time to get back to you. Thank you!" BEEP. She pursed her lips lightly, stopping to stand in front of Velia, she took a short breath. "Hey, its just Saige, I'll call you back later. Or you call me. Or text. Or maybe I will. Love you!"

She brought the phone from her ear and smiled to Velia, a soft "You look nice Veli-" being heard on the voicemail as she hit the end button while she finished the statement to the woman sitting in front of her.

<Velia> No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t completely beat away the awkward feeling as she sat there, the minutes going by. She had no idea how long exactly had passed, but she was fairly sure it was past the 45 minute time frame. Her thoughts were broken off by the sound of her phone ringing, the tone signifying it was the store on the other end. She debated not answering, but Saige wasn’t even down yet and she didn’t want to be answering phone calls afterwards.

The issue wasn’t a big deal, just the employee not quite sure how to do some customized ordering, which was easy enough to walk her through via telephone and ate up a few minutes of waiting time. She reiterated, again, that she wouldn’t be available tonight except for emergencies – which she seriously hoped wouldn’t happen. After hanging up the phone, to emphasize the point (even if only to herself), she switched the phone’s setting to vibrate only before sticking it back into her pocket.

It was still a few minutes later that she finally managed to catch a glimpse of Saige coming out of the doors. She stood up at the sight, taking a few steps forward to meet Saige as she came closer. She wasn’t sure what to make of the end of Saige’s conversation, but unlike earlier made no reaction to it. “Thank you… so do you.” Seeing Saige did bring back some of the nervous feeling, leaving her wondering if maybe she had overdid it with dressing and maybe a t-shirt would have been fine… “Where should we go? I’m afraid I’m not really all that knowledgeable about the clubs here.”

<Saige> Upon Velia speaking to her, to respond to her, Saige had that instant urge to step into the woman and kiss her again. What was it, with sitting on that cliff, that edge of temptation, that Velia had Saige so wrapped up in? Her mind went wild with thoughts about the gorgeous woman standing in front of her. She thinks I look nice... I wonder if she likes my hair like this. Maybe I should have left it down? I would have had to have done it then... And if we are dancing, I don't like when it gets in my face. This was the better choice. She agreed in her head with herself and her choice of hairstyle and dress, as she played it off that she was contemplating where they would go. "Lets look it up?"

She pulled her phone from her purse again, tapping against the screen slowly as she chewed on her lower lip. She typed in 'Nightclubs near Wickbridge Station, Harper Rock Canada', with a couple choices popping up. She tapped on the closest one, Metronome nightclub, and pointed to the North West. "Metronome is the closest, right around the corner? Then there is Solstice, that'a way." She said, tapping on her phone, and then pointing to the south east. She then set to typing up a quick text, scrolling down her list of contacts before hitting 'send' and pushing her phone back into her purse. "It’s up to you." She grinned, tipping her head to the side a little to more closely inspect the woman’s outfit.

She liked the jeans, they were lighter than her own dark blue ones, and she thought that they accentuated Velia's eyes if not nearly matching them identically. She looked down to stare at the woman's boots then, laughing quietly to herself before looking back up at Velia with that same goofy grin plastered across her face. It showed her dimples cleanly as she felt her phone go off in her purse, well that was fast. She pulled it back out and read the text, blinking for a moment, and then giving a light giggle as she figured out what it was her sire had meant. Thumbs tapped at the screen quickly before she hit 'send' again, though instead of putting the phone back in her purse she simply held it in her hand as her other extended in front of her for Velia to take hold of.

<Velia> Again, she did not know what to make of Saige’s actions. Velia had felt no remorse at all about putting her phone away for the remainder of the evening, but maybe Saige didn’t feel the same? It was slightly disheartening, but maybe it was just an oversight? What is wrong with you? Get a grip! Those she had called friends back before coming here wouldn’t even recognize her like this, she was sure.

Instead of commenting on the phone, she simply took Saige’s hand and shook her head. “Oh no. It was my choice last night, tonight is all yours.” She’d never been to either club and would hate terribly to choose the wrong one. Saige had already said that she enjoyed this type of thing, so maybe she’d have a sixth sense about which club would be the right one? It didn’t really matter as far as Velia was concerned – as long as there was fun to be had.

<Saige> Their hands connected, and she suddenly had a feeling of security wash over her. Safety. Belonging. And it surprised her, how quickly the feelings bubbled to the surface in her mind. Letting out a contented sigh, she raised her chin slightly over to the direction of Metronome. "Let’s head to Metronome first, if it’s dull, we can go to Solstice later." She offered, pearly whites gleaming in the moonlight. She liked the way her palm fit against Velia's, the way her skin was smooth and offered Saige a bit of comfort in the clasped hands.

She started walking in the direction of Metronome then, moving to push her hand behind her back as she slid in against Velia's side. She liked being close to the woman, in her personal bubble so to speak, as she unclasped her fingers from Velia's hand to slip her arm around the woman's back and lean against her more in that half hug. She even attempted to match their footsteps as she felt her phone go off in her other hand. She read the text, in plain sight of Velia if she had wanted to see it too.

Sire: “I did, and I take it you two were going out?”

She grinned at her phone, using the one hand to hold it and reply quickly. “Yeah! I wanted to go dancing so we are headed to the nightclub.” She hit send, then slid her phone into her pocket, looking up and over at Velia with her elated facial expression of a goofy grin that made her eyes curve upwards with the corners of her mouth. "Thanks for going dancing with me, Velia."

<Velia> Her hand immediately curled along Saige’s hip as the woman curled into her side. She intentionally looked away from Saige’s phone, not wanting to intrude on her privacy even if she didn’t seem to be working too hard to protect it. “Thank you for wanting me to come with you.” Looking down at Saige she was fairly sure that even if she hadn’t enjoyed doing the whole club scene previously, tonight was going to be very different.

<Saige> She giggled lightly and shook her head at Velia, though she couldn't ignore the way her stomach seemed to flip when Velia looked down and over at her. The woman was always so nice. To her, Saige couldn't imagine Velia any kind of angry. She was always just so nice. Saige beamed and went silent, delving into her thoughts as she looked up at the moon. I enjoy being with her. And she kissed me! That was spectacular. I wonder if she'd do it again soon. I know I won't, even if I want to. Damn me and my cowardice. I enjoyed it, I wonder if she did? Tonight is going to-

She nearly gasped at her own thoughts, finally coming to a realization that she hadn’t had before. Oh my gosh, this is a date! This is our first date night! What if I haven't dressed up enough? Oh my gosh... She blinked at the sky, and was sure that if she wasn’t already paled skinned, she'd have paled for sure. Already five minutes in, and she was just now realizing what this was starting to become. "So, uh, Velia..."

<Velia> She’d been looking ahead, watching where they were going, but at Saige’s words she looked back down and stopped in her tracks. She moved around so she was in front of the other woman and looked down at her with concern. Something about the expression on her face made Velia concerned, though she couldn’t put her finger on what could be wrong. “What is it? Are you okay? You’re not hurt or anything are you?”

<Saige> As soon as Velia stopped Saige stopped, and she blinked, staring back at Velia with a half blank stare. Before she had the chance to wonder why Velia had stopped walking, Velia asked a question that had Saige blinking even more. What? "Of course not... I'm just... this... is this a date?" She asked, smiling sheepishly with a light blush dashing her cheeks. The words had come out hushed, as if she didn't dare get the answer no, or be rejected by Velia and told this was something else entirely.

<Velia> A grin broke out over Velia’s face followed by a chuckle that she couldn’t seem to contain. To keep it from being taken the wrong way, she quickly bent down and stole yet another kiss from Saige, allowing her lips to linger even longer than they had before. Her smile was still there when she straightened back up, grey eyes shining slightly. “Would you like this to be a date?” She had thought about answering with a yes, but then she’d realized that they hadn’t actually said as much, so it had been awfully presumptuous of her to assume. Even if Saige had kissed her first.

<Saige> She blushed harder. The woman had kissed her again, and this time her stomach most certainly flipped ten times over. What was she doing to her? She was certain she had never felt this way before, about anyone, so what was it? Unexplainable at best, was all she could come up with. She bit into her lip then, nodding as she looked up at Velia with her warm ocean blue hues. "I would." She said it as firm as she could, trying to sound confident in her words - because that was what she truly wanted. She wanted this to be a date, because she wanted this to mean something to the both of them in the long run. Long run. Am I really thinking about this that far in advance? She couldn't help but giggle and blush harder. Yes, yes she was.

<Velia> Her grin widened and she found herself wondering if the muscles in her face would be sore by tomorrow from all the smiling that it wasn’t exactly used to doing to this intensity. “Good…Then it’s a date. We probably should have figured that out back at my place… then again, most dates don’t start at the other person’s house after waking up from their bed…” She snickered then before shaking her head and resuming her spot next to Saige, her arm immediately curling back around her as she began to continue their path to the club. “Actually…figuring it out now makes perfect sense, considering.”

<Saige> She let out a very soft squee, nearly reaching to clap her hands together excitedly, but refraining from doing so. Her phone went off in her pocket though she left it there for a moment, she didn't want to ruin the moment by interrupting it. Then they were walking again, and Saige was blushing just as hard if not harder before, mulling over the woman's words. 'most dates don’t start at the other person’s house after waking up from their bed…' She bit into her lip with an embarrassed giggle and leaned back into Velia. "Why is that?"

<Velia> “Why does it make sense?” Velia gave Saige’s hip a slight squeeze before continuing. “Well you made it to my bed before asking me out on a date… so why not wait until after we’re already on our way to the date to actually ask me out?” She grinned at that, giving another small squeeze. She wasn’t exactly sure where the teasing was coming from, but it definitely felt nice.

<Saige> Saige couldn’t help but give a sharp laugh, nodding her head at that train of thought. It made sense, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but to bite into her lower lip and tease it between her teeth. Does she mean that I didn't give her the opportunity to turn me down? Or that I didn’t give myself the opportunity to be rejected? She blinked then, looking over at Velia with a slightly puzzled look. Clearly Saige had problems with most jokes - she just had trouble understanding them and most of the time had to have them explained to her. Though the more she thought about Velia's words, the more she understood the teasing. "Oh! I get it!" She exclaimed laughing, as she pulled her phone out and read over the text.

<Velia> She eyed the cell phone again before shaking her head. “Now that this is an official date and not just in my mind… do I need to steal that from you or something?” Velia tried to hide the touch of disappointment from her words but didn’t completely succeed. She really hadn’t been on enough dates to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but she was fairly sure it was common for the phones to go away during one.

<Saige> Saige stared at Velia like Velia was an adult that had just threatened a childe with taking away their night light. Her eyes got wide and she nearly frowned, though it was more of a pout as she shook her head. "Oh, please don't... it's just my sire, Juliet. I'm telling her about you." She bit into her lip, trying to think how to explain why she was texting her sire. "I ran into her fiancé in the apartment while I was getting ready, and actually didn't have the time to call her and tell her where I was going tonight. She says she can't wait to meet you. See?" She showed her the text, which said just that.

Juliet wrote:You're adorable. I hope that we get to meet her soon, my dear!

<Velia> Sighing, Velia stopped again. That hadn’t come out right at all. She was really terrible at this. She opened her mouth to say something but almost immediately shut it again. She didn’t know what to say. Instead she stared awkwardly at Saige as if that could make the right words magically appear – it didn’t, though. Nope, she definitely didn’t have the right words, so instead she did what had worked well all night so far. She moved both of her hands up to cradle Saige’s face, giving her plenty of time to back away as she leaned down for another kiss.

<Saige> The second Velia stopped again, Saige stopped again. This starting and stopping was going to be a problem if they were to ever make it to the club tonight - but then again, the second Velia cupped her face and leaned in for another kiss, Saige decided that she was okay with never getting to the club if it meant more kisses from Velia. She didn't pull back, no, instead, she leaned in. Encouraging the action as she rose up on her tiptoes to receive the tender kiss to her lips. Lingering. Smiling in it, she finally dropped back to the flats of her feet and giggled, wrapping her hands around Velia to pull her closer to her. "You can kiss me like that all night, lovely."

<Velia> “Oh no… we’re going dancing, because that’s what you said you wanted to do… So where exactly is this club?” It wasn’t that she didn’t want to spend the whole night kissing Saige; in fact, it took quite a bit of willpower to pull herself away and continue along the pre-set path. They could kiss all night some other time, she was sure. Velia wasn’t the most experienced when it came to dating and she wasn’t about to let it overcome her to the point she was rushing into the physical before she even really knew Saige. That was the point of dates and things like that, right?

<Saige> She giggled and nodded, knowing Velia was right. And she did want to dance.... lord did she. She could feel the excitement in her stomach, making her jittery as she slipped her hand into the others and tugged her towards the entrance of the club that was just up the street. "It’s just up here!" She grinned, putting her phone in her pocket and heading up to the bouncer. Now came the hard part - being allowed entrance into the club without having to wait in line. She thought about it for a second, and reached up to play with her pony tail with her free hand. She leaned to Velia. "Got any ideas?" She whispered lightly.

<Velia> She shook her head. If it was just her, she could hide in the shadows, but that power didn’t work for another person she didn’t think. “We could just go… try and see what happens?” If the bouncer turned them away it would probably be slightly humiliating, but standing around in line didn’t sound like much fun, either. “I just always followed suit…” Velia shrugged her shoulders, planning on doing whatever Saige wanted.

<Saige> Saige raised a brow at Velia. Followed suit? Saige highly doubted that. The woman seemed so... unique, how could she not march to the beat of her own drum? Saige shook her head but then nodded. She had an idea. Standing on her tip toes again, she leaned in to gently slide her hand up to the male’s cheek, tipping her head to whisper in his ear. His solemn looks softened then, as she giggled, and stepped back. Clearly whatever she had done worked, and he slid his hand to open the velvet rope for the two as she pulled Velia inside. "C'mon."

<Velia> The curiosity over what Saige had said to the bouncer was definitely there, but she’d already made a fool of herself enough for one night, so she squashed it down and followed Saige into the club. It was loud and the bright lights would possibly burn her retinas but she would probably make it through less hurt than Saige the night before. The group she’d hung out with occasionally before would be absolutely amazed that she’d so willingly gone to a club, as they’d always had to practically drag her by her ears to get her out.
<Velia> There were too many people around too, so Velia moved closer to Saige, moving her arms to wrap around her as she moved so she was pressed tight to her back. It didn’t look so out of place with the dance floor within sight and it would definitely make it harder for them to get separated in all of the craziness.

<Saige> The way that Velia had pressed herself up against Saige had made her giggle, leading the woman into the club as she felt like dancing already. She swayed in her steps before stopping, not being able but to help in sliding her hands up her sides and tip her head back against Velia to look up and back at the taller woman with that silly grin of hers. "This is more like it!" She half yelled, though she was sure that Velia could hear her, she felt that it helped to keep up appearances. She pointed to the dance floor with one hand, the other moving up behind her to slide to the back of Velia's neck and make sure she didn't step from where she was. Saige liked where she was. Very much.

"Dance?" She asked in that same half yelling, half directed voice, which for her was odd. She never liked yelling, but the music was loud as her hips swayed lightly to it and against Velia. She felt it was right to ask, but at the same time, she wasn't going to give the woman a choice in the end. So instead of waiting for an answer, she started moving to the dance floor.

<Velia> Her eyes drifted to Saige’s lips, which seemed so close with the way she was positioned. It distracted her for a moment, but then they were moving towards the dance floor, which wasn’t right either. Velia stopped, squeezing Saige back against her in an attempt to stop the other woman’s movements. Instead of bringing her lips down to the other’s, she leaned down until they were just beside Saige’s ear so she wouldn’t have to talk quite as loud to be heard, hopefully. “Coat check?” As much as she wasn’t quite sure if she was ready to actually be in public without the coat on, she’d dressed up for a reason – a reason that happened to be pulled tight against her at the moment.

<Saige> Blinking at Velia, she shivered lightly at the breath against her ear as she swallowed dryly and nodded. Okay, so Velia had found an out, found a way to get out of dancing for the moment. Saige giggled and looked around, taking in all the sights and colors finally, not just the music that vibrated to her very soul. It was all so colorful, the way that all the lights illuminated the club, made her feel like she was walking in and out of the sun even though she wasn't. She spotted the coat check, at least she thought it was, and so instead she made her way over to it.

<Velia> It was slightly awkward walking in that position, but Velia couldn’t seem to find it in her to care. It didn’t take long before they’d made their way over to the coat check and she had to pull away. The movement was slow, her hands lingering slightly as she unwrapped them from around Saige until she could step back, her hands quickly working on undoing the trench coat and slipping it off. Her desire to get back over to Saige made her forget to be nervous about dressing up, the feeling not even coming back as she passed the coat to the girl behind the counter and took her ticket, slipping it into her jeans pocket.

The shirt she’d chosen was pure white and fitted, hugging tight to her body. There were no straps, leaving the top of her back and her shoulders bare allowing the tattoo along her back to be seen. The shirt wasn’t all that decorative, with only a bit of lace along the top and bottom hem of it. It was still more than Velia was used to, but for now she’d forgotten about it as she turned back towards Saige with a smile. “Ready?”

<Saige> She frowned lightly as she was separated from Velia, the woman pulling away from her slowly, Saige whimpered under her breath to herself. She liked the way that Velia had been holding her, been melded up to her backside which had Saige feeling safe and comfortable even around all the people. She watched from her spot off to the side as she leaned in against the counter, eyebrows raised in approval of the shirt that Velia had chosen. It was gorgeous. Along with the woman’s tattoo, Saige couldn't help but stare. She swooned at her, hard, grinning as she nodded and reached up, drawing a fingertip along Velia's jaw line before reaching her hand down to grab Velia's again. "Oh yes!"

She then pulled Velia along again, now there was nothing stopping Saige from dragging her to the dance floor. Swaying in her steps again, she beamed as she pulled Velia onto the dance floor and into the sea of people. Swaying her hips to the beat, she giggled and let Velia's hand go, putting her hand up to her hair and her other reached and pulled Velia closer to her, wrapping her hand around the woman's hip and tugging her up against herself to have her sway along with the beat also. Another giggle and she was turning, pressing her back to Velia as she ground her backside against Velia in a playful manner.

<Velia> Now that they were actually out there and she was expected to dance, some of that nervousness bubbled back up. Even though her friends had drug her out to clubs every now and then, they’d never succeeded in getting her to actually dance, so she was at a complete loss as to what to do. She moved, though she doubted she was in tune with the beat at all. She was used to tuning the music in her shop into background noise, making it all sound the same so as to not distract her. Now she didn’t know how to switch it so that she was actually paying attention to what was going on.

Then Saige was turning around and instinct had Velia’s arms curling back around her, pulling them closer together as she did so. She knew she didn’t have the dancing thing down at all, but this definitely felt nice. Any awkwardness she felt was completely taken over by the fact that Saige was obviously having fun regardless of Velia’s poor (or non-existent) dance skills.

<Saige> The second the woman's arms were back around her, she giggled her infectious laugh and closed her eyes, letting her hips guide the two of them in a simple smooth swaying fashion. She tipped her head back the same way as before, and stared up at Velia with her neck fully exposed. She rested the back of her head against Velia's shoulder, closing her eyes as they swayed together in time to the beat. She noticed that Velia didn't really have a sense of beat, so she was glad that the woman was allowing her to lead them in their dancing.

Step, step, dip. Step, step, step, turn. The two moved fluidly throughout the crowd of swaying bodies, Saige moving a hand back up to Velia's neck as she grinned sheepishly just before closing her eyes. "Hmmm." was all that came out, and it was more of a mumbled moan if anything. Clearly she was enjoying herself, and her body language spoke that for her, then she bit into her lip gently as it stretched in her smile but stayed trapped between teeth.

<Velia> Grey eyes moved from Saige’s lips to her exposed neck, both places that seemed to tempt her. To help her with this, Velia closed her eyes, relying on her connection with Saige to help her movements. With how close they were at the moment, it wasn’t hard for Velia to stay in sync with her. This would be perfect if the music wasn’t so loud that conversation was practically impossible. Velia was already trying to think up something to do afterwards that would give them more time to talk, even if she was even more awkward when it came to conversation than she was at dancing.

<Saige> Velia might have been thinking about later already, but Saige was stuck in the moment as she danced. The music filled her body from her head to her toes, and she was nothing short of pushing everything out but the two of them there, in that very moment. She reached her hand to smooth her palm over the woman's cheek, fingertips playing at Velia's ear as she opened her eyes and looked up at Velia again. Clear, pure happiness filled her being, and she was sure that nothing could get her down at this very moment. Nothing.

"Help. Help me..." The voice she had heard was soft at first, pleading as she snapped her eyes from Velia's face to the crowd of humans surrounding them. She searched it with her warm blue hues, looking around for the person asking for help. Please, help! You can help me, you can hear me! Saige drew a deep breath, though she didn't need the oxygen, as her movements stopped and she turned her head left, then right, still searching. Suddenly a person slipped through the crowd, a young girl who couldn't have been more than five years old, with half her jaw missing on the left side.

Saige gasped and brought her hand from Velia's face to her own, covering her mouth as she stared wide eyed at the spirit of the little girl standing in front of her. But she looked so real, so much like she should have been there, and Saige took a knee instantly; pulling from Velia and reaching out to the little girl to offer her her hand. "You can't be here!" She said in a hushed voice, wide eyes staring at the horrendous wound on the girls face. The little girl’s lips moved, though she was sure she more heard the voice in her head than off her lips this time as she stared. You have to help me!! The voice was so loud in her head, she was sure it would have made her head explode in no time as she winced and squinted the pain away, shaking her head.

Saige stared. What the hell was going on? The little girls wound dripped blood, and Saige finally tore her eyes away from the little girl to look up and around at everyone else frantically. And yet, no one else was looking at her, or the little girl who should not have been there. What is going on? She thought, confused tears dashing her eyes. This wasn't right, none of this was right, and as she reached to put her hand on the little girls shoulder, it slipped right through her, the apparition flickering as she gasped again and nearly fell forwards in the expectation of solid contact falling through.

<Velia> She reopened her eyes at the feeling of Saige’s hand moving away. She wasn’t sure if the song had changed at first or if something was wrong – but something had caused their movements to change. Then Saige wasn’t even standing in front of her anymore – she was on the floor instead, looking intensely at something but Velia had no idea what it was. She could just barely make out what Saige said, the words actually making her relax slightly. She remembered hearing whispered words from her wraith occasionally, not that it happened often, as well as her sire’s perverted wraith. Perhaps Saige had a wraith of her own? Although she wasn’t sure why she would be scolding it – it’s not like anyone who wasn’t supposed to know of its existence would be able to see it…

Her relaxed mood turned back to confusion as that explanation was quickly disregarded. Saige was moving forward then and as the gasp escaped her lips Velia couldn’t wait any longer. She dipped down, scooping Saige back up to a standing position facing her instead of whatever she’d been looking at a moment earlier. As soon as she did this she saw the tears and that was far too much. Velia pulled Saige as close to her as she could as her eyes scoped out a path through the dancers, lifting the other woman up off the ground enough so that she could carry her through the crowd until she found a quiet corner away from the music and bustling patrons.

Velia maneuvered them so that her own back was against the corner she’d found, with Saige still held tight against her chest. It allowed her to keep her eyes trained on the area around them in case someone invaded their little bubble, while also allowing her to try and give comfort even if she wasn’t sure what it was that had caused the upset. “Shhh. It’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay.” The words were quiet, spoken softly with Velia’s lips next to Saige’s ear as her hand moved in slow circles along her back.

<Saige> Saige was suddenly stood up and whirled around as she blinked at Velia with her eyes welled up with tears of confusion. She turned to look for the little girl again, but then was picked up and carted off through the crowd of people. Or was it a crowd? How many people in the crowd were real, at that point? Saige started looking more closely as her head filled with voices. Save me! Help me! Listen to me! Understand! LISTEN! It was like they had all figured out that she was a medium at the same time, as her eyes found a tall male to the right who had a softball sized hole right through his neck, his lifeless eyes trained on her as she blinked.

Had she finally lost her mind? Her blinking had caused a tear to roll slowly down her cheek as she whimpered and clung to Velia, fingers curling into the woman’s sides as she drew a deep breath and tried to steady herself. She buried her face against the woman's shoulder as she struggled to maintain sanity. What was real? Was this real? Velia felt real against her, and that was comforting, the way she felt in the woman’s arms with her warm blue hues shut tight and her face buried against the reassuring woman’s shoulder. Her words were soothing, comforting, as they offset the loud voices in her head.

She finally exhaled the breath that was in her lungs, whimpering lightly as she swallowed dryly and looked up at Velia with slight tears still dashed in her eyes. "That little girl... she was hurting..." And with that she couldn't hold it together anymore, turning to look back at the crowd, then back to Velia. "I'm losing my mind..." She whispered, shaking her head as another tear rolled down her cheek. Then she did something unexpected. She laughed. The sudden craziness of all of this actually made her laugh, and her laugh was slightly off the deep end as she flailed her hands lightly - silently saying 'screw it' in the action while she laughed.

<Velia> The laughter coming from the other woman didn’t give Velia any real indication that Saige was okay. In fact, it did the exact opposite. Velia sincerely doubted someone could go from the tears Saige had been shedding the moment before to that same laughter for healthy reasons. She had never used so many powers in such a short amount of time before, but between the Shadow Gates she put up every night and her ability to summon spirits it wasn’t exactly a problem.

First, Velia closed her eyes and concentrated on the shadows around them, commanding them in a way that would make what she was about to do next far harder to detect. It wasn’t as effective as hiding in shadows, but it would be better than nothing. Once that was done, her eyes were back on Saige – the worry plain as day in them – and she was trying to soothe her once more. “Whatever it is, it’ll be okay. I’ll be with you in just a second, okay?” And with that, Velia’s eyes were closed again and she was sending Saige back across town – sending her just outside of her house once again.

Velia slumped against the wall then, feeling quite mentally drained at that point. She had some juice left, she thought, but doubted it was enough to get her where she needed to be. She didn’t waste time, using her powers to summon a couple of spirits which she quickly absorbed, feeling the power flow through her even as the weakness from the sacrificed blood took its place. She had blood at home though, so she wasn’t worried – though she would need to replenish soon, maybe. She’d worry about that later.

She scanned the area quickly one last time to make sure no one was paying any attention to her and then she was closing her eyes yet again, feeling the power rush through her as she sent herself to her house as well, hoping it hadn’t taken too long since sending Saige away. Hoping she could be what Saige needed right now, whatever that was. She wasn’t sure she had what it would take to do so, but she was willing to try.

<Saige> Saige laughed. She laughed a nervous, fractured laugh. Shaking her head, she blinked again, frowning in the laugh. This just wasn't right. She looked back to the crowd, staring intently at the people, realizing that half of them weren't dancing, but rather, swaying. Lifeless. Dead, spirits, lingering in this realm. She put her hand over her mouth and looked back to Velia, clear insanity dashing her warm blue hues as she curled her fingers in on the woman's shirt and clung, her white knuckles turning even whiter with the action. She didn't dare look around again, the voices insisting though she kept her terrified stare on Velia. Look! Over here! Me, help me! HELP! Her laugh turned more into a sob as she bit into her lip.

Blinking again, suddenly she was not in the club anymore, and she hit her knees on Velia's front lawn. Slowly rolling on them to the side, she hit her shoulder and lay there, crying silently. What the hell had just happened? Who were all those people that were in her head like that? Why? How could she help them, any of them, how? None of it made any sense, though her mind did finally quiet down now that she was no longer in the heart of the city, and lying on the front lawn of Velia's home in the suburbs. She whimpered as she curled in on herself, and then laughed again. She couldn't believe what had just happened, what she had just experienced. Could she?

Growing up she had always been a medium, highly in tuned to what other people had just lost in terms of people they loved. She had experienced a couple of visions here and there, but nothing quite like what she had seen tonight. That little girl, looked so real, so in the flesh that she swore she could smell the blood dripping from her wound. It had looked like a bear, or mountain lion had mauled her, and in that she felt her heart melt into a visage of pain for the little girl. Could she ever help any of the apparitions she had seen tonight? Would this happen to her again? Could she ever go back out in public like this again? And then her thoughts went to Velia. Oh god... what if she... what if I... she whined at the thought of her ruining the night, the date had seemed to be going so well - she had even gotten to dance, and at the thought another pained laugh rolled past her lips.

<Velia> She felt the power move through her body and then leave just as quickly, her legs giving out on her from the weakness she’d brought on herself. She didn’t wait there long though, not when the sight of the still hysterical Saige lying on her front lawn came into her awareness. Velia picked herself back up and took the few steps necessary to get her over to Saige. “C’mon now Angel, we have to get inside.” The words were soft as Velia moved her hands to try and help Saige up.

<Saige> Saige felt hands trying to help her up. And she nearly freaked out, pushing them away, but through her blinking and hearing Velia's calming words, she swallowed and nodded, moving to regain her feet under her. Curling in against Velia's side, she sniffled and tried to understand what exactly was going on. She knew what she had seen, knew what she had heard, but was it real? And then Velia had called her angel, and she couldn't help but laugh lightly. She was no angel. She was something of myth, a creature built to cause pain and agony, a vampire. How could she be an angel?

<Velia> Doing her best to keep Saige steady, Velia made their way up the steps and got them safely into her house not stopping until she could set Saige down on the couch. She could feel the thirst bubbling up inside of her but stamped it down. Instead, she sat down on the couch next so Saige and pulled the other woman practically onto her lap, reclining back and holding onto her as she continued to move her hand in soft circles along the other’s back. “I’ve got you… it’s okay.”

<Saige> She curled up on Velia, the side of her face resting against the woman's upper chest as she slipped into a slight state of shock. Her thoughts swirled in circles as the mental image of the little girl standing in front of her flashed time and time past her eyes causing her to shut them tightly and whimper again. She really was losing her mind, and she blinked as she swallowed and pulled back slightly, watery warm blues staring at Velia's grey ones. "Did you... she was... there?" Her sentence wasn't a complete one, but it made sense to her as she sputtered it out.

<Velia> Any other time Velia might have remarked on how nice it felt to be curled up like that with Saige, but at the moment her worry for the woman overrode any nice feelings from the closeness. The look of those sad teary eyes again only served to remind her of how completely inept she was at all of this. How could she ever make it okay? She wasn’t even entirely sure what it was, only that Saige had seen something that she wasn’t able to – something that had upset her to the point of hysterics.

She didn’t have the words, wasn’t sure if there were words, so instead she simply moved her hand up to wipe away Saige’s tears as her own eyes softened in concern. She didn’t even know what to say in response to the question, or at least she thought it was a question, as she was sure several vital pieces of information were missing. Instead, all she could do was shake her head as her fingers continued to wipe at Saige’s cheeks.

<Saige> Saige sniffled and blinked again. Velia's fingertips were at her cheeks, and all she could do was blinked at the woman until her tears slowly subsided. Slowly, tear by tear, until Velia had successfully managed to wipe away all of Saige's tears. "I'm... s-sorry." Was all she could managed to say, in a very hushed, low toned whisper. Shaking her head, her ponytail swayed behind her lightly as she swallowed and tried to explain, something, anything. "This little girl..." She bit her trembling lip to stop her voice from shaking, "She was hurt. And wanted... my help." She hadn't even gotten to the worst part yet and she was clearly struggling with her words. How could that be real? She was still struggling with the realism of it all as she reached a hand up to place it flat against Velia's cheek. Reassurance.

That was all she needed, that simple bit of Reassurance that where she was, was in fact real. "She was missing her jaw, and then the others... there were so many others, and they were in my head!" She half gasped, finally getting it out as she realized that she had indeed most certainly lost her mind.

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Velia> She just listened; continuing to stroke along Saige’s cheek even after the tears had seemed to stop. She was still at a complete loss as to how to make it all better. She knew there were things in this world that were beyond her sight, though there were others who could see them – her sire was one. Velia might not know personally what it was like, but she had listened to Oria talk about it before. She’d never had to console her sire from it though, so she had no previous experience to draw from with that.

“Has… this ever happened before?” There was no confidence in her words, her fear of just making everything worse making it impossible to be sure of anything she said. It seemed like an important question though. It could be a new power or ability that Saige had come in to, making her freak out at the unexpectedness of it… or it could be something that started long before she’d become a vampire, but maybe had intensified since her turning. Velia made a mental note to talk more with her sire about this later.

<Saige> Saige almost shook her head no. Almost. But then she remembered, as a little girl, when she had seen spirits and heard voices and had visions. It wasn't often, and when it did happen it didn't happen so intensely. Not like that, not where half a dance club was full of them, and they had seemed so real. More like... an imaginary friend. She nodded slowly then, thin eyebrows knitting together tightly as she thought.

"It did... when I was a kid." She admitted, thinking back to her human days, "I used to see them here and there, but they were wisps... not real... not... that... real." She frowned. What the hell was happening to her, that was all she could keep thinking as she leaned in against Velia and rested her head against the woman's chest, ear pressed to where the woman's heart would have been beating had she been alive. "I'm sorry..." She spoke it again, she really, really was, and she couldn't help it. What a way to ruin a first date.

<Velia> With Saige curled back against her, Velia automatically moved her arms to wrap around her. “Shhh. There’s nothing to be sorry for, Angel. It’s probably just a vampire thing – it tends to… intensify some things.” Velia had noticed some things becoming more prominent since her turning and figured she wasn’t exactly wrong in that explanation, though there was possibly more to it. “We’ll figure it out, okay? You have nothing to be sorry about.”

<Saige> Sitting in Velia's embrace, Saige moved curl up fully on the woman's lap. It seemed the right thing to do, and after what had just happened to her, she didn't want to do anything but sit there, tucked up against Velia, in the silence. It was calming. Soothing. And she hummed a little tune. Not a creepy one, a Celtic one, one that her mother had sung to her as a little girl that had been passed through generation upon generation. "Angel..." She muttered. The tune had angel in it somewhere, but for the life of her she couldn't place where, or any of the words really. So she hummed it. Then, she tilted her head back and looked up at Velia's face, as best as she could, those warm blue hues dashing from grey eye to grey eye silently as she gave her that warm signature smile of hers. Clearly she was feeling better already.

<Velia> She smiled back down at Saige, her hand coming back up to cup the other’s cheek. “What can I do?” It was a simple question, the only thing Velia could think to do. It would be better, maybe, to simply ask than to try and feel her way through what Saige might need. There was always the possibility that there was nothing she could do, but it was always better to ask, right? She thought, maybe, she’d make herself crazy second guessing herself with this stuff. Maybe it would get easier with time?

<Saige> Staring into those grey hues, Saige thought for a moment, stretching the silence. The calming silence. Then she took a small breath. "Call me that again...." Was all she spoke, as she leaned up to press a kiss to the woman's jaw bone. Fingertips curled into Velia's shirt as she laid there comfortably melding against Velia, silently claiming her as her own.

<Velia> She couldn’t help but smile again, tilting her head down to press a kiss against Saige’s lips. “Anytime Angel.” Velia didn’t pull back between the kiss and speaking, letting her lips brush against Saige’s as she spoke.

<Saige> Saige purely melted. She was sure that just because Velia had said that, the way she had, the way it lulled past her gorgeous lips against her own, Saige would indeed sprout white wings and float away. And she couldn't help but return the kiss that had lingered, her hands sliding up to find their way around Velia's neck until she pulled back slightly, keeping the closeness that Velia had invited. She hummed a swoon, and then gave a light giggle at the feeling of butterflies in her stomach.

<Velia> “Better?” Velia still hadn’t moved an inch, having no desire whatsoever to pull away. She’d be willing to stay there all night and day like that if it would make Saige feel better. While she waited for the other’s response, she slid her hand back to slide her fingers into the scrunchie holding Saige’s hair back and started to slowly pull it back, freeing her hair. It wasn’t that she hadn’t liked it up, but at that moment for a reason she wasn’t entirely sure of she wanted Saige’s hair loose.

<Saige> She slowly moved her thumb against the back of Velia's neck, nodding gently as she pulled her bottom lip in and bit on it a little, tasting the sweetness of the kiss on it before releasing it and swallowing lightly. "Mhm," She hummed out, sure she couldn't come up with anything else to say. She stared into Velia's eyes as the woman freed her hair, it falling heavily down around her shoulders. It was a simple action, but to Saige she only had more butterflies dancing in her stomach. It was such a fleeting feeling; she couldn't help but to giggle again, her thumb sliding more against the back of the others neck.

<Velia> “What is so funny, hmmm?” The words were light, her tone nothing but teasing as she slid her fingers through the newly freed hair. She enjoyed the way it felt moving through her fingers. She’d never been all that affectionate before, aside certain people. Her parents, her friends and even her sire here had made that list, but this wasn’t like any of those. This made her feel like she was glowing inside – a glow that not even her beloved shadows could conceal from the woman in her arms. It was a very intense feeling that should have had her running for the hills. Instead, she stayed right where she was, moving her hand back to trail her fingertips back along Saige’s cheek.

<Saige> Her warm smile never left her face as she tipped her head a little while the woman's fingers stroked through her long locks. It was a comforting feeling, and Saige had instantly all but forgotten about the horrible instance in the club several minutes before. Sighing contentedly, she shook her head and leaned to nuzzle the tip of her nose against Velia's. "This feeling." She admitted lightly.

Leaning into the hand at her cheek, she moved her hand to the woman's upper chest where her head had been prior, pressing the flat of her hand against the cloth there. "Here." She moved her hand back up, trailing a finger tip along Velia's lower lip as she stared at it, clearly entranced. "Here." Her hand slid back to behind the woman's neck, wetting over her lips with her tongue quickly. "And here." She smiled more broadly, staring back into the woman's eyes; obviously meaning the connection the two were sharing.

<Velia> “Funny isn’t the word I would use for it…” Velia moved both of her hands lightly down Saige’s sides, leaving them to rest along her lower back. “It definitely is something though… isn’t it?” She resisted the urge to steal yet another kiss, even if Saige’s lips were extremely tempting and oh so close. She was supposed to be taking her time, getting to know Saige – that wasn’t going to happen if she couldn’t keep her lips to herself.

<Saige> She half hummed half giggled her response, "Mhmm-m-m." Her smile didn't waver as she nodded and pulled back then, but she maintained her eye contact. "It sure is. Its... not too much, is it?" She couldn't help as the concern crossed her face, dashing in her eyes at Velia. If it was too much, she'd have to move; have to take her own seat on the couch and then what? Saige almost whimpered at the thought, she was so comfortable and in the moment that she could only hope Velia wasn't getting overwhelmed.

<Velia> She very much disliked Saige pulling back and to show it Velia leaned up, following her movements. One hand was left at the small of Saige’s back while the other moved back up to cup her cheek yet again as Velia stopped resisting the urge to kiss the other woman. The feeling of her lips brushing against Saige’s was becoming addictive, but she found herself completely uncaring of that as the sweet feeling was back.

<Saige> The others lips connected with her own again and she was sure if her heart had been beating it would have beat out of her chest. She took the woman's response as a no, and in that she was delighted as she pressed back, righting them to the position they were originally in. Melting against the other as she pulled back just barely enough to break the kiss. "That’s a no?" She whispered.

<Velia> “Definitely a no…” Her words were just as quiet as Saige’s as she let her thumb slide against her cheek. “I’m not scared. Are you?” Velia’s thumb moved to trace along Saige’s bottom lip, the only way she could think of to keep herself from leaning back up to recapture the lips with her own.

<Saige> Her tongue instinctively slid out along her bottom lip to follow Velia's thumb, and lightly grazed it as she shook her head. "I'm afraid of a lot of things, Velia... but this is not one of them. Not at all." She admitted, kissing the woman's thumb and then looking back to her. "I'm glad you aren't afraid... but then again, who could fear little ole' me?" She joked lightly.

<Velia> “Not me, Angel.” She left her thumb resting at the middle of Saige’s bottom lip as she continued to keep eye contact with her. “What should we do now?” She didn’t like the idea of going back out, not just yet anyway, but maybe Saige would want to. If they did go out, Velia would have to grab some blood and possibly summon some more spirits first, just in case.

<Saige> She giggled again, shaking her head ever so lightly. "So you call me." She smiled warmly, her lip stretching under the woman's thumb. She didn't mind it there, not in the least bit. She thought about it for a moment, "I don't..." She only knew what she didn't want to do, and that was going back out, so a slight frown found its way to her lips. "I don't know. I've already ruined the night."

<Velia> “Does this feel ruined to you? It doesn’t to me… We just had a change of plans is all.” There was nothing but sincerity in her words. Yes, she’d been scared and worried when it had happened, but she in no way felt that the night was ruined.

<Saige> Saige beamed then. Velia was incredibly good at turning her frown upside down, and she giggled at that thought as she nodded, then shook her head. "No, not ruined... not at all." She took her words back immediately. That warm smile still on her face, she moved one hand from behind Velia's neck to her leg that had suddenly started itching. Idly scratching at it, she leaned in against Velia again. "Truth be told, I could sit here with you all night."

<Velia> She arched an eyebrow at that. “Oh? Just sit here all night? I’m not sure if my conversation skills will hack it, but we can try?” Really the only thing she doubted was her ability to keep to talking and not kissing at every opportunity. She had kissed before Saige, but it had never been quite like it was with her.

<Saige> She smiled warmly and nodded, moving to rest her head against the woman’s upper chest again, cheek to shirt, she giggled again and brought her hand to idly play with the fabric of the lacy hem. "I'd like that. And I like your shirt, Velia. Very much. It makes you look more vibrant."

<Velia> She’d completely forgotten about the shirt. Saige mentioning it only served to bring back the nerves at it. It was tighter than she liked, more form fitting and revealed much more skin than she preferred. It helped some that Saige had said she liked it, but it didn’t take the nerves away altogether. “Oh… I’m uhh… glad you like it.”

<Saige> She furrowed her brows lightly at Velia's hesitation to say thank you. "Do you not?" She chewed on her bottom lip then, moving to slide both her arms around the woman's middle and hug her tightly. Not letting her go, she simply relaxed in resting against Velia.

<Velia> “I’ve… never worn it before?” She let her hands move idly up and down Saige’s back, the action reassuring somehow. “I… wanted to wear something special. Something nice for you.” It made her feel exposed, laying it out like that, but she didn’t like the way Saige had reacted to her own nervousness.

<Saige> "Awh." She smiled pulled back, only to lean in slightly. "That’s so sweet..." She grinned and brought her hand up to brush her curved knuckles over Velia's cheek slowly. "For me?" She asked lightly, staring her warm blue hues into Velia's grey ones again. Capturing.

<Velia> “Well yeah…” She leaned her cheek against Saige’s knuckles, her eyes closing at the contact. “In case this was a date… I wanted to look my best.” All these thoughts that she would normally just keep to herself, or not have at all, were just coming out as if this woman owned them. As if they belonged to her and could not be withheld.

<Saige> She giggled and blushed. It was a bright red blush, clearly something she couldn't control as she giggled a bit uncontrolled. "You don't have to try, silly." She pecked a kiss to her lips, "You're gorgeous just as you are lovely. If you want, you can go change into something more comfortable?"

<Velia> She couldn’t help but snicker at that. “That sounds like a really cheesy line. But… seeing as how you can’t get more comfortable, I’ll just stay right here.” Leaning forward, she let her nose rub against Saige’s before settling back and smiling at her.

<Saige> Saige blinked. It hadn't meant to be taken as a 'line', she had no underlying motives to lie or embellish, especially to Velia despite the fact that she couldn't. "I am comfortable... and you are gorgeous, Velia." She chewed lightly on her lip, fingertips curling gently against Velia's mid back.

<Velia> It hadn’t been her intention to make Saige uncomfortable by her comment. She’d meant it to be a joke, but she never had been very good with this stuff. “Oh no no. It’s fine. Really.” Velia looked away then, trying to think of something that would bring them back to where they’d been. Her eyes locked on her door and she smiled, bringing her gaze back to Saige. “Would you like to go outside? It is a beautiful night out and I do have a lovely deck that I rarely get any use out of. I’m not sure if you noticed when you came in… but it’s very open, unlike in here. I wanted a place where I could sit and see the sky that wouldn’t cause me harm come morning time.”

<Saige> She tipped her head to the side, and then let her eyes follow after Velia's as she looked to the door. She swallowed a bit harshly at just the thought of going out again, but if it was just to the deck... she was sure she could manage it. "That sounds... wonderful." She only hesitated because the thought of moving was unwelcome, but she did feel that if she was going to go outside at some point, there couldn't have been a better person to do it with. If she got overwhelmed again, at least Velia would understand and help her cope through it again. But surely there weren't any spirits or ghost out in this suburban area, so she nodded and gave a little half smile that was dashed with courage. "Let’s do it."

<Velia> Grinning, she leaned down and pressed another kiss to Saige’s lips before sitting up while still holding tight to the other woman. “I think you’ll need to get up first, hmm?” She gave a wink to Saige at the end of her sentence, hoping it would help expedite getting the evening back on track.

<Saige> She nearly gasped, then giggled and moved to stand up. After all, Velia was coming with, so she wasn't nearly as reluctant as she had been before to move. Sliding out of the woman's lap she stood, smoothing her hands down the sides of her shirt then jeans. "I do love the stars." She muttered, affirming that she really did want to go outside regardless her fear, "They are so beautiful and easy to look at."

<Velia> “That they are. I think I’d have been more upset with this life if I had to give up the night. Giving up the sun was easy in comparison.” She stood up as well, immediately slipping her hand into Saige’s and making her way towards the door. Once outside, she took a left instead of going down the stairs – leading Saige over to the small porch swing that was on that side of the deck.

<Saige> Giving up the sun was far from easy for Saige. "I..." But before she could find the right words to finish the statement, she was tugged to the door and through it, stepping out into the cool night air and heading over to the swing just off to the left. She waited for Velia to sit down before taking her seat next to Velia, drawing the woman's hand into her own lap before resting the flat of her cheek against Velia's shoulder, her head tipped just enough to look up and over at Velia with those warm ocean blue hues of hers.

<Velia> She smiled down at Saige, giving her hand a slight squeeze before moving it away long enough to curl her arm all the way around the other woman and then slid her hand right back into Saige’s. This area of the porch was extremely open with the only solid wall being the one to their back – the one that also served as a wall for the house itself. To their left, directly in front of them and above them was all clear glass, allowing them a perfect view of the area around them. “Is this okay?”

<Saige> With Velia's arm around her shoulders effectively tucking her into Velia's side, the other hand sliding into her palm and interlacing fingers, Saige nearly teared up at how comfortable she was. She couldn't explain why she was so emotional all of a sudden, aside from the traumatic events of the night at the nightclub, so she just blamed them as she leaned more into Velia's side and sighed out a contented sigh of relief. "You have no idea..." She spoke softly, still staring at Velia and not the stars she had admitted to admiring minutes earlier.

<Velia> “Mmm… good.” She squeezed Saige closer to her as she began to chew on her bottom lip slightly, having no idea where to go now. She wanted to get to know the other woman, really get to know her, but she was used to getting to know people through following leads and hacking systems, not by actually asking them about themselves. People usually either fit into people she’d practically always known so had no reason to get to know, or people that she was looking into for work purpose so she could hardly get to know them the old fashioned way.

<Saige> Saige was content with the silence after the squeeze, though she knew that Velia was human at one point, and probably wanted conversation so she offered an ice breaker of sorts in her soft tone. "When I was human, I really liked sushi, and now I actually miss it. Do you think about things like that, like I do?" She blinked slightly, yeah, so that was entirely random. But hey, it served its purpose, so Saige stuck with it. "And the sun, I really liked the sun."

<Velia> “Not… really? I mean… my last meal in Toronto before coming here? Was pepperoni pizza; delivery style. I remember thinking how I never wanted to eat another pizza again, ever…” She doubted that counted. A memory of wishing to never eat again was hardly the same as wishing you could have something now. In truth, the lack of food hadn’t really bothered Velia much at all, other than it was something that would hinder her should she decide to go back home for a visit. Her mother was definitely one who would take the opportunity to feed her properly and would only worry when Velia refused.

“As for the other… I spent most of my life clinging to shadows, so giving up the day wasn’t a problem.” She turned her attention back down to Saige, a smile tugging at her lips. “Then again, I’ve had a fair bit longer to get used to this than you have.”

<Saige> While Velia spoke Saige let her eyes wander to the stars. They were very pretty, and she felt like reaching up and plucking one clean from the night sky, though she resisted the silly urge to try. She glanced over the moon, admiring how many more craters and imperfections she could see in it now since being turned, and how its glow gave off an almost off white color - instead of the natural white she remembered as a human. Looking back over to Velia with her warm blue hues, she stared at the woman’s lips as she finished speaking. Saige giggled lightly, nodding. "That you have." She admitted, blushing lightly as she glanced to the woman's eyes and then back to the stars. "I would have died had Juliet not been there."

<Velia> “Oh? Well then I’m glad for that. That she was there, I mean. Not that you would have died.” The words came out awkwardly, like Velia was stumbling over them, which she was. “Mine uh… wasn’t like that.” Instead of waiting for Saige to reply, she thought that maybe just rushing into a new sentence might be best. “I saw something and Oria saw me seeing it… I used to hear all the time that my job was going to get me in trouble one day… but I don’t think anyone could have predicted this.”

<Saige> She gave Velia a look of being intrigued. And she was, truly. The mysterious woman that sold her a pair of ice skates not days before had most certainly captured her curiosity. "What did you used to do?" She bit her lip, "I mean, it sounds like you weren't always selling ice skates, is all." She giggled, shaking her head gently, "I'm sure no one could have ever predicted a life like this..." Saige sighed lightly. This life, that was so full of violence, had her frowning at every turn these days. Seeing vampires feeding, guns and swords being drawn on zombies... those horrific zombies. She shuddered ever so gently at the memory of her first and last encounter with one, glancing off to the side then back at Velia.

<Velia> Her mind was filled with worry about how Saige would react to her human profession. Her shop now, as a vampire, was actually much more low key than what she’d been previously. “Uhh well. I was a P.I. actually. I’ve always had a talent for fading into the background, being seen without really being noticed. I had transitioned mostly to tracking down people who had disappeared actually. It’s how I found myself here.” It had been her last case, one that would possibly always remain a mystery. Harper Rock could have been a false lead, as she’d yet to actually see anyone resembling the photograph. Or, maybe, he was one of those body snatcher vampires – or one of the bodies a vampire who had subsequently died had snatched. That thought made her shudder.

<Saige> She perked a brow at Velia. "Seen, but not seen..." She tipped her head to the woman’s shoulder and sighed lightly. “Well I’m glad I saw you.” She admitted, glancing to look at Velia’s grey eyes before she giggled and turned to look at the sky. She reached a hand up and point at the big dipper, then over at the small one, then over to Orion shooting his bow and arrow. “The big and small dippers, and Orion, that there is his belt.” Her finger traced the outlines of each of the constellations, and she grinned. She had taken a class in astronomy while studying at the community college two towns over, trying to get her Bachelors in Fine Liberal Arts degree. She looked over to Velia again, up and over, locking warm blues on those indescribably irresistible greys.

<Velia> She waited until Saige was done tracing the outlines of constellations before reaching over and lacing their fingers together. Her eyes had never moved over to look up at the stars, as she was sure they’d be there again tomorrow night. The woman snuggled up against her was much more lovely and interesting than anything the skies could provide. “Lovely…” The word slipped out as she gave Saige’s hand a squeeze with her own.

<Saige> She couldn't help but give a giggle and a blush. Velia had called her lovely, not the stars, like she had thought originally. She nervously pushed her face into the woman's shoulder and gave another infectious giggle. "Silly." She muttered against Velia's shoulder, giving her hand a soft squeeze and looking up and over at Velia. "You call me all these cute and adorable nicknames, and you hardly even know me." She gave a soft warm smile then, leaning to rest her chin against Velia's shoulder again as she stared lightly. "I'm sure there's plenty you'd like to know?" She offered, giving the woman an in if she wanted to learn more about her. Saige never had problems opening up to people, and if they asked, she would tell them her whole life's story in a heartbeat.

<Velia> “I want to know everything… but I’m sure there’s not enough hours left in the evening for you to tell me everything.” She winked, trying to show that she was kidding, even if she was only mostly kidding. She did want to know everything, but she didn’t want Saige to just sit there and narrate her life. She didn’t want to go upstairs to her study and hack into databases to find out everything. She wanted to do this the normal way, or what she assumed was the normal way, where it actually took time and conversation to get to know each other. The kind of way where it was this slow process, as if the information was a precious liquid that required care in pouring so that each new layer could settle before the next joined it.

<Saige> The wink only made Saige giggle even more and blush harder. She ducked her head to hide her face again, the way an embarrassed kid did to hide the fact that they had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "No, there probably isn't..." She peeked up and scrunched her nose up playfully. She liked the way Velia joked with her, the way that she made her laugh and giggle and grin all the time. And then there was the way she made her feel. It was intense, an incredible feeling that almost overwhelmed her like the voices had at the club earlier in the night. She snuggled more against Velia and sighed lightly. "Where should I start then...?”

<Velia> All she could do was shake her head. “I don’t know… where would you like to start?” Velia readjusted them then, lifting Saige up slightly and wiggling beneath her until they were curled up more like they had been inside. She was glad now that she’d opted for a soft cushiony bench type swing instead of a wooden or single-chair type option. “If we only had time for you to tell me one thing… what would you want it to be?” That was the kind of question Velia had heard people ask before, so she thought maybe it was normal. The whole if you were stranded on a deserted island… type of question.

<Saige> Saige wrapped her arms around Velia and laid against the other, sighing lightly even though she didn't need to. It was more an action of displaying comfort, that she didn't mind reclaiming her spot in the woman's lap as she had held earlier, inside. She leaned and rested her head against Velia's upper chest, almost shoulder as she contemplated the question. "Hmmm. One thing...." She smiled lightly then, nuzzling the side of her face against Velia lightly. "I like to let my paintbrushes express my emotions." She hummed a soft tone, yes, that was something that was important to her, and so she knew that it had to of been important to Velia even if she didn't know if it was or not.

<Velia> “Oh? That’s cool. I’d love to see something of yours sometime, if that would be okay?” She hummed then, her hands going back to absently stroking along Saige’s back. “I don’t have anything like that… I’ve never really been one to create things.” It was the truth. It had been all she could do to figure out what types of furniture to put in the house after she’d gotten it. Even the things she’d gone in thinking would be easy enough to figure out, there were just so many options and they expected her to know how she wanted her house to look. She’d almost gone back to the realtor then and tried to sell the house back, opting for an apartment or something smaller instead.

<Saige> Saige nodded softly against Velia. "Maybe Juliet will let me rent out the photography studio one day and have a showing of my stuff." She curled her fingertips against Velia's shirt in the back, her hands finding the natural arc in the others back as she then gently played with the lacy hem of the shirt at her lower back. "I've been painting for about 4 years now." She smiled lightly and bit on her lower lip gently, shifting against Velia to tuck her face up unto the nape of the woman's neck. "Now your turn. What would you tell me?"

<Velia> “I… uhhm.” She hadn’t taken the logical next step, to the fact that Saige would want to know her answer to the same question. Velia’s hands faltered in their absent petting as she tried to think of something, anything, that she thought was important enough for someone else to know. She was fairly sure anything she could think up would pale in comparison to Saige’s answer. Maybe that was it, then? “I don’t have much to tell, really. I never made much time for a personal life… it just never seemed all that important. The people I was closest to would do their best to make sure I got out a minimal amount to keep me from turning into…” She hesitated then before continuing. “Turning into the ‘Catless-Crazy-Cat-Lady’.”

<Saige> She giggled into Velia's neck at Velia's hesitation. Saige herself had hesitated, only because she didn't know where to start. It seemed to Saige though, that Velia didn't know what was worth it. And that meant to Saige that Velia saw herself as non important, something meaningless and uninteresting. And Saige disagreed. She saw Velia as more than interesting, she saw her as intriguing. She saw a person that was hiding behind that wall of 'uninteresting', and she was suddenly determined to help the woman bring that wall down. She giggled again at her response. "I think you have plenty to tell. You just don't think any of it's important, like I do. Hmm?" She asked lightly, pressing a light kiss to Velia's neck where her face was nestled.

<Velia> The way it sounded leaving Saige’s lips sounded so wrong – what people would call ‘emo’ she thought. Immediately Velia was shaking her head, that wasn’t quite it. “It’s like… I’ve spent years immersing myself in the details of other people’s lives. Complete strangers. It was my job to get to know them, find things out…” She couldn’t help but stretch her neck out slightly at the feel of those soft lips against her skin. “It was kind of easy to forget to have a life of my own… all I did was work… Not that that has changed, really. Just a different profession.”

<Saige> Saige pulled back and raised a hand, gently nudging the woman's chin to direct eye contact, their faces inches apart. "That doesn't mean you aren't important." She gently bit on the inside of her cheek, blinking those genuinely warm blue hues at Velia. "You are important to me." She muttered softly, glancing her eyes down and to the side. She hadn't realized herself exactly how much Velia was starting to mean to her until she made the statement, and in realizing that she smiled. Velia was important to her. Very important. She cared for Velia, and just the thought of the woman made her smile. She looked back to the others welcoming grey eyes, melting into them. "I care."

<Velia> A sigh escaped Velia’s lips as she closed her eyes, her head shaking once again. “It’s not that I don’t feel as if I’m important. Everyone is important.” Her eyes opened back up then, needing the connection. “That was definitely apparent in my work. Even those who thought no one cared or who thought they were unimportant were wrong. Wives who think their husbands don’t care about them screwing around… Children who think they don’t matter so take off in the hopes of finding something better… Everyone’s important; it’s all in the details. You just have to look.”

<Saige> She smiled that welcoming, warm smile that made her eyes curve upwards gently. Velia was right, and if anything, only proving her own point for her. If only Velia could apply that to herself, this wouldn't be like pulling teeth at a dentist's for answers. "Well, what else would you like to know about me then?" She giggled, reaching a hand up to press the pad of her pointer finger to the woman's nose. "Consider me an open book with you." She thought about that for a second, eyes dashing to the side then back, "Anyone, really."

<Velia> “I already told you…” she started to reply, before tilting her head to attempt to nip at Saige’s finger, careful not to break the skin as she did so. “I want to know everything. I don’t want to leave any rocks unturned.”

<Saige> She gasped playfully, jerking her hand back and giving a sharp giggle that yet again accompanied a slight blush to her cheeks. "Ack." Slipped past her thin lips, and she moved to tap the same finger back against the woman's nose - only this time draw it back and give a broad grin. "Well, I haven't lived anywhere else - been in Harper Rock my whole life." She admitted, shaking her head. "Its not exciting, my life's history."

<Velia> “Oh? You grew up in the city of vampires and think there’s any way your life history couldn’t be exciting? I’m fairly sure they write novels about such things and make a ton of money.” Her eyes trailed down to where that finger was, arching a brow as she watched it patiently.

<Saige> Saige tipped her head to the side. Being deep in thought, she made an odd face. One eye closed and she furrowed her brows as her lips pursed gently. Now that she thought about it, she had seen several things that she had just written off as odd, or simply unexplainable. Maybe it was good that she didn't take much notice at such things, because if she had taken more notice, she probably would have been killed or at the least attacked for it. Her face went back to its natural gentle tone before she responded. "I guess you're right... I'm just good at being aloof." She giggled again and moved to bop the woman on the tip of her nose once more.

<Velia> She sat up, careful not to jostle Saige too much, and took a look at the watch on her wrist before pressing a kiss to Saige’s cheek. She let her lips linger there, making no move to move away as she began to speak. “We should go back inside now…” She thought of mentioning the fact that Saige could go home, if she wanted, as that wasn’t an option Velia was all that enthused about.

<Saige> Giving a soft frown, she glanced to the woman's watch as well, nodding lightly. It was starting to get earlier, and the closer to the sunrise it got, the more tired she felt. She hummed a bit lightly as Velia's lips grazed her cheek; she sighed out the rest of her breath and moved to stand up. She hated that she had to slip away from Velia, and even then, she really didn't want to go inside. She really did miss the sun, even if it meant getting burns, she found she just never could stay awake long enough to even see it. And in that she brought the back of her hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn, smacking her lips a couple times before blinking brightly at Velia as she stepped to the side to give the woman enough room to stand as well. "Oh, excuse me. I don't know why I get so tired so easily..." She frowned then, thinking about the club and her half a mental breakdown. Suddenly she found reason as to why she was overcome with tiredness.

<Velia> It wasn’t long before Velia was up to, curling her arm around Saige. “I have tons of shorts and t-shirts if you want? Instead of sleeping in your clothes again?” They’d probably be a bit big on the other woman, but she was sure there would be something in her closet or drawers that wouldn’t be too overly big, at least. Then again, maybe Saige would get freaked out at the assumption that she’d be staying and take off.

<Saige> Leaning against Velia, bringing a hand up to the other's stomach to steady herself, she nodded with another yawn. "That'd be good. Yet again, I don't think I'd make it home before passing out. The ordeal earlier really... drained me." She nudged them towards the door. She found her knees were weak still from the memories of the ordeal, and she tucked herself more against Velia as she struggled not to whimper at the vivid images that flashed through her mind.

<Velia> “It’s okay… let’s get you inside.” The reminder of the night’s events did nothing good for Velia’s mood. She moved in front of Saige, getting to the door to the house first and leading her inside. As soon as the door was closed the familiar sound of the window shutters coming down filled the house. It meant there was roughly an hour before the sun would rise, give or take. Turning, Velia moved her hand to cup Saige’s cheek. “Do you need some blood? I could bring you up some while you go check to see if you can find something to wear?”

<Saige> As she was led inside, she couldn't help but to think about how much Velia showed she cared. Even if the woman couldn't come up with what it was exactly that she wanted to know about Saige, she certainly showed that she did care. And that made Saige smile, just before jumping softly at the noise of the house closing itself off from the impending sunlight. She licked over her lips absentmindedly, leaning into the hand at her cheek before nodding tiredly. "I'd like that." She admitted, letting her eyes drift closed for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she opened them again only to stare gently at Velia. The woman was gorgeous, and she couldn't help but to smile at her before she took her cue to head upstairs, sliding from Velia's welcomed hand at her cheek slowly.

<Velia> As much as she dreaded the parting, Velia’s hunger had been getting increasingly worse since they’d made it back to her home. She was always careful to make sure she was well fed; not trusting what would happen if she became starved. Images of the feral vampires she’d seen and killed bombarded her mind as she hurried over to the fridge. She didn’t bother grabbing a cup of any sort, simply tore through the bags with her teeth and drank from them directly. She was in no frame of mind to think about what she was doing or get caught up in it.

Once she no longer felt the hunger clawing at her she leaned against the counter, taking an unneeded breath before grabbing yet another blood pack which she poured into a clear glass. Saige’s comments earlier in the evening made Velia think the red cups were unnecessary and that maybe Saige would prefer a regular glass. Before heading upstairs with the glass she quickly dropped the empty plastic containers into the garbage can, not wanting to have to clean up the next night after it had had hours to set.

<Saige> Making her way up the stairs slowly, she heard the fridge open before she scoffed another yawn. She started stripping almost immediately, clearly her tiredness getting the best of her as she dropped her shirt to the floor on her way to the bedroom. She shook her head lightly before silently thanking the fact that she had stored a spare scrunchie on her wrist after taking her shower in the Altaire apartment earlier, and in doing so she reached up and pulled her hair back to put it up as she crossed to the dresser and pulled open the drawers one at a time.
She found a pair of comfortable enough looking tan shorts to sleep in, and tossed them over her shoulder before making her way over to the closet for a tee, not even bothering shutting the dresser drawers that she had opened in her search for sleepwear. Pulling off a dark green plain shirt from a hanger, she crossed to the bed and removed her bra only to drop that on the floor as well, tugging the shirt over her head and pushing her arms through the designated holes after dropping the shorts to the bed. Once she straightened out the shirt that was long enough she was sure she could wear just that to bed, she smiled gently and changed out of her pants into the shorts she had chosen. They came down to just above her knees, and she slowly turned to sit on the edge of the bed and roll them up twice comfortably.

<Velia> Before heading upstairs Velia took a quick detour to make sure the mechanical lock on the door was set and then began shutting lights off that had been left on previously. Once all was dark and secure she started up the stairs, hesitating momentarily at the sight of the discarded shirt on the floor. She stood there, just kind of looking at it. She’d sent Saige up to get changed, but somehow seeing the shirt laying there on her floor made it all seem real causing her to sway slightly on her feet.

Shaking it off, Velia continued her journey to her bedroom in time to see Saige rolling the shorts she’d chosen. Her eyes lingered briefly on the rest of the discarded clothes before she took the few steps necessary to hand Saige the glass she’d poured for her. “Here you go, Angel.”

<Saige> Saige looked up at Velia's words, not a moment before as she had her tired eyes shut while she was rolling the thin fabric between her fingers. She smiled tiredly, and took the glass, clearing her throat before tipping the glass back and taking several swigs. She let out the air that was in her lungs after holding the glass in her lap, sheepishly looking over to Velia as she wiped her lips with the backs of curled fingers lightly. "Sorry, I didn't realize how thirsty I was till just then." She admitted, drawing another breath to reassure herself that all was right before she would take her slumber. "Thank you.... Velia." She looked over to lock her hues on the woman's grey eyes once again, "For everything."

<Velia> “You’re welcome.” She smiled before moving around to the other side of the bed, sitting on the edge and bending down to take off the boots one at a time, dropping them down onto the floor with a thud. She wiggled her toes as her feet were freed before standing up and making her way over to her dresser, grabbing a pair of shorts from the bottom drawer, which was already open, and a tank top from the top drawer.

She froze, again, a part of her wanting to go hide in the closet as she changed or maybe even out in to the other room. She didn’t, though. Instead, she set the clean clothes on the top of her dresser and slid out of her shirt, bra and pants while keeping her back to the bed. She wasted no time at all in putting the tank top and shorts on, the feeling of being exposed making her uneasy. Just as Saige had done, she left her clothes where they had fallen and made her way over to the bed, slipping under the covers on the opposite side of Saige.

<Saige> Watching with her ocean blue hues, Saige followed Velia till the woman was bent over sitting on the edge of the bed removing her footwear, and then she drifted her tired eyes back to the glass of blood that she had already drained half way through. It was red, but not a dark red like it had just come from a wound. More like a brighter, slightly more vibrant red, and Saige liked it. She smiled gently and tipped her glass back up to her lips, just in time for her eyes to glance over and see Velia changing right in front of her dresser.

Saige choked on her blood, though she managed to swallow what little bit she had left in her mouth, blinking and then immediately averting her eyes down and off to the side as she allowed Velia to change in her own half-privacy. Saige blushed, having caught the woman's full back tattoo, seeing that much skin making her feel odd, like she had seen too much of something she wasn't supposed to. She tipped back the glass of blood again, finishing it off with a satisfied sigh; she pursed her lips as she looked around for a place to set the glass that would be acceptable.

"I... uhm... where...?" She seemed even too tired to simply come out with a complete coherent sentence, though she made it obvious what she wanted to say as she waved the empty glass gently in the air and looked over to Velia who was already in the bed.

<Velia> Reaching over, Velia took the empty glass from Saige and slid it onto the bedside table that was on her side. “It’ll be fine there for the day…” If it had have been just her she probably would have run it downstairs and washed it before settling down for the day, but she couldn’t find it in herself to go back downstairs just now. “Lay down before you pass out, Angel.” Was what she said, though she was really thinking before I chicken out and go sleep on the couch again.

<Saige> Saige blinked. She almost said, 'are you sure,' but refrained. She was so tired anyways, that Velia was right - if she didn't lay down soon she was most certainly going to pass out sitting up. So she shifted and scooted under the covers after kicking her shoes off, slipping to instantly skooch up against Velia and slip a knee just barely between the others. She nuzzled up under Velia's jaw and pressed a kiss to under the woman's chin. "So tired..." She mumbled, sighing and wrapping her fingers on the woman’s shirt at her stomach, as if to tug her closer to no avail.

<Velia> This was all new to Velia. She wasn’t completely inexperienced of course, but she’d definitely never been in something involved enough to know what it felt like to have another person laying next to her like this. If Saige hadn’t had a hold of her like she did, Velia would have most likely bolted. She hadn’t thought this would be any different than laying with the woman on the couch or swing had been, but it was so much more. Even though she was still very much overwhelmed by it all, she moved her arm to curl it around Saige. She didn’t say anything – wasn’t sure she could speak, really. She could feel the growing need to close her eyes and sleep but her eyes were locked on the ceiling as if it could give her the answers or some sort of comfort to the intense feelings running through her.

<Saige> Her grip loosened almost immediately as she passed out, there in Velia's arms, her head tipping down gently to press her face into Velia's upper chest gently. She drew another deep breath and held it subconsciously, resting lightly against Velia as she laid there sleeping. If Velia had attempted to send her home she most likely would have passed out in the middle of the street, not able to make it due to being so overwhelming exhausted what with the events of the day, as well as the fact that the sun was coming up. And Saige couldn't understand why she always got so tired from the sun, but tonight she didn't need to worry about it as Velia had taken care of her yet again. She knew she was lucky to have Velia, and she mumbled lightly in her sleep.

<Velia> Eventually, Velia succumbed to the same power that Saige had. The sun’s effect wasn’t nearly as strong on her as it seemed to be on Saige, but she’d yet to manage to stay awake much past sunrise. She’d tried, of course, but it always ended the same. This night was no different. One minute she was staring up at her ceiling, trying to work through her thoughts and feelings – the next she was asleep as if her mind hadn’t had anything pressing going on to keep her from sleeping.