Path of the Vampire forum

A long day left her with little patience. Beneath her skin, the frustration she felt surfaced as an itch she couldn’t scratch. A run might have been a wiser choice to appease the intangible constriction she felt, but the sky was darkening and the clouds promised deluge. A drink was a far more appealing option. The unfamiliarity coupled with the warm colours of its exterior lured her away form the cool weather and into the warm dining hall of the Valencian restaurant. She had spent most her day off weaving through busy subway stations and unappealing neighbourhood in search of a new home. The scowl on her face was proof she hadn’t yet found a suitable living arrangement. Life at the hostel was becoming unbearable, and to return there simply wasn’t an option.

Already on her second sangria, Charlie raked a hand through her hair and looked at the specials’ blackboard for the nth time. The prices were steep, above her budget, and while she wished to throw caution to the wind and please herself for a change, the possibility of her finding an apartment tomorrow and being unable to meet the bond requirements because she’d dropped too much on a fancy meal... well, it made her struggle with the decision. At this rate, on an empty stomach, she should’ve begun to relax, but the amount of stress she felt regarding her circumstance would require much, much more. A meal wouldn’t hurt the bank, especially when she realised her last meal had been over 12 hours ago, after her shift earlier that morning.

Resigned to her indecisiveness, the blonde hunched over her second glass of alcohol and did her best to distract herself by taking in her surroundings. She glanced around the tables that had already been served to gauge whether she should pay for her drinks or get one free by eating something—anything. Having now realised that she’d gone without food for the day, her stomach voiced its complaints.

“Paella?”

Her Scottish accent distorted the word, and through no fault of her own made a mockery of his thick accent. A glance at the specials’ board elicited fleeting clarification. Yes, she vaguely recalled overhearing the conversation he’d had with the waitress, though she’d paid little to mind to it.

It was a dish—a special—and he wanted to split it, with her?
Her brow furrowed. People were not warm in this city, and it was the first time since her arrival that she’d been so forwardly approached without malicious intent or tangible aggression. Her fingers shifted along the stem of her glass as she turned towards him to get a better look at him.

“That's the yellow rice with the shellfish, aye?”

Rice, as all backpackers knew, was a filling alternative to noodles.

Charlie failed to repress the grin elicited by his mock reprimand. The ends of her mouth tipped upwards involuntarily as he spoke, and only a slow sip of sangria managed to keep her features in check.

Setting the glass back down, she processed the lesson with as close to a neutral expression as she could muster. She knew little about Spain beyond its existence as a popular holiday spot to thousands of Britons, home of Ibiza, and a notable nation in European history, of which she remembered very little. It was a sweet and simple story that required no more than a fraction of her mental processes to indulge in, rendering it a welcome distraction.

Her lips pursed briefly as he restated his... Offer? Invitation? Suggestion? Shifting in her seat, she gave him, and the space immediately behind him, a thorough second look. It was a woman’s duty in this day and age to take precautions, for society was far too eager to blame her if she was too trusting and became a victim. The restaurant was crowded, perhaps more than was ideal, but it remained a public place.

“Once you get me talking I won’t shut up, mate,” she warned amiably, turning fully on her stool to face him, “Not even when my mouth’s full.”

If her answer was lost to subtext then the gathering of her glass and steady slide off the stool would be indication enough. Charlie outstretched her free hand towards him, introduction short and sweet.

“Charlie.”