บท 11: Chapter 10

I almost want to clean my ears after that answer.

"L-live? With you? How so?" I ask, taken back once more, but he soon says, possibly in response to my negative feedback and hesitation:

"Oh, well, not exactly with me, I mean, kind of, but close by uhm... Right, you see, this mansion is the foundation of this city, being the first building ever made in this area, so on contrary to the tall buildings around it actually has a lot of ground level terrain, and that includes the part we are at, the mansion for the government and high vampire class, the visiting area for tourism that holds our story in a museum, and the living facilities back inside the forest, and part of that has some cabins scattered about but only a few can live there since it is the most secure place to be, and you are one of those! And a dangerous specimen like yourself needs to have a little more… " So is like a safe place for important people to hide at while being just beside the white house of this place? Is that much really necessary?

"W-wait a second." I say before he goes on and on about it. "Why do I need to live with you? I have my own place and my things are there and-"

"Oh, don't worry, we already moved your things here, and you will not exactly be living with me, we will only be sharing the same place that's all!" Isn't that the same thing?! And shouldn't you be a little more resistant to the idea? Because I'm very much so against having to share the same roof with a strange vampire, even though having the chance to gaze at his broad shoulder and wavy hair more often doesn't sound that bad at all, and the place I rented was more shitty than I thought it would be at first, and-

No no no, I can't be tempted like this, no matter the monetary benefits, nor the promises of being under the protection by such sexy smug vampire, nor the opportunity of having a close in with a supernatural creature of my interest that I would be able to have, free to study him to the smallest details and-

…Ok, I may be convincing myself at this point.

"B-but why do we need to live together?"

"For your protection of course." My protection uhm… right…

"But you could that in another house? Or two apartments side by side?"

"Well, I'm good, but I'm not that good, and I rather not risk it, I may be able to hear you just fine but getting to you may be a different story, seconds can cost everything and-" He keeps talking but I'm still not convinced because I think all of this is a little exaggerated.

I see some reasoning in his words I guess…but still I think it is a little overboard, is not like a group of gangsters are after me, and if I'm careful about not hurting myself I'm sure no one will even find out, so it still does not sit right with me.

"I still think it is a little too much, I don't want to trouble you like this…" And I still cut between thinking that having him so close for so long like this may be the worst or the greatest idea ever.

Brain and heart, can we come to an agreement already? You two are making me even more jittery like this.

He notices it my state of mind, of course, I bet there is not much that passes by his sharp senses and intense vampire gaze, even more when he is able to even tell the intensity of my blood flow at this distance, so as I get nervous at the prospective he seems a little disappointed with it, but as he looks down to the floor then back at me I understand why:

"But the thing is that… This is the wish of the Vampire Lord and we may get in trouble if we go against it… even more at times like this, when our city is prospering and finally been able to receive humans in a friendly manner, all could be destroyed if we don't prove to be capable of keeping things under control… what to do now…" His words make me realize just how much more is at stake here, is not just my own wishes nor security, but the image the city passes to the outside world and to the other races, and if something were to happen to me it would be all over the news.

And all would be finish, not only the tourism, but all attempts of being friendly and part of human society, all would halt if this place cannot guarantee the security of its visitors.

Nothing worst than violence to promote a place right?

And there is that too, if it matters this much then of course the Vampire Lord would be involved and very interested in the subject, and going against him may be troublesome for the vampire in front of me too, especially since the other must be the strongest and more ancient of his kin around, and they tend to be a little bit… tricky to deal with, especially when it comes to disagreements like this.

If old people already tend to be hard headed and stubborn, I can only imagine how such a hundreds of years old creature may be, and the idea of a very fierce strict lord of the old days comes to mind.

I look up to the vampire in front of me with other eyes, understanding more the complicated situation he is at, with a job that I bet must be truly boring and annoying for him to get, and yet impossible to be avoided since the Vampire Lord himself lay the responsibly on him like this, and beyond all that there is still me being difficult and making things harder to him by complaining.

And I won't deny it, part of me felt for him for being bossed around like this hits too close from home, so I sigh while saying:

"Sorry that I did not understand your situation before and still keep complaining about it…" He seems a little taken back by my apology, but I keep talking since something comes to mind: "Come to think of it I still don't know your name, do I?"

His eyes flash with a new light and he seems rather excited with my question, probably relieved with my change in behavior as I try to cooperate more with this only-doing-his-job vampire, and keep it professional while he answers my question:

"My name is… Lucien Boudreaux mon chéri, but please, you can call me whatever you want..."

"I-I see, mister Boudreaux …" French now? That is an interesting fact that occurs with some humans too, when they get too excited they tend you let some misshapen like this pass, so I may say that French is his first language perhaps?

But coming from such a vampire, it would not surprise me if he just used that language to entice his prey more…

And yet seeing him happy like this by me merely showing some sort of agreement makes me glad, if not a little taken back by his courteous behavior, but figuring it must be something akin to his kin's way of doing things and considering it to be a cultural difference, I end up agreeing to his request and moving in to the safe house at the secured area at the back of this mansion.

Only that I would discover just how wrong I was about his lack of interest in me… because hell he wasn't just doing his job at all.

He smiles at me, as if satisfied with the outcome of our conversation, and finish it by saying:

"Please mon chéri… just Lucien is fine, no need to be formal with me now, we will be sharing a house after all."