"I hope so." She shrugged and wrote on the magnetic note pad on the fridge Raspberry Jam. She then turned around. "Vampires die by the sunlight, general hurt of the head and garlic. And holy wood stakes. Luckily I'm wiccan and not a big fan of garlic or else you'd be royally buttfucked. Anyways. We'll do the very first sky dive at 6 am. The sun will just be beginning to rise so we'll be racing time. So then there's actually death on the line."
Menek nodded profusely along with her words, more excited and exaggerated as she went on. He turned with her, keeping his station by the door as she moved.
“Sounds absolutely flawless,” he said, and truly meant it, although the statement held the slight pang of sarcasm. It took a lot to get Menek excited these days, considering there were many things he had witnessed in a lifetime. With the exception of a few situations..
He shook his head, for some reason still holding the spoon in his hand along with the crackers, and blinked slowly.
“Ok, sunlight? Now we’re talking—,” he cut himself off by a sudden realization. “Wait— ‘we?’ You don’t mean to tell me you’re doing this with me, right? You’re a human. A small human with a little frail human life that can’t be endangered? Or am I missing something?”
"Nope. You know me I'm an adrenaline junkie. If I die I die. You'll be fiiiine without me. And if I live? Great. Another cool as fuck story to tell my friends." She shrugged. "I'll be fine Snow White, don't worry about it." Evelyn had taken his pastiness to a whole new level, having a bajillion nicknames just for him. She knew it annoyed him but she didn't care. What could he do anyways. "Besides I've always wanted to do so. Also if I freeze up you have full permission to just push me off." She nodded and nabbed her phone. "But again all of this is next weekend. This weekend we hit the Fair and see how many rollercoasters it takes us to puke."
“Huh,” Menek mumbled, nodding along to her words as he waved a cracker in unison. “If you’re as much of an adrenaline junkie as you say, you should have ridden the roller coasters in 1884. Unstable little suckers, those things. They used to have one called ‘Deathstroke,’ back in the 90’s. Let’s just say the thing kept true to it’s name. Nowadays, the coasters are much too safe.”
Menek paused, preening his nails for a moment before glancing back up to Evelyn. “Ah— But— thank you. For accompanying me. And I know it’s because ‘you’re doing it cuz you wanna’ and ‘it’s not for me, it’s for fun,’ but I’m glad I have someone to… nearly die with. Comforting in an odd way, no?”
"I'll take it. If we die we die together. Besides I'd hate to spend the afterlife without you. It'd be booooring. No one to piss off." She laughed and reached over,. booping him with her index finger. "And fine. No fair then. I'd like to go but if it ain't scaring the shit outta you then it ain't fun. And no haunted houses or anything which is good. Fucking hate those suckers." She shrugged and sat on the counter trying to think. "Anything else you haven't done?"
“Yes,” Menek muttered absently, closing his eyes briefly. “Bungee jumping, of course. I’ve never been a few places, but that isn’t really a ‘close to death’ experience… I’ve never been wingwalking, which looks pretty much terrifying, and zip-lining is also an absence. I know that’s less near-death than wingwalking, but hey— looks fun regardless.”
He crinkled his nose as Ev poked him, passively swatting her hand away and continuing.
“I-I’ve also never..,” he began, blood flushing to his cheeks lightly. Although, against his pale skin, it was extremely noticeable. “..Y’know….” He waved around his hand as if to fill in the blanks.
Despite being vague, he continued on without any explanation.
“But— then again— I have a very loose definition of ‘thrilling,’” he said, pushing up his glasses. “What gets your heart racing, nowadays?”
"You've never…oh yeah. Never dated someone because you don't want the heartbreak of watching your whole lineage die around you while you stay alive. I get that." She nodded. "I'd love to do wing walking, and I bet we can find a place to go zip lining. That should be easy. Do keep in mind I'm a mortal who hasn't been around Jesus was still alive, so roller coasters, streaking, and going way too fast in cars down the freeway at 3 am. Uhhhm running from the cops half drunk and sometimes half naked after a party. Oh what else…" She tapped her chin with her finger. "Hmmm…oh! We could definitely do some of the REALLY stupid shit me and my siblings would do. One summer we tied two jump ropes together, tied me to one end and the other end to a bike. I had a pair of roller blades and a scooter, and my brother peddled his fastest down hill. I went flying a few times. It was fun. No protective gear either."
Menek let out a small sigh, tossing the crackers onto the kitchen counter before walking over and hopping up on it, crossing his legs. He leaned over, glancing to Ev before stretching out his arms and smiling.
“Yeah, that all sounds fun,” he admitted, kicking his legs back and forth like a child. “I never got to do that kinda stuff. Pretty much my whole childhood was learning how to hunt and… stuff. But I did play a game with my brother, once… What was it called? W-Water, something? One of us’d stand in the middle of the river while the other threw pebbles, and you’d have to dodge them all with the water hindering your movements. Never could play after I was turned, though. Y’know, the whole ‘running water’ thing.”
He took off his glasses, beginning to clean them with the edge of his shirt.
“But that all sounds hilariously fun. Although I’m not entirely sure why the majority of them include an absence of clothing.”
"Because I'm an avid nudest whose sexually active. You know that. I walk around shirtless and braless here all the time." She shrugged and put her head on his shoulder. "I promise it'll be fun for sure. Make your stomach do back flips for sure. And if you see anything you wanna do. Let me know. You gotta have someone sorta kinda experienced in this by your side, or else you'll ACTUALLY die. And we don't want that."
“You know I can’t actually die, right?” he mumbled, cocking his head to the side. “I just… disintegrate into mist and wake up 24 hours later…”
He slowly slipped his glasses back on, leaning into Ev affectionately. “But thanks, regardless. It’ll probably be fun to be stupid, huh? It’s been a while since I had alcohol, maybe that can come into play. Of course, with a super fast metabolism, in order to actually get wasted, I’m gonna need a whole lot more than a few bottles. Or shots, or whatever.”
He glanced down to the woman, raising an eyebrow. “Unless you suggest we do these things sober?”
"I suggest we do these things sober so you can remember. Besides alcohol and weed slows down your reaction time to things. It would slow down the adrenaline rush, and the fear factor. Hey, how come you live forever? Most vampires like die forever die at sunlight. Well according to most consumable media, if we ignore Twilight which is a disgusting franchise." She shook her head.
“Agreed, a very disgusting franchise. I was on team Jacob.”
Menek teetered his head, pursing his lips as he thought.
“And yeah, contrary to popular belief, we just get reincarnated in our coffin within, like, a full day. There are only certain exceptions, but all have to be carried out by other people. And I really just think it’s selfish to ask people to take my life, y’know? Also like it’s selfish to turn people into vampires in order to live the rest of our lives together. Unless I find someone dedicated enough to actually want to be one, and know the risks, I swear I’m just going to skate through life alone, picking up people as I go and dropping them off. I’m like a subway train, except I never see them when they come back home.”
"Okay dude that's depressing and I'm sorry. Luckily you ain't getting rid of me till I'm old and wrinkly, so. I'm in for a long ride. Which is fine I ain't complaining. Because home is here with you. Better get used to it." She grinned and booped him again with her finger and then hopped off the counter and stretched. "Since we aren't hitting the fair this weekend, what can we do?"
“Wonderful,” Menek replied, rolling his eyes as she poked him. He waved his hand again, pawing her away.
“And I have no clue what we can do,” he said lightly, watching from his perch as she stretched. “You’re the expert on human lives, here— considering you have one. What gets your heart racing? Makes you breathe all heavy and see all fuzzy? Get that dose of sweet, sweet adrenaline?”
"Honestly? Sex. Buuuut you're a bajillion year old virgin,I mean unless you WANT to hit a strip club but you obviously don't mean that. Know what. Fuck it. We're going tomorrow night and that's just that. I love the faire. It may be too safe but it's still tons of fun. And why not go?"
“I hate that you’re right,” he muttered, squinting. “And sure, why not go. It’ll be a fun way to pass the time regardless.”
He then glanced over, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “And hey, I mean unless you WANT me to hit up a strip club..”
It was an honest joke but the situation still vaguely intrigued him, and his words came out less smooth than he truly intended. In an absent motion, he brushed his white hair aside, sliding slowly down from the countertop.
"I'd take you but your first time should be special with someone you love. Not some cheap whore who just wants your extra thick wallet. And I don't think you'd ever fit into a place like that. Which is fine." Suddenly there was a low rumble of thunder and it began to rain. Evelyn immediately headed over to the window and sat on the windowsill after opening it, and watched it begin to pour. "A good day for hot tea, cuddles,and a movie. Sadly I'm surprisingly single. Left the last guy,was already texting other girls after not even a week. Asshole." She shook her head.
“Yeah,” Menek muttered, dramatically leaning up against the counter as his back cracked. With a few more stretches, the rest of his creaky joints followed suit. While he held the appearance of a young man, he really didn’t feel like one.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it,” he continued, adjusting his glasses once more. “And I’m glad you left him. He really sucked. And I’d offer you my cuddles but it would probably be as comfortable as hugging a metal cooler.”
He walked over to where Evelyn sat on the window, putting his hands in his pockets and letting out a diminutive sigh.
“But— I guess we can be utterly single together. There’s some kind of unity in loneliness. The only difference is that you probably won’t stay this way. You know how to hook a guy pretty well, I’d assume.”
"Only if they're easy. Anything substantial is a different matter, as in I'd actually have to be good and easy to handle and no one wants to date someone like that." She put her head on his shoulder. "And cuddling me is like hugging a blunt knife, let's be honest here. I'm used to the fact that you're like always freezing. You're dead. Sorta." She shrugged. "Whatever works."
“Yeah. Though, I really never would take a human as someone who would want to hug a corpse filled with never-melting ice. But whatever,” he muttered, glancing down to his shoulder where she rested her head. He gave a slight smile, flicking his eyes back to the rain-covered window. The cloud cover above was enough to the point where he probably wouldn’t internally combust if he went outside, and Menek was actually a huge fan of cold weather. No surprise there.
“I have to go to work here in, like, half hour,” he muttered, thankful that he could finally hold an umbrella over him and no one would question it. “Wanna come with? We got a new shipment of books in that you might like. Maybe. If not, we got coffee, and I can slip you another free cup.”
"One. Coffee is gross. And two. Maybe later. I think I'm gonna stay in. Changing into less lazy clothes sounds like too much trouble." She got off the windowsill and gave him a hug. "Buuuut if you could bring me back some tea that would be wonderful." She smiled and kissed his nose. She was always just a bit more overly affectionate with him that with anyone else. Maybe that was closeness, maybe it was flirting. The world would never know.
Menek never forgot how warm humans were, but somehow, it always surprised him. He also never necessarily learned how to hug people back, so he was stuck in a sort of awkward limbo with Ev’s affection.
“Yeah, yeah,” he replied, wrinkling his nose and shaking his head slightly— like a puppy who had just been booped. “Don’t count on it, charmer.”
He wriggled out of Ev’s hug respectively, grabbing his coat from the back of a nearby stool and slipping it on. It was slightly oversized, hanging loosely around his hands and waist, and seemed more like an excuse for covering his skin than for keeping him warm.
He slipped back on to one of the stools, picking up his phone. It was an extremely old flip-phone, but “it worked just fine, so why did he need to upgrade?” Alighting the screen was a short notification from a number that hadn’t been in his contacts yet, and only had a simple greeting.
As he would know, it was a woman he met the day prior at Bookmark who had stayed there for a while, talking with him. After their encounter, she had offered her number. Of course, being how dull Menek was, he figured it was just a gesture of friendliness. And, perhaps it was— Keke didn’t know much better.
Evelyn kissed his cheek. "See ya later. Be home before sunset. I'll have breakfast warm and ready when you get back. Now get outta here. Rain will be good for you. Call of you need a ride." A ride was on her motorbike which he didn't like much if she remembered right. "Oh oh! And if they have the newest book in the series I've been waiting on lemme know. Also. Why do you work you're rich as hell?"
“Uhh… I don’t know. I’d get kinda bored sitting here all day with nothing to do,” he muttered absently as he typed into his phone. He flicked it shut, squinting slightly and letting out a somewhat light crooked smile as Evelyn kissed his cheek.
He pushed himself to his feet, shoving his phone and wallet in his pocket before shuffling over to the door, slipping on a pair of darker boots. “Plus, I enjoy it. Caffeine and books, Ev. There is really nothing better.”
"Maybe in your eyes. I guess it's as the old saying goes. If you love your job you'll never truly work a day in your life. But. I've gotta work on writing my first album and the rain brings out the poetry in me so. I'll stay here for today. Don't you still have a half hour before you leave?" She asked as she went into her room and came out with her guitar.