Cyprus couldn't help but be surprised. That sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen to full bloods, though he supposed it was lucky that Bryce had gotten a few years of instruction before his sire dipped. "Thought your type was a little more careful with their fledglings, but I guess everyone has a few deadbeats around. At least you've got a handle on things, right?" He took a sip of his drink, doing his best to politely ignore Bryce's newfound bitterness. "You're not gonna try to walk around when it's sunny or anything, that's all that really matters."
Bryce shrugged, letting out a dry laugh, "You're not the only one who thought that. But hey, what can you do now?" He shook his head to himself, finishing off his drink before pushing the empty glass towards Cyprus, "Thanks for the drinks, but speaking of the sun I should be getting home before I crumble into a pile on the side of the road. And I'd like to live another day."
Cyprus took the glass but he didn't do anything with it just yet, preferring to look over at Bryce instead. "Let me walk you, kid." It was getting awfully close to light, the sky that delicate shade of purple blue that came right before sunrise. Cyprus could at least toss a jacket over Bryce if he started looking a bit crispy. "It's too close to morning for me to send you out without making sure you get home safe."
As Bryce was moving off the chair, adjusting his jacket as he stopped, glancing back to Cyrpus, "Really? You'd do that?" He moved off the chair, stuffing a hand into his pocket, "Thanks, though, but I'll be fine. Made it before and I'm sure I'll make it again. Don't worry about it. Besides, why'd you wanna help a full vamp like myself?"
Cyprus slipped out from behind the counter, hands shoved into the pockets of his own jacket. "C'mon, kid. Oblige me for a couple minutes." He idled by Bryce's side, cocking his head with a playful smile. "Forest isn't too far from here anyways, it's not like it's gonna eat up my entire night. And think of it as me fulfilling my hero complex, no blood involved."
Bryce raised a brow, giving Cyprus a once over before he shrugged. One walk couldn't hurt, right? And maybe having someone there to make sure nothing bad would happen would be good. He rolled his eyes with a small smile, turning his head away as he walked towards the door to hide it, "Fine, as long as you can keep up then, old man."
Cyprus rolled his eyes and shooed Bryce out into the street so he could lock up. As always it was quick, and soon they were off again. "Can't believe I never realized there was another vamp so close so my house. Normally I'm more aware of that stuff." He was thinking aloud, more to fill the silence than out of expectation for any kind of answer. "When did you move in?"
Bryce, who had been looking towards the horizon with a slightly nervous look on his face, turned back to Cyprus when the question was asking. He hummed softly before he answered, "Uh… can't really remember? I had a place before I was turned but after that I wanted to get away from it all so I found this old abandoned place and did it up a bit." It had taken months to do so, the amount of effort he'd put into his place was probably the most he'd ever done.
"Didn't peg you for a handyman." Now that they were moving Cyprus walked fast, glancing from Bryce to the sky with a small frown. His fingers were tapping together in his pockets, nervous. "Surprised you put so much effort in, honestly. I thought Toreador were supposed to be… high maintenance." Honestly, he'd pretty much pegged Bryce for a party boy the second he walked through the door, but the illusion was slowly starting to fall apart. The kid was cocky, sure, but not entitled.
"Hey, I like to live in luxury." The place was nice. Exactly how he wanted it and perfect for hosting parties. Sure, it took a while to clean up afterwards, but man they had been worth it, "And it's exactly how I want it, why not get my hands dirty once and a while if it means living the best life I can." However the thought of not being able to see his gorgeous house again was at the forefront of his mind with the steadily rising sun. They had to make it, right?
They were getting close to the suburb, treetops barely peeking out behind the cookie cutter houses that lined the street. Most of them were empty, paint chipped and roofs missing shingles. The sun was right on the verge of rising, the dawn quickly slipping into full on day. "I suppose I can see the utility in that. Just out of curiosity, how far away is your house?" His voice lifted a little near the ed of the question, tight with nervousness.
Bryce bit his lip. His own anxiousness was radiating off him like waves as he tried to stick to the shadows of the street, even though it was slowly becoming harder, "About fifteen minutes… we should be fine if we reach the forest, though, more coverage there…" They'd be fine. He'd be fine. They'd make it in time, even if they were really cutting it close now.
"Yeah." Cyprus stripped off his jacket, offered it to Bryce without even glancing at the Toreador. "But… the forest is still pretty sparse, yeah? Especially at the fringes." His house was about five minutes from here. Pretty good odds that they could get inside before the sun was up. Better than they'd get heading to Bryce's house. He steered them off to the left slightly, decision made. "How would you feel about spending a little more time with me?"
Bryce gladly took the jacket without a second thought, placing it over his head for more cover from that blasted sun. It was times like these where he wished he was a thin-blood, "I don't exactly have a choice, do I?" He followed Cyprus, sticking close to his side as they veered off course, one he didn't know all too well, "Spending time with a man I don't even know the name of, not how I thought I'd spend my morning."
Eventually Cyprus looped an arm through Bryce's so he could tow the full blood along, closer to a light jog than a walk at this point. "Not exactly how I thought I'd be spending mine either. And the name's Cyprus." They hooked a sharp left on a pleasant looking street. "Cyprus Yanovitch." They sped past houses, each one as shabby as the last until they came across one that was painted a pale robin's egg blue. He pushed Bryce up to the door where it was shaded so he could look around the front yard for the fake rock he hid his key under. "What's yours?"
Being dragged along wasn't exactly what he wanted, however Bryce didn't protest. Especially when he was pushed under the cover of the porch and out of the sunlight. His shoulders sagged a little as he rested against the wall next to the door, closing his eyes with a slightly amused smile, "Bryce. Bryce Aldin. A pleasure to meet you, Cyprus." And thanks for practically saving my life this morning and not being an asshole.
"Pleasure to meet you too." He grinned as he found the right rock, holding the key aloft for a few seconds before he remembered himself. It was quick work, getting Bryce inside and settled on the couch. His house was nice, if a little boring. Off grey couch, dented wood coffee table, beige walls. He'd been living here for five years and he still hadn't quite gotten around to decorating anything except his room. "I've got some blood bags in the fridge if you're hungry. Not sure how much they'll do for you though, I know your kind needs a little more to get by."
Bryce took in the house for a moment before he rested his head back against the seat, releasing a breath and closing his eyes once again. The house was.. not quite the white marble and water features of his own but nice in its own right, he supposed. He didn't comment on it, "Yeah, one of those would be fantastic right now," He mumbled, rubbing at his face with both hands, "Hopefully it'll be enough and if not I can just sleep the rest of the hunger off until tonight." Then he could find someone to feed from and be satisfied.
It was a fairly open floor plan, half a wall dividing the kitchen from the living room. After a few seconds of rifling through he fridge Cyprus tossed Bryce a pair of blood bags, taking one for his own. He was running low, he'd have to hit up the blood bank again soon. "Whatever, just don't freak out anyone in the neighborhood. And don't get all bitey on me either, I won't hesitate to break your jaw if you try to steal a drink."
The Toreador snorted, taking the bags gladly, "I'm not dumb enough to try my luck there. I'd rather not bruise up this beautiful face anytime soon." He opened one of the bags, placing the other in his lap as he started to drink. The overwhelming since of hunger slowly started to fade away as he did so. He realised it had been longer then he thought since he'd last drank, too caught up in the alcohol from last night to even notice it. Oh well, he was better now, grateful that Cyprus had the bags handy.
Cyprus drained his back quickly. He'd never been the biggest fan of bagged blood—it always tasted off somehow, like metal coating his tongue—but it was at least better than having to hunt and drain an actual person. He snorted quietly at the comment, tossing the plastic casing in the trash. "Yeah, yeah, don't get all cocky on me. You're cute but you're not that cute." He stripped off his holster and tossed it on the table and then, after a few seconds of hesitation, pulled the knives out of his boots too. "Feel free to make yourself at home too, spare room's down the hall. First door on the left."
"Aw you think I'm cute?" He cooed, going back to draining the first bag before starting on the second. Bryce didn't know if it was just because he was a full blood or not, but it didn't matter where the blood had come from, bagged or other, it had always tasted good to him, even the tangy taste bagged blood had, "How sweet of you. You're not too bad yourself, even with the grey hairs." He noted all the weapons Cyprus had pulled out and made a note to not piss him off anytime soon, especially now he was staying here for a little bit.
"Well I'm not blind." He rolled his shoulders, muscles flexing beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. It wasn't quite cold enough to layer on flannels yet, much to his dismay. "Anyone would think you're cute." He ran a hand through his hair when Bryce brought it up, a tad self conscious, and then covered the movement by yanking off his boots. "And you don't need to return the compliment if you don't want to, y'know. I get that I'm old."
"I'm being serious there, you know," Bryce replied, finishing his second bag and placing the empty packets of plastic on the coffee table, "Honestly, you are pretty good looking, it isn't just a compliment for compliment for compliment thing that most people these days expect." He waved a hand idly before moving to take off his own shoes, the dull ache in his heel from being on his feet all night starting to show.
Cyprus hummed, skepticism clear in his tone, and made his way over to the couch. "Whatever you say, Aldin." He reached up again, rolling a lock of grey hair between his fingers. It'd go all grey soon, maybe even white, and then he'd look even more ridiculous than he already did. "You don't need to be all polite with me. I'm not going to toss you out into the sun, I'm not some monster."
