forum All my rps r ded so.... rp with a smol 'vegan' vampire?

Started September 07, 2020 by @Kinarymo

tune

She shook her head as she decided to go into the kitchen with him. ”No. No one really uses those methods anymore. Medicine has come a long way since then. Now we have a gel called Aloe Vera to treat sunburns… but I don't think I’ve ever seen anyone get a serious one like what you showed me.” she told him. ”But I wouldn't be surprised if some of those old remedies inspired some modern treatments.” she added thoughtfully.

Mari hadn't even considered that Damien might not know some of these things because of his lack of contact with his biological father. She had thought that he just might not be sure because of his lack of natural experience with those situations. She nodded a little when he pointed out that he had only been in at least two houses in his lifetime. Though she was relieved that he didn't have to worry about the whole counting thing. ”Ok. That's fine then. What about mirrors? Do you have a reflection?”

Honestly, she did have another reason for asking these questions besides curiosity. If it turned out that he did have some kind of vampiric quirk then she would be able to help protect him or prevent it if she needed to. ”So, you've just never tried shapeshifting then… That doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have it.” she commented thoughtfully. ”Umm, what about flying?” she asked before realizing that he also had a question. ”OCD stands for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. It's a mental problem that can make a person feel like they have to do something.” she explained.

Damien slowly poured the tea in the cups as he listened to her talk, silently wondering what that so called aloe vera was, given the interesting, fantasy like name it had. He slowly pushed one of the cups to her as he sat down on his chair.
Well, maybe you never saw one like that because regular people cant burn as bad" he theorized, trying to take into account the sun sensibility she'd suggested he may have. "It's most certain the old remedies led to new ones, it always does, ever since ancient times - my history books always mention it"

He took a sip of the hot liquid, enough to taste it before putting the cup back on the table.
"Mhm, there's a mirror downstairs, but i rarely use it, other than to check if my clothes fit or for some other reason. I don't really have a fondness of mirrors, since i dont want to see my face." he confessed, lightly turning his head away so that he could hide his face behind his hair again. There was nothing he could pride himself with in his appearance, he was just a scrawny kid with a beat up expression who liked to sink in the always larger clothing - it was this image that kept reminding him why he had been so disliked by the world in the first place.

"Hmmm, i see. Well, i do like to keep things organized so i dont have to look for them later, does that count as OCD?" the boy asked, curious if it was a bad thing.
He let out an awkward chuckle at her question, sipping some more of his tea.
"I wasn't allowed anywhere near a high place, let alone test if i could fly. I'm pretty sure my mother would have gone bonkers if i ever tried. It would be pretty safe to say i never tried that one either."
Honestly, Damien had enough energy just to go about his usual day, do the tasks he needed to, then retreat in the house to rest with a book in hand - at no point in time, did it ever cross his mind to try any of the stuff Mari mentioned. Sure, shapeshifting sounded really complex to him, tho he figured it could be doable if he at least tried, but flying was out of the question - alone as he lived, he couldn't risk getting injured and probably die slowly because no one was there to come help, so no.

Marissa smiled softly as she sat with him at the table, accepting the warm drink. ”That’s possible.” she agreed as she followed his reasoning. ”I’m just glad they stopped using leeches and stuff like that.” she gave an exaggerated shudder at the thought but her smile showed she was joking around.

Taking a sip of the tea, she hummed happily at the flavor before raising a brow at his despondent answer. ”Why not?” she asked softly as she set her cup down. ”You have a very nice face. Boyish, kind, and innocent. In fact, I know some people would find you downright adorable.” she encouraged… Though she wondered if his poor self-image had something to do with that little mark near his eye that he hid under his hair.

”Not necessarily.” she shook her head. ”OCD is more extreme than just being organized. It's an anxiety issue that actually affects your whole lifestyle with unwanted and/or repetitive thoughts that lead to similar actions.” she explained, even though she was not an expert on this matter.

She laughed lightly with him when he mentioned his mom's reaction if he had been caught. ”Ok. Fair enough. Most parents would freak out if they saw their kids in a position like that.” she said, taking another drink. ”Though, if there's a grain of truth in some those myths you might have a slight advantage. Some stories say that vampires are… much more durable, practically invincible, and stronger than humans.” she added, still keeping in mind that he was only half.

Damien appeared to choke a little with his tea at the mentioning of leeches, wheezing softly.
"Yea, leeches were freakin creepy. Not that i ever had to use any" he chuckled, wiping away the few droplets that had drooled to his chin.

"Adorable…?" he repeated, slightly peaking at her with the visible eye. It wasn't a word he'd heard too often, not directed at him at least. He'd received more hurtful words than nice ones in his lifetime, and they'd broken pretty much any positive thought he'd had about himself. Maybe Mari found him to be okay-ish looking, but she wasn't seeing the whole picture of him.
"I just… i got too used to people giving me weird looks whenever they laid eyes on me, so i never really felt like i was a nice thing to look at. And that was even before i got here and… well, got uglier."
He lightly motioned at his hidden side of the face, ashamed he even brought it up. She found him relatively nice looking, showing her the truth might ruin that impression.

"So its not a good thing to have?" he sipped from his cup, trying to imagine how exactly that said condition manifested.

The boy stopped mid sip, looking at her, some of the past dread still readable in his eye, like he was trying to decide if he should answer or just find a way around it, since it led back to one of his larger insecurities.
In the end he decided to try and step over his fear, for the sake of being honest with her.
"Well, i can say that one is somewhat true, at least in my case. I did have a few moments when i got hurt but not nearly as bad as i could have, according to my mom anyway. I never had a broken bone, tho i sometimes fell hard enough that i should have had at least one fracture. And then there was this…"
He pointed at his face again, averting his gaze as he did so.
"Mother said it was a miracle i hadn't died from it, considering how bad it was and all… I guess you could say i was a little more durable than an average person"

Mari nodded, laughing with him once she was sure he was ok after he nearly choked on the tea. ”I know. I can't imagine any sane person coming up with the idea that using those was a good thing.”

”Yeah. Very adorable actually.” she smiled softly at him. She could understand being bullied and having low self-esteem because of it, and poor Damien probably had it worse if the wrong kind of people knew what he was back then. ”It’s not…” she shook her head. ”Damien, you're not ugly. At all. You're very sweet.” she told him, looking at his covered eye for a moment. ”You don't have to tell me what happened cause I can tell it's personal, but it didn't make you worse. Ugliness isn't just how a person looks; it's how they act. And it sounds to me like the people who treated you like that were the ugly ones. They were… superstitious and they let that control their behavior towards you when you don't deserve it.” she said passionately, though there were a few other choice words that came to her mind about those types of people but one of them at least wasn’t appropriate for her to say. But at the very least, she was glad that he had survived whatever hurt him back then.

She admittedly got a little wrapped up in her… speech that she almost forgot he had asked a question. She blushed a little and took a slow sip before looking back up at him. ”Ummm, no. OCD is definitely not a good thing to have.” she answered softly, still a little embarrassed that she had gotten carried away earlier.

"Well, from what i read, people have been using leeches for quite some time, apparently the blood thinning thing actually helped some of the people, so you cant really say they were a bad choice, just a really weird one." he commented, putting down the cup.

Her words resonated in his mind, like a warm shower after being in the cold for very long. This girl actually cared about him enough to try cheer him up and help wherever she could with the broken mess he was, and that just meant the world for him right now. Being the third person in his life to be this nice to him, especially after the long time he'd avoided everyone, left a pleasant impression on him and he wondered if he could trully open up to her about everything.
"I… I didnt know it could work that way… Being pretty, i mean. I always looked at other people thinking they looked nice, even tho they would wanna push me away, but i never thought being ugly run that deep." he admitted, looking in his cup as he reflected on his memories.
"Thank you, for believing that about me. I want to trust you wholeheartedly, but… Im still a little scared sometimes, that you'll go away. That if i show you what im really like you'll change your mind or something to that effect. I dont want to push you away, thats all…"

He continued to look at his drink, only nodding at her comment about OCD, a little relieved to know more about this weirdly named condition.
"Is it contagious tho?"

She looked at him, blinking a couple of times as she took in what he said about leeches before giving a soft laugh. ”Well, that just proves what I know about health care.” she said shaking her head. ”Blood-thinning is still a common treatment for certain issues. Especially where the heart is involved.”

”It doesn't always but it's something that people notice. It’s called inner beauty and it usually affects how people see you based on your actions.” she explained, already wondering if watching the Disney version of Hunchback with him would be a good idea… Though she would have to skip that one song. Mari smiled kindly at his confession. ”You haven't done anything to convince me otherwise and honestly I don't scare easily… At least not by people, horror movies on the other hand. Let's just say that I'm not a fan. But I wouldn't be making all these promises if I planned to leave. As long as you're comfortable with it, I’ll keep coming back. Maybe a couple times a week if you don't mind.” she assured him.

”It’s not contagious. I think it's something you’re born with or something you develop because of a… an imbalance in the brain.” she told him. ”I’ll see if I can find you a book on some modern medical conditions next time I go to the library.”

"it's okay not to know certain stuff or have a different opinion. Leeches are kinda gross in theory, so its pretty normal to think its a bad idea. I know i shuddered when i first saw them. Really ugly critters." he tried to comfort her, with a slightly awkward smile.

Damien continued to look down in his cup, processing what he was being told.
"inner beauty, huh? Never heard of that one, i'll try keep that in mind for the future" he murmured, his expression somewhat less distressed than before. "Well, going by that logic, i could say you're really pretty too, both in and out."
He averted his gaze for a second, slightly coy at what he'd just said, but he meant it wholeheartedly - she was a nice person to him after all.
"I do want you to come back, of course, you're the best thing to happen in a very long time. I'm just unsure you'd be too comfortable around someone with a… hole in the face, so to speak."
It felt hard to admit that last part, but he did feel like he had to come completely clean to her, before he could feel entirely relieved. Given he saw her as a friend - despite having known her for just a day and a bit -, he wanted to have no secrets towards her.

"Sure! I think i had a few more books about health in here, but they are kinda outdated i assume so… I could use something new."

She chuckled a little and nodded. ”Yeah, they really are. I’ve never seen one in person before but it's not high on my list of things to do. The pictures I’ve seen were gross enough.” she told him. ”Honestly, I’m just not very interested in medicine so I never really thought about it too much.”

Mari blushed at the compliment, smiling softly. ”You sweetheart. Thank you. That's very kind of you to say.” she said, feeling a bit shy herself as she picked up her cup. Though she froze and looked back at him, confused and concerned. ”A hole in…” she started softly, her gaze landing on his long bangs covering his other eye… It took a moment to fully process the implications if that really was what he was hinting at. ”Damien…” she whispered. ”Do you mean… someone actually hurt…” she stammered, unable to form a sentence regarding the horrendous thought. It was just too heartless to imagine.

The young woman took a deep breath, closing her eyes and tried to collect herself before speaking again. ”Damien… I understand this is really personal to you, so you don't have to tell me what happened if you're not ready but I want you to know that while I am very sorry for what you went through I'm not going to stop visiting you. I already consider you a friend.” she said sincerely.

Damien refilled his cup with a small smile.
"You didn't miss anything by not seeing them in person, you're fine." he said reassuringly, sitting back down. "Medicine is half interesting, half gross, you either like it or no, there is no in between."

His gaze remained away from her as she responded to his compliment, just moving around in his chair from the reaction. It felt nice to compliment her, and he really believed what he'd said, she really was pretty.
He looked back up at her when her demeanor suddenly changed and upon seeing her gaze fall on his face, he slowly nodded, confirming the rest of the sentence for her.
"Mhm. That's the part i told you mom was surprised about." he said, lightly tilting his head left and right.

For a few brief seconds while Mari composed herself, Damien began feeling like maybe he'd made her uncomfortable in some way with his little confession. Her words however, made him stop mid stir on his chair, as he held on tight to his cup, looking at the girl seated in front of him. The words refused to come out at first, leaving him just to stare.
"I… Mari… Thank you. Thank you for understanding. And for being such a nice friend. It really means a lot to me, it really does." he eventually managed to speak out, even managing a small smile. "No need to be sorry though, you weren't there when it happened, so its okay."

Mari chuckled softly and nodded a little. ”That’s a pretty good way to describe it.” she agreed. ”I do think it's interesting… to a degree but I just can't keep up with it. Doctors practically have their own language now.”

”Well, I can't say I blame her.” she said with a soft laugh. ”That would bother anyone with a shred of humanity. Seeing another person having been treated like that.” she sighed, shaking her head. ”Having you survive must have been a huge relief to her.”

She smiled sweetly at her friend. ”You’re welcome, Damien. You deserve to be treated as kindly as any other person.” she said sincerely. ”Well, assuming that the… jerk who hurt you was a human, then I feel terrible about what happened. I know not all humans are Saints or anything but I don't think anyone who can do that to someone can call themselves a human being.” she told him unable to keep from scowling at the thought.

"They do? Language as in how? Special terms? Cant blame you if thats the case, sometimes i too get lost when reading specific terms related to the field." he said, before sipping again from his cup.

Seeing her laugh a bit gave Damien courage to smile a little bit, tilting his head.
"i guess she was relieved that i survived, despite not knowing me at all. She also said people like that were the reason she'd settled here in the first place. The world was just cruel like that, and she hated it" he spoke, reminiscing his first days at the manor. He was smaller, fresh out of a traumatic experience, taking time to recover slowly and stop being skittish to absolutely everything.

The boy blinked at her a few times, apparently a little surprised at her words that he deserved to be treated like everyone else - it had been a long time since he'd heard them, but the familiar feeling awakened in him just felt like a memory long forgotten.
"I do…? I always thought that being in my shoes was a bad thing, something unholy and so on… Guess i was made to believe i was less than a regular human, because i was a mix."
Unlike Mari who clearly seemed scandalized by the brutality he'd been exposed to, Damien only started questioning that perhaps in all this time, the fault did not lie with him, but with everyone else. It felt crazy to think that, but it also felt a bit comforting for his opressed side.

She nodded, taking a sip of her own drink. ”Yeah, exactly. I don't know how many special terms they have but it's enough to make any one's head spin if you don't understand it.” she confirmed his guess.

”I can understand that.” Mari said thoughtfully. ”Like I said, I know that not everyone is a nice guy, and it makes sense to want to get away from the… other types.” she paused to clear her throat. ”There are days when I wouldn't mind running away but… I don't know if I could actually stay away for long.”

She shook her head a little. ”That may have been what people thought years ago, but now those people would be considered superstitious old goats. I’m willing to bet that you haven't actually done anything to hurt people before so you don't deserve to be treated badly. You’re not less of anything.” she explained. ”You may be a little different from everyone else but that doesn't make you inherently something horrible.”

"Oh, i understand that. Especially the long names - those are nightmarish to keep up with" he continued, remembering how long it took him to be able to pronounce some of the names right when he first encountered them.

Damien finished his tea, putting away the cup so he could place his hands on the table.
"I grew up used to that, but i never expected humans to be that bad and scary…." he said, looking ahead. "Why would you want to run away? Is there anyone there treating you bad?"

The boy could not abstain from a small giggle at the word "old goats" - it just sounded comical to him.
"Well, truthfully, i was taught to be nice to people, i dont think i ever did anything bad on purpose to anyone. That was also a reason why i was always so confused about their reaction. I knew vampires were hated because they harmed people, but i never did anything like that. Looking from their perspective, they kinda had a right to be doubtful, but still…" he commented, playing with a sleeve. "How do people today see vampires as? Besides being a fiction, i mean. What's their opinion now? Since you said the people back then were superstitious old goats."

She groaned a little at the mention of the impossibly long words that doctors tended to use for some of the medicine, especially the ones she saw on commercials. ”I know. I swear, some of those have like twenty syllables.” she exaggerated. ”Though I will give them points for creativity in spelling.”

Mari shook her head. ”Oh, no. No one specific at least, just high school bullies… some teachers are jerks, and I hate watching someone who thinks they are so entitled treat someone else like dirt.” she admitted. ”I’ve never gone through with it though. It's just a brief fantasy of mine to get away from those kinds of people… even if it's just a couple of seconds.”

She grinned at hearing Damien laugh. It made her feel better that he was happy… or happier at least. ”I thought so. Your adoptive mom sounds like a real nice person, so it makes sense that she would teach you that.” she commented with a small smile. ”But there's a difference between being cautious and being a complete… Uhh, well treating someone the way that they treated you. That's just plain wrong.” she caught herself before she accidentally taught the innocent-looking boy a new swear. Looking up at his question, she blushed a little as she tried to come up with an answer. ”Umm… Well, it depends on the person… and the version they’re most familiar with. Some are still scared of vampires but because of new literature and some movies, vampires have been more romanticized than they used to be. Others have been made more terrifying and some of been made more relatable and a bit more… Uhh, what’s a word you would understand?” she trailed off into a brief mumble before perking back up and snapping her fingers. ”Ah! Brooding. That's the word.”

He still chuckled a little bit, agreeing with her about the weirdness of some of the names there, before stopping and his gaze trailing back at Mari.
"Commercials?" he asked, tilting his head, eye on her.

Hearing of school teachers and bullies made the young boy frown a little bit.
"I never went to a school, but i always thought bullies weren't allowed? And how are mean teachers permitted to work there?" he questioned, curious as to why such things even existed in a school. Having never been there himself, he only had the image of what a school should be like - a place to learn, and develop, not somewhere with people who liked to inflict stress onto others.
"Getting away from others is nice, but addictive" he warned her softly. "Once you're feeling good in your own presence, you rarely want to be around others…"
With all the time spent alone, Damien had grown used to it, to the point he didnt miss going back outside, except a few times when he would have liked to exchange some words with the late woman he'd called mother for years.

Thinking of her again made the boy slightly turn his face away, with a small sigh.
"She really was nice, from beginning to end.
He turned back to her again, some of the shadow in his gaze dissipated.
**"Sounds like a lot of versions. How exactly did they manage to romanticize them? I thought no one would wanna have anything to do with something like a vampire, at all."* he spoke, rubbing his chin gently at the thought. He'd never seen an actual vampire in his life before besides himself, so he didnt know what they looked like, but the idea that they were disgusting beings of the night was something he was more familiar with.
"What was your opinion on vampires? Prior to meeting me, i mean."

Her eyes widened for a moment at his question, since she didn't think she mentioned that part out loud. ”Uh, yeah. On tv… When you're watching a movie or a show, sometimes you have to… Well, what the station does is they… stop the movie or show for a few minutes to show you… basically an ad. Kinda like what you see in magazines or newspapers.” she answered, hoping she didn't confuse him. Though now she was a little confused. ”Umm, Damien… Can you read someone's mind?” she asked cautiously.

She sighed a little. ”Technically, bullying someone isn’t allowed, and if you get caught then you get punished for it but there’s no real way to prevent it.” Mari explained. ”School is more or less mandatory now… At least up to high school, I think. As for the teachers… I don't really know. Some teachers are just very strict and some seem to enjoy making their students feel bad for one thing or another, like getting an answer wrong and calling the student out on it in front of the whole class.” she shook her head. ”But it’s not supposed to be that way.”

She chuckled a little and nodded. ”Yeah, I’m sure it is. At least for a while. Eventually, though I imagine a person can get bored after so long on their own.” she replied just as gently. ”I don't think one person can stay alone forever.”

The young woman blushed at the question. ”Well, it depends on the writer, some made them look like… like a model, or Adonis and used words like ”alluring”, ”devilishly handsome”, ”mysterious”, and ”flawless”. And that's just the physical perspective. Apparently, some people are attracted to something that should scare you.” she shrugged, looking back at him. ”What I thought… Well, I thought they were an interesting piece of lore but I never thought that they were real. Maybe some aspects of them were since even mythology has a grain of truth somewhere in it, but as a whole, I was… doubtful that they ever existed that way.”

Throughout her explanation, the boy continued to look at her mildly confused, head still tilted and frowning.
"Hmm, im afraid i can't, and even if i could, that'd be rude of me…" he confessed, with a look of guilt. "I dont know what a tv is or an ad…. But i think the newspaper part is familiar to me. Is advertisement close to what you're saying? Like, stuff people post advertising something, like services or goods?"

"That's sad to hear, really… That there's people like that out there and no one does anything against them…" he murmured, finding the situation somewhat relatable, having been in something similar back before arriving at the manor. Some types of people just dont change. "But for the teachers to be like that! That should not be happening. Do you have any teacher treating you like that?"

The boy slightly sighed, looking at the table and the cup he'd pushed away.
"I dont know what to say… I personally did feel alright all by myself, tho i did miss talking to someone every now and then. Just one person, that's it, i was never too fond of groups or crowds of people… Those just scare me, honestly…."

The initial descriptions made Damien blink in surprise, slightly taken aback by what he was hearing.
"But that's… really attractive… And people like that? Huh, i guess ideas do change over time. Back when i last went outside, all people seemed to see in a vampire was an ugly blood sucker, that needed to be destroyed. Never would have thought someone would find them attractive… Or at least, a large number of people, instead of one" he lost himself in a mini-rant, really surprised by the new ideas. The only person he'd ever met who hadnt been repulsed and had a somewhat positive opinion on vampires had been his birth mother - of course, since she'd loved one and had him as a result - but having never personally seen one in his life, he'd grown to believe they had to be ugly creatures no one liked, mostly based on the sheer brutality he'd been subjected to in the past.
"So you were kinda skeptic about them, right? Cant blame you for that, given they're believed to be extinct. Did you picture them in some way? And what did you think was that grain of truth that they were based on?"

She nodded a little. ”It’s ok, Damien. I guess I just didn't realize that I was saying that part about the commercials out loud. I thought I was just thinking about them.” she said a little apologetically. ”Actually that's exactly what an ad is. It's just a shorter way of saying advertisement. A lot of words got shortened to make talking… easier, I guess.” she smiled with a brief shrug, a little hesitant to try to explain a tv to him yet.

Mari let out a sigh but nodded at his comment. ”Yeah. It's sort of a no-win scenario. You try to defend yourself and next thing you know, they're saying that you were the bully. You tell a responsible adult and suddenly you're not mature enough to deal with a problem on your own…” she groaned again at the thought, though she wasn't really bullied anymore… Not since she… fell into the category of the first but it had turned out differently that one time. ”No, fortunately I haven't actually had one like that. I’ve heard of some but at this point, I'm starting to think most of it is just ”horror” stories from older students that they made up or exaggerated to scare new kids.”

“Hey,” she said gently, “It’s ok. You're probably just more introverted than I am. Meaning that you prefer being alone and enjoy the quiet. I know you're a bit shy because of… past experiences and that's ok.” she assured him, carefully putting her hand on the table near his, but not so close to make him uncomfortable and want to pull away.

”Yeah, they really do. I haven't really read a lot of vampire romances but I know it's very popular.” she nodded thoughtfully, though she wasn't going to mention that one flop of a series that so many people seemed to like and hate at the same time. ”Admittedly, there are some books that stay with the… ”traditional” monster hunter-style.” She shrugged a little at his question. ”Yeah, skeptic is a good word… I did try to keep something of an open mind on… the existence of things like vampires and bigfoot and aliens but I never thought I would ever see one. But I was ok with that. I didn't really have a set picture of what I thought they would look like, except for mostly human… and mostly adult, I never imagined someone as young as you.” she admitted with a light blush. ”Well, I know that there are a few medical conditions that could have contributed to the legend.”

"Mn, its alright, i got it." he waved his hand slowly, reasurringly. "Oh, so it got shortened now? Thats kinda weird, in a way, but i guess its normal now."

"That's… Even more horrible…" Damien murmured, the old feeling of dread washing up on him once again, like a cold splash of water on his back - that sense of hopelessness and inability to have someone to help, he knew it too well, and he hated being in that position. His thoughts were betrayed by his motions, as he began shifting in his chair.
"I'm really glad you didn't have anyone like that, it's not something i would have wanted you to go through…." he said slowly, rubbing his sweater sleeves together.

He looked back at her, scanning her with his visible eye.
"You like the quiet too?" he sounded a little hopeful, given he'd found several similarities between the two of them already. He wasnt bothered by her hand moving close to his, as he found comfort in Mari's presence - he just hesitated to touch her as to not appear intrusive.

The boy seemed to frown a little bit over the idea of romances, trying to fit the pieces together.
"Aside from the cool looks, what exactly is it that people find interesting about vampire romances?" he asked, genuinely confused by the whole ordeal. "I can understand the last one tho, monster hunter stories are sometimes really cool to read" That last part was true, given he himself had one or two novels like that which he liked, mainly because of the mysteries within them.
"Well, i've never seen one of those in person either, so you're not the only one there" he dared smile a little. "Tho, im curious about the 'looking mostly human and adult' part. Why never someone young?"
In his head, he already had a possible theory as to why that was, but he wanted to hear her reply first.
"Medical conditions? Like what?"

”Yeah. A lot of words got shortened.” she nodded. ”It’s supposed to be easier instead of saying longer, harder to pronounce words.” she told him.

Mari bit her lip at seeing Damien withdraw at the topic… It was understandable considering what the poor boy had been though but she felt bad for bringing it up. ”Hey, hey… It's ok. There is hope. I won't let anyone do that to you.” she promised softly but strongly determined. ”If anyone tries to mess with my friends, they have to deal with me.”

She smiled softly back when she saw the look in his eye. ”Maybe not as much as you do. I honestly toe the line sometimes. Given the option, I would choose to spend time with a small group of close friends than a party full of strangers.” Mari answered. ”Now if one of my friends took me to a party like that, I would still go and try to have fun but when you live with two younger brothers, things tend to get a little rowdy sometimes. So, you take the quiet when you can.” she explained, leaving her hand out for him if he wanted.

She shrugged a little at his question about vampires. ”Not really sure. I do like the idea of the books but… I guess some people like the mystery of vampires. Like I mentioned, they're often portrayed as troubled and apparently that’s a popular character stereotype for the romantic interest.” she sighed, honestly a little tired of that kind of writing. It just seemed a little lazy to her, sticking with that formula of writing for so long. Though she smiled when he mentioned that he enjoyed those books too and her expression grew with a slight chuckle that he hadn't seen too many either. ”Hey, I met you. That counts for me.” she teased kindly. Her smile dropped a little when he asked what she meant. ”Well, there are a couple of stories that describe vampires more like a giant bat or something but I always thought that they looked more like… Like you do. You look human, except for your ears.” she admitted. ”There’s nothing wrong with them, they just look more elvish than vampiric… Actually, I don't think I ever pictured vampires' ears looking different from humans.” she explained, tucking her hair back to show him. ”And I never thought of them as young because… Well, being eternally the physical age of a kid seems a little disappointing. There's never been anything about vampires growing up or changing… That's always been part of the appeal of the immortality aspect of vampires. Always staying middle-aged or young adult.”

”There's actually one, in particular, that’s called vampirism. I think it's a blood disorder but it causes heightened sensitivity to light and maybe something to do with needing to eat more food that’s high in iron, like blood naturally is.” she explained, even though she had never really looked into it.

"Well, it does make a lot of sense honestly. Ad is easier to say than advertisement. Pretty neat." Damien concluded, standing up to look for something to munch on.

After a slightly long pause, he finally dared to look at her again.
"You won't?" he asked, faint traces of hope in his gaze as he rubbed one arm with the other. "But wouldn't it be dangerous for you too? i dont want you to get hurt because of me…"

"I only ever spent time with my mother, never anyone else, mainly because i didnt know anybody else." he admitted, continuing to look around for a small snack, eventually pulling out another plate with a different cake he'd made in the meantime. "A party…? what's that one like?"

The boy placed the plate on the table, gesturing towards it to Mari, asking if she wanted a piece, as he was already slicing one for himself.
"Does the troubled part include some sort of adversity towards their situation, or stuff like what they have to deal with because of what they are?" he questioned, getting a feeling of what the answer might have been.
"Giant bat? Why bats of all things?" he squeaked a little, as he didnt exactly like those little things. Their sudden scurrying just made his heart drop and that was one of the things he absolutely hated about them.
Damien's initial reaction to her bringing up the subject of ears was to raise his hand towards his, lightly touching them through his hair. They'd always been the dead giveaway that he wasnt totally normal, so his feelings were mixed when it came about them - though Mari's words soon calmed that fear as well.
"Well, i wasnt always like this, you know? i used to be much smaller, back when i was with my mom, and i kinda grew up over the years. Could it be that whomever passed down the information about vampires simply just never saw a vampire kid? Like, what if people never saw young vampires because they dont show themselves until they're adults? Like how pigeons do it."

The knife stopped half way into the cake, as he exclaimed.
"Wait, thats a thing? A real thing humans can have? And by disorder, you mean like some kind of disease?"

”Yeah, I think so too.” she smiled back, nodding confidently when he showed concern for her. ”I’m not worried about that. I've always been protective of other people, especially those I care about. I can handle myself plus I have a mean right hook if I need it to get the message across.” Mari assured him.

She gave him a soft look at the admittance before she tried to answer his question. ”It really depends on what kind of party, who it's for, and who is throwing it. Usually, it can be pretty fun though there are occasions where a party can be boring.” she admitted. ”Now a party is usually a gathering of people, from friends and family to just acquaintances, to celebrate something.”

She nodded gratefully, accepting the offer. ”Actually, yeah. But they overdramatize it so much that it gets annoying and comes off as whiny. I can understand why that kind of thing would cause some distress but after so many years, you would think a grown man would be more mature about it.” she said, gently giving her opinion and hoping that she wasn't offending him. She was a little surprised when his voice hitched but didn't comment on it. ”I think it has to do with the vampire bat species. They have a bad rep because of the shared name. Some people use to think that they were actual vampires in disguise or just shapeshifted.” she explained.

”I’m sure you weren't.” Mari agreed, considering he was half-human. ”And you're probably right. Though I didn't know that’s how pigeons behaved.” she added with a small chuckle.

”Well… I think so, though it is very rare.” she told him, rubbing the back of her neck. ”I’ve only heard it mentioned before… but yes, technically it is. I think there is a difference between the two terms but they are similar.”

The boy dared smile a little at her reassurance, glad to know his new friend had enough confidence to fight back if needed.
"What do you mean by mean right hook tho?" he asked, a little confused as to why she would have a hook with her.

"So theres multiple kinds of parties, i see… Which ones have you been so far and what were they like?" he made himself comfortable in his chair, wanting to hear more about what she'd seen and did at such gatherings. "And you can throw a party for any happy ocassion?"
As a recluse, he'd of course never been to such an event, but was still somewhat curious to find out more about them regardless - Damien was the kind of person who despite his inhibitions, always craved to know about all things, even the ones he knew for sure he would never try on his own.

Damien gently slid the small plate with the cake towards her, before taking one for himself.
"Well, that kind of behaviour would look bad in any novel, honestly, so i think i can see your point, But then again, its a complicated way of life… You're right tho, an adult should normally be able to deal with things."
He took a small bite out of the cake, since he didnt want to wait anymore.
"Ohhh, so thats why. Weird tho, since there are other animals out there living off blood too. Tho the shapeshifting thing does sound wild. Small flying rat."

"You dont have to take my word for it, i can only speak for myself, i dont know what other vampires were like, The pigeon thing was what mom told me, and i thought it fit in with the context." he blushed a little bit, twisting the fork slowly in the cream of the cake.

"i… didnt know that… poor people… Its sad to hear some can have such problems… is there any cure for it? Something to fix it?"

The reminder of his innocence made Mari feel all soft inside and she couldn't help but shake her head a little. Though she didn't want him to think badly of her when she explained. ”It’s a… it's a type of punch a person can throw to defend yourself or someone else. A right hook is thrown with your right arm and your arm makes a hook shape as it moves.” she sighed, a little self-conscious that he might not be as willing to trust her now. ”And when someone says… Well, ”mean” just means that it's a strong throw.”

”Yeah, pretty much.” she nodded. ”Uhmm… Let's see, the most common ones that I've been to are birthday and holiday parties. I've been to a sleepover once… I think I've been to a wedding before too.” she recounted, willing to explain further if he wanted her to. ”As far as I can remember, those have been pretty fun. Except for the wedding. The wedding reception was fun, the actual ceremony was a little boring.”

”Thank you.” she smiled as he passed her the slice of cake, chuckling lightly at his agreement. ”Yeah. I mean, if they showed some character growth from that then it's not so bad, but I'm still not a big fan of that character type.” she told him. Mari barely managed to hold back a laugh at his descriptor of the flying mammal. ”I know. It is a pretty interesting sounding ability. Though some people have come up with a bit of a list that vampires ”commonly” shift into besides a bat.”

She smiled softly at him and nodded a little. ”I’ll take your word. I know all you can tell me is based on your own experiences but that's more than a bunch of theories can say. You at least are giving me real facts.” she pointed out, taking a bite of the cake.

She sighed at his question, shrugging. ”I don't really know. I don't think there's an actual cure… Maybe somethings you can do to help it but… I don't know. It is sad that some people can have it and for their sakes, I hope there is a cure, eventually.”