Post monster hunting

[servessithis]

Who: Vicente and Open
Setting: Cafeteria
Format: Prose, but will follow you
Summary: After his encounter with a monster, Vicente is feeling under the next morning.
Warnings: Possible references to violence.


Vicente sat in a lone corner of the cafeteria, sipping his tea. The vampire was looking even more pale and gangly than normal, his eyes sunken and his cheekbones looking more prominent. His clothes had recently been cleaned and sewn back together.

The vampire's fight with that creature had resulted in him losing a lot of blood. While vampires - his kind of vampire anyway - did get stronger the more they were deprived of blood, so did their weaknesses increase. Vicente was also at that age when a vampire's weaknesses could not be fully diluted, even while full of blood.

Vicente would need to feed again soon. And find or make himself a weapon.

Comments

[tohko_amano]

Even though the days were getting even more hectic, Tohko still thought to stop into the cafeteria to try and get some normal food down so that people wouldn't suspect her. People probably didn't care at this point, but why take that chance? Even if a lot of people were sleeping now, Tohko didn't want people to notice that she almost never wandered into the cafeteria or ate normal food.

But..when she stepped into the cafeteria, she noticed that one man looked pretty pale. Concerned, she wandered over to him.

"Pardon me, but are you alright? Did you not get enough sleep last night?"

[servessithis]

Vicente slowly looked up at the young woman, red eyes fixed on her. "That is part of it," He replied. The vampire had stayed up to hunt monsters, and finished the night crawling back to his room, dripping blood, so he wouldn't collapse in the hallway.

[tohko_amano]

Even though red eyes still struck Tohko as being rather weird, she didn't ask about them. After all, if this person wasn't getting enough sleep, she would have to make sure that he did before asking about his eye color. Tohko had taken to sleeping in small corners in the library when she thought that her dorm room wouldn't be safe. For once, she had been thankful that her stalker of a retrieval unit wouldn't leave her alone.

..As she spoke, said stalker wandered into the cafeteria, watching the two.

"Well..if you're having trouble sleeping, I could guard a dorm room for you so that you could take a nap. But what's the other part of it, if you don't mind my asking?"

[servessithis]

Vicente sensed another watching them, but ignored the stranger for now. "I do not require one," He said. Despite the superstition, his kind of vampire did not require sleep during the day. He typically slept at daytime if he was outside, and needed to retreat from the sun. "I simply had a rough night."

[tohko_amano]

Not that Tohko suspected this person was a vampire yet. Just because he had red eyes and was very pale didn't mean he was a vampire. Wilhelm had those two attributes and wasn't one, and there were tons of vampires in fiction that didn't have those characteristics. Alucard didn't have them either. However, Tohko did sigh at that.

"Alright then. I'm sorry to hear that..but you know, the month's almost over! I'm sure we'll all be able to get some decent sleep then! And if you ever need a quiet place to sleep away from the dorms, you can always sleep in the library. I've taken to sleeping there during the night, and Ivan makes a good bodyguard against monsters. But you still haven't answered my question: what's the other part of it?"

[servessithis]

"I will keep that in mind," Vicente said, though his voice was deadpan. He wasn't making any promises. Assassins were trained to come awake at the slightest disturbances, and Vicente trusted his training to protect him. He also hated sleeping so close to strangers, and at least his room was a closed off space.

"I had a rather nasty encounter with a monster," The vampire stated.

[tohko_amano]

"I'm sorry to hear that! How bad are you injuries? If you want, I could run to the infirmary and grab some gauze for you, or Tylenol. I know that won't help with any serious injuries, but staying up really late can cause headaches sometimes."

While Tohko was glad that he would keep her offer in mind, it wasn't good that this man had run into a monster. She was a nosy girl, but she did always want to help whenever she could.

[servessithis]

"I will recover," Vicente said. "I am used to treating myself." Back in his world he'd had one of his Brothers or Sisters cast a few healing spells on him. Vicente had no talent for the Restoration school, so he'd learned some non-magical healing techniques. Things were much more advanced here, but the principle was the same.

The vampire also did not want to give this girl, innocent as she seemed, a good look at his body. He wasn't self-conscious, he just didn't want her learning of any weak points in his skinny form.

[tohko_amano]

Sadly, Tohko didn't come from a universe with magic, so the one magical object she did own in the Tower had been a gift from someone else, and it couldn't heal. However..while Tohko looked innocent, she would try to deal with any cuts she saw and keep any weak points she saw to herself. At that response, she sighed.

"I'm glad to hear that..but just because you treated yourself a lot back home doesn't mean that you can't accept offters of help from other people."

[servessithis]

Vicente simply gave her a deadpan look, but wasn't so crass as to roll his eyes. "If you insist, you may retrieve some bandages," He'd made some out of his sheets, since he couldn't crawl to the hospital in his condition.

[tohko_amano]

Sadly, Tohko wasn't one to stop just because someone was giving her an odd look, so she nodded at the comment. Had she known of the sheet bandages, she would have objected, since it wasn't quite right to turn sheets into bandages.

"Alright then! I'll be right back! You'll never know when you'll start bleeding again, or if you'll run into another monster."

And with that, Tohko would run out of the room, Ivan quietly trailing after her. When she came back she would be a bit out of breath, but have a few rolls of bandages in her hands.

"Here you are! I'm sorry about the wait!"

[servessithis]

Vicente simply went back to drinking his tea when she left, glad for the peace. That and the sound of her pulse had made his mouth practically water. It had been so long since he'd drank warm, fresh blood. Were he much younger and not in control of his urges, he might have just pounced on her.

He knew his quiet wouldn't last forever, and sure enough, she came back. "Set them on the table, please," He said.

[tohko_amano]

Sadly, Tohko didn't know of Vicente's plight, but if she had, she would have offered to get him some blood packets from the infirmary. Instead, she just nodded and placed the bandages on the table. Ivan, as usual, followed her in again.

"Alright then. I'm sorry if I'm being nosy, but I hate just walking away when I know that someone might need some help."

[servessithis]

Vicente put the bandages in his pockets. "I will redress my wounds in my room," He said. "You will understand if I have no desire to expose myself out in the cafeteria." In reality, the vampire did not want to expose that he'd been wounded.

[tohko_amano]

Tohko took both meaning out of that statement-that he didn't want to people to see his wound and that he didn't want people to see his privates. Maybe he had gotten injured there?

Blushing a bit from thinking that, Tohko quickly nodded and spoke up. "Oh, I understand! Don't worry about that. It must have been painful to have taken a blow there though."

[servessithis]

"I didn't," Vicente clarified. "My legs were scratched, but not that area. I simply do not care to take off any of my clothes right here, right now."

[tohko_amano]

A bit embarrassed about having gotten that deduction, of all the countless ones she made, wrong, Tohko sighed and nodded, scratching her head.

"Ah, alright then! I'm glad to hear that..but I can understand. I wouldn't be up for doing something like that either. However..pardon my asking, but are you sure you'll be alright if another monster finds you at night?"

[servessithis]

"I know how to hide, if I must," Vicente assured her. Vampires were masters of stealth. He also planned on acquiring a weapon once he was fed. "I know how to use the shadows to my advantage."

[tohko_amano]

"I'm glad to hear that. However, do you know how to fight, just in case something comes your way again? I'd hate to just leave you like this, only to find out that you died when I could have helped."

[servessithis]

"Of course," The vampire said casually. "I did not live to be as old as I am without knowing how to defend myself."

[tohko_amano]

As old as..that rang a bell in Tohko's head.

"I see. I'm glad to hear that, but if you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"

[servessithis]

"Now, now, it's impolite to ask one how old he is," Vicente replied cooly, but there was no offense in his voice. "But if you must know, I am thirty." Which was only half the truth. The vampire had been turned in his thirties - he'd long forgotten his exact age - but was actually much, much older than that.

[tohko_amano]

At that, Tohko scratched her head, but she did smile a little. While she was still a bit suspicious that this person was immortal in some way, she wouldn't pry if he didn't want to tell. After all..that would be nosy, right?

"Ah, alright then! I'm sorry for being nosy..but you know, thirty isn't that old. At least, where I come from. Maybe it's different where you live?"

[warriorscribe]

*Are you tired of the nosy, heroic, always-concerned do-gooder-types yet, Vicente? Because there's one that's making a short detour here at the smell of the tea.*

How did you make that?

*Because tea is something invigorating, he's found, and he could use it. If it's plant-derived (which seems the obvious solution given that is one of the few things out there now and it certainly doesn't seem animal-derived), he wants to make some.*

[servessithis]

*Vicente peers over the rim of his cup.*

Hot water and herbs and leaves I have gathered.

[warriorscribe]

*He's about to ask which leaves when it suddenly hits him through his own sleep deprived haze how haggard this man looks.*

...You look like you need it. Are you all right?

[servessithis]

I will recover. Never you fear.

*He just needs to get to the medical ward tonight.*

[warriorscribe]

If you say. It's been a difficult month so far...

*He just wants to help people, since he seems to be having a hard time helping himself.*