omg kyle's pups free for aaaall
Sitting at the Bar, getting a progress report on her mother-in-law from the rats, is Inara Serra and a pot of tea. She looks as poised as ever, with her dark hair swept up out of her face, and her fingernails clinking elegantly against the china of her cup
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But could be, while he's lookin' around, that he happens t'see Alice sittin' by the window, that one he don't like lookin' out of. And he tenses, for a moment, rememberin' how she looked and talked so human but ain't, she ain't at all, she's somethin' what can't be real but is - and he wonders 'bout runnin'.
'cept he knows full well, right, that there ain't a place he can run to won't be fulla the same. And this place, the bar, it's a safe place (save for crazy skirts with shotguns) and she'd said, last time, somethin' 'bout how she didn't go for people. He just hadn't heard it in the panic, the confusion, th'knowledge of this ain't right. So he scuffs his feet when he approaches, makes it known that he's there, and he's got his head down and a look on his face says he ain't exactly proud'a how he acted last time.
"Ma'am."
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"Hello." Her voice is cautious, but her eyes sparkle as she sets her book aside. "How are you?"
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He knows what he wants t'say, don't feel right about how he left last time, figures she can't help the way she is and here, here's where y'get people y'wouldn't get at home so he ain't got no call to be makin' judgment.
He hesitates a split-second longer than looks up, meets her eyes and the look on his face plainly shows how goddamn uncomfortable this all is makin' him. "Listen," he bursts out, not knowin' how t'say it just knowin' it's gotta be said, "Before - last time, I wasn't - weren't thinkin' straight, is all. I didn't mean nothin' by it."
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Even if people don't know what she is, they still treat her as something different, as something to be feared...and for someone who only wants to make friends with the millions of people she meets, it's heartbreaking. But she puts a smile on her face and nods at Ben. "I figured you didn't. It's okay. No hard feelings."
She's not gonna eat you or anything.
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He don't smile 'cause Ben, well, he don't smile much anyhow, but he jerks his head at the bar still keepin' his eyes off the window, and his voice is quiet when he asks "Buy you a drink?"
That'll settle things, he figures, they'll be even.
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Alice doesn't need her brother's powers to read what was going on in Ben's mind.
"But if you have questions for me, or if you'd just like to pretend like I'm normal girl and have a normal conversation, we can do that."
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Oh, yeah, and he thinks he shoulda figured that so there there's a hot blush risin' in his cheeks 'cause, he thinks, he just made a right fool. But she shakes it off and he's grateful, even if he don't say so.
Don't think he can pretend like she's a normal girl, though, not without always knowin' in the back of his head so he uses a foot to hook a chair-leg, pulls it in and sits down facin' her, idly goin' through his pockets t'see if he's still got a few smokes left in the pack.
He sure as hell has questions, but he don't know if that's gonna be exactly polite so he settles for just checkin' that he remembers her name.
"Mizz Cullen, yeah?" The name still rings a bell, and it takes a moment 'fore he gets it and his eyes widen 'cause yeah, now he remembers. Messed up again then, shit.
"Missus," he amends, though she don't look old enough to be married. "Think I met your man, couple months back."
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Deft fingers tuck her hair behind her ear and she shifts on the window ledge. "But please, call me Alice."
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She seems normal enough, ain't - hidin' from light, or goin' for him or nothin', and he remembers she didn't seem to have no issue with prayer so before he can stop himself, his tongue takes control and his tone is frank when he asks "You sure 'bout the vampire thing?"
All of it. Sure she is one, sure she won't hurt no one, sure she ain't just - confused, or hysterical or somesuch, the way women get.
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Blinking, she studies him. "Most go for humans...and stay to themselves. I have a family. Adopted, and cobbled together, but they're a family. A husband. And I can't stand the idea of hurting someone. I like friends. I like people. No, animal blood doesn't satisfy completely, but it doesn't matter. I'd rather have that than...kill someone."
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He's mullin' it over, in his head, thinkin' of ways to make it fit 'cause this ain't like nothin' he ever known, she ain't like nothin' he ever known. Different world, maybe, but he thinks he don't wanna know the answer to that one so he ain't gonna ask. But it - seems fair, as fair as these things c'n be, what she's sayin'.
Seems surprisin' maybe, that this is how she's like, but truth be told he ain't never met no vampire before and maybe this is just what they're gonna be.
"Your husband don't mind?" That's surprisin' in itself, and the blush grows a little more pronounced when he thinks 'bout - well, 'bout how certain stuff would work. Marital affairs, and he don't need to know and he certainly ain't gonna ask 'bout that one, but there's still a part of him that thinks that wouldn't exactly work right.
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"Jasper is patient with me. Which is all I can ask because I'm set in my strange ways."
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He thinks he's gonna be checkin' over his shoulder for the next few days, maybe, just in case. And he don't know what t'say, exactly, don't talk much as a rule so he stays quiet, lets her fill the silence if she wants.
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Alice runs her fingers over the book beside her. "I'm sorry if it freaks you out. I think it's just easier to get it out and hopefully I won't scare you off."
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At the mention of doctorin', though, the corner of his mouth turns up in something maybe like a wry smile, half-there. "Doubt it," he mutters, if'n the last few times are anythin' like an indication of how it's gonna be from now on, but that ain't so important.
When she apologizes, though, the smile fades and he scuffs a toe over the floor, awkward once more. "Shit," he says, low and soft, tryin' to sound comfortin', "ain't a one of us can help how we're made." And he don't believe it fully, but he figures she maybe didn't get a choice in it and if that means she's hell-damned, it also means it weren't her fault.
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She got him back. She can remember killing him, will always remember killing him. Murder and vengeance aren't her way but that particular moment felt too good to forget.
Alice's fingers wind into her hair, tugging in a compulsive way and she gives him a soft smile. "Thank you."
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