If It Makes You Happy

[Matthew Smoke]

Matthew reached into the jar he kept on his desk and whipped out a little DumDum pop, handing it out to the young girl who'd been brought in by her brother with a significant gash on her arm. They'd been playing outside, and, well, kids do that sort of thing. Presumably, they were children of a woman who worked there, although Matt never asked -too- many questions.

The little girl smiled her toothy grin with her extra better new arm, now that the cuts were gone, and took the offered candy from him. "Thanks, Matty!" she exclaimed. She grabbed her brother by the hand and ran back down the hall, presumably out to play again. He followed them into the hall and leaned against the wall with a little sigh.

"If only everything were that easy," he said to himself with a laugh. 

[Desmond Stark]

Melanie hadn't fed in... well, it had been longer then she really should have gone without blood. She hadn't meant to starve herself, really, but first one thing had happened and then another and then she'd had to do a few complicated bits and before she knew it she was seeing walking snacks everywhere she looked. She could control herself, honestly she could, but... it was a bit harder. The thirst - because it wasn't just hunger, it was thirst (which made sense as she drank blood) - burned the back of her throat uncomfortably, and she was way too aware of all the beating hearts surrounding her.

She sighed a little. This was the problem with vampire senses, sometimes. School had been horrible, though she'd known most of the answers no matter if she was paying attention or not. She had graduated before, after all. It wasn't the questions that were the problem, though, it was the fact that she was surrounded by warm, moving, sentient beings who were chock full of rich, warm, delicious smelling blood and their hearts went on pounding away, making her more and more aware of their exact locations and of just how easy it would be to take them....

Except that they were people and she wasn't just a predator. That was what SingleEarth was all about, wasn't it? You could choose. It didn't matter what species you were, what kind of blood ran through your veins - in the end, you had more in common then there were differences. And no, humans were not the mindless animals that her vampire nature kept insisting that they were; and no, they did not exist only as a food source to her.

Needless to say, she'd ended up checking out early. Not that she would have lost control and attacked anyone or anything like that - she wasn't nearly that bad - but... it had made things very uncomfortable. She'd been distracted all day. After she left school she'd wanted to just go home and lock herself in so that she wouldn't be surrounded by all that blood, but that would do her no good. At all. And she didn't exactly want to rob a hospital or anything (people needed the blood that was in the bank there) so that left her with one real option. It was the one that she would have picked anyway. Of course, once she actually got to SingleEarth it didn't seem like such a bright idea anymore, as she could smell fresh blood. That made things... slightly more difficult. It wasn't really that difficult to understand why she shied away like a skittish horse when an adorable little girl ran down the hallway. It wasn't so much the girl that was the problem, but she had been bleeding.

Melanie grimaced at herself after the child and her brother had passed and then leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor with a sigh. She didn't want to move for a little while.

[Matthew Smoke]

Matt turned and nearly tripped over Melanie. He lept back, surprised, and then his eyes immediatly narrowed in concern. "Hey, Melanie," he said carefully. Was she hurt? Was she bleeding? Was she sick? His mind raced through a thousand questions before he nearly had to slap himself straight. It was no secret Matt had a hard time being himself around girls, especially pretty ones, and Melanie was no different.

Right now, though, his instincts were propelling him to be a little outgoing. He knelt down and placed a hand near her, but not on her. "Are you okay?" he asked, tone lowered a little. He didn't want to just yell it out in the hallway. Matt could excersize discretion when he felt like it.

[Desmond Stark]

Melanie's black eyes flashed up briefly and she only just stopped herself from cringing back again. That would hurt Matt's feelings, and she didn't want that. She wished he wasn't a witch, though, and she wished she weren't hungry. She liked Matthew Smoke, and should not be looking him as though he could be dinner. That kind of thinking just was. not. good. And it wasn't her either, it was the vampire - the one without a personality, without a mind.

"Umm... hi," she said, breathing lightly. She could just hold her breath, of course, but that wouldn't change the fact that she'd be able to hear his heart. And not breathing made talking just a little more difficult. "Nothing's really wrong, sorry. I'm just... sort of hungry right now. And... and that girl had been bleeding, and it was a bit sudden, but really...." She took a breath and held it as she closed her eyes for a moment. "Sorry. Really. It's ok."

... she was such an idiot.

[Matthew Smoke]

Matt was concerned, now. At Single Earth, he'd seen vampires trying to starve themselves for their beliefs, and in the end, there was really no real alternative for blood - the beliefs just had to stem from where it was procured, and how. They had willing donors almost all the time, and that made it easy sometimes for the vampires to feed without feeling like they were murdering or forcing victims into anything.

"Let's get you over to feed then, huh? You really shouldn't wait so long," he chastised. Matt had dealt with it before, but he didn't really know how bad it could get. He offered a hand out to her, still crouching down next to her, to pull her up. If she didn't take it... well, Matt couldn't make her do anything. He'd sure as Hell try to convince her, though.

[Desmond Stark]

"Yea, sorry," she said, slightly shamefaced. "I've just been... busy, that's all. Really busy. And it's complicated, and so I use more energy then I normally do, and that means that I need to feed more often then I normally do and so I didn't really even think about it until I walked outside and all the people started looking like walking hors d'oeuvres." She sighed slightly grumpily. "I wish everything wasn't so complicated," she muttered under her breath - strange, really, given that Matthew had said basically the same thing only a few minutes ago.

Whatever. It was true.

She let the witch help her up and they started off - Matt was tagging along... well, she guessed because he felt like it. Why else, really? Moral support? Melanie was tempted to giggle - luckily she managed not to. It had to be the smell, the smell was getting to her. With this in mind, the vampire stopped breathing. Things went a little better after that.

Except it was still early in the day. So except that the building was, by and large, empty. Totally empty of anyone who might be willing to make a donation, as it were, as far as she could tell.

Bad word. Bad word, bad word, bad bad word.

[Matthew Smoke]

Matt had forgotten vampires were warm to the touch, and usually expected cold, dead hands every time one of them took his hand for something. It was always a pleasant sort of surprise, because it helped him relate better to them, in some way. The young Smoke descendant helped Melanie dutifully to her feet, and then walked alongside her to the room, listening to her and nodding.

"Odd, I was just saying the same thing before you arrived," he said with a smile. He pushed open the doors and found the room, as cozy as it was, completely empty. There was a noise, and then a woman swished through with a broom. Matt's heart sank. He didn't bet she'd be willing to make any donations to a non-profit organization today.

He looked back at Melanie, who was obviously thinking dark thoughts about this newfound discovery, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we'll figure it out. How long do you have?" Before? Before she got sick, or collapsed, or went nuts.. all of those could work.

[Desmond Stark]

How long did she have? How long in what way? If she really tried she could probably keep from eating until she faded away completely - but really, what good would that do? None. At all. Unfortunately for her talking to answer meant that she had to start breathing again, and that wasn't really good.

"Um, I don't know," she said. "I... I'm not going to fade in the next few hours or anything, but... I think I might need to stay away from people until I've had something."

[Matthew Smoke]

Matt looked back into the empty room, and then looked at Melanie, concerned. He really was a Smoke; it just broke his heart to see anyone in pain like this. Melanie was fairly social, too, so to just lock her in her room seemed very.. unreasonable.

"...if you think you can control yourself, you can feed off of me," he said finally, after a long, hard stare. He was trying to decide if she was going to kill him or not, but he didn't seriously think she would. Melanie was just too.. benevolent for something like that. Plus, killing a Smoke is bad.

[Desmond Stark]

Melanie looked around the very empty room - even the woman with the broom had left - and then she sighed a little and stopped breathing again. She leaned against the wall that was at her back, looking down at her shoes as she thought. So, no one was here. That was all right, she was still fine.... All she had to do was be careful with where she went for a while, that was all....

School was easy - she could develop a severe and completely unexpected case of the flu or something. And maybe she could go and buy a cow or something. She didn't have a lot of money, but she refused to steal. Besides, she didn't need to eat what was traditionally thought of as 'food,' and that helped save on expenses. And while animal blood wasn't as satisfying as human, it would work....

And then Matt started speaking rather hesitantly, and she looked back up at him. "...if you think you can control yourself, you can feed off of me...."

Melanie blinked a few times, looking a bit surprised. "Matt, I don't want you to feel like you need to or anything. I -" Scent was such a problem sometimes; it was making her mouth water. "You sure?" she asked hesitantly. Anything but biting someone who didn't want to be bitten.

[Matthew Smoke]

"No, it's fine!" he said, interrupting her. He held up his hands. "Really, I mean it. Just don't go telling everyone I did this, but only because I've been told my blood is kind of... potent. I don't want to end up a pincushion."

He took her by the arm and led her down the hall, to somewhere where they wouldn't be found for a few minutes. He knew that he'd definitely get a punch in the face from Riese for this if he ever found out. That boy was as much a Smoke as a dolphin was a fish.

[Desmond Stark]

"I- well-" Melanie began, and then Matthew silenced her last feeble noises of protest by taking her by the arm and tugging her off down the hall. Not that much tugging was really needed.

They wound their way down the hall, finally ending in a smallish room that really wasn't often used, and there the witch turned to face the vampire and... well, that was that. Melanie moved closer to him, and then she bit.

Naturally she didn't want to make the bite painful or anything, but she didn't make it feel too good either - she never did. She didn't want anyone to get addicted or anything, as some poor mortals did. She just wanted to make it feel nice enough that they wouldn't mind loosing blood. It was something of a trade, really.

[Matthew Smoke]

Matt was, well, surprised that things were happening that fast. First, Melanie was standing there staring at him, and then she was on him, and he felt his back touch the wall and his knees bend a little to allow her better access. He wanted to tense up as he felt a pinch on his neck, but she'd already dipped into his mind, and Matt was only slightly aware of the soft brunette hair that smelled sort of like flowers....

He couldn't even describe this sensation. He felt like he was floating, nice and warm, snuggled up in some sort of cloud, high above everything else, and he could see the oceans and the forests and even the stars, and then there was this strange noise...

He came back to 'Earth' to find Melanie standing over him, trying to get his attention. He'd ended up wedged in a corner - it wasn't even that she'd taken too much, but simply that Matt... had not expected that to feel like, well, that. He slid slowly off of his rear and took her extended hand, though he was still incredibly woosy.

"S...so ..... do you feel better?" he asked slowly, wondering why he sounded like he was talking really, really low-pitched. Sounds like he could use a cookie and some orange juice.

[Desmond Stark]

Witch blood is so much more potent then human blood, Melanie thought rather hazily as she drank. That was a good thing of course, it meant that she wouldn't need as much. Of course another side effect would be that her power would probably spike for a few days, and that would probably make her life... interesting in more ways then one. But still, oh it tasted good. Very... very....

And then she seemed to snap back from whatever little trip her mind had been going off on - yes, hello, Melanie. Wake up. She was holding Matthew up as he sagged down, and for a moment she was honestly concerned. But no, she hadn't had too much, he was still fine, would probably be a little lightheaded for a while, a bit weaker, but....

Oh. Right. Enough.

She stopped drinking rather reluctantly - she was used to human blood, witch blood was delicious - and then licked the extra blood off his neck and stepped back. She need a chance to clear her head, to let her mind catch up with the rest of her.... Witch blood was potent, and it left her feeling rather hazy. Much better as far as being hungry went, though, and the hazy feeling wasn't bad or anything, it was kind of nice....

The witch slid down the wall he was leaning against when she stopped holding him up, and after a few seconds passed and she noticed that, she more or less instantly snapped out of hazy-joy.

"Matt! Matt, are you alright?" She was at his side in an instant, crouching down, looking at him in concern. Crap, I should have just gone and found a cow - The witch looked through her for a moment before his eyes cleared a little and focused. Melanie breathed a sigh of relief, and held out a hand. "Here, come on."

"S...so ..... do you feel better?"

"Uh, yea. Thanks," she said, blushing a little.

[Matthew Smoke]

"Great," he said with a lazy grin as he hoisted himself up. He still felt kind of light-headed as his body fought to try and right itself again, and he leaned on Melanie now for support instead of the other way around.

"That was definitely different," he confessed. "I guess I can see why people can get addicted to that stuff. It was somewhat of a rush," he said. He laughed a little, but really had no idea how much Melanie had held back, or how much a potent vampire could really roll his mind.

"Now I think it's my turn to get something to eat.. I gotta get some orange juice or something, now. I guess you can come and make sure I don't fall on my face." He didn't bother to check for marks; he knew they were as good as gone.