Charity's In the Blood

[Vixo]

It had been some time since a woman had asked for a room in his home. Maxwell was beginning to wonder if the pair of men who'd taken two of the rooms had anything to do with it. Adding him on, that was quite a lot of men for one house. The way he figured it, though, anyone who'd take a room was better off with both of them. They'd get to eat the cooking of Elias, the young pianist, and Dean would be able to provide them with help working on their car, to say nothing of the protection he represented when he was home.

He was always sure to turn away undesirables. He'd cast aside a Were who'd been taken by the allure of the wooded area behind his house, for his speech about need had made it quite clear to him that he was not under control when the moon held sway. Max himself represented enough danger to those he cared about; he didn't need the worry of potentially having to protect others from a mortal living in his home. Beyond those, he'd turned away thieves, people with too many aliases, people with connections to the Fellowship of the Sun, even people with deep religious affiliations, just to be sure. The faiths which spoke of vampires as one of God's creatures were not nearly so numerous as those who named them abominations, after all. He'd sooner go without than find someone he'd trusted with a stake at his back when they finally got their chance.

In all, it was probably a silly thought. He had the feeling that Elias might have said things to his coworkers about his living arrangement, but knew for certain that Dean would tell no one, and wasn't sure that he had anyone to tell, anyhow. He'd mentioned that the other two boarders in the home were men, in the email, but that they were entirely trustworthy. That really did depend on one's interpretation of 'trustworthy', in Dean's case, but what he meant was that there wasn't any danger of someone coming to harm by their hands in this house, and they weren't going to be bringing over drug dealers and gang members, or something. Maxwell understood, as well as a man in his position could hope to understand, why a woman might have misgivings about moving into such a house, and so had worried that might dissuade her. He'd done his best to relate their good character, but fell short of outing them; both were gay, but it just wasn't his place to say so.

Having set up this meeting three nights prior, he had asked that both men be out of the house when she arrived. Maybe, to others, their presence would have been better, but this arrangement was still new to him. The image he got of Dean, especially, standing around while he tried to get the measure of an applicant was painfully awkward. Maybe a handsome face would entice someone to stay, maybe his years of hunting would be able to sniff out some danger his research might have missed, but in the end, he'd decided against it. He didn't know what Dean was doing, right now, but suspected it involved pie or horror movies. Maybe both.

Recent events had put into him a fresh sense of desperation, and so he battled his nerves through smoking a cigarette, the slender habit clutched between long, pale fingers as he took a deep lungful of smoke, more than someone who actually needed to breathe could hope to hold on to. There were precious few methods for vampires to get any sort of flavor or chemical stimulation, so Max embraced smoking wholeheartedly. He'd forgotten to ask what the student's feelings on it were, and had to hope she didn't loathe the habit, as some of his earlier boarders had. He'd quit for months, in the interest of their company, and only started up again once he was inspired by the smell of smoke clinging to Elias's clothing.

Finding that he'd not been such a gentleman of late, Max saw fit to put on a suit, hoping that wearing the right outfit might inspire the proper mindset in him. He'd chosen the suit itself to be a pale blue, with a white, collared shirt beneath; he'd forgone the tie, since this wasn't actually a formal affair and he was still in his own home. Even this felt like overdoing it, but the jeans and t-shirts he'd favored of late seemed a poor choice for such an important first impression.

His home, situated at the top of a gradually sloping hill, made a great one for him, sometimes so much so that he need barely worry about himself. The darkness hid a great deal of its more charming touches, but one might still sense a whiff of its stick-eastlake architecture, old-fashioned and decorative, but not especially outdated. The home respectably large, and seemed to have space for three floors, though in actuality, there were only two proper ones above ground; the third was an attic in which all manner of old things were kept. It was finished enough that, with some clearing out and the addition of furniture, it could be made into a bedroom, even two. He hadn't bothered with that, though, considering he'd not even filled all four of the guest rooms he had upstairs. There was a large, free-standing garage to the left of the house, built across the first stretch of land on his property large and flat enough to accommodate it. The fact that only a small, dirt path, often washed out by rainfall, branched from the main drive to its doors suggested that it had been a recent addition. Considering that it matched the home's style with rather endearing accuracy, it certainly wasn't something that had come on a flat-bed truck and erected in a couple of hours.

Where the vampire was concerned, why, he'd even put nice shoes on, shiny and black. After lengthy debate, he'd decided on keeping his hair long, in much its usual attitude of loose curls and waves, which fell around his face and ended in a brush against his shoulders, work-broadened in his mortal life and made still more so by the cut of his suit. The pallor of his skin made the dark brown locks appear black to many human senses; it was only when the light hit them just so that the fairer hues might be detected. He awaited any sign of an approaching car, music and television left off that he might not be distracted, though he was constantly reminding himself that he'd do best to turn on one or the other before the young woman came knocking. Approaching the home of a vampire could be nerve-wracking enough; he shouldn't force her to endure that in silence.

 

[DormantEvil]

From all the email communications, Angelique Harris, had deduced that it was worth the risk. Obviously the thought of sharing a house with three males, all older than herself, was temporarily off-putting. But as each email added more depth and information about the personalities of the other boarders, most of her worries had been put to rest. Most. But not all. Angelique was never one to hoard possessions, having moved around every few years with her family before finally shipping across the country for college. But, as she sat on her single bed in a friends apartment, she sighed at the thought of having to move once again. Only a few weeks ago had they been notified of their impending eviction. It would happen, and soon.

With this in mind, Angelique had decided to take the opportunity to meet with the owner of the property. No other offers for rooms had been accepted, considering her lack of financial security beyond a part time job, and that fact that she openly admitted she was a student. Her resume had included a varying range of hobbies, from swimming to landscape painting. And her qualifications and work history had only been a few lines in length. But her current education and past education, with references -if the details needed confirming- proved she was born in California, and had moved only six months ago.

A photo attached by paperclip (electronically) gave the owner an idea of what she looked like. In the picture she wore her school uniform; the white cotton mid-sleeve shirt, buttoned down the front with starched collar. A typical knee length skirt, indicating her universities colors of gold and blue. On her feet were white sneakers, the less accepted but still allowed version of footwear, compared to black leather lace ups. Her hair in the picture was pinned up in a bun, although its lack of care showed that she most likely didn't wear it that way. She wore no make-up, and applied only a slight smear of lip gloss for moisture. It was a standard school photo.

It would be the sound of a scooter approaching that indicated she had followed his directions, or perhaps that someone was delivering a pizza. And as she navigated the driveway and headed up the sloping hill, the engine worked harder to bring her to the front of the house. The pause before turning off the bikes engine would indicate she took her time examining the grounds and the building before deciding to stay for the meeting.

Taking off an open faced helmet, she placed it on the seat before running thin delicate fingers through her now crushed hair. Within a few moments, using the side mirror, she had gained control over her ebony locks. Turning around, she headed up the stairs with a spring to her step. If she was going in, why wait around and wonder if it was the correct decision, shouldn't she have decided that before leaving?

Knocking on the door three times, she licked her lips, a nervous habit. Or her lips might just have been dry from the ride over.

Straightening out her clothes, she brought order back to the freshly washed black and white striped t-shirt. The black jeans she wore were skinny and tight, but they had been looked after and appeared neat and tidy. She wore her white sneakers still, and it was apparent they were her favorite footwear.

On her right wrist was a friendship bracelet, and on the other a watch. It was common in design and served a purpose, it lacked jewels and sparkles. Her fingernails were painted a light purple, but at the cuticles it had grown out by a day.

Her hair was currently left down, and it bounced around her shoulders, the long swept fringe trying to cover one eye, but a hair clip kept it out of her way. Through the fringe were two white streaks, and another ran down behind her right ear. Today she wore a single layer of mascara, and a light application of both foundation and eyeliner. Nothing too dark or heavy, but it brought out her blue eyes fabulously.