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 Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 1:34 am
Ai spotted it as Horatio's eyes moved to his ring. He then turned his own blue hues to Ruka, and held up his hand for her to see. "Look. I kept it,"Said the vampire, a warm smile gracing his lips.
Ruka's hand instantly flew to the chain around her neck, the white-gold ring suspended from it. Unfortunately, all this did was make her cry. A lot.
"R...Ruka! I didn't...I'm sorry!"He said, wide eyed and fumbling slightly, as he seemed almost frightened by the fact he had made her cry. "Please don't cry,"He urged with a tone of severe concern in his voice.
"I...I'm sorry...I just..."Ruka wiped her eyes, quickly stiffling the tears now, as she held up the chain showing off her ring. Her head felt extreemly full right now, as thought it might bust at any moment...but oddly, it was sort of a good feeling.
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Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 1:52 am
Horatio had stepped back to give the couple some room as Ruka began to cry and Ai went to her. They deserved privacy. He turned his body away from them, but did not actually leave. He was not accustomed to taking in strangers and being asked to take on faith two people in one week was asking a bit much. It was only the fact that he trusted Ruka for whatever reasons of his that Ai was still in his store in the early hours of the morning.
He sighed. He remembered momentarily his bed and a time when he was not woken up at all hours by a hysterical vampire. He pushed that aside as the sound of Ruka's continued crying permeated his thoughts. If Ai was not able to calm her down in a couple more minutes, he decided, he would invade their scene and do something himself.
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Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 2:02 am
After a few deep breaths, Ruka managed to calm down. "Horatio...I'm sorry I woke you up and all of this...I just...I didn't know what to do...It was starting to get sunny out, and Ai was just..." It was almost as if she could tell what he was thinking. Of course, as usual, the vampire was more than appologetic for feeling as though she may have caused even the smallest of inconveniences.
"Are you staying here?"asked Ai, wondering apparently where Ruka had been living in order to make such a friend that she could wake at this hour; back with the family, she probably wouldn't have even spoken to him for another two...Of course, he really couldn't remember clearly that far back.
Ruka nodded. "Horatio has been very kind to me...He gave me a job here, and a room upstairs,"she explained, gratitude towards the shop owner hanging on her every word.
Ai stood up, still seemingly a little wobbily on his feet, and bowed ever so slightly to Horatio. "Thank you for helping her,"he said, sounding very pleased with what she had told him.
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Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 2:13 am
Horatio gave a ghost of a smile. "Ruka is a good worker. She more than earns her keep. Now," the smile vanished as he looked subtly over Ai once more. "We need to figure out what we are going to do with you. It's too bright for you to go outside now, but you can't stay in my storefront all day and, more importantly, you need something to eat." He glanced at the clock on the wall above the counter. "It's still far too early for the doctor to be at work. Ruka," he turned to her, "could you see if you can wake her? Hers is the small white house next to the clinic. We passed by it last night when we were taking Jesse out. I have a jacket with a hood that should be thick enough to take Ai upstairs to get cleaned up meanwhile."
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:41 pm
Ruka nodded, bundling herself up in her cloak again before she hurried outside into the early morning light. She did her best to run under the cloak, keeping it closed and covering her, but...well, it was a little hard, so it was slow going.
Regardless, she was soon timidly knocking on the doctor's door, afraid of angering her. After the first packet of blood, the vampire hadn't wanted to make her mad again, and thus was a little on the nervous side.
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:52 pm
Horatio waited until Ruka was out of the building and then turned to Ai. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up." He picked a large hooded jacket off a rack of merchandise and handed it to him. "This way." He led him out the back door and up the stairs, privately wishing there was another place for Ai to wash up in. He let him into the small bathroom and closed the door. "The shower's over there. You can close the curtain. Clean towel's right next to it." Horatio leaned against the wall facing the sink and looking away from Ai. "We're both men here," he continued, "so forgive me for not giving you complete privacy." His voice lost some of its casual drawl. "How did you know Ruka was here?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:02 pm
Ai nodded, removing his shirt first before he turned on the water, and undressed the rest of the way before getting in.
"Honestly, I didn't...I've been following her trail for a while now...It wasn't really that hard, most people remember a Vampire that's willing to travel durring the day, so I just guessed which towns she'd been to and hoped I was right..."He explained from behind the curtain, not really seeming to mind too much.
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:14 pm
Horatio nodded. He had wondered about that. For someone who did not seem to want to be found, Ruka had not gone about running away in the most secretive fashion.
"I see." For a while there was only the sound of running water. "When did you start looking for her?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:19 pm
"As soon as I could. I wasn't very well for about a month after being changed...That happens sometimes. For the first week I could barely move,"he said, sounding like he thought the whole thing was rather funny.
"I'm just glad that the trail was still fresh when I could come after her..." Ai added, now seeming almost reminiscent.
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:35 pm
"Yes..." Horatio was not paying much attention to his response. Of course he did not trust Ai. Not yet. He was trying to seperate his natural slowness to be fully accomidating to others from whatever else he was sensing. The process was made more difficult, however, by the unexpected protective feelings towards Ruka getting in the way. She was important to him, and Horatio felt a bit guilty that this was in large part because of who she reminded him of instead of who she was.
"...What are you planning on doing now that you're here?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:40 pm
"...Honestly, I'm not sure," The water turned off as he said this, and a hand extended from behind the curtain to take the towel. After a second, it was pushed back, and Ai stepped out of the shower with the towel wrapped around his waist. He had apparently rubbed his hair with it a little, since it looked sort of dry, and rather fuzzy, but now it was a far darker color than it had been when he first arrived, thanks to the removal of all that dust.
"I've been looking for her for so long, I never really thought about after...I guess I was just taking things one step at a time," he said, his statement seeming a little bit sheepish, and paired with a smile that expressed just that.
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:48 pm
Horatio sighed internally. There was nothing he could do. If Ruka wanted this man to stay, then he would just have to stay. He was her fiancee, after all, and he certainly seemed... well, he seemed genuinely affectionate towards her, and that was all he had to go on at the moment.
"Finish drying yourself off up here," Horatio said, moving towards the door. "I'll get you some clean clothes."
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:51 pm
"Thank you. For everything. Especially for taking such good care of my Ruka,"He said, smiling a little. It might have been a little unnerving, considering the rather good-sized fangs he posessed, but at least he was trying to be friendly.
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 10:09 pm
Horatio paused for a moment, hand on the doorknob, then left the room. He went quickly back downstairs, picking up a pair of rough jeans and some socks before returning. He was not comfortable with the idea of leaving the Vampire out of his sight. He had hoped Ruka would be back by now to get the clothes for him, and he cursed himself for not thinking ahead of time to bring them.
"Here," Horatio reentered the bathroom, handing Ai the clothing. "You can keep the jacket on. It's sunny in Cascade." He was silent as Ai dressed, wondering what the hell he was going to do with the other during the day. He could not very well leave Ai in the front room while he ran his shop. Even having Ruka up there was extremely bad for business, not to mention awkward for the Vampire. At the same time, he did not want to leave him either by himself or with only Ruka for company.
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 10:16 pm
"Thanks again,"he said, as he slipped the jeans on and then took off the towel, using it to almost scrub his hair to dry it once more. He put the socks on, and then his shoes, which were oddly well cared for. One could suppose that unlike Ruka, he had thought ahead to keep them in good condition if he was going to be moving around a lot.
When he was ready, he put the Jacket back on, and put the hood up. "I'm actually a little amazed Ruka's been doing so well...There's not a lot of shade here..."He said, idea agreeing with the rather severe amounts of sun for a vampire. Ai half sounded like he thought it was a fluke that she hadn't gotten any severe burns yet, and his smile saying he was glad for that fact.
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