Watching him freak out is oddly a good way to stay calm. They can’t both panic, after all. And – well. Clearly he regrets it, and hadn’t intended to hurt her. She’s too tired to summon up outrage over an accident that he – basically already fixed.
“You aren’t the first dead – undead? – man I’ve helped. Ghosts can be rather violent without meaning to be. It’s… just how my life tends to go.”
Actually, she sort of wants to cry. But that’s pathetic. So she wont.
“How long have you been a vampire? Or – I’ll be very surprised if that isn’t what you are. Considering the blood drinking.”
Maybe he’s a hallucination. That would be an excellent capper on her evening. She’s finally gone completely crazy. – Okay so. Maybe she is a little irate. Anger does indeed simmer under her skin. But what would loosing it on him solve? Nothing.
“Your dinner this evening is named Shiloh, by the way.” She swipes at her eyes, blinking back the burning sensation. Truly, she doesn’t want to make him feel worse. Or prolong his panic.
In some weird roundabout way, her being calm is helping his freakout subside. He’s still panicked -- very much panicked, actually -- but making conversation seems to actually be helping him in a very small way.
“Ghosts...I’m sorry, ghosts?!” And there’s his panic attack again, along with his dear old friend a stomachache. He blinks, shakes his head, and decides to get to that later because what the hell?
“Anyway -- yes, I’m a vampire and I’ve only been this way for a few weeks. Not an ideal amount of time to learn how to...” He pauses and shifts uncomfortably, loosening the collar of his shirt around his neck a little. “...drink human blood without killing someone, I guess...”
Chidi lets out a somewhat relieved breath, because this person isn’t screaming for her life and calling the cops on him. Which is weird, but he isn’t in any kind of position to question it, really. “Shiloh...it’s nice to meet you. Even if I kinda made an absolutely horrible first impression.” And then Chidi sits down on the pavement next to her, because looking down one someone the way he’s been doing isn’t something he’s used to.
“I’m Chidi Anagonye, I’m a professor of ethics and moral philosophy at St. John’s University in Australia. At least...I was. I moved here after turning into whatever I am because there was no way I could continue teaching classrooms full of students every day while also wanting to rip into their necks at any given moment.”