The young vampire let out a sigh. In another instance, she would have playfully argued with him, but this time, maybe Benny deserved to hear nice things. Sometimes, people just needed that: a good and warm hug to their ego. “ Not everyone has someone willing to cook for them, Benny. ” She said, stating the obvious. He was a good man, regardless of what he wanted to believe or if he was going to brush it off as nothing. “ Some of these people have been living in shelters, so it’s nice of you to prepare meals for them.” Just like they had done in the past, when they’d gone out of Portum to give food to people in need. Although Aeri had actually helped him, to some extent, in the preparation, she was definitely more hands-on with the distribution. “ Does that not mean you’re a good man? ” She asked, wondering what made someone good or bad in his eyes. Things weren’t as black and white as they seemed. Good people could do bad things and bad people could do good things. “ Are you handing it out tomorrow? ” Maybe, if she focused enough, she would be able to help this one time, too. She doubted that she would be able to, but it was worth trying. Benny alone was tempting enough.
As she munched on the food he’d prepared, the brunette bobbed her head, listening to him. His voice sounded different, it seemed. Maybe it was a vampire thing, or maybe she had noticed how velvety it could sound sometimes. Her dark amber hues averted to watch him carefully, almost as if drawn to him by the sound of his words, and once again, her gaze landed on that prominent vein on his neck. Her mouth watered. It watered as if he’d placed a gigantic plate of her favorite food in front of her. She could see the blood pulsating in his vein, calling out to her, inviting her in. She wanted to run her tongue along that vein, to sink her fangs into his skin and drink from him. Her fangs broke the sensitive skin, the slight hint of pain causing Aeri to steer her gaze away from him and back down to the plate in front of her. Why couldn’t his food feel inviting like his blood could?
“ Right… ” She coughed a little, covering her lips with her hand so he wouldn’t catch her fangs while she spoke. “ I mean… it’s different, for sure.” Keeping her head low, she tried to give herself some time. Maybe, if Aeri acted like nothing had happened, he would, too. “ What um… what’s a bandeja paisa? ” She asked, welcoming the distraction and steering away from the topic of blood. Food had always been her link to the chef, so, hopefully, she could make good use of it to help herself calm down. Maybe she should leave. She wasn’t ready. She couldn’t handle this. It was too soon. What would imo Hera do? What would Sasha do? “ Did you–um, I heard your place of work was hit pretty bad. Is everyone okay? ”
