“Really?”Eddie raised an amused and slightly interested eyebrow. “I had no idea of that fact. Do they do it by normal human laundry methods or is it done with the help of a bit of magical charm?”he asked, with a cheerful grin. The fact that she had just revealed that she was drinking blood and not red wine nor some red-colored cocktail liquid, had not yet fully registered in Eddie’s mind just yet as he was still slightly besotted or rather, entranced, with the brunette female in front of him.
“Ah no. That would be a complete tragedy” Eddie exclaimed slightly with a playful grin, as he placed his hands over his heart in a mock exaggerated display. He shook his head. “Ooh. A charming, lovely ,glowing, beauty such as yourself standing in the corner of a vast ballroom and pouting?”he went on in mock dismay, his voice sounding dismay that matched his expression of his shaking face and eyes downwards to the floor, but at the same time, his voice was also laced with a subtle hint of playfulness. “It would break my heart truly, if I was the one which caused you such great unhappiness, princess,” he then grinned up to her with a smile of sincerity, though his eyes still belied a hint of charm and a very tiny and almost hidden glint of playfulness dancing at the the very thin sides of his light brown irises.
“Ah, I would consider it a reward for me then if I’m able to achieve making you blush a beautiful deep rosy red on your delicate, fair cheeks, by the end of the night, my lady” he replied giving her a romantic wink, repeating that term of endearment again just to see her reaction on whether she would laugh or actually blush for real.
“Carina,”he echoed, a split second after she had said her first name and at the same time, almost immediately placing a gentlemanly chaste kiss on her hand which he was still holding, in an attempt to continue on his charming skills. Having picked up learning the old Latin language as one of his subjects as one of his many random and highly-varied hobbies when that particular interest struck him once during his teenage years and another time again, about 4 years back, he then quickly spoke again. “A befitting name for such a dear as yourself, “he smiled pleasantly before that smile was wiped off the next moment in complete surprise, as she mentioned her full name, just a quarter of a second after he had uttered his last sentence. He let go of her hand and took a small step back slightly, as he laughed a little nervously and rubbed the back of his head. “ A Baumgartner eh? Alright, I’m going to be frank with you. I’m really, honestly, open-minded and I do love to give people the benefit of the doubt first, but Baumgartner is a bit of a tricky family name, so please tell me that you’re not going to or planning to suck all my blood out at the end of this meeting?”he asked, trying to sound as amiable as he could. Eddie wasn’t really that fearful of vampires to be honest, but he was wise enough to know to play it safe and stay a distance away from the very dangerous ones, especially vicious rippers, in which case the Baumgartner’s were very famously known for being. Still, as was Eddie’s open-minded, trusting and very friendly nature he was willing to give the lovely girl he had just met a chance and not be fully prejudiced against her just because of her family’s reputation. “And if say you’re not going to, I promise you that I’ll wholly believe you,”he promised earnestly, going near her again, trying to reassure her and not wanting to hurt her feelings if she was sincerely a good person at heart.
“And my name is Eddie. Eddie Finley,”he answered, suddenly realizing that she had asked for his name in return and it rather hurtful and rude to not introduce himself also, after she had asked , eventhough he was a teensy bit fearful of her at the moment, after the small bombshell she had just dropped regrading her surname. Despite the current circumstances, Eddie tried to grace her with a friendly, small, light smile as he said his name. “And technically, “runaway dancing shoes” would be the correct term for it as I’m currently shoe-less. ”He still managed to grin a little impishly about the matter.
“I’m guessing normal methods” said Carina. The Baumgartners kept plenty of witches in their castle, but the witches weren’t responsible for doing the laundry. “The maids who work for us learn quickly.” And those who didn’t usually didn’t last long.
Carina laughed again. “I don’t blush easily” she confessed. “I’m more likely to laugh at an awkward moment.” She was nearly 1500 years old and she still hadn’t managed to break that habit.
Carina could feel the air go out of her at his reaction to hearing her last name. She knew she should be used to it by now, but it still hurt to see how people went from hot to cold with her as soon as they learned she was a Baumgartner. As if that defined who she was as a person. “No” she said quietly. “I’m on a blood bag diet. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
A Finley witch. That would explain the magically smell and the cute-but-funny accent. “Its nice to meet you, Eddie” she said, pasting a smile on her face. “I take it you’re having a good time tonight?”
