two for supper | ariel & nolan
A plain girl in a plainer dress was just bringing the man his stew when Ariel slid into the seat across from him.
"I'll have a bowl of the same, darling, and--wine? Hm. Yes, a pint then, thank you, dear." All this to the serving girl, without so much as a look at his table companion, as if he'd been invited, expected.
He hadn't been, of course. Ariel had never even met the man across from him, nor had he ever been invited to meet anyone here at the--actually, he’d forgotten the name of the tavern as soon as he entered it. The Dancing Pig, or The Cock and Crow, or some other colorful character whose likeness could be easily identified by the drunk and illiterate. Ariel hadn’t been paying attention, because it didn’t matter. It was a tavern, like any other. He hadn’t come for the beer or the stew.
The meal Ariel was looking for was not the kind you could pay for at a tavern, and it was not the smell of the stew that had lured him in.
Someone in this otherwise forgettable tavern smelled like his next meal. It was a rich, hearty, human smell. He'd caught the scent as soon as he came inside, and if his fangs were already aching with interest at the scent, well, his eyes lit with a different kind of interest when he traced the scent to the man brooding in the corner.
He was big. Big and handsome. Big, and handsome, and Ariel wanted to sink his teeth into him in more ways than one.
"You don't mind, do you?" Ariel said, flashing his most winning smile. He plucked fussily at the lace cuffs of his shirt-sleeves as he spoke, making sure they lay just so against the velvet of his jacket, before folding ring-laden hands on the table before him. "I do hate dining alone. Dreadfully dull. I find a meal is so much more enjoyable with good company, and you look..." The dhampir trailed off a moment, gaze lingering, lips curling into a telling smirk. "...Stimulating."
@nolan-callaghan