Observing Kiki’s behaviour at the register, Stanislav couldn’t help but wonder if she felt threatened by him. No, it couldn’t be intimidation--the human seemed much too attached to him.
“I would agree. I think we’ve had enough hospital visits to last us a long time.” Putting his receipt away, he grabbed the pot of Lilium. “A walk sounds pleasant enough. I don’t find myself taking time to enjoy nature that often, as you can see.” He made a slight head tilt to the flowers. “Walking alone is dangerous for a variety of reasons, though I’m sure you’re already aware of it. I’m sure you don’t need my assurance in that you’ll be safe so long as you’re in my presence. The other night proved just that.” Stanislav knew that until Kiki’s back had fully healed, he couldn’t teach her any combative skills. Brushing aside a pang of embarrassment that came with admitting his willingness to keep her safe, he came up with a means to compose himself.
“While you lock up, I think I’ll place this in my car and wait for you outside. If you’ll excuse me, Miss Kiki.” Without waiting for an answer, the vampire left the small shop and was greeted by the cool evening air once again. It offered him a means to relax, recover from the interaction with Kiki.
Placing the flower pot in his trunk, Stanislav put his hands into the pockets of his overcoat and leaned against the darkened car; glancing up at the evening sky above. His light eyes narrowed slightly, once again he found himself confused by his growing fondness for the wiccan.
One thing was for certain. Despite the turbulent desire to understand his numbed feelings, he thought of holding Kiki’s hand in his own. Why did he feel so drawn to her-? He’d never felt so flustered around someone, even if he had maintained his collected self. Wasn’t he the same vampire that would flirt with unsuspecting men and women in the Veil, enticing them to offer him a drink? But those were different, in that they were actions of a shallow man satisfying the need to feed.
No, his curiosity likely stemmed from her affiliation towards Garridan. He’d known the younger vampire for a long time, and it would make sense for him to want the vampire to socialize with the right people. His re-occurring encounters with Kiki seemed to denounce this theory, and it frustrated Stanislav terribly. This was wrong.
Upon hearing Kiki exit the building and lock up the front door, he turned to face her. “Everything seems to be prepared for tomorrow morning. Now then, where shall we go?”
She couldn’t even protest as she saw him turn and walk out leaving her by herself. She ran her hand through her hair and inhaled through her nose. Her cheeks were already heating up, of course she always felt safe around Stan even from their first encounter. It was just something about him, but she couldn’t help but also feel panick. She slowly walked around the shop making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. As she did she couldn’t help but let her mind wander, she had no issues with friends. Well at least that’s what she told herself despite what happened back home. She could handle making new friends and trusting people, did she trust them though or was she telling herself that? She knew that by moving here she had planned on pretending nothing back home ever happened and that included acting like nothing happened either. She’d been doing fairly well despite how easily she allowed herself to get triggered, it was something she was working on. She stopped walking, biting down on her lip. She’d made many friends since moving here but she couldn’t deny that Stan was different from those she had met. The way he made her feel felt oddly familiar in a sense, of course she didn’t want to admit it. Perhaps she was starting to have feelings that weren’t so platonic towards the vampire king. She’d only really felt these things once before and she remembered harshly how that ended. But Stan was different right? He was a vampire after all he wouldn’t turn her away for being wiccan not like ‘him’. She quickly shook her head and began walking again this time towards the door. She just needed to act normal there was no need in getting so nervous. Flipping the light switch off she stepped outside locking the building up. She put on that bubbly smile that she normally dawned and twirled around walking over to Stan who was leaning against his car. “Yep everything is all set let’s go!”
