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"Vic? Hey, Vic."

The Otaku twisted her head to look over her shoulder. Seth had appeared and was standing behind the tree with a goofy kind of grin across his lips. How long had he been there? Had he heard her--? No.

"What do you want?" She turned back to catch the final rays of the sun sink into the purple- orange backdrop.

Seth took a step forward.

Without turning to observe his movement, she sensed he was hesitant, though not for malice. There was an air of subtly and humility about his demeanor. This was Seth? She would normally have been wary of this act, with one hand already in HammerSpace ready to swing a random weapon at his person should he reveal his hentai agenda. But she felt nothing of this from him. *Shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, ne?* She thought to herself and shrugged.

"I was wondering if I could join you." He scratched behind his head.

"Sure. It's a free universe."

"Are you angry with me?" Seth sat down beside her, his legs straight in front of him while he leaned back on his elbows and looked up at the darkening sky.

"No, of course not."

"It's just that you sound like it."

*Nanii?* Victoria looked at him and couldn't help raising an eyebrow. Seth was smiling so very sweetly. *Ok, what's the catch? C'mon, tell me you wanna show me something.* "Whatever."

Down below, the black waters of the lake reflected the brilliance of the harvest moon. There no clouds and the stars shone clearly, their numbers abounding.

Seth sighed and continued to gaze upward.

*He's not looking down my blouse?*

"Amazing..."

"Eh?"

"The stars, I've never seen them shine so bright. Maybe there'll be a meteor shower tonight."

*Is the PlayBoy channel doing weather now?* "Yeah."

Seth threw a sideways glance at her. There she was. Silent. Troubled, as always. When was she not? He couldn't remember. Oh yes, when she slept. He had taken the next flight out of Paris when he'd heard of Milton's death, though he was not surprised to find that she was not present at his funeral. Milton had wanted it so. As much as she proclaimed she wanted out of the game, she was feeding off of it. He's seen it in her eyes. Once she had recaptured her memories, so did the hunger. He'd stayed silent. She had thought of him as a leach. A hindrance to her independence. But he had no choice. Raydin had pulled from the flames in a place which was to have been his final resting place along with his clan. Ashes in the wind. They had been thrown together by some awkward fate. Cruel and sinister fate.

That was then. So much had transpired. She saw him as a sibling. Unwanted, he knew that. She *stood* his existence in her life. He was her shadow. He could have remained silent and obscure. But she would never have taken notice. He made it his job to make both their lives interesting. She took notice. This is now.

*Everything that matters to me.*

He had never been wanted. Bastard son of vagabond. He fed off the scraps from the men who wore fancy colorful robes. The plague had taken his mother, his only family. Not that the woman wanted him either. He was only another mouth to fed. The plague would have taken him as well, and he prayed to whomever would listen that it would. But his salvation came in another light, or rather, dark, in the form of a Ventrue Embrace. The clan and his Prince saw him as a pawn. He accepted the searing flames to swept over the shell of his being and consume the body thought of as having already been lifeless.

"You're not worthless," she had come up behind him and draped his coat over his shoulders when she found him standing on the terrace in the rain. The Elders had come down rather mercilessly on him and he was on the verge of having a Blood Hunt called on him by his Prince. "You're an annoying, hentai baka, but you're alright."

*Everything that matters to me in this world.* A smile crept over his face.

*Kawaii,* she thought. Kawaii? Seth? Ok, neko-Seth perhaps, but... oh, he's acting weird. She counted the days of the week and ran down his schedule in her mind. *Saturday. He should be at the Kitty-Kat club, ne? Why's he not wasted yet?* She glanced quickly at him. His eyes weren't red. He wasn't stoned.*

"You ok?" She asked sounding concerned.

Seth chuckled. "I'm fine."

Their gazes met. His eyes were bright. There was something there she hadn't noticed before... Her eyes, he thought, were glassy from lack of sleep.

*She's going to yawn any minute now.* It wasn't very late. The girl had enough caffeine in her bloodstream to cause an elephant to run circles around the Sahara.

::yawn:: Victoria caught herself and quickly turned from him, breaking the lock of his eyes. *I'm yawning? I'm not sleepy ::yawn::*

"Why are you here? I mean really."

"I wanted to spend some time with you."

*What a line--nanii?* There was that look again. *Baka. I'm just sleepy. Sleepy?!? No way. I had a venti caffe mocha before I drove up here* Victoria dove into her HammerSpace for her fix. "Frappuccino." Everything was gone from her mind. Her senses where in deep concentration. *Frappuccino. Must...have...coffee."

Victoria sunk deeper and deeper into her HammerSpace.

"I know you're surprised. But I thought it was... I don't know. After everything that's happened."

*Frapuccino...*

"I hope you won't think me crass."

*Mocha... ::eyes slowly turning crimson:: Must have...* ::hand touches something cold, hard, wet::

"I... I stayed because... oh, fuck it. I stayed because of you. I lo--"

::hand touches something cold, hard, wet:: "Yes!"

Seth paused mid sentence.

Vic grinned widely. ::hehe:: "Nanii? Did you say something?"

Seth settled back. "Nothing."

Victoria smiled. She scooted closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. He it took him by surprise.

"You're right it's a nice night. You're acting weird tonight. But I like it. You're not hentai tonight."

"We all need a rest from our day jobs."

Her eye lids began to grow heavier. The Frap bottle began to slip from her hand. In a few moments she sank onto his lap. The heavy pull of sleep coaxing her by the hand. He stroked her hair gently from her face.

She was pleasant now. Quiet. *Everything that matters to me in this world.* A smile crept over his face. "Aishiteru."

"Na--nanii...?" The Otaku's vision slow faded into black.

TBC.......