Let's Play!

Ephriam just nodded and then climbed in after her. It seemed that he was fighting a smile when they came to where they were supposed to be. It was dark out (of course) but where they were, there was no activity. There was a lonely, broken down motel with a flickering neon sign. There was a gas station with a sort of surreal fluorescent glow that they tended to have in the dark of the night. And then there was what he had brought her here for: a small McDonalds.

Marina stared at him, more surprised that Ephriam liked McDonald's let alone the fact he'd driven ehre, however, she grinned.



" I get a McFlurry."

Ephriam looked at her, his smile widening marginally.



"I like the little M&M's in mine. What do you prefer?" He opened the door, obviously rather pleased.

" I like the Oreo, actually."



She purred, still grinning.

The man spoke gently now.



"A godsend aspect of modern society that I highly approve of." He approached the counter.



"A Big Mac, medium fry, medium Coca-cola.... What do you want? My treat." Ephriam grinned at Marina.

" Oreo Mcflury, Large fries, no salt."



She purred softly, smiling.

Ephriam just nodded to the fellow in the visor, who quite punched in their order.



"It's gonna be a bit, but your food will be fresh. This time of night we don't cook the stuff unless its ordered - just end up throwing it away." Ephriam nodded again, knowing that this would be the case. He grinned at Marina and took his rumpled up shirted self over to a table.



"You do like this, do you not?" He knew that he did. Just once in a while, though. He had to bring his galoshes to wade through the grease and fat in here.

" yes... but I wish they would have given me my mcflurry while we wait "

Ephriam just laughed softly.



"Do you want me to go back up there and ask for it?"

" No, I'll be alright."



She purred softly, snuggling close to him as they waited on their food, looking about.



" it's kind of odd this is here... with nothing near by."

Ephriam cast her a toothy grin.



"Aww... You are hurting the gas station's feelings." He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and his eyes seemed to laugh.



"Honestly, though, does it really surprise you? I have observed this McDonald's phenomenon. They breed faster than coachroaches... and their effects will probably stick with the human population even longer than the self-same insects."

" I wanna squish every single one of those little bugs... so I suppose I need to squish McDonalds, too..."



She complained, wrinkling her nose slightly, perfectly put out about this little thought.

Ephriam looked like he was about to say something, but then the teenage boy (who looked suspiciously like the motel owner's son) hollered across the lobby.



"Hey, Dude! You're food's, like, going to need an orphanage if you leave it up here any longer." Somehow, it didn't sound quite as snotty as it probably should have. Ephriam just looked up and then went to get it.



"Here you go, M'lady." He set down one of the two trays in front of her and eased into the booth with his own.

Marina smiled, snacking on her fresh fries, and casually taking a bite now and again of her mcflurry, and looked up at Ephriam, making a small face as she leaned a bit closer, speaking softly.



" What's it feel like?"



she asked slowly, not trying to be nosey or rude, but she didn't understand....



" To not have your own heartbeat?"

Ephriam had been in the middle of finishing the last bite of his big mac when she had first leaned over. Spooning a nice dollop of McFlurry into his mouth, he had turned to look at her out of the corner of his eyes. He had expected questions. He certainly remembered having a bunch of his own. That one, though, he hadn't really expected to pop neither this soon nor at this venue. Eph swallowed, wiping his hands on a napkin before reaching out and taking her wrist. He didn't seem shy about anyone seeing him press her hand to his chest.



"It technically feels like this. In truth, though, I fail to notice it as much. As you feel nothing here, I am feeling you, and I am feeling the boy at the counter and the cook and manager." He smiled at her gently before letting his hand drop away and eat another bit of his ice cream.

Marina looked at him in a way to say she had barely scratched the surface of her questions, and that the rest she didn't to ask in public, the compassion she felt for him still apparent, but the want to understand him completely, just as clear as she returned to her food, mind turning over everything she didn't understand.

Ephriam just shared that look with her and sighed internally. He pushed away the cup slightly, popping off the lid.



"Any more and I fear internal combustion." Well, not really. He just didn't feel like ingesting any more. The man jokingly spooned out ice cream (since he had already picked out all the M&M's) and plopped it in her cup.



"I can take you home when you are finished."

Marina looked up at him, eating her's slowly, moving to him slowly, snuggling up close, resting ehr head to him as she thought things over, wanting him to understand she was aiming for understanding, nothing more.

Ephriam just looked down at her fondly, washed out eyes roaming over her own bright ones. He smiled ruefully and let his head rest on top of hers, breathing in her scent. The man was thinking about how this all was unfolding. He was thinking about the letters.

Nuzzling him softly, she smiled as she moved to kiss him gently.



" Let's get going, I wanna make sure Jethro isn't at your house eattin the fridge handle or something..."

Ephriam smiled at her in a way that said he admired her humor as he stood up.



"He should be alright. I bought a few groceries while I was out earlier. So, we might not have any food, but the handle should be able to survive." The man pulled away in the car.

Marina smiled sweetly ans laughed lightly.



" I dunno, he is a non-stop eatter.... he might nail that pantry full of cheese if he finds it....."



she purred, shaking her head as she thought about how constipated he would become if that happened.

"He would die before daring to take my cheese without first asking." Ephriam spoke casually. It wouldn't be terribly long before the castle would come into view.

Marina smiled slightly, looking him over, moving to kiss his neck, and cheek, softly.



" fair enough."



No, not drunk, and not making moves, merely affection, and curious. ((Not that way, she's curious to understand him more.))

((Gutter brain. ))



Ephriam opened the door as normal, waiting for her to pass through. But then his eyebrows scrunched closer together and he slipped past Marina, trusting that she could catch the door.



"Gah..." He was standing in the kitchen, looking at the fact that there was blood smeared and pooled everywhere. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

Marina couldn't help her reaction as she walked into the kitchen behind him, loosing her recently eaten meal with the quickness, more from the smell, rather then the sight, feeling both dumb and embarrassed.



a few minutes later, stomach emptied, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve, tears in her eyes form the pain in her stomach ( as apparently it hurt to throw up), looking at him in confusion as to what the hell happened in ehr kitchen.

Ephriam had let out an exasperated sigh as not only his kitchen was trashed, but his girl began to vomit. He was not frustrated with her, however. The man had even held back her hair for her as he watched the entire thing unfold.



"I am terribly sorry. I am thinking of breaking his other arm too for this. Are you alright?"

" I'm okay.. It was the smell, I'm sorry..."



she said softly, feeling beyond embarrassed, looking to him, rubbing her sore stomach.



" what happened?"

"Jethro." Ephriam's face looked a bit away from pleased.



"I have yet to decide if he thinks this is funny or if he is sore over earlier..." And then the devil himself walked in. Ephriam looked at him. "You are going to clean this up, you know."

Marina looked at jethro, still not sure what the hell happened, or the the heck it was this way, btu she simply got her tail feathers in a tuff and silent excused herself to her room to let her stomach calm down and relax, figuring ephriam would find her when this was solved...

There was a rather short conversation between the two vampires, something about Jethro having to dispose of the rabbits on his own as well. Either way, Ephriam was eager to leave him alone. When he showed up at Marina's door, he politely knocked once and walked in, laden with a small sandwich on a saucer.



"I was unsure of your appetite..."

" My stomach is still settling, lovely."



she purred moving to him, moving to kiss him ( Teeth brushed, and actually completely bathed), tugging him over to set with her.

Ephriam sat down rather compliantly.



"I apologize for that. Normally he is not quite so crude. At least he was kind enough not to murder someone in the kitchen." His eyes smiled, obviously showing that he was joking. Jethro was better than that, even at his worst moment.

" You would think, one would want to keep the blood, rather then spray it all over the place and leave such a quaint aroma...."



she purred in dry response, but shrugged it away, kissing him again.



" ... ...."



she went to ask something as she pulled frmo the kis, but was unable to, so merely nestled to him, deciding there was no nice way to ask some things.

Ephriam simply looked at her.



"It can be taken care of." The man didn't say anything else. He didn't mention that the feed was best taken as a sort of game, borderline on a hunt. They didn't normally take from rabbits. He didn't explain how there was a supply of blood stored in the castle or how it didn't taste as good cold. He didn't even point out that after so many years they had figured out how to mostly erase the scent.



The man just sat there, his fingers trailing down through her hair, over her neck, and resting over her arms.



"Something is bothering you." It was both a statement and a question.

" Lots of somethings, but nothing that matters."



she replied slowly, nuzzling down tighter into the comforts of her bed.

Ephriam faintly frowned as he looked down at her.



"It matters to me." He gently rapped his fingetips against her sides.



"Share?"

" How do you handle it? never resting... The world changing, limited to a small window of time where you can be out doors, and out of hiding... even then... "



she didn't understand alot, which was made even worse by the fact she knew next to nothing...it was all very complicated to her.

Ephriam sighed softly, leaning down so that he was speaking directly into her ear.



"You learn to take it in stride. You rest when you remain indoors - it is difficult to understand as a human, but there are so many hours missed to sleep. When you gain those hours back, then you find yourself with more time to think than you thought possible. You learn to lie. You learn to let your charm." He stayed there, breathing slowly as he took in her scent and thought.

" I want to be able to dream though... I want to be able to sleep."



She tried to explain, looking at him now.



" Don't you miss dreaming?"



she asked, looking confused.



" Do you miss the sun light?"



She wasn't trying to be mean, or hurtful, she cared too much to do something like that to him, she was simply unable to understand things without his help.