Carmine

"…and that's why I can't believe how big of an idiot he's become," Angela sighed, and went back to playing with her bangs. She missed her black hair but red wasn't that much of an unfair trade-off for fusing her soul to Gaestra.

Gina processed all this while she made another stitch on Angela's skirt. "Most men are like that when it comes to women they love." She put her needle down. "So it's about Amelia?"

Angela flinched at the name before scowling. "I knew he joined the Golden Seal Team to find her but…" She thought back to the three of them joking around in Commander Kate's office about making a parody to 'Who Let the Dogs Out'. And Frantz taking up a job as a lumberjack and…and… "She's hurt him so much even though he loves her."

"Sounds like you're jealous," Tude said as he came to sit beside her. He gave Gina a warm smile, which she promptly returned, albeit a bit embarrassed before she ducked back under the makeshift tarp-door to her (temporary!) business.

"Jealous?! Who is jealous of that boob-centric bitch?!" Angela's ears turned as red as her hair. Tude smirked, Gotcha.

"Ok, so you're not. Then you're fine with leaving Frantz the way he is." He scratched his temple, watching his friend's face. It was amusing to say the least. "I talked to Rose before coming here. He's all right for the time being. A bit of blood and he should recover."

Angela made a face, "Sometimes it's easy to forget he's a vampire…not once has he even mentioned wanting to drink any."

"Yeah, but I can understand why." She looked at him with a questioning glance. "Think about it, if he's half-vampire, then drinking blood while he's still half-human would not be appetizing. The human side would reject it. Understand now?"

"Yes..." again her fingers toyed with her skirt. "He told me that if he becomes a full vampire...that I should be the one to stab him." Burying her face into her hands she sighed. "I don't think I'd be able to. He's my friend..."

"I think that's why he asked you. He'd rather die under kindness than hate."

"Killing him out of kindness? No, I refuse."


On the other side of the camp, Natasha sighed when she stepped out of the entrance to the Curtis Castle's Ramparts. Another search for 'Fluffy' had been ordered by Elma, but had turned up nothing. Just what the reports had already found: A demolished hallway and a small bit of Frantz's blood, presumably from where the bone-beast had struck him. "Well, guess I should go back to Elma." Stretching lazily, she made her way down the path, pausing when she saw a familiar pair of faces talking in front of Gina's (temporary!) business tent. "Angela! Tude!"

Only Tude waved back. "Hey there Tasha. Shorty over here is feeling down."

Natasha blinked. "What? Little Ms. Loud Mouth here is feeling down?" She sat down with them and looked around. "So, did you guys find Frantz?"

Angela nodded, "He's…out of it." With an exasperated sigh, she got up, hoisting Gaestra up to her shoulder. "I'm going for a walk." When Tude got up to follow her, she planted her sword in front of him, creating a sizeable hole in the ground. "Don't follow me."

As she stalked off, Natasha turned toward Tude, "So what's got her bloomers in a twist?"


Frantz stared up at the ceiling, his mind lost in his own musings; Amelia, her words, Angela, and his burning throat. It didn't matter how much water he had asked for and drank. There was no way to quench his thirst. While Rose had taken his vitals, he could not take his eyes off her neck.

How easy it would be to sink his fangs in and…

No! What was he thinking?! He'd been able to control his bloodlust for so long so why? Frantz snorted and rubbed his temples. Great, just fucking great.

A quiet cough relieved him of his inner turmoil and he glanced up to see Rose smiling at him and pointing to the door.
"Angela's outside," she giggled, clutching her clipboard against her chest. "She's been pacing up and down the hallway for almost five minutes now. Do you want to see her?"

"Ah…" he thought about it, wondering if it was safe enough for the young girl to see him. I don't know…but maybe if I do lose control, she'll stab me in the heart. He grimaced, No, there's no way she'd be able to do it… Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and nodded.

When Rose let her in and promptly left to give them some privacy, Angela did her best to smile. However, it quickly faded when she saw her friend.

"Your…eyes," she gasped quietly. "Why are they red?" She regarded him with an almost frightened look on her face. She walked closer to him, a hand reaching out to cup his face.

Frantz blinked before smacking her hand away, "W…what are you talking about?" He turned away from her, refusing to meet her eyes. "You probably need to get your eyes checked." He peeked back and almost immediately wished he hadn't. Her face looked crestfallen and there were tears in her eyes that were threatening to fall. Her lips quivered a bit. "I…dammit Angela, don't cry." He reached out towards her, but she flinched and stepped backwards.

"I'm not crying! Who's crying? It's not me!" she protested, shaking her head furiously and blinking her tears away. Sniffling, she turned her heel and bolted out the door again.

He could only stare at the door like an idiot when Tude walked in the room, Natasha in tow.

"Smooth move, Kruger," he said.


A/N: Eugh, such a short chapter. I felt it necessary though so I guess it's ok like this.