"There are moving trucks everywhere." Hal said to no one, voice grim as an empty coffin. "Their incessant noise is going to be the death of me."
The vampire was sitting on the couch, attempting to listen to his daily amount of classical music. But, he thought bitterly, even that could not go without interruption of some sort - even if it wasn't because of Tom or Annie. It wasn't even the baby crying, this time. It seemed the entire world was against his routine, and he did not enjoy it.
Especially because his clothes were currently in the wash and he was still sitting there in the grubby things he'd worked in, slaving over a tub of hot grease and reorganizing the condiments cupboard.
Tom, who had walked into the room and looked out the window, gave a simple shrug. Leave it to the werewolf to be unaffected by such noise. " 's just one truck, really. Don't see why you're makin' such a big deal out of it."
Hal opened his mouth to give an indignant reply, but Annie hurried downstairs into the sitting room, handing the swaddle of blankets that was Baby Eve to Tom. The look on her face was bright, and Hal predicted nothing but trouble. Before he knew it the ghost had snatched the remote off of the arm of the sofa and turned off the stereo, cutting off the classic music with the simple push of a button.
There was a metaphor in there somewhere, but Hal wasn't inclined to go looking for it.
"Alright, this is going to sound weird - but we're going to be proper neighbors and go say 'hello'. Well, you two are. I would, but, you know, ghost. Can't be seen." Annie's tone was bright, as if everything was settled.
"You're entirely right." Hal replied, a thin, mocking smile stretching over his lips. "It does sound weird. More than that, it sounds delusional. Let's just go say hello to the new neighbor that could be anything."
The look Annie gave him could have probably pushed the moving truck off of the street, if only she'd directed her gaze through the blinds on the window. "Well, that's just the point, Hal - you and Tom need to go see whether or not the new neighbor happens to be a threat. I mean, they are right next door."
Hal put up a valiant fight indeed, but when the baby started to cry and Annie offered babysitting as an alternative for him, the vampire was up off the couch and grabbing his coat in mere seconds.
Alycia was working on unpacking her boxes from the moving van to the new place she would call home. She had decided to move when he neighbors decided to throw random parties at 3 in the morning and smoke to where SHE could smell it; which was pretty bad because the walls were rather thick. She had tried to solve the problems but nothing worked, so moving was decided. She had her hair pulled back up into a messy bun and was wearing a cute red and blue plaid long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She also had on her jeans that she used when she painted with the kids, so there were little handprints here and there on her pants along with random paint splatters.
She smiled, this was going to be a good thing for her, she was in the middle of filling out paperwork to adopt a little 2 ½ year old girl she wanted to take in, and this seemed like a safe neighborhood. She placed a box down upstairs before she heard a knock at the door. She blinked and made her way downstairs and to the front door, which was still mostly open due to her moving in and out of the house and it was hard to keep opening and shutting the door when she moved in and out of the place. She opened the door more and saw two young men standing there. "Oh hello." She gave them a smile guessing they had to be the neighbors.
Hal's hands clenched in his pockets when a female opened the door. It didn't take but half a moment for the duo outside the door to realize that she was not a werewolf, a vampire, or even a ghost. Hal feigned a smile and noticed that Tom's hands were no longer held behind his back where he'd shoved a stake in the back of his trousers, just in case it was a rowdy vampire that they were dealing with.
"Yes, hello." The vampire said voice a little dull. He didn't like this. He didn't like this any more than he liked going into work and dealing with the scent of humans. He was slowly getting used to that life, but there was still an indignant bit in the back of his mind shouting that none of this was on his list.
"'S nice to meet you." Tom offered. "We just saw you movin' in, thought we'd be proper neighbors and come over to introduce ourselves." He was practically repeating Annie's statement word for word, and in a moment of annoyance Hal wanted to roll his eyes.
"I'm Hal," the vampire cut in. "And this is Tom. We're living in -" well, he couldn't very well say 'the house next to you', seeing as though the building was hardly a house. He didn't want to say 'the rundown, slovenly, abandoned bed-and-breakfast that still has that heinous sign up', because that would only serve to make him think about the sign and how it was dirty and how it was something for him to focus on. Sometimes, the things he did to keep himself normal were almost as annoying as the bloodlust.
"We're livin' next door." Tom finished politely.
Hal finally let his gaze trail to the female that opened the door, and wished he hadn't. She really was pretty, and obviously polite otherwise she would have closed the door in their faces at that point. "If we are at all bothersome, it would be no trouble for us to leave." He informed her, his tone a strange mix of offering and suggesting.
"Oh, well it's wonderful to meet you both, I'm Alycia, my friends call me Aly." She smiled a bit as they introduced themselves. She had to admit…Hal was awful cute! Ok he was just drop dead sexy but she had better composure than that. She listened to them explain that they lived next door. When Hal had spoken she couldn't help but give him a smile. "Oh no! It's no trouble at all. You guys are already better than my previous neighbors. They'd have loud parties and play music and smoke at 3 in the morning. Kept me up almost every night, working in a pre-school I kind of need the energy." She couldn't help but giggle a bit. She was really looking forward to getting a chance to get to know them. "Do, would you guys like to come in for a cup of tea?"
She had time before she had to get the truck back and she had almost everything unloaded anyway. The only thing she had left was the dresser that she had…which her older brother Eric would have to help her move once he came there. She knew she wouldn't be able to lift it on her own…and she didn't even want to try, she'd be on her way to the hospital if she did. She smiled when Tom agreed to tea and practically had to drag Hal in. She had to guess that Hal wasn't really used to being around people all too much. "How long have you guys lived here?" She asked curiously. She hoped it was a good neighborhood, a bit run down but it was better than some fancy neighborhoods.
Of course the dog would agree to tea, thought Hal as he was nearly pulled inside. They couldn't just politely excuse themselves and hurry back to the sanctuary that was that awfully distressing bed and breakfast, where there was silverware in dire need of polishing and dominoes to be stacked up and taken down. At that moment, had Hal been home, he would have been going up to his room, closing the door, and doing pushups. Then he would have been using that equally run-down exercise bike, and then he would have spent exactly twenty minutes reading the novel that he had yet to finish.
But instead, he was there. With a human that had blood pumping through her veins.
"Well, I've lived here a little longer than he has. A few months, I guess. Hal came maybe a month ago. He lives with me an' -" Tom barely caught himself before he said 'Annie'. Even the wolf knew that was a bad idea, Hal reasoned, because it was entirely possible for Alycia to pop by and say hello only to realize they'd lied to her about who lived in the house. " - an' a friend."
It was almost pitiful, how Tom was incapable of spinning a believable lie.
"Where did you move from, if you don't mind my blunt questions?" Hal asked, deciding to smooth over the almost-lie with a change of subject. "Not many people choose willingly to move into this neighborhood." Though he would have, too, if the alternative was a bunch of barbaric neighbors partying until three in the morning.
Alycia smiled and let them inside as she lead them into the kitchen and put on the kettle, finding the box that said "Cups" And opening it before she pulled out three cups for the tea. She heard their answer to her question about how long they'd lived there. "SO not too horribly long, is it pretty good here? I mean most people think neighborhoods like this have druggies or something but most the time they're really nice to live in, just need a bit of TLC is all." She had already told the person she bought the place from that she'd be willing to fix it up, she would want it to look good for when Emma moved in with her. She would even offer to help them fix up their paint if they wanted her to.
Having grown up with two very…'fix it up' men in her family, she had learned young how to fix up things herself as well. She heard Hal's question moments later before she shrugged. "Honestly, it was either here or stay at my old home…if I'd stayed there another day I think I would've probably torn out their stereo and thrown it out the window. I can't stand being around people like that, and with Emma…hopefully moving in with me I've got to make sure she'd be safe playing outside." She realized they probably had no idea who she was talking about. "Emma is a little girl I'm in the process of adopting."
Hal hadn't been going to ask who Emma was. Frankly, he didn't care. As long as it wasn't a vampire or a werewolf or something that could cause them harm, it seemed perfectly rational that he stay out of that little situation - but, of course, the girl decided to be polite and tell he and Tom. And, also something that Hal deemed 'of course', Tom brightened just a little at the mention of a child. The werewolf was practically a child himself, thought Hal.
"Emma's a pretty name." The werewolf said. "Would ya' like help makin' tea?" Annie always made tea for the people in their house, even herself, though she couldn't drink it. It was something that Hal found to the more than a little insane, but he rarely spoke of it unless she was doing something annoying.
Which meant that he spoke of it a lot, because she was always doing something annoying.
"So you plan on having a child around. It's not the safest place for children." Hal told Alycia, only realizing how ominous the words sounded after they'd left his mouth. "If you plan on expanding your family any more I would appreciate a warning. Children tend to be loud." He sounded mean, and he knew that. He probably sounded like a twat. But at least he wasn't fumbling around the kitchen and trying to be helpful like Tom was.
"We know because we got a baby." Tom informed Alycia, smiling at her. Hal rolled his eyes. When the boy said 'we', it almost sounded like they were a couple. Hal didn't like that, either. Just another annoyance to add to the very, very long mental list that was so quickly being accumulated.
Alycia smiled when Tom seemed to brighten up when she spoke of Emma. "Emma is short for Emmalei, she's actually in the pre-school I work at, so I see her almost everyday. She's a very sweet little girl, a little shy but very curious about just about anything." She smiled talking about the little girl before Tom offered to help. "That would be great." She pointed Tom to the cabinet that held the tea. Thankfully she'd gone grocery shopping before she moved in, she wanted to make sure she had at least a few things to last her until she'd finished setting up the place. She looked to Hal when he spoke before she gave him a smile. "As long as you two aren't druggies, I'll be fine, and you don't really seem like people who would be into drugs." She spoke honestly.
She heard Tom say that they had a baby. "Awe a niece of yours or something?" She asked curiously. She adored kids, that's the main reason she started working in a pre-school in the first place. "Hey, if you're interested, before Emma moves in I was planning on giving the place a fresh coat of paint, would you be willing to help? I'll even be willing to help you paint your place if you'd like." She was hoping that maybe, just maybe, she'd be able to make friends with the neighbors and get to know them. "I've got a lot of things to prep before Emma moves in but ever since I filed the paperwork I've been really excited." She couldn't help but smile as the tea kettle whistled and she pulled the kettle off the burner and poured the tea, handing one to Tom and Hal and then picking up one for herself. "Sorry, I spaced on answering your question about where I used to live, it was behind the park just down the road aways."
"No, I am not addicted to drugs." Unfortunately, even after fifty-five years of being dry, Hal's body still had a difficult time going without the blood that he so craved, that he so desperately wanted and didn't want. "Nor is Tom, though his caffeine intake is monstrous." Monstrous. That was a fitting adjective, thought Hal.
Tom retrieved the box of tea from the cupboard and brought it over to Alycia, setting it down for her. When she asked if it was a niece of theirs, the werewolf shook his head. "No. 'S kind of complicated."
Every time Tom explained it like that, Hal had to wonder if the person they were talking to was going to walk away with the impression that they were kidnappers. No one seemed to get, but that didn't mean that it would never happen. He wished that Tom was just a little better at covering up the facts.
Or a lot better.
A lot better would be nice, too.
"That's perfectly alright, preparing for a child can probably be quite distracting." He'd never prepared for a child himself. Instead Hal had been reluctantly thrust into the babysitting scene. "Thank you for the tea." He said, raising his cup a little before taking a sip of the hot liquid. It slid down his throat and made him think of the warmth of blood, but thankfully the herbal flavor washed that away right quickly. He didn't need to be thinking of blood, not of the way he could hear Alycia's pulse. His eyes flickered to her neck, but only for a moment before they were trained on his tea again.
This was why he needed his routines.
"Well, we'd be happy to help you paint." Tom told Alycia, looking over at Hal, then at her, nodding his head. Hal didn't particularly like the look on the wolf's face, it was one too close to being mischievous - if Tom could ever look mischievous. "We're neighbors, now, after all. We gotta be polite and proper. 'Sides, I like painting. What about you, Hal?"
Hal fixed him with a glare that, had it been any more intense, would have shriveled the wolf were he sat.
Painting was something to do as a distraction, but it would also have to be done around Alycia. Which was not a good thing.
Alycia smiled hearing Hal talk about Tom's intake of caffeine. "You want to see something really bad? The day after Halloween at a pre-school. If kids can't have candy during the time they're there, they eat it before hand…that day is one no one likes working." She shivered. "The kids are so hyped up it's not even funny." She giggled a bit. She thanked Tom when he brought her the box of tea. It was a favorite type of tea she made often, Orange Spice. It just had a good taste to it that she'd loved ever since she was a kid. "Ah, I understand." She somewhat did. She honestly didn't think they were kidnappers. She took a sip of the tea once she'd passed out the tea to the others. "You're welcome."
She was glad she was being able to chat with these two, they seemed very nice. "That'd be great. I was hoping to get some paint this weekend and get started on it. The sooner I get the outside painted the sooner I can set up Emma's room. My mom wants me to take pictures once I'm finished. She's always loved butterflies and angels, so I'm going to do my best doing a butterfly and angel themed room for her." She explained. She giggled a bit seeing Hal glare at Tom. "I'm guessing you're not one to be volunteered for stuff by your friends huh?" She could tell that once she got to know him, she was going to be very happy there. "Oh um, quick question, Since I can tell that he's a vampire, I'm guessing you're not exactly human yourself hm Tom? And no, I'm not mental." She smiled knowing she threw them for a major loop.
The woman was pretty, she was kind, she was hospitable. But Hal was in no mood for her stories, or how her mum wanted pictures when the house was painted. He just wanted to get back to the horrible bed and breakfast and lock himself in his room to complete his now very, very late routines. He also wanted to get out of the clothes he was wearing under his dark jacket and into something a little more dignified, but instead he was sitting in a stranger's house and drinking Orange Spice tea.
Admittedly the tea was good. But that was little by way of comparing to the things that seemed to be going wrong.
"You'll have to forgive me if I seem either rude or frank, but, no, I do not particularly appreciate it." Hal said, hardly glancing at her. If he did, he might look down at her neck and he was already thinking about blood. Or maybe it was that he'd just end up staring at her. She was, after all, a very attractive woman.
Both Hal and Tom choked on their Orange Spice tea when Alycia mentioned oh-so-calmly Hal's condition. Tom sputtered and spilled a bit of the liquid on the table, and Hal barely managed to clink his mug hard onto the table before he spilled his drink as well. He opened his mouth to deny the fact, but, as always, the werewolf spoke and ruined it.
"How did you know?" Tom asked, looking at Alycia with that annoying eyebrow-raise he always had when he was confused. Hal practically had the expression memorized because Tom was always confused. "Are you a vampire or somthin'? You smell human, though. So - I don't understand."
"Normally I would not be inclined to be asking the same question as this boy, but an answer is entirely necessary." Hal's eyes flickered over to Alycia and narrowed into a glare - not one that was meant to be mean, but a look that came naturally when he was considering his options.
Alycia couldn't help but giggle at their reactions when she'd asked her question. She quickly got some paper towels and handed them to both of them. "I probably should've asked after the tea was gone, but I was curious and I wanted to ask before you ran off." She spoke honestly looking to Hal when she spoke. Looking to Tom, hearing his questions she couldn't help but giggle again. "I was exposed to the super natural at a very young age. My older brother was changed into a vampire when I was 14. He still stayed at home, but I noticed something different about him, he finally told me after almost two weeks of asking him." She explained. She was actually very amused seeing their curiosity peeked. "So, am I right?" She asked curiously knowing she probably was but she wanted to be sure.
"I know about ghosts too. My mum and I used to live in a haunted house with my brother while my dad was away overseas." He'd been a soldier at the time and was gone while she and her mother and brother had lived in a small duplex home. "Wasn't anything too scary, just some cold breezes now and again, my mum saw a little girl by her bed once and I saw something in my window. Scared me almost half to death at that age though." She shrugged her shoulders a bit knowing if she hadn't been positive that Hal was a vampire, they'd be thinking she was mental. "By the way, you are very cute for a vampire. You're the first one I've seen other than my brother."
Hal immediately went to shake his head and tell her that she was wrong, that she was absolutely wrong and that it was time for both he and Tom to go. He wanted to tell her that he had no idea what she was talking about, maybe through in some feigned concern and call her delusion. But again the werewolf had to open his tremendous, annoying, truthful mouth.
"You're right. Hal here's a vampire. 'M a werewolf." Tom said, nodding, perhaps a little too glad to find someone that was able to understand. But she didn't understand, did she? She was a human herself, she couldn't possibly know what Tom went through once a month, or what Hal went through every day of his long, long life. Or second life, if you wanted to be technical, because to become a vampire you had to die.
Hal's teeth gritted together when the woman called him 'cute'. Vampires were by no means 'cute'. They were nothing of the sort. They were terrifying, ruthless killers. He was a murderer, and while Hal may have accepted 'handsome', he was not going to deal with anything softer than that. "I would request that you take that back this instant." He stated, lips thinned in an annoyed line.
His pride as a male was a little muffed, if he were to be honest.
"Sorry 'bout him. He doesn't like bein' found out. And doesn't know how to take a compliment, neither." Tom said, as if he was used to apologizing for Hal.
Personally, Hal thought that it should be the other way around. Tom was the embarrassing one, not he.
"I knew there was something different about you two when I first saw you." She smiled moving some of her hair behind her ear that'd fallen from her ponytail. "I can somewhat understand, with my older brother struggling with not hurting anyone, I saw him at his best and worst stages. It's not very fun seeing someone you love suffering like that. But he's been doing really well, I think he's even got a girlfriend now, Not sure if she's like him or not. Oh and he is coming over later just so you know, he's going to help me move the dresser in the truck, it's too heavy for me to do it myself." She explained before she looked to Hal when he got annoyed at her calling him cute. "Ok ok, maybe handsome was a better word." She smiled sipping the last little bit of her tea before she rinsed out the cup.
"It's ok Tom, I know some guys get upset when they're called cute, it's normal." She giggled a bit knowing Hal was probably having a hard time being around a human. "How old is the little one you're caring for? I could always watch her for you sometimes if you ever need it." She would be more than happy to watch the child for them, hopefully that would also help build the relationship, friendship, whatever was going to be there. "And neither of you have to worry, I'm very good at keeping things under wraps. My family, as far as I know, still doesn't know about my older brother being a vampire, so that's saying something." Especially since it'd been 10 years since he was changed.
"She's just a baby." Hal snapped, near determined to get an answer in before Tom this time. No, it was not a competition. It was a race to keep the werewolf from saying anything that could endanger them. "And I'm not so sure that would be a good idea. Thank you for your most generous offer, but we have someone to look after the baby." Annie hardly trusted the infant with he and Tom, it was unlikely that the ghost would willingly hand her over to a stranger even for a short amount of time.
Hal narrowed his eyes a little bit when Alycia said that she was good at keeping a secret. "While it is entirely wonderful to know that your secret-keeping skills are up to par, I would rather not have had to trust you with mine." No matter how pretty she was, or how that smile of hers made him feel just a tad odd.
Tom looked between Alycia and Hal, his big eyebrows furrowed a little. "Oh," the boy whispered to himself, as if something had dawned on him - which, of course, made Hal give him a look of confusion in return.
Oh. Oh, no. Oh, please, no. He wished for someone to tell him that the werewolf wasn't going to -
"I think I 'ear my name bein' called - Hal can stay 'ere and help with your dresser, alright? No need for it to sit out there 'till your brother gets here. Least we can do for the tea. Thanks again, and I'll be on my way, now." Tom got up and headed out the door, leaving Hal in the room with a human.
All the vampire could think was that this was not on his list.