Hi all! Thanks for all the support. I really appreciate it : ) Still can't shake the weirdness though.

Chapter Ten – In A Place of Lesser of Men

"… In a place of lesser men

She walks from work at night

Blood on bait

But I don't worry

How come I don't worry?..."

– Matthew Good

Ada had work that night. She had no idea how it deal with Eric.

'Will he stay here? Go for run? Stalk me again?' Fearing the answer may be the third one Ada fretted all day that Saturday. It had been two nights since the Thursday that Eric had flown with her, during the course of her panicked flight Ada had missed two calls and a text from Laura.

When Ada returned her friend's calls she was met with a clearly concerned sort of frustration. "You're lucky I have Ash this week or I'd…" Ada had let Laura mother and rant at her, while she put away her groceries. This relationship seemed to benefit both of them, especially when Ada missed her mother and when Laura missed her 7 year old daughter Ashley, or Ash. It was a long story but a judge had deemed an 18 year old Laura as an 'unfit' mother and given custody to of the two year old baby to Ashley's father and his new wife.

Laura always said if she had waited a month longer Ashley's father would have been 18 and she could have threatened him with a statutory assault charge when he filed for custody. Then again, she also always said that it had been for the best, that she had been 'messed up'. Now Ash stayed at Laura's two weekends out of the month and some afternoons after school. Ada had babysat the sweet girl when Laura had a shift she couldn't get out of, they would have DVD marathons watching horrible Barbie movie adaptations and playing cards. That Friday was a teacher's day or some such thing at Ash's school and Laura had convinced the little girl's father to call in sick for Ash on the following Monday so she could take the 7 year old on a horseback riding trip for her birthday.

Ada had been grateful for the timing of the trip as it gave her a few extra days to figure out what to tell Laura. However, that Thursday night Ada had been so tired excuses didn't seem to be a pressing priority. By the time she had sent her love to Ash and wished them a good trip, Eric had washed his feet, changed into his robe and warmed up a bottle of blood.

'Shoes…' she had thought noticing his clean bare feet, making note to remember to return the flip-flops and find a new pair for next time she went to the store.

"Who is she?" He had nodded at the cell phone in swinging Ada's lazy grip.

Ada had wondered for a moment if she should tell him anything too personal, but his expression was so open and innocently interested she decided there was no harm in disclosing some things about her world to him. She spoke to him through the bathroom door as she got ready for bed. 'Nothing he hasn't seen before...' Ada had reasoned about her bedtime attire, though she still darted as fast as she could to get under the covers.

He had sat on top of the bed covers, same as the previous night. As he had rested his giant frame back against the wall that acted as a headboard for the mattress, Eric must have noticed Ada's green eyes wearily watching him and he promised to move to the floor. For some reason when he did this her gut was hit with a stab of disappointment.

That night lying on her stomach with her head against her pillow, though she was half asleep, she told him about her life. Not everything, not the baby, not the painful things. He asked about Laura, the robe, the books, school, her home town, her name… She tried asking those same sorts of questions back but he still could not remember anything. Even through her scarcely open eyes and a half-conscious mind Ada could sense that thinking of his lost past did not make him at all happy.

She haphazardly flung her left arm out, in what she hoped to be a gesture of comfort, gripping his robe covered arm. Ada had blindly rubbed the fabric between her fingers, her muggy brain finally fumbled out a question that she was sure he could answer if he wished to. "Do you like your new clothes now?"

He had hummed in thought for a moment, the sound made any tension in Ada body trickle away. There had been a pause, long enough for Ada's mind to tip toe into the darkness of sleep. "They smell familiar now…" he had spoken softly "…they smell of you…"

Ada had woken up that Friday morning her hand still reaching over Eric's arm, fingers spread over his chest, she could feel the cool metal of the ring he wore around his neck 'must have moved when he stretched out…' when she had pull her arm back Ada noticed that the distance between their bodies was barely a hand span 'were we that close?' She didn't have much time to dwell on their spacing, the third alarm on her phone had gone off.

All that day she had been unusually tired, in the two hour tutorial following her first class, a boy across the room that she had bashfully and adamantly avoided making eye contact with tossed a well-crafted and well-aimed paper airplane at her dozing head.

Ada had jolted, slurping a little and startling the two girls next to her, the teaching assistant for this philosophy class spent almost every class distractedly scribbling things on and talking towards the whiteboard, so thankfully he hadn't noticed. Ada looked at the dark-skinned boy across the semi-circle, he had opened his hands like a book suggesting she do the same with the plane. The inside read: 'You were about to drool on your extensive notes so here… keep these incase I was too late…' he had written notes for her to use… pages of notes, while the single page her notebook was open to was still completely blank.

'Argh! You little leechy rugrat….' She had taken a moment to berate what must have been the baby for draining her, before raising her embarrassed gaze, smiling and mouthing thank you to the brown-eyed boy. The other students had seemed to politely ignore her sleep and their exchange, except for the girl beside the boy, sniggering into his ear. Ada kept her eyes glued to the board for the rest of class. She had raced off to her next class, before most people had collected all of their supplies and from that afternoon class she had rushed home.

'Home…' she had almost laughed at herself. Her apartment had never really felt like 'home' but now… she had buzzed with excitement that evening, it had been dark for about three quarters of an hour and she liked the feeling of expecting Eric to be in her flat. However, when she opened her door the place was empty and Ada felt sure that she had sunken through the floor, when a cool arm draped over her shoulders and a lighthearted voice from behind had commented, "Hmmm…far less of a mess from the inside than out…" Ada elbowed him in the ribs, when all she had really wanted to do was hug and squeezed the daylights out of him '… he's still here!'

That same Friday they had been watching bad TV, the Queen of the Damned had been on and had given Eric something to laugh at. He told her had gone out for a run and that he had watched her on her bus ride home.

'So that was more than excitement…' Ada had remarked to herself recalling the current that had coursed through her on her way home, as she rinsed dishes from her PB&J sandwich dinner.

"What did I tell you about stalking?" She had asked tiredly, walking back to sit next to him in front of the TV.

His brow creased in confusion, "Stalking?"

"…Well I guess I didn't say it out loud…" Ada had made sure to maintain eye contact, while trying not to be distracted by his pure blue stare. "Any watching from a distance, without my knowing or when I cannot see you, is stalking and creepy and I do not appreciate it." She had ended believing she had defined the word and its affects well enough.

"Creepy…" he had sounded out the word as though it troubled him. "How? I am only protecting you." He justified, his forehead still lined in incredulity.

"I don't need protection…"

"You did the night we met." He had been quick to reply.

"That was a one off, it must have been a blue moon or…" Ada had tried though she had been stumped by his intent blue watch once again. Frustrated she 'pffted' out a breath, childishly pushing the palm of her hand against his smug stone face. He had amused her by falling backwards as she pushed him. 'Like playing with Hallen…' she had laughed taken back to her childhood.

"Oh Gods!" He had chuckled playing along at first, but he had changed his tune when her fingers had accidentally brushed under his ear where he was apparently ticklish. "Ah! Mercy! Mercy!"

"I thought Vikings never surrendered!" She giggled merciless exploiting his new found weak spot, enjoying the upper hand she had on him

'A little power-mad there, huh?'

"To you I yield," Eric laughed. "I yield! I yield! A thousand times, all that I have!" He had kept chuckling, his had words had made Ada stop, her face had fallen. She looked down at him properly, she could feel him smiling against the skin of her palm, that was still pressed across his face. His eyes were closed, one of his hands was gently holding hers where it was, over his mouth, he had inhaled then murmured, "I yield." His words had her stuck, a new warmth hit her low down, she had become aware of her legs on either side of him… for a breath that was all she was aware of until his words were followed by the eye widening sound of a click. Ada had felt something sharp poke her, before she knew it her mind had raced and she had scrambled backwards off of him and the mattress on to the floor. Chest heaving she had examined her palm. There was nothing but a shallow pink mark, that showed where he had almost punctured her skin.

Eric had sat up on the bed stunned, his own hand over his mouth. Ada had opened her mouth to speak but what filled the quiet was: "You thought it was all you? The ego of a king as well. Yes! I know you, Lestat. I know you crave to have the world at your feet. So I've come to give it to you…" in the funniest possible voice from the TV behind her. The contrast, the crazy fact that there was even a scared look in Eric's eyes, that she had just tickled a vampire had made Ada burst out into a fit of laughter on the floor one that made her hold her stomach and wipe her eyes.

When she had stopped, she was tired all over again.

"This is a wretched movie." Eric had gone from being scared to breaking the silence after her laughter with a roll of the eyes at the TV.

"Stupidest darn thing, can't stop watching it though can you?"

Eric had smiled, which almost toppled Ada over as she moved to stand, he nodded up at her from the edge of the mattress. "I can't seem to. It's as though I need to know how bad it gets…"

"Welcome to good-bad cinema…" she had sympathetically patted his shoulder. "I'm going to shower, before bed… kay?" She had let him know as she headed to the bathroom.

It had been another quiet night of questions, that morning had been a quiet day of readings and assignments. Ada had kept herself from looking at Eric, kept herself from examining her palm but nonetheless in the day time with his clearly incapacitated form on display it was very apparent that this whole situation made no sense. When Ada could no longer ignore the waning sun she finally acknowledged the argumentative voice in her head. 'He keeps my mind off of Niall, he make me laugh and it doesn't matter why or how but I feel comfortable… for the most part...' she looked at her unscathed palm, but instead of feeling a pang of pain or fear or thinking of what could have happened Ada was flooded with the joy she had felt and how easy their interaction had been.

He had been surprised to see she was still at home when he woke up. Smiling he watched from the mattress as she handed him a bottle of blood.

"So…" Ada began, "I have work tonight." Her green gaze took in Eric, who simply nodded which perplexed Ada. "And you're all right with that? What happened to prehistoric 'women should be provided for…'" she imitated his voice badly.

He chuckled, sipping his blood, "It's understandable. You require money to live and that means working…" he stood, his blue gaze lighted with humor, "… besides the dogs in your life were obviously not suit for caring for you…" He grinned, his teeth wolfish "…but if you want 'misogyny' as I remember you calling it, I am here now." Eric bowed his head, prompting Ada to swipe at the ruffled peaks of blonde hair before her.

"Fine… but no stalking…"

"Adley, why so pleased?" Bobby had smiled at her when she walked into work. It had taken convincing to keep Eric from accompanying her. But as she looked at Bobby, Ada was happy that she had taken time to do so. Bob would have been heartbroken if he knew that she had fallen in with a 'fanger' like his sister had. 'I haven't 'fallen in' though…' Ada told herself.

"A few days away from poles and glitter does a world of good Bobley." She had joked with him. Her shift had gone well, almost too well, Ada didn't know why but she felt happy '… Liar! You do too know!'

Ada shushed up the voice and felt the time fly by in the busy club. After locking up she took her usual route home. In the silver light of the moon Ada knew what she was going to do, she had waited until she had made it to the alleyway…

"Eric…" she called.

There was a swooping sound and a crunch of gravel beside her. "Yes."

She sighed, realizing her attempts to keep him in the house were all for naught. "Well I gave it the old college try…"

He seemed to understand her meaning, as he sympathetically shrugged at her. As they began walking toward the apartment Eric asked, "What sort of establishment is the 'Eager Beaver' exactly?"

Again another strange mood chapter. Sorry about editing and being in a little odd funk.