Author's note: I do not own Trinity Blood or its characters. This is for the 30 Kisses challenge using list alpha. Theme 26: Chat Room. This is AU.


You've Got Mail

Caterina let her apartment door close with a sigh and kicked off her heels. Thank god that work was over with for the day. Today had been an absolute nightmare, and she had been trapped at the office nearly four hours longer than she had planned. All she wanted now was a hot shower and a warm dinner. Well, that and to check her email. With any luck, she would have a new message from her pen pal.

Those emails had become the brightest spots in her day. She had found her pen pal by fluke. They had met by chance in a chat room that Caterina had gone into on a dare. She had struck up a conversation about music and literature with one NightTraveler, and it had somehow turned into a friendship despite the fact that two of them had never met. But NightTraveler provided Caterina with the encouragement and support she couldn't seem to find anywhere else, and his emails were always kind and thoughtful. Caterina hoped she was being as good a friend to him as he was to her.

She turned on her computer and went about divesting herself of her business suit as she waited for the computer boot up. Caterina might be a successful business woman, but she didn't enjoy the clothing that went with it. It seemed to take forever for her computer to boot up and connect to the internet. And once it had, Caterina immediately checked her email. There was one new message waiting there for her.

Cat,

Thanks for the book recommendation. You were right. It was a lot better than it sounded from the blurb on the back of the book. I hope your presentation went well. I know you were nervous, but it sounded like you knew the material cold. I'm sure things went fine. I've got to run, but let me know how things went.

Night

She grinned. Five minutes later, she had a pot simmering on the stove for pasta, and she was hard at work on her reply. The presentation had gone well, thank goodness. Half an hour later, dinner was a memory and her reply had been sent. Caterina was actually hoping that she might get a reply back tonight. That had happened on occasion. But when she went off to her shower, there was still no reply.

There was one waiting for her in the morning though.

Cat,

Glad it went well. Have a great morning.

Night


Abel grinned he opened the email. Once again he had a new email from his pen pal. He so wanted to meet her in person. Cat was funny and charming, and she was everything that he had ever looked for in a friend. He was glad they had stumbled upon one another in that chat-room.

Night,

I'm off to work. Hope your day goes well. Mine's full of boring meetings, but at least I get an extra long lunch break today. I'm treating myself to a hot cinnamon roll. It might not be healthy, but at least it makes me feel better. Talk to you later.

Cat

His day wasn't going to be much better than hers, but he would be starting it with a smile. The only problem was the more they emailed each other back and forth, the more Abel wanted to spend time with her in person. Perhaps the real Cat wasn't like the online one, but Abel rather doubted that.

Of course, he would have to figure out how to make the invitation to meet in person that wouldn't be all stalkerish or creepy. He didn't want to scare Cat off or ruin their friendship. But he did want to meet her in person, and he wanted her in his life. He just wasn't sure what the best way was to make that happen. He'd figure something out eventually though. For now, he'd better hurry if he wanted to make it to work on time.

Work wasn't anything special or interesting today. Abel was grateful when the day was over, and he could head home. There wasn't anything new from Cat waiting for him unfortunately. Still, perhaps she had been stuck at work late. Neither of them tended to email from work. Still there was no word before he went to bed and nothing in the morning either. It worried Abel a little, but he understood why something like that might happen. So on his lunch break, he checked again.

There was a message waiting for him, and it wasn't good.

Night,

Sorry to dump on you, but I've got to vent or I'm going to snap and kill someone. Probably a relative of mine. I'm only half way through my day, and yet things can't get much worse. Everything that could possible go wrong has. I've been late, missed meals, had things spilled on me. My clothes are a mess, and my change of clothes at the office turned out to be a victim of the same. I'm missing papers, files, even my wallet. I've been chewed out by at least three people today, one of them was a complete stranger. I've been insulted both to my face and behind my back. And the day isn't over yet. God, would someone shoot me now? This is the worst day of my life, and no one besides you cares. When today is over, I just want to go home and curl up in ball and cry. Except there's nothing to eat at my place. I was supposed to go grocery shopping tonight. Not that that will probably happen now. I'm sorry. I'm being completely whiny right now. But no one else will listen to me. Thanks. I'll drop you a line later.

Cat

Abel sighed. That sounded like on hell of a day. Poor Cat. There really wasn't much he could do for her except offer sympathy. It was the kind of day when it was nice to have a friend drop by with food and a silly movie. Of course, since he didn't know where Cat lived or even her real name, that was a little difficult. Still, he wanted to so something nice for her. Especially given the day she was having. An idea popped into Abel's head, and he began to type.


Upon reaching the sanctuary of her apartment, Caterina let out a deep sigh and slumped back against the door once it had been shut behind. Today has probably been the worst day of her entire life. It had even felt worse than the night of the car accident that had killed her parents. She dumped her bag on the floor and gratefully kicked of her shoes. She'd have to throw out the pair now that the heel had snapped off on the one shoe. She didn't bother to turn on the lights as she made her way over to the computer. Caterina turned it on, and then turned her attention to doing something about her own very sorry state.

After a very brief (and very cold despite the fact that she shouldn't have been out of hot water) shower, Caterina managed to scrounge up at something clean to wear, even if it was a pair of yoga pants, a tank top, and an extremely ratty sweatshirt from college. Sitting down, Caterina logged into her email, half hoping that there was a reply, half hoping there wasn't. It was a little embarrassing to have sent that whiny email, but at the time she had really needed to vent a little before she really did something she regretted.

There was a new message waiting for her.

Cat,

You have my utmost sympathy. You day sounds hellish so far. I hope it gets better. You don't have to take me up on this, but I would be more than happy offer pizza and silly movies this evening to cheer you up. It sounds like you definitely need an evening without having to worry about anything. Let me know what you want to do. My address is 402 SE Terra Ave., Apartment #702. I'd love to meet you, but it's okay if you don't want to. Hope your day has gotten better.

Night

She bit her lip, unsure of how to answer the email. She wanted to take him up on the offer. It sounded like exactly what she needed tonight. But what would meeting Night in person do to their friendship? Would it ruin it or make it stronger? Caterina had no concrete evidence to help her predict things either way. Whatever choice she made, it was a leap into the unknown. Caterina liked to be certain of things. She liked to make informed decisions, but this time that wasn't possible. Either way, she might be kissing an important relationship goodbye. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard uncertain what to type, and then finally, she made a decision.


A tall blond woman with a messy braid in what looked like work out clothes knocked at an apartment door. It opened to reveal a man a few years older than she was with long silver hair. He grinned at her.

"Are you Cat then?"

She blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes. I'm Caterina Sforza."

He smiled. "Abel Nightroad. Come on in. Our pizza just got here."