The evening continued with ample friendly banter, good wine and company were both bountiful, though every joke of Inta's fell utterly flat, nobody minded, not even himself. In time even that became a part of the humor. But all good things had to come to an end and finally Inta cleared his throat and said, "As much fun as this has been, if I'm going to be of any use to anyone tomorrow then I need to go home and restore myself."
"Restore yourself?" Entoma asked, with Inta nodding and putting a hand on his chest. "Yes, your swarm drained a lot of blood, and though I was healed of my injuries, that didn't really count, it 'plugged the holes' but that was all."
"Oh... I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't know it would do that." Entoma remarked and though her face lacked the same expression, the contrition in her voice was genuine.
Inta waved one hand with a dismissive flick of his wrist, "No, no, I'm just a little dry... a lot dry, actually but it's fine. I keep a few spare bottles in my home."
"Well if that's all you need...?" Entoma extended her arm out toward him, "What kind of host would I be if I left you hungry after a visit?" She tried to play it off with her youthful laugh, but to one person at the table at least, there was more at play.
'Does she know how significant it is in vampire culture to let someone feed on you? That's almost as intimate as sex.' Bertra wasn't sure, but her wide blue eyes spoke volumes. However all of Entoma's ruby eyes were on her guest, making her 'visually deaf' to what Bertra was trying to convey.
"A-Are you sure?" Inta asked, his own crimson eyes wide as saucers.
"Do you not want to?" Entoma asked, and lowered her arm. 'Of course he wouldn't want to. Stupid... offering something like that, that's not like me. Why did I say something so stupid?!' Entoma asked herself with a sudden sense of outrage at herself. 'At least my face won't show my embarrassment now!' That much was a relief at least and she did her best to cover for it by, after lowering her arm, removing it from the table and resting it in her lap. "It's alright, that will be fine, why don't you go ahead and recover, Professor Inta, get... well fed? Hydrated?" Entoma put puzzlement into her voice and looked away while tapping her dark purple cheek, "Maybe both?" She then added, "I'll see you another time."
"Entoma-" Bertra tried to whisper while Inta's mouth opened to speak, then suddenly snapped shut.
Entoma's eyes snapped toward her closest outside friend, 'She's closer to being like him bodily than I am, this is just, maybe he'd prefer someone like her, maybe...'
The maybes ran on in her head, and she did her best to put a brave face on it, "Entoma that's not what I mean." Inta tried to finally speak. "It's just that something like that, it's-"
"I said it's fine." Entoma emphasized and stood up fast enough that her chair nearly toppled backward, and would have if she hadn't reached behind her to catch it at the last moment.
"Manaly," Entoma called, and the orc appeared from within the kitchen area.
"Yes, my Lady?" The orc said with his back stiff as a board and his deep set eyes centered on her.
"See my guest out, I'm very tired and I would like to rest." Entoma said, and in that moment, there was no lie, the seemingly rejection dragged on her like heavy weights on chains that were wrapped around her body. All she wanted to do was scream out a sense of frustration and fling them down, but there were no chains, there was nothing for her to attack or destroy.
And so Entoma was simply, overwhelmingly, supremely, tired.
"Of course, ma'am." Manaly said and went to stand behind Inta, a large, meaty hand rested gently on the vampire's shoulder.
Inta briefly froze at the unexpected touch of the manservant, 'What just happened here...?' He asked himself and had no clear answer in his head, 'Did I say the wrong thing? Was there a... I wasn't saying 'no' just...' The orcish manservant gave a very gentle, but suggestive squeeze to Inta's shoulder, snapping him back to reality.
He slowly rose to his feet, turned to Entoma and gave her a formal bow.
"Entoma, it was wonderful, I hope you get a good night's rest." He tried to give a friendly smile, but with his beatless heart dropped with nerves and his head in disarray, it was a fragile one at best, and one she did not answer with her usually charming form of farewell.
Instead she turned toward Bertra, "Would you like to accompany my guest, or remain?"
Bertra felt the loaded question as if it were a catapult full of rocks hurled at her. 'A catapult of rocks with sharp spikes... that are poisoned... and on fire. She must like him even more than I thought.' Aware of the nature of the loaded question behind the question that was aimed in her direction, Bertra handled it with adroitness and precision.
"I'm sure that isn't necessary, and I'm very tired myself, the wine and all. I should get some rest." Bertra flashed a hopeful smile toward the confused Inta who slid the chair beneath the table after moving aside from its path.
"Yes... it is late... I will- I will look forward, very much that is, to our next get together." The vampire said lamely, then cleared his throat as the orc removed his hand and then walked toward the door.
Inta stopped just beyond the doorway and tried to look back into the flat, but the big orc blocked his view beyond before he inexorably and firmly shut the door.
"Show Bertra to the guest room, and then you can retire for the night, thank you Manaly for your work." Entoma said and snatching up her mask, she set it immediately on her face again.
"Of course, my Lady." The manservant's face was utterly and completely serene, as if she'd never bared her face, and for a moment that made Entoma pause when she reached the door.
'The ideal servant, if he finds me repugnant, I'd never know it, if he finds me horrifying, he shows nothing... maybe... maybe that was why Harold was so appealing at first... and right now I miss that.' Entoma pondered, then entered her room, closed the door, and went to her white web hammock to flop herself down. The force of dropping onto what should have been a sticky surface made it rock back and forth, hard at first, it gradually became a gentle swaying motion. It should have set her at ease, but it didn't.
The darkness filled her room, and it felt more empty than it ever did before.
It stayed that way, and stayed that way, and stayed that way, until some deep, dark hour of the night, she heard a knocking, gentle and rhythmic, on her door.
'This had better not be Inta sneaking back in after I sent him home...' Entoma swore, but said nothing.
The knocking came again, a little faster, more insistent than before.
"Entoma... it's... it's Berenice." Bertra said, and that made Entoma sit up.
'She hasn't used her old name in years...' Entoma was therefore prompted to immediately answer. "Come in."