From the moment Stolos blocked off Lydia's dreams, she was feeling much better. The tension she had been feeling disappeared. The only remaining feeling that had been weighing on her was the emptiness she felt after her father passed.

It was something so strange for her, knowing that she will never touch him again, never be able call him and get one of his life advice...

She shook her head and blinked a few times, trying to swallow the tears.

"Hey," Stolos said and laid his hand on Lydia's hip, pulling her closer to him, "how are you feeling?"

"Well, you know," Lydia gave him a small smile, "when it comes to the Lady drama, it seems that I am okay now. No dreams. At least I don't remember them."

"Hm, alright," Stolos hummed and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "so I better look into it."

"Can't we have a break for a bit?" Lydia asked with a long look, "it's just been so much... I think we deserve like... a vacation, you know?"

"Ha, yeah, I think you are right. But-"

"No, what happened again?" Lydia sighed.

"Well... it would seem... that Mich has a daughter," Stolos explained.

"What?"

"Yeah... he found out unexpectedly. It's a bit complicated."

"Of course it is. Does that mean that you-"

"No, no. I checked," Stolos laughed, "no unexpected children."

"Oh, alright. Good. And what is the issue now?"

"So... this girl, Rue. She seems to have a supernatural target on her back since she is Mich's kid. I am not sure why, neither does Mich. But it seems that every 'creature' that sees her just wants to rip her apart and eat her or something."

"What?"

"Yeah, I know. I'll explain you on the way. Mich wants my help... so if you want to come with me."

"Yeah, definitely. I come with you."

"Okay," Stolos chuckled, "and after we fix this, we go have vacation, okay?"

"Sounds good," Lydia said and kissed him.

...

Before Stolos and Lydia were supposed to arrive to help with Rue's unique situation, Thomas made Michendros and Rue go out to get groceries together.

"No, you two should get some time together. Bond," Thomas encouraged the tall brunett who hesitated to go.

"It's gonna be awkward," Michendros muttered.

"I am not going to be your middle person forever, Mich. Go."

And so they were walking down the sidewalk in silence. Rue did appreciate walking outside a bit since she thought she will never see anything besides that one aparment.

Rue looked up to glance quickly at Michendros who stared in front of him, also lost in thought.

"So... where are we going?" Rue was the first to break the quiet, thinking that it might be better than the awkward lack of conversation.

Michendros turned his head to look at her and answered: "There's this store around the corner. We just need to get some food. I wanted to cook something since Stolos and Lydia will come."

"And... that's the brother?"

"Exactly. He will help us out with this little issue since I can't somehow... detect its origin."

"Oh, okay," Rue nodded and noticed the grocery store closing in.

They entered again wordlessly and Rue was following Michendros around the store, watching what he was picking out for ingredients for the dish he wanted to prepare.

"Anything you want?" Michendros finally asked when he found everything that he needed. Rue only shook her head, even though she craved some beer and french fries that were advertised in front of the burger place next to the grocery store.

Michendros knew that there was something she wanted but proceeded to go to the check-out, Rue again following him.

"Well, that's it," Michendros said when they finally stood outside of the grocery store, Michendros holding a few paper bags in his right hand.

Rue glanced yet again to the burger restaurant that offered a huge portion of french fries with ketchup with a can of light beer in a big advertisement on one of the windows.

Michendros followed her gaze and simply asked: "You want that?"

"What?"

"You want the fries, Rue?" Michendros specified and pointed to the big picture on the window.

"Well... maybe."

"Okay, let's get it. I'll have some too."

Rue nodded, remembering the accident with the coffee the other morning, deciding that it is probably better to be honest with him.

They walked inside the older looking establishment that had only four tables inside and a small bar. Michendros approached the man behind the counter and asked him for fries with ketchup and the can of beer, twice.

"Do we eat here or take away?" Michendros turned to Rue who shrugged and replied: "We can eat on the way."

Michendros nodded and repeated that information to the waiter who wrote the order down and left.

The awkward silence was again creeping in but Rue thought it might be easier to escape it with leaving to the bathroom.

"Uhm, I gotta use the ladies room," Rue muttered and swiftly disappeared with a sigh of relief.

This is so weird, I really hope he will do his thing soon so I can leave, Rue thought and went into the bathroom which was at the end of a hallway, approaching the mirror. She didn't really need to use the toilet, so she was just staring at her messy waves, trying to give them some proper form.

When she thought she killed enough time there, she began walking to the exit door, however a voice stopped her.

"Who are you?" a woman behind her who just went out of a stall from Rue's left and was now staring at Rue.

"Excuse me?" Rue asked, taken aback by that question.

The blonde woman who was considerably taller than Rue, Rue was guessing around 180 cm tall, closed in closer to her which made Rue take a step back.

"Don't- Don't go... I'll just have a tiny bit," the woman said stretching her hand forward as if she wanted to grab Rue by the shoulder, pull her in.

Rue noticed that the woman's teeth started to shape themselves into the typical fangs she had already seen so many times.

"Fuck," Rue said under her breath but took a stance which would give her the most balance, looking around for potential weapons.

"Don't be like that," the woman said soothingly but her eyes darted above Rue's head immediately after these words.

"Is there something you need from her?" Suddenly a familiar voice spoke above Rue's head which made her relax a bit. Rue felt a hand on her right shoulder which made her look up, reassure herself that it was really him.

The woman, still oblivious of the situation she got herself into, stepped a bit closer to Rue and said with a calming tone: "I just need to borrow your friend for a bit."

"Do you now?" Michendros replied neutrally, still keeping his hand on Rue's shoulder.

Rue noticed that the blonde furrowed her brows at him, suddenly looking more dangerous than before. Once Rue glanced into the mirror behind the blonde vampire, she understood why the woman changed her attitude. Michendros' eyes were glowing a sky-blue color. His expression was not exactly angry, however Rue gulped nervously nonetheless - he seemed threathening.

The woman reacted with a low long growl that made Rue's skin crawl. To the ladies' surprise, the growl was met by Michendros' laughter which sounded to Rue quite menancing as well.

"Are you trying to intimidate us?" Michendros finally said as his left hand flung out, grabbing the woman by the throat, picking her up from the floor with ease so their eyes would be on the same level.

Michendros' right hand that was laid on Rue's shoulder now slid only a bit lower on the arm and squeezed Rue lightly which was a peculiar contrast for Rue since his left hand brutally held thr woman by her throat, leaving her hanging in the air like that.

"Give me a second, Claire," Michendros said neutrally again, "I'll just have a look what makes you so crazy for her."

A few seconds like that, Claire, the blonde vampire hung helplessly in the bathroom, unable to move. But then, Michendros just let go of her, letting her fall on the black and white tiles and simply said: "Leave."

Claire didn't wait any longer and quickly exited the bathroom, glancing one last time at Rue before closing the door behind her.

"Are you alright?" Michendros said, his tone much warmer than before, his eyes back to his dark brown.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. Thank you," Rue said quickly and looked down at her hands.

Michendros put his both hands on Rue's shoulders which made her look up at his worried expression that surprised her.

"Okay," he replied shortly, "let's go then."

"Uhm, I thought this is a ladies room," an older woman looked up strictly at Michendros as she entered the bathroom.

"Of course, my apologies, we were just leaving," he said politely and took of his hands from Rue, "come," he said to Rue who stared at the dark green eyes of that woman and followed Michendros outside from the burger bar.

Rue looked around, realizing something: "Where are the bags?" Rue asked Michendros whose hands were empty, lacking also the food they primarily went here for.

"I have it in my magic pocket," Michendros replied as if it was the most common thing to say.

"What?" Rue said, perplexed.

Michendros looked down at her and offered her an innocent smile.

"Oh, you know, ghoul stuff. By the way, what if we go to the park we saw on the way here and ate our fries there?"

"Sure," Rue agreed and thought about what Michendros said. Ghoul stuff. She thought about that, realizing that both Michendros and Thomas did fit her Ghoul category quite well, however didn't think of them in that way until now.

"So, you like beer?" Michendros tried to break the silence.

"What?" Rue said as he pulled her away from her thoughts, "Oh, yeah. I do. But I've never had one in the United States. Actually... I was never here before."

"Is that so?" Michendros wondered out loud.

"Yeah, why?" Rue said defensively.

"I am afraid then, that you won't take a liking in their beers."

"You think so?" Rue asked, surprised by that statement.

"We'll see. You tell me then."

They arrived to the small park by the sidewalk and found a woodden bench to sit on. Rue looked around as she sat down, noticing that the park has been quite empty.

"What if anybody else comes around?" Rue said quietly to Michendros.

"Don't worry, they won't," he said as a big bucket of warm fries with ketchup appeared in his hand, "here you go."

"Why not?" Rue asked bewildered and took the bucket from his hand.

Michendros shrugged and put the beer cans on the bench between them two: "Again some ghoul mambo jambo, I don't want to concern you with it."

Rue took this information in silence, thinking about what he said. Why doesn't he want to tell me?

Rue popped her can of beer open and had a few sips of it, tasting it.

"How is it?" Michendros asked with curiosity.

"Well... to be frank... I had better ones."

"Hmm, told you."

The silence again grew over them. Rue's thoughts all around the place. Firstly, she was wondering why she isn't cold, she was actually feeling pretty cozy. Secondly, her experience with ghouls made her insecure in his presence, especially when she had no idea why is he treating like that. Why is he being so nice.

She actually voiced the second thought out loud.

"Why are you treating me like this?"

"What?" Michendros mumbled with his full mouth of fries.

"Well... why are you being like this to me? You don't owe me anything. It's weird, man."

"Is it?" Michendros rose his eyebrows.

"What do you have in it, you know? Like you don't even know me."

"That's true, I barely know you," Michendros agreed, "to be honest with you, yes, you are right. I don't know you, we have no ties to each other but the blood relation. I'm aware that it may seem strange, or perhaps selfish on my part. It may look that I am trying to make myself feel better, perhaps? That could be true, too, partly."

"So, you are buying me food because you feel guilty?" Rue asked.

"Hm, I suppose I would lie if I said that I didn't feel guilty. I definitely feel responsible for you, even though it may not make sense. But as I said before, once I fix the issue you are dealing with, then you are free to do whatever you may like."

"Does this then mean that I am really your prisoner now?"

Michendros chuckled. "It would seem so. From definition, I suppose you are my prisoner, Rue... I hope you don't consider me as someone that enjoys holding somebody captive."

"I don't know, I don't know you. I don't even know what you are capable of. When I ask, you always brush it off with 'ghoul stuff'."

"Hm, that's true. Am I not supposed to do that?" he said and turned himself on the bench to the right to face Rue directly.

"Well... why do you do that? Don't you want me to know about your weaknesses or something?"

Michendros grinned at her. "What would you do if you knew about them?"

Rue shrugged. "Depends on what they are."

"Perhaps if you stay long enough, you'll expose one of them," Michendros said with a smile.

"You are avoiding the answer," Rue remembered.

"Am I? What was the question again?" Michendros said innocently.

"Why aren't you being straight with me? Like you were with the coffee."

Michendros took in a deep breath and glanced to his hand in which he held an almost empty can.

"Hmm, I'd say... from what you have experienced... I don't want to make you even more uncomfortable with these topics. Especially after what I've done. It's evident that you want to avoid us and I am not really letting you do that for the moment," he said his thoughts out loud, chuckling a bit before saying: "It doesn't really make sense, does it? The damage has been already done. You see that we are all sorts of creatures. Why am I trying to pretend like I am relatable. I am being foolish, aren't I? Thinking that I could be a parent to you."

Rue stared at Michendros for a while, watching him finish his beer and stare into the distance.

"Maybe," she began slowly, "if you let me into more details... we could find an understanding at least."

"More details?" Michendros repeated and looked at Rue who shrugged.

"Or something, you know."

"Like explaining what my magic pocket is, for example?" Michendros said lightly.

"Well... yeah... that sounds pretty nasty without further explanation."

"Hm," Michendros hummed, "but what if it creates a bigger distance between us in the end?"

"Like you telling me about what you can do?"

"Uh-huh."

"I don't know. But... today...," Rue stopped, not sure if she should disclose her feelings like that, "I... felt relieved when you were there."

Michendros rose his eyebrows at her and kept his silence.

"I guess... I don't mind being around you... I just don't understand why somebody like you... would waste his time on somebody like me."

Michendros noticed Rue's glassy eyes which made his chest feel tight.

"Rue?" he said softly, "would it be alright if I embraced you?"

"Huh?" Rue rose her eyes to meet his, looking for some kind of trick perhaps. But the glance seemed genuine.

"'Mkay," she muttered.

Michendros put her beer can aside and moved closer to her, pulling her into his arms, his right holding her around her shoulders and his left laid on her head that was buried in his chest. They stayed like this for a few seconds.

Michendros then pulled away and said a simple: "Thank you."

...

"So, where are they? I want to meet her," Lydia walked around the living room, remembering how she and Allison were there, both in distress and afraid. How everything had changed.

"I told them to go for groceries together. They should talk a bit. After what happened and all," Thomas explained and handed Lydia a glass of water.

Lydia glanced into Stolos' direction who was just looking into Michendros' book collection.

"Oh, yeah... that," Lydia said, recalling what Stolos had shortly described to her, how Michendros went to look for Rue and it got a bit out of hand. She had a sip and sat down next to Thomas on the couch.

"And what about you? You look better," Lydia smiled at him, recognizing that Thomas' and Michendros' relationship has somewhat stabilized as well as Thomas himself who with his memories of his previous life got a bigger picture on certain matters.

"I am quite good. I've been practising my magic, too and I have to admit I am pretty proud of myself. I barely need to verbalize my intentions, but I still need quite the hand gesturing part," Thomas smiled back.

"Show me something," Lydia got excited.

"Uhm, I hope I won't have performance issues," Thomas chuckled, "okay, uhm..."

Thomas turned to Lydia and showed her his closed fist.

"Mich told me to start with things that are around me, you know which are less abstract for me. So... I know the elements, right. And I know there's some water particles around me for sure, so-" he opened his palm in which a small stream of water appeared and that slowly changed its shape until it turned into a form of a rose that eventually froze and became solid.

"Wow, that's cool! Can I touch it?" Lydia exclaimed.

"Yeah, you can take it. It will maximally melt," Thomas chuckled.

"Nice," Stolos said suddenly from behind them which made them jump up in surprise a bit since they thought he wasn't paying attention to them.

"Thanks," Thomas grinned proudly.

"If you keep that up, you'll be like Elsa," Stolos laughed.

"Oh common! Don't make fun of him, this is amazing. The only thing I can do is hollar your ears off. Don't mind him, Tom," Lydia scolded her boyfriend.

"No, that's fine," Thomas laughed, "I am used to this."

"To what?" Lydia said with concern and sent a stern look to Stolos who rose his hands in defense.

"No, not like that," Thomas said quickly, "before all this when we used to hang out... we teased each other all the time."

"Oh," Lydia took that in, realizing that they have been sort of friends before Thomas kidnapped Stolos, "well, then, don't hesitate to tease him, too, then!"

Thomas replied only with a small smile, knowing that he destroyed that peculiar relationship they two had once he cut up his brother into pieces among other things. And also, once Stolos got his powers back, Thomas wasn't that outspoken around him, knowing that Stolos was the more impulsive and hotheaded from the two brothers.

Stolos' hand on his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts and made him look up.

"Don't overthink it," Stolos simply said, being aware that Thomas was still awkward around him, especially when they were alone.

"I am not," Thomas lied.

A rattling noise from the hallway made all three perk up.

"Finally," Lydia said, standing up, impatient to meet Michendros' daughter.