A/N: Raina - Thanks for the review! And by "Loiosh's honeymoon", I mean that Vlad accquires another familiar(Rozca) and Loiosh goes off on a "honeymoon" in the books. Honestly, I just wanted Loiosh out of the picture for a while. But that really does happen in one of the books.
Enjoy - please review if you wish me to write more!
Vlad stared down at the woman, who was yet again at his feet. And not in the really good sense. Did she have a problem with fainting spells, or was there something he didn't know about? Vlad strongly suspected the latter.There was nothing much to do except either wait for her to wake up, or leave altogether. For some reason - Noish-Pa probably would have suggested that it was his sense of Eastern honor - he didn't want to leave. Of course, hang honor, she had some nice curves.
As he was musing, the woman stirred. She opened her eyes, but immediately closed them again. Then opened them. Then closed them.
"Do you plan on stopping that at any time?" he asked, halfways curious. It was a bit of a strange activity after all. And since he had stuck around for a little bit, he felt he deserved some answers.
"No," she groaned, sitting up a little bit. "Not until I stop seeing splotches of black and green, and this strange-looking city." Pulling his cloak tighter around her, she sat up all the way and covered her face with a hand. One cool gray eye investigated him as she added, "No offense, but I wouldn't mind you disappearing either."
"Offense slightly taken," Vlad told her, a smile nevertheless twitching at his mouth. "Why would you like me to disappear?"
The woman shifted, sitting up straighter. "Well, unless I'm much mistaken, this isn't my world. And I have no idea how I got here."
"Are you sure this isn't your world?" Vlad asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Yes, I'm sure, you idiot!" she exploded. Vlad's shoulders tightened. Insulting an assassin isn't smart. The girl had just fainted twice, and was apparently in a whole new world, but putting up with crap still wasn't fun.
"Right," he said, holding on to patience. "And why would that be?"
The woman looked a little abashed. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, hanging her head. "It's just... this is so...so... I'm in another world! The sky is very different - my sky is blue and white - the houses and streets are made differently, and people wear very different clothing. And my name's Margaret. Margaret Portan. Also... people are a little taller."
"So you're telling me that you're from another world. You have no idea how you got here." She nodded. "Of course!"
"One thing I have to ask you, though...why are you naked?" Vlad burst out with.
Margaret looked down at herself and started laughing. Vlad looked a little confused, but cracked a smile. "I have no idea," she said finally. "I was wearing clothes when I left my world!" Then she covered her face with her hands again. "I think I'm slightly hysterical," she informed Vlad.
Vlads' eyes widened at that. "Oh...er. Well... keep hysterics to a minimum. If you please."
"Can I hyperventilate?" she asked.
"If I knew what that meant, I would be better able to judge."
"I'll just not go into that one."
Trying to remain serious, as this was quite a serious situation, Vlad asked, "Alright... so what were you doing in your world - the last thing you remember?"
She blinked. Margaret took her hands off her face and looked down at her lap, and then up into Vlad's eyes.
"I was with my friends. We were in a park. Just... just hanging out and talking. I was on top of a table - sitting on it - and I jumped off. No one was looking at me right then, I'm pretty sure - we were all looking at something Mary had found - I think it was an animal - and I jumped off of the table. I jumped off, and then... and then... I can't remember!" She looked entirely frustrated, almost on the edge of tears. Tears weren't something Vlad was particularly used to. When he went out with women, it was for fun and okay, for other fun. There was no sharing of emotions. And in his line of work, emotional outbursts were not common.
"It's alright," he said, not keen on the idea of this woman crying on his shoulder. Actually, maybe that really wouldn't be too bad an idea...
"Yeah, well, in any case that's all I can remember," she told him in a matter-of-fact manner.
Vlad stood up and offered Margaret a hand.
"I know someone who might be able to help you."
