Game night continued until two in the morning. Ruby and Cy were the last ones awake, but Cy was barely keeping his eyes open. The vampire girl helped her human friend to his room. She laid him down on his bed, "Thanks for coming, Ruby," The boy said, "are you leaving?"

Ruby shook her head, "If it's alright, I'll leave in the morning before the sun rises," She said, "think you'll be awake by then?"

"I'll wake up long enough to see you out," Cy replied.

Ruby smiled, "Sleep well, Cypress, I'll just lay down on the floor."

"There's a sleeping bag and a mattress pad in my closet," Cy said, "Azure used to use them…" He yawned, "… when we had sleepovers when we were younger."

Ruby went over to the closet and, sure enough, there on the floor was a blue sleeping bag and a green folding mattress pad. She laid both of them out on the floor and lay down. "Hey, Cypress," She said.

"Huh," The young boy asked sleepily, "wuzzat?"

"Thank you for all the fun tonight," Ruby said, "I haven't had that much fun in centuries."

"Just how old are you," Cy asked as he rolled over to the side of the bed closest to Ruby, "out of curiosity."

"You'd better brace yourself," Ruby said.

"I can take it," Cy said.

"I'm one thousand fifteen years old," Ruby said.

Cy was stunned, "Wow, okay maybe I can't take it."

Ruby chuckled, "Yeah, not many people can." She said, "And I don't drain people of their blood just to slay them."

"What do you mean?" Cy asked.

"Most vampires become so enraptured with their powers," Ruby replied, "that they kill people in droves and drink their blood as if it were soup or an all-you-can-eat buffet. Others, like myself, still have a bit of humanity left. We hate that we need to kill in order to survive. So much that our souls, what's left of them, are in constant pain. That's why, in order to feed, we rummage through shanty towns and homeless communities we look for those who are out of hope and we set them free from the unbearable agony."

"So you kill out of mercy?" Cy asked.

"It doesn't help much," Ruby said, "but it takes some of the sting away."

Cy thought back to the night they met, "What about when someone willingly offers up blood?" He asked.

"I don't really know," Ruby asked, "I don't remember anyone telling me about what happened if a human offered blood out of kindness."

Cy rolled on to his back, "I think we'll find out, but one more person needs to know about your… condition."

Ruby frowned, "I thought you promised not to tell anyone about what I am."

"Well, my friends all seemed to enjoy your company tonight," Cy interjected, "I mean, Luna and Nora took to you pretty quick…" He paused, "then again they may have just thought you were cute or something."

"Cypress," Ruby said, "I've shown interest toward girls before… a millennium of wandering throughout the world brings about all sorts of curiosity."

"So you've… y-you know?" Cypress asked as his face started to redden from the embarrassment of realizing the type of personal question he was asking.

Ruby giggled slightly, "No, Cypress," she said, "nothing past a hug or two and the occasional passing glance."

"Not even a kiss," Cy asked.

"Not a one," Ruby replied.

"That makes two of us," Cy huffed in embarrassment. He yawned and looked down at the brunette laying in the sleeping bag, "Have you ever wanted to kiss anyone?" He inquired.

"Nope," Ruby shook her head, "No one's ever interested me in that way before."

Cy rolled back onto his back and gave a big yawn, "Have a good night, Ruby," he said.

"Sleep well, Cypress." Ruby said. And thus the hours began to tick by and the rainy weather outside kept up at a steady rate.

The morning came more quickly than Cy had anticipated. He groggily sat up in his bed and looked at his alarm clock. It was nearly six in the morning, "Hey, Ruby," he said, "the sun rises in an hour."

"I'd better start heading home," Ruby said. They got up and carefully crept through the apartment to the front door and Cy turned the knob, "I'll see you tonight?" She asked.

"Maybe," Cy replied, "I've got to open up a bit to this person about you first. Trust me, they know enough about vampires, even facts that I never knew."

Ruby's eyes narrowed into a stare that seemed almost predatory. But after looking over Cy's half-awake eyes, she could tell one thing, he knew the person he had in mind was not going to try anything stupid on either of them, "Alright, but remember, one person, or I'm saying farewell to Vale and you." She said as she walked out the door.

"I promise, the person I have in mind isn't going to tell anyone." Cy whispered to himself.

Ruby made it to her home in the Inner City Forest with her vampiric speed. She looked at the break in the trees, "Okay, it's a bit under an hour until sunrise," she said, "I have enough time to get ready for bed."

Ruby's millennium of extra life gave her enough time to experiment and discover innovative ways to make up for the lack of everyday necessities. Bathing was something she found easy in most locations. So long as there was tree cover, a wooden crate and a carefully folded and contorted waterproof tarp made a decent bath. Soap wasn't hard to find, any collection area set up by a well-organized shanty town had large piles that were replenished by the local law enforcement. She took a nice relaxing bath and emptied out the water into a large sewer drain. She had little need for modesty as she walked back inside and up to her bedroom.

She picked out a clean set of clothes and lay down in her bed. The events of the previous evening still played through her head. The games, the laughter, the excitement, the fact that… none of them thought she was strange beyond reason. "What a bunch of strange humans," She said as she looked up at the ceiling. A small smile crept across her face, "I hope I can have that much fun again soon." She said as she closed her eyes and drifted off, her hands rubbing along her sides at how snuggly her clothes felt.

Two hours after Cy had let Ruby out, Ivy woke up. She went into Cy's room, the boy was fast asleep with his sleeping bag and mattress laid out next to his bed. I see, She thought to herself, Cy and Ruby slept in here last night, and she must have left earlier to get home before the sun came up. She smiled, At least you made her night enjoyable, little brother. She walked up to the bed and nudged him awake, "Hey, Cy, wake up," She said in a gentle voice, "It's breakfast time, and I'm making your favorite."

Cy yawned as he slowly sat up in bed, "Blueberry pancakes with honey?" He asked sleepily.

"Mmhm," Ivy said, "You'd better get to the table before Nora gets to them. You know how she is around pancakes."

Cy hurried out of bed and into the kitchen. No one else aside from Umbra was awake. "Mornin' little dude," He said, "You and Ruby sleep well before you saw her out this morning?"

"Yeah," Cy replied, "Hey, do you think I could talk to you about something later?"

Umbra smiled and nodded, "Sure thing, my man, whatever it is, I'll provide a little needed insight."

Cy smiled, "Thanks Umbra."

Ivy walked into the kitchen and set Cy's meal on the table. "I smell pancakes!" Nora said springing to her feet in the living room, "I'm so hungry," She said with a manic grin on her face.

"I'll be done with your pancakes soon, Nora," Ivy said stepping back into the kitchen, "And don't you even think about touching Cy's. You know what happened last time you mixed blueberries and your G-Fuel."

Nora's eyes widened, "Ugh, you don't need to remind me, my stomach already does that."

Luna suddenly lurched forward and wrapped her arms around Nora's lower torso. Her still unconscious hands rubbing along the redhead's core muscles. "Mmh, Nora's abs," She slurred in lucid affection, "so firm and chiseled, 'n' sexy~."

A hot blush ran over Nora's face, "Can one of you please get her off of me?" She pleaded.

Luna's hands brushed upward toward Nora's breast, "And yet," She slurred again, "she's always so~ perky."

Umbra lurched forward and grabbed Luna's wandering hands. He hummed loud enough to be heard by the pseudo conscious girl who was carefully slumped back onto the couch behind her. Nora walked over to her seat with her hands over her chest, "I can handle her when she's affectionate and awake," She said, "but when she starts feeling me up in her sleep, I can't help but remember what Ferrina said she'd do to me."

"I can unnershtand wot ew mean," Cy said before swallowing a bite of his pancakes, "A night in lock up would have been good enough, but two nights in solitary confinement, that'd definitely be painful for you."

"Yeah," Nora sighed, "especially since I'd be without Luna."

"The age difference really isn't much of a factor with you two, is it?" Cy asked.

Ivy placed a plate of six large pancakes on the table in front of Nora. "Not at all," The redhead stated before digging into her pancakes, "it's Luna's extreme touchy-feely tendencies that cause a few problems."

Cy nodded, "You'd think the older one in the relationship would have those problems," He said taking another bite from his pancakes.

"Luna's overly affectionate in her sleep," Umbra said, "and that's mostly when Nora's around."

"I think that's mainly because she's so laid back," Ivy said, "she's constantly keeping her emotions in check when she's conscious and her unconscious mind sees sleep as a way of letting it out."

"I'm not gonna doubt that," Umbra said. Winter, Luna, and Azure woke up and joined them. The group happily ate their breakfasts and went about the normal procedure of post-game night clean up and packing.

Winter looked around, "Did Ruby leave already?"

"Yeah," Cy replied, "she wanted to get home before the sun came up."

"Maybe I could spring for some anti-UV clothing," Winter suggested.

"That might not be the best, dudette," Umbra replied, "photosensitivity of that nature is like putting a seat belt on a dolphin."

Cy cringed, "Yeah, I offered UV clothes and she refused."

Umbra's eyebrow fidgeted slightly but no one noticed. Nothing got past the laid back guru of seemingly useless knowledge, but when things really counted, he was the group's go to purveyor of interesting facts. But the way Cy worded his request, Umbra just archived the thought and decided to come back to it later.

About an hour passed, in that time Cy volunteered to accompany Umbra to the book store. Tukson, the manager, welcomed them, "There's my Assistant Manager, accompanied by one of my favorite regular customers. Good morning to both of you."

"Morning Boss Man," Umbra waved, "little dude's here to help us organize our stock."

"Ready to help, sir," Cy said.

"Glad to hear it," Tukson smiled as he turned around and headed into his office, "If you two need me, let me know."

"Roger that, man," Umbra replied as he and Cy went to looking over the shelved books. "So, dude, you gonna tell me about that vampire girl or not?"

Cy came to a dead stop, "How did you?"

"Sensitivity to sunlight, nocturnal lifestyle, homeless – so you both claim, that tattered looking red cape," Umbra listed, "Need I go on?"

Cy rolled his eyes, "I should've known you'd figure it out." He sighed and took the next half-an-hour explaining what happened between himself and Ruby.

"Huh, so she was weirded out about eating human food," Umbra said as he arranged a shelf, "Well, you did offer her blood, granted it was a small amount. I did read one book a few years ago that said when a vampire at the point of starvation is offered blood, they will metabolize the blood at a slower rate than blood from a slaying. A small amount lasts pretty long, a fortnight, or two weeks. They'll be able to eat human food and hold it down… she must not have known that."

"Is there any more information on offered blood's effects that you can think of off the top of your head?" Cy asked.

"I'll leave that another time, little dude." Umbra said, "But for right now, we've got a job to do."