The basement floor was cold and uncomfortable – something Herbert had to be reminded of as he rolled off of Cassie and tried to catch his breath. He hadn't intended for things to end up this way, but he was beginning to learn that whatever he planned to do would go the opposite way wherever Cassie was concerned. She, on the other hand, was grinning like the idiot she was.
"So," she said, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm thinking you like the whole idea of a post-slaughter quickie, because that - way better than doing it the normal way."
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"As in did you hurt me or as in did the zombie hurt me?" Cassie asked, thumbing an errant drop of blood off her cheek. "Because…"
"Don't be absurd," he replied curtly.
He sat up from the bloody floor and straightened his clothes, wondering just how much of the blood on his shirt was actually his this time around. "What?" Cassie asked, sitting up and pulling her top back down. "Watching me take out one of your zombie chicks with a big knife got you hot, admit it."
"I'll admit no such thing," said Herbert, standing up and pulling her to her feet.
"Then what was it?" she asked. "Don't tell me you don't get off on blood and gore, because that'd be a lie. You're all about this stuff – even Vlad thinks so."
"You told Vlad?" he asked, as she helped up hoist up the body and place it back on the table.
"I tell Vlad everything," said Cassie, shrugging. "Why? He already figured it out, and…okay, turn around."
"What does that have to do with…"he began.
"Just do it," said Cassie, grabbing his shoulder and turning him roughly.
She reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled something out. Looking around to see what it was, he was relieved that it was only a slightly twitching finger in her hand and not anything larger. "Oh," he said, taking it from her and putting it in his shirt pocket. "Thank-you."
"You're welcome," she said, giving him one of those prim replies that didn't suit her in the least. "Now that that's out of the way."
She hopped up on the table, swinging her legs and tilting her head at him. "Let's do this properly like all normal freaks, hm?"
"Absolutely not," said Herbert. "I already told you I'm done with all of this."
"Really?" Cassie asked, yanking him closer by his tie. "Prove it."
"I don't need to prove anything," said Herbert.
"Yeah?" Cassie asked. "Then why do you look like you want to kiss me so bad?"
Perhaps it was giving her what she wanted, but he most certainly did not kiss her because he wanted to. It was the only effective way to keep her quiet save for bashing her head in, and to be honest, he really didn't have the energy for it.