Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): T, Shadows
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Prompt: Persistent
We were thrilled to find Jimmy and Vickie seated with us at dinner, up until Jimmy asked Edward why he wasn't eating. "I'd think a young man like you, on your honeymoon, would have quite an appetite," he said, looking pointedly at Edward's plate. "I get her not eating a lot, she's a tiny thing, but you?"
"We had fruit in the room and I ate before we checked in," Edward said, right before he put a bite of food in his mouth.
"Mmhmm, right," Jimmy said, still eyeing his plate.
"Just because he doesn't eat like food is going out of style the way you do doesn't mean he isn't getting enough," Vickie chimed in. Reaching over to pat her husband's belly she added, "Did you ever consider you just might be eating too much?"
"Hey, I've got at least six thousand cheeseburgers on the boy," Jimmy protested, pushing his wife's hand away. "It takes time to build up this kind of reserve."
"Is that what we're calling it now?" she quipped with a wink before turning back to us. "Never mind him. Are you two going on to Bucharest and then doing the extended tour at the end of the cruise?"
Edward paled a bit at whatever she was thinking, so I couldn't resist asking. "What's on the tour?"
"Dracula's castle!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. "I've always had a thing for vampires, although I think I might faint if I actually met one, so I really wanted to go to Transylvania and see it. Jimmy agreed, although I think he thinks vampires aren't real." She said the last as an aside, whispering in my ear. It was all I could do to not burst out laughing.
"I think that sounds fun, Bella," Edward said, smiling. "I'm pretty sure you have a thing for vampires."
"Oh, yes," I said, turning to him, "I most definitely like vampires."
"You're not closet Goths, are you?" Jimmy asked, pointing at us. "I knew you looked too wholesome to be true. You really prefer to drink blood, don't you?" His eyes were boring into Edward as he asked this.
"Oh, Jimmy, don't be ridiculous…" Vickie started, but Edward cut him off.
"You got it, Jimmy," he said. "We're Goths, apart from attending Dartmouth, studying ancient literature and pre-med, wearpng normal clothes, and having any tattoos or piercings. Well, except Bella's earrings."
"Now don't you feel silly?" Vickie said. "Such nice, normal kids, and you go accuse them of being Gothic."
"There's something about you, Edward," Jimmy said, looking at him shrewdly, "and be sure I'll figure it out. I'm nothing if not persistent."
Edward's laugh sounded off, but I'm sure it was only because I knew him so well that I even noticed. "I assure you, Jimmy, there's nothing to figure out."
The rest of dinner was spent discussing the next days' excursions. Three of us talked about our excitement over seeing windmills, castles, cathedrals, and everything else the cruise had to offer while Jimmy stared at Edward. At first I was nervous, but seeing this Edward leaned over and whispered, "He's way off in his surmising. I think if we find a piano I can throw him off some more. Right now he thinks I'm so pale because I spend so much time studying, and that would solidify that in his mind." Edward's phone pinged, letting him know he had a text message. After a quick glance he told me that Alice agreed with him and that I'd want an umbrella the next day.
After dinner we went up to the Observation Lounge where a piano sat unused. After a quick conversation with the bartender, asking permission, Edward sat down to play. In the months prior to our wedding he'd composed a song for me, filled with the excitement and joy of our impending nuptials, and he performed this to a standing ovation.
The days went by in a surreal bliss. Edward frequently played piano for us, usually when the sun was shining. Jimmy and Vickie went on the same excursions we did, amazed as Edward spoke flawless German, Czech and Hungarian. "Why aren't you studying linguistics?" Vickie asked him one day.
"Because I already know them," Edward answered. "Languages come easily to me. Studying them would be boring. Literature, on the other hand, tells you about the time, culture, and beliefs of the person writing. You can learn about how they think and how historical events affected them. It's a true delving into the collective and individual psyches of the times. It helps to read works in their native tongue, though. Some things don't translate directly, so I learn those as well."
"Please tell me you don't play the stock markets," Jimmy said. "With a brain like yours you'll be raking in the dough and leaving the rest of us in the lurch."
"No, I don't," Edward assured them. "Although, Alice, my sister, finds it fascinating. She's in charge of all my finances."
"That explains that credit card you've been flashing," Jimmy muttered. "And how you just whipped it out to add on to your cruise."
When he found out I would be interested Edward added another eleven day cruise to the twenty-three one we were already on, insisting we had plenty of time. We were even going to the extended tour, another three days, and visiting Dracula's castle. "Although, I think there's a coven there I might want to contact so they know I'm just passing through," Edward said. "I could ask Stefan and Vladimir to meet us at the castle and give Jimmy and Vickie a show. It's something they'd enjoy, and would annoy the Volturi."
That's how we found ourselves, in a castle, meeting two men who were the epitome of vampire stereotypes.
I've never been fortunate enough to travel to this part of the world, and seeing pictures just doesn't do it justice, I'm sure. So, since my only knowledge of Germany is the language I studied in college, and my knowledge of the other countries is even more deficient, I felt uncomfortable writing about those places. Also, Baboo got me a new laptop, and I keep hitting insert instead of delete (the keys are in different places), which is driving me nuts.
Now, as to the cruise. For another $4400 per person we can add that eleven days to get to Bucharest, then another $700 gets us that three day tour that takes in Dracula's castle. That puts us at about $27k plus airfare. Who's with me? Oh, I guess I should mention it's cheaper in the staterooms; these are suite prices. LOL!