It's way more fun than he thought it would be.

So far, he has run around ten kilometres so she could get a consistent data set for both speeds, and they have spent the past hour with him crushing rocks. Sophia's face is alight with curiosity as she takes note of the rock he picks up, taking a picture. A moment later, he turns the rock into a fine powder. "Dude, that was a 7 on the Mohs scale, and you crushed it like dead leaves." She turns back to the notepad on her lap, scribbling something down before she turns back to him. "What's the heaviest thing you've ever lifted?"

Hmm. What is the heaviest thing he's ever lifted?

"A car? I've done a lot less lifting than I have done running."

"Cool cool cool. Do you remember how much effort you put into lifting that car?" Of course he remembers, what with their eidetic memories.

"Not much - a decent amount of effort, but nothing that felt like I was straining myself."

"Mmhmm. Hey, quick question - is the inside of your mouth just as hard as your outer skin, or are your epithelial cells much softer?" Carlisle and her would get along like a straw house on fire.

"That's a question an acquaintance of mine might be able to answer." Her eyes narrow a little.

"Will I ever get to meet said acquaintance?" If he did ask, Cullen would gladly take her under his wing.

He shrugs his shoulders, taking a seat beside her. "Maybe."

"Is that a yes maybe, no maybe, or 'I'm not sure if they'll let you leave alive' maybe?"

"It's definitely not the last one. His family and him are strict vegetarians." At that, her nose wrinkles.

"What even is a vegetarian vampire?"

"Well, they don't drink human blood." That seems to intrigue her greatly, because she picks up her pen and notebook, fingers poised.

"You guys can survive on animal blood?"

"Yes. It tastes rather different and frankly, bland," he makes a face, thinking of the dull, almost flavourless blood of the one rabbit he'd drunk from. "But yes, you can live off of it."

"How many vegetarian vampires do you think exist?" Few enough that he knows them by name and face.

"Sixteen in total."

"Do you know them all?" He nods.

"Are you vegetarian?"

"No. Me and my…family are traditional." They kind of are like a family to him - a slightly crazy, at times dysfunctional family, complete with the weird uncles and the annoying cousins.

"Your family?" There's no hint of fear in her voice - she's so caught up in all these new facts that it doesn't trouble her one bit that he routinely feeds on humans, even though an alternative does exist. "How many of you are there?"

"Vampires in total or just my family?"

"The latter, but also if you have an idea of the former."

"There's about thirty or so of us in my family. The term 'coven' is used more often in our circles."

"But you guys aren't witches." Her eyes narrow once again, staring intently at him. "Are you? A wizard or warlock or whatever as well?"

"No - in fact, I haven't met a single vampire who possesses magic in its traditional, literary form. A lot of us have gifts, sure, but not magic."

"How do these gifts work?" It's getting darker, and he can hear the faint rumble of thunder - it will rain very soon.

"I'll tell you in the car - it's going to rain." The walk back to his car is quiet, the only sound being the crunch of the forest floor under their feet. He turns the key once Sophia is all settled, the car slowly backing out of the trail and onto the road.

"So, the gifts?" Her headphones are around her neck, the pen and notepad in her hands in place of her phone. She just never quits, does she?

"They are nothing but extensions of abilities those individuals possess in their human form. Like if someone is really good at reading people's emotional states, they would probably be what the comic books typically call an empath."

"So if someone is really good at reading people in general, does that make them a telepath of just the mind-reading kind?" She figured out Edward Cullen in under a minute. He smiles.

"Precisely."

"But what if you are also good at nonverbal communication? Does that make you a telepath who can also send messages mentally?"

"I'd guess so." Isn't that kid Renesmee somewhat of that kind? Tactile telepathy is what he'd call it.

"Are all the powers you guys have mental?"

"No. Some possess physical gifts instead of mental."

"Like?"

"My cousin Felix has enhanced strength compared to other vampires. He's almost as strong as the newborns of our kind."

"Wait wait wait - your newborns are the strongest amongst all stages in your existence? What stages do you guys even have? You know what? Wait and hold this information for now - I'm going to get pizza when we get back, and then we'll talk."

"Whatever suits you." Twenty minutes later, Cambridge begins to come in sight and by the near constant tapping of her feet, his companion looks eager to step out of this car. A few more turns and they are at her apartment complex. Luckily for him, its raining, so he doesn't need to put on any gloves, retrieving an umbrella from the glove compartment.

She heads straight for her bedroom, leaving him to lounge around in the living room. 20 minutes later, the human emerges with wet hair, eyes frequently shifting towards the front door. And five minutes later when the bell rings, she darts for the door, taking the box and quickly shutting the door behind her.

"So, about the newborns. Let's go." He takes his place across her on the couch, thinking about exactly where to begin with.

"When a vampire bites a human, the venom transmitted via the bite is what triggers the change."

"Is it like a virus?"

"In a form, yes. The central component to venom acts much like a virus, and it bonds quickly with the haemoglobin in blood to begin the crystallisation process. There's a lot of pain involved in the whole thing - transformation takes days, and it feels like your body is on fire."

"Do you remember yours?" He has some idea - those memories have grown rather blurry as the centuries pass.

"I remember bits and pieces. I remember the pain at first - sharp and hot and kind of like fire, like I said before. I remember waking up in a cool, dark place and seeing everything as clear as day. Most of all, I remember my throat aching and burning, and the hunger pangs." Sophia doesn't say anything at first, munching on a mouthful of pizza as she writes those details down.

"What about the strength? You said vampires are strongest when first made."

"Since the blood from our human body still lingers in our tissues, it fuels the creation of more venom, which provides the extra strength."

"So if you hunt quite often, would you have all that extra strength later on in your life as well?"

"Unfortunately, no. The blood in those tissues eventually gets crystallised and all the fresh blood we take cannot be a substitute for the blood in those tissues."

"Got it. How long before all the blood in your tissues exhausts?"

"Twelve to fifteen months."

"Cool. Are there any other stages to vampire evolution?"

"No. Once the last drops of our own blood are gone, nothing else ever changes except for the colour of our irises."

"So I can't look at a vampire and make an estimate of their age?"

"Have a go, and we'll find out if you can." Her eyebrows furrow as she scrutinises his face, teeth gnawing on her bottom lip.

"200, 300?"

"I was turned in the year 1012."

"Well, fuck. You don't look a day over 110. Actually, you don't look a day over 27, but ya know," she shrugs, cutting a slice into pieces with her fork.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence." It's strange, talking to a human born less than 3 decades ago about things that happened to him a millennia back. But in that coolly lit living room, sitting by a box of half-eaten pizza while the TV plays advertisements for Apple, he feels at home. "What else do you want to know about?"

"Your family, if you're okay talking about that." Ah.

"Now that is something I cannot really discuss with you. Certain members would not appreciate that, and I really don't want to attract their ire."

"Sure, I get that. You guys can't exactly go around talking about yourselves openly, I get it. But there is something I really want to know." When he nods, she continues. "Why did you come to Cambridge in the first place?"

"Work."

"And your… cousins, they're here for work as well?" He nods, waiting for her follow-up question. "Nice." Good to know she's smart enough to not go poking where she really shouldn't be . "Just how long are you gonna be here?"

"Once we finish with the wolf."

"Okay," her face falls. "I'm guessing you're never going to return after that. I mean, unless you'll have work, that is."

"That is right." Felix's words echo in his brain - you'll have to leave her behind. Even if Aro does agree to let him keep the human around, it's not necessary she would want a part of his world. She has her entire life planned out ahead of her, for Hades' sake. He will just be an adventure for her, a story she'll discuss as a wild idea or recount as a fever dream. Time will blur these memories, and she will eventually forget it.

Humans are good at forgetting.

This is his greatest problem - his sudden intense attachment to people and things. He especially hates it when he gets attached to someone, because with the exception of his kind, they will die. And unfortunately for him, time will never blur those memories. He will mourn their loss, and he will mourn for as long as he can.

"Great way for me to kick off a friendship," she mutters, bringing him back to his surroundings. "I find one person who's willing to field my way-too-many crazy ass questions, and I bum them out because I'm a pessimistic piece of shit."

"Let's watch Brooklyn Nine Nine," he blurts out. At that, Sophia looks at him, surprised. "I could use some laughter right now." She smiles slightly, picking up the remote and selecting the Hulu app.

"Which season?"

"How does Season 1 sound?"

"A proper marathoner." Once she's happily nestled inside a huge blanket, Sophia presses play, her eyes now glued onto the TV screen. He lets the show take as much of his attention as it can and a few episodes later, Demetri finds himself laughing just as much as she is. "Wait wait wait, have you seen that one SNL skit with Kate McKinnon and Ryan Gosling and Cecily Strong? I think it's called Close Encounter."

"Wait - who and what?"

She stops mid-laugh, looking at him in mock horror. "You have not seen SNL."

"No."

"Okay, first order of business, we're watching SNL." Once the clip starts playing, however, he understands the appeal, and they breeze through many more similar sketches. It's funny, and he's not sure why it isn't a part of programming back home. As if on cue, she voices what he's thinking. "Do you not have SNL wherever you're from? Speaking of which, exactly are you from?"

"Italy."

"Well, Italy is missing out on some quality comedy. Okay, pick a sketch." He goes for the Star Wars-themed one. "Okay, another question - have you seen Star Wars?"

"Why do you think I picked this?" he replies dryly, rolling his eyes. "I saw A New Hope when it first came out."

Her eyes widen and she inches forward, a rapt expression on her face. "Wait, 1977 original run A New Hope?" He nods.

"How was it? Tell me everything! Wait - did Han really shoot first, or is that just some fanmade lore I've been believing?" The words come out a little muffled because of the slice she just took a bite out of, but the excitement in them isn't tempered one bit by that.

"It's true - I remember that clear as day." The video is still on pause, and it's clear it will be for a while, because she has a lot more questions.

"Did you see the others?"

"All up to The Last Jedi." He quite enjoyed that, as well as its predecessor.

"What did you think of it?"

"I think it has a solid storyline, and I look forward to the last one."

"Okay, what do you think of Kylo Ren?"

"I think he's a very compelling character, and he's not a run-of-the-mill villain, which only adds to his charm and intrigue."

"Thank you! Some of my friends don't like him because they feel he's not a good follow-up to Vader, but that's not the greatest comparison, because he's not supposed to be Vader! But their observation also kinda plays into the story, because he constantly compares himself to Vader and that is his sore spot, so they're kind of being his cruel inner voice." Her face is flushed with all the excitement and passion this topic has ignited, blood rushing through like a torrent under that pale skin. "What do you think of Rey?"

"She's powerful, self-sufficient and most importantly, knows when to put whom first. She doesn't put up with anyone's nonsense. That her worth would come from her parentage is something I find redundant." She pulls the blanket up to her neck, beaming at him.

"You, sir, are my new favourite person." Eventually, Sophia falls asleep on the couch halfway through a Weekend Update segment, and he thinks over her words - my new favourite person - as he drives back over to his apartment.

She's slowly becoming his new favourite person too.