Movie night is giving her jitters.
Granted, they're just watching a movie, but it's just them and they're watching a movie alone on her couch in the evening, which kinda feels like a date. Come on, she chastises herself while picking out her best comfy outfit, feeling inadequate. It's not a date, you dummy. But just in case it is, she doesn't wanna look like a hobo. If he's asking you on a date now, he doesn't really care what you look like, given the states he has seen you in. True, but it doesn't change the fact that she still needs her hair brushed for maximum softness. Can't have any tangles in it. The fact that it's just the two of them is what's really adding to her nervousness, even though it makes all practical sense. After all, he's here to see her, and what kind of friend would she be if she called over someone else to hang out with them? Especially a human. God fucking damnit, she does not even own any makeup, not that she particularly likes it either. With one final brush and a chapstick smear on her lips, she heads back out, willing the jitters to dissipate, please . He's lounging on the couch with his feet perched on the coffee table, a picture of ease. He's not even dressed special, but the sight just sends a fresh wave of nervousness all across her arms. Why is he so fucking pretty, jesus fucking christ on a cheezit. "Ready?" She says with way too much enthusiasm in her voice, busying herself with getting snacks for herself as she steels her nerves.
"Any depiction of vampires is interesting to watch," he chuckles, and Sophia nearly drops the packet of mini M&Ms she's holding. She needs to get a fucking grip on herself. Placing the M&M packet in the middle of them, she puts on the movie and settles into the blanket, willing her eyes to stay squarely on the screen and not on the man next to her. A few minutes in, she turns her head slightly to look at him - just to see if he likes the movie, you know - and he seems to be quite interested, watching the screen with a keen expression. Apparently, she's as subtle as a puppy because he turns to look at her, amused and her face just feels so warm now. "I was just checking to see what you thought of it," she explains, hands flailing around.
"It's quite interesting and such a different take on vampire movies that it's refreshing."
"I know! It's definitely a deviation from the traditional depictions and takes a friendly jab at them, and showing them as an informal bunch of weirdos rather than just these devastatingly beautiful inhuman creatures helps humanise the characters." Bless her spontaneous nerdiness for taking over the reins. "Which is interesting, cause the trope didn't really exist much before Dracula."
"Hmm. Go on," he turns to look at her and while her heart stutters a little at the sight, her brain is already in fun fact mode, and she continues without completely making a fool of herself. "So we all know that Dracula was high-key grody and kinda weird looking -"
"Don't let the Romanians hear you say that," she hears him mutter.
"Who now?" Wait a minute. "Are you telling me you know Dracula?"
"I'll explain once you're done." Honestly, it wouldn't surprise her if he knew Dracula, given literally everything else he has told her. "Okay," she goes on, "So we all know that Dracula was high-key grody and kinda weird-looking, but the female vampires who lived with him were the beginning of the devastatingly beautiful and alluring archetype, and then books like Carmilla further perpetuated that. The 1920s had Nosferatu which was a return to the grody/demonic, but then Sir Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price came back with their elegant Dracula, and then we had Lestat in Interview With The Vampire, so yeah."
"Do you think the real vampires are as alluring as their on-screen counterparts?" Oh god, how does she respond to this one? "I think you're all much more beautiful than what the on-screen versions suggest," Sophia says, going for a cop-out answer. Demetri, however, seems intent on embarrassing the hell out of her. "Do you think I'm devastatingly beautiful?" He asks with a crooked smile aimed at her. Do I give the honest answer? Because the honest answer is fuck, yes, he's ridiculously beautiful and she can't seem to think properly now that she has properly acknowledged her growing crush on him. "Yeah," she replies, looking straight at him, because there's no point in lying. Her heartbeat roars in her ears, but it also feels like time has stopped.
"Good to know," he purrs and god she feels weak. Sir, please just go ahead and kiss me. His eyes hold hers, and Sophia is hyper-aware of every movement of hers. A crackle makes her jump back, breaking the moment. She looks down to identify the culprit, the bag of M&Ms lying there innocently. Fuck. She picks it up and starts shoveling the chocolate in her mouth, returning to looking straight at the screen. The rest of the movie passes without much tension, save the occasional question and answer that feels flirtatious, but she can't bring herself to believe it. Just like that, the movie ends, leaving her sitting in silence with him. "Want to watch Hamilton?" she asks. He nods, and she switches streaming services to put on the musical.
As soon as the first song begins, she feels her apprehension melt as Sophia gets swept away in the music and the visuals, singing along to the best of her ability. She had never really seen the musical in such quality before, her only source having been grainy bootlegs and the Broadway recording on Spotify that she religiously listened to when it first came out. When they hit the intermission, she pauses the film, turning to him. "What did you think?"
"Yorktown was such a bloody and messy affair - I know from experience."
"You were at Yorktown?" she shifts to make herself comfortable, taking another swig from her water bottle. Where has he not been?
"Quite a few of us were, including Carlisle Cullen and another of his friends."
"Dr Cullen fought in the Revolutionary War?" She cannot imagine the kind faced doctor who saw her through her worst with no complaint and checked up on her to be on the battlefield. But then again, she couldn't imagine a lot of things to be real a few months ago.
"Yes. I met the two of them on the battlefield - thanks to his correspondence, the Volturi were up to date on the state of political affairs in the United States. We felt that it was our duty to help the revolutionaries secure their freedom." But people rarely do things out of sheer altruism, and she feels that pure goodwill wasn't the thing driving their involvement. "Just because they wanted to help the revolutionaries?" she voices her question, raising an eyebrow. He shakes his head. "It sounds far too idealistic, doesn't it?" he replies, circling the rim of an empty glass on the table. "No, we were sent to ensure that our kind don't expose ourselves, since the war was ideal for vampires from both sides to feast. Carlisle entreated us and one of our leaders who had come with us to aid them with the effort. The Volturi, we wanted to present ourselves as reformers, as a governing body worth following - denying aid to a war for freedom would be counterproductive for us. We didn't lose anything by giving ground support to the revolutionaries - rather, the plan worked, and we gained respect."
"Aren't you all like royalty though, or are there elections? Because royalty supporting the fight against a king's rule just seems like a tactical ploy, as well as it worked."
"We are like royalty, yes, and our leaders aren't as much elected as they have always been there. It was a little more than a tactical ploy though." He seems to be considering whether he should speak further. "Well, I trust you so here goes - remember when I said I knew Dracula?" Sophia nods. "The character is based on a duo who originally lived in Romania and were the royalty of the day. But their leadership grew stagnant, and they had absolutely no regard for the preservation of our kind. They were happy being monsters to the public and indiscriminately hunting the humans around them. So we took them down - established a new rule that was better to the humans and the vampires as well."
"It's not really great for people but better, I guess," she shrugs, popping the candy in her mouth. There's silence after that, and Demetri seems to be deep in thought. "Hey, I didn't mean to say something that would offend you, but blood is your diet and humans are the source you first go for, so."
"I'm not offended," he answers quietly, "just wondering how many people have perished due to our existence. I can see why the masters want us to have an indifferent view on humans. Much harder to feed when you see your prey for having the same value as you." She wants to hug him and while her assurance doesn't mean much, she just wants him to know how she sees him not as a monster.
"Hey, is it okay if I hug you? You look like you could use one."
"I'd like that," he nods with the same quiet voice. Sophia scooches closer as she wraps an arm around him. "For the record, I don't think you're a monster for that. Can't blame you for being created as you are," she says into his side, pressing play again. "I know my experience and assurance doesn't count for much, but you've saved far more lives than taken them since I have met you." And she can say that with a decent level of confidence, what with everything that had happened. "Thank you," he says as she feels a cool arm rest on her shoulder, smiling up at the man next to her. "Do you mind if I, you know, give you a hug too?"
"I'd like that as well." He slips his arm around her waist, and they watch the rest of the musical like that, Sophia occasionally popping some M&Ms in her mouth, singing as she chews on the candy. "Do you know those letters burned on stage were actually cursive transcripts of the real letters Eliza wrote to him?"
"Did they do that for every Broadway performance of this?"
"Yep. So like 500 times."
"That is impressive, and it's a real shame that the technical crew and the set designers don't get enough credit for their work."
"Agreed. It takes a lot of work and a lot of people to produce something this beautiful." He hums in agreement and she turns back to the screen. The movie eventually ends, and she gets up to take her meds, getting ready to settle into bed. "Goodness, you scared me!" Demetri just stands there, smiling as he holds out a glass of water. "Thanks a lot."
"Anytime." She takes the glass back to the kitchen and fills her water bottle, heading back to her room. He leans on the doorframe looking at her, with that smile that stops her in her tracks and now makes her forget whatever she is doing. She doesn't know when or how that happened, but Sophia is sure now that she is in too deep with her feelings. If only she had the courage to ask him about his.
"Goodnight, Demetri." He gives her that smile again as she shuts the door on his retreating frame, her eyes too wide and face too warm.
She knows what she's dreaming of tonight.