"Who knew vampires were such assholes, huh?" It's meant as a joke and she ends it with a little laugh, but as she does so tears prick the corners of her eyes and she bows her head to pick at the cupcake's paper wrapper.
"Didn't know they even existed til recently." She sniffs and takes a bite of the cupcake, firmly telling herself that she's not going to cry in front of him.
She's not really fooling him. He can hear the sniffles, see the shine of tears gathering in her eyes. But, he politely pretends not to, while pushing a paper towel toward her. For the cupcake, of course.
"It was sudden for me too. I was in my junior year of college. I met this woman at a new years eve party. Only, she wasn't just a woman. She was a vampire. She was my Master's twin sister, actually.
"She tried to eat me. I fought back. I didn't mean to kill her, it just... happened. Now, all of her followers, her allies, want me dead. The only person who has a claim to my life that supersedes theirs is Erik. As long as he claims me, they have to let me live.
"That was six years ago. I've been here ever since." From a week past his twenty-first birthday, to now. This is all he's ever known. "My family thinks I died in a fire. You probably guessed, Max Maximum isn't my real name."
"He must not have liked his sister much," she replies after taking a small bite of the cupcake. It's good; like something she would make. A lot of cupcakes taste of chemicals from the preservatives in them meant to stretch out their shelf date by a few more days, but this tastes chocolatey and has the perfect fluffy texture.
"So does this mean he's gonna give me a stupid name too?" A pause. "Sorry." That was rather tactless of her. Usually Christine can summon that Southern politeness that everyone's mawmaw taught them.
A laugh as dry as the Sahara rasps out of him. "She was planning to overthrow Erik. I did him a favor." And this is Max's wonderful reward. Then again, Erik could have killed him.
The venom from her surprises Max, even if it shouldn't. His eyes go a little wider and he stands up a little straighter. It stings. The name was meant to sting. Perhaps just one more way Max is atoning to Erik for his crime of daring to defend himself against a vampire and win
Still ... somehow Max didn't expect to be taking those barbs from someone like her here and now. His tone is a little more wounded than he means it to be.
"I'm sorry too... I don't know what he plans to do about that. I can try and prevent him from picking anything terrible if that's what he decides."
Then, on a whim, he decides to add, "Jonah. My name was Jonah before..."
It's not like her to lash out, but the situation has made her stressed and her careful mask of control is slipping. She chooses to eat her cupcake silently for a moment rather than stick her foot in her mouth again, but when he tells her his name — his real name — she speaks up.
"Here's hoping." Her gaze falls away to the table and she picks idly at the cupcake liner a moment in quiet reflection before she says, "This is a good cupcake. You're a good baker." It's a little weak as far as compliments go, but she's thinking he won't blame her for not doing the equivalent of writing in a Michelin guide.
"Thank you." His voice is warm, even hinting a bit at affection. Honestly, he appreciates any compliment at all, but especially for his baking.
"You know, it's what I always wanted to do. Be a baker, maybe open my own cafe. It's how I keep myself busy here. But, ironically, you're the first person besides me who's tasted anything I've made for a long, long time. Vampires don't have a taste for anything but blood." Literally. It all tastes like nothing to them.
It's sad to know where life would've taken him had he not got caught up in all this. It's sad that they both had plans on where their lives were going and it's all good now.
"I like to bake," she replies. "And cook. Something about following a recipe just— I don't know. Makes everything feel nice and orderly." And it makes her feel accomplished too, especially when she makes something she never has before.
Sometimes, he tortures himself thinking about what could have been. How things might have gone if he'd finished his senior year of culinary arts school, gotten his degree, and had a chance to use it. It won't change anything. But he can't help where his mind wanders sometimes.
But, to hear her say she enjoys baking too. That it might be a passion and a pastime he can share with her? His heart feels lighter in his chest.
"Yeah?" he asks, eyes sparkling, "Me too. It feels like... being in control of something." A rare thing for him, admittedly, when so much of his life is controlled by another.
"It's sort of zen for me. If that makes sense? And when I nail a recipe I feel like there's something to be proud of."
He slips his hand over hers, "What do you like to cook?"
Christine knows exactly what he means. It's deeply engrained in her to strive for control and now that she doesn't have control over her own life she'll need to put that energy into something else.
"Jambalaya," she answers, not moving her hand away because she's focused on talking about food. "Mac and cheese, quiches, I like making breakfast foods too, especially on my days off. So: omelets, pancakes, waffles, crepes." She pauses, trying to think of more. "Well, there's a lot." It'd be easier to say what she doesn't like to cook.
He leans down over the counter with his chin cradled in his free hand, listening to her list out dishes like he's utterly entranced. Well, he kind of is. What a happy coincidence that they share this passion. If Max had to choose who he became a cohabitor with, he'd want someone like her.
"I love breakfast food best too," he tells her. He's practically swooning by the time she says crepes.
"And, you're in luck. I'm in charge of cooking every meal for myself. So, we'll have every day to make something new. I'd love to take turns cooking with you. You can show me some of your best recipes and I'll show you mine."
He's giddy at the thought of sharing a kitchen with her. This is the best thing that's happened to him in years. Which... he immediately feels guilty about. Because it's certainly one of the worst things that's happened to her. Having fun in the kitchen doesn't really make up for being kidnapped, does it?
He does his best to shove that thought away. "Erik has a huge industrial kitchen upstairs we can use. The one here is really just for light cooking."
"Really?" Christine doesn't want to say she's eager to see it, given the circumstances, but she's definitely intrigued. "I'd feel like I was on Food Network." There's a brief smile before she glances around this kitchen that's apparently smaller.
"I'll cook, as long as I have the ingredients I need. But let me guess, he'll get use whatever we need." That's not a kind thing so much as keeping the pets from barking too much, she thinks.
Welcome to living in a mansion. The kitchen upstairs looks like it should feature in a show on Food Network, frankly. Max would make a great host.
"Yeah, you guessed right. I actually can do the ordering from here. We have one of those shopping services that delivers it all in." Because it would be too risky to let Max out into a supermarket, but fuck if a thousand-year-old vampire knows what brand of butter to get.
"I have a credit card with a spending ceiling so high, it's basically unlimited. So, whatever we want, we get. As long as it fits through the front door." And, since Max has very little else for compensation, he isn't shy about using it.
"Jeez," she says, a little stunned. It's weird, isn't it? This vampire could've just gotten rid of the two of them but decided on making them prisoners instead. Prisoners that get a lot more than some six figure families do.
"This is... really confusing, y'know? Like all of this." She gestures with a hand. "Just overwhelming and weird and—" Christine cuts herself off and releases a sigh, her shoulders slumping. "Are you, like, happy here?" Setting her chin in a hand, she looks him over. He seems well cared for and like he has anything material he could want. Though that doesn't mean his mental needs are being met.
"I know. I couldn't believe it when he handed it to me."
Max had similar concerns at the start of all this. Why take care of him so well? Why bother? It would be just as easy and certainly not as costly to keep Max in a cage and take his blood as Erik wished. The rest of this is just... unnecessary. Yet, the vampire does seem genuinely concerned for Max's wellbeing. Going out of his way very often to bring Max trinkets or treats he might like. Like... bringing home treats for a pet dog.
Max lets out a slow breath. That is a hard question to answer. "I'm not unhappy? It's not... this isn't what I would choose for myself. I miss people. I miss my family. I miss not being able to choose for myself." He's not fulfilled like this. He can't even pretend he is.
"But it's not miserable. I think Erik is lonely too. So, I think he does this stuff because he hopes it will make it bearable enough for me to like it, and him."
"I see." Christine doesn't need to tell him that she doesn't want that to be her. She doesn't want to like Erik at all. Her eyes leave his face to explore the room once more, as if something's changed since she last looked around moments ago. But her curiosity really can't be contained, so after a moment's reflection she asks, "Could I see the big kitchen?"
He brings his hands together, to wring them a little guiltily at her question. "No... uh, not yet. It's upstairs and I'm not allowed to take you up there yet."
The door to their basement apartment is locked, and while Max has the combination and can come and go freely, he's been specifically told by Erik not to let her into any other parts of the house.
"I'm sorry. I'm sure that will change soon." As soon as the vampire has some assurances that she won't blast him away with her gift. "In the mean-time, I'll have to bring everything down here to you."
"Mm." It takes a lot to keep her from saying Great in a sarcastic tone, but she's already been kind of a jerk about his name so she's doing her best to be nice to the only person who can relate to her right now.
"Well, in that case, what am I supposed to do with my day?" Does Erik have some stupid schedule she's supposed to follow too?
He can kind of still hear it in her tone. But he not taking it personally.
"Now that you mention it, that's something I'm supposed to be helping you figure out. Normally, Erik and his second in command Josiah would lay out some expectations for you, but since they can't really...interact with you, I have to be the go-between." Lucky her, she doesn't have to be food for them either.
"I do have a fitness center down here, and a pool. It's small, but it's one of those with the current you can swim against. Do you like swimming?
"And, like I said, we can buy more entertainment. Books? Movies? Craft supplies? If you have any hobbies you want to try, now might be the time." He shrugs. It's not great but it's the best he can do.
"Obviously cooking is mine. But, I like to sketch sometimes too. I also really like audiobooks for when I'm working out."
"I guess swimming's fine, but I could do with a dance board. I like the black, round ones. And I'd need pointe shoes but that's a bit more difficult. Normally you gotta be fitted for those but, y'know. So I guess just a pair off the rack. Size 9."
If she's stuck here, she may as well get back into ballet.
He stands up straight and looks at her with a mixture of surprise and delight.
"Wow. You do pointe? I've always been so impressed with that."
He'll be fascinated to watch her practice. If she wants, she may even be able to coach him on how to execute a few lifts for her.
"I'll pull up an order for them right away. Consider it done. I can add leotards to the list of clothes we need to buy you as well. Speaking of, I'll need your measurements for that. I'm sure you don't want to have to wear my oversized clothes for too long."
Max takes to it with such enthusiasm that it nearly makes her laugh. Most men aren't interested in dance or what's needed to make it all happen. And those who do enjoy dance are mostly into hip hop and street dances anyway.
"Yeah, if you get me some paper, I'll write it all down. Shopping for women's clothes isn't easy, y'know. No two places seem to treat a size as the same measurements." Christine is going to have to write him a freaking chart about how a size 6 at this store is a size 8 at this one. And an XL at this overseas place is really closer to a small over here.
It helped her case a lot that Max, as part of his training to better serve his Master, had been instilled with an appreciation for older schools of dance and music. But, even failing that, Max likes to encourage a person's passions regardless of his own taste, maybe because he'd wished so hard for others to do that same for him when he was growing up in a smaller and definitively more conservative town.
"I've got a pad in my office. I'll get it and measuring tape for you shortly. But uh..." He looks a little embarrassed again. "The shopping will go differently than you think. A lot of your clothes are going to be bespoke."
"For real?" That's... pretty surprising. Why it should be at this point is a question she should be asking herself, really. It's clear that the two of them are meant to be happy little pets with only the finest things so they don't get too disgruntled about their situation. Having a wardrobe make specifically for her just fits right in with all that.
"Okay, well, whatever. It wouldn't hurt to get my measurements. I haven't done it in awhile."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-13 03:41 am (UTC)"Didn't know they even existed til recently." She sniffs and takes a bite of the cupcake, firmly telling herself that she's not going to cry in front of him.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-13 01:46 pm (UTC)"It was sudden for me too. I was in my junior year of college. I met this woman at a new years eve party. Only, she wasn't just a woman. She was a vampire. She was my Master's twin sister, actually.
"She tried to eat me. I fought back. I didn't mean to kill her, it just... happened. Now, all of her followers, her allies, want me dead. The only person who has a claim to my life that supersedes theirs is Erik. As long as he claims me, they have to let me live.
"That was six years ago. I've been here ever since." From a week past his twenty-first birthday, to now. This is all he's ever known. "My family thinks I died in a fire. You probably guessed, Max Maximum isn't my real name."
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-13 06:03 pm (UTC)"So does this mean he's gonna give me a stupid name too?" A pause. "Sorry." That was rather tactless of her. Usually Christine can summon that Southern politeness that everyone's mawmaw taught them.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-21 01:47 am (UTC)The venom from her surprises Max, even if it shouldn't. His eyes go a little wider and he stands up a little straighter. It stings. The name was meant to sting. Perhaps just one more way Max is atoning to Erik for his crime of daring to defend himself against a vampire and win
Still ... somehow Max didn't expect to be taking those barbs from someone like her here and now. His tone is a little more wounded than he means it to be.
"I'm sorry too... I don't know what he plans to do about that. I can try and prevent him from picking anything terrible if that's what he decides."
Then, on a whim, he decides to add, "Jonah. My name was Jonah before..."
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-21 06:29 pm (UTC)"And what would you prefer I call you?"
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-01 05:38 am (UTC)"Max. You should call me Max. The person I was before is gone. It wouldn't be right to call me that anymore."
He drops his gaze to the counter. Jonah is dead. On paper and in his own mind too. He is Max, like it or not.
"Your situation could still be different... I don't know yet. It's too soon to tell."
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-02 01:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-12 05:48 am (UTC)"You know, it's what I always wanted to do. Be a baker, maybe open my own cafe. It's how I keep myself busy here. But, ironically, you're the first person besides me who's tasted anything I've made for a long, long time. Vampires don't have a taste for anything but blood." Literally. It all tastes like nothing to them.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-14 05:40 pm (UTC)"I like to bake," she replies. "And cook. Something about following a recipe just— I don't know. Makes everything feel nice and orderly." And it makes her feel accomplished too, especially when she makes something she never has before.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-16 04:24 am (UTC)But, to hear her say she enjoys baking too. That it might be a passion and a pastime he can share with her? His heart feels lighter in his chest.
"Yeah?" he asks, eyes sparkling, "Me too. It feels like... being in control of something." A rare thing for him, admittedly, when so much of his life is controlled by another.
"It's sort of zen for me. If that makes sense? And when I nail a recipe I feel like there's something to be proud of."
He slips his hand over hers, "What do you like to cook?"
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-16 10:21 pm (UTC)"Jambalaya," she answers, not moving her hand away because she's focused on talking about food. "Mac and cheese, quiches, I like making breakfast foods too, especially on my days off. So: omelets, pancakes, waffles, crepes." She pauses, trying to think of more. "Well, there's a lot." It'd be easier to say what she doesn't like to cook.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-17 08:17 pm (UTC)"I love breakfast food best too," he tells her. He's practically swooning by the time she says crepes.
"And, you're in luck. I'm in charge of cooking every meal for myself. So, we'll have every day to make something new. I'd love to take turns cooking with you. You can show me some of your best recipes and I'll show you mine."
He's giddy at the thought of sharing a kitchen with her. This is the best thing that's happened to him in years. Which... he immediately feels guilty about. Because it's certainly one of the worst things that's happened to her. Having fun in the kitchen doesn't really make up for being kidnapped, does it?
He does his best to shove that thought away. "Erik has a huge industrial kitchen upstairs we can use. The one here is really just for light cooking."
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-18 12:30 am (UTC)"I'll cook, as long as I have the ingredients I need. But let me guess, he'll get use whatever we need." That's not a kind thing so much as keeping the pets from barking too much, she thinks.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-21 04:47 am (UTC)"Yeah, you guessed right. I actually can do the ordering from here. We have one of those shopping services that delivers it all in." Because it would be too risky to let Max out into a supermarket, but fuck if a thousand-year-old vampire knows what brand of butter to get.
"I have a credit card with a spending ceiling so high, it's basically unlimited. So, whatever we want, we get. As long as it fits through the front door." And, since Max has very little else for compensation, he isn't shy about using it.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-22 12:03 am (UTC)"This is... really confusing, y'know? Like all of this." She gestures with a hand. "Just overwhelming and weird and—" Christine cuts herself off and releases a sigh, her shoulders slumping. "Are you, like, happy here?" Setting her chin in a hand, she looks him over. He seems well cared for and like he has anything material he could want. Though that doesn't mean his mental needs are being met.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-24 03:31 am (UTC)Max had similar concerns at the start of all this. Why take care of him so well? Why bother? It would be just as easy and certainly not as costly to keep Max in a cage and take his blood as Erik wished. The rest of this is just... unnecessary. Yet, the vampire does seem genuinely concerned for Max's wellbeing. Going out of his way very often to bring Max trinkets or treats he might like. Like... bringing home treats for a pet dog.
Max lets out a slow breath. That is a hard question to answer. "I'm not unhappy? It's not... this isn't what I would choose for myself. I miss people. I miss my family. I miss not being able to choose for myself." He's not fulfilled like this. He can't even pretend he is.
"But it's not miserable. I think Erik is lonely too. So, I think he does this stuff because he hopes it will make it bearable enough for me to like it, and him."
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-25 03:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-02 10:42 pm (UTC)The door to their basement apartment is locked, and while Max has the combination and can come and go freely, he's been specifically told by Erik not to let her into any other parts of the house.
"I'm sorry. I'm sure that will change soon." As soon as the vampire has some assurances that she won't blast him away with her gift. "In the mean-time, I'll have to bring everything down here to you."
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-04 10:43 pm (UTC)"Well, in that case, what am I supposed to do with my day?" Does Erik have some stupid schedule she's supposed to follow too?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-08 03:15 am (UTC)"Now that you mention it, that's something I'm supposed to be helping you figure out. Normally, Erik and his second in command Josiah would lay out some expectations for you, but since they can't really...interact with you, I have to be the go-between." Lucky her, she doesn't have to be food for them either.
"I do have a fitness center down here, and a pool. It's small, but it's one of those with the current you can swim against. Do you like swimming?
"And, like I said, we can buy more entertainment. Books? Movies? Craft supplies? If you have any hobbies you want to try, now might be the time." He shrugs. It's not great but it's the best he can do.
"Obviously cooking is mine. But, I like to sketch sometimes too. I also really like audiobooks for when I'm working out."
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-09 01:30 am (UTC)If she's stuck here, she may as well get back into ballet.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-15 03:15 am (UTC)"Wow. You do pointe? I've always been so impressed with that."
He'll be fascinated to watch her practice. If she wants, she may even be able to coach him on how to execute a few lifts for her.
"I'll pull up an order for them right away. Consider it done. I can add leotards to the list of clothes we need to buy you as well. Speaking of, I'll need your measurements for that. I'm sure you don't want to have to wear my oversized clothes for too long."
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-16 11:15 pm (UTC)"Yeah, if you get me some paper, I'll write it all down. Shopping for women's clothes isn't easy, y'know. No two places seem to treat a size as the same measurements." Christine is going to have to write him a freaking chart about how a size 6 at this store is a size 8 at this one. And an XL at this overseas place is really closer to a small over here.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-22 01:35 am (UTC)"I've got a pad in my office. I'll get it and measuring tape for you shortly. But uh..." He looks a little embarrassed again. "The shopping will go differently than you think. A lot of your clothes are going to be bespoke."
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-22 03:57 am (UTC)"Okay, well, whatever. It wouldn't hurt to get my measurements. I haven't done it in awhile."
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