The Deal with Monsters (aka the Awesome RP!)

Nora shook her head. "I don't know," she replied, looking down at her breakfast, poking at it with her fork. "I guess it's kinda like a predator after his prey thing. I managed to escape and he can't have that." She sighed slightly and took another bite of her food, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing. "You're right, by the way. This amulet isn't going to work here. Like right now, I can feel from the heat it's maintaining that it deems you and Amaria-Anna as threats. I could honestly take it off now if I wanted but I'd rather keep it close just in case."​
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She gave the stone faced vampire a half smile. "You don't have to worry about what I like or dislike in food. I've been on the run so long that anything warm tastes good to me. I'm fine with just having a safe roof over my head, food and clothes."​
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Pausing a moment, Nora decided she might as well address another topic. "I... don't know your daughter well, but she seemed kinda sad last night? With the arrival of your-" She paused. Was the woman, Layla, a wife or a lover? "Her mother." That was much better.​
 
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Sentimental value. Ravan could understand that. The amulet had kept her alive this long, and so it made sense that she would like to keep it. Besides that, who knew how long she would stay here? The vampire would let her stay as long as she could provide sustenance for his daughter, though it could be longer considering how Amaria-Anna had taken a shine to the human woman. "Well, if you are fine with anything, then I shall make you whatever meal choice enters my mind at that moment. You shall have three meals a day, guaranteed." He told her.

"Oh?" The vampire remained expressionless in both face and tone as he feigned surprise. "I thought that it might stir negative emotions within her. Layla is indeed her mother, but she left when Amaria was much younger. Too young to remember her properly. Things weren't quite the same for us when Amaria-Anna was born." Beforehand, the two had been in the newlywed stage of their relationship for years, perhaps even decades.

"Is she doing better now?" The vampire asked Nora. "Or rather, before you retired for the night, how was she faring? I don't wish for her to anguish over Layla's sudden arrival, or her absence in her life." The girl was far too young to worry about these things. Perhaps some part of him wished Layla hadn't shown up. Her arrival complicated things, and while it couldn't make him so much as flinch, his daughter was shaken by it. And that was unacceptable.​
 
Nora was quiet for a good, long moment, concentrating on her food as she mentally debated with herself whether she should just spill the beans or leave it be. Amaria Anna seemed as if she was someone who would just as quickly forget and be distracted by something else... but that could very well not be true. In fact, Nora was quite sure it wasn't. Such painful situations would become memories that would affect later on in life,, and she didn't want to be an enabler of the teenage angst continuing throughout her long life.

"She was sad, and rightly so." Nora finally looked up, grey eyes meeting Ravan's emotionless ones. "She... was looking at old pictures of you and Layla. She could clearly see the happy couple you were deteriorating as she grew older, and well... she put two and two together." A sigh left her and she shook her head, eyes returning to her food. "She thinks it's because of her that you two aren't together anymore. She thinks it's because of her that you lost your smile."

She crossed her arms over her chest, no longer feeling hungry even though there was still half of her meal waiting for her consumption. "What happened?" she finally asked. "I have been here only a couple of days and I already know something's not right. What- why did she leave you, and your daughter of all people?" There was no holding back now. "Why are you so... emotionless?"​
 
"Oh, she saw those." Ravan sounded as if he were attempting to sound surprised. "It would have been better for her heart if she hadn't, at least not without me." The vampire looked Nora in her eyes as well. "I suppose I should tell you. You are living with us, and this dilemma will involve you in one way or another. It seems you care for Amaria-anna in some way or another as well. That is good." He fell silent for a moment as he thought of the best way to tell her, eventually settling on a good way to start.

"It is true that, around her birth, things began to change, both for and between Layla and I when Amaria-Anna was born. It is not her fault, however." The vampire began, his gaze unflinching. "I love Amaria-Anna more than anything, and I am grateful for her birth. I may be incapable of showing it, but it is present in my heart, of that I know." He may have lost his ability to feel, but his drive to protect and care for his daughter was ever present. Everything she did was for her.

"I sacrificed a part of myself to bring her safely into this world. A desperate bid made by a newlywed couple to have a child, I suppose. We could not have one. So we traveled, looking for someone who could make that happen for us. It was not free. As always, there is a price, and sometimes the scope of that price does not become apparent until after it has been paid." Ravan tapped his finger on the counter gently as he spoke, only looking away from Nora for a brief moment to see if Amaria-Anna might have been eavesdropping. Satisfied with the lack of a third presence, he continued to speak. "I believe it's quite obvious what was taken from me to facilitate that event. In essence, the heart that I lack has become what I love so much, Amaria-Anna herself. As for Layla...things did change between us, and I've always assumed that her departure was because of me." As he finished his words, his finger ceased its drumming.

"It's not her fault." He repeated himself. "She should not blame herself. I am not unhappy, and perhaps Layla's departure was good for her. Perhaps she discovered herself once more, and that is why she returned." It sounded oddly optimistic coming from him, but it was just one of the many possibilities he had come up with for his wife's return.​
 
It was hard for Nora to come up with words after hearing what Ravan had to say. It was... sad, sorrowful, painful even. He hadn't been an emotionless vampire after all, but someone with enough love that he had been willing to sacrifice part of himself to bring his daughter into the world. What would Amaria-Anna feel knowing such a thing? That she was indeed the reason, but not in the way she probably thought it was.​
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"She should know the truth," Nora finally said, setting her fork down on the plate and pushing it away from her. "She's old enough to know it. Hell, she's only a few years younger than me, isn't she? It might be hard for her to hear it, but ultimately she'll understand that her father loved her so much that he was willing to give up that which's most important."​
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The neutral look on her face turned to a frown as she thought of Layla though. "I hope your wife's changed and coming back for the better. Leaving her only daughter like that was a horrible thing. Kids need their parents. So you changed... doesn't mean Amaria still didn't need her mother."​
 
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"I suppose she is old enough to learn it. I simply never thought to tell her. I never believed her mother would return." Ravan wasn't apprehensive about the idea in the slightest, nor did he find it worrisome. He couldn't. But before the other night, or rather this morning, he hadn't found telling her necessary either. They had been just fine before. "I will tell her the moment she awakens. The sooner her worries are squashed, the better." He couldn't imagine that she had slept well if she had been moved to tears the night before.

"I don't know if Layla has changed. As people tend to do after a schism has grown, she attempted to act as though she was no different from before." The vampire had given it some thought during the night, and he found he could think of no reason for her return, other than trying to enter her daughter's life once more. "I can't pretend to imagine how she felt after everything, but I do know Amaria-Anna would have been better off with more than just me." He could provide for her and keep her safe, but that was about it. There were things he couldn't do for her, not the way he was.

"In any case, I do hope knowing this has made it less awkward and taxing for you than it was the previous night." Ravan took the play and fork, carrying the dishes to the sink. "Had I known she was due to arrive, I would have told you, perhaps both of you, everything beforehand." The vampire did not like surprise visits before he lost his heart. They complicated things.​
 
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Nora wasn't quite sure if it would have made it less awkward, but she could appreciate the fact that he seemed a little conscious about her well being, something that she hadn't experienced in quite a while. Perhaps he didn't want her blood to curdle or taste bitter for Amaria, perhaps it was his own goodwill beneath all that neutral stone-like expression that remained on his face.​
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"I appreciate the thought," she said after a small moment of silence. "And I appreciate the breakfast you prepared as well. Also... I do apologize if it wasn't for me to be nosy and tell you what is good for Amaria or not. She is your daughter after all and it's clear that you love her dearly."​
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She paused, taking a small breath before standing up. "I also know I feel strongly against your wife. My parents died and I know the pain of having no one around. I'll be polite enough when and if she comes along but more than that, I don't know." Vampires were a race she was already wary of, and just because she found herself living among two rather oddballs from the norm, it didn't mean she could be accepting of all of them so easily.​
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Especially not with her parents murderer still wandering about. Her mind was quick to show her the man from her nightmare, that charming man who could easily seduce anyone unwary. Daniel... She was unable to hide the sudden trembling that took over.​
 
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"You are most welcome. Should you ever feel hunger, simply seek me out and I shall prepare a meal for you." The vampire did not mind cooking for her, not that he minded anything, really. He only wanted to make sure that she received the nutrition her body required so that her health was optimum. "I do not mind your inquiring about my family, either. You are a part of the house now, and so it is only right that you know of its affairs. You were simply caring for her, something I appreciate very much. Even if it's not evident in my tone."

"If...when, Layla does return, that is fine. I don't expect you to intermingle with her, nor do I desire for you to. The choice is up to you." Her disdain for his previous wife was obvious, and he could understand why, especially after hearing her story. She could relate to Amaria, having come from a worse place. Perhaps choosing her was a better choice than he thought.

Upon seeing her tremble, he could make an accurate guess about what was on her mind. The vampire attempted a tactic that he often performed when his daughter was scared or began to shake. He reached across the counter, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry. As I mentioned before, you're a part of this house now. You are under my protection as much as Amaria is." He did not know how comforting it would be for her, but the attempt was made.

"If you notice anything suspicious or worrying, do let me know. I will investigate and handle it appropriately." Should the vampire that was hunting her show his face, it was his hope that he could be dissuaded, or even killed. He only hoped that Layla's arrival wouldn't be a distraction from any threats.​
 
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