Chapter 6 Rowan #4
I didn’t realize how many minutes had passed with our conversation, and the tavern keep approached us, his voice as deep and broad as his shoulders.
“Happy travels, folks! What can I do you for?”
“Do you have any recommendations?” I asked, because while I had quite a few years of experience drinking in terms of how long I had been alive, I didn’t actually indulge all that much.
“If you want something sweeter, our Sex on the Beach or Long Island iced teas are pretty popular.” Not exactly what I would call tavern fare considering the kitschy decor of the semi-outdoor establishment. “But if you want a little less froufrou, I suggest our Werewolf Whiskey Howler.”
A truly strange sound emanated from Naomi, and I looked over at her to make sure that she was okay.
“Sorry,” she said, her face a flaming red as she wiped out her mouth. “Swallowed a bug, I think.”
Been there, done that. An unfortunate side effect of sleeping in a coffin that permanently stayed in a sunless place. “Let’s get you something to wash that down, shall we?”
“Yes, please!”
“She’ll take the Bloody Mary, and I’ll take the Werewolf Whiskey Howler you suggested. I have cash.”
We finished the transaction, and despite the fact that he pretty much had to be constantly moving and was no doubt exhausted, we had our drinks in hand a moment later. I made sure to give him a hearty tip, then the two of us returned to the band.
I was surprised to see that two of the band members were no longer there, however four others had taken their place, complete with two new instruments.
I couldn’t believe it when I saw the tall, unmistakable silver column of a bass clarinet and was pleasantly surprised by the addition of a bass guitar complete with a portable amp.
Oh, so this was a show show.
Naomi and I sipped at our drinks as we made small talk, and it really was just that easy.
There were no stilted silences, and the laughs just piled up all on top of each other.
I learned so many interesting things about canines, but also about the day of a dog walker’s life in general.
It had been a long time since I had traversed under the sun, and while I wasn’t completely ignorant of it, I had forgotten about certain little quirks.
Maybe this human thing wasn’t such a cockamamie idea at all.
Before I knew it, our drinks were finished, and the band went from a rousing rendition of “Sing, Sing, Sing” into a much slower tune I didn’t recognize.
It wasn’t lazy, but it was a slow, honeyed drawl full of syrup and longing.
The kind that stuck to your soul and made you look out the window while examining the world in a different way.
Suddenly, Naomi was standing, and she offered me her hand again. “Down for round two?”
I thought she meant for drinks, so I nodded and let her pull me to my feet.
She really was strong, and I felt that same rush of adrenaline in the back of my head.
Sure, the beast of vampirism within me was intrigued at the idea of such a challenge, but it wasn’t alone.
I liked that Naomi was strong, that she wouldn’t just crumble if I used a modicum of my own power.
Even though we weren’t close to the stage where something like that would even be important, I was attracted to what I was attracted to.
But instead of heading back to what I suspected was a bit of a tourist trap of a bar, she led me right back to where we’d danced.
There were fewer couples there now, but I recognized one elderly pair who were draped across each other, a testament to the enduring nature of love and companionship.
The way their backs stooped and their skin wrinkled stood in sharp relief to the timeless adoration radiating off them.
Although their physical forms were not long from dust, all I saw was how their connection would live forever.
God, I wanted that.
More than anything else.
The mood was different, and I didn’t fail to notice how our bodies pressed together in an entirely new context. This was no lively Charleston. No sock hop or jitterbug.
This was romantic. Unabashedly so. And I hadn’t realized how much I had been craving something so simple, so universal.
I only wished I didn’t have to lie to get it.
Maybe it was my own main character syndrome, but I could have sworn the air itself changed. The wind shifted around us as we slowly maneuvered across the cobblestones, sidestepping and swaying back and forth.
“I think this might be the best date I’ve ever been on,” I murmured when the song broke down into a low and intense interlude with only the piano and clarinet.
Thankfully, Naomi once again seemed to be in accordance with my opinion. “Me too. I don’t think it could get any more perfect.”
It would have been nice if I could tell her everything, but there were limits to our situation, so I held my tongue as the wind continued to whip around us, dropping the temperature of the air.
But I didn’t mind, because the sheer amount of heat that Naomi’s body was radiating toward me was more than enough to keep me warm.
“Thank you,” I said simply, and Naomi nodded.
We moved together, and the rest of the world fell away into nothingness, leaving just the journey we were on. I’d never...
My inner monologue cut off as I realized that Naomi was pushing herself up onto her toes. Although I wasn’t exactly fully literate in modern romantic movies, I didn’t need to be to recognize that she was going in for a kiss.
Oh.
When was the last time I’d been kissed? It had been so long. And even longer since I had done either romantically.
Yet despite the worries that I might be out of practice, I didn’t hesitate. I began to lower my head, but before we could make any sort of contact, there was a truly earth-shattering crack of thunder above our heads, enough to shake the ground beneath our feet.
“Holy shit!” Naomi cried, and I didn’t blame her for jerking back. The wind whipping around and the sparking energy that had made the hair on my arms stand on end hadn’t been my imagination. Amazing the things I did and didn’t notice when caught up in someone truly unexpected. “I—”
She never quite got the sentence out, because it was like the sky broke in two and a torrential downpour slammed down so hard I physically felt its force against my body.
Holy shit, indeed!
It was chaos for a moment, and understandably so.
The band was breaking for cover—the bass player with his amp in his arms and his guitar strapped to his back while the piccolo was helping the bass clarinetist haul her instrument to cover.
I was tempted to go help, but Naomi’s grip on me tightened, centering me in the moment.
God, she looked so fucking beautiful.
I had no words for it. No verbal words, at least. My mind filled with dozens and dozens of different adjectives all piling on top of each other in a worshipful cacophony.
The way the water poured down over her thick hair, soaking it through and traveling in hurried, crystalline paths down her slightly tanned skin.
Her green eyes were nearly as stormy as the sky above us, charged with enough emotions to take my breath away if I had to breathe.
The full swell of her chest wasn’t quite heaving, but its movement was an alluring rise and fall, and I wanted to reach out and caress her. To feel her. To treasure her.
I wanted nothing more than to cup her face and pull her to me, so I could ravish those red lips of hers for all I was worth. To let the parts of me I kept locked away come to the surface.
But as I lifted my hand, forceful drops of rain splattering against me, I realized the cuff of my sleeve was beginning to stain.
Specifically, beginning to stain with makeup.
Shit!
Yes, I’d sealed it, but there was only so much one could practically expect it to hold up under. We’d already been out and about for a couple of hours, held hands, and danced together. That, combined with the sheer torrent pouring down on me, was a bit too much to ask for my disguise to withstand.
While I always told myself I wasn’t ashamed of being an albino, I wasn’t ready to share that with Naomi. It was incredibly nice to just be a normal guy starting on a normal level for once, rather than being on the back foot from the drop and trying to fight to get back to zero.
So, despite the fact that I had once been a young warrior in my village, despite the fact that I could go on a rampage and likely wipe out everyone currently running for cover without so much as getting a scratch, I chose the coward’s path.
“I have to go!” I blurted so quickly that it practically came out as one word.
“W-what?”
I felt terrible as Naomi’s expression turned into one of horror, but I couldn’t risk a single second longer. Who knew what my face looked like! And what if the glue holding my wig in place came undone? The carefully built artifice I’d put together to be presentable never seemed more flimsy.
So, I turned and ran off like many of the people around her, leaving her standing there like a total scumbag.
I was a scumbag.
That was all I could think as I ran. And ran. And ran. Thankfully, the weather was foul enough that hardly anyone was out, and those that were, were rushing along just as much as I was.
By the time I burst into my home and slammed my door behind me, I was soaked and quite literally leaving a puddle on my floor. Turning, I looked in the mirror that I kept by the door to make sure what I could see of myself was in order, and what I saw there was an utter mess.
The light beige color of my foundation was indeed dripping off my face and down onto my shirt, my normalcy melting to leave only absence in its wake until there was no reflection at all aside from my clothes.
“Fuck you,” I murmured at the blank space. “Why do you have to ruin everything?”
There was no answer, and I knew there wouldn’t be one. I’d managed to escape to a pretty slice of un-reality for a few hours, and now I had to come back to the real world.
The one where I was alone and always would be.