Vampire Queen's Soulmate

Late Night Snack

Esme frowned immediately, first at the glasses and then at the waiter.

"Raymond?" she asked, looking from the nametag on his black work shirt to his face. He was visibly scared now, hearing the tone in the queen's voice.

"Y-y-yes, my queen. My name is Raymond," he stuttered. His hands began to tremble.

Esme, seeing his terror, rolled her eyes and decided to take some pity on him. He was new, and was only doing what he was instructed to do. Give the queen and her guests a glass.

"You are new, so I will be lenient with you. This man is not one of us. He does not require a glass, and so if we come in again, you will remember that," Esme told him.

Raymond blew out a breath, and Esme smiled slightly. Vampires didn't need to breathe, but Raymond here was so new he was still embodying human behavior.

"Thank you, my queen. I promise I will remember your words," Raymond gushed, and took Rodrigo's glass from in front of him.

"From now on, please work on deciphering who's a vamp, and who's not. That is something you should have realized the moment we stepped in the door," Esme instructed.

"But Queen Esme," Raymond blurted out, "I did think he was a vampire. He gave no indication otherwise."

Esme raised an eyebrow, and turned her gaze on Rodrigo. Raymond took that moment to scurry away with the glass.

"Next time," Esme began, picking up her own glass and raising it to her lips, "you could let me know that you plan on masking your energy. If I didn't know better, I would have said you are mimicking energies like our mutual friend." She drank deeply of the glass, and set it down. A drop of blood sat on her full lower lip. Her tongue darted out to catch it. Rodrigo watched her with a small smirk playing on his lips.

"I figured you would notice. You are queen, after all. Nothing gets by you," Rodrigo replied, the smirk turning into a lopsided smile.

"Sarcasm does become you, Ojo. You should use it more," Esme spat back calmly, and then drained her glass.

Rodrigo snorted. She was heavy on the attitude right now. As much as he was on the fence about her mercurial moods, the attitude seemed to spark something in her. Something human. The vampires he'd known were cut and dry for the most part. He decided he would poke a little bit, just to see. This isn't like me, he thought briefly, but its fun!

"I think I will, reina. You'll have to keep up. Think you can?" he asked innocently.

Esme slammed the glass on the table. Heads turned towards them, but seeing who had done it, they quickly turned back around.

"Are you trying to piss me off?" she hissed. What the f**k is his problem??

"No," Rodrigo smiled.

Esme stared at him, her eyes narrowed. Then, abruptly, she laughed.

"You're funny, Ojo. Very funny," she said, laughter still bubbling out. "Come on. Lets go."

"What? I haven't gotten to eat anything! Where's Raymond?" Rodrigo protested, looking around for the waiter. Not seeing the nervous vampire anywhere, he watched Esme rise from the booth. She had a banging body, and he wasn't ashamed to admit that to himself. Her hoodie hugged her form, as did her jeans. The curves were dangerous, and Rodrigo was close to not caring that they were going to be fighting an evil spirit. He wanted to learn those curves.

Esme read his thoughts in that moment, and smiled slowly. Why he insisted on denying himself pleasure, she wasn't sure. She took pleasure as it came, and savored it. She, of all people, knew how fleeting life could be. Although she had lived many lifetimes, she knew that it could be over in an instant. Esme learned as queen that there was always someone out there who wanted what she had, and they would try to take it by any means possible. She fought and killed to stay where she was. Her life was chaotic, and that wasn't ending any time soon, she thought ruefully. Especially now with Dante making waves. She would have Rodrigo experience what it would be like with her. For real, and not in a dream.

Now she held out her hand to him.

"Come on," she said softly.

"Where are we going?" he asked, getting up.

"I know a better place. Lets go."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rodrigo stood in Esme's massive kitchen, turning around to look at everything. It was incredible. It was homey, yet definitely expensive. The countertops were labradorite. He had never seen such a thing. The cabinets were heavy oak and lightly stained. The appliances were modern and sleek. Two ovens! Two stoves! One of them set in the island! The floors were heated marble, which was nice for him, since he was barefoot most of the time. The island also held a prep sink and a wine fridge. Bar stools set up on one side of the island had comfortable looking purple pillows. Rodrigo smiled at that. Here was Esme's touch. He didn't doubt that she oversaw every detail of the construction of the house.

He continued looking around. There was a butler's pantry with a meat fridge and a coffee bar. The kitchen opened into the living room. The windows were floor to ceiling, which Rodrigo thought odd with vampires in the house, but the curtains seemed to work for them. The living room looked...well, lived in. It was a comfortable room, with an overstuffed sectional and two armchairs. Two huge beanbag chairs sat in front of the TV. Gatita was curled up in one of those chairs, again sound asleep. Rodrigo was amazed. The cat was right at home in Esme's house, a place she'd never been before. She had investigated the kitchen and living room very briefly before finding the beanbags. There would be time to walk around the house tomorrow, Rodrigo thought with a smile.

At that moment, Esme walked in the kitchen. She had taken the time to get comfortable and change her clothes. She was now dressed in a purple and turquoise lounging outfit. The outfit flowed loosely about her. Rodrigo eyed her appreciatively, noting the colors and how they made her skin glow. Or maybe it was the blood she'd drunk at the restaurant. Either way, she was lovely.

"Did you get your cat situated?" Esme asked. She surprised herself by asking about his cat. She didn't normally keep animals, as she found herself despondent after they passed. It wasn't fair that she continued to live on, and they passed. It suited her more to not get attached. There had been some research on whether an animal could be turned into a vampire, but those studies had gone very, very badly. The consensus was a resounding NO.

"She has situated herself in your beanbag. She must be tired after her first travel experience. I'm sure she will be up and exploring early tomorrow," Rodrigo replied.

Esme smiled serenely, and began moving about her kitchen.

"So, great and powerful Ojo. What would you like to eat at this hour?" she asked grandly.

Rodrigo looked at the clock: 11:30pm. Gods it was late to be eating. But he was hungry.... He looked back at her smiling face.

"Are you cooking for me then, Reina?" he answered her question with a question. Esme turned her head this way and that, pretending to look for another person.

"Well. I don't see anyone else in here besides you and me. You just had a long ass trip. I took you away from my diner that cooks perfectly good food, to come to my casita. Yes, I am going to cook for you. Did you think I have one of those here too?" Esme slammed her hands on her hips, drawing Rodrigo's eyes to those hips.

An image popped into his head, a snippet of the dream he'd had. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind, while Esme watched the emotions change on his face. A smirk slowly made its way across her face, knowing what he was thinking.

"You do have a cook," Rodrigo said, throwing up a shield as he felt a tickle of her energy in his headspace, "You told him to go to bed, so we could have the kitchen alone."

"How mind read-y of you," Esme remarked, a slight mocking tone in her voice.

"Thank you," Rodrigo retorted sarcastically.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, Esme began opening the cabinets, getting out the appropriate number of pans.

"How do you feel about breakfast for dinner?"