Ashe's P.O.V

I swallowed a lump in my throat that had nothing to do with what I was slowly but surely drinking. I'd never felt this flush and, honestly, healthy. This was more than I would get in at least a month, usually subsisting on the blood substitute. For most, that would be pretty much the opposite; blood substitute was not meant to fully replace regular 'vampire' meals like I was using it. And just one bag was pretty equivalent to three or four actual meals on average for me. There are some people who drink fully from one person if they have strong control, but most take from multiple people, and then there's me. It's hard just to get to that point once for a short period of time, let alone multiple.

I felt guilty drinking all this. It was probably expensive and he may not actually have much. Oh shit, what if this was his last bag and he was giving it to me? Where would he even get more? It wasn't until I heard him that I realized my various emotions had been broadcasting on my face until he spoke to me as he set something down in front of me; a plate, from the sound of it.

"What's got you all up in knots over?" He asked me. I lowered my head a bit, but I could feel him watching me, waiting for a response. And he knew I knew he was watching me and that I knew he was expecting a response.

I sighed, scrunching up my face a bit as I rubbed my thumb along the bottom of the glass, index and middle finger holding it in place, "I... I was just worried and wondering about you giving me this. I mean, isn't it expensive and hard to get?"

"What? Oh! The blood?" The guy sounded amused that this was what I had been worrying over when I nodded. "This is one of the regular items my club sells. Don't worry, it's not really illegal, does not injure the populace, is easily replaced and there is plenty present. The only thing that is hard to obtain with regularity are certain blood types. The most popular and hard to obtain, other than those really genetically variable blood types like the bombay blood group, is O negative. So, don't be worried, because I have a lot more of what you're drinking."

I smiled slightly, relieved that I wasn't being an even bigger burden on him. I felt like I could trust him, considering what he could have done to me so far, and how much he's helped me instead, "Food. Eat," He carefully took my right hand and placed a fork in it. I switched it to the other hand, being a lefty and carefully felt where everything was only to frown.

"I'm sorry, what is this?"

"Huh? Oh," He chuckles, confusing me even more. "Haven't really cooked for anyone else so I didn't think about it, but I like scrambled eggs so I make them, but I also like to eat over easy eggs with a soft yoke because it tastes good on toast."

I frowned, thinking about how to eat it. Was it okay to just lift it up and bite into it? I hesitantly lifted up the egg on toast, biting into the crunchy toast and soft flesh of the egg; it was delicious. I thought back, trying to remember the last time I made something like this, finally settling on what I could remember. I knew my mom had made over easy eggs for me before, but I had too much trouble, especially at the chance of getting caught, so when I did make eggs myself, it would always be scrambled.

"That good, huh?" The guy chuckled, his mouth muffled by what he was eating too before I listened to him come around and take his own seat at the counter.

We ate silently, excited when I found the scrambled eggs to have cheese on them. I had finished everything up to about half the blood substitute before I knew there was no way I could eat more, "Little full?"

"Oh, yeah," I replied without thinking, rubbing my stuffed stomach. I blushed, surprised at my own comfort towards this guy. Hell, I just met him last night for maybe half an hour, didn't even know his name, and it was like my subconscious had already labeled him as my bff!

"That's good," He replied lightly, removing the dishes. I listened as he ran the water and closed the cap on the blood substitute, the fridge opening to probably return it there. I heard him wipe down the counters quickly, so I waited awkwardly unsure and unable to help. After he finished, he walked over to my side once more, so I turned my head to the left in his general vicinity, "Would you mind having a seat on the couch with me? There's a few things I'd like to talk with you about."

I straightened, being sure not to fidget, and nodded.

?? P.O.V

The kid ate so happily that I wondered when the last time he had something as simple as this. Could he even cook? And if not, what did he even eat? From what I had gleaned, or should I say, slapped me in the face, he's been pretty much shuffled off to the edge of the nest. I thought back on the information one of my workers, Jeffery, had sent me and the disappointing and anger inducing conversation I had with his parents.

***Last night, after Ashe was put to bed***

I grumbled, closing my private quarter's door carefully before checking the screen for who was still persistently harassing my office door and finally opening it to a very harried Jeffery. I could only imagine what he was going through, since we had literally given away a portion of our inventory, and therefore some of our profit. Guess who had to do all the figures, stock adjustment, mollify any police that came, set up a meeting for better crowd control, and a slew of other things that I'm thankful I didn't have to take care of? It was hard enough having to deal with the dicks in suits, council and governance of this domain as a hub for vampires, especially our nest's.

Jeffery squeezed in, almost shoving himself between the door and myself, already talking a mile a minute. I blocked it out, following him into the room where he had stopped, lips puckered as he looked at the mess my furniture was still in, "I see you've done some... Are you trying that Feng Shuei thing?"

I opened my mouth, but he stopped my response before I had even had time to put it together, "No, wait. Doesn't matter and don't, really don't, want to know."

He then sneered at said furniture before purposefully sitting at an armchair that had not been moved from the previous struggle. I sat on the couch and pulled the coffee table back to its place before leaning my elbows on my knees, hands hanging down between them, "Okay... What have you got for me?"

Jeffery sniffed, his signature reaction when he felt he was not being properly treated for all the work he did. At this point we both knew each other so well and he knew how tired I already was that, unlike usual where he would explain out what he had to go through to get the items, he instead just handed them to me, "I pulled up a full background, not too much there, but through this and that and a few slicked hands, I found out a lot."

I saw as Jeffery grimaced, which meant that whatever he found was highly distasteful even for him, when he gets paid to deal with some pretty greasy scum on a weekly basis, "I think I'll leave most of this to you, but I highlighted some important portions."

"Yes, thank you Jeffery, I know you already have a lot to do, so I'm sorry you had one more thing to do on top of it all."

"Just so long as you notice it," Jeffery sniffed playfully, lifting his head up a bit as he walked out in his metrosexual outfit, thin body walking smoothly to the door before hesitating, "Cian, take your time reading it... It's not a pretty story, and I'd rather you didn't break everything in your office again, especially because i'm already busy enough right now without you throwing a hissy that gives me even more work."

The door clicked closed quietly, automatically locking. I took a large breath before taking the thick sheaf of documents to my desk. I grabbed a notebook and pen, noting down certain items while trying not to break my pen. Thankfully, I only broke one, and it hadn't splattered everywhere like I once did.

Several anguished breaks later, I leaned back in my chair, mentally exhausted. When I felt calm once more, I leaned forward, eyeing my desk phone. I had now found out he was named Ashe Rune 'Arcwyrght'. In the human population, the clan name was not used and either the family designates another last name or just uses the middle instead, but to others of our kind, it was an important designation. For example, even though I was of the Arcwyrght clan, I was not designated as such, because of my position. I learned that Ashe was a freshman in high school, so unsurprisingly sixteen. And after that was when it became complicated and anger-inducing.