William Holloway

I'm a devil in disguise

When it came to working for the Italian Monarchy, William was quickly finding that he loved it even more than he'd initially thought. He would have thought that he would have been anxious to have to be somewhere at a scheduled time - after all, his life so rarely went as planned. After years of running from the Hunter's Council, William was quite used to needing to pack up and move to another city at the drop of a hat. To have made a commitment to be at a specific place, at a certain time, on specific days... it was nearly terrifying. But William had noticed that his hands shook less as time went on, his anxiety lessened, and he could walk down the street without looking over his shoulder constantly - though he still did when he felt the tingle down his spine that indicated other Hunters, a habit he thought would never go away. Secondly, William found that the steady stream of income into his bank account was comforting after so many years of being unable to hold a job. He'd been living nearly two centuries on his Maker's fortune. Even with his smart spending, the frequent wandering and travel meant that that money wouldn't last forever. So William couldn't deny how much he enjoyed watching that number steadily go up for a change, even if he was positive that Sebastian was significantly overpaying him. And of course, William significantly enjoyed the time spent with his best friend. Seeing Sebastian every day was the best part of his job, even if the meetings he had to stand there silently for were dreadfully boring.

What William couldn't get used to, however, was the lack of the sunlight. Sure, William had always been somewhat of a night owl, preferring the lonely nights to the openness of the daytime. But, given the whole vampire thing, William was quickly losing any opportunities to see the sun. And what days he had off and away from the Northern villa so far had hardly given him that wish. Sacrosanct, in many ways, reminded William of his youth in London. The grey skies and wet climate reminded him of home - it was no wonder that Sebastian had settled here. But still, William craved the daylight and the sunshine. So it was no surprise that on the first warm, sunny day since his return to normal life, the man found himself outdoors and basking in the brilliant glow the sun provided. He hadn't meant to end up in the City Creek Center. In fact, normally he might have found it too busy, too populated. But the pandemic meant that most of the public places were empty, even despite the beautiful weather. William cared little for the variety of shops that littered the outdoor mall, though he still hadn't found his way to a bookstore to claim some things to do in his limited free time. In fact, William simply wanted to sit on the bench and enj--

An 'oof' left the Englishman's lips as a body so quickly collided into his frame, the man barely having a moment to process that he'd been touched before he was suddenly aware of a wetness that spread down his body, followed immediately by an unexplainable warmth. Still, William's reflexes focused on the stumbling blonde in front of him, his arms instantly reaching out to catch the young woman and right her back on her feet. Only once he was satisfied that she would - at least for the time being - remain upright, did his eyes slide down to the front of his suit. The widened blue of her gaze was what he immediately focused on, the man's mind instantly transported nearly two hundred years before, to another night in England, to another girl stumbling into the Duke. But this beautiful girl's expletive was a word that Lady Catherine would have never uttered, and that reminded him that they were certainly no longer in the Regency era. Still, with that bewildered look upon her features, any annoyance William might have found for the situation melted away.

"It's quite alright," William promised, those English lyrics slipping through lips that were rapidly curling into a smile. Only then did he realize his hand still rested gently upon her hip, though he made no effort to move it. With his free hand, he gestured to his now ruined shirt, a sly smirk upon his features. Why not have some fun, especially with a beautiful girl? "You know, love, if you wished for me to remove my clothing, you could have just asked."