East

The east side of the city is the very heart of Sacrosanct - it's unique skyline is a clash between modern sky rises and small Victorian-inspired storefronts. In the heart of downtown, the sleek colored glass buildings reign supreme though their old-world roots can be seen in the most peculiar places from the lamp post styled electric street light to the stone sidewalks. The old world architecture slowly returns the further from downtown you travel, however. It's here that magic thrives, it hums in every stone and can be felt in every breath. Often, newcomers to the city may become overwhelmed by such sensations but, eventually, it becomes an ever-present feeling that's hardly noticed.

What You'll Find Here

City Creek Center
Dark Hunter Department
Inner Sanctum
Red on the Water
Starlight Tower

waving homecoming queens, marching band playing


Posted on February 09, 2021 by Piper Aldersley
East

I've been reading books of old the legends and the myths



Piper had, previously, thought that the lowest point of her day would have been openly admitting to herself that she had been borderline stalking the Hunter. How wrong she had ended up being now that she sat upon the cool marble tile, a new pair of her underwear underneath the foot of the boy she had - perhaps stupidly - been trying to catch the attention of. The blonde's scooped the red fabric back into her shopping bag, mentally reassuring herself that that particular pair of underwear would go straight into the trash, lest she have to think of this horrifying moment every time she saw them in her drawer. It was only when the offending fabric was safely tucked away did the young woman - reluctantly - take his outstretched hand to pull herself to her feet. His dig at her clumsiness made her scowl as she insisted that falling at his feet was certainly not his attention. It wasn't as if she tried to run into him! Even the first time, she'd been running from a vampire for God's sake! Still, Piper busied herself with trying to find that new pair of shoes so she could regain some semblance of her dignity.

The addition of a few inches of height made her feel significantly less... small... compared to the scowling Hunter. How Piper wanted to walk away - to not find him nearly magnetic! And yet even in her annoyance, even in her embarrassment, she found him terribly attractive. She needed to spend more time with him, even if it was just one more night. After tonight, she'd never try to find him again. At least, that was the weak promise that she made herself. She continued to try to protest that she wasn't normally this clumsy, it had to be something that he was doing. Even if she didn't really believe that, his deadpanned response only resulted in another scowl from the blonde. Did he enjoy belittling her? Did he not have any manners? Did he not understand that she was trying to flirt with him, dammit? Still, even in the slight annoyance with the Hunter, Piper gently gave her serious offer, that desire to spend just one more evening with him. To thank him, of course, for saving her life. And... to get another shot at getting to know him. Surely, based on how the past two minutes had gone, getting another hour with him would completely get him out of her system.

Admittedly, Piper expected some sarcastic remark from the Hunter as he denied her. His words were hardly what she expected, and yet her lips curled up in a smile regardless. "Great, do you have-" Piper began, her questioning of just where they should dine for the evening cut off by his question of carrying some of her bags. "You don't hav-" She began again, her voice once again halting mid-sentence as he scooped up several of her shopping bags. "Err, thanks, should we..." Once more, her sentence was left unfinished as he quite literally turned his back on her and began to walk away. "Should we... let me finish a sentence?" Piper muttered under her breath, pausing for only a moment to consider just how... rude... the Hunter was before she continued on after him. After all, she needed to get her bags back at least?

Piper remained silent as she followed him - after all, it wasn't as if he would let her finish her thought, now was it? The restaurant he led her into was unfamiliar to the young woman, quite literally a store she had walked by an hour earlier without noticing at all. The young blonde allowed him to speak to the hostess on their behalf, giving the woman a small smile as she followed her through the restaurant, offering a quiet 'thank you' to her before she slid into the booth. The dimly lit space was far more intimate than what she'd expected him to lead her to. But if there was anything that Piper was quickly learning about the handsome man across from her, it was that he never reacted the way she expected him to. It was certainly puzzling, to be someone he was clearly annoyed with one moment and then led somewhere so intimate the next.

"Thank you, for carrying my bags," Piper offered, the young woman settling in across from him. She observed him quietly as she glanced down at the menu - fancy food, too. If she had been with literally anyone else, this moment would have screamed 'date', and yet this moment had her on edge. "We didn't introduce ourselves to each other before, when we first met." Piper, of course, referring to that moment in the alleyway. Their true first meeting in the coffee shop having been completely lost to her memory. "I'm Piper. And you are?" She paused only briefly to wait for his response before she glanced back down to the menu, focusing on attempting to find something she could order without awkwardly stammering through it. If there was anything the young woman was determined to do, it was to get through this meal without making a fool out of herself.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Piper reluctantly lifted her gaze to observe him. Guessing that she didn't have a ton of time with the man whose attention she found herself craving, she supposed she better not waste a moment of it. "I... Look, I know I haven't exactly made the best... first impression. Or second, for that matter, I guess. I'm sure you think I'm..." She reached up, tucking a stray lock of her hair behind her ear if only for the momentary opportunity to figure out her thoughts. "I'm not an idiot. And I'd really like the opportunity to start over with you, because I'm..." Piper paused, realizing that her previous vow to not make a fool out of herself was rapidly becoming one that she couldn't keep. And yet, Piper forced herself to be confident, to continue, if only because he was sure to think her a fool if she didn't continue, and probably would think she was a fool if she did continue. If she would be a fool regardless, what was the harm?

"I'm interested in you," Piper said, bringing her crystalline gaze up to meet his emerald ones. "You're attractive, brave, clearly intelligent. I'm interested. And I think if we started over and you gave me an hour, you might be interested in me, too." It was a bold statement, and she could only hope that he would appreciate that bravery in her. "And at the end of that hour, if you still think me a ditzy, irritating fool, I promise that I'll never bother you again." She smiled then, trying not to let her nerves show through. "So what do you say? An hour?"

piper aldersley

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