Arlo James

See what it's like to be a vulture's lunch

It was, Arlo thought, the most excited anyone had ever been about curtains ever. Although really a part of him was almost relieved to hear she had curtains that actually would keep out the sun. In his whole apartment the only truly expensive thing he owned was blackout blinds. More by necessity then any attempt at styling and yet he could hardly deny that sense of comfort that came with the knowledge there wasn't any chance any of that sunlight might find its way through to his flesh and incinerate it. Abby seeming so eager about that idea of his staying over. It was just one day right? Friends had sleepovers all the time didn't they? That was all this was right? How many beds did she have? God he hadn't thought this through nearly enough. No woman had ever invited him back to her place just for...well....sleep and yet he had the distinct impression that it was exactly for sleep that Abigail's own invitation was extended. Hell, he'd be surprised if the woman believed there was anything other than sleep anyone ever did in a bed. The very idea of that resulting in a tangle of emotions he was mostly sure he didn't have the time to untangle tonight. That protectiveness flickering all the same for that innocent young woman he was determined to walk home if nothing else. Maybe he wasn't exactly some superstar street fighter but few people ever messed with a vampire all the same. Abby's clear excitement almost infectious as he made some effort to grab those few things he needed, the young woman pulling her jacket closer as she all but bounced down those stairs and out onto the street. The little ears on that jacket bouncing along with her, Arlo hardly able to prevent that grin at the sight of it.

Arlo easily found that pace beside her, the vampire shortening his own stride to prevent the young woman having to run to keep up with him, his own frame oblivious to that chill in the air. In the least, he hardly seemed to feel it the way his Little Bear surely did nestled within that coat. He didn't really remember what it was like to feel warm, not truly warm anyway, not unless he was standing in the shower and even then it was hardly the same. Arlo's gaze frowning slightly as she pulled her own jacket closer. It was cold this time of the morning, right before the sun rose. How many times had she walked down this street alone at ungodly hours because of him? God he was a terribly best friend! Well, he hadn't exactly known he was a best friend at all until today. He'd just have to do better from now on an considering she wasn't actually any sort of pet bear.

"Here, Chicka. It's fine, I promise. I....can't actually feel the weather. I just like wearing jackets, human habit- like most vampires I guess. I don't need it now though."

His shoulders shrugged then, loosening his own hoody before Arlo paused to slip it from his own figure and hand it to the young woman to put on or wrap around herself and chase those few touches of cold away. Arlo mostly sure she was going to be swimming in the thing at her size and yet as long as she was warm it hardly mattered, the vampire offering her that lopsided grin all the same, if only to prove his point before conversation shifted to the Chocolate Man. Arlo's lips quirking slightly at even the mention of it. Would Seb mind being called that? Really he should probably get Abby to call him Sebastian just in case although here and now he supposed it hardly mattered. The pair would surely get on right? Arlo frowning slightly at the idea they might get on too well. Was it even possible for women not to like Seb? They seemed bloody drawn to him. Surely he wouldn't do that to Abby though right? Not in front of him anyway. There was some sort of bro-code wasn't there? That soft assurance from the woman beside him drawing his gaze down once more. Abby, for her part, seeming oblivious to the comment all the same as Arlo merely chuckled softly beneath his breath. God, she really did have no idea. Maybe he'd have to ask Seb about that too. After all, the english vampire knew pretty much everything when it came to women didn't't he? Arlo was mostly sure. The man returning that grin all the same as they headed further down the street. Arlo readily mentioning that meeting with Petra he'd had a few nights ago, even if he was mostly sure that was one vampire he was hardly going to introduce Abby too, even the idea of it making him frown.

He hardly anticipated that sudden question from the woman on just why vampires never really shared that story of how they were made. Hell, most vampires wouldn't even speak about their maker and yet, really, he'd never exactly been asked why. It was just some sort of...unwritten vampire rule they all followed. You didn't ask someone about their Maker or when they were turned. Not unless you knew them really well or they were ridiculously high like Petra was and willingly (under the influence) told someone that whole story in way more detail than Arlo really thought was necessary. Didn't Abby know how vampires were made? Did she think he....wanted to be one? One hand lifted to run through his hair in that clear contemplation of just how best to answer that question and not...freak her out. Arlo sighing softly before finally putting those words together, his gaze turned down to her own.

"To make a vampire, a vampire has to bite a human and then, while their alive, they have to drain all the blood out of their body and its...."

He paused. The word 'horrific' caught within his throat. He could still remember it, even now, not all of it and yet enough of it to bring that chill to his spine. He remembered that feeling of being drained. He remembered his body trying so hard to stay alive and his heart beating so frantically within his chest it felt like it would burst. He remembered his lungs trying to breathe and that lack of blood making every moment some painful delirium before he could hardly remember if he was conscious or not and yet, somehow, that pain from that bite persisted all the same. It had been...excruciating. Arlo shaking his head slightly as if to clear it. A part of him...unwilling to tell her that though hy he hardly knew. Maybe he just...didn't want her to worry or feel sorry for him- it had been his fault after all. He had brought that night on himself. Everything that happened that night was his fault. He deserved what he got.

"It's not all that nice. Then when the human has no blood left a vampire feeds them their blood. The vampire blood takes over, it turns the human into a vampire. I've.....never met anyone who wanted to be a vampire by choice. That's why most don't talk about it, I guess. I mean, who wants to talk about the night they died?"

He paused then, glancing back down to Abby before managing that smile all the same. Arlo, as always, making some effort to brush off that serious conversation or anything even remotely unpleasant.

"Don't worry about it though, babe. It's all over now and I was lucky, my Maker turned out to be a good guy and I mean....we argued over that night he turned me a lot but, I guess things worked out, eh?"

The words were hardly as convincing as he wanted them to be and yet he meant them all the same, after all, he'd never have met his new best friend if he hadn't been a vampire and that had to be worth something, didn't it? That further mention of Petra prompting the woman to suggest that maybe he shouldn't make any further efforts to befriend that curious woman who had made every effort to flatten him with a giant snake.

"Yeah, I think maybe I shouldn't either."

He offered simply, flashing that toothy grin before they rounded that corner. Arlo's own curiosity about that house readily replacing anything else in that moment. Maybe he hadn't given this enough thought. Did she have a couch for him or....another bed? How big was this house? Abigail glancing towards him then only to assure him it was....bigger than her old house. Great. Arlo momentarily blinking towards her before that soft laugh managed to slip between his lips. The woman hardly seeming to realise how unhelpful that sentence was when he'd hardly seen her last house. The Little Bear proceeding to list the rooms in her house then, that mention of two bedrooms seeing both eyes raise before she abruptly stopped to point excitedly at a house that looked like her house but.....wasn't her house. Arlo's features shifting in a mild curiosity.

"That looks great. Very...clean."

How did you compliment a house that wasn't your friends house but looked like it? Arlo making every effort all the same even if he wasn't totally sure 'clean' was a compliment. They turned right at the 'barkey dog'. The vampire momentarily eyeing the animal peering out of it's doghouse before making note of that address all the same, if only so he could find his way back here, the man following her over the road and to the park and into that cul-de-sac before she pointed excitedly at that neat little red and green home nestled between two others- declaring it to be her own. This was....kinda a nice neighbourhood. Arlo feeling at least mildly out of place as he followed her towards it. God, some of them even had white picket fences. It was so....homely.

"It's really nice, Ab's."

He meant it too. It was nice. It almost suited her really. God, she'd been hanging out in his dump of an apartment when she had this to come back to? He really had to see about fixing the place up. At least he finally had the money to do it- or just move entirely. He moved to follow the young woman up to that front door then, Arlo pausing to wipe his feet on that doormat several times over before deciding his shoes were never going to really be clean enough. Maybe he should just take them off? They were barely being held together as it was. He stepped easily out of them then, leaving them on the doorstep. Arlo wandering into that house in his socks alone before placing those few things he'd grabbed in the corner beside the door.

"Your house smells nice, i know that's a weird thing to say but it does."

He grinned at her once more then. The threat of that sun tugging at him again even despite how much he'd liked to have looked around that place. His fingers reaching out to run lightly along the railing of those stairs. Maybe tomorrow night, when they had more time, he'd could look around. That far more...potent question tugging at his mind them.

"Hey, Abby? Where.....did you want me to sleep? I can just take the spare room if you want or even the lounge, I mean once im out im out, I won't wake up or anything. Unless, I mean, you wanted me to just share your room and your bed. I don't mind or anything?"

Best Friends sometimes shared a bed didn't they, right? It wasn't like they already hadn't done it before. Arlo having lost count of the amount of time's he'd fallen asleep with her on his chest or next to him. She hadn't exactly been a person then though.....somehow....that made a difference.