The vampire was pleased to see the familiar wide grin on Sorcha's face. She looked bright. She looked happy. She deserved to be, he thought now, as his beady eyes took in the details of her small shop. Sorcha seemed to finally have found what she needed. His head dips and his gaze falls to the floor as he chuckles at their back-and-forth banter. It came so natural to the both of them, it seemed, to joke their way back into friendship. In that way, it felt as if no time had passed at all. Sorcha had an old soul, Dareios thought, even if she didn't realize it. As their conversation takes a somber turn, the vampire stiffs in his position, pushing his hands into the pockets of his trousers and gives the witch his full attention. She stumbles through her explanation at first, but her short words were genuine. It was difficult to talk about one's problems or flaws. But Sorcha was big enough to own up to them. "I forgive you." Dareios said once she'd had her say, taking a step toward her and placing one cold, undead hand on her shoulder. "I'm just glad to see you in such a good place. You seem happy." He explained next. "And you deserve to be." The vampire mayor would be lying if he said he wasn't curious to know where she'd been all this time. But now hardly seemed like the appropriate time to pry further. And if we're being truthful, Dareios' life had changed quite a bit in the few years his friend was gone. He was a public figure now in town. He had to be much more careful about who he mingled with socially, especially when it came to his personal businesses he still managed to run from his brownstone basement. Sorcha knew a little about it, but not enough to poke holes in the legally questionable parts of it. Nevertheless, this reunion almost felt like it was two strangers meeting for the first time. "So how long until you were going to look me up?" He said with a laugh. Dareios Auerbach | Vampire | Vinyl |