"You've made that abudantly clear," she retorts levelly, azure eyes gazing upon him in softened suspicion. Though she bares him far more gratitude than trepidation in this moment, the latter cannot fully be appeased... for his continually-professed ire for her race has made it a decided impossibility. "But... thank you." Her gratitude is proffered in little more than a breathy whisper as the young woman descends to her knees before his floored figure, the ivory blade now glasped possessively between her curled digits. "We can't stay here. It won't be long before the others come. Can you stand?" With that she rises once more, a single delicate hand outstretched for his taking.

It was entirely evident that the lard of a vampire that had loomed before me only moments before was something of a historical foe for the red-headed vampire I had been graced with as a companion for the evening whether I wanted her company or not. While I might have been happy to admit that I didn't mind her existence in my shop, it was something of a nuisance due to the lovely gentleman caller she provided me with. And after hours, to boot! My customer service rating would most definitely plummet, whether literally or only in the metaphorical sense with which I regarded my abilities to handle whoever came into the shop. It is not a plausible feat to say that it was hard to read the woman; it was as if her very emotions were exposed like the wet sand revealed after a wave rolls back out towards the sea. What was revealed in that moment was a vulnerability that I could have suspected a woman like her might harbor, though the vindication I might otherwise feel in a different circumstance wasn't surfacing in the wake of my revelation. Instead, a surge of adrenaline replaced whatever irritation I felt in relation to the appearance of the oaf now lumbering towards me as my thoughts had given me cause to pause and debate what I might want to do next until the moment for decision was precisely upon me.

Wordlessly understanding the undoubted horror with which Isolt regards the behemoth bumbling towards the pair of us, I found my decision already made. Many times before had I contemplated the existence of a "White-knight" complex that I might embody, but it was effortless now to adopt the same kind of certainty I often found myself reaching for when I found myself indulging in the idea that I might be able to protect someone from something that I had previously failed at. Such conviction served me well, proving that I all but undefeatable once that mode kicked in and took over my basic functioning. Instinct, as it were, happened to be one of the strongest motives and instinct expressed it's need to be exerted in the moment that my gaze locked with the offending vampire's. In the depths of the pools of his near void eyes I found a glimmer of familiar monstrosity that I wouldn't wish upon (okay, that's a lie) an enemy of mine. That monstrosity had pulverized the innocence of those I had held dear, and it had been at the lack of competence I had that they were victimized. Vowing never again would I let such a circumstance befall anyone in my vicinity, I found the strength to cloak the shop in a darkness that was my playground. And consequently, a playground with a dysphoric seesaw that aided me in distributing the dust of what was the body of the vampire who had perished at my hands into the air, disintegrating what had been a bloody consequence of my blades and that had so obviously tainted the redheaded woman who seemed thrust into shock only feet away from me. What the hell else would you do with a body the size of a small school bus?

I could almost feel her disturbance when the tell-tale sound of puncturing flesh resounded, regardless of the tide of pleasure that washed over me in the briefest of moments as I said my silent prayer recited after taking any life. With a sigh, I reached for the sticks of tobacco lurking in their typical haunt of my pocket before bringing one to my lips and lighting it in a practiced motion. The smoke lolled over my tongue in a satisfying way, enough so that the goose bumps left my skin and I was able to turn my gaze towards Isolt. Expelling the smoke from my lips, I shook my head as her words, repeating my dislike for her species, were heard and I lifted my chin to effuse a sort of indifference, though the emotion didn't meet my eyes which were, more likely than not to spite me, filled with a concern that I wouldn't have authorized had I been given a choice. What was I to do, though? The situation had reminded me of dire times when I felt like I was powerless, helpless, and useless. And no one... No one wants to be reminded of such desperation.

"I guess you deserve clarification: I really don't like useless sacks of shit and wastes of space like him and the... predominant ones I have met just happen to be of the vampiric nature."

There. Was that a convoluted apology enough for her? It had dawned on me that perhaps she deserved some kind of explanation for my deliberate utterance of how much I didn't like vampires. Could you blame me after the "Frank" incident? Nope. As she lowers to her knees, my eyebrows rise in surprise at the effort she makes in order to help me get off of my ass and onto stable ground that involved using my two feet in collaboration with a soft thank you for my services. I swallowed any kind of callous decree of my own strength, realizing that it would behoove me to accept her help as the energy expended to execute the amount of magic I'd used to ... dispose of the monolith that had so clearly haunted Isolt, and slip a deceptively gentle hand into her's in order to lift myself off the ground. With a gaze flicked to the front door, acknowledging that it was secured, I nodded.

"It would seem so."

There would be others? Why in the hell hadn't she mentioned that she had groupies that would choose to hold a fan club meeting wherever she was located in that very moment? Any plans I might have held previously ebbed from my schedule, affording me time to nod in acquiescence to her imploration that we evacuate the shop and find a safer place for ourselves.

"I have a fairly secured and glamored apartment that isn't too far from here, and it should be safer than wherever you intended to go. They won't know to look there. Come," I commanded with less authority and more of a gentle reminder that I was, in fact, safety and regardless of my displeasure at the scenario that had taken place, I wasn't about to let her fall into the hands of some captor that would mean I had failed at protecting someone so deserving of it once again.

And that wasn't an option.