New York City - It's a Date

[Darian Raniari]

Darian sat in the small corner cafe, awaiting Meredith's arrival. The sun sat low in the western sky, obscured mostly by the encompassing buildings, and though the rapidly-fading evening light was dim, the vampire wore a pair of dark, highly-reflective sunglasses. He didn't really like being out so early, honestly, but the sun was ultimately little more than an irritation, and it would be dark soon...

Not for the last time, Darian wondered what he was doing here. That he felt some sort of powerful draw to Meredith was undeniable, but what did it mean? His forehead furrowed in worry, for this simply wasn't like him... Still, he was in too far already, and wouldn't back out now.

Not that he even wanted to.

Sighing in exhaustion, the seemingly-young man leaned back in his seat, still feeling a bit tired after his flight from Atlanta. He'd been moving back and forth between the two cities for the past several days, which seemed a bit of a hassle, but at least his private jet was finally getting some use.

Thinking of Atlanta, his mind automatically drifted to Sastre, lying weak and vulnerable in the hospital bed. A pang of concern struck Darian, but he shoved it aside almost immediatly. Sastre was in good hands; Madison wouldn't let anything happen to him, and she'd do everything in her power to bring him back around. No, Sastre wouldn't die, not yet.

Darian smiled slyly, confident that his plans would still come to fruition. Fate would not rob him of this.

Of course, thoughts of Sastre led into a surprising amount of concern for Meredith's well-being. If the hunter found out about her existence, or about Darian's apparent feelings for her, he may try to exact some sort of vengeance on the blonde young woman. He had, after all, been responsible for the death of Darian's mate, so many years ago... It was possible that he would come after Meredith as well.

Darian clenched his fists when he thought of this, snarling a bit to himself. No. No, he wouldn't let that happen, not again, not to Meredith. He would warn her about Sastre, about how dangerous and violent he was... He would keep her safe from the hunter's wrath...

((Tag Meredith!))

[meredith]

After hearing from Darian the night previous, Meredith Carter, the young witch, was now on her way, walking through the streets of New York, to a small corner cafe where Darian had arranged for the two to meet. She was excited about seeing him, but also quite nervous.

He was a vampire..she had learned that, and she was sort of scared of him. Vampires were evil, weren't they? They liked to feed.. how long would it be, Meredith thought, until Darian wanted to feed on her? She just didn't know..

But he'd soon explain himself, if she ever got there. She cursed silently under her breath as she crossed a street. The traffic was annoying her, and she so wished she could just twitch her nose and cause it all to disappear, but alas.. she couldn't, all she could do was bang on the front of the vehicle and shout at them, 'bite me'.

She walked up one final street before turning. Her head tilted and her eyes darted to the guy that was leaned back in his chair. Obviously he couldn't see her because he had his back to her, so she smirked and went up behind him, wrapping her hands over his eyes and muttering. "guess who!" She let out a soft laugh.

Walking around after removing her hands a minute or so later, she went and sat down opposite him, drumming her fingers along the surface of the table whilst sat. "are you going to start explaining now?"

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[Darian Raniari]

Darian smiled to himself.

He had known she was approaching all along, of course, due to his supernatural senses, but letting her have a bit of fun seemed like the right thing to do. It was one of the most advantageous parts about being a vampire, really: that you could hear, see, or smell just about anything from dozens of yards away, at least. Of course, the eternal youth and near-immortality were nice too, but it was always handy to be able to know exactly when some stupid hunter was trying to get the drop on you...

As Meredith sat, Darian took a moment to study her unashamedly. His eyes moved slowly over her, admiring the way her shimmering blonde hair framed her face, which was flushed a bit from the January cold. He locked gazes with her, smiling a bit at the veiled suspicion behind her hazel eyes... She was worried, yes, but not enough to have refused this meeting.

She was stunning.

As Darian's smile broadened, he saw Meredith shiver a bit, pulling her jacket tighter about her shoudlers. His eyes narrowed when he realized he could see her breath, for the winter night had grown even more frigid now that the sun had finally set. A look of embarrassed concern clouded Darian's features as he realized he hadn't considered the factor that weather could play in Meredith's and his "date." It had been so long since a petty thing like cold had bothered him, and he'd given no thought to Meredith's comfort. It wasn't that he didn't get cold, exactly, it was just that he had learned to ignore it; after all, it couldn't kill him, it couldn't even really harm him...

"Forgive me my ignorance," he said softly, standing and extending his hand to her. "Come, let us go inside where it is warm, and I'll order something for us to drink, something that will drive the winter's chill from our bodies." He smiled charmingly at her, hoping that she didn't think him a complete boor for having overlooked the fact that it was January, and that they were sitting outside in the dark and cold. "And once we're inside, and settled, then I shall tell you everything..."