The Hunter's Vampire {Re-writing}

Chapter 59 Mangiare

Translations:

Italian: Mangiare - Eat

Valo groaned at the ringing of the dinner bell. They turned back to the bedroom, the metal railing at their back, as Kate came to lean against the open door frame, his height making him fit the door swimmingly. “You’re so tall.” They muttered.

“My father is to blame for that… shouldn’t you be resting still?”

They scoffed. “Is that so? And was your father as…" they rolled their wrist, trying to find words, "charming as you?”

A smile quirked up the corner of his lips. “Oh, so you think I’m charming?"

They rolled their eyes. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Hunter. It was an observational question.”

He chuckled humorlessly. “Well, from our previous encounters, it seemed like you already pegged me as a charming man.”

They shrugged. “Maybe, or maybe it was just a moment of weakness.”

Kate found their eye. “Those only happen once… not twice. Unless I’m mistaken.”

Their cheeks tinted pink, and they scoffed. “You haven’t answered my question, Hunter!”

“Yes. My father had a way with words, a reason my mother fell for him. Anything you’d like to inquire about, Witch?”

They snickered, it was bitter, and Kate was up for the challenge. “Oh, adorable.” Valo snickered.

“What?” he shrugged, “you call me by my title, I only repaid the favor. Was that wrong of me? Hmm, do you think it impractical to address you in the same manner in which you address me?”

“I think it bold of you to so blatantly call me Witch.”

“Are you not a Witch? And why does that bold blatant sentiment apply to you, but not me? Sounds a tad sexist and unfair, doesn’t it?”

Valo glared at him, stepping forward to meet those deep blue eyes and stopping when they came two feet away from the man. “Does it offend you when I refer to you as a Hunter?”

“Not necessarily, but when used in a derogatory manner, it seems that I’m only being seen as my profession and not as the good man that I am.”

“Oh,” they said, retracting a bit.

“Yes, I don’t much like it. And I do apologize if I offended you. I just used this as a moment to show you how it affects me. But two wrongs do not make a right.”

They nodded. “I accept your apology and give one to you. I’m sorry. I’m not used to Hunters nor men.”

Kate rose his brow at that. “Men? Aren’t there a handful of Witches that are men here?”

They sighed. “Yes… but, they are nothing more than brothers to me… you,” their eye found Kate’s, “you’re not like a brother to me, at all.”

“Oh… so what am I to you? An experiment or….”

They bit their lip. Cheeks flushed as the man before them kept their gaze. “You… you’re—I’ve never loved a man before, quite a horrid thing happened to me, and I do not wish to speak of that now… I don’t think of you as an experiment, Kate. You’re just…” they sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose. “you’re something—someone I want to pursue.”

He took a moment to reply, thinking over what they said. “I understand wanting to be cautious. But do you also want to pursue me with Yoli? I have admiration for the both of you, but I don’t want anyone to get hurt if this relationship doesn’t hold up its weight.”