Late Night Louisiana

Four

He came back after what felt like an eternity, he barged through the front door, scaring every nerve in my body causing me to launch about two feet into the air. "Christ! Don't do that! Give a girl a warning next time and knock before you bust the door off it's hinges." I held onto the back of the chair as I tried to steady my heartbeat. "Sorry." A grin broke over his face. He wiped the blood surrounding his mouth onto the sleeve of his linen button up. "Did you—you really just wiped blood on your white shirt."
"Yeah. And?"
"You could've asked if I had a muckender or somethin."
"Too late now." He simply shrugged and sat in the chair closest to me. He turned his body towards me and just stared at me, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?" I felt the air get hot and my body tensed up immediately. "You're so fizzin."
He said in a whisper. I watch his eyes rake over my face, as if he were studying every inch of it. "What was that hand thing you did back there at the cemetery?"
He cocked his head to the side and hummed in confusion. "You pressed our hands together while you asked me questions." I explained.
"Oh, that. If I'm touching you, I can tell if you are lying. It's an added sense, from one of the potions I took before I turned."
"You can't like...read minds...can you?" I asked. Hoping to God he can't. He shook his head. Oh thank the heavens. "So all of your senses are heightened, correct?"
"Yeah. I have heightened hearing, vision, smell, and touch. Right now I can hear the faint beating of your heart. I can see things the human eye can't, small things, things that are pretty far. Smell, I have the nose of a hound, I can smell your blood. And touch, when I touch a person I can feel the emotions they're feeling and also see if they're gummin me while they're speaking."
"So what does my blood smell like?"
"It's not a very strong smell, but all I can make out is a sweet citric scent."
"I eat a lot of oranges..." We both laugh and it grew silent after, it was quite peaceful, the crickets were chirping and the frogs were croaking.
"What's a walrus?" He asked.
"Huh?"
"Earlier, you thought I had walrus teeth. What's a walrus?"
"It's a marine mammal, they live in the ocean, kind of look like seals, except they have two teeth protruding out from their mouth. I've never seen one in person, only seen illustrations in books. I can show you tomorrow at the bookshop."
"I don't know if that's a good idea..." He shifted in the chair and looked down. "I don't want to force you to do anything but I think you'd really like it. Just go out into the town for a bit. It's actually really fun not being a hermit crab." His jaw dropped and looked at me with a surprised face.
"You really know how to insult a man." I shrugged.
"No one knows what you look like, nobody knows your name... it couldn't hurt."
"I suppose."
"So you'll go into town with me?" I asked with a giant smile. "Yeah. Sure."
"Great! We can get some coffee and I can. Wait. Can you drink coffee?"
"I can but it doesn't quench the thirst. I can eat food and it can fill me up but I still get the painful hunger for blood."
"Oh... okay. Well anyways, we can get some coffee and I can show you that walrus!" I exclaimed proudly. He smiled softly, his expression showing genuine excitement. "And if it gets to be too much for you and you want to head back here, we'll drop whatever it is we're doing and head back. Promise." I held out my pinky. He looked at my pinky and back up to my eyes, "What are you doing with your finger?" I gasp out loud. "It's called a pinky promise! You hook your pinky finger with mine. And that, my friend, is a solid pinky promise." I smiled at him as I watch him hook his pinky to mine. "Pinky promise." He mumbled. I pulled my pinky away, "So did you stay at the cemetery all day until you got hungry?"
"Pretty much." He nodded and kept his gaze on the lantern that sat in the middle of the oak wood table.
"Don't you get bored?"
"Yeah. I've been bored for years. Just didn't really know how to come back in to town. If I just showed up into town I'd need a backstory or else the townspeople would get suspicious."
"Well starting tomorrow morning, you'll be a friend from Texas. And as for a name... just make one up."
"How did we meet?"
"Our mothers were friends, we met as soon as we came out of the womb." I giggled.
"Okay. But can I pass as a twenty-four year old?" He glanced at me and raised a brow. "Most definitely. You don't look fifty, you know? Ya don't have a lick of grey hair." I teased. "The oldest you look is twenty-eight." I said. He nodded and continued ogling the lantern. "So do you know what name you're gonna use?"
"James Barnes. But you'll call me Bucky."
"You even came up with a nickname! How did you do that so fast?" I asked, somewhat amazed.
I'm horrible when it comes to making up names. Cause when you're snooping around asking about vampires in different cities you never want to use your real name. Don't ask me why.
I've been Ilyana Medelrose and Svetlana Romanov.
There's nothing wrong with these names but they're definitely not normal around these parts. So instead of getting the information I need I get questions on where I'm from because they've never met anyone with my name before.
"I think quickly, darlin." He smirked.
"I can see that." I chuckled, this man—vampire, is so intriguing. "So the man in the paintin' with you, that your husband?" He asked as he pointed to the painting of Steve and I. I got up and retrieved the painting and sat back down on the chair. "Oh god no! He's just a friend. A really good friend. He's very sweet, I think you'll like him." He studied it, in the painting Steve was staring down at me with a smile as I stared straightforward with a wide smile.
"Good to know."
"Well I'm pretty tuckered out. I think it's bed time." I said. "I only have one bed... I hope you don't mind sleeping with me. If it bothers you-"
"No! It's okay with me. More than okay."
"Oh okay." I let out a sigh of relief. "I thought maybe you wouldn't be comfortable sleeping with me. Didn't really want to sleep on a lousy hay pallet."
You both go up from the chairs and walked to the bedroom. I opened my dresser and got out a knee length white slip. "You can get comfortable. You can take your linen shirt and trousers off, I don't mind." I said.
I go to the bathroom and quickly change into the slip. I can't really afford the night gowns and slips are basically the same but way cheaper. I throw my clothes from the day in the corner by the tub.
I go back into the bedroom and he's standing there, no trousers, he had loose trouser-briefs, is that what they were called? I don't know. He was slowly unbuttoning his shirt. Each undone button revealed his tan and toned chest, his torso was greatly defined. Did the potions do that to him? He looked up and smirked. "I looked like this before they captured me." He said.
"How did you...?"
"Come on let's get in bed." He pulled the sheets and blanket back. We both climbed in.
"Goodnight, Y/N."
"Night, Bucky." Something changed in his eyes once I said his new name. Surely it's just the exhaustion kicking in, so I just left it alone.
So I'm really about to fall asleep next to an almost naked vampire. I bet no one else could say that.