"I'm… no one?" He awkwardly smiles then looks away.
It is obvious that Milla isn't buying it based on her tired eyes which seems like it's going to close any minute now, "Do you know who I am?"
He takes a glimpse at her and turns his head again, "Hmm, yes."
'Can I manipulate his consciousness to tell me nothing but the truth?'
He speaks in a surprised voice even though he's not, "Huh? What are you talking about? You can do that?" Not hearing any response, he glances at her and sees her looking at him with narrowed eyes.
'So you can hear my thoughts?' She smirks at him without saying any word.
He is speechless for a few seconds then regains his composure. Bringing back his casual and deep voice, "Sorry, I just woke up. Hallucinations. I thought you said something but you didn't."
'Interesting. What a casual way to talk to me, no one else did that. Well, except for the arse-worm.'
The male vampire feels like he's going to choke because she is cornering him little by little. He cannot change how he talks because that is just the way it is. And he is finding it hard to act like an ordinary follower of her or bow down to her.
Milla saunters to the kitchen, towards the fridge, and grabs a gallon of concord grape juice. Opening the cap and drinking from it directly before asking him, "Your name?"
"Bruce Everett."
The room's temperature drops because of the serious vibes she's giving off that makes her eyes slightly glow, "Where did you come from? Why does... no one heard of Bruce Everett- the vampire with insane powers?"
'Milla… I'm sorry but I can't tell you. You'll discover it someday or maybe I'll be the one to tell you. I'm satisfied with you knowing my name.'
She frowns at his lack of response while he is making eye contact with her the whole time. Her frustrations can be felt by him, 'What the heck are you thinking about? Why can't I read your thoughts? Who are you really?'
Still acting as if he does not hear her, "I'm from Washington and currently on a vacation at California. Where are we, by the way? And powers, that's a good joke." He let out a slightly sexy laugh that would drive girls mad but she's unusual, it doesn't affect her at all.
"You're the joke, you know that? Can you explain why your hair and eyes changed? You were inside a dome… of air. And why did you try to run away from me?"
"Empress, you have a lot of questions that I don't understand. Seriously, I don't remember seeing you in California. What I do know is... I'm really hungry and I just woke up, can we please eat first?" He's surprisingly relaxed and far from sounding annoyed.
Milla looks at him for a short time that feels so long for him, then realizes she's hungry too. Forcing her to give up in the meantime. Everett watches her as she walks to the control panel which is foreign to her. Comprehending something, he casually holds her arms from the back and gently pushes her to the side, "Let me do it."
He lets go of her as quickly as he held her. She does not voice out any complaints or even flinches from his touch. Instead, she turns around and sits on one of the bar stools. Then proceeds to cross her arms on the counter, laying her head on them.
Everett taps the panel and an automated female voice can be heard, "Greetings! What would you like to do?"
"Order food."
"Please choose what cuisines you prefer from the following."
[ Asian cuisine ]
[ Italian cuisine ]
[ American cuisine ]
[ African cuisine ]
[ European cuisine ]
[ Oceanic cuisine ]
He plans to ask what she wants to eat but notices her head down. So he clicks on the Italian cuisine then orders a variety of pasta, pizza, meat, and more.
"Order is received, the food will arrive soon. Would you like to exit or-"
"Don't forget the blood," Milla reminds him without changing her current position.
"But, of course, I did order some-"
She interrupts him with her sleepy voice, "Good... That's more important than you." His mouth gapes open because he cannot believe he gets to hear a retort like that in his entire life.
Meanwhile, the people on their toes downstairs are now shaken after knowing the Vampire Empress is awake and just ordered her food. So the manager monitors the head chefs as they prepare everything meticulously.
Everett pours himself a glass of wine and sits on the farthest bar stool from her while glancing in her direction from time to time. Silence accompanies these two individuals but it is serene in some sort of way. Until he almost spills his drink when she straightens her right hand and leans her head on it- looking at his direction.
"I wonder how you could read my mind when no one else can? Can you explain that to me?"
He answers with a straight face, "When did I read your mind?"
"Are you royalty?" If someone can see them, they will think they're having an expressionless competition- not that it exists. But she will win because he is more of a chill or a laid-back fellow.
"I'm just a regular vampire whom you shouldn't pay any attention to," offering her a small smile in the end.
'You expect me to believe that?' Then she gives a remark like she's stating a fact, "You do not look like a simple baseborn."
'A baseborn? That's a word I've never thought of hearing in this modern age.' He chuckles without being aware of it until detecting a curious little vampire, "I get that a lot but I can't blame them, especially with my countenance."
She looks at him with a blank expression before returning to her previous position, 'Ugh, why do they have an exaggerated sense of self-worth?'
He is successful in preventing himself from laughing but he knows that he's fooling no one. So he shifts the discussions, "Have you seen the remote control?"
"..."
'Guess I'll find it myself then.' Everett runs around the penthouse with an average vampire speed. But Milla senses how fast he runs at the beginning then tries to maintain a slower pace. He is back in the living room after searching when he spots it attached to the wall.
'How could I forget?' He dashes to it and sits gracefully on the center couch. Then pushes a button that makes a portion of the wall open and reveals a holographic television, but it looks like an actual one.
She hears it but she's too lazy to get up and ask what it is- while silently watching. The food arrives after a few more minutes but they still have to open the doors. They look at each other without saying anything until she raises her eyebrows at him, "Aren't you going to get the food... 'regular' vampire?"
'Mocking me, I see…' He gets up and does a princess-like bow, "Yes, Empress. My apologies."
The manager is surprised upon seeing a male opening the doors for them, 'He's gorgeous. Are they together?'
"Hurry up. Put them on the dining table. Then leave," Everett orders, making them speed things up.
Both of them sit on the main seats and proceed to eat in silence. It isn't long before he breaks it, "Now that I remember, why was I sleeping on the couch when there are five bedrooms here?"
"Do you expect me to carry you?"
"Of course not. You're the Empress, after all." She doesn't miss the satire behind his words.
'Wait, is it possible that she carried me all the way here to California? I am so dead once they find out about it. Uncle wouldn't- Uncle, where is that old man by the way? I thought he was following me.'
Nobody talks again. Switching the channels, he comes across the news about the missile attack, "...of the events that transpired yesterday. The viral video of the Vampire Empress floating in the water while looking at the direction of the missile going into space led all of us to plenty of questions.
Did she control it? Does she have powers? Or do all vampires have one? Where-" He quickly changes the channel while preventing himself from meeting her glares.
"Either be honest with me or I will expose you to everyone," Milla comes off as if ready to execute someone with her almost red becoming eyes- resembling a predator's eyes. She will not expose him, she doesn't want to because it will make them target another vampire.
"Would you let me go if I don't say anything to you?" He sounds amused at the current situation despite her being certainly out for blood.
"No."
"Guess I have no choice then, but to stick with you. I'm so unfortunate." He acts like he's not liking his predicament when it's the contrary, 'I'm a genius. I didn't even plan this.'
"You better be honest with me, soon." She prefers this turn of events because if they send another missile on her way, he can stop it again. One thing's for sure, it will be a piece of cake for him to flee but why stay?