"No no, you are doing it all wrong Luciel!" Helen laughed at her boyfriend as she watched him handle a kitchen knife.
"What do you mean? I'm doing it perfectly fine!" He laughed, fixing his chief hat on top of his head.
"Oh come on, don't be ridiculous. Have you ever tried cooking before?" Helen smiled, lightly tapping Luciel's head with her wooden spoon.
"You are holding the knife like this pepper is gonna suck your blood out, you ain't fighting a vampire."
"Are you sure that this pepper is going to drink my blood? If you ask me, you are the one that's looking at me like a tasty snack." He let go of the knife, getting closer to his girlfriend that he was going to call his wife soon.
"I know that you can't resist me," Luciel whispered, moving a lock of hair behind her ear before getting closer to her neck, looking like he was going to bite her, but instead, he kissed her.
"Oh honey," She giggled, blushing a little before placing her wooden spoon on the counter, placing both of her hands on his cheeks, and pulling him closer.
They locked eyes with each other until closing their eyes as their lips touched.
Soft, warm lips against his own were making Luciel feel excited as he gently grabbed her by the waist, hugging her tightly, he wanted this moment to last forever until Helen broke the immersion.
She placed her hand on his chest and pushed him away slightly. "Now, the food won't cook itself." She waved with her finger in front of Luciel's face.
"Yes ma'am!"
"Well then, will you let me help you with handling a knife? I'm done with preparing the chicken anyway, slowpoke." She bopped his nose.
Luciel rolled his eyes since he didn't want anyone's help, but he just couldn't say no to those puppy eyes Helen had been sending, she clearly wanted to help him, "Fine."
"Yes!" Helen exclaimed, raising both of her hands in victory before clapping with them.
Luciel picked up his knife again and Helen went behind him, hugging him first before placing her hand on top of Luciel's which was holding the knife before starting to guide him and explain how to do it.
Once Luciel finally got the hang of it, she let go of him and walked to his side before sitting down on the counter, swinging her legs back and forth, watching as Luciel racked up some speed.
"You know, I'm surprised. I'm here with a big bad vampire hunter, but he doesn't even know how to hold an ordinary kitchen knife." She teased him, slightly punching his shoulder.
She observed Lucian as he was cutting vegetables, getting a little bit concerned since he didn't say anything back which is unusual for him. He would already say something back to her.
"Ouch!" As he was working, he got lost in thoughts thanks to Helen hitting a certain spot and he cut himself as a result. Unfortunately, he didn't have anyone to teach him the little stuff in life.
"Hey, you all right?" Helen asked, gently raising Luciel's hand to take a look at the wound. Thankfully, it was just a tiny cut. She placed his finger into her mouth until it stopped bleeding.
"Yeah, I am, I was just thinking about some stuff." He scratched the back of his head, avoiding eye contact.
Helen observed this different behavior, wondering what she did wrong until a light bulb turned on in her head.
"Oh my… I'm so sorry my love… It's just-" She was trying to apologize, explain herself, they just had so much fun together that she completely forgot that Luciel's mom died when he was young. And well… It's best not to talk about his dad either.
Luciel would usually remember his past events whenever someone would bring up his career directly in front of him, making him remind himself of what he was risking his life for.
"Shhh…" Luciel placed his finger on Helen's lips, not allowing her to continue, "If there's one person you shouldn't be apologizing, it's me." He gave her a gentle smile, but Helen didn't buy it, because behind this smile and gentle gaze, she could see sadness.
"But I-"
"Helen… No." He ordered, "Don't make me angry now, besides, you told me yourself, there's food to make."
"Fine." She frowned, not happy that she couldn't say her apology, but it was clear that Luciel didn't want any.
After their little dispute, they continued to joke and laugh together while waiting for the food to be cooked.
A sweet smell of their future meal lingered around the kitchen until it was replaced with a delicious smell of blood as the scene in front of Luciel's eyes disappeared.
He snapped his eyes open, getting back to a painful reality. As he felt excess saliva forming in his mouth, he wanted to close his eyes and get back to her, to the happy times, but every time he tried to do so, something else wasn't letting him be.
Driven by instinct, he got up, following the sweet scent of blood. Something was driving him in and no matter how much he tried to stop himself, he simply couldn't.
With no hesitation at all, he opened the doors and that's when his pupils widened in surprise before getting narrow as anger started to surface.
"Alex!" Luciel shouted, not sounding too happy about this. He would be happy to see Alex at any time of the day, but not when he had such a nice dream about a moment that happened six months ago, making him forget about the current situation.
Alex turned his head around once he heard his name being called, he wanted to say how glad he was to finally see his friend after everything that happened, but instead, he started laughing, "A vampire in its underwear, I never thought I would live to see a day like this."
"His, not its." He growled at his friend.
"Sorry, just a habit." Alex wiped a tear from his eye and stopped laughing after realizing how he called his friend like any ordinary vampire. It slipped through his mouth since Luciel in front of him didn't look any different from the hundreds he had slayed, minus the underwear part that is.
There was a weird silence between the two after the situation got a little bit uncomfortable and both parties didn't know where to start asking questions.
Luciel wanted to know what is Alex doing here and how he found him while Alex wanted to know how is his friend dealing with this whole fiasco and if he still managed to keep his sanity. Of course, there was more stuff they wanted to ask, but currently, those were the important ones.
"Luciel… Are you… Crying?" Alex finally broke the silence as he saw a tear falling down from Luciel's face.
Even if words weren't being spoken, Alex was very observant, and the fact that Luciel's gaze was constantly switching between his own neck and the black bag above his head that he was carrying on a long metal stick, Alex already had a good idea of what was happening.
Luciel felt utterly defeated. Images of multiple ways he could bite and drink his friend's blood were flashing through his eyes.
To make the situation worse, Luciel couldn't help himself but glance at the black bag that Alex was carrying.
It was actually a trap for luring out vampires in public since their eyes would usually start to glow red at the smell of it.
When vampire's eyes would start to glow, not even their third eyelid would help them hide their eyes. What was even worse, the bag also had unique properties that would enhance the smell of blood that would be put in it, making it irresistible to most vampires.
Luciel felt like falling to his knees when he saw that he actually got lured out by something so simple and primitive as this, making him no better than the rest of his species.
"What do you mean? Have you ever seen me crying before?"
Alex rubbed his chin, thinking a little about this. He didn't have a lot of interaction with Luciel after what happened to him, but it was plain as day that he was more emotional than usual. It felt weird since he could confirm that this was indeed the same Luciel he knew, but different at the same time.
"True, but if you ask me," He started, taking down a black bag from the metal stick, closing the lid, and throwing it towards Luciel as a peace offering to what he was about to say, "You seem to be more emotional. It's written all over your face. I don't know if it's a vampire thing or not, it's a nice change, you would usually keep to yourself, it's about time you show other emotions except just smiling at others."
Luciel frowned at Alex's statement, but before he could say anything, he reached his hand so he could catch a little gift from him.
He didn't have to look inside it since he already knew what was in it and he could smell it anyway - blood.
Vampire hunters, including Luciel, would usually have a stash of these pure black blood bags at home. They would usually draw their own blood and store it for later and it would rarely go to waste. It was used to lure out hungry vampires or as a blood transfusion for a hunter.
Unfortunately, hunters lost all rights to borrow blood from the hospital ever since they accidentally used all the blood in the bank and as a result, the hospital had to put a stop to it.
"Take it, you are drooling all over," Alex added as he stared at his friend, hesitating and playing with it in his hands.
"Thanks…" Luciel said, whipping his mouth with the back of his hand before turning his back towards Alex, clenching his teeth.
True, Luciel was glad to see his friend, but he couldn't stand the eyes he was watching him with. They were full of sorrow and pity.
"Come on in. The nights are a little bit chilly." Luciel looked over his shoulder to look at Alex while his shiny armor was reflecting the moonlight, making Luciel wonder just for how long was he asleep.
"Thought you will never ask!" Alex smiled and skipped towards Luciel.
Once they entered the abandoned house, Luciel could hear Alex casting a blessing that would grant him a temporary night vision since it was pitch black in the house after they closed the doors, but before Alex could say anything, he found himself pinned against the doors by Luciel.
"You crazy bastard!" Luciel shouted at Alex, sending him death glares.
"Luciel! What is the meaning of this!" Alex shouted in confusion, grabbing both of Luciel's arms and trying to push him back. Is this it? Has he finally gone mad?