2.4 Nothing Ventured

Roland didn't immediately go back to his apartment when he left the building. He was still kind of in a daze at the moment, with his thoughts running a mile a minute, causing him to absentmindedly wander around for a bit. Walking the streets, he couldn't help but notice the presence of Mamono walking about and working inside businesses. If it were a week or so ago, he would have stared at their uncanny yet alluring forms; however, after his second encounter with Maddie, he did not feel the urge to, at least not in the same way he would have before. As beautiful as these monster women are, they still don't hold a candle to Madelyn.

All the same, he stared for a different reason, which was the fact that he had been noticing so many of them as of late. Not just now, but ever since he went to Elysium he's had more encounters with Mamono than he ever did while studying at the university.

'It feels like that one anime.'

That one anime where if someone meets a supernatural entity, they will continue to have encounters with the supernatural regardless of their desires. Roland feels like that now; literally, the personification of what has been seen cannot be unseen. He noticed it some time ago but used the then-upcoming interview as a means of distracting himself.

There were times when he couldn't be distracted, most of which revolved around the few Mamono who looked at him with a hunger that made him nervous to be in their sights. Then they would briefly gain a look of realization before moving on usually with varying degrees of frustration. He noticed the same happening even as he walked down the street, Mamono gaining interest upon seeing him only to lose interest moments later with a dash of aggravation. 

Any further thoughts on the matter were discarded as a delicious scent caught his attention, causing his stomach to growl in response. He hadn't realized it before, but he spent quite some time doing that interview as well as interviewing the interviewer. The point is that he arrived late in the morning, and it is currently well past midday.

Following the scent of food, Roland eventually found himself in front of a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant.

'When's the last time I had Chinese food?'

Months at least, and this kind of hole-in-the-wall restaurant was one he loved. So despite the place having a sizeable crowd, Roland decided to join the line. Surprisingly, the wait wasn't too long owing to the efficiency and speed of the staff, and before long, Roland made his order without issue, was given a ticket, and was made to wait until said order was done. As he waited, he couldn't help but look around the place, admiring the décor and even some of the patrons.

After around ten minutes of waiting, someone called out, "Order #478?"

"That's me," Roland said, holding out his ticket.

The woman accepted, and Roland collected his lunch before exiting the establishment. He would eat there, but he always felt more comfortable eating at home, so he went back home. Overall, the food was amazing, and he would definitely be going back again to try the rest of their menu. After the food, Roland spent the rest of the afternoon browsing the internet, searching for information on mamono vampires and specifically the name Valentina.

There was so much about Madelyn that pointed to her being a big deal, like her obvious wealth, the charming (and very European) accent, and not to mention her mannerisms and way of speaking that screamed ancient to him, that he assumed she was at the very least someone of note. Thing is information flow from Earth to Eos (the Mamono home world) was spotty and obviously censored.

That's why he didn't really expect his searches to turn up much, but this turned out not to be the case upon searching for the name 'Valentina.' It turns out his assumptions about Madelyn being a big deal were right, and what a big deal she turned out to be, as one of the first articles the search engine turned up was listing Mamono billionaires.

Blowing out a puff of air and raising a hand to brush his forehead, Roland looked a lot like that Travis Scott meme in that moment as he braced himself before diving down the rabbit hole.

Hours Later…

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

The knocking at his door came as a surprise, both because he was still engrossed in the Vampire/Valentina rabbit hole and because he wasn't expecting anyone. Glancing at the clock displayed on the corner of his taskbar, Roland winced.

'That's enough investigating for today.'

After stretching until he heard the satisfying and audible pop of his bones, he dragged himself to the door, where more knocking could be heard.

"I'm coming!" he yelled irritably.

Opening the door, his annoyed expression immediately disappeared as he beheld, "Maddie?"

The vampire wearing sunglasses, a hat, and a trench coat combo smiled at the man, showing her fangs a bit and saying, "Hello Roland."

"What, uh, what are you doing here?"

Lowering the glasses to give him a look with her red eyes, she answered, "aren't you going to invite me in?"

He hesitated but ultimately opened the door and made way for her, to which she strutted inside, pulling a wheeled suitcase behind her. Roland didn't even notice it before, and a pit started to form in his gut. So after checking to see if anyone was watching, I slipped back inside and locked the door.

"Hmm, not as bad as I thought" turning around, he found Maddie glancing about the apartment with critical eyes, "though it is dreadfully small."

Roland held back a kneejerk retort, though he did roll his eyes. 

'Rich people.'

She wasn't wrong about his apartment being small, as it was a cheap studio apartment with an open floor plan combining his bedroom, kitchen, and living room into a single space with a separate door for the bathroom. In the far corner was his bed, and directly across from it was the door leading to the bathroom. Sitting adjacent to his bed in the middle was a three-seater couch with the TV directly across from it hanging on the wall. On the other end of the apartment was the kitchen with a table and chairs for eating.

Maddie stood near the couch, having removed her wide-brim hat and sunglasses. She observed the area until her eyes fell to the dining table, where his laptop was resting. Mind you, this is the same laptop where he has essentially been researching her race and family. Roland almost leapt across the room itself to block her path when she began making her way towards it; however, her next words stopped him in his tracks.

"I see you've been doing some research on me," she said in a neutral tone, causing him to stiffen, to which she rolled her eyes and said, Oh, be calm, you. I don't mind. After all, it is to be expected you would want to know more about me," she said, giving a glance back to the laptop and frowning, "though I admit I preferred you remain ignorant of my origins."

There was a beat of silence as she started perusing his findings, giving Roland the opportunity to collect himself. Though the process was met with a bit of a kink as the woman decided the most optimal way of checking his laptop was to bend over, giving him an unobstructed view of her ass.

'She's doing that on purpose.'

Finally, he asked the most pertinent question: "What are you doing here, Maddie?"

His question caused the vampire to pause and look over her shoulder. "You don't sound thrilled at my presence."

"I'm just…confused."

'And worried,' he mentally added, glancing at the large suitcase.

Hmm," Maddie stood and turned to lean back on the table, "I told you after your interview to keep an eye out for me."

'That's not what you said,' he wanted to say, as the memories weren't so distant that he forgot her words.

"Keep an eye out, for I will be commencing your orientation later today."

Those were her words, however: "I thought you meant you would be sending me an email."

Some companies do that, sending information packets to employees outlining their duties and what is expected of them. It was not the best way to teach new employees, but he could understand given the circumstances.

"That is my fault," Maddie admitted. "I was being deliberately obtuse."

"Why?"

"Why?" she repeated, pushing off the table to spread her arms, "to surprise you, of course."

"That..." he trailed off with a sigh. 

'Well, consider me surprised,' he thought sardonically.

"I guess you're staying here then?"

There is no use denying the writing on the wall.

"You would be right."

"For 'orientation'?" he air quoted. 

"That as well as," she said, her expression becoming a bit sheepish, "I wanted to spend time with you."

"…"

As she looked away, Roland could have sworn he could see some color on her pale cheeks.

'…cute.'

Shaking his head, Roland decided to err on the side of caution. 

"Not that I'm against you being here, but is that... wise?"

"Because I am your superior?"

'Among other things,' he thought while nodding.

"Roland, you need to let go of human notions of relationships. I am not human."

"But it's not about being human, though," Roland pressed, "it's about relationship dynamics and how it would affect our work."

Maddie let out an exasperated sigh: "And this is why I decided to do this in person."

"What?"

In the next breath, faster than he could blink, Maddie was suddenly standing before him.

"Ah!" he yelped, stepping back from her sudden bout of teleportation.

"Again, I reiterate that I am not human, Roland," she said with folded arms. "I may have acquiesced to human laws and adopted certain human customs, but I have my limits." Raising a hand, she pressed a finger to Roland's chest and said, "I refuse to endure your longwinded, needlessly complex, and frankly asinine relationship rituals."

Roland, for his part, raised his hands in surrender and maybe the tiniest bit of fear at the Vampire, whose speech brought out so much passion that her human guise had dropped, fully revealing her pronounced fangs, scarlet eyes, and pointed ears.

"Okay, point taken," he replied. "Where do we go from here?"

The vampire tilted her head. "That's it?"

"What's it?"

"I was expecting some kind of pushback," she admitted, "but your acceptance, while agreeable, is surprising," her eyes narrowing, "and mildly suspicious."

He could fight her on this, but frankly he really didn't want to needlessly complicate things. He didn't care too much about the semantics of how they go about a relationship so long as it's reasonably healthy. Plus again, she was his boss (and girlfriend), and he didn't want to burn that bridge if at all possible. He would very much like to move out of this cramped apartment, thank you very much. 

But if he were to give her an answer, then it would have to be…

"I mean, I've been in relationships before—uh, with other humans, I mean," he paused, "but you already knew that, and yeah, it is tedious going through the whole song and dance. I guess you can say I'm curious about experiencing something new in that department."

Maddie's brows creased. "So you're willing to go along with my arrangement out of curiosity?" Her expression turned to amusement. "Careful, Roland; you know what they say about curiosity."

"Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?"

"Ho-ho, I like that, she smirked, "and you are quite right."

"So what now?"

"Now?" She smiled before giving him what appeared to be a light shove.

"Aah!" Yet despite this, Roland ended up flying bodily across the room, landing lightly on his bed. It was as if gravity had temporarily turned off for him only to reassert itself when his back hit the bed. "Oof, what the hell...?"

Roland's exclamation trailed off as Maddie untied the belt securing her trench coat, which, in hindsight, was a strange thing to be wearing at this time of the year. The reason why became apparent when she opened her coat to reveal she had been wearing sexy black lingerie underneath.

In response to seeing that, Roland gave a Keanu Reeves-esque "whoa."

"Now, seeing as you are woefully ignorant of Mamono culture, I will take it upon myself to educate you on the subject," Maddie stated as she slowly sauntered, or rather prowled, her way towards his sitting form, "as well as the finer nuances of vampire courtship."

"What about my orientation?" he stuttered.

Maddie stopped, and despite being several inches shorter, even with heels, Roland felt as if the woman towered over him.

"Oh, but that goes without saying, Mr. Wayne," she replied, "but that is for later. As for now."

She leaned forward, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other caressing his face. She gently eased him back so that he was lying on the bed and she was on top of him.

Then, as her eyes glowed a bright crimson, she spoke, "I thirst."

And in the next moment, a pair of fangs gently sank into Roland's neck.

~To Be Continued~