Chapter 14

She graced him with a smile, then walked away and into the shower. Turning the water on to a moderate temperature she stood under the spray as the thoughts she'd pushed away for hours began to crowd her mind.

After shampooing her hair and washing she stood under the spray , her thoughts circling over what little she knew. He was warm, he had a heart beat, he was gentle, kind and a terrific lover. She stilled under the spray as that special part of her winged its way towards him and slipped inside for a look.

He wasn't evil, to his core he was gentle, and more human than most normal mortals she knew. He was a strong one who could handle the stresses of being what he was and do it in a high profile lifestyle. She saw his humor, his love of life and she smiled, but when she saw the tiny flickering flame at the center of his soul she slipped to the floor of the tub and curled into herself with a quiet whimper.

The flame wasn't there last night, the center of his soul had been dark and empty, but now it shone with the brilliance of its glow. It was her, a piece of her own soul now living inside of him. Holy Fuck, what did that mean?

~~

Richie followed Mic out to the living area, his mind still fogged with the reality of who he was. He watched her pull two aspirin from the cupboard and a glass of water. She smiled ruefully.
"Hangovers, got to love em" as she took the painkillers.

Richie sat down, he could murder a cup of coffee, did he still drink coffee? he wondered. A slight fluttering in his head disturbed his thoughts, as he felt a shiver run over his body.

Mic watched him "What is it," she asked noticing he was clearly uncomfortable.

"I dunno, something, is happening with Gia." He got up and walked back into the bathroom the pull of her fear guiding him. His eyes rested on her slumped in the shower.

"Jesus Gia, what’s wrong?" he asked as he bent down to help her, seeing her pale and shaking.

Mic watched him disappear into the bathroom. Well now that was strange, he could read her all of a sudden. Mic shook her head as she walked over and picked up her work in progress thesis and flicked through the pages, this was so outside what she'd been taught but so right on to what she presumed

She felt a cool breeze as the door opened and lifted her head to register Richie in the doorway, a tremulous smile on her lips. "I'm ok, really."

"I I felt it, what were you doing? Scanning me?" he asked as he gently pulled her from the floor to her feet.

She looked up into his eyes, caution warring with embarrassment. "I didn’t mean to, sometimes it just happens."

"That's ok. I just felt you withdraw all of a sudden," he said softly.

She shivered, "Seeing things, or feeling things can be well an odd experience." She reached for a towel and wrapped it around her before smiling. "You just wanted to see me naked again."

Richie's eyebrows crooked up "Well that was an added bonus I must admit," his lips brushing gently on her forehead. "I was just worried about you."

She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I Know this is all a bit much for you to just take in, yet you seem to be so unphased by it all."

"I wouldn’t say unphased, I would just say trying to make sense of it all, I don’t understand why I am like this, or why I didn’t ever know, and what happens now, all those things are in my mind, as this changes everything that I knew up to now, I just don’t know exactly what" he admitted. Would life with Jovi would stay the same? if his family life would? would Jon ever accept what he was? Sure the questions were there plaguing his mind but 'd been trying to remain calm until he knew exactly what he was in for.

She reached upwards, her hand settling over his heart. "You'll figure it out and you'll deal. It's a part of who you are, that ability to calmly accept and do what’s needed."

Her hand slid from his heart to his hand as she laced her fingers through his. “Come on, you fix us a cup of coffee while I dress.” At his questioning look about the coffee she grinned. “You won’t know that you can until you try.”

Richie chuckled raising his eyebrow, about to ask how she knew but he just accepted it as it was becoming the norm it seemed, and it was something that he needed to ask Mic.
"Ok I'll be right in there with the knowledgeable one" he winked as he walked into the living room where Mic was rifling through a bunch of papers, she looked up.

"Everthing ok in there?" she asked

Richie nodded "Yeah, they are, something odds happening, but I guess you're going to tell me all about that" he said walking over to where the coffee was already brewing.

"So I take it you don't like my band mate very much" he teased as he poured two cups.

Mic's eyes fired as she spoke "No, I do not, never in my life have I met such a self centered asshole, wanted me to admit I enjoyed it before I left, I mean what the hell.." she said turning her back to the papers.

Richie chuckled, she had a fire about her, just like Jon. It oughta be interesting when he spoke to Jon later, as he sensed there was some unresolved emotions there.

She stepped into the bedroom and quickly dressed. Giving her hair a cursory swipe with the brush she glanced over at her make up and thought of covering her paleness with a bit of liquid beauty then shook her head. Turning she moved to the kitchen just in time to see Richie lift the cup of coffee to his lips.

Richie took in the coffee and it tasted just the same, thank fuck. "Ahhhh perfect Columbia" he breathed as he watched a visibly paler Gia come back in the room.

She chuckled as she watched the pleasure of the caffeine hit his system. "No nausea or urge to hurl?"

Richie shook his head "Nope none at all" he looked at Mic "Is that normal, will I be able to still eat?" he asked her.

Gia poured herself a cup of coffee and took a dip. God it was good, the jolt of caffeine sent her trembling nerves into a sweet jolt of wakefulness. Damn thats good."

Mic nodded "From what I have read you will still need to eat and drink as a human does, but you will need to feed from blood to survive. You will learn in time how to control that though" she picked up the papers frustrated as what she had didn’t really tell her much, or it contradicted everything that she had been taught.

"Dammit I wish there was some decent text around this" she exclaimed frustrated as her eyes flashed a bright green.

Gia's eyes widened as she listened to Mic and watched her eyes flash. "Well that's new. Mic you ok?"