Surprise!!!

[Maira]

When Romi glared at her, Archer bit her lower lip and smirked. The vampire was so touchy sometimes. But then sentenced her to cleaning up the green room. "Hey! I didn't make the mess, why do I have to clean it?!" Then he threatened to let the freshman loose in there and it was her turn to glare. She was still a freshman and while Romi tended to forget that it still rankled a bit. "Fine," she muttered and stalked off. As she left a few other freshmen came in and she growled at them to follow her. If she was going to get stuck cleaning the green room, she was going to make others help her.

Lucas watched the interactions between Romi and Archer and was happy to have such an amusing distraction. Very few people could turn Archer's mirth to anger that quickly and he was rather impressed that Romi was one of them. When his friend had stalked off to go work on the green room, Lucas told Romi, "You know, getting her that worked up takes talent. I've known her most of our lives and there are very few people who can do that to her and normally they're her closest friends."

Yes he realized that talking about Archer when Romi was still pressed flush against him may not have been totally appropriate, but he seriously needed a distraction. He may have come out west to hopefully win Archer back but as she was taken, that hope was shattered. And now it seemed, fate had decided to at least tease him with a very attractive man when he still wasn't sure he swung that way completely. He was going to need some headache medicine later...

[Demeter]

Romi grinned down at Lucas. "She's very easy to annoy once you know what buttons to push. She hates it when I forget that she's still a freshman. Most of the freshman annoy me." Romi removed the last few screws on the board and, with Lucas' help, set the plywood board on a stack of other boards. "She really is quite fun to annoy. Now, Lucas, do you have another class to run off to or will you be remaining to help me/"

*** (One month or so later)

Romi leaned against the outside of the humanties building. He'd completely missed today's acting class. On purpose. The professor gave up on enforcing his attendence; mostly because he was one of the better students. So long as he never skipped more then a few days in a row, the professor really didn't care. When the other students started to file out, some of the freshmen giving him strange looks, he snagged Lucas and Archer by their arms and wheeled them around. "Hello, my dear, studious friends. Lucas, Theiry isn't in today. Something about finding the love of his life and taking the week off. Would you like to wander away with me for the day?"

[Maira]

He thought he had adjusted rather well to his new college. The dorms pretty much sucked, but he had expected that and was just counting down the days until he had enough money in his bank account again so he could get into a real apartment. He was actually browsing through a rental magazine to pass the time during the boring lecture that he was supposed to suffer through. Archer kept poking him, likely just for the hell of it, and he'd swat at her periodically when she got really obnoxious.

When the class finally let out, Lucas shoved his text book with the rental magazine hiding in it, into his bag and grabbed Archer's hand and bolted. Of all his classes, the acting classes were normally his favorite but there was just something about this teacher that drove him absolutely batty. "I thought that class would never end!" he exclaimed to his best friend as they practically ran down the hall to reach the door out of the building.

"It was pretty awful wasn't it? I kept trying to get you to turn around to read the note I wrote you but you were too obsessed with apartments. I was trying to ask you if you wanted to skip out early." Lucas looked at Archer and shrugged apologetically before saying, "You may have a sucky roomie Archer but at least you have Chester's place to escape to most of the time. I, however, have nowhere else I can crash if Lance pisses me off too much and he does that on a regular basis."

As the pair slipped out the door, Archer was laughing. Until that is, they both got snagged from behind, causing her to screech, and Romi started talking to them as he slipped in between them. Lucas just smiled warmly at the other man, while Archer swatted the older man for scaring her witless, then listened as he relayed the latest gossip about their favorite professor. "Theiry found a woman?! Really?! That's just so cool!!!" she shouted excitedly. She had long been rooting for the professor to find a woman. After all, he had two rambunctious little boys who needed a motherly influence in their life, and Theiry might not be quite as prone to his broody fits if he had something besides his boys and his work to focus on.

While Lucas too was happy for their professor, he was even happier to hear that the professor would be gone for a while. If the classes were held at all, the teacher would be a substitute and totally useless. It was very rare than any of the subs were even slightly knowledgable in the drama field and so it was a pretty good bet that the classes this week weren't going to contain anything worth sticking around to learn. "After the last class, I'm more than ready to play hooky for the day," Lucas told the other man. "Please, steal me away and save me from the boredom?"

Since when had Lucas become so bold around Romi, Archer couldn't help but wonder as she watched the two men walking beside her. They were looking at each other that way again, and even though Lucas was still in denial that maybe men weren't just a phase for him, Archer knew better and found the man he'd chosen to focus on quite an amusing match.

[Demeter]

Romi looked at Archer. "Yes, he's found a woman. He's over the moon." He turned to look at Lucas. "How about a ride? Mind you, we'd have to ride the bus in order to go for a decent ride. The Miata isn't parked on school property. No where near school property."

Archer knew of his past, she'd even hooted over his b movie days. Romi felt he could trust Lucas with certian parts of his life, maybe not the movies yet but some parts. Like how he didn't really need to live in a student apartment. But really, that apartment was so much more convient then the townhouse located in the trendy downtown area.

"Archer, love, what do you say? Lucas?"

[Maira]

While Lucas was gawking at Romi's mention of a Miata, Archer gave her answer. "As much fun as it'd be to go for a joy-ride with you two, three people won't fit in a little bitty car of yours and somehow I don't think Chester would be happy with me sitting on Lucas's lap." Lucas spluttered something mostly incoherent about his intentions being good, and Archer just waved him off, "Anyway, somebody has to keep watch over the set and make sure it doesn't get messed up by the idiots who call themselves drama students." With that, Archer kissed Romi on the cheek and reached around him to pat Lucas on the shoulder before scampering off to the performing arts center.

Lucas watched his best friend scamper off and he stared in wonder. She never ceased to surprise him. Once Archer dissappeared from sight, Lucas turned his attention back to Romi and he was finally able to answer without interruptions, "Going for a ride would be nice. In a Miata would be great." Then with a smirk he asked, "What I want to know is how a student can afford a car like that and why we have to take a bus ride to get to it?"

[Demeter]

Romi grinned as he steered Lucas towards the closest bus station. "A student affords off-campus parking because said student has his own townhouse. And has a trust fund." He did, more or less, have a trust fund. He was the only recipeint of his maternal grandparents money and he'd invested wisely over the years. He turned to Lucas as they waited for the bus. "Or would you rather take a ride in the porche?"

He grinned as Lucas' eyes bugged out. "I'm a very rich man, Lucas, and I'm only in school because I'm bored and want the experience. I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm a 105 years old. I can afford a porche and a miata. Only idiotic vampires don't save money for the future."

[Maira]

Porche?! Townhouse?! 105 years old?! What the hell?! Lucas stopped dead in his tracks only a few feet from the bus stop and just stared blankly at Romi's back. Did he just say he was a vampire? He'd grown up with a were-cougar and her family so it wasn't too traumatizing to his concept of the world but....

Shit. How did he not pick up on that before? He now remembered the "fang boy" comment from the first day he'd met Romi but it really hadn't come up again so he'd forgotten about it until now.

After only a moment of being frozen in shock, Lucas ran to catch up with Romi just as the bus pulled up to the stop. Once they were seated, Lucas turned and looked at Romi and asked, "So "fang boy" wasn't referring to being like Archer and Chester then?" It wasn't a very telling question that'd be awkard on public transportation, but it was something that'd definitely confirm everything Romi had said a moment before.

[Demeter]

Romi grinned at Lucas; he grinned wide enough to show off the wickedly pointed canines in his mouth. Though not descended as they would be when he drank from live, willing souls the fangs were still longer then the average mortal's teeth. And they were sharp.

Romi laughed at Lucas' question. "No, I'm not like Archer and Chester. Yes, Fang Boy is related to my being a vampire. It's his favorite nickname for me. Yes, I'm really 105 years old. I was born in Italy and I don't like my family. I'm going to assume that you've taken ancient history courses and heard of the notorius Italian Neri family. That would be my blood relatives. Thankfully they are all dead now."

A few bus changes and a 15 minutes later, Romi was fishing out the keys to his townhouse and opened the door. "How about a snack before we go for our ride. I haven't eaten yet today."

When Lucas paled, Romi laughed. He leaned over and patted the younger man's cheek. "I only drink from those who are willing and never on the first date."

[Maira]

Why he had the strange urge to poke at Romi's fangs when the vampire presented them, Lucas wasn't sure. Actually it was a little disturbing... He didn't mind being laughed at since he knew Romi wasn't making fun of him. Its just he knew he probably looked like some bug-eyed kid at the moment. He couldn't help it though. He'd always known about the were-creatures in the world thanks to being friends with Archer, but for some reason all those years of growing up watching horror movies filled with vampires and other nasties he'd just never assumed they were real too. And now he was sitting within kissing distance of one. Not that he was thinking about kissing Romi though... Oh shit.

As Romi talked, Lucas just listened and tried not to look too much like he was staring. When Romi mentioned the Neri family from Italy, Lucas couldn't stop himself though and he eyed Romi a little more carefully as he wracked his brain for any references to what may have become of the Neri's. He had indeed taken his ancient history classes, his favorite if he was forced to take history, and had been quite intrigued by the Neri family as they just never quite seemed "normal". Of course, they were all murderers so they weren't normal, but by normal he meant human. He had always brushed it off as him having an overactive imagination and knowing Archer. Knowing that girl put too many things in his head sometimes...

Once they finally arrived at Romi's townhouse, Lucas had something besides Romi to gawk at. It was in a high-class neighborhood and in all honesty, it was huge. Romi's townhouse was bigger than the home Lucas had grown up in. He followed Romi up the steps and once they were inside he didn't even have a chance to look around before Romi's next words made his skin go pale.

Snack? Ummm.....

Then Romi laughed at him again and patted his cheek before telling him in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring tone that he only drank from willing people and never on first dates. The first part of that -was- reassuring but the second part had him stopped in his tracks again. Date?! First date?! When had that happened? Did Romi ever once when he was asking him to go for a ride call it a date? Lucas scrambled to remember and nothing came up.

Finally, giving up on trying to make sense of his now utterly frazzled brain, Lucas just smiled and followed Romi further into the townhouse. Like he had guessed from the outside, the place was huge. It was also strangely clean for a bachelor, and the furnishings were anything but bachelor furnishings. He didn't see a single piece of duct tape on any of the pieces of furniture and it was just another reminder that Romi was not your typical bachelor.

[Demeter]

Romi puttered around his kitchen. His housekeeper kept the fridge stocked with food, never knowing when he'd stop by for a visit. He gathered together the needed ingredients for a couple of ham sandwichs and tossed one to Lucas when he was finished making the lunches. "I don't subside on a diet of blood. I can eat. And walk around in the sun. And sleep during the night. And I love garlic. I'm Italian, it would be strange if I didn't love garlic."

He leaned against the island counter and took a big bite out of his sandwich. He was waiting for Lucas to come out of this state of semi-shock and rejoin the living world. It seemed like all this information at once was a little much for the human.

He leaned across the island and lightly patted Lucas' cheek. "Lucas, come on, wake up buddy. You can't go for a ride in the Miata if you are dead to the world. Don't make me do something that both of us might regret." When Lucas didn't respond, Romi sighed and boosted himself, belly down, across the counter. He planted a kiss square on Lucas' mouth and wrapped an arm around his neck to pull the other man tight against the counter.

[Maira]

Lucas was slowly beginning to come out of his initial shock, with help from the admiration of Romi's apartment, when the man laid some more stuff on him to process. He knew that Romi could go out in daylight, he'd seen him do it all the time at school. The whole not having to rely on blood for food he got too as he'd seen Romi drink more than his fair share of coffee. The garlic stuff and the sleeping at night, well if he could do the others why not those too? Right?

He was stilling thinking about all of this when he suddenly felt an arm slip around his neck, followed quickly by lips pressing against his. His eyes were already open, but they'd been unfocussed as he was lost in thought, but they widened at the kiss and focussed immediately on Romi.

It took only a moment more for Lucas's brain to fully realize what was happening but even knowing what was happening he wasn't sure how to respond. One one side, Lucas's logical side was protesting that liking men had only been a phase. Then there was the other side of him that was revelling in the feeling of the other man's soft lips pressed against his, the warm scent of his skin, and the pleasant weight of Romi's arm around his neck.

Before he could let himself over analyze the situation, or do something he might regret later, he pulled away from Romi and stood more upright. He placed his hands on the counter to steady himself and took a breath before asking Romi, "So, can we go for that ride now?" He figured changing the subject, was the safest bet for his sanity right now. Between Romi being a vampire, and realizing maybe the whole be attracted to men thing wasn't a phase, Lucas could really use a nice long drive to figure it all out.

[Demeter]

Romi chuckled as he leaned back against the counter. "Have you decided between the Porshce or the Miata yet?" he asked as if he'd never even considered laying his lips on the other man. Which he did. A lot. And now he was alone, in his townhouse, with that same man. And in a compact, two seater car. Romi grinned at Lucas. "Eat your sandwich and decide which car while I go change into something less...collegiate."

Romi bounced up the stairs to the second level of his apartment and keyed in the passcode. He protected this level. It held the relics of his B-Movie days and those he wanted protected at all costs. He gave the glass cases an affectionate nod and changed from jeans and pull-over sweatshirt into a pair of pressed slacks and a white linen shirt that buttoned down the front. Romi pulled his hair back, knowing that it if he didn't, it would just fall all over the place and slap him in the face. After putting on a pair of tennis shoes, he bounced back down the stairs.

"Ready to go yet, Lucas?"

[Maira]

When ordered to eat his sandwich and pick a car to go for a ride in, Lucas nodded silently. Then, he watched and Romi practically bounced out of the kitchen and took off up the stairs. The vampire had only been out of sight for a moment when Lucas started in on his sandwich, the poor thing didn't stand a chance when faced with a very hungry Lucas.

Lucas had finished the sandwich before Romi came back down the stairs and was actually just putting his plate in the sink. Looking up at the sound of feet coming down the stairs, Lucas smiled warmly at the other man. He loved the look of him in casual clothes, but he looked great a little more dressed up as well.

At Romi's question, Lucas nodded and answered, "Yep, all ready." That brief time that Romi had been upstairs had been long enough for Lucas to get his head on straight. He would accept everything about Romi, after all his best friend was a werecougar, and that even included the odd possibility that he might even like the man as more than a friend. Then with a smile, he added, "And we should definitely take the Porsche."

[Demeter]

Romi plucked the eyes for the Porsche out the lockbox in the utility rooms and herded Lucas into the garage. The shiney Porsche, last years model, sat next to the Miata, a recent purchase. He beeped open the doors and hit the button for the garage. Once they were strapped in, Romi turned the engine over and revved the engine just a bit. He loved the sound the Porsche made. So Italian.

Once they were were through the town and to the open roads, Romi finished being a considerate driver and opened the throttle to the car. He zoomed down the roads, well over the speed limit. The cops rarely visited these roads so he enjoyed the ability to use the Porsche's natural abilities. After some time, Romi pulled up to a beach front house that looked more then a little worn. It was a property he was thinking of purchasing. Sell the townhome and settle somewhere at little more...permanent. It did help that the beach house sat on a cliff over looking the water.

He turned to Lucas. "So, are we enjoying our day of skipping school? Oh, and Lucas, I meant what I said about this being a first date. Archer knows me well, which is why she backed out. She also, in a somewhat drunken haze, then again, we were all drunk that night, about your past. I know that you are more then willing to date a man. The question is, are you willing to date me."

[Maira]

The ride was amazing. The way the Porsche took the turns of the country roads.... It was enough to nearly make Lucas melt. As it was, when they finally pulled up in front of a somewhat worn-down looking house on a cliff overlooking the water, Lucas had to fight not to groan in dissappointment at the car stopping.

When Romi asked if he was enjoying his day of skipping school, Lucas just smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Of course he was!

Then, as seemed to be a habit of Romi's, the vampire dumped something on Lucas that made his head spin. He tried to answer, but all that came out at first was a confused splutter. Something about Archer being an evil traitor while drunk.... Hearing how rediculous he sounded, Lucas took a break to calm his once again frazzled nerves and just stared at Romi for a moment. The answer he finally gave came out in a quiet tone, and just a tad bit shakey, "I told Archer I thought that was a phase. I've only ever dated one man, and aside from him, the only person I've even fooled around with was Archer. I really don't know what I want..."

His voice trailed off as his nerves started to get the better of him, so Lucas took another steadying breath before finishing. "There is something about you that just makes my head spin, and part of it is that I find you very easy on the eyes. Why that makes my head spin, I've got no idea. I don't know if its a good thing or not but I already decided I would accept whatever may come up between us. If that means dating you, it means dating you. Since it seems like you're asking me to do just that, I won't turn you down."

At the last bit, Lucas actually managed to smile somewhat hopefully. He really did want a chance to get to know Romi better, he just needed the older man to lead the way because he knew he was in over his head. After all, Romi was not only older, but a vampire. Lucas may have been best friends with Archer, little miss werecougar, but their attempt at a relationship had been rather pitiful and he'd not had to actually deal with her other side much more than he had as a friend. Lucas had a feeling that being involved with a vampire would be completely different.

((ooc: first time I read your post, poor Lucas choked and bout fainted... bad bad girl!))

[Demeter]

Romi grinned at being told that he was easy on Lucas' eyes. Just what he liked to hear. He leaned over the center console and ran a finger down the younger man's face. "I have a feeling that a lot will come up between us. I do believe that we will enjoy that when it happens." Romi tapped Lucas on the nose. "Don't you worry, I'll be gentle with you"

Romi sat back and then cursed when the car phone rang. He glanced at the name flashing across the screen. He couldn't ignore this call. Romi pressed the anwswer button. "Gwendolyn. What great drama has happened that you need to call me. Do I need to replace anything in the apartment."

"Yeah, the bastard I've been seeing needs to be replaced. Can you pull one of those cute men you always seem to have around out of your pocket and give him to me?"

"I can't do that, Gwen. I don't share well. What did the bastard do?"

"The man cold me old."

"Well, you are ninty..."

"Yes, but I look twenty. I enjoy looking twenty. I am not old."

"You keep telling yourself that, Gwen, I'm going to go. I'm going back to seducing the young man I have in my car."

"Oh, good luck. Is this that Lucas guy you've been mooning over?"

"You know, some people treat me with respect." Romi punched the off button before Gwendolyn could reply. He turned to look at Lucas. "My daughter, Gwendolyn. Just ignore her"


(ooc: Yeah, Romi likes running away with me)

[Maira]

His hopeful smile faltered a bit at Romi's finger running down his cheek and along his jaw. It totally dissappeared when Romi tapped his nose. Not because of the other man's actions so much as his words. Couldn't Romi for once say something that didn't tie his intestines in knots?!

Luckily, Lucas was saved from having to try to think of a coherent way to respond to Romi by the other man's cell phone ringing. Only, the conversation going on and how it ended just left Lucas even more confused. Romi's next words left him blinking in surprise...

"You have a daughter?!" Lucas finally managed to ask weakly. Yes, it was probably a stupid question, after all the other man -was- a vampire and more than old enough to have had children by now, but holy crap! He'd never dated anybody with children, let alone ones that could very well be older than him...

[Demeter]

Romi grinned. "Yeah, I was a fifteen year old father. Gwendolyn Sophia Neri is my daughter and she's a drama queen." He glanced over at Lucas. "She used to prance around the broadway stages. Now she works as the manager of the Armory. After I turn you loose from stage work, she gets you for prop work. She's an even bigger slave driver then I am."

Romi leaned over, arm resting against the center console and lightly kissed Lucus. He smiled at the man. "Lets just forget my child exists right now. Let's finish our ride, go back to my place and I can introduce you to my couch." Romi grinned when Lucas got that nervous smile on his face. "I have an excellent movie collection."

***

Romi lounged on Lucas' roommate's lofted bed. He only did it because he knew it would annoy Randy. He rolled against the safty bar and peered down at Lucas. "Do you suppose that Randy might kill us if we slept together on his bed." Romi half dangled over the lofted bed and peered at the dorm room.

How...collegiete. He couldn't fathom living in a dorm room. He'll he had enough issues with the college issue apartment he shared with an incubus/dingo/vampire and an distressingly common human being. Romi blinked as his eyes focused on the careful DVD case on Lucas' dresser. He knew that picture. He'd hated that photoshoot but loved the costumes. "Taking Norris' film class? What's the theme?"

[Maira]

Lucas was trying desperately to concentrate on putting the finishing touches on his paper that was due the next day but Romi was very good at distracting him. Popping that question about sleeping with him on Randy's bed about made Lucas spit out the drink of soda he'd taken right onto the screen of his laptop. Instead he wound up coughing and choking. His eyes still watering from the choking fit, he eyed Romi sideways when he asked about one of the movies on his dresser.

Taking another swallow of his soda to calm his aching throat, Lucas answered, "I don't really pay attention to the theme honestly. I think its something about how movies reflect the moral values of the time period they're filmed in. Its just a little funny to me that he picked mostly vampire flicks to use as comparisons. With vampires supposedly being super sexy and dangerous, its fun to see how the older films like that one compare to some of the newer ones." That said, he got up and rummaged through his top dresser drawer (where he kept his other movies) and pulled out Queen of the Damned and held it up next to the one on top of his dresser. "In this Queen of the Damned, we see a whole lot of bare flesh, and yet in this old thing, we barely see a torn corset and we definitely don't see anything under the corset. Obviously our culture has grown way lax in their sexual morals."

Almost immediately he remembered who he was talking to and he just laughed. "Sorry, most of my classmates are total idiots and I always have to -really- explain what I'm trying to say." As he was apologizing to a smirking vampire, Lucas went to shove both movies in his drawer. Only, as he went to put the older of the two movies away, he flipped it over to read the back for the first time. Whenever he picked out his movies to buy he always read the back first but as this one had been assigned for class he'd just grabbed it. Only when he neared the bottom of the little blurb did Lucas see what he should have noticed a long time ago. He'd been so focussed on the movie that he hadn't really paid that much attention to the actors in it, and there, listed in black and white (though quite small) was Romi's name. Flipping the dvd back over, he oggled the front cover and then looked sharply at Romi.

Setting the movie in his drawer, Lucas then went to his room-mate's bed and did a small pull-up, then hooked his arms over the safety rail on the bed, so his face was even with Romi's and he asked, "So, how -have- the morals changed since you filmed that Romulus Neri?" Then, rather bravely, he kissed the vampire square on the mouth.

[Demeter]

Romi grinned. He knew the moment that his name had been found. He smiled at Lucas as he dangled from the bed's safety rail. He happily kissed him back. "Oh, the morals have changed quite a bit. For example, I can snog a man in public if I like. Back then, I couldn't even kiss a woman without getting a raised eyebrow or two. And I definatly couldn't do this."

He gripped Lucas by the arms and hauled him the rest of the way onto the roommates bed. He continuted to move backwards, rolling down onto the mattress with Lucas. "This was defiantly not part of the moral code back then." He kissed Lucas, running fingers through his hair and wrapping an arm around his waist. He rolled so that Lucas was resting against the mattress and set to work on removing the man's shirt. All those damn buttons were annoying. "What? Did you have a presentation or something today?" he muttered while working one button from the hole it was attached to. Romi sucked on the flesh of Lucas' neck while he worked on the shirt. He let his fangs lightly graze he man's neck.

He heard the key in the dorm room door but didn't let it bother him. He was pretty sure that Lucas didn't even know that the room had a door at the moment. When the roommate walked in and screeched, Romi merely peered over the edge of the safety rail. "You probably don't want to be here for this. I've been wanting this for a while and I'm not about to stop. Ignore the man, Lucas." but Lucas was already stuttering and trying to escape from Romi's clutches.