At Least I'll Die with a Name [M-R ~ Wolfy]

[My laptop crashed the day you posted this ]

Aaron laughed softly, nodding his head subtly in agreement. He watched her casually from the corner of his eye now and then. "I live a couple streets over. Not too far." He informed her, glancing in the direction of his home. "On River Street, actually." 

He sighed in relief as the quality of the neighborhood picked up, and he didn't feel as if he had to protect Nora from everything. "Hey, uh, do me a favor, alright? Just be careful, for a little while, until all this dies down." Aaron stared hard at the ground as he said it, glancing shyly up at her when he finished speaking. 

[This was short.]

[But still fine. Sorry in advance for this poop-of-a-post. brainfarts galooore.]

Nora

Nora, a bit caught off guard, took a glance at Aaron, a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips when she'd caught eye of his bashful behavior. "I'll try my best," she replied in honesty, though given her rather overwhelming interest in the on-going situation, she couldn't swear to a solid promise. The steps of her home soon made their way to sit before her feet, spinning on her heels to face Aaron, relieving a sigh of relief, her fingertips eager to rest themselves against the notes of a piano. Put everything aside.

"Thanks for coming with me," Nora let out in a jumble, and went to rub the back of her neck, "Sorry about what happened back there..." Her orbs flickered over to the direction of the crime scene for a moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek, but soon cut back to Aaron. Now, looking at him, she couldn't help but envision his shyness once more, and before she could help herself, a chuckle managed to wriggle its way from her mouth.

Aaron

Aaron laughed softly at her response, feeling the unease melting away and his usual confidence take its place. "You'd better." He jested, smiling down at her. Aaron immediately stopped when she spun around, to avoid running into the girl and knocking her over. He dipped his head when she thanked him, quickly replying with a "You're welcome." A bit of his black hair into his eyes, and with a quiet sigh he reached up to brush it away, pausing when she apologized. "You shouldn't be." His voice was nearly inaudible, but serious and firm. A smirk made its way onto his features when she chuckled, and he cocked a brow in question. "What?" He asked, dark blue eyes squinting slightly, evidence of a barely suppressed smile.

Nora

Upon his question, she could feel her cheeks flare into an inexplicable blush, eyes darting to the ground though her toothy grin never wavered. "Nothing, nothing." With a light bulb practically beaming above her head, her eyes widened with an idea and she held up a finger, saying, "One sec." She hastily rushed into the house, and returned with a torn piece of paper decorated with the haphazard writing of a few numbers. "I'd like to stay in touch," she told him, then quickly added, "For the case. If you don't want to be a part of it, that's fine, but if you've got any interest in it, feel free to contact me." Her hand went to tuck a group of stray strands behind her ear, mumbling, "I'll try not too get too involved." With that, she opened her door and began to enter, halting halfway to turn half of her body towards Aaron. "See you."

Aaron


He couldn't help but smile a bit bigger when she blushed. Curiosity sparked in his eyes when she disappeared into her house, and he occupied himself for the short time she was gone by glancing around awkwardly. Aaron gave the piece of paper a quick once over before tucking it safely away in his pocket, his grin almost wolfish now. "Don't worry, you'll hear from me." He assured her, almost stepping forward to push the silly notion that he wouldn't want to talk to her again out of her head. "Alright. See you," Aaron offered a small wave, and added calmly, "I'll call you tomorrow, alright?" He turned as well, starting to head across the street, and though he wanted to, he didn't look back. He knew his eyes were almost glowing now, a golden color caused by his repressing it for so long. There was a small twinge in his mouth, signaling his fangs had returned. Growling quietly to himself, he turned down the first less than safe looking street he came upon, not in the mood to be the 'sneaky' hunter.

Nora

Nora's gaze lingered on Aaron for a moment as he departed before she went off into her house, more than glad to be embraced by the comfort of her own home. She bore a sigh of relief, now leaning against her closed door, and closed her eyes in a concentrated attempt to stow what memories she'd collected today in the back of her mind, knowing with dread she'd have to deal with them later. Her eyes peeled open to latch directly on her piano and, seemingly with the blink of an eye, she found herself by its side, fingers already resting on its notes, awaiting instruction. A content smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she began to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, minutes passing like seconds as she buried herself within the music, all while mentally praising Beethoven for creating such a beautiful piece. Under the final note of the song grumbled her stomach in protest of not eating, and she happily obliged in raiding the fridge to whip up a quick PB & J, which was devoured in less than six seconds flat. Elegant. Sleep luring her to bed, she slipped on a pair of sweats, and crashed.

It took several minutes of searching, but Aaron finally located his target. A man in his late thirties, hanging around in an alleyway for no apparent reason. Smirking softly to himself, Aaron slipped around the corner, silent and well hidden by the shadows. He was in too much of a hurry to take things slowly, and before the man could make a sound, Aaron had swung, his fist colliding sharply with the man's head and sending him sprawling on the damp ground. He paused, watching for any signs of consciousness. Nothing. 
Aaron wiped a smudge of blood from the side of his mouth with his sleeve. The man would either wake up eventually or be found, and hopefully he wouldn't be able to remember what Aaron looked like. Overall, it wasn't how he normally handled things, but his hunger was sated and the chances of the man being able to identify Aaron were very low. Smiling happily to himself, Aaron made his way home.


[Time skip?]

[Sure.]

The next morning...

Nora

Nora awoke feeling more drained than when she went to sleep, nightmares wading her off from a good night's slumber, with her eyes bloodshot and sagged with evident fatigue.It'd taken her a moment to gather to will to drag herself out of bed, but she eventually got up and sauntered over the to kitchen, giving a prolonged sigh as she began to brew up a batch of coffee. She snorted. I might have to drink the whole damn thing just to make it to noon. The ringing of her cell phone sent her hand to fumble around in her pocket to retrieve it, raising a brow when saw the screen displaying an unknown number. Oh. Aaron. She quickly accepted the call and lifted her phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Is this Nora Cyprus?"

The officer's gruff voice caught her a bit off guard, delaying her response. "Yes, sir."

"Autopsy confirms the cause of the victim's death was homicide."

A bit disappointed with this evident revealing, she bit back a sarcastic reply, and instead said, "Anything else?"

"Nothing else we can tell you at the moment."

"Well, thank you." The call was bluntly ended by the officer, and Nora slid her phone back into her pocket, and poured herself a cup of coffee, blending it with cream and a spoonful of sugar. She downed a good half of her cup before she whipped up a breakfast of french toast, only realizing halfway through she'd lost her appetite, and stashed it away in the fridge.

Aaron


Aaron squinted irritably, rolling over to escape the sunlight shining through the gap in his curtains. His attempts at a few more minutes of sleep were in vain; his room was already too illuminated. Cursing to himself, Aaron threw the blankets on the floor, letting them pool in a messy heap at the end of his bed. Mornings were never really his thing, and this one was no exception. His phone buzzed, and he stared at it for a moment, trying to clear through the early morning fog and realize what it meant. He slowly reached out to grab it, yawning and brushing his hair out of his eyes as he checked the texts and other notifications he had received. None of them really struck him as important, and so Aaron tossed the phone onto his bed, forgotten for the time being. At a zombie-like pace, Aaron made his way to the bathroom, not looking forward to fixing the mess that was his hair. 

After a shower and a good 20 minutes of fiddling with his hair, Aaron walked out of his house feeling content, a little over preened, but content. Due to its refusal to stay out of his eyes, his hair was styled up, and his phone sported a new crack in its screen from hitting the kitchen floor one too many times. Walking along happily, Aaron fiddled around with his phone, scrolling through his contacts, trying to find the number he had entered in it last night. After a bit of frustration, Nora's number finally came up, and without hesitation, he called her, anxious for something to do.

[I like your profile picture. :>]

Nora

Nora plopped down at a table, head resting in her palm, her gaze cast down towards her now empty coffee cup with slight irritation. It hadn't woken her up at all, and her patience wouldn't permit her to wait until the caffeine had fully kicked in. Groggily rubbing her eyes, she dragged herself over to her bathroom, and hopped in the shower, trying to wake herself up for a solid half hour before toweling off and throwing on a t-shirt and pair of old jeans. As her phone rang with the incoming of a call, she glanced at its screen, displaying another unknown number, of which she assumed would be Aaron. She swiped up her phone and answered quickly. "Hello?"

Aaron

"Hey, Nora, remember me?" Aaron teased when she picked up, a grin evident in his voice. He dodged a group of teenage girls too involved with their phones to notice him, glancing back at them for a moment before looking ahead once more. "Did you really think I wouldn't call?" Aaron chuckled, removing his sunglasses and twirling them in his free hand. "So, whatcha doin?" He asked, returning the glasses back to their original place over his eyes. 

[Thankes you :3 and sorry this was so short >.<]

[No problem. :> and it's fine.]

Nora

Nora's spirits perked up at the sound of Aaron's cheery voice and gave a soft laugh at his playful remarks. "Well, I'm glad you did," she replied and mindlessly began to make her way over to the kitchen, fingers toying with the rim of her pocket. "Trying to keep myself awake. Yourself?" She grabbed her coffee cup from earlier in the morning and filled it once again, not even bothering to add her usual mixture before taking a sip, cringing a bit at the bitter taste. Recalling this morning's events, her mind came back to the memory of the policeman's call. "The officer called earlier about the case."

Aaron

"I'm heading up River Street, actually. Left the house not too long ago." He responded, sliding his hand into his back pocket, looking around for a moment, eyes settling on the windows of the taller buildings, scanning for any signs of movement. Alright, so no one was looking out at the street, that was normal. Aaron shrugged it off. People were busy. His eyes narrowed when Nora spoke of the case, and he resisted the urge to tell the girl to forget about the murder. "He did? What did he say?" He replied, biting his tongue to hold back any other remarks.

Nora

Under an expulsion of air, Nora breathed out a "Not much." Her gaze fell onto her dark coffee, and, discontent with its taste, she ventured off to retrieve the cream and sugar, hastily mixing them with the drink. She brought the cup to her lips and took a sip, finding the drink far more fitted to her liking. "He confirmed the man was murdered, but I still haven't gotten word on how."

[sorry this is short. .~.]

Aaron

He chuckled, subtly shaking his head. "I don't think you'll get much more than that out of them." Course he was murdered, what else would it be? Aaron listened to his boots clicking softly on the pavement, and focused on the repetitive noise for a moment before he continued to speak. "Some lunatic probably attacked the man with a needle. It's a big city, things like that happen." Aaron told her, laughing softly again. 

[It's fine :3 Mine isn't much better]

Nora

"We'll see." Nora grinned softly and downed the rest of her coffee, sauntering back over to her room for no apparent reason, then back into the kitchen, plopping herself down into a chair. Hearing his comment, she gave out a snort of humor. "Kinda weird, don't you think? I've never heard of someone dying like that," she said, words trailing off as she dived into her thoughts. "Guess it's more probable than being killed by a vampire though, huh?" She joked and chuckled, referring to the odd duo of punctures in the man's throat, though her stomach soon felt sick thinking back on it. "Why are you heading up River Street?"

[I just remembered I put River Street when it was actually Lake Street. Craaap. Imma edit that and we're gonna pretend nothing ever happened.]

Aaron


"It's always good to learn something new, though, right?" He jested, shifting his phone to the opposite hand, pausing in the middle of adjusting the hem of his shirt when she made a comment about vampires. Shaking off the momentary surprise, Aaron laughed, trying not to sound nervous. "Much more probable." Relief flooded through his system when she quickly changed the topic. "Cause it's fun." Was his instant reply, and after internally awarding himself for responding like a five year old, Aaron gave her a more serious reply. "Actually, I'm just heading over to a bookstore, and if you're not busy, I can stop by your place and you could join me?" He asked, a bit shyly.

[Haha, all right. nothing ever happened.]

Nora

Nora couldn't help but choke out a laugh at his response, a brow raised in amusement as she toyed with a hem of her jeans' pocket. She opened her mouth to mutter some smart-ass comment, but the words caught on her tongue as the unexpected offer for her to tag along left his, smacking a dumb, toothy grin on Nora's face. "That'd be great!" Her words came out a bit too enthusiastic, and she cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'll be outside. See ya then." To keep herself from saying something regrettable, she ended the call, hastily rushing to her room to dig through her closet for her combat boots. A surge of eagerness fumed in her chest as she knew with certainty now was the time to pick up a book she's had her eye on for a while, "Blood Song", she had otherwise been too lazy to go and get. Plus, the opportunity to see Aaron wasn't all too bad, either. To talk about the case. Pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, she swiped up her wallet, walked out the door, and occupied her time waiting with leaning against a beam supporting her house, fiddling with her phone.

Aaron

He chuckled softly when she hung up, and shoved his phone back in his pocket. Aaron turned sharply up the street, heading the several streets up towards Nora's house. 

-

Aaron grinned when Nora came into sight, and he sped up a bit, offering a small wave as he approached. "Ready?" He asked as he came to a slow stop at the bottom of the steps. His dark blue eyes glanced over her quickly, and came to rest on her own eyes. "So..." Aaron began, mischief gleaming in his eyes, "Could this be considered a date?" He jested, laughing softly. 

[GAH THIS WAS SHORT]

[AND ALSO FINE.]

Nora

It'd taken less than a second for Nora's face to turn nearly purple, her eyes scurrying to meet the ground as she laughed nervously, fingers bolting over to itch her wrist raw. "Err," she said, and, realizing the daftness of her actions, worked to calm herself, stuffing her hands in her pockets though she could still feel the warmness of her cheeks. She willed her gaze to lift back up to Aaron and forced a smile, all while mentally kicking herself for acting like an idiot. "Whatever fits your fancy," she told him, feeling her smile grow genuine. "Ready to roll?"

Aaron


He held back a laugh as she blushed, subtly biting his lip and shaking his head. "Don't worry, I'm kidding." Aaron teased, gently nudging the girl with his elbow. Nodding, Aaron offered a sincere smile, and began walking, spinning around so he was facing Nora. "So, what book do you have in mind?" He questioned, occasionally glancing over his shoulder so he didn't knock anybody over. "Also, what you up to today? Is there a job I should know about?" Aaron quickly reversed himself, so he was walking by Nora's side, still smiling brightly.

Nora

Nora found the man's grin awfully contagious, and couldn't help but give a toothy smile in return, it widening a tad as he began to walk backward. At the sound of Aaron's question, her smile mellowed, though her cheeriness remained intact. "Blood Song," she answered, returning the question with a "How about you?" She gave her shoulders a shrug as her gaze fell to the concrete, fingers tucking away a lock of hair. "Luckily, I don't have to work today. I've got college, but," she paused, her dark chestnut orbs settling onto Aaron, "I think I'll take the day off. You?"

Aaron tried to remember if he had read the book, or if he had ever even heard of it. Double negative. "No idea. I'll see when we get there." He responded with a shrug, and continued to intently listen. Aaron released a mock gasp as she told him about taking a day off from college, and shook his head in fake disappointment. "Skipping school, are we?" He chuckled, biting his lip as he thought up a response for her question. "Well, I've finished college, my job is partially online, so I have a day of freedom." At least he thought he did, anyway. He had saved enough money up so far that the possibility of losing his job didn't scare him as much as it should of. Besides, he had plenty of other options.

Nora

Nora gave the man a lop-sided smile. "Well, I am quite the rebel," she threw back, running a hand through her hair as she decided not to mention something about how her boots proved as evidence to spare her from humiliation. Casting her eyes down at the sidewalk, she stuffed her hands further down into her pockets, her head lifting once more when he had told her about completing college. "Oh? What'd you major in?" Her eyes made their way back to Aaron's face, catching a brief glance of the oncoming book store not too far ahead.

[holy crap. i'm soo sorry for this post.]

Aaron

Aaron laughed at her remark, one corner of his mouth lifting in a sort of half smile. Her question caught him a bit off guard, and he quickly sorted through the collection of things he had learned, and quickly decided to go with his most recently learned talent. "Music, mostly. Singing, a few instruments, things like that." Aaron responded, shoving his hands back in his pockets before continuing, "What about you?" He glanced at the bookstore, excitement sparking in his chest at the sight, and he looked over at Nora from the corner of his eye, a smirk starting to form on his features.

[Tis fine]