Not as Badass as They'd Like to Think

Who: Melia and Alejandro
When: Just after full dark
Where: Near Alex's house

In Melia's opinion, walking without a specific goal or destination in mind was rather boring. It was so repetitive - left foot, right foot, repeat endlessly. All the same, she'd agreed to go for a walk with Alex when he'd found her on the lakeshore - she'd actually spent most of the day wandering around Marquette, using human money stolen from a human's wallet to buy things. Nothing big - she just wanted to practice using human currency. She'd picked up some human clothes, some 'waterproof' bags to stick her growing human clothing collection in so she could hide them better when not in use, and mostly wandered around, enjoying the town. Alex had been at the lake when she'd meandered down the shore after storing her new things, and somehow the human - angel, she reminded herself - had convinced her to go walking with him since they'd gone swimming last time.

It was nice out, but Melia was starting to feel close to the edge of her tolerance for wearing legs - she'd have to think about getting back to the water soon. She'd just turned to try and convey that thought to him when several things shattered the stillness of the night - a great ball of flame and a loud noise from somewhere in the town, popping noises from somewhere else, a scream somewhere. Melia stopped to look and listen, wondering what the hell the humans were getting up to now.

Alejandro stopped, too, looking around with narrowed eyes. It'd been a decent walk, and despite everything with Jovie he'd still enjoyed being around Melia. Just... in a very, very different way. Jovie had yet to make him feel humiliated or really defensive, but Melia certainly had her charms, and more, Melia knew what he was. And couldn't read his mind. No, he liked Melia, too.

He liked the gunshot sounds and the screams in the distance rather less, and that explosion? Was definitely bad news. "What the hell was that?" he murmured, frowning and looking in the direction of what he thought was the nearest, the fireball coming up from... it looked like somewhere along Washington, but he really couldn't be sure. Big, fiery explosions were hard to pinpoint when there were other buildings in the way.
Probably stupidly, now he was itching to find out, and he very nearly made that doomed attempt at unstoring his wings, only stopping at the last minute before the actual emptyachingnotthere feeling hit.

Melia shrugged in silent response to Alex's question, though she didn't really think he'd actually been asking her. He wasn't that stupid, because she obviously didn't know anything. She did, however, want to know what was going on, so she reached out to snag Alex's arm and head in the direction of the loud explosion. She recognized those popping noises as being from a gun; she remembered it well enough from the time she'd been shot, and she wasn't interested in getting near that. Tugging lightly, she pointed in the direction she wanted to go, indicating he should come with her.

"Read my mind, bella," he agreed, and started along with her in that direction. "Didn't realize you had the same rubbernecker instincts as other peop-- shit!"

All Alejandro saw was a blur that he only just had time to wrench himself back from before whatever it was zooming at him actually got him. Melia, who still had his arm, would get wrenched back with him unless she let go.

Melia had indeed let go in a split-second, not about to get dragged down with Alex. It would've been better if she'd let him pull her back, however, because she was left a prime target for the second blur that came at them from the darkness. It nailed her full-on, sending her crashing to the ground, but hell if Melia was just going to let it get her. She started fighting immediately, squirming to make herself as hard to hold onto as possible, struggling to get herself into a position to land a decent blow.

"Hey!" Alejandro gave Melia's attacker a swift kick, right in the kidneys-- since the really low blow of the groin wasn't in a convenient place to kick without having to go through Melia-- and went for another but the first blur grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

And sank very sharp teeth into his forearm. And fuck did it hurt. Yelling, he aimed another punch, but the vampire-- fuckinghellvampires??-- had already let go, making a gagging noise.

Melia was not usually on the receiving end of someone trying to eat her, but that's apparently what was happening, because she felt teeth sink into her throat. Her mouth opened in a silent cry, part pain and part sheer outrage, and she managed to get a leg between them. She pushed with her arms and kicked at the same time as the creature reared back, spitting and gagging. This was where her strength came into play as she sent the thing flying, rolling to her feet and dashing to Alex's side. She'd killed her share of humans in the past and it wasn't hard, while the thing was distracted, to reach out and plant her hands on its head. Twisting sharply, she heard the satisfying 'crack' of its neck breaking and she let the thing go, fully expecting it to be dead.

"Hell, no, baby, that's not gonna be enough," Alejandro said, planting a foot on the vampire's chest so it couldn't get up once it fell down. Though its head rolled limply, its-- well, her; hell, the vampire was a woman, too-- her eyes were rolling wildly in his direction and its limbs were twitching. He needed something sharp and wooden-- or maybe just sharp, if it was really sharp.

Alejandro had always been good at improvising, and he was wearing tough enough shoes that he bet he could kick a nice, jagged hole in that tin trash can. "Go try and knock out the other one--" Who was picking himself up from where Melia had thrown him against the wall, and looked like he was going to be back at them any second. "--or bust his leg or something." He didn't have much time to deal with this one before she managed to twist her head back straight; she was already getting motor function back in her limbs.

Shit that was one fast-healing vampire.

Melia looked at Alex like he was crazy for a moment when he'd said it wouldn't be enough; she glanced down at the human shape on the ground and sure enough, it was twitching and glaring. She'd never seen that before. They felt strange for humans, though, skin cold with pointy teeth like-- oh. She made the connection between these and Val, the one creature in Marquette that had tried to eat her before. Well, because she'd tried to eat him, too. These two must be vampires like him. She tried to sign to Alejandro, asking how to kill them, but the other one had launched itself at her and she went flying. She was more prepared for the strength the thing had, though, and was able to block most of its blows, save when it used that blindingly fast speed.

With Melia dealing with the other one, Alejandro hauled the trash can away from its moorings and kicked it in. Thank god for steel-toed boots rather than sneakers. It still took him two more tries to do more than dent the flimsy thing, but he finally got himself a jagged edge and yanked it free. So he sliced his own hand a little, so what? It was worth it to have a weapon, and besides, that meant it was sharp enough to take off a vampire's head.

And none too soon, because the broken-necked vampire was already pushing herself up weakly. "See if you can't break something vital!" Alejandro called over to Melia, one slash opening the woman-vampire's throat. Gargling, she went down again, and this time he pinned her down with a knee, ignoring her hands clawing at his arms. It took three more hacks with his makeshift blade, and then a good sawing when he finally hit bone, but her head did come off, and she finally went limp.

See if she couldn't break something vital, sure. As soon as she learned what the hell was vital on vampires, as apparently the spinal cord wasn't. And as soon as the vampire on top of Melia let her up; she was fast in the water but understandably hampered on land, and this thing was faster than she was. Melia was landing hits wherever she could, but as far as she could see, they weren't doing too much damage. She was getting clawed up, adding a few more bites and scratches on various parts of her body to the deep one already on her throat. She shoved at the snarling vampire, lip curled in a silent snarl of her own, and tried to keep its hands occupied while she went after its throat with her teeth. It tasted terrible, but in her experience, it was hard for creatures to keep fighting when they were bleeding out. Problem was, the vampire's flesh was healing nearly as fast as Melia could rip holes in it.

Alejandro barreled over as much as a skinny boy like him could really barrel, dropping to a crouch and trying to hook a shoulder between the two of them. His leverage wasn't all that great, but he gave his best shot at heaving the vampire off of Melia. If they could get him off-balance and pinned, between the two them, he could get it's head off, too. He hoped. A tin trash can shard wasn't going to stay sharp for long, and hacking through a non-broken neck would probably be even harder.

The vampire's grip on Melia didn't break when Alejandro hit them, merely pulling her over with it. Melia took the opportunity to sink two of her fingernails into one of its eyes, but missed the second one. She did what she could to land some hits, interested more now in getting space between them to try for a better angle of attack, and was able to wrench herself away after a long scratch down the arm and a kick to her thigh that left her numb from that spot down. She limped away, breathing heavily but silently, hoping for a second to regroup before having to find a way to beat this thing down.

A moment, at least, Alejandro was going to give her. He pounced in the space Melia left, hitting and slashing with fist and make-shift blade, both, for all he was worth, aiming for the neck but mostly getting the bastard's face and arms. The vampire was fast, and all but the deepest cuts he made just healed up almost immediately. "I," he growled between hits, "hate. Vampires!"

"Yeah, well, it's not like we like you non-humans much, either," the vampire countered cockily, getting a good punch to the jaw that made the fallen angel see stars a moment. That bastard had better not have broken anything, dammit.

One second, Melia was watching Alejandro slash at the vampire and exchange not-so-witty repartee and the next, the vampire had somehow thrown Alex free and was on its feet to regroup. Melia launched herself at it, but was caught mid-jump and slammed unceremoniously to the ground. She couldn't breathe for a long second but didn't have time to think about that; she used her vantage point from the ground near the vampire to draw a leg back and slam her foot into the side of its knee, an extremely unnatural angle and a symphony of crunching accompanying her hit. Rolling away, she finally got her breath back with a huge indrawn gasp, making her way to Alejandro and trying to get him up, signing urgently. They needed to go. Now. While the thing couldn't catch up. She didn't know where, but 'away' was sounding good.

Picking himself up, waving off Melia's attempts at aid and signing both, Alejandro launched his trash-can knife at the fallen vampire, making a nice bulls-eye right in his eye. "This way," he said simply, and grabbed Melia's hand to run-- okay, limp; he'd twisted something in that fall, trying to rely on wings that weren't there and landing all wrong-- towards his house. They were only a block away. No matter how fast that bastard could heal, they ought to make it. Hopefully.

Melia was limping right along with him, much unsteadier on legs when she was injured than she was when she was at 100%, and even then she wasn't exactly best friends with balance, for all that she could pass for human. Her lungs hurt, neck muscles instinctively flexing in an attempt to draw extra air in through gills that currently didn't exist, blood dripping from her wounds. Still, she was tough, and damned if she'd let a fallen angel outrun her.

"My house is just down the street," Alejandro explained as they made their quick but uncomfortable way up the street. His head was aching-- vampires hit hard and apparently his staying power in a fight wasn't what it used to be-- and one low blow to the stomach was making his whole side cramp up. Holy fucking hell, he hated the Mourning Star right now. "Vampires... can't come into a house. Unless you invite them." And they sure as hell weren't going to be doing any inviting. He glanced behind him; the vampire back there wasn't getting up yet, but he was bent over his knee. Putting the pieces back together in there, somehow?

Melia glanced back a second after Alejandro's explanation, seeing the vampire start hobbling slowly after them in fits and starts, pausing to adjust something in its knee or eye every now and again. Point was it was starting to recover, so Melia dug deep for any energy reserves she had left, pushing Alejandro to go faster. Down the street. Surely they could get there in time. She didn't understand why vampires couldn't come in without an invitation - after all, wasn't it just a matter of opening the door and walking in? - but that was a question for later. Much later.

"Shit." There he was, getting up now and following. Alejandro guessed they had about a minute before the vampire was completely healed, and he forced himself to ignore the cramp in his side and push into a real run. He let go of Melia to dig in his pocket for his keys-- awkward while bouncing along painfully, but necessary. "That house. The one with the dark brown trim." He pointed wildly with his not-key-hunting hand. It was still a few houses away. Fuck it.

Melia didn't care about the color of the house, not as long as she could stay on Alejandro's heels. She was falling behind, but only slightly, pushing hard as she could. It had occurred to her that she could've changed back and used her voice to drive the creature away, but there was always the chance that it wouldn't work - it hadn't worked so well on Val, after all, and if she was stuck with a tail and no legs, she'd be at a serious disadvantage. So she ran, glancing back to keep an eye on the creature. It was starting to gain on them.

One of these days, Alejandro thought grimly, he needed to get a new gun. And a few knives. Maybe they'd be silver. In this town, apparently, one might need things like that. Or some kind of concentrated sunlight. Damn, wouldn't that be useful.

Unlike his body, which right now was not working at the level he'd come to expect of it. This Fallen business was fucked up. His attempt at bolting up the driveway-- the vampire was only two houses away, now, and still gaining, no to mention no longer limping-- was more of a stumble and awkward save on the porch railing before he managed to vault himself over it and jam his key into the lock.

Melia was right behind him - until the vampire put on a sudden, blurring burst of speed and was on her like she'd just been blindsided by a shark. Melia went down, cracking her head on the edge of the porch stairs in a blow that stunned her momentarily. She grappled with the vampire for a second, trying to give Alejandro time to get the door open. When she saw him get the key in the lock, Melia slammed an elbow into the vampire's head, giving her enough time to kick him away and scramble to her feet, tripping and falling against Alejandro.

The two of them went crashing through the door together, Melia knocking Alejandro into it and the door giving way beneath them to swing inwards to smack against the inside wall. The rebound gave Alejandro's shoulder a good whack, but it wasn't enough to keep him from scrambling the rest of the way inside, dragging Melia with him if he had to, and kicking the door shut behind him.

Melia was dazed, vaguely glad Alejandro had pulled her through the door. She had enough presence of mind to drag herself to her knees and lock the door, hands fumbling with the unfamiliar mechanism until it shot home. He'd said the vampire couldn't enter without an invitation, but she wasn't going to trust it with an unlocked door. She collapsed back to the floor once that was done, chest heaving silently as she tried to catch her breath, unfocused gaze staring at the ceiling.

Secure in the knowledge that they were safe now, Alejandro heaved himself to his feet, out of breath and side cramping worse than ever, and limped to the kitchen window, where the vampire had gone to peer in. He casually flipped him off, which got him a laugh out of the bastard, then pulled the curtains shut viciously.

Safe or not, he'd feel better with some lights on. He left Melia where she lay and started flipping on light switches, one in the kitchen, one in the living room, and one in the bedroom. There, plenty of light, and fuck the vampire being able to see in. He couldn't get in, and Alejandro was perfectly happy to taunt him with his inaccessible victims. "Now if he knows what's good for him, he'll just give up and go away. We're not coming out any time soon."

After a minute, Melia was able to pick herself up off the floor and make her way unsteadily into the kitchen. She, for one, didn't like the idea of the vampire peering in to check out his escaped prey all night. She collapsed into one of the chairs, signing to try and ask how long they'd have to wait before he left. Her gestures weren't terribly clear; if she'd been speaking, her words might've been a little slurred. Frowning, she reached up to touch where she'd whacked the porch stairs, just above the right temple, fingers coming away bloody. She sighed silently. It wasn't the worst she'd had, but it was bad enough. Wiping her fingertips on her already-ruined pants, she scrutinized Alejandro for injuries.

"Can't figure that out, bella, sorry," Alejandro told her. "Hold on, lemme get you something to write with." He had that pad of paper he'd lent her before around here someplace. Pen was easy, that was right on the kitchen counter, and-- aha, there it was. Wincing a bit, himself, he limped over from the coffee table in the living room to set the paper in front of her and offer the pen before putting his hand back to that cramp. Maybe sitting down was the right idea.

"We're both a bit of a mess, yeah," he agreed, catching her gaze on him. "I don't think I broke anything, but I'm definitely gonna be pretty tomorrow." He'd be a mess of bruises, he wasn't sure whether he'd torn something in his right calf-- that ankle was definitely twisted badly, though probably not actually sprained. His face and arms were all scraped up, and he was pretty sure he'd be trashing the pants. "You? Think anything's broken?"

Melia shook her head in answer to his question, taking the pen and staring at the paper for a second as if she couldn't remember how to write. Her brain caught up a moment later, though, and she scrawled, How long until we can leave? what is bella? She was scraped up as well, blood still trickling from her throat and forehead, though her scratches had mostly stopped oozing, and she'd be all sorts of colors tomorrow from the many times she'd been bowled over and slammed around, but nothing was broken.

"Bella means beautiful, and I don't think I'd want to set foot out there until dawn. Even if he leaves, there's obviously more of them." The gunshots, the explosion, and the screams: he was pretty sure they were all the same cause. He was trying to wrack his brain for what vampire lore he knew, but it'd been a while since he'd learned about the different types. "I'm guessing there's a bunch of them all over town, and the shape we're in, getting you to the lake might not happen."

He had to be joking. There was no way Melia was stuck inside this human dwelling until the sun rose; if she wasn't in water in the next few hours, she'd get sick, and she was desperate to avoid that. She shook her head vehemently, ignoring the way the movement made the room sort of spin and nausea to rise. No, she wrote for emphasis, I have to get back soon. I'll run fast. You're not far from the lake.

"I'm thinking... no. You look kind of like you're going to fall out of your chair, and you're still bleeding." Speaking of.. he heaved himself to his feet, steadied himself with a hand on the chair back, and limped over to the fridge to get some ice and a towel for that, for her. "You couldn't walk that far, let alone run." And Alejandro wasn't going to rescue her. He wasn't in good enough shape, himself, and dammit, he needed a real weapon before he braved those assholes again. And a better idea of what kind he faced. He knew there was a type that hunted in packs, but he couldn't remember anything more than that. Hopefully it'd come to him.

Melia wasn't sure why he'd just handed her some bits of frozen water in a rag. What is this for? she wrote, then shrugged it off because it didn't really matter. I can't stay here, she emphasized on her paper. I have to go back soon. Surely the vampire wouldn't be so stupid as to stick around somewhere where he couldn't get to them. Even Melia knew that once prey got to safety, it was time to find another to hunt.

"Put it on the side of your head, there. Where it's still bleeding a bit," Alejandro instructed, then set about getting one for himself, for his ankle, because it looked like it was already starting to swell. "It'll help." Once he settled he looked over her next note. "Look, if you want to go back out there and get your head bashed in, I can't fucking well stop you, but I'd rather you stay here and not get your head bashed in." He didn't know if she was just being stubborn, if she just didn't like his house, or had some legitimate reason, but even if the current vampire left, she wouldn't be able to fight off any others who happened to be wandering around.

Melia looked skeptically at the rag but shrugged and put it on her wound as directed. She couldn't feel the cold, so she didn't know if it was doing any good. She sighed silently; she didn't really want to give up her reasoning but he wouldn't help her if she didn't. I can't stay out of the water all night, she wrote reluctantly. I've already been out since this morning. If I don't get back, I'll get sick. And possibly die. She wasn't giving that one up. Will you help me or not?

Propping his foot up on the table and folding the ice-filled towel over it, Alejandro gave her writing a look and a frown. "Does it have to be lake-water?" He jerked a thumb in the direction of the bathroom. "Because I've got a bathtub we can fill up." Which she'd only mostly fit in, but it was better than nothing. "And a shower I can turn on, too, so it's like you're sitting in water and getting rained on. Will that help?"

Melia paused to consider that. She usually slept submerged, but if she could at least get and keep most of herself wet, it might work. She'd still end up sick, but not nearly as sick as she would if she stayed human all night. Maybe, she wrote. It doesn't have to be lake water, just water.

"We'll get you in there, then." The thought of getting up immediately made him groan a little and drop his head back. "In a minute, anyway." He probably ought to offer her something to eat or drink, though he had no idea if he had anything in the house palatable to a mermaid. Did mermaids eat frozen pizza? Or fruit? Because yeah, Jezebelle had gotten him into fruit, of all things. But getting her something to eat also meant getting up.

It's not urgent, Melia wrote, not feeling particularly up to moving right now, either. I've got a little bit before it gets bad. She was feeling a little woozy, body aching from head to toe. She was cool with sitting for a while. Not moving was nice.

The two of them sat there, pretty much in silence except for Alejandro shifting the ice to various parts of his body when the ankle decided it was cold enough and was going to start twitching on him. Everything hurt, and that... didn't seem right. It felt all wrong. He was better than this. He could've taken a beating like that, before, and hardly batted an eye.

Well, all right, he'd have hurt, but not like this. Did being mortal mean this, too? This... pansy weakness?

That wasn't something Alejandro wanted to think about, so when it struck across his consciousness, he gave up on the sitting and the ice. Pushing himself to his feet, he set the ice on the table and started slowly and limpingly-- fucking damn the Mourning Star-- towards the bathroom. "C'mon, let's get you in the water before you, like, turn into sand, or some shit."

I don't turn into sand, Melia wrote on the pad as she made her slow, painful way after him. Just get sick. She was not looking forward to sitting out the night in some human's bath tub without the benefit of the usual first aid she'd be able to give herself in the lake. Why would I turn into sand? That's stupid. She slapped the pad flat onto his chest so he could take it and read it; she couldn't walk and hold it steady at the same time, not with the amount of effort required just to walk in a straight line.

Scrambling to catch it before it dropped, Alejandro looked over the note and shrugged. "I don't know, I don't know anything about mermaids except what you've told me." He started walking again after scanning it, and ducked around her, wincing at the way his body protested to the little twist that required, to get to the bathroom first and get the water started before she made her even more laborous way in. "How hot or cold do you want it?" he called back over the sound of the tub's faucet. Which was pointless, since she couldn't answer, but hey. He wasn't running at top speed, here.

Melia was in the bathroom behind him a second later, shrugging to his question because she didn't care about the temperature. Warm was nice but she couldn't feel cold, so that was that. She started to strip off her jeans and top, moving slowly, painfully, grimacing as the effort required to bend and get the pants off made her muscles protest. Once nude, she squeezed past Alejandro and tried to decide the best way to get in. If she stepped in, she'd fall the second the water triggered her change. She didn't think she had the strength left to support herself on her arms but she wasn't about to go in ass-first and erase the last bit of dignity she had left, especially if this was the size of the pool she'd have to deal with all night. Sighing silently, Melia braced herself with a hand on either side of the tub, stepping in and holding her weight on her hands immediately as her legs melded, scaled, grew fins, and turned blue-ish green, gills appearing on her neck, nails lengthening and sharpening. It was definitely a tight fit; Melia was 6'1" from head to tail and the limited space left her tail in a rather uncomfortable position, unable to stretch out, and it'd only get worse if she wanted to get her gills underwater once the tub was filled. "This sucks," she said plainly, trying out the human slang.

Watching the metamorphosis from human to mermaid was definitely fascinating. Alejandro had still been fairly drunk when he'd seen it last, and it'd been dark and in the lake. This was a much closer, clearer view, and he didn't care if it looked like he was staring, he wanted to watch. "Hey, it's better than dying," he answered. "When the tub's full--" Which wouldn't take much longer, given the fact that her own weight was displacing a lot of what was already there. "--I can turn the shower on, up there." He pointed. "Then at least you'll have water on all sides. Will that help?"

"Not for long or it will overflow," Melia said, trying to prop as much of her tail as she could on the edge of the tub so that there would be more water in it - she could deal with some dry scales if it meant she could sleep mostly-submerged, or at least to the neck. "Why were we attacked?" she asked instead, trying to figure out what happened instead of bitching about how much tonight was going to suck for her, stuck in a tiny tub while Alex got to sleep in his bed all comfortable-like or however humans slept.

"Could always open the drain a bit to counter it." Alejandro was being helpful, today, apparently. But then, it was Melia, so he was allowed, if he wanted to. He pushed himself up from the floor and switched the faucet from the tub to the showerhead. "But yeah, not all night, or anything." He flipped the toilet lid down and settled down on it. It was more comfortable than the floor, marginally. "My guess was we were attacked for dinner, and then they were pissed when they couldn't eat us. Anything not human tastes like shit to vampires."

"So it's completely normal for humans to make things in their towns explode and to shoot each other after dark?" Melia countered, raising an eyebrow. She forgot to look scornful in the next second, though, because it was raining down delicious water and she was suddenly busy wetting her scales, soaking her hair, and generally soaking up water wherever she could. "Because those two things happened first, remember?"

"Humans do stupid shit," Alejandro shrugged. "Though usually not shit like that, in small towns, unless they're trying to start up some kind of gang. Or want to get arrested." The huge number of police in this town would make that hard. "But it could be that those two weren't the only psychotic vampires on the loose. Vampires don't usually hunt in pairs, as far's I remember-- they're either alone, or in a pack." And what little he remembered about the pack ones said they were destructive and would fight anything, but that was about all he could remember.

"Maybe the pack split up into smaller groups for this hunt," Melia said, shrugging. "It wouldn't be the first time it's happened, especially if they're going after the whole town. We used to do it whenever we were trying to catch large schools. If you leave them nowhere to run - or swim - when you attack they all fall into chaos." He'd obviously never hunted in a pack - not that she'd call her family group a pack (or a family, for that matter, for all they were related. Most of them.) "If a pack of vampires came into town to hunt humans, that could be exactly what they're doing."

"I could believe it. If so, this town's going to see a lot of hell the next few days. Or weeks, depending on how many there are and how long before they decide they can't kill everyone here." Or, you know, they did kill everyone here. Not too pleasant a thought-- not that he minded the idea of less annoying people around, as long as it didn't mean he'd be among the dead ones.

Not a thought he'd really ever entertained before he Fell. He'd felt invincible, then. Now... ugh. "So yeah. Likely there's a lot of them out there. Makes me glad I'm not working nights until Monday, again, that's for sure." Some other guy, probably one with a car, could go home at some small hour of the morning.

"Actually, they probably could kill everyone here," Melia said speculatively. "If they're truly hunting the town, they'd know how to cripple it. Take down the strongest members and then pick off the weak ones whenever they want." She started gingerly washing out the bites and scratches marking her neck and arms, the water taking on a faintly pink tinge as blood was washed away. "If you're supposed to go to work at night," she said, trying to scrunch down a little to get her gills under water, "then you shouldn't. Tell them you're not coming until this is over."

Watching her, Alejandro figured he probably ought to do that. Wash off and all that. Except, of course, she was in the only shower in the house. Well, shit. He'd wash over the sink in the kitchen, later, or something.... "Dunno if I can do that, but hey, if you're concerned about me, it's gotta be bad." He smirked wearily at her. "We'll see if the bastards are still here, then." Wishful thinking, maybe, but there was no point thinking about it when it was a good three nights off. Maybe he'd get himself a car before then.

"It's not concern," Melia said plainly. "If you're being hunted, it would be smart to stay where you're safe during the hours of the hunt. Otherwise you're just stupid prey and probably deserve to get eaten." Sure as shit she wasn't going to be leaving the lake once the sun set; sure, vampires could enter the lake where they apparently couldn't enter houses, but the lake was Melia's hunting ground, and no vampire would last five minutes against her in her home. Especially not when she had use of her voice to make them drown themselves. She didn't care of they were susceptible or not - she'd make them submit.

"Allow a guy his illusions now and then, wouldja?" Alejandro protested, but he was too tired to be really annoyed. "You really are shit at that. Though at least it keeps said guy on his toes." Him and dangerous women, yep. It was probably going to be a problem at some point, but he didn't want to think about it right now. "So you gonna be needing anything? To eat, drink, a pillow if you don't mind it getting soaked?" He eyed some of the cuts on her and smirked again a bit. "Band-aids?"

"What illusions?" Melia asked. "What am I bad at? You humans are so odd sometimes." She shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not going to stay in here all night, I don't think," she said, "or I won't be able to walk tomorrow. I'll stay as long as I need to make sure I can spend the rest of the night with legs without getting sick. Where can I go to sleep after that?" She scowled at him. "I don't think it's funny," she said irritably. "I wouldn't have been walking there if it wasn't for you, and also you're welcome for helping you not die." Sure, he'd killed the one, but only because she'd incapacitated it first. "I hurt and you're smiling about it. Maybe next time I'll let them get you."

It really wasn't worth it to argue with her about manly illusions about what women thought of them, so Alejandro just let that drop. "Angels," he corrected. "Fallen or not, I'm not human. Or that bastard out there would've liked the taste of me just fine. And hey, calm down, I wasn't laughing. The idea of band-aids on a mermaid is just weird, okay?" Maybe he wasn't the only one tired and a little cranky. "You can come share my bed, if you want, or the couch in the living room if you don't."

"Fine, you angels are so odd sometimes," Melia said, sighing. She was definitely tired and cranky and uncomfortable, and knowing she was stuck cramped up in here for another few hours was disheartening. Reaching over, she turned off the shower before the bathtub overflowed, trickling water through her cupped hands over her tail, moving onto her shoulders and hair. "I might share with you," she said. "I don't know." It depended on whether or not his bed was more comfortable than the couch.

"Well, you're welcome if you want to," Alejandro said, settling back a little against the tank behind him, shutting his eyes tiredly. "If you want anything to eat, you can check the fridge-- the big white thing in the kitchen, that I got the ice out of. There might be something in there you'd like." If she was lucky. He doubted it, but hey, he'd offered, the rest was up to her. Rest time over, he pushed himself up. "I'm going to go get cleaned up, too. Holler if you need anything, all right?"

Melia doubted it too, as she didn't really think Alejandro had any raw fish in his fridge, but she'd gone longer periods without eating and she'd survive if she had to wait for morning at the lake to catch her breakfast. "All right," she said as he stood, shifting uncomfortably again and reminding herself that it was just for a few more hours at the most. "Good night, Alejandro," she said.