damnpire | Kenos Inbox

[ The (very mild) surprise on D's face seems like a big enough hint to Gray, who contrary to her passive demeanor, is pretty used to having to dial in to tiny details.

She has a lot of space in her heart for Dokja, but in this moment she's exasperated as he comes bearing chicken noodle soup. What was D about to say? Is D's alleged vampirism supposed to be a secret?? It's hard to tell if Dokja is in the know; he was the one who wanted to have dinner, but if D is anything like Liem (who isn't a full vampire anyway), he might be perfectly capable of eating normal food...

Gray watches, mildly stressed out as D lowers his spoon into his bowl with as little emotion as he's showed for most of the past ten minutes. If he really looks like he's forcing himself to eat, should she do something about it?

She absently pulls her soup closer, though her appetite is now nearly as absent as D's. Is she probably staring a little too intently at D? Yes. ]

Um.... Mr. Dokja, would you mind slicing some bread and cheese for me?

[ A task she would normally be happy to do for herself, but she would also like Dokja to scoot away for another moment. ]

[ If Dokja ever finds out about D's vampirism, he won't even be able to look back and think of the signs, because there were no signs (to him). That's how blind and stupid he is when it comes to the things right in front of him, and that's why he doesn't think anything's up when he serves chicken noodle soup to a man who looks like he came straight out of a vampire erotica.

He nods once to D before his attention is pulled over to Gray, and Dokja tucks the tray under an arm as he makes his way back into the kitchen. ]

Sure thing, Gray.

[ That's an easy enough task to complete. And it'll certainly leave an opening for these two to get back to their gossiping...

Anyway, here's some background noise of a bread knife sawing at some bread. ]

[Thank you, Dokja, for being so dumb and easily enabled.

D surprisingly puts soup in his mouth as Gray makes her request. This probably doesn't help Dokja's lack of knowledge. D doesn't vomit, or shrivel, or twitch in disgust. He eats perfectly normally because, like Liem, he is still half human.

The soup isn't even bad. He just doesn't have much taste for human food, and often he is overly paranoid about what people are putting into it. Case in point: a hundred and twenty year old woman poisoned him with tea sometime before he arrived here.]

It's alright, [he says first quietly after Dokja has moved away.] I'm not here for that sort of thing.

I came because he invited me.

[And it was a better option than Dokja's conversational dodge to appear and ask Gray about pie.]

[ How simple. And relatable, because it's exactly how Dokja hooked Gray into this.

D's reassurance is as good as an admission to Gray's ears. She relaxes not because she suspected D of lying in wait to suck Dokja's blood, but because it's the first clear sign of D's consideration for Dokja as a friend — even moreso if D wasn't really looking forward to the dinner itself.

It may come across as a non sequitur, but Gray asks quickly, ]

Do you like to eat food like this?

[Dokja did this to them... Throwing an awkward bomb into the middle of them and then walking away.

D glances again at the soup below. The thoughtful gesture is what means more to him than anything else. The edges of his face soften slightly.]

Not particularly, [he admits quietly,] but the food isn't what is really appreciated.

[He's a good boy, so the company is what's nice regardless of how deeply he believes his life will always be better alone.]

... I understand.

[ That's sweet of D to say, and works further in favor of him being a very nice friend and person beneath his high concept vamp-goth exterior. But as one of the makers of the soup, and the one who subtly pushed for something more substantial than seasoned water, Gray feels some responsibility for D being forced to eat something he doesn't prefer.

Making up her mind and having no time to lose (depending on Dokja's slicing speed), Gray picks up her bowl in both hands and begins to chug her soup with unlikely speed. Once she hits the halfway point, she shovels a sizeable portion of chicken and noodle into her mouth. Finally she leans forward to swap her half-empty bowl with D's, smoothly so that it hardly makes a sound and no drop of soup is spilled.

There will be no dialogue in this tag because Gray is too busy trying to speedrun these chicken noodles into her stomach. Please proceed. ]

[HELLO????

Before, D only looked very slightly surprised. A subtle shift in his brows and his mouth. But now, his expression is full-on shocked by Gray's sudden soup guzzle. WH-- Slowly, one of his hands begin to rise, only to stop before it can get much farther than the edge of the table. There's no use; she is drinking the soup too fast for him to try to stop her, and if he says anything, Dokja will also join him in bewildered confusion.

His hand returns to his lap, careful of the black cat who is somehow unaware (or uninterested) in its owner's antics.

Both eyes lower to the half-empty bowl slid in front of him. He's really sitting here with the spoon still in one hand and a the You didn't have to do that embedded into his haunted Victorian eyes. What does he say to this?!]

...Thank you.

[ I guess I've returned for this dinner. And so has Eustace, coming back from (throws dart) werewolf training out in the great somewhere. The good news is that Gray will no longer have to be the sole person in charge of guzzling soup in this house, because now there is a second non-vampire mouth ready to consume nutrients. The bad news is that it's going to be awhile, because first he has to get over his surprise at seeing that one guy he forcibly kissed that one Oracle gone by, and then he has to shower so he doesn't look and smell like a mess. (Watch me disappear again for ten tags.)

Was dinner supposed to be today?? Apparently he missed the memo.

He looks at D, showing more emotion than Eustace has ever seen on his face in the short time they've known each other. He looks at Gray, cheeks stuffed full of noodle soup like a squirrel preparing for oncoming winter. He looks over at Dokja in the kitchen, completely oblivious as he slices bread. There is clearly something going on here and he has chosen a very bad time to interrupt.

Not to worry though, because he has a great solution for all of this. ]

I'll be right back.

[ Carry on, children. Don't mind him as he beelines for the bedroom. ]

[ Sad... if it weren't for her gob full of chicken noodles, Gray would be happily greeting Eustace, but then he's already gone. She shoots him a quick "welcome back" via Communion instead.

Unbeknownst to her, the body she's been blursed with has exceptional food compactor potential, so she packs her mouthful away quickly before shooting a small smile in response to D's thank you. Moving on,,, ]

Have you met Mr. Eustace?

[ It's a good thing Dokja doesn't really have a talent for cutting bread and cheese because he's too busy concentrating on making clean cuts rather than eavesdropping or paying attention to Gray and D at the table. That's how he misses Gray chugging a bowl of soup, and it's only when the front door opens that he looks up to greet Eustace with a quick smile before his attention returns to the food.

Whatever Eustace is up to can't be more important than the way this cheese is being cut in a lopsided manner.

Anyway, once that's done (or as done as Dokja can make it), he brings over the poor man's charcuterie board to the table, setting it down between D and Gray. ]

Oh, yeah, they know each other. They—

[ Dokja stops short when his gaze lands on the half-empty bowl in front of D, and his eyebrows instantly shoot up. ]

When was the last time you ate? Four months ago?

[ GENUINELY STARTLED ]

[HELP, HE IS STUCK BETWEEN THE AWKWARD OF GRAY GUZZLING SOUP AND EUSTACE ENTERING.

D's attention turns to Eustace as the man enters, his dark eyes looking up from beneath his lashes. He doesn't seem surprised by Eustace in general. Probably because this is the man who blundered through a love curse and kissed him.

D can't imagine what Eustace must be seeing: him at the table with a cat in his lap, barefoot, without cape or pauldrons or hat, and looking like a much younger man than when Eustace probably had mind to smooch him, sorry; Gray with squirrel cheeks diagonal to him, clearly in the middle of conspiring; and Dokja oblivious in the back cutting bread and cheese. This is such a disaster of a visit.

He obligingly lets Eustace leave, and he looks between Gray and Dokja.]

We've met.

[He does not say how. That part isn't important at all.

His eyes drop to the exchanged bowl in front of him. He isn't particularly fond of lying, but he will settle for going along with a little white one.]

...It's been some time. [...] It was good.

[He had tasted it!!]

[ There really is a lot going on here, but Gray can rest easy knowing that she's done her part. She just has to worry about her own noodle soup now, which she spoons up like a normal person. She will grab some laboriously sliced bread and cheese later.

So that Dokja doesn't get too suspicious about the state of D's bowl (though how could he possibly suspect the truth), she quickly redirects the conversation. ]

How did you and D meet, Mr. Dokja?

[ Hopefully that is a nice safe topic with no kissing involved. ]

[ Well, he supposes he should be relieved that D likes the soup, even if it's apparently being inhaled at record speed.

It's with some hesitation that Dokja finally takes his own seat, expression a little bit concerned as he swirls his spoon in his soup. What does D mean when he says it's been some time since he'd last eaten?? Is D also the kind of person who would let himself waste away if given the chance??

Lots to think about, though his thoughts are broken into by Gray's question, and Dokja pauses for a moment when he recalls their first meeting. It's sad to think about now, considering it had been Dextera who had brought them together, and Dokja is reminded of how much he misses his... his friend. ]

Dextera took us along to deal with an investigation he'd received. We worked closely together then.

[It'd be funny if Dokja somehow also had some kind of kissing incident involved in meeting D. But thankfully, it was less awkward than poor Eustace's initial meeting.

D feels sort of bad Gray has to eat two bowls of soup for his sake when he could have maybe sipped on it enough for Dokja to be satisfied. He could have given it to the dog under the table... Why didn't they do that?

The way he sort of Looks at Dokja at the explanation. He has not forgotten how awful Dokja had been during that time, nor has he forgotten how little Dokja told him later about it. It is sad Dextera is gone, however.]

You have not heard from him since I spoke to you last, have you?

[ Awful? Dokja? That doesn't sound like him. :3

Anyway, he eats a spoonful of soup because it's in front of him and this is a dinner. It's okay soup... Dokja also doesn't have much of an appetite to begin with, but he'll go through the motions with company around. Also the soup is not good enough to be scarfing it down so he's still kind of mystified about D's half-empty bowl. ]

I haven't, no. I think it's safe to assume he won't be back.

[ He tries to keep the Depression from slipping into his voice, but it's tough. Dextera had been one of his very first friends, and this is a terrible conversation to have at the table, so he switches it up. This is supposed to be about kindling a companionship between the teens, so Dokja looks back over at Gray. ]

What were you guys talking about while I was in the kitchen?

[ Gray wasn't close to Dextera, but she did know him. News of another of the old Shards disappearing is noteworthy, but no longer surprising. Eustace disappearing for the short time he did will probably be the biggest shock of that nature she'll ever feel.

She sips at The Soup Formerly Known as D's, which she definitely isn't hungry for anymore. Eustace is the last hope that someone in this house will enjoy this sad meal. Gray rewinds the conversation in her head for any answer to Dokja's question that isn't "vampires." She could be oblique and go with "pie," but she fears that will lead to a pie getting dumped on D somehow. In the end she lays down the gentle truth with a straight face. ]

It's a secret.

[ Please deal with it. ]

[ It hasn't been ten tags yet but this seems a good a time as any for Eustace to come back from the world's fastest shower, hair still damp and sticking up in a few places. It's fine, this is his house (not really but close enough) and if he wants to look slightly rumpled for dinner then that's fine.

A cursory glance back at the table shows that a smidge of the awkwardness seems to have dissipated, though considering that he still has no idea what's going on he opts to busy himself with ladling soup in the kitchen while he gathers context clues. Ah wait, he does have one question, which he silently directs to Dokja via Communion.

Are you trying to set them up?

Just checking. Dokja doesn't usually take on the role of generous host, so something must be going on. In the meantime, the rest of them can continue their out loud conversation. ]

[Eustace is asking the real questions.

D's hums quietly in acknowledgement to Dokja. He thinks Dokja should accept the Depression to move forward in finding out the whys, but it's fine. He understands. D isn't sure if he would say Dextera is gone for good necessarily.

Eustace and a few others are testaments to that in his mind.

His rusty eyes glance between Dokja and Gray. Normally, he would say nothing since Gray did the explaining for them, but it feels rude to do in the current Kim household. Everything is awkward enough already.]

Getting to know each other.

[NOT IN THE WAY THEY WANTED PROBABLY, BUT THAT ALSO IS FINE.

He will...... pet this cat as Gray is forced to eat his soup.]

[ Everyone using b/w icons forcing my hand to do the same.

Dokja doesn't look at all bothered by Gray wanting to keep the conversation between her and D private. In fact, he's even a little pleased by it, more so with D's response. Yes, make those secrets, forge those bonds, and prove Dokja successful in this endeavor to get two teenagers of similar temperaments to get along with each other.

And not in a romantic sense, which he mind beams at Eustace. ]

As friends. Come over here and help me.

[ He smiles at both D and Gray, clearly happy that this didn't erupt into some sort of tragedy. No broken tables, no trading insults, no rude demands... Who would have thought this possible after previous experiences. ]

Great! That's great. What else should we talk about while we eat? Gray? Any ideas?

[ tfw your colored icons are still mostly b/w

Gray glances up when Eustace returns from his breakneck shower, then tunes back in to the table conversation just in time to get put on the spot. Hello?? She takes on the look of a deer in the headlights. A master of conversation she is not — but then, none of them seem to be. This house is in a sad state of affairs. ]

Ah, um... How about the book cafe?

[ D doesn't look like he'd go within ten yards of such an establishment, but you never know... Gray looks at him hopefully. ]

Have you been by yet? Mr. Dokja owns it, and we help out sometimes...

[ uses one whole non-b/w icon just for yuul

This may be a silent Communion conversation but his brows are raising right now in disbelief. Help Dokja?? Hello, these are two perfectly capable people who could forge a friendship on their own if they really wanted to. Eustace doesn't see the point in forcing things, but he's also the person with the fewest friends in this house, so maybe his opinion isn't worth anything.

He finishes ladling his soup (soup?? whose great idea was it to serve soup at a group supper) before trundling to the dining table and taking a seat, whereupon he doesn't make a single effort to join in the conversation and instead silently drinks his soup. It's okay soup, he supposes. It would be better if it was stew.

There truly was no point in me coming back to tag this thread. ]

[No, we want you here, and now you are stuck with us in this most awkward thread imaginable even if Dokja refuses to believe it.

D's eyes lift in acknowledgement to Eustace's table arrival, but they don't linger. Dokja really is the only person at this table who doesn't mind making small talk???]

I haven't been inside.

[His gaze shifts from Gray to Dokja as if he thinks Dokja will spare the three of them by embellishing on this book cafe in which he so owns.

Hilariously, D is quite fond of books because he is actually a nerd, so he would shock everyone entering by standing in a book cafe with his gloomy Bloodborne aesthetic.

Usually his books are scientific, though. But Byleth did convince him to write a short romance story as a gift to Byleth...?]

[ The book cafe is an excellent topic change, and one that Dokja eagerly grabs on to. His eyes light up, brightening even further when Eustace finally takes his seat, and now he's surrounded by people he's quite fond of.

Maybe everyone else is being stiff and awkward, but Dokja is genuinely enjoying himself. ]

Come by when you have the time. It's not too far from our house, and...

[ Pause. Actually, ]

Where do you live, anyway?

[ Eustace's ears are always welcome in a thread. And the guy attached to the ears is always welcome at Gray's table, so she looks at him with a brief smile as he sits. His presence is as a space heater to her soul.

Anyway I'm sorry because Gray has nothing to add to Dokja's question, so she continues to chip away at her soup. She also has a bit of that crooked sliced bread, just because it looks so sad and Dokja worked so hard on it. ]

[ Can't believe I have to sit here and write another tag of Eustace eating soup. And yet that's exactly what he's doing, spooning himself chicken noodle soup while he sits silently and listens to Dokja lead the conversation. He never agreed to help out with the whole friend-making thing, technically, so it's not like he's breaching any contract here.

Still, it's a little awkward for them all to sit around like lame ducks waiting for their turn to pipe up so he (once again) sends out a little Communion message, this time to Gray.

Has dinner been okay so far?

If only he could be normal and say these things out loud. ]

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kicks my way in here now that i've been promised feet pics (no)

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