You and Me, Love and Pride

They stood on opposite ends of the apartment staring at eachother. One sat on the couch with a book in his hands, he stared at her from behind the sunglasses that always covered his eyes.

She stood in the doorway of their apartment, she was returning from her friends apartment, her face was riddled with shock and pain at seeing him.

He felt it too, the strange tension between them. He also felt the pain she felt, it ripped out of her and through him. What was worse was that he could feel that she feared him. He had always enjoyed making others fear him, but never like this, he hadn't wanted this. He felt all of this, but he kept his emotions very well hidden, so to her he must of looked like he was angry or that he simply didn't care.

He examined her from behind his glasses. She truely was pretty, she was also kind and sympathetic. She was also danger prowened and stubborn. The girl could be complained about and praised in equal amounts. But now she was moving again so he snapped out of his thinking to watch her.

She was slowley and quietly shutting the door behind her, almost as if she was afraid that noise or sudden movenment would make him attack her. It was a sad fact, but it truely was what she felt, and what was sadder was the fact that this feeling that she felt caused him to feel a most painful regret. He didn't like feeling regret. It wasn't something that he was used to.

Slowley now she came forward to stand in front of him. She kept her distance though, as if by keeping away she would be able to escape him should he spring at her. As if keeping her distance would prevent him from catching her if he ever wanted to.

was this over before? Before it ever began? Your kiss! Your calls! Your crutch like the Devils got you hands!

'Oh.' He thought as he realized that the noise he had been hearing came from the two headphones dangleing from her shoulders.

Tally kept her distance from Bloodscream, she had been hoping that he wasn't home since after their "little spat" they hadn't talked to one another much. That and it almost hurt to see him now, tally would have given anything to stop the pain.

"Blood." she greeted him, hoping that he wouldnt yell at her for staying at Sonias without telling him.

"Tally." He used her real name to greet her and watched her jump in response. So that's how things were going to be. Silence followed her name, building a fragile tension between them. The only real noise in the room was tallys ipod which was still spewing forth it's lyrics.

This was over before. Before it ever began. Your lips! Your lies! Your lust! Like the devils in your hands.

Tally jumped at her name and starred at Blood wide-eyed, he NEVER used her name. Then suddenly and unexplainably tally found herself swept through with a type of anger she had never known.

What right did that bastard have to call her by her first name. He had denied her, run away from her, ignored her, and most of all he had offered no explanation for any of it!

Bloodscream did not let his surprise show as he felt Tallys body consumed with rage. He didn't move as she advanced upon him, nor did he get out of the way as her tiny hand came down on the side of his face.

Bloodscream found that it didn't bother him. Let her be angry with him, let her hit him and scream at him. At least it would be better than the silence and the guilt. He shuddered at the thought, anything would be better than the guilt. Besides it wasn't like it actually hurt him.

He feels a thrill of terror through tally and realizes that she must think he's angry at her now. Part of him tells him that he should be, but he can't bring himself to agree with it, at least not yet. He turns to look at her again, she actually knocked off his glasses when she hit him and now she has to look at his inhuman eyes.

'serves her right' a snide little voice in his mind whispers. Bloodscream raises his eyes to meet hers, he expects her to recoil at seeing the black pools that are his eyes. Instead he is surprised to see her meet his gaze and hold it.

"Milady?" his voice is quiet

"Milady?" he asked again. Tally stared at his eyess refusing to answer him, his eyes were like the night sky only with no stars, completeley full to the brim with inkey blackness.

".....You're such a jackass blood." Her anger drained out of her.

"Hmnnn...." Bloodscream placed his sunglasses back on his face and rose from the couch. Towering over Tally he found himself struck with how small she was. Both of them stood in silence, daring the other to make the first move.

"And what was it that thou wanted from me milady?" Blood asked getting tired of the whole thing and cutting straight to the point.

"I want an explanation. " She said firmly stepping forward so that she was nearly chest to chest (or chest to stomach as the case might be) with blood.

"You wanted me to understand that you wouldn't always be around to protect me, and I understood that. You wanted me to be able to defend myself, now I can. You wanted me to figure out what the hell I wanted, and I did. I came back to the city and explained it like a mature adult. And you turned around and plain ignored me! You didn't even tell me why!" Tally let herself settle back into a calm visage.

"I want you to at least tell me why, I don't care how long it takes me, I'll figure it out. I'll learn to understand it." She looked at him with new resolution.

Bloodscream sighed mentally, he could feel tallys resolve pouring through the link that he had with her. She wasn't going to leave it.

"Thou wishes to know why?" He sent her a glare that would have withered most people, but she stood tall. Tally was not most people.

"Fine then, if milady wishes to know then milady will know," he said with mock curtisy.

"The reason milday is simply, I. Am. A. Villian." Tally moved to interrupt but Blood stopped her.

" And because I am not what thou wants me to be. Milady I am a villian, I will always be so. I can be cruel, and evil, manipulative and sadistic. I am all of these things and more, and I do not wish to change myself. I know what lies in thine heart maiden. Thou wouldst wish me to be kind and loving, thou wouldst wish for me to show affection to thou as kieran doth to sonia. But I never will, to do so would not be me, and I shall never sacrafice mine true self simply because another wishes me to."

Tally stared at bloodscream in shock, he was partially right but he was also wroung.

"You're right, I don't like it when your cruel or mean." She looked up at him and her resolve hardened to steel. "But I came to like you for you blood, that includes everything that you do." Tally took a deep breathe and continued.

"I don't want what Sonia and Kie have. That's Sonia and Kie , that's what Sonia and Kie have. I don't even know what i want in a relatioship." Bloodscream moved to interrupt her and this time it was she who stopped him.

"I said I don't know what I want in a relationship Blood, not what I don't want in general."

"And what..." Bloodscream looked down at her through his sunglasses, "doth thou want milady?"

"I want a chance." Tally looked right back at him. "I want to try. I'm not asking you to be anything you don't want to be. I DON'T want you to be anything you don't want to be. But I want you to let me try."

Tally looked at bloodscream with a determination that she never had before.

Bloodscream was awe of the determination that he was feeling from tally, never before had the child once showed or felt this much resolve in one thing. More than that though he was struck by the truthness of her words. She was exuding a painful honesty, every word was true and more than anything she wanted him to know that those words were true. That all she truely wanted was a chance.

And a chance for what? A chance to love him, for him to let her try and learn how to love him, and for him to let her get him to try and love her. The sheer desperation in her wanting for him to believe her was almost to much to bear. Slowley he leaned down until his forehead nearly touched her own, until he was looking right down into her glass green eyes.

A ungloved hand reached up and trailed from her cheek to her jaw, where the fingers touched bloody lines blossomed and ruby colored drops rolled down her face.

Tally gasped slightly at the pain in her cheek, sometimes when Bloodscream took blood it didn't hurt, other times though.....

Bloodscream let her blood roll down his bared fingers and restrained hiself from exsorbing them.

"I am not a romantic like thine friend sonia milady." He spoke in a calm low tone. "I will not hold thee for ages, i do not "cuddle", I will not passionalty kiss thee, I will not send thee gardens of flowers or troves of gifts, and i will certainly not serenade thee."

The lines on her face stopped bleeding. "I am not a lovable person milady, knowing that doth thou still wish to try? Doth thou still wish to persue me?"