Smiling, she pressed against his hand.
"I was more thinking of in the future and apologies."
Winking, she brought one leg up to wrap around his, using him as an anchor as she re-adjusted herself beneath his weight. Leaning up had ruined her comfortable position and she had to fix that.

"So, in the future, when I decide to wield my manly powers of tickling I shall think, rather seriously, about apologizing. Later. After I've extracted whatever promise, forfeits or secrets I need." Moving to lay beside her he tucked her close, his palm laying warm over her stomach.

Wiggling closer, she took his hand and placed it under her shirt on her bare skin.
"I'll remember that. And then I'll flip the situation and be on top, once again."
Turning to look at him, she smiled demurely.

Lifting a brow Tal gave her a look, "You'll be outta luck, I'm not ticklish, and even if I were I sure as heck wouldn't admit it to someone." A sudden weight joined them on the bed and the cat came up to stare at Kenly before flopping down beside her head. "Ah, his majesty has returned, the food must be vanquished."

Giggling, she reached up and petted Biscuit on the head, smiling widely as his baritone purr started, her fangs catching the light as she did so.
"I didn't say anything about tickling."

"Now now, using unearthly, magikal things against a mere human is just bad form," he stretched a hand over her to scratch at the contented cat's chin. "Besides, I've no recourse but to start eating a lot of garlic and taking up gothic-y religions then."

Grinning at him, she wrinkled her nose.
"Actually, I like garlic. That's a myth. Though, if you start eating lots of it, I might not ever kiss you again."
Scritching the cat's side, she couldn't help but smile at the simple animal.

"I actually eat a fair deal of it...it keeps away mosquitoes and with my fair skin I'm fair game. But I promise to always have a breath mint around, should I want to do," he leaned over and kissed her quickly. "That."

"Mmm... I didn't catch that the first time."
Leaning over, she kissed him back, then laid her head on his chest to listen to his heart beat, giggling as the large feline forced his way closer as well.
"Holy water isn't very effective, either. Or crosses, unless the wielder is a true believer in its ability. Then it's not just crosses, but any 'holy' item, regardless of the religion."

Wanting to pur just like his cat Tal reluctantly eased out of the second kiss. "Well, you're safe, the holiest thing I have is a set of broken in dance shoes...not exactly a sign of deep faith. Besides, even if they did work could you imagine the bad press it would be, 'Vampire beaten away by ratty old dance shoes'. Very undignified."

Giggling against his chest, she nodded a bit.
"Indeed. And could you imagine that vampire? They'd never be able to show themselves in public again. All their dignity would be gone. It'd be nothing but sewer rats for the rest of their lives."
Shuddering at the thought, she wiggled closer.

"Oh the PR nightmare! No self respecting person would want to even CLAIM to be a vampire! They'd take up pseudonyms and nom de guerres like, 'Methuselah' or 'Nosferatu' or something involving a coalition. Even the sewer rats would mock them, though the alligators might welcome the competition for space...."

Grinning again, she nodded.
"I'm sure the gators would appreciate it. Easy dinner, after all."
Rolling a bit so she could stare at the ceiling, she tried to imagine the gators and vampires battling it out in the sewers.

Tal could guess what she was seeing, "Then they'd have to make all their money on 'gator wrestling, and we'd see an influx of cage matches...." A sudden yawn took him by surprise and he laughed. "Yeah, bores me just to think about it apparently."

Giggling, she nodded.
"Yeah. A gator-wrestling vampire isn't very appealing, is it? I mean, maybe in the bayou or somewhere in the everglades where it's to be expected, but not for us 'civilized' types."
Running her fingertips across his abdomen again, she sighed softly, smiling as the cat once again insisted on attention as well.

Biscuit gave up being polite about wanting her to pet him and instead took action. The cat climbed over Kenly and sat down nearly on top of Tal's neck. Thankfully he was used to it and just shoved the cats tail out of his face and grinned. "Really, I can't even imagine a bayou dwelling vampire...seems...so dichotomous. Vampires always look and act so sophisticated, and well...not the first thing one thinks of for that particular area of our nation."

"Oh, I agree. However, that doesn't mean there aren't any. And trust me, there are. We're just like any other creed of man or beast. Anywhere you find people, you'll find some variety of preternatural creature. Were-animals, vampires, 'monsters', 'myth'... You'd be surprised by how many vampires will probably actually attend your show. There are more of us than humans even want to pretend there are. Because, you know, vampires don't exist."
Smiling at the cat, she petted him happily. She missed the days of owning a pet. At her house, a pet would eventually make someone a meal-more than likely her sister's.

For a moment Tal mulld over her words. Was he mentally comfortable knowing that all the things they joked about in monster movies actually existed? His eyes rested on Kenly, he accepted all she was and it no longer felt as though he'd crawled out of a dream. But, things that went bump in the night were just supposed to be stories...right? "Okay, now you're going to have me staring into the crowd tomorrow trying to pick out every Bigfoot, Selkie, and Pixie. I blame you if I get distracted and loose step."

Laughing, she looked back at him.
"Bigfoot, however, is a myth."
She figured if he was alright knowing she, and other vampires, existed he should be aware that there were other things out there, too. Nothing so dangerous as only knowing half the truth, she always thought.
"Besides, you'll do fine."

Giving her an arch look, "You only say Bigfoot's a myth to keep me guessing. I'm much more likely to believe that he's running about somewhere than to think my audience will have selkies or werewolves. Honestly, though, I'm not really nervous about the show. I know I can do it, and it'll be received well...I hope...." He didn't want to say too much, like most he was a bit superstitious about stage productions.

Smiling up at him again, she winked. "I could just be pulling your leg, but I promise. Bigfoot's a myth. What everyone keep seeing are werewolves on bad days. Or were-apes. I've heard many a were laughing over a pint about how they were mistaken for bigfoot again. I'll have to take you to one of my dives one of these times. Give you the full monty, so to speak. Not right away, though. You have to get more comfortable with the idea of us before I take you. They'll smell your skepticism-and unease-three blocks away."
Petting Biscuit as she spoke, she couldn't help humming softly in time with his purring when she was done talking.

"Ah, hate to ruin your reputation, I'll try to work on my skepticism." Petting the cat he let the sound of her voice lull at his mind. Surprisingly he was already sleepy again, and he wouldn't be surprised that her presence, while invigorating, would also sooth him off to sleep soon.

[So, I'm off to fanime, i'll post as soon as I get back next week!]

Snuggling close to him, she could feel his heart rate and breathing even out. She knew he was close to sleep. She debated on waking him back up, or allowing him to sleep.
"Yeah, we'll have to work on that."

Tucking her in close, the cat settling down to kneed his shoulder, Tal let out a slow breath. "And after that we'll work on my killer wit, it will be a good day..." he slid effortlessly into sleep. A final thought of whether or not she'd be there when he woke flitted through his mind.

Smiling softly to herself, she laid there with him, allowing him to sleep. After a little while, when she was sure he wouldn't wake with her moving, she slipped from his embrace and coaxed the cat from the room, quietly closing the door behind them. Moving into the kitchen, she made herself useful by tidying up and refilling Biscuit's bowl. She was quite surprised to see him completely ignore it, following her around instead. Smiling down at him, she wiggled her finger.
"Sorry mister. I want to get this kitchen cleaned up before your master wakes up. When I'm done, I'll give you my undivided attention."

The dream was full of dark images; crevasses that seemed to never end, trees that swayed menacingly towards dark gathering clouds. Faces and shadows glimmered in the edges of his vision, never focusing, always watching, laughing. He couldn't run, he couldn't defend himself...and with a great gasping breath he woke up.

Sitting bolt upright, his heart slamming around in his chest Tal scrubbed at his face. He hated nightmares, he hated the fear, but mostly he hated that they turned him into a quivering five year old every time.

Feeling him jerk awake, she moved swiftly to the bedroom, sliding into the room and onto the bed, quietly taking him and holding him close to her.
"I'm here. It's not real."
She stroked his hair and gently kissed the side of his mouth.

The shift in the matress, the touch of her body against his urged Tal into moving. Wrapping his arms around her waist he buried his head into her shoulder and felt the last bit of nightmare slide out of his mind. He was too shaken to talk so he just though, Thanks, sorta kills any macho vibes I might've hoped to have shivering here like a drenched chihuahua.

Smiling softly, she petted his hair comfortingly.
"Don't worry. I find it more macho if you can share your feelings, rather than hide them."
Turning into him more, she pressed against him and hummed softly, the gesture similar to Biscuit's purring to offer comfort.

"Well, I start crying and watching Bridget Jones' Diary and I'm pretty sure they'll have to revoke my Y chromosome." He let the presence beside him lull his racing pulse back down.

Grinning against his shoulder, she hugged him.
"Trust me, if it comes to that, I'll right you just to prove them wrong."
Chuckling softly, she rubbed small circles on his back.

"You're sweet, silly, but sweet," kissing the tip of her nose he slid out of bed and stretched. "Sorry to have dozed off on you, I'm not good at this 'night time' thing unless I'm dancing."

Smiling as he kissed her, she slid off the bed after him, standing before him as he stretched.
"That's ok, darling. I know it's something to get used to. Specially if you want to have me in your life for any amount of time.
I straightened up your kitchen while you were napping. I hope you don't mind."
After he was done stretching, she hugged him, snuggling into his chest before looking up at him with a soft smile.

Curling an arm around Kenly's waist he grinned, "Uh oh, picking up after me? You're gonna get in trouble with the women's lib-ers if you do that. But I don't mind, I'm rarely a slob, but rarely all that neat either." Eyeing the clock he grinned, 3:45am, normally he'd be getting up now anyway for his morning classes.

Smirking up at him, she shrugged.
"I'll just eat them. As for the cleaning up part, it was either that or I knit you a sweater while waiting. And I can't knit, so..."

Laughing, "And I don't think I've anything you could have knit with...well...outside of cat hair. I'm sure we've lots of that running about."

Laughing, she nodded.
"I'm sure I could make you a cat hair sweater if I waited long enough. Not so sure how pleasant that would be, though."
Moving to lean against the bed post, she tilted her head at him.
"So. It's either the middle of the night, or very early in the morning. What do you want to do now?"

"This is when my day normally begins. Somehow I don't see you going for a half cup of yogurt, a mile run, followed by three dance classes and yoga...." Eying her, "Well...maybe the yoga...." Moving into the kitchen he surveyed the nearly cleaned food bowl and the very happy tabby. "I see you fed the beast already, one less thing to do for me.

Following him into the kitchen, she leaned her hip against the counter, grinning.
"I'm not a fan of solo yoga, if you get my meaning. I've already proved I can, and do, eat actual food as well. So, if you want yogurt, that does sound a bit appealing. As for the run... We'd have to run first to guarantee I'm not going to randomly go mute. I like to know what I'm doing when that happens. That... And I didn't exactly bring my exercise gear with me."

Pulling out a carton of plain yogurt Tal scooped out two small bowls, and as a bit of a 'treat' pulled out a few containers of dried fruit to sprinkle on top. He'd let her pick her own though, and added some dried tart cherries to his.

"Nah, today's my splurge day. No class, no running. But tomorrow it's back to the grind I'm afraid. Otherwise I'll get soft." He pulled out two spoons and poured a tall glass of water for himself. "Drink?"