Mostly it is loss that teaches us,

The vampire was determined to push this blond teen away, those painful memories just confirming it. There was certainty that he had accomplished that task by showing his fangs and waving his knife around. The threats were extra to leave that little bit more of a sting in hopes that at least he would be left in lonesome silence. Alas, Tristan was not running despite the words and actions that the sadistic teen made towards him, it was something that Nathan could never understand. This time, however, would be different and Nathan was determined to rid himself of the last friend he possessed; to finally cut the strings to the last important person. There would be no pain if there nobody to lose nor would those thoughts of possible loss plague his already sorrowful mind.

That was when it happen as Tristan seemed to freeze, phone slipping from his hand and sudden he began to fall. Suddenly, it felt as though something yanked at the vampire's heart, making it skip a beat; almost like a rookie puppeteer had attempt to sharply pull at a stuck doll. Shock crossed Nathan's face, the knife was discarded as the vampire enhanced his speed, skidding onto the snow covered ground to successfully last minute catch his friend. At the end, his knees were stinging from being bitten harshly from the cold, but Nathan ignored it. He focused on Tristan, concern written on the countenance of his face. Gently, the vampire shook the blond teen.

"Tristan? Tristan?! Wake up, please. I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN WHAT I SAID!" Nathan insisted in a moment of panic.

Finally, the green haired teen noticed that his friend was still breathing. Upon noticing that, Nathan picked Tristan up in both his arms and went inside. When the first servant noticed them, they approached and asked what was wrong and what had happened. Instead of answering, the vampire merely told them to retrieve what was outside while he took Tristan upstairs to rest. Quickly, the worried teen ascended the stairs, holding his unconscious friend close while still feeling horrible. Certainly, this was his fault right? Had he hurt Tristan that bad when he attempted to cut all ties from him? The vampire felt incredibly guilty over the concept and decided he would have to help the blond get better; it was only fair. Once Nathan returned to his room, he settled Tristan into the bed and grabbed the blankets. He snuggled the blankets close, making certain that his friend would not be cold. The room, akin to the rest of the house, was dark with forest green walls and a simple light grey carpet. Shelves holding sports trophies lined the walls and a small computer desk remained tucked away in the corner. A TV surrounded by various game consoles was across from the bed and kept pristine from the cautious care of the servants. A small shelf of books containing fighting information alongside a log of various knives had their place by the closet. The odd posture of some popular rock band or video game hung from the walls, most consistently around the desk. For the time being though, Nathan did not focus on the items and instead watched Tristan for a few moments.

"I'm so sorry..." Nathan murmured quietly before looking for some clothes.

For a few moments, he rummaged through the closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Once the vampire had his clothes, he left to get changed in the washroom to avoid any awkward sudden wake-up incidents. There was a pause at the bedside table as his yellow-green eyes caught the silver dog tags the vampire wore constant; they were snatched up. He had pulled the shirt over his head and tugged on the jeans before grabbing the camouflage and putting the dog tags around his neck. Afterwards, he entered the hallway and began heading back to his room to check on his friend.

Mostly it is loss that teaches us,

The grin that Tristan's face held alongside the mentioning of it being a stupendous occasion due to the lack of effort on Nathan's part made the vampire angrier. He was furious about being awoken at a time that he considered to be early. There was still no possible method to comprehend how the blond hacker maintained the courage to bother him during the morning. Especially since how irritated Nathan was becoming was beginning to become visible by the fact he was shaking from it. The vampire's nails dug deeper into the palm of his hand, the one was that was weaponless. Admittedly, Nathan really desired to punch that smile off his face, but he refrained from such an action.

"SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT TO SET SOME GRAND RECORD! I WANTED SOME PEACE AND QUIET DAMMIT!" Once again, Nathan screamed.

Despite knowing the screaming would do little to force Tristan to leave, the vampire would still yell at him constantly. Any attention that was taken towards them mattered little to Nathan; he was simply too furious to care. As he watched Tristan began moving back, the reasoning was obvious. The bowie knife the green haired man possessed always frightened people, especially the careless manner he tended to swing it about; in reality each swing was calculated to not harm the other person. When Tristan mentioned the word nightmare, a smirk crossed Nathan's face.

"On the contrary, you seem to be a little scared," he began. "What's wrong, Tristan? Did you just encounter your nightmare?"

The scenario only seemed to improve in the vampire's favor when Tristan raised his hands in an attempt to sooth him. To the vampire, that was a sign of being afraid, which was a natural response from most people. Almost everybody learned to fear him, the servants being the few to witness his kindness; they took care of him so it was the least he could do. Thus, he kept comment advancing towards Tristan until he was close enough where he could hit if he desired. When Tristan pouted about the options Nathan had given him, the vampire flashed him a toothy grin.

"You should be happy you got an option," the vampire stated. "Now which is it? Are you going to start begging or maybe you do have a death wish."

Patiently, Nathan waited for the blond man's decision, but instead got surprised at his suggested. Tristan desired to spend time with him. It caught the vampire off guard which was evident by the fact his eyes widened. Nobody asked to hang out with him nowadays, with the exception of Cae who had yet to be victimized to his sadistic side; one day he would scare her off too.

"You... want to hang out with me?" Nathan began as though he was still attempting to wrap his head around the concept. "Why the hell would you want to do that? Did you get hit in the head or something? I JUST PULLED A KNIFE ON YOU AND THREATENED TO KILL YOU!"

Nathan took a few steps backwards due to Tristan's strange proposal. He could not even begin to comprehend why exactly he desired to spend time with him. They were former friends, but Nathan had been certain he had banished those thoughts of rekindling the high school friendship they shared; despite secretly craving it. Although he would never admit it, the vampire missed his friend. Alas, Nathan wanted to be alone so he could no longer feel emotions about those around him in order to never feel the bitter sting of loss ever again.

Mostly it is loss that teaches us,

It was evident by Nathan's face that he was beyond furious with this little trick that Tristan decided to commit. Being woken up early always made the vampire feel incredibly grumpy and was incredibly annoying. For this vexation there was a need for some vengeance against the person who inflicted it upon him. The green haired man's yellow-green eyes gazed over the winter scenery outside the large manner he called home. A gentle crunching was made while Nathan walked on the fresh layer of snow in search of Tristan. Nathan's fists were clenched while he walked, the nails digging into the palms of his hand; threatening to break skin. Naturally, the vampire was not overly concerned with the concept since he healed faster than regular people. A minor flesh wound like that would likely heal in the span of a few minutes.

As he searched for the man responsible for waking him up, Nathan pondered a possible method to push Tristan away. The blond had been unperturbed by the previous threats that had been made; or at least enough to accomplish this stunt. That was when the vampire's ears began to pick up the sound of laughter that sounded like Tristan's. Nathan turned in response to the noise, finding the blond standing not too far away. When he said good morning and even going the length of calling him sunshine, the vampire's eyes narrowed in a glare. Upon seeing the man who was causing this mischief, the green haired teen's finger nails dug into the palms of his hands, leaving small cuts. The mentioning of a new record being made was when the furious teen began to lose it.

"I AM NOT TRYING TO SET RECORDS! WHY ARE YOU SO INSISTENT ON BUGGING ME?!" The vampire yelled, anger edging his words like a blade.

Not a moment later was Nathan advancing towards Tristan, his right hand plunging into the sweater's pocket to fiddle with the knife's sheath. There was a click while the small button was popped off, the vampire's fingers easily just removing his favoured Bowie knife from his pocket. As the blade caught sunlight it glinted which made the few darker patches across the surface apparent. It has been caused from the ash substance it would get covered in after the numerous fights with terrors that Nathan was involved in.

"DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?! CAUSE YOU SHOULD KNOW BY NOW THAT I ENJOY MY SLEEP, NOT SEEING SOME BLOND HAIRED JERK WAKE ME UP IN THE MORNING!" The yelling was increasing in anger as Nathan drew closer.

The grip on the knife tightened, turning the vampire's knuckles a slightly paler colour in comparison to his already porcelain complexion. Slowly, the knife was held up in a threatening manner towards Tristan despite the fact that Nathan would never actually harm him. Sometimes it was nice to have somebody who had the guts to bother him.

"Now, how would you like to die or are you going to beg for mercy?" Nathan asked in a irritable tone.

The vampire paused while he glared daggers at the hacker and waited for a response. He was silently praying that Tristan had not discovered the death threats to be a bluff. A large amount had been made, but not once had Nathan actually followed through or even harmed Tristan. It was easy to say that the vampire could never harm an innocent person and definitely not a friend, but the desire for lonesomeness required threats which means he would abide.

Mostly it is loss that teaches us,

Today held an odd amount of determination for a single task to be completed in a swift manner. That task was to snatch a bowl of pudding before they were all taken from the cafeteria; not having one would be a sin! Thus Nathan hurried and found himself in line behind a redhead, but the numbers were dwindling. The vampire had been given the misfortune of a mission prior to cafeteria time, which was a sin on the part of the organizers. Either way, the male teen was now exhausted, grumpy and craving pudding alongside a little more sleep. Being woken up early to head to work only increased the vampires irritability and it was obvious by his expression and posture. It caused a majority of hunters to avoid him upon the return back since they did not want to end up on his bad side.

Time went one, the line slowly trickling down to his prize and once received he could eat before heading home for sleep. Alas, there was another misfortune afoot as the final pudding got pouched by the redhead. Well, that was enough to make the bomb tick off at the slight matter.

"Seriously? WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE LAST ONE?!" Nathan exclaimed it, making a few wary. "BET YOU DON'T EVEN DESERVE IT!"

Only a few moments did the insanity increase a strange man wearing a peculiar garb and an octopus peeking out of his shirt began screaming and throwing a table. Clearly, today was not going to be a normal day for Nathan. The confusion only increased when the mysterious man stated that he was sleeping in the cafeteria. The male teen's eyes narrowed into a glare at the strange man since who sleeps in a cafeteria?!

"THIS IS A CAFETERIA! NOT A DAMN SLEEPING QUARTERS YOU IDIOT!" Nathan snapped at the strange man.

Despite the lack of slurs in the strange man's sentences, Nathan honestly thought he was drunk. After his snappish response, the green haired vampire took a few moments to observe the man. Like the person in front of him, he had long red hair, but also had a mask on his face. He was most certainly an oddity, but all Nathan cared about was getting pudding and going home.

Mostly it is loss that teaches us,

The friendly bantering was enjoyable, bringing the realistic smiles out of Nathan as he sat across from the dark haired girl. It was delightful and sparked feelings that had remained hidden upon the death of his precious brother. Laughter seemed to spill out frequently, which was something the vampire had long missed the feeling of. Despite several other tables being newly opened, the green haired teen found himself lingering around the table that Caelumina occupied. Although, his cynical thoughts could not help, but wonder if he was merely a stave for boredom and nothing more. That despite the expressions of joy written across Caelumina's face she was motivated by her own interests. There was some usefulness in befriending him, like his battle capabilities and the fact that he could further her knowledge in combat.

The thoughts made Nathan feel guilty for thinking horrible things about this girl who had treated him with kindness and entertained with witticism. Alas, the male teen simply could not dismiss the concept bringing a glint of guilt into his yellow-green eyes which resulted in the dropping of eye contact. He wanted to avoid being questioned about it, if that was possible, which gave him reason to maintain a friendly grin on his lips. The pang of guilt was unable to dent the grin, being pushed away from reaching anywhere other than the eyes. When Caelumina inquired about his own singing capabilities with an intensity to her voice. A single glance up caused him to notice she leaned closer, clearly she had no intent of allowing him to brush off the question. The slightest hints of red touched his cheeks, Nathan had always been particularly embarrassed about his singing voice; the fact his brother had mocked him for how terrible it was only contributed to his embarrassment. When it came to singing his brother had always stated that he sounded like a dying whale.

"I... uh..." He crossed his arms, glancing away from Caelumina. After a few moments he relented the truth. "Okay, fine, I can't sing either. You happy?"

There was thorough belief that there was no possibility that Nathan's voice could ever improve. No practice had been taken to remedy the horrible singing situation either. Donovan had also made it difficult to ameliorate his voice since the moment his brother noticed the green hair teen singing, a flow of mockery would be launched his way. Gradually, the concept of shying away entirely from singing was the only method to end the constant embarrassment, which brought forth the beginning of his lyric mumbling; nobody could mock him if they were clueless to what he was singing. Trying to undo the mumbling appeared to be an impossibility, it only reminded him of the various other voice comparisons his brother had made. In response to the thoughts, Nathan's cheeks flushed a little redder in embarrassment. Revealing the sound of his horrendous voice was something the green haired teen never desired to happen. For the time being, the vampire stared into the depths of his cup while he waited for the red tint to fade away.

When Caelumina reacted to his statement of blaming the hard working people of Lorsette, Nathan began chuckling again. Clearly, she had not expected the response. Watching her play the role of the guilty criminal caused him to snicker more as she shifted into the stereotypical expression and position, hands holding her hair and eyes downcast. Shortly, she began accepting the blame which caused a triumphant smirk to appear on Nathan's face. With the guilty glint banished, the green haired teen looked back towards the dark haired girl with amusement playing across his countenance.

"Well, somebody needs to learn to control herself or else she will get sick from eating too many honey-glazed doughnuts once day," Nathan stated with a chuckle. The male teen continued poking, he simply enjoyed teasing too much. "Let me guess, you are really tempted to go back to the counter and get another one, aren't you?"

Some emphasis was placed in his words, an attempt to continue teasing her. The vampire enjoyed watching people react to his poking, it entertained him, however, this dark haired girl made it more enjoyable by firing quips back at him whenever the opportunity revealed itself. Most would have probably wrote him off as a mean bully then leave to avoid further teasing; they were likely the more sensitive people. When it came to Nathan, his self-control was perhaps decent at best since like all individuals he had his moments. Although, those oftentimes involved something related with the pastries that possessed those hints of blood. Thankfully, Nathan could defend his own addiction to the pastries since he was a vampire and needed to use his abilities. It was more or less an excuse that held hints of proper reasoning to it. Naturally, the vampire had no plans to inform Caelumina of his own lacking in self-control in certain topics.

The mentioning of hanging out after their first training session caused Nathan to stare into his coffee again, his mouth wearing a frown. Karaoke seemed like an enjoyable idea, but the vampire had two reasons for not desiring to accompany Caelumina to this karaoke night. First, his singing voice was likely deadly and his brother probably just grew immunity to it over time, end of discussion there. The second being his severe dislike of getting close to people, this was perhaps already developing to far. Due to his subconscious he had treated her kindly, which was starting to become something the vampire regretted. He had opened the door a bit and that door was supposed to be locked, bolted and barred shut for all eternity. Alas, he needed to find a more suitable time to push her away, perhaps after she improved in combat. The least he could do was provide some lessons in order to make it less likely for a terror to destroy her in a combat scenario.

"Uhh... no thanks. I'm not one for that kind of stuff," Nathan began. An awkward laugh proceeded as he avoided eye contact. "Besides, I have a voice that is probably deadly and I would prefer not to be taken to jail for mass singing murder."

There was a flinch in response to the awkwardness in his voice, there was really no proper way to explain 'I would probably wave a knife around at your friends cause I pretend to be a sadist since I hate getting close to people,' without sounding like a complete monster or having the dramatic retelling of his past. It gave Nathan a reason to leave the sentence as it was and perhaps allow her to believe it was merely shyness keeping him from accepting the offer instead of the grim reality. The defensive taken towards his comment of her phone made Nathan laugh, he merely found the coincidence uncanny. A scout, who conveniently has to run swift, having charms of a fast animal on their phone. Perhaps not the most humorous display, but it had caused the vampire to chuckle slightly.

"I just thought it was a little funny that your a scout and you have rabbit charms," Nathan said with a smile. Then he continued with another quick quip. "Oh? 'I have to buy it. No matter what' you say? I hate to break it to you Cae, but it sounds like your lack of self-control broke out again."

Nathan leaned back in his seat, checking his phone when it the screen flickered on and displayed the message (he preferred his phone to be silent). A simplistic message, likely a mere test to make certain they were connected. There were several other messages, consisting of his parents demanding his location. The vampire had honestly forgot they were home. Instead of messaging a quick location, the green haired teen ignored the messages and shoved the phone back into his pocket; they could yell at him later. The response to his bit of teasing over blaming the doughnuts and bakers caused Nathan to start laughing again, his gaze returning to Caelumina. Her cheeks were puffed up again, and despite the numerous times it occurred, Nathan still found it funny. Perhaps he should have kept his phone out, then the vampire could have had a picture. When the dark haired girl complimented the snacks, Nathan offered her a shrug before sipping the remainder of his coffee.

"Maybe someday I will risk my own self-control for one," Nathan chuckled.

The expression that crossed Caelumina's face upon the mentioning of him waking up at noon made him chuckle. Servants allowed him not to possess the average teenager worries like chores which resulted in days spent asleep for long hours. A few moments after her outburst, he noticed people staring, causing the vampire to feel slightly uncomfortable. Eventually, people looked away and continued their own trivial conversations. A few moments were taken to allow Caelumina to finish talking about chores before he shrugged again. A slight hint of joy was wiped from his face, the sentence involved talking about his parents.

"My parents are wealthy people, so the servants around the house worry about that kind of stuff. Gives me plenty of time to sleep in for a long time, unless I have to hunt in the morning," Nathan explained.

His voice lacked luster despite how incredibly lucky he was to be growing up in a life of lavish. The vampire simply could not muster the enthusiasm since the thought was accompanied by the fact his parents were never around. How could he be pleased by something that took the one thing he had desired most as a child? All Nathan had wanted was for his parents to be around for the holidays, his birthday or attend a sport game at least once, but they could not even accomplish that. When the conversation transitioned back to fashion, the green haired teen appeared more comfortable. As she mentioned being comfortable, Nathan nodded in agreement at the notion.

"Of course, if you're not comfortable it just makes moving around awkward," Nathan responded.

When it came to formal wear, Nathan had always noticed how much the clothing restricted his movements. The restriction annoyed him, only causing him to wonder how annoying it would be to fight a terror in the clothing. For a moment, the vampires yellow-green eyes glanced up to find Caelumina smiling at him and soon found himself smiling back. Something was telling him that pushing the dark haired girl away was going to be a more difficult task than he originally thought.

Mostly it is loss that teaches us,

The formerly grueling conversation that initiated the idle seemed the gradually changed. What once was merely a nuisance began to possess a sense of charm to Nathan as he found himself enjoying the word exchange. There genuine gaiety in the entire interaction, which felt foreign, but pleasant to the vampire. Although, it would naturally have to end someday since allowing a friendship to grow was an act of idiocy in Nathan's eyes; especially in a world sorrowfully rich in loss. Those emotions of the world standing still followed by the feeling of a piece of like shattering as realization dawned that somebody would no longer be included in life. It grew into a painful sting, like a thorn piercing through the heart. Avoiding those types of feeling at all costs was a necessity, plain and simple. The pain of loss simply stung too much, it was unbearable and Nathan was certain he had to elude the very possibility of ever being launched into the emotional spiral.

That was when his thoughts began to focus on the current affairs of the conversation. Perhaps he was enjoying this too much considering the way this trivial conversing began to drag feelings of happiness that were oftentimes buried. The very manner they spoke suggested the possibility of friendship, considering the playful quips and now smoothed and comfortable reactions and responses. It shortly transformed into a mental battle as the vampire debated whether or not he should simply say goodbye and leave the table entirely. Yet, this joyful conversation held a gravitation as the thoughts of fun gave reason for wanting to remain a participant. A little indulgence in being social would not hurt, right? It was merely a task of keeping things masked, his past and the emotions memories roused.

Another chorus a chuckles escaped Nathan's mouth as he watched Caelumina's eyes widen, cheeks tinting a shade of pink. The laughter was quieter, until he watched the girl's cheeks puff up. The countenance of her face was simply too amusing to the green haired teen, thus, his yellow green eyes remained trained on her. There was one thing for certain, Nathan had no regrets criticizing her horrible finger drumming skills. If only he could stop laughing enough to fish his phone from his pocket and snap a picture, however, that could also anger Caelumina more. Gradually, the vampires laughter turned to a quiet snickering as he listened to the dark haired girl's defensive rebuke against his snide comment. When his company stated that she could sing, Nathan's face began to favour a lip tight smile. His posture was shifted again, propping his elbows onto the table, hands picking up the ceramic mug that still held his coffee.

"Oh really? Care to demonstrate sometime?" Nathan asked, an entertained glimmer in his eyes.

There was far too much enjoyment being placed into this conversation and the vampire was simply blinded by it. It was akin to a whirlpool that was bringing him deeper into the waters. Alas, participating was simpler now that green haired teen felt more relaxed with the interaction. A small sip was taken from the brown liquid, he merely preferred allowing the coffee to last longer, although, it was getting below half now. Hearing Caelumina's second blaming of the food, stating that the food itself knew it was delicious, therefore, making it the honey-glazed doughnut's fault. It sparked another round of laughter from Nathan, although, it was only slight. When they thought of the perfect argument against it, the vampires eyes seemed to light up.

"Buuuut the food doesn't have a choice, but to be delicious. The bakers force it upon them. How could you blame the poor helpless food?" Nathan said, adding in some sarcastic sorrow to his voice. Further emphasis given as the vampire pretended to wipe a non-existent tear from his eye.

Proceeding his "dramatic" display, another bout of snickers escaped Nathan as he attempted to remain quiet. When his eyes glanced at Caelumina, he found that she appeared to be enthralled in the trivial conversation as well. It was pleasant, to be participating in a conversation where the other person was equally enjoying themselves and not possessing that fearful looked due to the threats that would commonly roll off his tongue. A bright smile, a glimmer in the eyes, it was a spectacle to the green haired teen; completely and utterly bemusing due to lack of witnessing. Alas, it would never be enough to change the keep away method solely because spouting threats at those who attempted was near nature; with the exception of moments that gave him little choice or the times his subconscious nagged against it too heavily. This situation being the latter had slowly transformed into more. When the mention of his prior knowledge before joining the TRS hunting division, it possessed a somewhat questioning tone to it. The vampire's gaze drifted off, adverting it solely to possibly make his voice a little more incoherent at the moment.

"Yeah, someone taught me," he mumbled vaguely.

For a few moments, Nathan remained silent as he attempted to fend off the memories of his training. There was always the aspect of fun to it or cruelness should Donovan feel the need for vengeance over some stupid brotherly quarreling. It would mostly consisted of telling Nathan to run full speed at a wall and attempt stop before hitting it, he called it 'control training' while the younger vampire insisted it was punishment. Easy to say those were days filled with bruises. A glance was taken towards his company, Nathan shortly reverting back to the friendly attitude he managed through the interaction. Seeing her look defeated over the mentioning of self-defense training caused the green haired teen to begin chuckling again. Setting his mug down, Nathan straightened and merely allowed his hands to rest flat on the table's smooth surface. He listened as Caelumina made comments towards her self-defense training alongside stating that she would improve. A toothy smile crawled onto the vampire's face.

"It was really that bad, eh? Sounds like you could use a tutor or something," Nathan suggested.

The suggested was sound and sensible, he had Donovan as a tutor of sorts and now he was a horror on the battlefield, in more ways then one. Even the so-called 'control training' assisted him in some ways, although, admittedly Nathan did still have a horrible tendency of crashing into things. An expression of shock came across Nathan's face when the dark haired girl asked for his number. Nowadays, nobody asked unless they desired to block it to assure the sadistic hunter would never speak to them via phone connection. It was an oddity, another foreign concept entering the lonesome world he created. There was uncertainty, this could possibly mean friendship and Caelumina being a scout screamed danger. A silence came over the vampire for a few moments, a hesitation as his mind debated.

"Uh... are you sure you would want my number?" He replied, a slight tone of nervousness to his voice.

The awkwardness in his words suggested possible shyness, which was mildly embarrassing to the vampire. Nathan was by no means shy, yet, he was making himself out to be a flustered teen. Upon the mentioning of Caelumina heading up to get more doughnuts and a offer to fetch him something, Nathan shook his head.

"I'm fine. Plus, I think I would prefer having good self-control. I don't think a fat hunter would be overly useful, eh?" Nathan answered with a chuckle.

There was more to his reasoning to decline, which was that it always felt wrong to have other people purchase anything for him. Nathan had a well-paying hunter job and not to mention wealthy parents who cared little should he use some money to purchase something; perhaps as a meager way to make up for missing all the important things. Either way, it was easy to say that the hunter had a preference to not allowing others to use their hard earned cash on him, a spoiled rich kid.