Collaborative Efforts [Vanyel, Lilith]

Yeah, not hard for someone over a thousand years old. Vanyel's only experience with romance was...not the greatest example of the topic as a whole. He had virtually no real experience with this. But, that only made him even more receptive than he already normally would be. Showing interest...that wouldn't be too hard, right? He sat up straight, very clearly showing that he both wanted to, and was, paying close attention.

The questions she went into, though, despite her reassuring that they weren't all meant to be answered, gave him a bit of worry. Some of them were things that he felt he should have been able to give an answer to. They knew that each other had a differing hair color compared to their normal, but, he felt a bit of guilt tug at him that he never asked, especially since she knew about his own reasonings.

Beyond that, the rest of them were a string of "I don't know," except for one of them. The last one she presented, asking about children, suddenly caused him to freeze. A terror and sorrow burned in his eyes at the idea of it, one that Lilith would never have seen of him until now. Even the mention of children made him excited, scared, and hurt all at the same time. But, eventually, he was able to calm down and compose himself, taking a drink to distract himself.

"Mm...I don't think I feel uncomfortable around her, at least not super often. Even still, I do want her to trust me, and...I want to trust her."

Lilith saw that look, and she knew it was triggered by the word “children.” It raised questions about whether or not this man was already a father, and if he was, that could bode a different type of problem. Lilith wanted to warn him about dating a woman that isn’t aware you already have kids, but that sadness in his eyes made her think further. With the turmoil in this world, had he lost one? That thought made Lilith’s heart sink, her eye soften… She wanted to chug a gallon now…

“That’s not what I meant,” Lilith said, a sweetness in her tone that very few ever heard. “I said you should be okay with feeling uncomfortable when those moments come up. That’s very different… If you aren’t allowed to be shy, embarrassed, nervous, or even make mistakes around the one you love, you’re living up to an impossible standard, no matter which one of you placed it there.”

Lilith looked out of their quiet room, through the large window that viewed the rest of the club. She watched many of the men and women down there, dancing like idiots in horrifically revealing clothing. Not one of them was happy. Happy people don’t come to clubs… “There are too many in this world that have mistaken love for that fluttery feeling in their stomach… or the racing heart, the giggles, the sex… They’re all wrong…” she said and a small smile grew in her eyes. “Love brings you peace… it makes you calm. There are moments of excitement, of course, but those are moments. I would never define love as a moment… Would you?”

Vanyel didn't feel as comforted by those words as he should have been. Part of him felt like he couldn't make mistakes. He didn't want to do that. But, another part forced him to be rational -- he was going to make mistakes. He was going to be shy, embarrassed, nervous, all of those things. Hell, he was probably going to be all of those things later tonight with Violet, but...it was okay.

At first, when Lilith brought up the physical things, the fluttery feeling, the racing heart, a hand unconsciously went to his chest, a small smile coming to his face as he remembered those feelings. She was right, those were ultimately, just moments of excitement. He didn't, and couldn't feel those all the time. At the last question, even if it was meant to be rhetorical, he shook his head lightly.

“Didn’t think you would,” Lilith said, smiling. She stood up and walked over to sit by his side, leaning forward to put herself in his line of sight. With a comforting hand on his shoulder, Lilith spoke up softly, “You don’t have to worry so much; I can tell by these old man wrinkles at the sides of your eyes,” she gestured to them in a joking fashion, “… that you worry way too much. If you were able to see what I saw when Violet looked at you, you would know… that she looks at you like all of her prayers were being answered. All you have to do is tell her what we all know, and that’s how much you care about her too... And I do hope you're not running late.”

Vanyel found himself smiling, but also looking toward his lap, hands fidgeting as she brought up the obvious. He did worry a lot. Everything that happened in the past had sort of forced him too. But, as she brought up how Violet looked at him, his head suddenly jolted back up, a sort of incredulous look to his face. A mix of surprise, like he'd never been told something like that before, and a hint of that aforementioned worry.

He just...had to tell her. But, before he could think too much on that, Lilith mentioned running late, and, Vanyel realized that he had lost track of time. He quickly checked his watch, and he suddenly stood up in a panic. He wasn't running late, but he certainly ran the risk of it.

"Ohh, shit, shit, shit...and I still have to go pick up my suit for tonight, fuck!"

He straightened his current suit jacket out, made sure nothing had fallen out of his pockets, before grabbing his glass and downing the rest of its contents, before frantically unlocking his phone to text Violet, as well as physically write down the questions that Lilith had asked him, just in case he needed a refresher.

"S-Sorry, I gotta get going. Thank you for the meeting, um...did you want to follow up on this with Rita?"

Lilith had given this young man the perfect thing to think about before whatever his plans tonight happened. Her smile returned to normal, leaving that calm motherly expression and returning to the bright and wide, possibly tipsy, party girl grin. As he fumbled around to get himself together and leave, she just quietly watched him. He even took the time to write down the questions…

‘So cute…’

“Yeah, you can set up a meeting between us,” Lilith gave the young man a nod and hurried him off toward the elevator. “No go… And good luck, kid.”

Walking toward the window-end of the room, Lilith watched as Vanyel left, a smile remaining on her face as she thought back to a time where she thought she would be able to find something like that... 'I'm probably too old for all that now...'