Sleep is deathly calm, exhaustion catching up and wasting the whole day. Dreams of blood and kisses invade Katherine's mind, of fangs and love and touch and what her life has been for a night, stretched to thousands. A sudden stiffened shift wakes her up from the haze of a headache and pained sleep.

Eleanora looks into her blinking eyes, the smallest glimmer of fear in them, not of her, but for her. "Mon amour, can I run an….blood…"

"Examen de santé?" Katherine asks, "I'm fine, I'm not sick." She says quietly

"Non, une transfusion sanguine." She answers.

"Oh, oui," She nods, smiling, "bien sûr."

She stands quickly, nearly fluttering away in a flash of motion. Returning in that selfsame flash with a bag marked O- and a needle, she deftly sees veins with her glinting eyes, slipping the IV in and holding the bag up, rubbing Katherine's leg lovingly throughout as she watches colour return to her.

"Oh, did I lose a lot of blood?" Katherine asks as she starts to feel much better almost instantly.

"I…did not realize what my heart was screaming quickly." Eleanora admits, "I drank through…two thirds." It's almost shameful.

"Ne t'inquiète, mon amour," She says quietly, "It is fine. Though I wished I had learned more french, we're about to run up against my limit of the language I think." Then with a laugh.

"Maybe you should help with my English, mon amour." She smiles at the laugh.

"How could I? You'll forget whe—" She looks at Eleanora, "Oh… OH." Katherine brightened up, getting very flush almost gasping. Her entire face splitting with joy, "We can do things now. You can…" She's getting very giddy, and excited, "We can learn things, we can have experiences. It's not just one night anymore it's two! Or twenty… Two hundred!" There's just this rapid feverish manic pace as she realizes, "It could be a whole year."

"It will be an eternity." She promises, "Your life and my unlife are… linked now. I will be here from this sunrise until your sundown."

Katherine's eyes fill up with joy, trying not to break down, not to ruin the moment, "It'll be forever, I always come back so we get to do this forever… We can just have the perfect life forever… Once we figure it out, oh god you're so brave, I love you so much."

"Brave?" She asks, gently extracting the needle.

"What if in a few years you don't like me anymore?" Katherine asks, "It's brave to tie us together."

"One thing you will learn, mon amour." Eleanour states, bandaging the small injury on Katherine's arm, "I am unbelievably slow to change." The smile at that is warm and loving, creasing her eyes and letting small, barely noticeable wrinkles show on her forehead.

"Ugh, I could just scream, Ok. Hah. I know all your favorite shows, I memorized them, so… Or wait." Katherine felt very light headed, "I could… We could. I know your favorite restaurants. I think I coul… Oh I'm very… Very light headed."

"Tu as besoin d'eau." She chuckles, pulling from the bedside table a somewhat warm bottle of water, acquired in the flash of motion just seconds ago. "Drink."

"Oh thank you," Katherine takes it, and happily sips, letting the water rush over her senses. Almost feeling herself pulse as she is filled with life fluids. "I need to take better care of myself if we're connected. Exercise, eat right…" She touches her head thinking, "I'll learn about nutrients."

"Lots of iron, for your health." The vampire chuckles to herself, a soft, lady-like thing.

At that, Katherine sticks a finger in her mouth to poke her teeth. Feeling a sharp point, and then letting out a shriek of joy, "We get more than sixty years a run?!"

"I…haven't given you the Embrace, mon amour." She looks confused.

"My teeth are…" She looked in the vanity mirror across the room, "Do morsels normally have pointy teeth on the side?"

"Here is an easy test." She raises one finger to her mouth, just over a fang, and with the lightest pressure, touches the point. The skin breaks like a razor hits it. "You will know if it's a fang."

"Oh! Sixty years though a go. That's still awesome." She smiles so happy,

"Oh, mon amour." She shakes her head, "Much longer, you need not be cursed to be long lived. Come to me." Eleanora opens her arms, inviting Katherine in.

Still, incredibly dizzy from lack of food and blood, Katherine stumbles forward almost tumbling into Eleanora's arms with joy, "You're amazing Eleanora." She says, hugging her.

Eleanora smiles, raising her pierced finger and gently pressing it to Katherine's lips, with an effort of will allowing her blood to slowly start to flow out. "Drink, mon amour, it will heal you."

"Will it hurt you?" She asks, just before she considers to latch on.

"It is your blood." The vampire smiles in response.

In very, tiny sips, she laps at the tiny flow, gently tasting its glorious nectar. Letting it suffuse her being, all the while trying to practice self control. To not seem greedy, but it feels amazing to drink. Like the best drug, like a field of lavender, like ruby wine. It almost burns as she feels stronger, happier, even giddier when she thought she had hit her limits of joy.

Eleanora watches with rapt attention, intaking her loves joy with hawk-like focus, watching every subtle twitch of her expression, every satin-shifting movement on the bed, the way life returns to her, her headache frown clears, her muscles tense, managing to ever pull her hand down with newfound strength and greed. The flow stops after minutes, a gently stroking hand pulling Katherine away. "That will be rare, mon amour. Hopefully only once monthly." She sounds apologetic, as if knowing waiting that long will be tortuous.

There's a craving almost immediately, but when she looks at Eleanora, the idea of her… Seeing Katherine desperate for something she can't do makes her almost nauseous. "Of course, not even then if it's too much." She smiles, trying to reassure the woman that it's fine. Trying to make sure Eleanora feels fine. Studying the face for the slightest hidden shows of concern that she had tried to glean for so long.

She betrays nothing but an adoring peace to her, a refined emotion, not one of desperation or primal need, but one of honed desire, focused and sharp, like a blade. "I care for you, Katerina. Does that comfort you?" Eleanora asks, curious, seeking to understand the other woman's love.

"I… Don't think we've ever talked about this before… Give me a moment to think?" Katherine said, suddenly lost in thought, piecing together encounters and experiences, trying to piece together the right answer, while also a true one. Before remembering that she wouldn't get a second chance to say this, surely not to remember it, how would she remember a lifetime? Still, she had waited too long now, "It… Comforts me… That's not quite right. Knowing you…" The words wouldn't come, she hadn't really practiced this at all. "What gives me comfort, is knowing that I'm making you happy. If you care, that means I'm probably making you happy…"

Trying to figure out something she had not considered was proving to use muscles she hadn't flexed in quite a bit. "It's a metric. A measuring stick. Your care for me helps me judge whether I'm making you happy."

"You act as an experienced lover." She chuckles in response, "But go through your words with the…ill-ease of a blushing schoolgirl." With that, she leans close to Katherine, blue eyes shining in the dark, "How do you say…Je t'aime in english?"

"I love you," She whispers quietly, "It was the first words I learned, but I could never say them. I worried it would hurt you too much if I did and you still had to bite."

"You would have torn my heart out." The vampire admits, kissing Katherine's jaw gently. "Now, you merely hold it." She giggles against the other woman's jaw, sending vibrations into it.

There's an elation at the giggle, at knowing that Eleanora truly loves her, but a slight apprehension as she realizes that while she expected what Eleanora said, she hadn't planned a response. They were out of the sandbox, as Katherine called it. Whatever happened after this would have long reaching consequences. This was their first morning, it would always be their first morning forever, or until one of them needs to reset. So… That meant She'd just have to live with whatever happened.

That was hard to think about. Something she could do could get Eleanora hurt. Or could get her hurt. It's fine right now, but thirty years from now she'll have thirty years, her memories will be mixed up, she'll refer to things that never happened. This go has to go well, it's the control. She just has to do what feels natural.

Eleanora noticed that Katherine had gotten stiff, heart rate was racing, and she wasn't quite breathing properly.

"Mon amour, qu'est-ce qui ne va pas," Then quickly switching, "What's wrong?"

"I…" She gasps, "I have crippling anxiety, it's not come up before. There's medication in my trench coat."

Before she can finish, there's a flicker of air and a sensation of sudden friction as Eleanora vanishes, a breath later reappearing with a bottle, opening it after reading the dosage on the side, putting pills in Katherine's hands.

"Wait," She looks at the pills, "Ok, no this is dexedrine, I need uh…" She takes another deep breath, "I know there's like six bottles, I need the alprazolam." She says again, a little bit quieter, "The bars, white."

Eleanora has no recognition of what that is, but shifts back into motion at the further explanation, bringing the whole coat with her this time in a flash of wind, settling it next to Katherine with a caring, gentle touch.

She goes through quickly the bottles before finding the box, the familiar white bars bring a bit of calm to her, as she takes three with a glass of water, and waited taking deep breaths. "It'll be fine, I think. It always is."

"Do you have…prescriptions for this?" She asks, no heat to her, just a curiosity.

"Oh yeah, I have telehealth once a month." Katherine says, the anxiety and year of full open honesty without consequences now in full force. "I take medication for depression, anxiety, adhd, and a mood stabilizer. You drank my blood, I thought you'd notice."

"I am…unfamiliar with the tastes of modernity." She admits, "I did not recognize the medicines, their flavour isn't unpleasant anyways."

"Oh good," That seemed to do more for the anxiety then the medication did, and she finally started to breathe right again. "It probably won't come up very often anyways. My doctor wants me off the anxiety meds and onto a much weaker one because there's a serious risk of addiction."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The vampire nods firmly, "I will see about gathering more of my wealth to America, we will get you good care." Thinking with a small frown for the future, considering the many many thoughts outside of the night they'd shared, of the rest of the world Katherine knows so little about.

Katherine tries to shrug off the frown, but it didn't help, she had already felt a bit broken when she lined the bathtub with a garbage bag. This didn't entirely help. "A lot of it…" There was nothing to really say about it really, nothing that makes it better that she was sick. That anyone who chose her would be dealing with someone who was sick. She realized that one night, over and over, was real stability.

"Mon amour, will you live with me?" The vampire asks, stabbing Katherine back to reality.

"I was going to ask, when you see how I live… You'll know how happy I am, you asked." She fully admitted.

"Good, I…have business this night." She admits with another frown, "My would-be killers are still roaming with the thought that they won." The odd venom that slips into her voice is out of character, never present in any of the nights, excitingly vicious, "I will correct them." She assures her love. "Rest, relax, enjoy yourself. Once I finish with this, we will come together and go shopping." Eleanora smiles, "I need to dress you up!"

With a big winning smile, she looks at Eleanora and says, "Ok… Thank you… Do you have food? I haven't eaten in two days."

Tapping at Katherine's phone after a lightning-fast grab, she easily guesses the password after breathing on the screen, finding a food delivery app and typing in a card number from memory. "Your own card now, to my bank mon amour. Get whatever you like."

"Oh you're so sweet." She takes the phone back, and decides to treat herself. She fills a shopping cart with two bags of ramen and an energy drink with a satisfied smile.

The glare from Eleanora is fierce, "You will not eat slop, mon amour." She takes the phone and finds a terrifyingly expensive restaurant instead.

"Oh… Do you have like… Money?" Katherine asks, looking at the phone with a small gulp.

"Yes." She smiles, shaking her head, "And I taste what you eat."

"Oh! Oh. That's important." She feels light headed again, and then wondered if vampires had… Yelp. For people. Recipe sites maybe? She got very light headed again. "Is it Ok if I don't go to work anymore then?" She asks, "I take pictures of dead bodies, and car accidents mostly."

"Oui, I will care for you. And the…cat?" She wonders, trying to remember the small detail.

Excitedly, Katherine nodded looking at her, but then added, "Maine coons like everyone, they'll like you I'm sure."

Handing the phone back to Katherine, with a restaurant named "Providence" on the application pulled up, she says, "Please avoid seafood, it makes me…ill." The vampire asks, not demanding it, but preferring she be listened to.

Katherine salutes with a wink, "Yes ma'am. Only mammals from now on." Then after thinking a bit, "Except for dolphin. I'll also cut dolphin out of Mammals." Then asks, "Do you have enough so I can order a second meal?"

"I think that card has… a ten thousand euro-excuse me, dollar limit a week?" She's unsure, trying to remember.

"That… Should be fine? You know your finances I suppose." She says again before ordering a far greasier meal from a Mexican food place.

"I own wineries and vineyards back home." Eleanora assures Katherine, "I have reserves of wealth."

Katherine nods at that, "Oh right, ok. I just don't want to eat you out of house and home. Yeah, no yeah that makes sense."

The vampire stands up, going to her closet, searching for something to wear. Pushing past dresses to find something practical. Dark red suspender slacks are pulled on, with a bright white button-up to contrast with it, a shoulder holster evident on it looking odd on her small frame. She slips a slim revolver into it, but seems much more comfortable with an engraved knife that falls into her flat-bottomed shoe, hidden mostly under the pant leg.

"Don't wait up for me, I may come home late." She says, still out of place, out of time, looking as if from a century ago with the application of red lipstick in a mirror.

"Are… You only going murdering, or to a social function?" Katherine asks.

"One in the same, mon amour." Eleanora answers, checking herself over, making sure her hair is perfect under the various hats she's trying on.

Trying to decide, right now the kind of relationship she'll have, raises a slight panic, "Is… Everyone going to be dressed… Period accurate to their time?"

She tosses a curious look over her shoulder, "Mon amour, this is three centuries past my time." Gesturing to the dress shirt and slacks.

She looks at her for a few seconds, then a bit longer, thinking about whether she should say anything at all. This… Didn't come up in the sandbox. "Aaare… Do…" She wasn't entirely sure how to say the next part, "Is this a function where looking more modern would bring higher… status or anything? I'm from today."

She tilts her head, one side to the other, and then slowly back as if thinking, "This is…me humiliating them. It is their time. Their home. And, of course, their doom." The vampire states matter of factly, "When the concrete pours over them, I want them to see…something familiar as their last light."

"Then if I'm understanding, we may want to update the look?" She says gently.

"Katerina, do you want to dress me up?" Eleanora asks, smiling.

Katherine eyes brighten with new joy, and she says, "Yes, absolutely do you have the time?"

"I have all the time in existence, mon amour." Eleanora answers, unbuttoning her shirt to start from scratch.

Nothing in the closet had been made in the last thirty years, but wasn't that big of a problem Katherine realized. Immediately vetoing the…

"What kind of hat is this? A golfer's cap?" She asked Eleanora, who had responded with "Flat cap, mon amour."

Vetoing the flat cap, and then replacing it with her curls done tight and stuck through with a hair fork from her own coat. She looked at the woman's frame, and replaced the button white coat for a looser scarlet one, but rolled the sleeves up. The slacks and suspenders were replaced with jeans, and seeing how fast Eleanora moved, there was a thought.

"Can you… Distress these? At the knees?" Showing her a picture on her phone

"Certainly?" The vampire pulls her knife out, following the image carefully, cutting and abrading at the jeans until they're identical.

After a quick thought, she replaced the scarlet button down shirt with a plaid one that was left open, it was a little large and then hunted around for a tank top, and a belt. Finally, Katherine took off her own Carabiner and put it on the woman's side.

"I mean, it works, but it's not really powerful. You look like a college student now." She snapped a quick picture, and then immediately pointing to the bed and looking for new clothes.

"Oh wait you have tailored business suits, those and tennis shoes would be fine, but a little unmatching hmmm… OH!" Finally Katherine dug around and foun something closer to business casual, much closer to what Eleanora was originally wearing, but the pants a bit higher around the waist with a belt, and the shirt open a bit lower. She found similar black shoes she used to wear as a detective.

She snapped another picture, before finally, just putting together an outfit she'd wear for work. Shoulder holster under a business suit that was unclasped, no tie, all matching in blue, with black shoes and slacks. Though she accented the outfit with a red kerchief, that seemed unnecessary but added a spot of color.

"Ok, so the suspenders are a look, and like the button-up and slacks is pretty on point but these ones are more about how you wear it and the cut. Did any of these look nice to you?" Then pointed out, "Hiding the suspenders under the shirt still gives you what you're looking for I think?"

She nods, "Yes, it's more of a look for me. I do not have your…" Eleanora considers, looking at Katherine with a wry grin, "Assets to make the suspenders look excellent."

"Well, if you text me before you get home, I'll show you how well I wear them." She says with a wink and a kiss, before hearing her phone buzz, then a minute later, the doorbell ring. "Oh that's the food."

"And take the Sig under the Driver wheel! It has hollow points."

----------------------------------------

The rumbling of a machine, a concrete mixer fills a yard. Three wooden stakes being torn out of chests, the two men and single woman tied down awakening with a start despite the horrific injury. Eleanora smiles down at them, chained to the bottom of a divot in the earth, twenty feet deep in some dry, deserted place outside the city.

Moonlight streaks down behind her, casting the vampire in dark shadow as black eyes gleam, the three starting to talk over one another, begging for attention, mercy, anything. Her smile grows at the sight, a cruel enjoyment of misery.

"My kindred." She interrupts them, voice softly, sharply cutting through the noise, "I assure you, I do not bestow Final Death this night, even if it is my right as your Elder." They relax at that declaration, as if terrified of the idea. The concrete mixer shifts, the driver rolling it backwards to angle over the pit, widening the eyes of the tied individuals inside.

"P-please, I can pay you-A boon, any boon!-I'll take the Bond, I'll be your servant, please!" The three shout and plead, ignored by Eleanora as she keeps speaking, mostly to herself, though they can clearly hear, "But, my kindred, you assaulted me in a most vile way, in the night, with heated blades." There's a gravel to that, something primal and inhuman, coming from something past the flesh of humanity that she presents.

"And that must be made right." The declaration is followed by the concrete mixer tilting backwards, solid spurts of liquid stone spilling into the pit, covering them in its gray touch, slowly filling it up. "Thus, I have arrived at this conclusion. Your assault, by coincidence, granted me something beautiful. As such…I will only leave you entombed for ten years."

The screams are drowned out as the pit fills, and men with shovels start covering it with dirt, patting it down to escape notice under Eleanora's watchful, black eyes.

Back in their now shared home, Katherine gasps, consciousness coming back to her as a…vision fades, leaned against a counter from where she slumped as it overcame her.