Private Finished Blood and Camping

Maisie Belle wondered sometimes just how strong Ash's hearing was. How far could he hear? Could he hear through doors? Through buildings? Could he hear her talking about him indirectly in the community center? He never gave any signs that he could hear that far, so the thought reassured her some that he wasn't hearing everything she said.

However, his hearing did seem strong enough to pick up on whenever she came into the dorm. She checked by trying to open the door as quietly as she could--and of course it still made some sound--but he greeted her quickly just the same when she stepped inside.

"Hey, Shortcake," she said as she shut the door behind her and strolled further into the dorm. She tossed herself onto the couch. "Yeah, it's for that World Environment Day; there's this whole camping trip planned for the weekend where we go out and pick up a bunch of trash--to help the environment, I'm guessin. I'm real smart-like, y'know. So, what's there you need to talk to me about?"

Maisie waited patiently as he slowly worked through what she was guessing was how to tell her something difficult. Or something like that. Her eyebrow quirked when he admitted he might not be able to go and went to say something before he continued on.

"Alright. What's your point? Just invite the person you usually feed on to come campin' with you. Doesn't that solve the problem?" she said with a casual shrug. It didn't automatically come to mind that she could feed him if he really wanted to go--oftentimes she forgot the connection between her infinite blood and his vampirism. She could be the perfect meal situation for him, but he never offered or requested to drink from her, so she never bothered. Even as much as she wanted to be fed on by a vampire.

Maisie was feeling as casual as could be, ready to turn on another tractor race once this was all done. She wondered if she could catch the last of the one she'd been watching in the community center to see how her cousin did. She patiently waited while Ash stammered and stumbled his way through whatever it was he was trying to say.

And then he started looking her up and down and she wondered what he was on about. . .Was he actually an incubus?! Her eyes widened as she thought about this, thought about how she'd probably mistaken him for a blood-drinker when actually he fed off lust or sex or something like that. Why else would he be looking her up and down and acting all awkward? He hadn't even reacted in the slightest to her being all bloodied up before!

"Hold on, I just gotta clarify--you feed off blood, right? Or do you feed off sex? 'Cuz I'm getting some pretty weird vibes here and I just wanna check what I'm gettin' myself into before I agree to anything." She felt incredibly dumb for even having to ask, but what if she had been getting it all wrong this entire time? How dumb would that be? "And I thought you didn't like feeding off people? I'm getting the impression that you aren't comfortable with this and if you're not, then I don't wanna."

Maisie Belle let out the biggest sigh of relief she had ever let out in her life. "Thank the Lord," she said. "I ain't trained to do all that bendy crap and whatever to feed them sex demons. If I had to do that, I'd be embarrassed all the way onto the plane back to Oklahoma, nooo way." She relaxed against the back of the couch and ran her hands over her face, still half-wondering why he'd looked her up and down but really it probably wasn't important in the slightest.

"Yeah, fine, whatever. You can feed on me while we're out camping; it's no big deal." It meant nothing more than that, she told herself before her cheeks could bleed with color. Just temporary sustenance necessary to go have some fun in the woods and sleep under the stars--in a tent. Sleep in a tent under the stars. He surely didn't mean for it to be anything more than that. "I mean I got infinite blood so I don't know why I'd be opposed to it."

She stood up and went over to start rummaging around in her closet. "That all you got on your mind? Else I'm gonna start preparing for the trip, getting supplies 'n all that. If you need a suitcase I got a ton extra."

"You ain't needing to pay me back, but I guess I won't say no to free stuff," she said with a small shrug. One by one, stacks of folded clothes started appearing on her bed--whole outfits nice and prepared. "You know, I got plenty of money I never get to spend on you, but here you are blowing all yours on me, paying for our dinners n' offering to get me things as pay-back. I feel right spoiled, I do."

"I already packed some tents, here--" She pulled a bag from her closet and tossed it Ash-wards; it bounced halfway and rolled the rest of the way to him. "You can use that one. No need to blow all your money on something we already got." Maisie turned back, brushed off her hands, and resumed picking out her outfits.

"I've been camping sometimes, just not with a big group--I'm assuming we're gonna end up with a big group, anyways. It's pretty fun if you want to be there and you're with the right kind of people. Hey, how long do you think cinnamon rolls last in their packages?" If they were going to be buying snacks, Maisie wanted to optimize and choose all the best. This was going to be a heavenly camping trip if she could help it.