Stay out of it

Rhys hated leaving like this, but he just couldn't ignore his hunger. He took one last look at the sight of her sprawled on the bed for him before he really had to go. Grabbing his jacket on the way out he saw how Jason was seemingly passed out on the couch. It luckily didn't take him terribly long to find what he needed, stopping by a floral shop on the way back as he had sorta promised her flowers. The clerk was a bit surprised, if not fearful, but managed to put together a rather large bouquet which Rhys payed for in cash. With his bag of vials and the bouquet he made his way back to the apartment, having been gone roughly an hour or so.
Entering the apartment he was greeted by the cat meowing rather loudly, its one eye looking up at him, trying to play cute as if it was hungry again. But it wasn't fooling Rhys as he headed out in to the kitchen. Placing the bag down on the counter he searched the cabinets for a tall glass or a vase for the bouquet to fit into. "Hi," he smiled when he finally saw her, showing off the large amounts of flowers that he had gotten her, "I didn't know which kind you liked, so .."

Shrugging he smiled at the kiss on his cheek, appreciating it a lot. Her curiosity seemed to peak more at the vials he had brought along and he walked over to stand behind her. Moving her hair away from her neck he leaned his lips down to her skin, placing a few kisses on it as he wrapped his arms around her. "There's two brands that I like to buy, one is called É-vi, which is soul-based and the other is called Pri-San, which is blood-based," he explained. Surely she knew who usually ate what. He kept kissing her neck in gentle pecks, breathing her in as he was about to explain something that maybe was a bit taboo. At least where he was from. "I'm not fully daemon and not fully vampyre - so what I do is basically mix the two to keep my hunger down," he explained. Did she find it disgusting? Either way he wouldn't blame her. "It tastes horrible, but I haven't found a solution where it tastes good - turns out there's not many daemon-vampyre hybrids running around," he scoffed.

"Vampyre on my mother's side .. Daemon on my father's," he said just to make it easier for her. He didn't often talk about his mother, but he guessed she would come to ask sooner or later anyways. She looked at the vial and he could imagine it was quite different from what she was used to seeing. Her question was valid making him shrug a little, though the second question made him chuckle lightly. "I can bite .. Fresh blood and real souls do replenish me better .. But this is sorta like a vegetarian option for me, you know," he frowned, not sure it was a good way to put it, but it was how most people viewed it anyways. It was good for a while, and he could survive off of it, but he didn't think it would ever actually make him feel really full. "I don't have to consume both at the same time; I've tried experimenting and if times are tough I can slum it and survive on either, but I prefer the mixture - makes me less irritable," he shrugged, grabbing the vials out of the bag, opening one with soul in it. He poured it in a glass so she could see it better, adding from the vial of blood as well. The two mixtures didn't really want to mix all too well, making it look a little lumpy. "Told you it looks disgusting," he chuckled, letting her inspect it and smell it if she wanted to.

It made sense once he pointed out the sides and yet she didnt really know what to say. She wouldnt say that it had seemed like his mother was around, but she also didnt really know his life like that. "I didnt know that was even possible." she muttered, clearly thinking it through. Being just a simple human had excluded her a bit from the aspects of the supernatural. Most of her friends had been human too. His chuckle at her second question made her narrow her eyes. Was she being silly? "That's a morbid way to put it." she said as she looked at the soul vial in her hand. That had to be from someone, right?
He explained further and she just nodded. It was interesting to her but she didnt want to pry too much. Maybe because she still felt a bit bad, even if he had told her she didnt have to. When he mixed it, she wrinkled her nose, looking at it, grabbing the cup to try and swirl around. It definitely didnt look as appealing anymore. "What do you think would happen if someone like me drank one of the vials with the souls?" she asked, though it was fine if he didnt have an answer. It was just sort of a random thought as she was holding the mixture. She handed it back to him so he could have it.

Morbid? He wasn't sure that was the word he would've used, but it perhaps wasn't wrong either. "We don't always get a choice in what we survive on," he just muttered, shrugging as he didn't take it like a personal attack. Watching her look at the weird mixture it was clear she found it less appealing. Most vampyres or daemons would probably reticule him for ever mixing the two, but it was just easier to get down that way. Eating for him was just something he wanted over and done with. Her question made him frown, and yet it was an intriguing thought to entertain, "most likely vomit," which was just a pure guess. He was handed the glass back, swirling it around to try and make it more homogenous, but it would lump up fast. Lifting the glass to his lips he downed it, a neutral expression on his face, but it was clear he didn't really enjoy it either. "The taste is horrid .. Blood on its own is fine, kinda sweet, and souls are very hard to describe, but perhaps more bitter in taste," just to let her know a little about what he could taste at least.

The mutter made her realize that her comment hadnt been very thought through. But could she really judge? It was quite unappealing but then again, it wasnt like she found her own food nice to look at. She would never really adjust. She did however wonder. And his guess made her hum. "Yeah. Or merge into a complete new person." she said, tough it seemed unlikely. But it was the soul of someone after all. She left him with the glass as he probably didnt want to be stared down while having to drink the mix. She instead looked at the flowers, though she did glance towards him. The mention of the taste made her scoff. "That does sound like a bad mix." she admitted. She picked out a flower that she really liked, just to get to look at it closer. It was yellow like the sun and looked like a dahlia but she wouldnt know the name. It just made her happy. "It's not like I eat something pleasant or good tasting... or looking." she shrugged. "So I can say what I want about yours and still mine would still probably top it by thousands." she said, chuckling a little as she kept looking at the flower. She put it back with the rest.

"A new person?" he frowned, shaking his head no, "there would be no chance .. This is basically artificial souls and never belonged to a person." He handed her the box of the vial to let her read for herself before downing his drink. He appreciated that she didn't just stare at him. Swallowing he placed the glass down, a bit of residue sliding down the inside of the glass, creating a sticky looking curtain. He liked watching her interact with the flowers, seeing that one of them she seemingly liked better as she plucked it out to inspect it further.
He chuckled at her, because he found her rather endearing, especially as she tried to open up a bit about her own eating habits. He moved over, cleaning out the glass and filling it with water, downing it just to clean out his mouth. "I think I need a quick shower," he muttered, feeling that his back was still a bit sticky from the massage oil. "Did you get something to eat as well?" he asked, just to be sure, leaning in to place a kiss against her hair. She smelled rather nicely of her shampoo, though he was perhaps more into her own scent. Not that he would say that right now.

New pants? He grinned at her, nudging his nose in to her scalp, his lips resting by her ear, "so you can ruin another pair?" he whispered a little teasingly. His voice raspy at this volume his hands just grasped lightly at her hips. Humming at her words he sighed, because he knew as much. Though he assumed that perhaps forcing Jason to eat wouldn't end well. "Yeah, I'll come with once I've cleaned up a bit," he smiled, kissing her beneath her earlobe, just lingering slightly before letting her go.
He headed out to the bathroom, stripping down completely before turning on the water. He took a quick glance at himself in the mirror, seeing how his hollow cheeks were slowly but surely filling out after his relapse. It felt good. Like a sign that things were heading in the right direction. Getting under the water he just took his time, cleaning himself up and perhaps taking the time to sort himself out a bit. It was just hard to ignore his needs when they had been fooling around like they had.
Afterwards he got out of the shower, drying his short hair quickly before moving on to his body. He felt more relaxed now, though far from tired. Wrapping the towel around his waist he grabbed his dirty clothes, sorting them in the laundry baskets before heading towards her bedroom. He had a small bag of clothes just sitting by the end of her bed, picking out a few pieces before getting dressed.

"It was decent," he said, drying off his arms and shoulders, "though I think a shower with you would've been better." It was a slight tease and yet he meant it. He frowned as he looked at her pillow, rolling his eyes as he looked at the cat, "I didn't think there would be a competition for my affection," he muttered, sighing as he pulled on some pants and socks, grabbing his t-shirt before sitting down on the bed. The cat quickly jumped up in his lap, meowing and rubbing its face against his shirt. He chuckled, scratching its head and down along its back, "perhaps we should name you Destroyer," he teased it. It seemed to get enough pets, crawling off of him to go lay down on the bed not far from him. He shook his head a little before pulling on his shirt. "Ready?"

"Dez," he repeated, liking the ring to it before nodding and chuckling a bit, "yeah it suits him." Besides they couldn't keep calling him cat anymore. No, he was a part of the family now. They both got ready, and heading outside he was happy to just hold her hand. They felt like a real couple going out like this.
Her question made him hum, shrugging lightly, "I usually take a few weeks off, go out to a cabin just to get away from everything," he admitted, though it perhaps wasn't the most exciting thing to hear. Perhaps she would've rather have heard about grand trips or travels he had gone on. "There's a small lake out there .. I never really got into fishing, but its nice to swim in when the sun is very hot," he felt like he was telling auch a boring story, and yet perhaps he needed his private life to be boring when his job was so hectic. "How about you?"

"I tried .. That was a bit too boring for me," he admitted in a soft chuckle. He supposed he didn't really have the patience for it, but it wasn't something that bothered him. She seemed to be a little lost in her thoughts before speaking about her travel endeavors. The reminder of him taking her out to the cabin made him chuckle, "well if you wouldn't find it too boring," he teased as she could probably use to get away from the city too. "How about we go when everything with Nyx is settled?" he couldn't forget about the obligation he felt towards her, but he thought that making future plans together could be a good thing if they both agreed on it. Of course the timeline of the whole Nyx ordeal was a bit unclear, so he hoped she didn't expect them to go next week, "I would also like to find a new apartment before, get the moving stuff out of the way."

They stopped at a smaller shop, and at first Rhys hesitated a bit to join her going in. However she kept holding his hand, and so he followed. It was as if he could do nothing but trust her completely. Once inside he noticed how people were instinctively avoiding him, and therefore perhaps worried on Emily's behalf. Her mention of Mary made him frown. Mortimer's kid? He supposed he hadn't given much thought to her since her father died. "Sounds like a plan," he said, looking around at everything in here. To be honest he knew very little about Mary, but it wasn't like she had ever liked having him around. His eyes went to look at the other jewelry displayed; There was everything from earrings to necklaces and even watches. He wondered how you knew which one was the perfect gift for someone you didn't really know. "She's immigrating to America, right?" he asked, only having heard it through the grapevine in passing.

"As if anyone could ever forget you," he muttered in a soft chuckle, letting go of her hand to instead wrap his arm around her waist. He liked that he could be physical with her out here in the real world. However her serious words about it being a secret made him nod, though he was sure most people knew of it already. If he knew, then he suspected most other people knew as well. Emily seemed to find something that caught her interest, and he looked down to see if he could find what it was. If she pointed he would inspect it a little closer, tilting his head to the side. It looked rather worn and old. Not that it took away from the beauty of the pendant, it perhaps just needed a good clean and polish. "Finding something you like?" he asked softly.

He just shook his head, refusing to believe it, because to him she was so memorable. Everything about her was so vivid in his mind when he closed his eyes, but then again he might've been a bit biased in that regard. Her reasoning made him smile, kissing the top of her head, "so something special that can make her think of you?" he said before looking over the jewelry. That was when he noticed two small pendants, a bit matted by age but each of them had a small clear stone embedded in it with a flower inside. "How about those?" he suggested. One had a yellow flower inside another had a white flower. "I think it's only fair that each of you should wear something to remind the other .. What if she's scared you'll forget her?" he reminded her.

For couples? Well he didnt know much about such practice, though he knew about rings of course. He just let her be the exprrt here, though pointing out a few pieces that looked nice. Her question made him hum softly, "well it's often those who appear most confident that aren't really," he said in a small ponder, shrugging lightly. "I mean you got to be very close with her and Mortimer before.." he stopped himself not wanting to bring up the bad things, "what I mean to say is that you might mean more to her than she leads on." That was a nice way to put it, right?