"Well, I get the sense that you haven't told me everything, and that you won't do so. I'll try not to take it to heart," Claude chuckled. "But my interest still stands, so if you ever feel like telling me what else you can do, I'm eager to hear it."

Rue let out an amused scoff and pushed away from the counter. She headed towards the foyer, and Claude trailed after her. She started up the stairs and then paused, turning to face Claude. She put out and hand against his chest to stop him.

"No offense, but you don't need to be rifling through my clothes," she said with a small smile. Her smile widened at the way Claude's face immediately flushed, and she found the fact that his ears also flushed to be quite charming.

"Right, no, that's fair. By that same logic, I probably shouldn't unpack your bathroom stuff, huh? Or, wait, do fae menstruate?" he asked, suddenly looking confused.

Rue laughed and gave his chest a gentle shove. He barely budged, which didn't surprise her, and honestly was good because she wasn't trying to shove him down the stairs, even if it was only a couple of steps and he wouldn't even really be hurt if he did fall.

Claude's expression took on a mischievous look and he leaned towards her just a little.
"If you do, I'll know!"

Rue gasped and broke into guffaws of laughter. "Oh my god, Claude, that's nasty!" He just grinned, but she still caught the flash of relief in his eyes. That was definitely a risky joke to make to a girl he just met!

"Alright, alright, I'll leave you to it," he said, still grinning. "I live in the blue house, and Luke lives in the yellow house. If you need anything, you know where to find us! Actually, if you just shout, Luke might actually hear you. Werebeasts have pretty good hearing."

"Don't vampires have good hearing too?"

"Better than a human's, sure, but not as good as a werebeast's!"

"I see. And um, is the invitation thing with vampires real, or...?"

"Oh, uh, no. Neither is garlic or anything to do with religion. We're not undead, either," he replied, smiling. "If something happened and you needed my help, I wouldn't be trapped outside your door just because you rescinded my invitation to be here, no worries."

"I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself, but, noted!" Rue said, amused.

Claude turned to wave when he reached her front door, grinning one more time as he backed out, shutting the door in front of him. Rue shook her head and turned around to head upstairs and unpack her clothes and personal items.

She ended up ordering takeout from the local pizza place while she folded clothes.

When all the unpacking was done and she'd put away the leftover pizza, she went up and flopped down on her bed. She needed to get another bed for the other room, but there wasn't a pressing need for it at the moment, and she really didn't want to spend any more of the stipend the S.P.A. had given her. She needed to live off of that for a while, until she started properly working for them.

After a few minutes of laying in bed and thinking, Rue pulled out her phone. She unlocked it and scrolled down to her text chat with her friend, Lucia. Lucia was probably her only friend, and the only reason they were friends was because of a pen pal assignment in elementary school. They'd kept in touch regularly ever since, which was no easy task since there wasn't always an address for Lucia to send her letters to. Things had gotten easier once cell phones became commonplace, and now that smartphones were a thing, it was very easy. No physical address was needed anymore.

Hey, Lu, I made it!

Oh!! New house? Can I see?

No. :P

Whaaat? Why not? D:

I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It's just getting dark and I pretty much only have the default overhead lights. I'll take pics for you in the am.

Ok, ok, fine. How is it being on your own? How's your mom coping?

To the first question, it's fine, barely different from growing up. Plus there's 2 cute neighbor boys by me, sooo... To the second question, UGH. She was not happy, but like, I'm 18 and starting college. She has to let me protect myself now. Safer for HER if we're apart anyway.

Rue set her phone down for a moment to think about her mom. She hadn't told Lu about not being human, but she had told her about how she and her mom had moved around a lot. That was kind of an important detail for someone who was trying to send snail mail regularly after all. And Lu did know it was because Rue's mom was hiding them from her father. Her phone dinged.

Someday you're going to have to tell me all the details about why your mom felt the need to keep running all these years. Also, hot neighbors???

Only in person, I think.

Well, I'm sure we can manage that. I'll also be going to Sacred Oak College next year, you know? I'm sure we can meet then. Maybe you'll run into Mat before then, who knows? Maybe you'll think he's cuter than your hot neighbors. ;P

Mateo was Lucia's older brother. He and Rue were both college freshman this year, while Lu was a high school senior now. She knew the two were pretty close, and she was pretty sure Lucia not-so-secretly hoped Rue and Mateo would date or something. Rue was nervous about meeting either of them. She loved Lucia, but if they turned out to be humans, it would be very difficult for them to have a close relationship with her because there would always be things she couldn't share with them.

Well, Lu, I drove for 11 hours today and then hauled furniture and unpacked a bunch of boxes. Even with neighborly help, I am exhausted. I'll text you tomorrow.

Kk, g'night!

With a tired sigh, Rue plugged in her phone. She got up to change into pajamas and brush her teeth before falling back into bed. It didn't take very long for her to fall asleep. It really had been a very long day.