[O] What am I doing?

Rayner had been restless lately, his writing had been put down, he couldn't bring himself to do it tonight, it seemed like wasted effort.

He had gone for his evening walk, enjoying that he could go out freely every day without even having to ask.

He paused though, freezing when he realized where he had been walking. Wandering aimlessly had set him on a path that he has journeyed a fair few times.

The fledgling froze, he knew this road, this road was the one he took when he use to walk back up to the Coven. Ray bit into his lip and shook his head a little, he had been going back to him...

No.

He turned himself around and stepped back toward the city, it was foolish to think that even if he wanted to go back that Cy would take him back. Plus, he was happy with living with Dario, Hayden and Jika.

Still, knowing Cy was up there, it was like a siren's call, one that he would never let himself answer, his old Master would kill him if he showed his face up there, still, the appeal of meeting others like him, people who understood him, it was something he desired.

Mentally he scolded himself, they wouldn't understand him, he had met other Vampires in the past and they all thought he was a freak of nature.

Rayner turned and ran, running back toward town where this temptation couldn't reach him.

Despite never venturing there he headed toward the club where he knew Dario worked, he could feel the man's aura leading him there, though he paused when he reached the back door, shuffling on his feet slightly wondering if it was wise to enter.

Dario was busy working and the club...he could smell all the humans inside.

Ian raised a hand above his head, swiping the air a few times in the typical Italian way as he headed towards the fire exit at the back of the employees room.

He pushed open the heavy door easily, his muscles rolling under tattooed, tanned skin as he reached into the strap of his thong to snatch up the carton of cigarettes he'd shoved there a few moments before he'd gotten up out of his seat.

With a small jar of the carton, one cigarette butt jumped up a little and Ian bought it to his lips.

His blue eyes passed disinterestedly over Ray as his long fingers plucked the lighter from the carton, sparking up and inhaling deeply.

He slid the lighter back into the carton and the carton back into his thong as he leant back against the wall, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

Rayner stiffened a little as the man can out of the door, his eyes raised just enough to know that it wasn't Dario.

His lips pursed as his gaze fell back to the ground, he could tell this one wasn't human and more often than not when he met the gaze of another supernatural they freaked out.

He had been told by Hayden that they could see the Vampire so close to the surface and it worried people, so he did his best to hide it when interacting with others.

The sight of the mostly naked man did cause a click to sound as his fangs extended though he tried to hide it by pursing his lips.

"Excuse me..."

He muttered, not looking up at the man.

"Have you seen Dario?"

He asked, snuffling nervously, he hadn't spoken to a stranger in a fair while.

Ian arched a brow in a show of curious attention when the Vampire called out to him.

His sharp blue eyes trailed over the Vampire slowly as he digested the request.

He pushed off the wall and opened up the door, leaning inside and calling out into the room in Italian.

He got a few responses in the same language before turning back around. "He's in a room. Won't be free for a few hours."

"Oh..."

Was the Vampire's response as he stood there nervously, unsure of what to do next.

Hayden was out for the night. He had taken Jika to go meet the boy's Grandmother.

He had nowhere else to go beside home and that didn't seem at all tempting at the moment.

Ray moved a little distance away and sat down on the paved sidewalk, he could wait.

"You're gonna freeze your balls off if you plan on sitting there and waiting for him."

It was a cold night. His body was already reacting to the cold and he hadn't been out in it for all that long.

"Why don't you go get yourself a coffee or something and come back in an hour or two?" he suggested with a little arch of his brow.

Rayner shook his head slightly, he didn't trust himself to be alone at the moment, not after nearly walking back up to the mansion.

Back to...

"The cold doesn't bother me."

He spoke up a little, letting what was left of his accent to come through.

"I can wait."

"Russian?" Ian gave a soft impressed noise.

"I'd freeze my bollocks off if I lived up there. Even here is can get pretty cool for my liking at times."

Having been raised in Australia, he knew what heat could be. He would never be able to deal with the weather in Russia.

"Still, just 'cause you aren't easily affected by the cold doesn't mean you should sit out in it for extended periods of time."

"I can't leave until I see Dario."

He replied, the could wouldn't affect him, he was use to it and he was a Vampire now.

"If you don't want me near the building I can sit across the street."

He added, not looking up at the man, instead he just kept his head down and his eyes on his hands which were folded in his lap.

Ian shrugged.

"I'm not going to stop you from sitting on the pavement."

The Shifter stubbed out his cigarette, tossing it into the small cardboard box that the strippers all used before heading inside silently.

A few minutes passed by before the man returned, wearing a jacket and holding another jacket in his hand. Wearing the jacket seemed like a moot as he hadn't put any pants on and was still in just a flimsy black thong.

He dropped the spare jacket onto Ray's head and sat down on the curb right next to Ray, hissing as his bare skin pressed down against the cold pavement.

Ray grunted as the jacket dropped onto his head, he reached up and pulled it off, causing his slowly growing hair to fall out over his face.

"Thank you..."

He muttered with a small smile as he looked down at the clothing in his grasp.

He stiffened slightly as the man sat down beside him, he had grown use to the smell of those he lived with but his scent was new and it made his fangs ache.

"Aren't you working?"

He asked slightly confused as to why he came back out.

Ian shook his head. "I was on the early shift. That was my last smoke before I clocked out for the night."

The man's hand slid over his thigh to tap the carton of cigarettes still pinned to his hip.

"I have a day job, too, so I rarely stay for the later shifts," he explained.

Rayner's gaze turned to Ian's thigh as he tapped the carton, he had to stop the small whine that sounded in his throat as he looked at the man's bare legs.

The man coughed softly as he tried to pull his mind away from where it had been heading.

"I'm Rayner by the way."

He mumbled looking back down at his hands.

"Pleasure, Rayner."

The Shifter leaned back, catching himself with his arms outstretched as his intense blue gaze turned up to the sky.

"You close to Dario?" he asked conversationally.

"Yeah I...."

He paused for a second, he didn't quite know what he was to Dario.

"I live with him."

Ray was a little wary about spilling his life story to people, not everyone was so understanding as his family was.

"Really? Wow."

Truth be told, Ian was a little scared of Dario. The man, despite his calm nature, could be quite dangerous. He'd seen him in situations that really showed how dangerous he could be.

Ian definitely had some respect for someone that lived with Dario.

"You lived with him long?"

Rayner nodded softly, Dario wasn't dangerous at all, if anything, Dario was the brave one for letting him live under his roof.

"A few months now, he took me in after I got into a bit of trouble."

He replied, fiddling with the sleeves of his shirt before pulling the jacket over his shoulders.

"I've become really close to him as his boyfriend."

Hayden cared for him more than he should for the short time they had known one another.

"He's a good person." Even if he was a little scary at times.

Ian clucked his tongue gently as his blue eyes turned over the numerous stars lighting the sky.

"It's a nice night."

He couldn't remember the last time he'd taken the time to sit down like this and just look at the stars.

Ray smiled softly as his own eyes trailed up into the sky.

"Every night is nice."

He replied softly, every night that he was free to go outside and experience new things, or go where he pleased was a nice one.

In the time he had been with Dario he had come to appreciate the world a lot more, simply because he knew what it was like to have it taken away in an instant.

"S'pose it is," Ian agreed.

Even if things weren't going well for him, there would always be somewhere that was nice where he could sit and just enjoy himself. He just had to find it.