Vamps-ELWV-Section 2

--Section 2: A Vampirgewehr's Skin and Reaction to Sunlight--


>It has been a week since you've first started living with your rifles
>Well, not entirely true, it's been a few months since you bought Lucya, your Mosin Nagant M1891/30 and two weeks since you received Selene, your Ruger Precision Rifle
>But it has only been a week since they've deigned to show themselves in your presence
>You knew about Waffengeist from before, but yours had never shown themselves until last Friday night
>Lucya had refrained from showing herself until she deemed it necessary to come to your defense
>Selene provided her that reason when she was drinking your blood while you were asleep
>While it was futile to do so, she had tried, but Selene outmatched her
>As for Selene, she hadn't shown herself because she wasn't invited to show herself
>As much as you thought it was a complete joke and she was just playing some bad trick on you, you were wrong
>She is a Vampirgewehr, a byproduct of a vengeful factory worker and some fell ritual
>As a Vampirgewehr, when she finally showed herself, she made sure to let you know that she only came out because you invited her out
>You didn't think much about it until you went looking online at some stuff and were reminded about the details of the standard vampire mythos
>The one that stood out to you in this situation was that most versions of the mythos said that vampires couldn't enter a residential building without first being invited in
>Upon reading that, you quickly realized that this must be the the equivalent to that
>Given that, what else is true to the mythos and what is slightly different?
>You figure that the blood drinking is part nourishment, part desire
>Selene had told you that Vampirwaffen have some sort of bloodlust that they need to sate every so often, but you're still not entirely sure if she knows everything
>There seems to be a lack of information on the subject on the internet when you search for it
>Almost as if it is hidden and covered up
>But you didn't need to pay much heed to it as far as you were concerned
>If you really needed to know something about her kind, you could just ask Selene and hope that she gave a straight and honest answer, even if it was "I don't know."
>Everything would sort itself out in due time
>Kind of like this past week did
>Well, sort of, in a sense
>It was the week of finals for you for the academic quarter you'd just finished, so free time wasn't a luxury that you had
>Especially with having two new housemates that you had to get to know
>Throughout the week, most of your waking hours were spent on campus, either doing last minute studying for finals or taking the finals themselves
>You were only in your apartment for no more than three hours a day that week with all the time you had to spend on campus
>The two women didn't come out in the morning when you were getting ready, they must have known how much of a distraction they would have been
>They only showed themselves after you got back, and then only to talk with me about how my day went
>You asked them about theirs each day, but they always said that they just sat in their rifle forms all day long
>No matter how much you tried to tell them otherwise, it was to no avail
>It was sad that they didn't want to switch forms during the day, but you understood
>It's not like you can give them much of anything to do without running your bills up higher than they need to be
>You can't read their minds, which might be for the best
>The conversation during the days of finals didn't carry on very long, you were either too tired or too annoyed at the finals to let any sort of conversation go on too long
>Eventually, the last final you have comes up on Friday, and you had mixed feelings about it after you took it
>You had one of the last finals across the entire university, and you didn't have many good friends in that class anyways



>Normally, when you got done with finals, you'd go out to eat with whatever friends hadn't gone back home yet
>But this time, none of your close friends were around
>So maybe it was time to treat your new housemates to a night out on the town
>You drive back to your apartment, trying to think of what to do for dinner for your rifles
>Selene would probably be fine with anything that was truly American, like a steakhouse or sit-down burger joint
>But Lucya seems a bit more traditional, like she might want to go to a more family style sit down restaurant
>You're not sure, maybe a steakhouse would be be best bet for the two of them, but that would seriously cut into your budget for any purchases relating to your guns, which is what you were filing this dinner under in your mind
>When you get home, you can hear the two of them arguing through the window of your kitchen
>You can't tell what they're saying yet, but you think you hear something about 'burn it' and 'messed it up'
>These aren't words you want to hear coming from the girls in your house when you aren't there
>You quickly fumble with the keys and unlock the door
>You burst in and are immediately met by Selene with a piece of black cloth in her hand
>She runs up to you and takes off your glasses, soon covering your eyes and nose with the cloth
>"Selene, what the hell is this?"
"A precaution, can't have you ruining the surprise!"
>"What surprise?"
"It wouldn't be a surprise if we told you, now would it?"
>She leads you to your spare room and sits you down in the desk chair
>And while you weren't expecting it, you can't really say you were surprised when she tied you to the chair
>"Hold on, Selene! I haven't eaten all day, if you try to drink now, I'll pass out immediately!"
"Oh, that's not what I was thinking of at all."
>"Lucya's in the other room, she'll hear what's going on!"
"What? OH, you mean sex, right? Nah, I'm not in the mood. I was thinking about taking embarrassing pictures and sending them to your friends.”
>"Oh god, Selene, please stop. Let's not do anything irrational here."
"Aww, just one picture?"
>You hear the door to the room open and you can only hope that it's Lucya
*Selene, what the hell are you doing to him?! I said distract him, not tie him down and blindfold him!*
>Your vision is restored and you see Lucya's face in front of yours
*Are you alright? Let me get you out of here.*
>"I'm fine, just surprised."
"Lucya you're no fun, he wasn't that concerned."
>Your hands go free as Lucya undoes the bindings
>In hindsight, you're not sure why you didn't just flail your legs and make yourself fall over
>Looking behind you, you see the pile of ammo boxes you have hit your head on, and are glad that you didn't tilt back
*I know I'm not any fun to you, but dinner's ready.*
>You blink at this
>"Dinner?"
>Lucya comes back into your view, offering you a hand to stand up
*Yeah, Selene and I made dinner for the three of us.*
>"How? I was going to take you two out to dinner tonight."
>Selene walks out of the room towards the kitchen
"Why take us out to dinner?"
>"Well, we haven't talked much so far and I figured going to dinner somewhere would be a nice way to do it."
>You take Lucya's hand and she walks you out to the kitchen
>Selene had gone to the coat closet in the living room and pulled out a folding table and chairs
>"Wait, when did you get those?"
"Oh, today. Lucya asked one of your nicer neighbor ladies to take her to the store while you were at your final today."
>Lucya lets go of your hand once you reach the kitchen
*Yeah, the nice elderly lady from across the street. She seemed lonely when we first saw her and I figured that I could... what did you say that term was Selene?*
"Kill two birds with one stone?"


*Yes, that! She was very nice. So while at the store, I got all the food that Selene and I just fixed.*
>You take a look at the counter and are instantly surprised
>To be entirely honest, you weren't sure that there was that much counter space
>A large pot of pasta was sitting next to the fridge, with a smaller sauce pan next to it. Two large bowls were next to them, one filled with chicken and another filled with a salad. On the other side of the stove top, there was three large loaves of bread
>"You...you two did all of this?"
"Uh, yeah? Who else do you think would do this?"
>Selene had finished setting up the table and chairs
>Looking over at her, you noticed something
>"Selene, you know I said you could wear my clothes right?"
>She freezes, and you think you can see a slight change in color on her face
"O-oh, you did? I don't remember hearing that from you. I like my normal clothes anyways."
>"You sure? They seem like they would be a bit warm to wear all the time."
"No, not for me."
>Lucya walks over with some of the food to the table, with enough plates, bowls, and silverware of mismatching patterns
>When you'd started college, you bought enough silverware for yourself as you were still in the dorms
>Over the next three years, you only bought more silverware and dishes whenever you knew you were cooking for more than just yourself
>You'd never thought you'd need to impress anyone like this, but that day was here and you weren't necessarily prepared
>Lucya and Selene didn't seem to care that much as they started shoveling the food onto their plates
>You chuckled to yourself at the circumstances and then started getting food too
>They had outdone themselves, it was great
>You're not sure how they knew, but they had made something that reminded you of familiy and of home
>Fettuccine with a chicken alfredo sauce and ceasar salad were the main two parts
>The two of them had also made garlic bread; an entire loaf for each person
>Well, two loaves of garlic bread. Selene made her own cheese bread as it turned out
>As it turned out, while you three were eating, you found out that Selene could in fact eat garlic as it was in the sauce
>"So a vampire can actually eat garlic then. Color me surprised and impressed."
"Quiet, you. I'm a Vampiregewehr, not a true vampire of legend. I can garlic, but if I have too much of it, my voice will cut out for a bit."
*So you're alergic to it?*
"No, not really. My throat doesn't swell up and I can still breathe normally, but my voice dies out to little more than a whisper. For the amount of sauce I'm eating right now, it shouldn't affect me at all."
>You place a hand on her shoulder
>"Selene, you do know that you don't have to make anything the three of us will eat that has garlic in it, right? I'm fine if you want to leave it out so you can enjoy it more."
"I almost did. Lucya said that she wouldn't stand for this food without garlic."
>You look over to Lucya and she sheepishly smiles a little
*It is how it is made. Plus I remember you talking about it when you were on the phone with family before the last time you went home. They said that they couldn't make it with such a short notice, but I wanted to make sure that we could give you this!*
"Uh, you? How about we?"
*Oh fine, WE wanted to do this for you. I told her about it and she latched onto the idea immediately.*
>Selene smiles at you, proud of her effectively meaningless victory against Lucya, and Lucya continues to smile, but with less enthusiasm
>"Well, I have to thank you for this, you two. This is a great gesture that you two did not need to do at all. For as little as I've talked to you this week, I'm glad that I've got this chance now."
"So are we, and we were happy to do this for you."
*Yes, we want to hear about you and your life. It's interesting to us, and we want to know more.*
>"Sure, sounds like a plan!"


***

>And so the next few hours were spent talking with your rifles, telling them about your life and about your current state
>There was even some technical talk in there, relating to the finals you'd just taken
>Not that you wanted to revisit that one
>After all the stories, you looked outside
>It got later in the night, later enough that the sun had gone down
>You were exhausted from the day's events
>Mostly the finals though
>Selene and Lucya cleared away the dishes and you tried to put back the table and chairs
>When you picked up one of the chairs, you felt a sharp pain go through your right shoulder and dropped the chair
>Selene was the first to notice
"Anon, what happened?"
>"Nothing really, I guess my shoulder's just a little sore from being hunched over a test all day."
>You didn't want them to worry too much, but it was more than just that
>Your right wrist was also in pain, your ring and pinky fingers on that hand were numb
>This happened every so often to you, given all of your hobbies and school work
>Carpal Tunnel wasn't the worst thing that could ever happen to you, but it was fairly annoying
>And getting the surgery to fix it wasn't something you wanted to do anytime soon after they described the process
>Selene ran over and took the chair away from you, and Lucya walked over, putting a hand on your back and pulling you along with her other arm
*Come on, you need to lay down.*
>"Lucya, I'm fine, don't worry about me."
>Despite your request, you were quickly led to your bed
>Lucya sat you down and then faced you
*Hold your arms up.*
>You complied
>Next thing you knew, your shirt was gone
>"Lucya, sex isn't the best way to fix this situation, you know."
*Cute, just lay prone on the bed.*
>Despite the strange request, due to the tone of her voice, you complied
>You felt a shift on the bed and then a weight on your waist
>"Lucya?"
>You try to turn around to see what happened, but you are forced back down
*No, lie still, face down.*
>Not wanting to anger the taller woman, you don't move
>A few seconds later, you feel her hands on your back
>They're cold, but somehow they feel good
>Lucya proceeds to massage your pained shoulder and eventually the rest of your back
>It feels amazing, but with anything like that, it lasts way too short
>This leaves you exhausted, but in a good way
>You feel Lucya get up from her perch on your rear and get off the bed
>Not moving still, you hear the two girls talking
*Make him go to sleep, Selene. He needs his rest.*
"Don't have to tell me twice, Lucya."
>You feel a different sensation across your shoulders as Selene leans across you to the right side of your neck
>Unlike the last time, it wasn't a surprise, it almost felt good as she sunk her single fang into your neck
>Sleep was soon upon you, but before you drifted off, something crossed your mind
>They said that only Lucya went to the store today
>Selene did say that she would wear your clothes as needed
>But that didn't explain why she didn't go
>You would have thought more about it, but after the long week, Selene's drinking took it's toll on you quicker than usual
>And you drifted to sleep
***

>You woke up the next morning, feeling very relaxed
>Looking over, you find your pair of glasses and a glass of orange juice
>This seems to be a common occurrence for now, but you're not complaining
>You got out of bed slowly this time, learning from the last time
>You down the orange juice before anything else, wouldn't want to collapse while getting ready
>One shit, shower, and shave later, you get dressed and head out to the living room
>You weren't prepared for what you happened upon
>You find Selene and Lucya asleep on the couch
>Selene is laying prone with her head to the side, taking up most of the couch
>Her corset is laying on the floor next to the couch, which is good to see
>Then again, does it even affect her breathing at all?
>And Lucya is sleeping on top of her
>Although it seems as if Selene doesn't even notice
>Your thoughts were interrupted by a voice
*Keep quiet, Anon. Don't want her to wake up, now do we?*
>Apparently, Lucya wasn't asleep as it were
>"Right, sorry. How'd this happen?"
*Oh, she got all sleepy after we got you to go to sleep and I told her she shouldn't sleep on top of you.*
>You shift your weight and shrug
>"I mean, I wouldn't be that opposed to having her sleep on top of me."
>Lucya stares at you disappointedly
*It's this early and you're already trying to get at her?*
>You shake your hands in front of you
>"No, no! Not like that. I was just saying that you could have left her if she was already asleep."
*She wasn't, so I had her move. And she tried to go back, so I relegated myself to sleeping on top of her.*
>"Huh, okay."
>You walk over to the kitchen and look in the fridge
>"You want anything?"
*Shouldn't I be cooking for you? I mean, I am the woman here.*
>You look over to see she's walked to the other side of the fridge door
>"Lucya, you're not my romantic partner, nor my mother or grandmother. You don't have to cook for me just because you're the woman that's awake."
*True, I'm not. You can definitely find someone to be your romantic partner, I know you can. I'll still be your first rifle regardless of that, which is something different in my eyes.*
>You close the fridge door
>"We could try something like that if you wanted?"
>She shakes her head
*I think we're fine the way we are right now. You care about me in ways you don't even care for family members for, so that's good enough for me.*
>You close the gap and give her a hug, and she hugs back
>"Then that's fine by me. So what about breakfast?"
>You both release each other
*Why don't we go outside and get the mail, you didn't check it at all this past week.*
>"And you didn't do it for me?"
*I didn't have the key.*
>"Oh. Well, if you want to get dressed and grab a jacket, then I guess we can go."
*Can I take a shower as well? It has been a while since you've cleaned me, you know.*
>"Sure, go right ahead. I'll just be waiting out here."
>Lucya walked over to the bathroom and closed the door; the sound of running water to soon follow
>Now that you think of it, she was right
>Ever since Selene had come home with you almost two weeks ago, there hasn't been much done in the way of cleaning either of them
>Before Selene had arrived, and before you knew Lucya was an actual Waffegeist, you cleaned her a lot
>It was almost a therapeutic measure for you
>Bad day? Come home and clean Lucya
>Shit test result? Same thing
>When you were angry at people? Some days it was cleaning, others it was just sitting there and holding her until your nerves calmed down
>Bringing you back to the present, your stomach growls
>You figure that she's going to take longer than you do in the shower due to having that much more hair, so you decide to make something
>You rustle through the cabinets until you find the bread and peanut butter

>Jelly? Nah. You don't need that shit sullying your pure peanut butter sandwich
>Something simple for the two of you so that you wouldn't wake up Selene with the smell of the food being cooked
>It's effortless and doesn't take but a few minutes
>Eventually, the water turns off and a few minutes later, Lucya steps out of the conjoined bedroom
>She decided to wear basically what you were wearing, same make of jeans, same socks, but with a different colored and patterned button down shirt
>You pour two glasses of orange juice for the two of you and hand her one as she reaches you
*I thought we were going to get the mail?*
>"We were, I just got hungry."
*Fine, but we shouldn't waste so much of the day.*
>She's still berating you by the time you've already gotten halfway through your sandwich
>With food in your mouth, you point towards her sandwich
>"Look who's wasting time now, not eating so we can go get the mail."
>She looks at you with a glare that you could best describe as 'seriously?' but she ends up eating anyways
>A few minutes later and you're both done, so you put on your everyday shoes and she puts on her combat boots from her uniform
>Wait, where did those come from?
>You're pretty sure that they weren't on the floormat where you kept your shoes
>Then again, you don't know too much about how Waffengeist work
>You've known a few, like Mallory, Fred's wife that runs the Waffengeist dating service
>The ones that your friends had at the range the day after the election
>But you never really knew how things worked with them
*Hey, still with me?*
>Lucya's voice shakes you out of your train of thought
>"What?"
*You zoned out there for a few, you alright?*
>You move towards the door and open it, letting her step outside of the apartment
>"Yeah, was just thinking about some stuff."
>She closes the door behind her and you lock it
*Like what?*
>The weather was warm enough that you didn't need a jacket at all, despite it being late November
>So you start walking to the mailboxes near the offices of the apartment complex and Lucya follows
>You don't get very far before she asks the same question again
*Like what?*
>"Well, I'm a little confused right now."
*Oh?*
>"Yeah. I didn't see your boots on the shoe mat by the door before you put them on."
>She looks down at them for a few seconds before looking back at you
*Ah, that. You don't know much about Waffengeist do you?*
>"Not really enough to know how you did that boot trick."
*Shall I explain it to you?*
>You look over at her
>Her head is tilted up and away from you ever so slightly and she's smirking
>You're intrigued at her choice of body language for your question, but it doesn't matter
>You'd rather learn than pick some petty squabble
>"If it's not too much trouble, of course."
*Oh, it isn't. I can explain what I know. Basically, we get to choose what happens to a certain extent, in regards to our appearance. Just like humans are born with traits intrinsic to their parents, we have certain traits of the bloodline of those who made us. So you'll see some of my sisters having different colored hair, different faces, body types, and such. As for personalities and what clothes we wear, that's largely up to us and our own experiences.*
>She doesn't say anything to you as you process the information
>A few apartments closer to the mailbox, you come up with a question for her
>"So then what about the things that people change all the time? So basically, what happens to their hair if they wanted to cut it?"
>She grabs a few strands of her hair as she muses your question
*I do not know. I think that if I were to get a haircut, then it wouldn't affect what my rifle form looks like, but if, let's say, my barrel was cut down, then I would probably lose a large amount of my hair.*
>"So changes to the rifle always change the Waffegeist, but changes to the Waffegeist don't always change the weapon?"

*As far as I know, changing myself as I am will not change the rifle.*
>You nod, acknowledging this
>Rounding the corner, you come to the offices of the apartment complex
>Fairly normal looking building for an apartment complex, nothing too interesting
>About 50 feet away from the west side of the building is the mailboxes
>You walk over with Luyca and open your mailbox out of the set, looking inside and grabbing a week's worth of mail
>You turn around with the intention of walking away, but your path is blocked
>Before you can think about it, Lucya slams you up against the mailboxes, pinning your shoulders down with her hands
*I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay?*
>You nod
*You will never, ever drastically modify me while I am in my rifle form. Cleaning, sight adjustment, or refinishing the wood? Sure. But cutting me down, trying to put me into one of your 'modern stocks' or fitting some sort of god awful scope on me, and you can be sure that I will make you stop; forcibly if I have to, understand me?!*
>"Y-yes, Lucya. I understand."
>She lets go of your shoulders, and you both step away from the mailboxes and start walking back to your apartment
>She's completely silent as you walk past a few apartments on your way back
>You decide to break it
>"I think I know what this is about."
*You'd better.*
>"That day I was in the store; the day that I bought you. You weren't the only Mosin Nagant in there. There was another one. Although, I would hardly call her a Mosin anymore."
>She had to have known what you were talking about
>There was a Mosin Nagant M1891/30 that had a cut down barrel, no front sights, a horribly tacky painted archangel stock, and a foldable bipod
>The only reason that you even knew that it was a M1891/30 was because of the price tag
*Her name was Diana. I didn't know her before that store, never ran into her during the war or anything. But I barely even knew her from the store. She would sit in the corner at nights and refuse to talk to me. I could tell that she was still a Mosin like me on the inside, but her entire appearance was one that would never befit rifles like us. The price tag that the store gave her was too high for how she is now. She might never actually leave that store.*
>"I'm sorry for her, no Waffegeist deserves that."
*She definitely did not. I worry that no one will buy her. But even if they do, I fear that she will never be the same as she once was. I am sorry to have brought it up, I just needed to make sure you knew where I stood.*
>Walking beside one another, you reach over with your free hand and hug her shoulders
>"You're fine as you are. I promise that the only changes I ever make to you will be with your full consent and only to refine your original image."
>She sniffs, and you can tell she's tearing up, but you don't press the issue and release her shoulders
*Thank you.*
>A few more steps of silence before the question that burned your mind yesterday as you fell asleep came back to you
>"Lucya?"
*Yes?*
>"You said that you went to the store with the lady across the street yesterday, right?"
*Oh yes, Katherine! She is a wonderful lady who needed some company, I hope you do not mind.*
>You shake your head
>"Not at all, I was just wondering why Selene did not go with you."
>Lucya stops walking, and you realize that you're about four apartments away from yours
>She looks around, and then turns to you
*You know what she is, right?*
>"Yes, a Vampirgewehr.*
*Alright, well as it turns out, when I answered the door when Katherine was ready to go, Selene couldn't make it past the doormat before freaking out and running back inside, and closing the door.*
>"Any idea what it was that caused her to do that?"

*Well, she said she's a Vampirgewehr, right? That term reminds me of one from back home; Strigoi. Of course, you know them as vampires, but they both have one similar drawback; they will be disintegrated by natural sunlight. The difference here is that because of her other form, she will not be able to disintegrate when in sunlight.*
>"So, because she's also a rifle, she won't be disintegrated by the sunlight?"
*Exactly. And I think we can both agree that this is a very good thing.*
>"Right. So what does happen?"
>Lucya scratches the back of her head, contemplating an answer
>You and her are standing there for a few minutes when you hear a voice from a few feet away
<Lucya, dear. Thank you for going with me to the store yesterday, it was great to have company with me again.>
>Lucya turns around at the voice and her entire body language lightens up
*Katherine! I am thankful you allowed me to go with you, but I am so sorry about how Selene reacted when she was almost out the door.*
>You turn and look at Katherine; the kindly elderly lady that lives across the street from you
>You're not certain of her age, but she is surprisingly healthy for someone her age
>The only thing that seems off is that she seems possibly a little too old by the way she acts
>Almost like she's from an age long past
>You decide it would be rude not to acknowledge your kindly neighbor
>"Good morning Katherine, how are you today?"
<I am doing quite well, young man.>
>She turns to Lucya once more
<Your friend means well, but I think I understand what plagues her.>
*Y-you do?!*
<Yes, I have noticed that her skin is almost deathly pale. It would do her well to see a doctor about that. But until then, so she is not cooped up in the house like an old lady, such as myself; I suggest you get her some sunscreen lotion.>
>"Sunscreen?"
>She chuckles a little at your confusion
<Oh dear Anon, you must know of sunscreen. Why look at you! I am certain that you burn quite easily come summer time. Get her some sunscreen and there should be no issues anymore!>
>Lucya looks at you at the same time that you look at her
>"Looks like we've got a little trip to make."
*Indeed. Thank you for your help Katherine, I'll see about making more time to come visit you soon.*
<Thank you dears, good luck with her.>
>With that she walks away and goes back to her own apartment
>You look at Lucya again and shake your keys in front of her
>"We've got something to go do."
*Indeed we do.*


***


20 MINUTES LATER

***

>You and Lucya make it back to the apartment just fine, no disasters or hold ups at all
>"Think this will work?"
>You look over to Lucya over the car as she gets out
*If Katherine suggested it, I think it will. She's got a lot of experience in life.*
>You shrug and grab the bag you got from the store
>"Let's hope this works then; I'd hate for her to be stuck in the house all the time."
>Lucya nods and holds her hand out as she reaches the door
>You toss her your keys, the lanyard attached trailing along through the air
>She manages to catch them and then and then unlocks the door, walking inside
>Looking over the main room of the apartment, you don't see Selene at all
>Lucya locks the door behind you as you move towards your bedroom
>You open the door and find Selene
>Or rather
>You find something person shaped covered in blankets on your bed
>Looking over at the room's window, you notice the blinds are closed and the drapes pulled shut
>"Selene?"
>The answer comes muffled from underneath the blankets
"What do you want?"
>"I want you to come out from under those blankets first."
>You watch, unmoving as she untangles herself from the blankets
>It takes her a few seconds seeing as she found every blanket you owned and wrapped herself in all of them
>When she's finally out, you see that she's not wearing her all black outfit, but instead, she's wearing a black t-shirt, and a pair of your athletic shorts
>Not the most flattering outfit she could have chosen, but then again; when was anything you wore particularly flattering to wear other than your suit
"Again, what do you want?"
>"Just wanted to see if you finally woke up after last night."
"I did a while ago, but you two weren't here, so I just crawed up in your bed. It got a bit too warm after a while, so I changed into some of your clothes and went back to sleep."
>You smile at her honesty about it
>She's sat up by the time that she finished talking, and you go and sit next to her


"Where's Lucya?"
>"Oh, she's getting ready to do something I told her about. You're welcome to join us too if you want."
>She laughs a little at that
"That's implying that you could stop me if I wanted to. Which I do, but I want to know what we're doing first."
>"Lucya and I figured that it would be good to get you out of the apartment and go shopping for some regular clothes so you two don't stick out every time we go out on the town."
"What, you think a girl dressed like a goth band groupie, another girl dressed like a Red Army soldier, and a guy in jeans and a plaid button-down shirt would stick out?! What a strange concept!!"
>The sarcasm is dripping from her voice
>You look over at her to find that she's grinning as smugly as she can
>You can't help but smirk back at her
>"No, I figured that you two wanted to blend in so well with normal people that you'd stick out."
>The grin leaves her face, and she breaks eye contact with you
"Please, I already stand out with my damn skin being so pale. It's almost a light grey if you hadn't noticed."
>And with that, you feel like an asshole
>You scoot over to be in contact with her and wrap an arm around her slumped shoulders
>"Sorry, Selene; I didn't mean it like that. Your skin looks fine to me if that's any consolation."
"Heh, it's enough of one for now."
>You release her and pick up the bag from the ground
>"So, Lucya told me about what happened when she and Katherine went to the store yesterday."
"Shit, sorry..."
>"I'm not mad, Selene! In fact, I'm fine with it, because I think I understand. It's the sun, isn't it?"
"W-what would make you think that?!"
>"Your reaction, according to Lucya and Katherine. They said you ran back inside and closed the door the moment you stepped out of the shadows."
>She shuffled a little bit before folding her hands in her lap
"Yeah, I felt really strange the moment the sunlight hit me. It was not comfortable at all."
>You nod


>"Yes, that's the feeling of starting to get sunburnt. When it happens to me, my skin gets red on different levels depending on how hard of a sunburn it is. For a while after I get the burn, it's very sensitive and not pleasant at all."
"So, I was getting burnt?"
>"Yes, although I don't know how quick you were getting burnt.”
“You dislike it, don’t you?”
>After hearing that, you wrap your other arm around her into a full hug
>”Selene, you’re beautiful to me. Your skin is fine, and I think you’d look strange if it was different. So, don’t go thinking that.”
>You look down and smile at her
>She’s trying to hide her face from you, but you can figure that she’s smiling
>”And I'd honestly like to take you and Lucya out every now and then to do stuff with me. Granted, most places aren't open late at night when you won't get burnt, so we got you some things to let you come with us."
>You handed over the shopping bag to her and let her go through it
>She pulled out the sunscreen lotion first and read the bottle before smiling calmly
"You think that this will really work?"
>"Yeah, I think so. Katherine was the one who suggested the idea."
>She nods and pulls out the second item from the bag, a black umbrella
>She looks it over before opening it to find that it's covered in lace
>Selene collapses it, laughing as hard as she could
"Oh wow, that's great. What was that about not standing out in public?"
>You can't help but chuckle too
>"Yeah, I said we should get an umbrella, Lucya was the one who picked it out, so that's on her."
"I'll have to get her for this one, haha. But I'll at least thank her first."
>You smile at that
"A-and I guess I have to thank you, too, yeah?"
>"No, you don't have to at all, I've got to do something to make up for my shortcomings as a gun owner."
"What shortcomings? You care for us in this form when you can, like getting this stuff to allow me to go outside without burning up."


>You stand up and start walking towards the door to the living room
>"Nah, that's just what people do for each other."
>Without a warning, you feel a slight poke on your left ass cheek
>Turning around, you see Selene sitting on the bed with the umbrella pointed at your rear
>She puts the point on the ground and stands up, walking over to you
>With her free hand, she pokes you in the chest
"You need to stop selling yourself so short. I mean, you can't do everything, and we both know that. So start thinking of yourself better. And remember that I don't hate you for what you can and can't do."
>Before you could protest, Selene surprises you by walking up and wrapping her arms around you in a big hug
>You hug back as best you can as she pinned your arms to your sides
>A few seconds later, she releases you and steps over to your closet
"At least let me change clothes and get that sunscreen on so that we can get going to the store."
>"No problem, Selene. Glad I could do this for you."
"Me too. Now get out, no peeking!"
>You smile and oblige, walking out of the room and into the living room
>You look to your right to see Lucya; leaning up against the wall touching your room, one foot on the wall, and arms crossed
>"Hear all of that?"
*Yes, Anon. You know, you were supposed to leave out the fact that I helped you with that idea, right?*
>"Yeah, but I wasn't about to lie to her about it."
>Lucya shrugs and shoves off from the wall
>She comes over and rubs your back
*That's fine, I'm glad you're trying to do what you can for her; for us really.*
>"Of course, Lucya."
>A few minutes later, Selene comes out wearing some of your clothes; jeans and a button down plaid shirt
>She really liked the black and orange one you would wear
>If it wasn't for her wiping a visible blob of sunscreen into her skin, you'd have never noticed she had it on
>Smell or sight
>Which was the point really

>She smiles at you before manifesting her boots
>You and Lucya look at her boots and both laugh a little as they're over the jeans
>Selene looks down and extends her arms in a questioning gesture
"What's wrong with them?"
*Sweetie, you should put the jeans over the boots so it sticks out less.*
"Don't call me Sweetie. But fine, I'll fix that."
>She leans down and fixes her boots and jeans and walks towards the door, umbrella in hand
>You also head towards the door until Lucya the stack of mail across your chest
*You want to check this before we go?*
>You grab the mail from her and sift through it; passing nothing but adds until you get to a letter from Frederick and Mallory Jones; the people you got Selene from
>You open it and read the letter that's inside
>More of a note really
"Hey Anon, I thought I'd send these to you in case your rifles had Waffegeist forms and they wanted to get new clothes. You should be able to use them all at once. -Mallory Jones"
>Also inside the envelope was some coupons and "counts as cash" pieces for Kohls; a chain department store for clothing and home and kitchen things
>You looked at the envelope again and saw that this was from Monday, so it wasn't as if she had some sort of weird scrying ability you didn't know about
>Then again, you hoped that some sort of power like that was just your mind going crazy and not something that existed
>Lucya notices and smiles as she heads past you
>The three of you exit the apartment, with you locking the door as you exited
>As you unlock the car, Lucya opens the front passenger door, but instead of getting in, she motions for Selene to get in
>Selene looks a little confused about the kindness, but sits in the passenger seat anyways
>You also look at Lucya, tilting your head to question the gesture
>She simply gives you a smirk before getting in the car in the passenger side back seat

>Before you get in the car, you see Katherine standing outside of her front door with her hands folded in front of her
>She smiles at you and waves, and you return the gesture before getting in the car
>The drive to the store is uneventful
>Lucya was looking out the window at stuff she'd never seen before
>Every trip you've made with her before has been with her in the case in the trunk of your car
>You smile at her in the rearview mirror
>She barely notices given how enraptured she is at all the sights that she's seeing for the first time
>Selene on the other hand is anything but quiet
>She grabbed a hold of your phone as soon as you got in the car
>While she let you determine the volume at which the music was played, she took full control of the choice
>So your ride was filled with the sound of Powerwolf accompanied by Selene's own voice
>Which was by no means unpleasant
>At some point, you decided to join in with her
>As loud as you both were, you were a little surprised to hear Lucya humming along in the back of the car
>A little while later, you make it to the store
>You and Lucya get out of the car first
>Selene opens the door and unfolds her umbrella before exiting
>Because it was a day in late November, Selene could keep her black leather trench coat
>For whatever reason, she also kept her belt with the large Ruger logo belt buckle
>Lucya kept the jacket from her uniform on as cover
>Apart from that, the three of us were dressed in the exact same style since they were borrowing my clothes
>So the three of us walked into the Kohl's
>"Alright, so it looks like we've got a few hundred dollars that we can spend here, so just pick some things that you like and we can shrink down the final amount."
>They both nod at you but don't go off on their own
>"You two can go find what you want, you know?"
"Yes, but we want to go around with you so you can say what's good or not!"
>"Well, I suppose I can do that."

>You've done this before once with one of your ex'es
>That wasn't the best time you'd ever had before
>But you figure that this time will be a lot more enjoyable
>You smile a little bit and nod at them
>"Alright, you've got a deal, let's go."
>And with that, the three of you end up in the women's department
>You just kind of sit there while they look around until Selene calls you over
>She holds up a red and white shirt and a black pair of jeans
"What do you think of- OOF!!"
>Selene stumbles towards you as she's hit by something from behind
>"You okay, Selene?"
<Ruger!>
>You hear a voice from behind Selene and look to see a small girl in a black skirt and red sweater
>You notice the Ruger logo on the sweater
>A man rounds one of the clothes racks and waves apologetically at you
>You wave back and walk over and start talking to him
>Lucya joins the conversation a few minutes later
>As it turns out, the little girl is his Ruger LCP named Seras, and is another Vampirwaffen
>You, Lucya, and Seras's owner talk for a while as Selene fawns over her fellow little Vampirwaffe
>After a while, you get back to clothes shopping with your rifles
>A few hours later and a few hundred free clothes dollars poorer, the trip is done
>"How does lunch sound?"
*Sounds good to me, Selene?*
"Yeah, food is good. You pick, Anon."
>Looking at the options that are near the store, you decide on Chick-fil-a that was nearby
>After the three of you have gotten your food, you turn to them both
>"Hey, how about we go sit outside today?"
*Sure!*
"O-Outside?!"
>"Yeah, Selene. It's not that bad outside today and it's warm enough, so let's do it"
>Since it was late in November, the place had taken the umbrellas off the tables outside
>Lucya and I took our food outside and sat down at one of the tables away from the building
>Selene stayed within the restaurant, holding her food, looking nervous
>And then you realized what the issue was

>She'd left her umbrella in the car
>So you headed back to the car, and got her umbrella out
>You walked back to Selene and she reached a hand out to take the umbrella
>But instead of handing to her, you deployed it and held it out above her
>"Come on, your food will get cold."
"B-but what about yours? I can hold this myself!"
>You smile at her
>"Selene, eating with one hand isn't that bad. Although I'd much rather have you get used to the sun so I can take you places that are more than just a fast food restaurant."
"Really?"
>"Yes, Selene."
>She stays silent as you walk over and sit down at the table with Lucya
>After finishing your lunch, you all head back to the car
>You open the door for Selene to get in the car
>But instead, she hugs you
>"Selene?"
"Thank you, Anon. This was fun. I can't wait to go do more things with you."
>"You're welcome, Selene."
>She got in the car and you closed the door
>Lucya didn't wait for you to open her door, but she smiles at you before she gets in the car
>You shake your head and get in the car yourself
>Within seconds of you closing the door, your phone is taken from you and plugged into the sound system, and music soon follows
>All in all, this is something that you're fully okay with
>And you hope it doesn't end anytime soon
***