The Fallen Vampire

It's always surprising how fast that a larger man can move when they are sufficiently motivated.

Big Country quickly broke away from the encirclement of interested women without so much as a polite goodbye.

He cut through the crowd like a deceptively lithe figure and made his way over to where Tiche was in the midst of a rather upsetting conversation.

"So, did you shave your head on purpose, or..?"

"Actually, I kind of dig it. Don't see many women with a hairstyle like that in my sect."

"It's really exotic... and it suits your beautiful face well."

Tiche remained stone-faced as the group of men persisted in their harassment of her.

If she weren't worried about inconveniencing Taira and Aveena, she probably would have already had a very poor reaction by now.

But weren't they here for a sort of cultural exchange?

In that spirit, maybe it wouldn't harm her to interact with some outsiders... She wasn't fond of these ones though.

She could feel them looking at her as if she were some kind of exotic animal on a farm.

Maybe just not plucking their eyes out wild be a good enough effort on her part for today.

As she made up her mind to hopefully find someone else to talk to, another person suddenly joined the conversation.

"Excuse me, fellas..."

Tiche's blood ran cold as she felt something get placed on her head and a familiar voice came from behind her.

"I think y'all are bothering my lady here... Maybe it's best that you all mosey on now"

The men circling Tiche looked at each other in confusion.

"Mosey..?"

"What does that even mean..?"

"Why does he talk like that..?"

"I dunno, but what's he even saying..?"

"I think he's telling us to fuck off."

"Who is he to say something like that to us when he can't even speak right..?"

"..." Words could not describe just how conflicted Raymond felt in this moment.

He felt a hard pinch on the side of his ribs and winced in discomfort.

Looking down, he found Tiche as the culprit; giving him an unkind look.

...But she looked cute while wearing his cowboy hat, so he really didn't care.

"You are something else... Have I ever struck you as the kind of woman who needs you to act as a white knight for me? And when was I supposed to be your woman?"

An emboldened man stepped forward. "That's right, guy, I think the lady here is trying to say that she can converse with whoever she damn well please-"

"Don't talk to him like that."

Tiche swiped out without looking back and chopped the nearest annoying man in his neck; severely bruising his Adams apple and causing him to collapse.

"I've already told you that I'm not interested in you in that nature. We are far too different for any sort of compatibility to exist between us."

"Are you just saying that because I didn't ask you to marry me?"

Tiche fell silent for a moment but recovered quickly in the aftermath. "I-It doesn't matter. That was a very telling occurrence that helped to put things in perspective for me."

With the risk of getting slapped to death thoroughly in the back of his mind, Raymond reached out and took one of her hands in his own.

"Tiche... I didn't mean to come off like I wasn't taking things with you seriously. I was only thinking about normalcy back on earth and I forgot that I'm not there anymore. I want to adjust my way of thinking completely. I want to marry you."

Miraculously, Tiche had yet to pull away, or hit him for touching her suddenly.

She actually seemed a bit caught off guard and more than a little bit embarrassed.

"...It's not just the marriage that made me say no. You will return to your world one day, Raymond. What do you expect me to do then? Stay behind and-"

"Huh? I'm not going back."

"Eh?"

"Girl, I got superpowers now, you think I'm going back to work a regular 9-5 at the steel mill? Ain't no way."

"What is a '9-5'?" Tiche tilted her head.

"It's an earth term that means miserable."

"Oh..."

Raymond took the chance and pulled himself closer to Tiche until their bodies were nearly pressed together.

"I won't leave you no matter what, and I won't half ass this marriage either. If you say yes to me, I promise that I will stay by your side forever."

"...And if I say no?" Tiche asked under her breath.

"I'll be right outside your room tomorrow morning, waiting to ask you again."

"I might get irritated and kill you at some point."

"I wouldn't mind that at all."

Tiche used to walk around practically naked in the wilderness with her tribe. And yet, she had never felt more embarrassed than she did right now.

She felt cornered, but not in a desperate- fight for your life kind of way.

It was somehow much more uncomfortable than that; as she was being forced to confront something unfamiliar inside of her.

"...If you are sure that you will not regret your decision... then I suppose that I..."

"You what..?" Raymond asked hopefully.

"..." If anymore blood went to Tiche's face then she was at serious risk of fainting.

Her mouth became firmly glued shut, and she became unable to get any more of her words out.

But as a last ditch effort, she threw her arms around Raymond in a desperate hug.

And maybe that was sufficient enough for an answer.

"...I will be keeping your hat."

"It's cool. I think it looks better on you than me anyway." Raymond smiled as he hugged her back.

"AWWWWW!!"

At some point, the entire Black Myth Cult had surrounded the two would be-newlyweds and clapped in their approval.

Tiche now realized that she had to change her mind. This was undoubtedly the new most embarrassing moment in her entire life.

...But she didn't hate it nearly as much as she thought she would.

In fact, once she got over her initial embarrassment, this warm feeling was surprisingly pleasant.

"By the blood, my sister is getting MARRIED!! And to a human no less!" Vaal screamed dramatically. "I thought it would never happen because she was so unbelievably unlikeable!!"

"..."

Tiche changed her mind. This day would have been absolutely perfect if her brother wasn't alive to see it.