Just a Sip?

"Just a sip?"

"No."

"Oh, come on, just one little sip?"

"I said no, Ace!"

A few of the Crew members are out in the city at a local blood drive. Livi, Annoyance, Julieanna and Ace are in a curtained-off little "room", with Julieanna relined in the chair, the blood-sucky-straw-thingy stuck in her arm, staring up at the ceiling as she tries to ignore the vampire sitting on the floor next to her, trying to grab a snack. The twins are looking curiously over the strange equipment leading from the needle in Julieanna's arm to the blood bag resting on the floor, which is also making her a tad nervous.

"Just a little sip, Ju, it won't hurt anything!" Ace begged, looking up at her with sad, pleading eyes.

"No, Ace…" She growled under her breath for the twentieth time in five minutes, not even turning to look at him.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want a vampire sucking my blood out of a straw in my arm!!" Julieanna hissed, sitting up slightly to glare at him. She instantly leaned back, closing her eyes, and using her unoccupied hand to massage her aching forehead.

"You don't have to snap…" Ace mumbled, reaching out and tugging at the end connecting to the bag. "It really wouldn't hurt to-"

In one swift motion, Julieanna yanked her shoe off and whapped Ace over the head with the heel. Ace yelped in pain, then took the shoe from Julieanna as she attempted to put it back on, and hit her with it.

"Ow!! What was that for?!"

"You hit me first!"

"You were trying to drink my blood! What did you want me to do?!"

"I wanted you to let me!!"

"Well, tough!! You're not drinking my blood!"

"Why not?!"

"It's creepy!!"

"Jeez, Blondie, chill out…" Annoyance cut in, messing around with some of the medications. "There's plenty of girls out there that would kill for a vampire bite."

"No…" Ace growled, still standing over Julieanna. "There's plenty of idiots out there that would kill for an Edward Cullen bite…"

"Edward is a vampire." Annoyance said bluntly. She looked up at Ace, about to say something else, but yelped in surprise and ducked down to avoid Julieanna's shoe flying at her head, courtesy of Ace.

"Don't you DARE speak such a horrible lie!" Ace growled, advancing on her.

"Ace!" Julieanna snapped, sitting up again. "Will you knock it off?! I'm supposed to be keeping calm, and you're kind of stressing me out!"

"I didn't do anything!" Ace shrieked in protest. "She started it!"

Livi watched the two continue fighting for a while from her spot on the floor, then sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling. She pushed herself up, then gently took Ace by the arm. "C'mon, Ace, let's go outside for a minute, okay?"

"What?! But, they-"

"Shhhh… it's not your fault… we just need to let Julieanna be alone for a minute, okay?"

Ace stared at Livi a moment, then growled under his breath, looking away as he followed Livi out. "Annoyance, keep an eye on Ju, 'k?" Livi called over her shoulder. "Don't let her, like, die or anything…"

Annoyance, now seated on the floor, gave Julieanna a malicious grin, the latter of the two suddenly looking very unnerved. Livi simply rolled her eyes again, let the curtain fall back into place, and lead Ace out into the waiting area.

--------------------------

"That stupid little nuisance…" Ace grumbled under his breath. "I don't know what's wrong with her… I didn't even do anything."

"You know Julieanna doesn't like it when you do all that creepy-vampire-I'm-going-to-kill-everyone crap…" Livi said, not looking up at him.

Livi is sprawled out in the middle of the floor, flipping through a Nintendo Power magazine, Ace sitting cross-legged in front of her. The vampire has one elbow resting on his knee, that hand holding his chin, as the other hand drums restlessly on the floor.

"I can't help it… I kind of am a vampire." Ace growled irritably.

"I know… you just need to… tone it down a bit…" Livi flashed him a smile. "Ju's just one of those goodie-goodie girls… she doesn't like to break the rules. Weird things like this have always bothered her.

"Yeah, no kidding…" Ace growled. He stopped drumming the ground, sighing, and looking down at the floor. "… Do you think she hates me?" He said after a while.

Livi looked up in surprise. "What?"

"Do you think she hates me?" Ace repeated.

"No, of course not!" Livi said sweetly, pushing herself up to sit beside Ace and wrap her arm around his shoulder. "You're one of Ju's closest friends, and you know that! She just… well…"

"She hates vampire me…" Ace sighed, shaking his head. "I'm only half of what she wants."

Livi bit her lip, not quite knowing what to say.

After a minute or two of Livi looking around the room for inspiration of any sort and Ace staring blankly at the ground, Livi suddenly perked up, then screamed out, "NINJA!!!"

Ace looked up in surprise, looking at Livi. "What?"

Livi ignored him, looking right over his head. "NINJA!!!" she screamed again.

Ace decided she must be referring to a person, and started looking around, though he could see no "ninjas" of any form in sight. "What are you talking about?" He asked, still searching the few people coming in and out.

Livi, again, paid him no mind. Instead she screamed, "NINJA!!" at the top of her lungs, waving one hand frantically in the air.

Finally, Ace saw who Livi was calling to. A short, skinny girl, looking about Livi's age, turned around at the sound of Livi's shrieks, her pale skin going bright red as she blushed with embarrassment. The girl had bright green eyes, long brown hair that shone pale red in the light, and was dressed head-to-toe in shades of purple and black.

"KONICHIWA, NINJA!!!" Livi screamed, waving to the girl. Ace cringed reflexively at the Japanese terms, then watched the girl blush harder, wave shyly to Livi, then follow one of the nurses back behind the curtains.

"Oh, she is so cute!" Livi squealed, going back to her abandoned magazine.

Ace stared at the spot the girl had disappeared into, looking totally dumbstruck. "Who… who was that?"

"That's Ninja!" Livi chirped.

Ace turned to face her, raising an eyebrow. "Ninja?"

Livi nodded. "She's from Real World, like me and Shannon."

"Well… what's she doing here?"

Livi just shrugged. "I dunno… she pops by every now and then…"

Ace paused a minute, still looking at the curtains, then asked, "What's she like?"

"Jeez, are you a stalker, or what?" Livi snapped, looking a bit cross that he was interrupting her fangirl indulgence. "If you want to know so bad, go talk to her!"

"What? Talk to her? I don't even know her!" Ace stammered, looking a tad unnerved.

Livi was stunned for a moment at Ace's reaction, then a creepy smile spread across her face. "You like Ninja." She stated bluntly. It wasn't a question-It was a fact.

"I do not." Ace shot back, looking away. "I don't even know her."

"Oh, yeah… Well, we can fix that right now!" Livi chirped. Before Ace could protest, Livi stood up, grabbed Ace's arm, yanked him off the ground, and started pulling him towards the room the girl had disappeared into.

As soon as the two were inside, they saw the same girl sitting in the same type of chair Julieanna was in, the same type of contraption hooked up to her left arm. She blushed as they burst in, jumping in surprise, then sighing in distress as she realized who it is.

"Hiya, Ninja!" Livi chirped, bouncing over to her.

Ninja waved her free hand. "Hey, Livi…" Her voice was very quiet and timid. To Ace it seemed to have a bit of a musical quality to it.

Livi ran over, jerking on Ace's arm so he stumbled forward. "Okay, Ace, this is Ninja, one of my best friends EVER! She's dark, and mysterious, and likes to kill people-so you two have a lot in common!"

Ninja blushed, looking down, but laughing a bit at Livi's spazzing. Ace felt an uncomfortable knot in his stomach, realizing how often she blushed. That boiling blood wasn't going to be easy to tolerate for very long.

"So, Ninja…" Livi went on, gesturing to Ace and yanking him forward again. "This is Ace Dimonde. He's a half-blood vampire, one of the Crew Members, and he has a crush on you!"

"What?!" Ace snapped. "I do not!"

"Okay, sure…" Livi said sarcastically. She put a hand next to her mouth, as if creating a barrier between herself and Ace. "He's in denial…" She whispered loudly.

Ninja laughed quietly. "I know who Ace is, Livi… You never stop talking about the Crew…"

"I talk about other things!" Livi said indignantly, stomping her foot.

Ninja raised an eyebrow, giving her a look. "Such as?"

"Such as… such as… SHUTTUP!" Livi shrieked, giving up on searching for an answer. Rather than continuing the argument, Livi pushed Ace forward so he stumbled to a stop just in front of Ninja. "Okay, I'm going to go check on Annoyance and Ju! You two play nice now!"

Ace tried to turn around and argue with her, but Livi was already gone. Making a mental note to rip her limb-from-limb later that day, Ace sighed, then nervously turned and approached Ninja. "Um… hey… Ninja, right?"

Ninja sighed, nodding. "In this world, apparently so…"

Ace decided that Ninja must not be her real name (he didn't think it would be), and made another note to go find out what it was. "You're from Real World, aren't you?"

Ninja nodded again. "And you're from Australia, right?"

A quick image of Livi with a steak knife through her chest flashed through Ace's mind as he recalled the Artist's fondness of his hated heritage. He laughed nervously, trying to shrug it off. "Uh, yeah… that's right…"

Ninja smiled. "That's cute…" She curled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her free arm around her knees. "Do you want to sit down?" She asked timidly, nodding to the free end of the long-seated chair.

Ace just smiled, sitting down beside her. "You're a very quiet girl, huh?"

Ninja blushed again, tightening the knot in Ace's stomach. "Yeah, I guess… I don't usually like noisy crowed places like this…"

"Why'd you come then?"

Ninja shrugged, the blush turning a few shades darker red. "I guess I was hoping to meet a vampire… Apparently, it worked…"

"It would seem so…" Ace cleared his throat, noticing his voice sounded strained.

"Are you alright?" Ninja asked, cocking her head to the side a bit. Thankfully, most of the blush had faded.

Ace nodded. "Of course… just a little…" Ace trailed off, shaking his head. He didn't like admitting he was thirsty, especially in front of a mortal he had just met.

Ninja uncurled her legs, letting them hang off the side of the seat. She reached down and started playing with the needle on her arm. Ace looked away, extremely unnerved at the idea of what she was doing.

"Do you want a sip?" said Ninja's shy, timid voice.

Ace was stunned for a moment, then turned slowly around to look at her. "What?"

"Do you want a sip?" she repeated. Ninja was holding the end of the blood-sucky-straw-thing that connected to the needle that was previously in her arm. She had her blood-giving arm extended slightly towards him, as if she were offering it to him. There was a very small pool of blood already gathering on her forearm.

The knot in Ace's stomach turned from slight discomfort to a throbbing ache. He swallowed hard, trying to make eye contact with Ninja to avoid looking at her arm. "Are you serious?"

Ninja nodded. "You're thirsty… aren't you?" Her voice had gotten a lot quieter-Ace took that to mean she was nervous.

The vampire opened his mouth to deny it, then after a moment or two, sighed and looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry…" He mumbled.

"Don't be sorry…" Ninja cooed quietly, scooting closer to him. She offered him her arm again. "It's okay… go ahead."

Ace looked at her a moment, then gently took her wrist in his hand, bending over as if to kiss it. "Are you sure?"

Ninja nodded. She was blushing a bit, but smiling sweetly at him. "It's alright, really… I don't mind at all…"

Ace smiled to himself, deciding not to argue with her, and pressed his lips to the wound, gently sucking on it to draw the blood out. He tried to be very delicate with her-she looked so fragile to him.

After a moment or two, Ace released her, sighing in pleasure. He took the needle from her, trying to mimic the way the nurse had it hooked up, so as not to arouse any suspicions. Glancing up at Ninja, Ace noticed she was wearing an ecstatic smile. She was still blushing crimson, but the knot in Ace's stomach had faded now that he had had a drink, so he wasn't bothered by it.

"What are you smiling at?" Ace asked, finally getting the needle fixed.

Ninja looked away, blushing harder. "Nothing…"

"It has to be something… it's creepy to smile at nothing." Ace said.

Ninja thought carefully about how to answer him, then glanced up at him from under her eyelashes, which were accented beautifully with her dark make-up. "You're amazing… are you aware of that?"

Ace smiled, showing off his fangs, and standing up. "Yes, actually, I'm very much aware of that… but, it's always nice to hear it."

Ace helped Ninja back into the position he had found her originally sitting in as she stared lovingly up at him. "I've been waiting for a long time to meet you…"

"Well, I'm glad you did… I've certainly enjoyed meeting you…" Ace inwardly cringed at his own words, a familiar feeling of loneliness creeping over him.

Ninja beamed at the thought of Ace liking her, laughing under her breath. "That's very sweet, Ace…"

"Of course… I'm only mean to people I don't like… and I happen to like you very much…" Ace bit his tongue as soon as it was out of his mouth, Ninja laughing musically again. Don't get attached. He told himself, that sickening feeling pulsing harder. Don't get attached, Don't get attached, Don't get attached…

"Say, Ninja…" Ace mused as a thought occurred to him. "You're not a fan of Twilight, are you?"

Ninja nodded. "Yes, actually, I am."

"Ah…" Ace said, finding an odd sense of relief that he couldn't have gotten along with her anyway. "That's too bad… I'm not much of a fan of Twilight at all…"

"I can see why." Ninja said, causing Ace to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "I like Edward, but you're much better than him."

Ace felt like he was going to be sick.

"Is… is that so?" He asked, nervously.

Ninja nodded, smiling up at him. "Yes, it is."

After a moment or two of staring down at her, Ace smiled sweetly, showing his fangs again. "Then I'm sure you and I will get along quite nicely."

"I'm sure we will…" Ninja mused. "Maybe you could take me hunting sometime? I like killing people…"

"I would love to, Ninja…" Ace said. "I would also love to stay a while longer, but my idiot housemates will be killing each other soon, and I need to go split them up…"

Ninja nodded in understanding, thinking back to her Real World friends. "Of course… and wouldn't it be a shame to be without a few more idiots?" She asked sarcastically.

"Unfortunately, should anything happen to the bothersome little Artist, I just might vanish as well, and that's a risk I don't plan to take…" He took her right hand gently in his and bowed to kiss it. "I look forward to meeting you again sometime."

"Likewise…" Ninja sighed. "I'll be seeing you again very soon…"

"I certainly hope so…" Ace said.

With that, the vampire released Ninja's hand, turned around, and disappeared through the curtains. After he was gone, Ninja looked lovingly down at her hand where Ace had kissed it, then sighed dreamily, holding it close to her chest as she stared up at the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Ace was following the others outside to the parking lot, Annoyance and Julieanna arguing in high pitched voices. Livi slowed down to fall in step with Ace, grinning mischievously. "So? Vampy likey Ninja?"

Don't get attached… Ace firmly reminded himself, casting one final glace over his shoulder. Don't get attached… Don't get attached…

"Yes…" He finally sighed, smiling to himself. "Ace likes Ninja."