It had been six days. Nigel hadn't seen hide nor hair of his slayer and now he had hunted down Raj to have the vampire go chase the girl out of her nest. Why? Raj didn't know. Cass didn't answer her phone, didn't answer the door, didn't answer emails at all from Nigel. What made him think that Raj would be able to get through?
Raj stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the low lit windows of Cass's apartment. He had a handful of rocks. One by one he tossed them up at the windows making soft *tick, tick* sounds, trying to get Cass's attention. It was after hours. The doors were locked and the guard wasn't there. 'Sides, even if he was, Raj probably wouldn't have gotten in anyway.
Cassandra had been holed up before the steadily fed flames of her fireplace, curled up in a thick sheepskin and leather blanket, the chill of impending Winter staying just outside the small circle of her apartment. She hardly turned on any of the lights ... she didn't eat much ... she definitely didn't go out. She was through.
This good vs. evil way of life was too much. She didn't want any part of it anymore. She just wanted to turn back the hands of time to that day that she met Nigel so that she could just turn around and walk out the doors of the bookstore. The small ticking sounds on her windows were lost upon her as she just watched the flames consume the dry wood through half-closed lids.
The small stones weren't working. Nothing was moving in there. Raj snorted and dropped the few he had left and picked up a crunched beer can out of the gutter. God awful stuff. How humans could drink it he had no idea. The German ale he'd had in the past was so much better.
He looked back up at the windows and chucked the can toward one with a loud CLUNK and the impending crash of aluminum on pavement as gravity took its toll on the projectile. That should at least get some response. He really didn't want to break her windows.
Cass turned her head suddenly the sound at her window, her natural instincts taking over as she was suddenly on alert. But then as suddenly as it came, it dissipated back into the closed part of her consciousness as she turned her head back towards the fire with a soft sigh. It was probably Nigel and she really didn't want to deal with him right now. She didn't really know how many days it had been since she had seen him but there had been countless phone calls gone unanswered ... her doorbell had rang almost non-stop. She just wanted him to go away.
Again another CLUNK sounded on her window. Raj was getting irritated now. If the girl didn't pay attention soon he WOULD break her window. He couldn't very well go in without her invitation, and he didn't particularly care to anyway. A vampire in a slayer's den ... well, he'd rather not go there.
This was getting annoying and Cass had had just about enough. Tossing aside her blanket, she rose wearing long flannel pajama bottoms and a ribbed tank top that clung to her skin, her bare feet trodding across the hardwood floor to the window where she flung open the window to half hang out, her voice harsh as her voice echoed into the empty night "Nigel, what the hell do you want?!"
"Well, well, well. There is life in there. I was beginning to wonder if someone got to you before I did." Raj looked up at her and met her eyes evenly. "Such a temper too."
Cassandra's eyebrows furrowed as she stared down at the figure standing in the lamplight and it suddenly occurred to her that they were, in a way, repeating the first night that she saw him. Frowning, she spat down at him, unable to figure out why HE was there. "What the ... Raj! Why are YOU here?"
Raj tucked his hands into his trench coat and hugged is closer to his body, still looking up at her. He grinned rather cockily. She was so cute when she was mad. "It's cold out here... mind letting me in?"
She sighed heavily as her shoulders slumped. The last thing she needed was Raj here. He was the epitome of what she was trying to get away from, not to mention that cocky attitude that just made her want to get to know him even more. This was ridiculous! She ought to just tell him to fuck off but instead found herself shaking her head slightly, unbound raven tresses falling around her shoulders.
"Fine," she surprised herself calling down. "Buzz in and I'll let you up."
"You've got to invite me." He said it with a finality as he turned for the main door and mounted the few steps to the set of buttons. It took him a second or two to orient himself with the numbering system. English, 21st century ... right. He pushed the button that matched her apartment number, half tempted to push the rest just to see how many people he could get yelling at him and just grinned, refraining from the childish temptation.
Cassandra walked over and pushed the button that allowed the front door to unlock and spoke into the intercom softly, but somewhat irritated, "All the way to the top floor ... it's the only apartment here. Come on up" and then unlocked her own door, leaving it slightly ajar as she moved back some to watch the door, mostly out of a natural instinct to be wary.
When the door buzzed and unlocked he turned the handle and stepped inside. Nice place. He found the stairs and climbed all the way up as instructed, seeing the door ajar and he approached it to just in front of the threshold and pushed the door open a bit more. "Gonna let me in?"
Cassandra watched as his figure shadowed the doorway, her eyes narrowing some and then relaxed a bit as she stepped out of the shadows and waved him in as she made her way back to the soothing crackle of the fire place. "How many times do I have to invite you in? Just lock the door behind you" and after a moment, glanced back at him before she sank back down on the furs before the fire. "Please," she added after a moment's pause.
Raj stepped inside at the invitation and closed the door behind him, clicking the lock in place and turned back toward her. "I ... well, we, meaning ... well, you get the point. We can't pass through the threshold of a door without being invited by a human."
She glanced over at him as she pulled her legs towards her chest some, wrapping slender arms around them. "Yes, I know the routine ... just didn't realize how blatant I had to be about it," she said before turning her gaze back to the fire, staring at it a long moment before quietly adding, "Why are you here?"
"To talk to you ... a pretty girl like you shouldn't hide away like this." He leaned against the door, not really wishing to go any deeper into the slayer's den any more than he had to.
Cassandra glanced at him, her eyebrows furrowing at his comment. He never ceased to surprise her that was for sure. "Whatever ... you have a reason for being here. You don't even want to be here. That much is obvious" she retorted, noting the way he would hardly come in through the door.
"Should I want to be here? Obviously I'm not in the best of places for my kind. It's kind of like walking into a mouse trap and trying to steal the cheese without getting squished. I came to talk to you. That's all. Why haven't you talked to your Watcher? He's worried about you."
She just looked at the vampire for a moment, trying to figure out where HE fit into this whole puzzle and then turned her gaze back to the fire, her jaded gaze staring at the flickering dance of the flames. "What does it matter to you?"
He looked her over closer. "Girl ... have you eaten at all? You're pale." He pushed off the door and was going to approach her then decided against it and turned for the kitchen instead to have a look around.