Chapter 12 Night To Remember

The Forest of Pin Mare is magnificent as it is amazing looking, Dmitri and I are strolling through the immaculate forest of pine and large oak all around. We stop jumping from branch to branch once we reach the distance of the town's border by the forest. It's for hiding Dmitri's privacy as a Vampir, an approach to not get seen or caught by unknowing humans wandering about to the woods as he said it earlier to me. He also advised me to reserve his hex powers since he's been using it to swiftly traverse both of us from branch to branch.

While I, on the other hand, thinks completely differently, he's just giving excuses for getting tired of carrying my weight around. I'm perfectly in good shape so have at him. But that's fine, it was nice that he got tired or became vigilant, which made us have an enjoyable stroll through the forest whilst we head to Prigoria on foot.

Well, it's better to be safe than sorry anyways.

"If you're thinking about why we stopped and proceed on walking because of my lack of reserved hex and my vigilance of awareness to unwary humans lurking about and trespassing on forest grounds then I swear I'm going to and should consider killing them and use their dead weight carcasses for later" He said to me, annoyed.

"I strongly advise for you to don't kill humans in the forest or ones who's from Prigoria, you might've having lives destroyed because of that action and furthermore killing innocent lives unwillingly will cause a panic in this place and will stir up a crowd and worst case scenario it will expose you and will get you and the other Constantine's serious trouble" I reason with Dmitri.

He nodded and replied, "Alright, I'll behave myself for now and won't kill humans in the meantime, you happy?"

"I'll see to it if you really keep your words unless you're not a man of your word ..." I said, teasing him.

Dmitri was about to retort but stopped himself for an alleged comeback on it. Instead, he just looks at the clothes he's wearing, which are technically my clothes. I offered to wear it since he did mention before that he hasn't mastered resisting the sun and by the looks of it, it's bare sunny out today, not much clouds to shield himself. So I have him wear my hoodie, good thing I washed them before giving it to him to wear.

"Why do I need to wear your human clothes? It's blocking my view and it's distorting my vision, because of this cloth over my head and why is it dangling below my neck? These clothes of yours are pretty annoying, I don't get why you humans suffer from such inconveniences!" Dmitri said, complaining.

"The reason why I gave you to wear my hoodie is because you can't handle the sunlight when we get there, you thought I forgot what you said before about your condition so in order to be prepared for that, I let you wear that to prevent you from becoming a stiff statue and protect you from the sun while we're out there in Prigoria" I said.

He can't help but feel I was right about it. Dmitri didn't respond back to me because I was right about what I just said. He just crosses his arms and knows his defeat, he even keeps looking at the hoodie, observing its soft fabric and fragrant scent. While we continue onwards I can even see at glance that he's smelling the fabric of it. I hope he's not smelling my scent on it even if I washed it before, I've been using that hoodie for a long time and hoping my natural scent isn't a bother.

Somehow he looks elated by it, and hearing his muffled mutter I gave at glance and asked;

"Hey Dmitri, what are you saying back there? Is everything okay?" I asked.

He composed himself, looking rather embarrassed with his face getting beet-red and replied. "What? I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary ... And if this is about your hoodie then your out of luck, I've made up my mind about it and I'm still unconvinced about its workabouts so better keep your eyes on the path or you might stumble a painful face plant on a tree or something" He said, back to his snarky self.

I chuckle as we continue walking towards the wood and after a few minutes of what it appears for us to be like hiking, we've come to the edge of the forest, seeing some houses up in the distance. I don't know who is smart enough to put this here but while we approach the edge of the forest, I keep seeing some wooden signboards plastered all over the path, already covered with shrubs and roots. I'm getting it's Dmitri's work, no one even the others will put warning signs to not enter the forest all around. People nowadays are stubborn so they'll ignore this anyways but it's their funeral.

Finally, the bright sun and cold breeze, we made it to Prigoria or what appears to be the parking lot of some bistro but still it had people up and about and the path has a stone archway like an entrance to the woods. As I continued walking ahead, I felt something wasn't right and as I turned back, I saw Dmitri standing casually all by himself at the edge of the forest, where the shades covered him.

"What's wrong? Is everything alright, Dmitri" I asked.

He kept fidgeting, not meeting my eyes and replied, "Nothing, it's just that you go ahead and enjoy your time while I guard the forest and wait you here"

I swear this is the first time I'm seeing Dmitri frightened to expose himself outside with people around while the sun is out, shining menacingly.

"Hey, Dmitri there's nothing to worry about, I guarantee the hoodie will keep you safe, I promise you'll be fine ... I'm giving you my word" I said, reassuring him. I extend a hand.

Dmitri looks at me for a long moment, like if I'm really telling the truth, which I am. He sighs and steadily holds my hand. I smile and gently pull him out of the forest and bask in the sunlight and the bustle of the town. I can tell he's still afraid since as I pull him out there, his grip on me gets tighter even if we're out of the forest, standing there for a moment.

For the first time, Dmitri looks excited to not be frozen in the sun because of the regiment I put him in. He gazed at me with glee in his eyes, feeling relief for the first time. A newfound rejoice standing there with me.

"I told you the hoodie is awesome ..." I commented while smiling.

He nods and replies, "Absolutely, it does, thanks for this" I never saw him this happy on such small accomplishments before.

We stand there, admiring the view and I didn't notice just now we're still holding hands. We both looked at our hands still holding and steadily in unison looked at each other. Embarrassed, Dmitri lets go of my hand, scratching the back of his neck and looking elsewhere. I did the same but I'm not mad about it, I gave him a pat on the back and usher him to start out walking further along. He sighs and we go forth to the town of Prigoria.

The town looks awesome, of course it has that European style old architecture going on which I feel the vibe to. In the hustle and bustle of things, the town is even more livelier as we go deeper, with decorative banners and confetti all around, shops and stalls litter the sides of the streets offering delicious native food to offer and even surprise me to have an american-ones among them, souvenir kiosks with games and prizes to be won and of course the explanation for the loud sound, a standing concert stage nearby the statue of a person with an eagle on its arm, wait it's alive. I have to say, this place is truly remarkable.

As I continue to gaze around the immaculate scene of this spectacular town, Dmitri isn't having the enjoyment like I was. He's walking besides me but his hoodie is much lower on his head much like covering his face and with his hands on his pockets. Still, afraid to show himself, it is his first time witnessing all this.

"Theodore, can I ask where exactly you are going?" He said.

Looking around, I found the perfect place. An old edifice, much like a combo of a bakery and a housing block up a floor. It has all the necessity of being the perfect bakery, complete with delicious looking bread and very scrumptious pies and cakes. I point there where we're going, we approach the quaint shop and out to come great us is the smell but no one is minding the place. Clink of the bell I went and a boy rush to the counter, smiling gleefully, all covered in flour at us and said;

"Bună ziua, bună ziua, cu ce te pot ajuta? vrei vreo pâine astăzi?" The boy said. Uh, okay.

"Uh? Hmmm ..." The only thing I can mutter. Dmitri surely enjoys himself and does not help out.

He's speaking in full fluent Romanian, I only know some of the words he said but it's still fuzzy for me to understand it fully. Looking confused, he laughs and clears his throat then he goes, saying;

"My apologies, hello there, good day, what can I help you with? Does any bread fancy you today?" He said.

English. He knows how to speak. "Goodthing you speaking English, yes I would to buy something from your bakery" I said.

"Yes, my apologies again, I didn't expect foreign speaking tourists in our store, of course what will you get?" The boy said, presenting the vast array of food on display.

I each point to the food I've bought which are, Kürtős Kalács 2 each, Galuste Cu Prune 6 pieces, Lichiu Sasesc Cu Prune 4 pieces and one square of Vargabéle. Dmtiri is not even paying attention, still busying himself on the lace of the hoodie. I sigh and pay the boy first. As I wait for my food to be put in some paper bag, I revel on the surroundings and the elegance of the atmosphere of the place.

When all of the sudden, out of nowhere, a speeding Vespa is heading its way where Dmitri is standing idly by. He didn't notice or ignore the sound of horn tooting, as the lady driving it shouts at everyone passing by to move back. The lady kept on signaling her arrival but Dmitri wasn't paying attention. Before she passes by, I grab Dmitri by the hoodie and pull him out of the way, just as the lady by the Vespa shouts an apology to me, continuing speeding off.

As I pulled Dmitri into me, I swooned him by arm and dipped him down. He was caught off guard and held on the back of my neck, looking at me surprised and confused at the same time. We hold ourselves for a moment, gazing at each other's eyes for a few seconds. Dmitri began to blush and quickly stood to pull himself off, letting go of me. The boy called us as I recovered from that scene, I gave my thanks to the pastry and we went on our way to check the other place of the festival.

I'm still flushed from earlier events that took place, it was kind of embarrassing too. I could even tell on Dmitri's face as we continued walking past stall after stall. He isn't even looking directly at me. I hope that crazy lady won't come back again for another time with her speedy Vespa in tow. The stall we approached is quite interesting, egg displays. After the egg displays, we visit more stalls and kiosks around while we eat our pastries together. I bought some for Sebastian for bribing purposes only and I thought he might like this Vargabéle.

We stumbled upon a store that got my interest, it has all these souvenir items on display, all eagle themed. I approach the stall keeper and I came across another language barrier, saying;

"Buna bine ai venit! Văd că vei cumpăra lucruri, avem tot felul pentru tine, inclusiv acest tricou cu tematică vultur în stoc" She said.

"Uhm. I speak English I apologize I didn't get what you're saying just now" I replied.

The lady laughed, gesturing it was okay and then changed her tone as I can fully understand. "My apologies too for the trouble, let me say it again ... Hi, welcome! I see you're going to buy things, we have all the sorts for you, including this eagle themed t-shirt in stock" She said.

The stall keeper lady is not wrong though, she has the assortment of items to choose from. From the egg displays to eagle themed pillows, statues and even the t-shirts she'd mentioned earlier. I grew to love having one, everyone is wearing those as we pass by earlier.

"I'll take an egg display and 2 pairs of the turquoise colored t-shirts for us, I have to say it has great quality to it, it's soft to the touch and it's the perfect souvenir to take back" I said to the stall keeper lady.

"I appreciate the comment and please if you're planning on changing, we have some changing booths at the back over there" She said and I nod, paying her the items I've bought.

I had Dmitri the t-shirt and he was confused as to why I'm giving it to him, saying, "Why are you giving me that cloth?" He said.

"Uh? For you to wear ofcourse, you can wear that underneath the hoodie and you use the changing booth over there to change" I said, convincing him.

"And why would I change to such apparel? You already gave me this to wear" He implied.

I sigh and explain, "I bought this for us to wear so we can be part of the festivities and also we can be matching too, don't you like that?" I said to him.

"Ugh, do we really need to be at a match just so you can say we're participating in the festivities being held today? And I don't have a choice to get out of this debate?" He mentioned.

I nod and said, "A solid yes on that response and I vow we would engage ourselves in all the fun things going to happen here, let's give it a try I already bought us for a pair so you have no excuse to try it on, it will be pretty cool to us, trust me"

Dmitri huffs and extends his hand. I place the t-shirt to him and the paper bag to him since I already have mine, why not change here. I slowly take off my sleeveless open zipper hoodie off me, handing to Dmitri who's starting to get confused why I'm steadily taking off my clothes in front of everyone outside and in public. Removing one last piece of clothing, I bare myself open, showing off my sculpt of a body. The gym regimen 'd took didn't fail me to show off my hard work I'd work for.

I can even see Dmitri staring at me absentmindedly as I put on the eagle-themed shirt. I snapped my fingers and said;

"Dmitri? Are you okay ..."

"Uh, Uhm of course I'm alright but why did you just casually take off your attire and dress here like there's no people around, have you humans don't have any sense of dignity amongst yourselves, wanting exposure to the extent" He said in front of me.

"Oh, I didn't mean to, I apologize if I somehow offended you on my action of changing here in public" I whispered, apologizing.

But clearly he's blushing beet-red as I said my piece to him. He grunts and takes the t-shirt from me, huffing angrily as he approaches the changing booth at the back. After a while of changing, he emerges from the booth, presenting himself wearing the t-shirt underneath the hoodie.

"Please Theodore, be completely honest with me, is this attire of the turquoise colored cloth I'm wearing not ridiculously horrible on me?" He said, presenting himself with no confidence whatsoever.

"It's not hideous, alright ... I'm even wearing it myself and taken from me I'm not sore for the eyes so for me it suits you, now we're matching" I said, showing a thumbs up.

Dmitri can't ignore my sentiments and he just sighs as he gets out of the booth. But still he can't admit it to himself that he's enjoying himself, even seeing him take a look at the t-shirt I bought for him when I'm not paying attention to him.

The festivities continues all around us and I bought myself more souvenirs to take home when and if I can be allowed to be home without Eleanore breathing down my neck. We continue forward, seeing more and more stalls and kiosks around. We approached this statue of a person with the same eagle still in the statue's arm, chilling there and I swore it's alive. Dmitri and I participated in the announcement of the festivities and the lighting of the fire, that I heard symbolizes the remembering of the fallen and how a man not from this lands saved their elder from the inevitable death.

Merely so, the people up front are as I heard the people talking amongst themselves are the descendants of the reagent that once ruled this town from long ago, a maiden. It's so cool that this festival to commemorate the people from the long past is still remembered to this day, a generation to another generation of celebratory admiration of the past.

Afterwards, we headed to some kiosks that offered carnival games. Dmitri was somehow very competitive when we started playing. We first got to play Water Gun with a bunch of children with us on the ground. We started playing and Dmitri was already having a great time and eventually got it first. He was trying to impress me with his skills, which I am, then he won the round. He was offered a prize and he got an eagle plushie, then he offered it to me as a gift of the sort. It was kind of selfish of him to give it to me but he insisted on getting it like he said as a gift.

I accepted it, putting it along in my paper bag and as I did, Dmitri is already mocking the children that he beat them all and that made things worse for him because the mothers of the kids are just nearby and heard the commotion. That's when the mothers chase Dmitri while sitting him with their bags, I just sigh following them, poor Dmitri. Then we played more games we'd seen, like this Ring A Bell. I was followed first to try and try to properly angle my trajectory, with all my strength I hit it and the bell reached just barely hitting the bell. Dmitri laughs at me and pushes me away, showing me how it's done. He holds the hammer, accurately making his hit perfect and with a long swing he hits the pad, the mark continues to rise but it doesn't ring the bell, even so not to reach my high score.

Dmitri was shocked at the ordeal and can't even believe what just happened. He didn't even surpass my score even though he put all his strength on knowing his hit will make him victorious. I can't explain to him why it happened but he just threw a tantrum at the side while I shrugged at the organizers of the game. Note to self: Dmitri has a competitive disorder so better play games without competency in the future.

Then we passed this game called Pine and Axes, like an alternate version of Balloons and Darts, we tried it and good thing we're the only ones playing it so we tried it. I was about to start the game but Dmitri was very confused what's the whole ordeal of the game. I explained it thoroughly to him, even the gamekeeper is listening on how the game works, now he's prepared and we let the game start. The game goes into a frenzy, pines of all kinds move around the platform with the two of us having to pin the axe on the pine as much as we can to win the prize. I was good at this and accurately axed a few more pines than Dmitri, he was looking captivated by my keen eye and when the game finished, winning the game he gave me a thumbs up and tells he was very impressed by my sheer accuracy. I thanked him for his compliment and we got the prize which is another plushie which this time it's a pine tree. I gave the plushie to him, getting off guard why did I give it to him.

I wanted him to keep it, my reason why he should have it. Dmitri was looking away as he accepts, but his flustered by the way his ears get red. He's shy or blushing at the gesture I've made, then a few moments he looked back and smiled, not commenting about it. We didn't stop from those games alone. We passed on more like Ring Toss which Dmitri complains he hates then we move on to Skee Ball, another game he hates because it's all about rolling balls on some hole which he doesn't love at all. But as we move to the Whack A Mole game, a surprise it's in this festival, Dmitri approves of liking it and we start playing, I just unleashed the beast inside of him. He was all going on hitting the moles to a painful whack, making me uncomfortable even since the way his expression is as he hit the mole is kind of obsessively insane looking. Another Note to self: Not let Dmitri get a hold or even play Whack A Mole after this ever again because he's getting scary looking each after hitting one.

After the series of games, we relax a bit on the bench, shade by the large tree as the afternoon goes on. I can't believe it's about 5 now and time sure flies by when you're enjoying yourself and with some company around, especially if it's a Vampir with you. While taking a break, slumping on the bench, Dmitri swiftly stands up and starts sniffing around the air. I looked at him and asked;

"Dmitri? What is it? Did you smell something ... If it's my sweat it's not me" I said.

"What? No I don't give a damn about your sweat because I already know the scent but I'm smelling something else, sweet even catching my interest" He said. Did he just say that he knows how my scent is?

Dmitri begins walking, finding that sweet scent he'd said and I know what it is, there's a cotton candy stand just around the curb. It's being blocked by a large hedge. I point the stand to Dmitri and he quickly sprints towards it, I follow along and before I reach the stand, Dmitri is already mesmerized by the process of how the candy is made.

I pay for the cotton candy and Dmitri just watches how the candy is made, being on the stick and the stall keeper places it on display. He was curious at first, like he'd just seen this type of food for the first time.

"Uh Dmitri? Don't tell me this is your first time seeing cotton candy?" I asked, already eating a piece of it.

"Would I lie to you if I didn't, Yes this is my first time seeing how this food is made out of thin air and it was kind of amazing, humans have such contraptions that I find interesting" He said.

I bought 2 cotton candy sticks and I handed them to him. He was enthralled by the candy, how pinkish it looks and soft to the touch is when plucked for a bite it is. He grabs a bite of his own and he just melts in awe of the flavor, the sweetness of the candy liquifies in his mouth.

"This is incredible, I can't believe this is just sugar" He said, still in awe.

"I told you so, you'll like it and yeah I missed eating this" I said, munching my own candy.

He nods in response and just continues eating like a madman, I can tell he's letting himself loose for a change. I get the feeling this is the first time he'd be relaxing and enjoying himself for a long time. Good thing I did invite him though, even if I don't have a choice but it's nice to have some company with you rather than being alone. As we eat our candy, crowds start to form at the nearby concert stage grounds and without warning, a loud blaze of scratching electric guitar noise roos from the stands, like a loud sonic blast erupted. The forming crowd cheers, the concert is about to start.

I stand, beckoning for Dmitri to follow but he's still busy eating his cotton candy. "Hey, come on the concert is about to start, we have to go now before it gets even more crowded"

He didn't budge so I patted his back, getting his attention. "Alright, can a Vampir of my caliber just enjoy himself once and a while without being disturbed" Dmitri said, still fixated on his food.

I grabbed his cotton candy and ran towards the concert hall while saying, "Let's go, you can get this if we made it to the stands in time before it gets crowded and we can come back there later if I ate it all while running" I said, giving chase.

Hearing him shout angrily, he gave chase and we ran ahead towards the roaring concert grounds. Amongst the crowd the emcee greets the crowd and announces some anticipated songs that a famous band will play, one of Romania's best band and winner of the Eurovision 2018, 'Nada'. The band greets the crowd and starts playing loud rock music, featuring one of their famous songs. The crowd bop to the music, raising their hands high, fist pumping and head banging as the electric guitar riffles to the beat of the drums ablaze.

I bang my head to the music, surprisingly enough Dmitri is also doing the same thing, I knew he has a knack for this kind of music genre, I mean he is edgy as he is intimidating. Then more songs follow and the next one the band dedicates to his girlfriend backstage and advises people to find their plus-one since the following music they'll play is a mellow romantic one. The band plays the music and everyone with or without a special someone sways to the mellow slow romantic music.

Dmitri and I are kind of embarrassed but I break the silence, offering a hand. "Hey, Dmitri, you want to have a dance with me?" I said.

He hesitates at first, looking amongst the crowd. We're the only pair not swaying to the rockish sound of romantic melody. He looked at me and said, "If that's what you want then sure" He accepts my hand.

We swayed to the music like everyone else but we were kind of different. We were looking at each other's eyes, deep in the flow of the music. Then Dmitri slowly moves closer as I close the gap between us while keeping our gaze locked, not even blinking to stop. The music was very captivating, our faces almost close to one another and I can tell we were about to do the inevitable when someone interrupted us, clearing their throat.

Unexpectedly surprised, Dmitri and I pull away from each other as we're surprised to see Sebastian in their wake.

"Why are you here Sebastian?" Dmitri asked him.

"It was getting late and Eleanore was looking for you both a while ago for dinner and I had to improvise by telling some excuses to buy me some the time to look for you and bring both of you back to the manor before Eleanore finds out you went out to the human town which she strongly forbids to even come near to" Sebastian said, ushering us to leave.

"What excuse did you tell her?" I asked him.

"I told her you 're taking a bath and Dmitri here is doing his scouts so I had that valuable time to find you both" Sebastian said.

But Dmitri stopped and said, "Sebastian, we're staying here, I'll handle Eleanore later, we have a concert to finish and some events to pursue" He argued.

Sebastian came to reason and Dmitri not giving in, they start to argue but I know it was the right thing to do, so I chimed in and said;

"Dmitri, it's alright, we can go back before Eleanore gets all suspicious of us so let's go and lessen our chances of getting in trouble" I said to give reason.

Dmitri looks at me and nods, telling them they should go. We run to the edge of the forest and in the midst of bleak darkness, Dmitri tells me to hold onto him and they dash amongst the top of the trees with Sebastian in tow coming back to the manor.

I already had a good time but I have to go back to reality and see to it our night will go well ...

Hoping Eleanore at dinner will be quiet and less suspicious about tonight.

Even so, this day was worth it and kind of a turn for the good, I guess.