A Fine Dose of Existential Crises // OxO // closed

“Yes,” Menek muttered absently, closing his eyes briefly. “Bungee jumping, of course. I’ve never been a few places, but that isn’t really a ‘close to death’ experience… I’ve never been wingwalking, which looks pretty much terrifying, and zip-lining is also an absence. I know that’s less near-death than wingwalking, but hey— looks fun regardless.”
He crinkled his nose as Ev poked him, passively swatting her hand away and continuing.
“I-I’ve also never..,” he began, blood flushing to his cheeks lightly. Although, against his pale skin, it was extremely noticeable. “..Y’know….” He waved around his hand as if to fill in the blanks.
Despite being vague, he continued on without any explanation.
“But— then again— I have a very loose definition of ‘thrilling,’” he said, pushing up his glasses. “What gets your heart racing, nowadays?”

Menek let out a small sigh, tossing the crackers onto the kitchen counter before walking over and hopping up on it, crossing his legs. He leaned over, glancing to Ev before stretching out his arms and smiling.
“Yeah, that all sounds fun,” he admitted, kicking his legs back and forth like a child. “I never got to do that kinda stuff. Pretty much my whole childhood was learning how to hunt and… stuff. But I did play a game with my brother, once… What was it called? W-Water, something? One of us’d stand in the middle of the river while the other threw pebbles, and you’d have to dodge them all with the water hindering your movements. Never could play after I was turned, though. Y’know, the whole ‘running water’ thing.”
He took off his glasses, beginning to clean them with the edge of his shirt.
“But that all sounds hilariously fun. Although I’m not entirely sure why the majority of them include an absence of clothing.”

“You know I can’t actually die, right?” he mumbled, cocking his head to the side. “I just… disintegrate into mist and wake up 24 hours later…”
He slowly slipped his glasses back on, leaning into Ev affectionately. “But thanks, regardless. It’ll probably be fun to be stupid, huh? It’s been a while since I had alcohol, maybe that can come into play. Of course, with a super fast metabolism, in order to actually get wasted, I’m gonna need a whole lot more than a few bottles. Or shots, or whatever.”
He glanced down to the woman, raising an eyebrow. “Unless you suggest we do these things sober?”

“Agreed, a very disgusting franchise. I was on team Jacob.”
Menek teetered his head, pursing his lips as he thought.
“And yeah, contrary to popular belief, we just get reincarnated in our coffin within, like, a full day. There are only certain exceptions, but all have to be carried out by other people. And I really just think it’s selfish to ask people to take my life, y’know? Also like it’s selfish to turn people into vampires in order to live the rest of our lives together. Unless I find someone dedicated enough to actually want to be one, and know the risks, I swear I’m just going to skate through life alone, picking up people as I go and dropping them off. I’m like a subway train, except I never see them when they come back home.”

“Wonderful,” Menek replied, rolling his eyes as she poked him. He waved his hand again, pawing her away.
“And I have no clue what we can do,” he said lightly, watching from his perch as she stretched. “You’re the expert on human lives, here— considering you have one. What gets your heart racing? Makes you breathe all heavy and see all fuzzy? Get that dose of sweet, sweet adrenaline?”

“I hate that you’re right,” he muttered, squinting. “And sure, why not go. It’ll be a fun way to pass the time regardless.”
He then glanced over, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “And hey, I mean unless you WANT me to hit up a strip club..”
It was an honest joke but the situation still vaguely intrigued him, and his words came out less smooth than he truly intended. In an absent motion, he brushed his white hair aside, sliding slowly down from the countertop.

“Yeah,” Menek muttered, dramatically leaning up against the counter as his back cracked. With a few more stretches, the rest of his creaky joints followed suit. While he held the appearance of a young man, he really didn’t feel like one.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it,” he continued, adjusting his glasses once more. “And I’m glad you left him. He really sucked. And I’d offer you my cuddles but it would probably be as comfortable as hugging a metal cooler.”
He walked over to where Evelyn sat on the window, putting his hands in his pockets and letting out a diminutive sigh.
“But— I guess we can be utterly single together. There’s some kind of unity in loneliness. The only difference is that you probably won’t stay this way. You know how to hook a guy pretty well, I’d assume.”

“Yeah. Though, I really never would take a human as someone who would want to hug a corpse filled with never-melting ice. But whatever,” he muttered, glancing down to his shoulder where she rested her head. He gave a slight smile, flicking his eyes back to the rain-covered window. The cloud cover above was enough to the point where he probably wouldn’t internally combust if he went outside, and Menek was actually a huge fan of cold weather. No surprise there.
“I have to go to work here in, like, half hour,” he muttered, thankful that he could finally hold an umbrella over him and no one would question it. “Wanna come with? We got a new shipment of books in that you might like. Maybe. If not, we got coffee, and I can slip you another free cup.”

Menek never forgot how warm humans were, but somehow, it always surprised him. He also never necessarily learned how to hug people back, so he was stuck in a sort of awkward limbo with Ev’s affection.
“Yeah, yeah,” he replied, wrinkling his nose and shaking his head slightly— like a puppy who had just been booped. “Don’t count on it, charmer.”
He wriggled out of Ev’s hug respectively, grabbing his coat from the back of a nearby stool and slipping it on. It was slightly oversized, hanging loosely around his hands and waist, and seemed more like an excuse for covering his skin than for keeping him warm.
He slipped back on to one of the stools, picking up his phone. It was an extremely old flip-phone, but “it worked just fine, so why did he need to upgrade?” Alighting the screen was a short notification from a number that hadn’t been in his contacts yet, and only had a simple greeting.
As he would know, it was a woman he met the day prior at Bookmark who had stayed there for a while, talking with him. After their encounter, she had offered her number. Of course, being how dull Menek was, he figured it was just a gesture of friendliness. And, perhaps it was— Keke didn’t know much better.

“Uhh… I don’t know. I’d get kinda bored sitting here all day with nothing to do,” he muttered absently as he typed into his phone. He flicked it shut, squinting slightly and letting out a somewhat light crooked smile as Evelyn kissed his cheek.
He pushed himself to his feet, shoving his phone and wallet in his pocket before shuffling over to the door, slipping on a pair of darker boots. “Plus, I enjoy it. Caffeine and books, Ev. There is really nothing better.”

_{(I wrote up a reply but it didn’t go through yet again :v this has been happening on … so many threads I’m so sorry)}

“Yeah, just getting ready,” he muttered, tugging at a few strands of loose hair. He looked moderately annoyed by it, but he never cut it or styled it— it kind of just did whatever it wanted, even if that was against Menek’s own desires.
His voice trailed off as his phone buzzed again and he slipped it back out of his pocket, giving a timid smile as it lit up with the unfamiliar number yet again. Although he didn’t bother to reply, just nodding absently as he slipped it back into his coat.
His eyes flickered up to see Ev cradling her guitar, and his smile grew wider.
“Serenade me, my love!” he said teasingly, holding out a hand for nothing in particular. It was true, though— he really did enjoy watching Evelyn play her music.

Menek’s eyes visibly brightened as he listened to her sing. His pointed ears twitched lightly, body swaying as he leaned up against the wall in the doorway.
He couldn’t help the slight color brush up to his cheeks, giving his face that pinkish hue he had always hated. But he didn’t bother trying to hide it this time— Ev’s music always brought that sort of fuzzy feeling.
When she finished the song, Menek clapped his hands together exaggeratedly, wooing over the fading melody.
“Absolutely wonderful,” he said, carefully punctuating each syllable. “Although, I’ve always liked Yesterday more. Or Norwegian Wood. Regardless, Here Comes The Sun is still delightful, even if it does remind me of the Bee Movie. Poor film ruined that for me.”

With a sigh, Menek looked back down at his phone.
“Ev, I literally still have twenty minutes left,” he muttered under his breath, knowing full-well she couldn’t hear him anyway. He smiled one last time, shaking his head as he looked up to the shut door again, and walked down the steps. The rain felt wonderful on his icy skin, hands fumbling with the latch on his umbrella before he opened it and slipped the rest of his stuff in his coat pocket.
With one last glance to the apartment, one last roll of his eyes, he began walking down the street to hail a taxi.

Menek arrived back much later than normal— around nine— and even then, there were two voices. One was very much feminine and held sort of a teasing air that Menek never really picked up on. Still, as the two stood on the steps to the apartment, he found himself smiling much more than he had in a long while.
The woman was shorter than him by a few inches, her bronze skin dotted with little, hardly noticeable discrepancies of darker pigment. Freckles spanned the bridge of her upturned nose, and comforting brown eyes complimented her waved, dark hair. She was a very lively one, too, with animated movements and notable excitement.
Her name was Olalla— no doubt the person he had been texting, the one he had met the day prior. He had stayed after at Bookmark, as Olalla had helped him close up shop despite her not working there.
With a timid, innocent good-bye, Menek caught her eyes one last time before he stepped back into his apartment. He shut the door quietly, unsure if Ev was asleep or not. He had never understood the sleep cycle of humans.
With swift movements— feeling more lively now that it was dark— Menek slipped Ev’s tea in the fridge to save it for her, then looked over lovingly to the blood packet and toast. He stood there for a moment, smile on his face as he recounted such a… fulfilling day, so to speak.