During the entire ride, Zander had been completely concious of the fact that Chaston's arms had been wrapped around his chest. To have her so close to him, of her own accord... It felt incredible every time. He was surprised to be asked in, and thought about it for a moment. He didn't think he really had anything to do, other than feed his cat and turn on- he stopped thinking there. He'd already be too late home as it was, and his poor Sinph would get cold. Besides... he didn't want her to be awkward around him.

''Thank you for the offer, Chaston, but I really have to get home and sort some things out. I apologise for having to leave so suddenly...'' He said awkwardly, praying silently that she wouldn't take it the wrong way. Picking up the helmet, he hug it off the handlebars and started the engine again. ''See you tomorrow!'' He called over his shoulder, as he sped away. Much as he didn't want her to feel rejected, it was too cold a night to just leave Sinph alone.

[[Sure. :3]]

Zander had felt terrible the whole night, something which was perhaps worse for vampires than humans. After all, at least humans had the relief of sleep. Zander hadn't been so lucky as to get away that easily.

The next morning, he left the house very early, and headed for the library again. This was one thing he liked about moving house so much; different towns meant different libraries, which meant different reading material. Before he left the house, though, he grabbed a loose zip-up hoody and hung it over the handlebars, just in case.

After arriving at the library, Zander parked his bike and walked slowly inside, before settling down on one of the window seats and beginning to read an old book about the mythical traits of Vampyres.

Zander had read the eighty-paged book in just about five minutes, his eyes scanning the pages and his hands flicking onto the next so fast the librarian probably thought he was just looking at the pictures. Shutting it with a soft thud, he placed it back onto the shelf and left the library. He was growing bored of the incessant chatter of some book club discussing 'Secret of the Wolves'. The only 'secret' about wolves was that were wolves actually existed, and even that wasn't a secret to him.

Because of his boredom, Zander chose to leave the library, and wandered out to the same place he'd seen Chaston the day before. She wasn't there, but he chose to sit down anyway, his feet dangling into the water. His icy eyes looked intently into the even icier depths of the water, as if searching for something.

Truth be told, he was searching for something, but it was something he wouldn't find in the water beneath him. Nor was it something he could find in the physical world at all. Zander was searching for the reason he was so captivated by Chaston, but no matter how hard he searched, he could come up with no answer that satisfied him.

Zander turned his head to watch as a dog- accompanied by a young woman running along behind it- ran up the beach towards him. It didn't concern him much; nothing a dog could do would be anything to worry the vampire. What caught his attention was the fact that Chaston was the young woman running after the animal.

When she finally caught up to the dog and grabbed it's collar, Zander was surprised to hear her call him 'sir', but guessed she didn't recognise him. That thought was confirmed as she later hesitantly said his name.

''Yes, it's me. Chaston, correct? I take it... Haku, is it? I take it Haku is your dog?'' He smiled warmly to her, and kept his eyes locked onto her's, apart from a brief glance down at the dog's eyes.

''Don't worry about it.'' Zander replied, smiling still. ''For some reason, most animals just don't get along with me.'' He gave a small chuckle, before looking down at the dog's face. He looked into it's eyes and thought he saw intelligence and protectiveness, both things he had come to expect.

''He's doing better than most, anyway; At least he hasn't bitten me yet.'' He glanced back up, and noticed Chaston's blush, but chose not to comment on it. It would only embarrass her further, but why she was embarrassed to begin with, he had no idea.

Zander listened intently, convinced more and more with every word that his original thoughts about Chaston were indeed correct, as well as gaining new respect for her. She was such a kind individual, standing up for what she knew was right, even though it must have been hard to do. To bottle feed a pup every single day must've been hard work; as would looking after a sickly puppy every time it got ill, and having to watch it like that... From the strong beast before him, however, he knew it must've paid off.

''That's... a very brave thing to do, for someone as young as what you must have been at the time... You wouldn't happen to know who the owners of that puppy mill were, would you? Or if they're still in town? I might just... pay them a visit.'' He smiled, thinking in his mind how beautiful she looked with the sun shining upon her face, but saying nothing. No need to embarass her.

''It's clear you have a very devoted, loving animal because of your actions, anyway.''

''Anyone who abuses an animal for no reason deserves more than simply 'prison'; they either deserve death in the slowest and most painful manner possible, or they deserve to be stuffed in a cage their whole lives and used to test products.'' Zander replied, teeth clenched, showing for possibly the first time the dark side of himself to Chase.

Shaking the thought aside, he looked back to her and smiled brightly. ''No, I do not have any plans. Thank you for the offer, I gladly accept. Would you happen to know if there is a pet store within the vicinity?'' He asked, smiling still, his eyes locked onto her's.

''I just need to get some things for Sinph.''

Zander chuckled, realising Chase wouldn't know about his 'little pet'. ''Ah, my apologies, I forget not everyone knows who Sinph is. Sinph is my bearded dragon; she's very tame, but she needs a lot of looking after, and I have to make sure she gets her heat mat on when it's a cold night.'' He explained, before adding, ''that's why I had to turn down your offer of going into your house yesterday.''

What he didn't mention, of course, was that Sinph was actually not a full bearded dragon. She was almost twice the size of a normal one, due to her being part Wyvern.

Zander followed suit and stood up too. ''Heh, I apologise for disappointing you, then. And yes, I'd like it very much if you would tell me about them. Shall we walk or take me bike? If we walk, you can tell me on the way.'' He said, smiling warmly.

Haku seemed to have stopped growling at him now, so Zander took this to mean the dog didn't hate him anymore... At least, not as much.

Zander laughed. ''I don't know what I was thinking. Ignore me; I was just being stupid again.'' He said, laughter still pouring from his mouth. He followed Chase obediently, smiling like a love-sick pup the whole time.

When she motioned for him to follow, he gave a small jog until he was right next to her. ''It appears as if Haku has decided to make his way to the pet store all on his own,'' he chuckled, shaking his head at the dog.