"What should I do...?"
Jean froze completely.
"W-Wait, Tesia. Tell me. What happened?"
Tesia took a deep breath on the other end of the call.
"It's just... you know? I wanted to look pretty today, and I... I just realized that... I don't have any nice shoes."
"..."
Jean closed his eyes.
"What?"
"I don't have any shoes that match my outfit!"
Jean stared blankly into the distance.
"Tesia..."
"I want to look pretty, Jean!"
"I thought something serious had happened."
"It did!"
"Not having matching shoes is serious?"
"Absolutely! You wouldn't understand."
Jean covered his face with one hand.
"Oh my God..."
"My mom went out with her friends and took a pair of shoes I wanted to wear today. They were the only ones that matched my outfit."
"I really don't understand... so I'm not going to comment on how serious your problem is, but... Tesia, you scatterbrained vampire, you scared the hell out of me, you know?"
"I... I'm sor-"
Her voice became tiny.
"I didn't mean to worry you."
"I thought something had happened to you."
"I'm sorry, Jean..."
"It's okay. But next time, try telling me first that you're in danger because of a lack of footwear before making me think something happened to you."
Tesia let out a small giggle.
"Okay."
"So what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know..."
Jean sighed.
"Look, if you want, put on a different outfit today, something that matches, so you can go buy a pair of shoes you like in any color and style you want. Pretty great idea, right?"
There was silence.
"...Will you come with me?"
Jean looked at the clock.
"Shopping? Now?"
"Yes..."
"Okay."
The answer came out before he could think about it too much.
A tiny, happy sound came from the other end of the call.
"Yay!"
"But you have to walk. No flying down from the sky like last time."
"Yes, sir."
"And don't scare me."
"Yes, sir."
"And..."
"Jean."
"What?"
"Thank you."
Jean smiled.
///
Twenty minutes later, Jean was standing outside the building where he worked.
He had left earlier than usual and had already been waiting for several minutes.
He checked his phone.
7:18 p.m.
"Where is she...?"
He put his phone away.
He waited a few more minutes.
Then he heard a voice behind him.
"No way. You're still here?"
Jean turned around.
Juan had just walked out of the building.
"What are you still doing here?"
"I'm waiting for Tesia."
Juan looked around.
"The vampire?"
Jean remained silent for a second.
"The human."
"Ah, yeah. Of course."
Juan looked at him with a suspicious smile.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Then why have you been waiting for twenty minutes?"
"She is battling... her inner fashion demons..."
"Will she be long? Women usually take ages when it comes to fashion... Don't you want to get a drink instead?"
"She's coming now... thanks for the invite tho. We're actually... going shoe shopping..."
"Shoe shopping?"
"Yeah."
Juan let out a small laugh.
"Bro, that already sounds like a date."
"It's not a date."
Jean was about to answer when something caught his attention.
Across the street, a girl was slowly walking toward them.
Blonde hair.
A light hoodie.
A cap.
Her head was lowered.
Her arms hung loosely at her sides.
And her feet moved so slowly that every step looked like it required an enormous amount of effort.
Jean recognized her immediately.
"Tesia..."
Juan looked at her.
"No way."
He watched her for a few seconds.
"What the hell did you do to her, dude?"
"I didn't do anything!"
"Well, she looks like she just came back from a funeral."
"I don't know..."
Jean started walking toward her.
Is this because of what I said on the phone?
Juan decided it was probably better not to get in the middle of it.
"Well..."
He adjusted his backpack over his shoulder.
"I'm heading home."
"Huh?"
Juan raised a hand.
"Hey, Tesia."
The vampire slowly lifted her head.
"Hi, Juan..."
"Goodbye, Tesia."
"Goodbye, Juan..."
Juan took a step.
"Good to see you."
"Cordially yours..."
Juan stopped.
He looked at Jean.
Jean looked at him.
"Cordially yours?"
Tesia kept walking as if nothing had happened.
Juan simply shook his head.
"She's acting really weird today."
"I know."
"See you tomorrow."
"Yeah."
Juan quickly walked away.
Jean waited until he was a little farther away before approaching Tesia.
"Tesia."
The vampire looked up.
"Hi..."
"Are you ok?"
Tesia slowly shook her head.
"No... I mean, yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes..."
Jean sighed.
"I'm sorry if I was a little harsh with you."
Tesia's eyes became watery.
"You weren't harsh..."
"Then what's wrong?"
Tesia pouted slightly.
"It's just..."
She looked herself up and down.
"I look ugly."
Jean blinked.
"What?"
"I don't feel pretty today."
She adjusted her cap with both hands.
"I couldn't find a great pair of shoes to wear, and I look a total mess... I'm completely mismatched sniff sniff..."
Her voice became even quieter.
"I wanted to look pretty... for you..."
Jean stared at her.
For some reason, the confession felt far too cute.
"Tesia."
"Yes?"
"You look beautiful."
The vampire looked up.
Jean smiled.
"In fact, you don't need any shoes to look pretty. You could literally wear clown shoes and you'd still look the prettiest."
Tesia froze completely.
Her eyes widened slightly.
For a second, she seemed to forget how to breathe.
"..."
Jean raised a hand and gently patted her head.
"Come on. I'll go with you to buy some."
Tesia's face turned red.
Very red.
She quickly looked away.
"D-Don't think I'm going to be happy just because you said that or anything..."
Jean raised an eyebrow.
"..."
"It just..."
Tesia began fidgeting with her fingers.
"It just made me feel a little better."
Jean smiled.
"That was very tsundere of you."
"I'm not a tsundere!"
"You just did exactly what a tsundere would do."
"No!"
"Yes."
"No!"
Jean let out a small laugh.
Tesia puffed out her cheeks.
"You're mean."
"Come on, tsundere."
"Jean!"
The two of them started walking.
///
The store wasn't too far away.
As they walked, Jean began paying attention to things he hadn't noticed before.
Not just Tesia.
Her preferences.
The things she liked.
The things that caught her attention.
Every time they passed a clothing store, Tesia would discreetly glance at the displays.
Whenever she saw something black, she would look at it a little longer.
Whenever she saw something pink, her eyes seemed to light up.
"Do you like that?"
Jean pointed at a small bag in a store window.
Tesia moved a little closer.
"Yes..."
"You like pink?"
"Mmm... depends."
"On what?"
"The thing."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Well... I like pink on some things. Just not everything."
Jean nodded as if he had just learned some extremely important information.
"Got it."
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
Tesia narrowed her eyes.
"You're being suspicious."
They continued walking.
A few minutes later, they passed a store playing music.
Tesia stopped.
"Wait."
Jean stopped too.
"What is it?"
"I like this song."
Jean listened for a few seconds.
"You know it?"
"Yes."
Tesia began gently moving her head to the rhythm.
"I really like this band."
Jean smiled.
"What other bands do you like?"
Tesia started listing several names.
Jean memorized them.
Then they talked about anime.
Then food.
Then movies.
He even discovered that Tesia had extremely strong opinions about which tacos in the city were the best.
///
They finally arrived at the shoe store.
Tesia walked inside almost immediately.
"Look!"
Jean followed her.
"What?"
"These!"
She showed him a pair.
"They're cute."
"You like them?"
"Yes."
"Then try them on."
Tesia smiled.
"Don't say more, baby."
About half an hour passed.
Jean discovered that Tesia could take an incredibly long time to choose something when she really wanted it to match.
First, she tried on a black pair.
Then white ones.
Then a pair that, according to her, was absolutely perfect, only for her to decide they weren't after walking three steps.
Finally, she found a pair that seemed to genuinely catch her attention.
She put them on.
She walked a few steps.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
Then she smiled.
"These."
Jean smiled too.
"Then those."
Tesia looked up.
"Are they cute?"
"Yes."
"Don't you think they're too simple?"
"No."
"Really?"
"Tesia."
Jean pointed at her shoes.
"You like them."
She looked down at her feet again.
"Yes."
"Then they're perfect."
Tesia smiled.
///
It was already nighttime when they left the store.
Tesia happily walked beside him, occasionally looking down at her new shoes.
Jean walked beside her.
For a few seconds, neither of them said anything.
Until Jean broke the silence.
"Tesia."
"Yes?"
"I want to ask you something."
"Ask away."
Jean slipped his hands into his pockets.
"If you could choose anywhere to go..."
Tesia looked at him.
"Anywhere?"
"Yeah."
"Mmm..."
She thought for a few seconds.
"I don't know."
"There's nowhere you want to visit?"
"Not really."
Tesia smiled.
"Wherever you want to go, Jean, I'm fine with it."
Jean shook his head.
"No."
"No?"
"This time, I want you to choose, just like that time at the five letter's place, i mean, six..."
Tesia looked at him, confused.
"Why?"
Jean remained silent.
It was time.
After everything Juan had said.
After all the times they had gone out together.
After realizing that maybe he had spent weeks avoiding calling things what they really were.
Jean took a deep breath.
"Because..."
Tesia waited.
Jean looked directly at her.
"I want to take you on a date."
Tesia stopped walking.
"..."
Jean stopped too.
"A real date."
Tesia's red eyes slowly widened.
And for the first time that evening, the vampire didn't know what to say.
"A... date?"