Seeing the words, Diego took a second look but the words didn't change. He wiped his eyes to see if he's hallucinating but the words remained unchanged.
He was expecting a lot, mostly extreme like in Saw but holding hands? Isn't that too tame?
"Holding hands? That's easy." Arcueid looked at him.
She sees no problem with it. They already held hands after all and she has touched his hands more than once.
"Are you sure…?" Diego's face became weird.
"What's with that expression? Don't you like touching my hand?" She asked angrily. Why does he look reluctant? "We've already done it before."
"Fine. Let's just get this over with." Diego wanted to say something but in the end, he just sighed. They already did it anyway.
He hesitantly put his hand on hers, which she grabbed with no effort. Looking at her face that was unbothered, Diego decided to just fuck it, she doesn't mind, then there's no problem.
Time passed and only silence was left in the theater.
"So 10 minutes of just this? Not gonna lie, I was expecting more." Diego got comfortable and said out loud.
"Lke what?" She asked.
"More harsh? Like lick the floor or something." He shrugged.
"You have some weird taste." She laughed.
Diego just smiled hearing that.
After some time, 10 minutes passed and the screen blacked out.
"That's it?" Diego muttered before pulling his hand away from her hand.
Arcueid saw this and frowned. She clenched her hand and felt something was missing.
[Feed each other. Do this until the food and drink runs out]
After the screen shows that, a cart appeared and slowly rolled its way onto them, carrying two popcorn and drinks.
"What? No, how did the cart even get up here with no one bringing it up!" Diego complained. Just as he thought they were done, something even more weird.
He should've known.
"Is this even safe? What if there's sedatives here like earlier." He crossed his arms and clicked his tongue.
"It's safe." Arcueid's nose twitched, "They smell different compared to what we ate earlier." She's actually quite curious here if the taste would be different too.
Diego's eyes flashed red before picking up a pop corn. He was about to taste it but…
[Alert! You cannot feed yourself or you won't be able to get out]
"...."
The instruction was pretty ridiculous but it made sense. As he was wondering how to taste it, a hand entered his vision holding a popcorn.
"You want to taste it, right?" Arcueid didn't see what's wrong with it. It's just sharing food right?
Diego looked at her hand and at the popcorn. He wasn't shy or anything, he was on dates before and had girlfriends in his life. Perks of being famous.
The only difference is that they are not as beautiful as this girl nor as pure.
Some of them like him while others have ulterior motives but Arcueid has none, her eyes are only filled with innocence and curiosity.
'Stop being a pussy, okay?' It's just food, just food…' Diego closed his eyes and ate it. Since the popcorn is small, his lips have touched her fingers.
"Sorry." He was about to wipe it out but she took her hand and said, "It's fine."
He nodded slowly and carefully chewed the popcorn and after making sure it's fine, he swallowed it.
Yep, it's fine.
"It's clean… what are you doing?" He was about to tell her that the popcorn is fine to eat but when he turned his head to her, he saw her sniffing her finger.
"Nothing!" She hurriedly hid her hand in her back and turned away, whistling. Though she'll have to try harder because aside from buzzing, he can't hear any whistle.
"... Let's just get this over with." Diego didn't know what to say, he was actually getting used to this girl's weird habits.
And he doesn't know if that was good or not.
Arcueid nodded seriously and fed him again. After eating it, Diego also offered her a popcorn which she ate but since it's her first time, she took even his fingers in her mouth. Looking at the saliva in his finger made him almost tear the place apart.
"..."
"Sorry!" She laughed sheepishly before covering her mouth.
Diego just sighed. It's harmless and she's a beautiful girl, he has nothing to lose
So the two of them continue doing it, sometimes their tongue will touch each other's fingers but they got used to it so he just ignored it.
For some reason, Arcueid was doing it more frequently, sometimes, it took her some time to remove her mouth.
Forget it, she's probably not used to such intimate contact. Not everyone is a degenerate like him.
"Have you ever done this before?" Arcueid suddenly asked.
"Done what?"
"This..feeding thing."
Diego paused when he heard that.
"I have." He answered after some thinking.
"How did it feel at first?"
"Good, I guess." Diego shrugged, "It has been a long time that I already forgot what it felt like."
Unexpectedly, what he got was an unusual response.
"Pfft!"
Arcueid almost laughed but she immediately covered her mouth.
"What's so funny?" Diego frowned when he saw her action.
"Sorry. " She composed herself, "It's just that, you sounded like an old man just now."
The way Diego said those words reminded him of a funny guy and an old man she knew. Especially the former.
Diego's face twitched when he heard that, "You do know it's pretty rude to say that, right?"
"Hehehehe," Arcueid still giggled, "You're obviously young but you sound old."
True Ancestors and Dead Apostles have a unique talent for smelling things. With it, not only they can smell the body but even the soul, identifying if someone is rotting away despite their flesh still intact.
Even some magus have this sort of talent, mostly those who hunt Dead Apostles and any other creature of darkness to identify their targets.
With her sense of smell, Arcueid can tell that Diego is young, vigorous, ripe, and probably tasty.
Ehem.
The magical energy in his blood is very tempting. If she wasn't so injured, she can ignore this but with a source of energy beside her, some thoughts start appearing.
The amount of magical energy can help her recover back to her full health.
Sometimes, she wonders if Diego is from a large magus family because of this but so far, there was nothing she can find.
Aside from probably, his instinct?
"It's called wisdom. You don't have to be an old man to speak from experience." Diego snorted.
"Is that so? What happened then? Are you still together? Did her parents beat you up? No, they're probably dead if they did." She leaned forward and asked a bunch of questions.
"No. No, and NO." Diego answered her questions which were getting ridiculous.
"Really? But why?" Arcueid crossed her arms, seemingly dissatisfied with his reply, "You're supposed to live happily, together."
"... Did you get that logic from movies?" He gave her an incredulous look. No way she thinks it works that way right? "Because if it is, then you're very wrong."
"Is it not?" She frowned, "I don't see how humans can have conflict over this kind of thing, especially when there's a bunch of you walking around."
In her mind, love is very simple and that's why there's a lot of humans around.
That's what Zelretch told her.
Diego put down the popcorn and looked at her before replying seriously, "That's not how it works. Love is much, much, simpler."
"Eh?" When she saw him give that serious face. She thought he would disagree with her.
But he actually agreed.
"If you're agreeing, why did you say I'm wrong?" She huffed in anger.
"Just because you're correct doesn't mean you're right." Diego shook his head.
"Hah?" She felt her head buzzing. What does he actually want to say? He agrees with her but she's wrong? Errr, she's right but not correct?
Is this human language?
"Love is simple, yes, but humans who feel it are not." He laid down in the chair and continued, "It's confusing. People love but are also afraid of getting hurt. They have insecurities and flaws and are afraid to show them. They believe that showing it can make them love you more but sometimes, it doesn't. It's full of contradictions that sometimes, people just give up in pursuit of it." Aside from his own experience, he had also seen a lot of people fall into this category.
If love can be more real like in the movies, the world would be a much better place.
"I see…" Arcueid listened and nodded in acknowledgement, "What about you?"
"Excuse me?"
"I mean. What do you think of it? You sound like you're speaking for other people rather than yourself." Arcueid looked at him deeply, "So what do you think?"
"Me?" Diego leaned his head on his hand and said, "Love is very beautiful, I guess."
She just looked at him before saying, "You're lying."
He raised his brow, "What makes you say that?"
"Gut feeling." Arcueid went back to the topic, "So what is it? Surely, you have an opinion about it right?"
She was really eager to know.
"Hmmm, do you want the lie or the truth?" He looked at her and asked faintly.
"The truth!" She said, annoyed at his delaying tactic.
"The truth." Diego looked at the screen and replied, "For me, love is irrelevant."
Arcueid was confused before her eyes widened, "How… can you say that?!"
She was expecting another perfunctory reply but the look on his face tells her that he's not lying. Still, how can someone say that?!
She heard from Zelretch that it's very precious. Even that funny guy too talks seriously about it which was rare. This movie was also the same.
So how can someone be so dismissive of it?
"What? It's just an opinion. You know what they say, "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." You don't have to take my words to the heart." He shook his head and didn't bother about her reaction.
"I know…" Arcueid lowered her head, "But still, there must be a reason. I want to know. Everyone tells me the opposite of what you're saying.'
"And why would you even want my opinion about this?" He looked at her, confusion visible in his eyes. If it's different from what other people are saying then just ignore him.
"Eh? Isn't it because you're my friend?" She looked at him. Even more confused about why he's asking such things.
"... Do you even know what you're saying?" Okay, maybe this girl is pretty stupid. It's like those people who forgive their murderers and then get killed later.
Very foolish.
"I don't care. You're my bodyguard too so as my bodyguard, I order you to be my friend." Arcueid shook her head, not wanting to listen to his nonsense before crossing her arms and ordered with a smug grin.
"... You are very wilful." Diego wanted to say something but eventually, just sighed.
"Hmph. I won this exchange." The smug look didn't leave her face.
"Okay, princess. You won. I'm in awe." He replied.
"Hmph." Arcueid's smug face froze before she realized something, "Hey, don't change the subject. Answer my question.''
"Tch." Diego cursed under his breath, "I'm not gonna escape from this, am I?"
"You won't."
"Fine." Diego took a deep breath. No one has ever asked him this question.
"It's very simple. People look for love because they lack something inside them. Maybe they are lonely, sad, angry, afraid and any sort of emotion that needed someone's companionship to appease it, to help them not feel those things anymore," Diego replied, his voice slow but steady.
"And at the same time, those people cling to other people to make themselves feel good. They are afraid to be left alone and some of them ended up offing themselves to escape loneliness and isolation." Diego looked her in the eyes.
"I don't need anyone's acknowledgement or validation. My life has always been like this and it turned out fine." Diego almost ate a popcorn but managed to hurriedly stop himself.
"... Isn't that lonely?" For some reason, Arcueid felt sad hearing that.
No one around you. No friends. No family. It reminded her back in the castle every time she returned from killing Roa.
Just her and no one else.
"Why would I be?" Diego shook his head, disagreeing. He actually did try to make some meaningful connection like engaging with romantic interest but he just can't.
It's not boredom but lack of interest. He really just can't force himself to interact with other people aside from business.
"I don't believe it." Arcueid shook her head.
"People are just built differently." He shrugged.
Arcueid frowned, "How did you even come to that conclusion?"
"Again. I'm built different." Diego repeated.
"Impossible. There must be something." Arcueid may be innocent but she's no fool. She knows rationality very well. She used to be that kind of person after all but even she cannot comprehend what he's saying.
Diego remembered something and frowned before shaking his head, "Again. It's a perspective. There's no need to think deeply about it."
"And besides, why are we even talking about that? We should hurry up and finish this so that we can leave." He pointed at the snacks.
Arcueid frowned but she also realized that this wasn't the best place to talk about it.
"Okay. Let's continue." She raised her arm with popcorn in hand.
Diego subconsciously opened his mouth but Arcueid suddenly stuffed it in his mouth, even her fingers went inside.
"Are… you crazy?!" He turned to her angrily after he swallowed the popcorn.
"Hmph." She just crossed her arms and turned away.
Diego's eyes darkened but he calmly told himself. It's okay, you killed this girl after all. She has the right to be angry.
"Whatever, let's finish this." He grabbed a popcorn and put it in front of her.
Arcueid opened her mouth and wanted to eat it but Diego also did the same and shoved it in her mouth.
"You..!" She grabbed a handful of popcorn and wanted to do the same but Diego hurriedly stood up and ran away.
Food fight it is.