Best just not to think about it.

"I-I was so scared! It's gettin' dark, and-"

"You can see better in the dark. You. Are. A. Vampire."

"An' you told me there are monsters runnin' around!"

"There are not, there are-"

"And what about-"

"Seras Victoria. You will compose yourself and act like a proper vampire, now. You are better than this."

John's words were met with silence. Seras froze, nodded frantically, and then saluted again. John was left fighting the urge to shout more - as much as he didn't like being that stern with Seras, it seemed to be the only recourse when she got into one of her panic attacks. He'd expected her to be a bit worried when he got back, but… well, he'd forgotten just how far she had to go before she became a more formidable vampire. She could handle ****, but faced with only her own mind, she met the one fear she couldn't stare down.

"As I was saying…" John muttered, shaking his head, "I have a certain set of allies who would not likely take kindly to a vampiric presence. Paladins, as they were. They need my help in a battle , and I can't bring you along. I don't know when it will be, but it shouldn't matter. You'll be fine - I'll only be gone for an afternoon, and all you have to do is stay in my room and stay quiet."

"I- y-yes, Master," Seras said, nodding gently. She seemed quite opposed to the idea of being alone again so soon, but John's reminder of her own promises had quelled that… for now.

"It's only a few minutes to home from here, if we walk quickly. Once we get there, I can get you some more… proper attire."

Seras blushed furiously, and clutched the Cloak of the Necromancer even more tightly around herself. John had lent it to her during his trip to the Brighton Manor… he hadn't dared to wear something tainted with undeath there anyway, and Seras had nearly died when he suggested she hide in a tree in the park naked until he returned. There were a few nudists in Springfield, of course, but they still drew plenty of attention - not something that John wanted to do just yet, if ever. The cloak was thankfully long and wide enough that when she pulled it around herself, it was more or less as covering as a trench coat. She was still careful not to turn too quickly, or ever let both of her hands wander from holding it at the same time.

"O-okay… I think I can 'andle that…"

"Good. Now come on," John said, sighing. "We've got a long bus trip home, and I'm going to need you to climb a little."

"That was… surprisingly easy. Kind of makes me worry about getting robbed."

John had been convinced that his mother would spot Seras approaching, even during the night, or that perhaps Seras would somehow have difficulty reaching the window. Instead, she darted across the lawn so silently even he couldn't hear her, then scaled the side of the building silently… right up until she vaulted inside and crashed onto John planting herself firmly atop his prone body.

"Oh… geez," John murmured, shaking his head a little.

-1 HP!

"Hell of a landing, Seras," John said, grimacing as he gazed up at her. She was staring at her own hands, apparently the only person more surprised by her own entrance than John.

"I… I got up here so easy," she whispered reverently. "I could see perfectly in the dark, maybe even better than durin' the day. Even with this huge thing hangin' off me, and it was like I was flyin' up the wall!"

"Yes, yes, you're very impressive… now, get off!"

Seras made a yipping sound and hopped off on one leg, nearly crashing into John's computer. She clutched at the cloak that had parted across John'sHow someone could have that much speed and strength, and yet so painfully lack coordination, was honestly beyond John's comprehension.

"Good… now, first things first… the matter of your clothing."

"I- ah- yes, that would be… appreciated."

Seras fervently clutched the cloak John had lent her again, shyly using the abundant fabric to hide as much of her as possible. John was just thankful not too many people had stared, and no one he knew had crossed their paths. Even with the fabric covering her, it didn't take much to tell that was all she had on. That would've definitely raised rumors he didn't think the Brightons would respond well to.

"I can't do anything until this weekend, between this battle and catching up on my schooling. You're going to have to wait until then to get anything proper."

Seras looked at him with what had to be the closest thing to anime tears he'd ever seen in real life - as if half her eyes were swelling with water. He sighed and wondered how he'd gotten the least vampiric thing possible out of an actual vampire bat.

"Until then, you can wear my clothes. They'll probably be a bit loose… or tight," John said, pointedly avoiding glancing at Seras' chest, "but until I can take you shopping we can find you something not totally unflattering to wear."

"T-thank you," Seras said. It was one of the few times Seras said it to John that felt more real than out of obligation. He nodded, smiling at her while glancing over his room. He only had one bed… more pointedly, he wasn't sure about the whole sleeping in a coffin thing. How did that work? He didn't have any coffins, and even if he did, he definitely didn't have any soil from Seras' birthplace. Did she even need that? Actually… he didn't know what was going on with her. How did her vampirism function now? Ordinarily he would have assumed that it was just like in the manga, but given that she had been created by his powers, who was to say?

John clicked open his menus again, ignoring Seras' occasional stares in his direction. If he was going to have her tagging along in both worlds, he couldn't be skittish about letting her see information, even her own. He clicked through his party menus until he managed to eventually bring up Seras' character page, and stared at the information he found.

"Fuck," John murmured, immediately closing the sheet, cursing his luck and Gaia for a moment for putting that kind of blatant giveaway on her sheet, especially under something as innocuous as "trivia". Seras didn't seem to notice - for some reason, her attention was drawn toward his bed. John made a note not to trust Gaia before he delved back in, immediately switching to a sub-menu of Seras' character screen. After a few clicks, avoiding anything that looked too sensitive, he managed to find a "Status" menu. Under there, he saw two status effects - "John's Creation", which had no description, and "True Vampire".

"Well, that doesn't mention anything about coffins or soil…" John wasn't sure if that actually meant anything or not. He liked to think that Gaia wouldn't present him with any particularly impossible challenges like getting soil from a world that didn't exist, or a coffin that probably had some kind of magical rituals he didn't know, but given the fickle and sarcastic nature he'd seen so far in his many pop-ups he wasn't even remotely certain about that theory.

"Well, we should probably talk about your sleeping arrangements," John said.

"Oh! A-am I sleepin'?

"You uh… yes, vampires need to sleep too."

"Huh, kind of figured the 'ole 'undead' thing would mean a lil' less of that… oh, but… um…"

Seras blushed. She seemed to remember the part where John told her not to leave the room without her permission.

"S-so then, you're gonna let me leave the room… right?"

John shook his head, watching the blush grow stronger. "You can either sleep on the floor, or in the bed, I don't particularly care which. I have some spare blankets I use in the winter if you prefer that. Otherwise…"

John pointedly eyed the bed. He kept it relatively clean for the most part, but he didn't go all the way to make sure to fold his pajamas or tuck the bed sheets in after he got up in the morning. He couldn't think that staring at the messy sheets and the crumpled pajamas made it even more uncomfortable for her.

"I, um… I mean, I can sleep on the floo'! No problem, used to do that kinda stuff all the time in the Academy," Seras grinned smirking in the most fake way John had ever seen.

"Right… well, that'll do then. If anyone comes up the stairs, just hide in the closet until they go back down."

"Uh, who else would come up here?"

John hadn't ever really explained that one. He grimaced at the idea of trying to come off as some kind of a "master", while living at home with a parent. Even at his age… well, he supposed Seras was probably older than him anyway. Still, he didn't want to give up the little bit of leverage he had over her. Besides, as strong as she was, she appeared to take a bit of solace in having someone who (seemingly) was steadier on their feet than she was after going through two major (un-)life changes so quickly. Not to mention someone who had (or at least pretended to have) an idea about what was going on with her and the new world.

He was going to need more () with all these secrets and qualifications.

Achievement Unlocked! "We Were Remodeling Anyway!" ~ The fourth wall has been broken! Fine, we didn't need it, what has it ever done for us?!
+Confusion

"Wha- never mind," John muttered, dismissing the window. Fourth wall of what? The game he was in now? Didn't matter, he didn't even get anything from it… well, except the obvious.

"Um, yes, Master," Seras said, putting her arms behind her back and looking slightly cowed. Oh, crap. She'd thought he was dismissing her question.

"It's nobody you need to worry about, but the others who live and visit here don't know about my abilities, your vampirism, or anything else of the supernatural realm, so if they find you here, I'm going to have to explain your presence. The more they know about you, the more they'll want to know, and that leads to uncomfortable questions and things I really don't want to explain."

"A-alright, I understand."

"Good," John said, sighing. "Now let's get you settled in for the night."

John wondered if a life like this would ever stop throwing curveballs at him long enough for him to feel even sort of normal.