"Yeah, I've actually never done, uh- any UI work. Or, somehow, any database work. Neither were in the core course set I needed to complete my compsci major, and my math major takes up enough time that along with essay course requirements I kind of don't have space for, well, anything but what's required. As far as industries I want to avoid- well, game production is famously terrible to work in, so I plan on giving that a wide birth. But- not in particular, really? I guess the defence industry. I don't particularly want to program missile targeting systems."

"Extremely valid. I don't want to work on either of those either, and I can tell you that my company does neither without violating any NDAs. Hmmm. Probably I can't magically line up an internship today. That'd be a little too improbable, even for me."

They could if they told her everything, which they'd dearly love to do, but they should wait until they're a little surer of her before that. 

<Um. That's an awful lot of desire to tell her stuff. And solve things for her. And generally pamper her. Are we... Is something happening?> Ruby tilts her head a bit in mindspace.

.....Something might be happening. Ruby has a point. Sure Sable loves incredibly easily, but this is a new record, and it hit all of them at once.

<Mate bond?>, Maya asks.

...

Dangerously plausible.

Yeah, it is, uh, not surprising she can't manage an internship literally today. 

"Yeah, no, of course you can't, I'm not even through with my degree yet. I appreciate the thought, though."

It is, uh, kind of- odd, though? To basically-offer that quickly? This whole encounter is a bit odd.

Sometimes odd things just happen, though, it's probably nothing more than just- a girl being somewhat silly around another girl she finds cute.

But maaaybe she's a secret talent scout who read the paper Alethia and her advisor submitted for publication, or something like that? And has some sort of quantum information theory adjacent programming needs? Or just- something highly-using-of-linear-algebra? And is thus approaching Alethia in a strange and sneaky way to get a sense for what she's like? For some reason? The paper was pretty least-publishable-unit, honestly, she kind of doubts it. Even if she stands out at this university, once you're looking at all the universities she's no longer anything you can't find a lot more of.

You were closer with the "finds you cute" idea. 

"My desire to lavish you with opportunities aside, I don't want to interfere with your studying too much more. I'd love to see you again, though. What do you say to going out dancing to celebrate a test you'll almost certainly ace, later tonight or tomorrow?"

As much as the idea of spending time not in her company utterly wrenches, they'll do better giving her some space. And interfering with her test can't possibly be allowed. So they have to leave her some time to study.

"Iiiii don't know how to dance. Uh- any. Kind of dancing, really."

The idea of going dancing with the honestly-quite-hot Sable is, uh, appealing, though.

"But, uh, my lack of skill aside, we could- do something else, though? Probably tomorrow, I'm going to be pretty wiped after my exam's finished with. So- maybe coffee?"

"I'd love to. Here, a different coffeeshop of your choice, or want me to pick?"

"There's a coffee shop a couple blocks from my house, it's- well, it's a chain, but it's close by and has nice hot chocolate. And pastries, I think."

She names the place and the pair of streets it's on the intersection of.

"Could you get there real easy? I, uh, don't want to ask you to go bunches out of your way just so I don't have to go far."

"Entirely separate of the fact that it's not out of my way," given that she's a vampire with a nice apartment in the center of town, everywhere is convenient, "I would be utterly delighted to go out of my way to make a date more convenient for you."

It is a date, isn't it? Very definitely. With a very cute girl. Who is very enthusiastic about her and very keen to go on a date with her. And who has actually seemed consistently decent. 

She is pleased.

"Okay then. So- tomorrow at, say- noon?"

"Sounds perfect. See you then!"

And with a last smile and wave, she gets up and strolls out. No one can tell that her brain is melting from an overload of GAY and MATEBOND filling her mind.

Alethia could tell a little. 

Well. She has a date tomorrow. That's lovely. 

For today, though, she has a midterm to ace!

Meanwhile, Sable is definitely not hopping to a nearby rooftop to make sure Alethia is safe through tomorrow. Nope. Not at all. There is no violet-haired girl sitting just in vampiric earshot in case of sudden misadventure.

Alethia exists in complete ignorance of the fact that she has a silent protector, a watchful guardian, a dark knight a definitely-not-stalker, so she slips her earbuds back in, turns the metal back on, and finishes her preparations for her exam.

And then off she goes, doing her best to put her encounter with the cute girl out of mind so she can focus on what's more immediate.

There are no immediate problems between the coffee shop and the building where she's going to be taking her midterm, but, uh- it's inside. A long way from any windows. 

Is Sable going to be able to cope with this?

She is going to put herself in earshot of all the building's entrances. This may not protect against any threats that were already in the building, but the only thing she could do about that is inspect the entire populace of the building, and doing that would have a much higher chance of scaring Alethia than it would of finding any threats, because sudden assaults on university campuses inside school buildings are really really rare. The building doesn't smell like wolves or vampires, the Golden Coven has all the major threats handled already anyway, and if the building starts exploding or something she'll hear it just as easily out here.

But she's listening very hard. 

Then Sable and headmates will have a very stressful but ultimately uneventful two hour wait where very nearly nothing at all happens.

But at the end of those two hours, Alethia will emerge, looking happy and relaxed, and wait to take the bus.

Oh good! Sable will dart from rooftop to rooftop as necessary to keep up. Busses are great but vehicular transit is more dangerous than she'd like. And her Most Important Person is not allowed to die. So she will stalk the bus by rooftops. No serious eavesdropping, just make sure nothing happens that scares her or makes her scream or might injure her. Anything else is fine and she will ignore it for the sake of privacy.

Fortunately, nothing like that happens. She steps off the bus when it gets to her stop, and then it's a short fifteen minute walk back to her apartment. It's a studio, a tiny little thing, but that's all she needs, really. It's also on the eighth floor of her building, so she has a view. Not a great one, but any one. Sable will likely notice that Alethia appreciates this fact, since she'll look out her window over the city.

Awwww. She likes having a view. So do they, they have a nice apartment with a pretty good view of the city and the river. That's great. 

They continue to lurk where they can observe but not be observed, and generally relax knowing that Alethia is safely ensconced within her apartment and having a decent evening.

Sable taps out a message to their boss while she waits.

Pretty sure we& just mated to a mortal girl. We're calling in some of our unused time off. We'll keep you posted.

Take the week, tell me if you need more, and congrats, Pirates. 

Alethia spends the rest of her day, short thought it may be, relaxing in her apartment, reading things on her computer. After a few hours she eats a large helping of gummy candy, has a large glass of milk, and then heads to bed, apparently considering this an entirely reasonable last meal of the day.