Chapter Text
Matthew appeared at the entrance to her college again, hoping he wasn’t crossing some line in the sand they hadn’t yet discussed. But Diana's blue eyes lit up when she saw him after saying good morning to Frank, the guard on duty.
“Are you going to steal me away from the library again?” Diana asked, her lips pulling up to one side in a smirk. “I will have to finish my research eventually. That paper isn’t going to write itself.” She almost shuddered thinking of the time she’d already lost with those creatures in the library.
“But surely you’ll work more effectively if you have a break to clear your mind?” Matthew countered, sauntering over.
“Oh? And what was Tuesday then? An excuse to take me to the countryside?”
“It was practically historical research, Diana, you were quite literally walking through history,” eyebrow raised, “You even read books in a make-shift cradle.”
“And saved them from being drowned in your wine!” she teased, rolling her eyes. She was still a little angry he would risk those beautiful books just to prove her magic.
She didn’t quite know why, but she really did want to spend the day with him. She was curious about him. How many layers could she peel back today?
Ashmole be damned. “Alright, where are we going?”
Matthew broke into a grin at her response. “This way, Diana.”
The pair walked for a few minutes in companionable silence, neither of them wanting to break the spell of whatever was happening. If she was honest, Diana was already enjoying herself. The early morning sunlight dappled over ancient trees and bricks, the smell of cafes nearby roasting coffee, and walking with a (very attractive) piece of living history. She’d been in Oxford for nearly a month now, and she still hadn’t really explored anything that wasn’t the Bod or her favourite café where she had camped out finishing her PhD.
Rounding a corner, Matthew led her down a small alley. Diana’s heart-rate picked up a few beats. It’s not that she didn’t feel safe with Matthew, she did; it was that she was a woman walking into an alleyway, and old caution die hard. But all her fears evaporated when she saw where Matthew had brought her: Ms. Pelumbra’s Second Hand Book Store. She had been meaning to come here for her entire doctorate but had never found the time.
Matthew began to reach for the door to let them in but quickly thought better of it after last time. As much as he liked seeing sassy Diana, he didn’t want to actually annoy her. He’d find other ways to (accidentally) flirt with his companion.
He did have a plan for this adventure; the surprise wasn’t just the bookstore. There were a couple of books he wanted to show her, and he wanted to give her a little historical tour. Did he want to impress her? Is this why he was doing this? He didn’t really want to answer those questions. That might mean admitting there was something more than simple (definitely controlled) bloodlust going on.
So instead of thinking, he kept his eyes on Diana, who was running her fingers gently over the spines of these well-loved books. She was wandering through the stacks, the smile on her face growing with each section she passed. Matthew hadn’t known her long, but he didn’t think he had ever seen her this happy. It almost looked as though she was glowing. It must have been the early-morning light coming into the shop...
After a few minutes, Diana felt Matthew’s gaze on her and realised he had been staring the whole time. She found she didn’t mind, though she knew she probably should. But Matthew’s stare felt different from other creatures, it was cool rather than cold, and rather than making her feel on edge, it made her feel safe.
Diana wandered over to the vampire to see what he was looking at. He was in the fiction section, surrounded by some of the greatest tales ever told.
“Anything interesting on this side of the store?” Diana murmured, sidling up to Matthew and stopping slightly closer than was strictly necessary.
She spied a Shakespearean folio sitting beneath his fingers. “Let me guess,” she looked up at him. “Shakespeare used you as a historical reference for Macbeth?”
Matthew chuckled. “No, I was still in France when the Scottish kings were at each other’s throats.” He went on to tell her about Will being terrible at cards and having greatly improved flirtation skills by the time Matthew said goodbye to move back to the continent. He also mentioned that Marlowe did not write Shakespeare’s works. “Not sure who Kit slept with to get that rumour started, but apparently it worked.”
Diana rolled her eyes but found herself laughing along with him anyway, entranced by his stories. She could feel that staring again and realised she had shifted closer to the vampire. She looked up at him and wondered - how many lifetimes worth of stories did he have? How many points of history had he touched? She didn’t realise she was still being drawn to him, lifting to the balls of her feet to meet him.
The doorbell chimed as another patron entered the little store, and the spell was broken.
Neither of them seemed to breathe for a few moments. But that was usual for half the pair.
Matthew broke the silence first. “How about a coffee?”
“Definitely.”