Elias hit the books for the following weeks, trying to clear his head of the events from earlier. He read and experimented  with all kinds of weapons, transforming weapons and powerful enchantments. Kitty even slipped in books on ancient and advanced healing magic whose inner workings Elias only barely understood. All he knew was to conjure a sort of light from an unfamiliar plane. Anything to keep from finding himself caught in Kitty's gaze and prevent the longing heat from building up in his chest.

Then physical training rolled by again. Kitty walked into Elias' room and dumped a pile of swords on the floor, their clatters ringing through Elias' room, jolting him awake. The wizard stumbled out of his bed and towards his wardrobe nearby. He pulled off the t-shirt he was sleeping in, revealing his now well muscled torso. He glanced downards for a moment, then at Kitty. He noted the well fitting athletic outfit she had chosen for the day, which revealed her own tanned abs.

"Uh," Elias stammered, "I-I'll be down in a moment," He pulled open the wardrobe and grabbed a pair of sweatpants from the bottom, "I just gotta change first." Elias waited for Kitty to leave before he continued changing.

Kitty turned red, her eyes staring at his now muscular torso, biting her lower lip before Elias's voice knocked her out of her stupor. She gave him a tense nod, her chest barely rising in falling as if she was trying not to breathe, which she wasn't. Even though he wasn't bleeding, he still smelled wonderful. She quickly left the room, snagging one of the swords on her way out. She went down the stairs, muttering to herself in a language that wasn't English, it was Danish. "Gud, hvad skal jeg gøre? Jeg kan ikke stoppe stirre på ham." When she reached the training room she sighed, pulling one of the training dummies out from the corner of the room. 

Her hand tightened its grip on the sword in her grasp, a tiny bit of relief running through her. It felt good to have a sword in her hand again. It felt natural. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail, wild red curls falling to her shoulders. That felt natural too. She reached out and burned an upward arrow into the dummy, suddenly the dummy began to move, although the movements were jerky at first. She grabbed a sword off the wall and handed it to the dummy, waiting until it got into stance. Then she herself got into stance, taking a deep breathing before moving forward to strike. The speed and precision Kitty moved and struck with was astounding, her face was calm yet her eyes burned with determination. For the first time in a week Kitty felt completely at ease, the feeling only increasing each time their swords clanged when they met or when she landed a hit on the dummy. The dummy did land a few minor strikes on her, mostly on the exposed skin of her stomach and sides and her arms. Little streaks of blood were all that was left after the wounds had healed.

After Elias finished changing into a simple pair of black sweatpants, black t-shirt, and some gym shoes he'd grabbed from the market a few days earlier, Elias grabbed a random weapon from the floor: a simple, unadorned broadsword held in a black leather scabbard. Elias debated carving a few runes into it on the fly to make the weapon lighter and tougher, but he decided against it. After all, kitty had made a rule against magic, and that probably applied to enchanting weapons too.

The wizard watched kitty spar with a magically animated dummy as he descended the stairs to the training room. Her fast and precise strikes didn't surprise Elias, though he still found them impressive, if even a little intimidating. No matter how much training he did, Elias knew he would never quite be able to keep up with a vampire's speed and power. Even more impressive, however, was how animated the training dummy was. It moved exactly like a human, if not faster, and it matched Kitty's form step by step. The thing even managed to land a few hits.

"I guess that makes it my turn then," Elias commented as he drew his three foot longsword. He firmly gripped hand and a half length handle in his left hand and kept his wrist relaxed has he strolled forward. The wizard kept his focus entirely on the dummy as he placed his feet shoulder-width apart and took an athletic stance, and held the sword in a ready position ahead of him at the center of his chest, leaving his right hand free.

There was a light sheen of sweat on Kitty's tanned skin when she moved away from the dummy to allow Elias to have a turn. She walked over to the towels she had placed on a bench against the wall, using one to wipe the blood off her body from the minor wounds she has sustained and since healed. Then she turned to watch Elias, a slightly amused smirk curling her lips up. With a wave of Kitty's hand the dummy lunged forward quickly, the dummy's sword meeting Elias's with a clang. For the first couple minutes the dummy moved slowly, as if to allow Elias to grow more confident with his movements.

But then in a flash the dummy was moving quickly, a slice to the legs, a slash to the arm, an elbow jab to the stomach. The dummy moved and spun with speed and precision, yet Kitty still did not move to stop it. It continued to strike at Elias, a mixture of sword play and hand to hand with its other free hand. Then the dummy seemed to change, aiming a slice at Elias's face which made Kitty tense and step forward. "Stop." The dummy froze, but before it did the slice left a small cut on Elias's cheek.

In all honesty Elias should expected the dummy to go against him just as hard as it had done against Kitty, which meant attacks faster than even the most highly trained of normal humans could hope to fight against. Elias stumbled backwards and barely deflected the first strike, saving his legs from permanent damage. The next strike cut a gash in his left forearm, the sudden flaring pain sent Elias' sword clattering to the floor. The following elbow jab knocked the wind out of his lungs and sent him flying to the ground. Kitty forced the dummy to stop before it went any further.

"I had that coming, didn't I," Elias asked aloud. He let out a heartless laugh as he lay on the ground with a bleeding arm.

Kitty let out a curse and went over to Elias, although when the scent of his blood hit her nose and her fangs slid down she wasn't deterred. Bending down she pressed her fingertips against the wound, they were hot again and beginning to glow green. As she healed him her chest didn't seem to move, she was holding her breath. It didn't help much, she could still hear his heart beat throbbing in his chest and see the blood clearly on his arm. Kitty healed his arm quickly, just as her face was starting to redden from holding her breath and from being this close to him again. When she was finished she gulped and sat beside him, not looking at him as the blood that had already been spilled assaulted her nose. Her fangs were still out but she barely moved a muscle as she clenched her fists, then forcing words out of her mouth. "Sorry, I should have stopped it sooner. Can you breathe alright? That jab looked like it was pretty hard." 

All she really wanted to do was bite him again, it had been a long time since she had magic blood. It was always one of her favorites. Kitty knew she should get up and move away from him, but still not a muscle moved. Clearing her throat she glanced over at him briefly, her gaze was heated as she stared into his eyes in an attempt to ignore the blood still on his arm. She liked his eyes, a nice shade of cobalt. Blue had always been her favorite color. "Y-You should uh...You should probably go clean your arm up."

Kitty rushed over to heal Elias moments after he fell. The green healing light knitted and molded his flesh back together, though the blood remained. Kitty didn't react as Elias warily sat up, her fangs were out, Elias scooted away as he carefully watched her for any sudden movements.

"Yeah," Elias replied nervously, "that's a good idea." Blood rushed to his head as he darted up the stairs towards the bathroom, memories of the feeding from the previous week flooded through his mind.

Elias returned a few minutes later, every inch of his forearm had ben carefully scrubbed clean with soap and cold water, he appeared to be a lot calmer too.

"I hope you have an easier setting on that thing," Elias commented as he walked over and picked up his fallen sword, "Cause I'm not fast enough for you vampires." He laughed a little as he waited for Kitty to respond.

"I'm not all vampire you know." She grumbled quietly under her breath before standing up again. She ran a hand through her hair, her lips in a slight pout as she looked to the dummy. "Not entirely sure." Walking up to the dummy, she poked it and it did not move. "I was messing around with one back at my cabin, its still a relatively new spell..." She trailed off, seemingly lost in thought for a moment. 

After another moment of thinking she turned to Elias, snatching up the sword he had dropped when he fell and pressed it into his hand. Her fingertips still felt hot, but her eyes avoided his as she made his hand close around it. Then she walked around him, pushing his feet apart with her own, adjusting his shoulders, extending his arm out. 

What Kitty did next might have been a little cruel to both of them, but she couldn't help herself. "You can't learn the art of the sword from a book Elias." Her breath whispered against the back of his neck as she moved forward a bit more behind him, her chest just brushing his back as one of her arms reached out from behind him. It grasped his forearm, her hand was nearly burning, then slowly she began to guide it into a slash, then a slice, then a stab, still not moving a step away from his back. "Like that."

"I know," Elias replied to Kitty's book comment, "I just got a little ahead of myself." He let Kitty guide him in the proper motions of swordplay, his body painfully aware of her warmth pressing behind him. A downward slice, sideways slash, and a forward stab; each a basic sword move, yet artful and effective. Elias took another moment to get a hang of the footwork that went along with each.

"Still, the sword is heavier than it looks," Elias muttered. He reluctantly wiggled away from Kitty's grip to practice the attacks again, each move slow at first, but completed in perfect replication to what Kitty had shown him. "Do I get to graduate to dummy school, or do you want to teach me blocks?" Elias asked.

"Oh you absolutely get to graduate to idiot school." Kitty said with a straight face, but a snicker slipped out within a few seconds. A small smile formed on Kitty's face, some of the tension leaving her shoulders, she looked more relaxed now. "No, I think the dummy will be reserved for tomorrow. You're just starting today." Kitty walked over to the dummy and plucked the long sword from the dummy's hands, swinging it around in her hand with a bright grin on her face. The tension was almost completely gone from her shoulders now, it seemed that holding the weapon calmed her, it was something familiar now. 

"For now I'll spar with you, see how you do at a slow pace before I teach you some blocks." Kitty got into stance, that determined fire in her eyes again but they were also sparkling with amusement. She couldn't help but smirk as she stood three or four feet away from him, her muscles taunt as she gripped her sword and prepared herself. "Don't worry, I'll be gentle with you."

Fortunately for Elias, Kitty's tension had died down a lot, and she seemed a lot more relaxed with a sword in hand than any time in the past week.

"Yeah, please do," Elias replied as he took the stance Kitty had shown him earlier, "Getting cut without a healing factor isn't all that fun." The wizard went for a lunge towards Kitty's chest, followed by a backwards slash to her thigh and then a downwards slash toward Kitty's right shoulder. Each of Elias' moves were broad, but controlled and focused.

"Oh don't be whiny Elias." She dodged the lunge, moved so quickly that the slash to her thigh barely even cut the fabric of her sweatpants, but the slash to her right shoulder did yield some success and blood. Although she let him do that, she could have easily blocked the sword. Her sword clashed against his, a slice to his shoulder, a slight kick to the side of his ankle to knock him off balance, and then a horizontal slash to his stomach. "It's unattractive." She teased, leaning in a bit closer and getting in his face. Her face was a mere inches from his, and yet her cheeks didn't flush. It seemed her confidence had returned and so had her slightly cocky attitude.

Elias smiled as his first strike sliced a hole in Kitty's sweatpants. One hit. He decided against the overhead strike, instead twisting the blade just in time to deflect Kitty's own slice aimed at his shoulder. She responded with a kick to Elias' ankle. The wizard was thrown off balance and stumbled backwards, his t-shirt was torn by Kitty's slash across his belly, revealing his rippling abs with the beginnings of a layer of sweat.

"Who said I was complaining," Elias questioned with a grin as he feinted a forward thrust, his blade aiming to narrowly avoid Kitty's left side, after which Elias would attempt to grab Kitty's wrist with his right hand and twist the sword out of her grip.

Kitty let Elias twist the blade out of her grip, it fell to her right but she only smirked at him as she in turn grabbed his wrist firmly. She gave another quick kick to his ankles, to knock him off balance, then gave his wrist a firm yank forward to make him fall forward instead of back. But as Kitty moved back a step she stumbled on a wrinkle in the mat flooring of the training floor, falling backward as well onto the ground and pulling Elias down with her. Her mind worked quickly and she didn't miss a beat, her hand letting go of his wrist and snatching her sword from the floor. She brought the very tip of the blade against the side of his neck, her eyes bright and slightly heated as they met his and she smiled triumphantly. "I win."

Much to Elias' surprise, Kitty gripped his wrist in return and knocked is feet from under him again instead of trying to twist free. What surprised him even more was her tripping over a wrinkle in the training mat she had chosen to lay over the ancient hardwood flooring in the tower. Elias dropped his sword and planted both hands on the floor to break his fall and prevent himself from slamming face first into Kitty. Much to his dismay, however, Kitty had taken advantage of the situation and pressed the tip of her sword against his neck.

"Uh, k-kitty," Elias stammered, his face flushed red, "you're too close."

Slowly Kitty began to realize what she had just done and her face started to turn red too, but she seemed to have frozen. The sword fell from her grasp, but not even the clatter of it hitting the floor knocked her out of revere. She just kept staring straight into his blue eyes, her gaze turning more and more heated by the second. Her hand came up to cup his cheek, god were her fingers ever a normal human temperature? "No...I don't think I'm close enough actually..." She murmured this quietly, her face tilting up slightly and her lips just brushed his. 

But then she seemed to come to her senses and pull back with wide eyes, flipping them over so she was on top and then got off him. Her face was heated and her hair was flickering with actual flames, her hands shaking as she fought to calm herself down. She walked across the room to the towels, wanting to get as far away from Elias as possible but something kept her from bolting straight for the door. "S-Sorry I.."

Kitty's face flushed red as well, she stammered a few lines before lifting her face to kiss Elias, but just barely stopped short. Choosing to flip Elias over instead. Elias gasped in surprise with the sudden change in scenery. He stood up shortly after Kitty got off him. He followed her over to the pile of towels on the side and nervously touched Kitty's shoulder to get her attention.

"So," He muttered, cutting off Kitty's statement, "We've been getting pretty close the past couple of days, and. Uh..." Elias trailed off for a moment, digging around for just the right words, "Would you go out with me?"

Kitty jumped when she felt Elias's hand on her shoulder, wiping around while looking like a red deer caught in head lights. His question left her silent for several agonizingly long minutes, but then, she gave him a smile small and she nodded. "I'll meet you here at nine. Trainings done for the day." She gave him another small smile then went for the door, but stopped just as she was opening it. Slowly she walked back over to him and stretch up on the tip of her toes, bringing her lips to just brush his cheek as if she were going to kiss it. But then she seemed to change her mind, instead pressing her lips firmly against his for a few seconds before pulling away with a large smile. Then she darted out of the room. 

She was a mess when she got back to her cabin, tearing it apart trying to look for something to wear, then cleaning it all up again after she found something she liked. She got dressed two hours early because she was so nervous, pacing back and forth in her cabin. Then ten minutes before nine she couldn't take it anymore. With a flick of her wrist she teleported herself into the training room, resisting the urge to bite her nails as she stood with her back to the door that led up into Elias's room.

She was dressed much differently than usual, gone were the activewear sets that somehow always ended up getting torn. She was wearing a pair of high waisted black shorts, an oversized blue sweater over it. Her socks went to her mid thigh, and her laced up ankle boots had to have a heel that was two or three inches tall. Her hair was still curly, but the usually wild curls seemed more tamed than usual. A heart shaped locket hung from her neck, something she had just thrown on at the last minute because it looked pretty. Nervously she kept looking at the watch on her wrist, tapping her foot as her nerves ate at her. She was grossly out of practice with going on a date.

It took an agonizingly long time for Kitty to respond, but when she did, Elias' heart took a little jump of joy. He had begun moving back towards the stairs when Kitty returned, she silently tiptoed and moved in to kiss his cheek. Apparently the two had the same idea in mind, each quickly moving in for a kiss on the lips.

Elias rushed upstairs and into the showers, trying his best to thoroughly shower as quickly as he could in addition to cleaning up other important areas. He finished and ran upstairs still wet with a towel wrapped around his wasit and desperately sifted through his wardrobe for something decent to wear. He sifted through the piles of transmuted clothing for something more fashionable to wear, and after several tossed aside outfits later, Elias finally settled on a pair of well worn black converse high-tops, a rolled pair of fitted jeans, a white tee, and a black nylon bomber jacket he'd brought with him from Reach. Standard wear, but it would have to work.

Exactly at nine o'clock, Elias made it to the bottom of the stairs. Kitty's dramatic change in outfit nearly shocked him. Kitty had replaced her top with an oversized sweater and pants with high waisted shorts, but what really caught his attention were the thigh highs. Elias had to be careful not to get caught staring at them.

"Kitty," Elias said with a smile and a nervous wave, "You look... Amazing." The wizard quickly crossed the distance between himself and Kitty, then stopped. "Though I gotta admit, I haven't been outside the castle much." Elias nervously played with his fingers. "So I don't have any idea where to go from here."

The first thing her eyes zeroed in on was the white t-shirt, for a half second she hoped it would rain. Then with a blush she brushed the thought away and gave him a smile in return. "Thank you, you look great too." Frankly Kitty thought his nervousness was adorable, taking step forward so she could stand on her tip toes to kiss his cheek. Then she took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, flashing him a smile. "It's okay, I know a place."  But then the smile turned into a smirk as Kitty stood on her tip toes again to whisper in his ear, "It's alright, I won't yell at you for staring." Then she settled down on her feet again and began tugging him towards the door, the blush was gone from her face. She had gotten back into the flow of flirting it seemed. Poor Elias. 

It didn't take Kitty long to lead Elias out of the tower, out of the castle, and into the town. She waved at people as she passed them, but her eyes were zeroed in on something else. The towns pub. Kitty was curious to see what a drunk Elias looked like. She had a feeling it would be adorable like the rest of him was. Kitty blushed at that thought, but the blush vanished when they walked into the pub. It was loud and a great deal of townsfolk were inside but thankfully there was a booth in a secluded part of the pub. 

Kitty pulled Elias in that direction and let his hand go so she could sit across from him, but couldn't help but grab it again once they sat down. She turned her head and made a motion to the bartender who had started to look their way, nodding when he saw Kitty's hand. Within a few minutes he had brought over a tray of shots and a bottle of pure moonshine. Kitty set that aside, more than a sip and that would probably kill Elias. That was for her for later, but now she had a little game to play. She looked to Elias with a challenging smirk. "Think you can handle a drinking contest?"

Elias closely followed Kitty through the castle and then through the maze of streets that comprised the town surrounding it. Eventually, Kitty led them into a crowded pub somewhere near the edge of town. Elias tried to remember the last time he had a drink. If there ever was such a time. He hadn’t been one to party hard, nor had he gone out to a bar on his twenty first birthday. If he’d celebrated it at all.

“That’s a lot…” Elias commented as a massive tray of drinks was placed on the table between Kitty and himself. He would’ve rather gone anywhere other than a bar for the night, but Kitty was looking at Elias expectantly, and he certainly couldn’t say no to that face. The Wizard tentatively picked up one of the shot glasses and brought it to his lips. The liquid set Elias’ throat on fire as he downed it in one gulp.

Elias immediately started coughing and gagging. The horrid stale burning flavor of vodka stuck in his throat as he snatched and conjured water in an empty and hopefully clean mug from the bar and downed the water immediately after.

“Is this stuff supposed to hurt,” He asked to no one in particular.

"Don't know if that was funny or adorable." Kitty tilted her head to the side curiously, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips. Maybe to tease Elias a bit Kitty reached out, downing a shot, then another, then another, and another, all without even flinching. She had long since gotten used to the burn of alcohol running down her throat. "Is that all you're going to drink?" She teased, reaching out for a fifth shot and slamming it back before getting her sixth. She made a little pyramid with the empty shot glasses, flashing Elias a grin afterwards. 

"Tell you what, you down three or four more of those? I'll give you a proper kiss and not run away afterwards." Kitty knew she wasn't playing fair with the drinking contest, regular vodka was no where near strong enough to get her drunk. Straight and pure moonshine could do the trick though, but she'd save that for later. For now she was just having a little fun. Plus Elias could stand to loosen up a little bit.

Elias practically slammed butt first back into his chair after downing a mug full of water, almost falling over the other side before catching himself.

"A challenge you say," Elias questioned. Eyeing Kitty's lips and then the tray of alcohol between them. Three or four more didn't seem like all that much. He smiled, "bring it on."

The wizard still had a bit of coughing fit on his now second glass. His movements became slightly shakier with each shot until he downed not four, but five. Just to prove a point.

"And drank more than you aksed," Elias said with a smirk as he stared straight into Kitty's eyes, "I think that means I won a little more than a kiss, wouldn't you say?" By now, Elias had gotten over the bitter and burning taste of vodka sticking in his his throat, all his focus was on Kitty now.

Kitty was impressed and flattered by how fast he slammed those back, he seemed to really want to kiss her. The smirk and his words made her blush though, but other than that she didn't miss a beat. She got up and moved over to his side of the booth, one hand reaching out to snag his chin. She turned his face towards her, leaning forward until her face was an inch from his. "You're cute when you actually say what you want." She teased before closing the space between them, pressing her lips firmly against his. 

It wasn't as rushed as their first kiss, Kitty's lips moved slower against his, but the passion was still there. One hand rested on the back of his neck, pulling him closer as her eyes closed and she got lost in the kiss. She took Elias's lower lip between her teeth as she started to pull away, her fangs sliding out slightly as she bit his lower lip just enough to get a few drops of blood. She savored the sweet flavor of it before she pulled away for air, her face remained inches from his as she brought her thumb to his bottom lip. She swiped it across, glowing green, healing the little wound she had made before she put her thumb in her mouth for a second to catch the rest of the blood. Then her heated blue eyes met his, sparkling with amusement, and gave him a smirk and return. "Cute."

There must've been something special about Elias' blood if Kitty kept going back for it. He smiled as kitty pulled away slowly. 

"I guess that'll do," Elias said as he grabbed the large bottle of moonshine and placed it in front of Kitty, "I'll do one thing for you if you can down the whole bottle." Elias figured that with thousands of years of life probably brought along a lot of drinking experience and a hell of a lot of tolerance. To add to the challenge, Elias scooted just a few inches away. Just far enough away to build the tension between the two. He kept his hands clasped on the table to keep them from fidgeting and touching Kitty while she upheld her half of the deal.