By the light of the moon (Arthur and Jessie)

Arthur sat down on the bench, staring up at the sky. The stars had come out in their thousands tonight and the sky was a beautiful sight, millions of specks of light peppering the sky. He had a dosier on his lap at the moment however, filled with spy reports on the comings and goings of the vampire court for the past week. Of course that was why he was sitting very tense while he looked at the sky and seemed to be relaxed. His senses were focused in case anyone tried to take the unassuming dosier.

Jessie had come for another walk in the gardens where she had met Kora, a small part of her hoping to meet her again and through the night she saw a shadow of someone she knew but as she crept up to it from the side she saw someone she had really hoped not to see.

Arthur.

Too far out now to turn back Jessie walked slowly over to the fountain dipped her feet in and let the moonlight dancing in the water reflect on her skin, she wore a simple black dress with White lace, a maids dress to look at, and she smiled softly.

"We meet again."

Arthur looked down from the sky at Jessie with a sad smile,

"Hello again Jessie." he greeted her with a small wave, "You don't seem too pleased to see me."

He chuckled lightly as he looked back up at the sky,

"Then again, I probably wouldn't be pleased to see me either." he shrugged, "You think I'd be used to having people avoid me."

Jessie smiled at Arthur and shook her head with a now worried expression on her face, she didn't want him to be sad, she didn't like him being sad, she just didnt want to be molested in a park. Biting her lip Jessie whispered:

"I didn't expect you to be here, it doesn't mean, I'm unhappy to see you sir."

Her eyes like the last time they met were wide and full of insecurities, if only Arthur knew her story and knew why she couldn't be rejected again.

"I wouldn't think that was the case, you're an important member of council Sterling says, so, the Queen must like you."

Arthur chuckled a little bit,

"I enjoy these gardens." he told her softly, "They relax me after a long day. And can you please drop the sir? I've had enough of that for today I think..."

He chuckled lightly again, closing his eyes,

"The Queen puts up with me. She thinks I'm a bit of fun and a neccessary evil all at the same time." he shrugged a little, "I'm surprised Sterling had a nice thing to say about me to be fair. Always been a lot of tension between the two of us. Respect, yes. But tension as well."

Jessie looked at the fountains water and nodded slowly, this was why she didn't want to run into him again, she felt awkward and didn't know quite what to say to him, and Jessie had no idea why he was here with her, why didn't he just leave?

"I like these gardens too, they're a good place to wander in, I do so much like to wander, this fountain is good for paddling too."

She shrugged her shoulders and giggled gently, not in an abrasive manner, Jessie didn't ask Sterling much about other vampires, she was just glad he was there for her, she had at least one vampire friend.

"It's none of my business really is it?"

Jessie stood up and began to walk around the edge of the fountain only to slip on a pool of water and go crashing into the stone structure, not falling into the water but clinging to the fountain after cutting her head open on it.

"Owwwww!"

Arthur didn't look away from the sky, he got the impression that she found their meeting awkward. He nodded a little,

"The whole area is beautiful." he muttered quietly, "So peaceful... the way the water ripples lightly in the wind... the scent of roses from the bushes... it calms even the most troubled soul."

He shrugged a little,

"It's nice to have someone to talk it through with." he told her quietly, "Makes me seem less of a pariah."

At the sound of her slipping, Arthur's head snapped up to look at her and he rushed over to her, kneeling down in the fountain to try and help her up,

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

Jessie was hung over the fountain trying to avoid the water but stuck in the same position that she was in for fear of falling again, smiling at Arthur Jessie took her hand off the fountain to wave dismissively at him a large grin on her face:

"Oh yes I'm okay, I'm always this clumsy, you saw my sword work."

With that Jessie also noticed that Arthur would get one hell of a view if her skirt moved any more forwards, you could see all the way up to her underwear and she took the other hand off the fountain to hold her skirt.

"Buggar."

She yelped as her face crunched against the fountain and she landed on top of Arthur in the water, gasping Jessie climbed off but whacked her head again so just sat there crying unhappily with embarrassment, wetness and the pain.

"Oh I'm such an idiot."

Arthur raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly in amusement,

"You certainly weren't this bad when we were practicing..." he smirked, "Although that might have something to do with the fact that you were holding something sharp and pointy at the time."

He coughed a little and looked away as soon as he realised what was wrong with her current position. It confused him actually; he'd never really cared to look away when someone as attractive as Jessie was on display but it somehow felt wrong to peak at her,

"I'm sorry..." he spluttered a little, "I didn't look, honest."

As he'd turned away, Arthur was unable to catch Jessie when she fell or stop her when she smacked her head, still on top of him. When she began to cry Arthur, who had never been good with crying women, wrapped his arms around her on instinct and hugged her close,

"Shush... it's okay Jessie." he told her softly, "Your cuts will heal in a few seconds... it'll all be alright."

Jessie pouted her lip and looked at Arthur the blood seeming worse since it was mixed with the water, she couldn't believe that she had been this stupid and she really just wanted to die in the sunlight but as she felt a faint pricking sensation she smiled.

"I know I know I'm such a klutz right? It's just part of the whole Jessie Monks package."

Letting her maid dress float around up by her thighs Jessie just stayed sat in the water, no point in getting out just yet shed only be cold, more so than usual, looking at Arthur her face paled as a symbol for her blushing.

"Thank you Arthur...I appreciate that."

Jessie thought she may have been mistaken about him and felt a little guilty, soon all her wounds were healed and she looked as good as new. Resting her head on his shoulder Jessie tilted her head to look at Arthur but it was so close to his own.

"I'm okay now, thank you for trying to help me, I'm sorry that I may have seemed frosty before I didn't mean it..."

Arthur smiled a little,

"Well I think it's a good package." he smirked a little, "Blood knows that I'm not a perfect package. No one is."

His smile grew a little softer at the sight of her blushing. For some reason it made his heart want to race, which was an odd sensation seeing as it didn't really beat anymore. He smiled a little more,

"Don't worry about it Jessie..." he paused and became suddenly nervous, "I'd never violate your trust like that."

With his face just a few inches from her's, Arthur felt a lump grow in his throat and he turned away, paling in his own vampric blush,

"It's alright... I... it felt nice to help you..." he coughed a little nervous laugh at the frosty bit, "It's not that bad. I've been treated worse."

Jessie smiled broadly and got up from the fountain, her clothes soaked she just shrugged and let them hang around her figure, hugging her body as they clung to her skin, sitting down on the fountains edge she glanced at Arthur as he spoke.

"Nobodies perfect however hard they try to be..."

Whispering that Jessie looked around the garden, spotting her favourite type of flower, a Rose, she hurried over to it and stroked it's petals.

"I knew you wouldn't, you're a lovely gentleman Arthur."

Jessie had noted that he had stopped flirting with her which although showed her that he had listened to what she had said she oddly began to miss it, picking the Rose she placed it in her hair just behind her ear and modelled it.

"Do I look nice?"

Biting her lip Jessie sat next to Arthur and grinned tapping him on the nose:

"I still feel bad though...that is why!! You get one request, anything at all and I'll do it for you."

Arthur tried not to look up and down Jessie's exposed figure when she stood up with her soaked clothes but he couldn't help himself. Seeing her flawless body, he groaned, sucking at a fang to keep his self-control,

"No... not even a queen is perfect..." he agreed, smiling slightly, "Don't tell her I said that though. She might have me sunned for that."

He watched her go as she collected the rose, sitting down on the edge of the fountain,

"Well I was given lessons." he replied with a small shrug, "I was a minor noble after all. Strange that I seem to forget at times to be the gentleman I was raised to be... and yet still remember what I'm suppost to eat with each fork."

Arthur looked at her with the rose tucked behind her ear and smiled happily for the first time in a number of nights. He nodded,

"You do." he paused, unsure if he should flirt as he normally would. He settled on a compliment, "You look beautiful."

He smiled when she poked his nose. Swallowing a little when she mentioned the one request he could make of her, his eyes fell to her lips. Her soft... pouty... kissable lips. He swallowed again and looked back up into her eyes, sparkling as they were in the moonlight,

"I... I want you to stay safe." he told her quietly, "You make me feel different Jessie... and I don't want that feeling to stop. I don't want to not see you. I want you to stay safe, no matter what."

Jessie looked at Arthur as he groaned and raised her eyebrow slightly, she placed a hand on his forehead before remembering that vampires couldn't get sick, still wondering what the matter was she asked quietly, her eyes locked onto his:

"What's wrong Arthur?"

Not wanting to hurt him anymore if in fact she had, Jessie stood up and bunched up one side of her dress to her thighs to squeeze dry, then the other side.

"It's strange the small things that we remember isn't it? Well you're not all that rouge-ish after all you seem to be able to control yourself."

Jessie smiled softly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear so that her flower could be shown clearly thinking that it was the flower that Arthur liked, taking it out she handed it to him.

"Maybe this was the flower that you're looking for...here take it."

Placing it in his hand Jessie looked confused, there was no real explaination for why he would feel like this but she liked it all the same, smiling even more she nodded her head, she would try to stay safe, she wanted to but...that was different to doing it.

"I will try for you Arthur...but I'm getting sword lessons aren't I so I'll be a lot better at that in a while..,"

The glance to her lips made Jessie shiver softly.

Arthur paled, the vampire blush, at being caught groaning a little,

"Umm... nothing... I just..." he stuttered before smiling a little, "I'll be frank. You're an extremely attractive woman and water makes clothes more revealing."

He glanced away for a second as she pulled up her dress a little to expose her creamy and smooth thighs even more,

"Well I spent more time at the practice table than learning any other form of manners..." he smiled a little more, "I didn't have very good table manners. It's not without a great deal of self-control I assure you Jessie."

Arthur smiled a little as he looked down at the rose in his hand,

"This isn't the flower I'm looking for..." he whispered softly before reaching up and putting it back in her hair, his fingertips brushing against her cheek, "But I'll find it in the end..."

He nodded a little, unable to look her in the eyes for reasons that elluded him,

"As long as you try..." he whispered before seeing her shiver, thinking she was cold, "Maybe we should move away from the water... it's colder over here."

Jessie looked at her clothes then back at Arthur and she blushed herself, biting her lip her fangs extended slowly over her lips, her cute little fangs that seemed laughable, she didn't know why but she found herself liking Arthur more and more, she respected him.

"I'm sorry... I'll run around till they dry if you'd like to? Although...I don't mind you, i don't mind you looking at me."

Feeling the need to explain herself Jessie moved over to the Rose bush, feeling a little less cold now she was away from the water:

"You did as I asked, you changed yourself for me, and that's more than I should ever ask from a person, I think, I think that you're a wonderful vampire..."

Eyes staring at Arthur as she spoke Jessie took the flower back from him and held it in her hand, she smiled softly and sat down on one of the benches dotted around, she would try hard, she had something now to try for.

"I will not fail, now I have something to live for..."

Jessie stared up at Arthur, her eyes sparkling and she angled her body towards him.

Arthur chuckled lightly, still a little pale,

"Somehow I think moving parts will distract me even more Jessie." he commented dryly before paling a little more, "Well then I'll try not to be ashamed to look... I was always taught it was rude to stare, even at unparralled beauty."

He looked away slightly,

"I... I'd been meaning to change for awhile." he told her, now transfixed with his own hands, "I wasn't happy with the person I'd become Jessie. I was better than this when I was alive and I should have been better once I entered my afterlife. You... Jessie you were the push I needed to return to being the man I once was. I'd like to thank you for that Jessie... from the bottom of my heart."

Arthur reached out and gently stroked Jessie's cheek,

"And your continued health is all that I live for..." he told her as he leant in closer to her, "We can live for each other..."

Jessie blushed even more, her blue eyes standing out from her skin even more as it pales. Turning her head away she tried to dry herself out more because even if she couldn't feel the cold the wet was uncomfortable.

"U-unparalleled beauty? Arthur you flatter me..."

Winding her hands together she stared at him as he spoke, the way that he did so was so elegant that Jessie couldn't help but bit her lip to gulp the lump in her throat away. It was probably because it was her fault. It was because of her he had changed.

"I'm glad that I could help, I just didn't want to be so mean about it you know."

Jessie looked quickly at Arthur and her blush only worsened as he stroked her cheek, leaning into his touch she smiled serenely.

"We can live for each other? Did you find your flower then...?"

Arthur smiled a little,

"I suppose I do." he agreed quietly, "But you are beautiful Jessie. It's only flattery because you yourself do not recognise just how beautiful you truly are."

He chuckled lightly, waving it off,

"Sometimes you need to give people a push Jessie." he smirked a little, "Or in this case... a boot up the arse."

Arthur nodded and moved in slowly. Kissing her gently on the lips, he pulled away to look into her eyes,

"I have..." he smiled happily, "My flower."

Jessie turned around to look at herself in the fountain, the still edges like a mirror so she can see her face in the water, she looked into her own eyes and Jessie bit her lip and looked bashfully into his eyes from under her lashes, batting them softly.

"Dont all ladies think this way about themselves?"

Smiling softly she giggled and kicked her leg up in the air to mime kicking Arthur up the butt, Jessie didn't think that shed been that hard on him.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to boot you quite so hard."

Jessie looked at Arthur getting closer and closer and she could feel his skin on her own, then all of a sudden the feeling of lips against each other jolted her into a sort of stupor, as he drew away she touched her lips softly and smiled.

"You...you kissed me, that was my first kiss..."

Arthur smiled a little at her display of batting her eye lashes,

"Well that may be..." he began, stroking her cheek, "But that just means it is the job of men like me to tell women like you... that you are beautiful. So very beautiful."

He grinned back att her,

"No worries Jessie." he stuck his tongue out at her, "Even if it was a bit mean."

He paled, the vampire blush, and looked away slightly,

"I... I understand if you wanted someone else to have your first kiss..."

Jessie blushed even more and she took hold of one of Arthurs hands as he continued to compliment her the way he was, biting her lip she thought about all the other people in her life that had told her that she wasn't beautiful, but now, Arthur the man she loved told her she was so...

"Thank you Arthur, you're doing a very good job of it."

Gasping a little Jessie felt the need to apologise profusely for her actions the other night again, she really hadn't meant to be that harsh and she wanted to make up for it.

"I am so sorry! I truly never meant for it to be that harsh, I'm sorry."

Jessie let her hands touch her lips softly again and she laughed quietly before wringing her hands in her lap looking unsuradly as Arthur as she whispered:

"I couldn't think of a better person to give my first kiss to Arthur and if I may be so bold, may I have another?"

The way Jessie blushed was delightfully cute to Arthur, the way her smooth skin paled was something that made him smile. He smiled more when she took his hand in her's. Seeing her bite her lip, Arthur's fangs ached ever so slightly,

"I'll have to keep complimenting you then." he told her with a grin, "If you let me hang around then I can get better."

He blinked a little before grinning again and stroking her cheek reassuringly,

"It's alright Jessie." he told her with a happy smile, "I needed it and welcome it."

Arthur turned back to her to see her wringing her hands nervously, before blinking in surprise at the suggestion before smiling wide,

"You don't have to ask me twice!" he told her eagerly before cupping her cheeks lightly and kissing her gently again, savouring the experience as butterflies flew in his stomach and his head felt light.

Jessie saw that Arthur was smiling at her and she took that in enjoying the fact that it was her that had made her smile like that. Hopefully she would be able to do so more often when they met up, after all she loved him and making the one you love smile is a wonderful thing.

"Do you like making me blush Arthur?"

She asked in a quiet voice tinged with embarrassment.

"I know but still, I could have said it in a nicer way, oh and you could have had it much worse I suppose you could have had some sense slapped into you by the Queen."

Jessie wondered if it was a nervous reaction from Arthur the blinking that he did, smiling softly she felt her heart beating faster and faster in her chest as he got closer to her. As soon as their lips pressed together Jessie softened into the kiss and softly kissed him back, nothing too wild but still Jessie placed her hand on his thigh.

"I think I like kissing."

Her small smile, her peacful and oh so beautiful smile made his heart ache in a way it had never done before. It made it lurch upwards, as if it was trying to lodge itself in his throat. He smiled back at her brightly,

"I do enjoy making you blush." he admitted happily, "It makes you that much cuter than you already are. Which makes you amazingly cute."

Arthur frowned a little and looked away,

"I think the Queen might have done the opposite to be honest." he commented lightly, "I am a spy master Jessie. A leader of assassins. It's an open secret so don't worry. But a spy master in love... well it would be better for her if I turned out to have no heart to be fair."

The way she melted into the kiss made him groan lightly. The feeling of her lips on his sent tingling sensations running up and down his spine and he could have sworn his skin felt more sensative all of a sudden,

"Yeah..." he breathed as they broke apart, breathless, "Never been that good before..."