"Do you want the last slice?" Cas asked, pointing at the soon to be empty plate.

"No, I'm full, you can have it," Mei answered.

"Sure? You barely ate..."

"I already told you, my meds take away my appetite," Mei explained. True, she had had said that before, but still... she had only eaten 2 slices, the pizza wasn't even that big.

"Alright then, more for me!" He smiled.

Cas didn't mind eating most of the pizza. He actually enjoyed it! The food from this place was amazing, his stomach never got full. He wouldn't've hesitated to get the slice for himself if it wasn't for 2 main reasons: 1, he didn't want to be rude by just stealing it, and 2... well, Mei hadn't eaten much, and she had already finished her slices, so it might be awkward for him to be eating while she waited.

Mei was quiet, she hadn't spoken much during this time. It didn't look like she was uncomfortable, but simply because she was naturally quiet. Not quiet, she was a good listener. When Cas talked, she genuinely cared about what he was talking about, truly paying attention to the words that left his mouth. It was nice to have someone who would simply listen and didn't care if you spoke too much. Cas often had a ton of thoughts on his mind, connecting and jumping from one to another in random ways, so almost all the time people headed in a different direction than he expected. With Mei it wasn't like that, she stayed on tracks, and just- listened. It felt great.

As Cas enjoyed the pizza, he noticed how Mei was playing with her ring. It was a black ring, it sat on the middle finger of the right hand. She was fidgeting with it, turning it around and moving it up and down. He recognized the ring, Haze had a similar one, except Haze's one was white and it was worn on the opposite hand, same finger.

"Is that an ace ring?" Cas asked, gesturing with his slice to Mei's hand.

"Huh?" Her hands froze and she looked up.

"Your ring, the black ring you're wearing," He repeated, "Is it an ace ring?"

"Oh!" Mei's eyes looked down at her ring, "Oh, yes, yes, it is. How did you-"

"My pal Haze, remember?" Mei nodded, "Ze has the same one. Well, not the same one. Zirs is white, and ze wears it on the left hand. Ze told me what the aro and ace rings where, so that's how I knew."

"Well, you're right, it is the ace ring," Mei started fidgeting more, "Are you- are you ok with it...?"

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I?" Mei's eyes opened wide, as the grip of her ring grew stiff, "Even more," Cas added, "I'll take it as a compliment."

"A compliment?"

"Yeah! You didn't go out with me because I'm hot, but because you genuinely think I have an interesting personality! I mean, I'm still gorgeous, but I value people liking me better for who I am than for my looks."

"I- I'm glad you think like that," A shy smile crossed Mei's face, and Cas would've sworn that her cheeks became a shade brighter.

...

The cinema place wasn't too far away, just a 7-minute walk. Cas loved this place; it was open 24/7 with a wide range of movies streaming at all hours. It was a great theatre; the thing Cas loved the most about it is that they got movies that weren't that popular and that in other places only stayed up for a very short period of time. The one bad thing that could be said about it is that the rooms weren't that big, same could be said about the snack selection, but what else can you expect? Nothings' perfect.

Before going in, Cas asked once more to Mei if she wanted a snack to eat while watching the movie, altho she insisted she wasn't hungry. With this information now considered, Cas walked to the register and bought himself a bag of chips and a cola. Maybe not the most traditional option for movie watching, but popcorn was made to share with your pals, and Mei had made it fairly obvious she didn't want any.

When he got back with the bag of chips, the cola and tickets, Mei was standing in the same spot where he had left her, playing with the red sleeves of her turtleneck. Upon seeing Cas, she smiled, and they both headed their way into the cinema room.

...

We could say the movie wasn't... bad. If she was being honest, Mei had liked the plot, the actors weren't bad, in general it had been ok, but- well, there had been a few scenes that had made the vampire a tad bit uncomfortable.

The scenes themselves hadn't been that explicit or anything, but still, the kissing, the touching- it wasn't something she enjoyed watching. She was supposed to be an adult, theoretically she shouldn't mind, but that didn't stop her from doing so. In an ideal world, she wouldn't have to worry about this. It's not that Mei was mad for being ace and sex repulsed, which in the end was the cause of all this issue, it's just that she wished society didn't glorify sex as much as it did.

Cas had noticed something was up with Mei during the movie, but he couldn't pick on what exactly. The room was too dark, he hadn't been able to really see her with this big light-dark contrast the bright screen gave, working against his natural good sight. The one thing that he had noticed where her eyes. In the black room, they almost shone with a strange golden tint, similar to the one Cas's cat used to had when they catch him in dark rooms alone. This added to the suspicions that Mei wasn't really human, but the werewolf decided to not make any comment. If she hadn't said anything, there must be a reason, and he wasn't the type of person to make questions to make people uncomfortable, at least not on purpose.

The film ended. While the credit scenes were rolling down the screen, the couple went outside. When the doors of the room opened, the contrast between the darkness of the cinema room and the reception was blinding. Out here, dozens of lights lit the room up, nothing compared to the situation of the other room. With a few blinks, Cas had already gotten used to it. Mei, on the other hand, was still squinting her eyes still.

When she got out of the cinema, Mei had to shut her eyes close because of the blinding lights. Being a vampire made something freaky to your eyes, you could adapt better to the dark but when it came to bright places, it was harder to adapt. Or maybe Mei was just weird, who knows? There wasn't that much information on the subject of eyes. It was very frustrating.

Finally, Mei's eyes got used to the new illumination, she saw how Cas was coming back from the trash, he probably had just thrown away the empty can chip bag. Once he was back, he spoke.

"Are you alright?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Well, idk, you seemed uncomfortable during some parts of the movie? You moved some more in your seat 'n stuff. Am I making sense?"

"Ah, I see what you mean. It's just-" It was hard to finds the words. Was it that obvious? Mei had to work on that... Almost out of instinct, her hands ran to her black ring.

"Oh. Oh! I see," Cas exclaimed, just as if he could read her mind, "Ey, next time let me know if there's stuff that make you uncomfortable, 'k? I would've chosen another movie to watch."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Mei, if something I do, or if anything in particular bothers you or makes you uncomfortable, just tell me! It's not like I'm gonna get mad or anything."

Those simple words may not be that much for other people, but it they spark a soft, warm flam in Mei's cold heart. Without thinking, she hugged Cas. For a second, she thought of regretting it. That was, until Cas embraced her back and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Come on, the date might've technically ended but I can still walk you home," he smiled.