Arturo once again found himself at the diner. Once again hungry. But not for any normal food. Still, as he walked into Rosie's, he had a taste for key lime pie and company. Perhaps for his new favorite server, if she was working. He was curious to know if she remembered anything of how their last encounter ended. He had considered leaving the bite mark on her neck. To give her something to think about. But he got the feeling she wouldn't need that to remember him by. And while he was in the market for a new favorite, Iris was very much a dessert, not a meal. She was almost too decadent of a flavor for a weekly snack. Not that he didn't want more.

He paused as he looked over the tables, pulled from thoughts of his little dessert by the scent of a werewolf. One he knew well, but only because it wasn't so familiar, though her scent shared a sort of...heaviness to it that Alec's did. Dark eyes found the curly haired Blood Rose Alpha sitting at a booth with her eyes closed and a lemon wedge in her mouth. Precious.

Deciding to invite himself over, he stepped to her booth and slid into the other side. "Evening, ranger," he said with a smile. The lemon in her mouth had likely blocked his scent from her until he was practically seated. The vampire leaned back and made himself comfortable, looking over her casual green sweater and the display of bare skin around her neck. Tempting, if not for the fact she was a werewolf. "Thanks for saving me a table. I don't believe we've had a chance to meet in person." He suspected she might know who he was.

Her surprise and discomfort was observed with a passing amusement. But she didn't get up, either to leave or start anything. Smart. It wouldn't be the first time he had a confrontation here but he preferred to avoid it.

Arturo leaned forward to clasp her arm rather than simply shake her hand. He let go just as quickly with a smile. “Arturo Diaz de Frontera. So you're Alec's counterpart,” he mused, as if he knew of her rank simply by her speaking name. Of course it had been three years and while perhaps not as particular as Alec was, he liked to know who lived in his little town. The supernaturals of course. The humans…he had the capacity to care about a few of them as more than food. The important part was the sanctuary Sweetwater provided for his people. His family. Alec's family. He didn't know this Darcy and while he could only imagine she wanted the same, he didn't know her.

“Forgive the lack of neighborly greeting. I'm cautious of strangers. You understand.” Her pack had moved in en masse with little notice or care. Just like the hellhounds. And those had been treated as pests. She was lucky the town councilman had a lot more humanity in him. “I noticed the wildlife is a lot more lively,” he noted. Because even while there had been no major incidents, it was impossible to hide the howling. “Not all of us enjoy white noise at night,” he commented, dark eyes watching her lean back. Meanwhile, he rest his elbows on the table and leaned forward, interlacing his fingers.

Arturo found her very obvious disdain of the opposing pack Alpha quite amusing. Werewolves could be quite defensive and were far and away the supernatural with the most protective instincts. That extended to their competition. And considering there was no small threat of having her own pack driven off or her forcibly stripped of her leadership and used as an example, it was really no laughing matter.

"Oh?" He had thought 'counterpart' a wonderfully neutral way to imply he understood her position without getting too caught up in the details or using the wrong word in public. He glanced over at the family in the booth across from them, watching the boy sink down under the booth and through a fit because he didn't like the chicken or something. He rolled his eyes. "Do you not think yourself his equal?" Maybe she simply didn't like being compared to the werewolf. She was far younger than the councilman was, after all. Perhaps there was some lack of confidence there? Or over confidence.

"I'll grant it," he said. It was a surprising admission from the other leader, but he supposed he was only working from secondhand information about her. She was right to feel she was at fault. "I like a good dessert," he added, flashing a toothy smile.

The waitress stopped by and asked if he wanted anything and if they were ready to order. He asked for a water but declined anything else.

She winked as if he might have been joking about the noise, but he wasn't. Still, her word was her bond and if he had any problems, any real problems with the howling, he'd hold her to it. But for now, it was simply a warning. And he hadn't just meant the literal noise. Considering the biggest risk for werewolves was the fact so many people around town went 'missing' on the nights of full moons, he meant 'noise' as one might mean noise over a radio. More people meant more static and more static meant the humans might notice. "Good. Especially on those full moons," he said firmly. There was one coming up, after all. But her words encouraged him to lean back and match her more 'relaxed' pose.

"So...what are we eating?" Arturo asked, again with that smile.

The vampire was unimpressed. It was a strange position for the woman to take, but perhaps he was colored by the fact that, having lived over 700 years, he saw a handful like twenty to be insignificant. Experiences were helpful, but when one lived such a short life, putting so much faith in years they might never have themselves was amusing. But perhaps she had a point. He snorted and leaned back in the booth. "Sometimes, I forget what it is to be young," he said vaguely with a faint smile.

He pursed his lips. "In a way. My future also relies on myself," he noted. Of course he needed humans for food, so she wasn't wrong. But at the same time, the future of her species and his differed greatly.

Arturo was in fact, greatly interested in food. Not to eat himself, he hardly had the appetite for anything most beings considered good sustenance. But it was always interesting to see what others personally enjoyed. True to form, Darcy was a rare meat girl. The 'medium' was surprising to hear. So too was her additional commentary on why she picked it. It was very American. But that too seemed an odd choice for her. He supposed he was no different.

"Threats? Who said anything about threats?" he asked, adopting just as light of a tone as she had. He lifted his hand to inspect some phantom dirt under his fingernails and then folded his arms behind his head. The only way he could look more 'relaxed' was to put his feet up on the table, but he considered that a bit rude, present setting and all. He smiled as she asked about dessert. "All of them," he said. Sweets were a favorite. "I believe tonight I could go for the key lime pie."

The young werewolf tossed out words like immortality so casually and he frowned. No, perhaps he didn't mind not being so young anymore. His grimace suggested for her to be careful. They weren't alone. The family across the aisle wasn't deaf. The waitress didn't have that many tables to divide her attention and the music wasn't loud. “Indeed,” was all he said. Because she didn't understand, wouldn't understand, and he had no desire or care to make her. He knew she was trying to be playful. But he wasn't.

“I would argue you have many more options than I.” She was the one who suggested children. Which he couldn't have. “And I try to ensure as little significance to the world as possible.” People would come and go, bringing war and peace and all manner of changes. He was merely along for the ride, not trying to steer.

Arturo shook his head, finding her behavior annoying like one might a small pest, wink or no. “I believe normal people speak to reality. Not hypotheticals.”

And then Darcy tossed out more words and his frown returned, darker this time. “Careful,” he warned softly. Arturo maintained his relaxed posture, eyes never leaving the woman across the table, but he could hear the movement beside them of the wife turning to look at Darcy, like she had heard but wasn't sure she had heard correctly.

“That's no way to talk to your elders. Calling them a vampire,” he shook his head, playing it off as a joke and making a tsk sound. “If you don't want any because it is too sweet for you, you only have to say so,” he pointed out. He did agreed with her understanding of him, however. His life was far from mundane. But to be entirely transparent would be far too boring. “I quite like being a riddle with a side of pie.”

Vampires did not possess the heightened sense of a werewolf, but they were certainly geared to be much more capable of observations than mortals. Arturo was not entirely sure why Darcy seemed suddenly so distracted about their vague discussion of legacies, but he had been around for a long time and he was very attuned to his senses and to the small mannerisms of people. From her awkward shifting in the booth to the way her smile seemed to wilt and that flush of her cheeks to the eye contact that was suddenly on her food but no seeing it at all. She had a certain someone on her mind. Someone she loved.

As far as he knew, the Bloodrose Alpha didn't have a mate. And here she was, acting like a lovesick puppy.

Arturo mirrored her raised eyebrow, particularly at the way she emphasized the word children. It had once been one of his largest regrets, to have never fathered his own blood related children. But he had gotten over it, as well as stopped wasting any effort to track down further family relatives. He would gain nothing from following the line of his progeny, if he had had one. And he could do nothing for them in return. No, his coven was his family, better than any he might have had if fate had led him down a different path. But Darcy was asking after his spawn. "I do," he said, simply. His lifelong love was one of them. But there were always more.

He snorted. Even if she was sincere, for the sake of appearances, she would get no immediate forgiveness form him. "Very," he said with a faint scowl. "Be glad I am still very benevolent and willing to share," he said. but it was also a good thing, because he never had the appetite to finish a slice himself.

The waitress returned with a refill of the werewolf's drink and Arturo order a slice of the key lime pie for the table, emphasizing his accent with the woman just a bit. She returned quickly with the dessert, since it was pre-sliced and set two forks on the plate. "Enjoy!"

The vampire selected one of the forks and took a small bite, savoring it. "Yes, definitely too sweet for you," he teased.

The vampire snorted softly. Perhaps there would be more werewolf pups in the near future. Or perhaps she was simply daydreaming about it. He didn't often pay attention to the copulation between various town residents. He was honestly surprised the founding families were still so distinct, even after the relatively short span of time they had existed. But he supposed people these days were less inclined to sleep with their close relatives. That was probably a good thing.

"I consider satisfaction to be very subjective," he mused. "If you want something lime flavored, this pie will suit much better than a chocolate cake. But if you're looking for pure sugar, then I believe this personally falls short." Despite her calling the pie 'unsatisfying' she was eating it, which he found amusing.

Darcy's thanks was almost a better apology than her apology had been. Perhaps he'd let it slide. Still, he found her lack of tact not very promising.

"About myself or the Villa?" he mused. "I live very comfortably, along with the rest of my family. But I've been fortunate to make multiple investments. Enough of which have panned out." He didn't have to work if he didn't wish to. "I work as the bank's financial advisor, but only when it interests me. Otherwise, I travel." Sometimes for fun, often for food. He took another bite of the pie, humming thoughtfully. Yes, the lighter taste was definitely more personally satisfying today.