The Musical Mind (Aro, Caius, Marcus x OC Fanfiction)

Chapter 3: Lunch with a Handsome Stranger

"My name's Amber by the way, short for Ambrosia Swan," I introduced after the man I had 'rescued' bought me lunch. Seriously, if you are ever in Italy, just know that you will likely have the best lunches of your life if you know where to go.

Now that I wasn't preoccupied with getting him away from rabid tourist girls, I managed to get a clearer look at the man now sitting across the table from me. Aside from long dark hair, slight accent, handsome and male, he was of about average build, standing half a foot taller than me, and wore classy, semi-formal clothes that wouldn't be out of place just about anywhere. He was very pale too but not the sickly kind of pallor. In a way, it was more translucent with a papery texture if that makes sense, kind of like garlic or onion skin. Last of all, he also exhibited a pair of pretty blue eyes, though I suspected that they were contacts from the lack of pupil dilation. Odd...why would he feel the need to hide his true eye color? Protection perhaps? Or maybe he was just a creatively unique person? Hopefully though, if that was the case, the man would not turn out to be like those finicky asshole designers I once met during fashion week in New York.

At any rate, the still unnamed man's lips quirked, making his almost otherworldly beauty stand out even more if that was possible. I'm pretty sure I heard some women in the background sighing dreamily if that was enough indication. "Ambrosia? As in the food of the gods?" he questioned.

Nodding in his direction, I'm pretty sure my eyes lit up a little at the apparent surplus of background knowledge he possessed. Unlike people native to the southern Europe areas, I had not met many knowledgeable people or those interested in mythos besides college professors and high school English and history teachers. But even then, not all of them shared the same appreciation since they often were paid to teach such subjects.

"You know your Greek mythology well I see. Anyways, yes, but please call me Amber. No one uses my full name unless I'm in trouble," I insisted with a toothless smile. "And what's your name? Or should I just keep calling you Mario?" The last part came out in a teasing tone, showcased by the glittering of my eyes and a humorous grin.

He chuckled but nonetheless responded, speaking with that odd yet musical accent I had picked up on earlier. "Marcus, Marcus Volturi," he introduced. "It is a pleasure to meet you Amber. What brings you to Volterra all the way from America?"

I raised a brow. "What makes you say I'm not from here?"

Okay, I knew it was kind of glaringly obvious that I wasn't from Italy, due to certain key characteristics, traits, factors and all, but I was still slightly curious as to how an apparent civilian picked it up. Not many people outside of law enforcement and the psychology field perhaps were as observant. Well, either that or they just chose to be oblivious like everyone else.

"Besides the obvious?" he queried with an arched brow, likely referring to the fact that we were speaking English and not Italian. "The accent for a start. I am guessing America considering you speak English quite fluently but lack the mannerisms and speech pattern native to England. Plus, a couple other things I noticed too," he admitted.

Wow, he really was a keen observer and likely very book smart if all the large words being bandied about were any indication. Who knew I'd be lucky enough to find someone to have an intelligent conversation with?

"Very astute observation Detective Holmes though I could say similar about you and your accent," I congratulated in a posh English accent that could have fooled your average Joe into thinking that I might very well be from England after all.

Marcus seemed surprised that I had picked up on that, but neither of us commented further on it.

In any case, I heaved a long, dramatic sigh. "Anyways, to answer your previous question, I'm taking a forced vacation I am afraid. Apparently, according to the people I work with, I don't know how to take a 'real vacation' so they set this up for me." I rolled my eyes in a fond manner at the last part, waving a hand lazily through the air.