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He wore smoked glasses in the light. With that, his hat and everything else, very little of his skin was exposed.

Honestly, I hadn't expected him to actually come with me.

It turned out that we were in a townhouse, and a quick dash across town got me to the theatre almost on time. I then had to explain both my tardiness and Vlad's presence to the director.
I think it helped that Vlad's appearance reeked of money. I hate to think what his presence did for my reputation. (Well, what there was of it. I was an actor.) I came up with a decent story, and fixed it in place with a touch of suggestion magic. I would be weeks re-setting the spells I had ready. But the story was good, as it had some truth in it.

While looking for a friend (not so true) I had been set upon and attacked (somewhat true.) Vlad had rescued me from my attacker (only true if you omit the fact he was the attacker) because he was a friend of a friend (true). I had taken a blow to the head (not true, but it certainly felt like I had.) so he had brought me back to his house to care for, and I had woken up late and come as soon as I'd awakened (true). He had come with me to make sure that I was alright (I have no idea how true that was) . Since he was there, and charming, the director cheerfully offered to let him watch, providing he realized we were quite early in rehearsals for this show.
“If you want to see something really good, you should come by tonight. The show we're performing right now is one of our best. A bit melodramatic, but it sure does pull in the crowds.”
“Oh, what is it about?”
“Vampires.”

Vlad had a great deal better composure than I did at that time. Looking back, I suppose that could easily come from being a great deal older than I was.