[In Progress] Stay This Way

[orchid_lovers]

Who: Kuran Juuri, Ichijou Takuma and Doumeki Shizuka
When: Saturday Evening
Where: Juuri's apartment, House 8
What: Mama Juuri is getting some answers after the recent death of a human.
Warnings: Will edit as needed

Comments

[orchid_lovers]

Carefully watches the two of them. She too knew what it was like to have someone die in her arms. To feel their life slip away while all she could do was watch. Of course, it had been a long time ago. Back when she was still young and thought that at that stage turning them into one of them would have saved them.

Reaching out, Juuri also placed her hand comfortingly over Takuma's hand. A sad smile touched her lips, the look in her eyes telling him that she knew all too well what he was going through.

"That's enough. I don't need to hear anymore." Juuri paused. "Now I understand that you only wanted to help Doumeki, but you can see how all of that might look to the rest of us. Should Kaname ask you to see him concerning this matter, please tell him that I have already taken care of it and should he have questions, they can be directed at me."

Taking a sip of her tea, the mother vampire looked seriously over the edge of her cup at them. The tone in her voice told them she would not be denied. "As for the hunter, I will speak to him as well. Should either of you encounter a problem with him, I expect to be notified immediately."

[not_my_grandpa]

Ichijou looked up, a warm feeling spreading through his chest when both Doumeki and Juuri's hand touched his own comfortingly. He knew they were there for him and a warm smile crossed over his lips before he looked up.

"Kaname was there. He picked me up after I made a post to him because I was panicking. He believed me. He was the only one that did at the time and I understand how bad it looked to an outsider. Another one of my human friends, Himawari-chan, who is also Doumeki's friend, she believed me as well...I was grateful", he explained, then took a sip of tea to wet his dry throat.

[talldarknsnarky]

Doumeki sipped at his tea again, leaving his long fingers wrapped gently around Ichijou's wrist, his thumb against the reassuring throb of his heartbeat. For some reason, he found himself touching Ichijou's pulse a lot. Perhaps it was because of what they'd shared, the vampire drinking from him, and the knowledge that his blood had entered the boy's system.

With a pang, it reminded him of something else, and he repressed the memories quickly, his heart rate speeding up and then slowing again.

Juuri said she understood, and gave Ichijou a gentle scolding that Doumeki didn't feel he deserved, along with reassurance that she would take care of it. She seemed to be powerful, assured of her power without being cocky. It was soothing in its own way, and Doumeki glanced at Ichijou to see his reaction as the vampire mentioned Kaname, and Kunogi, how they'd believed him as well.

Doumeki couldn't really speak about what had happened after he died, because he hadn't been there at the time, but when she mentioned speaking to Zero, he lifted his chin and looked at her, before speaking again, "I had a meeting with Zero yesterday." he said, simply, "I explained to him what happened, and he said he wouldn't be pursuing Ichijou. Hopefully he'll keep his word."

[orchid_lovers]

Juuri smiled proudly at the two of them, glad that they had both taken care of things themselves. Still, she had to worry about the five-year old in the other room who had smelled the blood shortly after her mother had. Without knowing what was going on, Juuri had to merely push the subject aside for the time being. Now that she was informed, she could tell Yuuki that Ichijou wouldn't be punished.

As confident in her strength as she was, Juuri didn't like to fight and would only do it if one of the many children, both adopted and real, was in trouble.

"I'm glad you've found some good friends, Takuma." Juuri continued to smile. "You'll have to come back later to play with Yuuki again. I'll be sure to hide the hair accessories and the LP so she can't show everyone."

[not_my_grandpa]

Ichijou let out a light chuckle and nodded. "I'm glad that I've made some good friends as well. They've been nothing but kind to me", he said with a warm smile.

Another light laugh escaped his lips when she mentioned the thing about the hair accessories. "I don't mind playing dress up with her. I just got a bit embarrassed when it was revealed on the LP" A slight blush tinted his cheeks remembering how his friends giggled at him about that, but he knew it was all in good fun.

"Oh! And Doumeki is going to try to get embarrassing stories of me out of you. Be resilient, Juuri-sama and don't give him what he wants", he said in a cheerful, more playful tone. He felt like he had gotten quite a bit off of his chest and that there wasn't much more to worry about.

[talldarknsnarky]

Juuri was smiling, a smile that seemed to be full of pride, that reminded him of his own mother after one of her visits to his archery tournaments, early on. His head ducked slightly in response to it, just like it might if his own mother looked at him that way, and he took another sip of his tea.

He finally felt well enough to snake a hand out and take one of the desserts that had been prepared, nibbling on it slowly - not his usual nature, but something he had to do to spare his still-queasy stomach. Juuri called him a good friend, and something felt warm in his chest, glancing up at Ichijou to see his reaction, as the blonde vampire laughed softly.

They went on to discuss Ichijou babysitting, and Doumeki finished his dessert, licking some crumbs off of one of his fingers before glancing up at the mention of his name. He raised a brow at Ichijou.

"Right." he said, "I almost forgot." A slight smile quirked at the corner of his mouth, before glancing up at Juuri again, "I'll help this one look after Yuuki, if it's ever needed."

[orchid_lovers]

Her smile turned into a playful smirk when Ichijou mentioned embarrassing stories. “Oh you mean like once, when you were a baby and I was changing your diaper, you got a hold of the baby powder and had us both covered in it? Then you started sneezing and it went flying everywhere! By the time it was over, half of your room was coated in the white powder.” Juuri laughed remembering it.

Observant eyes watched as Doumeki merely nibbled on her desserts and the vampire could guess just what the issue might be. “I have some soup and crackers if you’d like them instead of the sweets, Doumeki.”

Gone was the playful smirk when he offered to help Takuma, in it’s place was a sad smile as she looked towards the room where Yuuki was playing. “I’m afraid it will take some time for her to get used to you. All her life we had her hidden away and only since coming here has she even met anyone outside of the Kuran family. While I don’t want her to believe that every stranger is out to get her, I also want her to trust in a few people.”

She sighed, looking down into her nearly empty tea cup. “If only Haruka was here, I’d feel easier letting her play with Kippei and Yuzu without me there.”

[not_my_grandpa]

"Juuri-samaaaaaa", Ichijou whined as the embarrassing baby story was revealed. He should have seen that one coming, but he figured it was going to happen one way or the other he felt. But it was a good mood lifter and he loved keeping things lighthearted. He pouted childishly, then smiled back at the elder vampire.

He watched as Doumeki and Juuri spoke about babysitting Yuuki. He knew that the mother was a very cautious one since her children were the most precious thing to her. It would probably take the archer a while to fully gain the pureblood's trust, which was understandable. A new world, new faces, different abilities that other people had that may or may not be stronger than their own abilities. It was something to be wary about.

"Kippei and Yuzu? Yuuki-chan told me about her new little friend Yuzu. She sounded happy about having a friend her own age", he said picking up another sweet and placing it in his mouth.

[talldarknsnarky]

Doumeki's eyes turned to Juuri as she started in on the story - he had a vivid mental image of tiny Ichijou with blonde fuzz on his head, waving baby powder around, sneezing, and Juuri laughing. It made his stomach warm a little, and he raised a brow at Ichijou when the vampire whined and pouted at Juuri for it.

"Hm." he said, "Cute."

Afterward, though, he nodded at Juuri - understanding and accepting that she would be cautious with her child. It made sense, complete sense, which is why he'd simply offered to be around at the same time as Ichijou. It wasn't something he'd push for, but he thought it might be helpful to have the offer out there.

The conversation turned to the other children on the island, and Doumeki sipped at his tea again, listening but not really participating, because he didn't have much to say.