LOG: Adrian, Marius, Armand and Bianca
Date: Uhm...sometime after this log
Rating: PG-13? There's a glimpse of vampire sex? At least the drinking of each other part of things anyway.
Summary: Armand uses Adrian to find Marius but through Adrian's curious probing of Marius' thoughts, Armand learns Marius' true feeling. They return to Marius' place, have a little intimate moment, Armand's on Cloud 9 from it, Bianca returns to the house, she and Marius have a little chat. READ IT! IT'S GOOD! XD
Well it is after some fruitless searching that Armand finally decides to find Adrian at his home where he hears the guitar from the street. He pauses there in front of the window and listens for a while before knocking at the door.
After several nights of being out amongst the inhabitants of New Orleans French Quarter, Adrian decided to simply stay home and enjoy a night to himself, a night to his own thoughts. He had been drowning out the world, allowing himself to get lost in his music, but the sudden knock at his door genuinely surprised him for once. Setting down his guitar and using his mind to see who it was, Adrian stood and slowly began to step closer. When he discovered it to be Armand, again he was surprised. As quickly as possible he opened the door to allow the vampire entrance. "Armand? What a pleasant surprise. Do come in."
Armand stepped inside looking around at the decor, curious to find what curios the psychic would gather for his home. "Thank you, Adrian. Your music is beautiful, I heard it from the street. I'm sorry to disrupt your evening at home, but I was hoping that you could help me find someone."
Adrian couldn't help but smile. "It's no trouble at all. I'd be glad to help." He paused a moment before asking, "Who is it that you would need my help to find? Are they a ghost?"
"They're a vampire," he said, watching to see if Adrian might suddenly balk. He didn't really expect him to, but somehow a ghost seemed less scary than a vampire to most people. Maybe because vampires generally drink their blood and sometimes kill them, whereas ghost generally just hang out and make noises
"How am I to help you with that? Aren't you just as able as I am to hear their thoughts to find them?" Adrian was confused. He knew Armand was just a capable of reading minds. So why was it now that Armand needed his help?
"His name is Marius. You met him the other night... I thought, if it wasn't too much trouble... you would be able to try at least. Though I think he kind of hides himself usually."
Adrian gave Armand a little bit of a puzzled look but then shrugged. "I could try. Let me get my shoes on and we'll go for a walk. I have a limited radius. I mean I could extend it but it starts to really hurt after a while and I don't need that to happen." He smiled before moving over to his bed to pull on his shoes. He lived in a loft apartment, so the only things closed off were his closet and his bathroom. Once he was finished, he grabbed his keys, cellphone, wallet and a light weight jacket and headed toward the door. "Alright. I'm all set. Let's go hunting shall we?"
Armand snorted with a smirk. He walked out the door and waited for Adrian to close and lock up or whatever he wanted to do before proceeding to the exact same places again as he looked for Adrian. He kept his mind open and attentive to see if there was any danger to either of them because of the new strange vampire movement.
Adrian just smiled and began his sweeps as the walked around the quarter. "Tell me something, why is it that you're not able to find him with your own thoughts? Does he block you on purpose or something?"
"Just please help me to find him." He said, not wishing to give out any more vampire information than needed. Adrian knew too much already. Everyone did. He just wanted to keep things quiet as possible. He shoved his hands under his arms and walked along beside Adrian. He was dressed slightly fancier tonight than when they met, but he didn't seem to have a particular place he was going.
"Alright." He threw up his hands in surrender. He'd ask Marius when he found him. They were silent for a little longer, Adrian searching as they continued down Decatur toward Canal. They had past Pravda with no sign of Marius, but suddenly he got a vision in his mind of Jackson Square and St. Louis. His smile brightened as he turned to look at Armand. "He's in St. Louis."
Indeed, Marius had managed to sneak into the church to look at it's magnificent art as he use to do back in the early days of Rome's rebirth into Christianity, or when Istanbul was still Constantinople where he would sneak into the Hagia Sophia. Art was still a pure passion and pleasure for him. It was also one of the only things that set his mind at ease. It was his comfort.
Armand smiled, "Thank you, Adrian!" He grabbed his face and kissed him, and then began to dash toward the cathedral. He'd break in too, forcing the doors to open at his mental command without setting off the alarms.
Adrian ran after but of course could not for the life of him keep up. He ran as fast as he could down Decatur despite Armand just so that he might have the chance to understand things a little better. He couldn't help his curiosity.
Marius was simply enjoying the splendid beauty of the church. It was small for a cathedral but it reminded him of home in a lot of ways.
Armand came up beside his master. Amadeo welling up inside him at the sight of the church and Marius there amid all the paintings and sculpture and the ornament of the cathedral. He felt his heart swell with it at the same time he felt the same oppressive weight he always felt in the house of God, where he felt that he was unwelcome despite there being no metaphysical demand that he be gone.
Marius simply turned his head to look at his eternal pupil. "Amadeo?" He was a little surprised to find Amadeo standing next to him. He chuckled softly. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay with Bianca tonight."
Meanwhile, Adrian had finally arrived outside the cathedral, panting as he had run the whole way. He took a seat on one of the nearby benches as he wait for the two vampires to come out.
"Bianca preferred to hunt alone, and I thought she was going to seek you out eventually to talk with you, so I let her go off by herself for a while, though, she really looks nice in the clothes you got her." He looked around at the beauty of the art, but seemed a little sad by it. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"
Smiling gently at his beloved Amadeo, he kissed his forehead before throwing an arm around the immortal boy and pulling him close. He knew without knowing Amadeo's mind that the art in the cathedral still sort of bothered him. Marius knew this had something to do with Armand's past, the days when he was still Andrei and a Fool for God. "Come. Let us hunt together." He then stopped and turned his head to the sudden thoughts of a mortal that sat outside the church. The conversation between himself and Adrian amused him. He chuckled softly before turning to Amadeo. "It would seem your friend is just outside waiting on us." He chuckled again before continuing, "So I see you used him to find me. Interesting."
"I hope you don't mind, but there was no other sure way. No one was near you, not even to see your face. I could not find you, and after Bianca parted ways with me, I knew I wanted to be with you, if only to remind you before she finds you again, that it is only her love that makes the pain she feels so horrible. If she did not love you, she wouldn't be hurt... and I wonder about her too, worry a little I think. She does not seem as strong as she did when I knew her as a boy. Besides feeling deeply wounded, I mean. But I wonder if you were right after all for having left me to recover on my own."
Armand's words hit Marius like an arrow through his heart. It had been years since he last thought about what took place so long ago. He loved Amadeo dearly, even then he loved him but it hurt him so much to see that his beloved child had been starved, tortured and finally turned to believe such rubbish as the idiotic teachings of Santino. With memories of it all, it nearly brought Marius to tears. He wanted to explain everything but he was afraid Amadeo would misunderstand his meaning; so he said nothing to reply, only closed his eyes a moment in fighting back his tears, his pain, before opening them once more and looking with sad eyes at his beloved pupil.
Meanwhile, Adrian had been sitting outside St. Louis for a good twenty minutes before daring to probe Marius' thoughts. The images and heartache he had found there stunned him and he quickly apologized for intruding. Though he retreated his mind from Marius, he could still feel within the sadness that had flooded the vampire. He then reached out to Armand. Armand, please convey for me to your Master that I am deeply sorry. I reached out to him to ask a simple question but caught him when I shouldn't have. I meant no harm and no disrespect. I merely wanted to know why you couldn't hear each other and got back more than just that. I am so very sorry. I'll return home. Tell him for me please? With that, Adrian rose to his feet and wandered back to his apartment.
Armand would go after Adrien later. He had caught, via the mind of the psychic, a glimpse of the sorrow he had generated by his words. He stopped where he was and put his arms around Marius lovingly. He said nothing but held him there, silent for a little while, but then he said, so there would be no misunderstanding, "I never believed it, not even for a moment, I never convinced myself that any of it was true, that stupid crap that I did back then, the horrible things that I did to people, I did out of despair, fear of Santino and his coven, and the apathy that tried to protect me from the pain of all I had lost. But I should have allowed myself to feel it, I should have done something to stop it all sooner than I did, it is true... but I forgive you for leaving me there, because you couldn't read my thoughts, you couldn't feel what was buried in my heart, let me tell you now, it will be love, always, forever... for you, my master, my maker, Marius my love. I am yours."
Marius was almost furious with the young man for daring such a thing but when Amadeo held him, when he spoke, Marius forgot his anger only to close his eyes as he could no longer hold back the blood tears. Falling to his knees, Marius pulled his beloved Amadeo to him in the tightest, without hurting, most warm and loving embrace as if he were afraid Amadeo would disappear if he let go, and sobbed. He sobbed out of his guilt for not having attempted to take Amadeo back, for allowing himself to believe his beloved child to be lost to him completely. There were no words, only his tears of both pain and relief.
Amadeo held Marius too, clinging and comforting at once. He soaked up that love, kissing the tears his master wept for him, pressing his face against his, and into his hair, he kissed the top of his head, and he stroked the long pale locks, "Don't be angry with him, he didn't mean to look into your mind, but if he hadn't, I could not have heard your sorrow. Imagine, master... he can hear us, and we can hear him. He is like a conduit through which we can know the inmost feelings of each other."
After a few moments of his sobbing, his head resting against Amadeo's shoulder, Marius smiled warmly as he wiped away his tears. "You're right. He is, in a way, a gift to us. I am not so much angry with him as I am with myself. Angry that I did not see past your appearance then, did not think you to be stronger than that to allow yourself to become one of them, that I foolishly allowed myself to believe such rubbish. I am a fool." He gave off a soft chuckle. "A Fool in Love. A Fool for You and Bianca." He dared not mention Pandora. Though he still loved her too, it seemed that now more than ever before, these two were far more important to him and he could not bare the thought of losing them again to the same foolishness.
Armand leaned over Marius and left his arms entwined over the shoulders, and he settled into his arms as he might be carried should the larger man be standing. "For all your children," Amadeo softly added, though of course he could still not hear Marius, it must have been a great love indeed to make him so distracted from everything else all those years. "And I do not blame you for all you blame yourself. Akasha is to blame for much of the trouble visited on us. If it were not for her weakness leaving us all in danger for so long, if she had not needed a slave to tend to her all those years, we might have been happier, all of us."
Armand's words again struck a nerve. Though Akasha was dead and Marius had come to terms with this truth, he still had loved her all those years ago. He was not angry but he was still a little sad that Akasha had refused to listen to his reason back then. He sighed and said nothing, nodding in agreement with Amadeo. Amadeo was right, had it not been for all of that, perhaps things would have turned out differently amongst all of them. But this was something that they would never truly know. The past was forever, unchangable though many, Marius included, wished it weren't. All that remained was the future and though it looked potentially grim for the entire vampire race, it still held a small light at the end of the tunnel for him and his children.
Finally, taking Armand in his arms, Marius stood to his feet. Carrying his beloved pupil, he quickly moved out of the cathedral and in a flash, arrived back at his house. Swiftly, he moved into the house and up the stairs to his bedroom where he and Amadeo slept together. He then gently laid the auburn haired immortal boy on the red silk sheets like a husband would his bride, and biting his tongue, he finally gave Amadeo a passionate Blood Kiss. He would look into finding Adrian later, right now all he wanted was Amadeo.
As he was lifted, he lay intimately against Marius, as a child against his father. As he was carried, he forgot all other troubles of the coming out of vampires, or his crazy sister, or of Adrian or any other thing. And when he was on the silk bed, he stretched out before latching on again. The blood kiss Marius gave him roused him to such frenzy of passion that he might as well have been mortal again, that first kiss on his tongue once more, the sound of their hearts pounding together... and Amadeo was helplessly lost in the pleasure of it.
Marius then took it a step further. Throwing off his cloak and opening his shirt, he then pulled Amadeo to him as he had when Amadeo was reborn to the Blood. "Come, drink."
And drink he did. He thought he would burst out of delight. The sheer joy was overwhelming. He wept with the relief and the passion. He couldn't think beyond the moment. Gasping, he clasped around the stony figure and shivered as he drank. More deeply than he had since his creation. He did not guess that Marius might have done it out of anything but his own passion, but after, when he lay there, having been able to take no more, he felt the tingling in his limbs again, the changes that this ancient blood gave to his younger vampiric body, he began to wonder if this was also to ensure that he would survive the storm to come. He was sharing his power with him as much as his love. Amadeo would rise from this bed stronger than he was before. He wondered if his master would drink from him again. To invite him, he arched his neck and let it press against his master's lips.
Marius smiled against the smooth pale flesh his Amadeo offered him. He kissed it tenderly before taking the invitation and drinking from the immortal boy. Their passions intertwined in pure ecstasy and love. Once he had his fill, Marius pulled back only to pull Amadeo into another heated kiss. His heart pounded in his ears as they continued in this for almost an hour.
When it was over, and they lay there together quietly once more, Armand reached over to pet the long pale strands of his master's hair, which seemed more lustrous than ever before. The room seemed to dance with new color, and the barest movement against the sheets let off soft sighs that resounded in his ears. Was this how his master saw and felt the world? It is a wonder the ancient did not go mad from it... but he simply stroked the hair and kissed it tenderly, and pressed against his side to kiss tenderly there too. He whispered against him, "I can hear the flowers in the garden brushing petals in the breeze. I think I can hear them in China!"
Chuckling at his precious pupil, Marius brought a hand up to stroke Armand's hair, his thumb moving over the smooth paling skin of Armand's cheek. He was happy, relieved, content, things couldn't be better than this moment. It was almost like they were back in Venice when all was still well and good and right with his world. He then kissed Amadeo's head before wrapping his arms around his beloved. "Oh how my heart has longed for this moment." he whispered against soft auburn locks as he kissed Amadeo again.
(In the old Greek he replied,) "Me too, I have longed for you, for a time like this. Let us make a sanctuary, one we can light with golden candles that smell like honey, and paint on the walls, and let us bring canvases and books, and all the things we want to preserve, and we can keep it around us like a shield... and should anyone try to destroy it again, they will not be able to find it, or us."
Marius smiled. He did so miss the languages of old. "Indeed we shall. Let us make it somewhere amongst the Alps, where no one dare set foot or perhaps on an island in the Aegean Sea." He kissed his lovely pupil. "It shall be our hide away where no one can harm us ever again. It'll take time to prepare but it will be our haven for if things turn for the worst." Marius really wasn't worried about the movement or its outcome, all he wanted was to be able to enjoy this happiness again with one he loved so much.
"I vote for the Mediterranean island! I spent enough years in the cold when I was mortal, but my happiest times were in Venice."
Chuckling, Marius nodded. "Understandable."
Bianca had spent some time wandering alone, watching the hours slip by, the crowds thin. If she was honest with herself, she had been delaying her conversation with Marius for as long as possible, so that if needs be it would be cut short by the necessity of sleep. She had not hunted again - simply wandered the outskirts of the quarter, not daring to get too close to the throng of human bodies. She was still unsettled by them - more so, now that she knew they were aware (however vaguely) of her existence.
When the hands of the clock in Jackson Square struck three am, she reluctantly rose, using her mind to trace Amadeo's location and return to the house. It took her no more than a few minutes, moving faster than she really would have liked. If only she could delay this indefinitely. But perhaps it was best to get it over with.
She settled herself on a chaise in the drawing room, not intending to seek Marius out, in order to have this conversation. If he wanted to speak with her, he could find her himself. She would wait.
It was Armand that felt her come in, even if Marius could hear her, as he knew he could now. He whispered to Marius, "She is here... ready to talk now." He didn't want him to get up but he knew it would have to happen eventually. Maybe this time together would bolster his master's confidence. He hoped so.
Marius sighed and nodded. This was something he was not looking forward to but it needed to be done. He then rose to his feet, slid on his chamber robe and made his way to the drawing room. He stood at the door a moment in silence before walking and taking a seat in a chair across from her. "You wish to speak with me?" He asked gently as he looked at her with sad and tender eyes.
She had not spoken a full sentence to him since he had picked her up and forcibly removed her to the house. Now, she simply look at him for a long while - not saying a word.
When at length she did speak, her tone was cold.
"Not particularly." she replied, coolly "...I was under the impression you wanted to speak with me. If not, perhaps I'll go."
Amadeo listened quietly from the other room, brushing his palms distractedly over the silk pillows.
Sighing, Marius could see she was not going to make this easy on him. He gently reached out with his hand to stop her. "Please Bianca... Don't go." He hung his head a moment before continuing. "What would you have me say? I have wronged you in the past. I admitted to it the night you left me. I admit it now and I am still deeply sorry for the pain I have caused you." He then lifted his head to look in her eyes. "I loved you then. I love you now. I will always love you. What more do you want of me? I ask you again what I asked you back then, what could I possibly do to make up for what I said and did?"
Try as she might, Bianca found it increasingly difficult to mask the pain. She drew back from him a little, her eyes bright, intense and angry.
"Then why didn't you follow me!?" she demanded, harshly. "If you loved me so much, why did you let me go? Why did you never try to find me. I see you are not with Pandora now, so clearly the choice you made was of no benefit to you, in the long run. When she left you, why did you not search me out?"
Marius was silent for a long time, thinking back on what took place that fateful night. How he had pleaded with her to stay. How he had tried to persuade her to stay. How in return for breaking her heart, she had broken his. He looked at her with sad eyes once again. "Because I was hurt. Because I saw no reason in it. I had lost you, I had lost Amadeo, I had even lost Pandora. My heart ached so much that I fell into a deep despair and sought no one. I sought only my solitude. I broke your heart. I broke Pandora's. I broke Amadeo's. But none so completely than my own with my foolishness, with my pride. I blame myself for all that took place, for all that happened. I brought you all close to me only to end up pushing you away one way or another." He sighed before pulling back and sitting back in the chair, his right hand over his mouth. "I am sorry Bianca. Were I capable of undoing what I have done I would do it in a heartbeat."
She listened in silence as he spoke, giving him no sign of her reaction to his words. In truth, they irritated her - though it was evident he was telling the truth. She narrowed her eyes, folding her arms across her chest.
"You are selfish, Marius." she said, finally. "You made me because you had no other choice. Not because you loved me, but because in that single moment, you needed me. Before then you had been happy to let me die. You had even threatened my life, yourself. But after Amadeo was taken, you were broken, and you saw that I could fix you. Would do anything to help you. You took advantage of that."
"And then you insulted me by pretending as if I was enough for you, when I never was. The whole time, you only wished to return to Pandora. And as soon as she asked it of you, you were ready to sacrifice me. After all, I was always disposable, wasn't I? I had outlived my usefulness, then. I was simply a chore - another child to care for. How inconvenient."
"You fancy yourself the eternal father, but you are not. You want us because being alone is just as unpalatable to you as it is to me. And you think that you can appear after all these years, make me a few pretty dresses, and all will be forgiven?" she snorted "I don't think so."
"Ungrateful," Amadeo whispered in the other room. He pushed his head under the silky covers and shivered again because it felt so intensely good.
It took all he had in him to keep from lashing out at her in anger. How frustrated he was that she still refused to believe him after all this time and how hurt he was at the same time. "What do you want to hear? As I said to you before you left me, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you!" He sighed in anguish and frustration. He was not getting through to her just as he had failed to get through to her the night she left. He heard Amadeo's remark but did not react to it. Apparently, Bianca had not heard it which he felt was good for Amadeo's sake. "I do not deny my selfishness and I do not deny that you were made out of need but what you still fail to see Bianca is that I also made you out of love. I fought with myself, with my urge to make you the moment I met you. I did not want to take away your mortal life but out of need I did. I betrayed you I do not deny that either but I still love you." He closed his eyes from the pain in his heart and the tears the welled up in his eyes. "If you could but see into my heart. If you could but hear my mind, you would know what I say is true."
His tears softened Bianca's heart a little - but only a very little. In the back of her mind, there was an awareness that if Marius really did not care, surely he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of bringing her back here - of making sure she was fed and clothed, and speaking with her even though she was angry and hysterical. And surely - surely - he wouldn't be crying. But the bitterness wouldn't quite subside. Not yet. She couldn't allow herself to forgive him. "...I am sorry, Marius. It is not my intention to upset you, but I don't believe that you need me here. You made your choice long ago, and we went our separate ways. Perhaps that was better."
He sighed again, wiping at his tears. "I've always needed you Bianca. Just as I have always needed Amadeo, I needed you. The night you left me Bianca, I..." He felt his heart break again. "I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe what had happened and I foolishly believed that you would come back to me. When you didn't, my sorrow and heartache finally consumed me body and soul, and I believed that I was destined to be alone, to be with no one but Those Who Must Be Kept. I lost everything. I lost all that I loved. But it would seem fate has brought us together once again."
"Fate." she laughed, shortly "...I no longer believe in fate, Marius. Everything is random. There is chaos, and emptiness, and very little else." she stood, silently "...it isn't that I doubt you. But I cannot stay. Not after everything. I'm sorry."
Marius shut his eyes tight, his heart hurt terribly. He soon rose to his feet, carefully stepping closer to his beloved blond beauty and embraced her warmly, tenderly, and with tears welling up once more. "I'm sorry I hurt you Bianca," he whispered. He then pulled back to look at her with blood stained eyes. "I wish you to stay but I know I cannot stop you from leaving. The only thing I ask is that you wait to leave me again. It is nearing dawn and I beg that you allow me this small comfort of knowing you're safe from the sun. And tomorrow night you may leave with all you're finery and whatever you might need. Please, allow me to help you this much."
A sigh came from the doorway now. Amadeo had crept out in his clothing again, standing there leaning on the entryway to the room, "Hi... "
Bianca let him hold her - awkwardly, as it hurt her terribly to let him do so. His touch reminded her of every moment they had shared together, before she had left him - brought back too many painful memories of a time when things were better - golden, even. She closed her eyes, and pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. They will make you weak, she reminded herself Don't think about it. Remember the pain.
She nodded to him briefly when he pulled back from her. "...as you wish." she replied "And do not think that I don't appreciate your help. I do. I am thankful you took me back here, allowed me to stay for a short while. But I can't do so any longer. I will leave tomorrow."
When she heard Amadeo's voice, she turned. Instantly, her desire to stay - to apologize to Marius, to let the past be - flared up in her again. But she couldn't let it. She remained silent.
"I realize I'm intruding here on this precious moment... but since things were going so well between you, I thought it wouldn't hurt if I just wandered in. I... have an idea. It's kind of a long shot, and not one I would do without both of you agreeing, and it might not even work very well, considering... well, you can never tell how something like this is going to go. Still, it couldn't go much worse than this, so what would you think of sitting down our next evening together, before you leave, Bianca... to sit down with my friend Adrian. Before you say no, listen to what I mean... He's a psychic human. I think he's human, anyway... he smells nice, but he's got this ability to read minds and feel emotion. I thought, what if you could feel each other's thoughts, feelings, share love directly once more? Through him? You can't sense each other, but, you can sense what he feels from us. You'd know... intimately, the truth from each to each."
Marius looked at his pupil with hopeful eyes. "Indeed. That might work but..." He looked at Bianca. "Would you be willing to do this?"
Bianca listened with interest to what Amadeo had to say, frowning slightly as she contemplated it.
"...alright." she conceded, finally. "I suppose there is nothing to be lost by trying. Except your friend's sanity, Amadeo. Are you certain he is capable of it?"
"I am not sure he is sane, not sure that he would continue to be so if he was. Sanity is over-rated!" He shrugged himself off the wall and came over to stand where they had been hugging each other, "I can tell you what she feels, but I can't return the favor for her to tell her what you feel," he said to Marius, "otherwise I would confide her feelings right now. It's not mine to give." he looked to Bianca, "It's yours to give, but with Adrian here, at least you will know each other's words are true."
"It worked for you and I, Amadeo. Perhaps it will work for us." He looked at Bianca thoughtfully. Amadeo had lifted his spirits with this idea of his and his hopes shone through his brilliant blue eyes.
She nodded to them both. "...as I said. No loss, then. If the mortal is willing." she shrugged. "If it is what you both wish."
"If it's what I wish, huh? Honestly, Bianca... can't you own this at all? It's Marius' decision for himself, but it's yours for you. I'm not part of that. Do I wish it? That shouldn't even enter into it, what I would want."
"It is something I wish. It is something I've wished were possible for centuries." He sighed. He didn't have to know Armand's mind to know and understand that the immortal boy was losing patience with Bianca. "Come now, let us leave things at this and go to bed. It is nearly dawn." He then leaned in close and gently kissed Bianca's cheek. "I hope to see you in the evening." He then gave her one last kiss, this time on the lips before turning to make his way upstairs. He would let the two of them talk if they wished. He was finished for the evening. He was exhausted by all this and wanted nothing more, at that moment, than to rest.
Once again, she let him touch her. It worried her, that once again his touch resurrected so many pleasant memories. She wanted them gone. Wanted to remember only the bad, so that she might avoid being made weak again. She watched him go, silently.
"Well." she said, at length "...aren't you going, too? You don't seem very pleased with me at the moment, and I'm sure you want to comfort your master."
Armand considered it for a moment, but he knew that in days to come, he would be sleeping beside him. It was still close to their reunion two nights ago, but this third night he said, "There is a chance tomorrow that you will leave. Let me stay one day with you before you go. I don't want the last we have together to be my short words."
She hadn't been expecting this. She looked at him - really looked - and was dismayed to find tears welling up in her eyes. She looked away quickly, dropping her gaze to the floor, a curtain of blond hair obscuring her face. She tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come. There had been too much emotion held inside for too long - too much pain and sadness that she had never expressed, replacing it instead with anger and bitterness. Her shoulders shook slightly as she cried, still refusing to look up at him.
Amadeo pulled out a soft cloth from his pocket and offered it to her, also he put a hand on her shoulder, "It will all be clearer when we wake again. Come, sister. Let's go to bed."
She wiped at her eyes, nodding silently in agreement with him as she took his other hand in hers. The oblivion of sleep sounded wonderful, just now - and if this was to be her last night here, then at least she wouldn't have to spend it alone.
He tucked the pillows around her, pulled off the too tooo soft sheets and comforter, the plush velvet was almost too much to touch. He put his arms around her and pressed kisses to her hair and the soft skin around the crown of her head, her neck, her ear, where he whispered, "It will all be better soon."
She curled into him, closing her eyes and letting herself be soothed by his presence. "...I want it to be..." she spoke, finally. "I really, really do."
He knew. He closed his eyes as the sun rose, falling into that soft state between oblivion and dream, and he could swear he was flying.
Rating: PG-13? There's a glimpse of vampire sex? At least the drinking of each other part of things anyway.
Summary: Armand uses Adrian to find Marius but through Adrian's curious probing of Marius' thoughts, Armand learns Marius' true feeling. They return to Marius' place, have a little intimate moment, Armand's on Cloud 9 from it, Bianca returns to the house, she and Marius have a little chat. READ IT! IT'S GOOD! XD
Well it is after some fruitless searching that Armand finally decides to find Adrian at his home where he hears the guitar from the street. He pauses there in front of the window and listens for a while before knocking at the door.
After several nights of being out amongst the inhabitants of New Orleans French Quarter, Adrian decided to simply stay home and enjoy a night to himself, a night to his own thoughts. He had been drowning out the world, allowing himself to get lost in his music, but the sudden knock at his door genuinely surprised him for once. Setting down his guitar and using his mind to see who it was, Adrian stood and slowly began to step closer. When he discovered it to be Armand, again he was surprised. As quickly as possible he opened the door to allow the vampire entrance. "Armand? What a pleasant surprise. Do come in."
Armand stepped inside looking around at the decor, curious to find what curios the psychic would gather for his home. "Thank you, Adrian. Your music is beautiful, I heard it from the street. I'm sorry to disrupt your evening at home, but I was hoping that you could help me find someone."
Adrian couldn't help but smile. "It's no trouble at all. I'd be glad to help." He paused a moment before asking, "Who is it that you would need my help to find? Are they a ghost?"
"They're a vampire," he said, watching to see if Adrian might suddenly balk. He didn't really expect him to, but somehow a ghost seemed less scary than a vampire to most people. Maybe because vampires generally drink their blood and sometimes kill them, whereas ghost generally just hang out and make noises
"How am I to help you with that? Aren't you just as able as I am to hear their thoughts to find them?" Adrian was confused. He knew Armand was just a capable of reading minds. So why was it now that Armand needed his help?
"His name is Marius. You met him the other night... I thought, if it wasn't too much trouble... you would be able to try at least. Though I think he kind of hides himself usually."
Adrian gave Armand a little bit of a puzzled look but then shrugged. "I could try. Let me get my shoes on and we'll go for a walk. I have a limited radius. I mean I could extend it but it starts to really hurt after a while and I don't need that to happen." He smiled before moving over to his bed to pull on his shoes. He lived in a loft apartment, so the only things closed off were his closet and his bathroom. Once he was finished, he grabbed his keys, cellphone, wallet and a light weight jacket and headed toward the door. "Alright. I'm all set. Let's go hunting shall we?"
Armand snorted with a smirk. He walked out the door and waited for Adrian to close and lock up or whatever he wanted to do before proceeding to the exact same places again as he looked for Adrian. He kept his mind open and attentive to see if there was any danger to either of them because of the new strange vampire movement.
Adrian just smiled and began his sweeps as the walked around the quarter. "Tell me something, why is it that you're not able to find him with your own thoughts? Does he block you on purpose or something?"
"Just please help me to find him." He said, not wishing to give out any more vampire information than needed. Adrian knew too much already. Everyone did. He just wanted to keep things quiet as possible. He shoved his hands under his arms and walked along beside Adrian. He was dressed slightly fancier tonight than when they met, but he didn't seem to have a particular place he was going.
"Alright." He threw up his hands in surrender. He'd ask Marius when he found him. They were silent for a little longer, Adrian searching as they continued down Decatur toward Canal. They had past Pravda with no sign of Marius, but suddenly he got a vision in his mind of Jackson Square and St. Louis. His smile brightened as he turned to look at Armand. "He's in St. Louis."
Indeed, Marius had managed to sneak into the church to look at it's magnificent art as he use to do back in the early days of Rome's rebirth into Christianity, or when Istanbul was still Constantinople where he would sneak into the Hagia Sophia. Art was still a pure passion and pleasure for him. It was also one of the only things that set his mind at ease. It was his comfort.
Armand smiled, "Thank you, Adrian!" He grabbed his face and kissed him, and then began to dash toward the cathedral. He'd break in too, forcing the doors to open at his mental command without setting off the alarms.
Adrian ran after but of course could not for the life of him keep up. He ran as fast as he could down Decatur despite Armand just so that he might have the chance to understand things a little better. He couldn't help his curiosity.
Marius was simply enjoying the splendid beauty of the church. It was small for a cathedral but it reminded him of home in a lot of ways.
Armand came up beside his master. Amadeo welling up inside him at the sight of the church and Marius there amid all the paintings and sculpture and the ornament of the cathedral. He felt his heart swell with it at the same time he felt the same oppressive weight he always felt in the house of God, where he felt that he was unwelcome despite there being no metaphysical demand that he be gone.
Marius simply turned his head to look at his eternal pupil. "Amadeo?" He was a little surprised to find Amadeo standing next to him. He chuckled softly. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay with Bianca tonight."
Meanwhile, Adrian had finally arrived outside the cathedral, panting as he had run the whole way. He took a seat on one of the nearby benches as he wait for the two vampires to come out.
"Bianca preferred to hunt alone, and I thought she was going to seek you out eventually to talk with you, so I let her go off by herself for a while, though, she really looks nice in the clothes you got her." He looked around at the beauty of the art, but seemed a little sad by it. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"
Smiling gently at his beloved Amadeo, he kissed his forehead before throwing an arm around the immortal boy and pulling him close. He knew without knowing Amadeo's mind that the art in the cathedral still sort of bothered him. Marius knew this had something to do with Armand's past, the days when he was still Andrei and a Fool for God. "Come. Let us hunt together." He then stopped and turned his head to the sudden thoughts of a mortal that sat outside the church. The conversation between himself and Adrian amused him. He chuckled softly before turning to Amadeo. "It would seem your friend is just outside waiting on us." He chuckled again before continuing, "So I see you used him to find me. Interesting."
"I hope you don't mind, but there was no other sure way. No one was near you, not even to see your face. I could not find you, and after Bianca parted ways with me, I knew I wanted to be with you, if only to remind you before she finds you again, that it is only her love that makes the pain she feels so horrible. If she did not love you, she wouldn't be hurt... and I wonder about her too, worry a little I think. She does not seem as strong as she did when I knew her as a boy. Besides feeling deeply wounded, I mean. But I wonder if you were right after all for having left me to recover on my own."
Armand's words hit Marius like an arrow through his heart. It had been years since he last thought about what took place so long ago. He loved Amadeo dearly, even then he loved him but it hurt him so much to see that his beloved child had been starved, tortured and finally turned to believe such rubbish as the idiotic teachings of Santino. With memories of it all, it nearly brought Marius to tears. He wanted to explain everything but he was afraid Amadeo would misunderstand his meaning; so he said nothing to reply, only closed his eyes a moment in fighting back his tears, his pain, before opening them once more and looking with sad eyes at his beloved pupil.
Meanwhile, Adrian had been sitting outside St. Louis for a good twenty minutes before daring to probe Marius' thoughts. The images and heartache he had found there stunned him and he quickly apologized for intruding. Though he retreated his mind from Marius, he could still feel within the sadness that had flooded the vampire. He then reached out to Armand. Armand, please convey for me to your Master that I am deeply sorry. I reached out to him to ask a simple question but caught him when I shouldn't have. I meant no harm and no disrespect. I merely wanted to know why you couldn't hear each other and got back more than just that. I am so very sorry. I'll return home. Tell him for me please? With that, Adrian rose to his feet and wandered back to his apartment.
Armand would go after Adrien later. He had caught, via the mind of the psychic, a glimpse of the sorrow he had generated by his words. He stopped where he was and put his arms around Marius lovingly. He said nothing but held him there, silent for a little while, but then he said, so there would be no misunderstanding, "I never believed it, not even for a moment, I never convinced myself that any of it was true, that stupid crap that I did back then, the horrible things that I did to people, I did out of despair, fear of Santino and his coven, and the apathy that tried to protect me from the pain of all I had lost. But I should have allowed myself to feel it, I should have done something to stop it all sooner than I did, it is true... but I forgive you for leaving me there, because you couldn't read my thoughts, you couldn't feel what was buried in my heart, let me tell you now, it will be love, always, forever... for you, my master, my maker, Marius my love. I am yours."
Marius was almost furious with the young man for daring such a thing but when Amadeo held him, when he spoke, Marius forgot his anger only to close his eyes as he could no longer hold back the blood tears. Falling to his knees, Marius pulled his beloved Amadeo to him in the tightest, without hurting, most warm and loving embrace as if he were afraid Amadeo would disappear if he let go, and sobbed. He sobbed out of his guilt for not having attempted to take Amadeo back, for allowing himself to believe his beloved child to be lost to him completely. There were no words, only his tears of both pain and relief.
Amadeo held Marius too, clinging and comforting at once. He soaked up that love, kissing the tears his master wept for him, pressing his face against his, and into his hair, he kissed the top of his head, and he stroked the long pale locks, "Don't be angry with him, he didn't mean to look into your mind, but if he hadn't, I could not have heard your sorrow. Imagine, master... he can hear us, and we can hear him. He is like a conduit through which we can know the inmost feelings of each other."
After a few moments of his sobbing, his head resting against Amadeo's shoulder, Marius smiled warmly as he wiped away his tears. "You're right. He is, in a way, a gift to us. I am not so much angry with him as I am with myself. Angry that I did not see past your appearance then, did not think you to be stronger than that to allow yourself to become one of them, that I foolishly allowed myself to believe such rubbish. I am a fool." He gave off a soft chuckle. "A Fool in Love. A Fool for You and Bianca." He dared not mention Pandora. Though he still loved her too, it seemed that now more than ever before, these two were far more important to him and he could not bare the thought of losing them again to the same foolishness.
Armand leaned over Marius and left his arms entwined over the shoulders, and he settled into his arms as he might be carried should the larger man be standing. "For all your children," Amadeo softly added, though of course he could still not hear Marius, it must have been a great love indeed to make him so distracted from everything else all those years. "And I do not blame you for all you blame yourself. Akasha is to blame for much of the trouble visited on us. If it were not for her weakness leaving us all in danger for so long, if she had not needed a slave to tend to her all those years, we might have been happier, all of us."
Armand's words again struck a nerve. Though Akasha was dead and Marius had come to terms with this truth, he still had loved her all those years ago. He was not angry but he was still a little sad that Akasha had refused to listen to his reason back then. He sighed and said nothing, nodding in agreement with Amadeo. Amadeo was right, had it not been for all of that, perhaps things would have turned out differently amongst all of them. But this was something that they would never truly know. The past was forever, unchangable though many, Marius included, wished it weren't. All that remained was the future and though it looked potentially grim for the entire vampire race, it still held a small light at the end of the tunnel for him and his children.
Finally, taking Armand in his arms, Marius stood to his feet. Carrying his beloved pupil, he quickly moved out of the cathedral and in a flash, arrived back at his house. Swiftly, he moved into the house and up the stairs to his bedroom where he and Amadeo slept together. He then gently laid the auburn haired immortal boy on the red silk sheets like a husband would his bride, and biting his tongue, he finally gave Amadeo a passionate Blood Kiss. He would look into finding Adrian later, right now all he wanted was Amadeo.
As he was lifted, he lay intimately against Marius, as a child against his father. As he was carried, he forgot all other troubles of the coming out of vampires, or his crazy sister, or of Adrian or any other thing. And when he was on the silk bed, he stretched out before latching on again. The blood kiss Marius gave him roused him to such frenzy of passion that he might as well have been mortal again, that first kiss on his tongue once more, the sound of their hearts pounding together... and Amadeo was helplessly lost in the pleasure of it.
Marius then took it a step further. Throwing off his cloak and opening his shirt, he then pulled Amadeo to him as he had when Amadeo was reborn to the Blood. "Come, drink."
And drink he did. He thought he would burst out of delight. The sheer joy was overwhelming. He wept with the relief and the passion. He couldn't think beyond the moment. Gasping, he clasped around the stony figure and shivered as he drank. More deeply than he had since his creation. He did not guess that Marius might have done it out of anything but his own passion, but after, when he lay there, having been able to take no more, he felt the tingling in his limbs again, the changes that this ancient blood gave to his younger vampiric body, he began to wonder if this was also to ensure that he would survive the storm to come. He was sharing his power with him as much as his love. Amadeo would rise from this bed stronger than he was before. He wondered if his master would drink from him again. To invite him, he arched his neck and let it press against his master's lips.
Marius smiled against the smooth pale flesh his Amadeo offered him. He kissed it tenderly before taking the invitation and drinking from the immortal boy. Their passions intertwined in pure ecstasy and love. Once he had his fill, Marius pulled back only to pull Amadeo into another heated kiss. His heart pounded in his ears as they continued in this for almost an hour.
When it was over, and they lay there together quietly once more, Armand reached over to pet the long pale strands of his master's hair, which seemed more lustrous than ever before. The room seemed to dance with new color, and the barest movement against the sheets let off soft sighs that resounded in his ears. Was this how his master saw and felt the world? It is a wonder the ancient did not go mad from it... but he simply stroked the hair and kissed it tenderly, and pressed against his side to kiss tenderly there too. He whispered against him, "I can hear the flowers in the garden brushing petals in the breeze. I think I can hear them in China!"
Chuckling at his precious pupil, Marius brought a hand up to stroke Armand's hair, his thumb moving over the smooth paling skin of Armand's cheek. He was happy, relieved, content, things couldn't be better than this moment. It was almost like they were back in Venice when all was still well and good and right with his world. He then kissed Amadeo's head before wrapping his arms around his beloved. "Oh how my heart has longed for this moment." he whispered against soft auburn locks as he kissed Amadeo again.
(In the old Greek he replied,) "Me too, I have longed for you, for a time like this. Let us make a sanctuary, one we can light with golden candles that smell like honey, and paint on the walls, and let us bring canvases and books, and all the things we want to preserve, and we can keep it around us like a shield... and should anyone try to destroy it again, they will not be able to find it, or us."
Marius smiled. He did so miss the languages of old. "Indeed we shall. Let us make it somewhere amongst the Alps, where no one dare set foot or perhaps on an island in the Aegean Sea." He kissed his lovely pupil. "It shall be our hide away where no one can harm us ever again. It'll take time to prepare but it will be our haven for if things turn for the worst." Marius really wasn't worried about the movement or its outcome, all he wanted was to be able to enjoy this happiness again with one he loved so much.
"I vote for the Mediterranean island! I spent enough years in the cold when I was mortal, but my happiest times were in Venice."
Chuckling, Marius nodded. "Understandable."
Bianca had spent some time wandering alone, watching the hours slip by, the crowds thin. If she was honest with herself, she had been delaying her conversation with Marius for as long as possible, so that if needs be it would be cut short by the necessity of sleep. She had not hunted again - simply wandered the outskirts of the quarter, not daring to get too close to the throng of human bodies. She was still unsettled by them - more so, now that she knew they were aware (however vaguely) of her existence.
When the hands of the clock in Jackson Square struck three am, she reluctantly rose, using her mind to trace Amadeo's location and return to the house. It took her no more than a few minutes, moving faster than she really would have liked. If only she could delay this indefinitely. But perhaps it was best to get it over with.
She settled herself on a chaise in the drawing room, not intending to seek Marius out, in order to have this conversation. If he wanted to speak with her, he could find her himself. She would wait.
It was Armand that felt her come in, even if Marius could hear her, as he knew he could now. He whispered to Marius, "She is here... ready to talk now." He didn't want him to get up but he knew it would have to happen eventually. Maybe this time together would bolster his master's confidence. He hoped so.
Marius sighed and nodded. This was something he was not looking forward to but it needed to be done. He then rose to his feet, slid on his chamber robe and made his way to the drawing room. He stood at the door a moment in silence before walking and taking a seat in a chair across from her. "You wish to speak with me?" He asked gently as he looked at her with sad and tender eyes.
She had not spoken a full sentence to him since he had picked her up and forcibly removed her to the house. Now, she simply look at him for a long while - not saying a word.
When at length she did speak, her tone was cold.
"Not particularly." she replied, coolly "...I was under the impression you wanted to speak with me. If not, perhaps I'll go."
Amadeo listened quietly from the other room, brushing his palms distractedly over the silk pillows.
Sighing, Marius could see she was not going to make this easy on him. He gently reached out with his hand to stop her. "Please Bianca... Don't go." He hung his head a moment before continuing. "What would you have me say? I have wronged you in the past. I admitted to it the night you left me. I admit it now and I am still deeply sorry for the pain I have caused you." He then lifted his head to look in her eyes. "I loved you then. I love you now. I will always love you. What more do you want of me? I ask you again what I asked you back then, what could I possibly do to make up for what I said and did?"
Try as she might, Bianca found it increasingly difficult to mask the pain. She drew back from him a little, her eyes bright, intense and angry.
"Then why didn't you follow me!?" she demanded, harshly. "If you loved me so much, why did you let me go? Why did you never try to find me. I see you are not with Pandora now, so clearly the choice you made was of no benefit to you, in the long run. When she left you, why did you not search me out?"
Marius was silent for a long time, thinking back on what took place that fateful night. How he had pleaded with her to stay. How he had tried to persuade her to stay. How in return for breaking her heart, she had broken his. He looked at her with sad eyes once again. "Because I was hurt. Because I saw no reason in it. I had lost you, I had lost Amadeo, I had even lost Pandora. My heart ached so much that I fell into a deep despair and sought no one. I sought only my solitude. I broke your heart. I broke Pandora's. I broke Amadeo's. But none so completely than my own with my foolishness, with my pride. I blame myself for all that took place, for all that happened. I brought you all close to me only to end up pushing you away one way or another." He sighed before pulling back and sitting back in the chair, his right hand over his mouth. "I am sorry Bianca. Were I capable of undoing what I have done I would do it in a heartbeat."
She listened in silence as he spoke, giving him no sign of her reaction to his words. In truth, they irritated her - though it was evident he was telling the truth. She narrowed her eyes, folding her arms across her chest.
"You are selfish, Marius." she said, finally. "You made me because you had no other choice. Not because you loved me, but because in that single moment, you needed me. Before then you had been happy to let me die. You had even threatened my life, yourself. But after Amadeo was taken, you were broken, and you saw that I could fix you. Would do anything to help you. You took advantage of that."
"And then you insulted me by pretending as if I was enough for you, when I never was. The whole time, you only wished to return to Pandora. And as soon as she asked it of you, you were ready to sacrifice me. After all, I was always disposable, wasn't I? I had outlived my usefulness, then. I was simply a chore - another child to care for. How inconvenient."
"You fancy yourself the eternal father, but you are not. You want us because being alone is just as unpalatable to you as it is to me. And you think that you can appear after all these years, make me a few pretty dresses, and all will be forgiven?" she snorted "I don't think so."
"Ungrateful," Amadeo whispered in the other room. He pushed his head under the silky covers and shivered again because it felt so intensely good.
It took all he had in him to keep from lashing out at her in anger. How frustrated he was that she still refused to believe him after all this time and how hurt he was at the same time. "What do you want to hear? As I said to you before you left me, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you!" He sighed in anguish and frustration. He was not getting through to her just as he had failed to get through to her the night she left. He heard Amadeo's remark but did not react to it. Apparently, Bianca had not heard it which he felt was good for Amadeo's sake. "I do not deny my selfishness and I do not deny that you were made out of need but what you still fail to see Bianca is that I also made you out of love. I fought with myself, with my urge to make you the moment I met you. I did not want to take away your mortal life but out of need I did. I betrayed you I do not deny that either but I still love you." He closed his eyes from the pain in his heart and the tears the welled up in his eyes. "If you could but see into my heart. If you could but hear my mind, you would know what I say is true."
His tears softened Bianca's heart a little - but only a very little. In the back of her mind, there was an awareness that if Marius really did not care, surely he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of bringing her back here - of making sure she was fed and clothed, and speaking with her even though she was angry and hysterical. And surely - surely - he wouldn't be crying. But the bitterness wouldn't quite subside. Not yet. She couldn't allow herself to forgive him. "...I am sorry, Marius. It is not my intention to upset you, but I don't believe that you need me here. You made your choice long ago, and we went our separate ways. Perhaps that was better."
He sighed again, wiping at his tears. "I've always needed you Bianca. Just as I have always needed Amadeo, I needed you. The night you left me Bianca, I..." He felt his heart break again. "I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe what had happened and I foolishly believed that you would come back to me. When you didn't, my sorrow and heartache finally consumed me body and soul, and I believed that I was destined to be alone, to be with no one but Those Who Must Be Kept. I lost everything. I lost all that I loved. But it would seem fate has brought us together once again."
"Fate." she laughed, shortly "...I no longer believe in fate, Marius. Everything is random. There is chaos, and emptiness, and very little else." she stood, silently "...it isn't that I doubt you. But I cannot stay. Not after everything. I'm sorry."
Marius shut his eyes tight, his heart hurt terribly. He soon rose to his feet, carefully stepping closer to his beloved blond beauty and embraced her warmly, tenderly, and with tears welling up once more. "I'm sorry I hurt you Bianca," he whispered. He then pulled back to look at her with blood stained eyes. "I wish you to stay but I know I cannot stop you from leaving. The only thing I ask is that you wait to leave me again. It is nearing dawn and I beg that you allow me this small comfort of knowing you're safe from the sun. And tomorrow night you may leave with all you're finery and whatever you might need. Please, allow me to help you this much."
A sigh came from the doorway now. Amadeo had crept out in his clothing again, standing there leaning on the entryway to the room, "Hi... "
Bianca let him hold her - awkwardly, as it hurt her terribly to let him do so. His touch reminded her of every moment they had shared together, before she had left him - brought back too many painful memories of a time when things were better - golden, even. She closed her eyes, and pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. They will make you weak, she reminded herself Don't think about it. Remember the pain.
She nodded to him briefly when he pulled back from her. "...as you wish." she replied "And do not think that I don't appreciate your help. I do. I am thankful you took me back here, allowed me to stay for a short while. But I can't do so any longer. I will leave tomorrow."
When she heard Amadeo's voice, she turned. Instantly, her desire to stay - to apologize to Marius, to let the past be - flared up in her again. But she couldn't let it. She remained silent.
"I realize I'm intruding here on this precious moment... but since things were going so well between you, I thought it wouldn't hurt if I just wandered in. I... have an idea. It's kind of a long shot, and not one I would do without both of you agreeing, and it might not even work very well, considering... well, you can never tell how something like this is going to go. Still, it couldn't go much worse than this, so what would you think of sitting down our next evening together, before you leave, Bianca... to sit down with my friend Adrian. Before you say no, listen to what I mean... He's a psychic human. I think he's human, anyway... he smells nice, but he's got this ability to read minds and feel emotion. I thought, what if you could feel each other's thoughts, feelings, share love directly once more? Through him? You can't sense each other, but, you can sense what he feels from us. You'd know... intimately, the truth from each to each."
Marius looked at his pupil with hopeful eyes. "Indeed. That might work but..." He looked at Bianca. "Would you be willing to do this?"
Bianca listened with interest to what Amadeo had to say, frowning slightly as she contemplated it.
"...alright." she conceded, finally. "I suppose there is nothing to be lost by trying. Except your friend's sanity, Amadeo. Are you certain he is capable of it?"
"I am not sure he is sane, not sure that he would continue to be so if he was. Sanity is over-rated!" He shrugged himself off the wall and came over to stand where they had been hugging each other, "I can tell you what she feels, but I can't return the favor for her to tell her what you feel," he said to Marius, "otherwise I would confide her feelings right now. It's not mine to give." he looked to Bianca, "It's yours to give, but with Adrian here, at least you will know each other's words are true."
"It worked for you and I, Amadeo. Perhaps it will work for us." He looked at Bianca thoughtfully. Amadeo had lifted his spirits with this idea of his and his hopes shone through his brilliant blue eyes.
She nodded to them both. "...as I said. No loss, then. If the mortal is willing." she shrugged. "If it is what you both wish."
"If it's what I wish, huh? Honestly, Bianca... can't you own this at all? It's Marius' decision for himself, but it's yours for you. I'm not part of that. Do I wish it? That shouldn't even enter into it, what I would want."
"It is something I wish. It is something I've wished were possible for centuries." He sighed. He didn't have to know Armand's mind to know and understand that the immortal boy was losing patience with Bianca. "Come now, let us leave things at this and go to bed. It is nearly dawn." He then leaned in close and gently kissed Bianca's cheek. "I hope to see you in the evening." He then gave her one last kiss, this time on the lips before turning to make his way upstairs. He would let the two of them talk if they wished. He was finished for the evening. He was exhausted by all this and wanted nothing more, at that moment, than to rest.
Once again, she let him touch her. It worried her, that once again his touch resurrected so many pleasant memories. She wanted them gone. Wanted to remember only the bad, so that she might avoid being made weak again. She watched him go, silently.
"Well." she said, at length "...aren't you going, too? You don't seem very pleased with me at the moment, and I'm sure you want to comfort your master."
Armand considered it for a moment, but he knew that in days to come, he would be sleeping beside him. It was still close to their reunion two nights ago, but this third night he said, "There is a chance tomorrow that you will leave. Let me stay one day with you before you go. I don't want the last we have together to be my short words."
She hadn't been expecting this. She looked at him - really looked - and was dismayed to find tears welling up in her eyes. She looked away quickly, dropping her gaze to the floor, a curtain of blond hair obscuring her face. She tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come. There had been too much emotion held inside for too long - too much pain and sadness that she had never expressed, replacing it instead with anger and bitterness. Her shoulders shook slightly as she cried, still refusing to look up at him.
Amadeo pulled out a soft cloth from his pocket and offered it to her, also he put a hand on her shoulder, "It will all be clearer when we wake again. Come, sister. Let's go to bed."
She wiped at her eyes, nodding silently in agreement with him as she took his other hand in hers. The oblivion of sleep sounded wonderful, just now - and if this was to be her last night here, then at least she wouldn't have to spend it alone.
He tucked the pillows around her, pulled off the too tooo soft sheets and comforter, the plush velvet was almost too much to touch. He put his arms around her and pressed kisses to her hair and the soft skin around the crown of her head, her neck, her ear, where he whispered, "It will all be better soon."
She curled into him, closing her eyes and letting herself be soothed by his presence. "...I want it to be..." she spoke, finally. "I really, really do."
He knew. He closed his eyes as the sun rose, falling into that soft state between oblivion and dream, and he could swear he was flying.