|
Misha listened to Krad speak without interruption about vampires and in turn about the water that would help keep some at bay. His brows raised to this, he never knew that salt water deterred some vampires. Most of the media antics he wasn't certain to believe but it wasn't as if he believed in vampires until he met Krad either. With the explanation he presumed already the answer about coming to the beach party.
"Hn, well true," Misha said slowly as he though. "The old ladies go to bed early though, not to be heard of until the next morning. I'm uncertain about Lily or Lydia but the other girls shall be joining the beach party as well... Are you volunteering on keeping things in check?" The last comment was more of a joke and the large smile that had come to his lips as his mind pushed away the depressing thoughts of earlier he was returning to himself. It wasn't as if he expected a guest to take care of other guests, but he did bring up a point. |
Michi followed Rae's suggestion, and sat at her vanity as the Raven haired girl began to fix Michi's hair. Michi closed her eyes and smiled, enjoying the feel of someone else brushing out her long, fiery hair.
"Mmm, I always loved when someone else plays with my hair." Michi said, giving Rae a light chuckle. |
Rae ran her brush gently through the thick cascade of red, smoothing the stray ends down together. Her fingers split sections apart, pulling up a bit at a time to tease it a little and give Michi some extra volume. As she was brushing the other girls hair, she watched Michi's face in the mirror.
"Some of the myth's and stories seem fake, and some seem real, y'know? About vampires I mean.. how strong do you think Krady-kin's is really.. like superman strong like in some movies, or just normal strong." Rae adjusted her jaw a little by wiggling it after she asked, it had almost been broken from a hard strike from her ex-boyfriend. What would a blow from a unhumanly strong hand do to her face, was what was currently on her mind. Sure Krad seemed nice and all, so had Brad when she'd first met him. Heck, they all had seemed nice and trustworthy at first, all up until that first time they struck out. But what could one single blow from a vampire do to her? Was it worth the risk of exploring anything at all that could be fun? |
At the sudden remark, and question Michi took a sharp intake of breath. Sharp enough that she started coughing after sucking some of her own spit into her throat.
Michi leaned forward, coughing, until she finally regained her breath. At first, Michi had thought that Rae was referring to her, and it was shock that had caused the sudden coughing fit. Now, Michi was seeing the line of thoughts in Rae's head. Michi was well aware of Rae's past at choosing men, and that past was causing some unpleasant thoughts to swirl through her head. On one hand Michi wanted to comfort her friend with a pleasant lie, and on the other she felt that she had an obligation to tell the girl the truth. Rae had a way of mothering Michi and the rest of the staff at the B&B that often made Michi forget just how fragile and weak her friend really was... especially when compared to a vampire at full strength. Michi was feeling pity for her friend and she didn't like it at all. Michi cleared her throat and turned on the vanity chair to face Rae. Michi placed one of her hands over her friends, pulling Rae's hand away from Michi's hair. The frown on Michi's face was probably quite evident, but Michi didn't care. Nor did she care at the moment to choose her words more carefully. "You remember how, when Krad first showed up here, you hand-cuffed him to the bed?" Michi asked, though she didn't give much of a pause for Rae to answer her. "He was weak then, very weak in fact. At full strength, he'd be like a raging bull.... for lack of a better analogy." Michi gave Rae a weak smile and patted the tall girl's hand. "He hasn't been at full strength the entire time he's been here though, because of what you said to him. So, I think that goes a long way toward giving you an idea of how his mind works." Michi nodded this time, as if to emphasize her point. However, after that Michi grew quiet and simply watched Rae, waiting to see how the girl would react. It hurt Michi to be so blunt with Rae, but she felt it was rather necessary. Blunt meant quick, and quick meant that Rae would have to process the information more quickly... and that meant she was likely to catch only the important points of what Michi was telling her. |
Rae still looked a little lost in her own thoughts when Michi turned around, and it wasn't until the redhead took her hand that Rae's gray eyes focused down curiously. Yes, Rae was very blunt and loud and a little violent sometimes, but she was still only human. One who had no idea her hand lay trustingly in the grip of one who could crush it like a twig.
One brow tilted up a little at the reminder of Krad's first night here, and how he'd broken her precious and solid steel handcuff's so easily.. and that was considered not at full power? And Michi's other comment really didn't make sense at all to her. Something she had personally said to the vampire was keeping him from full strength? Rae had said many things carelessly out of anger when she'd thought her friends were in danger, so what could the one thing have been that would bind Krad down? Rae looked thoughtful for a few minutes, chewing her lower lip to the left, then to the right as she considered all that Michi said. And two points came out of it directly, which she said slowly with a thoughtful taping of one finger to her chin.. she still couldn't help being dramatic sometimes. "So.. you're saying Krady-kin's is keeping the promise he made to me his first night, about not biting anyone as he pleased so that he could stay. It would make sense that a vampire gets his strength from blood, kinda like a protein shake after a good workout. You do know what that means don't you Michi..." Rae looked down at her friend and a slow but gleefully wicked smile slowly spread across her face. "If he really listened to me over that, then if I can get him to just make promises to me, he'll be putty in my hands. That's a great idea! You're so smart Michi, I think I might make a pass at him if I can get him to be my willing little boy toy." She gave the girl a wink, obviously taking Michi's words a little differently than she meant, and made a motion with her finger for the girl to turn around again so she could wind the ribbon back around her hair. "You know.. you let something slip there about you, something you could have just told me you know, about you and vampires." |
Michi turned back around in the chair, with a smile. Rae obviously felt pleased with Michi's point, though a little more-so than Michi expected. But, if her friend gained some measure of comfort about a possible relationship with Krad, then Michi was happy. However, when Rae mentioned there being something about "her and vampires" Michi's smile instantly fell and she was now on the defensive once more.
Michi raised her eyebrows, and looked at the reflection of Rae's grey eyes in the mirror, trying to look as confused as she felt. "What do you mean, me and vampires?" Michi asked, hoping for some clarification. |
Krad arched one of his eyebrows at Misha's question. Misha gave him a huge grin to let Krad know that he wasn't being serious. Even so, Krad was having a hard time trying to decide if he wanted to take his chances down on the beach, so close to that cursed salt water. Krad wasn't sure how Michi was able to deal with so much salt water so close, since she was also a vampire. Maybe she had built up a bit of a tolerance from being here as long as she had? Regardless of that, Krad still needed to decide what he was going to do. Go to the party, or stay at the inn?
"Keep things in check? If you're asking if I'll keep an eye on the place to keep any unwanted visitors out, I guess I can do that. But, if the guests need something, I doubt that I'd be able to do anything about it. I don't know the first thing about working in an inn." Krad still hadn't made a decision as to whether or not he was going to go to the party. If he decided to stay at the inn, though, at least he had an excuse now. |
Rae made a tsk tsk sound with her tongue as she twirled her hands to get the same hair and ribbon swirl effect Michi had before. "You think I wouldn't notice? I'm Mama Rae, I notice everything! And what you said about vampires, how could you know Krady-kin's isn't at his strongest yet, since you've just met him. Mmm?"
She slid her warm fingers down against the cool skin of Aryah's neck as she tied the ribbon together under her hair, then leaned down closer to get that whispery effect and tsking sound again closer to Michi's ear. "You didn't say anything when he first got here, but the way you've been acting around him plus this extra knowledge about vampires. There is only one way to explain it." Rae's hands came down and she moved around to lean against her vanity desk and face Michi at the same time, raising a single finger up to poke the girl in the cheek. "You've met a vampire before, haven't you?" She wasn't insinuating Michi was one after all, just taht somewhere in her past, she had crossed paths with one. "Really Michi, I understand how it wouldn't come up in normal conversation. But if you've met a vampire before, you could have told me since you know a bit about them. It'd help knowing stuff when we're dealing with them, since apparently we're attracting a bunch to this little inn of ours all of a sudden." |
Michi smiled and let a small nervous laugh escape her lips as Rae mentioned her seemingly sudden knowledge of vampires, and "tsk'd" at her.
When Rae slid her long, warm fingers down Michi's neck Mici had to fight the urge to pull away from the girl, and gulped as she tried to swallow the sick feeling rising in her stomach. Michi closed her eyes and took a few deep, slow breaths. "I see" she said, after Rae whispered in Michi's ear, pointing out Michi's behaviour which only made her remember the outburst she'd had the morning after seeing Krad fighting in the backyard. Rae's warm breath on Michi's skin, coupled with the stress of Rae's words, was beginning to have an entirely different effect on Michi's stomach however. One which made it quite difficult for Michi to look at Rae and even harder for her to look into her friend's gray eyes. When Rae changed directions on Michi, asking if she'd met a vampire before, Michi did look up. Oh, god! Michi thought to herself She doesn't think I'm a vampire afterall! Thank you, to whatever diety just saved my ass! Michi laughed, again showing her nervousness, but this time it was the release. "Jeez Rae, you scared me! I thought you were gonna start chasing me around with a damn stake or something!" Michi laughed for a little while longer, before taking a deep breath. After that, Michi resolved to leap at the preverbial "life-saver" which Rae had just given her. "Ahh, I guess you got me there. Yes, I did know a vampire... a long time ago." Michi wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and smiled up at Rae. "So, Mama Rae, am I all purtified now?" |
Michi earned a strange look when she suddenly started laughing, and Rae further raised one eyebrow at the chasing with a stake comment. Up until that comment, it hadn't even crossed Rae's mind to think of her friend of several years as a vampire.
She was watching Michi curiously, wondering to herself why Michi would think that she would think the girl was a vampire. The only way Rae could see Michi being a vampire was if Krad had done it, since she had no previous suspicions of the girl. "Mm.." Rae reached out and brushed back a strand of hair behind Michi's ear, and this time her fingers lingered on the skin that was almost always so cold to the touch. "... yes you're very purtified now... Michi.. Kradngthil hasn't touched you like he promised.. right?" |
Now it was Rae's turn to get an odd look.
"No, he's barely said two words to me, actually." Michi smiled again, feeling that Rae was simply being over protective again. "Don't worry about me, Rae. He may be strong, but I've still got knowledge on my side, right?" Michi winked at Rae as she asked the question, and then patted Rae's knee with her hand. The immediate difference in body temperature struck her again, and Michi decided that it would surely be pertinent to get one of those red vials she kept hidden under her bed before they left for the party. If she was having trouble with just one person, for whom she felt deeply given the years they'd been friends then she'd be quite dangerous around a large group of strangers for whom she had no feelings at all. Michi stood up, giving Rae another smile. "Well, I think I'm gonna go through my jewelry box and look for a good necklace." Michi said and began heading for the door. |
"The first and only thing about working an inn is keep the guests happy and your dignity intact," Misha told Krad with a chuckle, the last part was added merely because of the two old women who were staying there. He shook his head a bit and elaborated a little. "It would just be a case of giving them what they want food, drink or entertainment wise ... to a point. Not that the woman do much other than sleep when night rolls around."
Misha shrugged a bit, again he wasn't asking the man to take up the roll of old women duty but decided to explain a bit. Standing up he brushed off his pants a bit from any stray dust or bug that might have landed on him or the chair. He brought up his right hand to curl some loose hair around his ear as he looked down at the man. He was wanting to go diving into his dresser and closet to find something to wear but politeness told him that he didn't want to leave the vampire alone unless the man brushed away the offer. "I'mma go find something to wear to the beach party for myself," Misha said with an easy smile, obviously liking the idea of a challenge for his vast wardrobe. "We can continue to discuss whatever you would like to talk about up in my room if you wish." Misha paused a moment before giving a small almost courteous bow. "I promise not to make any advances on you." |
Krad shook his head and gave Misha a friendly smile.
"Thanks, but I need to decide whether or not I'm going to go to this party that you told me about." Krad still needed to try to find Michi and talk to her about whatever it was that she obviously wanted to talk about. After all, it was obvious from the look she had given him before that she wanted to talk to him about something. Krad had a question or two that he wanted to ask her as well, and he wouldn't be able to talk to her about any of those subjects if anybody else was around them at the time. |
Rae relaxed when Michi didn't seem nervous at the question, taking her words truthfully. She gave her friend a bright smirk and a little wink. "Oo.. that would be a good idea, I think I need some earrings myself. I'll see you downstairs in a little bit!"
Rae watched Michi leave, then went through the jewelry box on top of her vanity table, pulling out a pair of long dangly gold earrings that had several cascading strings long enough just to brush her shoulder blades past her swan like neck. She sat down herself now and put them on, humming slightly, then freshened her makeup and added ruby red lipstick to her lips. With a glorified vixen smirk now set in place, Rae was ready to do some bonified flirting at this beach party, with vampire or human alike. |
As Michi reached the stairwell she heaved a sigh of relief at having made it out of Rae's room, and continued down the stairs and through the hallways leading to her room. Once there she dug out the large, wooden chest from beneath her bed. Michi loosed the ornate, bronze clasp and opened the lid. Michi ran a sentimental hand over a few of the items stored in the chest, quartz stones, books, talismans... Finally, Michi slipped two fingers into the hidden niches on either side and lifted the hidden shelf out and set it aside. Now, Michi set aside her feelings of sentimentality and searched for the small velvet bag she knew contained the vials she needed.
Michi found the bag nestled between two groups of stones. Michi licked her lips and rubbed her hands together as if preparing for some act of bravery, and then reached one pale, slender hand into the chest and lifted out the dark velvet pouch. She looked at the pouch a moment. Michi had initially intended to take one of the vials and put the rest back, but now she was wondering if she shouldn't simply take the whole pouch with her. Michi sighed again and set the pouch on the soft comforter covering her bed before replacing the shelf in her heavy chest and closing the lid. Michi slipped the bronze clasp back in it's place, and shoved the chest back under her bed. The weight of the chest created a heavy friction on the wooden floor, making a deep scraping sound. Michi rose from her place on the floor and sat on the edge of her bed, lifting the soft, velvet pouch and eagerly loosening the string that held it closed. She removed one of the vials and then re-tied the string on the pouch. Michi replaced the pouch on her bed, and then un-corked the red vial and lifted it to the edge of her lower lip. Michi took a deep breath and downed the crimson liquid in one gulp. Michi then wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, and headed to the bathroom to rinse out the vial, and make sure there was no blood on her before replacing the cork on the vial and leaving in on her bathroom sink. After all of that, Michi returned to her dresser, where she kept her jewelry box. Michi searched through the unusually large collection of necklaces. She'd noticed the lovely red and black broach she'd recently leant to Rae, and despite her fondness for it she realized that it simply wouldn't match her outfit, no matter the reasoning. Michi settled on a simple silver, braided chain, with a small piece of jade hanging from it, which reached low enough to sit just above her cleavage. Michi glanced in the mirror, admiring Rae's work on her hair, and finally applied some black eye-liner to frame her eyes before she left the room and headed toward the foyer, via the hallway which passed the back door. |
Misha nodded briefly and with a quick awkward pat on Krad's shoulder the tall dark haired boy found his way up to his room. He gave a small sigh as he looked at himself in the mirror suddenly feeling ashamed of the depressed manner he'd dressed. Quickly though he shed his shirt and began undoing his pants, but he went digging in his dresser for a pair of dark brown khaki shorts that reached to his knees. Sliding out of his pants and into them briefly he stood looking at his closet briefly.
He sat down on his bed though and fell back with a sigh. Staring at his ceiling his mind played over the conversation. It hadn't gone quite the way he wanted, but again he'd forgotten what exactly he was going to truly talk about between the front door and the table in the backyard. He wouldn't have thought that the vampire would get his own sad tale out of him, not when the others only learned bits and pieces at a time and they weren't as personal as that. If Rae had known maybe then she would understand why he was so hesitant about dating but it wasn't something that he really advertised about. Looking at his watch again briefly he decided he had time to laze about, somewhat thankful that the vampire hadn't agreed to join him. |
After Misha headed back inside the inn, Krad stood up from the table and looked disdainfully at the large body of water that stretched out behind the inn. Then he turned and started heading back into the inn himself. When he entered through the back door, he saw Michi walking down the hallway. Krad waited for the female vampire to enter the kitchen before he spoke softly to her, making sure that his voice didn't carry far enough for anyone else that happened to be nearby to hear.
"Did you have something that you wanted to talk to me about?" |
Michi jumped as she heard the voice, and spun around holding a fist out in front of her only to find Krad staring at her. Michi closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she relaxed.
"Oh, it's just you. Sorry, ah... wait, what did you say?" Michi asked as she took a few steps to close the distance between her and Krad, making talking easier. Michi had been lost in her own thoughts about her conversation with Rae, and the small velvet pouch tied to a belt loop on her cut-off shorts, to catch Krad's question. |
Krad arched an eyebrow at Michi's reaction. Certainly not what he had expected. Why was she so jumpy right now? He waited until she was within a couple of steps of him before he repeated his question.
"I asked if you had something that you wanted to talk to me about. It looked like you wanted to talk earlier, but decided not to because Misha was trying to talk to me at the time. I assume that it's something that you don't want anybody else hearing." |
Michi raised her eyebrows quickly, before lowering them again.
"Ah, well there was something..." Michi leaned against the wall of the hallway, and looked around once to see if anyone were descending the stairs. "Well, I wanted to apologize for my reaction... after what happened in the backyard the night before..." Michi ran her foot across the floor in an arc, back and forth, watching her foot as she did so. "I have... sort of forgotten a lot of what happened to me before... ah-wh-when I still lived with my mother... but after that night... I-" Michi stopped the sweeping motion with her foot and looked Krad in the eyes. It was more of a cold stare than a pleading look. Something that gave away the cold feelings she'd learned to use when dealing with her past. "I didn't sleep after that, and ended up in something like a walking nightmare." Michi had crossed her arms over her chest, as she was leaning against the wall. Now she tipped her head to the side, lightly bumping the wall. Michi was still looking at Krad's deep, emerald eyes, but instead she saw his natural red eyes, and her lips pressed into a small frown. "Come on." Michi said, and began walking back toward her bedroom, without waiting to see Krad was following her. |
Even though Michi was apologizing and acting shy around him, Krad noticed the cold stare that she was giving him. Then Michi beckoned him to follow her as she turned and started heading down the hallway. It sounded more like an order than a request. Krad didn't like the way it reminded him of before he managed to escape from the hell that was his past and the way he was treated more as property rather than as a fellow vampire.
Even so, he decided to give Michi the benefit of the doubt, since she obviously still wasn't used to being around another vampire again. It seemed that she was still having trouble trusting him. He would just have to show her that she had nothing to fear from him. With this in mind, Krad followed Michi down the hallway to wherever she was leading him. |
Michi headed for her bedroom and then entered the room, once inside, she stood aside, holding the door and waiting for Krad to enter the room before she closed the door and pushed the sliding lock into place. She never trusted the lock on the door knob. Anything the used a key could easily be opened in her mind.
Once the door was locked Michi took a deep breath and turned to face Krad, though her eyes were closed. Another deep breath and Michi released the glamour she'd been using for so many years. Michi opened her eyes and walked over to her dresser, looking into the mirror and admiring the golden eyes she saw looking back at her. Michi smiled, the first easy, truly happy smile she'd allowed herself in a long time as she turned her face to one side and then the other so that she could see the streaks of red in her waving black hair as if making sure that they were truly there and not something she'd dreamed. "Ahh, it's been a long time since I've seen myself this way." Michi pulled a strand of hair over her shoulder and fingered it absently, winding it around her fingers and then combing her fingers through it as she turned to face Krad again. "I was jumpy because I'd just come from Rae's room, and I thought she'd found me out. Instead she accused me of knowing a lot about vampires because I'd known one in the past." Michi scoffed and shook her head. "Then she asked if you'd kept your word to her, or if you'd tried to bite me." |
Krad watched as Michi dropped her human guise. This was the first time that he had seen her this way. He arched an eyebrow at the color of her eyes, though.
"...golden eyes..." It had been a long time since he had seen that eye color on a vampire. Golden eyes were rare among the vampire race, and there was usually only one reason for a vampire to be born with that eye color. Krad wasn't going to ask her if this was the case or not, though. If it was something she wanted to confirm, she'd have to confirm it on her own. Instead, Krad listened to what Michi had to say. He nodded from time to time as she spoke, but he wasn't going to say anything else until she was done speaking, or unless she directed a question at him. |
Michi noticed Krad's stare, finally leaving the mental world she'd been in since looking at the mirror, and then remembered his comment about her eyes.
Michi's eyebrows knitted together, asking the question which her lips soon formed. "Wh- why are you staring? Is there something wrong with the way I look?" Michi had spent a decent amount of time living with other vampires, but her mother had golden eyes as well, and a similar pattern in her hair, though not the same colors. Michi had also fell in with a group that didn't put much stock in appearance, but she'd seen shocked expressions when others first saw her. She'd always assumed it was because they'd recognized her as the daughter of a vampire who'd deigned to bear the child of a human. Although, Michi had never had to put up with the kind of abuse that Krad had. But now, she'd begun to feel self conscious by the way Krad was looking at her, and was starting to wish she hadn't shown him what she really looked like. |
Krad arched one of his eyebrows. She didn't know why he was staring at her? Why her eye color shocked him, if even for a moment? Well, if he was shocked at her eye color, even briefly, he was very shocked when Michi didn't seem to know WHY he was shocked.
"Huh? Oh, there's nothing wrong with the way you look. Actually, you look quite beautiful. It's just that I was surprised by the color of your eyes. Didn't you know that golden eyes are a very rare trait among vampires? It holds a special meaning." Krad walked over to Michi's bed and sat on it before looking at her again. "I've only seen that eye color when looking at my father or my half-sisters. That eye color is proof of your family lineage... Your ROYAL lineage..." |
| All times are GMT. The time now is 09:39 AM. |