[Nexus] Saer's Manor

[kitcatk8]

Saer's eyes squeezes shut tighter as her hand came up and touched his cheek. Because it was wonderful, and because it wasn't supposed to be. He leaned into the touch.

Get a grip, Saer. You barely know her.

But it was so nice to not be fighting, to not be struggling for power between the two of them. To simply be.

She's trouble incarnate.

Saer ignored the thoughts, turned his head slightly and bent down to kiss her cheek, migrating slowly down to her jaw as his hand curled at the other side of her neck so he could easily access her skin by light, barely-there coaxes.

You know better!!

Saer cleared his throat and, to his credit, didn't jerk away. He pulled back gently and then shook his head to clear it. "Perhaps...we should go back inside."

[orb_of_blood]

Oh. Is Nixa's short reply, the smile fading.

While she's fairly disappointed, she has to admit that a small part of her - the part that still hasn't accepted she's under Saer's ownership, and that she's still loyal to people who aren't about to come for her - is relieved.

Yes, the tone is filled with disappointment, relief and even a little embarrassment, although her face is entirely neutral. Yes, maybe that's... for the best.

She sits up, passes her hands over her hair to dry it with some heat, and gives him a last fleeting smile.

[kitcatk8]

The demon simply nodded when she sat up, not yet trusting himself to say anything.

Something. Anything. Just get it back on track you idiot.

He cleared his throat again as he stood himself. His shirt was melded pretty impressively to his frame, and it did credit to how befuddled he was that he wasn't trying to exploit the view.

Anytime.

"Nixa..."

Fair start. Now say something pertinent.

All Saer could think about was how that dress was clinging to all the right places. He just...looked.

Brilliant.

[orb_of_blood]

Nixa continues to sit for a moment, brushing back her hair. When at last she looks up at him she stops.

...wow... yes, she'd been correct. He was awfully well-muscled. And that's all she'd let herself think about that for now.

Better muscled than Beren? Oh... that might be challenging, but probably, yes.

But she manages to force her eyes to stay on his face, despite the leer he seemed to be giving her.

...yes, Saer?

[kitcatk8]

"ahhmm--" Saer shut his eyes and shook his head. Disturbingly, it worked, not having her form distracting him. Hells, he'd looked at her before. This shouldn't have been so hard.

What were you thinking about before she kissed you?

Ah, yes.

"I wanted to make an offer to you."

Better. Go on.

Saer opened his eyes, and it wasn't as difficult this time. Good. "If you'd be interested. Your potential is astounding." Now that he'd recovered, his words were flowing easier. "The exact conditions we can go over in the sitting room after you and I have had the chance to, well," he gestured to his wet clothes.

[orb_of_blood]

Oh, she repeats. She'd been hoping for- well, she'd just been hoping. Not for anything specific.

She stands and looks down at herself. She's just a little wet, no big deal. She closes her eyes. Once more there's the small CLICK! Then the dress dries quite quickly as her internal furnace heats it, unsticking from her body. She smooths it down over herself again.

She motions halfheartedly for him to lead the way inside again, her face masked again.

Well... reverting form fun-loving Nixa back to serious Nixa hadn't taken very long at all...

[kitcatk8]

"Ooooor, we could do it sooner."

It must be nice having clothes that wouldn't fry if he tried something similar.

The absence of her laughter seemed to make everything else outside...less.

He stepped ahead of her and into the foyer, motioning her off to the left so she might have a seat next to the fireplace.

He disappeared for all of 5 minutes to change out of his soaked clothes before re-entering. The time away gave him more of a chance to think. What had happened out in the front of the house had been...nothing really. They had been laughing. That's what made him dizzy. That's why his heart had been pounding. And being unable to speak for a few moments, well, that didn't mean anything either. It happened to everyone. The cold might have done it to him. Yes. The cold.

Right.

He settled himself in a chair across from her, assuming she'd taken the opportunity to sit, and then he opened with his hook. "I'd like to teach you to fight my kind. Not only so you may escape alive. But so you might win."

[orb_of_blood]

I'm listening. She says, and she is. Keenly. It confuses her a little that he'd be teaching her how to kill creatures like him, but hey, he's teaching her something. Besides, that actually sounds fun.

And she may get to spend even more time around him.

But that's totally not why she's interested.

Nope, not at all.

[kitcatk8]

A half-smile curled the edge of his mouth, and Saer settled bath into the chair, crossing one ankle across his opposite knee. He folded his hands in his lap, glad to have her full attention.

"There's a few things standing in our way for me to do this. First and foremost, as lovely and desirable though you are," he spoke the two adjectives thickly with a hint of the emotion that had been there between them out in the front yard, "I still haven't known you long enough to give you my full trust."

Resting his elbow on the arm rest of the chair, he propped his temple on his two forefingers. The half-smile was gone. His expression was sincere and contemplating. "I'm not dangling this in front of you like a carrot on a string. I truly wish to teach you. But I need you to show me I can trust you. And you nearly killing my only other girl...--" The demon sighed heavily through his nose, then turned to look at the blaze flickering in the fireplace. He made an at-a-loss gesture with his free hand.

[orb_of_blood]

What did you have in mind then? If I need to prove you can trust me? Actually he probably could trust her anyways. It's not like she was going to kill him now that he was finally teaching her. But since she's already walked out on Draaxar, his concern was probably justified.

[kitcatk8]

He contemplated her question for a long while, watching the flames as they reached instinctively towards him. It almost seemed he wouldn't answer at all, when finally his voice, though quiet, would find her ears. "I need a few things." He tapped his fingertips thoughtfully against his temple. "First, I need a promise from you that you will not bring harm to any of my girls ever again. And before you point out any unfairness," his gaze shifted from the flames back to her eyes, "I already received such a promise from Angele in regards to you."

He sat up straighter again. "Secondly, I need a promise from you that you will never use this knowledge and training with malicious intent against me, nor will you teach anyone else what you learn from me.

"Thirdly, I will need time to be assured you make good on the most basic of these promises, and thus my trust in you will follow."

[orb_of_blood]

Nixa doesn't even to think before she smiles, promising I will never use the training to bring you harm.

But she hesitates. As for Angele... how to get around that promise? Nixa's hatred of vampires runs deep, and she will wound the vampiress if it attacks her again. But then the answer hits her. Of course! It was so obvious! I shall never inflict serious harm on her. She tries to keep the laugh out of her voice, keep it solemn, and it comes out as pretty sincere. Good.

[kitcatk8]

Saer sighed and leaned back. "I'm afraid that won't be good enough. I need to know you will not harm her in any way, leading to and including destroying her."

Why was he being so strict about this?

Because, just as Nixa was, Angele was half his life. He was already taking huge risks only keeping two girls under his mark. But, as Angele had chased off any and all other girls he'd had, there wasn't a choice.

[orb_of_blood]

She raises an eyebrow. It complicates things, but she can still get around it. I will never harm a single hair on its head, no matter how horrific I find it. And I find it pretty damn horrific. Okay, if Saer doesn't note that she calls Angele 'it', then that's rather odd. Because it only goes to show just how much Nixa hates vampires and their free will.

[kitcatk8]

Saer looked at Nixa. Simply looked at her, with his eyebrows slightly raised, his temple resting on his fingertips, and his eyes starting to get that glazed, tired expression in them, which meant he was either close to yelling or throwing his hands up and walking away.

He was trying to decide whether or not to let it go. In the end, he couldn't. This was too important. "I knew her in life. She is undead, but she lives still, in her body. Her soul remains attached to the shell, though it is promised to another when she passes. I'm not asking you to like her. I'm not asking you to talk to her, to acknowledge her, or interact with her even passively. I'm asking you to promise not to harm another of my girls who I have sworn protection to, just as I have sworn it to you. Angele has agreed to this, though she made it abundantly clear she couldn't be restrained from verbally assaulting you. I permitted as much because I believe you are strong enough to withstand it. Nixa," The demon lifted his head from his fingertips, and gave her the full weight of his gaze. "I meant what I said. I want this training for you. But if you hurt Angele in any way, when I have made it so clear to you how important it is that you do not do so, I cannot trust you enough to teach you exactly how to bring harm to me. Do you understand?"

[orb_of_blood]

Nixa sighs. As long as it will not attack me, no harm will come to it by my hand. I promise. She still hasn’t promised that she won’t enchant something to ‘kill’ Angele, but she’s starting to let go of that train of thought. Why? Because demon-slaying magic sounded really, really fun to learn.

She doesn’t understand why he cares so much, she really doesn’t. She doesn’t know that Angele is part of what keeps him alive. Angele, to Nixa, is just some vampire that she doesn’t like. At all.

[kitcatk8]

And of course, she would have no way of knowing the exact importance of his marked girls without either getting him to confess it himself, removing the collars on every one, or killing all of them and seeing what happened.

As a demon, Saer was a master of word loop-holes. Her carefully worded promises were useless so long as she didn’t say what he knew she needed to for the oath to be solid.

But then, they were just words, and hardly binding. He would have felt better if she’d made the promise he wished her to, but he knew as well as anyone -anything really- that lies were just as dangerous as a good, hard truth.

She was being honest with him.

He would do so in return.

“Simply, my girl, if you do anything to irreparably damage one of my own, I will not teach you any longer. I will be forced to replace you, because you will have become a liability to me at that point.” His gaze was unyielding, his voice quiet but hard all at once. “I have no desire to replace you. I want you.” He hadn’t meant for his tone to take on that honey-thick edge with the last three words he spoke, but he couldn’t help it. Even when she was ferocious, even when they were speaking on such serious things, his mind kept sliding back to her laughing above him, her leaning down, the utter surprise when her lips touched his...

And you were doing so well.

Saer blinked, hard, and turned his head away to look once more at the flames.

[orb_of_blood]

((Hey, just out of curiosity mostly, do you have any siblings?))

She's about to protest his continued misuse of titles for her, but stops when he utters the last three words in such a strange tone and looks away quickly.

So he is thinking about it then. Now only to decide if that's good or bad...

But she's tired of the dance around the truth. She curious about why she and the vampire were so important. But the direct path of simply asking might not get her anywhere at all.

So she changes the topic completely, after a few moments of silence.

You know what scares me is that I don't know anything about you, you don't know anything about me - well, not much at any rate - and yet here we are. And by the looks of it we'll be here for some time.

And if we have all that time, perhaps we ought to do something fun, hmmm? You appear to have nothing but time on your hands. I challenge you to a very special game from my childhood.

She waits, seeing if he'll accept. It's time for some answers. And if all goes well, she'll be getting them very soon and hopefully truthfully. Besides, she can't really see him turning her down. He really doesn't know very much about her, and he strikes her as the type of person who may find the game... interesting at the very least.

[kitcatk8]

((I do! Three of them. None of them close to my current geographic location, however. I'm the youngest. Why do you ask?))

The demon allowed himself a small smirk as he continued to look into the flames, but it didn't hold much humor to it. "'Scared' is not a word I would have placed into your vocabulary."

Although, he was reassured when she said they would likely be here 'for some time'. It meant she wanted to stay as well. And, perhaps, it meant she might not harm his other girl. At least, not so much that it would be deleterious to him in turn.

He stretched out his neck before actually answering her challenge. The fact that he paused at all was testimony to his lack of trust in her, still. She hadn't earned it. But then, he had not exactly earned hers, either. She was right; They knew nothing about one another.

Still not looking at her, he finally answered quietly. "I'd like to know more about this game before I agree to partake."

[orb_of_blood]

((Ah, well, I'm having a bad experience with my older sister. It's just that after she left for college, everyone (mostly teachers at school) expects me to be exactly like her, and when I'm not they treat me as inferior. It's maddening. Did you ever go through anything like that, and if you did, how did you deal?))

It was Draaxar's creation to teach her the basics of necromancy, and then afterwards to draw secrets out of her whenever she had felt she could keep them from him.

Oh, it's very simple. Wait here a moment. She stands and disappears upstairs for a full ten minutes. When she returns there are two creatures at her heels.

Both have been sculpted from skeletons. But their glittering silver see-through flesh is uncannily realistic in a very odd surreal manner... it's strange to see them.

One, a cat, leaps up into her lap when she sits again. The other, this one a very large and strong dog strides over to Saer and inclines it's head a little, the equivalent of a bow.

The dog is yours to control mentally, the cat is mine. The first creature to spill... well, the undead equivalent of blood, wins that round. That means it's controller gets to pose a question. A question to which the answer must be given truthfully. Like I said. Very simple. Indirect combat.

Of course, there's no further spell, so no way of guaranteeing whether or not the answers are truthful. Looks like they'll have to trust each other...

[kitcatk8]

(( I'm very sorry to hear that. I have an older brother close to my age, and somewhat similar things happened. I basically dealt out of stubbornness, by refusing to be anything but myself and telling myself they could either take it or leave it. I guess that's the best advice I have to give...Be who you are, and if they aren't open-minded enough to accept that, it's their loss.))

Saer was considering going up after her just when she came back down with the two...pets...? in tow. He sat up a bit straighter and watched the dog warily as it trotted up to him. Her voice, however, was calm and comfortable. He realized, then, she must have created these creatures.

He watched the dog in consideration, though didn't reach out to touch it. The demon's voice was a touch lighter than it had been previously. "And, of course, you've had a great deal more practice at this than I." He smirked and glanced up at her. He knew she would be better at this than him, at least until he got the hang of it. But...

You're probably going to regret this.

"Very well. I accept."

[orb_of_blood]

((That's a pretty good piece of advice I suppose. Thank-you.))

Nixa smiles slightly. She's actually quite happy. The game reminds her of Draaxar, and of 'home', if a cave could ever be considered a home...

The dog's mind, after a small flick of the wrist from Nixa, begins to push on the edge of Saer's. It's incredibly simple, with the only thought to serve it's 'mistress', who has apparently just told it to mentally connect with the demon. It will do whatever the demon tells it to do.

You'll get the hang of it quickly enough. Although, maybe that's just Nixa. She'd always found it simple.

The silver cat leaps down from her lap and, stretching, walks stiffly over to the first relatively clear area of the room, wherever that may be. It then tenses, coils, and waits for an attack. To make Saer feel more comfortable controlling the dog, she mentally tells the cat to lose the first round on purpose.

[kitcatk8]

((No problem. I wish there was more I could do to help you out. Hang in there.))

As the dog's will tried to push and meld with Saer's, he couldn't help but recoil, put up more defenses. Stubborn and independent by nature, the demon had a difficult time allowing it to happen.

Trust. They were building trust.

He shut his eyes a moment, took in a deep breath, and didn't so much surrender, but reached out himself to try and control the dog as she'd said he'd be able to do.

Blinking his eyes slowly open, he willed the dog to turn around in a circle. It was sluggish, but it happened. Once more, he tried it, and it came easier.

The clearest area in the room was opposite the fireplace, and Saer's dog walked over to pace in front of the hissing cat, but keeping its eyes on the feline. Paced, because with each movement, Saer felt slightly more comfortable with the sensation. He was frowning with concentration, but she had been right. He was getting the hang of it.

[orb_of_blood]

((Nah, it's okay. Thank-you!))

The fluid movements of the cat comes easily to Nixa. She is in complete control of her creature. She knew the dog would be slower regardless of how well Saer controlled it. It was larger and clunkier. Which is why she had always preferred felines.

The cat leaps at the dog, but as it comes much closer Nixa suddenly slows it, disguising it as an attempt to switch direction, letting Saer's creatures get in a swipe at it. The cats losing this round on purpose, although it should hopefully look relatively normal.

[kitcatk8]

When the cat leapt, Saer's initial instinct was to move himself, which was ridiculous. He stood up, but remembered at the last minute, and as the cat slowed, he had the dog open it's jaws and snap at the cat. It was slow, but just as Nixa had wished, it happened to catch the animal's flank in it's teeth, ripping through some of its...skin?

Saer willed the dog to pull back directly after the attack. The demon's hands were gripping the back of his chair, something he hadn't even realized he was doing. He growled in annoyance and turned his attention away from the dog, to his fingers, forcing them to loosen, and he shook them out. Then, he shot her a suspicious look. He had a feeling she'd given him that one, but he wasn't about to accuse her of it.

Still, it nagged at his Pride. He silently resolved himself to get much better at this, much quicker.

Rubbing at his hands, he forced himself to sit again. "If I understand your previous rules correctly, the first question is mine." He thought on it for a few moments, trying to figure out exactly how to word the question to get the most out of her. He knew what he wished to ask about. He'd heard her speak the name...

"What is your history with Beren?"

[orb_of_blood]

The moment the dog's teeth snap at the cat's flank, a gooey white substance wells up. But the cat seems remarkably unaffected by it, and walks over to sit next to it's mistress again. Nixa returns his suspicious look with an innocent smile.

Nope. She totally didn't lose that on purpose!

Then he asks the question, and she has to think on that for a moment. How best to describe Beren?

He's a pathetic, cowardly prince who runs at the first sign of danger. Well, okay she supposes that isn't entirely true. Best start at the beginning else none of this will make any sort of sense.

He boasted at a palace courtroom that he could slay Draaxar and end my masters "tyranny". So up he went. Imagine our surprise when a young man weighed down with gold and baubles bursts in on us during a lesson and starts waving around a sword. A sword! As if that could kill Draaxar.

Anyways, Draaxar already had one guest, but how could he resist a second? Within moments he'd been captured.

The first guest died... oh, that evening I believe, and after eating Draaxar announced he was going to sleep. He positioned himself over the cave entrance so neither of us could leave.

She hesitated and looked up at Saer. Again that dark red began to seep into her cheeks. Well, I mean, I'd never really talked to a man before. And he was a prince! And ever so kind... and handsome.. And she really needs to carry on with the story before drifting away...

Umm, right. So we... uh... talked for a bit... she skips about three quarters of the entire story, right up to the end. The blush has only deepened. When Draaxar woke after two weeks I convinced him, mostly through a lot of pleading, to let Beren go.

This is where her temper flares and heat begins to seep from her in waves. And the first thing Beren does is turn to me and tell me that to set foot in his kingdom would be to face the headsmans axe for serving Draaxar. And the coward turn and left without another word! He never came back, never even tried to contact me, and I'd just saved his ****ing life! She spat the last sentence, and with fury burning in her eyes, she looks away.

[kitcatk8]

Saer listened to her story with mild amusement dancing in his eyes, especially when she got to the point of stumbling over her words. But as she continued, and as it got to the end, his expression shifted from humored to solemn. He knew her anger stemmed from hurt. He'd already guessed she had little to no experience with men, but if that was her first...it was a wonder she'd felt comfortable enough to kiss him at all.

As she drew to a close, he allowed her some time to recover herself before answering quietly. "He is a fool." Plainly, simply, that was his answer. And he tried to show exactly how great a fool Beren was by putting into his eyes how much he appreciated the sight of her, the proximity they shared. It wasn't just Hells' fire heating his gaze.

[orb_of_blood]

The answer prompted a small smile to Nixa's lips. And as she flicks her eyes back to Saer's face, the vanishing blush returns again. She's embarrassed. From the tale, from the kiss, from his gaze.

Rather than answering she waves a hand halfheartedly at the cat, who gets up and wanders back over to the fireplace.

Alright, it was her turn. She was keen on winning this round, keen on forgetting the memories of Beren that she'd just dredged up. Your mistress wants you to win.

[kitcatk8]

Her smile prompted one of his own, though it was less from happiness, and more from knowledge that he'd been the one to put that curve on her lips.

But the moment she turned back to the contest, his attention was placed on his dog.

Somehow, he doubted this round would be as easy as the first.

Hoping to get the first swipe in, he commanded the dog to lunge forward and bite. But the animal was so much larger than hers. He left the canine wide open at it's neck and side, and didn't realize it until it was too late.

[orb_of_blood]

The cat had been waiting. It leapt to the side and jumped up, its aim to land a nice rake of its claws on the dog’s neck. The small feline is very fast and agile. This is an incredible advantage because the aim of the game is not to kill the opponent but wound them. So speed and agility – cat – is better than power – dog.

If that works then the cat lets go and sits, wrapping its tail around its body and waiting.

And Nixa asks one question she’s been dying to know the answer to for a long time. Why do you need to place your marks of ownership on others?