Business As Usual [Closed]

[Zotohxan]

"Just the risk we


take in living." Eulianna reads, her heart beginning to race in fear.


Risk? What risk?


That's the first bit that Eulianna replies the moment she finishes reading Valerian's message. Were he and Damia in trouble? This causes the girl to flashback to her parents, the way they told her they were in trouble only three days before their deaths... She still had no exact answer as to what kind of trouble they were actually in, whether they'd taken out a bad loan or whatever... But whatever it was, she never wants to see anyone go through the hell they did again.


Can we meet up


tonight? I know that


seems a bit sudden


or whatever, but... I


needto see you. Is that


okay? It'll be a bit late


so that I can sneak out


after Aaron goes to bed.


Maybe 11?

 

[Lucyfer]

I didn’t mean


anything serious.


Just the risk of making


friends, is getting hurt.


It was all Valerian had meant, but he realized he must have phrased that poorly. Ah well, it was explained now. Text talk was not so good about getting emotions and tone across.


As he sent that, however, a second message came in. ‘Bingo.’ The girl was willing to sneak out to come meet him. This could work, though eleven would be when things would be starting up. He’d have to sneak out before then, convince Damia he was going to get a few things.


She’d be pissed with him, but he’d endure that later.


‘Are you sure?’


He hesitated. Damia pissed was not a good thing. There was a very good reason their father entrusted her with so much—she tended to get what she wanted. Valerian didn’t fully understand why, or even how it worked, but he knew that Damia could just look at him and he’d dissolve into bloody tears, and start apologizing for sins committed fifty years ago, and just keep going. He’d seen it happen with others, too.


‘Yeah, worth it.’ He could lie. Traffic was a bitch in California, or so he’d heard.


I should be free


by then. Where do


you want to meet up?

 

[Zotohxan]

Emilina squeals in happiness as she sees Valerian's message. No doubt she'd get screamed at by Aaron if he finds out, but it doesn't matter. He could never hurt her even if he wanted to. So she thinks about a place for them to meet up. She'd only been to California a couple times when she was younger to visit Aaron and his family, but she could still distinctly remember an old power plant with a playground behind it.


That's where her Uncle Lewis and Aunt Clara worked, and she's sure it'd still be open.


We can meet at the


Genisis Power Plant.


It's only like 10 minutes


west of the city capitol.


Think you could make


it?

 

[Lucyfer]

Valerian arches an eyebrow. A powerplant was not the place any sane person would want to meet up. ‘This is a trap. This is a trap and I found hunters and Damia is going to murder me and blame the hunters when father asks.’ Unlike most siblings who made threats of murder, he was certain Damia wasn’t kidding at times.


Um, hate to be


rude, but why a


power plant? Why


not some sort of cafe?


Or Wal-Mart?


He should at least ask and see what the heck this girl had in mind for a meeting place like that. It was something he expected of other vampires, and hunters—not a normal 18-year old girl. That was just too bizarre.


He strained his ears to listen to the area around, but there was no movement. Damia was still asleep. ‘Darn.’ Just when he wanted her awake so he could tell her they might have a problem.

 

[Zotohxan]

Emilina giggles softly as she reads Valerian's message. Of course it must sound weird to want to meet at a power plant when you don't know of the playground that held so many childhood memories.


There's a playground


behind it. I used to go


when I was a kid! I


don't really know


what's around here


anymore, but I thought


that could be fun.


She presses send and bites her bottom lip, shaking her head in good humor as her stomach growls. "Eww..." She mutters, disgusted by the strange vibrating rumbles which came from her abdomen. She gets up and walks into the kitchen and starts raiding Aaron's cupboards for some sort of junk food.


"Stupid health freak..." She sighs in exasperation, going through the pots and pan cupboard just for the heck of it, finding a plastic bag full of candy. "That's what I'm talking about!" She says, pulling it out and walking back to the living room where she once more flops down on the couch and starts stuffing her face.

 

[Lucyfer]

Valerian lets out a sigh of relief, but does swipe away from the message to do a quick google search on his phone and assess the truth of the matter. Sure enough, the name of the power plant and playground brought up photos and the park’s name for him.


With it confirmed, he brought up the message again. He replied.


Sure, I can


meet you there.


I don’t know


what's around here


either.


He sent it off and laid back down on his bed, plotting his escape and the lies that would have to follow to ensure he didn’t get in too much trouble. ‘Damia doesn’t need me there, anyway.’

 

[Zotohxan]

Emilina smiles happily upon reading the message, allowing another small squeal of happiness to escape her lips as she rolls onto her side and holds the phone tightly before her face.


Okay.. Can't wait!


See you tonight!


And with that sent off, she hears the front door opening, "Em! You awake?" Comes Aaron's voice. Though she's still pissed at him, she decides to reply for the first time in about 24 hours. "I'm awake, Aaron. And I'm fine. Going to bed now, though."


Her voice was short and to the point, warning Aaron against questioning her as she gets up from the couch and makes her way up the stairs to her room.

 

[Zotohxan]

Emilina smiles happily upon reading the message, allowing another small squeal of happiness to escape her lips as she rolls onto her side and holds the phone tightly before her face.


Okay.. Can't wait!


See you tonight!


And with that sent off, she hears the front door opening, "Em! You awake?" Comes Aaron's voice. Though she's still pissed at him, she decides to reply for the first time in about 24 hours. "I'm awake, Aaron. And I'm fine. Going to bed now, though."


Her voice was short and to the point, warning Aaron against questioning her as she gets up from the couch and makes her way up the stairs to her room.

 

[Lucyfer]

Valerian did not send anything after that. There was nothing else to say, after all. They would see each other, and Valerian would get to know this interesting human a bit more. The day went by, and Valerian soon realized exactly how boring it was in the day. He could get on his computer, or read books, but neither appealed. He ended up falling back asleep.


He didn’t wake until there was a knock on his door. “Valerian, get up!”


He rolled onto his side, “I’m up,” he muttered, then rolled out of the bed and walked to the door. He opened it to see Damia walking off, fixing a ruby stud into an ear. “Is it time already?”


“We’re out the door in thirty minutes.”


Valerian stiffened, “I have to get something first,” he turned back into his room as Damia stiffened. She, of course, turned right around to follow him.


“What?”


“A lighter,” he lied, “Just in case,” he started to strip, ignored the fact that Damia was clearly in the doorway and not moving away.


“We are not here for a fight.”


“Better safe than sorry anyway. I’ll be back, don’t worry, I won’t leave you to these savages,” he chuckled, knowing he was lying, “I’ll just hop into the nearest gas station and grab one.” Jeans were pulled on.


Damia’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going to come to this meeting in jeans?”


“I’m already the black sheep.”


“Father would kill you if you ruined his reputation.”


Valerian groaned, slid the pants back off and walked to his luggage, where his suits were packed. He had to play the part if he was going to get out of here. On went the black suit and the pants, as well as the dress shoes. Damia nodded her approval. “Be back here soon.”


“I will,” and with that, Valerian turned to exit the hotel, knowing Damia would be too busy up until the last minute, making sure she looked good.

 

[Zotohxan]

Eulianna sneaks out by climbing down from her window. Luckily there had been a collapsible rope ladder right beneath her mattress, in case of fire she assumed, so she just used that to get down. Of course she left a note for Aaron so he wouldn't panic and try to call the cops or anything, but he'd never let her go if she had actually gone to speak with him...


So, she's now running the fifteen minute trip toward the power plant, an elated smile on her face as it finally comes into view.


Many memories of the past, of sitting on the swings which supportive bars were painted blue as her mother pushed her higher and higher until she'd be screaming in fear, but still begging to get pushed more... Of her father catching her at the end of the slide so she didn't fall on her bum. Of playing hide and seek behind the surrounding trees and bushes. Of falling off the monkey bars and breaking her arm. But even that was a happy memory, as both her parents came rushing. Her father cradling her in his arms as her mother ran to start their car. The awful pain of having her bone reset was absolutely nothing compared to the pain of losing her parents. Her rocks.


By the time she realizes she's standing in the middle of the abandoned park, the moon's light reflecting off the various metals on the play things, she also realizes she had a few tears streaming down her face. She reaches up to wipe them away, sniffling as she looks down at the phone and notices she's about ten minutes early.


So instead of wasting time by standing around and reminiscing about things that would make her face all red and blotchy when Valerian shows up, she simply walks to the swings and sits down, pushing herself softly as she closes her eyes and begins to him a gentle tune.


((Sorry this took so long :/ We celebrated my brother's birthday the other day, then since our internet has been freaking out x.x))

 

[Lucyfer]

Valerian did not return to Damia, but hitched a cab ride in order to get to the power plant. He was already in trouble—might as well spend money on this venture, too. It would keep him from getting lost. The driver managed not to get lost, but Valerian was not early—escaping Damia had taken time, as did changing into the damnable suit. It looked Victorian, though it was made recently.


‘I should have brought clothes with me.’ He could have stopped nearby and changed. Alas, he was cursed to this formality.


“Thanks,” he said as he saw the playground, and the woman on the swing set. He handed up his card and waited for the cabbie to get his money before stepping out and into the moonlight.


He approached the playground and caught wind of her humming. He spoke into the music, “What song is that?” he spoke quietly with the hope he wouldn’t disturb her, before his dress shoes set foot on the stones and disturbed the little playground rocks. He took a seat in the spare swing to the side of Emalina.


~***~


Damia had guessed Valerian might not return, but it still upset her. She did not call off the meeting, though. Instead, she called Victor in the car. “Hello, Damia,” his voice greeted on the other end, speaking fluid Latin, as if he knew she was in a mood.


“I am sorry for calling,” it was daylight where he was, “but Valerian is missing the first meeting. I thought you should know,” she continued in Latin, rather than English. “What would you like me to do?”


There was a sigh from the other end, “Do nothing. Continue without him if necessary, and I shall deal with him myself when you return.”


The words made Damia smile, just a little. From the frustration in his tone, Valerian would not be getting off light if he continued to ignore his duties. “As you say, father,” he was more a father to her, than her human father had ever been. He had certainly been there more than her father had ever been. “I will see that this is all tidied up quickly.”


“I look forward to your return,” his voice purred, “Farewell.”


“Good bye,” she returned, and hung up, then leaned back into the leather seat.


Damia did not want to be here. It was not only business being discussed, but rules of governance among their kind. America was still new, and many of the leading vampires here were young. It was necessary to bring them all in line, as it was also necessary to see that those in charge of her father’s investments were doing their jobs. Those meetings would be later, and mostly with humans.


Tonight was with other vampires from across the world, too many of which she knew—too many of which she did not have a good history with.

 

[Zotohxan]

Emilina grins happily as Valerain sits next to her, "Hey!" She then blushes slightly as she realizes he'd heard her humming, "It's just a song my Mom made up with I was little... It helped me sleep whenever the nightmares would take over." She shrugs a bit, gently swinging back and forth by allowing her toes to hit the gravel beneath. It's only then that she notices his outfit, and a soft smile crosses her expression, "I'm sorry if you had to come from a meeting... You could've just said no; I understand if you're too tired..."


She didn't want to be the reason Valerain had too little sleep, especially since his sister seems to already hate her enough, as is... Though, speaking of his sister.. "So, does Damia know you came..?" She asks, glancing around nervously as though the older girl would come out of no where to attack.


~~~~~~


Aaron awakens at around eleven thirty, and he decides he'd go and apologize to Emilina. Despite the fact he didn't do anything but try and protect her, he could see where she may take it as him trying to control her. She's trying to grow up, to become more mature, and coddling her like a child won't do either of them any good. However, as he doesn't get any answer from knocking on her door, his suspicions arise that perhaps she'd taken matters into her own hands...


And after opening her door, seeing her open window, and noticing she's no where to be found, his answer is clear. "Damn kid..." He mutters irritably to himself, shaking his head with a sigh as he closes her door and walks back to his own bedroom. He'll talk to her in the morning, if she even decides to come back before afternoon hits...


~~~~~~


A man with pitch black hair, longer than most men would consider 'normal' for their haircut especially with his bangs swooping across his forehead easily sits to the right hand of the table's head. His fangs gleam in the dull light surrounding them. This would be his first meeting. He wasn't entirely sure why he was called here for this one, why no one else could do it, so he could only assume it was for something big.


His golden brown eyes search the crowd for a familiar face, anything that would indicate someone actually wishing him to be here. The man was 2,368 years old for goodness sake, why now of all times would they call him to attend?


Well. Despite not knowing the reason, Victor Williams sits graciously and patiently waits for the conference, meeting, whatever, to begin.


((Sorry :/ My muse has been absolutely awful x.x))

 

[Lucyfer]

Valerian smiled at the story woven about the song. No wonder he didn’t know it—not that he was all that familiar with the modern music scene, anyway. Not like a normal person would be. “It’s pretty,” he told Emilina. “Your mother has a good sense of sound.”


When she spoke of the meeting and tiredness, he laughed, at first forgetting she had no idea he had slept most the day, and then quickly remembering, “Ah, it’s no issue, really. I took one of those energy drinks a little bit ago when I thought the speaker would talk for another five hours. Fortunately, he didn’t. I’m good,” he wasn’t tired at all, “Just didn’t have time to change. Sorry about that,” he did feel a bit embarrassed to be in this attire.


About Damia, he shrugged, “She’ll figure it out. Either I’ll tell her when she guilt trips me, or she already knows,” seeing how she was looking around, he said, “Don’t worry. She seemed pretty tired. I don’t think she’ll be popping out of any bushes. What about your cousin?”


~***~


Vampires knew better than to trust each other—or at least, Damia knew better than to trust them when she was thrown into the shark’s pool. Of course, she was usually the biggest shark in the room, and she made certain it was known in her posture, in her dress, and in the way she skimmed the room as she entered it. It was not Victor’s property, but the property of Alexander—or rather, the property of his childe, Marcus Kincaid, one of those new blood American vampires.


“Damia,” Alexander exited his conversation with another to approach her, offered his hand, which she took to shake.


All around the room was masked hostility. Alexander hated her, though he’d never come out and say it. She had made short work of one of his childes, years ago—his wife, apparently. She had no regrets. “Ah, where is Master Valerian?”


“He is tending to my father’s business matters. I am here to deal with the matters that are relevant to us alone,” she answered Alexander as their hands parted. “I do not know everyone here,” she said, eyes pausing briefly on a man who looked familiar.


That was near impossible, though. The man ought to be dead, and if he was turned…well, certainly she would have known of it. Her eyes quickly left him, and returned to Alexander. “Would you please introduce me?” It wasn’t a request.


Alexander smiled, all fangs, “Of course, right this way,” he said, and he took her arm in hand. He explained they were still waiting on a few others, the infamous Egyptian among them. It seemed several of the leaders of their world were actually going to show up.


‘You’ve left me to the wolves.’ Damia’s irritation was towards both her sire and Valerian, but it did not break her mask.


“And this man is Victor,” Alexander introduced her at last to black-haired man who had looked so familiar, “Same name as your sire,” he chuckled a little, as if he found it funny. He didn’t, “And supposedly as old as you. Victor, this is Damia Adams, heir of Victor Adams—his first childe.”


“Roman?” Damia couldn’t help but ask as she extended her hand towards Victor. Victor wasn’t a very Roman name, but then, neither was Damia. Damia had changed her name shortly after her change, and never looked back. There were too many things she didn’t want to recall.

 

[Zotohxan]

In regards to her mother's song, Emilina smiles softly to Valerian's praise. She'd always known her mother was an absolute visionary when it came to voice, music, any artistry that could come from the heart, she always brought it straight from there... That's what she missed the most of that beautiful woman.


She's snapped from her nostalgia as he says something about his attire, and an energy drink. She hears his ending apology and feels bad for not properly listening, but wouldn't dare let of to that small fact as she giggles softly and shakes her head, "It's totally fine... I just don't want you losing sleep because of me..."


She then frowns a bit as he questions of Aaron, "He's asleep... And even if he did wake up, he'd probably just see that I'm gone and shrug it off." She smiles halfly as she looks up at Valerian once more, "So, there's really nothing to worry about for us, hmm? We could stay here all night if we truly wanted to... Just, staring up at the stars..."


She tilts her head backward, staring up at the twinkling lights above them as a calmingly cool breeze blows, "It's truly beautiful out here, isn't it?" She asks him, closing her eyes gently while smiling softly, beginning to hum once more as she gets lost in her own little world; something that seems to happen quite a lot these days.


~~~~~~


For a moment, Victor was frozen in place, just simply staring at this 'Damia' girl... She looks so familiar, just like.... No... He scolds himself within his mind, She's dead... Died years ago.


He inwardly shakes himself from this and nods to Damia as he extends his hand as well and shakes hers, "I am. And you?" He asks with a quirked eyebrow. He almost felt as though if she were Roman, it could give him some sort of connection to Aemilia. And though he knows that this woman before him isn't her, a man can dream, couldn't he?

 

[Lucyfer]

“Don’t worry about it. I’d probably lose sleep over business. Damia will,” he knew that for a fact. The next morning, she’d be up all day and go to the next meeting in a less than pleasant mood. It would be a sight to see, Valerian knew, but he wanted to avoid it.


‘Even if it is good entertainment when Damia’s pissed at other people.’


“I’m glad your cousin is able to sleep, though. Good for the health, I hear,” he said, “If anything, I ought to be worried about you. This sort of schedule can’t be good for getting a job here, or going to school,” he knew he was talking to someone who was drifting off from him, and it was confirmed when she said something about the stars instead.


He smiled and shook his head a bit. Yes, she was quite the drifter.


He looked up. Considering all he had seen for years now, were the stars, they had lost their allure. “I guess,” he said, and found himself adding, “I really preferred sunsets,” he shouldn’t have said it in the past tense, but he did.


It was almost two centuries now since he’d seen the sun. He missed it.


~***~


Her grasp is firm, strong, and her lips quirk into a curious smile as he answers her. “Yes,” though Damia’s answer was in Latin, which caused Alexander to frown. He had never learned Latin. He knew Greek, though, fluently.


Damia released the man’s hand. “I was born in the consulship of Marcus Fabius Ambustus and Marcus Valerius Poplicola,” of course she remembered that. It felt proper to tell him, and even to add something she rarely told anyone. “I was known then as Aemilia Lepidus by birth, and Aemilia Crassus by marriage.” Because, despite it all, she was hoping this was someone she had known.


Well, she was hoping it was someone in particular, but even if it was just someone she’d known before, it would be a nice change of pace. She didn’t have many enemies in Rome, after all.


“What was all of that?” Alexander asked, not able to separate name from word. “Lepidus? Are you talking about the triumvirate?”


Damia, however, completely ignored him. Alexander ought to know she didn’t care at all about the 2nd triumvirate. She was long gone from Rome then. She didn’t even learn about the change of her Republic until Christianity had taken over everything.

 

[Zotohxan]

Emilina quirks an eyebrow as she hears Valerian's use of the past tense. She glances over at him, "What..? Do your meetings truly take up the entire day?" She asks, a soft frown etched into her expression as she thinks about what it would be like to not see the sun, "Do you not... Have windows or anything in your meeting rooms?" She stands up, fists clenched to her sides as she puffs out her cheeks slightly, "That's just not fair!"


She crosses her arms and stands in front of Valerian, temper risen so her puffed out cheeks seem to appear with a redish tint, "That's it! Sometime while you are here, you are cancelling a whole day of meetings. Or skipping them, or whatever... You're coming out with me, and we're going to go to the park, or a carnival. Or we'll go window shopping or, or..."


The impatient and headstrong young girl lets out a muffled scream of frustration before turning on her heel and stomping her foot against the ground, "It's simply not fair you're unable to see the sun, which you love, just because of stupid meetings!"


She turns back to him one last time, "I'll be sure to make your time here worth while... You can hold me to that!"


~~~~~~


Victor frowns deeply, a wrinkle forming between his brows as he pulls his hand back from Damia after she states her given name. "Aemilia Lepidus, you say?" He scoffs and shakes his head, crossing his arms as his own words slip back to his preferred tongue; Latin.


"Listen. I don't know who you are, but Aemilia Lepidus, or Crassus... She is dead. Died during child birth at all too early an age." He sneers at her as he pushes past, "I don't know how you discovered my connection to that woman, but if you know what's good for you, you will never mistreat the memory of her again, understand?!"


His voice holds power and authority, a cruel undertone just daring anyone to speak ill of the memory he has of the woman Aemilia Lepidus, his first love.


Victor stalks his way to the door, ignoring any and all calls from the other members present for the meeting. "I appreciate the invitation, ladies and gentlemen." His words revert to English so all could understand, "But I think I shall wait another century or so... Seems my presence isn't desired by all."


 
((I know it's quite sucky, and I'm sorry x.x I'm still quite sick, but I wanted to give you something.. :/ ))

 

[Lucyfer]

“Ah, yes, they usually do,” Valerian answered, thinking of how best to shift the subject. Unfortunately, Emilina took hold of that and raged about how unfair it was.


Valerian couldn’t speak during her rage. He wondered if he had looked like her, when he realized the fact he'd never see the sun again.


He had felt it, once, when he truly understood what he’d agreed to. He had raged in the impassive faces of Damia and Victor, and gotten into his first real fight with Damia when she told him to ‘suck it up’. He had nearly ripped her throat out—might have, if she didn’t have centuries of experience on him.


“It’s sweet of you,” he said, not letting his eyes drop from her face. A smile was on his lips, “But I can’t meet you during the day.” He could lie and say he’d been exaggerating, he knew that, but he didn’t want to lie to her. Not about this. “Life isn’t so easy when you have to stay on top. It’s not like the media likes to suggest, where CEOs and other businessmen can just fly wherever they want and vacation on a whim—it’s a lot of work keeping several businesses in operation. There’s lots of people to meet with worldwide, and time zones are different everywhere,” he motioned out. “It’s how I can be in meetings the whole day. I have to skype in to Japan sometimes, or things like that.” Always business.


Time zones was accurate, too, at least. “My father’s in London, too, and he expects both Damia and I to check in when he’s awake.”


He shrugged his shoulders and then broke the look to observe the nearby power plant. “I’m sure I’ll see the sun once more.”


Just once. That would be his death. “But I can get away from the meetings at night. Damia’s usually too frustrated to notice by then.”


~***~


Damia Adams watched the reaction of the man before her. It was everything she expected from who he must have been, and she allowed the anger to course through him without interruption. Usually, she quelled such emotions for the sake of harmony in meetings, but at this moment, she appreciated the anger. The honesty.


“Don’t you want anything more?”


Valerian’s voice rarely haunted her, but it did as she stepped aside to let the angry man pass by and exit the room. Her eyes followed him, a smirk that would have been uncharacteristic of who she used to be touching her lips. ‘I have haunted you that long?’


“What did you say to him?” Alexander repeated, thinking correctly she had upset him with her words.


“Never you mind, Alex,” too casual, she knew, as her eyes flickered back to him. “I will return with Mr. Williams,” Adams and Williams. Such common surnames in today’s world, with no meaning at all. “Give me a little bit. If we need to reschedule for tomorrow I will call.”


“Nonsense,” Alexander reached for her arm to stop her, but he regretted the action. He saw the flash of anger in her eyes too fast—she didn’t approve of being touched. Her arm lifted just fast enough to avoid his grasp, and she slapped him across the face.


There was an audible silence that followed her action, and she cast a scathing gaze at all the vampires around, while forcing the emotion of fear into them so that they’d think twice before rising to Alexander’s defense.


Alexander lifted a hand to his face. Blood was already dripping from where her nails had dug in.


It took all of Damia’s will power not to lick the blood from her nails right then. “Do not touch me,” she reminded.


Then, she turned on heel and walked after Victor, pace quickening so that she would catch him before he left the building. “Victor,” it was odd using that name, but she’d do so. She did prefer Damia, after all, to her old Aemilia. “I named the child Lucia.” She wanted to shock him into stopping his walk, to get him to turn back around or even just stop. “A daughter and a wife. No great loss back then, you remember. My husband moved on quickly.”


Stop, and look back, and just consider the possibility she wasn’t lying.

 

[Zotohxan]

Emilina sighs and shakes her head, "But you're far too young to have your life ended in such a way... Like this, it's... It's not fair, Valerian!" She walks up to him, putting her hands on his shoulders as she bends over to be eye level with the man she'd met only a few days prior. "You deserve more... You deserve to see the sun, to bask in it's warmth and to do as you please. You deserve to be the young man you are, to act impulsively and not have to check in with your father and sister every few hours. You deserve to go out and have fun, party with people, make friends, enjoy life!"


Unlike many her age would dare do at risk of seeming immature foolish, Emilina puts on a pouting face as she looks into Valerian's eyes, "Just one day... That's all I ask... Just one single day to go out with you and have fun. We can do whatever you want, just..." She sighs, it sounding of defeat before she shakes her head and lets go of Valerian.


"I'm sorry... That's stupid to ask... Wrong to ask..." She lowers her head, taking a few steps back before dropping to the ground and letting out a heavy sigh. "The stars..." She begins, raising her head to look up at the spotted sky, "They're my favorite... I don't even know why I'm making such a big deal about the sun-I could care less about it. The moon doesn't mean much to me, either. It's just the stars."


~~~~~~


While Victor's steps do falter as he hears the woman from before speaking once more as if she were his Aemilia, he refuses to encourage her by humoring her slanderous lies. "Do not lie to me! Aemilia is dead! Six feet under the damn ground! Don't you dare say to me she was no great loss until you have felt it as horribly as I felt it!"


He continues stomping away, the tough and emotionless facade he'd created over all these decades beginning to slip as he feels the old, mostly forgotten stinging at the back of his eyes which indicated he was about to cry. The love of his life, his dearest Aemilia... He doesn't know how this woman learned of all this, but it disturbed him to no end. He spent one hundred years seeing her face in every woman passed on the street, hearing her voice in the wind's ominous whisper, feeling her warmth each morning when he would awaken, only to find an empty bed beside him. Those years of suffering and heart wrenching pain lead him to what he has now become-a hopeless, dreamless, emotionless, pitiful undead being.


It's then he finally stops. His quaking knees give him no relief as he hangs his head to gaze at the marble floor beneath them. "I ended my life to become this in hopes of someday finding her... I will not have the likes of you pretending." He finally turns to look at the girl, but only out the corner of his eye. He can see it in her eyes, Aemilia's eyes, her hopefulness... But he couldn't. He couldn't be hurt again into believing into something he learned the hard way could never be.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘I’m not as young as you think.’


Young was all he ever heard. He was too young to understand vampirism, too young to live the life he led—it didn’t matter who he spoke to, vampire or human, he was too young.


The weight and the warmth of her arms were welcome, and he lifted his silver eyes to meet her own gaze as she lowered herself to be at eye level with him as he sat on the swing. “You see, that’s why other people don’t go anywhere. They’re uncontrolled,” Valerian couldn’t help but say it. It was true, though, even among humans. Those who squandered their youth would live mediocre lives with little advancement, and always bemoaning the fact that they ‘could have done more’ when they had the energy, the time, the knowledge.


She let him go, and she apologized. “It’s all right. Life isn’t meant to be fair,” he had known that as a human. “And the sun is a type of star, so I mean, they’re similar. The sun and the stars up there,” they just weren’t close enough to harm him. The light that the moon put out was too weak to harm him, though it drew on the sun’s light.


He lifted himself from the swing’s seat by using the chains that held the swing in place. “These nights, though, we can have fun, when I can get away, until you have to sleep. You can show me around town, and the nightlife here, and all the things you love,” he offered a charming smile, “I’m not even sure what I’d want to do anymore. It feels like it’s been an age since I got to do anything at all. You’d have to show me what’s fun.”


He really didn’t know what was fun in these years.


~***~


‘Yes. Aemilia is dead.’


That much, Damia would agree on. What she would not accept was that Victor wouldn’t see she had once been Aemilia.


She follows him, but not quick enough to overtake him. It isn’t her goal to step in front of him, but only to follow until either he snapped, or he stopped. Or both.


Stopping happens first, and his gaze goes to the marble floor. Damia pauses, as well, some feet away from him. “Gaius Junius Albinus turned me. Perhaps you remember him,” Damia didn’t know if he had ever crossed paths with him back then. “I didn’t get a say in the matter as it seems, you did.” Not that she would have said no. “I could not tell you, nor anyone. I was already dead according to my family.” She had been turned rather late—almost too late, according to Victor.


Her arms crossed over her chest, “Does it hurt, that much, to consider this isn’t a dream?” A cant of her head, “We could always pretend it is.” Just one dream, before normalcy returned. He might make good on his threat to return in a century, and she’d nurse the pain of his parting until it numbed, the way everything else, inevitably, numbed.


It had been too long since she’d felt anything strong.

 

[Zotohxan]

Emilina sighs as she glances back at Valerian, "Valerian... Do you think I'm too immature? I mean... It's obvious I am, and I know it, but... Aaron seems to treat me as though I'm a child... I didn't think I was quite that bad." She lowers her head, absolutely despising the idea of it all. She's always been immature for her age, and she's always been aware of it, but... There was just something keeping her from growing up.


She's perfectly aware it likely was her mother coddling her like a babe who never left her breast, speaking to her slowly and never giving her responsibilities... She was homeschooled her entire life as well, so she's perfectly aware there is probably a lot she never learned; a lot she was kept from learning. She never had a job or had friends her age, it was always her mom's friends' kids, who were generally at least six years younger...


She shakes her head, dismissing away all these thoughts as she pulls her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around them, tilting back her head to once more stare up at the stars.


~~~~~~


Victor lets out a humorless laugh before turning to look at this Damia girl. He keeps his tone light, kind, a smile on his face, "A dream? I know it's not a dream. And would you like to know why?" Almost instantly his entire demeanor changes. His smile disappears only to be replaced by a deep frown, his hands clench at his sides and his words are spit out through his teeth.


"I know because I have no dreams anymore! Those were all crushed about a hundred years after my Aemilia was pronounced dead! Don't give me that shit about not being able to tell me, you wench! I was in love with that woman." He lets out another laugh, though in this one the pain could easily be heard, "Heck, I'm still in love with her! She was taken from me by her parent's greed, then by that man she was forced to call a husband.


"So, no. I will not humor your brand of sick humor. I suffered far too long to be tricked by someone who knows a few details of her."


He then turns around and once more briskly walks off, not wishing to see the woman's face again. It was too similar to hers, and that hurt him. Because she's never coming back.

 

[Lucyfer]

Immature.


Valerian wasn’t sure how to answer, considering he didn’t know this age’s definition of maturity. In his age, yes, she would have been very immature, but girls were expected to act in a very reserved fashion. Childish behavior from a girl, even at the age of eleven, was frowned upon. “Well, you’re, what was, eighteen?” He was pretty sure she had mentioned that as her age earlier.


“From what I understand, that’s the age where you’re magically expected to take on responsibility and maturity, in an era where they do not instruct you very well on what it is to be an adult. I mean, you—we,” damn his mouth, “stay with our parents until this age, and then are kicked off to college or work, usually. I think at age eighteen, everyone is supposed to be less mature than before as they adjust to this new…freedom and responsibility.”


He was trying to rationalize her behavior so she’d feel better. “So, technically, no. You are as immature as can be expected of someone going through a transition. Now, if in a year or two you’re still this way,” he put on a teasing smile as he walked over to where she sat, and knelt down before her. He put a hand over one of her arms, forgetting again the cold nature of his flesh, “Then it might be a problem.”


~***~


“The past is gone, Damia. We move forward. We change.”


Victor had long ago warned Damia of the consequences of remaining static and clinging to the past. It was the death of too many vampires who refused to move with the technologies, languages, and aesthetics of the world.


If she had walked up to this ‘Victor’ in a stola and head covered, head bowed, would he have acted this way?


Her pride was wounded, but more than that, her heart. To be denied her past was terrible. To be told by someone she had held up in fond memories, that she was a wench—that she knew too few details of who she once was—was agony. She wanted to rage against both Victors, Sire and Once-Beloved.


And so, she did. She yelled at his retreating back, “DAMNATIO MEMORIAE, AEMILIA LEPIDUS!” To hell with your memory of Aemilia Lepidus, in other words. “DAMNATIO MEMORIAE, ILIUS.” Or to hell with my memory of you. He was not the one she remembered, either, but at least she hadn't expected that. It was, perhaps, the strongest curse a Roman could invoke, literally wishing for the memory of a person to be erased from all of history.


She turned right around before any tears could be seen, and walked briskly back towards the meeting room, to be engulfed with the politics of the world she was now in. With each step, she fought back her emotions. She had fostered a composed reputation in recent years, and she wanted to keep that. She didn’t want Alexander to see her cry.


She worked her own talent on herself, manipulating her own emotions through force of will. Each step came easier.

 

[Zotohxan]

Emilina's frown had deepened through Valerian's words. She could tell he was merely trying to rationalize her behaviour to make her seem less immature and irrational, but... It didn't seem to be happening. "Ya know.. That does make sense, but my parents weren't going to be letting me go anytime soon... Even if I'd wanted to be free to learn of the world, to learn how to become an adult, they were going to hold onto me..."


She shakes away those thoughts, not wanting to hear them any longer as they made tears spring to her eyes.


She gasps in surprise as she feels something cold on her arm. Her eyes go wide in worry after looking up to see Valerian, "Valerian! You're as cold as death! I'm so sorry, you should go home and curl up under some blankets... I didn't mean to keep you out until you were freezing!"


~~~~~~


It was as though something clicked. Amongst her yelling, during her shouts of wishing his and her memories to all but vanish, he breaks. "Aemilia!" He shouts, turning around and running toward her. He catches her rather quickly, wrapping his arms around her from behind in order to stop her walking.


"Aemilia..." He whispers against her hair, his eyes closed as he breaths in her scent. He can feel the tears running ever so gently down his cheeks. He was crying. Something he hadn't done in hundreds of years. "My Aemilia... I'm sorry." He apologizes, wanting nothing more than to hold her, and her to hold him back.


"I'm so sorry."

 

[Lucyfer]

“They’ve let you come to be your cousin, haven’t they?”


Valerian was still in the dark about her parents, so it confused him that she had this view. It seemed to him, that her parents were trying to let her grow up, by allowing her to move. He might have asked if she was a runaway, but she freaked out about his hands.


‘Shoot.’


He quickly withdraws his hands, “Ah, n-no, it’s not that, I’m, uh,” what did Victor say? What did Damia say? “Anemic.” Right? He was pretty sure that was what they said. “Cold hands are sort of a side effect,” now he just had to keep her from touching the rest of him, or it’d be obvious he was lying. “It’s normal.” That was true, at least. He was always as cold as death, because he was dead.


“Really, I’m fine. I don’t even feel it,” he insisted as he rocked back on his feet and then climbed back up to a standing position. “Let’s take a walk.” That sounded like a great idea right then, to get them moving.


~***~


It was what Damia wanted, and what she didn’t want, at once. Damia could have run, or turned as she heard his steps on the marble, but she held on to her pace. He didn’t care how stiff her back was then, or how desperately she was trying to fight off emotion. He had realized, perhaps by her use of his name, who she was. His arms wrapped around her in a way they’d never truly gotten to in the past, when she had to keep herself apart from him so that she’d be ‘pure’ for a husband. Being caught in such an embrace as this, back then, would have stirred too many rumors.


She has no choice but to stop. “Damnatio,” she repeated to his apology, the anger flaring up to match her stubborn pride.


She could feel his tears on her shoulder. She could feel how cold he was through the fabric of her dress, where his hands were. “Aemilia is dead.” She was speaking in Latin, stuck on the curses, on the language. “Like Ilius.”


Her arms were pinned to her side, but she could still bend them at the elbow to reach up, to touch his hands as she leaned back in spite of herself. He had been warm, once. All of her memories reminded her of his warmth.


Funny. They’d both become such cold creatures, hadn’t they? She shut her eyes, but it didn’t stop her own tears like she wanted. The slipped down her cheek. “I should not have given you false hope. I am not your Aemilia. I was, once. I’m sorry.” She matched his apology with her own, for her deception.


She should have known better.

 

[Zotohxan]

Emilina decides to completely disregard their previous conversations as he offers them to walk. She quickly nods, her hair bouncing about her shoulders as she does, "That would be wonderful." She sighs, putting her hands on her knees and pushing herself up, only to stumble slightly and catch her balance at only the last minute.


"Crap..." She chuckles embarrassedly as a light blush covers her cheeks, "Stood up too fast..."


~~~~~~


Victor smiles as he feels her leaning back against him, and feeling her hands against his sends shivers about his body, "They are." He says in response to her saying they were both dead.


Which is true. Their human selves, their past selves, are gone. Dead. Never to return. Which is why his next words, whispered into her ear make a pit appear in the bottom of his stomach. He was terribly afraid she'd refuse as he asks, "Damia... May we leave? Allow me to know you, and you can know me. I don't want to go another lifetime without someone. I've lost my Aemilia. And while she can never be replaced... I would never be able to lose you, as well."


((Sorry.. Low muse and I'm starting to hurt a bit worse >.>))

 

[Lucyfer]

Valerian reached to catch her as she rose too quickly, but it wasn’t necessary. So, he stopped himself in time, and smiled at her. “Happens,” and he made a motion for her to follow him.


He had no destination in mind, but walking seemed like a better idea than just standing there. So, he walked, aimless. He talked, “I never really thought I’d end up in this life myself, you know. My father owned a business, but a lot of my friends used to have fun and shirk responsibilities. I was able to, too, for a while,” he wasn’t sure what he was trying to say to her, or why he was even talking about it.


It was true of both of his lives, of course, his human one and his new one. “I used to go out at night all the time. I had a friend in Essex who liked to host parties that the…ah, more respectable wouldn’t be caught dead at.” Except for the actually dead ones, of course. “Have you ever been to the United Kingdom? Or out of the States?” He asked, and then added, “I’ve been so many places…hardly gotten to enjoy it, though.”


~***~


Damia’s eyes remained closed as the posture was held, and he didn’t shove her away at her words. She had half-expected it.


Victor was a sweet-talker, already thinking he could love her again if he got to know her. Could he? Damia wasn’t certain. She wouldn’t be surprised if he came to hate her, because she offended his memory of Aemilia with what she’d become…what she’d been.


Was it worth the gamble? ‘One night. One night for a dream.’ Damia knew she wasn’t owed it. She wouldn’t make up excuses like Valerian. She was simply going to be selfish, but not irresponsibly so. “Allow me to tidy things up with Alexander and reschedule all of this for tomorrow.”


She would have to call her sire, as well. Her hands left his and she opened her eyes, almost chuckling as she realized one thing hadn’t changed. Aemilia and Damia were concerned with duty to parents—in this case, her duty to her sire as his representative. Ever the dutiful daughter. At least this time it wouldn’t lead to her death. “Then we can take the night off.”