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Post by "Babs" Delton on Aug 23, 2010 2:18:05 GMT -5
For a while, the world was nothing except her cold grip on the dagger and her slow, forcefully silent breath. Her senses, powered by fear, worked uselessly in the darkness and silence. Her arm was tensed like a bowstring, ready to deliver the blade into the first thing that trespassed upon her senses. For a while, time had no meaning.
Eventually, however, the adrenaline ran out. Her hand, already hurt from the Vampire's grip, started to sting from the grooves in the handle, so hard was she holding it. Her eyes started to close and her body felt heavy; it had forgotten its first brush with death and now wanted Laura to rest, but how could she?
Laura recalled the Vampire's grip. As she had tried to pull away with every once of force she had from those fangs, she couldn't even get a hair's width away. As she left Segod's door, she spotted the iron straps that bound the door together; they had been twisted upon themselves from the force that hit them. Such a creature could punch through armor, tear down any of the half-timbered homes in the city, or rip a person apart like a moldy doll. Such a person was out there now in a city caught in the darkness and silence of the Alonian winter with, if Laura's teachers were to be believed, a craving for living blood.
After she thought all this, she imagined the Vampire at her wrist once again. If she had wanted, she could have pierced Laura. She could have killed her right there and who could have stopped her? Segod? His sons? His wife? The drunk? All of them at once? No, it was clear; the Vampire could have killed them all, and yet the worst that she had done she had done to Laura. Had Virgilia been there not wanting to hurt anybody?
...and as your friend I want to know as much as possible about you...
But had Laura been stupid to believe that? She remembered Virgilia, glowing with her unfettered smile in the tavern; she remembered her touch at the tavern's door, more gentle than the finest silks or sheets; she remembered her weeping about the torch, the fuel of a total stranger's livelihood. Laura's hand tightened once more on the dagger and her teeth clenched. Had it all been one big act?! Did arterial blood taste better to a Vampire if the meal had trusted their murderer just beforehand?! What were the chances that such a radiant, caring person could be real? Perhaps the only reason Laura was alive was not because Virgilia didn't want to consume her, but because she did not want to have to kill the whole tavern off, starting a manhunt for her soon after.
By then, Laura felt water burning in her eyes. Her first sound since she dropped the candle was her sniffing at the irritation in her nose. Each dark thought against the woman she had wanted to be closer to, had wanted to share paintings and writing with, made the pain worse. The vision of horror left and she tried and tried to put it back into focus. It was safe to forget about Virgilia as a person and think about her as a blood-fiending demon because it could be that belief that could save her life if they ever crossed paths again, but what if she was wrong to believe that? Virgilia's scream did not sound like some sort of predatory cry; it sounded like a person trying to keep their soul from being torn in half. What if being a Vampire meant, indeed, craving a person's living blood but also meant being a human first? Was Virgilia out there, not feeling like a predator in the shadows, but as alone as Laura now felt? As scared as Laura now felt?
She threw the dagger across the room, hearing it thud off the wall and clatter on the stone floor, and then she wept into the sleeve of her gown, unable to handle the doubts and wants any longer. She just wanted arms to wrap around her now more than she ever had before, even more than the first night she slept in this room, a runaway without a soul to relate to. In the end, she feared meeting Virgilia again, not for the possible danger to her life, but for the danger to her belief in Virgilia.
And that was when she heard a gentle rapping at the door. Reflexively, she wanted the dagger again, but she did not get up for it. She steadied her breath as best as she could. This could have been Segod from next door or the inevitable constable to ask questions of her. The thought of such strangers seeing her so vulnerable made her feel yet worse.
"H-hello? Who is it?"
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Post by Virgilia de Artio on Aug 23, 2010 3:07:53 GMT -5
Opening her mouth, Virgilia was about to reply by giving out some sort of sound but ended up keeping quiet. She looked down, still with her hand resting on the door. Knocking yet another time, she hoped that Laura would open up at let her in. Being outside at this time of the day made the princess scared and she quickly hugged herself as she finished knocking sinking down to her knees.
She pushed herself backwards until she sit a wall and moved so that she was sitting and not kneeling. It had surely been a long day for Virgilia and she could feel how tired she was. Still the thought of sleeping outside at this moment prevented her for falling asleep and she started gazing at the stars instead. Normally Virgilia wasn’t stronger than a normal human lady about her size, often much weaker. When she had just gotten some animal blood in her body she would be about as strong as a human but then she would slowly turn weaker and weaker. If she reached the point where she was in absolute need for blood her body would change and only for a little while gain her full vampire power to get what she needed. If she didn’t get blood then she would eventually pass out and die.
This was all a part of being a vegetarian vampire of her kind. It made you weak. Right now she felt tired and her foot hurt more than ever. She wanted to go home and feel safe in her bedroom, while listening to one of her father’s stories. Instead she found herself listening to strangers that were singing and yelling out in the streets. The princess had always been wondering what it felt like to be cold and to be freezing and she could imagine that she was closer to that feeling than she’d ever been before.
Raising her hand again she knocked once again at the door but when nothing happened she opened her bag to see if there was anything in it she could use to write a message. Finding a pen that still had a little ink on it she teared off a piece of her dress and wrote a short message on it before pushing it in under the door to Laura’s house.
‘Please forgive me.’
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Post by "Babs" Delton on Aug 23, 2010 10:39:43 GMT -5
At first, only silence answered her. Her thoughts suspended and her body managed to recover a little of its earlier tension. After a moment of silence, the room sounded a couple of timid knocks. Laura rose from the mattress slowly so the straw wouldn't crunch too loudly and give whoever was on the other side of the door sensation to go on. Laura crept across the room, gently searching for the dagger with her foot. A thin ribbon of torchlight from the tavern lit just enough so that Laura saw the tip of the blade. Laura eased her fingers around the handle, already gone cold, taking great care to make no noise but then something slid underneath the door. Laura jumped back, slowing a breath before it sped up. For a few seconds, she sneaked up on the object.
It was a torn piece of fabric. Keeping the weapon in hand, she maneuvered the fabric. It was not possible to tell its true color with such a thin light. In one second, however, what she saw made knowing the color unnecessary when she spotted the first inked letter. Laura only barely caught her panic. She refused to think right then, slowly sliding the scrap along the string of light.
...Please forgive me...
There could be little doubt that Virgilia was on the other side of the door. Laura thought quickly. If she was safe with Virgilia, then Virgilia was in danger out there. Segod could be outside at any time to fix his door. However, if Laura was not safe...she admitted it to herself, wiping away the last drops on her face, that she would probably live or die based on her decision. She closed her eyes and felt the heft of the dagger. She imagined for only an instant forcing it into the woman, the Vampire, on the other side of the door and she grew weaker with the thought. She couldn't do that. Regardless as to whether or not Virgilia's gentle eyes or the Vampire's blood-red eyes met her once she opened that door, she would not use the weapon.
Laura put the dagger down in the far corner away from the door; Segod could have it back later. She lifted the wooden bar from the door and unlocked it, her body trembling all the while. When she opened the door, she only peeked around it, catching only a glimpse of Virgilia, before she stood behind it, still in the dark of her home.
"Hurry, come in," she whispered, "before you catch your death of cold and bartenders."
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Post by Virgilia de Artio on Aug 23, 2010 11:10:53 GMT -5
Closing her eyes as she waited for the other woman to respond, she had been trying her best to sit in the shadow where she couldn’t be seen. If someone that had seen what had happened earlier were to come out, she couldn’t help but fear what would happen. Leaning closer to the wall, the princess tried her best to listen to any sounds coming from the other room.
First she heard some weird sounds coming from inside the room before she thought she heard someone unlocking the door. Was it really happening? Virgilia gasped slightly and turned to face the door as it opened. She felt herself holding her breath as she wondered what would happen. At first she didn't believe that the door in fact had opened but then she realized that it was real. She could imagine Laura angry, sad or scared. Maybe even a mix of all. When she spotted the other woman she could already then tell that she was scared, maybe even trembling.
She forced a smile to her face and slowly stood up, trying ignoring the pain in her foot. She bit her teeth hard together and placed a hand on the wall to prevent herself from falling. Slowly walking inside she let go of the wall and ended up falling to the floor.
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Post by "Babs" Delton on Aug 23, 2010 12:04:29 GMT -5
When Laura saw Virgilia's shape from her door, she started to close it. Before the door closed all the way, however, she saw Virgilia wince and shortly thereafter fall down onto the stone floor. In the shadows now, Laura could not see her face, but a tear in the bottom of her dress drew Laura's eyes far enough to see that Virgilia had lost her shoes and one of her ankles was swollen. Only pausing for an instant to look back towards Virgilia's obscured face, Laura slowly closed the door and locked it back up.
Taking great care to remember where her fallen friend lay, Laura strode to the fallen candle, her fear momentarily forgotten. She struck a match but at first the candle, soaked with the water in the tap's dish, only sizzled. Two matches later and it finally re-lit. She hurried back over, resting the candle on the floor nearby. Virgilia looked up at her, the small light reflected as an indistinct dot in her pained, again gentle, eyes. She could not be left on the cold stone floor. Still trembling, Laura reached for Virgilia's arm and brought it around her shoulder, getting ready to support her weight. If she could get her to the straw mattress, that would be better, or it was at least all Laura could offer.
"Let me help you up--" Laura jerked her head towards the mattress, ''--over there."
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Post by Virgilia de Artio on Aug 23, 2010 12:43:39 GMT -5
Virgilia had slowly started sitting up before she felt Laura taking her hand and bringing it over her own shoulders. She felt herself relaxing more at the other woman’s touch and manage to give a sigh of relief and happiness. While wearing a thankful smile on her face she then managed to get over to the mattress with the help of her friend. When they walked, Virgilia reached for Laura’s hand only to remember it was the one she had almost bitten. Still as she sat down again on the mattress she moved to touch the other woman’s hand gently with both of her hands.
Caressing the other woman’s hand a bit she eventually leant forward and kissed the wound on Laura’s wrist before letting go, moving back on the straw mattress as much as possible with the support of her hands. Only by getting up from the floor and over to the bed she had started panting slightly, feeling very tired. This made her curl up, hugging her legs as she still was sitting and resting her head on her knees.
When the sun rose the next morning and let light into the room she would be able to write a message to the woman about how thankful she was. Biting her lower lip she realized that she also had to face what had happened earlier as well, and go back to the tavern to help them to fix what had happened. She wondered if they would chase her out of the place, yell at her or maybe, just maybe accept her apology. Of course she could give them some gold pieces, but remembering how Laura had rejected it she doubted that it would work.
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Post by "Babs" Delton on Aug 24, 2010 1:01:27 GMT -5
Laura moved towards the candle that still sat close to the door, but her focus was on her hand, where the feeling of Virgilia's cool fingers remained as if she was still gliding them over Laura's skin. The feelings at her wrist were silk and chills that spread up her arms and under her shoulders, doing something with her breath that she had only barely managed to conceal when Virgilia kissed her there.
She wrapped her finger around the looped handle of the candle holder and turned back towards the raised mattress where Virgilia sat with her face resting on her knees. Her breath thinned as her eyes fell from the soft reflection of the dim flame in Virgilia's tussled hair to the mattress, just large enough for one...or for two if they were very close. No, she thought to herself, to a scar settled in the worst of her memories, Virgilia's actions were just an apology for earlier; It had to have been her way of reassuring her after what had happened in the tavern. Laura pulled away from her thoughts and walked back, but the sensations flowing from her hand's memory would not settle.
Laura placed the candle on the end table next to the bed and sat next to Virgilia, though out of concern for the skirt of her gown and chemise she let her legs hang off the side. Perhaps it was because she had paid attention to that concern that she did not realize that she was staring at Virgilia, only inches away, for several silent seconds.
"I...I..." She had to say something; she could not stay silent a moment longer if she did not want to seem suspicious.
"I'm glad that you're...you."
She had to force each word, not because they weren't words she wanted to say, but because she did not want to speak anymore. Her eyes searched for Virgilia's lips, her breath drowning in the memory of them against her skin.
"Please feel...free to the bed...I usually pass out at the desk anyways." She blinked away a sudden burning in her eyes, a horrible feeling of having suddenly betrayed one's self. She looked down and away so shadows would hide her eyes.
"If you need ice for your ankle, I-I can go out and make some." Laura closed her eyes, trying to will herself up from the mattress. Her past was winning now. Even though it hurt to think it, she would sit at the desk and tuck her feet in so she wouldn't freeze; she couldn't make the same mistake twice.
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Post by Virgilia de Artio on Aug 24, 2010 10:27:30 GMT -5
When Laura sat down beside her, Virgilia lit up her head a little to look at the woman beside her. She smiled warmly at her before making an agreeing sound as Laura said she was happy she was back to normal, even though the sadness from what had happened still could be seen in Virgilia's eyes she wanted to do anything to make things go back to how they were.
What the woman next to her then said made her frown slightly, making her hug onto Laura’s arm while shaking her head slowly. “No.” Virgilia managed to tell Laura.
Reaching her hand out she let go of the other woman’s arm and slightly touched the green dressed woman’s chin turning her head so that she was facing Virgilia again. Giving her a smile yet again she pointed at Laura with her other hand and then at the desk before shaking her head, as if telling no. Moving her hand again she pointed at herself and then at back at the desk again nodding as if she agreed to that instead.
As she let the hand fall back down to her side she noticed how her other hand was still lightly touching Laura’s face. Staring at her hand for a moment she slowly slid it down the other woman’s throat and then down to the ribbon that was tied around the blonde’s neck.
Suddenly Virgilia’s eyes widened in shock as she realized that she was touching this woman more than she should. The poor girl beside her must be freezing, since her hand was cold, though not as cold as usual. She quickly jerked her hand away from Laura as if touching the other woman had burnt her and gave her an apologetic smile. Then turning her head to face forward she looked at the wall, remembering how her mother had always told her to never touch people.
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Post by "Babs" Delton on Aug 24, 2010 13:22:03 GMT -5
A battle was raging inside of her as Virgilia took her arm. Each thought seemed to charge at the others as if with war cries and blades. All her doubts raged against the wordless feeling tingling in her chest, the fire each touch and look from Virgilia fueled in her. Laura felt helpless and exhausted in her own mind. She wanted to have a simple answer. She wanted sense.
As a cool touch crept along her neck and met with her collar's yielding resistance, Laura felt the battle quiet, but not because the fire swallowed up the soldiers or the soldiers had doused the flame. It was the trampled earth shaking beneath it all. It was the fact that for the months since she fled her caste and for the years before that, she believed in something. She believed in being aware of the smallest and the greatest events, from the fall of a single flake of snow to the fall of the largest tree; from the somber notes of the wind to the sharpest crack of thunder; from the kind to the unkind, all without judgment or manipulation. Wherever she was, whatever she was doing, she wanted to be there.
As Virgilia pulled her hand and her smile away, Laura did not look away. Her shoulders relaxed and her breath drew inside with fullness and ease. It was not hard to tell that something was not right. The way Virgilia stole her touch away, Laura wondered if it had to do with the torches' freezing. Her touch was cool, and yes, Laura thought to herself, a little on the cold side, but that was just magic. Behind that, she felt warmth. Maybe it wasn't a true heat; maybe it was just the gentle Vampire's kindness. Maybe it was how the touch made Laura feel. Who knew, Laura thought. It did not matter.
Laura edged over the distance between them until they were almost shoulder to shoulder. With the back of her right hand, she slid along Virgilia's left forearm until her arm crossed over Virgilia's arm and her hand rested against Virgilia's hand.
"Feels warm to me."
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Post by Virgilia de Artio on Aug 24, 2010 13:57:37 GMT -5
Expecting Laura to be mad at her she felt surprised as the other woman came closer to her. Still she kept her eyes on the wall, not wanting to be tempted to touch Laura again. When then she suddenly felt the other woman’s skin against her own she almost jumped of surprise and she finally turned to face Laura again, looking somewhat shocked at her.
Then after hearing the words coming from Laura’s mouth she felt tears welling up in her eyes but wiped then away with her right before they got to roll down her cheek. Leaning to the side she rested her head on the blonde woman’s shoulder with a smile on her face, closing her eyes.
The feeling in her chest at the moment was completely new and strange. Never in her life had she experienced anything like it and she hadn’t thought she ever would either. Even though she didn’t know what it was, she didn’t want it to stop.
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Post by "Babs" Delton on Aug 24, 2010 23:14:07 GMT -5
As Virgilia's head rested on her shoulder, Laura carefully pulled the edges of her tan, worn wool quilt and draped it over their shoulders. After that, she returned her hand to Virgilia's. For a long while, Laura didn't join the burbling of her thoughts. She watched the flame of the candle wobble above the blackened wick; she took long, quiet breaths; she caressed Virgilia's hand slowly with the tip of her finger, all until she found her eyes closing, her hand growing still, and her back slouching. She looked to her right without moving her head. She could only see Virgilia's hair and the tip of her nose; was she awake?
"Virgilia?" she asked in her most gentle whisper. If she was asleep, Laura would not wake her and she would stay like this no matter the peril to her back. She wanted to be under her covers, warm, but not alone. Let the day bring questions asked and answered on pieces of paper, she thought, but let the night keep them close as they were now. But how to ask such a thing? She wasn't about to let herself get drawn into her head again, so she just whispered, "My feet are really starting to get cold. Would you mind standing with me for a moment while I open the covers for us?"
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Post by Virgilia de Artio on Aug 25, 2010 0:08:36 GMT -5
Opening her eyes slowly Virgilia had to blink a couple of times to remember where she were. Feeling Laura’s hand on her own she immediately remembered and listened to the other woman’s voice. “Oh,” She straightened herself up, letting her head leave the other woman’s shoulder.
Also moving her hand away from Laura’s she placed her hands down and started pushing herself up from the mattress. Slowly she managed to get up on her feet, though as her foot still hurt she made sure to lean her weight on the other leg. She put a hand on the wool quilt over her shoulders, making sure it didn’t fall off and turned to Laura. Yet again she had an apologetic expression on her face.
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Post by "Babs" Delton on Aug 25, 2010 10:11:40 GMT -5
Laura did not imagine she'd have a good back into her later years. Mornings of chopping down branches for torches and trying to sell her volumes with nothing to relax on but a weathered stool never failed to make the straw mattress feel, with its patchwork sheets and quilt, like her canopied featherbed and linens of a year past.
She tugged out the top sheet and hopped over to the far side against the wall, leaving as much room for the other side as possible. Virgilia had the quilt over her shoulders and was leaning away from her hurt foot. Laura extended her arms, as if to help them all in.
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Post by Virgilia de Artio on Aug 25, 2010 12:49:19 GMT -5
Virgilia smiled warmly at the other woman and sat down on the bed again, snuggling closer to Laura. Finding a comfortable position in Laura’s arms she closed her eyes, though made sure not to fall asleep as she didn’t want to wake up and find out it was all just a dream.
The princess was breathing slowly though her heart seemed to be beating faster than normal. Finding it weird she put a hand on her own chest, wondering why it did so. Maybe because she wasn’t used to being this close to another person and absolutely not if that person happened to be a woman. She remembered her mother telling her that a man and a woman was supposed to feel something special for each other and then marry. They were going to be by each other’s sides in good and bad times, make each other happy, kiss each other on the lips, sleep with each other, love each other, marry, have children… and so many other things. Her mother had then told her that Virgilia was supposed to marry a man like this once, and if she didn’t love him at first she was going to learn how to love him.
Then she had gotten the letter from the kingdom in Terre de Conte. And that’s how she learnt that also two women and two men could be together. No one would ever speak about that in Bernkastel, and if they did they would probably think it was disgusting. Snuggling even closer if possible to Laura she started wondering if the woman beside her was in love with a woman. Or had ever been. Was it normal to her to do that? Was she the kind of person that likes women in that way?
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Post by "Babs" Delton on Aug 25, 2010 22:03:28 GMT -5
When Virgilia was back with her, Laura extended the covers over them, all the while giving the covers a good flap, putting out the candle. At the moment that the light left the room, Laura focused for one last look into Virgilia's eyes, trying to burn the image into her own. To make sure she was doing her part to share the space, Laura eased close to the wall. As Virgilia seemed to settle into the rest of the mattress, Laura felt the strength in her arms, which were still around Virgilia, drain away as a question that had been trying so hard to surface through Laura's confidence finally found voice.
What was she doing? Several hours ago, Laura had been a struggling vendor with no friends, save for her pen and some of the commoners who frequently submitted to her work. Though it was in the nature of living as a commoner that there was nothing suggestive about lending bedspace to a friend, Laura knew that she was suggesting more in her actions. Her mind started listing facts; she had only known Virgilia for some hours; she had only exchanged relatively few words with her; Virgilia was a Vampire; Virgilia had attacked her, and while she stopped before seriously hurting her, Laura had no explanation yet about any of it; was she without her sanity? Was she so alone that she was willing to excuse so much just to satisfy a part of her that had gotten her into trouble? That had broken her heart?
The thoughts were hard, heavy, and yes, had a ring of truth, even the thought about her past. Yes, Laura thought at the thought, she did feel alone, especially after what had happened all those years ago, but that wasn't why she was doing this. In front of her, she felt Virgilia edge forward, closer. Laura found her arms again and drew Virgilia in until Laura had to edge down the mattress just a bit so their heads wouldn't collide. When they were as close as they could get, Laura left her arms wrapped around Virgilia's waist.
She thought to herself that she was doing this because it was what she felt. It was the warm, flowing command of a part of her that she had never intended to ignore, though she had. It told her, without a thought, without a language, that this was what she needed and that it was right. If she was now making a mistake, then she would make it and not regret it.
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