Incubus Dreams - October 27th

[anita_blake]

As Anita wakes up, she makes several realizations.

She is on the floor.

She is on the floor of her kitchen.

She is on the floor of her kitchen, naked.

Slowly, she looks around and sees Nathaniel on the floor at her side, his cheek resting on her thigh. Memory comes back to her, of the hungers, of the ardeur, of the fucking and feeding and memories. Anita eyes dart around, looking for Damian, because Damian was with them, and they land on his form, bathed in sunlight.

Like his pale skin had been dipped in honey, and Anita has the distant thought of how beautiful the vampire looked with his blood-red hair, warm skin, and relaxed features. But the most overwhelming thought was that Damian was bathed in sunlight! She scrambles over to him, grabbing Damian by the ankles, and pulls him out of the sunlight, but then he's awake, screaming, struggling, and Anita panics.

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[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel nuzzles against Damian's throat, panting, his head throbbing. Too much for too long and not enough sleep. He's in pain and he's exhausted, but they have Damian. Anita had severed Moroven's tie to Damian; that much Nathaniel can just feel.

Damian is theirs, and they won't let him go.

[mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com]

It's a startling realisation that comes over him. Moroven is gone, not just from his mind, but from the depth of his soul that would always cleave to the one that made him.

But if she's gone... what does that mean? He isn't powerful enough to sustain himself. He has been dependent on Anita, and before her, Jean-Claude. He isn't a master vampire, so being without the ties to his maker.

It's impossible, the path his thoughts travel. It's impossible and frightening. And yet, amid the fear is an overwhelming relief and spine-tingling joy.

[anita_blake]

Anita shivers against Richard, sighing, relaxing as both the fear of Moroven fades and the fear if Richard rejecting her is soothed.

"So much for having taken a shower," she says with a quiet laugh against his shoulder.

[puppyeyedulfric.livejournal.com]

His gives a soft sound at that shiver. "So much for worrying about calling Lillian too," he murmurs softly. If there's any question of what he means the fact that two hands settle on Anita's hips, even if one moves a little slower and seems less capable, and lift her so he can slip out of her should answer that. It still earns a slight wince, to use it, which he tries to hide in her hair. But just the very fact that he can move it is an improvement.

He's only lifting her just enough to do that before curling her back against him. Mainly because he doesn't want to move just yet, but also because he wants to show he's not going anywhere.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel sighs against Damian's throat. He looks at Richard and Anita, and then slowly gets to his feet. Helping Damian up, he smiles at them.

"I'll take Damian to get some clothes and we'll meet you in your room."

It will give Anita time to collect herself, he figures, and he pulls Damian with him, keeping his hands on the vampire at all times.

[mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com]

Damian is caught in a state of breathless shock. His eyes take in Richard and Anita, and the echo of the marks between them help him to know that they are well, that Richard's arm is recovering, and that it's over.

It's over.

That single thought ricochets off the walls of his mind again and again as he holds onto Nathaniel, blindly following the wereleopard's lead. He looks down at Nathaniel while they make their way down the stairs to his coffin and the small wardrobe pushed against the wall.

"Nathaniel... Are you all right? Did I harm you?" He doesn't think to use the marks to answer his own questions, which shows how shocked he is by it all. "She... she's gone."

[nathaniel_kitten]

As Nathaniel leads Damian from the bathroom towards Anita's room, he musters up a smile for the vampire.

"Yes, she is," he murmurs, "and I'm all right."

The wounds would heal in a couple of days at the most.

[mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com]

Any misgivings Damian feels fade away for a few moments, and he tugs at Nathaniel's hand, pausing them in the hallway. The blinds may have been closed, but Damian's pale skin and crimson hair still gleam with the muted sunlight.

His touch is gentle and warm as he cups Nat's face and kisses him. He knows of no other way to adequately express the joy of those moments. He can't be called back to the dark nightmare by Moroven ever again. He is Anita's now, and Jean-Claude's, Richard's, and Nathaniel's. It's crazy. It's impossible.

But he'll never be alone again. He can feel Nathaniel's presence in his mind with the others, and it's wonderful.

[anita_blake]

With the exit of everyone from the bathroom, the door closed softly behind them, Anita turns her attention to Richard.

"You okay?" she asks, the nervousness returning to her eyes.

[puppyeyedulfric.livejournal.com]

Richard watches everyone leave from his position of his nose against her hair. Eyes on the closed door after, like someone would come through it again.

Her question pulls his eyes down to her. He watches her from so close, shifting to brush their noses against each other. "Give me a few days?" To heal wounds, let things settle, let him assess how he feels. He's currently happy he hasn't gotten this overwhelming urge to flee.

[anita_blake]

Anita swallows visibly and nods.

"All right," she says. "Thank you. Thank you for saving everyone."

He'd been the only option, and he'd saved them, regardless of his discomfort for feeding her.

[puppyeyedulfric.livejournal.com]

He leans in to kiss her, soft, gentle. "I need to settle everything in my head. A lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours." It's not just the feeding her he has to settle. There are now two new people in his head, tied to him.

One hand trails lazily up her back, "No walking away though. I'll be here," he whispers.

[anita_blake]

Anita cuddles close to him, nodding.

"I understand," she murmurs. "I do. We all need time to... acclimate."

There would be some changes.

"Want to shower?"

And then bed. Bed, God, she wants to sleep.

[puppyeyedulfric.livejournal.com]

He nuzzles her throat on the side his mark sits, "Shower sounds good." He still has the dried blood from the fight on him.

Hands settled on her hips to keep her against him, Richard moves and raises to his feet. She doesn't even have to mention or request being set down though. With his shoulder still in not the greatest shape, he sets her down pretty soon after standing. The shower was quick though, helping each other wash. If Richard weren't as tired, weren't in pain, he might try to play a little more. But a lot of what is on his head right now is sleep. So after washing, they help each other dry off. After which his arm wraps around her waist, nose at her throat. "Sleep?"

[anita_blake]

"God, sleep," she agrees, keeping the towel wrapped around her.

She leads Richard into the bedroom, where Damian sits on the bed dressed in pajama bottoms with Nathaniel dressed in jogging shorts beside him. Anita thinks to banish Damian to the basement, but the raw need in his eyes stays her tongue.

"I need a bigger bed," Anita sighs. She's wondering how five people are going to fit in her king-sized bed.

[puppyeyedulfric.livejournal.com]

Richard's eyes settle on the two on the bed. Should he get brownie points for not tensing at the prospect of sharing a bed with them?

He kisses her shoulder, "Ask Jean-Claude where he gets his beds later, right now lets just sleep." He might try to nudge her closer to the bed with this request too.

[anita_blake]

She pauses a moment and goes to the door, calling for Gregory. After a bit of conversation, she returns. Anita moves her nightstand a good distance away from the bed, and after some crashing from upstairs, Gregory shows up with the double mattress from one of the beds upstairs. Shooing Nathaniel and Damian away from the bed, she lets Gregory rearrange the furniture, tossing the two mattresses on the floor side-by-side while getting rid of the railings for her bed.

Pillows and blankets are tossed there, and the bedroom becomes, literally, a bed-room. Anita thanks Gregory, sending the leopardman back outside. "I'll sleep between Richard and Micah, Nathaniel can sleep next to Micah, and Damian can sleep behind Nathaniel." There, that way no one was touching anyone who would creep someone out.

She only distantly registers the phone ringing as she slips on a pair of panties and a large t-shirt, simply exhausted.

[puppyeyedulfric.livejournal.com]

Richard watches the arrangement with a smile, that stays as she designates who is sleeping where. Not putting anyone at his back helps a lot.

He moves to settle blankets where they'll need to be for them all to sleep, busying himself with that since he doesn't actually have anything to change into. It's a little odd with one hand good and one hand making him wince a little when he moves it too much, but he's dealing with that.

[mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com]

Damian manages not to think too hard about what everything means. He watches the rearrangement of the furniture with an astonished, grateful expression. He had caught the brief thought of Anita's to send him away, but he isn't being sent to die alone again, and that fact almost brings tears to his eyes.

The phone keeps ringing, and when it seems that no one else has any intention of answering it, he looks around the room at those assembled. "It might be important," he points out bluntly, not crossing the room because it would mean having to walk through some stray sunbeams not captured by the drapes over the windows. Old fears are difficult to push aside.

[anita_blake]

Anita opens her mouth to stay something, and then the phone stops ringing. After a minute, Micah appears in the door, holding out the cordless phone.

"It's Jean-Claude," he says, looking around the room. "Mmm. Sleepover." Micah grins at Richard. "Fun."

She gives Micah a look and takes the phone from him. "You're calling?" Anita asks, watching Nathaniel fuss over Damian.

[masterofstlouis]

"This afternoon's events have quite overtaxed me," Jean-Claude explains. "Even mental communication is slightly beyond me until I am able to feed. I felt Moroven flee in the wake of your and Richard's shared passions, and I wished to call and be certain that everything is all right there now."

[anita_blake]

She looks around the room.

Damian was cowering from the sunlight while Nathaniel -- bruised and cut up -- tried to soothe him. Richard was playing the domestic card and setting up the bed, but his wounds are also clear as day. Micah was lounging against the door, watching her with shrewd eyes.

And she was sore everywhere, from the toes on up, with two gauze covered bite marks on her throat.

"Oh, yeah, it's fucking peachy, Jean-Claude," she says, tone short. "We're about to cuddle up in bed and squeal over the newest American Idol episode while Damian braids Nathaniel's hair and Micah makes popcorn."

[masterofstlouis]

Jean-Claude chuckles softly. "Poor choice of words, ma petite. I mean to say, is there anything else immediately wrong beyond the obvious?"

[anita_blake]

Anita sighs, rubbing her face, watching everyone around her. Micah's arms slide around her waist and she leans back against him.

"Not that I can see. Damian's up and walking about. The sunlight didn't do anything to him. Moroven's gone. Richard's dealing with what he had to do. We're all exhausted." She glances at Damian. "I think... I think Damian and I share the fourth mark."

[masterofstlouis]

There is silence from his end of the phone. More than just an absence of sound, this was a stillness that seemed to absorb sound. It lasts for almost a minute before he speaks again. "It seems likely, though I will not know for certain until I can see you both. However, his ability to walk during the day is most telling. It makes me wonder if I had given you the fourth mark, if I might now have that ability as well."