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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[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."

[anita_blake]

Anita feels her chest tighten.

"I couldn't give you that," she murmurs. "Hell, Jean-Claude, I didn't exactly want to give it to Damian."

And it makes her worry about her soul, about the repercussions, about everything, making her headache that much worse.

"What are we going to do?"

[masterofstlouis]

"I do not know, ma petite," he says honestly, though his voice is tight. Jean-Claude is angry, furious even, though he knows that nothing that happened was intentional and he has no real target for that anger. "There is no precedent that I know of for such a thing to happen, and I dare not ask any other masters, lest they perceive it as a weakness or a threat. I must speak with Damian, though. I sense he is very confused right now."

[anita_blake]

Anita doesn't like the fury she can distantly feel as Jean-Claude tries to keep it behind his own shields. She nods, though he can't see it, and approaches Damian. She holds out the phone to the vampire.

"He wants to talk with you," she says.

[mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com]

Damian's eyes had been glued to Anita since she mentioned him. Fourth mark? Yes, it explains the daywalking, but to have it happen unintentionally and be bound to a master necromancer? Confused is a rather delicate term.

He rises from where he had decided to curl up on the floor with Nathaniel. His movements are a bit stiff for the usually elegant vampire, but he takes the phone from Anita.

"Yes?" he says into the receiver, wary of the distant anger he can feel.

[masterofstlouis]

Jean-Claude slips into German, choosing to keep the topic of their conversation between them.

"You are afraid. I can feel it. Your fear colors everyone else. If they are to rest, Damian, you will need to rest as well. What can I do to ease this fear you have?"

[mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com]

Damian changes his dialect easily. German is one language he has been speaking for a very long time. Jean-Claude's opening words to him are concise, so he is equally blunt.

"I will need to speak with you in depth privately. I have too many questions and I don't trust the others to answer them. She Who Made Me is gone, not just from this encounter, but completely. I fear the change. I fear what it means for me, for Anita, and for all of us in this... pentagram of power." Five points, five people bound together. In a flash, he remembers Moon's words, the ones he hadn't fully understood. Of all the thoughts swirling around in his mind, one question surfaces that needs an answer if he is to pull himself together enough to be calm. "Am I still under your protection and Anita's, Jean-Claude? Does my blood-oath to you still stand?"

[masterofstlouis]

"Of course," Jean-Claude assures Damian. "You will always have our protection. You may come to the Circus tonight and we will discuss everything. There will be changes, of course, for everyone, but you and I will speak, my friend. I will do what I can to answer your questions."

Jean-Claude also reflects that it's not as if he himself has many answers to give, but he will do his best as Master of the City.

[mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com]

That is all Damian expects. The effort is, in some ways, more important than the information itself. He knows they have set a precedent. Not all things will be known immediately.

Still, the answer is taken to heart. He is protected. He will remain protected with them. This power base will not fail him. With that knowledge, he calms the frantic part of him that has been keeping the others on edge. Letting out a slow breath, he wraps himself in calm before speaking again.

"Thank you. Barring another metaphysical event, I will remain calm until we speak. If you have questions for me, you may ask them now." He somehow doubts that Jean-Claude was simply checking up on him. The Master of the City rarely takes actions without multiple reasons, or so he has learned since coming to St. Louis.

[masterofstlouis]

What was it like to see the sun again? he wants to ask, but locks the question down behind the tightest shields he can manage so that even he questions if he'd thought it at all.

"We can discuss things more tonight. For now, rest and recover your strength. Goodbye, Damian. Please hand the phone back to Anita."

[mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com]

"As you wish," he responds in parting before handing the phone back to Anita. The woman has a strange look on her face, and he watches her closely.

[anita_blake]

Anita puts the phone back to her ear.

"I speak German," she says to Jean-Claude. "If we're all connected, trying to hide behind other languages is a pretty moot point, don't you think?"

[masterofstlouis]

"Perhaps," he answers smoothly. "I merely felt Damian would be more comfortable discussing his concerns if he did not believe he would be overheard."

[anita_blake]

"Next time, pick another language."

Anita sighs, rubbing her eyes.

"We're all tired. I have a raising tonight. I desperately need sleep before I even join in the fun and games of trying to sort this mess out."

[masterofstlouis]

"Then rest and recover, ma petite. I have told Damian to come to the Circus tonight. I would like to extend the same invitation to you, Richard, and Nathaniel. With all of us together, 'sorting this mess out' may be easier."

[anita_blake]

Anita nods.

"We'll be there. Richard and Nathaniel can come with Damian. I'll be by as soon as I'm done with my appointment." She sighs. "You should probably ask Asher to be there, too--"

Nathaniel shakes his head. "If Asher's going to find out, Anita, it will be from me, alone, and without an audience," he insists.

Anita sighs, because, God, men! "Fine. Don't tell Asher, Jean-Claude, but we'll all be there tonight at some point, all right?"

[masterofstlouis]

"As you wish, ma petite. I will await you all this evening."

Then, almost as an afterthought, he adds, "Do you also speak Italian, ma petite?"

[anita_blake]

"No," she answers distractedly. "Why?"

[masterofstlouis]

"Merely curious," he says with a private smile. "Sleep well, ma petite. Je t'aime."

Jean-Claude hangs up the phone and sighs heavily, tiredly. It is still too early to call for Jason, and the club won't open for hours yet. His evening meal will simply have to wait. In the meantime, Jean-Claude returns to his bed, stretching out beside Asher again to conserve what energy he has until he is able to feed and start the night properly.