Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Ouch,” Crow said with dry sarcasm when Penelope jokingly called him an ass. His smirk turned from smug to teasing. “You’re right though. I should have upped the bet from ‘one favor’ to ‘servant for a day’ when I had the chance. Next time I’ll think it through a little more.” Crouching down, he rocked back on his heels until he was sitting on the edge of the roof with his legs dangling freely over the side. Even though he’d already won, he couldn’t keep himself from milking his victory just a bit longer.

When Penelope said he had gotten lucky that she hadn’t looked up, he rolled his eyes. Despite what she said, he knew quite well that she was unlikely to have thought of checking the rooftops. It was a trick he’d pulled on knights for years. People in general didn’t seem to think about what was above their heads unless they had a reason to look there. A few knights had figured him out when he’d used the tactic in the past, but they were in the vast minority compared with the ones who had run right under his nose.

At her following words, he grinned. “Yeah, right,” he laughed. “You like me too much to leave me behind. I’m not risking anything.” Still, he shifted further over the edge of the roof, supporting most of his weight on his hands before he dropped down to the stack of crates below. As fun as it was to toy with Penelope, he didn’t want to waste too much time in Bellmare and miss out on supper later.

Climbing down from the boxes, he strode back over to her side and pressed a kiss to her cheek as he handed the coin purse back. “But, I do want you to keep liking me, so I’ll listen just this once,” he quipped, casting her a playful wink. “Come on, love. You’ve distracted us for long enough. We need to get back to the castle sometime today.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Winning did nothing good for Crow's ego xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It wasn’t long before the pounding of boots on cobblestone drew Crow’s attention. He crawled a little closer to the edge of the rooftop on his stomach, drawn by his curiosity to see if Penelope would figure out where he was hidden. To his pleasure, she didn’t even glance up and instead took off at a cautious pace down a nearby alley. He had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing, entertained by sight. From the top of the building, he had a great view of her futile search. Unless she realized he wasn’t on the ground anymore, there was no way she would catch him now.

Pushing away from the drop off, he sat up cross-legged closer to the center of the roof, keeping out of sight while he waited for her to inevitably give up. To amuse himself, he withdrew another gold coin from the purse he’d taken from her and practiced spinning it on its narrow edge to see how long it would twirl before it fell over. The way the metal piece caught the sunlight was interesting, so it held his attention until he finally heard her voice call out from somewhere down below.

Grinning to himself, the former thief got up and stepped back over to the edge of the building, standing on the drop off with the front of his boots hanging over the side. It was a bit of a cocky move on his part, but he’d also always been comfortable in high-up places. The risk of knowing he could fall yet trusting that he wouldn’t gave him a rush.

“What was that?” Crow called back down to get her attention. He smirked smugly as he held up her purse, leaning precariously over the edge of the roof. “Sorry, love. It’s hard to hear you from up here. I thought you just said: ‘Collin is the best, and I now have to do whatever he wants on a day of his choice.’ Isn’t that right?”

~Bonsoir~

All of Vail’s senses were alive when he finally laid with Victoria. He relished the feeling of her hot skin pressed against his, the mingling smells of her blood and pheromones, and the sound of her breathy voice in his ear. Even the sensation of her lips and tongue on his neck drove him crazy, fueling his passion and primal desire to have his way with her. The combined stimulation was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. Even though he’d had his fun with a couple other vampires during his youthful years—well before the Hygraces had gone into hiding—sleeping with a human was far different. Being so close to her triggered his instincts as both a male and a predator, and he was nearly overwhelmed by the intensity of his lust for her.

He lost himself so completely in the heat of the moment that by the time it was over, he felt like he had to reorient himself to his surroundings. He laid by Victoria’s side, removing his weight from her body as he waited for his heartrate and breathing to regulate on their own. The lasting ecstasy left him feeling lightheaded, and he didn’t want to move from the bed, even though he knew he needed to return to his family’s manor before dawn as well as she did. His father could never know what he had done tonight. His relationship with the Crest heiress had already been taboo before. Now that he’d taken her in a way that was forbidden between vampires and humans, it all had to be buried in the dark. He couldn’t tell a soul about what had transpired between them without losing everything.

Regardless of the risk, he was surprised to find that he didn’t regret sleeping with Victoria at all. At least, not yet. Instead of a leaden weight of foreboding about the consequences, there was a sense of relief inside of him that radiated peace. He’d wanted to have more than just her blood for quite some time now—he would finally admit this to himself—and now that he had, the sexual tension he’d been suppressing around her was gone. His muscles relaxed, and even though he was still wary of what his actions would bring, he managed not to dwell on the issue to the point of anxiety. Right now, all he wanted to do was replay the night in his head, the writhing of their entangled bodies as they crossed the line that had doomed them.

Absently, he let his gaze travel down her naked figure. A mess of complex emotions accompanied the sight, and he was certain now that his earlier guess had been right: The nonromantic boundaries he’d tried to set before had been all that had stood in the way of him falling for Victoria Crest. Now that the door was open, there was nothing to stay his attachment to her. His addiction had bled over from more than just his taste for her blood; he wanted every part of her to himself without exception.

He understood now why his kind warned that this was such a dangerous place to be.

Taking a slow breath, Vail lifted one hand to touch the spot on his neck that she had sucked. He found it to be tender and though he couldn’t see it, he could tell she’d left a mark. He would have to be careful to hide it from his family in between the hours it took to disappear. “I think we need a new condition,” he said, meeting her gaze with a teasing glint in his eyes. “It’s hardly fair that you can bite me on the neck when I can’t do the same to you. For the sake of equality, it should be both or none.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It helped her a little. Crow wasn't expecting her to try and cut him off xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow glanced over his shoulder once more as he sprinted through the back alleys. Whether Penelope had fallen for his trick or not, he still couldn’t hear her coming after him. She must have been distracted at least long enough for him to pull ahead of her. He smiled to himself, pleased with how well the chase was turning out. It seemed it was just as easy for him to get away from her as it was from any other knight when he wasn’t hindered by time in prison. He couldn’t wait to hear her give up.

Rounding another corner, the former thief slowed his pace slightly. Having not come across sight nor sound of Penelope, he felt comfortable letting his guard down a little. Even if she managed to catch up with him, he would hear her coming. He tossed the coin purse in his hand, strolling through the shadowed street at a leisurely walk. Even though the challenge was fun, he hoped the knight wouldn’t hold out too much longer. He wanted to get back to the castle in time for supper.

Passing across an intersection with another alley, he glanced down either side to make sure he was still alone. Of course, there was still no sign of Penelope, so he walked across to the other side without any trouble. Before he could reach it, however, he froze as he saw a flash of movement in front of him. It seemed Penelope had taken another street that intersected with the one he was on now a few yards ahead.

Cursing under his breath, he slipped into the street he was crossing now, hoping the knight hadn’t seen him during the brief window in which she’d had the opportunity. Regardless of whether she had or hadn’t, the safest option was to assume the worst. He took off at a run, hurrying to distance himself from her again before she could catch up.

As he headed down the alley, his eyes darted over the sides, searching for an exit. Luckily, there was an adjoining path not too far ahead. He hastened his pace, nearly skidding as he turned down the street. When he rounded the corner, he slowed down again, catching sight of a stack of crates pressed against the back of a building. His gaze flicked back over his shoulder once more, and a grin spread across his lips as an idea began to form.

Without sparing a moment, he sprinted toward the wooden boxes, using his momentum to leap up the sides. When he reached the top of the pile, he put the drawstrings of the coin purse in his mouth, jumped up and caught hold of the edge of the flat roof. He could feel the strain in his arms as he hauled his weight up and over the building until he had hidden himself from sight.

Panting from the exertion of climbing, he laid on his stomach away from the drop off, staying still and hoping Penelope wouldn’t think to look for him above the ground.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

He decided to test her a little cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow wasted no time putting distance between himself and Penelope. As soon as he started running, he immediately fell back into old habits, dipping into the closest alleyways and using the natural structures of the city to his advantage in the escape. It had been a long time since he’d last been chased through the inner kingdom, but he’d had enough practice to find it easy. His heart raced with excitement and an eager grin took over his face as he turned a second corner.

The thrill of the chase aside, he was also curious to find out how well Penelope would keep up with him on a more level playing field. He’d been terribly out of shape the first time she had caught him at the river, but now, he was nearly as fit as he had been at his peak—aside from the slight toll of how long he’d been bedridden after Jaxon had stabbed him, but he was determined not to let that hold him back from winning their competition. His other tricks would make up for it anyway.

Sure that the knight was pursuing him by now—it didn’t take that long to count to five—he decided to test the waters with her a bit. She’d been with him long enough to know some of his escape tactics by now, but would she catch on to them in the middle of a chase? He glanced back over his shoulder, pivoting on the ball of his foot to press his back against the edge of a building around a third corner. Not seeing anyone right away, he quickly fished out a coin from the purse he’d stolen and tossed it on the ground on the other side of the alley, hoping to send her in the wrong direction by pretending he’d dropped the gold on accident.

With the distraction in place, he spun around and continued running in the opposite direction, not waiting to find out if she’d fall for his ploy as he tried to put distance between them yet again.

Cirque du Sombre [Siaya Dragalorn & Summer]

Sorry it took me a while to get back to you! I had a friend in town 'til this morning, so I've been super busy.

I have an answer for that, actually xD Faeries are dark fairies, so I imagine she'd feed on positive emotions like happiness and peace. The humans she makes into her food would feel depressed for a while after they wake up.

As for the groups, I do think the goal of the pro-human supernaturals is to keep everything the way it is now.

I'm not sure if I'd see the hunters working with the pro-humans, just because none of the supernaturals would want to team up with someone who kills members of their kind for a living. They could definitely have a cease-fire type of truce though. Basically, it's understood that the hunters (or, the hunters who are willing to form a truce at all) will leave them alone as long as they don't kill anyone.

For the cirque, it would be fairly well known in the supernatural world, especially among those who've lived for a long time. I imagine that since most monsters fall in the category of anti-human, they wouldn't want to join unless they felt like they had to. They respect its existence because it does provide protection for anyone who needs it. Some extremists might think it's an abomination though, since the cirque doesn't kill.

Hunters know the truth about Cirque du Sombre, but they mostly just monitor it quietly. There are so many supernaturals in the circus that they'd pretty much start a small war if they attacked it, so they grudgingly tolerate it as long as no humans are killed during their feedings.

Everything about our characters sounds right to me!

--

EDIT: Just saw that I missed a question. The Cirque relies predominantly on safety in numbers, but the faeries are definitely capable of creating a magic barrier if they need to. With that, they would put up a barrier during the after party to keep stray bystanders out who might be curious to find out what goes on when everyone else has to leave. Just so their secret doesn't go public

Cirque du Sombre [Siaya Dragalorn & Summer]

When Lune returned his excitement in kind, Rayth could already tell he was going to like her. The rest of the circus members spent so much time frowning, it was a wonder their faces didn’t stick that way. Or maybe they had. There were some monsters here that he was sure he had never seen smile since the day he’d arrived. Even Oscar, the one person he got along with, rarely brightened unless he was trying to hit on a girl or was laughing at a prank he’d pulled on someone else.
Compared to that, Lune’s immediate enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air.
“I don’t know about any other circuses, but ours does,” he shrugged when she said she didn’t know they still used trains. “They’re not like they used to be though. These ones are a lot nicer, like the sleeper cars in an AmTrak.”
He glanced away from her as he spoke, noticing that Frieda was already walking off toward the other performers, silently leaving them alone. He found it a little strange that she had put him in charge of showing Lune around. When he’d joined last year, she had put him in the care of one of her faerie workers. He couldn’t help but wonder why she thought he was better equipped to get the new girl settled in than one of her own.
Rayth snapped back to attention when Lune told him to lead the way. “Alright,” he grinned, waving a hand for her to follow him. “It’s just behind the fence over here. Come on.”
Turning away from her, he followed the border along the outside of the back yard. It still didn’t make sense to him why Frieda had given him this job, but he wasn’t going to complain. Helping the new girl settle in meant he could get away from the intoxicating chemicals in the air, and he wouldn’t have to help the others tear everything down once the after party was over. He’d have a clear head and get to early turn in for the night. It was a win-win.
As he walked, Rayth looked at Lune sideways, his thoughts drifting to his other unanswered question. He still couldn’t tell what she was from just her appearance. Even her smell didn’t tip him off. After traveling with the circus for so long, he’d become familiar with the individual scents of all the other creatures in the troupe, but she wasn’t like any of the ones he’d met so far. More so than anything, she just seemed like a normal human to him. Human and something else he couldn’t peg down.
Maybe it’s a disguise? He’d never heard of any monster that could mask its scent, but then again, the supernatural world was full of strange creatures. It wouldn’t have surprised him if she was something he’d never even heard of before.
Whatever the case, it couldn’t hurt to ask.
“So, what are you?” he queried, giving in to his curiosity. He had to know who and what had captured the ringmistress’s attention so thoroughly that she would skip a meal. The mystery was too enticing to leave unanswered.