Trash Panda

~Bonsoir~

Vail was only a few yards away from his bedroom when he heard Victoria’s scream. The sound of it was muffled, but that just led him to know immediately that she was in danger. Belatedly, he realized Caleb’s scent was stronger than his other cousins, who had all left the hallway hours ago, and he swore under his breath. It seemed like there was still one member of the Hygrace clan who hadn’t given up on drinking her piquant blood. He should have known better than to assume she was safe just because the threat of his relatives was no longer as obvious as it had been when they were clawing at his door.

Covering the rest of the distance in a few long strides, he hurried into the room only to find that Caleb was already leaning over the Lady with his nose and tongue to her neck as he hunted for a warm spot to sink his fangs. Her efforts to push him away were about as effective as a mouse trying to move a tree. His cousin was unfazed, keeping one hand positioned firmly over her mouth while a nefarious smile played on his lips. He didn’t even seem to care that there was a third person with them now. His attention was fixated solely on his meal.

“Caleb!” Vail barked just as the other Hygrace stretched his jaw to bite her. His cousin paused, elongated canines hovering just above Victoria’s fair skin. When Vail raised his voice, he sounded similar enough to Peter that Caleb was briefly unsure if he had been caught by the leader or the heir. However, the scent of his uncle’s son was distinct, so his confusion was short lived. It was enough to give Vail time to intervene though.

Setting the water glass down on a stand by the door, he crossed to his cousin’s side and hauled him off the woman in his bed, twisting one arm behind his back. The gesture was done in part to keep Caleb away from Lady Crest, but it was also his way of taking out his frustration with the other predator for trying to feed on her while he was gone. “Halfwit,” he hissed, his annoyance bleeding into his tone. “Are you really going to disregard my father’s orders? He said this human is not to be touched.”

“I was just going to have a little taste,” Caleb lifted his free hand in a shrug. “There’s no harm.”

“She’s ill,” Vail narrowed his eyes. “A ‘little taste’ might have killed her.” Dragging his cousin by the collar—he might not have been as strong as his father, but he still held superior strength over his relatives when matched against them individually—he shoved the other vampire out of the room. “Do yourself a favor and go hunting tonight,” he growled, closing the door roughly between them.

With the danger taken care of, he let out his breath in a long exhale and retrieved the glass he’d left at the front of the room. “Sorry,” he murmured to Victoria as he stepped over to her side again. “I didn’t think he would be bold enough to try again.” Gently, he slipped one hand behind her shoulders to help her sit up straight before he offered her the water to drink.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow is learning to be more patient. He's growing as a person now that his decisions matter more than when he was a thief xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

While Penelope spoke with his attendant, Crow let his gaze shift away from their table to observe the other people in the Great Hall. It was early enough in the morning that there weren’t very many others eating breakfast yet. Only a few other tables had been filled, and he didn’t recognize anyone other than Cedric. He had a feeling most of the missing faces were still hungover in their bedchambers. Nobles drank more than he’d thought they did. They might have even indulged more than the peasants he’d grown up with, and that was saying something because he’d seen more men and women pass out than he could count in the outer villages. He’d also noticed recently that wine-drunk felt a little different than ale-drunk. Although he tried not to have too much, himself, he wouldn’t have been surprised if the fermented liquid caused worse headaches than the drinks he was familiar with when consumed in excess.

Sipping at the water Preston had set down for him, his eyes flicked back to Penelope’s former suitor. Cedric was trying to be discreet, but the sharp former thief caught him glancing in their direction. No one had said outright why he was sharing a meal with Penelope and her father, but given the context, one could take a guess. He was sure the knight was at least suspicious of the reason. It was a good thing Naida was sleeping in though. If his sister saw them now, she would jump to the (accurate) conclusion that he was receiving permission to court her friend. Nothing was set in stone yet, so he preferred to keep the news between himself and Penelope until their relationship could progress.

Meanwhile, Preston had nodded in response to her request. “Of course,” he said compliantly. Proceeding to ensure that the viceroy’s food was untampered with, he stepped back from the table and bowed before leaving them to eat in peace.

As always, Crow dug into his portion enthusiastically. “I’ll talk to my father,” he relented after swallowing a bite of buttered rye bread. “But I think it should wait until after you have your audience with him.” He turned to Penelope with a thoughtful frown. “As much as I’d like to start courting today, he might not listen to either of us if we throw too much at him at once. You should speak with him about the war, since that’s objectively more important, and then I’ll bring up the matter of our marriage.” Charily, he rested his hand on her leg beneath the table and gave her thigh a quick, reassuring squeeze before letting go again. “With any luck, he’ll agree to both.”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Yep! I'm also thinking that Cas is getting close to his breaking point. I could actually see him reasoning with himself that if Iris had a boyfriend, he would have called about her by now. Then at some point, he'd either consider and/or move in to kiss her and that's when he gets the interrupting call about the rebels in the capital cx

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Cas was glad to see the smile return to Iris’s face. As difficult as her situation was, there wasn’t anything either of them could do to force her memories to come back faster. At least, not that he knew of. Instead, he just wanted to lift her spirits in his own way, so she wouldn’t be completely discouraged by the fact that no one had come for her yet. Privately, he thought it was strange that they hadn’t heard from her family too. It hadn’t been a week, but four days wasn’t an insignificant amount of time for a person to go missing. He didn’t want to distress her more than she already was though, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he joked when she said she didn’t want to impose. “You’re doing that empty bedroom a service by giving it a purpose.” In the next moment, he tensed reflexively as she placed her hand on top of his. The gesture was more familiar than he had expected, coming from her. It was the type of response he might have expected from a girlfriend, not a woman he’d only known for a few days. Either she was subtly flirting with him, or she was more comfortable than he was with small touches that would have otherwise been seen as romantic.

“S-Sure,” he stammered and then cleared his throat, embarrassed by the slip. Retracting his hand from her shoulder, he dropped it into his lap. His skin still tingled with warmth where her fingers had rested over his. He wasn’t usually flustered by things like that, but the unexpectedness of it had caught him off guard. Iris was naturally friendly, and that made it difficult to tell if she was making passes at him or innocently treating him the same way she would have treated anyone else. Maybe it would be a good thing for her to meet his friends. That way, he would have a larger sample size to compare how she acted around other people besides just him.

Cas was drawn from his thoughts when the wait staff asked what he wanted to drink. “Irish coffee,” he answered without hesitation. He didn’t usually drink during the middle of the day, but the recurring tension he felt around Iris called for something stronger than plain water. If it was all in his head, at least he could relax enough to forget about it. That was the hope, anyway. “And a water,” he added as an afterthought. If they were going to be out all day, he needed something that would actually hydrate him before they left.

The servant bowed and walked off to fulfill their requests just before two other cooks stepped up to the counter with their lunches. They presented two bowls of hearty fig salad and an assortment of dressings for the prince and his company to choose from. Cas picked a balsamic vinaigrette for his portion. “Maybe we could get dinner at the pizza place I told you about,” he mused as he tossed everything together. “Salads never fill me up for very long, so I’m sure I’ll want a big meal later.”

~Bonsoir~

He would, but he didn't show up right after Vail left (he was timing his visits randomly and happened to get lucky) so Vail would be close enough by this time to hear her even if her voice is muffled. Also, Caleb is a Hygrace, so he isn't completely brutal like Spencer or other vampires. He acts more like Vail does by letting his pheromones do some of the work to make her relax and numbing her skin before he bites. Basically, he's slower.

~Bonsoir~

Vail squeezed Victoria’s hand when she shook her head, momentarily worried that she meant there was nothing that could be done. He had seen a few humans with congestion or a cough, but, having never witnessed anyone with a condition as severe as hers, he didn’t know what to do about it. The odor of illness hung thickly in the air now that he was closer to her, but he couldn’t yet detect the foreboding scent of death. It seemed she still had time, but his knowledge of human ailments was limited. He was unsure if there was even a cure for the disease that had taken over her frail body.

Her following words were as foreign to him as if she had begun to speak Chinese. Vaguely, he recalled reading something about the discoveries of sepsis and penicillin, but he hadn’t been interested enough at the time to commit the information to memory. Medicine was about as helpful to vampires as tunnels were to a bird. It was an impressive leap forward in the timeline of human achievements, but his kind was beyond the need for antibiotics. There had been no reason for him to study something he’d thought he would never use. Although now, he was starting to wish he’d paid closer attention to the news article.

“Of course,” he nodded when she asked for water. That was another discrepancy between their species. While vampires did consume food and water like humans, they needed far less to get by in conjunction with the blood they drank. Like many other predators in the animal kingdom, they fed infrequently and then rested to conserve their energy until they needed to hunt again. The occasional meals they ate in between just supplied some nutrients they couldn’t get by drinking blood alone. If Victoria hadn’t requested water, he wouldn’t have thought to bring her any, since it wasn’t a substance he needed to stay hydrated the same way her kind did.

Leaning down, Vail touched a swift kiss to her cheek and then stood up from the bed. “I’ll be right back,” he promised as he headed for the door. Before he left, he took a moment to breathe in the scents in the air, cautious in case his cousins were still loitering outside his bedroom. It seemed like everyone had dispersed while they had been sleeping though. Perhaps the smell of her sickness had discouraged them from trying to secure a bite. Relieved, he headed down to the kitchen to fill a glass of water for the Crest heiress from the tap. He didn’t return to his room right away though.

On his way back, he took a detour to his father’s study, where Peter was furiously writing a letter at his desk. From a distance, Vail couldn’t quite make out the name in the address line, and the clan leader noticed his presence before he could get closer. He turned around in his chair, knitting his brows bemusedly. “How is Lady Crest?” he asked, straight to the point as always.

“Worse,” a hint of concern seeped into Vail’s visage. “She woke up with a fever and her neck looks infected. She thinks she might have sepis.”

“Sepsis,” Peter corrected, drumming his fingers against his thigh. Having obtained a formal education in the field of medicine, he knew about the condition as well as the treatment. However, he wasn’t a certified doctor, so he didn’t have access to the antibiotics Victoria needed. If she was as ill as she believed, her case was beyond him now.

“She needs a human doctor,” Vail insisted, echoing Peter’s thoughts. “Do you know anyone in the city who would be willing to see her? Perhaps someone who has treated the servants?” Unlike other families, they didn’t have their own doctor for obvious reasons, but he knew his father had connections through his continued education. He just hoped the clan leader wouldn’t choose to let her succumb to the disease.

Peter pursed his lips for a drawn out moment before he rose to his feet. “I know one man who might help,” he admitted, pulling his coat over his shoulders. “I’ll go to his house to find out if he’s at home.”

“Thank you,” Vail felt the tension ebb from his shoulders.

Peter said nothing in response as he exited the room. The younger Hygrace took a step after him and then paused, his eyes flitting back to the letter on his father’s desk. Too curious to leave without taking a closer look, he sidled over to the abandoned parchment only to find that it was addressed to Alexander’s widow. It seemed that Peter had been writing to explain to her that they had not kidnapped Victoria but were holding her until she was well enough to return home. He had also added that Diana could visit the Hygrace manor if she desired to see evidence that her daughter was still alive, since he understood that she must have been worried about her safety. It was both formal and sympathetic in nature, an obvious effort to make peace with the Crest family after Vail had run off with the heiress in the night.

When he finished skimming the contents of the letter, he turned and walked the rest of the way back to his room to bring Victoria the glass of water and make sure she was still faring all right.

Meanwhile, all was not as quiet among the other Hygraces as Vail had thought. Most of his cousins had given up on drinking the Lady’s blood after Peter had warned them away, but Caleb was stubborn. Throughout the day, he had passed by the heir’s bedroom a few times, checking the scents through the door in the hopes of catching her alone. When Vail left to fill her request, he saw his chance.

Performing a quick sweep of the hallway to make sure no one else was around—he didn’t want to share her with his siblings—Caleb slipped into the room and closed the door quietly behind him. His feral eyes locked onto Victoria, and he advanced silently toward the bed. Like the others, he could smell the illness inside of her, but the unique aroma of her blood was too enticing to ignore. He licked his lip hungrily and leaned over her when he was close enough. The aged mattress creaked as he pressed one hand next to her head. If she’d been sleeping or otherwise had her eyes closed, she would know he was there now.

A victorious grin spread over his features, and he lifted one finger to his lips, instructing her to be quiet with a breathy ‘shh’ just before he pressed his hand down over her mouth.

~Bonsoir~

That’s good! I’m getting brunch this morning, but I can work on my next post when I get home!

~Bonsoir~

Oof, that’s not good! Colleges are known for cutting corners to save money. They use a lot of cheap materials instead of high quality ones. If they’re disregarding the IBC they can get sued though! In the US we’ve got a ridiculous amount of building codes so new buildings are safe even if they scrape by at the bare minimum. We have separate codes for fire safety, earthquakes, egress, disabilities accommodations, etc. It’s all helpful, but it’s a lot to remember xD

~Bonsoir~

Okay, that makes sense! Undergrad is 4 years at most universities in the US. I started in 2016 ^^ 6 years ins’t bad!

If somebody offered to pay me, I technically could! xD It would be funny if they hired a student though, haha. Is that building where you’re going to be having classes?