On the Pond (Joel, Open)

[neriumoleander]

About a half mile from Grimhilde Manor, beyond the land and in a thicket of overgrown trees, there lies a deep pond. It teems with life. Shimmers with magic and the surface is particularly exquisite under the full moon. It has been Nerium's place, since she was a child. Lonely and wandering her woods, she found the fish and frogs there not to be potion ingredients, but charming companions. Today there is another world there. Ruled by a family of mischievous water nymphs borne of a spell of Nerium's long ago. Magic breeds magic and soon the pond was home to grindylows, ashrays, bunyip, and kappas - even miniature hippocamps. They regard Nerium as a goddess. For her, they are her closest friends - along with the ravens and other creatures of the manor. 



She often floats a canoe to the center to think or reflect on a new spell. Today she is there with a book in hand, and several others resting at the floor of the canoe. She is a bookseller now, during Rose's occasional stints at The Quill, and she must make her role believable. So she's gathered an assortment of books, those highly recommended and sought after. Others considered classics. 

Nerium is unsure how she feels about this boy wizard. He who survived a curse from the the great dark lord. 

"It is in poor taste to attack a child. But his wrong is seeking power for purely selfish gain. One will always be corrupted by the great dark forces if they are not dealt with accordingly. Sacrifice and worship." The water nymphs lean against the side of her boat, ever a captive audience. "Though this so-called hero is insufferable. Who cares of sport when there is magic to learn? Certainly all his brilliance comes from his female friend."

Perhaps Nerium likes the bushy-haired girl. Even if she was born of humans. Her power is the same.  

Comments

[just_another]

Joel doesn't really know why he's here.

He very firmly disagrees with Nerium's thoughts on humans versus witches and that's not going to change any time soon, but despite that, despite finding her words worrying, he'd still found himself liking her. He's thought about her now and then, mostly whenever he and Spencer talk about finding a surrogate, because he worries what state the town might be in by the time they're ready to expand their family. He worries about what might happen, that they'll have to close the store, find somewhere new to live, but he doesn't really say any of that to Spencer.

He does tell him he's going to see Nerium Grimhilde, though, and when Spencer looks at him curiously, he shrugs and says, "I feel like maybe she could use a friend."

So he's here at the edge of the pond, staring in silent awe at the state of it, the creatures that swim, the way her canoe looks out there in the middle. And it's only after a few moments of silence that he realizes what she's reading. "I always thought a book about the older generation would have been more interesting," he calls out to her.

[neriumoleander]

The nymphs jump into immediate action. Hissing, waving miniature tridents in their arms and jumping into the canoe to create a barrier between Joel and Nerium. They are unused to visitors. Even Nerium's grandmother did not venture here, considering it too much of whimsy and nonsense.

Nerium waves them away. "Go back on your way." She shoos them into the water, "He is of no harm", and draws her head from the book to look across the pond at him.

"It is far too black and white. Evil Slytherin. Villainous Dark Lord. Perhaps the later books will offer greater intricacies."

She places the book down in the canoe, which floats nearer to the shore. "How did you find me here?"

[just_another]

Joel watches the nymphs with a sense of fascination and although he thinks they would likely to be able to do real damage to someone, he also isn't particularly scared. He doesn't think Nerium would let them hurt him when he clearly doesn't want to cause her any harm. He's still not entirely sure why, but he'd found himself liking her and he thinks she knows that. Or, at the very least, she knows he isn't going to attempt to hurt her.

It isn't that he's not capable of it. She knows a lot of things, she probably knows exactly what he can do and that he'd nearly killed Mark Fuller that night in the lighthouse. But he hopes she also knows he doesn't hurt people just for the fun of it.

"Oh," he says in response to her question, then raises his hand. A little green ball of light flickers into existence before it disappears again. "A locator spell." It's not the same one he used to find Spencer; that one had required blood, but he had needed to be sure. "It's not very accurate, but it gives me a relatively good idea. You weren't at the manor, so I..." He shrugs and smiles faintly, gesturing with his hand.

[neriumoleander]

She rises in the canoe as it drifts closer, nearly approaching the man. Nerium is impressed by his bravery in venturing to these parts. Most will not, though perhaps he is unaware of the danger most fear. And his admittance of magic shows, perhaps, he has taken heed of her words.

"You would not have been able to reach the manor without permission. The night I summoned you there it's defenses were lifted, but the grounds are protected by curses." She smiles softly. "You did well to use the locator spell. Though I believe you have dabbled in quite stronger ones too, have you not?"

[just_another]

It doesn't surprise him at all that she knows and he gives a faint smile in return, nodding an affirmation. "If I didn't find you today..." He trails off and shrugs. He'd wanted to see her, but finding her hadn't been a matter of life or death, not the way it had been with Spencer. "If I didn't find you, no one would have died. But Spencer and that night..." Mark would have killed Spencer, he's sure of that, but he doesn't want to dwell on that any longer than he has to.

His smile grows a little. "I ruined one of his shirts doing the spell, but I think he forgives me." It's long since been thrown out anyway, stained with Joel's blood, burned in places, but it had done the job.

[neriumoleander]

"Blood is one of the strongest ingredients one can contribute to a spell. Though forces such as desperation or love or innocence can certainly add to its power."

The canoe reaches the weedy overgrown bank nearby where Joel stands. Nerium nods her head in invitation for him to join her. The water nymphs trail behind, whispering amongst themselves, clearly scandalized at the presence of another there, nonetheless a male. Nerium turns to them sharply. "Manners!" and they fall silent and still, watching curiously.

"How is your Spencer? Still worthy enough to give you faith in the whole of humankind?"

[just_another]

For a moment Joel is distracted, watching the nymphs, but when they fall back, he pauses and then carefully gets into the canoe with Nerium. He has no idea what he expected when he came looking for her, but he can't pretend he isn't enjoying the conversation in a strange way. She understands the power he has better than most and she knows what he can and can't do. More than that, in her own way, she's very separate from the rest of the town and that's something Joel understands.

At the mention of Spencer, he smiles, genuine and unguarded. "Always," he says simply. There is no doubt that Spencer will always give him faith in a whole host of things, not only the rest of humankind. For all the horrible things people can do, there will always be Spencer. "Other than that, he's good. He quit the library, he's working at the bookstore with me now."

He pauses, watching the water for a moment before asking, "How are you?"

[neriumoleander]

"Yes, Crossroads." She raises her head up and down and the canoe starts to float again, slowly to the center. Dragonflies linger around the reeds as they depart, glowing as if crossed with lightning bugs. "I must commend you on the name."

Nerium pauses at his question. Perhaps it is just formality but few have ever greeted her with such an inquiry. Rose, yes, but not a Grimhilde. "I am well. I am learning, always. I give thanks to the dark so that the world may have its light." She smiles, softly.

There's a break in the surface of the water and a chittering sound. A small sickly green being with horns reaches out and wraps his fingers around Joel's arms, trying to tug him towards the water. Nerium acts quickly, sending a curse at the creature's hand, picking him up, and tossing him in the water. He lands with a splash and sad whimpers before backfloating away.

"Grindylows." Nerium rolls her eyes. "They're really just lonely creatures, but trying to steal friends away to the water typically brings them only corpses. This one's mostly harmless though. I named him Bob. He utterly despises it."

[just_another]

He's about to answer her, prepared to ask about what she's said -- giving thanks to the dark -- when there's the pressure of fingers on his arm and he yanks it back, that same unfamiliar darkness rising in him. His eyes go black, but before he can do anything, before he can gather that strength and fling it toward the creature as he'd done with Mark and with Eli, Nerium sends it back with a curse and it's gone.

It's not the grindylow that's the cause of his racing heart, but his own reaction. Something has felt strange lately, something inside him has been stronger and he doesn't like it very much. He blinks and his eyes return to normal, but he's embarrassed and uncomfortable.

"Sorry," he says, although he doesn't know why he's apologizing. "How do you know he doesn't like the name?" It's such a stupid question, but he doesn't know what else to say.

[neriumoleander]

Nerium laughs, short and abrupt, but genuine. "Because it is Bob. Is there a name on earth more mundane? Besides, he hisses each time I say it. He prefers Gorgog the Great. So I use Bob when he acts out of line."

She stands in the canoe, holding out her arms, and it begins to pick up speed. The pond gives the illusion of growing - to a lake, to a bay, to an ocean, and they cruise along the waves with wind blowing about them.

His shift was notable. The rise inside him. Something dark. Something growing. It is why she meets it with such a display of power. Whatever it is, it must know she is a formidable force.

"You were going to ask about what I said. About the dark. Go ahead."

[just_another]

He's distracted again, watching the water rush by and he has no idea how she does it, but there's a part of him -- a small part, to be certain, but it's there all the same -- that wants to learn. All his life, he's been capable of things, but never anything like this and he's never wanted it. Until now. Some small part of him itches for it and he doesn't understand.

"Oh," he says, looking at her again. "I was going to ask what that means. How someone gives thanks to the dark." He thinks another person might ask if she really means if, if she really cares if the world has its light, but he thinks she does.

[neriumoleander]

Nerium feels his yearning. The lure of magic at such great power scratching at his skin. And perhaps something else along with it.

She waves her hands above them, and the sky goes pitch black, stars brighter and more plentiful than can typically be seen on even the clearest nights. It is a localized spell, but it is effective nonetheless.

"It is my worship. It is the power I - my family - has sworn our magic to since days of olde.

Before there was this world, before there was this universe, all of existence was darkness, and in the darkness there was a great chaos that is the source of all power. From that chaos came the universe, and the universe the world. The oldest powers of dark and chaos manifested themselves into gods and goddesses, demons and deities. They have long since been forgotten by most. Feared by those who have not. But it is to them that my family gives worship and sacrifice, in exchange for the secrets of their art. In knowing that without the chaos and dark so feared by most, all would be gone."

It is a story she has been told since she was a young girl. Which she has sworn her life to. Demons and goddesses and deities she has sown herself to, who have taken so much of her. It is the Grimhilde way.

[just_another]

It's not the answer Joel expects and he tips his head back, looking at the sky above them, marvelling at the brightness of the stars. That's not a sky one sees in Siren Cove on any regular night, he knows she's done it, but it's beautiful and bright and he watches it for a long moment as he listens to her speak. It's not the answer he expects because it doesn't really sound as dark as he'd imagined. That the world was -- and still is, he thinks -- made of chaos is no secret. Everything has to start somewhere, even the magic he has, and while he likes to believe the things he and his family are capable of come from something other than a demon, he still knows they come from something old. Something long forgotten by most people.

So it's not the answer he expects at all and he looks over at her, a faint smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

"You're just aware of it," he says, then shakes his head, because it doesn't sound right. "I mean... it's there. For all of us. Most witches just don't think of where it comes from, but you know." He can feel it when his powers try to get the better of him, the crackle of energy in his fingers, the way it jumps toward Spencer when he's near. It's bigger than he'll ever be, bigger and older, and Joel is comfortable with that. He wonders how many witches are.

[neriumoleander]

"I am more than just aware. I know it. I touch it. I feel it on me at all times. Most witches have forgotten the roots of their power in favor of earth magic and simpler things. Less complicated. Rooted in the light."

She nods at Joel then, again noting the shadow upon him. The thing within that she cannot place a finger upon.

"And you. You have not yet told me why it is you sought me out. A locater spell is not done lightly, even without blood."

[just_another]

"No, that's what I mean. You know it and the rest of us... we take for granted what we're given. We don't think about where it comes from." Although he's been doing more of that lately, considering where his powers are from and why some of them are so unlike those of his parents. It shouldn't matter, but it does. Or maybe it should matter, maybe that's what Nerium is saying. If he understood it better, maybe it wouldn't so often surprise him.

At her question, though, he shakes his head, smiling. "Sometimes people in this town... well, they're not always very accepting of things they think of as different." He means her, but he means himself, too, an outsider, a Canadian, someone displaced from his home and sent here to hide. He means Spencer, the way people still treat him, the names some people call him, the vandalism. He means that he understands in a way.

"I thought maybe... I thought... It's a social call," he says, looking at her. "I don't agree with most of what you said the other night, but I like you all the same."

[callmeemily]

She's got a load and a half to think about, when you get down to it. Maybe that's why she's tromping through the woods, because it makes her think of home. It makes her think of home, makes her think of Matt; she misses her brother desperately, and she's called him and it went better than it had with her mother but it's still been--

It's been difficult.

It's been difficult, and she doesn't know what to do with herself. Everything's even more complicated than it had been before, somehow, and it's the sound of the bugs in the trees, the crunch of twigs under her feet that's a little calming. Raleigh can hear running water, and she veers left towards it, because she's brought her lunch and she wouldn't mind sitting at the edge of a creek in order to eat it - but what she hardly expects is- well.

A pond. And a boat. And there's a woman in the boat, but none of those things are what has Raleigh staring with her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

It's the- the people who are very much not sort of looking like people that are leaning on the side of the canoe, but somehow not pulling it into the water, and somehow the sucked in breath of surprise seems incredibly loud.

[neriumoleander]

Nerium hears the woman coming long before she arrives. Her thoughts are tumbling loudly in her mind and while she may be seeking solace in the woods it is ruining Nerium's.

She lets the girl approach before she waves her hand and the magic of the pond disappears behind an illusion of normalcy. Better left her questioning reality or a trick of the mind than performing a memory wipe on something so trivial. Confusion is a far grander state to create in any case.

Nerium appears to row the boat ashore. She stands and calls out. "You should not be here. This is my family's land."

[callmeemily]

Raleigh's eyes widen comically and she takes a step back - and has to grab ahold of a tree branch next to her so she doesn't tumble down onto her butt. "Oh, shit. Sorry- Sorry." She didn't know when she crossed from- well, probably none of this was general doesn't-belong-to-anybody land, but she hadn't seen any of the familiar black and orange signs screaming NO TRESPASSING that she was used to in Tennessee, so she hadn't-

Shit. Well, at least the lady didn't have a shotgun? "I'm- I'm just sort of leaving, then, I'm sorry, I didn't touch anything, and I'm not a hunter, okay?"

Stupid. Stupid, stupid. She realised suddenly that walking in the woods was stupid, because even if it wasn't a lady in a boat, she wasn't wearing orange and could totally be mistaken for a very loud, clumsy deer.

[neriumoleander]

Nerium lets the boat drift to shore, eyeing the girl with interest. She knows her of course, as she knows all in town. Raleigh Harper, the girl who came to town with a fake name. Who has already had quite the run in with a dark witch that Nerium would not wish upon another, and yet her goodness still shines through. Who is quite friendly with the man Joel and this fact makes Nerium suspicious that there may be more to her presence here.

"No, no hunter would have made it so far into these woods." She cocks her head at the girl. The human girl in her part of the wood. "This is not an easy path to find. There are dangers abound in these parts. How did you make your way here?"

[callmeemily]

Raleigh's brows furrowed together, and she actually glanced behind her - it just... looked like woods. "How? I just- I walked? I mean, I walked. It wasn't that hard, and I mean, I didn't- I should have thought about the fact that I might walk into a bear or something, but..." She shrugged her shoulders, and she's actually- How the hell did she get here?

"I just sort of.... went. You know?" She's hoping that the woman understands, and doesn't think she like.... did whatever she seemed to be implying. That Raleigh just like, zapped herself here, or whatever, maybe? "I didn't see any signs or anything, if I had, I wouldn't have come in this far. I didn't mean to trespass or whatever, I swear."

[neriumoleander]

Nerium connects with the roots and trees and brush about the woods. It grows around them, wild and untamed. A forest of strange and dangerous things. Which, in truth, it is.

"You must have wandered far from your trail. This is an unforgiving part of the wood for those who are unfamiliar."

She nods into the woods and a trail appears. Thin and winding, but distinct enough to follow. "There. That trail will return you to safer paths Raleigh Harper. I would advise you not to travel these parts again."

[callmeemily]

Raleigh turns to look at the trail, and her eyes widen comically - there hadn't been a trail there. She knows there hadn't, but there it is, and she just sort of.... stares for a second before she looks back at Nerium. "Thank you. Thanks... very much." Even though she doesn't know if she should really be thanking her, given that honestly right now? The most frightening thing that seems to be here is her, but Raleigh's still not going to look a gift-path in the mouth.

Shit. "Okay. I guess- Just... Thanks?" She backs up a step, before she finally turns and hurries down the path, not even sure what just happened.

[scaledtokill]

"I never cared for him either," Robert said from where he sat on the shore. Nerium no doubt knew that he was there, her family was always powerful and while some thought of them as evil Robert wouldn't have applied that label to what he knew of Nerium. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't dangerous.

"I didn't care for most of the characters in the book, really. Then again, I'm not exactly the target audience."

[neriumoleander]

"Oh, and who is it that you do prefer?"

Nerium feels Robert's presence long before he arrives. The man practically oozes it, in a way that is both sickening and impressive, and that would have had her grandmother turning him into a rat if he'd ever crossed her path the way he is Nerium's now.

Of course, she felt his presence long before this. Another figure in the shifting tides and balance in Siren Cove. Bringing with him new figures, angers and betrayal. It all makes for a delightful added charge to her spells for now, but the implications are less welcome. Another threat to the town as it stands in such fragile currents.

"Robert Flynn. You dare venture to my wood?" She stands in her canoe, placing the book down and allowing the small craft to levitate in the air and a cloud of fog. "Even a fool would think twice about such courage."

[scaledtokill]

"I always liked the old wizard. Always knew more than he let on and always had wheels within wheels for plans," Robert said. Then the fool had to go and... well, he wouldn't ruin that part of the story for Nerium. No doubt she'd find aspects of the book enjoyable.

"I never could resist the lure of a beautiful woman," he said, flashing her a smile. Not that he expected his charm to work on her. Not that he'd be unhappy if it did. "But only a fool would come without a gift. And you don't have to come to me, I can swim over if you give permission. It feels wrong to be in human form here anyway, this is a place of magic. I feel like I'm offending it."

[neriumoleander]

Nerium flickers from a neutral expression to deep scowl at his 'beautiful woman' comment. Maybe a snake would be more fitting than a rat. Her grandmother would have kept him as a prize.

"Your sweet talk is unwelcome here. Mind your tongue if you hope for safe passage."

She crosses her arms and sits back in the canoe, calling upon the fog of the forest to shield them. "Your true form is more welcome." His request for permission, his acknowledgement of gift and respect is appreciated, and a formality all too forgotten these days, though his inherent charm leaves her wary of any such efforts.

"The creatures will appreciate your display, no doubt. But you are a visitor here and safe passage can be easily revoked."

[scaledtokill]

"I promise, I'll behave," he said with a bit of a chuckle as he stripped out of his clothes. Any modesty he had was lost long ago and the other creatures here probably wouldn't see nudity the same way a human would and he doubted Nerium cared. His scales rippled over his skin, dark grey and metalic looking. The last several years he felt more comfortable like this than he did as a human so he was grateful that she allowed him to change.

Slipping into the water he made sure not to make any sudden movements, swimming slowly toward Nerium, not wanting to spook any of the creatures that so obviously revered her.

"I come with a gift and to ask a favor of you. Even if refuse the favor, the gift is yours."

[neriumoleander]

"I am sure you are aware of the dangers of breaking a promise in the presence of magic, so I will take your word." Nerium is not a prude, by any means, nor tied to society's conceptions of social standards. But she has never seen a grown man fully disrobed, at least not who was otherwise a diety or demon which is quite a different situation, and her eyes cannot help but flicker from his display.

His scales, on the otherhand, are magnificent to behold and she makes no attempt to hide her gaze at his transformation. Siren magic has great power in itself, and his is well-practiced and refined.

"You are adept at making deals, are you not?" Her lips curl to something of a smile as he swims nearer. She thinks her mother, the great seductress she was, might have liked this man. She wonders if they'd known each other.

The nymphs follow behind him, trailing in a train on the surface of the water until the youngest swim forward to poke and prod with curiosity at his scales.

"He is a Siren. I have given him safe passage, so let him be." The nymphs' appear something close to crestfallen and so she offers them assurances. "But you may stay and watch him. The scales are more impressive from afar, I dare say."

She turns back to Robert, angling the canoe toward him and nodding an invitation to board.

"Your gift is welcome. But if I am to grant your favor, the terms will be my own."

[scaledtokill]

Robert didn't mind the prodding so much, it wasn't aggressive, more curious than anything else, and he trusted Nerium's word that he'd have safe passage. Not that he was worried about the other creatures attacking so much as he was about Nerium cursing him if he didn't behave.

He pulled himself up easily into the boat, taking a moment to study Nerium. The urge to reach out with his magic to study her too was difficult to resist. It was as much one of his senses as his sight was, but people tended to be uneasy when siren's used their power on them.

"This is the blood of a matriarch," he said, mouth and teeth shifting just a bit to better accommodate human speech as he held out an ornate vial to her. "Not the blood of the matriarch here, but it should be a valuable spell component all the same."

[neriumoleander]

Nerium takes the vial with some care, calling upon its energy to test that the blood is truly as he says. It shines gold and silver as the scarlet catches, crackling with deep magic so unlike that of witches. Valuable is an understatement. A siren matriarch's blood is typically spilt in betrayal or mutiny. It can turn a simple spell of passion into something raging and furious. Not to mention it is exceedingly rare. She is impressed, to say the least.

"How did you procure this? A matriarch' blood is not shed - or given - lightly." With a wave of her hands, the vial disappears. "I will accept your gift. Now allow me to hear your request."

[scaledtokill]

"It came into my hands," Robert said. It was the truth, the blood had literally been taken by his hands but that was a story that no one needed to hear, least of all Nerium. All that mattered is that, hopefully, it was enough.

"I'm afraid I'm bringing trouble to town. Normally I wouldn't bother you with this but the trouble might come to you for help. I stole something very valuable from a family of dark witches. They used to be powerful be centuries of... let's call it 'keeping the bloodline pure' have left them with less power and influence than they used to. The latest generation is small and could care less about their magic and more about their Euro-trash lifestyle. They were selling their grimiore and it was the sort of book that, in a moment of altruism, I decided would be better off if no one had it. Grimiores like that are passed down through families for a reason. So I took it and the family would really like it back. Once they come here I'm sure they'll ask you for help getting it back. I would appreciate it if you didn't help them."

[neriumoleander]

"I will extract its story, whether you wish to share it or not." It is a simple fact. It is what she does, reading the pasts and futures, knowing those within the town like others might a character unfolding on pages before them. And the power of a matriarch's blood is wholly determined by how it was shed.

Nerium stands in the canoe, seemingly growing in height as she does so. "You are a fool Robert Flynn." She calls a lightning bolt and it crashes into a tree just behind him with a loud crack. "The tides and currents of Siren Cove are shifting under great unbalances. Its very future is under threat. And you - you anger a family of dark witches and risk leading them here? Did you think you might find assistance? Safe haven? From the family who despises you or the home you left behind? The chaos in your wake crackles through this town like a flames." She makes herself grow further, levitating in front of him, calling forth gusts of wind and another lightning strike, this time just missing the canoe. "It propels the very forces I call around you"

"There is no allegiance among witches of that kind. They do not care of the great dark forces they serve, only corrupted power and excess like the Lord in this book." She brings herself closer to natural size again. "I will promise no aid to you, nor these foreign witches. Let the chaos reign, you've brought it on to yourself. I shall intervene only if this town is brought under threat, and my aid will come then to whomever I see fit."

[scaledtokill]

Robert waited patiently for Nerium to finished with her theatrics and her pronouncements. It was overly dramatic and smacked of almost-desperation. Like she badly wanted everyone to know just how scary she was. It was the sort of mistake that he made early on in his career, laying it on too thick.

"Nerium," he said once she was finally done. "Do I strike you as the sort of person that needs to be further impressed by what it is that you can do? I've come to you precisely because of your power and reputation. The display of power and theatrics is completely unnecessary. I've met a lot of very powerful and very scary people in my lifetime. None of them have ever done anything like that before."

[neriumoleander]

"You strike me as a person who needs be reminded of the ramifications of his actions, yes." She returns the atmosphere around them to normal form and sits casually in the seat of her canoe, resting her hands in her lap, a smug smile at his compliment. "I take it you understand the terms then?"

[scaledtokill]

"Nerium, let me help you," Robert offered. He wasn't entirely sure why he was offering other than no one had really done the same for him when he was starting out. There was more than one mistake he could have avoided if someone had mentored him.

"Eventually you will be the powerful, commanding presence you want to and are meant to be. Even more so than you are now. I know all about how to present yourself to others. I'm not in town long, but I'd love to meet and have coffee a few times and give you some pointers. If you'd be open to it."

[neriumoleander]

Nerium lets out a crackling laugh. "Eventually? You fool of a man, I am every bit the presence I wish to be. You are here, are you not?" Honestly, she'd be irritated were the man not being so outlandish. His attempts at sizing her up. What does he believe she wants? There is none in Siren Cove who would challenge her. She doubts the same could be said for Robert. Her name alone carries the weight of centuries.

She crosses her arms. "Despite some recent misconception that has spread through the men of this town, I am not prone to making social calls for coffee or wine."

[scaledtokill]

Robert shook his head. Either she couldn't see it or she didn't want to. Whatever the reason she was too close to her own situation and too enamored with herself. The arrogance of youth could be exceptionally frustrating at times. Fortunately, Robert didn't have to deal with hers if he didn't want to.

"Very well, I'll leave you to your reading then and thank you for your time."

[neriumoleander]

"Yes, I shall." She returns to her book, casually dismissing him, but after a few sentences she looks up, whispering a few words. A clear store appears in Robert's hands, smooth and hot. "For the Matriarch's blood. You shall be able to summon me with this." Nerium continues reading through the page, Robert already an afterthought. "Whether I come or not will be at my discretion."