Cain's Suite

[Red Gypsy]

This is the suite of Cain Albright. He's kept it as simple as possible, but living here as he has made him remodel it so that he would be more comfortable.

The first room is a combination of sitting room and library. The walls are lined with shelves containing books from floor to ceiling and wall to wall, except where the massive fireplace is of course. The couch and chairs in here are made on a wooden frame stained naturally and covered in a soft leather that makes no sound when shifting in them, all of them are very comfortable.

There are two doors off of this room, one leads to the guest bedroom. That has a serviceable full sized bed with nightstand and chair dine in soft browns. It has a second door in it as well.

Both second doors lead to the bathroom. There is an old fashioned claw-foot tub, though it is large enough to hold three people in it, in the center of the room with a sink and shelves to hold towels and other bathroom stuff.

But there is another door in the bathroom. This one leads to Cain's bedroom. There is a king-sized bed with curtains hanging from the posts, a dresser and chest as well as a rather large closet. This room is also decorated in soft browns, showing that Cain prefers to keep things as natural as possible.  

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Cain walked around his front room pacing with a frown on his face. Thankfully the room was clean. whoever it was that came in once a month had gotten all of his clothes cleaned and put up, organized everything that was usually scattered around, and had even provided him a bottle of red wind and mulling spices. He'd instantly started making the mulled wine over the fire, finding the scents soothing as they moved through the air.

But that wasn't what had him pacing. He was more than a little confused by Rose. He couldn't figure her out. One moment, she's just like he is: a bookworm in pursuit of knowledge for the sake of learning it. The next, she was an inquisitive child, firing questions at him just as any child would do and amusing him at the same time. Then she was asking him something else entirely and looking at him like that... How was he supposed to react to that?

Should he just answer her question? Should he hint at it or say it outright? Or should he just avoid the question entirely and pretend she hadn't asked it?

He had no idea how to cover this one. He'd never had to handle this particular situation before. Well, he'd had women in the past who wanted to 'convert' him, but they'd gone on their way after it became very clear that they wouldn't succeed.

Truth was, he hadn't been with a woman since... He frowned hard as he tried to remember... Wow, he couldn't remember. It had apparently been that long for him. He had no idea if he would even know what to do...

That froze him where he stood. Until the kettle screamed at him and he moved to get it off the fire so it could cool enough to be drinkable...  

[Silquestnocte]

Rosabel Marcellus

A wonderful spiced smell was coming from behind the door that lead to Cain's quarters. Rose reached her hand to knock, but like this morning, it drew itself back. Rose knew she was more than a little nervous about this. She took three deep breaths, and remembered that if things went poorly, she could always go to the library during the day for a little bit. Finally, she softly tapped and called out, with the steadiest voice she could muster (her voice had a habit of squeaking when she became nervous) said "Cain, if you're in there and awake, we need to talk." Now all she could do is hope that he would open the door.

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Cain's head swung towards the door as if pulled by a string and his eyes went wide. The object of his confusion was standing at the door just as he was thinking about her. Fate? Maybe not. Weird coincidence? Probably so. Was he going to turn it down? Not likely. He wanted this confusion solved.

he moved over to the door and opened it, blinking his eyes at her for a silent moment then gestured for her to enter, "I was just thinking about you. Would you like a glass of mulled wine? It isn't very alcoholic, just relaxingly tasty," he said, his expression going from his usual frown to confusion then back again as he moved over to the fireplace and poured the mulled wine from the kettle into two mugs.

He gestured to the other empty chair in the sitting room and put her mug on the small table beside it before standing a bit awkwardly in front of the fireplace, his eyes on the fire. Well, he felt awkward. He didn't look awkward, though. He looked like he belonged in a Renaissance or Victorian ballroom. Well, maybe not a ballroom. More like a study of that time period, with other men around him discussing books or the latest scientific discovery.

His rooms reflected that image too. All a subtle masculinity with his bookishness shown off with his book-filled shelves. His dress was the simple style that worked for all eras; simple breeches, loose-fitting shirt with laces at the collar that were currently undone, and a pair of slippers that would have worked with anything except that outfit. His hair was tied back again, hiding the beauty of it as his hands toyed idly with the mug in his hands.

He was considering how to answer her last question to him in a way that wouldn't make things between them too awkward. But he kept running into the problem of whether or not he was attracted to her, not something he was used to. With men, his lovers usually took the role of the aggressor, something he liked since he didn't have to think in the process. But with women he simply wasn't sure what to do anymore...  

[Silquestnocte]

Rosabel Marcellus

Rose was slightly relieved when the door swung wide after a beat, he didn't look like he had been sleeping, she crossed the threshold when invited too, and for a moment, felt like she was back in London, corset, bustle, and all. She even took an experimental breath to make sure that she wasn't in fact, wearing that accursed piece of clothing. It was a curious experience, and more than a little unnerving, it certainly didn't help that Cain looked like someone from time either, minus the slippers of course. Her left shoulder tingled, as if the ink was remembering that time as well. She shook it off, nothing but nostalgia for something that faded a long time ago.

Rose knew that her new-found confidence, or stupidity, was going to fade fast. It was all or nothing, right now. "I think I'm interested in you, are you interested in me? I'm going half-insane because I cant figure out where you stand on the matter."She clenched her fists at her side. There, it was done. Now hopefully her mouth wouldn't run on and make things even more akward. Rose wasn't sure if she was feeling nervous or embarrassed, or maybe a new feeling all at the same time. "Um... And thank you for the wine."

((edited for the removal of a random h))

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Cain gave a small nod, "That is what I am currently trying to figure out. You're not at all my usual sort of companion. I can't even remember the last time I was in any form of relationship with a woman. Men tend to be more aggressive in that area, certainly more demanding in more intimate matters. Women tend to think that I'm ignoring them or neglecting them when I get lost in whatever it is that I'm doing at the time," he explained to her softly, his back still to her in the process.

He finally turned to her with that confused frown on his face, "To put it bluntly, my lovers are usually male. I'm not sure I know what to do with a woman anymore..." he clarified to her, hoping that she'd help him with his confusion.

He stared at her like that for a short silent moment then started pacing a bit in front of the fireplace, occasionally taking a sip from his mug in the process, "I don't like this confusion. It's annoying and distracting. I'm not used to this kind of thing. I don't usually have to think about relationship stuff. I meet someone who is attractive, they make their pass, we go to bed, they stick around for a week or so, then they take their leave and I don't have to worry about it. They never mind it when I get distracted by a fascinating scroll or a treatise in the plant life in the demon realm or one of those paranormal romances. They distract me from it when they want attention then let me get back to whatever I was doing before. I've never made the first move in anything like that in my life. I really don't know what to do in this situation and it's really bugging the hell out of me," he ranted a bit at a soft volume, voicing what was bothering him and what he was 'used to'.

Of course, it was fairly obvious that he was attracted to her, if one paid attention to what he was saying, but didn't know what to do about it.  

[Silquestnocte]

Rosabel Marcellus

Rose's mind carefully considered what he said, but before she could fully process it, her mouth decided to prioritize a bit and say "You've got more than one treatise on Gehennan plant life? Where on earth do you receive your books? I've only ever come across one!" Once her mind caught up with her mouth, she flushed slightly. "Um. Sorry, got distracted for a second there. It's not wrong to be a little nervous about something you're not used to, at all. Or confused." She paused for a moment. "Why don't we ignore the finer, more convoluted rules of courtship and just let what happens, happen. As two individuals, rather than a guy and a girl. And if you don't want to, we can just stop, be friends, or not even do anything at all." Rose furrowed her brow. "Never did like it when someone's behavior had to conform. There's a reason I was a flapper once upon a time." Rose picked up her mug and took a sip, then lowered her mug. "How does that sound?"

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Cain simply reacted to her question on Demonic plant life and answered it, "We have have three scrolls and six books, actually. Sebastet is best friends with the demonic high king. We've also got information on their animal life, day to day living, religious practices, the choosing of a monarch, and basic societal structure. They prefer Demon to any other defining title for their race," he told her without thinking before he dropped into the chair opposite the one he'd offered her.

He was sitting there when she continued and by the time she was finished, he was giving a slow nod, "You do have a point... It's logical, rational, and even intelligent to think of it like that..." he said softly, his voice showing that he was thinking about it seriously.

Then he frowned at her, "You were a flapper? I never could get into the twenties too well. Everyone wanted to dance instead of read," he sounded surprised and intrigued at the same time he was disgusted over the thought processes of that time period.  

[Silquestnocte]

Rose smiled." The nice thing about being a flapper then was that you didn't conform. And girls who conform don't get to discuss every topic under the sun at drunken parties. It was one of the first times I didn't stand out to much. I could even wear pants in public with out being completely shunned. Before I had to act empty headed at any social function, preoccupied with whatever new style of dress or whatnot. It was so freeing, but that may have been all the bootleg I downed on Friday nights. I could go to any library, check out whatever books I wanted, and not be frowned at for my "un- femininity". The dancing was just a plus."  

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Cain couldn't help but give a soft laugh at her explanation, finding himself delighted with it, "I spent a short time among the humans during the twenties then retreated to the demon realm and the kings library there for the rest of it. When I came back, I found that I'd missed everything until the sixties. Everyone was too busy trying to get high during that time so I retreated to the Elves and returned a few decades later. After that, I was finally able to find a decent library to get into. I was into some very heavy research when those blasted volcano's erupted and threw everything into chaos. Thank goodness for Sebastet or I might not have survived it. Still, I was fairly surprised when she invited me here and put me in charge of the library," he explained about himself simply, now only grateful that humans knew about the other races. Even if not all of them were quite so understanding of them.

He lifted his mug to take another drink and frowned when he found it empty but only shrugged over it and got up to refill it. As he returned to his chair, he tilted his head at her, "You know, I'm not sure if you'd get along with Sebastet or not. She's a vampire, yes, but also from a race far older than the humans so she takes a bit of getting used to. But I am fairly certain that you would like an old friend of hers. Cynthia is a sorceress and very old and powerful. Not the kind of sorceress you're used to, I'd guess, but the real thing," he offered suddenly, already certain that the human in front of him would get along quite well in the mixed society he lived in now.

He knew a trip to the demon realm could be arranged at some point, but knew that she would need a bit more time to adjust and learn about the other races before he could take her anywhere. But teaching her would be a fantastic pursuit, he decided.  

[Silquestnocte]

Rosabel Marcellus

Rose listened intently about his past experiences. "You were lucky to have missed the Great Depression and World War two. And not everyone was tripping on acid, or flying the purple dragon in the sixties, I was in Italy trying to track down all the books my employer's lost track of during WW2. We were to busy doing damage control to keep tabs on slightly lesser books." Those were the few years she didn't get any time off, as soon as she was done with one assignment, another needed immediate attention. Besides, she knew better than inject something or smoke something that could change her chemical makeup so drastically, that's a good way to loose control over magic.

She had been shipped off to France and got to pay any house, library, or monastery holding any sort of occultist item a visit, then had to have all of them cataloged, and then shipped away from harm. There was some excellent money in it, but it was beyond hectic, and more than a little dangerous at times. Thank goodness that Hitler was interested in the occult, a great many classical necromantic and alchemical texts could have been lost and to book burnings and such. "Mussolini screwed a lot of librarians over when he signed that pact with the church. Books and scrolls changed hands so many times that we still aren't sure where all of them are yet. It was a pain. In the eighties, I finally decided I had enough of my bosses and went freelancing again, and here I am now." It was nice to be able to accept jobs only when she wanted to, and really, she felt like she had had more than enough of scaling walls and picking locks for a long time.

Rose took another sip of the wine. "Cynthia... I want to say I've read her name somewhere, but I'm not sure where... Never mind I think that was the name of a protagonist in an awful "penny dreadful" novel I read when those were still a thing" She certainly sounded interesting, Rose had never really met a full-tilt sorceress. A couple of magic users like herself, but most of them were doing it as a bit of a hobby, Rose had met a powerful illusionist once, but they decided to utilize their magic on stage rather than expand the art. It would certainly be interesting to meet Cynthia or Sebastet, but it would take a great deal of will power to bombard them with questions nearly the moment they met. Rose smiled lightly at Cain, coming here was probably one of the smartest things she had ever done, now all that was left was to see where this decision would lead.

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

the more she spoke, the more Cain was struggling with the decision of whether to kiss her or not. Thank goodness for the distraction of Cynthia, "You probably did read a reference to her once or twice. She greatly influenced the Druid's ideas of good and evil. She had a bit of an evil period there which thankfully didn't last long. but it was enough to get all the Druids together long enough to place a curse on her that she could never return to the British Isles nor could she ever receive aid from a Druid until they all got together and agreed to remove the curse. Why do you think one of the marks of a 'witch' is red hair?" he explained to her then stood and moved over to one of his shelves with a thoughtful look on his face.

He finally gound a book and smiled as he thumbed through it to a specific page. The book was very old and he'd had to have it bound himself when he'd found it. It was a treatise on the healing techniques and laws of the Druids before Christianity landed. But it was the one real picture int he book that he was interested in now, old and faded, but still showing the true image of her and gave full marks to the glory of her ankle-length red hair and soft clear green eyes.

He passed the book over to Rose so that she could look at it, "That is Cynthia, once called the Black Druidess... She enslaved men, killed families, worked the truly evil blood magics at the time... She was finally stopped by a Highlander's sword and a Druid's spell cast at the same time. Then the Druids took charge of her and cast her out. I think she went to the Demon Realm for a little while after that," he told her as he leaned a hip against the arm of the chair she was in, his focus on the book and the story he was telling her.

Yes, he'd effectively distracted himself. It happened frequently and usually with little warning. But at least this time it had put them into close proximity. Although, if she wanted action from him this soon, she was going to have to remember that he was used to his lovers making the moves; hadn't, in fact, made a move of his own in so long that he'd forgotten how.  

[Silquestnocte]

Rosabel Marcellus

Rose held the book gently in her hands, she could almost feel the age, and she could certainly smell it.The illustration was stunning, coupled with Cain's story, Rose was completely enraptured. She automatically schooched towards him in her chair, her head was nearly leaning on him, and a bit of her hair was certainly brushing against slightly. Rose tilted her head up to get better look at him, he seemed absorbed in the story as well. Maybe it was the wine (she always had been a bit of a lightweight) maybe it was something else. But before she could fully evaluate what she was actually doing, she had planted a light kiss on the tip of his nose, and then settled back into her chair. Rose felt completely at peace, she was warm, with a wonderful person, and holding an old book. Things just don't get much better than this.

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Her playful kiss intrigued Cain and was certainly not something he was expecting. It drew a startled sound from him and his hand up to his nose as a perplexed look on his face occurred, "I believe that is the first time anyone has ever kissed my nose," he said with a very confused tone in his voice, showing full well that he had no idea what to do with it.

After a moment, though, he reached towards the book and turned the page to show her another picture of Cynthia. This one had her surrounded by a dark aura as she cast a spell, dressed in a very old gown in black with red embroidery. The embroidery was in a pattern of symbols of blood magic that were geared towards storing power in the aura and something that was truly evil to do. But in the drawing, she looked absolutely beautiful; a deadly and delicate thing with red hair to her ankles free and flowing like a waterfall of fire.

And she wasn't alone in the drawing either. Two men stood on either side of her: one a kilted and heavily built highland warrior, eyes fully intent on the woman's death in that moment, sword at the ready; the other in front of her a robed Druid with his own spell at the ready.

It was the scene of her attack and easily showed why she'd been taken down so easily. To be attacked by spell and sword at the same time was simply too much to counter at one time.

"No one really knows how she survived that day. But I have it on good authority that she was actually the first human created before the gods decided to allow humans to simply evolve on their own. Whatever flaws they made with her, they decided to correct by allowing a true evolution. As a result, though, she cannot die by normal means. However, she is frequently hunted down by others for the secret of her immortality. That's why she's currently over in the demon realm," he finished explaining to her, wondering if he should start explaining about Sebastet or not.

He finished off his mug of wine and considered refilling it...  

[Silquestnocte]

Rosabel Marcellus

The ends of Rose's mouth curled up slightly at his confusion, she was really going to have to spell it out for him sometime. Just not in the middle of telling the story. Maybe later. Well he certainly didn't seem unhappy about it. No shouts of "Impudent Strumpet" and the like, he just seemed... Completely clueless, well maybe not clueless, but lost certainly. With a small smiled she said "Well that was the first time I've ever kissed any part of a vampire." Then refocused on the story, the illustrations were stunning, although she was sure the illustrator edited the symbols on her dress slightly so it couldn't be re-created. The runes looked a bit off. Completely understandable, why potentially place power into someone who could potentially do even more damage?

The part about her being the first human was intriguing though, what exactly was her "design flaw" and how was it so bad that the Gods took a step back from creating humans?

Rose sympathized with the last part though. "People always assume that just because you are something, you know how to repeat it. I once met an alchemist who somehow made a Panacea out of his child's flesh and blood when he made an error in a routine experiment. The kid was fine, but they spent most of their lives running until both of them passed away from the Spanish flu. Most depressing diary I ever had to read." Rose herself has had to keep on her toes for most of her life, if she stayed in one place for too long, someone would notice that she never aged. Unlike saint German, she wasn't about to go flaunt her immortality for everyone to see. The idiot finally grew a bit more of a brain was now in hiding because of yet another attempt to steal his work.

Red Gypsy