[PRP] Closing the distance (Lazarus x Sionann)

[ktqueen]

His personal study was deep below the main floor of the University. Away from prying eyes or fresh air, past several magical wards to ensure that it would be untouched by most. Besides Lazarus, only the new god of vampires had made it past all those wards. A god was exactly the sort who could slip past those wards, but now that his magic had been reinforced with Grendel's endorsement, only a select few could make it to the door. Whoever was on duty to warn him of emergencies at the university and... well, the other was not a name he had thought of in awhile. She was still sleeping somewhere, at least from his understanding, and not something to concern himself with at the time.

His robes were tossed on the back of a chair crammed into a large wooden desk that took up some space towards the front of the room. Shelves of all sorts lined the walls, except for a space that had a scrying mirror placed near the desk. Books, tomes, magic supplies were scattered around those shelves, but in an order that Lazarus understood himself. Things grouped by what could be used together, within the same schools of magic, with some exceptions for items that could create nasty results together. An explosion in this space would not be friendly, even for him.

Beyond the shelves was a larger space. Cushions towards the ouskirts of the area, ones that he liked to sit on while reading, but the center of the free space was dominated by magic runes written in a dark, deep red liquid. Lazarus was currently seated on one of the cushions along the edge, one tome open on his right knee, as he leaned forward to example the latest set of runes he had scrawled on the floor. Everything had to be exactly right because one wrong detail could cause a mess.

His hair was tied in a ponytail at the nape of his neck to keep it out of the way, and those glowing eyes narrowed before he wrote another rune from the book to finish the set. Which was when the door to his study opened. Presumably there was some trouble on campus again and Laz felt a spike of irritation being interrupted while scrawling. "Tell me what requires my attention, quickly." Lazarus tried not to growl out the command, but his voice was already low to begin with and it likely sounded that way no matter how he might have tried otherwise. He also couldn't remember who was on duty, but he was slow to remember new names since waking up. There had been many changes and not enough time to commit them all to memory.

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

So much had changed since she'd last been awake, enough so that Sionann vowed never to allow herself to fall into torpor again.

A sort of dullened darkness had fallen over Faetasia, a stillness, a time when even the Gods had gone silent, and she had grown so bored of it all. To put herself into a deep rest had seemed the most prudent thing to do. Allow the years to pass and hope that the world would have become more attractive again upon her awakening, giving her the satisfaction it once did. And so, with all of her affairs in order, her loose ends tied, and messages sent to those she cared enough about to let them know what her plans were, she had taken to her Haven and slept.

In doing so, she had missed so much.

Many of the old Gods had returned, but where they had not, new ones had risen. Caine's son had risen. The clans, it was said, had been revitalized by him. Vampire numbers grew. Old sanctuaries, strongholds, and manses were injected with new unlife; resuscitated.

But perhaps most interesting of all, the Tremere had acquired a new Disciple, one endorsed by their new God, Grendel. This tidbit of information stirred something deep inside Sionann, memories mixed with feelings that had always gone unexplored and a sudden need to see it all for herself, to see him again.

Lazarus. Her Sire. The one she might have stayed awake for had he asked her to. Only might have, however. She was prone to her whims and did not change her mind easily once it was set. She knew he would not be difficult to find, though getting to him might be a challenge, depending on how much or how little he wanted to see anyone. This is where arrogance and pride would serve her well.

She was so sure he would not deny her company.

The wards were onerous, though perhaps only because she had not been awake long, and some things were a bit slow to return to her. She was rusty, out of practice, and more than a few had given her pause. However, she found it almost exhilarating; the joy in deciphering, finding her way through, and in knowing that he had made it this way so that she could get to him if she wanted.

She had reached the door and took a moment, hands adjusting her gown, smoothing over it, checking for dust or wrinkles, coming up to gently rest on her crown to make sure it was nicely in place, a slight smirk pulling on her lips as she then lifted one hand to the door and pushed it open, making her way wordlessly into the private study beyond.

She had only a moment to let her gaze wander, taking in the sights, impressed as she often was and delighted by the shelves upon shelves of items that she itched to inspect. Purple eyes glimmered as they roamed, and when a voice called out, a familiar voice that growled low through the air and sent a shiver racing down her spine, she turned towards it, her head cocking slightly to one side, dark tresses spilling over one pale shoulder as she did so.

"Well, I suppose I do not require it, but if I could steal it for just a moment...?" Her voice was low, perhaps a touch raspy from disuse, but that only seemed to add to its smoky and sensual depths.

ktqueen

 

[ktqueen]

The voice that responded was not the aide on duty. Lazarus paused without meaning to, though his eyes did not lift from the rune, and for a second he held still. Lazarus had sired a handful of vampires during his lifetime. He had always taught the ones he sired, though some excelled more than the others. A few had died. Two he had sired around the same time and trained together. Kilah, the blue haired woman with a terrible personality, and her.

Sionann was the one student he had ever had that made him feel things that had otherwise lain dormant for centuries. Lazarus left the rune as it was and carefully stood up, stepping back from the runes to ensure he wouldn't accidentally scuff anything while processing the fact that Sionann was in his study. How many years had it been since he had seen her? Lazarus couldn't put a number to it, but things had drastically changed in what time had passed.

"You may." He moved carefully along the edge of the open space with a measured pace. His movements were typically careful and controlled. Despite how his mind was racing, nothing about his posture had changed. Always carefully in check, always calm in his demeanor, because he had learned a number of lessons as a young vampire. Lessons currently covered with tattoos across his chest and shoulders, beneath a number of necklaces and bracelets that held various spells locked away in their charms and symbols.

Lazarus stopped at the end of the shelves, stretching for a second. He had been crouched over for some time, but that was not abnormal. Finally those glowing eyes looked at the dark haired woman from head to toe. A sweeping glance to ensure that all was well with her, or so Lazarus told himself. She looked just the same as she had before with nary a hair out of place. As expected for Sionann. “How much have you learned since waking?” His question would need an answer before he delved into whatever questions she might have had. She would need to be brought up to speed on a good number of things. Lazarus was already making plans for Sionann in his mind, assuming she would want to continue her role as she had been before. When they had worked together…

The tall man hadn’t moved a muscle after his eyes found her face. Straight to business, shutting out other emotions, making no assumptions. He had felt desires more strongly in his youth, but centuries of spellwork had taught him a measured self control that was not easily unlocked. Not even by his own memories. But he was staring a little hard without meaning to, still as a statue. Business… and yet, things were not the same as they had been. He now led Tremere. What fea–concerns he may have had before were now unfounded. A funny thought to run across his mind.

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

The time between when she had answered him to when he rose from where he was crouched seemed to stretch on for ages, though it had only been seconds. Still, she could not help but note the pause in his movements, her smirk growing as a slight sense of satisfaction flared inside her. It wasn't much, but instinctively she knew from that action alone that she had surprised him and that word of her awakening had not reached him before she had. For some reason, that knowledge delighted her. It was such a small thing, yet felt almost like a victory.

Her eyes followed him as he rose in silence, drinking in his form, eyes roaming across the tattoos that marked him, appreciating the way his muscles glided beneath them before her gaze rose higher, along the curve of his mouth, to rest on the burning yellow of his eyes, startlingly bright, unnerving and even terrifying for some, but only a welcome sight to her, familiar and comforting like the embers of a fire on a cold winter night. He had spoken a reply to her question, but she barely heard it.

It was not until that moment that she realized that she had missed him, despite knowing she had only seen him not long before she slept and although she had come to find him very soon after awakening again. Somehow the knowledge of all those years apart had hit her all at once. She felt a strong desire to go to him, to close the distance and reach her hands towards his, to grip them in her own, to squeeze them and brush her thumbs across his knuckles, to ground herself in the reality of the moment.

She did not do any of those things. Her eyes instead seemed to glitter with amusement as she watched him stretch, the urge to make some joke about what an old man he must be balancing on the tip of her tongue before she swallowed it back.

There would be time for teasing later. Her sire had asked her a question, and she let out a light sigh, her eyes closing briefly as though she needed a moment to think before she could reply.

"I could feel a change in the air the moment I opened my eyes. I did not know precisely what it meant at first. It was something familiar but off, and it took me some time to puzzle it out. Loyalty to Caine had been severed." She paused in her words then, and now she did move toward him, slowly, her steps nearly as measured as the ones he'd taken moments before.

"No great loss, that." She stated and allowed herself to look him up and down as she got closer before she moved to the side, beginning to circle him as if doing a full inspection.

"Your hair has grown quite long." She noted, not yet saying the rest of what she knew.

ktqueen

 

[ktqueen]

The air always felt like it was electrified around Sionann. The way she spoke, the way she moved, all of it was familiar and just as delightful as... well, somewhere along the way something had changed in him. He was her sire, but that had been a long time past. The dark haired woman always spoke to him as someone who was almost equal, ever toeing the line that they both were distinctly aware of.

Loyalty to Caine had been severed. Her words snapped his attention back in place. His eyes had been following her as she slowly circled him, not moving more than to turn his head slightly to watch her, even as she commented on Caine. There was a slight grunt that could have been taken almost a laugh, but Lazarus nodded at the statement. Caine was no longer their god. Instead Grendel was. Tremere respected power and hierarchy, but this change was one that needed to be embraced.

One hand lifted to touch his a few strands of his ponytail, lifting it slightly before shrugging. "I have not found time to cut it and it's mostly hidden by the robe." As long as it was tied back, it mostly stayed out of his way, and that was all the tall man really needed. "Grendel is now our God and many of the Disciples of Old could not be found. Or perhaps... could not agree with the change." Which one was the truth Lazarus could only guess, but it had been a deciding factor in his own choice. "Including the one that led Tremere." That Disciple had been Lazarus' sire. One that he had not... gotten along with except when necessary for a wealth of reasons. This would have been known to Sionann of course. He had hardly been able to contain his irritation at a great number of choices that had been made in the past.

Lazarus didn't move, allowing Sionann to finish her inspection. "I was chosen to replace him." He doubted she had made it into his study without someone protesting and levelling a title at her to try stopping her. Sionann would have already known that Lazarus had claimed the top spot on the pyramid that was their clan. "An agreement was made, the clan is whole, and we continue on as before under a different god. Little has changed within our walls and everything has changed at the same time, Sio." He used her that nickname, the shortened version in a manner that felt very intimate for Lazarus. It was not one he had used often, but they were alone together here. Wards on the walls that kept others from being able to pry or listen in unless their magic was somehow stronger than his. "I'm glad you've woken. Your timing could have only been better if it had been a few weeks earlier." A small smile appeared on his lips. He really hadn't realized how much he missed her until she was suddenly there.

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

As she continued to circle him, she let her gaze wander across that which was familiar and yet still so foreign. How often had she seen him unrobed like this, with tattoos and everything else so exposed? Not often enough, she could silently lament to herself as she allowed herself to reach out and brush her fingertips oh so lightly against the pale spill of hair that fell between dark shoulders as if that were far more important than any news he could have to tell her.

She made no further comment about the hair and kept to herself the words that would confirm that she felt it suited him. She was always keeping so much unsaid, always holding back, always so careful. Such as with the rest of the information she had gleaned from her travels to the university. The knowledge of Lazarus’s new station and role within the clan. She would allow him to tell it to her, as she knew he would.

Her fingers ghosted away again as he spoke, and she came to stand before him again, head tilted back slightly to look up at him. She was tall, but he was taller still. A violet gaze drank in the burning intensity of his own while he spoke, one shoulder coming up in a nonchalant shrug. “He can certainly do no worse than his father.” She said it plainly, never one to mince words when she had a strong opinion about something. After that, she listened, a hand coming up to rest against her hip.

“Ah, see? He is making great choices already.” She smiled, a knowing look in her eyes as Lazarus reached the point of the matter. He, the new Disciple of Tremere. It was impossible to avoid the swell of pride she felt rising from deep inside of her. It was one thing to have heard about it through rumour, and it was another entirely to hear it fall from the lips of her sire himself. “Though, of course, nobody else is better suited to the position than you.”

And then he used her nickname. It was just a shortened version of her name, but the way he said it sent a shiver down her spine, an electric current firing through every nerve, a pull and an ache deep in her chest, a longing she had come to know intimately over the many, many years they had spent together but had never been acted upon. Her eyelids fluttered closed momentarily, just long enough to compose herself before they flared open again. She had learned long ago not to read too much into his words, but he said he was glad, and when he smiled, no matter how small, warmth spread through her chest.

She could not help but smile in return.

“I am sorry I kept you waiting…ah what do I call you now? Sire? Master? Oh, old and wizened one?” This time, she allowed herself the moment to tease, with amusement dancing in her gaze.

ktqueen

 

[ktqueen]

Sio's fingers touched the end of his ponytail and Lazarus concentrated on that delicate feeling. Was it the first time she had ever touched him? No. Casual brushes and the like had been pretty common while she had been his apprentice, but there had never been anything more than that. For various reasons that Lazarus had kept to himself, guarded closely to his chest. Secrets that Sio and everyone else in Tremere would know longer know of, because they had happened long before any of them had joined the clan.

Those memories had always made him cautious and truth be told, the tall vampire was still cautious because there were too many unknowns he was still trying to figure out. So he didn't react to that touch, though he wanted to. He is making great choices already. There might have been a snort of laughter under his breath, but it was barely heard, and Lazarus allowed himself to nod slightly in agreement.

He was in charge, there was no one to... chide him for getting too big for his status any longer. And Sio was correct, who else could have been suited for Disciple? If he had not been in the picture, Lazarus knew it would have fallen to one of his two remaining apprentices. Sio or Kilah. He had a preference, but would Grendel have thought the same considering he had had children with the blue haired woman? It didn't matter. He had been chosen and Lazarus wasn’t one to waste time thinking about what ifs.

The possible names that Sio offered did make Lazarus smile just a little bit wider. The dark haired woman always had the perfect thing to say to pull him from his thoughts. She had always been distracting but for some reason, he felt it a little more keenly in the moment. "Lazarus is fine in most situations. As for the others... old and wizened may I be, but I suppose sire may fit the most upon official meetings if you feel the need to use something else." Lazarus lifted a hand, for a moment he wanted to reach out to her. Her shrug had brought a bit of hair across one cheek, dark locks escaping and daring him to move them in response. Of course, that was all in his head. Sio was half a step away and he wanted to know what the curve of her cheek felt like. Easy to imagine, and his hand might have looked like it was about to reach out before hesitating slightly and coming to rest on his chin instead. Something to keep him busy, though he only looked like he was thinking things through.

“Master doesn’t suit any longer. You haven’t been my apprentice in quite some time.” Before she had fallen asleep, she had been able to research whatever she wanted and do whatever she needed… but there was one matter they did need to discuss. “The Covenant doesn’t have a leader right now. I can think of no one better than yourself, if you’ll accept.” Lazarus had been in charge of the society before Grendel had made him a Disciple, but Sio had been a member as well. Business was so much easier to discuss than the longing he felt. Another item ticked off an endless list he was using as a shield against his own feelings, but one that would thin as the items became less pressing.

His hand did move then. Lifting from his own chin to finally, gently, and softly push that little bit of hair away from her cheek. He didn’t allow himself to linger on the touch, feeling it would be impolite at best. She had touched his hair for a moment, so he was allowed to do the same. The tall vampire was still waiting on her answer though, wondering if there was any reason why she wouldn’t step up to lead. Things would be safer in her hands, they always had been. And the curve of her cheek had been softer than he would have imagined. Perhaps it had been a long time since he had touched another in a manner that was considered intimate. Maybe too long.

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

“Lazarus.” She said his name slowly, drawing it out as if testing it on her tongue for the very first time, which was ridiculous of course, since she had said it many times before. Her tone was low, a smirk pulling on her lips, that amusement still glittering in her gaze as she teased him just a little bit more, knowing that she was one of few, if any, who could get away with it. Standing so near each other at that moment, her head tilted up toward him, proud of who he had become but more than just that. Being with him warmed her right down to her essence yet managed to send shivers down her spine, a tingle that always started at the base of her skull whenever he smiled or spoke.

But she knew better than to act upon any feelings she may have. Or at least, she thought she did. It was becoming harder by the second to remember why she had never tried. Oh, right. Centuries of time spent together, and only mere hints here and there that he may have any interest in her outside of their established teacher and protege arrangement. She was aware that she held favour with him, but she eventually held no preconceived notions that his favour meany anything more than a congenial fondness.

Her gaze flickered briefly to his hand, the way he raised it as though he meant to reach it toward her, but that seemed to have just been her imagination playing tricks on her. She shifted her weight slightly, jutting out one hip as her own arms raised to cross beneath her chest as he went silent, assuming he was thinking something over before speaking to her next.

A small smile then, when he spoke, and a sudden softness to her gaze. He was right, of course. As odd as it sounded falling from his lips, she had no longer needed to study directly beneath him, with his tutelage, for a good many years before she had gone into torpor. Still, she had never felt like she could truly live up to his grandeur or ever know nearly so much as him. So, when he spoke of The Covenant and its need for a new leader, she could not hide the surprise that entered her gaze nor the slight widening of her eyes as her smile slipped.

It was her turn to go silent, thoughts racing as she considered the full implications of what he was asking. It would be more responsibility and less freedom for her to do what she wished, dealing with the underlings and all that it entailed. But…it was also his former position, and he was offering it to her, and she could not help but feel that it was a great honour he was bestowing upon her.

She was about to nod her acceptance when he reached toward her. Action paused before it could even begin, the lightest brush of fingers against her cheek as he brushed back her hair. Instinctively, she reacted, a longing that had been coiled deep inside of her beginning to unwind. Her arms uncrossed, a hand raised to catch his, a tilt of her head as she pressed his hand against her cheek, her eyes closing. What was she doing? How would he react to this?

“Of course I accept. Anything I can do to help.” She spoke, her tone implying much more than what was being discussed. When her eyes opened again, her violet gaze blazed with an unbridled longing, allowing, perhaps for the first time, for him to see exactly what he did to her. What being around him had always done to her.

ktqueen

 

[ktqueen]

He hadn't been expecting any kind of reaction to the light brush of his fingertips. Instead Sio surprised him, clasping his hand to her cheek in a swift move. His hand was suddenly pressed against the full curve of her cheek and her words were rather straight to the point despite being coded. Anything. She was staring directly at him and while normally Lazarus would have tried to brush off the intended meaning behind the tone, he wouldn't be able to ignore this.

His thumb brushed against the curve of her cheek as he thought. Wants and considerations weighed with each other, but Lazarus could feel that the wants were winning. He no longer had the fears that kept those wants at bay, because hew as the one in charge. There was no longer his sire trying to show him what the truth of the world was. Trying to keep him under lock and key.

Instead, the only thing holding him in place was his own fears. His hand moved slightly, shifting so that his thumb could trail along different spots of her face. Gently pressing against her soft skin, until it drifted along her lips. Impossibly soft and he had a feeling that the rest of Sio would be the same. Which only made him want to touch more of her, even as his glowing eyes matched her gaze.

This had always been lurking inside of him, wanting her. "I trust you understand what you are offering, Sionann. I do not take lovers easily or lightly. And I do not trifle with passing distractions." Which was true now but hadn't always been true. Passing moments had been the only cure for a physical needs that had overwhelmed him, but they had always felt so hollow. Empty, leaving him lonelier than before, and Lazarus had locked away those needs for perhaps a little too long. But Sionann? A minor distraction would not be allowed. He would not get a small taste of her only to return to that loneliness. It would always be her choice but Lazarus was seconds away from letting go of his self control and that would be difficult to recapture quickly.

"It would be best for you to decide one way or another. You can always change your mind at any point, but I need you to understand that this cannot be something without meaning. Not for me." His thumb still traced the edges of her lips, staring down at her intently. His other hand wanted to reach out to drag her closer, but for the moment it was clasped into a fist tightly. A yes or a no. That was all he needed to pull away or pull her closer. He wanted the latter and would act on in a second if she said yes.

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

If nothing came of this moment between them, of the very forward hints, the way she held his hand to her cheek, or the look that she gave him, the moments afterward were going to be very awkward indeed. She could perhaps laugh off the rejection if it came. She could pretend there was a miscommunication or feign confusion from having just awoken from a long torpor. She could maybe brush it off and set her feelings aside, never to open that particular compartment of her heart again. But that was not what she wanted. She wanted him to finally see how she felt, how she had always felt, and she fervently desired a reciprocation of those feelings.

She had spent so long in her studies alone, telling herself that it was because she did not need anyone, but she knew there was another reason deep down. She had been reserving herself for him. Anyone else had just been a frivolity, thoughtless and insubstantial. A way to satisfy some basic need within, to scratch an itch. Tools to be discarded.

He seemed to catch the meaning behind her words all too well. She levelled her smouldering gaze upon him, the silence between them stretching for miles. Still, the stroke of the thumb upon her cheek stilled any anxiety she might have otherwise felt, but when it moved to caress her lips, she let out a soft sigh, and at that moment, she knew that he felt the same.

And yet, she could also sense his hesitation, even before he spoke. His words were somehow soft to her ears, no matter the tone, like silk against skin, causing her to shiver, her throat tight with sudden anticipation. She listened to him, her lips quirking slightly when he said the word lovers, the concept sending a thrill rushing through her.

At some point in his little speech, she had captured her lower lip with her teeth and had become utterly still, watching him as though awaiting some verdict that could potentially change the course of her entire unlife. He kept his words succinct, to the point, allowing her to choose which path she would take while simultaneously letting her know that he wanted her to, though without using those precise words. She could see it in his burning gaze and sense it by the body language he used as his thumb continued tracing its way around the curve of her lips.

She did not require time to consider. She'd done all the considering she'd needed to do long ago. All she needed was permission to hope, ask, or say what she wanted.

"Yes, Lazarus. I understand." Her voice was crushed velvet, smooth and lustrous.

She stepped closer, erasing the last bit of distance between them, her body now pressed up against his, her arm moving to slide around him, then curling up so that her hand was pressed against his back, between his shoulder blades as she continued to stare up into his hearth-like gaze.

"I do not want this to be without meaning, either. So let us create meaning. Together."

ktqueen