angels and moths

[deservesadaisy]

Who: Ilde Decima and Ivan

What: something stupid

Where: a flat in Mafaton

When: a couple nights after the missions in (let's say Veerdi?)

Notes: they make the best decisions

Warnings: Mention of past abuse. Will almost certainly include sex and blood-drinking, though likely not explicit. Also, Ivan may be drunk later.


Ivan found, after dying twice, that one's sense of caution was somewhat eroded. Not completely, of course - years of habit and innate temperament saw to that - but really, what was the worst that could happen? He was strong enough in nearly all cases to make it a matter of letting him walk away or killing him. If the latter... well, he wasn't suicidal, but he was curious. Maybe the afterlife would be city on city, like nesting dolls. Maybe it would be better, or worse. Maybe it would eventually be oblivion.

But in the meanwhile, he may as well take a few risks and enjoy himself.

He sat on the balcony, smoking, and waiting for Ilde to arrive.

Comments

[deservesadaisy]

"I suppose you can take comfort in the fact that your Sonja would kill me if I broke your rules," he mused. Or try, but he wouldn't underestimate someone he hadn't met yet.

[rhinemaid]

"Exactly." She liked Ivan, but if she had to bet on either of them- well, Sonja. Every time. Vampires didn't frighten her, conceptually, in the way that they might other people who knew them for a reality; they were, generally, the least of her worries. Vampires in New York were protesting that they were monsters and not food, too, it just wasn't the same...

"If you'd rather I leave, though."

[deservesadaisy]

He shrugged, languid. "If I hadn't wanted you to come, I wouldn't have told you where I was." Not that this would have necessarily stopped her, but it might have slowed her down.

"I just feel we jumped rather quickly from acquaintances to this, so I wanted to be sure the groundrules were clear, mutually."

[rhinemaid]

"If it makes you feel better, I wasn't planning on respecting you in the morning." To be fair, she generally didn't give the impression of respecting him in the evening, either. It was a game, though; she was bossy with him because he let her be, not because of any illusion on either of their parts that she was authoritative or he was obedient.

Playing pretend. Pretend you're fine. Pretend you don't wait for the water to turn on you. Pretend you don't get claustrophobic in bathrooms with clean white walls and mirrors. Pretend you don't half-hate every human walking around like they're better than you, pretend you could ever be normal, pretend-

Pretend that you're authoritative and he's obedient. It was more fun.

[deservesadaisy]

"You never respect me," he observed, amused. "Though I suppose I should make some arrangements for breakfast, if you're staying until morning. This is why I generally prefer hotels, you know." Because life should have room service at all times.

[rhinemaid]

"Well," as she took a sip of the wine, "I should probably wait to go home. You never know what kind of immoral people might be catching the el at night."

...more or less immoral than Ivan? Hard to say.

[deservesadaisy]

"We'd hate for you to run afoul of anyone dangerous," he said, with a straight face.

[rhinemaid]

"You're an ass." That was fine, though; it didn't even sound slightly like a genuine censure. Besides, she'd started it. "I blew off whiskey and honey for this, you know. Cynthia made me tell her your name, job and marital status."

[deservesadaisy]

"I feel like those are all trick questions. If you want whiskey, though, I'm certain we could find some." More easily than breakfast, yes.

[rhinemaid]

"I don't need any more alcohol." A little wine was more than enough, in point of fact, and if she was planning on actually getting laid at any point this evening, playing chicken with her liver wasn't actually going to help accomplish that goal. "And I can stop at a café on my way home tomorrow."

(Was it still considered a walk of shame if you were that pleased with yourself?)

"I really think whoever designed whatever I am should've thought about including some kind of improved healing," she added, rolling her shoulders back against the chair.

[deservesadaisy]

"I've never had much contact with any of the fae," he said, thoughtfully. "I haven't any idea how blood would affect them. If you were human, it would just turn you."

[rhinemaid]

"I've seen what happens, with both at once," she said, closing her eyes for a moment as she brought Anna to mind- she held her hands up and mimicked the lightning that skittered over the other woman, calling it up in an illusion. "She's lovely."

[deservesadaisy]

"And, I've no doubt, terrifying." He didn't sound worried so much as thoughtful. "Regardless. Healing things has never been my gift, I'm afraid."

[rhinemaid]

"Then it's a good thing that's not why I came here." Katya would help her, if she needed it; that was something valuable to know.

(And she had a tendency to use 'lovely' and 'terrifying' like interchangeable concepts.)

[deservesadaisy]

"It is." He considered her. "Did you actually want supper? I'm happy to have some food sent, but if you'd rather straight to it.."

He may be teasing her, just slightly.

[rhinemaid]

Ilde laughed, rubbing her free hand over the back of her neck, under her hair. "I was enjoying your company, actually. Oddly enough."

[deservesadaisy]

"Well, I won't tell if you won't." He seemed in no hurry to get up, settled with her, his wine and his cigarettes.

"You know, before Baedal, I hadn't been with anyone but my wife in almost 70 years. I hope you'll be sure to let me know if you find anything disappointing."

[rhinemaid]

"It's been about five years, for me," since there'd been anyone at all, "which is one small mercy." She saluted the remark with her wineglass; at least that hadn't been among her abuses at the hands of Prometheus. To the best of her knowledge, at least, but she generally tried to avoid thinking about what she might not know about what happened under sedation.

[deservesadaisy]

He raised his glass in turn.

After a pause, he said, "You're a puzzle, have I told you that?"

[rhinemaid]

"Not in so many words." Or probably not, anyway; her frown wasn't ill-natured, just a moment where she went down a mental sidetrack on whether or not she remembered him saying specifically that. "Why do you say?"

[deservesadaisy]

"Most people are easy to sort out." Complex, yes, but there were a handful of types of people in Ivan's experience. Once you'd sorted out which one a person was, most everything fell into place.

"You - you're intriguing."

[rhinemaid]

She shifted, resting her side against the back of the chair and her chin on her own shoulder as she studied him, her wine half-drunk. (It probably wasn't going to be finished.) "What do you make of me so far, then?"

[deservesadaisy]

"I think you've created a very charming character for public consumption," he said, after a moment of smoking. "I'm not sure which bits are just play. I think you'd be easy for fools to underestimate."

[rhinemaid]

"Fairies are supposed to be playful," she said, smiling. Like cats, there was an element of sadism in it, curious and curiously unrepentant. "That's where 'fey' comes from, isn't it? Otherworldly and unpredictable. I guess they use that word for a lot of things, though, which fits as well."

Not that she was, admittedly, an expert on her nature in the wider sense.

[deservesadaisy]

"Like I said. You're my first fairy. I enjoy the unpredictability." At least to a point.