LORE: End Game (MATURE)

[Emora Deen]

Tenele blinked, tilting her head up at him. "Your lying," she replied softly, in a breath. Her body began to tremble once again, even though she wasn't exerting herself at all. She hated being so weak.

"I see right through you, Vlad. Well, not all the time. But, you can't hide it this time. Is something bothering you?" Her green eyes searched over his face. "Is it me? You don't have to sit here and watch me. I'll be fine. No one is trying to kill me at the moment, not that I know of. I mean, I haven't had time to piss anyone off in the past few days." She was trying to make it sound like a joke.

Trying.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Oh, I plan to sit here and watch you, all right. I have a captive audience; this is too rich to pass up," Vlad smiled darkly. She was shaking...she was shaking in his arms and there was nothing he could do about it. "If it were possible for me to be boring, I'd have my revenge," he scoffed, resting his hand on his hip cockily as he lay next to her.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele narrowed her eyes, taking a deep breath and blowing it out her nose rather hard in a gruff sigh. "You are infuriating, do you know that?" she asked him, snuggling her nose closer to him. She was really to tired to argue at the moment, so she decided to let him win. Her eyes drooped as she rested into that comfortable place next to him in his protective embrace.

"I'm so hungry, I think I'd actually consider drinking blood if it would fill me up." She grinned against him, turning her green eyes upwards without turning her face.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad let out a dark chuckle. "I would offer you my neck, but not only would that be redundant, but it's apt to get you into more trouble than your body can handle right now," he smiled, a flash of seduction making its way to his eyes. "Rest a few minutes, and I'll wake you for the rest of the water," he said, forcing his tone to be casual although he really, really wasn't fond of the idea of letting her sleep again. No, that was silly. She was clearly speaking and even showing a little spunk. She would get better; now she just needed time.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele sighed against him as she nodded wearily. "Stop tempting me to bite you," she muttered, already half a sleep. "You might get more than you bargained for." The threat was humorous considering she was barely awake at the moment. Her hand reached up and clutched his arm that was around her, hugging him to her.

"Good night."

* * *

A few weeks had passed and she was fairly back to normal. It was mid-day and a bit boring to her. She sat on a stone bench in the middle of a circle of large rose bushes. Dressed in a beautiful pale green gown she had her knees drawn up while her back laid flat on to stone bench. A pale green ribbon was tied around her neck, covering the scars that Lothos had left behind. Silver hair cascaded over the edge of the stone bench, almost touching the ground.

She stared up at the blue sky, watching the clouds go by.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad stabbed the pointed stick he was carrying at the peanut bag someone had carelessly littered onto the ground. Lifting the small sack up to eye level, he cast it a deadpan stare and threw it into the sack he was holding in his other hand. He proceeded a few feet and spotted a half-eaten barteldog on the ground. With a trace of a frown, he stabbed at it with his stick, only to split the leftovers in a meaty mess on the grass. Frowning, he wondered how a half-eaten barteldog had made it into the perimeters of Sinead's garden in the first place. This was why peasants shouldn't be allowed into the palace grounds, but Sinead's political views tended to be....unshakable.

Giving thought to the uselessness of the implement he'd been given for his assigned task, he rolled his eyes and levitated the smushed food up into his bag before moving on. He was about to round the corner toward the rose garden when he noticed a glint of green fabric just through the trees. He crossed closer until he spotted the one wearing the dress. He had to acknowledge his first thought, which was that Tenele looked incredible, particularly in comparison with a few weeks before. Her color was back, and the uneasy feeling that had nagged at him during the early stages of her recovery was gone. It was a relief. he hadn't felt like himself for days. He'd been so bored that he'd even resorted to an unusual density of pranks within the palace, which had won him the reward of the rather unglamorous chore he was currently performing.

Pausing just out of sight, he teleported to the bushes just behind her, a smirk of anticipation making subtle lines across his face.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele sighed as she stretched her arms out behind her, hanging over the edge of the rather uncomfortable cool granite that she had made a temporary day bed of. The cool wind tossed the leaves of all the trees, the rustle actually calming to her. She smiled as the warmth of the sun broke through the cloud that had just passed overhead and radiated down on her again. It soaked into her skin, adding comfort and coziness to every joint, bone, and fiber of her body. The wind rolled across the ground, shifting the grass like a steady ocean wave coming towards the shore. It raced over her flesh, cool and tickling.

However, she knew that this would have to end. She couldn't very well stay here in the garden and in his peace forever. She had a meeting to go to not to long from now, for she was fit enough to go back to business.

Many had tried to talk her into retiring after her little... miss-adventure with the crazed luntatic vampire. Someone her age, retiring? That seemed less than admirable. They had pointed out the series of most unfortunate events that seemed to have plagued her life as of late. The turning of Adrian, the anniahaltion of her house maids, the countless attemps on her life because of the status she held as the First of Queen's Maidens and because of how the Queen thought of her as a daughter. Going off to war and becoming a prisoner didn't help her stake in the matter, neither did bringing back old thought-to-be-dead enemies continuously. Yes, it seemed like nothing but bad luck revolved around her. However, on the optimist side, things had to level off eventually, right?

How could it get any worst?

Scratch that. She didn't even want to consider the possiblity of how much it could get worst, because knowing the rate her luck seemed to be running it could get dramaticly worst. The God of Darkness himself might fall into her lap if she considered that it couldn't get worst.

An amused smirk came to her lips as she considered this. A man falling into her lap. Oh, how would Vlad react to that one? She found the image in her head very amusing indeed. But, frankly the only man she ever wanted in her lap was the one that currently was on the top of the most-undesirable-coworkers list.

That's what he gets, she thought, for playing so many pranks. Maybe he'd learn his lesson now that he was having to clean up after the humans he so willingly looked down upon...

Then again, she highly doubted it.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad observed Tenele lying out in the soft light of the garden. He allowed the concept of leaving her be pass through his mind. Briefly. It did just that, passed right through. He ported up into the tree that hung over her position. It was casting patched shadows across her elegant form. He watched her for a moment before glancing into his sack with a thoughtful stare, weighing his inventory. He pulled out the bread from the barteldog and dropped it strategically toward the center of her forehead.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele's green eyes snapped open and she gazed up at the looming tree and the shadowy form that was sitting casually on a branch. She glared at the familiar shape, reaching up and swiping the way the leftover crumbs. "I thought you were supposed to be cleaning? Community service? You know, for all your pranks."

She sat up, peering up into the tree. It was hard to make him out since her eyes had been facing the sun, even closed. It made the shadows far darker than they really were.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad gave a graceful shrug and jumped off to land on his feet beside her. It wasn't a natural height to jump from, and when he did it it seemed unnaturally like he'd just hopped off a chair, not jumped 20 feet. The Vampire was certainly in the habit of taking his power for granted. "I was told that if i see anything lying on the ground, I must pick it up and put it in this sack. His red eyes squinted as he glanced from the sack he held to Tenele, and back to the sack. "I'm going to need you to crouch," he informed her.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele laughed, grinning beautifully at him. "You are not going to put me in that bag..." she said, but then again she was slightly worried that he would. It wasn't like he was incapable of stuffing her into a sack, and he'd probably take some strange satisfaction from it. He was after all unconditionally and forever Vlad. "And if you even think about trying, I'll bite you. And we both know what that does to you. It would hinder your ability to preform your job efficently and in a timely manner."

[Soran Nightblade]

Tenele's comment only caused the vampire's eyes to flicker with amusement. He took a step forward, well into her personal space. "Surely you wouldn't distract me from my duties?" he spoke darkly. The proximity of her blood lent a faint glow to his irises.

[Emora Deen]

"Of course I wouldn't want to hinder your duties. That would be very un-professional... I mean, after all, you are still on duty, right?" she was hinting to something, maybe hinting to the fact he should take off. She smirked, grabbing the bag from his grip and tossing it aside. "Are you still on duty?" Her hands rose up and took the collar of his shirt, tugging him closer to her lips.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad slipped into full-out vampire mode, not bothering with breathing or blinking. He bent over her, as if following the tug of her grip, but the motion was too controlled to be involuntary. "Are you sure you want to find out?" he whispered cryptically just beside her ear. His eyes had flared deep crimson, and somehow he managed to give the sense of having control over her, even though he hadn't touched her in any way.

[Emora Deen]

The her on the back of her neck stood up and a shiver ran down her spine as he shifted so close to her. She tilted her face slightly more towards him and her cheek brush his. "I wouldn't mind it," she told him in a whisper, her lips brushing his ear. Then, with out so much as another word. She let her hands slip from his shirt and she turned and walked away. Looking back over her shoulder with a mischevious grin. Then she sauntered off down the path.

'I bet you weren't expecting that, Lord Dracul,' she thought to herself amusingly.