The Cost of Peace

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's and Atul's eyes caught on the same thing as the man spoke. The ropes had slid from his hands, and a tiny bone knife was cupped in one of his palms. He'd probably been whittling at it this whole time. Vlad's eyes narrowed fiercely. He was not in the mood for games. He teleported behind the soldier, took hold of a stretch of the broken rope, and looped it around the prisoner's neck before he could even blink. Vlad tugged backwards and up hard, so that the man's entire body was hauled up by the rope against his throat. "This rope," he told the man coldly, gathering both ends of the rope in one hand and lifting the man off the ground like he was hanging a fish.

The startled man flailed uselessly with his tiny knife and gurgled for breath as he hung from Vlad's solid grip. "Was there something in particular you needed from this one?" he asked Tenele as he observed the soldier dispassionately. "He doesn't smell very good."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele whirled, pressing her back against the wall, her hand resting on her stomach. She was surprised by what she saw. She hadn't even heard them come back into the room, but lucky for her they had.

"I had saved him for you, because I figured you needed food. I didn't count on you feeding from Atul," Tenele said quickly.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Oh," Vlad blinked, giving the man a second look now that he was perceiving him in the context of food. "Atul doesn't smell," he observed thoughtfully, wondering what to do with this snack now that he was sated. The dangling man was blue-faced and tried to stab backward with his little bone knife. When that didn't meet with anything, he threw it forward at Tenele. A good throw, but an obvious move.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele's eyes widened and she shifted her body to the side quickly, a hand coming up to sheild her face. The bone knife bounced off the wall right next to her head and clattered to the floor. "That was rude," she muttered darkly. "Thought he'd let you go if you killed me? Gods your brilliant."

"If he smells, it probably means he's gone bad. Might as well through him out."

Atul chuckled.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smiled darkly upon the soldier. "I suppose it can't be helped," he said, walking with the gagging man toward the large open window. He reared back and tossed the man neck-first out the window, the soldier's neck audibly snapping as he did so. The body flew several yards out before skidding to a stop in the middle of the street beside a pile of ox manure.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele shook her head at Vlad, a smirk on her lips.

Hours passed and Nadia had food on the table. It was a long table, but not many sat at it. They all gathered at one end, while the other end remained empty. Fero talked through all the dinner, and even after dinner as they gathered in the living room he continued to talk. Stories that Tenele found intresting, and often disturbing. Stories of the beginning of the Outerlands rise to power.

As it wore into night Tenele found she longed to be away from the crowd. When Fero came to a close with his latest story Tenele stood to her feet and leaned towards Vlad. "I'm going to the room," she told him softly, kissing his lips. She leaned in a whispered so softly to human ears it was barely audible, "Will you come soon?"

Atul smirked at them, leaning towards Fero. "I think we bored her."

"I'm just wanting a bed, since I've slept in the desert two nights," she told them. She waved to them and disappeared down the hall. As she passed the door with Verin's crest on it, she shyed away from it, as if suddenly it would fly open and snatch her inside. When she was inside the room she waited with her back pressed flush against the wall for Vlad to come through the door, not really thinking about the fact he could just poof right in.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad raised his eyes to find everyone in the room watching him with expectant stares. He raised an eyebrow skeptically at the attention. He'd made it through the afternoon and dinner without having to do much talking, leaving the folklore to those more interested, although it had probably all been absorbed somewhere in the back of his brain.

The silence stretched on awkwardly. "Perhaps I will go join-"

"Yes!" Fero approved impatiently, apparently viewing Vlad and Tenele's relationship as some manner of spectator sport.

Vlad eyed the man strangely. "Yes.... well then." He placed his napkin on the table. It had been in his lap out of social habit, though he of course hadn't eaten with them. He stood up, gave them a courteous bow, and disappeared from the room.

He reappeared near the bed in Tenele's room, several feet from where she was waiting by the door. The vampire crossed his arms and studied her in amusement as she apparently watched for his arrival. His feet barely padded as he came up behind her and leaned his chin just over her shoulder, as if viewing whatever she was looking at. "Is he here yet?" he whispered just beside her ear.

[Emora Deen]

"Well, I was expecting to jump him when he came through the door," she whispered back. "But, I forgot he had alternate ways of entering a room." She smiled as she turned to face him, and when she had she pushed rather forecefully to get him to back towards the bed. She pushed him into a sitting postion, and crawled slowly to straddle his lap. The dress fabric pulled in front of her, and behind, leaving her legs exposed on either side of him. Her arms twined around his neck and her lips met his with a passionate urgency. Her hands gluided down and grabbed the edge of his shirt, pulling upwards until she had successfully got it over his head. She cast it aside, kissing him as soon as his head was free from the fabric.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smirked in amusement at her forwardness as she pushed him back and went straight for the clothing. It was such abrupt intimacy that his body wasn't quite caught up yet as he followed the pressure of her kiss. When she had to break away for air, he smiled at her, flickers of awakening excitement beginning to glow in his eyes. She had surprised him, but it certainly wasn't an unpleasant surprise. "You are a strange woman," he breathed huskily, raising his head to reach the soft skin of her throat. He kissed down her neck, sucking her skin into his mouth and letting his teeth graze her lightly. Urgency began to grow inside him as he felt her pulse beating under his tongue. He moved to the safer area just below her collarbone, undoing the button of her dress to loosen it. "This is crafty of you. I'm still angry," he breathed against her skin, certainly not sounding angry.

[Emora Deen]

She kissed his neck, going back for his lips. Her hands were unable to stay still, but she doubted that he would mind. She smirked, closing her eyes as she dipped her head to meet his roaming lips. When she pulled away she smiled at him. "I'm apologising," she said in a breath. Then, with a grin she placed her hand behind his neck and swooped down to the side to lie flat on the bed, pulling him to hover over her. "Don't you wish all apologies were like this? Tell me, how long can you stay angry?" she asked as her hands roamed towards his pants.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad narrowed his eyes in concentration as her fingers unfastened his borrowed clothing, inevitably brushing against various things as she did so. "Still angry," he informed her cunningly as his pants slid away from his waist. It was too amusing not to toy with her.

[Emora Deen]

"Oh, how unforturnate," she told him, kissing his chest. Her finger tips started at his abdomen lacing extremely light and ticklish circles down his belly and even further down until she found exactly what she was looking for and when she did she kissed him feircely. After a moment she her lips away, not even realzing that one of his fanges had nicked her lip just slightly. There was a small red drop of blood there. "Still angry?" she asked with a innocent smile.

[Soran Nightblade]

Somewhere in that particular campaign, he became most decidedly not angry. "This is extortion," he protested thickly, helping her the rest of the way out of her dress. The feverish urgency was in him too now, and every inch of her curved body was intoxicating him. He caressed the front of her, mimicking what she'd just done by sliding his mouth downward over her body until just below her naval. He stopped and leaned up again to kiss her. This time, though, he tasted the salt-sweet tang of blood on her lips. His eyes swirled to a glow and he sighed against her mouth, pressing in more passionately.

[Emora Deen]

It was almost impossible for her to keep her breath, and even more so now that he was almost sucking the life from her with his kiss. Her arms twined around his neck as he kissed her, and she arched her body upwards to press firmly against him. Finally she needed air and she broke the kiss with a gasp. "I don't hear your complaining," she said breathlessly, a bare leg sliding up the side of his body until her knee rested close to his chest.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad somehow managed to break their kiss enough to back up and look her over. He put and arm under the curve of her back and slid her higher up onto the bed so that her head rested on the pillow. He looped his arm under her leg and held it there against his side, his hand curled around her knee. His movements were slow as he joined with her, letting her know what he was doing, but he could tell from her expression that he didn't hurt her. "Our hosts will hear us," he teased her, knowing Fero and maybe even the others were probably huddled against the door right now. He was not known to possess a sense of modesty, and so he seemed accordingly unconcerned by the possibility of an audience, but it would be amusing to see Tenele's reaction, as he highly doubted she'd be willing to stop him now.