Holier Than Thou

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad held her a little tighter. He slept with one eye open, at least mentally, and thank god, he managed not to dream. His body needed the rest. Between housing Knight's spirit and fighting off Verin's will, he had very little energy left. When the sun woke him the next morning, his subconscious thoughts went to hunger. He wasn't in the mood to be hungry. He nestled Tenele in tighter against him and lay comfortably with her under the warm blankets. The fire had gone out in the night, but it would be some time before the cold saturated the blanket fort.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele groaned, blinking her eyes open at the light. She drew the blankets over her head, also managing to tug them over Vlad's as well. "No morning," she muttered to the sun. "Morning doesn't exist."

[Soran Nightblade]

"No, it doesn't. It's just a lie they've made up to scare us into productivity," Vlad crooned, scooping her up and suffocating her against his chest.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled. "How cruel of them," she replied. "So if it is a lie, does that mean we can lay like this all day?" Her finger tips trailed up and down his sides. "Because I think I plan on staying under these blankets all day. I think we deserve it."

And her thoughts trailed to Atul. He hadn't come by after she'd conjured Knight. Hadn't he wondered why she had? Did he care? She frowned against Vlad. "Atul is leaving today."

[Soran Nightblade]

"Yes...he is," Vlad affirmed. He didn't want to show his disappointment, so he kept his tone bland. Then his eyes widened. "Oh, crap," he muttered in a most un-Vlad-like way. "I need to get up for work," he half-muttered to himself.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele's brow furrowed and she sat up over him, straddling his waist. "Work?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "Did Sinead give you a job other than fighting in wars?" She reached up and brushed her silver hair from her face, smiling down at him. "Have we received the ill-fated 'responsibilities'?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"Not just a job," Vlad smirked up at him. "More like our first mortgage payment."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele laughed, wrapping her arms around her abdomen. "Its not nice to be cruel to me after last night," she muttered to him, poking his forehead. Her eyes spotted the cloth she still had tied around the wound. She began to unwrap it slowly, flexing her palm to see how the wound was doing.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad half-closed his eyes as her exposed cut reminded him of his hunger. "By the time I bathe, grab breakfast, and and make my commute, I'll be lucky if I'm even-... Oh wait," he smirked cockily, "What am I saying. I don't need to commute." He climbed up out of the bed and stretched luxuriously.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele flopped on her back, tucking the covers around her. She smiled up at her husband as he stretched. "Eat breakfast?" she asked him with a laugh. "You make it sound so very normal." She stretched beneath the covers, drawing them back over her head and hiding away from him. "If you lay back down you could have breakfast in bed," she told him, her voice muffled by the blankets.

[Soran Nightblade]

"That is tempting," Vlad chuckled as he pulled his shirt off. "But it wouldn't do to be late my first day. Besides, I don't feel like sticking around for the goodbye party," he muttered sourly.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded under the blankets. "Okay," she muttered. A part of her, a strong part, didn't want him to go. A part was scared of him going. But, at the same time she knew she couldn't live her life in fear, and that they couldn't be next to each other for every hour of the day. So she sighed softly, still hiding beneath the covers. "I don't think I'll go to the good bye party either... I'm undecided. Ugh, have a good day at work."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad cocked an eyebrow at her, and smiled. "I don't expect Verin to interfere with us during the daylight hours, but if he does, you know what to do," he said. He was on his way to the bathroom when someone knocked on the door. "Damn it, I need to fix my makeup," he complained as he swung the door open.

What he saw on the other side made him freeze.

"Hi," Atul said carefully from the other side of the door, studying Vlad's shirtless appearance. "Makeup?"

"What do you want?" Vlad asked coldly.

The man looked down at his feet for a moment. "I wanted to talk," he said quietly.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele froze under the blankets when she heard Atul's voice. She bit her bottom lip, and thought about hiding there and listening to their conversation. Instead, she sat up slowly, her silver hair all fluffed and tangled. Tenele set her green gaze on Atul. Her cheeks flushed with warm heat, remembering that the last time they sat in this room talking none of them had any clothes on. "Come in," she told Atul softly.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad took a step in front of Atul as he started cautiously into the room. "You have a lot of nerve to come here," he said. "You've been happy enough to ignore us for the last week."

"I was there when I was needed," he said.

"Not good enough," Vlad simmered.

Atul looked nervous, maybe even sheepish. "I understand I must have frustrated you. I did not want to be offensive."

"The hell you didn't!" Vlad snapped.

"I wanted to see you!" Atul said.

The sudden emotion in his voice made Vlad take a step back and study him a little harder.