Glasya (cartographist) wrote in thisdarknight, @ 2016-07-05 08:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !locale: garden district, david malvot, emmeline rothschild |
but with nobody in your bed / the night's hard to get through
Who: David Malvot & Emmeline Rothschild.
What: Past histories between the Daeva Lancea et Sanctum siblings.
Where: Church of St. Bartholomew.
When: Way back when.
Warnings: None.
Progress: Gdoc, complete.
Emmeline stopped in the doorway to David's room, hesitating. She watched him as he prepared to rest for the day, feeling the weight of the rising sun almost like a physical burden on her shoulders. She leaned against the frame, exhausted. Nathalie had been gone for a week, sent to Philadelphia on a diplomatic mission to help with church issues there. Em had not slept well since the departure of their shared Sire, and was hoping to find help with her brother.
But now the idea seemed ridiculous. In the three years since her embrace, she and Nathalie's other childe had been friendly at best, competing with each other to bring more recruits and praise to the church. He had decades on her and seemed to tolerate her attempts to be a part of the church, but she still clung too tightly to her Sire to feel comfortable around others. Em drew in a breath and pulled up the long white skirt of her nightgown, her bare feet turning to lead her away from the room.
David's voice rang out from behind her, a low and musical purr. "Emmeline," he called. "Come in." He turned to face the white retreating line of her body. He swept the black cassock off his own, then moved to hang it in a nearby armoire. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
She paused, and then turned back, hovering in the doorway once more.
"Nothing, I... I was just getting ready to rest." Her fingers laced in front of her, the picture of anxiety. Deep lines were etched into her face, and her eyes glanced about the room, taking it all in. Finally, her gaze came back to rest on David. "I...actually had a question for you, if...if it's not too much."
"Of course not," he said. After a brief hesitation David moved to the door, reaching out to take one of her tightly clasped hands. He pulled her gently inside the cavernous space. "What is it?"
She followed his lead without pause, seeming to lose some tension as he pulled her into the space. "It's more of a favor, actually." Her free hand grasped at her nightgown. "I just, I've been having trouble sleeping, and sometimes..."
Emmeline took a breath and pulled her hand back from David's, leaving her in the middle of the room. "I'm not used to sleeping alone, and Nathalie lets me rest with her some days. Since she's gone, I thought I might ask if I... If I might rest with you." Teeth worried her bottom lip, but she forced her hands flat at her sides. Before he could respond, she kept talking. "I'm sorry, I know this is a stupid thing to ask. I shouldn't have bothered you with this."
His laugh was quiet, and quickly clipped. It almost -- almost, but not quite -- covered the jealousy that flared up within him. He started to reach out to her but seemed to think better of it. "You're not a bother," he said. "And of course you may. I welcome your company."
David turned away from her, beckoning her to follow as he moved back toward the sleigh bed. It was a black expanse of a thing, its crisp sheets a red so deep they seemed one shadow atop another. He stripped out of his black silk undershirt, draping it over the black curve of the headboard. "Do you often stay with Nathalie? I'd heard rumors, but she's never spoken of it with me directly."
Emmeline's gaze drifted over his form, then politely moved to the bed. If she could have blushed, she would have.
"Not...that often," she said, not entirely lying, following him to the bed. The sight of it made the tension in her body melt away entirely, wanting nothing more than to curl up in it and sleep. "I've never been used to sleeping alone." Despondency moved like a cloud over her face for a moment as various faces of past bedmates moved through her mind -- William, her mother, Richard -- but then she shook it off as she glanced back to David. "I promise I don't take up much room. Just having someone else there helps with the dreams."
"Don't be so timid," he said. "You're better than that." She tried not to flinch at his words, unsure if she disliked his tone or the fact that he disapproved. He slipped beneath the sheets, reaching out to pull down the corner across from him. His eyes stayed on hers, watching the storm of emotions pass over her, wondering what each of them meant. "Ask for what you want, then take it." He patted the mattress next to him. "Tell me about these dreams."
Worrying her bottom lip, Emmeline slid into bed next to him, crossing her legs as she remained seated. Her hands strayed to her lap, plucking at the white material of her nightgown.
"They're nothing. Just things I remember, or I guess shouldn't remember, and it confuses me when I wake up. Nathalie...someone else with me just helps me remember where I am. What happened." She pulled the edge of the sheets over her legs, leaning back against the pillows. Exhaustion fell heavily against her, but she forced herself awake as she looked to her newfound sibling. "Do you dream? When you rest?"
David thought for a moment. His fingertips traced nonsensical patterns on her thigh, shifting the thin cloth on cool skin beneath. "If I do," he said at last, "I don't remember them. I sleep very deeply and very well. But I'm told others dream. I don't think it's particularly unusual, or something to worry about." He hummed quietly, considering. Only a hint of jealousy colored his next words. "Perhaps it's related to your gift."
She missed the tone of his words as her body relaxed with his touch. "Maybe. I've never had dreams like this before...before any of this. I slept better when I was alive. Sleep was the one thing I had that was mine, where I wasn't interrupted." Her hand reached out and took his, fingers lacing. "But everything's changed now. I keep thinking I made the right choice, but it never seems like it." She stared at his hand, once again lost in thoughts that drew a frown on her mouth.
"Give it time." He squeezed her hand, the pad of his thumb brushing over her skin. "You'll adjust. And the dreams might get better. I've heard Mekhet can sometimes help with that. Teach you to direct your dreams, or alter them." He shrugged, his bare shoulder whispering against the sheets. "Personally I wouldn't trust them to. But if it gets bad enough, you know you have options."
Her frown deepened at his sour recommendation, and she slipped down to lie on her shoulder parallel to him. She sighed, her eyes drifting closer and closer to sleep. "I don't think I'd like someone else in my head. Too many things going on there already." Her lids finally shut, her body falling into the stupor that came with the rising of the sun. Her grasp, however, remained firm on his hand.
David's head came to rest against her shoulder. He breathed deeply of the scent of her, and the subtle notes of their home that lay beneath. This was his last conscious thought: that they belonged to one another, and what a shame it was that their maker had to leave for them to see it. Sleep came for him soon after, pulling him down into its dark and dreamless embrace.