Worlds Collide

[Ash Leone]

He shouldn't have been so affected by Dani's displeasure, but he stared after her without knowing what to say other than to apologize.  Morf's way.

He couldn't do that.  Doing that would just make things worse, and it was for that very reason that he stayed perfectly still and tense, fighting the response but unable to offer up another.  Dani had just left him, his only savior from Celeste was gone, and he was trapped here with the vampire.

Why was Celeste doing this?  He could understand her desire to torment him, but Dani?  How could she have managed this, and why would she have searched out Dani?  It couldn't have all been just for him, could it?  Celeste couldn't make a slave out of her, surely not.

But Dani was so completely enamored of her.  It both infuriated and terrified him to realize just how lost Danielle Vida was to this vampire, and he would have gone back to Morfeus without the slightest hesitation if he could have been assured that Dani would have no further contact with any of Midnight's vampires.  He didn't want to lose her to that anymore than he seemed to have already.

"What have you done to her?" he asked, though his voice died out at the end, hearing what she had to tell him.  It drew a true shudder from him, multiple blows being struck with just that short comment.  He couldn't go back to Morfeus, but why did he feel so defeated seeing Dani leave?  That she would allow Celeste to do the very things that she hated Morfeus (though she didn't know his name) for completely baffled Ash, and he had to wonder if she'd agree with Morfeus' results as much.  Celeste and Morfeus desired the same end, afterall.  If Dani judged a vampire's goodness by how much their pets loved them, then she wouldn't hate Morfeus if Ash went back, would she?  She would love him, because Ash would love and adore him.  Ash would be put right back into the training required for it, and at the rate he was going, it wouldn't be long before he was completely tamed again, at the very least.  He would no longer be the 'useless creature to society', and Morfeus would give him a home and a purpose.  

His purpose would be loving Morfeus.  Would that be so evil?

Dani was causing more damage than Celeste, at this point, and he was almost thinking that it wouldn't be so evil.  He loved Dani, he was vulnerable, and she was hurting him for his resistance to Celeste's charm.  She was punishing him, in essence, for fighting against the training Morfeus and Celeste had instilled in him.  It would be so much easier to just give in, and have Dani love him.

Could Celeste see him falling apart inside?  He'd regained his health, so surely she couldn't get into his mind so easily as that, but had this breakdown allowed her access?  Would she know just how close he was to giving up after the disappointment Dani had displayed?  He did want to go home, but right then even he didn't know if 'home' was Hellcat's Hollow, Ian's place, or with Morfeus.  He may have been open to suggestions.

Home, yes...I need to go home...

He stood, as though to leave, not even knowing where to go.  He just had to get out of there.

[Charles Hawthorne]

C?leste raised an eyebrow and looked at the triste with a chilling, fridged expression. Just in case you've forgotten the rules already, you aren't the one supposed to be asking questions, Ashtaroth. "But still," she said, finally aloud, and then spread her hands as she smiled chillingly. "I didn't do anything to her, Ash. Nothing physically, nothing mentally. I just let her see how kind I am."

She watched as the triste fell apart, just across the table.

His defenses weren't quite so shattered that she could break into his mind and do as she willed (yet) but he was certainly coming along nicely. If he'd been anything but immortal his mind would have been her playground, but his triste blood still held her at bay....

She could feel his emotions quite plainly though, feel the jagged spikes and confusion, the ragged edges where his grasp on... well, everything was fraying, coming apart.

He stood up, emotions in a whirl - back and forward and sideways. "What, leaving already, Ash?" C?leste asked casually. Bad pet. And then, just as Morfeus used to do, she snapped her fingers to summon him.

[Ash Leone]

No, he hadn't forgotten the rules...how could he?  He remembered, and it stopped him dead in his tracks.  He didn't have anything to say to her, but he didn't leave.  She hadn't asked him to speak, and he wasn't supposed to ask questions.  He shouldn't have been trying to leave either, but that had been bad behavior on his part.  

"No, milady," he murmured, hearing her words in his head and knowing she was going to hurt him.  He'd misbehaved, he deserved the punishment, so when she snapped her fingers to summon him, he didn't resist.  He took the few steps necessary to carry him to her rather quickly, and dropped to his knees to put his face level with her hand.  

[Benji Miller]

Right, because I are lazy and don't want to switch accounts when C?leste only has a few things to say anyway, This is C?leste. Ok? Ok.

~*~*~

C?leste smiled when Ash came and knelt next to her, just as he was supposed to. "Good pet," she said softly, and then softy stroked his face and petted his hair, just as she knew he liked.

Ah, but by the time she was done with him tonight he would be running back to his master to beg forgiveness.

At first Belinda hadn't noticed anything, really. Well, not that one could blame her. After all the three of them - witch, vampire, triste - weren't exactly sitting right next to the stage, which was where she'd spent most of the night, nor where they doing that much that was overt.

Still, when they were taking a break between songs Belinda (as she liked to do) had mixed and mingled with the people there, walking around and asking people what they thought, smiling, flirting, and just... well, generally acting as she normally did. Which was why she noticed the trio off in their corner. Like most Serpiente, Belinda was pretty good at reading emotion - and the emotions coming off of those three were uncomfortable, to say the least. Still, it wasn't for her to get involved. She shook her head uneasily, sending black curls rippling over her shoulders, and returned to her drink.

In a little while, however, after one of the women had left and Belinda was just debating with herself about going over and seeing if she couldn't calm things down, things took a turn for the worse. The man seemed to be trying to leave and the woman snapped her fingers at him - which was bad enough, it was like she was calling a dog - but then he went and knelt next to her. Everything was at that point so mixed up she could hardly tell what he was feeling - but she seemed to have cruel satisfaction almost dripping from her.

Belinda decided that she didn't know what was going on, but she didn't like it. At all. She quickly slipped out of her chair and started over - seeing the impossibly pale woman caress the face of the man in what almost might be taken as a gesture of affection, were it not for what had gone on in the past few minutes.

Belinda abruptly decided that she liked this even less, which was surprising, really. She hadn't thought her estimation of the situation could sink much lower unless actual weapons were drawn, or something similar.

She moved a bit faster and almost stumbled on a chair, which gave her an idea. And so, quickly putting her plan into action, she walked over to the table and then conveniently tripped, stumbling so that she managed to shove the man hard enough that he almost fell.

"Get out," she whispered quickly and as loudly as she dared into his ear (or as close as she could contrive) as this woman, who she suspected was a vampire, looked on first in shock and then, eyes narrowing, with anger. She finished climbing to her feet.

"Ah, I'm sorry," she said, shamefaced, as she climbed back to her feet, then turned her back on the... vampire? - supposedly to help up the man. As soon as the woman couldn't see her face anymore she widened her eyes and mouthed 'Go' at the man, trying to get him to leave.

Luckily for her, he did. Belinda breathed a slight sigh of relief and then put a smile back on and turned around again. "One again, I'm sorry for that," she said ruefully. "He seems to be all right though, so I guess....

"I was just wandering around the room and seeing how people liked the songs thus far." She gave C?leste her most charming smile.

C?leste glared at the stupid girl. She was sure it hadn't been so innocent as all that - but it wasn't exactly like she could do much to her here. So instead she stared at her, eyes black as coal and hard as diamond.

Ah well. It wasn't, after all, as though she wouldn't ever be able to get the triste in her power again, not if tonight had been any meter to judge by. She'd hardly had to push to make him collapse. So this was only a minor inconvenience.

Lucky for the stupid girl, that was.

"Actually, we weren't listening," she said airly, icily, and then stood up. "If you'll excuse me."

But the triste was gone.

C?leste growled several curses in French, and then let it go and slipped back into the sweet, innocent vampire that Danielle adored so and slipped back to the table - which, she was pleased to see, the woman had abandoned. She sighed, sat down, and waited for Danielle to return. She'd have to play up her little tiger's 'abandonment' of her then.

~*~*~

Sorry for brief powerplays - if anythings wrong then tell me and I'll... figure out a way to edit. *laughs*

[Danielle Vida]

Danielle paced in the front of the lounge, angry for all sorts of reasons. She had no idea what had come over her - when she was in there with C?leste, she was very sure she felt this way, and now that she was outside on her own, she was sure she felt that way. She would know if the vampire was playing games with her, wouldn't she?

She sat down on a bench outside and exhaled slowly, counting backwards from twenty. She felt a sudden disturbance though, but she couldn't explain what or where, and got up, begrudgingly, to go back inside.

It was fortunate for C?leste, however, that Danielle had missed the entire display of obediance that Ash had tried to show. She might not have known who to attack first.

[Ash Leone]

He leaned into her hand when she stroked his face like that, grateful for the affection instead of punishment, but he didn't have long to enjoy it.  Soon, there was a body impacting his, and the woman was telling him to 'get out'.  He looked at her, obviously startled, and she once again ordered him out of there.  

He obeyed.  

She helped him right himself, turned to talk to Celeste, and he took that moment to take off.  He didn't even know for sure where to go, but he was getting away from Celeste.  She would punish him for it when she caught up to him, but this other woman had been very direct, and he wasn't going to refuse.  

[Charles Hawthorne]

C?leste decided with a slight sigh when she saw Danielle coming back to the table that it was probably just as well anyway. If Ash were here, the witch would doubtless have noticed how strange he was behaving. And C?leste could have used that, yes, but it might have made things more complicated. And it wasn't as if she couldn't also use him leaving. It wouldn't even be difficult; Danielle Vida was in the palm of her hand.

To that end, C?leste arranged her features into a somewhat dejected expression, smiling slightly for Danielle as she came back to her seat - though it was a sad-seeming sort of smile. "Hello, petit. Welcome back. You feeling any better?"

[Danielle Vida]

Danielle sat down, still gracefully despite her ire at the moment.

"No," she said honestly. She looked at the vampire. "I'm not. Where did Ash go?" It was hard to say what had angered her so much, but it was surely most rested on the fact that when she had arrived at the table once more Ash was nowhere to be found. She could have broken a glass if she didn't want the trouble of it.

She cleared her blonde hair away from her face and concentrated very hard on being calm. For all the training her mother had drown her in, she managed just this once, to allow her anger to slow to a simmer; it waited, though, just below the surface, looking for any reason to erupt.

[Charles Hawthorne]

Ah, the question she had been waiting for. "He left," C?leste sighed. "I suppose he might end up coming back, but he wasn't acting like it." She looked down. "Danielle, I'm sorry. This is my fault." Which was true in one way and false in another. "I'm sorry. I suppose... it might have been too much for him."

True. In one way. Of course, she was making it sound as she wished. C?leste manipulated people by nature, it seemed some days, and Danielle was ever so easy to manipulate. Of course she was. She trusted C?leste and believed herself worthless. It didn?t take much work to convince her - without saying anything outright, of course - that other people believed the same. Especially when she?d never been able to understand why anyone would bother with her.

[Danielle Vida]

Danielle just made a noise of irritation when C?leste said Ash had left. Oh, she bet. It would be just like him - just her luck, anyways. She didn't know why she was hating him so much suddenly, why she was so angry. She didn't know where it all came from anymore, it was just sourceless, endless, and black.

"Don't worry about it, C?leste," she said. Her tone was flat - not in the way she normally spoke to the vampire, with a tinge of awe; not right now, anyways. Danielle was seeing stars she was so angry, and she couldn't waste any energy on formalities, not just yet. She was practically shaking and began twisting a napkin 'round and 'round, trying to shut out the whispers of madness lingering in her ears.

"It isn't your fault. It's mine."

[Charles Hawthorne]

C?leste sighed and looked down at the table, seeming almost like a child for a few, brief moments. "I probably never should have come. It must have been too much for him - for... for some reason." She looked up, eyes sympathetic and kind. "But don't blame yourself, please. It must have been something to do with me."

She sighed and looked back down again. "Forgive me, I never meant to cause this kind of trouble."

[Danielle Vida]

She sighed. "I guess. Oh well, he's gone now. We should enjoy the rest of our evening, hm?" she asked, perking a little. She glanced up to the stage where the band was again performing, and then back to C?leste.

"Can you tell me more about yourself? I like hearing about your past," she said, leaning her chin on her hand, elbow on the table. So, she wanted C?lste to tell her a story, like she was a child? She was sure C?leste would oblige - most people Danielle knew liked to talk about themselves, and C?leste seemed eager to share with Danielle, to help her understand more.

Danielle wanted to understand. She wanted to know how to be like C?leste.

[Charles Hawthorne]

"Yes, I suppose so," she said, smiling a vampire smile, one that displayed her fangs. It was strange how, despite that, she still managed to look sweet, even harmless. C?leste, really, was a marvel. In a bad way, perhaps, but that didn't lessen the truth.

She looked at Danielle with those large, black, expressive eyes and nodded in response to the question. She smiled again. "I'm glad you do, Danielle. It is nice to be able to talk to you. And of course I will, if you would like me to." The vampire seemed to sink into the past, into memory. Quite a bit of that was an act, naturally - she didn?t let her attention stray too far from the present. Allowing the past to sweep away what was going on was a mistake. "My mother died when I was very young," she began softly, not bothering to tell Danielle just how young she had been - that she had, in fact, not even been born yet.... Maybe she would tell the witch that detail later, for now she did not want to. "I don't remember her at all, but my father used to tell me about her, and I saw portraits. She looked very like me, but I was paler, and I had violet eyes. Her eyes were green." Or at least they were before she died, the vampire thought to herself. When she was an angel they were indigo.... Her father had told her many times.

She was sinking into memory, though not nearly to the extent that she seemed to be. That was mostly an act for Danielle's benefit, after all, she didn't have any particular reason to pine after the past. It was over - dead and gone and buried long since, and lingering would merely take away from each new moment.

She looked at Danielle and smiled. "I had the best of fathers," she said - and it wasn't even a lie. C?leste had loved her father dearly. "He was good and kind and gave me everything. He managed to get me drawing lessons, and painting - beyond what women were really expected to learn. It was the same with music. For my tenth birthday he gave me a horse that was as white as the snow and as fast as the wind." She sighed a little. "It was horrible when he died, but he did. He got sick. And then he died, and... I was lost, for a long time."

[Danielle Vida]

"I don't even remember my father," she said, amazed at C?leste's story. She sat back in her chair a little, and sighed. "My brother, though. I was devistated when he died. I still don't think I've let it go. And why should I?" she asked, mostly herself, a tone of anger in her voice.

She shook her blonde hair and rolled her eyes. She was being rude.

"What happened next?" she asked, interested. She leaned against the table, eyes bright with anticipation at what C?leste might tell her.

[Charles Hawthorne]

"No reason, cherie," C?leste said, ever so kindly. "He's part of what makes you who you are, and of course having someone that close to you die makes things hard. You are doing better then I did, certainly." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I...." she sighed a little. "It was... difficult." She looked back up. "I'd met a vampire named Kaleo before my father died, and..." she looked down for a moment, then glanced back up at Danielle. "A vampire bite feels very good," she said simply. "Have you ever been bitten yourself?"