Big Calm

[Sasha]

It was startling to see such an event happening, but Sigried was the type of girl that accomplished exactly what she'd set out to do, and so, after being away from Lucien for a few days, she'd grown restless and sought him out. She'd plucked the wherabouts of the guild from his mind effortlessly beforehand, so this wasn't much of a challenge.

Heels clicked against the walk as she strode straight through the front doors, hips swaying in that way only a serpent could manage - ah, but this was Sigried, and she was so much more than that. Beware any serpiente in the Onyx guild, because suddenly they would be drawn to the woman dressed in a dark brown number with the wavey hair.

She only had eyes for Lucien, though, and she ignored the questions as she reached for him, fortunate to have found him with his back turned, speaking to a petite brunette.

"Hello, sweet prince," she purred, fingers gently pressing down on the spot between his neck and shoulder that people often complained would ache. She kneeded it gently, and for now, used no forcable power save her natural serpent charm.

She'd only turn it up if Lucien hesitated to recieve her well.

[Lucien Cobriana]

Ebere had, when he'd finally cornered her to find out what was wrong with her trainee, informed Lucien of Ritya's sickness.  She'd hinted, without really telling him, at what was wrong, and so he'd opted to go find Ritya to figure it all out himself.  It took him a matter of about 20 seconds to realize that the boy had not only been infected by a shifter, but that it had been an avian.  All he'd needed was to get a hint of Ritya's temperature, and he figured it out, for the most part.

He'd been in the process of trying to work it into conversation to ask the boy what kind of bird he was, but he didn't quite get that far before someone came up behind him.  No, not someone.

Her.

It took him an effort to keep his thoughts together with her rubbing at his back like that and talking to him, but he somehow managed it.  He wasn't nearly as bad off as he'd been the first time, having been eating and sleeping a bit better without working himself to the bone.  That didn't mean he really stood all that much of a chance, though.  She'd already gotten in enough that he trusted her too much to just turn her away.

"Ah, hello," he told her with a smile, but he made no move to fall into her touch or the like.  He was with a trainee, and that was hardly appropriate behavior.  He turned his attention to Ritya again, much preferring to finish what he was doing before she walked up before retreating to his office to see what had brought her to the Guild.

The fact that she was there didn't seem out of place in the least.

[Freyja Smoke]

Ritya knew that word spread quickly in confined places, but geez. Already the Guild Leader was seeking him out to get the scoop. Ebere had mentioned that other shifters would know what he was almost on sight, and if not on sight than at least on sniff (so to speak). The conversation Lucien started up was light. Idle. Transparent enough that Ritya was almost certain the man was leading up to something, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what.

The conversation didn't get that far, though. Some unknown, very good-looking girl walked up behind Lucien and started... Ritya refrained from using the phrase "feeling him up", but TMI and PDA both crossed his mind. The snake made an effort to get back to the conversation, but Ritya wasn't sure he wanted to be discussing his personal life issues with strangers around. Especially one who felt as funny as she did. The part of him that was a bird didn't like her.

"I can..." He pointed over his shoulder, in the opposite direction of Lucien and his "guest". "You know. Come back another time."

[Sasha]

Well, Sigried only took about a second to figure out what was going on - you didn't get to live to be 600+ years old and not know how to put together a situation as quickly as you could walk into it. She let go of Lucien's shoulder, surprisingly, and smiled to the boy he was speaking with. It was a predatory smile to the avian in him, but the human in him... no, fuck that. She flat out gave him the cheshire grin that said, quite plainly, "I will eat your children."

"Of course, dear," she said, turning her attention back to Lucien for the moment. She straightened the collar on his shirt and smiled. "I'll just find something to occupy my time 'til your done." She gave him a light pat and then walked away as suddenly as she had come, to sit down on a nearby bench and flip through a magazine someone had left sitting down.

No, Ritya wouldn't know why she bothered him so, but he would know that she did. The vampire was still waiting to drop the powerbomb on Lucien, though. It might be too obvious, especially in front of that stupid bird.

[Lucien Cobriana]

He'd actually begun to consider Ritya's offer to talk again another time because of Sigried, but she went on to prove just how amazing she really was when she excused herself to go wait while they talked.  She was so understanding, so easy to get along with.  He loved it.

It should have been odd to see him with a woman who quite obviously wasn't Tsunai, though.  And right there in the Guildhouse.

"Thank you, love," he told her happily, watching her go take a seat, and returned to the conversation at hand, as it was.  He'd forgotten where he'd been, and wasn't feeling especially patient right then, though.  He didn't want to keep Sigried waiting while he danced around the subject distractedly.  Thus, he finally just sighed and came right out with it.

"You're a shifter now, an avian, aren't you?" he asked, being direct to get this taken care of.  "What kind, and how exactly did it happen?"

[Freyja Smoke]

Ritya was starting to think that maybe, for real, it wasn't such a bad thing to be a shifter. Those senses told him when things were strange, before thost things smiled at him in ways that made his skin crawl. Who WAS this woman, and why was the Guild Leader, of all people, acting like she was the sweet young thing next door? He even called her "love"!

Was Lucien just stoned, and nobody knew?

The question snapped Ritya back to the here and now, or at least the here and now that included paying attention to words. He blinked, processing. So he'd been right about the point of this conversation. "I- Yeah. Golden hawk, apparently I'm pretty rare. How it happened was... a little strange and kinda complicated..." His eyes traveled to the woman sitting on the bench. "Are you sure you don't want me to come back later?"

[Lucien Cobriana]

No, Lucien wasn't stoned.  At least, not in the traditional sense.  Sigried's power was truly taking its toll, though.  He didn't even notice it.  Instead, he nodded to acknowledge what Ritya was saying, frowning at the mention of the circumstances of his infection being 'strange and complicated'.  That definitely required a bit of an explanation.  He glanced at Sigried at the boy's question, though.

He wanted to just tell Ritya to come back later, when he wasn't preoccupied thinking about her, but he couldn't really guarantee that his thoughts would be free of her influence even then.  He might as well get business taken care of right then and there.  "No, it's fine, Ritya.  I just want to keep track of how you're doing.  You've been spending time with Ebere to come to understand what's happening to you?" he asked, wanting to be sure that the boy was being taken care of.

"I do want to know what happened, with a bit more detail, but it can wait if you'd be more comfortable in private.  You can also stop by my office at any time if you have questions or need any kind of help, alright?  You should have gone to Doctor Mitchell immediately instead of hiding in your room.  I need your word that you won't do something foolish like that again."  The last thing Lucien wanted was for someone to be injured or sick and just hide out until they got worse or even died.  There was no reason for it, and no excuse.

[Freyja Smoke]

Ritya nodded; yes, he was getting help from Ebere. And a little from Kazuo, as well, but he wasn't going to bring it up and create more conversation. Dom hadn't seen him as a bird, yet, and it was going to stay that way.

Lucien continued, and Ritya knew he was being patronized. It didn't surprise him, he knew he'd been stupid. Any intelligent person would have found a doctor the second their temperature spiked to one hundred and five. But Ritya had lain in his room, doing nothing, and could have potentially caused his own death. Lucien was well within his rights to be concerned. Ritya nodded, saying, "Yeah, I promise. It was kinda dumb. And I think it would be better to discuss my... circumstances in private." Just having the girl there was giving the skin around his feathers goosebumps. He wanted very badly to leave, his hawk side was having an absolute fit. "When do you want me to come back?"

[Sasha]

Sigried rolled her eyes when nobody was looking and set the magazine down. Okay, Lucien had about five minutes to wrap it up before she just took it upon herself to explore. She wondered if there were any other Serpiente hunters she could use to her advantage? She tapped a finger on her lower lip for a moment and then stood, stretching out her arms.

She walked around the main vicinity, not leaving their eyesight, and looked at various things - pictures, a table, whatever. She was trying to amuse herself very hard, but Sigried really didn't find pleasure in just staring at random shit when there were more pressing matters at hand.

She caught Lucien's eyes finally and raised a brow pointedly, as if to say, Are you done? (He'd better wrap it up soon,) she thought to herself.

[Lucien Cobriana]

Lucien really was trying to be responsible and look out for Ritya, but Sigried was a very distracting part of his surroundings.  When he saw the impatient look on her face, he was more than willing to rush this along.  The last thing he wanted to do was make her wait.  "Whenever," he said dismissively, waving his hand as a gesture with the word.  "Soon.  In the meantime, take care of yourself."

And with that said, he was off, going back to Sigried.  That wasn't necessarily like him, but he hardly noticed.  He had eyes only for that woman as he stepped up to the bench she was seated on.  "Sorry to have kept you waiting, but that needed to be tended to.  Would you prefer my office?" he asked, though he was already offering his hand as a gentleman.  He knew she wasn't about to speak with him right there in the guild hallway, so his office was the obvious choice.  

[Freyja Smoke]

Man, whoever the creepy chick was, she had Lucien's number. His cell AND his home phone, from the looks of it. The second she started paying attention to Lucien, Lucien forgot all about Ritya, Ritya's life, and how Ritya's actions this month could have ended said life. So, again: who WAS the creepy chick?

"Yeah, sure," he replied to Lucien's bland dismissal. "Whenever"? Huh? Maybe Lucien WAS stoned. Or drunk. Or more eager for alone time with Miss Creepy Whoever-She-Was than for an explanation on sudden, drastic life changes of his guild members. Yeah, because who gave a shit about Lucien's guild, anyway.

So maybe Ritya, in the deepest, darkest part of him that was still five, had been kinda looking forward to bragging to Lucien all about his new shifter side, what with how rare and powerful and GORGEOUS it was. It struck him as odd, Lucien's behavior, because usually Lucien was terribly interested in what went on with him. Whether that was personal interest or just because Ebere employed him to kick Ritya's butt once a week, he didn't know. But getting the brush off like this from a person like the Guild Leader kinda hurt.

Well, whatever. Ritya had other things to do, like shower. And preen. Or shower and then preen. He liked the sound of that, all that warm spray getting the dust off his feathers so they'd dry crisp and light and fluff perfectly once they were beak-cleaned and fixed into place...

Goddammit, Ritya muttered to himself as he strode back down the hall the way he came. I really am a freaking bird, aren't I?

[Sasha]

"Oh it's quite alright," she said cheerfully, though she shot Ritya an Eat Shit and Die look as she caught him stealing a glance at them while departing. She turned her full attention back to Lucien. Ah, now.

"Your office? Or wherever, I really don't mind. I just felt like dropping by to keep you company for a short while. If you have pressing matters at hand, I can give you leave for a while. I simply had some free time," she said with a smile. Ah, sweet Sigried. Thinking of him. How... thoughtfully evil.

"How has your day been going, dear? You still look a little tired, have you slept well?" Ah, Sigried was all touchy-feely now, rubbing his shoulder lightly as she spoke to him. Sometimes one might wonder if Sigried would have been sane if she'd just been left alone, but it was hard to say. She simply was what she was.

[Lucien Cobriana]

"Nonsense.  Nothing I had planned is too important to reschedule," he assured her, one of the main things having been the talk with Ritya.  He'd already rescheduled it.  "I can assure you, the company is appreciated."

He'd been busy, as had the other two guild leaders lately, in trying to ensure Guild security after Kain's attack on Onyx itself.  Two immensely powerful vampires had been permitted to traipse into the guildhouse, toss a few hunters around, and then just leave.  He wouldn't allow it to happen again.  Sigried didn't count, either.  To him, she was proof that there were good vampires out there, and he had no problems with leading her to his office for some privacy in which to talk.  The entire Guild didn't have to be privy to his personal matters, and that was especially true when she started rubbing his shoulder.  He already didn't get enough close contact for a serpiente, and her touch was like magic anyway.  He liked it far too much to worry about working.

"To be honest, no, I haven't.  Tsunai seems to have shifted her sleeping patterns with her pregnancy, so our schedules don't mix and I usually don't have the heart to fall asleep on her, the Guild's been busy, and I've been in contact with Batten and Shane trying to enhance Guild security.  There's a lot to do," he explained to her.  And why shouldn't he?  She'd asked, and he saw no reason to lie.  He trusted her.

[Sasha]

She gestured to the chair at his desk. "Sit, then, darling, let me rub your shoulders a while?" she offered. Her voice was liquid and silk, and everything warm that the Serpiente would drown himself in, she was certain. She smiled, knowing that he would do what she said eventually, and offered her arm to lead him there.

"It sounds like you've been very busy," she offered. "I had no idea how important your position was. It must be terribly time-consuming to run a Guild. I feel so fortunate that you can take time out of your busy day for my silly attentions," she said, cocking her head and giving him a coy smile.

Ah, Sigried was a master at manipulation. And she laced some of her power into her voice as she spoke, willing him to just relax. Lucien was far, far too strung out for her taste. He was so much more pleasant when he was calm and serene.

[Lucien Cobriana]

Sigried really was a miracle worker.  Lucien had been strung out for awhile, and his only saving grace was that shifters really couldn't catch any illnesses.  It made working himself into a coma so much more convenient, since it wouldn't allow him to kill his immune system to the point that he'd get ill.  He rather liked that fact, but his situation had left him rather frustrated.  Tsunai was unpredictable, to the point that he could never really know when was a good time to approach her for affectionate contact, so he avoided it most of the time.  He was usually dead-tired while they were together anyway, so he really didn't have the patience to bother with anything.

Sigried was a different story, though.  She was there, talking sweet to him and putting him at ease, and offering a shoulder rub, and he saw no reason to refuse her.

"Thank you," he told her gratefully, allowing himself to be led to his chair and already beginning to relax ever so slightly just at the way she was speaking to him.  "I like making your attentions first priority, love, and there's nothing silly about them."