Bending Fate [M] [Goblin]

[Juno]

The idea of her alone again with his master was a little unsettling and gave him pause as he stared at her giggling, happy face. Toren knew very well what Akakios could be like after so much feeding and he didn't wish to unleash that monster upon her. "If you wish, but... I could definitely talk to him for you," he offered again. "Or bring him here. Unless you have...private matters to discuss along with that, perhaps," he shrugged, not wanting to intrude if that were the case.

"I will be happy so long as you don't overexert yourself," he told her honestly. "The last thing I wish to see is you hurting because of silly things you can have others do for you. If you only wish for me to get started, though, then let's go," he smiled slightly, reaching out to offer her his arm once he'd set down the tea cup.

[GoblinFae]

Ladybird took his arm gratefully as they both headed back towards the courtyard. "Well let's get you to work so I can talk to him and hurry back to help. Sooner we get moving the sooner the work is done right? And I'll make a deal with you. If you don't over do it I won't. Sound good?"

When they made it back, she took to quickly showing Toren how to work at digging shallowly to lift and roll the soil for aeration. Once she felt that he was comfortable with it, she bid him luck and promised to return in no time at all as she herself headed to speak with the man of the house.

She reached the top of the stairs sooner than expected. It was not long at all before she was standing in front of Akakios' study door and smoothing her skirts to ensure she was presentable without any dirt stains. Only then did she knock tentatively on his door to gain his attention.

[Juno]

"Fair enough," he chuckled, happy enough to lead her back with such an easy agreement. He was careful to follow her instructions back in the garden, determined to put her mind at ease about his ability to do the work well. As she left him, though, Toren watched her until she disappeared. A somber, troubled look stubbornly remained with him. He worried about what might happen to her if his master was still in his mood, but he knew that he needed to let her handle it in order to gain her trust.

Akakios himself had not heard her approach being so absorbed in his reading. The knock had him lifting his eyes to it but he waited in silence for a moment to see if he could determine his visitor by any other sounds on the other side. When he heard nothing else he set his papers aside and went to answer it.

To see her there had his eyes dilating and nostrils flaring slightly as his eyes immediately focused on the spot he knew bore her wounds from the previous day. His work had been a very good distraction but all of his thoughts of before returned in full force with her standing before him. The vampire gradually became tense with the effort to resist the urge to seize her.

He stared at her with blatant hunger in his eyes for a few unusually long moments and was unable to shake himself of it even when he spoke. "Hello," he greeted her, his voice so gravelly he didn't even attempt to clear his throat to mask it. He didn't ask her what she wanted, if she needed anything, didn't even offer to let her into his office. All he had on his mind was blood, and mostly her blood, and his mind was a fog void of any other normal subject.

[GoblinFae]

"Hello," she greeted back softly, her eyes filled with unvoiced concern. Ladybird found his behavior a bit odd but assumed that she was disturbing him during something important. Bowing her head she quickly apologized for bothering him. "Forgive me, I need but a moment of your time and I won't trouble you more. I am hoping to begin the next step in preparing the courtyard and was hoping to ask for some of the assistance from your staff that you suggested I could use."

[Juno]

Her words were spoken through a fog to him, entirely muffled where he knew she was speaking but did not truly hear what she'd said. Akakios only stared at her more in silence, his face blank of any indication that he'd heard her. He blinked slowly, his fangs exposed but hidden beneath his lips as the thought of feeding once again repeated endlessly in his mind.

Without answering her he reached out to seize her by her arms and yank her inside the room with him. An inhuman growl escaped him as he bared his teeth in a plea for blood, his eyes dark and emotionless as he bent his head to her shoulder. Already she smelled so different from the tea and it gave him enough pause to try and determine the new addition to her scent, curious that even her healing wounds bore a hint of it. "What did you do?" he growled at her accusingly, worried she had ruined herself somehow, his hungry mind paranoid that she might sabotage or poison him.

[GoblinFae]

Ladybird gasped as she was dragged along but was in such a shock she did not even struggle for all his manhandling of her person. Instead she stared up at him in wide-eyed disbelief as he leaned into her with bared fangs. Her body trembled ever so slightly with confusion and worry yet she kept as still as she could for fear of provoking whatever madness seemed to have a hold of him.

When she answered him her voice was kept level and soft as if she were speaking to a spooked and injured creature of the wild. Her hand too moved unconsciously to gently rub his chest near his shoulder in slow, soothing circles. "I do not understand. I have not done anything save what has been asked of me. Have I somehow upset you milord?"

[Juno]

"You smell different!" he barked, his brow furrowing with confusion as he both jumped at her touch and gripped her arms tighter in his hands to keep her from using it as a means to run from him. "You did something," he accused her. "Something changed... You... I don't know but you're different now. Are you trying to kill me?" The vampire was suddenly incredibly emotional at the thought, paranoid that his worry was becoming true about her trying to poison him somehow. The delusional man thought her visit was some attempt at tricking him into feeding again, as he truly wanted, instead of the reality of her merely asking for his permission and assistance.

[GoblinFae]

She physically jumped at his shouts and rough treatment but did her best to remain calm and nonthreatening. His accusations mad no sense to her and she tried to tell him as much. "Please Akakios you're hurting me," she pleaded while moving to lean into him. If he was so paranoid that she would flee then she was going to try her hardest to prove otherwise.

"I don't understand what you mean. I haven't done anything out of the ordinary and I most certainly am not trying to bring you harm. Since waking this morning all I've done is inspect the courtyard and drink some herbal tea I made myself for the pain," Ladybird tried to explain in the calmest voice she could manage. "Is that a problem? Should I not have done those things?" Her questions were of genuine concern rather than the sarcasm that others in her situation might have spouted.

[Juno]

Her even tone was at least a little bit calming, the lack of true fear seeming sincere even as she admitted to the pain he was causing. It gave him at least a small reason to have some faith in her. "Tea? Is that all?" The vampire trembled slightly with his efforts to be patient and not just take what he wanted. His hands loosened their grip slightly but kept enough pressure to remind her that he wanted her there.

"Just the courtyard and tea? Nothing else? ...what was in the tea?" Akakios demanded. "Why did you make it yourself? You couldn't have had a servant do that?" he scoffed, momentarily distracted from his bloodlust by the sheer absurdity of that fact.

[GoblinFae]

"Just tea," she reassured with a gentle smile and nod of her head. "It was mint and willow bark and I made it myself because I am unaccustomed to having others do things for me. I'm sorry if this offends you, I just didn't think it would be an issue. Your staff is busy with other things, they hardly need me making such simple requests I can handle myself."

Her hand soothingly resumed some of its rubbing upon his chest as she gazed up in worry. "Those herbs I know are safe for humans and especially in the small quantities I used but are they a problem for vampires? I had not considered it an issue since you have just fed already and I would have a week before you would again which is more than enough time for the effects to have worn off. I was only looking to ease some of the pain and fever. I assure you no harm was meant."

[Juno]

"They are never too busy to accommodate a guest of mine," he growled lowly. "No matter what any of them say." Akakios breathed in her scent again with her explanation. He didn't know enough about her herbs and plants to know if she told the truth or not but her assurances hardly meant anything when he wanted to feed much sooner than she expected from him.

"I want it now," he complained, frowning stubbornly as he leaned against her, inhaling her scent yet again, uncaring if what she'd ingested might kill him now. "I need more."

[GoblinFae]

Ladybird allowed her hands to slide up to rest on the fronts of his shoulders in concern. "Akakios when we made the contract you said only once or twice a week and that it is best to spread it out. It hasn't even been a day since your last meal. Does overeating not also make you ill in the same way it does humans? I don't wish to make you ill especially if you're concerned about the tea. I can get someone else if you'd like though." Her face was etched in such genuine concern that it was obvious she was a woman who wore her heart on her sleeve. Her eyes darted back and forth across his face as if to see signs of sudden illness just from him being in her close proximity.

[Juno]

"I'm fine," he lied easily, though he was jittery in his eagerness. His eyes remained dilated and void of emotion besides a wild hunger. "It's never been a problem before. What I told you is more of a...minimum for my sanity. Sometimes I need more, sometimes I need less. Right now I need more. A lot more. Won't you help me? Or are you going to let me suffer?" he bemoaned dramatically. "Starve because of a little discomfort on your part. You were well enough to come here, weren't you?" he pointed out, desperate to find any reason to feed from her again, desperate to prey upon her kindness and gentle heart. It was her that he wanted and craved and he wanted no part of another source at the time despite having no true need for any further feeding.

[GoblinFae]

He looked anything but fone to her but that was not something Ladybird was brave enough to say out loud to his face. Instead she attempted to continue to persuade him otherwise. The idea of him feeding again broke her heart. She was divided between her desire to help and her own self-preservation.

"Akakios forgive me but I am not recovered enough to provide what you desire. It is more than a little discomfort as it is my life's blood. Without it I will cease to exist and therefore be unable to continue to fulfill wother of the two contracts I have with you. Even if you feed a little it would mean that the work for our other contract would be even further delayed as I will need more time to recover. We do not even know if I would be able to recover in time to feed you again by the end of the week. That is not something I wish to risk for your own health and safety. If you truly are in need I can get someone else for you. Surely there is someone else who can aid you during the days I am not present, would you care for me to get them?"

[Juno]

All he heard was her rejection, the rest of her words cloudy as he tried to focus on them. He felt as though he would die without her blood in that moment, his mouth opening as he leaned into her further, the tips of his fangs pressing against what exposed skin he could find. Yet he knew he had to obey her or risk losing her trust. A cry of frustration escaped him as he lifted his head and dropped his hands away from her, the vampire shaking with the effort to restrain himself.

"What do you need from me, then? Why did you come here?" he asked, desperate to keep his voice calm and even as he avoided looking at her directly. He returned to his desk but could not bring himself to sit down.

[GoblinFae]

She trembled with adrenaline once he released her and retreated. Part of her rejoiced that she would not have to endure further pain at that moment while the other sank with worry that she could not help him more. Smoothing her skirts and adjusting her sleeves, Ladybird attempted to recompose herself.

"Forgive me for not asking earlier it must have slipped my mind. I wished to enquire about the use of some of your staff as laborers in the courtyard. There's some digging and tilling of the soil that needs doing and you suggested that I come to you when I was ready for assistance. In the future should I still come to you wish such requests or is there someone else I should make my enquiries to in order to not disturb you?"

[Juno]

He focused on actually listening to her request the second time around, the vampire nodding as if he'd expected it. "Of course," he answered quietly. "You may come to me still, to be sure there isn't something urgent I need them for. Speak with Toren, though, so he can choose. I will inform him for you today, there's no need for you to be doing that kind of work, especially in your...condition," he reminded her.

Not realizing she had already seen him today Akakios moved to walk past her to seek out his favored human.

[GoblinFae]

"Oh you needn't worry yourself. I can speak to him," she informed him while placing a gentle hand on his arm. "I already feel poor enough for being unable to help you right now. Allow me to take care of this for you. I would not wish to make you feel worse by running errands for me. I'll need to give him the instructions for what needs doing anyway as I do not think it wise for me to lead by example given my condition as you've put it. Thank you though. I'm sorry for troubling you Akakios," she apologized sincerely with a tight smile.

Ladybird truly did feel guilty for not being able to provide for him as he needed. She was able to console herself slightly though with the fact that it was outside of her contract for this exact reason. If she died as his food then he would be without food until he could find a replacement, something he was already trying to do and as far as she could tell, not succeeding in.

The woman had another motive also though for intervening with his message run. If Akakios could smell the herbs on her then he most certainly would smell them on Toren. She wished to spare Toren the same reaction she had received. The poor man seemed to have been through enough without her good intentions paving a path to hell for him. While she had told him she would stand up to Akakios in such a situation, something she felt she would actually do, Ladybird did recognize a need for diplomacy to avoid altercations altogether. In a few hours the scent would wear off and there would be no need for Akakios' wrath. She could only hope though that the nobleman would be willing to bend on this matter.

[Juno]

He stopped for the hand she laid upon him, the vampire puzzled as he looked down at where she touched. Her words made sense and yet did not all at once. Why should she care if he was inconvenienced? They had their own arrangements and he did not see why she might want to concern herself with anything else in his house besides them.

"If you wish," he finally agreed, relaxing and taking a step back to stand before her instead. "But come straight to me if he gives you any trouble. Please. I'll handle it." Akakios inhaled a final breath of her odd herb-infused scent before retreating back to his desk, not finding it odd at all that she wished to go to Toren herself. If they truly were not lovers he was certain they were very close. He would need to watch them still, he was still skeptical about the "truth" to what they claimed and he would not stand to be made a fool in his own home.

Toren had remained where she'd left him in the garden, working at a slow pace to accommodate the pain that stuck with him still. He kept looking to the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, to be certain she was well and safe.

[GoblinFae]

"Of course, of course," she replied with a smile and a nod. "Thank you again for your time and I'm sorry to have disturbed you. I'll go give Toren your instructions and then have a bit of a rest I think. It's been enough excitement for this morning I believe. Have a good day, Akakios if I do not see you again," she gently bid with a wave of her hand as she slowly walked away.

Once she was out of sight, Ladybird thought she would burst from practically holding her breath. She paused at the top of the stairs with a hand to her chest so that she might recover from the adrenaline of the moment. Akakios had given her quite the fright despite her level-headed and calm demeanor in his presence. She therefore ever grateful to whatever deity presently smiled upon her for allowing the nobleman to back down to her requests. She could only imagine what kind of trouble Toren might be in for smelling the same as her. It would not be the first time Akakios had assumed wrongly about the two of them with less evidence. Ladybird hardly wished to fan that fire.

Taking the steps as quickly as she dared she found herself back in the courtyard in no time. Her smile was slightly forced but nonetheless warm as she praised him for the work he had already accomplished. "I really cannot thank you enough, Toren. You're doing a wonderful job. I spoke with Akakios though and he said I should speak with you," she told him with a bit of a tense giggle. "He said you would be in charge of seeing to acquiring other assistants. Is that alright with you though? I'm sorry to create more work for you."