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Post by Nitari Windrider on Oct 4, 2019 12:34:41 GMT -6
She saw sense quickly, at least. That was some small blessing. She even had the decency to take a step back and admit to her prejudices. Her thoughts on human "magyk" were particularly interesting. Apparently some humans could wave their hand and turn a bucket of water into an ice sculpture? Small wonder his people had never observed such abilities. His peoples' experience with human abilities consisted mostly of town guardsfolk and templars. Warriors empowered by their faith to resist mind-affecting abilities and imbue their arms with greater strength than should be possible given their builds had definitely made an impact on the war, although they were definitively not infallible. Once he was well fed again it would be interesting to see how he would fare against a Templar. Fiona had said she'd be returning in a few days. He had until then to recover. He was drawn from his reverie by a heavy sigh.
"I'm sorry. I'm probably making this very difficult for you, aren't I? If I were to put myself in your shoes, I can't imagine being so patient with me."
She paused, brushing her hair back as she pondered something.
"You know, I just can't stop thinking about that. With all the powers and magyk that you have, wouldn't it just be easier for you to wave your hand or say some magykal words and make me forget this whole thing ever happened? It must be. And yet here you are, being so kind and sweet, taking the time to both tell me and then show me all about how you're not some blood-thirsty psychopath monster vampyr. You never once forced me into letting you drink my blood. You could have easily overpowered me or knocked me out or used your magyk on me to just let you have your way with me, but you didn't. You didn't bite my neck because you seemed genuinely concerned about making sure I could cover up the wound. You made sure it didn't hurt and that I wasn't scared. You bandaged the wound and stopped the bleeding with a piece of your own shirt. You asked my permission to make me forget you, and now..."
Her voice failed her and tears welled up. She fanned herself for some reason. Was it getting too warm? No, it seemed to be connected to the crying somehow. Maybe it was just how she exerted control over her emotions. Humans were so strange sometimes.
"And now you're so patiently and calmly explaining all the reasons why it's a good idea, why it's really the only option possible, and... Oh, D'Mytri, you're nothing at all like the terrible things the Church tells us about vampyrs. You're being so nice to a simple small town tavern girl like me, and it will truly be a crying shame to not remember any of this."
Was this girl falling for him? That could be awkward. Useful, of course, but awkward. Still, there was every likelihood that he could feed from her again in the future if he played this right.
"I do have a degree of control in this sort of thing," he began, "For example, I could remove your memories of giving me your blood and of learning what I am but leave your feelings and have you remember giving sustenance to a starving man who in turn treated you very kindly and appreciates what you've done."
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Post by Mini on Oct 4, 2019 19:56:33 GMT -6
D'Mytri's words echoed in Cassidy's mind, but this time it wasn't due to any sort of magykal influence. It was one phrase in particular that had so caught her attention and caused the gears that made her mind work grind to a screeching halt. He was offering to leave her feelings of everything that had happened intact. Her feelings? What feelings? Feelings for D'Mytri? Did he think that she might actually have feelings for him? The more she thought about it, the hotter her face seemed to be growing. Her cheeks took on a hue of crimson so intense and spectacular that her face was surely glowing brighter than the sun itself. No, there was no possible way that she had developed feelings for this... this Nosferat. Feelings? How absurd! No, there was absolutely, positively no way that she actually had feelings for the man.
... Was there?
. . .
No! No, she couldn't have possibly developed feelings for a man she had just met thirty minutes ago!
"M-Mister Nostre!" she gasped, trying and failing to add some much needed decorum back into the conversation. "I beg your pardon, but despite my... my overly emotional outbursts, I assure you that I certainly do not have... well, a-any sort of strong emotional attachments to the situation at hand. We've only just met, after all. I... Well, all of this is just... it's quite a lot to take in. Th-That's all this is," she squeaked, praying fervently that her voice would quit cracking and stuttering so much. How was it that she was able to keep so calm and level-headed when fights and such broke out in the tavern, or when a drunkard made awkward advances towards her, yet she found herself quite unable to carry on a normal conversation with D'Mytri? For some reason, talking to him left her feeling like a love struck school girl running off and hiding at the sight of her first crush. Perhaps this all just some strange side effect of having blood taken from oneself. Yes. Surely that had to be it.
Inhaling and exhaling deeply, she folded her hands into her lap and forced herself to calm down. She needed handle this like she would handle any other out-of-control situation happening in the tavern: calm, cool, and level-headed. Feelings or not, it was getting later and later into the day. It wouldn't do to have anyone come calling downstairs and find her up here in the bedroom with a man not from the village - that didn't even take into consideration any of the the other more pressing factors.
"In any case, that is a gracious offer you make. I think, if you're able to let me keep at least a vague awareness of what has transpired here between us today, then that should be more than enough for me. You're not making me forget everything forever though, right? You mentioned that you could leave me with some sort of coded keyword so that I could possibly made to remember all of this at some point in the future, yes?" At this thought, she gave him another bashful smile.
"This is probably terribly selfish of me to ask, but... If you find yourself in need of more blood, would you maybe consider calling on me again? Truly, I don't mind at all. It wasn't at all scary or painful, and it might even be safer for you if you stick to just feeding from one person instead of lots of people. Better for just one person to appear a bit pale and under the weather than a lot of people with questionable wounds on them, right? Considering that I handle knives every day and need to wash them, it's really not all that far-fetched that I may have accidentally nicked my arm open a bit. It's possible nobody will even notice. And then maybe, for just a few short minutes longer at some point in the future, you could tell me a bit more about yourself and your people. It seems I have a lot to misconceptions to get rid of," she added, smiling softly.
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Post by Nitari Windrider on Oct 7, 2019 23:50:08 GMT -6
"M-Mister Nostre!"
The stuttering umbrage that followed was as clear a sign as any that he'd somehow stumbled upon another human thing. She took several deep breaths to steady herself after stating plainly that she had not formed any strong emotional attachments. Good to know, he supposed, but he wasn't sure how that was relevant to anything at all. She was absolutely correct that they'd only just met but...
Oh.
OH.
Well this was definitely awkward.
"In any case," she began before he could try to rectify the misunderstanding, "That is a gracious offer you make. I think, if you're able to let me keep at least a vague awareness of what has transpired here between us today, then that should be more than enough for me. You're not making me forget everything forever though, right? You mentioned that you could leave me with some sort of coded keyword so that I could possibly made to remember all of this at some point in the future, yes?"
She smiled at this and went on to say something he hadn't expected in the slightest.
"This is probably terribly selfish of me to ask, but... If you find yourself in need of more blood, would you maybe consider calling on me again? Truly, I don't mind at all. It wasn't at all scary or painful, and it might even be safer for you if you stick to just feeding from one person instead of lots of people. Better for just one person to appear a bit pale and under the weather than a lot of people with questionable wounds on them, right? Considering that I handle knives every day and need to wash them, it's really not all that far-fetched that I may have accidentally nicked my arm open a bit. It's possible nobody will even notice. And then maybe, for just a few short minutes longer at some point in the future, you could tell me a bit more about yourself and your people. It seems I have a lot to misconceptions to get rid of."
He recovered quickly, but it was more in the nature of being trained to always have a response than actually being capable of intellectual discourse at the moment. Every Nosferat wanted the humans they encountered to want to be fed upon again, but any realistic person would not expect a human to respond any differently than their church would dictate.
"I don't wish to impose upon you, miss Cassidy," he said, "but if you would be willing to give me blood again I would be a fool not to accept."
His mind caught up right about then.
"I'd like it if we could talk sometimes. It's very apparent that I don't understand your people very well either."
He gave her a bit of a smile before beginning to explain what was going to happen next.
"You'll remember this only in generalities for now. I can't erase memories the way you seem to believe, only suppress them. It's like encouraging your mind to bury it rather than removing it entirely. When I use the phrase that will make you remember it will be like those moments when you finally know what you were forgetting all day. If you're ready, all you need to do is relax and look into my eyes."
He leaned in a little closer, not quite close enough to touch her in any way but close enough that her attention would definitely be in the correct place when he once again activated his ethha. Last time he'd used it he was starved, using the last gasps of the goddess's gift to try to ensnare her. This time was different. He was hardly replete by any measure but he was no longer a powerless veld'ryn desperately flinging a threadbare net. This ethha was deeper, drawing her into his gaze and down, down, down. As with all the gifts the dark lady had given her children, a well fed Nosferat using the same power would experience greater effectiveness for the energy spent than a starving one. When he'd fed from this town enough to recover his full strength his ethha would be more difficult still to look away from, with greater depths for the victim to plumb as they fell under his control. Nosferat legend told of a woman who had fed so gloriously that her ethha could cause her victims to fall so deeply under her sway that she could even compel them to betray their dearest friends if she so desired it. No Nosferat had replicated this feat, of course, but the fact remained that it behooved one to feed greedily, frequently, or some combination of the two. As long as D'Mytri's cover held, he could drink small amounts at closer intervals without anyone needing to know about it. If his cover held. It all started here, with suppressing Cassidy's knowledge of his secret.
"Just relax," he said softly, soothingly, "Let yourself fall in and down, down, down. You're safe, you're warm, and you're perfectly relaxed."
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Post by Mini on Oct 8, 2019 22:27:45 GMT -6
Time slowed to a crawl as D'Mytri began explaining what was about to happen. Her heart felt like it had decided to join one of those crazy mariachi bands she had seen one time when her family had gone traveling to the Far South for a summer. It was surely pounding loud enough and rapidly enough for D'Mytri to hear it.
A pang of doubt engulfed her as she thought back over the course of actions that had led her to this point. Was she doing the right thing?
At no time in her life did she ever envision herself alone in a room with one of the "Darke Creatures of the Wylds" that haunted the stories and warnings of so many church sermons, stern lectures, and talks around the fireplace. She certainly never envisioned herself as brave or fiercely courageous as so many of her friends who now served as Templars or Knights with the church or roamed the countryside as Mercenaries or Clansmen, who worked alongside the Church to keep travelers safe.
But this wasn't a "vampyr" at all. D'Mytri claimed he was Nosferat. Was consenting to give blood to a Nosferat really all right? The Church would certainly not agree with this move, and she was certainly not one to oppose the teachings of The Three. Yet wasn't it mentioned time and time again to be kind, be generous, and live a life that was pure of heart? Didn't the Book of Isara have verse after verse about the importance of placing others before yourselves? The Three were responsible for creating everything, after all, so why would they have created some kind of creatures that needed blood to survive? Then again, hadn't D'Mytri mentioned something about "the world we come from" earlier in his panicked explanation of himself and why he needed blood? He had definitely uttered some sort of strange prayer afterwards, but he hadn't mentioned The Three or any other kind of god or goddess that she was aware of.
The thing that bothered her the most was the simple fact that plenty of creatures - humans included - needed to eat meat and kill other creatures in order to survive. D'Mytri didn't seem to need to resort to such a level, thank The Three. If he and his people simply needed blood in the same sense that humans needed water, then that certainly wasn't their fault. It was this thought that helped her find her resolve once more. No, as far as Cassidy was concerned, she was absolutely doing the right thing. If more people could just listen to D'Mytri and his people explain that one simple fact, then maybe, just maybe...
Unfortunately for Cassidy, she never got to finish that thought.
"... all you need to do is relax and look into my eyes."
D'Mytri had shifted his position so that he was now much closer to her than he had been just a few moments ago. His eyes had started to glow. Cassidy gasped in surprise, her hand reflexively flying up to her mouth. Had they been doing that earlier? Perhaps they had been, but if they had, the glow had been so weak and sad and pathetic before that Cassidy had barely even noticed. Before, it had looked like a sputtering candle in the light of a dawning day. This time, both of D'Mytri's eyes were glowing a deep golden color. It reminded her of fresh honey, or the sunset after an intense storm. The golden color appeared to melt away towards the edges and shift to a shimmering, silvery glow. The glow was vivid and intense, and already the outer edges of the room beyond where D'Mytri was started to feel blurred and out of focus.
"Your... your eyes! They're... They're... They..."
The effect of D'Mytri's power was instantaneous. The tension in Cassidy's upper body melted away like hot butter on a skillet. She sank back deeper into the chair as her voice trailed off. The hand that had hovered over her mouth for a moment very slowly dropped back down into her lap, where it landed with her fingers loose and uncurled. Her breathing slowed considerably as her body began to relax.
Thinking became a struggle. Talking, too. There were things that she wanted to say and think. Hadn't she been talking just a moment ago? What had she been going to say? And hadn't she been thinking something, too? Yes... She knew she had been thinking just a moment ago. She had been thinking about a lot of things. Important things... or were they? The moment D'Mytri's eyes began to glow, her thoughts seemed to turn into a big, puffy dandelion that swayed gently back and forth in the breeze, but the breeze was beginning to pick up and scatter the seeds far, far away.
"Relax... safe... warm," Cassidy heard herself repeating, although she didn't quite remember telling herself to speak.
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Post by Nitari Windrider on Oct 9, 2019 17:17:33 GMT -6
It was oddly satisfying when she looked surprised and started to comment on his eyes changing. She hadn't noticed before, but now that he'd fed a little his ethha was stronger as well and far more unmistakable. Her sentence never got past its beginning, however, as her body already started to relax in response to the psychic suggestion. Her eyes started to glaze as her consciousness started to drift away.
"Relax...safe...warm," she said absently.
That was the first marker on the road. In fairness, the failed attempts at forming a sentence earlier could be considered a marker in their own right but this was the true beginning. She'd had a taste of his power earlier but it was only now that she'd really begun to fall under his sway. Those ideas were central to proper induction, he knew. Safety, warmth, and relaxation. All the mind really needed was permission to take a break and let someone else do the hard work. He maintained his ethha, moving into the second stage of influence.
"That's it," he said softly, gently, soothingly, "You're perfectly safe."
He let those words sink in, keeping her eyes on his. Not that it would be too much work at this point.
"Drift easily down, down, and down. Into a comforting blackness. You're becoming more and more relaxed now. So relaxed that you might even sleep."
Another pause as he maintained the energy to his ethha.
"You could if you wanted, you know. Just rest your eyes a little. You're safe here. It's all right to rest now, and just listen to my voice. It's okay to trust in me."
He acknowledged that a completely awake mind would find it somewhat odd to instruct a subject to close their eyes when it was the eyes that were the conduit of the psychic channel along which his power was entering her mind. It was this cognitive dissonance was one of the great hurdles in learning the power of entrancement. A rite of passage, one could say. Being able to conduct a subject so far into their trance that they accepted the control freely was complex but necessary. The third stage of entrancement was by far the most delicate but simultaneously the most rewarding. His mouth began to water as his mind indulged memories of past hunts, subjects conditioned to give of themselves with a single spoken word. He silently chided himself. This was no time to become distracted. His ethha hadn't wavered while his focus drifted, thank the goddess, but even so it was dangerous to let either mind wander from the task at hand until the induction was complete.
Soon.
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Post by Mini on Oct 9, 2019 19:54:16 GMT -6
D'Mytri's voice was so very soft and soothing. Each word brushed up against her mind like velvet. Yes, all she had to do was listen to him talk. That wasn't hard to do at all, was it? Listening was so much easier than thinking. His voice was calming. Reassuring. Of course it was all right to let herself relax now. Whatever else had been going on before somehow didn't seem at all important anymore. All that mattered was sitting and listening to D'Mytri. They were alone now, just the two of them. It was nice, quiet, and cozy up in the room. It was perfectly safe, just like D'Mytri said it was.
Cassidy did indeed feel herself slipping down and away from reality. The edges of the room darkened. Although she was resting in the chair, it truly felt as if she were falling backwards, falling slowly downward.
"Drift easily down, down, and down. Into a comforting blackness..."
A hazy memory flitted through her sleepy mind. It was a summer from long ago and one of the first times she had ever gone swimming. Cairnbaan was too far north and too high up in the mountains to truly have a summer, but they had been traveling. The memory was old, and thinking was so difficult, but Cassidy vaguely remembered the incredible sensations of how it felt when she had dove into the lake for the first time. Underwater was a whole new world. Everything was so silent and serene. The chaos of the world above water didn't exist down there. The few sounds that did make their way through the water were muffled and dull. Whatever was happening above the water didn't matter anymore. She remembered the peaceful way she had blown the air out of her lungs, watching the silvery, shimmery bubbles float up, up, and away from her as she felt herself floating down, down, down. Her body felt weightless and heavy all at the same time. She was vaguely aware of a tingling sensation spreading throughout her arms and legs that was soon replaced by a warm, heavy feeling of numbness. The silence, the darkness, the blissfulness of nothingness had called to her then, and it called to her now. Floating, falling... it was sweet intoxication.
"So relaxed... safe... rest... sleepy..." she murmured, her voice scarcely louder than a whisper. A sleepy smile slowly slid across her face. For some reason, it made her feel good to both listen to D'Mytri and repeat what he was saying. It was so simple to just listen and let him do all the thinking and the talking for her.
Unbeknownst to her, Cassidy's eyes had steadily been glazing over as she slipped further and further under D'Mytri's control. Now they were completely dull, blank, and glassy. Her mind heard his words but no longer processed them as she would have were she fully conscious and aware of her situation. Now when he spoke, each word seemed to echo a bit in her mind. Her head bobbed a bit as the first real wave of deep relaxation washed over her. She was so incredibly tired all of a sudden...
"You could if you wanted, you know. Just rest your eyes a little. You're safe here. It's all right to rest now, and just listen to my voice. It's okay to trust in me."
Yes. She could trust D'Mytri. He was right - she was so terribly sleepy all of a sudden. Why was she fighting it? D'Mytri had given her permission to take a small nap, so why shouldn't she? Her eyelids began to flutter closed against her will. Each one felt as if it were suddenly made of steel and concrete. The sleepy smile wavered as her head bobbed once, twice more. One eyelid slipped shut, followed shortly by the other. There was a last-ditch effort to resist as her eyes blinked tiredly open once more, as if to try to rouse herself awake, but the effort was very short lived.
Once again, her head gently started dipping down and her eyelids began to slowly flutter shut.
This time, they did not open.
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Post by Nitari Windrider on Oct 9, 2019 21:53:49 GMT -6
"So relaxed... safe... rest... sleepy..."
As the last of her unconscious defenses crumbled he could feel her mind surrender to him. Her smile was a blissful one, an expression belonging to those who are scarcely aware of its existence. Her head bobbed. Her eyes closed. The lids fluttered at first as the small part of her that hadn't succumbed yet struggled to remain awake. The eyes closed again, then slid open. The gaze was completely vacant, her mind having already given up its awareness of the world as she fell further and further under his sway. Her head settled against her chest. Her eyes closed, the lashes fluttering as she descended into the trance state. She was still, her breath even, the link connecting them strong.
This was the third stage of entrancement. The subject's mind slumbered, the ears open and without the cognitive filter that usually prevented the kind of compliance the ethha and its sister arts encouraged. Cassidy was pliant now, but it was a tenuous state. The slightest jostle could wake her and that would not do.
"That's it. Let your mind slumber. I'm here. It's safe. Trust my voice. My voice is the only sound you hear and that's just fine."
He caressed her hand a little, waiting for her to settle into her trance. He pulled back a little during the quiet moment that followed. If she was deep enough the touch would either prompt no reaction or would make her more comfortable. If she wasn't yet deep enough her reaction would tell him that more power was needed to get her there. When the quiet stretched on long enough he thought of a question which would demonstrate what kind of state her mind was in. If she was deep enough for the link to have taken root properly it would barely even register in her thoughts that he'd even spoken, and her spoken response would be all but unnoticed in the comfortable slumber of the trance.
"Tell me, miss Cassidy. Did you enjoy giving me your blood?"
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Post by Mini on Oct 9, 2019 22:28:54 GMT -6
Cassidy's chest rose and fell slowly as her breathing slowed and deepened even further. She did not stir, not when he spoke softly into the silence, nor even when he reached out and slipped his cool hands over top of hers. His words evoked no reaction and no response. A tiny hint of that soft, sleepy, blissful smile stole across her face for just a moment as his fingers gently caressed her skin, but that was it. Nothing roused her or bothered her sleep.
Nothing, that was, until D'Mytri posed her with a question.
It was a long moment before anything at all happened. Some might think that Cassidy truly was asleep, and of course it would be silly to ask a sleeping person a question and expect an answer. This, of course, was not the case.
"Mmm... I did," came her soft, almost singsongy murmur of a response. She spoke these words very quietly and very slowly, and she added nothing further to the conversation.
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Post by Nitari Windrider on Oct 9, 2019 23:37:38 GMT -6
For a long moment D'Mytri wondered if she'd simply fallen asleep. While he'd consider it a mild embarrassment it wasn't entirely unheard of. The entire point of a trance was that it was reached by essentially putting the conscious mind to sleep. He was just about to wake her when she spoke.
"Mmm...I did."
Perfect. A silent hum filled his mind as the connection solidified. He'd need to tend it carefully, of course, but in the meantime there was work to do.
"Miss Cassidy, I need you to listen closely," he began, his voice still soft and measured, "There is a phrase I want you to remember: etten helvesse. It means 'Flower of Morning' in my language. When you hear it you will return to this comfortable trance state and listen for my voice once more. Do you understand?"
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Post by Mini on Oct 16, 2019 19:47:25 GMT -6
((Note: Nitari and I did a collaborative post! Rest assured that all sections pertaining to his character D'Mytri and my character Cassidy were written by their respective authors. We just did this to avoid a string of very short, very tiny posts that quite honestly neither one of us would have been okay with posting... because posts are meant to be filled with lots of words, not just a few! But the story called for lots of interaction, so here you go. After this post and unless the story calls for it again, we should return to posting as normal.))
D’Mytri’s voice was soft, yet stealthily compelling. There was something in his tone that made Cassidy’s sleepy mind more than happy to obey his every word. Again, there was a pause before she spoke. Her voice still carried the singsongy tone with it.
“Etten helvesse… Yes. I can remember. Flower. Morning flower. Hear that… return here… wait and listen…”
D’Mytri smiled, very pleased.
“That’s right, Cassidy. When you hear ‘Etten helvesse’ you go into trance again. When in trance like this will you listen to just anyone’s voice or only mine?”
Cassidy’s eyebrows furrowed together ever so slightly, scarcely even enough to be considered any true sort of movement.
“Your voice,” she replied slowly.
He nodded, aware that she couldn't see him per se but unable to control the automatic response.
"Exactly. You only enter trance when I wish it and when in trance my voice is all that matters."
This time, a little hint of a smile flashed across her face for the briefest of moments.
“Mmm-hmm… your voice is all that matters,” she repeated.
Excellent. With that solidified, it was on to the next item of business.
"Do you sense me through the connection that binds us together?"
Another small pause, then a soft reply of, “Yes.”
"When you are awake you will be barely aware of it and completely unable to speak of it to anyone but me. Do you understand?"
This time, although still deeply under D’Mytri’s control, her mind seemed coherent enough to form one very sleepy thought. “I will... barely be aware of it and unable to speak of it to anyone except you when I’m awake?” she asked, sounding a bit sad and disappointed.
"It will be like your sight or your hearing, but you will know that it is a secret thing between us and will be unable to form the words around anyone besides me."
“Oh… okay,” she said, sighing softly as if no longer troubled by the matter.
"Similarly, you will not be able to recall what it is about me that's different from anyone else in this town. Deep down you will remember these things, but on the surface I will be only human. When I speak the word 'n'serr' you will remember that I am Nosferat, that you have given blood to save my life, and that I have chosen you as my Flower of Morning."
“I won’t remember that you’re different until you say nnngh-sir,” she mumbled, stumbling over the strange, foreign word a bit.
D'Mytri winced a little as she butchered the word.
"Yes, my flower. Unless I speak that word you will not remember that I am not human. You fed me when I was starving and I bought a room. You will not remember the details, but what you feel will remain. Do you understand?"
“I… I won’t remember that you’re different. I will not remember the details. I will only know that I… I fed you when you were starving.”
"Good. How do you feel?"
This time, there was a long pause before Cassidy spoke, as if she were mentally taking notes over herself. “I feel… good. Sleepy. Contented. Head feels a little funny. Arms and legs feel… tingly.”
“You should have some of the food you brought up.”
This time, a little smile did twitch across Cassidy’s face. “But it’s your food. I made it for you.”
“I intend to enjoy it very much, but I won’t have you stumbling down the stairs and injuring yourself. When I touch your hand you’ll gradually wake but you’ll still be in your trance. Do you understand?”
Were Cassidy more fully conscious, she would have continued to argue against eating food that she had so carefully prepared for someone else. She may have also pointed out that there was plenty of food available for her to eat right downstairs in the kitchen. Of course, she did none of this. She simply replied, “Yes.”
He reached out and touched her hand gently, ignorant to her objections.
At the gentle sensation of feeling his cool hand rest overtop of hers, Cassidy began to rouse from her deep sleep. A soft little moan slipped out of her as she sat up, blinking a few times. When she finally did open her eyes, they were still glassy and blank. The first thing she saw when her vision focused was D’Mytri. He was very close to her, and his hand was still resting atop of hers. She tilted her head to one side, looking very much like a puppy as she did so.
“D’Mytri?” she asked uncertainly.
He nodded, putting his hand on her shoulder.
“How are you feeling?”
Cassidy’s glassy eyes flickered to the hand that was resting on her shoulder. Her gaze lingered there for a brief moment before returning to look back at D’Mytri.
“Um… Strange, if I’m being honest. Still a bit light-headed. I feel as if… as if I’m dreaming, or that I’m aware that I’m dreaming, if that makes any sense,” she said slowly. “But it’s not a bad feeling. It’s just… different.” After a short pause, Cassidy started to look ever so slightly concerned. Because of the trance, it was probably much more subdued than it would have been were she fully aware and in control of herself, but nevertheless her growing concern for something she had just noticed started to shine through on her face.
“You’re still hungry, aren’t you?” she asked, peering straight at him with furrowed eyebrows. “I don’t quite know how I know it, but I know it. Didn’t you take enough blood? Do you need more? I told you, it didn’t even hurt and I truly didn’t mind. I don’t want you to starve to death, or… or die of dehydration. Blood is a liquid, after all, so maybe that’s a better comparison,” she murmured thoughtfully.
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Post by Nitari Windrider on Oct 20, 2019 12:17:39 GMT -6
Everything she described was rather to be expected. Lightheaded from blood loss, dreamlike from the trance. He hadn't brought her fully out of it as a precaution, just in case something happened that he'd need her to forget. When her face changed its character he arched a brow a little. Nothing should be troubling her in this state, but she'd caught onto something nonetheless.
“You’re still hungry, aren’t you?” she asked finally, her face screwed up in absent concentration, “I don’t quite know how I know it, but I know it. Didn’t you take enough blood? Do you need more? I told you, it didn’t even hurt and I truly didn’t mind. I don’t want you to starve to death, or… or die of dehydration. Blood is a liquid, after all, so maybe that’s a better comparison.”
He listened patiently as she trailed off into musings about exactly what kind of need he had for blood. It was cute that she cared so much and that she worried over the point to such excess. Clearly a more complete explanation was necessary.
"You're right," he said, suppressing a chuckle, "I am still hungry. There's only so much blood I can drink from a person before their ability to function is impaired, so you'll have to recover your strength before I'll accept blood from you again. I won't have you stumbling about the place trying to work after weakening yourself to such a degree."
He paused, trying to decide how to explain things better.
"It's true that I need blood to live, but I can still eat a delicious meal and draw some sustenance from it. It's rather like the difference between eating just bread and cheese and eating a full dinner with meat and all the trimmings. Your body gets sustenance both ways but one is clearly better than the other in terms of how much energy your body can draw from it. Even the heartiest meal I eat can only give me so much energy. I can survive off of just food and water, but my system makes better use of blood. So what we will do during my stay here is work with both. I'll eat your wonderful cooking and when you're strong enough you can give me blood. I think I'll need a few days to manage it, but I'll be right as rain and well fed with you taking care of me. Does that sound satisfactory?"
If any objections arose he would attend to them first. If she had none, he would proceed instead to the next order of business.
"Now speaking of delicious food, you brought up a wonderful breakfast. I insist that you eat at least a little of it to help restore the strength you lost when you gave me some of your blood."
He held out the fork to her.
"I trust you can manage on your own."
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Post by Mini on Oct 20, 2019 14:09:49 GMT -6
Cassidy listened as attentively as she could. For reasons unknown to her, her mind kept wandering off at what felt like every fourth or fifth word D'Mytri was saying. Instead, her mind and her body seemed to want nothing more than to relax back in the chair, maybe grab that extra blanket off of the bed, and curl up for a nice little cat nap. She had had no problems focusing just a few minutes ago. Perhaps she had used up all of her energy on expressing her concern for... oh, right. D'Mytri. D'Mytri and his hunger! Yes, that was right. Somehow, she had felt this strange feeling in the back of her mind telling her that he was not back to one hundred percent strange quite yet. She couldn't have that. No, not at all. The little nagging voice had been persistent enough that she had decided to devote enough attention to it to share the concern with him. Now that she had, he seemed more than happy to explain what was going on.
Right. That was why he was talking to her so calmly and patiently right now. His voice was just so confoundedly soothing that merely listening to it was making her feel calm and sleepy all over again. This was making it very hard for her to stay focused on the matter at hand, which was, of course... what was it she had been worried about just a minute ago?... Oh, right! D'Mytri getting enough to eat! His explanation of how blood worked to nourish his body was fascinating, or at least the bits she seemed to focus on seemed to be. Something about blood and bread and cheese working together? Did that mean that he might make a cheese sandwich and smear blood across the bread like a person would jelly?
He had paused and was looking at her expectantly. Oh, blast. What was it he had just finished saying? She tried to replay as much as she could remember in her mind. It wasn't much.
"Ah. Right. Good. Yes. So... the important thing is that you'll be as good as new in a few days, right?" she asked, a soft and perhaps a slightly sleepy smile spreading across her face.
A soft chuckle slipped out of her as her eyes were drawn down to the outstretched fork. Her fingers reached out for it, brushing against his hand as she went to take it from him. "Mmm, you certainly are a persistent one, aren't you? If you insist, I suppose I can be persuaded to share some of your breakfast."
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Post by Nitari Windrider on Oct 21, 2019 0:19:38 GMT -6
He could tell that the trance was interfering with her ability to pay complete attention to his words, but if she had problems with retaining that knowledge down the line he could repeat himself. The most important part was that she eat something to minimize the effects of giving her blood.
"Good," he said in response to her assenting words, "I do insist. I mean to eat most of it but you'll have some of it too."
He gave her a pointed look, waiting for her to take a mouthful. It wasn't as though he thought it was poisoned or anything. He just needed it less than she did right now. Giving a human something to digest helped them recover faster, although it was still wise not to drink from the same human too often. His people had gone through a fair amount of trial and error in the early days learning the limits of human bodies. Perhaps that had contributed to war breaking out between them, but he would swear to any authority that the humans they drank from were willing subjects neither coerced nor mesmerized into giving of themselves. The Nosferat were predators now and always, but the Lord commanded all Nosferat houses to refrain from barbarism unless it was specifically and directly sanctioned to send a message to the soldiers of the human church. War was complicated, and sometimes violence was the only truly universal language.
He shook his head slightly to rid himself of the dark thoughts. Once Cassidy had taken a bite he would settle in to enjoy the breakfast she had made, insisting every few bites that she take more for herself. That would be enough, he imagined. He was, after all, still quite hungry.
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Post by Mini on Oct 21, 2019 21:02:53 GMT -6
She couldn't help but giggle softly as D'Mytri stared at her, obviously waiting for her to actually make an effort to eat something. For a moment it felt very much like she was a small child again being chastised by her parents for not eating. This thought made her giggle a bit more. Not that she was aware of it, but it seemed that being entranced made some things much sillier than usual. After that, her mind drifted off to wandering if vampyrs-- no, if Nosferat children were chastised by their parents for not drinking enough blood. This evoked an even louder giggle than the previous two outbursts.
"Hehe... Sorry," she apologized meekly as she did her best to stifle her giggles. "Just had a... a really silly thought. Super silly. Don't even know where it came from," she mumbled, the corners of her mouth twisting up to betray her best efforts to not burst out into a fit of laughter. She did her best to take a deep breath and meet D'Mytri's pointed stare.
"Right! Right. Food. Yes. Look, see? Eating," she laughed as she took a stab at a cluster of eggs, bacon, and thinly sliced green vegetables. "Mmm... Ooh, this turned out better than usual. Adding the onions then pulling them out really helped. Well, maybe I could have left the onions, but onions and eggs together is just kind of gross, I think. But onion is so good to cook with, you know? Really adds so much flavor to the food, no matter what it is. Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Just add some onions. It'll make everything better. Oh, well, not if you hate onions. Do you hate onions?"
It was hard to tell if Cassidy was even quite aware that she was speaking in between bites of scrambled egg, for her attention seemed mostly locked on the plate of food in front of her. Despite her slow start and initial hesitation, now that she was eating, Cassidy was definitely making a large dent in the plate of eggs meant for D'Mytri.
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Post by Nitari Windrider on Oct 22, 2019 0:51:48 GMT -6
It turned out he wasn't the only one who was hungry. She was talkative, too, and apparently used onions in everything. This was good to know going forward, as she was very likely to be preparing the majority of his meals. He didn't dislike onions as far as he was aware, but he imagined staying here that he'd certainly learn how he felt about onions whether he wanted to or not. She was certainly quite hungry indeed. His breakfast was vanishing off the plate before his eyes.
"Etten helvesse," he said the next time the fork hit the plate.
Not a moment too soon, it seemed. If he'd waited a moment longer she'd have eaten half his breakfast before she'd known what she was doing. He sat next to his thoroughly entranced morning flower and enjoyed some breakfast himself. He could sense her as well, of course, and could tell that she was hungry enough to have finished his entire plate herself. He'd have to do something about that. After taking a few bites he wiped his mouth clean of any food residue that might have been there and addressed her at last.
"You're rather hungry, yes?"
He waited for her response mostly out of social custom. The question was primarily intended to get her mind onto the topic of nourishment.
"When I speak your given name you will fully awaken with no memory of eating anything. In addition you will not remember that I am Nosferat and you will not remember giving me blood, as we discussed earlier. Do you understand?"
Again he waited for her to respond to remind her of her instructions.
"When you awake, remembering only that we've been talking for a while, you'll notice that you're rather hungry. You'll note that you can taste the meal you made me even though you don't remember eating any and this will prompt you to want to make yourself some as well. Do you understand?"
This time her response was important. If she was receptive to more complicated commands like this one that would tell him much about what her mind would allow in future trances. Once the suggestion was in place he would proceed to wake her up properly.
"Miss Cassidy?" he asked conversationally, "Miss Cassidy, are you all right?"
He feigned mild concern, as though she had merely been lost in thought for a prolonged period rather than under his power. He took another bite of his breakfast as she came around and wiped his mouth of stray food particles. He wasn't even aware of wiping his mouth after each bite, really. Very old training made it very difficult for him to eat without ensuring that none of his food ended up on his face instead of in his mouth.
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