OTA

[miss_ives]

Vanessa had always had sharp instincts, and had long since learned to follow them. That night, as she walked home after dark, there was that odd pinprick on the back of her neck. Someone was watching. And as it lingered, she trusted that she wasn't simply being watched, but actually followed.

Her heart beat a little faster as she picked up the pace, cursing the fact that she was far from any busier street.

London, her home, the city she knew and loved, suddenly felt like a strange, dark, dangerous place. The lampposts felt less efficient than normal, and her steps on the pavement sounded louder than they ought to. She glanced back and saw three men a few yards behind her, hardly more than dark figures, doing nothing to hide themselves.

When she turned into the next street over and they were still following, her mind was made up. She stopped walking and turned around, a forbidding look on her pale features.

The three men slowed their steps but eventually came into clearer view, stopping a few feet from her. They were even paler than her, with sunken, abnormally clear eyes, and they felt wrong to her. Not, she reflected, unlike Mina had.

"What do you want with me?" she demanded.

They shared a look, and the one in the middle replied, "We don't want anything with you. We're not allowed. Our Master, however..."

Their Master. Mina had used that word as well. "Where is he?"

"Do you want to meet him?" the same one offered, stepping slowly nearer Vanessa.


((Feel free to stumble across Vanessa having a chat in a dark street with some vampires, Penny Dreadful style! They'll probably attack you if you try to jump in and get her away from them. Good times!))

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[miss_ives]

Vanessa cast him a concerned glance, but simply settled into the driving seat, buckled up, and drove them back to his place, occasionally relying on his directions when she was uncertain.

"If there's anything I can do," she offered once they were safely in his home. "Anything at all."

He looked quite worse off for the wear, after all.

[yves]

Peeling his shirt off, Yves flopped into a large leather armchair, kicking his legs over the arm and lounging casually.

"I'm fine, really. ...Wouldn't say no to tea though," he added after a beat.

Tea was always good.

[miss_ives]

"Of course," Vanessa replied, not seeming to react to his shirtlessness. She had been powerfully attracted to him from the start, yes, but if that was nothing to him, then it was nothing to her. Her attraction to him went much deeper than that.

"I'll put the kettle on."

She might not know the house, but it was fairly easy to spot the kitchen, and in there, find the kettle. Once it was set to boil, she used the sink, and her reflection in the oven door, to wash the specks of blood off her face. She straightened up her hair, then went about looking for the tea.

"Which would you have?" she asked, stepping back into the lounge with the tea box she had found.

[yves]

"Whatever you're having, Yves said.

He'd toed his shoes off, and had a hand mirror now, making it easier to see the wounds on his chest and shoulders. He healed each one with magic, hand moving slowly as he worked each one shut.

[miss_ives]

The sight of him healing himself was more arresting by far, and Vanessa paused, simply watching him for a moment. And of course, watching his magic soon turned into watching his bare chest, bare arms, his hands. She turned away after a moment, when she realised what she was doing, and walked back into the kitchen. She let her instincts guide her in picking a tea as much as her nose, and set it to steep.

Mugs were easy to find, and then Vanessa was left with nothing to do but wait, drumming manicured nails on the countertop, and keep at bay the events of the evening. Tomorrow, she would reflect upon them, after some sleep. Right now, it would be little use, when she was still emotionally reeling.

[yves]

Barefoot, barechested, and healed, Yves padded into the kitchen.

"Ah, perfect," he murmured, reaching around her and plucking a mug off the counter. "Very little a good cup of tea can't aid, don't you think?" he asked, oblivious to what was going through her mind.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa was just done pouring the tea, and she looked up at him when he joined her. She hadn't thought to check whether he had anything to fix the tea with, but she took her own black. "That's always been my experience," she agreed, not without a healthy dose of self-depreciation. She was English, and such was the power of tea.

[yves]

Lening back against one of the old, but well-built countertops, Yves observed her with keen and curious eyes. The tea was hot, and he sipped it as it was, black and strong.

"How are you feeling now we've put some space between ourselves and that bloodbath? You seem... Distant. As though we've left part of you behind and it's yet to catch up."

[miss_ives]

That was remarkably close to how she felt, Vanessa realised as she absorbed his words. Surprise flashed in her eyes for that brief moment of acknowledgement, and she wrapped her hands around the other mug, facing the counter and leaving it there.

"That is remarkably accurate," she confirmed, then looked at him. "I'm thankful you've offered me your spare room. The last thing I'd want is to be alone with myself, right now."

She felt vulnerable to admit it, but that was why she did.

[yves]

Sharing, feeling, caring, it was all very hard for Yves, who saw all of these things as foreign concepts. Honestly, it was remarkable he'd gotten this far in the conversation.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you need," he shrugged. "Just don't make a mess, and don't go into my lab or my spell room without permission- They're dangerous, one's full of chemicals, the other experimental magic. You can roam the rest of the house as you like, however."

[miss_ives]

Vanessa's smile was small, and far from bright, but it still acknowledged the generosity of his offer. "No, I'll leave you be tomorrow. But thank you."

[yves]

Yves only nodded, quietly thankful to hear it. ...He didn't do well with others in his space.

"Bring your tea, I'll show you around upstairs," he offered after a long pause of silence.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa left her jacket where she had dropped it, on the back of a chair, and followed after him, mug in her hands.

[yves]

Yves led the way up a narrow staircase, the wall lined with various degrees dating back to the birth of modern education as they ascended upwards.

The hallways was narrow, much like the rest of the home, but the rooms were generous. Not that Yves showed them all, he only led the way to what turned out to be a guest suite, complete with its own bathroom. The furniture inside was old, but grand, the bed taking over most of the space with its towering canopy and bed curtains. The fabrics were dark and rich, and the walls were papered with elegant baroque looking designs that climbed to the ceiling.

"Will this be alright?" he asked.

[miss_ives]

"It's perfect," Vanessa assured him with a small smile, then looked away to focus back on the room before she might truly acknowledge the fact that he was standing in what was to be her bedroom tonight, barechested. She owed him so much for tonight, and her feelings were too tangled together just then. So she stepped away to run fingertips on one of the bedposts, admiring the furniture.

[yves]

"I should- Um, I should lend you some pyjamas, I suppose. I don't have spares for female guests, or any guests, but I have bottoms with a string to draw them tight, and plenty of shirts. ...Let me fetch some," he decided, turning away and heading down the hall.

His own room looked much like the other, though with less frills. The walls were plain, the sheets lighter in weight, and the bed curtains had been torn down at some point in frustration. It was clean, but cluttered, filled with notebooks and papers, all stacked up on books and more books. There was a computer in the corner, the only thing other than modern lighting to drag the room into the present day.

Mumbling something to himself, he began to dig through the dresser, pulling out a pair of simple black pyjama bottoms, but digging deeper for a sleeping shirt that didn't have a strange stain he'd failed to remove or burn marks from an experiment.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa hesitated to follow him, but when he did not come back, she went to stand in the doorframe of his bedroom, taking a sip of her tea. "A simple shirt would do," she assured him softly. She was shorter and more narrow; it would do quite nicely.

[yves]

"I see," the fae replied, looking down at the clothes in his arms and holding it out in offering. Perhaps he should just let her pick what she thought was best.

[miss_ives]

After a beat, Vanessa stepped into his room, carefully setting her mug down on a steady-looking stack of books. She walked over to him and, to be honest, picked the first shirt of the ones he held out to her. She unfolded it to check its size, and made no remark about the burn marks. "This'll do nicely," she assured him, draping it on her arm.

It wasn't as if she had any intention to walk around his house in her pyjamas, after all.

[yves]

Yves nodded, looking at the other clothes and awkwardly shoving them into the drawer.

"Right, good. ...What now? Am I to feed you? ...Us? I'm not sure how this works. I don't have company often. ...Or ever, really."

[miss_ives]

"Well, I know for a fact that you eat," Vanessa told him with a small smile. She was unused to seeing him so uncertain. "But I don't want to put you out. We could order something?" She wasn't sure how much she would be able to stomach, but the tea she picked up from the stacks of books was helping.

[yves]

"I suppose we can. I prefer going out to eat, but I do have a table to dine at. ...What would you enjoy? Not pizza, I hope." the fae added.

[miss_ives]

"We can go out, if you'd rather," Vanessa offered, after a brief hesitation during which she studied her feelings on the matter.

[yves]

"I think you might be better here, where it's quiet," Yves admitted. "I will order us some Chinese food, if that is alright?"

[miss_ives]

"Of course," Vanessa nodded. "I'll let you get dressed," she added, and turned to head out of his room.