After several long moments, Claire finally made herself break off their passionate kisses, smiling over at Eliot as he tried to catch his breath. “You seem to still be having a few lasting side effects from my now apparently ‘permanent’ blood running through your veins” she teased.
“Or it could possibly have something to do with not being inside you once in the last three long years” he teased back, their foreheads still touching as they continued to hold each other close.
“I’m sure Douglas was an adequate substitute, all magical and such that he is” Claire teased.
“Says the girl who’s been pretty magical herself for almost three centuries longer than he or I have even been alive” he chided her.
“Operative word, girl” she reminded.
“I think I’ve gotten way past that little quirk when it comes to my taste in lovers these days, wouldn’t you agree?” Eliot assured.
Claire couldn’t help a soft chuckle at him admitting that any reservations he had once had about her particular set of genitalia were now long gone, “well, if we continue with all this catching up, we may still be at it by the time dawn rolls around. Maybe we should perhaps re-locate to your old room, instead” she suggested as she cast a slight glance at the door as the hour just passed two-thirty.
Eliot smiled back at her knowingly “afraid number twelve will want an encore tonight, after all?”
She playfully smacked his arm with another smile, “I was more concerned about having to explain your very sudden and strange return mid-coitus, once number one comes upstairs to claim his bed before sunrise.”
“Number one?” Eliot wrinkled his nose slightly at that, “he, I think we should probably just stick to calling Sean” he said with slight discomfort at the reminder of not only Sean’s place in her list of conquests, but also his obvious place in her heart as well.
“Ya think?” Claire teased back, though her words were swallowed by laughter as he stood and scooped her up into his arms, in all her nakedness. He then returned her laughter as he moved to carry her through the privy and into the room that had been his home for the half a decade proceeding his trip back to Europe.
Once Eliot had gently placed her in the center of the large bed, his eyes continued to move appreciatively over all that pale exposed skin while she smiled back at him. His gaze remained unwavering as he began removing the long elegant jacket he had arrived in that night. After all, January in France was a bit more nippy than it was in Los Angeles. Their eyes stayed on each other as Eliot removed the rest of his clothing before then eagerly moving to the bed and pulling her to him for another long kiss.
As they indulged in that kiss, her blood had simultaneously warmed her body as well as hardened his. He couldn’t help smiling down at how easily he had achieved that state as the kiss ended. “It seems neither of us would be opposed to ‘skipping some steps’ tonight” he chuckled.
“That must have been one hell of a spell” she returned with another slight chuckle of her own.
Eliot’s eyes returned the smile in hers, as well as a heavy dose of desire. He then coaxed her into laying back upon the mattress where he moved to a position above her, gently parting her legs with his own hips as he did.
“Well this is a rare posi---” she began only to have her voice catch in her throat as she felt him enter her with no trace of hesitation, a gentle moan leaving both of their lips at the penetration.
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The hour had now passed five a.m. and dawn was swiftly approaching. Claire and Eliot still lay together, his body still above hers, inside hers. Basking in the afterglow both had missed enjoying with one another for too long, the two gently held each other close through several more soft kisses.
He finally ended their latest kiss as he looked down at her, his fingers weaved through her long disheveled locks. Eliot found his voice once his heart rate and breathing had finally now returned to something resembling normal again, “I don’t want to say goodnight just yet” he whispered as he placed another soft kiss on her lips.
“Unfortunately I don’t think we have much choice in the matter” she replied with a soft smile up into his eyes as a droplet of sweat dripped from his heated flesh onto her own which was now cooling as she lay beneath him.
“We might” he said with a thoughtful grin.
She narrowed her eyes curiously at that statement as she felt him move his fingertips to her temple, his thumb gently resting upon her cheek. After several long moments she could’ve sworn she felt the slightest tingle between his skin and her own. She then looked up at him to gauge whether or not he had felt it too.
He simply smiled down at her once more, which caused her to speak again, “was something supposed to happen?” she asked innocently.
“It already did” he smiled as he finally moved off of her, to his knees, and nodded toward the tiny slivers of sunlight which peeked in through the crack between the frosted glass of the balcony doors.
Claire gasped at the sight of the tiny rays of light, quickly sitting up and forcing back the urge to panic. A moment to compose herself, her lips finally curled into a smile of disbelief as she kept her eyes fixed on the doors, only glancing at him peripherally, “I’m awake? How am I awake?”
“Three guesses” he smiled back at her. She let out another slight sound of disbelief as she continued to stare longingly at what was nothing more than a trivial occurrence each day for all of those still living. He watched her sheer awe at the sight of the tiny beams of light, and couldn’t help the lump in his throat. “Is this really the first time you’ve seen sunlight in three hundred years?”
At the sound of his question, Claire couldn’t help the red tears welling up in her eyes as that truth was spoken out loud. “This is amazing, Eliot” she whispered, still staring at the doors, a slight trickle of red slipping down her pale cheek at last.
“I didn’t actually create the sunrise you know” he teased to push down his own emotions then, “I just helped you stay awake to see it.”
Claire then couldn’t help another shaky sound of laughter before she finally tore her eyes from the doors long enough to look back at him and fall into his arms, squeezing him against her tightly. Through a sniffle as she held him as close as was possible, she whispered, “you really are my best friend, Eliot. And I love you so much for that... and this... and... just everything.”
After another long moment, Eliot finally had to speak up, “I love you just as much, Claire” he admitted as she immediately looked up at that confession, “but you sound awfully sad for someone making a proclamation of love” he teased, hoping he had somehow just imagined that tone in her voice.
Claire let out a sad sigh at his perception, but did not deny the observation. Instead she took a moment to try and give him that explanation, “it’s just that any time I’m happy, I mean, truly happy... as rare as that even is” she had to add, “I just can’t help forcing myself to remember that... that nothing’s ever permanent, not really.”
Eliot narrowed his eyes at that statement. He then gently pulled her down to the mattress with him once more, the two adjusting to lay upon their sides where they could continue facing each other as he spoke, “though you and I are both a little more permanent than most now, aren’t we?”
Claire’s eyes moved down once more before she answered, “what I mean is that, I know there’ll be an ending. And ever allowing myself a truly happy moment? That’ll just make that ending hurt that much more.”
“See previous statement” he teased, though there was a worry in his tone then.
Claire took a long moment before making herself share details of the ending she was referring to, “there was a prophecy, a long time ago. And the beginning of it has already happened. So, the next part is... overdue” she added, her voice just above a whisper then.
“A prophecy?”
“Don’t tell me the mage is a skeptic now too” she returned, though her voice was more sad than scolding.
Eliot just allowed a small smile, “then tell me more about this alleged prophecy. Maybe I’ll see it in a different way than you. You never know.”
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But before Claire could respond, one of Sean’s servants entered the room, looking more than a bit shocked by the sight of Claire there awake, during the daylight hours, “Miss Claire?” she asked with her voice shaking as she quickly glanced from the sunlight peering through the door, to the large clock in the corner of the room, and back to Claire herself, a million questions obvious upon her pretty face.
“Long, strange story” Claire managed as she pulled the sheets back up over she and Eliot’s still nude bodies.
“Very strange” the girl replied with a stammer in her voice.
Eliot then sat up with a bit of awkwardness “I suppose we could just finish this conversation tonight. And I could use a bath, considering my recent overexertion” he teased, “but will you be ok if I let you... you know, go back to sleep?” he asked warily.
“Nothing I haven’t had three hundred years to get used to” she returned with a wry sadness.
With that, he offered her one more smile and another kiss before gently extending his fingers to touch her cheek once more. She then immediately fell unconscious again, almost as though a switch had suddenly been flipped inside her.
“That... was... strange” the servant stammered again as she looked back at the scene with widened eyes.
Eliot simply shook his head and turned his eyes downward with a sad smile of his own. He then pushed himself back up from the bed and made his way toward the privy with one more glance back at Claire’s now unconscious body, and heavily sighed before leaving the room at last.
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Later that afternoon Eliot had made his way out to the pier nearest the front gate of Sean’s estate. He leaned upon the railing as he looked absently out at the Pacific, much the way Claire had been doing before she had followed Lucian inside the previous evening.
In obvious deep thought, Eliot couldn’t help startling slightly as he felt hands come to rest on his waist from behind. He immediately turned back to find Douglas smiling up from where he stood only about two inches shorter than Eliot’s own towering height of just half an inch over six foot two. “Afternoon” he greeted him before moving his hands up to Eliot’s face and pulling him in for a long kiss.
“Afternoon” Eliot returned, swallowing slightly as the kiss finally ended.
Douglas offered another playful smirk at his companion of the last three years before moving to lean back upon the thick oak railing, “get your fill of your vampire girl last night then?” he couldn’t help asking with another mischievous look.
“That wasn’t the only reason I came back here, you know” Eliot denied, though he couldn’t help averting his eyes and swallowing a smile as he did.
“Oh I don’t remember you mentioning any other reason in the last three years” Douglas chided further as the ocean air played with a few of his long reddish brown locks.
Eliot just smirked again, “the weather’s lovely” he offered with a slight shrug, to which Douglas only chuckled in return. Though after a moment, Eliot adopted a more serious look, “so, what do you know about prophecies?”
Douglas then looked back at him with a creased brow, “that’s a rather curious, and vague, question.”
“Claire said she was worried about some prophecy. But they’re not actually real things, are they?”
“Says the mage?” Douglas replied pointedly.
“Now you sound like her” Eliot mumbled.
“You do have your tastes I guess” Douglas teased.
“Seriously though,” Eliot continued, “they’re not actual things to worry about, right? I mean, especially if you’re a three hundred year old vampire and all” he added, sounding as though he was trying to convince himself rather than Douglas.
“Three hundred?” Douglas let out a shrill whistle, “she looks damn good for her age” he admitted as he turned his eyes curiously back toward the estate.
“You’re avoiding the question” Eliot scolded gently.
“Depends on the prophecy I suppose” Douglas stated with more seriousness, “or, more accurately, it depends on the source.”
“The source?” Eliot asked warily.
“Some are more reliable than others” Douglas replied conversationally.
“Well, she didn’t actually get around to telling me the source” Eliot admitted, “or even the prophecy itself. Sunrise interrupted” he sighed.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about most. Unless of course it’s coming from a Malkavian” Douglas added with a slight drop in volume.
“Ok, that’s the second time you’ve mentioned those... Malkavians?” Eliot reminded.
“That’s because you were with two of them on the night we met” Douglas pointed out.
“Two?” Eliot responded, then added, “and Minna, she could be one of these actually reliable sources?” he asked worriedly.
“Well, yes, I suppose so” Douglas answered, both of them adopting more concerned expressions then.
As the two moved to take a seat upon the dock, their long legs dangling over the water below, Eliot pressed for further details, “so a Malkavian is a kind of vampire, a clan, like Toreador?”
Douglas couldn’t help another slight smile as his eyes surveyed the vast expanse of ocean before them, “figures your little vampire girl would be a Toreador. They have a bit of a reputation for falling in love with humans” he smirked.
Eliot narrowed his eyes at how much certainty Douglas seemed to have about the feelings Claire had only admitted to Eliot himself a few hours earlier. But he made himself move on from that for the moment, “how do you even know all these things about them? Seems they get pretty aggravated when any human knows they even exist, let alone, their personality quirks” Eliot added with a slight smirk.
“I was wondering when we’d start getting into the deep questions about my past” he stated with another amused smile.
“We sort of spent most of our time going between lots of magic and lots of sex... We may have skipped some of the parts in between” Eliot reminded as Douglas allowed a chuckle of agreement with his observation.
“Well, I’ve always enjoyed the fun parts of life more, haven’t you?” Douglas returned wryly.
“And he avoids the question again” Eliot scolded gently.
Douglas sighed softly before finally offering a response, “the short version is that before this, I was a ghoul.”
“A ghoul?” Eliot narrowed his eyes at that term as it was one that Claire and most of her kin rarely if ever used.
“You know, bound to a vampire?” Douglas clarified, “fully bound. Not quite a free agent like you were somehow allowed to stay.”
“You’re right, this does sound like a less fun part of your life” Eliot stated sympathetically.
“Yes, I was a slave, with no free will. It’s true” Douglas agreed, his smile finally faltering as he drifted off into a few darker memories before pulling himself back to the present conversation, “but I wouldn’t be the current me without first being the past me” he stated with a shrug.
“You do realize English isn’t my first language” Eliot returned slowly, “what exactly does that mean?”
“My regnant... master... he was a mage before he got turned. He’s the one who helped me awaken. I was his prize pupil, in some strange way.”
“So, he actually made you into what you are now? Taught you the things you know now?” Eliot asked curiously.
“Some. Many I learned after I was no longer his creature” Douglas then returned to the original question, “so during my years with him, I also learned much about the Kindred, to say the least.”
“So that’s how you know Malkavians’ prophecies can actually be trusted?”
“My master kept one as a pet, for that very reason alone” Douglas informed.
“One vampire keeping another as a pet? How did that even work?” Eliot had to ask as he glanced back toward the estate filled with those powerful creatures they now spoke of.
“Malkavians are all broken. They’re so good at seeing the future reality because they rarely ever spend any time in the actual present reality” he pointed out.
“And Minna is one of those? A Malkavian? And a seer?” Eliot added more quietly.
“And chances are if your little vampire girl received a prophecy, it was likely from this Minna woman” he then looked back toward Eliot, “just like you did.”
“What do you mean, like I did?′ Eliot looked back at him with confusion. "It was just nonsense."
“I’m sure everything she was babbling actually meant something. You just need the other pieces. But what was the last thing Minna said to you?”
“She told me I sparkled” Eliot scoffed as he recalled that night.
“There you go” Douglas stated plainly.
“Please, how is that ridiculous nonsense a prophecy?” Eliot returned.
“Has Claire ever mentioned being able to read auras?” Douglas asked.
“Well, yes, but...”
“That’s one thing both Toreadors and Malkavians can do. And mages? Our auras supposedly sparkle. And what did you realize you were that night? Prophecy fulfilled” he finished with a knowing smile.
Eliot was a bit shaken, but had to offer one more argument, “I only found out what I was because of you being there that night though.”
“Does that change the fact that she basically told you what you were before you and I even spoke? Given, it was in her own very strange... and vague way, but she still told you.”
Eliot took a long moment and an even longer breath, his gaze drifting out over the water once more. At last, he finally made himself speak up again, “well, whatever this prophecy was that Minna may have given Claire... She seemed more than a little bit terrified of it coming to pass. And now I think I’m a little bit terrified too” Eliot finished with a sad, shaky breath.
Douglas sighed as he moved to place an arm around Eliot’s shoulder, “at least wait until you even hear the prophecy before you start to panic, all right?”
Eliot just shook his head again. He then took another deep breath, “you’ve been beating this idea of paradox into my head; the idea that the bigger the magic, the worse it’ll turn on me in some way, some day?”
“It’s a sad fact. But, everything does have a price, Eliot.”
“Exactly” he returned shakily, “and Minna said something else to me. She said it was wrong and that I changed it. I had no idea what ‘it’ even was, but what if whatever I changed, it was about Claire? What if she’s the one who ends up paying for me... tampering with things.”
“You mean like healing your brother?” Douglas replied, his eyes cast down.
“You did try to talk me out of it, didn’t you? Said it was too big?”
Douglas sighed, unable to refute the claim, but figured he had to offer Eliot some form of comfort right then, “it would be highly unlikely that the world would make Claire pay for things that you’ve done. It doesn’t usually work that way.”
“Usually?”
“Eliot.”
“But Minna said I changed something already... that’s probably not a good thing, right?”
“Everything anyone in the world does, it ultimately changes something, in at least some small way, Eliot. It’s called living” Douglas attempted a tiny bit of assurance.
“That’s not really reassuring” Eliot replied, his breath coming in shorter bursts now.
“Calm down Eliot, and take a moment and think. How’s this for reassuring? You changed something.”
Eliot just looked back at him with further confusion, “there’s that language barrier again.”
Douglas smiled softly, “what I mean is that it actually could be reassuring that you were able to change something. Something Minna saw” he stated pointedly, “just think about that for a minute. This could mean that you could maybe change other things that Minna saw as well. Possibly those things that Claire’s so terrified of. Maybe that was why Claire was the one thing in the world that made you finally find your spark. Finally awaken.”