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04 - The Loop

A breath, a sudden awareness. A corpse, police officers, chilly night air and a boardwalk strike Katherine with the impact of reversal. Distantly, she hears an ambulance. A big goofy smile is on her face, wondering what must have happened to get an eternity of this. So she sits, and she waits. The Ambulance shakes, the gunshots go off, the police officers die.

Katherine is sitting, staring into the ambulance with a smile. Waiting for Eleanora to come out.

She arrives like always, bloodsoaked, a look of hungry predation on her face, staring into the waiting Katherine with an amused, confused, hungry and terrifying look. "What a strange morsel." She muses, looking down at the large woman.

"Hi, I'm Katherine," This time Katherine whispers quietly, "I'm… Happy to see you."

"Do we know one another, la-belle?" She wonders, kneeling down, dripping with blood.

"Sort of," Katherine admits, "Every night for the last few… Dozen or maybe hundred, we meet, I sit here, I catch you up. We have a wonderful night, you bite me, you get to live your life. This is the first time I've mentioned the… Circumstances."

The vampire nods, "I must be good company." She smiles, ignoring the sirens in the distance to sit and talk, hunger mostly abated.

"The best, actually. You don't tell me too much about you. I realize because you get too close probably? Sometimes you cry after you bite me." Katherine says smiling, not reaching out not yet, "I try to tell you it's fine, because I just come back here, but it seems to really bother you."

"Bittersweet is the sweetest love." She answers, "And I wouldn't believe someone saying that, I think." Eleanora smiles at the last sentence, showing fangs still dripping.

"It's only really bittersweet for you, I get to come back here and think of more ways to have fun." Katherine admits, reaching out for her phone texting to cancel the Main Coon, "You admitted once you weren't going to take care of the cat."

"I'd likely have someone do it." She whispers, "Animals…ills me craignent…they do not like my kind."

Katherine smiles at Eleanora, "I know, we have about…" She looks at her phone, "Seven minutes before the sirens show up."

"Where do we normally go?" The vampire asks, curious.

"We go to a box-store, get a bunch of date night stuff and blackout curtains. Then we go to my apartment, I've gotten pretty slick at getting the suicide note and bottle off the table. Since you just like new stuff, I just show you things. I've caught up on a lot of shows now."

"Hmm, shall we…" There's a flex of something in the air, infrasound cracking like glass. "Go to mine, then?" Time shifts, a fulcrum point creaking like a turning ship at sea, waves buffeting it. Infrasound returns, warbling back to life before fading beyond hearing.

The waves of time makes Katherine slightly nauseous, but she smiles. "Yeah, I've never seen yours before." She admitted.

Eleanora stands, offering a hand to Katherine, to be led to her car, to guide her to something new. The taller woman acquiesces, making a sight of themselves this early in the morning. The vampire doesn't seem to overly care about being seen bloody, sliding into the passenger seat as the engine struggles to awaken from its slumber.

"I live in Hollywood, that's not too far from here, yes?" She asks, unfamiliar with the area evidently.

Chuckling, Katherine says, "Twenty minutes to an hour depending on traffic, but I'd drive to New York if you wanted." before pulling onto the I-10. The drive over Culver City is nice, pleasant. Katherine has gotten excellent at talking to Eleanora, and baits her into conversation with ease. The twenty minutes fly by like a shooting star.

"Just here, on the…carrefours? Intersplices?" She tries to find the words.

"I've been learning French, the intersection," Katherine says helpfully, before taking the turn noted.

"Beverly and Highland…intersection, yes." The smile on her face is broad, enjoying every minute of the drive, rapping her fingers on the door in a known show of excitement. The house she points out is…expensive, seeming old, at least fifty years.

Dutifully, Katherine pulls into the driveway, before parking the car next to some old model of Bentley. Turning off the engine. "So we're here," She opens the Driver side door, and walks around to give her hand to Eleanora, to help her get out. She grasps the hand gently, acquiring a quiet "Merci.", even though the tiny woman doesn't need it. "De rien." She whispers back.

She smiles, "C'éitat tou." Leading Katherine towards the house.

With a large smile, Katherine keeps a gentle touch on the small of her back, letting it rest softly. Observing the home for the first time.

The home is rustic, there's a layer of dust that makes Eleanour frown, carpeting crisp besides that, wood varnished and evidently hand carved, relics from a European manor all around, paintings of her, several, in dresses spanning at least two, maybe three eras of fashion before photographs become more common. A smell of lavender suffuses everything, mixing in with the scent of wood and age to create something uniquely hers.

She arrives in a sitting room, gently placing Katherine in a seat. "Katerina, I will leave you here just a few minutes." The vampire looks down at herself, "I am… messy?" The word is used questioningly, unsure if it's exactly right.

"Messy works yeah, need to freshen up works as well as a term." Katherine admits, smiling at her as she sits down staring back. She wants to follow, and tries not to wince at the words. The first time Eleanoura tried freshening up at the apartment, Katherine had to explain why there was a dumpster bag in the bathtub.

Still, Eleanora leaves her for at most, twenty minutes. Letting the tall woman intake the room she's in. A rose is on the ceiling, a carved rose that seems to have been made very, very carefully, taking up the whole space and slightly glinting in light, suggesting it could glow in the dark. The rustic furniture is the sort that'll never be uncomfortable, hand-made, expensive and generational. A coffee table sits in front of the chair she's in, overtop a woven, colourful rug.

On the walls, surprisingly, there's swords, from left to right in increasing age. A broad, long blade with chips on it first, proudly displayed on a cracked and broken shield, a lion holding a rose in its mouth emblazoned upon its remnants. Then something slighter, more like a fencer's foil, then again thinner, turning from weapons of war to weapons of sport, of fencing and competition, losing the shields, losing the tabards, merely joyful memory.

Nervous energy causes Katerina to explore, to walk around the room, even though that'll make it harder to test the next loop. Normally she'd stay sitting, because there were less paths from sitting and waiting to not waiting. This time was special though, it was new, she could experiment later. The room was somehow… Extremely Eleanora. Beautiful, out of place, dangerous, and attractive. She studies the various paintings, pictures of people she must have cared deeply for.

Paintings of others are rare, but prominent, a woman there, a man here, all in loving detail, marked with dates in their corners, 1755-1820, 1844-1910, 1940-1945. Two women and a man are the ones displayed prominently. The women are in dresses that speak of wealth, or at least luxury, the man is in uniform, a military not quite immediately familiar to Katherine. At least there's no armband, she thinks to herself as she looks at the date.

Gentle heel-steps draw Katherine's attention over, as Eleanora comes down the steps from her second story in a long red sequin dress that pulls itself whisper-quiet over the wood stairs, heels somehow both modest in length and yet looking painful to walk in for anyone..mortal.

Katherine watches her with adoration and rapt attention. Noting the shoes, and then smiling slightly wider. "You look… Great." Katherine laughed, before stepping forward, "Do I make that good an impression? I've always wondered."

Eleanora walks up to Katherine, looking up at her with a smiling visage, "You make the best impression, after all." Her fingers gently stroke the taller woman's arm, "I always stay with you. Don't I?" It's not a question, merely an affirmation of what she's been told, what she believes. Rhetorical.

"Up until now I've only been bitten, but god I hope so. I'd like to imagine that many versions of you happy out there." She admits, quietly.

"Am I all you have?" Eleanora asks her armour piercing question, not the first time it's been said. Reaching into a refrigerator, the only new piece of hardware here.

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"Yeah…" Katherine admits it every time, it hurts every time to admit it, "Yeah… Used to be more. Not anymore." That still hurt to admit, but it was important. Maybe it wouldn't work if some day it stopped hurting to admit.

She extracts a bag of blood, still marked by the hospital it came from, and a chilled bottle of red liquor, a wine tagged with some French chateau, two centuries prior. "I'll be sure to be a world for you." She answers the admission, placing the bottle down and moving for a pair of wine glasses, having to strain to reach a high cupboard for it

Walking over quickly, Katherine grabs it, and hands it to Eleanora, she feels it about to fall out of her fingertips, but manages to keep a grip. "Here, you already are the wor—" Katherine stops herself, "Sorry, you don't know me, I forget I'm a stranger to you."

"My mind does not know you, Katerina." She turns, looking back up at the aforementioned woman, "My soul feels like it's known you for an eternity." Eleanora's admission is something new, striking.

Her throat gets dry, she loves that even after all this time her throat still gets dry. "God I hope so." She says happily, "I really really do." She goes to hug Eleanora in an embrace, before giving her a gentle kiss ontop of the head. "You seem so sad… After everything."

The kiss tastes of lavender, "Eternity is bittersweet, and I always remember the people who…"

"Are just sweet." She finishes for her.

"Sont doux." The vampire smiles, nodding at Katherine's words. She glints in the light of the room, just barely not dim, kept at a brightness where she can see perfectly, but human eyes have to be close to pick out details. "Would you like wine?" Her nails trill against the glass.

"Absolutely," She grabs the glass from her, and allows Eleanora to pour her a glass. Gently rubbing the stem as she watches Eleanora fill her own glass with blood. She takes a gentle sip, eyes never leaving the other.

Eleanora's drink has an almost alcoholic fragrance pulse out. As she speaks "You are very attractive, Katerina. It's…this feeling I have, it begins when I do not see you flinch at my fangs." She describes slowly, picking words one by one.

"They're pointy teeth, not a horror show," Katherine says looking at her, "I think they're cute." Returning to her drink with a sip.

"And it grows as you compliment the features I think… terrifying to others." The vampire smiles, showing those same fangs, "You look into my eyes, blackened with hunger, and do not fear, only feel an apprehension that it will end…too soon." The smile stays.

"I worry a bit that you're going to be sad as well," Katherine says, "I always make sure to tell you how happy I'll be when I wake up where I'm supposed to."

"Your words soften my heart." The vampire admits, sipping again at her drink, a light flushed look beginning to spread as she proves to be less able to take alcohol than Katherine is. "You are very sweet, sweeter than most."

"You gave me a reason to be happy, so I try to return the favour." Katherine remembered to let the moment ride. Simply staring at her a bit longer. Then she asks, "What happens next? You pick this time."

"Would you like to come to bed with me?" Eleanora asks, smiling through the flush of her alcoholic drink. A very small hitch to her voice after Katherine's words, that familiar look of her falling for the taller woman.

With a smile, Katherine picks her up into her arms, very gently lifting her, "Lead the way Madame Eleanora"

"Bien sûr, mon amour." She directs Katherine up the stairs, ending up in a satin-drenched bedroom, a king-bed taking up the centre of it, closets full to bursting with history and lavender scent heavy in the air from still burning candles. Red and the slightest touches of dark orange colour the room, intermixing with oak brown wood and soft hints of black in the edges of the sheets, ringing them.

"Will you put me to bed, ma Katerina?" Eleanora purrs into Katherine's chest, asking for the gift.

Katherine gently places her into bed, letting her hands drift down the woman as she places her. Gently removing each heel with deft care. She looks at her, and smiles before leaning in for another kiss, this one softer than most, a light peck that very soon becomes raging passion. As they lean close and explore each other, Katherine on familiar ground, while Eleanora on new. Katherine works with diligent grace, moving the unfamiliar clothes off quickly before beginning to kiss Eleanora just above the ear, lightly nibbling on it, letting her attentions make the woman's chest rise with something similar to breath.

Her confidence and passion is eternal/everlasting/relentless, as she moves to Eleanora's neck, biting it with the perfect amount of pressure, hearing a satisfying gasp that let her know it was time to shift. She remembered everything. Her body moved with a trained precision as she worked on Eleanor's body. Eventually she found herself between Eleanora's legs, placing her thighs on her shoulders like an armoire.

Her hands cupped at Eleanor's waist to hold her steady as she began to get her own fill of Eleanora. The room smelled of lavender, blood, and sweat. The mix of living, and slaughtered gave Katherine a light headed floating feeling. As she pleased the vampire her heart soared. Somewhere new and exciting and beautiful. Just like Eleanora was, she would do anything to make this feeling last, to continue. She could feel though, that soon Eleanora would not be able to. The panting now too intense, the moaning even now quiet and contained, nails curl into Katherine's back bringing a slight smile and a tear to eye, before she felt Eleanor's soul return for just a few seconds. For every part of her to be brought back with an electric life that threatened to wipe out everything else. She continued for a few moments longer, while allowing Eleanora to simply ride the waves she had been given.

And so they continued, back and forth like experienced lovers in their own little paradise. A paradise that lasted for only a couple of hours before Katherine's stamina wore out.

Finally, she admitted defeat, "Sorry." She gasped, "Today I only got like three hours of sleep. I'm really tired." She felt guilty, but she was either going to faint, or if left alone too long, fall asleep.

"Mon amour, you were delightful." Eleanora promises in a smile, stretching to encompass and hold as much of the larger woman as she can. "We can wait until the sun rises, together."

"Of course," Katherine says quietly, holding her tight, "Of course. Just bite me if I fall asleep," She whispers. Content. Holding Eleanora in almost a death grip, as if letting her go would make her cease to be.

Slowly, drifting rays of daylight pierce the outside, barely visible through dark curtains, safely prodding at the edges of the room, away from Eleanora. She shifts, pulling Katherine out of her sleep, not daring to do anything without asking. "Katerina, are you ready?" A question heard a thousand times by now.

The gentle shake makes Katherine smile, "Of course, can I be a little selfish this time though?" She asks quietly.

"Tell me." Eleanora asks.

She smiles, "I want you to know… I love you."

A breath leaves the vampire as she leans in, accepting the words with a minute shake of her hands. Not having anything to give in return of any equal value, of any sort of equivalency. Her teeth brush against an artery, a preamble. "Mon amour, Katerina." She whispers, just before teeth sink.

A blast of starlight, an encroaching darkness, pleasure, love, pain and utter fullfillment packaged into one, infinite ordeal as cold tracks of liquid fall on Katherine's neck, dripping down and onto red sheets slowly, minutes and minutes. The dark comes.

And then fades, a parched throat, a shaky, aching tiredness and a soft gasp as the sensation ends. "Je suis désolé, mon amour." Eleanora apologizes, red tracks burned down her cheeks as bloody tears fall.

"I could not." She looks with black eyes at Katherine, "I could not give you peace."

Looking back at Eleanora, "Tu ne peux pas faire de mal," she whispers. "I'm so happy I get more time with you."

"Mon amour." The vampire whispers in response, "Ma Katrina." Holding the tired and weak woman in a cold, somehow comforting grip. Letting the sunrays rise as she stiffens and then falls limp, a death-sleep. A torpor.

"I need the rest anyways." Katherine said, placing the woman tucked neatly in bed, and then laying next to her. Returning back to sleep.