Tranqility

((This was written on my iPod, do no spell check, so sorry if there are any mistakes))

Richard sighed and stretched out his limbs after sitting still for so long after he finished the last pages of his book: The Portrait of Dorian Gray. After sitting still for a couple of seconds to take in the traquil atmouspere he got up from the deep red chair and moved to put the book back.

He was currently in a hidden of part of the library where the large oak book shelves curved into a circle, surounding a couple of grand, yet comfortable, chairs and a coffe table that had a candle placed on top of it. The candle iluminated the circle of bookshelves that the moonlight could not reach, giving the space a warm and homely feel.

Richard scanned the bookshelves that hold numerous of English Victorian novels, though he saw a few books that were out of place. They should seriously think about getting a librarian, otherwise soon nothing would be in place. He sighed, pushing a lock of hair behind his ear and continued to scan the books, looking something vaguely interesting to read based on total alone.

Giacinto glided through the isles of bookcases towards her favourite section of the library.

During her time in England she had fallen in love with the literature. Ignicio had quite enjoyed some genre of books the English provided. But they were on opposite ends of the scale. While he enjoyed medical journals she was enraptured with romance novels.

The candled set periodically along her path lit, glowing a deep orange-red and bathing the isles in light. Most of the time she preferred the soft glow of the morning sun to the dim light of the moon. Candles gave off a similar warm glow to the sun that she so adored.

Her lithe body slid in between two bookcases that were set about a metre apart and into a small enclosed area.

She inclined her head to the Chosen Regent already occupying the space and drifted towards one bookcase in particular. On that one bookcase was a book that Giacinto had read hundreds of times before and would probably read hundreds of times again.

The dog-eared cover fit snugly in her hands as she curled up on one of the overstuffed red armchairs in the area. The cover opened and the Succubus buried her nose in the writings of Diana Wynne Jones. How she loved this book: Howl's Moving Castle.

"Evening to you, Dick," she greeted softly after reading a couple of pages.

Richard looked up from the books as someone entered the room. Giacinto. He nodded slightly before resuming back to looking at the numerous of aged books. He was unsure of what he was looking for. He wanted fiction, which he was embarrassed to say that he enjoyed greatly, he also wanted something quite mindless after the swirling thoughts of the last book he just read, but what genera? Fantasy, a stereotypical Victorian romance, adventure or something else entirely? He hummed in thought and looked over at Giacinto who was peacefully reading a book in the other chair.

"Giacinto, do you have any book recommendations? I have just read Dorian Gray, it was quite a philosophical piece of literature, so do you have anything a bit more mindless?" He asked, standing up rather then bending down to look at the titles of the books.

"Evening to you, too, Giacinto. Isn't it a lovely night? Why, yes, Dick, I do think it's a rather nice night." She cocked a brow at the younger boy.

She mulled over the question. "If you're looking for mindless I'd go for modern literature. Possibly a romance. The drivel that they scrawl now is rather mindless."

I left her book to show the boy the title. "This is a rather lovely book. I'm sure I've suggested it before." She nodded towards the bookshelf she had picked the book up from. "There's a spare copy."

She popped her lips and nodded towards the exit of the small enclosure. "Or you could try Raised By Wolves. It's a decent werewolf romance." She grinned at the irony of having a werewolf romance novel in her library. "It's a shame werewolves are such beasts in real life, isn't it?"

Giacinto hoped the boy would never have to meet a werewolf. They were terribly violent creatures at times. It took very little to push a werewolf over the edge.

"How has your evening been so far, Dick?"

"Not that mindless, though I will say I have read a few modern romances that were quite deep and moving, though there are a few that are quite... explicit." He mumbled with a slight blush dusting his cheeks.

He looked at the title of the book that Giacinto showed and remembered her mentioning it once or twice around him now that she mentioned it. He kept meaning to read it, though he seemed to never get round to it, often from distractions or another book. His eyebrows furrowed when she pointed out were another copy was. "Can't we keep this place slightly ordered? This is not called the unofficial English Victorian Novel section for nothing." He grumbled.

He walked over to where the book was and picked it up. This one seemed fairly new compared to the one in Giacintos hand. He opened it to the first page a to read the blurb, listening to Giacinto talk to him about werewolves, creatures that he has yet to cross paths with.

He glanced up as Giacinto asked him a question half way through reading the blurb and answered: "It has been okay, I have been in here the whole time reading. Then again it is only midnight. What about yourself, Giacinto?"

The Succubus laughed. "What you think is explicit and what I think is explicit are two very different things, m'dear." Giacinto was the embodiment of lust. What she thought was mild was generally quite explicit to the average eye.

She shrugged. "It's unofficial," was her only comment. This was her favourite spot in the library. Her favourite spot needed to have her favourite book in it. In fact, the bookcase where Howl's Moving Castle lived was her personal bookcase. All of her favourite books were there. Howl's Moving Castle, the Southern Vampire Mysteries, Black Butler, InuYahsa. They were all there.

"Yes, it is rather early, isn't it?" Giacinto had only been up an hour or so. And to keep with her laziness, her slippers were still donning her feet. She had left her corset in the wardrobe, as well. She merely wore her shirt and jeans.

"I'm well. Would have been better if Nicio had left me to sleep. I was up until four in the afternoon and had a rather fitful sleep."

Giacinto had had quite a few nasty experiences in the past and occasionally suffered from night terrors. Tonight had been rather mild compared to other nights she had had but it was still unpleasant to go without sleep like she was currently doing.

Richard glared slightly as Giacinto laughed at him and walked back to his chair which was opposite to Giacinto's.

"It should be made official. Then it will be so much more efficient to find books that we need. For example, I was looking for Shakespeare's play A Midsummers Night Dream a couple of weeks ago, and where was it? In the World History section for some reason." He grumbled, then opened the book in his hand onto the first page and started to read.

Continuing to look at the book, trying to read and talk at the same time, he continued the conversation; "Haunted by demons of the past then or did the birds simply keep you up? Hopefully since you had such a bad nights sleep last... day," Even in all the years he has spent living in the night it was still odd to say night instead of day when speaking about sleep or staying up for long periods of time."you will have a better nights sleep tonight, I mean day."

Being the wonderfully mature woman she was, Giacinto's response to Richard's glare was to stick her tongue out, silver piercing glinting in the dim light.

She chuckled. "That would be Nicio trying to annoy you and your almost OCD-like obsession with keeping the library clean. You know he likes to provoke you. Maybe we should have made you Chosen Regent of the library instead of the Ballroom."

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she closed the book and set it in her lap. "When am I not haunted by the past, Dick? I've seen some pretty gruesome shit in my time." And if Giacinto thought things were gruesome - after witnessing the state of her dungeon - they were very gruesome.

Another chuckle passed her lips. "Even after five hundred years, you still mix up day and night? I know we have more leeway than other vampires." She stuck out her tongue, revealing her lapis lazuli tongue stud. "But you should be used to it by now."

He groaned at Giacintos suggestion "And if I was, then the majority of party's or balls we have would become drunken riots... more so then normal. And besides, I would not be able to keep up with how you all mistreat it. We would need someone with the patient of a saint." he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers in annoyance. "And please tell your mate to stop moving the books around."

He watched as she sighed as she seemed to reminisce about the past that haunted her. He was unsure how too take the situation, yet she soon chuckled and made him flush lightly as she teased him, though he was glad of the topic change. He was never to good when it came to comforting.

"As if you never made mistakes with language." He muttered in defence.

"Dick, darlin', I'm the coven Elder. All parties turn into drunken riots without fail." It was just her way. When a party was involved, so was alcohol.

She laughed and tossed a book from the shelf behind her at the younger vampire. "A Vampire Saint, it sounds to absurd," she chuckled, grinning childishly. "Vampires live on blood and lust - we're not saint material."

She rocked forwards in her seat and rested her chin on the heel of her hand. "I can tell him. I don't know whether or not he'll take heed. He really does enjoy trying to annoy you, y'know."

She chuckled and nodded with a grin. "The only languages I'm fluent in are gibberish and sarcasm."

He ducked as a book was thrown his way and glared at her, placing his novel at the coffee table before getting out of the chair to pick the abused book up.

"There are still vampires out there that respect books and the order of things." He protested. "Myself, for example." He raised an eye brow at her then looked down at the name of the book: Tess of the D'urbavilles. A novel that took a lot of enduring, yet was enjoyable.

He moved around the chairs to put the novel in its rightful place, which was not the place that Giacinto grabbed it from he noted with slight annoyance. As he moved back to his chair a grim look fell across his face at what Giacinto said about Ignicio. "I should of expected so. Why did I think anything different?" He moaned, sitting comfortably back down into the chair.

She stuck her tongue out at him again. "Yeah, yeah. I keep order when I want to," she defended, pointing to her personal bookcase. It was immaculate. Not a single book out of order.

Her eyes followed him as he went about putting the book back in its 'proper' place. Why was that boy so adamant about keeping everything perfect? He's still got that royal blood coursing through his veins, she answered herself with small frown. After so many years of her trying to prompt him to let go of his human life, he was still reluctant.

A bark of laughter escaped the Succubus' plump lips. "You want him to change so you delude yourself into thinking he has changed," she answered simply. "The mind can be a rather marvellous thing, can't it? Creating such delusions as that and actually getting us to believe them."

Giacinto's lips quirked upwards. "If you want to entertain yourself, you could always perform a one-man play. Cinderella? Snow White? I can see those dresses flattering you rather well, darlin'."

"I know the mind is a marvellous thing that can create delusions of what we want instead of what we have, but I can always dream that he will be polite too me for once instead of constantly annoying me." He sighed, leaning back in his chair. He really despised that man at times, constantly verbally jabbing him or challenging him or just being a plain down nuisance.

He noted that the corners of Giacinto's lips have upturned slightly, yet it was the type of smile that made you have shivers up and down your back - basically it meant some horrible thought was crossing her mind. Which he was correct about, as he spluttered back; "Don't be absurd!" with a blush along his face. "I know this is a new era were being who you want to be is a little more accepting and we lived through an era wear everybody was drowned in frills, but still! Besides, I would like you see you in a dress for once. I can probably count on my hand exactly how many times I have seen you wear one"

"It'll be nothing more than a dream," she informed bluntly. "Y'know, I think messing with you is the most childish I've ever seen him. And I've known him for over eight hundred years."

The Succubus shook her head. "I lived beyond that period, Dick. Simple lengths of cloth were all that we wore four and a half thousand years ago - if that. There were times that half of us just walked around in the nude." A wry smirk pulled at her lips. "And I didn't really do the respectable dress-code for women, did I?"

She laughed. In his face. "Now who is the one being absurd? Why would I want to wear a dress? If I do-so remember, it took you and Lyssum to get me into my wedding dress when Ignicio wanted to renew our vows."

Her brow arched. "You don't need fingers to count how many times I've worn a dress. Fingers imply plural - meaning more than one."

"I am so honnerd that I bring out this childish side." Richard muttered dryly with a bland expression on his face.

He noted that the candle on the table had less then an inch of life left in it before they will be put into darkness. He might as well wait until this one uses up the rest of it's life before getting a new one. He further noted with distain that the wax was going to be a pain to remove as it dripped on the table, along with the old wax that has been on the coffee table for quite some time. He glared slightly at Giacinto as she talked of the time when cloth was simply cloth - revealing once more her age.

Richard smilled slightly at the slightly stressful memory that Giacinto provoked. "You looked ever so lovely in that dress, truly beautiful," He sighed. "such a shame that you took it of as soon as you got the chance - especially after all the work put into it."

"You're the only one that does." She bought out his carnal side; Lyssum his fatherly side. It was up to Dick to bring out his childish side.

She cocked a brow when he glared. "Why is it whenever I hint at my age, you glare? Do you hate the fact that we can grow this old? Do you hate the fact that you'll possibly be spending that time with us?" Why did this boy have such an aversion to mentions of age?

Realising she had been very brutal in that little rant she shrank into her seat. "I want to know, Dick." This was said mush softer than her previous rant. It was probably the closest thing to an apology that he'd get.

Her nose wrinkled. "As beautiful as the dress was, it was uncomfortable. That corset was so tight," she whined childishly.

"Is your memory getting weak in your old age, Dick? It was Nicio that removed the dress." The pitch of her voice lowered and it gained a husky tone. "Excruciatingly slowly. That was a night I remember well."

Richard chewed his lip and moved the ring around his little finger as Giacinto questioned him repeatedly. He stopped twisting the ring, then resumed as she then spoke more gently to him. It sounded a little foreign, if he was honest.

"For the first ten years of my life, Giacinto, a part of my life that I want to keep close to me, I was brought up in a very Catholic surrounding - thought to become a bishop or something. And being that close to to those memories means it is also hard to forget that part of me as well. Plus, I did not really want this. I never asked for it. Personally, I am afraid of myself. I know it is stupid, but-" Richard stopped, realising he was babbling his thoughts. Embarrassed slightly he go up from his chair, looking at the candle. "Don't get me wrong, but I do not hate the fact I am going to spend a very long time with all of you."

He then moved to the 'exit' of the circle of books cases, mumbling about getting a new candle. As he reached the edge of it he looked over his shoulder and smiled slightly.
"Precisely, you got that dress off as quick as you can." He chuckled lightly. "I am going to see if I can find anything of you in that dress after I got the candle, see if I can convince you to wear one more often." He walked out to retrieve another candle.

"I told you the night we met to forget your human life. They hold you back. You can't be a vampire in body and still be human in mind, Dick. It doesn't work that way." She tossed her book onto the table and sighed heavily. "Vampires aren't human. We don't do things like the humans do. Religion and shit like that? It'll get you killed."

Her fierce eyes hardened, glaring at the man in front of her. "None of us wanted this life! When I was born - for the first twenty years of my life - I dreamt about being the wife of a well-to-do farmer. Bearing healthy children for him and raising our lifestock while he was out in the fields." She tossed her hands in the air. "And now look at me. I've killed. I've lied. I've stolen. I've betrayed. I've injured my lover to the point of death." Her eyes wavered as the image of a pale man with light brown hair and startling silver eyes flashed through her mind. His head lolled back, blood smeared over his throat and staining the sheets below him.

She raked her hands through her hair frustratedly. "We're all scared of ourselves, Dick. It's the price we pay to be us." She slumped in defeat, sad eyes sliding closed. "We can't live without three things, Dick. Vashka told Ignicio this. Blood. Lust. And each other. If we could live without the blood and the deaths, it'd be an ideal life. But we can't. We have to suck it up and suffer through the harsh reality of it."

She sounded like a bitch. But it was all stuff that he needed to hear. Giacinto hated hurting her people. She loathed it. But she was brutally honest. And sometimes her truths hurt.

She watched him head towards the exit of the little alcove sadly. She had driven him away. She knew it.

"...You won't ever get me into another dress." Her voice was quiet and tone soft, but she was willing to fight till the ends of the earth to uphold that promise.

He partly ignored her as he walked out the library, hearing this speech to many times to take it to heart, dispute it being its intention. Yet the corners on his lips were upturned slightly at the last thing she said.

The corridors were cold, as one would expect from a old mansion - built from stone with large windows, plus with the fact it was night-time. Every now and then there was an old painting or other rusty decorations to make the corridors feel not so empty and eerie, at any time of the day. The whistling of the wind did not help this feeling, or the rain slamming against the windows with a clack of thunder accompanying it.

He briskly walked towards the storage room - cluttered and untidy. Grumbling, with line engraving between his eyebrows, he glanced around for a box of candles.
"I need to sort this mess out." He muttered in annoyance, spotting a open box of candles not to far, yet it involved stepping over a numerous of objects to get to them. Unable to see another in plain sight, he stepped precariously over the objects. With the box of candles soon only of couple steps away he moved quicker - not noticing the rope around his ankle. He yelped and fell, knocking over objects and creating a cloud of dust in his wake. Cursing, he pushed himself up, rubbing the back of his head while sneezing. Getting his bearings he looked too see what mess he made. Then again, he thought, this could be considered an improvement.

He spotted the box of candles, which despite being open, still held all the candles. He crawled over to them and picked them up, only staying there when he recognised the photographs glaring up at him. Picking up the book as well, he clambered back over the corridor. He brushed himself off and straightened his cloths the best he could before heading back to the library.

He nodded towards Giacinto as he entered there little part of the library. Sitting down in his chair he placed the book in his lap and handed over the box of rose scented candles to Giacinto - indicating her to light one.

"By the way, we need to clean and sort out the storage room. You can barley move in there." He sighed, leaning back into the chair. "Oh, and I have found your wedding book by chance. Lets remember those happy moments of when you were wearing a dress."

Giacinto sat silently in her chair, staring ahead with a frown.

She was still in that position when Dick returned. She blinked and looked up at him with mild shock. He returned? she didn't think he would.

"What am I, your personal lighter?" she grumbled, setting a candle in the ornate candlestick holder and touching her finger to the tip of the wick. As she pulled back the wick ignited, burning brightly for a few seconds before simmering down into a small flame.

"We? You're complaining about it, you do it yourself."

Her eyes narrowed at the book on his lap. "I thought I burned that." Her lips pulled back in a sneer. Then her mind flickered to her mate. Only he would be brave enough to defy her like that. "Damn Ignicio. I don't see why he wants to keep it. We've had plenty of weddings and I've burned every picture taken or painted."

"You element is fire, so what do you expect?" Richard replied, watching her light it. Not admitting that he just simply forgot the matches, and it was only luck that he remembered that Giacinto had the element of fire.

"It is everybody's mansion, Giacinto. We all live hear so we should all do our fair share to keep it tidy, or we won't be able to move or find things." He grumbled, indicating to the book self behind her - messy and disorganised.

"Well, as you can see, you have not." Richard opened to the first page and picture, where they wear all dress up smartly, Giacinto in the centre grimacing. Other then that she was stunning, he mused. She was a beautiful woman anyway, but the dress simply heightened.

Ignoring her her flicked through the album, a small, unconscious smile on his lips. From what he could remember it was a lovely wedding - despite Giacinto sulking through it. Nearing the end of the album he stopped and stared, feeling the tips of his ears burn up. He quickly looked up and Giacinto and gapped. "W-when did this happen" He asked, pointing down towards a photo within the album.

"I expect you to get off your lazy ass and get some damned matches. I'm not doing this every time you need a candle lighting." She sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.

She shrugged. "I keep my shit tidy enough. It's only the dungeon that I let get messy. But who in their right mind is going to go down there, anyway?" You'd have to be suicidal to go down into the Succubus' dungeon. It was a dangerous place. A very dangerous place.

"...I'll have to put my effort into pursuing my previous thoughts of roasting that book. It shall not have any more eyes grace it. Ever." She gave the offending book the dirtiest of looks.

A Cheshire grin split across her face. "Do you not remember? It was my favourite part of the night, lover~ I felt way too uncomfortable in my dress and you were just so nice and offered to switch with me." She ran her tongue over her grinning lips. "Maybe you should get married next, Dick. You look damned good in a wedding dress."

"Of course, only the insane would go down there." He muttered, trying to remove that to vivid image from his mind, flushing royally while slightly wriggling uncomfortably in his chair.

He gapped further as she grinned him.
"I did not offer you to swap." He slammed the book close and glared at it, as if to burn it, then at Giacinto. "And if you are implying what I think you are implying, then no way." He placed the album on the table - not all too carefully.

"Why did you not burn the real one?" He grumbled. He sat back in the chair, crossing his arms and legs, and trying to will the blush down.

"It's a good thing I'm insane then, isn't it? And Ignicio. It'd be such a shame if he couldn't enjoy what was down there with me." her eyes glinted as her grin grew wider. Dick knew what she was talking about. And Giacinto knew that made him uncomfortable.

"Oh, but you did. Lyssum, Vashka and ignicio are the witnesses. Why would I lie about that when the truth is far more embarrassing, eh?" Giacinto loved it when the trust was worse than the lie. It made things so much more fune in the end~

She cocked a brow at the blush on his face and grinned mischievously. "Aww, why not~? You'd make a beautiful blushing bride."

She gave a little sigh. "Why, indeed. Blame Ignicio. He must have switched out the real one with a fake before I could get my hands on it."

He coughed and wriggled slightly in his seat, deciding not to continue with what went on in the dungeons. For the sake of his sanity and innocence.

Richard cupped his face in embarrassment, sure that his face was beat red with his ears burning. It did not help that he could not recall a single part of that night beyond the sit-down meal. He looked up at Giacinto and frowned with a slight twitch at the blushing bride comment.

His faced tuned from embarrassment mixed with slight annoyance to one of slight horror as he remembered the morning after. "Where did the dress go? I was not wearing it when I woke up in the morning. Nor was it anywhere in my room...?"

He ran his fingers through his hair. "I wished you burnt the real one now..."