[C] Stargazing by the Moon flowers

Giacinto reclined in the courtyard, staring up at the twinkling stars above her serenely.

She loved stargazing. It was a wonderful hobby. She had been doing it right from when she was a toddler. She had used the stars time and time again when hunting or travelling. And they were always there. Always around. You just had to look a little harder at times.

"The Hunter is bright tonight," she noted, eyes training on a rather bright constellation blinking at her.

Her eyes drifted and a smile graced her lips. Orion was bright but so was Canis Major. Her favourite constellation.

Her hand reached up to stroke the petals of one of the flowers of the moon flower plant she was lying next to. Ignicio and herself had planted this when they had settled here in the mansion.

Stargazing by her favourite flowers. Her night couldn't have gotten much better.

If only a long-haired man appeared. Then her night would be complete.

Orion walked though one of the many halls in the mansion. It had been a long night so far, well to him it had been. He had spent most of the night wondering around the place trying to memorise the halls and rooms in his head for future use, he didn't mind bumping into things when he was along, which thanks to his abilities rarely happened, but when he was with others he was quite embarrassed with himself. A blind vampire, what a joke!

Using the wind as his guide he walked, and when the wind suddenly stopped he knew he was either at a wall or a door. Holding his hand out slowly his hand touched wood.

A door then.

Running his pale scared hand down the wooden panels, he reached the handle. Giving it a push the door opened outwards, creaking as it moved. He could feel the wind on his face again now, msking his dark red hair blow out behind him. This time is was colder that the wind in hallway so he concluded that this was an exit of some kind that led outside.

He had only arrived at the mansion at nightfall but he missed the outdoors already, so taking a deep breath he stepped outside and onto the pebbled path.

As he walked he manipulated the wind around him and stretched it out further, mental keeping track of what he was about to step on.

Step down. Bump. Ledge near head, dodge. Bush. Trees, many trees. A person.

As he sensed another person in the outside area he paused. Not wanting to disturb the person currently laying in the middle of the wide area he suspected was grass, he backed away but not before stepping on a small twig that he had missed in his mental analysis of the area.

SNAP!

The Succubus had just started to hum a soft tune to herself when she heard a snap.

She jumped up, crouching in a defensive position with her fangs bared.

Her tense posture relaxed when her eyes roved over the form in front of her. An almost hysterical laugh bubbled up in her throat. "When I said long haired guy, I meant Ignicio," she chuckled, standing up and offering her hand as if she hadn't just acted like a primitive animal.

"Hi, I'm Giacinto, Elder, Leader of Aria and Chosen Regent of the Dungeon," she introduced with a grin.

He was familiar. She had definitely seen him before. But she couldn't remember where for the life of her.

A chuckle passed her lips. Another vampire related idiom.

Oh, how she could amuse herself with the smallest of things.

Startled, Orion stumbled backwards as he felt the fast movements of the figure in front of him. They had crouched down into a low defensive stance and was ready to attack.

Trying to ready his ability, his finger twitched, trying to gather wind to himself. But as he stumbled his concentration on his manipulation on the wind was lost and he could not get it back. As he felt the figure staring at him, he felt like it had rendered him totally useless, and it had. He started to panic.

Stupid!Stupid!Stupid! You learnt how to keep your abilities going for when you meet an opponent! And now what do you do, you go and loose it?! Idjet! What're going to do now?!

He listened carefully, waiting for the attack to come. But it never did. He straightened up as he heard the clothing on the figures body move and straighten as they too stood up straight, but unlike him they where relaxing as they took him in.

Orion raised his eyes to the stranger as best as he could. He had always been told to look others in the eye, so that is what be did, almost. His eyes landed a few inches from the strangers face and over it's shoulder. To them it would just look like he was uninterested and was looking away. He would never look away from someone who was trying to attack him, never.

W-why're they chuckling? Are they making fun of me?!

His thoughts where angry but his body and mind calmed as he heard the voice of a woman greet him. He'd guess she would be about mid-twenties but with a title like that as well as being an elder to the mansion, he knew better. He felt a gush of wide as he suspected she had held her hand out for him to shake, but no longer able to locate it, he simply nodded his head in greeting.

"Name's Orion." He replied in a soft watered-down Northern-Irish accent.

That accent! She adored Irish accents. She had tried to get Ignicio to impersonate an Irish accent but to no avail. A dopey grin appeared on her face, but she beat it away fiercely. No need to make herself look like too much of an idiot in front of her new coven-mate.

She stood stupidly with her hand out for a minute or so after he introduced himself before her hand retreated to scratch the back of her head awkwardly. "It's, uh, nice to meet you, Orion."

She couldn't believe it. She was feeling awkward in front of her own coven?

She squared her shoulders and stepped forwards. "Are you enjoying your time here?" she asked conversationally, fingers curling in the bun/ponytail hanging over her shoulder.

The Succubus seated herself on the ground again and patted the area next to her. "Sit with me?"

Orion gave another step back as the woman called Giacinto move towards him again. It's not like he was scared, but it always helps to be a little cautious, especially when it is someone you have only just met, and someone you cannot even see.

He frowned at the question. He had only been here for the maximum of only a few hours, was that enough time to know how he felt about it?

Doesn't matter, she wants a response so I'll just give her one.

"...'t wasn't bad... Why d'ya ask?"

Being asked to sit down with the lady Orion walked forward, dragging his feet along the ground in order to do bump into anything. Feeling her arm hear his leg he knew when to sit, though he bumped her arm with his as he did.

Lifting his chin up towards the sky, he felt the breeze on his face.

He wasn't one to talk first. One of those loner silent types that will only answer if he was talked to or if it was in his best interest to do so. At this moment he would go with the first. Giacinto was obviously here first and was sitting in silence, he would do the same.

She didn't feel insulted like a human would when he stepped back. She was expecting it. Vampire's general response to such a little distance between them were one of three: kill, flirt or back up. She knew one of three would happen.

"I should be concerned for my coven, no? I am the Elder, after all." She gave a pleasant smile. Contrary to popular belief, Giacinto could be a nice person. She liked meeting new people and making friends. Granted, her idea of bonding was either teasing or flirting.

She smiled at the skin contact. It meant he trusted her to some degree. She wouldn't know what to do if her coven didn't trust her. Her coven was only seven strong at the moment so it was rather easy for them to trust each other. It was when the coven started gaining numbers that trust would be a little more difficult to gain.

Her eyes drifted down to their hands resting side-by-side on the grass. She marvelled over the difference in their skin colour. Giacinto was tanned - she knew she was. With both her Apennine Culture descent and the exposure to the sun, she had dark skin. This boy had skin as pale as milk.

Her tongue skimmed over her lower lip, the stud piercing the appendage skimming against her teeth with the movement as her hand raised, pads of her fingers brushing against the back of his hand. "Your skin is so pale," she breathed, tracing thoughtless designs onto his skin.

His hand tensed as her fingers danced across the skin of his hand. It had been a very long time, at least to him, that he had been without contact. In fact, he always tried to stay away from others and would run if he was ever touched.

I'm here to stay now, can't keep on running forever, right?

He tilted his head down towards the contact to his hand making his long red hair fall over his shoulder in form of a ponytail. He frowned.

"I guess, but 'den again, most night vampires from England would be, right." He smirked. He leaned towards her slightly, as he swapped places, his fingers now on her hand.

"I'mma guessin' that since I am 'pale' that you'r not? I ha'en't been around much but I no from how you be speaking that you are not from an Asian country or from America. You also don't have a heavy or even a little bit of an... black accent? Am not tryin' to be racist.. I don't no whatta call 'em. So imma going to take a wild guess and say you are from right 'ere." He mumbled fast, trying to decipher how she looked in his head.

He had not met many foreigners while he was alive, so he did not know much about them or how they looked. But he did know some accents and from the description and homeland of the person he was able to get a small sense of what they looked like when he came face to face with someone.

"Must be good feelin' at home." He stopped there, not having talked for a while it felt strange. He swallowed and wetted his lips waiting for her to either agree or disagree with his statement of how she looked.

"Yes, I guess you're right." Her free hand came up to brush through the deep crimson hair cascading over his shoulder. "I love long hair on a guy," she crooned quietly.

She titled her head to the side and her brows furrowed. "Can you not see?" she asked curiously, fingers stilling, resting against his shoulder. "Actually, the last place I went to was Thailand. I haven't been in Italy for over three thousand years. I guess I must have kept the accent after all this time, huh?"

She shrugged. "This...isn't really home. This is just a mansion we stumbled on a few years ago and decided to renovate. Its a house, sure; but its not home yet."

Orion frowned and ducked his head towards the grass in thought, pale fingers rubbing against one another as the elders hand lay onto his shoulder.

One would have thought the elder of the clan would notice my eyes, there not exactly common in the vampire world. Maybe she a little hollow upstairs... but then again, it is quite dark out here. But... if I say yes..she will know that I cannot see and know how pathetic I am... damn it! I don't want to be thrown out again!

His head quickly raised again with a neural expression on his face, as if nothing had passed though his head.

"'course I can, though it's a 'lil dark out 'ere, is it not?"

What she doesn't can't hurt her, right? Though, if she where to catch me in the light she would know straight away... better avoid her and others after this then.


"Hmm... a home sounds nice t'ough, do ya plan on movin' away?"

Her brow arched upwards. "We're vampires, we can see perfectly in the dark."

"...Hang on a sec." Her hands skimmed upwards until they were cupping the boy's cheeks. "Darlin', are you blind?" she asked softly, thumbs brushing against his cheeks in a somewhat-comforting manner.

Her carmine eyes stared into the boys for a moment before her face softened and one hand moved to brush his bangs away from his face tenderly.

"Nah, Nicio won't be amused if we move again. He feels like a nomad with all the travelling we've been doing over the centuries. He wanted to settle down. And Dick agrred with him - God knows thats the first and last time that will ever happen." A dark snort sounded from her. "Those two fight like cat and freaking dog."

He froze, dilated eyes widening as he noticed his mistake. His whole body tensed as he waited for Giacinto to speak again.

...I've done it again haven't I?

Orion clenched his eyes shut, not that it made a difference, and ducked his head once again towards the ground, hands grasped tight.

And here it comes... the sniggers and the laughing. She would then tell the others and the whole coven will be like it too... I'd have to leave again.

Just as he was expecting the worst, he felt hands on his cheek. He opened his eyes at the comfort of the hand. No one has done that before.

"Uh... Y-yeah." Was all he said to her question. He hated that question, the one question that made everything that followed go all tits-up.

He listened to her explanation on why she wouldn't move again, it seemed like a good enough reason. His bottom lip twitched as he heard her snort. He had always thought that it was quite cute when people snorted when they laughed, though maybe too much was a little over the top, but he had decided that Giacinto's snort was cute... not that he would ever say so.

"S-she changed the subject... does that mean she does not care, or that she is thinking on what to do with me?!"

He frowned.

"Y-you're gunna make me leave, aren't ya?" He whispered softly.

She ignored the tensing of the boys body and continued to brush the spiky red locks away from his face.

"Huh, don't usually get a straight answer to that question." She grinned and reached up to pat the top of his head. "Least now I dont have to go rootin' for the answer."

She blinked at the question and dropped her hand into her lap. "Now why would I do that? Ya think I got prejudices against blind people or somethin'?" She flicked his nose. "You're staying here as long as you want, ya hear? And if anyone gives you any hassle, come to me. I'll sort 'em out." A cocky grin spread across her face. "I may be skinny, but there's a reason I've survived into my thousands."

Orion blinked slowly as Giacinto's hands fell from his face and tilted his head to the side in confusion only to wrinkle hit nose and jump back in shock as his nose was flicked.

W-wha-?! I-im not going to get kicked out?


Regaining his composure, Orion's eyes narrowed as he 'glared' at the soft grass the two where currently sitting on. He had not been treated like this before and the conversation had not turned the way he thought it would and it scared him slightly.

"...gives you any hassle, eh? I don't doubt your abilities and there's no reason for you to doubt mine either, i can take care of myself!"He replied coldly defending himself.

The Succubus chuckled quietly as the younger vampire jumped back.

Her brow cocked, though, as he began to speak. "I have no doubt that you can handle yourself just fine. If you couldn't you wouldn't be here, would you? You'd be in a ditch somewhere dying or already dead."

She leaned forwards until her nose was touching his. "Don't get me wrong, lover: I know that you can handle yourself just fine. But I hate to see my coven members upset. And, from this conversation, I can tell your blindness is a touchy subject. If roughing up some people that upset you helps any, I'll damn-well do it, ya hear." Her voice was a soft whisper.

She stared into his unseeing eyes as her hand began stroking his cheek softly again. "You understand? I'm not underestimating you - I'm being unnecessarily protective."

His eyes softened as she explained her reasoning for saying what she had. He didn't even care about the closeness either as her nose touched his, in fact, it was quite comforting.

So she didn't think of him like the others did. She was like the mother hen in the mansion... sometimes maybe a step-mother hen that tends to flirt with her husbands children... naughty.

He shook the thoughts from his head, making the unseen dark red hairband in his long hair slip down slightly. Orion's lip twitched as he listened to the Elder talk about 'roughing up' anyone who picked on him, she had sounded a little too eager about it.

"I guess I could give ya that honour..." He started. "Oh and I believe we be already dead, are we not?" He replied with a slight smile in his voice. She had a relaxing feeling around her, but he doubted that it would be the same if she where angry.

Would she be this calm if she where angry? The thought scared him slightly. They say the calm ones are the most dangerous.

He closed his eyes and sighed as she mentioned his blindness, letting his forehead touch hers. He had never done this to anyone since his family died... he had never been this close to anyone either, he didn't trust easily. At least that is what he would like to think, the truth is that even with all that had happened to him, he still trusted people more than he should under the circumstances.

"It is a' touchy subject... and... I understand that you aint." He whispered "... it's just... that... saying you're okay with it... and...I.........damn it..." He growled in frustration. He didn't understand why he could freely write about stuff in his journal, but talking about anything with others he could not do.

"That's a matter of opinion. I was born very much alive by very much alive parents but technically created vampires have to die... But, even after death you still retain all the privileges of being alive. You can still eat, sleep, have sex. The dead can't do that." This was a topic she had had many debates and discussions over with many different people - vampire, zombie, ghosts, spirits, humans. And each had a different opinion on the matter.

Giacinto bought a hand up to brush through his red hair, eyes sliding shut just like his.

"Our supposed weaknesses usually are." Her lips quirked in a smile. "You're not used to people accepting you, blindness and all, are you?"

Orion bit his lip. "I...I guess not. It's hard to be treated and told one thing for so long you you accepting it and then being treated and told differently puts ya mind into a spin."

He shook his head with a wince, as if he was in pain for saying what was on his mind.

"You are loved and cared for one day and the next you are waking up into the dark every single day and longing for the family that they took away form you and having a giant thirst for something you would never even look at before. You try and find someone who will accept you and understand.. but.. you never do... Or if you do, you end up accidentally killing them!" He growled.


((OOC: Sorry for shortness!))

"I can't sympathise with being turned. I've been a Dhampir for all my life. But I can sympathise with looking for someone to accept you. After my father was killed, I had no one. No one wanted to know the lonely little Dhampir."

She smiled softly, fingers still brushing through his hair. "But eventually I found a pureblood that accepted me. And then another. Then a Created. Then another. And now I have a whole coven that accepts me as I am."

"Sure, it took four and a half thousand years, but I found people that accepted me. It's taken you a hell of a lot less to do just the same."

She gave him a smile, carmine eyes warm.

He stayed silent; taking in all that hand happened and changed within less than an hour. He understood where she was coming from and he understood that not all vampires where the same and cruel, in fact, now that he had been accepted and had been talked to with the same amount or caring and respect as the leader would to any other coven member he felt much better about staying at the mansion. Though, he hoped that the other members would be as nice and accepting.

Deciding that he should now shut up and quite complaining about himself he straightened up and looked away from the elder with a small embarrassed cough.

"I guess. .........What, if you don't mind me asking, brought you out here tonight?"

She leaned back, bracing herself on her arms and looked up at the sky again.

"Stargazing. I've done it since I was a child. Sometimes for practical uses like guiding us through the night while we were on the seas. And sometimes just to see how beautiful the night can be when not marred by the pollution of New Earth."

She frowned a little at the thought of the pollution that had poisoned the Earth since her youth.

"The Hunter is bright tonight. As is the Dog star," she noted, carmine eyes passing over the large clusters of white on the inky black background.

His ears perked up at the mention of the sea.

She had been a sailor?

"You sailed?" He asked with a note of curiosity and interest. He had never really been to the seaside let alone on a boat in the middle of the sea. He had lived more in the countryside and never had the time. It never peaked his interest since he became a vampire either, he had other things to worry about than wanting to see, or rather now hear, the ocean.

But now that he had time to not worry about when he would be attacked next or where he could get out of the sun before sunrise, the interest of the sea had raised once again.

"Orion and Sirius." He knew of the stars, maybe not as much as someone who used the stars as a guide, but he had a great interest as a kid and often lay out on the hay and straw with his younger sister and point out different constellations, speaking fondly of them. He missed that.

"Aye, for nearly my entire life." She was only about forty when her father had taken her on a boat for the first time. And she had been sailing since. It had only been about fifty years since she had given up the decks and sails for the quiet life on land.

She had better sea-legs than she had land-legs.

"Oh, you know about constellations?" She perked up, eyes bright. There were very few people she knew that knew anything about the stars. Even Ignicio knew very little about them.

Orion nodded and leaned back onto his arms as Giacinto was and smiled gently.

"Yeah, It was a hobby of mine when I was human. I even used to wake my sister up at night so she could come and watch them too. My parent always wondered why we where to tired some days."

His eyebrows furrowed as she thought back to the constellations that he could remember and frowned as he found he could only name and visualise a small amount. 45 years without seeing the bright sparkling stars to refresh his memory had made him forget.

"....Or maybe not." He sighed.

He had a sister? "It must have been nice to have a sibling." She had never had a sibling. She had a brother - a half brother born from her father and a pureblood Adze - but she had never met him. She didn't know if he were alive or dead or strung up somewhere being torture.

She didn't particularly care, either.

She gave an amiable smile, reaching out to pat his arm. "S'all right. Things slip with time. I doubt I could remember things from my childhood. Time whittles away at the best of us."