In the Eye of the Beholder

[nyoka]

Cera sat and listened to Cian talk as things became more and more clear. Things were right with the world for now just seeing Cian, her hero. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she edged closer to him, being able to move now.

"No one will ever harm you again." Cera batted away her tears and dangled her legs over the bed. Grinning through her tears she focused on him, there was no denying how she felt for him now. Crawling into this arms and laying in the safety he offered was all she wanted to do then.

However all of that came to a screeching halt when as she wiped her eyes she saw his clothes spattered with red, some in globs and in other areas, mist. The grin vanished and puzzlement grew studying it, slowly changing to fear. Scanning his total appearance, he was covered in blood and there was no denying what it was. Cera sat back away from Cian then, what had happened? Why was he covered in blood? This man she now felt love for now turned to terror, her hero and savior was evil. What had he done when she was out, and that guy, what happened to him? "Oh gods!" Cera turned away from Cian panic again took over, who was Cian and what did he do? Tears were now streaming down her face and she made no attempt to wipe them away. She was no safer with Cian than that other guy and this proved it.

Now across the bed from him, she turned back to look at him. His facial features read completely different from his appearance, "What happened?! What did you do?!" Cera was almost manic now demanding answers. Standing up she wobbled her way to the door, she couldn't be around him no matter if he really did rescue her or not.

[Demeter]

Cian knew what he looked like but Cera's reaction surprised him. "I took care of that man. He won't be bothering you or anyone else again."

Cian looked at the girl huddled on the bed. "This is going to be hard to hear, Cera, but I'm no where near normal. And I'm not a good person. You know how some people say they have a Custos inside them?"

When Cera nodded, Cian leaned his elbows against the edge of the bed and let his head hang down. He didn't want to see Cera's response to this. "I guess you could say that I have something like that. I'm a Custos, Cera. I was born in hell centuries ago. Killing without remorse is just one of the things that I do."

"I'm like your sister. I live for the pure pleasure of it and I exist y doing things a soul like your shouldn't be exposed to."

Cian kept his head lowered while he waited for Cera's reaction. When none seemed to be coming, Cian sighed and tangled his hands in his hair. "I can't explain it but there is something about you that just attracts me. Us Custoss have always been attracted to the beautiful and pure things, Cera. I'd do anything to keep you that way, so beautiful and pure and sweet and untainted. Even kill without a second thought. That man, the one who took you from me, is dead."

Cian looked up and made a noise that was kin to a whimper in his throat. All he wanted to do was crawl across the bed and hold Cera tight, to keep her from harm. As it was, he'd probably scare her further.

[nyoka]

Frozen and in shock there Cera sat while Cian poured out his soul. "I'm a Custos" those words repeated themselves over and over again in Cera's head. Speechless she stared at the wall across the room, if no words could fill her mouth her look did.

His words buzzed in her head through the silence. It was a long while before there was a noise in the room again. Cera turned her eyes to the Custos Cian, so many emotions were running around she didn't know how to feel. He had said something about beauty and pure and it lead on to the statement that the so called romeo was dead.

It stuck in her head, dead and Custos. Covering her face with her knees she sniffed to calm down so her words would come out. "So now I suppose you will get your sick kicks out of me and leave after you get your needs. You said so yourself 'I live for the pure pleasure'" Again looking at Cian "Am I right?"

[Demeter]

Cian growled and looked up at Cera. "How dare you say that after I just killed a man in cold blood for your safety. Killing is not something that I enjoy doing and only actively seek blood when something I want is endangered."

"Your sweet, and kind, and just perfect. Custoss seek out that which is precious to them and try to keep it safe. Some have jewels, others have swords, and even others have people who they are willing to damn themselves for."

Cian climbed out of his chair and kneeled on the bed. "I don't want to use you and then toss you aside. I want to lock you up so that no danger would ever come to you again. You're sweet and pure and everything that I'm not and that is a strong addiction for a Custos. Don't run away from me Cera, I'm not a bad person."

[nyoka]

Cera was surprised when Cian growled at her, letting at tiny gasp escape from her she listened to his explanation. And when he moved closer to her on the bed, she resited the urge to scoot away from him. Cera wiped away the last remaining tears from her cheeks and stared into Cian's eyes. Along with melting away her doubt and confusion they read pure truth and nothing about them made her fear him any more.

A tiny smirk creeped up the edge of her mouth and she let a small laugh out, "I'm far from perfect.." Letting go of her legs she rested them on the bed and leaned in a bit keeping a bit of a distance and looking at her hands. "I don't want to believe you are a bad person but the fact is.." she couldn't say this right and didn't want to make him mad again "..your a Custos. I don't even think you would hurt me but from what I know and everything I was taught, a Custos is a really bad thing..." She broke off knowing that what she said was not the best thing to help anyone now. Looking back up at Cian's eyes, Cera let a small smirk play on the corners of her lips.

[Demeter]

"Yes, Custoss are, by nature, bad things. I won't deny that. I generally use people and meddle in the lives of others." Cian held back from revealing the true nature of his Custosic personality. Cera did not need to know that bit of information just yet. "And you are more perfect that I am."

Cian scooted away from the bed and stood. "Now, you need to sleep. You experienced yet a ordeal, what with the crazy man. I'm not going anywhere, not just yet." Cain waited until Cera was curled up in her bed. He lowered the lights, leaving the one lamp on the nighstand turned on. "I'm going to get take a shower and wash my clothing. I don't want to scare you so I'm giving you fair warning. I will be walking around in just a towel."

Once Cera was settled, Cian wandered into the bathroom and stripped. He kicked his dirty clothing into a corner and eased himself into the small shower. Barely enough room for him to stand and stetch both his arms out, his fingertips brushed the walls. And there was fruity smelling hair and body stuff. Once he was clean, Cian exited the shower and grabbed a towel from the shelving attached to one wall. After drying himself off, Cian grabbed a second towel and wrapped it around his waist, knotting it at his hips.

Cian gathered his clothing and glanced at the mirror. He honestly hoped that he didn't scare Cera with his undressed body. As it was the wide silver armbands he wore around his biceps and the tribal tattoo, a dragon in a celtic-ish pattern that wrapped around his side and back, were visable about the towel. As he passed through the bedroom to get to the room with the washer and dryer, Cian checked on Cera, hoping that she had fallen asleep.

[nyoka]

Cera was already closing her eyes before Cian suggested she get some sleep. Emotionally and physically tired that's all she wanted to do. She did hear Cian say he was taking a shower and that was about it.

She was woken up by the sound of the water turning off, but only enough to pull her out of her heavy sleep and into a half awake state. The door opened and Cian came out in her fluffy pink towel around his waist. Blinking away some of the sleep, she caught sight of silver armbands. Too confused to concentrate she let the thought go and he left the room, only to come back a few minutes later. "Cian, stay with me until I'm asleep..."

[Demeter]

Cian glanced at the girl on the bed. "Just give me one moment, Cera, and then I will be right back." Cian walked out to the stacked washer and dryer in a hallway closet and tossed his clothing in. He grabbed a blanket from the same closet and wrtapped it around his body like a cloak. After making sure that all the important bits were covered, Cian walked back into the bedroom and sat on the bed.

He leaned over and ran a hand over Cera's hair. "Okay, Lady, I'm still here. Now, go to sleep. Just rest and get yourself back to normal." Cian made himself comfortable on the bed, back resting against the headboard and feet stretched out before him.

[Shinigami]

((*cackles* I'm bringing Talbot and Lia back to life^^. And it jumps to the day after their night at the club.))

Talbot felt the euphoria of Dream Walking begin to wear off as his mind slipped towards consciousness. The first thing he was aware of was that he was much warmer than he usually was when he slept alone, which meant he had found himself a bed partner for the previous night. Tale's brain began to kick in then, trying to recall where he had been the night before, and who he had taken home with him, and what day he was waking to.

He always tended to start his mornings off rather slow, but it began coming back to him. For instance, he remembered it was a Saturday, because he remembered being in his painting class the day before, and then the club that night, which was his usual Friday ritual with Cian. Suddenly memory of just -who- he had gone to club with came rushing back and he tensed. Lia had gone with them, and they had all danced together before Cian so ruthlessly abandoned him alone with her, knowing he wouldn't be able to resist the woman for long.

A soft groan escaped him when he remembered that she had come home with him. They had been damn near jumping each other even before their dinner had arrived, and after they had eaten things hadn't cooled off much. In fact, they had gotten hotter, hence their current position.

Talbot opened his eyes to confirm his findings and couldn't help the small smile that formed as he saw Lia's sleeping face. They seemed to have snuggled together in the night, so tightly that one of his arms was trapped beneath his new lover, and he was being partially used as a pillow. Though, it seemed he had been doing the same, and that meant there was no moving around without waking Lia.

The urge to move hit him a second later and he sighed. Now that he was awake his body wanted to be up, seeing as he never lingered in bed very long in the morning. He was an active person, after all, but he didn't want to wake Lia. After a few moments he gave into his energy and began the delicate process of untangling himself from the woman sleeping so soundly in his bed. He paused when he felt her stir, waiting to see if she had woken.

[Maira]

((ooc: thank you for bringing them back! my inspiration for the night time just sorta died but i wanted to move on with them hehe))

Lia did not want to wake up, not in the slightest, but she felt a draft and her pillow was moving. Moving a bit, hoping to get her pillow to hold still Lia tried desperately to fall back asleep. Unfortunately her good dream was already whisping away and she could feel herself becoming more alert.

Throwing an arm over her eyes and giving a soft groan, Lia muttered, "Why do I always wake up at the best part?" Then she forced her heavy eyelids to open and the sight that greeted her wasn't at all dissappointing. With a half smile she added, "Well at least not -all- the good parts were dreams..."

The sight of Talbot early in the morning was better than any coffee Lia had ever drank and she was suddenly quite energized, though what her body was demanding the energy was for would likely keep her in bed all day... Not willing to disrupt Talbot's day, Lia resisted the urge to pull him back down to her for a kiss and instead settled for asking, "So Talbot, how was your sleep?"

[Shinigami]

((Yeah, I ran the idea by Dem since you hadn't been online. Tale just couldn't stay down anymore, lol))

Talbot couldn't help but snicker as he heard Lia's muttered words. At least she was happy about the night before, and what has come of the "morning after" so far. That allowed him to relax a great deal, so much so that he dipped forward for a little kiss before answering her question. "Very nice and sound. You wore me out good and proper. And how was yours?"

He swooped in for another small peck on the lips before he pulled back a bit and let her answer. Now his body wasn't so sure it wanted to leave bed, but it would be rumbling for food and caffeine soon. Tale turned onto his side and propped his head up on his hand just has his stomach gave a quite rumble. "What, my Lia, would you like for breakfast? Not to brag, but I'm quite the master of pancakes."

He smiled, a real smile this time and not one of his smirks. He was surprised at how comfortable he felt. Normally the people he slept with would have left in the night or as soon as they woke, though, Lia wasn't one of his normal bed partners. The people he usually slept with were just one night stands, and Lia was no where near a one night stand to him at this point.

[Maira]

The quick kisses from Talbot were quite a tease and Lia seriously contemplated pulling him down toward her for a longer more involved kiss. When he mentioned food though, Lia's stomach grumbled loudly and she looked down and glared at it before answering Talbot, "As you can see, you got my appetite worked up and I just didn't know it because I slept so hard. I guess this means I'll take you up on breakfast and pancakes just happen to be my favorite."

Lia knew she was naked but didn't even care. Wiggling herself out from under Talbot and the blankets, she climbed out of bed, stood at the end, and asked Talbot, "Can we take a shower first? Its the best way to wake up on a normal day, and even better after a night like we had." Her grin was full of promise that the shower wouldn't just be about getting clean.

[Shinigami]

Talbot gave a soft chuckle at the grumbling of Lia's stomach, quite pleased to find out that pancakes were her favorite of breakfast foods. He would be sure to whip up a good batch then, as he made them from scratch. "Do you take your pancakes plain or do you prefer them filled or topped with fruit?"

He was suddenly not very interested in how Lia took her pancakes as she made her way out of bed without any clothing. His own stomach's need for sustenance was just pushed to the back ground as he fixed his eyes on her as she stood at the end of the bed. When she mentioned a shower, and used the word -we-, he started to free himself from the bed and his own smile mirrored hers. "A nice, hot shower sounds like an excellent idea, love."

He snatched up her hands as he stepped close to her tugging her back towards the adjoining bathroom, not phased in the least that they were both practically parading around naked. He was a self-proclaimed exhibitionist, after all. Tale drew her closer for a quick kiss as they passed through the doorway to the bathroom.

[Maira]

The shower was delectable. It lasted until the hot water ran out and that was nearly an hour. Of course when they exited the shower, their skin pink and still damp, Lia was even more hungry than when they'd gone in. Once she had a towel wrapped around her, more to keep from dripping all over Talbot's house than out of a sense of modesty, she looked up into his light reddish-brown eyes and begged, "Can you make the pancakes now? If you don't start feeding me in between rounds I'm going to fade away to nothingness." This last was said with a playful smirk then she turned and skipped off to the kitchen.

When Talbot finally joined her in the kitchen, Lia had her head stuck in the fridge and her butt sticking out. She was humming a little tune and taking out ingredients from the fridge and doing a little bit of a dance which made the towel slip and slide and reveal things it normally wouldn't if she'd been standing still. When she turned around and saw Talbot standing behind her, Lia smiled and said cheefully, "I'll make eggs if that's okay with you. I don't think even your famous pancakes will tide me over as hungry as I am now."

[Shinigami]

Talbot barely had the energy to quickly towel himself off after their shower activities, but he was completely pleased with the experience none the less. He was just pulling on a pair of jeans, only bothering to zip them and leave the top button undone as he figured they only needed to last through breakfast, when he heard Lia ask about the pancakes. Tale gave a pout as he played along. "Well, we certainly can't have that, now can we."

He chuckled as she bounced off to the kitchen and trailed behind her. When he got into the kitchen he was greeted with quite a sight and leaned back against the counter to take a moment and watch Lia's little dance, getting a nice show in the process. Once she finally noticed him he pushed away from the counter. "Of course I don't mind. I think we'll both need all the energy we can get if we keep this up."

Tale laid a kiss on her shoulder as he moved to the cabinets to get the dry ingredients and any bowls and plates they may need. He set right to work on mixing up a batch of pancakes, his stomach yelling at him for such a long wait. He doubled the batch, just in case. "I hope you like buttermilk pancakes. And lots of them."

[Maira]

She already had her pan on the stove heating when Talbot said he'd be making lots of buttermilk pancakes and she wiggled a bit and said ecstatically, "Thank you thank you thank you!" before turning around and kissing his scruffy jaw. Then, her stomach starting to protest again, Lia got back to work on her eggs, she was having scrambled, and she asked curiously, "So Talbot, how do you like your eggs?"

While she waited for her eggs to cook a bit and for him to answer, she wandered over to what she'd pulled out of the fridge, grabbed a knife and began cutting up some strawberries that she'd found. Once she had a small pile she put them in a bowl and set them by Talbot and begged sweetly, "Could you put those in mine?"

[Shinigami]

Talbot smiled at Lia's enthusiastic thank you as he tested the temperature of the pan with a drop of batter. The batter hissed nicely on the hot pan as Lia's kiss landed on the fresh morning scruff along his jaw. He made a face, the kiss reminding him that he'd have to shave eventually that day. He was brought back around as he was pouring the first pancake into the pan by Lia's question. He thought about it a second before replying. "Scrambled sounds good today."

Tale was just about to flip the first pancake when a bowl filled with strawberries appeared by him. He smiled and dropped a few strawberries into the still raw batter on top and quickly flipped the pancake up and over with the flick of the pan. He lightly bumped hips with Lia, as they were both standing side-by-side at the stove top, and spoke as he slide the now finished pancake onto a waiting plate and poured another one in, letting the shape set before adding the strawberries. "This is nice. It's been a long time since I've shared my space like this. I didn't even have Cian around here like this. Are you sticking around for the day?"

[Maira]

Lia smiled when Talbot dropped the straberries into a pancake and smiled even more when he told her he wanted scrambled eggs. They were really the only way she could cook eggs well. As he bumped his hip into hers Lia laughed and bumped his hip back. Then she answered his question with a nip at his bare shoulder and a whispered, "If you want me to." The look she gave him was smoldering and if they hadn't been cooking she likely would have jumped him yet again. Lia had no idea just what had gotten into her but she was most deffinately enjoying herself

When her eggs slopped over a bit onto the stove, Lia squeeked and blushed bright red. "Sorry!" she said ans she grabbed a hand towel off of the counter by the sink to wipe up the mess. Still bright red, Lia said in a teasing tone, "I guess that's what I get for getting distracted..."

Just what had gotten into her?! She was never like this. All of her encounters with anybody had always been a one night stands, she had never stayed and made breakfast with the person the next morning, let alone in a towel! Sure she was a succubus and Talbot was an incubus but she'd been around other incubi before and never felt this way before. Whatever this feeling was....

[Shinigami]

Talbot smiled as Lia bumped hips back, but his smile quickly turned into a smirk as Lia nipped at his shoulder. He was caught by her smoldering look as he inwardly cheered. She'd stay the day if he wanted her to, which of course he did. His long time crush on Lia was making him forget about his pancakes.

As the eggs sloshed onto the stove Tale realized he had all but forgotten about the pancake sizzling away in the pan he was responsible for. He quickly flicked the pan, flipping the pancake. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw the pancake hadn't been burned. He had a small blush of his own across his cheeks and he smiled at Lia's comment. "Yes, I believe we were getting punished for not paying attention to our breakfast."

[nyoka]

Erika made it back to her dorm room and shut the door. She leaned on the back of it and let out a hefty sigh, after what happened tonight there was no going back to study time. Her younger sister attacked, sure all of this wouldn't have happened if she hadn't played her childish games and dared Cera into going to The Asylum last weekend. Pulling her hair down from the pony it was wrapped in, Erika flopped on the couch and played with her hair, one of the nervous habits she developed over the years. Thoughts filled her head of Cera, innocent little Cera laying unconscious in Cian's arms. There was no doubt that Cian had strong feelings for Cera after what he did tonight, she had never seen him react that way with anyone in particular before.

Erika stared at her desk and the pile of work due later this week and some papers due next week. They would have to wait for now, her head was not on the subjects anymore. Looking at the phone, she had an urge to call up Cera and see what was going on and if she is okay. But again that would wait until tomorrow as well, let Cera be safe with Cian tonight and spaz later. Picking up the phone she looked through the phonebook, she knew she was going to regret this but she centered on "Mom & Dad" and pushed 'Send'.

********************************************************************************************************

Cera was cuddled in her little ball when her phone was ringing on her nightstand, fumbling for the phone she picked it up without even seeing who it was and answered. "CERA! THANK THE GODS YOUR OKAY!!!!!" whoever was screaming at her this early was sure up in a tizzy. Blinking the sleep away she sat up a bit finally coming to the relization it was her mom. "Mommy?" Throwing the covers off of her she flopped them behind her and hit something hard that made an "Ooof!" Cera slowly turned her focus to behind her and saw a blonde man cuddled very close to her half dressed. "CERA? ARE YOU OKAY SWEETIE?! HELLO? HONEY ANSWER ME....." After letting out a loud shriek and dropping the phone she scrambled away from him, heavily breathing and in wide eye panic. Her mom still hollering through the abanndoned phone Cera's mind was flooded with images that she felt were only a dream but held a realistic terror. He was now up and attempting to confort her with words, until it all clicked, Cian. She had asked him to stay, he was still here just like he promised. Her memory fully awake now she lay back down on the mattress and her nerves literally causing her to shake.