Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Chapter 63: Alexei Is A Vessel Of Brass

WARNING: Nudity. Not safe for work! Mmm k, bye.

Mon November 30, 2074 10:15 am- The Orinda Suites: Leinster, Veronaville

1

There was a knock at the door. Alexei shielded his eyes from the sun with the crook of his arm and bemoaned the nuisance of morning. Light seeped through his eyelids, illuminating the vascular beds therein. For a time, his world was scarlet and empty, haloed with gold.

2

“Housekeeping!” Alexei propped himself up onto his elbows. The slight change in elevation sent his head reeling. Outside the door, he could hear the maid fidgeting with her pockets. Faced with his own helplessness against the maid's impending entry, Alexei was struck with a sudden nostalgia for traditional locks and keys. Those he could manipulate from a distance, threading his consciousness through the cylinder, tripping the latch by force of will. But much to Alexei’s increasing dismay, he knew nothing of key cards and magnetic strips. Technology was finally beginning to out-pace his learning curve. The maid passed her card through the reader and began punching a code into the number pad.

“Open that door and I will shove those fresh towels so far up your ass that your grandchildren will choke on the lint!” he shouted. His Ashkay was rough, degraded from lack of use but he seemed to have gotten his point across. There was no release of the mechanism, no turn of the doorknob.

"Sorry!" she replied in English.


3

Alexei settled back onto the pillow. His sallow hair was slick with sweat and from the scent of it, not only his own. He didn't remember fucking anyone the night before nor any activity beyond his sunset stroll along the wharf, pitching the bread from his corn dog into the sea. But by the shrill ringing in his ears, he knew that he had been with more than an ordinary human that night and engaged in more than sex.

Alexei slung his legs over the edge of the bed. Standing, he rocked on the balls of his feet and stretched. When he was a boy, he imagined a past life as a heron and sometimes, he still elongated his limbs until his body took on the linear composition of a dart. He crouched down to the floor, lying on his back.


6204

His hands beneath his head, he curled his torso to meet his legs. The first few crunches came with a fluid ease that slowed with each subsequent collapse of his stomach. When he inhaled, every electronic device in the room soundlessly flickered to life before extinguishing again. Alexei paused, flattening himself against the carpet. He couldn’t remember the last time he had lost control over the electric impulses in his field of energy. In fact, he was certain that it had never happened before. This was not a good sign. Still, he cupped the back of his head with his hands and reprised his crunches.

5

Alexei’s abilities were not ordinarily of the sort that ran over, seeping undirected into the physical world. The power that he had from Kvornan stirred within everything tangible and intangible. If Alexei’s magic was fluctuating then it was no longer of Kvornan. Not mostly. Alexei was more Fae than anything else by now.

But that was just postulation. Kvornan would probably tell him that his magic wasn’t the problem, only the brain that sent signals to his energy. It would be a joke but maybe there was some truth to it. The amount of time that he spent on imaginary conversations with Kvornan alone proved the point.

6

Alexei relaxed, breathing heavily through his nose. His eyes were irritated but he didn't dare rub them. Drunk on someone else's life force, he had forgotten to take out his contact lenses the night before. He pushed himself to his feet and sauntered over to the window.

7

The glass stung his palms with cold. Wind whipped through the conifers on the hillside, bowing their spines just far enough for Alexei to catch sight of the sun.

Two weeks he'd spent in Veronaville. If he pieced together the disparate shards of his memory, the assemblage might have counted for five days worth of events. He really needed to put a bit of distance between himself and the people of this region. He was fostering a nasty habit with these Faes. The more he drank, the less he remembered.

Tonight. He would fly home tonight.


March 12, 2062 4:12 am- Arbormoor Forest, Arbormoor, Pleasantview (Twelve Years earlier)

8

"Enough." Alexei shoved Kvornan slowly but firmly away, wincing in pain as Kvornan's teeth withdrew from his throat. Kvornan pulled Alexei's collar from the wound to keep his skin from grafting to the fabric while it healed. The water that sloshed about their ankles had either taken on a syrup-like viscosity or time was staggering. Only then did it occur to Alexei that he could no longer sense the cold or the wet or even the ground under his feet. Below the knees, there was nothing.

“We’re not done here.” Kvornan’s tone was soft and consolatory. Alexei flung him away.

“The hell we’re not. I can’t feel my legs,” he growled.


9

The world flashed by in monochrome, alternately black and red. Alexei tugged on his tie by the knot. Kvornan reached for his hand and Alexei jerked away, careful not to tip the precarious balance of his upright body.

"Your neck," Kvornan cautioned.

"It isn't so deep." As he said it, he foresaw himself peeling off his collar in the morning, skin and all. If it were any other injury inflicted by anyone else under any other circumstances, Alexei would not have been squeamish about re-opening the gash. It would not have even been a thought. But as it stood, the image both thrilled and revolted him.


10

His heartbeat was erratic. His stomach swelled and contracted. He did not know what the physiological effects signified, why he seemed to drift rather than stand.

Diving bell spiders fashioned jewel-like chambers of air on the stem of a reed. If a spider could evolve to breathe underwater then maybe necessity could bolster Alexei's feeble, human constitution to bear Kvornan.

Kvornan stepped in front of Alexei and forced him to meet his eyes.


11

Tiny flecks of light shimmered where Kvornan's pupils ought to have been. Alexei plotted the points in his mind, committing them to memory. In antiquity, man had seen gods in the constellations. Tonight, Alexei saw constellations in a god.

"The solstice ends at sunrise. We have to finish," Kvornan whispered.

"No," Alexei said simply. Kvornan grabbed Alexei at the waist, perhaps to help support his weight, perhaps to keep him from trying to run.

"You might not survive if we stop now."

"Well here's hoping."

"This is serious, Alec."

"I'm being serious."


13

For a time, they merely stared at one another, each silently prodding the other one to break. Opting to expedite matters, Kvornan swept Alexei's legs out from under him with one fell kick. When Alexei's knees buckled, Kvornan caught him, forcing his head back.

Perhaps he was only addled but Alexei could have sworn that he felt the full force of Kvornan's intent as though his thoughts were Alexei's own. An agonizing pressure mounted at his temples. Alexei was not built to accommodate the divinity that ripped through his energy, moving like a school of free radicals striking the thin layer where Alexei ended and everything else began. His soul chimed like a vessel of brass.


14

Alexei grimaced, struggling in Kvornan's arms to no effect. He laughed dryly at the futility of fighting and at Kvornan's apparent determination to hurt him.

"I thought this was a democracy," Alexei rasped.

"You are not in a position to be making any life-altering decisions right now."

"Oh fuck you. You don't know what this feels like."


15

Kvornan placed a hand over Alexei's eyes and his body went limp. Alexei's chest warmed pleasantly. His mind eased nearly to the point of sleep. He felt Kvornan's lips against his throat but it all seemed so far away.

"What are you doing?" Alexei's voice was groggy with weariness. He could hear it as though it were coming from somewhere outside of the cave.

"We have to finish the cycle. Do you think you can do that?" Kvornan lifted his hand from Alexei's eyes. The sudden calm took root and blossomed independent of Kvornan's touch. It scattered new growth over the belly of Alexei's scorched landscape. When Alexei opened his eyes, he found Kvornan bearing down on him, black and red and unspeakably beautiful.

He took hold of the back of Kvornan's neck and stood on unsteady legs. All perception of urgency lost, Alexei discovered that he actually wanted Kvornan. His was the scent of summer rain, deep earth and dawn. It was all that Alexei needed-- His inlet to new life. Alexei nodded, pulling Kvornan closer. He hesitated before planting his fangs into Kvornan's throat but afterwards, there was only relief.


16

32 comments:

  1. Oh, the sexual tension! :D

    "Open that door and I will shove those fresh towels so far up your ass that your grandchildren will choke on the lint!"

    Best.line.ever.

    Wow. These two have such an intense relationship. I trust that this is the most intimate relationship either of them have, even if it's never been sexual? Would make sense, with the shared energy thing.

    Hmmm... I'm still confused as to Kvornan's motives here, or at least the additional ones he never mentioned to Alexei. Whatever the reason, however, he sure fucked him up very thoroughly.

    *scurries off to finally start on next post*

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  2. Heh, you know, that might have been part of the problem. Decidedly, Alexei is bi-sexual. If he was ever attracted to Kvornan, it wasn't here though. (Well, maybe a little towards the end.) Alexei had too many other issues happening with the colorblindness and numbness and the dizziness. As for Kvornan... We may as well as how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop.

    I also have to wonder how big of a role sexuality plays when we consider Kvornan's motives particularly if they WEREN'T. It may well have been that this was the form that their repressed sexual attraction to one another ultimately took, ie "We can't do that, however we can safely do this."

    That poor housekeeper! Still kinda funny though.

    This, I think, is the one that Kvornan is going to remember on his deathbed. Definitely the most intimate relationship that either one of them has ever had. Particularly for Alexei, who never really had any strong feelings for anyone else one way or the other before Kvornan came along.

    For the most part, this all gets back to Kvornan's underlying motivation that has followed him throughout his life-- The fear of loss. This is number two on his list of all time greatest fears. Fear number one being that anything should ever happen to Elise. (It is by the way metaphysically impossible for Kvornan to lose Elise. They may be temporarily separated by the cycles of birth and death but the can never lose one another.) Ehh, where was I? Oh, yeah-- Alexei.

    Kvornan is Deus Rex. When he dies, he joins all of the other aspects of Deus Rex separately from everyone else that he has ever known and loved (apart from his children and his birth parents- these are linked to him spiritually as well). So after much deliberation and pacing and hair-pulling, he decided that he could not lose Alexei. Something drastic had to be done. He had to tamper with their life forces to link the two of them together. This was much the way that Kvornan decided to give vampirism a go too, by the way. Kvornan seems to make his worst decisions when he spends a lot of time thinking about them.

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  3. I love LOVE the metaphors you use! Alexei's thoughts about life as a heron - fabulous! That whole sequence, the 3-dimensional quality, mechanical, electrical, the detail with the card key...I am in awe!

    well I definitely see sexual power playing a part here. Sexual desire and sexual power. At present with Alexei it's more a memory, or an undercurrent that's close to memory, that a compelling force, but it's there.

    The whole relationship between Kvornan and Alexei reminds me of Greek myths, when one of the gods decides he just can't possibly lose somebody and goes for it. Makes them divine. It never works out. And the mortal partner never seems as keen as the god.

    Stunning writing. you pull me right along and drown me in the place.

    And the shots are gorgeous! The nudity was totally appropriate.

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  4. Thanks Beth! I'm trying to bring in a little bit of the mundane into fantasy/horror subplots. It's hard to stay grounded when you start talking about vampires and other fantastical things. The world that they occupy is more or less like our own, hence the key card and the corn dog and whatever else I can manage to slip in. :D

    I see Alexei as a very imaginative and creative person in contrast to Kvornan who is more literal. To Kvornan, a chair is a chair is a chair but to Alexei, a chair might also be 9 x 81 or the capital of Ohio or a beautiful woman with her hair let down. You will never hear Kvornan imaging himself as a heron or any other water fowl. :p

    And your comment about sexual power would stand to reason, particularly with Kvornan. We already know that he uses sex to dominate others. Just look at Imina. Or don't look at Imina. It kinda makes me sad to look at Imina.

    Huzzah! You picked up on that. :) This story is of course greatly inspired by Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Judeo-Christian stories-- The relationship between Kvornan and Alexei being no exception. Recently, I've been absorbing everything that I can get my hands on about the death of the centaur Chiron, so take from that what you will. ;)

    Thanks, again Beth! I would tell you what my boyfriend said about naked sit-ups but it was too vulgar, even for me.

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  5. 1. Naked Alexi!!!! eoureiurnefe9r873njvh98e7remie9rnv9e7rue

    2. He seems like he's sick when the maid comes around.

    3. I'm still in awe of his relationship with Kvornan, but I'm happy to be along for the ride.

    4. Oddly enough, the guy I'm seeing just recently said something about how many licks it takes (but it wasn't for a Tootsie Roll Pop). So yeah. I can just imagine what your BF said about naked sit-ups.

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  6. *hehehe* Look! It's my first full, frontal nudity. And it only took me 63 chapters to get there. I figured that I would kick off my naked simming with a bang so it had to be Alexei, really.

    He is sick when the maid comes around. I would say, "That'll learn him for drinking from people with magical energy" but it hasn't learned him yet. Hmmm. I wonder how much he remembers about Amunet. He's still in trouble for that little incident, by the way.

    Whoah gosh, those two. I think ("think" being the operative word) that the next time we see them together, it will be in the present and not in a flashback, at which point we can just put on our shades and watch the sparks fly.

    *hahahahaha* A man after my own heart. Actually, my boyfriend kind of surprised me with that one. Ordinarily, he is fairly euphemistic and when I start talking filth, he's completely scandalized (which is about 80% of the reason WHY I talk filth).

    Thanks, Lisa!

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  7. Chiron? Really? Talk about a HUGE figure in mythology! The connection to fire was always interesting since Prometheus, another tragic but much less fascinating character, was also supposed to have given fire to mortals. Paid a much worse price than Chiron.

    Anyway, I'm hooked!

    I did wonder if that was your first full frontal nudity. It's a big step to do that. Congratulations! It was beautifully done!

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  8. Oh Prometheus had it coming. Not that these myths always seem to have a sense of justice. Some of them are downright perplexing. I think we can attribute that to the oral tradition. It's like a centuries old game of "Telephone". Ach, Beth, you're making me want to jump up and run to the library!

    Thanks, Beth! Oh, the day when I have to shape up and write a sex scene. The images of that probably won't scare me but the writing... The writing...

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  9. Fortunately I'm working from home!! *:bunny: dance*

    Every time we see Alexei lately, I just love him more and more--and like Kvornan less and less. Alexei is just such a beautiful character--always has been, on the outside, but I love what we're seeing of him lately.

    And as for Kvornan, I guess that's what you get, dallying with immortals. It would be odd if he were more likable, I suppose. I need to see more of him with Elise so he can get back into my good graces.

    I just loved the detail of modern technology outpacing Alexei's learning curve, with the door lock. Brilliant.

    The sex grotto scene was beautifully shot, also, but what is the significance of that particular place. And why the heck do they have to be up to their calves in water? So awkward and sloshy for their most intimate moment.

    In "he found Kvornan baring down on him" I think you mean "bearing". Can has karma nao?

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  10. I think that may be a trend that I am subconsciously inflicting upon Kvornan because the more I think about him, the less I like him too. Also, I have a very clear, very splendid image of Alexei prior to all of this and I think that man is still in there somewhere, underneath the occasional spurts of unspeakable violence.

    Funny you should mention Kvornan with Elise! That is very soon to come. Unfortunately, I think he will be on good behavior in that chapter. And I say that it is unfortunate because I hate to lose sight of how awful he is in general just because he is affable in certain situations. I don't want to forgive him his enormous transgressions when confronted with his kind side, which is something that everyone who loves him does. I'm not weathering the tsunami just to see a rainbow with you, Mr. Tricou! *wags finger reproachfully*

    Heh. Alexei was born in Feb of 1949 (one of the few characters that I know an approximate birthdate for off the top of my head, by the way) which makes him 125 years old. It's impressive that he has been able to keep up this long. And he is actually fairly computer literate. He knows some basic software but if you asked him to do anything hardware related, he wouldn't know where to start. Kvornan on the other hand, seems to think that a computer is like a television with very customized shows. >8)

    I was wondering who would ask about the sex grotto! I didn't go into it in the chapter because I didn't know how important it was for the reader to know. The grotto is in Arbormoor which is key to the transfer-- Very mysterious, highly magical place having a deep connection to the Ba and the Ka of Deus Rex (this will come up someday). They chose that cave in particular because it was secluded and because the water helps to facilitate the flow of magical energy. I think Alexei mentioned that in passing back when he attacked Amunet. Something about how her magic was so spent that she couldn't have even passed a current up to her chest in water.

    Also I wonder if this cave had a personal significance for the two of them. I know that they had been here before but I don't yet know what the circumstaces were.

    Also, this is just a hop skip and a jump away from the pond of Laurie/Cully fame. Not that those things are connected but I'm just say'n.

    *hehehehehehhehehe*

    *hehehehehehehehehe*

    Oops! Yes, you may have karma. Me talk pretty someday.

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  11. I wondered if the water had something to do with the magical energies and so on. I had a perverse craving to drop a toaster in there with them.

    Which components of Deus Rex have we seen already aside from the Sheut and the Ib? Have we seen the Ba and the Ka? I could swear we've seen somebody (possibly two of them) in a conversation at some point, but I am not able to guess which chapter from the titles. How much ancient Egyptian metaphysics have you studied? I must say, Kvornan is very sheut-like and Elise very ib-like. So it makes me wonder about the Ba and the Ka... and what they have to do with that cave... :-)

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  12. Heh, I laughed out loud. I also tried to think up something witty to do with toasting and a food metaphor for old guys in compromising positions but all I can come up with is "lemon party" and you don't toast a lemon. Or at least I don't. *peers into the internet for people who toast lemons*

    We have seen the Ba twice (the current Ba that is- the Ba of Proximus Deus has not yet been born) but without a speaking role and in situations where it was impossible to know who she was. Her name has been mentioned at least once, I think by Orion. She's called Estanatlehi and she makes a habit of interfering in things.

    The only aspects of Proximus Deus that are alive right now are Elise and Kvornan. We've seen the current Sheut. Other than that, no one else has dropped in for a chat.

    As far as how much studying I've done, the answer is Argh! Not much. And all of it secondary texts except for some random occult books that relate back to Egyptian metaphysics. My current books are all about punishment, morality, consent and coercion to sex in Greek tragedy. (The surprises never cease.)

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  13. The tension between these two is so intense. Kovornan appears to dominate Alexi; the alpha male so to speak.

    I particularly love the descriptive prose and Alexi's dismay over the new technology of key cards. To be that powerful and foiled by something so small. How frustrating that must be.

    Beautiful screenshots and again, I am left in awe. It's certainly made me look at the Maxis neighbourhoods in a whole new light.

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  14. Kvornan does dominate Alexei and I think at this point in their relationship, it was a new development. After a certain amount of time, Kvornan reached a point where he was attached enough to do whatever he thought was necessary to keep Alexei, neverminding what Alexei wanted. Only Kvornan's wants matter. I think of him less as an alpha male and more of an enfant terrible.

    That gives me something to think about actually-- Whether that has or will be a recurring theme for Alexei.

    Thanks! The Maxis neighborhoods have been a fun starting point for a story for me.

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  15. So much for Kvornian and Alexei, LOL!

    Alexei wow!!! he really really had a rough night! loved how he threatened the maid though. I myself have experienced the same irritation. 80)

    Now he is more fae and is planning on flying home!

    AND then the transgression to the past, the completion of the solstice. So K really wants to be with A??? I hope so because the tension here is mighty high and on that not was is it K that Alexei had relations with the night before in the first part. LOL!

    Great update!!! (Really trying not to fall behind LOL!)

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  16. Cherie! You picked up on all of the magic stuff that may have posed some questions.

    Alexei currently lives with his sister in Alpinloch. It's only about a 1.5 hour flight from where he is in Veronaville. There are no Faes in Alexei's town but about 45 minutes up the road from his house is the monastery where the Magister Templi sent Rodin.

    Kvornan is a part of Alexei forever, no matter how many Faes he drinks from. His magic is expanding to the point where he can't always consciously handle it anymore, particularly since it is all of different types.

    The solstice had to do with the Ba. Estanatlehi disappears on the night that the seasons change. Kvornan didn't want her to find him in her favorite hangout spot (not that cave specifically but those woods) doing bad things.

    Kvornan wanted to be with Alexei FOREVER. Now whether that's still true, I don't know. But it doesn't really matter because whether he still wants it or not, he will be with Alexei forever.

    I was wondering if anyone would think that Kvornan was the one Alexei had sex with the night before. It wasn't. (Darn!) Kvornan is still far away in Pleasantview playing nanny with the Mindelsohn kids.

    Thanks, Cherie!

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  17. Ok, when I wrote the above comment, I was only about 2/3 awake so please allow me to expound:

    Alexei is mostly Fae now however there is a lot more of Alexei now than there was 12 years ago. He is himself + Kvornan + Kelly LeCroix (there was something that made her a little different - we'll talk later) + a number of Faes.

    They had to do it during the solstice so the Ba wouldn't catch them.

    Kvornan hasn't considered whether he still wants Alexei or not because it's too much of a given. But if he did take a moment to think about it, the answer would probably be yes, he does still want Alexei in spite of everything. He still cares.

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  18. that was an extremely moving piece at the end, powerful, erotic, sensual. I like Alexei, he seems neither good nor bad, but extremely interesting.

    Did i miss the reason that Kvornan wants to be with him forever?

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  19. Because he loves him! Heh, you may have missed the previous mini-chapter:

    62: Kvornan Wonders What Rituals

    Other than that, we haven't gotten any flashbacks with Kvornan and Alexei though I do have some planned from happier times.

    Thanks so much, Gayl!

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  20. wow, i really did miss something...it makes much more sense to me now.

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  21. Dude!! DUDE!!! Cock shot?! Alexei's? Oh Pen!! This made my night! LOL!!!

    I agree with everyone else. There is so much sexual tension going on here. But it's not all in your face! Subtle and natural for the two of them.

    Love the towel line! I was drinking a soda and it about came out of my nose! The whole flowing and exchanging of Kvornan's and Alexei's energy just keeps me on the edge. I feel as if one of them is going to break or go on a rampage or something!

    Wonderfully done and these shots were amazing!

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  22. LOL! I am glad that your night was made, Phoenix!!

    I've been thinking a lot about what their home situation must have been like and how Alexei's siblings interpreted their interactions. How subtle were they? Did they just seem friendly? Or was it blatantly obvious to everyone involved?

    Heh, one of them did break and go on a rampage! But er- Not until two years later. Kelly LeCroix was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    Thanks, Phoenix!!

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  23. Understatement of forever: "Not safe for work"

    Except, I might have been able to get away with this one. I have to read it again, and then I'm gonna leave a real comment.

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  24. "In antiquity, man had seen gods in the constellations. Tonight, Alexei saw constellations in god."

    Are you serious. PENELOPE ARE YOU SERIOUS?

    PPPPUUUUUBBBBLLLLIIIISSSSHHHHHH

    I could eat your words. I could dip them in guacamole and eat them. I could SUBSIST on your writing.

    Okay, now that I've had that little episode, is this one of those "Love makes people do stupid shit" moments? Or is this one of those "We made a bed out of shit, so now we have to sleep in shit" sort of moments?

    I like Alexei's intensity, it's not comparable to anyone's. Geez, I missed him.

    Fae blood fucks with vampire memory?

    Was his "romp" last night really a "romp" or was it that incident with Amunet? Or is my internal timeline completely screwed? Or, HOLY MUNSTER CHEESE, he didn't rape the girl while he was tearing her neck out did he? Or is my internal timeline really completely utterly screwed? SHOULD I know who he was banging? Or do I just WANT TO know who he was banging? Latter. I wanna know.

    I'm going to sit her and send you telepathic wishes about a reunion between Kvornan and Alec.

    RANDOM QUESTION: Does Elise have thoughts on Alexei, and if she does would you be allowed to tell me?

    Kvornan might be bumped, briefly, from the spot on my chest. Something about depraved, unhinged, misdirected, unfiltered lunacy just puts me in the mood to wear a t-shirt.

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  25. !!!!RONI!!!!

    *grabs Veron*
    *ties Veron to chair*
    *glues chair to American soil*

    Heh, well the thing is, I never write warnings at tops of my chapters so I figured that everyone would know when I do put up a warning, I mean business.

    Shucks, you know I wouldn't have the first clue in heck what to publish. Ooo maybe I could publish something on vegetables. Not on the subject of vegetables but literally ON the vegetables. Then you could guac them 'til your heart's content.

    I think that it was more of the first one. This was a relationship that started off fairly innocently. They were acquainted during the search for Bella's body. Kvornan was living in a one-room flat in a Townie slum that was beyond depressing. He was thinking about moving back to Veronaville where he could at least eat food on a regular basis and umm, not have head lice. The problem was that Kvornan had no money and no where to lay low. Keep in mind that there are still people walking around in 2050 who would recognize him as Kvornan Tricou, murderer and general crazed lunatic. Not the least of these people being (dun, dun, DUN!!!) Mortimer Goth.

    Meanwhile, Alexei was asked by his sire to escort a sickly woman and her teenaged daughter to Veronaville in secret. He didn't know who these women were or what they were running from but he decided to do as he was told. When they showed up at his door, he took them to Kvornan and begged to let the three of them stay for the night. Kvornan's flat was the safest, most obscure place that Alexei could think to hide in until they were able to hop a train in the morning. As you can imagine, Kvornan responded with a vehement, "Hell no." But they continued to talk and it came out that Kvornan wanted to get back to Veronaville. Alexei said that he could get Kvornan passage. If he let them stay for the night, then they could all just leave together. Alexei had/has a lot of connections with a sort of vampire Underground Railroad. It includes the human descendants of his sire and other vampires sired by his sire. Anyhoo, Kvornan didn't have any better ideas, so he went along with it.

    When all was said and done, Kvornan decided that he didn't want to go back to the palace after all. Not because he was so taken with Alexei but because he was re-evaluating the course that his life was taking and he didn't relish the thought of picking up where he left off. In any case, he didn't know anything about being a vampire and Alexei had offered to help.

    The two of them went back to Pleasantview with the understanding that Kvornan was only going to stay for three weeks. That turned into 14 years.

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  26. (cont.)

    So I say all of this to say that they were friends first. They went through a lot together right from the get-go but it didn't start off as an obsessive mess. That happened rather slowly over time.

    Alexei has an issue. There is some kind of malfunction with his brain and his energy. His wiring is corroded somewhere between thought and magic. When he drinks from anyone with magical energy (Fae, Proto-Fae or Other), garbled signals are sent back to his brain. It results in a sort of euphoric high. He is addicted to the high but it screws with his memory big time. This does not happen to Kvornan when he drinks from Imina nor any other vampire who might happen to drink from a Fae. Alexei is fubar. I might talk more about that later in the story.

    Amunet on the beach was a few weeks ago. They did not have sex. I can't say nuff'n else yet. :)

    OMG, are you kidding me?!? That reunion is cricial. CRUCIAL. You will see how it unfolds.

    Elise doesn't know about Alexei! Kvornan has a way of coding his thoughts that he has developed over the years. When he's around Elise and wants to be certain that she can't tell what he's thinking, he makes an effort to think in words. He has invented a language that is about 10% Ashkay, 20% Latin and 70% gibberish. He has code names for everyone that are just anagrams of their real names. Elise is Siele (Ashkay for "sky"), Alexei is Lace (that is, Alec), Ermie is Mr. Eie (that's right- mystery), etc.

    But you can bet your bottom dollar that Elise will find out about Alexei! Currently, I think that she'll have a morbid curiousity with him but we won't know until we get there.

    Kvornan will come back into favor. :\ *sigh* That's the magic of Kvornan. He's seductive. He doesn't mean to be. He doesn't even like people. And everyone knows that he's bad for them (Alexei most of all) but they just keep coming back.

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  27. I'm procrastinating so hard, but:

    "it didn't start off as an obsessive mess. That happened rather slowly over time."

    aahhhh okay

    "There is some kind of malfunction with his brain and his energy."

    aahhh okay

    "Elise doesn't know about Alexei!"

    AAAHHH OKAY

    "He has invented a language that is about 10% Ashkay, 20% Latin and 70% gibberish...everyone knows that he's bad for them (Alexei most of all) but they just keep coming back."

    I want Kvornan all over my chest. Again.

    QUESTION: Wasn't Alexie Poo apart of the team DRAGGING BLUE LAKE in search for Bella? Even though he came back why would he leave for Veronaville with the intent on staying before Bella's body was found?

    AND THREE WEEKS BECAME FOURTEEN YEARS? Was this due to the vampire learnin' that Kvornan was doing? How long did it take to go from sparse necessity to madness?

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  28. Alec was absofruitly a crew member on a dredger searching for Bella. But I think that it is safe to say that either 1) The search was called off and Bella was declared dead or 2) Alexei had put in his required number of hours by the time this happened. I haven't ironed out that timeline yet but the second scenario is likely the correct one. Alexei didn't just abandon ship. He and his siblings had a life in Pleasantview (such as it was) and the thought of spending six months in prison didn't really appeal to Alec. Kvornan might have abandoned the search, though. Anyway, Alec has a little bit of responsibility towards his sire.

    His sire (Cade) may come into the story at some point. I don't know when though because his character is not fully fleshed out and I'm not really interested in the vampire community beyond the Dissenter Resistance anyway. Cade's official stance on the resistance is neutrality. He is well aware that Alexei and Kvornan are close and while he hasn't said anything publicly (because the Kvornan + Alexei thing just isn't public knowledge), if Alexei were to be killed in the middle of all this, Cade would no longer be neutral. Alexei is a bit of a favorite with him. And seeing how Cade's clan numbers in the thousands... Yeah... Thea is tip-toeing around the Garrison family.

    As three weeks approached, Kvornan realized, "Oh shit, I gotta go. WHERE am I going to go???" Then Emilia told him to sit down, shut-up and have another slice of pie. At which point, he remembered that he really liked pie.

    No one ever pushed Kvornan to leave. On the contrary, the Garrisons really wanted him to stay. For a while he felt like he was intruding even though the other three were very open and accepting of him as a member of the family. After a year went by, he gave up the ghost of moving out anytime soon. It was a sweet deal, really. Emilia took good care of "her boys". Alec drove Kvornan nuts but he was starting to grudgingly appreciate Alec. Meanwhile, he and Antoine hit it off from the beginning. Overall, Kvornan was beginning to embark upon something that very closely resembled happiness.

    The vampire learn'n wasn't so complicated that it would have taken more than three weeks. Stuff about where and how to hunt. Also, tips about how NOT to have to hunt. There are donors out there and Alexei knows where to find a few. Kvornan didn't even know that he had the ability to release that mild venom in his saliva that causes memory loss.

    It was maybe about two years before Kvornan started calling Alexei his friend. By then, Alexei was already secretly starting to develop feelings for Kvornan. The degrees of intensity built up so gradually that I really have no idea. I imagine that they both kept quiet about their particular attachments to one another for YEARS. I don't know how or when it came out or who made the first move but the madness ensued.

    And they were always inseparable. First from necessity. Then from habit. Then by preference. Then more.

    In other news, I'm back! Yippee! It's going to be a hot minute before I get to catch up on everything though. D'oh!

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  29. Oooooh, your site got a makeover! Very nice, Pen :)

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  30. Thanks, Van! I was in the mood for a change of scenery.

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  31. The waterfall scene was set up wonderfully - really atmospheric. And oh my god, that part was so sexy. Biting is hot.

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  32. *hehe* Then you won't be disappointed by the new short story series I'm currently working on.

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