Rae's room

[sunbaked_baker]

It's mid-morning when Sunshine awakes, a slight crick in her neck from sleeping in the wide, pillow-strewn chair in the corner of her room. Autor is still sound asleep, tucked in the bed with his shoes on the floor beside it. After washing her face - the smoke-smell is still lingering in her hair - and getting dressed in the bathroom, Rae heads downstairs to fetch a pot of tea and two cups, in case he wakes soon.

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[herr_bookman]

"Pun-!" Autor jerks awake, tumbling out of the bed due to the sheets cinched around his legs. The boy sits, rubbing his head and trying to get a bearing on where the hell he is--and why.

Pale yellow walls contrast with deep blue and purple bedspreads. He squints at a wide window facing east, and cranes his neck to peek into the open door of the bathroom, which reveals a fairly impressive bathtub with bottles. The rune-marked objects tacked above the door--providing a mental background noise--draw his attention next, and something clicks for him.

Wait, Rae? Autor thinks, blinking as he gets to his feet. A random pick off the nearby bookshelf--Blood Lore XIIX--brings a smirk to his face. Yep. Definitely Rae.

So he buttons his blazer--still feeling really quite naked--finds his shoes, and sets about making the bed until she returns.

[sunbaked_baker]

A minute or so later, Sunshine quietly opens the door and enters, carrying a tray with a pot of tea and two cups. After a momentary look of surprise, she smiles to see him up and about.

"Morning, sleepyhead."

[herr_bookman]

Autor tenses as she enters, and then drops his eyes to the floor. "Hey," he says. "Thanks for, uh. Whatever you did."

The bed, for one.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Don't worry about it," she says with a slightly wry smile, coming over to set the tray on the bedside table. "I apologize for the lack of fruit smoothies."

"How's your head feeling?"

[herr_bookman]

"Wait, fruit smoo-oh. Ohh. Right," he says, glancing up and away again, before clearing his throat. "Like someone replaced half my brains with cotton--which wouldn't surprise me, given Milliways. What happened? I remember chess and, um, a violin."

And a pipe between a beautiful pair of lips, and blackberries, and Javert, who was never there but always present.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Well, your brains are safe for now. The cottony feeling will eventually pass." Rae pours them both some tea, considering how to approach this.

"Do you remember who you were playing chess with?"

[herr_bookman]

Autor sniffs, feeling the onset of a runny nose without actually having one, and focuses on the tea--and wounded hospitality.

"A man named Tepesh," the boy says, furrowing his brow, "who spoke very little and said much."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Yeah, he does that," she agrees, only a little wry. Sometimes what he says even helps. Other times...

"And he gave you your first run-in with opium."

[herr_bookman]

Autor tilts his head. "Well, I can't say the experience was a bad one? Lucky me."

He seizes upon his tea, and drains it in one go. Carefully, of course--best not to give off the impression that he's shaken, though he knows she can probably tell.

"But I didn't smoke any opium. Why was I so affected?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Of course she can tell. When the cup is empty, she pours more for him. It's a good morning black tea, with blue cornflower petals and a touch of bergamot.

"You breathed in the smoke - for a good while, I'd say - and you're not accustomed to it," Rae replies. "If nothing else happened, I can't imagine it would've been a bad experience."

She remembers what it was like.

[herr_bookman]

It wouldn't matter if it were hot water with dirt; he'd cling to the cup anyway. As it is, he's grateful; the beverage is bracing and flavorful and a mark of her consideration.

"I hate reconstructing things," he says abruptly, hot tea drawing a soft rasp from his throat, as he sneers at the cup. "What the hell happened, Rae? This is why I d-don't ever drink."

Brief snatches flicker through his head, teasing him: A soft hand with sharp nails cupping his head. A hand at the small of his back, steadying him. A comforting stranger, highly amused.

What did I need comforting for? The thin white scars on Autor's knuckles stretch and shine as he finishes his second cup of tea.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Well, I came in a bit after the fact, I think," she says, sipping her own tea. "You were trying to stand up, when I saw you. You were pretty loopy, though... Tepesh... insists nothing happened. Just talk, and smoke, and chess."

[herr_bookman]

"You know him," the boy says, peering at her. "Who is he?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Oh dear.


"He's... Vlad Tepesh." Rae eyes Autor's face over her tea to see if there's any recognition to the name. She doesn't see any, so - sighing slightly - she adds:

"Dracula."

[herr_bookman]

And the boy grins.

"Wait seriously? Oh, damn it! I wish I could remember that conversation," he says. "I would have been terrible at the chess game but that would have been worth it. Now I know why he apologized for rooting around in my head at least. I wonder if he--"

He glances up, and--remembering to whom he speaks--draws a breath. "Ah," he says, lowering his head meekly. "S'rry."

But he soon rallies again, though his speech is quieter, more subdued. "But how do you know him? And how did I end up with you?"

The boy blinks, and sets his tea aside. "Wait, Rae, are you all right?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"What?" she says, blinking at him. "I'm fine. He and I have just met before."

With relatively little violence, in fact!

"You were sleepy and unsteady on your feet, so I brought you up here to sleep off the effects of the opium. I bet you had interesting dreams."

[herr_bookman]

"Nobody 'just meets' a vampire, Rae," Autor says softly. "Especially you."

He lifts his tea again, keeping his eyes on her, and takes a drink. Unfortunately, her last statement breaks any hope of neutrality. He jerks his gaze to the window, face red and glowing through no fault of the sun.

"Yes, I, uh," he stammers, placing a hand on his neck. "I had some dreams that were, um. Dreams. Haven't had one in years, so clearly I can't compare them, but they were. Well. They were dreams."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Yeah, opium-induced dreams are... well... they're special, all right," she says, sympathetically. Rae doesn't say any more about her knowing this particular vampire, however.

"There are fresh towels in the bathroom if you want to get cleaned up, though your clothes are going to smell of that smoke until they're washed a few times."

She'll certainly be washing those sheets - the smell of that smoke isn't something she wants lingering in the back of her brain.

[herr_bookman]

"Yeah, well... Yes," he whispers, staring at his empty hands, which failed to hold a fading girl. "They were quite detailed."

Autor wrinkles his nose and presses it into his shoulder. "Ugh. I can't even smell it anymore," he says, standing. He's already planning to make use of his spare outfit in his sylladex. "Thank you for the offer."

Pensive, the boy pauses at the door to the restroom, resting his fingers on the trim. "Have you seen Javert lately?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Pouring herself a second cup of tea, Rae hesitates before answering.

"I haven't, but I've heard he has returned."

[herr_bookman]

Autor immediately turns to face her and leans on the door, folding his arms.

"Returned," he says. "From where?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine blinks at him, mildly.

"From Wallachia. Transylvania, where Vlad took him."

To help him learn what it is to love. Or to feed from him and forcibly invade his mind. Or both. Sunshine has given up trying to understand Vlad's brand of logic.

[herr_bookman]

The boy tilts his head. "Ah, I see," he says, adjusting his glasses. "That makes sense. Though I'm amazed he went."

He nods, and heads to wash his face. "I'll get cleaned up officially once I'm in my own room, but thank you again for dragging me up here. I owe you."

[sunbaked_baker]

"I don't know whether he had a choice in that or not," Rae says, not willing to speculate which. Her information about what really happened is spotty at best.

"Hey, what're friends for," she says, wry, "if not for dragging their drugged friends out of the arms of vampires?"

[herr_bookman]

"Hm. That could also make sense," Autor says. "I probably shouldn't have asked." He shrugs, stiff, and turns the sink on.

Then he snorts, grinning, torn between amused and pained. "Just once, I'd like to save you, you know. I'll have to learn levitation spells."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Hopefully not while drugged," she says with a slight snort of a laugh. "I spent a good bit of my time at your age stoned out of my mind, and I'd rather not revisit it."

"I'd much rather everyone I know, myself included, wholly avoid situations they'd need saving from," she says, emphatically.

[herr_bookman]

His fingers twitch, spilling the cupped water he brings to his face. "Did you," he says. "I... didn't know that."

But he has an idea as to why, having met both the girl and woman. Any sentiment he can express seems wholly inadequate, so he moves on.

"Ha," he murmurs, grin lightening as he pats his cheeks with a towel. "Then I am so bad for you."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Yeah, but I also go out and fight vampires while trying to keep a day-job," she smiles wryly at his reflection in the mirror. "So you're thematically appropriate."

[herr_bookman]

"Well, my daring darling, during my declamatory duty as a divergent damsel in distress, I'm already denouncing demarcations of gender and different, divisive, dramatic devices," he says, clutching his heart. "Far be it from me to disappoint you along thematic lines."

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae smirks. "Fear not, for this faithful friend frankly finds your fierce, frenetic fight for the freedom to fulfill formerly female functions-"

She may be his friend, but Rae is not above trying to make him blush.

She's a baker, not a saint.

"... to be fine. And thankfully not fatally foolish."

[herr_bookman]

Autor had already arranged an alliterative answer, but her animated advocacy bushwhacked him, besetting him with a bright, burning blush.

"You're... Wow, you're t-terrible," he says cheerfully, rubbing his cheeks with the towel.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Just one further function friends fulfill," she says, grinning at him. "Fomenting flushes in their favorite fustian fellows."

[herr_bookman]

"Dragging drugged-up dopes from Dracula doesn't delight you enough?" he scoffs, smirking. "You're driven to design a disgraceful display?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Yep," she says succinctly, smirking.

"More tea?"

[herr_bookman]

Autor laughs, startled by it. "Terrible," he chides, setting the towel aside. He grins as he enters the bright room. "And yes, please. I'd appreciate that."

There are worse ways to spend a morning than having tea with a friend.