Stumbling Blindly (attn: Ellis)

The floor was cool against his face and, oddly enough, much more forgiving than the gravelly pavement he'd opened his eyes to a short time ago. His assassination of Nova hadn't gone anywhere near as planned (she was still alive, wasn't she), owing to the fair-haired youth who'd shown up to aid her. Tai had woken from his involuntary plunge out the second-story mall window with countless injuries, and credited the fact that he'd actually managed to drag himself back to the basement of the opera house with the fact that as Ellis' child, he was incredibly resilient.

A passing stranger had thought to do a good deed upon seeing the blood around his body. Fortunately they'd been in a decent area of town. Most other areas of Nachton he would have been given a wide berth. For all he knew the guy had just wanted to make sure Tai was really out of it before picking his pockets, but Tai had been alert enough to grab him and pull him close. The blood had been much needed, but it wasn't nearly enough to mend the multitudes of broken bones, lacerations, and bruises he now sported.

It was enough to get him back here, though. His legs had protested, one of his ankles grinding audibly with each step as the fractured bones within harried at each other, the other knee clearly someplace well to the side of where it should be. Shards of glass had been ground into his back from where he'd been forced up against the window ledge; he was pretty sure he'd broken a few ribs in the vampiric bear-hug he'd received, and his arms didn't want to move properly without an inordinate amount of willpower.

Even through all of that, the driving urge that compelled him, Ellis' voice in his mind, kept him from returning directly back here. He had to make sure he wasn't being followed and that had taken some time. He was finally back, and while he wasn't sure what Ellis' reaction would be he was sure she wouldn't let him die. She still needed him.

Rolling himself over, Tai managed to sit up against the cool metal of the desk in the outer room. After an appropriate length of nap-time as a reward for his efforts, he ground his teeth together and methodically pounded his kneecap back into place. That also wore him out, so he rested his head back and closed his eyes for another cat-nap. His body would continue to mend slowly until he fed again, which he would do as soon as he woke up.

Ellis watched as Tai dragged himself slowly toward the entrance of their apartment underneath the Opera house. Leaning a shoulder against the wall, she felt no desire to help him and was rather a little peeved about the blood he was leaving all over the floor.

Boy he looked pretty fucked up, she thought to herself. Running into an ancient really didn't work out for him and she was lucky Alfarinn didn't kill him...well she didn't think so but in the grand scheme of things she probably was. At least she wouldn't have to bother with finding another capable male. Ellis sighed unhappily at the thought of actually feeling put out by losing Simon. Was she riddled with regret, maybe, she wasn't sure, but she focused in on the sleeping baby vampire at her doorstep and figured she might as well bring him in.

Ellis padded over barefoot to where Tai was sitting and grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him across the floor.

'I hope you fed on something because you're not feeding on me and it's not like I keep a fridge full of fucking blood down here.'

Tai felt a burr of irritation at being awakened by Ellis in such a fashion. Not to mention dragged across the floor like a corpse. She could simply have left him, and that would have been fine. Then she'd have been able to go on playing 'jilted lover' in her own little world, leaving him to his.

"I didn't expect you too," he pointed out a little peevishly to her. At this point he was uncertain as to whether he'd even feed from her if she'd offered. Ellis clouded his mind, and Tai didn't like having his mind cloudy. Bad enough that she seemed to invade upon his thoughts when he didn't want her there...

He didn't have the strength to argue at the moment, however. He let her pull, wincing slightly as her tugging on his arm seemed to pop every rib out of place. If she'd just let him be, he could rest up and go find a snack.

Ellis left him to recover, albeit slowly, from his wounds as she sat down on the couch in what would be called the receiving room - had it been finished. The lair was still in disarray with drywall stacked on the outer walls. She wanted a cigarette, but decided against it; an addict to the core, she still refused to live in a smoke tainted apartment. She was also too lazy to cross the room to her jar of m&m's so instead she glared at the bloody mess on her floor.

'I'm guessing it didn't go well with Nova and Alfarinn.'

Well, he was still on the floor, this time up against the foot of the couch. Tai's peripheral vision was getting hazy and he was tempted to follow it into oblivion when something Ellis said caused him to roll his head back and tilt it, so he could fix his tawny (albeit bleary) eyes upon her.

"Alfarinn? So you know who that was?"

It wasn't that surprising, all things considered. "He was incredibly strong. Much like you."

If the tone was slightly irritable, it was because Tai wouldn't have expected Ellis to put him up against an Ancient, someone like her. He knew Ellis no longer had any particular attachment to him outside of his use as a tool, but Tai was also aware that she wouldn't want him dead just yet.

An image of Yuu sprang unbidden to his mind and he shoved it away, closing his eyes for a moment before looking at Ellis once more.

"It would have gone fine with Nova. She was a pushover. I hadn't counted on hr buddy."

Maybe that was arrogant of him, but he wasn't really feeling like being too circumspect at the moment.

Ellis draped her arms on the back of the couch and chuckled. 'Her buddy, yeah. Well,' she tucked a piece of her dark hair behind her and she recalled when she had first met him, he was already very old. 'For a skinny little guy, I bet he gave you an ass whipping. He's actually quite a bit older than I am - hell he was old when I was your age. He also happens to be the ancient Elder of Evenhet which was actually my creator's clan...well before the other Evenhet Elder killed him.'

Ah Megan, it had been so long since she had seen the fair and uneven Megan. Out of country searching for something old, dead and stinky, Ellis figured. Ah well. She giggled again as she looked over at the poor battered and bruised young Tai, 'Yeah I bet that hurt.'

She wasn't the least bit sympathetic, in fact she enjoyed seeing the surly side of Tai. He had character and a backbone except when bound; that was a curious thing, his fear of being over powered. Her smile faltered wondering just what man might have given him that fear. Maybe she was a little sympathetic after all.

'All things considered, baby, you did well. Although, the situation has changed a little.' Oh boy had it, she thought to herself. For some ridiculously stupid reason, possibly sentimental ones, she had saved Simon which meant he owed her a big fat 'you owe me'. Ellis would not hesitate to remind him of this, but for now things were neutral, but definitely not friendly.

'For now we'll concentrate on rebuilding my booty, as it were. Get a couple kills in, rebuild the dynasty and hopefully get some walls in this place. Let's take Simon off the radar and have a little fun, shall we?' If he questioned her rescinded commands, which he might not, she wouldn't elaborate. More out of annoyance than embarrassment. More than likely Tai would just accept it and they would move on. There were other things to do, plans to be laid, schemes to develop and the recent convention being held in Nachton on Nano-technology had perked her interest.

There were things to steal, places to destroy - it would be a busy spring.


5/3 - closed due to inactivity. - Roz