It was on his way back from the pantry that he crossed paths with his sister who had never changed: Eden. He had always thought of her as the extroverted and competent version of Reginald, a kid with her wits about her in and out of her studio.
“Elijah!” She called upon spotting him, “Oh, how I’ve missed you!” she bounded at him and her vampiric speed caught him off guard, having been holding his own back since Lucia awoke. He caught her in his arms and swung her around messily as she asked, “When will Lucia be taking visitors? Dr Farris told me to wait for you to let me know but I haven’t heard from you!” with an excitable grin.
“Oh,” Elijah plopped her back to the ground, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were waiting.” he was sure Dr Farris hadn’t mentioned anything to him…But he had recently found his thoughts to be completely soaked in Lucia’s image.
Eden laughed lightly and flicked his chest, “The flowers I bought for her have died!”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate the thought.” Elijah replied lamely.
“I can afford a second bouquet, silly boy,” She teased with another roll of her Bonnet green eyes, “but I need an appointment with Miss Martinez!”
A flash of guilt ran through Elijah’s chest, he hadn’t thought his family cared about Lucia and her condition, he had isolated himself and his fiancée from them in his fear for her life. But Eden wouldn’t hurt her, she couldn’t. Eden was the purest person he had ever known, so why had he not reached out to her? Maybe Dr Farris had told him she wanted to visit…
She was staring up at him hopefully and he had to think worryingly hard about what she had last said.
Oh, yes, an appointment to see Lucia.
“I think I can find room on the guest list for you.” He finally replied with his best attempt at an apologetic smile.
“I promise to be on my best behaviour,” She winked cheekily before adding, “no bouncers needed.”
“Don’t say that, you’ll put Nurse Julie out of a job!”
“Damn, if Jules is on security I know that shit is locked down.” She laughed lightly.
“It’s necessary,” Elijah chuckled, “she’s a very important person.” he added quietly..
“I hope you’re treating her like one then.”
“I’m trying.”
As always, she had a secret sense for sniffing out when something was wrong or he was hiding something.
“What’s getting in your way?” She asked softly, holding his gaze with a kind look.
“I don’t… I don’t have any experience in this.”
Her eyes twinkled, “Then use what you do have experience in.” she offered.
“You say that as though it is simple.” He snorted, his mind reeling over what he had experience in besides being introverted and reading too much.
“It is!” She insisted, “You are a fabulous dancer, why not dust off the ballroom and take her for a spin?”
“That… is a fine idea.” Elijah replied slowly, realising the more he thought about it what a fine idea it was. Why hadn’t he thought of that? “Thank you.” He added sincerely.
“You’re welcome!” She gave a two-finger salute and split away to follow a different corridor, one that lead back in the direction of her own bedroom. “Don’t forget to message me my appointment slot!”
He chuckled to himself and called back, “I won’t!”
~
A grand ballroom opened up before them, golden drapes hung from the ceiling, brushing against the wooden floor whenever a breeze fluttered through the long open windows, round tables with white silk tablecloths were carefully arranged around the room to allow room for dance in the centre, beneath the opulent crystal chandelier, hanging high above her head.
Lucia took it all in with a look of wonder in her round eyes, her hands clasped to her chest and her lips slightly parted. Elijah observed her with his own look of wonder, feeling pride blossom in his chest at having been the one to put that expression on her face. Her long lashes fluttered and she tilted her head back to peek up at him under them. Elijah neutralised his face quickly, gazing down at her with his usual blank look. She gave him a small smile and he returned it,reminding himself silently that he was supposed to be opening himself up to her.
"It's beautiful." She breathed, sweeping her eyes round again.
Elijah hummed in agreement and placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her with a gentle push to the centre of the shiny dance floor, "Do you dance?" he asked.
Lucia blinked uncertainly and cocked her head, he assumed that meant no.
"Not... real dancing." She mumbled, nibbling at the corner of her lip. Elijah had to fight the urge to smile at the cute mannerism. "Do you dance?" She turned to face him, his hand still lingering on her back, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously.
Usually when she asked him a question about himself he would shut it down and attempt to revert the conversation back to her, but this was his new leaf, he could be forthcoming about himself when he tried. He would try hard for her.
"Of course," Again, that pride was growing inside of him, putting down roots. "I must be able to dance if I am to impress the other clans, dancing with their members shows openness, trust and confidence." He finally allowed the grin he had been clawing back to spread into his face, "You can learn a lot about a woman when you dance with her." Lucia blushed a light primrose pink and his grin grew. "I would love to educate myself with you." He didn't know why he said it, it just slipped out, but she seemed to like it: a smile crept onto her rosy face and her eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment.
He took that as a sign to proceed and pressed the hand on her back tighter, forcing her to edge forward until their chests had but a centimetre between them, and took her other hand in his, lifting it and spreading her arm out just a little in a relaxed version of the pose he would normally hold. He noticed she hadn't taken a breath since he pulled her close and the thought both stroked his ego and brought a sudden flash of concern that actually surprised him a little.
"Lucia," He said softly, "breathe." her eyes widened and she sucked in a long breath, avoiding his gaze now with a shameful expression on her face.
"I-"
"Don't worry." He attempted to give her a reassuring smile but wasn't convinced it had worked, she still looked nervous and embarrassed. She dropped her eyes to the floor and he felt it in his chest, the loss. It was stupid, he thought, but he missed looking into her eyes already.
He decided to try and squash the tension by starting the lesson and began to move slowly, pulling her body along carefully as he demonstrated the steps.
"I'll lead, you follow." He ordered, she nodded, more to herself than to him. "And by that I mean your feet will literally be following mine, when my left moves back, your right will move forward." She kept her head down, watching his feet and trying to follow his movements as best she could, "What we're doing now is the box step," Elijah explained, he took a step back, to let her forward, "forward," he gave her a nudge to move her across, "side," he pulled his foot back to meet his other, "together," he watched the crown of her head, wishing she would look up at him with her sparkling eyes. "back," He pushed his chest against hers to direct her, "side and together again." he coached, his voice calm and gentle.
She nodded at his shoes.
"It might seem strange, but you'll find it easier if you look at me." Elijah murmured, for a moment he wondered if he had spoken too softly and her human ears hadn't caught the suggestion, but slowly she raised her head, her dark curls cascading around her small face. She stopped when her head was up and facing forward, directly into his collar bone. He raised his brows, not that she could see the exasperated look on his face.
Lucia continued trying to follow Elijah's lead but soon mis-stepped and stumbled forward, head-butting his chest and kicking him in the shin. He used the hand around her waist to pull her up against him, "Are you okay?" He asked, cupping her chin with the hand he had been holding hers with. There was no lump on her forehead but he was still worried. She suddenly beamed up at him, it gave him a shock to see her smile so widely, he liked it.
She was laughing at herself, "I'm sorry," she sighed embarrassedly, "I don't think I'm very good at this... I feel so nervous that I'm going to mess up!"
"Well, you just did." Elijah smiled warmly, trying his best to appear open, his cousin's words replaying in his head. Lucia blinked up at him, confused. "And it wasn't that bad, was it?" The tension released from her body like water from a broken vase. That was what had her staring at her feet and moving at the speed of a snail with a weight on its back? She was worried about doing something wrong? Elijah shook his head, "It's just the two of us, no one will see if you do something wrong."
Lucia blushed again and dove into Elijah's crisp white shirt, burying her face in the material and bunching it in her hands. Elijah's arms opened but he froze, unsure of whether or not he had upset her. She mumbled something, his super hearing let him hear the sounds but his shirt was muffling the pronunciation. He brought his hands back and placed them in her soft curls, sliding his fingers in behind her ears and tilted her head up to look at him.
"What was that?" He asked.
She pulled a pouty face that he would never admit that he loved and tried to look away but he held her head firmly, staring into her eyes.
"But you'll see." She whined.
He chuckled quietly, "I don't care if you make a mistake!" he assured her, "My only concern is you hurting yourself!" he rubbed their foreheads together, their noses grazed softly against each other. "Does your head hurt?" He asked. Her face moulded into an expression of embarrassment again,
"A little." She mumbled.
"Do you want to stop?" He wished desperately to add 'for today' but didn't want to seem presumptuous that she would want to practice with him again.
"No." She said firmly.
With the easiest smile he had ever held on his face, Elijah pulled her back into the correct position and they continued.
He could tell from the first tentative moves that she was not a naturally gifted dancer, but that just meant it would take longer to teach her, and he didn't mind having something to do with her that wasn't watching her sleep, hunched over her protectively until she awoke. Or having the same few stunted conversations with her, constantly reminding the poor woman of her injuries.
He found himself feeling childishly excited every time she stumbled or stepped on his foot, it meant he had a reason to hold on to her.
They continued until he could feel her limbs growing heavier in his hands and her footwork became sluggish out of exhaustion rather than lack of skill. With all of his mental strength he managed to drag his eyes from her and glance out the long windows, darkness clouded the gardens outside and the drapes shuffled back and forth with the mild wind. Had it gotten colder? He couldn’t tell easily (unless it changed drastically) without visual cues but Lucia wasn’t shivering and her skin was still beautifully brown, no blue fingertips in sight.
“I think it is time for bed.” He murmured, masking his own disappointment as best he could.
“Oh.”
”You seem tired, don’t you want to rest?”
“I like dancing with you.” She whispered.
Elijah felt a tight clenching in his chest, if he were human he may have mistaken it for a heart attack.
“I like dancing with you too.”
The hand pressed into her back moved of its own accord, pulling her in tighter and lifting her slightly off the floor. Her dark eyes widened and her lips parted ever so slightly as she watched him. Elijah dipped his head and grabbed her lips with his own. In an instant his body was hit with a wave of craving for her, to grip her tightly and never let her go. A similar sensation must have flooded through Lucia as she grabbed bunches of his shirt and curled into him, her mouth dropping open further to allow his tongue complete access to her mouth. He entangled his own with hers and sucked on it gently, tasting her like a human would a sweet dessert. And she certainly tasted better than anything he had ever tried in his life. When she began to pull back he nipped at her bottom lip with just enough force to make her squirm in his grip and let a whimper slip out of her mouth and into his. Tingles ran through this fingers, encouraging him to dig them further into her as they held each other’s lips captive.
Once they eventually found the strength to break apart Elijah’s brain felt as though it had been completely wiped of any and all thoughts. Decades of education disappeared in one kiss. He couldn’t form a single coherent thought. Lucia had grown heavier in his arms and he glanced down to find her legs trembling beneath her knee-length dress. When he raised his eyes back to hers she blushed from ear to ear and buried her head into his shirt again.
With an awkward but tension-relieving laugh, Elijah brought a hand to the back of her head and ruffled her curls affectionately. Day one of his attempt to be open and vulnerable would definitely be marked down as a success in his books.
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