Staten Island - Dunamis Estate
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| Kieran Collins | Xander Kostas | Samira Bastet |
Kieran hasn't been summoned tonight, so there's no tension coiling at his back as he strolls into the luxurious Dunamis Estate. The Vampire appreciates it's old world, historical charm and elegance, and there is always an appreciative glance given to the decor and ambiance. Including the well dressed, beautiful women and men in an array of skin tones from olive to ebony, who move through the halls. Kostas personal servants, dressed in the livery of his choice; which seems to vary by the seasons, the local fashion and the Master of the City's whims.
Today he is greeted by a long legged beauty with skin so dark it rivals the night sky, and large almond shaped eyes. The brilliant, gold of her traditional stola compliments her and makes her skin shine as she dips her head politely and submissively. Another servant darts off, silent for a human, but not so silent to a vampire's ears, and Kieran knows the young man went to report Kieran's arrival.
"Evening, Theta," Kieran greets the woman as she dutifully takes his coat and hands it to yet, another liveried servant. Theta is one of the few Kieran knows by name. She's a favorite of Kostas, both to have and to share, with rich, spicy blood and a nature so submissive it's like a dream come true. "I know the way luv." She won't try to stop him. Kieran is known here.
Walking the halls to Kosta's main study, Kieran lets his gaze wander and appreciate the youthful, toned bodies, all dressed in traditional Ancient Greek clothing, the differing colors the only signifier of their rank and station within Kosta's household. Gold is a favorite; a red band on the short toga or stola is a menu item. Their features are different, skin tones varied, and Kieran long ago gave up trying to figure out what Kostas' preference is.
He enters and then waits just inside the doorway. He may have come without an invitation, but he will wait before fully entering the room.
~
Kostas is not without modern knowledge and technology. Though he is grateful that Ilan ran to inform him of his Sheriff's arrival, it was not necessary. He lounges, not at his desk but on a comfortable leather sofa, drinking a thick, red liquid from a heavy crystal chalice. Ancient eyes barely look up at Kieran as he hovers in the doorway, motioning him in with a lazy lift and curl of the fingers of his freehand.
"Kieran. Come."
Beat.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?"
~
Sometimes it pays to be one of the few who do not have to follow the pomp and pageantry of the household. Though Samira does have her own residence, she spends most of her time at the Dunamis Estate. It suits her to remain close to her Maker's friend, but it also suits her because of the elegance and the varying degree of people she meets and can often pull out for modeling.
Tonight is no different, though she's not lounging around as per usual.
She is lounging though. A sleek black form at Kostas' feet. Her head lifts dutifully as Kieran enters.
Samira has had plenty of opportunity to switch back to her human form, but has chosen to remain as a jaguar for the last several meetings that have taken place.
~
Plenty of their kind would take pause at the sight of the beautiful, sleek feline at the Master's feet. Kieran isn't among them. Given permission to enter, the Irish vampire makes his way to the empty couch across from Kostas and lowers himself gracefully. Blue eyes drop and meet the jaguar, "Hello, Samira." He's tempted to kneel down and scratch her behind the ears. It's not the first time Kieran has had that temptation, but it's something that he's never done in front of Kostas. Politics and lines in the sand.
"I was in the neighborhood," Kieran says with a faint knowing smile. "I thought I would say hello."
~
The younglings response makes Kostas smile. He allows a certain leeway with those in his court, if only because he chose them and knows them. While he needs them to respect and fear him, he does not need them to walk on eggshells.
Kieran Collins is useful as a part of his court. More human than most, though not wearing it nearly as well as his Child, and able to blend in so successfully that he's an excellent eyes and ears. He's also smarter than he looks, and more deadly than most of the Karneros would dare to be. Kostas allows the whelp leeway because Kieran is useful. Neither Vampires nor humans truly know what they're dealing with.
"Then I am honored that you would call on me this evening." Kostas lifts his hand and motions to the corner. He doesn't need to look to see the dark haired, bronze skinned young man step forward and walk obdiently over to stand just beyond the edge of the rug. "Please, have a drink."
Beat.
"Then we may proceed to more pressing matters."
~
Kieran is greeted with something of a huffle as an over-tired Samira stretches her paws out, showing off her claws. It's not done as a warning, really. It's more of just a lazy stretch before she allows herself to shift back to her usual form. Several moments pass before the young woman appears stretched out not unlike the jaguar was, without a stitch of clothing on.
"Your morning guards are slacking again, Kostas. Watching day time talk shows rather than keeping an eye on the estate."
She doesn't bother dressing immediately, or worrying over where her robe may have gotten. Both men have seen her naked plenty, and it's not as though either of them is going to jump her.
~
"Someone is grumpy in the evening," Kieran says lightly, his gaze briefly lilting appreciatively on Samira's human form. It is a very nice human form.
His eyes then turn to the meal he's been offered, and though he has fed, he can't think of any good reason to refuse. Crooking a finger, he beckons the young man over. There's an almost reverent and admiring smile directed toward Kostas by the time the young man is kneeling on the couch, his eyes closed and throat bared. Kieran doesn't know how the Old Vampire does it, but he likes the way he runs his household. Servants beautiful, supple and willing.
Though sometimes unwilling can be fun as well.
Locking a hand to the back of the young man's head, Kieran draws him closer. No teasing, no hesitance, no seduction. Just the give of skin beneath his fangs, the bite and the flow of blood, spicy and rich, pooling into his mouth and filling him up.
The young man doesn't even whimper.
~
Ah, Karneros. How Kostas does love them. Their passion and hedonism is such a joy to watch, and sometimes he wishes that he could share an appetite for lust and desire that is that raw. Kieran is a beautiful thing to watch, the lingering hunger in those pale blue eyes as he tracks Samira, the hunger that Kostas sees there before the Irishman sinks fangs into the young man.
"Take your time. Finish it," Kostas waves toward Kieran. It's all well and good to behave in an effort to protect themselves. They are predators, however, and that instinct must be fed as well. Besides, the Master knows he doesn't have to worry about Kieran going off the rails.
While Kieran feeds, his attention turns to his adopted Child. He understands why Kieran watched her as she did. Even in his elder years, Kostas appreciates a beautiful form, and Samira does possess one. His gaze is more appraising, possessive. His voice rolling with hints of fondness, "You should eat as well, my dear. I can order someone special for you?"
~
"Tired."
While other vampires generally spend their days in torpor, Samira spent the day awake as a jaguar. Keeping an eye on things. She'll rest properly come morning, but she really only needs to do it once a week or so. Not like the others.
Resting her head against Kostas' knee, she smiles up at him. "I can feed later," she murmurs. "I want a hunt tonight, so perhaps I will have you send someone out on the grounds for me in a little while." It would be going against her nature as a Kleptheros to go without a hunt, and she blocks that part out of her often enough to appease Kostas.
"Though if Kieran doesn't mind, perhaps I will just take a small nip from his meal?"
~
Kieran isn't eating messily. There's no blood gushing or spilling onto the pristine leather. No droplets staining the young man's toga. Not until he hears Samira's words and lifts his head from the young man's throat. Kieran is fully in vampire visage, eyes black and venous, fangs elongated, mouth covered in the life blood of his meal.
The young man's heart pumps slowly, the blood a slow trickle from the wound at his throat and onto the toga. It's warm and tasty in Kieran's mouth and he licks his lips. A slow, predatory smile is given to Samira. "Be my guest."
He lowers his head again, only to lick away the blood that tries to escape, eyes focused on Samira over his meal.
~
"As you wish," Kostas pats Samira's hand where it rests on his knee. "I'll let you have your pick. Perhaps one of the newer, unbroken acquisitions?" He keeps a few stubborn and willful, frightened and panicked for just such a reason. Fear gives the blood a very special, very sweet taste.
~
A delightful squeal is let loose, and quicker than it takes to blink she's on the couch beside Kostas. Wrapping her arms around him, she places a daughter-like kiss upon his cheek and smiles. "I'd be happy to break one in."
Lingering there momentarily, Samira watches the blood drip onto the young man's toga. It's steady, and she can smell it from across the room. Feeling her fangs elongate, she quietly stalks across to the other couch. Slipping up behind the toga'd man, she winks at Kieran.
"You have my thanks."
Slipping her hand around the young man and placing it on Kieran's chest, she leans in and licks the meal's neck. Then slowly, surely, she sinks her fangs into him for a top-up. She'll need a full feed later in the evening, but for now a half-pint will do.
~
Kieran growls. Not in warning, but in appreciation. Watching a feeding is arousing, because Kieran derives so much pleasure from the everyday things. The copper tang of the blood is strong in the air, and the sound of the blood being drawn from the young man's body and into Samira's mouth is like music, with the slowing heartbeat a careful, steady bass.
Licking his lips, he winds his free hand into Samira's hair. It's not a sexual thing, but it is an intimate thing, a connection of a sort that's made before he uses his other hand to shift the head just enough to present more of the throat. It doesn't dislodge Samira, but allows Kieran to swiftly sink fangs into the other side and feed in unison with the vampiress. Swallow for swallow, heartbeat for heartbeat.
~
Even Kostas will admit to there being a certain beauty and elegant intimacy in the shared feeding. It is something he allows because there is an aesthetic beauty to it, and it is yet another way to hold the Karneros Sheriff close. Feed his hedonistic and base needs, and the man is cooperative enough. Kostas doesn't trust Kieran, not entirely, but he does know how to control him.
Besides, there is little harm in sharing the feeding, and it something that all of their kind enjoy.
He sips his glass of blood, watching with a bemused smile and listening to the tell-tale sounds of pleasure from the pair - the purrs, the growls, the suckling, and the ever slowing toward death heart beat of the young man. The scents too are alluring. Even so close to death, the young meal has been so well rolled that he smells of lust and sex and arousal; not surprisingly, so does Kieran.
"I do so enjoy seeing my subjects enjoy themselves."
~
Samira is extremely careful. The moment she can tell that the heartbeat is slowly edging toward death, she releases her fangs and runs her tongue over the wound. She knows that it's pointless to do, considering, but it's habit. Though the fangs have retracted, she doesn't move at all until Kieran is finished with the young man.
"Thank you," she whispers to both the meal, and Kieran. Allowing her face to return to normal, she catches the last drip of blood on the corner of her mouth, and turns to smile at Kostas.
"Now, Kostas, you know that we're both much more than that."
~
Kieran drinks until that final, lingering heartbeat and then slowly retracts his fangs. It isn't often that he gets to feed in this fashion, feeling the life force ebb and slow beneath his mouth and in his arms. These days, they are too careful, too precise, but they have to be. Their one protection from humans, and even other supernaturals, is that the majority of the human world doesn't know about them or believe in them. It wouldn't take much to crush Vampires if they did, numbers and modern technology winning over supernatural prowess. He savors it.
"Thank you," Kieran chases the last taste of the young man from his lips, and does carefully lower the body out of the way. He doesn't blink when one of Kosta's attendants, not a human servant, but a vampire who respects and reveres the Master of the City, swoops in and removes the body before it can touch the ground.
The vampire needed that, and it makes him think, briefly, that he's long overdue for a real hunt. It's a fleeting thought; it's not why he's here.
~
"So you are, both of you," Kostas agrees. Samira and Kieran are more than subjects. As the body is carried away to be properly disposed of, Kostas nods to the other vampire guard waiting expectantly in the doorway. "You can leave us." He expects his order to be carried out without argument or pause, and it is. The guard pulls the heavy doors closed behind him.
It's only then that Kostas drains the remainder of his chalice and rises to his feet. A special bundle of herbs is pulled from an ornate box and lit. He then circles the room, carefully lighting candles that are hidden in each of the four corners until one's attention is drawn to them. It's not always a task he employs himself, but tonight, he does not mind. Once complete, he gives a nod to Kieran. "Now, we may speak freely."
~
Leaning forward, Samira steals a quick kiss from Kieran, enjoying the taste of lingering blood on his lips. Dropping back onto the couch, she exhales a sigh that she doesn't really need to let loose. "I do suppose I should find my robe so as not to be so distracting while we talk."
With a sly grin shot in Kostas' direction, she leans her body right over Kieran's, reaching for the robe that she always leaves tucked under the couch. Wriggling and stretching she finally pulls it free and begins to slide it onto her arms.
"Beyond your lazy guards, I have very little to report. I still have not located the pair. They seem to disappear completely after each attack as though they are protected somehow."
~
The younger vampire accepts the kiss easily, swiping at her lips with his tongue as the kiss breaks. He resists the urge to play a bit, both because of the presence of Kostas and because that's not really why he's here. "You, luv, are always distracting," Kieran says in that sotto, sexy tone of his that makes most women swoon. Samira isn't most women, and he doesn't expect her to swoon, but he uses the tone anyway.
The 'proper' feeding has left him in altered state of arousal and sensitivity, and it's no surprise that a soft, low appreciative growl rolls in his chest. His hand half-rises and he catches himself, lowering it again, resting it on his knee as he talks himself out of touching any of the skin that's so bare and beautiful before him.
"I've been in touch with a necromancer." Beat. "Lilith Graves, and she has made contact with the dead starlet."
He gives a faint sigh of relief when Samira begins to cover herself and is no longer hovering over his body.
~
"The guards are not lazy. They know Kieran and know he is welcome, until I tell them otherwise. Although I'm certain there will never be a need to do so."
Kostas admires the show that Samira puts on, and truly admires Kieran's restraint. The young vampire is fully fed, flesh pink with stolen blood, and Kostas knows that the Karneros appetites are entwined. Blood and sex, and Kieran's only slaked one. He knows his place, however, and will assume nothing, and do nothing, not without permission.
Samira is a naughty girl, and it's very entertaining to watch. So few things provide genuine amusement for him these days.
His gaze settles on Kieran and turns serious. "The woman on television? She is not a charlatan? Interesting. I'm assuming you haven't learned much, else you would be sharing. You will be in touch with the woman and the ghost again?"
~
"Day time television is not conducive to your safety, Kostas. I don't think that The View, or Live with Kelly is them keeping an eye out on breaches to security." Samira ties her robe right under her breasts, but settles on the couch in such a way as to show pretty much everything off despite being covered with her robe.
'Later', she mouths to Kieran, letting him know that if he still needs to slake that particular thirst he won't have to go far.
~
Kieran manages to not smile at Samira's chastisement of her 'Maker.' He's hard pressed to keep his hands off the merchandise with the manner in which she sprawls and blue eyes do light briefly upon her breasts and trail down to places lower.
It's a brief perusal, a half-smirk of gratitude given at her offer, and then his attention is back on Kostas. He doesn't doubt the older vampire is aware of every subtle nuance, and probably enjoying Kieran's wrestling with temptation.
When he speaks, his voice is practiced, calm. "She said that the ghost was confused, and I believe her. I've dealt with necromancers in the past." Kieran settles back, resting his arm on the arm of the couch and tapping his fingers lightly. "I'm having an eye kept on her and will call on her again soon."
"Let me open up questioning. Without eluding to the other murders, the starlet is public enough that it won't be a surprise. We slip up from time to time, make mistakes. No one will be the wiser if you're checking to find out if this was one of those times."
~
"Perhaps not my safety, but it so aids my sanity," Kostas gives a slow, quiet smile. It also makes him wonder how humanity will continue survive and he hopes that those sorts of idiots are weeded out of the genepool simply to maintain the food source.
He openly moves his gaze over Samira's revealed form and motions to her his words directed at Kieran, "Please, don't restrain yourself on my account. She is most appealing." Kostas gives Samira a small smirk. It lingers for a moment before disappearing. "That is a good point. This might well be the perfect time to see who, or what, can be rooted out."
~
"Point made. If they slip up on the job and let one of those crazy people in, I may just open them up. I haven't played with viscera for a while." Samira has been a very good 'girl' as it were. Fighting against her nature in order to keep Kostas happy. It wouldn't do for her to be running around the city slashing people open for fun. Once in a while she needs it, but then she generally gets a signed agreement from one of the servants, or someone at Sanguine Desires. Far better to handle it that way than to actually chase someone through the city.
The ages of being able to do that are over. Especially once vampire obsession kicked in.
A surprised look is give to Kostas, before Samira smiles at her 'Maker'. Allowing the robe to slip just a little as she shifts to be more comfortable, she glances sidelong at Kieran. "A very good idea. We do need to make a stance on this soon, one way or another, Kostas."
~
Kieran also gives the elder vampire a surprised look at the unexpected permission and encouragement. He's instantly curious and wary, because in all the years that he's served Kostas, the Master has never made a statement or given encouragement like that. Kieran isn't shy, he's as much an exhibitionist as he is a voyeur, but he makes no move to take Kostas up on the offer, so to speak, right away.
"I already know where to start. I want to approach the Trevos. They tend to hear and see a lot because they're in the shadows where no one notices them. Solomon is more reachable these days." Solomon is the clan leader of the Trevos, badly scarred and marred, but far more shrewd than many realize. Also paranoid to the point of madness, but then again, that does seem to be a driving trait of the Trevos.
~
"This is no trap and no trick, Kieran." Kostas modulates his voice, speaking to the younger like a father patiently explaining something to a child. A mentor, offering advice. "I know that you have appetites, and I doubt you've had a proper full feeding like that one in months. You want more and Samira is willing."
The Ancient Vampire leaves at it that. He does admire Kieran's restraint and shrewdness. He always has. "What of the Hecanthenos?" Doubtful they will be of any use, and doubtful they are behind it. They are by far, the most insular of all of the bloodlines.
~
"Are you certain you wish to deal with Solomon?" Raising her brow, Samira turns toward Kieran. "I would think you would prefer to take Magda." The clan leader for the Hecanthenos, who happens to be right up Kieran's alley with her exotic looks and lithe body. "I can speak to her. I doubt that they have much to do with it, but they may be able to provide us with a ritual or some blood magic to locate the deviants."
Reaching her hand over, she strokes it lightly over Kieran's shoulder. "Both you and your Child should come here to feed fully more often."
~
"I don't want to deal with Solomon," Kieran snorts. "I'll probably walk away with a headache after dealing with him, but someone has to. The little bits of knowledge that the Trevos gather makes it worth it." He won't ask Samira to do it, and he certainly won't send Sera to deal with the bloody paranoid lunatic. Perhaps he could work a deal with Ewan, but sometimes doing something right requires doing it oneself.
Touch is something that Kieran responds to. He gives her a charming grin, grasping her hand and bringing fingers to his lips where he nips them, not gently, but not overly roughly either. "We should," Kieran agrees, though he knows Serafine will balk, if only because she doesn't feed like that anymore and hasn't for a very, very long time. He does think that he and Sera could have quite a bit of fun with Samira, though he would be reluctant to expose her to Kostas' appetites.
~
Kostas steeples his fingers and gives a slow nod. "Then it's done. I'll leave this matter in your capable hands. I do expect that you will let me know what you learn from the Graves woman as well, Kieran?" It's a rhetorical question.
He stretches behind him and produces another bottle from which he refills his chalice. The Master's gaze remains focused on the pair on the couch, "I believe we are done with discussing business matters for the evening. Please, as you will." The words are dismissive and conclusive, but from his comfortable seating on the couch, it is clear that the Master of the City is going nowhere. "The night is still very young."
