Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Written by Holly Mitchell (SPARTAN-G122, formally known as Zhar The Mad)
Co-written by Bruce Mitchell
Chapter 9: Appetence
Reign sat outside of his place of dwelling, she needed somewhere to be so she didn't drive herself mad. The only problem with that was, that despite the fact she found him much more than attractive, she also found his personality challenging. When he wasn't flirting with her, he belittled her. Or so she thought, anyway. She chewed her bottom lip out of utter boredom and indecision, not knowing which one was the more prominent. On one hand, if he wanted to get belligerent with her she had pre-thought-out a few quips she was confident that would shut him up. On the other, if he decided to flirt with her, she could waste an entire day on trivialities as such. She paused and laughed at herself momentarily, because she was already doing that. It was honestly a win-win situation for her.
"Reign? To what do I owe this honor?"
Her startled eyes darted up, to see none other Lucien musing at the look on her face "How'd you get out here?"
He raised his eyebrow "This is my home, after all. I needed a few ingredients and arrived back just long enough to get jaded of watching you mutter to yourself. Speaking of which, you've been sitting out here for quite a while. Why is that?"
She huffed "I figured that if I just walked in you might lop off my head."
"Well now that I'm back, how would you like to keep me company?" he held the trapdoor open for her.
She didn't retort, standing still with her arms crossed.
"…Or perhaps we could stand out here and I can continue watching your chest rise and fall." He grinned.
"Yeah, yeah, thanks, 'think I'll take the first offer." She climbed down the ladder and took a seat on his bed.
Once inside himself, Lucien scattered miscellaneous items across his desk.
"So what was the reason for inviting me in if all you were going to do was play with plants all day?" she sneered.
"This is an important project for the Sanctuary." He smiled, not turning from the desk "If you'd like to converse then I will submit by asking what brings you here in the first place?"
She shrugged "No one's at the Sanctuary, I suppose I was just bored of sitting by myself."
"When did they leave?"
"I'm not sure…I had been resting and woke alone. It was a little strange, Antoinetta leaves about as much as Vincente would during the day." She mulled over the image for a minute.
"Clever." he grinned slightly.
"Quite –in fact, I'm also very observant." She smirked evilly, she was going to make him pay attention to her one way or another.
"How's that?" he asked absentmindedly, most likely, because the 'project' he was working on was spewing something rather sickening looking.
"For one, you know, I think Antoinetta thinks a lot of you." Her voice was just flat enough.
"Is that so?" Lucien asked, paying more attention to his work.
"More than she should." she crossed her legs.
Lucien chuckled "And how is that?" his attention was dwindling quickly from his composition.
"She wants you." she stated as if it were a bad thing, topping it off by coyly tilting her head.
"Does this bother you?"
Reign's face flushed "N-no, I, I just thought I should let you know. You, know, in case you were interested... Or not…"
He flashed his usual charming smile, now paying her full attention "Are you, perhaps, jealous?"
"Not at all!" she shouted defensively, standing to her feet.
"Hmm, for someone who doesn't…crave me…you're fuming." he brushed his fingers against her face.
"I am not." she tried desperately to sound more calm.
"You need not to be concerned with Antoinetta's feelings…" his breath was hot against her ear "Besides… someone else has been disrupting my thoughts as of late."
She placed her hand on his bicep, a rosy color creeping onto her face "Really? Who might that be?"
He pressed his lips firmly against hers "Reign, you can't imagine how much I have wanted this. How often I've dreamt of caressing you."
Reign was speechless. Not only did her taunt backfire, badly, she made Lucien crack. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing. She shyly returned his kiss as Lucien loosened her corset, laying her on the bed.
She pulled the band around Lucien's long brown hair, letting it fall to his shoulders. . .
"Reign, it's time to wake, love." He kissed her shoulder.
"Huh?" she slightly peaked an eye open, still half-asleep.
"We have to go the Sanctuary."
"But Lucien, it's not even morning yet." she continued to peak at him while he was getting dressed.
"Of course, 'wouldn't want to attract any unnecessary attention to ourselves." he slipped his robe on over his shrouded armor.
Reign childishly kicked the blankets off "Fine." she huffed and dressed.
They exited the fort using the secret entrance and headed towards the other side.
"I thought we were going to Cheydinhal?" she tugged his robe.
"We are. Just faster." he blew a short whistle and an elegant ebony horse galloped swiftly towards them. He reared once he reached them.
Reign clung to Lucien, making smile "What's wrong?"
"I don't want to get trampled." She grinned slightly when she noticed the horses eyes were the same dark sanguine color as hers.
Lucien laughed as he placed on the horse's back "This is Shadowmere. He has been my riding companion for years. Now he is yours."
The trip to Cheydinhal was very quick. They left Shadowmere in the stable and made their way to the abandoned house.
Antoinetta Marie practically ran to him "Lucien! How good it is to see you! Your timing is never less than exquisite, I just got back from a contract and was on my way out to complete another one."
"I wasn't aware that you were accepting contracts at the moment." he said aloofly.
"The previous one should've been the last for a while, but we haven't been able to find that child anywhere. She has disappeared and no one can find -"
"Reign is back now, she will complete her contract herself." Lucien interrupted the blond woman, growing annoyed.
"What?" she snarled.
"I'm right here, Antoinetta." she peaked around Lucien's shoulder.
Antoinetta was obviously livid, even if it weren't for the twitching eye "Reign... May I speak with you alone for a moment?"
She looked at Lucien for a moment as if she were searching for permission but nodded anyway.
The blonde woman pulled her by the arm behind a pillar for privacy "You conniving little harlot! I told you I was after him -and what do you do? Show up with him!" she growled.
"Conniving?! How dare you call me conniving! 'I want to take Ocheeva's place!' You're nothing but a hypocritical," Reign had raised her voice, knowing everyone in the Sanctuary could hear her "selfish-"
Antoinetta raised her hand to smack Reign out of rage.
Lucien grabbed her arm, refraining from striking her himself "Remember the tenets, Antoinetta."
She snatched her arm away and stomped off before more damage was caused.
Ocheeva scurried over "Reign, darling, are you alright?"
Reign hugged her, tears welling in her eyes "I'm fine, Lucien intervened. -Ocheeva, I'm so sorry I never said anything about it! I didn't want to start trouble for anyone."
The Argonian woman patted her back "It's alright, dear. I should've seen Antoinetta's deceptive ways."
"I've messed everything up." she bawled.
Lucien placed his hand on Reign's back "Ocheeva, please go find Antoinetta and talk to her. Remind her of why she is here."
"Yes." Ocheeva surrendered Reign over to Lucien.
"Why am I always messing things up?" she whispered to him.
"Sh, love. You've done nothing wrong, I promise." he embraced her tightly.
"Go away." Antoinetta glared.
"I just want you to understand that you almost invoked the wrath of Sithis upon yourself." Ocheeva scorned and obviously offended by her.
"I understand." She hung her head "It's just that I'm so tired of being nothing."
Ocheeva's expression softened "What in the world are you talking about? You are a trusted and beloved family member."
Antoinetta wiped tears from her eyes "You mean even after everything you still care about me?"
"Of course, dear. How could I ever think less of my loved ones?"
She hugged her "I don't deserve such devotion from anyone. Thank you, Ocheeva."
"While we are on the subject of you; Vincente asked me to talk to you about your cooking."
