As Leila put the finishing touches on the decorations, she sat back to admire her work. It wasn't anything like the decorations Vlad usually had for his parties, but that was the point. Paper streamers hung from the ceiling, chains of them interconnecting to form patterns across the room while colorful balloons floated leisurely around the surfaces they were tied to.
Nerves mixed with excitement as she thought on all the work that had gone into planning this, the call to Mencheres to find out Vlad's birthday and the former pharoah's warning. His voice echoed in her mind, "Vlad doesn't celebrate the day of his birth, I wouldn't advise planning anything. He never speaks of his reasons, but he made me swear to treat the day as any other when I found out." She had been quick to reassure him that she wasn't planning anything big, just a small celebration for her and Vlad to enjoy. Mencheres had stroked his chin in thought before nodding, "If it's only you two he might be accepting of it."
After that nerve wracking call she had to get everything prepared without alerting Vlad of her scheming, not easy by any means but the surprise would be worth it. She had planned a simple party with wine to enjoy in front of the fireplace and decorations, just because she thought the look on Vlad's face when he saw them would be funny.
Briefly flashing back, she remembered the surprise and joy on his face when he had played in the snow with her. Vlad's childhood hadn't been stellar even before he had been imprisoned, it wouldn't surprise her if his father had never celebrated his birthday which would then cause him to never do so either. She knew that her last twelve years worth of birthdays hadn't been anything to brag about, sitting around an empty table while her father and sister were out doing their own things definitely hadn't been fun in the slightest, but she hoped to give Vlad something that neither of them had.
She gave one last look around before nodding her acceptance. With the sitting room decorated she was free to move on to their room, where she had his birthday gift ready. She had learned early on that getting presents for a rich person was a challenge since he could buy anything he wanted. The only way to ensure that she gave him something he enjoyed was for it to have sentimentality attached to it, which was how Leila wound up where she was now.
The room wasn't decorated like the previous one, instead Leila had chosen a more sensual approach to her planning. Flower petals were splayed at random around and on the bed, the smell of Vlad's favorite flower drifted through the air from where it sat next to the window, and a multitude of candles sat scattered around the room just waiting to be lit. The classically romantic scene made Leila's nerves jump, her husband wasn't generally the type to want something such as this, but he had told her before that if she wanted to surprise him she was welcome to…
Picking up one of the flower petals, she bit her lip as she considered throwing them out. The candles were more than romantic enough and there was no chance of Vlad reacting scornfully to them, it would be better to stick to what she knew in this case.
Her plans had already almost been derailed once, with Vlad warning her not to do anything for today after she had wished him a happy birthday that morning. She had thought it would be nice to start the day off with a very special wake up call and Vlad had been more than appreciative...until she told him that there was no better way to wake up on one's birthday. His languide smile had disappeared to be replaced with a scowl, immediately setting Leila's nerves on edge.
"I won't bother asking how you know since there's only one person who could have told you. Since you spoke to Mencheres about this, I presume he told you of my desire to not celebrate this day correct?"
Leila still felt a slight shiver when she remembered his tone, it had been almost icy with no trace of the warmth that had been there not three minutes ago. She had to talk quickly to get him to at least consider her plans for a surprise, "Yes he did, but I'm not planning anything big."
His eyes had narrowed at her wording, "Then what are you planning?" She had bitten her lip while considering how much to tell him and what words to use so he wouldn't shut her attempt down before she even had the time to start it.
"Just a small celebration between you and me, no one else. Maybe some wine and more of what we've already done this morning." She threw in a sideways smile at the end, hoping to persuade him with the possibility of mind blowing sex. He considered her words carefully, his eyes boring into her as he did so.
After a moment he nodded, making Leila release a sigh. "That sounds acceptable, as long as you keep to that plan I will cooperate without complaint." Then he had planted a kiss on her head before leaving to start his day.
Back in the present, Leila shook herself out of her doubts. If he didn't like the flowers he would ignore them, Vlad wasn't the type to mock her when she is trying her best, especially since it is something she is doing for him. He knew that she was hesitant to try anything like this, it was unlikely that he would complain about something as small as the flower petals being too cliche.
Besides, she reasoned to herself, even if he did hate that part she had a backup plan just for this reason. The blood bags sat innocently on the nightstand, the only oddity of their appearance being the tie that sat on top of them, folded neatly. In the past she and Vlad had found quite a few things they enjoyed doing in their bed, but Vlad had mentioned that seeing her blindfolded had been a favorite. As for the blood bags, she had thoroughly enjoyed tracing patterns across Vlad's skin with them and she was sure he would like the opportunity to return the favor.
Forcing a calming breath that she no longer needed, Leila made herself walk away from the bed. If she let herself second guess it she would run back and start throwing all of the petals away. No one had ever told her how nerve wrecking it was to try anything new for your partner, the sick fear of rejection wasn't something she was used to in the slightest. The little voice had been warning her nonstop since she started that this was going to end in disaster, but Leila was bound and determined to ignore it. It had never led her right yet, after all.
She broke out of her worrying by the sound of footsteps approaching the sitting room. Excitement and nerves competed within her as she ran back into the brightly decorated room. Smiling to herself, Leila picked up one of the party poppers and got ready to spray Vlad down with it. She was probably pushing it with the poppers, but the opportunity to see her husband covered in glitter was too good to pass up. Besides, there was a shower in their room and that would also work very well for her plans.
Waiting with every muscle tensed, she saw the handle on the door shift and pulled the string just as the door swung open. "Happy Birthday!" The sight of Vlad drenched in glitter would have been funny, the sparkly substance contrasting greatly with his usual dark coloring, except Leila hadn't taken into account the possibility of anyone being with him.
Her wide smile dropped when she noticed that it wasn't only Vlad who walked into the room. Trailing behind him were Cat and Bones, both looking amused at the uncrowned prince of darkness's form covered in glitter. Internally Leila cringed, Vlad might have played along if they were in private without an audience but she knew that he was going to be furious with her now. He and Bones had a rivalry between them for decades and she had just given him the best ammunition he had ever had against her husband.
True to form, Bones wasted no time in commenting on Vlad's new attire. "Glitter looks right fetching on you Tepesh, brings out the murder in your eyes." Cat for her part beamed at Vlad, doing her best to muffle her laughs. "Happy Birthday, Vlad! Don't be mad, your wife went through a lot of trouble to plan this for you."
Her words had the opposite effect from what she had been trying for, Vlad stiffened until he could be confused with a stone statue. Icy fury frothed through his veins as Bones needled him, his shields briefly cracked as he glared coldly at his wife, who hadn't moved once since she had seen that they had company.
The fury sent ice sailing through Leila's veins when it burst over his shields to slam into her conscious, his words further feeling like a punch to the gut as he ignored Cat's warning. "Why am I covered in this juvenile substance." The words were phrased like a question, but his tone said clearly that it was rhetorical. Leila answered when he looked expectantly at her, his eyebrows practically in his hairline while the cold fire burned in his gaze.
"I thought it would be fun?" Leila almost grimaced at how hesitant her words were, but before she could go on Vlad's voice cut her off as sharp as a razor wire.
"You thought it would be...fun. Tell me Leila, do I look like I'm having fun?" Leila sheepishly shook her head, shoulders slightly hunched inward as Vlad continued on. "If I had known this childish display was what you planned earlier, I would have forbidden it then. The glitter aside, why did you think for one second I would enjoy decorations commonly found at a child's birthday party? All that's missing is a banner to make this ridiculous image complete."
Leila froze as he tore into her, emotions rolling under the surface as his cold gaze swept over the decorations she had previously been so excited to hang. She glanced at them too, seeing them in a new light as he turned to address Cat. What had previously been homemade and fun now looked simple and cheap. Her heart twisted in her chest at the dressing down Vlad gave her, her previous worries about his reaction coming back and biting her in the ass. See, I told you he would think it was stupid, but did you listen? No, you assumed that he would be happy with the effort behind it and willing to ignore the decorations that are as far away from his normal style as you can get. It's your own fault for deluding yourself.
Vlad stiffly turns to Cat, unknowing of the turmoil broiling in his wife's head. "Thank you for coming all this way for my wife's ill conceived plan for celebrating my birthday, but it wasn't necessary. As I told her earlier,". He threw a dark look over his shoulder at the still frozen Leila. "I have no interest in celebrating today. Is there any other business you need to attend to before I see you out?"
Cat's confused reply is cut off by Leila. "You don't have to send them away. I-" Vlad whirled on her in a heartbeat. "I don't want to hear a word out of you, I told you explicitly that I had no interest in celebrating today. I was willing to humor your earlier suggestion due to it only including the two of us, but no more. I am going to escort Cat and her husband out and take a shower to get this infernal substance off of me, by the time I get back I want this room clean again with none of these foolish decorations." Vlad's tone was glacial as he snapped at Leila, before swiftly turning back around and gesturing for Bones and Cat to follow him.
Cat winced at Leila's stricken face, briefly crumbling with pain and the barest flash of rejection before her mask came up, covering it effortlessly. "Sorry Cat, I didn't think he would throw you out." Cat shook her head, grimacing at Bones in silent communication. Cat hadn't come because she was invited, she had come because Mencheres had told her when Vlad's birthday was and that Leila might be planning something. She hadn't expected her presence to cause such a conflict. Shooting a brief but no less pointed glare at Vlad, Cat wrapped Leila into a hug. "It's fine, I would've come anyway to wish that grump a happy birthday."
Cat refuses Vlad's arm, taking Bones arm pointedly before she spoke. "Since you're so concerned with image you may as well shower now. Bones and I will be in the main hall." Vlad's mouth twisted but he nodded, not looking back at his wife as he walked to the shower in Leila's old room. A distant part of Leila was relieved he hadn't used their shower. She hadn't had a chance to clean up their room yet and she didn't think she could handle anymore of his scathing comments today.
Once the door slammed shut with finality, Cat and Bones throwing worried glances at her before they exited, Leila allowed herself to sit on the couch and collect herself. Her inner voice wasted no time in ripping her a new one. Well what did you expect? He's a grown man, of course he wasn't going to be happy with a childish birthday party. Hell he didn't even get far enough into the bedroom to see the flowers. Good thing too, if he thought this was over the top he would've puked at how cliché that room is right now. Usually Leila could debunk the voice, but right now it was making too much sense for her to do so.
She should have known better than to try something like this. Just because she had wanted this as a child didn't mean that Vlad would want it now. If she had thought it through instead of letting her emotions get in the way she would've seen it.
Leila had been wanting to try something like this for months, but her wariness of this very situation had held her back. Vlad had told her before that he wouldn't scorn anything that she did or got for him simply because it wasn't what he was used to. And she had believed him, just goes to show her initial feelings had been correct.
I just wanted to give him something besides sex… Obviously he doesn't want anything besides that for his birthday. Stop acting like a snivelling child because he doesn't want to do something sappy on his birthday.
Leila felt the tears build from the sting of the rejection and the rebuff but she brushed them away determinedly. There was no use in crying over it, better to just clean it up like Vlad wanted, give him space, and never do this again in the future.
If his anger was anything to go by he wouldn't want to see her tonight, which meant he would be spending the night in the dungeon. All of her previous enthusiasm turned to ash in her mouth as she began the clean up. She hated sleeping in their bed alone, better to just sleep in the other room, at least then if Vlad felt like sleeping he could have their bed.
Leila was broken out of her thoughts by a member of the staff hesitantly entering the room. "Ma'am, the voivode sent me to clean the room?" Leila felt another pang hit her chest before she pushed it back. "I have it in hand, you can go back to your other duties." The lady shifted on one foot, her heartbeat announcing her as human and nervous. "But he told me…" She briefly looked scared, not sure whose order to follow. Leila took pity on her, "Actually, I could use some help. Could you clean our room while I get rid of all of this?" The girl immediately perked up, dashing off to do her task with relief.
Leila pulled down the streamers and popped the few balloons she had blown up, making quick work of throwing it all in the nearest garbage can, crushing it down to fit. The hours of work it had taken to make all of the decorations and how excited she had been to hang them now feeling like salt in the wound.
The girl entered again with her arms full of candles and petals, a troubled look on her face. "Will that be all, Ma'am?" Leila gave a limp smile in response and a nod. Once alone in the sitting room, Leila looked around one last time for any lingering party effects before nodding in satisfaction. Placing the garbage can full of decorations to the side, she walked into their room to do a cursory check.
All of the petals and candles were gone, putting the room back to its normal grandeur. The only remaining hint as to what had been planned were the blood bags on the nightstand and the tie neatly folded on top. Leila felt a knot form in her throat at the sight of the tie, walking over she lifted it up to inspect it. Again she felt her eyes fill with tears, but this time she let them fall while making sure they didn't drop anywhere but the tie. Vlad would be able to smell them if they touched the floor or the sheets, after all. The last thing Leila wanted was her husband to know she had been crying after the dressing down he had given her. She'd like to keep some dignity after today.
Forcing an unnecessary breath through her lungs to dislodge the lump, Leila left the blood bags where they were and walked over to the adjoining room. She didn't bother to grab a pillow or blanket, it wasn't like she was tired after all. She wasn't in this room because she was sleepy, she came to lick her wounds in private that way she wouldn't start crying in front of Vlad. She doubted that she would sleep at all tonight, but even if she did the lack of a pillow was the least of her concerns. Lying back on the bed, she curled on her side facing away from the door. Bringing the hand that still held the tie up to her mouth, she wrapped it around her knuckles before biting down on it as she let the tears flow.
Vlad stood at the entryway to the castle, after a quick wash down in the nearest shower, seeing Cat and Bones off. His friend's formerly celebratory mood had quickly shifted into an icy demeanor. Cat had flatly refused to look at him after her dismissive glance when they left the sitting room. With his face twisted into a grimace, he wished them the best for their travels. Cat usually wasn't the type to be petulant over something like this, but he didn't have the time to puzzle out her behavior. He still had to talk with Leila about her ignoring his wishes and going behind his back to set this disaster of an evening up.
He wasn't looking forward to that, but he didn't want this to become a habit. When he had been imprisoned his captors had made it a game of sorts to see how much they could make him suffer on his birthday. Every year they had tried to make it even worse than the last, and usually they succeeded. He had no desire to have a reminder every year of the past.
Briefly he remembered Leila's face, how it had been twisted in shock as he reprimanded her. The memory pulled on something in his chest, he hated to discourage her from doing something he knew was out of her comfort zone, but the last thing he wanted was for her to make a tradition out of this.
If it had been any other day of the year, Vlad would have went along with his wife's little party. It certainly wasn't on the same level of the balls he threw, but there was nothing wrong with celebrating with close friends. A brief picture of the streamers and decorations came to mind, they reminded him of something a child would have done which only served to confuse him more. Why would Leila choose that in regards to a party thrown for him? Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he resolved to ask her once they got the mandatory conversation out of the way. As her frozen face flashed in his mind again, he grimaced. With some luck after he explained why he reacted so harshly she would understand. He would have to be sure she knew that it hadn't been the party itself he held issue with, lest she never try this again.
His musings were interrupted when Bones stopped Cat from leaving, turning to address Vlad for the first time since they had left the room. Instead of commenting on Vlad's previous glitter covered state or the dressing down of his wife, as Vlad expected him to, Bones said something that froze the blood in his veins and sent his heart to his shoes with dread.
"Thought you'd want to know before we leave that we weren't invited by your wife and neither did we know about that party. Mencheres told Cat at our last meeting that your wife may have been planning something for your birthday. My wife saw it as an opportunity to swing by and give you her best wishes." With that they turned and left, leaving a dumbstruck Vlad standing in his own doorway.
Dread crawled down his spine as understanding dawned. His wife hadn't invited them for his birthday, she also hadn't broken her earlier promise. The decorations they had walked in on hadn't been for more than just the two of them. Briefly he remembered a set of wine glasses and a bottle on the table, she hadn't been expecting Cat and Bones, just him.
Standing still as a statue, Vlad considered the ramifications that knowledge brought with it. His wife had planned a party for him and only him, he had misunderstood and reacted with vitriol toward the display. His stomach turned as he remembered his words and the venom they had contained when he demanded her to clean up the decorations he had called foolish.
He had been enraged, thinking she had invited not only Cat, but Bones as well to a party he had expressly stated not wanting. He should have known the instant the glitter touched him that she hadn't planned their presence. His wife would never do such a thing with Bones in the vicinity. Instead of stopping to consider the situation he had taken his misunderstanding and turned it on her with venomous words.
The decorations weren't that bad, not high quality at all, but no one had ever bothered making him such trivial things. He could see why Leila had. Homemade things held sentimental value that store bought could never compete with. Considering how many of the decorations there had been, it would have taken her hours to make all of them...
Turning toward their room, he walked with a brisk pace back to where Leila was undoubtedly hurt by his display. If he was lucky she would be angry with him for his refusal to let her explain, but once he told her why he didn't want to celebrate she would understand and her temper would cool. In the worst case scenario however, Leila was hurt by his reaction and mentally berating herself for her well intentioned actions. Even as he hoped for the former, for no other reason than he would prefer she be mad at him than crying, he knew the latter was considerably more likely.
The knife in his chest twisted at the thought of his words bringing tears to Leila's eyes. His stride increasing until he was all but running to their room. He needed to fix his mistake post haste, from experience he knew that the longer he let her stew in her thoughts the worse her confidence would get. And he had already left her to herself for more than long enough for her hated inner voice to do considerable damage. His own words rang back through his mind, all the ways they could be taken and twisted raced through his mind as he moved.
There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't wish he could cure his wife of that pesky voice in her head that planted poisonous thoughts in her mind when she was weak. In situations like this, where he knew one of his actions was the opening that voice needed to start in on her, he wanted nothing more than to rip that voice out and set it aflame, even if he knew the thought was futile.
No, he couldn't do anything about the mental trauma his wife had gone through or the repercussions of it, but he could do his best to not give that voice ammunition to harm her with. As he sped past staff members, they glanced at him worriedly but he didn't spare them a glance. He had a wife to comfort and apologize to.
He slammed to a halt when a piece of thoughts slammed into him. -Shame that the voivode didn't get to see it. Poor mistress, she had looked so excited earlier too. She seemed so…dejected when I left.
Vlad watched as the staff member he had sent to clean up the room turned the corner, her arms full with a garbage bag and a worried frown on her face. The frown disappeared when she saw him as she rushed to bow.
He waved impatiently for her to stand, speaking only when she did so. "Are you finished with cleaning the sitting room." A brief flash of discomfiture passed her face before she replied.
"Ma'am told me to clean your chambers instead…Was that wrong?" She looked ready to have a stroke, Vlad shook his head to relieve her of that panic. Confusion bit at his mind, what would be in their room that would require throwing out?
"No, you followed her order. Give that to me, I will deal with it accordingly." She looked briefly hesitant, before handing over the bag. Vlad sent her away with a flick of his hand, his mind now occupied with curiosity over the bag in his arms.
Entering the sitting room, he stopped to glance around at the space now empty of its previous bright colors. Another pang twisted in his chest when he saw the garbage can full of decorations, all crushed and mangled to fit. The sight screamed dejection, as if it were rubbing Vlad's failure with his wife in his face.
The wine sat forgotten on the table, at a closer glance he noticed that it was the same wine they had shared in the beginning of her stay before they had been dating. Shifting the bag to one hand, he grabbed the bottle and the glasses in his other. Wine is a good addition to any apology, and after how the day had turned he knew without a doubt that there would be an apology.
It was rare that Vlad deemed a situation necessary for a verbal apology, but this was one of the few times that actions weren't going to be enough.
Walking into the bedroom he glanced around, confusion blooming when Leila was nowhere in sight. He had expected her to be here, whether she was angry and refusing to speak with him or hurt and curled amongst the blankets. Focusing on his hearing he caught the slightest shuffling from the adjoining room, alerting him to her whereabouts.
That unfortunately told him nothing about how Leila was feeling, she retreated to that room when they fought all the time. It could mean that she was angry with him or she could be wanting space after his hurtful words. Glancing at the bag, he decided to deal with that first. If Leila wanted space then this would give her time to herself before they talked. Besides, his curiosity was only growing as to what was in the bag, as well as what Leila had planned for it before the evening had taken its turn. Placing the wine and glasses on the stand, he focused on the bag.
Upending it onto the bed, Vlad watched as flower petals fell out. His confusion disappeared as he noticed the candles scattered amongst the flowers. Apparently, his wife hadn't only decorated the sitting room. The real surprise had been in here, waiting for her to lead him to it.
Remorse washed over him in waves. Leila didn't try things like this often and after how her first attempt had gone, he doubted that she would try again anytime in the next century, if she ever did at all.
Sitting on the bed surrounded by the items, he picked up one of the petals. Absentmindedly turning it in his palm as he considered the situation. Had the night gone how Leila had planned they would be here now, intertwined together after what would have undoubtedly been a few rounds of passionate love making. The blood bags on the nightstand made his groin tighten with anticipation that he quickly stomped down. He would be a fool to assume that his earlier actions and words would allow for any amorous activities.
Even if she forgave him, he doubted that sex was in the cards for tonight. On the few occasions Vlad had truly hurt her feelings they hadn't been intimate until the next day at least. When feelings were genuinely hurt it was better to leave anything carnal out of the equation until they were back on equal footing again. There was plenty of time after the hurt had been soothed to partake in that, right now it was more important to deal with the unintentional pain he had caused her.
After glancing at the candles again, Vlad made his decision. Standing up, making sure to stay as quiet as possible, he began setting the candles strategically around the room. Once done, he properly scattered the petals around the bed before standing back to get a better look at his handiwork. He wasn't usually one to do such things, but he could appreciate the thought and effort Leila put into it. It hadn't escaped his notice that the flowers were his favorite.
Nodding in satisfaction, Vlad turned to the adjoining room across the hall. Time to go apologize. Determination filled him as he reached her door, the quiet shuffling freezing upon hearing his approach. Knocking lightly against the frame he spoke clearly, knowing that she can hear him. "Leila, may I come in? We have things we need to discuss."
He could practically feel her indecision through the door, her answer when it came was hesitant. "I...would prefer you didn't."
Internally grimacing at the slight gravelly quality to her voice, Vlad knew that the worst case scenario had happened. Leila's voice only dropped that low when she was trying to hide the after effects of crying from him. She hated it when he saw her crying and did her best to hide away from him whenever it happened, to his frustration. As her husband it was his duty to be there when she needed it, that included times of emotional pain, especially when he was the cause of her distress.
Vlad shook himself out of the train of thought, he had to focus on the present. If she accepted his apology then he could comfort her in person and wipe away her tears himself as he should be. Before he could do that though, he had to get Leila to let him in the room.
"To use a phrase you are so fond of, I have a counter offer. I will stay out here while we have this discussion, but we still need it to be done. You can let me in whenever you feel ready." Vlad hoped that both his silently following her wishes to not open the door and his attempt at humor would move her. He heard a choked laugh, before silence.
"You'd seriously stand outside the door while we talk?" He could hear her disbelief, it made his mouth quirk up in amusement.
"Until you wish to let me enter, yes that is what I will be doing." To punctuate his point he leaned back against the door before sliding down to sit in front of it. The silence stretched before Leila's voice broke it. "You don't have to do that, just give me a minute…" Vlad's mouth pulled down, he knew the reason she asked for time and it pulled at his heart.
"There's no need to hide your tears from me Leila. I am well aware of their existence and, as I've told you in the past, when you're distressed I should be by your side." A snort from the other side made him grimace, yes it was ironic for him to talk about being there for her through her distress when he was the one who caused it.
"Before we get any further in this conversation, there's something I need to say and you need to hear. I apologize for my earlier overreaction to your attempt at celebrating my birthday. I offer no excuse as there isn't one that makes my words to you acceptable. Just know that I misunderstood and I don't think your decorations were foolish. Should you wish to continue, we could retire to our room with the wine and watch a movie. If you would prefer to keep your space then I will retire to our room and we can talk more tomorrow." Vlad hated offering that, but he knew that it was important to give Leila space when she needed it. Crowding his wife was never a good idea, especially not with a raw emotional wound so newly made.
Thankfully she didn't take him up on the second option. The door behind him shifted, alerting him to its opening. As he moved to stand, he stopped briefly to consider a way to bring a smile onto her face. Smirking to himself, he let his weight slide backwards with the door until he was falling. A light collision with the ground was a small price to pay if it brought a smile to his wife's lips. Instead of the ground touching his back, Leila's knee caught his weight. Her hand sliding into his hair as he tilted his head back to look at her from his place half reclining against her knee.
Leila was fighting a smile, her eyes dry but red from rubbing, the slight sheen of pink on her cheeks the only other sign of her tears. "Were you seriously going to just let yourself fall over?"
Vlad shrugged in answer, "I knew it would make you smile and it accomplished that. Although I see you didn't allow me to completely fall." Leila smiled sheepishly, "Habit, I saw you falling and forgot that you could catch yourself."
In the next blink Vlad stood in front of Leila, his hands cradling her face and stroking the path her tears had taken previously. His smile fell as the previous topic came to mind. "If you would like to continue with whatever else you had planned for the evening you have my full cooperation, but if you would prefer to simply lay in bed with wine and enjoy one anothers company I would be just as happy with that."
Leila looked down, remembering the flowers and candles. "Ah I had something else but it doesnt matter. It was stupid and I prefer your idea anyway."
Before she could move past him, Vlad pulled her into his chest while wrapping her into an embrace. Once her surprise wore off she melted into him, arms tightening around his waist as her head cuddled into his shoulder.
His next words made her stiffen and pull back, "Whatever your idea was, it wasn't stupid, of that I guarantee. I can guess that it included the blood bags on the nightstand and the tie wrapped around your hand."
Leila looked up at him with wariness, "Yeah, I figured since I enjoyed what we did with the blood last time, I thought you might want to do it this time. I prefer being blindfolded than tied down, but I'll follow your lead."
Vlad's mouth quirked, Leila didn't know he had seen the flowers and candles, but she was about to find out. "Do you wish to continue with your plan? The previous option of simply enjoying one another's company with wine is still available should you choose it." As he spoke he unwound his tie from her hand, placing a kiss on her knuckles as he did so.
Leila considered as she leaned into the hand that traveled from her own to cup her cheek. She wasn't really in the mood for anything more right now, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be later… "Could we start with the movie and wine? Maybe later we can move on to other things, but I'm not really in the mood right now."
Placing another kiss on her cheek, Vlad nodded before tugging her back toward their room. He knew when Leila saw the arrangement, her arm yanked to a stop a foot behind him. His smile grew at her flabbergasted expression before settling into mortification. "I guess it wasn't enough you had to see my failed attempt at a party."
The self deprecation in her tone had Vlad spinning her around and planting his lips on hers. He knew that hated voice would have wasted no time in starting on her,sometimes he hated being right. He would have to make sure she understood that his earlier reaction had nothing to do with her, but for now he had an easy way of silencing her negative thoughts.
Her squeak of surprise was muffled before she curled closer to his chest. Once he pulled back he smirked down at her. "Everytime you say something self deprecating I am going to silence you this way. As for your statement, you didn't fail in either of your endeavours. I ordered you to stop your party because I misunderstood what it was for and I see nothing that would constitute failure in this plan."
"But the flowers…" She looked so hesitant that Vlad pulled her back into his arms to reassure her. Her confidence had come far since they had begun their relationship, but after events like this it reduced back down to its lowest state. It made Vlad wary, how easily a word or action from him could completely tear down Leila's hard fought confidence. He was usually decent at watching his words and actions, but he wasn't perfect by any means. As today's events showcased brilliantly.
"Are lovely. While I would never plan such a thing, there is nothing wrong with feeling amorous every now and then. You took care in choosing a flower that I like as well as planning an evening that, had it gone to plan, would have been very enjoyable. That is more than enough for me."
Leila nodded, relieved that he hadn't made fun of her attempt before confusion replaced her happiness. "Wait, how did you get all this stuff? I saw the lady leave with it earlier."
Vlad shrugged, "I heard her thoughts and found out what you had planned. She had been on her way to throw it out, but I stopped her and retrieved it. Once back here I set all of it up again. You put quite a bit of effort into this, the least I could do after my actions in the last hour is make sure this didn't go to waste."
Leila stared at him dumbfounded. Her husband had found and placed all of the candles and petals that she had previous assumed were in the garbage somewhere. Warmth spread through her, soothing the last of the leftover sting from earlier as it went. Vlad may be callous some times, but he did care. He just showed it in different ways than everyone else.
Standing on tiptoes, Leila pulled him down for a kiss. Gratitude and love mixing together as she tried to curl as physically close as she could. The warm arms wrapped around her suddenly scooped low behind her knees, lifting her in a bridal carry.
Vlad's looked down at her with his signature smirk as he laid her amongst the petals before joining her. Placing his arm underneath her head, he reached for the plush comforter and wrapped Leila in it. Once done, he handed her the remote and settled comfortably next to her.
"It's your birthday, shouldn't you be choosing what we watch?" Leila's voice held no real fight as she started to flip through the channels. Vlad tightened his arm around her until they were pressed together again. "I have no preference over one or the other, I am content laying here with you."
Leila rested her head on his chest, over where his heart laid silent, and relaxed against him. Today hadn't turned out how she had hoped, but as Vlad shifted her body to rest between his legs, forming a physical shield around her, she couldn't say she minded where the night ended.
_
Later, after they had the chance to relax from the excitement of the day, Vlad returns to the sitting room for a book only to see the remaining party poppers on the table. The sight reminding him of the thorough scrubbing he had to give himself to get those irritating grains off of him.
Picking them up, he moved to throw them away only to stop mid motion as he remembered the short lived humor in his wife's eyes when she had coated him in the substance. He turned the contraption over in his palm as he considered it.
That was how Leila found him a minute later, at the sight of the popper she immediately jumped into a verbal defence. Vlad silently mourned the loss of her previous relaxed state, now tense as if expecting an emotional blow.
"I was planning on sending those to the kids in the town next time someone went. No reason to waste them after all. I wasn't going to use them on you again though."
Vlad silenced her worried babble with a kiss. After a hesitant moment, Leila wrapped her arms around him as she sank into it. Her shoulders relaxed as Vlad showed no negative reaction to the popper's presence. She tried to jump back in the next instant when a loud, bang!, sounded behind her. Vlad's arms tightened until there was no room between their chests.
Confusion plagued Leila until she noticed the dust like glitter floating down around them. Remembering to close her mouth just in time as it settled across both of their figures. Staring at Vlad in shock, who looked smugly amused at her expression, she sputtered out in protest. "But you hate glitter!"
"Yes I do, but it washes off and you like it. However, I refuse to be the only one coated." Leila's shock swept away as a laugh vibrated low in her chest at the sight of Vlad willingly coated in glitter. His smile softened around the edges as he watched her try to hold back the laughter, only to give up and let it loose while leaning against him.
His arms came up to wrap around her as she let it all out, her body convulsing uncontrollably as she fought to get herself under control again. Having his much happier wife safely in his arms made the grainy substance already finding its way to uncomfortable areas worth it. Besides, he had an ulterior motive for this.
Leila's laugh was cut off when Vlad scooped her legs out from under her. Walking into their bathroom he began pulling both of their clothes off while speaking. "Do you know how difficult it is to get this infernal substance off of skin? It takes several very thorough washes to get all of it. Now that we are both covered, we need to be sure that we are completely clean before we can face the staff again. The rumors would be atrocious otherwise."
Leila smiled up at Vlad, maybe he had his own reasons for covering them in glitter but that didn't matter. He had done it with her without complaint and she had gotten to see what he looked like covered in it. As he turned on the water and stepped in, pulling her along with him, she was happy that this part of her plan had stayed intact.