Vivika had to admit she'd been most pleased when Thomas had asked her to accompany him to Volter Bene late one evening as it usually meant good wine and sex. She'd not been pleased, however, when he'd found out – seconds before they'd walked in – he was there to see Sanjay Desei rather than wine and dine his bride. No, Viivka wasn't happy at all, though mostly due to Sanjay working for her rather than Thomas. And they could have had such a nice night.
The entered the restaurant rather inconspicuously for them and actually managed to go mostly unnoticed which was nice if a little bit of a surprise. Eichhorst spotted Sanjay very quickly in roughly the middle of the dining room and calmly guided his wife to the table with a warm hand on the small of her back. There wasn't any urgency in their movements, everything was slow and calculated.
Her favorite human co-conspirator appeared to be arguing quietly with his wife about something but neither Vivika nor her loving Strigoi cared all that much as to what it regarded; though they could hazard a guess. They stopped at the dining table which got Desei to snap his head up instantly and fall quiet forgetting his marital squabble. When Thomas Eichhorst showed up by your table at Volter Bene it wasn't just to pass the time of day.
"Mister Desei." Said Thomas in greeting.
Oh people took notice of the Eichhorsts then, heads went down as if their meals had suddenly become three times more interesting while the braver ones amongst the dinner patrons flashed them looks littered with concern; one or two even pointed them out in a 'do you know who that is' fashion.
Sanjay audibly swallowed. "Mister and Missus Eichhorst."
The bearded man rose to his feet as he removed his napkin from his lap. Poor man was clearly nervous but the Eichhorsts honestly didn't care; Vivika even found it a little adorable.
The suit clad human gestured to his wife while his brain worked double time to figure out why the hell Eichhorst himself would have shown up.
"You- you know my wife, Seleh?"
"Frau Desei, of course."
Thomas showed her that outwardly polite but inwardly deadly smile that he'd practically trademarked over the years, the one that left a devilish glint in his eyes and unnerved almost everyone whether they be friend or foe. Vivika adored that smile, adored the reactions it got out of people and simply loved that he couldn't ever stop it turning hungry when he looked at her, even if it was just for a split second.
"I'll give you two some privacy." Said Seleh as she made to get up.
Thomas and Vivika – hell everyone who was brave enough to still be watching them – knew this was an attempt at escape but Thomas didn't give her the opportunity. Before she could even raise from her seat a single inch Thomas had gestured for her to stay put and it clearly wasn't a request despite the words that left his lips.
"No, no, no. Please, stay."
Vivika grinned as she rested against her husband in that way she always did, the one where she draped herself along his side without it looking over the top or stupid. Oh, so we're playing it that way. Alright.
Thomas still wore that smile and it didn't look like it would fade away any time soon, his bride didn't mind that at all since the way it unnerved the Deseis amused her more and more by the second.
"Where are my manners?" Began the Strigoi as he tried to sound conversational. "Frau Desei, this is my wife, Vivika."
"Pleasure." Greeted the raven-haired beauty on Thomas' arm.
She'd been working on her own version of her husband's smile, it wasn't quite as good but Vivika was proud to say it was getting there. Like a gentleman Thomas pulled out a chair for Vivika on the opposite side of the square table before he went to seat himself in the fourth chair so his back was to the main entrance. Though some distance from the door his position left the Deseis with a sense of being blocked in; trapped.
"Don't mind us. Eat."
Sanjay finally sat down and Vivika caught a whiff of his cologne. It wasn't quite as heavy as Thomas', but then again Thomas' was there to serve a totally different purpose; not that Thomas reeked of Lorenzo Villoresi Sandalo. No, Sanjay's wasn't Sandalwood or quite as noticeable, there wasn't any sharp citruses or rosewood undertone to him, Sanjay smelt much softer, fruitier, it wasn't bad per se it just … wasn't Thomas.
The bearded man sat there not doing a very good job at hiding his worry, instead it perched on his face and embedded itself in his eyes making everything very obvious. Both Eichhorsts had taken time out of their day to come and bug him; he very much doubted they wanted to double date. After a few seconds when Seleh didn't again start to eat Sanjay watched as the Strigoi plastered on that smile of his again.
"I insist."
Vivika spotted the eye gesture the bearded man gave his wife, the silent urge for her to fucking eat, though she doubted Thomas had seen it. It took another couple of micro seconds but Seleh finally took the hint and picked up her fork. The Master's left hand took it upon herself to make an attempt at calming Missus Desei, not out of kindness of course, but just so they could really terrify her later; make it more fun.
"While Thomas cannot eat the delicacies served here," she began with a soothing smile which made her green orbs twinkle, "he doesn't like to deprive those who can."
With that the Eichhorsts turned their attention fully to Sanjay; had his panic not been quite so delicious Vivika might have felt bad for the elder man.
"I stopped by your office, I was surprised you weren't there." Said Thomas just a little too slowly. "I trust this means everything is in order."
Vivika found herself actually impressed with how well Sanjay managed to form a steady sentence, though she suspected reaching for his wine glass helped.
"Yes, actually. It is. Ahem." He cleared his throat. "The delivery room is fully equipped. Staff have been briefed. We've taken every possible measure to ensure the safety and well-being of the mother. I did inform Missus Eichhorst, sir."
Vivika loved it when people called her that.
"Excellent." Was Thomas' only response.
"There are many places where my and my husband's work overlap." She informed Sanjay. "We have many long discussions." Vivika looked slowly over to Seleh who continued to fearfully pick at her meal. "Did you ever wish to work with Sanjay?"
Missus Desei's eyes flashed up to Vivika instantly with a tantalizing amount of blind panic scattered across them.
"Em, well, I think his work is far over my head."
She admired the attempt at swerving away from the topic but Vivika was just having too much fun.
"Oh, I suspect you're smart enough to catch up."
Polished emeralds flitted upwards to a waiter with spiky dark hair, roughly her own age as he set a glass of bloody looking wine down beside her. Vivika smiled up at him with a kinder smile than she'd shown the Deseis.
"Thank you, Gregory."
The waiter – Gregory – nodded in understanding then retreated to wherever it was he'd come from. Green eyes watched him leave for two reasons. Firstly, Gregory really was rather handsome. Secondly, it would make Thomas more possessive of her.
"They really did train him well." She spoke after a sip of wine.
Eichhorst refused to let his eye twitch with irritation, instead he forced himself from vanishing down a tangent and insisted on steering himself back to the task at hand; that was how Sanjay found himself under the Strig's firm gaze once more.
"And afterwards?"
A simple enough question but it got caution and worry to flash in the beaded man's eyes again, shame really, Vivika had always thought Sanjay rather attractive. He cleared his throat again clearly not wanting to speak of the details in front of his wife.
"Well, it's … as I discussed with yourself and Missus Eichhorst."
Thomas didn't miss a second. "I am not talking about the baby, Mister Desei, I am talking about the mothers. Everything is going to change the moment this first child is born. Surely you have a plan for dealing with their reactions. My wife has assured me you are a valued member of her people, in fact you are the only one she has ever allowed free rein when it comes to operating a department. While I have every faith in Vivika, I would still like to hear it for myself."
"Honestly, sir, I don't see how it's gonna be so different."
That got Vivika to raise a perfectly shaped eyebrow because it seemed so very obviously to everyone else. She watched her husband lean forwards just a touch as she continued to sip her wine enjoying the subtle taste of strawberries; Vivika did her best to hide her grin behind her glass. This was going to be good.
"Perhaps you should have your wife explain it to you. Or perhaps I take something important from you to help you better understand."
Horror, just what Vivika always liked to see; dinner and a show.
"That won't be necessary, sir." Sanjay insisted fully understanding the threat.
"Good. Because I confess I and my wife are more than a little disappointed in your progress."
A slight irritation entered Thomas' voice and Vivika knew it was one of those times, the times when it was best to just stay quiet and see what unfolded. Everyone around them had returned to their meals but she suspected that wouldn't last all that long.
"We're delivering our first baby in nine months almost to the day. I don't know how we could have done it any faster or better." Mister Desei informed in a hushed tone.
"No?" Eichhorst questioned without sounding overly impressed. "Well, what if you harvested the babies earlier. Say, seven or eight months instead of nine? Perhaps even as early as six, provided it's an acceptable size."
"I think I'm going to leave-" Began Seleh.
Shame, thought Vivika, she'd honestly expected the woman to last longer. Before Missus Desei could stand Thomas slammed his large, make-up coated hand down on the square table making a sharp, loud noise which drew everyone's attention back to them; even got a small yelp from a couple of the closer dinner guests.
"Sit!" The suit clad Strigoi ordered.
Vivika beamed, her purple painted lips tugged upwards into a crescent, as she leaned forwards just a little – wine glass still in hand – to address the elder woman.
"You're going to want to hear this, Thomas is getting to the good part."
Eichhorst didn't even acknowledge his bride had spoken, he kept his fake eyes firmly locked on Sanjay's dark brown ones. Vivika took another sip of her wine as they approached the climax of the conversation.
"Then if you shorten the recovery time for the mothers," Thomas started oh so calmly, "each of them would produce nearly two babies per year instead of one. That would almost double your output, would it not?"
Fuck, listening to Thomas do math had never been so sexy.
The bearded man, much to Vivika's surprise, didn't panic or move, he kept his voice steady but it was her husband who'd be able to hear the heart beat and know the truth behind the façade.
"That would be highly optimistic and well outside the margins for safety." Replied Sanjay.
"Yes." Eichhorst responded as if it was really very simple because in reality – for the Strigoi – it was.
"But, yes, it's possible." The dark-skinned man relented.
"Shall I do more of your thinking for you?"
Vivika couldn't stop the note of amusement which slipped from her lips, the tiny noise that got Thomas' eyes to flick to her for just a moment.
"No, sir."
"Good, because my wife is very rarely wrong about anything and I would hate for you to be one of those rare occasions." The warning wasn't lost on Sanjay, not one but. "Look around, Mister Desei. Every single person in this room serves a purpose. That's why they are allowed to dine here. If you cannot fulfil your purpose we will find someone who can."
Sanjay nodded. "I understand."
Oh there wasn't any denying he did, understood the magnitude of his suffering were this … farming venture to go awry. Just because Vivika found him attractive and adorable didn't mean she'd leave him or his heart intact. Thomas and their Lord were the only things Vivika wouldn't place herself above so she's step over Sanjay quite easily should the need arise.
She downed the last of her red wine and watched as Thomas stood, fastened the button of his charcoal suit jacket then rounded the table to help her up like the perfect husband he was; he could be such a gentleman when the mood took him. He liked his arm with his young bride's own.
"Enjoy the rest of your night, Mister Desei, Frau Desei."
Once again Vivika draped herself against her husband as she sought out his warmth. "In the morning I expect a detailed report of each mother and their progress. Oh, and I must say, Seleh, I love your dress."
With that husband and wife left Volter Bene arm in arm knowing Sanjay had gotten the message. As soon as they were out on the dark street with a sky that threatened rain, far away from people Vivika pressed her chest to Thomas' and rose up onto her tiptoes to kiss him.
"I'm going to need you to fuck me now, darling."
Eichhorst smirked. "Hmm, I suspected. You've been wet for me since I slammed my hand on that table."
Oh she had, she really had. They kissed again with a clash of teeth and tongue, one monster perfectly suited for another.
"My needy wife." He said in a loving tone even The Master hadn't ever heard and tucked a stray lock of raven hair behind her ear. "My beautiful, wanton whore."
Oh yeah, it was going to be a good night.