p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"The mountains weren't quite what Gaius was expecting. Armed with a small bag and just about as much supplies as he needed, he was living rough. Hunting was easy enough and the idea of catching, killing and eating wild animals was nothing he was squeamish about. Those days food didn't even have to be cooked for him to enjoy it. It was the loneliness that was eating Gaius alive, the silence leaving no distraction from how he felt or the situation he was in or had been in. Nothing./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He felt guilty for missing it. It had a routine, he knew when he had to fight and he knew the likelihood of him dying was slimmer than most men. It didn't feel like that out here. Sure, the food now was more plentiful with it being spring But eventually winter would come. The weather could still be harsh and unpredictable and sometimes he just couldn't find shelter. He also had to compete with the wildlife. Wolves seemed to heed him as a territorial threat and bears seemed just as ready to chase him away. /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"Part of him considered finding a remote village, one that wouldn't know his name, or his nickname for that matter. Future him would look back and find it funny that he ever considered becoming a goat farmer or just wished he could have a job so mundane. Just anything to give him a sense of purpose again. On a full Moon he could simply leave his house undetected, run as far away as possible and then be back before sunrise the next morning, able to catch a few hours asleep with the knowledge that no one had been harmed. Might even meet a nice shepherd who was easy on the eyes. Any companionship at this rate felt priceless. A wolf travelling alone was only ever doing so to find a style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was midday and the rain had been falling in harsh horizontal sheets. They scathed Gaius' skin, his teeth chattering and his hair plastered to his head. Rain made mountain passes more dangerous, the rain assaulting loose rock and encouraging it to fall or worse cause a landslide. A landslide with something Gaius didn't want to test his durability style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /His hands felt numb and he tried to hold onto his bag, hoping he'd find shelter before his fingertips began to turn blue. He couldn't even start a fire, everything in his bag would be sopping wet, including the tinder he kept on hand. He just needed a cave or something, anything. If he hated anything, it was the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /With how thick the clouds were it made it easy to lose track of time and the trudge along that pathway felt like it lasted forever. So when Gaius spotted a dark crevice in the distance he was desperately hopeful that it would lead to a cave. At least it would provide somewhere to stay until the sky brightened up. That was if he was correct about there being a cave at style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The rain was also a problem, because without it Gaius would have picked up the scent trail already leading up to that cave. But he didn't. He carried onwards, the only thought to escape the weather. When he'd finally made it up the small incline in the path and veered off and up slightly, he could've cried for joy at the side of the cave opening. Involuntarily he let out a laugh of somewhat bitter style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was still freezing but as he walked inside and allowed his bag to fall down from his shoulder and to the ground he knew at least he'd be dry now. Maybe it was worth trying to sleep through the rest of the storm. Finding a boulder to perch upon, He removed his cape which had been sticking to his back and began to tightly ring the fabric, the water pattering to the ground in a small puddle as he worked up. He'd have to do the same to his tunic, but didn't really feel like stripping down. Men with hypothermia were often found naked, having got to the stage where they were so cold they somehow began to feel like they were overheating. It wasn't something Gaius had ever style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Preoccupied by trying to sort his cloak out, the werewolf had also forgotten to check around more than just the entrance. Something nestled in the darkness, in the throat of the cave, was quiet and stealthy and very much unwilling to be sharing a cave with a mutt. This day walker was not style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He heard a small shard of rock fall and for a second he looked back, but it wasn't long before he was going over his cape again, just to make sure it was as dry as it possibly could be. By the time he'd spun around, a sudden burst of movement catching his attention, the attack had already style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius was confident with fighting. But how could he be certain he wasn't going to die against something he was pretty sure wasn't human? Long pointed canines punctured his neck and that voice was back. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Kill it kill it kill it kill it. Die die die-/embr style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Digging already clawed hands into the flesh of his attacker he violently shoved it into the cave wall, leaving deep red lines in its skin. Blood was dripping onto the ground, dripping down from his neck and cascading down his shoulder and style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He was surprised that his attacker appeared to be a woman, blood streaked down her face and wearing a filthy stola and tunic. He didn't get much longer to take in what she looked like because just as she'd been standing there, seething, she was suddenly attacking again. In a split second Gaius found himself lying on the cold cave floor, one arm pinned away from him and the other struggling to beat her away. Her strength was frightening. Entirely unnatural, but Gaius couldn't say much on that style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She raised her hand as if to pummel a fist into his face, a burning look in her eyes that could only really be described as bloodthirsty. An ungodly screech pierced the air as her wrist was met with wolven fangs. Blood filled his mouth, refusing to let go as he held tighter and tighter and she cried out in pain. His other hand was released, at the expense of her freehand being driven with such force that if it hadn't been for regeneration Gaius' nose and mouth would have never looked the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He raked his fingers into her hair and pulled, hearing a nasty ripping sound as he sent her flying. His ears were ringing and each time his heart beat more precious blood pooled out into the cave floor. His head was spinning and it was becoming difficult to keep his eyes open much longer. He could hear her, walking towards him, bare feet scuffing the ground. Her blood covered face reminded him of a vulture after feeding. Or maybe a bear, she didn't seem like much of a style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Her face crumpled into this disgusted look, suddenly spitting a mouthful of his own blood back at him and shaking her head. Barely conscious he watched her scrape her incisors across the top of her tongue as if to get rid of the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No, no no, disgusting, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"disgusting/em' She hissed indignantly to herself. His vision was swimming now and he briefly remembered wondering if he'd finally found something that could kill style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Fucking dog-"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I can't die here./embr style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And he didn't. He didn't expect to wake up again. Outside was quiet and dark, the night sky vibrant with stars. Yet there he was, lying in a pool of congealed dried blood. His own of course. The cave that he'd once sought shelter in now looked like a crime scene. His cloak was missing and when he'd finally managed to stagger over to his bag, he realised his knife had been taken, as well as the short sword from his belt. A thief as well as a potential murderer. As far as first impressions went with vampires or any supernatural being other than himself, it didn't exactly form a positive style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /By the time the sun had risen Gaius found himself sitting towards the back of the cave. The sunlight stung and he was beginning to feel quite unwell. The next three days were ones of yet another hellish transformation. He wondered if this was what possession was like, blacking in and out, Blood pouring from his eyes on occasion and finding himself on the ceiling. The longest process was probably his canine teeth beginning to loosen, pushed out and replaced by sharp fangs. The little food he did have on him became difficult to keep down unless he ate small amounts at a time. He also developed a craving for something else but at that moment in time he wasn't sure style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He found himself separated even further from humanity now. From that moment on Gaius found himself an awkward crossroad between lycanthropy and vampirism. Trying to run away from the bloodshed to find a normal life had failed and Gaius came to the conclusion that there was only really one thing he was good style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /So he became a soldier again. For all the bad he'd done, for all the pain and suffering he knew he had caused, the flesh of men he'd consumed, maybe part of him believed he could redeem himself and find honour once again. He could find something worth fighting for. The thing was there was familiarity in violence and order and routine in the military. He had a style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He fought for Rome but eventually something had to give. The fall of the empire left Gaius adrift, a terrible lack of purpose settling over his life again so he found solace in finding other wars to fight in. He learned many languages to varying degrees. He met men he hated, men he loved but the common theme was he nearly always lost them. Combat is famously cruel on the human mind and body. The comradeship he had with his friends kept him alive and kept him strong and whether they realised it or not Gaius adopted them into his own pack of style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He discovered other supernatural beings, witches, demons, zombies, ghosts to name a few. Despite the fact making friends within a supernatural community would've saved Gaius the frequency in which he lost those he loved, for the longest time he avoided them like a bad smell. His affliction had been brought about by them and he felt that he would further lose himself if company with humans became style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And yet was losing himself to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /1066, Battle of Hastings, he fought for the side of William the Conqueror and allowed the first king of Britain to obtain his throne. He fought for the Norman's in the invasion of Wales. He then realised Britain was cold, wet and full of Saxons who didn't want Europeans running amok. So back to Europe he went. The Anglo-French war resulted in a truce. He was there for most of the hundred year war. The war of the roses went on much longer than it should've. The Jacobite uprising had to be squashed. The failed French invasion of Russia. The Napoleonic wars. The list was vast, endless and ever expanding. He had become so numb to killing, as long as there was a cause behind it. He believed himself to be a soldier through and through, there was no way civilian life was cut out for someone like style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /There were wars he later came to regret participating in, corrupt leaders who had lied, unnecessary harm brought to non-combatant civilians, dishonourable and downright evil men who did not deserve to defend their countries. But battle was simply an addictive vice, humanity's own history alone reflects /br /-br /br /It was 1857, the french revolution long since passed in Paris and Gaius had just come out on the winning side of the Crimean 'd received his pay and for the meantime a job as a guard was sufficing. He'd never been the type to settle down for very long and for a year or two a small room at a lodging served as his home. He didn't need much, he just hoped he'd be called back into active service soon. The cycle would soon repeat itself and he could be back where he was doing something style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He didn't expect the woman across the hall to become an active part of his life. He'd only seen her briefly, a new resident in fancy clothes, bright eyed, chatty and always with a gentleman by her side who reminded Gaius of some kind of pompous turkey. He assumed the happy couple would be gone within a couple of weeks, some other part of Paris or maybe France or maybe the rest of Europe. The most curious thing about the pair however, was the fact that she had the scent of a werewolf and the man was clearly a style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius didn't often mingle with other vampires or werewolves, being a bit of both had left him ostracised but most of it was personal choice. But he did know that typically relations between the groups were hostile. So maybe he should've been a bit happier for them. style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was the evening and Gaius had been meticulously polishing his boots, perched on a stool by the tiny desk he had in the corner. When he'd first heard it, it was quiet and soft and as far as he was aware none of his business. With hearing as good as his you heard all sorts from your neighbours and crying was never out of the question. It wasn't the worst thing he'd heard by far. Life was hard, and if no one else was looking Gaius didn't see a problem with letting it style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /So he kept shining his boots. What started off as so soft, eventually built into a desperate outpouring of pain. Gaius was used to people suffering, he saw it all the time but this just sounded gut wrenching. Sitting up straight, he concentrated a little harder to figure out where exactly the noise was coming from. There may have been a thick oak door and a corridor separating him from the source of the sound but he couldn't help but furrow his brow. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"It can't be?/embr style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She'd looked ever so bright the other day. It was the sort of thing where he couldn't help but just feel bad. The boots were placed quietly down on the ground as he slowly came to a stand. They could style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And so he found himself crossing the threshold of his room and crossing the corridor. He didn't know what made him do it. Normally he would've been worried about being perceived as nosy. It was none of his business if this woman was upset. Maybe it was the fact she was a werewolf, he didn't know. He noted as he approached the door that the scent of the other man had gone rather style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The door was open. Barely an inch, but she'd clearly neglected to shut it properly and lock it. Maybe If he'd waited a second longer he would've walked back to his own room. Maybe he would've left it and her alone. But in the long run this chance meeting brought something rather precious into his life. That was a rare style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gently he rapped his knuckles against the door, slowly peering round. He'd been told at times he could come across as a bit stoic and slightly intimidating, which wasn't something he wanted to be right style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She was hunched over the edge of the bed, head in her hands, strained noises coming from her mouth. As she quickly looked up Gaius noted how red her face was as well as the puffy eye bags she'd developed. Tears streaming down her face she gasped a couple times as if she was struggling to breathe. It was if she didn't quite comprehend he was there, normally people would try to stifle their upset, tidy up their hair a bit or in her case she could've told him to get style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She didn't. Gaius realised he's just been staring at her awkwardly rather than saying anything. He cleared his style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Excusez moi, ça va?" Gaius piped up, voice even. She sniffed, blinked a few times, tears still falling and dropping off the tip of her chin. Ah, so not style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Entschuldigung, geht es Ihnen gut?'' Not German either it style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Excuse me, are you alright?" Gaius realised this was probably a bit of a stupid question. Of course she wasn't alright, and if she was English she was probably less likely to want to talk to him about it anyways. She raised her head to the ceiling, wiping her eyes and sort of made this sob laugh style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No, no i'm not-" She said, voice strained like it was difficult to speak. Gaius did not expect her to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I don't know- I don't know where he's gone, I don't know any- anyone here, I barely speak any French-" The woman choked. Gaius shifted uneasily on his feet, trying to keep an even style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Who's gone? The gentleman you were with?" She sounded rather posh and subconsciously he found his English becoming very formal. She held her head in her hands as if to hide her face, shoulders moving up and down as if she was suppressing a fresh wave of style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Eros- He's Eros, we we were going to get out of england, he promised me Paris and now i'm here but he isn't and I haven't got much money and I have a day or two left here-"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius was about to open his mouth but found himself not too sure what to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I don't-don't know why he'd leave-" She sounded utterly broken. "He said- we could be together and then he said he wanted eternity and I said yes and I thought he meant it and he's go-gone- I love him so much and he's just just gone"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Her hand clutched at her neck in a rather distressing way, fingertips digging into her own flesh more than would be considered normal. Initially he'd assumed it was a stress reaction before realising how inflamed the area looked. The withdrawal of her hand revealed a fading bite mark characteristic of a vampire. Gaius' eyes widened. What a bastard. Though in very different circumstances, he could empathise with the position she was in. He'd been like her some couple thousand years ago style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"It's not as bad as it seems-' He started, sounding a little unsure of himself. First of all, sort of a lie to make her feel better, at least about the vampire-werewolf hybrid part of the situation. "The half werewolf half vampire ordeal at least. I can vouch for that" Steadying his voice he attempted to sound more grounded unlike he had some sort of plan. Judging by her accent and clothing he assumed this was probably her first heartbreak and first tribulation in her life. She probably lived some pampered life beforehand and this was her first taste of the reality of the common style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She looked uncertain and shook her style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"How many days do you have left in your room?" He asked, unintentionally sounding more blunt than he meant to. Something clicked in his mind and he figured a short-term logical solution could go a long way. He couldn't invade her privacy like this and not offer her something. He knew he could've done with someone there. Anyone really. Preferably Adrianu-br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"One or two I'm-I'm not quite sure exactly"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He nodded. He wondered how many days she'd been alone in order for her to assume he was gone for good. He could've been mugged and murdered, thrown into the Sienne to drown, anything was possible in Paris. Especially when you went about flaunting how rich you were with your outfits. The French famously weren't fans of the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He wasn't really sure what he was style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"He might come back… If I had the money I could pay a couple more days for you" Gaius reasoned, pausing for a second. "But I don't…I can offer up my own room, if you were to take it"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He couldn't quite read the look on her face but she seemed to be mulling it over, cogs whirring in her style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I'll sleep on the floor of course-" He added hastily. Didn't want to give off the wrong idea or seem like he was trying to take advantage of a distressed woman. Even if he'd liked women in that way, he wouldn't be as vile as that. He half expected her to abruptly decline, say she'd find another way and would be fine. Ask for him to leave and thus end the interaction and never meet style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"But what about your back?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius blinked at the absurdity of the question. Why she'd care about his back whilst she found herself in such a predicament would remain a mystery to him. His reaction seemed to prompt her to smile a little sadly at him, but a smile style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"A hard surface is better for your back anyways, I've slept in worse places. I'll be fine" He said style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Are you sure? I'll pay you back of course-"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Listen ma'am, I'll find out what's happened to your man, I'll find his whereabouts and you can recuperate. We can come up with a plan soon based on what you want to do next. I don't need payment" He sounded so sure in his conviction. Without realising Gaius had given himself a new little mission to carry out: help this woman. He liked to think he was a practical problem style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /There was silence in the room other than the occasional style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What's your name?" She asked style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Gaius Atria. Yours?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Effie"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /His mission now was to help /br /-br /br /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"But first he had to find what happened to this Eros fellow. Whilst Effie resided in his room, Gaius was out searching whenever he wasn't doing guard duty. She'd lost that spark in her eyes and whilst smiling and being polite, he knew she wasn't doing as well as she could be, even with his help. /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"The locals were familiar with him, so asking about it without appearing suspicious was pretty easy. This man was a vampire so he could be certain he was more likely to see him or find his whereabouts if he was out at night./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"His educated guess was correct. Certain ships were to set sail for foreign lands such as America, Portugal, Morocco and many more. But a little birdie told him that some rich fellow had managed to wriggle his way last minute onto one of these ships. The docs were busy, the last fishing boats coming in before it got too dark, others loading belongings in cargo onto commercial vessels. He'd never been a fan of fish or the smell for that matter./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"It didn't stop him however from recognising a much fresher cologne smell, sweet earthy ambergris. Purposely striding between travellers and workers, Gaius dedicated himself to finding the owner of the scent. He'd recognised that affluent, insipid aroma as it had accumulated around the room opposite him and the corridor in between. He bumped into a few people by accident, reacting to the less than happy responses with rushed apologies in french. /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"There was a ship, grand and built from dark oak wood with an impressive mast that was teaming with people, the boardwalk next to it filled with people waving loved ones goodbye. Gaius paused at the end of the group taking a little longer to decipher where this scent was leading. What would he do if this man was in the crowd? Tell him his girlfriend wanted him back? /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He furrowed his brow before looking up to the deck of the ship. Oh. Oh dear. At the bow of the ship stood Eros, Chin raised with a vile sense of arrogance as he looked down upon the crowd. Arm linked with the arm of another woman. He looked like a cat that had caught a canary, comfortable and simply wondering what he would be having for his next meal. Gaius didn't mean to make eye contact but when his dark eyes interlocked with the bastard's eyes, he didn't break it. /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He didn't realise that his lip had curled and a low growl of frustration left his lips. Why Effie ever saw anything in the man, Gaius was yet to find out or understand. She'd be hanging around a little longer than either of them had probably planned for. Eros' lip curled as if he was trying to force this charming, flattered smile, before looking elsewhere and starting a conversation with the other woman. Gaius wondered how long that one would last./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"By the time he'd broken the news to her, Gaius was pretty sure that she already knew and it was taken with a tearful grim acceptance. She was stuck in Paris now, for certain. At this point he felt somewhat responsible for making sure eventually should be able to get out on her own and the first thing he insisted would be beneficial, would be to learn French. She seemed surprised when he came home from a late shift with a pile of books. Wrapped in twine, they were various guides for English speakers. A few of them were more aimed at children and Gaius had to hastily explain he knew she wasn't stupid, but figured they'd be a good place to start./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"She seemed to find both books and his slightly awkward demeanour funny enough to break a smile./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He didn't expect her to decide she wanted a job either. He knew plenty of upper-class folk who would quite happily live rent free, especially if they were abroad. He sat across from her the small table and did his best to hide his surprise as they ate dinner together. It turned out she'd really been thinking about it./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;""I mean it does seem rather unfair, yourself having to pay for the both of us, so I was thinking perhaps-" She explained before listing off all the different things she was good at. Trouble was with no qualifications, a nice office job being a clerk or sorting books wasn't available. Gaius placed the spoon back into his bowl as he was reminded of something./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;""Ma'am how good are you at washing clothes?" /p
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p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"Despite it being relatively early, the pink morning sky tinted with clouds, Paris was already teeming. The courtyard to the wash house already had women at basins, pacing back-and-forth with baskets full of cloth, Scalding hot water being prepared to get out the toughest of stains. Madame Eloise was a short hard-working middle-aged mother with a large bonnet and a rather round face. She was in charge around there and luckily for Gaius she had a soft spot for style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He spoke mostly on Effie's behalf, her French speaking skills still being at work in progress. He explained she was quick to learn and willing to work. Despite Madame Eloise's uncertainty, she seemed to trust his style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Today can be a trial run, she'll work just like everybody else and I won't tolerate any slacking or complaining. If she proves herself a good worker she can stay" Madam Eloise Laid out the terms of service and Gaius nodded. Effie seemed to catch words of it but seemed a little style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"She says you can work for today, just keep up with everyone else and you'll have the job. You'll be fine" Gaius reworded a few things of course, not wanting to discourage her. Part of him worried that she wouldn't hold on for long, rich English girls weren't actually renowned for being good at lower class jobs. Jobs which actually required effort and just being able to graft it. He'd avoided asking the question about whether or not she'd ever worked style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /His gaze softened when he realised how nervous she style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Listen, I have to get to the barracks soon, but I'll be back just before sundown. Madame Eloise and the girls here are very nice, they'll help improve your French and I'm sure you'll make some friends"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She nodded at that and the other woman gestured for Effie to come and walk into the yard. Gaius waved his goodbyes to both of them and left the washing yard feeling a tad uneasy. Normally he was quite good at soothing his anxieties, well, more like ignoring them. Throughout the day I couldn't help but find himself wondering how Effie was holding up. Were the other women gossiping about her, had she dropped any clean sheets yet, accidentally said 'monsieur' instead of 'madam' to a customer and offended them?br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Would she come home exhausted and declare she never wanted to go back and that her hands hurt? The world isn't an easy place, especially when you're having to make ends meet. The other men on guard duty incorrectly speculated that Gaius had finally fallen in love, joking about the entire situation as Gaius stared into space and frowned. Apparently he frowned a lot when he style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /When his shift was finally over, Gaius was the first to change out of his uniform and leave the barracks to make a beeline for the wash house. The usual busy crowd and hullabaloo had died down, a few patrons being handed fresh dry linen whilst the basins were being drained for the night. Walking into the compound he scanned the area and spotted Effie empting one of the basins. She had her sleeves rolled up, her hair was a bit dishevelled but she smiled and waved. Gaius failed to hide at least a small style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /There was a sharp jab in his side, Madam Eloise appearing from nowhere, a satisfied look on her style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"She's not too bad that one. A little naive but wasn't expecting a worker out of her, tell her to come back here, same time tomorrow. Payday is every Friday evening" She sounded impressed to say the least. "She'll fit in here just fine" She finished, wiping her hands on her apron before leaving Gaius so he could go and chat. He'd picked up some bread to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He became aware of the fact that he'd underestimated Effie entirely. Despite offering his help he'd also silently judged her and his preconceived ideas were changing. He knew she was still struggling, who wouldn't be and he knew that at first he might have come across as a bit surly. He was finding out more and more about who Effie was. Despite the recent heartbreak and betrayal, she was a vivacious reader of romance novels which slowly began to stack up in the room. She bought herself some parchment, ink and a quill and she would write too, but she seemed too embarrassed to read anything aloud to Gaius. He wasn't much of a reader style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / Effie's own story was one of imprisonment, it turned out. A newly become werewolf trapped in the basement, alone and isolated. Until one day a mysterious charming stranger, at the basement window came knocking. He built up an elegant tower of love letters and poems and sweet nothings and promises. He offered her freedom, hope that someone with her affliction deserved love, deserved to leave that dark oppressive basement. She deserved to be seen and cared and listened to. He built this tower up and up and up and did not care what would happen if it were to wobble. He did not care how far she had to fall. He didn't care full stop. He got bored and cast her aside like some play thing having spotted something else he could build up before knocking style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And so she'd fallen and that was at the point where Gaius had picked things up. For the first time in years he found himself happy to have someone to live with. It was nice. They would go off, do their own separate things and then at the end of the day they'd eat together and catch up. Her french was improving but occasionally she'd still mis-say something and Gaius would have to gently correct her without laughing./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"She found out more about him. He'd casually mentioned 1066, so when asked how old he was, he'd been honest. Two thousand years (roughly) provoked quite a shocked reaction to say the least. Even by the time they'd known each other for five years she still hadn't heard all the battles he'd been in./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He sorted them both out with places to stay for the full moon. The old abandoned building he normally locked himself in initially only kept the people of Paris safe from one werewolf-ish creature, but eventually that became two. He'd been terrified of hurting her, vivid nightmares of waking up and finding her ripped to shreds, the sort of thing which would cause him to break out in a cold sweat. But it never happened. She said he did a lot of pacing and would try and dig through the floorboards and he would ask how on earth she remembered anything from a full moon. He certainly didn't. The embarrassment of waking up side by side eventually just became entirely normal./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He watched her make friends with the other women at the wash house (as well as a few she didn't like) and Madam Eloise came to have a soft spot for her. A routine developed and they just became more and more comfortable with one another. It was the first time in a long long while that Gaius felt like he found his person. He adored Effie, not in the way that a man was expected to adore a woman. It was probably best categorised as a friendship, but the general expectation of a friendship didn't quite cover it. It was more important than that to him and he knew she felt the same. At the point where people were making jokes about when the wedding would be, Gaius began to worry maybe she did like him that way. If she ever had he never figured it out, but at this point in time he knew he didn't have to worry about it. He wasn't going to ask her./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"Eventually he just landed on the theory of the werewolf in both of them had just found a packmate. So maybe that's why so many years later they found themselves still together, living in style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And then Came 1871, a year that in Gaius' opinion, came both from heaven and hell. The call to fight scratched an itch that had been driving him insane. Guard duty was not war. It was not proactive. But a civil war was brewing and ready to tear Paris apart. For all this time Gaius had been paying for the room, Effie chipping in some of her wage to help out. But if Gaius was going to fight, he wasn't going to need that room style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /What was going to happen to Effie? There were concerns of there being sieges, the Paris commune against the French government. Famine, death and raids. For the first time in a long while Gaius was scared for the person he was leaving style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was a rather tense evening. His things had been bundled into a knapsack, active service would begin when he reported to the local courtyard the next morning. The pair sat in silence eating a rather stale style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He was frowning. He was thinking. What was happening to the room hadn't been brought up yet, but Gaius was pretty sure he'd come up with a style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I haven't been told how long I'm going to be gone for" He started, finally looking up and across the table at style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well I suppose it's a bit difficult to predict when the war will end" Effie responded, glancing to the side. Her heart rate was up a tad from usual. "I just do hope it's soon…I don't like this one bit"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Neither do I" It was a half truth. He didn't like not knowing how this conflict was going to affect Effie. He cleared his throat and leant back in his style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I was thinking, this place might be a bit dusty when I get back… If you wanted another job, I'd be happy to send you pay for the upkeep" It was an excuse to try and make sure she could support herself, if prices for food went up she could pay the extortionate rates and at least still be comfortable. This way he could say he wanted her to stay without actually saying hated the thought of her suffering by herself. They hadn't yet gotten to the stage in their relationship where they could openly state how much they meant to one another, but it was likely quite clear what was going on style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You don't have to-"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Effie I won't need at least half my wage out there, I'll be okay" The tone of voice he used was a little softer than usual. It wasn't himself he was trying to reassure that everything would be style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The next morning as he stood at the doorway about to leave, they hugged, Gaius not quite wanting to let go right away. He would miss her for a large part of the year. As would she. Paris suffered at the hands of yet another conflict and for once Gaius had to stay alive for someone other than /br /-br /br /After the war ended and Gaius came home, the fact that he could see Effie again made him feel weirdly emotional. It stung his eyes as he was finally able to walk in through that door, give her a hug, talk to her face to face instead of sending letters. For now he was style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And he finally got to find out all those things she'd been writing. Over the span of the war, between work she'd been writing away. Apparently this was a second or third draft, the first having been created during her time in the basement. He insisted she read a bit to him, and then a bit more, and then a bit more. Without realising Gaius had become quite invested in the main characters and he didn't quite realise how rewarding that was for any author. She insisted that there was still so much more work to be done, Gaius couldn't wait to find out what would happen in the /br /-br /br /In 1914 the world was taking a rather unexpected term. Effie and Gaius had left the parisian life behind when Effie had been contacted due to the death of her parents. With no immediate family, a large fortune and estate had waited for her across the ocean. As an extension, she invited him to come along. Gaius was bored of Paris style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /For so long Effie had been living in Gaius' world and now it was time for the tables to turn. The house was enormous, as was the land surrounding it. The idea of not having a single neighbour was incredible. Upon arrival she dismissed a large portion of the staff, keeping on board only those who are necessary or those who had been in her life since she was young. When he was certain no one else was about, Gaius had taken to running about the halls barefoot to see how quickly he could do a lap at the house. Taking a run-up in the main hall and then sliding across the tiles in socks was also quite style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He wasn't used to these fancy clothes which Effie seemed to take to quite naturally. She'd always enjoyed looking nice and trying different outfits though, the different fabrics and jewellery and styles and outfits. He just spent most of his time in slacks and a shirt. A large portion of her parents' belongings were able to be sold at auction, which ensured the pair could live together quite comfortably for a very long time. It didn't seem like Effie wanted many reminders of her parents in her home. The basement lay style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Full moons were spent running about on the lawn, digging holes and wading through the water fountain at 1 o'clock in the morning. He would wake up looking up at the sky and lying in the various patches of meadow that had begun to develop without a groundskeeper. He was free, without risk of hurting anyone and with someone who meant the world to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Humanity however has a knack for causing drama. For thousands and thousands of miles away in a European country known as Bosnia, the assasination of a certain archduke would lead to the deaths of millions. A new war was rearing its head and Gaius could taste blood in the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The gramophone was playing in the background when Gaius first broke the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"With the way that everyone is allying up at the minute, I think we might be heading towards conscription" He was lying on a Chaise longue, whiskey glass in hand with the tiniest bit of sherry in it. Effie sat at the desk across from him, a small glass of red wine in her hand. Turned out she enjoyed wine every now and again. She style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I don't like it, not one bit" The gramophone filled the silence after she'd spoken. "You're planning on signing up, aren't you?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius pursed his lips and nodded, staring off absentmindedly at a painting on the wall. "The army could do with a few more men-"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Effie closed her eyes, hunching a little as she cradled her glass between both hands. "I know you know combat and death and glory and all that very well…but what if this is finally the war you don't come home from? I care a lot, about you, this house wouldn't be the same and I just-" The pace of her voice quickend and she had to take a breath as if to soothe style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I don't want you to get hurt"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I won't get hurt" He said sincerely, swinging his legs round so he could sit and face her. Her eyes didn't meet his. The thing is, Gaius couldn't promise that he wouldn't get hurt. Every war he'd been in, his capacity to heal had saved him from things that would have proven fatal to mortal men. He considered his continued existence an homage to his skill, but also dumb luck. For the longest time it didn't matter much if he died. He didn't care if he was buried in a war grave somewhere and forgotten. The son of Lycaon would always be remembered and Gaius would rather die in some war under the name 'Gaius Atria'. He could die knowing he did something more than what he did in that style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Life throws things at you. He had Effie now, he had a home. Not a single member of his family was alive anymore and it hadn't mattered what happened to his personal belongings or pay check. Effie didn't need his things, she didn't need his money but if he could give those to her, it was the least he could do if he died. Maybe he could give her a bit of story style="box-sizing:
inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You can't say for certain you won't" The woman seemed a tad exasperated, now finally meeting his gaze. Gaius looked down at his feet. He knew she was right. For a few minutes, until the second song on the record spun round the gramophone, neither of them said style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You're right…if anything happens to me, which it probably won't-' He watched as she raised an eyebrow, taking another sip from her style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /'I want to make sure my pay and things go to you. I trust you more with a funeral"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Gaius that's morbid- I don't want it to come to that, besides, it might be a bit difficult to have that arranged, we're not exactly married"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It might have been the sherry, but in that moment he smiled at style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"But what if we were?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Effie seemed to choke on her wine a little and looked at him style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Gaius you like men-" she laughed after sputtering a little but he could actually see her contemplating it in her style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"We live together already, nothing has to change other than the fact you can have a nice new ring and you're entitled to my pay and updates on how i'm doing" In his mind it was entirely logical. 'You've always said how much you'd love a wedding"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Placing his drink down on the hardwood side table with a gentle thud, Gaius slid out of his seat and got down on one knee in front of Effie. She smiled at him like he was an idiot but in that sort of loving style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Effie we've spent the past 50 years together, I don't know where I'd be without you" He meant it, honestly this was probably the most emotional thing he'd said in the past thousand years at least. He wasn't exactly a wordsmith, he couldn't write poems or love letters to her, she could barely read his handwriting anyways but both of them knew how strong their bond style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"If you would allow me the honour, will you marry me?"br /br /-br /br /A church wedding was out of the question, so a rather unconventional outdoor wedding was held for a rather unconventional couple. It was a small-ish field, with seats for a few people, including an elderly servant who'd looked after Effie since she was small. The 'isle' was decorated with bouquets of pink and red flowers, all chosen by Effie, it was her favourite colour style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius felt nervous for once, stood up at the front in a stuffy suit with the wedding officiant, a man who just seemed to smile a lot. He had no reason to be nervous, he just knew this meant a lot, to both of them. He just hoped that this would make her happy. He'd even bothered to get his unruly curled hair to a barber so he'd look a bit smarter than usual. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He could hear the tires of a Rolls royce approaching the entrance to the field, the car which his fiance would be arriving in. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /When Effie stepped out, assisted by the chauffeur, he couldn't help but smile. Just by the way her face had lit up, he knew she felt gorgeous in her dress and every woman deserved to feel that way on her wedding day. He knew she would have spent ages trying different ones on, trying different jewellery, different hair if it was anything like what he'd experienced whilst looking for a ring with her. His wedding band was a basic silver one, he wasn't too fussy as long as it didn't get in the way too much. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The small audience stood as Effie walked towards him, the elderly servant dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. 'You look beautiful' he mouthed at her. 'Not too shabby yourself' she mouthed back with a cheeky smile. As she approached he held a rough hand out and the space was filled with her own hand. Her joy was style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The ceremony began and the wedding officiant went over the vows he'd seen couples take hundreds of times before. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Do you, Gaius, take Effie, to be your wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do you part?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I do," He said firmly, trying to stop himself from grinning nervously. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Do you, Effie, take Gaius, to be your husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do you part?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I do" Effie responded. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Then I pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /So he leaned forward and he kissed her gently. He was happy to kiss her. It wasn't the same way as others he'd kissed in the past but he knew he loved her dearly. This love was different, but it was love nonetheless and he meant every syllable of that vow. He was just happy to have her in his life. /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He felt guilty for missing it. It had a routine, he knew when he had to fight and he knew the likelihood of him dying was slimmer than most men. It didn't feel like that out here. Sure, the food now was more plentiful with it being spring But eventually winter would come. The weather could still be harsh and unpredictable and sometimes he just couldn't find shelter. He also had to compete with the wildlife. Wolves seemed to heed him as a territorial threat and bears seemed just as ready to chase him away. /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"Part of him considered finding a remote village, one that wouldn't know his name, or his nickname for that matter. Future him would look back and find it funny that he ever considered becoming a goat farmer or just wished he could have a job so mundane. Just anything to give him a sense of purpose again. On a full Moon he could simply leave his house undetected, run as far away as possible and then be back before sunrise the next morning, able to catch a few hours asleep with the knowledge that no one had been harmed. Might even meet a nice shepherd who was easy on the eyes. Any companionship at this rate felt priceless. A wolf travelling alone was only ever doing so to find a style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was midday and the rain had been falling in harsh horizontal sheets. They scathed Gaius' skin, his teeth chattering and his hair plastered to his head. Rain made mountain passes more dangerous, the rain assaulting loose rock and encouraging it to fall or worse cause a landslide. A landslide with something Gaius didn't want to test his durability style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /His hands felt numb and he tried to hold onto his bag, hoping he'd find shelter before his fingertips began to turn blue. He couldn't even start a fire, everything in his bag would be sopping wet, including the tinder he kept on hand. He just needed a cave or something, anything. If he hated anything, it was the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /With how thick the clouds were it made it easy to lose track of time and the trudge along that pathway felt like it lasted forever. So when Gaius spotted a dark crevice in the distance he was desperately hopeful that it would lead to a cave. At least it would provide somewhere to stay until the sky brightened up. That was if he was correct about there being a cave at style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The rain was also a problem, because without it Gaius would have picked up the scent trail already leading up to that cave. But he didn't. He carried onwards, the only thought to escape the weather. When he'd finally made it up the small incline in the path and veered off and up slightly, he could've cried for joy at the side of the cave opening. Involuntarily he let out a laugh of somewhat bitter style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was still freezing but as he walked inside and allowed his bag to fall down from his shoulder and to the ground he knew at least he'd be dry now. Maybe it was worth trying to sleep through the rest of the storm. Finding a boulder to perch upon, He removed his cape which had been sticking to his back and began to tightly ring the fabric, the water pattering to the ground in a small puddle as he worked up. He'd have to do the same to his tunic, but didn't really feel like stripping down. Men with hypothermia were often found naked, having got to the stage where they were so cold they somehow began to feel like they were overheating. It wasn't something Gaius had ever style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Preoccupied by trying to sort his cloak out, the werewolf had also forgotten to check around more than just the entrance. Something nestled in the darkness, in the throat of the cave, was quiet and stealthy and very much unwilling to be sharing a cave with a mutt. This day walker was not style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He heard a small shard of rock fall and for a second he looked back, but it wasn't long before he was going over his cape again, just to make sure it was as dry as it possibly could be. By the time he'd spun around, a sudden burst of movement catching his attention, the attack had already style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius was confident with fighting. But how could he be certain he wasn't going to die against something he was pretty sure wasn't human? Long pointed canines punctured his neck and that voice was back. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Kill it kill it kill it kill it. Die die die-/embr style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Digging already clawed hands into the flesh of his attacker he violently shoved it into the cave wall, leaving deep red lines in its skin. Blood was dripping onto the ground, dripping down from his neck and cascading down his shoulder and style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He was surprised that his attacker appeared to be a woman, blood streaked down her face and wearing a filthy stola and tunic. He didn't get much longer to take in what she looked like because just as she'd been standing there, seething, she was suddenly attacking again. In a split second Gaius found himself lying on the cold cave floor, one arm pinned away from him and the other struggling to beat her away. Her strength was frightening. Entirely unnatural, but Gaius couldn't say much on that style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She raised her hand as if to pummel a fist into his face, a burning look in her eyes that could only really be described as bloodthirsty. An ungodly screech pierced the air as her wrist was met with wolven fangs. Blood filled his mouth, refusing to let go as he held tighter and tighter and she cried out in pain. His other hand was released, at the expense of her freehand being driven with such force that if it hadn't been for regeneration Gaius' nose and mouth would have never looked the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He raked his fingers into her hair and pulled, hearing a nasty ripping sound as he sent her flying. His ears were ringing and each time his heart beat more precious blood pooled out into the cave floor. His head was spinning and it was becoming difficult to keep his eyes open much longer. He could hear her, walking towards him, bare feet scuffing the ground. Her blood covered face reminded him of a vulture after feeding. Or maybe a bear, she didn't seem like much of a style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Her face crumpled into this disgusted look, suddenly spitting a mouthful of his own blood back at him and shaking her head. Barely conscious he watched her scrape her incisors across the top of her tongue as if to get rid of the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No, no no, disgusting, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"disgusting/em' She hissed indignantly to herself. His vision was swimming now and he briefly remembered wondering if he'd finally found something that could kill style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Fucking dog-"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I can't die here./embr style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And he didn't. He didn't expect to wake up again. Outside was quiet and dark, the night sky vibrant with stars. Yet there he was, lying in a pool of congealed dried blood. His own of course. The cave that he'd once sought shelter in now looked like a crime scene. His cloak was missing and when he'd finally managed to stagger over to his bag, he realised his knife had been taken, as well as the short sword from his belt. A thief as well as a potential murderer. As far as first impressions went with vampires or any supernatural being other than himself, it didn't exactly form a positive style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /By the time the sun had risen Gaius found himself sitting towards the back of the cave. The sunlight stung and he was beginning to feel quite unwell. The next three days were ones of yet another hellish transformation. He wondered if this was what possession was like, blacking in and out, Blood pouring from his eyes on occasion and finding himself on the ceiling. The longest process was probably his canine teeth beginning to loosen, pushed out and replaced by sharp fangs. The little food he did have on him became difficult to keep down unless he ate small amounts at a time. He also developed a craving for something else but at that moment in time he wasn't sure style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He found himself separated even further from humanity now. From that moment on Gaius found himself an awkward crossroad between lycanthropy and vampirism. Trying to run away from the bloodshed to find a normal life had failed and Gaius came to the conclusion that there was only really one thing he was good style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /So he became a soldier again. For all the bad he'd done, for all the pain and suffering he knew he had caused, the flesh of men he'd consumed, maybe part of him believed he could redeem himself and find honour once again. He could find something worth fighting for. The thing was there was familiarity in violence and order and routine in the military. He had a style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He fought for Rome but eventually something had to give. The fall of the empire left Gaius adrift, a terrible lack of purpose settling over his life again so he found solace in finding other wars to fight in. He learned many languages to varying degrees. He met men he hated, men he loved but the common theme was he nearly always lost them. Combat is famously cruel on the human mind and body. The comradeship he had with his friends kept him alive and kept him strong and whether they realised it or not Gaius adopted them into his own pack of style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He discovered other supernatural beings, witches, demons, zombies, ghosts to name a few. Despite the fact making friends within a supernatural community would've saved Gaius the frequency in which he lost those he loved, for the longest time he avoided them like a bad smell. His affliction had been brought about by them and he felt that he would further lose himself if company with humans became style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And yet was losing himself to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /1066, Battle of Hastings, he fought for the side of William the Conqueror and allowed the first king of Britain to obtain his throne. He fought for the Norman's in the invasion of Wales. He then realised Britain was cold, wet and full of Saxons who didn't want Europeans running amok. So back to Europe he went. The Anglo-French war resulted in a truce. He was there for most of the hundred year war. The war of the roses went on much longer than it should've. The Jacobite uprising had to be squashed. The failed French invasion of Russia. The Napoleonic wars. The list was vast, endless and ever expanding. He had become so numb to killing, as long as there was a cause behind it. He believed himself to be a soldier through and through, there was no way civilian life was cut out for someone like style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /There were wars he later came to regret participating in, corrupt leaders who had lied, unnecessary harm brought to non-combatant civilians, dishonourable and downright evil men who did not deserve to defend their countries. But battle was simply an addictive vice, humanity's own history alone reflects /br /-br /br /It was 1857, the french revolution long since passed in Paris and Gaius had just come out on the winning side of the Crimean 'd received his pay and for the meantime a job as a guard was sufficing. He'd never been the type to settle down for very long and for a year or two a small room at a lodging served as his home. He didn't need much, he just hoped he'd be called back into active service soon. The cycle would soon repeat itself and he could be back where he was doing something style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He didn't expect the woman across the hall to become an active part of his life. He'd only seen her briefly, a new resident in fancy clothes, bright eyed, chatty and always with a gentleman by her side who reminded Gaius of some kind of pompous turkey. He assumed the happy couple would be gone within a couple of weeks, some other part of Paris or maybe France or maybe the rest of Europe. The most curious thing about the pair however, was the fact that she had the scent of a werewolf and the man was clearly a style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius didn't often mingle with other vampires or werewolves, being a bit of both had left him ostracised but most of it was personal choice. But he did know that typically relations between the groups were hostile. So maybe he should've been a bit happier for them. style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was the evening and Gaius had been meticulously polishing his boots, perched on a stool by the tiny desk he had in the corner. When he'd first heard it, it was quiet and soft and as far as he was aware none of his business. With hearing as good as his you heard all sorts from your neighbours and crying was never out of the question. It wasn't the worst thing he'd heard by far. Life was hard, and if no one else was looking Gaius didn't see a problem with letting it style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /So he kept shining his boots. What started off as so soft, eventually built into a desperate outpouring of pain. Gaius was used to people suffering, he saw it all the time but this just sounded gut wrenching. Sitting up straight, he concentrated a little harder to figure out where exactly the noise was coming from. There may have been a thick oak door and a corridor separating him from the source of the sound but he couldn't help but furrow his brow. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"It can't be?/embr style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She'd looked ever so bright the other day. It was the sort of thing where he couldn't help but just feel bad. The boots were placed quietly down on the ground as he slowly came to a stand. They could style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And so he found himself crossing the threshold of his room and crossing the corridor. He didn't know what made him do it. Normally he would've been worried about being perceived as nosy. It was none of his business if this woman was upset. Maybe it was the fact she was a werewolf, he didn't know. He noted as he approached the door that the scent of the other man had gone rather style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The door was open. Barely an inch, but she'd clearly neglected to shut it properly and lock it. Maybe If he'd waited a second longer he would've walked back to his own room. Maybe he would've left it and her alone. But in the long run this chance meeting brought something rather precious into his life. That was a rare style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gently he rapped his knuckles against the door, slowly peering round. He'd been told at times he could come across as a bit stoic and slightly intimidating, which wasn't something he wanted to be right style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She was hunched over the edge of the bed, head in her hands, strained noises coming from her mouth. As she quickly looked up Gaius noted how red her face was as well as the puffy eye bags she'd developed. Tears streaming down her face she gasped a couple times as if she was struggling to breathe. It was if she didn't quite comprehend he was there, normally people would try to stifle their upset, tidy up their hair a bit or in her case she could've told him to get style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She didn't. Gaius realised he's just been staring at her awkwardly rather than saying anything. He cleared his style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Excusez moi, ça va?" Gaius piped up, voice even. She sniffed, blinked a few times, tears still falling and dropping off the tip of her chin. Ah, so not style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Entschuldigung, geht es Ihnen gut?'' Not German either it style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Excuse me, are you alright?" Gaius realised this was probably a bit of a stupid question. Of course she wasn't alright, and if she was English she was probably less likely to want to talk to him about it anyways. She raised her head to the ceiling, wiping her eyes and sort of made this sob laugh style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No, no i'm not-" She said, voice strained like it was difficult to speak. Gaius did not expect her to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I don't know- I don't know where he's gone, I don't know any- anyone here, I barely speak any French-" The woman choked. Gaius shifted uneasily on his feet, trying to keep an even style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Who's gone? The gentleman you were with?" She sounded rather posh and subconsciously he found his English becoming very formal. She held her head in her hands as if to hide her face, shoulders moving up and down as if she was suppressing a fresh wave of style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Eros- He's Eros, we we were going to get out of england, he promised me Paris and now i'm here but he isn't and I haven't got much money and I have a day or two left here-"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius was about to open his mouth but found himself not too sure what to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I don't-don't know why he'd leave-" She sounded utterly broken. "He said- we could be together and then he said he wanted eternity and I said yes and I thought he meant it and he's go-gone- I love him so much and he's just just gone"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Her hand clutched at her neck in a rather distressing way, fingertips digging into her own flesh more than would be considered normal. Initially he'd assumed it was a stress reaction before realising how inflamed the area looked. The withdrawal of her hand revealed a fading bite mark characteristic of a vampire. Gaius' eyes widened. What a bastard. Though in very different circumstances, he could empathise with the position she was in. He'd been like her some couple thousand years ago style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"It's not as bad as it seems-' He started, sounding a little unsure of himself. First of all, sort of a lie to make her feel better, at least about the vampire-werewolf hybrid part of the situation. "The half werewolf half vampire ordeal at least. I can vouch for that" Steadying his voice he attempted to sound more grounded unlike he had some sort of plan. Judging by her accent and clothing he assumed this was probably her first heartbreak and first tribulation in her life. She probably lived some pampered life beforehand and this was her first taste of the reality of the common style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She looked uncertain and shook her style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"How many days do you have left in your room?" He asked, unintentionally sounding more blunt than he meant to. Something clicked in his mind and he figured a short-term logical solution could go a long way. He couldn't invade her privacy like this and not offer her something. He knew he could've done with someone there. Anyone really. Preferably Adrianu-br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"One or two I'm-I'm not quite sure exactly"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He nodded. He wondered how many days she'd been alone in order for her to assume he was gone for good. He could've been mugged and murdered, thrown into the Sienne to drown, anything was possible in Paris. Especially when you went about flaunting how rich you were with your outfits. The French famously weren't fans of the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He wasn't really sure what he was style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"He might come back… If I had the money I could pay a couple more days for you" Gaius reasoned, pausing for a second. "But I don't…I can offer up my own room, if you were to take it"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He couldn't quite read the look on her face but she seemed to be mulling it over, cogs whirring in her style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I'll sleep on the floor of course-" He added hastily. Didn't want to give off the wrong idea or seem like he was trying to take advantage of a distressed woman. Even if he'd liked women in that way, he wouldn't be as vile as that. He half expected her to abruptly decline, say she'd find another way and would be fine. Ask for him to leave and thus end the interaction and never meet style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"But what about your back?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius blinked at the absurdity of the question. Why she'd care about his back whilst she found herself in such a predicament would remain a mystery to him. His reaction seemed to prompt her to smile a little sadly at him, but a smile style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"A hard surface is better for your back anyways, I've slept in worse places. I'll be fine" He said style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Are you sure? I'll pay you back of course-"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Listen ma'am, I'll find out what's happened to your man, I'll find his whereabouts and you can recuperate. We can come up with a plan soon based on what you want to do next. I don't need payment" He sounded so sure in his conviction. Without realising Gaius had given himself a new little mission to carry out: help this woman. He liked to think he was a practical problem style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /There was silence in the room other than the occasional style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What's your name?" She asked style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Gaius Atria. Yours?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Effie"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /His mission now was to help /br /-br /br /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"But first he had to find what happened to this Eros fellow. Whilst Effie resided in his room, Gaius was out searching whenever he wasn't doing guard duty. She'd lost that spark in her eyes and whilst smiling and being polite, he knew she wasn't doing as well as she could be, even with his help. /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"The locals were familiar with him, so asking about it without appearing suspicious was pretty easy. This man was a vampire so he could be certain he was more likely to see him or find his whereabouts if he was out at night./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"His educated guess was correct. Certain ships were to set sail for foreign lands such as America, Portugal, Morocco and many more. But a little birdie told him that some rich fellow had managed to wriggle his way last minute onto one of these ships. The docs were busy, the last fishing boats coming in before it got too dark, others loading belongings in cargo onto commercial vessels. He'd never been a fan of fish or the smell for that matter./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"It didn't stop him however from recognising a much fresher cologne smell, sweet earthy ambergris. Purposely striding between travellers and workers, Gaius dedicated himself to finding the owner of the scent. He'd recognised that affluent, insipid aroma as it had accumulated around the room opposite him and the corridor in between. He bumped into a few people by accident, reacting to the less than happy responses with rushed apologies in french. /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"There was a ship, grand and built from dark oak wood with an impressive mast that was teaming with people, the boardwalk next to it filled with people waving loved ones goodbye. Gaius paused at the end of the group taking a little longer to decipher where this scent was leading. What would he do if this man was in the crowd? Tell him his girlfriend wanted him back? /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He furrowed his brow before looking up to the deck of the ship. Oh. Oh dear. At the bow of the ship stood Eros, Chin raised with a vile sense of arrogance as he looked down upon the crowd. Arm linked with the arm of another woman. He looked like a cat that had caught a canary, comfortable and simply wondering what he would be having for his next meal. Gaius didn't mean to make eye contact but when his dark eyes interlocked with the bastard's eyes, he didn't break it. /p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He didn't realise that his lip had curled and a low growl of frustration left his lips. Why Effie ever saw anything in the man, Gaius was yet to find out or understand. She'd be hanging around a little longer than either of them had probably planned for. Eros' lip curled as if he was trying to force this charming, flattered smile, before looking elsewhere and starting a conversation with the other woman. Gaius wondered how long that one would last./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"By the time he'd broken the news to her, Gaius was pretty sure that she already knew and it was taken with a tearful grim acceptance. She was stuck in Paris now, for certain. At this point he felt somewhat responsible for making sure eventually should be able to get out on her own and the first thing he insisted would be beneficial, would be to learn French. She seemed surprised when he came home from a late shift with a pile of books. Wrapped in twine, they were various guides for English speakers. A few of them were more aimed at children and Gaius had to hastily explain he knew she wasn't stupid, but figured they'd be a good place to start./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"She seemed to find both books and his slightly awkward demeanour funny enough to break a smile./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He didn't expect her to decide she wanted a job either. He knew plenty of upper-class folk who would quite happily live rent free, especially if they were abroad. He sat across from her the small table and did his best to hide his surprise as they ate dinner together. It turned out she'd really been thinking about it./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;""I mean it does seem rather unfair, yourself having to pay for the both of us, so I was thinking perhaps-" She explained before listing off all the different things she was good at. Trouble was with no qualifications, a nice office job being a clerk or sorting books wasn't available. Gaius placed the spoon back into his bowl as he was reminded of something./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;""Ma'am how good are you at washing clothes?" /p
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p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"Despite it being relatively early, the pink morning sky tinted with clouds, Paris was already teeming. The courtyard to the wash house already had women at basins, pacing back-and-forth with baskets full of cloth, Scalding hot water being prepared to get out the toughest of stains. Madame Eloise was a short hard-working middle-aged mother with a large bonnet and a rather round face. She was in charge around there and luckily for Gaius she had a soft spot for style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He spoke mostly on Effie's behalf, her French speaking skills still being at work in progress. He explained she was quick to learn and willing to work. Despite Madame Eloise's uncertainty, she seemed to trust his style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Today can be a trial run, she'll work just like everybody else and I won't tolerate any slacking or complaining. If she proves herself a good worker she can stay" Madam Eloise Laid out the terms of service and Gaius nodded. Effie seemed to catch words of it but seemed a little style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"She says you can work for today, just keep up with everyone else and you'll have the job. You'll be fine" Gaius reworded a few things of course, not wanting to discourage her. Part of him worried that she wouldn't hold on for long, rich English girls weren't actually renowned for being good at lower class jobs. Jobs which actually required effort and just being able to graft it. He'd avoided asking the question about whether or not she'd ever worked style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /His gaze softened when he realised how nervous she style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Listen, I have to get to the barracks soon, but I'll be back just before sundown. Madame Eloise and the girls here are very nice, they'll help improve your French and I'm sure you'll make some friends"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /She nodded at that and the other woman gestured for Effie to come and walk into the yard. Gaius waved his goodbyes to both of them and left the washing yard feeling a tad uneasy. Normally he was quite good at soothing his anxieties, well, more like ignoring them. Throughout the day I couldn't help but find himself wondering how Effie was holding up. Were the other women gossiping about her, had she dropped any clean sheets yet, accidentally said 'monsieur' instead of 'madam' to a customer and offended them?br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Would she come home exhausted and declare she never wanted to go back and that her hands hurt? The world isn't an easy place, especially when you're having to make ends meet. The other men on guard duty incorrectly speculated that Gaius had finally fallen in love, joking about the entire situation as Gaius stared into space and frowned. Apparently he frowned a lot when he style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /When his shift was finally over, Gaius was the first to change out of his uniform and leave the barracks to make a beeline for the wash house. The usual busy crowd and hullabaloo had died down, a few patrons being handed fresh dry linen whilst the basins were being drained for the night. Walking into the compound he scanned the area and spotted Effie empting one of the basins. She had her sleeves rolled up, her hair was a bit dishevelled but she smiled and waved. Gaius failed to hide at least a small style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /There was a sharp jab in his side, Madam Eloise appearing from nowhere, a satisfied look on her style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"She's not too bad that one. A little naive but wasn't expecting a worker out of her, tell her to come back here, same time tomorrow. Payday is every Friday evening" She sounded impressed to say the least. "She'll fit in here just fine" She finished, wiping her hands on her apron before leaving Gaius so he could go and chat. He'd picked up some bread to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He became aware of the fact that he'd underestimated Effie entirely. Despite offering his help he'd also silently judged her and his preconceived ideas were changing. He knew she was still struggling, who wouldn't be and he knew that at first he might have come across as a bit surly. He was finding out more and more about who Effie was. Despite the recent heartbreak and betrayal, she was a vivacious reader of romance novels which slowly began to stack up in the room. She bought herself some parchment, ink and a quill and she would write too, but she seemed too embarrassed to read anything aloud to Gaius. He wasn't much of a reader style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / Effie's own story was one of imprisonment, it turned out. A newly become werewolf trapped in the basement, alone and isolated. Until one day a mysterious charming stranger, at the basement window came knocking. He built up an elegant tower of love letters and poems and sweet nothings and promises. He offered her freedom, hope that someone with her affliction deserved love, deserved to leave that dark oppressive basement. She deserved to be seen and cared and listened to. He built this tower up and up and up and did not care what would happen if it were to wobble. He did not care how far she had to fall. He didn't care full stop. He got bored and cast her aside like some play thing having spotted something else he could build up before knocking style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And so she'd fallen and that was at the point where Gaius had picked things up. For the first time in years he found himself happy to have someone to live with. It was nice. They would go off, do their own separate things and then at the end of the day they'd eat together and catch up. Her french was improving but occasionally she'd still mis-say something and Gaius would have to gently correct her without laughing./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"She found out more about him. He'd casually mentioned 1066, so when asked how old he was, he'd been honest. Two thousand years (roughly) provoked quite a shocked reaction to say the least. Even by the time they'd known each other for five years she still hadn't heard all the battles he'd been in./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He sorted them both out with places to stay for the full moon. The old abandoned building he normally locked himself in initially only kept the people of Paris safe from one werewolf-ish creature, but eventually that became two. He'd been terrified of hurting her, vivid nightmares of waking up and finding her ripped to shreds, the sort of thing which would cause him to break out in a cold sweat. But it never happened. She said he did a lot of pacing and would try and dig through the floorboards and he would ask how on earth she remembered anything from a full moon. He certainly didn't. The embarrassment of waking up side by side eventually just became entirely normal./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"He watched her make friends with the other women at the wash house (as well as a few she didn't like) and Madam Eloise came to have a soft spot for her. A routine developed and they just became more and more comfortable with one another. It was the first time in a long long while that Gaius felt like he found his person. He adored Effie, not in the way that a man was expected to adore a woman. It was probably best categorised as a friendship, but the general expectation of a friendship didn't quite cover it. It was more important than that to him and he knew she felt the same. At the point where people were making jokes about when the wedding would be, Gaius began to worry maybe she did like him that way. If she ever had he never figured it out, but at this point in time he knew he didn't have to worry about it. He wasn't going to ask her./p
p style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif;"Eventually he just landed on the theory of the werewolf in both of them had just found a packmate. So maybe that's why so many years later they found themselves still together, living in style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And then Came 1871, a year that in Gaius' opinion, came both from heaven and hell. The call to fight scratched an itch that had been driving him insane. Guard duty was not war. It was not proactive. But a civil war was brewing and ready to tear Paris apart. For all this time Gaius had been paying for the room, Effie chipping in some of her wage to help out. But if Gaius was going to fight, he wasn't going to need that room style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /What was going to happen to Effie? There were concerns of there being sieges, the Paris commune against the French government. Famine, death and raids. For the first time in a long while Gaius was scared for the person he was leaving style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was a rather tense evening. His things had been bundled into a knapsack, active service would begin when he reported to the local courtyard the next morning. The pair sat in silence eating a rather stale style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He was frowning. He was thinking. What was happening to the room hadn't been brought up yet, but Gaius was pretty sure he'd come up with a style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I haven't been told how long I'm going to be gone for" He started, finally looking up and across the table at style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well I suppose it's a bit difficult to predict when the war will end" Effie responded, glancing to the side. Her heart rate was up a tad from usual. "I just do hope it's soon…I don't like this one bit"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Neither do I" It was a half truth. He didn't like not knowing how this conflict was going to affect Effie. He cleared his throat and leant back in his style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I was thinking, this place might be a bit dusty when I get back… If you wanted another job, I'd be happy to send you pay for the upkeep" It was an excuse to try and make sure she could support herself, if prices for food went up she could pay the extortionate rates and at least still be comfortable. This way he could say he wanted her to stay without actually saying hated the thought of her suffering by herself. They hadn't yet gotten to the stage in their relationship where they could openly state how much they meant to one another, but it was likely quite clear what was going on style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You don't have to-"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Effie I won't need at least half my wage out there, I'll be okay" The tone of voice he used was a little softer than usual. It wasn't himself he was trying to reassure that everything would be style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The next morning as he stood at the doorway about to leave, they hugged, Gaius not quite wanting to let go right away. He would miss her for a large part of the year. As would she. Paris suffered at the hands of yet another conflict and for once Gaius had to stay alive for someone other than /br /-br /br /After the war ended and Gaius came home, the fact that he could see Effie again made him feel weirdly emotional. It stung his eyes as he was finally able to walk in through that door, give her a hug, talk to her face to face instead of sending letters. For now he was style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And he finally got to find out all those things she'd been writing. Over the span of the war, between work she'd been writing away. Apparently this was a second or third draft, the first having been created during her time in the basement. He insisted she read a bit to him, and then a bit more, and then a bit more. Without realising Gaius had become quite invested in the main characters and he didn't quite realise how rewarding that was for any author. She insisted that there was still so much more work to be done, Gaius couldn't wait to find out what would happen in the /br /-br /br /In 1914 the world was taking a rather unexpected term. Effie and Gaius had left the parisian life behind when Effie had been contacted due to the death of her parents. With no immediate family, a large fortune and estate had waited for her across the ocean. As an extension, she invited him to come along. Gaius was bored of Paris style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /For so long Effie had been living in Gaius' world and now it was time for the tables to turn. The house was enormous, as was the land surrounding it. The idea of not having a single neighbour was incredible. Upon arrival she dismissed a large portion of the staff, keeping on board only those who are necessary or those who had been in her life since she was young. When he was certain no one else was about, Gaius had taken to running about the halls barefoot to see how quickly he could do a lap at the house. Taking a run-up in the main hall and then sliding across the tiles in socks was also quite style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He wasn't used to these fancy clothes which Effie seemed to take to quite naturally. She'd always enjoyed looking nice and trying different outfits though, the different fabrics and jewellery and styles and outfits. He just spent most of his time in slacks and a shirt. A large portion of her parents' belongings were able to be sold at auction, which ensured the pair could live together quite comfortably for a very long time. It didn't seem like Effie wanted many reminders of her parents in her home. The basement lay style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Full moons were spent running about on the lawn, digging holes and wading through the water fountain at 1 o'clock in the morning. He would wake up looking up at the sky and lying in the various patches of meadow that had begun to develop without a groundskeeper. He was free, without risk of hurting anyone and with someone who meant the world to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Humanity however has a knack for causing drama. For thousands and thousands of miles away in a European country known as Bosnia, the assasination of a certain archduke would lead to the deaths of millions. A new war was rearing its head and Gaius could taste blood in the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The gramophone was playing in the background when Gaius first broke the style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"With the way that everyone is allying up at the minute, I think we might be heading towards conscription" He was lying on a Chaise longue, whiskey glass in hand with the tiniest bit of sherry in it. Effie sat at the desk across from him, a small glass of red wine in her hand. Turned out she enjoyed wine every now and again. She style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I don't like it, not one bit" The gramophone filled the silence after she'd spoken. "You're planning on signing up, aren't you?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius pursed his lips and nodded, staring off absentmindedly at a painting on the wall. "The army could do with a few more men-"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Effie closed her eyes, hunching a little as she cradled her glass between both hands. "I know you know combat and death and glory and all that very well…but what if this is finally the war you don't come home from? I care a lot, about you, this house wouldn't be the same and I just-" The pace of her voice quickend and she had to take a breath as if to soothe style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I don't want you to get hurt"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I won't get hurt" He said sincerely, swinging his legs round so he could sit and face her. Her eyes didn't meet his. The thing is, Gaius couldn't promise that he wouldn't get hurt. Every war he'd been in, his capacity to heal had saved him from things that would have proven fatal to mortal men. He considered his continued existence an homage to his skill, but also dumb luck. For the longest time it didn't matter much if he died. He didn't care if he was buried in a war grave somewhere and forgotten. The son of Lycaon would always be remembered and Gaius would rather die in some war under the name 'Gaius Atria'. He could die knowing he did something more than what he did in that style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Life throws things at you. He had Effie now, he had a home. Not a single member of his family was alive anymore and it hadn't mattered what happened to his personal belongings or pay check. Effie didn't need his things, she didn't need his money but if he could give those to her, it was the least he could do if he died. Maybe he could give her a bit of story style="box-sizing:
inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You can't say for certain you won't" The woman seemed a tad exasperated, now finally meeting his gaze. Gaius looked down at his feet. He knew she was right. For a few minutes, until the second song on the record spun round the gramophone, neither of them said style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You're right…if anything happens to me, which it probably won't-' He watched as she raised an eyebrow, taking another sip from her style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /'I want to make sure my pay and things go to you. I trust you more with a funeral"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Gaius that's morbid- I don't want it to come to that, besides, it might be a bit difficult to have that arranged, we're not exactly married"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It might have been the sherry, but in that moment he smiled at style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"But what if we were?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Effie seemed to choke on her wine a little and looked at him style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Gaius you like men-" she laughed after sputtering a little but he could actually see her contemplating it in her style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"We live together already, nothing has to change other than the fact you can have a nice new ring and you're entitled to my pay and updates on how i'm doing" In his mind it was entirely logical. 'You've always said how much you'd love a wedding"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Placing his drink down on the hardwood side table with a gentle thud, Gaius slid out of his seat and got down on one knee in front of Effie. She smiled at him like he was an idiot but in that sort of loving style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Effie we've spent the past 50 years together, I don't know where I'd be without you" He meant it, honestly this was probably the most emotional thing he'd said in the past thousand years at least. He wasn't exactly a wordsmith, he couldn't write poems or love letters to her, she could barely read his handwriting anyways but both of them knew how strong their bond style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"If you would allow me the honour, will you marry me?"br /br /-br /br /A church wedding was out of the question, so a rather unconventional outdoor wedding was held for a rather unconventional couple. It was a small-ish field, with seats for a few people, including an elderly servant who'd looked after Effie since she was small. The 'isle' was decorated with bouquets of pink and red flowers, all chosen by Effie, it was her favourite colour style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Gaius felt nervous for once, stood up at the front in a stuffy suit with the wedding officiant, a man who just seemed to smile a lot. He had no reason to be nervous, he just knew this meant a lot, to both of them. He just hoped that this would make her happy. He'd even bothered to get his unruly curled hair to a barber so he'd look a bit smarter than usual. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He could hear the tires of a Rolls royce approaching the entrance to the field, the car which his fiance would be arriving in. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /When Effie stepped out, assisted by the chauffeur, he couldn't help but smile. Just by the way her face had lit up, he knew she felt gorgeous in her dress and every woman deserved to feel that way on her wedding day. He knew she would have spent ages trying different ones on, trying different jewellery, different hair if it was anything like what he'd experienced whilst looking for a ring with her. His wedding band was a basic silver one, he wasn't too fussy as long as it didn't get in the way too much. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The small audience stood as Effie walked towards him, the elderly servant dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. 'You look beautiful' he mouthed at her. 'Not too shabby yourself' she mouthed back with a cheeky smile. As she approached he held a rough hand out and the space was filled with her own hand. Her joy was style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The ceremony began and the wedding officiant went over the vows he'd seen couples take hundreds of times before. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Do you, Gaius, take Effie, to be your wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do you part?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I do," He said firmly, trying to stop himself from grinning nervously. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Do you, Effie, take Gaius, to be your husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do you part?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I do" Effie responded. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Then I pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /So he leaned forward and he kissed her gently. He was happy to kiss her. It wasn't the same way as others he'd kissed in the past but he knew he loved her dearly. This love was different, but it was love nonetheless and he meant every syllable of that vow. He was just happy to have her in his life. /p