Written in 2004 by Syvia (Aka Rebecca K. Friedrick). All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the stuff from LoK. I'm not making any money from this.
Author's Notes: Well... the more I think about the Lieutenants, the more I find new plot bunnies hopping about my brain. That and I think I'm obsessing over Lt. Rahab just a little bit. More about that later (I hope).
Uh... I didn't revise it as much as I thought I should, but I felt the need to post and be done with it.
It's actually a one-shot! gasp, shock
Special Thanks: To my main source of encouragement, Ranmyaku. Also to Emerald Embers, The Marmalade Cat, VladimirsAngel & Spectral Sereda. hugs all For the reviews on lj. By the by... do read it again and notice the revisions (the pinch of Yaoi has upgraded to a dash). :-D
Warnings: Some Yaoi. Spoilers for SR1... if you can really call them spoilers.
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There was a small bowl of cut crystal on the table.
A very small bowl, which held perhaps as much liquid as a human might cup in one hand.
It was a habit of the fourth born to keep water in this bowl, and to dip his cloven fingers in it while meeting with other vampires. Raziel believed his younger brother enjoyed the pained winces that no fledgling- and few older vampires- could suppress.
Raziel was used to his brother's eccentricities, and met the display with little reaction. Inwardly, however, he grimaced in annoyance. He could not help the instinctive wish to move away from the water- the physical need to stay away, despite the small quantity in the bowl- despite the fact that he knew Rahab would never dare so much as the flicking of one drop in his direction- instincts continued to growl in the back of his mind, and if he had an ounce less control, he would have been twitching.
Rahab trailed his talons slowly through the water, face as neutral as it ever was. Raziel had assumed a casual sprawl upon the sofa across from his brother and waited.
His patience was endless. Raziel's was not. However, as Raziel had initiated this visit, Rahab saw no reason to break the silence, assured that his brother would come to the point and then leave.
This did not mean Raziel would hurry to make his point- quite the opposite. He would see if the younger vampire could be made to break first. When faced with the firstborn's silence, the other Lieutenants- even Zephon, if one waited long enough- would eventually become unnerved and (politely) demand to know what Raziel wanted. When the Lieutenants, for whatever reason, paid Raziel a visit, they would state what they wanted, hear Raziel's judgment (sometimes argue with it), and be gone. They had no wish to linger.
Rahab was different. Moreover, he knew- or guessed- Raziel's purpose. Rahab had emerged from his latest evolution only a week ago. His elder brother, ever curious, had undoubtedly come to see what sort of change had taken place. This time, however, the fourth born was not visibly different. The gills on the sides of his neck had not increased in size, nor had his skin become any darker than the grey-blue it had been before the change. The younger vampire sat, and wondered whether Raziel would discover the new gift on his own, or finally become annoyed and demand to be told what it was.
Raziel let his attention be drawn to the sound of Rahab's talons as they clicked against the crystal; the whisper of liquid sound accompanied the water shifting around the fourth born's talons. He was accustomed to Rahab's habit of 'playing with water'. It burned the fourth son of Kain as it burned all vampires- yet Raziel could not remember a time when his sibling had not been fascinated by the element, as much as the danger it represented.
The eldest recalled frequent attempts at correction, when they were fledglings, where he had reprimanded, and sometimes struck Rahab for taking risks with his unlife. Raziel was the eldest, the surrogate leader during Kain's periodic absences, and if Rahab injured, or worse, killed himself standing too close to a lake or river during the night, Raziel would have be held responsible.
Rahab's passive refusal to stop the dangerous behavior eventually resulted in a rainy night and Raziel forcing his younger brother to keep outside under a bit of a ruined building that had not kept him dry, yet shielded him from enough of the rain that he survived until the storm ended.
None of the lieutenants forgot it. Raziel had given his brothers a visceral reason to fear him- the younger vampires had learned how far Raziel would go to enforce his rule over them, and Rahab... they were never truly certain what the fourth born had gained of the experience.
Still, the obsession with water had been suppressed from that night until their parting, and the forming of the clans. Out of Raziel's influence for the most part, Rahab had gone back to his distraction, and eventually it was made known to the rest of the vampires.
The Lieutenants had always thought him slightly mad anyway.
Raziel raised an eyebrow as he realized something- the hissing of flesh was absent. Always before, he could hear Rahab's skin burning and reforming as he trailed his fingers through water. Now- there was nothing.
Golden eyes jumped to electric blue and Raziel detected a faint smile on the younger vampire's lips.
Perhaps his senses were deceiving him. Perhaps it wasn't truly water in the bowl, but some new trickery of science or magic Rahab had devised. Raziel sat up, his eyes narrowing. The eldest turned on the sofa to face Rahab directly and reached for the bowl. Rahab stilled. With his hand less than an inch away from the bowl, So did Raziel.
He stopped in mid-reach, taloned fingers hovering over the rim of the crystal, Rahab's lifted almost out of the liquid. Rahab met his brother's gaze directly- the sudden foreboding aspect of the fourth born's eyes telling Raziel what his body continued to scream. Yes- it was water. Yes- its touch would sear his flesh.
Still, he reached forward.
Rahab drew back his hand, discarding responsibility for what was about to happen- not that it would stop Raziel from blaming him if he wished.
Raziel lowered his center talon, holding Rahab's gaze all the while. He knew what would happen the instant before his skin came in contact with the liquid, and braced for the pain.
Agony. Acidic burning across his flesh- and he had only brushed the skin of the water.
He hissed reflexively, denying the impulse to curl his hand into a fist. Far from easing the pain, such an action would have spread the water to his palm and increased it.
Rahab reached for the eldest's wrist with his dry hand, watching Raziel as he did so- asking for permission. Rahab took his silence for assent and grasped the older vampire's hand in his own. He lifted Raziel's hand to his face, opened his mouth, and promptly closed his lips over the injured talon.
Raziel would have smiled had his mind not been turning over the implications of what he had seen.
Rahab sucked at the wound, drawing the water which continued to eat at Raziel's skin, as well as the elder vampire's blood, into his mouth. Raziel did not bother to chastise him. His younger brother was removing the source of his pain, and the movement of blood past his injured flesh cleaned it- allowed it to heal. If Rahab was taking advantage of the situation and drinking a bit more of his brother's blood than was truly needed, this new gift was impressive enough to merit reward.
The fourth born had developed an immunity to water- and Kain be thanked for it, if Rahab was ingesting the liquid as well as touching it.
Rahab perceived he had lost the other's attention and tightened his grip on Raziel's wrist, briefly. The older vampire's eyes focused, dropping to his own hand before trailing slowly up Rahab's face to lock gazes once again. The lord of the Rahabim rolled his tongue down one side of healing finger, underneath Raziel's skin, then up the other side, the seal of his lips around the elder's flesh was an immensely pleasurable sensation, and a distraction from more important matters.
Raziel snatched his hand away from the younger vampire's mouth and caught Rahab's chin before the fourth born could react. "I hope, for the sake of your entrails, that they are as resistant to water as your skin," he murmured coldly.
Rahab gave a slow, suggestive blink- suggestive of what, Raziel was not certain. His eyes were heavy-lidded, but narrow, drawing the brows down in what might have been an annoyed expression. The fourth born raised his still damp hand. Raziel loosed the younger vampire's jaw and sat back slowly enough to make it seem as if it were not a retreat. His skin was whole once again.
Rahab drew a line of blood across his palm and poured the water onto it. Raziel bit back a curse, and then uttered it mentally as Rahab's skin healed beneath the water.
It should have cut into the wound, eating through flesh to dribble out the other side of Rahab's hand- but the fourth born was truly immune to water.
Rahab stared at his hand, then poured the water from one cupped palm to the other, watching it catch the light. "It occurred to me after I discovered my new state," he murmured, "how interesting a contrast are fire and water. The elements are similar... yet not."
Raziel said nothing, only raised an eyebrow at him.
"Destructive, purifying... consuming," he continued.
The eldest watched him impassively. Raziel had been aware for a long time that he and Rahab, more than any of their brethren, were apt representations of their favored elements.
Raziel controlled fire as part of his dark gift- it came to his call, and failed to burn him by casual touch- his skin did not catch flame as easily as that of his brothers. His temperament- much like fire, was pleasant enough to be around... so long as you didn't get too close. If enraged, Raziel did not stop until his anger was sated- so like the grass fire that destroyed anything in its path without discretion or remorse.
Rahab had always been placid, bending easily around prodding and attempts of control, relatively unemotional even in his anger. Now the fourth born had no need to fear water. In time, perhaps he would learn mastery of it.
The fourth born was not a match for Raziel in power, yet in contests between fire and water, fire seldom proved the victor.
For the first time in centuries, Raziel found himself assessing his younger brother, not for hidden agendas, but for any hint of threat.
Rahab gave his faint smile again, picking up the trailing thread of his words. "Both have the potential to burn..."
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