"What on earth is this?"
Chelsea and I were both sat in lotus position on the floor in Caius' bedroom facing each other. We had a few tea light candles lit which provided a faint yellow glow in the room. In the background, my usual meditation tape was playing, and I opened my eyes once Caius caught my attention.
"Hey babe, want to join? I have a spare pillow," I held up another red accent pillow for him to sit on.
"I am not joining this-this-what is this? Some type of ritual? Are you religious now?" he questioned.
"Oh, it's meditation. Basically, the closest you'll ever get to sleeping. Come and try, you know you want to," I insisted.
Very reluctantly, he took the spare pillow from me and set it down just beside me. I had to explain to him how to sit and even managed to persuade him to take his shoes and jacket off. There were very few times I saw Caius more pissed off than at that point.
"Inhaling through the nose, feel the movement of the chest…then exhale gently through the mouth…"
"That is enough!" Caius snapped promptly and stood back up again with his shoes and jacket back on in an instant. It was only a matter of time.
"But Caius, babe, we didn't even get to the cleansing of the soul-"
"We do not have souls," he informed me very matter-of-factly, "now let us leave."
He easily pulled me back up to my feet and blew the candles out, much to Chelsea's disappointment.
"Caius, where are we going?" I asked with my eyebrows drawn together.
He smirked. "I am taking you on a date, carissima. Feel free to change your outfit should you wish," he glanced pointedly at my pyjamas which I had a habit of wearing when I wasn't doing anything.
"What do I wear though? What kind of date is this?"
"If I told you, it would not be a surprise, would it? Now, you," he pointed a pale finger at Chelsea, "dismissed."
I mouthed the word "sorry" to her as she picked up the pillow she'd brought with her as well as all her candles and dashed out of the room in a blur.
"I love surprises, be back in a sec," I called behind me as I disappeared into his wardrobe.
Caius had never exactly been the most romantic kind of guy. While Aro found things like dates, flirting, etc. quite easy, and Marcus was generally such a kind and loving soul, Caius had always seemed to struggle a little. He was a man of action rather than words, but it didn't mean I would ever adore him any less.
Once I re-emerged from the wardrobe, I was dressed in a light red sundress that ended mid-thigh along with a pair of flats and a jacket over the top, despite me being unaffected by the temperature. Caius wrapped his arms around my waist tightly and held me flush against him.
"You look incredible, carissima." Without warning he lifted me up horizontally with one arm under my knees and the other supporting my back. "Close your eyes."
With a giggle, I did as he instructed. Air suddenly began to instantly rush past us which was how I could tell he was running. Out of habit, I curled up into his chest with my ear beside his unbeating heart as we continued to run at full speed for a few minutes. That was when I became just a little curious as to where he was taking me and why it took such a ridiculous amount of time to get there.
About 4 minutes later, he placed me back down on gently my feet and I could smell…the sea?
"Open your eyes, carissima."
When I lifted my eyelids again, I gasped in shock. The sky was dark and filled with hundreds if not thousands of stars, and in front of us was the sea, rolling in calm waves onto the pristine white sand. I inhaled the fresh sea breeze blissfully, and it only reminded me of the visits to the beach my parents would take me on when I was little.
"It's so beautiful," I whispered in awe.
He wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder. "It does not even compare to your beauty, but I am glad you like it. Come."
He lightly tugged my hand and led me a little further down the powdered sand. A few seconds in, I quickly took off my shoes and decided to walk barefoot just to save some bother. Fortunately, it was the middle of the night so there weren't any humans around, which did make things a little more peaceful for us.
He led me over to a little spot where he already had a few towels, a bottle, and two wine glasses laid out.
I sat down comfortably on one of the towels with my legs extended out in front of me. "Wow, you came prepared," I giggled.
He chuckled and sat close beside me. "I managed to find a bottle of O positive in my office," he held up the bottle.
"You have an office?" I asked, confused as to why I hadn't been told of this before.
"Of course, and Marcus, but the vast majority of our meetings are held in Aro's. We are having an office prepared for you which should be ready in a week approximately," he told me.
"I've been here for months yet you fail to tell me you had an office this entire time," I shook my head.
"Where do you think I work all day?" he laughed. "Just a moment ago, I was on a phone meeting in there with the French coven."
I shrugged my shoulders. "I just assumed you work with Aro or something."
"I cannot even begin to imagine working alongside Aro all day. He is very obsessive and fussy, I highly doubt I would last a few minutes. I did try to work with him once, but he became upset because one of my documents slid over to his half of the desk and caused him to jog his signature."
"And somehow I can imagine that perfectly," I humoured.
Whenever Aro became upset about anything or didn't get his own way as he likes, he had a tendency to openly pout and complain like a toddler so that everyone was aware that someone had upset him.
Caius poured me a glass of blood and offered it to me. "For you."
"Taste wise, what's the difference between O positive and other blood types?" I asked and examined the glass in my hand.
"O positive is like the equivalent of chocolate for humans," he responded plainly.
I took a sip and realised he was right; O positive was the chocolate of blood. Apparently my satisfaction was evident on my face as he chuckled quietly and took a sip himself.
"It is like chocolate!" I grinned. "Damn, I miss chocolate."
"I never had the chance to try it," he confessed.
"Seriously? Oh wait, I imagine ancient Greece probably would've had a distinct lack of chocolate."
"Ancient Greece was a very different time, I can assure you."
"So," I placed my glass down beside me and laid onto my back, "I've heard Aro's back story, what's yours?"
"You would like to know my back story?" I hummed in confirmation. "I could attempt to sum up what I remember, but do keep in mind that Aro has a much better memory recall of his human life than me so mine may be less specific at times.
"I was born in Greece sometime around 1300 BC, so approximately 40 years after Aro and 50 years after Marcus. Aro often likes to remind me that I am indeed the youngest and he used to tease me for it relentlessly, but at least you are now much younger than all of us." He laid back beside me with one arm over my shoulders.
"As I have already mentioned, what you would consider ancient Greece was a very different time indeed. I believe I had 6 biological brothers, but no sisters. From what I remember, my father was not an ideal father figure, but not unlike many fathers from that era. From when I was very little, he would beat me and abuse me for the slightest misconducts." He tensed up suddenly as if a memory just hit him, and not a good one.
"Oh babe," I cooed, purring reassuringly into his shoulder and cuddling into his side.
He eventually calmed down a little and continued. "When I became around 21 years of age, I was arranged to be married to my now ex wife, Athenodora. Shortly after our wedding, a friend of ours transformed both of us without providing any explanation. I have not seen him since. We travelled together for many years until we met Aro and Marcus who at this point had already established the Volturi coven. Supposedly, Aro was drawn to my, as he phrased it once, 'capacity to hate'," he scoffed disbelievingly.
I decided not to say anything to that. He glanced over at me with his eyebrows furrowed.
"Do you agree with him?"
"What? No," I attempted to laugh but it sounded worryingly fake, "well, okay, so I do see where he comes from—BUT," I stopped him before he had the chance to be mad at me, "you don't have much of a 'capacity to hate', I wouldn't say. You're just generally a little angry in nature…and you despise the vast majority of people you meet."
"I have high standards," he defended.
"And that's not a bad thing, not at all," I assured. "It's a miracle I even come close to your standards."
"Oh, carissima, you are the only being who reaches my standards, I can promise you that much. Before I met you, I did not fool myself into believing I would ever love someone as much as I love you. Aro is correct; you truly do not understand your significance to us. In the short space of time I have spent with you, my entire attitude to life has changed. I never thought I would be capable to love someone, yet I stand corrected. If you were to ever find out of the many atrocities I have committed over the millennia," he scoffed, "I would not blame you for leaving me."
I softly kissed his neck. "I will never leave you, never, I promise. See, while Aro can just read my thoughts and Marcus can check the bonds or whatever, you really don't get to see for yourself just how obsessed I am with you. Since I first met you, I couldn't get the thought of you out of my head. I'd go to school and start daydreaming in class, just for me to start daydreaming about you. My world now revolves around you, everything that happens is about you, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
"I'm not going to lie, you terrified me the most at the start, and I was most reluctant to get to know you. But I am beyond glad I gave you a chance, because I didn't think it was possible to love someone as much as I do you. Besides, I didn't think you liked humans so I thought I was wasting my time."
"You were the only exception, carissima. Initially, I did not believe I could tolerate a human in the castle either, but I miss having you in human form if anything."
I giggled. "What's the difference?"
He perked up a little. "Firstly, you were much less coordinated. You were truly a liability to your own health, and I spent too many hours away from you, worrying endlessly about your safety."
"Oh come on, I was not that bad," I argued.
"Oh yes you were. Why do you think we always ensured at least someone was around you at all times? Your skateboarding injury was enough evidence," he remarked. "You were also much warmer."
"Really?"
"Mhm. Even at times when you insisted you felt cold, the comfortably warm heat radiating from your body was enough to make me refuse to leave your side for hours. Your flesh was much softer and…squishy."
I erupted with laughter. "You did not just say squishy."
"There is no other sufficient way of describing it," he laughed. "There were a few occasions where I had to be very careful that I would not injure you by squeezing you too hard."
"Squishy, that's a new one," I mused.
"And you did sleep an awful lot," he added. "I did greatly enjoy watching you sleep however. You were so peaceful and quiet…most of the time."
"Oh yeah, sorry about my, um, sleep-talking," I glanced down in embarrassment.
"Oh, I am referring to your many sleeping habits. You would sleep-talk about the most random topics, such as butterflies and – I do believe you began to talk about carpets once for whatever reason. You also sleep-cuddled, which was quite amusing in all honesty."
"It just gets better," I muttered under my breath.
"Yes, during nights when all three of us would stay with you, we would simply watch you sleep all night, as apparently disturbing as that may seem. On our first night with you when you fell asleep on top of Marcus, you spent the entire night snoring, and tossing and turning. What did make me and Aro laugh was when you subconsciously kicked Marcus in the groin. Now that looked painful indeed."
I gasped, absolutely mortified. "I did? Oh geez, why didn't you say something?"
"Because we knew it would embarrass you."
"But I—I kicked Marcus in the groin? And you didn't even give me a chance to apologise? Oh my," I took a long gulp of O positive.
"He was fine, it was only a little painful. He did however hand you over to Aro for a few minutes to recuperate. Regardless, watching over you as you slept is something I will most definitely miss. Although, one positive is the fact that I no longer have to worry about injuring you when…" he trailed off.
"When…we do this?" I put my thumb and forefinger together into a loop and mimed it out with my other forefinger.
He laughed. "Yes, precisely that."
"Well, that's always a perk of immortality," I agreed and sat up straight, taking off my jacket.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
I took his hand and led him towards the edge of the water. "Why go to the beach if we're just going to sit there on the sand?" I giggled.
"Wait a moment." He stopped and took off his shoes and socks before picking up what looked like a deflated beach ball.
I gasped excitedly. "You brought a beach ball?"
He nodded, a little distracted while he inflated it up as we walked. Once it was fully inflated, I went to take it from him but he held it away from me teasingly.
"Caius, gimme!" I whined and extended my arms out towards him like a child.
"What is the magic word?" he taunted as he continuously moved it from hand to hand behind his back so I couldn't grab it.
I frowned. "Please?"
He jokingly pondered it for a moment. "No."
Frustrated, I playfully tackled him down to the ground and continued to try to pry it from his grip. He simply laughed mockingly at my efforts. We ended up rolling through the sand so that by the time I'd finally retrieved the inflatable ball, Caius' hair and face were covered in a fine dusting of sand.
Unfortunately, we hadn't been paying much attention to where we were rolling as I was now lying on top of Caius right by the water's edge. Another wave came rolling in towards us and, due to my weight pinning him down, he didn't have a chance to move out of the way before he was completely drenched in seawater.
I laughed surprisedly in shock as he sat up straight again so that I was straddling his lap. His death glare honestly said it all.
"How dare you."
Without any warning, he stood up while he held me with my legs around his torso and ran into the water before tipping backwards so that we were both fully submerged under the waves. I managed to stand up again and smooth some of my hair out of my face. He'd taken us pretty far out as the water already reached just below my armpits.
As soon as he reappeared from under the surface of the water, I splashed him hard which only made him chuckle. "What the hell was that for?!"
He smirked and smoothed a strand of my hair out of my face. "It is unfair for only me to be dripping wet."
"That was mean," I pouted and crossed my arms.
He pulled me into his arms and brought his lips to mine, though I frowned into the kiss a little at the taste of the salty water which he found hilarious.
Once we were done playing fully clothed in the water like a bunch of children, I was sat beside Caius on our beach towel with another larger towel wrapped around both of our shoulders. I sighed contentedly and curled up into him as he watched the sun rise in the horizon.
"Ugh, we should probably head back now," I groaned.
"I will need to explain myself to Aro since I left with you without providing any reason," he added disappointedly.
"Well, either way we ran out of O positive," I pointed to the trash bin where I'd chucked the empty bottle, "so fun's over, I guess." I paused. "We should do this again."
"That we will," he agreed, "I love you, Eliana, ti amo tanto."
"That's 'I love you lots' in Italian, right?" He nodded. "In that case, ti amo tanto, Caius."
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: Caius is just so wholesome, he's just so baby awhhh. Can I marry him? I want to marry him. I felt a serious need to add a ridiculously wholesome Caius chapter in here because he's just so angry all the time, he deserves happiness and love.
Also, I don't know how I feel about getting Eli to meditate at the start of the past few chapters haha, I feel like that could be a fun hobby for her. Caius meditating though, just the thought made me wheeze haha.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback because I love to hear your opinions, stay safe, and ily lots!