Thought games
A cool breeze swept across the land, gently raising and lowering the sprouting leaves as well as the germinating buds of the trees, while the pollen released under the cover of darkness remained hidden from the human eye. The dark surface of the water rippled and the waves spread over the lake. The reflection of the moon and the scattered stars were now distorted, while the outlets of the current grabbed Livia's ankles and struck her legs irregularly with gentle force.
The slender fingers of the young woman continued to rest on the broad upper body of the vampire, allowing her to feel his irregular breathing and the increasing deformation of the chest muscles beneath the slightly roughened cotton fabric. The darkness of the night prevented her from having an unrestricted view of Dettlaff, but Livia could still see that his chin was now more pointed, while the cheekbones were dominant. Threatening fangs were illuminated by the dull light of the moon, the eye sockets lay noticeably deeper, which made him appear even more animalistic.
As far as the light conditions allowed, the young woman captured the face of the vampire in its entirety. It was different. It was frightening. It was bestial. It was alien. But the now conspicuously white eyes reflected an almost painful longing and Livia felt her chest contract with compassion and her breath falter at this sight. Never before had she met such an emotional being that knew neither betrayal nor deception. In search of true affection, seeing himself as a monster, while his own hope of finding bliss steadily diminished.
A single tear made its way down one of the young woman's reddened cheeks before it paused for a few moments on Livia's narrow chin, detached itself from the smooth surface of her skin and merged almost silently with the lake. Instead of backing away from him, the young woman pressed her body even more against that of the vampire, causing the fibers of his tunic to turn dark all over when they came into contact with Livia's soaked dress. Dettlaff's eyes narrowed and Livia thought she saw a flash of uncertainty in them. This being seemed to consist exclusively of opposites. Strong and weak. Sensitive and selfish. Selfless and demanding.
At no point did Livia break eye contact as she slowly let one of her hands slide up over the soft surface of the red tunic. As her slender fingers reached the exposed part of his neck, the vampire sharply sucked the air through the broad, wrinkled nose. His skin felt firm yet soft to a certain degree. Scattered veins were now protruding more and more, throbbing in an unnaturally fast rhythm. Livia thought she could not only feel Dettlaff's pulse on the leathery skin, but also hear it, or was she confusing it with her own? She had the feeling of being one with him and felt an insatiable urge for more, ignoring the subliminal humming that was constantly increasing in her head. Only her cold fingertips touched the vampire's heated skin, but his warmth seemed to flow into her innermost being, the surrounding fresh spring night and the soaked clothes were of no importance. Slowly Livia's fingers moved on before she paused at the prominent cheek and enclosed it with her entire palm.
Dettlaff inhaled audibly before he threw his head back with his eyes closed tightly and made a loud moan as his body pressed against hers, trembling. Livia noticed that the vampire's pitch was now even lower than usual, but her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he bent down to her, grabbed the young woman's shoulders and tenderly kissed her neck. Dettlaff's lips were now noticeably narrower and felt unyieldingly firm against her cold skin. They touched a sensitive area just below the earlobe, while Livia could also feel the tips of his fangs. Her body reacted autonomously to this approach, causing her to run her hands into Dettlaff's silky hair and cling to it, while the dominant smell of tonka beans filled the immediate surroundings and literally flooded her senses. The kisses were, in contrast to his bestial appearance, feather-light and gentle. A loud gasping escaped the young woman as his lips drained from her and were shortly afterwards detached by his warm tongue, his grip on her shoulders becoming stronger. The razor-sharp ends of his claws barely touched the fabric on her buttocks, while the vampire with his soft tongue slowly moved down her long neck and stopped at her collarbone.
He pressed his forehead against her shoulder and breathed intermittently. "Livia." The mention of her name gave the young woman a pleasant shiver, with the vampire's menacingly deep voice adding to it. "Your smell is driving me mad. It brings out the monstrosity that I am and that I try to hide from you every day."
Eyes half closed, while her voice resonated with unmistakable lust, the young woman replied. "I trust you Dettlaff." The unpleasant buzzing in her head suddenly became stronger and seemed to take control of her body.
Her breathing stopped as she tried to continue speaking in a husky voice. "You need not hide anything from me. I..." The monotonous sound in her head became louder and louder as the surroundings seemed to blur. "...accept yourself as you are. What you are."
Dettlaff's grip on her shoulders was now almost painful, his claws cutting through the soaked fabric of the dress and isolated, treacherous red dots appeared in the immediate vicinity before the blood combined with the water inside the garment and spread over the entire surface. "Livia, you are mine." His deep voice was filled with possessive devotion. Her legs seemed to weaken when she felt a familiar pressure on her neck and a silent darkness fell upon her.
A lovely warmth surrounded her, while a pleasant scent almost encouraged the young woman to continue sleeping. One of her arms must have fallen asleep, it was tingling uncomfortably and could hardly be moved, while an unusual weight lay on her waist. Barely perceptible cold drafts regularly brushed against her face and her slender legs met with unyielding resistance. Livia puffed out in disgust before she straightened herself a little further and slowly opened her eyes. Due to the bright rays of the morning sun, she had to blink several times before she could orientate herself.
With drawn-up eyebrows she looked confusedly into the human face of the sleeping vampire. It seemed relaxed and the young woman recognized the sharp teeth between his slightly opened lips. He had conspicuous dark circles under his eyes, which were further accentuated by his unnaturally light skin tone. Scattered white strands were at the level of the temples and stood out clearly between the curly raven-black hairs.
During their journey together, the alchemist had never seen Dettlaff asleep, which is why she had silently made the assumption that vampires, unlike humans, do not need sleep. However, this did not apply to the regeneration phases after lethal injuries.
A fresh breeze swept across the country, which unconsciously caused Livia to press herself more firmly against Dettlaff's body. This reaction did not escape the affected person. Bright blue eyes watched her worriedly, while the grip around her waist became more dominant. "How do you feel?"
"Huh?" The addressed person blinked at him confusedly before the events of the previous evening came over her mind with full force. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably while her cheeks seemed to burn. With a jerky movement, she pushed herself off his chest with one hand and stood up swaying, her sleeping arm hanging down.
"Um, I think I'd better go freshen up." Embarrassed, she pushed single strands of hair behind her ear and turned away from the vampire with surprising speed to take away the possibility of a reaction. After what felt like an eternity and countless stumbles, she reached the shore, which was overgrown with moss, especially at the edges. There she squatted down, weakened, her arms wrapped around her own upper body. She swayed back and forth at regular intervals while she looked at her reflection on the smooth surface of the water.
Last evening could easily hold its own with the one or other exaggerated play of well-known dramaturgists, if not even surpass them. Livia looked at her pale image and put her shaking index finger on her trembling lower lip, and finally ran her tongue along it. "By Majoran!" Horrified by the vulgarity of the sight she had shown Dettlaff during the previous evening, she pulled her hair up. She was not surprised that the vampire found humans extremely unattractive, especially when they really chummed up thanks to the sweet kiss of alcoholic intoxication.
- "Come to think of it, you taste rather sweet. Like a forbidden fruit ripe for harvest."-
Her hands let go of the tousled hair and clapped her cheeks painfully several times until they burned uncomfortably. "What have I done?" Her voice was little more than a whisper as she lowered her head in shame and closed her eyes. She had drunk his blood without being asked, no, much rather she had licked it off her finger like a lunatic and made crazy statements. Had she injured his dignity with that? But his reaction to her ... ill-considered action contradicted this theory. Her transparent dress did not seem to have had any major influence on him. Was this all about her blood? Is that what stirred him up?
Livia hesitantly touched the part of the neck that Dettlaff had tenderly caressed a few hours ago. Confusion spread in her mind and was reflected in the young woman's expression. There was nothing.
Her reflection supported the unexpected statement. Dettlaff had not bitten her yesterday. Her heart started beating much faster while a cold shiver ran down her spine. The sight of the vampire form was undoubtedly frightening, but also interesting to a certain extent. Why didn't she answer his question then? Was she too afraid of Dettlaff's reaction to her answer? He was not human and in certain situations he behaved differently than one would expect. Livia liked this circumstance, which is why she could mostly relax in his presence and act the way she really was. But the vampire seemed to be unhappy with his own nature. How would he react to such a statement from her? What would Regis reply to her if he realized that she had broken her word and offered Dettlaff her blood again? The dainty fingers continued to rest on her narrow neck while Livia realized that the end of last night was completely beyond her knowledge. Why was he lying with her this morning? Her pale hands dipped into the cold water and scooped the contents against her heated face.
Scattered small branches cracked treacherously under the sole of her shoe, announcing her presence as she approached the camp. Livia had already set up a dialogue in her mind, wanted to stupidly recite it, clarify the past event with it and apologize for her inappropriate behavior. But Dettlaff was not to be found. The taut posture of the blonde-haired woman's body suddenly subsided, while the young woman looked around the clearing. Relief treacherously flooded her mind working at full speed, and at the same moment it dawned on her that this was not the final solution.
Exhaling loudly she settled down and rummaged in one of the backpacks for changing clothes. The white cotton dress had dried in the meantime and was no longer lying on her body like a second skin, but in the bright sunlight it still proved to be extremely transparent and thus useless for everyday life. Quickly her gaze went over the whole clearing again before she pulled the dress over her head. Cool spring air swept over her body, causing the sensitive skin of her breasts to contract as the thin hairs on her forearms stood up. The young woman held the cotton dress tightly and stared at the small holes that were surrounded by her dried blood. It had turned brown and the fabric lost its elasticity in the affected areas due to the hard encrustations. Dettlaff's grip seemed painful to her last evening, but she was so excited that she didn't notice that he had actually hurt her.
Livia absentmindedly did a small lunge and bumped against the opened rucksack, causing a leather-bound drawing pad to fall out. During her trip to Beauclair, she had bought this Dettlaff and packed it for their trip together, but it never seemed to be used seriously. Disgruntled, Livia had to admit to herself that Syanna's drawing had been absolutely fantastic and that she would have loved to see more works, but the vampire said at the beginning of her journey that he lacked the muse and inner peace for this hobby.
She threw the ruined dress carelessly on the snowdrops overgrown ground and picked up the block. She liked the simple patterns on the light brown leather. Thoughtfully she traced the curved lines, absorbed the consistency of the material and thoughtfully opened a random page.
In the distance the noisy courtship of the male partridges could be heard, fighting each other to show the ladies their strength and superiority. Panicky cries of the losers occasionally cut through the silence, while a cool breeze made the single grass stalks dance. Meanwhile, robins chirped happily and seemed to enjoy the first warm rays of sunshine of the year.
Livia's green eyes gazed blankly at the sides of the drawing pad before flipping the pages. The young alchemist could remember all too well the enormous landscapes that were projected very realistically onto the much too small pages of the drawing pad. Despite the choice of hatching the most diverse and unusual natural phenomena with only black and white, the final result looked convincingly realistic. The viewer had the feeling of hearing the leaves rustling in the wind and being drawn into the scene. She could actually remember each of these areas when examining the works.
The water of the springs had been mostly icy cold and clear. On the ground occasional small stones could be made out, mostly covered with a slippery layer of algae, while occasionally a fish had strayed into the natural basin. Livia regularly admired the natural spectacle surrounding her while bathing and at the same time complained in her thoughts about the usually much too low water level, as it had often only reached just up to her thighs.
Dettlaff was without doubt an extraordinarily talented painter. But the vivid depiction of the vegetation of the individual points of the journey only affected the young woman secondarily. With her lips slightly open, she glanced at her naked image, painted in realistic colours, which looked up to the sky with a loving smile, while clear spring water wet her body and ran down it. The center of the countless pictures was always her.
Livia blinked a few times before she suddenly closed the drawing pad and put it back in her backpack. Her body shivered, but the young woman was not sure if this was only due to the fresh spring weather. She had the feeling that she had seen something that was not meant for her. The pad belonged to Dettlaff. A guilty conscience spread inside her, because she had the feeling that she had cheated the vampire at that very moment, but at the same time her curiosity was aroused. Why did he paint her? According to his own statements, the human body was unattractive for him. She had not escaped the majestic aesthetics of the individual works, yet she was confused, which is why he secretly painted pictures of her and these were also nude drawings. Disapprovingly, she clicked her tongue to give more emphasis to her displeasure.
They now traveled together for a longer period of time, but Livia had the oppressive feeling that with her questions she only got to know a fraction of him. Was it similar to the vampire with her? How could this circumstance be changed?
After she had finished changing her clothes, she looked down at her body with a thoughtful look. What exactly did she feel for Dettlaff? She trusted him and felt liberated in his presence. Had he not been awakened by her jerky movements, she would not have interrupted the physical closeness to him. This circumstance could not be described with rational thought processes, it just felt right.
Just as right as the small loving gestures in her everyday life. She loved it when he put his heavy coat over her every evening, helped her to climb difficult passages, talked lively about his home country and was only too happy to answer her questions. The exotic smell of tonka beans surrounded her every day and she could not get enough of it. His naive and usually brash manner enraged her at first, but soon after she had to laugh at his clumsiness.
What will change between the two of them when they arrive in Novigrad? The house, which she is allowed to move into by Regis on loan, is located in the centre of the city. Besides, she can only retreat to it on weekends. During the week she has to give her best for her studies and study hard to help her parents as an officially trained alchemist. Will he still stay or will he slowly be attracted to his fellow beings?
She noticed the appearance of a reddish mist in the corners of her eyes before Dettlaff materialized with a serious expression directly in front of her. The young woman looked into the light blue eyes of the vampire and had to realize that she could not clearly interpret the emotions of her counterpart. Dettlaff's attention glided briefly on the damaged dress on the floor before he once again scrutinized the young alchemist in a piercing manner. An unpleasant silence prevailed between them, but Livia did not dare to break it. The prepared speech suddenly seemed dull and idiotic to her.
The vampire's jaw tightened considerably before he spoke.