Eliana had never run to charge her phone so fast in her entire life. Even if she was to stay in Volterra for an extended period of time and she was supposedly as safe as she could be, even the thought of having all contact to the outside world permanently cut off unnerved her to say the least.
Just as she was about to unlock it, someone knocked on the door. Startling her, she dropped her phone onto the floor with a surprisingly loud bang and opened the door to her room.
"Um . . . hello? Can I help you?"
The woman standing at the door, her hair a flawless platinum blonde with full red lips and red eyes, beamed at her. "Hey, I don't think we've met yet." Her energy continuously bright, she held a hand out. "I'm Corin. I work in the guard here."
"Oh, okay, hi," Eliana replied sheepishly as she took her hand, "I'm-"
"I know who you are, Eliana," she interjected with a laugh. "I was sent to find you by Master Caius."
"Caius?" She repeated. For a moment, it was as if she felt her heart skip a beat.
Corin nodded affirmatively. "That's right. He's in his wing as we speak," She abruptly grasped her hand firmly and began to drag her away from the safety and solitude of her room, "so let's go."
"Wait, um, Corin!" Eliana quickly interrupted, though her pace didn't slow. "Can't I at least, you know, change?"
She motioned to the clothing she was wearing, i.e. a pair of ridiculously short shorts and a sweatshirt that covered said shorts completely. She could feel the chill of the draft against her bare legs and shivered.
"No," she replied plainly, "you're already running three minutes behind schedule."
"And whose fault is that?" Eliana challenged.
"Okay, I'll admit, that's my bad," Corin confessed, "but it would be better if we're not any later than we already are."
"I didn't realise Caius runs at such a tight schedule," she noted.
Corin briefly glanced back at her. "Don't let it get to you. While what I said may be true, he has a tendency to be lenient towards those he cares about. That being said, it would make things easier if you could walk just a little faster."
At this point, Eliana had almost broken into a full sprint in an effort to keep up. "This is as fast as I can go," she replied.
"In that case . . ." Within the time in which she'd blinked, she found herself held horizontally in Corin's arms. "This should save time, I hope you don't mind."
Eliana sighed exasperatedly and relented, leaning sideways against her shoulder. "I don't care anymore."
That seemed to be enough confirmation for Corin to take off into the distance. Eliana squeezed her eyes closed as the sound of air rushing past her ears almost deafened her. There was a reason she absolutely hated being transported in this way, even if it did save so much time in the long run.
She only counted 3 seconds before she was placed down on her feet without much warning. She staggered to the side and reached out for Corin's arm for support, the latter of whom grinning happily at her.
Corin knocked on the door only once before she vanished faster than Eliana could even comprehend. Sudden anxiety and regret bubbling up inside of her, she crossed her arms defensively over her chest and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
She didn't know much about any of her three supposed "mates", but Caius was the one that was most elusive to her. While Aro was practically an open book, from what she'd seen, and Marcus she'd been told a little about by Carlisle before, the only knowledge she had on Caius was that he was harsh, calculating, brutal, and feared by every immortal that walked the planet. No one wanted to be on Caius' bad side—death was a better option in that instance.
So when he did eventually open the door, she felt inches from passing out on the spot. He was so much taller than she remembered, maybe because this was the first time she actually saw him standing up, and dare she say more attractive. The top few buttons on his shirt were undone, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
He briefly glanced at the clock by the door. "I thought you'd never arrive," he remarked.
"O-oh, uh, well," Her eyes widened as she stared at the floor, "Corin was kinda running late, so-"
"I was just teasing, carina." He smiled very faintly and stepped to the side to allow her through. "Please do come in."
His quarters—why they didn't simply use the term 'room', she didn't understand— weren't much different in size and rough layout than hers. She noted a fairly large flatscreen TV with a comfortable loveseat sofa positioned in front of it, a desk which was mostly littered with various papers and such, and a bed in the exact same position hers was in her own room. She almost mentally questioned the need for it, but then was reminded that the reason was the same reason that the Cullen's had beds in their respective rooms. Well, except Edward, but everyone had unspokenly agreed that he'd be a virgin for life, anyway.
"It's nice in here," she said quietly.
Seeing Caius seat himself on the sofa, Eliana immediately sat down beside him with as much space between them as possible without seeming rude. She curled her legs beneath her and tugged her sleeves down so that she held the ends in her hands.
He turned to me, his right ankle rested over his left leg. "What do you want to do?" he asked.
She almost jumped at the offer. "Oh, I don't mind. Did you have anything in mind?"
"We could watch a film," he suggested, lifting a finger towards the cabinet beneath the TV. "The DVD cabinet is there."
"You still have DVDs?" she questioned. "No Netflix, or Amazon Prime, or anything like that?"
"I don't use the television very often-"
Eliana snorted a laugh, but quickly covered her mouth with her hand and blinked. "I'm sorry, but television? Nowadays, people just call it TV," she told him.
To her surprise, Caius didn't even seem remotely offended. He held the same slightly calculating look as before, only with the addition of a half smile. "In that case, I don't use the TV very often," he corrected himself. Within a split second, a TV remote was being held out in front of her. "But I do believe there may be a way to access Netflix."
She very reluctantly accepted the remote and figured out how to load up Netflix in a matter of minutes. Fortunately, the Volturi, for whatever reason, already had a subscription, which left her absently scrolling through lists upon lists of movies.
"You have already scrolled past over 200 hours worth of content," he finally said after a few minutes of silence as she stared intently at the screen. As much as he certainly enjoyed seeing her face without her shyness meaning she hid it, he didn't exactly have the patience of a saint. "Will you choose something within the next minute or will I have to choose for you?"
She briefly glanced back at him and then at the TV. "Fine, fine, then we'll watch . . . this one."
He raised a perfect eyebrow, and slowly turned his head. "The Cat in The Hat?"
"You've seen it?" she asked. He noticed the mild excitement in her tone.
"Unfortunately," he sighed in response.
"So . . . can we watch it?"
"No."
"What if I ask you nicely?" she asked.
He paused for a moment. "I'll consider it."
"Okay, um . . . Caius," He turned to her the moment his name left her lips. He could listen to her say his name all day . . . but maybe some other time would be much more appropriate, "with your permission, please oh please may we watch this film tonight?"
"No."
Her eyebrows furrowed together. "But—I—what—but," she spluttered, "but I asked nicely! You said you'd consider it!"
"Exactly," he agreed, "I considered it and said no."
"Oh come on, please?" she begged, turning in her seat so that she was completely facing him. "There are so many reasons why we should watch it. One; it has Mike Myers, two; it has Mike Myers dressed as a giant furry cat. Do I really need to say more?" She watched his expression remain completely unchanged. "Please? . . . I'll temporarily promote you as my favourite mate," she added quietly with a laugh.
That gained his attention. His red eyes snapped to her so quickly that she felt her heart catch in her throat. "You have a favourite out of us?" he asked. "And that favourite was not me?"
She shrunk back defeatedly. "No, I don't," she confessed. "I just really wanted to watch The Cat in The Hat."
"Okay fine." He saw her eyes light up the moment he spoke and attempted to keep his smile hidden. "We may watch this film if that is what you so wish. Just remember, I will not forget about this-"
He didn't even finish his sentence before the film opening began to play. Her eyes were already fixated on the screen, her body now settled back comfortably into his sofa. She very briefly glanced back at him, but his reflexes meant that he could feign interest in the film easily before looking back at her.
Eliana sat pretty comfortably for the duration of the first half of the movie. She'd made a comment about Sally and Conrad having striking resemblances to Jane and Alec, and she noticed that Caius seemed to only find any glimmer of humour whatsoever at the sexual innuendos alone.
It was just over an hour later when she very gradually began to lose interest. Out of curiosity, she glanced back at Caius, only to find him with a sketchbook in his lap and a pencil in his hand. The pencil moved so fast that all she could even catch was a blur of movement. He looked back up at her now that her attention was on him, smirked, and continued as before, noting the blush she gained and the fact that she was so fast to look away, flustered.
"What are you doing?" she asked, shuffling up closer to him so that she could peer over his arm.
At the sudden close proximity, he momentarily froze, but not at all for long enough for her to notice. "Just a few sketches."
"Huh, well damn," she commented. She wasn't exactly sure what she'd expected, but a perfect drawing of Mike Myers as The Cat was certainly not what she'd been expecting. Every detail was completely flawless. "I didn't know you do art."
"I am an immortal who has been around for over three thousand years," he reminded her. "What else do you think I would do in my spare time?"
She shrugged. "Suck blood, sleep in a coffin, turn into a bat, stay away from garlic," she guessed.
"Yes, I spend every waking moment hiding from the slightest sign of garlic," he responded sarcastically, and while he certainly didn't laugh, at least she'd amused him
She leaned against his arm slightly, her head against his bicep. "I wish I was good at art," she muttered to herself.
"I'm sure you are not that bad," he reassured her as he turned to a clean page, careful not to injure her with his arm in the process. He handed her the pencil. "And you certainly won't improve unless you try."
"Oh, o-okay." Suddenly on the spot, she carefully took the pencil from him and leaned across past his arm to access the page. Caius refrained from touching her by keeping his free hand in a tight fist across the back of the sofa while the other steadied the sketchbook for her. Yet he'd never wanted to hold someone so desperately in his entire life.
Her subtly trembling hand didn't move nearly as quickly and precisely as he had. By the end, she'd drawn a rather butchered version of a stick figure, with a label that read, 'Eli's Shitty Attempt at Art, by Eli'.
She handed the pencil back to him and moved back out of his way. "There. You'd better treasure that forever," she said simply.
Little did she know that he likely would. He suppressed a chuckle and flipped back to the page he'd been working on, noticing her slowly become limp beside him.
Eliana gently stirred. Had she fallen asleep? Noting the strangeness of her surroundings, she very wearily lifted her eyelids.
"Good morning, carina."
Never had she woken up so quickly in her life. Her eyes snapped open in alarm as she clumsily propped her weight up on her arms in an attempt to get up. Feeling an arm around her waist, she reluctantly settled back down, only to find herself pressed against Caius' right side with one leg swung over him.
"I-I'm sorry," she mumbled. She took a steadying breath to prevent getting too flustered. "When did I fall asleep?"
"You were fast asleep by the end of the movie," he explained. She felt his hand touch her likely messy hair but didn't have the willpower to stop him. "I figured it would be best to let you sleep here than disturb you by taking you back to your own room."
She nodded tiredly. "And I'm on top of you, because . . .?"
Caius figured using the bond, or the fact that he'd been purring to keep her settled, as an explanation would likely put her in a more awkward position, so instead he opted to shrug. "You were comfortable that way," he excused.
"Oh my jeez, sorry about that, I'll just—oh shoot, maybe if I just-"
In her fumbled and uncoordinated attempt at getting up, which somehow involved haphazardly rolling over him, she'd found herself straddling his torso.
Unbeknownst to her, he made a valiant effort to beat down his internal arousal as her hips accidentally grinded down against his. He just hoped, for his sake and hers, that she would be quite finished fumbling around soon before he could do something he'd regret. "Do you need any assistance?" he offered nonchalantly with a chuckle, his hands on her hips to support her.
To say Eliana wanted to cease to exist right there and then would've been an understatement. She squirmed to the side messily. "Nah, it's okay, I've got it, I-"
She was somewhat unsurprised that Caius had caught her fall, his arms supporting her wrapped around her waist so that she was leaning back against him. She stopped to catch her breath and move a stray piece of hair out of her way before looking back up at him again.
"Thanks," she muttered as she stood up, again with his assistance. "I should, um, oh my, I should probably leave now. Er . . ." She backed up sheepishly towards the door and pushed it open. "Thanks, um, bye Caius!"
The moment she'd closed the door, she grabbed her forehead, exasperated with her own socially awkward actions. If there was one thing she could always count on herself to do, it was mess up in the most humiliating, if not mortifying, way possible-
"Hi."
Eliana let out a small scream and tripped backwards, turning around frantically in search of the source of the voice. Her gaze soon locked on a man who appeared in his mid to late 30s, though judging by his skin tone and eyes he was much older. He ran his fingers through his slightly longer brown hair.
"Wh-Why would you scare me like that?" she demanded breathlessly. "You could've given me a heart attack."
"I wish I was sorry," he responded. "I'm Afton."
Dick.
"Eli," she introduced herself coolly. "Why are you here, Afton?"
"Well, as a matter of fact, I was sent here to escort you back to your quarters," he informed her, " but I'm beginning to think it might just be more fun to leave you to navigate this place on your own."
"Right, I'm not dealing with this," she muttered. "Just lead me back to my room please," she requested with a melodramatic bow.
"If anything, I'm supposed to bow to you," he corrected her.
She stepped back and motioned to the space in front of him. "Be my guest."
Once Afton had quite finished his melodramatic bow, he started off down the corridor without warning, which left Eliana jogging behind. Although he was technically moving at a human pace, that human would've had to have ridiculously long legs to match it.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, how was your evening with Master Caius?" he asked.
She stared stubbornly ahead of her. "I do mind, actually," she answered.
"Ah, let me rephrase myself: please do tell me how your evening was with Master Caius."
"Why?" she questioned. "Am I obliged to tell you?"
He sighed in defeat. "No," he admitted. "I just wanted some drama. You have no idea how little the guard have to talk about." She simply nodded her head, and they continued. "So . . . do I get to know?"
"You just said I don't have to tell you," Eliana retorted.
"You don't, but you just should."
"Why?"
There was a pause. "Because I want to know," he finished lamely.
She laughed under her breath. "Nice try, Afton."
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: This took longer than I planned to get out, but to be honest my motivation was dwindling a little. As you can see, I've kept things in this chapter actually pretty similar to the original version, but one of the perks about having this all in 3rd person is that I can squeeze in a little bit of Caius' POV too, which never gets old hahaha
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and ily lots!
