Walking beside Marcus, although it felt strangely natural to her, was a weird experience, but it was difficult to describe exactly how. Maybe it was the way that he strode with such evenness and precision, or the fact that he made no noise at all as he did so.
"Does that usually happen?"
Marcus' head tilted down towards her. "Don't let that representation of my brothers taint your opinion of them. When their emotions are in balance, I assure you they act much more tame towards one another."
"Their emotions?" she repeated.
"The bond affects us just as much as it does you, amore mio," he explained. "Just how much did the Cullens tell you about vampire mating?"
She shrugged. "Not much. They made it seem kinda the same to the human version, just a marriage that lasts hundreds of years instead."
He hummed in thought. "I see. There is a fair bit that has been omitted from their explanations to you. For instance, in most mated pairs, there will naturally be a more dominant mate and a more submissive mate. In our case, like many others, the males are dominant."
Eliana winced. "Should I be disturbed? Or . . ."
"I don't mean dominant in the sense that you might think," Marcus reassured her. "We are dominant in that we, in nature, are more protective and, well . . . possessive, for lack of a better term. But that isn't to say that we would not be equals in this relationship. Do I make sense?"
After a moment, she nodded. "I think so."
They walked in silence again for a moment, until Marcus continued. "As per your previous question-"
"What previous question?" she interjected.
"I think you know exactly the question I mean, tesoro."
"Oh." She looked at the floor dejectedly. "So you heard."
"I believe the bond between us works against you in this case," Marcus humoured, "for we are very much attuned to every detail about your being, including your body language, your voice, and every sound you make. For myself, at least, I find it near impossible to direct my attention away from you when you are in the vicinity."
Noticing a blush slowly form across her face as her stare at the ground intensified, Marcus forced himself to withhold his smirk and continued.
"Hence I heard every word," he concluded. "I know you better than you seem to realise."
Eliana didn't say anything in response to that. Without exactly knowing what anyone could possibly say to that, she distractedly scuffed her shoes against the floor with each step she took.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Eliana."
That caught her attention. She looked up at him quickly, a hint of bewilderment behind her eyes. Marcus looked down at her with a faint smile.
"There are no expectations for you to uphold," he assured her. "This is as new to you as it is to us. Don't feel pressured into thinking or acting in any particular way."
Part of her felt like she should've been finding little comfort in that. Those were just words that held very little meaning overall.
But something about the way he said it soothed a piece of her mind, like how any Gaga song did after she'd taken some co codamol. Maybe that was a bad comparison, but that really was how it felt.
She smiled a little. "Thanks, Marcus."
"Of course, cara mi-"
She'd moved before she even intended to, but once she'd actually clocked in the motion, she realised she had her arms around Marcus' torso. In a sudden panic at what she'd done, she began to pull away, but once she felt Marcus' arms around her shoulders and his head against hers, she stopped and took a deep breath, hesitantly leaning into him. Somehow . . . hugging him felt like the best physical contact she could experience from anyone.
Maybe he was right, she contemplated. Maybe there was no pressure. Maybe, for once in her life, she should just relax.
The next morning, like every other so far, was surreal, but it seemed as though everything was very subtly, very slowly, regaining some routine and normality. Like the days before, Eliana would get up, brush her teeth, and find herself a change of clothes she could tolerate from the collection she'd been given.
In fact, it was while she was styling her bangs in front of her face with a flat iron she'd found that there was a soft knock on the door. From where she was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the mirror, she glanced up to find Afton and Chelsea already settled comfortably, Afton in an armchair beside the window and Chelsea perched on the end of the bed.
Eliana looked at the mirror, and then back at the guards that had joined her. ". . . Good morning?"
"Good morning."
She glanced between Chelsea who had replied and Afton a few times. "Um . . ." She slowly set down the hair straightener. ". . . Why are you here, exactly?"
After staring at her blankly for a few seconds, Chelsea startled and let out a short laugh. "Quite right. So, you see, Heidi was supposed to be bringing in a catch this afternoon, but due to the current weather, there is hardly enough for most to feast thoroughly, and that would be like someone providing you with a single potato chip for a meal, which I can assure you is surprisingly far from pleasant, but I have reason to believe that is more of a psychological thing that I could delve into another time, so then-"
"Masters Caius and Marcus have requested to see you," Afton interrupted with a roll of his eyes, which was shortly followed by a hair pin flying at him much faster than Eliana could properly see.
"Me?" she repeated. "Like . . . now? I was straightening my hair. Is it really that important?"
"First of all, recall that little conversation you had with Master Marcus 14 hours ago," Afton reminded her. "Your voice carries, Eli. Don't blush like that, they can tell from here." As Afton continued, Eli quickly reached for the glass of water on her desk and downed the rest in a single gulp in an attempt to remove the flush from her face. "Second of all, you decide the level of importance your meeting holds. That isn't our decision to make."
Eliana glanced back at her hair tools, and then into the mirror. She looked fine . . . ish. Yeah, probably good enough. And it wasn't like she'd forgotten to do anything like brush her teeth. Not that it would be important unless she was planning to kiss them . . .
She quickly shook her head to dispel that thought before she could overthink it and unplugged her flat iron, leaving it to cool. "Fine," she relented as she climbed back to her feet. "Fine. Just lead the way."
"I fear I would lose my head if I didn't," Afton retorted.
The start of any meetings like this was always the worst, Eliana was realising. Afton stayed by the door to the library while Chelsea paced the hall, keeping any potential disturbances at bay. That, of course, left her completing the awkward walk of shame to wherever the hell Afton had pointed her towards.
It was a relatively secluded area on the second floor of the library, containing a few sophisticated, likely worth a fortune, chairs and such, a coffee table in the centre, and a large window that overlooked most of Volterra. It gave off the same vibes overall as one of those expensive cafes that charge £30 for a coffee but you momentarily debate whether it's worth it for the service and general experience.
As assured, Marcus and Caius were both sitting pretty much opposite one another. For a brief moment they seemed to be in very deep and serious conversation, but that quickly ended when they looked up at her in unison.
"Um . . . am I late?" she asked. "Because I just spent the last 5 minutes wandering around this floor aimlessly."
"We are aware," Caius replied.
"You knew?! And you didn't think to — I don't know — help me instead of leaving me to run around this place like a headless chicken?"
"You found us regardless, did you not?" he challenged her.
"No, not yet, still looking unfortunately," she snarked.
"That's enough of that, you two." Marcus glanced between Eliana and Caius, each giving each other equally dirty side-glances. "Tesoro, why don't you take a seat?" he offered kindly.
Eliana crossed her arms defiantly. "I don't know. Maybe I don't want to anymore."
"Okay. Stand," Caius said.
He reclined back in his seat silently as Eliana remained completely stationary. He'd played this game to mess with people enough times over the many years he'd existed to know that she'd definitely crack in exactly 3 . . . 2 . . . 1-
"Fine, you win." She unceremoniously fell back onto the same sofa as him but intentionally positioned herself so that she was right on the edge with her body rotated away from him.
Caius didn't even have the decency to hide his victorious smirk. "I always do."
Eliana rolled her eyes. "Is he always like this?" she asked Marcus.
The only response she received was a shrug.
"I am not a leper, you know," Caius reminded her. "You needn't sit so far away."
"Hey," She held her hands up defensively, "for all I know, you have the cheese touch. And just for that comment . . ."
Both men watched as she slid off the sofa and sat down on the floor instead with her legs extended out in front of her. Even then, she was still some distance from Caius.
"Ah, you have given Caius the upper hand here," Marcus noted.
Her face gained a bemused expression. "How did you come to that conclusion?"
"Now that you have seated yourself below him, he is physically above you and feels so in every other aspect," Marcus explained. "Moving to sit on top of the sofa, as you may be about to suggest, would also be useless since all that would do is provide Caius with a good view of your legs."
Eliana sighed. "All who vote kicking Caius out of this library group, say aye."
"Aye."
"There," Eliana concluded. "That's 2-1. Caius, you're out."
To her surprise, she glanced up to see him genuinely stand up to leave. But before he could get far, however, she lazily reached over to him, only just managing to tug on the end of his trousers. "Come on, I was kidding."
Caius slowly looked down at her with yet another smirk on his face. "I know. Do you think, after 3 millennia, I would be unable to see straight through your pitiful human games?"
Marcus chuckled as she groaned irritatedly. "I would stop trying if I were you. For someone with so little social skills, Caius has an unfathomable ability to see through any game you could throw at him."
Eliana didn't miss the glare Caius shot at Marcus. "I'll have you know, brother, that there is nothing wrong with my social skills." He sat back down where he was before with his arms folded over his chest.
"What's that?"
"What?" Marcus went silent for a few seconds. "Do you mean that buzzing? It is likely just an insect on the window."
"The window?" she repeated as she slowly turned her attention to the fact that one of the windows above their heads had been pushed as far open as it could possibly go. "Why is the window open?!"
Caius glanced at her bemusedly. ". . . Fresh air? Carina, why are you-"
"Oh my God it's a wasp!" They watched as she launched herself from the floor back onto the sofa. However, rather than following logic and moving further away from the insect that had begun flying around the room, she instead tucked herself closer to Caius.
"Cara mia, I am certain that that wasp has better things to be doing than stinging you," Marcus reasoned, schooling his humoured expression.
"I'm sorry I didn't ask it whether it feels like stinging me!" she snapped. Her voice was slightly muffled by Caius' sleeve. "Just make it leave!"
WIth Eliana suddenly in such close proximity, Caius placed his arm over her shoulders without a second thought. To his pleasant surprise, she only moved closer with her legs draped over his lap, letting out another whimper as the wasp reached the window again and continued to buzz.
"Eliana, relax," Caius sighed.
She shook her head. "I won't until it is gone."
He rolled his eyes. "Look, Marcus just got rid of it for you."
She went quiet for long enough to notice a lack of buzzing noise. She cautiously raised her head. "Are you sure?"
"Am I sure that I just stood up, moved a wasp out of the window, and then closed said window?" Marcus quipped. "I am fairly certain, my dear. Why did that have you so worked up in the first place?"
"All insects are terrifying. They're just so weird and creepy, and they have stingers and long legs, and-" She pretended to gag and cringed. "Don't get me started. Hold on . . ." She finally, after several minutes, realised the position she was sitting in, and slowly removed her legs from Caius' lap. Avoiding eye contact, she muttered, "Sorry," under her breath.
"Don't be," Caius murmured. "You are welcome any time." He saw her blush, and then the disappointed look Marcus gave him.
That seemed to be a pattern for a little while. Over the course of a few hours, she'd found herself just a little turned on too many times to count. She wasn't really sure what it was, whether it was their voices, what they said, or just them, but her constant fidgeting and shifting about in her seat was quickly becoming routine. The last time she'd felt this way was . . .
Well, never, not with a single guy she'd met before. Nothing was quite comparable to it. It was as though, as long as they were in the room with her, they were the only ones in existence, period.
She eventually became faintly aware of the ticking away of the clock on the wall near them. She'd eaten, she'd made further conversation with Marcus and Caius, and she'd spotted a spider on the floor which eventually moved across the room, never to be seen again. It didn't take much longer until she was leaning quite comfortably into Caius' side, so sleepy that she was no longer remotely caring about the potential awkwardness.
"What are you reading?"
Marcus glanced up from his book. "This was written a few hundred years ago in Polish, cara mia," he explained.
"Jeez, what languages can't you speak?" she asked him.
He paused for a moment in thought. "Kinyarwanda is a language I never did quite have the chance to pick up."
"I learnt that 53 years ago and have had not a single use for it since," Caius replied. "In fact, I don't know of a single Rwandan immortal."
"Would it be a bold presumption to say that you speak, or at least understand, Mandarin Chinese?" Marcus asked her.
"Uh . . ." She raised her eyebrows. "How did you guess . . .?"
Marcus seemed somewhat smug about the fact that she'd caught her so off guard. "While most humans would struggle to notice, I can clearly tell that you are from Chinese descent."
"You can?" she asked dumbly as she began to sit up. "I mean, literally no one can. I'm as white-passing as they come."
"It's in your eyes," Caius explained. Eliana watched as he turned his gaze towards her eyes and tilted her chin up to him, the way he seemed to be studying them making her shiver a little. A small part of her wanted to glance away shyly, but staring into his crimson eyes was all that she could bring herself to do. "That and a subtle difference in your cheeks than that of a caucasian person."
"Well, yeah, I guess. My grandfather on my dad's side is Chinese," she told them, averting her gaze downwards. "I inherited most of my mum's features, though, so blue eyes, brown hair, and all that. That's probably why some people used to give my dad weird looks when he'd take me anywhere as a kid."
"The world never used to be this racist," Caius muttered, not out of earshot. "And you speak Chinese?"
She pursed her lips in thought. "A bit? I'm really rusty, and I don't see that half of the family much anyway, so I don't generally speak often. But I guess I can try." She cleared her throat and stammered out hesitantly, "每天我吃汉堡包 . . .?"
Caius raised an amused eyebrow. "You eat hamburgers every day?"
"I'm not usually very talkative during most family gatherings," she admitted, "and the Chinese relatives I've met all speak English too, so it's no big deal."
"Did I miss anything?"
Eliana tilted her head up so quickly that she gave herself headrush and was forced to stay still for a moment until the dizziness subsided. Once it did, she noticed that, for however long, Aro was standing directly behind her. He walked around the sofa, concern written on his face.
"Are you alright, amore mio?"
"Huh?" She glanced back up at him. "Yeah, just . . . low iron levels, that's all."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but anaemia is nothing to joke about," Marcus interjected.
"It's not anaemia," she insisted, "just low iron. I'll take a supplement later if I remember to."
"In that case, if all is well," Aro extended a hand out in front of her, "would you do me the honour of accompanying me on a stroll, Eliana?"
"Oh? Yeah, sure." She carefully placed her hand in his, noticing just how gently he pulled her up, especially after her little iron revelation. Maybe it was overkill, but something about the care he took was quite sweet. "I guess I'll see you guys later?"
Marcus smiled at her. "Whenever you need us, tesoro."
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: I think the slight chaos in this chapter got away from me here, ignore that. Obviously, I couldn't change Eliana's fear of wasps that much, since that was possibly the most iconic scene I've ever written in my entire life.
Also, in case you haven't noticed, I've made Eli ¼ Chinese as well. I realised I never properly disclosed her ethnicity or nationality, so I figured it would also explain how she speaks and understands a little of the language as well.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and ily lots!
