A/N: Femslash February Day 4 - Please, be gentle
All I have is a little bit of reimagined vampire lore and a power trip to inflict on the characters and I'm gonna make it everybody's problem.
CW: mentions of blood
The pulse thundering in Marion's ears drowned out the heavy steps of the guards climbing the stairs. The alarmed shout breaking through it made her jump.
Underneath the metallic ringing of armor colliding with the solid floor was a heavier smash of wood into marble. The long crate skidded forward, dragging with its momentum the rest of the guards that were still holding it.
Marion raised a hand instinctively before she remembered herself and shook the embers of magic off her knuckles.
She tried to wrestle her voice into something that didn't spell out her annoyance with capital letters, "Please, be gentle."
"Apologies, Your Majesty."
Through the cluster of bodies she noticed a guard bowing his head as two other men supported him until he was steady on his feet. Then they moved into formation again and resumed their task.
Only when they picked up the crate again, the motion hit her with the realization she was holding her breath. If any of them paid any mind to the lack of her usual offer of magical assistance where mishaps happened, they didn't comment on it. Not one of them complained or suggested there were other methods of transportation she could have used, especially for a cargo so precious.
She released a sigh as inconspicuously as possible. Any sign of lacking mindless obedience would give Griffin reason to unleash her full arsenal of abilities to ensure their unquestioning cooperation.
The rest of the short distance to Marion's bedchamber offered no opportunities for disaster and soon the crate was set carefully next to the bed. Marion thanked the guards and sent them away without giving them the chance to offer assistance with opening it for her.
She could accomplish that in under a second with her magic but it took her a solid five minutes to unlatch the metal locks keeping the contents for her eyes only. The lid of the coffin was twice as heavy as that of the crate but she was used to the weight. She helped Griffin with it every evening, took special care to never be late and miss it. She set aside enough time when she had to teleport to let the magic wear off her skin before touching any of Griffin's belongings, let alone Griffin herself.
Colorful lilies lined the length of Griffin's body. Some rested in her hands like a bouquet she was embracing. The faint scent of fresh soil mixed with their perfume, the familiarity of it calming to Marion's high-strung nerves. It was every bit as alluring an invitation to slip next to Griffin as her pretend slumber but she restrained herself.
The flowers were frozen in time–just like Griffin–but the magic soaking them would not extend to protection from crushing. They were the only thing allowing Griffin to travel via aircraft – so far removed from the earth where her lifeless body belonged. Just the smell of soil with barely an ounce of it in total sticking to the flowers would not be enough of an anchor for most vampires but Griffin's lilies were special – grown in the garden of her childhood home and tying her to the memory, the essence of her that still lived there.
Replacing them would take too much effort. Marion only allowed herself to gently stroke a petal with her fingertip.
The caress soon trailed over Griffin's hand – freezing under her heated touch. The contrast between them was so stunning, hit her with the full force of their strife to defy the whole universe coming between them. Her head swam as if she were drunk just from the simple touch of their skin. Weaving through obstacles in flight, the full strength of her wings carrying her, couldn't even compare to that rush.
"You are aware, of course, that there are other options that would allow smoother transportation," she let her fingers wander the length of Griffin's arm, curious to see how long it would take for her to employ her superhuman strength and have Marion pinned to the bed.
Only Griffin's lips moved, eyes still closed in stubbornness, "As well as you're aware that my powers of persuasion only allow me to control people."
Control wasn't everything it was cracked up to be but Marion found it hard to protest when Griffin's need for it melted away at the barest of touches from her hand in a loud declaration of trust. Lying in her coffin as if she were truly dead and leaving herself in Marion's care went even beyond that.
Using robotic assistance was not worth the unknown variables just to supposedly reduce inconveniences. And if one of those was how susceptible human minds and necks were to Griffin's abilities, then Marion would just have to remember the sacrifices she'd made for her title, which far outweighed those she was making for the sake of happiness. It was better than Griffin's existence being streamed to a network even her power couldn't take down.
"You're the one who insisted that I come with," Griffin's fingers intercepted Marion's as she fished for an admission of Marion's weakness for her.
Marion laced their fingers together. "Oh, you made your disagreement crystal clear. I was considering turning to tranquilizers in order to survive that confrontation. The words "summer palace" alone had you foaming at the mouth."
Griffin, possessed by a sense of indignation at Marion's jest, sat up in a flash. Her face was close enough that its unnatural chill slipped under Marion's skin.
She didn't pull away, grounded in Griffin's proximity. They shared a smile over it.
"Normally, I'd be flattered that you'd go over all this trouble just to have me by your side even during the hours I spend sleeping. I couldn't help the feeling that you didn't want to leave me unsupervised with a palace full of people I could feed on, though," her voice was light and she raised an eyebrow in a challenge for Marion to dispute her point.
"What is it like to drink from only one person?" The realization that she'd never asked before wrapped around Marion's throat akin to panic. "Do you miss the varying tastes of different blood?"
Her heart had to be like a siren blaring in Griffin's ears with how hard it was pounding. She was sure the distinct impression that she'd always feared the answer had come across to Griffin as well.
"I do," Griffin's honesty was unshakable. "But that's nothing compared to the experience of drinking from you."
Griffin's lips brushed against Marion's pulse point–between the wounds left from her fangs–and the gasp falling from her curled them in a smirk.
Marion's hand wove into Griffin's hair to keep her in place, keep both of them in place. Imagining Griffin's lips on someone else's neck, her breath teasing their skin, was enough to set her blood on fire, spark up the magic in her veins. She'd be the one sabotaging herself then with her holy power meant to repel undead creatures that moved outside its scope.
Every living thing had an internal flame imbuing it with cosmic energy; everything could be traced to the same primordial power. Everything except for the love of her life. One spark from Marion's fingertips could incinerate them both.
"Aren't you going to ask me to be gentle?" Griffin's fangs scratched lines over Marion's throat but she was just playing.
Her fangs never sank a hair's breadth to the side, always in the same two spots she'd carved for herself into Marion's being. She always heeded the grip of Marion's hands on her shoulders like gospel. Marion could find herself irritated from having to urge her to drink more if watching Griffin lick her blood off her lips before leaning closer again wasn't transfixing, erotic.
"I was rather considering asking you the opposite."
She pulled on Griffin's hair to tip her head back and capture her into a kiss, have Griffin's fangs scraping against her tender lips. Gentleness was the last thing on her mind at the powerful taste of this vulnerability between them, intimacy. Griffin drank from her blood without fearing it could turn to poison in her mouth any second and Marion let her with the full knowledge that if Griffin didn't stop herself, she could very well be powerless before her.
They were made to be each other's death. But who could kill her with her unmatched power and her immortal lover when they shared a heart and blood and life?