1x1 Silent Symphony & Of the Falls

[Veins Of Opal]

Lucien snapped his eyes to Tessa when she slugged him on his arm, and he scowled. "Don't be such a whiner, you make it seem like it's worse than puncturing your lung," the assassin grumbled to her, turning the key in the ignition. It was about eight o'clock, and the sun had begun its descent towards the horizon, tinting the sky many shades blues, purples, pinks and oranges. Lucien admired the sky for a moment, before driving away from the Fort and getting on to the highway. His mind was still somewhat preoccupied by the argument he'd had with Tessa hours earlier, and it still had his mood a bit soured. But, there wasn't anything he could do about it, right now. He'd just have to wait until the stupid girl made a decision... Sometimes, he imagined it would have been easier to simply kill her. But, he still knew he wouldn't be able to.

[Falls]

Tessa's silvery eyes rested on Lucien's face as he admired the sunset, her own gaze gliding over the angles of his jaw before sliding away. She realized whose car they were in and parted her lips to ask why Vicente hadn't taken his car before thinking better of it. Lucien obviously didn't like it when Tessa spoke of the gentle vampire.

A little ways into the car ride, her hormones did a flip, changing her mood from sullen to cheerful. With a soft smile she pointed out a frolicking squirrel on a tree trunk near the road and watched it happily until the car passed it by. "I don't suppose there was any bacon left over from last night," she murmured. "You're getting food while we're in town, right?"

[Veins Of Opal]

Lucien drove silently for the most part, until letting his mind rest on the hum of the engine,and the changing hues of the sky. Upon hearing Tessa speak once more, his chocolatey-gaze flicked over to her for a moment, raising a dark eyebrow at her question. "I suppose I'll have to, if I'm running low on food," he murmured as his eyes flicked back to the road and the darkening horizon. He could see the lights of the city, and he estimated that it would be around fifteen or so minutes until they were there. It wasn't really a long car drive, and plus, Lucien liked having his Fort out in the secluded wilderness.
"Is there anything in particular you're set on having?" he asked her with a very bored voice and a sigh. After all, it was his money. But, he supposed that was part of taking care of another person... Money. Ah, well. He'd get over it. Or, at least, try to. He sat back in his seat, resting his right arm on the arm-rest of the seat, and his left hand loosely gripping the steering-wheel as he drove. The sooner they were in and out of the town, the happier he would be. Being around so many stupid people was... maddening. Though, that may just be his rather psychopathic tendencies towards anger and murder speaking.

[Falls]

Tessa waded knee deep in the snow, drinking in the solitude and wrapping herself up in it like a child in a blanket. She wasn't sure if the boys back there knew why she was gone. She hoped not. For her own piece of mind, she hoped she was the only one who realized that today was February the 14th: Valentine's Day.

Tessa was not blind to the tension building between them as the two men waited for her to chose. She could feel the anxiety festering under every floorboard, around every corner and between every spoken word between the three. And so, on a day like this, she did not want to see them. If she was lucky, Valentine's Day would go unnoticed by Lucien and Vicente.

Tessa spent a long while simply trekking through the forest, avoiding the harder paths for fear her old abdomen wound would catch her by surprise and strand her in the cold. She wore out a little over half of the day before her empty stomach pointed out her poor planning: she hadn't packed a lunch.

...

The trap door dropped open quietly and the smell of snowfall wafted down into the room. Slippery wet boots grasped carefully at the ladder, wary of slipping on the way down. Damp footprints followed the woman's lithe figure as she padded towards the kitchen in a black ski jacket, beanie and snow pants. Her attention was mainly focused on her shoulder-blade-length dark hair which she braided painstakingly in an effort to tuck away the flyaways that liked to get in the way of putting food into one's mouth. She still wasn't used to having longer hair. Perhaps Vicente could cut it for her tomorrow.

The walls and ceiling seemed to lean over the young woman like a hovering adult as she entered the hallway. Tessa was reminded of an unpleasant memory of a strict teacher and she gave a sigh. A home should not feel so hostile. Maybe Lucien would let her leave for a little bit. A vacation might unwind the tension that Tessa saw weighing so heavily in the nooks of this old building.