dishonests | ◤eudio, cuddlr◢

[ there was a time when cassidy would not have believed him. he still doesn't wholly subscribe to the stories he hears, a practice he learned from being surrounded by sailors most of his life. but, between his first visit to eudio and this one, he's seen enough evidence with his own two eyes to start believing people when they tell him they're a faerie or a demon — or a vampire. or, if he doesn't believe them, he at least doesn't dismiss them as a lunatic.

so, he might grin to himself as he reads rafa's texts, but he doesn't outright laugh. ]

Well, Your Majesty, I give you my best for your recent victory. Can't say as I've ever fought against faeries, but I knew a faerie here once, and I reckon they be fierce opponents. Sailing is the only life I ever known. My father were a sailor, captain of a merchant ship before he became privateer by the Queen's will. I joined him at fourteen years of age, and I've not looked back since that day.

[ not strictly true, but it makes for a better story. ]

Aye, I've many such a tale, which I gladly tell if it be Your Majesty's will to hear them.

[ It makes for a decent story. Fourteen years old and sailing already. A life spent at sea. That would be good. Whether as honest merchant or seaborne thief, it would mean freedom, and travel, and everything Rafa used to wish was his.

He finds himself smiling. ]

yes, it is my will
as it is that you call me rafa, for i am no king here, and then tell me how it was that a boy who was a privateer became a pirate, instead

not that i would judge. the latter involves working for yourself, yes? that is preferable
or it would be to me, at least

[ a pirate's life isn't as quite as romantic as the stories make it seem. the days at sea are long, and he wasn't lying about the maggot-infested bread or the watered-down rum. not to mention, cassidy hasn't had a place to call home since the day he left bristol, and returning to that home? impossible.

still, for as long as he can remember, it's been the only life for him. ]

As you will, Your Majesty. [ once more, just to tease him. it's a shame rafa can't see him grinning. ] Ah, that tale is a long one, to be sure, and best shared over a pint. Do vampires enjoy alcohol and belike? Aye, but that be about the measure of it. We gentlemen of fortune mightn't possess letters of marque, such as privateers do, but we are the masters of our own destinies. For my part, that's preferable to living under the yoke of a tyrant, be it King or captain.

that is always preferable. no one wants to be controlled. i know that feeling
my throne was won and not inherited

[ But still, a life at sea is an old fascination for him. He wants those stories. And actually, the mention of a drink makes him smile.

He'd liked that picture. He would very much like to see that face in person. ]

i like to drink
i do not exactly get drunk anymore
but i like to drink and i'd like your stories, if you'll tell them

And well-deserved, I shouldn't doubt.

[ now he's the one flattering. obviously he has no idea whether it's well-deserved or what kind of king rafa is, but if he is indeed a vampire ( and a king ) it's probably best cassidy be on his good side.

not to mention, he's extremely attractive. ]

I'll tell them, gladly. [ even if some of them are embellished a bit. ] If you be not otherwise engaged, perhaps you'll have a dram with me, at whatever place suits your fancy.

[ Well-deserved, indeed. Rafa smiles, recognising that charm for what it is. He likes it, though. He's all too willing to be charmed by this man. ]

ah, then i have made a good impression

i aim to make a better one in person. i should like to meet you
but i warn you, i am new, and there are only two places that i know
one is full of magic. the other reminds me of home

which is your preference? i do not mind
i will spend the evening looking at you, in any case

[ don't tell cassidy. it would boost his ego too much to know he can charm a vampire king so easily. he might not notice on his own, as he's too busy being charmed himself. ]

Seems neither of us will be having much interest in the decor. However, I must admit I've had my fill of magic lately, besides which I should like to see such a place as reminds you of home. If we're from a similar time as you say, chances are it'll reminds me as well. Tell me the place and I'll be meeting you there as quick as my feet carry me.

perhaps it shall
it is called the rogues' gallery
as a pirate perhaps you will be fond

i shall await you, captain.

Aye, I believe I know the place. You won't be waiting too long.

[ with that, he taps his phone off and pockets it. before heading to the meeting place, he might just swing by his flat to grab his finer clothes: a gold-and-cream damask waistcoat and a dark blue frock coat. beneath them is his usual white, wide-sleeved shirt, a leather belt about his waist, his canvas breeches tucked into tall boots. it's not everyday he meets a vampire king, or at least a very attractive madman who believes himself to be such. right before he leaves the flat, cassidy grabs his pistol and tucks it into his belt. ( a dirk, as always, is hidden in his boot. )

when he arrives at the tavern, which reminds him of home much more than most of the other establishments around town, he immediately looks for the handsome man from the picture. ]

[ Rafa is waiting in the shadows, a habit that he has not quite shed now that he's here. He has updated his clothes to reflect the modern world, though the mark of his own style remains; everything is fitted, tailored where he can get it, and close-fitting where he can't. His shirt is dark and soft, buttoned down and open at the collar. It's a deep shade of blue, and his pants are a shade darker. His hair has been pulled into a tail at the nape of his neck. His coat - royal blue - is the only thing he has retained from home, and it fits him exactly. He wears no obvious weapon, and his hands are held in front of him.

He steps out of the darkness when he sees Cassidy, who is dressed brightly to contrast Rafa's darkness. Already, he likes the aesthetic of that. His smile warms to one of appreciation while he looks the other man over. ]

There you are, Captain Hawking. You do not disappoint.

[ before coming to eudio, cassidy never would've believed vampires existed, much less that he'd meet one in the flesh. if he had stopped to think about it, he would've imagined vampires to be bloated, ruddy monsters, like corpses gorged on blood. during his first visit to eudio, he met a couple of ( highly attractive ) people claiming to be vampires who would've turned that preconception on its head, if he'd had a strong preconception. he never got to know them well enough to be convinced of their claims of being vampires — and he's still not entirely sure what to think about rafa.

he can say one thing for certain: the self-styled vampire king is even handsomer in person than in his picture. and it's nice, too, to have a voice to put to the name and the face. the way he morphs out of the shadows sends a cold trickle down cassidy's spine, and his hand moves to rest on his pistol. but, as he faces rafa, he smiles and stoops into a mock-bow. ] Your Majesty.

[ this time, rafa can hear the teasing in his voice. as he straightens, he gives rafa an appreciative once-over. ]

I might say the same for yourself. [ the dark, tailored clothing is a very good look. ] Shall we, then? [ he gestures towards the bar with his head, then moves in the direction of it, brushing rafa's arm with his as he does. ]

Edited 2016-08-09 05:20 (UTC)

[ Rafa watches that bow with unconcealed amusement. Is this how Cassidy would treat all royalty? He hopes so; deference has always seemed so false to him that he only courts it from those he dislikes. This attitude is far more attractive to him than that.

Not that Cassidy was having much trouble with attracting him, anyway. Rafa steps in, sliding his arm neatly into Cassidy's when they touch. ]

Please. I hope that you will like it here. It is darker than most of the bars here.

[ Darker, as in fewer flashing lights, and darker, as in filled with shadier individuals. Both aspects please Rafa. He moves to the door, and holds it open for Cassidy. ]

It reminds me of the taverns I'm used to. By the way, are we expecting trouble?

[ His eyes flick briefly to Cassidy's gun. His experience with those is very limited, though he seems interested rather than troubled. He thinks he wouldn't mind seeing that in use. ]

[ truth be told, cassidy had never met any royalty before he came to eudio. back in his own world, if he ever meets a king it'll probably be at his execution, but even then the chances are low. his opinions about monarchies in general aren't good ones.

it bodes well for the rest of the evening that rafa finds his attitude attractive. his smile hitches higher as rafa links their arms. ] I'm certain I shall, certain as I am that you've sound judgment.

[ he moves through the door and waits for rafa to join him just inside. his hand has shifted from his pistol to his belt beside the firearm, his thumb tucked into the leather. ]

Oh, there's always the possibility of trouble. As you said, this bar be darker than most.

[ no where does his face betray that it was the prospect of meeting rafa that motivated him to bring the pistol, although his concerns about the clientele in this particular tavern aren't invalid either. he offers rafa his arm this time before heading for the bar. there's a space just big enough for the two of them, once cassidy shoulders someone an inch to the left.

he glances at rafa. ] Are you drinking? [ do vampires drink things that aren't blood? ]

[ Rafa doesn't need a lot of space. If the pistol had worried him at all, it does not show when he slides comfortably next to Cassidy, leaving very little space between them. It's close enough that he can feel Cass' warmth radiating from him. This is a bar filled with people, and filled with beating hearts, which cause a low, steady desire to build in Rafa's mind. He ignores it, and focuses on the man before him. Cass' eyes hold a spark which distracts him all too readily, and he finds himself smiling without knowing it. ]

I came to drink, did I not?

[ No, he came to see those eyes in person. But he tears his gaze from them for long enough to catch the eyes of the barkeep. ]

I will have what he has. I trust you have good taste, Captain.

[ His fingertips slide idly over Cassidy's hand while he speaks. This bar may well be full, but any who looks at them will see this blue-eyed pirate is taken for the night. For once, Rafa does not feel like sharing. ]

As good as can be had in a place such as this.

[ the bartender shoots him a vaguely dirty look, in response to which cassidy just grins. rafa's fingers on his skin are incredibly distracting, but he manages to place the order anyway: two glasses of bumbo, a drink made with rum, water, sugar, citrus, and spice, usually cinnamon or nutmeg. most establishments here tend to make it sweeter than he's used to, mixing it with syrups instead of sugar grains. such is not the case at this particular tavern, even if the taste still isn't quite the same as it is back home. it has more to do with the rum itself than the combination of ingredients, though, so it can't be helped. he's gotten used to the liquors from the future, anyway.

while they wait, he turns his hand under rafa's fingertips, so they can trace the lines of his palm. his hands are rough and weather-worn, much like the rest of him. the skin has been abraded numerous times from handling ropes, and it healed over tougher each time. there's a stripe that cuts across both of his palms, just noticeably whiter than the skin around it. a scar from when he was fifteen and received the worst rope burn of his life. just one scar of many.

rafa looks pristine in comparison. ]

So, do vampires eat the same food as normal men, or do you just partake in our drinks?

[ Feeling Cassidy turn, Rafa glances down. He smiles at that open hand, and lifts his eyes back up to study that smile. That smile could melt ice on the ocean, he thinks. The palm he's tracing now bears the signs of hard work; scars and callouses, all of which makes it unique. His fingertips slide over the edge of the wide wide scar.

It's not one he's used to. He doesn't know how this injury was done, except that it's not consistent with the use of a blade. It's something else. ]

Food is...complicated. I could eat it. [ If he had to. If humans were watching, and he was pretending to be one of them. Here, he may never need to do that. It's a very good incentive to stay honest. His smile quirks, lopsided and dimpling at one corner. ] I do not like it, and besides that, my body cannot use it. It cannot use liquids, either, but they mix with the blood, and it is not so bad.

But I do not get drunk, as you may. That is a pleasure sadly denied to me now. I remember how it felt, from long ago. I remember how the taste of vodka improved the more I drank. Those are feelings that I miss. I cannot complain about the rest.

[ His fingers slide over Cassidy's, and then he lifts his hand. Rafa kisses the edge of his knuckles, very lightly. ]

How did you get this scar? It's an old one. You must have had it for some time.

Can't get drunk? [ the notion is offensive; his tone and accompanying raised brows say as much. ] By Christ, if that be the price of immortality, it's for certain too steep a one for me.

[ his pulse quickens as rafa's lips touch the back of his hand. perhaps that's the kind of thing rafa can sense. it's not a gesture people usually make towards him, even back home, but it's all the more potent for its irregularity.

it catches him so off-guard that he forgets whatever he wanted to say next, and by the time he comes back to himself, rafa's asking him a question instead. it takes him a moment to figure out which scar rafa's referring to, since his hands are littered with them, though most are too small or faint for comment. ]

Aye, five years at least. [ he turns over his other hand, which bears a matching scar to the one on the hand rafa has captive. ] I was still just a cabin boy at the time. A storm came upon us, and I were tasked with helping the riggers secure the sails. I had a rope in my hands when the wind tried to tear it from me.

[ he clenches his hand, recalling the feel of the rope. ]

But I held fast, as if my life depended upon it. Only the wind was stronger, and it ripped the rope from me, whether I willed it or no, along with a good layer of skin.

[ the bartender returns then, and sets their drinks down in front of them. cassidy thanks him and takes his glass, raising it in a toast. ] Here's to at least one of us getting drunk this night.

[ he tips his glass against his lips. ]

[ Rafa takes both hands now, and traces curious fingers over both scars. As Cassidy weaves that tale Rafa can see it; the eager sailor, fighting to save the ship from wreck. It must have bled afterwards. He dips his head, kissing the other hand now, and then he reaches to take his glass. ]

From cabin boy to Captain in less than five years. That is no mean feat. The scars made these hands strong.

[ He touches his glass to Cassidy's and then kicks back the drink, which is also strong. The burn in his throat his a pleasing one, which leaves his eyes warmer than before. ]

I miss getting drunk, I admit that. I always did like to indulge, but there are other vices open to me. Enough of this, and perhaps I'll feel it for a while. I want more of your stories.

[ He signals the bartender to leave the bottle with them, and then settles, his hand on his own chin. ]

Where is your favourite place to go? Tell me about it.

[ his fingers brush rafa's chin after the kiss is laid on his palm, a quick catch and release before he pulls away. it's easy to imagine the kisses being laid elsewhere, rafa ducking his head to another part of his body. desire flows lazily through his veins, not yet urgent, just a pleasant, all-over warmth. he feels young. or rather, he feels his age, all twenty-one years of it, rather than the way people here normally make him feel. three-hundred years. a thousand. ancient.

it's easier to feel young with someone who actually carries the weight of a couple hundred years. those years have been incredibly kind to rafa, however, or maybe it's the vampirism. he grins, lifting the scar on his cheek- a thin, white line that follows the bone beneath the skin. ]

I gained a few stations along the way. Nobody goes straight from cabin boy to captain, no matter how strong, or brave, or devilishly handsome they be.

[ he winks and takes another drink. several more drinks and higher concentrations of liquor will be required to get him drunk, but to not get drunk at all still seems reprehensible to him.

at the question, he leans into his elbow and looks into his glass, swirling the contents so they slosh at the rim like a tiny sea. ]

Have you ever been to the Caribbean? [ he raises his eyes and glass together, sipping the rum concoction, chasing it off his lips with his tongue. ] Did you see it, you'd understand how hard it be to choose but one place. Every shore and cove has beauty to behold. [ his glass clacks on the bar. ] However, I've a special fondness for the island of New Providence, I grant it. The people of Port Nassau're free to live in the manner of their choosing, rather than under the yoke of a tyrant king.

[ he says, to a king. ]

[ Rafa's dark eyes settle on Cass, taking the measure of him. Still, as usual, his nose tells him more than his eyes ever could. The flush of building desire changes his scent, injecting it with familiar sweetness. He smiles, liking that scent, and he slides closer against the curve of Cass' body. Those hands on his face, however briefly they had stayed, have left him so very eager for more. He leans forward, elbows on the bar, and then his eyes tick over that scar on Cass' cheek.

He wonders how it got there, but even more than that, he thinks about pressing his lips to it. Then he thinks about pressing his lips to Cass', and his eyes drop down to trace that smile. That voice, and that accent warm his blood, and he finds himself smiling. He could listen to takes like this all night. He shakes his head. ]

I have never been. It is...where men explore, yes? Those islands, new places just being discovered. But I would love to see it. Islands and strange people without kings...

[ He laughs, and then reaches up, running his fingers against the edge of Cass' lapel. ]

You do not much like royalty, do you? I cannot blame you. What terrible creatures we must seem, hiding in our castles and seeing so little of the world. I would like to see it as you do. It sounds beautiful.

[ His hand slides up, fingertips teasing at Cass' neck. Rafa's fingers are cool to the touch, and Cassidy's skin feels heated beneath them. He shivers, and takes another careful drink. ]

[ rafa's fingers are a night breeze against his neck. not the night breezes he's used to in the caribbean, which are still unbearably balmy at times, but the ones he's grown accustomed to in the milder climate of eudio. the ones he used to know in england, when the leaves started to change and the fields turned gold. the kind that send a tremor down his spine. the idea that rafa might not be human after all seems increasingly likely.

but a breeze never made his blood run so warm, tingling beneath the surface of his skin. ]

Aye, explore they did, though now their primary concern be transporting all the region's riches back to Spain. [ he grins against the rim of his glass before taking another drink, and doesn't comment further about how intimate a knowledge he has of said riches or their transport.

as he sets his glass back down, his demeanor shifts a fraction of an inch. anyone else might not notice it, but rafa's senses are keener than most. on the outside, cassidy's smile remains in place, even if it's a little tighter at the corners. ]

To own the truth, I dislike any governing power what abuses those beneath them, [ he says, with perhaps more candor than he intended. realizing his misstep, he shifts back to center, his smile returning to the easy one of a moment ago. ] However, the royalty I've met in this place seem to be of a different stock than those whence I'm from. For one, they're much fairer to look upon.

[ watching rafa from the corner of his eye, he downs more of his drink. once he's set it down again, he slides his hand over rafa's to see if it's as cool to the touch as it seemed a moment ago. ]

Have you visited the beaches here? They're not the Spanish Main, but they've a certain loveliness of their own.

[ that vampires are allergic to sunlight doesn't occur to him.. ]

[ That is an interesting answer. Not all men would dare to rise up against authority like that, yet Cassidy did not hesitate. Perhaps he had seen such abuse, or even been victim to it. At any rate, it makes Rafa smile, and feel all the warmer towards the other man. ]

There are some who would do anything to cleave to power. I would prefer to be loved, not feared. Some see no difference.

[ Rafa’s father had been like that. Had being the operative word, since he’s like it no longer. Rafa has no will to be a king like that.

Nor has he will to think much on his father while he’s here. His attention slides easily from the subject. He turns his hand up to meet Cassidy’s, and his fingers will be just as cool as before. He’s been drinking, but it hasn’t warmed him; it’s the wrong kind of drink for that. He moves closer, lowering his tone accordingly.

That question makes him smile. ]

I love the beach. The sand and waves. Of course, the day is barred to me, but at night fewer people go to them, and I can watch the stars in peace. The seaside is my favourite place.

That’s why I like your stories, Captain. The ocean is a tempting place.

◤eudio, cuddlr◢

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action? c:

action!

/o/

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