The Shattered Web

You would realize by the time you completed your descent that the unknown woman had in fact been aware of your presence. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she was now leaning against the wall. One hand held a burgundy paper rolled smoke that smelled like illusive dessert scents. Mysterious things that happened beneath open moonlight skies. Exotic. The other hand held what might be a cameo. At closer inspection, it was a locket. Tucking it back away within her jacket, it was a soft sigh. Longing, yes. Lust yes. But the longing was more prevalent. Shaking her head, she looked up at you from behind her reflective lenses.

"Mad mad is the music man
Memories coming from across time's sands
Can what was lost truly be regained
Or are such fates only for the sane ?"

Pushing away from the wall, she executed a perfect bow that was both courtly and yet not. Pressing close enough to be heard without interrupting your playing, her voice was low. Private.

"I'm not here for you, music man. The Mistress summons her Merry Men. Were I to be here for what she desires... My craving has no reason to come here. He doesn't even know I exist. Both the Mistress and I will ever be unrequited."

Her words should have sounded melancholy, morose. Yet they seemed to flow to the flow and sway of the music. Factual and not a ploy or plea of the desperate. Leaning in one last time,

"She will not survive another betrayel. Another Loss. Do not play with her, Hatter the Mad. Our Mistress Marion is still needed."

Swinging one last glance over her shoulder, there was a sudden halo of violent midnight, royal purple, and scarlet reds that erupted around her before she disappeared, leaving the two of you alone. You had a sudden insight as she did that the door above was hidden again and for once time might be a thing within your control.

You would realize by the time you completed your descent that the unknown woman had in fact been aware of your presence. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she was now leaning against the wall. One hand held a burgundy paper rolled smoke that smelled like illusive dessert scents. Mysterious things that happened beneath open moonlight skies. Exotic. The other hand held what might be a cameo. At closer inspection, it was a locket. Tucking it back away within her jacket, it was a soft sigh. Longing, yes. Lust yes. But the longing was more prevalent. Shaking her head, she looked up at you from behind her reflective lenses.

"Mad mad is the music man
Memories coming from across time's sands
Can what was lost truly be regained
Or are such fates only for the sane ?"

Pushing away from the wall, she executed a perfect bow that was both courtly and yet not. Pressing close enough to be heard without interrupting your playing, her voice was low. Private.

"I'm not here for you, music man. The Mistress summons her Merry Men. Were I to be here for what she desires... My craving has no reason to come here. He doesn't even know I exist. Both the Mistress and I will ever be unrequited."

Her words should have sounded melancholy, morose. Yet they seemed to flow to the flow and sway of the music. Factual and not a ploy or plea of the desperate. Leaning in one last time,

"She will not survive another betrayel. Another Loss. Do not play with her, Hatter the Mad. Our Mistress Marion is still needed."

Swinging one last glance over her shoulder, there was a sudden halo of violent midnight, royal purple, and scarlet reds that erupted around her before she disappeared, leaving the two of you alone. You had a sudden insight as she did that the door above was hidden again and for once time might be a thing within your control.

He didn't ignore her words. Just simply didn't respond to her, as the music had overtaken him. Memories having flooded his mind. Of the two of them standing across from one another on the top of the Cathedral in Venice. The night Malkav graced them all with his presence. He made his way into the room and gave her space, but continued to play, his eyes closed.

The woman whose name had not been given and had not been asked it hadn't seemed to intend to wait for a response even if one was going to be offered.

How long the two of you played, seeming you seeming aware of her and the music but not else lost meaning, time seeming an unimportant thing. When finally you would realize she had stopped playing, and presumably open your eyes, she was no longer kneeling in what must be someone's bed.

You would recognize her violin nestled there, the very one she had played that night in Venice, yet she herself was across the way at the pool of water. Back to you, she was kneeling there though what she was quite doing you would be unable to tell with the angle of her body.

He wasn't sure how long he had played solo, but he thought nothing of it. If she had wanted him to stop before he did she would have told him so. He settled the instrument and bow on the floor next to the wall, next to where he planted his rump and lit a cigarette, waiting for her to acknowledge him.

"You shouldn't have come to this room, Hatter. It isn't a place you were ever meant to hear nor see."

That way of wording was odd, but then again what proper Malkavian didn't have some sort of quirk ? You would hear the water being moved about, then a quiet hiss of pain followed by an almost inaudible but very creative set of curses. Continuing to speak after a momoment, her voice was cool. Neutral. Though some would say closer to careful.

"I will be sealing this room off that it won't be accessible again, no matter who owns the grounds it resides upon. You needn't worry as the new owner that there's anything in this room that will need upkeep. It's far enough below for that."

He shook his head and pulled on his smoke contemplating his response "You know we're going to have to hash things out if we're ever going to get past things right? And it's your room, do what you will with it." He slid his feet out in front of him and crossed his legs at the ankles. He pulls his glasses off of his face and rubs the bridge of his nose "Do you know why a Raven is like a writing desk?"

"We. Hashed. Them. Out."

The words were carefully, singularly ennunciated through gritted teeth.

"Or at least I thought we had. I asked you a favor and you get my mortal family's castle as your payment. I didn't attempt to kill you or one of you... Yes. We did have this conversation on the ro... GOD'S fucking balls where are you, Rhob?"

The last infuriated question was punctuated by the sound of glass shattering on the wall. Finally hanging her head with a sigh,

"We'll that was foolish of me. And yes, Hatter, I do. The answer lies in the quill : both may be penned, but they can never truly be captive "

"Nah love. We spoke some words and passed them by." He stubbed his cigarette out "We didn't really resolve anything" he looked over at her sounding rather collected "Its because they both carry notes"

It was a frustrated sound that came from the back of her throat. An amalgamation of emotions packed into one wordless sound. Still crouched, she finally spoke something intelligible.

"What is there to resolve ? I should hate you. Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I surround myself with you like some sort of obsessed Justin Bieber fan. Don't ever put yourself through listening to that. What do you expect to fix ?"

Finally just sitting down on the surprisingly smooth stone floor, lingerie and all, she settled her feet into the water.

"It's surprisingly warm. Not to hot. Not too cold. I despise the asking but with Rhob not here.... Would you help me with my arms... Please ?"

Clearly that single word pained hervto say, possibly as much as the request itself.

Were you to come over and assist her as requested, you would see they were wrapped from wrist to just below the shoulder in odd bandaging. Even with the dampness that must have been her trying to soak them free, they clearly looked as if they were still stuck to whatever injury they were concealing."

He did indeed rise to walk over and kneel down next to her "May not be as talented as Nilly with the ways of medicine, but I'll do my best" he didn't reach up and start to rip the bandages off, instead he grabbed a cloth and wetted it before beginning to peel the wrappings from her arms, dabbing the cloth behind it to lessen the pain. "This happen in Alyces rescue?"

Refusing even now to look up at you, though perhaps that was due in part to the pain she was trying to shove down, she would nod. You may think better of dabbing the cloth in the wake of the bandages when you saw what it was covering. You'd seen fire burns surely before, but these something was truely wrong about these, you just couldn’t place your finger on what exactly it was. What you could see was just how truly angry, how exceptionally painful they had to be. You knew her to be no sort of wuss when it came to pain but you were also intelligent enough to know that fire and most vampires just didn't mix.

"It's unsightly to look at. I know. I'm sorry. I just... I couldn't get it... I tried."

"Hush now love" his words carried the weight of his dementation. The passion of the pain would lessen if she allowed it, and he would continue his work "You know Ice would indeed be far more skilled at tending to these. Your lucky she's shown me anything"

"Rhob's been tending them since they caught me trying to do it myself after they initially happened. They've been researching the fire as best as they can and why nothing we do seems to be helping. I'm sure your little blonde could. But it also means dealing with her counterpart who I'm just not in the mood to deal with today."

The soft, tremulous sigh told you that yes, she had in factvallowed your Dementatiin to assist. But only enough to take the edge off.

"Tell me, Hatter. Why did you actually show up? Why today pit of over four hundred years ?"

He finished peeling the first arm and chuckled "If that's your concern then mayhaps it would behoove you to know that El Fuego is out for the evening. Perhaps a few days. Depends on long she decides to take." He shifted around to the other arm and began the process all over again "I do know you should let them breathe a bit before reapplication"

"I don't dislike her Hatter... I just... I don't know how to connect with her. I never have. She'd probably find this predicament amusing."

It was clear she was talking about the situation with her arms due to your ginger lover's name. There was no malisciousness to her words, she in fact sounded tired. Lost even. A side of her that in your entirety of knowing you'd never seen.

"I kn.. I know you don't like being separated from her.. From them. I'm sorry that circumstances require that right now. One should never be separated from those they love. Distance is a painful way to make the heart grow fonder. Why are you helping me with this ? Be honest."

His pause was so brief one might have missed it, but his hands continued as he spoke "For the same reason I did what I did those many centuries ago. Because whether you believe it to be true or not, I care. And its been bought hundred and fifty years now that I've moved past my insecurities. The girls are weathered Kindred now. Can handle themselves." He finished with the second arm and gathered the wrappings up and sat them in a pile near the waters edge before positioning himself on the edge with her and dropping his feet in with hers.

"I wanted to hate you, Hatter. For what you did. For having them while I was alone. While I was hurting. But you were right. He was too far gone. Not every story has a miracle. That's a truth I knew even before meeting him. Even before meeting you. I suppose I thought I hated you so much because of other reasons, but those are neither here nor there."

The water was actually perfectly heated and seemed to have some sort of soothing, therapeutic content to it. Even if you were to drop off the edge and try to stand, it's depths would be significantly over your head.

"I've never hated you. Was upset with you for the first 50 years, but I accepted what I had done, and what it had done to you. If I had known you were so close we could have done this a century ago" he didn't jump into the water, as good as it felt, but simple lay back and relax on the stone, using his hat as a pillow "Then again, maybe we needed to wait this long. Enlightenment is a funny thing"

"I wasn't always this close. You have the Industries and I have my... Business dealings. They can take me anywhere in the world at any given time. I always manage to find my way back here though. Suppose that'll change now that ownership is changing hands. Sorry not sorry about the rumors of it being haunted though. I can give you the dossiers of those in my employment if you'd like. Their families have served the Castle for... Many years."

Falling quiet for a moment, she eventually spoke up again.

"Close your eyes. I'll tell you when to open them again."

Believing that you would acquiesce to her request, she gingerly slipped out of the lingerie and set it aside, carefully as possible not to even graze her arms with the material. Just as carefully she slipped into the water. Settling sonic covered to the upper swell of her breasts,

"You can open them again."

He did indeed close his eyes, and sighed "Still trying to figure out when and where the stipulation that you had to bugger off was made. I'd much rather you kept the room that is yours. I did tell you that in the beginning. You don't need to run or hide." He'd open his eyes again once prompted but didn't look in her direction. Simply sparked another cigarette "And if you were asking about that lovely lass that was here a few moments ago, she poofed once I showed up. After emparting some choice words."

"I made it. I can't stay around yo... Here long term. Too much to do. Things to see. Chaos to arouse and wrongs to right."

You would almost feel the furrowed brow at the mention of the girl, then again feel her wariness at the mention of things being said.

"Rhob is my right hand. Used to be that her brother Gregory was until his falling out of my Merry Men. I tried warning him not to fall for me. He didn't take it well when I told him I couldn't return his love. What did she say to you and since when did you avoid looking at people when talking to them ? The water is covering more of me than the clothing I was just wearing was."

"Aye lass, and I didn't look at you then either" he did actually roll his head to look at her "I'm a gentleman, remember?" He sat up with a sigh and settled the smoke between his lips "I'm not asking that you dwell here forever more. But you've always had a home with me and mine Eli. That's never changed and never will. I know im a lot to put up with. But I don't have many around me that I feel normal with. Haven't in a long time" taking a long pull from that smoke he exhaled "And you should ask her yerself. I hadn't been paying much attention. Something along the lines of a warning or mayhaps a threat"

"She's a might bit protective, my Rhobby is. Started when her brother drove straight down the cuckoo nest after I turned him down. He may have almost managed to kill me. She took offense to it. He's still alive though. Somewhere. Out there. Also Hatter since when have you ever truly been a Gentleman ? Since you're playing that game I suppose asking you to join me and help me with my hair is a no go ? Why weren't you paying attention ? Was something wrong ? But now I think I've done gone and made you uncomfortable. It's not like I bite. Scout's honor or some such drivel."

"Ass I may be, gentleman I've always been. It's not my fault I went mad!" He dropped down into the water, still fully clothed "Or perhaps it is." He wadded over around her to her back and began collecting her hair to begin washing it "And I was preoccupied with more important matters" his hands as well as his demeanor said he was more than willing to help. It wasn't that he didn't view her as beautiful. Or that once upon a time he might have had one or two dark thoughts about her. But he was ever the true gentleman, as he always had been.