Welcome to Gaia! ::

"I do my best to take care of my friends," Scarlet replied. She came up behind the blond with a cup of water. The boy took it with a look of relief and gulped it down, trying to replace some of the fluids he'd lost. Scarlet teased Twi, "You always were a glutton. Let me show you how it's done."

She opened to a small, almost invisible drawer in the ottoman and pulled out an unusual device; it looked like a throwing dart, but instead of feathers, it was fetched with razor sharp blades. She gently pulled the blond out of Twi's grasp and wrapped one arm around the donor's chest from behind.

"Human skin is remarkably resilient," she murmured as she used the razor blade to trace a fine crescent on the boy's shoulder blade. After a second, it bloomed in bright red. She lapped at it with her tongue, spending more time enjoying the flavor and the texture of the skin and the blood. The fine scratch clotted by itself and soon the blood stopped flowing.

"You can have hours of fun this way," she purred. "And if the fletchettes are sharp enough, the donor hardly feels any pain--a mere paper-cut at most. It can even be ever so slightly erotic, which just makes it taste that much better. For the simple business of eating," she twirled the fletchette in her fingers like a small baton before stabbing the blond's muscular bicep with the point of the dart.

The pea-sized hole quickly welled up with blood and Scarlet allowed herself a few deep, satisfying swallows. Then she applied pressure to the small wound and stopped the bleeding before she got carried away. "You might want to put a band aid on that, love," she whispered into the boy's ear.

Scarlet just gave Twi a knowing, superior smile. "Perhaps you should try it my way, sometime, since you are going to be staying for a while. I think I might be able to provide enough fresh blood during your stay to abate your hunger and awaken the...artist in you."

Turning to Sam's request, she replied, "I'm afraid not, dearest. All my donors are under contract; they provide what I need and in return receive substantial scholarships to the local university," Scarlet explained. "However, if Mizu wishes to accept a position in your service after she has graduated, I will have no complaints."

Scarlet rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Pardon my assumptions. Yes, I can have a set made specifically for you. I'll commission it tomorrow."

"By all means. It's not as if we need to breathe or anything," invited Scarlet with more than a touch of irony in her voice. She gently pushed the blond boy towards the door and he left. Mizu seemed happy enough on Sam's lap, and as she had not been drained as Butch had, Scarlet didn't see the harm in letting her stick around for a snack later.

"Oh dear, has my brother been meddling again? He likes to tell everyone that I'm the only mischief maker in the family, but he does his fare share," Scarlet replied. "But what's this about settled life? Has some fair waif finally lassoed you? Who is she? Where is she? Why didn't you bring her to my ball?"

Scarlet hid her eyes behind a demure hand. "Devonte is always suspicious about my love life. He seems to think that the reason I seduce so many human men these last couple of decades is because of some tragic heart-break I won't tell him about. Honestly, for someone thirty years older than me, he's an uptight prude."

Scarlet dropped her hand to examine Sam from behind her eyelashes. He was showing all the signs of anxiety, even anger. She was fairly certain that Sam and Devonte did not have any unpleasant history. Still, he seemed eager to change the topic, and if he exchanged an instrument for his tight grip on Mizu, she might survive the night with a few less bruises.

"Please, I always enjoy your genius," she encouraged him.