Summer put a hand on the dark girl’s shoulder, gently. “We’ll get to that. You’re not where you expected to be. Right now just breathe. Come on, drink a little.” She didn’t have enough pieces to understand the fright just yet, but that was okay. She took the moment to look over her visitor: tall and elegant, the way Summer wanted to be; dark eyes, skin, and hair, with a wide mouth and high forehead.
She made Summer think of Pepper Potts, that kind of ‘power woman’. “What’s your name? Let’s start with that.”
Uhura brought the glass to her lips, allowing herself to take controlled sips, not wanting to choke herself by drinking it too fast. It helped a bit, but she could still feel herself becoming more anxious. “My name—” She inhaled deeply, her eyes lifting up to look at the redheaded woman. “Uhura.” She said gently, her eyes shifting back to the floor below her.
“Uhura. African, right? I’m Summer.” She squeezed once, then knelt so she could look Uhura in the eyes more easily. “It’s going to be okay. Can you tell me what happened, before you got here? What you remember.”
“He’s hurting people. And can’t be made to stop. Right?” She couldn’t help leaning into him, into the warmth of him. “Victor … this is what I do. I don’t always like it, but this is what I do.” She pulled in a deep breath. “And if we do it my way, he can’t hurt you.”
“I just don’t want t’ see you go through this. I’ve done the killing, an’ I lose myself in it for a bit. Sure, I’ve been near death a few times, but not as many times now tha’ I’m a vampire. This rogue doesn’t have any idea we’re coming an’ I’m more than ready an’ willing t’ put him down. If you’re set on it an’ you want t’ then we can do it your way. I just’ definitely won’t be seeing his eyes in my dreams once he’s down, but I want t’ make sure you won’t either.”
“I’ve killed people before, Victor!” She was almost upset that he was so protective. Death wasn’t easy. Shouldn’t ever /be/ easy. “Can we just — we’ll see what happens after we find him, okay?” She turned in his arms, looking up and biting her lip.
“Yeah, alright love. And I’m not saying you haven’t, all I’m saying is tha’ unfortunately, it comes easy t’ me. But, we’ll just see how things go, like you said, Summer, like you said.” He kissed her gently on the lip where she was biting it. He held her tighter and rocked slightly.
She tucked her head under his chin, for the comfort of it, for a moment. Then her stomach growled, and she huffed a laugh and went back to dinner.
“There’s no point in camping out. We might as well have a comfortable bed.” Summer winked slowly at Victor, arms folded as she gazed around. It was … almost eerily familiar. Small town businesses with faded signs, streetlight posts with seasonal decorations between carefully trimmed trees. The hotel was clearly a renovated old house, lovingly kept up.
It was hard to believe they were there to hunt a vampire.
Victor smiled, “Good point there.” He said as he headed towards the hotel. When they got inside he smiled to the person behind the desk, ” ‘Ello, one room, queen size bed?”
“Sure, we’ve got a few open rooms, here’s a key.” The receptionist smiled as Victor took the key and headed up the stairs. The room was the 3rd on the right, quickly, Victor put the key in the lock and opened the door, leading the way into a fairly nice hotel room. There was a queen size bed and a tv hung in a corner. The bathroom was normal sized and the shower fairly big. “Well, not bad at all I think,” Victor said as he turned to Summer.
“It’s a hotel room,” she shrugged. “I just figured walls would muffle your moaning better.” Deftly, she unbuckled her cuirasse, dropping it on the floor and stretching out her arms, then going to work on the rest of the armour pieces. “You know I didn’t bring any clothes or anything, right?”
Victor chuckled heartily, “Oh yeah? An’ what of your moaning eh, love?” His smile lit up his face as he made his way over to the bed and flopped down on it, arching his back to help him take off his shirt. “An’ you think I mind tha’ you don’t have anything else? Come t’ think about it, neither did I, so we’ll just have t’ keep each company now won’t we?”
“Victor, darling,” she laughed, “are you suggesting we play nudist in here? I’m not entirely opposed to the idea, mind, but I’d really rather have something else to wear.” She raised her brows pointedly at him. “And there’s the question of food, as well.”
“Oh, I don’t,” she shrugged. “The only way to know is to try. I figure, if I tie your hands behind your back, or maybe to the bed, and all you can do is watch, it ought to get a pretty good reaction even if you don’t beg.” Her face heated a little, thinking about it. “Would you like to be busy tonight, Tony?”
Tony shifted his grip on the steering wheel and glanced at her again. That was definitely an idea with more than a little merit. He cleared his throat. “Ah—yeah. Not really a question that needs to be asked.” The car approached the tower, and Tony turned it into the drive and down into the garage. Once parked, he slid out, and stepped over to the passenger side to open it with an exaggerated bow and a sweeping gesture.
The whisper of his interest in the back of her mind was sweet as chocolate on her tongue. Following Tony’s lead, with an attempt at a sultry smile, she stepped out of the car. One hand reached out to caress his arm, and then she couldn’t wait any longer, and pulled his head down to give him the passionate kiss for gratitude.
There was a short laugh as she pulled him down, before it was rather justifiably muffled and silenced. He kept it brief, though, leaning away and collecting the leftovers from the car. “There’s a penthouse, you know. It’s got a bed and everything. I hear it’s much better for these sorts of shenanigans,” he pointed out, and ushered her towards the elevator.
Summer didn’t bother to reply, just stepped into the elevator and pushed Tony up against the back wall. “Penthouse, Jarvis.” She went after the vest buttons with single-minded intensity, followed by the knot on his tie.
“That’s usually about all any of us can stand,” Summer sighed. “I hope she survived. She must care about you quite a lot, to resurrect you.” He certainly cared for that person, she could tell; it damn near radiated from him. “And it seems like you put it to good use.”
“Oh, she survived,” he beamed, wetting his lower lip. “She’s still just as amazing as she was then, too…” He chuckled, rubbing his cheek. “It’s a useful curse given my field. But it’s numbed me to a lot of emotions that I used to feel.” He shrugged slightly. It was a loss, sure, but that didn’t mean that it was missed. He’d feel it every so often anyway, for a short burst of time before it submerged itself again.
“Do you want to feel them?” she inquired. “No, never mind, I shouldn’t ask that. Do you need me right now? I don’t want to be in the way.”
“Probably not,” Tony teased. “To come bail you out of jail I’d have to put on pants. Totally not worth it. I’ll be sure to pick you up when you get out in like fifty years though.”
“I don’t think I’ll set them on fire, then, I’d miss you too much. Looks like lying here complaining is the order of the day.” She snuggled closer to Tony. “So long as those girls don’t take you away from me, I will ignore them. I belong with you.”
“Of course you do,” Tony smiled, wrapping his arm around her. “I don’t think you need to worry about them stealing me from you. I’m entirely too terrified of what’d you do to me.” he laughed.
Summer flung up a hand, smiling. “Why is everyone scared of me? I swear, I’m harmless and innocent and adorable. Besides, I don’t want you to stay with me because you’re scared, I want you to stay because you love me.” Then she blinked in shock and slapped a hand over her mouth.
“Adorable, I’ll agree with but innocent and harmless I’m not buying,” Tony laughed. He grinned and moved Summer’s hand away before leaning over to kiss her on the lips. “Can’t I be scared of you and in love with you?”
“You’re always in such a hurry,” Summer commented wryly. “Is that any way to treat clothes, especially clothes that nice?”
Distractedly, Victor murmured against her lips, “Can buy more…jus’ clothes.” He kissed her soundly again before looking into her eyes, “Unless you’d like me to slow down darling?”
“We’re not all made of money,” she murmured, a little distracted. “I just want to sit here and be kissed by you, that’s all.”
He maneuvered them so that they were half sitting, half lying down next to each other on the couch. He kissed her chastely before pulling back and looking her in the eyes. “Something up love? You know I’m just as content to sit here and lazily kiss you all day, but is everything else alright?” Victor asked, as his eyes took her in, trying to figure out what was going through her mind.
“‘m a little cold now, but that’s all.” Summer’s gaze flickered over his face, a shy smile curving the corners of her mouth. “Sometimes I just have a hard time believing you’re real.”
“Oh,” A small and devious grin crept at the corner’s of Victor’s mouth, “well, I’m sure I can help warm you up a bit.” He leaned over her again so that their chests were flush again and kissed her deeply. “Don’t worry Summer, I’m not goin’ anywhere, an’ ‘m very real.” A kiss punctuated his last statement. He took one of her hands, brought it to his chest for a moment before going on to bring it up to his cheek. “See, ‘m right ‘ere.”
Her smile broadened. “Don’t go disappearing into smoke or shadows on me now,” she whispered. “I love you, and I would miss you, my vampire Victor.”
“Don’t care. If they still let you in here, nothing I do is going to be shocking.” She ate another bite, picking up crumbs with her fingertip. “You’re just jealous.” In a short amount of time, only a few smears were left. Summer looked at the plate, then at Tony, then back at the plate. “I’m tempted to lick it.”
“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be the first to do that,” Tony replied, as he scraped up the last of his tiramisu with his fork. “And probably only the waitstaff would look at you funny. And me, but I figure that’s nothing out of the ordinary by now.”
“Hmmm, no. I won’t do it. Tip for you, though: the next time I’m down, send out for some of this.” Neatly she laid the fork upside down on the plate and eyed Tony. “Now what?”
“Ooh, someone thinks he’s funny!” She pulled it over her head and wrestled the zipper up, then stalked out to stare at the rack of earrings. It took her a couple minutes to finish up and put on shoes. She turned to Victor. “Do I meet your approval?”
He looked her up and down in an almost predatory manner. “You always look beautiful Summer, but tonight, tonight you’re going to outshine all of the other ladies there dear.” Victor grabbed her a coat then threw his on and held his arm out for her. “Ready love?”
“I don’t know what I’m ready /for/, but I suppose so.” She tucked her hand over his arm and let him lead her out to the car, forbearing to ask any more questions.
“You’ll find out soon enough, Summer.” He led her to his car and opened the door for her before heading over to the driver’s side, putting his seat belt on, waiting for her to do the same and then pulling out of her driveway. It was about a 20 minute drive before they pulled up to the theatre. Victor went over to Summer’s side and opened the door for her, offering her a hand. “We’re here; I hope you don’t mind Cirque du Soleil love.”
He turned for a moment to hand the keys to the valet.
Summer pulled her hand away to cover her mouth so her squeal wouldn’t deafen anyone. “Oh, /Victor/!” Her eyes sparkled and her smile nearly split her face.
A grin broke across Victor’s face and the relief flooded his face. “I’ll take that as a ‘no you don’t mind le Cirque?”
He led her towards the entrance and flashed his tickets at the door then directed her to a booth-like section in the upper-mid balcony with a fantastic view; he had pulled some strings with the stage manager and director to get it. Victor once again showed their tickets to one of the ushers, assuring them that they were in the right place. Finally, he took her coat, “I used to work in this theater as a side gig whenever I got bored. Not for the Cirque, but for other shows and these seats are by far the best in the house.”
“You did all the things, before you met me.” Summer chuckled a little, settling down in her seat. “Usually I’m in with the common herd.”
“Are you asking him, or me? He loves his showers,” Summer commented. “And the drying.” She picked up the dress and pulled it on over her head. “Zip me?”
He chuckled then sat up and went over to her to help her with her dress. “Both of you I suppose and of course baby.” Victor zipped up her dress and hummed in approval. “Evidently clothing isn’t helping my arousal.” He laughed then kissed her neck. “Coincidentally, I have something that will go nicely with your dress.” Then he took a box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a ruby and diamond studded necklace.
“There,” Victor said as he stepped back, smiling, “It looks fantastic on you.”
Summer put a hand to her throat, the thin chain warming quickly to her skin. Peering in the mirror, she brushed a fingertip over the pendant, smiling softly. “It’s beautiful, Victor.” She caught his gaze in the silvered glass, pressing her love to his heart, before spinning around and pressing her lips to his.
Victor felt a rush of emotion then her lips were on his and he kissed her back. He smiled against her lips, “It looks beautiful when it’s on you dear.” His arms wrapped around her lower back. “I really hope you enjoy tonight Summer.”
“How long will it take to get where we’re going?” She reached up, pulling the clips out of her hair and letting it cascade down her back.
