Beer Goggles [Cassie]

[Dacian]

Dacian fell against the door marked with a brass number five with a thump. His vision was swimming, but there was no accompanying sense of nausea or vertigo. It was almost a comforting feeling. The hallway undulated but that number five was clear and as bold as day. Not that he’d seen day in a while, but he remembered its clarity, its full blue beauty. “Oh hello, beautiful.” His hand reached up, his numb fingertips stroking the brass number.

His vision was returning in drips and drabs, and he gave a lopsided smile, his cheek resting on the cool oak of the door. “Mmm, you’re a good friend, you know. Nobody else is quite this nice, except Cassie, but I think she’s infatuated with me so she doesn’t count. Well, so does count… you know?” He petted the door, content to lean on it while the world shifted side to side. He’d walked a fair way. He needed to rest. Against the door seemed as good a place as any.

Unfortunately, his knees were not so keen on holding him up any longer and he slowly dropped to them. “Ow.” He grumbled, partly aware of the pain his damaged nerves were trying to communicate to them. “Oh fine.” He shot his legs a pouting glare and then turned to the door. “Love to stay and chat, darling, but I gotta go lie down now, ‘kay?” He slurred, turning the knob with some difficulty and falling through the open door.

“Oof.” He rolled onto his side, a lopsided smile on his face. He looked a little perplexed at why the ceiling was suddenly the wall, but some distant thread of logic helpfully reminded him he was lying on the floor. Spotting Cassie, Dacian’s smile broadened. “Ah, the prodigal angel. Here to take me away again, are we? Well I’m not falling for it again. You’ll have to take me kicking and screaming.” He told her, matter of fact.

His eyes rolled to look at the open door at his feet. He shifted his protesting legs, clumsily kicking the door shut. With a huff, he looked up and seemed surprised to see Cassie there again. “Oh, hello ma’am, can I help you?” Though from the look of him, he was in need of more than a little help. At least he appeared to be comfortable compared to Cassie’s apparent distress. Dacian’s mystified expression hardened a little into concern. “Wha’srong?” He slurred, squinting to focus his hazy vision.

[Cassie Vimes]

It took mere seconds for Cassie to apparate from The Hog’s Head to the safety of her room. As soon as she was away from Ed the anger of the confrontation seemed to dissipate and she let out a shaky sigh. Leaving like that, while they were both still so riled up and no resolution in sight seemed like the cowards way out. She couldn’t stand fighting with him, it felt so petty and they were both being so needlessly hurtful. Even when they were younger and they’d been at each other’s throats on a daily basis it hadn’t hurt this much. Even a fist fight would be better than the argument she’d just had.

”Dacian?” She said tentatively. Cassie needed him to distract her, needed that easy banter even if he was infuriating. She’d already been back several minutes, why hadn’t he started berating for going to work again? Or started irritably complaining that he couldn’t see? Cassie made her way over to the bathroom and, when she didn’t find him there either, she frowned. At least he couldn’t quiz her about why she smelt like Ed again, the last time that had happened he’d left her and she couldn’t take that again. Not now.

Where was he though? He was far from healed, he could barely see and he was covered in scabs. If he ran into Silas again she wasn’t convinced he’d survive. Another blast of lumos solem while he was still recovering would definitely be fatal. Guilt and worry settled in as she considered the possibility that he’d gone to Scores to try and get her to quit again. That was the last place she wanted him to go, not necessarily for the sake of her job, but more because she now knew Silas wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.

With another long sigh Cassie flopped onto the bed, deciding that hiding from the world and pretending none of it had ever happened was in order. However with nothing to distract her she couldn’t help playing the whole fight on a constant loop in her head, each hateful word Ed had thrown her way cutting deeper than before. She sniffled into the pillow and must have dropped off because the next thing she knew she was jerking awake to the sound of a thump on her door.

A muffled voice followed, not loud enough to make out the words, but unmistakably slurred. Cassie watched in disbelief as Dacian tumbled into the room. For a moment she wondered if he was injured, but it didn’t take long for Cassie to realise that drunk, or high, possibly both, was more likely. Especially when he spoke, she watched him from the vantage point of the bed, unimpressed little scowl turning her lips into a thin line. At any other time a drunken Dacian would have been endlessly fun and amusing, he needed to loosen up, but right now she wanted to be the one that could fall apart.

”What did you do?” She asked accusingly, slipping off the bed despite herself to go over to him. Any distraction was a good distraction. As far as she knew vampires didn’t drink alcohol so she had no idea how Dacian had even managed to get so completely trashed. Cassie tried not to think about it too much, not wanting dwell on the fate of whatever person had become his prey. If she didn’t think about it she could pretend she didn’t know and if she didn’t know she didn’t have to feel guilty for not stopping him.

Was she really that transparent? Even inebriated on… whatever the hell it was vampires got drunk on, Dacian had clocked she was upset. Perhaps the dark smudges where her mascara had run had given her away. ”Nothing,” Cassie said looking away. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. ”Ed.” She didn’t elaborate further, feeling just his name said it all. Besides she didn’t want to have to explain, she’d already been over it enough times in her own head.

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[Dacian]

What had he done? Partly because he wasn’t sure at this moment in time and partly because some distant shred of logic told him it wouldn’t be a good idea to do so, he didn’t answer that one. Instead his floundered a little on the floor, wondering if he should bother getting up. Cassie did look insanely tall from this angle, and he was feeling a little unmanly squinting up at her.

Doing a very good impression of a beached fish, he rolled back onto his front and managed to get to his knees. He shuffled over to the bed and draped his torso onto it. Getting up was apparently too much effort, and he was quite comfy here, thanks. Cassie could just keep being tall. Peering up at the girl, he sniffed not-so-subtly. She smelt of the club – no surprise there – and there was a hint of the Hogs Head on her. The evidence suggested she’d at least spoken to dear Edward, but at least she didn’t smell too strongly of him, that was comforting.

Nevertheless, Edward had obviously upset his woman, and that was cause enough for a little of the usual ire to creep through the blissful numbness. “The roguish, flap-mouthed, ill-bred, beef-witted moldwarp.” Lenora was greatly improving his vocabulary. Dacian huffed, clambering up onto the bed and splayed there, his boots smeaing some forest mud on the cover sheets. “I never told you to keep away from ‘im, did I? Eh? Shoulda. ‘E ain’t worth the trough of pig swill ‘is mother whelped ‘im in. Defin’ly not good enough for you. What did he do this time?” He managed to keep a fairly level gaze on the blond, despite the fact the room was swaying as if the whole hotel were a boat. Dacian’s nose wrinkled. He hated ships.

“I’ll kill ‘im for you, that’ll solve it.” He seemed rather enthused at that idea. He owed Edward some pain, may as well throw a mercy killing in too. Luckily for Edward, the bed was far too comfortable to depart from now, and it seemed his legs were staging a revolt. With a huff, he settled back on the pillows, gratefully unaware of his unsightly appearance. His skin was taught where it was undamaged, and the red and blackened burns were beginning to scab over at the edges. Thankfully they were no longer oozing at least, and the majority of them were covered by his clothes.

[Cassie Vimes]

Cassie watched Dacian for a moment, realising a little belatedly that he seemed to be trying to move. She was caught somewhere between amusement and irritation at his behaviour and she wondered absently whether she should give him a hand. In the end she decided against it, too many flailing limbs and his suffering was self inflicted. Instead she hovered nearby ready to intervene before he did himself any real damage.

Once he’d flopped onto the bed and it became apparent that he wasn’t going to move any further she settled next to him, drawing her feet up to cross her legs. At the stream of insults a smile twitched the corners of her mouth. Cursing at Ed might not help in the slightest, but it was still at least a little comforting. The outdated language he’d used was funny too. ”I found him with Jaz,” She explained, her smile quickly fading. ”Another girl.” It hurt more than she cared to admit to see him with another woman and it only made her feel guilty that she’d done the same to him.

Was it even worth trying to explain what Silas had said? Dacian looked kind of dazed, his pupils blown impossibly wide as he shuffled further onto the bed. ”Watch it.” Cassie snapped, when she spotted the mud on his boots and now, thanks to his clumsy movements, her bedcovers. She frowned, leaning forwards to tug them off, letting them fall carelessly onto the floor once she’d pulled each one free of his foot. Then it was just a matter of grabbing her wand from the bedside table and muttering a cleaning spell.

Wait, backup. What had he just said? ”No!” She denied sharply, perhaps too sharply, but with Dacian she just couldn’t tell if he was kidding to make her feel better. Cassie wasn’t too worried about Ed’s safety at this point in time as Dacian couldn’t even walk and he had more scab than skin, but it was just the kind of threat he might carry out. ”Promise me you won’t?” She asked tentatively. This wasn’t making her feel better at all.

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[Dacian]

Edward with another woman; no surprise there. The man was as promiscuous as they came. Although why you’d risk banishment from Cassie’s bed was beyond him. Okay, so not quite beyond him, he had a knack of angering Cassie. But at least he wasn’t a cheater. It was a bad game plan to try and fox a woman by going behind her back with another. They had a sixth sense about those sorts of things. Oh no. If Dacian was prohibited from Cassie’s affections, it would be because he ate another woman rather than slept with her. “He’s a sssslut.” He declared, patting her leg.

Cassie seemed intent on removing his boots, so he watched obediently as she’d commanded as she took them off. His toes curled instinctively as she drew her wand, cringing away from the spell. The vampire was not a fan of magic, and he grumbled in Cassie’s direction once the spell was done, and he checked his feet and mentally counted the toes. Once satisfied he had them all, he relaxed back on the bed.

He peered up at her, looking a little dejected. “You sure? I’m really good at it.” Apparently Cassie meant it. He huffed. “Oh alright, I promise.” He replied grudgingly, although Edward did deserve it. Dacian grumbled some more before he perked up. “You know, when I was young, it was the men who were the rational ones and it was the women who were carnal and libidinous.” He turned onto his side, resting a slightly burnt hand on her thigh. “Apparen’ly that’s politically incorrect. Though what politics has to do with sex I’ll never know.”

[Cassie Vimes]

Cassie let out a small snort of laughter at that. It sounded absurd coming from Dacian, but it was also strangely accurate. The wry smile that had accompanied her giggle lingered for a moment and she reached for his hand on her leg, her fingers resting over his. “Thanks,” She was grateful for the contact and for his rather pathetic attempts at cheering her up, but wouldn’t be trying anything else, his skin felt odd and papery where it had scabbed over.

”You’re not good at anything right now. You can’t even stand up.” She pointed out rather mercilessly, relaxing a little now that he’d promised not to hurt Edward. Sure Cassie was angry with her childhood friend, but that didn’t mean she wanted him dead. The whole reason there was a problem was because she still loved him, which wasn’t something she was willing to admit out loud, especially not to Dacian who seemed to be in a good mood for once. Although that was probably more to with whatever he’d taken that had him tripping.

”Men are far from rational.” She huffed, the feminist in her flaring up for a moment, before curiosity overrode her desire to hit him with one of her best ‘men are pigs’ rants. ”What else was it like?” Cassie asked, not going for a subtle interrogation, she needed a distraction and as amusing as watching Dacian flail drunkenly, there was only so long it could keep her entertained. ”How did you become a vampire?”

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[Dacian]

Dacian directed what would have been a glare at her had his eyelids not been intent on staying in a perpetual half-closed state. Instead he just looked sleepy or at best, unimpressed. He huffed and nuzzled (almost) subtly into her hip. “I can stand! I just don’t wanna” He couldn’t stand, but he was quite content where he was. He briefly contemplated proving her wrong (right) but he decided he could forgo that to stay sprawled on this rather comfy bed with Cassie’s thigh for company.

He snorted a laugh at her remark about men. “And women are? Y’all cause almos’ more trouble than yer worth. Almos’.” His hand on her leg squeezed it gently. The world was still spinning, and he kept his hold on Cassie in case the bed decided to fling him off.

He looked a little confused at her first question, then his brain caught up by the clarification of the second one. Dacian rarely if ever shared any personal information, and his rebirth was a fairly private thing. Nevertheless, it seemed his irrational brain thought sharing was fun, and clicked into the slow process of recalling old memories. Old faces floated out of the darkness, and he seemed to smile a little. He’s rolled onto his back, the ceiling becoming the blank canvas for those dredged-up recollections.

“I was dying. I thought she was an angel, come to escort me to Heaven. She had lovely blond tresses, flawless alabaster skin.” He sighed, his smile and slur fading a little. “I welcomed death, but it didn’t last. I woke up after; it was confusing at first. At first it was glorious, until I realised it was not Heaven, these were not God’s gifts. I’d chosen to forsake myself.” He huffed, letting the memories sink back, allowing the haze to reclaim them. The vampire settled his dark eyes on Cassie. “You remind me of her, I suppose. Elizabeth, her name was.”

Dacian wondered if he’s realised before, the passing resemblance between Beth and Cassie? Cassie was all the wrong shape entirely, but the hair, the hair was just right. The jovial mood was drifting away, but the numbing effect of his last meal was still present. The vampire who was increasingly acting like a mortal man judged Cassie with bleary eyes though his mind was too addled to think. Looking at her was enough – she was good company, and she hadn’t killed or damned him so as relationships went, this was a rather fine one.

[Cassie Vimes]

”Of course you can.” She agreed with a giggle, humouring him and patting his hand patronisingly. He was nuzzling into her leg again, he seemed to end up doing that a lot. So much so that Cassie was beginning to think he had a thing for he legs. Not that she had any objections, it was a surprisingly tender gesture and given that Dacian was usually so grouchy and serious she’d take all the snuggling she could get.

”I cause trouble?” Cassie replied hotly, outrage flaring up. Even drunk he was infuriating. ”You’re one to talk, getting yourself hurt and scaring me half to death.” She whined, more disgruntled than really annoyed with him. ”Not to mention coming in at stupid o’clock in the morning drunk on god knows what.” She lifted her hand from his and settled for smoothing his hair instead, the fond movement negating any effect that berating him might have had.

The teasing atmosphere seemed to evaporate a little as Dacian fell silent, he question clearly prompting him to stir up old memories. For a moment Cassie thought he wasn’t going to share them, in which case her plan for a distraction would have backfired spectacularly. Dacain may be content to get lost in his own thoughts, but Cassie didn’t want to get stuck in her own. Namely because they revolved around a certain Australian.

She might have been humbled if she knew how few people he had told this story to. Cassie watched him as he spoke, her expression matching his, her smile fading as his did. The tale was tantalisingly fragmented, recounted the way he recalled it she supposed and she had to wonder if he could remember any more details, but didn’t push for them. ”I do?” Cassie asked, self consciously tucking a few waves of blonde hair behind one ear. She wasn’t sure whether to take it as an insult or a compliment that she reminded him of the woman that had effectively ended his mortal life.

Cassie fell silent for a moment, not an uncomfortable one though. She was fairly certain it was impossible to create an uncomfortable silence while Dacian was a relaxed, boneless heap practically in her lap. ”I’m glad,” She said finally. ”If you’d died that day, really died I mean, I’d never have met you.” It was incredibly soppy and Cassie immediately felt sheepish for saying it, but she was a girl after all, she was entitled to her sappy moments.

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[Dacian]

The vampire smiled indulgently as Cassie responded snappily, for once his irritation not rising with hers. Usually even teasing would set him off. “You cause more trouble than you know.” He replied softly, glad he could feel her fingers on his brow. Sober, he might have recoiled but in this state, he was content to accept the affection without a qualm. His eyes even closed so he could enjoy the sensation fully.

Dacian swallowed a snort, a strange sound that resembled a choke at her last remark. His eyes opened to focus hazily on hers. “Glad? You’d be free of me. No more scares, no more danger, just you and Edward in domestic bliss.” His lip curled a little at that, he was after all a jealous man. “You’d be better off without me, believe me. But you’ve got me now, haven’t you? I can’t keep away and you encourage it. I have to trust you because you mistakenly trust me and its getting me killed by inches.” He spoke brazenly with increasing sincerity. There was no hint of blame or conviction, just simple honest truth for once.

“I should have died that day. I should have drowned, bled out, but instead I survived in agony until nightfall when a demon came to me and offered me something I wanted so desperately. Part of me knew she wasn’t an angel. I didn’t want to die there. I would have died an honest man, but I sold my soul to the devil in return for this cold existence.” He was becoming increasingly anguished, but his eyes never left hers as his face set into a hard mask that slipped around the edges, his eyes betraying raw emotion.

“I can’t love without a soul, Cassie, did you know that? I’m a creature built of lies and corruption. Centuries without happiness. I tried to love, tried to disprove the truth, but I sold my soul for eternal life. But what’s eternal life without love? I can feel possession, pride, even pleasure but it’s not the same. The only reason I am here, the reason you met me is because I’m too selfish to let go to the one thing I have left. Memories. Memories of love and devotion – the man I was before became this husk of rage and jealousy.” He looked away, eyes tracing the patterns on the ceiling. He raised a hand to run it through his hair and left it where it fell on the bed above his head. He groaned, eyes closing, “Oh God, I’m so drunk.”