Ichabod\'s Fancy

[Trillian]

Lazarus was pouring over architectural plans in the lounge.  The coffee table was covered with blueprints of a building that was the Oligarchy headquarters.  The blonde vampire\'s hazy memory of the place knew that these plans differed from how the building was now, for a bank of elevators must have been added, and the lobby no longer had a dividing wall.  He was crossing out changes and adding in things with a black felt tip pen, bought specially for this project.

He was planning, and had been planning for a quite a while now, distracted away from paying attention to anything else - including the mortal that was living with him.  Oh, when he went to bed he would sometimes play with or drink from the youth that was his pet, but most times he would simply go to bed, wrap an arm around Ichabod and talk about how wonderful the city would be when returned to its former glory, until sleep claimed him.  He never had time to talk to Ichabod otherwise, and hadn\'t realised that he was neglecting his pet throughout the night (except at bedtime).

Right now there was a wet imprint on one corner of the plan, where a glass of whiskey sat, which Lazarus had been sipping from (and knew he would soon spit up, but if he took it slow, he would be able to last longer with it, before his body expelled it).

[pinkroses]

Ichabod leant against the doorframe which lead into the lounge, watching the back to Lazarus\' head as the vampire concentrated on his blueprints. He wasn\'t sure if the blonde knew he was here; a little while ago he would have said yes, of course he knows, but Lazarus had recently become more and more distracted and distant. He doubted Lazarus would even notice, or care, if Ichabod swapped himself for a different human, all he was being used for was a blood bank and a cushion for him to talk to before the sun came up.

He stayed silent for a moment, watching him with a frown. This was all so frustrating. He wanted to say something, but the only time he ever got to talk (well, listen) to Lazarus was when they were about to go to sleep and that was Ichabod\'s favourite time of day; not a time he wanted to ruin.

"Why do you drink that? You know it\'ll just make you sick," he said, stepping further into the room as his eye fell on the glass of whiskey. He couldn\'t see the sense behind it, he was willing to do just about anything for Lazarus, drinking for him wasn\'t exactly a difficult thing to do. But now Lazarus couldn\'t even be bothered to get drunk with him, he would rather go through throwing up to get a drink and that made Ichabod feel like shit. At first they had done loads of fun things together, now he just felt like he was in the way.

[Trillian]

"I like the taste," Lazarus replied without even looking Ichabod\'s way, then rubbed his chin in pensive thought.  If he could find a weak point of entry into the hotel, then he would be able to enter without being seen.  The ducts were good except he didn\'t like enclosed spaces, but they didn\'t go anywhere near the elevator shafts, and where was that Luminary bastard likely to be?  Top floor, was Lazarus\' guess, away from potential danger at the bottom.

How many guards?  Cameras?  Lazarus would need to visit on official business.  What kind of business would that be?  Now he looked at Ichabod, and a slow smile crept across his face, an evil smile.

"Ichabod, love, come here."  He opened his arms for his mortal pet to enter his embrace.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod rolled his eyes and gave a small sigh at Lazarus\' responce. It was the typical answer he\'d been getting nowadays, just a reply that dadn\'t lend itself to further conversation. There was no point even trying to talk to him.

The human turned to walk away, but stopped when he heard Lazarus speaking. He glanced back towards the blonde and hesitated for a moment before starting to walk towards him. He didn\'t want to see that glint in the vampire\'s eyes and managed to do a pretty good job of ignoring it. What was the point of ruining an offer with his paranoia? That never got him anywhere.

Ichabod took his place in Lazarus\' arms, relaxing against him and pressing a light kiss to his cheek as his fingers ran through the long blonde tresses. His eyes drifted over Lazarus\' face, wondering what had caused this sudden change of mood. One second he was ignoring him, now he wanted him close? Maybe he\'d just finished with whatever he had been doing moments before.

"How\'s the big plans goin\'?" he asked with a small smile, hoping (like he did every night when Lazarus curled up next to him and held him close) that things were going to go back to how they had been.

[Trillian]

He dismissed Ichaobd\'s question with a little shrug and a few lingering kisses, distracting the mortal from what he\'d been doing, wanting the subject to change to what he was intending for his little pet.

"Would you like us to be a little more official?  A little more... committed?"

Commitment wasn\'t a plan Lazarus usually adhered to.  In fact, the less strings attached, the better, but it wasn\'t like promises out of his mouth meant a great deal either.  Oh, he\'d meant them at the time, and he\'d had every intention of carrying out his promises, but when it came to the final crunch of sacrificing something of value to himself in order to keep said promise - well, that was different altogether.  Promises weren\'t supposed to interfere with his life.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod really didn\'t want to get into the plans Lazarus had for the Oligarchy, he\'d heard plenty before so he was more than happy to be distracted. He relaxed into the blonde\'s arms, returning his kisses with enthusiasm.

He pulled back a little though, blinking in surprise at Lazarus\' comment, wondering what the hell he was talking about. They were living together, how much more committed could this get? And to tell the truth with the way things had been going for the past few weeks Ichabod wasn\'t even sure if he wanted this to be more official than it was.

Ichabod watched him for a moment, a mix of doubt and curiousity filling his dark eyes.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, wanting to find out what Lazarus was actually talking about before agreeing to anything. But then again maybe whatever he was going to suggest would make all of this better, more commitment might mean Lazarus would stop ignoring him for hours at a time.

[Trillian]

"Make it so that no other vampire can touch you?  So that you and I are partnered together in a way that others will recognise?"  Lazarus leaned back on the sofa, pulling Ichabod with him, adjusting him as much as he was able so that he could whisper in the youth\'s ear as he caressed the skin of his face.  "Do you want to be with me, Ichabod?"

Lazarus\' eyes shone dangerously, daring the other to reply in the negative.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod couldn\'t tear his eyes away from Lazarus\' and his words really didn\'t explain what the vampire wanted further. He wasn\'t sure what he might be agreeing to if he said yes, but he definitely did want to be with him.

"You know I do," he murmured, agreeing, but not quite saying that he would do whatever Lazarus wanted, although he guessed that the vampire might easily take it was a full agreement. He leant his cheek against Lazarus\' fingers, savouring that light caress and half shutting his eyes. He wanted to be with Lazarus so much, but the fact that Lazarus wasn\'t just coming out and saying whatever it was was a little unnerving.

[Trillian]

"Then we shall get recognition of our pairing," Lazarus declared happily, squeezing Ichabod against himself and knowing that the mortal was likely to start wriggling away from him at his next words, understanding the ruse.  "Permission will be sought from those who rule the city.  Their rules, not mine, and we can be together.  Officially."  He grinned smugly at Ichabod.

[pinkroses]

A scowl crossed Ichabod\'s face and, like Lazarus had expected, he made an attempt to move away from him, but Lazarus\' arms held him too securely so he quickly stilled. He looked away from Lazarus, down at the blueprints on the table; he may not have been told what these ones were of, but it was pretty damn obvious. Ichabod knew Lazarus didn\'t give a fuck whether the council let them be together, he just wanted to get in that building.

"Glad I can help you out," he muttered in a bitter tone although he was sorely tempted to struggle more, to yell and hit out, he knew that would do no good. Ichabod didn\'t believe that getting permission from the council would do anything to make their relationship more committed, how could it? Just because someone had said they could be together didn\'t mean that they would stay together. Lazarus didn\'t give a shit what they said, he could still up and drop him at any moment.

[Trillian]

"Don\'t be pouty," Lazarus ordered, but then he grinned.  "Though I love that lower lip when you pooch it out like that," he said before capturing said lower lip between his own lips and sucking on it.  Falling to one side and taking Ichabod with him, it was easy to position himself over the teen, rubbing as much of himself over Ichabod, glad that he hadn\'t drunk too much of the whiskey so that an unfortunate bout of sickness would interrupt them.

He began nuzzling at Ichabod\'s neck, his arms surrounding the mortal beneath him, supporting himself on the couch, grinding his groin against the mortal\'s thigh and groaning at the warmth emanating of the being below him.  The heartbeat was maddening, he wanted to have some of that.  It was now that he realised how much he\'d been neglecting his pet.

"Let me drink," he crooned, licking his way as best he could to Ichabod\'s neck, though it would be difficult to do so if the human did not permit it.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod gave a small sigh at the order, but didn\'t pull back when Lazarus sucked on his lip. This was all so frustrating, but he really couldn\'t resist the vampire and missed having this attention lavished on him anytime, anyplace.

He managed not to let out a groan to match Lazarus when he felt the vampire rubbing against his thigh and despite the temptation he didn\'t tilt his head like normal to let him have easier access to his neck. There was stuff he wanted to say, and he knew he wouldn\'t be as focused after being fed from.

"I want to go out with you. I want to get out of here," he said, unconsciously lifting his hips and grinding up against the man on top of him. If Lazarus was going to use him like this then he wanted something in return. He wanted a change of scenery, this building was getting increasingly claustophobic as the weeks went on.

[Trillian]

Lazarus pulled back from seeking out Ichabod\'s neck, glaring at Ichabod for a moment before realising that this fit into his plans just as well.

"Alright, we shall walk," the blonde declared, and crawled off Ichabod before heading for the stairs that would take him to the bedroom.  Lazarus had some choice of clothes added to his sparse wardrobe, and he wanted to change his shirt and put on the black woollen jacket that he knew he looked best in.  He\'d had many versions of said jacket, but there was always a store that would have one, and he always managed to acquire it - whether by cash or different means.  "Dress up," he commanded just before he ran up the stairs.

[pinkroses]

Ichabod met Lazarus glare with a steady look, then let his head flop down back onto the sofa cushion as the vampire climbed off of him. He had expected Lazarus to reject the idea, or at least encourage him to let him drink before going out, but no...nothing.

A slow smile spread over his lips. Maybe Lazarus really did care. After all, drinking from him before going out would leave Ichabod dazed and woozy, going for a walk with the vampire sounded nice. Then they could come back here and carry on where they had left off. So what if Lazarus was going to use him to see the inside of the Oligarch? They could still have fun when Lazarus wasn\'t focus on work.

The human sat up and headed for the door when he heard Lazarus\' shout. Dress up? Where were they going? Maybe it wasn\'t just for a walk...

He quickly bounded up the stairs after Lazarus and went to the other wardrobe, where there were a few of his things. He\'d picked up a couple of things from his own home a day or two after moving in with Lazarus, picking a time when he knew his parents wouldn\'t be home, and Lazarus had also given him some stuff, Ichabod wasn\'t sure where he had got them and hadn\'t asked. If it was stolen he didn\'t want to know.

He picked out a dark red shirt that he knew the vampire liked on him and stripped off his shirt before pulling it on. He decided it went well enough with the dark demin jeans he was wearing, after all, Lazarus hadn\'t said how much he had to dress up. It wasn\'t like they were going to be a suit place (and if they were he would be out of luck as Ichabod didn\'t have any).

After a glance to see what Lazarus was picking Ichabod grabbed a coat as well. He wasn\'t sure what the weather was like, the curtains in this house usually stayed firmly shut, but if it was too warm he could take it off and carry it.

He hesitated for a moment then headed into the bathroom, taking off his glasses and slipping in his contacts. That had been another thing he\'d had to pick up from home a few months supply of contacts and solution and his glasses. The ones he had been wearing had been itching his eyes by the time he finally got to take them out. He blinked a couple of times at his reflection and ran a hand through his spiky hair. He knew he looked different from how he used to; older, more mature, paler, it had been a long month. He had an uneasy feeling about this, but he needed to get out of here for a while at least.

Ichabod hooked his thumbs into his jeans pockets as he walked back into the bedroom to find Lazarus again. "Good enough?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow and giving a small grin.

[Trillian]

Lazarus needed Ichabod to want to be committed, official and all that.  The best way he could do that, was to make his little pet jealous, by taking him to a place that made him a target without protection (such as Risk) and then leaving him to flounder among vampires that were likely to want to drink from him, not knowing he was claimed (though they were likely to smell Lazarus on him, knowing he belonged to an Ancient, but they might also think Ichabod had simply donated to one).

"We\'ll be heading to a local club," he said, trying not to give away that they were going to Risk, for it was far from local, as there were many nightclubs in between.  Not quite as far as Club Zero, but still at least an hour\'s walk on the streets, if they didn\'t get a taxi.  The night was young, the air fresh, he could give Ichabod a little attention, before he took it away.