Overprotective

[Trillian]

A vision of a cake came to him, dropping and exploding before the dust (flour?) cleared, and showing him sugar, eggs, flour, chocolate buttons, and a few other things that he couldn't recognise.  Obviously this was not something he'd summoned, but her.  He didn't quite get the why, but it was interesting all the same.  He looked at her in puzzlement, but it went beyond that into the realm of amusement and bewilderment.

He hadn't even tried sending it to her properly, he'd just kind of tossed his understanding of how it worked her way, not expecting her to get it.  He desperately wanted to talk to someone who'd sired a few fledglings of their own, so he could compare notes, but didn't trust anyone for that (nor did he know anyone).  The Oligarchy would've been perfect for that, but they were gone now.

She would receive his feelings of apology mixed in with his happiness that she'd received it, and was already communicating much better.  She was clear!  He found he didn't have to touch her mind for her thoughts, like a parental guiding hand on the back of a child's head.  Subtly he withdrew, watching her.

Agreed.

[Harlequin]

She gave him another half smile before pushing at her lip rings with her tongue.

I like this. It's fast. She snapped her fingers to illustrate, out of habit. When do I get to do flying?

It was kind of a joke, but it also kind of wasn't. She knew that that kind of power would probably only come with extreme age, but she wanted to do flying, dammit.

[Trillian]

Cicero lifted a brow at her, receiving the half-hearted seriousness/playfulness of the question, and smiling indulgently.

Even if it takes you half as long to learn as it did me, it'll be five centuries.

He stopped and reached for her, holding her arm to stop her too, and because she was holding packages and bags in both hands, and him only in one, it was easy to then lift his hand off her arm and cup her face gently, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

I'll always take you flying

He moved into her space then, and thought about kissing her.  She would know his intentions before he started acting on them.  The relay worked both ways.

[Harlequin]

This time, she didn't tense when he grabbed her. Even without him broadcasting his intent up their bloodline, she had seen it coming. And even if she hadn't, she was goddamn ready for it. No one had touched her – really touched her – for a month.

Not that she'd really wanted to be touched; and she was grateful to Cicero for giving her that space.

Like always, she met him, chest to chest and tilted her head up to press her lips against his – now cold to cold. The fire was still there, singing through the blood they shared, but muted by an unconscious hesitance. She raised a hand, wanting to tangle her fingers tight in his hair –

and her shopping bags bumped against his knee, reminding her of where they were, and what still had to be done tonight.

But before it could go any further, she pulled away, cursing through grit teeth. "God. Dammit." Frustration bubbled up in her belly, electric and sharp down their bloodline. She looked at the ground, knuckles tight.

I need my head clear, she told him, and showed him a memory of her bandmates to let him know what she meant. If she didn't want to hurt them, she would need her thoughts to be as unmuddled as possible. And letting this go anywhere would be probably the most thought-muddling action she could reasonably take.

Then, by way of apology, she showed him a hint of the confusion she felt, swirling like butterflies and unmixed paint in her solar plexus I'm new at this. Feelings.

[Trillian]

Cicero's hand slid off her face and held the back of her neck as they kissed, his thumb now stroking the sensitive place below the lobe of her ear.  Their kiss was the same as it always had been; met with passion and no inhibition.  There was mental hesitance that didn't translate into the physical, so he ignored it.  He felt her shopping butt against him and then she was gone.  He licked his lips, trying to reclaim the tingling as she spoke her frustration and then explained how she felt mentally.

The swarm of confusion mingled with his own emotions of desire, confusing him as to what he was confused about before he identified they were coming from her.  He'd never received his style of communication back, and it was rather overwhelming.  How could people confuse what he sent into their minds as a language?  He understood Ami perfectly, but as emotion.  It was rich and deep and explained a lot more than words ever could.

Then home, he sent to her, along with his understanding of how she felt and the patience and tolerance he felt for it.

[Harlequin]

Tearing her eyes off of the sidewalk, she looked up at her sire again and offered another fleeting smile. The emotions he sent her were met with a warm wave of gratitude. Ami generally wasn't grateful for things on principle – as a Human, she'd learned that nothing came without a price – but she wasn't Human any more, and she'd already paid the ultimate price. She was grateful that Cicero had been the one to collect.

Ami was perfectly content to pass the rest of the walk home in amicable silence – both mental an verbal – unless her sire had words for her.

[Trillian]

He had none, but she would find he was a big sharer.  Whenver something visual struck his fancy, or if he thought about something appealing, he would share this observation with Ami.  He couldn't be considered 'chatty' due to the nature of the sharing itself, but if he'd been human and had to talk about everything he'd noticed, he likely would've found little pause for breath.  Cicero's observations and point of view was very different from hers, considering he'd come from so many cultures and risen from the dust of ancient civilisations.  Some insights likely would've left her with nothing but confusion or bewilderment, but he would already be moving onto the next thing.  A lot of the time, the observations were about her and her future potential abilities.  As they walked, Cicero hypothesised about all the different things she could expect to learn - and his theories about what she might already be advanced at.

When they arrived back at the apartment, he dug out the red dress and tossed it at her head with a grin.

[Harlequin]

Normally, Ami found such nattering nothing more than irritating – but now that it wan't spoken, she didn't mind so much. She let the swirl information he gave her swirl and shift about in her brain, some comprehended, but just as much not. After awhile, it took on a quality of background noise.

She was already heading toward her room when the garment came sailing toward her head, and she drooped her bags and snatched it out of the air in a reflexive twitch. She had always had good reflexes, but that motion went well beyond any ability she'd had before. She blinked down at the dress in her hands, the tipped her head in a slight nod. Neat.

But then she looked from the dress to her sire, lips pursed, eyes aslant. The Hunt would lose their shit if she showed up as not just a vampire, but a vampire dressed like Jessica Rabbit. But she was sure they'd find a way to deal. If she liked it, she'd wear it.We'll see. she sent him, finally. Unless he had anything else to throw at her, she would vanish into her room to dress.