Can't Be Tamed

“Woman after my own heart,” she approved before lifted a finger to signal the passing waitress. “Additional bottle of chilled Pinot Grigio, please. And a Cabernet.” She fished her aerator out of her purse to lay on the table. “Don’t worry about letting it breathe.”

Dei watched her before staring a bit at the aerator in surprise, smiling a little.  “You have your own aerator at all times?  Or did you bring it cause you figured you’d need it?”

Nikolai: I don't mind you asking, but I have no idea.

Nikolai: I still haven't gotten around to opening my envelope.

Dei: What? Dude. You've gotta open the envelope!

Nikolai: I find most people are unnerving at least some of the time.

Nikolai: That's sweet of you.

Dei: True.

Dei: Thanks! I try.

Nikolai: I take it you like who you're paired with, then?

Nikolai: I guess there's only one way to find out if I'll be as lucky.

Dei: I do. She's unnerving sometimes but I like her.

“Just you being here is more than enough,” she assured. The Hunger was quickly becoming one of Anastasia’s favorite places to eat. Their quail was by far one of her favorites, even exceeding her highest of standard. “What would you like to drink?”

Dei blushed softly, smiling sweetly at her before thinking on the posed question. “Hm...I think I’m in a white wine mood today.  What about you?”

Nikolai: Do you think if I just keep putting off opening my envelope, the council will give up on trying to force me to get married?

“It’s nothing I can fix from here.” It was a difficult thing for Anastasia to admit, but she had to. The council wouldn’t let her fix it from Italy in person and her employees didn’t seem to want to listen to her. The best she could do was summon the head of her guard to New Orleans so she could yell at him in person. “There’s no need to reschedule. I’ll fix what’s wrong soon.”

She had had a sneaking suspicion her daughter had met her future stepmother. “But we’ll have a lovely time nonetheless.”

“Alright, just wanted to be sure.  If there’s anything I can do, just let me know.”  Dei smiled a little, knowing she couldn’t assist but wishing she could.  At her last statement the werewolf smiled brightly, nodding.  “I know I will, I’ve been excited all day.”

Anastasia didn’t want to look into how relieved she felt to see her future wife. She didn’t have time to sort out her own life at that moment in time. “Just some issues in Italy, nothing you need to worry about,” she assured her. 

Though I need to find Giovanna. She gives sound advice, she thought. While Anastasia wasn’t in the habit of turning to her daughter for advice, there was but one person whose love for Italy rivaled hers. 

“It’s a worry for you, so of course I’ll be worried about it.  You seem upset, an I don’t think I’ve seen you upset yet.”  Dei looked at the vampire with concern, reaching out to touch her arm with some concern before biting her lip a little.  “We can reschedule?  If it’s something serious I can definitely let you handle this? Or maybe you’d prefer your daughter here? Gia may be able to help more...”  Dei was just guessing, but figured being the young werewolf fiance meant she may not be the best choice to soothe this worry and concern.

Anastasia was frustrated. That was the best word for it. She was angry, as well. Milan was being infiltrated by vampires slowly but surely, but she was powerless to defend them. 

“No, non voglio che tu coinvolga i vampiri. Voglio che tu protegga la nostra gente. Voglio che tu protegga i nostri umani,” she growled into the phone. Her fingers tightened on the metal table and she didn’t register it bending until suddenly, her fingers moved it like Play-Doh. No, I don’t want you engaging the vampires. I want you to protect our people. I want you to protect our humans. 

The people of Milan were of the most utmost importance. Anastasia shouldn’t have left them and she knew it. She wasn’t looking for excuses. They were protectors. “Se non hai intenzione di fare quello che ti dico e mantenere la nostra gente al sicuro, perché cazzo ti ho trasformato, idiota inutile?” she spat. If you’re not going to do what I tell you to and keep our people safe, why the fuck did I turn you, you useless idiot?

She didn’t want excuses. She wanted results. She simply hung up her phone and fought the urge to crush it in her fingers. The news had dampened her afternoon she’d planned with Deidre. Anastasia set it face down and took a massive swallow of wine, nearly draining it in one gulp. 

“Deidre,” she greeted when her fiancee came into view and stood to plant a kiss of greeting on her cheek. 

@dozer-sinclair

Dei  always got excited when she had a chance to visit with Anastasia.  The young woman was liking her fiance and her new family more and more with each moment they spent together, and the wolf was starting to get a little excited to be wed.  However, she still had a lot to learn and prove, and she hoped that her carefully chosen but relaxed and fashionable casual outfit proved she was at least trying and learning for the woman.  

The moment she heard Anastasia’s voice she knew something was off, but once she saw her face she knew something was wrong.  Returning the greeting she then looked at her bride to be seriously, the wolf studying her face. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“I hope you never lose someone you love that much” said Gia, although she knew losing people was a part of being mortal and it was likely to happen someday. “Who is Avery?” He must be someone important to the werewolf. Then she nodded. “As much as I hate the council telling me who to marry, I want peace.”

“It’ll happen someday I’m sure.  I’m just sorry you have to lose so many.  Immortality must be difficult sometimes.”  Dia gave the woman a soft smile before it turned to a bright one.  “Avery’s my older brother.  He’s the greatest.” 

“I’m ashamed to say I spent most of the war with my humanity off” said Gia. She wasn’t proud of the things she’d done during those ten years. “After my father was murdered, I shut down.”

Dei didn’t even pause, shaking her head. “Don’t be ashamed.  It’s understandable. If I was a vampire and I’d lost Avery, I’d do the same thing. This war was terrible.  And it’s one of a few reasons why I want these marriages to work out.”

“You can thank me on my birthday” said Gia. “It’ll be your job as my stepmother to remember it and spoil me.” It felt weird referring to the werewolf as her stepmother, but that was the reality. “The war was hard on everybody, I think.”

“Doting stepmother.  Got it.  I’ll do my best.”  Dei laughed softly at the thought before nodding. “Yeah.  It certainly complicated things.”

“Don’t worry. With my help, I’m sure you’ll pick it up in no time” said Gia. At lest, she hoped Deidre did. She couldn’t have a stepmother who was younger than her and also unfashionable. She quickly typed her contact info into the phone, then handed it back to the werewolf. “That’s a shame. At least your adoptive mom was nice, though.” Even Gia wasn’t so self-absorbed that she didn’t realize some people treated their children like shit.

“I can’t thank you enough.”  Dei smiled at the other woman before looking at her phone, nodding a bit. “She was sweet, but we were all pretty focused on the war.”

“If you have any questions about it - or anything else - feel free to ask me” said Gia. “In fact, hand me your phone.” She held out her hand. “I’ll put my contact info in it so you can text me.” This way, she wouldn’t have to get it from the hotel’s front desk. “It helps that mamma and I have a lot of the same tastes” she said. She knew that not all families were like that.

“Thank you.  So much, really.  Because I’ve never had reason to care about anything like this before.”  Dei handed her phone over with ease, running a hand through her hair.  “That must be nice.  My mom and I weren’t super close and my adoptive mom was nice but I wouldn’t say we had too many of the same interests.”

“Of course not. It took a while for modern society back then to appreciate an unsinkable woman,” Anastasia responded. Back then, people had told Arthur to leash his woman. He, of course, rightfully told them where they could go. “No man has ever been able to tell me what to do.” Her head tilted to the side as she listened to her. Perhaps Anastasia had been a bit too gruff with her, too high-maintenance and too unbending. “I like you just fine, Deidre. I’m not too good with the words. Or too good with the actions. The people in my life know how I feel and I’ve never had to tell them or show them because it’s been unnecessary. My reputation is incredibly important to me, but it’s because for a while, it’s been all I had.”

Dei smiled, Anastasia’s words making her like the vampire even more.  “Good.  You certainly came out the other side pretty awesome.”  The wolf’s smile turned a bit more sheepish before Anastasia began to speak again.  Dei visibly relaxed when the woman said she liked her, a huge amount of stress alleviated just in those words.  “And I’m not good at just...reading people.  I’m unfortunately very literal about somethings.  But, I’ll do my best not to be so concerned and trust that you’ll let me know if I do something that you don’t like?”

“Yes, well, nobody is perfect” said Gia, trying to be diplomatic. Then she chuckled. “You’re pretty enough. But with makeup you could be gorgeous.” Gia, for one, never left home without doing hers. “If you need some tips, the Internet is great for that sort of thing.” Nodding her head, she said “Of course. I would hope my mamma would do the same for me.”

Dei brought her phone back out and added makeup to the list, knowing her brother was likely going to give her hell for it, but maybe it would help her look better.  “Alright, I’ll look that up and get on it...it seems challenging, but I’ll try.”  The wolf grinned at her before chuckling. “I’m sure she would.  I’d like to think my mother would too if our situation was at all like yours.”