the bright one

“Eleanor,” the name actually caused the mistress to smile, “You don’t hear that name very often these days. It was quite popular when I was a young girl,” Viv tapped her nails on the bars for a moment, “I’m Vivienne Keller. How much do you know about Covaire so far, Elenore?”

The way Vivienne spoke sounded so very peculiar to her. Almost as though she was talking to an old lady who was reminiscing about her youthful days, and not actually a person who couldn't be past the age of 30. "Only that I'm being kept in this building for the sake of acting as a slave. Nothing more, nothing less. Not even how this city looks like."

“I’ll gladly bite you to prove it. Shall I?”

“And I’ll have to politely decline. I’m definitely not into cannibalism.”

Gale would have corrected her if she had not been amused and fascinated herself by the slave’s ignorance. She laughed quietly, choosing not to reveal the truth of her own nature to the mongrel.

Considering that the woman she had addressed seemed to be as entertained as Eleanor was, she kept an amused smile on her lips, completely unaware of the fact that she was being laughed at, not with. "What next? Will someone try to tell me that Werewolves exist too? Absurd."

“You must be new.” He said with a chuckle. “Vampire around here is pretty common.”

Tycer’s gaze followed the guard’s retreating form before it was shifted back to the human in the cell next to her, “Well, at least being tossed into a cell hasn’t taken away your sense of humor.”

“So you agree? That he hit his head.”

Thoroughly disturbed by what she saw, Eleanor turned around and momentarily slapped herself; once, twice. This had to be a dream. And she wanted to wake up, now. However, as soon as she realized that nothing of that sort was going to happen, she took a deep breath before she turned to face the man again. Yup. Still there.

“No, you deserve it. Thank you so much. I will bring it to you tomorrow. I promise.” Rose smiled and pulled the shirt on. “What is you name?”

“Take your time. It’s Eleanor. And you are--?”

The slave on the other side of the bars looked to still be calm, though the rise in her pulse gave her away, “If I want to, yes,” she tilt her head, “I would expect something in return most of the time depending on my mood. What is your name?”

The woman looked young, she noticed. Young thus beautiful. At the same time however, there was something... odd about her, too. Her skin was quite pale, too pale; her facial features sharp and chiseled. It looked somehow unnatural to her, yet perfect all the same. "Eleanor."

“I’m the exact same way, which is why I consider myself to be more dwarf than anything – though I’m about as exciting as the humans. ”

“Same here, although I’m leaning a little more towards Hobbits rather than humans." She gave a short nod. "I love my share of peace.” A pause, whilst the girl introduced herself. “It’s very nice to meet you, Maddie. I’m Eleanor. However, if you prefer nicknames, Elly would do too.”

“Wait.” Her frown deepened, and she raised a hand in order to punctuate that very short word. Then, she drew the said hand close to her face and began to massage a temple as though she had a headache. Eleanor, who had never interacted with neither vampires nor werewolves before, respectively refused to believe in the existence of supernatural beings. “If not human-- what are you?”

“My role?” Vivienne smirked and stepped up to the bars, “That all depends on how you behave. Either way, I’m one of the one’s that have the ability to get you out of that cell.”

How she behaved? For a second, she felt as though she had been reduced to a small child. Or even worse - a dog, a pet. And Eleanor didn’t like it, not even one bit. She decided to stay calm, though; primarily for the sake of her own curiosity. “You can get me out?”, she asked, before she immediately inquired, “At what price and in exchange for what?”

“I remember when I was like you….and then a werewolf made love to me in front of a fireplace, and a vampire fed from me in the shower.”

“... I knew it. I’ve been locked away in a mental institution after all.”

Madeline watched the other, no longer able to control her own laughter. It was so sweet just how naive she was – her destruction couldn’t be too far now, especially given the masters in this city. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Maddie shook her head and looked the woman over. “No, no, blonde hair, tall, lithe. You’re definitely an elf.”

“Appearance-wise, maybe. But I’m generally too clumsy and ungraceful to be one.”

Rose turned to the other woman. “Oh my god! Thank you so much! I promise I will bring it back to you clean and lovely. I’m so sorry!”

She gave a short shake of her head. “Oh, no. No no no, you don’t have to do that. Keep it. I’m content with the one I’m wearing right now.”