#themortalitasi

Lucanis paced the entryway of the Dellamorte Villa, back and forth, trying to calm his nerves as he breathed slowly in his nose and out his mouth. Slow breath in, slow breath out... easy and slow...

Slow breath in, slow breath out... easy and sl--

"He Should Be Here By Now!"

"Cállate, Spite! He will be here." Lucanis grumbled at the interruption by his demon, trying once again to focus on the meditative breathing to calm his nerves once more. Spite gave a hmph and crossed his arms over his chest, turning his face away from Lucanis as the First Talon began pacing again.

Still, Lucanis was nervous. He knew Emmrich would be arriving any minute, they had coordinated with messages through the Eluvians for the Mortalitasi's arrival, but he was still finding himself feeling more anxious than anything. It had been months since he'd seen his friend, far later than he had wanted to reconnect with Emmrich.

Especially after that last night before the final battle against the Evanuris. Lucanis had no idea if he was going to make it out alive, and he had to let Emmrich know just how important the mage had become to him...

A knock on the double doors of the entrance immediately had both man and demon snapping their heads towards the sound. Spite scrambled over to the doors at the same moment Lucanis moved towards them to open them up.

Casandra had hoped baking with someone who also knew the recipe would prevent any sort of travesty. That was until smoke bellowed out of the oven, and Cassandra blasting just a bit of cold magic to stop the flames before pulling out the charred remains of the cake.

She watched Manfred fanning the smoke and also overlooking the crime against baking, tears nearly peaking from her eyes from embarrassment. Lucanis probably felt his eyes itching wherever he was knowing good food was ruined. "I'm sorry, but I did warn you I shouldn't be allowed in the kitchen."

A sniff to clear the tears before they could even fall as she turned to Emmrich with the icing. "Some may say it's the best part."

Seeing the offered spoon, she smiles before taking it. A hum of approval at the taste as she licked her lips in an attempt to make sure they were clean.

Rein'd had a long day. He'd probably helped everyone on the team today. He was sore, he was tired. He just wanted to relax in his room for a few hours in peace. And given his very closed door, he hoped he'd be left to that peace.

He changed it to something comfortable from his wardrobe and turned around to see, "AH-! FUCK!" He put a hand over his heart, "Stupid wisp..." He sighed, "Very cute. You got me. Please go back to mommy dearest." He pointed in the direction of Neve's room.

Unfortunately, it moved closer to him. The hairs on his neck and arms stood on end, "No! No! Bad wisp!" He backed up, only to see it still moving at him. He knew they were curious, and he knew they weren't malicious, but rationality didn't matter, "No! No-no-no-no-no!! NOOO!" His deep voice had a habit of carrying when he raised it, just the same as it always had.

Eventually, it brushed against his hand when he tried to shoo it away. He tried to keep his calm, but all at once, he felt the chill run through him as the blood drained from his face, his heart skipped what felt like several beats, and his eyes rolled back.

Spite grumbled to himself as he sat perched on Emmrich's desk with his legs crossed and feet tucked in. Lucanis was sleeping soundly in the back of their shared consciousness, his rest undisturbed by the demon's control of the body. It was an arrangement they had made, that while Lucanis rested, Emmrich would keep Spite occupied and make sure he didn't hurt anyone, including Lucanis.

Spite liked it because he actually got the chance to talk to someone beside Lucanis, and he could hold and touch things, taste things even, when Emmrich let him. The candles smelt so good, he just wanted a little bit of a taste.

But, Spite did understand that not everything that tasted good would make Lucanis' stomach feel good. They had learned that the hard way with a bar of soap at the Diamond.

Then, Emmrich was bringing up tea. It was the drink that the mage liked so much, that Curiosity enjoyed making with the steam that made pretty shapes in the air. It always did smell good...

Cassandra stood in the middle of the Necropolis, blight boils spreading faster than she could burst. Her magic flowing everywhere to keep the Sunken Star clear. She wasn't paying attention, suddenly feeling the blight grow on her legs and crawling up her body. The panic setting in as she tried smashing it from her to stop the spread, but nothing she could do could stop it.

The moment before her vision would be clouded by boils, she was startled awake. Even with how gentle it was, she lunged further back into her pillow, vision still coming into view. She felt the hint of sweat on her brow as she needed to catch her breath.

It took a moment, but she finally realized Emmrich was there, she sat up in the bed, a hand on her head as she worked on waking up. He was right, for a mage a dream is never really a dream, but a connection to the fade. "I wish, I'd prefer to see his smug face than ... that." she couldn't even say what her dream had been about, at least not yet, not until her heart stopped racing and the nausea subsided.

"I cannot believe that I got a bingo line... And your last box is conflicting with your final box on the second row, is it not?"