vampyr / .

"Bedsheets, no clothes Touch me like nobody else does Lovely to just lay here with you" - "Ceilings", Lizzie McAlpine @xmalachaix

Malachai was a creature of habit no matter how often the Banker attempted to propose otherwise. Auri was the sacrificial lamb to these creatures, the night dwellers who thought they could get one up on somebody who made their very living off what swam within their veins. Magic, power; where one could presume Auri weak, the eladrin merely played the part and Malachai was merely another investor, a simple piece upon the board, until he seemed to twist his fangs into something that Auri, in his own vapid world, decided was not apart of it all. "I knew you'd still be here," Lupercalia pre-gaming started early and though Rome was on this streak of no violence, that hadn't stopped the lycans from their festivities, "Languishing among your spoils." The eladrin smiled, for all the gall it took for Auri to waltz into the familiar blood bank - spurred by alcohol and Etienne's words - his vigor was dwindling fast. "I guess all this Senate stuff is a big hit on business." He picked up a blood bag to busy himself, stayed at the entrance of Malachai's office as though Auri hadn't found himself here a million times over when he was down bad; if he repeated the lie that the Banker was merely a means of quick cash for blood he'd not feel so bad about it all, yep.

He offers a slight shake of his head before he closes the distance in between them to press a kiss to the edge of the vampire's jaw. "I'll be fine." With everything in the air around Lupercal, he's restless anyways, sleep was something that was becoming hard to come by. Etienne almost feels like a kid at Christmas at the mere thought of Lupercalia. "How did it go?" He knows the farm shutting down had been rough, that Malachai took work seriously. The last thing he wants is for him to get too involved with work, he's tried to be a good advocate for leaving work at the door but he knows it's something easier said than done. His fingers follow the lines of Malachai's shirt from his collar down to the first button on it, an idle way of keeping close.

The concept of hours had long been gone from the depths of his mind, judging the day only by where the sun and moon positioned themselves within the sky. It had been months since the farm had been shut down, stripped from his business. Yet blood was easy enough to come by, with the right suppliers and such. Though it had crippled him for a moment's time, business had always been within his own blood. The comment draws him from his thoughts, of what the next day of business will bring. Malachai knows what he'll see even before he turns, a set of perfected puppy dog eyes. Designed specifically for him to give in to whichever new want is on the other's tongue. "Have you not slept yet?" The vampire already knows the answer, but the question is spoken all the same. His jacket is discarded as he draws himself closer to the lycan, the scent strong, yet familiar and welcoming.

Freddy Carter as Kaz Brekker in Shadow and Bone season 2 episode 3 “Like Calls to Like” (2023) dir. Laura Belsey