Within Patience

Honestly, in his wildest dreams, Richard wouldn't have guessed somebody as unopposed to touching in general as Kale to have so much of a problem with this particular kind of closeness. It was fascinating, how varied and unexpected could people's triggers be... As he felt her tense and shiver underneath him and the hands grasped at him as if to push away, he was beginning to feel quite awful, never having meant to provoke a reaction like this. But it seemed like it was too late to back out, with how much effort Kale was clearly putting in to trying to make it work, responding so tentatively... He would simply have to try his best, too. Besides, it really shouldn't get in the way of what he needed to do... But, still...

And then, the way she reciprocated suddenly seemed more heartfelt, giving him a brief pause. Oookay. There would be no turning back. He smiled around the kiss, then dived into it, still delicately but no longer uncertain. It seemed that he wouldn't be leaving particularly soon, so more comfort would be necessary. Shifting more to her side, rather being directly over her, he let his hip rest against the bed. Knee bending, his leg moved to be over hers. As if to make up for that somewhat lessened contact, his hand moved to cup the side of her face, thumb softly trailing over the cheekbone. It was a comforting, reassuring sort of touch, a silent 'it's okay', all the while the way he kissed her grew more intense.

The goal was within sight.

As soon as Richard had angled to one side, it seemed that Kale's body finally breathed. That was all she needed, that small movement had opened up that one side, even if just, and it was a swell of relief that she didn't feel quite so solidly boxed in. It was still a box, but one with the lid partially askew. She knew it was probably a false sense of security, but it was one none the less. It wasn't even the fact that she felt she needed it, Kale just liked having a direction to go in in any situation. She never had done small spaces well.

With panic farther back on the horizon, not quite so looming, perhaps she could finally focus on actually trying to enjoy the attention. Her hands had lost their rigid desperate hold, the hand on his upper side lightly sliding up his skin in response to the hand on her cheek. Yes, it was okay. She was okay, at least more so. It was manageable, as it had to be. And so she gave in to that intensity just a bit more. She hated giving up control, but perhaps, just this once... Just a small bit of it, reluctantly - hesitantly - willing, but willing all the same.

It seemed that that little change in position made it easier, and he was happy about that, even if it were just a side-effect. Seeing Kale so... vulnerable tugged at his heart strings, making him want to fix whatever was wrong just so he would not harbor feelings too soft towards her. It would be a weakness. That was all there was to it.

Purring his appreciation, Richard arched his back slightly, knee angling further, moving across her legs. This felt nice, a bit too nice, honestly. He couldn't afford to get lost in the enjoyment. Not yet. Continuing the movement smoothly, naturally, with the foot of the bended leg he pushed up the fabric of his trousers to bare a bit of skin of his calf. Okay. Giving a light, playful nip to Kale's lip, he broke the kiss, taking a deep breath, and turned to bury his face in the space above her shoulder, both to hide his expression and for the comfort it could provide. He'd need it. Pressing his lips to her neck, he steeled himself for the pain that would or would not come, and shifted his leg to touch the exposed skin to Kale's anklet.

This was the only way to know for sure.

Kale's own legs had moved slightly as his had trailed over soft skin. However, that was not exactly where her attentions were. It was probably best, as well. Rather, her active mind was brought to the attention of her lip as it was offended playfully, giving a light noise in argument to the treatment, but smirking all the same. It was good, anyway, she still did need air from time to time.

As the man hid his face at her neck, the hand trailing up his side slipped into his hair, her arm from the other side coming around in a loose sort of embrace. Her eye had opened some, half-mast, and she was letting the final feeling of being caged drain from her system. Her memory flickered to past meetings, and was amused by the thought of being bit by his eccentricity. It pulled from her a good natured, slightly exasperated, smile.

She would, as a scientist, have been very put out by not being included in this experiment at their legs. The anklet's story was actually a rather amusing one. The only person she had yet truly cared about and let in to her life with unquestioned trust and loyalty, if only because he was so endearingly and frustratingly persistent, had made it as a gift for her. Working with metals, he had been determined to mold something. The old candle holder that had been sacrificed had been of about 14 karate gold, alloyed with a mixture of silver, copper, nickel, and zinc. This made up the inner ring and strength of the jewelry. However, it was then coated heavily in a mixture of just gold, copper and brass because the richer, slightly redder color had been more desirable to their tastes and thickened up the piece. This made up the outer ring. It had then been rather riskily welded shut around her ankle, and therefore was not about to come off without some serious damage to either one or the other. It was an odd thing, and she adored it.

Kale could have started yelling and clawing at his back now for all that it would matter; it would take him a while to notice, the entirety of his attention focused on the jewelry. The test was very tentative at first, a mere brush of a touch, in case the silver content was high. When that didn't produce any result, a tiny sigh escaped him and he pressed harder against the slightly cool, smooth metal, so different than the warm, soft flesh around it. But it seemed to be safe. It was safe.

Richard's shoulders shook slightly as he exhaled a chuckle against Kale's neck, washed over with immense relief. It was such a huge burden off his mind, he felt like singing, but he knew that from within the current configuration it would appear rather suspicious. Even more so than the laughter.

So that was out of the way. What now?

He needed to clear his head, get away from her for a moment, and conveniently, the record providing background music had stopped a while ago. Pushing himself up slowly, he drew up his knee to support himself, and while his gaze avoided Kale's, he stole a very brief kiss before he sat up. The alloy that her anklet had been made of being a safe one solved a lot of problems, but created room for other concerns to become more important... Deep in thought, he moved to the edge of the bed and let his legs down to the floor, his feet finding the pair of slippers abandoned there. He made his way towards the gramophone, grabbing the glass of liquor on the way, and stopped in front of the small cabinet which held his records to pick the next one. It was as if there was no Kale and he was spending the evening alone, as per usual... except shirtless, for some unknown reason. After downing the drink in one swig and putting the glass away, he set up an Edith Piaf record, and as he walked back with a wry smile a beautiful song in French filled the room.

Richard reached the bed and sat down on its edge, sighing as he rubbed his face in his palms.
"I have no idea what I'm doing." he finally said with a bitter sort of amusement, sounding more as if he was talking to himself than to the harpy.

Ebony eye opened more attentively as Richard's shoulders moved and a shaky, mirthful breath hit her neck. What was funny? She let her arms slip from his as he pulled back. With a slightly questioning look, the harpy would have given him a small smile, but his eyes didn't meet hers. The kiss was stolen, barely given as confusion took over as the vampire got up completely. Arms bracing behind her, Kale watched him walk to the records and fought the hollow feeling. Right.

Letting her eye slip shut again, she flopped back onto the bed. Stupid, stupid...

It was but a moment to mentally berate herself before she rolled onto her side, slightly on to the feathers of her own partially folded wing. She stared at them, one arm up to act as a pillow for her head, the other idly threading through the soft barbs of each in immediate reach to lay them perfectly. If the small movement went to the rhythm of the music floating through, she didn't pay it attention. Her hair had returned to near its previous position, though it only partially covered the scar. She didn't watch him come back, and did not look up as he sat down. And though she did not know if he were talking to her at all, she responded anyway.

"Do you mean that generally, or to something more specifically?" Kale's voice was quiet and light, conversational though not uncaring.

Ah. Asking to specify a thought so vague. How very like the harpy. Richard remained silent for a moment longer, still as if he was on his own, not acknowledging her with even a glance as he was unwilling to catch her eye. What he had said wasn't even exactly true, he did know what he was doing -- going back on his word -- it was how he felt that he didn't know. Disappointed? Displeased? Disgusted...? And was it more with himself, or with Kale...? Either way, the stupid question made him want to reply in a cold and hurtfully snarky way. Was it not obvious what was he talking about? He fought the desire, though, knowing full well that fulfilling it would lead nowhere. He knew what he actually needed to say.

Finally gathering the resolution, Richard looked towards Kale, though it lasted just a moment before he looked away again. "Well... Specifically, of course." He tutted lightly as he shook his head. "You see... I haven't been keeping up with the papers recently, and basically, I have been managing my stocks account by guesswork, without knowing the state of the market... A terrible feeling indeed." Some of the wry amusement from before quirked his lips up, but failed to bring out even a chuckle, and the smile faded quickly. With a sigh, he reached to touch the tattoo in a well-practiced motion, as if to draw comfort or counsel from it, his gaze pinned to the floor.

"Joking aside... I'm sorry, dear." he said quietly. "I don't think I can do this."

He dearly hoped that she would know what he meant.

She waited because she had nothing else to do. But, when the reply came, it was completely and utterly unsatisfactory. And though she had listened, the harpy saw it ill fitted for any sort of reaction and so acted like she hadn't. Her expression did not change, her idle movement of organizing her feathers unhindered, and her general air completely unaffected.

It was, however, the second response that moved her gaze back up to him carefully. Her fingers stopped, pausing a moment before simply laying her palm flat on her wing. Honestly, in her opinion, it hardly mattered what he meant by that. What it was that he apparently could not do.

"Okay." It was said equally quiet - accepting, and Kale pushed herself up from the bed languidly to sit on the side of her hip, braced by her arm. Feathers slithered against the bedspread with the motion. "You seem a man who will listen most strongly to his own opinion first and foremost. So, I think that maybe mine on the matter may go unwanted, despite that you should know though, I will not even try to make you do anything. I am hoping to preserve some of your comfort." A small smile pulled at her humor and she gave a small hum. "Perhaps getting drunk was an idea after all..."

As Richard wasn't looking at her, he didn't see her lack of reaction to his 'joke', though he heard it well enough. That didn't matter as much as the fact that no, she did not understand what he meant when he was serious. Of course not. Honestly, the harpy claimed to be wanting to avoid being a bother, but she could not be more irritating if she tried. Well, perhaps she could, but it was a good attempt nonetheless.

"And I had taken you for the sort of a woman who will make her opinion known, whether or not others are fool enough not to listen." he said, rolling his eyes up as if to pray to the heavens for patience. Alright, it seemed that he had to be straightforward... as straightforward as he could bring himself to be, anyway. Sighing, he leaned back, bracing against an arm to turn slightly and face Kale. "Look, I don't need you ingratiatingly bowing your head, blending into the background and trying not to breathe to avoid disturbing His Majesty's evening. In fact, that's precisely what you should not do." He raised an eyebrow. "I am not a dog person."

A flicker of irritation visibly crossed her eye, though it curled into a bitter smirk.

"So well to know you relate me to a dog, Monsieur." Her tone was slightly clipped for this sentence, but it smoothed out as she continued. "Though I must say that I would more relate that to the practice of jumping upon you, begging attention and not giving you a moments rest. Or are you wanting me to acknowledge that yes, I may actually indeed want to jump you? Or better yet, have you thought of the fact that I am not allowed to?" A small sarcastic laugh came into her voice. "I'm sorry, but if I cannot do what I want yet, I figured at least to do what you want with the hope it might go somewhere in a desirable direction for the time. Excuse the assumption, Your Highness, it was kindly meant."

Well, there went that. All gone were pretenses of laying back. How could she with an indignant curl of fire in her stomach? Why did things always turn so poorly so often? Kale shifted towards the edge of the bed to rise off it, feeling the need to stand. Her smile fell though, as she looked thoughtful. It was barely muttered, near a whisper but not so shy, as she shook her head slightly.

"You're right, though."

When Richard saw her expression, doubt about whether it had been the right decision to tell her that washed over him. But it needed to be said, as much as he hated insulting her so. With a slight wince, he listened to her, in a way considering it his punishment to not avert his gaze. While he was firm in his resolution to not back out of his claims, he still looked a bit regretful, sad even at Kale's last, quiet comment. When did this get so complicated...?
It was too late to try and soften the blow, anyway.

"Firstly, I did not liken you to a dog." he said, raising a finger. "You did that yourself, acting as you did. Secondly..." He frowned. "I do understand and appreciate your motivation and intentions, truly. All I am saying is that it is not the way to get what you want... whatever that may be." He gave a small, amused smile. "Unless being His Majesty's maid is what you want. I thought you more ambitious and proud than that, though."

Her eye narrowed and she nearly rolled it. Her hands raised to sit on her hips.

"No. I don't think you do understand fully. Unless you are meaning to be rather inconsiderate with my feelings. And, really, of course not, because I am rather admittedly proud, though I do not think all maids non-ambitious." Rather, in fact, maids to royalty were often advantageous, in history they had many claims to things underhanded, often being in prime opportunities. They were trusted, relied on. Not that there were any actual kings left, no, there was a whole new twisted system that had taken their place. "Besides my species does not even-" Oh but they did. The harpy cut herself off, gaze focusing on something off in space over his shoulder rather than on Richard himself. It wasn't a direct translation, 'maid'. And still it wasn't to 'servant'. Nothing was a direct translation into the tones that harpies spoke, but the meaning was the same. What royalty left was there? A man who the majority bowed to, it was...far fetched, surely. The connections made in her mind were stretched and only just tying together, but the more she thought about it, the tighter the ties became. Her eyebrows rose in dawning surprised realization, shoulders loosening slightly.

"Oooh, but you are a brilliant man..." The words were breathed out. It was so...so perfect. She could be a 'maid'. A victorious grin spread slowly across her face and her gaze refocused upon Richard, as if seeing him in a new light. Languidly, steps were taken to approach the vampire, the woman looking positively and completely pleased, near giddy with newly found confidence. Her chin was tilted up, wings held higher. It would not be an easy task, a lot of preparation would go in to it, but...perhaps with a little help... Oh yes, she would need Richard now and she would have him.

"Have I ever remarked upon that?" Ebony burned brightly with something predatory and commanding, lips delicately curled as if this new revelation was the world on a silver platter, Richard the one holding it to her, and she the one in power to reward him for his service.

Truth be told, he believed that, yes, he was being inconsiderate of her feelings while having an understanding of the situation. Before he could start preparing some sort of an answer, though, Kale abruptly broke off mid-sentence with a somewhat absent expression on her face. Harpies didn't even... what? Richard gave her an odd look, then threw a glance over his shoulder, expecting to see the source of her pause there, but finding nothing. His lips parted to speak, but he shut them again as he decided to have enough decency to not interrupt what was clearly a moment of deep thought. Instead, he observed it with impartial curiosity, leaning back against his arms with palms resting on the bed.

When the silence was finally broken, he blinked, staring at Kale in a way that was baffled more than brilliant. Well, well. Whatever was it that her eureka moment brought, with it came a change of attitude, it seemed. Richard smiled slightly, appreciatively, both of the praise and of the version of harpy now before him; he liked that version of her much better. However, he was far from giving in to the satisfaction, as it was heavily overshadowed with confusion and slight alarm. He wasn't pleased with the fact that he had no idea what was she getting at. At all. A weak chuckle escaped him as he looked up to her, eyebrows raised in question.

"As much as I appreciate the praise," he said lightly, with a joking air, as if it was just one of those half-serious verbal fencing battles. "I think you may be overestimating my intellect somewhat, as I must admit that I do not follow."

Her head tilted slightly, eye narrowing as her grin stayed strong. Seeing as he was leaning back, she slipped forward, lifting her right knee to slide it on to the bed, brushing along his outer, left thigh.

"Oh but see, you will follow. You'll have to stay with me, now, to find out what you've inspired." Her voice was quiet and cooing softly, persuasive and mischievous in a playful manner. "I'll be but a maid. You'll have to be there to watch me, I'll claim all your attention."

Kale leaned down a bit, nearing her face to his, if he so allowed. "Can't I persuade you to me? Wont you let me put on a show for you, Richard, if you'd be mine?"

It was never specified in what way she meant.

The more he listened to her, the more certain he became that it had not been an eureka moment, but rather a sanity slip. He stared at her with mildly amused disbelief as she slid on to the bed next to him. A thoughtful hum escaped him, though it was not Kale's questions that he was considering, but rather whether to put a hand to her forehead to check her temperature. She sounded delirious.

Lazily, Richard tilted his head, seemingly entirely comfortable with the sudden return of closeness despite the apparent loss of her senses. Well. It was interesting, at least...
"How... cryptic." He would not ask, though. He refused to play along that much. Sighing, he looked away in an indeterminate direction, though he did not lean away any. "I still don't understand why is it that you want me so."

She had held hopes, though not tightly. Despite, they were dropped upon his answer, as were her shoulders with exasperation as her eye rolled in an almost childish manner. It was, before she found herself again, as like a child who had been denied a sweet until a later time. But, it was gone, and she was looking at him with a lighthearted, but fiercely determined, mindset. Hands raised to trail up his chest and neck to rest at his jaw.

"Why do I want you so...hmmm..." Her tone was a little mocking, as if this were a stupid question he should know the answer to and was only playing dumb just to hear her say it - and that she was going to anyway despite knowing this. "Well, lets see. You're brilliant, as said. Amusing." She would lean forward to place a kiss on his forehead - as she wanted his attention back fully - if he showed signs of letting her. "Charming." Right cheek. "Independent." Left cheek. "Resourceful." She hummed and ducked to kiss his chin. "Attractive...And with so much wit that I dare say you can compile those to be manipulative when you want to be." She trailed to linger a brush of lips against his before pulling back just enough to see his face. "I have not felt so intellectually stimulated by someone before you," How could she make him see? "And I see a lot of potential and skill left in a man who, for whatever reason, is not using it to its fullest. It makes me angry. I would benefit exponentially from someone like you even if you just stood by me, proven by the fantastic idea you just inspired... I can respect you and, I might admit, that I actually like you." A small playful smirk pulled the corner of her lips at that.

She paused a brief moment.

"You might as well agree. I'm not giving you much choice in the matter if I have much say in future proceedings." The harpy's smile was un-apologetically, innocently guilty. And, as if to prove that point, she was already pulling back.

The question had been genuine, not simply fishing for compliments. Richard was honestly curious what was it exactly that made her so keen. He didn't protest to the touch, turning his head slightly in her direction, but soon he began to sorely regret his curiosity. Whatever he had been staring off at grew increasingly interesting, commanding his gaze to be glued to it as an atrocious warmth started creeping through the skin of his cheeks. Right. Oh God, why'd he have to ask.

His embarrassment, while remaining throughout her speech, was suddenly accompanied by a small, lopsided smirk. Hmm, manipulative... Maybe he could be. If he really tried. Perhaps. That brief spot of funny distraction allowed him to finally pry his attention away from the oh-so-interesting nothing and look into Kale's eye, but that was as much of a reaction as he was going to give. Aside from traces of that dark, wry sort of amusement, his expression showed nothing, and while his pose hadn't changed noticeably, he was sitting rather stiff and rigid. Oh, what an utter idiot he had been.

When she started pulling away, seemingly done, he still remained motionless. "Thank you." It was light and careless, accepting of the praise, but giving no opinion over it. He raised an eyebrow slightly, lifting his chin. "In that case, I shall be looking forward to seeing those future proceedings unfold."

Ebony was trained on his expression, searching his expression. She didn't know what she was looking for, what she may have expected or wanted, but whatever it was, she didn't find it.

Her expression was generally unmoved, but there was just enough of a decrease in her happiness that it was evident some sadness had befallen her to slightly counteract. It was a moment that she stared back before simply nodding once. Her hands fell, trailing back down, her right pointer finger near the man's tattoo as her gaze followed, but she did not touch it, ghosting off his skin before. Pulling away entirely, knee slipping back off the bed, she took a few steps back.

"Then...It shall be one of my pastimes to impress you along the way." And she turned from him, gaze breaking off to look around the room. "And to one day tell you how much I despise you for that." It was said a bit quieter, and the desire to leave the room immediately struck her. Her arms crossed for hands to grip the opposite forearms.

"I have work to do." It was said quickly, and Kale was already turning to walk back to the table to flip the flap closed on her bag and snatch it up by the strap.

As he returned her gaze in the silence, slowly all amusement drained from his face, leaving him with a mostly impartial, slightly melancholic expression when she backed off. His eyes remained watching hers. A woman twice scorned... but, what else was he to do? There would be hell to pay whatever he chose.

He should never have gotten involved in the first place.

Richard did not respond immediately, letting her walk all the way towards where her bag had been abandoned. Words were hard to come by, and despite the roaring fire and the fresh blood in his veins, he felt cold. Finally breaking out of his stillness, he reached for his shirt and put it on. As he was buttoning it, his gaze fell to the floor in thought.

"I did say that I cannot do it." he said softly, with a slightly accusatory tone at her needing it said again. The apology, however, would not be repeated.

The shoulder strap was slung over her shoulder and her shawl adjusted from the elbows of her wings to drape around her neck, flinging over end back over her shoulder to wrap around. His voice had her stopping to look back, and a small smile curled her lips. One eyebrow was delicately curved in a way that supplied a silent 'so?'.

"Can't, or wont?" The harpy lingered a look on him before turning and strolling towards the window. "Fine, Richard, be that way." She sighed and flipped a hand very casually. "I've already said I wont make you do anything. Do not worry."

A sigh escaped her as she looked at the window for the lock, intending to open it. It would be the fastest way back to her room.

The words, the pose, the look that Kale gave him, it all felt so oddly insulting.

He had wanted to argue, to clarify the difference between 'can't' and 'won't', to ask how exactly was she going to not give him a choice while not making him do anything; but before he could find the words, he heard himself harrumphing. "Just go already." he snapped. Turning away sharply, he proceeded with getting dressed while pretending she had already vanished into the night.

How could he ever have allowed himself to hope there could be some kind of an understanding between them, that he could think of her as an equal, that they had enough in common to be... close? That hope was now dashed, stomped and buried, so dead that not even necromancy would be able to jostle it. Oh well. It would make things simpler, at least.

If only it wasn't so awfully, bitterly painful.

Once his attire was in order again, Richard made his way towards the drink cabinet. Relaxing was now out of the question, but he would certainly need all the numbing he could. There was a lot of thinking to be done.

Fingers hooked under the window and she didn't wince at his tone. She froze, staring out the glass into the inky night unseeingly.

She should have left long ago, directly after giving him the egg. She should have never gave in to the temptation seeking...what? Companionship? The idea was laughable now. The thing was, she had already known. Her eye closed, body rigid, listening to the vampire rustle around behind her.

So far from home, in space and time, and still that wretched woman haunted her. How Kale loathed that bitch, that foul and beautiful, powerful woman. It seemed ironic, now. But it had seemed, tonight, being picked up and carried, that that woman might have been wrong just once... The harpy's breath hitched.

What was the translation? Or, the nearest to it, at least? She scoffed.

"You don't even know my name." It was said quietly, broken and bitter, as if that in all of this was the worst thing of all. And that's really what it came down to, she realized. Too proud to ask or admit it, she roughly jerked the window open. Hopping up and slipping out with a slither of feathers, she clung to the outside and shoved the window back shut before letting herself just drop into the cold air, trusting wings to catch her. It was the only thing she could do anymore.