#⁺˚*𝑜𝒻 𝐿𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 & 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃𝓈*˚⁺ - dioxnina

[icecoldwilliams]

𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑼𝑬𝑫 | ✲・*:✲・*:･ﾟ

His hand skid smooth fishnet stockings like amusement skid across cold cyanic pools. Observing him. Luring him... Drowning him and every sweet worded buoy tossed from his mouth.

No reprieve from his little faux pas now ricocheted off a beautifully wicked brain.

❝Alright... Secretary~..❞

Bystanders could call her what they'd like. The diminished title just another key to playing their naivety like a grand Steinway . — But when uttered by the same ally sitting with her, side by side at the bench.... It rung.. frayed.

Attention seizing yet as off kilter to her ears as the title likely was when wielded against his own. Whether with truth or mirth. ; Apathy, or the smirk now painted across ivory as she leaned back against the oak, even tilted her head.

Well If the vampire couldn't play nice and share the key bed, then his Queen would just play his nerves like treble strings all her own. One- ❝Why do I get the feeling someone just wants to hear me call him 'boss'..? Or no wait... I know..❞ - after the other.

❝He prefers 'My King~...' ❞

| @diotheworldus ✲・*:✲・*:･ﾟ

[icecoldwilliams]

Europa, the beautiful Galilean, cold candidate for life with a vast, undisturbed ocean within. Atmosphere so hostile it could kill any poor soul within a mere day – No, his gealach standing in front of him was no candidate for life. Any ocean to be found beneath that pristine surface had long frozen alongside it's secrets to a land of waste.

More comparable to Neptune's fatal winds inbound below the tranquil surface, to all of it and Uranus' piercing diamonds, equivalent to a simple gaze. Silently targeting, ordering her bird to leave ; to beware the eventual consequences of not attacking their little intruder as she had hoped... before the vampiress looked elsewhere. Anywhere but her blabbering doppelgänger ghrian , wasting her time.

Every word of his pitiful sob story might as well be blanks, ricocheting off the ice. Hand on her hip and resolute, she seemed... bored.

Rich or poor, every name on her hit list in life who had the chance always spent their last minutes mucking her ears.. now in her afterlife 'Dio's' might not only be the most delusional she's ever heard, but he'd be the only target she'd have to kill twice.

...Was she even listening?

— Only after he was finally done did she adjust her gauntlet and sigh. No she didn't know how he knew her name, about her Lion and the games they dared play. Whether a certain hotel was bugged, or someones mouth wasn't as sealed as hoped... But given another minute, those azures struck his very soul.

❝Better keep looking.❞

And the creeping snake's heel followed suit, attempting to land one swift kick to the abdomen, a punch to that ever familiar face, and one final high kick to his brain with a turn.

His Queen a fighter in life, and both of their deaths.

In all his years, he had never felt such coldness as he did when she asked that question. This was no glacier, it was as cold as Jupiter’s moon Europa, he could barely move as his mind processes this. Was he wrong? Was this not…no it had to be her, there is no way it couldn’t, but why was she pretending don’t not to know her own name? Was this another game? Haven’t they been through this already, haven’t they….it was then he saw something that almost pulled the soul right out of his body.

It was faint, ethereal, almost incvisable but in this moment he could see it. It was a skeletal decayed stand, it was around her, it was…The world…Dio would never mistake it for anything else. He knew what it meant as the figure made eye contact with him and spoke with a look as it faded into invisible smoke and vanished, the parting words it gave Dio we’re “Save her”. It was clear now, how could he have been so very blind. Dio had lost the game in this reality and that had caused this fate to befall her. What he saw was the remnants of his counterparts soul trying to reach her closed off heart.

“You know very well who that is.” He spoke with determination as he walked towards her. Petshop had his eyes locked onto Dio for unlike his new master he knew this man was the real deal. “I’ll tell you what happened where I come from and in return you will tell me what happened to you.” He stopped at arm’s length of her.

“At the end of the game, our game. I was one step away from the sun’s deadly embrace. That’s when you told me your name Nina Williams.” He paused for a moment, recollecting the moment causing clear pain that was visible on his face. “Then before I could take a step back that man walked in, your contractor, that snake Steely Dan, he broke in and shot at me. It was so fast…you got in the way of the bullet and it hit you right in the forehead…there was no way I could save you. If the brain is destroyed not even my blood can bring you back to life.”

The pain was so clear, anguish, agony, losing the love of his life so quickly after she admitted her feelings, after she had willingly lost the game for him only to end in tragedy. “I’m not from this world…I’m my desperation I gained a new power and used it to travel to this reality. All…to see you alive again…” he had revealed the truth but would she believe it? Or think it was another desperate trick by an imposter?

[icecoldwilliams]

𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑼𝑬𝑫 | ✲・*:✲・*:･ﾟ

Six inches in length, barely a centimeter deep. It was a clean gash, nothing any professional worth their salt hadn't seen before. All but mimicking a myriad of past close calls, long petrified into adorning scars.

In truth, Nina didn't know what was more painful: The sting of the chlorhexidine? Or the immortals chiding? — One breaching apathy with mere pursed lips, threatening to pinch between her brow, while the other made azures roll.

Careless and rash were definitions assigned to amateurs, certain brunettes, all but morons... but never found with her name ; never applied to her skill and calculation. Even hiding beneath an ivory shoulder blade, amidst traded bullets, the merc still attempted to patch the cut once out of harms way. ...Her only so called 'mistake' was not anticipating the pesky mark on her reputation would bleed through it's first bandage before she could sneak off to her room...

❝Maybe something, or someone's turning me soft...❞ The twist of muscles needed to turn his way may have stung, but it was well worth it to catch a glimpse of those crimson pools behind her. For her lips to near his own. Make sure her sultry flattery met it's mark... underhanded or otherwise. ❝Why be careful when my vampire dotes on me as soon as I get home?❞

|| @diotheworldus ✲・*:✲・*:･ﾟ

[icecoldwilliams]

⚠️ highly addicting. Extremely deadly for most individuals. Authorized individuals only.

⚠️ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐒 | (𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈) | ✲・*✲*:･.*:･ﾟ

How fitting... In her he found semblance to intoxicants and ethanol, as the vampire too reminds of her emerald isle's scotch on serene, soothing, idealistic nights. Her sole target capable of capturing specks of mercy, of affection ; Her ironic, ever doting Sol... defrosting a subtle smile across her lips. A tint of amusement to poison apathy.

Yet not without an arch to her brow as well.

❝Only most..? Clearly I must be doing something wrong.❞

[icecoldwilliams]

🌿🍒

𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐄 | (𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈) |✲・*✲*:･.*:･ﾟ

Well, the weather outside was hardly frightful. Snow only fell to it's sweet demise within the arid desert air. Sahara's heat no match for the typical, frigid theme of this time of year, nor his cold blooded killer comfortably seated in their den. Tablet in hand, azures illuminated by the digital novel displayed on the screen.

For once enjoying moments peace amid the cavity inducing holiday cheer...

Sans lowering her guard.

Sharp needles slowly waltzed across ivory. Traversing pricks up her arms and eventually settling into her spine with every step taken behind her. Slow and quiet. Meticulously sly ; An attempt almost too cute not to indulge. - He was always so coy , wasn't he? Always trying to catch his killer off her guard with fond surprises, gifts galore.

Always so keen on mining cracks in the ice. And based on the reflection in her device, he was now utilizing the festive little parasite to latch onto the vital, beating, pest caged within her ribs.

— Beauty found in a blonde head craned back against the couch, in a frigid gaze challenging the warmth of crimsons, and one pair of lips unable to resist curving as they instinctively sought out the other. Meeting in a kiss so gentle. Tender pace trading place with increasing passion all in mere seconds. Languid and sweet, carrying on even as they part and left only a whisper in between.

Should she dare, she'd call it all... so delightful.

❝Baby... You don't even need to ask.❞ | ✲・*✲*:･.*:･ﾟ

[icecoldwilliams]

What a perk of the job it was, having the opportunity to sip fear like delectable scotch on calm, dreary nights. Dan's not quite as bold as Midleton, but à la Jameson's mellow amber... It was adequate. It would do.

The lack of actual beverages at their table on the other hand would not. ❝You underestimate me...❞ Nina sighed, putting her phone away in favor of tracking down a waiter with a mere finger. Staying silent with each glass filled and menus distributed. Each step as the little intruder on their conversation took their leave.

❝'Tomorrow, 10 am sharp.' I believe that's what I told you on the phone this morning,❞ She took a drink, savoring hints of refreshing spice right alongside his unease. As familiar as can be.

Always hiring someone else, thinking it would keep their hands from gravel and dirt. Forever throwing money at problems grand and minuscule, as if dollar signs and euros, as desirable as they may be, could mend the world ; could ever afford her mercy...

Who would've guessed Dan might fall in line with her favorite type of clients:

The cockroaches who inevitably wind themselves so tightly around her little trigger finger that they choke.

... If only the blonde hadn't already wrung his wallet dry.

No, what she sought required a little sophistry. A powdered touch of subterfuge, via a softer curve to her lips and a meticulously laid out view. ❝Rest assured we're well on schedule. I'll be ready to report to you in twelve hours time. In fact... I'll even deliver his corpse to you when I'm done.❞ Putting the cutout in her dress to use as she folded her arms and leaned over the table.

❝But I want something other than cash in return.❞

He was both. Dan knew this, he should have known better than to be this antagonistic and yet he couldn’t let go of his worthless pride. “Look I’ll increase your pay. Just make sure he’s dead. By now I’m sure he’s suspicious of you. No matter how good your acting is that man has a way of looking through people.” Dan knew nothing of what was going on between Dio and Nina, he was just assuming she was playing an act to fool him.

“If he gets so much as the idea that I may be behind this he won’t hesitate to separate my head from my shoulders.” There was a slight tremble in his voice. For all his bravado and pride Dan was terrified of Dio, he had seen the horrors that man could inflict first hand, and that was to those that failed him, what would he do to traitors?

“Tell me how are things coming along? Are you close to killing him once and for all?” Such an impatient man this Steely Dan, every day was like torture to him, not knowing if Dio would come for him or not. Little did he know that regardless of what happens his life was already forfeit.

[icecoldwilliams]

He was gone on this day of all days. An urgent matter had taken him away a couple of days ago and he wasn’t due to return for another week. She wouldn’t let the disappointment show on her face or in her walk as she returned to her room after a successful mission. She opened the door to see it was pitch black in there and then as she turned on the light.

“Surprise!~” there he was her Lion, standing right in front of her with a hand baked cake decorated to the nines, with the words happy birthday written on it as well as a few candles that had only just now been lit up.

“Happy birthday my love, did you think I was really going to miss today?” His smile was kind and bright, almost like the sun as he put the cake on the nearby table and then offered her the first of many gifts. “Here it’s something comfortable for you to change into.” It was a brand new pair of pijamas, an expensive set made out of the most comfortable of materials, they had a light blue color with snowflake designs all over it.

“Having a single day to celebrate seems a bit too short so let’s celebrate this birthday all week long, after all we know how to make the most out of a week don’t we?~”

“We will do anything you want; this whole week is all about you and making you happy~”

Frigid, fatal and merciless, Nina Williams was no less than a force to be reckoned with in the field, in the ring. Within the aged halls of her new home, even all the way to the increasingly familiar ornate door, she carried a spine devouring chill like an approaching, decimating winter.

One blown away within seconds when faced with the unexpected light of her opposite summer, and all the joy his soppy tidings bring.

Contagious, plague-esque to ice. Burning it to the seabed and replacing it with a reflected shine across subtly widened pools as they took in every candle, wrapped gift and bag. ; Every aspect of the man radiating in the middle of it all.

Only he alone could ever stun his killer. And admittedly.. pull even her lips into a smile. Coquettish as was their shade.

❝I don't know... The last time I spent a full week with you, I wound up with a cloying Lion at my side..❞

Her form into his as she set the smaller gift aside, stood on her toes and draped her arms across the shoulders of the so much better. After all, they may have all week, but there was no need to save the best for last.

And with her face buried against his chest, there was even less to grant him the rare gift of pink invading her cheeks when it was her birthday.

❝Thank you, mo chuisle...❞

[icecoldwilliams]

𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑼𝑬𝑫 | ✲・*:✲・*:･ﾟ

Dear poor, thirsty Lion. Ever bold even when it was him who settled his den in the arid Sahara. No nearby oasis. No storm to block out his nemesis Sol. And yet somehow... he still managed to tread thin ice.

Taunting that beautiful stone cold face about it's place, that piercing gaze daring him to step just a toe out of his own.. just to then etch a curve upon her lips.

❝Mm... in that case, how about Mo ghra... Mo rí... dána~..❞ She kissed him, again and again between whispered drops for his parched soul ; Mere pecks to draw him in, pay him back, perhaps lower his guard, that all ended the very second she felt her vampire seek more. Torture only prolonged by her hand slipping past his collar to make itself comfortable in a chiseled valley of muscle.

❝Or... maybe I should just call you my sop.❞ Suddenly, mercy. If only so his killer could press one more kiss against his forehead, and refine her peripheral.

❝As in, six o'clock... the only one forgetting their place is my sop's help.❞ Namely two maids, Ms. Outdated and Drab, still pathetically lingering in the hall she came from ; Still treading close to having their gossiping tongues cut from their mouths.

If only the appendages matched her taste in décor.

| @diotheworldus | ✲・*:✲・*:･ﾟ

[icecoldwilliams]

It had been a tiering day, she had just arrived home after a rather bothersome mission but to her surprise she found something on her bed. It looked like a present, wrapped in yellow paper with greet strings. On it was a note that read “I’ll be home in a few hours but I wanted to give you something just in case I ran late. Happy birthday my love, thank you for being born and filling my life with happiness.

On the inside was a luxurious tight fitting violet dress as well as a pair of snowflake shaped earrings. Of course this wasn’t all he planned for her but Dio would have to return to her to give her the rest in person.

𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝟐𝟑𝐑𝐃 | ✲・*:✲・*:･ﾟ

A time wielding vampire seeking control across the globe from the shadows, and a mercenary at the side of their likeminded rivals within the light.

Who the crueler they may never know.

Was it her? The frigid woman who at times wielded the distance in tormenting her love further, who's phone calls came via burner phones in the dead of night. Leaving nothing but the desire for more come sol's rise. – Or was it him? The man who brought an ice sculpture to life, and carved new definitions into a glacier aside undefined sentiment. ; He who dared show her the unsettling depth of emotion and all they may hold.

Like the hollow pit that brewed with each click of her heels against the mansions marble. Each step gone uninterrupted to her quarters just a sign her typically quick to greet her Dio was nowhere near by, and leaving a dismal aura in it's wake. Breaching the hired helps comfort, chilling their spines. ; A force to be reckoned with... all stunted at the sight of her Lions consideration.

Today of all days Nina found rest could wait. Exhaustion and the mundane defied by a hummed melody as she turned and admired her reflection. Smoothing out the new violet garment a tad, before applying gold diamond snowflakes to her ears. Matching yet all too familiar crystal and gold vile around her neck the finishing touch.

A makeover to brighten her day, and simultaneously torment his.

Plan already at work with the arms she felt creep around her waist, welcomed and igniting a rare warmer curve to coquette painted lips, already lingering towards his own.

❝Hello, mo chuisle~...❞

The 'You're late.' seeped between the lines, left unsaid. | ✲・*:✲・*:･ﾟ

[icecoldwilliams]

“We’ll look at that, bingo~” ❤️

𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐀'𝐒 𝐓𝐘𝐏𝐄 ( 𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 ) ✲・*:･ﾟ✲･ﾟ:*  ˚ₓ

Naturally... The silly little notion known as fate could truly be crueler than the cold, at times more brutal than the mercenary's own cynical tongue. — To think, her supposed ideal type is nothing short of an undead vampire with a target on his back.

Her finger belonging to the trigger.

How sickeningly theatric... Familiar coquette painted lips just cracked a smile in return for the irony. His Ice Queen resting her head upon his polarizing warm shoulder. Merciful hand swiping the same weapon put to use in this new game of theirs.

❝Wow look at that.. I suppose this is the part where I start believing in all of those soppy whispered nothings my Lion used to muck up my ear..❞

And yet while punctuated with a pinch & dash of snark & a sigh, her tone for once was almost... serene. Acquiescent. Wicked mind far more preoccupied with two simple strokes of ink she drew on Dio's palm. One south east, one south west, both meeting in the middle.

Cordiform, just for him.

|| @diotheworldus ✲・*:･ﾟ✲･ﾟx

[icecoldwilliams]

So many toss stones, expecting ripples in the water. Fewer fools aim them at glaciers expecting them to crumble.

❝Maybe you should.❞ Tone even and algid. Countless clients, hundreds of men who could run their mouths and tongues all they'd like... So rarely mindful of running them into a knot, a la dear asphyxia.

Theft of breath, waste of precious time. Sharp panic settling with a struggle to speak ; to grapple the fatal last mistake they would ever make, until finally... their own demise. — Why should she turn down dinner and a show?

Sitting there, arms folded and gaze piercing. The blonde was sculpturesque ; Unwavering. Not lifting a finger to assist or spare him, but to hasten his downfall via pulling her phone from underneath her bodice and continuing as she scrolled. ❝But word of advice... my line of work only thrives on one thing, and one thing alone. The fact that my clientele are either too spineless to get the job done themselves.. or.. that they have too much to lose.❞

The maleficence. The sultry, sweet, palpable maleficence lacing her words and joining them, strung in the air. Only comparable to the chill taking her clients form hostage with two little photos airdropped to his phone. One a copy of the contract he signed.

The other, a photo of his current sorry excuse for a home.

❝So tell me again, Dan.. Which one are you?❞

Entrust her or cross her. Either way his back gains a scarlet red target till the end of his days.

All that changed was how much time he wanted to waste.

His eyes were on her the second she walked in, that woman was beautiful and yet deadly, he knew this all to well after all her reputation made it clear she was a killer without equal and yet he couldn’t shake this feeling that something wasn’t going right. When she arrived at the table and took a seat he finally spoke without paying much mind to her venomous words.

“Steely Dan, you have to say the whole thing Miss Williams.” He corrected her knowing full well it would irritate her. Dan was a coward at heart, a man with an inferiority complex who was cursed with a weak stand and yet he craved to rule over others, to make them grovel at his feet and do his bidding. But he couldn’t do that to her oh no he knew it from the look in her eyes if he dared to use his stand and threaten her she would end his life before his stand could take effect.

“I have called you here to ask about updates about the job. How close are you to completing it? Someone with your reputation should have ended his life on the first night and yet it’s been nearly a week. Was I deceived? Are you not capable of doing this job after all?” His pink colored eyes glared at her direction but not at her. Yes Dan was angry but he was no idiot, any wrong move and it would be him without a head rather than that dreaded Dio.

“How hard can it be to kill one man? Maybe I should just do it myself.” An obvious bluff, Dan has no hope agaisnt Dio, his stand couldn’t harm him and even if it could he witnessed Dio’s incredible speed a single time when one of his underlings betrayed him. He never saw Dio move and yet the traitor’s head was gone, as it a cannonball had struck it, all instantly, he had no hope agaisnt such speedy. That is why he had hired Miss Williams, she was supossed to strike while his back was turned, slice his neck open, put a dagger in his spine, end that monster’s life before he could have a chance of ending his and yet she has still not completed the job.

[icecoldwilliams]

Two miles, five miles, twenty, thirty. The sights and lights of Cairo's nightlife, nearby pyramids and desert, all reduced to a mere blur as her mind and ride raced alike.

This was impulsive, pathetically so, this whole week was impulsive in every sense of the word. Calm, controlled rationale always a favorite in her arsenal and yet tonight under the moonlight, under her Lions ironic sunlight...the weapons ammunition was emptied and forsaken among the Egyptian dunes.

In a weeks span the vampire had reduced her merciless reputation to the fact that she tread too close ; Nina Williams had...cuddled with a target, she had formed a bond with him. In his moment of weakness when she should have furthered his wounds, the killer tended to them. Even gifted him affectionate pet names... Her soppy, nuisance of a Lion.

Worse yet, in the midst of their song her target nearly pulled a confession to it all from her venomous tongue, and instead triggered an escapists tripwire. — Leading her here, parked on the side of the road. Despondent. Searching the horizon for traces of the sun recently set, a cause behind why in this moment she felt.. drowned... both in silence, in vain... all for the only light to emit from her phone.

One message sent, asking a certain hare to check in on her mo chuisle ; to not mention who was behind such a request. Another, a destination. Another meeting with a client. ...Only half an hour away from Dio Brando, and her macabre life was already back on track. Nearly... normal.

— Black cocktail dress and stockings. Crystal chandeliers, dim lit sconces and vinyl lined booths. Within an hour heels were swerving waiters across a restaurants marble floors with ease and grace. One target traded for another in her sights, sidled upon by none other than his own hired gun as fatal hands graced his shoulders... slowly, effortlessly chilling his puny little spine.

❝It's funny... if memory serves, I believe the terms of our agreement state you are not to contact me until the job is done...❞

Negotiation. Sadistic intimidation.

This... was normal.

Exactly what her afflicted, refreezing and wicked heart needs.

She then took her seat across him. Him. The one who initiated what might be the worst stake in her entire career.

❝Make this worth my while, Dan.❞

The blonde did as she asked, unaware of the extent of the turmoil within her and all too enamored with the new nickname she threw at him. Once he finished counting he made his way to the pool only to discover she wasn’t there. After quickly searching around he found a napkin with familiar kiss on it, a color he had memorized by now. Was this a way of saying goodbye? Had she just gone up and left? He just stood there staring at the napkin in his hand as his mind worked to process the situation.

Dio then closed his eyes and tried to gather his thoughts and calm his emotions but he just couldn’t. When he opened them again he was on the edge of the pool, the lights on illuminating the whole room and yet his mind was a mess. He needed to calm himself and so he put the napkin down and after undressing he jumped into the pool. Under the cold water he closed his eyes and used his stand to turn off the lights. He was within the abyss, a place that terrified him and yet he knew this was the only way to calm himself and not do something foolish based on his inability to control this new emotions his beloved had caused to bloom within his heart.

She wouldn’t run away, there has to be a reason. There game still wasn’t over, she wouldn’t just quit, he knew her too well by now. Whatever the reason being in the dark like this allowed him to call himself, to look deeply into his heart and see that he trusts her. She will be back, and when she returns he will welcome her with open arms.

Outside of the hotel a phone vibrates with a message. “We need to talk, come to this address alone.” A certain client was getting too impatient and needed to talk to his hired gun and make sure things were going smoothly.

[icecoldwilliams]

Ever doting and solar... fatal light of the sun gracing the tops of ice shelves with his smile alone, yet missing the frigid ocean depths below ; of sleek dark lenses reflecting every ray, in defense of far more penetrative eyes. Pensive and steely.

Ever cold and conniving...

— How many deals have they made in their week together? How many little games had they played? Toe to toe, hand in hand, a la one of her countless contracts, he still sans rhyme or reason readily put pen to a dotted line... Spiting the risks, the total loss, embedded in ink.

When it bled to an image of a mere playful outcome, he signed.

When it seeped through the paper into a precise, layered web detailing his own demise. He signed ; He looked his would be widow in her eyes.

Even aware that in his own words, "sometimes plans need to change." her Lion, her dear, irritating bright point of her week... He signed. Incisors and all.

❝...Deal.❞ The single word left her lips as his light stayed behind her. The lit up floor numbers ahead could never hope to compare, they could only offer solace, shelter as the doors opened and allowed her inside. Heels turned upon the granite lift floor, arms folded under her chest with the wall meeting her back. And sunglasses again hiding how an azure gaze didn't meet his own. Too lost in her neuronic maze.

❝....Count to a hundred, mo go deo❞ All else that was said before she vanished behind closed doors.

— When they opened again, she would be 6 floors below, and another 3 via the stairs. A mercenary on a mission. On the move, suitcases still in tow, and sights set as far away from the pristine, chlorine, emotional trap her Lion set as possible ; All but out one pair of metallic doors, and then another within record time.

Trace evidence only found in hints of rose Amouage haunting the halls, and a napkin... abandoned on one of once two motorcycles, yet blessed with a lips shaped stain in familiar coquette pink rouge.

Fun may have not been the most appropriate word at the moment, though it was true that whenever he was with her he was having fun. The way she responds to him, the look on her eyes when he breaks through the ice. In truth these days with her have brought him more excitement and enjoyment than the previous century had, she was special to him and he was sure she knew it very well. “Some plans need to be changed…” he said softly as he watched her take those steps and then move on ahead of him. He soon followed her.

He wanted to comment on how good she looked with her sunglasses but he couldn’t find the right moment. He just stood there slightly behind her as the elevator got closer to there floor and then her words met his ears like the grace of a goddess and he couldn’t help but smile. “Sure. Shall we make it a bet? If I get there first I pick your swimsuit and if you get there first then…well you can pick your own price for winning~”

The vampire was already planning his route, he would not sue any of his vampire powers and only use his knowledge of this hotel to get there. “We can start whenever your ready my dear, thou this lion has no intentions of losing this time~”

[icecoldwilliams]

Fun? Her vampire was having... 'fun', while something foreign inside her chest ached. Glacial and mythical. If - and emphasis on if - it dared beat amid their symphony then it was promptly strangled by it's own frigid chains. Punished via circumstance for daring to step out of line.

His grasp cuff-esque, reminiscent of steel, words ricochetting off that desired artifice and jail bars alike. – Even without a ripple found on the surface of those stunning, cyanic blues, every sight taken in as they robotically scanned the hall aided a chain reaction ; Every ornate detail donning his grand hotels pillars, it's crown molding and façades all more and more akin to a dolled up cage with each seldom sand of time slipped through their grasp.

And he a warden, all too simple to deceive.

❝...You're not one for following plans, are you?❞ Each word seeped six feet in a sigh, while heels didn't hesitate to make their way six steps ahead of the undead. Already making her way to the elevator, bags and silence in tow. — Each lit up floor level reflected on her sunglasses, somehow tinted in a wicked hue.

Nina seemed to hesitate... leaving her Lion out in the cold for but a minute more, before finally glancing his way. ❝The pool... Up for getting there the same way?❞

Read in between the lines, then dare to look a little deeper: 'Up for another chase?'

If she had asked him that question he would have answered without hesitation. Yea he knows that light is love, she may not believe or refuse to but he knew it was true. It’s why even now he has no doubts of how she feels, how no matter how much she tries to turn him away or to make him come to his senses, he is already well within his senses, he just knows what he needs to be happy and that’s her.

They sung together, emotions harmonized if only for a few moments, hearts as one, perhaps that’s why as the song ended she remained silent and unmoving only to get up and gathered her things, maybe she felt she had given too much away, maybe her heart beat a little bit too fast for her comfort, ether way Dio could feel it in her voice, for as much as they have connected she was still guarded, still keeping those thick walls of ice up as high as she could even of the cracks only got deeper and more numerous.

The vampire got up and put a gentle hand around her waist. “Yes let’s, before someone comes and spoils our fun.” But where to go? He had shown her everything this hotel had to offer, what else could he…of course, they never did enjoy that room. “How about we go to the elevator and head down. I…I wish to give that pool another try.” He held her hand tightly as he spoke next. “That pool has lights to illuminate the bottom, they had been off when we last went and that incident happened but this time they will be on and I believe that should be enough to calm my trauma. That and…I really want to swim with you~”

[icecoldwilliams]

For a man whose trauma taunted him with the horrors of the darkest oceanic depths, how quickly he willingly basks in the water with a siren...

Dio practically called to her, over and over asked her to sing her macabre song. Kept her by his side, played the keys, and even sung the tune to his own doom without a care in the world. – All while his supposed killer sat there, showered in the sheer affection and idealism embedded in his verse, and the stupor it all reaped.

Really... He dared sing of a smile that rarely reached her eyes. Distance only lived twice... not to mention presence only experienced for less than a week.

....Why?

Even now, could the vampire even answer one simple question: was the light beneath her glasses a genuine sign of life? ...Or the glint off a knife targeting his back?

— And yet... what's a siren without her nature?

The notes off her tongue were hesitant, defiant, but steady. Ever sultry. Effortlessly meshing with that deep baritone of his and it's high and mighty lilt as it worked to penetrate her heart. Lyrics of a bond and vulnerability... finding none in the frozen artifice ; ricochetting off an organ emotionally and purposefully shut down before it could step out of line.

For the sirens own sake. For her would be prey. — Her voice wouldn't match the visceral emotion in his own, just the image painted with his final line.

Case in point, with a minute of silence, her body followed suit. Standing up, grabbing her bags, and merely brushing her bangs out of that stone cold face.

❝We should go. If we wait any longer a rabbit might get in our way..❞

He could feel it, the turmoil of emotions within her, doubts and…could this be guilt? Oh how he wanted to rid her of such negative emotions, how he wanted to fill her with nothing but joy and happiness and yet the lion gave it some thought and realized something, he has only a few precious hours left, if he was to spend them with her then it be best to make memories that would last a lifetime in case his time on this earth was truly running out. “The sun may have set but…the night is always sweeter than the day for a being such as I~” he said with a teasing smile as his hands moved to the keys of the piano.

He took a moment to visualize in his mind what he wanted to convey and his hands began to move, touching the keys and playing the harmony of the song he wanted to sing with her. His hand movements were a lot more fluid than before, as if he was no longer trying to impress her but instead just trying to convey his feelings. The blonde then opened his mouth and began to sing the lyrics, softly but with emotion behind them, a soothing passion as he sung about loving her smile and how he feels when she’s not with him.

Dio hopes this might ease some of the turmoil within by reassuring her that life without her has no meaning for him anymore. She has shown him just how happy and meaningful each moment of eternity can be for he had lived longer than any human could ever hope and yet it wasn’t until she walked into his life that he truly felt like he was alive. After the first chores is when she should join him, would she? Or would she simply listen? Ether way was fine by him for just being with her was enough.

[icecoldwilliams]

Near literal golden mane, supernatural fangs, and eyes that threatened to pierce her very soul in search for their crimson kin... Her Lion was a peculiar one indeed. – Fierce, better yet, feared. Powerful... yet his sense of survival was a tad skewed. Soured by sop and rose tainted vision.

Here, right now, did he even notice the way his love eyed the remnants of his tears? How she smiled at the flattery, but then for but a moment shaded azure seas froze into something far more colder... sheer apathy watching it trickle down her finger as the star of his devilish musings again came into view. – And even still, Dio... only held her. Embraced her. Kissed her so tenderly as if she might break. No thought nor care spared for common sense, or how one can't possibly expect a multi timed proven viper to forgo what she knows best. No matter the surprise and confusion peeking out from the cold.

Slender arms snaked around his shoulders, silently, hesitantly returning her preys abrupt affection. The beautiful killer even found comfort in the crook of his neck.. This split second repose , sanctuary from the all encompassing reminder inhabiting that wicked brain of what would come on morrow, what she would have to do.

Anyone else... if her Lion was only anyone else, this would be so simple.. all but too easy. Nina could already picture the knife in her hand, one meticulously planned stab to a mortal.. this would all be over.

One plunge of steel to the vampire however... It wouldn't kill him, but it risked his soppy heart, the breath and utter betrayal from his lungs. More tears, perhaps even ire.... Like the song he chose, right now in spite of it all, that was the last thing she wanted to steal.

It was a melody she knew well. One the charming eejit probably even thought himself sly in choosing. As if the lyrics weren't an admission to everything he ever wanted to hear from her lips...

It would be quite the show. And he could deal with figuring out her motives behind entertaining it all his own.

For now, she merely pulled away and brushed a few stray strands of blonde behind her ear. Adjusting her glasses as she glanced towards the darkness growing outside the halls grand windows.

❝Our daylights spent, love... I'm not one to judge how you spend your night.❞ Just whether or not it would truly be his last.

He was stuck in his mind, resonating with the melody and then he was brought back to reality by the music stopping and the words of his beloved. Dramatic? What could she mean? He was only joining her as she played, but then as he felt her fingers brush away the single tear he realized. “Oh…I’m sorry that came out on its own. I’m alright it’s just that…your singing voice is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.” He said softly while looking into her eyes.

Dio knew she wouldn’t elaborate on things if he asked, her pain and sorrows are a burden she wishes to carry alone but maybe if he makes it clear he is with her then just maybe she can let him carry some of that weight. “How about we play something together from the start, we play together and sing together. I even have a song in mind.”

The vampire flips through some sheet music and finds the desired piece a song titled “Broken”. He then placed an arm around her and held her for a moment. It felt different than before it was like Dio needed to do this, like he his body would not allow him to continue unless he held her in his arms for a moment. He then gave her lips the most gentle of kisses “I love you. I want to fully enjoy this time together with you.” He then gave her a tender hug.

He couldn’t keep trying to save her from her pain, instead he has to be with her, accompany her through it all and make sure she knows that she’s no longer alone.