#⁺˚*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]

In this lack there of life, she was the dead of night, within it all the same. Gold flakes amid an orchid mist transferring into blonde strands and ivory as the vampiress perched atop her abode ; Fading purple smoke giving way for folded arms and a lit up phone in hand. All seeing eyes a la the all seeing moon above with every bit of their intruders little tantrum thrown down below.

Apathy took in the swift final breaths of every lamb to the slaughter, dissected and suffocated any speck of emotion the massacre ensued. Her rabbits premature panic, even the failed attempt of her little aviary friend, until only contempt dare remain.

...Amateurs.

— He fools her attendant, he stupefies her falcon. He had the charm, the strength, even the wherewithal to cry at her grave and show mercy to the bird.

He was a through and true profile of a master manipulator, a la his disguise ; The role he for whatever reason decided to don... And the kryptonite to his modus operandi? Simple. Too easy... Almost... overplayed.

❝An encore... What a bore.❞ Standing there, hand upon her hip, back to the exit and heels toeing the precipice. All alone with France's skyline... and the spectral flames of a ghost still trying in vain to lick at her spine. — She needn't even snare him in her sight to know he was there.

The undead, identical example of what would happen soon enough to the man wreaking havoc in the floors below.

❝But for you, mo chroi... I can make an exception.❞

Mill had his orders and he followed them through as she left the room in a way only she could. He ran a check and made sure no one was tampering with there systems, the image they saw was real. Then he quickly sent orders to the acolytes to prepare themselves for battle in the lobby.

The intruder was soon surrounded by acolytes armed to the teeth. “The welcoming comets i presume?” He gave them a toothy grin as they unloaded machine gun fire upon him. So many shots fired that dust and debris clouded there vision and they had to stop but then as the smoke cleared. “Well you had your chance and it looks like you failed.” Not a single shot landed on the vampire. “Now…it’s my turn~” his eyes blowed red as he lunged forward and in that instant four men where met with knife’s that stabbed there heads.

The acolytes panicked, trying to shoot him but the bullets kept landing on the heads of those that shot them. Dio was using his stand The World and stretching his muscles making sure that after all this time he hasn’t gotten rusty.

After a few more seconds the slaughter was over. All but one of the acolytes laid dead on the floor, all clean quick kills. “Now…you are going to tell me all I want to know. Where is this empress?” He demanded a she held the lone survivor by his throat but before he could say anything the man was impaled by a large ice spear that also went through Dio’s chest. “Oh? This feels familiar…” the blonde broke the spear with his hand and tossed the lifeless corpse away to look at his attacker.

“petshop…so in this world your my enemy. Very well…but I’m sure you remember this is very similar to our first meeting and how did I win that? Oh yes….like this….” Milo was watching the whole thing unfold, trembling at the power this imposter possessed but most of all he saw in horror as Petshop, fearless bird, devoted pet of his empress, looked in horror and bowed its head as the intruder approached. Milo couldn’t see it but Petshop could, The World and just how powerful it was, in that moment the animal knew this was no impostor but the real deal for only one man had that stand and it was Dio Brando.

“I don’t want you getting involved with this. Just watch from afar” he ordered and the bird was compelled to obey, flying away as Dio kept walking deeper into the building. But as he did he suddenly turned to look right into a security camera, as if glaring right into the soul of the man looking at him right now. There was no audio in the lobby, the microphones having been destroyed in the crossfire but Milo saw the introduce mouth something, he could read those lips and they said “I��ll find you” in a panic Milo engaged a full lockdown of the building, giant doors closing in on each floor trapping Dio in, or at least they were supposed to.

“Hmm it will take too long to break this open…there has to be another…oh…yes…that should work!” Hearing the whispers of his new stand Dio called out its dark spherical form and absorbed all the corpses that laid on the floor into the void and then. “Let’s see….just how strong this is!” Hearing pointed Black Hole Sun at the door and out of the void a beam of energy was shot at the bulkhead door leaving it red and molten. “Hmm need more energy to fully break through. Still…” he now rapidly punched a hole into the molten steel walked right through. “It worked just fine. Oh there are the stairs. Perhaps she’s at the top of this building…a good place to start my search~” and so he ran up the stairs as fast as he could, breaking through any door with the power of his stand The World and using any guards he killed on the way to power his other stand.

While this was going on Milo contacted his empress and gave her a full rundown of everything that had happened.

[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]

🌿🍒

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[icecoldwilliams]

The eye of the beholder is a mercurial little thing. A particular problem residing in the perspective of her so called King. - Blood tinted, crimson and all but piercing through the tundra. In her melody his eyes saw isolation, pain and hidden suffering ; a damsel to be rescued's cry of agony.

Yet Nina Williams was no damsel... If anything she was a fatal dame. Trading her victims feeble pleas for momentary semblance of peace ; For a short sung epic to instead grace the banquet hall and haunt the ears. – Because in her own eyes if anything there was the slightest pinch of joy and mischief to be found in the haunt. In dissecting her companies sense of ease like a cadaver. - As a matter of fact, right now in her eyes there was nothing to see at all. Just the backs of her own eyelids, and an imagined frigid structure blocking out the whole world as she played on.

Keystrokes and notes ricocheting off intricate icy walls, with only faceless phantoms of memory and their long past diluted teachings tarnishing her otherwise tranquil abode.

It was.... solitary. Serene.

Delusion however fragmenting to bits with her vampires silken voice creeping inside to join them. Harmony even broken by a misplayed note on the killers part as azures distracted, not only again captured him, but a sole foreign streak down his face. Mucking up the Adonis' profile like a streak of the wrong shade of paint ; mucking up her own by casting a hook to her brow. ❝ A little over dramatic.. don't you think? ❞

Words, no longer lyrics, asked softly as a likewise touch brushed away her vampires own pain. His sorrow and unwelcome pity, all gathered in a tear wiped out with a single stroke of her thumb.

There was no place for it here. Not now. - It's as the story goes. Pandora so infamous for the evils she released from her complex prison, the path of destruction she walked and the crimes she inflicted upon humanity... Pandora whose wiles and earned ire completely shrouded what little light she still kept within.

Hope. Comfort.

The side to her that Dio would never be able to understand, that would slip the grasp of men all together if he only focused on breaking it free, and couldn't realize the rare opportunity of being welcomed inside right alongside it instead.

❝ ...Are you alright? ❞

He knew that she knew, he wanted her to know just how much he wanted this. Even her attempts to play coy didn’t work, she wouldn’t get out of this. With a large grin he spoke “I’ll fill it to the brim then~” his hands moved to his side to allow her full use of the piano and he simply waited for her to begin.

Time passed but Dio didn’t make a sound, she would play when she was ready and not a second sooner, he wouldn’t dream of making her hurry. His patience was soon rewarded as her hands met the keys and began to play a melody. An almost haunting tone that was as beautiful as it was threatening but nothing prepared him for what would happen once he heard it…her voice, soft and like a whisper and yet he could hear every single word as clear as day and that’s when it happened, almost like a trance his eyes widened and the world disappeared before him and all that remained was the music and her voice.

In the middle of an impossibly huge glacier was a woman frozen in ice. But there was a man desperately trying to break her free, clawing at the ice, melting it with his fiery determination until he finally set her free and then her shape changed to that of a winged devil, attacking the man and ripping out his heart, devouring it whole while the man saw the life of what used to be a woman, twisted and changed by her life, leaving death and harm wherever she went, keeping all away for there own safety, at least for those she cared enough to keep safe. He didn’t listen to the warnings, continued regardless and now he payed the price. Was this to be his fate? The love he felt so strongly would be his doom on the end. Was there no other alternative? Dio stared at the vision and then the man embraced the devil, held her even thou she had eaten his heart, even thou he should be dead he still held her, his warmth returning her shape to that of the woman in the ice, they continued to embrace together as Dio saw them change again to them, him and his beloved queen. Yes there’s hope, he will save her from this ice, pull her out of the cold and open up Pandora’s box and fill the world with ruin if it will give her the happiness she was robbed of.

A single tear ran down his face, he felt it, her pain, what she hid from him, tried to hide from everyone, it was there in the music and unable to stop himself his hands went for the keys and he began to play with her, complimenting her notes but somehow with a warmness to them but not only that he added his voice too, soft and like a whisper he sang with her trying to reach her within the ice.

[icecoldwilliams]

Truly a dog with a bone.... more like a Lion with a carcass. Again sinking his fangs into a glaciers fissure and not letting go.

The vampire and his charisma could try and coat those needle teeth with a numbing agent all he'd like. She could still feel them piercing beneath her skin, searching for her veins. And yet... when compared to the many who sought her secrets to their graves, his search was seemingly... genuine. Purposeful, beyond confinement or her own demise, and to the extent of even a noticeable, excited twinkle in his eyes... It was sweet.. almost cavity inducing.

Of course, it still didn't erase the skepticism from her own. A look shot like a bullet, inscribed with the sole blatant message of "I know what you're doing." And given a moment, fingers dancing across three little notes acted like salt to the wound. ; C , D , E , then retracting. – Toying with him. Based on the tilt of her head and feigned coyness across her face as she looked at him, that was more than clear.

An act however, that met it's demise within another couple minutes. A mere sigh the culprit. ❝ Fine. ...But my tip jar only takes hundreds. ❞

Two minutes spent hesitating, then three. Knuckles idly cracked, azures raking across ivory, before soon enough digits followed. – In daring to trade her ally in silence, notes flowed quarter to whole... in a melody titled "Pandora".

Unlike his own, gracious adoration couldn't be found throughout the bar. Emotion lay only in flavors of a haunting melancholy. Like a killer singing her victims soliloquy... of the danger behind beauty.

And yes, singing... hauntingly soft voice yet kept below a whisper, barely escaping her lips on instinct as if she were refamiliarizing herself with the song, or perhaps the act itself.

Unintentionally audible, yet gracing his ears nonetheless. And soon as the song flowed, growing louder with his Queens comfort. ; growing as the cold familiar walls closed in on the assassin's own little macabre world.

For once too focused to recognize the intruder beside her, also enclosed at her side.

If this had been just a few days ago he might not have noticed, not seen how she hid her emotions, or how she desperately tried to close herself off but not today, the vampire saw it all but he didn’t comment on it or make a move to break open her walls, he knew better than that. Thou he couldn’t stop his heart from racing as she took her seat right next to him, there thighs touching as she grabbed his hands and helped him take proper form. “I see, thank you, it has been a bit over a century since I last had lessons after all.” His tone was kind and thankful, his fingers moved with her help, playing the same melody but this time it sounded better, the correct pitch, proper rhythm, they were now making music together.

“Your very skilled, you know the keys by memory and your fingers flow like water, could you perhaps bless me with showing me how to properly play this magnificent instrument?~” he spoke lovingly but with devious intent, he would not let her escape, not fully, he wanted to hear her voice, but if he couldn’t have that he wanted to experience her music and perhaps see her in a completely new light.

“Of course if you would rather play something else I can help with that too, I’m proficient with a guitar.” His smile never left his lips nor did he make any effort to move his hands away from hers in fact quite the opposite, almost getting there fingers intertwined as she guided them.

[icecoldwilliams]

Rose colored glasses resolute and unwavering even faced with threats.

Foreign warmth practically stung like a blaze, unfamiliar and dangerous to an ice sculpture a little too hesitant in retreating it's hand so as not to get burned. Lying in his touch, gaze and his wishes were the flames licking at her frosted over bones... just barely igniting smoke from what hid beyond the skeletal cage.

And was it's captor now looking anywhere but the vampires eyes simply to scan the room? Or further dodge his doting assault?

She left him out in the cold. Even that familiar tempest casting him aside as she again oh so effortlessly tortured her love with silence.... Her gun, her vest. Sparse steps to the side to finally shatter it her bullet, her knife, as she took a seat beside him. And one sole sigh her prides white flag.

It's trojan just to bolster itself and that beautiful wicked brain further in the long run.

❝...Your pitch was unsteady, and your pinkies were extended as if you were drinking tea.❞ Like an addict, frigid hands hovered over the same pair that nearly dealt their demise. Gently curving his fingers via example. ❝The key.. is to relax.❞

Tensity, pressure and arm stance all fixed as the killers touch and subsequently, it's chill, lingered across his skin. – With knowledge evident, and touch briefly breaching the keys in it's venture, she carefully maneuvered the veins in his wrist and his request alike.

The vampire knew it, because of the time they have spent together, the deep unbreakable bond they share, he could feel how her heart moved in a way that was unfamiliar, it became even more clear when she put his hands on his shoulders, he never intended for his song to make her feel this way but he knew her enough to not mention it, he simply placed one hand over hers as she placed it on his shoulder and he looked at her eyes, at that glacier that once again tried to freeze him solid, a coldness that he would challenge and never fully succumb to for he had already given himself to the small flame at the center of the cold.

“I didn’t lie…I simply undervalued my abilities. I’ve never done that in front of anyone before, your the first to hear me sing.” He then chuckled at her other comment, “perhaps…my love do you want to give it a try? Sing any song you like and I’ll play you a tune, like those songstresses of old who sang so close to the pianist, some even laying on the instrument itself, I have a feeling you would be a natural.” He was trying to get her to enjoy and perhaps indulge herself a little, he knew she had an ear for music, the way his song made her feel was proof of that as well as how skillful she is at dance.

Then came something he didn’t say lightly, something he has only ever said to her and no one else. “Please?” The warmth from his body seemed to transfer to hers from his hand, the way his eyes looked into hers without looking away and the soft tender tone he used to say the word, this wasn’t a command or begging this was a heartfelt request from a man who truly and deeply loved her. He hoped that his feelings would overcome the blizzard and reach that candle deep in her heart.

[icecoldwilliams]

Pity. Pity for others she rarely held. Pity in the sense of compassion, sympathy.. in this case even disappointment she held none. No, her tongue uttered the rarer breed of the word. Not attached to genuine sorrow or disappointment, but dripping apathy and nonchalance. – After all, contrary to belief, she had no hope or expectation to hear more of the vampires voice.

As incredulous as it was in but a weeks time, and pride dismayed as it may be, his killer.. knew him. As if their little rooftop tango never came to an end, continuing with every conversation, every touch. In sync to the bone. To the soul. – She knew when he would sweep, and she would follow suit. When he would to and fro, dip and close.

...When he would attempt to sweep her off her feet with a tsunami of sentiment. Only for them both to lose their tempo when she'd misstep in the one move she couldn't reflect.

And just as predicted, when all was said and done Dio would find his ice sculpture, standing there. Off guard and arms crossed. Shifting her stance from one foot to the other as the cold and mechanical again whirred in an attempt to process a response.... But he wouldn't find her eyes. Azures refusing to meet scarlets, at best only shifting towards his fingers adorning the instruments keys when she finally glanced his way.

❝...Wow..❞ It was the least she could offer when even the block of ice in her chest could recognize the misfired effort on his part. Her tone low. ❝I must say... you tell me you aren't familiar with modern music.. you tell me you can't sing...❞ Brief slip aside, back to the to and fro. To the graceful steps taken to his side and hands placed atop his shoulders.

To what she knew. Emotional waves chilling against glacial walls, and a new foreign speck of pity, embedded in a veiled warning.

❝Didn't anyone ever tell you that lying so blatantly can get yourself killed...?❞

With any luck Dio would pick up on the hint and the compliment. ; The reminder of the dangers twilight brings. – The twilight he sung so passionately of was a woman in shades of blonde and purples, golds only found in jewelry and handles of the daggers she was hired to stab through his heart.

Her Lion sung of how not even his fatal enemy in the sky would stop him... to the woman who was supposed to lead him to his demise.

So many different emotions passed through him as she touched the piano, something about her body language and then the way she said her words, she would have liked him to sing. The vampire in truth had a bit of a hobby for singing, he would do it often when bathing or when alone but he had never done it for anyone to hear, he feared his voice would not be worthy of her ears and yet he felt that now he had to try. He walked to the piano and took his seat, slowly getting. The grand instrument ready.

“Twilight, it’s a song I heard a while back. Please take a seat anywhere you like and enjoy.” His voice was calm but with a small hint of nervousness, an emotion only she could bring out from him. He took a deep breath and then began to play the soft melody , his fingers dancing over the keys with great skill capturing her attention just enough for her to not expect what would come next, his voice.

Deep and melodic, perhaps from his love of theater and opera, he sang the emotional lyrics with care, pouring his emotions into every word hoping to express to her what she had done to him, how now he wants so much more out of life, how easy it was to close himself, to reject what could be but she came along and shattered the dealing he had placed on himself, on his life, now not even the sun will stop him, now he will love for what makes him happy for he has seen it in her eyes, he has seen the darkness and the light, the twilight of love.

As the song came to a close he played off the melody for a few more seconds and then took a deep breath, not knowing what face she was making, he had been too focused to even open his eyes during the performance, fearing he would miss a note or that his pitch would waver. What would she think? How would she react? He turned his head to see her and find out.