#aila the banu haqim | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

robotslenderman · 4 years ago

Note

Ok, so I've played VTMNR a few times now, and I've noticed something which I think is interesting. Near the end of the book, if you've romanced Lettow and choose to fight the SI with him, you'll have the opportunity to kiss him in the hallway. If you decide to kiss him again, or just return to the room with him, there will be one retainer left. Depending on your relationship with Lettow, he'll act differently here. If your Lettow/Camarilla relationship is moderate (3 dots), he'll become cool and composed in front of the retainer. Additionally, he'll touch your wrist in a lingering way, which you realize he's doing in order to check your watch. If your Camarilla relationship is high (5 dots), the part about about him being "cool and collected, even in the presence of a single retainer he is the Eagle Prince" is not mentioned, and Lettow will touch your face instead. In my opinion, the nature of the relationship is more unclear in the 3dot interaction. Personally, I find that it feels more manipulative (though I'm probably not clever enough to explain why). With 5 dots, I follow him to Egypt everytime, but with 3 dots I still follow him. I'm just much more wary about how "happy" their relationship will be. Will he sacrifice my character to the Sabbat if needed? Who knows! Although, really, who's to say you're not being played by him the entire story, even with a full relationship meter.

Another variation I've noticed is during the confrontation with Donati when Lettow flutters up the steps, he will A) see you and force himself to stand, B) stand (because he's an elder), or C) rise to his hands and knees, but is too weak to get up more. I'm not sure what the trigger is for whichever action he takes (or if there are more variants of this), but my more moderate relationship characters got either scenario A or B, while my high relationship character got scenario C. When I played through it, I personally liked scenario C the best because to me, it feels like he trusts the main character enough that he's willing to afford a moment of weakness around them. Afterall, he's still able to attack Donati no matter if you get A, B, or C, so he's clearly not that close to the brink of death.

While I love Lettow and his romance, I'm pretty confused by it all. First of all, I don't really understand his character or ambitions too well. Despite how friendly and trusting he seems in the the first chapter (showing you Jasper's death? Why?), he's suspicious of the courier from the start (if you spy on Carlos in the parking garage, he'll reveal that Lettow thinks you might be an SI agent). And I don't think that suspicion ever goes away, it just evolves. He dismisses the idea that you're SI, but then he thinks you're allied with *potential diablerist* Julian (even if you aren't) then quickly seems to realize it's you (maybe by sensing her in your blood?). He continues to suspect you, until he seems to REALIZE realize that you diablerized Aila. Before the final confrontation between you, Julian, and Lettow, there's a moment where Lettow is reading his book and asks you in a tired, soft voice "I need to know why you--". He never gets to finish that thought, but I'm pretty sure he's asking why you killed her. However, after the warehouse meeting, Lettow decides to spare both you and Julian?? Because he's tired and lonely?? I dont get it, what's his agenda? Why spare them? From what I know, the traditions say that killing/diablerizing a fellow vampire is punishable by death, so isn't Lettow actively going against the Camarilla? I can kinda understand if he doesn't want to kill the player character, since he thinks Aila is in our veins, and he's potentially formed some sort of attachment to us (though I think at this point, Julian's formula has completely eradicated any traces of Aila from our blood, so surely Lettow can detect that?). However, I can't really understand why he spares Julian. Maybe he does it because the author wants to highlight that Lettow is a rare breed of kindred, one that's truly benevolent with a high humanity, but that's the only reason I can think of. Really, I'm just not sure what type of person Lettow is, or what his game is. Julian is clearly depicted as being pretty manipulative and as having these huge ambitions that he needs the courier to help him achieve, but I don't think that's true for Lettow. Asides from running packages, he doesn't really benefit from them (asides from the whole "maybe Aila's reincarnated" thing). So maybe he's manipulating the player at this super high level, but you know, maybe he's just actually a great, merciful person (except he did actually kill a ventrue in his court for having conspired to diablerize Invidia Caul. So what's up with that?)

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this monster of an ask, and please let me know what you think!

THANK YOU ANON FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL ASK.

TL;DR at the bottom!

If your Lettow/Camarilla relationship is moderate (3 dots), he'll become cool and composed in front of the retainer. Additionally, he'll touch your wrist in a lingering way, which you realize he's doing in order to check your watch. If your Camarilla relationship is high (5 dots), the part about about him being "cool and collected, even in the presence of a single retainer he is the Eagle Prince" is not mentioned, and Lettow will touch your face instead. In my opinion, the nature of the relationship is more unclear in the 3dot interaction.

Honestly, personally? I just write this off as him not trusting you nearly as well. "Lingering" suggests he *wants* to touch you, but the biggest giveaway is that he doesn't seem to have the need to check your watch at all in the five dot one (if I’m understanding you correctly). That tells me that with five dots, he just openly wants to touch you and isn't afraid to show it (aww), but with three dots he's a little more reluctant and is just *pretending* to check your watch.

He's got walls up in three dots he doesn't in five.

That's my exact same impression too -- there's trust with five dots that doesn't exist with three.

Despite how friendly and trusting he seems in the the first chapter (showing you Jasper's death? Why?), he's suspicious of the courier from the start (if you spy on Carlos in the parking garage, he'll reveal that Lettow thinks you might be an SI agent).

Okay I actually do have thoughts on this.This gets a little bit beside the point of your ask, so bear with me.

Regarding Jasper -- all I can say is, "Why NOT show you Jasper's death"? He doesn't have any reason NOT to show you. It doesn't make him vulnerable for you to know that Jasper is dead, or how he died. It doesn’t give the Courier any kind of edge against him. So Lettow has nothing to lose and everything to gain (your trust) by making you think you’re important enough that you get to watch the video.

Regarding Lettow thinking you're an SI agent -- I know this isn't the point of your ask but I do have thoughts on that, so please humour me for a moment before I go back to your point --

There's something very subtle in VTMNR that is never shown outright. It's very, very subtle but if you think about it, there's a really big reason why Lettow could think you're an SI agent despite being a vampire.

Think about it. Lettow himself points out that he's the only Prince that is as paranoid as he is about the SI, and yet Tucson is swarming with their agents. All the other Princes are emailing and texting and they're not dealing with the SI to nearly the degree Lettow has.

So what's the difference between Lettow and those Princes?

Lettow has an Autarkis in his Domain who's constantly blowing the Masquerade, that's why!

Who keeps calling you and speaking openly about being Kindred?

Julian.

Who keeps pinging the SI in his phone calls, forcing you to switch phones over and over?

Julian.

Who keeps loudly saying things like "WE CAN'T LET ANYONE KNOW WE'RE VAMPIRES" potentially in earshot of the SI, who you KNOW are watching you?

Julian.

Julian flaunts the Masquerade CONSTANTLY. And in doing so, he makes Lettow a target, because Lettow’s the guy in charge of the area!

So what has this got to do with Lettow thinking you're an agent of the SI? I have to admit, I can't quite connect the dots here, but I think it goes back to Julian once again. Julian's operating under his nose. Julian doesn't give a fuck about the Masquerade. Julian has links to you. I wouldn't be surprised if those factors, combined perhaps with stuff happening behind the scenes that the Courier never sees, is why Lettow at first believes you're an agent of the SI.

Basically -- Lettow sees Julian pulling shit, and at first thinks it’s because he’s part of the SI. Lettow sees you have connections to Julian (or perhaps the other way around) and thinks that because of that you have connections to the SI as well.

Later, Lettow does admit the idea is ridiculous, because he sarcastically tells Dove (paraphrased) “why yes, I’m sure that this vampire isn’t helping the vampire hunters.”

(I also believe that Julian is the one that actually SENT the video of Jasper's death to Lettow. I honestly can't think of any other explanation as to who it can be from. Obfuscate doesn't work with electronic devices, indicating the video has been doctored to hide Julian, and who would do that except Julian himself, especially since he tells us that he has video editing skills? Julian knew that Jasper was recording, but didn't wipe the video or take the camera to erase evidence of his crime. So who else but Julian sent that video?)

Anyway, moving on --

Before the final confrontation between you, Julian, and Lettow, there's a moment where Lettow is reading his book and asks you in a tired, soft voice "I need to know why you--". He never gets to finish that thought, but I'm pretty sure he's asking why you killed her. However, after the warehouse meeting, Lettow decides to spare both you and Julian?? Because he's tired and lonely?? I dont get it, what's his agenda? Why spare them?

My impression is that it was just that -- because he was tired and lonely.

At first he lets you live because his couriers are dropping like flies and he needs every one he can get. And as the story goes on, he gets tireder and tireder until he seems on the brink of succumbing to torpor himself. (Bitch is 200 years old and whining about how old he is even though he had an 800YO girlfriend!) At the end of the story, he's exhausted.

And he's also quite clearly severely depressed. And apathy is a strong symptom of depression.

So yeah. I think he spares both the courier and Julian simply because he's too tired and depressed to give a flying fuck any more. Aila's gone, killing the courier won't bring her back. What's the point in killing them? What's the point in killing Julian, when he demonstrates several times he thinks Julian is no threat? (He's wrong, but he clearly underestimates Julian -- he tells Julian that the Masquerade will survive Julian, and he tells Dove that Julian is "just an Anarch.")

I also think his feelings regarding Aila herself are complicated -- it must HURT to survive someone who died via what's essentially suicide. He knows Aila was suicidal. He must have complicated feelings regarding that -- feelings like he wasn't enough, feelings like maybe she didn't love him as much as he loved her.

So yeah. I think he was too tired and lonely and too devastated to care about enacting justice against either of them. I think he just wanted to put it behind him. Run away to the Middle East, let it go, put it behind him, never think about it again.

As for Lettow’s agenda itself?

I’m not going to say he can’t be manipulative. But I do believe he isn’t as manipulative as the other Princes, and that he sincerely does want to do better than they do.

The biggest evidence in support of this, if nothing else, is that Lettow is Gangrel. Gangrel, as a rule, don’t do political bullshit. They tend not to participate in the Jyhad. They tend to be loners, and they often don’t raise their own childer -- so they (often) lack a mentor/mentee relationship that other clans have, meaning that nobody was there to mentor them in ways to survive, let alone thrive, in political bullshit.

So that means Lettow would be drastically inexperienced in manipulation and bullshit outside of what he’d have seen as a mortal aristocrat, and would also probably be way less tolerant of political bullshit than other Kindred. He doesn’t have Dominate to help him. He doesn’t have Presence to help him. Just a magic bird, his own shapeshifting skills and what his friends can give him.

Remember that Lettow became Prince because there was literally nobody else available. He said so himself that he basically stepped into the job because there was nobody else -- he was the one that killed the old Prince (and in a rather extra way, no less) and there were no other Elders in the area.

Plus, by this stage, Aila was dead and he wanted to hunt down her murderers. Or, if I have my timelines incorrect, she was in torpor and therefore vulnerable and in need of protection.

What better way to do that than with the resources a Prince had at his disposal?

I don’t think it’s a complete coincidence that he stopped being a Prince on the same night that he finally confronted her killer.

TL;DR --

Lettow doesn't trust the Courier as much if their relationship with the Camarilla isn't great.

Lettow underestimates Julian, and doesn't think he's a threat at all, even though it's almost certainly Julian that drew the SI to Tucson like flies to honey.

By the end of the story, Lettow is deeply depressed, apathetic, and on the border of succumbing to torpor and ennui himself because of that, and so literally doesn't care enough any more about bringing Julian and the Courier to justice.

Unlike other Princes, Lettow is from a clan that typically is separate from all this political bullshit, has no social Disciplines, and had a motive to be Prince in that his lover was dead and he wanted to find her killer with any resources he could get to be at his disposal. So I truly believe that while he may feel the need to be manipulative from time to time, he truly did want just what was best for the Kindred around him.

#VTM #VTMNR #Lettow Kaminsky #meta #Aila the Banu Haqim #Anonymous

28 notes · View notes

robotslenderman · 4 years ago

Text

Sudden realisation that Aila was covered in dust when the Courier met her, indicating that Lettow hadn't visited her in a long, long time.

#OH NO I'M SAD NOW #VTM #VTMNR #Lettow Kaminsky #Aila the Banu Haqim

14 notes · View notes

galpalaven · 4 years ago

Text

:3c

@mybookswerealltome

Nox’s dad, Ravan, is an old elder who has no real allegiance to the Camarilla or the Sabbat, though he prefers the Camarilla just because it makes life easier to blend in with humans rather than fight against them

Ravan was a Primogen of clan Banu Haqim in Las Vegas for a while, and he raised Nox from pretty much infancy in Las Vegas

Rivkah (Ilya’s mom) was the first of the Fisher family to be turned by a random Gangrel in Los Angeles around the year 2000 or so

Ash came next because they were really ill and Rivkah reached out to the Kindred society trying to find someone to Embrace her dying kid because she didn’t trust herself to do it (Ash was 19 at the time)

Eventually, a Primogen of the Camarilla was in town to visit (Ravan has connections in the Anarchs and this was before Prince LaCroix took his seat in LA) and she managed to find a way to contact him and beg him to Embrace her kid - which he refused because he didn’t want to Embrace again so soon after he’d just Embraced Nox, and he also needed to be getting back to Vegas, but he did send a Banu Haqim he trusted in to help.

This was Julian Sim and Ash finds him. absolutely bananas jdflks

Penny was the next to be Embraced in Los Angeles - the legendary Fledgling of VTM:B, Embraced illegally by Smiling Jack in 2004 (who then framed a random Brujah for the whole thing). Ultimately sided with the Anarchs, but doesn’t particularly care for much of the politics in general. Didn’t stay in Los Angeles after the events of Bloodlines, though I don’t know where she went after?

Ilya was Embraced in 2004 as well, though he was Embraced in Las Vegas. He was 30 and he was Embraced on accident after the vampire who had been keeping him captive for like 9 months on a Blood Bond (a Tzimisce named Carter who basically just had a harem of men who he changed to be his ideals rather than creating monstrosities) lost control in the ~heat of the moment~ and had to Embrace him in order to not lose him

Though Las Vegas’ Prince doesn’t usually give too much of a shit about the general goings on of the Kindred in his domain so long as the Masquerade is being kept, Carter and his ‘friend’ (@rosewoodcasket’s OC, Kerria, who is a horrific Tzimisce who just makes Creatures for fun - she escaped well before the Camarilla showed up to punish him) were getting rowdy and blowing the Masquerade and Prince Benedic sent in Nox and Ravan to ‘take care of it’

Normally, the rules for finding an illegal fledgling in the midst of punishing for severe Masquerade violations would be to dispose of said fledgling immediately, especially one that was created by an ex-Sabbat, but Nox recognized him and begged her father to spare him. Ravan is powerful and old and had no problem convincing Benedic to let him take the fledgling in after some talking.

I’m writing fic about Ilya in the aftermath of the blood bond breaking and being rescued but HOOO BOY IT WAS A LOT

Ilya went with one of Ravan’s Tzimisce friends (another OC I’m working on) to learn how to control his new powers and to learn about his clan. the only thing that he finds good about this particular clan is he guesses its cool that Dracula was from his clan and the fact that he realizes rather quickly with the fleshcrafting stuff is that he can finally experience the “female” orgasm myself

Nox blows his mind in bed because she’s had sex with a lot of women (he was the first person with a penis she’s ever slept with if y’all remember) and he’s just like Wow Let’s Do This More Often holy shit i can’t walk

My Ravnos courier, Ruth, whomst I am still obsessed with, is friends with Ash, and in fact they spend part of the events of Night Road working together (that’s where Ash meets Vani and falls in love uwu)

Ruth goes with Lettow to the Middle East to answer the Beckoning after a long chat with him about “I am not Aila. We have many things in common, and I feel a strange love for her now that she is part of me, but I am still myself. I’m coming with you because I want to see the world - I want to see the land of my ancestors again - but if you cannot separate me and Aila, then that kiss we shared will probably be the last.”

my brain is only full of vampire: the masquerade au thoughts about my ocs and nothing else

#my ocs #HHHHH #VTM #VTM OCs

9 notes · View notes

robotslenderman · 4 years ago

Text

Talking to @ryttu3k and had a HORRIBLE REALISATION --

So Mithras got diablerised by Monty Coven, right? And the wiki specifically states that this diablerie cured his ennui because he was now in the body of a younger Cainite

and like

Aila had that ennui

and now she’s been diablerised

so that could mean her dormancy within the Courier isn’t due to ennui -- it could mean that she’s just biding her time

what if THIS is why she let the Courier diablerise her?

#O SHIT #VTM #VTMNR #VTMNR spoilers #Aila the Banu Haqim #also tagging under:#Elisa Mulgrew

24 notes · View notes

robotslenderman · 4 years ago

Text

I dunno if the wording has changed slightly or if it just took me this long to get, but now I'm replaying Elisa it really looks like Aila actually Dominated Lettow or something. I mean, it outright says he's acting like he's touched by mental arts and heavily implies the Courier wouldn't be capable of it.

Is Aila protecting the Courier, here?

Especially since it happens just after this:

Must have missed the reference to the Blood last time, but that definitely looks like usage of Auspex. And given that powerful enough Auspex allows you to read minds, and the Courier is remembering the Diablerie...

I mean it's already obvious that THIS was the part where Lettow figured it out, especially if you romance him. But up until now I didn't get the subtleties of this event.

I wonder. Maybe he spared the Courier because of whatever Aila did above? If Aila Dominated him into not destroying the Courier? Did Aila have Dominate?

One last thing:

I am SO SAD that Kyle took the Ho/Foe Yay out of this scene! D:

#VTM #VTMNR #Lettow Kaminsky #Aila the Banu Haqim

9 notes · View notes

lots-of-little-pink-clouds · 4 years ago

Text

A Really Long Essay on Lettow Pt. 1

So I was working on a thing. And you know how when you're writing sometimes a character decides to go off? And do something that is totally in-character but unexpected? And then you have to somehow work around it? Yeah, that happened to me b/c I was writing a thing and somehow made an accidental comparison b/n my Bloodlines PC, Beau, and Jasper Knowles. And it got me thinking. So Imma compile my thoughts together and see what people think. I feel like I'm reaching for some of it, but whatever.

Here's the link to Part 2 cause this one got too long: https://lots-of-little-pink-clouds.tumblr.com/post/642069117234462720/a-really-long-essay-on-lettow-pt-2

And here's Part 3: https://lots-of-little-pink-clouds.tumblr.com/post/642069120459948032/a-really-long-essay-on-lettow-pt-3

Tl;dr Lettow represses his emotions and has unhealthy coping mechanisms including, but not limited to: not believing he's worthy of love; having trouble letting people go; and harboring an extreme guilt complex. This mainly stems from Aila, but I'll also be looking at his relationships w/ some of the other named NPCs, specifically Dove and Jasper Knowles.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Aila's Lasting Impact

@robotslenderman made a really good point in one of their posts a while back about how Lettow represses his feelings (unfortunately I can't find it rn). This gist of it was that b/c of Aila's depression, Lettow started to put his own emotional needs aside to help w/ hers. And the reason they travelled so much was Lettow's way of keeping Aila interested in the world. We also see that when this failed and Aila went into torpor, Lettow settled down and eventually became Prince of Tucson.

This came w/ many benefits, but the most important one was the capability to protect Aila better. Lettow knows that the best way to keep him and Aila safe and alive is to have the resources to do so. Therefore, being a Prince is real handy.

But that doesn't change the fact that Aila chose to go into torpor (ignoring how she gets diablerized, that comes later). This event left such a large impression on Lettow that he chose to set down roots so he could stay close to her. Lettow talks about being like the Courier once and seems wistful to return to that sort of life. Or maybe he's pining for Aila. It's probably a bit of both.

We don't know when exactly Lettow found out about Aila's death - he could have known prior to the events in Night Road or found out during it - but I headcanon that the only reason he stayed in Tucson was b/c he was looking for her killer. And it's super coincidental that he stopped being Prince after confronting the ones responsible.

Either way, Aila left a huge impact on Lettow and this effects all of his other relationships.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Dove, Lettow's Right-Hand-Woman

Dove is a primary example of how Lettow treats his friends. Their relationship w/ each other not only introduces us to the kingpins of Tucson's Camarilla, but it also tells us exactly how Lettow treats the Kindred under his protection - compared to most Princes, he's fairly laid-back and approachable. But Dove is special.

B/c of their history together, Dove refers to Lettow by his first name - even the Courier typically calls him "Prince Lettow" in their internal monologue (I say "typically," since you can call him by his first name if you flirt w/ him). She talks back, makes quippy comments (the whole "Stop acting like you're made of money and pay the person" exchange), and is generally unafraid to inform him of her opinion. Basically, Lettow allows Dove a certain amount of leeway unless it directly affects his role as Prince.

As such, it makes sense that Lettow would turn to such a close and trusted friend to help him rule over Tucson.

But now we bring Aila into the equation. How does Lettow's relationship w/ Aila effect his friendship w/ Dove? Aside from all three of them having known each other for the same amount of time, what other connection is there?

Simple. We just need to look at Dove's Cadillac story.

#vtm #vtmnr #vtm night road #vtmnr spoilers #lettow kaminsky #aila the banu haqim #vtmnr dove

14 notes · View notes

robotslenderman · 4 years ago

Text

Headcanon: the reason why Aila and Lettow kept crashing their planes was because both of them slacked off thinking "ehh, my partner is an experienced pilot, they'll notice if something goes wrong" only for neither of them to be paying attention when shit went wrong

#vtm #Lettow Kaminsky #Aila the Banu Haqim #VTMNR

10 notes · View notes

robotslenderman · 4 years ago

Text

Given how fucking ancient Aila was I'm totally here for the idea that Lettow was her mid-life late-unlife crisis boy toy

#VTM #VTMNR #Lettow Kaminsky #Aila the Banu Haqim

13 notes · View notes

lots-of-little-pink-clouds · 4 years ago

Text

The Princess Who Will Never Wake Chapter 3

Summary: Lettow finds out about Aila.

Characters: Mainly Lettow for this chapter. Lots of Aila/Lettow angst.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28724877/chapters/71200482

Notes: ... I, uh, totally didn't forget about Riga. I swear, I didn't! (Rip Riga, we hardly knew you) She's here now, so it doesn't matter!

Anyways, I thought about ending it with Lettow in the caves holding Aila's ashes, but that felt too rushed. Then I thought about ending it with someone else's POV or the aftermath of when Lettow returned to Tucson, but I figured this would work better. This particular story is about Lettow, after all.

I wanted to give him some sort of closure by physically going to Aila's tomb and then set up stuff for later, why he stayed and what not. In this case, he'll be actively looking for her killer by using his resources as Prince (which is how he discovers Julian was involved). Unfortunately, it can't be his top priority, no matter how much he wants it to be (Princes are very busy running their cities and he's also focused on maintaining his image within the Camarilla).

I hope I did it justice.

June 7th 2009

Aila's resting place was not far from the city, a two-hour drive at most. It would have been wiser to leave the next night instead of risking the sunrise. Dove would have been more than willing to accommodate him and readjust his schedule. As it was, Lettow barely managed to hide his car in a safe location and sink into the earth before daylight came. Yet despite the overwhelming urge to sleep, thoughts of I need to hurry and I hope I'm not too late and Please, please, please flitter across his mind, keeping him awake long after the sun rises.

The heat of the Arizona sands eventually lull him into a doze. Fragments of memories and turquoise-scattered dreams wake him again and again and again, their familiarity comforting and haunting.

Lettow fully wakes as soon as the sun sets, hands shaking, undead heart thumping, and so, so hungry. Rising out of the ground, he finds Riga waiting for him. She perches on the roof of his car with her head cocked judgementally.

"I apologize for leaving you behind, my friend," he says. "I was in a hurry." He grabs treats from the glove compartment and feeds his eagle companion. She accepts the peace offering, nipping at his fingers. "Now come. There is someplace I need to be."

Lettow gets back into his car and drives, Riga flying overhead as he throttles down the deserted road.

Eventually, he arrives at his destination.

Aila chose a series of caves just outside Tucson to be her resting place. It was only within the last twenty years or so that humans built a warehouse above it. The original builders evidently knew of the caverns below their investment, as they decided to capitalize on the additional storage space. Luckily, they didn't go deeper.

Lettow acquired it as soon as he became Prince, but never used it for anything. Instead, the warehouse sat abandoned, a silent tomb for its lone resident who should have remained undisturbed.

Until now.

The first thing he notices are the faint car tracks in the sand. If Lettow hadn't been looking for something, he probably wouldn't have seen it. If he'd been a night later, the tracks might have been gone entirely, covered by dust kicked up by a desert breeze. Dread pools in his gut as he gets out of his car and makes his way closer. Riga settles on the roof of the warehouse to keep watch.

The entrance to the warehouse was pried open. He jogs over and places a hand on the rusted metal door. Bent and misshapen. No claw marks though. A crowbar?

He slips inside. The moon shines through the warehouse's windows, hitting steel beams that cast long shadows across the wide, open room. He creeps along the warehouse floor to the backwall. Embedded into it are a series of doors. Lettow skips the men's and women's restrooms, the two offices, and the lounge, and stops in front of the door at the far end. Opening it, he descends into the warehouse's basement.

Lettow lets vitae pool in his mouth. He pushes past the ravenous hunger, focusing and thinking I have to keep moving, I have to find her. His Sight helps him navigate past old storage containers and further down into the dark cavernous depths of the warehouse.

He knows this path like the back of his hand. He remembers when he helped carry her coffin - more of a large crate, really, less suspicious that way - as far down into the caves as they could possibly go. He travels down it again and again in his dreams, hoping beyond hope that one day, Aila will wake at the end of them. But she never does.

Why did she leave me?

Why wasn't I enough?

Am I not worth living for?

The thoughts cling to him like a shroud and he falters. He closes his eyes, pauses, takes a deep breath to calm himself.

She's fine, he thinks. She has to be.

Lettow continues down the path, hunger gnawing at his mind and desperation in his step.

He nearly trips over the crate as he turns the next corner. A loud and hollow Thunk! echoes throughout the caves. Lettow's hands grasps the edge of the opened wooden box to regain his balance when the realization hits him.

No...

He looks into the crate.

Nothing.

Nothing except ashes.

He pushes himself backwards, falling to the ground, frantically looking around the area for something, anything to indicate she was alive.

"Aila!" he cries.

His voice is the only one he hears.

"AILA!"

Lettow crawls back towards the crate. He reaches inside with shaking hands. Gently, he scoops up some of the ashes. For a long time, he stares at them, so long that his Sight fades away, leaving him alone in the darkness.

Then, he holds them close to his chest and cries silently.

Lettow doesn't know how long he sits there. Eventually he pushes himself to his feet. He forces himself to let go, to carefully place Aila's ashes back into the crate and make his way up to the surface. He returns with a bucket from his car. Reverently, he transfers Aila's remains into it. Once he's certain he left nothing behind, he carries her out of her tomb.

Riga awaits him, flying down from the warehouse roof to perch on his shoulder. She croons and nuzzles the side of his head. Lettow reaches up and runs his fingers through her feathers.

With his eagle at his side, Lettow walks away from the warehouse and out into the desert. The moon hangs high above, illuminating his path. He climbs to the top of a sand dune and stares out over the vast expanse towards the eastern horizon.

A memory comes to him: him and Aila, wandering through a similar desert halfway across the world.

"Do you remember that time, Aila?"

He gently places the bucket onto the ground beside him. Looking out into the distance, Lettow shoves his hands into his pants pockets, the white fabric below his knees stained with Beau's dried blood.

"It feels like a lifetime ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was looking forward to eternity with you. But fate had other plans."

He swallows.

"I'm sorry," Lettow whispers. "I'm sorry I wasn't enough for you. And I'm sorry I couldn't stop this from happening. I promise you, Aila. I'll find who did this."

And then what?

What would he do once he was face-to-face with her killer?

He doesn't know.

Lettow wrenches his gaze away from the horizon. Kneeling, he scoops up some of Aila's ashes. He closes his eyes, takes a shaky breath, and lets go. The desert breeze carries her far, far away.

He hopes she'll eventually make it back to her homeland.

Once all of her ashes are gone from the bucket, Lettow returns to his car. Riga hops off his shoulder and onto the roof as he collapses into the driver's seat. Closing the door, he starts the engine.

His phone buzzes.

Lettow grabs the mobile device from the passenger's seat and checks his messages. Several missed calls and unread texts. He sighs heavily.

A Prince's job is never done.

#vtm #vtmnr #lettow kaminsky #aila the banu haqim

6 notes · View notes

robotslenderman · 4 years ago

Text

So, some Lettow/Elisa bonding headcanon that happened post-Reremouse, before everyone returned to Tucson.

There's sex, but it's not *all* sex, and just occurs in the beginning of the content under the cut. The rest of it is Gangrel (Gangrels?) and their animals and the cuteness that comes with. Plus Lettow prodding to see how much Aila is left.

So @ryttu3k said I could steal their headcanon of a post-Reremouse threesome before the return to Tucson. So I'm totally stealing that. Julian "jokingly" suggesting they screw Elisa "until she forgets her own name" (I am stealing that EXACT line now I know why they wrote it!) and Elisa is like "hooo boy don't tempt me, seeing Lettow fight was HOT. waitshitdidisaythatoutloud"

And Julian "jokes" around enough and Lettow is like... eh, why not? At that point he's been thirsting after Elisa a bit, and even Julian has noticed and wants to see if he can use that.

So that happens! It's not rough, but neither is it tender - just blowing off steam and celebrating a victory. And Elisa getting sex from her ex and crush at the same time.

And the next evening, when Julian is in the shower. Lettow just... lazily initiates sex again, this time just the two of them. It's very gentle, slow and passionate this time, with lots of sleepy kisses. (Cue Julian telling them to "get a room.") She enjoyed the threesome, but she enjoys this much more. It feels more like being with a lover than a Prince.

They don't go for too long this time, before Lettow has to go outside and wait for the others to pick him up, since his car is fucked. Elisa decides to stay until his people pick him up. He obviously doesn't need protection - he fought Reremouse and she got tossed like a rag doll by Lampago - but she'd rather keep an eye on him. She can be a witness, if nothing else. I reckon Aila left her with a protective streak she can't follow through on, lol.

She finds him outside, entertaining the famuli.

Julian is fiddling with his Fisker, but Lettow is leaning against a street light halfway across the lot, with Riga on his arm like she weighs nothing. Nero is sitting directly in front of him, looking up at him and Riga, occasionally making noises. Lettow is laughing at him, and talking to him in Polish, which confuses Nero and makes him tilt his head comically, which seems to amuse Lettow and encourage him. Occasionally Riga makes a noise, and Lettow seems to be part of a conversation with them both.

It's the closest to "silly" Elisa has ever seen Lettow get, outside of Aila's memories, and she just enjoys watching them for a few moments as Lettow playfully winds up Nero and occasionally seems to tease Riga too.

After a few minutes of that she climbs up onto the bonnet of her car, lies back against the windshield, and gazes up at the stars. She listens to Julian fiddle, to Lettow speaking Polish, and the occasional call from Riga and awoo from Nero. After a while, they go quiet.

Lettow asks her if he can join her not long after, so she makes some room. They talk for a while - about the SI, about Reremouse, about the previous Prince of Tucson. Talk about Gangrel sires. Riga ends up swooping down and landing on his stomach - not fun, she's an eagle with talons and heavier than she looks, so of course Lettow complains at her about tearing at the new clothes he'd had to put on and making him bleed on them, which makes Elisa laugh a bit.

Then Riga is flopping over and asking for tummy scritches and claw rubs, which just prompts an eye roll from Lettow, but he indulges her anyway. Elisa thinks this is absolutely charming and ends up rolling on her side to openly watch what he's doing, listening to the happy sounds Riga makes. Lettow has softened again, and is gazing at Riga with nothing short of pride and adoration.

#VTM #VTMNR #VTMNR spoilers #Lettow Kaminsky #Elisa Mulgrew #Aila the Banu Haqim #Riga #Nero #sorry I tagged this but somehow it didn't stick

13 notes · View notes