Moonlight In The Lake | Micah | XXX

The ice was thin and clear over the lake, as some places had pulled apart. The wind was howling softly in the tree crowns, and a sense of serenity was hanging over the area. Some feared the lake, other´s didn´t. One of those who didn´t was Nathalian.. as he had slowly followed the lake.. all the way from the Ocean. He didn´t know much about the lake or its destination.. as he wasn´t from around here.. but a place further away.. much closer to the ocean.
A soft hum left him, as he was laying in the middle of the lake.. in a little circle he had made for himself, as he had smashed through the surface with his tail.. to just bask in the moonlight.
It wasnt uncommon for him, to just bask in the soft wind.. but he knew he would freeze.. if he went up.. but as long as most of his body stayed under water.. it felt like a comforting blanket, against the soft golden tint looking skin...

Micah... Was out on a job. Which was in and of itself, becoming a rather rare occurrence. It didn't happen too often that he took jobs anymore, either because they were too far away from Doomsville and his house, or because they were jobs that he deemed too easy, and therefore, incredibly boring as they posed no challenge to him. This time, however, he was going up against a demon, and it would he thrilling - once he found the guy. He should live in a cottage a bit from Soul River, but so far, he'd had no luck finding the cottage, and as such, he set out to search the area around the actual river.

Once there, he immediately noticed something, which it would take a normal human ages to see in the dim moonlight. But to Micah, being a vampire - he saw extremely well in total darkness, and as such, this was like a brightly lit day to him, where he could see someone floating around the surface of the river, in a hole in the ice. Hmm... Either someone recently dead, or likely a siren... As he soundlessly stepped closer, a soft breeze soon brought the scent of the person to him, and he immediately knew he was dealing with a siren. It wasn't the first time he'd smelled one of them. Now intrigued, he walked a bit closer, out to the very edge of the ice where he crouched down and just looked at the beautiful creature - just as beautiful as the race had a reputation for being.

Nathalian hadn´t smelled the vampire yet, as both the wind wasnt in his favor, but he was also fully gone in his own little wonder world, of the wet blanket around him. A soft sigh left him, as he turned around, before he slowly glided underneath the surface... the long golden white tail.. gliding up.. and disappearing underneath the ice.. perfectly melting into the white snowy look...
Among the sea plants.. he hid himself a little.. as he slowly curled a little up, only to listen to the movement around him, and of course.. the movement on top of the ice, as he slowly closed his eyes.. as he wanted to get some sleep in... unless he heard something on the ice, which would result in him, rather quickly rising to the surface to investigate.. just from underneath the ice and not the hole he had made... as he wasn´t about to be caught by surprise.. in this forest.. something about it.. gave him.. an eerie feeling, when the night had risen.

Hmm... Now the guy swam back underneath the surface. Sigh... This was otherwise a welcome break from his task... Hmm... Well, he guessed he could always return to it, after trying to get to know this mysterious, beautiful siren... So, smiling ever so gently, he stepped out onto the ice.

And when he saw the pretty face underneath the ice... He crouched down... And gave a small wave to the guy, his own intensely blue eyes looking directly in the eyes of the siren. Maybe he could get him to get back up here? Or at least to the hole in the ice he now was sure that the siren himself had made.

Nathalian didn´t have any plans of getting up, or that had been.. until he had heard the soft crunch of the frost on the ice. A thinly layer of it, slowly parting.. as he heard the softly almost vibrating sound on the ice. Not that the ice was thin, but it was definitely a size.. that allowed for it, to move.. and that movement, sang to him. His eyes slowly opened, as he looked up, only to slowly move a little further up towards the ice.. and there. Those intensely blue eyes, capturing his autumn brown eyes, where orange and brown, was fighting with yellow specks inside of them.
His pupils dilated a little, as the guy crouched down.. and waved to him, and not only that, but looked so deeply into his. He turned his head a little, almost as if to shield himself from the gaze. Who.. was this guy?.

He had never seen eyes, so blue.. like the ocean was hidden in them. Slowly.. he moved, and as he did... his side showed underneath.. showing the mark he had gotten, before being shipped off to Doomsville.. a mark that would forever claim him to someone unknown. He didn´t even know what it meant.. but.. it was definitely a mark, that didn´t make him trust people.. so as he moved towards the hole he had made earlier that day.. he slowly.. broke the surface, as he stroke his hair back, only to glide down, so from the nose bridge to the top.. only was showing, as he narrowed his eyes, looking over towards the guy...

Micah's smile stayed right whre it was, as he saw those pretty autumn brown eyes looking right back at him, seeing how he turned his head away a little... Before he began swimming over to the hole in the ice. And as it did, Micah did notice the mark on his side... A very special S... One he knew all too well. Oh. Maybe this was the one that should have been his, but was lost at sea when the ship sank? It made sense that he'd survived when he was a siren, after all. And here he was... So close to Doomsville...

Micah stood back up and calmly made his way over next to the hole... Casually sitting down right beside it, never caring about sitting on the cold snow. He didn't really feel the cold, anyway. One of the many good things about being a vampire. "Why hello there. Not too often I see sirens around here..." he said, with a small smile - and as he had learned a long time ago, he didn't let his teeth properly show when he spoke, as to not spook people too soon by showing the fangs. "But I must say, I can't blame you for having chosen this place to hang out. It's quite calm and peaceful out here."

The autumn brown eyes, followed the stranger´s walk, all the way over to him.. and then as he sat down, he slowly glided a little more up, as he tilted his head to the side a little.
" Is that so..? ".
There was no smile to see on Nathalian´s face, but then again, it was rather hard getting any reaction out of this man, as he always seemed to be so serious about everything. He had hardly known a life of a real child, so why ever act like one, when all he had been around.. was adults.
" It were peaceful and calm ". He narrowed his eyes a little at the stranger. He couldn´t quite gather, what he were.

" It´s not very often, or.. excuse me, let me rephrase myself. It has never occured, that someone has waved to me, yet come this close, when i am in my form, so either.. you are stupid enough or you are something.. much more dangerous. So allow me to ask. Which of them, are you ". He tilted his head yet again, and this time, there was a short period, a glimt of a smile, before it disappeared again, on the velvet soft looking lips of his, as he slowly glided forward, to lean his arm´s on the ice cold ice.
He couldn´t quite take his eyes off the guy.. the beautiful stunning blue eyes. " Your eyes.. they remind me of the sea.. ".

"Well, yes. Sorry for ruining the peace and calm, then. I just found myself intrigued when seeing a sirn here." he said, smiling still as he'd sat down, and then... He chuckled a little. "I must say, if I were that stupid, it would have been a wonder that I made it past a hundred." he started out saying, with just a small sigh of reminiscence.

"So no, I'm not that stupid." he said, and the smile this time around, did not hide the fangs any longer. "There's very little that frightens me by now, truth be told." he then said, running a hand through his hair to get some of it out of his eyes.

Speaking of which... He smiled. It was far from the first time someone had seem fascinated with just his eyes, but he guessed he got why - he hadn't ever seen anyone have as bright and clear a blue as he himself had. "Why thank you. Coming from a siren, I'll take that as a huge compliment. While I must say... You do live up to the rumors about a siren's beauty, too..."

His eyes studied that of the tattoos, that he could see on the man, as he slowly looked up and into those blue´s once more. He looked a little surprised, as he heard the guy praise his beauty like that. " Aha.. " he tilted his head a little to the side again, as he said " So vampire.. ".
" Are you out here, looking for your next victim? ".

He slowly let his arm´s glide away from the surface.. as he slowly glided a little further down into the water, as he looked up at the stranger.
" Well, it was nice talking to you.. but i will go back to bed.. " he smiled, as he slowly began gliding down..

"Oh no. I ate a big meal last night." Micah merely said with a bit of a chuckle... But the mirth on his features quickly disappeared when the siren began moving away. Oh hell no. He wasn't going to let the man get away again.

And as such, in the blink of an eye, he had reached out to one-handedly pull the guy out of the water and up onto the snow and ice. "We weren't done talking." he merely said. "You see, that mark on your side... I know that very well. Since I request for that to be on all of my servants. And you are not getting away again." he said with this 'pleasant' smile... While utilizing his ability... To still all blood in the guy's tail, since he, after all, did know that the tail was the strong part of a siren.

Nathalian had almost gotten underneath the surface, but he never got to, as he was suddenly grabbed. * What the!? *. As he felt the strong grab, he was planning on pulling back, but he reacted too late, and suddenly felt the icy cold surface, as he gasped slightly, from the sudden cold wind around him. " Are you crazy!? "[/i] he yelled up at the guy, as he took some shallow breaths, while holding around himself, as much as he could, before he heard the thing about the mark. * No.. it cannot be.. *.

He looked up at Micah, as he heard him mention the mark, even saying as much, as it was on all his servants. " I AM NOT YOUR SERVANT! " he growled back, as he tried to slam his tail against the ice, but never got to it.. as he felt something inside of him stop.
" What.. what did you do!?. Release me at once! " he hissed up at the guy, as he tried to move his tail but couldnt. He slowly tried to claw out after the guy, as he showed his teeth, and tried his best, to move backwards, against the water.. feeling powerless once he was over it.

"I guess you can call me that. You wouldn't be the first one..." he snickered softly, to the 'crazy' comment... Before he sighed. "Yes, you are... You're the one... That was on the ship, weren't you... Everybody else died... But you, a siren.. Of course, you can't drown like they all did..."

"Ah... It's so cute when they resist..." Micah chuckled, hearing that hissing, feeling how the guy tried to writhe out of his grasp. "But for now... I think it's time for you to sleep." and right after he said that... He punched the guy in the temple, with just enough force that it should knock him out but not cause any lasting damage.

Nathalian stopped resisting, as he heard the thing about the ship. No.. no it was this man. This man was the reason for his mother´s dead, and the reason he was dragged to sea.
" Grrh!, i will never!, Arh " as he suddenly... felt a pressure.. and then.. everything.. went black.. as he landed onto the ice.. his vision flickering a little, from light to black.. slowly.. the spots overtook, as he fainted..
His body.. already having dried.. as he slowly began transforming back.. while he wasn´t concious..

As he was trapped in darkness.. the memories kept playing on repeat.. as he had gone from fainting to a deep almost frozen slumper.. only to wake up.. what felt like hours later.. as he groaned softly..
" What.. where.. am i.. " he slowly sat up, as he took himself to his head, if he could even do so.. unless he was restrained.. then he would just lay.. and groan from the throbbing his head was giving him.

Micah smiled as the man fell over... Seeing the transformation back to human form already taking place... Lovely. He picked him up, slung the man over his shoulder, and walked back towards the cabin. He could tie up the guy and wait at the house for his assignment to arrive... So that's what he did, finding rope in the cabin and tying the siren up good and proper before laying him in the bed in the one room the cabin consisted of.

Soon after, the man owning the cabin had returned, and he was dead barely moments later... Micah picking out the old wedding band his client had insisted upon as proof that he'd killed the man. And so, when Nathalian awoke again... Micah had already pushed the body out into the woods for wolves and other predators to take care of, and as such, they were alone in the cabin, where Micah had now closed all of he windows off, feeling grateful that the seal was tight and with wooden covers, ensuring no sunlight could come inside, as he'd seen just the start of the morning sun upon he horizon. So here they were, in almost total darkness, which, of course, was not a problem for Micah... And the scent of blood thick and heavy in the air.

As Nathalian slowly was coming to himself, the iron smell in the air, filled all the cabin.. and all of his head, as he reacted rather panicking, until he found out, that it wasnt HIS blood at least, no.. what or who´s blood was it then?. He looked around a little, as he squinted his eyes. He couldn´t quite see anything in the dark, as he tried to move, he also felt the restraints. * No.. * He tried his hardest to get out of it, but couldnt.. and as he couldn´t, he looked out towards the dark.. as his eyes tried their best to find anything.. to look at. " Please, whoever you are. I... i can pay you. I have a stash hidden somewhere.. i.. i will pay for my freedom.. ".

Micah raised an eyebrow and looked over at Nathalian as he noticed him being awake... And how he seemed to panic the moment he smelled the blood and figured out he couldn't move. How lovely. He calmly walked over next to the man, knowing full well than he wouldn't even be able to see a tenth of what Micah could see in this utter darkness - and reached out to gently brush his fingers through the dark, luxurious curls.

"Shh, shh... No use with all of that. I'm not doing the things I do for money. I have more than enough of that already. Jut relax... I'm not going to harm you. You see... I treat my servants well. As long as they follow their instructions, of course. So... You'd do well to listen and do as I say. Understood?"

Nathalian trembled slightly, as a soft gasp of surprise left his full velvet soft lips, as he felt the gentle brush.. of the finger´s travelling through his raven black luxurious curls... as a soft growl left him. " Dont.. touch me ". He didn´t like this, or the feeling of the guy touching him.

He wasn´t used to such touching, as he normally stayed clear of people, and especially anything intimately.
As he heard the guy shh on him.. he just scoffed a little, as he listened. His eyes revealed his shock, as he looked away from the direction the guy´s voice was..
" And if i dont...? ".

" Listen.. i dont know what deal you made, with my previous master, but i will say it´s long overdue.. so let me GO ".

"I'll touch you all I want. Not like you can do much against it," Micah merely said, shrugging and smiling as he stroked the hair once more... And then, down the neck. And then his smile turned to a soft snicker, seeing the shock and how he looked away. Nevertheless, Micah reached out to grab Nathalian's jaw, and turn his head so he could look into those eyes again even if the guy could not see his, right now.

"If you don't... Then you get to know what punishment in my household feels like." he explained, smiling. "If you do as you're told, you will get all sorts of luxuries many servants never get. As good food and drink as the men and women of my status eat. Not just one of those small, hard beds, but a big, luxurious one. Maybe even privilege to go outside alone at some point. There's a lot of good things to come. Including a proper education, if you so wish." something that was most certainly very different from other people who owned slaves and servants.

"And there is no backing out of the contract, my fishy friend. It was made as a legally binding magical contract. Those don't run out, they are simply replaced with newer ones. So I have the law on my side, and you are coming back home with me. To Doomsville."

Nathalian had almost lost his breath, as he heard those exact words. * What.. how dare he?! *. To speak in such a manner against him. Nathalian gave a soft sound from him, as he felt the finger´s glide so effortlessly down his neck.. no beard hairs to feel, as he had never been able to grow one.. so his skin was smooth to the touch. From pure embarrassment and feeling of powerlessness.. he turned his head the other way once more, only to feel his jaw being grabbed, as his head was forcefully turned, as he looked at the darkness.. only able to even imagine.. Micah´s shape at the moment, but he could see nothing, in this darkness..

Everything did.. sound good, indeed it did. The bed, the food, the roof over one´s head, and the safety too, but.. with this man. He scoffed, as he said " i dont NEED proper education. My mom taught me to read and write. She NEVER had a problem with that, and calculate too. I´m not some SERVANT boy, you just fish up from the ocean, with no knowledge of the world around him. My mom didn´t teach me for over 20 years, just to become some nobody ".

" N-No!. No please! " he begged. He didn´t want to go with this man.. he didn´t want to be a servant. " Why.. why me!?. Dont you have ENOUGH already! " he growled slightly.

Micah had even leaned in to get a good, deep, long whiff of the guy's scent... As that scent was quite unique, after all. Like a fresh ocean breeze. The guy both looked and smelled absolutely perfect... And then, he raised an eyebrow. "Already a bit educated? Impressive. There's always more to learn, though. And I would be happy to provide a private tutor for you to learn."

And then, he sighed. "No, I do not. I have only three servants to look after the entire house, and one of them can't be counted on to do actual housework. He's more my guard of the place. So I do need more, and since you are bound to me by legal, magical contract... You're coming home with me."

He didn´t quite understand, why this man would even go to the trouble, of hiring a private tutor for him. " Why.. does all of your servants get this treatment, and if not.. why do i get it ". He didn´t understand it at all.
Nathalian would have flipped normally, but a bed.. food.. safety. It did sound rather inviting, but how much could he believe this man´s word, and what were he to do as his servant, why.. would he get such special treatment?. " Fine.. ".
He wasn´t gonna fight a fight, he knew he couldn´t win.. at least, not for now at least.

"One of them have, but he's not around anymore. He died fifty years ago. Old age. The others weren't worth wasting it on. But I like to do it when I have someone who's sharper than the rest. And you do seem to fall into that category." Micah said with a bright smile, though the man couldn't see it. And it was just wonderful that he agreed - at least for now.

"Marvelous. Well set out for Doomsville when the sun has set again, then." He said, walking a steep close to ensure the rope were secured to the bed, too, just to be sure the man couldn't escape. And having remembered he was a siren, he had gotten a bucket of water inside, too. "Now, just to make sure you will be safe and sound through the day..." and he placed the bucket right next to the sirens hip. "It's full of water. Nudge it when you need water, and most of your body should be splashed with it."

Nathalian gently leaned to the side, as he felt the bucket. " Great.. " he half growled amost, as he sighed and laid back down.. as he just looked into the darkness. He wanted this to just be over and DONE..
He hated the position he had gotten himself in.. but he was a patient man, and he knew how to wait for an opening, and so.. he just laid there, not really saying much.. waiting.. waiting for the sun to go down, as he tried to get some sleep, but did nudge the bucket once, just to be safe.

He really didn´t understand people, their need for slaves and servants, but then again, having seen big houses before.. he guessed.. there would be a reason.. as only one person, couldn´t possibly uphold and keep it all...

And as such, the day went by, and when the night came, he got Nathalian moved with him, back to Doomsville, to Angerforge District... And the rather big house he lived in.

"Welcome to my humble abode- which will be your home, as well, from now on." He announced to Nathalian once they got inside. As they walked to the living room, a young woman, about twenty years of age, came up to Micah with a tray upon which stood a single, large glass of blood. "Welcome home, master Snow." She said in a polite tone with a smile, and Micah nodded as he took the glass. "Thank you,  Sparrow. Will you go make a meal for Nathalian?" "Of course, right away." And after she bowed, she walked down a hallway to get to the kitchen. Micah sat down in one of the chairs by the fireplace, and gestured for Nathalian to go sit in the other one.

As they came to the rather big house.. Nathalian stopped shortly, as he looked up towards it. * Wauw.. *. He had been in something similar as a child, but.. this just had some sort of charm to it and it was clearly bigger. As he walked inside with him, he gave a short nod, as he looked down at the clothing he had gotten from the dead guy. A pair of black pants and a white lose shirt to match, and a thick robe, to keep himself warm, and some shoes.. that didn´t match in size, as they were too small.. and the clothing a little too.

He raised his brow a little, as he saw the girl, before he heard the Snow... He looked to his side shortly... and held a hand over the place. Snow.. so that was why he had the S marked on him. A sigh left him, as he suddenly heard his name, and then said " i´m.. " he sighed one more, as he figured it would be okay with some food.. but he still didn´t trust this man at all.
As he was gestured to sit down.. he slowly moved over towards the chair and then sat down, before the autumn brown eyes glanced over towards the stranger. " So tell me the rules.. what can i do, and what am i not allowed to to, and what am i to call you.. ".