Come on Over, Baby - Bella's Castle; The West Wing

She sat in her room, shooting a text to her friend. An empty bottle of blood wine sat beside her, the text a simple,

If you aren't busy, you should stop by.

Apparently, she wasn't busy, since a half an hour after she got the text message, there was a knock at the door.

A pretty French ghoul answered the door, attire completed by a french maid's outfit. "Oui, Madamoiselle Tahan, she eez zees way." The woman, on black pumps, led Ra'idah up the stairs and to the door for the West Wing - though didn't enter. The door was opened.

Her brow lifted. Yes, lifted, arching upward in curiosity. But she followed the french maid in the french maid outfit up the stairs. "Thanks!" she said to the servant, before she made her way inside.

"Beeeeeelllllaaaa..."

She sing-songed it, sounding more curious than anything.

"I'm in heeeeeee-eeeeere." Came the response, sing song as well, from one of the open doors down the hall.

She skipped down the hallway. Okay, not actually skipping, but it was close to it, making her way toward the open door. She paused in the doorway, reaching one hand out to lean against the doorframe, even swinging a little bit back and forth as she looked around the room for the Malkavian.

"Hi!"

Bella was leaned back against her head board in a sheer pink and black nightie, nursing a newly.opened bottle of wine. "Hi, hon." She smiled upon seeing the pretty blonde, but it was obvious her demeanor was less than cheery.

She tilted her head and eyed the Malkavian. It was unusual to see the Malkavian still in bed, but even more strange to see her with a less-than-cheerful expression.

"Hey, sweetie."

She crossed the room to perch on the ed of the bed, easing her hip onto the mattress and folding her arms across her chest.

"What's wrong?"

She offered the bottle to Ra'i. "I miss Robert. And I'm tired of being mean to Chase."

She took the bottle, drinking deeply from it.

"Why are you being mean to Chase and Robert's not far from here, I don't think?"

She shook her head a bit, giving a quiet sigh. "I can't go see thrm, though.."

She seemed saddened by that.

"Why not?"

"I can't tell you..."

At that, she looked even more concerned. She frowned, reaching forward with one hand to rest it against the Malkavian's arm.

"Why can't you tell me?"

Scared eyes glanced up at the Sheriff with a childlike quality in their trust of the woman, a small whimper sounding from the young Malkavian. "They'll get hurt..."

She scooted a little closer to the Malkavian, one hand coming up to brush the hair from her face. Tucking it behind her ear, she shook her head slowly.

"It's my job to make sure they don't, Bella. I can't do that if I don't know what I need to protect them from."

She whimpered hopelessly at the other, clicking a pen open long enough to write one word on her palm.

Demons.

She nodded, brushing a hand soothingly over the Malkavian's hair again.

"Okay. I can do that. I can help with that. What's the actual threat to them?"

"I can't tell you.. I'm not allowed to speak about it.." she whimpered to her friend, wrapping her arms around her middle. "They're always listening - always watching."

She didn't seem to mind. She pulled the Malkavian close and continued to stroke her hands through the dark hair. A comforting gesture, though she knew that there was little comfort that she could bring.

"Okay. Are they threatening to hurt them, kill them? And I know how hard it is to know that they're always watching and listening, but I need to know if I'm going to be able to help them."

She nuzzled her head into the woman's chest, whispering quietly to her. "She said if I was affectionate towards one, the other would get hurt.."

She didn't seem to mind the nuzzling. In fact, she seemed to like it. She continued to play with the Malkavian's hair, but her words were gentle.

"Okay. All right, Bella. I'll see what I can do. You do know that demons lie, right?"

She shook her head, "I thought.. they just made deals.."

She smiled as she continued to play with Bella's hair.

"Oh, they lie, too. Just to make sure you will make a deal. They're tricky, and they're evil."

She nuzzled closer as the woman played with her curls sighing hopelessly. " How am I supposed to deal? I'd let them take me if they'd leave everyone else alone..."