First Date (Dima) - Marcus' Apartment

The call was made.  The first date accepted and Marcus a flurry of activitym running around the apartment to make sure that everything was perfect.  The pale blue Christmas lights were strung, the presents in place, his violin and cello sat comfortable on a pedastool next to two comfortable looking high backed chairs.  Heavy drapes on the single window, and the large bathtub was filled and steaming.  He looks around the room, eyes landing on the large, gift wrapped present and smiles.  "This is gonna be great!!" he says to himself, turning to give himself a once over in the mirror.

Not more then twenty minutes later there was a knocking on the door. Brisk three knocks, tap, tap, tap. The sound of a large fist rapping at his door.

There is a folded note tacked on the door, labed 'Dima'.

The door is opened, come inside.

In the background, the somber, soulful tones of a cello can be heard.

He shook his head, so trusting that this one was... so naive... so pure. With that he opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him looking about to see if it was Marcus playing or his little electronic contraption. Eyes dark with wonder as he stepped in and slowly took in his surroundings.

The apartment was quaint, little more then a single room with an adjoining bathroom, nearly as large as the main room. A queen sized bed rests in the corner with heavy, thick drapes over the single window. Opposite the bed, is a reading nook with a fairly well stocked bookshelf. Next to that, on a stand is an ornate Cello on it's stand. Finally, the intricate chess set sits, minus the three pieces next to two plush, high backed chairs

And yes, it was his little electronic contraption. Marcus was no where to be seen, but given his abilities at stealth, that was probably something to be expected. Waiting for Dima however, was a large, person sized gift wrapped box, tied neatly with a very ornately tied ribbon. Along the wall, blinking in subtle blue's and whites, festive christmas lights hung, offering the only illumination in the in the small apartment, but it proved more then adequete to see by. The music continues smoothly, the first piece ending, the second one beginning a few seconds later, soft and gentle. In the corner, an actual cello rests against a plush chair.

Dima walks into the room, taking a moment to look around. He looks at a few of the titles on the bookshelf, runs an appriciative hand over the cello in the corner, his fingers trace along the curtain at the window and along the bed spread. He walks in a slow circle of the room till he comes back to the large present in the center. Uncertain, as to if the present is supposed to be for him he pauses a moment looking the box. Eyes glance around he apartment as pauses and listens to the box... "Fluttering.." he murmured as he took a step away. Still Marcus had said it was a surprise, so Dima lifted the lid of the box, just the corner really and peered with in with curiosity.

A single butterfly crawls up to the sudden opening and quickly takes wing, fluttering briefly around Dima before moving off to explore the rest of the room, as butterflies do. Nothing else comes out, but the sounds continue from within.

As the butterfly crawled out and flew off Dima paused frozen for a moment his face broke into a smile.

"Well I guess since you haven't come running out to tell me no..." he slowly began to untie the ribbon from the box. Then lifted the lid, looking down at what was inside.

Inside were dozens and dozens of tiny monarch butterflies, not normally found this time of year, but somehow, he had not only found them, but packed them up into the large box. They erupt from the box swirling up and around Dima, their small wings fluttering against the giant mans skin for a few seconds, then disperse in all directions. The music continues on soulfully, adding a surreal quality to overall scene.

He laughed softly but it was a sound almost of a child in awe. He just watched them as they fluttered away into the apartment flying this way and that. Some of them finding something to land upon. Dima smiled and turning in circle his eyes move over the room once again. "Are you going to come out so I can kiss you or not?" he teased.

Looking around the room, Dima becomes aware that butterflies weren't the only tiny critters present within the box. Blinking , on and off as they scattered through the room, small fireflies flare up brightly and fade in a never ending cycle, heightening the over all illusion of fairy tale-esque magic moving through the room. As Dima looks away from the cello, watching the tiny little insects, the music changes, deepens and turns from recorded to live in a seamless transition. He is there suddenly, the majority of the fireflys summoned to him, flowing around him and flaring to life before fading. His eyes were on Dima, warm and loving as he plays, a soft, dazzling smile touching his lips.

He walked slowly over to where Marcus was playing. A smile flirted at the edges of his lips as he listed to the music waiting for the song to stop before he leaned down one hand on the back of the chair the other at Marcus's shoulder and gently kissed him. Just a faint brushing of his lips over his. Then he pulled away, his eyes locked with Marcus's, "Thank you, that was a wonderful surprise."

He smiles widely, clearly pleased as he returns the gentle kiss. Around him, the fire flies continue winking in and out of existence, looking like tiny little stars reflected in his green eyes. He sets the bow aside, placing the cello back in it's stand and rises, wrapping his arms around his waist tightly. Even standing fully erect, his head only reaches to Dima's solid pecs and he looks with a grin "You are welcome love. You gave me a fairy tale, I thought it would be appropriate to give you one in return.

The tiny little insects seem to follow him, this time circling the pair as Marcus does a slow rotation around Dima, moving from view. As Dima looks back at him, Rachel is walking towards the bed and smiles over her shoulder at him. She presses a button and the electronic contraption begins playing. She sits on the bed, legs crossed while the fire flies wink around her, framing her bright smile with small flashes of flaring light.

Dima couldn't help but smile as that song came on her electronic device. He moved over and sat down with Rachel on the bed, "This is Anna's favorite part of the movie." he said with a smile. A smile that said he was thinking of someone else as he spoke about them, he obviously cared for them very much.

She smiles, leaning onto one elbow, turning to face Dima "Mine too" she says, blue eyes almost luminous in the soft blue lighting offered by the Christmas lights. "But that does bring up an interesting point Dima. Who is Anna? She sounds like she has impeccable taste in Disney movies" Rachel says, reaching out to take Dima's hand in her own.

"Well," he said his hand reached out and found hers. "Anna, is the daughter of Sophia, who is the daughter of Joseph, who is the son of Gale. Gale I adopted when he seven in Austria, he attempted to pick my pocket in the square." Dima looked incredibly amused by this story.

Rachel laughs, comfortable simply holding his hand "Must have been fate. God, four generations of the same family, and you acting as caretaker for them all. You truely are an amazing man Dima." she says quietly, running her thum over the large hand.

"My family is larger then that." he replied hesitantly. Lifting her hand to his lips kissing the back of her knuckles. "But yes, each of them have been fate, each and every child." he said softly. His head turned to look at Rachel to see how she was taking this news.

Nonplussed and unflappable as always, Rachel grins at Dima as he kisses her knuckles "I've always wanted children. One of my biggest regrets about not being human anymore.. But, it is what it is." She cant's her head to the side thoughtfully "Dima. I am curious about something." she pauses, collecting her thoughts "You, but specifically, why it is that you have such a hard time remaining faithful to Dara, if it bothers you so much. To be fair, I had never even heard of the Ravnos clan before I met you, so I don't really have alot of information to go on here." she offers a quiet smile, looking a little uncomfortable asking, but pressing on.

Dima froze looking very uncomfortable, he had thought that Marcus understood, thought that Rachel had said that she didn't care about his curse. He turns looking at Rachel carefully, looking around her apartment for a moment as he gathered his thoughts waiting for her rejection when she realized what she had signed on for.

He clears his throat, "My family's curse, the curse of the blood that runs through my veins. We all have a vice of some sort," he answered slowly hoping that she wouldn't make him say the rest of it.

Rachel nods gently "I had figured as much, but I didn't want to make assumptions love. Regardless, my feelings for you remain unchanged. Just wanted a bit of clarity really, and I felt it was better to ask you, then to make you think I was going behind you back to ask someone else." She reaches up to caress his cheek "It's you though, and I accept everything about you Dima. Curse, blessing or otherwise." She leans in, snuggling closer to the man, breathing in his scent.

He seemed to visibly relax against her, his arms wrapping around her once again. "You are the only good thing that the curse has ever brought to me." he said as his lips moved against her cheek as he spoke and kissed her. A sweeping kiss along her cheek, down across her jaw line, and then down to her neck. He lingered there fangs grazing, tongue teasing, lips leaving feather light kisses.

Rachel breaths in slowly, exhaling as Dima's fangs drag across her throat. "I like hearing you say that love. You are one of the very few things my embrace has brought to me as well" The next song begins softly and Rachel smiles, singing softly with it, looking deeply into his eyes as she does so. The tone of her voice seems to accentuate the song, adding a touch of depth between them.

He smiled, "That is a good song, but I have never heard that version before." he said, his eyes locked with hers.

Arms pulled her close and held her to him. Lips found her's again, the lightest brushing of lips his against hers. "Is this what you want to do tonight?" he asked.

She chuckled against his lips, kissing him passionately before pulling back "I want this every night. But, I -do- have a couple tickets to a symphony that's playing down in the city. It would be fun to go and watch some of it if you'd be up for it." She runs her fingers down his stomach "Oooooor we can go take a long, luxurous soak in the tub I prepared for us..." she says, motioning towards the large adjacent bathroom.