Bonds that bind...

Valintine sat inside of a house. He was on a couch, one leg crossed under the other. He wore only a pair of black silk pants, his flower shaped scar on his right hip was showing partially. It was from a wiccan who truly believed in the power of flowers. He got it when he was younger, much younger, and tried to feed from her. It serves as a reminder to him, though for what he will not say.

The vampire sat across from his Lycan lover, his mismatched eyes solid and quite visible against his healthy and smooth looking skin. "I assure you it's a painless process...I believe we can get this done all in one night. With breaks in between each one so that your body may adjust to new feelings and such." He shrugged a bit and smiled warmly at the male.

Jasper sat in a chair across from Val, chewing nervously on his lip. Valintine had promised to begin the marking process that night, and though he was eager for it, he also felt some small degree of trepidation. He was under no illusions ... completing the marks would bind him to Val forever, though good and bad, life and death. There would be no going back, no second-guessing. The marks couldn't be taken away.

He glanced up at Val again, watching the mismatched eyes carefully. He couldn't deny he cared deeply for Valintine and that they had grown very close very quickly, but such a big step had him second-guessing. At last he straightened, nodding firmly at Valintine.

"Okay," he said. "I'm ready. You can start."

Valintine nodded and smiled. "Very well then...Just relax..." He reached across the table to give Jasper's hand a reassuring squeeze. With a smile he closed his eyes a bit and dipped into his pool of supernatural energy. He pulled it out of him in a gentle sigh and willed for it to move out and cover Jasper. This was the first mark. Sharing energy with the one receiving the mark would be the first step of four to being bound to each other.

His energy would feel warm to the feline. Not warm in a sexual sense, just more like a summer breeze warmth. The kind that left you in a state of contentment. It was the kind of breeze that only happened one or two days a year when the air is not too hot, not too cold, it's centered perfectly in the middle. This feeling spread over Jasper, sunk inside of his body and filled him to the brim. It may have tingled, or irritated his skin, or had no effect at all. Feeling other creatures energy had various effects depending on the person.

When he was done, Valintine opened his amber and blue eyes to smile at Jasper. "Did it hurt?"

Jasper took a deep breath, willing himself to relax and shutting his eyes. After a moment, he felt a warm sensation settle over him, kind of like a warm, tingly blanket. He shivered a little, feeling the tingling sensation sink into his skin and deeper, into his very being. It felt kind of like a static charge, though a good deal more pleasant ... almost like the caress of an early summer breeze. In any case, it felt oddly right, though it was still a little strange.

He opened his eyes after a moment, trying to shake off the staticky feeling, and blinked at Valintine. "No, it didn't ... it just felt warm and tingly. Is that how it's supposed to feel?"

Valintine glided over to Jasper and kissed his cheek softly. "Yep. Well..I suppose so. The experience is different for everyone. Some of the more...forceful vampires, don't even wait until their Servant is awake. The first three marks can be given by force. They don't need consent. And the fourth...well...It can be forcibly given too, albeit it is a lot harder to force someone to do it." He shrugged and smiled. "But I'd never force such a thing upon you."

"I'm glad. That would be ... uncomfortable, if I didn't know what it was." He shifted in his seat, trying to figure out if he felt any differently. As far as he could tell there wasn't any mind-reading going on, or at least he couldn't feel any thoughts that weren't his own. So apparently the first mark didn't have much effect, at least not yet.

"What's changed?" he asked curiously. "Can you read my mind or anything? I don't feel any different..."

Valintine moved behind the male and fixed him a drink. Nothing heavy, it was a light handed mixed drink. The next mark would open up more doors between the two of them, he didn't know if he could feel the effects of alcohol through it, but he was not in a mood to find out. He placed the drink in front of Jasper and moved to sit in front of him. "Well for starters, your resistance to rolling has been significantly increased. And as far as I am concerned, you cannot be rolled by me at all nine times out of ten..." He shrugged. He had never rolled Jasper before anyway. It just wasn't needed. Maybe when they first met it might have been, but if he did they probably wouldn't have ended up here. "On top of that, your harder to damage now. And you have a greater resistance to other mental powers of vampires besides rolling...Like mind reading."

He smiled a bit at Jasper. The male was sometimes too much for him to handle, and he needed a break. Not because of his nature, but the feelings he brought out of him. Love, lust, sympathy, human emotions he had tried so hard to cut himself off from. It was like rebuilding a bridge to a nearby island, without knowing where that island is. He found it so easy to do, and yet so hard as he never knew where to go next. He hated to be away from Jasper though. He'd be much happier when they were together as opposed to apart.

"Mind reading and such for us two does not come until the third mark. And to get there we must do the second...Are you prepared for said mark, my dear?" He asked calmly.

Jasper thought over this new knowledge, accepting the drink and sipping at it. Fortunately it was barely alcoholic, or he wouldn't be able to focus clearly. The resistance to vampiric mind-powers sounded like it would serve him well, though he had never been particularly susceptible to rolling ... or at least, not that he was aware of. It was still a relief to know that any of Valintine's less friendly comrades wouldn't find him such an easy target.

He rose from his seat, going to sit next to Val. The vampire had that far-away look in his eyes like he was remembering something from long ago. It always made Jas feel a little sad for him, but it was still infinitely preferably to the cold, hard mask that Val sometimes wore. Some emotion was better than none, for it was too eerie to think that his lover had forgotten all of his humanity.

"I think I'm ready," he said, taking another sip from his drink. "This is the one with the flames, right?"

"If you wish to call them that. Just don't blink..." He smiled warmly at Jasper. His eyes seemed to glaze over with a sort of unnatural power for a moment. That glaze of power peeled off in the form of a icy blue flame and a deep amber one, the same colors as his eyes. They floated forward and sunk into Jasper's eyes. Again, the same feelings from before would probably be felt, but the events were painless just like the ones from before.

Valintine looked at Jasper. He felt a new connection between the two of them, though it was closed for a moment. He willed it to be opened and it did. He looked to the drink for a moment and then back to Jasper. "Drink it..." His tone was soft, curious, tranquil. Any other tone and it might have come off as a command.

Jas blinked one last time and nodded, keeping his eyes open as Valintine appeared to fall into concentration. He watched, curious, as two flames the colors of Val's eyes floated towards him, sinking in with another rush of warmth and tingles. He shivered and shut his eyes, examining himself again to see if he could tell any difference. Still there wasn't much, beyond the desire to get closer to Val.

At the request, he reached for his drink again, taking a small sip. "Can you taste it?" he asked, watching the vampire for his reaction. This was supposedly one of the parts Val was most looking forward to.

Valintine's cheeks went red. For two thousand years he went without food, water, or candy of any kind. Simply because he didn't need it. Eating and drinking such things was torment. He could feel it in his mouth, but no matter how many times he ran his tongue over it, no taste would come of it. It was a fate worse than death for him. He could only watch as others consumed things and ranted about how good it tasted, and how he was missing out. Of course a single look from the vampire silence them instantly. This very moment was more meaningful to him than his life.

The taste of the drink was divine. It could not be described, as he hadn't used words to describe such tastes in ages. He panted a bit as if he had been overrun with one too many emotions. And maybe he had been. But he deserved such things in his eyes. He was once more, in some way, closer to Jasper than he had been a few hours ago. He was closer to passing for a human than he had been before. He didn't know if Jasper truly accepted him fully as a vampire or if he wished for him to be more human. He never asked simply because he feared the answer. At the end of the night, he was a vampire. He always would be. No matter what he could taste, how fast he could make his heart beat, or how alive his skin seemed. But he could try for Jasper.

Lost in this thought, and the feelings of the liquid Jasper had just drank. He realized he hadn't answered the question. His face was still slightly blushing and his tongue was darting all over his mouth attempting to taste what it could not. He nodded a bit at Jasper and smiled. "I...It...I mean...Mon dieu..." He sighed and slumped in his seat. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the fading taste in his mouth. He looked at Jasper with his crystal blue eye and smiled a bit. "I think I'm in love all over again..." He said with a deep sigh.

"All over again, hmm?" Jasper said with a little smile, scooting closer and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I'll have to eat and drink more, the better to get this reaction out of you."

He sipped again at the drink, letting the alcohol relax him. He clearly didn't have the same reaction to the drink as Valintine ... after all, it was easy to take eating and drinking for granted when it was a daily activity. He stretched his long legs out and leaned closer to the vampire, playing lightly with his hair. It made him happy just to wring some new emotions out of his lover, especially when they were such good emotions.

Valintine tasted the drink again and rested his head on Jasper's chest. The vampire was dying all over again. He let out some coos of pleasure to signal that he was more than happy with the situation. He despised himself for going on this long without getting a servant to taste through, but it was well worth the wait. He'd rather have a lover than a Servant anyway, but having both in the same embodiment just made things all the sweeter. He kissed the male's chest softly, as he attempted to hang onto the fading taste of the drink. He mentally sighed as he went away for good...for now.

He sat up again and gently removed the drink. "More to come later...much more. I forgot to mention. With the Second Mark, I can enter your dreams now. I do hope you don't mind changing your sheets in the morning." He smiled mischievously and chuckled. "Are you ready for the Third?" He asked taking hold of one of Jasper's hand and kissing the back of it. "It's quiet simple...All I need to do is feed from you. That's it..."

"Oh great," Jas said with another grin, rolling his eyes a little. "As if we don't change our sheets enough. But I guess I don't mind, as long as you don't overdo it." He licked his lips, feeling weirdly eager to feel Val in his dreams. That promised to be an interesting experience.

He sat up a little more, letting Valintine take his hand and watching him curiously. "That seems easy enough ... but you've fed from me plenty of times. What's this going to change?"

Valintine just smiled at the Lycan. "You'll see..." He said softly, snaking an arm around his waist, and dropping his hand. He pulled Jasper in close and kissed his neck softly. A soft hiss slipped from his lips before he sank his fangs into the other.

The bite felt just as great as all his previous bites. It was sexually charged, seductive, and filled with a lust that ignored the laws of logic and reason. But this feeling lasted but a moment before a new power shoved its way over the Ardeur and into Jasper. It was a deep, foreboding, and yet comforting power. It was filled with feelings of conflict, desire, rage, sadness, lust, envy. The power raced for Jasper's head and would blossom inside of him, the emotions eventually calming down and showing that what Jasper had felt wasn't the power of Valintine, but his own thoughts and feelings.

He pulled away from Jaspers neck and smiled at him. In a terribly cliche voice, though his eyes said he did it on purpose, he spoke "It is done..."

Jas shivered at the touch, already automatically relaxing and tilting his head to allow Val's mouth better access. Fortunately he healed fast, or his neck would be ringed with older bites.

He gasped quietly as he felt the fangs penetrate his skin, the moment of pain washed over with Valintine's lustful power. Jas surrendered to it, letting the feelings sweep over him ... but was slightly unprepared for the wash of emotions that weren't his own. He could feel every little nuance of Val's feelings and thoughts. He felt the weight of centuries, rage and sadness and lust and, there at the end, love. He was relieved when the emotions finally slowed down and calmed to a light buzz at the back of his mind.

He blinked, feeling as though he was waking up. "... Wow," he said after a moment, reaching up to touch Val's face lightly. "That was pretty intense."