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Orpheus trudged up the walk to Crystal and Kaoru's home, pulling something large, silent, and possibly alive behind him. It was truly too dark to see exactly what the tall item being quite unwillingly dragged along was, but Orpheus didn't seem to have too much trouble with it, for it was not resisting - simply not being helpful in the young vampire's endeavors. Although it might have seemed strange to anyone else that the boy was out alone after the sun had set, neither of the women in the home would have batted an eye or worried about his safety. Orpheus was both pleased and infuriated by such thoughts. How dare the women not worry about the possibility of the pretty face being kidnapped away in the midst of the night! Equally dreadful was the thought of either of the two of them giving him a lecture on being out at night.

Shoulders were lofted into a shrug at the lose-lose situation and as he approached the door to the home he would shove whatever it was he was towing behind him off to the side, so that anyone who came to the door would be completely unable to realize that the term "look what the cat dragged in" might go very, very badly within minutes. Not that he'd put either of the girls in harms way mind you, but the item which he'd brought along wasn't exactly in the best of moods. With another shrug Orpheus knocked on the door, and the looked down at his little pocket watch to count just how long the two of them would force the petulant boy to sit out on the steps. Of course he was timing them! This was Orpheus after all.

The boy slowly looked up from his watch as the girl opened the door and despite her timely approach, he still allowed a 'tsk' noise to escape between his lips before she could speak, tucking the watch back into his pocket with deliberate slowness. No reason to allow them to get overly relaxed and start opening the door at longer intervals after all. "Not too much," the boy started before stuffing his hand into his pocket as if to retrieve something there, "I have a gift for Crystal though. Would she mind coming to the door?"

Orpheus remained stoic as he looked up at the teen with wide and almost too innocent eyes, before he leaned in over the threshold only the slightest bit when he heard her voice, "You most certainly do," he said loud enough for her to hear, the tone clearly reminding her that the visitor was not one to be kept waiting, before he settled back on the whole of his feet where he'd started, looking at Kaoru silently.

At the sight of Crystal the boy would smile, looking between the two woman with obvious delight and a bit of youthful mischief. They should have known something was up as soon as those lips curled up and his little dimples cratered in his cheeks while sharp pearly teeth poked at the bottom of his lip. "I'm well, and I have hopefully brought you something that will make you feel better as well," he said with yet another grin before pulling out a small pair of scissors from his pocket and placing them into the hand Crystal had offered in greeting.

After a pause, as he let the weird first half of the gift sink in for the two women, he'd reach over into the shadows and tug forward the now resisting item he'd been dragging earlier. "Ta-da!" Orpheus said with triumph, presenting the newly decorated Qadir to the two women, but especially to Crystal.

Qadir, god bless his poor soul, looked like he'd just narrowly escaped from Santa's work shed. Most of his messy hair had been piled upon his head and a giant gold bow had been wrapped around the tuft to keep it there - a silly sight to see the miniature ponytail poofing up over the rim of a neatly tied bow. His mouth had also been taped over, a little kissy lips face drawn on top and thus revealing why there had been no verbal protest from the vampire. Arms had also been gift-wrapped in front of him, wrists bound together with more of the lovely gold ribbon, a bit of the ribbon trailing into Orpheus' hand like a little leash.

"Get well soon!" Orpheus said, pride coloring his voice as he placed the ribbon into her hands. And then without another word he left the bewildered and blushing Qadir for the two women, the younger vampire disappearing off into the night to no doubt laugh himself to death.

Qadir wrinkled his nose at having to stand there displayed as such, fidgeting unhappily within his restraints. The vampire was yelling at the top of his lungs at the boy as he retreated, if only into that bow-topped head of his. Really, the indignity of it all! It seemed however, that the flower girl was amused and delighted with the boy’s gift, and that certainly softened the helplessness of it all.

Arms curled tightly about his beloved maiden as she pulled locked arms about her form and allowed him to pout at her once the ribbon was removed from his lips. “Allow this? My dear, though I’d pull the stars from the sky to keep you company at night, I would never allow myself to be hog-tied in such a manner.” The man sighed for a moment, taking the clear opportunity to lean in and give his girl a soft kiss upon each of her cheeks. She was looking better, but was that simply for the moment or was this a positive turn with her struggles?

“I sleep my heaviest just before I wake up,” he started, clearly displeased at having to relive the memory that had brought him to this place in time, “This particularly ‘exciting’ morning was met with me being pulled from the bed by my arms, landing upon my face, and then being dragged on my stomach for a matter of minutes, releasing me from time to time while I changed into a better manner of clothes, and then brow-beating me to walk the rest of the way like some prize from the country faire.” Qadir pouted again, twisting his arms in their deceptively pretty bonds; he wanted to hold her right properly!

Orpheus indeed knew the favors the flower woman would be delivering to him, all in good time no doubt. The sly hint of a grin was so eerie in the moonlight as he practically skipped his way towards home that he felt the sudden urge to hide it behind one hand, lest the neighbors started to believe he was the reincarnation of Jack the Ripper taking a pleasant skip-stroll along the road. 'Best to try and act more casual!' he remind himself, unsure of how dark it really was, and if anyone would even notice the slightly blurred boy as he went passed. Likely people were asleep or preoccupied, but the steps slowed and the ghoulish grin returned the usual grim demeanor back to the boy's features.


Qadir greedily wrapped his arms about Crystal soon as those ribbons were but a breath away from his wrists. Captured, he pulled her close, fingers clenching slightly into the cloth and fold of her garments. Nose gave a gentle nuzzle to the back curve of her neck, enjoying the way her curls brushed against his cheeks. With his eyes closed, he could imagine holding her forever, just like this, without worry or care for anything further in their lives. "He can be a good child at times," he grunted, sparing the part where, had Orpheus only made the proposition to him and saved him the torture of being drug about the house like a stuffed pig, he'd have gladly taken up the invitation and played along, like a good boy.

Leaning into the woman, he scooped her into his arms, cradling her close against his chest with but a chaste kiss upon those cheeks which had lost the vibrancy he best remembered about her. "How have you been?" he asked, obvious hesitation coloring his voice and causing his eyes to go dim. He knew he'd been too distracted, or too willingly distracted, to properly take care of her, the woman he so gallantly claimed to love. Certainly it wasn't that he was avoiding her, worried of catching something of what she had, and it wasn't that he couldn't stand to see her as she was, but more that he was working so very hard to find something, anything, to make her better. He knew one choice, one he never wanted to propose upon her, but one that might be a viable option, were she to continue in the manner she so clearly was.