"It’s been a while, how are you?" Orson politely asked Madeline as she led him to the living room of her simple Manor, opening the curtains and brightening the room with the vibrant sunlight that seeped in from outside.
"I’ve been doing pretty well, but even better now that you’re here. Please..."
She gestured for him to have his seat, and Orson comfortably sat on the plush couch, making himself feel more at home before Madeline proceeded to ask. "What would you like me to offer? If you want I can cook up something real quick, I’m sorry I don’t have anything saved for now, if I knew you were coming I would have gotten arrangements made sooner for your visit."
"You are too kind, and I would feel bad if I make the Lady stress herself." Orson shook his head, feeling touched by her hospitality. "You don’t have to worry about any of that, I’m actually here to see that husband of yours, it’s unfortunate how he treats me differently when I visit. Ahh... speak of the devil." He sighed, earning a soft laugh from Madeline as she turned to see Cassian come down from the stairs with one hand habitually stuck in his trouser pocket.
"You are a heartless man." Orson began jokingly as he approached them, "you never asked of me or chose to visit since you’ve got a house of your own now, how low has our friendship become that you’ve chosen to abandon me?"
"Do I owe you that much loyalty?"
"Try to atone for your sins by getting me a glass of something sweet."
"Wait, hold on," his right brow curved up, "I hope you didn’t make my wife do any of that errand nonsense you’re saying?"
He exchanged glances between Madeline and Orson, and Madeline shook her head. "I insisted on serving him, but he refused."
"He’s not a guest, if he needs something he can get one himself." He bluntly stated, but Madeline understood Cassian was only trying to make Orson feel included, even if he wasn’t stating it.
"You lack hospitality, currently I don’t have a wife, or a lover I can spend my money on, but when I eventually find that lucky someone, I’ll build a house with the imprint ’Keep away if your name is Cassian’ " Orson gestured with his hand to emphasize how big the template will be.
Cassian visibly rolled his eyes, earning a laugh from Madeline who couldn’t control it. "I’m sorry, it’s just, you two always bicker like old married couples."
"No no, see, married couples can get divorced and separate." Orson calmly asserted. "Me and Cas, we’re like Siamese twins."
"It’s conjoined twins, idiot." Cassian made an attempt to kick him, startling Orson who bristled to the end of the couch. "Must you find opportunities to hit me."
"See what I mean." Madeline shook her head helplessly before taking her seat at the armchair, while Cassan took the empty space beside Orson.
"What do we owe the special visit?"
The smile on Orson’s face slowly faded at the question, and Cassian didn’t fail to notice it. "What happened? You’re dull all of a sudden."
Cassian’s remark made Orson look at him briefly, and then he lowered his gaze as he tried to gather up his courage to speak. "Actually...I have something important to reveal to the both of you...but.."
Before Orson could reveal what he wanted to say, A redhead suddenly stumbled into the living room, gaining the attention of the three who lifted their gazes to look at him. The redhead who realized he just walked into a conversation made him feel like he shouldn’t be here, and he could only avert his gaze as he wouldn’t want anyone to take notice of the stains of blood that formed dots on some areas of his face.
"Hey, where have you been?" His presence suddenly reminded Cassian that he was harboring a vampire in his home. After that day in the kitchen, he noticed his absence and wondered where the vampire has been lurking for the past few days.
"You know him?" Madeline, who was coming across Elian for the first time, had her gaze transfixed on Cassian and the mysterious stranger that refused to look in her direction.
"I’ll be upstairs." Was Elian’s only response before exiting the living room in a hurry. What he wanted to do more than anything right now was to have a nice bath and change from the filthy clothes he was wearing.
With Cassian’s sharp gaze fixed on him, he caught a faint glimpse of something reddish on Elian’s hand, as though it had been smeared with - was it paint?? At first, he didn’t bother until the smell of blood made its way to his nostril.
The only difference was, it wasn’t blood that appealed to him, and that made his eyes snap as he knew something was awfully wrong.
"Hold on." Rising to his feet, Cassian followed Elian up the stairs, wanting to verify what sort of blood he just inhaled. Madeline and Orson glanced at each other, both of them clueless on what was happening before them.
"Who is he?" Unable to get over her curiosity concerning that particular being, she asked Orson who was also clueless about the vampire’s history.
"I don’t know in details, but he was of great help to Cassian when we wanted to find you. He told us about Jeremy’s plot but for one request, and Cassian had to agree to let him stay here since it was the only option we could take to find you."
You mean he’s a-"
"Vampire? Yes." Orson concluded it for her, leading Madeline’s eyes to widen as she looked up the stairs where the stranger had taken. Her intuition was starting to kick in, and Madeline didn’t want to believe the stranger was capable of causing harm to them since Cassian had agreed to let him stay with them.
"He looks so lost." Orson added, meeting Madeline’s gaze. "I wonder what his motive is for trying to help Cassian."