8th of Searing, 4622
The first thing about new house owners, Vivian was learning, was that taking over a Veir's household was an immensely complex process. They had to determine staff ranking, who they were keeping, and the woman of the house had an outrageous amount of birds Vivian could use to his advantage. The owl in particular seemed to be a favorite...something very easily replaceable by a molded Malformity mage. The very thought of changing shape put a rock in the pit of his stomach, so he turned his attention toward his reading and recovery.
That said, he wanted to make sure the majority of his masters' library didn't fall into the wrong hands. He needed to be able to peruse Degare's library on Malformity, Arkash's books on Necromancy, and some of the books on biology and chemistry he'd been meaning to get around to but had found astoundingly complex. He wasn't sure about the new Veir, or his wife. He had to get those books safe, before they were destroyed, sold, or his access to them was removed entirely.
This technically wasn't stealing, right? It was just relocating them to other parts of the house.
Besides, they would have enough problems cleaning out the master suite and settling their things in. He would have to be careful. Vivian had already set aside some space for the books underneath his bed. He would only take what he needed, though he desperately hoped that somewhere, somehow, Degare had a few erotic novels. Vivian hadn't gone so long without a lay in his life and if he wasn't careful his new Veir was going to start to look good.
Vivian crept out of his room. He had to keep a low profile. Not that he could move quickly or carry that much anyway, given how exhausted he felt. Slowly heel-toeing down the carpeted hallway was as much to keep his breakfast in his stomach as it was trying to escape notice. The staff, luckily, wouldn't be likely to rat him out. They were trying to keep their heads down too. At least with Degare they knew the score. New masters could be unpredictable, especially Veirs looking to make a name for themselves. Vivian slowly moved down the hallway toward Degare's office, focusing on his breathing and keeping it slow and even. If he were caught he wanted to appear normal.
He reached the office, and slipped inside. Right. He only had a few minutes. He grabbed two books on Malformity, one on Necromancy, and another on Biology. Four books. Four books wouldn't be missed for too long in such a large office would they? It wasn't like he was stealing them. They would be replaced. This way, he could stay out of the way of the new Veir, and study quietly in his room until they figured out what to do with him. If he was thrown out on his rear, then he would start stealing everything that wasn't nailed down.
Bara could carry quite a lot.
Vivian tucked the books against his chest. The leatherbound tomes were heavy, and he could already feel his arms shaking. Good gods, the magic exhaustion was taking more out of him than he'd thought. He silently crept into the hallway and used his foot to shut the door to the office...as slowly as he could. His shoulders shook slightly and a wave of nausea swept down his throat. Even carrying something as heavy as books was starting to give him the spins.
"What in the gods' names are you up to?"
He almost dropped the books, turning on his heels to see the porter staring at him.
"Hey. Just...hiding these so I can study them later." Vivian hissed. "I'm not taking them out of the estate."
Lucas shook his head. "I don't want to see you get in trouble...and you know if they ask me I can't lie." he whispered back. Vivian gave him a look. He could lie. They both knew he could lie. He just didn't want to face consequences so early into a new household and they both knew it. The whore rolled his eyes at the porter. He'd hoped taking the man's virginity would have given him a little more testicular fortitude.
Vivian slowly edged toward his room. He wasn't having this conversation in the damned hallway. Lucas followed him nervously, looking over his shoulder. Vivian slid into the room and dumped the books onto his bed, and Lucas shut the door behind them. The porter looked about ready to vomit; he was pale and his eyes darted around the room frantically. "Vivian!" Lucas hissed at him. "You can't!"
"Degare let me take whatever I wanted out of that library. Shut up." Vivian growled back, clambering down on his knees and storing the books under his bed. "It's not like I'm stealing! I'm just borrowing."
Lucas rubbed his hand over his face. "Vivian.."
Vivian stood, and grabbed Lucas by the front of his shirt. "Sh...you just didn't see anything." he chuckled, and pressed his lips to the porter's. Lucas stood fast against him for a moment, his lips tensing, clearly trying to keep some sort of professionalism to the conversation. Vivian pressed his body against Lucas, lifting a leg to curl around the porter's. Lucas was a bit naïve the first few times he'd taken Vivian, but as far as students went...he was a quick learner. Lucas relaxed against him with a sigh, wrapping his arms around Vivian's waist and pushing him back toward the bed.
"You really need to put the books back..." Lucas whispered as he hungrily planted kisses down Vivian's neck, his fingers making quick work of the other man's shirt. Vivian laid back, closing his eyes and willing the contents of his stomach to stay there. The last thing he wanted was to vomit all over Lucas and bring the boy's mind squarely back to replacing the books. There was a vague sense of something changing in his body, and he wasn't quite sure it was the mageblight anymore.
Vivian had experience with mageblight. He knew about throwing up blood, cramping, feeling as weak as a newborn. There was something else happening, something like his organs shifting around. His heart would skip a beat every now and then, and there was the feeling of something growing. He swallowed thickly, and pulled Lucas' hips close to his own. Lucas wasn't paying attention, lost in kissing Vivian's skin and stripping their clothing.
"How are you always ready for this?" Lucas teased. Vivian frowned; the last part of Lucas' voice dipped down sharply in pitch. Twisted, and swam through oily noise. He opened his eyes, and instead of Lucas' sweet brown eyes he was staring right into Degare's red eyes. He could smell Degare around him. He was Degare. Vivian grabbed Lucas and shoved him down to the bed, a predatory grin spreading across his features.
"Daring of you, little porter." he whispered darkly.
"Viv?" Lucas asked in a small voice, eyes wide.
"Shut up." Vivian's hand wrapped around Lucas' throat, and hiked up under his chin. There it was. Life blood, pulsing rapidly under his fingers. Panic singing in Lucas' eyes. Fear. Pain. "I'm going to fuck you, and you're not going to say a word..." He felt Degare through his own voice.
"Viv-" Lucas' broken sob shattered the illusion. Vivian yanked his fingers away from Lucas' throat like he'd been burned, and scrambled away from the other boy. He blinked. No. Degare was dead. This was him. He was Vivian. That on the bed was Lucas, panting a mile a minute and staring at him in utter terror.
"Lucas I'm sorry..." Vivian blurted.
"I won't say anything." Lucas hiccuped, getting off the bed and grabbing his shirt.
"Wait. Please." Vivian grabbed the porter's arm. "This...this is what extending yourself as a mage looks like. I'm sorry. That wasn't me. Really." He chewed his lip, meeting Lucas' eyes earnestly. The porter studied him for a moment, and wiped tears out of his eyes with the heel of his hand. Vivian was frozen; Lucas was one of the few friends in the household he had left. He didn't want to burn this bridge.
"Just... I need time." Lucas shrugged him off, and slid out of Vivian's room. Vivian sank onto the bed, put his head in his hands, and promptly vomited onto the floor.
