Time: Later after "Mutual Desires", Thursday evening, Oct. 24
++After Sonny's call to Camera della Luna that interrupted Julian and Thorne. Sonny comes to tell Julian that Frank has said he is ready to be Embraced. Knowing Frank's 'all or nothing' approach to life, Sonny deems that this needs to be handled as soon as possible. ++
"As much as I want Frank Kouhanek ... for myself, for the Ventrue ... it creates more problems than solutions. For starters, it wouldn't work with you as primogen and partner." Julian Luna pronounces.
Sonny nods in agreement, "He is street smart, Julian, not board room smart."
"You're street smart, Sonny, and you're Ventrue," Julian smirks. "You know, we don't all wear suits." He holds up a hand to ward off the coming retort. "But I know what you mean. Frank's not really Ventrue."
"He's been asking a lot of questions about the different clans, their strengths and weaknesses. He blurted out that he is ready for the Embrace - but I don't think so, not yet." Sonny settles back in his chair, hooded eyes regarding Julian. "He asked about Cash in specific."
Julian lets out a long sigh. He knew it would come to this, from the first time he truly looked into Frank Kouhanek's eyes, that night in the rose garden outside Alexandra's apartment, the night Frank shot him. What we desire, we fear the most. So the detective had shot the Kindred prince.
"He's confused, Sonny, by his own wants and needs. For so long, he's thought he wanted me dead. Then he tasted Alexandra's blood," he pauses, rubbing the back of his of his neck. "and now he has so many conflicting wants and desires, he doesn't know which end is up." He walks over and sits down opposite his childe. [And now he wants Cash.] "But I have to agree that if he is to be Kindred ... and I don't think we have a choice at this point ... then Gangrel may be the best option."
"And will you tell him? or send Cash to him?" Sonny looks concerned. "*Has* Cash ever made a childe? It's not an inate skill, you know....."
"To my knowledge, Cash has never Embraced anyone. And the Gangrel aren't known for their great parenting skills," he sighs, laughing to himself as he remembers the way Cash came to this house. "I'll talk with Cash first, then I'll tell Frank personally." The sigh quickly melts into a wide grin as Julian muses on *how* he plans on telling Frank.
"I take it that you plan to be a 'surrogate sire', then." Sonny grins. Even though his own Embrace was compassion on Julian's part rather than passion, he still understands his sire's tastes enough to know that Julian is drawn to Frank.
"Sonny, you know me *too* well, I believe," Julian says, returning the grin. "I don't think Frank will object to being 'under my hand.' Do you?"
"Frank is fascinated, with Alexandra he knew only the passion. I think he will want the power as well. At any rate, he will be an asset to whichever clan Embraces him. AND," Sonny points out with the even handedness of a Justicar, "As prince, you owe the Gangrel a fledgling." Sonny is reluctant to refer to Sasha, but the words need to be said.
"I'm well aware of what the Gangrel have lost, Sonny. I don't need reminders," the prince responds, closing his eyes momentarily, trying not to think of Sasha and Stevie Ray, but to no avail. "But I won't let Frank be Embraced just to be abandoned. If I need to be there for him, I will be."
"Cash is more responsible than Stevie ever was, Julian. Where the other clans are concerned, at least. He is excitable and hot-headed like all the Gangrel, but Archon taught him better manners than some Ventrue have."
Later, after Sonny leaves. Julian goes to find Cash, who is in his rooms over the garage. "..'And Elrond, the master of the house, was their chief. He was as noble and as fair in face as an elf-lord, as stong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer.'...." As Julian climbs the stairs to Cash's apartment, he hears his lover's voice, the sonorous prose of Tolkien pouring like honey off the Gangrel's tongue.
[He's in thoughtful mood. That's good. He'll be receptive to what I have to say.] The prince reassures himself as he climbs the stairs. He's not used to making requests of his primogen to Embrace mortals. And that it's Cash makes it that much trickier.
Morgaine sits in the Mission-style chair next to the fireplace, her legs curled to her side. She would rather be curled into Cash's lap by the small fire they've lit, but the bright reading lamp is better for needlework. Cash sits at her feet, his head back against her knee, the green leather - bound book with the red and gold stamping laying in his lap. She's wrapped in a forest green crushed velvet gown, long and flowing, with tight sleeves that come to a point at her fingers. A small droplet of crimson is drying at the edge of the scooped neckline. Cash is wearing worn jeans and a black shirt, pulled out and left nearly unbuttoned. Both are barefoot.
The light flashes silver on the needle in Morgaine's hand as it dips in and out of the linen, the folds of a woman's scarlet gown taking shaped under her clever fingers. "Cash, love, hand me my scissors...." she murmurs. Julian stops on the landing, taking in this domestic scene with something approaching envy. This quietly loving Morgaine and scholarly Cash are almost strangers to him, despite having them individually as lovers for decades.
[I hate to interrupt them. They look so happy. This business with Frank can wait. It's not that pressing.] Julian makes a quarter turn to head back down the stairs. But what he wants more than anything is to join them, take off his suit coat and relax, go back to not being the prince for a while.
Cash picks up the silver scissors that have fallen from Morgaine's lap to the floor by his bare feet. He turns to hand them to her and catches the movement at the top of the stairs. "Julian??" the Gangrel questions.
"Yes, Cash," the prince answers. "It's nothing. I was just leaving."
"No, come on in..... You know you are always welcome here."
Morgaine lays the linen on the chair's arm and rises, quickly crossing the room to the landing to her sib. She gently tugs on Julian's arm, stopping him. "No, stay. You aren't interrupting." She pulls him back into the room.
Cash also rises at the prince's approach, "Can I get you something to drink, Julian?" Cash waves toward the kitchen area.
"A glass of wine would be nice," Julian smiles. "Thank you." Cash nods and goes to the cupboard and retrieves three wine glasses and a bottle of merlot.
"Julian, take off your coat and relax," she coaxes him. "You *really* didn't interrupt anything." Julian unbuttons his coat and takes it off, looking around for just where to put it. He drops it on the computer table for lack of a coat rack.
"Are you sure, Morgaine?" he whispers, leaning in to lick the blood droplet from her breast.
She clutches at his neck as his tongue roughly flicks against her skin. "Just a stray drop, baby brother," she teases. "Do you like its taste?" She pulls his face up and kisses him lightly.
Coming back to the fireplace, Cash hands two empty glasses to Morgaine, filling the other and handing it to Julian. Then he fills glasses for himself and Morgaine and recorks the bottle, setting it on the mantle. He then sits in the armchair recently vacated by Morgaine, accepting his glass from her hand as she settles on the footstool at his feet. "It's not your private reserve, but it's decent." Cash takes a sip, savoring the wine, watching his prince, his lover over the edge of his glass. "Julian, what brings you here tonight?" [This is only the second time you have been in my rooms since I moved in...]
Julian takes in the wine's bouquet and then takes a sip. [Almost as tasty as the blood, Morgaine, but not nearly as wild.] "I thought I had an open invitation to visit you, Cash." He regards his lover with a wry smile. "Do I need a reason?"
Morgaine giggles into the side of her glass, her free hand caressing Cash's thigh. [No, it's much tamer.]
"No, of course you need not have a reason, but twice in three months doesn't make you a frequent visitor," Cash teases.
"Cash, don't be rude," Morgaine says playfully.
"Vixen," he retorts, "Mind *your* manners, too." Then he grins to take any sting out of his words.
"No, sis, he's not rude," Julian starts, taking another sip of wine. "He's right. I'm not a frequent visitor here. You've probably seen more of this place in three weeks than I have in all the decades I've known Cash. And that's my fault, not his." Julian loosens his tie and unbuttons the collar of his purple shirt. "Mind if I sit down?"
"Of course not, my lord," Cash nearly purrs the title, happy to have both his lovers here, relaxed and at their ease. [My family now...]
Julian takes the chair across from Cash, letting himself fall into the oversized cushions. "I have something to ask of you, Cash. A favor, prince to primogen."
"Perhaps I should leave, then," Morgaine says, starting to rise. "You will want to talk privately."
"Not necessarily, Morgaine. I don't mind asking in front of you ... if Cash doesn't mind," Julian counters. [You might actually help by being here.]
Puzzled at the formal request, Cash frowns. "Whatever my prince requires," he responds just as formally. "Please stay, Morgaine."
Morgaine smiles and settles back down, laying a tender reassuring hand on Cash's arm.
[My witch, thank you] Cash lays a hand over hers, and picks up her hand to kiss her fingertips.
Julian moves forward in the chair, sitting just on its edge. He takes another sip of the wine, a long one, before sitting the glass on the hearth. "I was wrong, Cash, in not giving you permission to Embrace Sasha when you first asked," he launches in, pausing to smile at the loving exchange between his two lovers. "Because of that, a grievous mistake happened. I can't rectify that. God, if I could ... but I can't."
Cash still has ahold of Morgaine's fingers when the prince speaks, suddenly his grip is crushing. Startled, she looks up at him, surprised to see a look of regret, grief, she is not sure quite what.
Julian knows the look on Cash's face. He saw it the night Cash told him Sasha had been Embraced by Brujah. Regret, grief, anger ... at the Brujah, at himself ... at Julian. "I hesitated then because I didn't want someone I cared around to be hurt, to be brought into this life without knowing what they were getting into," he continues. "I was afraid you'd be too much like Stevie Ray, not care for your childe." [There, you've said it, Julian.]
Releasing Morgaine's hand, the Gangrel primogen sits back, forcing his controls down to keep the pain and rage buried. Cash's jaw is set, and he thinks to himself, not opening his thoughts to Julian, [Why now, why bring this up now. We never speak of her....] "I would never abandon a childe the way I was abandoned, nor for so long. A childe of my clan must needs learn to survive on its own, but not the way I learned. Alone, defenseless, frightened..."
[Abandoned? My love, that explains so much. Your need to be here, with us.] Morgaine keeps the thought to herself, only reaching out to Cash with a hand, taking his once more. [You will never be alone again.] Absently, Cash strokes her fingers, soothing himself with touching her.
"I know, Cash. I know. Now. And that's why ..." Julian pauses, taking in a deep breath. "I want you to Embrace Frank Kouhanek." Julian sits back, waiting for the fallout.
"WHAT!!!" Cash practically leaps from the chair. "You want me to do WHAT!!!" Cash starts pacing, up and down in front of the fireplace, he runs a hand through his hair, making it even more of an unruly mess. [FRANK???? Frank 'I want to destroy the Kindred' Kouhanek???]
Julian remains calm, fighting the urge to match his lover's rage point for point. He reaches for the wine glass, grabbing it just before Cash's pacing knocks it to the floor. He quickly finishes off the wine. "Calm down, Cash. And that's not quite accurate. He didn't want to kill Kindred ... just me. Sit down, let me explain."
Cash collapses back into his chair with a huff. He nods to Julian abruptly. "Yeah, I want to hear this.....'
Morgaine sits back, floating on the edges of the conversation. She knows of Kouhanek, the mortal detective, from the blood she has shared with both Julian and Cash, and from her talks with Lillie. But Julian's request puzzles her as well. "Julian, it is within the prince's rights to ask anything of a primogen," she starts softly, "except to Embrace a mortal unwillingly. Does this detective want to be Kindred?"
"He doesn't really have a choice, not anymore," Julian responds with little emotion. He knows the allusion Morgaine is making is to Alexandra. [This isn't the same, Morgaine. Frank isn't Alexandra and I'm not Archon. I want to help him, not hurt him.] "He knows too much of us, has gotten way too close to us ... to Sonny ... to me . He'll lose his mind if he doesn't become Kindred. And we'll loose a valuable ally."
"Sonny has been talking with Frank, and he's been asking a lot of questions about the various clans. I think he's trying to figure out where he fits in. I know Lillie has tasted of him, and would love to have him, but he's no artist -- not Toreador. And I don't think he's Tremere material either. I emphatically won't let Cameron get his hands on him. So that leaves Gangrel and Ventrue. Making him Ventrue would create too many problems, the biggest being that it puts a strain on his relationship with Sonny. Sire and childe together as police partners? I don't think so. And I'm not sure Frank would take well to answering to Sonny as primogen. "
"He's specifically asked Sonny a lot about you, Cash, and the Gangrel. There is a touch of the wild in him, an uncontrollable quality. He's a lot like you in a lot of ways, Cash." Julian smiles at the thought, the realization of his attraction to the mortal detective hitting home. "I think he'd make a nice addition to your clan."
"He seems to be a bit of a lone wolf at that..." Cash muses. Now that he is past his initial shock at Julian's request, his mind is beginning to work again. "I don't know him at all well, only what you have told me of him and the couple of times I saw him during the Starkweather mess. I always thought, though, that you were grooming him for the Ventrue. But what you say about working with your sire is very true. It's hard to be an equal with him, even after you leave his care."
Cash leans forward, intent on Julian now, all traces of the dreamer and lover are long gone; this is the Gangrel Primogen. "What can he bring to my clan? He's a trained fighter already -- has to be as a police officer -- and he hates the Brujah....". Cash's voice trails off. "Seriously, Julian, it's not a half bad idea," he adds, shaking his head, "but a Gangrel police officer???? Well, I suppose it's no stranger than a Gangrel Army NCO."
"Is he really ready? Hell, is *anybody* ready? At least he's had longer to think about it than *I* did. Months, not a split second in an alley, 'Live or die, soldier boy.' " Cash's voice is bitter. Morgaine looks up at Cash again, thinking, [Lover, you never speak of your sire, of your Embrace. I begin to see why.]
[Long time ago and no longer regretted, my witch. It's a long tale even by Gangrel standards. Perhaps I'll tell you someday.]
[Perhaps.] Morgaine echoes, [I think it would surprise you how much we have in common, Cash.]
Julian's face grows somber at Cash's tone, his mind pulling forth its own demons. He stares into the fire, looking back to a past he can't forget, lost in the orange and blue hissing of the flames ["Do you want to be Embraced?" Archon asked; *after* my body was wracked with pain. A split second under his hand turned into eternity.]
Morgaine, sensing where her brother has drifted to, nods to Cash and lightly pulls her hand from his. She turns to Julian and sinks to her knees before him. She reaches up, stroking his cheek lightly. "My brother, come back to the present. You cannot erase your past, anymore than I can mine," she soothes. "You were not ready. I was not. None of us were. But we adapted. And Frank will, too."
The touch of his elder sibling, she who was temptress and lover and healer, slowly draws the Ventrue prince out of his reverie. He takes her hand in his, lightly kissing its palm. Morgaine drops back to the floor, content to sit quietly between her two lovers. "You are right. Someday, we should all purge our demons," he says wistfully. "But not tonight. Tonight, we're talking about bringing Frank Kouhanek fully into our world."
"Cash, have you ever made a childe?" Julian asks, suspecting the answer is no, but not knowing for sure. There was a long time that he and Cash weren't together. "I want this to go smoothly, for you and Frank. No trauma. No leaving him to fend for himself. I want us to be there for him. Think you can handle that?"
Cash's eyes rest for a long moment on Julian. "Sasha was the first I ever had permission to Embrace. I'm old enough, my blood strong enough. But I've seen enough mortals destroyed out of arrogance or ignorance to not mind if you or Daedalus are there. I was going to ask you to watch with Sasha, even. It's never a sure thing, you know."
"And there's one last favor, not as prince but as Julian," he begins, watching for Cash's reaction. "I want to have Frank before you Embrace him, to taste him as a mortal." Julian's voice betrays just the slightest edge of passion to the casual observer; but to his longtime lovers, it floods through the room.
A bolt of arousal and jealousy spins through the Gangrel. [MY childe.] is his instant reaction, then he recognizes it for what it is, he is already considering Frank as his own. [Yeah, my childe desired by MY lover, my regnant..... Complicated!! And Julian likes the *wild*. What if Frank replaces me in his bed? Oh gods, can I do this? Be fair to a fledgling who may well take my place at the prince's side?] Cash's hand tightens on the wine glass to nearly the breaking point.
Morgaine reaches up and takes the glass away.
Cash has never quite mastered the ability of shielding his thoughts from Julian when he's angry. While the actual words might not make it through their link, the images are vivid, and they're mostly shaded a dark jealous green. "Well, now you know how I felt when you came into this house," Julian snaps, standing up and walking to the center of the room. "Not so great is it? To think the fledgling coming into the room is going to take your place? At the prince's side. In his bed."
Cash is stunned by that; until this moment, he had never understood Julian's angry jealousy in the first few days of his coming beneath Archon's roof. The Gangrel's own anger is short-circuited, and he just sits, silent before his lovers, an empty ache in his heart.
Julian stands silently on the other side of the room, sitting back against the edge of the computer table. He regrets letting his temper flare, but breathes easier that something which should have been said years ago is finally out.
Morgaine slams the empty wine glass against the back wall of the fireplace, watching the shards fall into the flames. She is tired of decades of watching lovers act like children, tired of picking up the pieces. "No, it's not great," she starts, raising her voice in passionate anger. "Do you think it was any easier for me to watch Archon take you in, Julian? But that doesn't mean you two have to keep hurting each other with this."
She takes Cash's hand. "Julian didn't take from what Archon and I had any more than you displaced him in the old man's heart." She looks across the room at Julian. "Think where you'd be if Archon hadn't brought him here."
The two men look at each other -- the beloved rival -- for a long, silent moment. They both turn to Morgaine and, almost as one, say "I'd be dead....."
Julian walks across the room, closing miles and years in the few steps it takes to move back to Cash's side. He stretches out a hand to the Gangrel. "Cash, I'm sorry."
Grasping the outstretched hand, Cash pulls himself to his feet and slips into Julian's arms, rubbing the side of his face in the soft silk covering Julian's shoulders. The Gangrel blood is demanding reaffirmation after such anger. "Julian, my love, forgive me - I never understood how you felt until just now."
The prince smiles at his elder sibling, who is now standing by the mantel, and mouths a "thank you." He wraps his arms around Cash, taking in his scent, his feel, his very essence. "Cash, you are mine and always will be," he says. "Nothing and *no one* can change that. I don't want to replace you with anybody."
"Always, mine, -- always, yours." [Julian, I try so hard not to be jealous, forgive me. If you can share your sib with me, I shall share my childe with you.] With a rather watery smile, just a touch of the imp shining through, he replies aloud, "Hell, Frank may turn us BOTH down, Stevie and I were never lovers."
"That was Stevie's loss," Morgaine adds, moving up behind the Gangrel, trailing her fingers around his waist. "He never did have the best of luck in picking lovers. But he had exceptional taste in children." She lightly brushes a kiss across Julian's lips before nuzzling along the back of Cash's neck.
"Truly exceptional," Julian echoes, claiming Cash's mouth for himself.
Held between his two lovers, Cash relaxes, all his anger turned to joy. He nearly purrs with pleasure, opening his mouth to Julian for a long kiss before reluctantly breaking away. "So when do you want me to do this, my lord? I want to talk to him first too." [And Morgaine and I may well eavesdrop on you, lover...]
"I'd like to do it this week, preferably before the Masquerade Ball on the 31st," Julian responds, darting in for another quick kiss between answers. "I want to tell him, then let you talk with him."
"Will you be there when....." Cash stops and thinks for a second, then goes on "...when I actually Embrace him."
"If you wish. It's your choice, my love. I'll ask Frank, too - you are basically a stranger to Frank, and that needs to change before the Night."
The End
