After a while he had let go of her and she moved away from him, feeling his eyes on her, but she ignored it, focused on exploring the area and questioning him while he followed her around.
"What is your mask made out of?" she asked him, collecting a handful of wildflowers, and braiding them into a ring.
"Clay," he said, simply standing there awkwardly while she wandered around.
"Do you make it yourself?" she asked, frowning at the ring of flowers that was a little on the boring side and so she started working in a second row with different colours.
"No, they are usually made for us by our father," he said, bending down to pick a dark red flower and offered it to her. She took it, weaving it into the row.
"Is your father still alive?"
"No, he was killed by a vampire."
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said gently. Something about that bothered her, though she couldn't place it, and after a moment, she let it go.
"It is an occupational hazard," he said, his tone suggesting it didn't matter. "My mother left after she gave birth. It's not often the women stick around after. What about yours?"
"Both dead when I was a child," she said, turning the ring in her hands to try to decide where she needed more colour. "Father was killed for daring to pollute the gene pool, mother died in childbirth with my youngest sister."
"How many siblings do you have?"
"Two sisters. Are you an only child?"
"No, I have brothers in the compound, my father had a few children before he died."
"I never thought of you all as being possibly related," she said slowly. "Are you and Vincent related? Or Dainin?"
"No, neither of them."
"Are they related?" she asked curiously.
"I think so, cousins maybe."
"That explains why Dainin was there to keep us apart," she said, but Neah laughed.
"We were all asked to keep an eye on you and your vampire," he said.
"Such a nosey bunch," she complained.
"We have nothing else to do," Neah said, and she nodded.
"Do you have any children?" she asked, picking a few of the smaller stems from a fern and feeding them into the ring.
"No," he said flatly, and she looked up at him, wondering at his tone. "Do you?"
"Not as yet. Procreation isn't a high priority for someone like me. Sex isn't a priority." She didn't want to tell him the full truth behind the subject.
"You don't like sex?" he asked curiously, almost indignant.
"I haven't really had the chance to experience consensual sex as yet," she said, kneeling down in the grass to bundle up a handful of flowers.
"What does that mean?" he asked, coming to sit at her side. "You haven't had the chance to experience consensual sex?"
"Men tend to just take what they want," she explained.
He tilted his head, pushing the mask up to better study her. "How many have…?" he asked, and she went still, looking at the ground. "Sorry, don't answer that." He picked a flower that was a soft lavender, and she took it, feeding it into the ring.
"Zeus, Jaia, Epharis, Drizdan." Daemon didn't count as actual abuse, nor did Epharis or Drizdan for that matter, given they were married to her, but still.
"Why do you not leave?"
"I tried. But they brought me back."
"Leave again."
"I can't, Kai needs my blood."
"Kai is one of the twins?"
"Jaia is the other."
"Jaia as in… one of the men who abused you? He was the one threatening you…" he growled while she nodded, lifting the ring, and studying it carefully.
"I'm Fae, vampires become addicted to my blood, and I care about Kai. They used that to get me to come back, and then Daemon threatened to kill Malik if I tried to leave again. I have to stay by his side."
"Who is Malik?"
"My scion. I turned him when he was dying."
"Vampire scion, yes?"
"Yes."
Tilting her head, she looked from the ring to him and then back again.
"If I were to have a mask, what would it look like?" she asked curiously.
He was frozen, watching her as he considered that. "White, with blue or black tear tracks. Round like mine, with the big eyes like mine."
Looking at him, she smiled at the thought of the mask he described.
"I like it," she said.
"I'll make you one, and you can keep it."
"Really?"
"Yeah," he said, pleased at her enthusiasm.
Smiling at him, she stood and approached him, placing the ring of flowers atop his head, and bending down to kiss his cheek gently.
"Thank you, I'd like that," she said.
His face was shocked, but then pleased, standing to give her a tight hug but he let her go quickly as not to make her nervous, but it was her who clung to him, her head resting on his chest. He wrapped his arms back around her after a brief hesitation.
"Your heart is really fast," she said gently, her ear pressed to his chest.
"Is it?" he asked. The speed of his heart picking up even more. "Must be being around a pretty girl," he teased.
She laughed, and after another minute, she let go of him and moved away. "I suppose we should be heading back before too much longer," she sighed, enjoying their time together, but Daemon would be foaming at the mouth".
"Already?" Neah asked.
"We can always go somewhere else next time," she said.
He nodded in response, smiling at her. "Alright, next time we can go somewhere much nicer," he agreed, and with a careful hand on the ring of flowers, he pulled it up to tug his mask down into place. She laughed at the sight of him, tall and intimidating with the eerie mask and black clothes, but then the flowers ruined the whole effect.
"No laughing," he said, his hands on his hips. "Fear me."
"You have a flower crown, I can't fear you," she said, still giggling
He gave a faint growl, and she shrieked as he grabbed her, both knowing it was just a game, and the world vanished around them, dropping them back in the garden.
Looking around, she smiled and reached up, drawing him down to kiss the mask over his lips in a quick brush.
"I had fun, Neah. We should go again soon," she whispered,
He nodded, his arms remaining gentle around her middle.
"Etani!" someone was shouting, and she looked around.
"Go, before you get caught," she said, and he paused.
"May I bite you?" he asked.
It was an odd request, but she nodded.
Lifting his mask slightly, he lifted her hand to his mouth and bit gently into the fleshy area around her thumb, his sharp teeth cutting into her easily.
Sucking briefly on the wound, he licked the spot and then stepped back, swallowing her blood.
"Now you just have to call for me and I'll hear you," he said.
She grinned, always wondering how that had worked in the past. "Goodbye for now, Neah," she said.
He bowed, holding the flower ring in place before he stepped out of reality.