Let's Play!

The man just smiled at her.



~~



Ephriam carried all of her things in, piling them neatly along the wall of her bedroom. Jethro wasn't anywhere really relevant, at least, not that Ephriam had really expected his friend to hang around. He came and went as he pleased. The vampire began to unpack the purchases and put them up.



"Did you enjoy yourself?"

" very much so, but I'd love to spend some silent time with you now."

Ephriam just nodded slightly. He didn't have much problem with that. He was a talker when he needed to be, but at heart he didn't say much. Instead, the man just continued to hang things up and tuck them into proper drawers, allowing her to do whatever she had in mind.

" stop, come rest with me, i just want to relax with you."

Ephriam didn't stop until he had finished putting away all of the clothes in the box that he was working on, but then he placed his parcel at the foot of the bed and then sat down beside Marina.



"Alright."

" So, what was up with the weird man, and the hush hush shop, and the olden' language, and the hidden parcel, hum?"

Ephriam blinked a few times, smiling softly.



"I really honestly told you exactly what happened. He happens to be a bizarre old geezer that likes a shop that looks that way. I really have no idea what you mean by olden language... unless you are referring to his tongue, of course. Then I would need to point out that he spent at least three-fourths of his life sailing. Old habits die hard." Ephriam pulled off his shoes and set them on the floor beside the bed.

" And?"

Marina pressed, waiting for the rest of her questions to be answered, now pointedly looking at him.

Ephriam just looked at her for a long second before it dawned on him.



"Oh! You want to know what I bought!" He smiled and reached down to pick up the parcel. "A string." He opened it up to exposed a finely coiled metal wire/string.

" My next lame question.... Why?"

Ephriam's eyes grazed over her before he pulled the string out.



"Mine was broken. Snapped over a month ago."

" Ephriam, your talking in riddles... make some more plain sense, hum?"

Ephriam wrinkled his brow. How was that cryptic? Or worse, how do you make it clearer?



"Mmm... I had another one just like this. It snapped so I needed to replace it. It is very difficult to find on that will fit just right, and no one likes an F when it is out of tune."

" OH!!! It's for and INSTRUMENT!"



Marina looked relieved as she fell back into her bed.



" Nice to know."

Ephriam looked down at it and then back to her.



"What else would it be for?" The only thing he could even possibly image would be a poorly constructed noose.

" Hadn't the faintest, hence my confusion."

The vampire just grinned at her, carefully slipping the metal piece back in the envelope and putting it down again. Ephriam chuckled softly, though more to himself than anything else.

" are you allowed, or even willing to explain that cheese thing a bit more?"



(( NI ni)

Ephriam looked at her sitting beside him, and though his mouth didn't smile this time, his eyes never stopped such.



"Allowed? I can do whatever I want." He scooted down a little bit and stared at the ceiling with a half laugh.



"Within reason. I can't go and shoot twenty people in broad daylight." He blinked a few times.



"It is a really long story. Are you sure you want to know?"

" Asked, did I not?"

Ephriam sighed slightly, completely laying down as though he fully expected to grow weary before the story ended.



"Alright then. It happened a very long time ago, back when I was nothing more than a Lord in the castle. I was only about nineteen or so, but you must remember that back then nineteen was the prime of your life. My eldest brother had taken up the duties of maintaining our estate, taking the brother beneath him as a sort of adviser. As you could imagine, that left me in a strange sort of position. I reaped the benefits of our name, and so long as I bore it without disgrace.



"I was not much of an interesting person and called very little attention from those outside. So, I had to create a way to whittle away the time of what was supposed to be the best part of my life. Marina, I was - am - a very odd person, in case you haven yet to notice. I chose to spend my time learning to do things - something almost unheard of at the time, especially in someone of my stature. I just want you to understand why I was acting as I was.



"I had already learned an practiced many things by the time that this took place. I was at the time working on cheese. I was learning to make it, how to age and package it, refining a palate so that I could test my own work and others'. Well, my very first huge cheese wheel had finally reached the proper age. I cannot remember what kind it was, but I do remember how excited I was to fetch it from the storage shed. I was carrying it across the courtyard, not exactly paying much attention to my own footsteps. You see, I was very used to the commoners ducking out of my way and things besides.



"That day was a little different, however. Someone did not move and I slammed straight into them, knocking both of us to the ground. The cheese wheel went flying and rolled halfway down the hill, you know the one in the center of the grounds. I know that it was ridiculous to do, especially at the time, but I leapt up and began to chase after the cheese. After a moment or two, someone stopped it and picked it up. I will never forget the way that Jethro laughed at me and pronounced that I should share the cheese with him since he saved it. I was so relieved that I invited the stranger into the castle and we did share it. Oh! But I will also never forget how horrible it tasted and how long we laughed over it!"

Marina chuckled softly, shaking her head as she picked her Ephriam chasing a cheese wheel across the yard.



"Oh, lovely. That's wonderful."



Marina purred, moving to kiss him softly.

Ephriam gave her a gentle kiss back, though the smile of the memory never left his lips.



"It was even better if you were actually there to see gangly, awkward boy with blemishes on his face and hair so long that his sisters would braid it while he slept as a joke." He leaned away slightly so that he could judge her face.



"Are you satisfied now?"

" very much so, just trying to picture Jethro at that age, it's funny."

Ephriam laughed softly.



"Oh, no. I am sorry I failed to mention. Jethro is older than I am by about fifty years. He looked exactly the same then as now - save for the hair and the clothes. Well, actually I think the hair was the same."

" actually, I was merely thinking of Jethro as a teenager. It's funny."



Marina replied, smiling softly, rolling over, looking at ephriam.



"Can I do something fun?"

Ephriam looked at her long and hard. He couldn't judge where this one was going. At least not yet.



"Depends. I cannot turn into a bat, if that is what you are planning."

" No, nothing like that at all. I simply want some fun, please?"



She asked again, not planning on telling him what it was, merely planning on getting permission.

Ephriam sighed slightly.



"Does it involve any harm to your person, my body, or my castle?"

" Perhaps to the castle, but nothing that can't be fixed, or that's long term."



Marina answered, considering the fact Jethro was involved and all.

Ephriam was silent for a minute or two.



"Well, I suppose that - so long as you do not damage my antiques or drop the west wing into a sinkhole - nothing too horrible could happen. Fancy freely."

Marina smiled brightly, moving and kissing him.



" I'll need to get a hold of Jethro."

Ephriam raised one brow.



"Well, I am sure that he will pop up eventually, seeing as he has no life." Ephriam chuckled at his own pun.



"In all honesty, I am surprised that he failed to pop in at mention of his name." The man's eyes drifted to the door as though expecting another cheese delivery.

" I need a more reliable way to get a hold of him if this is going to work."



Marina complained to herself under her breath as she sat up, soon on her feet, before pausing and looking to Ephriam, and slipping into his lap, kissing him.

Ephriam turned his head away, thinking with a frustrated look. He didn't really see the...



"You could always call Sarah... I have always hated the idea of a phone - so obtrusive to one's daily life - but there is a line in the green tapestry study in the south wing."

Marina smiled softly.



" I'll do that, later. Don't look cross. It's called communication, and I need his help with some things."



Marina informed him softly, kissing at Ephriam gently, not getting why he was upset.

Ephriam just sighed slightly. Ugh. Telephones. As far as he was concerned, Alexander Graham Bell needed to be brought back to life, changed to a vampire, shot, hanged, poisoned, stuck out in the sun, and staked.



"Are you going to bed soon or are you staying up?" The man reached for his package.

Marina looked at him, pout coming on clear and easy.



" I can not do it, if you want."

Ephriam looked at her, his expressions changing to one of those what-did-I-do-now? ones.



"What? I said nothing to take back my consent. I just... I just fail to... appreciate the demanding nature of a telephone." Delicately put.

" Well it's not like I'm blessed with super natural communication abilities. I need his assistance."