Nightly Lessons Book I: The Book of Beginnings

[Peeker]

...and with that cry, the games had begun.

Janus' eyes fluttered open with a groan. He didn't want to wake up... he wanted more sleep.... but he was probably going to be in that half-restless sort of semi-sleep for ages... and it'd do him better to take his medicine. He really didn't want Mikeal to have to get up to give it to him.... So he crawled towards the edge of his warm sheets with an unhappy sigh. Hopefully, his sire was still asleep.

...and what was wrong with Alice?


-except for the fact that Aleksandr had gently, but firmly, taken her hands in his, and was talking to her in a voice that did not brook argument.

"...it appears that you too have Blood Spots, dear, if you're itching like that. Its all over Janus' entire body, what you feel now... we'll get you the same medicines and treatments he has, but you cannot persist in scratching. I'll do everything I can to make you comfortable... but this is no small illness, love. We'll take care of it - but it must be taken care of properly."

[Kira_Wolf_Cub]

Mikeal turned in his own bedat the sound of Alice voice and debated on whether or not to get out of the warm welcoming sheets to scold her for being loud. However with Caboose adding warmth to him, Mikeal rolled over and sent a single angry message to Aleks.

'Aleks, tell Alice to be quiet or I will make her be quiet,' He growled out lound as he shoved his face into his pillow. "Fucking children...."

Lack of sleep usually ment that his normal set of manners took a trip to Florida.

Meanwhile Alice stopped scratching long enough to look mortified at her Sire. Spots? She had Blood Spots? She would have said he was wrong had the wonderful itching not moved from her arm to her back, making her twitch.

"You're kidding right?" She looked pleadingly at him. "Right? I can't have Blood Spots!" She made a face that could match a kicked puppy. "I don't want to be sick."

[Peeker]

"Then don't scratch. Lets get you a glass of blood, and we'll go back to the couch and just rest a bit.. No need to panic: there's nothing to be done for it either way. We'll just rest and keep our strength up, hm? I'll admit, I'm feeling a bit worn myself."

A lie, but the longer she was unconscious, the more he'd be able to keep her from scratching.

Janus met the pair in the kitchen, and reached for the spoon and bottle which held the accursed medicine. He'd put it back in here... he didn't really want to take it, yes, but he'd also rather not take it in his room, and smell it while he tried to sleep. The boy's eyes widened as he pulled the foul medicine into his stomach, as he saw Alice's bright red arm.

...what did she have? That didn't look anything like his Spots!

[Kira_Wolf_Cub]

"But it itches!" She whined rubbing the arm against her side to try and still the irritation. "i can't help it."

Alice was sitting unhappily on the kitchen counter, an old habit from her human years, and sippedthe heated blood packet Aleks had given her. She gave Janus a tiny wave
as she managed to untangle her hand for Aleks which was hindering her from scratching again. She watched Janus reach for an odd looking bottle and gagged at the potent scent that eminated from it as he uncorked it.

"Oh my God, what is that?!" Alice had the set the blood down so she wouldn't gag. "It smells disgusting."

[Peeker]

"Nasty!" Janus assured, hurriedly corking the bottle before the smell filled the room. "...I think its working though. Mikeal won't tell me what's in it."

The jolt of the medicine had sped up the boy's pulse a bit, which, in turn, made him feel a bit more active than he wanted to be right now. ...dammit, he wanted sleep! ...and now he was even more awake. He looked up at the other two. "Can I get you anything?" Razziel's habits didn't really die, so much as they popped up when you weren't thinking about them. "I'm up for a bit, I think."

Aleksandr sighed, and stepped away from Alice, letting her have a bit more space. "...do you want anything, Alice? Please, dear... just... stop thinking about the marks. You're irritating the skin with your nails - even if you didn't have spots, that would be itching, the way you've clawed at it. ...lets take your mind off of it, hm?"

[Kira_Wolf_Cub]

Alice squirmed about desperate to itch as she tried to think of anything. She didn't feel right about Janus being honst towards them while he was sick. It wasn't fair, not for him.

"No thanks Janus, I'm..." A gidder of chills ran up her spin making her shiver. It they hadn't known her better, it almost looked like the girl was a junkie in need of a fix, although her complextion was much nicer. ".... I'm fine. Since you're up how a-about a mov-"

She started, as Aleks had so neatly put it, claweds at the angry skin and worked herway to her back.

"... movie? A funny one." she managed to finish as she continued. to stop scratching an itch was as easy as telling Dimitrius what to do.

[Peeker]

"Alice. Stop." Aleksandr said, bothered. "...I'll put gloves on you if I have to, but you're hurting yourself by doing this..." The man helped her off the counter, looking over at Janus. "...go on - get us a movie, please." The man invited, leaving Janus to hurry ahead of the pair towards the media room: there was a dvd in the player by the time the pair had walked in.

[Kira_Wolf_Cub]

"I can't help it," Alice whimpered. Of all the things she had very had, rashes were those she hated the most. She always seemed to scratch herself to the point where she would damage the skin. She gave a small growl when Aleks pried her hands away. "Damn Aleks, it itches!"

She was getting irritable, understandable of course, and she looked repentive at him after she had yelled. In the ned and trying to ring her hands out of his, Alice suddenly felt herself wearing a pairwhite satin gloves that with a gliding spell on then so even if she rubbed hard against her skin it wouldn't do anything.

"Aleks take them off," She looked even more unhappy although it was just because her mind was focused on the itching. "Please?"

Mikeal groaned as he turned again, thinking in a hazed sleep it was Janus who was itchy.

'Aleks? There's some anti-itch cream in the bathroom. Could you please tell them to quiet down?'

His head was pounding. He just needed to sleep a bit more.

[Peeker]

Aleksandr hissed under his breath, but quickly stood: here he was, babysitting three little vampires.... Wonderful. The man rose, letting Janus take care of the movie, and headed into the bathroom - as he did so, a bubble of silence rose around Mikeal's room... there was nothing Aleksandr couldn't handle here: Mikeal deserved his rest.

Cream recovered, Aleksandr returned to the couch with it. "...the gloves aren't coming off, and you aren't going to argue about that. If you won't be strong enough to do the job yourself, then I'll help you, and that's that." He held up the cream. "...give me your arm, please."

[Kira_Wolf_Cub]

Mikeal didn't miss the feel of sudden fixed silence and sighed in bless, sending Aleks a quick thank you. He would have done it himself but it was never a good idea to cast spells when one was sick.

Alice however groaned loudly when she was told the gloves were staying on her hands and was tempted to rub against the wall to ease the twiting. Still she wasn't up to argue completely with him and quickly stuck out her arm.

"I just want it to stop," She sighed in relief as the cool crem covered her arm, soothing it slowly. Looking up, she glanced at Janus. "Does it always itch that badly?"