Running on Empty (Deacon, Kiefer)

[Lovely]

June 27, 2006
7:30 pm
Main Road - Outside the Montgomery


It was still early for the evening but already the sky had grown dark. The earlier storms were breaking away to moonlight and the steam on the road was thickening into denser fog, letting light only escape in thin rays between clouds. A slim, dark figure split through the grey fabric, emerged of it or from some place down the road, it didn't matter. He walked as if he'd just started though his clothes were damp and stained from a long journey in the rain. Each step was even and undisturbed by the rolling pebbles and scattered puddles under his feet as if he felt none of the cold or wet, or enjoyed it enough to bask with each step toward a faint glow at the bend.

It didn't take long for her to be drawn from one to the next, sometimes she'd know where she was heading and other times the need just drew her to where she needed to be. She appeared along the road not far from where the figure trekked along, she was misty and and wrapped somewhat into the fog. Her long flowing red hair and a beauty set her apart on the darkened road -like a candle glowing softly to light the way. She watched the figure waiting and wondering -it seemed he was what had drawn her, but she had yet to discove why she was needed.

Another glow, misty and obscured, but no less real caught his attention as he came closer to it. He stopped with an outstretched hand, not certain if he'd run across a phone box in the dark and rubbed at the seeming surface like he'd rub a mirror to clear the fog. He found no surface and a very real figure within reach. "Oh... you're not a mirror at all... sorry...," he grinned, realizing the extent of the misted beauty in front of him. "Not really."

She laughed very softly, taking the uninvited touch quite a bit better than many young women might. "I'm not a genie either.. but if you rub me the right way.." She giggled, sending a soft euphoric feeling out with the sound.

The giggle was nice and a bit disarming. Not at all what he expected in the middle of the road to an unfamiliar place. A cautious grin peeked out. "I don't believe we've met."

No?.. What a pity.. " She pouted, contemplating or so it seemed whether they did know one another.

How very strange. He chuckled, "Until now of course." He offered a hand and a disarming grin beneath intoxicatingly blue eyes that caught a hint of moonlight.

"The first time is usually the sweetest.." She slipped a solid hand into his from the 'mist' she appeared to be. Her touch was nearly tingling with the natural flow of what she is.

His hand was as cold as the smile was warm. "Sweet and quite a pleasure. But that doesn't tell me your name." He nodded, seeming to bow slightly as he kissed her fingers and let loose.

"I'm called many things.. many names." Her hand retreated back to curl lightly around her, the scent coming from her was like flowers, fresh rain, cookies.. things savored and adored -slightly different for each being she encountered.

"Do you have a preference? A proper lady surely has a proper title." The accent was hard to place. He was obviously from out of town. There were many things he was rapidly deciding might be worthwhile if he stayed.

"To those closest to me.. I am called Kiefer." She smiled softly, tilting her head to the side slightly as she regarded him. "You have lovely eyes."

"Do I? Thank you. They reveal many things.. and hide many more," he nodded, slowly, mechanically yet smoothly. His voice was quiet and low, deeper than his features would give him credit for. In many ways he appeared angelic, but things weren't always as they appeared.

Her fingers reached up to brush the air, barely not touching him as they passed his cheek. "Oh yes they are.. I can not lie." She spoke softly.

"No? What a pity," he grinned, taking her words as his own. He glanced around the area, seeing his destination lighting up the clearing with pale eyes shining out with their dim lights and fires. "What can you tell me of that place?" He started walking toward the inn.

"The Montgomery?" She chuckled lightly and her hand slipped to take his arm as she walked beside him. Whatever his deepest affection was, would be what she would smell faintly of -for him, mingled with other intoxicating and pleasing scents. "I could tell you a great many stories of that place.. what in particular would you like to know?"

"Is there a vacancy?" He chuckled, finding her fingers in his a strange sensation. It almost warmed his touch as he remembered moss and fresh sea air. "How far is the coast from here?"

"There is always someone to welcome a wayward soul to that place.." She murmured quietly, seeming thoughtful as her smile faded to something gentle. "The coast.. less than an hour by modern means.. automobiles.."

[Lovely]

"And what about the others?" The blue of his eyes flared like lit crystals. What about the soulless he wondered, melting the clay of his face into a casual smirk. "I thought I was dreaming it, smelling the sea in the air. It's been something I've missed a long time. Since I was a boy. I always loved the sea."

"The others? Always welcome.. unless they do or have done something to make them otherwise.. Very few have offended so greatly as to be unwelcome at the Montgomery.. and even they are given rooms." She chuckled softly and turned her sparkling eyes towards him. "The sea does not always love those who love her.. she's a fickle mistress to keep."

He nodded at that truth. "Then I suppose I need to know now... are you one of the guests? Why are you out here alone in the dark?"

"I visit from time to time.." She answered honestly and looked about the dark night with a shrug and a smile. "So I could meet you?"

"Who am I that I earn that pleasure? How do you know of me... and how much do you know of me?" He smiled but relayed a gentle challenge. A beautiful woman alone in the dark... she hardly wailed like the bansidhe and if she knew enough to know she wanted to meet him, she knew he had no soul to take. She was no such messenger of the dead, so what was she?

"I go where I am needed or beckoned.. if you did not call me, then you must have needed me." She turned and seemed to glide in front of him, her hands resting against his chest. "I know nothing of you.. yet I know so much. I know of your stunning eyes and that you're empty inside.. you need to be filled.. would you like to be full of me?" She asked, shifting closer and nearly brushing her lips against his, giving him a soft taste of the bliss she could be.

"That's an interesting question. Perhaps a simple dinner instead. Isn't that what one usually does when they're empty?" He was curious what she really meant... what she really saw. He could certainly appreciate her welcoming offer and he would consider it strongly once his other affairs were settled for the night.

"That's what one does when they are hungry.. sometimes. Are you hungry.. and what are you really hungry for?" She asked in return, not moving away from him right off.

He stopped walking, considering the road and the way he'd come. He looked up at her from the gravel and stared, trying to answer his own questions before he asked them. "Something I don't have," he agreed. "And something else that I've lost. Is the keeper of your calendar as fickle as the mistress of the sea? I wonder if you might be free to join me this evening."

"I have no calendar.. and I go where I am invited." She smiled softly and brushed her hand over his cheek. "I will join you.. but I wonder.. I am with you now, do you truly wish for me to go away?"

"No." He shook his head a little, looking her over again. She was a strange creature, not like he wasn't. "You have my invitation but I said nothing about you leaving. Why would I want that?" There were many things he didn't understand... women being at the top of that list. What game was she playing with him? He started to walk again, turning onto the drive of the inn and watching the small dust clouds illuminate around their steps in the moonlight.

"I was hoping you wouldn't." She took his arm again and walked beside him, the scent of her coming slightly stronger and instead of clouds of dust she stirred a soft mist. She could be as beautiful in the cool moonlight as she could in the warmth of the sun, most didn't see her when she came to them.. but he had and thus she was held near, more solidly for him and the calls of others faded for the moment.

The place was much larger than it had appeared from the road, looming over them as they approached the door. It amused him that she hadn't been curious how he came to be on the road alone, uninjured and without anything but the sharp dark stitches of cloth that neatly adorned him. His clothes were overall dark, with a splash of a deep blue silk that shimmered like water under his long coat and a sharply cornered white kerchief peeking from the breast pocket, a simple slash of light in his darkness.. appropriate he smirked. "I don't and would be quite offended not to arrive with you accompanying me. Of your many names...Kiefer is your preference? Then by preference, what would you prefer to call me?"

He was a handsome.. beautiful man, if a dark one but that darkness didn't bother Kiefer. She had no malice or hate within her being, she found beauty in nearly everything she came across. "Surely you have a name.. one that you prefer?" She countered using his words and smiling softly.

"It is what it is. Deacon Mallory... esquire, if you prefer. I'm a collector," he said, bowing politely with a carved and diplomatic grin. "Of various treasures, not bills, please and thank you."

"The pleasure is mine.. Mallory?" She smiled and dipped respectfully in return.

"Please, just Mal, or Deacon. It is my name, not a title. I assure you I'm not affiliated with any church. My... my parents just had old ways," he reassured stiffly and motioned to the door, reaching to hold it open for her. "Ladies first."

"Mal or Deacon then.. I'll have to try them out on my tongue a little before I decide which one feels best." She smiled and passed him to enter the inn first as he'd been such a gentleman. "Thank you."

[Lovely]

*****************************

The evening wore on quickly and the dinner had been delightful if only for the company, but the chef's work had been exceptional as had the wine to make it even moreso. Conversation continued in the direction of slow revelation, tender tidbits offered by each for the other to savor and consider. Again she'd turned the spotlight on him. "Oh, I have a soul," he admitted, toying with his glass and his words as he smirked over as honest an answer as he was allowed to give. "It's hung on my master's tree every year in a tiny glowing orb to celebrate the change in seasons. If I'm a good boy, I get to visit it on occassion, but I don't really miss it."

"hmmm strange that I would hear your call.. " She pondered out loud, it wasn't the lack of soul, it was the not missing it part that threw her a little. "no soul. At least not with you.. do you still feel some remnant of it?"

"Doesn't one always feel the absence of something that is so much a part of them? I feel it, but no, I don't miss it. Is that so strange?" He wondered why it would matter to her if he did.

"No, not entirely strange. just odd that I would feel drawn to you.. " She explained, he wasn't odd.. just the circumstance.

He looked around the room, focusing on creatures that at first appeared human but were remarkably as empty as he was himself. "Maybe it's my warmth and charity," he grinned, somewhat teasing since he wasn't known for either. He turned his attention back to her and raised his glass in a toast. "To what the night may bring."

"Maybe.." She chuckled softly, lifting her glass as he did and offering a little more in toast. "To what the night has already brought."

"What do you think it's brought, hm?" He took a sip that rouged a full grin. "It's a curious place, temptingly dark and inviting. Makes one wonder what's hiding in the corner."

"I know what it's brought.. you." Her brow arched slightly as her smile curled nearly inviting. "Nothing here hides in the corners.. they merely wait there." She winked at him.

"You think so? What awaits for me, and should I be scared?" He didn't sound like he was, but he was curious. "Your perfume has changed, but I still smell the sea. Maybe it's the wine."

"I'm not sure what waits for you.. The shadows and I.. don't agree very well." She shrugged and let it pass, revealing her aversion to such places. "But being scared usually only amuses such things anyway.. that I do know." Her tongue ran slightly over her lips and she tilted her head. "Has it? It tends to do that.."

Pity, he wanted to say, but somehow he wondered if he could entice her. "What do you find so repulsive about them, I wonder. The not knowing or not seeing? If I were to lead into such shadows, would you still be afraid?"

She smiled softly and her eyes met his without fear. "I find nothing repulsive about them or those who find their place within them. I wouldn't be afraid.. but why would you wish to lead me into them?"

"But they don't agree with you," he nodded, reminding her of her words. "Merely a business venture. I didn't want to leave you alone quite so soon, however."

"It's the nature of what I am.. though I have been known to make brief trips.. my own business -but I do tend to avoid doing so." Somewhere a memory played of time spent in the shadows and she remembered a similar invitation. "I would go with you, if you truly wished me to.."

"The nature of what you are..," he repeated, mulling those words as he stared into the deep red in his glass and took another sip. His eyes, pale and clear in contrast focused on her again. "Come with me, then. You'll find it entertaining, I'm sure."

"Very well.. I'll accompany you." She replied, watching him and those eyes that seemed like they could have come from the very sea he seemed to miss.

His grin showed he was pleased with her reply. "You see something, don't you? Many do if they look deep enough... a reflection.. a memory...," he whispered, leaning slowly closer and keeping his gaze level. He barely seemed to blink and the shine in his eyes seemed faceted and sparkling.

"I see many things." She answered softly, her eyes keeping with his, she had to appreciate their beauty in more than one regard. ".. but what do you see?"

[Lovely]

"Things that others have forgotten, things that have lost their importance along the way," he muttered, reaching out through words and feelings, reaching for thoughts to find the doorway to her own soul to see within it if she afforded him the opportunity. "Something just out of reach. It escapes you, haunts you," he continued, his voice taking on a subtle rhythmic tone like a quiet pulse.

"Haunted? You believe that?.." She murmured softly, still smiling in that gentle way that she had. It was curious that he would say that, perhaps he could sense the residual essense that humans left on her sometimes.

"I do. It's what I see," he said, wavering only to watch her smile. She wasn't human, and he smiled now himself. It would have worked by now if she had been. "Promising," he added cryptically, reaching for the bottle to refill her glass.

"What else do you see.. can you see what I'm haunted by?" She was even more curious about him now. She wondered about his comment but didn't question it, allowing him to explain more if he wanted to or not to if that is what he chose.

"No," he chuckled, shaking his head. The smile and laugh broke the sharp visage. He filled his own glass as well and set the bottle aside, not looking up again for a long moment. Though he'd felt something there, something he could grasp, he let it go. "Only that you are, but it appears not to bother you. Let sleeping ghosts lie," he taunted, raising his glass again and keeping the smile painted gently in place. "That's the least you'll need to worry about."

"Is there something I should worry about? Just so I'll know to do so." She smiled softly, reaching to sip at her drink again.

"Oh yes," he nodded, offering a more challenging smile. "You should have been worrying the moment you met me on the road."

She giggled with delight at his words as though he'd tickled her. "Really? oh dear.. I missed that.. I haven't been." Her eyes sparkled with a teasing invitation and challange of their own. "Have you considered it is you who should be worried?"

"Only the moment you agreed to accompany me later. That's a rare treat... for both of us," he said, reaching for something in his pocket. "I'm actually looking for someone. He may be a guest here. His name is Corvid."

"I don't know if he's here.. I might be able to help you locate him, though.. but I'm not positive that's the reason I'm here. I really don't think I'm here for him.. I'm sure it's you."

"Here for me?" He chuckled, looking around them, wondering if this had been a set-up from the beginning, one of Morte's little jokes. "You're here for me? Come to... take me away? Take my soul?" He joked about it, growing darker with the last question. "You're too late."

"No." She replied honestly, regarding him with an arched brow and a small smile. "You must have me mistaken with someone else. I don't take.. I give. Strangely enough, I am needed and wanted, even by those lacking a soul."

He tapped the pen he'd taken from his pocket on the table, spinning it point to top on each tap. "Well anyone meeting you and not having those ideas deserves to have his head examined, but what exactly would I want that you might .. give?"

Her smile softened and grew more enticing. "Myself." Her eyes seemed to sparkle more and her 'perfume' grew slightly stronger with the scents of things he'd desire and long for. A gentle feeling of calm bliss surounded them.

"You're a demon," he said with little apology and a still-nice smile. "Temptress? Siren? Your song lures them all to their deaths and their pitious cries are what lure me."

"I am not." She pouted a little, not entirely offended, as demons were what they were, but she was not one. "Guess again." She smiled just a little.

"Then we do have something in common. Neither am I," he nodded, taking up his drink and leaning back in his chair. Some would beg to differ, or simply just beg when coming across the likes of him, swearing he was the devil himself, though he knew the man and looked nothing like him. "You want me to guess? You're not a demon, but you haven't thrown your drink in my face and you haven't succumbed to my tests. You're therefore not human. Does that earn me a point?"

"If we were keeping score, it would.. but I find it petty to judge anyone on such a scale." She smiled more warmly and took another sip of her drink. "Why waste this and ruin a perfectly enjoyable evening by making such a display? I'm not offended to be thought a demon, and it wouldn't bother me if you were one. But since you're not and I'm not it doesn't really matter."

"It matters that you think I've called you out of hiding, but I don't know why I would. What am I missing or needing? And what is that?" He'd caught a whiff of something that tilted his head in confusion. "It's you, isn't it? Each time... the sea, the moss, the wine... cake... it's been you?"

"I wasn't hiding.. I never am, even when others can't or chose not to see me." Her smile brightened with a glee like a child who's surprise has been discovered. "Yes.. that's my 'perfume'.. but it's not me changing it.. it's you."

"Interesting," he muttered, pondering his glass again. Hidden desires coming to light and to the nose. "Only me? Not to sound arrogant, let me try that again. What do others smell? What I do, or what they desire?"

"To each the smell something different.. whatever you desire most, what comforts you, what you long for, things you love.." She pointed to a man not far from them. "He smells the perfume his wife wears, he misses her when he has to go away on business."

"Does light itself carry a scent or a soul that's just been released to the world alone? What I desire most... is not of this world," he murmured, leveling his gaze on her again.

Her gaze met his and she stood up from her chair, coming around the small table and reaching her hand out to him. "Come closer and tell me what you find.."

"Come where? Our kind host will be a little upset if I simply leave," he grinned, curious what she had in mind, though he moved his chair out to accept her hand and follow if she led him away.

"Will not.. but you only have to go as far as you want to." Her touch was soft and her fingers curled around his, she tugged him in gently, as close to her as he would come. He'd notice the scents changed nearer to her person, close to her skin they were very faint and her own scent which was highly intoxicating and euphoric was not masked. But the confusing part was that there was hardly any recognizable fragrance to it. "That's what it smells like." She whispered softly.