Chapter 152: Vibrating with irritation
"You wish to speak to me? Now?" Vespertine confirmed and Cass nodded.
"Yes. And Lady Ava can come. I honestly don’t have enough patience to care anymore. Can we please just go somewhere quiet so I can get this over with and go back to my chambers? I am suddenly irritated and would like to rest after the morning I’ve had." Cass was being quite short and to the point, and he knew it. He wasn’t trying to hide it. He knew that it was probably in poor taste, given that he had just thrown a man against a wall, but whatever.
Having emotions didn’t make you a villain, and he was explaining himself rather clearly. Maybe if it was Lord Blackburn proper, he never would have admitted to that, or explained any of his actions until confronted, but he didn’t give a shit. If it got him the results he wanted, to hell with pretenses at this moment.
Cass could feel that things were taking a bad turn for him, specifically. It wasn’t quite to the same level as when he’d nearly iced everyone and was bitten against his will, but he wouldn’t lie and say that it wasn’t close. He still had time.
Lord Vespertine, despite his tired expression, looked quite amused.
"Well then, who am I to turn down the Lord Blackburn when he has come to search us out? Are my rooms acceptable?" Vespertine asked. Cass gave a jerk of his head in acknowledgement. The movement was quick, abrupt, and very much like how Lord Blackburn normally was. Vespertine shook his head, his lips turned up slightly. "Alright. Follow me, Lord Blackburn. It will be your second time to my chambers." Vespertine’s amused gaze dimmed as he glanced over the servants. "I will deal with you lot after." He growled and it appeared that they knew that they were in trouble.
It was clear that they were servants who normally worked with Vespertine and Lady Ava. That would make sense since they were siblings, even if it was only by adoption. Vespertine wouldn’t allow someone tied to him, like his sister, to be treated less than himself. It was a matter of pride as a noble. Especially since she was raising the prestige of the family name.
If this was a different kind of adoption story, that might not be the case but Cass hadn’t seen any signs that was true. In fact, it felt like the shouting match that he had witnessed was the first time the two of them had even had that kind of argument. Or differing opinions.
Vespertine and Lady Ava began to lead the way after Vespertine’s clear threat to his staff. Cass remained silent, following after Lady Ava and Vespertine as the two in front remained silent themselves. Sam and Byron fell into step behind Cass. Cass could feel their eyes on his back rather intently and knew he was going to be bombarded with apologies when they got back to his rooms.
He was already tired just thinking about it.
They were good people, but they felt things. A lot. Especially Sam. It was nice most of the time, since it caused him to jump in and ’protect’ him when he really felt like it. It was also exhausting to Cass since it resulted in situations like this.
Cass could feel his irritation, and his need to be somewhere else, somewhere safe and quiet, building under his skin. Should he have just turned around at that point and given himself some time? Maybe.
It was probably the right answer, but he was going to make this conversation not last too long. Even if it meant he was rude, and abrupt. But he needed to get this done. His skin was crawling, and he couldn’t tell if it was because of his mood, or something else.
Cass let out a heavy sigh, heavy enough that Vespertine looked back at him.
"Is everything alright?" He asked. Cass wasn’t exactly making it hard to realise that something was wrong. He felt like it was written all over his face, so he took the fact that Vespertine of all people was looking back at him with a little knowing smirk on his face with a grain of salt.
"Just a tiring morning." Cass said darkly, and Vespertine chuckled.
"Is it related to why you wanted to speak to me?" He asked casually and Cass sighed again, but softer.
"Yes, it is. I’ve already spoken to Draken and Lord Ridgewood about the issue. Ah, and Lady Fiona as well." Cass said absent-mindedly. Vespertine slid another look at him before he turned back to look in front of him.
"Well, I won’t prod further until we are in my chambers. Once there, did you want some tea? You look rather pale. I just got a new kind in that I’m sure you would like." It took Cass a moment, and even then, he wasn’t sure what Vespertine was implying. He was fairly certain he was implying that he had gotten some tea that...Vespertine could drink, and therefore, Cass could also drink.
"Uh, sure?" Cass wasn’t hiding how unsure he was, and Lady Ava giggled.
"I never thought I would consider you cute, Cassian, but that was a rather adorable response." She said. It was her turn to look back at him, and once again, Cass was surprised by the lack of hostility in her gaze. Given everything that she had said, he felt like it would be obvious that she would have some kind of animosity towards him, but she didn’t.
It was...strange, that was for sure.
"Uh, well, I wouldn’t exactly call anything about me adorable or cute." Cass told her and Lady Ava’s eyes crinkled as she smiled.
"I feel like most of the people in the manor would disagree with you." It was a jab, but it missed Cass. He didn’t care about that, and it wasn’t a big deal to him if others did think he was cute and adorable. He didn’t give a fuck what they thought about him. Honestly, it sounded more like it would hurt her, not him.
"Okay? Have you asked?" Cass watched as Lady Ava’s face heated and he wondered if it was in anger, or embarrassment. Maybe even both. Vespertine coughed.
"She has asked me." He clarified, and Cass slid his gaze towards Vespertine. He was vaguely interested in what he had said. Vespertine did not elaborate. "We’re at my rooms, Cassian. Come on in." Like his rooms, and Lady Fiona’s, there were guards posted outside. They seemed as if they had expected Lady Ava, but were surprised by the three other guests behind them.
No one stopped them as they entered the space, and Cass was actually quite surprised by how warm and bright the rooms were. Maybe he was being a bit biased, but he kind of thought that Vespertine, as a vampire, would have dreary rooms.
He was clearly wrong.
The space felt more like somewhere a prince or priest would live, and that was a bit more accurate given his good looks, and his behaviour thus far. White and cream shades, no windows, but enough lights to make it still feel inviting despite the lack of natural light. His chambers were also as big as Cass’, but he had them laid out in a different way. They entered into the first room that had four doors on either side and immediately crossed to the doorway across from them.
Vespertine held the door open, smiling as Lady Ava detached herself from his arm and went to sit down. Cass followed in behind her, as the servant who had rushed with Vespertine that other time came to speak with him at the door. Sam and Byron hovered nearby, unsure what to do, and clearly didn’t want to leave Cass alone.
Cass didn’t want to make it obvious that their behaviour right now was pissing him off, but for some reason, Vespertine was able to tell.
"Why don’t I have my servant show them around, hmm? It wouldn’t hurt. Next time, you can just show my servant around." Vespertine said and Cass nodded, waving a hand dismissively as he sat down on the white couch with fine embroidery in the fabric. He was probably sitting down on a fortune, but he didn’t care right now.
"Sure. I don’t mind. Enjoy yourselves, you two." Cass said, his voice deadpan, and Vespertine had to hold back his laughter. He waited until the door was closed before he burst into laughter.
"Cassian, you can’t just let it show when you’re irritated with them. Especially not those two. You afford them so many luxuries that they are quite attached to your whims. If you show it too much, they are going to worry." Vespertine chastised him, smirking, and Cass sighed, leaving back against the couch, closing his eyes momentarily.
He could feel a headache coming on.
"Yeah. I know. I’m doing my best, alright? I’m just...ugh." Cass opened his eyes, shaking his head. "Long morning." Cass said instead of answering the question more. "Did you want to wait until tea arrived or can we discuss this now? The sooner I talk about this, the sooner I can get back to my rooms and just...decompress." Cass wasn’t afraid to admit it. He’d already yelled at them about it once.
He was going to continue to use it from this point on.
Vespertine grinned, going to join Lady Ava on the couch across from him.
"We can take a moment of silence while waiting for the tea. Would that help? I’d rather you not snap and freeze us. I would hate to have to ask Lucy to be anywhere near me right now." Vespertine said, and it took Cass a few seconds to realise why. He’d already wiped from his brain that Vespertine and Draken may or may not have gotten into a fight.
Potentially over him.
Cass frowned, considering his proposal.
"It might help. I’ll close my eyes too." Cass muttered and Vespertine grinned.
"You should get used to it, since you aren’t going to get any down time in the dungeon, since you are coming. I plan to chat your ear off while we’re in the back until you warn me you are reaching your limit. We’ll all remain quiet until they come back." Vespertine said and Cass, trusting that he could keep to his word in this regard, closed his eyes and leaned back again, the papers still in his hand.
He let out a soft sigh, relaxing into the soft couch, his head tilted back, and just...relaxed.
No one moved, and Cass could hear the soft sounds of life around them. It was kind of like sitting in the garden, listening to the animals and birds chirping, but with humans and other creatures instead.
It was a good moment, and as much as he hated to admit it, it did help calm him down. His skin didn’t feel as prickly when the soft knock sounded on the door. Vespertine got up, answering the door as Cass slowly opened his eyes, blinking as he adjusted.
He hadn’t felt like going to sleep, but he did feel calmer. Damn. He had kind of hoped that Vespertine would have been wrong so that he could get mad at him. He could, of course, lie about it, but he was feeling better. He didn’t want to be a prick when he was looking for maybe some help, or a response in his favour.
Damn these morals he had.
Vespertine turned, three tea cups in his hand, two tea pots, and a smile on his lips. Even his expression seemed a bit better.
"Tea, anyone?"