1x1 with x_fire

Alexi laughed softly, "Pick one then. And, I'd rather a blood thirsty nation then whatever the hell you came from" He teased lightly. He had loved his human life, gods, he wished he could fight in the Coliseum now, vampire strength and speed would have made him deadly.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't you knock off the Spaniards." Maria said quietly, her accent thick as she looked back at Alexi with a serious look on her face. "You Romans my have conquered most of Eurpoe....but we Spanish descovered the New World." She said, holding up a finger and tapping his nose lightly again.
They could go one for days about that. Maria smirked, thinking they would end up arguing again. "And the British aren't so bad. They were just as bloody as you Romans with the battle of the Roses..." she murmured, shaking her head. She had only lived in Spain for her human years, and had returned with Keith and his coven to Great Britian once she was changed.

Alexi rolled his eyes, shaking his head and laughing.
"Sure, sure" He stretched out, shaking his head and laughing softly. He grinned at her, "Bloody? Us Romans? We weren't blood, just war-like" He teased, Romans were horribly blood, as we the vikings, which Demitri came from. He grinned at her, "Besides, we Romans may not have discovered the new world, though, Americans are aggrivating, so I don't know if that was an accomplishment, but we did discover running water, and various other things" He teased.

Maria rolled her eyes. "Oh right, the Roman's weren't bloody, and the American's are saints." she said, laughing quietly at the comparison.
"Running water!" Maria breathed, as if it were an ingenious idea. "Oh but wait...that gets lost during the dark ages doesn't it?" She asked, grinning. "And not redicovered for a few hundred years if I'm not mistaken...so who really gets the credit?" Maria whispered, kissing him gently then, grinning.

"Me" He said, laughing and shaking his head.
"Hm, I dunno, perhaps the Romans, I believe we should get the credit. I mean, it was ingenious" He teased, shaking his head and sighing. He had no desire to argue about this, he didn't really know much about Roman history, considering that he was just a soilder, well, a gladiator actually. He stretched out, shakng his head and sighing.
"Honestly love, I know so little of my own history, and I can't believe anything I read, it's impossible to understand" He murmured, shaking his head and frowning.

Maria rolled her eyes. Typical Alexi. She grinned and sighed. "Alright alright, I won't entirely school you in your own past." she murmured. All those years in school unfortunatly, had paid off in times like these. She had been told the information over and over again so many times that it was practically imbeded into her brain.
She sighed then, rolling off of him to lay on the bed. She pulled the blankets around her, purring with content. Maria rolled onto her stomach, laying comfortable next to Alexi. "Te amo..." she murmured, turning to face him with a smile.

"You know, sometimes I envy you, going to school. I've never been, Sven taught me how to read and write, but honestly, that's about it. I know how to read ancient Roman, form battle documents, but that's it" She had never known this about him, it was a well kept secret, something he didn't like speaking about. He sighed, shaking his head and stretching out, wrapping his arms around her.
"What? I don't speak spanish, explain please?" He sighed, debating speaking in Russian. Of course he had learned stuff over the years, and was more educated then some humans, but compared to his species, he was almost considered 'dumb'.
"Demitri's the same, these last four years were his only time in school" He said smiling.

"Go to school then." Maria said simply. "The first few years isn't all that bad, unless you're as restless as Demitri...." she said, sighing deeply, talking with her eyes closed. She was laying on her back now, leaning her head against his gently.
"After a hundred years though...." Maria grimanced. "Then it get's frustrating. And unfortunatly, with my appearance, they never send you past highschool, and it goes down hill from there." Maria half rambled, shrugging indifferently almost, smirking.
"Te amo." Maria repeated. "It means 'I love you' in spanish..." she explained again, yawning softly.

"No, I'm not about to go to school" He shook his head. "I can't listen to them Maria, believe me, they talk about things they don't understand, based on stories that they've heard, or writings they think they understand. I know enough to get by, I know English, Russian and Ancient Roman, I can read and write, what more do I need?" He sighed, school was touchy, Vlad had been trying to get him to go, but it had ended badly, very badly.
"Demitri managed for four years, he's not going back though, he was fed up" He frowned.
"Why did you go to school for so long?" He had never really found out why.

Maria sighed as she listened, nodding here and there to show that she was paying attention, though she looked pretty zoned out.
"Well, for one, it couldn't hurt for you to know what happened while you were playing Gladitor in the Colossiuem..." Maria murmured, smirking.
"Why?" She opened her eyes lazily then to look at him. She sighed then, frowning a bit as she thought. "Well, curiosity actually. They may talk about things they don't understand, but if you go to the right place, you find people who listen. It's intersting, to me at least, hearing what other peolpe think about when it comes to certain events..." Maria spoke quietly, shrugging her shoulders gently.

Alexi hissed, slightly annoyed.
"Playing Gladiator? That wasn't playing, people died Maria, I did, that's how I eneded up a vampire" He rolled off the bed, annoyed.
"People don't realize what it was, we entertained the Romans, I was one, I convicted felon, a murder, not my fault, but I was one. Instead of killing me, they put me in the Coliseum, charged people money to watch me fight, I killed people, tigers, lions, slaves, anyone, then, then another Roman, a friend of mine, we fought. I got him down, but I didn't have the heart to kill him, he was my friend, but he didn't see it that way. Cut me from here to here" He traced his scar, a far off look in his eyes now, completely lost in his story. "I lay on the dirt, dead pronounced dead. They dragged me out the gate, the losers gate, and left me lying there, Vlad and Sven found me, knowing that I was still alive. They offered me a new life, I took it. That was my life Maria, history paints it as a game, but it wasn't, it was brutal, disgusting, and well, damn it, I loved it" He sighed, sitting on the bed and taking her hand, kissing it to show he didn't mean his anger.

Maria sighed quietly, thinking he was furious with her. She sat up in the bed, pulling the sheets over her waist, crossing her legs gently. She listened to him, completely transfixed by the story we was telling her. Maria gasped, eyes wide as Alexi traced the scar across his chest. A friend? Maria swallowed, tearing her eyes away from him then, his words still washing over her, playing again and again in her ears.
She looked back up, at him, smiling lightly. Maria chuckled quietly as he sat back down and took her hand. She kissed his forhead gently.
"I'm sorry darling. I had no idea..." Maria said quietly, smiling apologetically.

"I know love, not even my brothers know that story" He murmured, shaking his head and sighing.
"Life wasn't fun and games. The history books paint it as what Romans did to slaves, or war prisoners, but it was for anyone who lost favor with a rich romans. Much of the stuff happened was actually kept from history. I mean, everyone knows about the battles, or the fights with lions and tigers and what not, but there was more. They deliberately pitted friend against friend, they lived not only for physical pain, but emotional pain" He sighed, running his hands through his hair.
"I mean, I killed people I knew, people I had befriended in the cells. But, I grew to love it, it was kill or be killed. Simple life, sadly" He sighed, laughing at his pathetic human existence.

Maria looked down at their hands that were now intertwined together. With her spare hand, Maria traced lines in Alexi's hand, moving slowly from his fingertips down to the back of his hand and around his wrist.
"You could write a book about that you know..." Maria said, smiling. "If you did want to go to school, just take classes that would help you with that. Write about what really happened." she suggested softly.
"Hell, you could even teach the subject if you wanted to at the university..." Maria said then, looking back up at hims. She kept her voice soft and gentel as she looked back at him. She turned her head, brushing her fingers through his hair before brining him close enough for her to kiss him.

Alexi laughed. "Ha love, I don't think I'd be very good at teaching, and writing. I can do, I don't enjoy it however" He said, kissing her fingers.
"It's fine, I'm content with my life" He smiled at her, shaking his head and sighing. He didn't want to do something like that, it was to stressful to imagine.

Maria sighed. "Alright love." she murmured, not wanting to argue or upset him at all. She smiled then and nodded.
Sliding to lay back down on the bed, Maria rolled to put her hand in his lap. She pulled the blanket over her shoulder, yawning then. "Let's not talk about stressful pasts anymore." Maria murmured, sitting up to kiss his cheek before laying back down.

"I don't find it stressful love, but alright" He murmured, smiling at her kindly, and sighing. He didn't care when it came to talking about the past, it wasn't stressful, and it a sense, it gave him a sense of purpose. He sighed, stretching out next to her, letting his mind wander over history, back to his human years. Most vampires didn't remember much of their human existance, but he and Demitri tended to, due to their soilder upbringings and battles.

"Well, I do." Maria murmured, smiling thankfully as Alexi agreed. She breathed deeply then as he strecthed out next to her. She didn't move, completely comfortable where she was. Pulling the blankets back over her, Maria closed her eyes and let her mind slip away and her body rest for a few hours at least.


Alayna was up at the crack of dawn. Mostly due to her lack of sleep. Not wanting to wake Keith, Alayna slid silently from the warmth of the bed, rumaging quietly for clothes before changing. She pulled on a long socks, leggins, and thick jeans before lacing her boots over her jeans. She pulled a shirt and long-sleeved turtle neck on, as well as a thicker coat before walking out of the room.

Shivering from the cold of her clothes, Alayna walked into the kicthen in the dim lightly, putting water to boil for tea. She sat at the counter, rubbing cold fingers together. Maybe she could leave before anyone else was awake. Alayna quickly cursed; no, Demitri probably already knew she was awake. Alayna sighed then, getting a mug and pouring the hot water out of the pot before sitting back down and dunking her bag gently.

Demitri sighed, sliding out of bed as he heard movement in the rest of the house. Alayna, in the kitchen it seemed. Getting up, he peeked into Maddie's room, the child was sound asleep, as was her mother, who was lying on her side, wrapped in blankets, in his and her bed. Smiling, he kissed Maddie's forhead, before doing the same to Kristen. Pulling on clean clothes, he slid out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him, it was far to early for Kristen to be awake, though he anticipated Maddie waking up shortly, she had slept most of the day yesterday and the whole night.

Walking down the stairs, he smiled at Alayna as he entered the kitchen.
"Morning" He smiled, sitting at the counter, resting his head on his hands as he watched her curiously. Alayna, despite his issues with her, he did find to be interesting to watch. He sighed, stretching out, before resuming his position.
"Keith still asleep?" He asked.

Kristen sighed as Demitri left, though she was still deep in sleep. She simply rolled over, wrapping her arms around a pillow and pulling the blankets around her tighter. Madison on the other hand, forced her eyes open as felt Demitri kiss her forehead.
She blinked tiredly, falling asleep for a little bit before her body woke her up again. Maddie shivered as she sat up; it was cold without the blankets. Frowning, Maddie slid from her bed, quickly wrapping the warm blankets back around her and shuffling into her parent's bedroom. She saw Kristen asleep, and looked over as Demitri closed the bedroom door. Rubbing her eyes, Maddie slid from the room, blanket trailing behind her.


Alayna sipped at her tea, sighing with relief as it warmed her to the core. She burned her tongue in the process, but could hardly care at the moment. Her eyes darted over to Demitri as he walked into the kicthen. She gave him a light smile, setting the mug down but keeping her hands around it.
"Yea, he's out." Alayna murmured. "The block he had up on Kristen wore him out." she sipped at her tea again, looking over as a tired, groggy-looking Maddie shuffled into the kicthen. She was adorable, wrapped in the light lavander blanket, brown eyes looking sleepingly from Demitri to Alayna. She covered her mouth as she yawned before shuffling over to Demitri, hidding against his leg.

"I figured, I need to thank him for that, he really saved Kristen's life" He glanced up, hearing the shuffling of little feet as Maddie wandered in, looking tired and wrapped in blankets. She walked over, hidlng against his leg, smiling, he bent, scooping the tired little girl up, letting her sit in his lap.
"Hey sweetheart" He murmured, kissing Maddie's forhead and letting her rest against him tiredly. He smiled, looking at Alayna as she drank her tea.

"So, are you alright? I mean, with what's going on today?" He murmured, rocking Maddie gently. Her back was to Alayna, her cheek rested on his shoulder as he rubbed her back, keeping her tucked in the blankets. He sighed, he knew how scary, how hard this must be for her, and though they didn't get along most of the time, he was still worried about her, mainly for Keith's sake, but Alayna was growing on him. He smiled, still rubbing Maddie's back, willing her back to sleep in his arms, it was early, very early, and despite how much she had slept recently, she had another long day in front of her.

Maddie murmured quietly, digging her face into Demitri's shoulder as he picked her back up. That's all she had really wanted, to be with him. Pulling the blankets back around her, Maddie yawned, closing her eyes.

Alayna pulled a mask of reassurance over her face as she looked back at Demitri. She drank her tea, looking at Maddie and stalling for time. The child looked exhausted. Not that Alayna blamed her really, considering what had happened and everything.
Looking back at Demitri, Alayna sighed and shrugged, putting her mug back down. "It is what it is." she murmured. "I knew it would happen eventually. Just a matter of getting it over with now." Alayna looked back at her tea then. She was surprised by her reflection, mostly because the surprise didn't appear on her face. Her expression was blank, her eyes were dull. Alayna sighed, taking another sip.
"Kristen still out?" Alayna asked then, putting her mug down. "Keith took the block off last night. She alright?"

Demitri smiled at Maddie, still rubbing her back gently.
"Go back to sleep kiddo, I can carry you" He murmured, Maddie had often worried before that she was to heavy for the vampire, she tended to wear out her mom, Alayna and Keith fast when they carried her, but the vampires didn't even notice the extra weight.

"Yea, she's still asleep, she was suprised by the pain, but she's adjusting. She'll probably be up in an hour or so, and then, I guess we can get this show on the road. Vlad, Maddie and I shall be just down the street. There's a toystore" He grinned, eyes dancing. He wondered if Maddie had heard him, she didn't know what they were doing yet, but she had been told she'd be downtown with 'dad' and Sven. He sighed, sliding off the bar stool and grinning at Alayna, trying to look reassure her.

Maddie rubbed her eyes tiredly, yawning widely then. "Nuh-uh..." she murmured. She had been sleeping for what felt like forever. She didn't want to sleep anymore. Blinking her eyes open, Maddie looked around the kicthen.
"Toy Store?" Maddie asked, confused. She pushed herself up then, her hands resting on Demitri's shoulder. "Oh, Layna." Maddie said, smiling lightly as her eyes fell on Alayna.

"Good morning Maddie." Alayna said quietly, smiling over her mug as she took another sip of her tea. Alayna nodded gently to Demitri, wishing she could be hopeful. The sinking feeling in her gut told her otherwise.
"Yea. Thanks." Alayna said, shortly, though meaning it with all she had. Knowing Demitri and at least one of his brothers would be there was reassuring. It hurt that this was protection against her brother, someone she shouldn't need protection from in the first place.

"Wassgoingon?" Maddie murmured then, sensing Alayna's stress instantly. She looked at Demitri before back at Alayna, as if either one of them would give her the answer. Alayna glanced at Demitri before sipping her tea once more.

"Nothing kiddo. Alayna and mom are just going out for lunch today, while you, me and Uncle Sven go to the toystore down town" He said, smiling at her. He wished Maddie wasn't an empath. then he wouldn't have to worry so much about what she was picking up from other people, like Alayna right now.
"Everything will be fine" He murmured, his voice gentle as he spoke to Maddie, though his eyes flicked up to meet Alayna's, trying to make a point.

Sven sighed, wandering into the kitchen, "Morning" He said, seeing Maddie, Demitri and Alayna talking, presumably about today. He had been outside, hunting with Vlad, so he didn't really know what was going on. Smiling, he shook his head and sighed, sitting on the stool Demitri had recently vacated.

"Moring bro" Demitri said, looking at Maddie with a small smile.
"It'll be fine" He said again, glancing at Sven.
"Just making plans for today" He told his brother, arching an eyebrow.
"Ah, sounds fun" He grinned, smiling at Maddie.