What Time Is It? lauronica_mars

[countess_karnstein]

Years had passed since the events at Silas University. Since the mansion and the unforgeable encounter with Elle and the bunch of restless spirits. Thankfully, since the destruction of the left over eggs from the Angler Fish God life had finally become normal. Well, normal in the world of Carmilla and Laura wasn’t your usual definition. Carmilla was a vampire and finally had her PHD in philosophy. LaF and Perry’s business had exploded and grown to chains all across the world. They even bought an apartment near Laura and Carm’s for when they were in town and could visit. Carm swore Laura pretty much spoke to them every day anyway. Her and her friends were inseparable at times. At first Carm found that annoying but over the years she’d come to respect how there for one another they were. Sometimes it even reminded Carm of a time her and Mattie were so close.

She got back to the apartment before Laura. This time carrying another box of colourful fan mail, thankfully smaller than the one from yesterday. Laura’s reporting had finally paid off and after her blog and videos exploded over the internet a lot of people stepped forward with strange or supernatural occurrences around the world. It meant the two of them got to travel, help people which Laura loved to do and her reporting was as popular than ever. Even Carm got fan mail which weirded her out from time to time. At least in all this between them, LaF and Perry none of the small success had gone to their heads.

After placing the box on the kitchen counter Carm poured herself a glass of synthetic blood. LaF and Perry supplied them free of charge which was another thing Carm could never complain about. She took a sip standing in front of the five year plan board which was now mounted on the living room wall. The laptop was still out from some recording Laura had done in the morning. Carm pulled her long now straight hair back and into a high ponytail collapsed on the couch. The clock read 23:06. By vampire time this was way too early to be up.

There was a groan followed by a blanket being pulled down over her. Her hand only escaped to turn on the TV to the horror channel. Obviously Carm’s favorite.

Comments

[countess_karnstein]

The game show error buzz was annoying but not half as annoying as what Mircalla wanted to do with Laura’s brain. Being denied the opportunity was taxing to say the least. “Correction, you might have had Carmilla walking through your brains for years but I’m older. I should be able to do this.”

She moved closer, every step mentally trying to change something in the room. A colour, maybe crack in the wall but still nothing happened. “It’s about time it was just the two of us.” Mircalla’s closed any gap between them. Even with her temper still bubbling she somehow managed to keep it in control.

“Yoga? Flexibility? Now that is something you’ve got to show me. As for control I think you already know I don’t like not having it so if you could let me take charge of this dream, I promise you won’t forget it.” That could either be a good thing or a bad thing. Mircalla brought her hand up and tucked Laura’s hair behind her ear. Something her and Carmilla both loved to do as it exposed her neck. How could they ever resist? She was then about to look at Laura’s eyes when Mircalla caught the glimpse of the bud in her ear.

She pulled back to look in Laura’s eyes, anger flashing in her own. “What the hell is this?”

[lauronica_mars]

From behind Mircalla there was the sound of a slow clap and Laura stepped out of a doorway that hadn't been there a second ago. "You had someone try to come into your dreams and because you were here she ended up in mine." The real Laura shrugged.

"And so she asked me to see if I could pretend to be her, love." Ell smiled. "And really? Freeze? And getting a crop pulled out of your hand." She shook her head, her smirk saying that Ell wasn't going to hear the last of either incident for years before her voice continued meditatively. "Having a heartbeat even for my dream self is weird."

Ell then smirked. "But toying with your double is going to be more fun, love. See you." And with that she vanished - along with Laura's clothes giving Laura only time to gasp.

[countess_karnstein]

When Laura stepped out Mircalla’s expression changed. Not because the two of them were in the room but because Ell had tormented her with freeze situation from earlier. Clearly she had seen the video and if Mircalla could blush she would have done. Instead she gave a playful ‘don’t push it’ smirk to her love and let some of anger from earlier wash away. It now made sense why she could edit the dream. Ell and Laura combined would block any control she had. Frustrating but at least she knew she hadn’t lost her touch.

“Reminds me of when we first met.” Mircalla placed her hand over Ell’s chest knowing full the sound was fake. There wasn’t a beat under the palm of her hand which was exactly how Mircalla liked it. Ell was a full vampire, her vampire. “Although I miss making it race just to tease you, I prefer you as you are now.”

If Laura had caught it, there was a moment when Mircalla was completely different around Ell. She was unguarded and exposed. A moment that so brief as Mircalla had to remind herself Laura was in the room. She briefly had a second to talk to Ell when she vanished so fast. The last thing she must have saw was Mircalla rolling her eyes at the thought of Ell with Carmilla. In her eyes Ell was far more than her double could handle.

“Finally.” She said, eyebrow raised at the sight of Laura naked like a parting gift from her love. A sight both Carm and Mircalla could agree, would never become boring. “Now I have you all to myself.” The smile couldn’t be wiped from her face as she felt the rush of finally being able to edit Laura’s dreams.

She walked over to Laura eyes hungry like she was about to toy with her. Only when the gap was closed between them Mircalla slipped a hand to Laura’s waist and the other pulled her into a dance. Not a usual move for her to make but as she took the lead and turned Laura around the room shifted and changed into a grand hall. Nameless people filled the room all around them dancing in perfect synchronisation. Laura now wearing a black ball gown with a corset that fitted in all the right places, this was Mircalla’s mind after all.

Of course it was a masquerade ball, the faces of people around them were all hidden with intricate and elaborate masks. Mircalla and Laura included. The only couple dressed in black and gold. Trapeze artists flipped and twirled above their heads as if they were flying. Fire breathers and illusionists stood on podiums as entertainment. It was beautiful. The kind of room that could only come from imagination as the details were clear and strong.

Mircalla let go of Laura’s waist just to twirl her back into her arms. “Now this is more like it.” She laughed. Her black lips and eyes were the only things visible from under the mask, exactly the same as Laura whose make up was matching in dark tones. “This is a memory I don’t want you to forget.”

[lauronica_mars]

Laura bit her lip as Mircalla stalked her after Ell stripped her and left Mircalla unblocked. She could still do a lot more than Mircalla expected. But she let the dress and corset wrap round her, her breathing switching to the top of her chest. She knew from Carmilla's gaze exactly what that did to distract her, and seemingly from her eyes Mircalla reacted the same way.

She relaxed into Mircalla's dancing with a soft smile, having learned from Carmilla. It felt almost effortless, and that wasn't part of the dream so much as a connection and the similarities between the way Mircalla moved and the way Carmilla did.

She looked round, eyes wide at the ballroom. "It's beautiful. You've been here? Or this is your imagination?"

[countess_karnstein]

“Imagination.” Mircalla knew ultimately this was Laura’s dream and showing the power she had previously by freezing both herself and Carmilla meant that Laura had more control than she realised. Still, she let Mircalla edit her dreamscape if only for this moment. Something Mircalla was grateful for. “There are places we all go when we need to. This is one of mine.”

If Laura hadn’t have guessed already, just like Carmilla, Mircalla loved to dance. Not quite to the style or ability of Ell but the old fashioned dances that meant hidden intent behind the moves. She guided Laura effortlessly as the crowds continued to mirror like puppets pinned on strings. When she slipped her hand to the base of Laura’s back and arched her over there was a brief second when Mircalla wondered if Laura would trust her. Some moves required a trust you could only test in the heat of the moment. A true reflection based on instinct. But Mircalla left enough room for Laura to put her arms around her neck if she felt the need to.

Mircalla supported her weight as if she was lighter than air and as they leant over the heightened heart beat filled her ears. She felt her fangs slide down but refused to give in to them. Instead as Laura was brought nearly horizontal to the floor Mircalla leant down and smiled against her lips. Not enough not touch but enough to tempt. “You’re beautiful Laura.” She looked into the eyes of her masquerade mask for a brief moment and without warning glided her up to her feet to carry on the dance.

“I wanted to get you alone to show you me. Not the versions you seem to have split me in to with your thoughts.” And Mircalla wasn’t good at opening herself up to anyone but Ell. This was a slight crack in the wall Mircalla took a chance on with her. “If you like I can show you my favourite place but it comes with one condition?”

--------------

Carmilla had been staring into the darkness for at least half an hour. Looking across the bed she saw Mircalla spooned behind Laura, her hand resting now across her waist. Both were fast asleep to the point Carm didn’t want to disturb so she slid out the bed with catlike grace she often did at home and headed for the door.

The house was bigger than Carm had initially thought. There were rooms that made the Sheridan’s or her mother’s house look small in comparison. Carm’s curiosity, just like Mircalla’s got the best of her and instead of heading for the kitchen where she originally planned she headed for the subtle noise coming from down one of the corridors. It was quite a way from the hidden room she had left Laura in to the point she had to look back to remember the way she came. Mircalla and Ell definitely had upgraded from the large apartment Laura and her lived in.

A small light came from a single door on the right hand side. There was movement but no heartbeat Carm could hear. She pushed open the door enough to pop her head round and saw Ell. Suddenly aware of how naked she was Carm closed the red and black silk robe she had stolen from Mircalla’s wardobe and tied it around her waist. “How long have you been home?” The question had a hidden one behind it. What Carm was really asking was why didn’t she come join them? She was still curious on this universes version of Laura and how one huge event made them so similar in some ways but different in the others.

[lauronica_mars]

There were ways Laura trusted Mircalla absolutely and ways she didn't. And although Laura would be entirely unsurprised if all the dancers on the floor turned out to be zombies or other horror movie monsters. But drop her in a dip while dancing? Never. Laura bent back effortlessly, smiling when Mircalla called her beautiful, and moving freely with Mircalla's wishes when she was again pulled back onto her feet.

"There's only one Mircalla." Laura shrugged. "But I don't know who she is. All the versions of Mircalla in my head are trying to work out who you are. All of them are ones that do everything I've seen from you, but I haven't seen everything even while, for example, you were behind me." And she smiled. "I'd love to see - but what's the condition?"

---------------------

Ell looked up to see Carmilla and smiled, gaze roaming over the double of her wife even as she compared the scars the two of them had. "About an hour. But there's always more paperwork and checking contracts to be done. And you all left the door locked, so I assumed you didn't want to be disturbed." She shrugged. "I'm surprised, but I assume that there had to have been a reason to unlock that door and relock it?"

[countess_karnstein]

She stopped them dancing only lead Laura over to the grand staircase towards the back of the hall. Everyone else continued to dance as the music played, not bothered by the fire breathes so close to where they moved. “No tricks. No ear bugs. This includes swapping yourself for Ell. I want you, alone and in return I’ll answer any questions you have.” Mircalla walked up the stairs and turned back to offer her hand. “Well…if we do much talking.” She couldn’t resist the smirk that came with that comment. “I’ll make this offer once and once only sweetheart.”

She waited for Laura to decided.

-------

Carmilla entered the room and sat on the edge of Ell’s desk. “Laura found and entered the room first. Mircalla and I close behind. I don’t remember the door ever being locked or unlocked.” She said honestly then reached out and stopped Ell’s hand from writing any more contracts.

“I’m sure you and Mircalla would have had a field day with us.” It was strange their skin being the same temperature. Carm smiled and looked down at her feet. “I don’t think Laura is going to be able to walk tomorrow.”

[lauronica_mars]

"Ell left." Laura shrugged. "And no tricks, no ear bugs, and Carmilla isn't asleep. So yes, you can have all that."

And she looked at Mircalla. "Was being made to freeze a little like that really that bad? That you felt the need to punish me by breaking my body and brain on that Sybian?"

---------

Elle's eyes widened. "Laura found it? And opened the door? There are fifty seers on the planet who could have found my playroom. And twenty archmages who could have opened the door without being burned out. And you're talking as if Laura wandered in there?" She shook her head, still clearly stunned. More pleasurable pursuits could wait.

[countess_karnstein]

There were so many responses she could give to that. In instinct she wanted to twist it around and flirt with Laura but Mircalla was trying to cement herself in Laura’s mind. It was hard for her to open up. She looked down at Laura from the couple of steps above and continued to hold out her hand.

“I don’t like not being in control.” Mircalla struggled the words out. Being honest to someone that wasn’t Ell was hard when it involved emotion. “But I loved what you did. It was wicked and I if you remember my scream I wasn’t complaining.

The sybian was a gift, not a punishment.” Mircalla took a step down so she was still one above Laura. She brought both hands up to carefully remove Laura’s mask from her face, then hers from her own. “If you want to wake up. Now is the time to say.”

---------

She could see the surprise in Ell’s face. It was enough that Carmilla’s previous worries started to surface again although she didn’t show the panic in her body language her expression did change. “When Mircalla let us inside Laura went upstairs. We stayed downstairs to talk but Laura wandered into there as if it was a normal room.”

Carmilla frowned. “Thinking about it the only time I have ever entered the room is when Laura has already been in it.”

She hopped off the edge of the table. Her mind processing everything she had learnt so far. Some of it even coming out loud. “It changed the second she had her heart put back. I should have waited but…” She headed towards the door, stopping only to look back at Ell. “If that room was hidden and she found it that easy there’s no telling what other abilities she might have.

Have you seen anything like this before?”

[lauronica_mars]

"I remember your scream. And your other actions and words." Laura gestured, a touch flamboyantly, and the ballroom was shrouded in darkness, while the floor seemed to shudder.

And cutting through the darkness were words, almost as if they were coming from under water even if the voice was Mircalla's. “Not nearly enough payback for making us freeze.” The floor stopped shaking but the rest came as if it was moving away, making it even less comprehensible even if the language was English. “If I had my way I’d keep her up till morning.”

As the lights turned back on Laura raised one eyebrow to Mircalla. "I don't want to wake up." But from her tone Mircalla had some explaining to do.

-----

"So Laura opened the door?" Ell frowned. "Unwatched. There are about ten supernatural creatures that could open a door like that. And I know that Laura isn't an archangel, a duchess of hell, a crossroads ghost, a demigod of doorways, or a grim reaper."

[countess_karnstein]

The room they stood in, decorated in gold with complimenting royal reds and blues, was one of Mircalla’s strongest manipulations. The details were exquisite, so when Laura managed to darken it in a matter of seconds Mircalla took note that Laura was either getting stronger or maybe she once again underestimated her ability. Maybe it was a bit of both.

She listened to her words repeated back at her and laughed. “You think I meant any of that in a threatening way?” She took another step down, this time to the step as Laura to make them nearly eye level. “If payback means making you scream and pass out with pleasure are you telling me you didn’t enjoy it?” Her tone was the closest thing crossed between humour and serious. “If letting me have my way and keeping you writhing between my legs till morning is a bad thing then so be cupcake. I won’t take back what I said and I definitely don’t take back what I did.”

Instead of closing the gap between them Mircalla made her point and walked back up the few steps, as she did her and Laura’s clothes changed from the fancy attire of this manipulation to their normal every day clothes. “Anything else I’ve said that you want me to clarify?”

------

Instead of walking through the door and back to the bedroom Carm closed it actually feeling a little angry. Unforunately Ell was the closest thing to Laura who was going to get the brunt of it. “Archangel, ghost, reaper, I have no idea what the frilly hell is going on. You think I planned for this? On the day she proposed?” Her temper was rising to the point in true Carmilla fashion she started to pace the other side of room.

“The library brought us here for a reason and we aren’t any closer to figuring that out. The second we do we learn something else. Next she’ll probably be able to create portals in her sleep!” Carm’s anger was snowballing. She hadn’t been this mad since Danny killed Mattie.

[lauronica_mars]

"Which part of you isn't threatening?" Laura shrugged. "You're incredibly sexy and part of that is how threatening you are. That I'm aware you want to throw me down and take me hard."

Her eyes were wide and guileless. "I'm just not sure what you want me to be for you. Whether it's a human who you can stalk but is tough enough to cope. Whether it's mostly my heartbeat you like because it makes you feel younger. Or which part of me you want? And whether you're involved in a pissing contest with Carm."

-----

"No I don't think you planned it." Ell shrugged. "And Laura isn't any of those. Which is possibly why you were sent here. Whatever Laura is is incredibly rare. And that means incredibly valuable. As rare as she must be you could probably buy a country rendering her down for ingredients."

Ell shrugged. "Fortunately I'm more interested in an ally. And I know intimately what sort of mess either you or she could make if I became an enemy, and how useful my reputation is. This was the only place that it might have considered safe. And if there are ten types of entity that could open a door like that and I've just eliminated five, isn't that getting closer?"

[countess_karnstein]

Mircalla smirked at the idea of taking Laura but that smirk was quickly lost to the rest of the comments. “Fine creampuff have it your way.”

She held out her hand again. “Come sit with me and I’ll answer any questions you have. Do we have a deal?”

------------

Watching Ell shrug like it wasn’t a big deal just got under Carmilla’s skin but she was grateful for the place to stay so tried to bite her tongue as she paced. “It’s closer. It hasn’t even been forty-eight hours and she is able to unlock an almost impossible door. In lifetimes I couldn’t do that.”

Carm stared at Ell, trying to notice the comparisons besides the obvious differences. Maybe this was how Laura felt when she looked at Mircalla and Carmilla together. “How long do we have here before you want us gone?”

[lauronica_mars]

Laura took Mircalla's hand with a smile. "Is that 'Come with me if you want to live' or 'Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly'?" But pretty clearly she was teasing this time.

----------

"And she'll almost certainly never be as strong or as fast as you. Why is that a worry?" Ell shrugged. "And you've got quite a lot of time. Long enough to work out what Laura is. Attacking Silas is a bad idea for anyone, especially as we're built right on top of a set of seals."

[countess_karnstein]

Mircalla’s teased a smirk and linked her fingers with her own as they walked up the stairs. “Spider to the fly, clearly.”

The staircase split into left and right. Both doors a deep set red with gold trim in patterns of vines that complimented the room. They took the took the route to the right and the door automatically opened, welcoming the two of them inside. Only when Laura and Mircalla went through it didn’t lead them to a typical room but another part of Mircalla’s mind. This one completely contrasting the last.

When the door shut behind them it vanished from sight and two were left standing on a rooftop as grand in design as the hall they had just been in. Spires and towers left behind them the only thing that more breath taking was the sky. It was as if they stood at the edge of space being created there were all colours, stars, planets everything an astrologist could ever hope to see. The most prominent colour of all was the dark purple that made the orange and greens bring out shooting stars.

It was a lot to observe but as clear as if it was real.

Mircalla glanced at Laura, curious on what her reaction would be as Ell was the only other person who had been here. “This is me.” Unlike her double who majored in philosophy anyone seeing this place would see that Mircalla was about astronomy.

Sitting on the rooftop there were no chairs but blankets and throws spread out across the floor. Fruit and wine off to one side as if taken from a medieval painting, Mircalla took Laura over to where the blankets were to sit down.

She motioned for Laura to sit in front of her between her legs. “I made a deal, at least indulge me while I answer. No promises I will behave.” She teased but hoped Laura would sit.

--------

“Being stronger or faster than me isn’t a worry. I would already argue her abilities are stronger than my own. I’ve never been power hungry.” She paused. “Mother hated that about it me. ‘You could do be; you could be more.’ She’d repeat and moan to Mattie who sat jealous over mother’s fondness for me.”

Carm had a better grasp of her emotions then the days before she met Laura. She reeled herself in refusing to think about any longer and shut herself off. In turn the pacing stopped and Carm shifted back towards the door. “No one has broken any of those seals?”

[lauronica_mars]

Laura looked round, eyes wide. "It's beautiful." And she was looking at the stars as she sat down where Mircalla invited her to sit. "Especially the stars."

She shrugged. "And I know enough about you to know you're unlikely to behave." But it didn't stop her sitting; she'd been making exactly the same comments. "But you still haven't answered the main question. What do you want with me and why do you like me." She paused. "And as you're even more keen on the stars than Carm, how do deep space probes change how you love them?"

------

Ell blinked. "Why would anyone try to destroy seals after thousands of years? It's not as if there'd be anything waiting on the other side after that long. It's slightly toxic for them too And the 'blessings' from looking into them as they break are not worth the effort."

She paused. "Did someone seriously try to break the seals in your world?"

[countess_karnstein]

“I can’t help it if my hands wander.” She waited for Laura to sit and then slipped her arms around her waist. At least it gave Laura the option to lean back if she wanted to. Mircalla pulled the one of the blankets around them, not because it was cold but for comfort.

She paused for a while, partly hating the fact she said she would be honest but also to try and get the words out. “Because you might be from a different universe but you are Ell.”

Mircalla was suddenly thankful that Laura couldn’t see her face when she was being honest. Like Carmilla she rested her head on the same spot of Laura’s shoulder and watched the stars shoot across the sky. “I like what deep space probes do and I understand the curiosity but I prefer not knowing what’s out there. I like the mystery and something being beautiful just because. There doesn’t always have to be an explanation for everything.”

-----------

Carm paused. “Blessings from looking into them? What blessings?”

[lauronica_mars]

"Yes you can." But from Laura's wry tone she wasn't expecting Mircalla to prevent her hands from wandering. "And I'm not quite Ell. Just very close and I guess I've walked an almost parallel path? Which makes me an almost younger version of her. But as long as you realise I'm also not her. And we had to take on your mother rather than Matska. She opened all seven seals."

She shrugged. "And the stars are beautiful. But I've never found discovering what's behind a mystery made it less beautiful. And perfect isn't the same at all as beautiful."

--------

Ell shrugged. "The last one I heard of gained the ability to heal other people by taking their injuries to himself. He was enslaved, sold, and died screaming in agony with at least three cancers, double smallpox, and the clap. Another was King Midas who you may have heard of and wanted everything he touched to turn to gold. The statue of his daughter is in the Silas vaults. It's all things given by bored gods with a sense of humour who don't like seals being messed with."

[countess_karnstein]

Mircalla’s tone was incredibly different. Softer. Her guard was dropped only a little when Laura mentioned that she wasn’t her. “I know you aren’t her. No one could be.” Her ears tuned in to the sound of Laura’s pulse, Mircalla kissed just behind her ear. “You and Carmilla are very young but you’ve got a lot to go through together and if it’s anything like Ell and I it will be a lot.”

Her fingertips found their way under Laura’s top but stayed around her waist, just teasing her skin for now. “No matter what you do or where you go you’ll end up together.”

Mircalla laughed. “My point exactly. Somethings are better not knowing. I’m surprised mother even got to the seals in your world.

Does this mean you’ve asked me all the questions you need to now?” As she traced her fingers higher and both of their clothes slowly vanished. A perk of controlling dreams. “Now this is distracting…” Exactly the way Mircalla liked it. “See, I’m not so different.” She nipped Laura’s neck a little lower to where she had kissed. It was enough to draw a little blood. Enough for Mircalla to steal a little taste.

-----

Carm raised an eyebrow. “Of course you’re using the Silas Vault. I forget you are running the show here, not Mother.”

The vault was one of the few places Carmilla was not allowed to go. If it was brought up it would instantly send mother into a rage. Even Mattie once tried to question what was down there and from the screams of pain that followed, Carmilla knew she would never ask again. “When you aren’t busy always working can you show me what’s down there?”

[lauronica_mars]

Laura shrugged. "I'm sure I'll have more questions for you soon. But one big one for now is what your fantasies are, Calla." Laura turned and smiled wickedly before suddenly appearing to be about the age she was when she'd started at Silas. "And whether you want me to play the innocent, heart racing as I try to prevent my virtue being despoiled."

With a teasing grin she slid out of Mircalla's arms. "Want to play stalk the damsel and get her heart racing?"

-----------

Laura blinked. "I don't go there much. And if you use the words 'I wish' while you're in there and you're in the same section of the monkey's paw I may break your jaw before you finish the sentence. But other than that I'd be happy to show you round."

[countess_karnstein]

Mircalla felt a small sense of relief when Laura ran out of questions but the wicked smile followed by the innocent young Laura look made her bite her lip. Just like Carmilla, Calla loved roleplay. “Let me see…one of them is having you all to myself and let’s face it I doubt you’ll want to leave when you wake up…and the other…hmm...why not let me be the damsel? Has Carmilla ever shown you what we were like when we were human? Do you think you can play the scary vampire?”

Mircalla pouted. She was happy to play either role but suggested this on purpose. Partly because Laura could see what Carm and Calla were like when they were human, partly because she was curious if Laura could rank up to the monster Ell could play. She never got the chance to experience that rush of being hunted by a vampire, the feeling of pain crossed with pleasure at being bit as a human. “Scare me?”

------

Carmilla laughed. “Break my jaw? You could try sweetheart.” She leant on the side of Ell’s desk. “Take me now?”

[lauronica_mars]

Laura smiled wickedly. "You think that I'd turn into a vampire to scare you? Far too familiar." And she gestured, and was dressed in a slightly different and much more regal flowing dress, with her hand and eye covered in circuitry. "My name is Galadriel of Borg. All shall worship me and be assimilated."

Jewel-like crystal needles protruded from Laura's circuitry-covered right hand, slowly heading towards Mircalla's face as Mircalla had to fight the urge to throw herself at Laura's feet and kiss them. Feet under which circuitry-flowers were sprouting.

------

Laura reached out lightning-fast; not quite as fast as Carmilla could at full speed, but close enough that Carmilla didn't have time to move her head. "Just give me a couple of minutes to finish up." The vise-like grip she held on Carmilla's jaw was utterly unyielding even to Carmilla's strength; to say that moving Laura's hand felt like moving the foundations of Silas was no metaphor.

[countess_karnstein]

As Laura slipped out from her arms Mircalla transformed herself back to the morning before she was murdered. She wondered if Carmilla had ever shown Laura that side of her. That side that screamed wide eyes and innocence. It was the side that made her feel weak which made the fantasy all the more enticing.

As the colour returned to her a skin and the sound of a heartbeat fluttered to her chest, Mircalla stood up wearing the white and black corseted dress she received on her twenty fourth birthday. It would be a nightmare to run in but that would add to the fun. It wasn’t until Laura said that a vampire would be too familiar that Mircalla’s expression fell to curiosity.

She had asked to be scared but in Mircalla’s true fashion she underestimated Laura and got more than she bargained for. Laura’s wicked smile mirrored Ell’s and she watched as the dress shaped and fell around Laura’s skin.

Now Mircalla started to feel her pulse quicken at the sight of the dark circuitry.

“What in the…what is this?” Placing a heartbeat in her chest was suddenly the wrong move as the simulation of it racing made her feel far too human for something she was not expecting. Using all the willpower she had Mircalla attempted to shift and change them from her favourite location on the rooftop and put them back into the grand hall they started. This also meant they were in the hall surrounded by dances that now posed as if frozen in time.

“It will take a lot more than that to scare me, Galadriel.” Mircalla smirked and held strong. Loving Laura’s attempt at trying to scare her although her fake heartbeat told a different story. “You wouldn’t.” She teased again, now noticing the circuitry-flowers spawn up from the ground like computerized vines. They curled under her dress, spreading higher and higher like a python squeezing it’s pray till Micalla couldn’t move.

It was enough of a distraction that as she tried to break herself free she noticed the crystal needles getting closer. “Do your worst.” She kept provoking Laura not wanting a second of weakness to show and when the needles were closer enough, she brought her hands up either side to stop the needles getting any closer.

And that’s where the fear kicked in. With all her strength she pushed back at the needles but nothing slowing them down. She refused to scream and tried to squirm away as best she could but the needles pierced into the side of her neck like knife slipping into butter. The white hot pain turned numb before a tingling sensation hit. That’s when Mircalla finally let out a scream.

She could something spreading along her neck, like plates being fused to her skin and just when she thought it was over another jap of needles hit above her breast. Out of shock when Mircalla looked down she saw tubes outside of the needles breaking free and attaching themselves to her skin.

In a last attempt to overpower Laura she tried to shift the dream but nothing happened. When she bought her hands up to push back at Laura’s arm the colour was drained from her skin, the heart beat at flat lined and Mircalla was left torn between helpless and scared. Everything she had asked for.

“And if I refuse?” Empty words considering how her voice already had a trace of fear.

[lauronica_mars]

"Oh, I wouldn't want an unwilling servant." Laura's smirk was full of wickedness as she withdrew the needles, having already injected Mircalla. "Of course I've already got my nanites in your brain. And they make certain things hard to focus on." Like of course trying to change her dream.

"But if you don't want to kneel and kiss my foot you have one other option." Laura's needle-pointed fingers trailed down Mircalla's throat, slightly scratching the hollow of her throat to draw a tiny trickle of blood. And when she smiled moore widely her mouth was full of fangs of the same crystal as the needles she'd used. "Run!"

There was a dark hallway behind Mircalla - and Laura giggling in her ear. "Don't run too fast. I might get annoyed if you're hard to catch." And Calla would feel parts of her body tingle as the circuitry started spreading over them. Also her corset start to constrict.

[countess_karnstein]

If anything the needles felt more painful on the way out, then when they had initially pierced her skin. It felt like the area that was infected craved the implants of circuitry yet the fear of what it was doing to her made Mircalla want to run.

She watched Laura’s as if she was a completely different person and felt a shiver when she said ‘unwilling servant’. Mircalla vowed she would never be willing so when the opportunity to run presented itself she took it and bolted down the endless corridor.

Her fingertips pulled at the black circuit board on her chest to tear it off but the pain of trying to remove it caused a cry out loud. It felt like it the needles were still there and pushed through her heart. Impossible to remove.

In desperation and after running as fast as she could Mircalla tried one of the doors to left to find it was locked. Another on the right and the same thing happened. It caused her to panic as each door she tried meant seconds Laura could be catching up with her. She reached up to her neck and found another patch of circuits covering one side and spreading to the back of her neck and above her spine. Again she tried to pull but the machinery had become a permanent fixture to her flesh.

“What are you doing to me?” She spoke out loud but Laura was nowhere to be seen in the corridor of endless doors. Yet Mircalla could hear her laughing in her head as real as if she was standing straight in front of her. “If you want me to run I’m not making this easy cupcake.”

With all of her thought she went to edit an escape behind one of the doors to the left but all ability to change dreams had been taken away. Instead what she got when she opened the door was Laura standing behind it.