A Formal Affair{M]{DamoniquexNumbers} IC

[Damonique]

Damien felt almost giddy at Alura's smile without entirely understanding why, it was clear he hadn't said anything particularly useful or clever, but all of that vanished in the imperceptible curve of her bloodless lips as she explained how it made him useful to her, worth keeping. He had never felt that before, truly useful, truly needed. He had thought a girl had wanted him once, and then she had torn out his throat.

The almost-tender way she ran her fingers along his throat, tickling the ugly mess of scar tissue left from his bite came as a shock, that vanishing into wide-eyed surprise at the oh-so-casual manner in which she slipped onto his lap, light as a feather, the soft pressure of her back against his chest, the smell of some elegant and expensive perfume in her hair, and most of all, the suggestive manner in which she twisted her hips in his lap sent a shudder of excitement through him and brought on an uncomfortable tightness to his pants. However it happened without a heartbeat, he now had no question that everything was still functional, a fact that he knew wouldn't escape his mistress's notice, where she was sitting, though Damien knew better to make mention of it.

Instead he tried very hard to focus only her explanation of how exactly how he fit into her plans. A nobody, a shadow on the wall, someone considered so lowly as to be almost below notice....and yet being nobody was exactly what made him valuable here. The way she spoke, explaining steps and counter-steps in a shadow-game like some sort of comic-book villain, made it clear that Alura had grand plans, and if he served well, Damien would get to be a part of them. The closeness, almost fondness he felt from her there was enough to make his heart soar, only to crash back down to earth as it was over as quick as it had begun, Alura rising in a single, flawless motion, the only sort of motion she seemed to make, to retake her place across the desk from him.

His disappointment was short-lived, though, as she finally brought up the single thing he knew was better even than that recognition or even the soft press of her gathered skirts where she had lounged on his lap, his answer seeming fairly pointless, broadcasted as it was in the yearning, hungry set his grey-blue eyes took on at the very mention of blood, tongue flicking out to scrape along the bottom edge of his fangs to reassure himself they were still there. Despite what they had done to him, how they had treated him, that was the reason Damien couldn't hate these creatures. After having tasted the copper-lime flavor of warm blood against his lips and felt the intoxicating rush that began at the back of his brain and continued until his whole body felt charged with electricity, he couldn't blame them for anything they did to keep themselves on that steady rush of lifeblood, young forever to be able to enjoy it.

"Yes....so hungry...please, Mistress, they haven't fed me since last week, and then it was barely more than taste..." He answered her, voice starting out small but hardening with resolve as he spoke, cloudy eyes entranced in hers, brow furrowed to show just how desperate he had become. "...please, anything at all you ask, I'll do it for you. Sneak, lie, steal...kill. I'm yours, Mistress Alura, yours...your property, your pet." Damien just kept talking, nearly pleading, the desperation in his voice making it clear he meant every word. In that past life, he hadn't been many things, but he had been proud, unreasonably so, given how little he had to be proud of. But after over a month living here, that was all gone, replaced with addiction and fear.

[Numbers]

She smiled slyly. "Well, we should feed you my pet. After all, we don't want to feed you after we get you changed, then you might get your new clothes dirty." She said with amusement in her voice. She put one hand under her desk and pressed a button of which a buzzer sound came out for a moment. Then a door opened and a woman that was blindfolded came in. She almost completely naked except for a few rags to keep males from getting any ideas. After all, she may have been cattle for vampire but that didn't mean that a male vampire couldn't get enticed to want to do more than feed on her.

Alura stood up from her chair and walked over to the women and whispered something into her ear, leading the women over to where Damien was sitting, sitting the women on his lap and guiding her neck over to his mouth. Alura then moved her own face to the other side of Damien's neck so she could whisper into his ear. "Drink as much as you want my pet. However drink slowly, take your time, enjoy the taste. Drain her if you want or keep her alive so that you can feed from her again. Either is fine with me. While you feed I am going to continue talking, so make sure to listen. I would have to hate to take your meal away before you finish. Or worse off, make you watch as I finish." She said with a smile letting her nails move lightly behind his ear on his neck.

She then moved back to her chair and started with speaking again. "Now, today we are going to test you to see exactly how much you know and to break some of the things they've instilled in you. Though there is one more thing to keep in mind. You are mine now. Your old life is over. You live to serve me. What you want is only what I want. Your one goal is to make me happy, however, you think that is. Keep in mind, though, if you displease me... Well let's just say that for those who anger me, death is mercy and mercy... is something I rarely give." She said with a sly smile. She may not like to get her hands dirty, but she still loved to see others suffer and be tortured. After all, she believed there were ways to punish without physically harming the person. Plus if you physically punished them, then you may break something and make it harder to do their job in the future.

[Damonique]

Damien smiled again when she finally, after a few moments of teasing insecurity, acquiesced to his request, his eyes turning immediately to the door when the buzzer sounded being able to hear the footsteps in the hallway, even the warm, living heartbeat on the other side of the door once it was so close, his new hunters instincts kicking in as the young woman was walked in, forcing him to dig his sharp nails into the soft wood of the chairs armrests just to keep from throwing himself at the new meal.

But he knew that wouldn't do, Alura hadn't told him he was allowed to feed yet, and seemed to be intentionally dragging out his anticipation as she slowly walked the girl to his chair, his eyes never leaving the young woman's throat. The first few times the Vampires had brought him to meals, Damien had been disgusted with himself, even after he gave in to his new thirst, drinking between choked sobs, remember what it was like to be human and afraid. Now, when he saw the girl, he had only the slightest degree of pity, and hardly any of that left.

The girl was young, maybe eighteen. Brunette, with once-curly hair that was now a tangled mess, though unlike the victims in the dungeon, this one was at least kept reasonably clean. In his old life, Damien would have thought her pretty, not beautiful, like a Vampire, but cute enough to try and fail to get her number at a party. Now he only had eyes for her throat, skinny and pink, showing from the off-white scars that ringed her throat and the resigned manner in which she allowed Alura to lead her to him, she had been serving at the family's pleasure for some time now.

Without even the smallest sob or sign of resistance she took the place Alura had chosen for her right on Damien's lap, where his Mistress had been a few moments before, collapsing fully onto him and tensing as Alura gently tilted her throat towards him. In a sultry, promising whisper right beside his ear his Mistress finally gave the order he had been craving, accompanied by the soft caress of her fingertips behind his ear, Damien snapped open his teeth and bit sharply into the girls throat, eliciting a loud squeal from her and a throatier sound, a self-satisfied growl trailing off into what was almost a purr from Damien himself.

The taste of blood filled his mouth. At first he had found that sickening as well, a cloying, metallic taste, but now it tasted perfect to him, even better was the hammering thump of the girls pulse that he could feel through his fangs, the fear she didn't show on the outside obvious to him in this so intimate embrace, and only serving to rush her lifeblood down his throat even faster. Damien had to shut his eyes as the nearly orgasmic pleasure that always followed the first bite rushed like a wave over his form causing an involuntary shudder of pure enjoyment.

Alura was still speaking, across the table, and it took every ounce of Damien's willpower to force his eyes open and look over at her, between involuntary tears that were now joy of rather than regret, to make it clear he was still listening, although the myriad threats..no..promises she made flew so easily past his thoughts, knowing that he would never want to do anything to earn her punishments. Instead he focused former points she had made, that he belonged to her now, Alura Velt, captivating and deadly. She would keep him safe and give him purpose, and above all...keep him fed.

Finally, with great difficulty, Damien stopped feeding removing his fangs carefully from the girls throat, slapping his hand over two long pinpricks it had left behind before too much of the precious red could escape, holding it there with pressure as he stood, an action that was meant to be slow but instead came fast, almost faster than the human eye could perceive, the heavy wooden chair flying back as if it weighed nothing with the force of simply extending his long legs, having forgotten for a moment just how powerful he was now. Damien held his prey easily in one arm, as if she was a rag-doll, and circled around the table to kneel before Alura's chair, licking his lips of the final few drops of his meal before offering the rest to his Mistress, knowing the last few pints to be the sweetest.

[Numbers]

She enjoyed watching him feed, the thrill of watching energy and strength return to his body as the women's blood enters his body. To see the strength that he now possessed, now that he wasn't starved. Only to have him offer the rest of the girl to his mistress. It was enough to bring a small smile to her lips. She smiled and stood up, taking the body of the women and resting her on the desk.

She then brought her own fangs to the other side of the neck, draining the last of the blood from the poor girl, killing her. Her use as cattle was over, and now she could go to whatever afterlife she believed in. Alura didn't care, though because she had no plans on ever leaving this world. She had no plans on ever becoming weak enough for another vampire to kill her. If such a vampire were to get strong enough then she would simply return to the shadows where she could kill him on her own terms.

She took her fangs out of the body and opened a side drawer from her desk. In it was a handkerchief and she took it, using it to wipe the blood that was left around her lips. She then threw the handkerchief onto the body and looked to Damien. "Now that you have been fed, it's time to get you into more appropriate clothes. Especially since you are going to be my personal butler." She said with a smile walking to the door of the office. As she walked she walked with a more seductive pose in her stride that also showed power. She only acted like a cute little daddies girl in front her mother and father.

She opened the door and let out a loud whistle. Then two maids quickly appeared. Alura first pointed to the one on the left. "Go to the Attire Room and fetch a butler's attire for Damien. The book probably won't have his measurements so bring a whole bunch of different sizes as well as the sewing kits and measurement tapes." With that, the maid on the left went to go and do as she was told. Then Alura pointed to the one on the right. "We have drained our meal completely. Please dispose of the body in the furnace as usual and take my handkerchief to get washed." The maid simply nodded and left to go get something to carry the body on.

[Damonique]

Damien smiled wide as she took the prey, almost delicately, watching the blood drain from the girls face until she gave out a final whimper, shuddered and died, the body of what had once been a person slumping to the floor once the Vampiress was done with it, knowing he had made the right choice in offering the last of his meal to his Mistress, and reassured by the sight that told him they truly weren't so different, that he had nothing to be ashamed of. They were Vampires, and Vampires had to eat.

When Alura mentioned his attire and began giving commands, Damien looked down and noticed for the first time the bright red stain that was seeping into the fine silk of the vest, having fed hungrily and spilled some of the precious blood in his haste, while not a drop had tarnished his Mistress' gown, so delicately she had taken her meal. He would have to improve that.

"Thank you, so much, Mistress, for the meal...and for the clothing. I shouldn't have ruined these your father most generously gave me." Damien spoke up, once they were alone again, the maids off to dutifully attend Alura's commands, the giving of which seemed as easy to her as breathing. Damien couldn't imagine having that aura of confidence, telling anyone, much less a vampire, what to do. But, remembering his mistress' commands from earlier, he knew that was another thing he would have to learn. For now, he settled for appreciating the suggestive sway of his mistress' hips that she used to enunciate every word.

"If I am to be your...butler, is there anything I need to know now? I'll ask the rest of the servants, but I'd rather hear hear from your lips how you prefer things done. I've never served anyone before, we had butlers, not the other way around" He added, trying to make a point of how obedient he'd be, and more importantly that he was solely hers, anything he heard from but her own lips would be suspect, the last part a sudden thought from his past life that came rushing back. He couldn't put a name to a single maid or butler his family had employed, despite having known dozens, at least. Hopefully that would earn him some goodwill, and with his confidence growing, Damien made the only request that had been on his mind besides blood.

"And....after your tests, and whatever instruction I require, would I be allowed to walk the grounds? Later, once the sun sets. We were never allowed out much but for training, and even then, I feel like I need to run, work, do something. Get used to what I am." He asked, already regretting the words as they finally slipped out. It was a small favor, surely, but something about the way Alura already talked about him, possessively, something of hers, suggested he shouldn't take a step out of her sight without express permission.

[Numbers]

"Of course, if you are to serve me you must become comfortable with what you are and who you are now. You will be taught lots of things, more then even I have to know, and you will be given tests. Some tests you will find easy and they will be there simply to make sure you are paying attention. Other tests will be there to show you what you have to do and become in order to better serve me. Then there are the tests that will challenge everything you know, in order to make sure you're loyalty really is mine." She walked back over to the chair that was on the ground and picked it up, setting it back in its place, before moving to a chair at the chess table sitting down.

She then motioned for him to sit across from her. She crossed one leg over the other, despite wearing a dress. She then put her hands together on her knee. "I won't be your only teacher but I will be your main teacher. The others will also teach you. For example, the chef will teach you how to cook, the gardener will teach you how to garden. The butler must master all the chores of the house that way if one of the lower people have to be disposed of you can do their job. However most of that you will probably be taught after the ball. For now, you need to know the basics and the advanced parts of being an actual butler. That way when you come to the ball with me and people ask if you are a turned butler, I can tell them you are actually a returned mistake that a servant made. The worst of mistakes elevated to one of the highest positions. It will reflect my power and stature, and will be an excellent time to show the other families how powerful my family really is. It will please me father and thus please me."

She looked to the fireplace temporarily as she thought to herself on how best to proceed with his training. However, before she could do any real thinking there was a knock at the door. "Come in." A maid came in with a cart and moved to the desk where she started to load the body onto the cart and started to work on cleaning the desk and the area around it, removing any blood that had found its way onto furniture and other areas. Alura looked back to Damien. "Something to keep in mind is that I believe in punishment and rewards. If you do your job well then you will be rewarded with more than just blood. However... If you do your job badly then I will make sure you remember to do it correctly the next time around. Of course I myself won't physically punish you because I don't like to see such things if I have to. However, I have nothing against others doing the torture." She said with a sly smile.

[Damonique]

Damien listened tacitly, smiling when she assented to his small request, hoping that perhaps today's interactions were a proper indication of things to come. Alura could be harsh, that was clear in how she had stated more tan once now how willing she would be to punish any perceived mistake or disobedience with torture, but at least fairly. He simply had to resist any semblance of disobedience and learn fast to keep ahead of making mistakes.

He took the seat across from her as instructed and listened tacitly to her reasoning, plans, and plots, once again amazed by how many steps ahead his new Mistress' thought. It was clear there was a great game going on in this house, and an even larger one to be played at the Ball, and he would be one of the pieces on the board. Hopefully he would get the chance to find out who some of the other pieces were and how they fit in before he made some inadvertent misstep. Until then, Damien could trust noone and hope that his Mistress truly knew best.

Once she had said her piece and seemed to be leaving a lull for Damien to ask questions, he took advantage of the distraction of the maid in the room to sort out which would be best to ask. Definitely not to pry for any details about her punishments, knowing what was in store would only make him more concerned over something he could not change and just as likely to cause it to come. Her promise of rewards besides blood were intriguing, but he couldn't allow his mind to stray down that path.

Though Alura spoke and acted so suggestively, he had to believe that was just a ruse, another tool in her arsenal of deception to keep her enemies underestimating her and her pawns off-guard. She'd probably had several lifetimes to perfect that allure and without a doubt was in total control, knowing exactly what sort of reaction to expect when she lounged on his lap or brushed her fingertips across his throat, just as she the fleeting glimpses she was giving him right now up the hem of her skirts where they parted now and again as she tapped her heeled feet together on the table, seemingly unconcerned. It was no offer or flirtation, just another method of controlling how he thought and felt around her, keeping him both unnerved by and desperate for those fleeting moments of attention.

And it worked, almost too well. Damien would have to be careful not to let his interest show too plainly. To desire her wasn't his place, Alura was pureborn, her fathers favorite daughter, and if she felt the need for a paramour or a plaything, surely she had plenty more suitable practically begging for the opportunity. Instead of giving in to his embarrassment or disappointment, he adopted a thin, vacant smile, glad that as a vampire, pale as bone and cold as ice, he could no longer blush. Blushing had always made him look stupid when he was human, made it so very obvious to the girls he entertained hopes and fantasies for that he wasn't worth their time.

"Understood, Mistress. How could I expect any less? You want me to be useful, and sometimes that will require a harsh lesson. I don't know this world, but I need to. I'm one of you, now, and an accident or not, I have to find a place here. So teach me my place." He finally said, deciding not to bother with questions at all, he wouldn't like any of the answers he got anyway. Instead he just repeated the obvious, something he had already known after the first week of confusion and thirst. He wasn't human anymore, couldn't return to that world even if he wanted to. This was the only sort of life left to him, he'd best get on with learning how to live it.

[Numbers]

Alura smiled at him. Especially as the other maid came in with a hanger cart that had many different suits on it. As she came in the other maid came out. The maid with the clothes started moving furniture out of the way and Alura got up heading over to her desk to sit on it, crossing her legs again and putting her hands behind her as she sat. "Ah and now it is time to get you dressed properly. I'll watch while this maid gets you dressed appropriately, as well as tell you some of your duties as a butler." She snapped her finger and the maid walked over to Damien to start slowly taking his clothes off.

"She is going to strip you down to your underwear. From there she is going to take measurements all over your body in order to determine the exact sizes you will need for your attire. That way when you get dressed every day your clothes will fit snug and perfectly. You will look like one hell of a butler that's for sure." She said with a sly smile as the maid took off most of his clothes, showing the different muscles of his body and showing the bare skin. She looked his body up and down, enjoying the eye candy in front of her as she did so.

"As a butler it is your duty to cater to my every will and whim, making sure that whatever I need and want done, gets done. If I want tea, then you get me tea, if I want the lawn filled with elephants then you make sure that it happens. Every morning you are to wake me up at nine in the morning. When you wake me up, you are to have my morning tea with me. Every day I prefer a new tea, so make sure to get me a new tea every day. At ten is breakfast, despite being vampires blood is not the only thing we eat. We eat human food as well, think of blood as a sort of extra thing we have to take care of that makes it so we don't have to cater to the human needs as often. We still need to eat, and we still need to drink, just not as often as a human. We can go huge amounts of time without it, but it slowly gets more and more uncomfortable. After breakfast, I then do lessons and other stuff until five in the afternoon. Then I have dinner. After that, I relax for the rest of the day and do what I choose to. Then around midnight I go to sleep."

She then watched the maid pull out some measurement tape and started to measure different parts of his body. Getting lengths, widths, thickness, height, all kinds of measurement stats. She recorded them all in a large book so that in case he ever needed attire for something else or needed a replacement attire they would already have his measurements and could make what he needed as soon as he needed it.

[Damonique]

Damien was hardly discomforted as the maid diligently removed his clothing, leaving the short grey wrap of fine cloth that was apparently the Victorian equivalent to undergarments and began measuring him. Seeing the way Allura looked him over, appraisingly, he made a point to stand straight back, flexing to give himself some definition, looking down, he realized that was unnecessary.

Damien hardly recognized himself. As pale as usual, that hadn't changed, but since his transformation what little loose skin he had disappeared, under-layered by corded muscle, chiseled abs that would have taken years to perfect after nothing more than a few weeks of training and regular feedings. On his arms, the track marks and scars of a short but fast lifetime of drugs and self-hatred that quickly became self-harm had faded into the faintest of off-pink lines, themselves soon to be replaced by perfect alabaster. How could someone call this a curse when it made one physically perfect?

Despite his thoughts, he paid close attention Alura's instructions as the made diligently flitted around his, measuring and sewing in turn so that the entire rack of clothing brought in would be fitted perfectly to his form. The fabrics were soft and rich, white vests and black jackets, accented by silver cuff-links, ivory buttons, and the occasional flourish of embroidered red silk. Damien was not unfamiliar with wearing a suit, though nothing so formal, though he doubted he had touched one after his high school graduation, preferring the ease and simplicity of identical wal-mart t-shirts and salvation army blue jeans.

He listened to Alura as she elaborated upon his duties, having to resit the urge to laugh at the mention of elephants in the garden, realizing that even if only as a test of his resourcefulness, such a ridiculous thing might be asked of him. Thinking of all the strange and unnecissary thing the rich could find, he decided that so long as the family was footing the bill, he could likely make such a thing happen with the right calls and correct bribes.

Mention that he would be responsible for awakening her every morning elicited a surprised furrow of the brow, he would think Alura would be more than able to handle such a thing herself. Then again, she probably did, it would be another part of his instruction, ensuring he kept the same schedule as his mistress, without deviation. He'd have to see the cooks about the tea, make himself a schedule to ensure he never came upon the same selection twice. Morning tea would presumably include conversation, so Damien would have to find his tongue, somehow, and keep himself constantly supplied with interesting topics to discuss.

By time the measuring and dressing was done, Damien looked as proper as Allura had said he would. Clad in rich velvet and fine silk, monogrammed, he didn't fail to note, with her initials, A. V. in a highly stylized font, in deep crimson thread that contrasted well with the black and white. He took a few circles around the room and found to his surprise that the clothing was truly tailored to him, not uncomfortable in the slightest and offering a free range of motion, flush to his form but not chokingly tight.

"Do I look the proper butler, Ms. Velt?" He asked with a self-satisfied girn, knowing that the answer couldn't be anything but a yes. He felt better like this, more at ease, knowing the attire and who it said he served offered at least one sort of protection, here. Anyone who saw him dressed like this would know immediately who he belonged to and what she was capable of.

[Numbers]

"Yes, much more like someone who should be serving me." She then looked to the maid and snapped. "Take the measurements back to the attire room, and make him more of these outfits to wear. Then deliver them to his room." She then looked back to him. "As for your room, follow me, it is time to show you where you will be staying." She walked over to the door and opened it walking into the hallway.

"You will be staying in the servants quarters with the rest of the servants. However, while they all sleep in group rooms that have like six beds, you will be staying in one of the private rooms that you will have to yourself. After all, a butler is more important than the rest of the servants, and due to their duties, need to make sure they get the rest they need."

She continued to lead him down corridors and stairs until eventually, they were under the manor. She led him into the underside of the east wing. As she opened the door it showed the large living room and of the servants and several servants were in there because they didn't have to work right that moment for whatever reason. They looked at her and just backed up to the walls, knowing to not get in the way. They also looked at Damien, knowing that he was a returned. However, they also noticed that he was in the butler uniform which was making them uneasy.

She led him to the bedroom that was farthest in and was largest in this wing. She opened the door and went in. It wasn't much, a bed, chest, armoire, mirror, desk, chair, small table. It was homey if you were a minimalist. "This is your room. The maid should bring more clothes of your attire down here and will put them onto the bed for you to hang."