King for a day.

♚

we'll never be royals it don't run in our blood

The first sunrays are just scraping over the earth's surface when the morning bluebird sings its anthem for the lonely. A sad fiddle applicable to almost all who are able to listen on this brisk summer morning. Dominic closes his honey golden eyes, enjoying its cordial tune, intermittently humming along. He was sitting on an ambrosial wooden bench bathed in dappled sunlight on the south side of the castle. It seemed that most peculiars were still in bed as the castle grounds were awkwardly deserted. I guess this is what you get when you stubbornly wake up at six in the morning instead of at a more appropriate time.

Almost half an hour has passed since Dominic rolled out of bed, got dressed and sat himself on the bench. Soon a boy will come cruising up the road to deliver the newspaper, a rather boring one, as it's the exact same each day. Dominic somehow felt sorry for the kid but to no avail. It's of no use telling him that he won't have to bother coming here again, he wouldn't remember after all.

A sudden gust of wind send shivers down Dominic's spine who quickly pulls up the hood of his deep green sweatshirt. Dominic's been here for over two weeks now and even though every day it was the exact same temperature, Dominic still wasn't quite used to the cold weather here. It was certainly different from Ireland, where the rest of his family lived. Dominic's thoughts trail back to them, to his only sister and five brothers and his parents. All had the same powers as Dominic, they were Rephaite just like him. His sister was special though, she was able to walk in other people's dreamscapes. She once said that normal humans dream in colour while the Rephaite dream in black and white, 'it must be due to their vivid imagination' she used to say. Dominic was curious to this 'vivid imagination' and to gifted humans in general. In his entire life he had only encountered them a handful of times. Rephaite generally deem someone a minor until the age of sixty-five, and minors are not allowed to leave the village. And even when Dominic díd turn sixty-five he didn't go to other places a lot. His mother was too sick to leave behind, every moment spent elsewhere could possibly be her last.

Dominic bumps back to the present at the sound of crushed gravel. He turns his golden haired head and grins at the passing newspaper boy. We really should give him a name, just to refer to him in another way than 'the newspaper boy', which is quite insolent. Dominic stretches his upper body lazily after which he gets up from what has been his spot for almost forty minutes. Dominic replaces the warm sunlight for the moist walls of the castles and works his way up the stairs. In the past weeks he had, of course, done some exploring but hadn't spent a lot of time on the most upper of the castle, for which he was headed.

It is just a little past seven when he reaches the top floor, which is slowly starting to bustle to life. Dominic nods at a few of the others while making his way for the bathroom, a little up ahead next to a small nook in the wall. Dominic quickly takes care of his business, checking his face in the mirror before leaving the toilet. His olive tanned skin was still as sparkly as it was before he came here and his honey golden eyes didn't seem to have faded in any way. They were, however, less vibrant than they were yesterday. He should feed himself on somebody soon, or he would experience some withdrawal symptoms. Yes, he is a creature which feeds on somebody else's aura. He takes their power away and gets stronger by doing so. It is not the most pleasurable feeling for the 'victim' but it doesn't have any permanent effects either. It's 100% safe... Just... A bit weird and some people get a bit listless or pass out. Nothing to worry about.

Before 'dinner' time however, Dominic slips through a smaller wooden door at the end of the hallway. He had noticed it the first time he had explored the castle but hadn't had the chance to go and see what was there. And as he got some time on his hands today, he might as well. Dominic treads the wooden staircases with caution, making sure he would distribute his weight over two steps evenly instead of his full weight on one. With his height and weight you never know after all. Dominic manages to reach the top of the staircase without a hitch and gapes at what is before him. He is standing in a small round chamber that is almost void of any furniture. The walls are thick but smooth painted in a rich creamy white. The dark ebony floor is enriched by a bordeaux red carpet embroidered with mustard coloured lions. But all of that is immediately forgotten due to the huge window that gives the most amazing view of the garden which is currently showered in sunlight. The corners of Dominic's lips twitch into a thin smile as he walks towards the window, all the while imagining that this is what it would be like to be a king ruling over a city. The corners of his lips fall again when he hears the creaking sound of a wooden stairwell that is being climbed. Dominic cocks his head to the side, his honey-golden eyes searching for the 'invader'. "I didn't think anyone would join me this early." Is what Dominic admits, casting his eyes back to the sunbathed gardens.

[For Jinn]

♚

we'll never be royals it don't run in our blood

Shortly after Dominic had first talked to the intruder, he turned his tall yet lean body back towards the window. Behind the thick curtains that were of the same colour as the lion-embroidered tapestry that was on the floor, was the garden in all its marvellous glory. Dominic used to live in a cottage by the sea, in a place were there was only sand, dunes and heath grasslands. As a boy he wasn't permitted to leave the premises and thus for Dominic, it might be one of his firsts seeing such a pretty garden. Even from two floors high the exotic flowery aroma could be smelled, intoxicating Dominic's trail of thought. He imagined himself laying beside those flowers with the sun rays softly stroking his face, taking a short nap and spending hours just watching the sun set. A soft thud brought him back to the here and now, finding himself closer to the windowpane as he was before, his fingers softly trailing the slightly petrified wooden window sill.

Dominic had almost forgotten about his intruder, however, as he was still 'hungry' he could still feel the human's aura hanging about. If Dominic had to describe the boy's aura it would be a green, orange one. Dominic wasn't experienced enough at reading aura's to know exactly what those colours meant, but green was never promising. To show a little more respect towards him, Dominic decides to angle his body towards the boy, his lower body leaning against the window sill. Dominic crosses his arms as he looks at the human; his own honey golden eyes staring into the boy's green ones. Dominic just stood like that for a while, his eyes were smouldering like lamps; hungry for the boy his aura. He wouldn't however. He shouldn't. He would survive for a little while longer before he would go all savage on people. The corners of Dominic's lips twitched slightly upwards as the boy in black started talking. "We both thought wrong." he concludes. "Should I take my leave?" Dominic asks the human, as he was walking away from him. Had he already scared him away?

The boy's aura became a bit more green, with yellow blots speckled all over it. The boy wasn't liking the situation one bit, in fact, he would rather run away from it. Dominic was about to shrug it off when the boy suddenly stopped moving. Dominic peers at the snakes which were writhing around the boy's body. A Rephaite isn't scared of most animals, they are friends of nature in fact, yet he found it peculiar how these snakes chose to stay by the boy's side. Apparently there was more to him than met the eye. The boy talks after being a silent for a short while. Dominic cocks his head, a small smile on his lips. "You tell me, human." is his answer. "If your name is Jinn then yes." Dominic pushes himself off of the window sill and walks over to the boy; he himself towering over him. "You may call me Dominic, pleased to meet you, Jinn Suthcliff." It was a coincidence that he knew his full name, Dominic had only seen it once when he was registering himself yet it managed to stay with him. Dominic holds out his hand for the boy to shake; that was, after all, a human custom was it not? "You look beat." Dominic says, looking at, presumably Jinn's, pale demeanour. Dominic still had to get used to the numerous pale faces that walked the earth. Rephaite all had olive tanned skin, in fact, if your face was pale you were either dead or terribly sick. "Do they always follow you?" Dominic asks out of curiosity, glancing at the entwined animals around his body. "They seem to like you an awful lot." he mentions; a small creeping up on his face.

[Late as fuck lol]