When in Rome (Thurstan, Blair)

A drop of vodka fell into the coffee cup and sent waves of the brown liquid smacking against the walls of the mug. This first drop was the first of many that only stopped when Thurstan’s drink had reached the consistency that he most preferred. He raised the glass to his lips and sipped the steaming drink. It was incredibly hot and his cheeks grew red as a reaction. The experienced coffee drinker didn’t react much and simply let his favorite beverage slither down his throat. That’s some damn good coffee.

Thurstan smiled happily at Blair’s comment about being the cutest. “That really doesn’t surprise me.” He set his coffee down on the table, placing it partially on top of the moisture ring that had grown from where the cup sat a few moments before. “I don’t know, where we’ll go. We could always go sightseeing, or find a nice place to relax. I wouldn’t mind a hot shower.” His tone was rather nonchalant, but he knew what he was implying. He was here to have fun, after all. “For now, though, let’s just enjoy the meal. It’ll be nice to have some real food."

Thurstan wondered how long he’d be in the Vatican after tonight. He didn’t particularly want to be here, but he thought it was the right thing to do. Besides, the Sins needed to be wiped out one by one, or the whole world was going to burn. He shook his duties from his mind, remembering that he was trying to enjoy himself, “So, why did you come to the world of the living this time around, Blair?”

Footsy; the endless battle of the feet and the ultimate child’s flirting game was taken to a whole new level when adults played it. Most of the time, it led to the removal of shoes and the rubbing of legs followed by possible teasing of the genital region. But this, this thing that was going on was not that. It was just as youthful and innocent as the original game had been hundreds of years ago when Thurstan had first played it with his crush. Nonetheless, it was getting to be a furiously serious matter. Trace could hardly enjoy his steak because he was so focused on claiming victory over this field of battle.

He smiled and sliced a small piece of steak off of the main chunk before raising his fork to his mouth. He enjoyed the delectable bit of meat before swallowing it and chasing it down with a sip of alcoholic coffee. “Well, I’m glad you found me; this is pretty fun.” Thurstan said as his feet tussled with hers. The expression on his face was happy and calm, but completely determined. He gave her a look that said “bring it on” and his feet rolled around her own, dodging left and right and using the poll that supported the table as protection. She really was cute. Maybe it was just the lighting, but the visored couldn’t help but find himself feeling physically attracted to the arrancar.

“Well if we can do anything,” he said with a slight grin while his pleasant eyes held their air of calming and protection, “then why don’t we find a nice place to stay and we can take a long, hot shower.” It wasn’t a question, really. He wasn’t asking so much as telling Blair what he wanted to do. Thurstan took another bite of his steak and followed it up with his routine sip of coffee. They were still playing footsy under the table, and Blair seemed to be truly enjoying her food.

“I’m glad you like it.”

There it was. Victory. Thurstan had won that war under the table and felt pretty darn satisfied. It had been so long since he’d acted like a kid. He was sure she was judging him but, whatever. Who cares? When Blair had offered to take a bath with him instead of a shower, he wasn’t one to argue. Baths were nice too, he just liked showers more. Something about bathing just threw him off a bit, it was like soaking in your own nasty. If he was going to bathe, he’d shower first. That was an absolute rule that could never be broken. It was just too gross to do otherwise.

He continued to enjoy his steak and salad, eating the whole thing one bite at a time. The dressing was great and the salad was rather leafy, just how he liked it. All this combined with his alcoholic coffee was undeniably delicious. He hadn’t had a really good meal like this in a long time and he wanted to savor it, but it was so hard. Before he knew it, there was no salad left and only a small piece of steak sitting lonely on the plate. His coffee was nothing more than a small puddle at the bottom of the mug now. He tried to take a sip, not realizing how much he’d actually had to drink. When so little drained into his mouth he looked sorrowfully into the glass, almost regretting that he hadn’t paid more attention to it.

“Um, no. Actually, I don’t live in the area. I’m just here to see someone and do what I can to help out.”

In that same moment, the waitress hopped around the corner with a big grin on her face. Her Italian accent was soothing but powerfully joyous, “Bene! If you are looking for a place to stay, we have le stanze on the next floor. You can stay in the suite da regalità as our special guests.”

Thurstan’s jaw dropped. That was really convenient. A big suite would be the perfect place to stay for the night before he went to the Vatican in the morning. I wonder how big the bathtub is? It doesn’t need to be huge, just big enough for two. “How does that sound, Blair? A big room to sleep in for the night?”

Aaaaand she’s naked. was all he could think about as he practically gawked at Blair. She’d just thrown off her boots and let her jacket drop to the floor. Sure, he’d seen plenty of mostly naked women in his 360 ish years of life, but she was something special. She was definitely classified as “sexy” in his book. Even the way her back arched on the bed. None of this was enough to turn him on, but it definitely got his attention. She was so immodest, and he almost felt like he was in the room with a prostitute, but just the knowledge that she wasn’t seemed to make his brain tingle. This was a real woman. She was an arrancar, yeah, but what kind of a difference did that make? He was half hollow, anyway, well sorta.

Trace sighed a little bit as a small grin showed itself on his face. His shirt dropped onto the floor, bearing his torso to the room. Within a second she was on him, pressing her chest against his and standing on his feet. She let go of him and immediately ran off to the bathroom, without even giving him a chance to respond. A feeling of relief swelled in him before he sat down on the bed next to her and bent over to untie his shoes. The laces looped and wriggled out of their knots and he slipped them off, pulling each sock off after its shoe. He was thinking about what he actually wanted to do. Shower or bath? Why not both? That was actually the perfect decision. They could clean themselves off in the shower then take the time to enjoy a nice hot bath. He stood and made his way to the bathroom, where the tub was already filling.

“Well, I’m gonna hop into the shower first, then I’d love to take a clean bath with you.” his hand reached beside him and he scratched the space between her cat ears. He unbuckled his belt, slipped it off of his pants and dropped it casually on the floor beside his shirt. Just outside the bathroom door, he also took a moment to remove his pants, leaving himself in his plain-grey boxers before he went inside to turn the shower on.