The barren landscape of Kaine's domain was one fraught with dangers, monsters great and small roamed freely beyond the walls of the imposing fortress that dominated the rocky and desolate view.

The low hanging clouds were occasionally lit from within by flashes of angry orange-red lightning that caused silhouettes to be seen through roiling haze. Massive silhouettes of something that looked like it could maybe be some sort of flying wyrm.

Even the ground seemed violent, spires of jagged rock stabbing at the sky as if the two had been battling each other for an eternity. Nothing pleasant could be found, what few plants existed here were thorny hateful things, often carnivorous to boot.

Despite how hostile it's surrounding were, the fortress located in the middle of it all was a stalwart edifice of power. Nothing dared get too close, that that seemed to not have always been the case, as countless bones, large and small littered the land just outside the walls. It seemed that the fortress had to earn it's place in this land as much as it's Master did.

The exterior of the structure was a naked functionality. Impressive in size and scope but not in adornment, the fortress as a monolithic presence it's interior just as simple and functional as it's exterior. No livery flew, no tapesties, fancy curtains or lavished furniture adorn the halls of the fortress. It's halls echoed with an emptiness that one would be forgiven for assuming implied it had been abandoned. The potential the fortress held was limitless, much like him.

Kaine stood at a large table granite table, tomes and maps, scrolls and parchments, all manner of material were scattered across the stone table's surface as he stood there, hands braced on the edge of the table, scanning a particularly old tome.

There was a chair behind him, but he rarely cared to use it. Staying still for too long didn't agree with him. It made him restless. More often than not he would carry a book and pace as he read.

He was mid page turn when he paused, his brow furrowing as he sensed that someone was intending to pay a visit. Already.

He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose and flippantly flicked the massive tome shut with a loud THUD She certainly didn't need to know anything about this. It would ruin the surprise.

With a quick gesture the entire surface of the table was suddenly a black spatial into which all of the materials fell, only to be ejected from other rifts into their proper place in the expansive library in which the table was located.

As it were, a swirling black vortex opened at the front gate of this massive stronghold, depositing into the bleak, chaotic world one small woman with oversized wings, a fancy dress, and no small amount of what were arguably-suicidal tendencies. As she steps through, the gaping void behind her abruptly snaps closed, its purpose fulfilled, leaving the woman to stand there on her own two taloned feet.

Her appearance was drawn up in a sense to, perhaps, find some sort of belonging against what she had already predicted would be a very unwelcoming atmosphere, but not without her own capacity for style and flair: a small black ribbon tied off a section of the right half of her hair in a small ponytail, and the penetrative gaze of silver irises cast a shorthand glare at her immediate surroundings. Below the mangled, black-iron amulet at her throat lay the spread of a rather-exquisite gothic gown, a void of black that was bespattered with stars of white, the sleeves of which were ruffled and accentuated with white lace around the shortened ends just above her elbows. Flickering lights, apparently somehow set into the dress's framework, sparkle gently across the bottom skirt's hem in a horizontal pattern that continually and ceaselessly encircles its edge. Completing the look is a single glove of white mesh on her left hand, fingerless over all digits except for where one would wear a ring, and connected between there and the rest of it just beyond that arm's wrist.

Her wings unfold slightly as she stands there, either unsure of how to proceed or merely waiting to be addressed by the fortress' lord; a flawless layer of feathered white down lines the inside of her wings, with no indication of any discoloration or any other obnoxious rogue elements that could have been otherwise-present.

There was a loud shriek of metal that signified the fact that the monstrous gates of the fortress were going to open, followed quickly but a deep rumbling as the thick metal barrier started ponderously crawling upward on it's tracks.

His footsteps were drowned out by the grinding of the gate that had every intention of only opening the ten feet required to permit entrance of a person on foot, though with how devoid of life the area seemed, it was relatively unclear what was even lifting the gate in the first place.

There was a loud CACHUNK as the massive gate came to a halt, not even open a tenth of the way, and Kaine could be seen striding toward the entry at a leisurely pace, his footsteps the only thing breaking the silence that was left behind by the gate's cessation.

"It didn't take you overly long to make use of that trinket, I see. Lucky for you they ate one of their own not but an hour ago." He gestured flippantly upward as a flash of light up in the clouds revealed the shadows of the wyrms that resided there.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he inquired with a sarcastic tint to his words.

The siren backstepped slightly at the sound of the gate opening, perhaps not unexpecting of some sort of trick or trial that might be made required for her entry. Really, she saw point not to put anything past Kaine at this point, after what had been made aware and clear to her at their reunion prior. All the same, though, she was at least semi-glad for the sense of basic normalcy in which he approached her, once the gate had opened enough to allow him to do so. For all the power he had, the place really did feel much too big for him, and that was just her perception from the outside.

Her eyes glance skyward briefly at his indicative introduction. "Lucky and not-at-all surprised, to boot," she said, with a small amount of equivalent snark. Her eyes fell back toward him, blinking only a single time. That vibratory echo carries along in her voice, indicative of her transformed state, as well as the visible absence of her Soul Gem from around her neck. "I can't claim to have remembered much about this place from my time long before, which saddens me, given how important I've professed my memories to be. I suppose there's no telling how many renovations and upgrades you're imposed upon it in the last decade or so, however."

She curtseys, then; a very regal gesture that looks well-practiced and rehearsed, and the sweep of her gown across the ankles of her feathered legs is not unlike that of an accomplished performer who is solidly-well-versed in the art. Only the ribbon in her hair retains any sense of childlike mentality upon her part. "I appreciate your acceptance of my presence within your domain, for all that it actually means to you, Kaine. May I come in?"

"You may as well, considering if you were to find your own way in you would get yourself lost." He said in a very informal manner. He seemed very dismissive of her own formalities as well.

"I do appreciate that you arrived dressed for a fight, but you can drop it, once inside these walls nothing from out there will be able to get to you, and that creature's power isn't welcome here." Kaine said as he turned to return inside the fortress, it was evident what he meant was that Kyuubei's power wasn't welcome.

The sound of the gate's ominous growl started again as the gate began to lower once again, forcing Molly to either hurry in, or be locked out.

"So I ask again," His words rose over the noise "To what do I owe this pleasure?" The words were more insistant this time, indicating that he wasn't keen on having to ask a third time.


Mollianne did allow herself inside just as the gate's mechanism started to arise once more, but not in a hurried manner at all. It seemed as though the elegance that she befitted herself with extended beyond the attire, if her posture and movements were of any indication. There was a small amount of confusion in her words when she responded, however, and perhaps a trace of annoyance. "Your warning about my lack of safety in your domain was made very clear to me," she said, her eyes going half-lidded. "While I'm surprised you would have expected any different, I will at least deny that I am dressed for any fights that I am not to be forcibly-subjected to. I dressed for the occasion and not for the combat, as there would be far less cloth and far more flesh if I had assumed inclination toward the latter." Her manner of speaking is also a far-cry more eloquent than the normal, and one could possibly chalk it up to her Soul Gem's influence, but there was no way to really know. Maybe she just had this capability the whole time and never had a reason to bring it forth to anyone else.

Then again, she didn't really know why he was deserving of such a thing, either. Some mysteries were probably just better left in the bookcase.

"I came to offer my thanks for your allowance into your domain," she echoed from her earlier statement, "and also because 'visiting' is something that we mortals do without absolute requirements." It was pretty apparent that her annoyance was growing, but again, that possibly could have been her power's influence. At the very least, she didn't look ready for a fight; while there was a sharp edge to her eyes, the desire for bloodlust was absent. "I dressed nicely for you because I felt like you deserved to see me in something other than decade-old rags or ripped vestiges of combat-prone garments. Does nobody in your domain wear nice clothes at all for special occasions?" She offered a smirk, then. "Or are 'special occasions' also absent, here?" Wow, she was smarting off something fierce, no less in the presence of dangerous company. What the hell was wrong with her? His implication about Kyuubei's power being unwelcome was either lost on her or ignored, one of the two, as she didn't opt to address it vocally.

Kaine turned to face her, but remained moving, walking backwards as he spread his arms out in an all encompassing gesture.

"You tell me, does my attire not meet to your high standards?" The clear implication being that he was, in fact, the only one in this place. So much space and sparse majesty, and he was the only occupant.

"I don't tend to host many functions, formal or otherwise." He elaborated with a bit of snark of his own before he turned to walk forward again.

Their footsteps echoed in the empty halls of the fortress as they made their way through the grand main hall. Massive vaulted ceilings and archways adorn with few embellishments marked the hall as what it was, basic functional black candelabras lined the hall with two large braziers flanking both the entrance and exit doors, which were equally imposing.

Despite how huge the place was, and utterly devoid of luxury and opulence, the place was spotless. Not a single spec of dirt, not a single cobweb tucked in a forgotten corner. A place this size was impossible for a single person to keep clean under normal circumstances. But this place was anything but normal.

"I said, your patron's magic is not welcome here." The words were more forceful. "Take that off."

The commentary he gave her about the lack of social gatherings didn't surprise her at all, but she also wanted to believe that he didn't just stay in his castle day in and day out, either. She envisioned Kaine going about his business up until he got hungry, running into the kitchen to grab a bag of potato chips, and then going right back to what he was doing while munching offhandedly and not missing a beat. It was amusing, but she didn't allow her expression to betray that amusement, given that he was prone to picking up on her expressions and making his own assumptions. She did allow herself the time as they walked along to note the lack of embellishments, and it occurred to her, then, that he also mentioned children, but not a significant other. Did they live here, too? That sounded... boring. So very boring.

And then his demand surfaced, which caused her to stop walking. She eyed him cautiously for a moment before rolling her eyes in blatant exasperation at his predisposition for needless authority. But, well, he asked. It wasn't in her to disobey someone such as Kaine, and her bond with him might not have been the entirety in her decision to do what she did next, though it very much played a large part in it. Even if she truly wanted to argue against him, the will to do so just wasn't there. So she complied.

With a broad gesture of one hand, Mollianne culled the enchantment surrounding her form and relinquished her power, causing her visage to ethereally shatter and split apart like a broken mirror; these 'pieces' fall away into nothingness, scattering away as they become motes of sparkling light that disperse quickly, leaving the original version of herself behind; brilliant aquamarine eyes, radiant white wings that were tucked in tightly against her back, and the black swordshaped pendant around her neck that was quickly joined by her Soul Gem that appeared in a sudden flash of blue light.

...And nothing else. Literally. Mollianne was as naked as the day she was born, and in emphasis of his request for her to 'take that off,' she put both hands on her feathered hips, giving him a coy look that spoke volumes, such that she didn't have to speak with her own voice. It is worth noting that, with her transformation no longer in place, her expression has taken on more of a playful tilt than an aggressive one.

Kaine glanced back as the Soul Gem's glamour was dispelled and he just looked at her with a deadpan expression that seemed to scream "What are you? Twelve?" though he didn't go as far as to actually saying it.

He just shook his head exasperatedly and continued to walk, though he turns off the main hall and heads down one of the side halls.

"You are lucky I was actually here. I don't tend to anticipate guests so I don't bother spending overly much time here unless I'm working on a project." He said, apparently deciding to mostly ignore the fact Molly was naked as a jay bird, likely cause he thought it might annoy her.

The path they were walking, however was a distantly familiar one. The haze of time didn't allow for full knowledge as to the intended destination, but Molly could certainly tell that this was a path she had traveled before long ago.

Eventually they stopped before a large set of double doors. "Feel free to find something more....you." He said with a bit of a loathsome glare down at the luminous gem, like he was doing this to spite it.

Perhaps not super unexpected, the bland look she is granted does nothing but build upon her satisfaction with regards to her childish antics, but then again, she hadn't exactly changed into that dress with intent to have taken it off until she returned home, either; it was more that she hadn't gotten dressed yet in the normal fashion before deciding to just utilize her power accordingly. This was all on Kaine for being petty, not her, and the self-serving look on her face couldn't have made this any clearer.

As such, she followed him down the hall with nary a shred of clothing, his statement causing her to wonder what she'd have done if he hadn't been here when she arrived. Perhaps she should find a way to communicate that better rather than just showing up, but then again, if Kaine knew her at all, he should've probably assumed that she'd have shown up sooner rather than later after acquiring the means to do so. Why would she express such excitement over the means to come and visit if she hadn't planned on doing so?

The recognition of that particular path he led her through did retrieve some vestige of memoriam, when she was much smaller and her excitement had the capacity to be much larger about more-mundane things. The playful smirk slipped from her features as they approached the large set of double doors, replaced by a slightly-unfocused expression that clearly indicated her recollection of those long-ago days. His words snapped her back to attention, though, and she looks up at him, missing his glare for the sake of her own return to childish rhetoric. "I guess it was too much to ask to be allowed to run around the place naked," she said, "but if there are other people there, I guess we cannot assume they would have the same disregard as you do. I am pretty hot, after all." All of this is said with a relatively-neutral expression, but a glance at the corner of her lips clearly indicates that she is trying very hard not to giggle.

He once again shook his head and reached to the double doors. The black wood of the doors was varnished to a gloss that made the engravings on it stand out. This particular door sported a rather detailed carving of a rocky shore. The swells of an engraved ocean crashing upon the beach.

Kaine shoved the doors open and stepped aside. The room beyond was practically a time capsule. A large feather bed dominated the center of the chamber, drapes of a similar colour to Molly's eyes flanked the bed in lavished fashion, it was a huge contrast to the rest of the fortress thus far. This room was exactly as she had left it so long ago. A book she had accidently forgotten, still sitting on the dresser. The whole room's colour scheme was lighter and airier than the rest of the edifice, decorations she herself had selected.

"There are things in there that should suit your needs." he informed her in an even tone as he gestured toward a wardrobe that sported a similar oceanfront theme as the doors, with the exception that it was a much paler wood, nearly white.

All of the childish antagonism dies on the spot as soon as Mollianne's eyes fall upon the room. She froze in the doorway, hardly able to believe what she was seeing, and the swiftly-rising pace of her heartbeat was a clear indication of her shock. It was... all there. Exactly as she remembered it.

No small myriad of thoughts raced through her head, a cluster of memories, realization, acknowledgment, and even small traces of suspicion. She didn't have the strength of will to pull herself forward in that moment, but her eyes scanned the room no less for it, taking in all of the sights and associating her memories accordingly with everything she recalled taking place, off and on between her visits, some ten years prior. The softened look and stance she's taken, blatant nudity notwithstanding, does nothing to hide the fact that she feels like an asshole ragging on Kaine after being shown... this, of all things.

But then, there was still suspicion, simply because she had grown and was keen to foretell the possibility for ulterior motives that her younger self had no way of doing. Her eyes shifted from the room to Kaine, and while there is no small amount of enamorment there for seeing her room having been left exactly as it had been for all those years during her absence, there is also obvious confusion, which she doesn't hesitate to state because, in the last few days, she'd already been going completely bonkers in trying to figure out exactly where her feelings lay, why they lay there, and what she's supposed to be doing with or about them. That is, as far as she actually had control over the ones she did, anyway.

"Kaine..." she said, after a few moments, her meek self of the past suddenly coming back to the fore. "...You cannot just..." She struggled, trying to figure out how to get the words from her head to flow the way she wanted them to, through her voice. "..Why? Why is this still here? I do not understand." It was the best she could do, under the circumstances. It was not all she wanted to say, but it was all she could manage. Left behind, but possibly still seen under the surface, was her complete and utter lack of understanding at, again, why he claimed to not want anything to do with her, and yet still maintained her room exactly as he'd made it for her, all those years ago. How is that not affinity for someone? How is that not caring about someone?

Gods above and below, he was so fucking frustrating, sometimes! Why couldn't he just come out with it and tell her she wasn't wrong, all these years past?

Kaine's brow furrowed "What?" He clearly wasn't understanding why she was having the reaction she was. "It's still here because I haven't had any other need for the chamber. Have you seen how large this place is? It isn't my job to move your junk. But at least you have things here you can wear."

He certainly wasn't understanding why she seem to be getting worked up. Or...upset? Angry? It certainly seemed like perhaps all of those and more, but he couldn't be bothered to try and puzzle it out.

"Once you are dressed I'll show you the way to the parlour, since I very much doubt that you remember the way."

His reaction to her query wasn't quite what she expected. Like, she didn't expect a big 'because I thought you would be back someday' revelation or anything like that, but the fact that he didn't seem to even realize why she was getting worked up was sort of depressing. It was a pretty heavy hand that beat down her, perhaps foolish, rising hope that maybe she was going to finally see from acknowledgment from him, that she was actually important to him, in some way, even over something as simple as keeping a room for her, despite their prolonged separation.

But no. Of course not. As ever, she was looking for things that weren't there. They weren't there now, and they weren't there then. Why did she keep putting herself through this? The flurry of emotions playing out over her face in those few moments was plainly obvious, but eventually she does make her way into the room, but then stops again to immerse herself in the feel of it from so long ago. There was still no small amount of shock that she was seeing all of this again, after so long, and it was hard to suppress the feelings that came with it.

He is doing this on purpose...

The thought hit her suddenly, enough to cause her to give a slight jolt and bring her back to her senses. She had no idea where it came from or what even triggered it, and it was gone just as quickly as it arose, leaving her confused long enough that any further delay would probably just aggravate Kaine further than he probably already was. With a small sigh, she turned her attention toward the wardrobe and opened it up.

After things had sat for that long, she would have expected some sort of mustiness to associate with the clothes that lay on the other side, but no. Like every other aspect of the keep they'd passed, these were all clean, all well-taken-care of. It was just like she'd... never left. She willed herself not to dwell on it too much for the sake of her host, and reached for the first two things that looked easy-enough to wear without having to ask him for help, being an ocean-green tank top and a black miniskirt, neither of which required much beyond simply slipping on. There was a brief moment of entanglement with her wings over the top, but amidst a grumble or two, she eventually managed to pull them through and slip it over her head. Unfortunately (not for her), she had never worn undergarments in her life and wasn't about to start now, so people would just have to deal and hope that the temperature didn't drop unexpectedly at some point during her visit. She paused for a moment to glance at herself in the mirror, mostly to make sure she hadn't put anything on backwards, but also as a brief acknowledgement of how much she'd changed in those years, physically or otherwise.

And yet, some things remained the same, as ever they did. "Alright," she said, eventually. "I am sorry about that." She turned toward Kaine, and offered a nod without anything further.

Satisfied that the interloper was no longer being represented in his realm, Kaine resumed guiding the way down the hall once Molly was dressed.

There were a few other doors that they passed in that long hallway. One had a depiction of what seemed like a peaceful riverscape, another looked to have the relief of a murky swamp carved across it's face, and yet another sported what looked to be a bloody battlefield littered with discarded weapons and corpses.

"For the record, I didn't assume you would fight so hard for that trinket to not use it. I just wasn't expecting you to use it so soon." He explained very belatedly. "I would have thought you would anguish over using it a lot longer. You do have a tendency of over thinking things."

The lattermost of those remarks annoyed her a little bit in a way she couldn't completely fault him for, because it was wholeheartedly factual. "I was not lying when I said I was glad to see you, that day," she responded, following him along with halfhearted glances at the doors and miniature murals she passed along the way. "I have plenty of things to anguish over on any given day, and whether or not to make use of something I put my life on the line to get from you wasn't high on the list." Her manner of speaking seems to have resolved itself, too, returning to something more-normal that she's known better for. "What to wear, how many sprays of perfume to put on before a performance, how risky I want the routine to be, and so on. You know, important stuff." Her tone remains neutral as she speaks, like the whole thing was just funnier that way. "But I am glad you happened to be here, at least, when I did decide to show up. My luck does not tend to fall that way, usually."

As the pair walked, it seemed as though the far end of the hall was such a great distance away that walking in this place seemed more like a day long journey, but after only a few more steps they found themselves at the door at the end of the hall, as if the keep itself had decided that that much walking was unnecessary.

"I've actually been here since our last meeting. I had a great deal of research to do." He pushed open the door to another hall. The entire right side of the hall was nothing but massively tall windows that gave a full view of the desolation outside, the left side was door after door, the first of which he turned to and opened.

The chamber beyond was all dark woods and leathers accented with redish-purple fabrics. This room was actually quite lavished, likely because it was meant for guests. Along one wall was a massive fireplace that ran the room's entire length, despite this fact the room wasn't uncomfortably warm. Couches facing one another dominated the center of the room with black coffee table that was varnished to a mirror quality finish placed between them. The other three walls of the room were mostly dominated with shelves of less important books, as well as a few nick knacks that looked like they probably belonged in a museum.

"Food or drink? I have a decent selection that would tend to your needs." he asked as he gestured for her to make herself comfortable on one of the couches

Mollianne, actually, finds herself drawn to the host of windows showcasing the barren outdoor landscape, and posits herself to stand before one of them, both of her wings twitching lightly as her eyes scan the horizon. It was possible that she was trying to recall if it looked the same then as it does now, but since she doesn't speak of it, there's no real way to tell what she's thinking. Kaine's comment about his research doesn't fall on deaf ears, specifically, but given that she has an inkling about what that research may be inclined toward and how it is not a comfortable subject for her, she chooses not to ask him for elaboration and just keeps her assumptions silent.

She does, however, turn around as Kaine opens the door to the sitting room, her eyes widening slightly at the extravagance of such a room designed purely for doing little beyond lounging. It made Hikari's house seem tiny by comparison, and her den was the largest of any house she'd ever seen. Notably, she spends a good deal looking over everything in the room as opposed to finding a place to sit, marveling at all the small details of things as she is inclined to do. She also seems pretty conscious of her wings, keeping them tucked in tight against her back so that she doesn't knock anything off of any surfaces as she pokes around.

She pauses in her personal entertainment scope when he asks her of sustenance, and seems to consider for a moment, but the look on her face doesn't seem like she's considering potential consequences, just whether she has an appetite or not. "Actually, yeah," she said, offering a little smile. "That would be nice. I am sure that whatever you offer will be fine. Just remember that I cannot have anything sweet or with too much sugar in it." She figured he would probably remember, but it didn't hurt to make sure.

Kaine made his way over to one of the huge bookcases toward the back of the room, one of the shelves happened to hold a rack of bottles and some crystal snifters which he carried back toward the coffee table.

"Your wings. What's wrong with them?" He asked bluntly with no dancing around the subject. "You don't normally carry them so stiffly." He continued as he uncorked the bottle and poured the viscous red liquid into the two glasses and claimed one for himself as he leaned back lackadaisically on one of the couches and turned his icy blue eyes toward her, watching her snoop around the shelves.

She frowns slightly at the mention of her wings, but doesn't hesitate a response. "I hurt one of them recently," she responds, glancing at him to see what he's pouring out before going back to her perusing. "Wings take awhile to heal, which I am sure you might remember. I had one of them ripped off, once, and even though mom was able to put it back on, it hurt like nothing I had ever experienced before, and I could not hardly move it for several weeks afterward." Her frown remains, as if the memory itself bothered her as much as he description made it sound. It's worth noting that besides her wings, even her movements are careful and deliberate, much more so than when she was out in the hall, implying that she really is being careful not to disturb anything with her awkward physical stature.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose which turned into raking a hand back through his hair. He gestured with the hand that held his glass. "Please just sit and relax, your anxiety is exhausting." He said and slid the other snifter over across the table.

"This vintage is from an interesting place, you'll either hate it or love it. I'm not sure which, but if it isn't to your liking I can get you something else." His tone was oddly conversational, like he hadn't a care in the world while he was within these walls.

Some of the nick knacks on the shelves very obviously were from different dimensions. On one there was an old relic of a dagger, on another there was what looked to be some sort of oversized handgun, on yet another there was a slender teardrop-like crystal roughly half a foot tall and covered in dazzling facets.

The books were a wide assortment as well, everything from a printed novel, to an old text clearly bound in human skin, to a manuscript of rough parchment. There was even a cellphone tucked away under one of the older looking books, peeking out like it wasn't sure it was allowed to exist amongst the assortment.

"Oh," she oh'd, suddenly forgetting that she was actually in someone else's domicile and acting like she had free reign of the place. "Sorry." Her apology is quick and offhand, but she does tear herself away from the very-interesting assortment of things just short of actually seeing the cellphone peeking out, and moves to take up a seat on one of the couches nearest where Kaine is seated, but giving him a little space so that she's not super close; half an arm's length, give or take. "You have to understand that I like new things, though. You cannot fault me too much for my interest."

Mollianne also doesn't hesitate to accept the drink being offered her, nor does she make any indication of concern or curiosity, but simply allows herself to sample it and see if she'll like it or not. For whatever reason that may be ingrained in her head, she seems to expect that it might taste like blood or some variation of that flavor, but it could just be the color and consistency playing mind tricks on her, too.

It was indeed blood, just not a run of the mill blood, there was a power to it, for some reason it seemed to remind her of Jak to some degree, but more potent.

"I have nothing against you snooping around, Molly. What I have issue with is the fact you are so tense around things that it makes me feel tense, and I have no interest in feeling tense. I assure you, anything in here, I couldn't care less if you clumsily knocked it over with a wing and smashed it to pieces. If it is in this room, it's unimportant."

He brought the snifter up to his lips and took a casual sip of it's contents. "Those objects are there for the benefit of a guest to look at, they don't really serve any practical purpose to me, though I will say that the handcannon can be a little fun from time to time."

Mollianne blinks a little bit at the taste, like she was rather surprised it turned out to be what he brain was forcing her to think it was. "This is... really good," she said, drinking further of it. She listens to Kaine's pseudo-scolding as she consumes it, stopping after a second so that she doesn't seem like an oinker. A small amount of blood edges at the corner of her lips, despite the fact. "I am just being polite," she said, her tone not sounding like she's attempting to harbor anything to the contrary. She even makes a point of looking directly at Kaine, as well. "Maybe the rules are different here, but it is considered courtesy among ours that a guest in someone else's home is careful with their things. But I did find all of it pretty interesting." She looks again toward the shelves. "There is a lot of stuff there I have never seen before." She swings her legs just slightly, an indication that she is feeling more relaxed.

"Hmn, the blood is from an old vampire from the same world that the handcannon is from. Spent quite a lot of time there seeing as how a lot of those blood suckers thought themselves gods. So I thought I would have a bit of fun with them."

He paused a moment to obsurve his glass and it's contents for a long moment. "Ended up getting a bit of a reputation in that world." He smirked ever so slightly to himself. "What I didn't like about that place is the fact that for some reason they ended up giving me a moniker that was irritatingly close to the one Daemokus saddled me with when I was a child. Funny how somehow, worlds completely unrelated to one another can end up having so many similarities."

Mollianne peers down at the rest of the drink in her glass, then at Kaine again. "Do you... make it a point to go conquering worlds?" she asked, an innocent question despite the gravity of the topic. "I guess I would not be surprised, if so, but..." She looks down at her glass again. She was feeling a little strange, actually, but different kinds of blood tended to do that to her. She felt very warm. "Or is it more that you just find amusement in finding worlds with people who are in power, so that you can continue making a name for yourself?"

Kaine seemed to genuinely consider the question for a long moment, idly swirling the contents of his glass. "Neither. I don't conquer worlds, I've no interest in ruling over some place full of people. And I don't do it to make a name for myself either. I personally couldn't care less if I am revered or despised. What I enjoy, is finding the people who claim to have the most power, and seeing if I can take it from them."

He sat forward briefly and picked up the bottle from the coffee table, offering to top up Molly's glass after doing so for his own.

"If I don't do that, I'll become stagnant. I need the challenge, to grow, to improve. All the power I have is useless if there is nothing to use it on. I enjoy the hunt for the bigger fish, the struggle to surpass it and take it's place."

He turned his eyes back to Molly somewhat dubious as to whether or not she would understand any of what he just rambled.

Mollianne, actually, is feeling pretty good right now and is oddly-attentive, despite the nature of the conversation not exactly being something that would ordinarily sit well with her. Moreso, she does offer her glass back to Kaine at his offer to top her off. "I guess that makes sense," she said, recalling. "You mentioned a similar thing a few days ago. The climb, the challenge, getting stronger, no limits, et cetera, et cetera." She doesn't hesitate to offer a giggle at her informality and brushing-aside of what was probably a serious concept for him. The blood seems to be going to her head, at least a little bit. "So you put all of these other, 'stronger' beings in their places, and then just kind of... wave, before going back to your own world? Even if you are not staying to rule, that sounds like the definition of 'conqueror' in how I understand it."

He refilled Molly's glass and set the bottle back down on the coffee table. "A conqueror, in my opinion seeks to over power and control the many. Though I suppose I could understand how you would come to that conclusion. By most metrics I suppose I might be considered to be more of a duelist... Or something to that effect."

Putting his existence into words was actually proving to be a little difficult. And so he decided to change the subject. "And what of you? What is your purpose? Your raison d'etre?"

He leaned forward again and placed the cork back in the bottle. She certainly seemed to have had enough already.

The siren happily re-accepts her glass and drinks from it, a long several-gulp swallow that leaves a little more blood at the corner of her mouth than before, such that it almost appears threatening to run down the crease of her upper chin. That grin on her face is pretty telling, too, a bit morbid against the splash of blood coloration on her lips and teeth. "Because you only fight so you can get stronger," she affirms, the lids of her eyes coming down just slightly.

She looks a little surprised that Kaine would actually ask her that question. It wasn't... something she ever really thought about. "I am surprised you actually asked me that question," she said, like someone was controlling her method of consideration. "I is not something I have ever really thought about before." She giggles again, apparently in a really good mood by now. "My purpose? I guess..." She trails off, actually kind of at a loss for how to sincerely respond to that question. The vibes in her head weren't helping, either. "I think... maybe I do not actually have one. Not really." She doesn't look sad, but the smile does slip from her face a little. "I spent all my time relying on other people to be happy, telling myself that their happiness was my happiness. I do not even really know how true it is or not, because then I still break down and cry when I realize I am not really gaining anything from it, in the long run. I mean, maybe I am? I really... am not sure, Kaine."

She hesitates for a moment, but then adds more to her response. "I never had any lofty aspirations. I had... things I wanted. Things I felt like maybe I deserved. But those are probably just figments of my imagination anymore. I know how the world works, and the people in it. I know what I am, how I am seen. I just... live one day at a time. Because I never know if I will get to see tomorrow or not. Those things I wanted, that was just me being selfish. And I knew that. So... just... one day at a time."

He knitted his brow "Why would it matter what you are or how you are seen?" He looked like he was about to get riled up, but he takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

"Mollianne, what we are, and what people think we are, don't. fucking. matter. I don't know how many times I've said those words to you but it is certainly more than one." He knocked back the rest of his glass and set the snifter back on the coffee table and leaned back, resting his arms along the backrest of the couch.

"If those things mattered I would be a carbon fucking copy of Daemokus. But I'm not. Being selfish is fine. Sometimes you HAVE to be selfish."

At that moment, one could almost visually see the wheels starting to turn a little bit faster in Mollianne's head. She's not expressly staring at Kaine, really, but the look on her face makes it clear that she heard him and, in her silence, is processing that bit of information into her siren brain, along with various facets of it; who said it, how it was said, under what pretense it was said, swear words involved for emphasis, pretty much all aspects about it. There is probably a serious, eight-second pause where she just simply shuts down over everything except that thought process.

And then she smiles. Happily, brightly. Like what Kaine just told her made the absolutely, most gods-damned sensible thing in the world to her. Then again, it also could be partly the blood still having a side-impact on her latent thinking capacity, too. In her head, she can't seem to pinpoint a specific time when Kaine implied that it was okay for her to be a sniveling little weakling, but then, she tended to follow the road of self-deprecation a bit too close with her nose to the ground, too. "Being selfish... is fine," she repeated, as if testing the words for herself. "...Yeah. Okay, I think I understand." Her smile never wavers, but again, it kinda looks like there's some influence going on there, too.

"You..are clearly intoxicated." He reached to try and pluck the glass from her hand. "I think it may be time for you to retire for the evening."

Was she always this way with blood? She hadn't had any adverse reaction to having had his blood during that chance encounter, perhaps it was just vampire blood that got this reaction.

She doesn't even actually realize the glass is being taken from her grasp. Her gaze seems to unfocus and refocus at random, either due to thoughts popping in and out of her head, or any number of other things. Mollianne had mentioned to Kaine at one point that certain types of blood had different effects on her, and some were downright toxic, but the nature of each one was always a little different. Sometimes it's just a roulette wheel!

Eventually she seems to recognize that Kaine had spoken to her and dictated her status, but it is a few seconds after-the-fact. "Okay," she said, agreeably. "I suppose I should get going, yeah." She stands up from the couch, then, and kind of... wobbles a little bit, but manages to keep her balance. "Thanks for letting me come over to visit, though!" Her smile is still there, cheerful as it ever was. "I will have to do this again sometime." She makes an attempt to reach for the dark amulet around her neck, but fumbles and grasps her Soul gem instead. "...Oh, not that one. Kaine does not like you very much." She giggles again, like it was supposed to be a joke.

Kaine sighed and climbed to his feet and simply picked Molly up and started to carry her off toward her quarters.

"No you are sleeping this off here. You can leave in roughly eight hours." he informed her in a matter-of-fact tone. This domain didn't exactly have a day/night cycle so saying "in the morning" would have had no meaning.

Mollianne squeals a bit noisily as she is swept up, but it's far from an unhappy sort of squeal. This was the best!

She proceeds to wrap her arms around Kaine's neck as she is carted off, snuggling up to him in what is probably a very-much expected form for her. She feels very warm at that proximity, too! "Eight hours is fine," she said, her voice chipper. "Thanks Kaine, you are not the worst." And she giggles again, like she was the funniest person she knew.

"There are many that would think otherwise." he knew informing her that she should be one of those people was a waste of breath, especially in her drunken state.

Regardless, he tolerated the arms around his neck, and the little giggles that escaped the siren as he carried her out of the parlour and down the hall back toward her own chamber.

Part way there the little dragon made of shadow stuff appeared and flitted around the two for a moment before perching on a nearby ledge and watching as the winged woman was carried.

"No." He said sternly to the little dragon. "It is none of your business and why are you here exactly?" He shot the little creature a cold glare. "No, you were under direct orders to keep an eye on him. Not me. So seeing as how you are here, against my orders, you get to watch over this one."

By that point Kaine had reached the side of the plush feather bed in Molly's quarters, the little dragon perching on the top of the nearby wardrobe, somehow looking sullen despite him looking like a shadow.

Kaine set her down on the bed. "Next time, a different vintage then."

Mollianne seems completely averse to Kaine talking to the little shadow dragon, wrapped up in her own enjoyment at being this close to Kaine with no repercussions, stipulations or adverse effects implied. It was a triple win!

All too soon, though, she whines a small note at being set down on the bed, but even in her inebriated state, she's still aware enough not to impress upon Kaine when he's intending something a certain way. That would be a really good way to not get anymore carries, and she didn't want that.

At least it was a really comfortable bed, though; she reluctantly releases her grip from around Kaine's neck and rolls over onto her side, giggling to herself as she faces away from him and curling up a little bit in a quasi-fetal position. "You know," she said, her tone still happy and warm despite what she's about to say, "you could just kill me in my sleep and I would not even have to feel it. It would be easier for both of us that way, huh?" One fluffy wing folds over her body, then, not unlike a blanket, leaving the implication heavy in the air.

Kaine paused at the door and glowered back at her words with distaste. "I don't kill the helpless while they sleep, that is the act of a coward." He doubted that she heard him, so he turned, and stepped out of the room, pulling the door closed in his wake.

Mollianne smiled, still, into the bed where she was more-or-less half-faceplanted. "It is good to know that it is not cowardly to kill the helpless while they are awake, I suppose," she mused quietly to herself. "I will have to keep that in mind."

She yawns then, flickering thoughts still struggling to hang on in her mind as things rapidly began to shut down. It really was a comfortable bed, just like back then. "I guess... if Kaine says that it is okay... then it must really be okay. Right? ... Who am I even talking to?"

She giggled softly at nothing, and eventually surrendered to sleep. And yet, despite where she was, and everything that had led up to this particular evening, her last thought was somewhere else, far, far away...

...because it was okay to be selfish.