Chapter Text
“Yennefer?” Tissaia thought aloud into the darkness of her bed chambers. She sensed Yennefer’s chaos. Tissaia waved her hand effortlessly and the candles came aflame. Yennefer flinched at the candlelight; the pyrokinesis an unintentional threat. Two distinct creases arose between Tissaia’s brows.
Despite being in her own chambers, Tissaia suddenly felt very underdressed. She summoned a beige linen shawl and layered it over her seafoam green night robe. Yennefer stood before her adorned in a heavy onyx gown embellished with jacquard motifs. Lacing the front of her corset were deep purple ribbons. She wore a low cut square neckline that accentuated her décolletage. Tissaia pulled the shawl up to cover her shoulders and hugged her neck, holding it there, despite the collar of her nightdress already coming up to her nape.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company at this late candlemark?” Tissaia questioned in a clipped tone, edged with weariness. When she’d averted her attention from Yennefer’s collarbones, she noticed Yennefer appeared somewhat dishevelled. Her skirts were heavily ladened with blood. “Are you hurt?” Tissaia fretted, any irritation previously held immediately dissipated.
“No,” was all Yennefer could muster.
“Then?”
Yennefer only sighed, apparently unable to put into words what instigated a visit to Tissaia in the dead of night.
“If you’re not going to speak, at least let me check you over for injury.” Tissaia insisted. She motioned towards Yennefer, arms outstretched to her.
“Stop! Don’t come near me,” Yennefer exclaimed, taking a purposeful step away from Tissaia. Tissaia felt a wound unfurl inside her chest.
She noted no reflection of Yennefer in her mirror; the mirror she should have just stepped into the frame of. Beginning to piece Yennefer’s mystifying behaviour together, she took a subtle step closer to Yennefer, so her own reflection was within the frame.
“Don’t,” Yennefer recoiled, “I mean it.”
Tissaia involuntarily broke her usual steel with a sharp intake of air, her hands rested on her diaphragm to support her intake of breath as she confirmed her suspicions when she realised her own long shadow cast by the candle light, and the absence of Yennefer’s.The wound within her oscillated until she felt it throughout her ribcage.
“Help me Tissaia, please,” Tissaia winced slightly – thankfully, only internally – at the desperate plea in Yennefer’s inflection on ‘please’. “Can you reverse this?” Yennefer pleaded. Hope filled her eyes as she searched Tissaia’s face. Tissaia ensured her features were composed, a well practised skill. She didn’t know of a way, but if there was one, she would find it. She didn’t want to give Yennefer false hope if it wasn’t possible. She wouldn’t make a promise she couldn’t keep; she had hurt Yennefer enough.
Tissaia wordlessly lifted her wrist to Yennefer: an offering.
“No, Tissaia,” Yennefer asserted firmly, shaking her head, “I don’t need it.” Yennefer’s violet eyes started to pool, and Tissaia wasn’t quite able to determine the emotion she saw in them.
Trying to keep her intonation flat as the illusion of calm, Tissaia maintained, “You may not need it, but it will certainly still your nerves, the same way a chalice of wine would.” She omitted usually as she didn’t think drawing further attention to Yennefer’s vampirism would help the situation.
“Yennefer, my arm is beginning to ache,” Tissaia incited with a change of tact. Yennefer tentatively approached Tissaia and gently grasped her delicate wrist, one hand cradled the back of Tissaia’s hand in hers; it seemed to be as much for the soothing comfort of her touch as to support her wrist in place. Tissaia scarcely admitted to herself that she took solace in the smooth lines of Yennefer’s fingers caressing hers too; a physical closeness neither had historically afforded each other a modicum of.
Returning to her Rectoress persona had clearly worked to get Yennefer to submit though. Good.
Tissaia had lifted her arm in line with her own shoulder, so Yennefer had to bend down to meet it. Tissaia has never let her diminutive height allow her to feel fragile, in fact, at her ascension, she had intentionally left her stature unchanged, to spite those who had made her feel less than for it. Tissaia straightened her spine and squared her shoulders.
Yennefer’s violet eyes gazed up at Tissaia’s opaline blue and they stayed locked as two sharp fangs protruded from beneath Yennefer’s dark rouge lips. Tissaia gave an incremental nod and blinked her long lashes. Yennefer’s fangs pierced the delicate porcelain skin of Tissaia’s slim wrist, finding her cephalic vein. Tissaia bit her bottom lip to suppress a moan. Of course , with Yennefer’s unwavering eye contact, she had noticed. Tissaia felt heat rising in her cheeks, but the grateful expression Yennefer gave her quelled her embarrassment. The warmth of Yennefer’s soft lips cushioned her wrist and soothed the sharp sting of Yennefer’s canines and the pulsating pressure of blood flowing from her body in rhythmic sobs into Yennefer’s warm mouth. Though Yennefer’s eyes seemed fixed with a glazed look, she still managed to raise an eyebrow as if to ask ‘Is this still okay?’ Tissaia answered with a small smile, enough for her dimple to emerge. A smile that denoted feelings unspoken. Yennefer still looked so afraid, so Tissaia brought her free hand to Yennefer’s raven locks and soothingly stroked her fingers through them. Tissaia worried that this act was too much and went to pull away just as Yennefer leaned into her touch, and hummed quietly in response. The vibrations of her humming reverberated through Tissaia and caused her pain. She found the pain a welcome reprieve from the hollow ache that usually shrouded her. The pain had been a mist since Yennefer's absence. A wave of guilt washed through her. Here Yennefer was suffering, and all she could think was that she was glad she had returned. Tissaia decidedly focused entirely on stroking her thumb back and forth on Yennefer’s scalp.
Tissaia took an unbalanced step backwards, and swayed slightly. Yennefer immediately withdrew her fangs, and wrapped her arm around Tissaia, supporting her by the small of her back. Maintaining a hand at Tissaia’s waist, she used the other to pull the chair from Tissaia’s desk over. Tissaia sat, dizziness wrapping around her, stars spattering her vision.
“I’m so sorry,” Yennefer said, regretful.
As the woozy feeling faded, Tissaia went to pull the sleeve of her robe straight, to cover her wrist, but Yennefer stopped her, her hand grazing Tissaia infinitesimally. She lifted Tissaia’s wrist again and Tissaia didn’t stop her, just watched her with curiosity. Yennefer’s flat tongue licked the puncture marks clean and no sooner than they had appeared, did they heal completely; the warm soothing feeling in her wrist was mirrored by the one in her belly.
“Thank you,” was all Tissaia could manage to whisper. Yennefer pulled down her sleeve for her, and smoothed out the creases until they were all gone.
“I believe the thanks should be mine to give,” Yennefer said in earnest, a wry smile emerging. Yennefer darted from one end of the room to the other, returning with a jug of water. She poured Tissaia a glass and handed it to her. Tissaia drank, and attempted not to allow her gulps to sound too loud. “You can’t pour from an empty chalice, Rectoress,” Yennefer quipped.
Tissaia snorted softly, “I see you’re feeling more like yourself.” Relief flooded her.