( No Title )
Lucifer Was an Angel As Well (40079 words) bythesavagesabretooth
Summary: A sheltered young artist with a tragic past finds herself caught in the web of dark affection by a beautiful and sinister murderer, and his carefree rockstar brother.
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September 2, 2028 – 9:00 pm
There was a door down a long staircase in a forbidding looking building. There was a line of people waiting around the corner to get into that door.
Klavier Gavin, with his arm around her shoulder, walked past them all, and down the steps to the door. There, a stern looking man with huge shoulders practically bursting out of his black t-shirt waved the both of them past. Klavier grinned, and saluted him before passing him some folded bills in a denomination Vera couldn’t see.
Vera walked just a little closer to him, eyes wide at the packed crowd and the unfamiliar faces.
A place like this, so busy and teeming with hopeful participants, and Klavier Gavin could just walk right past with some money and a smile.
It was a power she’d never known. “Wow..”
“They love me here, fraulein,” he said, grinning widely. “My favorite club in LA.”
It took Vera’s eyes a moment to adjust as she walked into the dark, busy, loud space, full of music and sound. The light came in bursts of color in intense shades, pulsing and flashing from the ceiling. Her shoes clicked on the tile floor which was done in black and white checkerboard, reflecting the colors as they shone.
The front of the club was a dense forest of tables across two sides,, with an aisle in the middle to pass, and these tables were crowded with people in all manner of exotic dress. The walls were high, and the decor was, Vera realized– despite the flashing lights– in a classic art deco style with soaring columns, geometric shapes, and classical statues.
For a moment it was almost overwhelming. The sound of the music and the people, the physical beat of the surround system , and the feeling of eyes on them as attention was drawn from all corners…but at the same time…
It was so new, unique and strange as to be exciting. The room was beautiful, a room caught in time and bathed in the colors and lights of the modern era. A work of art, down to the teeming bodies moving through it.
She hugged Klavier’s arm a little tighter. “So they all know you?” she tried to speak up to ask.
“What?” he called back, craning toward her. Then he shook his head. “Well, not everyone, liebling! But many, ja? And the owners! We are great friends.”
Indeed, she noticed several people at the tables wave at him, and he waved happily back.
He kept his arm around her as he led her through the room to the second area, where the room was flanked by a pair of bars on either side of them, both crowded with people. There was an enormous statue looming over each bar, like a moon-faced lion, one in striking black, the other in bright white.
Vera felt a sort of inspiration well up in her once more…maybe, to commemorate the occasion, she’d draw the striking image and capture it forever on canvas…maybe.
“W-what’s the difference between the bars?” she asked with a nervous smile, half ducking behind his arm as the people waved.
“Ah, you see fraulein, it is very important! One of them is on the left– and the other is on the right!”
Vera stared at him for a moment before she said “r…right.”
She pointed to the one on the right.
He laughed and patted her on the back. “Very good, fraulein! Right it is! Honest, there are just two for the look of it– and to pack more people in of course.”
He swaggered with her to the bar on the right, the one with the black lion statue, and a couple of people hastily pushed a space open at the bar for him.
“Hey, Klavier!”
“Klavgav!”
“Oooh, what brings you out tonight, herr piano?”
“New girlfriend, Klavvy?”
Suddenly all eyes were on him, as he kept her close, a number of the bar’s patrons looking her over.
“Ladies, gentlemen, other!” Klavier crowed. “This is my dear friend Vera whom is like a little sister to me. I am taking her out for her first drinks, ja?”
Vera’s eyes went a little wide, and her glossy lips parted into an unsure smile as she waved her hand at them. The multicolored lights sparkled off her ‘lucky charm’…the shining and subtle nail polish she always wore as of late…as she wiggled them at the newcomers.
“H-hhhh” She bowed her head. “how do you do?”
“Oh she’s precious!”
“How do you do!”
“I love your dress, Vera!”
“Can I buy you a drink?”
Klavier took his hands off her briefly to make a shoo-ing gesture at them.
“Maybe later, maybe later, meine freunde! Give my little sister some breathing room, ja? Before I vanish her to the VIP lounge instead!” He grinned brilliantly and tossed his hair, sparkling under the radiant lights.
The word from him was all it took and there were a dozen blown kisses and ‘see you laters’ and ‘have funs!’ as they dispersed or turned back to their own conversations.
It was a power she’d never known, she couldn’t help but think again as the masses dispersed.
As they left with a quiet ‘see you later’ of her own, she leaned against Klavier’s side with a bit of newfound respect.
“You really have a way with people…” she winked conspiratorially. “big brother.”
He turned his shining grin back on her and sloped his arm around her shoulders once more. “Little sister. Let me get you that drink. Something sweet, like you, ja?”
She leaned into his arm, and nodded. “Just as long as it’s really strong too. I..m-might need it before more of your friends come calling.”
“Sweet, but strong. Something with a real bite to it, ja? I’m not surprised that this combination appeals to you.”
He favored her with a very teasing, almost flirtatious look, as he flagged down the bartender.
September 2, 2028 – 9:25 pm
Vera was all the way through the tall, neon blue, melon-tasting drink that Klavier had handed her, and part of the way through the second before she started to notice the effects. A certain bending of the light and warmth that went through her face and down to her fingers. It dulled the light, and made the music roar ever so slightly in her ears.
Klavier had been chatting to her about the music. It was a throwback night, and he was telling her about The Cure while she drank, with all the knowledge and enthusiasm his brother had expressed for cosmetics in his letters.
She nodded along, wide eyed and curious as the music pumped in her ears along with his enthusiasm.
It was that kind of knowledgeable enthusiasm that caught her attention with Kristoph’s letters, and now it seemed it was a family trait.
She felt hot, her fingers flexing against the glass as she tried to wave the bartender down for another.
Despite her nerves, she was starting to feel a little less penned in among the press of people. A little more able to focus her attention down to the companionable ‘big brother’ who’d taken her out and to the atmosphere of the club. She even had started to wiggle along with the music as it moved through her.
Klavier seemed to notice her movement, because he knocked back the rest of his glass, and grinned at her in a pause in his monologue.
“So fraulein, are you ready to dance with me?”
“Huuh?” Vera looked up with a start and a timid grin. “if you think I’m ready…that s-sounds pretty fun. W-warning. I won’t be good.”
“Good? Bad? It doesn’t make a difference” He waved a hand dismissively. “If we wanted good dancing we would be hiring choreographers! This is for the fun. For the movement. For the soul, liebling!”
Klavier snatched her wrist in his hand, and pulled her toward the furthest area of the bar yet– the dance floor, flanked by more menacing and beautiful statues, with a high, long podium up at the front where the DJ looked down like a reigning monarch.
She drifted along behind him, swept like one of the heroines in the few movies she’d seen in the cluttered studio she called her childhood.
For the fun, the movement and the soul– all things she rarely got the chance to nourish– though she knew the last was well and truly claimed.
She flushed and looked up at the DJ with curious eyes. She wasn’t sure about the etiquette….
She waved up at him.
The DJ caught her eye– or perhaps noticed Klavier with her– and gave a solemn nod.
The music changed, and a new song started.
Klavier pulled her into the dance floor and the rest of the dancers gave them a little space– word had spread perhaps, about the rockstar’s ‘little sister.’
“Don’t get too far, ja!” he said over the music, “but other than that, just have fun with it!”
“I promise!” she said as loud as she could manage over the music. Despite herself– despite the claws of anxiety that the drink hadn’t quite quashed– she couldn’t help but smile as she tried to get into the movement of it.
Unfamiliar as it was, she knew she looked a little silly, but beside Klavier…her ‘big brother’, so to speak, she was reasonably confident nobody would tease.
The music pulsed and bounced around them in time with the lights, and Klavier seemed to be trying to ‘show her how it was done’ moving his body in a loose, free way vaguely in time with it all. His skin glittered and his hair bounced around his face, and he seemed utterly careless of what anyone else might say.
The way he sparkled in the light reminded her of the statues, beautiful and artfully presented, glistening in the strange colored lights of the club and drawing the eye.
Confidence wasn’t Vera Misham’s strongest suit, not with the way her isolation had crippled her social abilities, but with the drink and Klavier’s enthusiastic attempts to show her how it’s done she found herself mimicking his movements, letting herself move in time with the rhythm as she tuned out everything but the music and him.
The music seemed to capture them both in a bubble outside time for a moment, dancing without concern for grace, only to feel the rhythm that pulsed through the soles of their shoes, to the pits of their souls for one song, and then another.
Just as Vera was becoming breathless, the music changed, and a slow song came on– no longer fit for the wild, bacchanalian fervor that had briefly overtaken her.
She almost stumbled to a stop, putting her hand to her chest with a flushed smile. She felt the beat of her heart against her palm, the hot air in her lungs as she looked up at Klavier with a flustered laugh. “…f-fun. That was fun.”
Klavier was smiling widely, and he put his hands on her shoulders. “Do you want to go sit down– or one more?”
“One more…then I think I’d like another drink..and to sit with you again…” she looked up at him as she tried to get the motion down for a slower song. “heh, ‘big brother’ Klavier.”
She glanced over her shoulder, briefly worried that eyes were back on them.
Vera had just enough time to notice that it wasn’t true– everyone else on the dance floor seemed suddenly preoccupied with one another– before Klavier suddenly swept her into his arms and pulled her close to his glitter covered, musky body– pulling her immediately into a swaying dance.
She squeaked, surprised as she was by the sudden sway, but her mimicry went beyond art forgery, even with the alcohol buzzing in her head.
She stepped close, and slowly began to follow his lead, copying his movements as some of his sparkling body glitter and the heavy scent of his cologne rubbed off on her dress.
The timeless bubble seemed to wrap around them again, but the mood was different– a warm glow instead of flickering fire. His hands on her back and shoulders, her body against his, pulling her and swaying with her as the music overtook them.
Vera let him lead, soon enough managing to get the steps down and lose herself in the moment under the unblinking gaze of the statues. Her face felt hot…all of her felt hot, flushed in the light of the club and the alcohol in her system…and certainly with the company.
As she swayed under the flashing lights, she snuck a glance up at Klavier with a smile free of its usual timidity.
Klavier was smiling– not his big, flashy grin, but a small, joyful smile that reminded Vera strongly of her guardian angel. His eyes were closed and he seemed carried off by the music, and, if the sweep of his hands down her back and sides was any way to judge, by the dance with her as well.
She let herself move a little closer, her hands resting against his sides as she took in the expression to add to her store of memories..a snapshot of the moment as she swayed against him and closed her eyes to let the music take her once more.
It was over too soon. As the music ended, Klavier twirled her around, pulling her toward him so that her back rested against his chest, and he put his chin on top of her head.
“You’re a lovely dancer, liebling. How about that drink, ja?”
She tilted her head against him, looking up at him from below with a flustered smile.
“That sounds lovely, Klavier…” She closed her eyes with a laugh. “I’m glad to h-hear I haven’t done half bad, I had a wonderful teacher.”
“You’ll have to introduce me,” he joked. She felt him plant a kiss on the top of her head, and then he partially released her, one arm still thrown over her shoulders as they departed the dance floor.
She looped an arm around his side, feeling emboldened by the dance and the liquor, and laughed.
“I hear he’s a hard man to get a hold of…and currently out on the town with a certain young lady.” She laughed into her free hand, glancing up at him with a smile. “and he has a lovely smile when he’s dancing.”
“Oh my! The way you describe him I have a crush already, fraulein.” He grinned brightly and led her to a set of steps at the edge of the dancefloor that led up to a little door with a sign that said VIP room.
He fished in his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and unlocked the door.
Vera leaned over, steadying herself by resting her head against his side.
“You’ve got your own room…? Like a hotel room, or..?”
She had no idea, in truth, what a VIP room even entailed…it wasn’t something that had really come up in conversation with Pearl, though she’d heard the term from Trucy a few times.
“Not exactly a room of my own, fraulein– if there were other VIPs here tonight, we would have to share! But I think we have it all to ourselves.”
He waved an arm to usher her in, and followed close behind, closing the door tightly.
It was a wide, lavish space a lot like a classy living room or a parlor. This space too was done up in art deco style and it was easier to see due to the lack of the flashing lights. It had long, low couches with intricate geometric patterns in gold flourishes, and a number of pale marble statues set around the room. There was a pool table, and a couple of pinball machines, and, dominating one side of the room– an unmanned bar area stocked full of liquors.
Her hand went to her mouth.
“Oh…that makes sense.” She pointed to the pool table and the pinball machines. “It’s a quieter part of the club…special part of the club…with games and all the drinks you want.”
She laughed shyly “…I don’t think I’d ever see a place like this on my own.”
“It is for special guests only,” Klavier admitted, striding over to the bar, and slipping behind it with a smile. “I am a special guest. And tonight, fraulein, you are my special guest. How do you like that?”
It was easier to talk here than in the main body of the club. The music was still present– piped in large speakers high in the room– but it was a little quieter and the roar of the crowd was dulled and separate.
It was nicer, not that the main club wasn’t fun, but with the roar of the crowd dulled and distant, and the music not as oppressive. She felt less like she’d been whisked into some loud and excitable fairy tale. She wandered over to lean on the bar with a flush and a smile.
“…I like it. I certainly feel special, swept away across th-the dancefloor. I hope I’ve made a good impression!” She rested her head on her arms, looking up at him with a grin “first drink, and with g-good company.”
He set the bottle he was holding down next to her and put a hand on her head gently. “I’m glad that I could make it a special occasion, liebling.”
She preened a little at the touch. Having her hair brushed, or the simple gesture of a hand on her head, had always been one of her favorite tactile sensations right there with painting her nails.
Her eyes closed, her smile happy even in its subtle way.
“It feels special…you’ve been too kind to me, Mr. Klavier.”
He stroked her hair almost like she were a cat. “Too kind, liebchen? Never. It is only right for my ‘little sister’, ja?”
There was a mischief in Klavier’s words– that flirtatious edge again.
She felt her face heat again, this time she was sure it wasn’t just the alcohol. She hardly minded–absolutely not the petting, and certainly not the mischief; the flirtation– from Klavier, her guardian angel’s brother and the man who took her in as a confidant of their family secrets, and a fascinating and charming man in his own right.
She smiled up at him as her dark hair fell over her eye.
“I’m not going to argue!” she laughed quietly, “you’re going to spoil me, big brother.”
She glanced up at him, a bit of her own impishness– surely grown from the presence of the devil in her life…leaking flirtatiously into her tone.
He grinned widely at her, leaning down toward her with that same flirtatious air. “I have been taught that that is part of a big brother’s job, liebling.”
She gasped, though the smile didn’t leave her face.
“Oh! That does make sense…” she tilted her chin till she looked into his eyes with a sheepish laugh. “Then it’s a little sister’s job not to take that from him…spoil me as much as you w-want, big brother.”
Klavier reached down and he rested his fingers on her warm cheek. “As much as I want, liebling? That’s a dangerous proposition.”
Vera half closed her eyes in seeming thought , taking the opportunity to nuzzle her flushed cheek against his fingertips.
“I’m pretty used to danger…I’m not going to retract it.” She tilted her head, and her lips lightly brushed his fingertips, the gloss leaving a little mark against the pad. “as m-much as you want.”
He stroked her cheek down to her chin, and pulled her up lightly to face him. His pale blue eyes seemed to glint in the dim room.
“Then I will ask you only two more questions, liebchen,” he purred. “The first– you have never been kissed before, ja?”
Vera shook her head with a sheepish smile.
“No…well…” she thought back…a kiss on the cheek from an over-enthusiastic Trucy after complimenting her after her show probably didn’t count. “N-no, never.”
“I thought so.” The fingers of his other hand curled in her hair. “Last question. Do you want to give your first kiss to him, or do you want to practice first? You may think carefully, fraulein.”
Hearing him speak about it that way gave her pause as she looked up at him, frozen for a moment in thought and indecision.
Her first kiss– was it as important as Pearl had always told her? Her limited experience, her small pool of friends, it left her a little adrift, especially as Pearl had been adamant that your first kiss was something special.
The idle thought of who Pearl’s first kiss was, or would, flickered out under the question looming in her mind.
“…oh. Ah…”
On one hand…to give something so important to Kristoph Gavin would be another surrender…another offering to the devil himself to tighten his grip on her. On the other…he was an experienced man, with many lovers before her…in addition to her…in the past and present.
Would he be impressed if she kissed him with confidence?
“Pearl…says your first kiss is sacred. But…w-what do you think, big b-brother?”
“I wouldn’t take away something special that you want to give to another, fraulein,” he said, shaking his head. “ I have never been one personally to take stock in firsts, but there are many who do.”
He stroked his fingers over her cheek and released her, putting his hand on the bottle next to her instead.
She flushed, dropping her chin back into her arms with a tilt of her head.
“Does your brother take stock in firsts?” she asked curiously. “Of all the things I’ve been trying to catch up on and learn…this is one they don’t exactly teach you in the accelerated learning programs.. H-heh.”
Klavier chuckled. “My brother? No, liebling. My brother takes stock in skill, I am afraid. He is a very different kind of romantic than you see on TV.”.
She smiled a little wider at that, and her heart thumped against her ribs.
“…then I think I’d like some practice. I’ve only learned a little…but I never really got why Pearl was so adamant about firsts, even if I believed her. ” Vera leaned on her arms, and looked up at him “if you’re still i-interested in helping me, ‘big brother’? If the mood hasn’t passed.”
He released his hand on the bottle and reached down to stroke her face tenderly again, shaking his head.
“Nein, fraulein, never fear. The mood could not pass in the company of your charming self. Come here. Let me teach you how to kiss our big brother.”
Vera’s face heated under his hand. Between the contact and the very idea she was feeling very warm indeed. She shifted closer, standing to ease herself over the bar and towards him with a nod of her head.
Let me show you how to kiss our big brother.
It sent more of a thrill through her than it should have, sending warmth prickling through her body more than the drink ever had.
“On your lead, big brother…I’m a good student.”
Klavier leaned forward over the bar between them, still cupping her face. His other arm he scooped under one of hers to pull her closer, and he leaned down.
His lips met hers and he sucked on them almost delicately for a moment. She could taste the alcohol and sweetness in his mouth, as well as the chapstick on his lips.
That, it seemed, was the same as what she wore, too. Peppermint.
She closed her eyes, sucking softly at his lips in return…the taste of peppermint and sharp alcohol on her tongue, a taste she knew was shared between them.
True to her word, she followed his lead, gently– carefully mimicking his motions as she half propped herself on the bar near him.
Klavier’s kiss was slow, and deliberate, as if he really did mean to teach her the ins and outs of it. After she sucked on his lips for a moment, she felt his tongue press between her teeth.
It surprised her at first, if only a little.
She’d read novels, seen shows– but the experience of it firsthand was exciting. A tingle rolled through her body again as she parted her teeth to let him kiss her deeper. Her tongue inexpertly brushing his as she shifted against the counter to press firmly against him.
Carefully and deliberately his tongue explored her mouth and stroked against hers. Carefully and deliberately he sucked and toyed with her lips– until for a moment, care and deliberation gave way to hunger as he pulled her closer.
She gasped, but found her arms going around him to better brush her whole body closer to his. As she promised, she was a good learner, even as she too gave in to the eager hunger that now burned inside her.
Kristoph Gavin liked experience–liked skill– and she had a lot she was eager to learn from Klavier. Her teeth grazed his lips , her hands traced over the hem of his short-cropped shirt, for the moment she left her hesitation behind and let herself feel the music between them.
Finally he released her when she needed to breathe, and he moved back just a bit, hand still on her face.
“Very good for a first time, liebling. You’re a fast learner.”
She caught her breath, finally opening her eyes with a soft gasp, one hand leaving his stomach to press against her chest as it rose and fell.
“oh..oh…oh..” she bit her lip, tasting the stronger taste of peppermint on her smeared glossy chapstick. She closed the small gap he’d made to press against him again with a nuzzle to his hand “I told you…though i’m still a novice.”
She looked up at him with a trace of mischief, and he grinned back at her.
“Not for long, certainly.” She felt the weight of his gaze on her as he seemed to look her over, and then he brushed his fingers through his hair. “Perhaps we should switch to water, little sister, or I’m likely to do something rushed and immature, ja?”
“Rushed and immature…” she murmured with a pleasant little shiver. “if you think it’s for the best, big brother. I’m still following your lead.”
She looked up at him with a half smile.
Klavier brushed his fingers through her hair and smiled back at her. “You are not likely to be disappearing any time soon from my life, ja, fraulein? So, plenty of time to teach, and to make mistakes. No need to rush.”
She nuzzled against his hand, rather like a large cat in her own opinion, and chuckled as well
“I’m not going anywhere, Klavier. I wouldn’t, couldn’t leave. There’s all the time in the world to make sure I learn everything I n-need to about this…big brothers and all.”
Klavier grinned almost bashfully, and patted her cheek. She could see a little bit of a flush in his face, and it might not have all been alcohol. “Ach, liebling, you have pinned me with my own joke. But maybe I never meant it as a joke at all.”
He poked her nose, and then pulled away from her, grabbing a pair of cups and starting to load them with ice from under the bar.
She stuck her tongue out a bit playfully, before she leaned on her arms again with a flustered half smile “…maybe I’m glad you never meant it as a joke, Klavier…”
He chuckled as he filled their water glasses, and passed one to her. “You like it then? Perhaps in some twisted way this was all meant to be.”
She took it gratefully and took a long and almost desperate sip.
“Meant to be..” With a musical little laugh she nodded. “Maybe it was meant to be. Fate…or the devil’s own luck making sure all the right players are ensnared in the web…because y-yes… i do.”
“Let’s drink to that strange twisted luck, fraulein. I’m happy to have you here tonight.” He raised his water glass toward her.
She raised hers with his and clinked them together with a smile.
“…I’m happy to be here, Klavier…a celebration of…of my entry into the Academy, and of my acceptance into the family, y-yeah? To the twisted luck that made it all happen.”
“Cheers, liebling.”
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