The man before him spoke with a calm sarcasm, all too calm considering the way they had approached him. It was interesting, and almost uncharacteristic of him, even though Vincenzo didn’t know him. He didn’t think men who wore loafers to class tended to smirk very often. So what was the purpose of the act? Was that really just his natural way of reacting? Either way, something was off about him, but Vincenzo proceeded, replying to each piece of his dialogue.
“Probably the fact that you still haven’t denied it,” Enzo replied with an ill-intended smile, feigning charm for the sole pleasure of it. “That and just the simple fact that I don’t know you. I try to learn everyone’s names by the end of the first week, usually. Care to introduce yourself?" He asked, allowing him the courtesy of an introduction before they continued.
He let him talk, not really seeming to listen to the man. His name was Dominic, it was his first and final year, he was from some town, the rest didn’t matter. Vincenzo had looked up in another direction when he began to talk, already bored and waiting for him to finish his sentence until Enzo could begin his.
Enzo turned to the rest of the Umbra coven. “You guys remember that. Dominic.” A few faces turned, one or two guys nodded, and then, knowing he had finished some sort of procedure before the other man spoke again, something in Vincenzo’s expression shifted, and malice crackled from his lips into a smile.
Dominic must have had no idea what he had signed up for when he agreed to come to Wyndham. From the mysterious disappearances to the group dynamics, it was a lot to deal with. He almost felt bad for the guy, but at least Umbra was different. Although it didn’t seem like it sometimes, they were there to protect each other, and he truly believed that. Some of them, to Vincenzo, were just loyal dogs at his call, like the men beside him, but the ones that mattered were more brothers to him than any traditional siblings could be. Dominic looked weak, but Vincenzo wanted to give him a chance to prove himself. Under his facade, after an unfair fight, he wanted to see how the man would handle himself.
He scoffed hearing the man’s question. “Who am I to ask?” He paused. “This is the Umbra coven, Dominic. We’re brothers, right?” Enzo gave him a light nudge to the shoulder, using his joke to test how much his body swayed from the light impact. As expected, his shoulders rocked ever so slightly, hm. Clearly he was speaking defensively, but he didn’t seem to know how to tense enough to defend himself. Another weakling, he supposed, but that was fine. They would become stronger here.
The man gave him an attempt at a smirk, and Vincenzo had enough of his nonsense, summoning shadows that enveloped his wrists, and the dark ropes snapped together. It almost looked like Dominic had winced. That made the side of his lip curl.
“Alright.” He paused, “We can be a little immature sometimes, no shame in it. But that’s not what this is about.”
“As you know, we like to do a little bit of magic around here,” he smirked, glancing down at the shadows around Dominic’s wrists. “And usually, I like to start the year off with some blood.” His irises twinkled, baring his teeth clearly now, like a predator. And in that moment, Dominic looked to him like prey, and he knew the feeling. Vincenzo understood perfectly well how it was to be a young and less fortunate boy, but that shame couldn’t hide under fool’s gold, like Dominic was trying to gild his trembling silhouette with cheap pyrite. He needed to be made aware of it.
Vincenzo got closer to Dominic, finally staring at him eye to eye, and there was only a breath between them. “Sorry about those, by the way. I just needed to make sure you weren’t gonna try and be smart.” And his tone sounded reassuring, but it wasn’t, nor was he telling the full truth. He also did it for fun, considering the way he liked hurting people. It was something he learned to see the bright side of.
There was no reason for him to feel empathy, especially not when he could feel superior instead.
After offering him a bit of consolidation, the man stepped back, returning his voice to a volume where people could easily hear. “Every year, we have this sleepover in the main hall, you know that, and since we like to share a very deep friendship here, we all have matching blood vials.” The ritual most likely seemed a bit strange, and perhaps unnecessary, but to Vincenzo, it was about the metaphor behind it… The umbra coven was like his family, so if he did not have their same blood coursing through his veins, then he could wear it on his neck.
“Usually, said blood comes from a few of us cutting our palms open… but you seem like you want to cough it up, the way you’re trying to talk to me.”
The rest of the room went quiet.
He cleared his throat, his voice low.
“Is that what you want?”
@viiel.x dommyyyyyyy
This was prolly @ss but
It is what it is