when you don't have anything else, you have what's inside your head. the words lodged themselves deeply into nahim’s mind the moment they were uttered. they’d resonated with a far stronger intensity than he’d expected anything to leave the slave’s mouth to have, the memories of being shackled to the palazzo basement’s walls, the rusted icon cutting deep into flesh that grew thinner with each day that passed without an offering until marcellino decided to throw a new unfortunate down the unforgiving stone of the basement steps. time had passed very irregularly during the five centuries he’d weathered those conditions for and keeping his sanity intact as a newborn fledgling when it had first began had been the most challenging feat of his lives, both mortal and immortal. his mind had been his only companion; marcellino’s other fledglings had been forbidden from entering the space throughout nahim’s banishment and consequential imprisonment and it wasn’t as if his sire had been eager to spend a moment in his company. “you’re right,” nahim replied softly, the tenderness of his tone catching him off guard as he settled back in the present. he blinked a few times to clear the daze from his eyes and ran a hand through his curls with a deflated sigh. “more right than you know. i hope what’s in your head will be enough to get you through some of your worst times here.” nahim had no intention of harming the boy currently, not even for entertainment’s sake, but he knew it was only a matter of time before others leapt at the chance.
nahim smiled politely as jamie familiarised himself with the pronunciation and nodded his approval as he listened. “that’s it. good. for reference’s sake, let’s see–” pushing himself away from jamie to sit further upright, nahim laid out his hands before him to count on his fingers as he reeled off the list of his new colleagues. “in no particular order, the council is made up of raphael, raiden, lucien, stigr, svein, tiernan, quin, eros, roland and myself. it’ll serve you well in the long run to commit those names to memory even if you never cross paths with some members.” settling back against jamie, nahim made a mental note to dig a little deeper as he heard the firebird’s heartbeat quicken for a moment, his expression the picture of innocence as he extended the tips of his claws to lightly drag them down from the slave’s jaw to rest against his pulse, drumming them against the flesh with a mirthful chirp of laughter.
“noah?” he’d have to see for himself if the slave in question was truly worth considering. “for your sake, i hope he gave you all the right information.” the blush that coloured the boy’s face was a curious sight but nahim refrained from commenting, instead dropping his gaze back to jamie’s neck, slowly dragging his claws back up to trace the slave’s jawline again, maintaining a conscious effort to keep the skin unbroken. the mention of tiernan’s pet prompted a hum of acknowledgement from nahim, his expression anything but enamoured. “mm. i’ve heard all about halloran’s boy. i’m yet to see the appeal myself. i’ve always found faeries and their hybrids to be… acquired tastes, shall we say? you seem more personable than me, though, so it’s no surprise you found a kinship with him.” so long as jamie didn’t get sucked into the halfling’s tired narrative of pushing for a revolution that would never come, the bond likely wasn’t worth considering. a small part of nahim would be vaguely disappointed to see jamie face the consequences of being found guilty by association should arnon be stupid enough to actually try anything. nahim retracted his claws to idly toy with jamie’s collar as he sunk into what he viewed as a comfortable silence before a curious thought came to mind. “do you have any questions of your own to ask? is anything unclear to you? or did noah tell you everything you needed to know?”
Jamie was unaware of Nahim's deep turmoil, but he did notice that the vampire sounded soft and sort of kind. He would have patted him awkwardly or offered him a hug if they weren't … well, if a lot of things weren't true. "It has been so far. Mostly. Can't really do much if it isn't, can I?" He shrugged because there really wasn't, but he had a general optimism that he would be alright, and that things would hopefully sort themselves out for the best. And if they didn't, he would probasbly survive it. The other options weren't anything he could help, so why dwell?
Nahim was being helpful and Jamie wished he had a notepad or something but he'd just have to remember. He traced names on his skin, a trick he'd learned back at Uni to memorize things he couldn't see written down. He hadn't met most of the people Nahim mentioned, but they were all councilors and if he had to meet them, it would be much better for his continued survival to treat them with the proper respect and fear. Nahim brought out claws, which Delilah had done occasionally, though rarely to Jamie. It was … complicated. The claws were frightening, obviously, most things with vampires were, but also … they left him curious if it was possible to be gentle with them. Or possibly only slightly less than gentle.
Jamie hoped that mentioning Noah hadn't been the wrong thing, though Noah seemed much more capable of handling himself than Jamie was, so maybe that was being overly concerned. The claws were still very much there and Jamie was trying to not react to them. Unless Nahim wanted him to react to them? He wasn't sure. He really wished this sort of thing came with instructions. "You seem alright. I mean, you seem personable. To me. Not that my opinion really matters." It got quiet and Nahim still hadn't removed the claws, and Jamie sat very very still, imagining himself like a limpid pool. That had been Rory's thing, she loved the words 'limpid pool', and used them as a mantra. Still, this was clearly worth it because Nahim was being so helpful. "Oh uh-" He had a million questions but that would no doubt bore Nahim senseless. "What's the proper way to act around other masters? So they don't get upset? And - are there any that it would be worse to upset than others?"
