[ Inspire Me ] [ Shiro / Jace ]

[squabbel]

A new day was beginning, the moon was slowly setting, and the sky began turning a light orange. A man sat and looked out the window of his humble two story home, a book open in his hands, and a bottle of wine half empty on the small table near him. The man sighed and removed his monocle, tucking in his breast pocket, and tucked a strand of snowy white hair behind his ear before he downed the remains of what had once been inside his wineglass. The man stood up, his bones popping into place as he did so. "Someone bought the house next door, it looks like they'll be moving in today," he sat the book on one of the dusty old shelves before looking out the window. "Just another couple I assume, probably with children to."

He paused and laid a hand on his abdomen, looking off, away from the house, just for a moment. He shook his head pulled the curtain closed, just before the sun rays began to grace the neighborhood, lighting up bedrooms, and lawns, and sleeping faces. It's warm caress gently wakening everyone to begin their day, a feeling this man would never be able to enjoy. This man is Shiro Morganthe, a man believed to be the last of his bloodline, with the inability to continue it.

Shiro closed all the curtains in his house before walking to his bedroom. The house looked more like the inside of an old manor, rich carpets, velvet curtains, and soft feather filled mattresses. It was almost like a time capsule of a time long forgotten on this planet, and a moment from a planted Shiro Had left behind. One the solid oak vanity, stood a model of a head, with a long, deep brown wig, that hung in soft waves and curls.

Shiro took his place on his stool, and slowly began brushing his hair, till every little knot, and tangle was unraveled. Then he began the tedious task of hiding his long, silky white locks, under the artificial brown ones. Once in place, Shiro tied up his hair inside the wig and undid his eye-patch. The man looked at himself in the mirror, a black void where an eye had once been. He took a small box in front of him and slowly opened it, pulling out a glass eye. He winced, and blinked for a moment, before checking if he still could control it like the other.

Now ready for his day, the man stood up and glanced at his bed, a picture of a kind faced man, with thin black framed glasses, and short brown hair sat on the bedside table, smiling at him. Shiro just shook his head and turned the picture face down and licked his lips. "You know, sometimes, I wonder, what would happen if I just decided to sleep the years away, would anyone care enough to check on me? Or would I just turn to dust and become one with this house forever..." The man trailed off, before he slowly, walked away, to tend to his chores.

[Ninia]

Jace looked at his new home from the inside of his car as he pulled into the drive. It was nice, simple. It was just another copy of the other houses down the street. He ran a hand through short messy red hair and sighed. This was going to be his home now. As he looked up at the house he couldn’t help but feel it was too big for one person. He opened the door just in time to see the movers bang a box of his books against the door "Hey! Be careful with them, some of them are delicate." The man just nodded, not really listening to Jace and continued unloading his stuff.

Jace frowned and followed the man inside. It was just as he'd expected, plain and simple like the outside. It didn’t take long for the movers to carry all his stuff inside; he only had a few things. They left soon after, leaving him standing in the middle of his house surrounded by boxes. Jace left the boxes unopened and went to look around the house. The kitchen was small but cosy, the living room was big enough for him, and there was even a spare room upstairs he could turn into a study. He moved to the bedroom next, his single bed was against the wall and his bookcase across from it on the other side.

Across from the door where he stood was a window that faced another window on the house next door. He frowned when he noticed the curtains were closed, he glanced at the other windows he could see and they were just the same. He shrugged before leaving to unpack. It seemed a little strange to him, having all the curtains closed but it wasn't any of his business.

[squabbel]

Shiro could hear the muffled sounds of slamming doors, and yells of males, as the new neighbors unpacked, from what he could hear, and how many times doors were shut, it didn't seem like a couple were moving in at all, there were only male voices. Shiro shook his head as he cleaned the dishes, "Don't tell me my hearing's failing me too," he murmured. "Not like it matters anyway, you'll probably never meet them face to face once before they either pass away or move," he said in a low whisper. Shiro finished doing the dishes and shivered, his hands colder than ice. "Cain must have forgotten that we were on earth again, he said it would have been much warmer than this," he chattered.

Shiro sighed and shuffled his way to the living room, where a grand fireplace stood, two logs sitting in it's stomach, ready to be burned. Shiro grabbed some dried grass and twigs he kept in a box, and placed it ontop of the logs. He truck a match, it's small flame the only lighting in the room. He dropped the match into the pile of grass and twigs, and instantly they caught fire, which in turn set fire to the logs. The room was bathed in a soft yellow light. He smiled and keeled there by the fire, letting it's warm grace his cold body.

It was the middle of august, and it was still a comfortable seventy five degrees out, but to vampires, it was absolutely freezing, and seeing smoke rise up, out from the chimney wasn't uncommon. Shiro sighed, satisfied that most of the first floor was now properly heated, he went back to his chores, popping his aching shoulders back into place, in preparation to the dusting of his many shelves.

[ sorry if it's a slow start >: anyway cain is Shiro's AI ]

[Ninia]

Jace groaned as he placed another box of books on the floor of his bedroom. He stretched and rubbed his neck, so far the only thing he’d done was move three boxes of books upstairs. For anyone else this would have been an easy job but Jace wasn’t the strongest person, he was actually very weak. He moved over to the window and sat on the floor near deciding to take a break. At this rate it was going to take ages until he was unpacked, now was the time when he wished he’d accepted his dad’s offer of help.

He glanced over at the house next door again and raised a brow. Smoke was rising steadily from the chimney. Jace shook his head in disbelief, how could anyone feel cold in this weather? Then another thought crossed his mind, why was his neighbour using fire to heat his house instead of central heating. He watched the house for a few minutes before realizing how weird it would look if anyone saw him. He stood and stretched ready to move some more boxes upstairs.

As he continued unpacking his thoughts kept drifting to the house next door wondering who lived there. Half-way through and the thoughts still hadn't left so he decided he'd go introduce himself when he'd finished. It might settle his curiosity.

(I like the start ^_^)

[squabbel]

Shiro did a fairly good job of keeping his mind off of the new neighbors, how many there possibly were, only thinking once or twice about it, nothing more. Every now and again the man would grunt, even though he was a vampire, it didn't change that fact that he was old, and he didn't keep himself in top shape, which was usually only apparent on the rare occasion he needed to shower, often he'd just lean over the sink to wash his hair. After a few hours the final shelf was finally dusted, the rag turned grayish brown. Shiro stretched, and walked down the stairs about to toss away his rag and tend to the fireplace, he heard a knock at the door.

Shiro shook his head and tossed the rag into the sink and washed his hands, hastily drying them off and trotting to the door. The golden eyed man straightened up his clothing and fixed his hair, before peering into the peep hole. A boy with red hair stood there, not anyone he'd seen before. Shiro, cracked his neck before opening the door, partially using it as a shield. "You're the new neighbor I presume? I think it'd be best if we chat inside, me and the sun, don't get along too well," he said quietly, peeking at the boy from around the door, not a single ounce of emotion left on his face.

[Ninia]

Jace nodded and waited for the other man to open the door before following him inside. The inside of the house was nothing like the outside, it had an old gothic look to it with dark colours and rich tones. It looked like something taken straight out of one of his Victorian novels. It was quite dim inside, the only light artificial as the curtains were closed. He turned his attention back to the man and held out his hand “Hi, I’m Jace Vicks. I’ve just moved in next door but you probably heard me.” He hadn't been very discreet when dealing with the movers. Jace took a look at his new neighbour. The man didn’t look to old, around early 30’s, late 20’s; he had warm brown hair and was slightly hefty, not fat but on the larger side.

"Interesting choice of decoration, if you don't mind me saying. It has a regal look to it." It seemed odd for the small house, more suited for a large manor but it seemed to suit the man.

[squabbel]

Shiro watched the boy walk in and slowly closed the door, before spinning on his heel to see him eying his decor. He began walking towards the fireplace when all of a sudden there was his hand, aimed at his abdomen. Shiro gasped dodged it before looking up at the red headed boy's face, he frowned. He started to reach for the boy's hand but caught himself and just curled up his fingers and shook his head. "My name is Shiro Morganthe, it's a pleasure" he mumbled, before walking briskly to the fire place.

He pulled the gate away and grabbed the stoking tool, and began pushing away ash to give birth to new flame. His ears perked when the boy commented on the way he dressed his house, he shook his head. "It isn't as mush regal, as it is what a typical home used to look like, back then a shack wasn't exactly considered a home," he murmured before putting back the stoking tool, and replacing the gate. Shiro then stood up to his full five foot six stature and looked at the boy, "Now would you like to tell me as to why you are here? I am very busy," his voice dull and unamused.

[Ninia]

Jace frowned when the man avoided his hand but didn’t mention anything. Maybe he just didn’t like contact. He pulled his arm back to his side and watched Shiro mess with the fire. As he watched the fire start up he realized just how hot it was inside the house. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He looked around the room again and tried to ignore the heat “I still think it has a certain class to it, more then what I’m used to anyway.”

He turned back to Shiro when the man stood and faced him. He was slightly shorter then Shiro but didn’t let that faze him. He was surprised at Shiro’s tone, he only just met the man and already he seemed impatient with Jace “I just came round to introduce myself, seeing as we’re neighbours and all.” He wasn’t about to insult him by saying his house looked a bit strange so he wanted to know who lived here.

[squabbel]

Shiro shifted his weight and put his hands on his hip, his eyes briefly passing over the boys form a few times before looking him in the eye. "Well then, I believe he wave been properly introduced Mr. Vicks," he stated, "now if you'll excuse me, I still have some chores to do," he told him, retreating to the second floor of his home. He walked up into his study, where he was not but a few minutes ago, books stacked everywhere. Shiro just shook his head and rubbed his temples, not noticing that his guest hadn't left yet.

"Now to organize all of these by alphabetical then chronological order," he sighed, dreading performing the task, for he had over two hundred books, from different worlds, and even time periods, "but order must be kept," he murmured before he began stacking books here and there, the whole scene looking like total chaos.

[Ninia]

Jace watched Shiro go upstairs, he waited a while before shrugging his shoulders and followed him up. He knew the man expected him to leave but he was still curious. He reached the top of the stairs just in time to see which room Shiro entered. Jace’s eyes widened as he entered the room “Whoa.” Books were stacked everywhere in the room, some on shelves, others in piles on the desk and floor. He couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on his face.

“And I thought I had a lot of books, there must be hundreds of books here!” He walked further into the room looking over the books. There was just so many, some looked very delicate and old while others he couldn’t even understand them. He looked back at Shiro who had started organizing them “Do you need any help?”

[squabbel]

Shiro hadn't heard the man follow him upstairs and jumped in surprise when he heard a distings "whoa," behind him. The brown haired man looked back at him, with hands on his hips as the boy marveled at his extensive collection. "To be exact there are two hundred and seventy two, most are still in storage, I can't fit hundreds in one house," he told the boy, looking at him as if the sheer power of his thoughts would get the boy to leave.

The boy then asked him if he could help, shiro groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, before clicking his tongue. "You know what fine, I give up, Mr. Vicks, you can start by separating the pile over there by the first letter of the author's last name, and keep them separated," he told him, before turning and sorting the books once more, if the boy was going to stay, he might as well make himself useful.

[Ninia]

Jace let out a low whistle, two hundred and seventy two. And Shiro’s read them all? He might have considering he doesn’t like going outside, that would give him a lot of free time. Jace looked around the room again, the small smile never leaving his face. This is definitely what he wants his study to turn into, just a room full of books. He turned back to Shiro, the older man said he could help, and grinned. “Thanks Shiro. And you don’t have to call me Mr. Vicks, just Jace is fine.”

Jace then moved over the pile of books Shiro had gestured at and began to sort them out. He started to separate the books in to different piles depending on the author’s last name. It was clear from the quality of the books that Shiro took care of them, even though some where old they still looked in good condition. As he continued to work he decided to try and start a conversation with his new neighbour. “So how long have you lived here Shiro?”

[squabbel]

Shiro just kept to himself as he stacked books on their respective shelves, "I'm sorry Mr. Vicks, but I find a least some sort of formalities should be maintained, and a first name basis is earned trhough getting to know one another," he told him, sorting about fifty books in less then five minutes, alphabetical and chronological. Shiro had done this task many times, and had seemed to master it, though he didn't like having to do it any more.

Shiro glanced up, as he was asked a question, slowing his pace by allot, "Longer than you have, that's for sure," he told him clicking his tongue. He looked over, and saw that the boy was sweating, and shook his head. Shiro put the books down and moved closer, placing the back of his, very very cold, hand on the boy's forehead. "You're hot, would you like something to sip on, least thing I could do."

[Ninia]

Jace shrugged his shoulders “Ok then we’ll just need to get to know each other.” He went back to his task of ordering the books. He was working at a steady pace. Not as fast as Shiro was but he was making progress. He was used to ordering his own books at home but Shiro had a lot more then he had and Jace kept pausing to look at them, most of which he’d never heard of.

Jace jumped slightly when he felt Shiro’s cold hand on his forehead. He closed his eyes and sighed welcoming the cool feeling. He opened his eyes again when Shiro asked him if he wanted a drink. Jace stood and nodded “Umm Water’s just fine for me thanks. Are you ok Shiro? You’re really cold but it’s boiling in here”

[squabbel]

Shiro shook his head, "No I am fine, I just stay cold most of the time, it's nothing much to worry about," he told him turning on his heel and heading down stairs, "It'll probably be best if you just stay up here, the fire's still going down stairs," he called back. The long haired male walked into the kitchen, and grabbed a glass and filled it with ice cubes, then filled it water from the tap, he didn't have hard water, so he knew it was safe to drink.

He walked through the living room, noticing the fire was getting low, he'd have to start it again later, he had a guest. He made his way upstairs and walked into his study, already feeling the temperature begin dropping in the house. He handed the boy his drink, before rubbing his arms to keep warm. "If you don't mind, I'd like you to keep that away from the books, they are very fragile," he said as he began sorting books once more, feeling his teeth begin to chatter lightly.