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| - Klausner opened his eyes slowly, slightly unsure where he was. Like most mornings he was in an alien environment, snug between two layers of fine silk with his head resting on a soft and plump pillow. It was a familiar scene yet played out in countless locations over the years. He yawned, a habit he’d begun to practise recently, still preparing for that glorious moment when he would take to the stage and perform for Emperors, Kings, and most importantly, Princesses. Moving as lightly as he could so as not to disturb his companion he shuffled onto his elbows and looked about the room. It was ordered and well decorated, cheaply but with taste. ‘Not a whore then’ he thought. Looking down at the elven girl beside him he smiled, remembering the night before. He reached across and stroked her cheek, one would expect him to be surprised to see a nearly skeletal arm obey the thought but he wasn’t. Klausner had taken to his un-life with much more grace than would be expected of most, accepting his face and embracing it’s advantages. The girl stirred, she smiled looking up at his eyes, a thin yellow veil hung across them, obscuring his humanity. She tried to sit up but yawned sleepily and succeeded only in lifting herself slightly off the mattress before collapsing back onto the pillow. She speaks into the pillow, her voice muffled, “You slept well, William. You didn’t wake me once.” “I make an effort to with mortals, love. I haven’t forgotten what it was like to need sleep.” She smiles again, but he can’t see. Her arms trail lazily up around the pillow, one flops over the side and hangs limp. Klausner remains quiet, looking down at the girl, wondering how long she will last before he moves on. A sharp succession of knocks sounds around the room, sounding to Klausner like the bells of a church echoing in the mind of the sinner. The girls squeals slightly, hastened into consciousness. She crawls under the sheets and Klausner does his best to obscure her shape. A woman enters, dressed in a fine dress, glittering jewellery all over her neck, ears, hands, and wrists. Shes’ beautiful, but only through great effort, her face covered with a prince’s ransom worth of cosmetics. She smiles as she enters then looks at William and pulls a face of confusion. “What are you doing, William?” Klausner pulls a well rehearsed face, conveying to the girl his honesty and conviction. An expression like this belonged on the Guardian Medivh as he pleaded with Terenas to heed his warning. “Exercising, love.” “In bed? Naked?” “I’m dead, pet. We have weird ways.” He smiles playfully, and adjusts his weight, sitting up straighter, leaning on the backboard. “How did you find me, an’ why? It’s a little early in the day ain’t it? Your father will notice.” He pulls another face, teasing the girl. As well as enticing an answer. “Ruthgarten told me you’d be here. I don’t understand why you move boarding house so often, it’s most strange...” She goes off on a tangent, speaking more at him than too him. He doesn’t care. What she has to say means little too him. If only she’d go away and wait for him to come to her as he had for the past few weeks things would be simpler. He frowns slightly as the girl beside him does her best to distract him, she’ll get them caught. It doesn’t matter to him, but it’ll cause a scene. She notices his change of expression, “I know! It’s dreadfully frightening, causing chaos in the inner cities, spread by contact they say.” “What is? What’s spread by contact?” “Weren’t you listening, this new disease, Isiliosis they’re calling it.” “You know disease don’t worry me, Lilith. I’m dead.” “But that’s just it, Will! It affects your kind too!” Klausner’s face falls, he yelps and makes a kicking action under the sheets. The naked girl falls over the end of the bed and flails to the floor, landing in a heap. She looks up and blushes a deep red, trying to protect her dignity she crawls across the floor to a pile of clothing in the corner. Klausner’s face tries to pull an innocent smile and succeeds, it’s convincing despite being fake. He doesn’t care. Lilith looks at him with horror. “Who is she!?” “She’s my lover, love. Just like us, so if you think about it we’re all lovers really. You and her, me and you...” “Don’t you try and talk to me like that! You said I was the only one for you, in all the world and across all the oceans.” Klausner rolls his eyes, it doesn’t matter how good the speech was when first spoken, or how fine it sounds when he repeats it on a stage or in a bar or the bedroom of a nobles daughter. But when they start quoting it back, it just gets to you. “I lied, love. What’d you expect, I’m a pirate. You don’t mean anything more to me than the serving wenches in Booty Bay. Except their quite dear friends...You know what, you mean less to me than them. Every time I order a drink I’ll say their name, at least I’ll remember it in a few years time!” Lilith bursts into tears running from the room, tears streaming down her face, ruining the ransom. “And take your Isiliosyphilis with you!” Klausner snarls, his entire body is rigid, leaning forwards to bark his last order at the woman who never meant more to him than a warm bed and a good night. He slumps back onto the pillow, ‘went better than expected’ he muses. “That was a little harsh, why’d you do that, Will?” He gives the girl a quick eye up and down, she’s in a silk dress now, delicate and flimsy, easily removed in a hurry. ‘She don’t look diseased’. “It’s because I love you pet, more than all the oceans of the world.” Klausner smiles, it’s one of his best. The girl returns the smile and blushes slightly she takes a few short steps towards the bed before throwing herself into his arms. He holds her close to him and smells her hair ‘don’t smell diseased neither, maybe just one more night before I quit town and lay low till it’s safe to be out again’. Outside the distraught girl runs across he road oblivious to everything around her. She nearly steps on a small prairie dog. Soap looks up at the girl, frozen in terror. Ruthgarten turns the corner and bellows his name. Soap runs gleefully towards the Tauren and accepts a small lump of cheese. Looking back at the building he hopes Klausner will be safe for a few hours without the prairie dogs protection whilst he and Ruth take a trip to the park.
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