Austerus Luscinia

Delphine is placed in a less ostentatious dress than her performance one, but it is no less fancy. Her hair is pulled back into a classic French twist before she’s sent on her way to the doors. Time to meet the crowd. Delphine must meet them as part of the effort to restore the opera. They all want to meet the esteemed singer, after all. The pretty bird who trills to the masses. Well, the wealthy masses now as it hasn’t been feasible to open the doors for those who cannot pay. She shakes the thought from her mind because hopefully all this work for their last performance will have been worth it. This won’t be their last performance and she will see to it that it will never be. Delphine walks out with her head held high as the manager introduces her. The most wealthy attendees- the potential patrons- all eye her up and down. Delphine hides the nervous swallow as she extends her hand and old, sleazy male after old, sleazy male kisses the back of it. More like slobbers on it, but s

Delphine is kept close to Tiberius after he gathers her from the attempted escape. It wounds him, ever so slightly, at the thought of his songbird fleeing from him. He’s been searching for her for years and he isn’t about to let her go now. Tiberius knows her family, the Polluxs, who are powerful old money that place a lot of stock on heritage. On stock. Tiberius didn’t have a chance at competing for their only daughter’s hand when he first presented. They had picked some geezer with a lecherous gaze, but apparently good genes for breeding. Tiberius wanted to run with her right then and there, but she did it herself. Fled just like she had tried to, tonight, but this time Tiberius had been prepared. Julian, her closest friend, has zero volume control and isn’t very aware of his surroundings. Marie the overworked manager all too eager to help in exchange for the money to retire and live comfortable for the rest of her days. And Marcus? The secondary Alpha put up no fight the moment

Tiberius is momentarily disjointed when he nexts wake up especially because he remembers a little bird falling asleep in his arms and now said bird is not there. He wants to growl at the prospect of her having slipped out and escaped from him, but Tiberius tempers his rage to think clearly. If Delphine had run then one of his pack members would’ve awoken him the moment they couldn’t find her. Tiberius takes a deep breath to scent the air and calm himself before getting up and going downstairs. He finds Delphine there, sitting at the kitchen island with a mug of tea in her hands. The maid, Pollonia, must already be out and about with the cleaning, cooking, and other things Tiberius doesn’t have the energy for. Grey eyes cut over to him and he beams at the fact Delphine hasn’t tried to run again. He slides an arm around her shoulders pulling her closer to his chest before placing a chaste kiss on the top of her head. “You didn’t try to run and you’ve met Pollonia,” Tiberius sits in

Delphine feels as if she might start hyperventilating soon as Julian steps out of the house and cannot meet her eyes. She doesn’t think he sold her out, not intentionally anyway, but that doesn’t make her feel any better. Does he hate her now? Everything is changing because of her and no doubt he’ll get in trouble alongside Marcus for helping her. Then she thinks of Marie, who willingly betrayed her trust, and she feels her heart pick up speed in anger. What did she do to deserve this? Why does everyone want to control her? She zones out as Tiberius talks with Julian who, as far as Delphine can tell, is acting as head of the boarding house in Marie’s absence. She doesn’t hear their words, it feels as if her ears are stuffed with cotton and all she can focus on is the pounding of her heart. Delphine feels itchy as if she has to move, scream, or just do anything to expel all the nervous energy building in her. She has never felt this nervous before not even on her first performance n

It becomes easier after that as if some unspoken agreement has been made between Delphine and Tiberius. He doesn’t force her to do things she doesn’t want to and she no longer tries to fight him or run away. He eats more meat that she could possibly stomach and she looks just like a prey eating her ‘bunny food’ as Tiberius calls it. It’s easy, Delphine decides, it’s easy to pretend he doesn’t still scare her, that she has no itch beneath her skin to disappear, and it’s easy to get excited every time the Opera and its changes are involved. Tiberius doesn’t touch Delphine as much, either, opting to keep his hands to himself as if in apology for attacking her the first time. She gets to decide on physical contact, if any, and that lifts a weight off her shoulders, too. Delphine gets to decide on her own outfits and her own scents via perfume and shower gels. Tiberius grunts from behind his desk at the opera house, “Why the fuck are they charging me extra for the smooth siding?” Delph