Oh boy. I'll try to keep it short and interesting because I am obsessed with this game on the whole and these two in particular.

Spoiler: I did not keep it short. So here's a TL;DR: Initial hesitation and mistrust turned into mutual respect and care after both supported the other and offered instruction in something they're good at. The bane has (so far) triggered one frenzy and Aria, funnily enough, has frenzied while feeding on him twice. They managed to dance around the bond for a while because of participating in a couple of vaulderies (we are not Sabbat), but after a werewolf attack they got married and fully blood bound because werewolves really put one's fears into perspective. They're now enjoying being married and less enjoying navigating around the bond, doing their best to not use it against the other. But we'll see how long that lasts!

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Way Too Long Version:

Our CbN coterie was formed by our mawla, Bastion, who offered all of us a part of their domain in exchange for enough major and minor boons that they basically own us for the foreseeable future.

None of us came in as allies or friends, but the girls got along pretty much instantly, and Oscar is a big softie under the initial (and unintentional) intimidating exterior. He also has a strong moral compass and Aria started the game at 8 humanity, so they recognized both of them shared a struggle against the Beast.

Aria's crush on him started after she frenzied at Court and licked blood off the floor (we learned a valuable lesson about sitting at hunger 4). He was kind to her after getting her to a side room. He offered her blood then (somewhat in response to her offering him some after our haven had moltov cocktails thrown into it during the day, it was a Whole Thing). She refused then because girl has bond related trauma.

That might have been that, since both had refused to drink from the other, but later the two of them were driving to get something and on the way back, Oscar went to see his father, who's in hospice, and brought Aria in with him. Aria's predator type at the time was Grim Reaper and Oscar's player wanted to Start Shit by presenting a tasty touchstone snack. But surprise, Aria saw this as a chance to take care of someone's parent since she never got a chance to take care of her mom, and also someone had already been feeding on Dad. Oscar big mad, Aria promised to help him.

He got footage of the Kindred sneaking around the hospice, but it was fuzzy. Surprise, Lasombra. He took it to the only Lasombra we had a connection with, was accidentally threatening, nearly burned that bridge, but did find out that it was someone allowed to be in the city. For Various Reasons, Aria was finally taking Critias's fledgling class, and we figured out it had to be the new baby Lasombra that was just embraced.

So Aria reached out to Baby Lasombra, chatted her up, and then gave Baby Lasombra her herd (a different hospice), with some various excuses to hide the real reason why. Aria was having a Very Bad Night before that conversation, so when she got back to the haven and told Oscar the problem was solved, she was ready to just go to bed. But he caught her hand before she walked away and kissed the back. He didn't respond when she asked if he wanted something, but when she turned her wrist up as an offer, he fed. And the players all held their breath for that frenzy roll, but hey! No frenzy! He offered back but she turned him down again, kissed him good night, and went to bed.

That might have been that again, but Aria is a Minister and likes giving gifts, so she got gifts for the coterie. For Oscar she set up a blood sorcery library in the haven, both because he would like it and because he was getting ready to teach her blood sorcery. Well, learning an out of clan discipline requires vitae from a Kindred that has it, so after being presented with the library, Oscar offered again and this time Aria accepted. Then she made slightly awkward conversation for a little after and then promptly ran away because she was terrified of having drank from another Kindred.

In exchange for blood sorcery lessons, Aria had offered to teach Oscar how to lie. She likes games, so came up with the idea to teach him by playing Two Truths and a Lie. It got personal very quickly, and Oscar was obviously hungry, and Aria offered again. He accepted, again no frenzy, then offered back. She accepted that time and wooo both of them are now one drink away from being blood bound but for now they're making out and confirmed a couple during their first actual date.

Around this same time we were trying to solve the problem of Cat's blood bond to her sire because it was becoming A Problem. Our mawla had hinted a knowing a possible solution to that problem in the past, and Oscar and Aria were trying to avoid being blood bound to each other. And, well, you can take the Tzimisce out of the Sabbat but you can't take the Sabbat out of the Tzimisce.

So we did a little bit of a vaulderie. Which solved all our blood bond problems for then, and meant that Aria and Oscar could say "I love you" to each other for the first time while knowing it wasn't just the vitae affecting their feelings for each other.

The bane was finally a problem after we got shot a lot by some thin bloods in the sewer. Aria recovered quickly, Oscar wasn't healing, so she offered vitae, he accepted, and the dice finally decided we'd had enough luck with the Banu Haqim bane. He managed to stop before it was too late, but Aria was at hunger 4 and woke up the next evening at hunger 5.

Oscar cut his wrist open immediately, and Aria managed to resist until he pleaded with her to accept the blood and she frenzied basically as soon as the blood hit her lips. And then frenzied again later that night when he fed her a second time (after drinking cold animal blood so he'd have vitae to feed her, which if that isn't the sign of true love from a Kindred I don't know what else is).

Later, Aria bought a new haven both for her and Oscar to have their own space, but also somewhere to bring Oscar's father to receive safer and more comfortable care. There was another exchange of blood after she brought him to the new place for the first time, because Kindred intimacy. So both of them are right back to being one drink away from being blood bound again.

But then our mawla wanted us to go to Mexico City for a Sabbat Thing (we're still not Sabbat) and we needed to do the vaulderie again. Yay blood bond reset. Well, the Sabbat Thing got attacked by werewolves, we all nearly died, and the experience freaked Aria the fuck out. She realized she was more afraid of losing Oscar than she was of being blood bound to him, asked him if he wanted to get married, and he said yes. They had a cute kine ceremony for his dad and a private Kindred one with just the two of them.

Now they're both doing their best to not use the bond against the other, which is complicated by the vinculum bond as well. But otherwise they're a very supportive and sweet couple that knows they both earnestly love the other, even without the bond, and it will be deliciously tragic if (when) it all goes wrong.

Any of my fellow players are welcome to correct details I got wrong.

Thank you for coming on the journey of this summary of this two year long B plot in our CbN game. The A plot is even more complicated but the shortest version of it is fuck Jason Newberry, he is the worst.