A Moment away from reality

I woke surrounded by the coolness of a body that I knew from the first raise of lashes was not the Troll who had taken over so much of my mind. Slender but entirely masculine, arms that were delicate yet not feminine held me tightly to the chest that over the past span of hours I had come to know so intimately. The smell of sex a delicious thing upon the air, I found myself surprisingly heating to a bit of a blush. The moment I had shared with Aimee had been intense yet what Gear had given me was something more intense than I could have ever expected, ever dared to dream. Letting my eyes close fully again for a few spans of breath, I realized that I could stay like this for days. Fuck me if this unexpected turn of events couldn't all too easily became a dangerously powerful new addiction. The thoughts of caffeine and nicotine were both distant memories as I ever so slowly and carefully extracted myself from his embrace.

Tip toeing from the bed as to not wake him just yet, I looked around for the clothes that held the key chain sized keyboard. The flush that stained my cheeks was far from fading as i realized what remained of them was rather scattered. Digging through the skirt pocket, I found the sought after object and carried it to the nearby vanity with it's chair resting before it. Focusing upon the electronic device, I called upon the innate magic that was Go ask Alice.

What was made small
Shall now grow tall
Fit to size the hands that seek
Grow to create the notes these fingers might wreak

The words were little more than exhalation, the breath offering them as delicate as the fingers that moved as if sprinkling fairy dust over the object. It took a minute or two but thankfully I didn't return it to it's usual size which would have done damage not just to myself but also to the Male that lay in the bed behind me and this precious Sanctuary of his that he had deigned to share with me. Just large enough to rest properly where I had placed it, I was more than pleased to see that it still had full battery. Hitting the switch for the volume, I lowered it to just loud enough for my ears before powering it up. Having retrieved the folded sheaf of papers that held the notes I'd been working upon, I took a seat in the chair, not bothering to give much thought to the fact that I was still rather naked.

This was my Haven. The music. Wherever it was that it took me to when my mind was troubled. Knowing that I had been unable to give it the time it properly deserved as of late. Closing my eyes, I let my fingers fall upon the keys, each stroke, each position as familiar to me as the back of my own hand. Fairly certain that Gear was still in slumber, I let myself become lost within the notes of the piece I had been so focused upon. While this was my only instrument, the song was one that could easily pick up another one or more instruments if their players were gifted enough. It was far from complete, my voice a minatory skill when compared to the gift that my fingers claimed.


Funny how the heart can be deceiving
More than just a couple times
Why do we fall in love so easy?
Even when it's not right

Ever worried that it might be ruined
And does it make you wanna cry?
When you're out there doing what you're doing
Are you just getting by?
Tell me are you just getting by, by, by

When the words had first come to mind, things were so different. They were lyrics that could apply to so many people, so many things, many that my choices over the past few hours could cause destruction with were they ever to find out. Yet strangely, I felt no regret, if anything, I felt the stirring of anger rising like a viper within my breast that I would have to hide the magic that had been woven. I knew I was oblivious, that there were obviously pieces I was missing, but I knew no shame in what I had shared. Nor would I allow Gear to be harmed for the choice that I had made, the decision that I had embraced. I would not walk away from my Motley over it, though as long as he were my Vassal, I would protect him, come Hell or High-water. Such was the turbulence that fueled the piece that I was so desperately trying to bring to fruition.

Garrott realized he was awake, and immediately cleared his mind. It was an age old habit, one that served to keep the world and all its happenings at bay for at least a little while. Moments passed before he recognized the music as music, and the angelic voice that resonated within his head served as a reminder that the world wasn't miserable to remember, not anymore.

Not for now.

Hematite orbs opened a fraction of an inch to take her in, and she was too tied to the lyrics to notice the miniscule change. What a vision, and the sight of her impacted him twice. Once In the chest in a swell of emotions, and once in the gut as he realized how painfully temporary all of this probably was. Still, he had been making a point since the first words she spoken to him the night Arrow had come hunting for him, to memorize these sweet moments with every bit of crystal clarity he could salvage. Mere hours together and he had half a dozen paintings swimming through his head, a one imperticular far too risqué for anyone's gaze but his own. The very idea of it set things lower in his body stirring despite their two, rather boisterous, previous rounds.

Finally he shifted his lithe frame flowing like ink as he sat up, the silken sheet slipped down his stomach and pooled around his waist. Bending his knees he crossed sculpted arms to rest over the top of them. On bent arm he laid his head, still watching her as she played, as lost to the world as he had ever been while painting. Something about her made him less afraid, while it bit at his pride that he wasn't strong enough to stand for himself, she didn't make him feel shame for it either. Sometimes people were kind enough to not say it, though even they were rare, but he knew well enough what was dwelling within their silent expressions. Her strength made him feel courage like he had never known, and even if he was never meant for the front lines, maybe he could make a difference anyway. Somehow, someway yet undiscovered. The point was that all of a sudden there was light, where before there had only been darkness. While she was here he wouldn't go days at a time without anyone ever glancing in his direction.

She saw him, looked for him, trusted him. It was enough to drive him to make a change so that she wouldn't have to wonder if Arrow had been right. He may have been silent, but he had heard him, understood all too well his point of view. He was more surprised then perhaps even the Troll himself that she would choose him. Gear prayed for the chance to live up to her expectations, since she had blown his out of the water.

I played and played, almost until my fingers felt as if they might fall to pieces right there upon the keys though in some deeper, darker recess of my mind I knew it was merely a span of minutes. Twenty at a minimum, thirty to thirty five at best. I'd played for far longer before, hours really in search of the right chord for a piece, or pen stretched over parchment as I dug within myself and without for the words that I knew were perfect but remained illusive. Letting my hands drop to my sides for a moment, I clenched my eyes rather than let them rest simply shut. Why now ? Why this one song, it's words and notes dancing ever shy of the grasp of mind and tongue ?

Refusing to fling the pages about, or let loose the string of vehement curses that would have erupted had I been in my own room, I stretched instead. Quiet sigh filtering from lips, bare shoulders rolling in a vain attempt to work the anxious tension from them that had not been there just shy of an hour before. A quiet touch of breath had a fine shiver running along my spine, hands finally raising to rub the heels of my palms against my eyes before coming up to brush the goosebumps away from my arms. Yet again moments would pass before finally I pushed up from the seat, a hand having stretched outwards to flip the article off, words falling from my lips in the singsong lilt that I was trying nearly as hard to come to work more fluidly with. Fingers swept up and over the edges of the device, wrapping and molding the edges as if it were a malleable ball of putty. Obviously more difficult effects required a larger act, though this one had come as simply to me as drawing breath. When finally it was about as small as a car key again and resting back atop the desk, I turned, eyes widening slightly when I realized he had been watching me.

My gaze softened, the jagged reflective black turning to more of a rough charcoal that licked around my optic as they danced over him. Slow, intense. Taking in every inch of his form that was revealed to my naked eye, the very corner of my my mouth curved upwards in the beginning of what could be considered a smirk. Gods if I was already realizing it, admitting it there was a problem. I didn't just WANT him, I NEEDED him. Not just with this strange physical want that even now had me wanting to press our bodies back together but more in the fashion that in claiming him, I had claimed a part of myself. He had portrayed it so clearly in the painting, what I was then not so very different from what I was now, though in this place, this time, I was far more capable of defending him than the girl I had been was. He was giving me so much else. The fact that he seemed to understand me so well...Arrow would brush it off as the fact that he had been stalking me yet I wanted it to be something more. Wanted it almost more than anything else in the world.

My feet were carrying me towards him then, hands propelling me up and onto the bed until I knelt directly in front of him. Leaning in I first rubbed my cheek along his, relishing the slightly cooler caress of his skin before tilting just enough to trail the tongue that was still crafted in a fashion I had hoped he would appreciate along his jaw. Lapping at the smoothness for a moment, I pulled back just enough to toss him a teasing smirk. Hands went to his shoulders, guiding him back until our bodies were stretched out so ingratiatingly close. Separated only by the drape of the sheet covering his lower body, I let my eyes lock with his. My hair fell like silken drapery, secluding us in our own private world, reveling in that moment of silence.

"So now what do we do, my Vassal ? Where from here do we go, Gear ?"

The corner of his lips curled upward at the corner upon her approach, her mere presence a gift he would not soon overlook. His head lilted in the direction of hers under that oh-so-succulent caress of her cheek along his own. At the touch of her tongue, he shivered, the talons on his right hand sliding like polished glass over her hip, too much care given in the gesture for there to be concern of harming her flawless skin.

Long arms wrapped around the sidhe as she sent the both of them back onto the pillows, his eyes followed the movement of her lips as she asked the all important, sixty-four thousand dollar question. "That depends m'lady, where do want to go? Things may be moving forward on swift feet, but opportunity has arise all the same. Paths are open, hands are outstretched, all the world is a stage and the Houses are tripping over themselves to make you a part of what their all about." Dark brows furrowed as he considered for a moment. "Not to mention though you have options on which hand to grasp, it does mean the others receive nothing once you make your choice. People's feelings are going to be hurt, and you will have taken the first and most critical of your steps."

His hand lifted to cup the side of her face, silently relishing in the warmth of her skin, denied to him for so long. "I know you don't want to be a typical sidhe, but accepting a house means that your playing the game." He said the game like it was something that should be capitalized. "Even if you don't want to, people will be looking at what you do, and guessing at what it means."

For a moment my eyes closed, pain rifling through me like an uncovered blade as his words hit home. I knew that choices, rather A choice must be made and I was not foolish enough to believe that those I denied would just stand idly by. The very thing I was so petrified of becoming was something that I would be in the process of turning to the moment that choice was made, regardless of what it was and the one I had hope to be there at my side, guarding me as it seemed he always had even though it had in truth only been a matter of weeks... I tried to drown myself in the touch of those claws I had gifted him, though the solace was not as complete as I had sought after. Instead I found the hand that was bared. The very one that with the release of the Geas could now caress as freely as he desired. As openly as the honesty he had been forced to give me due his oath. I closed my eyes as tightly as I dared, if only for a heartbeat's worth of time, fighting against the burn of tears that threatened to break free. He needed my strength more than I needed the weakness, that was where my salvation would lay if nowhere else.

I stole that moment. Kissed my way along the coolness of his palm and found what modicum of calm that I could. With him the mask was far from in place. I realized it and it sent a momentary fissure of unease along my spine. What spell had this Male cast upon me ? It would be a thought for later, that and the fact that I wished I possessed the strength to tell the Courts and Houses alike to go bugger themselves as this supposed teach of mine had done. Though in this moment I could not. The game was one that for now I had no choice but to play. While I did not know horribly much about each of the Houses, I knew enough by various means. I was born of Seelie Sidhe, of a renowned House. one that had not so surprisingly made no offer for my proverbial hand. There was a malicious smirk that teased my lips at that as well as at the two foremost Houses that I sought to choose between, the third merely being a sweet fantasy. In this if nothing else I had the option to choose, and choose I would.

"Daireann and Beaumayn are my preferred, Wynter Courts as they may be. What bits I know of them sits well within my soul, or what remains of it. Though that is neither here nor there. If my memory serves me true, you mentioned having another surprise. I find that where my curiosity lies most strongly for the moment. Most importantly....So much that I would ask of you. Be the sweetest sin that I welcome in, but by the Dreaming please...Don't be gone when I wake in the morning."

"I don't understand your lack of enthusiasm for Fiona... Honestly it seems right up your ally." Words were soft,spoken slowly as he considered the possibilities available to her. They were swiftly proving to be more numerous then he had anticipated."Where do you want to go? What are your goals? Do you have changes you want to make, positions you want to go after?" Glancing up from where he had been ticking things off on those delicate fingers, he arched a brow at her, peering up past the sweet tangle of her hair. "Your in an excellent position to maneuver Cicily in a place of moderate power, and therefore gain her alliance. Your going to need someone that knows the courts, she's made a good name for herself since her debut. She is notable in the Seelie court, but in the Unseely court she and her motley are infamous. A critical alliance if you decide upon an Unseelie house."

"Given time Lia, you could take over her motley. Batia has taken to you, and London is easy enough to win over, if your willing to take a strong hand to him. Cy is in it for the money, another thing we should probably consider. You could get a job." Snorting at the very idea, as if he didn't consider it a real option. "Or we could make due on my income, thanks to the last couple of my paintings selling a month or so ago, I'm set through the end of the year. As for taking Cicily's place, that would be more long term..." He twitched his nose at her, the shade of his eyes fluctuating as he paused in his soliloquies. "You alright with all of this? It is too much?"

"I'm not as used to throwing myself at a dozen or more tasks at once as say Khaydin or Hayley. I had my sports, the few that I played similar enough to where I could throw myself at each of them and excel. Then I went and got myself expelled due to my temper and even with Putnam's skills...I won't be going back there. It was a good thing I had come to the decision to drop them anyways, the sports that is. I guess if you must have a reason as to why...They weren't where my heart is. Though as of late my heart has been the thing most troublesome to me. That and my Passion."

Roiling to my feet, my turbulent state far more heavy handed than even I had realized, I began to pace. Eyes sweeping the whole of the room, from him on the bed to the scatter of our clothes, anything that my eyes could take hold of to try to center. He was trying so valiantly and I was being a disagreeable, impossible wench and I knew it. Coming to a pause, my forehead resting against a wall as I sucked in a breath through clenched teeth,

"What I want is insignificant but you deserve an answer none the less. I wanted to be an ice dancer but then I hit the lovely growth spurt that put me at where I am now and was unable to find willingly partners. Males apparently prefer women that are shorter than them, some sort of ego complex if you ask me. I want those that I care for safe, to stop dieing or being cursed to objects... Hell and Hades I want to stop being so damned stupid that I can't figure out what's going on with Arrow. I want to be able to travel and see the world, spread my proverbial wings and fly away. I want NOT to be a typical Sidhe even if it means I become an outcast in the process. I want to remain here with you, safe and hidden from the world in a place that's ou...Yours. Mostly...I just don't want to be alone anymore. Surrounded by so many faces yet without an anchor."

Spinning away from the wall, bare feet beginning to take me to and fro about the room again, smokey eyes were darkening again, the echoes of a midnight storm beginning to swirl and undulate in their depths as my emotions grew swiftly to a peak. Daring to cast a glance back at him, I was fairly certain that if I asked it of him, he would take me again in that very bed and make me forget, if only for another few hours. Gods, when had I become such a coward ? The urge to lash out. To simply crush something to vent my frustrations was demanding, but I refused to. Not now. Not here. Not in this special place of his. So instead I struggled through it. Focused on something I knew I could, no, WOULD do.

"Little secret, Gear ? I'm broke. I made a deal to help someone and drained my funds in the process. It's why Putnam has had to slow the search he was doing for information on my parents. So the big bad rich girl is just as much of a joe schmoe as the rest of the world. I'll get a job. Even if it's flipping burgers because I refuse to take a handout, even from you. I am the Liege, and you the Vassal. I should be providing for you, not vice versa. As for the other Motley... I will do WHATEVER it takes to make sure you have a place at my side and that I am strong enough to keep you safe."

Uncurling from the coverlet, he flowed gracefully back into the silk pajama pants, the soft cloth a deep inky indigo to serve in contrast to his pale complication. Against the backdrop of so much shadow, so many rich winter colors he seemed almost ethereal. While he didn't touch her, he perched on the top of an old Victorian chair. His feet and rump balancing him atop a surface that had no right to hold his weight; regardless of how minute it might have been. Yet the sweeping wings at the top of the tall red velvet back gave no indication of protest. The corner of his mouth was curled upward, as if despite her frustration she was doing something he found endearing. "You always get so frustrated." Wry amusement danced like firelight through his gaze. "It makes sense... Considering how sensitive other parts of your anatomy turned out to be." The half smile shifted into something more heated, expression darkly playful. "Fantastic for foreplay, but not so much for anything else. Especially decision making. Your lead by your heart, but you need to temper it. As much as I appreciate you living up to your oath, you know as well as I do what went wrong with the initial introduction of my humble self to your motley."

Sliding down the back of the chair, he ended up lounging rather lazily across its arms and seat. Lifting a clawed hand he invited her to him, if she did as requested he pulled her down into the seat and began toying with strands of her hair as he spoke. "Your passion is motivating, it makes people want to follow you, but it's a matter of knowing when to use it. It's about strategy, about swallowing your anger and justifications and doing what needs to be done. If I was to stick with the same example as before, the lunch earlier. Kamron rang the bell sure, but you came out swinging, and that left you open to Hayley. Who quite masterfully got in under your defenses." He shifted position enough to kiss her on the end of the nose. "I know you will protect me, I trust you implicitly, but anger is not the only way to win your battles, and that is what you resort to the moment you suspect the situation is getting out of your control. Patience. It must become your mantra if your going to get through this. As for your goals, their all quire reasonable when put into the right light." Sliding away from her, as if he were no more substantial then a shadow, he collected a pen and a piece of parchment. Returning so quickly that gravity hadn't had the opportunity to drop her onto the chair. Back in his original position, he began to write as he spoke.

"Increase personal fame within Ice Dancing community. Find best opportunities to gain security for others and self. Find firmer ground with personal and professional relationships. Travel to new and exotic lands, almost guaranteed when working for the courts, so we can check that one off already." He winked at her. " You have been to Tara-Nar, and the castle of High Kind David. Pick a court and make a stand to them, to let them know you are only willing to work within your own personal code of ethics. Spend more one on one time with friends and coworkers. Test out of high school, and get a job." Turning the otebook over, he showed her the list numbered from one to eight."More then manageable when put into perspective, m'lady."

I was reminded in that moment of how difficult I was finding it not to reach out and touch him. Even without the heat that his gaze was taking on, I wanted the feel of his skin even if it was nothing more then my fingertips alighting upon the cool line of his back, or the curve of his wrist to capture his hand and simply hold it. When you combined it with that sudden darkness, the unexpected playfulness arcing through it ever still, it twisted things within me that were best not to dwell upon if there was any hope in my mind for an actual conversation. His actual verbal acknowledgement, the affirmation of how well he already knew my body...It had my head dipping long enough for a quiet laugh to escape my lips before I dared to peer back up at him. Then off he went, angling the situation to something that might not have me jumping him within the next five seconds. As much as a part of me flared towards righteous indignation, he was right. Achingly so. He left me little, no, he left me no room to brook an argument especially when the angel on one shoulder was nodding her head in agreement, her halo rocking to and fro with each dip.

His request, so simple, so utterly silent had me moving to and into him for the simple peace it offered. Leaning against the hand that sought to make idle actions through my hair, I couldn't help the grin that hinted at birth. Idles hands were the devil's plaything. Or his tool depending upon who you were asking. Letting my eyes drift shut, I was floating through a sea of calm, for once able to think over the topic at hand with a mind that wasn't bursting at the seems to do violence to someone. Or something. A grand start if you ask my opinion. Feeling his lips brush my skin in so innocent an action, my nose crinkled like an overgrown kitten's, body squirming in a far different fashion than it had been not so long ago. When he removed himself from the languorous position that he had chosen, I almost reached out to stop him, though it would seem his time away was to be less than the span of a blink. Burrowing back in against him upon his return, I was careful not to bump his hand or in any way restrain him from the task he seemed so focused upon. Watching his hand guide the ink across the sheet, I tried to formulate what he was saying into something that I could actually act upon. I wanted to scream my denial to the rooftops, dollhouse that we may be in or not, but it would only further serve to prove what he was saying. Were it from anyone else I likely would not have cared and instead turned my frustrations outwards, the actions the same as those that I had always made instead of those I was wanting to.

"Do not chose for me, but assist me, please Gear ? Where I go, you will go and I want to know that it is a place that you will be comfortable as well as I. You know what I have already narrowed my selection to, and I want your thoughts as well as mine as they seem to be a very much needed counter to my rash and rather impulsive self. It's strange how simple all of these look on paper, though I know full well how difficult each can potentially be. Though I refuse now or ever to back down from a challenge if it can be avoided. No more laying eggs for me some might say. I suppose it would be horribly impractical for you and i to just up and vanish together, wouldn't it ?"

Letting my smile show from behind the fall of hair that I hadn't bothered to tie back, I used my eyes to show him that while I was mostly joking, that there was still an underlying part of me that were he to agree would go now, regardless of what it took. Capturing the hand that did not hold book or pen, I raised it again to my lips. A soft, subtle line of kisses was laid from fingertips and over palm until pausing at his wrist. The only thanks that I knew how to give as well as the fact that I wanted to touch him and until the moment he pulled away, I would not refuse that desire. At least not here.

"If your past behavior can be used as a guideline for this little practice..." He began to write again, arms just long enough to allow for his neat spidery letters to fill the page with Lia still lounging against him. "A knight is sworn to Valor, His Heart knows only Virtue, His words speak only Truth, His Blade defends the Helpless, His Might upholds the Weak, His Wroth undoes the Wicked." That elegant arching of his brow was offered again. "Or her in this case. Perhaps not exact, but I would be willing to cross swords on it being close to your personal ideals. It would certainly fit." The declarations were written down the page, directly across from her current goals.

"That in mind...Here is what I know... House Beaumayn: Crusaders by Destiny Doomed. The sidhe of House Beaumayn are seers and prophets and sworn enemies of the Shadow Court and all minions of the Fomorians. This oath against the Shadow Court, Thallain, and any awakening Fomorians is so strong however, that the agents of these shadowy affairs can feel when one of this house is near. Originating in France, and the name, roughly meaning "good hand" comes from the house's founder, Jalendrel the Good-Handed. House Beaumayn spent many years imprisoned in Arcadia for the actions of one of its fringe groups, watching in frustration as the world changed around them. However, it was the first of the "Lost Houses" to return to the Autumn World, charged with the task of battling the agents of the Fomorians and unifying the Seelie houses." He leveled his gaze over the top of the notebook at her. "Seelie, not Unseelie, for the record m'lady. That means that two of your three house choices were of the Summer courts." There was signifagance in the weight of his gaze, thought he didn't comment on it directly any further.

"House Daireayn specializes in warfare, poisons, and oddly enough hospitality. Indeed, members of this house are courageous fighters and renowned hosts, giving their hospitality to friend or foe if asked. House Daireann is a Celtic house named after a daughter of Dagda. And whiles being great warriors, they have something of a bragging problem. So much so that they tend to tell the wrong sorts of secrets to the wrong sorts of people. Letting out intimate secrets about any Geas they are under, flaws in their carefully crafted plots, or the single way to kill them. All in a terribly drawn out and boastful story." There was a dry chuckle that followed the long ago learned lesson on the House of warriors. "Masterful in combat, but then so was Goliath."

"Sidhe are creatures of extremes, and the nobles of House Fiona are no exception. Lady Fiona and the sidhe of her house stayed on Earth during the Interregnum so that they could continue to explore its pleasures. Some even say that the house's founder rejected the call of Arcadia because of the love of a mortal man. This would not be surprising in the least; Fiona thoroughly immerse themselves in Earthly pleasures. Fiona sidhe are overly fond of food, drink, drugs and sex, and are often called away from higher pursuits by appeals to their baser needs. Anything that gives them a rush is fine with them. When the chance to indulge presents itself, they descend into their Unseelie Legacies until their lusts are slaked. These reckless nobles continually flirt with disaster. They love to taunt the status quo, even going so far to aid their enemies to bring about a little discord. Still, when called upon to fight, this passion takes a different focus; Fiona fae are fierce warriors who live for the fury of battle. Many are addicted to the tumult of the battlefield. The thought of dying in battle, and tempting fate by fighting recklessly, fuels this passion even more. House Fiona claims to have hundreds of traditions and customs that are strictly obeyed, even though no two members of the house can seem to agree on what they are. Thus, each member lives by her own rules and her own code of honor. Theirs is also the most accommodating of all houses. Fiona rarely pull rank on commoner Kithain. For this reason, its members are beloved by commoners, and fiefs ruled by House Fiona are happy ones, if a bit on the wild side." Glancing back to her over the top of the notebook, his free hand tugged ever so lightly on a strand of her hair. "Defiant to the last, Fiona sidhe are renowned for their great courage. Though they understand fear, it does not control them, even in the face of death. Any attempt, natural or magical, to generate fear in them automatically fails. Only threats to a lover's life can frighten a Fiona, and they often succeed very well."

Waiting until his hand and lips had stilled in their rather consistent movement, I leaned in and stole the kiss I'd been wanting to for some time. He was so diligent, this new Vassal of mine. So willing and capable in the areas where his assistance would serve me the the most. It never ceased to amaze me, especially with his words of my personal believes just how well he knew me. I really need to stop dwelling upon that. The locking of lips was brief though, one that merely allowed the opportunity to entice him the way he had been with me for a moment before pulling back and beginning to pace. It never occurred to me that I was still as stark naked as a baby's bottom, though even if it had, what shame was there in it ? While I may not be in possession of the world's greatest level of confidence, no one would ever know, much less see me save for the last person in the world that would complain. Besides, my subconscious, as well as the Devil opposite the Angel were doing handstands at the freedom it offered. It did well to appease them when one could, especially in situations where little to no harm could come of them.

Ah but now for the Factoid 101-s on the Houses that I'd shown the most inte....Bloody Hell, Beaumayn was actually a Seelie House...Catching his gaze even as I spun about to begin retracing my steps, I offered him a cautious smile. I did notice the intensity to that look, though when he did not offer comment that seemed to stem from it, I let it go, determined to come back to it later. Then on he was to the one that actually WAS Unseelie. I paused for a moment, fingers working their way to the bridge of my nose to give it a good pinch and rub. Tempting the House was, tantalizing even though the moment I aligned myself with anything Unseelie...It was another stress to an already powder keg with my Motley that I simply couldn't afford. Besides, spilled info about a Geas...That was just bad news and a risk so not worth taking. Making a mental strike through the second of my initial choices, I was turned and paused, facing the bed with a rather blank expression when he launched into his fairly detailed description of House Fiona.

The laughter was quiet, the Angel adamantly shaking her head, begging me to show some sort of common sense for once and say no. The Devil on the other hand was putting up a cheer to put Sara and Rae-Rae to shame. If I were to choose and be accepted by the same House that MY Liege was of and that Danika had suggested...I wasn't sure my sanity or my physical body would be capable of surviving the spiral of chaos that it would entail. Besides, it was everything I was, the reckless, the impatient. The passionate and the daring. It was as far from the new leaf that I wanted to turn over as possible. For a moment I thought of the gifts that the dreaming had manifested within me. The Art of Soothsay manifesting so powerfully, and even after that what I'd been able to do for Justin and Char...What I would not wish for a fairytale ending like that for my own life. Theirs was long over due, my actions to help what I had first thought to be only Justin ones that I would never take back. I found my fingers moving to trace the blatantly revealed scar that rode the full length of my lower arm, that tie and the scents, the other presence still in this room enough to hold me back from sinking into a slump over the curse that I know knew full well the Art could also be. Fingers pressed hard enough to leave nail prints in my own pale flesh, the pain snapping me back from any slight remembrance, anything of that incident that could possibly dare try to stain this one.

Borrowed
I think this year has left me borrowed
Tomorrow I'm waking up the sun
I'm dragging the lake slow
Follow this life line of memories
Tangled by the water side
That's where my youth drowned
It fell by the wayside
I'm not counting the greys on my head
I'm calling them silver linings instead

The words so quiet as my eyes drifted closed, more subconscious thought spoken unknowingly aloud. Raising my hands over my head in such a fashion that my body stretched and twisted in ways that at first were painful but in the end eased some of the sudden tension, I finally turned to look back over my shoulder at him. This time it was I beckoning him to me, hoping that he would come as easily to me as I had to him. Should he follow suit, I would close the distance simply pressing myself against him for a moment. Pressing my lips against the cool line of his throat, I tasted him for a moment before finally moving my lips up to his ear.

"I hope you weren't too heart set on going Unseelie in any form or Fashion. If they'll have us, it looks like Beaumayn just became all the richer. If they won't well...We'll figure it out from there, sound good ?"

When she pressed close, he slid his arms around her so that they crossed at the wrists about level with the small of her back. His head tilted into her whisper, and his lady's choice was rewarded with a soft smile. "That sounds like we can check another thing off of your list." Glancing over the silken line of her shoulder, he watched Ed pick up the pen and make a check on the notebook. He had left the list behind when she had beckoned him to her, and he had gone like the stars themselves had called. Now that he was here, and delightfully free of the Geas he had the option to tantalize her. To take the comfort in her that she so openly offered him, it was still hard to believe.

Moving forward slowly as he vocalized his answer, he backed her into the wall. Once he had her there he gently, but firmly turned her around so that her back was pressed to his chest. Stretching her hands out over her head, arms outstretched and wrapped loosely in a midnight blue scarf that was attached by the other end somewhere farther up the wall. The loose end he tied into a sliding knot and looped it around her delicate wrists. If she didn't protest, and he was moving with enough sensual grace that it would be easy enough for her to decline if she felt uncomfortable. His breath blew a hot line along her collar bone. A hand slipped down her body and between where her hips rested against the wall. Non clawed fingers sliding over her to both ease, and intensify the sweet ache he knew she was feeling. He certainly felt it acutely enough. Standing so close behind her he was able to impress upon her just how keen that ache was. Leaning down he caught that spot on the back of her neck in his teeth, nipping at the flesh before sweeping pierced tongue over the spot to ease the minor pain he had created. "Progress already m'lady, you've more then earned yourself a reward." He whispered it, softer then usual, little more then an exhale along the cup of her ear.

Salvation thy name is Gear. He came to me then, his body leaning in that wash of midnight and mercury twined to enclose me within his arms, loose or not so loose as the embrace may find itself to be. The whisper of Male alongside the more subtle affirmations of so many other things left my heart in my mouth for a moment, most especially when he gave those words. Then there was that smile. One of those rare ones, all the more precious for it, our angle may be wrong for me to lay eyes upon it, but I felt it's presence as surely as I felt him against me. I wanted to dance with him in this moment, to see if our bodies would flow together as well on our feet as they had off yet there was that damnable list. Other questions that would need answers, or at the very least, sub columns of possibilities.

I was opening my mouth, thoughts in their less than organized state vying for which would escape first when it became quite rapidly clear to me that lists were not what he had in mind. From behind the drape and sway of the hair that still retained his preferred appearance, I watched him. Not so much demurely or coyly as curiously. Intently and with a sudden flare of passion that never truly slumbered when he chose to stretch me out before him, held captive between his body and the wall. Oh how I wanted to rub my body sinuously back along the line of his that had been offered up, though uncertainty had me waiting. Still as a glistening Madonna held beneath the beam of shadow and moonlight, I held my action, suddenly anxious over what his intentions were. Though if anxiety could explode like Vesuvius into arousal, such was the occurrence not only when he took charge of my hands, but also when he began laying to me those touches he already knew I was so partial to. My wants suddenly became frozen, a Dancer held within the gossamer strands of pleasure and pain, of dream and waking as his words again lit fire to my flesh. Already one who spoke so softly, this quieter tone he chose to use had the softest of whimpers flying free from my lips to soar on the open air before disappearing through a crack beneath the door to leave the room silent once more save for our breath.

He played me as well as I played my Piano, Nae, better even. Here he stood, he who in another life might have been the Piper, or the rooftop Fiddler. A very Beethoven, a Mozart of the music one could incite within flesh. It was instinctual to give an initial tug, oh so very slight that it may be at my bindings, though it was gentle enough that were he to look he would know it to be more cursory. A notice as to whether I could or could not free myself in a moment's notice were things to go horribly sixes and sevens on us. Heaven have mercy on they who chose to intrude on us in this moment, for I was determined, much as I was about many a thing in my life to let him have this moment, that the teacher might reward the student for a job well done.