"You're going already?"
May. 17th, 2016 05:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
renferretBriari and Blue have a conversation. Then it becomes a conversation.
Briari's Penthouse Suite over the City(#602RJ)
Morning comes to St. Claire and sunlight filters through the large windows of the seventh story penthouse tucked away in the upper-end district. From this height, there is a gorgeous view of the city, which at times can go unappreciated from all the gloom and doom. The living room is brightly painted white with a soft white carpet. Along the walls are large framed posters of golden age super heroes. Batman. Green Arrow. Spider Man. Captain America. Cloak & Dagger. Wonder Woman. Most of them have autographs from the original artists as well. Light lavender colored furniture is tastefully placed about the room strategically. The kitchen is a wide open concept with verde butterfly colored granite countertops and cherry colored cabinets. Stainless steel appliances complete the ensemble. From the kitchen is a large deck with a hot tub where one can relax and still see the sights of the city.
The Master bedoroom is down the hall from the guest bedroom, but one would be hard pressed to tell the rooms apart. They are massive! The major difference is the guest room does not have a bathroom, which is right across the hall. The guest room is bare of most decoration save for a large bed, a large oak dresser and a beige throw rug on the ground.
Contents:
Briari
It was a dark and stormy night. Well, it's at least dark. Rain may come in time. It 'is' Washington after all and summer rain frequently happens. Briari has been stuck in her house for the last week and a half. She closed her phone, opened up a new one under a new name and has set it up bare bones. Just a phone number. No apps and nothing else. Currently she is settled on the middle of her bed in a pair of silk pajamas with the lights off and the glow of her laptop in front of her with a very recognizable thumb drive sticking out of it. She ensured her firewall was tight. She had bounced her IP all around the UK and Asia. She even guessed her neighbors Wifi password to use their network instead of hers. Suckers. Now, she is rooting through the data that Peter had passed over to them, peering through a particular computer they now have access to.
There's a heavy knock at her front door. Not hard enough to be called pounding, but enough to be heard clearly throughout the penthouse.
Briari jerks her head upwards at the sound of the knocking, which rattles her concentration. She flips screens on her computer, launches her camera software and peers at the front door as the camera tucked away in the small black dome focuses.
As for the computer, all the files she's found so far seem fairly mundane. Office records, employee schedules, inter-office emails so banal and inoffensive that they could put anyone to sleep trying to sort through for something interesting.
A shock of blue hair greets her. Someone hasn't dyed it yet, apparently. Blue is standing at the door, hands in pockets and slightly rocking on his heels as he waits.
As she roots through the files, Briari has been putting everything to memory that she finds useful. She also has a CMD line for dummies site open in a tab for when she may feel frisky. The sight of Blue causes her heart to race as she clutches her chest, biting on her bottom lip hard. Her eyes glance to her phone, then back to the computer. It takes her about a full minute to gain her composure by reciting Pi as far as she can get, then taps a button on the computer. Her voice is heard through the speaker. "Hello, Blue."
So far, she hasn't really found much that would qualify as 'useful'. The office hours, perhaps. The employee schedules, though these all seem to be for the various companies renting space in the tower rather than security or janitorial personnel. Blue cocks his head upward at an angle, and flashes a warm grin. "Hey, Princess. I got something you're gonna want to hear quick-like. Let me in?"
Continuing to stare at the screen, Briari slowly closes her eyes and clenches them tightly. Tapping a command along the keyboard, the front door gives a whirl, followed by a loud clack as it pops open. One look into the living room shows that it is bare. The furniture is gone. The posters on the wall are gone. It's just empty, all save the light under the bedroom door down the hallway.
Blue strolls in and closes the door behind himself. The bare...everything brings a lift of both eyebrows, but no verbal comment, and after a moment of standing there in the empty room, he shrugs and moves toward the one place light is emanating from. "Hellooo?"
Briari rolls off the bed and heads to the door. Opening it up, she flicks the hallway light on as she stands there in her silk pajamas. "Hey there." She says with a tired tint to her voice.
Blue's grin hasn't entirely disappeared. "You know," he drawls, "if I didn't know better, I'd think this was an invitation. What's up, princess? Redoing the floors? Your phone's dead."
"Dropped my phone in the toilet and I'm getting the carpet cleaned." Briari says as she settles her shoulder against the frame of the door. "Had to call Zero Rez carpet care. I got careless with a bottle of wine I was drowning my entire life into and it fell. Red everywhere."
Blue tsks a little. "You shouldn't drink like that, it's unhealthy." He glances around the bedroom with an appraising eye, then gestures toward the bed. "This is one of those things you might want to sit down for."
Letting out a sigh, Briari rubs a hand over her face, then retreats into the bedroom to flop down on the huge King sized bed. Tapping her fingers along the keyboard, she puts it to sleep and password protected. "Yeah? I just /love/ hearing bad news."
Blue steps just inside the doorway and no further, allowing Briari the entirety of the bed to herself and most all of the room as well. "Well," he says, "I could forget about telling you." There's a new grin. "We could do something more fun. Your choice."
Rubbing at her nose, Briari says, "Well, outside of the mayor being killed, which is pretty bad news by the way because I planned on voting for his re-election. What else is there?"
Blue looks briefly disappointed, but it doesn't last. His expression does, however, turn more serious. "I know how they found your boss."
"I think we know also, but let's compare notes. How'd they find him?" Briari says as she scoots back farther on the bed, curiously watching him. "You're just going to stand there?"
Blue doesn't answer immediately, as her second question seems to distract him. He tilts his head a little again. "Well, you haven't invited me to sit down," he points out. A brief grin, showing the tips of his human canines.
"You can sit down." Briari finally offers to him as she slides the laptop into her bag next to the bed as she leans over to drop it in, then scoots back so that she is settled against the pillows.
Blue sits, taking up a fair amount of the bottom part of the bed with his easy sprawl. "Okay, I gotta know first, what's your theory? Let's see how close you are."
"Nope, my house, my rules. You talk first handsome." Briari says with an amused grin to him. "You came here with the intel after all."
"Pfft." Blue looks more disappointed than before. "But then you can just say 'oh, I knew that already'. I know your game." He wags a finger. "No bragging rights if I go first."
"No bragging rights." Briari assures him with a nod of her head. "Sides, I'm not very good at bragging as it is. It's the nerd in me."
Blue flashes a very brief expression that's nearly another grin, then grows solemn again. "Alright, alright. They've turned one of your kinfolk."
Briari blinks her eyes a few times. "Oh. Shit. Really?"
"Really," Blue says with a nod. "I told you, Queenie and her little friends have this way of getting people attached to them. They suck the life out of you, or someone else, and it hurts like fuck. But then they give it to you, and it's the greatest fucking high you can imagine. Literally indescribable. And then you want more. Security caught him fucking around with their network a few weeks ago."
"Huh." Briari says as she shifts her jaw to one side in thought, then leans back against the pillows again as her fingers play about with one another. "So, against his will, that he gave up this information or was it willingly?"
Blue shrugs in response. "Dunno if there's much of a difference at that point, Princess. He's addicted, so he's giving up tidbits and doing some work in exchange for more hits. Willingness or unwillingness doesn't necessarily factor in."
It seems that the Ragabash is in deep thought as she continues to twiddle her fingers a bit, shifting her jaw left and right.
Blue doesn't say anything to break her concentration, or the silence. He continues lounging on the end of the bed.
"Well, I suppose that sucks." Briari says as she glances up at the ceiling again, then reaches for her remote to turn the TV on. It's smaller than the one she used to have in the living room. "So ... about those guys that was chasing us. That was your pack?"
Blue gives her a funny sort of look. "No. But uh, that's it? You suppose it sucks?"
"What do you want me to say?" Briari says as her shoulders lift. "I just wanted you to confirm everything I already learned two weeks ago."
Blue snorts at her, and wags his finger again. "What'd I just say, mm? No bragging rights."
"Not bragging yet." Briari says as she gives him a smile. "But I was hoping you would have gave me completely different news. At least nothing is a huge surprise. So what'd happen to those spirals I told you about? You said you made them leave. How?"
"How'd you figure it?" Blue asks. His expression is openly skeptical. "I mean, I figured if you knew, you'd have done something about it. Probably something violent, you know? That's usually what happens." He sits up a little straighter. "I told them to. They listened. Didn't even have to mess up the sheets."
Briari shakes her head slightly. "The day after he came and delivered the thumb drive to Thane, he was acting scared and said he was leaving to Europe. Of course, Thane ... uh ... didn't trust him, you know.. Shadow Lord, so he told me to track Peter down and ensure he really was in Europe. Instead, you know.. right to the tower. So it's how we guessed that he was the one who gave Thane and our safehouses up, as well as contact info for probably most of the Garou about."
Briari also adds on. "So, you just told them to leave? Weren't they in the Queen's employment? If she can tell them what to do, how is it you had that influence over them?"
Blue hmphs. "Cramping my usefulness all over. Well, alright. If you aren't moving directly, do you want me to see to it that he's taken care of? Might take a bit of wiggling, but it shouldn't be too hard." He slides off of the bed and stands up in a single smooth motion, then flashes another, somewhat darker grin. "Queenie wasn't there, was she?"
Sighing, Briari rubs a hand against her skull. "That is not my call to make. I have to run it past the boss. If Peter is worth redeeming I would rather salvage him. If he is being held against his will due to the Queen's mind whacking, that's not really his fault all together." As he slides off the bed, her head tilts. "You're going already?"
"Doesn't seem like it was really worth me coming," Blue admits. "Wasted trip. Oh well. Anyway, I didn't mean killing him necessarily. I bet we could get him over his cravings without resorting to that. I just figured if your Sept hasn't already rooted him out they didn't care what happened to him. That usually ends in murder. We could get him away, let him live his life somewhere else, somewhere safe."
"Maybe. I'm not too keen on killing anyone though. It's not a wasted trip." Briari says as she nods her head. "At least it gives me confidence in the data I was putting together a few weeks ago." She chews on her bottom lip for a moment, then pats the bed again. "I have other stuff to ask you. Personal stuff."
Blue seems to consider the bed for a moment, and then he slides back down on it. "Neither am I," he states. "Doesn't mean I haven't, but I don't like doing it. Messy. Wasteful. Most people can be reasonable if you're willing to talk."
Briari nods her head as she rubs at her jaw. "I uh ... recently came into some information about my future. I was told that my life is about to change um.. dramatically. Soon. Not in a good way." Studying him for a moment, she finally asks, "You're not going to kill me or anything are you? I know we've been dancing for a few months now together, poking at each other, prodding, but now that all the cards are kind of on the table, I guess nothing is stopping you from tying up a loose end."
"Pff, didn't I just say how I feel about killing?" Blue waves one hand in lazy fashion. "Look, princess, you just said it yourself: nothing's stopping me. And here you are. You tell me what that means."
"Doesn't mean you'd be the one doing the killing." Briari points out to him. "I don't know. I'm just ... I'm /really/ scared now." She admits to him with a nervous quiver in her voice. "I can't even sleep unless I dope myself up. I'm acting paranoid and jumping at shadows. I just... I don't want to die." She finally says softly. ".. or worse."
Blue glances back through the doorway, then back. No hint of a grin now; he's as solemn as when he gave the news about Peter. "You want me to lie, or tell you the truth?"
"I want you to tell me the truth." Briari says softly to him.
Blue sighs, and sits up again. "Alright. You are gonna die, Briari. I don't know what your future telling thing told you, but I don't need one to tell you that. Dunno how, dunno when, but it's going to happen. And it's not going to happen because of me, but because those Garou out there, your leaders? They lied to you, and they've been lying to you your entire life. They've been lying so long and for so many generations that they don't even realize it. Don't get me wrong. It's a /good/ lie. A nice lie. A lie that keeps you getting up in the morning and fighting when the sun sets. But it's still a lie."
"I /know/ I am going to die. Duh, Blue. It's not like I thought I'd be immortal and live to be an old gray wolf. I meant more like not dying next week because you snuck in my room and slit my throat with a silver knife." Briari says as she coughs out a laugh. "Blue, your leaders lie to you as well. It's what politicians do. It's why we got a Trump versus Hilary vote coming up. Not because we voted for it, but because the media manipulated it. Everything in life is about manipulation. As long as you know it." She taps her skull. "That allows you to make decisions based upon your own rational and merit and morals. You believe what you're doing is right, and I believe what I'm doing is right." She pauses in thought. "But it doesn't mean I think you're wrong, or evil, unless you really do chew on children's heads and rape people. That's like super uncool."
Blue actually laughs, just a little. "Yeah, but we know our leaders lie to us. I'm not repeating what they've said. I'm repeating what I /know/." The tone on that last word is sincere, almost fervent. "Besides, /I'm/ the leader, remember? No, I learned this myself. Remember, I said your friend asked what it was like to walk the Spiral? And I said it was unpleasant, but it was 'like you'? Like yourself? You learn true things about yourself, and you learn true things about the world. That's why so many of us can't cope. Lies aren't that powerful. /Truth/ is. And like you, I prefer truth to a lie." He leans back again, and looks at her, partway upside-down. "Do I seem like the kind've guy who does that?"
"You seem like the type of guy that knows how to manipulate the shit out of a situation while wearing the illusion of a super hot guy with cool blue hair while pretending to DJ. Which to be honest is the most disappointing thing about this whole situation. I can get over the fact that you are the hive leader of Seattle, which still gives me goosebumps when I rationalize it, and other things. But the fact that you don't even DJ?" Briari folds her arms over her chest. "I was able to pull audio of your sets from those who were filming you and putting it on youtube and I fell in love with those beats. I /love/ that dance shit. It's what I work out to and I really wanted a mix tape from you."
Blue sighs again. "Alright, alright. We'll put the truth in a box. It's there if you ever want it." He slides off the bed again. "Shouldn't that be more comforting? I mean, you were probably imagining me to be a bloodthirsty boogeyman. Someone picking his teeth with the bones of the innocent." He spreads his arms to the side. "Nope. And I'm the guy in charge. No one tells me what to do. No rules. And big stupid assholes like the Hellfire pack can't even /touch/ me." A broad grin.
"Yeah, well ... so you are seriously admitting that you can't DJ?" Briari says as she slips off the bed in return as she rounds it towards him. "So, what makes you the guy in charge? How, uh ... did you get to .. be the leader of Seattle?"
Blue taps the side of his head. "I'm smart. Likeable. And like I already said, I know the truth about things. Doesn't mean it was easy, obviously. I. Hm. What /do/ you know about Seattle's Hive? What it used to be?"
Briari shakes her head. "Nothing. I'm from Atlanta and only got here a year ago. I just know that Seattle is a big scary place and you go there to essentially die if you want to try and be a hero. I heard a rumor this Sept had sent several big names down in the past and came back in caskets or at least one foot in them."
Blue shrugs at this. "We protect our home like you protect yours. Let's see. Story time. See, a while ago, but not a long, long while ago, your people used to control Seattle. They had a Caern there right in the city, and not even the vampires could do anything about it. And let me tell you, leeches get really prickly when they're not in charge. They called it Grey Skies. All Glass Walkers, apart from visitors just passing through."
"Should we get back on the bed for this?" Briari asks as she steps backwards and flops back down on the edge of the bed so that she can peek up at him and listen.
Blue grins a little and joins her; this time on the opposite edge, rather than the bottom, so that he's laying comfortably on his side, with one arm serving as a pillow. "So the Glass Walkers there, they had their hands in most of the local crime, like a lot of Glass Walkers enjoy doing. You know, control the streets, skim off the top, live the literal high life."
Briari shifts herself to face him as she rolls to her side as well, dragging a pillow under her head. "Yeah, that sounds somewhat familiar of a story."
"Well, they got nasty," Blue says. "Not right away, but you know, gradually. They started abusing their power, both on the streets and on their own cubs and kinfolk. They figured they were the kings of the city, but you know the problem with lots of kings and one city? Infighting. Lots of plots, schemes, even assassinations. It made them weak and paranoid in the wrong places, so...my people took over. By that point, most of them were pretty glad for the switch. We took them in, then killed or kicked out the assholes on top, and bam. Bye bye, Grey Skies, hello better things."
"If I was to ask someone from my tribe, what do you think they would say happened?" Briari asks curiously as she reaches out cautiously, then touches the blue dyed hair, at least the tips of his spikes.
Blue shrugs yet again, no mean feat considering his position. "Dunno! You could always ask. I'd love to hear what they say, it's probably really interesting." He lets her touch his hair, even smiles a little as she does so.
"I can only think of one about these parts who would know anything about it anyways." Briari says as her fingers gently tap the ends of his spikes, almost as if she was studying their texture.
Blue watches her fingers, as if captivated by the movements. "You gonna ask?"
"Sure. You are wearing an illusion but your hair feels like it's really gelled. Did you spike your hair to make the illusion more realistic?" Briari asks with a grin tugging upon her lips.
Blue almost whispers, "Trade secret." He gives her a cheeky wink. "Do you want to test just how good it is?"
"What? The illusion or the gel in your hair?" Briari smirks at him as her fingers give another tap along the spikes before slowly retrating.
Blue leans over just a little. "Maybe all of the above." He makes no further move, however. No attempt to fully close the gap, even though he's close enough that his warm breath, faintly minty smelling, can be felt.
".. I can't believe you are flirting with me." Briari says with a soft, nervous laugh as her eyes glance downwards to his mouth where the minty breath is coming from, then back upwards to his eyes.
Blue's mouth smiles in a faint, jokey sort of way. "Hey," he says, still quiet, "I'm pretty sure you started it."
Briari lets out a sputtering laugh. "/Me/? I am ... I don't even know how to!" She says as she finds her cheeks flushed red. "I was touching your hair out of scientific curiosity."
Blue's eyebrows waggle up and down. "Do you want to touch the rest of me...out of scientific curiosity?" He grins broadly, but he also rolls back to his prior position, putting a small amount of distance between them again.
"..ohmygod." Briari breathes out with another laugh, cheeks even more red as she glances away from him, then back. "...maybe out of scientific curiosity." She pauses. ".. If only because when I use my illusion, it doesn't work that way."
Blue laughs as well, a light and happy sound. He makes no further move except to spread his arms out, half joking, but only half. "Maybe someday I can teach you a better one."
Briari perks a bit. "Really? Is it a ragabash gift or... uh one of yours, you know.. spiral gifts?"
He gives her a broad wink. "Not telling. So. Briari. Why's your bed so big, mm?"
"Why is my bed so big? It came with the condo. I bought it fully furnished. A king isn't that .. big .. I mean I've seen customized beds far bigger than this. But I happen to enjoy a memory foam mattress and a lot of space to move about in. I guess. I'm a sprawler in bed." Briari says as she continues to show red cheeks as she faces him.
Blue is either oblivious to her blushing, or he's politely ignoring it. He's still, however, grinning. "Me tooooo."
"You are so going to get me in trouble." Briari mutters to herself as she rubs a hand over her face with another laugh. "You sprawl in bed also?" She smirks in thought. ".. where do you live at? Do you have like .. a house or something?"
"Nothing too permanent," Blue answers, his tone easy. "I like to move around. Change things up. So I mostly end up living wherever I feel like. Apartments. Boats. Theater attics. Houses. Hotels. Seattle's a big place, and of course, sometimes I don't stick in Seattle."
"Oh. I sorta like to be anchored I suppose." Briari says with a chuckle as she reaches out again to touch his hair, pushing one of the crunchy spikes down with the fingertip. "It makes it difficult to keep track of mail I suppose if you move around a lot. Not that I get much besides spam and bills. When you eventually leave, we going to keep in touch?"
"If you want." Blue lifts one hand, slowly, the fingers just lightly touching Briari's as she explores his hair. "Won't that make your superiors angry?"
Briari shrugs her shoulders. "Thane won't care. He told me that he sees nothing wrong in our 'relationship' so to speak because he understands sometimes you have to make allies even with your enemies at times. My tribe? Heh. Definitely. Not that I'd go around yapping about it. So far, only Thane and I know who you are as far as I know. I'm ordered to stay quiet."
Blue muses thoughtfully, "Your boss seems like a really reasonable guy. What about the kinfolk...Peter, I think? What did they say when you told them where he was?"
"Well, Thane was not surprised, though he was angry." Briari says as she taps her fingers along the spikes in his hand, finding them bumping against his hand at times as he plays with them. "I think a lot of the others were upset, hurt. Mixed between blaming him and feeling bad that the Queen got him. The gauntlet of emotions, you know."
Blue gives a tiny little sigh. "He's never going to be able to live normally again, you know. If they let him live at all."
Briari shrugs her shoulders upwards. "I am sure there is ways to help him if we can get him out. Maybe the Gaians know a healing trick or some type of rite. Maybe we have a kin psychologist. I don't know. I just ... I feel bad for him. He knew what he was signing up for when he did it. But... still."
"Nothing kinfolk can do against that kind of thing," Blue says, in a tone of agreement. "Poor bastard. Your people will probably kill him. Not big believers in 'redemption', from my experience."
"Way to stereotype." Briari says as she gives one of his fingers a flick. ".. though you're not wrong."
"I think," Blue muses, with his fingers still in the general position they were pre-flick, "there's hope for any addict. As much hope as any of the rest of us get, anyhow."
"I try and be a glass half full kinda girl." Briari says as she bats at the blue spikes with her fingers here and there, almost like a cat playing with a toy gently. "But, I was never exposed to all the violence our kind is used to when I grew up in the ranks. I sat behind a computer and did data and video feeds and finances for the tribe. Until I got here, I never had combat with the enemy. Which really is the goop monsters and those white freaks. I've never fought with one of yours before."
Blue smiles again, almost lazy looking now. "You don't have to. Plenty of enemies to go around, right? We can just stay out of each other's way."
"I'd rather just stick to gang bangers and rapists personally. I'm more of a Batman than a Hulk. I've helped out the cops a few times here tracking down some of St. Claire most wanted." Briari says as she drops her hand down to the top of the bed as she scoots in place to get comfortable.
Blue closes his eyes. "Mm. You know, we help like that too, over in Seattle. Keep the streets clean of assholes that want to break the law."
"Oh come on." Briari says with a snort under her breath. "Why would you guys care about a bunch of law breaking assholes for?"
"It's our city," Blue responds, without opening his eyes. "Why? Why do you care about them?"
"I don't, I just don't see law abiding Spiral Dancers going out of their way to bust muggers and kidnappers." Briari says as she peers back into his eyes with an amused grin.
Blue's eyes, still closed, offer her nothing. "It's not like it's hard," he says with a slight laugh. "Besides, you said yourself you've never really fought us. How do you know what we do, really?"
"Because I have hundreds of hours of your type on video. Or at least I used to. Back at the old job. We used to strap go props on Ragabashes when we'd send them out into the field so we can watch movements of packs, monsters, crazy looking spirits. Then they'd have us nerds sift through the video and find patterns and intervals." Briari says as she rolls to her back and tucks her arms behind her head. "So we would send results to the war packs and then they would go out and do what they do best. Gave us an edge."
"Your type," Blue repeats, and then echoes her, "Way to stereotype." He opens his eyes with another grin and looks over at her. "Patterns, really?" And then, "So, video of when your people were fighting us. But not video when we weren't having to fight at all."
"No, we have video of you guys laying around watching TV also." Briari giggles. "I remember there was this one pretty valuable target. I can't pronounce his name, but he was a war leader down south. Real bad ass who ran with your dragon totem. Dude was known to throw balefire like he was fucking Ryu from Street Fighter. We had three years of video on him and his pack. I got to know this guy's every move. I knew what porn he liked. I knew his favorite breakfast sandwich. I knew what colored boxers he would wear on Friday nights." She gives a moment to pause in thought. "Obviously we don't have those type of tactics here though. Atlanta is way different than St. Claire."
"Seems like," Blue agrees. "This guy sounds like an idiot to me. He probably deserved what you gave him." His tone remains carefree; the fate of the unnamed Dancer doesn't seem to bother him overmuch. "Seattle's different. Its ours. We take care of it."
"Probably. Maybe. He sure killed a lot of ours on his way out though." Briari props her chin up as she rolls once more towards him. "He used to even scare me through the video. He killed one of our scouts with the camera still rolling and he devoured, like .. literally devoured our scout while talking shit to us through the lens. It was a live stream. I cried for days."
Blue frowns a little. He even pats lightly at her shoulder for a moment. "...I guess I gotta ask," he says, after some silence. "You had three years of footage on him and he still managed to do all that damage. Did it actually help?"
"Yeah, it helped. We got him and his pack and uncovered plans to create a hive near by. He had three other packs that was willing to follow him and we got them also." Briari says as she traces a circle on the mattress of her bed. "It was how I was able to challenge for fostern. I partnered with the Alpha on the data, spent months working through it all, using facial recognition software to pull out people in crowds, track down kinfolk .. I didn't sleep for days at a time."
Blue falls quiet now, scratching idly at his chest. His eyes are hooded; overall, he looks sleepy, and content. Finally, he asks, "...But you don't do that here?"
Briari gives a shake of her head. "No. We don't do that here. Atlanta is just different than here. I'm a Corporate wolf. I was surrounded by millionaires who could bank roll a lot of these operations. We had board room meetings." She laughs. "Some days I felt like I was working for Microsoft more than being a werewolf."
"Huh," Blue says, eloquently. "That doesn't seem very close to being Garou to me. It's all...human. And Weavery." He suddenly grins, "and boring."
"Very boring. But I will take boring rather than having all of my guts torn out also." Briari gives him a poke in the chest gently. "Sorry that I don't lead a very exciting life. I'm just a poser, huh?"
"You say that like it's just the way it is," Blue replies. His hand reaches up to curl around her poking finger, although the motion is not particularly quick, nor the grip remotely tight; she could pull away without effort. "You can always choose to make it more exciting."
"I could, but I'd rather stay alive a bit longer." Briari says as she watches his hand curl about her finger, then lets the rest of her fingers fall over his, lightly drumming his knuckles. ".. I do have a secret." She says in a lowered hushed voice to him.
Blue gives another light snort. "Exciting doesn't mean you die. It just means you feel alive." He keeps his hand where it is, loose, comfortable, as he looks toward her, curiosity painting his expression.
"But you have to /promise/ me you won't laugh." Briari insists.
"Cross my heart," Blue says, as he makes the motion with his unoccupied hand.
Letting go of his hand, Briari gives him an amused grin and slips off her bed. As she ambles to the closet, she opens up the huge walk-in, then reaches to the left side to give a yank on a handle as she pulls the wall out. Behind it is her Bombshell outfit hanging from a mannequin. "I am a super hero during small moon nights." She says as she takes the outfit off and starts to put it on after wiggling out of her pajamas.
True to his word there's no hint of laughter from Blue, although he does watch with open appreciation as she changes. "Not sure I get it," he admits, once she's fully dressed. "Super hero?"
Briari bangs her wrists together and the gold bracelets make a loud whirling noise as they extract upwards around her fists and about her wrists to reveal the bright colored gauntlets. Pulling her visor down over her face, her robotic autotuned voice calls out. *Good evening citizen! Bombshell is here to save the day!* There is a loud click-clack from a gauntlet.
Blue's mouth gets a funny sort of twist to it, but he doesn't laugh. "I know what super heroes are," he says, "but what do you mean? Cosplay? Or do you...actually..."
"Yes, I actually go out and track down criminals and I catch them. Got a police scanner in my headset. Visor allows me to have a digital read out of location, you know.. like a compass. I built it around my Google glass tech I picked up two years ago." Briari says as she lumbers out of the closet. "I got some newspaper clippings laying about from the news reporting on me, or at least witness count." She gives a twirl of her body. "Body armor kevlar and utility belt. Very flexible material as well, light weight military grade. Designed to take impact."
"Can I see it?" Blue asks, gesturing towards her. "Those things on your hands, I mean. And that helmet sounds pretty useful too."
Briari makes her way over to him and holds out her fists to show them off. "They fire kinetic energy concussive rounds, allows my punches to come in faster and harder. I can adjust the frequency to make them catch fire, and there is a self destruct and release mechanism as well." Her voice comes out normal now instead of tuned after tapping a small led on her throat piece.
Blue handles them carefully, seeming to probe with his fingers as much as his eyes. "Why punching?" he asks, tone curious, as he explores.
"Because I'm not going to rip out the guts of a normal mugger. I'm trained in Kung Fu so I can at least handle myself with the norms well enough. I have an archery set also. Daddy is working on exploding bolts and other fancy tips." Briari laughs as she watches him fondle the gauntlets. "You want to see these in action?"
Blue does laugh now. "I'll pass," he says, with a sly grin. "Unless they've got...other uses...than punching." He takes his hands away from the gauntlets now. "Who's Daddy?"
"My father." Bri' says as she gives him a 'punch' in the chest by lightly tapping her gauntlet against it. "You want to go with me tonight and track down a thug?"
"Tonight?" Blue sounds, perhaps surprisingly, a little disappointed. "Nah, I got...needs to take care of, if you're going to be doing that."
"You got /needs/ to take care of? Really? What kinda needs?" Briari asks as she pulls her mask up and over her head, then gives her thick blonde mane a shaking out.
Blue responds with an exaggerated waggle of his eyebrows. "Princess, you just stripped in front of me and we've been lying on your bed for hours, what needs do you think?" His tone is teasing, but still light, nearly a laugh.
"I got some tissue and lavender scented lotion you can use if you gotta." Briari says as her eyes drift downwards along his body, then back up to him with an amused grin. "Come on, you can't be that turned on by seeing me in my really boring undies for a minute."
"Wanna test that?" Blue asks, with a wide grin.
"Would that mean I'd see if you dye the rest of your body hair blue?" Briari smirks at him.
"Mmmmhmmmm," Blue replies.
Watching him for a moment, Briari laughs softly under her breath. Her cheeks are full of red as she heads back for the closet. "So.. can I ask you a question and hopefully you won't take offense by it?"
Blue stretches his arms up over his head, sprawled as he is against the pillows. "Only way to know is to ask," he says. The grin is ever present. "Isn't easy to offend me."
"It is ... very well documented that your tribe suffers from mental and emotional derangements once you come back from your dance." Briari says as she unzips the back of her suit to reveal her bare shoulders. "Is yours the sex thing? Where you're just constantly horny and in need of release?"
Blue laughs; it's clear this question doesn't bother him at all. "No," he says, at the end of it. "And not all of us. Just the ones that can't handle it. The ones that look at truth and break. I'm sane, princess. It's the world that's crazy."
Furrowing her brows, Briari looks thoughtful for a moment, then peels out of her uniform and starts to hang it back up on the mannequin. For those that need to know, she wears black undergarments of a modest kind. Expensive and silky. "You sure you don't want to go out with me tonight?"
He's admiring her openly again. "Very," Blue replies, with a deliberately wolfish grin.
"Even if I promise dinner?" Briari glances over at him with an amused smirk upon her face as she rustles through the clothes in the closet to search for a fresh shirt and a pair of bottoms.
"What if I promise dinner?" Blue asks. "The humans can wait, can't they? They're not going anywhere."
"Everything about this is a terrible idea." Briari laughs as she glances over to him after selecting a boyfriend styled flannel button down shirt.
"Then how come you're thinking about it?" Blue says. He hasn't moved, he's still sprawled comfortably over her bed. "Or do you think my performance is that bad?"
"Well, when I thought you were a galliard, I definitely had more confidence in your skill-set. But now that I know you're a new moon .." Briari trails off, followed by a playful laugh.
Blue loudly pffffts. "Galliards. They're all show, no substance. Me," he eyes her up and down. "I want to give you a good time. Appreciate you, like you deserve. Doesn't sound like you get that often, and that's a shame."
"I think you just want to get your dick wet, it doesn't matter who's on the receiving end." Briari giggles as she turns to face him. She takes in a deep breath, then says, ".. sides', this is an illusion. It's not even what you really look like. I think that is pretty unfair."
"Lots of things are illusions," Blue counters. "You like this look. You want it, you said so. Does it matter if it's real? It looks real. It feels real." He sits up, and in a single motion pulls his shirt over his head and off. His chest is tightly muscled, traced with light scars. "If I just wanted anyone, you know I could get it. I want you, Briari. Why do you keep questioning what you want?"
Blue adds, "I think /that/ is what's really unfair."
As he peels his shirt up and over her head, Briari swallows tightly in her throat, then says, "/That/ is not fair. Doing that. Looking like you do." She chews on her bottom lip. ".. Wow. You know it's against the litany to do so. If you were like a cougar or something ... and not the poster child of all that is evil on the west coast."
Blue lifts a finger. "Against your litany," he points out. "Not mine. But we're Ragabash, right? We question." The tips of his canines show again in his grin. "If I'm so bad, why are you tempted?"
"Because I'm a young woman with low self-esteem who is not used to attention from guys that look like super models." Briari says with an amused grin. "Yes. I /may/ be interested in .. something .. like that. I think any of us are. The first law of the litany is in my opinion out of date now that the progression of technology and science has allowed birth control to be far more effective. I also think it's weird to punish gay people who can't get pregnant. BUT. You are /still/ the bad guy." She points out to him. "A really sexy bad guy."
"A really sexy bad guy that's letting you decide," Blue points out. "Come on. One night of illusion. You've earned that, haven't you? We can both be happy in pretending for just tonight."
"You are the worst Jimney Cricket in the world." Briari points out to him as she walks over to him cautiously. She lets out a soft breath, one that is felt warmly against his chest as she speaks. "It sucks that you aren't like .. a real guy. A normal, nice guy. I like talking to you. You're witty, charming and really smart. You'd make a cool boyfriend."
"If I was, we couldn't do this," Blue says. "Come on." He pats the bed. "Teach me. And in return I'll teach you how to be appreciated for who you are."
"We couldn't do this anyways!" Briari protests to him in an exasperated voice as she takes a seat down on the bed next to him, feeling the mattress sink her down in expensive memory foam goodness.
Blue holds out an arm as he lays back, welcoming, but not insistent. He merely smiles.
Chewing on her bottom lip, Briari shifts herself backwards, then rolls to her side to settle in against his arm. "I'm not promising anything." She says as she peers at him with her blue eyes.
Blue turns so that their eyes are more directly meeting. "No strings," he promises in turn. "No expectations. Just the freedom of tonight. Do whatever you like, Briari."
Briari hesitantly flops a hand against his hip, brushing her fingers along the warm skin for a few moments before she lets out a sigh. "Oh, there is always strings. There'd be my conscious. My nagging conscious that would guilt trip me for the rest of my life. The fear of wondering if anyone would find out."
"Why?" Blue asks with a light laugh. "Are you going to tell them?"
"I wouldn't tell them, no, but I'm sure someone would sense it. I don't know .. smell it?" Briari wrinkles her nose a bit. "I'm not a girl scout by any means, Blue. But even you know this would be a terrible decision for me."
"Ooooh." Blue toys with strands of her hair, his touch light. Warm. "You think I'm going to taint you? It doesn't work like that." One finger moves to press teasingly at her nose. "Didn't anyone tell you? Bad ideas are the most fun."
Briari squints her eyes to peer down at the finger against her nose. Her hand continues to gently slide up and down along his bare side, brushing over a scar here and there that she finds. "I said terrible. This would be a terrible decision."
"Even better," Blue whispers.
Squinting her eyes at him, Briari lets out a resigned sigh as she leans in against him. Her hand settles against his back, drawing her nails along the skin gently as her nose bumps his. "Life or death terrible type of decision."
Blue brings up a hand again, this time to brush his fingers against her cheek. "You're beautiful," he says softly. "And you deserve this."
"Deserve is a strong word. I don't know if I 'deserve' to break the litany with the boogey man of our neighboring hive." Briari says as she settles her hand against his chest now to stroke her fingers over his heart.
"You deserve to be happy," Blue states, in a tone that's still quiet, but full of conviction. "And you deserve to be able to relax for at least one night." She can feel his pulse; steady, an even pace.
"This will not make me relax. Trust me. I will freak out probably halfway through this. I'd freak out in the morning. I'd freak out every day of my life." Briari admits as her fingers brush along his skin once more and over the bump of his nipple. "Your illusion is definitely incredibly hot, but it's not real. None of this is real." She says in a soft, sad tone. "And I wouldn't be happy afterwards."
"Then be happy now." Blue leans in--he doesn't exactly have far to go, and the intention is slow, and clear, as his lips seek hers. Like everything else from him tonight, this move is gentle, allowing entirely for her to pull back.
As he leans in, he can feel the breath of the Walker trembling nervously sputtering past her lips. When he kisses her, he can feel her entire body tighten up, nails digging into his chest for a moment as she lets out a soft, worried noise.
It's a long kiss, an experienced kiss, and when he pulls back from it he smiles, and brushes hair away from her face. "I can go," he offers. "You can forget."
As they kiss, Briari's lips yield against his after a few moments to return it. She continues to tremble, her body shaking as if it was freezing. When they pull away from each other, she finds herself breathless as she stares into his eyes, turning her cheek in against his hand. "I don't think I can forget."
"Should I go?" Blue asks. "No strings. No judgments."
".. I don't know." Briari says weakly to him as she closes her eyes and tilts her chin upwards a bit. Her hand continues to remain on his chest, lightly shifting here and there with nervous energy.
Blue brushes her cheek again, but then, perhaps surprisingly, he starts to pull away, starts to sit up. "It's alright, princess. I'll see you around." He sounds fond, no hint of disappointment to him.
When he sits up, Briari blinks her eyes a few times in surprise, then lets out a breath she was holding in her chest. Pushing herself upwards as well, she reaches out to place her hand over his, winding fingers up with. "You /are/ a great kisser."
In response, he kisses her hand, grins, and then fully slides out of the bed before reaching for his discarded shirt.
Blushing, Briari reaches up to twirl a lock of her blonde hair about her finger, giving a gentle tug on it here and there. ".. You don't have to go." She sighs out to him as she shifts back on to the bed, flopping her head against the pillow. "I mean, I just.. you don't have to."
Blue pauses, with the shirt in one hand. "You're not ready," he says, sounding understanding. "It's alright. I'm choosing to go."
"I mean, you don't have to go, go. We can still just .. we can hang out. Watch TV. Strategize." Briari says with a loud sigh as she curls her knees up against her chest as she scoots her back upwards against the wall. "I don't think I'll ever be ready for something like this .. but I ... am open minded .. "
"Yes, you are," Blue agrees, but he doesn't stop his departure. He pulls the shirt back over his head, and then starts for the door--unhurried, but also unhindered.
"Are you seriously playing hard to get with me?" Briari laughs as she rolls to her side, then slides out of the bed. "You just want to know if I'm going to chase." She says as she follows after him, snagging her own shirt off the ground she was wearing earlier and pulls it on.
"Nuh uh," Blue says over his shoulder, as he continues to move forward, now toward the front door. "You're already chasing." Teasing. Amused.
"I'm being a good host and walking you to your door." Briari says as she reaches out to snag his wrist, then pushes him forward as she turns him so that she thumps his back against the wall. Smirking, she settles her hands over his shoulders.
The appropriately wolfish grin returns as Blue allows this, laughing, and then leans in for another kiss. "Tease," he accuses, his eyes dancing.
Leaning in, Briari returns the kiss hungrily against his mouth for a moment as her hands slide from his shoulders to the back of his neck. Threading her fingers into his blue hair, she lets her lips part against his, playfully giving his a swab of her tongue before she pulls back. "Yes, you are."
There's a certain hunger to Blue's expression as she pulls back, something wilder than he's shown. He grins again, and once again tries to turn for the door, but not before giving her a lazy, two fingered salute.
Smirking at him, Briari lets him move to the door as she slides her hands to her hips. "Tomorrow night, let's have dinner." She says as she leans against the wall. "Then, /maybe/ .. we can .. /maybe/ do other stuff. It's not a no."
"Tomorrow," Blue agrees. "Night, princess." He opens the door, and adds, "get some sleep," before heading out.
".. Yeah, like that's going to happen. Probably going to break my fingers." Bri' is heard muttering under her breath as she closes the door behind him with a thump and about ten different clicks and clacks as she locks up behind him.
Briari's Penthouse Suite over the City(#602RJ)
Morning comes to St. Claire and sunlight filters through the large windows of the seventh story penthouse tucked away in the upper-end district. From this height, there is a gorgeous view of the city, which at times can go unappreciated from all the gloom and doom. The living room is brightly painted white with a soft white carpet. Along the walls are large framed posters of golden age super heroes. Batman. Green Arrow. Spider Man. Captain America. Cloak & Dagger. Wonder Woman. Most of them have autographs from the original artists as well. Light lavender colored furniture is tastefully placed about the room strategically. The kitchen is a wide open concept with verde butterfly colored granite countertops and cherry colored cabinets. Stainless steel appliances complete the ensemble. From the kitchen is a large deck with a hot tub where one can relax and still see the sights of the city.
The Master bedoroom is down the hall from the guest bedroom, but one would be hard pressed to tell the rooms apart. They are massive! The major difference is the guest room does not have a bathroom, which is right across the hall. The guest room is bare of most decoration save for a large bed, a large oak dresser and a beige throw rug on the ground.
Contents:
Briari
It was a dark and stormy night. Well, it's at least dark. Rain may come in time. It 'is' Washington after all and summer rain frequently happens. Briari has been stuck in her house for the last week and a half. She closed her phone, opened up a new one under a new name and has set it up bare bones. Just a phone number. No apps and nothing else. Currently she is settled on the middle of her bed in a pair of silk pajamas with the lights off and the glow of her laptop in front of her with a very recognizable thumb drive sticking out of it. She ensured her firewall was tight. She had bounced her IP all around the UK and Asia. She even guessed her neighbors Wifi password to use their network instead of hers. Suckers. Now, she is rooting through the data that Peter had passed over to them, peering through a particular computer they now have access to.
There's a heavy knock at her front door. Not hard enough to be called pounding, but enough to be heard clearly throughout the penthouse.
Briari jerks her head upwards at the sound of the knocking, which rattles her concentration. She flips screens on her computer, launches her camera software and peers at the front door as the camera tucked away in the small black dome focuses.
As for the computer, all the files she's found so far seem fairly mundane. Office records, employee schedules, inter-office emails so banal and inoffensive that they could put anyone to sleep trying to sort through for something interesting.
A shock of blue hair greets her. Someone hasn't dyed it yet, apparently. Blue is standing at the door, hands in pockets and slightly rocking on his heels as he waits.
As she roots through the files, Briari has been putting everything to memory that she finds useful. She also has a CMD line for dummies site open in a tab for when she may feel frisky. The sight of Blue causes her heart to race as she clutches her chest, biting on her bottom lip hard. Her eyes glance to her phone, then back to the computer. It takes her about a full minute to gain her composure by reciting Pi as far as she can get, then taps a button on the computer. Her voice is heard through the speaker. "Hello, Blue."
So far, she hasn't really found much that would qualify as 'useful'. The office hours, perhaps. The employee schedules, though these all seem to be for the various companies renting space in the tower rather than security or janitorial personnel. Blue cocks his head upward at an angle, and flashes a warm grin. "Hey, Princess. I got something you're gonna want to hear quick-like. Let me in?"
Continuing to stare at the screen, Briari slowly closes her eyes and clenches them tightly. Tapping a command along the keyboard, the front door gives a whirl, followed by a loud clack as it pops open. One look into the living room shows that it is bare. The furniture is gone. The posters on the wall are gone. It's just empty, all save the light under the bedroom door down the hallway.
Blue strolls in and closes the door behind himself. The bare...everything brings a lift of both eyebrows, but no verbal comment, and after a moment of standing there in the empty room, he shrugs and moves toward the one place light is emanating from. "Hellooo?"
Briari rolls off the bed and heads to the door. Opening it up, she flicks the hallway light on as she stands there in her silk pajamas. "Hey there." She says with a tired tint to her voice.
Blue's grin hasn't entirely disappeared. "You know," he drawls, "if I didn't know better, I'd think this was an invitation. What's up, princess? Redoing the floors? Your phone's dead."
"Dropped my phone in the toilet and I'm getting the carpet cleaned." Briari says as she settles her shoulder against the frame of the door. "Had to call Zero Rez carpet care. I got careless with a bottle of wine I was drowning my entire life into and it fell. Red everywhere."
Blue tsks a little. "You shouldn't drink like that, it's unhealthy." He glances around the bedroom with an appraising eye, then gestures toward the bed. "This is one of those things you might want to sit down for."
Letting out a sigh, Briari rubs a hand over her face, then retreats into the bedroom to flop down on the huge King sized bed. Tapping her fingers along the keyboard, she puts it to sleep and password protected. "Yeah? I just /love/ hearing bad news."
Blue steps just inside the doorway and no further, allowing Briari the entirety of the bed to herself and most all of the room as well. "Well," he says, "I could forget about telling you." There's a new grin. "We could do something more fun. Your choice."
Rubbing at her nose, Briari says, "Well, outside of the mayor being killed, which is pretty bad news by the way because I planned on voting for his re-election. What else is there?"
Blue looks briefly disappointed, but it doesn't last. His expression does, however, turn more serious. "I know how they found your boss."
"I think we know also, but let's compare notes. How'd they find him?" Briari says as she scoots back farther on the bed, curiously watching him. "You're just going to stand there?"
Blue doesn't answer immediately, as her second question seems to distract him. He tilts his head a little again. "Well, you haven't invited me to sit down," he points out. A brief grin, showing the tips of his human canines.
"You can sit down." Briari finally offers to him as she slides the laptop into her bag next to the bed as she leans over to drop it in, then scoots back so that she is settled against the pillows.
Blue sits, taking up a fair amount of the bottom part of the bed with his easy sprawl. "Okay, I gotta know first, what's your theory? Let's see how close you are."
"Nope, my house, my rules. You talk first handsome." Briari says with an amused grin to him. "You came here with the intel after all."
"Pfft." Blue looks more disappointed than before. "But then you can just say 'oh, I knew that already'. I know your game." He wags a finger. "No bragging rights if I go first."
"No bragging rights." Briari assures him with a nod of her head. "Sides, I'm not very good at bragging as it is. It's the nerd in me."
Blue flashes a very brief expression that's nearly another grin, then grows solemn again. "Alright, alright. They've turned one of your kinfolk."
Briari blinks her eyes a few times. "Oh. Shit. Really?"
"Really," Blue says with a nod. "I told you, Queenie and her little friends have this way of getting people attached to them. They suck the life out of you, or someone else, and it hurts like fuck. But then they give it to you, and it's the greatest fucking high you can imagine. Literally indescribable. And then you want more. Security caught him fucking around with their network a few weeks ago."
"Huh." Briari says as she shifts her jaw to one side in thought, then leans back against the pillows again as her fingers play about with one another. "So, against his will, that he gave up this information or was it willingly?"
Blue shrugs in response. "Dunno if there's much of a difference at that point, Princess. He's addicted, so he's giving up tidbits and doing some work in exchange for more hits. Willingness or unwillingness doesn't necessarily factor in."
It seems that the Ragabash is in deep thought as she continues to twiddle her fingers a bit, shifting her jaw left and right.
Blue doesn't say anything to break her concentration, or the silence. He continues lounging on the end of the bed.
"Well, I suppose that sucks." Briari says as she glances up at the ceiling again, then reaches for her remote to turn the TV on. It's smaller than the one she used to have in the living room. "So ... about those guys that was chasing us. That was your pack?"
Blue gives her a funny sort of look. "No. But uh, that's it? You suppose it sucks?"
"What do you want me to say?" Briari says as her shoulders lift. "I just wanted you to confirm everything I already learned two weeks ago."
Blue snorts at her, and wags his finger again. "What'd I just say, mm? No bragging rights."
"Not bragging yet." Briari says as she gives him a smile. "But I was hoping you would have gave me completely different news. At least nothing is a huge surprise. So what'd happen to those spirals I told you about? You said you made them leave. How?"
"How'd you figure it?" Blue asks. His expression is openly skeptical. "I mean, I figured if you knew, you'd have done something about it. Probably something violent, you know? That's usually what happens." He sits up a little straighter. "I told them to. They listened. Didn't even have to mess up the sheets."
Briari shakes her head slightly. "The day after he came and delivered the thumb drive to Thane, he was acting scared and said he was leaving to Europe. Of course, Thane ... uh ... didn't trust him, you know.. Shadow Lord, so he told me to track Peter down and ensure he really was in Europe. Instead, you know.. right to the tower. So it's how we guessed that he was the one who gave Thane and our safehouses up, as well as contact info for probably most of the Garou about."
Briari also adds on. "So, you just told them to leave? Weren't they in the Queen's employment? If she can tell them what to do, how is it you had that influence over them?"
Blue hmphs. "Cramping my usefulness all over. Well, alright. If you aren't moving directly, do you want me to see to it that he's taken care of? Might take a bit of wiggling, but it shouldn't be too hard." He slides off of the bed and stands up in a single smooth motion, then flashes another, somewhat darker grin. "Queenie wasn't there, was she?"
Sighing, Briari rubs a hand against her skull. "That is not my call to make. I have to run it past the boss. If Peter is worth redeeming I would rather salvage him. If he is being held against his will due to the Queen's mind whacking, that's not really his fault all together." As he slides off the bed, her head tilts. "You're going already?"
"Doesn't seem like it was really worth me coming," Blue admits. "Wasted trip. Oh well. Anyway, I didn't mean killing him necessarily. I bet we could get him over his cravings without resorting to that. I just figured if your Sept hasn't already rooted him out they didn't care what happened to him. That usually ends in murder. We could get him away, let him live his life somewhere else, somewhere safe."
"Maybe. I'm not too keen on killing anyone though. It's not a wasted trip." Briari says as she nods her head. "At least it gives me confidence in the data I was putting together a few weeks ago." She chews on her bottom lip for a moment, then pats the bed again. "I have other stuff to ask you. Personal stuff."
Blue seems to consider the bed for a moment, and then he slides back down on it. "Neither am I," he states. "Doesn't mean I haven't, but I don't like doing it. Messy. Wasteful. Most people can be reasonable if you're willing to talk."
Briari nods her head as she rubs at her jaw. "I uh ... recently came into some information about my future. I was told that my life is about to change um.. dramatically. Soon. Not in a good way." Studying him for a moment, she finally asks, "You're not going to kill me or anything are you? I know we've been dancing for a few months now together, poking at each other, prodding, but now that all the cards are kind of on the table, I guess nothing is stopping you from tying up a loose end."
"Pff, didn't I just say how I feel about killing?" Blue waves one hand in lazy fashion. "Look, princess, you just said it yourself: nothing's stopping me. And here you are. You tell me what that means."
"Doesn't mean you'd be the one doing the killing." Briari points out to him. "I don't know. I'm just ... I'm /really/ scared now." She admits to him with a nervous quiver in her voice. "I can't even sleep unless I dope myself up. I'm acting paranoid and jumping at shadows. I just... I don't want to die." She finally says softly. ".. or worse."
Blue glances back through the doorway, then back. No hint of a grin now; he's as solemn as when he gave the news about Peter. "You want me to lie, or tell you the truth?"
"I want you to tell me the truth." Briari says softly to him.
Blue sighs, and sits up again. "Alright. You are gonna die, Briari. I don't know what your future telling thing told you, but I don't need one to tell you that. Dunno how, dunno when, but it's going to happen. And it's not going to happen because of me, but because those Garou out there, your leaders? They lied to you, and they've been lying to you your entire life. They've been lying so long and for so many generations that they don't even realize it. Don't get me wrong. It's a /good/ lie. A nice lie. A lie that keeps you getting up in the morning and fighting when the sun sets. But it's still a lie."
"I /know/ I am going to die. Duh, Blue. It's not like I thought I'd be immortal and live to be an old gray wolf. I meant more like not dying next week because you snuck in my room and slit my throat with a silver knife." Briari says as she coughs out a laugh. "Blue, your leaders lie to you as well. It's what politicians do. It's why we got a Trump versus Hilary vote coming up. Not because we voted for it, but because the media manipulated it. Everything in life is about manipulation. As long as you know it." She taps her skull. "That allows you to make decisions based upon your own rational and merit and morals. You believe what you're doing is right, and I believe what I'm doing is right." She pauses in thought. "But it doesn't mean I think you're wrong, or evil, unless you really do chew on children's heads and rape people. That's like super uncool."
Blue actually laughs, just a little. "Yeah, but we know our leaders lie to us. I'm not repeating what they've said. I'm repeating what I /know/." The tone on that last word is sincere, almost fervent. "Besides, /I'm/ the leader, remember? No, I learned this myself. Remember, I said your friend asked what it was like to walk the Spiral? And I said it was unpleasant, but it was 'like you'? Like yourself? You learn true things about yourself, and you learn true things about the world. That's why so many of us can't cope. Lies aren't that powerful. /Truth/ is. And like you, I prefer truth to a lie." He leans back again, and looks at her, partway upside-down. "Do I seem like the kind've guy who does that?"
"You seem like the type of guy that knows how to manipulate the shit out of a situation while wearing the illusion of a super hot guy with cool blue hair while pretending to DJ. Which to be honest is the most disappointing thing about this whole situation. I can get over the fact that you are the hive leader of Seattle, which still gives me goosebumps when I rationalize it, and other things. But the fact that you don't even DJ?" Briari folds her arms over her chest. "I was able to pull audio of your sets from those who were filming you and putting it on youtube and I fell in love with those beats. I /love/ that dance shit. It's what I work out to and I really wanted a mix tape from you."
Blue sighs again. "Alright, alright. We'll put the truth in a box. It's there if you ever want it." He slides off the bed again. "Shouldn't that be more comforting? I mean, you were probably imagining me to be a bloodthirsty boogeyman. Someone picking his teeth with the bones of the innocent." He spreads his arms to the side. "Nope. And I'm the guy in charge. No one tells me what to do. No rules. And big stupid assholes like the Hellfire pack can't even /touch/ me." A broad grin.
"Yeah, well ... so you are seriously admitting that you can't DJ?" Briari says as she slips off the bed in return as she rounds it towards him. "So, what makes you the guy in charge? How, uh ... did you get to .. be the leader of Seattle?"
Blue taps the side of his head. "I'm smart. Likeable. And like I already said, I know the truth about things. Doesn't mean it was easy, obviously. I. Hm. What /do/ you know about Seattle's Hive? What it used to be?"
Briari shakes her head. "Nothing. I'm from Atlanta and only got here a year ago. I just know that Seattle is a big scary place and you go there to essentially die if you want to try and be a hero. I heard a rumor this Sept had sent several big names down in the past and came back in caskets or at least one foot in them."
Blue shrugs at this. "We protect our home like you protect yours. Let's see. Story time. See, a while ago, but not a long, long while ago, your people used to control Seattle. They had a Caern there right in the city, and not even the vampires could do anything about it. And let me tell you, leeches get really prickly when they're not in charge. They called it Grey Skies. All Glass Walkers, apart from visitors just passing through."
"Should we get back on the bed for this?" Briari asks as she steps backwards and flops back down on the edge of the bed so that she can peek up at him and listen.
Blue grins a little and joins her; this time on the opposite edge, rather than the bottom, so that he's laying comfortably on his side, with one arm serving as a pillow. "So the Glass Walkers there, they had their hands in most of the local crime, like a lot of Glass Walkers enjoy doing. You know, control the streets, skim off the top, live the literal high life."
Briari shifts herself to face him as she rolls to her side as well, dragging a pillow under her head. "Yeah, that sounds somewhat familiar of a story."
"Well, they got nasty," Blue says. "Not right away, but you know, gradually. They started abusing their power, both on the streets and on their own cubs and kinfolk. They figured they were the kings of the city, but you know the problem with lots of kings and one city? Infighting. Lots of plots, schemes, even assassinations. It made them weak and paranoid in the wrong places, so...my people took over. By that point, most of them were pretty glad for the switch. We took them in, then killed or kicked out the assholes on top, and bam. Bye bye, Grey Skies, hello better things."
"If I was to ask someone from my tribe, what do you think they would say happened?" Briari asks curiously as she reaches out cautiously, then touches the blue dyed hair, at least the tips of his spikes.
Blue shrugs yet again, no mean feat considering his position. "Dunno! You could always ask. I'd love to hear what they say, it's probably really interesting." He lets her touch his hair, even smiles a little as she does so.
"I can only think of one about these parts who would know anything about it anyways." Briari says as her fingers gently tap the ends of his spikes, almost as if she was studying their texture.
Blue watches her fingers, as if captivated by the movements. "You gonna ask?"
"Sure. You are wearing an illusion but your hair feels like it's really gelled. Did you spike your hair to make the illusion more realistic?" Briari asks with a grin tugging upon her lips.
Blue almost whispers, "Trade secret." He gives her a cheeky wink. "Do you want to test just how good it is?"
"What? The illusion or the gel in your hair?" Briari smirks at him as her fingers give another tap along the spikes before slowly retrating.
Blue leans over just a little. "Maybe all of the above." He makes no further move, however. No attempt to fully close the gap, even though he's close enough that his warm breath, faintly minty smelling, can be felt.
".. I can't believe you are flirting with me." Briari says with a soft, nervous laugh as her eyes glance downwards to his mouth where the minty breath is coming from, then back upwards to his eyes.
Blue's mouth smiles in a faint, jokey sort of way. "Hey," he says, still quiet, "I'm pretty sure you started it."
Briari lets out a sputtering laugh. "/Me/? I am ... I don't even know how to!" She says as she finds her cheeks flushed red. "I was touching your hair out of scientific curiosity."
Blue's eyebrows waggle up and down. "Do you want to touch the rest of me...out of scientific curiosity?" He grins broadly, but he also rolls back to his prior position, putting a small amount of distance between them again.
"..ohmygod." Briari breathes out with another laugh, cheeks even more red as she glances away from him, then back. "...maybe out of scientific curiosity." She pauses. ".. If only because when I use my illusion, it doesn't work that way."
Blue laughs as well, a light and happy sound. He makes no further move except to spread his arms out, half joking, but only half. "Maybe someday I can teach you a better one."
Briari perks a bit. "Really? Is it a ragabash gift or... uh one of yours, you know.. spiral gifts?"
He gives her a broad wink. "Not telling. So. Briari. Why's your bed so big, mm?"
"Why is my bed so big? It came with the condo. I bought it fully furnished. A king isn't that .. big .. I mean I've seen customized beds far bigger than this. But I happen to enjoy a memory foam mattress and a lot of space to move about in. I guess. I'm a sprawler in bed." Briari says as she continues to show red cheeks as she faces him.
Blue is either oblivious to her blushing, or he's politely ignoring it. He's still, however, grinning. "Me tooooo."
"You are so going to get me in trouble." Briari mutters to herself as she rubs a hand over her face with another laugh. "You sprawl in bed also?" She smirks in thought. ".. where do you live at? Do you have like .. a house or something?"
"Nothing too permanent," Blue answers, his tone easy. "I like to move around. Change things up. So I mostly end up living wherever I feel like. Apartments. Boats. Theater attics. Houses. Hotels. Seattle's a big place, and of course, sometimes I don't stick in Seattle."
"Oh. I sorta like to be anchored I suppose." Briari says with a chuckle as she reaches out again to touch his hair, pushing one of the crunchy spikes down with the fingertip. "It makes it difficult to keep track of mail I suppose if you move around a lot. Not that I get much besides spam and bills. When you eventually leave, we going to keep in touch?"
"If you want." Blue lifts one hand, slowly, the fingers just lightly touching Briari's as she explores his hair. "Won't that make your superiors angry?"
Briari shrugs her shoulders. "Thane won't care. He told me that he sees nothing wrong in our 'relationship' so to speak because he understands sometimes you have to make allies even with your enemies at times. My tribe? Heh. Definitely. Not that I'd go around yapping about it. So far, only Thane and I know who you are as far as I know. I'm ordered to stay quiet."
Blue muses thoughtfully, "Your boss seems like a really reasonable guy. What about the kinfolk...Peter, I think? What did they say when you told them where he was?"
"Well, Thane was not surprised, though he was angry." Briari says as she taps her fingers along the spikes in his hand, finding them bumping against his hand at times as he plays with them. "I think a lot of the others were upset, hurt. Mixed between blaming him and feeling bad that the Queen got him. The gauntlet of emotions, you know."
Blue gives a tiny little sigh. "He's never going to be able to live normally again, you know. If they let him live at all."
Briari shrugs her shoulders upwards. "I am sure there is ways to help him if we can get him out. Maybe the Gaians know a healing trick or some type of rite. Maybe we have a kin psychologist. I don't know. I just ... I feel bad for him. He knew what he was signing up for when he did it. But... still."
"Nothing kinfolk can do against that kind of thing," Blue says, in a tone of agreement. "Poor bastard. Your people will probably kill him. Not big believers in 'redemption', from my experience."
"Way to stereotype." Briari says as she gives one of his fingers a flick. ".. though you're not wrong."
"I think," Blue muses, with his fingers still in the general position they were pre-flick, "there's hope for any addict. As much hope as any of the rest of us get, anyhow."
"I try and be a glass half full kinda girl." Briari says as she bats at the blue spikes with her fingers here and there, almost like a cat playing with a toy gently. "But, I was never exposed to all the violence our kind is used to when I grew up in the ranks. I sat behind a computer and did data and video feeds and finances for the tribe. Until I got here, I never had combat with the enemy. Which really is the goop monsters and those white freaks. I've never fought with one of yours before."
Blue smiles again, almost lazy looking now. "You don't have to. Plenty of enemies to go around, right? We can just stay out of each other's way."
"I'd rather just stick to gang bangers and rapists personally. I'm more of a Batman than a Hulk. I've helped out the cops a few times here tracking down some of St. Claire most wanted." Briari says as she drops her hand down to the top of the bed as she scoots in place to get comfortable.
Blue closes his eyes. "Mm. You know, we help like that too, over in Seattle. Keep the streets clean of assholes that want to break the law."
"Oh come on." Briari says with a snort under her breath. "Why would you guys care about a bunch of law breaking assholes for?"
"It's our city," Blue responds, without opening his eyes. "Why? Why do you care about them?"
"I don't, I just don't see law abiding Spiral Dancers going out of their way to bust muggers and kidnappers." Briari says as she peers back into his eyes with an amused grin.
Blue's eyes, still closed, offer her nothing. "It's not like it's hard," he says with a slight laugh. "Besides, you said yourself you've never really fought us. How do you know what we do, really?"
"Because I have hundreds of hours of your type on video. Or at least I used to. Back at the old job. We used to strap go props on Ragabashes when we'd send them out into the field so we can watch movements of packs, monsters, crazy looking spirits. Then they'd have us nerds sift through the video and find patterns and intervals." Briari says as she rolls to her back and tucks her arms behind her head. "So we would send results to the war packs and then they would go out and do what they do best. Gave us an edge."
"Your type," Blue repeats, and then echoes her, "Way to stereotype." He opens his eyes with another grin and looks over at her. "Patterns, really?" And then, "So, video of when your people were fighting us. But not video when we weren't having to fight at all."
"No, we have video of you guys laying around watching TV also." Briari giggles. "I remember there was this one pretty valuable target. I can't pronounce his name, but he was a war leader down south. Real bad ass who ran with your dragon totem. Dude was known to throw balefire like he was fucking Ryu from Street Fighter. We had three years of video on him and his pack. I got to know this guy's every move. I knew what porn he liked. I knew his favorite breakfast sandwich. I knew what colored boxers he would wear on Friday nights." She gives a moment to pause in thought. "Obviously we don't have those type of tactics here though. Atlanta is way different than St. Claire."
"Seems like," Blue agrees. "This guy sounds like an idiot to me. He probably deserved what you gave him." His tone remains carefree; the fate of the unnamed Dancer doesn't seem to bother him overmuch. "Seattle's different. Its ours. We take care of it."
"Probably. Maybe. He sure killed a lot of ours on his way out though." Briari props her chin up as she rolls once more towards him. "He used to even scare me through the video. He killed one of our scouts with the camera still rolling and he devoured, like .. literally devoured our scout while talking shit to us through the lens. It was a live stream. I cried for days."
Blue frowns a little. He even pats lightly at her shoulder for a moment. "...I guess I gotta ask," he says, after some silence. "You had three years of footage on him and he still managed to do all that damage. Did it actually help?"
"Yeah, it helped. We got him and his pack and uncovered plans to create a hive near by. He had three other packs that was willing to follow him and we got them also." Briari says as she traces a circle on the mattress of her bed. "It was how I was able to challenge for fostern. I partnered with the Alpha on the data, spent months working through it all, using facial recognition software to pull out people in crowds, track down kinfolk .. I didn't sleep for days at a time."
Blue falls quiet now, scratching idly at his chest. His eyes are hooded; overall, he looks sleepy, and content. Finally, he asks, "...But you don't do that here?"
Briari gives a shake of her head. "No. We don't do that here. Atlanta is just different than here. I'm a Corporate wolf. I was surrounded by millionaires who could bank roll a lot of these operations. We had board room meetings." She laughs. "Some days I felt like I was working for Microsoft more than being a werewolf."
"Huh," Blue says, eloquently. "That doesn't seem very close to being Garou to me. It's all...human. And Weavery." He suddenly grins, "and boring."
"Very boring. But I will take boring rather than having all of my guts torn out also." Briari gives him a poke in the chest gently. "Sorry that I don't lead a very exciting life. I'm just a poser, huh?"
"You say that like it's just the way it is," Blue replies. His hand reaches up to curl around her poking finger, although the motion is not particularly quick, nor the grip remotely tight; she could pull away without effort. "You can always choose to make it more exciting."
"I could, but I'd rather stay alive a bit longer." Briari says as she watches his hand curl about her finger, then lets the rest of her fingers fall over his, lightly drumming his knuckles. ".. I do have a secret." She says in a lowered hushed voice to him.
Blue gives another light snort. "Exciting doesn't mean you die. It just means you feel alive." He keeps his hand where it is, loose, comfortable, as he looks toward her, curiosity painting his expression.
"But you have to /promise/ me you won't laugh." Briari insists.
"Cross my heart," Blue says, as he makes the motion with his unoccupied hand.
Letting go of his hand, Briari gives him an amused grin and slips off her bed. As she ambles to the closet, she opens up the huge walk-in, then reaches to the left side to give a yank on a handle as she pulls the wall out. Behind it is her Bombshell outfit hanging from a mannequin. "I am a super hero during small moon nights." She says as she takes the outfit off and starts to put it on after wiggling out of her pajamas.
True to his word there's no hint of laughter from Blue, although he does watch with open appreciation as she changes. "Not sure I get it," he admits, once she's fully dressed. "Super hero?"
Briari bangs her wrists together and the gold bracelets make a loud whirling noise as they extract upwards around her fists and about her wrists to reveal the bright colored gauntlets. Pulling her visor down over her face, her robotic autotuned voice calls out. *Good evening citizen! Bombshell is here to save the day!* There is a loud click-clack from a gauntlet.
Blue's mouth gets a funny sort of twist to it, but he doesn't laugh. "I know what super heroes are," he says, "but what do you mean? Cosplay? Or do you...actually..."
"Yes, I actually go out and track down criminals and I catch them. Got a police scanner in my headset. Visor allows me to have a digital read out of location, you know.. like a compass. I built it around my Google glass tech I picked up two years ago." Briari says as she lumbers out of the closet. "I got some newspaper clippings laying about from the news reporting on me, or at least witness count." She gives a twirl of her body. "Body armor kevlar and utility belt. Very flexible material as well, light weight military grade. Designed to take impact."
"Can I see it?" Blue asks, gesturing towards her. "Those things on your hands, I mean. And that helmet sounds pretty useful too."
Briari makes her way over to him and holds out her fists to show them off. "They fire kinetic energy concussive rounds, allows my punches to come in faster and harder. I can adjust the frequency to make them catch fire, and there is a self destruct and release mechanism as well." Her voice comes out normal now instead of tuned after tapping a small led on her throat piece.
Blue handles them carefully, seeming to probe with his fingers as much as his eyes. "Why punching?" he asks, tone curious, as he explores.
"Because I'm not going to rip out the guts of a normal mugger. I'm trained in Kung Fu so I can at least handle myself with the norms well enough. I have an archery set also. Daddy is working on exploding bolts and other fancy tips." Briari laughs as she watches him fondle the gauntlets. "You want to see these in action?"
Blue does laugh now. "I'll pass," he says, with a sly grin. "Unless they've got...other uses...than punching." He takes his hands away from the gauntlets now. "Who's Daddy?"
"My father." Bri' says as she gives him a 'punch' in the chest by lightly tapping her gauntlet against it. "You want to go with me tonight and track down a thug?"
"Tonight?" Blue sounds, perhaps surprisingly, a little disappointed. "Nah, I got...needs to take care of, if you're going to be doing that."
"You got /needs/ to take care of? Really? What kinda needs?" Briari asks as she pulls her mask up and over her head, then gives her thick blonde mane a shaking out.
Blue responds with an exaggerated waggle of his eyebrows. "Princess, you just stripped in front of me and we've been lying on your bed for hours, what needs do you think?" His tone is teasing, but still light, nearly a laugh.
"I got some tissue and lavender scented lotion you can use if you gotta." Briari says as her eyes drift downwards along his body, then back up to him with an amused grin. "Come on, you can't be that turned on by seeing me in my really boring undies for a minute."
"Wanna test that?" Blue asks, with a wide grin.
"Would that mean I'd see if you dye the rest of your body hair blue?" Briari smirks at him.
"Mmmmhmmmm," Blue replies.
Watching him for a moment, Briari laughs softly under her breath. Her cheeks are full of red as she heads back for the closet. "So.. can I ask you a question and hopefully you won't take offense by it?"
Blue stretches his arms up over his head, sprawled as he is against the pillows. "Only way to know is to ask," he says. The grin is ever present. "Isn't easy to offend me."
"It is ... very well documented that your tribe suffers from mental and emotional derangements once you come back from your dance." Briari says as she unzips the back of her suit to reveal her bare shoulders. "Is yours the sex thing? Where you're just constantly horny and in need of release?"
Blue laughs; it's clear this question doesn't bother him at all. "No," he says, at the end of it. "And not all of us. Just the ones that can't handle it. The ones that look at truth and break. I'm sane, princess. It's the world that's crazy."
Furrowing her brows, Briari looks thoughtful for a moment, then peels out of her uniform and starts to hang it back up on the mannequin. For those that need to know, she wears black undergarments of a modest kind. Expensive and silky. "You sure you don't want to go out with me tonight?"
He's admiring her openly again. "Very," Blue replies, with a deliberately wolfish grin.
"Even if I promise dinner?" Briari glances over at him with an amused smirk upon her face as she rustles through the clothes in the closet to search for a fresh shirt and a pair of bottoms.
"What if I promise dinner?" Blue asks. "The humans can wait, can't they? They're not going anywhere."
"Everything about this is a terrible idea." Briari laughs as she glances over to him after selecting a boyfriend styled flannel button down shirt.
"Then how come you're thinking about it?" Blue says. He hasn't moved, he's still sprawled comfortably over her bed. "Or do you think my performance is that bad?"
"Well, when I thought you were a galliard, I definitely had more confidence in your skill-set. But now that I know you're a new moon .." Briari trails off, followed by a playful laugh.
Blue loudly pffffts. "Galliards. They're all show, no substance. Me," he eyes her up and down. "I want to give you a good time. Appreciate you, like you deserve. Doesn't sound like you get that often, and that's a shame."
"I think you just want to get your dick wet, it doesn't matter who's on the receiving end." Briari giggles as she turns to face him. She takes in a deep breath, then says, ".. sides', this is an illusion. It's not even what you really look like. I think that is pretty unfair."
"Lots of things are illusions," Blue counters. "You like this look. You want it, you said so. Does it matter if it's real? It looks real. It feels real." He sits up, and in a single motion pulls his shirt over his head and off. His chest is tightly muscled, traced with light scars. "If I just wanted anyone, you know I could get it. I want you, Briari. Why do you keep questioning what you want?"
Blue adds, "I think /that/ is what's really unfair."
As he peels his shirt up and over her head, Briari swallows tightly in her throat, then says, "/That/ is not fair. Doing that. Looking like you do." She chews on her bottom lip. ".. Wow. You know it's against the litany to do so. If you were like a cougar or something ... and not the poster child of all that is evil on the west coast."
Blue lifts a finger. "Against your litany," he points out. "Not mine. But we're Ragabash, right? We question." The tips of his canines show again in his grin. "If I'm so bad, why are you tempted?"
"Because I'm a young woman with low self-esteem who is not used to attention from guys that look like super models." Briari says with an amused grin. "Yes. I /may/ be interested in .. something .. like that. I think any of us are. The first law of the litany is in my opinion out of date now that the progression of technology and science has allowed birth control to be far more effective. I also think it's weird to punish gay people who can't get pregnant. BUT. You are /still/ the bad guy." She points out to him. "A really sexy bad guy."
"A really sexy bad guy that's letting you decide," Blue points out. "Come on. One night of illusion. You've earned that, haven't you? We can both be happy in pretending for just tonight."
"You are the worst Jimney Cricket in the world." Briari points out to him as she walks over to him cautiously. She lets out a soft breath, one that is felt warmly against his chest as she speaks. "It sucks that you aren't like .. a real guy. A normal, nice guy. I like talking to you. You're witty, charming and really smart. You'd make a cool boyfriend."
"If I was, we couldn't do this," Blue says. "Come on." He pats the bed. "Teach me. And in return I'll teach you how to be appreciated for who you are."
"We couldn't do this anyways!" Briari protests to him in an exasperated voice as she takes a seat down on the bed next to him, feeling the mattress sink her down in expensive memory foam goodness.
Blue holds out an arm as he lays back, welcoming, but not insistent. He merely smiles.
Chewing on her bottom lip, Briari shifts herself backwards, then rolls to her side to settle in against his arm. "I'm not promising anything." She says as she peers at him with her blue eyes.
Blue turns so that their eyes are more directly meeting. "No strings," he promises in turn. "No expectations. Just the freedom of tonight. Do whatever you like, Briari."
Briari hesitantly flops a hand against his hip, brushing her fingers along the warm skin for a few moments before she lets out a sigh. "Oh, there is always strings. There'd be my conscious. My nagging conscious that would guilt trip me for the rest of my life. The fear of wondering if anyone would find out."
"Why?" Blue asks with a light laugh. "Are you going to tell them?"
"I wouldn't tell them, no, but I'm sure someone would sense it. I don't know .. smell it?" Briari wrinkles her nose a bit. "I'm not a girl scout by any means, Blue. But even you know this would be a terrible decision for me."
"Ooooh." Blue toys with strands of her hair, his touch light. Warm. "You think I'm going to taint you? It doesn't work like that." One finger moves to press teasingly at her nose. "Didn't anyone tell you? Bad ideas are the most fun."
Briari squints her eyes to peer down at the finger against her nose. Her hand continues to gently slide up and down along his bare side, brushing over a scar here and there that she finds. "I said terrible. This would be a terrible decision."
"Even better," Blue whispers.
Squinting her eyes at him, Briari lets out a resigned sigh as she leans in against him. Her hand settles against his back, drawing her nails along the skin gently as her nose bumps his. "Life or death terrible type of decision."
Blue brings up a hand again, this time to brush his fingers against her cheek. "You're beautiful," he says softly. "And you deserve this."
"Deserve is a strong word. I don't know if I 'deserve' to break the litany with the boogey man of our neighboring hive." Briari says as she settles her hand against his chest now to stroke her fingers over his heart.
"You deserve to be happy," Blue states, in a tone that's still quiet, but full of conviction. "And you deserve to be able to relax for at least one night." She can feel his pulse; steady, an even pace.
"This will not make me relax. Trust me. I will freak out probably halfway through this. I'd freak out in the morning. I'd freak out every day of my life." Briari admits as her fingers brush along his skin once more and over the bump of his nipple. "Your illusion is definitely incredibly hot, but it's not real. None of this is real." She says in a soft, sad tone. "And I wouldn't be happy afterwards."
"Then be happy now." Blue leans in--he doesn't exactly have far to go, and the intention is slow, and clear, as his lips seek hers. Like everything else from him tonight, this move is gentle, allowing entirely for her to pull back.
As he leans in, he can feel the breath of the Walker trembling nervously sputtering past her lips. When he kisses her, he can feel her entire body tighten up, nails digging into his chest for a moment as she lets out a soft, worried noise.
It's a long kiss, an experienced kiss, and when he pulls back from it he smiles, and brushes hair away from her face. "I can go," he offers. "You can forget."
As they kiss, Briari's lips yield against his after a few moments to return it. She continues to tremble, her body shaking as if it was freezing. When they pull away from each other, she finds herself breathless as she stares into his eyes, turning her cheek in against his hand. "I don't think I can forget."
"Should I go?" Blue asks. "No strings. No judgments."
".. I don't know." Briari says weakly to him as she closes her eyes and tilts her chin upwards a bit. Her hand continues to remain on his chest, lightly shifting here and there with nervous energy.
Blue brushes her cheek again, but then, perhaps surprisingly, he starts to pull away, starts to sit up. "It's alright, princess. I'll see you around." He sounds fond, no hint of disappointment to him.
When he sits up, Briari blinks her eyes a few times in surprise, then lets out a breath she was holding in her chest. Pushing herself upwards as well, she reaches out to place her hand over his, winding fingers up with. "You /are/ a great kisser."
In response, he kisses her hand, grins, and then fully slides out of the bed before reaching for his discarded shirt.
Blushing, Briari reaches up to twirl a lock of her blonde hair about her finger, giving a gentle tug on it here and there. ".. You don't have to go." She sighs out to him as she shifts back on to the bed, flopping her head against the pillow. "I mean, I just.. you don't have to."
Blue pauses, with the shirt in one hand. "You're not ready," he says, sounding understanding. "It's alright. I'm choosing to go."
"I mean, you don't have to go, go. We can still just .. we can hang out. Watch TV. Strategize." Briari says with a loud sigh as she curls her knees up against her chest as she scoots her back upwards against the wall. "I don't think I'll ever be ready for something like this .. but I ... am open minded .. "
"Yes, you are," Blue agrees, but he doesn't stop his departure. He pulls the shirt back over his head, and then starts for the door--unhurried, but also unhindered.
"Are you seriously playing hard to get with me?" Briari laughs as she rolls to her side, then slides out of the bed. "You just want to know if I'm going to chase." She says as she follows after him, snagging her own shirt off the ground she was wearing earlier and pulls it on.
"Nuh uh," Blue says over his shoulder, as he continues to move forward, now toward the front door. "You're already chasing." Teasing. Amused.
"I'm being a good host and walking you to your door." Briari says as she reaches out to snag his wrist, then pushes him forward as she turns him so that she thumps his back against the wall. Smirking, she settles her hands over his shoulders.
The appropriately wolfish grin returns as Blue allows this, laughing, and then leans in for another kiss. "Tease," he accuses, his eyes dancing.
Leaning in, Briari returns the kiss hungrily against his mouth for a moment as her hands slide from his shoulders to the back of his neck. Threading her fingers into his blue hair, she lets her lips part against his, playfully giving his a swab of her tongue before she pulls back. "Yes, you are."
There's a certain hunger to Blue's expression as she pulls back, something wilder than he's shown. He grins again, and once again tries to turn for the door, but not before giving her a lazy, two fingered salute.
Smirking at him, Briari lets him move to the door as she slides her hands to her hips. "Tomorrow night, let's have dinner." She says as she leans against the wall. "Then, /maybe/ .. we can .. /maybe/ do other stuff. It's not a no."
"Tomorrow," Blue agrees. "Night, princess." He opens the door, and adds, "get some sleep," before heading out.
".. Yeah, like that's going to happen. Probably going to break my fingers." Bri' is heard muttering under her breath as she closes the door behind him with a thump and about ten different clicks and clacks as she locks up behind him.
