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 Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:20 pm
He felt almost emaciated as he slid his arms around her neck, and she wrinkled her nose at the smell of him, once again in close quarters. "Shower time for you," she told him cheerfully, trying not to haul him like a bag of potatoes. But he was light enough, and not uncooperative, so success came just in time. Isaiah was slid to the cool tile and she gave a soft puff of relief. She double-checked everything- again- to ensure she had left out no detail. Ice was clearly ready to stop smelling himself- he didn't even wait for her to vacate before he was struggling at his shirt. She didn't want to insult by offering aid, even if he looked to need it. When he asked her to help with his pants, however- well. It was rather pointless to play coy. Jada nodded, instead, and remained in the shower with him, tugging at the leather carefully. "Hold onto my shoulder," she told him, tugging the pants down his legs. "Pull your foot out- thank you." she kept her gaze firmly on the task at hand, rising only once he was fully seated with everything he needed. "The shower is a waterfall," she told him after a moment, pointing at the ceiling. "If you can't get to the spray, you can push this-" she pointed to a small button, "and the waterfall comes on. You know, in case you don't want to bother with a mundane shower experience." Toothbrush too, he asked, and she could have kicked herself for not thinking of that small convenience coming here. She stepped out of the shower, turning on the water for him as she moved to get the toothbrush and bring it back to him. "I'll come and check back in on you in a few minutes unless you want some help washing your hair."
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 2:26 pm
"Is there a firehose setting? What about 'riot control'? Otherwise I think I'll need six showers to get it all off…" Isaiah winced as he sat up, his body groaning with residual ache. Jada soon departed without compliment, which he expected given his stench. He wasted little time on the floor and reached for the spray head, finding it just within reach.
Soaping down was an impersonal matter at this stage, often executed with as much scrubbing as his arm could handle. He covered each aspect of his body that he could reach, which left only a portion of his back, and repeated the process twice. Once he was certain he could no longer smell the sweat on his body, he wedged the shampoo bottle between armpit and picep and squeezed it just hard enough for a generous portion. This he promptly applied, then a second time to confirm with himself that no grease and detritus continued to plague his hair. Conditioner followed closely after and set in his hair for a solid two minutes.
After rinsing the conditioner, Isaiah sank down onto the warmed porcelain floor. The steady patter of water on his skin soothed some of the ache alongside the heat and urged him to relax. Accompanying it was a comparable drone at a gentle volume. While his face remained unshaved, as with the rest of him, exhaustion returned and promised a pleasant nap in the shower. He slept in water on a number of occasions prior; he saw no reason to turn down such a cat nap if he felt so exhausted after washing.
Besides, he figured Jada had a water tank the size of Rhode Island. He felt fairly certain that her estate totaled the land area of Rhode Island, anyway.
So when he closed his eyes, little time passed before his consciousness slipped away. A dreamless sleep followed, whereupon the steady drone of the shower continued to soothe.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 8:26 pm
"I'll tell you all about those settings when you wake up," Jada promised Ice with a grin, "and I don't have to worry about you drowning yourself trying to play in my shower. For now, just worry about the basics, and we'll deal with the rest when you wake up." Leaving the bathroom, Jada set a timer for 20 minutes, and then sent a text. Keep the kids in the house in the city, she told the nanny. Unexpected guest. Sorry. It only took a few moments for her phone to chime an acknowledgement, and Jada to send her thanks. A quick glance at the prescription the doctor had left with Ice had Jada nodding- she had something he could take until they got it filled, and she would set that... Nerves kept her busy. She was still so irritated that she's not noticed Scholomance and Ice- s**t, she'd even thought how familiar they both were. She changed her sheets from cool silk to a soft cotton, grabbed a few extra pillows. Blankets. The alarm going off was what kept her from slumping into a chair. Instead, Jada propelled herself quietly forward, stepping into the bathroom and over to look in on Ice. Her friend- and that was as good a title as any other, even though she hardly knew the man- was curled on the warm floor, clean and mostly scrubbed. Jada let her shoulders relax, and moved to grab her pen. A moment later she was Scylla, and she brushed at a few details before turning off the water. She needed to get him to bed, and there was no other way she could try and do that without waking him. The sheets would be warm, and what was a little dampness on cotton? See; this was why she had changed the sheets. It had nothing to do with keeping him warm at all.
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Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 3:32 pm
Sleeping in water was, perhaps, an old and dangerous habit. More than once he nearly drowned, though of those times, he spent each and every one of them in an altered state. Unless Jada's drain suddenly clogged shut with all of his hair and grime, drowning in the shower sounded like a distant possibility. Besides, Jada was around, and every moment spent checking on him was another moment spent seeing him naked. He liked that idea.
So when the water cut off, and heat no longer assaulted his face in the form of droplets, Isaiah roused somewhat. A draping sleeve drifted over him, cool and translucent, and Scylla's otherwise bare arms met wet skin. Why is —
Oh.
Realization caught up to his tired mind when he once again reminded himself of the connection between Scylla and Jada. She lifted him from the bathroom floor without considerable exertion. Normally he protested against dragging anyone's wet a** out of the shower and over carpet, but he found no wherewithal to do so anymore. So, as she carried him, he simply tried to accommodate while definitely not smirking about their prior intimate acquaintance with one another. While he aged and gained wisdom, in some ways Isaiah still found himself a 12-year-old boy.
He noticed her shoes some time ago, and marveled on their daintiness. Now, he wondered how she managed to avoid eating floor between her unwieldy hair, equally frustrating fuku, and an extra 140 pounds of live weight. He considered it a great feat of grace, and possibly a byproduct of her modeling history. Regardless, he wasn't feeling recovered enough to ask.
Nor did he feel up to doing much of anything beyond capitulating to the sheets. As she laid him down, he reached for the remaining comforter for preserving heat and promoting a slightly less awkward conversational environment. She would liekly emphasis eating before shaving his face, and he frowned at the thought, but found no authority to overrule her. He would deal with it for now, though he detested the thought of his scruff becoming a 'flavor saver'.
"Thanks," he offered, his voice recovered somewhat from its raspy state. The humidity helped greatly. "Now, could I convince you to let me get rid of this, first?" He asked, scratching at the runaway growth. He offered her his broadest smile in an obvious (and hopefully endearing) play.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 4:24 pm
He roused as she shut off the water, enough to make her job a little more convenient as she bent over him, pressing a small, soft hand to his face and then lifting him. He was easier to manhandle as Scylla; and she'd let that thought sit there alone, cold and lonely. He didn't protest, at least, or complain; his compliance was a relief. (She also suspected said compliance was a symptom of his physical situation, but she wasn't going to press her luck.) Settling him down on the bed, and sitting next to him, Jada powered back down into her civilian form, and helped him move the comforter up. She was quite proud of keeping her eyes above the waist- though a hand below it had been an inevitable accident. (If he wasn't half-dead it may not have been an accident.) she reached out to tug at his hair, lips pursing, before she brushed a long weft back. "You're welcome," she replied with a grin, "couldn't just leave you all goopy in the cold." her fingers traced lightly over his cheek. "You could, but not right now. You need sleep, at the very least, and definitely some more water. Food if you want some medicine." Could he even stay upright long enough to shave himself? Or for her to shave him- she didn't know how shaky he might get without food and rest, and she'd already had one person die in her bedroom, she didn't need him accidentally slitting his throat in her bathroom. Her brow furrowed in concern, a hundred questions welling up, and she parted her lips to ask- before stopping herself. "So other than the shave, what would you like. Soup and drugs, or nap first?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:04 pm
"You could have." He still found it unnerving how he could feel the perfect symmetry of a gesture between both hands - a shrug, hands blooming outward, open-palmed - and yet Jada would only witness half his gesticulation. Part of every expression was hidden inevitably in shadow, obscured from the world in a manner irreversible. He detested it still, and new anger simmered heavy in his chest. Perhaps, one day, he could match Schörl for the agonies with which she filled him. "But I wouldn't have been very happy with you."
He closed his eyes against the slow, purposeful throb in his head. Each long breath took the heady scent of sandalwood and jasmine - a faint call to other lovers, other friends made against the backdrop of war. He reached through the memories to scratch his own jawline. Thin whiskers caught under his nail and wicked away at his skin. He frowned.
Her question demanded little consideration. As exhausted as he was, the answer remained obvious - he needed the sustenance, else he would spend an eternity sleeping with no discernible improvement. "Soup and drugs. I think I spent the better part of the last day sleeping." And doing so offered him no reprieve; as he laid back heavy against the sheets, exhaustion beckoned him back down into a dreamless sleep. He fought it, though he barely clung to consciousness at times. "And thank you, Jada. I expct that, given my colorful background, most would not have taken the chance on helping me." He hoped, then, that her choice was born out of the understanding that the Negaverse may hunt her now. That they watched him keenly, and that any kind gesture warranted further scrutiny.
Perhaps they already knew her identity from a quick, careless power-up. The thin smile he sported soon faded.
"I really want to shave before I sleep though. I need to stop turning into a man, it's disgusting."
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:00 pm
"I really couldn't have," Jada said simply. And she couldn't have left him. She was as fiercely protective and cared for her friends almost as much as she cared for Giulia and Aidan. And while Scholomance was not a friend, persay, he was.... an ally, of sorts, at the least. Jada might not be willing to take a boot to the face for him, but she trusted well enough in her vapid socialite facade to risk helping him. He closed his eyes, and she left her hand on his skin, caressing his cheeks with feather-light touch, hopefully comforting, and present. At least until he reached for his own jaw, scratching, and scowling. "Soup and drugs it is," she agreed. "And then you close your eyes for at least half an hour to let the meds kick in, and I'll shave you when you open your eyes again." It was her bargain, her attempt to balance what the doctor had insinuated was his need, with what else he clearly indicated was a need. "As for your background..." she inhaled, gave a wry shrug. "do me a favor and don't sell me out, and I'll say it was a chance well-used. I don't think I'll be as useful if I'm six feet under, or worse- corrupted. Not to mention my kids would be orphans. Again." She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead, and moving over to the microwave she had set up, opening up a can of broth for him. "You'll need to give me some direction on clothes. Yours are a total wreck, and unless you want to be in my brother's pants for the rest of your stay..." she let the threat trail off. "As for food, I'm not going to give you anything too solid. When was the last time you ate before they tried to kill you?" Lips pursing, she added, "And you continuing your metamorphosis into a man for all of the next hour is something you can tolerate. I promise, it won't kill you."
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:53 pm
The kiss to his forehead grounded him in part, though it drew him back through time to other, older memories of moments long left to pass. He donned the affections of a few lovers there, always those kept for years at a time. Here, the affection felt different - less deeply rooted. A brush of care beyond the need for intimacy. For the moment, he didn't want to breathe, as he feared the fleeting touch would pass in the next breath.
But it faded despite his attempts, and Isaiah swallowed down his disappointment. Clothes, right. "You have those stretchy tube dresses, don't you? I'm sure they'll stay on better than your brother's clothes. It'll give you something to envy after I wax my legs…" He trailed off, dreading the task of cleaning up his appearance. His lone arm felt like a leaden weight and it faced twice the work in ripping off hair from both of his legs. He could ask Jada to do it, he was certain, but part of him warned against a waste of money; such a task was better left to Kavinsky, who received payment for it. He tended to agree, but could he really tolerate coarse hair rubbing against his pants as he walked home? He kept with it long enough to make his way through Scholomance, at least.
His thoughts lulled him, and Jada's next question pulled him from the light doze. "Mm… It must've been a few days. So much of it's just… Gone." He wondered, then, if what he faced was similar to all the newly-corrupted, the newly-purified who lacked an entire lifetime of memories. Isaiah maintained some certainty that he would recover parts of the memory in time, but what of them? Was there ever a chance to glean glimpses of the life they once had?
Isaiah breathed a sigh through his nose. The soup cooked, and its salty broth scented the air nicely. His mouth watered in want of sustenance. "Oh, it'll kill me. And then you'll have to resuscitate me. I happen to know that only CPR works." Carefully he drew his legs up beneath the covers and ran a few fingers along the length of his thigh. He grimaced gently as he felt each hair poking out against his inspection. At least, he assured himself, he maintained a little less bear factor in being a natural blonde.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:43 pm
Stretchy tube dresses? Jada gave Ice a blank look for a moment, not computing- what did he- OH! "Yes," she said mildly, casting him a considering look. "I have some dresses that will at least do as... well. They'll be shirt-length for you." to be fair, that wasn't what she was expecting from him. She probably should have, in retrospect. "His pants are drawstring. You can tie them up nice and tight and not scandalize the neighbors." She glanced out the window. "If I had any. Guess no scandal to be had, then." The fact he hadn't eaten in, potentially, a few days? Made Jada extra glad she had picked out mild soups. Too much weight on his gut right now might make a bit more mess than she wanted to clean up. It also meant she was going to probably cut back on some of those meds unless she wanted to rip his stomach to shreds. She didn't have what Joyce had prescribed him, either, so it would be a stop-gap measure anyways. The microwave made its distracting little noise, and Jada blinked, pulling her gaze away from the window. "I am trained in CPR," she told him with a laugh, "And I'll happily help you survive your terribly bout with manhood until we can get you properly depilated." she tested the bowl, found the soup pleasantly warm, and pulled it out. Not too hot, she hoped. When she turned back, he was making quite the face, poking around at his legs under her covers. He was ridiculous. "Stop that," she chided without heat, "Come drink some soup." She set it down on the nightstand, opening the drawer and pulling out a small bottle of ibuprofen. "I have acetaminophen as well, if you have any allergies. Pick your poison, Ice."
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2017 5:13 pm
"Is it really a scandal though? I hear I look great in panties. Whoever's panties I happen to be wearing, anyway. And it's not like a flash of sideball is that bad once I've shaved." Ice leveled her a pointed glance under heavy lids.
He wasn't interested in leaving the warm bedding, though Jada's hospitality allowed him to eat in bed to an extent. Sitting up entailed drawing a leg beneath himself, and shifting weight enough that he could lean his right shoulder against the headboard. Eating had, thankfully, grown far easier with his left hand after some months of practice. Soup no longer wound up on everything in a three-foot radius as it had when Kavinsky first moved in with him. He wondered, briefly, if Jada thought much about messes anymore. She had kids somewhere, so messes were likely a frequent occurrence. With maid assistance, there wasn't a need to involve herself in scrubbing countertops or fighting stains. The pleasures of having money, he supposed.
After all, frugality combined with the recent home insurance payout led to him acquiring a butler of sorts. The thought woke a smile in him, if only for its irony.
Chicken broth and salt met his tastebuds first, and Ice drained at least half the broth before he even started on the solid food in the soup. He ate around the carrots carefully, caring little for their texture, and sussed out the chicken, noodles, and celery. Only when he was nearly done with the soup did a ravenousness strike him - suddenly he wanted to eat the bowl alongside the remainder of the carrots, whose texture disturbed him marginally less when starving nigh to death. After he drained the rest of the broth, Ice set the bowl aside and spared Jada another glance. So far, she grasped the need for food and drink, but she failed to understand the necessity of reversing his becoming a bear.
This frustrated him, but he lacked the energy to castigate her for it. Instead, Ice folded back down under the covers, sprawling into his almost-too-long hair in its familiar silkiness. He seized the bottle of ibuprofen from the nightstand and opened it against his thigh, then popped two of the pills. Afterward, he set the bottle back where it belonged. "If I die of masculinity in my sleep, I hope you hold it against yourself forever." He huffed into the cotton sheets, then sprawled out onto his side to sleep.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2017 7:57 pm
Jada couldn't stop her amused snort, and she was certainly looking at Ice with a new set of eyes. "Depending on how much you enjoy balls, it might not be that awful anyways," she replied to him mildly, and batted her lashes in his direction. But that was enough of that for now. He needed rest, and Jada needed to figure out a plan of action in case someone came looking for him. She watched him eat, eyes somewhat distant, drifting over his straggly beard as he devoured the soup, still retaining enough mind to pick around some of the items. "As soon as you wake back up, Ice. I promise. And if you die of masculinity, I'll make sure your next of kin has the financing to scandalize half of DC at your burial as an apology." her lips quirked. He settled into the bed, and she set an alarm on her phone to wake him in an hour. More soup, and a shave. While he slept, however... she had more business to worry about than she had thought,
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