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 Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 11:44 am
Hadrian left the car with Marc, not really thinking anything of Marc's shying away from the question. He still wanted to know, of course, but nothing seemed...suspicious, just yet.
As they began to head inside, with an amused grin at Marc's comment, he specified his question more.
"What kind of work do you do? Asides from being a 'slave', anyway. There are far too many types of business for me to be able to guess correctly."
And there would be no chance of him guessing correctly anyway, since all of his guesses would have remained in the...legal range.
---
Wrinkling his nose in what seemed to be disgust, he corrected her belief.
"Plastic surgery has nothing to do with barbie. Plastic surgery is just surgery to make someone look prettier."
Ismet mused that he needed to learn how to speak to toddlers - they didn't understand big words, after all. Though he really didn't care enough about toddlers to make much of an effort.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 11:49 am
Oh, RIGHT! Haki got it now. She nodded her head, she smiled. "Isme." she said. "You have pastic surjree?" maybe he did. Because no one she knew was so completely blue. Even Ina wasn't so completely purple!
Hmmm. That would explain things, after all. "Isme smaaart." she said, beaming. She knew now that she would have to keep this one close to her, when she tried to rule the world.
--
Marc smirked. Walking closer and slipping a hand around Hadrian's waist, he pointed to one of the shops. "Furniture." he said mildly. "Would you like to look inside?" for a moment, the persistent amount of questions had a slight look of impatience cross his face.
But Marc was trying to make things better, so he knew better than to react too strongly. "I buy and sell things for him." he said. "Imports and exports." he tilted his head.
"I've said that, haven't I?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 11:56 am
"No."
Ugh. Like Ismet would do that...he didn't even like people, so why would he try to make himself look good? His distaste at the idea wasn't so easy to distinguish from his natural grumpiness, so Haki might not even be able to tell his reaction.
Glancing at the kitchen, he decided that perhaps if he got her full, she'd fall asleep and he could read...
"Are you hungry?"
---
"Furniture? Well, I think we're both doing alright in that department."
Hadrian didn't suppose either of them needed furniture, but if Marc wanted to look, he wouldn't object.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn't know about Marc. To him, this was the best way to learn more about his lover - work wasn't too big of an issue after all, right? Not usually something that people got uptight about.
The mage apparently hadn't realized how much Marc was striving to avoid the topic.
"Have you? I don't remember...did you say what it is that you buy and sell?"
Maybe gems? That would make sense, since the other man had so much money. Something expensive like that, anyway.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:13 pm
Hungry? Haki tilted her head thoughtfully. She could eat, she supposed. And usually when Marc came home, he forgot to feed her. (something about that mage...) so she nodded her head. "Maybe." she said, sliding off the chair. Now where was the kitchen?
Looking back at Ismet, she frowned. "Cook?" he cooked? Maybe he was better than Marc. Although her guardian could create some miracles-- all he did was pop a container in the microwave, and boom! Instant goodness.
Maybe all cooking was done like that.
--
Marc smiled. "I don't know." he said almost playfully. Walking into the store, he nodded. "You spend enough nights at my place. I thought we could get something that looked like ours."
Oh, how smoochy.
"I sell luxury goods." he said simply. Well, that counted as something. "Few people can afford them, so you would think it would be easier to sell? But it isn't. Most of the time I have to go through weeks of admin to make a deal."
Which wasn't a complete lie.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:19 pm
"Like some sort of expensive jewelry?"
Hadrian didn't really know what Marc meant by luxury goods, but figured it was something like that. It was amazing, really - how clueless and oblivious the scientist could be in the face of such things. One would think that he woul be observent enough to tell that something was off, but...
Well, everyone always wants to think the best of their loved ones.
Eyeing the furniture, he winked at the man walking beside him.
"Something leather, maybe? Easier to clean."
In other words, it wouldn't stain from some of their - activities.
--
Ismet shrugged in response to Haki's comment; of course he could cook. The boy was astonishingly self-sufficient, which would explain why he had lived at Ahneta's apartment while she was away; now he just switched in between flats.
"What do you want?"
What did toddlers eat? Something simple, he imagined.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:27 pm
Anything, was it? Haki wracked her brains, and nodded her head. "Grilled chikken." she said. "Peas." and added, just for good measure. "Chokkate cake?"
Yes. That sounded like a very good meal, and as she stared at Ismet, she wondered how long she would have to wait until he delivered.
--
"Jewelry?" his tone was absentminded as he pointed out a leather couch. Grinning, he walked over and sat down. "This one is big enough, don't you think?"
The man wasn't nervous. When it came to his job, he never really got nervous. But he was getting edgy. Looking back with a quick frown, he tried to digest this.
Why didn't he want to tell Hadrian? Maybe it was habit. No one other than his colleagues really knew what he did. And... well. Maybe he didn't want Hadrian to see that side of him.
That was probably it.
"More like... necessities."
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:33 pm
Ismet could handle the peas...and if he remembered correctly, there was actually a slice of chocolate cake in the kitchen; it wasn't too old, even. So while it wouldn't be fresh, at least he could get her that.
But grilled chicken? What kind of toddler asked for that?
Did Hadrian even have chicken?
Eyeing Haki doubtfully, he suggested an alteration, "How about grilled cheese instead of chicken? Or macaroni and cheese?"
--
Necessities? What kind of luxury items were neccessary?
Hadrian was beginning to grow confused. Finally, he was starting to catch onto the fact that Marc was avoiding the question - though he didn't understand why.
And if it hadn't been for doubts already planted, trust already uncertain...he would have dropped the issue.
But with those doubts, and that fear - he felt himself desiring to know that Marc could trust him. And it seemed strange to him, but it was looking more and more like his lover simply didn't trust him. But why wouldn't he trust him with knowledge of what he did?
It didn't make sense.
Wrinkling his brow, he voiced his earlier thought.
"What kind of luxury items are neccessities?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:22 pm
Grilled cheese? What was that? Wrinkling her nose, but remembering that cheese always tasted good, she nodded her head. Very well. She could handle the grilled cheese. "Cheese?" she asked, following Ismet. She stayed far enough that he wouldn't hit her with a stray elbow.
But close enough to admire his hair. What WERE those things hanging at the bottom? Beads? "Sounds tay ss tee." the word was such a pretty word too.
Maybe after they ate, she could ask her new advisor more questions on how to rule the world.
--
Marc stopped. Deciding that maybe it wasn't time to shop for furniture together, he looked up from the seat and frowned. "Hadrian." he asked quietly. "Why is it so important?"
He wasn't angry. Not really. But... well, he had wanted the night to be perfect, to make up for all the interruptions, and they were going into something murky and dangerous. And.
While no time was good fr the murky and dangerous, Marc wished that this moment could have come later in their relationship.
"The kind that people can't live without, Hadrian. But can't afford."
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:28 pm
Marc didn't want to tell him.
It was obvious that he didn't want to. But Hadrian simply didn't understand why not; in fact, the only thing he coudl come back to, was that...well, Marc didn't want him that deeply involved in his life. Didn't trust him enough to share simple information with him.
Far off the bat, yes - but all the result of earlier laid suspicions and mistrust.
"I suppose it's not..."
One phrase, but it said far more then just in response to the question about Marc's job. And then, a flash of intuition. Logic working its way through his mind, resulted in something unlike what he'd been previously thinking.
And speaking quietly, his eyes suddenly fixing onto Marc, he asked what had just occurred to him.
"...it's something illegal, isn't it?"
Quiet enough that nobody else would hear him, but Marc. And he wasn't sure what to think of this.
--
Gathering the ingredients needed to makethe food, Ismet got everything down onto the counters. While he did so, he found that piece of cake - well, she could eat that while he cooked.
"Here...you can eat this while waiting for the food."
And so he began cooking. He was a pretty decent cook, considering his age.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:34 pm
Haki smiled. She did the customary 'ooh' and 'ah's as he maketh the food that was supposed to feed her. The cake wasn't that bad-- a little hard around the edges, but she didn't mind.
Food was food.
"Isme goood." she purred, beaming as she nodded her head. This certainly didn't look like what Marc did when he said he cooked! Staring with the intensity of a girl trying to make up for her lack of doingness, she nodded.
Actually, it didn't look too difficult.
--
Marc paused, wondering. He didn't want to tell Hadrian. Now it was growing stupid- he didn't want to tell Hadrian because Hadrian was asking so intensely, but knew he would have told him in another situation.
"This couch is perfect." he said, and looked at the server who had just discreetly been on the other side. "I'll have this one." he handed a credit card over without waiting to bargain.
As the man walked away with dollar bills in his mind, he turned to Hadrian with a purr.
"Extremely."
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:42 pm
Hadrian didn't know what to say, now that it had been confirmed. He'd been expecting - hoping - that Marc would insist that whatever he did wasn't something illegal...
But obviously, that wasn't the case.
Simply being the sort of person he was, he could be touchy about such matters. 'Trading'...he could think of a goodly amount of things that Marc 'traded', and didn't like the idea of his lover being involved in either of the trades he thought of.
It just...didn't mesh with the sort of person he had thought Marc was. They needed to talk.
"What is it?"
Blunt, but he had to know. If it was something like...well, he didn't know - simply trading stolen goods - he thought he could handle that. It would bother him, but he could handle it.
But if Marc was involved in trading weapons, or drugs...that would be something that would horrify Hadrian. After having seen his world at war for so long, he hated the idea of someone encouraging war; and drugs...well, his reaction to the idea of Marc being involved in that was understandable.
--
After a bit of time, Ismet finished up the grilled cheese and put it on a plate for her. It wasn't the best grilled cheese that had ever been, but it was still pretty good. And the peas, of course, were simple.
Putting the plate before her, he began to clean up everything he had used, before pausing to ask something.
"Do you want anything to drink?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:48 pm
Marc stopped. "Why, Hadrian?" he asked. "Why do you have to know so badly?" the man returned with something for him to sign, which he did. But his attention wasn't kept away for long. "Does it bother you?" now he was deliberately goading the other man.
"I buy and sell things the way any man does, according to his boss. An oil trader buys and sells oil because he has to. I buy and stuff goods because I have to too."
--
Haki beamed. "Wa'er?" she asked. The food looked good. "Isme' know all and cooks!" it was stating the obvious. But she liked it. "Isme' goooood~"
So maybe it was laying it on a bit thick.
But Haki didn't think Ismet would mind. Who complained about compliments?
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:54 pm
"Yes. It does."
Hadrian had never thought that someone he loved would be involved in things like this. And it bothered him, it definintly did - especially if it was one of those trades he had thought of previously...
"I never thought that -"
He stopped there. The mage didn't want to finish that sentance, didn't want to turn things down that track. Instead, he took a different track...to try and understand. Though it likely would come out not as attempting to understand, but rather just shock.
"Why? Why would you choose a profession like that, when there are countless others - even if it's about money, there are just as many that offer large amount of money."
--
Getting Haki her water, Ismet noted the compliments once more - well, she certainly did seem to enjoy it all. He didn't pay much mind to it though, as he didn't put much stock in the opinions of toddlers.
Obviously, he didn't know much about Haki.
Sitting down, he began to eat his own food as well, with an absentminded 'thanks' for the compliment.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 2:05 pm
Well she had certainly expected more of a thanks then that! Deciding that her advisor was in need for a lesson, she frowned, slightly distressed. He was supposed to preen! Or at least take his new queen's compliments to heart. He didn't really know much about advisorhood.
Sad, sad news.
"Ismet live here?" she asked, continuing to talk. (Silence? XD What is that foreign concept?) Leaning forewords and picking at her peas, she nodded. "Ismet famlee too?"
--
Marc scowled. What was with this man? Taking his credit card and slipping it into his back pocket, he was silently fuming. "Why, Hadrian?" he asked. Why was the man taking such a high ended road?
"It is just a job. I get paid. I keep good hours. The fringe benefits are fantastic. It in no way affects our relationship. It never has, and it never will. So what is so wrong with what I do?
A professioan _like that_?" the words were underlined with too much force. "What does that make me in your eyes, mage?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 2:13 pm
"Some of the time. All of the mages are my guardians, so I spend my time at different flats."
Mostly Ahneta's, but since she'd come back, he'd been shifting around more. Especially when she decided to have people over...which hadn't been too often, but he'd already seen more then he wanted to see, the one time he had been there.
"Family? I guess, since Hadrian's one of my guardians..."
Weird.
--
At first, Hadrian had been stunned, confused, and even feeling a bit hurt...but now, he was getting angry.
"I had never imagined that you would do that sort of thing."
It changed his entire perception of what Marc was. He hadn't thought he was that sort of person, but...it looked as if he had been wrong.
"You want to know what's wrong with it?" He had stepped closer, a flare in his eyes that told just how angry he was becomming, while he kept his voice low and private, "People get hurt from things like that. I don't exactly what it is that you're trading, but I have a few ideas about what it might be."
"And if it is one of those things, then - then you're helping people hurt themselves and others! I never thought you would do that.."
One thing Hadrian could be called, despite his normal composure and reticent nature with people, was caring. He cared about people, as much as he didn't like them...and the idea that his lover had been helping people hurt - even kill - others, horrified him.
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