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 Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 9:33 pm
It was hard being a teenager. It was even harder to be a teenager covered in scratches with bright pink hair and a week's worth of detention. She'd already had to personally scrub the bathroom she was found in, and the showers that followed had been profuse and almost religious. But now she was standing on stage, dressed like some kind of caveman slut.
The royal purple (purple!!) sheath dress plunged down towards her bellybutton in the neckline, and had poor Audrey been better endowed, she would've spilled right out the front. As it was, she'd taken to wearing a bathing suit top underneath, just in case something happened. Fastened at the shoulder and then held with a heavy gold belt around her waist, was the most garish leopard print imaginable. All this was topped with gaudy, ugly costume jewelry that was heaped upon her neck and bangles almost all the way to her elbows. At least the circlet was a sense of normalcy, for it was moderately similar to the one she wore as Linarite.
The one blessing was that she was running through the lines with Khaldun. Khaldun, who was horribly dashing and at the same time inestimably creepy in his guise as King 'Charles'. Now, more than ever the rumors that he was the General King's b*****d son, resplendent in the black and silver trappings. Almost, she could understand Ursula's fascination with the man. Almost.
Throwing down the newly remade script, Audrey huffed and glared. "This is retarded. Absolutely retarded."
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Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:26 pm
Khaldun walked along the edge of the stage slowly, pressing a loose clump of pages to his chest while he balanced. After some serious reservations, he had finally been convinced (a very polite word for it) to get into costume. There was no Barren Pines uniform or casual t-shirt tonight. Khaldun had on a military uniform that wasn't too far from being a makeshift negaverse outfit. Well, except that it looked a hell of a lot like he was planning to run around as the General-King for Halloween. It had its own gaudy points, like the heavy fur-trimmed cape and band of old brass military medals looped over his chest. He even had a crown, though luckily it wasn't anything too terrible, not compared to the rest of the getup. Darkish smudges of sharpie still ringed his eyes, partially hidden by a pair of sunglasses that Ursula insisted he wear. He wasn't able to see his 'look' from an outside perspective, but he was admittedly impressed the General-King managed to walk around at night with his pair on. The teen was still pissed about that room full of ******** dogs, but more pissed about what had happened after. Really ******** pissed, to be stuck hanging from a flagpole for hours on end. And whoever was behind it was going to pay, for sure, as soon as he figured it out. His grip began to crumple the pages of the makeshift script. As for how the hell had he ended up here, in play practice, dressed like like he didn't care to think in depth about. Ursula had been very convincing this time around, and now here he was. He was already regretting it.
"If I have to pretend to swoon over Nia one more time tonight, I'm going to just cut my own throat." Khaldun tossed his script down on top of Audrey's. He glanced down at her over the rims of the sunglasses, nudging them down his nose slightly with one finger. Underneath all the horrendous clothing, Audrey was still very... pretty? No, that wasn't the right word for it. He could find dozens of girls like Audrey in Barren Pines alone, decent in the looks department but nothing special, but to be perfectly honest he'd never have managed to make a girlfriend out of any of them as fast as he had this girl. That was what he found attractive about Audrey, compared to the rest - she did what he wanted her to. She was his girlfriend. His, like a possession. He'd never had so much power over someone else in all the time he could remember, and it was exhilarating. Every chance he got, he liked to test the limits, see how much Audrey could handle, and not once had she been bothered by his demands. Even the humans he'd killed as Hematite always died screaming and crying and fighting till the bitter end. He imagined that if he wanted to, he could rip out her starseed and she wouldn't hardly complain. Something like that had to be true love.
Khaldun broke off his admiring look at Audrey by scanning the room. Other students were busy practicing and preparing all over the theater. Bacterial meningitis had claimed the lives of quite a few students involved in the production, thinning their numbers out most unfortunately. It meant, though, that Ursula was bound to be distracted. The teen scanned the room until he spotted her, in a small argument with one of the costumers, her back to the stage. Excellent. He looked back at Audrey deviously, then moved in close and spoke quietly in her ear. He hadn't risked getting outright intimate with Audrey when Ursula was watching, not after the last time. But he rested both hands lightly on her shoulders, which was halfway to an embrace, and Audrey might have thought he drew away from her awfully slowly when he finished his hinting.
"Y'know, I'm thinking we need a little fresh air. A lot of fresh air. This kingdom already has a queen-" Khaldun jerked a thumb at the director. "-So nobody will need us for a little while."
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Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:34 pm
The way to Audrey's heart was ridiculously simple and absolutely impure. She was affectionately inclined towards any attractive human being that voiced any sort of dislike towards one Ms. Ursula Johnson aka Nealite. It's why she'd given Castor a break, that turned into this terrible crush that plagued her every night, while all day, her eyes followed Khaldun. There was just something enigmatic about him that made all the girls stare and sigh.
But he was her semi kinda almost not really boyfriend! The idea blew Audrey's mind, and perhaps made her more than a little daydreamy than she normally was. Of course, she was still rather practical. Khal wasn't for sloppy displays of affection. Lust, certainly. But affection seemed out of the teen's range of Easily Displayed Emotions, and as such, the bluenette had few true delusions about their relationship.
He had to care a little bit though...right? As his warm breath passed her ear, it was all Audrey could do to keep from shivering. The only boy that had ever been this close to her before was Pasha, and this was absolutely different. Gold eyes slid towards Ursula, and she snorted. "Agreed. I'm sure we can find...more interesting things to do." In the back of her mind, the girl would mourn the day they broke up.
Killing Khal would be very sad indeed.
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 12:42 am
Moving as quickly as possible so as not to attract undue attention from some of the more devoted cast and crew, Khaldun steered Audrey in the direction of the nearest double-doors. The night air was starting to get frigid, but the two of them had layers on what with their costumes. The side of the theater opened out on a concrete path through a trimmed lawn. There were a few overhanging pine trees shading them from the moonlight as they walked.
It wasn't particularly hidden, this grassy little spot under a tree. But it had a nice view of the moon and stars rising. They sat facing the path up to the front of the theater. There wouldn't be any danger of being found here. No one but the cast and crew and director had any reason to come by, and they were all inside already.
Khaldun had become completely oblivious about his attire, except to place the sunglasses on top of his head so that he could actually see Audrey. To anyone with experience with the Negaverse, it probably looked weird as hell - a lanky, dark-haired copycat of the General-King, at least in looks. His attitude didn't seem quite as militant or harsh. The teen reached a hand out to brush against her nearest arm and down it, until he could grasp her hand. He wasn't about to admit he didn't know the first thing about relationships, so he casually passed the responsibility on to Audrey. "So, how interesting did we want to get tonight?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 12:52 am
Telling herself that it was absolutely the cold air that was making her skin pimple up, and not the warm touch of a dark-skinned hand, Audrey barely kept her head from exploding off her shoulders. No doubt Khal had chosen this spot for secrecy, but the view was exquisite and dreamily romantic. In the dark, the pink hair was somewhat less eye blinding, and even mildly attractive with the exotic outfit. But he probably wasn't thinking about that.
The question snapped her from her daydreams of princes on dark, evil horses and riding off to steal starseeds together when Khal finally asked her what to do. Jingling like a junkyard earthquake, Audrey was taken quite aback and stared up into his face. Indeed, it looked like he was serious! Rapidly, her mind flashed through several scenarios, each one discarded. She could simply kiss him, but that'd be too forward. Perhaps too mild?
A hand on his thigh might send the right signal, but if she turned her shoulder the right way, her dress might fall off some, exposing the well-fitting bikini top. The bluenette didn't have much to work with, but it was obviously good enough! Finally just deciding to go with what felt most natural, Audrey took their joined hands and lifted them so that his arm slid around her.
This caused the dress to gape just enough for him to get an eyeful of moonlit skin, but at the same time was almost purely accidental. At least she couldn't be accused of anything! Curling into his robe, she batted big doe eyes up at him. "I can think of several things that are just interesting enough...if you're up for it."
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:25 am
Khaldun's expression didn't say much, because there wasn't a lot there. Here he was, with a girl, and he didn't know what to do. He really didn't god damn know. His memory was no help, and high school biology didn't tell you what you really wanted to know. He'd seen a little bit of TV, a few movies, but they were of no use. Oh, he'd heard a great deal of things, but half of them he'd heard from Obsidian, and half of those things were less like romance and more like threats. And what he'd overheard in the hallowed halls of Hillworth tended to be mythological in proportions... and positions. Not very believable.
Khaldun let the girl move his arm and lean against him, staring down at her the whole time. Guys and girls did this all the time, he reasoned, so it couldn't be that difficult to figure out. He'd have to feel this one out, and maybe up - he was getting a good look at Audrey's bikini top (and more importantly, what was inside it) when she moved.
So, uh, kissing. He couldn't mess that up. His free hand brushed aside some of Audrey's hot pink hair (new look?) and he leaned over to kiss her on what was at this angle her temple. His dark eyes met hers with apparent curiosity, for once, and he wondered if this was going to be any weirder than the Hillworth tales. "Try me."
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:41 am
Smiling at what was probably accidentally a tender kiss to the side of her face, several key decisions were made all at once. When reading trashy romance novels, the men almost always died when a woman sat in their lap. This had generally become Audrey's prime goal in her romantic life, and she was quite pleased that she could employ this lifelong wish with such abandon! Also decided was that Khal was feeling quite contrary today, and the whole tone of their future kinda possible relationship would be set by what she did now.
Pushing the boy lightly back against the tree, the girl wiggled her way onto his lap, making sure that his arms stayed fully around her at all times. Letting go was a sign of dissatisfaction and annoyance, and Audrey didn't want either. The skirt, during this maneuver, hiked several inches, and the top all but fell off. It was certainly ill-fitting garment, and she loathed it with all her being. However, at the moment, it was working. Working very well.
No words were needed, and none could escape as the girl's lips descended down upon Khaldun's. She wanted to be cuddled, and mildly coddled, and very many kisses. There was enough emotional turmoil going on already, Khal needed to stay nothing more than a distraction. A sexy, assertive, mysterious distraction. After all, romance with humans couldn't last forever!
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:50 am
Both boy and girl were fairly involved in their incredibly teenage make-out, which mainly involved being wrapped around each other like kudzu and being attached by both the hips and the mouth -- they were teens -- when a shadow fell across them both.
Gunn Killingworth stood looking at pink-headed Audrey, who was wearing a chintzy leopard-skin bra, and -- worst still -- at Khaldun, who was currently in 1. sunglasses and 2. was basically pimped up to look like a tinier version of, in fact, Gunn Killingworth. This fact was embarrassingly obvious. He stood there, his own sunglasses masking his eyes, arms folded, staring down at them both with the chill of a thousand icebergs.
This was not a look conducive to make-out. He looked tired. He looked not annoyed, but about five steps past annoyed, that look that would have resembled cold fury had he been more energetic about it. More like 'visual implication of Khal's future death.' This was not comfortable for either Khaldun OR Audrey.
In a voice that had spent a week in the chiller, he said:
"Khaldun."
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:29 am
Khaldun could not deny that Audrey's idea was interesting. The pair had soon entirely lost interest in their surroundings. If it had been any other voice saying his name, Khaldun would have told them to come back later, he was busy, couldn't they see that? Hell, he might not have said anything at all, since his lips would have been pretty busy, and his hands too, so flipping the bird would have been too much of a bother.
But this was the voice the Grim Reaper used to address the dead, after the fact, but shortly before they were to descend the nine circles of hell. And it was speaking to him. The passionate experimentation was interrupted. He knew deep down exactly what he was going to see, but he had to look up anyway, just to be sure.
"Mr. Killingworth-" he began, in a tone that conveyed not only surprise but also fear for his very life. Even with those sunglasses, Khaldun could practically feel the cold embrace of death in the look he was being given. There was a pause. A very long pause, in which Khaldun had still not removed his arms from around Audrey's upper body. A pause in which, with agonizing slowness, he was re-informed by his peripheral vision that he was still in costume as King Charles. A pause in which Khaldun once again made peace with his god, that good-for-nothing son of a b***h.
He cleared his throat, finally letting go of Audrey in order to make a big show of it. If only Audrey wasn't planted in his lap, if only he didn't have his back pressed up against a tree, maybe he could have run. But no, he had to say something, and he had to say it fast. His voice sounded like he was trying his damnedest not to regress back through puberty, twisting the upper pitches of fear into what was supposed to sound like pleasant surprise. "How - uh - how's the Hillworth track team?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:36 am
Hell in a goddamn mother ******** handbasket. Well, if Khaldun really were secretly a senshi in some incredible setup by Nealite, she was about to find out. Audrey wasn't panicked so much as mildly dismayed that she had to be caught in the lap of a boy who, in getup, was an almost perfect replica of Killingworth's alter ego. For obvious reasons, she could not voice these concerns or protest that no, she really wasn't into that sort of thing, so she opted for the next best defense.
Ignorance.
Smiling faintly and folding her clothing tightly around herself, Audrey looked up at her General King like he was a general acquaintance before sliding to her feet, shaking out her hair. "Ah, sir. You caught us in the middle of play rehearsal. Apparently my performance as the evil troll queen to steal away the heart of King Charles," her hand waved to Khal and his shameful getup, "were entirely unsatisfactory. Ms. Johnson has been forcing us to work one on one for some time now."
Well. That was the most tactful way to say everything she thought needed saying. While she had the utmost respect for Charonite, there were absolutely no romantic feelings where he was concerned. Whatsoever. She wasn't Nealite, after all!
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:42 am
"Audrey?"
This was something that should have clued in Khaldun, the rank, horrified pissed-offedness with which the General-King recognised his sunset-haired kissing partner -- but when you were also in the throes of making your last wishes known to any heaven or God who was listening, it was difficult to really put two and two together. Especially when Charonite simply leant down and yanked Khaldun up by his shirtfront as Audrey carefully removed herself, lifting him up bodily from a sitting-to-standing position. The look that Charonite was giving Audrey was obvious to her: I have found you in this position. This position is disappointing. Your attempt to get out of the situation using words is noted. Nice try.
"I will," said the General-King, "be talking to Khaldun."
Beat.
"Alone."
He was looking at Khaldun with buzzing irritation. With his other hand, he flicked the sunglasses off Khaldun's head, apparently finding them hugely offensive.
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:46 am
Well. So far so good, and all good things must come to an end. Pip-pip, cheerio, and toodles, all those lovely wonderful sayings that the British had. Jolly good, and all that rot? Silly little sayings bubbled through the lieutenant's mind along with an immense sense of relief. Apparently whatever the Hillworth gym teacher had against her makeout partner was much more serious than the fact they were indeed making out.
Apologetically, she shot a glance at Khal, before casually picking her way out of the forested circle. As soon as she was out of eye and earshot, she ran as fast as she could for the auditorium, and meekly seated herself back again with the script.
Obviously, tonight had been a little too interesting.
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 3:34 am
The sunglasses clattered to the ground loudly in the silence. As Charonite was busy leering at and shooing away Khaldun's girlfriend, the entirety of his mental faculties were far too busy trying to rank this offense on a long list of offenses prior in order to better predict what was about to come. He didn't even manage that, the adrenaline level in his blood spiking when the General-King pulled him up to a standing position. That pretty much killed thinking entirely in favor of fight-or-flight, and not long after that, those millions of years of evolution simply gave up and realized death was ineevitable. He turned his head slightly and gave Audrey a small grin that said 'I'll be fine, I'm only standing in the path of an oncoming tsunami, what could happen?' and enviously watched her walk away.
Then he had to turn back to face the General-King, who was far too close, and far too angry. Khaldun looked up at him almost pitifully, hands spread palms-up in an attempt to look non-threatening. Not that he needed to bother - Charonite was the threat, he was the threatened.
"General-King, uh, sir, this is a complete misunderstanding," he spoke, quickly. There was an empty gap while he considered his options one last time, then plowed forward. Was he going to mention the play? No. If it didn't work coming from Audrey, there'd be no way the man would buy it coming from him. "I didn't think making out was breaking any Negaverse rules! Honest! I mean, we all at some point or another get kind of... y'know... uh..."
The look on Charonite's face begged to differ, and Khaldun trailed off.
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 3:38 am
Khal had tried. He had tried really hard. He had been pretty logical about the entire thing. But Killingworth's hand was still fisted in his shirt, and he had leant forward to back up his words, each of which he stabbed Khaldun with like blunt, unhappy knives.
"Do you know," he breathed, "what I will ******** do to you if you ******** get a girl pregnant?" What? What?? It was making out, it didn't get anyone pregnant, and besides, what the hell was this talk for -- "I will turn you inside out at the a**. I will god damn butter your insides over the football pitch."
What?
"I expect self ******** control from you." This was so unfair. Everyone knew Obsidian totally got it on. "I do not expect you to -- to -- "
It was an odd occasion that Charonite couldn't articulate. He actually let Khaldun go in frustration. "Why can't you ******** be more like me?"
What??
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 5:08 am
"Pregnant? You think I'm - with her - that we - oh, no. No, no, no! It was just some completely harmless making out, sir!" It was true, sadly. This only made Khaldun more determined to go all the way with Audrey - just not somewhere out in the open or anything. Khaldun leered at the General-King, trying to break the awkward silence with some humor. "Don't tell me you've never played any tonsil hockey before!"
This whole situation was exactly what Khaldun had come to Barren Pines to avoid, but when someone was not only your (former!) schoolteacher but also your commanding officer and legal guardian, they did become that much harder to escape from for so long at a time. The boy did his best to lean backward to compensate for the loss of personal space, but he didn't have as much freedom of movement and reached his limit pretty quickly. Khaldun did not doubt that his internal organs would be spread across the football field if he became some kind of teen parent. But he also knew better than to get a girl pregnant so early. He'd been at Hillworth; he knew all the tricks to prevent it from happening. 'Condom' was really only one on the list, and awfully close to the bottom in terms of how likely Khaldun would use it. But at least he'd heard of them.
"Not everyone can be you, sir," Khaldun stated neutrally, enjoying the freedom from Charonite's iron grip. He would have stepped back, but even one step just put his back against the tree trunk. That was perhaps the key thing - Khaldun didn't want to be like him. Khaldun was trying very, very hard not to be like the General-King, especially since Nealite made the comparison. Khaldun glanced downward at his costume briefly. He shrugged his shoulders to fix the cape and tried to smooth down the wrinkles from his and Audrey's interesting time together. "But you can't say I'm not trying to be when you see me in a costume like this - not that I chose this. Because I absolutely would not have. In the most respectful way possible, sir."
He was reminded once again of how goddamn glad he wasn't actually related to Charonite. After all, he'd been adopted, which meant he'd had parents before all this, which made Charonite not his father. Family friend, perhaps, but Khal didn't have any recollection that confirmed or denied it. Ugh, god, that was a horrible enough thought. The man was only eighteen years Khaldun's senior, but here he was... going on about... about... oh ******** no. Nooo ******** way.
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