[Re:Hexes] Another Life Another Story

[Foxi Doll]

As her voice reverberated through their headsets on its way out through the airwaves, he noticed how it had adapted from how she normally spoke. Most people started out too soft or too high pitched to be heard properly, but this girl was different. He couldn't help being impressed. The standard smile that he usually donned melted to his eyes as he continued to listen. It was an honest smile, one that showed he liked what he saw, or rather heard.

"I'm flattered," he responded smoothly, adjusting the mic's position with a flick of the pole by his finger. It looked remarkably like he tipped an invisible hat to her.

"And you can call me whatever you would like. I'm not particular on titles." He shrugged at this before letting his eyes fall momentarily to his laptop. The background music shifted slightly, from slow lilting horns to faster percussion.

"Well it's not blue right now. Remember that stint a few months ago?" he replied with a base chuckle.

If she was a fan, as he was in no doubt, she would remember his segment where he had to play a form of truth or dare with his listeners. If the callers finished three rounds with him then they would win tickets to whatever major performance happened to be going on at the time. That particular time he had been dared to dye his hair in the studio. He even broadcast his progress, exclaiming how electric a shade it had turned.

Although he had never shown anyone pictures of how it turned out, he had known that for several weeks after all people who happened to pass by on campus was hounded by fans in search of him. Everyone was eager to meet their illusive idol, while he reveled in staying anonymous.

And even though he continued on to regale a summarized version of the tale for those who hadn't been there, he didn't skip a beat. He picked up on her slip, saying she prefered to be his alpha girl.

"So, miss alpha," he rounded back to their conversation in a smooth segue,"What made you want to throw your cries to the night on my show?" Although cleverly coded for dramatic purposes, he was basically asking why she had entered in the contest. Sometimes the easiest questions led to the more interesting ones, or so he was led to believe.  

[Foxi Doll]

"Lucky huh?" he countered with a sly grin. He wondered just what sort of mischief this girl would want to cause. The very idea had titillating possibilities.

"A good owl hides in the least likely of places," he countered coolly, his blue eyes shining brightly against the lights of his soundboard. "Remember that if you ever get the urge to test that luck of yours. Try turning me any flaming color."

Oh, this was so good, he thought. All these double meanings was sure to rile some of his listeners. They always liked to try decoding his words, all the more reason for him to play up this air wave character. That and it always pleased him to watch his supervisor look dumbfounded. Like a part of him knew that what they spoke about was not appropriate for a radio show, but he didn't have any straightforward proof to stop him from doing it. It really helped when his guests played into his hands like this.

"Indeed," he replied to her comments about living once. The more he spoke with her, the more he liked what she had to say. It gave him lots to work with and she wasn't hard on the eyes either. True, that didn't have much use in a studio like this, but her voice was project-able, and that did. Not to mention that she was very much a take charge kind of person. After all, he was the one who was suppose to conduct the interview, yet here she was, asking twice as many questions and working off his comments in smooth repartee.

"The trick, dear alpha, is in the details." He purposefully left the answer open for her to comment. And although he knew she was enjoying herself, if the self satisfied smile was any indication, he wondered if she had come prepared to out him. DJ Night Owl had to deal with several of those in his time. People would do anything to reveal himself. But what they didn't understand was that part of his infamy was in his anonymity. People liked the mystery.

"You have a shop to sneak into?" he countered quickly. The wink surprised him. Was she flirting? he thought. This interview was getting more interesting by the minute. "Or is it more of a den for your pack?" He laughed at his own joke, winking back at her. It took two to play this sort of game anyway.

"Well let's take a moment to listen to a few tracks, shall we? First we got Question, by System of a Down. Following is New Divide by Link Park. This has been DJ Night Owl in the Night Life, here on KIDK."

Once the connection ended and their headsets were filled with nothing but the songs that now aired, Palian took a swig from his hidden drink and sat back in his chair.

"Not bad for an ex model turned college coffee house owner," he stated with his thumbs up. "You are definitely one of my best guests to date." He ended the statement by blowing a kiss in her direction.  

[Foxi Doll]

The DJ that sat across from her burst with laughter at her statement. He laughed so hard, that he literally had to grip the sides of his chair so that he didn't accidentally fall out of it. As quickly as the sound had broken her appalled silence, so it too quickly ceased. His eyes looked cold, the blue darkened like the bottom of a clear pool of water on the verge of freezing.

He stared at her, wondering how much of her was filled with outrage at his comment and how much was fear. He surmised that she feared he was a stalker. That he was some creep that followed the rich and famous for kicks. But seeing her there, dressed for what equaled to a night on the town, a familiar little bunny pendant twinkling in the dip between her breasts, he doubted she would want him to point that out that he couldn't be blamed for any lecherous thoughts. She practically dressed to show off her body, like a slap in the face. Saying, look at this, cause you can't have it. The boldness of it, he could admit to himself, was enticing.

"Trust me bunny, my fantasies are derived from things that would make your photo shoots look like baptismals for a queens nunnery," he said in a low voice, a twitch of a smile still playing on his otherwise serious face.

He was aware that that was the fate of anyone in the limelight. Famous people were fawned over by everyone who saw them. It was one of the reasons he stayed hidden. At least you can't get too depraved when all you know is a voice.

"That's what the grunts are for," he replied coolly as he sat back in his chair. In fact, he hadn't even needed to use them, but he wasn't about to let her know his secret. Nemo already was furious with him as it was.

Letting his eyes stray to his laptop, he noted that they had only a few more seconds before they went live again. He was always surprised how quickly his breaks flew past. All the more so with such interesting guests. His eyes warmed slightly as he motioned to her headset.

"Smile for the camera now," he said, though his voice lacked the disinterest he had feigned a moment ago. In fact, seeing her fiery personality in person made him want to out himself there. Almost at least. Palian was always one to enjoy his games. So he put on his smile and segued into the show once more.

"And we're back. This is DJ Night Owl and our lovely guest, miss tsukiko," he said as if they had not spoken between airings. "For those of you who are just tuning in, I've got our winner from the howling contest. She has graciously joined us tonight to throw her voice to the waves. So if any of you would like to drop us a line, I'm sure she would love to answer a few questions for us."  

[Foxi Doll]

Palain couldn't help the smile that crept on his face at hearing her voice. That little vixen, he thought. Trying to spin it on him again. He knew that having this girl join him on the show was a good idea. Well if she thought he was to be outdone on his own show, she was about to learn why he was in this business. DJ Night Owl was not one to take lightly.

He recited the number for the station and proceeded to fill the time by filling the viewers in on random shows that were performing at various venues around town. He didn't particularly care about some of them, but he knew that many college students loved reasons to waste time. And with mid terms right around the corner, he knew that his chances of getting bites for tickets were abnormally high.

"So this is how we play our game. You call, we give you a dare and then if you complete it, then you get tickets to the Rigger Concert next week. Sounds simple, right?"

While he talked, he noticed that Tsukiko had been avoiding eye contact. She seemed to be determined not to let what he said effect her. The smile she had plastered on her face, it was so fake. Like a mask. It frustrated him that she would want to school her expressions like that. Then he had an idea. A very wicked idea.

"Let's get the ball rolling with a fun first round," he said in a lower tone. "Miss alpha. I dare you. . . I dare you to shout out to the world. Shout out to our many listeners. But it must sound like you've reached a certain peak."

Translation? Sound like you are having an orgasm. His eyes were narrowed as he waited for her reaction. Would she do it? Or would she fold and leave? She may have thought he was a pervert before, but it wasn't about that. Palian wanted to know if she was willing to play his games. If she couldn't handle this little farce, then she wasn't going to be able to handle dealing with him like his supervisor kept hinting.

The DJ had been trying to hard to ignore the messages on his laptop. They were loving her. And thinking to ask her to return again. Maybe more. If that was the case, then he was going to put her through the paces. Late night radio shows were rare these days, mostly filled with love lines. So he couldn't really blame them for jumping on something as hot as this.

"To make it fair, if you complete my dare then you will get to dare me something," he added deviously.  

[Foxi Doll]

Palian couldn't help the flinch that came when he heard her belt out her howl into the mic. Yes, he thought. Packs much more of a punch in person. Although it wasn't quite what he had in mind, he smiled graciously and accepted that she had bested him in that round. But there were still others. And he was a sly man, prone to devious plots when boredom set in.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think that the wolf's got some bite," he voiced into the night. "Thank you for bringing us into your fold, Tsukiko. I'm sure that you'll have many others wanting to step forward and join your local pack." He chuckled at that. Yes, they would come. So many already knew that she owned a local coffee house and it wouldn't take them long to find the place and hound her for details. Made the perfect cover for him, should he decide to saunter in later. The idea made his eyes sparkle with untold glee.

He had to suppress the chuckle when she called him birdy. It tickled something in him to receive such a pet name, even if she meant it to be demeaning. But he nodded all the same, awaiting with hidden anticipation.

"Yes, please. Lay it on me," he couldn't help adding for the benefit of his listeners. And as he listened to her dare, he couldn't help his eagerness sharpen, making him sit more straight in his chair and lean in towards his mic.

He thought about her dare, chewing on his tongue as watched the expressions play on her face. Like a hidden gem, the silver ball of his tongue piercing glinted in the dim light before darting between his lips once more.

"The first and only girl I ever loved, never even knew what I looked like," he said finally. "She was part of another universe, I bet she would never have given me the time of day had we met under different circumstances. But I like to believe that there was a purpose set in motion. Not like divine intervention, but like mathematical inevitability. We were bound to collide, one way or another." He fell silent as he let the image of their first meeting fill his mind. it was cute, as memories went, but not something that was worthy of radio.

"But since I have painted not one but two people in mystery, detailed as it may seem, I fear I must fold this round and take your consequences." Again he flashed her an angled grin, tilting his head in a half nod.

"So let's get us a caller in here and try to get them some tickets," he finished gaily. And as much as he loved his show, Palian couldn't help the desire to just be done with it for the evening. He had nothing more he wanted to say and the show was nothing if not fast paced. So to end now with a bang was better than dragging the interview on for another hour.

One of the perks of his show, it was frequent enough that his listeners didn't mind that it varied in length. He only aired as much as he wanted, before handing the rest over to their pre-selected dead end playlist.  

[Foxi Doll]

The rest of the show wrapped up without a hitch, leaving both his audience and his supervisors happy with the performance. He caught the girl making a hasty exit while he was finishing his closing remarks and setting the show on its sound bit credits. She may have departed quickly and discreetly, but he was damned if he was about to let her disappear without a final word.

So with a final farewell to his supervisor, who gave him the thumbs up and the all clear to leave the small room without projecting the noise through the mics, Palian rushed out to catch up to the girl. He came to an abrupt stop when he saw her silhouette, framed by a wall of thick falling rain. The visual was striking enough that he paused before opening the glass doors that separated them.

As he pulled the glass door back, he was bombarded by the heavy sound of water crashing to earth. It fell so hard that water droplets actually bounced back into the air like tiny springs.

"Need a ride?" he asked after enjoying the sight in reverent silence. Since she hadn't moved, he could only assume that either she was as appreciative of the weather, or she didn't want to go in it. He didn't really see her as a girl that cared much for the affairs of the heavens.

Standing at her side, matching her stance, he looked at her sidelong. He wondered if she would have remembered him if he was anything like the man from those long years past. Would she laugh at the connection? Hate him for hiding his identity? Or be afraid that he would out her own secret identity. He had no current plans, but it was interesting to speculate.  

[Saia Kakaru]

Having been taking a much needed drink of water, the said drink nearly was spit back out when Fyte heard the dare. Coughing a bit, she looked around the shop, wondering if she had interpreted DJ Night Owl right. By the shocked and amused faces around the shop, Fyte had. She felt bad for her friend for having to do such and embarrassing thing on air, but she also knew Tsukiko would probably make him pay in spades. Then again, she had heard of tales from people who went to the "Rocky Horror Show" from her highschool friends… though she couldn't even fathom how people could manage to pull stuff like that off.

Fyte couldn't help but worry for her friend sometimes. She had taken her fair share of Japanese classes in her time, and it didn't take much for her to piece together the mysterious people asking for "Moon Child" were really asking for Tsukiko. Fyte always feigned ignorance and turned them away, freaking out so that Tsukiko wouldn't know she knew. If her friend had stuff from her past she didn't want to tell her best friend, Fyte wouldn't ask.

I can't take it anymore! After completing another order, she headed to the back. She was not going to sit around and let her friend take this kind of messing around, at least not without some encouragement. Snatching her cell phone out of her backpack, Fyte quickly texted Tsukiko to take the dare and "shove it right where the sun don't shine." Fyte had never really been one to enjoy DJ Night Owl's behavior on air, and this just took the cake. However, in her haste she dropped her phone, causing the battery to jump out of the case and the message to be lost forever. Quickly putting it back together, she turned it on once again before heading back out to the front.

It had surprised her greatly when the show came to an end quickly after that. Maybe it was the work of his managers, maybe it was just him deciding he had wrecked enough mayhem for tonight. Either way, Fyte had listened long enough for tonight. She saw a good number of people leaving the coffee shop now that the show was over, despite the pouring rain. Waving goodbye to her fellow "pack mates", she looked at the clock. Seeing as how late it had gotten (the show always did start at a late hour) she called out to Nemo. "Maybe we should close early tonight. Everyone pretty much already left, and it doesn't seem like anyone else is gonna be coming in with this rain." She explained, walking over to the counter. Grabbing the broom, she began to sweep the shop floor.  

[Foxi Doll]

Nemo had managed to have an idle moment, once the show had begun. Everyone that had come to support their "leader" already had their orders and sat in clumps around the shop. He wondered if Tsukiko ever realized how many people loved her around here. And it wasn't just because she was some young beauty that ran a convenient coffee house. It was who she was. The wonderful person that treated all her customers as family, no matter how frequently they stopped in. He envied her, with those open smiles and quick wit that charmed even the grumpiest who dared enter.

She even proved immune to the one person who he thought would be the one to crack her, Palian. But if the broadcast was anything to go by, then he could relax. Tsukiko sounded like she was able to handle anything he threw at her and toss it right back. However, Nemo held the seed of doubt that tried to make him worry. Palian wasn't someone to just take a defeat standing. If he found someone who could volley his games, then he might see it as a challenge. And that might make him more determined to see how well that person could play.

The very thought made Nemo cringe. He tossed his green streaked hair from his face, sighing as he leaned against the counter with his arms crossed. He didn't like the idea of letting his roommate terrorize his boss. It was bad enough that he had to deal with him on a daily basis. But he knew that he could not say anything directly either. If he did, Palian would think there was a reason and press even harder. No, he definitely had to be more subtle. But how?

Movement caught his gaze, pulling him from his thoughts. Nemo just caught the tail of an apron and a strand of ebony hair as it darted behind the counter into the back room. He knew without investigating more that it was Fyte, but he was curious as to why she seemed in such a hurry. Everyone else was in a trance, so to speak. They all sat in silence, or murmuring in soft voices so they could hang on every word. Nemo always thought Palian was a poetic dunce, but apparently it was something that charmed many.

He let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding when the show ended. The world hadn't ended, although he might have to say a few choice things to a certain DJ when he saw him next. It wasn't lost on him that he hadn't been mentioned in the show tonight, as was Palian's custom. Though Nemo hated having people listen to raunchy songs that the DJ assumed would have his secret crush swoon all over him, Nemo knew that this change of plan, or omission, was not a good sign. It meant that he had found something so interesting that he forgot to maintain his normal irritating facade.

Closing his eyes, Nemo said a silent prayer. He prayed to a God that he wasn't really sure was there, or that cared, that nothing horrible would happen to the ones that he cared about. And strangely enough, that included the man whom he suspected would be the source of the coming turmoil.

After most of the customers had fled under the thick and sudden downpour, Nemo pulled away from his counter and went to one of the bay windows. It hardly ever rained here, so when it did he always felt compelled to watch it, if only for a moment. It was a calming and mesmerizing sound.

"Yea," he replied softly with a slow nod. "Let's close up and go home." He let himself chance a gaze at the woman who busied herself with cleaning. She was always like that, always on the move. Ever since they first met, he loved watching her do that. Like she had too much energy and even when she tried to be still, her body could not handle the strain and would make her fidget to compensate. He never minded that, because it was like she spread little bits of happiness in the wake of that movement. Or maybe that was just because he was smitten. Either way, he let himself watch her for just a moment, blushed at his rudeness and turned away to go clean his station.