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 Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2017 12:50 pm
The phone rang for a time, each toneless syllable digitally garbled and offensively delivered. Isaiah drew his lower lip into his mouth and chewed while he waited for some sign of response on the other end - a 'hello', a voicemail, a disconnected number notification. Panic regarding sudden corruption still surfaced in residual waves. As Jada, she proved immensely busy in her local stardom and constant responsibility to babysit the Chamberlyn fortunes. Knowing that much issued no reprieve from the burgeoning anxiety, however. The shopkeeper swallowed, and wished for a drink.
By the second ring, Isaiah was on his feet. He knew his way to the kitchen with ease by now. The perpetually-absent Kavinsky wasn't around to serve him a drink. By the third ring, he reached the kitchen. By the fourth ring, he picked his poison.
By the sixth ring, he tracked down all substituent parts for a mint mojito. When the voicemail picked up, he started the pour. Ice chimed against glass musically while the cubes danced in the drink. Jada's polite voice overwrote them, though the digital stream stripped away some of the better qualities of her tone. Ice waited with the balls of his tongue rings pressed to the roof of his mouth. Finally, the beep indicated the start of the message.
"Jada, it's Ice." The greeting felt informal, dismissive of their previous troubles. "I suppose you're busy balancing the world on your shoulders." A laugh. No, a chortle. A sip of his drink lessened the weight of a pause. "Will you come over tonight? I expect we have more to discuss than what our phone batteries will allow. I can't promise you fancy home cooking, but I've gotten really good at ordering takeout. If you can't find the time, call me back. We'll reschedule. Assuming, of course, the axis mundi doesn't collapse and flatten the both of us.
"It's… Two PM right now. If you can let me know what you've decided by six, I'd appreciate it. See you then." He pulled the phone from between ear and shoulder and touched red. Retiring the phone to the counter, he stood over his mojito in contemplation. Of course, the prospect remained that Jada may never find time to answer. Or she might be reeling from the past events herself, and need more time away from discussing it. Or she got corrupted shortly thereafter. Or she got killed. Or oar ore.
I can't narrowly avoid having my life explode and circle back to inane s**t like this. Just prep the place and move on.
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:59 pm
Jada felt slightly like she imagined a slab of tenderized beef did. She'd been getting her a** handed to her of late, and the only saving grace she had was that she hadn't (yet) been impaled on a rusty iron pole, or broken a bone, or gotten hospitalized, or damaged to the point that she had needed any stitches. The amount of makeup she was using to try and cover up when she went out in public was disgusting. And when the last time was she had worn pants and leggings this many consecutive days in a row? Someone was going to start rumors about her developing varicose veins or having surgery or something. She had been going crazy lately, between trying to deal with catching up on work since her month in Europe and two children who had missed their mother-figure, and trying to arrange contractors for the house repairs, finding more staff... then at night, she was henshining up 6 nights a week instead of the 4 she had been doing for a while. Saturday nights had been inviolate, but no longer; no night was safe from trying to seek out connections for the goal she was slowly beginning to consider. So a day like this, where she could come home after a morning meeting and crawl back into her bed and stuff her head under her pillow, was a lovely, perfectly-timed day. Her phone going off roused her somewhat, and she groaned, lifting her head and staring blearily at the device as it stopped ringing. Ice's face vanished. That was an important call, she acknowledged; they'd little enough in contact since the night she'd almost lost one of her few (new? remaining?) friends. She owed him more than just a group hug- she'd promised him a vacation, and goodness knew what he'd been up to. Rising, she listened to the voicemail and then took a shower, stretching out sore muscles and covering up some of her bruises. By 3 PM Ice had a message of his own- Sorry, was unconscious. Can come by. Need me to bring anything? Jada XOIt wouldn't take her long to pick up anything he requested, gather a few things she had wanted to deliver for him- a pair of shoes he had left that she'd gifted him, a few extra whatevers- and finish up whatever she needed. So about 6, she was outside, hair tucked under a hoodie; made up to cover the bruises on her face, and the rest just buried under coat and leggings. "Hello," she said brightly upon seeing his face, "I come bearing gifts."
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Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2017 9:07 am
After sending a cheeky text about Jada bringing herself, clothing optional, Isaiah tossed caution to the wind about the incessant nudges and tweaks he employed to make the place feel more welcoming. Shifting a glass another quarter inch to the right wasn't going to matter much overall, he reminded himself, and instead moved toward shoving some Hustler magazines under his bed, relocating Tasty's litter box (he cringed at the combination phrase) out of sight, and ensuring that he expunged all evidence of any binge drinking over the last week.
Good impressions were important, he reminded himself, even if he felt like he somehow skirted the truth by cleaning the place up a bit.
He considered doing so a necessity, however, as Jada descended from one of the richest families (if not the richest) he ever knew, and likely expected utmost cleanliness out of any venture. Alternately, if she held such a point of view, he decided that it might do her some good to come back to middle-class reality and realize what a real bachelor pad looked like, questionable stains and all. But really, all Isaiah managed was to continue justifying his pendulum swing between a grungy mess of a condo and a clean room where no one dare breathe. He supposed, then, that life changes weren't immediately incurred as a result of having one's starseed pulled. The pressure of expectation still remained that he needed to somehow turn his life around in short order.
Finally he heard the knock, pleasantly on time, and crossed the area to open his place to Jada. Answering the door by pulling across his body became an unpleasant side-effect of becoming suddenly left-handed, but Isaiah tried to cover up his mild annoyance as he greeted his friend. "Didn't get my text?" He asked with a quirked brow. His teasing transitioned smoothly into a grin. "Thanks for coming." He shouldered the door further open to allow her inside.
"Sorry if my condo isn't up to snuff, but I'm only one man with one arm and a cat that's constantly trying to jam up my cleaning progress. I never imagined a cat would be so hellbent on chasing a vacuum…" He leaned back against the door, shutting it with a confirmative click. "You can set your stuff on the coffee table over there. Tastykake might be hiding under the couch; she'll take swipes at your legs if you get too close."
He sighed through his nose, though he retained his previous countenance. "Have you fared alright?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2017 1:36 pm
His text about optional clothing had made her smile, but she hadn't sent him back a reply one way or another. There were some things that could remain a surprise for later. It was more fun that way, probably. "I got your text," she greeted, leaning up to offer her friend a soft, brief kiss on the cheek as she moved into the house as invited, "I just decided it was more important to not get arrested for public indecency or freeze to death." her laugh was soft. "And anytime, Ice, thanks for having me." she let her carefully groomed brows lift suggestively. She couldn't help it. She was weak, and the hint of a joke was right there. Defenseless. "Your condo is fine," she assured him with a cursory look around the visible area, "It looks cleaner than mine did when I lived alone and I had two arms and a cat terrified of vacuum cleaners. Besides, worst case scenario I wrinkle up my nose and drink the stains away with..." reaching into her bag, she set the heels he had left next to the coffee table and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, waggling it. " Ta Da, you know I have to bring a gift with me when I visit." The last time she had been swiped at by a cat she had been a cat. Still, Jada skirted the couch with some small amount of caution, tugging off her outer coat and hoodie and settling them over the back of the couch. The wide variety of scratches and bruises she had been acquiring during her evening adventures as Scylla were faded but visible up and down her bare arms, back and crawling down her midriff and into the top of her denim leggings, her bright red halter top covering anything on her chest. "I've had better months," she told him cheerfully, "but I'm alive and uncorrupted. That's better than it could be. The Negaverse hasn't retaliated for anything, and I have been making some interesting new friends." she tilted her head, looking him over with a considering eye. "And how have you been?" She had seen him out and about as Scholomance, but as Ice he had been a bit more quiet than she had expected. Angry at her for the accidental de-starseeding?
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Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 6:05 pm
Well damn, you made that joke awkward fast. Ice gave her a polite smile. Isaiah leaned back against his front door, shutting it effectively with the bony blades of his shoulders, and kept his gaze trained on his companion. While his apartment was open, owed to the loft style, it was similarly rather bare and unforgiving. Isaiah lacked the time since its acquisition to suss out proper rugs to bring some life into the place, and some of the furniture he was looking to buy wasn't quite in the threshold of 'cheap' (but neither was it to the budgetary realm of Jada's choosing). Nonetheless, he did garner a start on a couple bookshelves to break up the space, and the built-ins in the kitchen area left the abode looking a little less sparse.
Ice often liked watching Jada, especially since the time spent at her house. While staring off in his exhausted state, she never seemed to mind the lingering attention he paid to her. Perhaps it was a byproduct of being a model for so long - and in that, Isaiah found himself another short pang of grief. Never could he enjoy those modeling skills, not with his drawing arm irrevocably gone.
"I think we've all had better months." After locking the door, Ice approached the coffee table where Jada stood. He quirked a brow as out came a bottle of fine whiskey, and the sudden thirst he felt proved overwelming. "Oho, would you look at that? Whiskey, my old friend, might we get reacquainted? If there was anything I could've asked for, Jada, you nailed it on your own." And Ice intended to make full use of the bottle, especially if Jada wanted to share the spoils. He gestured toward it pertly. "Care for a glass?"
He paused for a brief answer before he darted to the kitchen nonetheless. Pretenses need keeping, he reminded himself with a grim smile. He spoke louder to project his voice while he rummaged through his kitchen. "Pretty sure I spent an entire day staring at the ceiling and wondering what the hell just happened. Then the next couple of days went past in a fog. Then I visited my wonder. That helped, strangely enough.
"It's strange. I expected more of an impact from all of it, you know?" Ice straightened with his take from the kitchen. "In the movies, there's often this sense of profound change that comes when something life-threatening passes. Characters overturn their whole lives and march on, never looking back. But here…" He paused, snorted irreverently, "it's like nothing ever happened. The sun still rises, the grass still grows, and people still try to sell their stolen merchandise to my pawn shop. Even when I power up, it's like the whole damned thing never happened. I'm still trying to reconcile with that."
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 6:46 pm
Ice gave her a polite smile, not a laugh, which told the heiress that her joke had fallen flat, or shot off in the completely wrong direction; still, try try again. He'd shut her up one way or another when her attempts at humor grated his last nerve. At least she had brought something to help him ease a little bit of the pain of her sense of humor. She couldn't win them all, and one day she would figure it out. She considered the stark simplicity and dubious cleanliness of the apartment, remembering the fact that at one point when she was freshly 18 and her parents disapproved of her life choices, Castor had been a mouser, and she'd been forced to sell his (literally) diamond-studded kitty collar for rent money and food. It had been awful. the bookshelves attracted her attention, and she peered briefly to see if there were any new titles before turning her attention to the matter at hand, turning with a wide, open gesture. "Apparently, this bottle feared you were flirting with sobriety, like I do. Didn't want to lose us both." she let the joke hand out there dully before she corrected herself and told Isaiah, "Actually, it has been calling my name afar too loudly, so I saved it for when I might have a friend to help catch me as I fall grandly off the wagon." she nodded into his offer for a glass; "Unless you just want to go completely wild and just pass the bottle back and forth." she glanced back at the bookshelf one last time before following him towards the kitchen. What she could see was not covered in mice and roaches- still doing better than the shithold she had lived in. She pulled in the whiskey close to her midriff, watching him move, and not looking away when he turned around. Instinct had her wanting to open her mouth and reply, but she let him get it out, first. Listened attentively, head tilted, watching him with interest. Affection? Well, he was a friend, after all. "It feels like it should be bigger," she agreed. "Like there should be some kind of retribution for it hanging over my head somehow. Look up, waiting for the axe to fall, but it isn't there yet?" It's like the whole damned thing never happened.but it had, she could remember the way it had felt to watch him fall, his starseed separated. A teleport away from gone. She sucked in a breath, let it out slow. "I'm glad they didn't win, though, even if life isn't behaving like the movies. Nothing, though? Not even a sudden leaning towards religion?" red-painted mouth quirked. "Or smacking around thieves in the back room?" she shifted back towards the couch, allowing him more room to bring his acquisition into the main room, peering cautiously at the base of the couch to check for swipey cat paws before taking a seat, settling the bottle on the coffee table.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 10:09 pm
Ice's hand hesitated over the second glass at her words, and wondered then if he should overrule her decision. She wanted sobriety, just as he had wanted it - and it hunted him forever more by widening the pit in the back of his mind. If she found with which to replace drink, then was there a point in that sobriety? Weren't the dangers just displaced?
He expected as much. Jada still looked on with damage in her eyes, her gaze bleak at times when she knew to put up a front. They matched each other in misbegotten coping mechanisms, in avoidance and addiction, and now she invited him to ruin her slow strides toward victory over alcoholism. In retrieving the glass for her, was he not sealing her fate? Shouldn't he step in with every social more under the sun and warn her against ruining herself. Rather than acting as the hand to catch her in her fall, wasn't he supposed to be the hand that catches her before she falls? But Isaiah knew he never once proved himself that kind of person. In all the times his friends asked for that helping hand, he acted the temptor instead. And now here he was, serving a glass to an alcoholic in his own home.
But Ice would not treat Jada as a child. Even if he carried her best interests at heart, banning her from a decision she had every right to make would never treat the problem at hand, and would only serve to banish her autonomy in the same way that Gwen banished his the day after he lost his arm. She earned her ex-girlfriend status in that.
Finally Ice returned to where his companion stood, with two glasses held together with a pinch of fingers inside the rim. He set the pair down on the coffee table with a soft clink. "We'll pretend to be civilized, but we're not going to lie to ourselves by dressing it up with ice. I say we drink it straight and eat after we're well on our way to forgetting this ever happened." He collapsed onto the sofa with a dramatic flair, punctuating his descent with a sigh.
A sweep of fingers bade her a seat next to him. "I'm afraid I'm still the worst Buddhist the world has ever seen. Though, I wouldn't mind killing off the rest of the Negaverse about now." Pausing, he reclined his head against the back of the sofa. "I can't really remember what happened. Talking, then a hand on my starseed, then staring up at Hvergelmir. All the rest is gone. Hell, I don't even get to remember how she stuffed my starseed down the front of her dress like a twenty-dollar bill. Ain't that some s**t?" Ice shot her a lidded side-eye.
"Speaking of, I believe you owe me a fancy pizza."
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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2017 5:04 pm
"There's nothing wrong with a little ice and whiskey." Jada said it teasingly, clearly amusing herself with the fact she was having- well, a conversation with Ice- as she dropped easily into the seat that he had gestured her to, leaning forward and opening the bottle. Benromach 1976; she and her father had enjoyed a couple shots of it, but then it had gotten abandoned in favor of other things, and whiskey was something she didn't like to drink alone. It needed company just as much as she herself did. The two glasses stared at her, and her thirst warred with her mind. The decision had been left firmly in her own hands- if there was one thing she had suspected Ice would do, it would be leave her decision on sobriety in her own hands like a damn adult. Which was both excellent and appreciated, and ******** awful when all you wanted to do was drink yourself unconscious. Still, She poured them each a glass, his distinctly more generous than her own by another finger, and recapping the bottle, but then she scooted back to join him, gazing at the dark gold liquor for a moment before focusing on what he'd said. "Sounds like a great night to me," she agreed, shifting to consider him. "What's the meal plan? Call for pizza or chinese?" He had clearly said takeout instead of home cooking, but if they were drinking first then it would probably have to be delivery. The last thing Jada needed right now was to be involved in a DUI, whether she was driving or he was. Honestly, Jada couldn't imagine the knight even giving Buddhism a try, but then how much did she actually know about the man? They were hardly bosom-friends after all, even if she had opened herself up to him early on. Strangely early on; perhaps because he was so frank, perhaps because of his excellent taste in teacups. "If we're not lying to ourselves, then I must tell you that you weren't handled like a twenty. You were at least a fifty. If someone wanted that starseed, they were diving." Though she did also have to admit, she didn't think anyone would have been complaining about the exertion. Hver was a lovely woman. Shifting, Jada gave her friend a warm smile, letting it drift in the general direction of her eyes. "If pizza is what you want, pizza you shall have. I think the revised vacation spots were Musha Cay, Bora Bora, and Vegas, though. I have to admit, the idea of Chicago Deep Dish felt a little lackluster after the adrenaline."
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 3:28 pm
"Why does it have to be one or the other? I've always kept a few runners on hand for my business - people to go to and fro picking up some trades where I'm indisposed to do so myself. A couple of them are pretty desperate for money, what with the semester ending soon and the need to drink burning a hole in their mind. I'm sure one of them wouldn't mind making a couple of stops to deliver the otherwise undeliverable." And while he desperately wanted to hold his drink in one hand and dial with the other, he had to retire his glass to the counter long enough to start a text. Thirst settled in as an old companion while he typed out the message to his chosen courier, then sent the message off without fully correcting his typos. Let them think he was drunk already; it would soften expectations for when they finally arrived.
Afterward, he tossed the phone to the table in exchange for his glass of liquid bliss, and cursed toward the ceiling with Jada's latest revelation. "Damn damn damn, I wish I was conscious for that. It's complete s**t, you know - all that time spent between her tits and it's like it never happened. I can't even feel a little boob sweat on my soul. Starseeds are s**t for sentimentality." Though, Ice was rather surprised that hiding a starseed in such a space didn't turn Hvergelmir into a walking target. If he wound up a Negaverse agent by the end of such an affair, he would've certainly dove into that cleavage for the two-fer it offered. Perhaps Hvergelmir would take pity on him someday and let him experience what could not be recorded in memory.
"I don't know anything about Musha Cay or Bora Bora, but Vegas is a beautiful deathtrap of a place. Definitely where I'd explode my heart from a cocaine overdose, so… Maybe not quite Vegas. Really, anywhere where I can spend the day buzzed and sleep half the day away sounds like ap leasant choice." Jada was the one with the money - if she chose to spend it on the lot of those involved going to an unheard-of island, he'd find a way to enjoy it. Hell, he didn't have to spend a dime.
"Wherever you choose to go, it'll be good to get away from here."
Ice tilted his glass toward her to give her a toast before taking his first sip. The whiskey brought proved quite robust, filling his mouth with a simple sip, and burned heartily on the tongue. Swallowing it down proved smooth, easy, and much too enjoyable. He could lose himself in a few bottles of this, he decided. He could lose Jada between the sheets, too - preferably before his old companion Whiskey d**k showed up to ruin the party. "I like to think I'd have missed you if I corrupted," he responded after a silence, staring at his glass. "I can't really pretend I know how the memory loss of it works - that may not even be close, but… Whatever we are to each other, it's good. It's important. I'd miss it."
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Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 5:22 pm
"I'm down with having both of them," Jada agreed easily, and took a small sip of her drink as she watched him begin to type out his text. "I love options. You know, I've never thought about using one of those delivery services for doing something like that, though." she probably should have, the kids would love it. But now they had the chef, so unless a day off was requested, they didn't eat out too much anymore. Jada watched his fingers, considering. While it crossed her mind to offer to help him, at the same time she had to wonder if Isaiah would take it as it was meant- something she would offer to even a friend with two hands having problems- or as a slight. So she let it go unspoken, and turned her attention to the home, nestling deeper into his couch and debating baiting his cat from under it with a foot. "You aren't one of those Hawaiian pizza eaters are you? Heating up pineapple with tomato sauce." Heathens. As he cursed upwards about not remembering his time as a starseed, Jada's laugh was wicked and unrepentant for telling him. "If you close your eyes and dig real deep I bet you can find something." her lips quirked. "Might be more panic and desperation than boob sweat, or the memory of a flatbear blown in from the northerlies or something, but I am sure it won't be boring." her smile was gentle and amused as she considered. "I just want to know where she held it, honestly. I would put money on that she doesn't have a bra under that, so where did she tuck it?" She knew there was some magical support going on, her own fuku was a prime example, but... "No Vegas. I'd much rather not have to explain an exploded heart, and I always avoided coke." purple eyes drifted over his slim face, considering. Not the kind to enjoy a ranch, probably. Did he get seasick? He didn't seem bothered by the idea of a jet, so he might like flying. Had he been overseas? Did he speak any languages? What did she know about him, after the time they'd spent together? That she liked kissing him? That he'd made very human mistakes? That she was willing to risk more than she'd thought about to help him? "We'll have to make a list together," she said after a moment, "Take you someplace new and exciting to make real life a little more boring." The lump that rose in her throat at his words wasn't easy to try and swallow. "I know I would certainly have missed you if you corrupted." she set down her glass on the table, and slid her weight across the couch to him, reaching out to caress a strand of hair. "Whatever this is, Ice- I think- we're definitely friends? At least. You're smart, fun, and you've broadened my horizons quite a bit since I met you." another flash of humor. "I'm glad I didn't lose you. This." Jada might not be attached to him romantically, but she was attached. He was important, same as... whatever this was.
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2017 8:28 pm
Isaiah offered her a light shrug. "Sometimes they take offense to it. It's one thing to ask them to go from point A to point B for business, but as soon as pleasure's involved, it's somehow an insult to their person. Frankly, if it were me, I wouldn't care so long as I was getting paid…" He took another sip, and his phone lit up with an answer, buzzing harshly against the table surfae. Once again, he swapped glass for phone. "I really only ate hawaiian when I was stoned. Something about that sweet and tangy really satisfied the munchies. It's been a while since pot dropped into my life, so no, I wouldn't say I'm one of those. Charlotte agreed to help out, so what kind of toppings are you after? Or are you more into the chinese?"
Both feet found purchase on the edge of the table and Isaiah reclined somewhat, spreading his arm out over the back of the couch. If Jada minded, he was certain she'd tell him - they'd known each other at least long enough for that. "I don't suppose Hver's tits are a viable vacation spot. Pretty sure she could pack a whole host of people between those two globes. Though, you're not far off from her yourself." Ice offered her a knowing look.
"Even if I did explode my heart, you wouldn't have anyone to explain it to. Well, my mom would be none too happy with you, but we haven't spoken in a while. My stepsis would just laugh; she saw that one coming ages ago." She called it, too, on one sweltering summer night when she caught Travis and him out by the orchards again. Where was she now? Still in Wisconsin, married, with kids, living a boring life. They seldom talked for good reason - she was just boring, and her husband believed in guns for all and rights for none. And what of his dad? s**t, he needed to plow through half the bottle for a devil-may-care explanation on that one. Maybe Jada carried some of those same experiences. "What about you? If I'm the sole survivor in a horrible plane crash and have to eat your body to survive, who's going to come blow my own teeth out my a** with a shotgun? And don't tell me it's Giulia."
Ever the lover of attention, Isaiah preened inwardly at her touch. His arm shifted from the couhc to her shoulders readily, and he weighed a few internal options before speaking. "I'd say we should get busy seeing exactly how far your horizons have broadened, but Charlotte might come up in the middle of it and that's a surprise she doesn't deserve.
"Someday, I'd like to think we won't be drinking to our continued survival, but to the fall of the Negaverse. That'll be quite the celebration." He leaned in then, and pending her approval, sought to kiss her.
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2017 7:04 pm
"I'd do a lot of things for money," Jada mused, "And in fact, have done a lot of things for money." She'd been poor for a time, and it had been the worst months of her life, trying to scrape by without a trust fund on minimum wage. ******** that s**t. She'd taken every job, and what she had made off her modeling since she had gotten back to her normal lifestyle had gone to charities to try and help those less fortunate than her. However she could. "I mean, it might be a bit riskier a job if you didn't know your clients, but they already work for you, so it isn't like pizza delivery where they are showing up to a total stranger's at a** o'clock at night." she almost took another sip of her whiskey,but it was already down and she was too lazy to grab it. "I'll take just about anything but anchovies and pineapple. If we're going for cheap chinese, I like moo shu pork and sesame chicken." His feet found purchase on the table and she grinned over at him as he discussed curves. "You can be the one to ask her, if you want to vacation in her Bahamas. As for her huge tracts of land, I wouldn't say she could pack a whole host, but I could definitely see a small assembly." his arm slid to her shoulders, and Jada shifted comfortably, leaning in to his touch without hesitation. "Poor Charlotte," she said dryly, "Maybe she would rather a stranger's house at a** o'clock." her voice was rich with teasing, and she grinned to him, unrepentant. But there was another question he had asked, and she took another moment to consider her response. "Well, if you had to eat my already-dead body to survive, I'd say you would be forgiven for the circumstances," she told him after a moment. "If you deliberately killed me in order to eat me, I think after my family got past their own hearts exploding from shock, Aidan would get to you before Giulia finished crying. Though he's still little- if Lucas showed up, last I heard he was going to med school, so he might be more of a cause for worry." Jada wasn't sure what to tell him about his family- she knew little enough about them. It wasn't her practice to pry beyond any visible ties that could endanger the set-up of the twins remaining in her care. "Honestly, it isn't my blood relatives you would have to worry about as much as the paparazzi who would be upset you're taking the generator of a couple future paychecks for them. I try and stay out of their way, but sometimes they find a few good pictures to try and sell for a cheap scandal." Her red lips curved, and she let him kiss her, eagerly returning the favor slow and leisurely. His hand on her shoulder left her own free to slide up to his cheek, a soft thumb brushing over one sharp cheekbone gently as she offered a deeper kiss, and shifted position to invite a more comfortable position. "Damn right we're gonna celebrate," she told him when she pulled back briefly for a sharp breath, "And we won't be drinking this, either. I'll pull out the obscene s**t for that."
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2017 10:01 pm
With the kiss returned, and a touch of metal pressed beyond Jada's lips, Isaiah welcomed the shift of seating. She looked better on his lap, anyway - especially since it grew a touch more plush with his dismissal of calorie counting. He could hug her waist rather than her shoulders now, which ws often preferable. Women had far better waists than men.
"You've had to work a day in your life?" Isaiah narrowed hazel eyes at her in jest. "I call bullshit. I've seen where you live. Try again." The towering shelves for the library came first to mind, then the impossibly decorated expanse of a bedroom second. Her bathroom came third, if only because he expected a floor-length mirror for proper enjoyment of one's partners. And those little waterfall shower deals seldom ever gave him the pressure he wanted. Those handheld shower wands felt a bit too ableist for his pleasure, too.
But the fact remained - Jada sat on a lot of money. A lot of marriageable money.
Oh, that's right, he was an eligible bachelor now. How about that.
"Somehow I don't see Hvergelmir taking up with me like that. Granted, I only met her twice now, and neither time struck me as particularly sexy moments. All that seriousness really kills the mood." He wondered, then, if he had a shot the first time he ever met her. As a squire, he stood too chickenshit of his own wonder to really press for any chances among fellow knights. If he had, what would have changed? Would he have known more loyalty to the faction than he had in the prior year? Would doing Hver have retained his rights to an arm? Or did that simply launch him into a separate set of circumstances that led to the same result, in that whole 'free will doesn't matter' mess? Scholomance struggled with disentangling himself from such convoluted trains of thought.
Or, he did struggle, until he cast his gaze toward the cleavage zone. Easy changes of topic, those. "I'm sure I could make it up to the paparazzi. We could make reparations for your theoretical murder by putting on a show in front of the windows. Granted, it's a little high up for even the most desperate of amateur photographers, but I'm sure someone will be looking." Though with their luck, he expected a Negaverse agent.
His phone buzzed once again, and Isaiah mouthed the telltale phrase of <******** me in the shared space between them. "She's probably here already." A quick pat on the a** intimated the need for Jada to temporarily dislodge.
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 11:26 am
She leaned in to him as he teased her, pressing her forehead to his. "I worked a day," she teased back, settling her arms around his shoulders and playing idly with the back of his hair, "It was tragic and terrible." her dramatic half-swoon forward was probably too much, but it was all in good fun- and it let her n** at his ear with sharp little teeth. "I even got fired. Twice." She had wondered, sometimes, if he missed the ability to do little things like this- settle two arms around a lover's shoulders and be able to adjust and shift playfully around them, and not be... afraid? What if he fell, or... it could just be difficult, if there was carelessness and inattention. Jada had never even had a broken bone. As such, she couldn't even accurately imagine the situation he was in, and it made her thoughtful. But she had yet to ask him- had yet to broach if he might have an interest in trying to get a prosthesis. Was it rude to ask? Was it rude to not, when she was the one of the two could afford it? If she asked, would it seem that she was trying to fix him, somehow? Social cues were a minefield, and while Jada could usually dive in head first- this was someone she cared about. If she approached the idea without him commenting, she would have to go carefully. It was his choice, and she didn't want him thinking she found him somehow less, when all she wanted to do was help improve small things in his quality of life. "She liked you enough to put you in her cleavage," Jada volunteered cheerfully, "It might not be sexy moments that you have shared with her, but lets be honest. I probably would have stuffed you in my glove just to make sure you didn't fall straight out the bottom of my skirt and get dropped on your little starseed head while I was running. She not only put you there, but knew you wouldn't fall out. That's a confident lady, right there." His suggestion had made her smile, and she clucked her tongue. "See, there you are, Isaiah, stretching my boundaries even when we're talking about my eventual murder and cannibalization." Which wasn't a way she wanted her boundaries stretched, really. "Whoever looks up would have quite a surprise in store." As his phone buzzed and he cursed inaudibly between them, Jada laughed, offering a kiss to his nose. "Before or after dinner?" she inquired sweetly as she moved back across the couch to let him get up or grab his phone- whatever he needed to do. Spending time with him made her smile, she mused as she watched him move; it wasn't something she could let slide unnoticed. Her genuine smiles felt rare. She got lonely and depressed, and forgot sometimes her small but solid group of companions, still growing. Whatever name got tied to their friendship- it was one of the best things she had right now, and the relief she hadn't lost him to death and corruption was intense.
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Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 12:09 pm
Caresses and attentions felt all too difficult to ignore, as was his stomach. Parting from present company proved more demanding for the small maneuvers that had to take place - small maneuvers he hadn't perfected since losing an appendage to Schörl and Cinnabar's little game. The trick relied far more on Jada than he was used to, and he wondered if that sudden shift in control dissuaded her somehow. Maybe the lot of it was an exercise of his overactive imagination. He couldn't dwell on it now.
Ice padded to the door and answered it to find Charlotte standing there in all her demure glory - or what would've been demure by posture if she wasn't wearing an off-the-shoulder dress that plunged a little low for modesty. Arms locked together with the bag up front, pushing her chest together and projecting a much more sensualized version of timidity and passivity. And while Isaiah tried to ignore such a display as best he could, he found that focusing on her eyes proved quite difficult. "Thanks Charlotte," he offered, and released the door to reach for the bag.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" She almost blurted the words, whether too excited at long last to say them or too forceful with herself to swallow them back down. Isaiah wasn't certain which.
Ice paused. Worst nightmare confirmed. "If we weren't working together and I didn't have company, I would invite you in." He hoped, then, that Jada wouldn't overhear his return and take it in a jealous fashion like Gwen would, or that saying so somehow undermined her company. Or that anyone in the immediate vicinity assumed he would sleep with her, because Ice recognized after a long line of destitute relationships that tapping that only went to toxic places for both of them.
She lost her nerve then, and retired the bag to his grip. Bowing her head, she muttered a hastened "night," then clopped toward the elevator at a brisk pace. Crisis averted, he supposed - until he had to work with her again.
After bringing the food to the coffee table, Isaiah reached into the large brown bag to extract the vertical pizza box from within. This, he could handle without great issues. The chinese takeout boxes beneath it, on the other hand, proved more of a trial to consume. "There's Kung Pao, General Tso's and a few other things," he offered. "Chopsticks in the bottom. Forks are to the left of the stove if you're one of those people." He quirked a brow at her, dryly judging.
Seating himself next to her once more, he cracked open the pizza box. A mediterranean affair arranged artfully on a white alfredo base greeted him with a light but pungent smell. "If I had two arms, I'd say we could combine the two. Instead, we'll have to settle for after - I'm starving."
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