For all his embarrassment, he, and humorously the cat, spared a glance back over their shoulder back at the familiar corrupt, though missing her tiara the fuki was one in the same, before noticing that their glance was, well - noticed and glancing away again. They turned another corner and would be gone soon, down one of the less frequented streets.
He shouldn’t be too hard to find, the unbuttoned peacoat, the long scarf of earthy and red tones that stood out against the blue-purple shade of his hair. And the fact that the cat, though the star had been hidden, was radiating a chaotic energy didn’t hurt either. Perhaps they were masquerading as a house pet.
~~~
It was a curious notion that she would have simply shrugged off if it wasn’t for the second glance they both gave before disappearing down the adjacent street. With the shadows partially covering his face it made his expression difficult to parse but Meridiana felt pretty certain it was anything but disgust. Ok, I’ll bite…
With a coy smile the Senshi of the Succubus followed the mauvians faint aura at a somewhat casual pace as to not seem too eager in her approach. Surprisingly, however, as the crowd of people thinned Meridiana found herself mere feet away from the two that had dared to take a peek and walk away.
“My, aren’t you a cutie.” Her cerulean colored eyes shifted between the two leaving it ambiguous as to which one the comment was directed at as she closed distance between them.
~~~
“Prrrrp!” mewled the cat, perking her head towards the young woman blinking those bright green eyes. She looked amused and her stub of a tail twitched like had it been longer it might have swished elegantly.
The man, glanced towards in her direction, blinking pale blue eyes and lofting an eyebrow almost out of challenge, as though he was quite sure that ‘cute’ by no means applied to him, and thus, he figured, she would be addressing a stranger’s cat.
“It was a cute trick anyhow.” He said with an amused smile. He turned enough to walk backwards a few steps, watching her as she caught up.
“Weren’t you just on a … date?” He asked tipping his head slightly.
~~~
“A date?” She asked almost innocently. “No…” Meridiana shook her head to the contrary. “That was more business than pleasure I assure you.”
She bit down on her lower lip in a seductive manner as she matched his retreat step for step until there were only inches between them. His eyes, up close, were intriguing gemlike color but different shades; captivating to look into which made it almost difficult for her to tear her eyes away.
“I will say though,” her attention then shifted back to the Mauvian perched on his shoulder. “It is quite rude to put a leash on such an intelligent cat.” With one hand she reached up to run her index finger along the edge of the felines ear before reaching under her chin to unclip the leash. “Rather disrespectful in my opinion. What do you say I teach him how to properly treat a lady. Hmm?”
She glanced up at him then, the glint in her dark blue eyes gave only a hint of her intentions as she clipped the leash to the mans’ scarf and gave it a little tug.
~~~
He watched her unclip the leash and hook it onto his scarf with an amused look. The cat too looked amused and sat up and quipped.
“Public bondage is sort of rude.” She said and jumped to Meridiana’s shoulder. “Buuut I do this for the laughs.” Tiny soft paws danced gently on her bare shoulders, tap tap taping as she shifted her paws before settling.
“But he started young.” She added and bumped the corrupt’s cheek with her fluffy head, and hat, which got jarred enough to show a point of the dark star on her forehead.
“It’s safer when we’re in public, people would ask questions.” he said folding his arms and looking scoldingly at the cat.
“I’m a cat not a DOG.” She pouted.
“Leash, laws….” he sighed.
~~~
Amused by their lighthearted bickering, Meridiana couldn’t help but let out a light laugh. So this whole charade was indeed a facade. Fascinating that meant he was either a corrupt like her or an agent, a captain if she were to guess since she had never heard of a mauvian tying themselves to someone of such low rank.
Not that it mattered or deterred her in any way.
The corrupt’s hold on the leash loosened as she reached up to place on hand on his now free shoulder. It did not linger there long as she ran it down the length of his sleeve to his wrist which she moved so his hand rested on the small of her back. “I got to say,” Meridiana’s other hand reached up to toy with the end of his braid.
Her head canted to the side as her gaze traced the scar across his lips and the fine line that cut through his eyebrow and down his cheek. Perhaps if he was still awake once she was done he might be inclined to share how he got them. Not likely, but she could hope just the same.
~~~
“Have… to say?” The former casual confidence that he had, casually addressing a talking cat in the streets, seemed to have vanished when she started toying with the end of his braid.
“Eerrmmm….”
“... you’re not… You have to have filled your quota in there.” He said trying to sound more confident.
He looked like he rather wanted to remove her hand, but his body language had gone from casual to ‘2x4’ with a blush.
~~~
“Mmhmm, I did~.” Meridiana let go of the braid to instead brush aside his bangs to get a better look at those opalescent eyes. So captivating she mused.
The way his body became completely rigid did not go missed and for the briefest of moments she actually contemplated giving him space but the fact he did not immediately push her away quickly changed her mind.
Rising up on her toes, the Corrupt Senshi of the Succubus leaned in close, molding her body against his as she carded her fingers through his soft hair. “Relax,” she whispered into his ear while skimming off a little energy hoping to at least feel him give in if only a little bit.
~~~
“Nnnn-no…. No I don’t relax well.” He said candidly.
“You really shouldn’t skim off… “ he cleared his throat. “I really wouldn’t do that… Absynthe!”
He glanced at the cat who just laughed and then started purring.
“No no, I want to see how this goes. I was bored and this is really entertaining! I like herrrrr.” She curled her toes and ‘kneading’ against the senshi’s shoulders, blessedly without claws.
“So… helpful, I’m so… SO glad I came out here with you, of all the cats.” He hissed through his teeth, the pink climbing his cheeks. And setting the scar on his cheek in harsher contrast.
“I mean, you could, continue to try and drain off my energy, but…”
~~~
“Oh?” Meridiana’s delicately sculpted eyebrows raised in mild surprise as a smile tugged the corners of her red painted lips.
Confident he would not take the opportunity to run away, not immediately anyway, the hand that had been holding onto his wrist relinquished it’s hold and instead came out to fan out against the front of his woolen coat. A pity the fabric itself was too thick because she would love nothing else right now than to feel what was beneath.
“Challenge accepted,” she all but purred before brushing her lips against his ear.
Meridiana leaned back then, just enough so that her fathomless deep blue eyes looked up into that of open sky. It was as if she were searching for an answer to a question she hadn’t asked or attempting to reveal a mystery she didn’t know was there. Such a curiosity, nobody has ever openly offered to allow her to drain them, not that it had ever stopped her in the past but it was intriguing just the same.
The fingers entangled in his hair stretched out to apply a light pressure to the back of his head encouraging the young man to lean in close or at least meet her part way as she brushed her lips against his before eventually kissing him fully. It was surprisingly gentle despite her forwardness if not chaste.
~~~
“That wa--” he started to say something more.
It was, still like kissing a 2x4, or perhaps a teenager who was kissing for the first time, uncertain, awkward, and then things … shifted.
The power she might have drawn on changed, expanded… and expanded.
Lips, changed, or rather, didn’t change but rather there was suddenly something between their lips, specifically, cloth.
“... I will give you new recruits a great deal of credit, in that you make it exceptionally hard to keep a low profile, even when I’m a civilian.”
The cat, for her part started laughing so hard, she rolled off the corrupt’s shoulder, somehow managed to land on her feet, only to fall to her side, roll on her back and keep laughing, kicking her little feet in the air.
“That was amazing! You’re like a mannequin!!” She cackled. “Do it again do it again!”
Even above the fabric of his mask, he was still, distinctly, blushing.
~~~
Meridiana pulled back surprised but definitely not cowed by this recent revelation. Truth be told her eyebrows would have disappeared into her hairline but she had more composure then to fall apart so easily.
So he was the sovereign she had felt amongst the crowd of agents back at the tower. Before it had been difficult to parse which aura belonged to each individual when they were all crowded together. Back then she had caught him looking her way and had been about to go introduce herself but by the time she was about to approach him everyone disbursed to proceed with their given missions.
“Well,” she purred somewhat amused. Looking down at the bobtailed mauvian, the corrupt couldn’t help but feel like she had been set up. However, the blush on his cheeks made her believe that this little encounter wasn’t entirely his doing. “This is quite the turn of events.”
“You see, I feel as if it would be terribly rude of me to suddenly turn down your most generous offer, my King.” Her head tilted down almost shly as her fingers toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck. “I don’t think it is something you offer so freely hmm?” Her head tilted to the side curiously as her free hand moved from where it had been resting against his shoulder to tug on the mask that partially covered his face. “Wouldn’t you agree.” she asked in kind, all too happy to oblige the mauvians request.
~~~
“I was being… I didn’t mean it a an actual offer. But I’ll remember it for the future.” He said and then directed a scowl at the now giggling Cat, who burst into a fresh round of laughter.
“Oh man the look on your FAAACE” she cackled. “Priceless, just priceless!!”
“If you don’t mask my signature, then we’re going to have a lot of company that will have no thoughts of kissing on their mind.” He grumped.
~~~
“Oh, the things I could teach you.” She withdrew her had from behind his head, lightly tracing his jawline with the back of her fingers. “If only you were open to a little fun.” Meridiana smiled just before leaning forward to give him one last very brief kiss on his cheek then stepping away to give him space.
“I suppose I should give this to you~” The corrupt held out her hand summoning the energy she had collected; her quota and then some, including the amount she had just taken from him.
~~~
“I… tend to prefer kissing, different people.” He said hesitantly and rubbed the back of his neck, which was made perhaps slightly more interesting because he’d had a very normal hand… before he powered up into uniform. Now, it was metal.
He glanced around and sighed, the cat was still, it seemed, laughing far too hard to be much use in masking either of them, and he returned to his civilian garb, the hand that massaged the back of his neck back to ‘normal’.
“You can turn that in to whomever you do normally, if you prefer.” He added and stooped to scoop up the giggling cat.
“Nono! Kisshimagain!!” She guffawed, “Eee-ehhehehheee….”
He sighed heavily.
“... I’m so glad I’ve provided amusement.” He sighed. “Lord forbid that anything mar your perfect feline dignity, or the fact you were pretending to be a normal cat.”
He was distinctly not meeting her eyes, like his shoes had a new level of fascination.
“Did you fill your quota?” He said and then stifled a small yawn.
~~~
