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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Mar 3, 2019 21:20:26 GMT
Her eyes widened a little at his sudden jump, but the fact that her smile merely grew showed it wasn’t a bad sign. Only just managing to control the laugh at his attempt to smooth his reaction over, biting her lip a little, she took his offered hand to help her stand, but not without a tease herself.
“And here I thought you were a starving artist? The treat’s on me.”
Maybe it was because she was used to being taken out to eat, or maybe it was because she actually thought he might not have that much money… but Dani insisted on paying, somehow catching the man’s attention with her bill first.
It had been an enjoyable afternoon, one that was blissfully free of talk about Ascension, the Chessmaster, or anything serious, even though she herself had brought it up earlier to mask her own difficulties. Being with Nate, as he introduced himself, was relaxing, but it wouldn’t take long to find that whenever she talked about herself, there was always ambiguity, always a sense of openness that was contrasted by a lack of ever actually being open. So by the time she recognized that it was time to part, she’d learned a little about him, about his interests and likes, and he’d heard very little about her, she remaining almost as much of an enigma as when she first went up to him under the tree. But her flirty little redirects of the conversation were taken in stride, she was pleased to note, even if he did seem a little confused after a few.
All he had really gotten out of her was a name, and a teasing instruction to maybe use the number she gave him before.
---
Used to living on the dangerous side of the law, staying home and staying low every night for a few days had finally broken her. She had cabin fever as of the first five minutes that first night, and there were only so many dramas to watch on TV to keep her at all distracted from the news. But it had been almost a week now since her interaction with the strange masked figure, and she was out once more, albeit with a freshly paranoid outlook.
Instead of taking in the sights and sounds and wanting some sense of mystery in the air, she kept her focus on the people about her, listening in to their moods as they came near. Which, fortunately for her sanity, wasn’t that many given how she was cruising the rooftops. She’d pause, every so often, listening to her surroundings before moving on.
Ever since the rumors of the Chessmaster reappearing started to circulate, the police were on extra patrols, security guards on higher alert. It was going to be a lot more difficult to pull of a heist in the middle of all this chaos… which only made her more eager to do something. That was why she went for something mundane, to minimize her risks while still getting the twitch out of her fingers.
The up-town apartment was empty, she knew even as she set to work with her tools to disable the security system. The owner was more than likely in their mansion out of town for the night, but she hoped they had left some of their baubles in the safe. The system turned off, she knew she only had a few minutes before her little device’s signal would be recognized as fake, and so she rushed in, ignoring the drawers of the bedroom as she looked behind the paintings and photos on the wall. Her second target was the right one, revealing a hinge and a safe behind. With a wary look about, she put her ear to the surface and began listening to the tumblers as they clicked, feeling exposed that she couldn’t focus on people and the lock at the same time. After what seemed an eternity, she heard it unlock, and opened it to find some smaller diamond earrings and a bracelet of gold and rubies. Perfect. Slipping the jewels into her pocket and replacing the boxes, she closed the lock just as she began to feel for signs of other people - and almost froze at the contact.
Someone serious, dark and brooding… she rolled her eyes and grimaced even before turning around, knowing exactly who it was before she even saw the white and gold uniform. Instead of approaching, the man simply stood there, arms crossed across his impressively built chest, the full face mask designed to intimidate wrong-doers with the narrow eye slits. Having one knee up on the dresser to listen to the lock, Trace slid down a little, twisting into a flirtatious pose as she offered a mock apologetic smile.
“Ascension, isn’t it? I’m flattered that you’d take the time out of your night to watch little ol’ me.”
“Return the jewels,” he ordered, his voice dark and husky, and unmoved by her flirting. Apparently unmoved, as Trace noted with a quirk at the corner of her mouth. “If you return them, you can go.”
“Aaaaand… if I don’t?” she asked, languidly pulling away from the safe she had closed to saunter over to him, tracing the muscles in one arm with the tip of her finger, the touch light and playful. But her mind was racing, reading every feeling and thought that crossed his mind. He liked her touch… but was surprisingly inflexible to what she was doing. “Then I’ll have to arrest you,” he replied flatly.
Trace’s eyebrow arched a little, pursing her lips even as the flirty smile lingered. “Well… a little bit of role-play never hurt anyone…” she went on, not yet making a move to get past him and so keeping him still. “But I’m not into bondage, so I guess I’ll have to pass tonight.”
This was her cue to him, pulling back sharply even as Ascension looked to his left and tried to grab open air. Not in his eyes, she knew, as what he saw was her darting to the side and trying to rush past. Instead, she went to his right, slipping past so even if he had been more than fast enough to catch her, he wouldn’t notice that the thief he almost grabbed wasn’t the same one that flung herself off the balcony of the apartment. A grappling hook hissed, and she was off towards the heart of the city, where there were nooks and crannies enough to hide.
A minute later, looking over her shoulder, and she was both surprised, frustrated and a little scared to see she wasn’t the only one with a grappling hook who knew how to use it. But the adrenaline rush overwhelmed her fear, making her smile even as she tried to keep her distance, landing on a rooftop only to dart between buildings, knowing when she was in his line of sight by his overly determined resolution to stop the thief.
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Post by Kelathi on Jul 15, 2019 1:35:05 GMT
Her number was pinned on his fridge, but as of yet, he had not used it. Even so, he had moved through life from that moment as if in a daze, still basking in the afterglow of their perfect afternoon. Even his ‘appointment’ afterwards, which had turned out to be a bad one, hadn’t completely soured his mood, and when he had returned home, he had been humming as he worked to clear away some of the mess, spontaneously inspired to tidy up. Jojo merely watched, perplexed, but didn’t need to ask where Nate’s buoyed mood had come from. It surrounded the human like electricity, sending invisible sparks into the air. It had been a long time since the apparition had seen his human like this. It was good.
“But what would I say?” he had argued, as Jojo had suggested, not for the first time, that Nate actually use the number and call Dani. “I don’t know, man.” He had replied, doubtfully. “What if I suggest we go somewhere and she rejects me? What if she laughs at my suggestion? What if… what if she doesn’t even remember who I am?” Any attempts to put Nate at ease thus far had failed, the man near-pacing during such talks as he wracked his brain for every possible outcome… all of which were negative. “Okay, okay… but then what if we do go out, and I say the wrong thing? What if she thinks I’m weird? What if…” there seemed no end to the possible scenarios in which anything and everything wrong that could happen, happened, and even Jojo, who was inherently on his human’s side by default, had found himself becoming frustrated with the excuses. It had resulted in Nate having the intention to call, but as of yet, failing to actually do so. So wrapped up in his own insecurities, it hadn’t even occurred to him that a lack of a call might be taken as a snub, a realisation that would horrify him, as that was the last thing he intended to do. It had only taken Jojo’s mild suggestion that this might be the case, for Nate, in his alarm, to grab the phone and dial the number immediately.
But now he was here, waiting for her to pick up… a lump formed in his throat, and he silently cursed the now amused apparition for convincing him to do this. Thankfully, when the tone ended, he was left with the answering machine. His relief soon turned to alarm as he realised he hadn’t planned for this, either, and he scrambled to say something coherent. “Oh, hey, Dani! Well, Dani’s machine… Hi… So I was wondering if you wanted to, if you weren’t busy or anything, go for a bite to eat or something again? It’s Nate, by the way, uh, Nathanial? From the park? The one with the green hair and terrible life choices? Hah… So, yeah, just wanted to know if you maybe wanted to do that. So… Let me know... [then, under his breath-] I’m really bad at this… Okay, um, my number is-“ He rattled it off, perhaps too quickly, then hung up abruptly. After a pause, his hands flew to his face, covering it, and groaned loudly, immediately regretting not having formulated a plan before taking the dive…
***
Fresh air did the trick of distracting his thoughts from the embarrassing message he had left Dani, and it felt liberating to be back on the rooftops. Whilst things had yet to calm down from the whole Chessmaster jewellery incident, Nate’s part in that entire saga had seemed to be largely forgotten by now. With no answer as to who the mysterious figure with the clown-like face emblem on his chest might be, the papers had concentrated on other superheroes and villains, which was just fine by Nate. So although he was a little apprehensive about being out when there seemed to be so many cops about, he was confident in Jojo’s and his own ability to avoid trouble. Perhaps a very misguided confidence, considering what was about to happen…
He soon found he was not alone on the rooftops, as a lithe, swift figure skirted by, only a few metres in front of him. He had paused, taking a moment to study the figure as they grappled away from one roof to another… and then his heart had leapt with both excitement and apprehension. It was the thief! From before! The one that had gotten him into this mess! Before he had time to think, he was racing after her, calling out, “Hey…!” his voice lost below the sound of traffic. Coming close to the edge of a building with only a narrow gap between it and the next, he jumped without hesitation… and once in mid air, he saw the glint of light, heard the heavy thunk of metal on concrete, then just as his foot landed on the next building, something shoved into him, hard. With a yelp, Nate lost his balance, spinning to face the street below, his hands coming out to halt his fall and finding only open air as he began to plunge from the roof…
Only to abruptly halt, a huge fist grabbing the back of his costume, near-choking him as he was suddenly yanked back, away from the void and the dizzying view of street lamps… only to be faced with the wide expanse of sky.
Dizzily, the cold concrete of the roof pressed against his back, it took him a moment to grasp what had happened, but a familiar, masked face coming into his view was enough to make him scramble up to lean on his forearms. “A… Ascension!” His mind was spinning, not quite believing what he was seeing. The hero was stoic as ever, with perhaps an extra edge of coldness reserved especially for Nate. “What are you doing up here?” The man near-growled, accusingly. Nate pulled himself up quickly; resisting the urge to tug at the neck of his suit, or else pat himself down and rid himself of some imaginary lint. Ascension! In front of him! And looking… thoroughly displeased. Well, of course. Because of Nate’s presence, the hero had both almost killed him and saved him in the space of just a few seconds. Man, the guy was even taller than he looked on the news- grainy photos just really didn’t do him justice. “I… uh…” But it seemed Nate didn’t need to answer, as Ascension quite clearly looked him up and down, gaze critical even behind the mask. Nate found himself inwardly bristling at the inspection. “It was stupid of you to come up here, you could have been killed.” The man’s voice reminded Nate very suddenly of an old, disliked, schoolteacher, and in that moment, this man he had always looked up to, whom he had always aspired to be… Nate found himself hating. In contrast to his inner feelings, though, Nate merely grinned, falling back on the clown act. “Well then, it’s lucky you were here to save my stupid ass, then isn’t it? Except, of course, for the fact that you were the one who gave me reason to need saving.”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jul 19, 2019 3:32:46 GMT
Well, it was official. Whoever that clown-decorated wanna-be hero was…
She hated him.
Of course Trace could feel another’s presence on the rooftops. Of course she could feel Ascension’s focus shift from her to this other. As she came up on the arc of her swing, she looked back with a grin, thinking that one of the other thieves of the city had attracted the hero’s attention…
But it was him. Skip-boy. The mistaken Chessmaster… in that moment, she found herself dubbing him Rookie, both for the chess piece and for being such a damnable newbie to the rooftops. Her grappling hook disengaged, but instead of speeding off into the night, she found herself rushing towards the two men, unable to shake how eerily similar Ascension was… to him. Laser focused and angry. Superior. Unrelenting.
Maybe that was why she did it. She knew what it meant to face someone like that… when the hero turned out to be the villain.
Trace landed just as the Rookie was being snide, which was not winning him any points. Her graceful, near silent drop still caught their attention, both seeming to pause at having their joint quarry suddenly reappear before them. One hip slightly twisted towards them, lips ever so slightly parted and pouted, hands on her waist, pushing her chest out… and reaching out mentally, picking up any thread of attraction from them and pushing it, like setting kindling on fire. And then putting it in a bucket, to control where that flame went.
“Aww… did you boys forget about me?” she asked, blinking with mock offense in spite of the flirtatious smile dancing on her lips. She walked towards them slowly, a seductive sway to her body language, stilling both men. Ascension proved a tougher target needing more of her concentration as she finally came up to them, encouraging his interest in simply watching her rather than reaching for her. Rookie, meanwhile, seemed rather easily frozen by her approach.
Which, given her plan, was perfect.
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Post by Kelathi on Dec 28, 2019 14:45:27 GMT
Utterly bewitched, that was Nathanial as the thief approached them. The feminine sway of her hips, the sultry tone... it was hard to ignore. Still, Nathanial was wary with her approach, after all, the last time they had met he had ended up being hunted by the men in blue for a crime he didn’t commit. Even with the mask, the uncertainty was clear on his face. He half expected Ascension to grab her, after all, she was a thief, and clearly the one that the hero had been chasing before Nate had gotten in the way. Strangely enough, he instead seemed hesitant to do so, his gaze fixed solidly on the woman, remaining stoic as ever, even in her presence. It was up to Nate to break the silence, then, and he did so easily- once more falling back on the easy, none-threatening clown-act.
“Well, hello again! Robbed any banks lately?” He asked, cheerfully, with a grin.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 7, 2020 21:25:25 GMT
Trace had kept her eyes on Ascension for the most part, but made a dramatic shift in focus as she smirked at the Rookie’s cheerful greeting, still pulling on every thread she could to keep the focus on her act. For an act it was, her heart hammering hard enough in her chest to hurt. Trying to sway one person with a vision or misdirection wasn’t so hard. Keeping the attention of anyone she could reach was quite a different thing, and was already beginning to give her a headache. This was reaching her limit, but she needed to hold out just for a bit longer.
“Me? Oh no, darling, banks are soooooo passé,” she replied smoothly, reaching out to walk her fingertips up the clown face, lifting her gaze from the Rookie’s chest up to his face. The way he stilled at her touch was once more perfect, her grin growing wild the farther she went. Ascension, meanwhile, managed to maintain the appearance of stoicism; every little jealous thread she could find was being pulled, teased only so it felt natural.
“Hand over the jewels,” Ascension ordered darkly, repeating himself from the apartment with one strong step forward. Trace’s hand jumped back from the Rookie’s chest at the move, her gaze jumping over on cue, fixing him with a seductive, challenging look. “Do I really look like I’m that easy?” she asked, feigning innocence with her dual meaning, her still raised hand moving to trace along her own collarbone, well aware of how familiar the move would seem to both of them.
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Post by Kelathi on Apr 3, 2020 22:09:51 GMT
If this situation had occurred whilst Nate was in his everyday clothes, his reaction probably would have been different. However, emboldened by the anonymity that his costume granted him, he found it surprisingly easy to slip into playing up to the act. At her teasing touch, Nate’s smile had widened for a moment, before he adopted a look of faux apology, as if momentarily forgetting that they were supposed to be on opposing sides.
“Forgive me! A woman of your calibre would hardly concern herself with such dated establishments.”
Ascension’s voice was quick to cut through their momentary flirt, however, which drew the woman’s attentions back to the more imposing figure. And with that loss of attention, however brief, Nate was surprised to find himself jealous. He tried to mentally shake himself off, surprised at the affect this stranger was having on him, but the more he tried to do so the more distracted he seemed to become by the curves of her figure, especially the ever-so seductive tracing movement of her fingers.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Apr 29, 2020 4:20:43 GMT
Lucky for her, the rookie had played into her own charade, distracting Ascension with more banter. Had they been alone, she’d have happily played into it before knocking some sense into him. In the moment, she found herself having to ease back on his annoyance at the quip, letting his focus remain on her.
For Ascension, the rookie might as well not have been there anymore. He reached out a gloved hand, and Trace could feel how his eyes were narrowed at her even without her power. “The jewels,” he repeated, resolute that he’d be able to save the lady from her life of crime. Trace’s shift in her hips showed how much she was soaking up their attention, letting her tracing fingers slide further and further down her center line rather than focusing just on her collar bone.
“Aw…. You’re no fun,” Trace admonished with a sultry pout even as her hand slipped into the belt behind her, slipping the device into her hand while the other kept the boys’ attention. Then, most intentionally, her gaze went back to the rookie, reaching out for him with her mind.
This was the dangerous part… she wanted to make sure that he was as oblivious to her plan as Ascension.
Not finding anything didn’t panic her, quickly assuming that she was just too scared to change focus from Ascension, who was already growing tired of waiting for her to simply hand the jewels over. She pulled on his patience to lengthen it, that self righteous belief that only he could save her even as she risked pissing him off. She stepped up to the newbie, taking her fingers and tracing from his shoulder along his collarbone, managing to look as if all of her attention was on him and not the other. Ascension visibly tensed at the gesture, his hand dropping back to his side in a fist. Neither seemed to notice her other hand swinging out from behind her to behind the rookie, only that she was starting to push into his side, tilting her chin a little to look up at him, once more taking on a flirtatious, innocent look. Ascension’s fist tightened.
Perfect.
“Hold on, sweet cheeks,” she murmured with a Cheshire grin, then jumped into him full force.
From the side, this neatly tossed both of them over the edge of the building. Ascension stepped back, certain he saw them swinging out towards him. But then they were out of sight, leaving him momentarily confused, pausing to work out his next step.
Meanwhile, the grappling hook had caught on the building alongside their own, and the two were swinging into the night. On the uprise, when gravity wasn’t pulling them down, Trace shoved the old grappling hook into the rookie’s hands and quickly kicked away. “Next time, bring your own!” she snapped as she pushed with a less than friendly sneer, revealing at last how scared she had been the whole time. Falling into the air, her own grappling hook streaked out and she swung down, looking for a place to hide.
After all that, she was so not giving up those jewels… not even for a king’s ransom.
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Post by Kelathi on Jan 29, 2021 1:55:17 GMT
Finding himself being shoved backwards off a building was certainly not top of his bucket list. The movement had been so quick he hadn’t even had chance to utter a startled sound, and then suddenly they were swinging through the air. Nate hardly heard her words, because then she had shoved the grappling hook into his hand, asking quite a lot of him, he would think in hindsight. Luckily, instinct and some innate sense of self-preservation had taken over, and he’d seemingly miraculously managed to fire the hook. It would have missed any suitable edge had his invisible companion not helped, and then he was swinging on his own.
No. Not swinging. Flying.
With a whoop of joy, the exhilaration chasing away the fear, he let himself swing up, loosened the hook, and for a few breathless moments he free-fell, before sending the hook out again with the click of a button. This time he aimed better, it caught onto a ledge and he was able to swing again. This was amazing. This was even better than jumping from building to building. This…
…was probably about to kill him.
He’d mis-judged, and now he was heading straight towards a wall of glass, courtesy of the sky-scraper he was no hurtling towards. With a yelp of panic, he quickly tried to turn away so that his shoulder would take most of the impact, but luckily for him, Jojo had been paying attention. It felt as if he hit a pillow rather than a solid wall, then Jojo dissipated and Nate was left hanging, unharmed.
He laughed, half nervously, half joyously, but definitely relieved. What else was there to do, when you cheat great injury and possibly even death?
***
Well, he couldn’t hang up the suit. Not now, after having had the brush-in he had had the night before. It probably would have put most off, but in truth, it only served to excite him. Yet, he was also confused by the events that had followed. He was the good guy, of course, so why did he find himself drawn more to the villain than the hero? Maybe it was just because he hadn’t been ready for the aura that had surrounded Ascension, the arrogance and sense of self-importance that reminded him so much of his father. And she, the thief, why had she helped him? He’d run the events through his mind over and over, and there was no avoiding it. She could have just escaped, but instead, she’d taken him with her, and then even given him the grapple hook. It perplexed him.
With a sigh, he finally rolled out of bed. It was well into the afternoon, and he had an appointment that day, one he had mixed emotions about, as he always did. But it was not an appointment he could bare missing, so, after a rushed breakfast and running a hand through his tangled hair, he threw some clothes on and promptly left.
The air was crisp, although it did little to clear his head. He was happy he’d remembered to grab a jacket, as he stuffed his cold hands into his pockets. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” He muttered to Jojo as he walked, a few passers-by looking back to stare at him, as he talked to himself, unaware of the attention he was drawing. “Look, I’m trying okay? But it’s not that easy.”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 6, 2021 18:34:00 GMT
She wasn’t sure how she’d managed it. While she’d stolen a number of times, even swinging away from the scene as flashing lights screamed below her, she’d never really been actively pursued before. She hadn’t been so scared since she left… him…
Coming back to her apartment only when she could feel the coast was clear, that Ascension had ‘seen’ her several blocks away, she nearly melted into her bed, pulling the covers up over her head as she tried to recover. Finally she did, quickly retreating from her costume into some cozy pajamas, rubbing at her face and grateful it was the weekend. While she was often invited to things by her bosses, who she charmed to ensure control, she always kept her weekends open to rest, to recover, and to have the luxury of staying away from prying eyes.
Even so, she picked up her phone to check for messages, sure she’d have yet another romantic lunch offer for Sunday, but as she began listening to the voicemail left by an earlier call, she realized it was a very different call indeed.
This was why she listened to it over and over, the smile on her lips genuine and touched, the stumbling, uncertain, and undeniably sweet way Nathaniel had spoke being the remedy needed to pull her spiraling thoughts away from… him.
---
Despite saving the message, Dani hadn’t called Nathaniel back. Instead, she was planning on running into him, and had headed back to the park where she had last found him. It felt weird to be looking for someone like this, as usually it was her trying to avoid someone rather than track them down. But as much as she knew how to play coy, she honestly didn’t know how to respond to the voicemail, hoping to make their meeting seem more accidental and rely less on her response to his message.
But he wasn’t in the park. She felt out, hoping to find someone who had noticed the green hair. Disappointed, considering maybe she should just call him back, Dani walked out of the park and back towards home, heeled boots clicking on the ground. She’d dressed quite intentionally to be close to what Nathaniel would have last seen her in, with subtle differences to make it look coincidental rather than intentional.
All for naught, apparently, even though it had been many years since she had last dressed for someone other than herself… or a boss she was trying to manipulate.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 7, 2021 1:41:52 GMT
So wrapped up in his own thoughts, it took Nathanial an embarrassingly long time to notice who was coming down the street, albeit on the opposite side of the road, towards him. Jojo was the one to notice first, bodily pushing into Nate, breaking him rudely from his reverie as the man stumbled to the side. “Hey! What was tha…!” He paused, upon realising why his friend had nudged him, and prayed to any God that might be listening that she had not been witness to his one-sided conversation. “Uh.. Dani! Hey!” He called, waving with energetic enthusiasm, clearly pleased to see her, before he had the sense to stop himself. He winced inwardly moments after, chastising himself silently.
Don’t be so eager, or she’ll think you’re a weirdo!
A quick, painful flashback to his school-days, but then he got ahold of himself, a faint, slightly hopeful smile on his face as she began to walk towards him with more purpose. Okay, so she hadn’t responded to his call, but maybe she had just been busy? Either way, she wasn’t running in the opposite direction, or pretending she hadn’t seen him, so that must be a good sign.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 7, 2021 2:31:51 GMT
Dani had paused at hearing the voice, certain she was imagining things, until her eyes landed on the green haired figure she was looking for. It might have comforted Nathaniel to know that she also had to remind herself to act calm, let the interaction be natural rather than expose the planned process it actually was.
But his eager waving at her had been endearing rather than over-eager, touched to see someone so genuinely happy to see her. Not just pleased, not guided into the emotion… but actually happy.
This was the thought keeping the soft smile on her face, a little more controlled than she felt, but still putting on a mask for the world to see. “Nate,” she said with a growing smile, the name natural to her now after listening to his voice on the recording so many times. “I, uh,” she began, but hesitated a little, casting her eyes down momentarily with a blush. “I’ve been meaning to call you back. About lunch?” she asked, it suddenly occurring to her that he might have taken the lack of a call back as her rejecting him.
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 7, 2021 3:01:12 GMT
The surge of joy at hearing her use his nickname was unmistakeable, the way Nathanial’s face lit up in response. The light blush on her cheeks, Nate obliviously took for the cold, and he found himself thinking how pretty she looked when flushed. “Really? Great!” he couldn’t help the blurt, and he looked relieved at her words. “I mean, I’m free now if you are still up for it?” He paused, then suddenly looked alarmed. “Oh, crap! Wait, ah, I’m not free now… uh, I have something I have to do, but…” His mind whizzed, he didn’t want her to slip through his fingers, but he had an appointment he couldn’t miss. “I mean, uh, you could come with me if you wanted? It won’t take long?” A voice at the back of his head was screaming that this was a bad idea, but, flustered by his emotions and his attempts to make things work, he found himself ignoring it.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 7, 2021 3:32:26 GMT
Dani’s smile shifted as Nate’s response changed, growing initially at his eager acceptance before falling as he recalled his prior obligation. “Yes!” She responded quickly, but perhaps only Nate’s unknown companion would notice how eagerly she picked up on the opportunity to stay. “I’m, ah, I’m free all day, so… I can come along,” she smoothed out, even as her curiosity instinctively began to rise. What sort of appointment was so important he couldn’t possibly skip it?
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Post by Kelathi on Feb 9, 2021 0:49:05 GMT
Inviting Dani along was a bad idea, for many reasons, but Nate had been so eager not to disappoint that his mouth had run away with him before his brain could grasp the consequences. With the excitable way she had accepted his invitation, he could hardly back out now, she might take it as a rejection, and that was the last thing he wanted her to think. So he’d essentially backed himself into a corner.
Even so, he smiled back, pleased, if a little surprised to see her enthusiasm at the invite.
**
They were just round the corner from where they needed to be, so it didn’t take them long to arrive. Talking with Dani had been easy, so it wasn’t till they were standing at the driveway that Nathanial’s mood began to shift, and he appeared to grow steadily nervous as they approached. He’d never brought anyone here, and he wasn’t sure how Dani would react. He tried to push away his fears of her possible judgement and just take things as they came.
Before them was a large building, of an old Victorian design that suggested the inside would be all high ceilings and archways. Before them was a car-park, and they could see there was a decent amount of land surrounding the place, walled off from the outside world by a large, no-nonsense stone barrier. As it was cold, no-one was currently making use of the garden, but from where the two stood they could see a few people enjoying tea in the conservatory that looked onto it. The area outside was well tended, the bushes were neatly clipped and the flower baskets at the windows were full. The flowers themselves, however, looked a bit worse for wear. They had likely been hit by the sudden cold, many looking grey and wilted in response.
Despite the old architectural design, the inside looked very modern, and large glass doors greeted them. Nathanial opened the door for Dani, following close behind. They stepped into a reception area, the marble floor and white-washed walls offered a cold, clinical feel, one that Nathanial disliked intensely. He approached the front desk nervously, despite the fact that he had been here many times before. The staff with their cold demeanour never failed to remind him so much of the nurses back when he was young, all business and no warmth. The woman behind the desk looked him up and down questioningly, as if she’d never seen him before, despite the fact that he’d seen her almost every week the past few months.
Nate’s hand came up to rub the back of his neck, his nervousness clear. “Um, Nathanial Rowan?” The woman looked at him snootily, raising an eyebrow. “Are you asking me a question or giving your name?” She responded curtly. Nathanial cleared his throat, lifting his chin a little. “Um, my name is Nathanial Rowan. I’m here to see Angela Rowan.” He tried again, more assertively this time. It was strange, the way he responded to this woman, especially after how confident he had been at the party. Something about them clearly made him nervous, and not in a good way, like in the way that Dani made him feel. The woman huffed, typing into the computer before her. A moments silence passed before she fixed Dani with her piercing gaze. “And who are you?” She demanded.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Feb 9, 2021 1:27:10 GMT
Nate had seemed uncomfortable with his invitation, so even as they walked Dani reached out, concerned, but was evidently blocking herself as she felt nothing. She hadn’t been this nervous around a man for years… that was all.
Even Dani grew a little uncomfortable as they walked up to the old building, however, glancing at Nate again curiously. What sort of appointment was this? The antiseptic feel of the space was less than inviting, even as Nate held the door open for her and she stepped boldly in, as if she’d been there a dozen times already.
From the first, Dani didn’t like the receptionist, managing to keep her mask up even as she eyed the woman coolly. It took only the short exchange between Nate and the woman for Dani to know exactly how to respond, offering a saccharine-sweet smile that didn’t meet her eyes.
“I’m a friend.”
The woman considered her no-name answer for a few moments, then scoffed and waved them towards the seats in the waiting room, not even bothering to type Nathaniel’s guest into the computer. It hadn’t been a hard push at all, although it was tempting to make herself seem like a bigger deal and so put the woman in her place a bit. As it was, Dani followed Nate as they went towards the chairs, continuing to push the attention of the nurses and staff elsewhere and off of herself, as if she was but a ghost in such hollow halls.
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