Connections, Money and Secrets [Almaz]

[Nox]

To say the breakup had changed anything at Kallisti would be an understatement.  But Nox did his best not to let it interfere with anything.  He didn't ignore Raffe.  He included him whenever he was around.  Flirting with him like the rest.  From the outside things looked the same, but on the inside, everyone knew there was tension.  Nox ignored it like he ignored the concerned look from the girls.  If they didn't look the same at Raffe he'd have said something.

He was looking for someplace else to live, but everything in his body said that the day he moved out was the day it was truly over between him and Raffe.  And he still held on to a small sliver of hope.  It was the tiny sliver that got him out of bed in the morning. 

His days bled together a monotony of the same thing day in and day out out ad nauseum in order to put one foot in front of the other.  Wake up, yoga, run, bring everyone including Raffe breakfast and coffee, check on the girls in the tunnels, domovoi, check on the girls on his way home and run the routes around Kallisti, work the club and new material, after his shift it was fights and fucking.  Wasn't hard to pick out a girl on any given night and leave before she was even asleep.  Some night they didn't even make it out of the dredges of the Almaz.  And then home to sleep in his own bed with his door closed and wrapped in a cacoon of silencing air so Raffe didn't hear him cry himself to sleep.

He'd started working the stage more.  A small skit every night something to push his boundaries and keep him from falling into the sesspool of his life.  It was the one time he was happy -- dancing on stage.  He'd trashed the work in progress in favor of things that made fun of the gods -- made fun of himself.  He was working on something bigger but it wasn't quite ready yet.  And he was saving it for Thal anyway, with who he texted everyday to make sure he was alright. 

He hung out with Oriena more.  Their darkness finding kinship.  And tonight was one of those night.  He even took most of the night off at the club just to hang with her.  Juls insisted he wear at least part of his costume out.  The gold and green flames having been a hit with the girls back stage.  The make up only drew upon it.  He left the feathered boa at home and opted for the outfit he'd wear typically to fight.

The past few weeks had seen a change in Nox.  The happy-go-lucky exterior became much more flamboyant as he embraced the virality of the shows and the fights.  People in the right circles recognized him and it made skulking the streets more difficult than he needed. 

So he embraced the persona -- after 6pm he was someone else -- not the depressed kid living above a burlesque club, no, now he was this popular fighter with a flair for theatrics.  He didn't win every fight, usually that was a choice Nox had made going in, not because he didn't actually lose the fight.  He hadn't even tried.  The horde was fickle.  Pain and blood were all good and somedays it wanted to make Nox pay for whatever transgressions the instincts inside wanted and Nox failed to deliver. 

It had been a slow transition in means of what he tried, but it was weeks and not years of learning who he was that lead to his current attire.  He'd owned the black leather pants for some time.  They were good for clubbing and still being able to fight if necessary.  And they had become part of his fighting gear before the rest.

During the day he still wore torn jeans and the ripped gray hoodie his mom had given him.  It was his comfort zone.  His place of happiness.  The hoodie like the lotus that sat in the window cill in his room reminded him of things that he wanted.  His tiny slivers of hope to get him through the day.

The past week or so Nox had taken to wearing a chain mail shirt.  It was light weight provided extra protection and was considered sexy by the girls.  The whole see through thing was good they said.  While in the club Nox wore a black high necked long tasseled cloak, which was more like a shawl if you asked him with the black triangular black clothe dipping down his chest and the long tassels hanging down past his waist.

The cloak covered up the lotus flower Nox had painted on the front.  It was a final practice piece for what he wanted to add to his skin.  If he could dedicate himself to the Atharim with ink, he could do the same for the love of his life.  Though the drawing was of more than the flower he tended to as if it were a religious artifact.  The drawing was of all his loves in his life -- The lotus flower for Raffe, a blue and green aurora borealis in the background for his sister, a gust of musical notes floating from their staff his mother and Aria, with a final note of a paint brush with the same blue and green looking as if it had just painted the sky behind for Thalia.  Now he just needed the courage to get it put on his skin.

The mask came with eye makeup that didn't so much as hide who he was but added that flair and theatrics.  It had started out with thick eyeliner he liked wearing regularly and grew as he let the girls do his make up more.  He started applying new designs himself. With the girls correcting what he couldn't manage to fix himself.  Today he sported a metallic green and gold mask that matched the flaming hair and nails that had been part of his costume that night at the club.  He could have opted in for the feather boa that matched but he didn't.  That stayed at the club, he'd hate for it to get blood on it.  Everything was about to get blood on it.

But first he had to meet Ori above the arena.  He'd said he'd be there and he wasn't late.  He was never late.  But she was curiously missing -- not unlike her, he'd just have to find her.

And find her he did, with the least expected person in the world sharing a puff from whatever recreational drug Ori was using to take off her own personal edge.  He snaked his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her cheek.  He was pushing his limits.  He knew that but for whatever it was worth he was going to be just as protective of her as he was any of the other girls in the club -- maybe even more so since Ori could get into a lot more trouble than the others.  Not that she couldn't take care of herself.  It was part of Nox's pride -- his reasons to get up.  He whispered in her ear "I wasn't late."

He poked fun and teased.  Probably the only person who didn't fear her wrath.  He welcomed it.

Nox looked across at her accomplice and the fire in his eyes burnt hot.  What the fuck was he doing here?  Why here?  "Speak of the devil."

Nox glared.  "Jacob."

He laughed.  He fucking laughed.  "What happened to Uncle Jake?"

"Uncle Jake once promised a group of hunters he'd kill every last one of them if they ever could do what I could do so forgive me if I don't remember you with fondness."

[Jacob]

Jacob blinked back at the boy he once knew.  He found the look to be far more daring than even the vids shown -- even those when he was painted blue like the sky and representing an Egyptian goddess.  This was not the same kid he knew, and the words out of his mouth said Jacob was going to have a hard time convincing him he didn't mean any harm.

"I saw your videos.  Felt it was time to come see the family." He lied.

Nox laughed. "I'm all that's left.  Mother was mauled by a hellhound years ago.  Our father followed behind her drunk and dead in his own vomit. Aurora and I were all that was left until some sick bastard strangled her and left her dead and buried for no one to find."

"So just get a way from me." Nox turned his back on Jacob and the older man growled at the disrespect.  If it weren't for the men with cattle prods standings mere feet away Jacob might had pulled a knife from his boot and stabbed the boy for it.

Instead Jacob laughed. "I came to see you fight.  I think I'll be sticking around.  Maybe your father was right about you all along."  Jacob knew that would bite, the boy would rise to the bait. 

And he did.  Nox turned around with fire in his eyes.  But it was so much more than the fury Jacob expected to see.  In the fury was darkness.  And in the darkness Jacob didn't see anything he recognized. One arm hung at Nox's side in a balled fist -- a fist that Jacob just now realized was not real.  His other hand wrapped around the black band at the elbow joint.  What had happened?  And how could he afford such a device.  That was not on hunter's pay, who else was he fucking around with to get such a payday. 

Jacob took a step back, held up his arms.  There was more to this, this whole place and Nox than just a place to fight.  Maybe the woman was right, was he that well connected?  The Ascendancy himself?  Was it worth while to flip him, turn him against the things he loved?  "I take it back. Your father was an asshole to you most your life.  I shouldn't have brought it up.  My bad.  Let me buy you a drink.  Both of you.  I'd hate to have you thrown out before your impending match, it looks to be quite something."

[Oriena]

Ori was pleasantly surprised that he took the offer of the smoke. Though by the blinking he did she apparently surprised him in turn with the revelation about Aurora. “One less job for you, no?” she teased, entirely cruel. Her lips sharpened a smirk for the revelation of her own renown on his lips, clearly not disappointed that he knew both her name and about the club. That took at least a little digging. So he was doing the proper work to suss out Nox, his life and home and habits. She took the hand, eyes dark.

The arm snaked then. Stupid or bold, and Nox was often both. She gave a sidelong, completely unimpressed look for the liberty he took. Nox was all tease and no bite, despite that he was busy fucking every girl that fluttered an eyelash around Almaz. It didn't mean Ori stopped pushing all those buttons, just to get a rise and see him struggle, but she wouldn't chase. And honestly, for all that the new darkness in him sparked something primal, she rather expected he was still crying himself to sleep every night over Rafael. It doused the flame of interest.

She tuned out for most of the little interlude of their frosty family reunion. Nox chained the anger up, let himself be a victim. At some point Jacob seemed to make a recalculation of tactics, to which Ori only fluttered a little dismissive laughter. Her fingers curled around the neck of the vodka bottle as she slid from her stool, all sex and venom. Whatever Arisha had placed on her tongue made her fizz a little inside. Her other hand grabbed Nox with nothing short of possession.

"No one comes here to drink and talk," she said derisively, tugging Nox along with every expectation that he'd follow. "And nothing good ever happens topside. We're missing all the fun."

If Jacob followed or not she didn't care. They were headed downstairs.

[Nox]

Oriena's flat look made Nox smirk. For all her button pressing, he pushed hers too. But if she truly minded she'd have floored him already or a punch to the face. A look he could live with. She pretty much ignored their interaction and he was grateful she didn't push any additional buttons. Jacob had given her more than enough fodder and he was sure to hear something about it when there weren't so many people around. Not out of courtesy, but because Ori loved to push those buttons.

Her nails dug into his wrist as she wrapped her fingers around it and tugged at him to follow obediently. And there was no protest from Nox. He didn't mind pretending to be her lap dog. It might pull at some of the girls who he'd been sleeping with, if alleys and bathrooms counted as sleeping with. None of them rated a bed. And certainly he wasn't bringing a fling home -- the fact that he'd slept with the same girl more than once said a lot for his usual demeanor. His old self wouldn't have bothered. But then his old self also didn't stay in one place long enough to get laid by the same girl more than once. His one rule -- if they showed up at Kallisti then they lost privileges permanently. He wasn't going to hurt Raffe in any way -- and that meant keeping his frivolous needs away from the club. Also meant that even though he knew Ori would, they wouldn't. He lived by his rules -- much like he lived by his promises. Until he didn't anyway... He was still beating himself up over his slip. This was just another way.

They headed down into the bowels of the Almaz and Nox was grateful for the nails biting into his wrist. Her possessiveness might only be a ploy, but he relished in the facade. The want. Someone wanted him. And that was pretty much the depressive nature of his life and he pushed it away. Locked it behind a bright smile and falling into the role of whatever Ori wanted at the moment. He'd be fueling his needs later -- in the ring and out. But right now he was here for Ori. She needed her own outlet and he was happy to oblige. And as Jacob mentioned there seemed to be quite the show lined up for later in the evening.

Nox saw faces he recognized. A few were regulars. He saw Jaxen with guy he'd seen around probably at Kallisti, he had the look. Several other faces recognized him and their conversations turned excited and watched Ori escorting him by the wrist through the crowd wherever she headed. "Though I find the fun is usually in the ring." Jacob had followed behind them with his glass and judging eyes. Nox wanted to know why he was here -- other than to kill him. He didn't need to come here to do that. Though better here than Kallisti. Jacob might not survive if he attacked Kallisti. At least here he stood a chance.

[Mikhail]

So yeah, he'd hoped the Almaz would be hopping at this point. Be something to see, some fight that you got in to. He usually liked the underdog simply because he had more work to do. Guy who always won? Bor-ing!! If you always won, where was the challenge? Where was the skill?

The randomness of it all? The luck? Lady Fortune wasn't about sure things. Well, that wasn't strictly true. She did like them...only to tear down. Nothing would last and anyone who thought different soon learned she wasn't fucking around. 

Nah, way he saw it, Fortune liked to keep it fun. 

So Mik wanted fun. Jaxen by his side, he hunted. Not for the main ring, not right now, anyway. Sometimes that was cool. Sometimes, he liked getting lost in the crowd- getting swallowed up in it, rather- yelling his head off at the fight that went on. 

But he was feeling like he wanted something more....in your face. Intimate. Dangerous even. He saw a set of stairs carved into the cave wall that disappeared into darkenss and glanced at Jaxen, considering, nodding down in that direction. "So you know the difference between the stage and the VIP room, right?" His grin grew."Let's see what kind of private shows the Almaz is hosting tonight."

[Jacob]

Jacob trailed a bit behind the two. They didn't seem lovers, at least not in a traditional sense anyway, but Nox was always wearing some mask or another -- whatever someone else wanted. He was never really himself. That didn't appear to change much even with the hidden anger. He always was a pop rocket specially when it came to his sister.

The fact that he let the girl die to some butcher says there was more here than just this curse he'd been given. Noel would be rolling over in his grave over this. The boys father too. Cleo would be bleeding out for her son to see him like this. She never was cut out for the job -- made the children soft. Jacob did agree with Bryan on that one. But he appeared to be at least proficient with the job.

They slid past the entry points with ease into the bowels of this fight club. Nox looked at home being tugged around by his keeper. But even in the mask Jacob saw the sadness that underlay everything. A darkness to his eyes that was not present when he'd seen him last even after he had plunged the knife into the back of the attacker -- just kids and their parents. He'd done the job. Jacob was proud. But this was different. He was a monster.

[Jaxen Marveet]

Mikhail clearly had a destination in mind, but Jaxen gave the lower level his unadulterated, open study as they passed through. He was otherwise right at home amid the chaos of noise of onlookers yelling at the fights. Men and women fisted the air in open challenge or support as their favorite fighter triumphed. The groans and winces punched all at once when another spun under a brutal hit. All this delightful chaos was accompanied by a steady flow of top-shelf libations—because in this realm, alcohol is the only form of emotional support you need. And yes, even the servers seemed to have emerged from the fiery depths of hell's runway, because why settle for mediocrity when you can have supernaturally attractive waitstaff? As he passed one brunette, with a hook of a nose and sharpness to her eye, Jaxen silently agreed that even the servers were hotter down here, and he couldn’t help but muse on the drink he left upstairs. Damn Oriena’s revenge, an ultimate sin, leading to the tragic abandonment of perfectly good vodka. The horror!

Before Mik found where he was going, the screens flashed a new video about then, which gave him some pause. He blinked as he watched what was clearly a recent replay. The guy was giving a pounding to another, and what’dyaknow but it was a face he recognized. Jaxen chuckled to himself, his laughter a cocktail of nostalgia and, after casting a look around, the knowledge that a certain someone was missing in action. No Nox present, but he’d keep an eye out. It had been a while since they'd collaborated on their last "urban landscaping project."

Finally catching up to Mikhail at an exit that seemed like the gateway to oblivion, Jaxen raised an eyebrow. The darkness was basically a hole. Out of it wafted colder air and something else that Jaxen couldn’t quite identify. He folded his arms.

“Nothing says ‘I trust you completely’ like following a guy you met LARPing into a cave hole, but I wager the odds are you’re taking me down there to murder me or you want to sneak off to fuck me. Either way, I’m flattered, but I'm not into getting murdered tonight, and sorry to say that I think you’re a good looking guy, but it's just not for me.” The sarcasm was good-natured, but Jaxen waited for some hint of what was to come before following. Upon doing so, he gestured that Mikhail lead on with a small head-shake that assumed he might regret this later.

Of course, the darkness they plunged into clung to them like a drunk ex, but soon it transitioned as they traversed the passage, leaving behind the chaos and noise of the fight arena, into someplace pretty interesting.

[Ashton]

Amelia had been clear he was not to engage until he was confident he could pull it off.  This wasn't the typical job.  And it wasn't a typical date.  Mistress Amelia insisted that Mistress Victoria would open the doors for him.  Ashton didn't typically need Victoria to grease the wheels of the ritzy joints.  Ashton wore a black suit, but it wasn't the traditional type.  There was a bit more skin.  Victoria had a lot of skin showing.  Her dress was strapless and she had beautiful shoulders to show off. 

Victoria hung on his arm in six inch high heels and her sequined dressed brushed against his arm. "This is such a strange place."  Her neck was on a swivel. "I don't think I'm going to like it much.  I hate that Mother made me come."

"I don't know why either. I didn't need your help." Ashton grinned at his friend. "But I love the company."  He sang softly. "And you can keep me sane while we watch the guy Mistress Amelia wants me to get to know."  His image was seared into his mind and it displayed on the screen every so often.  At least they were in the right place. 

They walked through the floors looking around.  Eyes gravitated towards them.  His aura he was told was silvery and drew people in even if they didn't know why they were looking.  At least he wasn't speaking, that drew more eyes than just walking.  He smiled and Victoria and she leaned in close and giggled. "They always look at you."

Ashton laughed, it was lit with a soft sound of music. "They are just wondering why I'm with such a gorgeous girl."

Victoria led them down to the depths where the money was.  "If he's a fighter it'll be better to watch him from down here."

[Oriena]

He followed easily and it made her chuckle darkly. Ori’s grip was tight. Actually she felt a little dizzy, probably from the mix, but all she did to silence it was take a draw from the bottle. She could still taste some of that blood. What she wanted to taste was some oblivion

“Not just in the ring though is it,” she said. Her eyes flickered up and down the length of his body, blatant in tease. It was louder down here, the screens bright and blaring, the cheers and yells blood-thirsty. There were any number of spectacles they might choose from; Ori didn’t care. She dragged Nox away solely for the act of possession, and to show Jacob Dean precisely to whom he belonged now. She glanced over her shoulder, sly and smirking, to where the man had followed them. “You need me to take care of him?”

[Nox]

Her grip seemed to tighten as they found a place to watch from. Nox didn't really much care to watch the competition. He had a bout in a little while anyway and likely should start heading down. But Ori's words made the horde draw down a little. Why not? Though Nox held firm to his rules. They asked 'why?' and the constant reminder of her fingers on his wrist tugged at a deeper desire. One he desperately needed -- and Raffe didn't actually fill the more and more he had time to process the distance.

Nox smirked as he turned into Ori, his arm craning behind his back slightly uncomfortably as he did so. "Not always in the ring, no. There are other places." His eyes flicked down to her lips and then back up to her eyes. He wouldn't press Ori's good graces too far. He wasn't a complete idiot. "There have been offers in the past I've refused. Some I might consider again if still on the table." He cocked his head to the side with a bright smile he reserved for those times when he wanted to draw someone in. He struggled slightly against her grip on his wrist, not to get away, but to draw attention to how she held him. "Is there something else you want from this?"

He chuckled softly finally answering her question. "Not yet. I want to know why he's here. He'd fare better if he were trying to kill me without announcing his presence and doing it in one surprise motion. This is more. I want to find out what else it is. But I promise we'll go kill some Atharim soon." There was a safe house that needed clearing, but there was just so much other things to do in his life.