House Party

[Oriena]

Once both their appetites were satisfied, there was no heat left between them, and Ori paid Nox no real mind. She stepped into the stream of hot water while he lingered in the doorway. She didn’t ask any questions about where he’d been, or how he’d ended up in the mansion, and she only half listened to his explanation for the party in his house. Any conversation that started along the lines of I’m not getting sentimental, but was hardly likely to endear her patience. Predictably, Oriena ignored that part entirely.

When she emerged she’d already dried off but for damp hair. She brushed the remnants of broken glass from her clothes before pulling them back on. Nox in the centre of the room, still in his towel, and she glanced at the projection he was focused on. Ori was aware that if he hadn’t already succumbed to sating his hunger, it was because of the things playing on his mind. But she had no interest in comfort. “Just listen to yourself, sweetheart. He’ll trust me more if he can control my mind?” She scoffed. The amusement was cruel, but it was also just the blunt truth. “He’s too good for you. Why would he ever trust you at all if you can’t even trust yourself?”

She came to stand near him. “The best thing people like you and I can do for the ones we love is to stay the fuck away,” she told him. The words were dripping with honey and venom, and she knew they would cut precisely because Nox believed them. Though that didn’t mean she wouldn’t give him the weapon he asked for.

“It works better when the desire already exists in someone. Far harder to convince people against the grain. Just sink it here.” She reached up to tap against his skull, then indicated the projection. “Show me how this shit works, and I’ll show you.”

[Sage]

The guy brought Jaxen a glass of water and took it from his hand and offered it to Jaxen. "Thanks." He said and then as Jaxen spoke he pulled off his mask. That fucking thing was so hot and claustrophobic it was almost cold in the interior of the house now.

What Jaxen said barely made sense but Sage nodded along. "I know." he said when Jaxen identified the emissary. And he seemed scared of whatever had happened. "When you two separated there was like a mist disintegrating between you two."

They should both be afraid of their secrets getting out. The Emissary knew... how? "The Emissary knew who I was after touching you. He outted you too. He said he owned me now. What happened? Do you know? How did he know any of those things? It was like he knew exactly what you did, but you said nothing." Sage growled. This was so not his thing. This was a Nox thing. He glanced down the hall where Jaxen had fled from. Now was not the time to bother Nox. "You want me to call you a car, or crash here? I'm sure Nox won't mind. Plenty of bedrooms." He'd have just taken Jaxen home if he weren't a little worried there might be something between him and Aiden. They'd both get lost in some Irish lore and Sage would be left out to just watch. Not that he minded watching, but still it was the principle. Jaxen was a good looking man, straight, but that didn't mean anything really. A little too much to drink, a kiss here a fondle there and woah he's sleeping with his boyfriend. He wasn't worried... Just like Aiden wasn't worried when he spent time with Nox. Not that the boy scout would ever do anything to hurt Aiden. Not if Nox had any say in the matter.

Sage's mind wandered, he was paying attention to everything around him, probably a bit too much. It might look like he wasn't interested and it took Sage a little more effort to try to keep his focus on Jaxen. Rude was not what he wanted to pull off right now. He had too many things on his mind. Focus was not his strong suit.

[Nox]

Nox wanted to talk. But Oriena wasn't the person to talk to. She'd let him ramble but she'd hate him for it. He'd already said too much, he words bit and he nodded. "So you keep telling me." The sad thing was, Nox was coming to believe it himself, which only drew down his mood. His life worked right now -- without Raffe. And he knew it was wrong, knew it would only piss Raffe off giving him a means of controlling someone -- most specifically intended to compel the truth from him or even worse just compel Nox to do whatever he wanted. It was a wrong choice. Nox knew it. But with the horde in his head, what was he supposed to do? He couldn't take it out. There was nothing to kill. He didn't have a parasite. It was all him. It was all fucking him.

Nox wiped the single tear that slide down his cheek and cleared his throat. He focused on the program. "It's all pretty easy, which is why Aurora and Sage created it for me. Made for Dummies she use to say. It's just bigger." Nox reached up and shoved the shield off to the side and pulled out the colors she'd need. "It's just like drawing." Nox picked fire and drew in the space in front of him the weave to create a ball of light. "Not as easy as thinking about it, but it's a great visual tool. I only wish Aurora and I had thought about using it when we were trying to help each other. Might have saved a few singed hairs." Learning to wield the power of the gods was a fond memory with his sister. He missed her.

And it took far more effort than he'd have liked to keep the tears from falling. His life fell apart the day they crashed a plane. Not that it had been going great before that. But it hadn't been right since their mother died. Nox wrapped himself up in the emptiness of the power and let the feelings trickle around him. He didn't want to deal with this in front of Oriena. He'd have to find Hayden, if he were still in town, or find someone else he could talk to. Oriena definitely wasn't the person even if she was the only person who even understood a fraction of what he was going through. Her words still echoed in his mind though. Maybe he should just stay away.

[Oriena]

Oriena shrugged. What did he want her to say? That Rafael would forgive him? Because she could imagine him doing it in exactly the same way he’d forgiven Kasun for nearly ripping his fucking throat out. But she saw no outcome in which it made either of them happy. Rafael wouldn’t defend himself when he needed to, and what an unfortunate and inevitable fuck-up that would make. She was protecting him and Rafael both with her bluntness, but by the silver tear that ran down Nox’s cheek, he was too fucking soft to appreciate it. When was he going to realise that what people like them wanted didn’t matter. They were what they were.

She considered walking out and leaving him to his maudlin thoughts and what remained of the horde’s needs. Ori had enough of her own shit to drown out without sparing a bleeding heart for his. But she waited out the demonstration and ignored how still he went. Frankly, she thought pushing all his emotions down was as dumb as teaching Rafael how to control him with the power. But Nox hardly ended up short an arm by being smart.

When he’d finished the explanation, she shoved him out of the way to take the centre spot. Not that she needed it, but she wanted him to snap out of the quietness that was probably some utterly riveting pity-party of ex-boyfriend and dead sister woes. In fact Oriena had both those things herself, and a half-psychotic mother to boot, but he’d never hear her talk about it.

The image she began to draw was complex, but she had little problem recreating it; probably because of the way it had been learned like a fucking brand on her mind.