Forced Withdrawals [Nox's Building]

[Tatyana]

Hayden held her and it felt good. Being held felt good. The cravings were in the back of her head, but still she felt at peace and she hadn't felt that in a long time. He even offered more distraction time should she need it before going on a long explanation that he didn't do relationships. That didn't surprise her or phase her in the least.

"No problem. I don't want to be in a relationship and didn't expect you wanted one with me," she hadn't been sure how he felt about them, but he had simply offered a distraction. She didn't expect more than that. She was a little bit surprised that he was okay for this happening whenever. "So we're fuck buddies." she said with a laugh.

Tatyana wasn't sure what he meant by her opening up. Had it been about her sobbing into his shoulder or letting him touch her. She had no idea, but she hadn't told him about her pain. She wasn't there yet. "So how does that work - I just show up at your bar and say 'let's fuck'?" she laughed again. It felt good to laugh. "So is it weird that I like handcuffs and blindfolds. I didn't know that I liked that until just now...just every time that you held my arms down or kept me from doing something...I don't know...I just got excited. Is that weird?" She sat up and looked at him. "What do you like?"

[Sterling]

Sterling nodded. "I think so too, but I think Nox will handle it well, either way." Though like Marta she was certain it was a bad idea. "It's a bad idea. But I also think that Nox isn't in a good place either. Hayden's here for a reason, and I don't think he knows exactly why either."

[Hayden]

He grinned. "If that's what you wanna call it sure. I prefer friends with benefits." Hayden shook his head as he laughed. "Normally I'd say text or call first. Just showing up is a bad idea, I could be otherwise engaged." If she caught his drift.

The conversation switched to kinks. "It's not weird at all. If it were weird do you think every couple experiments with it at least once." He grinned at her. "You aren't the first who I've been with who likes that thrill" But he sighed. "I don't particularly have kink, at least not one that translates to one specific thing." He sat up a little and leaned on his side. "My kink is making the other person happy." It was a little bit more than that, had more to do with his unique abilities. The ones that him a great bartender and supposed therapist.

[Marta]

Marta nodded. Nox would handle it well. "He's feeling things again...and that has to be rough for him, but I think its for the better that he is. I think he'll deal with it well too. Hopefully Hayden can help." Hayden was good at it, it didn't matter how much he said he wasn't a therapist. He was - even if he did have unusual methods with adults.

Marta laughed a bit. This conversation felt exceedingly normal and she liked that. "Is this what normal teenage girls talk about. Boys, sex, and random gossip about friends," she gave Sterling a squeeze. "It's kind of nice to feel normal. This impromptu slumber party is going to be my first. What do I need to do to make it memorable? What are the must haves at a slumber party?"

[Tatyana]

Tatyana smiled. "Friends with benefits it is then. I don't have a device on which to text or call though," she said honestly. She had a wallet before things went to shit, but the bill didn't get paid and then basically became useless. She had sold it shortly thereafter and had lived without one since.

Tatyana sighed. She had trusted Hayden and not just with sex. She knew he would never purposely hurt her. That thought conflicted with her nature. Trust wasn't something that she gave away much. Part of her wanted to talk about real things. The things that hurt. But a larger part of her wasn't ready for that. Thinking about it brought thoughts of her dad to mind. That was when the pain began. Her ring was in the pocket of her pants on the floor. Hayden had said he liked to make people happy. Tatyana hardly ever was. She was content right now, basking in the afterglow of sex, but most of the time she wasn't

She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it, unsure of what words to use. None of them seemed right. She snuggled in closer and became quiet as she did so. People lost people they loved all the time. Why was it so hard for her? She determined that maybe that was why it was hard to talk about. That and she didn't want it to seem real. The pain was a reminder of him. He was gone, but the pain made it feel like he wasn't.

"Have you..." she squeezed her eyes shut trying to hold back tears. "Ever lost someone important to you." she finally said.

[Sterling]

Sterling giggled. "Of course it's what normal is like. Rae and I used to do it all the time. But since coming here and not going to a normal school anymore we don't hang out as much anymore. So this is fun."

Sterling hadn't been to Rae's house often her parents letting her friend come over whenever, but the other way around wasn't a typical thing so what you needed? She wasn't sure that they could do anything if they didn't. "To be fair, this is the first sleep over I've ever had where there were boys staying too." Which gave her all sorts of thoughts which she might sneak into Liam's sleeping bag while everyone else was asleep. The thoughts started to turn but she focused on her friend. "We'll have to have a pillow fight. But we'll have to do that and clean up. I think stuffing all over the place would set Nox off when he got home, but we have to do it." Sterling declared. "And of course there is snacks. Maybe we can ask Liv to make us a little safe fire and we can make smores or at least roast marshmellows. But that only works if Nox already has some since we can't exactly go shopping." Nox would have a stash of chocolate, but the rest... Sterling wasn't so sure about.

Sterling leaned in closer "If there weren't adults we might try to sneak some alcohol. Though getting caught like that would surely put us in a dog house. That's illegal. Not that Nox is exactly legal -- but he does have some pretty hard lines where it comes to how kids act and how he acts." Which maybe is where Liam got all his problems from to begin with. Nox acted like a hard ass, but he wasn't, not really. But he had rules and sometimes they weren't obvious. Sterling sighed and collapased against the bed. "Boys suck. It'd be so much easier if I liked girls. Not that I've done more than play kiss with Rae. And it was weird. Girls would be so much nicer than boys."

[Hayden]

Tatyana didn't have a wallet. That's expected. But it would make stopping by hurt more. People were okay with the words, but when it came down to it they were always hurt when things didn't go as planned. "The twins have wallets. You could call me from one of theirs. I don't suggest you text me 'hey let's have sex' on their phone but calling me from there to say that is fine. We don't want to get the kids in trouble."

She pulled in closer, she wanted to say something. But she wasn't ready. Hayden wanted to tell her it was alright, but she eventually said something that he hoped was in line with her prior thoughts. "I have not. I've spoken to a lot of people who have. A lot of them live here. All my parents are alive and well, siblings too. And until recently I didn't have friends I cared about enough to feel their loss. So personally I have no experience. Had you asked about being betrayed or hurt by someone, that I can say yes to, but actually losing them -- no. But I'm a great listener if you want to talk about it. I know it hurts. I know it changes the way a person behaves. I know you don't care about Nox, or like him much, but he won't mind if I share his experiences. He lost the power to feel emotions. And that is pretty much a death sentence in itself for a guy like him. But the loss of his mother and father and sister and countless others he cares about solidified one thing in his mind. Suicide is not an option. The mess afterwards that you leave behind isn't worth your free escape. It's not free, you just aren't there to deal with it. None of those deaths in his life were suidide for the most part, but his father drank himself to death after he lost his wife. He left Nox and his sister to clean up the mess. They were young. 17, 18 years old. It changed them. At least I assume it changed his sister too, I never met her."

[Marta]

Marta laughed. "For some reason I don't think it would be so much easier if you were into girls. It's probably not so different. Also that's probably why it was weird with Rae - that and she's a friend." She giggled. "But if you and I were into girls, don't worry. I'd be all over you, you sexy beast." she grinned at Sterling. They were just friends and not into girls.

As Sterling spoke of boys being here, she detected a bit of mischievousness in her friends scent. Perhaps Liam would have a nocturnal visitor. That idea made Marta think of doing so as well, but she decided it would be better not to. They weren't there yet, but she found she probably wouldn't push Jackson away if he showed up. She sighed. She was getting more open to this stuff quickly, but it was better not to push it. To be honest, she had no idea how she would react.

"Pillow fights and snacks sound great. I'm okay with the no alcohol," she had little interest in it. It was too close to drugs for comfort and she didn't want to go down that road. Not that she would stop or tattle if Sterling wanted to do it. She just wouldn't partake. "May build some blanket forts too. Should be a fun night. I'm a little disappointed that there are so many adults here though. Trouble might actually be fun." she grinned mischievously.

[Tatyana]

Using the girls wallets would be fine until they left. She didn't bring up the hole in that plan. She'd likely come to his bar to talk anyways. She still wasn't sure if she was comfortable coming here at any given point in time. Hayden was right in that she still didn't like Nox. She didn't know if she ever would. It was probably unfair of her to feel that way, but she couldn't forget that he had killed the twins' parents - whether or not he was justified in that.

Tatyana didn't make a sound as Hayden spoke and she didn't look up at him, still she paid attention. She flinched as he said the word "betrayed" as it reminded her of the Vasiliev's. It wasn't Sophia so much as it was the other members of the family that hadn't defended her. Most of them had been ambivalent, but still weren't bad people. But going against Princess Sophia was something they avoided.

She was silent for a bit after he finished. Nox and her had something in common it seemed. They had lost their family. He had a bigger one, but it was similar. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk to Nox about it, but had a feeling they'd try to push it that way. They seemed to want her to give Nox a chance. She wasn't there yet.

She wasn't sure how to respond to it all though. She wasn't sure she wanted to tell Hayden how much she missed her dad, so she just snuggled in closer and rested her head on his chest, wiping the brief tears that came to her eyes.

[Sterling]

Sterling giggled too. but she wasn't sure about the conculsion either. Girls seems easier. "Forts sounds fun too."

Sterling shrugged. "We'll be downstairs, they are all upstairs, it won't be too bad. Ashton and Liv will probably be incharge but they are less like adults and more like big kids too. We can still get into trouble"