Solutions

[Emily Shale-Vanders]

Emily arrived in Siberia safe and sound and quickly traveled to the resort. Emily went straight to the front desk to check in and get to her room. She called Thomas to inform him of her arrival; she wanted to get the business out of the way.

Thomas arrived quickly - he had probably been in the bar. "Miss Shale, a pleasure."


Emily nodded and shook his hand. Thomas produced the bill and Emily examined it, noticing that is was smaller than his quoted price. He must have noticed the confusion in her face because he said, "The discount is for the issue I had."


Emily nodded and removed her checkbook. "I usually don't accept checks."
Of course - few people used them now, but Emily kept them for a few purposes.

"Do you really think my check will bounce, Mr. Romero?"


Thomas looked stunnned, but shook his head no. "A pleasure doing business with you, Miss Shale."


"Likewise, Mr. Romero."


Thomas left and Emily headed to the shower to freshen up. She changed into a pair of jeans and a light blue long sleeved shirt. It was cut lower than she usually wore, but she was feeling adventurous today, and wasn't planning on skiing yet. She just wanted a drink and some time to think things over.

Emily left and went to the resort bar, taking an empty seat at the bar. She order a cosmopolitan and sipped at it while thinking. She wondered if the Ascendancy would show up to the gala - if so - she would have to meet him personally. She shook her head, banishing the gala from her mind; one thing at a time. The envelope with the note and money in it were in her purse. She needed to figure out how she was going to ask Nox about it.

[Nox]

The plane ride was hell on wings. Nox was fried, he needed a drink. He almost got one at the airport when they landed, but Aria and Lucas didn't drink so he'd hold off on that thought while with them. But as soon as he got to the hotel he promised himself.

Being on solid ground was like heaven on earth. He almost knelt down and kissed the ground, that was how happy he felt for being earth bound again. If it weren't for the fact that they had already purchased plane tickets Nox would have taken a different way home, damn Borovsky in the process. But the money was spent and no refunds meant that the Atharim wouldn't reimburse them if they didn't use them. And while money was good, money was also not to be frivolously spent.

The hotel was nice, had a certain rustic charm to it. Not too expensive and definitely not cheap. It was a great mixture of both. Aria checked them all in, and handed Nox a key and had his bags sent up. She smiled at him reassuringly that all was well and he was off to the bar.

It was a quaint little joint, decked out in all the rustic nature you'd expect an outdoorsy place to be. Fucking animal heads on the walls everywhere, those things were creepy. But Nox mostly ignored the glass eyes that peeked down at him from their high perches on the wall. Another thing that he didn't quite understand, thankfully it didn't send him into another panic attack.

The bar was quiet at this time of the day, most of the guests out on the slopes or doing other such touristy things. Nox sat two seats down from a hot blonde. He grinned at her before he ordered a beer from the keep. He turned in his seat and put his back against the bar and stretched out, being 6 foot had some advantages and some disadvantages, he hated bar stools.

The bartender sat his beer bottle on the napkin opened. Before it could even leave a ring of condensation on the napkin Nox had it in his hand and was sipping at it. It was nice and cold, and pretty near perfect for the day he was having. Hopefully this was a sign things were looking up now that he was on the ground.

[Emily Shale-Vanders]

Emily wasn't expecting to see Nox yet, but he soon walked into the bar. Emily recognized him from the picture Thomas had sent her. Seeing someone in person is often a different experience than seeing a photograph though. Emily had found Nox to be attractive in his picture, but in person...he was GORGEOUS! Emily found herself glad she wasn't made of ice or otherwise she would have melted into a puddle on the floor.

He sat down a couple of seats away from her and gave her a grin. Emily returned it with a smile over the martini glass before taking a sip. That grin almost drove her crazy.

What's happening to me?
she thought. A grin like that would have caught her attention before, but now it seemed more intense. Keep calm, Emily. You have a mission here."


The beer Nox ordered was being drunk almost before it hit the surface of the bar. A sign of someone having a bad day? Emily decided to take a chance and it would be a good enough ice breaker. "Rough day?"
Emily asked, still looking at Nox.
Edited by Emily Shale, Mar 12 2015, 03:59 PM.

[Nox]

Nox turned to the soft voice that asked him a question. It took him a moment to catch what she'd said. Not that she'd stuttered or anything but his mind was just gone elsewhere at the time.

He grinned, "You have no fucking idea."
He frowned, "Sorry, I'll watch my language."
He got up and moved over the remaining seats. He offered his hand with a grin, "Nox."


She took his hand and smiled, cheeks turning slightly red. "Emily"


Nox's grin widened, a blusher how fun. "So Emily,"
he let her name roll of his tongue like it tasted sweet. "What brings a sweet American girl to a back water ski resort in Russia?"


She sipped the rest of her cosmopolitan and placed the empty glass on the bar. "A short little vacation. How about yourself?"
She leaned forward on the bar.

Nox nodded to the bartender to bring her another round, he smiled. "A little work. A little pleasure."
The last said with a hint of what he meant by it.

Her blush deepened and when the bartender brought another cosmo, she immediately took a long drink from it. Nox thought to himself this could be easy, though hopefully she won't get too trashed, that always ended poorly.

Nox turned to face her, his knees brushing the side of her leg. He grinned, "What do you have planned for your little vacation, Emily? Anything fun?"
He repeated her name more to commit it to memory so he'd not do something stupid like call her the wrong thing. Not that he would forget so lightly, but even the one beer he was nursing could make him do stupid things coming off that stupid panic attack.

Emily took a deep breath, but didn't resist the knee touching her leg. "Some skiing - relaxing."
Her wallet buzzed. "Excuse me."
She pulled out her purse and frowned as she searched for her wallet. She typed a message on it and then returned her gaze to Nox, smiling. "Sorry about that. I have some work to do while I'm here too, and who knows, maybe some pleasure too."
Her voice had a slight tease to it and Nox grinned playfully.

Nox had never been skiing, well not intentionally anyway. He wasn't fond of hurtling down an incline at high speeds over ice covered ground with trees potentially in the way. "That doesn't sound like relaxing to me. Hurtling down a slope with trees on it."
But then again Nox was a hunter for a living, he thrived on adrenaline, his fun didn't need to. He shuddered at the thought of someone jumping out of a perfectly good plane for the fun of it. He took a long swallow of his beer then grinned at her, "I'm sure there are far more relaxing ways to spend your vacation."


"A ski resort seems an unlikely place for one who doesn't ski. How are you planning on relaxing, Nox?"


Nox laughed, "Very true, but I didn't pick this place. And it's the closest English speaking hotel to where we have our work meeting tomorrowish."
He grinned at her. "And I am relaxing right now. Talking to a pretty girl."
He tipped his beer bottle in her direction. "Drinking a beer. Pretty relaxing if you ask me."


She blushed a little more at the compliment and clinked her glass against his bottle. "I'm glad I could help."
She smiled. "Perhaps you can help me with something - a little project I've been working on."


He was intrigued. Nox grinned at her. "Sure, how can I help you out Emily?"


[[With Emily]]

[Emily Shale-Vanders]

That grin. What was it about that grin. She could feel her cheeks reddening when he approached her and introduced himself. The blush increased with the word pleasure.

The meaning wasn't lost on her. The way Nox emphasized the word showed his true intentions. He wanted to bed her. The thought brought intimate images into her head, and she took a long drink of the second cosmopolitan that the bartender brought her to calm down.

Given her history, she was surprised at her own reaction. Her inner self wanted it, but part of her didn't. This made it confusing for Emily and she momentarily forgot why she was here. Perhaps it was her own history that made this something she did want. Bryce had hid his true self until that night, but Nox was straight forward about what he wanted. In some strange way, Emily found that enticing in itself. The idea that she felt that way made her feel dirty.

When Nox brushed her leg with his knee, she felt her inner self shiver. She didn't resist and answered his questions, and was glad for the momentary distraction her wallet gave her by buzzing. She pulled out her purse and her eyes came across the envelope and reminded her why she was here. She frowned at it, and accepted the message from Andrew. It was just an update and she acknowledged its receipt.

Emily wasn't sure why she decided to tease Nox. She found him more than attractive. He had already distracted her from why she was here. Maybe the seven years of avoiding men had started to come to bear and she needed a release. Part of her still wanted what he offered too, but she had no idea what he would think when she revealed the envelope that he had addressed not so long ago.

Emily blushed again when he complemented her. Emily knew she was attractive, but not too often had she allowed someone to mention it to her. She was actually pleased. Nox actually was quite charming. It was a pity that he didn't want more than sex.

"I'm glad I could help. Perhaps you can help me with something - a little project I've been working on."


The moment to bring up her reason here had appeared and Emily took it. With the decision to ask him about it and the fact that he had agreed to help came the nerves. She reached for her purse and the thoughts started running through her head. Emily wondered if she really wanted to know what he did. It could be extremely painful to hear, but she knew that this could give her the closure she needed to really let go.

She gave Nox a nervous smile and took his hand, giving it a quick squeeze before she reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope. She slid it across the bar towards him. Perhaps it was the straight forward approach Nox himself had given, but Emily's question came out without a thought. "What do you know about my parents? What happened that day? Please."
Emily couldn't keep the sadness out of her voice and eyes. She hadn't realized that she hadn't let go of Nox's hand and had been squeezing it. She relaxed her hand, but didn't let go.


Edited by Emily Shale, Mar 12 2015, 07:07 PM.

[Nox]

Emily squeezed his hand, Nox grinned at her up until the point that she slide an envelope with his hand writing scrawled all over it. Fuck me! She asked about her parents, but he really had no idea who she was. Nox pulled his hand from underneath hers with a grin. He put his back against the bar and looked towards the door. He wished Aria would come interrupt now, but he was not so lucky.

Nox sighed, "I'm sorry, but I don't know your parents. But if you have that envelope I would assume that your parents were on the plane that crashed."
He looked at her with a frown, "I don't know what happened. I really don't. All I remember is I was fighting with my sister. Something weird happened and a hole blew in the hull and I was sucked out of the plane."
Nox turned back to her careful not to touch her in any form. "I'm sorry that your parents died in the crash."


All thoughts of getting laid left him, he drank the rest of the beer and nodded to the bartender for another beer. "Look. Weird shit happens around me a lot, what happened was probably my fault. I felt guilty. I did want I could to make reparations. But since I don't really know what happened, I can't tell you anything more."
It was mostly the truth, but he lied, he knew it was his fault, he didn't know what had happened, it was a weave he'd woven a million times, he could do it in his sleep but instead it blew up in his face.

"From what I heard, the reports were inconclusive as well. What happened is going to remain a mystery to everyone."
His beer arrived and Nox took another drink. He turned back towards the bar and stared down at the bottle. So much for his day turning around.

[Emily Shale-Vanders]

Emily frowned as Nox explained. He didn't know much more than she did, although he did blame himself. She didn't know what she felt - anger, sadness, a whole heap of confusion. She took another drink of her cosmopolitan to help stop the swirling emotions.

Nox blamed himself - he thought he was responsible and so tried to make reparations. It was an accident. Something weird happened. That thought stayed in her head. Emily's face softened as she looked at Nox. He did feel guilty. She could tell and truth be told it made her sad that she had contributed to his already bad day. She didn't miss the strangeness of the fact that she felt compassion towards the man who had taken her parents from her.

No! You can't think of him as a killer. He didn't mean to do it.


The thought was her own, but it sounded like her father and mother had said it. With that thought she knew what to do. Her parents had raised her to be compassionate and forgiving, and she chose to live that way. Emily stood from her seat and took a step closer. She wasn't far away from Nox, but she did it anyways.

"Thank you, Nox, for telling me this. It takes some real guts to admit something like that."
Emily placed her hand on his shoulder and kissed him on the cheek, the motion one of gratitude. "I don't know if it helps, but I forgive you, and I know my parents would have too."


The thought kept coming back - something weird happened. Emily wondered about this while she spoke, but as she stood back up, a thought hit her. Nox had been angry with his sister. Something weird happened while he was angry. Could Nox be like her, Ayden, and Bas? Emily waited until the bartender turned his back.

"Weird stuff - like this?"
Emily took a gamble. "Cold"
she whispered and summoned her magic, forming a layer of frost around Nox's beer. The liquid inside would be chilled and Nox had now had a frosted bottle.


Edited by Emily Shale, Mar 13 2015, 11:43 AM.

[Nox]

Nox felt the tell tale chill of a woman embracing the power, he sighed even before whispered something and his beer miraculous frosted over. He took a grateful sip of it and turned to face her directly, a grin forming on his face. "Exactly like that."


Nox looked around, there still wasn't very many people in the bar. "Though here is probably not the place to discuss that. You never know what ears are listening."
He pulled out his wallet. "Need to send my friend a text real quick. Check on something."


Nox typed quickly. "Hey Aria. Check my laptop for the addresses for a name. Emily. I don't have a last name. She's a godling, want to see if there is info on her." He seemed to be running into all sort of hot women who could wield the power of the gods. Nox hit send and put his wallet back in his coat pocket.

Nox turned his attention back to Emily a wide grin plastered on his face. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."
The idea of sex was still appealing but he'd rather tell her the truth of the matter, now that he knew she'd understand. He grinned softly, "I can tell you what happened in more detail now, but not here."
But there was still hope his day could turn up better.

[Emily Shale-Vanders]

Nox seemed to come around now. At least when she showed off her magic. The grin came back and Emily felt she could melt all over again. She had guessed right though. He was like her. He advised caution and Emily nodded at that.

He turned to his wallet and Emily finished off her drink. When he turned back to her and flirted she couldn't help but blush again. She was pretty and men gave her attention, but very seldom were they this blunt.

But now he knew more - at least was willing to share now that he knew about her. She had to hear the rest. She had no idea if he was just flirting with her or actually still wanted sex from her. Her inner self jumped in excitement at the idea of it, but part of her was still unsure and nervous. She found that she liked his bluntness though. Nox hadn't tried to hide those intentions from her.

Emily gave a nod and a smile. Part of her inner self won and she was playful in her response, although her voice was laced with nerves. "Okay. My place or yours?"

[Nox]

She sure was a blusher, his grin widen each time she did so. And it only seemed to make her blush even farther. Oh this was going to be fun. He could make her blush even more if he really wanted to. He might have to try later, after they talked.

Nox took a sip from the chilled bottle and dropped some cash on the bar. He gave the bartender his room key and had the drinks charged to his room. Aria would pay the bill later and the Atharim would fork over whatever money they would and he'd pay up his part. But knowing Aria she'd not ask him to pay, she did after all bring her boyfriend along for the journey.

He turned his attention back to Emily with a grin, "Your's is probably better, mine is a bit too close to my partner and her boyfriend. And I know they'll be making a bit of noise."
Nox made up an excuse that was logical enough, and hinted at what Aria and Lucas would be up to, maybe giving her her own ideas about what they could be doing together and not just talking.

Nox watched Emily with a careful eye as he draped his arm around her, she fit neatly under his arm. "Lead the way beautiful."