03-22-2019, 05:06 PM
Raffe’s expression sobered abruptly. The colour drained. “Shit. I’m sorry.” He dredged through his memory searching for evidence of a cue missed, but he knew well enough the reasons he’d been distracted. Real smooth, Raffe. As Nox turned back out, he rubbed at the back of his own neck, searching for the words. “Not that it’s any sort of consolation, but I lost mine a long time ago too. Never really knew her actually. I was raised by the state.” The fact he had spent nearly a week locked up with her decomposing body as a child didn’t seem like the sort of detail to share, nor the later discovery that she had been murdered by a man who’d forgotten to chase up the niggling loose end of the kid he left behind. Raffe didn’t call him father. It wasn’t a title he had ever earned despite the blood they shared.
He followed back into the main club, pulling the doors closed behind him. “Sure doesn’t hurt,” he agreed with a crooked grin. He’d take that compliment, glad he had not plummeted the mood to unsalvageable levels. Something unseen flicked at his collar, and Raffe’s gaze ghosted down before it bounced back up to the man’s smile. He tugged playful at the front of Nox’s shirt in return as he passed. “Unfair advantage,” he grinned.
Raffe led the way through the tables, quiet while Nox tinkered for a moment on his phone. The question smoothed his mood somewhat softer, his relationship with Kasun having become something more complex than the ugly wounds at his neck suggested. He didn’t blame the other man for the savagery of his instinct, not like Carmen did. The memory of his fear the night Oriena crooked a finger in the doorway of his room lingered. Worry clouded his brow in response. “I’d like to know myself, actually. Oriena came and took him. Haven’t seen either of them since.”
They passed through the backstage dressing room. Costumes lined the walls; lace and glitter, leather and feathers. Huge gilded mirrors framed full-length, spaced in sections. It was dim now, but usually the light cast dewy and soft. His hand passed through gauzy fabrics, remembering suddenly how he’d fallen back into the hangers after Kas had turned on him, dismissing the memory just as quickly despite a painful twinge. Beyond were the showers, a communal area with a few stalls. The stairs in the adjoining hallway led upstairs.
“I don’t know what Carmen told you but it wasn’t Kasun’s fault. Not really,” he said. “She doesn’t see it that way after what he did, but he’s still family.”
He followed back into the main club, pulling the doors closed behind him. “Sure doesn’t hurt,” he agreed with a crooked grin. He’d take that compliment, glad he had not plummeted the mood to unsalvageable levels. Something unseen flicked at his collar, and Raffe’s gaze ghosted down before it bounced back up to the man’s smile. He tugged playful at the front of Nox’s shirt in return as he passed. “Unfair advantage,” he grinned.
Raffe led the way through the tables, quiet while Nox tinkered for a moment on his phone. The question smoothed his mood somewhat softer, his relationship with Kasun having become something more complex than the ugly wounds at his neck suggested. He didn’t blame the other man for the savagery of his instinct, not like Carmen did. The memory of his fear the night Oriena crooked a finger in the doorway of his room lingered. Worry clouded his brow in response. “I’d like to know myself, actually. Oriena came and took him. Haven’t seen either of them since.”
They passed through the backstage dressing room. Costumes lined the walls; lace and glitter, leather and feathers. Huge gilded mirrors framed full-length, spaced in sections. It was dim now, but usually the light cast dewy and soft. His hand passed through gauzy fabrics, remembering suddenly how he’d fallen back into the hangers after Kas had turned on him, dismissing the memory just as quickly despite a painful twinge. Beyond were the showers, a communal area with a few stalls. The stairs in the adjoining hallway led upstairs.
“I don’t know what Carmen told you but it wasn’t Kasun’s fault. Not really,” he said. “She doesn’t see it that way after what he did, but he’s still family.”