Kings of the castle

[Oriena]

Arrogant prick. The challenge itched; not in his words, but in the casual drape of his body. The inference of power in his laced fingers, so carelessly expecting worship for every dollar trailing after his name. It didn’t matter that he was right; cage Ori in expectation and she fought back instinctively. How about you get your feet off my fucking furniture first? The irritation flared and died quickly. She’d lost dozens of jobs that way, before she’d learned how to keep her mouth shut - or at least to invoke subtler retributions. The acting wasn’t so hard. Convincing herself it was necessary, though; that wasn’t always quite so easy. He didn’t appear offended, which was perhaps his saving grace insofar as her reaction was concerned. Entitled – though weren’t they all, these pampered billionaires? – but maybe a little amused too.

"Hmmm."
She pressed the edge of her glass to her lips as though considering this proposition of roles, or perhaps the innuendo in the playful rise of his brows. Her back was pressed comfortably into the chair, and she made no effort to jump to his beck and call – though neither was her manner belligerent. A smile teased the edges of her lips. If it wasn’t entirely friendly, it wasn’t cold either; like a cat deciding whether or not to toy. He offered no surname for her to place him. Offend the wrong richboy and the damage would cascade irretrievably toward ruin for Kallisti. But, he was alone, and unless he was expecting company (and it didn’t seem so; he may have ordered bottle service, but it was still bottle service for one) it tickled a suspicion that he was out of favour. Hiding, from something or someone. Looking at that sinful face, she could hazard a few guesses.

"Well, you got some of it right,"
she conceded; an admission he should be wary of mistaking for surrender.

Kallisti had served its purpose the moment Moscow’s elite had sanctioned it with their favour, and its infamy and longevity since then was almost entirely to Karmen’s credit. If it burned to the ground tomorrow, Ori wouldn’t find much to mourn, so she felt no unease at lighting a match to test against Jaxen’s tolerance. If he didn’t enjoy her partiality for tease, he was going to end up shredded on the barbs of her sense of humour. She might be the proprietress, but Oriena herself didn’t care whether or not he found a reason to come back. This was just sport.

Ori hadn’t broken her attention away from him yet; that much interest she offered for free. She took a deliberate sip of her drink, the ice clinking when she set the glass back down. The burn down her throat reminded her she wasn’t entirely sober, but the spread of warmth made her pleasantly sedate. Maybe it was the seductive way he’d spoken her name, or recollection of the promise she’d made to Karmen; Ori wasn’t sure, but either way he presented a game she was willing to play. She revelled in a challenge, though she was a very poor loser. Not that she played for anything but to win.

She uncrossed her legs slowly. "Are you going to tell me the way you like it? Or should I just guess?"
There was no mystery as to what he intended to drink, since he’d ordered so few ingredients, but she acted on his assumption that she was a novice with uninhibited coquettishness and a wicked smile. The bottle she studied long enough to discern what it was, but otherwise she didn’t pause before tumbling ice in the glass and drowning it in vodka. A generous squeeze of lime finished it off. Classic and unadventurous, though potent; she wondered if there was a reason other than habit why he was drinking it practically straight, though she wasn’t going to make the mistake of asking. If he had woes to sink to oblivion, she really didn’t want to know.

She sucked her thumb after she discarded the lime, and picked his drink up in the other hand. The glass had already begun to bead refreshing condensation by the time she offered it out to him, smiling slyly. He was going to have to come a lot closer in order to collect it, unless he planned to point out the flaws in her hostess skills once again. "You haven't been here before?"