10-05-2013, 08:44 AM
Suddenly, shivers nearly wracked his body. It sent every hair on his body prickling in steamy contrast to the slick of sweat still evaporating from the previous saunter around the stage.
If that weren't enough to set him on edge, the die he eyed with extreme suspicion. It teetered one way, then another. He'd focused on it with nearly as much intense concentration as he had the locked gate at Baccarat, until something flickered and retracted on the edge of his vision. Without knowing the number he needed to win, the fibers that seemed to come out of no where shriveled and died without so much as touching the die. I did that, the realization startled fascinating.
But not so stunning as Oriena's rabbity look. The chills subsided after that without fully disappearing. Orienting himself to the absurdity of the anomaly, Jax spied out Jon. Was he chilled too? Or was it all figments of a guy lost in his own padded room?
So many curious perplexities one after another were enough to distract him into overlooking Oriena's lack of service. In fact, Jax was more interested in solving the mystery than drinking. Not that surprising, really. He drank in the spotlight when it suited him, but Jaxen was content to sit back, drum his fingers, and watch affairs unfold as puppetmaster. All the better when the puppets didn't know who pulled their strings.
Narrowed eyes did not miss the glimpse at Oriena's card. Though he was unsure whether she'd previewed him on purpose. He was more forthright with his sharing, though. Flipping his own card around for all to see. They would be passing to the left. Which meant the automatic win landed in his lap. Phenomenon or happenstance?
Eyes lit with anticipation, he leaned forward and offered Jon his card, "That's more like it,"
he smirked roguishly, then relaxed in his seat, crossed one bare foot across the other knee and perched a splay of fingers to his mouth in ornery contemplation.
What a nice little turn of events. The twice winner now the loser at the hands of his former conquest. Oh the evil ideas that came to mind. Sinister indeed.
But there was one thing Jaxen wanted more than anything. Children could humiliate one another, but it took a man to extract something useful from this kind of situation. And Jaxen preferred to gather any and all things that might propel his goals in the long-run. He was a patient man, after all. The longer the wait, the sweeter the pay out.
He fixed Jon's drunken glaze with a dare. "Tell us about the time you had --- the Sickness, Jon."
A triumphant little smirk twisted Jax's lips. He knew the man must have had it, but now, he was going to make him admit it. In front of Oriena. A dangerous move these days, admitting to something that could get you -- at the very least -- hauled off for quarantine. Or away in a body bag.
But hooking Jon and baiting him over shark-infested waters was only part of the fun. The man was another cultish freak that could do magic. Like himself, Tony and Michael. And who knew how many other people? Maybe everyone that had the Sickness was one of them.
Jax was on track to learning everything there was about this handy development, and fuck if magic wasn't handy to wield. And if he were going to be better at it than everyone else, he was going to soak up knowledge like a sponge.
If that weren't enough to set him on edge, the die he eyed with extreme suspicion. It teetered one way, then another. He'd focused on it with nearly as much intense concentration as he had the locked gate at Baccarat, until something flickered and retracted on the edge of his vision. Without knowing the number he needed to win, the fibers that seemed to come out of no where shriveled and died without so much as touching the die. I did that, the realization startled fascinating.
But not so stunning as Oriena's rabbity look. The chills subsided after that without fully disappearing. Orienting himself to the absurdity of the anomaly, Jax spied out Jon. Was he chilled too? Or was it all figments of a guy lost in his own padded room?
So many curious perplexities one after another were enough to distract him into overlooking Oriena's lack of service. In fact, Jax was more interested in solving the mystery than drinking. Not that surprising, really. He drank in the spotlight when it suited him, but Jaxen was content to sit back, drum his fingers, and watch affairs unfold as puppetmaster. All the better when the puppets didn't know who pulled their strings.
Narrowed eyes did not miss the glimpse at Oriena's card. Though he was unsure whether she'd previewed him on purpose. He was more forthright with his sharing, though. Flipping his own card around for all to see. They would be passing to the left. Which meant the automatic win landed in his lap. Phenomenon or happenstance?
Eyes lit with anticipation, he leaned forward and offered Jon his card, "That's more like it,"
he smirked roguishly, then relaxed in his seat, crossed one bare foot across the other knee and perched a splay of fingers to his mouth in ornery contemplation.
What a nice little turn of events. The twice winner now the loser at the hands of his former conquest. Oh the evil ideas that came to mind. Sinister indeed.
But there was one thing Jaxen wanted more than anything. Children could humiliate one another, but it took a man to extract something useful from this kind of situation. And Jaxen preferred to gather any and all things that might propel his goals in the long-run. He was a patient man, after all. The longer the wait, the sweeter the pay out.
He fixed Jon's drunken glaze with a dare. "Tell us about the time you had --- the Sickness, Jon."
A triumphant little smirk twisted Jax's lips. He knew the man must have had it, but now, he was going to make him admit it. In front of Oriena. A dangerous move these days, admitting to something that could get you -- at the very least -- hauled off for quarantine. Or away in a body bag.
But hooking Jon and baiting him over shark-infested waters was only part of the fun. The man was another cultish freak that could do magic. Like himself, Tony and Michael. And who knew how many other people? Maybe everyone that had the Sickness was one of them.
Jax was on track to learning everything there was about this handy development, and fuck if magic wasn't handy to wield. And if he were going to be better at it than everyone else, he was going to soak up knowledge like a sponge.