A Little Head Clearing

[Nox]

There was heat in the touch, and the look and the whispered challenge. Nox closed his eyes and fought back every urge to lean in and press his body against Raffe's. And Nox was very much loving the teasing and the banter but that workout was far more needed than before. Clearing his head - he need a lot more than that at the moment.

But Raffe had the will power they both were fighting for and pulled away first poking him in the ribs. Nox fliched a little - few people knew - well mostly only his sister but he was ticklish and the ribs were a truly haneous sort of torture when your sister finds it. It hadn't been a pretty thing when his father caught them - Aurora on top with her hands pressed to his sides and Nox giggling furiously but completely unable to dislodge his sister from his mid section. There hadn't been a beating, but the training had increased as had the this is how a man act lectures went. He'd just been a kid doing childish things. But as an Atharim - there was no childhood.

Nox's thoughts had carried him away from Raffe and the joy of the flirting. He hadn't bothered to change, he was still wearing what he had to dance in. So he was already hot and sweaty. Though he did return for Nova quickly looking past Raffe's door curious to what he might be doing before retrieving Nova for a good run.

A long run. So far Nox ran past Gracie's - a place he'd met Bas and the last time he actually worked out in a formal gym - though it had been only boxing and that felt like a long time ago. Nova waited outside while he went in started a membership for real this time and headed back towards Kallisti. His thoughts after leaving had moved to the problem at hand. Costumes weren't exactly his thing, but he could do all sorts of things with the software Sage and Aurora had created. It was great at understanding things - Sage had made some enhancements to Aurora's base and it was even better than it had been.

Nox stopped at a street crossing and pulled up his wallet and started the app and put it back in his wallet. The great thing about it was it was also voice activated. So as Nox ran he searched for imagery that he looked at later. His music raged in his ears and he ran. Forgetting about his father, thinking about his new life. But he was still Atharim.

The last few blocks Nox walked back to Kallisti. But before he went back inside he texted Dorian.

Name a place and time and I'll be there.

Nox opened the door and made his way to his room to grab clean clothes from his bag and found a shower. It was hot, and wet and burnt away the rest of the dirt and sweat. He wished it would burn away the memories.

There was a soft giggle from the door and Nox rolled his eyes. "Sweetpea, we are going. You and Raffe don't do anything we wouldn't." She giggled as she headed out the door. Mandy pretended to be the dimwitted blonde with big boobs, but she was smarter than a whip and she could dance. Maybe not as well as Amaya, but she was right there with the other woman. She was childless of her own free will, and she was single forever she claimed. Doing what she did made life easier. No one could get jealous. But she had few sweethearts she'd called them. Or a pair of them - swingers or maybe it was polyamory, Nox didn't know - didn't really care. She was a sweet woman and was way brighter than any one gave her credit for.

Kallisti was quiet when he made his way upstairs, most of the girls were gone and Nox didn't really feel comfortable wandering so he went to his room and pulled his laptop out of his bag and flung the blankets down the end of the bed and piled the pillows up so he'd prop up and set to work. His wallet and laptop went into holo mode and costumes and music and everything he could think of sat on see through screen so he could work. There was no typing, talking to himself was second nature and touching the holo images was easier manipulation. He loved Sage's upgrades, he was glad that his sisters work had received some TLC even if she couldn't see it.

Nox worked on the music and costumes ...

[Raffe]

After Nox left, Raffe watered the plants on his sill, running his fingers over the leaves like they were well loved pets. Half a distracted smile played on his lips as he tended to their needs (sometimes he could swear they reacted to his mood). Afterwards he stretched on his bed and read for a while, content to pass the time quietly. He preferred company to silence, generally, but tiredness still lingered from his recent bout of flu. After the day’s impromptu chores he was glad to relax, somewhat surprised to discover the faint ache and fatigue had still not entirely fled his system.

He yawned into his forearm after a while, and at some point before the evening’s shadows began to creep he must have fallen asleep. A groan met wakefulness, a check of his phone confirming it had only been a couple hours. Fingers scruffed a path through his curls as he sat up, swinging his legs down to meet the bare floorboards. He blinked, then padded his way downstairs for a glass of water. It was darker in the bar; none of the lights were on, and there were no windows to let in what remained of the natural light. Kallisti was a sanctuary all of its own; an entire world unto itself.

Feeling awake, now, he bounded back up the stairs, but paused in the corridor. Nox had to be back by now, confirmed by the low murmur coming from his room. Curious steps took him the rest of the way to hover in the doorway. The grin was natural as he spied within, his knuckles rapping on the open door.

[Nox]

There was a lot of work to do, but the splicing of tracks was actually fairly easy since Nox had been playing with music tracks for as long as he could remember. It was the first piece of software Aurora wrote for him. It allowed him to pull the words out of a song, convert the melody to just the notes and put it back in. Splicing together a few songs was nothing.

Nox called Thalia in the middle of it all and probably talked her ear off. He was more than happy to share his crush and his day with her - she seemed willing to listen. It was the first friend other than Sage who he'd shared things like that with. And if you thought about it Sage just knew cause he stalked you. Which wasn't exactly the same thing. But Nox hung up and got back to work losing track of the time.

The costumes were proving to be easier than originally anticipated thanks to Sage's updates. He had them dancing around on screen maybe not exactly how he wanted but the costumes moved and he had a little audience before he was done with it all. Raffe knocked on the door and stood grinning in the doorway. Nox smiled as he purposefully twirled the figure on holo display between them before looking up. "Hey there stranger. Whacha doing? Wanna help play dress up?" Nox chuckled those were words he had never thought he'd utter. His mother was probably looking down on him with both pride and disgust. Pride because he was doing something other than hunting, and disgust because he chose to do it at a burlesque, strip club, a cabaret. While not the Russian ballet, Nox was actually looking forward to his first production.

[Raffe]

Raffe watched the spinning holos with some interest. Tech was never really his thing, particularly since he’d never had the extra income to indulge it. His laptop was beat-up; his phone was just a phone. He didn’t have much of an idea how you’d even begin to make the mind’s eye something tangible, but mostly he was curious to see the first flashes of the performance Nox was in the process of planning. Snippets of Nox's old life surfaced throughout the day. From what Raffe could tell, this certainly seemed like a departure.

He leaned on the doorframe, smiling. “Sure. Though it’s generally agreed I have very poor taste in clothes.” He stifled the laugh; it probably sounded more like he was clearing a blocked throat. Raffe was dressed sedately enough today; a t shirt and old jeans, but one only had to take a peek at his bedspread to appreciate he had a fondness for bright colour.

[Nox]

Nox licked his lips as he very blatantly checked Raffe out. Even his attire earlier had been fine as far as Nox was concerned. Nox was a t-shirt and jeans covered with a gray hoodie sort of guy anyway. Wearing next to nothing except in the bedroom was going to be very far from the comforts of his ragged grey hoodie he kept around him. It had been through hell and back - as had every one before. His mother had given him one every few years when she tired of the ragged edges or the tight fit. This one was the last one she'd given him. It probably had seen better days, but he didn't have the heart to replace it.

He did chuckle and moved so his back was to the wall and Raffe could sit on the bed next to him without looking like they were doing more than working. Nox pulled his feet up underneath him and set the laptop on the bed in front of him before patting the spot next to him Nova took the opportunity to jump up and curl in the spot Nox had reserved for Raffe. "Greedy much. Go on the other side." The pup raised his eye lids and was unhappy about moving once he'd twirled fifteen times before laying down. And he showed it when he did the same on Nox's pillow. "That's mine you know."

Nova put his head on his paws and closed his eyes and ignored him. "At least he moved. But back to the point, which is actually to be wearing less, while not revealing too much. The art of subtly." Nox laughed. "I've never been good at subtle. Aurora always got on to me about my brash rushing in at things. Sneaking on the other hand - I can do that. But that's not the same as subtle."

The holo screen showed only the one character he'd been working on at the moment. Nox pulled up the other three - obviously more feminine, but only one was actually a woman. It might have been funnier though if Nox had taken the female role to completely shift the whole scenario around. Maybe he should do that... He grinned mischeivously at the screen. The Egyptian theme was obvious. "How much do you know about Egyptian mythology?"

[Raffe]

He hesitated for a moment, questioning his own resolve, but ultimately set it aside. A grin observed the dog's quest to find a suitably comfortable spot, and then he joined Nox on the bed. He sat cross-legged too, purposefully ignoring the proximity in favour of watching the screen. 

“Not much,” he admitted. He leaned in to spin the figures with a swipe of his fingers. Nox was right that Kallisti favoured subtlety. Raffe saw plenty of the shows, but he wasn't a performer, and he had little in the way of advice. He did appreciate beauty though, including that to be found in the curves and angles of flesh.

“Trial and error, maybe. The girls won't steer you wrong.” And Carmen wouldn't be willing to put her faith in something she didn't trust. He glanced from the figure and briefly to Nox's profile, suppressing the flicker of an imaginative grin. “Why Egyptian?”

[Nox]

Nox laughed. "I'm sure the girls will definitely push things to the right direction. And I'll listen. This is as far beyond my normal." Nox gestured to the four figures on the screen. "I think the laptop is a little freaked out by not seeing crime scenes and maps and things." Nox knew he was rambling. It was a nervous trait. Not that Raffe made him nervous - more the opposite actually. Much like the day with Thalia. Strangers with whom he'd taken comfort in.

Nox took a deep breath before he started to answer Raffe's question. "Because it's obscure and if we interpret something wrong some nut isn't going to come down on my head." Nox looked over at Raffe with a wide smile. "I mean how many people could be die hard Egyptian myth freaks and come to a place like this. Not impossible, but probability is in my favor. Most scholars don't show their kinky sides."

Nox leaned back and spun his tale. Walked the little figures on the screen through the basic movements, they weren't dancing, and they weren't sexy but it was placement that matter. All in all it was a sad love story, and after Nox told Raffe he added, "I grew up on the tales of gods, on how they were evil, and they needed to be eradicated, and if they ever showed up again that they needed to die to save humanity. That's all I grew up on - live in the shadows to save the people who live in it from the monsters. So here I am, an ex-Atharim, still fighting monsters as one of the monsters putting on a show about gods long forgotten." The irony was the humor in it.

Nox added as a side note to Raffe with a smile. "I was thinking lots of body paint for the majority of the costumes - subtle but revealing. And it gives me the ability to add to the lore of the story."

[Raffe]

“Normal is overrated,” he assured with a small smile. The underbelly of society rarely tolerated those outcast as abnormal. Raffe had stomached his fair share of that growing up. But there was camaraderie to be found too, in the right places. “Ah, fair point. I wouldn’t want to be Jaxen Marveet right now.” He ran a hand over his jaw, gaze pinched by a frown. Raffe was not much given to politics, and despite the destitution of his upbringing at the state’s hand, he held no real hatred of the Custody. In the small circle of his life he laboured to make things better. He cared for those around him, aware of the larger injustices but powerless to stop them. The knowledge made him uncomfortable if he looked at it too long, like the violence that thrummed through his limbs the day he finally fought back at the orphanage. Freedom of expression should not be caged, but the Custody’s fist squeezed too tight. The thought lingered.

“You’ll be surprised by the people who come here. But discretion is part of the package. We don’t judge.” He leaned to watch the story, chin rested in the cup of his palm. It wasn’t a myth he recognised, though even had it been more renowned he doubted on reprisal. “That’s really what the Atharim believe?” It wasn’t a question, but he paused to consider the ramifications of a life like that; to become the very thing you were taught from the cradle to hate and fear. He’d watched the feeds as Ascendancy pulled the Arch into being. He’d heard the stories of Andlain. The power was only as dangerous as the men who wielded it, yet it didn’t justify a death sentence. He nodded to himself, like something slotted into place. Understanding a fraction of the duty Nox wreathed around his own shoulders, and of the cost.

He glanced up, catching the smile. It flashed one of his own as his gaze absorbed what that might look like. He laughed, then winced, rubbing his throat as he accused playfully, “Seems like you don’t need my help at all.”

[Nox]

Nox nodded his agreement about Jaxen. The man probably had a mark on his head for making fun of Ascendancy. Nox added quickly "Though to be honest it doesn't take much to be on his shit list. No idea what I did to piss him off other than accompany another hunter to kill him. Funny was we weren't even trying. Aria was trying to find a way out of the order without betraying the Atharim. He hate me on sight, even though I never even lifted a finger." Course Nox was used to people hating him on sight. Or at least once they got to know him. But Ascendancy hadn't done that. Didn't matter he best left to avoid the man from now on.

He didn't go on about the Atharim, it was such a dour subject really. The whole holier than though attitude even from the American Atharim. His father wasn't a religious man but he was a zealot none-the-less. And now that Nox was seeing with broken rose-tinted glasses, it became all too clear. Raffe's pained laughed brought Nox out of his own thoughts. He frowned at the pain. "I wish I could help with that. Aurora could have. I don't need help, I'm sure the girls will have their own thoughts," Nox bit his bottom lip and leaned back against the wall and looked at Raffe through the corner of his eyes. "I enjoy the company though." He grinned. "And not for the obvious reason either, I want you to know. Living the way I lived my whole life left little time for friends. And now, anytime I settle down into some kind of new norm, my world blows up in my face. I don't want that to happen here." Nox didn't turn to look at Raffe but he did watch, "I very much want to kiss you and do all sorts of things I shouldn't, but I also want to sit here with you, and tell you how fucked up I am and how fucked up my life is and not be judged. Not looking for pity or advice just a friend."

Nox covered up his face with the palms of his hands and let out a long slow breath. "And I don't want to tell you all those things too. Fear it'll make you walk away. or use it against me. So many what ifs. So much to not know I ramble and don't shut up even though I should." Nox growled at himself in his own frustration.

Nox laughed. "Be a whole lot easier if it was just about sex."

[Raffe]

His eyes widened a little at the admission, and he almost laughed at the absurdity -- despite that he believed it for the truth. How Nox ended up tangled in such shit he didn’t want to know. His hand massaged the scar tissue as the other man mentioned the old wound, but Raffe only shrugged. “Still healing, maybe. Oriena called in a favour.” Though he’d probably be dead if she hadn’t, and vanities aside the scar was more an irritation than a constant pain. The concern flickered a small smile though.

Nox leaned back against the wall, and Raffe mirrored the motion, hands loose in his lap. He watched the shadows in the corner of the room as he listened. The confession sent a pleasant shiver against his skin, but it was the rest that made him quiet. Something else stirred, like all those nights he’d once sat soothing the scared little kids in their dorm; listening to their fears and spinning stories until sun up.

It was probably foolish. Nox had already laid out all his cards. But Raffe had always had a thing for misfits.

“I won’t use it against you,” he said. “And I won’t walk out. My childhood wasn’t exactly a bed of roses. I promise I don’t spook easy.” He shifted round on the bed, until he was facing Nox. “It would,” he agreed. A crooked grin lifted his lips, playful at the edges. Mischief lit his gaze, though he didn’t move any closer than he already was. “And Kallisti will offer you plenty of opportunity for that. Unofficially, of course.” Discretion might be in the contracts, but it didn’t prevent the offer. Nox had said he was new at this before, and Raffe hadn’t paused to consider it, but he wondered briefly then.

“So try me, and I’ll listen.” The grin broke wider. He winked. “Or you can think about it. Tell me to fuck off with a clear head.”