Appointed Day & Time

[Zephyr]

Zephyr was grateful that the hacker was able to do what was needed.  And she was assured that he'd stay on the job.  She wasn't sure where Jaxen would take the information.  Go for the fortune or allow his brother to be pinned for his antics.

But she also knew that Jaxen wasn't about to give up his freedoms.  The night she'd told Jaxen she'd be back, she donned the little slinky red dress with nothing underneath and a brown trench coat. She went to Jaxen's apartment building and coaxed the door man to let her up.  It hadn't taken much to convince him.  It had helped it was the same man that had been on duty the night she went up with him.  And sex was all her game right now.  

And it wouldn't have been hard to just break in with some other lie.  But this was more fun.

And she knew Jaxen wasn't home as she unlocked the door with a quick twist of her lockpick set and was inside.  There was one thing she had to do before he got home to alleviate her problem and give Jaxen that false security he'd not be giving her a child.  The best of both worlds -- hopefully.

[Jaxen Marveet]

With a deep sigh of relief, Jaxen opened his eyes to find familiar territory. The alien world was gone, and in its place was a posh bedroom. It was decorated in expensive furnishings, the walls were swathed with navy blue paint, elaborate moldings wrapped the edges, and impressive paintings hung on the walls. When Jaxen said he wanted to go home, he did not mean this.

He sat up, discovering himself in the middle of his bed, but not the famous bed in his condo. It was his childhood bedroom in Scion’s house. Grumbling about twisting his wish to go home into a sentence that banished him to his father’s estate, he knew it was going to be annoying to sneak off the grounds without being seen.

Speaking of not being seen, he reached to toss what he believed to be a heavy blanket off his legs when he realized he had no legs at all.

He screamed...

...And frantically clamored at the lower half of his body he was sure was there, only to grab a handful of cloth and upon yanking it away, rediscovered his lower limbs.

The hell? He blinked, piecing together the clues to what was happening, before turning the cloth in his fist around in his hand, finding that his own hand was blurring in and out of view.

Not sure if he should be freaked or intrigued by the strange phasing, he slithered quickly from the bed, happily grounding his feet on the bedroom floor while his heart returned to his chest and his brain caught up. 

From there, he scratched his cheek, finding that the scruff of his facial hair was unchanged from last he treated it. The first time he was sucked into nagaland, he was gone for two months. His father still didn’t buy the story that he’d been kidnapped especially since no ransom demand was ever sent. The second time he zipped off world, he was gone for what he thought to be a few hours and it turned out to be more than a day.

If the pattern held, as he suspected it did, it must be at least a few days since he was at Almaz with Mikhail, Oriena, and … oh shit, he suddenly remembered that one cannibal dude. What the hell happened there? One minute he was ready to pinch the squirrelly little asshole’s head off and the next he was ready to bow down and worship the fucker. First thing first, he settled himself and turned in a circle, finding no sign of his wallet. Until he remembered it was in his pocket. Patting down his own body, he discovered the device inside his jacket. The suit was the same brown velvet one he wore to Almaz, albeit a bit more wrinkled than he preferred, but between the unchanged beard and clothes, he had to guess that his absence wasn’t an obscene length of time.

Luckily, the wallet told him it had only been a few days. He breathed a second sigh of relief, only to realize that today was his second date with Zephyr. Normally, he’d be rushing to the spa to get primped and preened, but after promising away his ‘first-born child’ (eye-roll) to the aliens, second-guessing the date was only natural — even for a moment. It wasn’t like he was going to turn that down. Seemed everyone on and off the planet wanted some Jaxen Juice. Super-sperm was a pretty good reason to be flattered after all.

Ok. So he knew what day it was. He was at Scion’s house. The aliens were gone. That left the puzzle of what was happening with his body parts going in and out of view.

Investigating the bed discovered that there was some strange cloth laid out like a blanket. Picking it up, he discovered the same phenomenon persisted. Now, Jaxen wasn’t one of those LARPing nerds, but he’d seen movies. The idea of an invisibility cloak dawned on him, and so, he pulled it in one sweeping motion and draped it around his shoulders.

“Fuck, YES.” He exclaimed, looking in the mirror, discovering he was only a floating head. A thousand ideas blurred through his mind as he doffed the gift. He folded it inside out so to not lose it and considered adding a gps tag to the inside seam just in case that happened. That was a problem to figure out later, though.

So he was home at his childhood home. Those alien bitches gave him a way to stop being chased by the Atharim. That just left..

He gasped.

The sword!

At least he had a way to get out of Scion’s house without being seen.

He drove one of his father’s cars right out of the garage, and upon arriving at his building, sent instructions to Scion’s goons to retrieve it before they realized it was gone.

As soon as he was back in his condo, he descended to his secret under-level, which was essentially the condo on the floor beneath his that he purchased and combined into one secretly accessible unit. It was there that he stored the invisibility blanket and retrieved the sword.

As soon as he climbed back to the main condo level and locked the passageway behind him, he slipped his jacket off, tossed it on the couch, and summoned the Ancient Power to him in order to push it into the sword. He stretched and cracked his neck, and grinned smugly to himself. That was when he heard a noise, and turned to discover a familiar face waiting for him.

He practically jumped out of his skin.

[Zephyr]

Movement in the other rooms pulled Zef out of her thoughts and she finished swapping out the pills for placebos. It hadn't taken much to get such things, and it hadn't taken much to convince the prescriber to supply all future refills the same until she otherwise told the man to stop. Let Jaxen keep thinking he was playing her. It would keep the man well tied to the job. Chains without the lock and key so to speak.

Zef let the trenchcoat fall to the floor in a puddle around her feet as Jaxen stared at his sword lovingly. If only it weren't an actual bladed weapon, Zef thought to herself. The little red dress was a thin film across her skin and she smiled at Jaxen as he cursed a string of words that she didn't quiet understand -- except that he was swearing. He smile grew wider and she twirled the lock picks between her fingers and then tucked pushed her hair up into a bun that she lanced with the tools for safekeeping. "Why Jaxen, I thought you might stand me up."

She took a few seductive steps towards the man she intended to have naked soon. Zef picked up a manilla envelope she'd placed on the table near by and ran her fingers across the edge as she approached Jaxen. "I have kept up my end of the bargain. As long as you keep your nose clean, the Atharim will have no reason to hunt you down. Your identity swapped for your brothers. And should you make a mistake and the Atharim find you again, my hacker has automated a bit of extra security to wipe it and change the records. If he's half as good as I expect he is, then you should be safe baring anything major caught on live TV and seen by billions. That' we can't fix. And you give me the word, and your brother will have a bullet through the brain as godling, but then you lose that protection of shifting identity of your mistakes. I don't recommend it." Each word brother Zef closer as she sashayed her way towards the son of the rich powerful mogul. He could be heir if he desired -- though short of the money Zef was pretty sure he wanted nothing to do with the family business.

Zef stood before Jaxen and tapped the envelope against his chest. "Your proof. Before and after records. I want wants owed me, and we are going to have a lot of fun trying."

[[Jaxen modded with permission]]

[Jaxen Marveet]

Zef knew how to get his attention. So much so, he put the sword down and faced her properly. Now Jaxen liked to think of himself as a half-decent thief, and he also liked to think he had a half-decent security system on his place. He watched her stick the tool back in her hair with a half-amused grin that said he clearly wasn’t offended, though he was now inspired to implement some upgrades.

“How about instead of breaking in, I give you an access account? Then you can let yourself in properly whenever you want. Can't promise I won't be alone, though.”  His grin widened to suggest that could be much more often than once a month.

“Sorry I was late. Got kidnapped again. It sure as hell happens a lot.” He mused over why he told her that as he crossed the open space into the kitchen where he began to fix them both a drink. The buzz from Almaz was hours gone — or days depending on one’s interpretation of space and time.

She slapped an envelope on his chest that he caught in the knick of time. A lick of the fingers to slurp off the lime juice left his lips tangy, and he peeked inside.

“My brothers? That wasn’t part of—“ brows risen high, he stopped himself before declaring it a pretty shitty thing to do to his own blood relatives. He was half-fond of Ezvin, but Maksim could go use getting fucked by the Atharim. Actually, the longer he thought about it, the funnier the notion became for both of them. Eventually he nodded and mused, “Okay. My brothers. They’ll have fun with that. I don’t want anyone’s brains to be decorated with bullets, but its not my problem if someone can’t defend themselves,” he shrugged in that convoluted way of someone justifying awful shit just for their own amusement. Besides, he didn’t really think either of them would find themselves in any real danger. Not unless they get sucked into alternate dimensions, but that seemed to have nothing to do with the Atharim.

He finished the drinks and pushed one across the counter toward her if she wanted to take it. The rocks glasses were crystal clear, filled with vodka and a spray of lime, swirling amid a detailed ice cube in the shape of a skull.

From there, he leaned on his elbows, sipping the drink and locking eyes with her over the rim, tongue growing cold as it plunged into an eye socket of the skull-cube.

[Zephyr]

A smile never left her lips even after the small confession that seemed to be nonchalantly given and almost regretted? But he didn't elaborate. Zef would need to do a little digging but that was for later. She picked up the offered glass and sipped it with the pomp of the rich Jaxen was used to. Vodka was a russian thing. Dealing with them meant you drank their vodka like them. Monsters don't care what you eat or drink only that you die -- people were different. This was a totally new experience for Zef. Not only pressing all the right buttons to get what she wanted, but fighting in a new way. Monsters don't care how sexy you look. At least not the ugly ones. Monsters like Jaxen though -- they fucking cared and she was good at her job. Being a woman gave her a few more advantages over a man in that game. It wouldn't be hard to put a bullet through Jaxen's brain. Not that she wanted to. She was growing rather fond of the godling -- too bad he wasn't easily controlled.

"Why Jaxen, it sounds very much like you might be a damsel in distress far too often." She said it with a bright playful smile as she swirled the glass in her hand and stood in front of the handsome man who had far too many clothes on. "You want to ruin all my fun." Zef pouted for effect but the seductive smile returned. "The access would be nice. The other company not so much. But I'm patient, I can wait my turn." Zef smirked. "Does your sword need a little attention? I'm patient, remember." She nodded towards the decor he'd placed back down but her free hand trailed down the front of Jaxen's pants and she grabbed her intended target with a strong playful squeeze.

[Jaxen Marveet]

Turns out, he really liked being seduced.

His brows rose high when she cut right to the chase with a firm squeeze of his apparently high-value cock. He responded with an amused hum and twisted around so it was him leaning against the counter and she could do whatever she wanted.

Of course, he couldn’t help but remember grabbing Oriena’s hand and pressing it into the exact same place -- what was for him, a few hours ago, but in reality many days prior. Princess Oriena's reaction was less irritated than he’d hoped to rile out of her, but still, he walked away quite entertained. Zephyr was about as different a creature than Oriena as a woman could be, and his amusement over Zephyr had nothing to do with irritating her, but Jaxen was into her for many of the same reasons. He started to wonder if he had a type. The only thing either of them were missing was cinnamon brown skin and obsidian black hair, but supposing no woman was perfect.

Back to the moment, he tilted his chin and unzipped his pants. “My sword does need attention,” he said teasing, but he made no other move than to let her have her way.

[Zephyr]

Zef chuckled and set the drink down and gave Jaxen's sword that little bit of cold extra attention she wished to bestow. "Oh does it now."

Less words were said, but her mouth was used rigorously before the real fun started in the bedroom. Bedsheets tangled with body parts. Sweat slicked bodies pressing against each other. It was different this time, there was purpose, it wasn't going to result in anything of importance but Zef wanted Jaxen to enjoy everything he got out of their deal. His pleasure was all she desired except for the end result.

When they both finished Zef curled on to her side and ran her finger down the center of Jaxen's chest. "I could take you away from this place. Relax on an island in the sunshine, in the this horrible winter. Sex whenever you wanted till we got what we wanted."

[Jaxen Marveet]

He rolled to his back, exhausted. His body would respond if given a short break, but it’d been a long fucking day for him. What with a decent workout that morning, Almaz and vodka’ing it up, jumping into alien dimensions, sneaking out of his father’s house and driving half way across the city (actually he didn’t mind that last part given the car he took from Scion’s garage), even Jaxen's energy wasn't endless. Still, he gave Zef his all — not like he would half-ass banging anyone, let alone Zef, — but now that he finally lay still, he realized he was going to sleep like the dead any minute.

He lazily watched Zef toy with his chest, amused twinge on his lips like he might laugh any moment. He threw an arm over his head, scratching at his scalp, then just let himself stay there so she could enjoy the Jaxen view.

“You take me? You got a private jet I know nothing about? I can fly it, you know, if you do.” A proud expression raced across his face, begging her to ask about it. But he continued. He wasn’t an island kind of guy. Too much sand.

“You’re obviously not Russian. Winter sex is the best. Winter everything is the best. Ever go ice dipping? Cut a hole in the lake ice, strip to your shorts and jump in. Want to feel more alive than you can imagine, I’ll take you. Then I’ll think of a way to warm you up afterward.”

[Zephyr]

She laughed at both his jest at her taking him somewhere and the fact that he rolled over like a puppy wanting his belly scratched. Zef has no problem indulging the later, her finger nails tracing lines along his skin, the tattoos, the muscles, the ticklish spots that made him squirm a little even if he didn't realize it. She was learning his body and how best to manipulate the very egotistical man she lay in bed with. His ego was part of the reason she liked him so much. That confidence was hard to find in men who had earned it. Jaxen may think he's of money and earned the right, but he was not a damsel in distress she claimed him to be. The man had thwarted many attempts already on his life. Skin of the teeth survived maybe, but survived and all the better for it. And he kept that same charm and smile. But down below there would be a torrent of emotions. She didn't want to kick it. The ego was easy to manipulate -- feelings not so much.

"You can keep your ice water baths. I much prefer the warm sun on my skin with warm water lapping at my feet. I might not own the means to get us there." she teased, "But my family has their own private island. Been in the family since before the gods reigned." It was the truth, no fabrication, no lie. Atalantia had lived on the island, claimed it for herself and her heirs. It was a sanctuary for their clan. It was where she had learned the truth about the world -- about men and monsters and the gods. That is where their child would be raised.

Zef's fingers trailed lower tracing the happy trail to a final destination. "Our children will be well cared for there." She watched his reaction to the words spoken and her fingers idling toying with and teasing Jaxen before she leaned in and kissed his neck and nibbled softly to entice more of a reaction.

[Jaxen Marveet]

When Jaxen laughed, it wasn’t entirely obvious whether it was out of sarcasm or genuine amusement. “The gods. What is it with you Atharim and the gods?” His tone was similarly someplace between annoyed and teasing, and he squirmed a little under her touch in return. Between being more ticklish than what was considered manly and the sensitivity of delicate skin, when Zephyr ran her hands down his body, he couldn’t help but wiggle onto his shoulder. He propped his head on his hand, and studied her in the same way as she assessed him. “I’ll pass on the island. Sounds like a decent enough place to raise —” his devilish grin played along with the ruse that any child at all would come to exist, let alone multiples — “children.”

After Zephyr leaned away, he absently scratched the stubble on his neck, then used the motion as an excuse to ruffle her hair. “Tell me about these ancient gods you all worshipped.”