|: 001. Video/Spam : Feels Just Like I Don't Try :|

[kissthatgoodbye]

    [ Public ]

    [It's not unusual for transmissions to start en route to whatever they'll eventually show; this one follows the floor for a moment, spins its focus past a wall, shows a glimpse of common room.

     Shows a partial view of a possibly familiar face, frowning in concentration, muttering more or less to himself.]

     Number of things nowhere near as simple as they should be: two so far.  Well done, Admiral.  Catch up to the twenty-first century, huh?

     [A few more small adjustments, and Alec is fully on screen, standing mid-corridor on one of the hallways. He beams, pleased with himself.]

     There.  Now.  Floor numbers go up or down?  Is this thing actually on?  Hello?


     [ Spam : Open ]

     [Once his presence is successfully announced, it frees Alec up to investigate his new environment more thoroughly - and explore it he does, once he confirms what his research alone in his cabin has already told him: this place is nothing like Manticore.  They seem to pride themselves on it, even.  Additionally they're recovering from some kind of unusual crisis, and that leaves him a unique opportunity he doesn't intend to waste, especially not with what else his reading of the network has shown him.

     He covers his barcode with the collar of his jacket, and separates the Barge as he understands it into a grid, sets out to fill in the blank spots.  He can be found poking around in the dining hall, the infirmary, the gym, the greenhouse, the art room, and lingering outside the pub, the maintenance office, the engine room.  He even wanders down near Zero just to make sure he's left no corner uninvestigated. 

    It's simple: act like he belongs here, see who takes the bait; he's friendly to everyone he sees, smiling easily, often waving in greeting if anyone looks at him.  Evaluate, adjust, advance.  As long as he has new surroundings to investigate, as long as he has new rules and social angles to learn, he doesn't have to think about why he's here, what it means, or what he means to do once he's sure of himself.]

     [ Private : Dillon Cole : A few days later, after this ]

    [No fumbling this time.  He wants to be taken seriously and he expects this Dillon person is already familiar with X5s, too - enough to know that a few days is more than enough time for him to become competent with the communicator anyway, if nothing else.

     His speech is a little more formal, too, although he doesn't bother with being as starched and rigid as he's seen his clone on the network; he can, but he only needs the vague connection in this case.]

     Good afternoon, sir.  I was told to contact with you a possible employment inquiry.

Comments

[gulosity]

[In fairness, Lourdes is from ye olden days when cell phones were as big as your head. But she's not going to tell him that.]

Do you need somebody to hold your hand?

[kissthatgoodbye]

That depends. You offering?

[gulosity]

Maybe.

[kissthatgoodbye]

Well then maybe I do.

[gulosity]

Do you know how to count to four? Meet me in the common room.

[That, she figures, will probably be enough motivation.]

[kissthatgoodbye]

[This, he thinks instinctively, is probably a trap.]

I can count to four. Can you?

[He's pretty much okay with that, and already moving.]

[gulosity]

[Shockingly, for once it is not. Lourdes is mostly just bored and wants something to play with.]

[. . . Okay, so maybe it is a little bit. She just rolls her eyes and hangs up.]

[kissthatgoodbye]

[This is why he's okay with just walking into it. He isn't bored, yet, but he will be soon enough he knows. Best to already have a plan in place for that.

And he does arrive without incident, seeing as how he is lying about his inability to navigate this place. Not too quickly because he's still trying to keep that harmless front up, but without incident nonetheless. He pockets the communicator and strolls up, casual and cocky as you please, blatantly surveying the common room in question.]

Nice place you got here. Nice and open. Airy.

[gulosity]

[She's lounging back on the couch, her head tilted up to the ceiling, eyes half-lidded and cool; she watches his entry like a snake, and smiles when she sees him smiling. He looks like the kind of guy who smiles all the time, she thinks, and doesn't trust him, but is intrigued anyway.]

It's not my place.

[kissthatgoodbye]

No?

[She's lounging. Alec doesn't hesitate to invite himself to the empty space beside her, not because he necessarily finds her any more trustworthy than she finds him, but because he is confident in himself.

He stretches one arm blatantly along the back of it, smiles slyly back at her.]

I refuse to believe any place you set foot into isn't yours.

[gulosity]

[Oh. Well. In that case.]

[She leans in towards him a little bit, not much, but enough that she can see his grin a little better, that he can look at her better. She wishes so much that she had her power right now so she could pull him tight on the string - but maybe this is better. A new challenge.]

So smooth. I was worried you'd trip over your own tongue after an introduction like that.

[kissthatgoodbye]

Nah. I'm well aware of how to work my tongue.

[And look he does, lounging comfortably there beside her, both eyebrows raised. He doesn't bother with subtle. She doesn't really seem like the type that would appreciate that the most out of everything he has to offer.

He's been pulled tight on too many strings. That he is willing to present himself freely is by far the better conquest, he would argue.]

You promised handholding.

[gulosity]

[She tips her chin up at him, leaning back against his outstretched arm. He's right: she appreciates this far more than she would someone trying to trick her. He's not trying to be anything but honestly sleazy, and she can get with that.]

Mm. I did.

[Stretching, hands locked over her head, she then slumps on the couch, looking boneless and flexible.]

Where am I leading you?

[kissthatgoodbye]

Well, seeing as how I'm the new arrival, I don't really think I get to make that decision either, do I?

[Sometimes this works in his favor and sometimes it backfires right in his face but he's willing to take the chance since she leaned on him first: the hand that ends up behind her head threads idly, curiously, through the ends of her hair.]

[gulosity]

[No complaints here, not yet; she closes her eyes and relishes the touch, leaning back against his hand so that his hand is cradling her head. It feels good. She likes feeling good. It's as simple as that.]

Mm. I guess you don't.

I could take you to the pool. There's a pool here, you know.

[kissthatgoodbye]

I didn't. [He did.] New arrival, and all.

[However, he also already knows it requires a warden item to get into, which he doesn't have; not particularly interested in giving that information up on the first day no matter how short a time limit is being placed on that particular secret, he turns his attention towards keeping them right where they are. She leans into his hand and he puts a little more effort there, working his fingers gently but confidently through her hair down to her skin, massaging there while he gives her his full visual attention - and approval.

He lowers his voice, close and smooth.]

Sounds more like a resort or something. Anything else I should know about?

[gulosity]

[She's okay with staying where they are, too. She relishes the attention, curling her body towards his until her feet are bumping against his leg, her head pillowed against his arm on the back of the couch. One hand makes its way to the front of his shirt, tugging at the collar and pulling him closer so she can feel him, smell him.]

It's not a big ship. There's not a lot to know.

[kissthatgoodbye]

[Well this, anyway, he knows how to respond to: he lets her pull him closer, holds himself only a few inches away from her face, close enough that even his currently dulled sense of smell can pick her up, still far enough away that he can look at her without crossing his eyes. His smile is lazy and coy, his other hand coming up to trace the fall of her hair over her shoulder, brushing it back out of the way. In a moment he'll trace her collar bone with his fingers, but for now he just toys with where her boundaries are.]

I don't believe that for a moment. That's the unimaginative answer.

[gulosity]

[The thing about Lourdes's boundaries: she doesn't have any. She is purely hedonistic, because nothing matters anyway - less so here even than at home. So she lets her head rest on his shoulder and looks up at him, not adoringly, but calculatingly.]

If you want the rundown, you must not know what you're doing here.

[kissthatgoodbye]

Wanting something isn't the same as not knowing what to do about it.

[He knows exactly what he's doing; he doesn't know what he's going to do yet, but he knows exactly what to do. More of the same, only what there is to be wary of here is largely unpredictable; the rest is not as rigid as he's used to, has gotten around before, will continue to climb like a jungle gym on a child's playground.

The ground below it being lava is only extra incentive.

When she just lets him move closer to her, he doesn't so much hesitate as pause before he bends his head in a little closer, breathes deep beside the skin of her throat, and barely brushes his lips there.]

Wanting just means you want.

[gulosity]

[A breath escapes her, a soft hiss of air between her teeth. There, that was what she wanted; the key has turned, the lock has clicked. Her hand flutters up to rest on the back of his neck possessively as she leans into his touch, arches her neck towards the too-softness of his lips.]

You're going to have to remind me what you want, then. I think I've forgotten.

CW from here on out: looks like we're going the NSFW route

[kissthatgoodbye]

[The hiss, the movement of her hand is just enough warning; he's just slow enough pulling his head back that she'll feel the curve of his lips against her throat, and then his breath is hot on the underside of her jaw.]

Not sure I told you.

[Low, not a secret but not for just anyone either. His hand at the front of her shoulder, thumb still brushing her skin beside the neckline of her top, not hesitant but not in any hurry either. She's an easy starter; he likes control. This is how he combats that hold on his neck, breathing out nearly pointblank against her, teasing with the barest brush of his tongue right along the tendon connecting shoulder to jaw.]

But I'm willing to explain.

smh at these two tbh

[gulosity]

[They're in public. A few years ago, that would have bothered her. But a few years ago, she was an entirely different person, someone Alec would have looked through rather than at. She isn't that person anymore. She is a goddess now, fiery-eyed and bitter-tongued, and she deserves this. She deserves this.]

Please, [she says, throaty and low, not begging for anything from anyone but curling her voice around him like a siren.] Explain. I'm not going anywhere.

[Obvious from the way she presses against him. There's nowhere else she'd rather be. His fingers on her skin make her shiver, but she's not in any hurry, either.]

[kissthatgoodbye]

[Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't have; a few years ago he certainly wouldn't have unless he had orders to engage with her. Every brush of his fingers over her skin is in defiance of that, even though no one around him would understand that, no one but him. It's okay. He's the only one he's ever needed, for most things.

Not for this, of course. He needs at least one other person for this, and she's very obviously willing. They're in public and that doesn't bother him on a personal level - whatever that is - but there's a line of logic running through the back of his mind that never quite shuts off, whether or not he chooses to listen to it. It'll be a disturbance. It's his first day. He does not want to be a disturbance right now.]

Are you sure? [Alec smiles, making it coy, letting her draw him in; it's easy. She's good at it. He is too. It's barely a motion at all to touch his lips to her skin, to alternately nibble and suckle gently, teasingly, right where he is while his hand slides further down, cups firmly right over her chest, leaving no doubt that he's in this too.] We could go a little further down the hall...

[There's an empty room. It's good enough for him.]

[gulosity]

[Lourdes doesn't care about being a disturbance. She doesn't care about drawing attention. There are only a few very specific things she cares about right now, and most of them are Alec, his voice against her skin, the warm wetness of his mouth. He cups her and she arches into him, a hiss escaping through her teeth, her head tipping sideways to give him easier access.]

I don't care. You pick. But hurry up.

[Not that she's actually really in any hurry. She just likes to push.]