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[willing_sheath]

[A standard pre-recorded message starts:]

Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. [There are a few long moments of dead silence before someone draws a breath speaks in a stiff, uncomfortable tone:] Himura Tomoe... [and another long few seconds of silence where she apparently didn't realize how to stop the recording.] is not available. At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up or press one for more options. To leave a callback number, press five.

[BEEP]



[ooc; for action spam to be counted as log activity feel free to comment to my annual log under the appropriate month]

Comments

[arkfall]

I've been wondering that too.

You don't feel drained. [He reaches out to take her hand again. It will be easier to tell if they are touching.]

It feels like a haziness to me. As if my body struggles to maintain its shape every second.

Do you feel anything like that?

[willing_sheath]

[She lifts her hand so that he can actually hold it this time, recognizing the fact that he was checking for something--even so she flushes again with the touch.]

As though it wants to break down...? [She shakes her head.] No... It's the opposite.

Sometimes... I feel as though I'm... losing my edges--but it's not erasure, it's expansion. Like a pot boiling over...

[arkfall]

You do feel full of energy.

And... young? [He isn't sure that's the right word.] Perhaps the dark hair is a hold over from your previous form?

[willing_sheath]

[She hums at being called 'young'--though perhaps the word he wanted was 'fresh' or 'new'...]

I suppose I am young to someone well over a century old... Vash had a small panic attack when he realized my actual age...

[It feels odd to term it 'previous form' when outwardly she still appeared the same.]

It makes sense... I imagine I would look very strange had it changed as well...

[arkfall]

Usually, it would make my heart break to see a Plant with such dark hair. It suits you, though.

You really are very beautiful.

[He's usually much more reserved with compliments, but with her it feels right to praise. Her transformation has been wonderful to behold.]

[willing_sheath]

[She flushes again, all the way to the tips of her ears until they're burning. Sincere compliments always got her, and considering she could feel it aside from hearing it in his voice heightened the reaction.]

Thank you...

[But he would be able to feel the reaction beyond just seeing it, the stir of embarrassment coupled with confused warmth--and even the hint of desire mixed in the same as it had been the day she'd changed--the later stirring up more embarrassment knowing he could likely feel it.]

[arkfall]

[Knives tilts his head as he processes her emotions.]

You like the way I look too, don't you?

Is that because I look like Vash?

[willing_sheath]

[And it all just amplifies, lead by that jittery embarrassment, at being called out point blank. She huffs lightly through her nose--something he'll eventually recognize as a laugh from her if they are around each other enough.]

That is a bit of a trick question, you know... [She lowers her eyes and with the subject broached (and the whiskey taking a bit of effect) her mind can't help wandering back.] You are both attractive... yes... [She lifts her glass to her lips again, keeping her eyes down for shyness as she attempts to reach out across the connection to him, and hopefully only him.]

I like being able to feel you...

[arkfall]

[Knives doesn't usually care about privacy. He never uses filters on the network, for example, but this he keeps between them. It's not as if Vash would want to hear them flirting.]

I like being able to feel you too.

[He isn't even ashamed or nervous about that fact. He finds her extremely desirable the way she is now.]

I wouldn't mind touching you either.

[willing_sheath]

[She shivers slightly, hearing his voice in her mind having more of an effect on her than she was expecting it to. It is so rare for her to feel a pull like this--rare enough that she was sure she could count the occurrences on one hand. She bites her lower lip slightly, hyper aware of the fact that he'll be able to pick up on that change in her easily seeing as how she hadn't managed to mask her emotions yet.]

You can... if you want to... [She looks up then, still unsure--not of what she wants but of whether or not she should pursue it.]

When I first changed... when you touched me... what was it that you did...? You did it again later... when we were together...

[If it wasn't obvious before it certainly was now--the curiosity and desire was there, the invitation so clear it may as well have been hung as a sign around her neck.]

[arkfall]

Which part? The aura or the melding?

[He had projected an aura around her to calm her down then and he had melded his body into hers and around hers. He wasn't sure what she was referring to, but whatever it was he'd be willing to do it again.]

[willing_sheath]

Both...

[But she had picked up on the aura almost easily.]

...

But... the "melding"...

...

I... want to do it again... but I can't imagine Vash being receptive to it...

[At least not when she wasn't in danger of losing control...]

[arkfall]

Not likely...

I'm afraid I might have ruined it for him.

[Which is to say, he definitely ruined it for Vash.]

If you aren't careful with that, you could end up consumed.

[willing_sheath]

[she nods. It is not a surprise. Not really. Something that has the draw of a drug would naturally have the risk of one as well--and for a wild moment she wonders if the city would allow such a thing to happen, and if it did whether it would be a "death" that she would be returned from or not.]

[Best not to find out.]

Is that so...?

[arkfall]

I can teach you how to do it safely.

[willing_sheath]

Yes...

[She looks directly at him then. It wasn't necessarily something sexual, but with her transformation and the impulses from that room combined she would always have difficulty separating them.]

Please...

[It irritates her that Duplicity was essentially getting exactly what it wanted from her--but for the moment she didn't care.]

[arkfall]

Where would you like to go? My house?

[He moves to stand and holds out a hand for her.]

Or, perhaps you'd be more comfortable in a hotel of some kind? [Less chance of running into Legato there.]

[willing_sheath]

[She flushes more before taking his hand and standing--and there is a ridiculous moment where she envisions the establishment she and Vash had used on a number of occasions because it would rent to submissives--the one that also happened to be a full on BDSM dungeon that required safewords to be picked before keys were even given over... But there was no need for that this time. Ah, the perks of being a Dominant...]

I imagine... there would be more privacy with the later...

[All things considered, she didn't like the idea of Legato seeing, hearing or feeling what happened between them...]

gonna ff a bit to them getting the room!

[arkfall]

[Yes, Knives's access allows for something a bit more classy than that. He already has a nice hotel in the Up in mind.]

Yes. Let's go get a room then. [He keeps her hand and leads the way out of the bar. He takes her to a nice enough hotel and gets a room. Every time any of the staff seem to have come to a conclusion about him taking a beautiful female submissive to a room, he glares at them until they shut up.

Then they are in the room together and he seems concerned for her comfort.]

I apologize you had to suffer their pointless gossiping... [If not for his contract with Vash, he's pretty sure at least one of them would have ended up dead.]

here goes the time warp again~

[willing_sheath]

[She moved in silence with him, only speaking when it seemed necessary--but it is not uncomfortable silence by any means. She ignores the staff--she is quite used to it by now, though there is irritation at the assumptions, and even more given the assumptions are right.]

[She steps into the room, more than a little relieved to not be met with an array of whips and chains. She shakes her head in response, feeling as though she was practically vibrating with the mix of excitement, anticipation and trepidation she was feeling.]

I am more than used to it--though I would have expected more discretion for a Dominant...

[arkfall]

They expect me to be in on the joke. [Knives replies, still feeling disgusted over it all, but then he looks over at her and he can sense her mix of emotions.

It softens his expression and his own emotions too.]

At least we are alone again.

[willing_sheath]

So we are... [She turns toward him, one hand lifting to push some of her hair back as she watches him closely, unsure of what to do now that they were in private. She wasn't accustomed to seeking out what she wanted, after all--simply getting here had been a stretch for her. She steps a little closer while giving off the notion that she wanted him to touch her, the invitation as loud as she could make it without actual words.] What now...?

[arkfall]

[He doesn't usually take people to hotel rooms either. When he was required to fulfill quota he usually did it with Legato, not random encounters. He looks down at her and reaches out to touch her face. His hand settles gently against her face.]

You can tell me what you'd like. [He offers her.] Just the melding? Or more?

[willing_sheath]

[She tilts her face into the touch, looking up with dark eyes as she sets her hand to the back of his. She hesitates only a moment more before bringing her opposite hand up to set it against his chest, splaying her fingers. Her eyes move from her hand back to his.]

More...