Coffee
Oce lead Xerxes to her apartment. It was on one of the top floors of Evenhet's tower; She preferred looking down and feeling... away from the world below. Gave her a place she could feel away from work and other stresses of 'life' as humans call it.
"Welcome to my humble abode." It was larger then normal single apartment. The front door opened up in to a giant living room outlined with windows. It was decorated in blues and had 3 couches circling a fireplace. The couches were covered in grey and white stripped upholstery.
They were very comfortable. "If you make yourself at home I will grab us some coffee." She smiled and took his jacket hanging it in the coat closet by the door.
Oce left him to look around while she went to make the coffee.
(OOC couldn't remember if you had a jacket or not so hung it up if not oops sorry hehe)
(OOC2 I will have the living room SIMS done tomorrow after I get home from work.)
She pranced off to start the coffee and he removed his sandles, leaving them by the door. A habit he couldn't quite get rid of, he hated leaving a place more messy then it was when he came there; though he had never sought th services of a pyschiatrist, he had countless years to mull over it in idle hours and he thought it was rooted to the filth he lived in as a mortal.
He almost didn't dare enter the home, it felt too perfect... too much like Oce's private sanctuary. Finally, after several long breath's, he followed the woman into the kitchen, careful to be quiet and uninvasive.
He smiled as he entered the room, "This place is really amazing."
She didn't hear him come as he entered the room but it was more a tingle sensation in her mind. Something she realized was him. "I am glad you like it. It is one of my most favorite places to be." She smiled at him over her shoulder. The kettle started boiling. Pouring hot water in to a small tea pot of white china she covered it with a tea cozy
She put it on a tray and that already had two cups with saucers. Oce added sugar lemon honey and a little cup of cream to the tray. Looking to her coffee machine she could smell the aroma as it 'gurgled'.
"The coffee is almost ready. Would you be a dear and take this in to the living room for me?" She indicated the tray as she rummaged around for another pot she used for coffee.
He carefully lifted the tray and made his way towards the larger living area. The night sky outside glittered occassionally still with fireworks, illegally being discharged from homes or parties. He looked on is awe over the harbor as a large cruise ship sent off it's own magnificent display, painting the skies in falling lights.
"Still not as beautiful as Japan in summer," he mused, "but it's pretty." He shrugged and continued on, bending down to place the tray carefully on the coffee table. He called into the other room, loud enough for his hostess to hear him this time, "Right here on the coffee table ok?"
"Yes the table is great thank you." She chimed back at his question.
The coffee had finished so she poured enough for at least 3 cups in to it and proceeded to the living room. Placing it on the table she could see the flicker of light. Every year there was always a shower of fireworks outside her apartment.
"If you would like to watch more the balcony has a few chairs. I am sure the show will go on for a few more hours at least." She said perching herself on the edge of the sofa. Oce watched him carefully a question had popped in to her mind she wondered what he was really looking for here.
"Please help yourself."Â? Along with the coffee she had brought out a few home baked cookies of assorted flavors. "I assure you I did not bake them my lovely secretary did."Â? She laughed knowing she probably couldn't cook if her life depended on it. A skill she thankfully lacked. If she had been able to cook she was sure her parents of have been able to marry her off long before they were killed.
"No, thank you, I just was occupying myself until you came. I fear they would only be a distraction," he looked over the brim of his cup as he smelled the pleasingly bitter aroma.
"The best part of waking up..." he quoted, and smiled after a brief sip.
He eyed the cookies dangerously, but ultimately declined, promsing to eat some before he left.
He saw a question in her face, though he doubted she intended it to show. He didn't know what she was pondering then, but it didn't surprise him. He had little doubt this was one of the most intellectual minds on the planet and that thought pleased him.
Though he, himself, kept himself occupied with programming and the likes, he had sought to learn much in his life, in fact it may have been his most adament passion.
He realized he was staring and chuckled aloud, "I am sorry, I was staring. I had gotten lost in my own thoughts again. Confusing place up there," he indicated his mind with his eyes.
Suddenly he felt awkward, which was odd, for he normally felt so comfortable. He sensed they were at the edge of something. The superficial talk of work and the like had passed, and, though he still had many questions about her life he wanted more to discover them through experience and time rather then conversation and stories. He grasped for something to say, something more meaningful but his chest seemed to close in on him, his mind drawing a blank.
His expression softened and eventually he almost sighed her name, "Océane."
It was far from a question or attempt to draw her attention towards him and he hoped his tone indicated he didn't intend to follow it up with any other words.
The smile that formed on his face was both comforting and pleasant, it's nature honest and without motive. He stretched his arm out and his hand found it's way to her shoulder. Though sitting side by side and each holding a drink he pulled her, hoping she would fall into him. At this moment, he wanted nothing other then to hold the woman he was beginning to fall in love with.
Oce put her cup down and laid her hands in her lap as he looked at her. She was used to it. In fact it was a most necessary courtroom tool. People hated silence and when you add someone staring at you it was even more un-nerving. She looked back and smiled at him memorizing the small details like the flecks of colour in his eyes, the intensity the held when he watched something; the shape of his mouth, the curve of his chin.
All the details that rarely anyone paid attention too. He smiled and chuckled his apology for staring. "Really," she said, "No need to apologize. I am not uncomfortable with silence." she assured him. "It is the best way to get to know someone in some cases."
He said her name and her heart beat a bit faster. In her moment of inner thought her usual 'questions' were popping up and before she realized it she had spoken out loud.
"What is in your future Xerxes? Where do you figure to fit me in?" That always happened she cursed her father and thought it best to be in the open.
"I do not think friendship is quite what is between us anymore." She stated not putting a name to their feelings but getting that out in the open was best. "At least for me that is, but there is so much uncertainty..."
As she spoke he put his hand on her shoulder and her hand reached up to it squeezing him gently... She could almost feel what he wanted her to do, oddly enough it was not empathy that told her this it was her own desire. Removing his drink from his hand she placed it on the table and leaned in unsure of what to do then.
Of course she had been with men of both races but it was never... emotional. She used them mostly and it really didn't mean anything. Oce rarely felt uncomfortable or unsure but here she was. Her free hand touched his cheek softly as it went to his shoulder and she leaned in closer.
He thought about all the death he had seen, all the disease and war; he thought about his sister and his parents, of all the lives he himself had taken. He thought about everything ugly and, despite it's vileness, he had found a reason the world and life itself was beautiful. More beautiful, he imagined, then anything else. He found that reason right beside him, and he smiled.
Xerxes Asha had long been a loner, a wandering man adhering only to his own principals and relying on nobody but himself. He was forced into such a position as a child and had never really broken away from that. Even when he and Megan were together, he was still the loner at heart. That was the problem.
But, that man was crumbling under time, under the effects of this woman and others close to him, people like Megan.
He looked deep into the Evenhet lawyer's eyes and spoke almost directly into her soul, feeling an intensity there that even Ancients sometimes lacked.
"I cannot say what my future holds," he said honestly, "and, I have no authority over you; I can hope for you to be a part of my life, as I do - a permanent part, if I had any choice. But," he smiled meaningfully, "that is up to you as well."
He looked away then, content with her body against his, appreciative of the soothing silence her apartment held. He looked into the night sky, across time itself it seemed.
"The man I once was is now almost entirely dead. I have but two lingering remnants of the past, I have a feeling at least one will resolve itself one way or another soon."
He thought about the man's face, the one who haunted his every nightmare, the one he had seen only days before speaking with Ellis. He looked back at the beautiful woman leaning on him.
"The other," he grinned with a knowing and yet playful light in his eye, "is too tenacious to allow for me to avoid her much longer."
His tone became more serious, "I care for you, Oce, a lot. It is though I have never been in love before, though I have told myself otherwise in the past. I know that what I feel for you just seems..." he paused, searching for the word to describe it: mature, right, fulfilling, true. All of those for certain but most importantly, "real."
Then, "If I know Megan, which I think I do, she will not let me linger in this town for much longer before confronting me. I can't live a lie or secret. When that happens, I will tell her. You may do as you wish, and I will not seek her out to tell her, I think it would degrade the meaning of it. But, she is quite possibly the closest thing to a friend I still have," he smiled, but only half-heartedly and Oce could see the pain in his eyes, "and...she hates me."
Xerxes put his finger to the Evenhet woman's lips as a pre-emptive "shh" and kissed his own finger gently, the digit acting as a both a barrier and a connection. He lowered his hand and took hers into it, interlacing their fingers together, feeling the comfortable and delicate shape so perfectly matched to his own hands.
"Océane Émond," he said formally, in a comical voice which changed to a serious, meaningful one, "I think I love you."
He placed his lips on her own and began to kiss her.
Her empathy was screaming... weather it be from her own emotions or his she wasn't sure but as he spoke she knew it was the truth. "For now all is well but there are other's in my life that may not approve."
Of course she spoke of Megan. Her true friend, and mentor. He began to speak about the woman in question then. She listened he was probably right. She had that impression from her recent meeting with Megan.
She was going to reply when he stopped her. Oce did not say anything as his hand found hers and their fingers laced together. She just watched him he seemed to want to say something he said her name in a joking sort of way and then he said something that momentarily shocked her.
He thought he loved her?! No one had ever said that to her. Not that she gave them the time. She broke things off before seriousness set in usually but Xerxes was going so fast it even went over her usual radar. As if to seal his words he kissed her gently. She was momentarily shocked so wasn't sure what he was doing. Soon the chill that had run down her spine at his words thawed and she accepted his lips against hers and tilted her head to the side pressing hers closer to his.
But, before he could stumble over his words to apologize their lips had met and the woman, though obviously shocked at first, fell into him. She angled her head and her lips met his more passionately. For the moment, all had been forgotten, it was just them, here, now.
Xerxes, reacting to the force behind her kiss in turn became more aggressive, but only slightly; he found his lips parting and he half wanted to leave, like he had done before. Yet the other half wanted to be nowhere else but with this woman.
Xerxes had indeed changed and that change and its manifestations surprised him more then anybody.
Oce was actually enjoying it for no other reason then what it was. No manipulation or malicious intent or other motive involved. She was not trying to save her own life or miss lead them. She felt his lips move under hers and was about to go to the next level when she heard something behind her. It was distant at first then she realized what it was.
Gently she moved her hands to his chest and pushed him away. Regretfully she wanted to follow his lips standing up she ran in to the kitchen where she had left her cell phone. Clearing her throat she waited a moment to catch her breath.
"Océane Émond." she said rather annoyed to the person on the other line. It was her office of course. She chatted a moment and wrote down some information she needed right away before hanging up ordering them to email the rest to her and have the file sent to her house by 6am.
She was being sent out on business early that next morning.
Walking back in to the living room she sat down a bit farther away. She could smell him and that was not a good thing at that moment. His scent made her 'want' more her need increasing. "Xerxes, I am not sure what I am feeling but I do know I care for you enough to go against my best friend and mentor." She whispered not wanting to hurt his feelings by not saying "I love you" back.
"That was my office I have to leave in the morning for some business. I wish you could stay until then but... I am not sure that is a 'good' idea at this point."
He smiled though it was a bit strained, he was embarrassed, something he was as unaccustomed to as many of the things this woman brought out in him.
He nodded as she spoke and after letting her finish held up a hand and his expression changed, his smile seeming more true.
"My dear, I...Well, what I said I am not even really sure of, it just kinda came out. Do not be worried, and do not worry yourself. Though the thought of staying here," he appraised the beautiful woman before him, "is more then a little tempting I am in complete agreement with you."
He rose, making his way towards the door, but his walk was slow enough for him to finish his thoughts, "Call me when you get back, perhaps by then things around here will have sorted themselves out."
She was relived he agreed but then again not. She had wanted him to be irresponsible but that wasn't going to happen. He got up and went towards the door. Oce followed closely behind and he stopped and told her to call him. She could not just let him walk out. Oce wanted to give him something to remember her buy. Leaning towards him she pushed him against the door and on her toes she fixed her fingers on his collar and pulled him down towards her.
Kissing him harder then before it was not as long her tongue silently brushing against his lips. Letting go she settled herself down on her feet and flattened his collar smiling coyly up at him.
"Don't forget me while I am gone."
His eyes twinkled and he bent down savoring one last short kiss.
"Forget? Hardly. You take care of yourself."
He opened the door and walked out the woman's apartment, already missing her.
((Xerxes out))
"Safe journey." she said as he left. Oce hated saying 'goodbye'. She locked the door after his form had disappeared down the hall. She wandered in to the living room and cleaned up their cups, her mind wandering to what 'could' have happened that evening every now and then. Once all was satisfactory for now she went in to the bedroom and flipped open her lap top computer.
Work never failed to creep up on her. Sighing she began to type away every now and then smiling at truly wicked thoughts.
She realized she actually missed him.
(Oce Out)