Month: June 2014

“Tch. Always so damn touchy.” Fernand frowned into his glass, feeling guilty and hating himself for it. This was supposed to be his night off. He was allowed to be happy, wasn’t he? Allowed to relax, to remember how it felt for one day not to walk around in those damn stilts that made his legs ache. He had been making a harmless joke. Why did Francois have to ruin it by being so broody? It wasn’t like him. He was usually…agreeable. Granted, his brother had never been very fond of the club scene, but nonetheless. There was something troubling about it.

Knocking back the rest of his drink, Fernand pushed it out of his mind and waved over his waitress for a refill. He waited. When waiting did nothing, his eyes wandered over to the table he had been watching earlier just as a roar of applause filled the club. He raised an eyebrow, momentarily forgetting about the fact that his waitress had rudely joined the silver-haired philanderer’s harem to instead stare at the sword balanced in between his teeth. Glass still in hand, Fernand was leaning against the back of the booth, as if he had been there all along. “I’m not sure if I should commend you or chastise you for stealing away all these lovely women.” And in truth he would be angrier if it wasn’t so impressive. Impressive as well as amusing–and that was really what Fernand was looking for tonight: amusement.

“Don’chya think these beautiful ladies have better things to occupy their mind than whether or not you get your refill?”

When the young man addressed him, Fernand couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “To do what? Fondle one another for your entertainment?” He gestured toward two of the women that were mindlessly groping one another, only ever looking away from one another to shoot glances at their tipsy leader and would-be husband. Whoever this guy was, he seemed to think that that was definitely a good way for them to spend their time. In his defense, well, it was. Either way, that didn’t change the fact that his glass was still empty. Luckily a nod in her direction, a clink of the ice, snapped her back to attention and she was quick to give him what he asked for.

“Take a load off!”

Hardly waiting for the permission he’s given, Fernand slid into the newly-unoccupied space, still warm from the heat of the model-esque beauty that had just cleared it. Casually he slung his arm around her shoulder, but although she didn’t throw it off her lips puckered in a measure of obvious disapproval. She only had eyes for the man on parade, after all, regardless of all her competition. Fernand had no doubt that if it weren’t for the fact that the object of her affections had himself invited the other man to stay, she would’ve pushed him off of her with a second’s hesitation. Regardless, as attractive as she was she wasn’t the reason Fernand had left his perch at the bar. When the silver-haired ringleader introduced himself, Fernand all but forgot she was even there.

“I’m Maki and you are?”

“Alright then, Maki,” he replied, “it’s been a delight to make your acquaintance. I’m…”

Fernand’s hesitation was almost nonexistent. To someone exceptionally perceptive, it could have been caught in the way the corner of his mouth twitched slightly in thought. This silver-haired stranger, however, was hardly at his sharpest given the drinks and the distractions. Leaning back, Fernand brought his drink up to his lips and let the ice clink together.

“…Ferenc,” he finished. It was the first name he thought of that could serve as a believable variant of his own. “And if I may, I’d like to compliment your swordplay; not many could handle a dagger so boldly and still have a tongue to show for it.”

 

((WUH OKAY  here you go Ava! I hope it’s okay (I always assume it isn’t).  It was already a decent length and I didn’t want to just copy verbatim everything that was said in the conversation with Art so I hope you don’t mind me responding to everything that Malek had said before CRIES. I can go back and add more though if you want! I know I didn’t have too much of the conversation happened but I thought maybe we could play with it. As always I hope you at least have fun reading it ;u; <3 Love you!))

“It’s only stealin’ if what you’re takin’ isn’t yours.” From the looks of utter devotion surrounding him, Malek knew it was clear that nearly every woman in the building was very much his. Still, it wasn’t in his nature to deny someone refreshment or companionship and he flexed his influence like a familiar muscle – creating a space between beauties for the stranger to sit in and briefly taking his eyes off the “fondling” pair to address his new acquaintance. “I’d say I wuddn’t makin’ them do anything they wouldn’t ordinarily do but. These city girls are just so eeaaaaaaaaasy…”

He pulled back the veil from their eyes, his expression neutral and muscles at ease. In his youth such exercises had been a challenge of his ability but now they were as easy as breathing. Their stunned silence was thick with horror and embarrassment but even then they did not direct their wrath to the boy who had made them humiliate themselves. The dagger only amplified his powers, after-all and enough of his charm shielded him from what might have been an ugly scene of accusations. Instead they gathered their belongings and shuffled off; giving Malek a good laugh when their shoulders brushed and they recoiled in horror from one another. A few drinks earlier and he might have thought more about showing-off his degree of his control. But in his inebriation he found both the liberty to be open and the bravery to face the fact that his long-missing best friend was going to walk through the doors any minute and give him an earful.

Judging by the standards of Licia’s best and brightest, Malek was nothing. And while it was true he might not have known much of their world, the considerably seedier tones of places like the club he was currently inhabiting were very-much familiar. It would be foolish to traipse around Celeste City with his true name on his lips or those of anyone else. Granted, this realization had only struck him halfway through his own name and “Maki” seemed a serviceable choice at the time. It slipped easily from him now, one of a dozen false names he’d given to avoid capture or commitment. “Ferenc, Ferenc, Ferenc…” Male chortled, “Tid be a crime ta let anything happen to this tongue when it’s brought so many women joy. But now I’m the one wonderin’… where are you from that you’ve seen people handle a dagger atall?” The grin that followed spread slowly, mirroring his drunken wits. Information was valuable and the boy in front of him was clearly of the Third Realm – a thief’s eyes had to be accustomed to the dark. But his interest in the question waned when one of his admirers threw himself onto his lap and slipped her pretty mouth against his. He could not correctly interpret the look that crossed, “Ferenc”’s face then. Thus he assumed it was the same look every other man in the world would give him whenever they recognized his superiority with the fairer sex.

“Don’t get yurself all worked up.” He chortled, brushing the women off him like flies as their tender gazes became more and more irritating. “Ya can have ’em when i’m done. Jus’ killin time afore my girl shows up. Truth be told she’ll probably take this back then and I’ll only have this gorgeous mug to lure them in with.” Bored and curious, he slouched forward and leaned in close to the darker skinned male. “O’course that’ll be more than enough…” To illustrate his point, he tilted the blade just slightly to let the hilt press against his companion’s thigh. At the same time he turned down his own charm. It was eerie to feel the change of energy in the air. Like predators, the eyes of the harem shifted their focus from Malek, to the blade and then to Ferenc. Then he let the dagger rest on the table before them, touching neither and the balance again moved to him “See whatta mean?” He chortled, snatching up the blade with quick and experienced fingers and putting it safely in its sheath.