Oracle
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The future is always in motion.
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Post by Oracle on Mar 18, 2012 0:00:14 GMT -5
Month 6, Week 4, Day 5. Addison's Hotel Suite. Semi-Private.
Shahar had never expected to use her skills like this, and she found an amusing irony that she was using skills originally gained in a life she felt as though she had lived in a dream, to contact someone from that dream. But he was more than that, and that was why she was here after all. It had taken her a few days of distant watching before she decided that this was her best option for a quiet talk.
Sneaking into Addison's hotel suite had not been easy, but then again she had some seriously unfair advantages. Shahar rather thought she was the nightmare of both security, and the paparazzi. She had little sympathy.
So Shahar waited in the dark and prepared to slip away quickly in case Addison returned with company tonight. An extra player in the game was not in her plans for the evening.
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Post by Mirage on Mar 18, 2012 0:22:56 GMT -5
Addison is rather tired. Today's shoot was particularly grueling, so after a leisurely meal at one of his favorite restaurants, he is rather glad to be coming home to an empty suite. Lynn is out, if he remembers correctly, and he's not sure if she will be home this evening or not. Not that he resents her presence in anyway- far from it. But even the playboy Addison Payne sometimes craves a bit of silence and loneliness, time to time.
People in hell crave ice water, too, and they never receive it. Addison should know better.
Once inside, he leans back against the door for a few moments before slipping out of his coat. He hangs the garment on a peg by the door and heads straight for the bar. Shortly thereafter, Addison is flopped on the sofa, collar and tie loosened, sipping a deep merlot.
There is a second glass on the coffee table, this one a sparkling wine with a slightly sweeter, crisp finish.
"Would you like to come out now, whomever you are?" he murmurs into the darkened room.
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Mar 18, 2012 0:44:28 GMT -5
There had been no shame in Shahar as she had watched Addison move around the suite, discarding his coat and getting comfortable after what was apparently a long day. Nor was there really any surprise at the second glass of wine on the table or the invitation. It wasn't him she was trying to hide from after all.
"I do believe I shall. After all, I came to talk. It would be somewhat rude to do some from my current location. And unnecessary." Shahar is moving before she finishes speaking, gliding forward to pause behind the couch and directly behind Addison. Placing her hands on the back of the couch, she leans down close enough to inhale Addison's scent. "I do hope you forgive the intrusion, but I did not think what we needed to discuss was anything that others need be aware of."
Straightening up again she continues around the couch, delicately picking up the other wineglass before settling lightly next to Addison, flicking her braid out of the way as she sits. "So my dear Mirage, we have much to discuss." Her smile is a little sharp, though not unhappy, beneath her blindfold.
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Post by Mirage on Mar 18, 2012 1:07:05 GMT -5
Addison seems casual and flippant in regard to the intruder in his home, but in truth his body is tensed for movement. As Shahar pauses behind him, he keeps himself almost unnaturally still. He does not think this person wishes him harm, as he gave her plenty of opportunity to attempt such when he first arrived.
Her words hint at her identity, but it is not until he can see her in motion that Addison is sure of her.
"Oracle."
He sips his wine, then swirls it in the glass. As he stares into the dark liquid he says, "Dearest, you risk too much for this. I am too much in the public eye to be much in contact with anyone who does not also mind being so."
"And the contact I must risk means I should know as little of you all as possible."
Addison sounds resigned, regretful. His fingers flex, and he starts to reach out a hand to her, but stops mid-motion, his hand falling to the cushion between them.
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Mar 18, 2012 8:56:34 GMT -5
Silent while he speaks, Shahar reaches out to catch Addison's hand just before it hits the cushion. Drawing it up between them she lightly kisses his knuckles, before lowering his hand back down though she does not relinquish her grip. "I understand." The emphasis is very strong on the first word. "But things have often been such between us. Though love, you worry too much about me." Her lopsided grin exposes the sharp canine on that side of her smile before she sobers again. "There is someone though, who very much does not."
Without relinquishing her grin on Addison's hand, she stretches slightly to the side to set her wineglass back down, before fishing in her pocket and drawing something out. "Someone rather dear to you came into my circle of influence, and needed protection I was in a position to provide. I will admit he's rather endearing himself to me as well, and I find myself not wishing him unhappy as much for his own sake as yours and my brother's."
Shahar twists her hand and lets the ring she's holding drop to the end of the chain it's strung on, it looks very similar to the one on the hand holding the chain. "I do not believe there's any place that such a thing can be made official, but...he has one as well. Even if you can only wear it around your neck..." She shrugs. "I love you Mirage, I actually can now. But don't you dare throw away a good thing because you think you're protecting Skyblast. A least write him a letter explaining things!" Shahar has been little pleased to see how subdued the painter has been since last word came via the grapevine of their mutual love.
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Post by Mirage on Mar 18, 2012 10:09:42 GMT -5
When Shahar catches up his hand, kisses it, Addison's chin drops to his chest and his eyes close. Such a little gesture, but it means so much. Addison has not been playing the field as much as he did before he knew he was Mirage. It's something the more ragged of the society rags has noticed, which only leads to more speculation about himself and Rodney Pryor. But Addison and Rodney are just friends, not friends with benefits, and while Addison knows Rodney is attracted to him, Addison also knows that there will never be anything but friendship between them. Yes, Rodney has been more affectionate than Rodimus, more open, but Addison does not yet know that is because Addison is fae and has a glamour that encourages desire.
When she speaks of protection for someone, Addison's head comes up and he gives her a startled, bewildered look. As she pulls out the ring and continues chastising him, that look grows more incredulous- and more concerned. The meaning of the ring- both of them- does not escape his too-human mind.
"But- what- Rodney did not tell me he needed protection! He told me Skyblast was trying to remain unobtrusive, unknown. I'm a spy, I know what is involved in that, and if I knew who he was...."
"If I knew who he was, knowing that he is right there near me everyday- I don't have my invisibility in this form, Oracle, and I am much less inhibited in regards to my emotions and sense of propriety. I would find him and kiss him and drag him back to my trailer and his face would be all over the internet in a New York minute! It's bad enough I'm putting Rodimus through that. To do that to Skyblast... or to you... and then there is my sister to consider." Addison shakes his head.
"I told-," he seems to crumple in himself, even trying to pull his hand out of Shahar's grasp, "I told Rodney to let him know who I was. So that if Skyblast thought it was worth the risk to himself, he could contact me."
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Mar 18, 2012 12:51:30 GMT -5
Shahar actually blinks in surprise behind her blindfold as Addison speaks, though she gets over her shock fast enough to tighten her grip on his hand when he tries to pull away. It takes her another few moments to actually process what he said enough to get past being vaguely dumbfounded.
When she does, for a moment all she can do is shake her head. Then Shahar goes into motion. First rescuing Addison's wineglass and setting it on the table with hers, then slinking across the couch cushions to settle into his lap. "I do believe I'm still annoyed with you." She informs him, matter of factly. "Just not for the same reason as before. On the other hand..." Shahar sighs and drapes her arms over his shoulders, the ring on it's chain still hanging from one hand. "We can't change what's occured already either. So how shall we move on from here?"
Studying Addison as she makes herself comfortable in his lap, Shahar brings her beringed hand back around to rest it against his chest. "For now Skyblast, Nimbus, is as safe as I can make him. We've already submitted the paperwork for his green card. I do not know what might have been said between himself and Rodney, or what was told to whom. I only know how shattered he has been since getting word of you. Something may have gone amiss in transmission, or your intention astray, but keep in mind my dear not everyone is as comfortable with distance in a relationship as we are."
"Besides," her grin turns a little wicked as the hand down his back turns and drifts up to clench in his hair, "I came tonight to help solve things if I could, didn't I?" Shahar gives a playful tug of his hair before she lets go and sits up all the way, her free hand coming to rest on her thigh and the hand on Addison's chest rising to hang between them. The ring dangles suspended on its chain again. "All these mean right now is a pledge of safety. It's up to you if they mean something more." Shahar bets Skyblast would never push Mirage for a commitment like this, but she's greedy enough to want that for both of them. "And if not, I'm serious about the letter. Or call him. If you don't, next time I sneak in I won't be alone." There's an almost fierce expression on her face, she really wants both Mirage and Skyblast happy, and right now as far as she can tell, they aren't.
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Post by Mirage on Mar 19, 2012 1:18:02 GMT -5
Addison's arms automatically curl around Shahar as she climbs into his lap, but his hold is loose, detached. Distracted. Distracted even as she continues to talk about how terribly he has behaved and how hurt Skyblast is, so much so that even her playfulness, her reminding Addison of the edge Oracle and Mirage walk with each other, can't pull an answering smile for him.
The dangling ring draws his eyes. The part of Addison Payne that is the noble Mirage feels a sort of resentment at Oracle's insistence on the token, resentment that despite all his assurances, all his declarations, Skyblast still doubts Mirage's word. How many times has the spy told the painter that he loved him? How many times has Mirage assured Skyblast that he would not be tossed aside like so much baggage? Yet still, Skyblast can't trust that Mirage loves him when they are not together.
The very human part of Addison Payne, who has a lifetime of memories, habits, and fears, looks at that ring and feels no small amount of panic. It is one thing to consider a physical commitment, even just a commitment to something as broad as an open marriage, but to actually do such a thing? He is no fit lifetime companion for anyone, for who would be willing to set themselves second to his sister until she is ready to live on her own, if she ever is?
He leans his forehead against Shahar's shoulder, shuts his eyes. His arms tighten around her, finally actually holding her.
"You shouldn't have told me his name," he murmurs against her skin. It's entirely too unique a name. It would be easy to find him.
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Mar 19, 2012 1:53:38 GMT -5
Shahar listens as much to what Addison is saying with his body, and the shifts of emotion and expression she can sense in the body pressed against hers, as any vocal sounds he might make. When his forehead comes to rest on her shoulder, she sighs and thumps him on the chest with a closed fist lightly. "Idiot. I am not that much of an altruist. I want to see you wearing this ring not just for Skyblast, but very much for myself as well. I've already made my commitments to you, and that won't change, but I also grew up as Shahar." The human part of her wants this, possibly as much as it panics Addison. Which some part of her finds rather wryly humorous. Still she won't forget a certain conversation aboard the Event Horizon in one of the fan rooms, and promises made there.
She is silent as she gathers her thoughts, simply relishing being held like this for the moment before she speaks again. "You need to trust yourself more. And me." Shahar says nothing of trusting Skyblast, considering he's acting a bit unstable at the moment. "I don't think knowing his name is the issue, and really, shouldn't you ask him if he thinks it's worth the danger of associating with you?" They are adults after all, and should be able to make their own choices.
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Post by Mirage on Mar 19, 2012 13:39:31 GMT -5
Addison's arms tighten around Shahar. When the model speaks next, his words hold the unmistakable aristocratic haughtiness that so often colors Mirage's tone. "Ask him? He knows my feelings, and should know me enough to be assured those feelings have not changed. I feel as if I am always the one asking, the one chasing, and that is not a feeling I am accustomed to- in either form."
He leans back against the sofa, putting distance between them once more. Addison reaches up and strokes Shahar's cheek before gathering the hand holding the offered ring in both of his. He pools the chain and ring in the palm of her hand, toying with it, staring at it as he continues.
"Does he even know you are here, that you are making this offer of binding for him as well as yourself? Even if the agreed meaning is less than the acceptable human norm, it is more than we have ever discussed. Does he also want this from me, or do you suggest it as a way to as you say, solve things?"
He looks up and reaches for her face again, fingers stroking over skin, then cloth, then skin, as he caresses her. "You feel I am being difficult, I think. I will take the token, because it means so much to you that I do so. I can't promise to wear it, but I will take it."
"Is that enough?"
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Mar 19, 2012 18:20:25 GMT -5
Shahar carefully swallows back the bruised feeling inside of her, and nuzzles into the hand stroking her cheek without allowing her feelings to show on her face. She offers no resistance to Addison as he manipulates her hand, and watches steadily as he plays with the ring and it's chain in her palm.
"He doesn't know I'm here. I didn't want to get his hopes up if I couldn't speak to you." She shook her head slightly. "He's so unhappy right now, I didn't want to make it worse, if I could help it. Though I am aware this could backfire. I'm not blind to that." Her chin tips up and her lips set in a stubborn line as she continues. "Nor am I so blind not to see how much he wants you, even before all this happened. But I will not speak for him and more than I already have, since I am quite aware I'm being presumptuous. If you want to know if he wants you, wants a binding like this from you as much as I do, you're going to have to ask him." Hopefully actually getting the two to speak, without Mirage's noble pride getting in the way.
Stubbornness resists for a bare moment before Shahar is leaning into Addison's touch on her face again, lips parting in a soft sigh at his question. "I can always hope for more, but you ask is whatever you give me of yourself enough? Of course it is. How could it be else?" Such turnabout. Last time this question was asked between them it was Mirage wanting more from her than she could give him, and Oracle asking if what she could offer him was enough. Now that she can finally give him what he asked for, she's left asking him for more than he can give her. The irony is a little painful.
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Post by Mirage on Mar 19, 2012 19:27:16 GMT -5
Addison's chin drops and his lips quirk up in small sad smile. He's hurt her, he knows, and he hates that he has done so. If it were just for herself that she was here, then perhaps... but no. He can't even entertain the though of giving her such a false impression.
He takes the chain from her hand and loops it around his tightly around his wrist for now. It is not his finger or his neck, but it is not his pocket either. He does not want her to feel like he intends to hide the ring and what it means away.
He tries to shift their position so that they are a bit more sprawled and he can lean back, pulling her down to his chest if she is amiable. "I do love you," he murmurs, "Please don't think that I do not. I love him too, very deeply. I miss-." After a pause he continues, "The entire relationship with Rodney is false. We are friends only, and sometimes I wonder at that. We are not intimate, physically or emotionally."
"Would it be terribly wrong of me to ask you to stay awhile? I know that to many such a thing would be improper in your position."
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Mar 19, 2012 22:27:11 GMT -5
Shahar watches with what she can admit to herself is some small amount of hope as Addison takes the ring and it's chain from her. That small amount of hope lights into a flicker of pleasure when instead of discarding it to the table, or placing it in a pocket, the chain is looped around a wrist. Given the conversation since she arrived, it's more than she dared to hope for.
She is both amenable and pliable in his hands as Addison moves to change their position, shifting only enough to settle herself a bit more comfortably against him. This leaves her close enough to hear very clearly his murmured words and for a little while she does nothing, says nothing.
Then she chuckles, low and throaty, and her voice is a purr when she speaks. "That was what I wanted to hear from you all along my love. To hear it, to see you show it, that is what is enough." Her voice drops, and is even softer when she continues. "I told you once I would give you all of myself, that hasn't changed. Until and unless you cast me aside I'll be here in the shadows waiting for you." One of her hands strokes lightly over Addison's chest until it comes to rest over his heart, and she can feel the beating under her fingers. "I can stay. I don't really care what 'many' would think. All there is between myself and Skyblast is friendship, and a desire not to see him placed in a danger that could be avoided. We aren't intimate either." Much like Addison and Rodney in some ways in fact.
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Post by Mirage on Mar 19, 2012 23:02:11 GMT -5
Addison strokes Shahar's hair as she speaks, his eyes closing as he relishes in the sensation of just being held by someone who cares, who doesn't judge. Someone who understands and does not demand.
He hadn't realized just how much he missed this.
"Appearance aside, you seem little changed," he says after a while, "Your abilities- they remain, I take it?" Addison almost succeeds in keeping a touch of bitterness out of his voice. Almost. Always Mirage has taken his cloaking system for granted, and never has he wished for it more.
"Thank you. For taking care of him."
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Oracle
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The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Mar 19, 2012 23:37:39 GMT -5
Addison isn't the only one that missed this, and for many of the same reasons. He still wants her, even though he knows of some of the darker spots on her soul. To Shahar that's priceless.
Going almost limp under the petting and just soaking in the attention, she makes a quiet negatory hum at him when he says she seems little changed. There's almost chagrin in her tone when she speaks. "On the surface maybe but...this has been good for me, really." Not just for her, though she doesn't have to guess to know it won't be a pleasant experience for everyone it happens to. "My abilities though...well they're unchanged in some ways, and others...not so much." She actually shudders a little. "But remember, humans do not always like things that frighten them, things that are different. And I can be so very uncanny." There's a little pain in her voice. Children are not kind to those that are not like them. She will always be thankful for her family's support.
Shahar wriggles around enough to tuck her face into the side of his neck, leaving her one hand pressed over his heart and the other wrapped firmly around him. "You're welcome, though you don't have to thank me. I want you happy." And Skyblast in some great distress would not likely result in that state.
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