WHEN: 2044 AUG 25
WHERE: Seiiki District, La Lune Noire
WHO: Willow Lockewood and Naoki Sato
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[12:36] Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) definately needed a drink after her encounter with the Dashrix household in the onsen. As Willow found Thirst had a bit too much chance of someone's nipple ending up in her cosmo 'seductively', she'd returned to Seiiki and La Lune. Finishing the drink she had in hand, the witch set the empty on the counter and turned to flirt at the handsome twink bartender currently manning the counter. Crooking one finger, she turned with her back to the door to beckon him closer and ask for another fruity cocktail in a throaty voice that implied interest in a lot more than just a drink.
[12:44] 彩人脩生 (helio5igma): Strictly speaking Naoki avoided that nightclub. He'd been in its vicinity before but never *inside* for more than whatever time it took to steer Thirteen or Ichi away so when he first followed Willow in he found it overwhelming. The music and the crowd tended to be at least a little more refined than at Thirst, likely because this place managed to have a front of propriety that made it less likely to be scoffed at by the more mannered denizens of the Seiiki District. Still it was oddly lit, full of distinct scents and tastes in the air, and far too close to Niles Roesler than he ever cared to be.
But it was not a no-work day, which meant Naoki had questions and his interviewee was leaned over the La Lune bar.
Making his way not so politely across the dancefloor, the Jikininki stepped in beside Willow and shoved a wad of currency in the bartender's face as he leaned in to reciprocate her attention. Rather than order something he just said, "Just take it and go away." It was not an insubstantial amount of money. The bartender shot Willow a shrug and a very sheepish glance before sidling on out of there to clear some glasses that had been brought back from the upstairs tables.
[12:49] Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) sighed heavily as the bartender vanished *without* refilling her glass. Setting the empty on the counter, she turned to give Naoki her full attention, meeting his stare even if he was still rather looming over where she'd been trying to get a free drink - not because she had financial concerns but, because, it was fun. "To what," Willow drawled, "Do I owe this particular honor? This is the third day in a row. Be careful, Sato, I might think you're sweet on me. What WOULD people say?" Willow asked, shifting slightly so that she could lean her back against the stool again to give Sato her full attention especially when his mouth was a good bit closer to tender parts than Willow was entirely excited by.
[12:55] 彩人脩生 (helio5igma): THAT sigh was at least very easy to read. He looked at the empty drink then at the bartender before meeting her stare again. "I have questions and no rules stating I can't ask them. It should be quick. You can get another one when we're done," he said as if it were as easy and straightforward as that. When she leaned back he frowned at the barstool and pivoted to take in the club's details a bit more carefully. "There are places to sit upstairs that aren't in the middle of so many people. We should talk up there," he suggested then added after a pause, "...people are more likely to assume I'm trying to eat you. Seiiki is superstitious."
[12:58] Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) snorted at that and then pushed off the stool. She made a little gesture as if to say, 'lead the way', "Humans are superstitious and really, it's not without reason, is it?" Willow asked as she shifted to fully stand, the expensive heels clicking on the ground softly with each movement. "And why, exactly, should I answer your inquisition. I assume that the threat is not, then, that you'll eat me if I don't answer. I'm not afraid of your master, I am unlikely to be afraid of you."
[13:04] 彩人脩生 (helio5igma): Naoki turned and headed back towards the entrance to the club without hesitation, taking the steps quickly to avoid being stuck on its narrow confines with others trying to make their way down. Once they reached one of the blessedly empty private booths he went to lean against the wall rather than take a seat. "I don't expect you to be afraid of me," he answered. "But from observation you either care about the Professor's best interests or need him around to protect yours. So I guess I hope you'll answer for one of those reasons."
[13:08] Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) tipped her head as if considering that logical deduction before she settled into the chair with the air of a queen willing to listen to one of her subjects requests. Willow waved one hand lazily in the air. "I feel like need is perhaps a strong word but Alexander is an ally I value. Very well. I'll hear your questions at the least," she allowed, setting back in her chair. "You did promise that this would be a brief burden on my schedule today. Does he know that you're here, out of curiosity or was he still surly after being left trussed in the onsen?" A humorless smile curved her lips at that particular memory.
[13:11] 彩人脩生 (helio5igma): The yokai actually stepped away from the pillar at that. His brow crease with a frown, the pale dead eyes focused entirely on her face as she spoke the word as if it might give him some context. "Trussed? Literally or figuratively?" he asked before shaking his head. "No, first question first. Which one of the two is it?" he said and crossed his arms, tension in the little pop of knuckles on one hand. "Are you looking after his best interests or dragging him into something to protect your own?"
[13:17] Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) did not volunteer the answer to the question about Lex in the Onsen but her smile deepened, creasing her cheeks briefly before she arched her brows. "Alexander would say that he doesn't need anyone else to look after him and hasn't for a very long time." She pointed out before settling back into the chair and crossing one slim leg over the other. "I will say that I do not need him to protect me, nor would I be comfortable in a position where I was dependent on Alexander putting my interests over his own. He would not. That is a time proven fact as we were just discussing last night in the water before matters took you away." Her sharp nails tapped on the leather of the chair. "Alexander helped me with a request I made of him shortly before the University was time-locked. It seems only equitable to provide him with information he really does need to protect his little fiefdom from repercussions of that action, even if the man is too pigheaded to think it necessary. Does that answer your question?"
[13:23] 彩人脩生 (helio5igma): Naoki glanced at her nails then at her face again. "You asked him to do something that might bring repercussions on him and - " he twitched his lips and glazed over the way she referred to the little unit living in the castle, " - you think just giving him information is a fair trade. It's not equitable," he said firmly, still blithely refusing to answer the question on whether or not Lex knew where he was. "So I guess it answers my question." Stepping around the small space to her chair, Naoki leaned over to take a better look at her eyes, the tension around them, the thump of a pulse in her neck. "He said we were to intervene if someone were to attack you in public, you know. That it would raise more questions otherwise. Would you even do the same thing?"
[13:31] Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) let Naoki move in to loom over her without pulling back or rising to her feet. Only the flex of her fingers betrayed any tension Willow might be feeling at the danger the yokai presented. Her lips parted, showing those even white teeth in a bared snarl. "What, *boy*, do you think I am doing?" She clipped out, the muscles and tendons in the slender column of her neck flexing. "Between his hubris and his damage, that man will assume his vaunted reputation will protect you children and thus does not take the steps necessary to arm you with knowledge because he continues to hope that he can hold his secrets while still building his tiny, precious family. Every day I stay on this provincial island, playing bloody bait for the lackwits fighting over the poisoned fruit of the damn coven, I am *intervening*."
[13:38] 彩人脩生 (helio5igma): Naoki remained impassive if not irritated in the face of her simmering rage. He didn't interrupt her nor did he speak right away when she was finished. There was too much to take apart and only some of it was easily processed behind the yokai's glaring eyes. "Family," he repeated, quiet and almost distant. "*We're* taking steps to protect Ichi and Thirteen, he and I. And you - you're of his blood. I don't think avoiding questions is the only reason he wants us to intervene." The yokai straightened up and huffed an angry exhale from his nose. "You didn't notice, did you? The way he stared at you when I asked you questions? There were answers that mattered to him, affected him. It's obvious enough he cares and it's even more obvious you're trying to use him for it."
[13:45] Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) huffed out a breath, "You're taking steps *now*, but the best protection is them having another target." Willow waved one hand absently. "I'm his cousin. He has a lot of cousins. Its not the blood that binds us, its the childhood trauma. Alexander wants to *fuck* me; the more I say no, the more appealing it becomes. Eventually we'll fornicate and he'll go back to happily ignoring my existence for another few centuries. I don't *matter*, don't you see? He cares that there might be something in my skull that he hasn't yet poked and prodded out of me. I am a puzzle. A fuckable puzzle which ranks me higher than his latest jigsaw or crossword but not by much." Willow straightened and rose to her foot as Naoki stepped away. "You're just searching for explanations to justify your absurd jealousy. You are so very much like him. Just as stubborn and just as blinded by it."
[13:55] 彩人脩生 (helio5igma): "He wouldn't even send automatons to guard something he just wants to fuck and poke at," Naoki retorted. He didn't back up as she stood, instead squaring up to her as she got to her feet. Something of her wording was needling at him, making him chew at his lip and the inside of his cheek. "Puzzles. He's always liked puzzles hasn't he?" A little growl rolled from his throat and the yokai stepped forward to grab for her arm. They were much closer in height than he and her cousin were but that meant their eyes were level and their faces able to get far too close if one of them didn't budge for space or she didn't evade his grasp. "I don't care about who he fucks unless it's someone trying to gain something from it that might harm him, or THEM," he said quietly. It might have been a hiss were his natural inflections more animated. "If you're a puzzle, I'm a tool. Or a dog. I've no right to be jealous but I can protect what I'm meant to protect."
[14:02] Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) didn't pull back but when Naoki grabbed her arm. She did laugh, however, at his self assessment, a humor less bark of sound. "A *dog*, you truly are blind." Willow said scornfully, her green eyes flashing. "You're the only anomaly in his ordered life, the only creature that he's been enough taken with to upend the entire taxonomy. Even your beloved Thirteen fits the mold. Alexander has two categories of companions; he will let himself love something that cannot possibly hurt him, that poses no threat and is utterly incapable of doing so. Like his beloved butterflies, the creatures that are bent utterly to his will, lovely, precious and completely neutered from ever causing him harm. Then he has relationships like his dead wife. Or me, things that are challenging and interesting and pretty." Willow took a step forward as much as the grip on her arm would allow. "We're intellectually stimulating, challenging - even fun, but he does not and cannot trust us because we are capable of turning on him, of hurting him, of betraying him, so we are carefully contained and cordoned off from his life to minimize threats. It's how he lives. It's how he's always lived. Until you."
[14:26] 彩人脩生 (helio5igma): Naoki's grip was tight but not painful. No blood spiked into her arm, no necrosis spread into her skin. Neatly trimmed as his nails were there wasn't even much danger of those leaving marks, only bruising from the grip that held her. He actually tried interrupting her then, opening up once, twice to start speaking before her next sentence seemed to silence him. By the time she was done he was looking from one sharp blue eye to the other with no attempt at a retort. After a minute he let her go, stepping back and shaking his head. "I'm not a threat to him. And he doesn't... trust me," he said, halting and uncertain. Something in the recent days had shaken that particular assumption in his mind. Stubbornly he frowned and shook his head again. "You're wrong. You don't know the things that I've done. But it doesn't matter. That's not what I came here for." Taking in a breath he shut all further ruminations on the topic away - or tried to - and met her eyes again. "What do you want from him? I don't believe it's just to warn him about potential threats."
[14:34] Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) the moment Naoki released her and began to retreat, it was Willow's turn to step forward. She did not move to grab him but she did invade his personal space much the same way that he had invaded hers earlier. "Not a threat? Who managed to leave scars on his skin over his heart? Ones he *kept*, hm? You have full run not only of his home but of his lab. You speak with his voice freely, from the university to matters with other potent families. Even now, you've not been restricted from coming to pester me for the secrets he will not share. You, of all creatures, he craves your willing submission, your trust, your loyalty. It is as close to love as Alexander is capable of. Truly, more than I ever thought he was capable of. You want to know what I want from him?" Willow tipped her head. "I want to know why. I want an answer that only he holds."
[14:42] 彩人脩生 (helio5igma): Naoki withdrew until his back hit the railing behind him. He kept her stare, still unblinking but the movements of his eyes between hers were rapid and unsure. The pulse in his neck was visibly quick, as was the tense of muscle in his jaw as she mentioned the bitemark he'd left on Lex's chest. Naoki scraped his lower lip briefly between his teeth as the memory of the ancient hermetic's flesh ran through his mind. Love was a word that hit heavier than even the flavor. When she was finally finished he looked away. "He doesn't know I'm here. Not unless he's watching," he admitted, unsure of what else to say.
[14:47] Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) gave Naoki a humorless smile, "He knows," she said simply. She remained there, in his space like she might pounce before finally drawing back, apparently content with unsettling him. "Now, are there any other questions on your list for today or shall we call this a draw and I shall see about finding the cocktail that you interrupted earlier? Hm?" She arched one brow, the anger gone for the cool, controlled mask that Willow usually presented to the world.
[15:18] 彩人脩生 (helio5igma): Once she finally drew back Naoki seemed to take in a breath, letting it out to cool his own tempers as he stepped away from the rail. Despite some moments of trying he failed to come up with questions that he either had the words or will to voice, instead shaking his head. "I'll... tell him to get you that drink," he said. The yokai didn't wait for a reply, instead turning to stride quickly downstairs to swipe a card and toss some hurried words at Willow's earlier target. He left the club even faster, barely waiting until he was out of its doors before taking much faster means to get himself back to the castle.