Post by Admin on Sept 23, 2009 5:09:40 GMT -5
Rian:
Rian looked around as he walked through the streets of New York. He had once had family here but he hadn't really visited them and didn't know the city that well. Added to that he had a feeling it had changed a lot since the old days and walking around probably wasn't as safe as it used to be.
He padded down the street in the wolf's agile body doing his best to look like a stray dog. "It's up ahead," Luce told him. She was walking next to him, her shot gun in a sheath slung on her back and her pistol hidden somewhere on her person. He had thought it best to bring her along for many reasons but if anyone asked she was his body guard and guide. He was in dangerous and unknown territory and it was only prudent to bring someone who knew the turf.
Luce and Rian entered the Port Authority subway station on 34th and 7th ave and walked through the vast underground complex until Rian's accute nose and better sense of hearing told him where the group was. <<Stay here.>>
Rian tended to say things in order form instead of making requests but he had never used orders with Luce before. A part of him had been too afraid that she wouldn't follow them. But as of late he found that he could only speak to her when giving her orders. He was still angry about what had happened on the dam and he wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.
Aolani:
Aolani was morphed as a kestrel right now, nestled away in a place that kept her perfectly hidden. The bird was still, nothing moving except for its amber colored eyes. It spotted people going in, all of whom she'd gotten previous ID's on by Cassie. Anyone that was not suppose to be there would be notified, and so far she noted only one person that was on the list that had not gone all the way in. This woman she recognized as Luce.
<<A weapon, fascinating>> she commented, directing her thoughts to Luce. The kestrel spotted the sheath on her back, and was instantly intrigued. Aolani's voice did not sound sarcastic in the least, though it did not give way to her curiosity either. Weapons were something she understood, something she liked, morphing was still a concept that she didn't quite enjoy. Had Cassie allowed it'd she would have preferred to stand around as a human with a few handy metal devices rather than hide as a predatory bird.
<<You are Luce I presume?>> Cassie had also gave word of Luce, and how she enjoyed weapons, Rian had mentioned her coming, and since she hadn't went inside it only added to her theory. This girl was not a faction leader.
Luce:
Luce hunkered down and leaned against a wall. She wasn't surprised to hear a thought speak voice in her head. She had served guard duty for more than one faction meeting and she knew that they would be around. She had her head resting against the cool tile of the subway wall, her eyes closed and she didn't bother opening them to look around for the source of the voice.
She had come back outside after Rian had gone in and was wondering if this counted as disobeying orders too. God she wished she were home. It wasn't a sentiment she had often and in this case she knew very well that she wasn't missing a place or even a person. She was missing a time. And you couldn't go backwards so such wishes were useless.
She opened her eyes and spoke to the empty air around her assuming whoever it was would be able to hear her in whatever morph they were in. "Yeah I'm Luce." She wondered who it was talking to her. If the person didn't know her then they must be new or newer. Maybe she should have asked Suji for a rundown on the new members. Then again things were strained between her and Suji too.
"Hey, whoever you are, do you know where Helena is? Is she still around? And Zane and Mike?" She didn't even like Mike. Why was she asking for him?
Aolani:
Luce appeared more attractive than Aolani had pictured, and this was a pleasant perk. Most of the people she worked with were not friends, merely co-workers--with the exception of possible Zane. From them she'd learned about Luce, as well as from Cassie. Any person that could handle a weapon and didn't have a parasite in their head was fair game in her book. Riley had Raven again, Zane was....well he slept with everyone so she didn't count him either, and she held no other interests with the others.
<<I much prefer Aolani to 'whoever you are', nicer ring to it>> she replied smoothly, <<All three are around here someplace>>. The idea of demorphing sounded good right about now, and as she let the idea eat away at her she realized she wanted more and more to do it. The one downfall with her was that she despised being ordered around, and this was an order, to stay put as guard. Fortunately there was more holding her to this, Cassie had saved her, so until that was paid off she was stuck here.
<<Fortunately you're stuck here with me, I like to think I'm better company>> her voice sounded confident, but not arrogant, and if someone didn't know better it almost sounded as if she was smiling. Yes, that was possible. <<Though, out of curiosity, do you honestly care if Mikes around?>> she asked, a slight edge to her voice. Aolani too did not enjoy the company of the foolhardy man, and she did not hide this.
Atreyu:
Atreyu padded silently through the streets sniffing at garbage and scaring cats. Basically he was doing his best to look like a stray dog even though his massive dog morph wasn't usually the top choice of pet for new yorkers.
So far so good. The faction leaders were here and no threats yet. But if they let the faction leaders get hit the freedom effort would be over. He called out to his partner, checking in. <<Mike, is there any sign of a threat in your sector?>>
Luce:
"Aolani, nice name," Luce said still talking to thin air. It made her laugh to think that in pre-invasion New York a person sitting on a sidewalk talking to themselves was not an uncommon sight. The war hadn't changed some things. Luce put her head in her hands to stop herself from laughing before laughter became tears. She hadn't felt this close to crying in a long long time and it killed her, the situation and the fact that she was so vulnerable about it. She was glad that she and Rian would be staying in New York overnight because she didn't think she was up to just turning around and making the long trek back to Vegas especially when all she had waiting for her was shame.
Luce stood up and walked over to the fountain across the street. It was cracked and broken now, it's water gone. No one had bothered to keep it up and running. In fact more and more of the street level was falling to disrepair as the yeerks moved their city upwards.
"Yeah I would care. He is at least something familiar." She sat down on the rim of the fountain and looked around. "So Aolani, where are you and what are you?" she asked intrigued.
Mike:
<<Huh? What Atreyu?>> Mike responded. For a moment there he had been too absorbed in his sheep dg morph. <<Oh yeah, no I don't see anything that's a threat.>> he told him. <<Although, I saw that peregrine falcon zoom through a couple minutes ago. Man, that looked like so much fun! You think Cassie would let me morph one?>>
It was just another day out on patrol. Though this time all the faction leaders where here. It still didn't mean thier duties changed much from any other day. Though it was hard to be bored or down in this morph. He was pretty much sniffing every little piece of garbage that walked up to his nose. <<Oh eww, what was that?>> he said as he smelled something. <<No nevermind, I know what it is. Oh, wait! What is that?! Oh wait same thing, my bad>>
Aolani:
Her talons dug deeper into the building she was perched on as she watched Luce. They were conversing yes, but her surroundings never left her attention, she was still guarding. <<Credit goes to my deceased mother>> she replied, but her tone was light, it obviously held no weight with her. Aolani had no family, no one she cared about enough to tie her down anywhere, just as she liked it.
Luce's response caused a small inward sigh in Aolani, <<In this case familiar is overrated>> she replied, and then laughed softly. The kestrels amber colored eyes followed the womans figure as she walked towards the water fountain before flickering on the immediate surroundings once.
<<Well where's the fun in that? We could both use some lightening up>> she replied, picking up the vibe that Luce was at least a bit stressed, or at least at a want for something comforting, something familiar--especially if that something was Mike. Aolani couldn't provide that, and wasn't sure if she wanted to, but she could at least pass the time by with something relatively fun. <<Process of elimination...I'm obviously not in the water, I'm a predator, though probably not of much danger to you, and I can spot you from here....>> she smiled to herself <<But not smell you.>> Birds had a horrid sense of smell--with the exception of vultures--and so she thought that last one might give her away.
Atreyu:
Atreyu spotted his canine companion chasing trash in the street and put his own nose back to the ground. He didn't mind chasing trash when the situation called for it or just for fun but he was a little...nervous was the wrong word. It would take a lot to unnerve Atreyu but he was a little...worried was the best word. He could smell Taxxon in the area and could hear their feet scurring. He just couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.
But Taxxon liked to travel underground and the meeting was underground. Put two and two together and you got a worried Atreyu. He trotted over to Helena who was doing her best to look like a street rat. She was dressed in rags and was sitting against a building a paper bag in one hand. Of course the paper bag contained a stolen communication device and he knew that she had a dracon beam buried in that mess of clothing somewhere and he also knew how fast her hands moved.
<<Helena,>> he said calmly, <<I hear Taxxon underground. I can not discern in which direction they are going but maybe you should contact Cassie and warn her.>>
Luce:
Aolani's description did give her away. At least Luce knew that she was some sort of bird of prey morph. Raptors were quickly becoming one of Luce's favorite family of morphs and she spent a lot of her time as one type of raptor or another. She wished that she could go flying if only for a half hour but she too had a duty to perform.
She was here as a guard though right now she felt fisking useless, not even trusted enough to get a real position just told to wait like a child. Luce wasn't used to being treated that way and she was realizing how much she had taken the trust of her fellows for granted.
She stared into the slate gray sky, her green eyes scanning to see if she could spot a flying form below the clouds but none was too be found. Which probably meant her unknown animorph was perched somewhere. A quick scan of the rooftops around her told Luce which of them would work as a look out and which were useless. There were only two really good places to be if you wanted to see the whole area and there was a falcon of some sort on one of them.
She looked up at the tiny form of the falcon knowing that if it was the animorph she would be able to see her clearly enough. "Am I looking at you now?"
Suji:
Helena nodded. She liked Atreyu, found him easy to get along with, even if some of the other members found him odd or out of place. Today was the day of the big meeting, and it gave her a jittery feeling that she didn't like. Her eyes were constantly scanning the visible area, and she was always ready to reach for her dracon weapon. It had taken her some time to get used to shooting the space-age guns, and truth be told, she still preferred the kick of a pistol in her hand. And at first she'd also hated the sound the dracon lasers made themselves, but over time, she'd come to enjoy the shriek.
Helena brushed her hair back, covering what she was really doing: pressing down on the ear piece, which matched up with the communication device lying next to her. "Cassie," she said quietly, so as not to alarm the other woman. Cassie would know that Helena wouldn't interrupt unless she felt it pertinent, so she felt no need to over-embellish Atreyu's report. Instead she stuck to telling their leader almost exactly what had just been relayed to her.
"Atreyu is in morph, and says he can hear Taxxons moving underground. He isn't sure about where they're heading to, so there may be no need to worry." However, Helena knew well enough that there also may indeed be reason to worry, and she knew Cassie wouldn't misinterpret her.
Aolani:
Aolani had purposely chosen clues that would lead Luce right to her, and so she waited patiently, her talons digging ever more deeply into the building. She had chosen the best perch for viewing most of the area, and Brock was somewhere close by doing the same, two people in the air, the rest she wasn't sure about. As Luce began looking upwards she smiled inwardly, and finally flapped her wings slightly when she made eye contact. <<Yes you are>> she replied, and then took off into the air, quickly zooming out of site.
<<Brock, mind taking my area as well as yours, I need to do something>> and before waiting for a response she was demorphing. Aolani loved her human form, it was her favorite, and so she moved back underground for a moment, moving towards where she kept her very own dracon gun hidden, as well as a clothing. From the get-go she'd planned on demorphing, orders were not orders in her book.
After tugging on a comically over sized button-up shirt that hung loosely at her shoulders, she began the walk back towards Luce. Aolani stuck the gun in the waistband of her spandex shorts--near her back. The looseness of the shirt concealed it nicely, and after ruffling her short hair a bit she picked up the pace, and soon found herself approaching Luce. Aolani was not going to go stand next to her, especially since Luce was not hidden well, so she walked into a less conspicuous location and mouthed the words, "You win." After this she leant up against the wall, the corner of her mouth turning up in a confident smirk.
Atreyu:
Atreyu waited patiently until Helena was done. Of all the people in the faction he and Helena were the most alike. Mike was the easiest person to hang out with. Lord knows he did enough talking for both of them. But only those two didn't seem to mind his silence and for that he valued them.
<<Please...watch my back.>> He was learning to use more slang terms at Mike's insistence. They still didn't roll off his metaphorical tongue but they were amusing.
He trotted into the alley behind Helana and began to demorph. He had been close to the two hour time limit and he wanted to change morphs anyway. His fox may not be the most inconspicuous morph around but it would be able to fit into a smaller space and see in the dark and he wanted to check the underground.
Soon he was standing in the alley barefoot and he walked back out to where Helena was sitting, taking a moment between morphs to catch his breath. He signed to her that he was going underground and then made the sign for yellow eyes since he didn't think he had taught her fox yet.
His hands flowed easily from one form to the next though he slowed it down so that she could follow. When he was sure she understood he retreated into the shadows a bit and began the change to fox.
When he was done he looked like a pet a New Yorker might have, small and furry. But he was also swift and his sense of smell was amazing. <<Good luck. I will send Mike.>>
Atreyu trotted out into the street and found the big dog. <<Mike, I wish to check out the underground. I will be back soon.>>
Luce:
Luce watched the falcon fly down to ground level and disappear, a slight frown on her face. She knew what standing orders were during these things and they did not include demorphing and talking to strangers, even strangers who were proven allies. Luce looked around trying to see if Aolani had back up but wasn't sure if any of the birds she was seeing were animorphs or just birds.
Luce walked a bit to get a better view of the area and spotted a very familiar sheep dog down the block. It was sniffing around trash and seemed to be accompanied by some sort of lap dog. She wasn't surprised that any friend of Mike's would manage to get their hands on a useless lap dog morph and she turned away before Mike spotted her (hopefully).
When she turned she saw an absolutely beautiful young woman leaning against a wall, a coy smile touching her lips. Luce probably would have flushed but she looked away pretending to be very interested in a broken wall. It was a nice wall. And walls were made of stone. Stone, just remember stone. And, and, and guns. No, she liked guns. What was something she didn't like? Math. No she liked math but that was a good way to go. 342 times 567 was....
Luce walked over to Aolani multiplying things in her head, her peripherals still scanning for danger but her gaze firmly focused on her feet. By the time she got to Aolani she managed to introduce herself with some semblance of dignity and she thought she managed to hide her confusion well though she couldn't hide her attraction. "Luce Tragar. Nice to meet the human you."
Helena:
Helena smiled wryly when Atreyu told her to watch his back. Most colloquial expressions were lost on the guy, but she enjoyed when he tried to use them. Not in a mean way: it was just obvious that he was trying to appease them, even though she personally couldn't care if he started dropping sayings like a ultra-popular high school cheerleader. Though THAT thought was enough to widen her smile. Unfortunately it would be hard to share as a joke without sounding harsher than it really felt.
Helena quickly understood what Atreyu had signed, though she was worried about him going underground by himself. She'd taken to sign-language swiftly, moreso than she'd expected from herself. There was a nice simplicity to speaking with ones hands, something both graceful and direct about it that Helena had found easy to interpret. When Atreyu emerged later as a fox, Helena murmured quietly, "Be careful." Instinctively, she reached out a hand and gently patted his snowy white fur, if to reassure her more than him.
That was the thing about New York. Helena knew it probably wasn't the same in other factions, but each one of them had to be able to do things alone. While in some cases it had its benefits, generally it made her more and more unsettled. Knowing the scrapes that she'd gotten into herself, it was hard not to worry for people you cared about, spent all your time around. But each of them had to be a one-person army, and if you weren't, you were the weakest link. And Helena figured that was actually the fastest way to get shipped out to another faction. That, and if Cassie had some sort of special assignment for you, like she had for that Suji girl. Helena did not miss her.
Mike:
Mike continued sniffing through. He blamed the instincts of the dog. It was easy to get lost in its ADD-like attention span. Well, he could be controlling them a bit better, but truth was he was bored. This whole patrolling thing, was always boring.
Though he heard someone who had come up from behind and quickly looked over to see. It was Luce! He wasn't sure whether or not he should say something. Ah who was he kidding, he had to say something. <<Hey Luce! You're here....and...stuff. Yeah, I don't know where I'm going with this either.>> he said to her. <<Nevermind, I'll just go this way....>> He then headed in the opposite direction of Luce.
He then heard Atreyu's thoughtspeak. <<Underground huh? Yeah, sure. Be careful man. Though, I know I don't really need to tell you that. You're always careful>> he told him.
Aolani:
Aolani had a small reputation for knowing what she wanted, and going for it, or in other words for being aggressive. Few could stand in her way, and currently the only person that did was Cassie. The day would come that she repaid her debt to their faction leader though, and when it came she would be on her own again. Thankfully until then she found herself meeting people she actually liked, Zane, and now Luce. As far as the other members went, Mike was annoyingly oblivious, Helena seemed decent and Atreyu was quiet, but she liked that, and then there was Brock, he was also okay in her book.
Luce seemed....was it flustered? The way she looked away quickly, even her body language as she approached. Aolani couldn't help but smile more, remaining comfortably pressed up against the wall as the attractive woman finally stood before her. Slowly she strained herself, pushing off the wall and getting a bit closer to Luce, but not too close, that small confident smirk still tugging at the corner of her mouth, "Aolani Faux," she greeted and then laughed quietly, "It's nicer to see you up close with my human eyes," she slowly looked Luce up and down once before smiling coyly again, "My Kestrel eyes didn't do you justice, you're prettier up close."
Aolani's gaze focused on Luce's face, the curves of her cheeks, and lips, and she found her lips turned up in a half smile again, "Well you do deserve some time of consolation prize, don't you think? You did figure me out." She lifted one of her brows slightly.
Luce:
Numbers were not working. Numbers were not working at all. Luce was trying to think of something else but all she could really see were those dark eyes looking coyly into her own, the seductive smile made by those lips, the short spiky hair. Everything about the young woman was intoxicating and Luce found herself wishing very much that she wasn't on guard duty so that she'd be free to find...someplace to go with Aolani.
But was she really on guard duty. Rian's words came back to her. "Stey here." the dismissal in them, the distrust, stung Luce more than anything else could. As horribly paladin-istic as it sounded the only thing Luce had left to her in this life was her honor, her duty. And that had all been stripped from her in one moment of unthinking loyalty to a woman who, well who should be in her past, who should have no claim on her present or future.
So she probably wasn't on guard duty right now anyway.
Luce raised her own eyebrows in response to Aolani's implied invitation and then looked towards the entrance to Penn station and the underground complex of Amtrack train terminals and little shops where the faction leaders were having their meeting...but only in one of those shops. She looked back at Aolani. "How long to you think the faction leader meeting will last?"
Atreyu:
Atreyu ran the short distance to one of the subway entrance to Penn Station. Aolani and Brock were their air support today with he and Mike serving ground and Helena there as communications and back up if necessary so it was to Aolani and Brock that he directed his thought speak. <<Lani, Brock, I am going into Penn station to investigate something. I should still be in thought->> he cut himself off as he spotted Aolani across the street with a woman he didn't recognize, human. It was not...ideal, but it was also not exactly his business. Aolani was nice but something about her bothered him. She seemed very reckless at times and he worried about her.
<<Lani->> he paused, <<never mind.>> He trotted down the stairs of the subway entrance and entered the underground complex. He trotted past a looted Starbucks and turned right at a small corner cafe. He was heading away from the large open Amtrack trans continental train terminals and towards the subway which was where he had thought he heard Taxxon. His yellow eyes glowed with reflected light, the few that still worked down here.
As the sounds of Taxxon got closer he wished he had brought Mike and Helena along.
Aolani:
Aolani waited, and the response she got made the corner of her mouth turn up again, "Possibly just under an hour since it didn't start too long ago," she replied. Then her mind was infiltrated by unwanted thoughtspeak, but her face showed no hint of this. The others had sold their souls to Cassie, ready to fight the good fight however she wanted, but not Aolani. This fight was hers to fight because she was human, but this what not the path she wanted to use to do it.
At this point Cassie was pretty far from her mind, and had been since she'd locked her eyes on Luce's figure. It only took her a few minutes of observation to see how she'd react to someone, and Luce had gotten the thumbs up. Aolani considered the woman beautiful, her dark hair and eyes, her creamy skin....and then her mind wondered if the rest of her skin was that lovely. It took a second but she stopped herself, not wanting to get carried away so quickly.
"You know what you want then?" she asked, pursing her lips slightly and raising both her eyebrows, "Because..." she took a step closer, "There are a few empty rooms." Her dark eyes locked with Luce's, waiting, smiling, "Unless you have a better idea..." her voice had lowered to almost a whisper.
Luce:
That was a definite invitation and it had the desired reaction. Luce became very aware of how close she was standing to Aolani and what her own body was telling her about it. And for just a moment she wondered who this person was that she was being so forward. Did Luce even know? No, she didn't know who she was at all and the question she had asked hit home.
You know what you want then?
For the first time in a long time Luce realized she had absolutely no idea what she wanted. For so long she had stopped herself from wanting anything. Those years spent in captivity had burned all the excess away, all the frivolities, all the soft emotions, leaving only the pieces of her that were hard enough, small enough and mean enough to survive the torture of slavery. Jals had taken everything from her leaving hardly enough of Luce left to occupy the body that was hers when it died and left her head to herself again.
So wanting hadn't been high on Luce's list of things to do. The more you wanted, the more you had, and the more you had the more could get taken away from you and she had learned first hand that it was possible to lose everything you cared about.
And for a while that had been ok even though she hadn't been well liked by those around her. She carried herself above them, separate from them because they didn't share wants, because she didn't participate in the normal co-dependancy that accompanied friendship.
Luce had been a walking dead woman, too afraid and too stubborn to commit suicide even though she had nothing to live for and so she was determined to throw her life away on the first battlefield that would have her.
But that had changed. She wasn't sure when but she knew it had. Maybe it was Suji's fault. Suji's fault for showing up and actually being competent enough to hang with her. Her first friendship since her liberation and she had been dragged into it almost unwillingly but unable to deny that they got along well.
Or maybe the change had started with the young, brave gunslinger who had survived the death of her entire faction and come across the country to deliver the message, only collapsing after she had completed her task. Luce had admired Helena for that.
And Ember, the young and sometimes...often foolish young soldier who burned with a passion that Luce hadn't seen in anyone in so long. Ember cared in a way that Luce didn't understand but that she admired. Everyone else was too scarred, too beaten down by the war but Ember wasn't and her company was refreshing.
And of course Sedra. Sedra who even after all that had happened she still loved. She wanted her. And she couldn't have her. Not in this world.
Each woman was like a small light in Luce's life, slowly drawing her back into the world, waking her up again, making her live again. She had begun to care about the opinion of those around her, became part of a team in Vegas. Maybe not the most likable part but she was trusted, she was welcome and she was...accepted.
And for the second time in her life Luce had lost all the things she cared about.
And now she was standing here, in New York City, a city who's depressing atmosphere had only thickened with the invasion, a desolate wasteland that they still fought over especially here on the street level. She was far from home and cut off from all the people she had come to care for, dragged along by an angry boy and treated like a guard dog.
She was angry, she was confused, she was depressed and she was lonely. And there was an attractive young woman standing in front of her offering to help her forget all that for a while.
A small voice told her to stop. That voice that we all have, our guide, the thing in us that reverberates when something rings true. That voice told her to stop and think about what she was doing. But like so many others, Luce didn't listen to it, too intent on soothing pain that she didn't want to feel anymore. The only thing she heard was what her body wanted.
"What I want? I want to find one of those rooms."
Aolani:
It took a few minutes, and Aolani was watching Luce intently, her brown eyes surveying the woman before she finally spoke. The response she got made her entire face light up, her lips parting to display a large smile. "I'll lead the way," she responded, pausing for a moment as they both stood fairly close to one another, and then slowly gestured for her to follow. Aolani's entire body was humming, she hadn't felt this excited since...well since Riley or Zane.
Aolani happened to know her city very well, and she moved straight towards Penn Station, to a small deserted shop. It looked like no one had stepped foot there in ages, dust collecting on the counter top, and cobwebs lining the ceiling. It was the most private of the stores that she knew of, and also the least musty.
Once inside she bent down, picking up a stray rag, and ran it once down the counter, before hopping on top it, crossing her legs and grinning. "Not the best...but I'm sure we can make the most of it. Don't you think?" she raised one of her eyebrows and pursed her lips out in a slightly suggestive expression.
Luce & Aolani:
As Luce walked towards Penn station she had a moment to reflect on what she was doing. She felt like she had rushed into this, letting the momentum of it be an excuse to throw away all introspection or deep thought. And she didn't want to think too deeply about it because her thoughts would go back to where they always went since that one night spent with Sedra.
One night stolen from worries of duty or different sides in a war where there was no compromise. But at what cost? That one night had brought back so many things, so many memories of Jals predictably. And the thought that she was doing to Catherine what Jals had done to her, or at least enabling Sedra to do so, haunted her.
So in the morning, when the protective blanket of night that had hidden them from the realities that day made clear was gone, Luce had slipped away and sworn to herself that she would never go back.
In the intervening days she had tried to convince herself that she didn't need to go back, didn't want to go back. She had survived for almost two years without seeing Sedra. One week shouldn't hurt so much. But it did.
She looked at Aolani walking in front of her. An animorph, a fellow freedom fighter, not a controller, not an enemy and not complicated, at least the situation wasn't. Aolani was not someone from a past that wasn't hers. Her feelings for the beautiful woman were her own, she didn't have to worry whether they were inherited from a dead slave master who she'd hated. And if they were shallow at least they were simple.
But despite all that when they had reached the store, Luce looked around to avoid looking at Aolani for the moment. Which made her a little embarrassed for herself. She wasn't some kid who had never done this before, far from it unfortunately, so why the butterflies?
But when she did look at Aolani, her dark eyes reflecting the little light that was coming through the door to the shop, that nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach was replaced by something very different.
She shrugged off the shot gun and placed it on the counter as she walked the two steps it took to cover the distance between them and put a hand on the woman's cheek and brushed her short hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure we can think of something." Her voice was quiet; almost a whisper and her hand left Aolani's cheek and grazed the back of her neck as she kissed her.
In Aolani’s opinion Luce had seemed rather shy, a fact that quickly changed once she stepped into the shop. Aolani was taken by surprise as the woman grazed her cheek In fact this whole situation was taking her by surprise. She had heard enough about Luce that she had thought flirting with the attractive woman would be an interesting, fun but, in the end, futile exercise. A challenge.
But when Luce had started to respond she hadn't really questioned her good luck she had just taken advantage of it. Things went too quickly in this life, especially in this city and in this war. She saw no reason not to grab a little fun and enjoyment when you could and Luce was no kid to be led around so why not.
A slow, confident smile tugged at her lips. Not saying a word she turned her head and tilted her face up, eagerly meeting Luce's lips with her own.
Slowly, and carefully Aolani managed to pull Luce even closer, wrapping both her legs around her waist, whilst simultaneously snaking her arms around her neck. Now Aolani could feel her heart rate accelerate, pumping adrenaline through her body. This was exactly what she had wanted, what she still wanted, and there was ever-mounting warmth growing deep within her.
It was always like this with her, it was one of the reasons she and Zane got along so well. They understood each other, understood that sometimes the deeper stuff was just not worth going after. It took time to make that connection and it got pulled away from you anyway, eventually.
After deepening the kiss she pulled back, smiling, "I think I like this 'something'," she replied, her lips still close enough to feel Luce's warm breath. Then she leaned in again, pressing her lips to Luce's, this time allowing her tongue to gently part the woman's lips.
Luce responded in kind without really thinking about it, kissing her back, and soon things began to heat up, neither bothering to control their hands. Slowly one slipped from behind Luce’s neck, running ever so slowly across her collarbone, and finally down to her breasts, where it lingered as her kiss grew more passionate. Never had lust felt this strongly, and Luce could acknowledge that was all it was. Jals had felt it often enough and for a long time she had thought there was nothing else but now she knew different and almost wished she had stayed ignorant.
Before long Aolani tugged her own loose button-up shirt off, now wearing a simple tank-top that left little to the imagination. Her gaze befell Luce, and a seductive smile spread across her lips which Luce was charmed by even now. Those playful eyes and that smile had gotten her here. There was something about them that was almost daring her to forget her normal caution, overcame the doubts that were still in her mind.
Aolani slowly let her creep around to Luce’s waist, letting them inch upwards until they grasped her leather jacket, and in one swift movement it was off. “Better,” Aolani whispered, and then leaned in to kiss the woman’s neck lightly, letting her lips drift southern for a moment, lingering near the uppermost hem of her shirt before pulling away again.
Luce was an...interesting conquest, especially since Aolani didn't exactly know what Luce was looking for out of this. She herself was just looking for an enjoyable afternoon, maybe a little comfort and she hoped that Luce didn't want anything she wasn't willing to give.
Without another moment's thought she pressed her lips to hers, this time her hands roaming freely beneath Luce’s blouse, feeling the pistol that was still tucked into her waistband.
As Aolani's hands reached it Luce was reminded of what they both were supposed to be doing and felt slight misgivings as her hand reached back to cover Aolani's and take the gun from her waist and put it next to the shotgun on the counter. Her other hand found the dracon beam Luce had assumed would be hidden somewhere on Aolani's person and put that aside too.
But the action gave Luce time to think that had so far she'd been much too engaged to do. That pesky voice that had been drowned out by Aolani's touch was back asking her if she should really be doing this.
Aolani was looking at her with those eyes, those beautiful eyes, and Luce wanted to lose herself in them, forget the duty that was tearing her world apart. Who did she owe her loyalty to? To Rian, to Cassie...to Sedra...........to Catherine? She could not serve them all and trying had gotten her here. So who did she remain loyal to?
Yourself
It was the first helpful thing that voice had said in a long time. Luce's hands wandered over Aolani's skin and she looked at her. "Aolani-"
<<Help! Taxxon in the southern tunnels!>> Luce's head snapped around even though the thought speak cry had come from no specific direction. Her hands found her gun long before her mind had come up with a logical explanation for what had happened.
“Fuck,” Aolani muttered quickly tugging her shirt down and pulling on her looser button-up. She had been close, so close, though for a second there it had seemed like that moment would come that Aolani dreaded. That moment when some of them looked at you and you could tell that they would never be satisfied with friendship and maybe a little fun. That they wanted something deeper. But now she wouldn't know. Cassie had asked her to guard this meeting and damn if she didn't owe the woman her life and possibly her freedom. She hated feeling like Cassie had a lease on her loyatly but realities were realities and she had a debt to pay.
She hopped off the counter and grabbed her dracon beam, before looking up at Luce with an urgent, but saddened expression, “That was Atreyu, let's go.”
Atreyu:
Atreyu trotted down the stairs that led to the platform of the subway station leaving the actually station, with its abandoned candy and newspaper stands, behind. Once down on the platform he walked down to the end and found the service stairs that would lead him down to the tracks themselves. He could have jumped down but he would have been jumping into a sludge made up of rain and sewer water, decayed trash and dirt. He opted to just take the stairs.
Once on the rail level he walked along the barrier protecting what used to be the live track though of course it was dead now. As he got farther and farther from the station the light grew dimmer and even his fox's eyes were having trouble seeing in this though the light filtering down through the occassional vent and grate did help.
But what his eyes couldn't tell him his ears certainly could. There were taxxon in this tunnel. He just couldn't tell how many at first, the sound their legs made all joining together in a horrible scrabble. He was about to turn around and call in back up when he realized he's made a terrible mistake. One of them was a lot closer than he had thought and it could see him much better than he could see it.
He dodged away as the Taxxon slammed its body into the place where he had been, landing in the sludge in the bottom of the tunnels and began running. <<Help! Taxxon in the southern tunnels!>> he called hoping that someone was in thought speak range and could hear him as he ran back up the tunnel, the Taxxon in hot pursuit.
Rian looked around as he walked through the streets of New York. He had once had family here but he hadn't really visited them and didn't know the city that well. Added to that he had a feeling it had changed a lot since the old days and walking around probably wasn't as safe as it used to be.
He padded down the street in the wolf's agile body doing his best to look like a stray dog. "It's up ahead," Luce told him. She was walking next to him, her shot gun in a sheath slung on her back and her pistol hidden somewhere on her person. He had thought it best to bring her along for many reasons but if anyone asked she was his body guard and guide. He was in dangerous and unknown territory and it was only prudent to bring someone who knew the turf.
Luce and Rian entered the Port Authority subway station on 34th and 7th ave and walked through the vast underground complex until Rian's accute nose and better sense of hearing told him where the group was. <<Stay here.>>
Rian tended to say things in order form instead of making requests but he had never used orders with Luce before. A part of him had been too afraid that she wouldn't follow them. But as of late he found that he could only speak to her when giving her orders. He was still angry about what had happened on the dam and he wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.
Aolani:
Aolani was morphed as a kestrel right now, nestled away in a place that kept her perfectly hidden. The bird was still, nothing moving except for its amber colored eyes. It spotted people going in, all of whom she'd gotten previous ID's on by Cassie. Anyone that was not suppose to be there would be notified, and so far she noted only one person that was on the list that had not gone all the way in. This woman she recognized as Luce.
<<A weapon, fascinating>> she commented, directing her thoughts to Luce. The kestrel spotted the sheath on her back, and was instantly intrigued. Aolani's voice did not sound sarcastic in the least, though it did not give way to her curiosity either. Weapons were something she understood, something she liked, morphing was still a concept that she didn't quite enjoy. Had Cassie allowed it'd she would have preferred to stand around as a human with a few handy metal devices rather than hide as a predatory bird.
<<You are Luce I presume?>> Cassie had also gave word of Luce, and how she enjoyed weapons, Rian had mentioned her coming, and since she hadn't went inside it only added to her theory. This girl was not a faction leader.
Luce:
Luce hunkered down and leaned against a wall. She wasn't surprised to hear a thought speak voice in her head. She had served guard duty for more than one faction meeting and she knew that they would be around. She had her head resting against the cool tile of the subway wall, her eyes closed and she didn't bother opening them to look around for the source of the voice.
She had come back outside after Rian had gone in and was wondering if this counted as disobeying orders too. God she wished she were home. It wasn't a sentiment she had often and in this case she knew very well that she wasn't missing a place or even a person. She was missing a time. And you couldn't go backwards so such wishes were useless.
She opened her eyes and spoke to the empty air around her assuming whoever it was would be able to hear her in whatever morph they were in. "Yeah I'm Luce." She wondered who it was talking to her. If the person didn't know her then they must be new or newer. Maybe she should have asked Suji for a rundown on the new members. Then again things were strained between her and Suji too.
"Hey, whoever you are, do you know where Helena is? Is she still around? And Zane and Mike?" She didn't even like Mike. Why was she asking for him?
Aolani:
Luce appeared more attractive than Aolani had pictured, and this was a pleasant perk. Most of the people she worked with were not friends, merely co-workers--with the exception of possible Zane. From them she'd learned about Luce, as well as from Cassie. Any person that could handle a weapon and didn't have a parasite in their head was fair game in her book. Riley had Raven again, Zane was....well he slept with everyone so she didn't count him either, and she held no other interests with the others.
<<I much prefer Aolani to 'whoever you are', nicer ring to it>> she replied smoothly, <<All three are around here someplace>>. The idea of demorphing sounded good right about now, and as she let the idea eat away at her she realized she wanted more and more to do it. The one downfall with her was that she despised being ordered around, and this was an order, to stay put as guard. Fortunately there was more holding her to this, Cassie had saved her, so until that was paid off she was stuck here.
<<Fortunately you're stuck here with me, I like to think I'm better company>> her voice sounded confident, but not arrogant, and if someone didn't know better it almost sounded as if she was smiling. Yes, that was possible. <<Though, out of curiosity, do you honestly care if Mikes around?>> she asked, a slight edge to her voice. Aolani too did not enjoy the company of the foolhardy man, and she did not hide this.
Atreyu:
Atreyu padded silently through the streets sniffing at garbage and scaring cats. Basically he was doing his best to look like a stray dog even though his massive dog morph wasn't usually the top choice of pet for new yorkers.
So far so good. The faction leaders were here and no threats yet. But if they let the faction leaders get hit the freedom effort would be over. He called out to his partner, checking in. <<Mike, is there any sign of a threat in your sector?>>
Luce:
"Aolani, nice name," Luce said still talking to thin air. It made her laugh to think that in pre-invasion New York a person sitting on a sidewalk talking to themselves was not an uncommon sight. The war hadn't changed some things. Luce put her head in her hands to stop herself from laughing before laughter became tears. She hadn't felt this close to crying in a long long time and it killed her, the situation and the fact that she was so vulnerable about it. She was glad that she and Rian would be staying in New York overnight because she didn't think she was up to just turning around and making the long trek back to Vegas especially when all she had waiting for her was shame.
Luce stood up and walked over to the fountain across the street. It was cracked and broken now, it's water gone. No one had bothered to keep it up and running. In fact more and more of the street level was falling to disrepair as the yeerks moved their city upwards.
"Yeah I would care. He is at least something familiar." She sat down on the rim of the fountain and looked around. "So Aolani, where are you and what are you?" she asked intrigued.
Mike:
<<Huh? What Atreyu?>> Mike responded. For a moment there he had been too absorbed in his sheep dg morph. <<Oh yeah, no I don't see anything that's a threat.>> he told him. <<Although, I saw that peregrine falcon zoom through a couple minutes ago. Man, that looked like so much fun! You think Cassie would let me morph one?>>
It was just another day out on patrol. Though this time all the faction leaders where here. It still didn't mean thier duties changed much from any other day. Though it was hard to be bored or down in this morph. He was pretty much sniffing every little piece of garbage that walked up to his nose. <<Oh eww, what was that?>> he said as he smelled something. <<No nevermind, I know what it is. Oh, wait! What is that?! Oh wait same thing, my bad>>
Aolani:
Her talons dug deeper into the building she was perched on as she watched Luce. They were conversing yes, but her surroundings never left her attention, she was still guarding. <<Credit goes to my deceased mother>> she replied, but her tone was light, it obviously held no weight with her. Aolani had no family, no one she cared about enough to tie her down anywhere, just as she liked it.
Luce's response caused a small inward sigh in Aolani, <<In this case familiar is overrated>> she replied, and then laughed softly. The kestrels amber colored eyes followed the womans figure as she walked towards the water fountain before flickering on the immediate surroundings once.
<<Well where's the fun in that? We could both use some lightening up>> she replied, picking up the vibe that Luce was at least a bit stressed, or at least at a want for something comforting, something familiar--especially if that something was Mike. Aolani couldn't provide that, and wasn't sure if she wanted to, but she could at least pass the time by with something relatively fun. <<Process of elimination...I'm obviously not in the water, I'm a predator, though probably not of much danger to you, and I can spot you from here....>> she smiled to herself <<But not smell you.>> Birds had a horrid sense of smell--with the exception of vultures--and so she thought that last one might give her away.
Atreyu:
Atreyu spotted his canine companion chasing trash in the street and put his own nose back to the ground. He didn't mind chasing trash when the situation called for it or just for fun but he was a little...nervous was the wrong word. It would take a lot to unnerve Atreyu but he was a little...worried was the best word. He could smell Taxxon in the area and could hear their feet scurring. He just couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.
But Taxxon liked to travel underground and the meeting was underground. Put two and two together and you got a worried Atreyu. He trotted over to Helena who was doing her best to look like a street rat. She was dressed in rags and was sitting against a building a paper bag in one hand. Of course the paper bag contained a stolen communication device and he knew that she had a dracon beam buried in that mess of clothing somewhere and he also knew how fast her hands moved.
<<Helena,>> he said calmly, <<I hear Taxxon underground. I can not discern in which direction they are going but maybe you should contact Cassie and warn her.>>
Luce:
Aolani's description did give her away. At least Luce knew that she was some sort of bird of prey morph. Raptors were quickly becoming one of Luce's favorite family of morphs and she spent a lot of her time as one type of raptor or another. She wished that she could go flying if only for a half hour but she too had a duty to perform.
She was here as a guard though right now she felt fisking useless, not even trusted enough to get a real position just told to wait like a child. Luce wasn't used to being treated that way and she was realizing how much she had taken the trust of her fellows for granted.
She stared into the slate gray sky, her green eyes scanning to see if she could spot a flying form below the clouds but none was too be found. Which probably meant her unknown animorph was perched somewhere. A quick scan of the rooftops around her told Luce which of them would work as a look out and which were useless. There were only two really good places to be if you wanted to see the whole area and there was a falcon of some sort on one of them.
She looked up at the tiny form of the falcon knowing that if it was the animorph she would be able to see her clearly enough. "Am I looking at you now?"
Suji:
Helena nodded. She liked Atreyu, found him easy to get along with, even if some of the other members found him odd or out of place. Today was the day of the big meeting, and it gave her a jittery feeling that she didn't like. Her eyes were constantly scanning the visible area, and she was always ready to reach for her dracon weapon. It had taken her some time to get used to shooting the space-age guns, and truth be told, she still preferred the kick of a pistol in her hand. And at first she'd also hated the sound the dracon lasers made themselves, but over time, she'd come to enjoy the shriek.
Helena brushed her hair back, covering what she was really doing: pressing down on the ear piece, which matched up with the communication device lying next to her. "Cassie," she said quietly, so as not to alarm the other woman. Cassie would know that Helena wouldn't interrupt unless she felt it pertinent, so she felt no need to over-embellish Atreyu's report. Instead she stuck to telling their leader almost exactly what had just been relayed to her.
"Atreyu is in morph, and says he can hear Taxxons moving underground. He isn't sure about where they're heading to, so there may be no need to worry." However, Helena knew well enough that there also may indeed be reason to worry, and she knew Cassie wouldn't misinterpret her.
Aolani:
Aolani had purposely chosen clues that would lead Luce right to her, and so she waited patiently, her talons digging ever more deeply into the building. She had chosen the best perch for viewing most of the area, and Brock was somewhere close by doing the same, two people in the air, the rest she wasn't sure about. As Luce began looking upwards she smiled inwardly, and finally flapped her wings slightly when she made eye contact. <<Yes you are>> she replied, and then took off into the air, quickly zooming out of site.
<<Brock, mind taking my area as well as yours, I need to do something>> and before waiting for a response she was demorphing. Aolani loved her human form, it was her favorite, and so she moved back underground for a moment, moving towards where she kept her very own dracon gun hidden, as well as a clothing. From the get-go she'd planned on demorphing, orders were not orders in her book.
After tugging on a comically over sized button-up shirt that hung loosely at her shoulders, she began the walk back towards Luce. Aolani stuck the gun in the waistband of her spandex shorts--near her back. The looseness of the shirt concealed it nicely, and after ruffling her short hair a bit she picked up the pace, and soon found herself approaching Luce. Aolani was not going to go stand next to her, especially since Luce was not hidden well, so she walked into a less conspicuous location and mouthed the words, "You win." After this she leant up against the wall, the corner of her mouth turning up in a confident smirk.
Atreyu:
Atreyu waited patiently until Helena was done. Of all the people in the faction he and Helena were the most alike. Mike was the easiest person to hang out with. Lord knows he did enough talking for both of them. But only those two didn't seem to mind his silence and for that he valued them.
<<Please...watch my back.>> He was learning to use more slang terms at Mike's insistence. They still didn't roll off his metaphorical tongue but they were amusing.
He trotted into the alley behind Helana and began to demorph. He had been close to the two hour time limit and he wanted to change morphs anyway. His fox may not be the most inconspicuous morph around but it would be able to fit into a smaller space and see in the dark and he wanted to check the underground.
Soon he was standing in the alley barefoot and he walked back out to where Helena was sitting, taking a moment between morphs to catch his breath. He signed to her that he was going underground and then made the sign for yellow eyes since he didn't think he had taught her fox yet.
His hands flowed easily from one form to the next though he slowed it down so that she could follow. When he was sure she understood he retreated into the shadows a bit and began the change to fox.
When he was done he looked like a pet a New Yorker might have, small and furry. But he was also swift and his sense of smell was amazing. <<Good luck. I will send Mike.>>
Atreyu trotted out into the street and found the big dog. <<Mike, I wish to check out the underground. I will be back soon.>>
Luce:
Luce watched the falcon fly down to ground level and disappear, a slight frown on her face. She knew what standing orders were during these things and they did not include demorphing and talking to strangers, even strangers who were proven allies. Luce looked around trying to see if Aolani had back up but wasn't sure if any of the birds she was seeing were animorphs or just birds.
Luce walked a bit to get a better view of the area and spotted a very familiar sheep dog down the block. It was sniffing around trash and seemed to be accompanied by some sort of lap dog. She wasn't surprised that any friend of Mike's would manage to get their hands on a useless lap dog morph and she turned away before Mike spotted her (hopefully).
When she turned she saw an absolutely beautiful young woman leaning against a wall, a coy smile touching her lips. Luce probably would have flushed but she looked away pretending to be very interested in a broken wall. It was a nice wall. And walls were made of stone. Stone, just remember stone. And, and, and guns. No, she liked guns. What was something she didn't like? Math. No she liked math but that was a good way to go. 342 times 567 was....
Luce walked over to Aolani multiplying things in her head, her peripherals still scanning for danger but her gaze firmly focused on her feet. By the time she got to Aolani she managed to introduce herself with some semblance of dignity and she thought she managed to hide her confusion well though she couldn't hide her attraction. "Luce Tragar. Nice to meet the human you."
Helena:
Helena smiled wryly when Atreyu told her to watch his back. Most colloquial expressions were lost on the guy, but she enjoyed when he tried to use them. Not in a mean way: it was just obvious that he was trying to appease them, even though she personally couldn't care if he started dropping sayings like a ultra-popular high school cheerleader. Though THAT thought was enough to widen her smile. Unfortunately it would be hard to share as a joke without sounding harsher than it really felt.
Helena quickly understood what Atreyu had signed, though she was worried about him going underground by himself. She'd taken to sign-language swiftly, moreso than she'd expected from herself. There was a nice simplicity to speaking with ones hands, something both graceful and direct about it that Helena had found easy to interpret. When Atreyu emerged later as a fox, Helena murmured quietly, "Be careful." Instinctively, she reached out a hand and gently patted his snowy white fur, if to reassure her more than him.
That was the thing about New York. Helena knew it probably wasn't the same in other factions, but each one of them had to be able to do things alone. While in some cases it had its benefits, generally it made her more and more unsettled. Knowing the scrapes that she'd gotten into herself, it was hard not to worry for people you cared about, spent all your time around. But each of them had to be a one-person army, and if you weren't, you were the weakest link. And Helena figured that was actually the fastest way to get shipped out to another faction. That, and if Cassie had some sort of special assignment for you, like she had for that Suji girl. Helena did not miss her.
Mike:
Mike continued sniffing through. He blamed the instincts of the dog. It was easy to get lost in its ADD-like attention span. Well, he could be controlling them a bit better, but truth was he was bored. This whole patrolling thing, was always boring.
Though he heard someone who had come up from behind and quickly looked over to see. It was Luce! He wasn't sure whether or not he should say something. Ah who was he kidding, he had to say something. <<Hey Luce! You're here....and...stuff. Yeah, I don't know where I'm going with this either.>> he said to her. <<Nevermind, I'll just go this way....>> He then headed in the opposite direction of Luce.
He then heard Atreyu's thoughtspeak. <<Underground huh? Yeah, sure. Be careful man. Though, I know I don't really need to tell you that. You're always careful>> he told him.
Aolani:
Aolani had a small reputation for knowing what she wanted, and going for it, or in other words for being aggressive. Few could stand in her way, and currently the only person that did was Cassie. The day would come that she repaid her debt to their faction leader though, and when it came she would be on her own again. Thankfully until then she found herself meeting people she actually liked, Zane, and now Luce. As far as the other members went, Mike was annoyingly oblivious, Helena seemed decent and Atreyu was quiet, but she liked that, and then there was Brock, he was also okay in her book.
Luce seemed....was it flustered? The way she looked away quickly, even her body language as she approached. Aolani couldn't help but smile more, remaining comfortably pressed up against the wall as the attractive woman finally stood before her. Slowly she strained herself, pushing off the wall and getting a bit closer to Luce, but not too close, that small confident smirk still tugging at the corner of her mouth, "Aolani Faux," she greeted and then laughed quietly, "It's nicer to see you up close with my human eyes," she slowly looked Luce up and down once before smiling coyly again, "My Kestrel eyes didn't do you justice, you're prettier up close."
Aolani's gaze focused on Luce's face, the curves of her cheeks, and lips, and she found her lips turned up in a half smile again, "Well you do deserve some time of consolation prize, don't you think? You did figure me out." She lifted one of her brows slightly.
Luce:
Numbers were not working. Numbers were not working at all. Luce was trying to think of something else but all she could really see were those dark eyes looking coyly into her own, the seductive smile made by those lips, the short spiky hair. Everything about the young woman was intoxicating and Luce found herself wishing very much that she wasn't on guard duty so that she'd be free to find...someplace to go with Aolani.
But was she really on guard duty. Rian's words came back to her. "Stey here." the dismissal in them, the distrust, stung Luce more than anything else could. As horribly paladin-istic as it sounded the only thing Luce had left to her in this life was her honor, her duty. And that had all been stripped from her in one moment of unthinking loyalty to a woman who, well who should be in her past, who should have no claim on her present or future.
So she probably wasn't on guard duty right now anyway.
Luce raised her own eyebrows in response to Aolani's implied invitation and then looked towards the entrance to Penn station and the underground complex of Amtrack train terminals and little shops where the faction leaders were having their meeting...but only in one of those shops. She looked back at Aolani. "How long to you think the faction leader meeting will last?"
Atreyu:
Atreyu ran the short distance to one of the subway entrance to Penn Station. Aolani and Brock were their air support today with he and Mike serving ground and Helena there as communications and back up if necessary so it was to Aolani and Brock that he directed his thought speak. <<Lani, Brock, I am going into Penn station to investigate something. I should still be in thought->> he cut himself off as he spotted Aolani across the street with a woman he didn't recognize, human. It was not...ideal, but it was also not exactly his business. Aolani was nice but something about her bothered him. She seemed very reckless at times and he worried about her.
<<Lani->> he paused, <<never mind.>> He trotted down the stairs of the subway entrance and entered the underground complex. He trotted past a looted Starbucks and turned right at a small corner cafe. He was heading away from the large open Amtrack trans continental train terminals and towards the subway which was where he had thought he heard Taxxon. His yellow eyes glowed with reflected light, the few that still worked down here.
As the sounds of Taxxon got closer he wished he had brought Mike and Helena along.
Aolani:
Aolani waited, and the response she got made the corner of her mouth turn up again, "Possibly just under an hour since it didn't start too long ago," she replied. Then her mind was infiltrated by unwanted thoughtspeak, but her face showed no hint of this. The others had sold their souls to Cassie, ready to fight the good fight however she wanted, but not Aolani. This fight was hers to fight because she was human, but this what not the path she wanted to use to do it.
At this point Cassie was pretty far from her mind, and had been since she'd locked her eyes on Luce's figure. It only took her a few minutes of observation to see how she'd react to someone, and Luce had gotten the thumbs up. Aolani considered the woman beautiful, her dark hair and eyes, her creamy skin....and then her mind wondered if the rest of her skin was that lovely. It took a second but she stopped herself, not wanting to get carried away so quickly.
"You know what you want then?" she asked, pursing her lips slightly and raising both her eyebrows, "Because..." she took a step closer, "There are a few empty rooms." Her dark eyes locked with Luce's, waiting, smiling, "Unless you have a better idea..." her voice had lowered to almost a whisper.
Luce:
That was a definite invitation and it had the desired reaction. Luce became very aware of how close she was standing to Aolani and what her own body was telling her about it. And for just a moment she wondered who this person was that she was being so forward. Did Luce even know? No, she didn't know who she was at all and the question she had asked hit home.
You know what you want then?
For the first time in a long time Luce realized she had absolutely no idea what she wanted. For so long she had stopped herself from wanting anything. Those years spent in captivity had burned all the excess away, all the frivolities, all the soft emotions, leaving only the pieces of her that were hard enough, small enough and mean enough to survive the torture of slavery. Jals had taken everything from her leaving hardly enough of Luce left to occupy the body that was hers when it died and left her head to herself again.
So wanting hadn't been high on Luce's list of things to do. The more you wanted, the more you had, and the more you had the more could get taken away from you and she had learned first hand that it was possible to lose everything you cared about.
And for a while that had been ok even though she hadn't been well liked by those around her. She carried herself above them, separate from them because they didn't share wants, because she didn't participate in the normal co-dependancy that accompanied friendship.
Luce had been a walking dead woman, too afraid and too stubborn to commit suicide even though she had nothing to live for and so she was determined to throw her life away on the first battlefield that would have her.
But that had changed. She wasn't sure when but she knew it had. Maybe it was Suji's fault. Suji's fault for showing up and actually being competent enough to hang with her. Her first friendship since her liberation and she had been dragged into it almost unwillingly but unable to deny that they got along well.
Or maybe the change had started with the young, brave gunslinger who had survived the death of her entire faction and come across the country to deliver the message, only collapsing after she had completed her task. Luce had admired Helena for that.
And Ember, the young and sometimes...often foolish young soldier who burned with a passion that Luce hadn't seen in anyone in so long. Ember cared in a way that Luce didn't understand but that she admired. Everyone else was too scarred, too beaten down by the war but Ember wasn't and her company was refreshing.
And of course Sedra. Sedra who even after all that had happened she still loved. She wanted her. And she couldn't have her. Not in this world.
Each woman was like a small light in Luce's life, slowly drawing her back into the world, waking her up again, making her live again. She had begun to care about the opinion of those around her, became part of a team in Vegas. Maybe not the most likable part but she was trusted, she was welcome and she was...accepted.
And for the second time in her life Luce had lost all the things she cared about.
And now she was standing here, in New York City, a city who's depressing atmosphere had only thickened with the invasion, a desolate wasteland that they still fought over especially here on the street level. She was far from home and cut off from all the people she had come to care for, dragged along by an angry boy and treated like a guard dog.
She was angry, she was confused, she was depressed and she was lonely. And there was an attractive young woman standing in front of her offering to help her forget all that for a while.
A small voice told her to stop. That voice that we all have, our guide, the thing in us that reverberates when something rings true. That voice told her to stop and think about what she was doing. But like so many others, Luce didn't listen to it, too intent on soothing pain that she didn't want to feel anymore. The only thing she heard was what her body wanted.
"What I want? I want to find one of those rooms."
Aolani:
It took a few minutes, and Aolani was watching Luce intently, her brown eyes surveying the woman before she finally spoke. The response she got made her entire face light up, her lips parting to display a large smile. "I'll lead the way," she responded, pausing for a moment as they both stood fairly close to one another, and then slowly gestured for her to follow. Aolani's entire body was humming, she hadn't felt this excited since...well since Riley or Zane.
Aolani happened to know her city very well, and she moved straight towards Penn Station, to a small deserted shop. It looked like no one had stepped foot there in ages, dust collecting on the counter top, and cobwebs lining the ceiling. It was the most private of the stores that she knew of, and also the least musty.
Once inside she bent down, picking up a stray rag, and ran it once down the counter, before hopping on top it, crossing her legs and grinning. "Not the best...but I'm sure we can make the most of it. Don't you think?" she raised one of her eyebrows and pursed her lips out in a slightly suggestive expression.
Luce & Aolani:
As Luce walked towards Penn station she had a moment to reflect on what she was doing. She felt like she had rushed into this, letting the momentum of it be an excuse to throw away all introspection or deep thought. And she didn't want to think too deeply about it because her thoughts would go back to where they always went since that one night spent with Sedra.
One night stolen from worries of duty or different sides in a war where there was no compromise. But at what cost? That one night had brought back so many things, so many memories of Jals predictably. And the thought that she was doing to Catherine what Jals had done to her, or at least enabling Sedra to do so, haunted her.
So in the morning, when the protective blanket of night that had hidden them from the realities that day made clear was gone, Luce had slipped away and sworn to herself that she would never go back.
In the intervening days she had tried to convince herself that she didn't need to go back, didn't want to go back. She had survived for almost two years without seeing Sedra. One week shouldn't hurt so much. But it did.
She looked at Aolani walking in front of her. An animorph, a fellow freedom fighter, not a controller, not an enemy and not complicated, at least the situation wasn't. Aolani was not someone from a past that wasn't hers. Her feelings for the beautiful woman were her own, she didn't have to worry whether they were inherited from a dead slave master who she'd hated. And if they were shallow at least they were simple.
But despite all that when they had reached the store, Luce looked around to avoid looking at Aolani for the moment. Which made her a little embarrassed for herself. She wasn't some kid who had never done this before, far from it unfortunately, so why the butterflies?
But when she did look at Aolani, her dark eyes reflecting the little light that was coming through the door to the shop, that nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach was replaced by something very different.
She shrugged off the shot gun and placed it on the counter as she walked the two steps it took to cover the distance between them and put a hand on the woman's cheek and brushed her short hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure we can think of something." Her voice was quiet; almost a whisper and her hand left Aolani's cheek and grazed the back of her neck as she kissed her.
In Aolani’s opinion Luce had seemed rather shy, a fact that quickly changed once she stepped into the shop. Aolani was taken by surprise as the woman grazed her cheek In fact this whole situation was taking her by surprise. She had heard enough about Luce that she had thought flirting with the attractive woman would be an interesting, fun but, in the end, futile exercise. A challenge.
But when Luce had started to respond she hadn't really questioned her good luck she had just taken advantage of it. Things went too quickly in this life, especially in this city and in this war. She saw no reason not to grab a little fun and enjoyment when you could and Luce was no kid to be led around so why not.
A slow, confident smile tugged at her lips. Not saying a word she turned her head and tilted her face up, eagerly meeting Luce's lips with her own.
Slowly, and carefully Aolani managed to pull Luce even closer, wrapping both her legs around her waist, whilst simultaneously snaking her arms around her neck. Now Aolani could feel her heart rate accelerate, pumping adrenaline through her body. This was exactly what she had wanted, what she still wanted, and there was ever-mounting warmth growing deep within her.
It was always like this with her, it was one of the reasons she and Zane got along so well. They understood each other, understood that sometimes the deeper stuff was just not worth going after. It took time to make that connection and it got pulled away from you anyway, eventually.
After deepening the kiss she pulled back, smiling, "I think I like this 'something'," she replied, her lips still close enough to feel Luce's warm breath. Then she leaned in again, pressing her lips to Luce's, this time allowing her tongue to gently part the woman's lips.
Luce responded in kind without really thinking about it, kissing her back, and soon things began to heat up, neither bothering to control their hands. Slowly one slipped from behind Luce’s neck, running ever so slowly across her collarbone, and finally down to her breasts, where it lingered as her kiss grew more passionate. Never had lust felt this strongly, and Luce could acknowledge that was all it was. Jals had felt it often enough and for a long time she had thought there was nothing else but now she knew different and almost wished she had stayed ignorant.
Before long Aolani tugged her own loose button-up shirt off, now wearing a simple tank-top that left little to the imagination. Her gaze befell Luce, and a seductive smile spread across her lips which Luce was charmed by even now. Those playful eyes and that smile had gotten her here. There was something about them that was almost daring her to forget her normal caution, overcame the doubts that were still in her mind.
Aolani slowly let her creep around to Luce’s waist, letting them inch upwards until they grasped her leather jacket, and in one swift movement it was off. “Better,” Aolani whispered, and then leaned in to kiss the woman’s neck lightly, letting her lips drift southern for a moment, lingering near the uppermost hem of her shirt before pulling away again.
Luce was an...interesting conquest, especially since Aolani didn't exactly know what Luce was looking for out of this. She herself was just looking for an enjoyable afternoon, maybe a little comfort and she hoped that Luce didn't want anything she wasn't willing to give.
Without another moment's thought she pressed her lips to hers, this time her hands roaming freely beneath Luce’s blouse, feeling the pistol that was still tucked into her waistband.
As Aolani's hands reached it Luce was reminded of what they both were supposed to be doing and felt slight misgivings as her hand reached back to cover Aolani's and take the gun from her waist and put it next to the shotgun on the counter. Her other hand found the dracon beam Luce had assumed would be hidden somewhere on Aolani's person and put that aside too.
But the action gave Luce time to think that had so far she'd been much too engaged to do. That pesky voice that had been drowned out by Aolani's touch was back asking her if she should really be doing this.
Aolani was looking at her with those eyes, those beautiful eyes, and Luce wanted to lose herself in them, forget the duty that was tearing her world apart. Who did she owe her loyalty to? To Rian, to Cassie...to Sedra...........to Catherine? She could not serve them all and trying had gotten her here. So who did she remain loyal to?
Yourself
It was the first helpful thing that voice had said in a long time. Luce's hands wandered over Aolani's skin and she looked at her. "Aolani-"
<<Help! Taxxon in the southern tunnels!>> Luce's head snapped around even though the thought speak cry had come from no specific direction. Her hands found her gun long before her mind had come up with a logical explanation for what had happened.
“Fuck,” Aolani muttered quickly tugging her shirt down and pulling on her looser button-up. She had been close, so close, though for a second there it had seemed like that moment would come that Aolani dreaded. That moment when some of them looked at you and you could tell that they would never be satisfied with friendship and maybe a little fun. That they wanted something deeper. But now she wouldn't know. Cassie had asked her to guard this meeting and damn if she didn't owe the woman her life and possibly her freedom. She hated feeling like Cassie had a lease on her loyatly but realities were realities and she had a debt to pay.
She hopped off the counter and grabbed her dracon beam, before looking up at Luce with an urgent, but saddened expression, “That was Atreyu, let's go.”
Atreyu:
Atreyu trotted down the stairs that led to the platform of the subway station leaving the actually station, with its abandoned candy and newspaper stands, behind. Once down on the platform he walked down to the end and found the service stairs that would lead him down to the tracks themselves. He could have jumped down but he would have been jumping into a sludge made up of rain and sewer water, decayed trash and dirt. He opted to just take the stairs.
Once on the rail level he walked along the barrier protecting what used to be the live track though of course it was dead now. As he got farther and farther from the station the light grew dimmer and even his fox's eyes were having trouble seeing in this though the light filtering down through the occassional vent and grate did help.
But what his eyes couldn't tell him his ears certainly could. There were taxxon in this tunnel. He just couldn't tell how many at first, the sound their legs made all joining together in a horrible scrabble. He was about to turn around and call in back up when he realized he's made a terrible mistake. One of them was a lot closer than he had thought and it could see him much better than he could see it.
He dodged away as the Taxxon slammed its body into the place where he had been, landing in the sludge in the bottom of the tunnels and began running. <<Help! Taxxon in the southern tunnels!>> he called hoping that someone was in thought speak range and could hear him as he ran back up the tunnel, the Taxxon in hot pursuit.