Always

“Yeah...I thought you’d be asleep,” Rebekah replied, her blush deepening. “Well, anyway, good night,” she said with a nervous laugh. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis got her things and exited the jet a little ways behind Scott. She watched as he threw the body of the cab driver out onto the runway, shrugged, then got into the taxi with Scott. “Alright, how far is the nearest abandoned butcher shop?” she asked.

Aqua sighed. She felt helpless, and had no idea how to reassure Callum at this point. “Callum...if you need anything, just let me know,” she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. She got up and walked back into the house, letting Rebekah take back control. Rebekah went into the bathroom and showered, then changed into her pajamas. Once she was out of the bathroom, she paused in front of Felix’s door. She felt the need to say good night to him since she hadn’t been able to before, but she was afraid he might already be asleep. She thought of sneaking into his room and kissing his cheek, and the thought of it made her blush. She went in anyway. It was dark in his room, so she couldn’t see whether he was still awake. Judging by how quiet it was, though, she guessed he was asleep. She tiptoed up to the bed and leaned over, estimating where his face would be in the darkness. ------------------------------------------------------------ Matthew felt a little awkward just hanging around a small group of people with all their little drama and whatever, but he shrugged and went inside the house. He went into the bathroom and stripped down to his boxers, toweled himself down the rest of the way and hung his clothes up to dry. He went into the living room and laid on the couch, not caring who saw him in his lack of attire, and soon fell asleep. ------------------------------------------------------------ Mariah watched Joy curiously, and was surprised when he kicked the door open. She got out of the car and came up to him, then glanced at what was beyond the doorway. She gasped, then put her hand on Joy’s shoulder. “Joy...I’m so sorry.”

Alexis laughed. “I like the sound of that.” She traced her finger along her cheek, where a scar now remained. Most people wouldn’t have thought it looked that awful, but to her, it was a flaw that simply could not be overlooked. And Felix was going to pay dearly. “The sooner we get there and ‘set up shop,’ the better.”

“Understood,” Matthew said, giving Felix a small salute and watching him as he left. He then looked back at Rebekah. “Well, seeing as my clothes are completely soaked here, I don’t suppose you have a few towels for me?” Rebekah blinked. “Oh, um, sure. Just wait out here for a second.” She got out of the pool and wrapped her own towel tightly around herself, then went inside to find more towels. In truth, she had no idea if there were other towels in this house, and hadn’t even thought to check. She went into the bathroom and found some in the cabinet, so she brought them back out to Matthew. When she was outside again, Matthew was already out of the pool and had taken off his shirt, which he was now wringing out. Rebekah tried to ignore his immodesty as she handed the towels off to him. “Thanks, love,” Matthew said, winking at her as he accepted the towels. “No problem,” Rebekah mumbled, rolling her eyes as she turned away from him. “Rebekah, I want to talk to Callum for a second. Do you mind?” asked Aqua. Rebekah paused. Sure, that’s fine, she thought. She let Aqua take over. Aqua walked over to the edge of the pool, getting as close to Callum as she could without actually getting back in, and knelt there. “Callum, are you doing okay?” she asked. She was concerned about him after he had lashed out a few minutes ago, and hoped Vanitas wasn’t winning the struggle. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis entered the airplane and took her seat. “Alright, so when we get there, I’m going to need a place where we can ultimately finish off Felix. I’m thinking abandoned warehouse or depot building...somewhere where there can be lots of agonized screaming with no one around to hear.” She grinned darkly. “Know of any place like that?”

((Have at it with Reilly, Number XV! Okay, just so everyone is aware, Not-with-a-whimper requested that I make the first post about his character, Zalia. Yes, most of the post is through the perspective of some random guy, but please know that that's all he is--a random guy. Of course, he is not an official character (otherwise, either Not-with-a-whimper or I would have made a CS about him in the sign-up thread), and therefore has no real consequence in the story. He will [probably] never appear in this RP again, but when Not-with-a-whimper described his vision of this first post to me, I felt it wouldn't be possible to meet that vision if writing entirely through Zalia's perspective from the beginning. And so, this random dude appears now, and then fades back out of existence after this post, as far as the "real" characters are concerned. So, without further adieu...)) Rebekah laughed. “Poor Axel.” “Pleasure to meet you all!” Matthew declared. He involuntarily looked Rebekah up and down. As far as he could see, there wasn’t anything incredibly special about her face, but her figure was definitely something to be proud of. His girlfriend, eh? Too bad, he thought. He decided not to make the comment out loud, because he realized he was probably skating on thin ice here as it was. Instead, he winked at Alex. “Thanks, man. I’m rather fond of old Jackie here myself. As for you,” he said, making a fake gun out of his fingers and pointing it at Callum. “You’d better watch what you say to my buddy. He doesn’t take too kindly to insults.” He grinned smugly and put his hand down. “It’s okay, though, I’ll tell you what I’m here for. I’m just looking for a safe haven for the night. Surely you won’t turn away a nice Inhabited man with a bunch of thugs after him?” “Thugs?” Rebekah echoed. Matthew scratched the back of his head. “I...kind of owe a lot of money. But I just need to spend one night with you, and I’ll be on my way--you’ll never hear from me again. In return...you’ll have the warm and fuzzy feelings of knowing that you helped a man who was...well, less guilty than the ones chasing him, let’s put it that way.” He could hear Jack groaning loudly. “I have got to teach you how to negotiate, mate.” Rebekah wasn’t sure what to think. She looked at Felix to see what he would say. ------------------------------------------------------------ Mariah smiled back at Joy. “I can’t wait. And don’t worry, I’m sure everything will be fine.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis laughed again. “Have I mentioned to you before that I like the way you think? Of course, I was looking forward to torturing Felix the way he did me, but if you think that it will cause him greater pain to die believing that his girlfriend’s faith in him has been shattered, then so be it. And I suppose it would be rather comical to watch Felix kill himself on my terms. Really, I don’t know how a man’s mind works when he’s in love with someone, except that he requires pleasure from her. But I’ll go with what you’re saying.” She followed Felix out the door and took his arm as the headed for the airplane. “You have no idea how excited I feel right now.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Jon Grayson, a tall, somewhat scrawny, and socially awkward young man with a lot of money and a careless sense of style, shuffled down the aisle of an outdoor flea market. He didn’t really care about any of the items for sale--if there was anything he didn’t need, it was more material possessions--but he secretly enjoyed the clamor of all the people around him. He observed them quietly, wondering what their lives were like, and wishing for a simpler, less pressured existence, like most of them probably had. Suddenly, he heard a woman crying out. Several heads turned, but he was the only one with a look of real concern on his face. “Help!” the voice pleaded. “That’s my grandmother’s necklace! Stop that monkey!” The next instant, a small monkey came into view, carrying an old-looking, very pretty necklace, and a ways behind him there was a woman chasing it, having a hard time keeping up with the monkey. Without thinking, Jon dashed after the monkey, jumping over various items and and chasing it out of the flea market, down a couple blocks, and finally into an alley. The monkey was in the far corner, giving Jon a frightened look, like a child who had been caught getting into the cookie jar. Jon approached it slowly, but to his surprise, it simply dropped the necklace and took off, leaping onto a dumpster and over one wall of the alley. Jon looked at the top of the wall where the monkey had made its exit, mystified, then shook his head and picked up the necklace. When he turned around, the woman was standing at the other end of the alleyway. Her face was flushed and she was panting, not heavily, but her breaths sounded light and cute and...well feminine. Her long, brown hair, which appeared just slightly awry, flowed down her back, thick and curly, and her face was beautiful. Jon swallowed and held up the necklace. “Um, I believe this belongs to you?” A dazzling smile spread across the woman’s face, and she ran to him and gently took the necklace from his hand. “Oh, thank-you!” she cried. “This necklace has been in my family forever, and my grandmother passed it down to me. I miss her so much, and this is all I have left of her. You have no idea how much this means to me!” She put her arms around his was and embraced him. She was petite, so her head only reached the middle of his chest. He prayed that she wouldn’t be able to hear how rapidly his heart was beating, or, if she could, that she would think it was only because he had been running just a moment ago. “You’re so amazing, I just don’t know how to thank you!” the woman finished as she pulled away. Jon swallowed again and smiled back down at her timidly. “Don’t mention it. I, uh, actually have to go now.” He walked around her as politely as he could and exited the alley, leaving her behind. He didn’t want to hang around long enough for her to see how red his face was getting. It was then that he realized how much of an idiot he was. He was leaving a beautiful girl...alone...in an alley. Even though it was midday, that was still an incredibly thoughtless and thing for anyone to do. And anyway, if he walked her out of the alley, maybe he could even build up the courage to ask for her phone number. He started to turn around. “Hey, what was your name? Do you want me to escort--” But when he looked back to where she had been, she was gone. Jon’s eyes went wide and he shook his head, wondering if he was going crazy. He looked all around, but there was no sign of her. He sighed. “I think I need some sleep.” He started walking home, head down, shoulders sagged, and hands in his pockets. Something felt a little off, but he attributed it to the disappointment he felt after having such a wonderful experience that turned out to be just a hallucination. Zalia had silently made her exit by jumping the high wall of the alley, and she ran a good distance before walking the rest of the way to her cozy little apartment, chuckling to herself a couple times. When she was finally home, she closed the door with a contented sigh and placed the cheap necklace on the table right beside the entryway. She then went to her living room, where the monkey was waiting directly in the center of the floor. He was holding the man’s wallet, having taken it while Zalia had the man in her embrace. “Why, thank-you, Jack,” she said, patting the monkey’s head and looking in the man’s wallet. “Wow, this one was quite a catch!” She sighed. “I feel kind of bad, though. That poor guy didn’t really look like he deserved to have his money taken from him today. But, hey, I gotta make a living somehow.” Her Inhabiter laughed inside her. “I must say, I had me doubts, but without me crew here, I’m glad to be Inhabitin’ a lady such as yerself. Ya got spirit and intelligence. Not to mention...yer charm and good looks, which make our job easy. Yes, I’m especially fond of the good looks...” “Okay, watch it, Barbossa,” Zalia warned aloud. “I’m well aware of my gifts, and I use them as necessary. I’m not so willing to share them with you. I think I’m gonna start covering my mirrors from now on. Geez, it’s bad enough that I have to close my eyes when I’m changing!” Barbossa grumbled something that Zalia couldn’t understand, and she sighed. “But I guess you’re not too terribly unbearable. After all, now that I’ve got you, my aim with the pistol has significantly improved. Now, I suppose we’ll decide what we should do with this little haul of ours...”

“Okay...” Rebekah replied with a nervous laugh. She hoped that Felix was at least half-joking about what he was saying. The fact that the idea of just killing someone they’d only met two seconds ago seemed to be coming to Felix’s mind so quickly made her feel a little uneasy. Maybe that guy really wasn’t to be trusted? She sighed and did as the guy had said, pretending he wasn’t there. Shortly, a couple men poked their heads over the fence. “You haven’t seen a crazy man with a pirate hat come through here, haven’t you?” one of the men asked. “He’s an extremely dangerous fugitive, and we’re gravely concerned that he may try to hurt somebody tonight. It’s crucial that we find him.” “...No, I haven’t seen anyone like that,” Rebekah responded, doing her best to look afraid. “Oh my gosh, please tell me you’ve got policemen posted on the ends of all of the streets!” The man simply grunted and started running in a different direction along with his companion, continuing to try and pursue the guy who was now in their pool. Rebekah went over to the guy and kicked at him lightly. The man popped up out of the water, gasping for air and looking up at the fence, making sure the coast was clear. “Thanks for that,” he said to Felix and Rebekah, rubbing the chlorine out of his eyes. “Sorry to crash your party like that--it was my Inhabiter’s idea. My name is Matthew Liams, and I’m Inhabited by the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. When he referred you ‘having people inside you,’ I guess he meant you were Inhabited as well?” ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis smiled darkly. “Almost...although I think it would add even a little more fun to the whole thing if Felix were to helplessly watch his little girlfriend suffering and dying right before his eyes. Then, of course, I would kill him even more slowly. I would love to maximize his despair as much as possible. Plus, making the girl suffer is just a little bonus in itself.” She put the strap of her bag over her shoulder, ready to depart.

Matthew couldn’t run like this forever. He had to do something...fast. “Wait wait wait, STOP!” Jack urged. What is it? Matthew asked his Inhabiter. You’re supposed to be helping me find a way out of this, not telling me to randomly stop! He stopped anyway, though, to hear his Inhabiter out. “On the other side of that fence! Those people, they have...people inside them!!” What?! What does that even-- “No time to explain, let me handle this!” With that, Jack took over Matthew’s body and jumped over the fence, landing in a pool that was occupied by four other people. He happened to land right between a young woman and a red-haired guy who seemed to be lunging at her. The smile on the girl’s face turned to total shock, and she started to yell, “Who the--” Jack placed his hand over her mouth and said, “I’m not here, darling. You’re Inhabited, right? Trust me, they’re after me! Just act like you never saw me, and tell me when they’re gone!” With that, he submerged himself and swam to the corner of the pool that was closest to the fence. He crouched down as low as he could and hoped the darkness would conceal him, and that he could hold his breath long enough. “He’s Inhabited,” Aqua remarked. “I’m not sure by whom, but I guess we can go ahead and trust him for now...” Rebekah blinked, wondering what in the world was going on here. She looked at Felix. “What do you think?” she asked quietly. “Do we trust him on this?” ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis laughed. “You’re joking, right? How the hell am I going to pull that off? The only way I’ll be able to get near him is with a knife at his throat...or if someone he cares about is in danger.”

Rebekah squealed and tried to splash at Felix as he came down on top of her. She held her breath in preparation of being pushed underwater. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis smiled and finished packing her things, then went in the direction Scott had gone. When she ended up in his room, she caught a glimpse of some of the unusual items he was packing. “What are those for?” she inquired.

Rebekah started swimming backwards a little nervously, looking at Felix warily. “...What?” she asked. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis’s own grin widened. “Well, it’s been a long day, so I’m hoping we’ll be able to get some sleep along the way, but I’m definitely ready to start heading there!” She reached up and kissed Scott’s cheek, then ran out of the room to start getting ready. She changed into her usual attire and packed a few things--extra clothes, as well as some of her special tools she may find use for in taking down those kids...especially Felix.

Once she was finished eating, Rebekah went upstairs and changed into her one-piece swimsuit. She felt extremely awkward and a little too exposed with it on, but then she reminded herself that most girls wore only small bikinis. She shuddered at the thought of wearing one herself. She grabbed a towel and walked downstairs and outside, shaking her head and laughing as she heard Felix shouting. She then put her feet in the pool and almost jerked them back out when she discovered the water was now warm, but then looked at Felix and realized the reason behind it. She smiled and slid the rest of the way in, swimming over to the others. “Felix, I don’t know if I can tell you this enough, but this is a really great house. It’s nice that you’ve got such awesome connections.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis was delighted when she noticed that Scott was letting her have most of the fun. The most he was doing was defending himself against some of the enraged inmates, but other than that, he wasn’t helping her with any of the killing...which made her very content. He seemed to understand what she was capable of, and didn’t see her as weak. She looked around happily at all the bodies on the floor surrounding them. She could hear just one more behind her... This guy had tried sneaking up on her, a very poor choice. He grabbed her arm and attempted to twist it behind her, at the same time reaching towards her face to grab her head and break her neck, but Alexis maneuvered smoothly out of his grasp, gave him a couple hard kicks that brought him to his knees, and slit his throat. She was panting as she stared down at the lifeless man, and then she grinned and approached Scott. “I must say, that was quite entertaining. You certainly know how to put on a good show. Did you happen to be involved in any theatre in a past life?” ------------------------------------------------------------ Mariah put her hand on Joy’s shoulder. “Joy, this is your family we’re talking about. If you want to visit them and get on better terms with them, then do that. It’s not selfish at all.” She looked down, a little embarrassed. “To be honest, I was kind of hoping to meet them myself...”

Rebekah smiled and squeezed Felix’s hand. Seeing as no one was really making a move to go first, she went ahead and filled her own plate. Everything was absolutely delicious. “Well, I think for a group of adventurers with Inhabiters, we sure know how to make a great dinner,” she remarked. “Come on, guys, you’d better eat before the food gets cold!” ------------------------------------------------------------ Something had been bugging Mariah for a while now; she didn’t know much about Joy’s family. And now they were going to be in the same area. She had to know, especially since Joy was so much a part of her life now. “Joy...why aren’t you very close to your family?” she asked quietly. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis smirked and threw off her blazer, then drew Larxene’s knives, her eyes gleaming. She threw lightning at the first row of oncoming inmates, then warped behind all of them and started slashing at them with her knives. She stabbed, slashed, warped, hurled lightning, and kicked the inmates to the ground, finishing them off one by one, laughing the entire time.

(Okay, everyone, finally introducing Matthew! A lot of what I've written here for his introduction was Not-with-a-whimper's idea. http://kh13.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/happy.png) Alexis got up to change as well. This time, she picked out a more formal outfit--black slacks and flats, a light blue camisole, and black blazer. She also put her hair up in a messy bun, adding a few cheery clips to it. She then entered the training room on Scott’s cue, smiling pleasantly at all the orange-suited men and greeting them. “It’s nice to meet all of you,” she said. “Unfortunately, I’m not great at delivering introductory speeches about myself, and I don’t really have anything terribly elaborate prepared for you tonight. But I think Scott here will forgive me for that. He knows that I’m more of a cut-to-the-chase type of person.” She gave Scott a quick glance, waiting for the go-ahead to slaughter. ------------------------------------------------------------ “I do believe I’ll have some lemonade if we’ve got any of that,” Rebekah replied to Alex. “What about you, Callum?” ------------------------------------------------------------ One shot. That was all Matthew had. If he couldn’t make this one, it was all over. Matthew looked at him straight between the eyes. Deep breath in, then out. “You sure you can do this, mate? You know, you could just walk away now,” his buddy Jack said. Too late. We’ve passed the point of no return here. It’s all or nothing now, Matthew responded. A fly landed on his forehead, but he refused to even twitch. He narrowed his eyes, took aim, and squeezed the trigger at the last possible moment... The tiny skeleton pirate target fell back, and congratulatory bells rang. The guy running this particular arcade game, a little younger than Matthew himself, came up and shook his hand vigorously. “Wow, I’ve only seen a handful of people hit that target, but I’ve never seen anyone hit it directly in the middle like that! That was amazing!” He went back behind the counter and produced a pirate hat, a low-scale replica of Captain Jack Sparrow’s leather hat in Pirates of the Caribbean. “Thanks, man,” Matthew replied, taking the hat and bowing. “I do tend to amaze people from time to time.” With that, he exited the amusement park, having had his fun for the day. “Well, not quite what I’m accustomed to, but I suppose it’ll have to do,” Jack remarked. I did what I could, my friend. As he walked, he soon sensed that he was being followed. Nothing terribly shocking there. He whirled around very suddenly, catching his follower off-guard so that the man didn’t have time to hide before Matthew caught sight of him. “What, do you want the hat? Get your own!” The man regained his composure and spoke smugly to Matthew, approaching him slowly. “That was a very impressive shot back there at the amusement park. You seem to be a great fit for the description of one gambler who owes quite a bit of money to my boss. But hey, I’ll tell you what: sign me a check for seven hundred grand right now, and I’ll lose any memory of having seen you. If not, well, I’ve got several friends that I can call to surround you, and you’ll be meeting with my boss in the next couple hours.” Matthew crossed his arms and bowed his head, as if thinking deeply about what the man was saying to him. He then looked up and replied, “Give me a few minutes alone to weigh those options.” With that, he leaped over someone’s backyard fence and started running as fast as he could, cutting through yards and dodging kids and dogs and grills. He could hear angry yelling not far behind him.

Alexis swam around in the waves for a good while. Of course, it was more challenging this way, but it felt great. She eventually emerged, breathless and exhilarated. She lay just on the edge of the pool, smiling and allowing the sun to dry her off. This was a different kind of fun to her. It had been a while since she had experienced it. She had forgotten how enjoyable it could be. Though, of course, still not nearly as enjoyable as her usual routine.

Alexis’s eyes lit up. “Waves,” she responded.

Rebekah smiled and stepped through the door. “Well, I can’t wait to taste some of that bread,” she said. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis got up and selected a string bikini from her room, changed into it, and dove into the pool. She performed a graceful butterfly stroke as she joined Scott on the 3-foot side. “Is there anything you don’t have here?” she asked with a smile.

Rebekah knelt by the pool and put her hand in the water, then shivered just a little at the thought of putting her entire body in there. But maybe she could get used to it if she sat in there for a few minutes. “Well, I’ll think about it,” she replied slowly. “How long do I have before a final decision must be reached?” ------------------------------------------------------------ “Oh, trust me, I could probably find a thousand reasons why those low-lifes wouldn’t deserve a place in your future empire. Sounds like fun to me. So, you enjoy watching me kill people, huh? How delightfully sick and twisted you are,” Alexis snickered.

Rebekah laughed. “You’re crazy. I mean, I know it’s fairly warm here, but don’t you think the water will be kind of cold by now? What is it with guys and jumping into cold water?” she wondered aloud, shaking her head. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis smirked. That wasn’t what she had been expecting to hear, but she liked it. “I’m pretty excited myself,” she replied, then started eating her own lunch. “Got anymore of those IRS guys for me?”

Rebekah glanced at the pool and half-smiled. It did look very pretty, especially as the light outside was fading. She then looked back at Felix, and spoke to him like a parent talking to a mischievous child. “I couldn’t help but notice that I got the room with the largest bed in this house. Did you happen to notice this? Or was it completely random? Because I think you and I both know that you and Callum are bigger than me, and therefore probably have more need of a king-sized bed than myself, and I would be willing to switch rooms with either one of you.” She place a hand on the top of Felix’s head and messed with his hair. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis entered the dining room shortly after Scott and selected her food. She didn’t know what to make of the smile he was giving her. It made her feel...uncomfortable. But she tried not to show any visible reaction on her face. She cleared her throat. “Um, is there something you’re trying to tell me?” she asked. Oh, no. That came out awkward. She was never awkward. Never. She was really tripping here.

Rebekah glanced at Callum and Alex, then started pulling Felix outside the kitchen. “Just out here,” she replied. ------------------------------------------------------------ “Alright, then,” Alexis replied. She felt fairly certain of what Scott meant by “eh whatever.” It was what every man seemed to expect of her. Of course, it was kind of the expectation that she herself set up for every powerful or influential man she met. She, sighed, shrugged, and stood up to head to the dining room.

Rebekah immediately grabbed the salad supplies and mixed the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, onions, and peperoncini together in a large bowl, topping it all off with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt, and parmesan cheese. The bread Felix was making smelled incredible, and she couldn’t wait for Callum’s spaghetti to be ready. Once the salad was done, she turned to Felix and tapped his shoulder. “Felix, I was wanting to ask you something...” she said quietly, her eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis’s mouth straightened into a line. “Just got a lot on my mind,” she replied, taking a seat on the opposite end of the couch. “Nice diamond, by the way,” she said, glancing at her ring again. “You’ve definitely got great taste. So Scott, would you happen to know where Felix and his merry band are right now? How much more training do we have to do before crushing their skulls?” ------------------------------------------------------------ Keilani sighed. She knew she shouldn’t be too impatient, but...she couldn’t help it. “So what kind of training will we do? And what else will we try with the χ-blade in order to get Callum and Troy’s hearts back, besides just destroying it?”

Rebekah looked down bashfully. “Well, more like library aide, but close enough,” she said with a smile. She then reached up and rubbed Felix’s head with her hand. “I bet Callum will be here soon. He’s bringing us McDonald’s, right? Haven’t had anything from there in a while.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Scott laughing in the other room. She found him in the living room and saw what he was watching. “Your work?” she asked, gazing at the television in awe.

I've only been at it for a few hours, but so far, it's definitely not surpassing Birth By Sleep for me. But still it's a great game.

(Guys, I swear I haven't forgotten about Matthew! I'll make a post about him probably this weekend.) Rebekah took Felix’s story in with a blank expression. She had no idea what to think. She slowly started to process how he had been beaten. She put her hand on his cheek with tender concern. Then, out of nowhere, a smile creeped up on her face, and she tried to hold it in, but she ended up bursting into laughter. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she exclaimed as she laughed. “I know it’s terrible for me to laugh, but...it’s so awesome that you’re willing to do that! In some ways, what you’re doing is more brave than most of the stuff we’ve been through with our Inhabiters. I just wish I could have seen you dancing like that! Minus the beating, of course. I bet if you tried breathing fire from the cow suit, those kids would back off.” Her laughter finally died down, and she put her arms around him. “But in all seriousness, I’m glad you’re okay.” She leaned her head against Felix’s chest and looked over at Alex, who was laying on the couch. “And how was your day?” she asked him. “Looks like you’re glad to be done with work.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis kept her composure just until Scott was out of the room, and hopefully out of earshot. Upon seeing that document and the box that contained the ring, all that he was asking her to do became very real to her. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened, and she put her hand on her forehead in shock. Her breaths became shallow and quick, and she leaned on the table for support. She opened the box and looked at the ring, which only made everything worse. I can’t just be tethered to someone like this for the rest of my life, she thought. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t!! “So don’t,” Larxene chimed in. “I keep telling you we should just get out of here, and you’re realizing just now how deep in you’ve gotten yourself?” Alexis scowled. She thought of all the reasons why she hadn’t listened to her Inhabiter...the promise of an insane amount of power...material possessions...and she could still be free to do whatever she wanted. Or whomever. Of course, that second part only mattered if she got bored. You know, I’m beginning to wonder why you haven’t actually done anything about this, Larxene. If you were so afraid for your own life, wouldn’t you have dragged me out of here a long time ago? I think you trust him about as much as I do. Which isn’t much, but it’s more than I’ve trusted just about anyone else. “...I’m not terribly interested in a tug-of-war of wills at this point,” Larxene responded with just a tiny bit less confidence than her normal tone. “Hmph,” Alexis said out loud. She stared at the things on the table once again. It was just a stupid piece of paper. And the ring would probably look good on her. She blocked out all her previous thoughts and only thought of the benefits, steeled herself, grabbed the nearby pen, and signed her name furiously. She then put on the ring and examined it more closely. It truly was beautiful...