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Wicked Game

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After that first volley, the men who turned all dropped their weapons. The only ones who had loaded guns were on the ground because they'd resisted. They had looked after the already drugged ones.

"Lock 'em up, boys." Charlie motioned to a few men who would begin to lock down the place, while the others went back to release the prisoners. With the confusion, Charlie was pretty sure that if Sam had killed the man guy there was no one else behind that door but she.

That same she who heard more shots fired, and was suddenly grateful that the door was as thick as it was. But she wasn't sure at the moment who was firing on who or why there were guns firing. but she found what she was looking for, and thank god for the internet, sent it to herself and Charlie. Just in case, Mister Boss over there had connections that would want to protect themselves.

And the banging started again, this time startling Sam after the few moments of silence. Looking up to make sure the door was still secure, she could see that that sword was starting to bend, and it wouldn't take much more to snap it. Damnit, she needed to reinforce it! Running back over to the wall of weapons, she pulled down another pole arm when she heard Rayner's voice calling her name. She knew that voice anywhere.

"I'm here!" she called out joyously. At the moment, she didn't care how he'd gotten there or how he knew, but oh god that was a sweet voice. She dropped the pole arm and began pulling at the sword. Due to the previous group trying to get inside, it had been bent pretty badly. She was rather surprised it hadn't simply snapped. But after a moment of struggle, she got it free and opened the door, taking only a moment for her eyes to find Rayner and fling herself into his arms. She had a large black eye, of course, but other than that, she was unharmed. Well, unharmed but naked.
 
Her voice came from inside, and he almost laughed, just a single burst of low sound, pounding on the door once before stopping, finally realizing exactly what he was doing. Completely oblivious to the bodies in the vicinity, resting half slumped against the door frame, either palm against it. His head was spinning, trying to hear what was going on inside as she fought with the barred door. It was one of the longest instances of ten seconds he had ever known.

The door started to move and he snapped upright, and started, half moving before it even cleared the path.

Celeste hit him and stopped him mid stride, and he wrapped her up in his arms without hesitating for even a second, making a choked sound- he wasn't entirely sure if it was a laugh or a sob- and lifted her up, making a quick spin, doorway, bullet holes, and blood spatter be damned. Hardly anything the rest was important at all, laying his head next to her and squeezing Sam in as tight to him as she'd get, finally letting his body sag, shoulders slumping as more tension than he cared to think about spilled over him, and with a sudden wave of dizziness, he couldn't help but start chuckling. And after a moment, of course, he noticed his chin was on bare skin.

If she could be bothered to the arduous task of prying herself away for a moment, Rayner would sweep off his coat in a practiced motion and lay it over either shoulder, like draping her in a blanket, before holding to her shoulders and pulling her close again, still chuckling as he kissed her quickly on her left cheek, followed by her right, and then the left again.

He'd forgotten about the audience, for a moment. Then again, the fact that he hadn't swept the room at shotgun point before grabbing her said something too.
 
"My god!" She was so happy. It was him. As he pulled her away, she struggled slightly but as she saw that it was just to remove his coat, she laughed and let him, not even caring about their audience. Once it was settled, she put both of her hands to his face. "I don't know how or why you're here, but dear god, I love you..." then using her hands to pull his down for a passionate kiss, not realizing that in that moment of eye connection, he could see the nicely livid bruise that was slowly spreading on her face from the gun butt.

Charlie meanwhile had moved passed the obviously happily reunited couple to move around the room along with the two men who weren't busy freeing innocents or tying up bad guys. "What the hell..." He saw the man shot, and the gun dropped beside him, along with the iron dog statue. She'd impacted his skull upon collision, killing him almost instantly, but had made sure of it with the followup shot. "Nice work, girlie..." He glanced at the men around him. "Let's see what we can find to turn over to the police..."

Then he gave a glance back to Rayner and Celeste. "Get her out of here, and make sure I don't see her back here for a good long while, boy. Take her to the Grand G, she'll know the passcode for the room." Basically, get her the fuck out of here, and get her better situated. Celeste wasn't paying him the least bit of attention, instead, she was just kissing Rayner for all she was worth. She'd never been so happy to see anyone in her life as him. Inside the room, Charlie came across a white scrap of fabric, just like a few of the other slaves had been dressed in, somehow he didn't think Celeste would be willing to wear that again.

"Go on, get..."
 
"-mmm!"

He still chuckled in his throat despite it, carrying the rumble on as she sealed up his lips and held on tight as a vice, and returned the favor for what he was worth. Which was less than he normally would have been satisfied with at present, but the exhaustion made it a little hard for him to notice just how much it was hindering him from might otherwise have gotten quite wild. Cel's efforts at present were about the only think keeping him from getting up in arms and casting about for why she was naked, and why she was bruised while he still rode the tail end of the adrenaline and emotional rollercoaster. He might have been jumping to conclusions otherwise, and he might have had to let her know very plainly that he was not above castrating a corpse if so on and so forth. Though maybe that would have served to have her laughing.

Rayner raised a hand helplessly at Charlie, as Celeste continued. He layed off the kiss for a moment and she made up the territory in her own effort in a flash like they were fighting a border war. He tried to slowly work her down, and when they finally managed to break it up, he only burst into more laughter as he turned her around and put an arm over her shoulder, dragging his feet as quickly as they were willing back out of the building.

...how he was going anywhere without his bike would start to cross his mind when they got outside.
 
Celeste put up a complaint about not touching every part of Rayner's body she could find, but with the firm grip on her shoulder she knew he was serious and stifled it until they were outside. Where she realized other than the car and a few bikes, there was no sign of transportation, hers or his. Which of course brought up the whole naked thing again. Turning to Rayner, she buried her head in his chest.

"God, I was so stupid! I'm never again doing a mission without having a gun or at least some kind of defense other than my fist. I'll have to plan the next one more carefully. I was just careless." Rambling on and on, about other missions, even as the car began to pull forward. Inside was the driver that Charlie had been talking to. It was an older gentlemen, with a kindly face who didn't look at Celeste's exposed body, not even once.

"Charlie just gave me a call. I'm supposed to escort you two to the Grand G?"
 
"Yeah,"

He found himself agreeing, though he was unable to be stern about it. He was trying the stern tone, but it was hard with the chuckles ever trying to cut in. Of course, the exhaustion made all of it so much harder, but he managed to stand up straight and not sound too silly as he put his hands over her shoulders and held her in close again, kissing the top of her head.

"-well. I'm just glad you're back safe."

He almost forgot to look up at the car until the man spoke, and his head popped up, disoriented for a moment of bleary eyed casting about before he came to the answer.

"Yeah, that's us. C'mon,"

He gently walked Cel with him to the car- though in truth the support on his weight from her helped a great deal, even for what little he put over her, holding the coat close even if the man was being polite about watching his eyes, and guided her into the back of the car. No sooner did he get settled and buckle his belt than the world spun again and a further wave of exhaustion spread over him, eyes losing focus entirely for a second as he tried to blink life back into his brain, without ideal success. It was hard to feel like you were walking a tight rope while sitting down, but he managed it, gently squeezing one of Celeste's hands before he let himself slump over into her, and fought to keep his eyes open. The downside, of course, was that the resting position made this all the harder.
 
For her part, Celeste simply clung to Rayner, not trusting anyone else without his say so. So when he made to move to the car, she went as well, not even recognizing the person behind the wheel, although she knew him well, along with his wife, his birthday and even his favorite color. So when he did collapse, she clung the tighter to him, making only a soft plea to their driver.

"Hurry, please..."Before focusing fully on Rayner. He looked horrible. Like he'd slept even less than she had in the just over two weeks since she'd seen him last. She at least, had collapsed after spending most of the day puking her guts up, and got some sleep that way, she was wondering if he'd had any sleep at all.

"Please be okay. Please, Heavenly Father. Thank you for letting me have him in my life. I'll be a good girl. I'll behave, just make sure he's okay...please." she pleaded with some unseen force that she hadn't truly worshiped in several years. The very fact she was praying revealed how important he was to her. Even her wording was more like an errant child, than a young composed woman. She held very tightly to him, tears streaming down her face as they drove through the town. Luckily, it wouldn't take long.

Pulling up to the Grand G, the valet opened their door and waited for them to get out. The hotel itself was truly grand, in an way that reminded you of an older, gentler time. It was large and grand, but looked just a little worn around the edges. At the reception desk, a young lady with perfect manners waited.

"Come on, Rayner...we're here..." she wasn't sure where here was yet, her focus was literally on the man she was clinging to, but she knew enough that it was the end of their ride.
 
Rayner slept soundly through the trip, short as it was, and didn't notice the tears or prayer, jouncing lightly against Celeste while his chest rose and fell in steady slow rhythm. It was when she stirred him that he came to, hand snapping up and grabbing her while he looked around bleary and confused for a moment, nodding and stepping out after her, stopping to remember to remove his sword as well (a hard thing to take a car ride with strapped to your back). He stumbled a touch and rubbed his eyes every few seconds, forcibly making himself move at first. But as short as the nap in the car had been, he seemed to make full use of it and then some. It wasn't hard to tell from the slight stiffness and bags still under his eyes that it was only a brief reprieve, even as focus came back to him and he even managed to smile to her, trying to not let it show too much that Celeste wasn't wearing anything under the coat. After all, rich people sometimes wore fancy long coats.... sorta like that, only nice instead of beat up and heavy, overtop of their clothes for going out, right?

Even so, he went through the customary conversations at the front as quickly as he could without just blowing off the well mannered folks running the place. Charlie had said... a room. In this place. Damn. He'd stayed at Celeste's place once, and the Heaven or Hell suites, but even so these places always got to him. Luxury far beyond what he'd ever known, or really earned.

Celeste was supposed to know the passcode. So, as soon as he figured out where they were going exactly he'd check with her quietly to help navigate to the room and open it up, still a touch oblivious to how Celeste was doing, though he gave her a concerned look as they stopped outside the room, finally with a touch of privacy, but for the moment just gave her another kiss on the cheek instead of questioning her.
 
"Ginger..." she smiled at the receptionist, and took the key from her. She was amazed that Rayner had gotten as far as he had, looking like he did. She'd have a thousand questions for him later. Right now, it was a matter of a bed, a bath and maybe some food for her, if she could keep it down. In the car, she'd managed to slip her arms through the coat, so it did at least look like she was wearing it properly over something. Despite the heat of the day.

"Please send a steak, some orange juice and some kind of greens up to the room in about an hour." she mentioned as she helped Rayner upstairs. Sliding the key through the lock, she opened the door to a large spacious luxury suite. In truth, they could hole up here as long as they needed to, simply having groceries delivered and the like. That was what this room was designed for after all. Charlie was wanting to make sure that no one could trace the incident back to her. In fact, if they left the room before Charlie had given the okay, they'd have a small swarm of security forcibly putting them back in it. It was as much a prison as a refuge. And until she saw the room and remembered, she'd forgotten all about it.

She helped Rayner to the bed, and went over to the kitchenette.Knowing Charlie it was already set up. He'd likely had this part of the plan for a while, for whoever the bait was. "Just stay there, I'll get you something to help..." but as she opened the fridge, and saw the food laid out with her favorite foods, she slapped a hand to her mouth and fled to the bathroom, quickly heaving up more stomach acid. She hadn't had anything to eat all day, since she'd left Barton Hours ago. But her stomach had enough time to recover its acid.

"I'll be..." another expulsion. What in the hell did she have, the flu or a plague. "...right out..." Oh god, what if she'd gotten Rayner sick too. Ugh...Laying her head against the toilet, she tried to relax, this was not going to help. Stress was bad for a weak stomach.
 
Now this was a big place.

Big as in big. And filled with all kinds of things that probably would have cost more to rent individually than he could have afforded at the end of a year. The fact that any place could even match the Hawk in luxury continued to astound him. Sure, you'd figure places he'd been, like the Brown estate, and other bazillionaire mansions and that kind of thing would be decked out to absolutely mind blowing extents with fashion, luxury, nick knacks, and all sorts of things that were so nice and out there that you wondered if enough people with the money for them actually existed to merit their invention. The fact that anyone would consider there to be a need to make places this nice to stay on the road just blew his mind.

Though he had the strength to make it to the room himself more than well enough, Celeste felt the need to help him out and, feeling a bit guilty, he went ahead and let her, sitting on the bed and half ready to try and pull her down next to him. Instead he let her go and relaxed, leaning himself up against the headboard, sitting mostly upright and took a moment to relax and went to the fridge to-

"Cel?"

Oh, no, what was going on was obvious.

"Ah."

He sat back a moment, feeling himself about ready to fall asleep, but decided it wasn't right to go just yet. She'd had a long day, he was sure she wouldn't mind passing out before too long, and he could worry about... all the more complicated things once they got up. For now, though, he just had to keep awake for her for a while. He didn't have much appetite at this point of exhaustion, so the food or caffeine failed to appeal to him, but-

Rayner sighed, stripping the long sleeved shirt he'd had, down to his muscle shirt underneath, followed by each of his gloves. He smacked atop each eye lightly a few times, and then put his thumb and forefinger to the skin atop his bicep and put his teeth firmly together. With one sharp twist of his wrist, the little pinch of pain shot up his shoulder and he blinked several times, popping off the bed and shaking himself off. Temporary measures. He didn't know much about morning sickness, but on a weak stomach usually one was good to go for... water, and some simple breads. He tried to collect the easiest stuff they had available, just a small sample, and poured a glass of water for her. For himself, he just sought out the highest caffeine thing he could find short of brewing coffee, and took just one quick shot of it.
 
It was big because it had to be that way. When you're going to be trapped in a room, it was good that it kept you from feeling as claustrophobic as possible. Same here. As for food, it was a nice, simple spread. No cavier and the like, but general purpose foods. That, wine and some type of energy drinks. After all, sometimes staying at this place required late night planning. So he'd find what he was after if he was willing to be wired for a bit longer.

But at the moment, Celeste could have cared less. She heard him puttering around the kitchen but wasn't sure what he was up to, only grateful that he seemed to be functioning better. Maybe some rest would do them both good. Slowly, so she didn't make herself dizzy, she got up and stripped the coat off her body. As nice as it was of a reminder that Rayner was there, it wasn't really all that comfortable to have against her skin. She was slightly surprised that he was up and about, but hadn't checked on her. Usually the only time he didn't notice her upset or sick was when he was too exhausted to stand.

When she was sure that she wasn't going to fall back down, she went over to the sink and washed her mouth out, the sluice of cold water waking her up out of a half automaton state. But the bending over, reminded her of that vile man's hands on her body, inspecting her as if she was some ...piece of property. Guh...

Wiping the spittle and the water from her face, she went over to the full jacuzzi spa bath. This wasn't a necessity by any means, this was just a way to unwind when one had been stressed out and overworked. And right now, she just needed to be clean. No way was Rayner up to the only other way she could think of, but for the moment, it would have to do. Running the water, she let it fill, thankful that it was quick and the water heater was effective. It barely took five minutes to fill, and Sam slipped into the enormous tub, letting the heat seep into her bones. It hadn't even been a few hours since her shower, but it felt good. And she began to relax, her eyes closing as the day's stresses wore at her mind and body before she had no choice but to retreat to the safety of dreams.
 
He waited for her a moment, but when Celeste didn't appear he explored the place a little, waiting for her to come back out like she'd said. It was hard to remain especially curious, so he made it a formal matter of being comfortable with his surroundings and what was going on instead, another way to force him to keep going. Of course, he heard the bath water then and could guess she wasn't coming back out after all.

He tried to wait- but he'd decided to stay awake for her, and after several bouts of almost falling asleep, he finally entered the bathroom quietly, the look of sheer exhaustion starting to settle over him again.

"Cel?"

He half whispered, just out of being tired, but was somehow unsurprised to find her asleep. She'd had a long day too, after all. With a sigh, he watcher her for a moment, before it finally occurred to him that it might be better not to leave her sleeping in the bathtub unattended to, especially such a large one. Chances are she was rested enough to wake up if she started to slip under, but even so. Without the heart- or energy- to wake her, or pick her up and move her, Rayner stiffly lifted one leg at a time, stripping down to his boxer briefs and the muscles shirt, and placed either foot into the jacuzzi. Sitting at the edge of it, he gently placed her head into his lap, brushing her hair as he leaned back across the floor and closed his eyes.

He didn't last long that way either.
 
Luckily for them both, the actual jacuzzi settings weren't on. For all intents and purposes it was just a very large bathtub. Even with only part of the body in, the steam generated by a true jacuzzi bath could eventually make them lose weight that neither one could afford to spare, plus it would be even more dangerous if one was pregnant. So again, a good thing that it was just a big tub.

Celeste dozed in and out of consciousness. It had been an exhausting day. Up since 6 puking her guts up, to drive two hours to G town, then spend an hour getting cut open, having things inserted into her body, then spending a few more hours with some white slaver psycho. Oh, she was doing great. But right now, she was content to just relax. And so she would until she realized the oddness of her surroundings. Mostly the fact that her head was on someone's lap. That woke her up, somewhat, and she began to rub at her eyes as she glared down at her stomach, wanting to beg it to behave. It apparently agreed with her, she was somewhat hungry, she realized as she looked at Rayner.

Chuckling softly, she got up slowly and made her way into the main room after grabbing the courtesy bathrobe that was supplied. Picking up the phone, she made a short discreet phone call which was answered promptly. They paid enough to have this room maintained throughout the year, and that made pleasing them a priority.

"He's in there." Grateful that he was in some kind of clothing, she watched as the two giant lummoxes came in. One of them, she knew, the other she didn't. But she still stayed and watched over them as they carefully lifted Rayner out of the tub and brought him to the large canopy bed that was part of the main bedroom. "Thanks guys. Tell them to give you a $50 out of our account, each." Both of them left grinning like fools. They were paid well here, but a free fifty for five minutes work they could easily handle.

"Yes, ma'am. Just let us know if you need anything."

She waved them off, then locked the doors behind him. Moving over to the bed, she thought of how sweet it was for him to have just come in there like that and keep her company. He really was a darling man, and at the moment she was having all sorts of difficulties remembering that she was pissed at him. "I don't deserve you..." she whispered as she looked down on him as she stripped off her own robe, and curled up beside him, intent on sleep. No alarm and as far as she was concerned, they were going to sleep till they woke up.
 
Though Rayner was the one who began his uninterrupted sleep first, chances were he'd still be last to wake. Celeste had a long day behind her. He had a long two weeks that had steadily waged a war of attrition on his sleep and state and worn him down. It was the kind of thing Rayner had become good at dealing with because he'd had to far more often than one should have to, but even that usually served him more to keep him functioning in less than ideal conditions for short bursts of time, to not wear out before he'd done what had to be. Simply living on too little sleep day after day was another matter entirely, and his body and mind took to the rest like a drying fish to the water.

It'd be late into the morning, if not into the afternoon, by the time he came to. Normally, when not working on exhaustively little sleep he managed to wake fairly quickly. It was always a useful thing to be able to do when you were had to sleep in potentially risky places now and again. But after that much sleep, he stirred slowly first, making an objecting sound to the light seeping through the curtains, even though it had long since been there, and then stirred to raise his arm against it, peeking through slits at the light. Slowly it dawned on him that he was waking up, from a dreamless sleep. Recalling where he was and why took longer, as he rubbed sand from his eyes and slowly clenches his muscles and let them go, rousing his body from an overly long rest with him. Removing his arm, he let red, but no longer blood shot, eyes hang on the ceiling for a moment.

"...I don't even remember the last time I slept that well."

Or that long, or how he got to the bed from the bath tub for that matter.

That only left him to find Celeste. Which went much more nicely if she was still with him, or climbing back into bed by that point, so he could give her a gentle squeeze and a little kiss.

This was a nice way to wake up, for a change.
 
Well, he'd get most of his wish. Celeste had indeed woken up before him. She couldn't get rid of her internal alarm clock if she'd tried. So she'd woken at 6am, and had spent an hour or so cuddling with his unconscious body before her own body had felt the need to move. And so she'd gotten up, only to promptly to run to the bathroom yet again. It was after finishing that nasty business, that she took a proper shower and check on him. Still out cold. Chuckling at his silliness, she made another phone call, this time placing an order for some clothing to be delivered later this afternoon.

...and he still wasn't awake. Since this was where Charlie had sent them, she knew they wouldn't be allowed outside of the room for a few days, so she had to figure a way to entertain herself. First idea was the TV, but looking over at Rayner, she didn't want to disturb him. So she glanced about and decided to cook him breakfast in bed. It would work as an apology for her anger, and he probably needed some food in his system from the way he looked.

So she puttered about the kitchen, and was bringing over eggs, bacon, some hashbrowns and some mini muffins, along with the orange juice on a bed tray just as he was waking up. "Hey cowboy..." she was still only wearing the suit mother nature had given her, but she came bearing offerings of food and liquid.

"About time you woke up.." She set the tray down, and sat down beside him. The actual amount of effort she'd put into breakfast would remain unknown, but she'd had to make three more trips to the bathroom during the process, which then meant washing her mouth out again and returning. Luckily, nothing had been burned, and after some dry toast, she was feeling a bit more human herself. She leaned down and kissed him even as his arms wrapped around her, and she teased him.

"I'm not breakfast, silly..."
 
"Huhmmh,"

He grinned, leaving her the single chuckle sound as he leaned his head to one side. His mind was still coming to speed, but he still managed a "-but you look so tasty-" before he'd interrupted himself. Two sets of pearly whites, chomping down on a bit of Celeste's ear, and he'd run his tongue along the edge and back, before letting her go. If she moved back to try and give him the food he'd sit right up and try to get his bearings first. Of course, he wouldn't complain if she delayed him a moment further on that.

He looked at the breakfast despite himself- because as much as he loved to let his eyes linger all about her, eating her would be quite a bit less filling than the sort of eating the tray would provide, and as predicted his stomach was throwing a riot now that his body was up to pace on rest again, and the prospect of shutting it up and putting some real substance in his gut was very appealing. He kissed her again before pulling the thing over- stopping to try and be careful of that drink- and started to dig in.

If there was any lacking of quality he didn't notice it. At this point the only lack he would have noticed was quantity.

He piled and shoveled it on in like a starving man, the only way he could conceive to express his gratitude to Celeste that wouldn't require him to slow down on the eating.
 
There was a sound of delighted laughter from her as she watched him, rubbing her now tender ear with one hand. It was a good thing she'd cooked plenty, and even better that she was a decent cook when she had proper ingredients. She'd never be Le Cordon Bleu like her grandmother, but she did well enough with the basics. Leaning back, she just watched him eat, grateful that her stomach wasn't doing flip flops any more.

"Don't eat too quickly or you'll make yourself sick...", she teased even as she got up to refill his glass or bring more food as he needed it. She'd made enough to feed a small army. She watched for a bit longer, still wondering about how he'd gotten there, and why he was in the shape that he was in. After a while, she finally decided to broach the question.

"You look like you've been through a month in Frostchild at full crisis, cowboy...why?" Fairchild, of course was where they'd both been under prolonged pressure and stress, but it had only been a few days. And yet, she thought he looked like he'd been there a month said something for how worn he looked. Especially since it had just been over two weeks since she saw him and he looked fine.

"For that matter, how'd you end up with Charlie. Hell, how'd you know about the mission in the first place?" Once the questions started, they just flowed like a river from her mouth. "Not that I'm complaining, but I don't understand. That's one part of my life that I keep separate. Just like I keep whatever it is we have separate." She wasn't really demanding the answers immediately, but she wanted to let him know they were there, and she did want them. But she'd let him decide how to answer them at his own pace. He was too worn out for her to do otherwise.
 
He enjoyed the quiet time, chuckling as she warned him. Rayner let himself take it easy- just to lean against her lightly, scarfing the food. He did slow down as he went, though that wasn't actually because of her request so much as because he started to curb the sharpness of his hunger, and decided to take his time to enjoy the moment. Seconds- and a smaller set of thirds. Rayner was no army, but he could eat, and he had some missed meals to make up for. He had no idea why she was spoiling him so, cooking it all without asking for any help, bringing everything to him in bed, practically fawning over him. And he'd come expecting her to be angry about him showing up, and holding a grudge about the the thing with Rafe still.

It was a nice chance to pause, but he supposed he couldn't have expected it to last. When she asked, he frowned, and finished slowly, letting himself lean into her and slowly chew down what he had before swallowing.

"That's... a lot of questions."

He sighed and thought about it all. It was a lot to go over. A lot he wasn't sure he wanted to talk about at all. For Celeste, he never could quite be sure when something like this would become a minefield. And he wasn't going to have her running away again. Maybe she had a sense of caution after this event but... could he really watch her run off looking for a way to take out her frustration again?

Not really. And tying her down wasn't really a very good solution. Not a very permanent one at least.

"The beginning I guess," he sighed, thinking about it, and wrapped an arm around her without thinking, pulling her closer.

"I've just... well, you know. How I can't sleep right sometimes."

Celeste would know about the nightmares- they woke him up often enough, even when she was there. He would have kept her in the dark about the nature of them as much as he could, since they started to get profound, become more than just a stage. But she'd know well enough that he woke up sweating and panicked at times, or just feeling out of sorts and sick to his stomach, and he'd given her a run over of what he'd been through once or twice. She almost certainly had suspicions... but finding out what they were and letting her know what really tore him from his sleep he wasn't sure he wanted to talk about just yet.

It wasn't really something he ever cared to talk about.

"Well, past two weeks I'd been waking up like that more and more. When I could sleep. It wasn't really easy, with that episode, and then suddenly you vanish and..." he made a face, but squeezed, settling her firmly against him in a 'not getting away' sort of fashion. "I was worried about you, all silent, and, well... y'know. Made it hard to sleep."

He sighed, and glared at the corner for a moment, puffing pout his frustration. It had been rather frustrating after all. The fact that it was hard to even talk about that stuff made it harder, and if she went and felt guilty about him not getting sleep in part because of her... words were hard.

So he just kissed her softly on the lips, giving her a little breathing room before continuing. The next thing... well, that...

"Y'know... I've kinda been thinking for a bit, about that. What we've got."

He made the frustrated face again, but after a few failed grasps for words he just smiled and snorted a little laugh.

"Well. Wanted to talk to you 'bout if maybe you'd like to... I'unno, make it a little easier to define?"


...you'd think after the amount of time you'd spent in bed with a woman, after wrestling werewolves, dying and coming back, almost literally staring into the eye of oblivion, and having a punch out with a god, you could ask a girl to go steady without feeling like you were back in highschool again.

Never such luck.
 
"The dreams...oh." It kinda made sense then, at least in her head why Rayner could not like Rafe. "Is that why you hit Rafe?" Not that without knowing what was going on in her head would it be possible for the two sentences to make sense. But she again let him go through what he wanted to say without pushing him too hard for the answers she wanted. She reached over and gave him a small kiss to let him know she was over it, mostly. To her mind, it made sense. Why Rafe had hit Rayner back was another matter for another day, when she got that god of dreams by himself.

But as Rayner continued, Celeste felt a sense of creeping guilt slip over her. That had been her fault. She knew he had bad dreams, but her being gone had made them worse. She felt horrible. And then he'd gone and come after her anyways. Wrapping her arms around him, she hugged him tightly as if to apologize since her mouth wasn't quite working right now in a way that she'd like. She'd been really horrible, but a tiny perverse part of her was kinda happy that she wasn't the only one who'd been a bit miserable. For the moment, she found she couldn't look him in the eyes. What if he knew that some of his potentially worse fears about her had almost happened back there with the slavers? He'd lock her up and lose the key.

"That...?" She was confused as to what he meant until he explained. She backed away slightly, looking at him as if he'd grown a third eye.

"I thought the point of our...relationship or whatever was to keep things simple and uncomplicated. No strings attached. Yes, I love you. But that doesn't mean we have to change what we have. " That, and there was that deep down fear that if she let herself get really attached, she'd be abandoned again just like....her brow knitted. There had been someone, hadn't there. The feeling of abandonment was there, but she couldn't put a face to it. But she kept trying, until she had to stop or give herself a blinding headache.

"I'm content with what we have..." It was not just her fear speaking though, she'd given herself a promise when they'd first agreed to all this that she wouldn't do anything to tie him down or to her. She'd take what he gave, and hope that he'd trust her enough eventually to open up. She wasn't sure that a total flip flop of their relationship would make it any easier for her to take.
 
"I..."

Oh. Why he'd hit Rafe. That was... that was very complicated. Among other things he couldn't really remember 100% why aside from that he'd been caught up and angry. And he really could not seem to like the guy, even for Celeste. But it had a lot to do with her memories and Danielle and... it was something he needed to tell her, needed to bring back. But now really wasn't the time. That would likely have to come once they were more settled, once a number of things had been worked out- though her not remembering yet did surprise him. He'd thought it would be back by now.

"Because of... uh, not quite."

But he didn't really want to think about that so much. The rest was more important. He made sure to give her a good squeeze back, and a little kiss, but he had to continue on and all that. It was her reaction afterward that got to him. Like a little tiny bullet through the chest.

He had graduated highschool. Sure, he'd only just barely been around long enough to do that, but still. It wasn't supposed to be like that afterward. Rayner's face twisted in a sour expression as he took in what she said and thought about what they'd been doing, and put together with it the whole talk they'd had way back when. He didn't remember everything he'd said, not by a long shot. His memory was decent, not photographic. The nuances of the conversation were lost on him, but he remembered well more than enough to know where she was going and just what he'd been thinking back at the time. Shoving off the bold of disappointment and the accompanying nuances of the sense of rejection he gathered himself. What was left was mostly frustration.

"Cel, I..." he twisted his mouth in frustration, staring blankly down at the space between them. Perhaps one of the few time he'd be seen staring at her breasts and not even thinking about them a little. He just had to be up front. She was a big girl, she didn't need him to tell her all about how she had to say what she wanted for him to know.

"The point of us was that I was scared."

He made himself put that out there quickly, boldly snapping out the words before he changed his mind. Rayner would be the very first one to call himself a coward. But he didn't like actually admitting to being afraid of any given thing, or admitting when he was scared. Partly typical machismo of course, but a part of it had to be rooted in the natural unease everyone approached subjects of fear with, and his need to feel in control. Between the Knight, and his own problems after, Owle and Tiera, well. It was no surprise that he didn't like to let people too close to knowing what he was ever thinking anymore. He'd been much more open once. Before he'd been helpless in his own head for months, and gone and shot down two people trusting him with everything they had in the span of less than a single month, without ever thinking he might wind up harming one of them. The world was a much different place once every shadow was waiting to manipulate you or take away your will and render you a helpless whimpering pile, fought through show of strength and hiding every weakness. It was a very different place when you couldn't trust, above any thing else, yourself.

And right on the tail end of that, and thinking he'd been either on the road to possession again, or insanity, he'd run into Celeste out near Barthavos.

"I..." much less sharply, "I was scared. I'd just had some of the biggest fuck ups of my life, and other people were paying the price. People I cared about. I was having dreams of someone else's memories- not the first time it happened- and I was terrified I was going to wind up a puppet on someone's strings again. Or maybe just insane. All the while I was picking fights with things way bigger than me with no idea what I was getting into, keeping up with Athan and Fah."

It was hard to explain this part he twisted carefully, trying to get it together.

"Everything was falling apart, and the harder I tried to do right by folks the more things crumbled, or I hurt them. It's why I left Owle. I was dragging her down with me, and things were confused between us. I'd already cut ties with everyone else I knew by that point, I was just looking to do some good before I hit rock bottom without costing anyone else. The point was to not let anyone else rely on me, or get attached. So when you asked me where you were, I had all of that looming over my shoulder. I couldn't go to spare everyone else just to ruin you. It's... been a very long two years since then."

He blew out a puff of air and let his face fall. He'd lost a lot of the fire. He'd been frustrated, and using that had been the only thing making him rush into his own thoughts and fears before he had second thoughts and dropped it. This was important enough to keep going though.

"I've had a lot of time and help getting over my issues with myself."

He had trouble meeting her eyes, so he worked himself up to it slowly, and firmly took a hold of one of her hands. After all, she'd done a great deal of that help. A certain old Vagrant had actually done quite a bit as well. That, and time. Time could work wonders.

"I don't really get the sense I'm riding a one way train to hell anymore. I'm not as afraid anymore and... well, you know. Even if I was, I know I'm sort of attached anyway."

He couldn't be blamed for the uncertain, cheesy smile he gave her as he looked up to meet her eyes, that she must have though so out of place on him. He had no idea what was on his face or real control over it at the moment. He wasn't "Kael" right now. He was every ounce that he could manage the boy grown too fast that hid behind that mask. There was something to say for that, wearing the mask of the one that scarred you, destroyed you most thoroughly, becoming what you hated, but this wasn't the place.

"I know I probably didn't make much sense in that whole mess but... that... that's my spiel. I'm not asking you to marry me or anything, but... this is what I want now. It feels right. That's all."

He chuckled, a sound that was sheer nervousness, not the devil-may-care thrill thrown onto whatever he was feeling it so often was, and for a minute, he felt a lot younger, more vulnerable and natural sitting there, as much as he never thought about the mask he wore. Almost like he was back three years, or was it four? Far back in the past, the kid who'd run from home, scared of something strange happening to him but determined to face it, laying next to Sam for what was the first time, and the hundredth, all in one.

"'s all."
 
She looked at the hand wrapped around hers, and frowned. He'd spoken of fear, but he wasn't the only one scared. Celeste was scared to. Of losing someone important to her. But he was also the bravest person she could think of. No matter his fears, he faced them. Couldn't she do the same.

"I..." It's funny, at several points in their time together if he'd said something about this, she'd have said yes and just pounced him. But there was just this hesitation. Did she want to be with him? Yes, of course. But did she trust herself with him? That was a question she wasn't sure about. Just like him, she had a lot of secrets.

"Okay." She decided to just simply agree. Even if things weren't completely clear, she could handle this. "But what exactly changes other than that we have a name for our relationship?" That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. She needed to know the rules, so she'd know what was expected.
 
He blinked, for a moment, left uncertain.

And then Rayner laughed, full and genuine, lifting her hand up and kissing as he tried not to crack up too hard. She was probably terribly confused by it, poor thing. But that was just Celeste, for you- business woman through and through, when she needed something to fall back on. She might not even have noticed, but it was all he heard, establishing the terms of their contract, the rules of engagement. God, was she difficult, in a funny, funny way. And he loved her for it.

"I wouldn't want to change too much, but," he chuckled and sat up straight against the pillows and headboard, eyes bright while he took a thoughtful moment.

"...y'know, I've never really stopped to think about what kind of official rules a relationship would have before." The darnedest thing, how things you took for granted escaped you like that. What was a relationship? "And I guess... I'd like to be able to keep in contact a bit more. Try and work on... well, being open, and close, I guess."

Strangeness of the wordplay on paper aside.

"And we're exclusive, sexually." Though after a moment, a teasing grin crept in- an impish look she'd know quite well, teasing her all in good fun. "Unless we're both interested in bringing another person in. Mei Lee, y'know, said the damnedest thing about a threesome..."
 
She was discomforted; after all when businesswoman mode turned on, she pushed emotions out for the most part so the sudden affection and outburst startled her, but she pulled everything back into place. "Contact..." Which likely meant checking with him before doing anything that could be even remotely considered stupid. She could deal with that, probably. "Okay..." But it was the second part that got to her.

She blinked and looked at him, had he really--She knew men had fantasies about that but---he sounded almost---"Okay, I've been curious to try something like that myself." she looked up at him and smiled that mischievous little grin of hers. "But Mei Lee's husband wouldn't approve, so we'll have to find some other female." Despite what a lot of people might think, just because she was interested in the idea of a threesome didn't mean she was interested in the idea of two men. That was taking things just a bit too far.

"Wait...when did you talk to Mei Lee?"
 
He was a touch uncertain about what other rules he should be adding and so forth, even as he continued, letting her think it over. He wasn't sure what was going on in her head, but a part of him was just lit up that she'd said okay still, and had fun watching her get all disoriented. It was amusing and sweet, all at once, as much as the business woman wasn't his favorite side of her. It made for fun appearances, but the main downer was her big tendency to shut out all the other facets of Samantha Celeste Browning when she went that route.

What got him was what came next though.

So much the same.

"Oka- okay?" he blinked, entirely taken aback and astounded for a moment. She sounded serious. She had just taken him seriously? She'd always teased him back when he'd mentioned that in the past. It was mostly a joke, and she was always ignoring it or laughing with him. But she was... another woman... if it had been a manga page, he would have been several kinds of animated in the thought panels that sane words could not describe. "Guess we will." He grinned back, still confused. That was... how did you even take that? Hell yes it was exciting, but he'd just finally made something official bout him and Celeste and now she was...

Mind was blown.

But no sooner was he ready to start laughing than a kick of harsh reality came in. That's what he'd been forgetting about.

He blinked, and his face flattened, nodding to Celeste.

"Mei Lee showed up at my place yesterday. She gave me the location and Charlie's name- asked me to go and stop you from doing anything too rash."

Fine job he'd done of that. But that was just a lead up. The big gut wrenching part was what came next.

"Actually-"

And there came a knock at the door.

Rayner paused mid word and blinked, cautiously looking from it back to Celeste. He didn't know that there were many men left to find them from the gang, not that they'd seemed organized enough for it, the slavers, or armed or clever enough. But all the same, he thought back, and didn't recall any mention of Charlie or anyone coming by.

"You expecting anyone?"
 
Now the look of confusion on his face was completely worth the effort of keeping her own face straight. She leaned forward to kiss him gently before waiting for the rest of the explanation. About Mei Lee mostly. But as he began, a knock sounded at the door. Looking at the clock, she realized what time it was.

"Actually, I am. I ordered me and you some new clothing. I hope you don't mind, but knowing Charlie we're going to be in here for a few days and as tempting as it is to strut around naked, clothing is a nice change of pace." It was a slow shift from business woman Celeste to playful Celeste, but she was getting there.

"You stay there, I'll get it." And she disappeared, giving him a nice back view of her tattooless backside. She grabbed the bathrobe again, as the door knocked again.

"Come on, princess. I don't have all day.." Celeste was already walking to the door, but the phrase caught her short. Only one person, aside from Charlie called her princess. Opening the door, she looked down, her confusion complete as she looked at her former employer.

"Do I even want to know how you found out I was here, Tell?"

"No, you don't. But I'll tell you anyways, Charlie told me but made me promise something for it."

"What'd he make you promise?"

"You'll find out later, for now, help me get these clothes in." And a moment or two later, a luggage cart came in, with several clothes hanging off the hangers. Pulling them in, Rayner would get a full view of the woman who was apparently familiar with his now girlfriend.

Very familiar, he'd realize as once her burdens were dropped, the tiny multicolored haired woman reached up and pulled Celeste down for a passionate kiss. She was not conservatively dressed either. Her blue, black and white hair was tied back into a ponytail but that was about the only thing normal about her appearance. She had tribal looking tattoos going across her collarbone that wasn't hidden at all by the tiny little cami shirt she wore that just barely covered her stomach. She had jeans that she filled out rather well too. All and all, she looked like a tiny perfect little sex doll. Which likely wouldn't be too much of a balm to Rayner's state of mind given the topic of conversation just then. It took a moment for Tellus to pull away, it was even more surprising that Celeste didn't resist at all, and when the kiss was finished, Celeste just blushed before realizing Rayner was still in the room.

"Uhm...Tellus..." she blinked, still trying to clear her mind. It was hard dealing with a woman who'd had both a incubus and a demoness who might as well been a succubus for lovers. There was so much different about her dear friend anymore that it left her rather jumbled inside.

"This is Kael....my..." Might as well get it out. "...boyfriend..."

Tellus turned slowly, her eyes as green as Celeste's as she looked over at Rayner. Where Celeste's eyes seemed to be filled with the weight of the word, Tellus seemed to hold the knowledge of the world there.

"You still don't share, do you Cel...? Shame, he's cute..."

"Uhm..." At that comment, Celeste was completely flummoxed. At that, she simply looked at Rayner. They had mentioned it, and this was one female that Celeste had been willing. But she wondered what he'd say if the actual possibility presented itself. "I think he has a say in that, Tell..."

And that got an interesting reaction out of Tellus. She cocked her head and looked up at Celeste. "Whoa...", and glanced back at Rayner. So he had two pairs of crystal green eyes looking at him, and waiting.

Celeste was starting to perk up.

Sex she could handle.
 
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