Inner Mind

[Suzuha]

A half formed presence -- mostly just eyes, ears and mouth, like the Cheshire Cat but, y'know, less catty -- settles near the chair she's been snaffling, wondering if he's in. She looks left, looks right, with a hopeful sort of expression.

 

[Erlind]

I sneak out of the shadows from behind the bar I found earlier. Strange its stayed here, not much seems to remain static here really besides maybe the fire. And something else too. There is a chair that seems to have been claimed and remained, currently occupied by little more than eyes, lips and teeth.

"Suzuha, how are you? Sorry I haven't been in and I'm slowly working on a response. I had an idea and its been taking some work to get it halfway right."

I walk over and sit on the arm of the chair she is halfway occupying.

 

[Suzuha]

She grins and practically pops into full presence -- again, rather like the aforementioned cat -- flopping into "her" chair. She never seems to quite dress for the occasion; pajamas seem to be the order of the evening, if such temporal references really make any sense in this place. She shuffles the previously cast off blanket out from under her and throws it over her legs.

"I'm okay. Been a bit of a weird patch where I've got a bunch of notes out to a bunch of people -- not just here, mind -- but every seems to be out and about at the moment and not replying to me at five seconds notice. Highly unreasonable, I tell you."

She sticks her tongue out at the world in general, and probably at herself too. That'll be that, then.

"Anyway, don't fret on the response. I'll always say it's better to have something that feels good than something quick and awkward. Goes for many things, I think.

She looks up at him, inspecting. "How're you doing? Getting enough sleep?" Like she's his mother... really. She rolls her eyes at herself.

 

[Erlind]

I chuckle, I can't help it.

"I get enough sleep when I need it anyway. Worried I'm not well rested enough?"

My question is posed with a hint of mischief. Its strange that she's become so at home here, but not upsetting at all. Sometimes I don't feel as relaxed here as she seems to be. I envy it. I keep my seat on the arm of her chair now that she's here in full, but I am careful to leave her space.

 

[Suzuha]

She pulls a face, the slightly cute wrinkly nose one that means that she knows he's up to something but she's not entirely sure what.

"Fine," she declares, "well rested enough for what, hmm?"

For no apparent reason, a term used frequently in anime springs to mind: tsundere. It wasn't a word she was looking for, or even wanting particularly, but there it is hanging in mid consciousness, right in the verbal pathways, all ready to slip out without permission. She wrestles the word to the floor, figuratively speaking, but it's pretty hard to keep that sort of internal "finesse" from displaying.

 

[Erlind]

I shrug noncommittally before answering her, "Oh for anything I might want to do."

I rest an arm across the top of the chair and use it to lean closer in while keeping my perch. I keep a centered gaze on her. Something is definitely on her mind, keeping her from keeping the decorum she's trying to portray completely intact.

"Something on your mind, Suzuha? I'd hate to think I was causing problems."

 

[Suzuha]

"On my mind?" She twirls her finger in her hair, fidgety but not uncomfortable. "Yeah, I guess. Many things. It's a complicated ol' place my mind and it doesn't always tell me what it's up to."

She cocks her head at him, "But no, you're not causing problems."

"I think," she begins, then breaks off. She tries again, "I do think that I wandered this way looking for something but, like I say, it's been an odd day or three and I guess I feel a little out of sorts."

She snorts, "So clearly the thing to do was come and drop in on you, 'cause you need a randomly confusing girl turning up like that, oh yes you do."

"I guess I'm looking to play," she tells him, catching his eyes, "but I can't quite come to a conclusion on exactly what that means for me just now. Not very helpful, I realise..."

 

[Erlind]

"The visit of a randomly confused girl is important now and again," I admit intentionally twisting the words a little bit. I slip into the chair next to her. There is enough room for us both, but it forces us pretty close together.

"Well, I have Scrabble, Clue, and a deck of playing cards around here somewhere. There's only fifty one cards in it, but its good for solitaire." Since she's not sure why she's here I decide not to push anything, but that doesn't have to stop me from being a little playful.

 

[Suzuha]

"Scrabble", she chuckles, "I have a quick funny story about that."

"So there I was on a flight somewhere. It might have been Tenerife." She ponders just a second, "I forget exactly and it's not terribly important. Anyway, I was on this flight with a friend of mine and our families. I don't actually think we'd expected to see each other, but there we were. After some seat swapping, I was sat next to my friend and we were playing scrabble on one of those magnetic travel boards. I've never been any good at scrabble so we ended up with quite simple words. I seem to remember that there was a handy T on the board and I had an S, another T and an I."

She pauses and glances at him to make sure she's not just raving, but she thinks this should all make sense so far. "Understand that we were maybe seven years old for this next bit, and entirely innocent. Seeing my opportunity and thinking solely of the bird, I figured I could get away with TITS. Sure enough, score for me and my knowledge of common garden avians. An air hostess came by, went off to get another air hostess, and they both came over and giggled at our board. At the time, I swear I didn't understand the problem but the giggling stuck with me and I remembered it years later when I realised what they were giggling about. Seems kinda silly, but I haven't really played scrabble ever since."

She looks all rueful, then shrugs. "Still, I think you knew that I meant the other kind of games." As he's gotten all close, she pokes him in the ribs. Not (too) painfully, of course, but just so he knows she's no pushover. "And I think you knew that when you scooted in here too, el cheekio!" She's pretty slender, so it's not a huge squeeze, but she doesn't feel inclined to flee to the edge of the available space. She gives him a little grin.

"No, it's not the kind of games, I guess. It's my role. Y'know, top, bottom, that sort of thing. I get all fractious about it, sometimes. I like the top bit, and I think it's a good place for Seren, but I like the bottom bit too." She considers, "And maybe it's just that I'm feeling a bit that way inclined just now."

 

[Erlind]

I listen intently to her story and only grin at her when she gently jabs me in the ribs. I'm surprised to hear how well traveled she is and smirk about her word choice in a game so long ago. When she finishes her story and makes her admission I nod.

"Nothing wrong with different desires. Nothing wrong with needing something." Dark reassurances whispered to her as my playful attitude subtly shifts. I catch a slender wrist in my hand and firmly plant it against the back of the chair before suddenly taking a rough kiss from her. Hunger wells up that I hadn't realized was there.

"So tell me, Suzuha, just what you came for. I want to hear it." My voice gains an edge of roughness as a demand is made instead of a question.

 

[Suzuha]

Her lips are soft and warm and wet, though she cannot help the quick gasp as he presses against her, keeps her hand at bay. She does not fight, though she does not entirely melt either.

A little colour dusts pale cheeks but her mouth is caught in shy smile, somewhere between coquette and bashful, perhaps both at once. "Well," she admits, a little over a whisper to keep it just between them, "it's surprisingly hard to say, but, well, I've been wanting to be tied up for a while. More cuffed, really." The colour deepens, but she keeps her nerve, "And, well... well, I've been wanting a game that had me all restrained and naked and teased and taken. But it seemed all a bit, y'know, sudden, see?"

She hesitates, then asks the important question, "You might want that too, maybe?" She bites her lip when she really wants to know the answer to a question. It's an impatience, probably, but she just can't help it.

 

[Erlind]

"Sudden?" the question is posed rhetorically. I keep her wrist in a firm grip. I know she isn't going to fight me, but its a way I can keep present my control over her right now.

"Shouldn't something like that be sudden? Something you barely have time to ask if you're certain before its already begun?" I leave the questions unanswered and shift my body over hers. My knees find a place on either side of her waist and I lean in close. A pair of handcuffs are carefully slipped out of my jacket pocket. I only allow her a glimpse of the polished steel, but I let the cool metal touch her hand above her so she knows they are there.

"I think you would be beautiful in cuffs. If this isn't what you want then vanish away from here, little Suzuha. I can become a little harsh. If not. If you know what you need tonight. Then beg for me." Soft but dangerous words are what play across my lips as my other hand gently brushes across her face and pushes hair behind her ear. She hasn't been with me in this way and I want her to have a way out if she wants it. I want that only a little more than I want her in this moment.

 

[Suzuha]

"Harsh is okay," she whispers. The metal is cool against her skin. She shivers, just a little, at its touch. She wants this. Her lips part fractionally in acceptance. But she also knows that she arrived unannounced and late, for her, and now late has turned to very late and she hesitates. She wants this and she doesn't want to put him off but she worries and silently curses the vagaries of space and time.

"You're going to think me a horrid person, I think." She bites her lip. Please don't hate me, her eyes beseech. "I very, very much want to play like this. With you. I could stay here now and try so very hard to play properly but... but sleep is a demanding bitch and she's starting to jab me in the back of the head quite rudely."

His hand on her cheek, she nuzzles softly against it. "If I promise, faithfully, to be here again at the turn of the hour we met this night, even a little earlier, and I promise, equally faithfully, that I'll be a good girl and beg, will you possibly forgive me my need for sleep?" To say that she has good puppy dog eyes might imply something less than sincere, where that couldn't be further from the truth. Please, oh please, don't hate me, they say.

 

[Erlind]

The cuffs find their place back in the pocket of a leather jacket. My expression softens and I smile at her before kissing her forehead and climbing out of her chair.

"I should be here tomorrow night and I'll hold you to those promises, but you don't need my forgiveness for this one. Its unwise to ignore the demands sleep makes of us and I've felt them on me many times before when I couldn't deny them."

I walk over to the bar and reach behind it pulling out a frosty can of Coke so cold that bits of ice still cling to the sides. I crack it open and take a short drink.

"Tomorrow night."

 

[Suzuha]

She breathes a huge sigh of relief and smiles broadly at him. "Tomorrow night, for sure."

Looking steadily more sleepy with each passing second, brought on now more speedily at the release of tension that his kindness provided, she begins to discorporate. Not an eerie drifting of smoke, just a slow fade into the background, her smile and eyes the last to leave.

Before she's gone completely, she whispers, "Thank you, Erlind." Then she blows him a kiss and is gone completely, albeit just for a short time.

 

[Suzuha]

She promised. Promises are important to her. She keeps them if at all possible (often striving even when it's not).

She decides it wouldn't be fitting to simply reappear as if nothing had happened. Despite her acceptable annexing of a chair and blanket for her own purposes, this was not her world, not her place to barge in unannounced. Besides, she likes her little trick of appearance; Cheshire would be proud.

Eyes open on his world, a small yet cheeky smile not far behind. She looks around the space -- a little too morphable to really be called a room -- and calls out, "Knock knock."

 

[Erlind]

I had been waiting for her, but I hadn’t expected her so early. I decide its best to let her wait a little. She’s just barely allowed herself here for the moment which I appreciate. Most nights I don’t mind a visitor just popping in as they wish, but she is here for a reason and it is that reason that would have upset me had she simply made herself at home.

I stand in the back, in the dark, and watch and think. Shade colors my appearance for the moment, but it’s fitting. I decide it is a good night for shadows. A day of grizzle lines my face from not shaving this morning and stands against a clean haircut, a simple medium fade. I wear a rough pair of jeans with an old leather belt and a black t-shirt covered by a battered leather jacket. My fingers find the cool metal of the cuffs from last night still in my pocket where they belong. They will be just a start tonight.

Finally I step from the darkness even as the rest of the room begins to dim leaving the fire at its center to throw its flickering light across the room.

“You’re earlier than I expected. Come over here. I want a look at you.” Hands wait in pockets and I stand looking expectantly in her direction.

 

[Suzuha]

She'd agonised about how look and even now, with all the possibilities of all universes combined at her disposal, she remained uncertain of her choice. Should she dress elegantly, like this were a date (of sorts)? Maybe he'd prefer that she choose something deliberately sexually provocative? She even considered making a guess at his choice of kink, though in trying to plan for that she realised that she didn't truly know what he might go for. Whatever the case, her pajamas of the previous evening seemed a poor choice and she had discarded that as an idea quite early.

Still unsure, she decides that she'll let her subconscious choose for her. She steps forward towards him, forming from nothingness into full bodied presence as swirling possibility coalesces into reality.

She's a slender brunette, hair falling silky straight to just past her shoulders. Hazel eyes blink as they adjust to the low light. She's neither tall nor short, though her mind's choice of low heeled boots gives her an inch. The boots themselves are soft brown leather with three buckles running up her calves. Subtly patterned stockings depicting vines and flowers run the few inches over her knees to the pleated hem of her black skirt. Tucked into the skirt is a long sleeved white cotton blouse, two buttons left loose at her neck. The blouse is a sensible weight, warm and opaque, but its cut flatters her gentle bust and curve over her hips. What little make up she ever wears is subtle, save one thing on this particular night; her lips are maroon against her pale skin, too dark for slut-red but still eye catching against her otherwise simple wardrobe.

She's almost surprised to see herself this way. It's not her party clothes, for certain. More office than dinner party, but smart enough for either. She wonders at herself for the choice but not for long.

She smiles to him, "See, I came, like I promised." She does a little curtsy, "I hope I'm okay for you."

 

[Erlind]

She presents herself and I keep my expression neutral. I walk around her, looking her over, evaluating. Then I stop right in front of her, close in a way that suggests intimacy and break a small smile.

"You look lovely, Suzuha," I tell her gently. A strong arm slips around her waist and pulls her close to me. My lips softly find her ear and take a kiss.

"You've been thinking about this all day haven't you?" I pose the question softly before my kisses move slowly down her neck, growing more hungry and briefly joined by teeth nipping at tender flesh. While one arm keeps possessively around her waist, my other hand starts at her hip and slowly moves down.

 

[Suzuha]

She trembles. She'd been meaning not to. She'd decided that she was going to be sassy and more than a little bit teasing. But he's so direct and, if she's honest with herself, she's been hoping, even if only secretly, that he'd see straight through that anyhow. Her eyes close, as he kisses at her ear, nibbles at her neck, and she sucks in a small, sharp breath.

"All day?" she manages as a whisper. "Nooo, no, not quite all day."

His free hand begins to roam lower and she does manage to find a little of her sass, "Hungry, aren't you?" He can't fail but to feel her body tremble gently against him, counterpoint to her back-chat.

She finds her hands moving for him. It's almost automatic. One higher, at his shoulders, one lower, closer to his belt, tentatively brush against the leather of his jacket.

 

[Erlind]

"Perhaps," is the only answer she's given to her question. A single ragged word. Still though I stop remembering something from the night prior. I step back and again give her an expectant look.

"You arrived just as you promised, but you still owe me around promise, little girl." As hungry and passionate as my advances were they've been blocked by cold self restraint. My hands slide behind my back and clasp each other as I wait, intently watching her. I'm going to take her and going to hurt her and she will love it, but first I need her to beg for it.

 

[Suzuha]

She bites her lip. She shouldn't but she's just a little nervous. He's more restrained than she had given him credit for. Perhaps she should have gone for outright seductive after all... but then, if he'd let that command the flow, would she actually get what she wanted, really? It's the dichotomy of the switch: feeling both the lead and the follow, wanting both indeed, but sometimes forgetting which role to play, or perhaps, more fundamentally, finding the division confusingly complicated to manage.

But he's taking charge and she can see that he's not going to let her turn up pretty and just take it easy. A smile covers her face as she meets his eyes. She silently mouths, "Thank you."

Still, begging isn't easy. Well, it is, but meaning it isn't. Not when you don't have to. She doesn't have to, but she wants to play. So she actually does need to to get to play. It's harder than at first it seems, always harder to say it than to think it. Words make reality as much as actions.

"Please," she begins quietly, "please will you tie me up and take me?" She ends on a whisper. The smile's still there, though smaller, more bashful, and it is joined by a flush to her cheeks. She's cuter when she blushes and struggles to keep her eyes up. She looks at his nose, his lips, more than his eyes. Her hands clasp in front of her skirt. All she'd need to do is scuff her shoes and she'd be on the naughty step at school, though this she manages to avoid.

 

[Erlind]

She seems conflicted at first, but eventually a few quiet nervous words grace her lips. They were words he’d wanted to hear, but more importantly that she’d needed to say. They were enough, perhaps I would force more from her, but for now those simple whispers would be enough.

Suddenly, I reach out and snatch her wrist up and pull her towards me. I don’t take her in my arms like a passionate lover though. No. I use the momentum and pull her past me, pushing her up against the wall. I take care not to injure her, but allow enough force to hurt her as I bring her wrists behind her back. Cool metal rings are slipped from my jacket and click down on her wrists. A flat pressed key is produced and the cuffs are double locked to keep them from cinching down. Then the key is tossed across the room, sliding across hard wood and disappearing beneath a table.

I press my body against hers, pinning her against the wall. I love the warmth of her body beneath me. I’m already hard and I’m sure she feels it. I want her to feel it. A simple start to something that will go on longer than just tonight I think. I lean in and teeth find her ear, biting down before a harsh whisper is issued.

“Is this what you were begging for?”

 

[Suzuha]

He was quick and strong and even though she had a hand free to keep herself from truly striking the wall, she felt air whoosh from her lungs with the rush. It's momentary, an "owch" more than an actual pain, but the surprise compounds it. Her heart thunders in her ears. Adrenaline cools her neck, twisted a little to the side to keep her face from the wall itself.

She feels him hard against her buttocks, the tent in his pants rucking her skirt. Hungry indeed, but she feels the same. Her wrists feel electric, the circles of metal close without biting, but utterly binding. Her fingers curl into small, loose fists, instinctively trying for freedom. That they fail to find it makes her head sing. It's been too long since she was last bound and she'd almost forgotten what it felt like.

His teeth at her ear, a nip, a touch of pain, just adds to the thrill that sings to her.

"Yes," she whispers in admission, "yes please."

She daren't move. It's his game to lead. And besides, without her hands, she would have to really fight to get free, now. She trembles again, that first rush of adrenaline, the newness of this experience with him drawing it from her. She doesn't know what he will do with her, now. She could ask but she knows she'd rather find out the other way: experience. All she wonders now is when he'll find out the thing her otherwise demure outfit hides; that she's wearing no panties over the suspenders and stockings.

 

[Erlind]

I keep a hand posted in the middle of her back to keep her as she is, but otherwise relieve the pressure against her. She only fights a little, and even that is more out of instinct than anything else. I reach behind my back to a sheath on my belt and draw a knife. Old wood handle and polished steel blade. Slowly I bring the flat of the blade to her cheek, so she knows exactly what's happening then I pull it away.

I pull her easily from the wall and my free hand now finds her shoulder and uses it to push her back against it.

"As lovely as you made yourself, I think you overdressed Suzuha, just a little. I'll fix it for you though, don't worry." The words are calm and nonchalant as if I expected just this. I slip the blade beneath the first button and pressure it until the little bit of plastic pops off and clicks against the floor. One after another I slowly open the blouse.

With her top hanging open I press myself against her again. My free hand moves up to wrap my fingers in her fine brown hair and pull her lips to mine. A kiss, showing the hunger she had asked about before. My tongue. presses into her mouth and begins to explore.