Morning Coffee And Sweet Surprises (Closed to Poprockz)

[Drobabes]

Fuck that's a lot of places...and not even the full list, Cora thought, a bit of dread beginning to set into her heart. Delvin was also feeling the pressure, his jaw clenching as he tried not to grind his teeth.

Quint on the other hand was as cool as a cucumber, taking a quick look around before facing Frederick again. It really didn't matter where they started, so long as they able to cover as much ground in as short of a time as possible.

"Let's start with whichever is closest to us."

While he knew that Damien wasn't going to be easy to find, he also knew that they shouldn't ignore the more obvious areas. Sometimes hiding in plain sight was the best strategy, so he planned to look for doorways and passages that could easily be mistaken for more simple areas, like garden sheds. Perhaps all they would need to do was pick up the right shovel and find a hidden door...

 

[Poprockz]

"Hm. The closest place would be the hot springs. It's a close walk from the resort. Follow me." With that, Frederick started off forward and to the left, heading toward a paved path that led up a small hill and over.

Once they cleared the crest of the hill, one could see several different pools of water, each holding enough room for about five people. The water level was about three inches above each lip, so it was more as though it was all one pool with many individual spaces. The main pool was near the far end, all of the water steaming from the heat of the water. The cement was a candy color, giving the pools more of a relaxed vibe, and she had arranged a little waterfall near the main pool for decoration. There were several poles situated around which had curved branches that held little electric tea-lights. Many reclining chairs were available around the pools for those who didn't feel like taking a dip. At night, the place would be very atmospheric.

"This is the hot springs," Frederick gestured at it. "There's a water treatment shed nearby behind the waterfall, and a small restroom as well." At that point he glanced at Cora as though he was contemplating whether to say something or not.

 

[Drobabes]

Almost as soon as they were there, both Quint and Delvin walked forward beginning to explore. Delvin began to gently touching and testing the tea lights and branches, seeing if any gave and moved, while Quint power walked the perimeter. His eyes were sharp, and his nose keen; although it was difficult to smell anything besides misty air and chlorine. What he was looking for was more along the lines of dips in the pavement; places where stones may have been uneven, or newly added, and of course, any smells that might give away a trail.

This left Cora somewhat alone with Frederick, and while she wasn't exactly uncomfortable with the man, she wasn't blind to the way he was looking at her. Her shameful eyes looked away, and she started to head towards the treatment shed, hoping that he would perhaps lose interest of what he had to say and go follow her brother.

 

[Poprockz]

It wasn’t long before Frederick sidled up beside her looking rather guilty. Though he looked ahead as they walked, he would occasionally glance sideways at her. “So um, Crystal. I uh… I’ve been meaning to apologize to you.”

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, “I was told that I fainted and left you to fend for yourself for quite some time, and that eventually Nathanial had to guide you back downstairs. That must have been very frightening and awkward for you to see something like that, and I wanted to tell you how sorry I am.”

It seemed as though he wasn’t aware of the fact that Rick had entertained her in his absence, having been told and assuming that he had simply been down for the count, leaving her on her own.

“I um… I should have been more careful. I know that coffee is one of my triggers, but I really wanted to cheer you up, so I foolishly made some without considering what would happen if it triggered me. Again, I’m very sorry.” The man looked at her apologetically, his glasses having slipped down his nose slightly.

 

[Drobabes]

"I uh… I’ve been meaning to apologize to you."

She looked over at him with wide eyes before quickly looking away as they walked, and her arms crossed. An apology had been the last thing that she expected from him, but as he spoke, she quickly understood where he was coming from though it made a sick feeling form in her stomach. She let him continue, only pausing once they reached the door of the treatment shed.

Her hand reached out to grasp the handle, but then she stopped and sighed lightly. Turning around to face him, she took a deep breath, and then forced herself to meet his eyes.

"Frederick, you have no reason to apologize. If anything, I should be apologizing to you."

She swallowed, looked down, and then tucked her hair behind her ear so as to get it out of her face as she met his gaze again.

"My name is not Crystal, it's Cora. Yesterday I gave you a fake name because I didn't know who you were, and we" she said, gesturing towards her two companions.

"Are on the run from a very dangerous man. I couldn't risk some random stranger knowing my real name. And what I did to you yesterday was wrong, and I am..."

Cora stopped and took a small breath. Her voice had begun to hitch with emotion, and though it was genuine, she didn't want to manipulate this mans feelings any further. He didn't owe her any sympathy.

"I'm sorry. I was desperate. I was scared. I felt backed into a corner of our own making, and when you came down the hallway, I saw an opportunity and I took it. I manipulated you by doing things that I knew most men would find attractive, but especially a half turned man. I had hoped that you would be able to take me to Damien, and I was willing to manipulate you to make it happen. And I of all people..." she started to trail off, her eyes wandering to a handprint shaped bruised on her wrist which was now turning a sickly yellow-green. Seeming to jostle out of it, those sharp hazel eyes quickly drifted back up to him with a fierce seriousness.

"I know better. I know it was wrong, and I was selfish. So don't apologize to me Frederick. I used you, and what you did was not even your fault. You didn't even do anything wrong; you simply fainted. You can't control that."

With that said, she sniffed and turned back to the door, opening it and walking through, her eyes scanning the area. After a few seconds of walking around, she looked back to him.

"If I caused trouble between you and Angelique, I am more than willing to talk to her directly and explain myself."

 

[Poprockz]

Surprise, then confusion, then realization crossed his face as he silently listened to her speak. It was obvious that he now understood the situation, that she had flirted with him in an effort to take advantage of him. His eyes drifted to her wrist as he followed her gaze before he too met her eyes once more.

There was a sad little chuckle before he adjusted his glasses. "To tell you the truth, I had a suspicion that you weren't really interested in me. You already have someone waiting for you after all, so I didn't think anything would come of it- I figured you were just being nice. I... well, I suppose I just wanted to give you a hot drink and see if that cheered you up any. You seemed really down about Damien being kept as a prisoner, so I thought I might help in my own small way. I..."

His cheeks flushed and he looked away to try to hide a bittersweet smile. "I was being a little selfish myself too though," he continued softly. "I guess part of me wanted to pretend that a pretty girl like yourself wanted to hang out. I don't blame you at all though, just so you know, and you don't have to talk to Angelique for me. It's on me for taking you somewhere I shouldn't have."

He picked up a bottle of something and inspected the label before putting it back down on a shelf.

 

[Drobabes]

She listened as she inspected the room in a methodical like manner, starting from the left and proceeding quickly, but carefully to the right. Objects were moved, wall panels pushed, random equipment lightly tampered with. Nothing came of it, but they had to try.

"You did cheer me up" she said after a moment of quietness. It was partly true-she was certainly relieved that he hadn't taken it too hard, but she also just wanted to tell him a small white lie, hoping that it would somehow make him feel a bit better.

"You shouldn't sell yourself short Frederick" she continued, now bending over to inspect the flooring as she spoke.

"You're not unappealing by any means, and you seem like you would treat any partner with respect and love. Those are not traits to scoff at. I never thought I would find anyone that could hold me...and then they just popped up in my life when I was least expecting it."

She stopped what she was doing for a minute to look over her shoulder at him.

"Just keep your heart open to it, and don't let anyone walk over you to get what they want. Because they will if they can."

"Cora!"

Quint's voice shouted from outside.

"Yea?!"

"You find anything?!"

"Not yet!"

"Me and Delvin are almost done out here! Let's wrap it up and move on!"

"Alright!"

She stood and finished her search, not finding a thing of interest, even when she climbed up to press against the ceiling and look for any broken seems. There definitely didn't seem to be anything here.

 

[Poprockz]

Though he didn't immediately answer her, he couldn't keep a shy, very pleased smile off his face. His eyes flicked up to a mirror on the side of the shed and he looked at himself with a bit more hopefulness rather than criticism. It seemed that her words had given him a bit of a self-esteem boost.

He opened his mouth to reply to her when Quint called out. What she might not have noticed when she was focused on the yelled conversation was that Frederick had been squatting near some other cleaning supplies when the man slumped forward, his body leaning limply on the shelf.

 

[Drobabes]

She indeed hadn't noticed what had happened until after the shouted conversation, and it was only when she was climbing down that she finally looked down at him, wondering what he was doing.

"Shit!" she said, and instinctively ran over to him. The last time this had happened, he had just fallen over. While she hadn't heard any crash this time, she still wanted to make sure he was okay and hadn't hit his head.

Cora bent over him, trying to lean him up a bit better and inspect his temples and neck, and generally make sure he was alright.

 

[Poprockz]

It wasn’t long before his eyes snapped open, the zombie getting to his feet and brushing himself off. He was oddly quiet as he did so, taking off his glasses and putting his hair up in a ponytail once more.

Once that was all done, he closed his eyes, steepled his fingers, and put them in front of his mouth. A deep breath was taken and exhaled before he spoke in a measured, deliberate voice. “Crys- well, Cora, I guess. I have a pop-quiz for you. Take notes, because the answers will be on the mid-term. Question one: why did you and I pretend to have sex?”

His eyes opened and fixed upon her. The man's gaze wasn't soft and gentle as Frederick's had been, but more sharp and calculating.

 

[Drobabes]

There was something inherently startling when someone 'woke up' by just snapping their eyes wide open. With a little squeak and an attempt to flee, Cora ended up falling back on her ass and simply watching as the man rose up onto his feet.

She watched his actions, now recognizing that Rick had decided to come out for whatever reason. And while she wasn't necessarily scared for her safety around him, the man definitely did intimidate her, so she made no attempt to get up off the floor.

"I..."

What?

"It...we, did, so that...Nathanial didn't get suspicious..."

Crap, had Rick not realized that Nathanial had basically smelled her out in the elevator? How did he seemingly know what Frederick was up to, but not what Nathanial told Angelique? Or had he told Angelique anything at all?

Sudden realization dawned on her that she had likely completely given herself away out of shame and fear. She could have stuck with the lie and played it off, but instead she had given in too quickly for fear of being found out anyway, and the punishment being much harsher than if she just fessed up.

The color drained from her cheeks a bit, and she looked up at Rick.

 

[Poprockz]

He nodded at her. “Very good. Now, madam spymaster, question number two..." Still keeping his fingers steepled, two tentacles came out from his sides and gently helped her to her feet by lifting her by her armpits. Once she was standing though, they retracted back into his body.

"Why was it preferable for them to think that you and I wanted to have a passionate, vigorous, mind-shattering fuck in an office of all places?" There was a slight edge coming into his voice now, though it was subtle.

 

[Drobabes]

It was obvious that she was scared when those tentacles came out, as she quite visibly flinched when he went to reach for her. She didn't fight him when he lifted her up, but when he let her go, she had started to shake a bit, unsure of what was coming next, and suddenly realizing how cornered she was in the small building with a half zombie blocking her exit to the outside world.

"It..i-it...because we d-din't-"

"Okay, we didn't find anything let's...go..."

It was Quint, now standing in the doorway, and the second he sensed the unease in the room and saw the look on his sisters face, two of his tentacles came out near his sides.

"What's going on in here?"

 

[Poprockz]

There was a sigh before Rick looked over his shoulder at Quint and simply stared deadpan for a moment as though he was considering something before beckoning him closer. "No, actually this is good. I'm giving your sister a pop quiz, but she seems to be struggling a little bit. Perhaps you can help her out."

"So, let's say that you try to seduce some poor schmuck into letting you into a confidential area, hm? Just hypothetically, of course. The guy lets you in, the two of you are hitting it off, he gives you some of his high-quality hot, steamy bean juice, and then someone very rudely walks in on you." Rick started to very slowly pace back and forth in the room, still keeping his fingers steepled.

"Of course both of you could be in hot water. You because you were trying to start the game early, and the guy because he's not supposed to be susceptible to coercion, nor is he allowed to let people into areas like that. So! The guy bluffs and says that he took you there because you're a hot slice of cake that he wants to lick the frosting off of. The rude guy buys it, barely, but then the two of you have to make it look like you actually danced the discovery channel dance."

He stopped and glanced at Cora before looking back at Quint and continuing. "So the two of you rub your own nubs until you can do a wet handshake and part ways. All seems well."

His face moved into more of a scowl as he crossed his arms. "Now why then, would the girl reveal to the rude guy that the whole thing was a sham, and that she had manipulated the guy into getting into that room? For extra credit, tell me why the schmuck would care about any of this."

 

[Drobabes]

By this time, Vin had come into the room upon hearing the concern in Quint's voice, and though he didn't know what was going on, he came to stand next to Quint so that Cora could hide partway behind them both.

As Rick talked, Quint watched his mannerisms and quickly picked up on the fact that they were talking with the other man who inhabited the same body. Seeing as he didn't know this man or how he would react, he let him go until he was done, and then looked him in the eyes for a moment as he put his tentacles away.

"Because the girl felt as if the bluff hadn't worked. She had been caught in the lie, and rather than sink further in the hole and risk drowning everyone else with her..."

He glanced down and back at Cora for a moment, and she couldn't keep eye contact with him, so he looked back to Rick.

"She took it upon herself give her lifejacket away. Because experience has taught her time and time again that the punishment for dishonesty is so much crueler than anything else anyone could do to her, and a deep rooted fear has been stitched into her soul that she can't just ignore or fight against. No matter how much she might think she can."

Quint had started off neutral, but there was definitely some kind of edge near the end, and even Delvin noticed, glancing over at him briefly.

"But she must not have fucked up that badly if the game hasn't been called off, and you're still here to guide us."

Where Cora was meek, Quint was strong. And where his sister might have backed down in order to avoid the confrontation, her brother certainly didn't feel the need to be intimidated. He felt like Rick was trying to bluff, trying to make things worse off then they were, but the truth of the matter was that their time here at the resort was candies and slippers compared to what was waiting for them outside of it. Yea, sure, they needed to get out, but Quint was confident that they would-one way or another.

 

[Poprockz]

“What, because he could smell my cum on her? That was the whole point. He was supposed to smell it! You-“ Rick groaned in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“All she had to do was stick with the lie, or even decline to answer him. No, the real reason she didn’t lie to him was because she didn’t want her boyfriend to know she was “using her body as a bargaining chip.” He used finger quotes and shot a look at Cora, knowing that they both recognized the words she used in the elevator.

“Now tell me, do any of you know what it feels like to have someone’s grubby little fingers sifting around your brain because your loyalty has been brought into question?” The man had a deep frown as he waited for an answer.

 

[Drobabes]

Cora flinched at the accusation. She knew it was true, and she almost believed that that had been the only reason she did it. Quint, looking over at her, realized that she was starting to do it again. To just conveniently forget everything he had just said, even though it was also the truth, and focus in on only the parts that made her 'selfish'. The self hatred was starting to bubble up again, and for that, he lost his composure.

"Dude I don't give a fuck what your boss did" he growled, jerking his head back to Rick.

"If you were that fucking easy to manipulate in the first place, then I probably would have done the same, and honestly it's making me question if Angelique's offer for us to stay is really worth it, if you all are so easily fooled. The whole point of this little game is to show us that Kuznet can't get in here if she doesn't want him to, but honestly? He's twenty five steps ahead of us at every turn, and if all it took was one little women" he said, gesturing back with his thumb angrily towards Cora.

"For you to let someone in an area that you weren't supposed to, then I don't even want to know what kind of foxes and wolves The General could send in here and burn this place to the ground before you even smell the smoke."

He went quiet, staring Rick down as if he was expecting some kind of answer from the other half zombie, but before Rick could have that chance, Quint looked down and pulled a basic wrist watch out of his pocket and checked the time. He tsked, then scowled at Rick.

"You've wasted three minutes of our search time. You can vent your grievances later, when this is over, but you're not going to waste any more of my time. Take us to the next spot."

 

[Poprockz]

For a moment, Rick simply stared at Quint as though he wanted to slap the ever-living shit out of him, obviously infuriated by that answer. His eyebrow even twitched. However with great willpower, the man closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and gave him a nod.

“Fine. Let’s go to the next place.” He replied, though his tone was still a little snippy. With that, he walked out of the shed at a brisk pace and started to lead them to the nearby rock slides It was a large slide area carved out of a large hill the same way that the hot springs seemed to have been carved. While being rock, the slides were largely smooth, water trickling down them and into a pool below them. It was an impressive structure to be sure, one that had likely cost Angelique a pretty penny.

He gestured at it. “These are the rock slides. Underneath that structure is piping and such to make sure that the water continues to flow over the stones. There is a hidden door behind the slides for pipe maintenance. It’s locked, but I’m more than happy to unlock it for you if you want to look.” At this point he was back to being more chipper, the walk apparently having done him some good in blowing off a little steam.

“Also…” he looked sideways at Cora.

“I warned you about what would happen if you fucked me over, and you chose to ignore it and open your pretty little mouth. Now, once you fail today, I’m going to give your little pussy cat a bath… with extra bubbles.”

There was an awkward pause before he sighed and held a finger up to her, “that sounded different than I thought it would. For the record, I’m not making a sexual innuendo- I mean your partner, Damon. I’m going to give Damon a bath.” Another pause, “without any groping, to be clear.”

 

[Drobabes]

Quint merely gave him a little nod and followed him out. As they walked, he noticed to Cora had started to slow down and become a bit stone faced, so he positioned himself to take up the rear of their walk, and silently mouthed to Delvin to take up the front spot. He didn't trust this Rick motherfucker, and didn't want his sister out of his sight again. Vin didn't exactly like Quint so far, but he did as requested and walked to the front. He was starting to see some good traits in the man, though, the guy obviously knowing Cora better than any of them. He probably knew that Cora might fuck things up by going out on her own to look for Damien before she had even convinced him, but had still calculated that it was safe enough to let the girls try anyway. He also made some damn good points about what the whole point of this was, and Vin couldn't help but wonder if they could somehow use this to turn Angelique against Rick and have one less of her main men to worry about.

"I warned you about what would happen if you fucked me over, and you chose to ignore it and open your pretty little mouth. Now, once you fail today, I’m going to give your little pussy cat a bath…"

Cora had been trying not to look at Rick as they walked, but his words made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as she slowly turned to look up at him. How did he know about that?! Had they tortured it out of him?! Or had Angelique possibly have been a part of his fathers little 'games' when Damien was young? She felt her hands starting to shake and tears of anger and fear begin to fill her eyes.

"You...you can't-"

Suddenly there was a pair of big, warm, and strong hands touching her. One was on her shoulder, and one on her opposite arm, gently taking a firm hold of her elbow. When she looked up, two chocolate brown eyes full of sadness and understanding were staring down into her soul. Did Delvin know what was happening? The fear that was hammering through her heart? She didn't know if Damien had ever shared anything about his childhood with Vin, but even if he hadn't, Vin had been through so much with them. He could have one hell of a tempter when he lost it, but Cora had never felt so safe as during those times when it had been just the four of them.

"Come on Cora" Vin said gently, and the words he didn't have to say settled in her heart. It wasn't the time, and it would do no good to fight right now. They didn't have moments to waist, so she let him pull her against his side, and as they walked away, Cora hugged him and held onto him like a sturdy tree in the storm that was their life.


Quint watched them walk off, giving them a few moments to gain a bit of distance before he began to follow after. Just as he started to pass by Rick, he gave the other half zombie a look that fell somewhere between constipation and having a hair stuck between your toes as you're walking. He then shook his head and said "you're fucking weird" before bringing his tentacles out and doing a light jog to catch up with the other two.

...

Quint started his search at one of the pools, using his tentacles to reach deep down into the water and feel for any uneven rocks, seems, or edges in which he might be able to pick at or pull up. While he was doing this, Vin and Cora went to either side of him and also go their hands wet, seeing if there was anything possibly hidden beneath the water and in the rocks.