What's this?
My face is easy but my hands tighten on my knives.
"If you like them in return, you should caution them from challenging the Witch of Pike Place."
I watch him closely like the snake he is.
I give Vignette a look like 'Come on,' then follow behind Millions like an attendant, hands ostensibly pushed jauntily into my pockets but really holding tight to my knives.
I'm not sure if I'm still the hostage or if Millions is. Maybe both.
A wave of nausea runs through me.
"I'm still sore from the scrogging you gave me earlier," I lie. And smirk. Try to keep down the bile.
This whole mess ultimately falls at my feet. If I was going to call someone through the universes to me, how…
I avert my eyes. Wipe away a nonexistant tear. "You know, it doesn't feel like you either, but it still feels right, doesn't it?"
I'd been planning on changing back into my own clothes, but I abruptly have a better idea. I slide myself into Mill…
As I listen, there's a shiver that goes through me, thinking that it might be real. But a part of me knows that Vignette wouldn't sell me out so quickly, not after that moment of intimacy.
So, instead of reacting, I put down Millions' belt and I s…
I half-shake my head. Voice low: "I don't know what I think you do." It is a paltry denial.
Still quiet, I say "At this point, I think our options are either ending him or putting him under our thumb. But we should move quickly and quietly."
…
For a moment, when I see the blood drip down her chin, I think that I've actually called the red wave into her. Then I see that it is merely blood, the same we all have, and I relax. A little bit.
Until she hugs me. I had forgotten I was naked, …
This feeling, of having someone else in my head, pulling out my memories and then discarding them, is bad, but it is no worse than what Harbormaster has done to me for the slightest infractions. When he made me apologize for hours for allowing a clo…
I frown. I made this arrangement to resolve things without Dog, not drag the problem back to the pile.
Vignette may be my nightmare but she is not playing by my rules.
"Get rid of the guards and then make him grovel. Make him beg you to set him fr…
I make a face. Everyone knows she's a witch.
I shake my head when she mimes knifing him. I can't say I hadn't thought about it just hours ago, but now, well, I just couldn't. I pulled a knife out of my hair anyway.
I move my mouth next to her ear.…
I can't help it -- I kiss his neck beside the injection site, then murmur slightly, a sleep sound, and pull away from him. Slowly. It is difficult not to cringe away from Vignette's little pet, but even when I brush against it with my leg, I do no…
I make the tiniest of nods in response to Vignette's mimed question.
I reach out with the hand not pinned down by Millions' head, take the syringe from her.
I try to breathe normal, evenly. Nothing to break the hardholder's sleep. I look for…
I'm staring at Vignette. When she freezes, I am relieved; I'd been nervous she'd just panic and leave. I have no idea what the guards would do. What Millions would do.
All I can think about is how Millions hurt Hachiko, threatened the Arrows, al…
My eyes almost roll back into my skull.
Vignette is here.
This ... can't really happening. Can it?
I'm too afraid to move, to speak -- oh flood, she better not wake him.
Skinner Special: Millions is hypnotized as if I rolled a 10+.
The red wave haunts me. The pearl of it, the heart of it. The visceral, terrifying truth beneath the ocean.
In the darkness, held in Pike's hardholder's arms, I wonder if there is …
When I'm back, it's hard to shake the feeling of that wave. The red, consuming everything. So it is easy to distract myself with Millions and his needs. When he stands, I stand too, and I bring him to the mattress.
I can be present for Million…
I give Millions an appreciative stare when the shirt comes off. Make sure he sees. When he gets closer, I let my hands run over his belly, his lower back. My fingers find his scars, skate across them lightly.
I lean my head back, look up at hi…
I cross my legs, slit falling to expose most of my thigh. He wants to give himself to me, even though he knows it isn't wise.
So, I give him the words: "I won't cut you with one of my knives, Millions. And I'm here til morning."
If I cut him,…
I turn just enough that he can't get to the laces, his fingers falling against boning instead. My gaze is conspicuously on his foot.
"The show happened on stage earlier, Millions. This isn't about them."
I slip away from him. Sit down in the …
An eyebrow up to my hair. "Hopefully, I'll be shouting your name." I'm still holding his hand; I stroke the inside of Millions' palm with my index finger.
I gesture to Schooner and Suquamish. "We lose the chaff," I tell him. Then they are nothi…
::I'll be fine,:: I signal subtly to anyone who's watching.
"Glad you made that call," I say aloud to Millions. "Let's make the most of it."
I take his hand, lead him back inside Grindhouse.
I want him upstairs, alone, in one of the old administr…
My hand flutters at my side: ::Don't worry, I will use him like a piece of meat.::
I purse my lips, continuing to walk forward towards Millions through his Boys, stepping through red puddles and blood unconcerned for any menace they might hold. I…
Everything looks bad. No clear sight on Millions.
I jump off my bike and start walking towards him before Dog can stop me.
"Did you really just insult me," I say, pushed to sound friendly-like but pulling it off, pitching my voice to carry, "…