A Soak And Think [Ai]

[Ryan Cardwell]

That baths were almost entirely deserted this night, something that was rather odd when one considered the fact that there was rarely less than a half dozen humans or boogies lounging about the place, aside from the early hours of the morning. At the moment the entire room stood silent, the only sound to be heard being what sounded like the sigh of a weary and overwhelmed individual. That individual was the exact reason the other baths were empty, no one wanting to be within as hundred yards of the hulking man, let alone naked in the same room as him. Such had always been the way around Tristan, though now it was enhanced a hundred fold.

At the moment he was in a corer bath, leaning against the wall with his eye closed. The tub was filled almost to the brim, effectively covering the lower half of his body and leaving only the upper half of his torso visible. On it one good see a portion of a large set of claw marks, as well as various other scars, including a large patch of light pink skin that covered most of his right side. The boogie's hair hang damp and limp, concealing from the world the gruesome scars on the right side of his face.

With another exhausted sigh, he half opened his eyes to stare blankly at the ceiling. Times were getting harder. Each day was a new challenge for him, everyone of them more difficult than the last. It was clear to him that his long life, one of strife and survival, was nearing its end. How he knew this was a mystery even to him, he had absolutely no idea how the knowledge had come to him. But however he had gained it, he felt that it was without a doubt true. And the oddest thing? He didn't fear death. He feared what would happen after he died. With him gone, Piper, Ai, all his humans would be defenseless. There was nothing he feared more than them being helplessly set upon by the monsters that sought them. Granted he himself was a monster, but he was the monster that kept the others at bay.

Exhaling a deep breath, he closed his eye once more. The boogie was indeed in dark mood, and there was absolutely nothing that could bring him out of it. Or at least, nothing that he would permit himself to think of.

[Aione Higurashi]

It was fortunate for Aione that the baths were empty tonight, as far as she knew. It would have been problematic if someone she knew saw her this night, and even more so if they saw the state she was in. It wasn’t that she looked ill, her skin was always pale, nor was it the fact the she was running with scissors in her hand. It was the fact that she was talking to herself, again, louder than usual, as she scurried into the deserted bathroom. Her hands shook as she opened the door and slammed it behind her, normally kind eyes wide and wild.

Just keep your voice down, idiot…

The voice made Ai flinch, but she’d been hearing it all night. It was driving her crazy, even more so now that these little conversations were becoming commonplace. The slave girl let out a low whimper, cutting he palm on the scissor blade. “G-Go away…please…I’ve had enough…” she slurred her words, sounding like she was drunk rather than mad. The voice laughed coolly. That laugh terrified Aione. I told you, I want out!! You little demon who stole my form… The hand with he scissors edged towards a lock of long, ruby-red hair, …I want my life back.

Snip.[/i]

The hair fell to the floor gently, leaving a shoulder-length wave where it had once been. In the red wisps, hints of black could be seen. Innerai cheered. Ai whimpered again. Perfect! Abut time the dammed dye washed out. Hurry up and get our hair back to normal. Aione nodded to herself and dropped the scissors to the tiles, pulling at the only article of clothing she wore, a white button-up dress shirt, before walking towards the baths. The corner was probably her best bet, farthest from the door…

[Ryan Cardwell]

The soothing heat of the waters had begun to ease the tension that had built up within his body. It allowed him some small measure of peace and relaxation, though it could do nothing to calm the storm that was raging in his mind and in his heart. Yes he had a heart. That always seemed to amaze the humans, that the monsters they loathed and feared were not so different from themselves. Tristan possessed all of the same feelings that they did, he just lacked their fragility. However, he was one of the few. Time had changed the boogies, each passing millenia bringing them closer and closer to the humans they enslaved. It was a sure sign of the way that the world had changed. Many ancient laws and traditions had been lost, no longer required. He had become what they were, a forgotten relic of a long gone age. And soon, he would fade as well.

However his brooding was rudely interrupted by the sound of a door slamming, rather loudly he might add. A low growl escaped his lips, being more than a bit irritated at the unwelcome company. There were very few people he could tolerate these days, none of them being an idiot that would burst in making so much racket. If not for the fact the he was at least partway comfortable, he'd have gotten up and taught them a well deserved lesson. But after a few moments of anger he sighed, giving up on it. They didn't seem to be approaching and so he wasn't going to waste his time.

But then just a short time later, his keen ears picked out the sound of small feet padding across the floor. Must be some kid.... An annoyed sigh escaped his lips then, realizing that he was going to have to deal with them. Normally he'd have just sent Moon, but his familiar was off attending to business of her own. One of these days he was going to have to figure out what she was up to. Opening his eye he started to tell the child off, until he saw who it was.

As his gaze fell on Aione, the amber orb immediately widened. He could instantly tell that something was wrong. And when he caught sight of her bleeding hand, he felt himself choke on the heart that had just jumped into his throat. Immediately he rose from the bath water, moving over to her. Kneeling before her and gripping her wrist, he carefully examined the cut, his pain at knowing she was hurt clearly evident in his eye.

Completely ignoring the fact that neither of them was covered very well he scooped her up into his arms, packing her over to the bath and setting her down on the edge. Without a word he knelt back next to her, carefully washing out the wound. It didn't take very long, and he soon enough reached for his shirt, ripping off the sleeve and tying the fabric around her hand to stop any further bleeding. When he was done he looked up at her, locking his single amber orb onto hers of steel gray. "Why must you two do these things to yourself....?"

[Aione Higurashi]

The soft sound of Aione’s bare feet padding along the floor was interrupted by a low, inhuman growl. She froze for barley a minute before she recognized the voice. Innerai swore, running a hand through their hair as she kept walking. Of all the rotten luck…it’s always him!! The semi-sane girl shook her head. How will I explain this one? It's not as if I can tell him I wanted to injure myself on purpose... Though it was important, Ai's thought process was cut short when she finally reached Tristan's line of vision. Her eyes lowered from his startled gold to the floor, Wow. Never realized how interesting tile is, before it drifted to the red dripping from her small cut. Which, odd enough, was the same predicament she'd been caught in not to long ago: her going between personalities with a wounded hand, caught by the very person she was praying to God wouldn't see her.

Deja-fucking-vu.

Normally, Ai would have gone red as a strawberry, due to the fact both slave and Boogie were mostly nude, but for once she kept her pale skin pale. The predicament was to upsetting, and familiar, to be embarrassing. Plus, thanks to Innerai's social skills, she'd seen most of him before. Oh, and add in a few choice moments of walking in on him with another bitch and you have it covered. The low, dry laugh distracted Ai as she was picked up (blushing now) and brought to the bath where Tristan treated her cut. Again, deja-vu. But at least this wasn't a broken finger. She didn't flinch when the cut was cleaned and wrapped, but she made a face at the question pose to her. Starlit silver tried to find patterns in the tile once again.

"...I don't know anymore, T-Tristan...masochism seems to be in style now, so..." the lame joke got cut off when her throat got thick. It took a second to clear before she tried again. "It wasn't on purpose, I swear. I wanted to get this bloody dye out, and she messed around with the scissors. Accident on her part."

Hope he knows who's talking to him.

[Ryan Cardwell]

He did indeed know who it was that was talking. At this point in their relationship he felt that he knew her well enough to tell when it was her in control. And having...ahem...'encountered' the other side of her before, he could sense when it was she running the show. At this moment he was fairly certain that it was his little sister's not-so-innocent other half that had possession of her body. That was both good and bad. Good, because she could usually be trusted to be calmer in a situation like the current one. Bad, because he didn't trust himself enough to keep control of himself. He loved them both deeply, but his feelings for the currently dominant portion of Aione's soul weren't exactly brotherly.....

Tristan pushed the thoughts away as quickly as they came, not liking the way that road looked. There were far more important things to worry about now, which was really saying something coming from the biggest man-whore in all of Wonderland. His hand came up, gently brushing the hair away from her face, a look of great sadness on his own. "I certainly hope your not doing all of this because of some stupid guy.." That stupid guy was of course him, but he didn't think he needed to tell her that.

He sat in silence for a few minutes after, merely staring at her angelic face. When he did spoke, he did so whilst cupping his hand against her cheek. "You don't need to change. I love you" Leaning up he planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "And you" -lowering his head he placed a more lustful kiss on her lips, only letting it linger a moment before pulling away again. "Just the way you are..."

[Aione Higurashi]

Oh great. That look… Innerai felt her chest ache at the heartbreaking sadness on her master’s face. How come she always did this to him? It wasn’t her intention to hurt him. In fact, if Innerai had her way one hundred percent of the time, she’d be able to love him. Really love him, the way people are supposed to love each other. But thanks to that annoying growth in her brain (aka Ai-chan) she was constantly battling that ‘sibling love’ with her own, darker sort of love, bringing about bad consequences for her other self as well as Tristan. As if hurting them wasn’t enough, she’d started to hurt herself in her own guilt and self-loathing. It was the circle of life, far as she was concerned. And what a bitch it is.

A soft but sly smile started on the redheads face. “Some stupid guy? No, not at all. A very stupid man-whore is more like it.” That sarcasm was one of the defining traits of Innerai. The slave lifted her hand to stretch it, wincing slightly, but it was fine. She cradled it in her other hand. “Well, I owe you for helping again. Sorry. Again.”

“I know I don’t need to change. I want to...” was about as far as the human girl got before Tristan pressed his lips against hers. Inni’s heart pounded, she was positive it had jumped to her neck since it was beating so loudly, and her pale face flushed even darker. Huh. That’s new. Normally only Ai blushes… the darker side blinked, touching her face lightly before staring into her brother-slash-master-slash-lover’s golden gaze. The smile on her face wasn’t entirely childlike, but there was some pure bemusement in her steely eyes. “I-I love you too…” she mumbled, leaning in and kissing her ‘all-of-the-above’ Tristan with a little more force than nessecary.

Hmmm…her Tristan…my Tristan. I like that.

[Ryan Cardwell]

A light chuckle escaped him, seeing the amusement and truth in her words. There was no denying that he was a whore, it was a point of pride for him in fact. "Well, you shouldn't do it for him either." His face softened, appearing for all the world as though he were nothing more than a mere human. "He's not worth it."

Despite his feelings, a smirk found its way onto Tristan's face. He found that he really liked that look on her face, a dark crimson that matched her hair almost perfectly. To him it only served to increase the attraction she held for him, shattering aside many of the defenses he'd put in place to restrain such emotion. As it was he felt much of his common sense giving way to passion and desire for the girl before him. The last time had been.... Well, it had not been what he'd have liked things to have been. If such a thing was inevitable he'd have much preferred it to have been on his terms, so that he might steer it in the correct manner. He hadn't had that chance then....but he did have it now.

When she kissed him he returned it, he too perhaps adding a bit more force than was necessary. The last of his resistance had given way, and he was now determined to go through with his current thoughts. There was just one last obstacle between him and that, and his hands were already at work unbuttoning that. Mere moments had passed before the task was completed, and he quickly slipped the garment off of her body. It was then that he poked her in the forehead, knocking her backwards into the tub, before climbing in after her.

(Think its time for the 'black' out. =3)