Secrets of the Flesh (Closed for Vail_Indigo and I)

[Pywakit]

OOC:
Amanda Winters
Age: 23
5'8"; 124 lbs; lithe build, pale skin
Green eyes; slightly wavy black hair to shoulders with bright red bangs; pierced ears, tongue, and navel; tattoo of a raven on the back of her left shoulder and stylized tribal/wing tattoo on lower back
http://pandemonia.ru/gothic_girls/img/gothic_girls7.jpg
IC:
Amanda sighed in frustration as the ATM told her what she already knew; she had barely enough money in her account to take her through the rest of the week, and if the freelance check for the latest book cover she'd painted didn't show up by the end of that week, she'd have nothing to pay rent with. Her stomach knotted in an all-too-familiar twist; it seemed like this was happening more and more often.

And the worst part was that she couldn't use her REAL talents to take care of the situation. Not while she was on probation with the Order. Practitioners of the craft weren't supposed to use their magic in public, for numerous reasons (not the least of which was the veil of secrecy the Order demanded), but Amanda's particular skills, while they'd make her rich if word of her ability to heal, transform, and manipulate living creatures ever became public knowledge, were hardly refined. She'd almost been exiled for nothing more than healing a hiker's twisted ankle; she shuddered to think of what the Order would do if she got a job at some movie studio doing "special effects" or something like that.

Of course, the financial situation wasn't leaving her much choice.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath. She caught herself running her tongue stud over the backs of her teeth like she always did when she was nervous or frustrated, and made herself stop. And as she did, she made the decision that if her freelance check from her legitimate work didn't show by Friday... she'd risk doing some back alley incantations on the sly.

A cold wind swept up along the street, forcing her to draw her black windbreaker tighter around her slender frame; it was a brisk ten minute walk back to her apartment, and she wished she'd dressed warmer, but the knee-length skirt and pale blue blouse had been her nicest clothes and she'd had no real choice; the interview she'd just finished before checking her account was for a graphic designer position at a prestigious publishing house, so it wouldn't do to dress in her normal gothy clothes—even if there wasn't much she could do about her red bangs and her more obvious piercings.

As she started the walk home, the sun set and the cold seemed to grow even worse. Hopefully things would look up for her soon. Hopefully her luck was about to change.

 

[Vail_Indigo]

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs13/f/2007/093/4/9/Calm_Before_The_Storm_by_AmeliaDolore.jpg
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs16/f/2007/188/3/a/Out_Of_My_Way_by_AmeliaDolore.jpg
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs18/f/2007/150/e/4/Amelia_Dolore_by_Gray_Line_Studios.jpg

Mikaela, Mika, saw magic when she was only 9.

No one else saw it, of course. No one else saw the blonde haired woman bring the kite down out of the tree for her child.

No one else saw the translucent, crimson bands reach up and free the delicate toy.

And, of course, no one believed her.

She quickly learned to stop trying to convince them.

But the seed of obsession was planted, and took root quickly.

Obsession.

Obsession feeds itself.

Instead of studying, Mika poured through websites, chat rooms and blogs and people claiming to know things they could teach her.

She flunked out of school at 16.

She would slip out of her bedroom late at night to go to the city, wandering the stores that professed to sell True Magic.

Her parents kicked her out at 17.

In an alley way, only slightly protected from the rain, she cried, and begged to any power that could hear her for magic, the only thing that could help her. What else could take her from this deep hole her life had become?

Obsession feeds itself.

Nathaniel found her days later. He had a kind of magic. Things that people sniffed and swallowed and injected. And he liked having pretty girls to sell it for him.
What choice did she have? The world had kicked her to the curb. The world didn’t care about her. Most of the world didn’t even believe her.

Magic, the only thing that could save her, denied her.

She was very good at the job. It made her money enough to buy books. To learn more. To buy drugs from herself and others in attempts to reach higher levels of awareness, to open her mind in new ways.

None of it worked.

But sometimes the substances coursing through her veins made the nights easier, if not shorter.

Her life was over at 19 if she didn’t find what she needed.

Obsession feeds itself.
--
She sat at the bar, drinking Jack Daniels. She was too young, of course, but when the owner is a customer, rules get broken.

At least, if the owner wanted to stay a customer.

It also helped that said owner had seen Mika put a knife through a man’s hand, a hand trying to take product without paying. She didn’t like doing these things, but she was willing to. And she knew that, the more people knew what she was capable of, the less she’d have to do it.

The bar was a bit nicer than she usually frequented, but still hardly classy. Mika knew a customer or two would come by. And if they didn’t, she could drink herself into oblivion for the night, or pop a hit of E and find something to dance against at some club.

But she only did that on the really bad nights.

She sat at the bar, drinking her drinks, smoking her cigarettes, and wondering when things had decided to go wrong.

 

[Pywakit]

Amanda

Sometimes, the largest events... the life changing events... happen because of nothing more than accidental chance. So it was with Amanda. If she hadn't been so nervous and depressed, or if it hadn't had been so cold, or if she'd had even less money in her account, she might have gone on with her life in the same old way. But as it was, she was quite nervous and very depressed, and it was cold enough that she felt that if she didn't get a quick break from the elements she'd freeze, and she had just enough money for one drink. Maybe two.

All good reasons in her mind to make a quick stop on the way home for a drink.

Amanda wasn't a big drinker, and she didn't often go to bars. She chose this one not out of habit or out of familiarity, but strictly out of convenience. And while it looked maybe a little bit sketchy... it didn't look crowded (the night was still rather early) and it didn't look completely nasty.

The bar was warm, and for a moment Amanda thought about simply standing in the entrance to relax before heading on. But the thought of getting something warm inside her too was too tempting. She approached the bar, where a lone figure sat in a small cloud of cigarette smoke. Making sure to give the figure some space, she slid into a stool three seats to the right. "A mojito, please," she said to the bartender when he raised his eyebrows at her. She thought she caught a smirk as he turned to mix the drink; it was obviously not a drink that was ordered often. He brought it over to her, grunted something of an apology for the lack of mint, then went back to cleaning glasses.

It was a bit strong, and she winced in surprise after her first sip. She glanced over to the other woman at the bar and saw that she was looking her way. Amanda's eyes widened a little—she hadn't noticed when she'd first entered, but the other woman was beautiful. She realized she was staring after a few moments, smiled awkwardly to try to break the tension even as she blushed, then said "Doesn't really need any mint anyway," before turning back to her drink.

 

[Vail_Indigo]

The drink the new girl ordered was...amusing...to Mika. It wasn't just the contrast between the drink and the bar, but the drink and the girl.

She was about to open her mouth and make some sarcastic remark in response, something that would say 'little girl little girl, run along home now', or some such, but there was something about this girl with the silly drink.

It wasn't that the girl was beautiful, though she was in a kind of forced-punk sort of way.

There was just something different, something that was catching Mika's eye like a glint of light some an unseen source. Something you sense. Something that made Mika want to talk to her.

Mika didn't come to a bar to have sex. She didn't have sex at all, as a rule. She'd used her body for business transactions, to be certain, but that had as much relation to sex as manual labor did. By that definition, she'd never had sex at all.

It just wasn't something that entered into her world, wasn't something she'd ever been interested in. There'd only ever been one thing she cared about.

But she simply couldn't stop looking at this girl, even after the girl had returned, shyly, to her drink.

"Fuck me," chuckled Mika's thoughts, "What else have you got going on?"

She ordered two shots of Jaggermeister and, even though she'd decided to do it, it still surprised her to find herself sitting next to the new girl suddenly.

In her mind's eye, she looked for a smile that didn't say 'I will stab you if you look at me funny' and didn't hint at 'No, really, Mr. Officer Sir, I paid for these boots' and had not one wisp of 'I don't have the cash to front for these, but yeah, here's my body'.

She found something acceptable, and let that smile, small as it was, take a home on her lips.

"Here, try this instead. If you are going to be slumming it," fuck, that wasn't what, "I mean, not that you are...I mean that people don't tend to order mojitos here," she finally finished. Mika was already getting annoyed at herself both for pursuing this interaction in the first place, and for her sudden inability to use the english language in a contextually appropriate manner.

She nervously smoothed down her skirt, and plucked at a strand of her fishnets.

 

[Pywakit]

Amanda

Amanda looked at the drink now sitting before her, then up at the other woman, who despite her previous look of cold confidence seemed suddenly to be fumbling for what to say. It was strangely cute to see.

She smiled back at the other woman . "That obvious, huh?" she asked, then slid the drink over in front of her. "Only... I'd say that it's more of a case of impulsive exploration more than a deliberate attempt to "slum it." She gave it a whiff and wrinkled her nose, then with a small shrug, she picked the shot and downed it in one swift gulp.

The drink hit her like a punch. Her eyes bulged, and for a moment she felt like she was going to spit the stuff out. She slapped the top of the bar with a palm, then gasped for air once she realized she'd swallowed it all.

Eyes still wide, she looked back at the other woman. "Holy shit... you don't mess around, do you?" Amanda was smacking her lips involuntarily now... not out of appreciation for the flavor, but more as a way to try to force that same weird flavor out of her mouth by pushing her tongue around, inadvertently flashing her tongue stud as she did so.

"Do people actually drink that stuff on purpose?" She giggled a little, feeling the warmth of the alcohol blooming inside her tummy. Yet she'd not had enough to completely squash her nervousness, and as a result, the fingers of her left hand began to dance where it sat on her lap, wriggling and tapping softly against her thigh in a partially subconscious act. Everyone used magic in a slightly different way; for Amanda, the key lay in her fingers. When she worked magical spells, she manipulated the invisible lines of energy with her fingers almost as if weaving the magic into the effect she desired until it was ready to be released and to do its thing. As a side effect, when she got nervous, her fingers idly twitched like this—not quite casting a spell (for that would require her concentration and will as well), but to an eye trained to notice the technique, it would certainly reveal more about her secret talents than she might wish known.

Yet another reason why she was on the shit list with the Order. She gave a short, exasperated huff and made a fist to stop the wriggling of her fingers, then reached up to toy with her now empty shot glass on the bar counter top, if only to give her busy fingers something to do.

 

[Vail_Indigo]

Mika laughed, a sound she hadn't heard in a while. Not this kind of laugh, at least.
"Well, I like it, but I'm lead to believe that most people tend to drink it as a challenge, or a dare. Its not very pleasant, I'd imagine, if you don't like black licorice. But if you do...yummmmmm!"
There was a droplet at the corner of the other girl's mouth. And Mika didn't quite understand the urge she had to lick it up.
"OK, no more booze for you or you'll end up making an idiot out of yourself and missing out on business," she scolded herself silently.
She'd inched closer to Amanda while not paying attention.
"I'm Mika," she said, annoyed at how shy she was suddenly feeling. As she turned to smile the introduction, something caught her eye. Just a flash of movement. Something she thought she should have recognized, like an actor who's name you can't remember.
"What was that? What did I miss?" scrambled through her brain, "Something, something important."

 

[Pywakit]

Amanda

Amanda's tongue darted out finally to lick away the licorice-flavored dollop that she suddenly realized had been perched there, and she winced again at the strong, almost overwhelming flavor.

"Yeah... never really been a fan of black licorice, really. I've always preferred the red stuff... even though I'm not really sure what flavor it's trying to be. Strawberry, maybe? Or raspberry? No, wait... can't be raspberry, since the candy makers always seem to decide that raspberry candy needs to be blue. Which is kind of weird, don't you think? I mean... raspberries are red!" She paused for a moment to catch her breath, then giggled again.

"Wow... I'm sorry about that. Normally I'm not that chatty. Just been a stressful week for me is all, and it feels nice to finally be able to unwind a little bit." She held out her hand in greeting. "I'm Amanda, by the way. Pleasure to meet you, Mika!"

Amanda noticed then how the bartender kept sneaking glances at the two of them. She was about to say something to Mika when she realized that those glances weren't really for the both of them as much as they were at them... AT Mika, in particular. And they weren't glances of interest nearly as much as... what... Fear. That was it. For some weird reason, the bartender seemed to be afraid of Mika.

That was interesting.

Amanda did her best to ignore the bartender for now, turning her attention fully back to Mika.

"So, Mika," she said. "Tell me... is there anything else I need to watch out for that might give away the fact that I'm 'slumming it' down here?" Her question had a playful lilt to it; she was honestly eager to find out what Mika thought about her for some reason.

 

[Vail_Indigo]

Mika found herself smiling much more than she would usually allow herself. There was just something so unreasonably disarming about Amanda, something just so welcoming.

A couple of the voices in Mika's head were whispering things like 'be careful' and 'you know what happens next'. Others were more encouraging and coaxing.

"What you have to remember about candy is that it all tastes vaguely the same. High fructose corn syrup. If thats a taste. Oh but what a taste!" Mika made a playful purring sound.

"Lets see, well, to be honest, if looks like you just came from an interview. Pretty skirts and blouses, not normally what we get around here," she teased, and then, reaching up to give a playful yank on one of the stripes of brightly colored hair sprouting wildly from Amanda's head,"but I get the feeling thats not normally how you look either. Um...punk or goth? Punky goth or gothic punk?"

Laughing, Mika signaled the bartender for another round.

Her knee touched Amanda's. The soft sound of fishnet scraping silk.

She shivered, and hoped she could stop babbling.
She wondered if this is how normal girls felt in high school.

 

[Pywakit]

Amanda

Amanda's cheerful expression soured. Mika's perceptive guess had brought her back to reality.

"Yeah... good eye. I did indeed have a job interview earlier today. And I'm pretty sure it didn't go well," she added. She reached out and picked up her shot glass, now refilled, and downed the potent booze again, this time almost with an air of defiance against her luck. She squeezed her eyes shut against the flavor and the heat, then slapped the bar again, gasped, and turned to face Mika. Her face was flushed now, and her smile had returned.

"But you know what? Fuck it. Job market might be in the shitter these days, but tonight? I don't want to even think about it. The interview's done with. They'll call me in a few days to probably let me know they're going with 'someone more qualified.' Whether or not that actually means 'someone less scary looking,' I don't really care. I don't wanna work somewhere that I'm not allowed to be who the hell I really am."

She grinned wider. "You're right, Mika. This sure as hell isn't how I normally dress. I feel like some sort of export from the 50s, lost in time or something like that. To tell the truth, I much prefer what you're wearing. And you wear it well, I might add."

Her eyes widened as she realized she said that last bit out loud, and then she giggled again. "Well, fuck it. It's true. You look fucking hot in that outfit."

The booze had obviously gotten to Amanda. Goth girl or not... she wasn't a big drinker, and a Mojito and two shots of Jaggermeister, all within about a 5 minute span, was something of a record for her.

 

[Vail_Indigo]

Mika laughed again. She was aware she was doing that a great deal, much more than usual.

It felt good.

“Thanks! I like to think I can clean up ok, sometimes. Should I be hurt you aren’t wearing something better for our first date?”

She blushed deeply.

“I...I mean, you know, just teasing,” she stammered.

It wasn’t until that moment that she realized how close her and Amanda had moved. She could smell the alcohol on the girl’s breath, and the scent of soap or a light body oil.

And they were holding hands. Lightly. Mika’s fingers caressing along Amanda’s, just wandering. She hadn’t realized that.

This wasn’t her.

She didn’t flirt.
She didn’t blush.
She didn’t pick up girls (or boys for that matter).
She didn’t care about these things.

But something in her mind kept telling her this girl was important, was everything, was exactly who she needed.

Mika had a crush.

She would have gotten on her knees and kissed the girl’s ankle right here and now, if Amanda had so much as asked.

She’d have bent her over the bar and stuck her tongue deep inside her ass, if Amanda had whispered that desire.

She’d have been sweet and innocent, or dirty and naughty.

Anything to keep the girl close.
She just knew.
Not why.
Just knew.

 

[Pywakit]

Amanda

Amanda blinked. Then blinked again. Then realized just how quickly the drinks she'd gulped down had gone to her head. Because only now was she comprehending the fact that this beautiful woman she'd only just met was hitting on her. Hard.

A sudden surge of delight and excitement bloomed in her belly, rising up into her chest to make her heart pound and her breath stop for a moment. She looked down at where their hands were touching, where Mika's knee was still lightly brushing fishnet against her own leg, then up at Mika's face. She was more than beautiful, Amanda realized. And the way she was blushing only enhanced that beauty.

She reached out with her other hand and placed her fingers on top of Mika's, carressing them, letting her know that the touch was far from an intrusion. That it was welcome. When Amanda spoke, her voice was quieter. Still playful... still carrying with it the slightest of slurs from her growing intoxication... but also serious.

"I wasn't looking for a date when I came in here, of course. If I had been, I would have dressed for it. None of this silly corporate crap. I'd wear something that would catch the eye, that I felt would make me worth being looked at. Certainly something with more... ummm... personality, I guess."

She smiled.

"So if you don't mind, I'd rather not call this our first date. Because I want our first date to be one where you'd not be able to take your eyes off me."

They were silent for a moment. Amanda cleared her throat.

"So what do you say, Mika? Wanna go out on a date? A real date? Cause if you do, I'm afraid I need to scurry on home and get dressed quick!"

 

[Vail_Indigo]

The voices in her head sang ‘YES” at Amanda’s suggestion, and Mika’s entire body felt the other girl’s touch, and her heart raced and stomach did flip-flops and wait I don’t know and its happening so fast and how did I get here and who is she why am I doing this I don’t do this she couldn’t like me I’m a drug dealer and obssessed with this thing I can’t have and why is she smiling at me and my face feels hot and she likes me and how can that happen and and and...

Mika’s fingers laced with Amanda’s, and that seemed very, very real to her, something she could hold onto through the confusion. From there, she was able to bring herself a bit more under control, though she was still more than a little confused.

“I’ve never...I mean...no one has ever...is this...god I sound like a retard,” Mika whispered as she dropped her head down. She knew, inside, that this girl was important. Important in some way that hadn’t revealed itself yet, maybe. She didn’t understand this feeling, but she couldn’t deny it.

Then, softly, she whispered, “If I say yes, and you run out to go home...do you promise, absolutely promise that you’ll come back?”

Which was the most open and vulnerable Mika had let herself be in years.

She raised her head, her eyes meeting Amanda’s and feeling that this had gone from playful to serious in the blink of the other girl’s beautiful eyes and it didn’t matter, the only thing that mattered was Amanda’s answer.

 

[Pywakit]

Amanda

Amanda squeezed Mika's fingers back after she laced them through her own, enjoying the human contact. She could tell how tough this apparently was for Mika. The difference in the woman's attitude and posture from when she'd first set Amanda up with a tougher drink was startling... her demure, almost bashful stance seemed so strangely out of place with her self-assure appearance and outfit, but not in a way that was unflattering. If anything, it made Mika look all the more incredible.

Amanda took a deep breath, then gave Mika's hand another squeeze.

"If you say yes, and I get to run home and put on some real clothes, do you promise to be here waiting for me when I get back? Because I'm serious, Mika. It's been a really shitty day... week... well, month for me. And for whatever reason, talking to you feels like the best thing that's happened to me in a long, long time."

She gave one last squeeze, then pulled her hand away and stood up, grabbing her bag and squaring her shoulders.

"It's a deal, then? You'll wait here for me? I just live about a five minute walk up the hill. Give me time to get home, get changed, and get back here; let's say, 20 minutes? Or half an hour? I'll be back sooner than that if I can. And you can take that time to decide where it is you want to take me, hmm?"

She waved, turned to leave, then stopped at the door, not really caring that the others in the bar were watching them now.

"30 minutes tops. I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't go anywhere, Mika!"

And with that, she left the bar. And started running for home, eager to make good on her promise to return.

 

[Vail_Indigo]

“What the hell just happened,” popped from Mika’s lips the moment Amanda vanished through the door.

The bartender opened his mouth as if to make some salacious remark, but shut it quickly at a glance from the girl.

“What the fuck. Who the hell is she and why am I even talking to her? And a date? A fucking DATE??? I don’t even know what to do on a date. I don’t go on dates! And why do I care? I should just get up and leave right now and let this weird personality blip be forgotten,” Mika’s inner voice scolded.

“But she did seem kind of nice. And she’s getting dressed for me and no one ever does fuck all for me and it feels kinda nice and maybe she’ll buy me some popcorn.”

That left her with one problem: what does one do while waiting for a girl to come back? Especially when there’s every reason to believe she just isn’t coming back at all?

Mika considered ordering another drink. She could certainly hold her alcohol, but decided that if she got too buzzed things might get ugly.
She suddenly noticed that she’d been staring at her own fingers for several minutes. The fingers that had caressed Amanda’s. They tingled, they felt light and then heavy, as if moving through warm water.
A quick run-down of the day’s events confirmed that she hadn’t taken any substances out of the norm, and she hadn’t had all that much to drink.

“Is this what you feel like when you..well...whatever the hell this is tonight?” she asked herself.

Her thoughts began spinning, should she run home too and change? Get some mouthwash or something? Makeup? Where could she get any of these things in time anyways?
She wanted to pace.
She wanted to jump around.
She wanted to do ANYTHING but sit on the bar stool and she simply couldn’t come up with any way to do anything else that didn’t make her seem like more of a freak than normal. And, chances are, thats right when Amanda would return, she knew.

“God damnit. I’m such a...girl,” she groan under her breath.

She waited.

 

[Pywakit]

Amanda

Amanda made it home in record time, running the whole way. She was out of breath by the time she crashed into her small apartment, yet she was giggling too. This day had started out so terrible, with the highlight being a stressful interview for a job she wasn't even sure she wanted, and it had turned into something unexpected. She'd met someone. That just didn't happen to Amanda.

She took a speed shower, made sure her hair was looking good, put her favorite silver earrings in, then paused and said, "Why not?" and quickly slipped her silver barbell nipple rings into place. She hadn't worn them for a weeks, and they pinched a bit as she forced them in place, but a quick wiggle of her fingers and a tiny burst of healing magic and the pain vanished instantly, allowing the piercings to slide into her tender nipples like they'd always belonged there.

She threw on clean clothes. First, her favorite pair of sexy black underwear (thong panties and a strapless black bra), because you never know. Following this came her favorite black leather skirt, also a strapless affair with lacy black, white, and red ribbons along the chest and along the lower hem that hung down to her thighs. She tugged on a pair of black stockings, then a pair of knee-high black leather platform boots and a matching pair of black leather fingerless gloves. She sized herself up in the mirror again and nodded in approval.

Then, grabbing a black coat lined with fake fir, she headed back out into the cold. The jacket kept her bare shoulders warm, but did little to keep her thighs warm between the lower edge of her skirt and the upper edge of her boots, but she knew she wouldn't be out for long.

She made it back to the bar in 24 minutes, paused for a minute outside to catch her breath, then slipped out of her coat so that Mika's first sight of her would be of her body, not her coat, and slipped into the bar, the coat hung over one arm as she scanned the room for her new friend.