[Marni] She wasn’t sure where to go. She’d searched everywhere, Indira had too, and they found nothing. No trace, nothing. She’d wandered for hours, and was startled to find herself in front of Ray’s place. A moment’s consideration, and she ducked away into the alley, slipped into the umbra, and made her way through the building that way.
All the way up, to the floor with the pool, to the lockerrooms that are thankfully empty. It’s late, most people are in bed, and she pops into the bathroom with the sensation of displaced air, of something supernatural. She makes her way to the pool, and strips down to her panties and bra, leaving her clothing and backpack in a pile on deck, as she dives cleanly into the water and starts swimming laps.
Back and forth and back and forth.
Tirelessly.
Endlessly.
[Ray Ostermann] She swims endlessly and she almost might not hear the door to the change room open, or the padding of feet out onto the pool rooms tiled floor. If she does however, she might be surprised to see Ray, he is certainly surprised to see her there, swimming back and forth. From the look of him, in his black trunks, he had the same plan.
Despite the pleasant surprise on his face at seeing the woman almost naked in his pool, he carries with him the look of a man who has had a slightly rough night, something unpleasant had befallen him, but as he seemed intact, it obviously wasn’t physical.
“Marni?” He calls, just making sure its her.
[Marni] She doesn’t hear him come in, doesn’t hear him at all until he calls for her, and she stops, dead in the water and spins, shaking the water from her eyes, sliding her hand back through her curls as she studies him. She tips her head, slightly as she treads water, and then just nods.
“Yeah.”
Something’s wrong.
Her smile is missing….
[Ray Ostermann] This wasn’t the Marni he knew, the Marni he knew would crack a joke, make a lewd reference, demand that he lost the trunks and join her. His own problems are briefly forgotten as he pads along to the point closest to her and sits down on the edge of the pool. His legs dangling into the water.
“Is everything alright?”
Its all he can think to say, he hadn’t been prepared for this, he wasn’t on, he was just confused at this moment.
[Marni] She treads water for a few more moments, watching as he settles to sit on the edge of the pool, dangling his legs into the water. She lets herself slide underwater again, until her feet touch the bottom, knees bend, and propel her toward the side, again. She surfaces a couple of feet from him, and swims the rest of the way, her fingers sliding along his calves, up over his knees until she can simply lay her head against his thigh with a soft sigh.
“No.”
It’s her moon tonight, the pull of the darkened sky causing her rage to feel that much closer to the surface, riding just under her skin. She almost burns to the touch, even in relative coolness of the water lapping against her skin.
“Max is gone. Disappeared. I can’t…” A breath, and she closes her eyes, and sighs softly. “I can’t find him.”
[Ray Ostermann] Ray’s eyes widen at her touch, it is the first time he has felt her rage so keenly but he does not recoil, its obvious she needs comfort now, and he would not turn away from her. He tentatively rests a hand on her head, hand sitting ontop of wet hair before he speaks.
“I’m sorry Marni i don’t know who Max is did something happen? Do you know?”
[Marni] “My Alpha.”
Her rage, so small when compared to others, is so very real tonight, here, though she controls it easily enough, even upset.
“I…don’t know. I don’t think he’s d…” She swallows. She can’t say it. She tucks her head against his hip, his belly, sliding her arms around his waist and letting herself simply float there between his thighs.
“..but he’s gone. Can’t feel him. Totem snapped.”
[Ray Ostermann] He doesn’t know the particulars, or even how thats all supposed to work. But he understand the severity in her voice, he understands the implications especially in the fact that she can’t stand to say the word ‘dead’. He would have slid into the water to hug her. But the way she is holding him doesn’t really allow for it. Though he does try, gently letting her know that he means to slip into the water.
“What other reason could there be for this to happen?”
He asks softly, but in the quiet calm of the pool room, with only the sound of the water lapping at the walls…his voice is loud.
[Marni] He moves slightly, wanting to hug her, and after a moment she pushes back a little so that he can, so that he can slide into the water and be the strength she needs at the moment.
She runs her fingers through her curls, tangled as they are, and shakes her head. “He’s… gone. Lost maybe, stuck in the umbra… he was on patrol, and… just.. there was a moment when he was there, than he was… not.”
[Ray Ostermann] He hugs her close, floating there beside her as the water laps around their bodies. He remains silent for a moment, just letting her feel his presence, his warmth, his concern before he speaks.
“Then you will have to move on….if theres nothing that can be done.” He just says it bluntly, because there is nothing else to say, honied words only work so well.
[Marni] She curls close to him, sliding her arms around his neck and burying her face against his neck, sighing softly as she trembles against him. “I know.”
It doesn’t make it any easier, which was why she was here – to exhaust herself into acceptance, into knowing there was nothing she could do, nothing that can be done. She searched everywhere. THere’s nothing more she can do, but hope somewhere, deep within.
She pulls back finally, just a touch, so that she can look up at him… tracing her fingertips along his jaw – and changes the subject. “You ok?”
[Ray Ostermann] He laughs at her question, like his troubles were small pathetic things in comparison to hers and he shakes his head. “I’m fine, just having some trouble with a fellow tribesman…he has the uncanny ability to get under my skin…and not in the wonderful way you do..” The last part is said smoothly, softly as he brings a hand up to her cheek and gently caresses it.
“Don’t worry about my problem, its a small thing.”
[Marni] She tips her head, slightly. “Anything I can do?”
And then he so smoothly suggests that she gets under his skin, wonderfully, and she leans into his hand with a little grin. Not the full force of her usual knowing little smile, but a start…
“See, I knew coming here was a good idea…”
[Ray Ostermann] He smiles down at her now, his lips parting to reveal those dazzling white teeth as he leans in to give her a quick encouraging kiss before pulling back to speak.
“Don’t worry about me, if it becomes a real problem I won’t hesitate to ask.” He pauses a beat. “As to your idea’s…you do always have the very best of them.”
Its his turn to be incorrigible, almost shameless as he does his very best to cheer her up. He waggles his eyebrows at her, and almost grins lewdly as he says the last part. “Like swimming in my pool just when I needed you to.”
[Marni] “Ok.” She lets him off the hook, letting her concern slide away with that encouraging kiss, and his smile. She chuckle softly, her fingers sliding up into his hair as he turns into a goofball, and she can’t help but…
…shove him under water, dunking him and then sliding away with a good-natured splash and laughter, swimming away with strong strokes, clearly at home in the water, and just as clearly daring hm to come after her… letting them both forget for a while.
[Ray Ostermann] He sputters and gasps for air when he surfaces. “Marni!” He calls, it sounds like he might be angry, but the possibility is discarded as he laughs and gives chase.
“Think you can outrun me do you? You don’t have far to run!” He calls before he starts to kick and swim like someone just as comfortable in the water as she is, the pool being his chosen form of exercise. He chases her down, and almost manages to grab one of her legs, but she slips away.
[Marni] She laughs when he sputters her name. He’s not the first to yell that at her – the last was a certain Modi who dared say he was the only real garou let, because he’s a raciest asshole. He got his in the form of several rats chasing him into a waterhole to hide. At least this time, it’s all in fun…
She squirms away from him, kicking up some water into his face with a chuckle, before she dives under water, and backtracks in order to sneak around behind him.. surfacing and attempting to dunk him once more..
[Ray Ostermann] And it works, he’s dunked again, but this time he doesn’t surface immediately, instead she feels his hands wrap around her waist and hold tight…she might have dunked him, but he caught her. When he surfaces he’s grinning wide.
“Gotcha. What are you going to do now huh?” He asks before dunking her this time, giving just as good as he took. She can hear his laugh as shes dunked, and then pulled back up by his hands still around her waist.
[Marni] She squeals as she’s dunked again, caught by his hands on her waist and lifted once more. His question sounds like a dare, and she grins and wraps her legs around his waist, locking her ankles at the small of his back, before she slides her hands between them, and under his shorts.
“What am I gonna do? Cheat, of course. That’s my moon in the sky….” and her fingers find his length, sliding in an eager caress destined to make him forget about dunking her again…
[Ray Ostermann] There is a laugh as she slips her hands beneath his shorts, but a moan and a shiver that runs through his body as she begins to caress his member. He almost forgets to keep kicking for a moment, both of them sinking slightly before he remembers to keep going. Its harder to do such things in the deep end without sinking to the bottom of the pool afterall.
He breaths deep before shaking his head. “Your ruthless, utterly…utterly ruthless.”
[Marni] “I know.” She just grins at him, and then?
Slides her hands away from him to his shoulders, unlocks her ankles and promptly dunks him once more, swimming strongly for the shallow end, where they won’t drown if he decides to repay that sneaky, ruthless favor… her laughter reverberating off the water, echoing in the room….
[Ray Ostermann] He swears in good humor as he gives chase, following her towards the shallow end. His cares forgotten for now, and hopefully her’s forgotten as well. He catches her just as she reaches the shallow end and grabs at her. She can’t get away from him now, now that he can plant his feet on the bottom.
Here he gets ruthless, and downright dastardly as he holds her with one arm, and tickles her with the other.
[Marni] He gives chase, and catches her as well, and she squirms around in a playful panic, not really trying to get away. He is able to brace himself, hold on to her and then… then…
“HEY! NO! AHH! no tickling! That’s… that’s not FAIR!” She’s breathless and squealing and laughing all at once as she squirms against him. She’s stronger than him, they both know it, but she is not actively trying to get away. There’s a certain submission in allowing him this control, and more importantly, laughter and fun, which is what they both need.
Here, here its just her, and him, and the water, and skin, and touch and for now? For now that’s enough…
[Ray Ostermann] He doesn’t let up, not immediately, he has to show her that he’s willing to go just as far as she is, break or bend the rules if he has too. He tickles along her ribs enjoying her squirming but before long he stops, allowing her to rest.
“Do you give? Give and I won’t have to go for your feet.”
He chuckles, and they can both feel the tension and the sadness ebb away, draining into the pool and away from them. They both needed this, its good for them, and they both know it.
[Marni] “YES YES YES I GIVE I GIVE!” She’s laughing even as she yells it out, trying to squirm away but not really, really that hard, as she’s enjoying the way he’s so playful with her- he’s not frightened, he’s not worried that she’s going to snap.
He stops and she slides her arm around his neck again, and presses close, tucking her head against his shoulder, kissing and biting along his neck with a little smile.
“Question is – now what are you gonna do with me…?”
[Ray Ostermann] He shivers as she does so, and before she knows it he’s pulling her up out of the water, hoping she will wrap her legs around him as he heads for the stairs. “I was thinking I’d take you downstairs and see what I can do about the rest of these clothes.”
He says with a mischievous grin as he slowly steps up and out of the pool. He considers for a moment, before heading in the direction opposite the exit. He’s taking her to the far corner…where the hot tub sits, churning and bubbling, waiting for someone to use it. “Or maybe…..”
[Marni] He hopes and she does exactly what he wishes. He lifts her and she wraps her legs around him again, and continues to tease lips and teeth across his neck, her fingers combing through his hair at the nape of his neck.
She starts to protest going downstairs without grabbing her pack first, but then he changes direction and she lifts her head to peek and check the direction they’re headed, and letting loose a soft anticipatory moan “Oooooh the hot tub… you did promise me a visit to the hot tub last time before we got… distracted…”
[Ray Ostermann] “Well…Marni, this is the hot tub. Hot tub, this is Marni.” He says as if he were introducing two friends of his to each other for the first time as he steps down in, she can feel the heat coming off of it, and as he slides in, its warm, wonderfully warm. Where the pool was just warm this tub was luxurious they sank up to the top of their chests, everything else dissapearing below the the bubbling surface before he lowered himself into one of the chairs with a contented sigh.
“I keep my promises.”
[Marni] “Oooooooooh delighted to make our acquaintance, Mr. Hot Tub…” They sink beneath the bubbles, she unlocks her legs from around his waist in order to settle straddled across his thighs instead, laying her head against his shoulder with a low, soft man… content.
“You do, you do.” Keep his promises, that is. She lifts her head to look at him, her eyes dark, even darker than before, testament of the hidden moon outside. The sparkle is back, though – not quite full force, but definitely back as she teases “So tell me, Mr. Ostermann, what have you been up too the last couple days? Slay any business dragons? Seduce any Shadow Ladies?”
[Ray Ostermann] Ray leans back and rests his head against the pillow built into the hot tub and regards her, a soft smile played across his face as he watches her. He wasn’t going to lie, so he told her. “No dragons, and no shadow ladies, but there was this Fianna…and a night cruise ship.”
He says it non-chalantly but he watches her for her reaction, he still isn’t sure JUST how she would react, you never did know with women, they were all different and all took it different ways, regardless of what they might say.
[Marni] He leans back, and she settles into his lap like a contented cat, curling her hips against his, playfully as she listens. She arches a brow slightly as he mentions a Fianna, and a night cruise ship. There’s no spark of jealousy, if that’s what he expects, nor is there anything but curiosity dancing across her face.
“A night cruise ship… sounds deliciously decadent. Is this Fianna going to steal away my pool time?” It’s said playfully, as she leans forward to capture his lips with her own, briefly “Do I need to watch my back now for raging redheads?”
[Ray Ostermann] He laughs at her comments, the laugh becoming more vibrant at the mention of red heads before he shakes his head. “I wouldn’t worry, for start’s shes no redhead.”
He doesnt get the chance to say anymore as her lips meet his, he kisses her softly, drawing her down a little more onto him to deepen the kiss ever so slightly, before breaking it.
“Were having fun, just like you and I, I made myself abundantly clear that if someone tries to claim me before Im ready, it will not be pleasant.”
[Marni] “Good. I would hate to be kicked out of your pool so soon…” She smiles and claims his lips again, kissing him deeply, then sitting up, in mock surprise.
“There are Fianna that AREN’T redheads?! Are you sure? Did the carpet match the drapes?”
And with a devilish grin, she reaches behind her and slides her fingers under the strap of her bra, before flipping the hooks so that it comes off, and she tosses the bra off to the deck with a wink. “I do believe you said something about getting rid of the rest of these clothes…”
[Ray Ostermann] “Oh they do…i checked very closely. Im thorough like that.” He says teasing her back, his head inclining to the side as he watches her free her breasts, a lovely site that he obviously approves of. He shows it by leaning forward and pressing his lips to one nipple tongue flicking out to savor and remember the taste of her wet flesh.
His hands are busy working away at her panties, pushing them down and working to free her of their unnecessary confines he gets them down her thighs, but without shredding them he is forced to wait for her to remove them the rest of the way.
[Marni] She laughs at that, nodding. “You are very thouruoooo…”
It trails into a soft moan, content and delighted as he teases a nipple to hardness with teasing tongue… she squirms in his lap only to help his insistent hands rid her of those panties that only get in the way. She settles back into his lap, hips pressing against him, curling against the only fabric that separates them now, her nails teasing along his chest and sides, before she pushes his shorts down, playfully…
“your turn..”
[paused]