Under water and out of breath/Riding the crest of the wave

[maris_ocean]

Characters: Maris, and Zebediah
Rating: PG
Time Period: Modern
Location: the hallways
Relative Date: Shortly after this thread
Status: Open, PM to join

Comments

[purple_manners]

What WAS it about this woman? A-List celebrities would sink millions of dollars and years of time into therapy sessions designed to produce an eighth of the contentedment and peace he was trying to give away for free. Some people just don't know how to accept happiness, he reflected to himself inwardly. But perhaps that was part of the issue.

"I want you to forget, for the time being, whatever it is that's preventing you from fully enjoying this," he said, keeping all but his hands distant from her for the moment. He spoke with his most practiced soothing and comforting voice, the one that he employed when dealing with those most frenzied and out of control. It was all a crap shoot with this woman, but who knew? It was worth a shot. His hands reached out for her hair again; at least he knew she was allowing herself to enjoy that much, he thought, as he felt the strands sliding along beneath his fingertips again.

"And tell me why all of the people tricked into coming here don't simply leave. Is it attack helicopters? Gun towers?" He stopped himself before he blathered on any further with pointless speculation. The sooner he shut up was the sooner he'd have his response from her. Self-indulgence only takes one so far, sometimes.

[maris_ocean]

There was something she should remember, but it was slipping her mind when she tried to grasp it, and Maris frowned a moment before shaking her head. It'd come back, as things always did, even if at an inconvenient time. Or maybe something less inconvenient, like after Zebediah left.

"Mr. Stark mentioned a barrier that knocks everyone out as they approach it, and disables technology that should help them get out. I don't know if it actually exists from empirical evidence, however, as I haven't been particularly inclined to test the theory. That, and apparently there are killer unicorns in the surrounding landscape, though I've yet to meet those either."

There was something else, as well, but she couldn't for the life of her remember what.

[purple_manners]

"Killer unicorns?" He exclaimed, almost laughing out loud, "are you serious? No, of course you're serious. Never mind. Have you seen them for yourself, or are you just repeating something someone told you? Because really? I think that someone might have been pulling your leg."

He slid his chair closer to her, curious to see if she was feeling any less averse to his proximity, any more open to the pleasure the stroking of his hands was obviously bringing her. He placed both of his hands atop her head, and gave two long, luxurious strokes, one down the back of her head and down her neck, stopping only at the collar of her shirt, while the other followed the contours of her cheek and jaw.

[maris_ocean]

"I've been told about the unicorns by two different people, and while they might both be lying, I don't see a reason why both of them would feel it necessary to tell me the same fiction." Maris gave Zebediah a mildly irritated look before letting herself relax again, if only for a moment. The hand at the back of her neck made her tense, and shift away, moving her chair a bit further from him. The sense of comfort only let her relax so far before it became pointless to her with someone else in the room.

[purple_manners]

"Forceilds and unicorns, huh?" He mused, tapping his chin with the tip of his index finger thoughtfully. "Sounds like someone is planning on having a laugh at our expense." He stood up and casually strolled towards her, peering around the room as he did so. "So what's the schtick here? Hidden cameras? That kind of thing? Seems like someone's looking for us to put on a show for them." There was something within him that was tempted to indulge them, as much for his own amusement as theirs. Ater all, it didn't seem like he had much of a chance of fighting back until he had drawn them out a bit.

Absently placing his hand upon the top of her head and drawing it down across her face - she seemed not to mind that as much for some reason - he asked her "Who are the craziest people you've met here... prior to today?"