[tms] 34.3.a - tyler durden quote
It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.
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Something was wrong with her. Something had to be wrong with her.
Seated at the bar, Rose barely heard the music pulsing through the air, thick as soup and heavy as a Santa Ana wind. The club was warm, but she was just chilly enough to be uncomfortable, goosebumps raised on her bare arms as she swallowed tears back yet again. The drink in front of her was untouched, but she couldn’t stop staring at it.
She was ten years sober. Ten years of hard work, dedication, and so much joy. And all of it because of Brian. Brian, who loved her despite the fact that she was a little too hippy and painfully awkward when it came to dating. Stick her in a club and she could dance all night, put her in a room with friends and she was the life of the party…stick her at a table with a man she could spend her life with, and she went mute.
She thought Brian was better than that. She thought he could get past it all…then the phone rang.
“Is Brian there?” The voice was feminine, sultry.
“Who is this?”
Silence…then a click as the line went dead. She knew the sound of an affair when she heard one, God knew she’d been the other woman enough times before Brian…
Now she was back in the club, back where the music could make her forget, and yet she still hadn’t picked up the martini. She was close, though, damn close…and why was it so cold? She was freezing.
The booze could help her warm up.
Her hand was moving of its own accord, swift and sure to grab the glass when a hand shot out to stop her. The fingers were long, but not overly delicate, and supremely masculine, attached to an arm built by a female God and a wrist with two sets of handcuffs tattooed in the boldest ink she’d ever seen…
Rose’s eyes traveled up the arm to the man at her side. Broad shoulders, wild black hair and sensual lips just begging to be kissed…and dark eyes, endlessly deep, narrowing the world to include just him and her.
“Dance with me.”
She was on her feet somehow, not sure how she got there. His body nearly touched hers, intimate and easy. She was warm again, deliciously warm and flush as the music slowly filled her ears again. Funny how she could hear him so well over the din, strange and yet it made perfect sense.
Nodding, she let him lead her onto the dance floor. It was a fast-paced tune, but he swayed with her in an easy, gentle rhythm. Arms wrapped around her waist, held her lightly but intimate, unafraid. His eyes never left her face, never expanded beyond the world that two people created.
“Tell me.”
She was talking just like that, barely aware of what she was saying. He listened, nodded, and responded. He took her in, drank her down, moved with the music like his pulse…like her pulse. He was in her and around her…and she was everything. For a song, for a split second, she knew no other reality save for the one where she was wholly herself, and beautiful for it.
It ended too soon, nearly shattering when she realized the song was almost over. His hands came to rest on her shoulders, though, held the new version of her reality together as he slowly circled around her. Rose couldn’t move her feet, could barely breathe as one of the stranger’s hands came to rest over her heart, his lips nearly touching her cheek.
“He’s waiting for you.”
The whisper rippled over her the way the cold had, and somehow she felt like a light had come on though the club remained dim and ambient. Her eyes fell shut as the Santa Ana blew through her again, sweeping the glittering cover off her pain again. The tundra was now a desert, leaving her stranded alone in the middle of the heat…save for him.
Dry and quiet, she opened her eyes to find that he was gone.
Alone in the middle of the dance floor, she felt suddenly awkward and embarrassed until she caught sight of herself in a piece of smoked glass and wondered who the alluring, wanton vixen across the room was. Nothing had changed, she was no prettier or slimmer for her trouble, she hadn’t been made over or transformed by some magical spell. Her eyes had dried, maybe, and looked less bloodshot after her well-deserved crying jag…
The woman in the glass was flush with life and desire. She was ready for whatever the world had to offer her, steeped in her pain and invested in her own healing. The woman in the glass had been hurt just as badly as Rose had been, but she was already destroying the monster on her back by pulling the world back around her again.
And with a start, she realized that not only was she, in fact, that same woman…but three different guys on the floor around her were staring. Hard.
She deserved better than to be the other woman again, deserved more in life than just another drink.
Spinning in a slow circle, she marveled at the jealous stares from some of the women as she settled on one man, just about her age with dark, unruly curls and eyes that flashed green under the lights.
Walking over, she extended her hand the way he had, drowning in the thrill of possibility as she smiled at him.
“Dance with me.”
The man smiled broadly, eagerly accepting her hand to lead her over to a free space for the next song.
He’s waiting for you.
As she wrapped her arms around his neck to sway with the beat, the Santa Ana blew to warm her soul once again.
And in the shadows, a dark figure lounged just out of sight with a smile on his face, handcuff amulet glittering in the dark. It was only a moment before a familiar, delicate female hand slid over his arm and around his waist from behind.
“What was that, hmm?”
“Just work, babe. Nine to five in the life of an avatar.”
“Hmph…if that’s your nine to five, I’d hate to see what you do for overtime.”
Throwing back his head, Tommy laughed long and hard, his voice blending with the music as he turned and kissed his girl, draping his arm securely across her shoulders as he led the charge for home.
Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 1,096
==========
Something was wrong with her. Something had to be wrong with her.
Seated at the bar, Rose barely heard the music pulsing through the air, thick as soup and heavy as a Santa Ana wind. The club was warm, but she was just chilly enough to be uncomfortable, goosebumps raised on her bare arms as she swallowed tears back yet again. The drink in front of her was untouched, but she couldn’t stop staring at it.
She was ten years sober. Ten years of hard work, dedication, and so much joy. And all of it because of Brian. Brian, who loved her despite the fact that she was a little too hippy and painfully awkward when it came to dating. Stick her in a club and she could dance all night, put her in a room with friends and she was the life of the party…stick her at a table with a man she could spend her life with, and she went mute.
She thought Brian was better than that. She thought he could get past it all…then the phone rang.
“Is Brian there?” The voice was feminine, sultry.
“Who is this?”
Silence…then a click as the line went dead. She knew the sound of an affair when she heard one, God knew she’d been the other woman enough times before Brian…
Now she was back in the club, back where the music could make her forget, and yet she still hadn’t picked up the martini. She was close, though, damn close…and why was it so cold? She was freezing.
The booze could help her warm up.
Her hand was moving of its own accord, swift and sure to grab the glass when a hand shot out to stop her. The fingers were long, but not overly delicate, and supremely masculine, attached to an arm built by a female God and a wrist with two sets of handcuffs tattooed in the boldest ink she’d ever seen…
Rose’s eyes traveled up the arm to the man at her side. Broad shoulders, wild black hair and sensual lips just begging to be kissed…and dark eyes, endlessly deep, narrowing the world to include just him and her.
“Dance with me.”
She was on her feet somehow, not sure how she got there. His body nearly touched hers, intimate and easy. She was warm again, deliciously warm and flush as the music slowly filled her ears again. Funny how she could hear him so well over the din, strange and yet it made perfect sense.
Nodding, she let him lead her onto the dance floor. It was a fast-paced tune, but he swayed with her in an easy, gentle rhythm. Arms wrapped around her waist, held her lightly but intimate, unafraid. His eyes never left her face, never expanded beyond the world that two people created.
“Tell me.”
She was talking just like that, barely aware of what she was saying. He listened, nodded, and responded. He took her in, drank her down, moved with the music like his pulse…like her pulse. He was in her and around her…and she was everything. For a song, for a split second, she knew no other reality save for the one where she was wholly herself, and beautiful for it.
It ended too soon, nearly shattering when she realized the song was almost over. His hands came to rest on her shoulders, though, held the new version of her reality together as he slowly circled around her. Rose couldn’t move her feet, could barely breathe as one of the stranger’s hands came to rest over her heart, his lips nearly touching her cheek.
“He’s waiting for you.”
The whisper rippled over her the way the cold had, and somehow she felt like a light had come on though the club remained dim and ambient. Her eyes fell shut as the Santa Ana blew through her again, sweeping the glittering cover off her pain again. The tundra was now a desert, leaving her stranded alone in the middle of the heat…save for him.
Dry and quiet, she opened her eyes to find that he was gone.
Alone in the middle of the dance floor, she felt suddenly awkward and embarrassed until she caught sight of herself in a piece of smoked glass and wondered who the alluring, wanton vixen across the room was. Nothing had changed, she was no prettier or slimmer for her trouble, she hadn’t been made over or transformed by some magical spell. Her eyes had dried, maybe, and looked less bloodshot after her well-deserved crying jag…
The woman in the glass was flush with life and desire. She was ready for whatever the world had to offer her, steeped in her pain and invested in her own healing. The woman in the glass had been hurt just as badly as Rose had been, but she was already destroying the monster on her back by pulling the world back around her again.
And with a start, she realized that not only was she, in fact, that same woman…but three different guys on the floor around her were staring. Hard.
She deserved better than to be the other woman again, deserved more in life than just another drink.
Spinning in a slow circle, she marveled at the jealous stares from some of the women as she settled on one man, just about her age with dark, unruly curls and eyes that flashed green under the lights.
Walking over, she extended her hand the way he had, drowning in the thrill of possibility as she smiled at him.
“Dance with me.”
The man smiled broadly, eagerly accepting her hand to lead her over to a free space for the next song.
He’s waiting for you.
As she wrapped her arms around his neck to sway with the beat, the Santa Ana blew to warm her soul once again.
And in the shadows, a dark figure lounged just out of sight with a smile on his face, handcuff amulet glittering in the dark. It was only a moment before a familiar, delicate female hand slid over his arm and around his waist from behind.
“What was that, hmm?”
“Just work, babe. Nine to five in the life of an avatar.”
“Hmph…if that’s your nine to five, I’d hate to see what you do for overtime.”
Throwing back his head, Tommy laughed long and hard, his voice blending with the music as he turned and kissed his girl, draping his arm securely across her shoulders as he led the charge for home.
Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 1,096