[OPEN]

[myscarsmiles]

WHO: Kristoph Gavin [myscarsmiles] and hopefully lots of others.
WHAT: Nothing in particular. It's an open thread. Get something to eat, chat with your friends. Go wild. No explosions, please.
WHERE: Un Morso Di Mangiare: A 24-hour diner: Vie Marsala and Via Aspromonte
WHEN: A couple of days after the fashion show: anytime, really! Just say when in the title

Comments

Afternoon

[daughterinexile]

It was not unusually for Mazikeen to drop into the diner. She was, after all, Kristoph's support in all things and the daily maintenance and running of his various establishments fell under the umbrella of her responsibilities. After a brief inspection of the kitchen and pantry, she walked into the dining room to take stock of the afternoon's traffic. Scanning the room quickly, she caught site of a familiar face sitting in a booth tucked away in a far corner. Young and handsome and slightly haggard-looking, Mazikeen studied Kira Sakuya for a moment before approaching. He had that look on his face again, the one that he was known for -- the one that said he was no doubt thinking about that ill-fated love affair of his again -- and it was reason enough to give Mazikeen pause as to whether to say hello.

Eventually, she decided perhaps it was best to save the young man from his brooding. She walked up to him, adding an extra sway to her hips as she did so, and she smiled warmly at him in greeting, her lips half-obscured by the mask that she wore.

"Well well," she said with genuine surprise in her voice. "If it isn't Kira? What a delight."

Re: Afternoon

[guessedmyname]

Kira glanced up from his book at Mazikeen's first words, momentarily startled out of yet another series of sour recollections. He could throw Alexiel out of his brain easily enough so long as there was someone else around, someone that he knew. He relaxed.

"Mazikeen," he said, lips twitching into a slight smirk, and abruptly he stood up in an odd half-remembered gesture of politeness. "How's it going? Been awhile since I've seen you around. Won't you sit down?" The smirk turned into the barest of grins. "I'll treat you to... well, whatever's on the menu if you want."

Afternoon

[daughterinexile]

Mazikeen laughed, quiet and restrained so as not to disturb the other patrons. She bowed her head slightly in appreciation of his attempt at graciousness and gracefully slid into the booth across from where he sat, folding her hands politely in her lap. "Ah, Kira, you are too generous, it should be I who treats you, yes? I am, after all, under Mr. Gavin's employ, and you are a welcome guest in his establishment. Besides," she said, reaching across the table to pick up his abandoned book, "you seemed to be needing a bit of a rescue." She grinned now, widely. "And I could not help but comply."

Re: Afternoon

[guessedmyname]

"What can I say? It's in my nature to be generous." He leaned forward slightly, taking another swallow of already slightly lukewarm coffee before continuing, looking her straight in the face, slight teasing look in his eye. "Only rescue I needed was from the boredom of that book," he finished, knowing she probably knew what a lie that was but not caring. "Not that I don't appreciate it, of course."

[daughterinexile]

Mazikeen raised an eyebrow, but only slightly and without insinuation. She knew he was lying -- but of course, she couldn't blame him -- but she decided it was probably best not to push the subject. Kira was, after all, infamous for his womanizing charm, and despite her lack of ego, Mazikeen enjoyed attention he gave her. His attempts to win her favor with his handsome smile and his natural ease were not lost on her, and she enjoyed the fact that he indulged her, despite the constant presence of her mask.

Reaching out, she offered up the book back to Kira and then, leaning forward, if sharing some deep secret, whispered to him in a hushed voice. "So my dear boy, you should tell me, yes? What horrible debauchery have you been up to, hmm? You look a bit worse for wear, if I may be so blunt."

[guessedmyname]

Kira took the book, finally, setting it down beside him on the table. He was grateful Mazikeen hadn't pressed the issue any-- if she'd wanted him to open up about it, he would have eventually-- he liked and trusted her enough for that-- but probably not without some serious prodding and more than a few snappish comments on his side.

Mazikeen was charming. Lowering his voice conspiringly and putting his hand to his chin in mock contemplation, he answered, "The usual sort of debauchery, of course. Let's just say too many nights in the bars never did anyone any favors and leave it at that, right?" Kira tilted his head and winked.

[daughterinexile]

Mazikeen answered the young man's wink with another ratcheting up of her smile. Careful ones-up-manship, that was the name of the game the two of them played; their flirtations slowly escalating until the point where Kira would undoubtly lose his nerve. She was, after all, the head consigliere's consort, but where most individuals feared to barely tread, Kira was bold and brash and unapologeticly forward. But always up until a certain point, that was.

"You are too old to waste yourself completely on the follies of youth, my dear boy," she said teasingly. "I hope that with all that vice in your system, you're still been able to train." She allowed her hand to drift across the table and with the lightest of touches, reached out to ghost her fingers along the man's arm. "You know how much I hate it when our little sessions are cut short. Sparring is not proper if you can't work up a good sweat, yes? And I doubt Miss Kuchiki can rival my enthusiasm, though please, correct me if I'm wrong."

[guessedmyname]

At the bare touch of Mazikeen's fingers on his arm, Kira stiffened, the corners of his mouth tightened for a moment before he relaxed again. She was playing with him, had to be-- that was simply the way things worked between them. If he knew what was good for him, he would back off right now, concede defeat and return to less innuendo-laced banter.

But the temptation to do otherwise was too strong. Kira couldn't remember her ever being this overt, this forward, and he wondered just how far she intended to take it-- and if she expected him to match her.

"I..." and where was the charmingly nonchalant playboy attitude at a time like this, why was he hesitating now? Kira could think of all the reasons, rattle them off in his mind: this was Mazikeen, not only quite a force to be reckoned with herself, but to top it off, she was Gavin's woman. Gavin's. But all the reasons couldn't manage to hold water with her in front of him like this. "I'm hardly one to speak badly about sparring partners. But," somehow resting his hand on her arm without hesitation, "if you'd prefer a more extended sparring session, you ought to know the offer's always open, Mazi."

[daughterinexile]

She laughed and shifted in her seat with the ease of comfortable satisfaction. Her thick black hair spilled back and off of her bare shoulders as she did so, exposing their marred asymmetry. It had not only been her face that was ruined in the incident so many years ago, but part of her neck and shoulders as well. From underneath her mask the scars branched out like crawling vines, twisting across the skin of her throat down to her collar bone and out across one shoulder.

For the most part, Mazikeen strove to keep these scars concealed, but with Kira, she felt confident that they would have a positive effect. The scars served as a reminder that she was not just another woman, like the ones that he met in the bars and the clubs. She was Mazikeen the Morningstar, and infamous by family standards. Her name proceeded her much like myth or urban legend -- her story a cautionary fairy tale of loyalty and dishonor, that Kira had heard whispered several times before the two had properly met.

She had caught a quick glimpse of Kira's hesitation when she had touched him, and for a moment, Mazikeen wondered if she had been too forward, too soon. He had, after all, called her "Mazi" right away, and Mazikeen knew that his nickname for her was one of the trump cards in his arsenal. It was a stab at familiarity, a small intimacy, and Kira only use it when he was hoping to gain a bit of leverage in their back-and-forth. She allowed her gaze to linger on the fingers that now curled around her arm casually, before finally wandering up to find his eyes again.

"You should not make promises your body cannot deliver on, Kira," she said, giving him a look of teasing admonishment. "You know how much I hate getting my hopes up." She gave a small shrug. "Besides, I'm sure you have plenty of distractions to entertain yourself with rather than spending an evening with me, blade to blade."

[guessedmyname]

He shrugged in return, noncommital. It wasn't like he had expected anything different from her, had he? Part of him was relieved she hadn't flirted any more, but at the same time... was her apparent backing off just another challenge? Or was he overthinking things?

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Kira clasped his hand a little tighter on her arm.

[daughterinexile]

"Perhaps I have misjudged you then, my dear boy," she purred. Mazikeen allowed a hand to once again brush Kira's, causing his fingers to flex again ever so slightly. He was the only one she'd allow to touch her like this besides Kristoph. Anyone else, and she would have slit their throat ages ago. Risking a small gamble, she decided to propose a meeting.

"The perhaps then you and I can arrange something soon, yes. I do not presume to know your busy schedule, Kira, but I am loathe to languish about."

[guessedmyname]

Kira laughed. He wasn't altogether positive what he was getting himself into or if he'd regret it later, but at the moment he'd thrown caution completely out the window. Foolhardy. But Mazikeen had always fascinated him, attracted him in a much different way than the pretty girls in the bars and clubs. She was one of the few women he actually admired, and a chance like this didn't exactly come along every day.

Kira's mental admonishing that she was Gavin's woman was starting to have zero effect on him, if the next words out of his mouth were any indication.

"I think you know that busy schedule doesn't even exist," he said softly, note of self-derision in his tone. He let go of her arm after trailing his fingers down her smooth skin a last time. "You pick the time and place."

[daughterinexile]

Mazikeen feigned indecision for a moment before finally leaning into whisper. "How about now?"

She was being impulsive -- terribly impulsive -- and already, she could practically hear the wait-staff of the diner buzzing with rumors and whispers. It was not every day, of course, that Mazikeen sat down with a customer, in particular one of Kira's age. It was also not normal to see Mazikeen so charming without Gavin nearby, let alone reach out and touch another man with such a dark satisfaction in her eyes.

But, Mazikeen reasoned, they were both being impulsive, and for reasons buried deep beneath the surface of their shared banter. Quickly she rose, pulling her hair back over her shoulders in an act of what almost seemed like modesty. Standing over him, she gave him another smile before raising an eyebrow in question. "That is, of course, if you're available."

[guessedmyname]

If you're available? The words echoed in his head mindnumbingly, much as he tried not to let on of their effect.

The sudden heat on his face let Kira know he was blushing, if only slightly, and he damned himself for it. Somehow he couldn't maintain eye contact with her, which he hadn't had much of a problem with a moment ago. He figured Mazikeen probably saw him as nothing more than a cynical schoolboy playing the pretend game of grown-up still, and his current behavior really wasn't helping-- this was his chance to prove her wrong about that. He didn't know why she had been this forward tonight anymore than he was sure why he'd reciporated so, but knew she had her reasons.

"I'm avaliable." He stood up and matched her smile with a grin of his own, finally dimly aware of the chatter in the background, not caring at all. "Let's get out of here."