-insert name here-'s Place and Everywhere Else ~ Geezerville

[Chef_Karrie]

*Returning home, Karrie is exhausted, but happy. It had been a long night, but he truly loved his job. 3nodding As good as his night had been, it was made even better when he came inside and was greeted by Amy. He was impressed by the gifts she'd gotten him, and immediately started thinking of ways to display the sword. After enjoying the dinner she'd cooked for him, he took her to the bedroom to show his appreciation for her*  

[FireSpark]

“Back again?”

Daniel opened his eyes at the sudden sound of Mahvatshi’s voice. Mahvatshi’s stolen voice, he corrected to himself. Taking in his surroundings, Daniel found that he was standing on a blasted landscape. It looked somewhat familiar, and after a few moments, he made the connection. He was standing on the plains that he had been looking down upon the last time he had spoken with Mahvatshi. Somehow though the plains looked even more burnt and lifeless than the last time he had seen it.

“So did you come to admire the landscape, or simply annoy me? Well?”

Daniel slowly turned around, folding his hands behind his back as he came face to face with Mahvatshi. He simply stood there, staring Mahvatshi down, gaze for gaze. A hint of a sneer formed at one corner of his mouth, but Daniel pushed it down, along with all other emotion. He wouldn’t give Mahvatshi any edge or advantage. Mahvatshi’s face was already one of annoyance, but was quickly sliding into aggravation.

“So, has someone finally reminded you of your backbone? Say something.”

“I did not intend to speak to you again.”

If anything, Mahvatshi’s face only darkened, his all black eyes narrowing. Now it was his turn to sneer.

“So you’re here on accident? Is that what you wish to say? You have so little control over what you do that now you reach out and invade my mind without even realizing it? How wonderful for me.”

Mahvatshi strode stiffly past Daniel, but did not go far and stood a pace off. Daniel waited a moment then turned to face Mahvatshi’s back, his hands still tucked behind him in the small of his back. The two of them stood there in silence until Mahvatshi had apparently had enough. Rounding on Daniel, his anger finally came free.

“I do not know whether I should be furious at your constant intrusions or the fact that you will rob me of the victory I sought. You are nothing now! Not even a pale reflection of what you were, what you could be! Know this, Master...your time runs short. My only hope is that you somehow make a miraculous recovery soon. At least to the point that I can get some gratification from crushing you.”

Mahvatshi stood with an outstretched hand, fingers tightened as if crushing. Daniel stood still, no reaction, no emotion on his face. Mahvatshi literally trembled, and threw his arms and head back, howling.

“SAY SOMETHING YOU CONTEMPTUOUS FAILURE!!”

Daniel finally let a slight smirk tug at one corner of his mouth, as he moved his hands from his back, to cross his arms over his chest. He let Mahvatshi stew for a little more, let him glare a little longer. Finally he spoke up. He kept his voice level, and as flat as he could make it.

“You do not frighten me. You cannot intimidate me. I accept that I am not who or what I may have once been. But if you insist on coming for me...I will end you. Or at the very least, take you with me. So do your worst.”

Mahvatshi’s jaw flexed, and though his eyes were solidly black, Daniel could practically feel them fluttering with hatred. Finally with a wordless yell, Mahvatshi lunged at Daniel, and Daniel only grinned as everything went black.

>>>><<<<

Opening his eyes, Daniel found himself kneeling on the floor in his back room. He remembered making it home after his failure of resolve at Aqua Springs the previous evening. And there he had stayed, kneeling, lost in his own thoughts. He had sought to sort out his feelings. He knew what he felt, but without understanding what others felt, it would be just as before. With him building up a false sense of reality, only to have it dashed around him. Last time, it had forced him to confront what he really was, and what his place would be. If it happened again though, having his whole sense of identity washed away, Daniel feared the outcome would not prove to be as bright.

Trying to settle his thoughts again, Daniel tried to clear his mind of all thoughts and concerns, pushing all images and memories away. But as of late, his thoughts had begun to be distracted and infiltrated by the image of a face. And clearing his head only seemed to make the image stronger, more vibrant, more alive. A smiling face, soft and caring, with deep blue eyes framed with auburn hair. Daniel lingered on the image, knowing there was nothing he could do to clear it away. But then, did he want to clear it away? Could he not just hold that moment in his mind forever? Daniel realized that she was beginning to pervade his every waking moment, even into his unconscious thoughts. What do I do? What can I do? Daniel sighed and tried to resume his contemplations, hoping that the smiling visage would not prevent him doing so, and yet also hoping that it did not stray too far.  

[FireSpark]

A shirtless Daniel strolled into his front room, spoon hanging from his mouth and a half eaten chocolate pudding cup in his hand. In his other hand a heavily folded and creased piece of paper. It only held a single word, a name, but he had taken to carrying it. Letting it slowly fall to his keyboard, Daniel sat down and finished off his pudding cup, and once done licking the cup clean, he placed the bowl of the spoon back in his mouth. Then, tossing the empty pudding cup over his shoulder to join a dozen or so other empties. The keyboard was already on, as Daniel had been working at different songs following his accidental drifting out to Mahvatshi. Sheets of music were scattered all across the keyboard, and even onto the floor around it. Daniel began to plunk at a few keys, trying to get some sort of response from himself. But though he could remember the notes to all the songs that lay scattered about him, Daniel simply could not find the passion to make it sound anything other than...clinical. Sighing, Daniel tried to throw himself into the music, the spoon hanging forgotten in his mouth.  

[FireSpark]

Daniel looked over and smiled at Jessi as they left Aqua Springs behind. He bobbled his head a bit, thinking of his last encounter in hsi office, but readily omitted it from his recounting.

"Well, just a standard kind of day really. People here, people there. Most of them are behaving actually. I think rumors may have gotten around that I don't take kindly to troublemakers."

Daniel smiled impishly at the memory of his handling of a uncooperative drunk.  

[Jessi_Deramis]

Jessi smiled proudly at Daniel and nodded. "Well, they should be concerned about getting on your bad side. You're so nice, but you're also firm and you take action. I think just having you employed as our security guard has made the place safer."

She intertwined her fingers with Daniel's. "You also go above and beyond. You're helping a fellow coworker out and keeping her safe by walking her home."

Her smile widened.  

[FireSpark]

Daniel gently squeezed Jessi's hand.

"Well, I do try."

Turning a corner, Daniel turned his arm to tuck it behind Jessi's, allowing him to move in ever so slightly closer. As he rubbed up against her shoulder, he looked down at her.

"What about you? I know you had a time with those posters, but anything else interesting happen?"  

[Jessi_Deramis]

Jessi laughed and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked, even though it jostled her head a little awkwardly.

"Yeah... The poster, I sure had problems with that..."

She chuckled. "Nah, nothing else really happened. I love living in a smaller town except for when it comes to how slow and boring things could be sometimes. I wish things were a little more interesting and there were more things to do."  

[FireSpark]

Daniel did his best to level his walking, easing the shock on Jessi's head.

"Well, I guess small town is a relative term. I can remember settlements that claimed to be cities, with less than a quarter of the people that must live here. The where and when is still a bit fuzzy though."

Seeing Jessi's apartment building growing closer, Daniel did his best to discreetly slow his pace.

"Though I suppose it really depends on the 'who' rather than the 'where' that makes a place, well, that place."

Daniel's eyes narrowed for a moment, and he tried mouthing his last sentence in silence.

"Wait. Did that make sense?"  

[Jessi_Deramis]

Jessi grinned brightly and hugged Daniel's waist. "I completely agree!!! It's the people that make the home or town. I'm so glad you feel that way, too, Daniel."

She recognized similar landmarks that meant she was close to her apartment. She tried to slow her steps down.

{{I have to go to bed. sad You can close us out if you want and we can start a new scene tomorrow if we have time. I'm not really tired, but if I don't go to bed soon, I know I'll be tired either tomorrow or the next day. *sigh* Wish I could RP longer!! See you tomorrow.}}  

[FireSpark]

Daniel returned Jessi's hug, though he did so around her shoulders. Once he had though, he left his arm over her shoulders, holding her close. He smiled as they walked along and was glad that his rambling hadn't completely gone off track. After a minute or so, Daniel felt their pace slowing even further and he smiled to himself because of it. With their pace slowed as such, it was another full minute before the two of them even managed to reach the gate into Jessi's building.

Daniel stopped as Jessi went to open the gate, and he allowed his hand to fall back to her free hand. As she stepped back to pull the gate open, Daniel tugged back on Jessi's hand, her momentum carrying her right up against him. His hand that still held hers wrapped around her back, effectively holding her in place, and his other hand came up to brush a lock of her bangs away from her eyes.

"I for one am glad for the 'who' that make up this place. One in particular, as you may be aware."

As Jessi smiled shyly, and blushed terribly, Daniel leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. He felt her hand squeeze momentarily as they first locked together, as much did all of her muscles. But as the moments passed on, and the pressure of his kiss waxed and waned, and he turned his head ever so slightly this way or that, Daniel felt Jessi's form relax completely. As if all the tension she could ever have had suddenly drained from her. When Daniel finally pulled back from the prolonged embrace, slowly and reluctantly, Jessi seemed to take a moment to catch up, before the realization that the moment had passed finally dawned in her slowly opening eyes.

"I think we've arrived."

Daniel paused for a moment, glancing up at the building next to them, before coming back to Jessi with a slight smile.

"At your apartment I mean. Are you okay from here, or would you like me to see you up?"


{{ See you tomorrow. And feel free to tell me if I'm doing this wrong sweatdrop , as I don't have a whole lot of practice at writing romance heart . I'm more experienced writing for the action scream / thriller eek / insane madman twisted sort of guy. }}  

[Jessi_Deramis]

{{You did a really good job! biggrin You portrayed Jessi perfectly and the scene was really good. smile I love detail! And the emotes you had to go along with your OoC made me laugh. lol. I really liked those. So, current day? biggrin }}

Jessi was getting ready to go into work at noon. She had asked Daniel the other night when he walked her home if he had wanted to come and pick her up today in the morning. She thought they could have breakfast at Chatty Kathy's before they went to work, even though Daniel didn't have to eat. She told Daniel that if he couldn't make it, that'd be okay. She could get some food at AS when she got there for her shift. She wanted to give him the option of stopping by for brunch, though, if he wanted to.

She had invited him into her apartment for awhile that night. They had watched another move before Daniel left to go home.

So now, Jessi was doing her hair, wondering if Daniel would be able to make it today or not. Just the thought of him showing up and them going to Chatty Kathy's to eat brunch together was enough to cause a faint blush to appear on her cheeks.  

[Jessi_Deramis]

{{I looove this shirt from the February pose of the Zodiac!!!! scream I wish it would stay at this post forever!! I don't want to wait a year to have it again!!! I loooove it!!}}

Jessi put on the necklace and earrings Daniel had given to her the night they went to Vienna. They were pretty fancy to wear with her casual clothes, but they looked nice. She hoped Daniel noticed them. She was wearing them just for him to hopefully remind him of their night and so he would know that she still thought about it all the time and loved what he had done.  

[FireSpark]

As Daniel's vision cleared, he smiled to himself as watched Jessi busying herself with setting her jewelry and hair just so. She looked happy, and content. He leaned silently back against her front door and crossed his arms over his chest. He felt as if he could rest there for hours, just watching her be herself, enjoying the simple things in her life. Daniel took notice of Jessi's overall outfit, and tilted hs head to one side.

"That outfit is quite nice. Though is it not a bit much for jsut work?"  

[Jessi_Deramis]

Jessi yelped out and swung around from her mirror that was in the living room. When she saw Daniel leaning against the front door, she breathed a little easier, but her eyes were still wide and her heart was still racing.

"Daniel! Please don't tell me you just teleported in here... Knocking on the front door would be much better. What if I had been naked?!"

Just the thought of that left her face brightly flushed and feeling a little angry.  

[FireSpark]

Daniel straightened up from where he was leaning as Jessi rounded on him. It hadn't been quite the reaction that he had intended. When she mentioned that she might have been naked, Daniel mentally winced and chided himself. He placed and arm acorss his waist and bowed deeply, his voice solemn.

"My apologies. I often forget of social regards towards familiarity and nudity. I apologize for misunderstanding this aspect of our...new relationship. One moment."

Without straightening Daniel stepped back a pace and faded out of view, reappearing outside Jessi's front door. Finally standing straight, Daniel smoothed his clothes before reaching out and knocking on the door.