Unexpected (Sarina, Gregor)

[Lovely]

April 26, 2009
9:30 p.m.

A phone call wasn't safe. Driving in the state he was in wasn't either. Gregor read the address again and flipped the phone closed, hoping she'd be home and forgive him for stopping by unannounced. Strangely she never did seem surprised, nor did she usually seem to mind. He could never seem to get a clear read on her, but this? Rarely did he see faces this clear and distinct. Rarer still was it ever someone he actually knew personally. Less frequent than that even was his need to find her. She came around at convenient times for his crises and he figured it was just her female intuition honing in on him. Whatever the case, he needed to find her this time and actually tried for the first time to find her home. He was feeling failed by his visionary efforts as he strayed further from town and further between signs of civilization to find a match on the number or the name of the road. "C'mon, where is it?" He spat through his teeth as he craned and strained to read the dim signs. "There! I think...," he said in a brief 'eureka' moment that faded as he turned onto the dark side-road that left any and everything familiar behind. He drove another short distance, feeling his hair creep on his neck. Gregor slowed down and watched carefully now, paying attention to his own intuitive warning signs... something here was not normal, but he wasn't sure that it was the unpleasant variety of strange - more the exhilarating type as his breath caught, seeing the large structure looming ahead from the nothing. "Half expect to see a moat around that," he commented, pulling up to what seemed to be the front.

If she had been free to go to him, Sarina likely would have as she almost always tried to be near him when he needed her. Gregor knew so little about her, yet he had become a true friend and she did all she could to protect him without crossing the lines. She had been sent on another task and only just arrived back home when he pulled onto the dark side road that led to the old factory that the Diremoons and their wards had refurbished to suit their needs. So many living together was virtually unheard of and they had the largest family of their kind, that they knew of at least. Sarina hung up her cloak and gasped softly at the slight tingle she felt, what was Gregor doing out here? She was down the stairs and opening the door as he pulled up, she stepped out so he could see her and know that he'd found the right place, if it was her he'd come looking for. She wore a short v-neck black dress that ended just above her knees and a pair of black leather boots that came up to her knees. Her long dark hair left mostly to flow around her shoulders with just a bit pulled into a small clip at the back of her head, her blue eyes almost glowed as the moonlight caught them when she tilted
her head.

He seemed to bow with gratitude as he slipped out of the car, though he was reaching back in for the keys and his notebook that he didn't dare leave unattended, even here. A second later, he waved as the door swung with a normally loud thud that was swallowed into the night air, an eerie sound that caught him off-guard. "Not on the usual route for solicitors I see," he observed, coming closer, nervous, though curious. She looked very well and very interrupted. "I'm... sorry. You're going out. I should have called first," he apologized, though he knew he couldn't have trusted the conversation by phone.

Sari smiled as Gregor approached, laughing softly at his comments about the location. "We like the privacy." She explained simply and looked down at her outfit before taking a few steps toward him and holding her hand out for his. She shook her head and smiled. "Not going out. I just got home actually." Of course there was no car in sight and none would have passed him on the way in.

He was already lost in a confused fog enough not to realize she truly meant arriving only moments before he did. "Great! Then... well you look like I should take you somewhere. But I can't. Not... not right now. I mean I could, but I can't. Can we...?" He gripped her hand and motioned to the 'fortress' with the other, notebook and all.

"You can take me out another night." She reassured him softly and gently squeezed his hand, she nodded to his request to go inside. "Of course my dear, you didn't think I'd make you stand out on the stoop did you?" She kept her banter somewhat light to try to relax him and also not to let on that she could easily read his emotions. The door was still open and she led him inside, everything was widely spaced and much of it open on the first floor. Wide set stairs led up from both sides of the very large foyer and a railing ran around the landing of the second and third floors which ran around the center of the structure, the foyer having nothing above it except the roof. The railing was strong to hold them if they wished to perch there. Thick vines grew from ornate planters on the first floor, weaving thier way around the supports and railings, adorning them with leaves and thorns. If Gregor looked high enough he might see the shapes in the darkness and shadows of a few of Sarina's sisters perched and watching them curiously.

His neck tickled again and he turned the notebook's edge to scratch lightly at his collar as he looked around the place. "Look, Sarina, I need to talk to you. Someplace... that doesn't feel like we're being watched," he said, trying to peer into the shadows though his eyes weren't quite adjusted yet to the dim lighting away from his headlights. "Don't mistake me, though. This place is spectacular.. ah, what I can see of it at the moment."

Her hand smoothed down his arm in a reassuring manner, her smile soft as she nodded. "Of course." She gently tugged for him to follow her as she went to the staircase on the left, leading him up to the third floor landing and then to her room. She opened the large door and reached to turn the lights on, they illuminated the room in soft low light and gentle shadows. "I hope here will be more comfortable for you." The deep shades of blue welcomed him, the bed sitting on a raised platform with moonlight from the window making it seem like a shimmering pool you could dive into.

Gregor followed, watching around the landing and grand entry. The door seemed daunting until it revealed comfortable warmth within - a relief. "Very," he nodded, grinning madly like a small boy set loose in a toy shop. The moon always delighted him that way and he had to force his attention away from its glow to that of the inviting warmth of his friend. "It's ... very distracting," he chuckled trying to remember what he'd meant to tell her. A moment later the vision was dancing as clearly in his thoughts as if it stood on his nose. His eyes closed tightly a moment as if he were in pain, though he only grasped for the details enough to explain it. "Do you have water?"

"Please sit down." She gently tried to guide him toward a chair. "Here.." She put a cool glass within reach on the desk which sat just below another window and looked out over a soothing view of the trees and fields behind the building. "Something has upset you." She observed, running her fingers over his cheek.

[Lovely]

He looked at her strangely... ever the perfect thing at the perfect time, he thought as her fingers touched his cool skin. Where should he start? Telling her how the vision had kept him from sleeping only to haunt him now when he was awake? Gregor smiled softly under the caress that felt delicate and nicely soothing after the onslaught on his nerves. "Understatement," he sighed, wanting the glass, but wanting her caress to continue. "Sarina, if I were to say that my visions are rarely wrong, would you consider it gloating?"

She sensed how her touch effected him and how he wished it to continue, so she brushed over his cheek again and smiled softly. Sarina shook her head and gazed down into his eyes as she hovered over him where he sat in the chair. "No, I wouldn't consider it gloating. Especially since you don't seem pleased at all about that fact. You do have a gift Gregor.. you're very special and talented."

He shook his head a little, looking up to her. "Not pleased when it's family. Less pleased still when it's family in danger... the deadly sort... and I don't have the power to see what comes next."

"Family?" She echoed quietly, her eyebrow arching up as she considered that, if he'd been given a vision involving someone close to him - it had to be serious. The gift wasn't meant to be easy and often times those who were given it could not endure it weight. "You don't normally see your family in your visions.. Tell me what you saw."

"My cousin. We're not close, or at least we haven't been since school. Why him, I don't know, but it's bloody awful... emphasis on the bloody. There's this... this thing," he said, chasing after the description again with his eyes closed gently this time. "Generic, I know but there's no other way to describe it. It envelops, and changes, sort of this black foggy creation and the presence is every description of evil I can possibly think of. Sarina, it's not just death, it's worse."

"Well that doesn't sound pleasant at all." She stated the obvious and licked at her lips, giving him a small smile as she took the liberty of folding herself down lightly over his lap. "We all have our destiny.. your cousin's is to face this evil.. but I can promise you there are forces at work to help him."

His eyes opened as she comforted him and joined him in the chair. "Destiny, is it? I always thought his destiny was to offer fries in a box through a window. He's not any kind of hero, Sarina. He can't even deal with normal people.. you know... public? Live human beings? How can he possibly survive something like that? Those forces... not even sure the hand of Heaven itself has enough to fight what I saw," he said softly, curling around the girl in his lap for her comforts.

She nodded, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and reaching to gently stroke his hair and the back of his neck. Her lips brushed his forehead and she smiled in a somewhat odd manner. "Then perhaps it's not heaven you should look to for the help you need. Perhaps something.. someone closer is what you need."

Sarina managed to both soothe and spark the tickle on his neck, sending a shiver through him. "That's not very fair, you know. Seems you always know how to distract me. Thing is, you're really the only one I know who doesn't think I'm bound for the padded chamber because of what I see. I'd hate to see you get hurt by that thing... or worse."

"You need to meet new people.. the ones you know are fools not to believe in you." She turned to brush another light kiss over his forehead. "If that thing were to hurt me it would not be your doing.. Don't worry about me... please Gregor." She chuckled though she thought his concern was sweet and she closed her eyes wanting to tell him so much. If she were to reveal the truth to him.. would he in turn be the one who thought she was crazy? "Gregor.. do you trust me.. enough to try something?"

[Lovely]

He looked at her strangely again, tilting his head a little. "Of course. You know I do or I wouldn't have sought you out, or told you half the things I never even told my mother, or anyone really except Kendall when we were kids, but yes. It won't hurt will it? So much as a paper cut and I'm likely to go hysterical with my nerves already tricked out. Alright... even so, I'm willing to try," he bargained and reasoned, working his way around to answering.

She smiled more brightly with his reply, seeing more of his humor and his personality show through his worry. "Alright. It shouldn't hurt in the slightest.. you may even enjoy it." She tempted him a little even though he'd already agreed. "Close your eyes.. I need you to do your best to think of absolutely nothing.. " She waited for him to do as she said and be ready for the next part. "Now.." Her voice was soft as she got ready. "..tell me what you see when I do this." She leaned to press her mouth against is, bestowing a tender kiss and with it the truth of what she was.

That he found it nearly impossible to think of nothing at the moment... with her in his lap and his cousin in such imminent peril... was a thought he didn't get out in words. The kiss to his forehead hadn't shocked him, but this was immeasurably unexpected and his thoughts scattered regardless of his conscious efforts. A heartbeat later, her question found meaning as a brighter, more cheerful image began to form, although it wasn't without its dark shadows and powerful resonnance. Unlike the evil ink-like entity, this was more solid, also quite large and felt like the chill he'd experienced in the foyer when he'd come in. "Like the feeling I had in Sunday school as a boy when we'd sing our songs and I believed in everything good and knew nothing bad. That probably sounds pretty stupid, actually," he chuckled, biting his lip of the sweet taste of her kiss. "What I saw...still see...I'm not sure I can place it, but it reminds me of you."

She brought her hand up to his cheek and tilted his face so she could more easily look into his eyes. "Would you think I was crazy if I told you I thought you were a pretty witch who needs protecting.. and I want to be the one who protects you?"

"Shhhh... don't say that so loud," he grinned, not sure how she could possibly think he'd find her crazy. She'd been an anchor for him for all the times he thought he was losing his own mind. "I wouldn't think you're crazy. Psh, I mean how many girls came to my kiosk because they really thought I could tell their fortune, hm?"

"Say what so loud?" She asked innocently, her eyebrow arching up slightly. "That you're pretty? But you are.. I mean why else would all those girls come to your kiosk, if not for their fortune?"

He chuckled and spoke quietly as if speaking of an unmentionable disease. "Warlock, thank you, but that's exactly my point. I mean, they want me. Who'd want me dead?" Gregor asked, dismayed that anyone could possibly dislike him enough to have him on their 'list.' The park managment had made it clear that they didn't want him to draw fire to himself or their operation in light of the murders and, accurate visions or not, he was out of his tent and out of his job until the murderer was caught.

"Boy witch." She murmured softly, teasing him a little though it didn't last long and she sighed. Her back actually hurt a little and she tried to ignore the discomfort for now, shifting and rolling her shoulders. "We don't know who it is. It would be much easier to eliminate the threat if we did but whoever is behind this is very smart and very powerful."

[Lovely]

"Shhh," he chuckled again, holding a finger out to scold her. "I told you, not so loud. You want to get me killed? Warlock," he pouted, correcting again, though he knew she was teasing.

"Of course I don't want to get you killed.. you're far too pretty." She grinned and leaned to whisper in his ear. "What if I just spell it out with my tongue?"

"I... you'd do that?" His ear was tingling with her words, all the way down to his fingertips and his arm slid around her waist.

She shrugged and smiled, her eyes seeming to be brightly lit as she shifted to gaze at his face again. "Sure.." She felt the weight of his arm around her waist and decided it was a sensation she truly enjoyed. "I've wanted to since I met you.. but it wouldn't have been fair for me to do.. anything without you knowing the truth about me."

"I'm still not sure I know anything at all," he confided, though his visions were forming and dancing on his nose again along with the curiously strong and warm gaze. She'd never looked at him like that before, or if she had, damn why hadn't he noticed?! "I think you still have quite the advantage, but anything you'd like to tell me... however you wish to tell me... I'm listening," he whispered, spellbound by the steel and storm color of her eyes.

"Well then I guess what I attempted earlier was a failure." She frowned a bit, quite disappointed that it hadn't worked to reveal the truth to him. Sari supposed she deserved it for attempting to use his gifts for her own personal reasons rather than the greater good. She reached to brush her knuckle over his cheek, there was so much she wanted to tell him but she didn't know how to explain any of it. That was why she'd tried to trigger a vision for him to see her true form, so he might already know what she was before she tried to explain it.

"No, I don't think you failed at all. I'm just not sure I understand what I saw," he admitted quietly, a quirk of his grin revealing more than he perhaps wanted to. "If you really wanted me to clear my mind, you shouldn't encourage giving me the thoughts you are."

"Oh?.. and what thoughts are those?" She half smiled and didn't wait for him to answer, she was hopeful and encouraged by what she saw in him, she leaned to kiss him again. This time it wasn't about inducing a vision, it was about trying to show him how she felt about him. The kiss was tender and laced with a passion that wanted to be let free.

Gregor had rarely been so overwhelmed as tonight. Sarina's methods of sharing her thoughts had never been quite so personal as tonight, either... what had he done differently? And for goddess' sake why hadn't he done it sooner!? He'd had no idea although he'd dreamt a few times and woke up embarrassed. She was his dearest friend... and the dreams were certainly friendly. He wondered if she could see those images now as his thought muddied further. After a moment he blinked, pulled away with the fear of that thought in and of itself. "Do I still need to tell you or are you good with that?" He bit his lip, his brow knotting and shrugging like his shoulders as if apologizing for anything she might have seen in his mind that was perhaps too graphic or something she'd not wanted from him.

"Damn.. you're nearly irresistible when you do that." She whispered with a soft smile, reaching one finger to where he bit at his lip. "I am very alright with that." Her voice was a sweetly hushed whisper as she shared with more direct comments. "Don't be embarrassed.. I've been dreaming of the same things.." Her other hand brushed over his cheek and down his neck.

"Nearly?" He forced a pout before letting his lip go with the wonder as she admitted her secrets to him. Her fingers were cool and warm at once, tingling on his neck. "Sarina... I ... I don't know what to say," he murmured, looking deeper for whatever it was she'd meant to show him. "You're always such an angel and I'm just a hazard."

She chuckled softly and shook her head, slowly and deliberately running her fingers up his neck and into his hair. "Then don't say anything.. Gregor.. show me.." Her lips hovered close to his, brushing lightly as she spoke to him. "You're not a hazard and I'm no angel."

Scene fade to black...