[FIN] Who Will it Be?

[TawnyAngel]

What could Taavi have done that was worth blackmailing over? It was difficult to imagine the anxious young man doing anything even a little questionable.

Zevran shook off the internal question and lifted his head to kiss Abel's jaw again. "To state the obvious, that is a long time. I am sorry." And now for Abel at least it was coming to a head, perhaps for Taavi too? The question of what Alyssa would actually do was what lingered in his mind, she would want to hurt Abel as much as possible... would she want him alive? Probably, for a while at least, because the dead did not suffer. That was some reassurance though he did wonder who Alyssa might want dead in order to cause Abel as much as pain as possible. This of course was assuming she had either the contacts or the personal skills to arrange deaths but from what he had been told so far, and from her familiar smile, it was not really a great leap to the imagination to think that she might.

Two years? Taavi looked over at Abel for a moment and then down at the floor. "I didn't know it'd been that long, since before I even met you." And how much longer would it go on? Alyssa had no reason to let them go so it could be for the rest of their lives, or hers, and if something happened to her it would all be over anyway. Everyone would know. Some of them might forgive him, others not. What about Abel? Watching him since Alyssa had stormed out he had to guess that Abel thought nobody would. So was that it? Best case scenario this was the rest of their lives? It was too much to think about and so he tried not to and sipped at his drink.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His other arm moved to join its twin around Zevran before both gave him a squeeze. "Thanks," he murmured quietly. "It's fine." It really wasn't, of course, but there really wasn't much else he could say.

Ah, yeah, Taavi hadn't really been aware of how long it had been going on, had he? It wasn't like he talked about himself or his problems too much. "Yeah, it's.. been a while, I--"

An abrupt knocking interrupted him mid-sentence and Abel stiffened a bit, his fingers curling into the fabric of Zevran's shirt. That had to be her, it had to be. Who else would come to his apartment? No one, that was who. "Here, lemme get up," he said in soft, resigned tones as he started to sit up a bit, one hand finding Zev's side as he moved. If it really was her - and they'd find out shortly, as both Caleb and Sonia had trotted to the door - then it was best to just.. just get it over with, whatever it was.

He really wasn't ready for his life to be over yet.  

[TawnyAngel]

Speak of a demon and you were sure to summon it. "A moment." Zevran slid a hand into Abel's hair and leant up to kiss him firmly. There was no time to linger over it however, a moment later he pulled back and got to his feet. "I wonder who it can be," he said dryly as he stretched, amber eyes trained keenly on the door.

Taavi's grip on his glass tightened and his heartrate jumped probably twenty beats per minute. At least the waiting would be over soon, right?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel shifted and slid an arm under him so he could push himself up once Zevran stood, but he didn't stand; the taller blond's attention switched to his friend just in time to wrap his free arm tightly around him, holding him close as he returned the kiss. He didn't want it to end, he didn't want Alyssa to come in, he didn't want any of this to happen...

But it had to. As Zevran pulled away the next moment, Abel sighed and slouched back down into the chair, one hand lifting to run through his hair. What point was there in even getting up? Ugh... He wanted to reply to Zev but he just... couldn't.

Sonia growled, ears slicked back against her head as she begrudgingly unlocked the door, but then stepped away and trotted off into the apartment's interior rather than open the door for Alyssa.

Said redhead flung the door open and slid inside, taking a brief moment to assess the circumstances before she immediately beamed at the occupants. "Well well, I didn't think you'd have company tonight. What're you doing here?" Her gaze drifted from Zev to the plates of uneaten food for a second or two before her smile widened. "Aww, cooking them dinner, were you?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran smiled back pleasantly at Alyssa as he seethed internally and wondered how - if he were allowed to kill her - he would choose to do so. A clean job had always been his preference, though not always what the job called for, but for Alyssa he would be happy to make an exception to that personal rule. A slow, lingering exception.

"Visiting one's friends is not so strange is it?" he asked rhetorically, making an open gesture and shrugging expressively. "And it is much easier to cook for three than for only one you know."

Taavi continued to stare into his drink, his jaw tight. Most of his pokemon had slunk off into Abel's room busy Swift remained beside him, pressed tightly against his side for mutual comfort.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Is it really?" Alyssa asked with a smile and a slight tilt of her head, her tones and demeanor akin to that of a parent replying to their child with crumbs on their face who claimed they couldn't possibly have eaten a cookie when they weren't supposed to. A moment later she simply shrugged and said, "I wouldn't know, I don't cook."

"Can you just get to the point?" Abel interjected, vaguely exasperated but mostly he just felt sick, like he could throw up at any moment. Rather than get up, he slouched further into the armchair, his arms folded over his chest and his glare fixed at the wall. He couldn't see Alyssa from there and he didn't want to. "What are you going to do?"

Alyssa smiled her Cheshire smile as she crossed the room quickly and quietly so she could lean over the arm of the chair to look down at him upside-down. "You're never any fun," said the redhead who looked like she was having fun regardless. Abel's glare shifted from the wall to her and he debated what to say in response, but then Alyssa's hands found his cheeks and her fingers ghosted down the sides of his neck, her thumbs idly tracing curved lines back and forth over his throat. Even though she exerted no pressure and kept the movements light, her actions silenced him before he even spoke all the same. Her elbows rested on the arm of the chair as she grinned down at him. "You want to know even though your friend is here? You didn't tell him all about our little arrangement, did you? If you wanted to involve someone else again you only needed to ask."  

[TawnyAngel]

He would very much have liked to go over there and pull her away from Abel, maybe knock out a couple of her teeth to spoil that Cheshire Cat grin of hers too but provoking her further was the last thing he wanted to do and so he stayed where he was and folded his arms over his chest instead. Silence and inaction was the best strategy for now no matter how much he hated it.

Hi Alyssa how's your face?

That's what he would have liked to ask but that would be really dumb. He hoped it still hurt. "Do you think Abel would have asked that if he hadn't?" Taavi said quietly.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Alyssa didn't deign to respond to Taavi. Instead she wrinkled her nose and grinned over at Zevran as she leaned forward to drape one arm over Abel's chest, and her other arm curved over his throat so she could reach up to run her fingers through his hair.

Despite how much he wanted to swat her hands away, Abel merely sighed quietly and closed his eyes to wait until she was done. She only wanted to get reactions out of all of them; she'd tell him what she wanted when she felt like it and not a moment before.

"My my, you look a little upset," the redhead pointed out as she grinned at Zevran, still idly running her fingers through Abel's hair. "You used to be so cheerful and friendly before. What happened to turn you into such a grump, hm?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran laughed briefly, he didn't sound that amused, and said; "It is the seasons you see, as the weather gets colder so too does my heart. A tragic affliction, I really should not have come somewhere that gets so cold."

Everything, everything she had done to Abel was unforgivable and maybe touching him when he didn't wish to be touched was the least of it but it made his blood feel hot and cold at the same time, twisted his stomach with rage and sickness, and made his skin crawl.

To all appearances however Zevran remained merely tight-lipped and annoyed despite the turmoil inside him. Don't ever give them the satisfaction of a reaction, they feed on it and grow stronger.

It was kind of a relief to be uninteresting to Alyssa but that didn't mean he liked how she was playing with Abel and Zev. Not a whole lot he could do about it though.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Oh, I see," Alyssa said with a sly smile, searching his face carefully suddenly as she rested her cheek on the top of Abel's head. "So where are you from again that's so warm?"

"Alyssa," the taller blond warned with a frown as he opened his eyes, though he couldn't see her really. "What did you want?"

She ignored him for the moment.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Spain," Zevran replied easily with a slight lift of his shoulders, "the southeastern coast, it seldom drops to freezing there." There was no need to give her the truth when a casually convincing lie would do.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Really? Humm," the redhead replied thoughtfully, her Cheshire smile turning curious for a few moments before she focused on Abel once again, still practically cradling his head in her arms, her fingers running through his hair. "I could tell you out here, or we could discuss it somewhere a little more... private," she ended with a bit of a purr.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran tensed a little more and a careful observer might notice that he paled just a fraction as the sick feeling in his gut and the creeping, grasping, awful sensation all over his skin intensified and as his anger passed straight through the hot phase to the icy cold beyond. It was quite obvious what she was implying, she had better be bluffing or-

"Could we just get this over with here and now?" Taavi asked, it had taken him a few moments to find his voice after that purr and with the look on her face. "Whatever you want just say it already."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Alyssa beamed and giggled a bit, her gaze shifted between Taavi and Zevran with hints of malice and spite. "My my, you have rather nosy, impatient friends, don't you? Well in that case, I was going to give you just the one option, but now I think I want to give you two."

"How generous of you," Abel replied dryly, still disinclined to look at her, his arms still folded over his chest. Ugh, when would this be over? What did she want from him? She was giving him options so that meant she wasn't giving him up... but what would she want from him instead? It wouldn't be anything good, that was for sure... Ugh, he was going to be sick. He didn't want to ask, he really didn't want to ask, but he didn't have any choice... "Alright, what's the first one?"

"The first one?" She asked, wrinkling her nose and grinning. "Your first option is to tell me all of your new friend's secrets, because I'm sure he's told you some by now."

Yes, yep, he was going to be sick.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran visibly untensed when Alyssa changed course and then merely shrugged when she mentioned his secrets. "Go ahead Abel, I don't care, there is nothing terrible to tell," he said indifferently. What was she going to do? Go to somebody and say, this man I met says that he was once involved in a group and did some things that weren't legal? Oooooh, whatever would he do? The b***h was overconfident and that would, he dearly hoped, be her downfall.