Oxygen

[Anzeh]

Chaos Queen

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Chaos was shivering badly, just walking in, still in her natural form, long black hair dripping wet and drops of water hanging from her eyelashes. The succubus was totally soaked, and immediately got into the bathroom, running a hot, steaming shower to warm herself up. Unlike before she didn't dawdle around in her nudity, rather she quickly put on a fleece nightgown. It was a very short nightgown and the top was rather low, but she felt, at the very least, some degree of warmth from it.

She brushed her hair, which had gone back to being red and wavy, laying back on the bed. It was late... she rolled over and saw the clock, bearing the time; 12:00 am; and scoffed. Chaos rolled over again and closed her eyes and willed sleep to come to her. But... nothing happened. Instead the movie played in front of her eyes again, as though she was watching it happen from the eyes of someone else.

The cold, bony grip of undead being laying asleep under the lake. Of course, she easily got rid of those, but she'd resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be going back up to the surface any time soon. Perhaps someone swimming would see her and come to investigate, or, more likelier still Ivan would grow worried and look for her, but would he think to look underwater? Probably not. So the succubus rolled to her side and closed her eyes. She wasn't breathing, but she didn't need air to live.

Rather suddenly, she felt something break the surface and turned to look, and saw something she didn't quite believe. Ivan was in the water, swimming down to her. She sat up and stood, jumping and going down again. She looked like a child in slow motion. Since she hadn't breathed any air her skin was becoming dark and scaly. He grabbed her and went back up, and once she was on terra firma she swallowed great gulps of air and took off after him, plucking him out of the trees and taking him to the holding room.

When she opened her eyes it appeared she'd fallen asleep, and it was now just before sunrise.

[Iƪƪia]

Ivan checked his watch once again. That was fine. He still had time. There were places he had to be as usual, however, he wasn't about to leave until he made sure that Chaos was alright.

The poor creature had been through such an ordeal the previous night. And it was all because of that damn nekomata. The thought of him alone caused a snarl to form in his throat. If some accident were to befall that wretched beast he would gladly look the other way. After all, it had the audacity to try to hurt her, his Chaos? It was a good thing he had been watching them, otherwise the nekomata would have gotten away and worse, Chaos might have been trapped for quite some time...

Shaking these thoughts out of his head, he stopped at her door, taking another glance at his watch before slipping it back into his pocket. It was rather early. Perhaps she wasn't up yet.

He knocked on the door several times, calling her name softly. If she wasn't awake, then he didn't want to wake her. He could always simply phase through her door to check up on her really quickly. Purely out of concern for her safety, of course.

[Anzeh]

Chaos Queen

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Chaos rolled out of bed and walked into the kitchen, pulling things out of the cabinets and out of the fridge, finding a pan under the sink. She was in the mood for a simple, white-picket fence breakfast. Of course, that meant pankcakes and bacon and eggs and buttered toast with some fruit... probably a mango or tangerine if she could find some. She'd started cooking and had made several pancakes and a good amount of bacon and eggs, and was in the middle of buttering the toast when she caught a snatch of someone knocking and Ivan's voice. She walked from the kitchen and opened the window, opening the door to the manticore.

"Morning, Ivan." She said with a smile. "Thanks for saving me last night."

The succubus backed away from the door so he could enter if he wanted to, but she dashed off to the kitchen to deal with the food she had left for a moment to answer the door. In her daze she'd made more than she could possibly eat alone, and the thought of it going to waste made her sad in a whole new way...

A solution floated to the forefront of her mind. First though, she stuck her head out of the kitchen to make sure that he was still there. "Ivan...? Would like some breakfast?"

[Iƪƪia]

As the door opened, he stepped inside, giving her a polite nod before she hurried off to the kitchen. He closed the door silently as he watched her walk away, allowing a sigh to escape from his throat. There were so many conflicting feelings whenever he was near her, it was difficult to comprehend. It was almost as if...

Quickly recalling his reason for being there, he looked toward the window, clearing his throat before he spoke.

"Of course, dear. It... Was nothing. I... I merely wanted to make sure that you were well today. I know you had quite a trying time yesterday and I was... Worried about you."

He stopped, frowning at how weak he sounded. Why did he suddenly have to put so much thought into what he said? He'd never had that problem before. It was just a little annoying.

When Chaos appeared in the doorway, he looked, taking out his watch and checking the time as he answered.

"That's very kind of you, Chaos, but-"

Looking back up, he stopped himself, contemplating things for a moment before responding.

"That would be lovely," He said with a smile, placing his watch back into his pocket. It wouldn't matter, really, if he was just slightly late.

[Anzeh]

Chaos Queen

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As soon as the succubus said it, she could feel her heart hammering in her chest, but she didn't know why. Could it be she really wanted the other to stay and eat with her? As he spoke the first time she shook her head slowly, as if to say she didn't think so. After all, he had other things to do, and who knew the consequences of him being late to those things? Ivan could be severely punished and that wouldn't be good.

But he surprised her by saying yes to her offer, which threw her for a loop for a few seconds before a smile broke across her face and she pulled out two plates and split it the way she thought best. She put enough food that she would be full and gave whatever was left to Ivan. They way it was divided made it so that he had more food than she did. She'd never admit to watching her weight, even though it wasn't easy for her to gain it in the first place.

She put both plates on the table in the main-er part of the room, which was pushed against the window with two chairs situated there. "Alright," she said, sitting down in front of the plate for herself, looking out the window into the mountainous horizon, pink with the sunrise.

[Iƪƪia]

Unable to find the proper words, Ivan only nodded as she set the plates on the table before sitting down herself. He inhaled deeply to steady his breath, only then realizing that his breath needed steadying. How strange. He was nervous. But why? Because of her? Or perhaps it was that meeting he was stalling by being here. It was all... So very confusing.

He walked toward the table, sitting down opposite of her. Drumming his fingers on the table, he followed her gaze out the window, watching the sunrise. There was silence for several moments; he stared out the window, contemplating the beauty of the sunrise. It was pretty, yes, though it was nothing compared to her. As his gaze drifted back toward Chaos there was silence several more moments before he finally spoke.

"Chaos," Her name still sounded like music to him, "Ah... How are you? Are your accommodations adequate? Do you need anything at all?"

He looked around the room once before turning back toward Chaos. That wasn't... Quite what he'd wanted to say. It was just rather difficult to speak to her. He looked out the window again, hoping that maybe watching the sunrise would soothe his nerves.

[Anzeh]

Chaos Queen

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The succubus watched the sun peek around the mountaintops with a sort of calm intrigue. She never completely understood the behaviour of the sun (then again, what was there to understand? It was like clockwork, something that happened everyday without missing a beat or fail), yet at the same time it was something mysterious and something not quite so... clockworkish... Thinking about it made her head hurt. Her eyes went from that window to the one across the room, where it was still dark. The light was chasing the darkness away, only for the darkness to return and force the light into hiding until the morrow.

She shrugged inwardly and began to eat some of the food she'd set before herself, chewing the egg in her mouth, noting how it tasted to her. She liked it. But then again, she'd never cooked for anyone besides herself, so perhaos she should ask Ivan how it tasted to him...?

Chaos never got the chance to ask since he spoke first, about her room and accomidations. "I like it." she said, smiling softly. "I especially like it because of those two windows. I can watch the sunrise and sunset everyday. It's so pretty too..."

After saying this, she cut up some more of the egg and put it in her mouth, smiling at the taste. She liked eggs.

[Iƪƪia]

He nodded at her response, his gaze flickering to the rising sun quickly before returning to her. Pretty though it may be, he was more intrigued by the effect that the sunrise had on her. How it only seemed to accentuate her beauty, the way the light seemed to catch in her hair, making it shimmer.

"Mmhm. It's very pretty," He responded dreamily, his eyes still on her.

In an effort to keep himself from staring again, he turned his attention to the plate in front of him. However, this brought several new thoughts with it. He wondered she needed food to subside like he and most other creatures did. After all, she got her energy through... Other means. It was an interesting thought, though he wouldn't think to ask her so bluntly.

He turned the fork over in his hand, chewing on a piece of bacon. It was always instinct for him to favor the meat, however, after all these years he now had little preference when it came to food.

"You're quite the cook, dear," He complimented, smiling at her.

As he said this, he nonchalantly scanned the walls, searching for a clock. He wouldn't be so rude as to check his watch right in front of her. No need to make it seem as if he was in a hurry to leave, since he wasn't. Merely curious was all.

[Anzeh]

Chaos Queen

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Chaos was happy to learn that he agreed with her, but lerned rather quickly that it wasn't the sun rise he found pretty. He was staring at her, his voice dreamy though his eyes not misted over in the infatuated way she was used to. It seemed that it wasn't that he found her pretty blindly: he didn't look at her and find attractiveness with no idea why it was that she was attractive but merely accepted that this was so--he could separated why he found her pretty and understand it, which made the compliment much more meaningful. She smiled at him and ate a bit more.

She noticed that he wasn't eating anything, but managed not to be too hurt by it. A much larger smile caught on her face when he complimented her cooking based on the taste of the bacon. The succubus replied with a thank you.

There was a clock ticking away merrily on the wall, but the ticking was so quiet it was barely audible. Chaos noticed the way he scanned the walls. He wasn't doing it as though he was looking for something, yet at the same time she knew he was. Ivan was trying to find a clock. Perhaps he was in a hurry to just leave and get to the meeting? Strange though... it didn't seem like he was in a hurry...

The reason behind her eating food yet getting sustenance in other ways was rather complicated. For her, there was a difference between Food Hungry and Energy Hungry. It was very easy for her to survive if she's food hungry. Food Hunger was superficial and had very little effect on her other than deterring her attention. Energy Hungry, however, was fatal. If she didn't feed for too long she would not have enough energy to keep herself alive, let alone do anything.

"Perhaps," She began, her voice unnaturally quiet. "I could cook you something when you get back from your meeting tonight?"

[Iƪƪia]

Having been successful in his search for a clock, Ivan ran a few, quick calculations in his mind, though he continued eating so he didn't look preoccupied. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't just a little nervous about the time now. Which was thoroughly ridiculous. These damn meetings. He wouldn't mind just "skipping" one or two on occasion. Of course he knew that couldn't happen. For multiple reasons.

And yet, he couldn't help but think that it would be nice to spend time with her without having to worry about the time. Perhaps when this was all over he could invite her somewhere.

At her voice, he looked up, noting how much quieter she was now, smiling when she asked him a question. She truly was a very sweet girl. It was easy to see why he'd have feelings for her. It had been... Quite awhile since he'd felt much of anything for another. It was just nice to feel this way again. Even if those feelings weren't returned completely.

"I would like that," He said, his voice just as quiet.

Of course, it depended on how long his meeting lasted. There were sure to be a few extra "problems" that they needed to discuss this time. Although it shouldn't take much longer than normal.

[Anzeh]

Chaos Queen

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Having spoken her mind about cooking for him, Chaos smiled and looked out again. The sun was practically fully up in the air now, but she didn't recognize that as any reason for either of them to worry, but mostly due to ignorance. She was, more often than not, asleep when he left for those meetings. As of yesterday, everyone had been successfully kidnapped. That made her eyes widen a little.

Ideas were already racing through her head about what she could make to celebrate properly. She could always get some liquor from White. Probably something like Champagne or Wine or... or vodka...

Chaos was eating absently now, and was soon finished, sitting and waiting for Ivan to finish as well before taking his plate and placing it atop her own. "Have a good meeting." She said with a smile before taking the dirty dishes to the kitchen to be washed. It wasn't until she heard him leave that she realized what she sounded like. She sounded like a wife speaking to her husband, something a simple as a "have a nice day at work."

But that was not something she wanted to relive. Marriage, when she'd tried it, hadn't worked out very well for her. Of course her husband was long dead...