Strictly Business [Closed] - Printable Version
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RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 03-21-2018
If Owen was disappointed that his ploy to make Kama look foolish and clueless in front of his sister failed, he surely didn’t show it. He kept his face neutral while his mind seethed under the surface. It took less than thirty seconds of interaction to decide he didn’t like this brother of Drusilla’s.The topic changed to the subject of Drusilla’s employment and Owen could easily sense disapproval or something along those lines emanating from Kama. Even though Owen had immediately decided not to like Drusilla’s brother, Owen was offended that Kama had apparently decided the same for him.
“She’s my personal assistant.” He said almost combatively. “We’ve been working together for I don’t know. What would you say? Three months?” Owen glanced down at Drusilla to confirm his timeline. His word choice was pointed. They worked together. Even though she worked for him, he considered her an equal. It was as if Owen was anticipating that Kama would disparage Drusilla somehow for her job title. It wasn’t exactly glamorous, surely, but he wasn’t going to let her brother use it as ammunition against her.
He wasn’t exactly sure when he started fighting battles for Drusilla or why. It had just become a sort of instinct somehow.
"She's been indispensable. It's important to have someone you can rely on in my line of work."
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 03-25-2018
Kama hummed, thoughtful and amused, there was a wry curve to his mouth. It was obviously amusing to him that his sister, the queen, was going around posing as a personal assistant. Owen even went so far as to compliment her work; Kama cleared his throat to mask a burst of derisive laughter that made Drusilla’s ears drop off either side of her head. “It’s late,” he observed, clearly advertising that he would be abandoning them on his porch. “It was nice to meet you,” he said, to go through the motions of banal pleasantries. He didn’t offer to shake the other man’s hand again. “I’ll tell Keiavan you said goodnight.” 
With that, Kama, turned into the house and closed the door on the both of them. Drusilla blinked at the barrier that had been shoved into her face. Her tail twitched irritably as she thought of her son, just on the other side, and how she’d not even been able to say goodbye to him herself. Drusilla swallowed hard as her ears pushed to attention. Wordlessly, she turned on her heel and headed back to Owen’s car. There was a defeated listlessness to her ears and tail as she walked. She waited for Owen to join her in the vehicle so they could drive back to his house. She expected to drive in silence for the most part. The rumble of the vehicle and the road passing beneath the tires, filled the space with white noise as Drusilla stared out the windshield. Her tail had curled into her lap. “I’m not a bad mother,” she said, suddenly and unprovoked, though her small voice barely filled cut through the other sounds.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 04-01-2018
Owen stared at the shorter man with an icy coldness. He felt his teeth lock together and squeeze with his anger. The sound of Kama’s laugh made his stomach twist with immediate hatred. What was this fuckers problem? Too late to even ask as the door was being shut in his face. Owen was left frowning offendedly at the door. “Yeah, fuck you, too.” Owen growled at the door in his face. He scrubbed his hand through his hair self-consciously pushing back blonde locks just for something to do with his hand that really wanted to hit the other guy in the face.
Drusilla was already turning away and heading for his car while he was seriously considering whether he should bang on the door and start a fist fight. Man, he really wanted to hit someone. First the bitchy soccer mom and now this.
He took it out on his car door instead, slamming himself inside the vehicle. The car rocked gently from the force of the way he dumped himself into the driver’s seat and slammed the door. The keys were still in the ignition and he cranked the engine, before speeding out of the driveway. He quickly put the excessive home and uppity neighborhood behind them.
Owen’s hand twisted on the steering wheel producing an audible leathery sound. Drusilla broke the silence with her sudden defensive statement. Her voice shocked him for a second as if in his rage he’d almost forgotten she was there. He felt himself melt like a hard tab of butter softened in the microwave.
Owen patted her thigh warmly before moving his hand to the back of her neck where he gave her a gentle and affectionate squeeze. “Of course you’re not. Don’t let it get to you.” His words were hypocritical. The encounter had gotten to him and he wasn’t the mother left standing on the door stoop like a solicitor.
He was already turning onto his own street when he broke the silence with an outburst of his own. “Your brother is a dick. No offense. But I do not like that guy. He is smug... cocky. Self-righteous prick.” It sort of occurred to Owen that he might have been also describing himself. “Maybe I could see him shutting the door in my face. I guess I'm kind of a dick, too. But you? He shouldn't have done that.” Owen shook his head as he pulled into his driveway.
“Okay. It just occurred to me that I should have taken you home instead of bringing you here. I got mad and started driving on instinct.” Owen let his head drop back against the headrest and turned to look at Drusilla and chuckled as he rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe your brother got under my skin. How could you let this happen?” He nudged her knee playfully hoping to make her smile.
He killed the engine and the car filled with silence which made him realize he had been sort of ranting at her. He hadn’t left her much room to speak so he twisted slightly in the seat and stared at her intently. “So, do you uh...where’s Keiavan’s father at?” Owen cringed at his phrasing and quickly tried to tidy it up. “Sorry. I don’t mean it like that. You don’t have talk about it if you don’t want to. I didn’t even know you had a kid so. I get it if you don’t ...” He let his sentence trail off as he realized he was rambling nervously to cover for the nosy question he'd asked.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 06-10-2018
Though Owen’s gentle touches and kind words did little to immediately make her feel better in the moment, she forced a small smile, but didn’t look at him. Not letting it get to her was easier said than done, and she could tell that even he wasn’t taking is own advice. Her brother had gotten to them both, easily and swiftly figuring out the best ways to irritate the both of them and flawlessly succeeding. Drusilla didn’t know if that was always Kama’s goal, or if he was just naturally vexing. Drusilla mostly stared out the window for the drive, humming and nodding along to Owen’s continued rant. She didn’t mind that he did most of the talking. It saved her the trouble. She noticed they were returning to Owen’s house before he did. She didn’t mind that either. “It’s not a problem,” she reassured, when he’d realized his error. Her ears twitched and she turned to look at him. “There isn’t anything I can do,” she smiled like she could tell he wanted her too even though she didn’t feel like it. “He gets to everyone like that.”
Another silence, this time without the white noise of the droning engine or the asphalt beneath them. She stared out at the blue-trimmed English manor that’d she’d been working in for several months now. In a way it seemed like a second home to her, not that she would admit it aloud.
Her ears twitched again when he asked about Keiavan’s father. The corners of her mouth curved downwards, but only for a moment, before her returnes to the neutral, professional mask she usually employed with him. The earlier softness disappearing, as if the day they had experienced together was a figment of their imaginations. “He’s dead,” she replied in a monotone. It wasn’t a particular longing for the other man that made her cold, just another senseless death that she felt was on her hands. “He was assassinated a few weeks after I discovered I was pregnant.”
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 06-18-2018
Owen wasn’t comforted to be among the ‘everyone’ that her brother could get to. Side-by-side with her, he stared straight ahead through the windshield at his own house. The previous owner had installed exterior lights that came on with a timer. The front of the house was lit like some museum exhibit from the lights placed below in the landscaping. It didn’t feel like his home. He didn’t know that they had vastly different feelings about the house. When she started to answer his question regarding her late husband, the switch in her demeanor brought a chill over the whole car. Leather creaked with his nervous squeezing of the steering wheel. “I’m sorry.” He said robotically. It was the thing you said when someone spoke of loss right? “That must have been very hard for you.”
The nervousness he felt at the topic was really coupled with something like jealousy. The guy was long dead but the thought of her longing for a beloved late husband made his stomach churn. He chewed at the inside of his cheek.
He glanced back towards the house when blueish light caught the top of his eye. It was the living room TV that had been turned on. The moving pictures cast light through the lazily closed drapes. “Sophia.” He explained the direction of his gaze before rolling his eyes back to his passenger. He’d unthinkingly drove Drusilla home with him, meanwhile his girlfriend was no doubt making herself comfortable on his couch. Another reason why his home didn’t feel like home.
“I would like to continue this conversation, but -” he gestured, letting her fill in the ‘but’ they both knew he was referring to. “You should go home and get some sleep.” He gave her a brief, reassuring rub on the shoulder with his hand. He opened the door and half stepped out. “I had fun. Kei is a good kid.” He stepped out of the car and then bent down. “I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t let the neighbors see you do your shadow thing.” He winked and closed the car door.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 07-04-2018
They did not get the chance to continue the conversation.
A busy week of work and Sophia's extended presence, made it difficult for Owen and Drusilla to be as personal as they had become in the previous days. Drusilla was generally busy with her own work, and Sophia didn't make it any easier on her. The other woman treated her like a maid and Drusilla didn't correct her; not wanting Sophia to throw a fit and bother Owen with something so mundane as extra laundry and innocuous errands.
Drusilla missed having lunch with Owen the most. No matter how busy he was, he would always take that time to have a meal with her, but now he mostly hid in his office to get away from Sophia. Drusilla didn't understand why he kept the brunette around, when he didn't seem to even like her, but then again...she did.
Both women were out of the house the morning that the doorbell rang unexpectedly. Drusilla was at the CAF headquarters presenting a debrief that Owen hadn't been interested in, and Sophia was off doing whatever it was Sophia did during the day. A pale-skinned, blonde woman, with a mild smile and a faraway gaze waited patiently on the other side of the door. Her dreamy expression was exacerbated by her eyes. Three distinguishable rings of color formed her irises. A dark blue in the outermost ring, pale gold in the middle, and a light blue closest to the pupil. These rings of color seemed to spin lazy circles in a way that was almost hypnotic. She wore a golden yellow sweater, with white jeans and tall heels that pushed her height to being eye to eye with Owen.
The most interesting thing about this woman, however, was not her willowy frame or her spinning eyes, but the giant pair of wings the branched outwards from the space between her shoulder blades. Snowy white and decorated with golden spots resembling an owl. Turning her head slightly to the side, she gazed across the neighbors yard, as if seeing something that wasn't there. She rang the doorbell again, for good measure.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 07-09-2018
Owen heard the doorbell the from his office the first time. He only halfway glanced up from computer screen when the quintessential “ding dong” rang through the house. He discounted it thinking the out-of-place ring was a postman delivering some package Drusilla had ordered. Her internet shopping habit was the only real reason the doorbell ever rang. His comprehension of the words on his screen tanked as he began to wonder whether Drusilla had taken to ordering things for herself to his house. He couldn’t think of what she could possibly be ordering for him or to use around the household. Ding dong.
Owen shoved himself back from his desk more aggressively than the situation warranted. Who rang a bell twice? It was like calling back to back when someone didn’t answer. If they didn’t answer, they don’t want to talk. One call, one ring should be enough. He hoped it was the neighbor coming to harass him about not bringing the bins up timely. With Drusilla at base he could really lay into them and put the weeks’ long conflict to end.
He pulled open the door and was greeted by crisp autumn air and an unexpected guest. “Can I…” his eyes darted over her features, the most notable ones popping up from behind her shoulders. He even leaned forward a bit but that was to check to see if there was anyone else other than her occupying his porch or driveway.
Nope. Just the one angelic looking being.
“...help you?” He asked with a bit of hostility and suspicion in his voice. He folded his arms over his chest, fully occupying the doorway.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 07-21-2018
She barely gave him time to finish his bewildered question before she rushed forward and into him. Darcias either didn't notice his tone, or didn't care. She also paid no mind to the defensive position he had taken in front of the entry into his home. Her wings flared outwards as she wrapped her arms around his waist in an over-familiar hug. Simultaneous to this greeting, she used the momentum to spin him around until she was also inside the house. "It's wonderful to see you," she cooed, in an ethereal voice that almost sounded like the chimes of bells. Her accent was very notably, Veridian. Macrilanic, specifically if one listened close enough. She released Owen and her wings settled close to her back as she turned to look into the house.
Darcias frowned. Something wasn't quite right, but she wasn't sure what it was. For a moment, she looked confused, lost. It was brief, the furrow of her brow only lasting a few seconds. "I came to see the baby," she announced, turning to face Owen. Wide and swirling eyes zeroed in on his face. "I was told I could come see the baby."
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 07-23-2018
Owen’s eyebrows climbed towards his hairline as the blonde woman wrapped him in a hug. His arms, still folded, lifted upwards to give her room to encircle his middle with her arms. The surprised look clung to his face while he endured the hug and was maneuvered around. Something about the way she spoke was familiar to him. Her accent. It was similar to Drusilla's but different somehow. He frowned pensively. Owen had already concluded the woman was very confused. When she released him, his arms unfolded and he placed his hands on her upper arms as he stared into her face. “You must be mistaken.” He said evenly. “There’s no baby here.” Owen released her and then stood up taller. He didn’t want to be anymore eye level with the stranger than he had to be. “Is there someone I can call for you?”
He turned around and peered out the front of his still open door just in case this was some kind of elaborate ruse by CAF enemies to distract and kidnap him or something.
It was a bright, sunny autumn day. A neighborhood kid rolled by on his skateboard. Birds chirped. No militant operatives assailed him.
“Did you need a ride somewhere?” He asked as he closed the door and turned back towards his strange guest.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 07-25-2018
Darcias' turned circles, still observing the foyer and what she could see of the large house from her position. Her wings remained tucked close to her body. It was unclear to whether she was looking for something, or just looking at some place new. Her slow circles were stopped by Owen grasping her arms. Her eyes rolled upwards, in thought, before dropping back to his face. She didn't seem at all bothered by his touching her that way. Her mouth curled into an easy smile, settled comfortably into a familiar rapport that was only familiar to her. "No." She disagreed with all of his statements, and offer to find her a ride. She had started walking away from him when he had released her to check the front of the house. She maneuvered towards the kitchen without need for direction. "Julianna said I could come see the baby," she explained further, her bell-like voice increasing in volume as she walked away from him. She was vaguely aware that he was trailing behind while he closed the door.
She stopped on her path to the kitchen for a moment, cocking her head curiously at an empty stretch of space on the wall. "There used to be a painting here," she mused, tilting her head the other way. "A map of Eskra. By the same artist who did Veridian. The ones you have in your office?"
A thoughtful hum sounded in her throat as she moved away from the empty wall and continued into the kitchen. "Where is Julianna?"
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 07-25-2018
“Okay.” Owen said sounding somewhat put out by the fact that the woman was declining his aid when she clearly seemed to need it. She walked away from him farther into his house, as if she knew it already. Perhaps that should have roused more fear out of Owen. This woman didn’t arouse any further fear in Owen. There didn’t seem to be anything threatening about her. Or, at least, she didn’t seem likely to pose a threat to him. She spoke as if she knew him.
“There is no baby here.” He repeated following behind her.
He eyed the blank wall suspiciously. “I own only one Crystin Cerridwen.” He corrected her. Why did she know about the map in his office? It was such a specific fact, yet also inaccurate.
“Juli -” He hesitated. Surely he had called her that. He’d even thought of Drusilla more and more as Julianna but it still seemed strange to call her that. “She’s not here. Ah - what’s your name?” He asked as he joined his strange guest in his kitchen.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 07-27-2018
Darcias was already in the kitchen rummaging through the pantry by the time Owen met up with her. She was half-buried in the deep cupboard, spotted wings could be seen sticking out of the door, twitching as she looked for something. She emerged holding two boxes of tea bags. She was frowning at them both when she turned around. One was a variety sampler of Celestial Seasonings, and the other was a generic black tea. "You're out of Pu'er tea," she complained, hands full of boxes dropping to her sides. "It's Julianna's favorite. Does she keep it somewhere else, now?"She blinked at him. "Darcias?" She replied to his question finally. There was the lilt of a question to her tone. As if the answer should have been obvious to him. The tops of her wings rose high above her head, before settling once more. She assessed him for a few moments, before her eyes seemed to glaze over and she was looking at something else entirely. Something through him.
Suddenly, she blinked out of the brief trance with with a breathless 'oh,' exclamation. "Where are my manners." The tall Fae mimicked an effortless curtsey that looked out of place in jeans. "Darcias Arisone LeClaire of House Darkwillow." She introduced herself, as if they were meeting for the first time. Which they were, but Darcias wasn't quite sure of that. "When will she be back? Soon? I hope. She invited me here, after all."
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 08-07-2018
Owen followed along behind the odd blonde as if pulled along by her on a leash. Her presence was magnetic in a way. She seemed at home in his home if boldly rummaging through his pantry was any sign. She seemed to know exactly what she wanted so Owen let her rummage but not without some protest. From his position behind her, Owen scoffed and threw up his hands to let them slap down again on his thighs.
She turned around to critique his tea selection and he was somewhat offended even though he wasn’t responsible for stocking his own food pantry anymore.
“Give me those. Just -" he snatched the boxes from the woman now identifying herself as Darcias. “- go sit down I’ll do it.” He pushed her to the side so he could put his tea back in the pantry. Owen gestured generally towards the breakfast nook to direct her to a good spot to quarantine her from further exploration of his home and cabinets
He crossed the room and tore open his cabinet over the coffee pot where the mugs were. “I put some tea back - in the wrong spot -”
Did she say Darkwillow?
The hand reaching into his cabinet froze and he turned to frown at the other blonde. “You’re related to Julianna?” His eyes rolled from one side to the other as if he were checking facts in his mind. They had to be relatives somehow.
His body as if waking from being frozen in time resumed the task of retrieving a box of tea and a mug.
"My name is Owen, by the way. Owen Hart. But you know that already, don't you?" He asked as he prepared a cup of tea for his guest. He hadn't even addressed the matter of Julianna's return. Or this nonexistant mystery baby.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 08-12-2018
The tea was surrendered, easily, but her wings flared a bit in response to the tone he took with her. However, amenable to his nudging, she took off towards the breakfast nook. She seemed to float towards the space, positing herself gracefully into the booth. Her wings folded in such a way that was comfortable in the small settee. "If you don't have the Pu'er, then the black tea will be fine. Veridian honey and lemon would be just wonderful if you have those as well."
Darcias appeared to not have shown up at the Hart residence with nothing but herself. She didn't pull out a cell phone or other such device to entertain herself while she sat at the table and watched Owen fiddle around the kitchen. She observed that he look sort of out of place, like the room was unfamiliar to him, which was entirely possible given how Julianna had taken it over.
She laughed. "Her sister." There was an air of teasing to her tone that implied she assumed he was just messing with her and absolutely knew that the two women were related. She beamed at him when he stated she knew his name like he had complimented her somehow, because she did know. "Of course I do Lieutenant Colonel. We've been acquainted all these years." If she had noticed or cared that her two main concerns, her sister and the maybe-baby, had been waylaid, she didn't raise a fuss.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 08-27-2018
Owen made a silent mental note of his guest’s specific tea requests. He didn’t outwardly acknowledge her preferences in any although he would try to satisfy them. He put on a pot of coffee to brew first while he made the tea.“Right.” He agreed to Darcias’ claim of having known him ‘all these years.’ He’d decided not to correct her anymore because he was more interested in what she believed to be true than what he knew was true. “You’ll have to forgive me. I have a lot on my mind these days. So, you said Julianna invited you? It must have slipped her mind to tell me you were coming.” He prompted her to keep talking while he prepared her tea.
He’d watched Julianna make tea often enough that he could replicate the process. He filled the kettle with water and turned on the burner. A few clicks of the gas getting started before blue flame erupted. He adjusted the flame down before setting the kettle over it. The kettle was the one that perpetually sat on one of the burners. It was both decorative and functional since Julianna so often used it for herself. It was really more her kettle than his.
He found the Veridian honey with a bit of effort. He was beginning to wonder if Julianna was hiding the honey from him since he had a bad habit of standing in the kitchen and eating it with a spoon to satisfy late night sweet tooth cravings.
The lemon was easier to find. Bright yellow fruit in the fridge. He sliced it himself and tossed the almost delicate slices into a hasty pile on a saucer. He could have arranged them more neatly but that detail was overlooked. He brought the saucer of lemons, a spoon, and the honey to the table for his guest.
“Excuse me just a minute.”
Owen left the kitchen to call Julianna from the privacy of his office. He wouldn’t reach her, of course, she was in a presentation, but he left her a voicemail. “So, a woman - approximately six feet tall, blonde, blue eyes, slim build, kinda pretty in an … uhm angelic? sort of way? She has wings. Pretty sure she’s fae - anyway, she shows up at my door and says you invited her. Said ‘Julianna invited me to see the baby.’ What baby? Claims to be your sister. She’s going by the name ‘Darcias Arisone LeClaire of House Darkwillow.’ I invited her in for tea. She’s … docile enough. Non-threatening. She does seem a bit ... confused. So. Don’t play around with Renton after the meeting, come straight back so you can I.D. this lady for me.”
Owen left the message and then returned to the kitchen to find the kettle was singing and ready to be taken from the heat. “Sorry about that. I had to make a work call.” He poured hot water into the teapot and measured out the leaves. He brought the pot and a mug to the table and left Darcias to serve herself however she saw fit. He poured himself a cup of black coffee before he slid into the nook across from her.
“So...while Julianna is out, you have me to entertain you.”