[Midnight Hotel] February catch-all

[gistful]

Characters: Anyone, everyone.
Date: Month of February, 2016.
Location: The Midnight Hotel.
Situation: Catch-all post! Feel free to use this post for anything that happens within the Midnight Hotel during the month of January, using the subject header to label specific rooms or for specific people. See also the OOC note at the bottom.
Warnings/Rating: None thus far.

Now that work on the public console had been completed, the Hotel’s lobby seemed larger and clearer than it had been previously—or it would, save for the decently regular flow of traffic. Most of that traffic were kedan using the Hotel's commons and facilities, but whereas most of those not actively staying at the Hotel were usually gang-members.

This month there are a fair few ordinary kedan from various walks of life—kedan who, in light of the emissaries’ presence, decide that at least presenting the illusion of branching out might endear them to the ambassadors. While the atmosphere is not exactly relaxed, it’s significantly less volatile than it would otherwise be; even the gang-members are on their best behaviour.

As always, great effort is made to inform newcomers of the Hotel’s strict rule of non-violence.

[ooc: The Midnight Hotel’s status page is available here, with the rules at the top and ongoing status at the bottom. PLEASE POST TO THE STATUS PAGE IF YOUR CHARACTER WOULD LIKE A ROOM OR A JOB. Anton will manufacture means of payment until Foreigners are able to properly offer recompense or choose to move out.

Comments

[peacefullywreathed]

"Forgiveness is difficult for most people to grasp, apparently," Solomon said dryly, thinking of Bakura and Skulduggery and both their idiocies, and then thinking of his father's honest faith. Solomon was one of the few sorcerers who hadn't rejected Christianity because of how he was raised. Maybe that was what would make the difference for him.

Not that Solomon was considering converting, by any means, but the context and the background served as something of a--

He was quite firmly pulled away from inner considerations to Raine's proximity, and Raine's demeanour, and Raine's words, and he took a sip of his tea to cover the sudden smile. If she wasn't deliberately seducing him, she was certainly making a good pretense. "There may be one or two," he said airily, elbows on the chair's arms and tea cradled in his hands, positioned enough to be in the way but easily removed. "Is there something in particular you would care to address?"

[ruinsprofessor]

"Evidently so," Raine agreed. There were enough of that sort in her world, on both sides of the matter. Honestly. Forgetting mistakes served no one, but neither did dwelling in them to the exclusion of all else.

As to the other matter-- well. She was not exactly intending to seduce him, except in the ongoing sense of their strange little contest of wills, but the peaceful intimacy of earlier had been unfortunately interrupted by practical concerns and the new lightness in his tone suggested the emotional issue was at least somewhat resolved. All this contributed to a growing desire for some kind of closeness. "Let me see," Raine said aloud, considering if she did have anything that would better be addressed now. "...No, I don't believe I have any pressing issues to raise right now."

She reached out; her hands hovered briefly over his, then settled on the teacup, a question in the gesture. "Save that I'd like to be sure you understand exactly how much I want you," she added, matter-of-fact. It was meant in the general sense, to encompass all the senses in which she did. "One or two other matters, you said?"

[peacefullywreathed]

Well, well, well. That was interesting and far more palatable than the previous emotional turbulence, and her wording made Solomon's heart beat a little faster. He let Raine take the cup, even though he hadn't yet finished his tea. "Nothing that couldn't wait, I think," Solomon said blithely, watching her watch him. "Please do, go on. I should hate for there to be any ambiguity about how much you want me."

[ruinsprofessor]

A brief pause while she relocated his tea to a safe, flat location, and realized also exactly how her words might have been construed. Which was not entirely inaccurate, but not her primary goal. At the moment.

When Raine returned to stand directly in front of him again, she had at least some of her thoughts in order. "It would be, I agree, a benefit to us both to be precise and clear, leaving as little ambiguity as possible," she said, with a decisive nod. She was smiling, the expression small but warm. "Of course, I'm happy to remind you as necessary, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's see. I don't believe I ever mentioned it, but you should know you were a significant part of my decision to stay here, when the opportunity to return home was offered."

It was not something she at all wanted to bring up with Genis, but it seemed like something Solomon deserved to know. Raine leaned forward just a little, her hands resting on the arms of the chair. "I want to wake up to you, day after day," she said, quiet, intent on his face. "To speak with you at leisure, of everything and nothing. And while I confess I am more than occasionally tempted to drag you back into bed when you find it necessary to leave, in the grand scheme of things what matters most of all this, Solomon, is simply having you in my life."

She wanted-- something. To be closer than she was, certainly, but nevertheless Raine hesitated over the urge to reach out, not wholly sure what to do with it.

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon had known that Raine had chosen to stay--it had come up, if he recalled, when they woke up from their year-long hiatus--but Raine had never put it quite so explicitly. The way she said it, the fact she regarded him so intently, took his breath away. The actual words took away any hope of a verbal response.

It wasn't often Solomon was at a loss for words. It seemed to happen more frequently the longer he was with Raine.

In lieu of any other response Solomon sat up to kiss her, though it was markedly unlike his usual teasing kisses. This one was almost self-conscious, and soft, and tender in a way Solomon hadn't think he could be or even recognised that he was.

[ruinsprofessor]

There was, Raine reflected, a certain sort of satisfaction in having apparently reduced Solomon, so typically quick-tongued and eloquent, to nonverbal communication with her words alone. That uncommon tenderness alone spoke volumes. Evidently she'd made herself understood.

She made a pleased little sound against his mouth, prompted by the softness in his touch and the lightness in her heart, and leaned into him, following that nameless urge to be closer. The shift in weight might have been a little awkward, but for the helpful presence of the chair; in short order Raine had wound her arms round his neck and braced one knee on the seat beside him, and was at least halfway to abandoning decorum entirely and settling in his lap.

[peacefullywreathed]

What had started as a gentle kiss seemed to move with shocking speed into something a little less gentle, and Solomon honestly couldn't tell whether or not Raine meant what he had, only minutes before, half hoped she did. But he didn't. Well, he did--but he didn't. Sex for Solomon had always been a passing but pleasurable distraction. This ... seemed to be far more lasting, and it felt like a reduction to bring sex into the moment.

Still, the position seemed terribly awkward, and after a moment Solomon touched her waist to draw her into his lap more properly, but he broke off the kiss and rested his forehead on hers and murmured, "How do you do that?"

[ruinsprofessor]

Once she'd found a slightly less awkward position settled in his lap, Raine was perfectly content to remain there, eyes half-closed. This was all she'd sought for now, kissing aside -- his warmth, and the familiar sense of his mana, the faint touch of shadow and the pattern she could describe no better way than Solomon. She could not linger here all day, she knew, but even so, she'd take what she could get while she could.

In a moment it occurred that he'd asked her a question, and it was one she wasn't sure how to answer. "You'll have to be a little more specific," she returned. No teasing about it, just quiet bemusement.

[peacefullywreathed]

"How," Solomon murmured, turning up her chin to kiss her again lightly, "do you manage so easily to take my breath away?" He felt as though there was an obvious answer there which he already knew, but which some part of him wasn't quite ready to fully acknowledge. Nevertheless, the fact was true and he was content for the moment to live in it without trying to find it--as if the reality would flutter away if he tried.

[ruinsprofessor]

Even the clarification did not result in something Raine had a good answer for. Instead she simply returned that kiss, made of it a gentle thing that spoke more of emotion than desire to press further at the moment. "I don't know," she said finally, opting for the truth of the matter. She didn't know that she'd expected this, either, back when she'd first realized exactly how much she'd begun to care for him. On one level it was a logical progression -- she'd told him herself she did not commit halfway -- but the sheer magnitude of what she felt for Solomon still occasionally startled her.

"...I am, however, pleased to know I can. It's only fair." He did, after all, do something similar to her with stunning regularity. "If I discover the answer, I'll be sure to inform you."

[peacefullywreathed]

"That would quite be considerate of you," said Solomon with a small smile. "I don't suppose you can reach both our teacups from here?" He didn't particularly want to move. As much as he enjoyed the occasional leisure, having someone to enjoy it with him was still a novelty.

[ruinsprofessor]

Raine, similarly loath to move in a way that would change their current arrangement over-much, eyed the desk for a moment before deciding that she could, in fact, reach. She leaned for the tea that was his and passed it into his grasp before situating her own closer to the edge, where it would be more easily reclaimed if she desired. That matter of logistics thus settled, Raine rested her head on his shoulder and breathed evenly, content.