Sabastion's House

A simple classic little cottage with an over run garden located in an older neighborhood of Athens Harbor.



The sun poured through the small spaces between the blinds and the walls surrounding the window. Emily was somewhat awake mentally, but bodily was still very much asleep. She yawned and gave a feline stretch before rolling to try finding Sebastian with her arms. She was met with his pillow and the scent of his hair, though he was gone. She sighed, though it was still happy. He must be out for his morning jog. She smiled with a blush as she admired his scent in the sheets a bit longer, then peeled herself out of the bed to head for the shower. She didn't bother hiding her nudity as she made her way into the bathroom, running her fingers through her mussed hair with another yawn.

Anyone who has ever lamented leaving a warm bed on a crisp morning would feel their cheeks burn with shame at their pettiness if they had a morning with Emily next to them to compare it to. A bed as cold as the arctic would have been hard pressed to get him to move, she was terribly convincing when one considered if they should stay, even as she dreamed. Still, with the consolation of knowing she would be here when he returned, Sabastion had managed to pry himself from the bed a short while before she woke and made his way through a short route of the neighborhood, not interested this morning in making his way to Jade's. She would be leaving now anyway if he was judging the time correctly. So instead of a destination, he let his mind wander as he followed the familiar path through his and adjoining neighborhoods. He considered Emily ten years from now, a full doctor, still living with him, still being together. Perhaps a mother, or soon to be. The image made him hum thoughtfully before moving on. She was sweet, and caring. As much as he would outwardly encourage her to experience other work environments, he admitted to himself that he couldn't honestly see her doing it. He also wasn't sure he wanted her to learn things like tending the garden, also admitting to himself that he felt protective of it still following his grandmother's death. Would he even want to still be here? Didn't he want to travel again? He had been to Russia more than once, he had enjoyed it, and although he didn't really believe in ghosts he had a feeling his grandmother would haunt him if he let his Russian become rusty. Maybe he could take Emily some time? He hummed again, checking the road before crossing. She would probably look rather cute bundled against the cold, she seemed the type to enjoy snowball fights or snowmen building or sledding. She had a laugh that was innocent to him. He stopped, placing his hands on his knees, a block away from his house and took a few deep breaths to relax, letting the images fall away one by one. It had been two days, did he even have to worry about these things yet? She wasn't even finished with school, she barely knew him. Whatever fantasies he could make up didn't matter. What would actually happen did, and none of that would happen at all if he didn't live in the moment. Looking back was for those stories, not dreaming of the future. For now it was good, new, shiny, thrilling. He might as well be happy until she grew bored of him. He took one last deep breath as he righted himself and walked the rest of the way home. The sound of the shower greeted him as he opened the door making his lips quirk up. Yes, still here. He quietly closed the door and headed upstairs to choose clothing for the day while he waited his turn to shower.

Emily was singing in the shower when he returned. She wasn't remarkably talented at it, but she could carry a tune quite well with the proper song. Currently she was singing, "I Need a Hero," in a slow and sultry style as she leaned her head back under the hot water. She sighed and the tune floated off with the steam. Behind her closed lids, she reimagined Sebastian, the events from the night before, how he felt around her, inside her, against her, beside her... Her cheeks warmed and a smile pulled her cheeks up until dimples showed. She washed herself with thorough lathers and rinsed once more before stepping out, picking her song back up in a soft hum instead. She heard something shift out in the bedroom and paused with a smile. "Sebastian? Is that you?" She had no reason to think otherwise, but it didn't hurt to ask. "How was your run?"

"Pleasant enough," Sabastion called back a reply without looking up from his laptop. Although not his intention, a 'quick look' had once again resulted in the doctor leaning for several minutes over his desk, thinking it wouldn't take long enough to sit for, checking work emails. Everything from patient updates to hospital construction plans to pot luck party announcements filtered through his inbox. He hummed, filtering as much as he could as quickly as he could, finally pushing the screen down to shut the computer before it took even more time. He had been rescheduled to fill in for another doctor who needed to leave early, but thankfully it would end before the party. Sabastion was fairly certain of Emily's reaction if she heard he couldn't go, no matter the reason. Only then did he turn to picking out his customary work outfit of a solid color button down and black trousers, laying them carefully on the bed. Perhaps he could simply use the shower downstairs if Emily wanted to continue getting ready in this one...

As soon as that thought ended in his mind, Emily emerged from his bathroom in a waft of warm, moist steam. Her black hair was already drying and combed, and her skin mostly dry, though the Paleness of it still seemed to glitter with untouched moisture. She smiled up at him, her cheeks pinked from the warmth of the shower. She was wrapped in one of the spare towels from under the sink, and while it was long enough to nearly reach her knee, it hugged her tightly with rolls of soft fuzz. She took a gasp of the lighter, cooler air of the bedroom and smiled at him. "The shower is all yours-" she paused and noticed him laying out nice clothes--clothes for work. "I thought you didn't need to go in today?" she had thought she would be the only one working. Then again, these last few days had seemed to melt together and she wasn't entirely sure what day this was.

"Only for a short time," Sabastion assured her as he gathered the clothes. He paused long enough to touch her cheek with his free hand, admiring her deep blue eyes and dark hair again. "I will come and go sooner than you will. We'll still have time to go get you a dress before the party if you like."

The smile returned to Emily's features, more from his touch than his words, and she nodded. She let him release her and said quietly, I'll go get dressed downstairs. Enjoy your shower." True to her word, she left him there in his bathroom and headed to her own room downstairs to get ready for work. Once she was dressed, light makeup done, and hair mostly dry enough to be pulled back into a ponytail, she headed into the kitchen next to start breakfast for them both.

Sabastion showered and readied himself with the practiced ease of routine. He was just finishing buttoning his shirt when his phone started ringing. It was awfully early, it must be the hospital calling him in. One glance at the caller ID however and he tucked it under his ear as he finished with his shirt. "Haidee? What's wrong?" Why wasn't she calling the hospital? She should have been fine with a little light work. Had she over done it? He was already grabbing her keys as she was answering.

"I'm- having a heart attack- at Luke's-"

She was fine just yesterday! "I'll meet you at the hospital!" he yelled back to Emily before the door closed behind him and he was already getting in his car. He was off the driveway and down the road practically before he had put his phone away. What in gods name were they doing that set her off??

"O-okay-!" Emily called back, but Sebastian was already gone. She slumped a little with a crooked half-smile. Must have been an emergency for him to rush out that fast. He even forgot his coffee and breakfast. She looked at the food, still cooking, and her smile turned down a little. She decided she could prepare it for him for lunch instead, and set about doing just that. She made herself a lunch as well, finished her breakfast, and with their lunches and his coffee in hand, set off for work herself.

---

Emily was still skipping when she reached the front door. She saw Sebastian's car parked in the driveway and was right for assuming he left the front door unlocked for her. She stepped inside with a happy sigh. "Sebastian, I'm home!" she called almost giddily. She set her purse down and moved into her room at the bottom of the stairs to begin peeling out of her scrubs. She paused to switch on her music player, to something upbeat and fun, and continued, stepping out of her scrub pants and kicking them against the wall. In her panties and bra, she went to her closet and began to dig for some simple jeans and a shirt to wear out of the house.

Between the music and the rummaging it was no surprise Emily didn't hear Sabastion approach and the doctor took full advantage of his anonymity. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned in the doorway to her room, just taking in the sight of her for a full couple of minutes. She had creamy skin with the occasional mark his mind connected like constellations. Her hair like raven feathers brushing across her shoulders, tempting his attention there. She was a little awkward in how she moved, but it had an innocent freedom to it that amused him. When she finally did turn, he did not try to deny his staring, instead he did not move, the upward quirk of his lips did not change. He only made eye contact. "Eager?" he queried, making sure when he gave her a once over as she stood there in her undergarments that she saw and understood he was implying either what she was wearing or that she was getting ready. Was he talking about their affair or the outing? He didn't elaborate, letting her decide on her own.

Emily faced him completely with a coy smirk of her own. She tossed her jeans and shirt to her bed and moved to him in her underwear, boldly looping her arms up around his neck with smooth movements. "There you are," she whispered and leaned flush against his front. She kissed him lightly on the lips with a hum. "Of course I'm eager! Life is good. I finished my residency, I have a new job, I have you..." she whispered that last part with a sensual purr and her blue eyes flicked to his lips, "and we're going to a party tonight. What reason don't I have to be eager?"

Sabastion's eyebrows raised in mock surprise, his mouth forming the word 'oh' soundlessly. "I see, you have me, do you?" he asked in reply, but one arm had already captured her waist. "So I am property now?" He took one step and turned, smoothly pinning her next to the doorframe instead. He leaned down so their lips were close but not touching. "Is my house yours now as well?" he asked, his best instructional tone in place even as he gave her a soft kiss. He was remarkably good at sounding calm no matter what else he was feeling. "Come now..." He cupped her cheek with his free hand and met her eyes again, so close the rest of the world was out of focus. "Don't you want to be mine instead?"

Emily hummed a happy sound. She didn't mind being pinned by him to the door. She was more than happy to be pinned by him to any surface, really. Her hands tugged light and playful at his shirt and pants, little pinches between her fingertips, but just enough to be known. "I am yours... just as much as you are mine." she breathed, tipping her chin up so her face was closer to his. "If you'll have me, that is. I'm more than happy to try convincing you..." She tugged notably at the waist of his pants and drew her bottom lip between her teeth with a smile.

He chuckled in reply, the sound rolling out of his chest like quiet growls. "I wouldn't need much convincing." He purposely avoided lips in favor of kissing her forehead. "Get ready, we still need to go out and if you could read my thoughts, you would know we won't have time after so we need to go now."

This time, Emily whined and her bottom lip puckered in a pout. Her hands tightened on the waist of his pants and she held fast, keeping him flush there against her and the door. "Not even enough time for a little fun? I could use my mouth, I know you like that," Emily whispered and her lips pecked a wet kiss on his neck. She didn't usually beg like this, but she was in a good mood and she wanted to spend as much of it with him as possible.

His hands took her hips almost instantly, pinning her more firmly to the wall, and he barely- barely- suppressed a groan, but could not stop the sigh through his nose as he tried to reign in his composure. "Emily," he said, his calm a little more of a warning now. "I don't want to celebrate quickly. I want to shower you with praise for hours on end until you can barely breathe, barely move, and your vocabulary is reduced to 'yes' and my name, do you understand?" His eyes met hers again, dark and dilated. One hand came up to rest on her cheek, stroking it lightly with his thumb. "Now, if you want to disappoint Nathan by not going after you promised to be there, we could start now-"

Emily's smile was gone. Her eyes were locked on his face and her blue orbs were just as big as his. She loved that harsh, commanding tone of his. For years it had intimidated her in the work place, made her feel flustered and excited and scared, and now he was using it in the privacy of their home, and in a very different context. Her cheeks pinked and her breathing quickened, but she released his waistband and her hand covered his at her cheek. "No... we can go." she whispered. "We can come back to this when we have time, and when we can properly praise each other." The hand not holding his brushed down the front of his shirt in slow strokes, as if fixing it, but the glaze over her eyes suggested a more sensual reason. "I'll be good."

"It is only for a little while," Sabastion promised and turned his hand away from her cheek so he could take her hand and press a kiss gently to the back. "I expect you to be very, very bad tonight," he added, looking at her eyes again. "I intend to be." He kissed her lips, gentle and tender, so at odds with his words and when he broke the kiss he had that same affectionate almost-smile on his lips again. "Finish getting ready. I will meet you outside." He gave her one last little peck on the lips before he finally extricated himself and, with a final unashamed openness, he gave her entire body another last look, then took his leave to wait outside, leaning against the car. It was many breaths before he managed to calm himself and forcefully shove the mental images, and memories, to the back of his consciousness.

Emily was left breathless and dazed against the wall beside her door. She, too, needed to take a few deep breaths to regain control of her desires. The way he looked at her... touched her... spoke to her... She still had chills. She smiled, her eyes closed, and resisted her hands' urges to wander between her thighs in lieu of his affections. She grabbed the clothes she had pulled from her closet and donned them, then braided her hair back in a French plait at the back of her head. With a final touch up of her make up and the addition of some cute sandals, she grabbed her purse and headed out to where Sebastian was waiting by the car. "Alright, I'm ready, let's go." she smiled, kissing his cheek and then moving around to the passenger side of the car.

Sabastion followed her and opened the door first, holding it while she got settled and closing it after. His elderly neighbor was enjoying the shade of their porch and the two of them shared a wave before he returned to his side and took the driver's seat. "Where would you like to go first?" he asked as they pulled away from his house and started for boto streets of athens harbor.

---

"I highly doubt I will ever tire of you." Emily said playfully, but she retreated from being so close to his side as they pulled into the drive of the house. She released his hand so she could unbuckle herself, and grabbed up her bags as she opened the door. She waited until she was standing outside the car and Sebastian was getting out before she said with a coy smile, "Shall we save time and shower together?"

Sabastion sighed and swung the driver side door closed, but the sound again lacked bite. Of course, he had been asking too much. "Very well," he conceded and followed her inside. "I doubt anyone will mind if we are late anyway." He closed the door behind him, locked it, dropped his keys on the table near the door, then promptly grabbed Emily and lifted her so as to wrap her legs around his waist as he carried her upstairs. "Ты будешь моей смертью," he muttered as he brought her to the bathroom, closing the door behind them. Her clothes could stay at the entryway for now.

Emily let out a pleasantly surprised yelp as she was lifted, and eagerly wrapped her legs about his waist. She leaned in and kissed at his neck as he carried her upstairs, and laughed at his mumbled Russian. She didn't quite understand it yet, but it sounded similar to what he usually said about her. "Well, don't act like it's a chore," she muttered teasingly against his neck as he kicked the bathroom door closed.

Some time later...

The bathroom was full of steam. It made it hard to breathe after various physical activities. Emily opened the bathroom door and breathed in deep the lighter, cooler air of his bedroom. "Mmmm, that was fantastic." she smiled at him, her towel pinned to her chest though not quite wrapped around her. Her ebony locks dripped down her back. "I suppose I should leave you to get ready now. Maybe we'll still manage to be on time." she winked.

She was deceptive. She was deceptive and a liar and Sabastion was sincerely beginning to wonder if her shy awkwardness had all been an act. It was almost scary how domineering she was starting to be, driven by an insatiability. A rabbit that looked so sweet and cute and then mauled your face off for not doing what it wanted you to. It was starting to concern him how far that went, though he understood the analogy was- for now- exaggerated. He joined her in his room, his own towel tucked around his waist and another laying over his head as he rubbed his hair dry. "I wouldn't want to be the first ones to arrive," he commented as he paused in drying his hair to look through his closet. "Take your time getting ready."

Emily stayed put leaning against the bathroom door for a moment, her smile fading and her head tilted as she studied him from behind. She hesitated, took a breath to speak, stopped, then tried again. "Are you upset with me..?" She asked carefully.

He paused, having been about to lay a white shirt with the black trousers he had lain on his bed, and raised an eyebrow at her. "No, if I was what we just did would be awfully hard to explain, wouldn't it?" he questioned, then returned to laying out his clothes. "Is there a reason I should be upset with you?"

"No, I just... I dunno..." Emily mumbled, still watching him. She felt silly. But why she felt silly was hard to explain. Did she feel silly because she felt like he was mad at her when he wasn't? She pulled the towel from her front and used it to start drying her hair, though not in a provocative way. She moved towards the bedroom door instead. "You just seem..." Impatient? Annoyed? Dismissive? "... distracted. I dunno... maybe it's nothing. I still have a hard time reading you." she admitted, pulling her towel from her hair and just looking down at it in her hands absently.

"Perhaps I'm not written in English," Sabastion quipped. He looked up at her and offered that gentle upward quirk of his lips, then continued analyzing his outfit. "Perhaps it is because my attention is not focused solely on you?" He looked up again, this time a bit more seriously, giving her that exact attention. "Does it bother you when I do that?"

The word "no" was ready on Emily's lips when he asked her that, but she stopped herself and analyzed it instead. Did it bother her? Her cheeks flushed and she dropped her gaze again, shifting on her feet a bit awkwardly. "It shouldn't..." she said quietly. But it did. It really did. For the longest time, he was out of her reach. She watched him from afar at work, admired him, idolized him, dreamt of him. Now she finally had him and--gods, was it going to her head? For two years, he hardly acknowledged her outside of a purely occupational context, and she had assumed that aside from the fact that they worked together and she was his subordinate, that he just didn't care for her. Feeling and knowing she had been wrong, that he desired her consistently over the time they'd spent together had been positively euphoric. But she could never be sure what it was about her he desired. Did he like her normally clumsy, shy self? The first days she'd lived with him, he'd practically scolded her for being a walking disaster area. He chided her in Russian whenever she bit her lips. She didn't think he'd liked any of that about her. So she'd tried to change--to be more confident, more graceful, more controlled. Was he upset about those changes now? She supposed it had also made her a bit more controlling... more manipulative. She had wanted to be sure, so desperately, that she was turning into something he liked that she never thought to actually ask him what it was he liked about her. She didn't know what he wanted. This realization seeped into her gut and made her feel somewhat ill. She glanced at him slightly and said, "I'm sorry."

"There's no need to be," he replied simply, but as he glanced at her he realized that wasn't enough. He sighed and sat on the end of the bed, patting the spot next to him to encourage her to sit. "Emily, sometimes.. I will need to focus on patients. I know you understand and respect that. Sometimes I will need to speak with other people, I know you understand that too. Is it truly not enough for you that here, in this home, even if I am not looking at you or even when I'm in another room, even when we are not lying in each others' arms, I am entirely yours?"

She couldn't help it; she began to chew at her lip. She crossed the room to him and sat down beside him, drawing the towel up into her lap in a bundle and just fidgeting with the threading, though being careful not to ruin it. "It is. It really is, I guess I just... I enjoy finally having you. I never thought I would be here... in your home, sitting beside you like this... having you like I just did," she said, smiling just slightly at the words as blood filled her cheeks again. Her shoulders bounced in another small shrug. "I guess I was desperate to make it last. I didn't want you getting bored of me--the quiet, clumsy, self conscious me. I was trying to be someone more confident... more in control..." she whispered. "But I shouldn't have been. In my desperation to keep you from pulling away, I think I was making you more likely to do just that." She sighed heavily. "I never even bothered to ask you what you thought, or felt, or wanted. That's what I'm most sorry for. I've been selfish." She glanced at him slightly, but kept her eyes down. She stayed silent a moment, her dark, delicate brows drawn together, and pink lips turned down. "You've been so patient with me. It's almost unfair. I think anyone else would have turned and run by now."

"Perhaps," Sabstion admitted with a nod as he pushed the towel on his head back so it settled around his shoulders. "But that is why you are not with anyone else. I like the quiet, clumsy- maybe not self conscious because you have nothing to be self conscious about- you. I find her.. endearing, and her inability to speak to me makes me curious what she is trying to say. I wouldn't say you are 'mysterious', but you certainly knew how to make me curious. You don't have to try so hard to make me happy. I am.. frustrated by you, I am... uncertain because of you. With you in it my life is not simple or easy." He turned to look at her, making sure he had her attention and she wasn't in her head over thinking things again. "But sometimes that is a good thing. Often it is the things we must work hardest at that have the most value to us in the end."

Emily's blue orbs sparkled with the beginnings of years. She was smiling though, and let out a small puff of relieved air from her chest as she reached up and wiped at her eyes. "You are wonderful... How is it you were still single, miraculously, for so long?" she asked with a choked laugh. It was a joke, partially, but she did wonder more seriously, "Why did you let me in if you were satisfied being single? In the two years we've worked together, I didn't see or hear of you dating or anything... Why me?"

"You were incredibly persistent," Sabastion answered, his tone indicating he was actually a little intimidated by that fact. Still, he always respected her drive to go after things she wanted, those things were just usually medicine related. Oh, wait, he supposed he was too. "After medical school the only people I interacted with were coworkers and patients. It wasn't very appropriate to date either of them, now was it?" He gave her a look that said it was rhetorical before he continued. "Two years is not long to be single, though I suppose it seemed too long during school-" He stopped, realized what he was saying, and averted his eyes. "I had my work, and I loved my work. I thought life could come later once I was settled. I suppose it escaped me how long it had actually been since graduation."

That small comment about school and his quick aversion to it had not been lost in Emily. She tilted her head at him. "School..? Graduation? What do you mean? What were you going to school for?" He was already a doctor, right? As far as she knew, he had been a doctor for years now. What else had he wanted to study?

"Ah, sorry, medical school I mean, my residency and things like that. I actually have a specialty so mine was a couple years longer than yours, though I did actually practice medicine as a license physician while I finished my focus." He waved a hand a little as if to dismiss the subject before getting up again and returning to coordinating his outfit for that night. "You say you only knew me a couple of years, but that isn't right," he added. "I've seen you as a patient twice before you started your residency at the hospital."

Emily nodded at him, shifting in her seat on the bed to watch him move about the room. "Yes, I think I remember... The first time was when I broke my arm after falling off my bike..." A blush pinked her cheeks and her eyes grew a little distant. "I think seeing you was part of the reason I chose Athens Hospital for my residency in the first place." She snapped herself out of her reverie and added, "Hey, what's your specialty?" she asked abruptly, on the realization that she didn't actually know. She was beginning to realize she maybe didn't know as much about him as she thought. 

"Cytopathology." He laid a simple black tie down with the white shirt, then raised his eyes to her and gave her an amused quirk of his lips. "You've had a crush on me an awfully long time, Doctor Cornary," he said softly. "That kind of flattery is likely to inflate my ego, knowing a beautiful young woman wanted to catch my eye for so long. You should be careful."

Emily looked impressed. "Cytopathology..." she repeated, blinking, and almost seeming to have missed his second comments. "That's a really difficult field of study, if I remember right... Or at least, it sounded hard to me. So... Wait, if you specialize in cytopathology and you could work in that field... Why are you practicing as an ER physician?" She was on a thread now, and she wanted to keep following it.

Now that is the Emily he liked very much. So consumed by her curiosity for medicine that nothing else seemed to matter. He took a moment of pause to admire her just like that, the quizzical expression on her face and the way it made her features scrunch just-so. He couldn't help but smile. Really smile. "I like people," he shrugged dismissively, finally turning away to find underwear from his dresser. "Cells are interesting, and research is interesting, but I think it is more interesting to see how those cells all piled up to make one human being that walks, talks, thinks. The sum of the many is a feat no singular amount could do alone. It is interesting to see the source of the river, but equally interesting to see the ocean. Besides, cells don't tell jokes or thank you for helping them."

Emily's quizzical expression relaxed into one of satisfied joy. She stood from the bed and crossed the room to him, sliding her arms around him from behind and leaning against his bare back in a hug, her cheek to his shoulder. "You're so poetic." she whispered playfully. She planted a kiss on his back and then released him, retreating back towards the bedroom door. "This conversation isn't quite over, I'll have you know. I just know we're pressed for time--though I don't know why other than the party. I'll leave you to get ready." she said, picking up her towel from the bed and folding it. She didn't need it now that her body was dry and her hair was almost as well.

Sabastion gave a rare huff of laughter. "Poetic. I don't think I've ever heard that particular word associated with me before. He turned as she stepped away and held up a placating hand as she insisted it wasn't over. He supposed he didn't mind as long as she wasn't questioning... other things anymore. "Go ahead to your room and get ready, the party is still a while from now so take your time, no need to rush."

Emily smiled at him over her shoulder and nodded. She lingered only a half second, like she wanted to say something else, but the words didn't leave her lips. She shrugged to herself and headed out of his room and downstairs to her own with a bit of a dumb smile on her face. She didn't feel silly anymore. She detoured to the living room and the front door where they had left her bags, and gathered them up under her arms. After that, she closed her bedroom door and began to prepare. She started with her hair and makeup, a blowdryer, a curler, a tube of mascara, dark eyeliner and shadow, and a maroon red lipstick. She dressed next, beginning with the special lingerie she purchased as a surprise for Sebastian, and fighting with it because of the lack of straps and abundance of stickier surfaces. Next came the blue and lace dress, just as snug around her arms and revealing at her legs and back. She paused to admire herself, slid into her newly purchased strappy black heels, being careful of her freshly painted toes, and added some finishing touches to her hair. The last addition were some dangly silver earrings. She smiled at her reflection, her heart beating fast. She rarely got to dress up like this. She hoped Sebastian liked her all put together. She grabbed a small, black silk clutch with her phone, keys, and some cash, and headed out of her room. "Sebastian! Are you ready?"

Sabastion was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, leaning back against the wall. He had considered waiting in the living room but it felt too much like prom. He'd settled on simple black trousers and shined shoes with light broguing, a fine black leather belt with a silver clasp. His white shirt had the sleeves rolled to the elbow, exposing the pale inch-and-a-half size scar on his forearm near his wrist shaped similar to a sun, and topped it with a silk black tie that matched his belt perfectly and an ash gray vest that made his eyes seem even more devoid of color. "Yes, Doctor Cornary," he called back, using her new title. She had wanted to brag it anyway right? He already missed calling her Miss Cornary. He tilted his head back and rested it against the wall. Mrs. Panas? No... Mrs. Cornary-Panas? Mrs. Panas-Cornary?

Emily emerged from her bedroom and almost missed where he was leaning against the wall by the stairs. She took a moment to admire him all dressed up like this. "You look very handsome." she said with a sincere quietness to her voice. Her burgundy lipstick made her teeth look whiter, and her smokey eye shadow and dark mascara made her pale blue eyes shimmer. She had braided her black hair off to one side, to keep her back and shoulders open to sight and air, with some curly tendrils and adorable frizzies framing her face. Her fingernails and toes were painted black, but sparkles in the polish reflected the light around them. "Am I the only one who feels like you should have a corsage for me and a limo waiting outside?" she asked with a giggle.

"Ugh, so you feel it too?" Sabastion replied with a disgusted clip to his voice as he raised his head to greet her, fully prepared to comment on how yes, it was similar to prom, but felt his mouth run dry instead. She was rather modest really, from the front at least. At least her chest was covered. The dress cut off daringly high, more of a reveal to him than a temptation, but the rest of her, the Emily parts, the parts that weren't the framework for all the twinkle and rich colors like- yes- prom clothes tossed on fresh white linens. Maybe he should have never let her in, because she made him feel like he needed an echocardiogram to sort out if he was going to die from all the times his heart had skipped a beat now. "Красивый..." he said again, the word becoming more familiar to her each time. "You look... lovely, Emily," he finally settled on since he couldn't currently think of the words.

Her smile broadened but she dropped her eyes modestly. She had to resist the urge to bite at her lips tonight--she didn't want to ruin her lipstick. She had tucked the tube in her clutch, just in case. "Thank you," she said and raised her blue eyes back to his grey ones again. "You look very dashing." She reached out and lightly brushed her fingers along the stitching of his vest. Her touch was feather light, as though she were afraid to muss up his look. "I am very lucky."

Sabastion took her hand from his vest and wrapped the other around her waist, resting it on the small of her back, the skin contact making his fingers tingle. He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to her fingers. "We are very lucky," he corrected. "Come on, I'll drive us. We might be a little early but we can get acquainted with the space and greet Risk properly I suppose."

She couldn't stop smiling. Her cheeks would be aching by the end of the night, she supposed. His words, his smile, the feel of his hands on her, it all elicited absolute butterflies in her being. She felt like she could float away. She nodded, seeming a bit dazed for a moment. "Okay. I guess that would be the proper thing to do." she giggled. She pulled away from him reluctantly, but kept her hand in his as she led him to the front door. "We have everything we need?"

"I think we do," Sabastion replied, but his tone was not talking about the party. As she took the lead he had a peek of her back, of the smooth black hair contained over her shoulder, little strands loose against pale skin, surrounded by the dress that made him think of the night sky. Yes, they probably had everything they needed. He picked up his keys again, slipped his phone into his pocket, locked the door behind them, and joined her at the car to head toward boto the marina.


BotO Athens Harbor
Blood of the Olympians