I stand there in the front row of the concert, looking up at my Beloved, Dante. I make it to every show of his, always stand in the front, always in a small encirclement of roaring fangirls, who naturally give me a wide berth. I stand there dressed not as myself but as Dante's love, The Morrigan. We met a few months back during one of my jobs with the B.A.U in the F.B.I. We hit it of almost instantly. Since then I have made multiple trips back and after a month and a half of talking and dating, I finally moved in with him. Since then I have been at his side constantly. Tonight he was debuting his new album "The Liar" wich was made even more popular since his last manager and a fan murdered other fans for publicity. He looks down to me as he sings and a small smile eases across his face.
"When the routine bites hard
And ambitions are low
And the resentment rides high
But emotions won't grow
And we're changing our ways
Taking different roads
Then love, love will tear us apart again
Love, love will tear us apart again "
He shifts his gaze back to his fans and performs. The rest of the event passes in a blur of songs, squeals and autographs. As he is signing his way through a wall of girls he looks to me and smiles with a hint of unease and irritation. I decide to make my way to him and divert some of the girl's attention to me. Ever since the last event at a Steampunk convention where he declared me as Dante's Morrigan the girls have adored me and knew to lay off when I was there with him. So putting on my best smile I start winding my way through the outer layer of fanboys to the inner circle of his usual group of girls. Thankfully after pushing past the first few boys they made sure that I would have a clear path.
"Lady Morrigan approaches, clear through!" immediately, the crowd in front of me stops in their tracks, turns and backs out of my way to Dante. I smile and nod my thanks to Samuel, a regular to all of the events and, according to him, "protector of Dante and his Lady Morrigan". I take the last few paces to Dante and lace my arm through his and look back to the wall of fans. Giving a slight bow of my head I address them, playing my role to a 'T'.
"Regrettably Darlings, I must steal him away from you earlier than usual tonight, lest we be late for our supper." Giving a small chuckle at the dejected tones that ensued, he allowed for a few pictures of Dante and Morrigan together before he signaled for his new manager and security to escort us out to out car. We step outside and wait for the car to be pulled around. He slips his arm from mine and wraps it around my shoulders. I lean my head against his chest and look up to the sky. as the car pulls up I notice that its started to snow lightly. Dante opens to door for me; once I climb in and settle down he closes the door and gets in on the other side. As the driver pulls away he lets out a sigh.
"I don't know how i ever managed without you, Pet." taking my hand in his he lays his head against the back of the seat and closes his eyes, "Mandy, take us home please. I want to get out of these clothes and just relax." he raises his other hand and starts talking again just as she turns around to talk, "Please, Mandy. I am utterly exhausted, anything that you want to discuss can wait until tomorrow alright? Especially if it has to do with another publication party or interview." he lowers his hand and gives mine a gentle squeeze. Mandy turns back around in her seat and remains silent the remainder of the ride to the house. We pull up to the front of the house and stop. Mandy turns around, looks at us and clears her throat.
"Paul, you're home." I give him a small shake to wake him up. He rouses from his nap and starts to get out. I hurriedly follow, close my door and walk around the back of the car to Paul's side. he's leaning down to talk to Mandy before he sends her off,
"Thank you, Mandy, we'll talk tomorrow over lunch. I'll call you with the place okay?" he waits for her to nod in agreement then finishes up, "Alright then, drive safe and please, keep a lookout." He pats the hood of her car and steps back so she can pull out of the long driveway. Once she's out of sight we turn to the house and dredge up to the front door. Leaning against the door frame Paul attempts to put in the passcode, after three tries he curses. "Bloody lock. Pet wha- can you help here please?" I give a small giggle and a peck on his cheek then enter the passcode. Once we're inside and the doors are shut and locked, I silence the alarm and reset it. I set down my bag and keys on the table by the door, then walk over to the couch and sit down next to Paul. I lean my head against his shoulder and let out a small sigh. After about a minute I sit up and pat his knee.
"Come on Paul, let's get out of these clothes and go up for a shower." he gives a grunt and sits forward to start undoing his boots as I start on my corset. Once out of that I start on my own boots and within minutes we both are taking our stuff up to the bedroom. Once there, we both start removing the rest of our costumes as Dante and Morrigan. After tossing the clothes in the hamper, I walk to the bathroom and start the shower. Once its on and the proper temperature I grab a couple of makeup towelettes and hand one over to Paul, who had just walked into the room. Mumbling his thanks and giving me a kiss we both start removing our make-up. Tossing out our raggs, we get into the shower. As I start lathering up my hair he steps up from behind and holds me. He buries his face in the crook of my neck and groans. "Paul? You okay Darlin'?" I feel him nod slightly and squeeze slightly before stepping back, letting me wash up.
"Yeah. I'm fine, Pet, just . . . exhausted" he grabs his soap and starts to wash off the grime and sweat from the show. We fall quiet after that and finish our shower. Once we're done we step out and wrap ourselves in towels to dry off before getting into our bathrobes. I let him flop down onto the bed while I go down to the kitchen. Before I leave the room I turn and ask him,
"Paul? What do want to eat tonight?" leaning against the doorway so I can hear him, I wait for his reply.
"The usual from Lee's? Chinese sounds divine right now."
"Alright, Chinese it is." I make my way down to the kitchen flipping on exterior lights as I go. Once down to the kitchen I grab the phone and the Lee's Restaurant menu and start dialing the number. I put the call on speaker as I wait for the owner to pick up. It only takes a minute before an elderly man's voice picks up and speaks with a heavy accent.
"Lee's Restaurant, how we serve you tonight?"
"Ah, yes. The usual order for Natasha Smith please. And two extra fortune cookies please." I give my order and wait for the man to reply. sure enough I hear a muffled shout to his cook,
"Chéng! Cóng shǐmìsī píngshí de dìngdān kāishǐ! Cōngmáng! Cōngmáng!" he turns back to the phone and continues wrapping up the order, "To same place yes? You want the Crab Ragoon tonight or maybe a bottle of Baijiu, just for you, special discount just for you, no?" I chuckle a little.
"No, no crab rangoons tonight Lee, but I will take you up on that Baijiu offer, thank you." I finish up my order and hang up. Putting the phone an menu back where they belong, I go back up to the bedroom to lay down next to Paul, only to find him not in the bedroom. Frowning, I walk around the corner to see if he was in the bathroom, but he was not there either. then i hear his electric guitar coming from down the hall. I head down to his studio and see him sitting there in his silk pajama bottoms, strumming on his guitar to a song that he's been working on in his spare time. As I get closer i hear him start some lyrics
"Find a place where we escape
Take you with me for a space
The city bus sounds just like a fridge
I walk the streets through seven bars
I have to find just where you are
The faces seem to blur
They're all the same
Half the time the world is ending
Truth is I am done pretending
I, never thought that I
Had anymore to give
You're pushing me so far
Here I am without you
Drink, to all that we have lost
Mistakes we have made
Everything will change
But, love remains the same"
By the end of the last set of lyrics he had taken notice of my presence. He looks up at me and gives me a small smile, as if he's embarrassed to have been caught singing such a sappy love song. I smile back at him and walk over to him, I drape my arms around his neck from behind and rest my chin lightly on his head as he continues strumming the chords to the song. Somewhere along the way he started humming the lyrics, or the tune of the lyrics, when the doorbell rings. Sighing he puts down his guitar as I let go and we both start heading down stairs to grab our food. Opening the door were greeted by the owner himself, as per usual for our late order.
"Hello! $44.04, for one Orange Chicken Special, not too spicy, Kung Pao Beef, normal spicy, two Egg Rolls, one large Egg Drop Soup, two extra cookies and a bottle of special Baijiu." Mr. Lee smiles, as he hands me the order Paul readies the payment in cash. Counting out three 20's and a single five he smiles right back and hands the payment over.
"Thank you . Keep the change alright, our usual tip for calling on your kitchen so late." As per the norm, Mr. Lee smiles even wider and bows repeatedly. We return his bow respectfully and wish him a good night. We lock the doors behind us and take our feast into the kitchen. While Paul grabs the drinks and cups, I set up our supper at the table and sit down. I wait for him to sit down before opening up my first fortune cookie and biting into the wafer to release the paper that is inside.
"Hmmm. 'An unexpected relationship will become permanent.' Well that sounds promising." I chuckle as I fold the slip in half and set it aside. I seperate my chop sticks and begin to eat my chicken. I look over to Paul as he opens his with an amused look on his face. He sets his cookie to the side as he clears his throat to read his aloud,
"'Depart not from the path which fate has assigned you.' It seems like fate has the same thing in mind for the both of us, Pet." Grinning he leans in and gives me a quick kiss before grabbing a glass to pour his drink into. He takes a sip then begins to eat his own food. A few bites in he notices the bottle of alcohol on the table. He finishes chewing his bite before he asks, "What is that?" pointing to the bottle with the ends of his chopsticks.
"Baijiu, it's the Chinese version of Sake. Mr. Lee got in a bottle from Beijing and offered it to us." I get up and grab our two Ochokos from our set and the chilled Tokkuri from the fridge. Bringing them to the table, I unstopper the Baijiu and pour it into the Tokkuri. I set the bottle down, re-stopper it and take it to the fridge, on my way back I grab my tea cloth. at the table Paul is already waiting for me, picking up the Tokkuri I slowly pour him some of the liquid; then, setting it down, I wait for him to pour me mine. Once we both have our Ochokos filled, we raise it to each other and take a sip. We finish our glasses and go back to our meal. About half way through I bring up the song from earlier, "That was a lovely song earlier, are you thinking about publishing it?" I take a sip of my soda and wait for him to finish chewing. After swallowing and taking a drink he replies,
"Not really sure. Its just something I've been messing around with lately. I don't know if the . . . public, would like the change." He takes the last of his meal in one bite and sets the empty carton to the side. I finish chewing my bite and start to scrape together the last of mine as I respond,
"You know that they'll buy just about anything from you right?" He frowns at the table as he replies with dejection
"No, not ME. They'll buy HIS music, Dante's. I am not HIM." Forgetting my food I get up and walk over to him. Kneeling down so that i am eye level, I cup his face in my hands and make him look me in the eyes.
"Paul, listen to me, Dante is just a facade, what they love is YOU, Darlin'. YOUR voice. YOUR face. Everything they love is YOU all the way. Your fans aren't simpletons, they know that Dante is just a stage name, just like they know that Morrigan is just a stage name." I pull him closer for a kiss and stand up. Before I can move away he pulls me closer and wraps his arms around my waist, resting his forehead against my stomach. I cradle his head in one arm and rub his shoulder and back with my free hand. We stay like that for a few minutes until he finally sighs and releases me. I step back so he can stand, we clear our mess and stor our extra fortune cookies for the next show. Once everything is cleaned up, we turn out the lights and head upstairs to bed. After brushing our teeth and turning out the lights, we crawl under the silken sheets and snuggle up next to each other. Listening to his even breathing soon luls me into an easy sleep.