?
~Scitah
Lia walked into Cous Coussier and looked around the restaurant for a brief moment. When her eyes connected with Ankh's as he looked towards her, her jaw raised and her left brow quirked.
"Ah, Lia!" Chiyoko declared, drawing the redheads light brown eyes towards the restaurant owner's.
"Good afternoon, Chiyoko." Lia smiled politely, "I was hoping to sample some more of that food of yours…"
"Oh, that's excellent! Please, let me show you to a seat-"
"That won't be necessary. I'll be sitting with Ankh." Lia found the 'knowing' grin on Chiyoko's face amusing.
"Oh, good! Good! I'll be right with you in a moment, then." And Chiyoko began away, leaving Lia to look back towards Ankh.
Lia offered the slightest smile to Ankh before beginning over towards him. He sat up and watched her strut towards him in a blue pencil skirt, blue sandals with yellow 'gems' on the top. A simple black tank top was tied under a sheer golden shirt with blue ribbon. She approached, "May I sit with you, Ankh?"
He looked hard at her a moment before nodding ever-so-slightly. "I don't care." Turning his head away from her, he secretly watched her from the corner of his eye.
She sat gracefully and crossed her legs. Her legs seemed to be suspiciously close to Ankh's chair… And it was obvious he noticed as he looked down towards the expanse of exposed skin. Without being able to help himself, he followed the legs upwards until he met her eyes… Those knowing, observing, laughing light brown eyes.
So similar were they – not just because she was a Clone, but because of what was behind the eyes – that Ankh had difficulty separating this moment from one of his memories of the Queen. She often gave him this look, though he was never quite sure why…
Her lips turned in a small, harmless smirk before they parted and she spoke. "I shouldn't be here right now…"
Ankh frowned in confusion.
"I shouldn't be sitting here with you." She reiterated. "I was told that if I were to run into Ankh, that I should kill you first…" she chuckled lightly, "Maybe it's because of your Host?"
"Eh?"
Lia leaned back in her seat as she went to speak. Chiyoko came by just then and set some water down for Lia. "What would you like today?" she asked cheerfully in her odd garb.
"First," began Lia, "Tell me what has happened with the mortally wounded man I helped to save… What was his name?" she murmured to herself, "Gogo?"
"Gotou!" Chiyoko grinned, "He is doing well. Already recovering and everything. He actually says that he wishes to meet you."
"Oh, that's wonderful. I'd be glad to say hello." Nodded Lia, "Whatever the Special is for today, I'll have it."
"Just like last time?" Lia nodded to Chiyoko. "So adventurous! I'll be back in a moment then."
Lia watched Chiyoko practically skip away. And Ankh watched her. When she looked back towards Ankh, she returned to that smirk and that look. "I suppose I should just be honest with you, Ankh… I am rather attracted to you, both for the obvious and unobvious."
He turned his head slightly, "Unobvious? What is that supposed to mean?"
She chuckled and sipped her water. He followed the glass, even as it was set down. His eyes didn't return to hers until she spoke. "Physically… You chose perhaps the best combination in that style and that body."
"Eh-eh…" Stammered Ankh, at a loss.
Lia picked at non-existent lint on her skirt and dropped it to the floor by brushing her fingertips together. "There is obviously no point in my lying to you. Had I wanted your Core Medals, I would have them… Well, had I wanted the ones you possess now, that is." Her eyes darted to his with a flash of knowing. "But that is beside the point, I think."
"You can't." he finally stated after a moment.
"I can, do, and will, Ankh. It's happened and there is nothing I can do about it." She stated, "Though, if you'll allow it, endure it; I'm sure the experience will be quite the one to have… I am told love and romances are fleetingly wonderful."
For a long moment, Ankh just watches Lia. Stares. Waits. He's been silent for so long that Chiyoko has set Lia's plate in front of her and the young woman takes a bite and grins happily at Chiyoko. When Chiyoko leaves again, he feels her foot bump into his leg. Though, her foot doesn't venture away from his body.
The Queen was never this forward with him. She spoke to him kindly, or rather, sadly. Though, she seemed to listen well to Ankh and enjoyed doing so. She never touched Ankh. In any way, shape or form. Not even accidentally… Though, with the Queen, after an amount of time had passed between them, he had found this want that he didn't quite understand. That didn't make sense… Like he wanted her near most of the time, but having her around made him frustrated.
And now, here the umpteenth Clone sat, outright flirting with him. Touching him. Frustrating him more than the Queen herself. If he didn't figure out what to do about this, and soon, he was going to snap. "Why are you doing this?"
She gave him a curious look. "It was not my intention to be so attracted to you, Ankh… I was sent to destroy you and your ilk." She set her fork down. "There is an old journal from the Queen… And in it are her inner most thoughts. Most of her thoughts are of your involvement… But, not only that. There are points, after having known you for a long time, where she begins to get to know you. Where she has a better opinion. Where she mentions these fleeting moments of want for someone who isn't real to her. It reads like a romance novella for a long while, even after you Greeed are sealed away and her King gone as well. She perished hoping for one last moment with you, Ankh. The last thing she wrote, though, in her journal was that you were the first to be killed."
Ankh turned his head a moment.
"And now I understand why she said such." Lia sighed. "Because there is something about you, the Greeed you, that is attractive in and of itself. I'm not sure what, but it's there. Or maybe it's because of your lying attitude that honest women are drawn to you." She joked lightly, "Who knows now-a-days?"
Things were clicking in Ankh's thoughts. Ends were meeting and forming large knots of knowledge. "What kind of person are you that you say such things and then insult me?"
She chuckled again and shook her head. "I'm beginning to question your social graces, Ankh." Her tone was teasing.
"I'm beginning to question your sanity." Replied Ankh – Only he wasn't joking.
"That's completely fine by me." She shrugged and continued eating.
"You look too much like her." Ankh states after a while.
"I figured that was a good thing." Lia offered. "With my Template's writings, it sounded like you reciprocated her feelings of companionship." Now she seemed serious as she leveled her gaze with his.
Ankh leaned towards her and glared, "You will always be HER clone and never your own person, fool. There is no hope for you. Always will you be compared to her in my mind." He stood and began away.
Lia reached out and caught his arm by the elbow. When Ankh looked down at her angrily, she looked upwards towards him. "I don't care about that, Ankh. I both am and am not her."
"You will never be Her." He hisses and yanks away, stalking off to his room.
A frown crosses Lia's face as she listens to him leave. Once he's gone and she can no longer hear his shoes, she smirks darkly, "You will be mine, Ankh… It's only a matter of time."
You may not be able to see it, but I am squinting at you...
~Scitah