DEF: Alright, I'm behind on updates but that's only because I went in for an eye exam and needed a stronger prescription so they kept em for a total of six days, without my glasses I can't work on stories, the words start to blur. However, I made sure that this chapter was the longest one yet, so there's that to look forward to, hurray!
Alyss: Yeah, well DEF Inc does not own any of the characters found in this story, except for the dismissible minor characters that no one pays any attention to. Now that, that's out of the way, please continue on to the story.
"Jack, how are you paying for this?" He rolled his eyes at yet another question, any normal eighteen year old girl would be ecstatic that someone was willing to fund a shopping spree, instead, Pippa was nitpicking about prices. It wasn't that it was annoying but it kept reminding him he would no doubt have to pay for this later down the line, pay up to Pitch or to Karma? Now that was the million dollar question.
"Don't worry about it Pip, now would you please choose a dress? We've been here for nearly fifteen minutes and all you've done it sort through racks, I thought girls were all supposed to have an idea of 'The Perfect Dress' since freshman year," he joked, shifting slightly on his seat. From the moment they'd walked in the store, the salesclerks had started hovering, chatting amongst themselves and giggling like school girls despite the fact most of them couldn't be any younger than he was. He chose to ignore them, believing it had to do with what people like him and Pip were doing in this high-end store, and really, he couldn't give a diseased rat's ass what they thought.
"I used to, before I realised a huge poufy white dress with feathers all over the place was stupid and white wasn't even my colour," she replied, flicking his ear as she made her way over to another rack of clothing. He rolled his eyes at her but made no comment as she sorted through obscurely long dresses, completely ignoring those short enough to pass for a t-shirt. He was unbelievably relieved by that, he might have work during the dance portion of the Graduation, the unofficial part that is, but he wouldn't hesitate to blow off Seasons and Sandy if the dress Pip chose was too revealing. Over-protective? Bet your bottom dollar on it.
Alright, he knew that was a bit hypocritical, seeing as he was a stripper on weekends and there was nothing modest about anything he did on stage. Dry humping Aster for one, wearing pants that really should be considered underwear for another, and don't even get him started on the mutilated 'hoodie', but it was because he did those things he wanted his sister to be safe. Older brother or not, he knew she was pretty, he'd say beautiful, others would say sexy or fuckable, and he knew exactly how dangerous it was to wear revealing clothing.
"Which you probably already know and don't need my help deciding on," he supplied, hoping she did, he sucked at picking colours, and don't even think about asking his opinion on shoes. She laughed softly but shook her head, huh, he hadn't even noticed she'd dyed streaks of blonde into it, and cut it much shorter, closer to how their mother had liked to wear hers.
"Course I know my colour, me and Soph only spent the last month obsessing over it. Hers is a dark blue, well Bermuda blue, her dress is that exact shade, it's shoulder less with lots of ruffles from the waist down, it's absolutely gorgeous, specially with the rhinestones we sewed on." He let her go on about the dress and the modifications they'd made to it, nodding and making the appropriate sounds where needed, it wasn't that she bored him but he really didn't much care about dresses. Add the fact he'd been running on less than six hours sleep each day and he was tired to boot, still, this was the longest he'd spent with Pip in a long time, too long.
"Excuse me, do you two need help choosing a dress? We have a much larger selection behind the counter," one of the clerks suggested, he wasn't sure which one of them was more surprised, Pip or himself. Pip would be because they'd been there fifteen minutes yet and hadn't been offered assistance of any form, him because the woman was leaning forward in front of him so much that her v-neck top left nothing to the imagination. Plus he knew what type of clothes they had behind the counter and he most certainly didn't need anymore of those thanks.
"No, we're just looking for a dress for my sister's graduation ball," he answered, hoping she would straighten up so he didn't have to see all of her cleavage and then some, bi or not, this was damn uncomfortable. The woman giggled slightly but stood up properly, giving Pip an obvious once over before returning her attention to him with the exact same look in her eye that all the patrons of Seasons had. Oh for the love of-no, he already had one psycho-okay not so much, wanting to get in his pants, he did not need this right now.
"But I'm sure there must be something we can find for yourself, we have a very wide collection here at Désirs Angéliques ou Délices Vilain, and that includes adult selections," she murmured in what she probably thought was a sexy tone but it really just sounded desperate. It wasn't that the woman was unattractive, by all means she was gorgeous, fashionably cut blue-black hair he was betting was dyed, perfect complexion and the general 'hot-chick' amenities but she had the same overconfidence he'd gotten from Pitch on that first night only with less of the class. At least Pitch had had the decency to state his intentions clearly but without all of the sexual tension, other than the obscure gifts, this shopping trip being one of them, the man wasn't that bad.
"No thank you," he told her, trying to make himself clear on where he stood in a polite way, she pouted slightly but then the smile was back twice as bright. He eyed her wearily, noting her two friends were at the register still giggling away, Pip didn't even realise the woman was still there, too caught up with finding the perfect dress.
"Maybe you'd prefer to have me model something for you then? Help you live out one of your Naughty Desires?" she recommended, resting her hand on his shoulder, her voice much huskier than before. His eyes narrowed imperceptibly at her, he didn't want to cause a scene of any kind but if this, this slut kept up like this, he would scream bloody murder. Hell, this was just a step down from molestation.
"No thank you, I'm 100% gay and I have a boyfriend," he muttered darkly, making sure to put something close to venom in his voice as he said it. The woman backed off quickly, her face clearly showing her opinion on homosexuals but her lips were pressed in a tight line, not a word said as she retreated to where her two friends were. Why was it people liked to think he was an easy fuck? Was it something about him on the whole? Was it so obvious he'd been exactly like that woman less than three years ago?
"Jack! I found it, it's perfect!" He tore his attention away from the decidedly self-hating thoughts to lavish it on his sister who was holding up a purple gown. Well, it wasn't entire purple, there was a single strap decorated with silver roses that went over the left shoulder and attached to the right. The bodice itself was a dark blue, the exact colour of the sky as the sun got ready to start the day, and according to Pip, it was Montana Blue.
Around the waist, the colour started to fade to a rich purple, he had to admit, the transformation was seamlessly done, precisely the way the sky would lighten as the dawn minutes ticked by. Pip insisted it was purple velvet, how she knew, he would never know, though he supposed she and Sophie had spent hours discussing the exact shades, tints and hues of their dresses. However, instead of the dress ending off with the purple, just below the knee it changed colour again to a pure, elegant white, it ruined the effect of the morning sky but added to the overall appeal of the dress. Or maybe the dress wasn't supposed to emulate the morning sky but the night skies with the white being moonlight?
Yes, that would make more sense, and the silver rose strap could be a meteor streaking across the sky helping show the true colours of the darkened sky. The mysterious, haunting purples and blues that most people didn't even have the time to fully appreciate, the silver white of the moon casting ever more allure to everything it touched with its splendour. Even the city, this city where all sorts of disgusting, perverted, dirty, horrible, nasty things happened could be made to look beautiful under the darkness of the night sky, more so when the moon rose and added its subtle monochromatic touches.
Monochromatic, all colour bleached and bled out, everything holding the same worth, same value and same sensuality. Was that the true power of the moon then? Nothing was any better or any worse than its fellow, CEO's, druggies, waiters, prostitutes, business men, everyone was the same level at night, status, power, wealth all faded because everyone was under the same moon. The cold, heartless moon that watched on dispassionately while humans murdered each other, fucked for money, polluted the earth. None of it could touch the celestial orb and so long as that was true, the 'beauty' of moonlight would never die.
God he was morbid, he really needed to stop reading into things, and maybe stop reading through Pip's old tests. He vaguely remembered some poem about the moon and how technology had caused moonlight to lose its appeal to humans, A song of the Moon he believed it was called. Ugh, too much interpreting, his lit teacher had always said Lit would start to fuck with your mind if you were good enough at it.
"It's great Pip, why don't you go try it on? Make sure it fits and everything and then we can find shoes or whatever else you'd need," he advised, grinning brightly at his sister. She smiled just as happily before her face suddenly fell, the dress clutched in her hands as she just stared at him.
"I love you so much Jack, so much, you're the greatest brother ever," she whispered throwing her hands around his neck in a desperate hug. He returned it mostly out of shock at first, too confused by her complete change of attitude to react but he still returned her hug, not caring what the hell the clerks thought, as he said before, not a diseased rat's ass.
"I just, I barely see you and I'm almost out of High School, and I just-," she broke off with a shuddering gasp. He blinked in shock, he knew he'd been working a lot lately, picking up extra hours here and there but Seasons had really upped the ante, before he'd been able to at least spend weekend nights with Pip but now he barely even got to sleep much less see his sister.
"I know Pip, tell you what, after this, we're going to spend the rest of the day together. I don't have to head to work until ten tonight and it's not even eleven yet. Go try on your dress, get the matching jewellery set and we'll go have fun like we used to. Swear on all that is me," he pledged seriously, right hand over his heart while a smirk played on his lips. Liquid brown depths sparked with recognition then happiness as he made his promise, the swearing on himself was something he'd done once when he was younger, accidental of course but since then, he and Pip always made important promises like that.
"I'll hold you to it, Nathaniel," she swore just as seriously, lips pressed in a thin line but silver brown orbs alight with mischief, God he'd miss that look, not to mention that name.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, now get your butt moving Victoria," he sang, snickering when his sister's face coloured, she never did like her middle name, claiming it was an old lady's name. He actually liked his, Jackson Nathaniel Overland had a nice ring to it, though he had to admit, Overland-Frost would sound that much better, shame his mother never kept her maiden name.
"Hi Auntie Autumne!" Kozmotis smirked at his friend as his daughter tackled her, causing the both of them to topple over onto a couch with plenty of giggles and shrieks. He pursed his lips in thought as he closed the door behind them, maybe he shouldn't have let Sera eat two of the baker's dozen of cin-vill tarts they'd bought yesterday this morning, though he doubted he would have been able to resist her pleading golden eyes.
"Hello my little imp, how have you been?" He heard the red head ask chuckling slightly as the two went off into a fast paced conversation in polish, he knew Autumne had only learnt it so she could speak with Sera in her native language. The red head was a native born English woman and they'd met at the divorce lawyer's office in London, really Lark Marsden was one of the best lawyers today, they'd been friends since then.
Really, he had tried with his marriage to Vivian, they'd bought a house close to both their parents' respective homes and they'd managed to stay together for five years, Seraphina being born late in the second year. Even after their divorce, they'd remained in Poland for another three years until Sera was six, then his work with Nightmare Productions had taken him across the Atlantic to America.
That decision hadn't been easy, there'd been a lot of fighting, cursing and a court case, but in the end, Vivan moved to Burgess as well and they'd been sharing their daughter for the last two years, each got her for one month, except when one had to travel, namely him. Even then he managed to take her with him most of the time, it was educational for her and it was always wonderful to spend time with her.
"So Sera tells me she saw her Matryoshka Boy yesterday, care to tell me about it?" the Brit suggested, wine coloured depths bright with curiosity and a suspiciously knowing gaze. He cocked an eyebrow at her but said nothing, he wasn't about to engage in another one of Autumne's in depth, soul searching talks with his daughter in the room. No thank you, he'd much rather leave those to dinners and late nights when he'd probably had a little too much to drink, or maybe he'd just been feeling piss poor and needed a kick in the pants to make him see sense again.
The fact they had those little self-help sessions every other week should have told him something about himself but really, he already knew he wasn't satisfied with his life. Sure he might have had everything he'd ever wanted as a child, a house, well he owned the penthouse suite of the apartment building, a job, being CEO of Nightmare Productions wasn't what he'd had in mind but he enjoyed it all the same, and a family. The last though, he was sorely lacking in, true he had Seraphina and loved her more than life itself but he wanted something more, or more accurately, someone.
He wanted someone to come home to at the end of the day, to complain about the trivial happenstances at work with, to share his life. He could have always hired someone, liked he tried to do with the dancer, but really, would it have been any better? He might have ended up hating himself and some poor bastard just because they didn't love him the way he'd always fantasized about as a child and that wouldn't have been fair to either one of them.
"Jack and a blonde lady were bringing out this really pretty cake Auntie Autumne! It was two layers tall and had fairies and people holding hands and lots of cute baby animals, Jack said he and the lady decorated it all by themselves!" Sera gushed happily. He smiled at her, even he had to admit the cake had been a culinary masterpiece and he wasn't an easily impressed man, though he appreciated beauty when he saw it.
He had seen beauty yesterday, or to be politically correct, a damningly handsome man with a cocksure, yet strangely modest attitude that he found surprisingly endearing. A man named Jackson Overland, though it had seemed as though part of the name was missing, even when the owner of the name had said it. Or maybe he was just reading too much into things, as usual.
"Really? I wish I could have seen it," the red head prattled though her eyes never left him, she was going to get every minute detail about their visit to the bakery even if it killed her, or made him extremely uncomfortable, that worked too. He coughed into his hand, well, he might as well just tell her instead of her dragging it out of him in the most unsettling way possible. The last time he'd tried, she'd sent the most revealing lingerie sets to his office for a week straight along with sealed letters that stank of perfume. None of the letters were really about anything, just her telling him he might as well tell her what she wanted to know before she started sending sex toys in see-through containers.
"Sera, how about you go see how Blight and Bliss are doing? I'm sure they missed you, and I'd like to speak with Autumne privately for a bit, alright love?" he requested after the girl had finished giving as accurate a description of the cake as any eight year old could. She cocked her head to the side, golden green eyes darting from one adult to the next before nodding and skipping off to the backyard. He wasn't worried about her being in the yard by herself, Autumne's guard dogs, Blight a three year old German Shepherd, and Bliss, a two year old Doberman Pincher, were more than capable of taking care of her for the amount of time it would take to relive his third encounter with Jack.
"Tell me, everything, now."
He stared at the woman he called his closest friend and sighed, he might as well get this over with.
"Kozmotis Pitchiner, as in the CEO of Nightmare Productions visited EB's, twice? And you never told me?" He grinned sheepishly at the brown haired girl sitting across from him. They'd finished their shopping in less than an hour; there were already shoes, and jewellery and a handbag that came with the dress itself, all matching of course. In total, everything had cost one thousand two hundred and seventy-five, and the 'gift certificate' hadn't been that so much as a charge account.
Apparently Désirs Angéliques ou Délices Vilain had special payment plans set up seeing as mostly mistresses, escorts, payed lovers and sugar babies frequented the adult's section. A person would deposit a certain amount into an account at the store and they would be given a card, kind of a like credit card that they would be able to use to make purchases. The cashier hadn't even batted an eyelash when he handed it over, not one single comment made, he wondered whether or not he should be glad or pissed that he looked like a call boy, even without the clothes and hair, and staff.
"We've both been so busy lately I didn't get the chance," he explained, taking a long drink from the wine the waiter had left for them, after making sure he was over the legal drinking age that is. It tasted much different from the beers he usually had while on duty at Seasons, closer to the exotic cocktails he'd had as an escort, and veering away from that topic.
"Well you can make it up to me now, tell me everything. Is he really as handsome and aristocrat-ish as I've read? Does he really speak with that weird European accent or is that just for show at premiers and stuff?" Pippa questioned leaning forward with every word until she was halfway across their table. He chuckled softly, reaching a hand across the table to push her back into her seat, it didn't matter that they were seated in one of the corners, he didn't want people staring at them.
"Yes his accent is real, he's oddly considerate for a celeb and he's ten times better looking in real life. The first time I saw him was a few weeks ago, he and his daughter Seraphina came to buy cupcakes and cakes. Sera's just as cute as her dad, they have the exact same eye colour, it's kinda weird, though her hair falls in curls and is a shade or two lighter than his.
She is the sweetest little thing ever, and you'd never believe she's only seen me twice," he trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek to hold back a laugh. The look on Pitch's face when Sera ran up to him yesterday and hugged him, not to mention her calling him her 'Matryoshka Boy', he really wanted to hear the story behind that. She really was a sweet little girl, Zel had fallen in love with her as soon as she saw her, and vice versa, though the little brunette made sure to say he would always be her favourite.
"Sera? As in Seraphina Pitchiner, jeeze Jack, don't waste time, do ya?" Pip joked, taking a sip of the wine as well, hell she was an adult, besides, she was with him, he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her.
"Shut up, it's not like I plan on going after her dad, no matter how sexy he is," he muttered, because really, what was the point of lying? It wasn't like Pitch would ever go for the waiter/cashier he'd seen a total of three times and his infatuation with the dancer from Seasons would fade soon enough. Even so, the man only wanted him for his body, a pretty face to come home to, nothing more, to besides, he didn't even have time for a relationship, he barely had enough time to sleep!
"You never know, you're young, single, hot, bi. Lots of people would kill to have someone like that," she commented idly, a strange smile playing on her lips as she said it. He frowned slightly, if he didn't know better, he would think his little sister was trying to set him up on a date or something, but she wouldn't do that, not after the last time. That had been a fun time, for maybe the joggers at the park, at least they'd been able to get a laugh out of the whole shitty experience.
"If you're trying to set me up with someone again, it's not going to work. I still remember the incident with Ash and I'm not too keen on meeting with a hentai monster again," he stated humourlessly, really, the idiot had been a total douche, not to mention a complete perv. Everything had been going fine, dinner at some cafe down town, then a walk through the park with a stop on one of the benches by the pond. Less than five minutes and the guy was trying to shove his tongue down his throat and hands were going in places they shouldn't. Long story very short, he'd flipped the ass into the pond and left, not even caring when he had to take the bus home with sopping wet jeans because of the splash.
"I know but Jamie's so sweet, he already likes you. He won't be like Ash, never in a million years, his mom would skin him if he tried and Sophie would make a commemorative hat out of it, brother or not. Come on, your last date was three years ago, you and Jamie are a lot alike, the least you could do is try," she whined. He rolled his eyes at her and turned away, he was so not having this conversation.
"Listen Pip, I don't care if it's Jude Law, or hell, even Tony Stark you're trying to set me up with. I just don't have the time or patience for a relationship right now, I have two jobs Pip, two. I barely get to see you as it is, and we live together, how the hell am I supposed to see a boyfriend?" he asked seriously. He ignored the hurt and guilt scattered across her features and held her stare, he needed to get this through to her otherwise she would just end up trying to set him up with various people. It wasn't so much annoying as it was endearing but it was still useless, he really just didn't have the time for any of it.
"Fine, just throwing it out there," she muttered, redirecting her attention to their food which had just arrived, he rolled his eyes again but let the seriousness drop. She was just doing what all little sisters did, mess with your love life, or try to create one, remind you that you needed to eat something more than a sandwich a day and that less than five hours of sleep a day wasn't good for you.
"Yeah, well it can go drown in a pond, seriously, I'm fine without any of that stuff, but what about a little Miss Nosey? You can't be going to Grads alone, so who's your date?" he questioned, familiar mischievous smirk fixed on his lips. Or as Aster liked to call it, a shit eating grin.
"Mmm! This pasta's really good, here, you should try it!" she suggested loudly shoving a forkful of the noodles in his mouth while he laughed. God was it good to actually be just an older brother again, instead of a legal guardian, lots more fun too.
"He recognised your voice? Are you sure you two never spoke more than twice? I'd say you have more than a chance Koz," the red head advised after he'd spent the last half hour psychoanalyzing his ten minutes trip to Enchanted Bakers. Half an hour and all she got was that Jack recognised his voice, thank god he didn't pay her for these sessions, he'd no doubt end up strangling her, though she was highly intuitive.
"Half a bloody hour and all you have to say is, I've got a chance at getting in his pants? I could've figured that out myself thanks," he grumbled, downing another shot of gin, his third but most definitely not last for the night. He didn't have to drive, they were spending the night.
"Fine! I'd say you've met him more than just twice if he recognises your voice but he's not an insane fan because they would have just molested you on sight. I think you've spoken more than a handful of times or maybe you made some sort of disturbance in his routine, I can't say if it was good or bad without speaking to him myself but it's gotten his attention.
He isn't going to be dazzled by the wealth and fame so you're actually going to have to try with this one if you want to make it work, and I don't mean throwing more money at it. You tried that with Jack Frost and it got you nowhere fast and I'm not about to tell you what to do with this one. Satisfied now Mr. Pitchiner?" she asked, one brow cocked with a smug grin on her face.
"And that's why I love you," he replied simply, pouring himself more gin, Seraphina had come in fifteen minutes ago and was watching television in her guest bedroom. Before anyone asked, Autumne lived in a gated community, her house cost somewhere in the range of a million dollars to a million and a half, she had more bedrooms than she knew what to do with. Originally she and her ex-husband had planned on a large family but that plan had been shot to hell when she caught him cheating on her multiple times, she was nothing if not determined. She'd gotten the house in the divorce and now had close to no one to share it with, other than her occasional lovers and pseudo extended family in him and Sera.
"Well, there's that and the fact I drag your ass off to have some fun occasionally," she added with a tinkling, clearly the alcohol was already affecting her, though, to be fair, she had had more than him.
"A toast, to neither of us having had a meaningful relationship the last twelve months," he suggested lifting his glass of gin to her.
"And probably not having one before the year is out," she added clicking her glass with his, sloshing vodka onto both of their hands but neither one really cared.
"To piss poor relationships and one night stands," he finished, downing his shot and immediately reaching for the bottle to refill it. All things considered, he could do with a night of drinking his ass half way to oblivion and that was just what he was going to do.
DEF: Ah, A Song of the Moon, got the full thirty marks on that poem, thank you very much and the entire time I'm just trying not to start snickering because of the parallels to this story. The mind of the a fangirl will find links where none exist. Thank you GOD!
Alyss: Her test rant aside, again the prices are Trinidadian and around what you'd pay for all of those things down here. Trust us, we've been dress shopping, also we say Grads because we're not too sure what exactly Prom is. Basically, we're just going with what our Grads are like down here, unofficial because our school doesn't take part in the booking of location or anything of the sort, the children have to do everything by themselves, with parental assistance of course. Now that that's cleared up, review, review, review!
