--
Twelve: Didn't. Wouldn't. Couldn't.
--
Mirage really didn't mean for this to happen. When she started work on the Island, it was because she wanted to provide for herself, and be able to work beside Syndrome-- the man who had a brilliant plan for the future. Beside was the key word at the time, not on-top-of.
Syndrome didn't think this would happen. When Mirage was hired, he saw her as a colleague; he saw a sharp, hard-working woman who believed in his plan. He also was interested in what was going on inside of her. He didn't think he'd be inside of her.
He was happy enough on his own. She told herself she was, too.
The tables were turning very, very quickly. The boots were being pulled off, the black disguise forgotten-- the result was revealed freckles she'd never seen, interesting twists, turns and crevices. Bare, but somehow not naked like her.
She was even thinner than before. She looked bow-legged and cold and out of natural instinct, he pulled her to him in a fumble, almost like it was an accident. He felt bulky and awkward compared to her-- she was all straight lines and curves at once, and this made him want to protect her even though he knew she wasn't one for heroes, thank god. He wondered if she'd ever been hurt, 'like, real, real, hurt' because he figured it would be easy to break all of her bones in one furious swipe. And this makes him pull her closer with a gentle nature he never knew he had.
Mirage's face seemed to be set in stone. She wondered how she always managed to get this feeling of both sexual excitement and hopelessness, all at once. All at once. Was this time different? It felt different. Because he was different.
She didn't want to be here, but something told her she needed to be. She had to attend to him and she had to do a good job of it. After all, she was still his employee. Just working under him from day one.
"Lie down," she said.
"I don't want to kill you," he returned, reddening-- it sounds funny, but he's serious. She's just so little.
"That's why you have to lie down," she told him, her dimples showing. She knows what's next and she's willing because she believes he needs it.
