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Right to Counsel
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Lexi had been out with out with Ambrose over the past two days. She would leave like somewhere in the evening, after saying bye to her boyfriend, and head out to where she told Ambrose to be at. The two would only either have dinners, or go out to play pool (which Ambrose was killer at, he beat her in every damn game). Every time they had finished, he would offer her to drive her back and the two would talk a whole lot in the car. Lexi would reluctantly leave, give him a sweet hug goodbye, before walking into the suite.
Today morning, she took to looking at the clothes that she had recently brought. Since everyone else is out today, she had opted for Jay to stay the night here because there was something she wanted to show him. The woman had bought many new outfits and other items alike, but she herself needed a separate pair of eyes to judge this one article of clothing that she hasn't worn in quite a while. There was only one other person in and near the suite right now.
Zamasu was sitting in the living room, reading a thingy from his phone again and munching on graham crackers. It was about the Mystics and where they came from; apparently they had originated as far as even the second earliest of civilizations, or around 12,000 years ago. They were known as the 'healers', the menders, and the proprietors of society. Between N10222 (in our terms 10,222 BC) were when the majority of people had started taking notice to how powerful these Mystics were. After the death of one of the 'normal' human world leaders, the majority populus would sought after anyone who exhibited Mystic behavior so that they can be executed. Since the Mystics are generally viewed as evil, they were given the worst of sentences.
The only reason for their perceived maliciency is because normal humans do not understand them at all. This not something Zamasu thought of while reading this.
Mystics have altered DNA, or 'activated' DNA, that sets them apart from the normal consensus. As time passed and because they gravitated to other Mystics to procreate, their DNA strands became staple bloodlines for future generations. Unfortunately, that made them easier to find and target. They are insanely powerful beings en masse and even individually, and have been known to cause the Great Marvels (a huge series of natural disasters that plagued Desna a little over 2,000 years ago for three hundred years straight). Not much other research is said, and there isn't much on account of any Mystics alive now, so those group of people were probably killed off for wreaking havoc around the world. The Mystic population is only counted off by the amount of their dead populus, it has never reached over 500,000.
That was the gist of what he could find, there wasn't much on their psychology, and much of this information has been put aside because of its irrelevancy. If there are any Mystics living, then they are probably gonna have to deal with living completely differently from everyone else.
That just bought up a random, probably unreasonable conspiracy: What if there were leftover Mystics that have been hiding for generations, and they decided to wreak havoc on the world now? Maybe they were sending out large amounts of regular humans to do their deeds for them because they were so energetically powerful. Maybe they are responsible for the former black vans, and a sector of their group wants James and/or maybe Terry dead.
His brain is something else, ain't it? Speaking of Terry, how was that man doing anyway? He should go visit him one day, he was an interesting guy.
"Zamasu!"
He heard Lexi call his name out, and with the box of graham crackers in his hand, he went upstairs and over to where her door was. Apparently it was closed, and his sensitive ears picked up the sound of shuffling in her room. He gave the door only two knocks and within several seconds, Lexi opened a door enough for him to see only her face.
"I need a little bit of help, you don't mind critiquing how something looks on someone right?" She meant that in a way of saying that he wouldn't be bothered in a certain type of way by her wearing clothes, because he was a male. Zamasu did not catch that at all, he just shook his head.
She closed her door. "Good, because I went to this one place nearby, they had some really pretty things in there, and I can't really wait to try this one on." She giggled sheepishly, and the Kaioshin's lip twitched, "I would have just went downstairs to call you over, but I was and still am naked right now. You wouldn't mind right?"
One should never put the fact that they are naked and inquiring if a person is cool with something in the same sentence. The Kaioshin somehow linked the two thinking that she was asking him if it was okay to see her naked. Almost instantly, Zamasu got flushed. "W-what?!"
"...You wouldn't mind seeing if this looks good on me, right? I mean, you did say that you don't have anything going for human women so… I reckon you'd be fine with helping me out a little." She repeated herself, and Zamasu exhaled in slight relief.
"...No."
"Alright, then." She giggled. Luckily, her door was closed so she wouldn't see the heat that had formed around Zamasu's cheeks, for no reason either. He just had to keep telling himself that all of these random fluxes of emotion were happening for no reason whatsoever, and everything will be fine. Everything will be just dandy.
More sounds of shuffling were heard in her room as Zamasu continued to eat graham crackers, waiting patiently for Lexi to finish whatever she was doing.
The Kaioshin really didn't know what he was getting himself into.
After about five minutes, he heard her voice again. "I think it looks cool. I actually don't wear things like this regularly buuuuut- hold on, lemme put on these shoes," and then she spoke louder to address him, "and then I'll come out in a minute, alright?"
"Okay." He shrugged, at least he had a box of graham crackers with him, you know, to focus on eating instead of only hearing a woman change her clothes.
In less than a minute, he heard her door knob turn. "So just… stand right in front of the door, okay?"
He did so, holding the box in both of his hands while he was chewing on another cracker. Her door finally opened, and she revealed herself, in nothing more than a black faux-suede sleeveless halter jumpsuit. Her voluptuous curves were outlined in the fitting tightness of the jumpsuit, which accentuated her legs and her hips far too damn well. The top of it had a deep V-neck that ended just above her belly button, giving her chest a seductive looking cleavage. Her shoes were actually silver-studded and only went up to three inches.
Zamasu, in all due honesty, was not expecting anything like what she came out in, because she literally had the most nonchalant commentary on behalf of her outfit. But when she took a few steps back to open the door and he finally saw her, all he could do was just stare with his mouth slightly parted. Oh… the graham cracker box in his hand dropped to the floor. Ohh… oh no…
By Kami, what did he just get himself into?
It didn't make anything better with the fact that she had her hair in loose waves, and had such an amazing body along with it, coupled with how beautiful her face and her damn orchid scent was just…
"Zamasu?"
He just blinked twice.
"...How do I look?"
He finally snapped out of whatever he was in just now. How could she possibly just say that she looked cool? This woman looked like a godde- wait, no. Zamasu knew better than to compare a mere mortal with a divine being, even though Lexi may as well be one of the most beautiful women he's ever seen in his entire life. He swallowed, why is getting so… worked up over this? That wasn't even the right terminology, but dammit he did not know what going on in his brain. "Uhhh… you look nice."
That was all he could say. That was all he managed to salvage sifting through his mind because apparently, his mouth wasn't working properly.
"Really? At first I thought it'd be too tight or something, but judging from the look on your face," her stupidly warm and beguiling giggle poured into his ears again, "this fits rather well on me." She turned while looking at her back, which was exposed and the strings that held up the V-neck made an X-formation on her back and connected with the bottom portion of her jumpsuit, which started at her lower back and gave decent exposure to her curved back. Any 'ass' man who saw her would probably get a nosebleed because her derriere was just as accentuated as her toned legs.
This isn't fair, he's been thinking that for a while now, this isn't fair at all. Not only was she pretty, had an exceptional personality, carried herself very well, and could fight very well being really strong for a normal human being, but she even managed to look far too gorgeous in anything she wore, and just about made the Kaioshin question his sanity ten times more than usual in the past month and a half. It's just not fair! How in the heavens did she come into fruition?!
"Hey."
He blinked, and looked down at her because she was now in front of him, holding the box of crackers in her hand. "You uh… dropped this. And thanks for helping."
"What did I help with? All I did was tell you that you looked… nice." He really tried his hardest not to look her over again.
"Well I bought it because I liked it, but I didn't know if it was looking good on me." She walked back to her room with that damned cat-like gait again. Sometimes, he swore that she was doing this on purpose, he really wanted to believe that, but this is just how she is with almost anyone. Lexi leaned against her door frame with a smile on her face. "And I also wanted to surprise Jay with this, but I needed a little bit of feedback. Nobody's here other than you and me, and I know you don't like human women so…"
No you don't. Shut up.
He told himself to shut up again. This is just great. "Oh…"
"Yup. I'll see you in a bit probably, if I don't end up falling asleep." A chuckle escaped her lips and she closed her door. Zamasu turned, and quietly went back down the stairs, to the living room, and sat back down on the loveseat. When he was situated, he propped his elbow against the armrest and rested his temple against his fingers with the most frustrated/conflicted/shook expression on his face.
He blinked, took the deepest breath possible and exhaled, there was no way he was coming back down after witnessing all of that.
…|...|...|...|...|...
Overnight in Intima, Zamasu took to flying back to Tycho. He did so after he had walked along one of the snowy bridges with Ambrose. It was around 2AM when they both walked, randomly discussing things and looking out at the scenery before them. He kind of didn't want to leave Intima just because of its beautiful scenery, nor did he want to leave the bridge and Ambrose behind temporarily.
It was rare for him to say something like this; he actually did miss how silly Ambrose was. It was as if they hadn't seen each other in years, with how throaty and nostalgic Zamasu got when he saw him pull up by their suite. Those innocent golden eyes had a universe of their own, and his smile was as bright as the yellow sun above. It felt homely, just to be on that bridge even though it was his first time there.
He'll definitely be there with Ambrose again.
Once he was above the outskirts of West City, he decided to swallow the bit of warmth building up in his core. He looked around, this area gave a nice view of upper South City, he could faintly see from here. It was in the morning of Tycho, the area he was at was where the newest admin assistant lived.
He seriously didn't come here on purpose; he just stopped and realized that this place looked familiar. His eyes glazed around before coming back to see Ethan's wall window open and exposed, revealing a young woman who was throwing random items. He then saw Ethan himself come into view, and boy… he would be lying if he said that Ethan wasn't furious.
He could never imagine Ethan of all people becoming assertively angry, he wasn't thoring anything, but he sure looked like he was yelling. After several seconds, Zamasu watched as Ethan back out of whatever he wa sin. He left his own house and went straight to his car.
When Ethan sat down, his held his head in his palm and shook it; he was absolutely done with having this woman near him. Even her breathing in his direction gave him angina.
His phone had vibrated, he was texting Terry early this morning since the gynecologist had work early today before he had gotten into this argument with his girlfriend; she had a father who was involved in much of the criminal justice field, so if he did even the smallest of things she could twist shit up and make him lose a substantial amount of anything. Can he even call her that now? Ugh.
He driven away from his house, and onto the off-road of the route that led to South City. He stopped his car and took a deep breath, he was still bloody pissed. He sighed to himself. "God, I need something to bring me up."
"Hi."
"HOLY FU-" Ethan jumped so fast that he pumped his head on the car ceiling. His phone flung off his hand, and somehow his seatbelt ended up constricting his left arm. He frantically turned to see who the active fuck decided to pop up on his front passenger seat. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"
"Ethan, you're in your car and the windows are up." Zamasu calmly, and smugly like an asshole, raised his finger. "Use your inside voice."
"Zamasu- Listen, man, you know how frightful I am." Ethan rightened his sitting position so that he didn't look like he had a bone problem. "Don't scare me like that… why are you here?"
"You looked upset." Zamasu said. "And I was flying by so I can see how a person I know has been doing."
"...Oh." Ethan blinked like twice. Do green alien gods do this on the regular? "That's… considerate of you, I guess? Who is this person?"
Zamasu just realized that Ethan was cured of his Umm Syndrome. He's growing quite fast.
He was about to answer that question when Ethan's phone suddenly started to ring. The admin raised a finger before looking down to answer it; again, Zamasu found it amusing how confident Ethan seems to be now.
"Yeah, Terry." Ethan said with a tiny smile. "What's up?"
How coincidental… "That's the person."
"What?" Ethan blinked at Zamasu. Zamasu pointed to his phone.
"I wanted to know how Terry was doing." Zamasu explained. Was it him, or is everyone somewhat interconnected in a sense? It's becoming more and more apparent over the month. "How is he?"
Ethan raised a brow, and blinked for a long time. "You really do know everybody…"
"Who are you talking to?" Since Terry couldn't pick up Zamasu's voice, he had to ask Ethan.
"This guy named Zamasu wants to know if you're okay."
"This God." Zamasu corrected him, and Ethan shot him a cross look that made the Kaioshin chuckle.
"Oh! I haven't heard from him in a long time!" Terry smiled, Zamasu can feel that smile over the phone. "I'm good, I'm good. Recently got out of those stitches, but I'm alright nonetheless."
Zamasu smiled. "Good."
Ethan went back to the phone. "How come you're calling me right now?"
Terry leaned back in his chair. "Break."
"Oh."
"Yup."
Zamasu leaned over a bit. "Terry, you aren't having anyone in particular harass you anymore right?"
"Nope." Terry shook his head. "Ironically enough, it stopped after I decided to cut Rebecca off."
Zamasu blinked. "You two aren't associated anymore?"
"Not at all. She just went MIA on me after that whole incident." Terry said. "You both know what I'm talking about."
Ethan chuckled. "At least you have the privilege of doing that…" Zamasu furrowed a brow.
"Yeah… don't make me feel bad, Ethan. I swear." Terry chuckled. There was a sliver of a pause before he spoke up again. "Ah, my break is over. It was nice talking with you, Zamasu, and Ethan… hope you get out of that 'contract'."
Ethan shook his head with a chuckle. That chuckle sounded bitter. "I hope I do. Peace man, see you later." He ended the call, and looked at Zamasu. "What?"
"What contract?" Zamasu knew that particular wording wasn't literal, and he'll pretend like he didn't figure out it had something to do with his girlfriend.
"My…" Ethan placed his phone on the drink stand. "My girlfriend and I got into an argument. She's manipulative, and only cares about herself, and also has a dad who has connections in the criminal justice system." Ethan shook his head. "I'm walking on eggshells with her and my temper. If I don't be careful, I can get fined, sued or jailed for doing anything to her."
"Gross."
Zamasu's out-of-nowhere response made Ethan laugh. "I know right? I can't really break up with her because of that, it's just… it's a hot mess."
"I reckon it is." Zamasu shook his head. It was sad to hear that Ethan had fallen prey to the plight of a woman who can get her way around. "Aren't you acquainted with Chandler?"
Ethan blinked. "Yes?"
Now Zamasu had to straight face. "You have a supercomputer being and a trillionaire behind your back."
"... You're right." Ethan had realized what Zamasu was getting at before the Kaioshin even said it. "Well I mean, I know Chandler knows the FPICA boss guy-"
"So do I."
"Okay, dammit, you two know the dude. Geez, too many connections do you even…"
Zamasu straight up laughed. Ethan, when he was aggravated, looked and sounded funny. "Just saying."
"Well, okay, but-"
"If something like that happens, do not be afraid to call upon him." Zamasu shrugged. "Simple. If she thinks she can manipulate the court of law, then she's wrong."
Ethan smiled. "Yeah."
"Don't say 'yeah' like that, Ethan." Zamasu narrowed his eyes. "You have advantages in this situation; use them."
Ethan looked down thoughtfully, before facing the God again. "Thanks." He earned a nod from Zamasu. "I'ma have to go to work soon by the way so… you kinda gotta skiddadle."
"Has Chandler been that much of an influence on you?" Zamasu smirked, making Ethan place his hands on his hips. "I'll take my leave. Keep in mind of what I said, Ethan."
"I will, I will." Ethan said, watching Zamasu hocus pocus himself out of his own car. He looked down with a huge amount of motivation. "I definitely will…"
T_T_T_T_T_T_T
As a means of not rectifying her current situation, Irene had refused to go out with the rest of the guys when they wanted to go for bowling because James was going. She masked the reasoning by saying that she simply didn't like bowling, which was reasonable because she never did bowl, and decided to stay in the suite.
Apparently, Lexi left her phone since she wasn't going to be out for long. She and Jay had spent the night together, and Jay woke up feeling springier than usual, we all know what that means. Sometime soon after everyone had left, it had rang and Irene had to pick it up.
"Hello?"
She didn't realize that call ID was HotGold. "Lexi?"
Her stomach flipped. "A-Ambrose?" She quickly set her own phone down and sat up. "Uh, hi! How are you?"
"Ah, Irene." Ambrose said. Her name sounded real nice trailing off of his tongue. "How are you? I'll assume that Lexi left her phone with you."
Within three days, Ambrose had gotten well acquainted with pretty much everyone aside from Rebecca and James, so he was mostly informal now. "Yeah, she did. She went out, but she'll be back soon."
"Really?" Ambrose blinked. "She told me to meet her at your suite."
"I'm the only one here though." Irene blinked. "Ya might wanna wait."
Ambrose made a sound that didn't agree with her suggestion. "I can't… Because I was doing something and I apparently finished a little too early, so…" he paused, "Now I'm walking up to the door."
"W-What?" Irene didn't mean to stutter, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let Ambrose just wait outside for the model. She booked her way to the door, and opened it just in time to see the golden tanned man with his finger right by the bell.
"Oh." Ambrose blinked, and then did that dorky smile that he does when something unexpected happens.
"You can wait in here! Don't worry, man." Irene quickly gestured him in, and Ambrose kindly took her invitation with a slight bow. He's cute. "Are you thirsty? Do you need anything to drink? Are you hungry or anything?"
Ambrose turned around with a look after hanging his navy blue trench coat on the available hanger. "Now why are you the one worrying about me?"
Irene gestured to herself. "I'm just asking, you know… get you all nice and settled in here."
He chuckled. "I'm fine, really." He took his shoes off, she took a moment to look at his attire. His hair was in a sweet big bun, and he had a pair of well fitted black jeans with a burgundy sweater that suited his toned, slender barrel chest build. "You look really anxious, please sit."
"Okay." Irene took a breath, she sat back down on her seat. "You look nice."
He gave her a really charming smile. "Thanks." Once he had sat down on the chair adjacent to her seat, Irene folded her hands. She couldn't stop bouncing her right leg.
The richest man in the world is sitting right in front of her. Sure her composure was better the first time she saw him, but they're alone.
"So how've you spent your days here?" Irene leaned forward, her leg still bouncing.
"I've been walking around." Ambrose leaned back and rested his right calf on his left knee. That sitting pose looked real sexy on him. "I have a habit of forgetting to drive."
"Really?"
"Yup, I'm just so used to walking around everywhere." He shrugged. "It's therapeutic."
She suddenly appeared to relax around him. "Tell me about it, I need to take part in that one day."
He gave her a calculating look for half bath second. "You need to."
She narrowed her eyes. "Whaddaya mean by that?"
"You look all anxious and stuff, still." Ambrose was quick to point out the major flaw in her person over the past week.
But she denied it. "I'm not anxious! Look at me, I'm leaning back and shit." She leaned back, completely relaxed her arms and legs in her sitting position, giving him the calmest face she had.
Or at least could muster, because now he had that calculating look on his face again with a slight smirk. "You're trying too hard."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are." He firmly said, and they continued having this weird staring contest before Irene finally caved in to those golden eyes.
"Fine, you're sorta right." She shrugged her arms. "This vacation hasn't... gone off to a good start."
Ambrose frowned. "Why so?"
"I got into an argument with umm… my boyfriend." Irene said. "James." She looked down at the ground. "He cheated on me."
Now, Ambrose looked really surprised. "He did?" Irene nodded, but she frowned too; why would he look surprised for? "With who?"
"I don't know." She said. Ambrose blinked. "But… okay, here's the whole story," she gave him a brief synopsis on behalf of the situation; James went out with the guys to some party as far as she knew, the guys swore he didn't cheat on her as far as she knew, and with every sentence she couldn't help but make the man seem more vilifying than he was, deriving from the thing she and Rebecca have told each other about him.
"But yeah I mean…" Irene sat down, the jittery feeling she was getting in her abdomen started to subside. "We fought about it like almost a week ago. I know you know we're together, and stuff…" Irene slightly chuckled. Ambrose kept silent. "And like- okay." She sat up straighter, at least to bring back some confidence in what she was saying. She seemed to deflate every time she insulted James. "So I found this one picture online of him kissing another woman at Tatch. And he comes in and thinks he can just hug me, after straight up putting his lips on another woman?!" She was getting heated again. Irene gave Ambrose a glance, his calm demeanor made her simmer down.
"And he tried to justify it by saying that it was an accident; how do you accidentally kiss someone?" She shook her head, her curls dangling from the action. "Ugh, I just couldn't with him from then on. I can't… look at him the same way, you know. It's just…"
"Irene."
She looked up at him quickly the second he said her name, it rolled off his tongue quaintly. Ambrose had a tiny smile on his face. "Do you not know how hot your boyfriend is?"
That unexpected question made Irene raspberry into a tiny laugh.
Ambrose was being jokeful. "To have some random woman, who is a fan of his, pull him into some kiss is something that is more likely to happen than you think, you know."
"Well I mean..." Irene, despite now being a bit toned down due to his playfulness, can't help but see James in a negative light. "He should know better."
"He more than likely did." Irene frowned at Ambrose. He leaned forward a bit out of his side reclining position. "James looks like a sweet man, Irene. You have Zamasu, Adrian, Jay, and Shona to account for his actions. If they all say he hasn't done it, all four of them, chances are he hasn't. Factor in his stature, and who he is, and you have a recipe for major… fangirlism." Ambrose scratched the back of his head. "I dunno if that's a word."
Irene chuckled. "Well, now it is. Well sure he's famous and all but…" What Ambrose said, when she really thought about James and his real personality, made a lot more sense than what her anger drove her to believe. "Okay but maybe he should have had his guard up!"
"You said he was at some party, right?" Ambrose shrugged. "Unless if they didn't want to be there, what kind of person has their guard up in a party?"
"But-" Irene started getting heated, but this time in a less aggressive way because she was cracking a smile. "But he's a big guy, how could some little woman pull him in like that?! James knows that he did it on purpose!"
"How so?"
She paused, that question was unexpected. "Because he does, he came in here, right there," she pointed at the spot James was in, "looking all shocked and sad and shit before and when I slapped him."
"Well, maybe it's because you slapped him."
"I slapped him because he cheated on me."
"Anyone would look shocked after getting slapped." Ambrose blinked. "Him being sad was probably just him feeling bad about what had happened. If he were to cheat, he wouldn't have felt that way until after he was caught; from what you told me, you slapped him before he knew that you were going to ask him on behalf of cheating."
Again, he absolutely floored her with his logic. Irene deflated, but then brought herself up again when he smiled. "But like-"
"Are you looking for reasons to be upset?"
"Look!" Irene slapped her hands against her thighs, even though she was now smiling because of this man's damned energy. She even moved over to where he was to articulate better. "It's not like he got stupid drunk or anything, he wanted to distance himself from me. So obviously, as a girlfriend, I would get concerned and angry if I find that my man is kissing another girl."
"Have you tried asking him about what happened?" Ambrose tilted his head. "Something tells me that you went off from an assumption, James is famous, famous people get into the craziest things."
Irene narrowed her eyes at him, not answering his question because she herself never waited for his side of the story. So she answered his question with a question. "Are you on his side because he's a man?"
Ambrose raised his brows. "Oh no, not at all." He shook his head. "From the two-something days I spent getting to know you all, I can tell that James isn't the type of man to cheat on his own. You must know much more than I do because you're actually dating him."
James… was never the type of man to do a woman dirty, at all. Irene looked down, she didn't have anything else to validate why she slapped and punched him, and broke his phone in two as well, we don't talk about that. James had profusely apologized, she remembered, but she wasn't listening to the apologies. She was only seeing a traitor and a liar… by what assumption?
Only hers.
She didn't like being wrong, so she sat up again, trying to argue with this super-genius multi-trillionaire. "But he did it-"
"If you can't find a reason to be angry at him," Ambrose smiled, "then you shouldn't be angryyy."
He said the last part in a sing-song tune, and Irene pouted at him. She couldn't argue anymore. "Fine, you win."
Ambrose raised his hands. "It's not about winning here, Irene."
"Well, you rationalized better than I did." Irene crossed her arms stubbornly.
"I just want you to figure out what's right for both sides, if you both are still together, that is." Ambrose took a moment to see a notification that came up on his phone before putting his phone back in his pocket. Irene watched him, and realized that Lexi was not lying; he was hot.
And he was also kind enough to sit here and listen to what she did out of anger, and instead of pinning either her or James down, he just wanted her to make sense of the situation rather than abscond from it. That was sweet.
That was genius, as to how he smoothly swayed her the way he did.
"...thanks."
Ambrose looked at her after a long pause, she was shying away from him. "Don't be afraid to be wrong, if that's why you're all flustered over there."
"Excuse you." Irene rolled her neck sassily. "I wasn't wrong."
"Then what were you?"
His playful smile was so cute and attractive. "...not right."
Ambrose raised a finger as he was standing, and tapped her nose. "Wrong."
The weird butterflies came back again because the richest man in the world just touched her fucking nose.
"Okay okay, so maybe I was a little irrational." Irene said. "Don't give me that look."
"That is an understatement." He went towards the kitchen, watching as Irene got up and skipped her way in as well.
"Maybe very irritational, geez." Irene sighed. "So… what should I do?"
Ambrose leaned against the countertop. "What do good relationships require, Irene?"
Can he stop saying her name? It sounds hella sexy when he says it. "Uhh…" It didn't take her long to answer. "Trust?"
"If you don't trust him, why be with him?" Ambrose asked. "If you feel that he is really a bad man, and has truly done you wrong… What is stopping you from ending it?"
That made her think; she's been feeling like a piece of her was missing, and even though she may have low-key been flirting with Ambrose prior to this day, she still felt a little hollow. Of course, if she wanted to, she could end the relationship between the both of them, but now that she's been pushed to actually look back at her actions, that doesn't seem right at all. And Ambrose wasn't asking that to encourage her to break up, he wanted her to really factor in her boyfriend's persona for this one.
Here was an off note: Rebecca didn't actually do what Ambrose did. She had perpetuated Irene to keep hating her boyfriend.
"Well…" Irene traced circles into the countertop.
"Talk to him."
She looked up at Ambrose when he gave the simplest fucking way to solve any damn conflict. "Talk to him?"
He nodded. "Mmhmm."
"But… what if he's mad at me?"
"He'll understand." Ambrose said. "I'm sure that's something that he probably wants you to do, too."
She giggled a little, looking down at the ground. Irene crossed her arms and smiled. 'You're so understanding." She shook her head. "You just came in and dissected everything even though you weren't here." She went to get a bottle of mango juice. "You want?"
Ambrose shook his head. "It was made clear that you didn't wait to hear him out." He kicked his foot out softly. "If things work, then that's good. If they don't, then don't wish any harm upon him."
"Right…" She looked up at him. "Can I get a hug?"
Ambrose furrowed a brow at her. "Why?'
"You look soft."
"That's a weird compliment."
"I dunno, I just feel all warm now." Irene said, though she held her arms out. Ambrose shrugged, knowing that it wouldn't hurt anyone, and he hugged her. Irene almost sunk into his embrace; he had this warm… feeling, like the kind that would let you know that this person had a warm and big heart. And he smelled good too, not like cologne but of some distinct citrus scent, and his sweater was soft…
She almost forgot his retardedly incredible amount of wealth in the five seconds she had hugged him.
She was reluctant to let go, but did so once he had eased off of her. Ambrose gave her a tiny smirk. "Feel better now?"
"Lots." Irene smiled. "I kinda want him to come back now." She scratched the back of her head. "I kinda missed holding him."
A blink. "How long has it been again?"
"Only like a week- but still!" Irene clasped her arms against her thighs. Ambrose chuckled. "That's a lot of time for a couple, okay?"
He nodded. "Understandable." The engineer stood straight from leaning on the countertop. "I'm sure things will go well between you two instantly."
Irene frowned. "Instantly?"
He did that thing where he would nod and his bun would move with him. "Yup." Just then, the two heard the front door opening. Lexi, James, and Jay entered the suite talking with one another, and Ambrose was the first of the two to walk out of the kitchen to greet them.
Jay almost dropped everything he had in his hand which… was his phone, before greeting Ambrose kindly. Lexi gasped and started approaching him fretfully. "I'm so sorry, Ambrose, I didn't know you would be done so quickly! I didn't mean to hold you u-"
"Lexi," Ambrose raised both hands, reassuring Jay's girlfriend, "It's fine; you didn't know."
Because Ambrose had purposely decided to approach the trio faster, all the attention was diverted from Irene who had exited after he did. He knew that the both of them exiting together would be needlessly suspicious.
Lexi exhaled a bit. "Alright, alright. I was just saying, like I could've-"
He started to chuckle. "It's fine. How are the three of you?"
"We're fine." James said, not really wanting to engage in anything with the geek in front of him. He didn't particularly sit well with geeks. "I gotta go freshen up, so Lexi, all fairs to you." He gestured to the model as he waltzed off. At this time, Irene had went back in the kitchen to 'retrieve something', so James and the others didn't get to see her. She could've been her normal, bravado self and straight up greet them kindly, but lately she's been feeling more reserved, Ambrose having picked out that it was her insecurity over her relationship.
Jay looked at the trillionaire, and his girlfriend. "You two go have fun, I gotta sleep and shit." Jay said, cracking his knuckles.
An unspoken gesture that he made, especially towards Lexi. If Adrian were here, he would know what Jay's seemingly laissez-faire statement really meant.
"Very well." Ambrose kind of giggled, and Jay found it hard for him to crack his knuckles even more: that chuckle sounded beautiful to him. "I'll make sure this one doesn't fall again."
He was referring to the model and the last time they hung out. Lexi threw a look at him. "I didn't fall; I didn't know there was another stair, so I stumbled."
"Next time, don't look at your phone." The engineer walked away from Lexi and towards Jay. He gave Jay a kind pat on the back and told him 'take it easy, I'll see you around'.
Ambrose knew that the reason she 'stumbled' was because she was staring at him while he was speaking. He'd rather just blame it on her phone, she's on it at least forty eight times as much as he was.
Jay gave them a wave, almost certain that the engineer probably caught drift of what his gestures mean. Taking it easy is no problem, and he knew that for sure. Nothing could convince him that Ambrose had ill will towards him and Lexi's relationship, for the most part the man himself kept his hands off of her.
Their relationship, anyway, was stronger than a simple insinuation.
He nearly jumped seeing Irene pop right out of the kitchen. "Oh shit. Hi."
She gave him a wave back, and then started going for the stairs. Jay and her have… fallen off for quite a while. While the producer was grabbing his jacket, she turned back to him. "Do you know what James is doing after his shower."
"Uh I dunno, sleep or something else." He shrugged, but then paused and turned back at her. "Why ask?"
"I wanna talk to him."
His eyebrows raised as if showing almost a mock expression of shock. "Really?" His expression read something along the lines of after all this damn time?
Irene nodded. Jay blinked, it's been a week since she had communicated (through yelling) with James. Compared to her shitty outburst -he would call it- she was quieter than ever. Maybe part of that was due to her being with Rebecca more.
Women tend to mimic each other a lot.
As quietly as she showed herself, she went up the stairs to her room for a moment just to act like she was doing something. Even though Ambrose made this seem as easy as 123, she still felt nervous because literally everyone save for Rebecca detracted from her in general. Not that they hate her but… she just acted in a way that made them question who she really was.
She sighed. Hopefully, all goes well.
00010010001001
James was busy texting on his phone. Earlier today, he had went to the same forsaken bar to talk with B.A, she had given him her number, and the two were now talking with one another since she was at a meeting.
Again, what that meeting was was none of James' business. And for the better.
She told him, in a jokey manner, that it would not take long before their relationship would start up again. B.A. had told him verbatim: "Look, she got mad at you and didn't even hear you out. Watch, you both are gonna make up and fuck, just you wait".
She had a very liberal way of talking. He liked that.
So now, he had left off with a question about something knowing she wouldn't reply for a while. There were five knocks on his door, and James raised a brow.
"It's open!"
The door slowly opened, like at turtle's pace slow. Once he saw Irene peek her head in, he grew quiet. She stepped fully into the room, both hands fidgeting a bit as she looked at her boyfriend's hot ass face.
Ambrose wasn't fucking lying now that she thought about it.
"Hey." Was all she could muster. There was a pause, since he didn't say anything, he just waved lazily since he was on his bed. "Can I talk to you?"
James raised a brow, not particularly angry at her. He was mostly impartial. "About what?"
She fought internally a little to get the right words out. Gosh, this part, actually starting this, was difficult. "About what I did and said before. I was acting horribly, and… just didn't take into account to trust you since we've been apart for so long. I was an idiot, I'm just… I'm sorry."
She expected James to pull a Jay on her, where he'd either tune her out or stare at her with cold, and calculating eyes. But her head was down and elsewhere as she spoke up until she looked him in the eyes. He wasn't looking disinterested…
That smile on his face just grew with every word she spoke.
"You know I've been waiting to hear you say something like that to me." James sat up, and everything in Irene had relaxed since then. James raised his whole arm to beckon her. "Eh, get over here."
She couldn't help the dumb smile on her face. She went and fell into his outstretched arm. "I thought you would be upset."
James was about to say something but then paused before speaking up again. "I was, I really was absolutely pissed that you would think of me the way you did. But like…" James shrugged. "I mean, Zamasu said it best; you were just angry. And I could understand that; all you saw was the picture itself. Honestly…" he brought her closer, "I could just be petty and stay mad but, it would make me happier if you and I came to better terms instead. So no, hell no I wouldn't be upset at you for apologizing."
She laughed a bit. "Thank you… I mean, to be fair, I didn't just up and do this onmy own, really."
"What, did Ashley talk you into it?"
"Not even." She shook her head. "Ashley had been out with Adrian, but when Ambrose came in I guess I kinda… needed to vent." She twiddled her fingers into his. "He encouraged me to talk to you, since I've been kinda scared to do so."
"Ambrose?" James blinked, he would not have expected the trillionaire to give an ear to her problems. "You told him everything?"
"Pretty much." Irene said, and then she sat up. "I didn't yell at him or anything, don't worry." More like I couldn't.
James looked away, surprised. "I… would not have seen that coming."
"I know you don't like geeks and shit." Irene gave him a look before laying back down on his chest. "But Ambrose is a really kind guy, like… he's just full of positivity. You should really get to know him."
That made him build the tiniest bit of respect in the engineer at least. It's not like he hated him, it's just that he never really thought of Ambrose as a social person due to how much shit he does. He figured this guy would stay sheltered in his home for weeks on end or something. But, with a face like that, James thought, that would be highly unlikely.
Most geeks aren't even physically fit. Ambrose's physique is impeccable.
"Sure, sure, I guess I might like… one day." James shrugged. "But first, I'd like to lay here with you."
"Cheesy."
"You know, I'm making an effort," James articulated as if he was actually doing something other than laying down on his bed, "to make things romantic between the both of us since it's been forever, so don't call that cheesy; it wasn't."
"It was." She giggled. "I loved it though." She looked at him, big brown eyes on hazel.
James felt the region beneath his lower abdomen stir. There was a pause before Irene spoke again."I missed this."
"Just this?"
"Nooo…" Irene moved to sit down on top of him. "This too…" She kissed him on the lips. "And this…" She had pulled him away only to kiss him again, but this time her hands wentwent right under the cook fabric of his shirt. That tension in his lower groin was increasing...
Welp, that suggestion B.A. made earlier sounded like a plausible happening.
She stopped though, he was almost pouty that her hand no longer traced shapes against his pecs. "Do you forgive me?"
James looked into those big brown eyes, her frame was tiny when compared to his. Her hair was in a messy bun, and she had this disheveled romper on, revealing a bit of her black lace bra. The expression she gave him was cute… and coy...
Ooh, he is so gonna fuck her tonight.
James pulled her in for a deeper kiss, her inviting body language allowed him to slip a finger or two against the front clasps of her bra, undoing it with ease. Their foreheads touched, and he handled her hips dominantly. "Of course I do…"
…|...|...|...|...|...
Luckily for everyone else, the rooms weren't that adjacent to one another, so any sound coming from one room would not bleed into another. With that being said, Zamasu should be lucky that he wasn't at the suite that night.
He would have definitely heard Irene's needy mewls and cries. That for now, would have made his ears bleed.
He was elsewhere, we'll get to him later.
"Irene…" Adrian took to noticing the artist, who came downstairs after everyone else. James, standing right beside him, had told him and Jay that he and Irene did indeed make up. That was all he could say before the three guys saw her stroll into the room… "Why are you walking funnily?"
Jay shot a real smug smile at James, who held his held high with a smirk. Irene gave the two peeping-ass-tom's a cross look before going to her boyfriend and embracing him.
James gave the producers a goofy smile. "Everything is peachy."
Adrian snorted. "I can tell. G'morning, 'Rene."
She looked at Adrian and Jay. "You guys aren't mad either?"
"It was awkward having you two in the same place." Jay shrugged. "We kind were just waiting for you two to make up."
"Are you guys serious?" Irene blinked.
His curly haired friend nodded. "Mm-hmm, we just winded up our pendulums and waited patiently."
She bopped Adrian's forehead. The three had tiny conversations up until Rebecca had came around. Irene saw her before she did, so she ran out to give her unsuspecting best friend a hug. "BECCA!"
"Wh-" Rebecca didn't realize Irene was damn near sprinting towards her, but she recoiled when she was quickly embraced by her friend. "Irene! Geez, you're so springy today!" The red haired woman giggled a bit, smiling brightly seeing that Irene was actually happy. "What happened? You got inspiration for something again?"
"Inspiration would be an overstatement." Irene hopped on both her heels. "It's just something that happened last night."
Rebecca raised a red brow. "What happened?"
Irene's smile got much bigger. "Me and James made up." She turned to point to the kitchen entrance. "They're in there, and I was just talking with them. He explained himself, we compromised and he forgave me for being irrational. That's why I got a spring in my step."
It suddenly took everything, every controlled thought and muscle, to keep Rebecca's smile from turning into a grimace. Her voice wasn't as bright as it was, but she still mimicked a guise of surprise. "Really?"
Irene nodded jubilantly. "I kinda… couldn't come up to him, so Ambrose gave me some advice and welp… we're back together now!" She patted her best friend's shoulder. "We're gonna go out soon, well once Lexi and Ash wake up. We'll probably hit up a breakfast buffet again. Wanna come?"
Beneath the kind, warm and relieved face Rebecca held was a vast sea of boiling anger and hatred. Her fists didn't ball up, if anyone were looking real hard they would notice her pupils contract. She couldn't imagine Ambrose- no wait, she could. He can easily manipulate anyone he damn near wants with his money and his pretty damned face. He just made Irene, Irene of all people, dial back on what she's done and made her get back with this cheating man of hers.
She could have sighed; that rich pig ruined it.
"'Ey, Irene."
Irene turned around to see Adrian pop out of the kitchen. Adrian fluffed out his low ponytail. "Let's just say that we'll leave without them, friendo. That cool?"
"That's not nice." Irene shook her head. And then her stomach growled loudly. "...Shit, I'm hungry as hell. You know what… We'll go now."
Adrian clasped his hands triumphantly while going 'YESSS!'. Jay walked out of the kitchen shaking his head and pursing his lips. "Fatass."
"Shut up, we're all hungry." Adrian retorted.
Irene laughed at the two, getting back to her friend. "So you wanna come with us?"
Rebecca almost forget that she was asked a question. The doctor blinked at her friend, but reconciled apologetically. "You know, I literally ate beforehand, like way early in the morning, so I'm gonna skimp out on that and just go for a walk."
Irene nodded. "Ohhh okay. I'll catch you later, though!" The guys were already heading out, so Irene quickly told her boyfriend to wait up while she'd go and get dressed.
Meanwhile, the males of this group are literally going in sweats and styled hoodies.
Rebecca watched her friend walk on. She was relieved that getting out of that went well, but funnily enough, she wasn't wearing shoes. At least if she was going to sort out her now acrimonious thoughts, she should at least make it look like she was going somewhere right? The doctor had went upstairs, purposely before Irene would exit her own room. She put on an oversized hoodie, left her leggings on, and a pair of black boots. She yanked her phone from her drawer, and a bluetooth that she started using often, and went back downstairs. Before she even got to the door, she retracted and went by the front window to see if their car was gone. It was, so she decided to leave just then.
The day right after James had kissed that woman, Rebecca went out of her way to call the Tatch web managers to take down that photo quickly, as a way to save face. She knew that deep down, James was taking interest in someone else, and whatever situation he'll end up in was going to end up getting Irene hurt again. And Ambrose just set her up for pain, and failure.
Rebecca shook her head, the slight breeze making her hair move with her. She went right to her phone and contacted one of the private-line numbers that she knew very well. She needed not to worry so much…
Many things, were going to work.
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Y'all thought Irene was gonna go off and leave unchecked? Pfft...
A better question for your brains is… why is Rebecca upset about this? As a friend, she should at least notice that Irene has been retracting a bit and should've been happy that this brought her old personality back, albeit better of course. So what is striking her in particular?
Not going to give you the benefit of actual lemon here, ok. I don't do that romance shit.