A/N: Woo hoo! Another one at last! Workin super hard on these updates guys! Some feedback would be awsome! Seriously... lol anywho. Hope you guys love this one. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything beyblade... accept my characters... :)
There was a definite swelling, airy feeling in Demetra's chest as her and Tala walked through the village, sipping sbiten (still Tala's treat, much to Demetra's discomfort). There was also a stupid warm and fond smile that just wouldn't get lost, no matter how hard Demetra tried to will it away.
Not only had the redhead accompanied her while she did boring souvenir shopping, he'd also led her to the best shops and stalls, did all the translating for her, and even helped her pick out a gift or two. If that wasn't enough, Tala had once again impressed her when he found another group of boys he knew, and hired them too as delivery boys on Kai's dime.
"I'm sure you expect him to be out for your blood." She'd told him with an amused smile.
The only response she'd gotten for that was a wicked grin that had made her heart throb, and made that stupid smile appear on her face - the one that she couldn't seem to get rid of.
Now finally, after a little shopping and much exploring, the pair were walking leisurely through the village; seemingly with no particular destination in mind, and not really in a hurry to get there.
Admittedly, it was considerably that much sweeter that Demetra's arm had ended up looped in her companion's. And wouldn't you know, Tala looked so very cool the way his hand was resting casually in his pocket, and yet still managed to gently pin her arm to his side with his own.
Demetra took a long gulp of her drink, attempting once again to will away the stupid inverted frown, but to no avail. So, lowering her cup again, she looked to the side at her companion.
"Who knew you were such a good tour guide, Tala." Demetra purred teasingly "Though I wonder if perhaps you're not too good? There can't be much left to show me. While it's not exactly early... there's still plenty of night left."
Tala turned a roguish grin on her then, a look that made Demetra's heart throb yet again.
"So far I've only let you loose in the village to run around like an excited puppy." He teased, receiving an elbow dig for that, which made him chuckle. "But I promised to show you how Russians let loose, and now that the curious puppy has finally settled down, I'm going to fulfill that promise."
Demetra was too curious to even feign offence, and her expression mirrored that curiosity as she stared at the redhead expectantly.
"Oh?" She questioned, intrigued. "In that case, in interest of your claim, this little puppy will refrain from taking a piece out of your hide for that last remark."
The comment made Tala chuckle again, but he took the time to take a sip of his drink before replying.
"Hope you like music, your highness." He replied cryptically.
Thoroughly intrigued now, Demetra's brow lifted with interest, but this time she made no comment as she silently allowed herself to be led to Tala knows where.
-;-
"So what fun-filled destination have you dragged me to this time?" Demetra asked teasingly. Secretly, she was actually a touch excited for the answer.
"It's called Mesto Tvoikh Brat'yev." Tala informed her. Then he translated. "Your Brother's Place."
The name was clever, homey, welcoming. She liked it.
"It looks like a bar." Demetra replied absently.
"That's because it is." Tala replied bluntly.
Demetra's hand on his chest stopped them both, and the latter turned a look on his companion.
"What's wrong, Princess? Afraid to feed the rumour mill?"
The feel of her hand on him, even though gloved, made tiny pulses of heat spread out from the area of contact, and when the heat reached Tala's heart, his pulse began to race.
Ignoring his comment, Demetra replied without missing a beat.
"Tala, I wont get in there." She said bluntly. "I'm underage."
A smirk appeared on Tala's face, even though her naivety charmed him a little more than he'd like, or admit to.
"Do you trust me?" He asked with a voice devoid of tone, though on the inside, Tala's nerves spiked nervously.
For a long time Demetra stared at him, until eventually a look of amusement came to her face.
"Absolutely not." She said bluntly, though there was a smile tugging at her lips. "Not even remotely."
Her response made Tala grin, and he knew the affectionate tug he felt to his heart was visible on his face this time, but there wasnt a damn thing he could do about it.
"Well you'd better learn quick." He stated matter of factly.
Not really expecting her to obey him, Tala was more than a little surprised, and a whole lot pleased, when Demetra allowed him to lead her forward again without protest.
Trying desperately to hold back the proud-as-a-peacock grin, Tala couldnt help straightening proudly as he led the stunning creature beside him up the front steps of the building, and held the door for her as they entered.
It was obvious Demetra was relieved when no one greeted them at the door, but Tala could tell she was still a little tense as she allowed him to lead her.
"Relax, OK?" He said, much softer than he intended. "Look, when's your birthday?"
Demetra hesitated for some reason, and there was a whole lot of reluctance in her expression and tone when she eventually answered him.
"July first." She muttered with a stony expression.
The admission made Tala crack an amused grin.
"Really, July first?" He asked with amusement. "Are you aware-?"
"Yes." Demetra replied firmly, abruptly cutting him off. "I am well aware it's also Canada day."
Her response actually made the redhead laugh this time, and he turned to her when he stopped to the side of a large closet sized room with a half door.
"Sounds like there's a story there." He teased, stuffing his gloves into his pockets and shrugging off his coat. Tala then turned towards his stunning brunette companion and gave her an amused look, though this time it was his gaze that was a lot softer then he'd intended.
"Anyway, you're only a few months under age, the world's not gonna end if you have a few drinks tonight." He said teasingly. "And if you don't want one then don't have one. But if you're worried about getting kicked out because you're not legal, don't worry you're among friends, so it's not gonna happen. Now loose the heavy gear, we're gonna be here for a while."
Demetra stared at Tala for a moment with a strange expression, until finally her gaze softened and a whisper of a smile tugged at her lips. Looking down, she began unbuttoning the front of her coat, and that's when Tala turned away from her to approach the half door. Handing off his own coat to someone inside, he received a ticket and thanked them before turning back to his companion. However, when he did, the sight of her gave him pause.
Seeing the look on her host's face, and taking it completely the wrong way, Demetra frowned deeply.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you staring at me like that?" She asked defensively. Then she looked down at herself before looking back up at him. "Is it my shirt?"
Underneath, Demetra's red shirt turned out to be a semi-sheer crimson sort of button-down - which she had buttoned up nearly all the way - but from the glimpse Tala was able to see past the nearly see-through piece, he was sure what she was wearing underneath was much more interesting.
Seeing as it was taking so long for the redhead to reply, Demetra began to pull the coat she'd been offering him back towards her.
"It's weird isn't it?" She asked with a frown, looking ready to put the coat back on. "I watched a ridiculous video-"
"Don't be stupid!" Tala spat a little too quickly, cutting her off this time. Realizing his mistake, he was also quick to fix it. "Feel the heat in here. You'll roast with that on."
"That's true..." Demetra admitted reluctantly before offering him her coat once more.
Tala released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when he accepted the garment, and he kept it temporarily as he stared at her.
"You didn't wear a sweater or something underneath this?" He forced himself to ask, internally wincing to hear the slight hitch and rough tone of his voice. "I mean, I know you're from Finland but come on."
"A number of people comment on that actually." She said thoughtfully. "Hm... Anyway, my body temperature normally runs - apparently unusually - high, so most times all I need is a good coat. I also wasn't planning on taking my coat off."
Tala considered that and could relate; although his body temp didnt usually run overly high, he was able to withstand sub-zero temperatures most people couldnt, so he also usually preferred simply a good coat.
"Besides, I was in a bit of a rush on my way out..." Tala heard her mutter under her breath, seemingly a little irritably.
"I get it." He said simply. "But you gotta do something about that... whatever it is you're wearing."
Pulling at the front of her sheer top, Demetra gave him a look at that.
"You mean this?" She questioned, frowning again. "What's wrong with it?"
"It looks weird." Tala lied bluntly.
In all honestly, as far as fashion went, it probably looked great, what the hell did he know, he'd seen enough girls wearing similar things. But truth was, he was hoping she'd take it off. Turning back to give coatcheck the brunette's coat, Tala's breath unconsciously halted in anticipation as he accepted the ticket and prepared to turn around again.
Swallowing hard, Tala forced himself to face the brunette bombshell; and as soon as he did, his heart jumpstarted, forcing him to suck in a sharp breath that almost made him choke. For a second time that night, Tala was completely stunned speechless, when he took in the sight of his companion.
Demetra had not in fact removed her outer shirt, but Tala's heart pounded in his throat all the same, as he watched her finish what she was doing. When she looked up at him, Demetra gave him an exasperated look.
"What now?" She demanded irritably. "It's something I saw Tori do once, okay?! Look, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly up to speed on haute couture!"
She'd rolled up her sleeves, coiled up the entire front of her shirt into one thin piece either side, and somehow twisted and tied it all to her sleeves, pulling them back. Instead of a long-sleeved button-down tucked into her jeans, now only her shoulders were covered. To his utter delight, Tala realized he'd been right; she was hiding a corset-type shirt underneath, and he felt the inner beast in him whine when he noted the deep cuts up the sides of said piece, stitched together with silky red ribbons. With the outer covering pulled up, the corset did a very good job of framing, and drawing attention to, the most surreally perfect figure Tala could recall ever having laid eyes on.
He also noted that the shirt was rather low-cut in the front - clearly she wasn't ashamed of the horrific scar that protruded from her cleavage up to her shoulder.
Tala pointedly avoided that area.
Forcing his traitorous body to jumpstart again, a small grin appeared on Tala's face.
"Relax Princess, your shirt looks fine." He replied teasingly. "Here, take this. There's just one thing..."
Slipping the offered ticket deep into her pocket, Demetra furrowed her brows at her partner as he stepped up to her, but she froze when he reached up and immediately tangled his fingers in her hair on the back. A shiver ran down her spine when she felt his fingers gently brush her scalp, the sensation making her eyes flutter closed briefly in content. Demetra barely registered what was happening when she felt Tala's digits gently gliding through her mass of curls, but when she felt him pull away from her again, the sensation of her own hair on her shoulders made her snap out of her trance to finally realize what he'd done.
"I'll hang on to this." He said with a teasing smirk.
Demetra watched him slip her hair tie onto his wrist directly above the bracelet she'd made for him - which she was liking the look of more and more. Shocking her once again, her breath halted this time when Tala reached up again, this time to burry his fingers in her hair and give her curls a few gentle shakes. Pulling his hands away, he took a step back from her and looked at her.
"Better." He said with a teasing smirk but a heated tone. "At least now you don't look like someone's babysitter. Come on."
Turning per his direction, Demetra waited for Tala to, in a way that had become disturbingly familiar and pleasant for her, step beside her and gently place his hand at the small of her back again to once more lead her forward. The only difference was; this time she could feel the chilled flesh of Tala's palm on the strip of exposed flesh on her back, and she knew that through it, there was no way he didnt feel the violent shiver that ran down her back either.
Not really knowing what else to say, Demetra merely kept silent as she allowed Tala to lead her further into the dim darkness of the bar scene.
They'd only gotten a few meters from the bar when one of the bartenders spotted Tala. Demetra watched with interest as the man's face lit up before greeting the redhead enthusiastically. When the pair had reached the bar, Demetra held back a little to silently observe as Tala shook hands with the bartender and had a brief conversation with him. At one point, the bartender gestured to her, his tone suggestive as he playfully nudged Tala's side. Though his response was good natured, and he seemed immune to the joke, Demetra watched an ever so slight pinkish tinge dust Tala's cheeks, and noted he seemed to be pointedly avoiding looking at her.
Once the exchange was through, the bartender turned to fetch Tala's order. When he returned, he slid the drinks across the bar to Tala, gave Demetra a playful wink, then turned to go serve someone else. Turning back towards her at last, Tala handed his brunette companion a glass of dark drink.
Accepting the glass a little wearily, Demetra stared at it for a few seconds, then looked up to give Tala a dubious look, which made him chuckle.
"Just try it." He chided. "You might actually be surprised."
Lifting the glass for a sniff, Demetra hesitated, then finally took a sip. Watching her intently, Tala waited patiently for her response. It was a long wait, but eventually, Demetra sighed.
"It's good." She replied reluctantly, making Tala grin again.
"Come on, we'll find somewhere to sit."
Once again, Demetra followed wordlessly and willingly, as Tala led her through the crowd, towards a table off to the side of the room.
For a long time there was only an awkward silence between them, until eventually Tala had enough. Watching Demetra watching the bubbles in her glass another few seconds, he sighed before finally opening his mouth.
"So where were you born and raised?" He asked cooly, leaning back in his seat. Demetra looked up at him with an odd look.
"What?" She asked with a bemused expression.
"The first question we got wrong in the game." He reminded her.
"I was born in Japan." Demetra informed him. "Though the orphanage I grew up in was actually in a town called Linnoitus. About as far from Helsinki as I could have been in fact, without actually leaving Finland."
When she was finished, Tala looked down at his glass and watched the contents inside as he absently swirled them.
"I guess it makes sense you'd be from Japan." He said quietly. "Considering your last name... You've sure been around, your Highness."
Ignoring his playful dig, Demetra eyed her companion.
"Your turn." She said pointedly.
Tala set his glass back on the table, stared into it for a while, then finally answered; though he didn't look up at the brunette across him when he spoke again.
"I was born and raised in a tiny little town outside Moscow I can promise you've never heard of." He replied softly, resuming swirling the contents of his glass. "It was a military town... it's name is irrelevant because I didn't stay long enough for it to matter."
Tala paused in what he was doing and simply stared into the dark liquid, even when he spoke again.
"I was just a kid when I left home and made my way to Moscow." He said, so softly now, Demetra had to lean ahead in her seat to hear him. "When I got there I met up with Brian, and eventually we got tangled up with Boris and his band of lunatics. And I guess you can say the rest is history... sort of."
Demetra observed her companion for a while, trying to catch his eye. But when it was apparent he was determined not to look at her, she sat back in her seat and looked into her own glass.
"Sounds like there's a story there." She said eventually, looking up at him from under her lashes. To her delight, an amused smirk bloomed across the redheads face before he lifted his gaze to finally look at her.
"Your memory's pretty sharp, Princess." He teased with a glint in his eye. "For someone who pretends she can't stand me most days, you dont forget much I say."
"Only keeping my ears out for a weakness." She replied teasingly in return. "And I don't pretend."
Tala cracked an amused grin.
"Whatever you say, your Highness."
Once the ice was thoroughly broken, Tala felt himself finally begin to relax. He wasn't really sure where else to go with the conversation (since he didnt want to talk about the second question), but at least the silence wasn't awkward and the tension had finally dissipated.
"My mother's name was Yua..."
Tala's gut wrenched when Demetra's muttered words registered in his head. Apparently he'd spoken too soon.
"Damn it! I didn't want to go there!"
Swallowing the wave of nausea that rocked him all of a sudden, Tala tried to force his lips to part, but nothing seemed to want to come out. Inevitably, Demetra looked up at him with a straight face.
"What's you mother's name?" She questioned innocently, pining him with those gorgeous, piercing eyes.
Unaware of the pained grimace that took hold of his face, Tala forced himself to answer her question.
"Celest." He said with a rough voice.
Sensing a sore spot, Demetra narrowed her eyes on him in wonder, but she was quick nonetheless to change the subject.
"What about Wolborg?" She asked instead, lifting her drink to her lips to make the moment more casual. "What's the story on you two?"
Obviously relieved, Demetra watched Tala noticeably relax before lifting his gaze to look at her again.
"A few years after I got to the abbey, Boris organized a glorified all-out war among the recruits. The four best candidates won the right to claim the Borg beasts. Needless to say, the Blitzkreig Boys came out on top." He gave Demetra a wicked smirk then. "Though let it be known that I reached the top first."
Not taking the bait, Demetra gave him a look over the edge of her glass, which she still had suspended above the table.
"I hope you don't think I'll be satisfied with that skeletal answer." She replied dryly. Tala chuckled.
"I knew you wouldn't be." He replied with a half cocked grin. "Too bad for you, that's all you get tonight. Your turn, Princess."
"Assuming you realize I only owe you the watered-down version." She replied cheekily. "When I first came to live with Breal, I happened upon a family heirloom, and that heirloom contained Trea's spirit. We've been inseparable since."
Tala worked his jaw for a few moments as he observed her, and after a while he smirked and closed his eyes.
"You're right." He said bluntly. "That's totally maddening."
Demetra smirked mischievously then.
"Does that mean you're going to share your full story?" She teased. Tala opened his eyes and fixed her with a challenging look.
"No." He replied bluntly. "But I do want one thing from you."
Demetra lifted a brow.
"Oh? And what's that?"
"The promise that if I do decide to tell you my whole story someday, you'll return the favour."
Eying him for a few moments herself this time, Demetra eventually replied.
"Deal." She agreed honestly.
Lifting his glass for another long drink, Tala gave her a studious look when he placed it on the table again.
"Well, since you're not in a sharing mood, what are the chances you're in a dancing mood?"
"Not a snowball's chance in hell." Demetra shot him down immediately, making Tala grin at the speed of her response.
"That was quick." He replied with a half-cocked smirk. "What's wrong, not the prince charming you're dreaming of? Or is it just that I'm good enough for a teammate, but you're too good to dance with me?"
Demetra narrowed her eyes at him again, this time threateningly.
"Both." She lied, forcing herself to growl the reply. To her discomfort, Tala seemed to see through it and replied with a knowing grin.
"Let's say I don't believe you." He taunted, leaning forward in his seat. "What else you got?"
Demetra made a face as she tried to ignore the churning in her gut, which only made it that much harder to hold his stare, until eventually even that was impossible and Demetra finally caved. Averting her gaze from him, her silver eyes attempted to burn a hole into the table as she finally opened her mouth to speak.
"I don't want to dance." She said pointedly, firmly. "That's it."
"I don't believe that either."
Demetra's gaze snapped back to her redheaded companion, and was infuriated to see that his grin had spit his entire face.
"I don't give a damn what you believe!" She replied testily.
The next few minutes were spent deflecting Tala's infuriating taunts and persuasions, until finally Demetra had enough and blew her top.
"Would you just shut up!" She snapped furiously, feeling the heat surge up her neck and face. "I can't dance, damn you! There, are you satisfied?!"
It was like bringing up against a solid wall, and for a long few minutes, Tala stared at her in a sort of stunned disbelief, until eventually he blinked once before his trademark smirk returned to his face.
"That cant be true." He taunted. "I thought all girls could dance."
"Well you thought wrong." Demetra growled through clenched teeth.
"Come on. You sure you're not just being modest?" Tala continued to prod. "Or is her highness a little shy?"
"You're beginning to remind me why I really don't like you."
Tala looked beside himself with amusement, and when he leaned back in his chair to give her a smug look, she wanted to lift her foot and kick him over.
"Heh. You really can't dance can you?" He crowed cockily, smirk widening at the furious look he got for it. "And here I thought you were just too self-centred, or stuck-up, to dance at those parties."
Not unexpectedly, all he got for that was a nasty glare, and an expression that threatened it's owner was ready to bail at any moment. Chuckling to himself, Tala reached out to down his drink, stood up, and held out his hand towards his partner.
"Come on, get up." He said firmly.
Demetra gave him a look that was a mix of irritation and intrigue. Narrowing her eyes didn't do her much good, because the only part of Tala's body that moved an inch was his lips - upward. Finally she sighed heavily and gave him one last glare.
"I need to meet more Russians." She said firmly. "If only to see if they're all ignorant and bossy, or if it's just you self-entitled lot."
"Ouch." Tala replied sarcastically, then he wiggled his fingers before her face. "Up."
"Fine." Demetra said irritably, finally giving in and placing her hand in his extended one. "But don't blame me if I embarrass you in front of all your friends."
Tala grinned at that as she got to her feet.
"Trust me, no matter how bad you are, you're not the worst dancer in here."
"Are you saying you can't dance either?" Demetra asked, half-playfully, half-hopeful. She felt a small pang of disappointment when Tala laughed in response.
"I didn't say that." He said confidently. "My skills are the reason you're not going to embarrass yourself."
Figuring it was too late to turn back now, Demetra folded her fingers around the hand in hers. She did her damndest not to react to the cliche our hands fit so perfectly gimmick, but biting her cheek was a reflexive reaction. Taking a long deep breath she was so glad was inaudible over the music, Demetra lifted her chin as she pushed the irritating - and embarrassing - thoughts out of her head, choosing instead to focus on simply allowing Tala to lead her into unfamiliar territory.
However, once they'd actually reached the dance floor, and Tala had lead her into the chaos of the crowd, any and all confidence Demetra had accumulated during their brief journey from the table, quickly vanished. Stopping somewhere not quite at the middle but a little too close for Demetra's comfort, Tala finally turned to face her.
"Alright, Princess." He said with a half-cocked grin. "Let's see how bad you really are."
"Very funny." Demetra replied, making a face at him. She then looked around and studied several of the people around her. After a few moments, she looked back at Tala with an unamused expression. "I can't do any of that."
A laugh escaped Tala's lips at that. Taking a moment to look around at the people like she had, he looked back at her with a teasing grin.
"Thank God for that." He teased. "Come on, everybody can dance, just move!"
"Not on your life." Demetra refused, looking around again. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this... I'm going back to the table."
Watching her turn to do just that, Tala knew if the brunette left the floor, he wasn't likely to get her back out again any time soon. And something told him if he was somehow able to convince her to stay, it would be well worth the effort.
Suddenly an idea struck him like a bolt. Briefly, Tala tried to force it out, but it was a stubborn thought and refused to leave. Seeing as Demetra had already begun her departure, Tala swallowed his pride and decided to bound way past his comfort zone for once - he figured he could blame it on the alcohol later.
"Hey Princess!" He called after her with a smirk. It widened when he heard her heave a heavy sigh of irritation.
"Will you knock off with that irrit-"
The end of Demetra's sentence was choked off by a sharp gasp, because as soon as she turned towards Tala, the redhead's hand shot towards her face like he was going to slap her. Reflexively swatting his hand away, Demetra's eyes widened with a wild look.
"What the he-?!"
Once again, Tala made a swipe at her, and once again Demetra easily batted him away. However this time, before she could pull away, Tala's hand gripped her arm and yanked her towards him. There was a storm of emotions on Demetra's face as she stared at him, but at the forefront was bewilderment and curiosity. When Tala placed a hand low on her hip - purposefully avoiding the bare flesh above - and winked at her, she finally understood.
A mischievous smile crossed those lips Tala loved oh-so-much, a smile that reminded him sweetly of the one he'd seen prior to the game earlier, and the image made his heart clench painfully. Although it seemed like long minutes, it only took seconds for Demetra to circle her arms up and around to break his hold, then pull off her signature move - a good deal gentler than he remembered.
"And now the fun begins." Tala thought with a smirk as he slid back a few measures.
Before Demetra could prepare a second attack, Tala was before her again - and then he wasn't. Her eyes darting downward, she smirked to see the redhead dropping low.
"Tala..." She chided cockily, jumping to easily avoid his leg sweep. "So predictable."
Figuring she had one-upped him, Demetra had a split second to enjoy what she thought was a point before Tala burst her bubble.
With astounding reflexes, Tala steadied himself in a crouch, leaned forward to snatch her leg out of the air, and jerk her roughly towards him. Just when it seemed like he would slam her to the ground, Demetra's body came to a jarring halt a mere breath from the floor. After a moment or two, once the shock had subsided, she registered Tala's hands around her back.
"Scare ya, Princess?" He hissed close to her face with a mean grin.
Demetra forced herself to sober up - figuratively speaking, moved her face further upwards to close the distance between them, and give Tala a defiant stare.
"You wish." She hissed.
Before Tala could respond, Demetra maneuvered her legs around to slip between his, simultaneously grabbed his shirt, and used it as leverage to push herself between his legs and escape.
Blinking in an impressed disbelief, Tala eventually smirked before getting to his feet and turning to face his partner. Said partner now looked extremely cocky and confident - especially with the way she was winking, and twitching a come-and-get-me finger towards him. Not to mention the taunting and howl-worthy smirk on those plump painted lips. She looked fierce, and confident, and so damn much like an Amazon warrior, or some cheesy feminine tv hero, or stupid book character it was surreal. And damn it if she wasn't the sexiest thing Tala had ever seen.
"It's moments like these that bring strong men to their knees." He thought with a morbid amusement.
"Not bad, Captain." He applauded aloud. "Now watch this."
A wide grin finally broke out across Demetra's face as Tala came at her again.
For most of the song, it was cat and mouse; a little give and take from both as they, for once, competed just for the fun of it, without the concern over who might actually come out on top. It was in one of those moments, when Demetra had Tala's arms pinned behind his back, that she realized something very suspicious.
"You know this one, dont you?" She drawled lowly over his shoulder. Pressing herself tight to his back, she leaned her face forward to press her cheek to his and whisper in his ear. "Tell the truth, tough guy."
There was no way he didnt know it; ever since the song started, nearly every one of his movements had been nearly perfectly timed with the music.
"I might have heard it once or twice." Tala admitted over his shoulder with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"I knew it." Demetra thought smugly. "I'm fairly certain that's the song I heard playing on the radio lately."
But she didn't have time to celebrate, because as soon as the words were out of Tala's mouth, he made his next move.
Furrowing her eyebrows, Demetra watched in fascination as Tala's hands slid up her arms to grip her elbows. Frowning in confusion, and itching to know just how he planned to get himself out this way, her thoughts were cut short when Tala suddenly dropped to one knee and lifted her by the elbows, over his head, to deposit her on the floor in front of him.
Thoroughly stunned, Demetra just stared forward; even as Tala slowly and brazenly ran his hands up her sides, slowly lifting them both to their feet, before continuing on to lift her arms and pin them in the air over her head.
"Check mate." Tala whispered hotly in her ear.
Forcing a hard swallow, Demetra laid her head back against Tala's chest, then tilted her face up to look back at him.
"Not quite." She replied, giving him a seductive smile that made something increasingly familiar stir inside him. "I've still got one more trick up my sleeve."
Before Tala could react, reply, or respond, Demetra made quick work of delivering on her claim; it all happened so fast, the only thing he could do was stand there in shock and disbelief. Seemingly effortlessly, Demetra jumped and wrapped her legs around Tala's waist, squeezed him tightly enough between her thighs to hold herself up, then bent her arms back to place her hands on his shoulders. Using her hands and Tala's shoulders for support, Demetra used her legs to thrust herself up Tala's body, effectively breaking his hold on her with her shoulders.
The moment she was free, Demetra let her upper body drop. Firmly gripping Tala's thighs, she used him as leverage again to simultaneously uncoil her legs from his waist, and drop headfirst into a flawless forwards tumble, before springing to her feet like a seasoned stuntman.
If that wasn't impressive enough, the little tease turned on him from the waist up, and flashed him the most brazenly sexy smirk Tala had ever seen, paired with a look in her stunning silver dollars that very nearly snapped Tala's restraint.
"This girl is gonna be the death of me." He thought with a hard pounding in his chest.
In all his life, he'd never been so damn attracted to anyone. Sure, there had been plenty of beautiful girls who'd caught his attention - there had even been one who'd managed to get a little more from him, but he didnt like to think about that - and he'd never had a problem killing his loneliness with a beautiful stranger. But this was different, she was different. For the first time, Tala found himself attracted to the inside of someone nearly as much as the outside.
For the first time, instead of trying to figure out how to make someone leave, he found himself searching for a way to make her stay.
"I'll give you your due, your Highness." Tala said roughly aloud with a half-cocked smirk. "That was impressive."
"Don't go falling for me yet." Demetra said with a look in her eye. "I'm just getting warmed up."
Facing forward again, before Tala could respond; with all her might, Demetra swung her leg up and around, whirling to face the redhead. Tala was waiting for her though - there was an amused grin on his face - and to her shock, with lightning reflexes, he reached out and caught Demetra's ankle mid-kick. On her own reflex, she reached out her hands towards his chest, intending to thrust him away as she usually would, but he seemed to be ready for that too.
A look of shock crossed Demetra's face, and her body instantly flamed, when in one swift and fluid movement, Tala slid the hand on her ankle up to tuck under her knee. Reaching out his other hand to loop around her, he jerked her towards him and pressed her tightly to himself, pinning her hands between their two bodies against Tala's chest, and effectively subduing her.
Demetra's heart was thundering so hard in her chest it actually hurt, and suddenly it felt like the struggle to breathe was the hardest thing she'd ever done. With his face barely an inch from hers, Tala was looking at her with a smouldering expression, and it was almost entirely the reason she was suddenly having so much trouble breathing. The rest of the fault belonged to the way he was holding her; his hand tucked under her knee pinning her bent leg to his hip, his other hand on the small of her back pinning her tight to him.
Demetra's breath caught in her throat when Tala leaned his face in closer, and when he pressed his cheek to hers and whispered in her ear, she felt a shiver of pleasure run down the entire length of her body, leaving a hot trail in it's wake.
"I win." He whispered, his lips brushing her ear.
As Tala's warm breath danced across her flesh and raised goosebumps in its wake, Demetra bit her lip hard. She felt like she was going to melt, and she was near-positive if he wasn't holding her up, her legs would give out.
Tala chuckled softly, and it refreshed the goosebumps, making Demetra increase the pressure to her lips. It was also only then that she belatedly realized there were people clapping. Turning her head, Demetra was mortified to note that several people had stopped to watch them, and were now applauding the performance.
"They must be easily impressed if they found that entertaining..." She muttered, attempting humour through her extreme fluster.
"Hey, everybody loves a good dance fight." Tala's voice rumbled lowly.
"Excuse me?" Demetra replied, making a face. "Dance fight? Are you telling me that's actually a thing?"
Tala grinned in amusement.
"It's a thing." He confirmed. "Look it up."
Just then, the song ended to be replaced with the next, and Demetra had mixed feelings when she realized it was a slow number this time.
As everyone around them paired off, Demetra was unable to tear her gaze off the redhead. Oddly enough, Tala didn't seem to be in a hurry to let her go anyway. After seemingly studying her face for a few moments, then looking so deeply into her eyes she expected to feel him in her head at any moment, she was a little surprised to see his expression soften as a whisper of a smile fought to be seen.
Her breath hitching yet again, Demetra was entranced when Tala's hand slid sensually and intimately up her thigh, slowly guiding her leg back down to the ground, until it came to rest on her hip. Another hot shiver ran through her when she felt his thumb gently brush the crease of her hip. His hand on her back trailed delicately up her spine, slid across her shoulders, down her arm, until it reached her hand.
Demetra bit the side of her cheek when Tala's fingers caressed the back of her hand, before trailing to the other side, slowly grazing across her palm and tangling them with her own.
The feverish heat, combined with the way Tala seemed to have completely unhinged her and stolen her control, was nearly enough to make her panic. But just as she was considering the cowards way out; to pull away from him and tuck tail and run before he realized how weak he'd suddenly made her; Demetra felt something against the palm she still had pressed to the redhead's chest that shocked her again. Tala's heart was hammering so hard against her palm, it was like the thing was trying to give itself to her.
Her eyes dropping to stare at the chest and hand, Demetra watched in shock before lifting her eyes to Tala's face. Expecting to see his usual cocky grin, or a condescending expression, something pulled at her heartstrings to see instead of those things; the slightly uncertain, and even a little nervous expression on the redhead's face. For the first time since having met the maddening Russian before her, instead of her entire body descending into complete and utter chaos in his presence, Demetra felt her heart do some sort of sickly flutter. For the first time, she saw Tala not as some fearless, sharp-tongued smart ass, but as any other guy caught up in a moment with a girl; vulnerable, transparent and totally human.
Demetra closed her eyes and sighed heavily, feeling like she was finally able to breathe again. When she opened her eyes, she looked up at Tala and allowed the small smile fighting to be free to finally spread across her face.
"Don't get used to it." She whispered a little playfully.
Furrowing his brows in confusion, Tala frowned a little.
"Used to what?" He asked, his voice a low rumble.
Ignoring the slight tremor that ran down her spine at the sound, and suddenly very glad Tala's hand was no longer on her back, Demetra's hand on his chest slid up to his shoulder and slipped around his back to rest between his shoulder blades.
"Winning." She said softly in response.
Tala eyed her for a moment until finally, to Demetra's complete and utter delight, a smile spread across his face, accompanied by a sound more precious than diamonds.
"I don't need to get used to it." He replied teasingly after a small laugh. "I'm a natural born winner."
Suddenly Demetra felt the ridiculous urge to swoon like a little school girl, and felt a wave of fury at herself for it. But her anger was quickly washed away when Tala seamlessly and gently swept her up into a lazy waltz.
"I've never seen him smile like that." She thought, resisting a sigh this time. "Or laugh like that... He's got a nice laugh..."
Demetra cycled words through her mind, until eventually said mind settled on a phrase that had most definitely been of a redheaded, and certain other brunette's influence.
Swoon-worthy.
Just catching herself from making a face, Demetra forced her humiliating thoughts to the back of her head, then gave the redhead a small teasing smirk.
"Will wonders never cease." She said teasingly. "Tala Ivanov, dancing. Is there nothing he can't do?"
A mock-cocky grin graced Tala's face, and Demetra felt her heart do another stupid little fluttery thing at the sight of it.
"Not a thing." He replied teasingly. "Only things I choose not to."
Giving him an amused look at that, Tala chuckled this time, causing another layer of ice to melt away from Demetra's heart.
"Who taught you to dance?" She asked curiously, punctuating the question with a teasing grin of her own. "Or are you going to try and tell me you were born with that too?"
Expecting him to return her playful banter again, Demetra was a little surprised when something flickered across Tala's expression. It took some time for him to answer, but when he finally spoke, his response surprised her again.
"My mother." He said softly.
Demetra wanted to study his reaction to the admission, but Tala seemed to know what she was looking for in his face. Instead of letting her find what she wanted, he released her hip and gave her hand a little twist to encourage her to twirl outwards. She tried to keep her eyes trained on his face, but the movement was too fast, and by the time she'd come face-to-face with him again, his expression had been completely replaced with a mask of calm and cool collectiveness.
"Is your mother-"
A small gasp of surprise cut off the rest of Demetra's sentence, when Tala suddenly dipped her so low her long locks pooled on the floor.
"I don't want to talk about her." He whispered roughly. "Especially not with you..."
When a stung look crossed Demetra's face, Tala's expression softened, bordering tender, when he righted her again and stared into her face.
Frowning a little in disappointment, Demetra decided to let the matter go. She wasn't one of those people who liked to push others on their feelings; partially because she didnt normally care, and partially because she didnt consider it fair to ask someone for something she herself wasnt willing to give. Demetra knew everyone had their secrets, and she believed everyone was entitled to them. As far as she was concerned, if someone wanted to share something with you they would, without you having to pry.
"I didn't mean it like that." Tala said softly. His hand came to rest on her hip again, and his thumb brushed it affectionately. "Just let it go... OK?"
Demetra felt herself melting again, and a small smile came to her lips as they resumed their lazy go around.
"If you insist." She replied softly. "Everyone is entitled to their deep dark secrets."
Tala smiled again now and gave her an amused expression.
"How gracious of you, your highness." He said teasingly, but there was a strange glint in his eye as he looked at her. "Maybe someday I'll let you in on some of my deep dark secrets."
The grin he gave her was somewhat playful, though there was another strange glint in his eyes now, something different.
"If you're around long enough."
Demetra tipped her head slightly to the side and gave him a playful look of her own.
"Are you trying to get rid of me, Mr. Ivanov?"
Tala chuckled again and smirked.
"Not at the moment." He teased. "Truth is, I think you might be growing on me."
Before she could reply to that little shocker, Tala released her again to give her another outward twirl. This time when he reeled her in, he spun her around so her back was pressed to his chest. He then leaned down over her shoulder and pressed his lips to her ear again.
"But if you ever tell anyone I said so.." He whispered huskily. "I'll lie through my teeth."
Demetra felt another hot wave crash over her, and for once she was unable to stop the wicked heat that rose up her neck and enflamed her face. Her heart thundering in that familiarly painful way again, Demetra looked over her shoulder and tipped her chin up to look into entrancing icy blue.
Tala was looking at her like no one had ever looked at her in her life; like she were the most fascinating, most amazing, most precious sight they'd ever beheld - and it was truly terrifying, mainly because of how much she found she liked it.
Completely frozen in place, all Demetra could do was stare as Tala reached up his free hand towards her face. Hesitating, the tips of his fingers brushed her cheek, which sent a violent tremor down Demetra's body, and eventually they grazed across her cheek to cup her face. The feeling of Tala's considerably larger, chilled hand on her scorching skin was the most blissful feeling Demetra could imagine. Without really meaning to, her eyes fluttered shut, her own free hand lifted to place over his, and she turned her face to nuzzle his palm.
Breathing a sigh of content, Demetra allowed herself to bask in the moment for a while. Eventually however, the realization that the song had changed again sunk in, which forced her eyes open.
Catching a glimpse of something unrecognizable flash across Tala's face, Demetra felt a sense of panic rock through her. Feeling like she was coming out of a trance, she blinked a few times before forcing herself to pull out of Tala's arms. Taking a deep breath in attempt to calm herself, she turned back to face him and did her best to appear collected, instead of the terrifying and alien bundle of nerves she suddenly found herself in.
"I ah-... I'm going to go get a drink." She said dumbly, mentally cursing herself for the hitch and slight tremble in her voice. "I'll get us another round... why don't you find us a table, Tala..."
Once again, Demetra heard the hitches in her own voice, especially with his name on her lips. For what seemed like an eternity, Tala seemed to study her, and it made her squirm, but eventually he smirked teasingly, though there was a soft look in his beautiful blues this time.
"Alright, I'll find us another table then." He replied, seemingly highly amused.
Shocking her eyes wide this time, Tala stepped forward to close the distance between them, leaned forward to place his hand back on Demetra's hip, then pressed his cheek to hers once again.
"Don't be long, Princess." He growled in a hot whisper. "I'm thirsty too..."
Unable to breathe, Demetra was relieved when Tala released her, then stepped past her without looking into her face; if he had he would have had enough ammo against her for a lifetime.
"This damn country is going to be the death of me..." She muttered breathlessly, doing her damndest to ignore the wicked heat and thunder storm inside her.
Sighing heavily, she took a deep and calming breath, lifted her chin, and turned in direction of the bar.
-;-
Demetra wasnt really a jewellery person. In fact, there had only ever been one piece she wore regularly - until that night. Staring down at the new bracelet on her arm; the one Tala handmade for her, she couldnt help but feel a warm, airy swell of affection for the redhead as she absently fingered the colourful threads, twisting them on her wrist.
The more she stared, she more she wondered annoyingly; what had been going through his head while he'd been making it? Unbeknownst to her, a fond smile crept up Demetra's face as she grazed her fingers over the threads.
"You are Tala's girl, yes?"
Demetra lifted her gaze from the bracelet on her wrist to look instead at the man who'd broken her out of her trance. Taking a second to register his words, she found it harder then ever now to force back the flush that demanded to come out.
"We're-... I'm here with him, yes." She told the bartender awkwardly. The man gave her a knowing grin.
"Sure. Whatever you call it." He teased. "Anyway, Tala is good man, and good friend. This one is on the house, pretty lady."
Now feeling more awkward than ever, Demetra shifted and twitched uncomfortably.
"That's completely un-"
"Net, net!" He said cutting her off with a wave towards her. "Put your money away! If you are friend of Tala's, you are friend of ours."
He slid the drinks towards her with an encouraging gesture. Uncertain, and still uncomfortable, Demetra eventually reached out wearily and pulled the drinks towards herself. That made the bartender smile.
"Tala is good man." He said again, softer this time. "He deserves good woman to reward him for it."
The man then gave Demetra a playful wink.
"I think you are probably good woman too. So you go love our boy like he deserves, and you will get rewards too. Russian men are not so bad lovers as everyone thinks."
Flushing horribly now, Demetra was beyond happy the bartender walked away. Completely flustered all over again, she once again had to take a few to gather her thoughts and emotions enough to be able to fully function again. Once she was able to pull herself together, Demetra glanced around for the bartender. Spotting him serving someone else, she looked forward again.
Glancing down at the bills in her hand, Demetra chose the biggest one she had on her, then slipped the rest back into a slot in her belt. Checking one more time she wasn't being watched, she reached out and dropped the bill into a hole in the bar that she'd seen the bartenders sweeping tips into earlier. Turning to collect the drinks, one last swell of affection tugged at Demetra's heart before she finally turned away from the bar and back towards the crowded room.
"And just how long is it going to take me to find him in there..?" She grumbled to herself with a sigh. But knowing it was no use complaining, she forced herself into the sea of unfamiliar faces to search out her companion.
Eventually Demetra spotted a splash of crimson among the sea of dark and muted colors. Not noticing the small smile that had graced her lips, she headed in the direction of the table Tala had chosen for them near the back of the room.
She'd nearly reached the table, when Demetra noticed a trio of familiar faces appear out of the crowd opposite Tala, and stop directly in front of him. Halting in her approach, she watched curiously as three of the group of bullies from the beyblade competition earlier that night seemed to strike up a conversation with the redhead.
From her position, it was impossible to hear what was being said, but by all looks and appearances, it almost seemed like Tala was completely unbothered by whatever the three were saying.
Almost.
After spending so much time with the Blitzkrieg Boys, especially a certain redhead, Demetra'd had more than enough time to study them and learn their body language - if there was one thing she was good at it was reading people. From the look of him, though there was a cocky and confident expression on his face, and though he was sitting casually in his seat, she could tell Tala was extremely irritated by the group.
Intrigued, Demetra carefully made her way closer until she was able to conceal herself among a nearby crowd, then casually leaned against a table as she listened in on the conversation at her own.
"Come on. A girl like that? I bet she's used to juggling a bunch of guys at once."
"And I bet she's made more than one guys dreams come true! Probably at the same time!"
Demetra's face screwed up, and her lip curled back in a disgusted snarl, as two of the guys laughed and snickered at their own crude comments before turning to fist bump each other.
"And just what would you morons know about a girl like her?" Tala replied tauntingly. "I bet neither of you losers have ever had a date in your life, never mind a date with someone like Demetra Nakamura."
While the two beside him sputtered, Sergio was looking down his nose at Tala, obviously completely immune to his taunt.
"I know women like her." He seethed with a wicked expression. "Women like her are like the black widow; they know they are dangerous, they fear nothing. They pick a mate as freely as picking fruit from the tree, use him, and then she destroys him because he is weaker than her."
There was no humour in the grin that split the brunette's face, and the glint in his eyes was totally malicious and predatory as Sergio stared the redhead down.
"Women like her need a man who does not heed her siren call." He said darkly. "Women like her, need a man who will show her her place."
Feeling an intense urge to defend herself, Demetra's hands clenched so tightly around the glasses she was holding she expected them to burst at any moment. Her eyes darted towards Tala, wondering what his response would be; fully expecting him to badmouth her.
"Don't make me laugh." Tala replied tauntingly. "You couldn't handle a woman like her."
Tala folded his arms across his chest and lifted his chin to give Sergio a malicious grin of his own.
"Trust me, that girl is way more woman than either of you could handle. Not only is she way out of your league, she'd chew you up and spit you out." He closed his eyes, a highly amused and condescending smirk on his face. "And probably laugh over what's left of you. I know for a fact she'd never waste her time with losers like you."
Both her brows lifting in surprise, Demetra was completely stunned at Tala's response. Relaxing a little, she was once again unaware of the smile that graced her face as something sickly and fluttery stirred inside her at his response.
While the two goons looked extremely offended and ready for a fight, Sergio's arms lifted to stop them going after the redhead while the expression on his face darkened.
"And yet she wastes time with you." He countered, lifting his chin to add insult to injury. "Come now, Ivanov. Tell us the truth; you don't honestly expect us to believe a girl like that would go for a gutter rat like you? What's in it for her, huh?"
Tala lifted his chin too, and when he opened his eyes to pin the guy with an intense look, there was a fire blazing in his beautiful blues.
"My tolerance has a limit, Kuznetsov." He seethed dangerously through clenched teeth. "And you're pushing it."
Sergio's dark expression infected his entire profile now, and as he crossed his arms, he drew himself up to his full height, staring at Tala like a giant bear eying a defiant wolf. For effect, he took a step closer. Seeing as Tala was sitting, there wasn't far the redhead could have gone, but to his credit; he didn't so much as flinch, except to narrow his eyes threateningly.
"There's only one reason women who look like that, hang out with roaches like you." Sergio sneered in a low hiss. "Come on Ivanov, don't be greedy, tell us; how much does she cost?"
The reaction to that was instantaneous and powerful, and it seemed to affect Tala's entire face. Demetra watched in disbelief this time as his lip curled back for a savage snarl, his jaw clenched tightly, his brows carved deep lines into his face, and his eyes narrowed to a razor sharp glare. At that moment, as hard as she furiously searched her memory, Demetra could not recall ever having seen such a dark and dangerous look on Tala's face. Admittedly, the look was both frightening and awe-inspiring.
"I would think very carefully about the next words that come out of your mouth." He glowered threateningly. "I tend to be pretty easy to piss off on any regular day, but insulting anything that's mine, especially my people, is damnhazardous to your health."
Tala leaned forward in his seat as his glare intensified.
"You should thank your lucky damn stars we're in a crowded room, Sergio..." He growled savagely. "If we weren't, this time tomorrow the Doc would be fishing your teeth out of your throat!"
While the two goons gulped and took a step back from Tala with pale expressions, Sergio took it all like water off a ducks back. Realizing he'd struck a nerve, the brunette scoffed.
"Heh. Is that so?" He drawled, unconvinced. "It didn't look to me like you two were very cosy during that American tournament. Looked like she couldn't care less if you were alive or dead. In fact, it looked like she would have preferred the latter."
The fire in Tala's eyes flared up to a terrifying blaze, but his expression looked cocky again.
"I guess you're not as observant as you thought." He replied with a sneer. "Or maybe, you just don't know women like her as well as you thought, Romeo."
It was torture sitting back and listening to those three morons disrespect Tala for a second time that night; only she could get away with that! Having heard enough, and more than pleased with the redhead for defending her honour, Demetra pushed off the table she was leaning on and finally moved to close the distance between the group.
"You again." She drawled distastefully when she was nearly upon the group. "I wasn't particularly thrilled to meet either of you the first time. The least you could do is spare me half a lifetime before having to lay eyes on you again."
The four young men turned towards the new arrival, and a small frown creased Tala's face when he saw her. Demetra noted a storm of emotions in his eyes as he looked at her. Ignoring them however, she walked up to the table, acutely aware of the multiple pairs of eyes following her, and deposited the drinks at Tala's elbow before walking around the table to stand just behind him. Tala's face lifted to look up at her over his shoulder, and this time Demetra could see the flashes of confusion as he stared up at her, especially when she snaked her arm around his shoulder .
"You've already wasted too much of my time on these nobodies, my love." She purred as she reached up her free hand to cup his face and tilt it towards her. "Keep giving away my precious time, and I'll be forced to demand proper payment from you."
Tala's brow shot up, and his expression was nothing short of shocked surprise; more so when Demetra leaned down and tenderly pressed her lips to the corner of his own - so dangerously close, and yet just teasingly shy of the mark. She knew with her hand blocking the view, it looked for all appearances to be a genuine, hot kiss.
Before she pulled completely back from him, Demetra gave Tala a small wink, and a conspiratorial smile pulled at one corner of her pretty painted lips. After eyeing her in shock for a moment, Tala eventually sobered up, and a mischievous expression took hold of his face.
"Jealousy is beneath you, your highness." He drawled teasingly. "But if you really wanna collect on that payment..."
Tala turned partially in his chair to face Demetra, reached out to hook a finger of each hand in her belt loops, then pulled her towards him to stand between his legs. Reaching up, he placed a hand on her neck, slid it around to cup the back of her head, and gently encouraged her down towards him again. Ignoring the violent thunder inside her, Demetra did her best to keep her composure as she obliged the redhead's captivating movements. When their faces were nose to nose, Tala tipped his head to the side to rest his cheek against hers like he had earlier.
"Careful, Princess..." He drawled in a hot whisper this time. "Don't you know it's dangerous to tease a wild dog?"
Yet another violent shiver trembled down her spine, intensified when Tala gave her ear a teasing nibble, and Demetra had to fight down a hard swallow against her suddenly dry throat. Despite this, she pulled back a little and gave her companion a confident and heated look of her own. Lifting a hand, she reached up to place a finger under his chin and draw him close to her, so close their lips brushed.
"Then it's a good thing I'm not afraid to get bitten." She whispered seductively against his lips. "Besides, even wild dogs can be tamed..."
Demetra was appalled at herself. What the hell had gotten into her? Clearly there was way more alcohol in those drinks then Tala had let on! That or she was a much cheaper drunk then she'd given herself credit for.
That had to be it! There was no way such words were pouring out of her mouth from a good, sound mind!
Smirking in amusement, obviously pleased with her answer, Demetra sucked in a sharp breath when Tala moved his face to catch her finger between his teeth and sensually graze her tender fingertip between them. Instantly a hot flood crashed over Demetra and she was sure this time her legs would give out. Thankfully, Tala saved her the trouble of having to find out when he gave the belt loop he still had hooked another playful tug.
"Have a seat, your highness.." He breathed huskily.
It took every ounce of willpower Demetra had to force her expression to remain a mask of sultry coolness, especially when every cell and nerve in her body was on fire. Forcing another hard swallow, Demetra ignored her sizzling nerve endings, and slipped her arm around Tala's shoulders as she lowered herself into his lap, slowly and deliberately crossing her long legs when she did.
With a very satisfied expression, and a spark of something familiar yet unidentifiable, Tala turned them both forward in the chair again.
As soon as she was settled in place, one of Tala's arms slipped around Demetra's waist, while the other placed a hand on her leg just above her knee. Demetra knew he'd been itching to explore the cut-outs at her sides ever since he'd first laid eyes on them - she'd felt him nearly go for it a couple times. But this time there was no hesitation; like a magnetic pull, this time Tala's fingers instantly gravitated to her side.
In that moment, just as Tala's chilled digits slipped between the ribbons and beneath the fabric of her shirt, just as he began to trace slow and delicate circles on the sensitive flesh of her side; Demetra was suddenly overcome with an intense wave of the most beautiful feeling she'd ever felt, and it felt so damn good she felt like weeping. Swallowing hard against the sudden swell of emotion choking her, and blinking back the ludicrous prick of tears in her eyes, Demetra leaned further into the redhead and tilted her head slightly towards his, while her eyes fluttered feverishly closed.
As usual, the sensible part of her tried to keep her grounded, but a certain other part of her, which seemed to be showing up more often as of late, wanted to explore these unfamiliar feelings.
Without really realizing what she was doing, Demetra's hand slid back across Tala's shoulders to slip up into his hair. As her pulse began to race, she buried her fingers in the soft crimson strands and threaded through them. The action had been almost completely reflexive and unintentional, and as such, when Demetra heard a tiny whimper sound come from the redhead, followed by a sensual squeeze to her thigh, before he pulled her close to him, she was more than a little stunned.
Her eyes popping open, Demetra stared over Tala's head for a moment, but seeing as he didnt seem in a hurry to let her go, she sighed lightly in content and closed her eyes again. This time she was slightly more conscious of her actions when she tipped her head further towards him to rest her cheek atop the crown of his head.
She was more than content to stay that way all night, but something was nagging Demetra to open her eyes. Eventually she couldn't resist the temptation anymore and finally released a heavy sigh before forcing her eyes open. Immediately her gaze fell on the trio before her.
"I forgot about them." She thought with extreme irritation. "Can't those idols take a hint? Clearly this is a private moment."
She only had a second or two to feel irritated however; about as long as it took her to realize what she was thinking. So shockingly quickly, she'd completely forgotten that the only reason she was even in the redheads arms at all was for the sole purpose of putting on a good show for those fools. It was all just one big joke.
"Obviously that's what I meant!"
But even without admitting the truth to herself, Demetra still felt the deep sting of the fact all the same. Deciding to take her anger out on the trio before her, she poured all her venom and spite into one well-placed glare.
"I almost forgot about you." She growled honestly. "But your filthy stare was making my skin crawl."
Even side-on apparently, the look she gave was scary enough to get the two goons shaking in their boots.
"I've already wasted so much of my precious time on you tonight, and wasted time upsets me." She growled threateningly. "But since I'm in such a good mood tonight, I'll generously give you one full second to disappear from my sight, before I make you disappear permanently."
That was all it took to weed out the cowards, but to his credit, Sergio didn't so much as flinch when his two lackeys yelped in fright and scrambled off into the darkness. In fact, the look he gave her was nothing short of animalistic.
"You are wasting your time with this one, woman." He said, giving her a revolting once-over. "When you realize what you really need, come and find me."
Making a face, Demetra's answer was lightning fast and cut to the quick.
"I have exactly what I need." She drawled coldly. "And I assure you, there is nothing on God's green earth that would ever force me to willing seek you out."
"Heh." Tala snickered, levelling Sergio with a cocky smirk.
Sergio's eyes flashed dangerously, but the sleazy grin remained on his face.
"Perhaps the day will come when you realize that good men die young. Men like me..." Demetra saw a flash of something sinister in his eyes. "We live forever."
Shifting his gaze towards her companion, Sergio gave Tala a malicious sneer.
"See you around, mongrel."
The pair watched with mixed expressions as their unwelcome company finally departed.
"There are people you yearn so much to see it makes you physically ill." Demetra said with an air of extreme distaste. "And then there are people you could gladly go an entire lifetime without ever setting eyes on again."
Tala chuckled at that, turned away from the place Sergio had disappeared, and looked up at the girl in his lap with a teasing grin, yet with eyes that practically glowed in the darkness from their heated stare.
"Might as well stay here a while, Princess." His voice rumbled lowly. "Just in case they're still watching."
"Right. Just in case." Demetra muttered playfully, quoting him from earlier - even though her mind was still a little befuddled. "Can't say I don't appreciate a man who's thorough."
After a slight hesitation Demetra closed her eyes again before resuming threading her fingers through Tala's downy-soft hair.
Not really prepared for Tala's reaction, her fingers paused, the same time her heart did, when she received it. When her fingers dug deep and grazed his scalp, the hand Tala had on her knee slid up her leg, until it reached her side, to encircle her in both his arms and pull her as close as possible. More shocking still was when he leaned up and buried his face in her shoulder.
Silently sucking in a sharp breath, Demetra felt her entire body flare again. She had no idea what she was doing, but seeing as running on instinct seemed to have helped her thus far, she decided to keep going with that. Reaching up her free hand, Demetra sunk those into Tala's crimson strands too. Much to her shock, her breath halted in her throat when Tala's contented sigh danced across her skin, but the shock quickly dissipated when he nosed aside the sheer fabric around her shoulders, and began pressing tiny, nuzzling kisses to the area beneath.
Through their bodies pressed together, and Tala's rapid breath glancing across her skin, Demetra could tell his pulse was racing, and in turn, it made her own race as well. Running on instinct more than anything, she made sure to dig deep, and press firm yet gently as she massaged her way over Tala's scalp. Obviously it was a good choice, because he gave her a tight squeeze in response, a sure sign she was doing something right.
A small gasp escaped Demetra when Tala's lips brushed a particularly, super sensitive, spot at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Instantly, a molten wave rocked through her, leaving goosebumps and a feverish heat in its wake that made her eyes lid heavily, and caused her to bite down hard on her lip. Reflexively, she hugged Tala tight to her, encouragingly applying a little pressure to the back of his head.
Demetra heard another tiny whimpering sound escape the redhead, and the sound made her heart jolt in her chest, but when the scorching lips attached to her burning skin began nuzzling hot little nibbling kisses upwards, the pressure on her lip increased so much Demetra thought she would draw blood. The sensation of the tiny little electrical charges chorusing through her was the most indescribable feeling Demetra knew she'd ever felt.
The feeling of complete euphoria, and the loss of control it created in her, was more than a little terrifying. But as Tala 's scorching lips trailed sensual suckling kisses up her neck, it took everything Demetra had in her to hold back the deep-bellied moan threatening to rip free. Tipping her head back to accommodate his exploration, she had to close her eyes to keep the wet emotions from leaking out when Tala pressed a tender, lingering kiss to her throat, then another, then one more, before moving up to her chin, across her jaw, to her fleshy, sensitive earlobe.
Sucking in sharply, Demetra felt another hot wave crash over her when she felt Tala's tongue on the sensitive area, before it gently drew her lobe past his lips to sensually suck and nibble. Colors popped behind her eyelids and Demetra felt like she was going to pass out. Briefly, she felt ashamed at herself for her body's powerful reactions to the redhead's so very inappropriate touches, but the shame didnt last long, because honestly, she knew that if they weren't in a crowded room of people, she probably wouldnt be nearly as hesitant to guard her emotions and reactions.
Admittedly, there was a tiny little part of her that was screaming at her to put a stop to it, to stand up and put a good, cool distance between them. Not so deep down, Demetra knew this part of her was probably right, but at that moment, she was paralyzed to do anything short of breathing; and even that was alarmingly strenuous.
"It's too good... It's too much... " She thought, shifting feverishly. "I can't take any more..."
Tala pressed a tiny, almost affectionate, kiss behind her ear, and Demetra's fingers flexed in his hair. Forcing herself, she opened her mouth to grudgingly stop him, but she paused when he stopped suddenly on his own.
Debating on questioning him, she instead decided to take the reprieve to take a desperately needed shaky breath, and hopefully reclaim at least some modicum of dignity and control.
After what must have been a few minutes to be sure, when Demetra had just about gathered her wits again, she felt a soft sigh dance across her skin, right before Tala seemed to begin to pull away. Frowning, she debated again on questioning him, but unexpectedly, he dropped a last-second, tender kiss to that sweet spot where her neck met shoulder.
Reflexively, Demetra flexed her fingers in his hair again and bit her lip, wincing at the no doubt bruised flesh. Then she applied a little more encouraging pressure.
"Not just yet..." She begged him silently. "Please..."
To her embarrassed relief, instead of pulling away, Tala rested his head against her shoulder and sighed again; though this time Demetra could tell it was a sigh of content. A pang of affection for him made Demetra's heart throb. Giving the redhead a gentle squeeze, Demetra relaxed when she felt it retuned, then leaned down to nuzzle her cheek into his hair before settling there and closing her eyes.
For a few brief minutes, it was easy to forget that they were two headstrong rivals normally locked in some sort of disagreement, that they normally weren't able to be in the same room without getting under each other's skin. For a little while, it was easy to imagine that this wasn't acting, that this was a real moment, that the night was a real date.
Truth be told, it was alarming just how good, how natural, it felt to be in Tala's arms. To have him in hers. She blamed those thoughts and feelings for the fanciful what-if imaginings that drifted completely uninvited into her head; though admittedly, she didn't exactly make much of an effort to banish them.
Eventually, the euphoria began to settle and the high began to subside, and finally Demetra was confident she was able to think straight enough to function properly. Chewing her cheek for a bit, she eventually sighed lightly, then leaned down to whisper in the redhead's ear.
"I think we've sufficiently fooled our enemies..." She whispered.
"Hell, that almost sufficiently fooled me..." Tala mumbled huskily.
A tiny smile quirked Demetra's lips, and reluctantly, slow as the slowly receding tide, she pulled away from him; embarrassed at her hesitation, but wanting more to savour the moment. Tala's fingers twitched as his hands glided over her on her way past, and Demetra's breath hitched wondering if he was going to pull her back again, but after a few moments it was evident he wouldn't, and she was finally forced to pull completely away from him.
Stepping out of Tala's embrace, Demetra turned to her chair and pulled it closer. When she took a seat again, she was sitting so close to him, their knees were brushing. Noticing this, Tala lifted an eyebrow with a small smirk.
"What's wrong princess, finally hooked?" He teased. "Across the table too far away?"
Demetra made a face, and although it was too dark to see, Tala liked to think she might have blushed a little.
"Grow up, it's so I can hear you better." She grumbled. Tala's smirk widened.
"Of course." He replied sarcastically. "What was I thinking."
Choosing to ignore him, Demetra reached out to finally lift her forgotten drink to her lips.
"Am I correct to assume you and Kuznetsov know each other from the abbey days?" She asked when she placed her glass down, more out of a desire to change the topic than actual curiosity.
"Yeah, that's right." Tala said, frowning distastefully.
"Why does he hate you so much?" Demetra asked, taking a drink.
Tala sighed and reached out to pick up his own glass, when he replaced it on the table again, it was half empty.
"He's had it out for me since I got to the abbey." He grumbled, seemingly out of deep annoyance. "Before I got there, Sergio was top dog, and he'd gotten lazy from a lack of competition. But when I showed up and started making him look bad, obviously it was noticed. He's blamed me for his fall from glory ever since."
"Because his character is so flawless, it coudln't possibly have been his own fault." Demetra replied sarcastically. "So what happened to you all after Boris' downfall? Where did you go?"
A pained expression crossed Tala's face, but when he looked at her, there was a taunting smirk.
"That's above your pay grade." He replied teasingly. Demetra rolled her eyes.
"Let me guess." She drawled, leaning in a little and resting her chin on the beck of her hand. "Another deep, dark, secret you might let me in on... if I'm around long enough?"
Tala's smirk widened.
"You're catching on, Princess."
Demetra's thoughts were always a steady rush of motion, but for the first time, one single person was the subject of nearly every single one of them. When she'd finally managed to pluck a singular thought from the raging stream, she hung on to it and forced her lips to part and push it out.
"Your debt certainly is piling up." She said quietly. Tala furrowed his brows at her in confusion.
"My debt?" He questioned, clearly intrigued.
"The long list of secrets and stories you owe me."
Tala scoffed, and a cynical yet amused grin cocked up one side of his face.
"I won't owe you a damn thing unless you're around long enough to earn it."
Demetra levelled him with a challenging stare.
"And what if I do stick around?" She asked quietly. "What if my team and I decide we like the places we've chosen and decide to stay a while?"
She could tell she'd stunned him, and for the first time since having met him, Tala's face was an open book filled with an interesting assortment of emotions. However, before she could fully explore the book, it snapped shut on her, and she was back to staring at the nearly empty front cover.
"Depends on what you mean by a while." Tala countered. "You stick out your sentence and we'll discuss the details afterwards."
Demetra eyed him for a few seconds, then smirked mischievously.
"Deal." She replied. "I'll hold you to it."
Suddenly something struck her.
"Oh, I completely forgot." She said absently.
Tala's brows furrowed curiously when Demetra straightened in her chair, but they immediately shot up when she reached down between her breasts. His jaw slackening, he watched with a flurry of emotions as she seemed to grip something and gave it a tug to free it. He thought he would pass out when, seemingly having a little trouble, Demetra made a face before wiggling whatever she was trying to free; which of course made her ample bosom jiggle in the most mouth-watering way - though not nearly as much as they would have if they weren't so restricted by the cursed corset.
"Damn it.." Tala thought, biting his lip as he enjoyed the view. "If she were wearing any other damn shirt!..."
After a few blissful moments of this, the object popped free, and Demetra huffed in annoyance before slipping the object and the cord it was on from around her neck. After extracting something from inside, she looked up and held it out towards the redhead. When she made note of his expression and took it - much to Tala's relief - the wrong way, her face flushed the most attractive shade of scarlet Tala had seen on her face to date.
"Grow up!" She growled in embarrassment. "This shirt is a lot tighter than the suit from earlier!"
Wrangling his haywire emotions back under control, Tala smirked as he reached out to accept - what he was only belatedly realizing was - his pouch. He took a minute to watch Demetra replace Trea's bit onto her blade, then replace her blade at her hip before finally speaking.
"I guess there was no worries about it falling out then, huh?" He teased as he slipped the cord around his own neck and tucked it back beneath his shirt.
"Shut up!..." Demetra snapped, lifting her glass to hide yet another flush, and taking a good, long haul.
Lifting his own glass, Tala used it to hide his own expression as well, though his was considerably more amused. When he'd replaced the glass on the table again, he absently spun it a few times before speaking again.
"There are three things in this world I treasure more than anything else." Tala informed her softly. Demetra watched, entranced, as he lifted his arm to pull back his sleeve. "This watch, the pouch, and my beyblade."
He lifted his wrist so Demetra could see the watch, and she leaned in to examine it while he told her about it.
"This watch is the first material thing I was able to buy myself with my own good, clean money."
The watch was in extreme disrepair; the glass had some deep scratches, the face was faded, the metal parts were all badly nicked and dented, and the strap was worn and nearly threadbare in places. Though with some stitches, spots of glue, and polished glass and metal, it was clear the redhead had been doing his best to keep it together, which was probably the reason it had survived so long in the first place.
When Demetra leaned back in her seat, Tala spoke again.
"I also treasure what's, usually, inside the pouch too." He said cryptically.
"But that's a secret I'll have to earn too." Demetra stated as she lifted her glass to her lips.
"Well I was considering telling you..." He drawled tauntingly.
"No you weren't." Demetra stated again, placing her now empty glass on the table.
Tala watched curiously as she got to her feet.
"I'll get us another round." She stated, turning to walk away.
"Wait, you got the last one." Tala argued, giving her a defiant expression. "This one's on me."
"It's fine." Demetra countered, giving him a teasing look in return. "I need to make another stop first anyway."
Tala released a snort of amusement.
"Got it. Fine, next ones on me."
"Whatever you say, Mr. Sensitive." Demetra replied with a smirk.
Tala watched with a small smile as the brunette turned and left. When she'd disappeared into the crowd, he looked down at the table, reached for his glass to finish its contents, then stopped abruptly as his gaze fell on something else. Staring at the object for a few seconds, Tala looked up to see if he could see Demetra, and after scanning the sea of faces for a few, he spotted her across the bar just about to enter the bathroom. Once she'd disappeared inside, Tala turned his face back towards the object on the table, hesitated, then reached past his forgotten drink to pick up Demetra's cell phone.
-;-
Demetra stared into usually familiar silver orbs as she lathered her hands. Normally, her eyes were cold, hard and unforgiving. But tonight, they looked different; warmer, more approachable.
Brighter?
Frowning at the foolish girl in the mirror, Demetra looked away from her reflection and finished washing her hands. It wasnt until she'd dried them, and moved to throw away the paper, that she looked back at herself again. Staring at her own reflection, she frowned at the person inside as her thoughts raced in her head.
"If tonight is just a once in a lifetime event, then I have nothing to worry about." She thought, feeling her pulse begin to race. "But what if it's more that that?... What will I do if it turns out to be more than that...?"
After wrestling with these thoughts for a while, Demetra eventually forced herself to push them to the background enough to be able to function again. Forcing a long, deep and calming breath, she eventually managed to wipe her expression clean. Confident she'd regained control of her renegade emotions, she finally turned to leave.
"I guess if I looked like you, I'd probably spend a lot of time looking in the mirror too."
Demetra stopped and turned towards a pretty blonde girl standing beside the door.
"Excuse me?"
"Oh I didn't mean anything by it." The blonde cooed innocently. "It's just that, you're just such a looker aren't ya? But I'm sure you know that."
Demetra forced herself not to narrow her gaze on the girl as she turned towards her to look the blonde over. She wasn't sure what it was, but something about her gave Demetra bad vibes. Looking the stranger over, she eventually lifted her chin in the air and turned back towards the door.
"Thank you." She said simply, moving towards the exit again.
"Oh you're so welcome." The blonde cooed after her. When she'd gotten close enough to reach for the door, the blonde spoke again. "Say aren't you that Finnish Beyblade Captain?"
Her hand hovering in front of the handle for a second, Demetra eventually lowered it and and looked over her shoulder at the blonde.
"That's right." She said somewhat coldly.
"I knew I recognized you from somewhere!" The bubbly voice cheered with an over-the-top matching smile. "Wow fancy that, meeting someone like you in a place like this, way out in the middle of nowhere! Funny huh?"
Demetra narrowed her eyes on the girl now, choosing to wait for her to continue, knowing she would. Sure enough, she did. Demetra watched with interest as something seemed to taint the cheerful smile, and an almost dark look gleamed in the inky black eyes trained on her.
"And here with Tala Ivanov no less!" The blonde said with a sugary sweet tone. "That's surprising isn't it? Especially since you two seemed so bitterly against each other on tv... or was that all just dramatic big screen drama?"
The blonde narrowed her gaze, and the look in her night-black eyes was undisputedly dark now.
"Come now, don't be shy. Is it true, Captain? Have you got him eating out of your palm yet?"
Demetra made a face and reached for the door again.
"Excuse me." She said, having her gut full of the conversation. To her astonishment, before she could pull the door open, the blonde was beside her, holding it closed.
"You'll never have him, you know." She hissed under her breath. Demetra turned to give her a cold look.
"And why's that?" She asked through clenched teeth.
"Because even though he has a pack, it's super small and he doesn't let anyone in." The blonde hissed. "Tala's a lone wolf!"
Demetra turned fully towards the blonde, stepped close enough to put her face to face with the pretty little thing.
"Every wolf desires a mate eventually." Demetra whispered dangerously. "And I happen to be what this one desires."
If looks could kill Demetra would be the front page of tomorrows news, but as usual, she couldn't care less. Unlike usual, for some perplexing reason, this time she not only felt the compulsion to keep swinging when her opponent was already down, she was also completely helpless to resist it.
"It's not my fault I was born everything he ever wanted." She drawled cruelly. "You know..."
She leaned in until her nose was nearly brushing the blondes.
"When a wolf chooses a mate..." She whispered harshly. "It's for life."
She gave the blonde before her a very cruel look then before turning back to the door.
"Excuse me. My date is thirsty."
There was pure and raw hatred in those bottomless black eyes, but there was also a smug look on Demetra's face, when the latter turned away from the former and finally exited the bathroom.
Blending back into the chaos of the music and bar crowd, Demetra had only gone a few feet from the bathroom before her gut started to churn with a sickly guilt. Why had she reacted like that to the blonde's confrontation? It wasn't like the little thing could have posed much of a threat, she wasn't much bigger then Keisha.
Demetra scoffed at that. Then again, while the little redhead had yet to best her in a match, Demetra couldn't deny the petite thing always gave her a run for her money.
Still, it was most likely the blonde was simply a love-struck fan of Tala's, and no matter how Demetra spun it, there was no need for such a harsh reaction on her part.
Which left Demetra with another thought.
"Why the hell did I say that?!" She thought, completely appalled at herself. "I'm nothing to him! For all I know, that little half-pint might have been his soul mate."
Immediately, her inner self laughed hysterically at the thought; there was no way a sparkly, pop magazine cut-out, little waif of a thing like her could be Tala's soul mate! Doubtful the girl even knew the difference between a bullet and a shell.
Suddenly Demetra brought up solid, and her eyes widened in shame of herself. Who was she to decide who was worthy of Tala and who wasn't? Who was she to decide who he'd choose in that way? And who was she to speak like he already belonged to her? Perhaps most importantly of all; why had it been such a powerful reflex to imply such a thing in the first place?
An outside observer might even consider it as a possessive claim.
Feeling a sick churning in her gut at those thoughts, Demetra made a face as she forced herself forward to make a beeline for the bar.
-;-
Tala looked up when Demetra reappeared at the table and kept his eyes on her when she sat down.
"Welcome back." He said sarcastically. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd bailed on me."
"Sorry." She muttered half heartedly, sliding his drink towards him. After a slight hesitation she continued. "I just had... an interesting encounter."
Tala frowned as he accepted his drink without taking his eyes off her.
"What kind of encounter?" He asked firmly. "You mean with Sergio and his morons? Are you alright?"
A little caught off guard at the slight urgency and seemingly genuine concern in his voice, Demetra looked up at Tala with a surprised look, which in turn made the redhead squirm a little and give her a somewhat uneasy expression.
"What?" He asked a bit self consciously.
Demetra felt an annoying tug at her heart, and had to look away for fear it would show on her face.
"Nothing." She said a little too quickly. "No, not with Sergio, just with... someone else."
Lifting an eyebrow, Tala watched Demetra stare off in thought for a few seconds before looking up at him.
"It was nothing worth discussing." She said dismissively. Tala gave her a look before replying.
"If you say so." He replied, not entirely convinced. "Anyway, I was thinking about something while you were gone."
"Well this should be interesting." Demetra added teasingly. She settled in and lifted her drink for a taste as he spoke.
"I gotta ask; how does the money situation work?"
Demetra paused with her drink to her lips and gave him a bewildered look, unable to decide whether to be offended or amused.
"What?" She asked finally. "What are you talking about?"
A mischievous look appeared on Talas face.
"I mean where do you get your money? Do you have an inheritance or something, or does dear old big bro give you an allowance?"
Demetra felt her cheeks burn and gave the redhead a small glare.
"I shouldn't grace that with an answer..." She grumbled in a mix of annoyance and embarrassment. Tala grinned.
"But you will." He replied cheekily. "Because your pride won't allow you not to defend yourself."
Narrowing her gaze on him, Demetra ignored him and, as he predicted, defended herself.
"I earn my money, for your information." She replied. "We all do."
That surprised Tala and it showed on his face.
"What, like a job?" He asked with slightly raised brows.
"Yes and no." Demetra replied without looking at him. She took the time to weigh and consider her words carefully before continuing. "You're obviously aware of some of my family's... history."
She made a face of distaste before speaking again.
"What you don't know is that Breal is..." She seemed to catch herself and halted, attempted to back-track; but Tala didnt miss the slip, and it piqued his curiosity considerably.
"Breal is not on their side." She eventually said firmly. Belatedly realizing she had yet to actually answer the question, she released a heavy breath before finally continuing. "We earn money by doing sort of... tasks and training exercises. We get a sum for every one we complete, some worth more than others."
Tala furrowed his brows, barely blinking as he stared at her.
"What do you men by tasks and trining?" He asked, completely caught up in what she was saying. "And training for what? You mean Beyblade?"
A serious expression took hold of her face, and Tala watched with extreme fascination as she looked out first one corner of her eyes, then the other, before leaning close to him in a conspiratorial way. Thoroughly intrigued now, Tala leaned forward in his chair to meet her, and when they were nearly nose to nose, Demetra looked him in the eye.
"That's above your pay grade."
Tala blinked at her as she leaned back to put her glass between them, taking a long haul from it as she levelled him with a taunting little smirk. When he realized what had happened, an amused smirk quirked his lips as he leaned back in his seat again.
"Alright, I guess I took that bait hook, line and sinker." He said with an approving glint in his eye. "Guess that's a point for you Princess. Looks like you might have a few bargaining chips after all."
A sly smirk tugged at one corner of Demetra's lips.
"Shame on you Tala, for thinking you were the only one with a few skeletons in the closet."
"Heh." He scoffed. "Touché. Sounds like we've got a few interesting topics to talk about after all."
He gave her his own sly smirk then. "Another time."
Demetra rolled her yes as she lowered her glass from her lips.
"You know where to find me when you're ready to talk, Mr. Sensitive."
Tala chuckled and lifted his glass to his lips to hide the wide grin, wishing it could hide the throb of affection he felt just then too.
When he placed his glass back on the table, he levelled Demetra with another look.
"There is something I want to know right now though." He said with an unreadable expression. "In fact, it's something you owe me, since I've already paid up."
Demetra lifted an eyebrow.
"Is that so." She asked, humouring him. "Then by all means, state my debt so that I may pay it."
"What was your answer to the last question?"
Demetra closed her eyes as a small smile came to her face. It took her a minute or two but eventually she answered him.
"Your loyalty." She admitted. The answer caught Tala off guard.
"What?" He asked, greatly surprised yet again. "Why would you pick that? What do you know about my loyalty?"
"I have eyes and ears, Tala." She told him matter of factly, opening her eyes to look at him again.
Tala stared deep into those eyes, searching, and to her credit, Demetra held his gaze and let him look. After a length of time, he finally frowned and replied.
"You're telling the truth, aren't you?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"Why would I lie about something so inconsequential?" She asked bluntly. Tala's frown deepened.
It was a fair point, and Tala knew she was telling the truth about that too. What bothered him, was the fact that he felt stung she thought so little, of something that had actually struck a chord inside him.
"What do you think is your partner's favourite thing about you?"
"Your loyalty."
Tala swallowed hard against a sudden dry and constricted throat, and a shocking sudden blur in his eyes. Closing said eyes, he crossed his arms, hoping to hide his moment of weakness behind a mask of thinking.
"So that's it?" Demetra asked with a playful tone "Am I paid in full?"
Tala smirked though he still decided not to risk opening his eyes just yet.
"For now." He replied playfully in return.
"Any other questions for me officer, or am I off the hook?"
Tala chuckled and finally opened his eyes to look at her.
"That's all for now, just don't leave town."
Demetra scoffed lightly in amusement, and Tala watched her take another drink, studied her face, recalled some recent memories.
"There's one more thing that's been playing on my mind." He said in a quiet tone.
"You mean there's more?" Demetra replied teasingly. "You might as well get it all out now, while I'm still in a good mood. Come morning, the gloves are back on."
"Noted." Tala replied with a grin.
After that, his expression softened. He hesitated, looked at and fidgeted with his glass a bit, then finally lifted his gaze to finish what he'd started.
"It was really cool what you did for those kids." He said gently. "Giving that little pipsqueak a piece of your own blade."
Demetra gave him a look of confusion.
"It wasn't really something worth praise." She replied bluntly. "It's fairly easy for me to get a replacement."
Tala tipped his head back ever so slightly as he observed her.
"I know you're used to the highlife, Princess, and I guess it's not really fair to blame you for it. But you've obviously taken a lot of stuff for granted." Tala watched her intently as he continued. "A lot of kids can't easily get parts, and when they do, it's almost always secondhand. Most all the kids around here have bey's made of second-hand and re-salvaged parts."
Demetra didn't know what to say, so she watched quietly as Tala reached into his pocket and withdrew Wolborg, affectionately brushed his thumb across it, and stared at it as he spoke again.
"I don't resent you for not understanding." He said quietly. Then a teasing look crossed his face. "Not as much as I did anyway... I just want you to know... That kid has probably never laid hands on a brand new part, and not likely one of that caliber. Throw in the fact that you're kind of like a celebrity in his eyes... And that's a big damn deal for a kid around here."
This time Demetra watched as Tala dismantled his blade and splayed the parts across his palm. When she sized them up, her breath hitched and she felt a tug at her heart. Tala's blade was completely composed of mismatched parts. It didnt take a genius to realize he'd been speaking from experience, and to realize exactly the point he was trying to make for her. The thought was sobering, humbling and admittedly a little overwhelming.
Tala pinned her with a fully loaded gaze, but she couldn't hold it long enough to tell what the gaze held.
"You made that kid's night, Demetra."
There it was again, he said it again - her name. Suddenly she remembered something she read once; about the power of a name, and how some people put great stock into keeping it close, keeping it secret, how they only gave it to those they trusted. Because to have your name, gave a person power over you. Until that moment, Demetra had discounted the whole thing as an almost laughable, colossal waste of thought.
Never before had she ever felt such a powerful reaction to the sound of her own name, but every time Tala said it, it sent her entire system into chaos. Perhaps it was the fact that he so rarely called her by name, not to mention near every single one of those times had been spoken with some sort of accelerated emotion, never just in casual conversation.
Desperate to escape from her once again chaotic mental storm, Demetra struggled to grasp the last thing Tala said, and force out an appropriate response.
"I didn't... realize..." She managed, her voice cracking.
A small smile tugged at Tala's face when she trailed off with a heavy laden tone.
"I know you didn't." He replied softly. "That's what's so impressive."
This time it was Demetra's turn to be surprised, and her expression showed it when she looked up at him.
"You're not who I thought you were, Princess." He added softly, so much so, she nearly didn't hear it.
Demetra cocked a playful smirk at him, though it too was forced.
"Is that a good thing or bad?"
Tala's smile widened a little as he lifted his glass.
"We'll see." He replied over the rim.
Just then, there was a voice over the speakers, and once the enthusiastic Russian dialect had ceased, and the music had resumed, Demetra gave Tala a questioning look.
"What was that all about?"
"That was the DJ informing us he's checking out for the night." Tala replied. "He always leaves a list of the last five cued songs of the night on the big screen."
He gestured towards the DJ station, and Demetra followed the gesture so her gaze fell on the screen in question. Absently, she scanned the five songs on the list, unsurprised she didn't recognize the first four. However, when she read the last one, it piqued her interest.
"You've got to be kidding me." She observed aloud. "I actually know that song."
"Which one?" Tala questioned, looking the list over as well.
"The last one." Demetra informed him. "Victoria introduced me to it... it's actually a decent song."
"Really?" Tala asked with mild interest. "And are you telling me this because you want to dance to it?"
Having been completely sarcastic, and figuring he knew the answer, Tala was surprised at Demetra's response when she replied.
"That depends." She said with a mysterious smile. Tala lifted an eyebrow.
"On?"
"On a few things." She replied in the same tone. "First of all, is this song one of the five?"
Tala glanced back at the big screen, then looked back to his companion.
"No." He said simply, gesturing to the screen again. "When one of the songs starts playing, it gets a strike-trough up there. This must be the last one before the countdown starts."
"Alright. How's this?" She asked, watching him carefully with that mysterious smile. "I'll ask you five questions, one for each song. I'll agree to a dance for every one you get right."
Tala's brow lifted with interest.
"Sounds like an awful lot of trouble for a few dances." He replied teasingly. "Why should I bother?"
Demetra's smile widened a little.
"Because Tala Ivanov can't resist a challenge." She replied pointedly.
Tala watched her for a while until finally a grin of amusement spread across his face. Leaning forward in his seat, he rested his arms on his knees as he looked up at her with a confident and intense expression.
"Fine, I'll bite." His voice rumbled lowly. "Let's hear the questions, Princess."
To his mild surprise but inner delight, Demetra uncrossed her legs and leaned in a little to meet him.
"Question one..." She said in a sultry tone. "What was I wearing the first time you ever saw me?"
Tala frowned deeply.
"You're kidding." He demanded more then asked. When all he got was a cocked brow, he worked his jaw for a few moments before sighing in annoyance. "I have no idea."
"Awe, too bad." Demetra cooed mockingly.
Tala narrowed his eyes on her. "What's the next one?"
"How long did the first beybattle you saw me in last for?"
Tala gave her an intense look for a long minute, and Demetra held her own against him, until finally he broke the gaze with a grimace before reaching for his drink.
"I don't know." He replied grudgingly before nearly draining his glass.
"Next question then." Demetra said, and suddenly her tone sounded much more serious. "Is there, or has there ever been, a beautiful blonde in your life?"
Tala's gaze snapped back towards her, and there was a fully loaded look on his face.
"What?" He asked a little sharply, unable to believe he'd heard what he had. "What the hell kind of question is that?"
"Just answer the question." Demetra replied, staring at him intensely.
Tala stared at her for a long time with narrowed eyes, and an intense gaze of his own. Finally he made a face before speaking.
"How's that supposed to count as a question? There's no way you'd know if I was telling the truth or not!"
"Are you going to answer or not?" Demetra asked.
"Not." Tala replied angrily. "That's a stupid question!"
"Fine." Demetra replied tersely. "Two left then."
Tala sighed heavily and glared at her.
"What's the point?" He argued angrily. "They're obviously all questions I'm not meant to answer. I think I'll pass."
"That's not true at all." Demetra said softly with a gleam in her eye. "I was really hoping you'd answer that last one."
Tala sighed in annoyance as he leaned back in his chair with crossed arms.
"The only blonde in my life is Spencer, okay? And I wouldnt exactly call him beautiful. Happy?"
"Copasetic." Demetra said slowly with a mischievous glint this time. "Two left. Care to continue? Maybe you'll get lucky."
Tala closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance again.
"Let's hear 'em." He muttered wearily.
"How many beybattles have you won against me?"
Tala gave her a dull look.
"Is that seriously your question?" He asked bluntly.
"If it wasn't, I wouldnt have asked."
Working his jaw again, Tala eventually grudgingly replied.
"None." He muttered moodily. Demetra smiled.
"See, that wasn't so hard was it?"
"What's the last question, your royal pain."
"Who would have reached the finish line first in the game earlier, had we not been dropped off a virtual damn cliff?"
Releasing a heavy sigh of annoyance, Tala forced himself to answer her.
"Probably you."
"Correct." Demetra replied smugly. "I suppose two out of five is better than none."
Ignoring the bait, Tala gave her a deeply suspicious expression.
"That's it?" He asked suspiciously. "What's the catch?"
"I reserve the right to choose which songs to dance to." She replied immediately.
"Fair enough, I guess."
About then, the current song ended, and the first on the list began. Tala gestured to the music.
"I don't suppose you want to dance to this song?" He asked sarcastically, anticipating a certain response again.
"Not really feeling it." Demetra replied playfully. Tala scoffed.
"Why am I not surprised?" He asked with mild amusement. "OK, let me see if I got this figured out; you obviously didnt want to dance to five songs, which doesn't surprise me, considering how hard it was to get you out there the last time, so you gave me two bogus first questions."
"Not bad, but not terribly impressive." Demetra teased. Then a mischievous smirk tugged at a corner of her lips. "Or entirely true."
Tala cocked his head ever so slightly to one side as he observed her carefully before continuing. He debated on exploring that notion, but he knew she was only trying to lead him off track and down a rabbit hole. Pushing the thought aside, he resisted the temptation and ploughed on.
"And you've obviously got something in your head about me and a blonde chick for some reason, so the third question was to check my reaction, see if I'd give myself away without having to say anything." He leaned ahead a little again and looked her in the eye. "What I dont get is why you'd give a damn who's in my life, or how beautiful they are."
Demetra swallowed hard, though she clearly tried hard to hide it, and leaned back in her seat, almost as if to attempt to distance herself from him.
"I have my reasons." She said in a sultry tone.
"What about the last two?" Tala inquired, forcing himself again to move on. "They were completely pointless. Unless that was just you making sure you didn't miss a chance to get your hands all over me again."
Not taking the bait this time either, a roguish grin lit Demetra's face then as she leaned back towards her redheaded companion.
"I just wanted to hear you say it." She whispered cheekily.
Tala eyed her for a long minute, then a smirk cracked his face and he couldn't resist a chuckle. Reaching for his drink, he closed his eyes as he lifted it to his lips.
"You're a piece of work, you know that?" He said before draining his glass.
"I have no idea what you mean." Demetra replied with faux innocence again. "Most people consider me the modern day Mother Teressa."
Tala snorted his extremely amused opinion of that.
"I'm sure they do." He replied sarcastically. He then glanced at the big screen. "Looks like you weren't feeling this one either, huh?"
Glancing at the screen as well, she noted that the first two songs had a strike-through, and this one seemed to be just about over.
"What can I say, time flies when you're having fun." She replied, draining her glass as well.
Tala laughed softly and shook his head.
"So how come I don't get a dance for the third question? I answered it."
"Well, I realized you were right." Demetra drawled with a crooked grin. "There's no way to know if you were telling the truth."
They made small talk during the third song, and when it was over and the fourth had begun, Tala gave his companion a pointed look.
"Second to last song, your highness.." He teased. "Now or never. Unless you're not a woman of your word."
Demetra gave him a challenging look and got to her feet.
"I'm a lot of things, Mr. Ivanov." She said, extending a hand to him. "A woman of my word is high on the list."
Tala grinned wide in amusement.
"Drinks hittin ya a little hard, Princess?" He teased playfully as he took her hand and got to his feet as well.
"They must be." Demetra replied without missing a beat. "And that's exactly what I'll blame it on if you ever utter a word of this to anyone who knows me."
Chuckling to himself, Tala let her lead him this time, though not nearly as far into the crowd as they had been before, not that he cared a lick about that.
When they reached their apparent destination, Tala quirked an eyebrow when Demetra turned towards him, released his hand, and pantomimed a few odd steps while she muttered something to herself.
"Let's hope I dont regret this." She teased wearily.
When she looked up at Tala again, she gave him a small grin before executing a series of steps she finished off with a fancy little twist. Both his brows shot up when she finished.
"You dance swing?" He asked bluntly, impressed. It didn't really fit the song, but luckily the song was fast enough to be able to pull it off. "Holding out on me princess?"
Demetra chuckled.
"Not quite." She replied, stepping back towards him and just sort of sashaying back and forth. "That's actually all I know."
Tala laughed.
"I can work with that." He said, slipping a hand around her waist.
Though no one clapped this time, and Demetra probably wouldn't be winning any dancing trophies in the near future, Tala wasnt complaining one bit.
"So where'd you learn this?" Tala asked as he reeled his partner in from a curl and placed his hand on her hip again.
"My father always loved swing." She confessed softly. "And he always wanted my mother to learn, though she didnt get the chance... I once thought I'd try to learn it for him, and Breal attempted to give me a few lessons, but needless to say, they didn't go well. This was about as far as I got."
"Yea well, you could definitely use a few more lessons." Tala teased, though there was a soft look in his eyes. "You get an A plus for effort though."
Demetra laughed.
"What, no sticker?"
"I'm not the coddling kind of teacher." Tala replied teasingly. "You want rainbows and nap time, you can go back to kindergarten."
Demetra cracked up and shook her head.
When the song was winding down, Tala looked at his partner with a teasing smirk.
"Now that you've shown all your tricks, what're you gonna do for the last song?"
"I told you I know it." She replied confidently. "Obviously I'm prepared."
"Confident arent we?" Tala taunted, just as the last notes of the current song sounded.
To his surprise, Demetra released his hand and instead trailed it, along with the other one, up his chest to slip around his neck before pressing herself close to him.
"Extremely." She whispered hotly.
A scarlet brow shot up, and for a second, Tala didnt move. But when the extremely catchy intro of Demetra's song began, he pulled himself out of his stunned stupor and smirked at her, before slipping his now free hand around her waist with the other one. That cued them both to begin their slow go-around.
Demetra didnt seem easily impressed by much, so Tala figured the song had to be a pretty good one, and so far he agreed; if nothing else, it had a catchy intro. He'd always considered people idiots for matching songs to their lives and emotions, for putting so much stock in them, and allowing them to stir up their emotions so powerfully as so many people did. But when the lyrics began, for the first time in his life, Tala finally realized maybe all those people weren't idiots after all.
Some say love is not for sinners, I believe that isn't true
Cause when I was finished sinning, love came down and showed me you
He was unable to resist making a face at the stupid song that struck a little too close to home for comfort. For fear of letting the beautiful creature in his arms see his moment of weakness, Tala reached up to cup the back of her head and gently encouraged her to lean against him. Fully expecting her to resist, he felt a hard tug at his heart when Demetra willingly leaned forward to tuck her head under his chin, pressed herself a little closer to him, buried her fingers in the hair at the top of his neck. Tala's heart went up into his throat at the contact, and unable to resist, he leaned down to burry his face in her silky curls.
He'd thought the first lines of the lyrics had been a coincidence, but when the chorus began, Tala's heart throbbed painfully at the arrows of accuracy it shot straight through him.
What, what are you doin to me? I'm so into you
And the hardest part is knowing that I'll never follow through
You're slowly killing me, and I wish it wasn't true.
But I'm so into you
Tala winced and reflexively hugged the warm frame in his arms a little tighter, closed his eyes and just breathed her in, bit his cheek to keep the rush of emotion and waterworks at bay; which instantly flooded him when Demetra gave his neck a little squeeze and dug her fingers deep, splaying them across his scalp and sending a violent shiver down the length of his body.
Swallowing hard, Tala dropped a tender kiss into Demetra's hair, then bit his lip when he felt her contented sigh dance across his skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake.
No matter how hard I try to wash my hands, I can never get 'em clean
I can never get 'em clean
Maybe it was just the drinks, maybe his friends at the bar had added a little extra kick to them, figuring they were doing him a favour - which normally would be much appreciated. Maybe it was the fact that they'd spent so much time together that night, or maybe it was just one of those moment things, but whatever it was; Tala felt like the stupid song was speaking to his soul, and it was almost unnerving how unnaturally appropriate it was.
It was a bittersweet experience, because even though the words soulfully blaring through the club were tearing him apart, it was for once a pain he would happily bare, if only it meant preserving the indescribably blissful feeling of not just having Demetra in his arms, but also being in hers.
What, What are you doing to me? I'm so into you
And the hardest part is knowing that I'll never follow through
Those lines brought a stab to his heart for reasons he didnt want to admit, even to himself.
You're slowly killing me, and I wish it wasn't true
But I'm so into you
The more he thought about it all, the more his inner self struggled to win the debate, until eventually it was victorious. If anyone asked, if anyone saw, he could blame it on the alcohol; works for everyone else. Besides, he didnt want to wait until it was too late, until she was gone, taking with her all his chances. He didnt want to look back and curse himself for being a coward.
I'm so into you
Tala pulled back a little from her.
I'm so into you
He stopped their movement, reached up to place a finger under her chin, gently lifted her face to look at him.
I'm so into you.
He closed the minimal distance between them until his nose brushed hers, entranced by her unblinking spellbound expression.
I'm so into you...
As the song slowly trailed off, Tala's eyes lidded heavily, and his head tipped ever so slightly to one side.
"You're right, Princess..." He whispered huskily, barely audible. "It's a decent song..."
"I'm always right..." She whispered breathlessly in reply, her own eyes were already heavily lidded as well.
Feeling like his heart was trying to strangle him, Tala cursed it as he leaned forwards to collect on something he'd craved like oxygen nearly since having met the woman.
Suddenly there was an explosion of light, and the two pulled away from each other to blink furiously. While they gathered their bearings, the bartender's voices could be heard calling for closing time.
"I guess that means we're back out in the cold." Demetra muttered teasingly, though half-heartedly, as she rubbed an eye.
Far too embarrassed over whatever the heck just happened to look at the redhead, she froze when she saw a familiar hand in her field of view. Swallowing hard, Demetra reached out with slightly trembling fingers to slip her hand into Tala's waiting one, though she was a little comforted to note his hand was a little clammy itself. She almost sighed at the feel of her hand in his, and still not wanting to look at him, she instead pretended to search her pockets with her free hand.
"Hope I still have my ticket..." She mumbled, reaching into the pocket she'd put it in.
Tala's response was a squeeze of her hand, before leaning down a little into her ear.
"Don't worry, Princess. They're not going to hold your coat hostage." He teased softly, though with a tone Demetra couldn't quite identify. "Come on your highness, let's get you to bed, it's past your bedtime."
Feeling a massive chunk of ice melt away from her heart, Demetra was unable to hold back a deeply affectionate smile; glad he wasn't looking at her, or the watery emotions, as she squeezed Tala's hand in return and allowed him to lead her towards coatcheck.
-;-
There had been silence earlier that night, and some of it had been awkward. Once they'd broken the ice though, and gotten a little more comfortable with each other, conversation had begun to flow more freely, until eventually Demetra thought the negative vibes were gone for good.
All the previous awkwardness from all night, couldn't begin to compare to the heavy, awkward tension between the two now, as they walked the near silent streets back to The Facility.
"This is torture!" Demetra thought with a grimace. She hid the look behind her coffee cup.
It was undisputedly the most uncomfortable feeling she'd ever felt in all her life. The worst part was probably the fact that she wasn't entirely sure why things were so tense. Sure, there was that moment, as she decided to call it, on the dance floor, but seeing as nothing had come of it, she'd brushed it off as just that; a moment thing.
Demetra recalled the moments after the lights came on; how they'd been flagged down by Tala's bartender friends on their way to coatcheck, how they were given some "special" coffee on their way out, seasoned with much good natured teasing. He'd laughed with those friends, been polite with her after coatcheck, helped her with her coat, and even placed his hand at the small of her back like he'd done so many times that night as he lead her to the exit.
However, when Tala released her to open the door, when she'd first gone through and he'd followed directly after, when the door to the bar was between them and most of the late-night drunken bustle, something changed. Tala didn't place his hand at the small of her back, and he didn't offer her a hand or an arm again, and with the way his arms were pinned to his side, it didn't exactly invite her to hook her arm through again either.
Demetra gently blew on her coffee; a gesture with a dual purpose; to create some kind of noise in the freakishly silent night, and also to attempt to hide the deep frown on her face. The gesture was pointless, also for dual reasons; because the deep crease of her brows couldn't be hidden with a cup, and also because Tala wasn't looking at her anyway. In fact, the redhead almost seemed to be pointedly avoiding her at all costs. Truth be told, it was driving her mad.
Trying to anchor herself from the hurricane inside her, Demetra looked around for some sort of distraction, but it only caused the storm to worsen when she realized everyone was closed up and gone home for the night.
"I cannot handle the entire trip to The Facility like this...." She thought with a grimace.
Staring at one of the booths, now covered like many of the others with heavy military-style canvas coverings, and a thin layer of snow, Demetra felt her stomach roll. It was maddening to think that such a fantastic night could be ruined by such a brief, terrible ending.
Sighing heavily, Demetra did her best to ignore her haywire emotions, and opened her mouth. But before she could get the chance to say anything, another voice cut through the air.
"Hey! Look out!"
Demetra thought to turn her head to look, but the following moments happened so fast, the thought went right out the window with all the others. One moment she'd been turning her head to look over her shoulder, the next she was looking over Tala's.
"Sorry!"
Demetra blinked once before turning her head to watch a small group of teenage boys a few years younger then them, running past with fistfuls of lit firecrackers in their hands. She then lowered her gaze to the ground and noted both the charred marks of the rogue firecracker in the snow, directly where she'd been standing, and also the empty cups and remnants of a pair of very tasty coffees splattered on the ground.
Astoundingly, Tala had reflexively dropped his coffee to turn and snatch Demetra's waist (she'd dropped hers in the scuffle), lifted and pushed her forward to deposit her on the nearby stone wall, where the firecracker had missed the back of his jacket by a hair.
Demetra laughed lightly.
"I suppose now I can be fairly confident you won't leave me to die if anyone ever shoots at me." She teased playfully, gesturing then to the cups. "Nice reflexes by the way, and I thought I was the faster one."
Seeing as she had yet to receive a response, Demetra lifted her face to look at her companion. She started a little when she made note of the intense expression on his face as he looked down at her. Swallowing, she forced a playful expression.
"Thank you for the assist, but I'm pretty sure the coast is clear." She said teasingly. "You can let me down now."
To her surprise, Tala stepped back enough for her to get down, but he was still looking at her with that intense expression. Feeling her pulse quickening, and her temperature rising for the umpteenth time that night, Demetra made a face as she did her best to keep his gaze.
"What's wrong with you?" She demanded, feigning irritation. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Tala closed his eyes and crossed his arms, and the sigh he released sounded like the expulsion of a heart-full of heavy heartache.
"Sorry..." He muttered with a rough voice, just barely audible.
Demetra watched a barrage of shadows and unknowns make their way across Tala's face, and was reminded of her own internal battle only moments ago. Feeling a tug at her heart, she removed her gloves, then reached out to hook her fingers in the loops of his jeans like he had with her earlier, gave them a firm tug, and succeeded in forcing Tala's eyes open, arms down, as she pulled him forward to stand before her again.
Looking up into the beautiful blues above her, Demetra released one of his loops to instead reach up to place her palm to Tala's cheek and splay her fingers across his jaw.
"What's going on with you?" She whispered, searching his eyes.
Tala sighed again, and Demetra's heart went up into her throat when he closed his eyes again and tilted his face to nuzzle her palm. He seemed to genuinely savour her touch for a moment or two, and Demetra felt her heart ache for him and whatever was obviously causing him pain.
Eventually, Tala reached up and touched the back of her palm, slowly grazed his fingers across hers, gently caressing, before wrapping her fingers in his own and hesitatingly removing her hand from his face. Lowering Demetra's hand, he didnt release it when he opened his eyes again. When he looked at her this time, Demetra felt a pang of ache when she noted the heavy emotions in his eyes, and the fact they were a little glossier than usual.
"When you first met me, you felt something for me..." He whispered, his voice hoarse. Demetra felt her heart jump up in her chest, but before she could respond, Tala continued. "I dont know what it was, but I know that when you used to look at me, it wasn't with hate, or loathing, or any of the ways you've looked at me just about every moment since..."
"Tala... that's not-
"Don't lie to me, Princess..." He whispered with a pained expression. "Your eyes always shine... but in the beginning, they used to remind me of polished mirrors... now most days they remind me of a thousand polished knives... all pointed at me..."
Demetra's breath hitched, and her heart throbbed painfully again at the completely unexpected words.
Still unwilling to let her speak, Tala continued again.
"When you used to look at me..." He whispered, his voice hitching. "It was with something a helluva lot hotter then you've looked at me in a long time..."
It looked like Tala was in physical pain, and Demetra felt a powerful urge to comfort him, though she was completely at a loss of how, never mind that she probably didn't have the character to be able to sufficiently do so anyway.
"How do I make you feel like that again...?" Tala whispered huskily, his eyes glistening now.
Demetra felt a flood of emotion, and when she was finally allowed to speak, it was easy to hear the thickness of the emotions in her voice.
"I don't know..." She whispered heavily in response, not bothering to waste precious time and energy on pointless denials. After a second, she forced a playful smile. "A few more nights like this couldn't hurt..."
Stealing her breath again, Tala slowly lifted both his hands and gently cupped her neck, brushed his thumbs gently across her jaw, threaded his fingers in the curls he could reach. Then he leaned down until there was only a handful of inches between them.
Demetra felt like she was having a panic attack. She'd done a lot of things most people probably wouldn't believe, she'd been a lot of places people can only dream of, and she'd experienced a wide range of intense emotions in her lifetime. But nothing she'd ever felt in her life held a candle to the intense blaze of emotions going on inside her then. The feelings brought to mind the image of Trea's signature move; the wicked and swirling vortex of flame, whirling and burning inside her; wild, scorching, unpredictable, and damn terrifying when you were on the receiving end.
"Is he going to kiss me?!" She thought, her eyes widening unconsciously.
The thought left her both exhilarated and horror-struck.
"If I tried to kiss you, would you let me?" Tala asked softly, tilting his face to one side.
A molten hot wave crashed over her, and flooded Demetra from head to toe, leaving in its place a violent heat the likes of which she knew she'd never felt - not even close.
"That would be asking an awful lot, Mr. Ivanov..." She managed to whisper breathlessly in response.
Tala's expression softened just a touch.
"I know..." He replied softly.
Demetra stared at him for a second, and when she replied, she was completely unaware of the vulnerable expression on her own face.
"I don't think you do..." She replied softly in turn.
Tala eyed her for a minute, until his expression visibly softened.
"You're probably right... I'm sorry..." He admitted quietly, brushing her jaw again. "But I still want an answer..."
Forcing herself to keep his eye contact, Demetra watched him watching her, considering, until finally she swallowed hard. Lifting her legs, she wrapped them around him and pulled him tight against her. Her hands slid up his chest and slipped inside his coat, her fingers gripped the sides of the opening of his button down.
"If I kiss you first..." She breathed hotly, pulling him down to put them nose-to-nose. "Will that answer your question..?"
Tala's face creased with an abundance of emotions, evidently unable to speak, and Demetra's lids drooped as she tipped her head to close the distance between them.
That was as far as they got, because the shrill sound of Demetra's old-school ring tone blasted through the air like a trumpet in the eye of a storm. Jumping a little, Demetra huffed in annoyance before slipping her hand into her pocket and silencing her cell. Looking back to her companion, she noted a pleased look cross the redhead's face, and felt the corners of her lips quirk upwards as a result.
The second time, Demetra had just pulled Tala back down to her again, just tasted the coffee on his breath. Grumbling under her breath, she slipped her hand back into her pocket, and yanked out her cell. Flipping the little switch that would put the cell on vibrate, she slapped it onto the wall beside her, then turned back to her companion again.
"Still coming back for more?" Tala teased in a husky whisper. "You must really want it..."
"Casual interest..." Demetra countered with a breathless whisper of her own, leaning up this time. "Mostly it's just pity for the wounded puppy look on your face..."
Tala scoffed at that, and this time his hands lifted to burry themselves in her long curls and cup the back of her head. Her hands lifted to slip inside his coat again and run her hands up his chest, over his shoulders and back, all the while moving in to finally claim what they both so dearly wanted.
That's when Demetra's cell rang for the third and final time; still very audible against the stone, even on vibrate. Tala pulled back from her and reached for her cell, but Demetra's hand on his stopped him.
"Forget the damn phone, Tala..." She said softly looking into his face. "No one I want to talk to would be calling me at this hour anyway."
Tala hesitated for a second, nearly caving against the alluring draw of Demetra's beckon. But seeing as how the person calling seemed to be so persistent, he instead gave the brunette a half-cocked grin.
"Last thing I need is Breal showing up at a time like this." He said playfully.
"Breal wouldn't-" Demetra began, but she stopped when she thought of something as a weary expression came to her face. "Unless Victoria forced him to."
Sighing wearily she removed her hand and allowed him to pick up the phone. Mildly amused, Tala's fingers wrapped around the nuisance object, but as soon as he turned it towards him to see, his expression instantly turned extremely sour. Thrusting it away from him towards Demetra as if it were something vile, he turned away form her.
"Better answer it." He said venomously. "He's annoyingly persistent."
Demetra furrowed her brows and accepted her cell back. Turning it to look at, she noted that it was Kai calling. Strangely, she didnt feel the stupid little fluttery sensation she usually felt where the handsome blunette was concerned. Her expression deepening, she looked back up at Tala with a confused expression now.
"Are you sure...?" She asked uncertainly.
"Yea." Tala replied shortly, turning fully away from her now.
Chewing her cheek for a second, Demetra eventually turned back to her cell, hesitated again, then finally answered.
"Yes Kai?" She spoke into the cell, trying not to sound as annoyed as she felt.
"Hey..." Kai said a little awkwardly. "Not the greeting I was expecting..."
Demetra resisted another sigh.
"I was... busy." She told him, feeling her face heat. Sliding down from the wall, she took a few steps and turned her back on Tala for fear he would see the emotions on her face she didnt want him to see.
"You OK?" Kai asked in concern. "You sound a little... off."
"I'm fine."
"OK... it's late, you want me to come meet you?"
"No." She replied firmly, probably a little too quickly. "I-... Tala is here."
There was a long pause, and the awkward silence actually made Demetra shift uncomfortably, which was abnormal for her.
"Should I be worried?" Kai asked eventually, sounding mostly joking. But there was an undertone of something else there as well. "Let me guess, you bumped into each other, and just couldn't help continuing where you guys left off earlier. You sure you two don't need a referee again?"
"No, I assure you, it's nothing like that." Demetra answered. "He just showed me around, introduced me to some people... Completely innocent Kai-kun, no worries."
Demetra felt her temperature rocket again when she thought of the moment the blunette had thrice interrupted. Alright, maybe not completely innocent.
"Good to know." Kai replied somewhat teasingly, still with a strange tone to his voice. "I just wanted to check up on you, it's late and I thought you were out alone... But since Tala's there then I guess there's nothing to worry about."
"No worries at all." Demetra confirmed a little playfully. "I can handle the big bad wolf."
There was a small laugh from Kai's end, and it made Demetra smile.
"Alright. Well, see you guys when you get back then."
"Sure." Demetra said simply. "Goodbye, Kai."
Disconnecting the call, Demetra stared at the cell for a second as she considered the moment. Not so long ago, she wouldn't have felt nearly as inclined to hurriedly end a call from the handsome blunette, especially if it meant a break from Tala.
But now...
Demetra smiled again, this time a little bigger, a little warmer.
"Sorry about that, Big Bad Wolf..." She drawled playfully, turning to face the redhead again. "I told you-"
Halting abruptly, a stunned expression took hold of Demetra when she noted Tala's absence. Furrowing her brows, she looked all around, but spotted no sign of her companion. Looking at the ground, she saw that even the empty cups that were there were gone.
Suddenly Demetra's eyes blurred inexplicably, but when she blinked a few times, she felt the wetness and realized the source of the blur. A sharp stab of hurt and something else stuck her deep, making her throat constrict tightly. The sudden assault of the unwanted emotion made her anger swell up inside her, and the two mixed together inside her to create an entirely different sort of storm than anything she was used to waiting out.
Sniffing once, Demetra set her jaw tightly and lifted her chin. Pulling herself up to her full height, she whirled around and trudged angrily back towards The Facility. As her thoughts and feelings raged inside her like a mighty typhoon, Demetra figured that if nothing else, at least she had her anger to keep her warm.
But just as she'd finished that thought, a bitter wind blew by and seemed to pass right through her. Instantly, goosebumps rose in it's wake; supremely different ones than she'd been getting all night, and Demetra felt her teeth begin to chatter. Clenching her teeth, she pulled her coat tight around herself, crossed her arms, and did her damndest to ignore the fact that it was the first time in her life she'd ever been chilled to the bone.
