I want to apologise for taking so long to post this. I have been going through busy times and several inspiration black-outs. I only decided today how to go on with this one and I think it went pretty good. I decided to make two parts of this, as there was too much to write for only one chapter. I am gonna write the next one as soon as I can. There are still the exam days ahead. Please, leave reviews and tell me what you think. Thanks!
It's a chilly winter night. The time is past midnight and a young raven-haired is gazing at the crescent moon, standing on the balcony of that popular lounge that he and his companion chose to spend their Christmas evening. The place had been crowded and noisy and Sergei found that quite discomforting, however he could not deny the fact that he loved Elvira's expression when he gave her her present. He wondered if she would be so enthousiastic at the sight of that brooch as well. Logan's words echoed in his mind about not procrastinating too much about it, but Sergei wanted to check the waters first, see Elvira's reaction at the first present he officially gave her as her romantic partner. She seemed pretty satisfied with those velvety black gloves he gave her. Of course, they were not for casual use. They were of fine quality and long, almost reaching the elbows.
The breeze carried a familiar perfume. He smiled at the sensation, and at the realization of her presence, even if she was behind him. Her voice softly interrupted the silence.
"How are you feeling?"
He turned to face her and embraced her gently.
"Better than ever. The party in there is... fun, but this... is something else."
"Me and you on the balcony? With the moon's dim light? How classic," she teased. He widened his smile.
"Hmm. 'A hopeless romantic' you called me. Shouldn't be surprised," he responded in the same tone.
She cupped his face with both hands and pressed his nape, bringing his lips on hers greedily. She lured him into a slow, lingering kiss and the raven-haired welcomed the dazing sensation. She deepened the kiss over time and they started breathing in a heavier manner. He moved to the crook of her neck and kissed her softly, as she caressed his face. At some point she whispered.
"Not so shy now, are we?"
"Never said I was shy," he whispered with his lips still brushing on her skin, "only difficult."
"Difficult? Is that so?" She laughed. "Is this some kind of challenge I'm unaware of?" she asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"It sounded better in my head," he said as he looked elsewhere in an awkward way. Elvira chuckled. She held his chin and made him look at her.
"Play all you want, my dear, but you're playing in my court," she said softly with a devilish smirk.
For a moment, Sergei was speechless and not sure how to react. He couldn't tell if it was his lack of confidence in such cases, or the fact that he really liked that, to his own surprise. She locked lips with him again, in a softer and warmer kiss now. They stayed like that for a few seconds, then they parted slowly.
"I had a nice time in there," said Sergei with a warm smile.
"So did I," responded Elvira in a low tone.
They enjoyed each other's company for a while longer, then they left the lounge. They took a walk in the brightly lit streets, as they continued their chat.
"Remind me, what were your plans for New Year's Eve?" asked the raven-haired.
"I am throwing a party at Plasma 501. I have booked the whole place for that night."
Sergei's expression turned surprised as he widened his eyes. He already knew Elvira was in a good financial state and he never thought about it much, as money was definately not the reason he was with her, but now he found himself wondering about the size of her wallet.
"Wow... that must have been expensive," he said between nervous giggles.
"It was. But I know someone who knows someone," she said with confidence, bearing a smirk. "After all, such events don't occur every day, do they?"
"No, I guess not."
She looked at him and he smiled as their eyes met.
"You know you and Logan are invited. You are welcome to bring whoever you wish."
"I already picture Logan's reaction to that..."
"WHAAAT? THAT IS SO AWESOME!" exclaimed the blond with a considerable amount of enthousiasm. He jumped off the couch, causing Sergei to almost spill his chamomile.
"Careful!"
"This is so cool! I'm gonna bring Alice, a couple of guys from Eugi's, some fellows we met at Bridgeport Acres and-"
"Ah-ah-ah!" interrupted Sergei, sealing the blond's mouth with his hand. "Careful now, buddy. This is going to be a private party, I don't want us to make fools of ourselves. Bring Alice and another fellow, but we are going to be discreet."
Logan sat down and let his shoulders fall, bearing a disenchanted expression.
"Why do you always have to spoil it? She said-"
"Snap out of it." He chucked. "After all, it's gonna be so crowded already."
"Ah. That explains it," said the blond, eyeing Sergei up and down in an irritated manner.
Sergei chuckled again. After a few moments of quiet, Logan asked in a low tone.
"Is Mrs Spiteful gonna be there too?" Sergei broke in laughs.
"Well, of course. She is Elvira's best friend. You have to bear with that."
Logan responded with a sarcastic "mmm," then leaned back and talked in his usual vivid tone.
"Well! A party is still a party, right?"
"I was certain."
The days passed quietly within the festive spirit. The two friends contacted their families and received presents from them, while Logan's father paid them a short visit the day after Christmas. Sergei could see now where Logan got that rich, golden-like hair from, as well as the cheerful spirits. Logan's father was a simple and easy-going man, adding a warm atmosphere to the apartment that day. He even brought them a homemade tart of their family recipe, Logan's favorite. His mother never missed a chance to send him such desserts. It was nice.
Sergei talked to his parents too. As he had guessed right, they spent their wintery holiday in a trip to another country. Norway was their christmasy resort now. Videocalling brought to him warm, familiar feelings of such occasions, even with Logan teasing him in his usual mischievous way, in front of the camera.
New Year's Eve arrived. The city's lights were shining bright once more, as events were being held in various places of the city, though most people were at home, spending time with their family.
Sergei was fixing his blazer when Logan cheerfully jumped in the bathroom, slamming the door open.
"Sergio! Look! Am I a freakin' badass in this velvet coat or what?"
"Yes you are. You also have freakin' bad manners!" exclaimed Sergei as he kept on fixing his blazer.
"Well I didn't catch you in a funny situation, did I? That settles it!" said the blond vividly, then patted him on the shoulder and walked out of the bathroom with a happy expression, as the raven-haired rolled his eyes.
When they were ready, Sergei stepped out of the bathroom too, then took a look at Logan. It was the first time the blond was dressed in the dark style that only Sergei used for himself so far, and it surprisingly suited the mischievous man.
"Cool, huh? Me likey," said Logan in a "like a boss" tone.
"It seems to like you too," said Sergei with a smile.
"I think the ladies are gonna agree on that," said the blond with a mannered voice, looking at his reflection on the mirror.
Sergei chuckled and patted him on the back as he talked.
"Come, now, we have to get Alice."
"Let's go then!"
After a while, they arrived at the club. It was crowded but not as much as usually. It seemed Elvira had a wide range of circles she associated with, most of them being dressed in that dark and fine style that the club followed too. There was a band that played on, and the stage was already crowded. The two friends and Alice greeted some people on the way to the table that Elvira and her group of friends were. She greeted them from a short distance, then each of them took a sit on the wine-red, velvet couch. In the group were also Morrigan and her husband, Wogan. Elvira and Morrigan both looked gorgeous that night, and the men of the company were dressed in fine suits.
They had to bring some chairs in order for everyone to make themselves comfortable at that table. Sergei sat next to Elvira, as she greeted him with a peck on the lips. Logan cheerfully greeted everyone, eventually getting to Hemlocks too. He warmly shook hands with Wogan, while the well dressed man responded likewise, then the blond turned to Morrigan and she avoided reaching his hand, greeting him only with a sarcastic smile.
"Lookin' good, Morri," said Logan with a grin.
"Wish I could say the same," she responded with a wider grin.
"Aw well! Not everyone has the luxury of using youth elixirs!"
For a moment she froze with her jaw almost hanging, then she narrowed her eyes and nailed him with a hateful gaze, as he mischievously grinned. He winked at her and simply sat on Alice's side, avoiding any possible reaction of Morrigan. Alice was talking with William at the time, then she turned to her lover and the blond pulled her in a kiss, in an almost demonstrative manner.
Time was passing pleasantly for most members of the group. Logan and Alice moved their party to the dance floor along with William while Sergei, Elvira and the Hemlocks were still at the table. Elvira was having a discussion with her best friend, while Sergei listened to Wogan talking about several stuff regarding his routine, pretending to be interested in listening to all that. Wogan didn't seem to have the time of his life either, and it was more than obvious that he was at that party for the sake of his wife.
At some point, Wogan excused himself and headed to the bar while Morrigan just sat quietly in her spot, lighting a cigarette. Elvira turned to her lover and distracted him from whatever thoughts he had.
"I have to admit, this is... impressive," said the raven-haired.
"What is? The party?"
"Yup."
"Does that mean you're actually having a good time?" Asked Elvira in a fake shocked tone.
Sergei chuckled shyly.
"Why wouldn't I?" He smiled warmly. "I'm getting to spend the changing of the year with the people I care about."
"Hmm," she leaned closely and spoke in a lower tone. "Does that mean we won't get any privacy for the rest of the night?"
Sergei blushed and didn't respond for a moment, actually picturing the outcome of that possibility. His smile widened, as did her grin shortly after. Then, he leaned into a deep kiss.
Morrigan excused herself eventually and headed to the bar, where her husband was. Back on the dance floor, Logan and Alice were still enjoying the vivid dark rythm of the club's music. At some point, Logan and William were dancing side to side and started a chat while doing so. William started explaining to the blond how he came to know Elvira and her peers, how he had gotten in the Law Enforcement and other stuff like that. They had already talked about these in the past but now the conversation was more analytical.
Time passed quickly and after a while, Logan was surprised to notice that Alice was not next to him. He assumed she joined the Hemlocks at the bar. At some point, William ended the chat and went to greet some other friends of his. Logan then headed to the bar upstairs. He found a bunch of people leaning on the counter and didn't manage to catch Alice among them. He spotted the Hemlocks near the bar. They seemed to be arguing, and it was pretty intense. He decided to ask anyway. He headed towards them and caught part of their argument.
"...while I stay home with our daughter all day! And then I have to work! And you say you're the only one that has to make sacrifices?" Wogan's voice was echoing over the club's music on the second floor, reaching higher tones than those he usually spoke in.
"Oh, for the love of the Goddess, Wogan! I ask of you a simple favor but you always have to link everything to that dramatic nonsense!"
"Nonsense? Nonsense? You know what nonsense is? The fact that I have to bear with those incompetent fools you so proudly call friends!"
"Wogan, are we gonna go through this again?" Morrigan practically spat those words on her husband, bearing a fiery gaze, her eyes glowing bright and threatening.
It wasn't long before they noticed the blond standing there with a numb expression on his face. He spoke in a low tone.
"Uhm... have you seen Alice..?"
Morrigan threw a last angry look at her husband, then walked away from the two men in a hurry. She passed by Logan, completely ignoring his existence, then headed down the stairs. The young man was left staring at her with an expression of wonder.
"What's gotten into her...?"
"Women!" Exclaimed Wogan furiously, then walked past Logan in the same way Morrigan did.
For a moment, the blond watched Wogan leaving the second floor as well. Then he shrugged and simply continued searching for Alice.
Back at the table, Sergei and Elvira had a sweet time going on for a while. Time had passed and the music switched into slow songs, while the lighting was lowered down a bit. The couple headed to the dance floor and embraced each other. As they moved slowly to the sweet rythm, they looked silently into each other's eyes. A familiar memory popped in Sergei's mind, one of the many which tended to keep him from enjoying such moments. This time it was different, though. He found he didn't feel the sorrow of what he lost but the excitement of what he had gained. The realization of that caused him to widen his smile. Elvira caught that and smiled back.
"What is it...?" She asked softly. He simply leaned in and rested his chin in the crook of her neck, taking some of her scent in. Then, he replied in whispers.
"There is nowhere else I want to be right now." Then, he kissed her.
Elvira smiled in his kiss and deepened the pleasure.
Meanwhile, Logan was still searching for his companion. Now he was growing nervous. Alice didn't reply to his text messages and he almost wandered all over the place. Was she lost? Was she hurt? Was she carried away by some insidious man, to be the sport of his ill will?
No, she wasn't. Now Logan silently wished that one of these cases was true. He stood still, clinged onto the open door of the ladies' restroom. His gaze was fixed on Alice, who had practically pinned a man on the wall with her body, eagerly sucking and kissing his neck, while the man bore a dazed expression of what seemed to be pleasure. The blond stood there in shock for some seconds, then a low whisper escaped his lips.
"Alice...?"
She quickly turned her gaze on him, interrupted from what she was doing with obvious dedication. Her eyes were bright and fiery, until she shortly realized who she was looking at. She instantly pulled away from the man, bearing a shocked expression on her face. The man just slid down the wall slowly, being in some kind of stunned state, most likely by the alcohol. Logan didn't really pay any more attention to him, as the subject of his concern was staring at him with guilty eyes.
"What... what is going on? Who's this?" Logan's voice was slightly trembling.
"I... nobody," responded Alice in a low tone, lowering her gaze on the floor and covering her lips with one hand.
"What do you mean, nobody? Is this what you were doing the last time I lost you in the other club? I'm scared like shit, searching for you, thinking you were hurt and stuff, and this is what I find?" His voice was rising in pitch and volume. The more he spoke, the more rage filled him.
"No! You don't understand! I wasn't fooling around!" Alice tried to answer as composedly as she could, but failed.
"I don't...? Are you mocking me? With my own eyes I see you practically devouring that guy and I am the irrational one?" She tried to talk but he didn't let her. He slowly approached her, blood flowing fast in his veins. His face turned red and he felt an urge of tears forming in his eyes.
"You don't understand! You couldn't possibly understand even if I explained this to you," exclaimed Alice, tears forming in her eyes too. The sense of injustice in Logan reached its peak and he growled at her.
"What the hell is there to explain? I saw you, for God's sake! I thought we had something and you ruined it! Don't you ever try to fool me again!" His throat was sore from yelling and his fists were clenched and shaking. Alice just ran out of the room, weeping, running past Logan with great speed. He didn't even have the chance to grab her arm.
He stood there for some minutes, still not realizing or caring about the fact that he was in the ladies' room. He walked to one sink and washed his face. When he was done, he looked at his reflection on the mirror for a while. Then, a door of one restroom slowly opened and Morrigan walked out. They looked at each other for a second, then Logan tried to compose himself and look cool. Morrigan smirked.
"Did your lovely girlfriend just leave?" Her tone was sarcastic and it fueled a new wave of rage in Logan.
"Why don't you go find your lovely husband? Maybe he's sick of your spiteful taste and decided to pin a lovely girl on a restroom's wall too!"
Her expression instantly twisted in anger and she paced towards him with rage. Her growling voice echoed through the walls.
"Don't you talk about my husband, you filthy vermin!"
"You're the one who started it!"
They were growling at each other, causing their voices to grow coarse and sore but they were too furious to care. They were standing with their faces only a breath away, spitting words on each other as the adrenaline pumped fiercely in their veins.
"You think you can mess with me, worm? I'll step on you and wipe your sorry existence off of the face of the earth!"
"Wha-? At least I can argue like a normal person! Who even says these things anymore?"
"Shut it, rat!"
"Or what? Are you gonna name all the pests you know of, and bore me to death with that nonsense?"
"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT NONSENSE!"
"Right. BECAUSE THAT'S YOUR HUSBAND'S JOB!"
Morrigan's mind exploded with rage. She fiercely grabbed the blond by the hair in an attempt to bring him onto his knees, to impose herself on him using fear. She failed to do so, as he was as stubborn as she was and resisted. While they were struggling with each other, he grinned at the sight of her enraged attempts.
"Ran out of poison, Hemlock?"
"YOU LITTLE-"
She almost dug her nails in his skin, clenching him fiercely and violently pulled him into a sealing kiss, if that could be considered a kiss. She was raw and tough on him, painfully biting his lips and holding him still with unexpectedly huge force. He was unable to react, though he wouldn't do so anyway, being too shocked to. He didn't see that coming. That connection lasted for only some seconds but it felt like hours. Eventually, she pulled away, still holding him in place with what felt like claws. He was stunned and looked at her with a blank expression. They stood like that in silence for some seconds, then her expression turned angry again and she burst in rage, slapping his whole face with a loud noise that echoed through the walls. He was dazed both by the pain and the shocked state he was in, as she paced past him, storming out of the room furiously.
Logan tried to compose himself, filled with mixed emotions in body and mind. He stood up and thought of what happened. Finally, he let the mixture of confusion and anger come out in a growling sentence.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH WOMEN?"
"I am wondering the same."
Logan turned to the source of the voice and saw that the man Alice was fooling around with, was back to his senses. The man continued.
"One moment I am this close to have her, the next one I am lying on the bathroom's floor. Must 've been a hell of a night."
"OH, BITE ME!"
Logan stormed out of the restroom.
He headed to the table. He found William sitting on the couch with a beautiful woman. The blond hastingly pulled out his wallet and left some money on the table.
"That's for my drink."
"Are you leaving so soon?"
"You bet I am!"
Logan angrily gathered his stuff and headed towards the exit, when he heard Sergei calling his name. The raven-haired got him in time and stood in the way.
"Logan! What happened? Why are you-"
"Drop it, man. This is the worst evening ever!"
Sergei looked at him with concern in his eyes and tried to calm him down. At first, Logan resisted, using several excuses but Sergei wouldn't let him go.
"Come on, man. In 15 minutes or so, we will be welcoming the new year. Is that how you want to spend it? Why don't you come sit down and tell me what happened, then we'll figure this out."
Logan looked at him with embittered eyes.
"I'm sorry, Sergio."
He walked out.