Silver Skulls Chapter 3: Albert and Roxanne
Albert returned to Sutafu, angry and frustrated at Roxanne. He'd decided to ask Rimuto about her. He was curious as to how Roxanne got her nickname in the first place. It also annoyed him at how close he'd gotten to her. As he walked down the dark corridors of Sutafu, Albert ran into a couple of warriors, they were young and didn't interest him in the slightest. They saw him and quickly raced off, giggling as they left. The light was enough that a human could travel down them, but wouldn't because this level was reserved for warriors and their 'rooms' which really were more like cells than rooms but Albert didn't care. He followed the corridor into the main room of the Organization and saw that Rimuto was seated in his throne-like chair, a young-looking Number 10 standing behind him. As far as Albert knew that one was Vivian, a nice and well-rounded warrior. She was accompanied by the new anti-warrior trainee Risa. Both of them looked older than most of the warriors and Albert waited for Rimuto to speak,
"Ah Wesker, good to see you," Rimuto said with a pleasant smile, or rather as close to a smile as Albert had ever seen on his face as a smile. Rimuto really was hard to read beyond the bored expression on his face now days that he never used to have. Albert wondered on it a little longer and kept his expression impassive, his sun-glasses keeping his eyes hidden from the man who once was his handler, "It stands to reason that there is something on your mind,"
"Yes," Albert said, quietly not wanting to speak around the two other half-yoma, Rimuto noticed and made a signal for the pair to leave, Vivian lowering her head respectfully to Albert and Risa looking to Vivian for guidance. At Vivian's beckon the girl followed her. Albert waited until the two were out of the room before he spoke, "Rimuto, what do you know about Roxanne and what happened to her comrades that liked her?"
Rimuto rocked back a little in the chair, "Ah, the Number 3, Roxanne of Love and Hate I take it?" He looked at Albert and sighed. Clearly Rimuto knew that question was bound to come up, he'd expected it to be sooner rather than later. Clearly Albert was a man to wait on things, Rimuto decided. The new chief cleared his throat and spoke carefully to Albert, "She has obtained her name because of the bipolarity of her relationships with her comrades," he said slowly, "It was quite troublesome to us of course because a lot of the warriors are more or less afraid of her. From what we can piece together is that Roxanne has the ability to mimic her comrades' techniques and once she surpasses them, it is only a matter of time before that comrade dies," Rimuto looked at Albert to see what reaction he'd get. Not that much it seemed as Albert looked thoughtful. Rimuto saw him nod once and he said calmly,
"If she copies one of my abilities, I will report this to you as soon as I can." And with that Albert left the Organization's headquarters.
Clearing out yoma was the mainstay of his duty. Mostly he cleaned out towns as he came across them, Orsay travelling afterwards and collecting the fee from them. Albert hadn't seen Roxanne since she'd kissed him. He was beginning to hope that he didn't see her, and his luck ran dry as the autumn turned to winter in the south of the land. It was raining and Albert had just killed a yoma. The town were kind enough to provide a place for him to stay the night and as he walked into the inn he ran into Roxanne, the last place that he'd expected to see her. He wasn't aware that she'd been called back to Sutafu, but if he knew it wouldn't have changed a thing, "Well, well, here I was trying to dispel rumours and yet we meet like this," Roxanne said with a raised eyebrow she was looking at him coyly. She was amused by the fact that he seemed surprised, "It hardly seems fair, really," Roxanne toyed with her hair nervously. She hated the fact that Albert was just too handsome to ignore, hated the thoughts that were running through her mind about him and most of all wished that there was a human that could ease those feelings she was trying to suppress without having to admit it. There was nothing she could do though; no human was like her, no man willing to ease it. She went to leave that was perhaps the best choice; rumours or not, she would raise her base power first before she tried to learn from him the unique hand to hand combat moves she's seen him use before. Now wasn't the time to ask him. She would wait a while longer.
Albert watched her walk away and gritted his teeth in unbidden frustration; he'd been so close to her and not even known it! How could his perception be so poor? He sighed and headed into the room, taking off his amour and his clothing. He rested in the bed, eyes closed but not really asleep. He would sleep later with his back against his sword, like all of the other warriors. He mused on Roxanne and without warning got up. The bed was just that bit uncomfortable to him and he sighed, "Well I suppose I could sleep," he muttered to himself pulling on his clothing and resting with his back against his sword. He wasn't sure why, but the idea that having sex with Roxanne was an idea that he couldn't exactly chase away.
It was the beginning of spring, when Albert finally saw her again, naked in the water, her blond hair flowing around her shoulders as silken curls. He'd never seen Roxanne with her hair out before and as he can nearer she tensed. Clearly Roxanne could sense him and went to retreat into the cold water. Albert came over to the water's edge and spoke, "You truly are beautiful...you are powerful and even though you suffered a lot of pain you still manage to be as bright as the sun. You truly are an amazing warrior, Roxanne."
Roxanne was treading water and she stopped and looked at Albert, "Whatever do you mean?" She asked; her wet hair plastered to her chest and face as she cautiously swam closer to him. Albert sat down and spoke as if to the air around them, but Roxanne was well aware that it was she that he was speaking to,
"I mean that you are different and unique from the other warriors. And don't call me a child, you may be older than me, but I'm not going to call a playful and silly woman my elder." Albert said looking at her through his sunglasses.
"Well that is near impossible," Roxanne sighed, "The first count because you are and the second because I can't help it, life is too much to be dead serious all the time...how do you think I've lived so long," as she said this she was sitting on the bank and the water was flowing over her knees. She looked at Albert and he realised that she was vastly different from him, yet exactly the same, he spoke,
"I never relax," she looked at him and he continued, "Not even with my friends,"
Roxanne looked at him strangely and sighed, "Well then, I suppose that's how you'd prefer to work…you won't last long like that…" she looked over the river clearly lost in thought and Albert watched her. He was surprised that Roxanne could say something like that and despite his thoughts on the matter, he realised that she was right in a way. He had other problems however than what Roxanne was talking about. Together they watched the sun set like silver eyed sentinels. As the orange of the sun slowly melted into the grey of the night Albert got up from the river bank. Roxanne was out of the water and pulled her amour on. A normal human would get hypothermia doing what she did and yet it seemed that she didn't mind in the slightest. Albert decided to at least try to get along with the more experienced Number 3. "There's a nearby town. I'm getting hungry, haven't eaten for a week. Care to join me Roxanne?" He asked her, it wasn't the best pick up line he had, but it seemed to work,
"Fair enough," She smiled suddenly, coyly at him with an added flirtatious wink as well, "I know of a very good place since we are in my region after all."
They walked together and Albert realised that it was the first time that either of them had actually walked side by side like that. He noticed that Roxanne was relaxed and calm, even more so than Albert himself. He also noticed the poise with which Roxanne carried herself, and as she spoke to the innkeeper it was clear that she had the top of it all. He only half listened to what was said and noted that Roxanne had two keys. He didn't ask and simply followed her.
They arrived to a spacious and elegant room. Albert decided it was beautiful despite the primitive technology within. It was the sort of room that wasn't just elegant but it appeared to be more private than most of the other rooms he'd seen before. The bed was huge, soft silken covers on it glittering in the candle light that was surprisingly sparse. As Albert had since learned, medieval times were times of only the richest of people having adequate lighting. Even then candles were incredibly expensive, nowhere near the cost of a half-yoma warrior coming to clear out yoma, but still pretty costly. He mused over the soft scent that wafted from the candles and Roxanne actually giggled a little, "One of the best scents," She said eyes closed in bliss, "My father used to make candles," Albert blinked and he saw a dark expression briefly cross the warrior's face, "I wonder if he died doing that, or if the money he made by selling me was enough…" her voice was soft and she ran her hand past the flame. Albert paused and then saw a smile on her face, "This is different to you clearly," She laughed lightly, hurt and pain clearly forgotten. It made Albert wonder what it was that made her like it. He assumed that it was something else to Roxanne. He didn't know why but he managed to hug her; much to their surprise. Roxanne easily fitted him, and it was a good sensation. Again Albert was very much aware of the lack of proper fabric between them and let go. Roxanne laughed more like a human that a warrior, "You're just too cute Albert," She said laughing,
"Cute hardly sums me at all," Albert grumbled in an undertone that led to Roxanne lightly tapping his cheek,
"You are cute, I'm saying so and it's between just us, no idiotic little children to hear it," She smiled lightly as Albert realised she was perhaps consider him more than a child and a worthy comrade to share a more informal moment with. Clearly Roxanne had to like him at least enough to consider that he was worth talking to in a more flirtatious manner he guessed because she actually liked him, "besides there aren't that many male warriors to call cute!"
Albert gaped at her, and realised that she was teasing him again, he shook his head and sighed, "You really are different…"
"Like I said earlier, you can't go through life always serious, you won't last that way,"
It wasn't long until a human came in with some food and Roxanne waved the human away once the food was placed down. She ate her fill and watched Albert carefully. He was too tense; something had to be done to get him to at least relax. She sighed inwardly, as Albert suddenly stood up. He'd eaten his fill and was more or less in the mood to rest and he mused something very important, he sat on the bed lost in thought.
It was a long time ago in what was another life, Albert was a young boy. He remembered being more interested in his work than the laughter of the other boys that he worked with. There was one though that was every bit as determined as he was, "Hey this seat taken?" the young teen asked him,
"No," Albert said looking at the work that he was assigned to,
"I'm William Birkin," the boy said, "Who are you?"
"Albert Wesker," he said shortly,
"Hey nice," William said grinning at Albert, "Oh! I think you need this,"
Albert looked at William and saw something in the eyes of the boy who was before him, and for some reason Albert grinned…widely,
"Thanks Will," he said and William was still grinning,
"You're welcome Al," and the two laughed. Somehow they'd gone from rivals to friends.
Albert looked over at Roxanne, she was lying along the length of the bed and she spoke absently, "You know, there are a lot of warriors that just don't care about the power that we have as the top ranks of the Organization,"
"Hmm," Albert twitched and looked at Roxanne, and something he always said, "The only thing that can defeat power is more power. That is the one constant in this universe. However, there is no point in power if it consumes itself." He didn't even realise that he'd spoken out loud and Roxanne was pretty surprised briefly and the she smiled,
"Looks like that makes two of us," Roxanne grinned and Albert realised that she was very much near him,
"Yes," He mused, the same tension that they experienced before driving him even more wild than earlier, his eyes glowed their blood red colour and he could see that Roxanne's was a molten gold. She was inches away from him and somehow they ended up kissing.
Albert didn't know what started it, but he knew where it was going. Roxanne had taken a gentle hold of Albert's shoulders, guiding him over her as they kissed. It was clear that he was taller than her but that didn't seem to bother Roxanne. Albert sensed the flow of her yoki now and his own yoki rose as they pressed closer to one another. It wasn't long before he was dumping the rest of his clothing on the floor. She was gentle, her hands soft and light. The moment he entered her; his yoki surged as he growled and moaned, "Try not to let your yoki rise Albert," Roxanne panted, clearly struggling with her own yoki as much as he was, yet she was rigidly holding at 10%, "You need to detach your yoki from the pleasure, I know it's hard, but you have to do it,"
Albert struggled with his yoki and moaned, somehow getting down to 10%, but not without a struggle, "H-how do you manage it?" he forced out through his teeth, near moaning with pleasure. He instinctively picked his pace up, Roxanne moaning helplessly as she tried to answer him. When she did it was laced with a moan,
"I-it's very difficult to do," She said, panting as he seemed to pause briefly. Albert's own instincts seemed to take over, but at least he felt some form of control. Albert decided not to complete within Roxanne, there was too much of a risk of a child and that wasn't a good thing at this point in time.
Albert lay alongside Roxanne, shaking a little and very much aware that he was very close to a feeling he didn't know how to describe. He was close that was all he knew, "I'm not going further," he said, "at least, not inside you,"
"Oh?" Roxanne blinked and then she smiled, "Leave it to me, I know of a way where we can avoid that problem all together,"
"What…?" Albert moaned suddenly, true to Roxanne's word he wasn't within her, but she was bringing him to the point that he'd not gone to for fear of getting her pregnant. He didn't have much time to wonder at what she was doing when a deep and powerful wave of pleasure washed over his body, and he lay back moaning.
Roxanne grinned, "My, you really taste delicious,"
"…" Albert lay on his back and felt Roxanne lay on his chest with her hair flowing over his neck and shoulders.
"I suppose we won't get too much time to enjoy ourselves," Roxanne sighed, "I'll have to head for a job soon," she turned her head so that he could see her silvery gold eyes, "it shouldn't take too long though," she smiled and for some reason Albert had an uneasy feeling in his body; one that he couldn't shake away no matter how hard he tried. Something told him that this would be the last time he saw her. He hoped he was wrong; he had come to care for Roxanne and she had after all been the first woman that he'd made love to. He closed his eyes and slept.