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Post by Kino Makoto on Dec 27, 2008 22:17:30 GMT -5
The kitchen of Bistro Lumiere was bustling. It was only about 7pm and they were nowhere near closing time. Makoto smiled. It was another full house tonight, all the reservations were fully booked and everything was running smoothly. She needed to be back at the palace by 7:30, so she figured there was no better time to sneak away than now while it was safe. She went to her office and hung up her apron, turned to the small mirror she kept on the wall and pulled out her hair tie, letting her brown curls fall upon her shoulders. She scratched her scalp, thoroughly enjoying the feel of the blood circulating through it once again. While she was on the line she would wear her hair in a tightly twisted bun just as an extra precaution to keep any stray hairs from falling into food. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment longer then sighed and pulled her hair back into her usual high ponytail. She grabbed her purse from behind the desk and left.
On her way out she stopped by the bar to say goodnight to Shimara, the owner. She sat on a stool and waited for Shimara to finish up with her customer. Finally after a few moments she was able to make her way over to Makoto. "Leaving so soon?" she asked with a smile. Makoto smiled back and said "Everything seems to be going so well, so I figured I'd wrap up early." She lowered her voice and added, "I've got a meeting with 'the bunny' tonight too..." Shimara nodded. 'The bunny' was their code for the Queen. While it was mostly common knowledge who Makoto was, she still liked to stay on the down-low and not draw attention to her political status if she didn't need to. Shimara asked, "Would you like me to set you up with anything before you go? Your usual perhaps?" Makoto chuckled, "No thanks. I'm driving myself tonight, so I'd best lay off the bourbon." She looked down at her watch and said "Actually, I need to get moving. I'll see you tomorrow. Give me a call if anything comes up, though." She got up from her stool and waved to Shimara as she left the bar and then exited the restaurant.
It was a fairly cool December evening, but Makoto was still quite warm from working in the hot kitchen. She started her long walk to the car, which she'd parked in a private secured lot several blocks down. She unbuttoned the top of her toque as she walked down the street, pulling the collar away from her neck and letting brisk winter air cool her down. As she walked, she thought about the events from the past two days. The two men who'd come into their lives, although she had to admit that Rei had the worst of it. She only had some guy stare at her and give her a headache, while Rei on the other hand... Poor Rei. There was no telling how often she would run into Hiroki, him being a palace technician and all. At least ol' blue eyes had been taken away by Lucan and most likely had been punted from the palace, never to return. And that was just fine for Mako. The last thing she needed was another headache.
She was still a few blocks away from the car, but decided to go ahead and find her keys. The coast seemed to be clear before her, so she kept walking while she looked down and dug through her purse. 'Ugh I need to clean this thing out...I can never find anythi-' Before she could finish her thought, her body came to a screeching halt as if she'd just walked into a brick wall. As she looked up to see what she'd just run into, she found herself wishing that it really had been a brick wall.
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Post by Nathaniel Bernhardt on Dec 28, 2008 10:31:40 GMT -5
(Yay! I get to RP! xD)
The night was young and shaping up to be an interesting one. Nathaniel had hooked up with his American agent and a couple of "friends" that he'd worked with before, for a night of bar hopping. Foreign country or no, a great many things stayed the same. People still drank until they were stupidly drunk and made problems for everybody else.
Even though he'd been in Japan for going on two years, one of the "friends" still accused Nate of sleeping with his girlfriend, (who had just recently been in Japan as well on a photo shoot). Not that it had even been physically possible(she'd been up in Hokkaido, he was on the middle island Honshu), but he wasn't about to let such a thing slip by. All told it wasn't a bad ending to the first round especially since Nate was the one escorted out of the bar with his agent and the other was stuck in the bathroom with an icepack on his pretty face.
"Yeah sure, man. I'll call you in about an hour. I need to go for a walk." Nathaniel waved once at his agent before turning to walk off while the bouncers, both rather scrappy little Japanese men, watched the two Americans part ways while muttering to each other about mannerless foreigners.
Lost in his own uncharitable thoughts, Nathaniel didn't see or feel the other person on the street with him. Until they ran right into each that is. First contact was a collision that sent a shiver down his spine. On pure reaction both large hands reached out to steady the smaller person that he'd collided with, an apology dying on his lips as the tingle grew ten times stronger and made his hair feel like it was standing on end.
Finally he looked down to see Ponytail glaring up at him, as if he'd run into her on purpose. The far too familiar headache started up behind his left eye as he continued to look down at her, his hands still curled around her surprisingly well muscled arms. It was a moment longer as he took in the obvious uniform she was wearing. Bistro Lumiere Head Chef Kino Makoto.
"Kino Makoto." The name rolled around in his mouth like he was tasting it, before he grinned down at her. "It suits you."
The words came out of his mouth as if he'd known her a hundred years, instead of only catching sight of her in passing as he was wrestled down as a potential terrorist. The idea occurred to him that that may be part of the reason why she was glaring death up at him, nevermind the fact that he was still holding onto her as if he had a right to. No, that couldn't be it at all, but he still didn't let her go. Even if the pain in his head pounded harder the longer he held on.
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Post by Kino Makoto on Dec 28, 2008 11:01:46 GMT -5
She could feel her next headache already bubbling forth. There were millions upon millions of people in this city, and she had to flipping run into the one she’d have most liked to avoid. She was pissed.
She slightly cringed as he spoke her name, even though it sounded so smooth coming from his lips. The thought only made her angrier. Her glare at him deepened. “Would you mind releasing your grip from my arms, please? It’s rather unnecessary.”
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Post by Nathaniel Bernhardt on Dec 28, 2008 11:48:08 GMT -5
Kino Makoto's, he should get used to referring to her like that rather than just Ponytail, glare grew even more fierce as she demanded to be released. Unnecessary though?
Auburn eyebrows drew down in a small frown as he let her go, hands sliding somewhat reluctantly from her arms. "I was trying to keep you from falling your ass on the street, but if you don't want an apology that's fine with me too." Mentally he kicked himself. Nice way to be bi-polar Nate.
The alcohol in his system wouldn't let him shut up either. It wasn't much, but enough to keep him going as he shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Not my fault if you actually have some meat on your bones. You're built more like an American girl than a Japanese one. It's kind of sexy."
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Post by Kino Makoto on Dec 28, 2008 12:13:31 GMT -5
She almost regretted asking him to release her. There had been a warmth in his hands that she could feel through the sleeves of her toque, and a slight tingle that lasted after he’d let go. His cockiness however, prevented that feeling from lasting long. “While I appreciate the assistance, I don’t need any apologies.”
His next comment floored her. Sexy? Her? She wasn’t sure whether to blush or knock him out. Somehow she maintained her glare despite the still-growing headache. She needed to get out of there. She rolled her eyes at him. “Thanks. I’m so flattered. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be, so…” and she motioned toward the direction she’d been headed, preparing to move along and get to her car.
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Post by Nathaniel Bernhardt on Dec 28, 2008 12:54:30 GMT -5
"Fine. I won't apologize. Consider yourself not apologized to. And you should feel flattered. You're a damn sight better looking than the majority of these 'women.' They're all tiny and built like five year olds. You, actually look like a woman."
His hands already missed being in contact with her and clenched into tight fists in his pockets to keep from reaching out again as he nattered on. This woman was pulling the strangest reactions from him. One minute he felt like he knew her and should be walking alongside her with his arm slung possessively around her shoulders, but the next his brain was telling him that he'd never seen her before the day before yesterday. What the hell was going on with him?
The soft jingle of keys pulled his mind to the present once more as she gestured her desire to continue on her path. Fine. She wanted to keep walking, he would walk with her. So he stepped aside to let this Kino Makoto go by, and fell into step beside her. Aside from being good looking, being around her was the single strongest reaction he'd ever recieved. Something in her energy felt so damn familiar that his mind was tying itself in knots to figure out where he'd felt this before. Except, that damn wall kept blocking him and making his headache even worse.
"I'll, uh, walk you to your car then," he told her as one hand massaged his forehead, trying to alleviate a little bit of the pressure. His eyes would not leave her either, constantly travelling up and down her body. It would look as if he was completely checking her out, which wasn't a bad sight at all, but he wanted to take the sight of her in so that he could ponder her later, try to figure out why she felt so damn familiar to him.
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Post by Kino Makoto on Dec 28, 2008 13:17:21 GMT -5
Makoto rolled her eyes again. Dammit he was annoying. ‘Annoyingly hot, that is…’ She was shocked at her own thought, and once again her anger scale was tipped in the ‘Back the eff off’ direction.
It didn’t help that he was now following her to her car. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked. Her patience was wearing thin. She stopped and turned to faced him again, her eyes giving away her annoyance. “Thanks but no thanks. I can walk myself.”
Her head was screaming at this point. She needed her Tylenol desperately and couldn’t wait any longer. She turned back away from him and began digging through her purse for the second time this evening…this time searching for her precious little white bottle.
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Post by Nathaniel Bernhardt on Dec 28, 2008 13:52:33 GMT -5
A small smirk quirked up one side of his mouth at her comment. "I never doubted your ability to walk, Kino Makoto. I doubt you would have made it very far in life if you couldn't. I just don't feel comfortable with the idea of an attractive woman walking the streets alone at night, no matter how 'peaceful' a place is supposed to be. You're stuck with me." He even waited paitently as she dug through her purse like a fiend, looking for something rather desperately.
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Post by Kino Makoto on Dec 28, 2008 14:09:07 GMT -5
His words only angered her more, though she really had no idea why. It seemed he was just trying to be nice, but all she could think of was her earlier discussions with Rei about just how dangerous he could be.
Finally her fingers wrapped around the small coveted bottle of Tylenol and she spun back around to face him yet again. “I am not stuck with you. However I do seem to be stuck with this headache and I would like to relieve it. And that means walking to my car. Alone.” She twisted the lid off the bottle, and turned the bottle upside down into her open hand. She blinked when she didn’t feel anything fall into her palm. ‘Oh bloody hell’ she thought to herself. It was empty.
She gave an exasperated sigh. “Look, I really don’t have time for all this, I’m running late.” She turned around yet again and started to walk away.
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Post by Nathaniel Bernhardt on Dec 28, 2008 14:19:31 GMT -5
"An empty bottle of tylenol? That's what you were looking so desperately for? Hn. I wonder if you put that much passion into other things. And you are very much stuck with me, because let me guess, you didn't have that headache until you ran into me, am I right?"
Nathaniel seized on the opportunity as it presented itself, and with a few strides of his long legs was dead even with the woman once more as she stalked off. "You're not getting away from me that easily. The longer you delay in answering questions the later you'll be, to wherever it is you're going at seven o'clock at night. Don't tell me that you go to bed so early, like a good little girl?"
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Post by Kino Makoto on Dec 28, 2008 14:31:19 GMT -5
“All I know is that I wouldn’t have an empty bottle in my hand right now if it hadn’t been for you. And if getting away from you relieves what the lack of Tylenol doesn’t…”
She was already several yards ahead of him when she once again heard his voice along with the sound of footsteps quickly approaching behind her. Calling her a 'little girl' was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Before she knew what she was doing, she’d dropped her purse on the ground and was spinning back around to him where her right fist promptly met his left jawbone. “Who the FUCK are you to question where I go and when? This conversation is officially OVER!” She bent down to grab her purse once again and took off as fast as her legs would carry her.
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Post by Nathaniel Bernhardt on Dec 28, 2008 14:52:09 GMT -5
The girl was fast. And strong. There was no doubt of that if the throbbing on the left side of his face was any indication. All of which was even more reason to be intrigued, on top of the fact that she was blaming her headaches on him. He hadn't been wrong at all!
Looking around quickly to see how empty the street was, as it wouldn't look very good at all for him to be chasing after a fleeing woman, he took off after her once more. She didn't have too much of a chance to get very far, and he was anything but out of shape.
Catching up to Makoto, Nathaniel grabbed her around the waist and dragged her into the nearby alley. It was small and dark, pressing both of them close together, her back to his front. When he spoke, his voice was slightly harsh sounding from the run.
"You tell me these headaches of yours are my fault, and you expect me to let you go?" He tried very hard to keep his mind focused purely on that thought, and not on the fact that this situation was giving him that knee weakening sense of deja vu again. He didn't even want to think about the rest of the reactions he was having to her at the moment.
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Post by Kino Makoto on Dec 28, 2008 15:18:34 GMT -5
Makoto could see the lot just ahead. She pushed herself harder to get there, but apparently it wasn’t enough. Before she realized what was happening, she was grabbed by the waist and carried into a rather dark alley. ‘Oh god, Rei was right!’ To make matters worse, his arms were so tightly wrapped around hers that there was no way she’d be able to grab her henshin wand.
The sound of his deep voice and warmth of his breath on her ear sent chills down her spine. However the adrenaline currently coursing through her veins wouldn’t allow her to figure out if it that was a good or bad thing. It was all she could do to keep her thoughts straight with the way he held her against him. She could feel the heat from his body against her back, felt every deep breath he took, and…
She remembered again what she’d discussed with Rei. ‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.’ Perhaps it would be better to try to get out of this peacefully rather than to continue in anger…after all, this is where anger had gotten her. More chills traveled down her spine and she pressed her body into him. She kept her voice low and tilted her head back against him to make sure he could hear her. “Fine. You have me here now. What do you want from me? What do you expect me to tell you?”
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Post by Nathaniel Bernhardt on Dec 28, 2008 15:35:22 GMT -5
And damn the woman to the lowest levels of hell for making it even harder to ignore. She pressed back into him and spoke in a low voice that sounded far too sultry in that tone of voice. Her body fit far too well with his and pulled every purely masculine instinct he had to the surface.
It was easy to justify his hands sliding forward over her flat belly as she leaned back into him, but he had to close his eyes against the overwhelming sensations coursing through his own body. No woman had ever affected him this much, even after a long dry spell. They were always lacking something: passion, intelligence, committment to anything beyond their looks.
The change in her demeanor was too sudden though, and as much as Nathaniel wanted to believe that this Kino Makoto was overwhelmed by his good looks and had to give herself to him right then and there, he had to deny that particular idea. The left side of his jaw was a rather good reminder of why, as well.
However, now that she had put him on the spot with those questions and his reactions to her body, he didn't quite know what to say to her. "I just want to know why you, this, feels so fucking familiar." His voice was still low and harsh, but for different reasons than merely being out of breath.
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Post by Kino Makoto on Dec 28, 2008 16:03:50 GMT -5
‘Ok, wrong move’ she thought to herself as she felt his arms shift around her and his hands now pressing against her stomach. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think of a way, any way, to get out of this. All she could register was the throbbing pain in her head and the nagging tingling sensation through the rest of her body at the warmth of his touch.
She still hadn’t made any progress with a plan as he spoke again. More chills down her back, and she didn’t think she could take much more of this without melting into a puddle right here in the middle of this alley. Makoto replied as best, and as honestly as she could. “I can’t answer that because I don’t know why. I know that you’re here, I know that I have a headache that is rather painful, and I know that it only happens when you’re around. I can’t tell you any more than that.” It was then that she remembered…Rei wanted to meet with him again. If Mako could get out of this and pawn him off onto Rei, well then that’s what she was going to do. She craned her neck up to look at him. “Though I know someone who might, if you’d be willing to try her again.”
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