Let's Burlesque! [Athena]

[Cosimo Alessi (DELETED 6612)]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Athena> It wasn’t often now that she spent anytime at home. She was either at work, with her Cosimo or with her siress and maybe the woman’s boyfriend. Well, her soon -to be- husband to be exact. For the most part she carried her bag around and kept essentials at Cosimo’s apartment. The woman practically lived there. While she didn’t officially, she slept by his side as often as possible, trying to spend as much time with him despite the fact that she had two jobs. Nothing nor noone in her lifetime had ever made her slow down but with her love for Cosimo she had given up at least one of her previous three jobs. She no longer worked at the bar in a little hole in the wall club, a place for local bands to rock out. Instead, she would occasionally show up to help her friends bartend or to even just hang out while Cosimo needed space to perfect his thieving. She was a distraction he said.

She would say the same about him. They had a routine down. Athena always did yoga in the early night hours while Cosimo still slept. While she danced, stretched, and moved Cosimo would be sound asleep. On nights like these. The nights that she didn’t work at the auto shop but instead the burlesque club she would have to leave him with just a lipstick kiss and a love note on his nightstand. She assumed that he would simply assume that she was working under a car, or she was running off to do her own thing as she so often did. Never did it occur to her to open up about her little secret. A secret that she was mistakenly secure would be kept and all her own. Athena never thought to cover her tracks.

<Cosimo Alessi> Athena was right. Cosimo most often assumed that she was at the garage, if she wasn’t with him. Either that, or with her family - none of whom he had met yet. He didn’t know whether he should be offended, or put-off. But it was still early in their relationship, and otherwise, these things were not a requirement. He didn’t spend too much of his time overthinking it; when he was in Athena’s company, all such things seemed not to matter. So long as she was by his side.

He had, of course, noticed how often she came to stay. Where once her sleepovers were scattered, now she may as well live there. As Cosimo rolled over to the note on the nightstand, he played with the idea. It wasn’t formal. But maybe he should make it formal? Maybe he should ask her? Would she…? Even if she did seem fond of her current housemate. It was something he could throw on the table.

As he showered and dressed, the idea continued to niggle at the back of his brain; he decided he’d go and see Athena. Surprise her at the garage. There were a couple of records he picked up on the way - he’d ordered them in especially. Records he thought Athena might like. Except, when he got the garage, she was not there; he asked at the front desk if they knew whether she’d been in, or whether she was due in later - one of them mentioned something about a club. Handed Cosimo a card. They seemed uncertain, but they said Athena had left the card behind. And there was something that she had said that made them think it was a place she went regularly.

So, perplexed, Cosimo found himself back on the street and catching a train; getting off in a busier district of the town, and making his way into the Burlesque club. He stopped just inside the door; the place was thriving with customers. He stood to the side and took stock of his surroundings. If she was here… where would she be?

<Athena> It was a long story if you ever asked her why she would end up in a Burlesque club willingly. Why, even when she would most surely slap a man for looking at her too long why she’d let them now. Why, after being faithful to one man and then only opening up to one other man after years and many tears later, she’d allow strangers to pay to watch her dance around half naked on a stage. The woman was an artist in her own right. She played the drums, if she wanted she could even draw or paint. But this is how she choose to express herself. Her drums and her dance. It was the way that both activities allowed her to feel the music vibrate throughout her entire body. The energy. That’s what Athena thrived on. It was what motivated her soul. It kept her trucking on forward.

And trucking on forward is what Athena did best. When Cosimo arrived at the club Athena was already on the stage. The place was crowded, it was dark, but the stage was lit just enough. The atmosphere was casual despite the crowd of men there. Businessmen that probably shouldn’t be there where infact there and intently watching while they enjoyed their beverages. It was smoky and dim but the place was just right for the entertainment. And just right for the woman dancing on stage. The music was loud, it bumped throughout the classy [ despite maybe the entertainment ] club and you could feel it move deep in your chest. The song? Ironically it was a song that Athena had requested for her group to dance to. It spoke to her. It was most assumed that the drummer in her only allowed her to like heavy metal and the like but the song she choose to danced to? It was quite the opposite. Beyonce’- Partition blared throughout the club’s surrounding speakers and a blonde dancing on stage was most certainly Athena.

<Cosimo Alessi> The first thing that Cosimo noticed was the music. He wondered why Athena would come to a place that played music that was just… not like her. Maybe she was meeting someone? But the employee at the garage had said it sounded like she came here often… A friend, maybe? Maybe one of her family members worked here? Cosimo started to move toward the bar, where he’d ask the bartender, see if he could find anything out. Although he glanced toward the stage, it was only to clarify that he was, in fact, in a place where he would never go. He may have, in the past. But now? There was no point. Even if he wasn’t with Athena, it made no sense. The female body didn’t anything for him. Unless it was Athena’s, he’d realised.

And that’s what made him look twice. The blonde on the stage was familiar. Too familiar. At first it was the blonde hair that he didn’t notice - he was still getting used to it on Athena. But the body? He would recognise that body anywhere.

He waited until she was facing the room - and there was no doubt. His heart, though unbeating, sunk to his gut. His mouth fell open, and his immediate urge was to leap up onto the stage and wrap his jacket around her. Haul her out the back and ask her what the hell she thought she was playing at. There were too many bouncers, though. Too many thick-set men who’d stop him before he even hit the first step.

So instead, he readjusted his course and shoved and pushed his way through the men; there was a space at the front. Toward the side of the stage that Athena was currently headed toward. He stood in her line of vision, shifted, until there was no way she couldn’t not see him. Only when he felt her eyes on him did he lift his arms, palms spread upward in a violently inquisitive shrug. His mouth hung open, still - and his eyes looked like they were about to fall right out of his skull.

<Athena> Athena would never have thought in a million and one nights that Cosimo would find her here. That he would find her under the line of vision of men she didn’t know just watching to see her body move. To sexualize her further than she was already doing to herself with every move she made. To see the beads of her corset sway with every move that she made. The matching ruffled underwear tight, barely even there while she worked those long legs of hers. While there were strict lines that even she wouldn’t cross on this stage the dance matched the song. Every pop, lock, and groove of her body went with the beat of the song and nothing about it was homesome. Athena couldn’t sing, she didn’t even like to lip-sync so when it came to formation Athena wasn’t the attraction but she was infact the main dancer. This much was obvious with how much skill she expressed with every little move she made.

When she finally saw Cosimo she was too deep in. There was nothing that she could do- while they were near the end of the song she couldn’t just stop now. The dance had to go on. It had to be danced to the very last second. Well, maybe it wasn’t that she couldn’t- it was that she wouldn’t stop. Her embarrassment was only obvious with the quick but spare guilty look she spared her lover. After that, she continued like the professional she was when she was working. Instead, while they were at the raciest part of both the song and her dance she and the small group of girls moved to the smaller stage that occupied a space by the bigger one decorated with bars for the women to dance with. Despite her uncharacteristic shame, despite everything she was pushing down she grabbed onto those bars and just like the song and the dance called for- she used the poles to her advantage. The way she moved, the way she’d sway her ***, her hips, using the pole to shamelessly insinuate features of her body. Using her hands, the beat of the song, it was all about sex with this dance. If you could call the way she was moving dancin at all.


<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo watched. He was too shocked to do anything but watch. To follow Athena with his eyes, his feet soon following. As if he wanted to shout at her from the audience and demand some kind of answer. How long had they been together? Why hadn’t she told him about this? Was he confused… no, was he angry because she’d kept something from him, or was it because of what she was doing? When she started to dance with that pole as if it were giving her the best sex she’d ever had… no, it was when the man next to Cosimo wolf-whistled at Athena, he realised he was just a little pissed off about the action, not about the secret. Maybe it was a bit of both.

Before Cosimo could even think about what he was doing, he’d laid a hand on the guy’s shoulder. Confused, inquisitive, the guy turned to Cosimo; he was wearing a suit. He was half balding. Young, but old. Cosimo could smell the sweat on him, the long day at work. The arousal. Could one smell arousal on another person? Didn’t matter. It was there. Within half a second, Cosimo had completely wiped that confused, pleased look from the human’s face. He did so with his knuckles. He even felt the satisfying crack of a nose breaking.

Yeah, there were other women on the stage. But Cosimo was taking this personal. He couldn’t see any of the other women. He had eyes only for Athena, as if she were the only one up there. All these men were looking at her, and only her.

The suit man’s buddies shouted; they surged, coming for Cosimo like a herd of angry gnats. For all of his seeming sweetness, Cosimo’s past was dotted with violence. To assume that the lanky, smiling Italian did not know how to defend himself would be a mistake. He was doing quite well, too - there were at least three man writing on the ground before the bouncers finally got there, using their brutish height and strength to haul Cosimo away. He shouted at them in abrasive Italian, finally shaking them off and telling them he’d find his own way out.

<Athena> It wasn’t her crushing guilt that had her look over at Cosimo again while the song ended. No, it was the sounds that were suddenly just as loud as the music. The sounds of a fight and automatically she just wanted to see that he was okay. That’s when she saw Cosimo. Her once smiling, her naturally happy and her loving Italian being escorted towards the exit by the club's bouncers. Only seemingly after him getting into a fight. Athena panicked and she didn’t exit along with the other dancers. No, not exiting the stages as what’s appropriate instead she let go of the pole’s she was dancing with and ran down the stairs towards the club’s main floor area. This was the exact reason the girl’s who danced here were always encouraged not to bring their partners around. The jealousy. But Athena never before now would have pegged Cosimo as a jealous partner. Infact, she could and had been jealous enough for the both of them even over the simplest of things sometimes. At the very least, her love for Cosimo wouldn’t be questioned most of the time.

With every hit of her heels on the ground, she was walking faster. The outfit of hers didn’t slow her down, the looks from both the customers and her coworkers didn’t slow her down. Athena made quick work of closing the distance between herself and her life partner. “Cosimo!” she shouted, her blue eyes wide on him while her hand stretched out to seek his out. Was he okay? Athena was still panicking that he was hurt, that he wasn’t okay and this would be all her fault.

<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo was nearly at the door when Athena reached him. He was forced to stop when her hand slipped around his. He reacted without thinking, without even knowing what he was doing - he pulled his hand away, as if he had no idea who the person was who tried to take it. The bouncers were still lingering - still trying to escort the Italian from the building. They didn’t want his sort there - the kind that started brawls.

When he turned, there was not a scratch on him. The men he’d been fighting with were not fighters. They were bankers, or accountants. They were men who fought with words or numbers rather than with their fists or their bodies, and they had no chance against a vampire. They were the ones who suffered. Cosimo even vaguely remembered breaking a wrist.

Before Cosimo could say a word, he was nudged by one of the bouncers. “Take it outside, man,” he said. Cosimo’s mouth snapped shut. What was he about to say, anyway? There was too much to say. Too many questions. It wasn’t just this. It built, from the small things. The family he had not met. The housemate he had not met. The house he was never invited to. Now this. What else was she hiding from him? Why? He shook his head and continued toward the exit. Out on the pavement, the wind, slightly chilled, blasted his skin. He gulped it into his lungs, wanting to rid himself of the scent of the club, and all its sweaty, aroused men.

<Athena> Athena would never be able to deny how badly his rejection hurt. It was written on her face. It was the way she paused and stood there like he just had turned and slapped her across the face instead. That he didn't just pull his hand away from hers - just like she rightfully deserved. While she stood there frozen she didn't hear the bouncer talk. The new song that was playing. Smell the smoke in the air. Or even see anything else around her but the view of Cosimo walking out. Her lips parted for a moment and she thought she was going to scream something but instead her lips quickly closed and she was struggling not to cry. Athena was silent. Closing her eyes tightly for a moment she calmed herself and despite everything she ran after him again. With a tone she never used, she found herself near her lover and she begged. "Cosimo, please." But what was she begging for? Her unbeating heart sank to the bottom of her stiletto's and felt suddenly lost to her. Just like the solution to this. How badly had she fucked up this time? Even she wasn't sure.

<Cosimo Alessi> As soon as he heard the stilettos on the cement, Cosimo began to remove his jacket. A gaggle of party-goers were passing the club at the same time - he could see the way they were looking at Athena appreciatively, even though Cosimo wasn’t yet facing her. A growl rumbled in his throat as he turned around, immediately wrapping the heavy trench around Athena’s shoulders. It looked ridiculous. It was far too big for her. But at least it covered her up.

“What else are you hiding from me?” he asked. It was the pertinent question, wasn’t it? “I went to the garage. They gave me a card. I came here. I did not expect…” somewhere in the back of his mind he recalled the records he had bought. They were no longer in his hand. He had dropped them somewhere inside. A sigh huffed from his nose, his chin tucking toward his chest as he roughly pushed his fingers through his hair.

“Why?” he asked. “Why…?” he asked again. Like they were supposed to be two different questions but he was too flustered to form them properly. Now they were getting looks for a completely different reason, but this was far preferable in Cosimo’s opinion. Why. It summed up every question that he had in one small word. He bit his tongue to keep from attacking Athena with a barrage of meaningless sentences; instead he waited for her response.

<Athena> He put his jacket around her and she didn't even notice others looking at her. The fabric hitting her bare shoulders brought her crashing back to reality. Just like he only had eyes for her she only had eyes for him. Even if she did just finish dancing in front of a bunch of strange sweaty aroused men. But she heard that growl that left him and that was the only clue that tipped her off. Oh. Her face flushed with further embarrassment and she just stared up at him with pleading blue eyes. She was already begging him in her heart not to leave her. She loved him. And in that moment, she realized how much that really meant. That she needed him too.

Athena swallowed down hard at the questions. The first hitting her much like his rejection did. Hard and unforgiving. With another hard swallow she listened to his repeat of questions and she wanted the night to engulf her and then lose her. Her lips parted and still she didn't know what to say. Where did she even start with something like this? Keeping down a pathetic whimper for just all of this to go away she answer him. "I'm not hiding anything else from you, Cosimo." While it wasn't exactly her intention to keep something of this size from him. She did. Unblinking and without guilt before. Why? It was a valid question but her answer just wasn't good enough and even she knew it. "I. . I like to dance, Cosimo. I. . . Everybody has a way of expressing themselves sexually without their partner. This is mine." What did that even mean? Even if she wasn't totally sure, she sure did hope to God that Cosimo understood. Otherwise? She was fucked and certainly not in the good way.

<Cosimo Alessi> The answers that she gave were in no way satisfactory. He wanted to believe that she wasn’t hiding anything else from him, but in that moment it was hard. At the tail end of discovering a secret, it was hard to believe that there couldn’t be more. But he didn’t question her any further on that point. He was far too distracted by the rest of her answer.

“Everybody… that is ****! I do not express myself sexually with anyone but you. What I do with my sex is no one’s business but yours!” he says. It crosses his mind that Athena will have had this job before Cosimo was in the picture. That before, this was her only way to express herself sexually, and maybe it was something that she needed. But now, all he can think about are other men’s eyes, and how much he wants to go back into that club and poke them all out with a barbeque skewer. He was waving his hands around, his anger visible in his body just as it was detectable in his tone. But, the jealousy seemed only to be secondary; his mind kept pulling him back around to the other question. Why.

“Why did you keep it from me?” he asked. Maybe his reaction was the answer. She didn’t want him to be angry. But he would have been far less angry if he at least been warned. Far less aggressively jealous if he’d known never to walk into the club in the first place.

<Athena> She knew that for now her first answer was empty to him. Of course, she didn't expect him to believe her right now. Maybe she did have more secrets that she just didn't give a second thought about. Ones that would end them up at this point again. Something that Athena both thought harmless and hadn't even thought out thoroughly being something she should have. And ending devastatingly with Cosimo angry at her again. Maybe her answer wasn't something that he wanted to hear or even the right thing to say but she stood by it. It was the only way she outwardly expressed her sexuality without making love to Cosimo.

If he asked she would have told him that he was right. She had worked here long before she met him. That while her fiancé had been gone she was still a woman with needs. "It is not ****!" Athena shouted back, suddenly finding her voice. "It is not **** that people express themselves sexually. It's human nature, Cosimo! If you recall before you- I didn't make love to anyone. I had only been with Hunter and I thought I would die that way. Then I met you. Then I fell for you. I make love to you, to only you Cosimo. You know it too. I don't usually let men watch me. How did I react to you touching me before I wanted you to? I'll answer for you! Badly!" Her voice was raising, and her little body was shaking despite how broken she felt. Her hands were waving too, she wasn't angry. In fact, she didn't even know what she was. But she was on the verge of tears. Was he going to leave her? She didn't know. But then he asked her why again and her answer came without thought.

"Shame!" She shouted, those big blues wide on his face as they glistened. Athena felt shame.

<Cosimo Alessi> “It is ****! It is true for you, maybe, but it is not true for everybody,” he said. There was no argument if it was how she felt. He couldn’t tell her that he reasons were wrong when she so thoroughly felt them. But he could argue that he didn’t like it. It didn’t matter why she did it - he didn’t like it. He fought with himself, chewing on his tongue to keep from saying it out loud. If she still felt the need to express herself sexually beyond him, was he somehow not enough? Was he not giving her enough?

“It is your job. You do not usually let men watch you? They are in there all of them, and they have watched you. How many nights a week do you let them watch you? Do they come back? Are they regulars? Do they know you by name?” he asked, the questions now coming thick and fast. How could they not? The more he thought about it, the more questions he had. He shook his head. Even though the wideness of her eyes and the heavy tone of her voice told Cosimo that she was telling the truth about her shame, Cosimo still struggled to understand.

“How can you be ashamed? If you are ashamed then why do you come back?” he asked. He was perplexed. It didn’t occur to him that her shame extended only to him. He was finding it hard to wrap his head around all of it, so it was hard to be sure of anything. It was hard to understand, most of all.

<Athena> "Oh, are you trying to win this argument by lying to me?!" Athena gasped, looking rather shocked by this. "You are so full of **** right now! You cannot tell me before me you didn't **** every ***** who would have let you. You couldn't even tell me names, Cosimo! Please do not act like you didn't once express yourself sexually in some way before this happened to you." Now she felt guilty. It was the first time she addressed this with him with anything but absolute understanding and positivity. But she was no fool. He was a good looking man. It was no secret that he had women. It was no secret that he had slept with a bunch more people than she could even manage to imagine. Not that she thought it was a large amount. But because she was much too jealous to address this fact before now.

His sudden rush of questions had her stutter for a moment. Which question to answer first? She at least knew that she needed to answer them all. He deserved that and much more. "Three nights a week at most." When she paused, it was to register another question. To give her a moment to answer him while he simply asked another. "Yes, they come back, Cosimo. It's not always to see me but they do come back." Sighing, her hands raised to rub her palm over her cheeks. "Yes, they are regulars and yes they know my name..." She pressed her lips together. That happened before she met Cosimo but she would surely pay for it now. "I am only ashamed because it is you, Cosimo. I don't much care for what other people think of me shaking my ***." Maybe she was baiting him with that last comment but she knew it. She knew what she was doing and that was mostly it. Shaking it.

<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo scoffed. He was not trying to win any kind of argument, but nor was he forming his words quite right. He lost his grip on the language a little when he was angry, or emotional.

“Yes. Yes I expressed myself sexually with other women,” he said, not as crude as telling her that he had fucked them, whether it was true or not. “Because I agree. It is natural for people to express themselves sexually,” he added. His fingers had curled and then stretched, his lungs snatching a breath. No. This had happened to him, this thing, and if he didn’t have Athena he wouldn’t be expressing himself anyway. He wouldn’t even think of it. He hadn’t even thought of it, except when he thought it might deprive Athena of something she needed.

Which, clearly it was something that she needed.

“Even if I were not… even if I…” he couldn’t even say it out loud. But he knew that Athena would know what he was referring to. “I am with you. I would not go have sex with other women because I felt like I needed to… express myself more. That would make you feel like you were not enough,” he said. No, he couldn’t really make the comparison. Athena wasn’t sleeping with other man, but the argument was still there. His jaw had clenched.

“Why are you ashamed only because it is me? It is because you think that I will not like it? If it is something that you enjoy then it is something that I will accept but I do not accept that it is because you… you cannot… express yourself enough with me,” he said. He frowned. He hadn’t wanted to say it, but it has slipped out. He reached up, his hands resting either side of Athena’s neck, thumbs grazing at her jawline. “I care most because there is not a single thing that you do not know about me! Not one single thing, and some nights you make me feel like I do not know you at all.”

<Athena> She knew that she was the one to bring up the other women. It was only to make light that everyone is sexual even if in their own way. But of course, it pissed her off. For a moment she was blinded by green. When the fog lifted she was sucking a deep breath of crisp night air into her lungs. Letting out the breath she no longer needed calmed her enough to continue without a hot rage.

Now she felt like he was saying that she was off ******* these men. That was never the case, it would never be the case. If anything, this night helped her realize how much she loved him. And just how much she needed him. "I am not sleeping with anyone else but you. You are enough for me, Cosimo. Our.. It's enough for me." Letting out a desperate sigh, she silently begged him to find some spark of understanding. But did she even understand? When he made the comment that she couldn't express herself sexually with him enough it brought a guilt on her that crushed what was left untouched.

Now the tears brimmed her baby blue eyes and she whimpered. "I do express myself enough with you, Cosimo. I know that I may not.." Trailing off, she wasn't sure how to express herself. Her hands raised then, covering over his as he held onto her. Blonde head tipped back, her watering blues on his face still. "But you know me better than anyone else in this world, Cosimo. I'm trying but I'm terrified! I can't lose myself in a man again." And while she was struggling to find a middle to be the open person that he needed and being her own woman - she finally let the tears fall.

<Cosimo Alessi> It should not have bothered Cosimo that Athena wanted her independence, but there was only one way his brain was allowing him to compute her words. Everything that she had said before disappeared, morphing into a loud, indecipherable buzz in the back of his head. Although he still held her, his grip slackened. Rather than holding her, his hands merely rested against her skin, as if some kind of vital energy had been sapped from him. A quick glance assured him that where once there had been an engagement ring, there was none now. Of that, he could at least be happy. The small circle of metal had created a barrier that Athena may not have been aware of, and which Cosimo felt no need to mention now that it was gone. But this admission of hers? It created a new barrier. An invisible one. Something much more deadly.

His head bowed as he let out a slow breath. All the fight had left him. She did not want to lose herself in a man again. Here, Cosimo felt like he was losing himself in Athena. He knew that he was avoiding other obligations to be with her. He didn’t see his family as much anymore, for one. The only progeny he heard from was Juniper, and she always seemed to happy to hear from him, because it was always so long in between. Maybe he had it wrong. Maybe that wasn’t the point of relationships. But now Cosimo would always think that Athena was holding something back. That she was wearing invisible armour to protect herself from him. That was her prerogative; she had hurt in the past, and Cosimo couldn’t demand that she act in any other way. So instead he smiled. It was a sad smile, but he tried to make it look happy. He pressed a light kiss to Athena’s lips and swiped at her tears with his thumbs.

“You will wreck your make-up,” he said, admiring the costume - what he could see of it - for the first time. He had to be happy that she had given as much to him as she already had. He had to be overjoyed that he knew her better than anyone else. “I bought you some records. They are… I think I dropped them, inside,” he said. “I do not think they will let me back in. Maybe you can look for them,” he said. He didn’t want to argue anymore.

[Athena (DELETED 6736)]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--


<Athena> She knew what brought on this sudden silence. After all, it was something that hadn't been said out loud before. It was something that terrified her so deeply that she would run however far to stay away from it. That she would sacrifice everything to just have that part of herself that years before had been lost. She knew he wanted it. She knew it was something terrible to say to a man who loved so deeply. But she had because no matter what she was honest. It didn't take that long for her brain to make the connection. To go from arguing to nothing at all. It seemed to be a vicious pattern in their relationship. The more he knew the less he liked. Athena was a creature all her own. Maybe that was it. Maybe she had already been completely understood before and now she was forced to work for it. But would she ever achieve it again?

He had kept asking her why and suddenly she wanted to ask him why. Why did his hands slack under hers, why did he just look deflated? Why? Why? Why? But most of all why was she not enough. It was normal in her opinion to not want to go through that pain again. The pain of absolute loss. He had witnessed it. Hadn't he? At least some of it for certain. It had left Athena more than broken. But with Cosimo in her life she felt more like herself. She was healing, but he wanted something that she couldn't give him. All of her. Every single bit. She simply wouldn't. Athena had worked years to get herself back to this point where she could be herself and smile again. It was hell to get herself to admit to loving him but here it was.

You'll wreck your makeup. The words made her laugh and suddenly she was taking a step backwards even as she continued to cry. The sound of her laugh was just as broken as she was. Her hands lifted to wipe her own tears now as she stared hard over towards him. "Thank you, I'll... I'll... " her head shook, her blonde locks swaying with the action. "I'm going back in and.. Going to my place." Her head continued to shake, as if she couldn't even believe what was happening right now. With her hands moving from her wet face she peeled off his jacket to hand it back to him. "Thank you." But while her eyes had been trained to his face before - she couldn't look into his face now.

<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo reached out for his jacket, but his fingers didn’t close around the fabric. The way she suddenly stepped away from him concerned him, but he was strong in his opinions. In the way that she made him feel. He didn’t ask himself whether he had said something wrong, when it was she who had slammed that wall down between them. At least for the time being. She had laughed and he thought it might be okay, but then she said she was going back to her place. At least if he didn’t take his jacket, she had a reason to keep standing there.

There it was. Another secret she kept when she said there was nothing else. He still didn’t know where this place of hers was. But he hadn’t really pushed it, either. He didn’t mention it, now. Another night, maybe, and he’d see how she reacted. It felt as if something twisted painfully in his chest when she said the words; Going to my place. They sounded exactly like don’t want to lose myself in another man. Had this encounter reminded her that she was getting too close?

“I actually came to look for you tonight to…” he stopped. It was ironic, really. He’d come to ask her to move in with him officially but he didn’t ask it, now. Wouldn’t, because he knew what the answer would be. But he wasn’t the kind of man to act sullen when hurt. Even if there was a knife sticking out of his chest, he rounded his shoulders and put on a brave face. He still loved Athena. She couldn’t stop him from loving her, regardless of how many secrets she might have. He wouldn’t give up. It was still early days in their relationship. How could he expect her to have lost herself already? There was still time. Never say never.

When he grabbed his jacket, he tugged at it and closed the gap between them again. His fingers curled under Athena’s chin and he forced her to look at him. To look into his eyes so that she knew he was telling the truth. “I love you. I want you to come back to my place. I am going home now. And I will stay there. But if you want… if you want some distance, that is okay too. But I do love you. I wish you did not keep this from me, but I still love you. You… look beautiful,” he said, referring to the outfit. He could not deny it. It had to be said. He would not leave her, crying on the side of the street. That was not his way.

<Athena> In her opinion she didn't have anymore secrets other than the one he busted tonight. It wasn't a secret who her family was, or where she slept, or even who her housemate was. He figured that he would ask another time but he never asked her these questions. Not for real. These answers wouldn't be kept if she understood how much he really needed to know. Athena wasn't the queen at communication and this was key to seeing that. But she loved him. She really truly did so when she didn't understand where this distance was - it ultimately terrified her more. It made her want to create the distance between them. That's how she figured she'd keep some balance.

She didn't even ask what the point of tonight had been before. What good would that do anyways? Hadn't she ruined it by simply being her? She had. Nothing he had planned for tonight would end right. Not now. Not after all this. Letting out a sigh she kept his jacket stretched out for him to take. She didn't want it. She didn't want any sort of excuse to go see him or for him to come see her. It didn't sound like something she wanted right now. In her head, she wasn't enough for him. No excuse of having his jacket would make her go see him until she was ready to face that.

His hands touched her and she gasped gently in her surprise. She hadn't seen that coming and she stumbled against his chest, her head tipped back to look up at him again. "I love you too." Her voice was rough before she cleared her clenched throat. It was sore now with her tears and how upset she was. He mentioned that he was going home. Then he said he wanted her to go too. But. "Why do you want me to go home with you?" She asked this, her eyes lowering from his to find his chin. That she could look at. Right now she didn't care if he thought she looked beautiful because as of right now she felt as beautiful as a backwoods whore.

<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo continued to hold on to the jacket, even as he looped his arm around Athena’s waist. It was the natural thing to do - the thing that he did by habit. People weren’t looking at them so much anymore. And Cosimo relaxed, seeing that Athena wasn’t crying anymore. Not as much. Was she? She asked her question and Cosimo stared, unseeing, at another couple as they passed by. He hadn’t thought about why he wanted her to come home. He just knew it was what he wanted.

“If it was up to me, it would not be my place. It would be our place,” he started. It wasn’t asking her. It was just a statement. But it wasn’t up to him. It was up to them, and he didn’t think that Athena would do anything that big just because he wanted it. Sure, she might wear her silk pyjamas when he requested it, but those were pyjamas. Not a change in the structure of her life.

“Because… while you do not want to lose yourself in a man again, I have never lost myself in a woman before you. Because… if you do not come home tonight, to me, I will feel like I am losing you. And I do not want to lose you,” he said, slowly. Yes, that was it. That was the reason, mainly. There were other reasons, too. An argument on a street was not a discussion. They hurled words at each other in haste. They could each have their time apart, but not too much. They could come back together when they were calmer, and when they could discuss things without yelling. He sighed.

“We will always argue. But we will always work it out, because I will not walk away from you,” he said. He could have. Once he was thrown from the building he could have just kept walking, and he could have ignored Athena’s pleas. He could have stayed angry. But he had waited. Because he did not want to lose her.

<Athena> No, she wasn't crying as much. It was a steady stream of tears now at this point. She couldn't help it though, she just felt so broken up and beaten and it wasn't entirely Cosimo's fault. Athena knew that he had his points and his reasons. He was allowed to be his own man and have his opinions.

She had asked him why he wanted her to go home with him. His answer? Just like always, even if he didn't understand or even notice melted her. It made her tears stop. Sure, they would always be different from each other but the love was solid. It was real. He didn't know how much him simply wanting something from her made her bend. Even if things were strange, even if she was trying for distance her heart jumped at the idea of it being 'their place.' That she would always have him there to greet when she got home. That she would never sleep alone again. No matter what he would be near. It didn't occur until then that she wanted that to. That security just as much as she wanted her own space. Was any of this normal? She didn't know. She couldn't say. But to her? It was.

"Oh," she said, laughing at herself straight after. That's the best response she had? Oh? Seriously? Licking over her dry lips she raised her hands to find his hands. To squeeze them in her own. God, didn't he know that despite her need for independence that seemingly her need for him win more than not? Didn't he know? It took her a awkward silence to try to respond again. "You won't lose me...I can't even walk away from you now." She was crying again now, a steady stream of cold wet tears. "Yes, I may not want to be lost in you anymore than I am now but... But I love you so much, Cosimo. Please, if nothing, know that."

<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo fussed over Athena’s tears. With his hands in hers, he could do nothing but kiss them away, tasting the salty wetness on his lips. The centre of his forehead creased as he frowned. “I do know that. I know that,” he said, his fingers rubbing at the bare space where she’d worn that ring for so long; he acted without thinking, but it was one of the reasons he knew. She had said it, yes, but it was there in her actions, too.

“You will be in trouble if you do not walk away,” he said. Now he was smiling. Almost laughing. They were at an impasse. “But if you keep crying, I will not walk away,” he said. Their hands were all caught up together. Though neither of them emitted any heat, they might look to all the world like a couple using each other to shield the chill of the wind. Not nearly as cold as it was going to get. Winter was not yet here. He canted his head to the side and lifted her knuckles to his lips.

“I will not ask you to quit your job and you do not have to come with me immediately. I will… try not to think of other men imagining you in their beds. But I will be at home waiting for you, if you will come,” he said. He was giving her the option. He would not beg. He would not make her feel guilty. If she wanted space, and time, he would give it to her even though the distance hurt. When he smiled at her now, it was a confident smile, rather than a sad one. How did the saying go? If you fall off the horse, you have to get back up again? Cosimo would always get back up again. The fight had been knocked out of him earlier but it was back again, now. He was severely optimistic.

“It does not matter,” he clarified. “I have more of you than anyone else does. Si? That is enough,” he said with a nod.

<Athena> He kissed her tears away and she melted further. Wet blue eyes closed and she enjoyed the feeling of his forehead against her own. He said that he knew that she loved him and that's exactly what she needed to hear. She did love him. She loved him so fiercely that sometimes it hurt. With his fingertips running over the skin of her ring finger she understood at least a little more now. Oh. Letting out a sigh she vowed to think more on that later. It could wait. Maybe she could even ask when they both made it home. But suddenly, the thought of leaving here without him with her made her crazy.

She'd be in trouble if she didn't walk away? Oh, she'd beg for some good sort of trouble right about now. Anything to make her stop feeling so thoroughly upset. "Just... Take me home, Cosimo." She laughed too, it was light and little but it was there. His kisses to her knuckles made her lips spread into a loving smile. Clearing her throat when he was done speaking, she managed to smile widely up at him. "So instead of imaging other men imagining me in bed why don't you take me to our bed... And instead of imagining something is happening..." Trailing off, she took a timidly and tiny step closer to her partner. Her blues on his face now, she wanted to show him more now than ever how much she loved him. In every way possible. Maybe he didn't demand that she quit but she would anyway. But her focus right now was loving Cosimo.


<Cosimo Alessi> His intention was not to come and steal Athena away from her job. He knew how hard she worked; she knew the kind of ethic that she stuck to, and it was one of the things he loved about her (even if he hated that it meant more time away from her). He imagined that she would go inside and finish her shift, and he would meet her later. In the very least, if she was going to leave now - didn’t she have things she should get? A change of clothes? He’d never seen her in one of these outfits before, so he knew she didn’t wear them home. Unless she always made sure to go to her place first.

“Will you come home and dance for me?” he said, that mischievous glint lighting up his eyes. “We do not have any poles that you can twirl but it is probably for the better. I might get jealous of it,” he said, laughing a little. He didn’t realise that he’d said ‘we’. As if he already thought of the place as theirs, anyway.

“Do you not have to go and get your things? And the records…” he thought. The thought was voiced out loud, before he realised that, in the grand scheme of things, he didn’t really care about the records anymore. All he knew was that he did want to go home with Athena. And he wanted her to stay dressed as she was, if only because he wanted to get to know her, this way. The Athena that he had not seen yet. This side of her that she had been ashamed to show him, but which she shouldn’t have been. Because despite his initial shock and anger, he knew he would love this part of her just as he loved every other part of her. He would come around, he knew. The other men did not touch her. They did not get to come home to her. They were not surprised by her upon waking up - woken up by her tender touch. They did not get to take her home. Just as Cosimo could take her home now. And of that he could be proud, rather than upset.

<Athena> Maybe it wasn't his intention to steal her away or anything of the like but it was what would happen anyways. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to go home and tangle herself with the man she loved. Work didn't matter at this moment. As weird as that was for her. If he asked her about her things, she would have to tell him that he was right. But no, she didn't go home first and change, she would change at the club before coming home to him. Going back to her place to change would take too much time from being with him.

He wanted her to dance for him. Suddenly, that made her flush as much as she possibly could. Biting down on her lower lip before she laughed, yes, maybe she would dance for him. "Well, we might not have a pole at home but you could sit on a chair..." Looking up at him, she looked just as mischievous before her grin grew shamelessly. "I could dance for you... Or on you."

With that said, she lifted up on her stilettos to kiss his mouth and say. "Yes, I'll go grab the record and my things and meet you at home. I don't have to finish this shift." And even if she did, she wouldn't. At this moment, she couldn't wait to get home and share this with him. Another part of her. A part she hadn't known before that didn't have to bring her shame. Even after his anger, he understood. He even wanted to know.

<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo’s expression twisted, momentarily. Glancing up at the club behind Athena, he imagined her in private rooms with other men, dancing on them. But this wasn’t that kind of place, was it? The girls remained aloof, apart, away from the sticky fingers of the men who wished to touch them, weren’t they? Cosimo didn’t know - he hadn’t looked. He hadn’t done a thorough investigation of the club’s interior. But he had to trust Athena. Hadn’t she flung at him the reminder of how angry she’d been when he dared to touch her the first time? He trusted, then, that there was no touching. Absolutely none.

The expression shifted and Cosimo realised, then, what it was she was offering. Something that she hadn’t given to any other man in a long time; an intimate touch where a few months ago she wouldn’t have dared to come that close to him. There was something luxurious in touch, these days. Something he hadn’t quite noticed before. It wasn’t tacky. It wasn’t always only fuelled by lust. In this instance, with Athena, it implied only connection. A bond that the two of them shared which they allowed no other. His smile spread, and he nodded. It took all his willpower to be able to let go of Athena and step backward, after a lingering kiss to her lips.

“Yes. I will meet you at home. Perhaps I will be waiting in a chair,” he said. From behind Athena, there was a bouncer that Cosimo had not noticed before - a large man, who was standing close enough to have heard the majority of the argument and its ensuing fix. The guy was grinning mildly to himself. Which only made Cosimo laugh - and appreciate, fully, what he had.

<Athena> If he asked, she would have laughed at him. Absolutely would she not go into one of those back rooms even if they had an area for it here. They didn't. She wasn't that type of girl no matter how she was dancing earlier. Athena took pride in who touched her body. That much had to be stinking obvious with how she refused to let anyone touch her. Even Cosimo at the start.

His kiss always made her weak in the knees, especially when he made them linger like that. When he stepped back she could still feel the sweet touch of his against her own. She knew though, that they shouldn't just stand there and kiss all night. That she would have to pull apart from her beloved and take care of a few things without him. But that didn't make her feel any happier about being away from him again. He said that maybe when she got home he'd be waiting in a chair. The grin on her face grew shamelessly and she didn't stop it either. "Good," she said, her hands sliding down the curves of her hips. "I'll make sure not to leave you waiting long.." Trailing off, she took the tiniest step away from him and towards the club again.

"I'll be home shortly, Cosimo. I can't promise that I'll be wearing this much clothing when I dance for you though..." As she spoke, she took a few more steps backwards. Fully knowing no one was behind her. Well, at least directly behind her. She knew of the bouncer and where his spot was. She waited for his response, that grin on her face never faltering for a mere second. Athena knew what she was doing and it thrilled her.


<Cosimo Alessi> Cosimo saw the bouncer arch a brow. Cosimo narrowed his eyes at Athena, silently scolding her for giving the guy such mental images. He didn’t repeat the fact that he wanted to see the way Athena danced dressed as she was; he wanted the whole show. He’d let her do whatever she wanted to do, so long as she came home and did it.

Although his lips parted, all the responses that he could give died on his tongue. In the end he just shook his head. “I will see you soon,” he said. The very last thing that he did was throw his jacket back in her direction - she could either catch it, or it would land over her head. “Please put that on,” he said. He didn’t give her a chance to deny the jacket, or to give it back, or to complain. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and finally tore his gaze away from Athena, headed in the direction of home.

There was a tome that he could use, but it would take him to the Ivory Towers rooftop, and it would still be a walk back to Sanctuary. It hadn’t taken him too long to get here, and it would take him less time to get home. He might have told her that he would wait on the footpath, but he wouldn’t be that guy. As much as he wanted to, he wasn’t going to be the overbearing dictator. He wouldn’t pressure Athena into rushing. He’d already disrupted her shift enough. So he would go home. And he would feed the desperate Artu. The door would be left unlocked, even though Athena had a key. And he was not kidding. When she walked through those doors, she would not find him in bed or in the shower or anywhere else but waiting, patiently, on one of the dining room chairs in the middle of the apartment, facing the front door.

<Athena> He was always scolding her for something or another. She always had the tendency to sneak passed a line when she was being playful. Cosimo didn't always like it so when he narrowed his eyes she rolled her own. As always. He was simply no fun. And so was his response after. It didn't bother her if the whole world knew that she was going to dance for him. But, sometimes when she wasn't being so mischievous she didn't want anyone to know. Not a single other soul of what happens when she made love to Cosimo. She could get it if she really took a second. No one needed to know but them. It was something special, to make love to another person.

He threw the jacket at her and she caught it. Giving a sigh when she looked up at the man only to see his retreating back. Fine, she'd put it on. As she took a small step backward she pivoted. Now turning to face the club as she pulled on Cosimo's jacket. He had said please after all. Without doing a glance at the bouncer she made her way back into the smoky club. The music once again vibrating throughout her chest as she walked to the backstage area. To gather her things, to change before she would search the club's floor every inch to find those records her lover bought for them.

It didn't take her long to find them. Of course, he dropped them when he went to punch that guy in the face. When she found them she smiled to herself, grabbing the records and making her way backstage. After she quit, changed her clothes and walked out of the club without a look back she made quick of her journey home. She thought about what happened between them. That, yes they fought but they always made up. That maybe when she danced for him tonight it would just bring them closer. Make them more intimate. The thought thrilled her.

Athena walked into the apartment, her bag over her shoulder and the records in hand. Closing the door behind her, she locked it. No one needed to come in after her. No one needed to interrupt them besides the damn cat. As she walked further into the apartment, heels clicking on the hardwood she paused at the sight of him. "Oh, Cosimo." She mumbled, blue eyes appreciative of what she saw before her. "Do you want to see me dance?" She asked, slowly shrugging off her bag. As she let it fall to the floor beside her heel, she began to shrug off his jacket too.

<Cosimo Alessi> It was maybe ten minutes that Cosimo had to wait. Maybe twenty. Maybe somewhere in between. Artu wound around Cosimo’s legs, pushing his lithe body up against his master’s calves. Cosimo leaned over and scratched the cat between the ears, the ruffling pat trailing the cat’s body until it reached the bottom of the tail. It always made Cosimo laugh, watching the way the cat thrust his body up into that scratch - one of the places on his own body that he could not reach.

Finding absolutely no entertainment with Cosimo, however, Artu eventually wandered off to curl up in his favourite corner of the couch. Cosimo stayed where he was; he didn’t even have his phone with him. He watched the door, ears perked for the sound of Athena’s arrival. His emotions swayed between anxiety and excitement. It was the way he always felt after an argument. Tense, still, as if there were still things that needed to be explained. They had each said a lot out on that street. The memory of it played over and over in Cosimo’s head. What could he have phrased better? Had he explained himself properly?

They were questions that he could not answer when he heard the door open. When he straightened in that chair, shoulders straight and brows arched. He grinned as she dropped the bags, and as she shedded his jacket. With a quick flick, the hair shifted from his eyes, his hands resting palm down upon his thighs. She looked enchanting; she looked… so different. His Athena, who preferred pants over dresses, who was the least girly girl he had ever met. And now here she was… shimmering.

“Mia piccola strega,” he mumbled with a nod. He was entranced. My little witch. And he meant it in all the best ways, of course. She had cast a spell over him, heart and soul. “Please, yes. Dance for me?”

<Athena> She loved the way she felt when he looked at her. The way he could make goosebumps appear already on her skin just by a simple glance. All earlier thoughts about their argument was gone when she heard his voice. The deep tone that invaded her thoughts and brought her so quickly to her knees. She didn't know what he said all she knew was that she couldn't stop grinning. Never before had she heard these words from him but secretly she was begging for more. But this wasn't for her. This was for them. Letting his jacket fall to the ground of the apartment she slid her hands easily over her curved hips. "I'll dance for you, Cosimo..."

Her blue eyes held his in a deep gaze, her tongue peeking out then to slide over natural full lips. "But not dressed like this," she said, hands moving from her hips to gesture to her attire. She had changed from her outfit before. Instead, she wore her usual low-cut skin tight jeans, a cropped top that left her flat muscled stomach exposed. And on her feet, her worn chunky combat boots she always wore. "I want to give you the entire show... And more.." With the promise of more, she stepped forward to slide into his lap already. Her hands finding his cheeks to cup passionately, mouth kissing the man with all the heat she was going to dance with. "Just let me change.." She whispered, now against his lips.

<Cosimo Alessi> There was a good chance, sometimes, that Cosimo spoke to Athena in Italian just to tease her. He knew that she couldn’t understand him. One day she’ll go out and learn the language and surprise him with it, just to get vengeance. At least, that was something he could imagine Athena doing. But Cosimo wouldn’t complain. And he wasn’t complaining now as she approached and slid so easily onto his lap. The way she kissed him, he wanted more. Ever since he’d left her on the street, he now realised, this was what he had wanted. HIs arms wrapped around her waist, holding her tight as he lost himself in that kiss, his voice rumbling in his throat. A low, appreciative growl. He could stand now, if he wanted to. He could kick away that chair and take Athena down to the ground. In that kiss, he completely forgot about any dance.

When she pulled away, his lips followed hers, not wanting to let them go. He had to blink focus back into his eyes, and he had to force himself to loosen his grip around Athena’s hips. He could have complained; he could have told her to forget about getting changed. To forget about the dance. He might have carried her to the couch. There was no end to his imagination, trying to accommodate all the ways in which he wanted to take her. It was unlike Cosimo, to be so… fuelled. But Athena was his, and his alone. His to touch. His to taste. His to admire, in every single way. Had he been taking that for granted? Had he been completely blind to the admiration she could get from other men? No. Not blind. Just purposefully ignorant. But tonight all his jealousy had come out to play - a raging jealousy that he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt before. Now he knew how it felt.

But he wanted to know Athena, as well as to touch, taste, and admire her. He wanted to learn every facet of her life, and her personality, as well as every facet of her body. So he loosened his grip and let out a breath. “The entire show. Si. Please let me see you…” he said. His tongue felt thick and heavy, unable to form the sentences that he wanted to utter. Maybe later, he’d have wits enough to explain himself properly.

<Athena> Oh, she knew that he spoke to her in Italian just to grind her gears. To say something she didn't understand, to throw her off her game. It was the exact reason why she took her jokes just a little too far. Or, when she'd get a little too frisky with him at times. They both teased each other, she just happened to like her way better.

But then he kissed her back and her world exploded. Behind her closed eyes she saw stars, colors, shapes. Her passion lit just by the man kissing her back. The woman's toes curled in her shoes, her fingernails digging just slightly into the supple flesh of his cheeks. With his grip so tight around her hips, her back arched up and her eyes fluttered open to look into his. It was with just a glance that she recognized the passion in his big blues. She wondered if the man knew how delicious he was. Looking at her like that, with his body so close... His passion only fuiled hers, having a hard time keeping herself from squirming on his lap with just the thought of his skilled fingers on her. And how badly she wanted those fingers right now. Those kisses. The man's body crushing down on hers...

Silently clearing her throat, her mind snapped back into reality with the sound of his voice. Just for a moment, she wanted to hear that growl again instead. She loved being the cause for those sounds.. But he wanted her to dance. And dance she would. "The entire show." She said, kissing him briefly before she continued with a promise. "And more." With his grip loosened, she slid reluctantly from his lap to stand in front of him instead. Her tongue sliding over full lips just from looking at him sitting there.

Unable to help herself, she bent forward and captured the man's lips in a passionate kiss. "I love you," she whispered to him, keeping her hands to herself this time. It was much harder to leave his presence when she was touching him. With a lingering glance, she pivoted on her boots and swayed her way into their bedroom to change. He wanted her to dance and she was ready to make him lose his pants.