The New Dynamic Duo ((Myk))

[Dawn Chekov]

That question, that thought... she had had it many times. Her eyes traveled from the dress and how it looked on her to Myk and that platinum gaze of his that was rather attracting to the eye in general, but in this light, the way it reflected in his eyes. She smiled a bit and tilted her head to the side for a moment before she went to hack the dress back up. "I think about it all the time... What it would be like. To not feel this hunger... to not live in pain. To walk out in the sun or gods forbid... tan!" She said with a slight shiver. It could have been in jest, but in truth, she was terrified of the sun. When one's skin burned and blistered the way hers did in the sun, they tend to fear it. And she did. She feared the sun. But at the same time, she wanted to see it, to feel the warmth.

Sighing just a little she walked over to another rack and pulled out another dress. This one was long and flowed to the ground, it also appeared to look like a tunic in a way. The white fabric was just as pure as snow and just as soft as silk without actually being silk. It slipped through her fingers like sand and was something that she would want to put on right the moment. She smiled to Myk and held it up for his appraisal. "What do you think?"

[Myk]

Dawn had mentioned her condition to the Telepath before and he was the curious type, so he’d done a little research of his own. Myk was the fixer type too. Whenever somebody mentioned that they had a problem, his first instinct was to find a way to solve their problems – regardless of whether or not they’d asked for his help. Myk could sit there and listen and be a good shoulder to cry on, and as much as he understood the workings of psychology and that somehow sharing a problem was halving it, the Telepath never took to half-measures. He was often all or nothing in his approaches. If you had a problem and reported it to Myk, the chances were pretty high that he would look to fix it or fix you. Unfortunately, Porphyria was a genetic condition and wasn’t curable. The symptoms could be managed via specific treatments, but since there were many different kinds of Porphyria and Myk was not a doctor, there was little he could do to help Dawn. Offering her his immortal gift would do nothing for her either, as she pretty much was a Vampire in mortal form. At least Dawn had a certain fate if she remained the way she was, and when death found her, she could finally be at peace. In Myk’s mind, becoming a Vampire would be an eternal nightmare to Dawn. So, what remained in the Telepath’s power was the psychological approach.

“I miss the sun sometimes,” he said in a rather dreamy tone. “I like to watch videos and movies and such to remind myself how it was. But after a while, you start to forget about it and just focus on what you have. It’s all well and good to wish for things, to mourn things, to lament the kind of stuff you never had in the first place, but, what good does it do you in the end?”

The Telepath paused to watch the woman admire the white dress. Pewter eyes honing in on the texture of the fabric and how the light dazzled across it like the skin of some mythical creature. The cold, iridescent shimmer reminded him of diamonds and moonlight. Myk looked to the colour of Dawn’s skin then, how pale like the moon she really was, and how – despite her fondness for the sun she rarely knew – she was a creature of the night through and through. The Telepath smiled fondly and approached Dawn and the dress, brushing the back of his hand against the fabric idly as if to analyse it. The cold and slippery feel was pleasant on the skin, shifting the nature of his smile to something a little cruder.

“I think you look best in moonlight,” Myk offered, lifting those pewter eyes to meet the vast sparkle of her cerulean gaze. “With that complexion, those eyes… the hair…” Myk brushed a hand against her cheek. “The sun doesn’t deserve to even see you. It should miss you, not the other way around.”

[Dawn Chekov]

Everything he had said about morning and lamenting had been a truth she agreed with. It didn't really serve anything but to sadden the soul at times. She nodded to his words and then as he headed her way to look at the dress she held, Dawn watched the way that he seemed to admire the dress in much the same way she had, but it was the way he smiled that brought amusing to her eyes, bringing a playful and responding twinkle to her own gaze. His words though, made her smile grow so that her fangs had been revealed to anyone that looked at her in that moment. There was a reason that she had the symbol of the goddess (the triple moon) tattooed on the inside of her forearms. She loved the night and she loved the moon.

Amusement turned to something harder to read though as he brushed his hand against her cheek, and unlike most people who would pull away from the cold, she leaned into his touch and her smile softened. The words that fell from his lips were practically swoon worthy, and she actually did feel her grip on the dress go lax for a moment, but regained it in the next. That look remained in her eyes, a cross between shock, amusement and clear attraction to him, but still the shock that it was him saying it. Her smile though went from sweet, soft and almost shy to amused once again and almost a playful wickedness that gave her that Cheshire cat appearance.

"Should I try it on?" She asked, her voice coming out in a breathy purr.

[Myk]

Although the Telepath could be accused of flirting in those moments, he wasn’t really flirting. Dawn deserved to hear a compliment, some nice words that would lift her spirits and that was what Myk offered her. There was no mischief or murder in his intent and certainly no deceit. It was true that Myk was a clown and wanted to make people happy at whatever the cost, but lying to them seemed rather like it would do the opposite. Speaking a few kind truths of his observation were certainly more valuable. It seemed to do the trick too, at least for a few moments as Myk was sure he saw her eyes dilate before she tried to sweep all of his kind words and effort aside. Dawn made a cat-like face and Myk retorted with a feline look of his own, only his was definitely more Tom-Cat than Cheshire as she asked him if she should try the dress on.

“Most certainly. Do you think you’ll need a hand?”

Ok, so now he was flirting, but why the hell not? The Telepath was terrible and had few boundaries. He didn’t see a ring on her finger and even if he had, it was all in good fun. She could always tell him to back-off and Myk would do so without a fight. There would only be a problem if Dawn became too attached to his flirting as Myk was the flighty sort, forever running away from getting in too deep with anyone. He always found it safer to be alone – safer for them. Myk didn’t mind getting upset or hurt because he thought he deserved it, but if he genuinely felt affection for someone – and he would have to in order to feel attraction toward them – the last thing Myk would want was to see them hurt because of him. The Telepath understood enough about how dangerous he was to know that he should never be around people for too long. He just hoped Dawn would see that all he was trying to do was protect her from him. In the meantime, however, he could continue to be his care-free and playful self.

[Dawn Chekov]

Dawn smirked and her brow arched ever so slightly at his question. "Hmmmm, I don't think I'll need a hand..." She started, giving him a thoughtful look, biting down on her lower lip, her fang making yet another appearance before she smiled and took hold of his hand, "I could use another set of eyes, after all, you can never trust those evil mirrors." Came the rest of her reply as she gave his hand a tug and started to walk towards the changing room.

There was little to no worry for her that he would do anything at all, let alone anything that she would count as unwanted, so there was literally no fear for her in dragging him along to the dressing rooms. Hell, she was willing to bet that he would opt for sitting in the little waiting room that was just in front of the curtained areas, rather than follow her behind the curtain. Pay no attention to the crazy little blood thief behind the curtain, her mind said to herself as she continued to let her eyes glance around the shop.

Even though she was trying on this first dress, there were sure to be more that she would like to try on. And because this shop catered to both sexes, she wouldn't blame him if he didn't follow her at all after the initial tug on his hand. It wasn't like she would make him go anywhere he didn't want too. She was just one of those perky people that loved to drag people around, especially when there was shopping involved. Dawn was basically a kid in a candy store right now, so she radiated that child like joy and cheekiness.

[Myk]

“At least you have a reflection,” the Telepath reminded her in a quiet voice as he was dragged off to the changing rooms.

The store clerks were a little concerned by the display, with one young lady deciding that it was best to follow them back stage to make sure nothing untoward was going on. This might have been an unusual store with alternative styles, but it wasn’t that kind of store. Myk saw the woman following them over his shoulder with a cross expression on her face by the time Dawn had released him. The platinum blonde wasn’t about to drag him behind the curtains with her – that was too bold a move perhaps – and so she left the Telepath in the strange little room to wait while she busied herself with getting changed. Myk had to make his own entertainment in the narrow rectangular box that she’d left him in, so he decided to critique the décor. The walls were lined with velvet cushions, as though somebody had torn a mauve Chesterfield couch apart and had glued its skin to the walls. The diamond criss-cross pattern was very distinct, with shimmering velvet buttons at their centre. Ironically, the seating choice left something to be desired – black acrylic chairs were dotted against each space between the drawn purple curtains, and since the seating didn’t look particularly comfortable, Myk decided that standing would be better.

“Everything… ok in here?”

Myk heard the voice from behind and turned to greet the red-faced woman from earlier. Just looking at her had him convinced that she’d been in charge of the purple and black theme going on back here. Dreadlocks the colour of perfect night bled into her black and purple outfit, framing the bust of her Victorian inspired corset. She wore tight-fitted jeans too, the sort that didn’t look like jeans exactly because of the colour of them. Myk remembered a pair of his own – black and white stripes streaking vertically up the pant legs, looking remarkably like Beetlejuice had been tossed into the present day. Hers weren’t as pretty as his, he’d determined, because hers were black and purple. Myk didn’t exactly like those colours together, though he couldn’t fathom why. Maybe it was just that the two dark shades held so very little contrast to one another that is just looked accidental rather than some design idea, as if the colour was fading in stripes along her legs. Myk quickly looked up from her heavy-steel boots to regard the woman’s expressions – anger as palpable as the smoky shadows of her eyes.

“Uh… I think so?” Myk replied, not a second too soon as she was in the process of letting her jaw drop to question him again. “My friend’s just trying on a dress and wants my expert opinion.”

Those dulcet tones might have worked on most people, but this particular store clerk was too busy glaring at him to fall for his charm.

“Well, you’re not really supposed to be in here,” she told him sharply.

“Oh? Why not?”

“Because this is the lady’s changing area.”

Pewter eyes watched as the woman took up a defencive position, folding her arms over her chest and searing a glare into him. Myk was never very good at being intimidated like this, least of all by a woman who looked as though she would be at home on the set of Oz. The whole thing just made him giggle.

“Well, I am sorry I do not look like your typical lady,” Myk countered. “Though I can’t imagine you do get many dignitaries… Do they have to show you a special card to enter? Prove their blue blood?”

“Out.”

Obviously he wasn’t very funny in her opinion either. The woman uncrossed her arms and pointed to the direction in which she wanted him to leave with a very angry thumb. Myk had to roll his eyes, but then he also had to comply.

“I’ll see you outside, Dawn…” Myk commented through the curtain to his friend. “I’m being discriminated against on account of my gender right now.”

“Oh just shut up and get out,” the woman growled.

She was near the point of reaching to grab him by the scruff of the neck and throw him out of the room, so Myk decided to slip past her and not give her the chance. It was a small display of supernatural dexterity that was more likely to have her dazzled than convinced he was a Vampire – no doubt she was more convinced he was an absolute prick than anything else. When he was out of range, the Telepath decided to make himself scarce before she called for security and he got into some serious trouble. He would wait outside, disguised amongst those mannequins that apparently suited his gender a little better than the changing rooms had done.

[Dawn Chekov]

Dawn had begun to work her way out of her outfit when she heard the voice of some of the help. A slight roll of her eyes at her own reflection in the mirror was her first reaction but then she was about to answer, however, Myk answered first. She figured that her friend would take care of things, but it seemed that no matter how charming his tone or his demeanor, the lady was having nothing of it. She sighed softly as she finally got down to where she could really give the dress a try, the whole while listening to the back and forth between her friend and the lady who apparently had a very large stick up a very tight orifice.

It wasn't until Myk spoke up, telling her that he would be waiting outside because the woman was kicking him out that she let out a little squeak and stuck her head out "Wait..." She had started to call, but her friend had already exited. Dawn turned her eyes on the woman and glared at her. "Thanks a lot, now how am I going to get this done up?" She let out a little huff and opened the curtain to show that though she had the dress on, it still needed to be closed up in the back.

The lady move forward as if to help "I can do that..." Dawn put up her hand to stop her from coming closer.

"You've helped enough, thanks." She bit back and then closed the curtain again, turning to look at herself in the mirror. It took some of her more flexible moved, but eventually, she got the zipper up and once again opened the curtain, glad to see that the woman was gone but still annoyed that she had taken away her first opinion. Thankfully, one of her recent feeds had given her the ability to reach out with her mind, so that is what she did.

~Oh Handsome! Come tell me how I look!~ She sent to Myk while looking around for him to see just where her friend had gone to. She wouldn't expect him to leave the entire store. Yet, as she had that thought, her icy gaze searched for the woman from earlier and then leveled another very angry glare on the woman while imagining all sorts of ways that she would like to bring pain and suffering to the woman. How dare she pull her friend away just because he was male.

After a good lengthy glare at the woman, hoping that she had scared some sense into the woman, her eyes once again began to search for her friend. For Myk. She didn't want to leave the full area of the changing room, but was still out in a 'public-ish' area so that Myk could easily see her without pissing off the morality department.

[Myk]

Exiled from the female changing room, Myk had to find his entertainment elsewhere. Of course he wouldn’t be disappearing for too long and neither would he move too far away from the area. That belligerent saleswoman might have scolded him like a Tom-Cat, but that didn’t mean he was running away from his Queen. Not only would it be poor form to leave the girl when they’d only just caught up after so much time, but he was sure Dawn would never let him live it down if he even tried. That saleswoman might have driven him off physically, but, he was still within reaching distance, and if he really wanted to be sneaky about it, he could get in there without anyone noticing. Not even Dawn…

“She must think I’m some kind of pervert,” the Telepath smirked as if it was so completely horrendous and unfair to say so, and yet not at all. Really.

“The lady is not necessarily incorrect, young master.”

Hearing that perfectly verbose comment echoing in the mottled layout of the store had Myk’s head up and looking for the Wraith. Of course, seeing him was never actually possible without special sight, and Myk had to sigh to himself when he realised that – once again – he was being utterly foolish for thinking the ability could just magic out of the ether. Far from getting angry with himself though, Myk giggled; this soft and curious thing that tumbled out of him like summer rain. It was nice to know that Rutherford was still hanging around, and the Telepath was pretty fond of their little games. Insulting one another, roughhousing, bickering like schoolchildren – these were boys’ games, and as gender confused as Myk often was, he did love these kinds of simple pleasures that only boys could truly appreciate without getting their feelings hurt.

“Yeah, well, Dawn wouldn’t have minded anyway, so who cares?” Myk countered half-heartedly.

“Perhaps it is more a matter that the other maidens would not look upon your entreaty so favourably.”

“Maybe. But I have been told I’m awfully cute. Surely I could pull off the GBF thing and get away with it.”

“I beg your pardon, young master?”

Rather than answer the Wraith, explain what exactly a GBF was, Myk just threw his head back and started laughing. Sure, the Wraith was old and hadn’t seen the world in what was certainly a very long time, but how long was long? How long was a piece of string? Rutherford had never answered any of the personal questions that Myk had asked, so the Telepath felt resolved to judge the spirit on his actions. Rutherford behaved as though he had been plucked from the 18th century, but how the upper classed Englishman had wound up a Vampire in Harper Rock was not something Myk could presume based on mere monikers of behaviour. Myk imagined that he would need more time with the Wraith if he was ever going to learn anything, or maybe, it was that Rutherford would not trust Myk enough to converse openly. Perhaps Rutherford needed a feminine push, perhaps Rutherford and the Lady should get together sometime and recount on old people things. Or maybe Rutherford would end up making Elizabeth feel young… It was anyone’s guess.

“Never mind,” Myk purred after so much laughter. “It’s just… a weirdo thing. You couldn’t possibly understand.”

“Quite.”

Myk might not have been able to see the Wraith, but he was certain that the spirit was glaring at him right now. It was during this prickly lull in the conversation that Myk felt his brain tingle with an incoming message – like a thought in a voice that was not his own and quite possibly not imagined. The Telepath was prone to all sorts of fanciful journeys, but it would certainly be an oddity for his brain to disappear on a trip quite like this. He was sure he heard Dawn speaking to him like only a Telepath can, but the prospect of complying threw up more dilemmas than the possibility that he was simply imagining it. He was pretty sneaky and it would therefore be effortless to outwit these poor saleswomen. The game was on!

“Coming, my dear.”

The Telepath checked his position, and once assured that the coast was clear, he moved silently toward the changing area from the men’s wear section. The saleswomen were patrolling adamantly in the middle of the store, reminding Myk of poorly paid security guards who nevertheless took their careers seriously. They imagined themselves as officers of the law, and even before Myk had the power to disappear from sight, he rarely found the difficulty in slipping past them. Pewter eyes spied the platinum locks of his friend shining out from the entrance of the changing room and as she was looking about, trying to find him, she found herself the victim of scrutiny from the saleswomen. As the purple-black patroller pointed an assistant in her direction, Myk slipped into shadows and made a quick dash behind Dawn and into the changing room she’d been in. He would wait for her there while the younger, bouncier saleswoman was making idle conversation with Dawn about liking the dress and the fit. Just to let her know though, Myk slipped a quick thought into her head again.

“I’m waiting in your room, dear… Don’t tell your mother.”

[Dawn Chekov]

Dawn's eyes shifted towards the woman as she spoke to her. The fact that she couldn't see Myk had scared her a bit at first, but then she remembered that he had some powers that she currently did not. Perhaps she would see if he would allow her a little nibble later. For now though, she concentrated on the woman who was speaking to her, offering her ideas. She didn't want the lady's ramblings though, she had her own ideas, but she wanted to see what a male would think about it. More to the point, she wanted to see what Myk would say about it.

For the most part she ignored what the woman was saying, but when she heard Myk's voice in her mind, despite not being able to see him, she had to fight back the smile that he was still here. Of course, she had a feeling he was still here, because while she couldn't see him, she could see the wraith following him. That was a good hint that her friend was using some power that made it hard for her to see him.

His next sentence made not smiling all the more difficult. So she concentrated on how pissed she was at the staff. "You work on commission, don't you?" When the woman nodded, Dawn too nodded "Big mistake..." She said and then turned sharply to go back to get changed... at least that's what it looked like to the lady. Then she slipped into the room again and did a spin. While she couldn't see him, she knew he was watching her. She could almost feel his steely gaze on her. "Well? What do you think handsome?" She asked quietly and then thought that perhaps it might be better to switch to just talking to him telepathically.

She turned to the mirror and ran her hands along her waist and hips. She may not be the most curvaceous of females, but the curves she had were on display because of the dress's fine fabric. Dawn then looked over her shoulder, not sure if he was behind her or if he was in front of her. That power of his was actually pretty good. She would have to try that some time.

~You know, you're going to have to show me the power you are using right now. I can't see you, but I know you are here. It's both hot and creepy at the same time.~ She thought to him as she looked back at her reflecting and winked, knowing that he would see it from anywhere in the room because of the reflection.

[Myk]

As Myk waited inside the changing room itself for the blonde bedazzler, the grumbling Wraith waited outside. Rutherford was aware that Dawn was able to perceive his shadowy state, and although he wasn’t pleased with it, he used her powers to see him as a marker for his charge. One wispy black arm lifted, pointing in the direction of the room Myk was hiding inside so Dawn could head inside. The Wraith’s form was not unlike the Ghost of Christmas Future in that instant and Myk might have told him so, mocked him even, if he had been aware of it. Instead, the giggling clown waited impatiently within the bucket-like room, expecting Dawn to be coming in at any moment. He was pretty sure he’d gotten the right room, after all, because it was most definitely the third room along the left and not the second or fourth room… right? As the Telepath began to worry and twiddle with a stray lock of white, he saw the curtains shift and a silver-skinned creature slip elegantly inside. The light caught the sheer fabric causing it to dazzle and trick pewter eyes into thinking she might be some mythical rare beast. When he realised what he was seeing, however, Myk was stunned silent for a moment. The dress, beautiful and captivating in its own right, looked pride of place now that it draped across the sensual curves of his good friend Dawn. Since it didn’t leave too much to the imagination, Myk may have abused his invisibility for a few seconds longer than he should have before her voice in his head snapped him out of the trance, and the magic.

“Boo!”

Myk was cackling then, trying to keep his voice down, but failing horrendously at it. He doubted that it was possible to startle the woman when she knew he was there already, but it still amused him. He appeared out of the corner of the room, his back against the mirror and side wall, arms clasped together behind his back. The Telepath then gave a wolf-whistle, making it obvious that he was surveying the woman, ready to give her his impression at long last. Myk reached for Dawn’s hand, encouraging her to twirl around and give him a better look, and then he grinned like a satisfied cat with a stomach full of warm milk.

“My, my, don’t you look absolutely breath-taking in that dress,” he purred. “It’s a good thing I don’t actually need to breathe, else we might be in trouble.”

The Telepath gave her a wink then, this cheeky little thing that was quite fetching on his impish expressions. Still holding her hand, Myk took the opportunity to close the gap between them, sliding his free arm around her waist from behind, cuddling her close and whispering into her ear.

“You may have the assets to fill that dress, ma cherie, but I’ve definitely got the creepy-hot factor working for me.”

With that, Myk decided that it was appropriate to lick the side of her face, because, well… he was creepy like that. Aware of how unpleasant it might have been, Myk then moved off quite quickly – out of range from a potential slap.