A Little Head Clearing

[Nox]

There was heat in the touch, and the look and the whispered challenge. Nox closed his eyes and fought back every urge to lean in and press his body against Raffe's. And Nox was very much loving the teasing and the banter but that workout was far more needed than before. Clearing his head - he need a lot more than that at the moment.

But Raffe had the will power they both were fighting for and pulled away first poking him in the ribs. Nox fliched a little - few people knew - well mostly only his sister but he was ticklish and the ribs were a truly haneous sort of torture when your sister finds it. It hadn't been a pretty thing when his father caught them - Aurora on top with her hands pressed to his sides and Nox giggling furiously but completely unable to dislodge his sister from his mid section. There hadn't been a beating, but the training had increased as had the this is how a man act lectures went. He'd just been a kid doing childish things. But as an Atharim - there was no childhood.

Nox's thoughts had carried him away from Raffe and the joy of the flirting. He hadn't bothered to change, he was still wearing what he had to dance in. So he was already hot and sweaty. Though he did return for Nova quickly looking past Raffe's door curious to what he might be doing before retrieving Nova for a good run.

A long run. So far Nox ran past Gracie's - a place he'd met Bas and the last time he actually worked out in a formal gym - though it had been only boxing and that felt like a long time ago. Nova waited outside while he went in started a membership for real this time and headed back towards Kallisti. His thoughts after leaving had moved to the problem at hand. Costumes weren't exactly his thing, but he could do all sorts of things with the software Sage and Aurora had created. It was great at understanding things - Sage had made some enhancements to Aurora's base and it was even better than it had been.

Nox stopped at a street crossing and pulled up his wallet and started the app and put it back in his wallet. The great thing about it was it was also voice activated. So as Nox ran he searched for imagery that he looked at later. His music raged in his ears and he ran. Forgetting about his father, thinking about his new life. But he was still Atharim.

The last few blocks Nox walked back to Kallisti. But before he went back inside he texted Dorian.

Name a place and time and I'll be there.

Nox opened the door and made his way to his room to grab clean clothes from his bag and found a shower. It was hot, and wet and burnt away the rest of the dirt and sweat. He wished it would burn away the memories.

There was a soft giggle from the door and Nox rolled his eyes. "Sweetpea, we are going. You and Raffe don't do anything we wouldn't." She giggled as she headed out the door. Mandy pretended to be the dimwitted blonde with big boobs, but she was smarter than a whip and she could dance. Maybe not as well as Amaya, but she was right there with the other woman. She was childless of her own free will, and she was single forever she claimed. Doing what she did made life easier. No one could get jealous. But she had few sweethearts she'd called them. Or a pair of them - swingers or maybe it was polyamory, Nox didn't know - didn't really care. She was a sweet woman and was way brighter than any one gave her credit for.

Kallisti was quiet when he made his way upstairs, most of the girls were gone and Nox didn't really feel comfortable wandering so he went to his room and pulled his laptop out of his bag and flung the blankets down the end of the bed and piled the pillows up so he'd prop up and set to work. His wallet and laptop went into holo mode and costumes and music and everything he could think of sat on see through screen so he could work. There was no typing, talking to himself was second nature and touching the holo images was easier manipulation. He loved Sage's upgrades, he was glad that his sisters work had received some TLC even if she couldn't see it.

Nox worked on the music and costumes ...