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February 24, 1998 |
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World’s End Bar…...
Mildred says, "A shadow Earth. New York if that means anything to you."
Damen says, "Sure does. We premiere a few of our movies there. L.A., too."
Yosannah says, "L.A." She sighs, "Gottah get back there."
Claudia says, "If you make it there, make sure you have a reliable way back…" She makes a face, "I got stranded on Shadow Earth … a while ago."
Yosannah says, "Trust me," she nods, "I can relate."
Mildred shrugs, "That’s where I live. I make it in and out just fine."
Claudia says, "Lucky you. I was dropped off there and my ride never came back."
Yosannah laughs at Claudia, "I have when that happens."
Damen quirks an eyebrow up, but merely shakes his head.
Yosannah nudges Damen.
Damen grins, "Gonna blame me for similar crimes?"
Yosannah says, "Just ‘cuz you don’t have to deal with these kinds of problems."
Damen smirks, "Hey… I just gotta be me."
Yosannah pinches Damen’s face and mocks, "Of course you do."
Damen chuckles, "Hey… mother used to do that to me. Until I cut off her fingers."
Mildred nods to Damen, "And on that note. I’m out of here. It was nice chatting with you folks."
Damen offers, "Hey, I was just kidding about the fingers."
Yosannah nods.
Alayne chuckles, and then looks back to Stone.
Claudia says, So, Yo. What have you been up to?"
Yosannah turns to Claudia, "Not too much. What’s up with our trip?"
Claudia says, "I’ve done some scouting, a little intelligence gathering. I’m thinking about acquiring a few of their ships to ‘inspect’."
Yosannah nods at Claudia, "I thought we’d be leaving sooner though. We should find Mar."
Claudia says, "I should have my hand on a few trumps soon, and then maybe we can speed things up." She grins, "This should be a great old time."
Alayne sits at a table with Stone, a smile on her face as they converse.
Delilah wanders over to the bar, looking at a small ladies bag in her arm as she does. She nudges Damen as she moves to sit. She starts up, murmuring an apology, eyes going wide when she realizes who it is that she bumped into. She mutters to Damen, "… most noble majesticness!… been.."
Damen looks down and smiles faintly, "Delilah… how good of you to still be alive. I see your tongue still suffers the same malady."
Delilah toys with the ban in her hands, and curtseys formally to Damen. She mutters something barely audible.
Damen frowns, "Not by my choice, lass. I failed in my sword swallowing attempts. By the way – Delilah… Yosannah. Yosannah… Delilah."
Yosannah regards the woman with faint amusement.
Delilah smiles and leans close to Damen, muttering something, "It’s … I can… company… later." She then nods politely and turns to go, giving Damen a wink and a smile as she does so.
Stone coughs a bit at his table.
Damen rubs his jaw thoughtfully before turning to glare at Alayne. He then leans toward Yosannah, "I’ll explain later." He chuckles softly to himself and then takes another sip of Guinness.
Yosannah asks Damen, "What’s so damn funny?"
Damen shrugs, "A collision of past and present. It was interestingly uncomfortable."
Yosannah shrugs, "Apparently."
Damen says, "Now, if my ex-wife shows up, we can make a party of it."
Yosannah motions to where the Delilah stood, "Who was that then?"
Damen says, "Delilah…"
Stone glances at Crimson and then looks over at Damen, "Well, she sure knew a lot about you."
Damen smirks at Stone, "She just knows that I’m a pompous ass. Everybody knows that."
Yosannah sighs, "I sure know how to pick ‘em."
Stone smirks, I dunno. The other day she asked about our business. You may not be watching her, but she’s watching you."
Alayne makes no comment.
Damen seems thoughtful on that.
Later, Damen’s room – Gideon Club…...
The room is spacious and comfortable and apparently consists of one chamber. Three carpeted steps lead down to the living-room which consists of a cushioned couch and a few loveseats and a coffee table. An entertainment system rests upon the northern wall and seems to house all the latest in movie and stereo technology. Beyond the living-room and nestled in the eastern section of the apartment is a simple, yet modern, bed covered in a black quilt. The sound of gurgling water emanates nearby, coming from a large hot-tub. Glass, bay doors lead out to a balcony that offers a beautiful view of the city of Banished Sun.
Yosannah peeks around the door.
Damen turns, wine glass in hand, where he is standing by the doors to the balcony. Loreena McKennet is playing on the stereo, "Hey, sexy."
"Hi."
"Come on in."
Yosannah closes the door behind her, "You know how many times I’ve walked by this room…"
Damen chuckles, "I keep a low profile. And the door locked."
Yosannah smiles, "I know."
Damen says, "Care for a glass of wine? That way it’s easier to take advantage of you."
Yosannah nods and wanders around the apartment.
Damen walks over to the counter that separates the kitchen area from the rest of the room and fills a glass with wine, "I only have white zinfandel. Didn’t have a chance to go shopping. That okay?"
Yosannah follows Damen over to the counter, It’ll have to do. When do you have time to go shopping?"
Damen turns to regard her, "Why wouldn’t I do my own shopping?" He offers a glass to her.
Yosannah considers him for a moment as she reaches for the glass, "I don’t know. I guess I was making a false assumption."
Damen grins and gestures, "Do I look like someone who would have servants?"
Yosannah leans against the counter, "Actually, If I didn’t know who you were and where you were from, I’d say, ‘no’. But I do know who you are so…"
Damen grins, "You mean being a prince and all?" He laughs, "I avoid politics at all costs. Draws too much attention to yourself… plus, allows for limited social interaction. And I’m quite enjoying my current social interaction."
Yosannah smiles as she looks down at the floor, "You know. I’m trying really hard not to fall for that, but you’re a pretty smooth talker, Damen."
Damen shrugs with a smile, "It runs in my family. I just want you to know I’m being sincere."
Yosannah looks up from the floor and to his face – searching for a moment, "I’m sure you are."
Damen smiles "Good. That’s important to me." He takes a sip from his wine. "So… you’re from Dantesburgh, right? Lived there all your life?"
Yosannah sips her wine, "No." She smiles, "Elbridge. Just a few minutes away."
Damen ahhs, "Must be interesting. You been there your whole life?"
Yosannah shakes her head, "No, found my way here from an Earth shadow. Small town girl if you must know."
Damen smiles, "Nothing wrong with that. I never really stayed in one place."
Yosannah turns to him, "How ‘bout originally then. You’re from Amber, right?"
Damen chuckles with a nonchalant shrug, "I was raised by gypsies."
Yosannah says, "Get out."
Damen nods, "Sure was. My father introduced himself to me when I was in my early twenties."
Yosannah laughs, "How nice of him. How long ago was that?"
Damen grins, "Relatively speaking? Ages. We age slowly."
Yosannah says, "How long?"
Damen grins, "I can’t remember." He sips his wine.
Yosannah studies him, "Damen, how old are you?"
Damen chuckles, "Well… if we ever considers ourselves sating… you’ll be going out with a much older man."
Yosannah says, "How much older?"
Damen smiles sheepishly, "It’s measured in centuries darling. You have to remember time is somewhat meaningless for my kind."
"Well, that sucks then, doesn’t it."
"Why’s that?"
Yosannah gulps her wine and sets the glass on the counter, "Well, if we were to date… hypothetically speaking of course… Well. Lemme put it this way. Have you ever seen the Earth movie, ‘The Highlander’?"
Damen nods, "There can be only one…."
Yosannah nods in return, "Then you know what I’m saying."
Damen says, "It’s not really a concern. As long as you don’t mind relocating."
"Whattahya mean?"
"Time in particular shadows moves differently. I don’t really understand the concept fully, but technically we could move to another shadow where you’d age like I do."
"Fascinating."
Gideon Club – Sitting room (one hour later)…
Lila greets Yosannah, "Hello again."
Yosannah ignores Stone, "Hi, uh.. Lilka, right?"
Stone corrects, "Lila."
Yosannah against the bar, "Yeah, that’s right. Sorry."
Lila says, "No problem, better than what I was called yesterday."
Yosannah asks, "And what was that?"
Lila replies calmly, "Shadow scum."
Stone turns his attention to Lila, "Who called you that?" he frowns lightly.
Lila sighs, "Sorry, Ben. I do not wish to say who. I don’t need a protective brother."
Stone crosses his arms, "I don’t like folks demeaning shadows. Rubs me the wrong way."
Damen enters the room and says, "Don’t need a protective brother? How ‘bout a pot bellied pig? We all need one of those."
Stone looks at Damen, "Romneous is our pot bellied dragon, that’s close enough."
Yosannah looks up at Damen and smiles.
Stone tells Yosannah, "I was just about to try and describe how I’ve lost my humanity from knowing folks like Damen."
Damen sits down at the bar.
Stone then says to Lila, "Maybe later. Suffice it to say, escape is your best bet. Baring that, hanging on for dear life come a nice second."
Lila says, "What is life?"
Stone hehs, "Probably a good deal better then the alternative."
Yosannah whispers to Damen, "Philosophy. This is where Stone’s eyes glass over."
Damen chuckles and whispers, "I don’t know… he and I had a good talk earlier today about the nature of Chaos and amber… and what would happen if either one was destroyed."
Yosannah jokes, "Are you sure that wasn’t a Stone imposter?"
Lila says, "But in death, is there not peace?"
Damen glances at Stone and asks, "Is she contemplating suicide?"
Lila says, "No, I just asked a question."
Stone chuckles, "I prefer the busyness of life. I don’t even take vacations. Lila here is my secretary, Damen."
Yosannah mumbles under her breath, "I’ll be she is." She hops off the barstool, "Listen, I need to get some air. I’ll be right back."
Outside the Gideon Club – Banished Sun..
Yosannah is sitting on the steps to the Club, lighting a cigarette.
Damen smiles, "Was it getting stuffy in there?"
Yosannah chuckles, "Eh. Have you ever noticed how full of shit he is?"
Damen grins, "You should be used to it by now."
Yosannah tosses a match in the dirt and watches it fizzle and then tosses the cigarette away, "I hate these things."
"Then quit. If you want, I can help you."
"I never started. A friend of mine gave them to me. Apparently, they have some funky herb in ‘em." She smiles at him, "Thanks though."
Damen laughs, "No problem. I’m better than hypnosis."
Yosannah tests, "Yeah? What else can you do? Card tricks?"
Damen smiles and puts an elbow on his knee, resting his chin in his hand, "Well, besides being extremely good looking and intelligent… my strain of the family has learned a few mental tricks."
Yosannah seems interested, "Such as?"
Damen offers his free hand to her.
Yosannah slowly reaches for Damen’s hand. She seems a bit reluctant.
Damen smiles, noting her hesitance, "We still working on trust, lass?" He pauses, then quietly, in her thoughts..
~ I guess time will tell if we can change that ~
Yosannah startles, "How are you doing that?"
Damen grins, "Just using the old noggin. I told you, I’m a talented man. But I should stop when I’m ahead… I’m giving away all my secrets."
Yosannah closes her eyes. She seems to be concentrating very hard…
~ Can you hear what I’m thinking ~
Damen nods and squeezes her hand lightly.
~ If I let this happen, promise you’ll never leave ~
Damen smiles, but leans close to kiss her lightly on the cheek. "Even to go to the bathroom.?"
Yosannah opens her eyes slowly and chuckles, "You’re too cool."
Damen grins, "I have my moments."
"Damen."
"Aye."
Yosannah breaths softly, "I’m gonna kiss you, so don’t more or anything."
Damen grins, "I’ll do my best."
"And no peeking."
Damen laughs but closes his eyes.
Yosannah reaches up to Damen and touches his face with her fingertips. She lands toward him and brushes her lips over his cheek.
Damen smiles.
Yosannah whispers, "No peeking…" She traces over his lips with her fingers and then kisses them softly.
Damen murmurs softly, perhaps something in Gaelic. His lips move to meet hers. She presses her body close to his and closes her eyes with a sigh. He move a hand to the back of her head to twine his fingers in her hair. He nips lightly at her lips, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her tightly to him. He pauses momentarily to rasp, "Somebody’s going to call the cops on us for snog’n here."
Yosannah opens her eyes and smiles. She mouths the word, ‘Wow,’ and then exhales. After a moment she slides away from him and moves to stand. She holds out a hand for him, "What’s a ‘snog’?"
Damen laughs, "Slang for kiss." He grins and reaches for her hand.
Yosannah pulls Damen up and considers, "I like ‘kiss’ better."
Damen chuckles, "So do I."
At that moment Romneous comes up the walkway from the cemetery just beyond the Club.
Yosannah blushes and smiles at Romneous as she smoothes out her jacket.
Romneous nods at the two before entering the Club.
Yosannah scratches at her temple and then crosses her arms over her chest. She shifts her weight from one leg to the other, obviously uncomfortable. She smiles nevertheless. "It’s getting chilly out here. Maybe we should head back inside."
Damen nods, "Or, you could show me where –you- live."
Yosannah takes Damen’s hand and pulls her down the street, "Let’s go. It’s about a quarter mile from here.... but you've got to promise to stay the night."
Damen, "Twist my arm."
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Damen’s Gaelic proverb:
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~ Moonsglow to dawn’s light ~
~ Night to day and day to night ~
~ Until her heart is twined with mine ~
~ No rest of peace shall I find ~
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