Part Fifty: The First Encounter

[matrixrefugee.livejournal.com]

NOTE: Contains mild slash Mero/Ilia...


P: (Chomps down on Castor's hand>
Cstr: "MERDE!"
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "Will you two quit it? God, you can be so juvenile..."
Matrixrefugee197: Le Mero: "They may sound juvenile, but they keep me amused..."
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "I guess...dont;' you ever get tired of them?"
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Not at all. (cheerfully>"
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "To each his own...we've got enough airheads gossipping and arguing over nothing at Sobor Volkov, if I had to listen to the servants as well...ugh!"
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Listening to the Twins argue helps clear my mind of the heaviness the affairs of state leave behind."
Miss Meglomania: Nitika (curling up on one end of the couch with her book) : "Then your mind should be a blank slate some of the time..."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "You know how they say most people use only one-tenth of their brain power at a time? The results of a functional MRI I had done a few years back proves that I use much more than that."
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "Hm, really? Do you get your head checked a lot?"
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Yes." (internal: More than you know...>
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I suffered a pre-natal brain injury, so it needs to be monitored."
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "Huh. So what do you think about? I mean, if you're able to think so much more about everything than the rest of us mere mortals."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "One part is constantly creating programming algorithims, another processes the dry matters of the state... the rest involvess privileged information."
Matrixrefugee197: P: "He's got an IQ off the charts or something."
LM: (glares at Pollux, but there's a twist of a smile in the corner of his mouth>
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "So what language do you think in?"
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "English, since it was my first language... though often it's mixed with French and Esperanto."
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "Hmm, I'll have to remember that. I do that with people who know more than one, see what they think in. Dunno why, maybe I'm conducting a psychological study I don't know about."
Matrixrefugee197: Cstr: "How the hell does he resolve the grammar differences?
P: "Don't ask me."
Cstr: "It was a rhetorical question, *idiot*!" (Jabs Pollux>
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Quite possible..." (ignores the Twins>
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "I found out that Mom thinks in Hindi, Yulia and Kitty in Russian, Mr. Valentin in Latvian, and Ilia in Hungarian. I'm mostly Ukranian, but I swear in Russian and some words are Hindi."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Fascinating... So, in some cases it goes beyond a person's first language... there's probably a reason why: psychological factors, intellect, social background." (leaning slightly forward> "You might try finding out what languages the Sweitzes think in: I suspect Mdme. Sweitz thinks in French mixed with English..."
Miss Meglomania: Nitika smiles thinly at him: "What, is this a big secret?"
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Much as I know them well, there's always things you never know about the people around you, even family members."
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "I'll ask them, and I guess Gaston and Nadia too...passes the time and gets to know people better..."
Matrixrefugee197: P: "Don't ask us what we think in: it's binary or somethin' like that -- you'd never understand it."
Cstr: "Shut UP, Poll!"
Miss Meglomania: Nitika: "God, they never stop..." gets up and excuses herself before wandering back downstairs towards the courtyard for some sun...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (consults his watch... only... 6 more hours to go before the encounter... Time he started sprucing up for it...>
Miss Meglomania: ((NOW? Lol-- how long does it take him to get ready in the morning?!?))
Matrixrefugee197: ((He's been waiting for this for a long time...))
Miss Meglomania: Ilia's still in practice-- that's 6 hours from now, plenty of time...decides to up the rhythm a little, this piece is SO dull...
Matrixrefugee197: Nadia's trying to reason with herself over her recent fears... Gasque wouldn't cheat on her: he's a completely different person from his father...
Or has some latent gene triggering philandering popped out...?
Matrixrefugee197: N: (internal: Well, you didn't know for three days that the charming Frenchman you'd met at Cannes was no less than Le Meroveque himself... (Internal: That was Lambert, this is his son: they're completely different people....>
Miss Meglomania: Erg...Nadia has a few jealously issues that need working out here...>
Matrixrefugee197: N: (internal: Stop flogging yourself over it... >
(internal: Once burned, twice shy...>
Matrixrefugee197: ((You'd get a bit gun-shy if you'd found out your first lover was not only married, but also the head of the Europan Empire when you *thought* he was a 'failed nobleman turned film producer'... And now you're dating his son...))
Miss Meglomania: ((ah, coincidence! What would gaming be without it))
Matrixrefugee197: N: (internal: There's only one way to find out: ask him...(Internal: But then it will look like I'm jealous... that could destroy his trust and he's still so awkward... this is his first time in love: I can't spoil it...>
Miss Meglomania: Nitika returns to her mother's room and sits on the edge of her bed, looking at her. "How are you feeling?"
The Contessa: "Much better, Niti, thank you...that was foolish of me, I'm so sorry it had to happen."
N: "It's okay, really, it is. Just as long as you'll be all right."
TC: "I will be, darling...now, what's this I've heard about you and Gaston de Meroveque?"
N: "I don't know what you've heard-- we had tea together, that's all. Nothing happened...really, Mom."
Matrixrefugee197: N: (tempted to go consult Le Meroveque, find a way to get the information indirectly... No, can't do that... they'd mutually agreed it's better for them both to keep their contacts with each other to a minimum...>
Miss Meglomania: The Contessa: "I don't want any trouble to come between our government and theirs...I would appreciate it if you were to keep your contacts with them sparingly."
N: "That's easy for you to say, Mom-- you've got work, and you're stuck in here by law. But what about me? I've no one to talk to, nowhere to go, nothing to do...Mom, if I don't talk to them, I'll go mad!"
Matrixrefugee197: At this point, Gaston's secretary, Harmann, emerges from Gaston's rooms... Passing by Nadia, he nods respectfully to her...
Matrixrefugee197: N: (musters up her courage... steps into Gaston's study... raps on the open door>
G: (looking up from some of the paperwork relating to the 'assault charge'> "Nadie... what brings you here?"
N: "We need to talk... or at least, I need to talk to you..."
G: "Oh? What about?"
Miss Meglomania: ((ah, the first 'we need to talk'-- welcome to marriage, kid!))
Matrixrefugee197: N: "Please don't think I was spying on you... but I was looking down into the courtyard earlier... and I saw you talking with the Contessa Volkova's daughter... I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me, but I caught myself getting jealous..."
G: "She and I only spoke together for a few moments: she was thanking me for coming to her mother's defense when Premier Zhao tried pinning those conspiracy charges against her."
Matrixrefugee197: N: "I see now... God, this makes me feel like an idiot."
G: "It's all right: I see jealousy as being just as valid an emotion as love. It's how you handle it that makes the difference."
Miss Meglomania: (awww...))
Matrixrefugee197: N: (about to make a remark about how he must know this first hand from seeing his mother in knots over his father's philanderings...>
G: "Are you all right, Nadie? Your face went a little pale."
N: "I was just thinking... you must know a lot about jealousy, considering what your father put your mother through."
G: "Pardon my French... to use an expression Monsieur Sweitz uses... Like hell, I know." (blushing a little>
Miss Meglomania: In the Contessa's room, Nitika is starting to get a "mother-lecture"...
TC: "I know politics may seem like a worthy or important profession, but I cannot stress how difficult and heartbreaking it can be-- I don't want to see you go through that, not through anny of it. Please try and stay away from
Gaston, darling...I realise he's a good young man, but he is still a politician and their hearts are never fully theirs."
Nitika: "Mom...you married a politician."
TC: "Yes, and look how that turned out..."
Matrixrefugee197: N: (laughs, which clears the air for the both of them...>
Miss Meglomania: ((well, that's cleared up, then! Whew!))
Matrixrefugee197: Harmann returns with a tea-tray: work to be done and the young King needs his green tea to keep his strength up... Nadia excuses herself, heads back to her room, deciding to spend the day in the older quarters of the city, with her trusty videocamera in hand...
Miss Meglomania: Nitika eventually wanders back outside to the common room balcony, looking out over the city...feeling very much like the heroine of some 18th century romantic novel looking over the moors or something, or maybe out of the Arabian Nights...funny, she has no reason to be...
Miss Meglomania: ...or, Tennessee Williams...
Matrixrefugee197: From the French wing: some clattering about and what sounds like Le Meroveque demanding to know what happened to one of his onyx cufflinks???
Miss Meglomania: ((lol...it's always the one thing you want that you can NEVER find...))
Matrixrefugee197: The din subsides... apparantly Castor found the missing cufflink under the bed...
Miss Meglomania: Nitika doesn't pay any of it much mind although she can hear it-- God, what IS her problem lately? She's not sick, she can't get tired...
Miss Meglomania: Spots Nadia going out the door, watches her for a moment: (internal: "God, she's lucky-- why am I thinking that?!?">
Matrixrefugee197: Frank passes through the hallway, whistling under his breath, heading for Le Mero's rooms, to consult him on a sticky bit of copy he's about to submit to the Imperial News Service...
Miss Meglomania: ((Watch out, Frank! You're interrupting the Imperial Fussbudget Dressing-Time!!))
Matrixrefugee197: F: (finally getting admittance, finds Hal/Le Mero in the process of having his talons manicured... and once the sticky edit has been made> "Why do I have the funny feeling in my stomach that you're hot on someone
right now?"
H/M: (the pretentious French accentr dropping away> "When am I *naht* aftah sumwun?"
F: "Is it someone I know?"
H/M: "Yeah, but I ain't spillin' 'at."
Miss Meglomania: ((ooh! 20 Questions!))
Matrixrefugee197: F: "Okay, is this person Mecha, Orga, man or woman?"
H/M: "Do *NOT* go there..."
F: "Don't look at me like that: I'm just curious."
Miss Meglomania: ((In his studio, Ilia checks his watch-- hmm, 4 hours...plenty of time...))
Matrixrefugee197: In the meantime, Frank relays to Cecie that Hal's acting "awful wierd"...
C: "When does he ever act normal?"
F: "Well, he used to always be droppin' hints like leaves in the fall whenever he started gettin' the hots for some new personage. But now he won't tell me nothing... Not that it's really my business, but I do worry about him..."
C: (leaning over Frank's shoulder, blowing gently on his ear> "Well... there's someone else whose amourous business you can pry into..."
Miss Meglomania: Lol! And, the curtains sway gently in the breeze...
Matrixrefugee197: F: (Later> (internal, as Cecie dozes in his arms: Gad, how long does the hot mama stage last??>
Miss Meglomania: Finally Ilia decides he should maybe at least see what he has in the closet...roots around, pulls out whatever's clean...nah, that's no good, it's an ugly shirt...Hell, just grab anything, doesn't matter...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (going for his usual 19th century retro-gothic look... donning a scarlet silk shirt, scarlet satin tie, black trousers, topping it off with a blue-black, ankle-length frock coat...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia finally decides on a dark plum-coloured raw silk shirt and black grey-pinstripe vest and trousers...takes a shower and gets dressed, yawns and takes a shot of vodka...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (looking at himself in the mirror... hair neatly brushed back, claws polished... Internal: Think you're up to it, old man?>
LM: (under his breath> "Of course you are..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia (checking himself out in the mirror: Looking great, as always...and you will look even better on the Paris stage...>
Matrixrefugee197: Julien enters at this point: he's been busy all day typing up legal briefs... "Where are you going?"
LM: "Out... just to get away from these legal matters for a few hours."
J: "Who is she?"
LM: "Correction, little one: Who is *he*." (internal: DAMN!>
Miss Meglomania: ((oopsie))
Matrixrefugee197: J: "WHAT???!!!" (tries lunging at his master: Pollux tries jumping him>
(Diceroll: 5/6) Pollux manages to pin him to the floor after a brief scuffle...
J: (underneath Pollux> "Who is he??? I demand an answer!"
LM: "It is not for you to know, Julien... But I promise you I will return later this night." (points to a spot just in back of Julien's left ear>
Pollux misses the cue, but Castor grins vilely and reaches for Julien's off-switch...
J: "Don't tell me it's that --" (goes limp>
Miss Meglomania: (lol! A handy button, when dealing with Julien!)
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Put him on the bed... and let's be off, mes enfants..."
Julien's sentence would have ended "...repulsive goulash-eater!"
Miss Meglomania: (HOW did I guess, :-D ?!?! BTW, Ilia does NOT like that term one bit...but you could propbably guess that))
Matrixrefugee197: ((I was trying to think of a derogative term for a Hungarian: 'Bohunk' just didn't carry the kind of perjorative jab needed...))
((I shudder to think what Ilia thinks of Le Mero as a Frenchman...))
A few moments later, Le Mero leaves the Palazzo, the slouch-brim fedora and the floor-sweeping black cloak concealing his identity, with Castor and Pollux accompanying him...
Miss Meglomania: ((There are quite a few...on the Ethnic Slur Databse, 'hungarian' is among others: 'bozgor', meaning 'man without a country'..."
Matrixrefugee197: ((The Ethnic Slur Database? That's a new one...))
Matrixrefugee197: ((To me at least...))
Miss Meglomania: ((it's a thing on the internet...used to have a website of it's own, but I think it got consolodated into a nnew one)
Matrixrefugee197: Ah...))
Miss Meglomania: ((RACIAL Slur Database! That's why I couldnt' find it...))
Matrixrefugee197: Looking at it right now...))
Miss Meglomania: ((rest assured, Ilia has a LOT of names for Mero...'The Eighth Dwarf' being his most creative))
Matrixrefugee197: ((LM: "Rifle-dropper??!!??? I beg to differ with that..."))
Matrixrefugee197: ((Ooh, any more??))
Miss Meglomania: ('Yorkie'-- from the observation that Yorkshire Terriers look like toupees scuttling on the floor, an apt name for a short guy with a hair-piece!)
Matrixrefugee197: ((LM: "'Soap-dodger'? Oh, this is beyond stupid, it's absurd!!!))
::MR continues howling over French slurs::
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I'll have you know I had new hair foillicles cloned and implanted up zere..."))
Miss Meglomania: ((HERE'S something that would rile Ilia: 'Gádzsó'-- it means 'peasant man'!!))
Matrixrefugee197: Oh boy....))
Miss Meglomania: ((lol...Ilia: "Gádzsó?!? I was born in a fucking suburb!"))
Miss Meglomania: Ilia finally leaves the pallazzo about 10 minutes after 12...no reason to rush, after all. What did his last dance instructor say? "Always leave them in suspense." Usefull words for a variaty of situations...
Matrixrefugee197: Le Mero arrives at the Hotel Ariosto at quarter to 12... Better too early than too late...
Tantalus and Pelops, the pair of Werewolves guarding the room, swap microbursts with Castor: "Is it who we think it is?" "If you mean the goulash-eater, yup."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia finally parks his Jag down the block from the hotel about a half-hour later...gets out, goes tot he lobby, flirts with a maid, takes the stairs up...just any other guy coming in from the bar for some sleep...
Matrixrefugee197: The place looks like a high-class/aristocratic hooker hotel: Extremely overwrought Belle Epoque decor in shades of maroon, cream, gold and brown...
Miss Meglomania: Ilia has to smile at the decor...disturbingly overdone, but he's been in worse..
Matrixrefugee197: Like the kind of nightmare you might have after watching "Moulin Rouge!" and having a midnight snack of cucumbers and milk (I don't know why cucumbers and milk eaten together are said to cuase nightmares, but I
digress...))
Miss Meglomania: Rather here than a Motel 6 or something...
((LOL!!!)) Well, faux-classy is better than no-classy...reaches the 3rd floor and exits into the hallway...
Matrixrefugee197: Like the restorer of the Merovingian dynasty would choose *that* for a rendezvous??
Castor and Pollux are already outside the door to Room 303, clearly waiting for Ilia, and bickering as usual:
Cstr: "Is this place ugly or what?"
P: "I think it's kinda nice."
Cstr: "Oh, you *would* think that!"
Miss Meglomania: (re: Motel 6) Of course not...but Ilia's last 'job-job' as a professional dance partner brought him into some rather...ugly...locations...
Matrixrefugee197: Cstr: "I don't know what possessed the boss to choose *this* dump..."
A man who looks like a bank president passes by them, with a female lover Mecha on his arm.
P: "Maybe because there's a lot of romance going on here?"
Cstr: "That's just sex, you buckethead!"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia glances at the door of room 303: "He is in there?"
Matrixrefugee197: Cstr: "Yep, he's been waitin'...." (steps in front of Ilia> "Allow me to pat y' down for any unwelcome objects? Just standard procedure."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia rolls his eyes irritably. "Fine."
Matrixrefugee197: P: (as Castor pats Ilia down> "Just doin' our job, don't mind us."
Cstr: "We've had some... tense moments in the past: can't risk it. Don't think we're singling you out."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "I trust your judgement. I also trust you will both remain...discreet about this? I do not want to lose my job, and I am sure you do not, either."
Matrixrefugee197: Cstr: "Our lips are sealed. Aren't they, Poll?"
P: "Yes they are!"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: (under his breath> "You sound like Cub Scouts-- are we finished here?"
Matrixrefugee197: Cstr: "Okay, you're clean." (peers through the peep hole on the door> "Hey, boss... you know who is here..."
Cstr: (unlocks the door, opens it a crack and stands back. Internal: Not a bad-lookin' fella at all...>
The room is shadowy except for a lamp set on low on the desk, out of sight from the window, over which the curtains have been closed...
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "How atmospheric..." (internal: I can't see a damn thing in here...>
Matrixrefugee197: Beyond the door stands a wide bed covered with a tapestry coverlet in deep red, navy blue and forest green over black satin sheets... Le Mero's clothes lie neatly folded on a chair by the foot of the bed...
A lamp on the nightstand switches on, the light from it falling on Le Mero's lean form as he settles back on the pillows, the bedcovers drawn up over his chest...
LM: "At last..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia squints in the sudden light, then blinks and raises an eyebrow. "Sorry I was late. But I see you did not waste any time."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I had my reasons..." (internal: Just in case the Contessa's fortune-teller should happen to brush against me -- as if that would happen -- when I'm wearing the same shirt, I don't want her picking up any
overtones...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia gives a thin smile and his eyebrow arches even higher, walking smoothly towards the side of the bed and sitting on the edge of it. "Well, then...you lead."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Come closer, ma cher... don't be afraid: I won't eat you..."
LM: "Not tonight anyway... (trying to banter>"
Miss Meglomania: Ilia laughs a little at that and does so. "Hm, I see...should I keep my guard up? You could be lying to me."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "No lies this night..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Ah, but that is implying the opposite, so I will keep that in mind...I did promise three, after all."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (Looking him up and down appraisingly... and by the quietly delighted smile, he likes what he sees...>
LM: (chuckling> "Touche... I never let myself realize how witty you are..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia lies down on his side next to Mero and props his head in his hand. "Part of the job-- it is one thing to be 'just another pretty face', but if you want to keep the perks in case that goes, it is not much to retire on."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I never had that advantage, so I always had to rely on my wit and my cleverness..."
(Turning on his side to face Ilia..., studying the younger man's face up close...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Eh, such it is with some people. I suppose I am lucky in that sense...of course, everybody automatically assumes I am stupid because of it." Lets Mero look at him but doesn't make eye contact...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "The envious ones of course... Not that I ever knew this kind of treatment first hand, but I have observed it in others..." (one of his hands creeps across the covers, slowly...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "Ah, it is hellish, but I suppose I would not give it up...everyone in ballet is like taht to some extent. Someone once said, that dancers have as hard a job as policemen-- harder, because we have to be
beautiful as well. And I have known a lot of very very stupid dancers in my time..."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "But anyone with the eyes to see would know at once that your are quite intelligent... as intelligent as you are beautiful... I look at you and I believe that fauns once existed in this world..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia laughs out loud and drops his head onto the pillow. "Oh, please..."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "There must be fauns... because there certainly are satyrs..." (leaning over Ilia...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia glances up at him. "Evidently."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (leaning down... kissing him... tenderly at first... then more ardently...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia arches his neck a little, then breaks away for a moment. "Do try to be a little gentle-- I do not have much body fat and I bruise easy..."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "So do I..." (glancing down at himself>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia smiles a little. "Do not worry on your end..."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I know I don't have to..." (leaning down again, kissing him more gently but with no less ardor...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia doesn't 'return' so much as just let LM do what he wants, responsive but very much knowing he's not the one in charge...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (was expecting this, but then again... he prefers leading...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: (never leads during this sort of encounter...in the back of his mind he imagines that if he does, that might make people think he's gay, which he isn't and doesn't want to be considered...>
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (catches himself wishing those eyes would meet his... no, it's just busines... but still...>
Miss Meglomania: They do meet his gaze for one brief moment...and they're absolutely electric, full of intensity...then flicker away again...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (internal: Ah...>
Miss Meglomania: One thing is for certain-- Ilia didn't get where he is on looks alone. He is DAMN good at what he does
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (Hardly expecting this... the whole matter was so mechanically arranged, he figured it would be impossible... But that distinctive cry emerges from his lungs...> "kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkksssssssssssssss!"
Matrixrefugee197: Cstr: "That's five Euros I owe you."
P: "No, you were gonna let me have the remote."
Matrixrefugee197: Cstr: "Damn."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia winces at the noise, or the feeling, or both, gritting his teeth until it subsides...
Matrixrefugee197: LM: (settles down beside Ilia, not dozing but a bit... dazed from the experience...>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia closes his eyes and takes deep breaths, letting his heart slow down. "You...sound like a baboon passing a kidney stone."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Hm?" (it registers in his brain. Chuckles, contentedly> "That's original..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: (slowly, still somewhat winded> "It is true...God, I think you killed me..."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "I tried to avoid that..."
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "It is okay...it has been 3 years since I have done that, I am just a little...not used to it anymore..." Rolls over facing LM, closing his eyes and taking slow deep breaths
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "It *does* require some getting-used to..." (Hiding a yawn in the crook of his elbow>
Miss Meglomania: Ilia: "No shit..." nestles futher into the pillow and pulls the covers up over himself. "Is it possible for me to stay here a moment? I cannot go quite yet, I am not up for it..."
Matrixrefugee197: LM: "Stay as long as you wish, little faun..." (half asleep...>
Miss Meglomania: After a few moments Ilia nods off, burrowing in the covers close to LM for warmth...Italian nights are so cold when you weigh so little...
Matrixrefugee197: LM slips his arm over Ilia, drawing him close...
Slips off into a deliciously contented doze... The Twins will awaken him at three in the morning...
Miss Meglomania: Ilia nestles into it unconsiously, making a little "mmr?" noise in his throat but not waking up, his face in the crook of LM's neck, dead asleep...