Anything Juicy

[jess]

--open

The day was surprisingly good, for January. A temperature warm enough for simply a jacket, accompanied by blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Most of the damage from the rampaging dragons had even been cleaned up. Truly, the gardens looked lovely.

Of course, the beauty of the gardens paled in comparison to the girl sitting in the middle of it, surrounded by her friends. Jessica Rey wore a dress that cost more than most people's dreams, and seemed not to care that she sat on the grass. Her legs tucked under her body, and she smiled benevolently at the people around her.

Her followers buzzed with rumors, vying for Jessica's attention.

"Kennedy Cavan and Angela Wingrose are engaged!"
"Eiji Almasy hooked up with Elliot, finally!"
"So knew that would happen!"
"You'll love this one: Leo, you know, that annoying guy from your house? He saw some girl naked."
"Ooo, Jessica, Jessica! Did you hear? Kellan Callahan's thinking about breaking up with Kenneth, because he's such a huuuuuuge flirt."
"You know that rock star? Raelena something or other? She's dating some nobody from Almasy, but she's sleeping with that Rebel girl. It's a fact!"

Jessica nodded, holding up a hand, commanding them into silence.

"Let's focus on the Kenneth/Kellan rumor; tell them I'm the reason they're breaking up though. And build up that Rae rumor: there's a fight there."

Jessica grinned evilly, looking at her loyal court. "Anything else juicy?"

[Eiji Almasy.]

Eiji Almasy had this terrible* affliction in his head. His best friends liked to term it as some type of retardation, probably the worst kind there was, and his own Father had been heard saying that his son was incredibly and unnaturally slow. His mental lapse was often displayed through his style of dress; while not ever horrific, he had a habit of appearing questionable. He must've not known that it was was some time in the middle of winter, because he was wearing a simple white dress shirt, or chemise really, but he didn't like calling it that. Over top was a loose LV coat that he refused to call a cape, fastening at the neck and no where else, not doing much for the cold front wise, but at least his arms were somewhat warm; and a cap that was perhaps more suitable than the rest of his outfit.

He had lost Eve around half an hour ago, and he suspected that the girl had stolen away to be with her boyfriend. He couldn't really blame her, except that she had left him to his own devices and he couldn't find Elliot anywhere. Being anywhere near the Academy felt strange; he'd been home free for six months, and while he wouldn't have minded coming down to visit his House and his friends, there were some things that kept him away. Like Kara, for example, and Angela for another. While the first was on him, the second was just something he tended to avoid, mostly so he wouldn't have to confront all the unresolved issues that lay between them since the previous year. Alone and annoyed, he dawdled in the Gardens for a while but with nothing to do, he found himself wanting to leave sooner than he'd anticipated.

"Bloody Eve," he cursed quietly, glaring at the ground and scuffing his foot. He knew all about afflictions though, and something about affinities, and the harshness left his features as he breathed in, face turned up at the sun, a quirk set at his lips. The Gardens really were pretty; the snow and skies clearing so that there was a perfect mixture of all the blue in the world, and the white that had been left behind. He wasn't a nature freak or anything like it, but he had a soft spot for anything quiet and tranquil; a stark contrast to his usual lifestyle.

A whole bunch of twittering broke through the stillness and he looked over his shoulders at the group that was gathered several feet behind him. He couldn't imagine how he hadn't noticed them earlier but shrugged away his disturbance. He was half a turn away from them before he abruptly decided to approach them, thinking they could know something, anything about Eve or the others.
"Excuse me," he interrupted, hands quaint in his pockets, wearing an afterthought of a slight smile in apology, "would any of you know where Kaylen Valieth is?"

[jess]

Chances were that Eiji wouldn't recognize any of the girls. He might recognize Jessica, as the two of them had been in the same house. In fact, a handful of the other girls were Almasians, and might qualify as friendly strangers.

But every girl there knew about Eiji Almasy.

"OMG!'"
(yes, she actually said the letters)
"It's Eiji!"
"Eiji!"
"EIJI!!!!"
"Eiji Almasy!"

A synchronized squeal launched from the group, certain to shatter the eardrum. They also began swarming around him, though none dared get close.

Jessica had taken the brief delay to primp. When you spoke with a name brand, you'd better make sure you look your best. Not that Jessica didn't always look simply ravishing, as if she'd just stepped from the runway, but she needed to look especially good now.

"Kaylen Valieth?" she repeated. The sound of her voice quelled the rest of the chittering, though each girl looked about ready to burst. "I can't say that I've seen him lately. I heard his girlfriend might be around though. Find her, and you'll find him."

Jessica smiled. "But you don't want to abandon us, do you?"

On cue, the girls rang in with their agreement, and began pleading with the name brand boy.


Jessica trained her troops well.

[Eiji Almasy.]

There was a peculiar look on Eiji's face as the girl's erupted before him, quite literally. He'd never known his name could be said at different levels of squeals, and he couldn't say that he particularly liked it, though the enthusiasm at his presence was kind of, more than a little if he was being honest and conceited, flattering.

He didn't notice the girl in the back until she spoke to him. The rest of the girls were like puppies, or bugs, or lemurs; standing around him a length more than a half circle without the inclination that they'd move any time soon. His hands remained stuck in his pockets and he wished that he was more covered, maybe Aviators over his eyes so that he wouldn't feel so revealed to all of them; how did they know him anyway? He caught a flash of red, before she had turned to him, and had thought that it was Teagan for a minute; he hadn't seen the girl since break, and even though she was on the list of things that fell apart, he wouldn't have minded so much running into her again. But this girl, was not Teagan, couldn't possibly be the redhead that he knew. The class was different and decidedly American.

At her words, his gaze dropped to the nearest girl and then the next, until he swept it up to her again. Oh, he wanted a lot of things that had nothing to do with these girls, but it was his mistake in the first place, approaching them, and so he resigned himself to being something near quasi-polite.
"He's my best friend," was his answer, accompanied by a shrug, and it was all so simple to him; he wanted to find Kaylen, because that was where Eve was, and with him, he would probably find the rest of his friends along the way. He was noncommittal, not overly reluctant to be there, but his lack of interest was apparent; curious, yes, as was natural, but not interested.

"Well," he began, eyes skyward for a moment and he appeared to be in recital, "sorry for the interruption." He tipped his hat, departing grin more genuine the one he wore at the beginning, even as he started backpedaling.

[jess]

"I know he's your best friend," commented Jessica, waving a hand. Such information was inconsequential. To Jessica, friends were stepping blocks along the road of life. You used them. They used you. And everyone smiled and patted backs at the end of the day.

"You two are so cute, running around together, causing mischief," added Jessica. She smiled now, as her chorus cooed in time with her words.

Eiji could attempt to back up all he wanted. Jessica's minions had already surrounded him, like wolves. They circled, now, all smiles and squeals. Truly, the only one who looked predatory was their redhaired leader. And even Jessica bore a smile of good will.

"Come on, Eiji," she rolled the name off her tongue, making it sound absolutely delicious. Decadent. A dessert for the mouth. "You don't want to leave a bunch of girls who are so interested in you, do you? You'll hurt our feelings..."

She rose a manicured nail to her lips and pouted beautifully.

A cacophony of disappointed noises erupted around Eiji, ranging from the overly dramatic to the truly distressed. All in all, the girls made it quite clear that they didn't want Eiji to go anywhere without them.

[Eiji Almasy.]

Oh yeah, he definitely wanted to leave. She was under the impression that he would be nice enough to humor her; he wasn't, and that she ranked somewhere high above Kaylen. He wasn't annoyed yet, just possibly delayed, although her pets were gathering too close to him; Eiji was a closet freak, a big fan of disregarding personal space, he made it a point to almost always be separated from others unless they had explicit permission to be in his breathing space, or if he was intoxicated in some form, in which case it was all moot point.

"I don't think you get it," he told her, his grin still in place but it was a little less sincere and more callous, "I'd rather be where he is than here."

Because friendship wasn't an obligation, wasn't a mutual agreement or about gain, or business-like; it was about want and willingness. He wasn't required to be anywhere near Kaylen; his was a choice, and she was palpably condescending, whether she intended for it or not.

His steps had stopped but he was contemplating the virtues of shoving aside girls already. They reminded him of leeches now, and a hint of a sneer formed around the curve of his lips; clingy and ignorant, he thought he could taste the beginnings of nausea.

"I'm sorry," he wasn't, "but I'm awfully busy," no, he wasn't, "need to feed my plants, water my dogs; the usual."
He waved airily with one hand, a complete lack of care about him; if he was aware of his words, he didn't let on. He shifted in his stance, favoring one side and it was just shocking, how he greatly resembled his previous profession. He paid himself no mind though, or the fact that he was practically leaning on a lemur. He glanced at the girl, eyes and mood indiscernible.

[jess]

Jessica's immediate reaction was to grow quite upset. No one turned her down, not even the great Eiji Almasy. Especially not the great Eiji Almasy. Certainly you didn't brush aside Jessica Rey for some random plebe from the streets, friendship or not. One would think that Eiji understood the way of the world by now.

Clearly he needed a lesson.

Jessica's lips pulled back into a cruel smile. "Eiji, you're going to offend me! You don't want to do that, do you?"

The girls twittered in alarm. No! You cannot possibly want to offend Jessica Rey!

"We were just discussing some of the... more interesting things we've heard lately," offered Jessica, taking a sudden interest in her manicured nails. "Poor Kara, to be shoved aside for the prettier model. I'm impressed, Eiji, that was just what I would have done."

Cruel smile.
Silence from the crowd.

[Eiji Almasy.]

He really wished she would stop talking to him, or at least stop asking him ridiculous questions that she must've already known the answer to.
"I don't really care," he declared, words halting but had a sense of an epiphany to it; as if he just realized the truth or fact of it. At the subsequent noise around him, he gestured grandly to shush them; seriously, they were like a freaking zoo.

There was nothing noticeable about his reaction, to her at least. A heavy shifting occurred inside his chest, and the usual tightening of strings happened at the mention of her name. Kara wasn't - he and Kara hadn't been - but it was all irrelevant because while he could have been, she had always been on that verge of falling, and he had gone and done it by pushing her off. Which had absolutely nothing to do with how this girl knew. He was an insanely private person, and while his relationship with Elliot was somewhat public, the nature of it, the details, the intimacy was not and he loathed to think that she knew of them too.

His smile was all teeth, cold and sharp and accentuated the lines on his face, the angle of his cheekbones and how they made him look astoundingly striking despite the viciousness he wore. His eyes glittered in something unnamed and he straightened from his half slouch to walk toward her; because he had been doing it wrong all along, retreating, when he should have just gone up to her and staked her in the heart from the beginning.
"It's what I'm doing now," he said, hands returned to their spot inside his pockets and a soft edge about his tone; she knew nothing and it had better stay that way.

He moved through her pets, disregarding their proximity and made for her until he was a dangerous brush away from touching her. Ew, ok; he wavered until he was on his back heel, and looked at her like she was short.
"I don't know who you are, and I don't care," he stated bluntly, a heavy English lilt to him, "I hope I do offend you, I hope I do hurt your feelings, because I don't want to be anywhere near you."

A great dislike lay in his gaze, and while he didn't glare at her, and while his blasé expression never flickered, there was a hard set to his mouth and an unforgiving look in his eyes; he wasn't likely to forget as much as he would have liked to. The green snapped away and he looked ahead as he stepped around her, his gait long and unstopping.

[jess]

Contempt began to leak on Jessica's features. Clearly Eiji did not deserve his name, nor the fame that went along with it. The boy dared not acknowledge here, instead sniffing around whores and ugly tramps. Someone must have addled the poor boy's brain.

"I am Jessica Rey," drawled Jessica. Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "And you should want to be near me. You're an Almasy. Do you even know what that means?"

She took a step closer to him, raising a finger, extended toward the boy in a decidedly menacing manner. "You're one of the elite. Above the rest. Like me. We're not meant to associate with peasants. Certainly not to spread our legs or plow between one. Not unless we're getting off on it."

She arched her brows. "Don't you see Eiji? You're with the wrong people. That... is so unfortunate."

The crowd twittered an affirmative. They'd circled him now, wolves around a wounded animal. You could almost see them slaver for a taste of Eiji.

"You should stay with me," insisted Jessica. She licked her lips. "You shouldn't even bother with your... friends. Get to know me a little better."

Subtle, but power-loaded.

[Eiji Almasy.]

He honestly considered beating them off with a stick; ever the fickle narcissist, if they touched him, he was going to flip.

He used the word hate only if he meant it, and generally for things that affected him greatly. He hated it when people assumed to know anything about him, based on his name, or thought that they knew more about his heritage than he did, and so extending to expect the type of person he should be. Eiji hadn't been a shallow, self-serving, conceited jerk in a while, if he had ever been one. He knew what it meant to be an Almasy, of course he did; his Mother had been one, but she was nothing like the mold before him, or even like how he had been in his school days. Jessica, he discovered, was indescribable, which was not a good thing, because she compelled little pieces of bile from his stomach to the back of his throat; he supposed he would have to tell her that at some point.

She kept on with her garbage, and the not discreet jab at Elliot had him beginning to scowl, his expression dark; what a bitch, except he was sure he was worse. He didn't understand the ringing in his ears, but her last words had him smiling disturbingly; she obviously valued herself highly, which was just ridiculous.
"Do you reckon we should fuck?" he asked her, a glass shroud masking his eyes and a strange tilt to his mouth; he lived in a house with two of the most foul mouthed boys around, his filter was coming off. Eiji stopped his exit, not acknowledging any of the rabid girls except for Jessica; measured steps toward her.

"Is that what you really want? Eiji and Jessica, instead of my girlfriend."
He stood before her again, the green of his eyes brilliant and aflame as he stared down at her. Eiji didn't hesitate in breaking into her personal space, his fingers almost touching her neck, barely grazing her chest, splayed just above her stomach until his hand rested on the curve of her hip. He brought himself closer, his hips to hers, his hand on her tightening like he would have held his lover.
"Do you want me between you, Jessica?" he demanded softly, eyes locked on hers and he shifted to glance down, where his other hand was smoothing up her stomach, "do you want me to touch you, like I touch her? Do you want me, to make you scream? Do you want me, Jessica?"

Eiji paused, and then his hands disappeared to his sides, and the previous screen over his eyes were removed to reveal circles of green contempt. He was warm above her skin when he moved, to talk directly into her ear.
"I would never want you," he murmured, the hiss in his voice hate-filled, true and promising, "never. I am nothing like you. You disgust me."

[jess]

Her words were scoring hits on him, Jessica could tell. Eiji could try to hide it all he wanted, but in the end he was as mortal as any boy. The not-so-subtle hints toward his "love," the insinuations that he had more in common with Jessica he cared to admit, the everything. It was catching up with him, eating away.

Just what Jessica wanted.

"Do you reckon we should fuck?"

The words caught Jessica off-guard. Pretty rich boys do not ask pretty rich girls if "they should f**k." It simply wasn't done. Then he was... Eiji Almasy was touching her. It excited Jessica far more then she cared to admit. Too many fantasies arose unbidden in her mind, and she had to swallow, words failing her.

It was all she could do not to whimper and affirmative. All she could do not to simply melt in that crushing embrace. Fortunately, she did not, instead clinging to her desperate social status, that one facade she still possessed.

His final words sank deep, knives piercing her spirit. Hissing, Jessica dug nails into Eiji's back, levering her lips to his ears. "You are me, foolish boy. We use people. That's what it's all about, isn't it? Take them, use them up, then toss them aside. Is that why you hate me?"

Jessica refused to release him just yet. She was far too selfish for that. For just a few more seconds, she would pretend.

[Eiji Almasy.]

Eiji could have smiled. There came a time of clean separation, a tilt of scales, and then nothing could be done to change his mind. He was kind, he supposed, in giving her her allowance, and continuing to stand in her sordid, lying embrace, but it was more to complete his end than an act of tolerance.

"You're wrong," he stated, voice velvet, strong, honest, "I'm better than you, which is why you'll never have me." The look on his face was fierce, eyes hard and vile, the sneer on his lips slight but awful when he drew his head away to stare at her. In a change of tune, his hand rose up, and fingers grazed her cheek before curling around the nape of her neck, the other on his waist. He moved in again, this time closer, nose askance from hers and mouth tortuously near.

"But you should remember this," he almost whispered, in guise of tenderness and his lashes fluttered as he glanced down at her face, her lips, and then up into her eyes again, "this is the best you'll ever get of me."
It was hard to discern whether he smirked in the end, or if it was something of a snarl; she was everything foul, and it was doing him in just to breathe the same air as her, let alone sharing the same pocket. He shoved her away, the hand at her neck sliding down to her shoulder to exert force that he normally wouldn't have on a girl. There was no guilt or any sign of apology when he regarded her three steps away. His expression was baleful, very nearly heady, the dislike was, swirling in his gaze.

"Let me tell you something," he began, an all-knowing, arrogant curve to his brow; he was dismissive and captivating at the same time, "I think you're the most atrocious, repugnant little girl on the planet. You will never be anywhere near like me because I'm real, and the people around me are real, what I have is real."
He didn't chance a step toward her, more than aware of her claws, and instead shifted in his stance. The nuance of his tone didn't change, and more than anything, he appeared to be a smarmy bastard; he wouldn't pity her.

"I wouldn't say I hate you, but I would say you hate me," he said, and he considered her then, not in pity or anything remotely nice, but he did consider her.

[jess]

"You're not better," argued Jessica, grinning. "You're just delusional. Keep fooling yourself, Almasy. But you're just like me, and you know it. That's why you're arguing so much."

Despite her hard words and the evident distaste in her tone, Jessica still tensed a bit as Eiji touched her. It felt far too good, and that grated her even as she moved under the touch. It grated her to know that some lesser girl got to experience this on a regular basis. Street trash enjoying what should be Jessica's.

She spread her arms wide, as if ready to accept an embrace from him. "You keep saying such mean things to me. You don't mean it though, do you? Because you know, deep down, that you're yelling at your own kind. You and I, Eiji, we're the ones who are supposed to be in charge. It's a shame that you can't see that."

Pity seeped her tone now, dripping from each syllable. Part of her did pity him; he was so wrapped in his delusions that he wasn't even remotely aware of the real world happening around him.

Now, it was time for Jessica to get something solid from this.

"Why don't you kiss me, Eiji Almasy?" the loaded suggested slid from between her lips. Gift and Fae blood worked their magic throughout the words, enticing Eiji. It didn't hurt that Jessica looked desirable at just that moment: wet lips and gentle curves.

The girls in her following all eagerly watched, as if a wonderful soap opera played out before their eyes.

[Eiji Almasy.]

The grin on her face made her look revolting. Unfortunately, he matched her with a sneer, crossed with a smirk and laden with all the intentional viciousness he possessed.

"Nuh," he said, not in countering to her words, but a flat, no-argument brick wall that would never crumble; his grin was shit-eating, and he was unmoved.
"you're just hating." Nothing she could say would ever be good enough to even come close to convince him otherwise. Her logic was flawed and her sense of reality was skewered; if it had been another day, perhaps another person, Eiji would have felt remorse, but when he looked at her, there was nothing.

He stood a considerable distance away, mentally at least and stoically, farther than just three steps. There was a separation that allowed him relative peace of mind; the part of him that mattered was safe from whatever manipulation he knew she wasn't above. And then, in the midst of unmistakable self assuredness, the kind that came with birth and a lifetime of accomplishments and tribulations, Eiji faltered. The beauty, he supposed, was in the deconstruction of his face; his grin was frozen, and then nonexistent all together; the brightness of his eyes so suddenly dimmed that it was like a loss; and all the planes on his face shifting until he looked only a fraction of himself.

His heart thudded heavily, once, twice and then repeatedly until it matched the mantra inside his head. He thought; Elliot, because those foreign words made the inside of him curl, and he knew then what all the alien ringing and buzzing meant, where the cold sweat on his temple originated from. He thought; Elliot, because even at her suggestion, all of him immediately leapt to the girl, and simultaneously, all of him reared away from the remote possibility of even touching anyone else. The lines of him were tense, and he was so taut that it was almost painful; the effort it took to stay, to never submit, to never betray.

He laughed, a choked, wheezing sort of noise that escaped him mercilessly and it looked like it hurt. He clutched his knees, bent a little, risking moving forward but as it was, he didn't fear her. His head was ducked but his shoulders continued to wrack in amusement, and he didn't make it plain to see how much it cost him, to defy the genetic pull. His laughter subsided eventually, and he breathed, straightening and stared at her, the light in his eyes returned and burning, his crows feet evident and the slight upturn of his lips silent, knowing and confident; peaceful.

"I'd rather kiss a foaming, AIDs, sacrificial Jew-goat than you," he said to her, humor outlining his expression. Regulating his breathing was noticeable, and his somewhat ashen pallor was too, but his hands were loose and outside his pockets, and his stance was tall and resolute in his place.
"You're just a Rey," he told her; cruel, "I'll never acknowledge you as being anything like me, or anyone for me."