Lost It

[jess]

--open

"I don't care where you last had it I need it now," Jessica demanded. Her arms crossed over her chest and she glared at her poor unfortunate friend.

Said friend cowered, stammering out apologies as she started digging into the room. It was actually the third room they'd searched, and still they weren't any closer to finding what they were looking for.

It was simple, really. Jessica had lost her notebook. Said notebook happened to contain all the notes she needed for her latest project. If she couldn't find it, then she couldn't do her project. This would set her back significantly in her studies, and it would be very hard to persuade a tutor she deserved top marks when she couldn't submit anything.

"I told you once, and now I'm sayin' it again," Jessica ground her teeth, "find my notebook."

"I'm trying!" the loyal lackey whined. "We've been looking for hours, I just can't--"

"I need that notebook!"

"I know, Jessica, I'm sorry. You could borrow my notes."

"Your notes aren't going to help with my project," Jessica explained. She sighed, rubbing her temples. It was a shame there was no good help in this place.

[Ϛ Cylo]

Cylo walked by, flipping through the pages of a notebook he may or may not have found lying on a table in the common room. He appeared to be immensely interested in its contents, if a little rushed in his reading of them, but not so much that he couldn't see the poor lackey being harassed by someone who he guessed was Queen Bee around here. His favourite type of person!

...to piss off, of course.

He was immensely glad, as he approached the alpha female, that her back had been turned to him, so intent was she on yelling at the poor girl searching the room. This gave him the perfect opportunity to do something childish and, of course, fun. What would that be, you might ask? Why, mock her, of course!

Doing his best to emulate pure sassiness, he put one hand on his hip and mimed yelling at the friend with much exaggeration, pointing to the notebook in his hand and clearly mouthing, "Find that notebook!" with a look that could just as easily have been constipation as anger.

Of course, if the girl turned around, he'd be ready for it, and have the book behind his back and a not-so-innocent grin on his face before she'd whirled halfway, but he really didn't mind if she saw him anyway. Heck, maybe the lackey was whipped (or loyal, if that's the word you prefer to use in this situation) enough to actually tell her 'boss' what was going on. He really didn't care.

Sure, the girl was a looker, and he'd give her the book back eventually, but in his eyes her looks far from excused her and she deserved to be a little stressed out. Served her right. But he couldn't keep it up for too long, just for the sake of the poor friend being lorded over.

And yes, he was fully aware of the irony of him playing the morally 'right' person. It just made the whole situation that much more amusing.

[jess]

The poor girl, we'll call her Amanda, still searched desperately for the notebook. She burrowed through possessions faster than a mole through dirt. So it took her a while to come up for air, and she turned to give a progress report to Jessica.

And that's when she saw Cylo.

Remarkably enough, all Jessica's "lackeys" were firmly convinced that they were her friends, an illusion that Jessica herself supported. And when your friend had some strange guy standing behin her, mocking her, you pointed it out.

"Umm... Jessica?"

Jessica arched her brows, looking down at Amanda.

"There's a guy, he's sorta standing behind you?" a shaking finger was pointed in Cylo's direction.

"A guy?" Jessica repeated. She turned, seeing the redhead standing there. He didn't look immediately familiar, and was only passingly attractive. Therefore he'd be completely beneath Jessica's notice in normal circumstances. Under duress, she was willing to utilize any resource available to her.

"Have you seen a notebook, has the name Jessica in it?" she asked, eying the guy. Did he have something in his hands...?

[Ϛ Cylo]

Ah, damn, the lackey is totally whipped. Oh well, I guess I had my fun with her.

"A notebook with the name Jessica in it? Well, that depends. What particular spelling of Jessica were you after? I've seen some pretty odd ones in my day..." With that, he pulled the notebook from behind his back and flipped to where the name was. "If you want J-e-s-s-y-k-a then you're out of luck, but if it's J-e-s-s-i-c-a you want I might be able to help you. What was the last name?"

He directed the question toward Amanda, because, obviously, it was the person searching for the book who must have owned it. If the girl in front of him owned it, she would be the one looking for it, right? It was only logical.

"Actually, you know, I'm not even sure this is considered a notebook. I could go have another look around the table where I found this thing, if you'd like."

Grin #7: Madly Infuriating. was making itself known.

[jess]

The little patience Jessica had toward the young man evaporated as he spoke. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to jab something sharp into Cylo and twist. Instead she settled for glaring daggers.

"It's mine, you can stop botherin' my friend, she was helpin' me look for it," Jessica explained. Her voice had an edge to it, touching them would leave one away bleeding. "Name's spelled normal, and my last name's Rey. That's R-E-Y, since you're apparently retarded."

Amanda's eyes widened, and she shifted completely behind Jessica, out of the line of fire. She knew full well that with Jessica, words actually could hurt.

"Let's save ourselves both some time and you can tell me if you've seen my notebook," the words had power behind them. The air had a timbre to it, as the power almost dripped from each syllable. And she wasn't done there. "And if you have seen it, tell me where it is."

Again, glaring daggers, "Now."

[Ϛ Cylo]

Now, Cylo was many things; jerk, smarta**, instigator, show-off; but stupid he was not. He maybe wasn't quite as book-smart as most, but he had plenty of intuition and street-smarts to make up for that. So, especially since he could easily shrug off the majority of what the girl said as drivel, when he found himself compelled to actually listen to the girl, even obey her, he knew something was up.

And there were very few things that could explain that.

"You're right, I can tell you," said Cylo, managing to obey and yet still not give her what she wanted. "I can tell you lots of things. In fact, I can tell you anything. Just don't expect it all to be true."

But her next 'order' proved much harder to avoid, and he found that his hands, already in front of him as he flipped through the notebook, were slowly relinquishing the book to the girl.

Okay boss lady, it's time Cylo took charge of the situation.

"Yes of course, Madame," Cylo graciously agreed, quickly dropping into a bow. He also made to grab Jessica's hand and plant a kiss on the back of it, like some sort of lowly servant. Painful to his pride, but oh so worth it.* He straightened and, with a smile, handed the notebook to her.

You're not the only one who can play dirty.

You see, as a demon, Cylo needed to feed on the life force of the ones native to this plane of existence. And Jessica happened to be one of those people. So, long story short, the kiss delivered to the girls hand (and of course the grabbing of the hand itself) should have, shall we say, taken her breath away, and not in the romantic sense. It wouldn't do any lasting damage, or indeed much damage at all, but maybe it would send a message.

Heck, maybe it would just piss her off even more. Wouldn't that be fun!

^{*This being, of course, if he actually managed to make this move. I leave it to Matt to decide, though.}

[jess]

As Jessica had anticipated, the man tried to squirm his way around her order. Experience had taught her that that happened all too often. The smart ones could generally see a loophole in whatever she ordered, and would sometimes work it. It's what made her switch to more explicit terms.

Since Jessica didn't know Cylo was a demon, she had no reason not to allow him to touch her. After all, it fed to her ego as well. Though the touch turned her skin cold, and she felt a wave of exhaustion crash over her. Her legs buckled, and she stumbled backward, fortunately out of Cylo's grip.

The draining irritated Jessica greatly, and she simply would not allow the man to do something like that. It was time for a humiliating payback, and she intended to thoroughly enjoy humiliating the young man before her.

"You will walk to the common room, singing the song 'Barbie Girl' at the top of your lungs, then, once you enter the common room, you will end by jumping into the lap of the first available person, and personally confessing your undying love and affection for the person," the orders were explicit, well thought, and Gift-packed. Of course, Jessica did not have the punch she thought she did, and the more complex the order, the easier it was to resist. Yes, it would be difficult, but hardly impossible.

Amanda darted forward, taking the notebook and holding it as if it were some sort of sacred talisman. She was simply glad Jessica's wrath was not directed her way.

[Ϛ Cylo]

"Are you serious?!" Cylo said incredulously, fighting the urge to move. It was pretty clear that his manly pride was doing wonders fighting against this order, and that this was one thing he'd never submit t---

"That's the best you've got? You're a b**ch and you lack any sense of creativity? Hell, it's no wonder you resort to bossing people around; it's all you've got going for you!"

And with that, he stopped resisting the urge to follow through. In fact, he wholly and gladly accepted it. And what's more, in a blur of demonically quick motion, he scooped Jessica up in his arms and took her out into the common room with him him, only pausing to motion for the friend to follow.

When he reached the common room (which took maybe a split second at that speed) he jumped up on a table with Jessica and whistled loudly. He stood Jessica beside him and held her by the wrist, his grip more or less loose but firm and unyielding. This was, after all, her show.

With his free hand, he held up an imaginary microphone to Jessica's mouth and, in an overly deep voice, said, "Hi Barbie!" Quickly returning the mic to his own mouthal region, he replied, "Hi Ken!" and continued as such for the rest of 'You wanna go for a ride?' 'Sure, Ken!' 'Jump in!' 'Ha ha ha ha!''

And then the fun really began.

"I'm a barbie girl, in a barbie world.
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere,
Imagination, life is your creation!"

All the while he twirled and shook, without letting go of Jessica. But in the brief pause between verses, he looked at her and, with a wink, whispered, "This ends any time you want it to, darlin', and I have a funny feeling you can't keep that commanding tone up all day."

[jess]

Again, Jessica's plan had backfired slightly on her. Before she could adequately react, she found herself in the common room, momentarily breathless. It was because of this state that she didn't immediately order Cylo to behave in a different manner. In fact, it bought Jessica a few moments of thinking time, to reassess and reevaluate the situation. Despite Cylo's insults, Jessica could manipulate and plan well enough, though usually her plans settled on petty and selfish.

She did hiss, "Let me go," and thus managed to distangle before Cylo launched into the first chorus. Far too much had been slammed into those words, coupled with her own insistence. Had that not worked, Amanda, who'd been following along, would simply phase her loyal boss out of the demon's arms.

Once properly on the floor, Jessica could watch Cylo twirl about. She raised her eyebrows and shot amused looks at nearby people. Clearly the man was crazy and had just kidnapped Jessica, trying to force her into some strange song and dance number. Most people didn't care that much for the uber-b**ch of Almasy house, but they didn't like a guy forcing a girl like that even more. If Cylo didn't come up with something, Jessica would formulate this into a solid win.

[Ϛ Cylo]

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it), Cylo was way past caring about whether this turned out a win or loss. He was in it for the fun, and regardless of who was 'winning', he'd leave as soon as the entertainment value was gone from the encounter. Which, at that point, seemed pretty imminent.

But he hadn't quite given up on it yet.

He shrugged and quit singing, hopping down from the table. It was beyond easy to ignore the singing order at that point, especially after she'd already issued him another one, and he had no reason to want to sing anymore either, what with Grumpy the Dwarf turning his audience on him.

"Hey, come on Rey, you're the one who wanted to play Truth or Dare. Of course, you call it 'Obey Me No Matter What I Say', but the idea's pretty much the same, right? I do what you say, you have a laugh about it? Smile, at least! You have such a lovely audience for your mind games!"

He didn't particularly care what the other Almasies thought of him, so that gave him a lot of leeway. They were all a bunch of selfish prats in his books, apart from a few who would trust him before Jessica anyway. He couldn't see why he'd been put in the house with those kinds of people in the first place, just because he was a selfish prat himself the majority of the time.

[jess]

This was clearly a win. The only people who were even listening to Cylo were the ones that would have done so anyway. Far more people looked to be snickering behind their hands. Almasies did appreciate seeing someone shown up, after all. Besides, it was dangerous not to be on Jessica's good side.

"Oh, I'm enjoyin' myself," drawled Jessica. She raised her eyebrows and speculatively eyed her latest prey. "I got what I wanted, after all."

To clarify what she referred to, she held up the notebook, the source behind all this chaos in the first place.

Amanda had gathered with the rest of the giggle girls, and they were doing what they did best: giggle like idiots. A few twittered agreements with Jessica, but mostly they just giggled.

Of course, a few other Almasians found this whole display to be rather disgusting, and simply returned to their own works.

"Maybe next time you'll just play along," Jessica suggested. She headed for the entrance to the girls' dorm, her squad forming around her.

[Ϛ Cylo]

Oh, she definitely got what she wanted.

Cylo didn't bother saying much of anything to Jessica's closing remarks, though he had an urge to comment on how he pretty well had played along, just not by her rules. He figured it would just get lost in that big head of hers, though, so he didn't bother.

Instead he just shrugged, waited until Jessica was gone, turned to the few remaining people, and imitated Jessica's pose as she had held up her notebook a few moments ago. Except in his hands, he held a folded-up mass of paper. Namely, all the pages from the notebook that actually had any writing on them.

A few of those strong-willed individuals not under Jessica's command guessed what was up and snickered and/or giggled quietly. Cylo simply smiled knowingly and left the room.

Maybe that'll teach her she can't get what she wants by playing dirty.







Nahhh, she'll probably just get even more pissed. Oh well, such is life. At least it guarantees an interesting reunion.