as written by Ronin and Tiko
The door to Dominic's room opened with a soft 'click', permitting entry to Hagan and Whisper.
"Make yourself at home," he nodded to her, shrugging off his jacket as he walked in, "I just checked in this morning - was staying on my ship before this." He looked quietly about the living space, the quarters bedecked with Isirian artwork and the latest in Illumene interior design fashion. Though he didn't mind the decor, Dominic hadn't picked Icyene as his place of residence during his stay on Arastel for its aesthetic appeal.
"So," he ran a hand through his hair, "...what's your name?"
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Whisper hesitated and she looked away from him. "Alessia," she finally said. It didn't come easily to speak the name.
She moved through the room, but she didn't take a seat. A painting caught her eyes, and she looked at it quietly as she tried to sort out where to go from here.
"I suppose you have questions," she finally said. She closed her eyes briefly. "It wasn't my intent to deceive you. Things shouldn't have gotten to this point. I... underestimated Whisper's feelings for you... and yours for her. I didn't want this for you. I'm sorry."
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"There's nothing to apologize for," Dominic replied calmly, "I'm just happy that I'm finally getting some answers." He gestured toward a nearby couch. "Please. Sit with me."
Once settled, Dominic would make a brief but thorough examination of Alessia's mannerisms, quickly studying and memorizing every observable facet of her physical character. The way she carried herself... any fidgets or habits she'd be prone to... even the way she sat down - very little would escape him.
"I understand we've met once before..." he began slowly, "...that night in Caprica on the roof. We read poetry together."
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Whisper smiled faintly at the memory of the poem.
"We have met many times," she explained as she crossed the room and sat down. She moved slowly, her steps lingering but purposeful. Much as she had within Dominic's gardens back in Leonis. It had been she who had enjoyed the afternoon sun and the trees that day, the scent of fresh flowers that reminded her so much of New Haven.
"I don't even know where to begin."
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Dominic smiled. "Well then. Let's catch up."
He began simple. "Why don't you tell me about yourself? What your relation is to Jacquelyn?" He nodded. "...maybe what 'triggers' you, if there's anything specific that draws you out. Airlia seems pretty intuitive." He perked a brow. "You are aware of your... 'condition', right? You know about the others?"
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Whisper seemed tired, in that way that sleep won't cure, and Dominic's question drew that over her like a heavy blanket.
"Jacquelyn... was my sister," she explained. "She died... many years ago."
She had spoken of a sister to Dominic previously, but she hadn't revealed what had come of her until now. She smiled sadly. "And yes, I'm aware. I was the first, in a sense. It's difficult to establish a time line. We're people, the same as you... even if we weren't birthed in the same manner. Our memories are real to us, even the false ones. But I was there to watch Jacquelyn grow from a child into a woman, and I was there too at the end when she died."
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"I'm very sorry," Dominic said softly. If Jacquelyn really was dead, then he supposed her passing had been particularly hard on her sister. He noticed the heaviness in her voice - the weariness with which she elaborated in her condition. He supposed this wasn't the easiest topic to discuss, but Dominic needed answers. He was just happy that Alessia was more receptive than Airlia had been.
"I won't ask for too many details into your history," he said, before smiling, "...I don't suppose we could summarize everything into a single night's talk anyway. Perhaps, instead, you could tell me about some of the other people that inhabit this body? Airlia mentioned that there were quite a few. Are they all still ... 'active'?" He looked seriously at her. "...and are any of them dangerous?"
"Also, when I first met Whisper she introduced herself as 'Jacquelyn Rose'," Dominic said, "why would she use that name if Jacquelyn died a long time ago?"
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"Because she thinks she is Jacquelyn," Whisper explained. "She has no name to call her own, because that wasn't her purpose. Jacquelyn Rose is the name we all share for birth records, and medical records, and so that is who she believes herself to be."
"We named her Whisper - the name we all share - because... in a sense she is. She knows nothing of the rest of us, and maintains no memories from prior to her birth five years ago. She is the face of Whisper, a face behind which the rest of us might exist."
She smiled then, softly.
"As for the others... are you dangerous, Dominic?" Whisper inquired. "May is a recovering drug addict, Airlia is young and rebellious, Pythia is schizophrenic... we all have our flaws. As I'm sure you have yours. There will always be risks and dangers to the collective. Even Whisper's decision to lie with you carries an element of danger for the rest of us. Suppose May or Pythia were to find themselves eight months pregnant, with no recollection of how?"
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"Which is what worries me," Dominic replied, "if all of you were aware of each other, it would be easier. Since you're not, I have to assume that Whisper's..." he chose his words carefully, "...less than rational personalities... will manifest at some point in the future, at which time I assume they will be completely and utterly confused." He shook his head. "I can't have that. Whisper means too much to me to risk losing her over an oversight on my part. It's my desire to meet with Whisper's personalities, every one of them, and form some semblance of a relationship with them." He nodded. "Or at least get them to understand that I mean them no harm."
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Whisper smiled softly once more.
"She cares a great deal for you, you know. You make her happy, which is something she hasn't had in a very long time. I see a lot of Jacquelyn in her..."
Her smile fell then and she shook her head.
"What you seek is too dangerous at the moment. There's too much at stake to risk upsetting the balance of things. Whisper's... our futures are riding on the success of repelling the Avaeon threat from Isiria. When we return to Langara and this matter is behind us... If you still feel as you do now, then I will help you."
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Dominic nodded. "I'm glad to have your help. Really. I've been so confused lately, getting your input on this..." he smiled, "...well... it's a godsend. I feel much better about all this."
Rising off the couch, Dominic put slack on his tie and walked over to a nearby counter. "Of course, when I said I wanted to have a relationship with the various people that inhabit Whisper's body, I was including you as well," he retrieved a pitcher of water and a glass, looking up at Alessia with a nod. "You've already helped me immensely, Alessia. Perhaps there's something I can do for you?" He took a sip out of the glass, nodding earnestly. "Anything at all, really. I'm still not sure how deeply our experiences together run, but..." He paused, unsure what to say. "...I feel like I... know you more." He shook his head. "There's just something more familiar about you than there was with Airlia."
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"We met in Leonis many times," she replied with a soft smile. "It reminded me of home," she explained.
She drew her legs up to curl them next to her on the couch as she watched Dominic, mulling over his offer to do something for her.
"Just... take care of her," Whisper answered. "Seeing her happy will make me happy. What are your plans?" she asked. She knew there were complications to Dominic being involved with Whisper, his father among them. It was more than that though, and there would be complications from within as well. Once they were free of the special Projects Division, they would be free to move on with their lives... and for some that didn't entail settling down with Dominic in Leonis. And there was of course Dominic himself to take into account. His reputation as somewhat of a playboy preceded him.
It was hard for her to see a future for those two, but who was she to tell them no?
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"To do whatever I can," Dominic replied easily enough, "and help her put these ... demons of her past to rest." He nodded. "I want to give her a good, happy life, free from the misery and pain she's become so accustomed to. She deserves that." A brief twinge of pain flashed across his face as he said the words. When he spoke again, his voice was slightly harder. "...what sentient being does not deserve that..." He spoke as if challenging anyone to disagree with him.
Shaking his head, Dominic took another sip out of his water. He was collected again. When he looked at Alessia, he had returned to his usual calm.
"It's been a long day," he nodded, "I invite you to spend the night here. You can stay in my room, if you like." He rolled one of his shoulders forward. "I'll take the couch." He cleared his throat. "Just uh..." He looked at her, smiling meekly. "...just... try to still be here when I wake up, if you know what I mean."
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Whisper smiled a somewhat knowing smile at Dominic's concerns that she might be gone come morning. It was a wry smile though, and as it so often did in the past, it failed to fully reach her eyes. The years had been hard on all of them it would seem.
"There's no need for that," she replied to his offer to sleep on the couch. "Here, take my hands," she told him as she offered them out to him from the couch, palms up.
There was nothing suggestive about the gesture, only a gentle warmth.
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Dominic took her hands, gently rising to his feet and looking down at Whisper curiously. Alessia was a stark contrast from Airlia, it seemed. Not a sensual bone in her body - at least, not for him. Still, he was determined to forge some kind of relationship with this girl, even if her happiness was directly dependent on the happiness of Whisper's other psyches.
A thought suddenly struck Dominic. During their conversation they'd missed one very important topic.
"There's a child in your belly right now, Alessia," Dominic said softly, his eyes searching, "my child. Even if I didn't consummate it with you, it's still, to a degree, your body." Hers, along with six others. "I need to know that you're okay with having this baby."
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Whisper pulled herself to her feet by Dominic's hands and his question drew another smile from her. This time it held a depth of warmth to it.
"Nothing would make me happier than protecting this child," she told Dominic.
Jacquelyn's consciousness may be gone... but for all intents and purposes, the child would be her niece or nephew. She would protect and care for it as if it were her own.
"You should be with her tonight," she added. "It's what she needs right now. She's afraid, and confused. You don't want her to wake tomorrow with the last thing she remembers being the restaurant from earlier," she explained.
"Kiss me," she told him gently.
The request was offered much in the same tone as her previous request to take her hands. Despite the nature of the words, there was nothing suggestive or sensual about it.
"Trust me," she added. She didn't want to give the poor man the wrong impression.
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Dominic was slightly off-put by Alessia's request, but he had a feeling as to where she was going with this. His hands wrapped gently around her waist and her offered her a last nod.
"Thank you," he said once more. He moved his head towards her own and softly brushed his lips against hers. After a handful of seconds, he would retreat slightly, carefully scanning Whisper's face to see who he was dealing with.
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Whisper slipped her arms around Dominic's neck as she leaned up and kissed him back, softly. When he pulled back, she smiled up at him. It was the same warm smile she had met him with upon the steps of the Administration Center earlier this morning.
"You're sweet, you know that?" she told him.
The smile faltered though as she realized she wasn't sitting anymore, or in fact at the restaurant at all. Memory lapses were a thing of the norm for her, but it could still be unnerving - regardless of what the SPD filled her head with. She moved back and rubbed at her brow to ease the headache that frequent personality shifts often left her with.
"I'm sorry," she murmured.
Her eyes shifted past Dominic to a clock on the wall. She had lost several hours and she rubbed at her arm lightly as if cold.
"Maybe I should get some sleep," she said with an apologetic half smile that didn't quite cover up her abrupt discomfort.
She felt drained, physically.
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"Don't be sorry for anything," Dominic said plainly. He stepped towards her, eager to dispel her confusion and doubt. Dominic had no idea how much Whisper remembered of their date - for all he knew, her last recollection of their time together had been his initial shock at hearing of her pregnancy. That wasn't how Dominic wanted to end the night. He stepped behind her and laced his hands around her waist, over her stomach.
"Tonight was wonderful," he said, smiling, " ...and learning about this little guy..." His fingers drummed over her belly. "I couldn't be happier. Really. I'm so thankful for you, for both of you." He moved his head down and rested his lips on the back of her neck. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply of her. Happiness flushed through him. Sure, things weren't perfect. There were still problems to work out and mysteries to solve - but none of that mattered right now. He had Whisper, his Whisper, in his arms. All he wanted was to savor the moment for as long as it would last.
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Whisper woke sometime around two in the morning to the sound of Dominic's quiet breathing beside her. It was nice, waking like this with him here with her. She was curled against his side and her hand was resting upon his chest feeling the steady beat of his heart beneath his finger tips.
She could get used to this she thought with a smile as she pressed her lips to his sleeping shoulder.
Unfortunately their... whatever this was... was banking on a lot of factors that were beyond either of their control. It cast a shadow of doubt over the future, and left the here and the now marred with uncertainties.
It was these doubts that kept her awake, and not wanting to wake him she quietly slipped from the bed. She wrapped herself in one of the sheets as she slipped from the room upon bare feet. It was spring, but the early mornings could still hold a chill to them, and she pulled the sheet more tightly about herself as she found herself standing at an open window in the other room.
She could see the city from up here she thought quietly, and the cool breeze on her face was refreshing as she let her mind wander.
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"You are walking a dangerous line, little leaf," the voice slithered from the darker shades of the night, from those expanses of empty black between the gleaming lights of the city. He was perched atop a nearby statue just to the right of the window, his black cloak fluttering off of the cracked stone like a tattered flag. His vacant white mask watched her inexpressionably.
"It has been long since we've last seen each other," he noted dryly, "not since Terra. Not since the slums." His head quirked ever-so-slightly, the faintest tinge of curiosity entering his voice. "My parting words to you then - have you thought on them?"
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Whisper froze, her eyes drawn to Paragon's white mask which she found herself staring at. The peculiarity of his presence here was such that she was more confused than afraid. She glanced towards the room she had come from, and Dominic's name was on her lips but she hesitated and kept quiet.
For all of Whisper's meekness at times, she was unafraid of Paragon. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but she couldn't quite place it, and a vague sense unease and confusion settled over her. It was the unease that comes with a nagging doubt that you're forgetting something important.
"Who are you?" she asked. "I don't know what you're talking about."
The bedsheet that was wrapped about her body preserved her modesty, but she found herself somewhat uncomfortable with her current state of dress - or lack of. It was almost as if the temperature had dropped several degrees since Paragon had spoken to her, and goose bumps were visible along her arms.
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The mask tilted slightly. He watched her silently for a short while. "...you really don't, do you?" he said at last, "you're not lying. I can tell." He looked away from her briefly, his veiled eyes looking towards the distant lights of the city. "...I wish you understood how hard this makes all of this..."
He looked back at her. One of his hands snaked out from beneath his robes. It was black and gnarled and wrapped in leathery pitch.
"Jacquelyn Rose," his hand hung limp at his side, "...Whisper..." The fingers curled and flexed. Something smooth slipped into his palm. "Fifteen months ago you assaulted the Terran Government Center and killed over one hundred people, including then Prime Minister Cranford. Is this true?" If there was a face behind that mask, it was glowering. "Don't lie to me. I can tell."
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Whisper's expression fell at Paragon's inquiry, and there was a depth of hurt within her eyes at what he asked her, but she made no effort to object or deny what he was saying.
"Are you here to kill me?" she asked.
It seemed a reasonable assumption under the circumstances, but she still seemed unafraid. Sad and weary perhaps, but not afraid.
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He looked at her hard and long. "...no." His cloak sputtered in the wind. "Once, yes. A thousand years ago, yes. No longer." For a moment, he almost sounded apologetic. "I'm... trying to be different this time."
His hand returned to his cloak. "Whether you know it or not, Whisper, we've spoken twice before. It seems there are quite a few souls swimming around in that body of yours." A thick gravelly sound escaped his lips. Laughter? "Like the others, I'm willing to offer you a chance. I believe you were made to do what you did against your will. That does not justify your actions, but it does humanize them. I also believe you have already suffered considerably as a result of your crimes, both within your mind and at the hand of he that binds you."
He held up a finger. "My chance is this - renounce him. The Shadow. Renounce his power, renounce his name. Find a way to free yourself from his chains. Live the rest of your life in peace. Do this, and I leave you alone forever. My fight is with the wicked. There is darkness in you, certainly, but not like him."
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"You ask the impossible," Whisper replied simply.
She found herself watching out over the city instead of looking at Paragon as they spoke. He didn't appear to be an active threat, and so she had let her guard down a bit.
"There are lives outside of my own at stake here..."
She shook her head.
All it would take is one wrong word, and her child would die with her. It was more than that though. This final mission... this one she would have volunteered for.
"War hangs over Isiria. After the war..." she paused for a moment. For all her loathing of the special projects division, part of her was afraid to leave it behind. She pushed those fears aside for the time being. "After the war, I'm retiring from the Special Projects Division, but you have to know I can never leave. Even if He permitted it... I have a life on Langara now... maybe even a family."
She glanced towards the room where she had left Dominic.
Even if she did as Paragon asked. Even if she left Dominic, and fled the chains of the Empire and made a new life somewhere else... All it would take is a word from Mollem... No. She would remain in Langara, where she could ensure the safety of her child.
"I grieve every day for those people who died... who I killed," she said quietly. There was something off about the words though, a hint of hesitation. Rationally she knew it had been her who had killed those people, but the memories of that night were a fog, almost as if it had been a dream she had watched from afar. "I can't undo what happened... but I can ensure more people don't need to die. I'll live out my life on Langara, however long that may be."
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"And if he asks of you again..." Paragon retorted coldly, "...to kill... to ruin innocent lives... will you?" A low snarl escaped his lips. "You did before, when all he had was your people and your name. Now you have a child. Now he has even more leverage over you." He lifted a merciless finger towards her abdomen.. "Tell me, Whisper, would you kill for that child? Would you destroy the happiness of other people to protect the last shred of happiness in your own life?"
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"He wont..." Whisper replied. There was doubt in her though. He said he would release her and allow her to live her life in peace within the Empire, but the possibility that he might recall her would always remain. She pulled the sheet tighter about her and shivered, but it wasn't the night air that chilled her. Paragon it would seem had a knack for stirring up her doubts and fears.
She closed her eyes before she spoke again.
"What mother wouldn't kill to protect their child?" she asked. There was an edge of anger to her voice. "Leave us in peace. We have done as you have asked, and your presence and words only serve to torment an innocent woman with memories that aren't even hers."
Whisper turned away from the window to head back inside.
She didn't close the window though as she found her way to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water, seemingly indifferent to Paragon's presence.
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But Paragon did not leave her - his darkness hung over Whisper like a shadow, his presence permeating the house and filling its room with a black and foreboding aura.
"How quickly your resolve shifts..." his voice beat a sinister echo throughout the room. Should Whisper turn at that moment, she would find him standing not ten feet away in the open hall. "...a moment ago you expressed your commitment to preserving lives. Now it seems you're ready to kill at a moment's notice." His mask tilted at a curious angle. "I suppose it must be difficult maintaining consistency in a body so... occupied..."
An eyeblink later and he was gone from the hallway. He was behind her - directly behind her - his cold, sickly breath misting against the nape of her neck.
"Know this... whoever you are..." his voice was a crawling, rasping whisper, "let the collective know this... goodness requires sacrifice. So long as Mollem remains your master, you will never find true peace." The whisper became a growl. "And when he forces your hand - when he drives you into sin and murder as he has before - I will be there - and I will deliver justice unto you as it is due..." His hand reached forward, cruel talons curling ominously over her belly.
"...and take from you what little happiness you still have left..."
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Paragon's lingering threat was the breaking point for the young woman as the glass of water fell from her hand. Paragon's body would jerk as if it was met by an unseen force that slide him back and slammed him spread eagle against the wall at Whisper's back.
She turned then, and he slide higher until his feet no longer touched the floor as she held a palm outstretched towards him. At her back the spilled glass of water was hovering in the air as droplets of water meandered through the air in an almost surreal display as the sloshed liquid had risen into the air with Paragon.
There was fire in her eyes as she locked her gaze upon his, and a whisper in her mind hissed to kill him, to protect them, and protect the child. Her fingers twitched with the impulse to silence the beat of his heart and to remove any possibility that he might one day return to carry out his threat.
Paragon wasn't the enemy though... not really...
She withdrew her hand, pushing that sinister whisper into the deeper recesses of her mind as her telekinetic hold over Paragon abated and he was left to drop back to the floor.
"The next time you threaten that child," Whisper replied levelly, "You had best be prepared to kill us."
It was peculiar perhaps that she spoke of it as if it weren't her own, but Paragon seemed to have a grasp on the nature of her being.
"Get out."
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A rasped breath escaped Paragon's lungs as Whisper forced him back against the wall. For a moment, he looked trapped - squashed under the weight of Whisper's telekinetic hold.
But when Whisper released him, he didn't fall flat on his face onto the floor. Rather, he remained stuck on the wall, not so much smashed against it so much as he was perched into it.
"Foolish little leaf..." his voice murmured, "I do not threaten, nor do I punish, the innocent..." His frame shifted and blurred, his cloak wrapping around him like a black cocoon. His body dissolved into something like water and mist before seeping into the tile floor and drywall of the kitchen.
"...only the wicked..."
Were Whisper to search for his signature at that point, she would find it resonating all around her. The entire kitchen pulsated with Paragon's sickly presence - it was as if his energy had seeped into every crack and corner of the room.
"...only the guilty..."
He lingered for a moment, his words like writhing shadows on the wall. Then, just as quickly, he was gone. The darkness lifted. The room seemed lighter and quieter.
A cool springtime breeze wafted in from the nearby hallway. The window was still open.
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Whisper lingered in the kitchen a time before she finally returned to Dominic's room. She left the spilled glass of water where it lay and rejoined Dominic to try and get some sleep. She lay awake for a time, but eventually sleep retook her and by morning she was sound asleep.
It was a restless sleep though and when she opened her eyes, it was eerily dark.
Dominic was gone and she sat up holding the sheets to her chest as she carefully slid from the bed upon bare feet once more. There was movement from the doorway. Had Paragon returned? Or perhaps it was simply Dominic returning to bed...
"Dominic?" she asked.
There was a sinking sense of unease in the pit of her stomach though. She could hear a wet squelching sound as Shaded stepped towards her, tarry black corruption dripping from his body and leaving black footprints upon the carpet.
"What are you doing here..." she whispered.
"You don't really think it's yours, do you?" the figure of Shaded asked as he pointed an outstretched finger towards her stomach.
The sinking unease turned to a stomach roiling revolution as she looked down. The sheet she had wrapped herself in was soaked through with the same black tar that covered Shaded's body, and beneath the sheet her stomach bulged and writhed as something within her tried to claw its way free.
She screamed and doubled over as she caught herself against the bedside stand and when she looked back up Shaded was gone and it was Paragon who had taken his place. Pain and terror tore through her.
"Help me..." she pleaded.
There was no mercy or empathy within his cold eyes though as the Lzothozsh spawn tried to tear itself free from her. His masked face loomed only inches from her own before she woke from the dream with a start. There was the warm glow of the morning light from the window, but it did little to drive off the fear that gripped her. Her heart was racing and she felt feverish and nauseated from the remnants of the dream as she sat up, but once she realized where she was it was easier to still the racing of her pulse. She was at Dominic's place, and she lay back down and curled up against him to rest with her head against his shoulder as she waited for the dream to fade as they often did upon waking. In the meanwhile he made her feel safe, even from her nightmares.
"Lzothozsh..." she murmured softly as the name lingered upon her mind.
She didn't know what the word meant, but she had woke from her dream with the name upon her lips. Hearing it spoken out loud, even by herself made her uneasy though and she pushed it from her mind.
____
Beside her, Dominic stirred slightly. He groaned groggily, bleary eyes looking briefly towards a nearby window at the first rays of dawn brightening the curtain.
He turned slowly over in his side, still only half awake. He looked sleepily at Whisper, his hand reaching out and gently tracing down her bare shoulder. A smile cracked his lips.
"Mmmm," he hummed, "I've been waiting for this..."
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Whisper offered a half smile back at Dominic. Even with the remnants of her dream still swimming around in her head, this was a pleasant way to start the day she thought.
"I need to get to the Admin Complex soon," Whisper admitted somewhat sadly.
She didn't make any effort to get up though. She wouldn't have minded just staying here in bed all day, if she didn't have the Avaeon prisoners to interrogate today.
"Will you be free again tonight?" she asked hesitantly.
Part of her still couldn't help but wait for the other shoe to fall, or for Dominic to tell her this was all some sick joke. Even at times such as these, she wasn't ever fully engaged with him, and always seemed wary in the way that one is when they've been kicked one too many times.
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Dominic nodded. "That should be alright. I have some business with some Illumene big wigs here this afternoon, but I think I'll be free in the evening." He rolled one of his shoulders back, wincing at the early-morning strain. "I've been trying to make some contacts around the planet... doing something of a 'corporate tour' around the galaxy. Tech Con's been taking some hits at home - Greystone moving in on our territory on Langara. I need to drum up some foreign capital fast or risk losing contracts." He crooked his elbow against the pillow and rested his head in his palm "This month it's Arastel, next month it's Misrana." He shrugged. "Shouldn't take me more than five or six months to map up, I'm only visiting a few planets. Hopefully you'll be finished with your work here by that time and we can finally get a breather back in Leonis." He smiled, his hands tracing circles into her belly. "Or maybe not. Something tells me we'll have our hands full."
He moved closer, leaning forward and pressing his lips to her shoulder. His hand grazed over her stomach and curved itself snugly around her hip. He eyed the bed stand clock mischievously.
"When... exactly did you say you had to be back at the complex?"
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She was admittedly a little saddened at the news that he would be gone for so long, but truth be told she had expected as much the day she left Terra. That he was here at all now was something she hadn't anticipated. She couldn't help but wish she could go with him though, that she could see Misrana with him.
Though... just because she couldn't go with him didn't mean she couldn't help him.
"If you want to get Tech Con back in the running... there's an councilman for the Shade Dominion in the city," she told him. The Aschen alliance with the Shade Dominion was young yet, and the presence of one their councilmen right here in Illumene wasn't news that would have circulated very far through the grapevine yet. It offered Dominic an opportunity to get a lead on making contact with the foreign power before any of his competitors, and getting that kind of influence could well give him a much needed edge.
The mischief in his eyes didn't go unnoticed though and she flushed lightly as her own eyes followed his to the clock. She had an hour before she needed to be at the admin complex...
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Dominic perked a brow. "Really? Wow." An expression of genuine gratitude flashed across his face. "That's ... that's kind of exactly the sort of thing I've been looking for." He nodded slowly. "Seriously. Thank you. This helps a lot..."
His gratitude slowly shifted back to mischief, his excitement only wilder and more heated after Whisper's tip-off. He rolled over her, hooking his arm over her hip and resting his forehead against her brow. "Who knew you were such a little informant..." he grinned, "...makes me wonder what else you're good at that I don't know about..." His lips moved in to cover her mouth before trailing down her cheek. He was biting softly into her neck when his phone, placed near the alarm clock on the bed-stand, began buzzing. Dominic didn't seem to notice.
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Two days later...
It was better half of the evening and the sun was just beginning to set over the view from Dominic’s penthouse. The young CEO, with Whisper cuddled against his chest, sat relaxed on his couch, flipping through channels on a wide plasma screen.
It’d been a long day for Dominic. Arranging a meeting with the Shade Dominion councilman had been hell, but he’d finally managed to secure a time and place. Aside from that, there was the usual string of patch-ups he had to make regarding his father’s under-the-table corporate operations; Dominic was still feeling the sting of Hagan senior’s misadventures in the Veshrac. Sometimes he felt he spent more time cleaning up after his dad than he did doing actual work for his company…
Still, where he was now, he was happy to get some time to himself and with Whisper. It was a nice respite to sit back and relax with her. They weren’t watching anything in particular - just channel surfing. Ten minutes of an action movie here. A reality show there. Just however long something took until commercials hit.
“You guys have a lot of infomercial channels…” Dominic remarked, amused, “your senior citizen population must live in poverty.”
"I wouldn't know," Whisper answered. "I think the first time I saw a TV was on Valore. You know they don’t even have televisions on New Haven?" she asked. "The people there believe in living simpler lives..."
She trailed her fingertips in light patterns atop his chest as they watched the TV, and she could hear the sound of his breathing with each rise and fall of his chest. It held more of her attention than the television to be truthful. She liked this, just laying here with him, enjoying being physically close to one another.
“It’s said to be the most peaceful planet in Isiria,” she added.
