(no subject)
Men. Can't trust 'em, can't hate 'em, and you can't live without 'em. But this one makes me wonder. What is it that he wants? I've lived too long among the Brotherhood and other scheming types to really take what he's saying at face value. Maybe I should.
OOC: This log is REALLY long. I warned you.
Derek is lying on his back under a bar with what looks like three hundred pounds of weight on it. His shirt was apparently discarded earlier in his workout, revealing not only the snake tattoo around his right bicep but also a skull with a knife embedded in it on his let pectoral. It also reveals a fine torso and some rather alarming bruising over the length of it. A bandage wraps his left forearm. Down the bar comes and with an incoherent growling cry, he pushes it back up again.
Toxin steps into the weight room just in time to hear Derek cry out. An eyebrow arches as she looks in his direction. Very interesting. Dressed in a green sports bra and a pair of tight shorts with her hair up in a ponytail, she's here to work out. Dropping her bag not far from the door, she makes her way over to Derek and watches him silently for a moment, before saying, "You really shouldn't be lifting that much if it hurts."
Derek holds the bar up for a moment longer then lets it drop back behind him onto its stand and sits up. No shirt...but still in his sunglasses. If he were any less confident in himself, he would look like an idiot. "It's a good hurt," he replies. "I figure today's the right time to really run my muscles down; should be feeling fine again next week, and I think I better make sure I'm still at peak then." He rubs at his bruised sides. "Besides. I was alone, and it was a good way to vent a little frustration."
Toxin drops down on the very end of the bench, just missing sitting on his legs. "What are you so frustrated about? And how did you get those bruises?" She does look him up and down, and then just barely touches his stomach with her gloved hand. It's would be hard to feel her touch. "But I'm guessing the two are linked."
Derek does not retreat from Toxin's touch, even on the off chance that it might hurt. "Creed," he replies. Not that the name isn't probably explanation enough in itself, but he provides some specifics. "Magneto told me when I first arrived that he was thinking of assigning me to Creed for some training. And I got a lesson from Magneto himself, which was a damn good thing, though it highlighted how much I didn't know. Yesterday Creed got around to training me. Haven't gotten my ass beaten like that in a good long time."
Toxin can't help it, she has to laugh. But it's soft, and short. "Don't feel badly, Derek. Practically nobody can beat Creed...and he doesn't train. He'll beat the shit out of you until you learn how to block or dodge his blows. And you can't really hurt him. But for you, there's nobody else." She tilts her head to one side and offers him a small smile. "How much do you know about him, anyway?"
Derek grimaces at that and removes his sunglasses, reaching to the side to retrieve a towel and start wiping a considerably amount of sweat off his head and body. "Not much. He's big; think he weighs twice as much as me. Faster'n'me, stronger'n'me...I nearly ripped his ear off and it practically glued itself back onto his head. Foul mouthed and pissy." He pauses. "Though he did seem to be amused when I used an innocent bystander as a projectile weapon against him."
Toxin laughs once more, shaking her head. "That would be the sort of thing he'd enjoy. He has a healing factor that defies any I've ever seen. I've seen him regenerate an arm in days, he got his chest blown open once and it didn't stop him. He's immensely strong. And fast. Don't expect to ever really please him. Even if you do he won't tell you." She gives his stomach another look. "Have you had anyone look at that?"
Derek smiles wryly. "He did say he was starting to like me. And then immediately called me a nigger. Seems to suit." There's a glint in his eyes that implies that he was more annoyed by this particular slur than he is inclined to let on. "And no. But there's definitely nothing broken down there. I think Creed was aiming to avoid it." He touches the bandage on his arm. "Did stop long enough to get this wrapped, though."
"That sounds like Creed. I get the idea he doesn't hate me quite as much as he hates some other people. I've had the pleasure of walking away from one of his little 'meetings'. No doubt he's been told by Magneto not to damage you too much." Toxin says with a slight smirk, then she looks up at Derek. "Want me to take a look at it? You really shouldn't be diagnosing yourself."
Derek snorts at Toxin. "I'll settle for a lower level of dislike," he agrees wryly. He looks down at his abdomen for a moment, then sighs and nods. "I suppose I ought to have someone take a look," he agrees. "Should I lay back here, or would you rather stop by the infirmary for real?"
Toxin takes a good look around the weight room, then shakes her head. "Let's go ahead and hit the infirmary. That way if you do need to be taped or something I won't have to run for bandages." She tosses him a grin and rises from the bench. "I can postpone my gymnastics for a little while and play nurse, I suppose." she teases, heading over to her bag and picking it up.
Derek picks up his shirt, towel and sunglasses and rises to follow Toxin. "Well, well, this is a quicker jump into playing roles than I expected," he replies, an eyebrow lifted in amusement.
Toxin has a derisive snort for -that- comment. "If we're playing roles, shouldn't you be the doctor and I the nurse?" she returns, winking at him as she heads out of the weight room and down the hall.
"Doctors don't get sponge baths," Derek replies, eyes gleaming. "Though I suspect that's a bit much to hope for this particular encounter." He moves over to what looks like an examining table and pushes to sit up on it.
"Lay down." Toxin orders, sounding like a nurse for just a minute while depositing her bag on the floor. She hunts for something in the cabinets, and not finding it, approaches Derek, digging something out of her pocket. "Here, take this, I can't do this with gloves on." She hands him a slim glass vial full of some clear substance and slips her gloves off, heading over to her bag to shove them in.
Derek accepts the vial, looks at it for a minute curiously, then downs it. "This provides some resistance to your charms, or merely your powers?" he inquires. He does as bidden, however, stretching himself out on the table and relaxing, only his head turned to the side to watch Toxin's progress.
Toxin smirks, gazing down at him. "One or the other." she says cryptically, running a hand over the bruises on his stomach. "This might hurt a little." She presses down on his side as she moves her hand, applying just enough pressure to see if anything moves as it shouldn't. "So, do you need protection against my charms?"
"Only if you don't want me succumbing to them," Derek replies. Today, he does not shiver at Toxin's touch, though he does wince when she hits a particularly nasty bruise. Derek's self-diagnosis seems to have been fairly accurate; though the bruising is deep and undoubtedly painful, his ribs remain unbroken and nothing but a few minor blood vessels seem to have ruptured; bruises are the worst he has sustained.
"Oh, is that what you're worried about." Toxin says in a mild tone, running one hand up his chest, supposedly to check the rest of his ribcage. "You're lucky Creed didn't break anything, you know. You should take something for the pain. But that should go away in a couple of days." She flashes him a grin, then turns around, presumably to head back to her bag.
Derek's hand reaches out after Toxin and brushes past her arm, but he refrains from actually grabbing hold. "Ah, I can live with the pain," he replies, "if I have things to distract me from it."
Toxin looks over at him as his hand brushes by her. "Well, if you're feeling so much better, maybe I ought to head back to the weight room and work out, like I had planned to. You obviously don't need any nursing at the moment." she comments with a small grin. Heading over to the cabinets, she takes a good look through them, then comes up with a small bottle, which she tosses to Derek. "Take a couple of these. They're painkillers but they don't make you woozy."
Derek catches the bottle deftly, glancing down it to check the directions. He flips the lid open and shakes a pair of pills into his hand, popping them without water. "I have to admit," he says, his tone a bit more serious than it had been, "I'm feeling pretty damn sore. I don't think that now would be the perfect moment for anything that exercises my abs."
Toxin chuckles softly, then lets out a soft hmming sound. "Then stop doing bench presses. There are other things to do in the weight room. Or..." she trails off for a moment and thinks. "I could take you to the mainland. You do deserve a reward for being able to walk after Creed is done with you, whether he was told to leave you walking wounded or not."
Derek smiles at that. "Be nice to have a little time off the island," he admits. "Haven't had much chance to do more than work while I've been here; a notable exception in that brief time in quarters." He does push himself up onto his elbows to regard Toxin more directly.
Toxin looks Derek over, not hiding the fact that she's doing it. "You should really change, though. While I don't mind you being shirtless, some people might wonder what we've been up to. There would be...awkward questions." she says, her gold-green eyes sparkling with mischeif. "I should, too, for that matter. We'll hit my apartment on the way to the club."
Derek sits up the rest of the way, smiling slightly. "Well, what the hell business is it of theirs, anyway? Unless you have exhibitionist fantasies you haven't revealed yet." His feet touch down on the floor again. "Club; which one you have in mind?"
Toxin leans on the examination table, having to tilt her head back somewhat to see him. "Oh believe me, I have many fantasies I haven't revealed yet." she purrs, smiling up at him, that mischevious look still on her face. "I thought about L'Orchide Noir. Have you ever been there? It's a pleasant place to go."
Derek shakes his head. "Must confess, I haven't. Sounds high-end, though. I'm assuming this is an excuse to dress up, rather than dress down?" Of course, Toxin has seen Derek wearing nice suits to clubs as primal as The Cage, so it might not make that much difference in his chosen wardrobe.
Toxin nods. "Dress up, yes. I'm betting you don't have much in the way of dress-down attire, judging by what I've seen you in lately." she comments, a tiny smirk flitting across her face. The sort of thing Toxin prefers to wear isn't exactly dress down stuff, either, but some wouldn't consider it dress up. "If we want to get going before the sun sets, you should probably head to your room." She's not going to invite -herself-. That's not nice. She has to be invited.
Does Toxin honestly think for even half a second she wouldn't be welcome? Though perhaps the welcome might be a bit over-enthused. Derek straightens up. "I should probably also hop through a shower," he observes. He is not unpleasantly smelly, but it is definitely possible to tell that he has been exercising in the recent past. "I'll make it snappy," he says, starting to move for the exit.
Oh, Toxin knows she's welcome. Very welcome. "That's probably a good idea. Want me to just...wait for you to get out?" she asks, looking innocent enough. "You men don't spend nearly as much time in the shower as we women do." Now that's a tease. As much as she enjoys teasing Derek, she knows that every man has a limit to how much he'll take.
Derek arches an eyebrow. "If you decide you want a shower too, we might not get to the club," he replies. He runs a hand over his shaven head. "It's the hair," he opines. "I'll be quick."
Toxin waited ever so politely for Derek to run through the shower and get dressed. To his credit, he didn't take long, and they're soon in one of the helicopters and on their way to the mainland. One of her cars gets them to the Long Island apartment building, and to -her- credit, Toxin is managing to behave herself for the time being. "I won't be but a minute." she says as she opens the door and motions for him to come inside. Leaving him in the living room, but with no specific instructions to stay there, she heads for her bedroom and starts digging through her wardrobe.
Derek follows along with Toxin, looking alternately like her boyfriend and her bodyguard. He stands out a bit much to be a bodyguard, too big and well dressed to blend in, but he has most of the image down. For the evening, he selected a silvery grey three piece suit, accented with a triangle of bright red handkerchief at the breast pocket. "I'll refrain from holding my breath, so when you come out again, I can gasp appropriately," he replies to her retreating back. Left in her living room, Derek proceeds to look around curiously, refraining from touching.
Toxin can't help but smile to herself as she digs through her clothes, selecting a few things and tossing them on her bed. Black skirt, silver silk shirt to match his suit, various pieces of underwear. But as she begins to change, she notices something wrong. Shoes. Where are her shoes? And then she spots the ones she wants, high up on a shelf. Stretching several times, she sighs and pulls on her bathrobe, tying it shut. "Derek! Could you come in here?" This will be a tad embarrassing.
Derek has been looking over Toxin's fairly ordered apartment and hesitates a moment. He comes to the door of the bedroom. "That invitation came sooner than I expected," he says. His eyes, behind his sunglasses, take in this room quickly as well. "What's up?" Given that Toxin is sounding embarassed and not looking naked, he's assuming wish fulfillment isn't on the agenda for the next ten minutes.
Toxin is mildly embarrassed, but she points up to a pair of silver heels resting on the top shelf of her wardrobe. "I can't reach them." she says in a plaintive tone, putting her hands on her hips. For a moment, she looks almost like a little girl who can't get to the cookie jar. "Get them down for me, would you please?" She makes no effort to hide the clothes scattered on the bed, counting on keeping him distracted for a moment or two.
Derek is indeed more focused on Toxin than the clothes, and his head tracks in the direction of the indicated shoes. The pair lift off the shelves together from across the room. "This pair?" They hover their way down towards Toxin's shoulder level where they are much easier to reach. Never mind that Derek is tall enough to play guard in the NBA, there are no shelves a telekinetic cannot reach.
Toxin takes them from out of the air and smiles over at Derek. "You are handy to have around." she teases, setting the shoes on the bed and reaching for her shirt. The bathrobe comes off and is dropped to the floor. If he stuck around long enough to see that, darn. She's not naked. Toxin dresses rather quickly, then runs a brush through her hair and approaches the bedroom door. "All done." she calls out.
Derek does stick around just long enough to see Toxin's not-nudity before retreating to the living room again. When she proclaims herself done, he heads back to the door and meets her just by it. "You're dece--" he begins, but she's made it to the door before him and he cuts off. "Ah."
Toxin stops at the bedroom door, leaning against the doorjamb. "Hoping to catch me naked, were you?" she queries, smiling up at him. Stretching up, she brushes her lips against his cheek. "Thank you for helping me." Looking back at her bed, she notes the amount of stuff she left on it, but doesn't seem inclined to clean at the moment. "Shall we...get going?"
Derek removes his sunglasses for a minute to appreciate Toxin's clothing. "Mmm. Glad to be of assistance," he says, returning the glasses after the kiss and offering Toxin his left arm. "Yes, let's be off; I'd like to see this club."
Toxin holds up her cellphone, then smirks a little, taking a couple of steps backward. "I have a bit more of a treat for you." She makes a quick call, then slips her arm through his. "It will be five, maybe ten minutes, then our ride will be here. I thought we should go in style, it's fun from time to time. We can go down, or wait here for the driver to call."
Derek quirks one of his eyebrows. "Well, well. Can't say as I mind the VIP treatment," he replies. "If we're going to go in style, we might as well make him wait for us, wouldn't you say?"
"You'll get used to the VIP things in life, Derek. Especially if you still want to be my bodyguard." Toxin points out, taking a look around the room. "I'd say you could get an apartment off the island, but I doubt Magneto would allow that. I'm a special case, you might say." She turns around to face him instead of standing next to him, and reaches up to touch his sunglasses. "Don't you ever take those off?"
Derek nods at Toxin's assessment. "At least for a while, I think I could use the training environment," he admits. He hesitates for a moment, then removes the sunglasses and tucks them inside his jacket. "Not that often," he replies. "Purely affectation, I have to admit. Seen too many Lawerence Fishburn and Samuel L. Jackson movies and promotional photos."
Toxin looks up at him and smiles. "It does make you look like the badass bodyguard when you wear the sunglasses. I like the look, but on the other hand, it makes me wonder where your eyes actually are." she comments, then tilts her head to one side, making her blonde hair fall all on that side. "So...why did you originally ask me out on a date?"
Derek's actual eyes are a surprisingly light brown next to his chocolate skin. They are also rather intense, giving the impression that he might be scowling even when he is not. "Why? You're astonishingly hot, you're classy, you're smart and you're one of us. And I figure a date is better than a one-off seduction attempt with someone I'm going to be working with."
Toxin seems a little confused, not put off by what Derek is saying. "Is that what this is for? Derek, you're a good looking guy, and I'm not the easiest person to get into bed with. If it's a one-night stand you're after, I can give you Sabella's phone number. I don't do that." Well, she hasn't slapped him. That's a good sign.
Derek seems to be going the honest route. If she didn't appreciate it, they probably wouldn't have gotten along all that well anyway. He smiles slightly. "Oh, I figured," he replies. "I said classy. I do like that. I'm like any guy, I love sex, but I get the sense that you're..." He frowns. "How do I put this. I think that we look at certain things the same way. So I think maybe we'd suit each other well. But I imagine we'll need a couple dates to figure it out."
Toxin watches him for a minute, then slowly smiles. This one is different, it seems more genuine. "That...is what I wanted to hear." she finally says. Reaching upwards, she places her arms around his neck and draws herself close to him, though not kissing him. "At least now, you can know that there will be a next time, whether you end up staying the night here or not." Whether he kisses her or not, eventually she does pull away as her cellphone rings. "That would be the driver."
Well, it looks like an exceptional opportunity to Derek. He said something right and she put her arms around his neck. Sadly, his lips have only just brushed hers when the phone rings, and he straightens up as Toxin goes for the phone. "Well, then. Let's go make our spectacular entrance."
"Don't worry, we have the entire night to make others jealous." Toxin says, taking out a pair of black silky gloves and slipping them on, then leading Derek downstairs and into the waiting limo. "The gloves aren't for you, but I might accidentally touch someone else, and that would bring unwelcome questions." She gives the driver instructions on where to go, then gets in and slides up the privacy screen. "One of Succubus' limos."
Derek settles into the back along with Toxin. "Nice," he acknowledges, looking around the interior. "You travel by limo a lot? Be nices to have a company ride at your disposal."
Toxin shrugs a little. "Not a lot...I prefer to drive myself, or even take a motorcycle. One of my favorite means of transportation, but Sabella disapproves of her VP looking like a biker chick, so I don't do that very often." She curls up next to Derek, then grins as she looks around. "These limos go through a lot. They're soundproofed for the most part, and the stretch is bulletproof. It's for the celebrities."
Derek stretches out an arm as Toxin curls up beside him. "I could get used to it," he says, his eyes appreciative. "Haven't done much driving in a long time. Since high school, really. Probably quicker, though, as rule, than calling for rides, taking taxies and using the subway."
Toxin nods, leaning against Derek when he puts an arm up. "The subway is a pain, and I avoid it as much as possible. Of course, when you're doing jobs for Magneto, you have to be able to get around the city quickly." She looks up at him, her eyes twinkling. "You'll get plenty of practice, I'll bet. Creed can't hold onto you forever. I'll refuse to let him monopolize you."
Derek smiles wryly at that. "Huh. If he decided to really monopolize me, I don't think I'd ever recover," he replies. "I have to wonder what sort of things Magneto is going to want to assign me to do. I may not be as tough as Creed, but I can walk around this city a lot more freely than he could." As distinctive as Derek is, it's nothing to a seven foot tall sabre-tooth.
"He walks around here more than you'd think, although he tends to stick to Central Park and the lower areas." Toxin answers, then looks out the window as the limo rolls to a halt. "Looks like we're here. They know me here, so you're going to cause a little gossip." she teases, leaning towards him and attempting to nip his jaw with her lips. Yes, she's going to tease him. A lot. He has to get out first, then she steps out of the limo and they head into the nightclub. It's upscale, a lot quieter than most clubs. Music plays in the background, and there is a dancefloor, though only a few people are using it right now.
Derek chuckles at the mention of gossip. "Well, might as well make an entrance," he says, retrieving his sunglasses, completing his image. He climbs out ahead of Toxin, ducking his head to get out, then turning back to offer a hand to Toxin. Once they make it inside, Derek's head tilts around appreciatively. "Tha's tight," he says as he looks around. "Mmm. So, where to first, Miz Ellison? Dancing, drinks or dinner?"
Toxin slides her hand into his, and they're shown to a table. "You like it here, then? It's not as fancy as some places, but this would be more private than Sabella's casino, which was my other option." At the mention of dancing, a look of pure mischeif flashes across her face, and she grins at him. "Dance with me, Mr. Johnson." she murmurs, tugging on his hand before either of them can sit down. Fortunately, there's a slow song just beginning, and they can get used to each other.
Derek follows just behind Toxin onto the floor. "It's got that upper crust sorta feel to it," he says as they get to the dance floor. His hands clasp around Toxin's back, down at her waist and he starts to move slowly with the music. His rhythm appears to be steady, his steps are confident and smooth, but there is little imagination in his initial steps.
Toxin wraps her arms around Derek's neck, holding herself close to him. She seems rather inclined to start rumors, should the people here be the gossipy type. She follows him, and their steps probably get more complicated as they gets used to one another. "Maybe we should have gone to the Cage...I could show you that I can really dance, not just this slow stuff."
Derek chuckles at that, moving them around lightly. Between the pair, they attract a certain amount of attention. "Huh. Definitely be a different form of dancing," he says. "Anyway, there's advantages to a slow dancing. Must admit, I imagine a lot of my moves'd seem a little dated. Only so much you can pick up from the hiphop dancers on movie night."
Toxin runs a gloved finger along his jaw. She's being naughty. "What I had in mind, we'd attract a lot more attention than here, and we wouldn't be far enough apart for you to do any of -those- kinds of moves. You should see the kind of looks we'd get there, rather than the sidewise glances we're getting here." she teases, a tiny smirk on her face as she looks up at him.
Derek's eyebrows lifts and mmms. "That'd be entertaining. Perhaps another night." His head shifts slightly to each side to see how many people he can spot watching. "Am I right that you kind of like to play for the public eye on occasion?"
Toxin chuckles just a little as the song ends, dropping her hand down to hold his. "I've never really enjoyed it, but it's something I've had to get used to." she says, looking over at their table and nodding to the waiter hovering near it. "Want to eat while I tell you about that? I'll be nice and tell you a little bit about me. I doubt anyone gossips about me on the island."
Derek starts to move toward the table. "Sounds good," he agrees. "I'd appreciate it. There's a lot I don't know about you." Starting with her name and moving on from there. "'spect you know a lot more about me to begin with, but I'm sure there are some tidbits we can trade."
"Most people don't know a lot about me. Granted, there's a lot I don't know about myself." Toxin falls silent as they get close to the waiter, and she nods at him. "Bring my usual, and whatever Mr. Johnson will have for a drink." She flashes a smile at Derek, winking. "I usually start with a martini, and go to wine with dinner."
Derek considers the waiter for a minute. "Sounds like a good idea to me, too," he agrees. "Martini for the moment," he agrees, offering to hand Toxin back into her seat. "Where about should we start?" The waiter is heading off, making it at least marginally safer to resume conversation.
Toxin takes her seat, then watches him as he sits down. "What do you want to know, Derek? If I can tell you, I will. I don't remember a lot about my childhood, and the story behind that I will tell you sometime when we're not in a public place." she replies, glancing over at the waiter, who is at the bar for the moment.
Derek tilts his head to the side. "That does sound like quite a tale," he says. "Okay. Is there another easy starting point for you? Somewhere the threads come close enough together to pick them up without having to trace them backwards again?"
Toxin smiles at him. "Why don't we start with the basics? I'm 23 years old, one of the youngest women to run a company like Succubus, since Sabella isn't that much older than I am. I have an 8-year old daughter named Aramina who splits her time between here, boarding school, and Lorna Dane's apartment. Remember Lorna. She's Erik's granddaughter. And as for -my- name..." She stops and smirks. "Be a good boy and I might just tell you before the night is over." she teases, nodding to the waiter as their drinks are set down and taking a sip of hers. "Your turn."
Derek's eyebrows arch again at the mention of a daughter for Toxin. "Fair enough." He gives the waiter a small nod as well, looking at his glass and taking a small sip. "I'm turning 30 in a week, so saying I'm 29 would be a little disingenuous. Grew up in Ossining, New York; my parents were moderately well off. Was always a jock, played football, basketball and baseball. Got a full ride to Syracuse on a football scholarship. Joined a frat house, majored in engineering and being a jock." He pauses. "Then life gets a lot more complicated, so I think it's your turn again."
Toxin lets a soft 'hmm' escape her lips. She hadn't expected him to be that much older than she was. But she's horrible at guessing age. Keeping a low voice this time, she continues with her story. "Well, as far as I know I never went to college, or anything interesting like that. I can tell you from about 18 on up...I worked as a stripper at a club here until I was about 20, then I took off one day when I accidentally killed a man. Kissed him, and I shouldn't have. I joined up with an...underground group for a while, but joined our group when I was 21, at Sabella's insistence. Been there ever since."
Derek is a pretty unlined near-thirty, and being in excellent shape is flattering. "Mmmm. Well, I was a senior when I slept with this cute, white freshman who was rushing a sorority." He glances around briefly to be sure that they are not being overheard. "And the next day, she was found dead. My DNA and fingerprints all over the place, racially mixed pair...I got put away for rape and second degree murder." He pauses again. "And at that point I still didn't know I was a mutant."
Toxin arches an eyebrow. "Sounds familiar. No suspects, and you were the last person to be seen with her...or so I assume." She pauses for a moment, then continues. "So did you do it?" There is no censure in her voice, merely curiosity. But before Derek can answer, Toxin turns her head as a pair of people come in the door. "And here comes my least-favorite reporter. Unless you want to be my new boytoy before the evening's over, we'd better get out of here."
"No," Derek puts in as an answer to her early question. "But I spent eight years in prison; I'm nothing like an innocent any more." He rises from his chair and offers Toxin a hand. "I don't particularly care, but I wouldn't want to give your least favorite reporter any kind of encouragement."
"But it on my bill, and add a drink for Marcie." Toxin calls to the waiter, who rushes forward at her beckoning, then waves at the reporter and winks. She rises from her chair and takes Derek's hand, and they make their way out to the limo and get in. "He'll probably drive around for a bit to make sure she doesn't follow. Marcie makes Sabella and I out to be the whores of the universe." Curling up next to Derek like she did for the ride there, she looks up at him. "So what else do you want to know?'"
Derek puts his arm around Toxin again once safely out of Marcie's prying eyes. "I'm sure you and Sabella between you sell her a lot of papers," he says dryly, settling in. "Hmmm. Lots of things I'd be interested in, to be sure. Let's start with something neutral. What's your taste in music?"
Toxin grins, then stretches out on the seat, placing her head in Derek's lap and her feet next to the door. "Sorry, but looking up at you is starting to hurt my neck. You're about a foot taller than I am." she murmurs, thinking while she takes Derek's hand and runs her fingers along the palm, then drops it. "I like a lot of different things. Rock, both classic and alternative. I love jazz, especially piano."
Derek chuckles. "I'm a good head taller than most people," he replies. As she comes around, he reaches up and removes his sunglasses again, tucking them away. "Mmm. Gotta love good jazz," he replies, nodding. His other hand, the one, Toxin seems less interested in, strokes the top of her head lightly. "'Specially live. I'm more of a soul, R and B kinda guy myself, but I like a lotta different stuff, too. Not s'much pop; there's always a lot of crap on the radio, and it seems to take like ten years for the population to sort out the stuff that's worth saving."
"We have a few rappers on our label, and they drive me insane for the most part. They're not worth the money we sink into them." Toxin says with more than a little derision. She takes the hand she was examining earlier and wraps it around her waist, resting her hand on his arm and her fingers toying with the cuff of his jacket. "I've got one really good guy, R&B sort, that might just be the next Usher if he does things right. Sabella and I trying to convince him to go more towards a Ray Charles type, but he doesn't like the idea."
"Old school free style is hot," Derek replies, "but I can't stand the new shit." He is apparently happy to let his hand stay where it is put for the moment. "See, that'd what I'd wanna hear. Dunno if I'm a big enough demographic though, sad to say. You guys have anyone else particularly interesting comin' up?"
Toxin shrugs a little, her free hand playing with her skirt. She just can't sit still. "One girl group that will do well in pop if we can find them a good songwriter. They're sweet girls. One of them is learning the guitar, and we recommended that they all learn instruments. Can't have a female version of N'Sync on our hands." She looks up at Derek and yawns a little. "Sorry, it's not the company."
Derek nods at that. "I have to admit, I've been getting back into early morning training schedules back on the island; didn't realize how easy it was to get back on an early to bed, early to rise sleep schedule." He smiles down at her. "So. Figure this rates a second date?"
"Well, that depends. You'll have to ask me on one." Toxin replies, a teasing note in her voice as she sits up, plunking her bottom in Derek's lap. "You probably don't know how to fly a helicopter, do you? Honestly, I'm really tired. Why don't you crash at my place and I'll take you back in the morning. The couch is plenty big." She grins at him as the limo rolls to a stop. "I dunno if you'd fit, actually..."
Derek's arms fall naturally around Toxin. "Consider yourself asked, then," he replies. "And, uhhhh...no." No helicopter for Derek. "I can stretch my legs over the arm or steal a few pillows and be fine on the floor. I'm easy." He leans forward to attempt to steal a second kiss from her, in a setting where they won't be immediately interrupted, but that isn't quite as charged as Toxin's apartment might be.
Toxin slips out of the limo, and they head back up to her apartment. "Well, you're not going to get any sleep that way, with your legs hanging over the arm." She stops and thinks, then shakes her head. "You can stay in the bed, but only if you promise not to ravish me in my sleep." She shakes a finger at him in mock anger, then grins.
Derek's eyebrows lift. "Fair enough. For one night, I can promise to be a gentleman." He pauses. Is there a delicate way to ask this? Probably not. But it seems necessary. "Am, ah, I going to die if I accidentally brush against your arm while I sleep?"
Toxin chuckles. "I didn't say you had to be a gentleman, I said you couldn't do anything to me while I was asleep." Heading over to her dresser, she extracts another vial and hands it to him. "The one I gave you won't last until morning. This will give you several more hours." She quietly waits for him to drink it, then stretches upwards. "Do I get a good-night kiss?"
Derek drinks and then obliges. And scene fades to black.
OOC: This log is REALLY long. I warned you.
Derek is lying on his back under a bar with what looks like three hundred pounds of weight on it. His shirt was apparently discarded earlier in his workout, revealing not only the snake tattoo around his right bicep but also a skull with a knife embedded in it on his let pectoral. It also reveals a fine torso and some rather alarming bruising over the length of it. A bandage wraps his left forearm. Down the bar comes and with an incoherent growling cry, he pushes it back up again.
Toxin steps into the weight room just in time to hear Derek cry out. An eyebrow arches as she looks in his direction. Very interesting. Dressed in a green sports bra and a pair of tight shorts with her hair up in a ponytail, she's here to work out. Dropping her bag not far from the door, she makes her way over to Derek and watches him silently for a moment, before saying, "You really shouldn't be lifting that much if it hurts."
Derek holds the bar up for a moment longer then lets it drop back behind him onto its stand and sits up. No shirt...but still in his sunglasses. If he were any less confident in himself, he would look like an idiot. "It's a good hurt," he replies. "I figure today's the right time to really run my muscles down; should be feeling fine again next week, and I think I better make sure I'm still at peak then." He rubs at his bruised sides. "Besides. I was alone, and it was a good way to vent a little frustration."
Toxin drops down on the very end of the bench, just missing sitting on his legs. "What are you so frustrated about? And how did you get those bruises?" She does look him up and down, and then just barely touches his stomach with her gloved hand. It's would be hard to feel her touch. "But I'm guessing the two are linked."
Derek does not retreat from Toxin's touch, even on the off chance that it might hurt. "Creed," he replies. Not that the name isn't probably explanation enough in itself, but he provides some specifics. "Magneto told me when I first arrived that he was thinking of assigning me to Creed for some training. And I got a lesson from Magneto himself, which was a damn good thing, though it highlighted how much I didn't know. Yesterday Creed got around to training me. Haven't gotten my ass beaten like that in a good long time."
Toxin can't help it, she has to laugh. But it's soft, and short. "Don't feel badly, Derek. Practically nobody can beat Creed...and he doesn't train. He'll beat the shit out of you until you learn how to block or dodge his blows. And you can't really hurt him. But for you, there's nobody else." She tilts her head to one side and offers him a small smile. "How much do you know about him, anyway?"
Derek grimaces at that and removes his sunglasses, reaching to the side to retrieve a towel and start wiping a considerably amount of sweat off his head and body. "Not much. He's big; think he weighs twice as much as me. Faster'n'me, stronger'n'me...I nearly ripped his ear off and it practically glued itself back onto his head. Foul mouthed and pissy." He pauses. "Though he did seem to be amused when I used an innocent bystander as a projectile weapon against him."
Toxin laughs once more, shaking her head. "That would be the sort of thing he'd enjoy. He has a healing factor that defies any I've ever seen. I've seen him regenerate an arm in days, he got his chest blown open once and it didn't stop him. He's immensely strong. And fast. Don't expect to ever really please him. Even if you do he won't tell you." She gives his stomach another look. "Have you had anyone look at that?"
Derek smiles wryly. "He did say he was starting to like me. And then immediately called me a nigger. Seems to suit." There's a glint in his eyes that implies that he was more annoyed by this particular slur than he is inclined to let on. "And no. But there's definitely nothing broken down there. I think Creed was aiming to avoid it." He touches the bandage on his arm. "Did stop long enough to get this wrapped, though."
"That sounds like Creed. I get the idea he doesn't hate me quite as much as he hates some other people. I've had the pleasure of walking away from one of his little 'meetings'. No doubt he's been told by Magneto not to damage you too much." Toxin says with a slight smirk, then she looks up at Derek. "Want me to take a look at it? You really shouldn't be diagnosing yourself."
Derek snorts at Toxin. "I'll settle for a lower level of dislike," he agrees wryly. He looks down at his abdomen for a moment, then sighs and nods. "I suppose I ought to have someone take a look," he agrees. "Should I lay back here, or would you rather stop by the infirmary for real?"
Toxin takes a good look around the weight room, then shakes her head. "Let's go ahead and hit the infirmary. That way if you do need to be taped or something I won't have to run for bandages." She tosses him a grin and rises from the bench. "I can postpone my gymnastics for a little while and play nurse, I suppose." she teases, heading over to her bag and picking it up.
Derek picks up his shirt, towel and sunglasses and rises to follow Toxin. "Well, well, this is a quicker jump into playing roles than I expected," he replies, an eyebrow lifted in amusement.
Toxin has a derisive snort for -that- comment. "If we're playing roles, shouldn't you be the doctor and I the nurse?" she returns, winking at him as she heads out of the weight room and down the hall.
"Doctors don't get sponge baths," Derek replies, eyes gleaming. "Though I suspect that's a bit much to hope for this particular encounter." He moves over to what looks like an examining table and pushes to sit up on it.
"Lay down." Toxin orders, sounding like a nurse for just a minute while depositing her bag on the floor. She hunts for something in the cabinets, and not finding it, approaches Derek, digging something out of her pocket. "Here, take this, I can't do this with gloves on." She hands him a slim glass vial full of some clear substance and slips her gloves off, heading over to her bag to shove them in.
Derek accepts the vial, looks at it for a minute curiously, then downs it. "This provides some resistance to your charms, or merely your powers?" he inquires. He does as bidden, however, stretching himself out on the table and relaxing, only his head turned to the side to watch Toxin's progress.
Toxin smirks, gazing down at him. "One or the other." she says cryptically, running a hand over the bruises on his stomach. "This might hurt a little." She presses down on his side as she moves her hand, applying just enough pressure to see if anything moves as it shouldn't. "So, do you need protection against my charms?"
"Only if you don't want me succumbing to them," Derek replies. Today, he does not shiver at Toxin's touch, though he does wince when she hits a particularly nasty bruise. Derek's self-diagnosis seems to have been fairly accurate; though the bruising is deep and undoubtedly painful, his ribs remain unbroken and nothing but a few minor blood vessels seem to have ruptured; bruises are the worst he has sustained.
"Oh, is that what you're worried about." Toxin says in a mild tone, running one hand up his chest, supposedly to check the rest of his ribcage. "You're lucky Creed didn't break anything, you know. You should take something for the pain. But that should go away in a couple of days." She flashes him a grin, then turns around, presumably to head back to her bag.
Derek's hand reaches out after Toxin and brushes past her arm, but he refrains from actually grabbing hold. "Ah, I can live with the pain," he replies, "if I have things to distract me from it."
Toxin looks over at him as his hand brushes by her. "Well, if you're feeling so much better, maybe I ought to head back to the weight room and work out, like I had planned to. You obviously don't need any nursing at the moment." she comments with a small grin. Heading over to the cabinets, she takes a good look through them, then comes up with a small bottle, which she tosses to Derek. "Take a couple of these. They're painkillers but they don't make you woozy."
Derek catches the bottle deftly, glancing down it to check the directions. He flips the lid open and shakes a pair of pills into his hand, popping them without water. "I have to admit," he says, his tone a bit more serious than it had been, "I'm feeling pretty damn sore. I don't think that now would be the perfect moment for anything that exercises my abs."
Toxin chuckles softly, then lets out a soft hmming sound. "Then stop doing bench presses. There are other things to do in the weight room. Or..." she trails off for a moment and thinks. "I could take you to the mainland. You do deserve a reward for being able to walk after Creed is done with you, whether he was told to leave you walking wounded or not."
Derek smiles at that. "Be nice to have a little time off the island," he admits. "Haven't had much chance to do more than work while I've been here; a notable exception in that brief time in quarters." He does push himself up onto his elbows to regard Toxin more directly.
Toxin looks Derek over, not hiding the fact that she's doing it. "You should really change, though. While I don't mind you being shirtless, some people might wonder what we've been up to. There would be...awkward questions." she says, her gold-green eyes sparkling with mischeif. "I should, too, for that matter. We'll hit my apartment on the way to the club."
Derek sits up the rest of the way, smiling slightly. "Well, what the hell business is it of theirs, anyway? Unless you have exhibitionist fantasies you haven't revealed yet." His feet touch down on the floor again. "Club; which one you have in mind?"
Toxin leans on the examination table, having to tilt her head back somewhat to see him. "Oh believe me, I have many fantasies I haven't revealed yet." she purrs, smiling up at him, that mischevious look still on her face. "I thought about L'Orchide Noir. Have you ever been there? It's a pleasant place to go."
Derek shakes his head. "Must confess, I haven't. Sounds high-end, though. I'm assuming this is an excuse to dress up, rather than dress down?" Of course, Toxin has seen Derek wearing nice suits to clubs as primal as The Cage, so it might not make that much difference in his chosen wardrobe.
Toxin nods. "Dress up, yes. I'm betting you don't have much in the way of dress-down attire, judging by what I've seen you in lately." she comments, a tiny smirk flitting across her face. The sort of thing Toxin prefers to wear isn't exactly dress down stuff, either, but some wouldn't consider it dress up. "If we want to get going before the sun sets, you should probably head to your room." She's not going to invite -herself-. That's not nice. She has to be invited.
Does Toxin honestly think for even half a second she wouldn't be welcome? Though perhaps the welcome might be a bit over-enthused. Derek straightens up. "I should probably also hop through a shower," he observes. He is not unpleasantly smelly, but it is definitely possible to tell that he has been exercising in the recent past. "I'll make it snappy," he says, starting to move for the exit.
Oh, Toxin knows she's welcome. Very welcome. "That's probably a good idea. Want me to just...wait for you to get out?" she asks, looking innocent enough. "You men don't spend nearly as much time in the shower as we women do." Now that's a tease. As much as she enjoys teasing Derek, she knows that every man has a limit to how much he'll take.
Derek arches an eyebrow. "If you decide you want a shower too, we might not get to the club," he replies. He runs a hand over his shaven head. "It's the hair," he opines. "I'll be quick."
Toxin waited ever so politely for Derek to run through the shower and get dressed. To his credit, he didn't take long, and they're soon in one of the helicopters and on their way to the mainland. One of her cars gets them to the Long Island apartment building, and to -her- credit, Toxin is managing to behave herself for the time being. "I won't be but a minute." she says as she opens the door and motions for him to come inside. Leaving him in the living room, but with no specific instructions to stay there, she heads for her bedroom and starts digging through her wardrobe.
Derek follows along with Toxin, looking alternately like her boyfriend and her bodyguard. He stands out a bit much to be a bodyguard, too big and well dressed to blend in, but he has most of the image down. For the evening, he selected a silvery grey three piece suit, accented with a triangle of bright red handkerchief at the breast pocket. "I'll refrain from holding my breath, so when you come out again, I can gasp appropriately," he replies to her retreating back. Left in her living room, Derek proceeds to look around curiously, refraining from touching.
Toxin can't help but smile to herself as she digs through her clothes, selecting a few things and tossing them on her bed. Black skirt, silver silk shirt to match his suit, various pieces of underwear. But as she begins to change, she notices something wrong. Shoes. Where are her shoes? And then she spots the ones she wants, high up on a shelf. Stretching several times, she sighs and pulls on her bathrobe, tying it shut. "Derek! Could you come in here?" This will be a tad embarrassing.
Derek has been looking over Toxin's fairly ordered apartment and hesitates a moment. He comes to the door of the bedroom. "That invitation came sooner than I expected," he says. His eyes, behind his sunglasses, take in this room quickly as well. "What's up?" Given that Toxin is sounding embarassed and not looking naked, he's assuming wish fulfillment isn't on the agenda for the next ten minutes.
Toxin is mildly embarrassed, but she points up to a pair of silver heels resting on the top shelf of her wardrobe. "I can't reach them." she says in a plaintive tone, putting her hands on her hips. For a moment, she looks almost like a little girl who can't get to the cookie jar. "Get them down for me, would you please?" She makes no effort to hide the clothes scattered on the bed, counting on keeping him distracted for a moment or two.
Derek is indeed more focused on Toxin than the clothes, and his head tracks in the direction of the indicated shoes. The pair lift off the shelves together from across the room. "This pair?" They hover their way down towards Toxin's shoulder level where they are much easier to reach. Never mind that Derek is tall enough to play guard in the NBA, there are no shelves a telekinetic cannot reach.
Toxin takes them from out of the air and smiles over at Derek. "You are handy to have around." she teases, setting the shoes on the bed and reaching for her shirt. The bathrobe comes off and is dropped to the floor. If he stuck around long enough to see that, darn. She's not naked. Toxin dresses rather quickly, then runs a brush through her hair and approaches the bedroom door. "All done." she calls out.
Derek does stick around just long enough to see Toxin's not-nudity before retreating to the living room again. When she proclaims herself done, he heads back to the door and meets her just by it. "You're dece--" he begins, but she's made it to the door before him and he cuts off. "Ah."
Toxin stops at the bedroom door, leaning against the doorjamb. "Hoping to catch me naked, were you?" she queries, smiling up at him. Stretching up, she brushes her lips against his cheek. "Thank you for helping me." Looking back at her bed, she notes the amount of stuff she left on it, but doesn't seem inclined to clean at the moment. "Shall we...get going?"
Derek removes his sunglasses for a minute to appreciate Toxin's clothing. "Mmm. Glad to be of assistance," he says, returning the glasses after the kiss and offering Toxin his left arm. "Yes, let's be off; I'd like to see this club."
Toxin holds up her cellphone, then smirks a little, taking a couple of steps backward. "I have a bit more of a treat for you." She makes a quick call, then slips her arm through his. "It will be five, maybe ten minutes, then our ride will be here. I thought we should go in style, it's fun from time to time. We can go down, or wait here for the driver to call."
Derek quirks one of his eyebrows. "Well, well. Can't say as I mind the VIP treatment," he replies. "If we're going to go in style, we might as well make him wait for us, wouldn't you say?"
"You'll get used to the VIP things in life, Derek. Especially if you still want to be my bodyguard." Toxin points out, taking a look around the room. "I'd say you could get an apartment off the island, but I doubt Magneto would allow that. I'm a special case, you might say." She turns around to face him instead of standing next to him, and reaches up to touch his sunglasses. "Don't you ever take those off?"
Derek nods at Toxin's assessment. "At least for a while, I think I could use the training environment," he admits. He hesitates for a moment, then removes the sunglasses and tucks them inside his jacket. "Not that often," he replies. "Purely affectation, I have to admit. Seen too many Lawerence Fishburn and Samuel L. Jackson movies and promotional photos."
Toxin looks up at him and smiles. "It does make you look like the badass bodyguard when you wear the sunglasses. I like the look, but on the other hand, it makes me wonder where your eyes actually are." she comments, then tilts her head to one side, making her blonde hair fall all on that side. "So...why did you originally ask me out on a date?"
Derek's actual eyes are a surprisingly light brown next to his chocolate skin. They are also rather intense, giving the impression that he might be scowling even when he is not. "Why? You're astonishingly hot, you're classy, you're smart and you're one of us. And I figure a date is better than a one-off seduction attempt with someone I'm going to be working with."
Toxin seems a little confused, not put off by what Derek is saying. "Is that what this is for? Derek, you're a good looking guy, and I'm not the easiest person to get into bed with. If it's a one-night stand you're after, I can give you Sabella's phone number. I don't do that." Well, she hasn't slapped him. That's a good sign.
Derek seems to be going the honest route. If she didn't appreciate it, they probably wouldn't have gotten along all that well anyway. He smiles slightly. "Oh, I figured," he replies. "I said classy. I do like that. I'm like any guy, I love sex, but I get the sense that you're..." He frowns. "How do I put this. I think that we look at certain things the same way. So I think maybe we'd suit each other well. But I imagine we'll need a couple dates to figure it out."
Toxin watches him for a minute, then slowly smiles. This one is different, it seems more genuine. "That...is what I wanted to hear." she finally says. Reaching upwards, she places her arms around his neck and draws herself close to him, though not kissing him. "At least now, you can know that there will be a next time, whether you end up staying the night here or not." Whether he kisses her or not, eventually she does pull away as her cellphone rings. "That would be the driver."
Well, it looks like an exceptional opportunity to Derek. He said something right and she put her arms around his neck. Sadly, his lips have only just brushed hers when the phone rings, and he straightens up as Toxin goes for the phone. "Well, then. Let's go make our spectacular entrance."
"Don't worry, we have the entire night to make others jealous." Toxin says, taking out a pair of black silky gloves and slipping them on, then leading Derek downstairs and into the waiting limo. "The gloves aren't for you, but I might accidentally touch someone else, and that would bring unwelcome questions." She gives the driver instructions on where to go, then gets in and slides up the privacy screen. "One of Succubus' limos."
Derek settles into the back along with Toxin. "Nice," he acknowledges, looking around the interior. "You travel by limo a lot? Be nices to have a company ride at your disposal."
Toxin shrugs a little. "Not a lot...I prefer to drive myself, or even take a motorcycle. One of my favorite means of transportation, but Sabella disapproves of her VP looking like a biker chick, so I don't do that very often." She curls up next to Derek, then grins as she looks around. "These limos go through a lot. They're soundproofed for the most part, and the stretch is bulletproof. It's for the celebrities."
Derek stretches out an arm as Toxin curls up beside him. "I could get used to it," he says, his eyes appreciative. "Haven't done much driving in a long time. Since high school, really. Probably quicker, though, as rule, than calling for rides, taking taxies and using the subway."
Toxin nods, leaning against Derek when he puts an arm up. "The subway is a pain, and I avoid it as much as possible. Of course, when you're doing jobs for Magneto, you have to be able to get around the city quickly." She looks up at him, her eyes twinkling. "You'll get plenty of practice, I'll bet. Creed can't hold onto you forever. I'll refuse to let him monopolize you."
Derek smiles wryly at that. "Huh. If he decided to really monopolize me, I don't think I'd ever recover," he replies. "I have to wonder what sort of things Magneto is going to want to assign me to do. I may not be as tough as Creed, but I can walk around this city a lot more freely than he could." As distinctive as Derek is, it's nothing to a seven foot tall sabre-tooth.
"He walks around here more than you'd think, although he tends to stick to Central Park and the lower areas." Toxin answers, then looks out the window as the limo rolls to a halt. "Looks like we're here. They know me here, so you're going to cause a little gossip." she teases, leaning towards him and attempting to nip his jaw with her lips. Yes, she's going to tease him. A lot. He has to get out first, then she steps out of the limo and they head into the nightclub. It's upscale, a lot quieter than most clubs. Music plays in the background, and there is a dancefloor, though only a few people are using it right now.
Derek chuckles at the mention of gossip. "Well, might as well make an entrance," he says, retrieving his sunglasses, completing his image. He climbs out ahead of Toxin, ducking his head to get out, then turning back to offer a hand to Toxin. Once they make it inside, Derek's head tilts around appreciatively. "Tha's tight," he says as he looks around. "Mmm. So, where to first, Miz Ellison? Dancing, drinks or dinner?"
Toxin slides her hand into his, and they're shown to a table. "You like it here, then? It's not as fancy as some places, but this would be more private than Sabella's casino, which was my other option." At the mention of dancing, a look of pure mischeif flashes across her face, and she grins at him. "Dance with me, Mr. Johnson." she murmurs, tugging on his hand before either of them can sit down. Fortunately, there's a slow song just beginning, and they can get used to each other.
Derek follows just behind Toxin onto the floor. "It's got that upper crust sorta feel to it," he says as they get to the dance floor. His hands clasp around Toxin's back, down at her waist and he starts to move slowly with the music. His rhythm appears to be steady, his steps are confident and smooth, but there is little imagination in his initial steps.
Toxin wraps her arms around Derek's neck, holding herself close to him. She seems rather inclined to start rumors, should the people here be the gossipy type. She follows him, and their steps probably get more complicated as they gets used to one another. "Maybe we should have gone to the Cage...I could show you that I can really dance, not just this slow stuff."
Derek chuckles at that, moving them around lightly. Between the pair, they attract a certain amount of attention. "Huh. Definitely be a different form of dancing," he says. "Anyway, there's advantages to a slow dancing. Must admit, I imagine a lot of my moves'd seem a little dated. Only so much you can pick up from the hiphop dancers on movie night."
Toxin runs a gloved finger along his jaw. She's being naughty. "What I had in mind, we'd attract a lot more attention than here, and we wouldn't be far enough apart for you to do any of -those- kinds of moves. You should see the kind of looks we'd get there, rather than the sidewise glances we're getting here." she teases, a tiny smirk on her face as she looks up at him.
Derek's eyebrows lifts and mmms. "That'd be entertaining. Perhaps another night." His head shifts slightly to each side to see how many people he can spot watching. "Am I right that you kind of like to play for the public eye on occasion?"
Toxin chuckles just a little as the song ends, dropping her hand down to hold his. "I've never really enjoyed it, but it's something I've had to get used to." she says, looking over at their table and nodding to the waiter hovering near it. "Want to eat while I tell you about that? I'll be nice and tell you a little bit about me. I doubt anyone gossips about me on the island."
Derek starts to move toward the table. "Sounds good," he agrees. "I'd appreciate it. There's a lot I don't know about you." Starting with her name and moving on from there. "'spect you know a lot more about me to begin with, but I'm sure there are some tidbits we can trade."
"Most people don't know a lot about me. Granted, there's a lot I don't know about myself." Toxin falls silent as they get close to the waiter, and she nods at him. "Bring my usual, and whatever Mr. Johnson will have for a drink." She flashes a smile at Derek, winking. "I usually start with a martini, and go to wine with dinner."
Derek considers the waiter for a minute. "Sounds like a good idea to me, too," he agrees. "Martini for the moment," he agrees, offering to hand Toxin back into her seat. "Where about should we start?" The waiter is heading off, making it at least marginally safer to resume conversation.
Toxin takes her seat, then watches him as he sits down. "What do you want to know, Derek? If I can tell you, I will. I don't remember a lot about my childhood, and the story behind that I will tell you sometime when we're not in a public place." she replies, glancing over at the waiter, who is at the bar for the moment.
Derek tilts his head to the side. "That does sound like quite a tale," he says. "Okay. Is there another easy starting point for you? Somewhere the threads come close enough together to pick them up without having to trace them backwards again?"
Toxin smiles at him. "Why don't we start with the basics? I'm 23 years old, one of the youngest women to run a company like Succubus, since Sabella isn't that much older than I am. I have an 8-year old daughter named Aramina who splits her time between here, boarding school, and Lorna Dane's apartment. Remember Lorna. She's Erik's granddaughter. And as for -my- name..." She stops and smirks. "Be a good boy and I might just tell you before the night is over." she teases, nodding to the waiter as their drinks are set down and taking a sip of hers. "Your turn."
Derek's eyebrows arch again at the mention of a daughter for Toxin. "Fair enough." He gives the waiter a small nod as well, looking at his glass and taking a small sip. "I'm turning 30 in a week, so saying I'm 29 would be a little disingenuous. Grew up in Ossining, New York; my parents were moderately well off. Was always a jock, played football, basketball and baseball. Got a full ride to Syracuse on a football scholarship. Joined a frat house, majored in engineering and being a jock." He pauses. "Then life gets a lot more complicated, so I think it's your turn again."
Toxin lets a soft 'hmm' escape her lips. She hadn't expected him to be that much older than she was. But she's horrible at guessing age. Keeping a low voice this time, she continues with her story. "Well, as far as I know I never went to college, or anything interesting like that. I can tell you from about 18 on up...I worked as a stripper at a club here until I was about 20, then I took off one day when I accidentally killed a man. Kissed him, and I shouldn't have. I joined up with an...underground group for a while, but joined our group when I was 21, at Sabella's insistence. Been there ever since."
Derek is a pretty unlined near-thirty, and being in excellent shape is flattering. "Mmmm. Well, I was a senior when I slept with this cute, white freshman who was rushing a sorority." He glances around briefly to be sure that they are not being overheard. "And the next day, she was found dead. My DNA and fingerprints all over the place, racially mixed pair...I got put away for rape and second degree murder." He pauses again. "And at that point I still didn't know I was a mutant."
Toxin arches an eyebrow. "Sounds familiar. No suspects, and you were the last person to be seen with her...or so I assume." She pauses for a moment, then continues. "So did you do it?" There is no censure in her voice, merely curiosity. But before Derek can answer, Toxin turns her head as a pair of people come in the door. "And here comes my least-favorite reporter. Unless you want to be my new boytoy before the evening's over, we'd better get out of here."
"No," Derek puts in as an answer to her early question. "But I spent eight years in prison; I'm nothing like an innocent any more." He rises from his chair and offers Toxin a hand. "I don't particularly care, but I wouldn't want to give your least favorite reporter any kind of encouragement."
"But it on my bill, and add a drink for Marcie." Toxin calls to the waiter, who rushes forward at her beckoning, then waves at the reporter and winks. She rises from her chair and takes Derek's hand, and they make their way out to the limo and get in. "He'll probably drive around for a bit to make sure she doesn't follow. Marcie makes Sabella and I out to be the whores of the universe." Curling up next to Derek like she did for the ride there, she looks up at him. "So what else do you want to know?'"
Derek puts his arm around Toxin again once safely out of Marcie's prying eyes. "I'm sure you and Sabella between you sell her a lot of papers," he says dryly, settling in. "Hmmm. Lots of things I'd be interested in, to be sure. Let's start with something neutral. What's your taste in music?"
Toxin grins, then stretches out on the seat, placing her head in Derek's lap and her feet next to the door. "Sorry, but looking up at you is starting to hurt my neck. You're about a foot taller than I am." she murmurs, thinking while she takes Derek's hand and runs her fingers along the palm, then drops it. "I like a lot of different things. Rock, both classic and alternative. I love jazz, especially piano."
Derek chuckles. "I'm a good head taller than most people," he replies. As she comes around, he reaches up and removes his sunglasses again, tucking them away. "Mmm. Gotta love good jazz," he replies, nodding. His other hand, the one, Toxin seems less interested in, strokes the top of her head lightly. "'Specially live. I'm more of a soul, R and B kinda guy myself, but I like a lotta different stuff, too. Not s'much pop; there's always a lot of crap on the radio, and it seems to take like ten years for the population to sort out the stuff that's worth saving."
"We have a few rappers on our label, and they drive me insane for the most part. They're not worth the money we sink into them." Toxin says with more than a little derision. She takes the hand she was examining earlier and wraps it around her waist, resting her hand on his arm and her fingers toying with the cuff of his jacket. "I've got one really good guy, R&B sort, that might just be the next Usher if he does things right. Sabella and I trying to convince him to go more towards a Ray Charles type, but he doesn't like the idea."
"Old school free style is hot," Derek replies, "but I can't stand the new shit." He is apparently happy to let his hand stay where it is put for the moment. "See, that'd what I'd wanna hear. Dunno if I'm a big enough demographic though, sad to say. You guys have anyone else particularly interesting comin' up?"
Toxin shrugs a little, her free hand playing with her skirt. She just can't sit still. "One girl group that will do well in pop if we can find them a good songwriter. They're sweet girls. One of them is learning the guitar, and we recommended that they all learn instruments. Can't have a female version of N'Sync on our hands." She looks up at Derek and yawns a little. "Sorry, it's not the company."
Derek nods at that. "I have to admit, I've been getting back into early morning training schedules back on the island; didn't realize how easy it was to get back on an early to bed, early to rise sleep schedule." He smiles down at her. "So. Figure this rates a second date?"
"Well, that depends. You'll have to ask me on one." Toxin replies, a teasing note in her voice as she sits up, plunking her bottom in Derek's lap. "You probably don't know how to fly a helicopter, do you? Honestly, I'm really tired. Why don't you crash at my place and I'll take you back in the morning. The couch is plenty big." She grins at him as the limo rolls to a stop. "I dunno if you'd fit, actually..."
Derek's arms fall naturally around Toxin. "Consider yourself asked, then," he replies. "And, uhhhh...no." No helicopter for Derek. "I can stretch my legs over the arm or steal a few pillows and be fine on the floor. I'm easy." He leans forward to attempt to steal a second kiss from her, in a setting where they won't be immediately interrupted, but that isn't quite as charged as Toxin's apartment might be.
Toxin slips out of the limo, and they head back up to her apartment. "Well, you're not going to get any sleep that way, with your legs hanging over the arm." She stops and thinks, then shakes her head. "You can stay in the bed, but only if you promise not to ravish me in my sleep." She shakes a finger at him in mock anger, then grins.
Derek's eyebrows lift. "Fair enough. For one night, I can promise to be a gentleman." He pauses. Is there a delicate way to ask this? Probably not. But it seems necessary. "Am, ah, I going to die if I accidentally brush against your arm while I sleep?"
Toxin chuckles. "I didn't say you had to be a gentleman, I said you couldn't do anything to me while I was asleep." Heading over to her dresser, she extracts another vial and hands it to him. "The one I gave you won't last until morning. This will give you several more hours." She quietly waits for him to drink it, then stretches upwards. "Do I get a good-night kiss?"
Derek drinks and then obliges. And scene fades to black.