Nilent Sight

[Asa King]

Asa was quite a dreadful skater, which was surprising considering he tended to excel in most athletic disciplines. He simply had a natural athlete's build, as well as a tendency to tone himself at the gym regularly for work. His failings at skating were probably, in all honesty, simply because this day was the first time he'd ever attempted it. No one could be perfect from the start, right?

Never one to sit on the sidelines and accept his failures, Asa had set himself up in the centre of the rink. Walls offered help, and he knew that if he took that help, he'd quickly find himself from the wall, to a seat, to a store that sold scalding hot chocolates. No, it was better to resist temptation. Not something he was ever good at. In any case, the fact that he probably couldn't get to the wall without falling made it much easier to ignore.

Asa was standing rather awkwardly, a first for him, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Watching the few other skaters drift about like snowflakes didn't provide any helpful hints on how to start...or stop. He supposed it should be as simple as pushing forward, and so he did as much, and the push forward turned into a giant slide that left Asa rather gracelessly falling into the splits, and then onto his side upon the ice. It also landed his pretty, pretty face rather dangerously close to a pair of oncoming skates. 

"Death by foot-guillotine is not the way I want to be remembered!" He shouted, holding his hands up but making no attempt to rise.

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina loved skating, and despite a recent slightly harrowing accident on the ice, she couldn't resist returning to the rink. It was so calming for her and the sheer physicality of it made it a great way to unwind from work and to just focus on movement... and not falling on her ass. It had happened a few times, and she wasn't eager to relive those experiences. Other than that, the people usually left her alone and she was often able to think in relative peace.

    Selina also made very careful not to run into anybody else considering her last time here... though it was difficult when there were so many people doing so many different things. As she skated out towards the center, she saw a guy fall and made her way over to him, her skates halting a little to close to his face for comfort. She was still learning... though his shout had her laughing. Selina then knelt down and grinned when she recognized him, "Well, well, what have we here?" she teased as she looked him over, habitually checking for injury... but also enjoying the view. He'd always been a strikingly handsome man, and she'd never minded letting him know.

    "You usually aren't quite this clumsy," she noted with a wry smirk. It was slightly amusing to see him in such an ungainly position, but she was also incredibly happy to see him again. "It's been a while, Asa. How've you been?" she asked, a warmth in her gaze as she offered a hand to help him up. She'd missed him, that was for sure. These past years had been hectic to say the least however, and unfortunately she'd fallen out of touch with him. 

[Asa King]

His brush with impending doom didn't stop an exuberant smile from appearing when he recognized his executioner. "Selina!" He exclaimed cheerfully, brushing away her teasing with a chuckle. "Well, wonders never cease. Fancy seeing you here." Knowing he was more or less out of danger now, Asa dropped his hands onto his chest and relaxed, flashing his friend an easy grin. They'd more or less fallen out of proper contact, and it was a pleasant surprise seeing her again.

"Cut me some slack, I'm an ice virgin." He explained, trying to cover the obvious flaw she had pointed out in his talent list. "What's that new ice movie? Frozen? Right, just call me Elsa from now on." Typically he was pretty defensive about such things, but luckily he'd already decided that ice-skating was 'unworthy', and as such his rather large pride couldn't be harmed.

Grasping the offered hand, Asa pulled himself to his feet, then lurched to grab Selina's forearms as he almost slid over immediately. "Up until the moment I decided to come to this hellish place? I was doing great." He sunk into a rather awkward squatting position to keep his balance, releasing his hold on Selina. "What are you doing here, besides beautifully showing me up?"

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[Selina Taylor]

    “Hmm, I am a wonder, aren’t I? God, I've missed your sexy ass” she teased. Selina took in the sight of him with a happy smile. “A virgin?... I promise I’ll be gentle,” she replied, a devilish glint in her gaze. “Elsa it is,” she then agreed. Her playful smirk not fading in the slightest as he started to get up.

    Selina gripped him, helping him keep his balance as he almost fell, “And you decided to visit hell of your own accord? Feeling masochistic are we?” she asked with a wicked grin. She was glad he had decided to come though, as she felt livelier merely being around him. “Well, I actually like to skate. I may not be very good at it, but it’s fun.” Selina then offered him her hand once more, “You know, you can hang onto me all you like, I certainly don’t mind,” she promised, her sultry tone more than a bit suggestive.

    “It’s good to see you again though,” she offered sincerely. “You got the tattoo business up and running yet?” she wondered, knowing he’d been struggling a lot more than most due to his other job. She would have helped him if she could, but she knew next to nothing about the industry, and the only true help she could offer would be to beat the shit out of the employers who refused to hire him because of pointless bigotry… which she was more than willing to do.

[Asa King]

"That's the purpose of my ass, to be longed after by beautiful women," he informed her, returning the teasing in jest. Even considering he'd never been in a position to have such a tryst with Selena, he made no show of hiding his attraction to her. More than that, Selina was a dear friend, and something about never having taking money off her made that easier for him to teat her normally. "And don't forget the candles. Men like me need romance you know." He felt a tang of bitterness at that joke and shook his head. Romance wasn't something he deserved, or knew how to obtain.

"I hate failing," Asa explained, wincing at his own sense of pride. "And I especially hate being bested by frozen water." Considering that, of course Selina loved to skate. That was a kind of depressing irony, though it cold potentially be his saving grace. He couldn't understand how any could thoroughly enjoy the sport, but then, he sucked at it. Hard to enjoy something while sucking. Well....it wasn't impossible. Both hard and sucking were both hobbies of his. "Oh, I'm sure I wouldn't complain either," he purred in reply, linking his arm with hers. "Do you have time to give me a long-overdue lesson?"

All flirting considered, having a friend pleased to see him without the promise of sex was comforting. "You too Selina. I've missed you." It was nice to be asked about his business, if only because it meant she'd remembered his desires. "I wouldn't call business booming exactly, but it's happening." Asa couldn't keep the pride out of his voice as he spoke of his tattoo shop. "And of course, if you ever feel the urge...I'll give you a friends and family discount." He chuckled then lifted a foot, preparing to move. "So do we just....start?"

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[Selina Taylor]

    Selina grinned, “You think I’m beautiful?” she asked playfully, batting her eyes for good measure. She then nodded, “Candles and romance it is,” she agreed seriously when she noticed that maybe that hadn’t been as much of a joke as he’d wanted it to be. Her expression fell slightly as she fully considered her own words though, “... Or, it would be if I knew anything about romance,” she added with a slightly sad smile. She kept people at arm’s length for damn good reasons, but… Asa deserved romance as much as anybody, and she wished for the first time that she knew how to give such a thing.

    People never wasted that kind of time and effort on her though, and she hadn’t minded at all until his expression made her wish they had… if only so that she had something to offer him now. "I do have candles though, so perhaps we can work something out," she offered. Selina then nodded, her pride similar to his in that matter. “Well, as someone who manipulates water, maybe I can help,” she offered easily, smiling happily as he took her arm. “This damn mutation has to be good for something,” Selina added wryly. She didn’t hate her power… but at the same time, she wasn’t overly fond of using it either. Besides, sometimes, even despite her better judgement, it made her feel… different, and not in a good way.

    As he spoke of his business, she brightened a bit, “Glad to hear that’s going well… and I might just take you up on that offer,” she replied, actually a bit serious. She’d been thinking about getting a tattoo for some time now. What it would be of, she wasn’t entirely sure, but she could definitely afford it nowadays. Besides, Selina trusted Asa to take care of her body well… She smirked a bit at the thought and glanced up at him, “That’s how I did it. I have to admit, I’m not exactly the best at this myself,” she told him honestly. “It’s best if you angle your feet a bit though,” she offered, imitating taking a small sliding step onto the ice. Selina certainly wasn’t an experienced teacher in regards to skating, but she was willing to try.

[Asa King]

"Absolutely breathtaking," he replied honestly, expression serious. Considering how he'd made her expression become so downcast, he clearly owed her his sincere admiration in the least. He even considered comforting her, but unlike himself, he wasn't sure if Selina even wanted romance. Asa wanted the complete fairytale, which was laughable considering his line of work. But Selina, well she seemed perfectly happy doing as she was. That didn't explain her sad expression though.

Deciding to take a chance on it, he rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed comfortingly. "The beauty of candles, if the date is going badly, you can burn the place down with an 'accidental' flick of your wrist." He supplied with a wicked smirk, releasing Selina's shoulder. Changing the topic seemed easier than assuming what Selina did or did not want out of her relationships in life. They were close, but they'd never stopped to discuss such things together. To the best of his knowledge, such things were left to night discussions at girl's sleepovers.

"You know, I've never seen you use your water mojo," he noted with some surprise. He'd never been overly bothered by mutants, having at least two of them in the family, but at the same time, he'd never witnessed a mutant using their abilities for themselves. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't interesting in seeing Selina's. "Can you do anything with ice or are you restricted to water?"

He felt a flutter of excitement at Selina's teasing. "My door is always open to you....Door to the tattoo parlor, that is," He cleared his throat. Tattooing was enough to capture his attention, but working on Selina's skin was dangerously tempting. Asa chewed his lip, schooling the interest out of his features again. He really did have to control his attraction to Selina. Not that she was the only person he'd ever found attractive, but she was definitely the only one he hadn't gotten around to sleeping with. Even somehow come to avoid sleeping with.

"Well I didn't see you falling on your face," he pointed out teasingly. "Come on, look at you. A natural athlete. Coordinated. Sexy. Destroyer of hearts. The ice should quiver at your feet!" He muttered his pep-talk under his breath as he followed Selina, finishing with an empowered fist-pump. "Yeah!"
Of course his motivational speech almost immediately fell flat when he slipped on the ice again. His time he managed to save himself by bending in half, sliding his hands across the ice as well.

It worked surprisingly well. Or at least well enough that he wasn't brave enough to risk standing up by himself. With a snigger he slid past Selina. "And this children, is what we call the downward dog."

@tag

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina felt genuine shock at Asa’s blunt honesty. She’d been expecting some sort of playful return, but his frank admission had thrown her completely off guard. Selina felt her face warm against her will at his words. Damnit, the hell was wrong with her? She started to say something in return, but she halted before a word had even begun to escape her. What could she say to that? The dirtiest mind imaginable couldn’t draw a blush from her, but frank honesty she was completely powerless against. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d actually blushed since coming to Kalispell and she had no idea what to do with it. Ignoring it seemed to be the best plan.

    Luckily, Asa’s hand on her shoulder helped ground her and his next words were enough to distract Selina as she let out a wry laugh, “If you end up burning down my apartment just because you don’t like my cooking, I’m so sending you the bill,” she returned, grateful for the change of subject. “I rather like my new place thank you very much, and I’ll not have it destroyed,” she then stated, an artificial pomposity entering her tone.

    Selina was mildly surprised he hadn’t seen her use her power before, but then she rarely used it outside of training, and then she usually only used it to warm cold cups of coffee and the like. She then smiled a bit at his question and nodded, “I can manipulate any form of water… I would show you here, but Kalispell isn’t exactly friendly to mutants at the moment. However, if you come over to my place, I’ll show you whatever you want,” she offered honestly, a hint of heat entering her last words. She didn’t really mind, and she had a feeling he wouldn’t back away and stare at her like she was some sort of monster. He hadn’t yet at least.

    Selina then grinned and glanced at him as he mentioned the tattoo shop, “Hmm, tell me Asa, if you had free reign, what would you do to my body?” she asked in curiosity, though the lovely carnality of such words certainly hadn’t escaped her notice. She hadn't yet thought much about what she would want as a design though, and she was interested in what he would do. Besides, letting such an artist do as he pleased would probably end up working in her favor, regardless of what he chose.  

    At his pep talk to himself, Selina smirked lightly, “I know I certainly quiver when I see you coming,” she offered, lingering a bit on the last word with a devilish glint in her eyes. His fist pump had a warm smile crossing her features as she watched Asa carefully, ready to help if need be. She knew he was capable, but she didn’t want him hurting himself either. Selina was too slow to catch his fall however. She immediately reached for him as he went down, but she paused when she noticed he’d caught himself.

    As he slid past her, Selina laughed at his comment, “Regardless of what it’s called, I’m definitely enjoying the view,” she replied, pointedly staring at his ass that was currently stuck up in the air for a brief moment before making her way forward to help him up. She bent down in front of him on the ice and offered her hand, “Are you willing to try again?”

[Asa King]

Noticing Selina's obvious discomfort Asa turned away and let the matter drop. He was surprised that simple praise could bother Selina, someone who was probably complimented every single day, but he'd clearly crossed some sort of line and regretted it. Thankfully it seemed they both had the same idea to ignore the awkward moment.

"Keep that in mind for when you finally ask me out," he replied with a deep chuckle. "No home cooking near flammable substances." He eyed Selina curiously and slowly did a half turn on the ice to face her. "You got a new place? I'm jealous Sel. Are you just sitting alone in some mansion hoarding giant pots of gold? Where's my invite?" He knew enough about her bodyguard work to know exactly how many ways she could kick his ass, so he supposed it was normal that her job paid well. It was just not something he ever thought about.

The tension around Kalispell had been palpable since mutants had been revealed to the world. As someone who had always known about them, Asa had simply taken the outburst in stride. Being an open supporter and friend of mutants had garnered him some negative attention from humans, but he couldn't imagine it was anything close to what Selina and her friends were faced with every day. The thought had him worrying his lip, concerned. "No, good plan. You know, I think I'd enjoy that." he mused, lifting his eyebrow with a smirk. "I've always wanted to see you make yourself wet for me."
Chuckling at her shameless flirting, Asa closed his eyes. Even if the sexy quips were fun, he took his art seriously, and the second Selina had mentioned it his mind had started racing to think of the perfect idea. Holding both hands out, he traced them through the air, imagining Selina's back was under them and trying to decide exactly what he'd put there if given the opportunity. "A dragon, I think. Starting here-" he put two fingers where the front of his imaginary Selina's right hip was. "And it would go all the way up." Over her hip then climbing diagonally up her back to rest it's head on her collar bone. The wings would stretch over his right shoulder and left hip, and in their veins he would weave birds and wolves and twining leaves. Little details like secrets that you had to look for. And that was just the beginning. Given free reign he'd go all out, all over her body. Imagining the vivid colours, he almost believed he could feel Selina's real body under his hands, and shot his eyes open to make sure he hadn't accidentally reached out to her. Clearing his throat, he put his hands down and smirked. "Or you know, I could just put a giant dick somewhere."

He made a show of touching his toes, flexing his legs to give Selina a better 'show', all the while laughing his ass off. He grabbed her proffered hand gratefully and pulled himself back up. "Until I get it right."

@tag

[Selina Taylor]

    Selina laughed and shook her head at his question, “Hardly. It’s just an apartment, but it is mine and I’d rather not have to pay for fire damage,” she warned playfully. As for hoarding giant pots of gold… most of her money had been put into savings, and she was planning on starting her own business soon. A business that would pay not even a tenth of what she was currently earning. It wouldn’t be easy, but she had a better start than most could hope for, and Selina was also very good at budgeting both her time and money. She’d had to be before she came to Kalispell. However, she couldn’t mention that yet as she still had a long way to go. Her business was still mostly comprised of plans and ideas.

    At his salacious comment, Selna couldn’t help but give him a heated glance, “You know you’ll have to return the favor sometime...” she replied with an impish smirk. Her ability to manipulate water was as much a part of her as anything else and if someone gave her the option of living without it, even despite the negativity surrounding mutants, she would refuse. Selina wasn’t one for changing who she was… unless it was to her benefit. Her skin turning into a canvas for Asa’s art was definitely a change she would enjoy. Selina watched him in interest, and grinned at the idea of a dragon on her back. It was easy to tell that there was good deal that Asa hadn’t said, but Selina didn’t mind. She trusted him, and she knew that whatever he came up with would be a work of sheer beauty.

    “I like it,” she replied as his hands outlined a design she could only imagine. The very idea of those talented fingers splayed across her back, caused a slight heat to stir in her lower abdomen, but she ignored it. His last comment drew a laugh from her though, and she paused as if thinking it over, “You know, aesthetically speaking, I think I’d rather have a vagina,” she replied with a grin. “Or maybe a flower… you know, O’Keeffe style,” she teased. Whatever got his lovely hands working Selina’s back would be fine by her. She wondered just how badly she’d have to restrain herself from making a move on him while he worked...

    She was never sure when they’d decided not to be physical, or even why it had happened. They were both rather obviously attracted to each other, so sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d done something wrong or offended him in some way, but she’d remind herself that if she had, he wouldn’t be as friendly with her as he was… Probably. There was something else to it, she was positive, but she could never quite place her finger on what it might be. However, whether she fully understood his reasoning or not, she’d always respect his choice. She loved spending time with him regardless of whether or not they ever got more physical. 

    Despite her good intentions, Selina openly admired the show he put on for her and smiled warmly as he took her hand, “Well then… we’ll probably be here for a very long time,” she joked as she glanced up at him, unaware that she hadn’t yet let go of his hand. Selina had always been a physical person, and she instinctively gravitated toward touch, sometimes without being fully cognizant of her own actions.

[Asa King]

He chuckled, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "Don't stress, all my acts of arson are reserved for dates. Spectacularly bad dates." He almost wanted to add that even if he and Selina did go on a date, it seemed impossible that it would go so bad that he'd have to burn her house down. That extra comment didn't seem necessary though, so he let the moment slide.

Even expecting Selina to return his flirting with an equal amount of heat, actually experiencing it was always a surprising experience for Asa. It wasn't often that he could go toe-to-toe with anyone, least of all in something like flirting. Most girls were easy enough to turn into blushing messes. Selina had never done that. A part of him would have been disappointed if she had; of course there was another part that seriously wanted to see it.
"Anytime." With a rumble of agreement Asa lifted his hand and rubbed at his chin, self-consciously covering the slight blush on his hands. It may have been hard to get Selina to blush, but Asa did it surprisingly often, especially considering his line of work.

"A flower with teeth," he mused. "Or maybe a tongue." There was a vagina flower running around in his head, and it was very distracting. That tended to happen when he thought of too many ideas at once. They all merged together. "Just call when you're planning on coming in. I'll close the parlor for the day. Give you some one on one attention." The idea of laying Selina down and working over her body was a hungry one, and he was shamefully excited for it. He was trying not to hassle her too much though. He wouldn't pressure someone into getting a tattoo just because he was a horny bitch. There were easier ways to go about sleeping with someone.

"I'm a fast learner," he promised, even as he tapped the ice with his skates to ensure it was actually solid and not about to trip him again. Noticing that he was still holding Selina's hand, he paused for a second then gave her a grateful squeeze before letting go regretfully. There was no sense craving her touch, so he forced himself to ignore the warmth still buzzing in his hand. "Right, let's get back to it, yeah? I'm evidently a glutton for punishment." Without waiting for a reply he pushed away and began skating slowly around the ring.

@tag