The Art of Cake

[Foxglove]

"I wish I could do that. I'm more the type to hide behind others or bugger off if something is hairy. At least keeping a good distance, at least." It wasn't entirely true, as Maren didn't mind being close enough to see, while she did find it important to be out of reach, at least.

"Well, I'm not suicidal if you think that", she said, eating another bit of the cake, humming satisfiedly. "If I'm against the odds, what kind of madwoman would I be to stay there? Usually, I only fight when I know my chances are good to mediocre." As she thought about it, she realized that wasn't even true at all. However it hadn't been intentional lying, as it had crossed her mind after she had said it. "But I like to watch just as much."

"It's almost like you want to make me feel better," Maren replied. She lamented the fact that she wasn't clairvoyant to some degree to see what Elena had in her bag. The curiosity. "Then again, I'd be more worried about getting my Prosecutor scratched than actual fighting. Yikes."

"Being an 'Angsthase' has its perks", she said in reply. Elena wasn't really trying to reason with Maren, rather she knew that if she had been more gutless, she would have been spared much sorrow. Unwilling to think about it more, though, she tried to change the subject. "Where have you gotten that Prosecutor from anyways?" It was a question that had been in her head for quite a while already.

"I bought it from the Commonwealth," Maren said simply, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. "They sell their technology." She fiddled out one of the strawberries to eat it single.

Elena had never learnt the laws of Liberty by heart, but she was pretty sure it was restricted inside Liberty. She wasn't really surprised though. "Gotta admit, it has a certain beauty to it. Would love to fly one once", she gave back, playing around with her fork, then looking out of the window, apparently absorbed in thoughts. With her legs crossed and her head weighed to the left she resumed. "I probably shouldn't knock on their door, though. Else, heads could roll." A small smile passed over her lips. "I guess you've flown a Wraith as well, then?"

"Well, during training, once. The Wraith was new, so I mostly got the Vakyrie back then. I never was a space cop, because, well." She raised her hands, wanting to highlight the small scars on them. "I did deskwork most of the time." That much was true.

"I always wanted to fly a Wraith. Kind of a big dream of mine", she returned, finishing the piece of cake that had been on her plate. Partially a lie, since parts of that dream had already come true long ago; under less pleasant circumstances, though. "Sounds pretty boring, to be honest. But anyways. Huhm. How did you come to know Ezrael, then?"

"I demanded he call me Sweetheart," Maren said, tilting her head a bit to the side, then elaborating a bit more. "He was with the Core back then and I was in Omicron Delta often, by the Freeport. He patrolled in the vicinity, so we got to talking and, well."

"Huh, in Delta?", Elena asked curiously. "How comes you got there? It's a bit away from your office in Rheinland, after all. Don't tell me you took a vacation there."

Very perceptive, Maren thought besides herself. It seemed like Elena was very well able to spot divergences in the things she told her. It wasn't tragic that she'd asked this question, but it made Maren a bit more wary on what she'd say. Then again, she couldn't have lied about this without it being easily double-checked. There had been no way around it. "You could say that I was a bit of an adventurous type," Maren replied smoothly, giving a small laugh that sounded natural.

That didn't correspond with what she had told her beforehand either, Elena though. This mismatch however piqued her interest. "Delta and the Freeport always holds some adventures ready, yeah", she just responded, remembering only a few incidents at the Freeport that had been worthwhile. "Though I'm wondering now what made you turn into the pansy you are now, as you said yourself?" It all more or less was an attempt to find out more about Maren, since she seemed to her like a woman with many different layers.

"Well, there's a difference between adventure, and oh boy, I think walking around in that volcano is fun adventures," Maren meant, knowing it was enough of an excuse. "I don't regret it. Ezrael wouldn't have entered my life if I hadn't gone."

"Mhmm, right", she just replied. That was the moment when she realized she was pretty much bursting for a pee. "Uuh, you know what. I think I'm gonna have to check out those toilet lights you told me about quickly", she told her. "That was ... forewarning enough, I hope?" That being said, she put the plate aside on the couch and stood up.

"Yeah, I think it was enough." Chortling, Maren put down the platter on the table in front of them. "You need to push the flush a bit harder because it sometimes spazzes out," she told her before taking her PDA, wanting to check something while Elena was gone. It'd also give her the possibility to look at the bag. She didn't intend to open it, because Elena could see the difference, but maybe she could peek inside without touching.

"Alright, I'll be right back", she said, walking up to the stairs to move up to the first floor. Maren could hear a door being opened, closed again and then locked.

The bag had been sitting right next to Elena the whole time, which meant she hadn't cared about zipping it up completely. It wouldn't prove to be hard to peer into it with one eye. If Maren decided to do so, she would be able to see Elena's clothes stuffed into it, together with some DVD-covers of films she had brought with her, but also the tip of what could very well be a gun, based on kinetic bullets.

Maren spent a few moments looking at her PDA before standing up and moving around the table noiselessly to peer into the bag. There was nothing she hadn't expected. Given how much she'd scared Elena before, it was natural. Sitting back down, she opened another tab on her PDA, browsing movies.

After a few minutes, she would hear the flush, and the door to the bathroom being opened again. Elena who was obviously refraining from laughing came down the stairs, holding a hand before her mouth. "That looks so funky", she said, aluding to the glowing poop. "I definitely know what I'm gonna install in my own apartment next."` Plunking herself down on the couch, she would cough briefly. "That cake is delicious, by the way. Very nice recipe."

"Well, it's pretty basic," Maren said, putting down the PDA and yawning. "Oh boy, I really get tired when just sitting." Taking the cake, Maren gulped down a big chunk of her cake. "Wanna watch a movie?" It was almost evening. Given that it was 6 pm, she figured going out was a bit too late. "I guess you can also sleep here if it gets too late."

"Basic things still work more often than not", she gave back as a reply, grabbing another piece of cake and putting it on her place. She as well felt the fatigue crawling through her body, which is why she decided to lay down on her part of the couch. "Yeah I got a few in my bag", she went on. "I'm pretty nuts on old horror movies, to be honest. But you'll see." Putting the bag on her lap, she rummaged around it, then pulled a bunch of covers out, fanning them out demonstratively.

"Would it surprise you if I told you that I actually have little to no idea about movies?" Maren replied, taking a look at what her company had in hand. "Uh, can I defer to your wisdom on this?" Looking over to the counter, Maren stood up and fetched the rest of the cake, wanting to put it on the table with them.

"Actually, yes it would surprise me", she returned, looking through the range of films she had brought with her, searching for one that Maren could enjoy as well. In the end, she tended towards educating her a little, 'for her own good'. "Here, this one. I think that film is actually pretty valuable. I couldn't even find it on the Neural Net, it's -that- old. One of my favourites." She held up her hand so Maren could see its cover.

"The guy looks like he needs something really bad," Maren meant while appraising the cover. "What's it about?" She didn't want her to spoil the entire thing, just tell her the premise. Absently, she cut another piece of cake from the whole and put it on her platter.

"Well, it's about a family residing in a lonely hotel during a winter, and slowly, but surely going completely insane. It's basically a novel adaptation", she replied, trying to summarize the film's plot. She scratched her head, wondering whether this was a good description of it or not. "Besides that it's a good horror movie, it has quite a lot of subtext, in my opinion", she added with a small smile, then stood up, intending to load the film. "Interested?"

"Sure, sounds like something I could get behind." If anything, it would be a nice distraction. They had a TV on the side of the room, diagonally to the window, so it was in front of the people watching TV. Maybe not the smartest position for it to be placed, but better than having the light that poured in reflect off the screen.

If anything, it wouldn't exactly help soothing Elena's already somewhat strained nerves, but she wasn't caring too much about it right now. She had seen the movie quite a few times, which meant she knew what's about to happen. Maren's reaction would be funny to observe, she thought. After the film was loaded on the TV, she would hop back onto her place of the couch and stretch herself, grabbing a pillow to rest her head on. "How easily scared are you?"

"I am a stone if I want to be, though I hate jump scares," Maren replied, not actually lying there. It depended on her mood in how far she was susceptible to such things. Pulling her legs up to her side, Maren looked on at the screen, humming.

While the film began and the opening scene became visible, Elena tilted her head to the right to look at Maren. "As far as I can remember, it's not packed with jumpscares too much. I hate them myself as well." Especially in her current, quite jumpy state the movie would have been a pain in the arse otherwise. And the eerie music at the beginning of the movie didn't make that any better. "Uhh", she just uttered, staying silent otherwise

It was immediately apparent to Maren that the movie was quite old. The grainy quality it had to it made it seem strange compared to the other media that was consumed these days. She wondered why Elena didn't have a remake or something. She was certain that there would be such a thing. Still, given that there was nothing else to do, Maren let herself lean back and looked at the screen, wanting to enjoy the movie.

Maren and Elena may or may not notice the cab shuttle that was approaching the bungalow from behind, so they wouldn't see it, or hear it, with the movie on screen. Valery would know, though, as usual. Landing only a few meters away from the frontyard of his little investment here on Curacao, Ezrael would leave the cab, enjoying the second breath of the wind of his homeworld for quite a while as he had to stay on the Apahanta for his rejuvenation process. He still wasn't able to do much with his hands, but at least the burnt flesh was replaced. The wind was still warm, even with the sun already set. Looking back at the cab, he smiled at Sombra, who silently smiled back at him. There also was a KSR leaving the big cab, packed with their stuff. "The keys." he said quietly to her, slowly moving up his arms, which looked almost as if it was a great effort to manage, just to get fail at opening the zipped pockets of his black leather jacket. Without a word, Sombra moved next to him and opened one of the pockets, withdrawing the keys. "Be silent. If Maren sleeps, I don't want to wake her up."

"I'm silent as *****," she gave him back with a smirk before moving up to the door, looking through the window. Stopping, she looked back to him. "Looks like you won't be able to surprise them. They are sitting on the couch," she said quietly, almost whispering as he stood next to her a second later, seeing it with his own eyes.

"They?" he asked similarly quietly and then saw the blue hair barely shining in the dark. It took him a moment to realize it, and he stood there, frozen for this moment. "Sombra, go home."

"But I thought I-"

"Go home. Leave, take the cab. Try to be as silent as possible. Leave," he ordered her, looking at her. She was hesitating, looking down at her black dress, not really understanding. But it was obvious he was not joking. Handing him the keys, she nodded. And with that, she vanished in the cab, leaving Ezrael alone with the KSR. From the looks, it seemed like neither Maren nor the woman with the blue hair were noticing him, as they were focused on the screen. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins. If this was Elena, together with Maren, it wouldn't mean anything good. Not at all. Either she was already infected or about to. Either that, or Maren would kill her.

"DO YOU WANT ME TO OPEN THE DOOR, MASTER?" the KSR asked Ezrael in a typical KSR voice. Unnecessary loud, synthetic, and in this case, disturbingly surprising and unfortunate. Valery was aware of him, but now probably also Maren and Elena, if not already before. *****, he thought, trying to keep his breathing rhythm under control. He had no idea what to do now. He came here to surprise Maren with his neverending love, but looking at this situation, he hated her. Handing the keys to the KSR, Ezrael allowed the robotic servant to open the door for him, and slowly he entered his bungalow, glancing over to the two women on the couch with a neutral expression. They would see him there, wearing a black jeans, a white T-shirt and his clubbing leather jacket over it. It was easier to wear those clothes than trying to get his lamed arms and hands into his Apahanta suits.
[22.08.2017 22:33:02] Michael: Maren knew Ezrael was outside before he reached the door. Her first impulse was to call out to Elena and demand that she act like a zombie. Her second thought was that this was a recipe for disaster, so she just kept quiet. With the fork, she cut off another slice of cake, slowly.
[22.08.2017 23:04:53] Byron|Fabi: Elena didn't know, as she was quite engrossed in the movie they were watching she hadn't recognized the cab shuttle landing near the bungalow. What she however did perceive was the KSR, and her reaction could very well be described as paranoidally schizophrenic. Almost instantly would her instincts get triggered by the robotic voice, and the second after that, she sat up straight, turned around towards the entrance to the bungalow. She couldn't help herself but subconsciously grab the gun out of the bag and pointing in at the door "The *****!", she exclaimed, supporting herself on the couch with one arm, while holding the gun with the other. Judging from how her voice sounded, she had almost had an heartattack. She looked at the entrance, in a position in which she could run away any second if she needed to.

As she however saw who was standing in the door, she let out a gasp, her eyes widened in an almost horrified way. The fact that Maren and her were still dressed in her bikinis wasn't making it any better for her. Slowly, she let the gun sink down, looking down at it for a second, before she once again vacantly stared at Ezrael. Her lips moved, however at first no words wanted to come out. "Oh Jesus...", she finally uttered.

His look wandered from Maren over to Elena, then back to Maren, and with a silent gulp, he made a step closer to them, allowing the KSR to enter the bungalow. What a ***** situation, he thought, although his wording was more colorful. Why wasn't Maren saying anything? What was Elena doing here? In bikinis. "Maren?" he asked carefully, hoping she would answer the many questions in his mind. If the circumstances were different, he would have given Elena a clever response, but right now he was afraid this was sort of a trap set up by Maren.

"Hi," Maren finally said, turning her head while the movie rolled on. "Come, sit. The movie is pretty good." She was really curious what he was thinking. He was tense. Maren could see it from the slight creases on his brow.

"Okay," he said, obviously intimidated. One wrong move could let all this escalate, he knew. So he moved over to them, sitting down on the couch, right next to Maren. His heart was beating rather fast. "Hello Miss Voigt," he sounded as he came closer. To her it would be obvious something was wrong here. It was not just weird. It was uncomfortable, to him.

Besides the blatancy that Elena wasn't too pleased to see Ezrael again. Or maybe she was, but knew that didn't mean anything good. She still remembered what he had told her the last time they had 'met', and back then he had made it clear that such a situation was to be avoided at all cost. Slowly, Elena would sink down on her part of the couch again, still clutching at the gun in her right hand, however not too obviously. Her heart was thumping against her chest, while she was slowly recovering from such actually minor, but to her awful shock.

From the way Ezrael was acting, in such a business tone, so stiffly, she would instantly know that the situation was a troublesome one. While in the movie Jack Torrance was just slashing through the famous white door, wielding his axt, Elena kept looking at their sudden addition. It was a look that spoke of fear, but also of wonder, as she was discombobulated a great deal just as much. Grudgingly, since it was running afoul of her impulsive nature, she gave in to the play. "Hello Mister Vertiga", she said in quite a high-pitched tone of voice. The next words she would have to screw out of herself, literally. "A pleasure to see you again. But unexpected nonetheless." It felt extremely hard to her to keep that phrasemongering up, for she had loved to just yell at him what the ***** was going on here now.

"I didn't know you know my girlfriend," he said quietly, gulping again, almost audibly. "How comes?" He was actually quite sure Maren enjoyed this. Torturing him with this. Elena seemed to be sort of okay, but then again he didn't know whether she was already infected or not. Damn.

"Why are you talking to each other as if you didn't know each other," Maren asked. "I know about the Operative hijinks." She actually wanted to enjoy the movie, but well.

"We've met each other every now and then in Liberty", Elena plainly gave back as a reply, while still trembling with the hand with which she was holding the aforementioned gun. Maren however spoke out what she was wondering the whole time: Why was he acting like they didn't know each other personally? Maren hadn't seemed to have a problem with them knowing each other closer than business contacts. She would have loved to ask whether something was wrong, but she knew the answer anyways. For a second she glanced at Maren, who seemed to be relaxation in person, but then her gaze remained on Ezrael once more, an eyebrow raised, as though she wished to scream at him what the hell was going on. "I... don't know e-either, really", she answered to Maren, in quite a quizzical demeanor.

Scanning Elena with his eyes, he thought about what to do next. Good, Maren told Elena she knew about his alter ego. The question was now what her current role was. He hated it. It was once more one of those moments where he was reminded of his place. How unable he was to do anything. Maren was the person in control right now. It wouldn't be any different if he was able to use his hands. Analysing the situation in his head, he planned his strategy. He had to find out who knew what. Is Elena infected? Did Maren tell her she is infected? Did Elena tell Maren about the night on Corinth? Elena didn't look like she knew how to deal with this situation. Her hand was hidden in her bag, although he didn't see much, with Maren between him and Elena. "Alright. Welcome to our home, Elena. It's nice to see you again," he said quietly before looking at Maren again. Wait, Elena in a bikini, but shouldn't she have a big belly by now?"

"Relax." Maren elbowed him in the side. "I didn't bite her or anything." She eyed the cake. "Want some strawberry pie?"

"No, no cake, thanks," he gave her back. Didn't bite her or anything, she said. Was that her version of saying she wasn't infected yet? It was vague. Damn, Maren, was his next thought. Sometimes he wished they would have swapped roles. Ever since this entire thing with Elena started, Maren made it pretty obvious how invincible she was.

Elena indeed didn't exactly know how to deal the situation at hand, as it seemed to be a pretty weird one, and obviously out of her knowledgeable grasp. Else she would have known what this was all about. All she knew was that she felt like being pushed to the corner, and that there was something between Ezrael and Maren she herself apparently wasn't aware of. She couldn't ask him right here, right now, but she knew she would try to drill any information out of him sooner or later. For a second, she lowered her head, looking down at her bare skin, which made her feel even more uncomfortable since they weren't solely amongst women anymore. Abruptly though she realized that she was in the most perfect outift of all to reveal what she wanted to have revealed the very least. She could only guess what he was thinking, but she was pretty sure he had already noticed there was a big belly missing. She weighed her body to the right a little, supporting herself with her elbow, and scratching her frowned forehead with the hand that wasn't occupied holding the gun ready. A loud sigh, louder than she had wanted it to be, slipped out of her mouth. "And so it is nice to see you again", she said in an almost plastically neutral mood.

"Do you need to talk, or something? I can go take a pee real quick," Maren threw out there as an idea, wanting them to stop being babies.

As if that would make a difference, you creep, he said in his mind, not daring to say it out loud. "No, it's okay. It is just weird to be Ezrael and not Red when Elena is around," Ezrael said quietly, leaning a bit more into Maren. He was still wearing his jacket, so she would feel the warmed leather on her bare skin at the shoulder. Her legs were catching his attention for a moment, as she looked good in her bikini. If the circumstances were different, this could have been a very nice surprise for Maren and for him. Instead he had to deal with this little nightmare, and he didn't know if this would end well for either of them. Maren didn't invite her to be friends with her, that was obvious to him.

Oh, Elena would have truly loved to speak with him under four eyes, however she didn't decide to raise her voice. For that, she was actually too cowed right now, as she suddenly felt some weird cold on her skin that made her shiver. Whether it was because it was getting colder outside or because of the unpleasant situation she wasn't quite able to tell. Elena slightly crouched, though not because of the cold, but to hide her belly with her legs. The less they could see of it not being there, the better, she thought. It would be apparent to them she didnt feel comfortable in her skin right now at all.

What had been a more or less pleasant evening, despite some creepy moments, had turned, before she could know it, into an overly awkward situation. And the worst thing, she didn't know why. Was it because of Corinth? She couldn't really believe in that. "So, Maren told me you had some fun on the Apahanta lately", she spoke out, somewhat sarcastically. "I should've known though that that doesn't keep you occupied for long." At that point, she was just trying to converse in some way.

"Right, I was playing with fire. In a few days and weeks I'll be fully available again. Until then, Maren will feed me like a baby," he explained, not wanting to go into detail. If he was honest, he was thankful for Maren not making a drama out of it. He almost died, either by vaporization with the destruction of the ship or when he caught on fire in the engine room. The last months were horrible, and it just wouldn't get any better, it seems. "And you're fine with Forlorn and everything?" If Maren wasn't between them, he would have looked at her, but right now, it was impossible. And that while Maren is a head smaller than him.

Maren just lied her head against his chest and inhaled, apparently not able to see the movie. Or listen, for that matter.

"I'm absolutely fine, thanks for asking", she replied a little briskly, almost being able to keep a straight face despite the dirty lie. Her tensed tone of voice however would speak a more honest story than her mien. Covering things up and acting was usually not her problem, but what she tried to veil preyed on her mind too much to make any concealing attempts effective. Still her heart was pounding relatively fast, she didn't seem to get out of the state of intense stress any soon. Slowly her hand moved out of the handbag, though, and instead she folded her hands on her belly, as though to have another extra layer of security. "How's the matter with Miss Austin?", she would ask haphazardly,

And there it was. Ezrael's heartbeat got even faster as she delivered Maren the proof of him having had contact with Elena after their meeting with Hussaini. Not that Valery wouldn't notice it anyway, but having Maren's head on his chest, where she was likely to feel it, made it even worse. "It's unlikely we will see her again that soon," was his answer. He would have told her more, but right now it was important to reduce the damage she just created. His eyes focused on Maren's head on his chest. There was a constant feeling of goosebumps and chills rushing through his spine. "We can't do much more than hope for her well-being."

"I miss her," Maren just commented, trying to listen to what was happening on the screen of the TV. Her head rested right on his chest, making her acutely aware of his increased heartbeat. One hundred and ten beats per minute, she guessed. Adrenaline, though nothing pathologic. His body really was in good condition, barring the burns from the accident.

Though she could have certainly been aware of the blunder she had just comitted, as she was certain Ezrael had acted so stiffly because he knew they weren't supposed to meet each other again, the idea didn't suggest itself to her what secret she had just spilled. What he told her about the whereabouts of Lily however began worrying her slightly, visible through her expressionsless face. There were questions she would have to ask him later, but it was apparent he didn't want to tell her more right now, for whichever reason. "I'm sorry to hear that", she just gave back, drawing her own conclusions from the words Maren was throwing in.

"So what is this here about?" he asked both of them after a moment of silence. "Is Elena staying over night? The other bedroom should be unoccupied by now," he said, almost mentioning Nancy. It was creepy to have Maren at his chest, in this situation.

"I offered it," Maren meant, though being pretty sure that Elena wouldn't stay now. Given that Maren was unaware that Ezrael and Elena had apparently had some sort of agreement to never meet with her at the same time, Maren needed to work with what she had available to discern what was going kn right now. The only explanation she could come up with was that he feared she could have kissed the other girl. Though no. Not here. Not now, she thought.

"Weelll...", Elena responded, apparently for lack of words that didn't want to come to her mind. "I'll go dress myself up now either way, we take it from there, I guess?" It was basically a three-way attempt to cope with that situation. Way number one, sorting her own thoughts and getting rid of the problem that she had to hide her belly. She had come to the realization that she couldn't think clearly inside this ugly situation.

She stood up, flicking the handbag with her clothes stuffed inside it over her shoulder. "If you two excuse me for a moment, be right back." She regarded them with a brief smile, looking like a genuine one. Her behavior could almost remind one of an archaic fight-or-flight response. That being said, she would rush to the stairs leading to the first floor, soon being out of view for Ezrael and Maren.

Way number two; it seemed both of them had to exchange views on whatever Elena seemingly wasn't aware of. What would certainly be noticeable to Valery, and possibly to Maren and Ezrael as well however was the missing shutting-and-locking-up sound of the door to the bathroom. That was way number three; similar to the situation on Freeport 10 once upon a time, Elena's curiosity had become rampant again.