nextgenerationmarvel | Picking Up Where We Left Off...(Brooke/Alexander)

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Picking Up Where We Left Off...(Brooke/Alexander)

Alexander's business was booming. The work kept him on his toes and now he understood a bit of what his father went through when he was a child. Even Zeus sent a letter of praise for Alexander's success, though the demigod of Fear could tell it was a grudging one. Zeus rarely gave praise to anyone except his favorite son, Hercules, and a few other people who kissed up to him. Like his father, Alexander Aaron vowed never to be one of those people.

Eventually he hired someone to run the day-to-day operations of the company so that he could focus upon his work. Miss Felicity was good at her job and very professional...except in her desire to be more than Alexander's CEO. Despite his attempts to brush her off, she still wanted to know more about him as a prelude to something more. Felicity was attractive, intelligent and desired by every man who came across her but she had a glaring flaw that Alexander couldn't overlook:

She wasn't Brooke Wyngarde.

The increase in his workload gave Alexander a reason (so he told himself) not to call Brooke when he didn't hear from her. She would call him when she was ready not before. He accepted that. But as time went on and he saw headlines and gossip pages showing her about town, Alexander couldn't help wondering if she'd found another person to be interested in. That idea bothered him but he tried to remember that she wouldn't live nearly as long as he would. If she'd met someone else, then so be it.

That line of thought lasted about five seconds total.

He picked up his phone and dialed Brooke's number, hoping she was available.

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She was a social butterfly. Always had been, always would be. And she'd certainly had many thoughts about Alexander - after all, for all of her outings and stories, she was never once accompanied by a man.

She was attracted to him, and indeed, cared for him very deeply, but there was an intensity there that Brooke was sometimes a little cowed by, a powerful pull that at once enthralled her and maybe scared her a little bit. For all of her misguided self-esteem, she sometimes felt as though she didn't quite deserve Alexander's attention.

A prince? Sure. A god?

Sometimes, it was a little hard to swallow.

Today, Brooke was leaving the Russian Tea Room, after having had lunch with an old frenemy from high school. Her belly pleasantly full of a particularly well-made salmon salad and a hearty Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, she was in particularly high spirits. She dug into her clutch and answered the phone on the third ring, a smile spreading across her face.

Alexander.

This was a pleasant surprise, she thought, as she said, "Hello?"

"Well, hello." Alexander said, smiling as he heard Brooke's voice. Now that he had her on the phone, he was glad that she was all right.

"Are you free to talk, Brooke? I...I've missed your company. I was hoping we could meet and catch up." he said.

"After all, you DID say I could sketch you." he said. He didn't add the part about sans clothing. He was still working her toward that.

That would definitely take some work. Brooke had never been naked in front of a man before.

Which meant that there were certain experiences that she was lacking in.

"I'm free to meet," she smiled. "I actually just finished having a lunch at the Russian Tea Room with an old classmate, but I'm free to meet at Cafe Grumpy for coffee? The one in the Fashion District?"

"Excellent. How soon will you be there?" Alexander asked, picturing the location in his head. Felicity liked that place and he'd been there once already so he knew where it was.

"Give me twenty?" She was going to walk there, and it wasn't too far, but Brooke liked a little bit of cushion space in case she needed a detour.

A man should only be kept waiting so long when there was a concrete plan in place. She brushed her hair off of her shoulder and started towards the place.

There was a blow-out bar halfway there, and she only needed a quick touch up to freshen her hair up. Wouldn't take more than five minutes, that.

And lo, there was Brooke, a minute early, hair freshened up, lips freshly glossed, standing outside the coffee shop, excited and a little apprehensive.

Alexander busied himself for exactly nineteen minutes and fifty-seven seconds while trying to keep his composure. He wanted to see Brooke but he didn't want to appear desperate or overly-eager. He was apprehensive as well but the idea of being near her made it worthwhile.

Alexander appeared beside her in an eyeblink and smiled.

"You look beautiful, as always." he said, taking her hand and kissing it.

He'd seen something about people having issues with mutants on TV but summarily ignored it, just as he ignored the stares from some of the people who saw him teleport in.

The teleportation didn't bother Brooke so much. Her powers had grown in recent months, to where she could affect four people at a time with her powers.

Which, granted, wasn't a lot, but it was something.

Besides, Alexander was there. He made her feel safe, reassured. Like nothing could touch her.

Even if she sometimes shrank back a little from the intensity of his gaze. For all of her personally perceived flawlessness, she wondered if she really were as perfect as Alexander tended to see her as.

She smiled a warm, genuine smile, and then reached up to gently kiss his cheek. "And you take my breath away every time you appear next to me out of nowhere," she laughed. "It's good to see you."

Alexander smiled brightly as she kissed his cheek.

"Flatterer." he said at her words. But they made him feel good and that feeling was one he wanted to hold onto. His eyes studied every inch of Brooke's form, drinking in her beauty. She was the most interesting mortal he knew and he wanted to know all that he could about her. He felt like he couldn't learn enough, no matter how long he studied.

That was another feeling he wanted to hold on to.

"It's good to see you as well. I missed hearing from you. Roxanne's been away and her boyfriend is quite possibly the least intrusive roommate ever. You'd think he was a secret agent or something." Alexander said, chuckling. He was aware that Joe had a job of some kind, even though he didn't know what it was.

"Please, let's have a seat and you can tell me all about what is interesting in your world these days."

Edited 2014-01-07 04:31 (UTC)

"No," Brooke said, simply. "You don't need the flattery. At all." She took his hand in hers, squeezing it gently, before leading him into the shop. "I know. And I'm sorry about that. About the whole...well, I haven't been avoiding you. It's just..." Brooke paused, at once both at a loss for words and surprised by her jumble of words, because both were very unlike her. "Things have been weird. Since the mutant outing. And other things. There's been a whole lot of things."

"I saw that. I visited Marcello while he was in the hospital. I don't think he likes me much but he humors me and that's good of him." Alexander said.

"Those mutant-hating ingrates didn't hurt you, did they?" Alexander asked.

"No, god, no," Brooke shook her head. "I'm fine. The Institute, for all of the issues that it sometimes subscribes to, has been a fairly safe haven for me. I'm surrounded by some of the world's strongest mutants." She licked her lips gently, then, and added, "Marcelo...I'm trying to give him a chance. Because Stephanie has been through a lot, and I can see that she really does love him. I can't...get in the way of that. No matter how undeserving of her I think he might be."

"Good. If they had hurt you, I'd have to go back on a promise I made to my sister about my conduct here." Alexander said, watching her as she spoke. The way she talked about the school, it sounded as if she liked it there. It sounded like a very tight-knit place. Alexander didn't really know of many like it.

"From what I've seen of Stephanie and Marcelo, it appears they love each other deeply. They support each other and they see each other without fear or illusion. We should all be so lucky to find someone like that." Alexander said.

"So should I look for Stephanie to call on me soon to take my measure? You are her best friend and if you are so protective toward her I can only assume she would do the same for you." he said with a smile.

The barista came to their table and Alexander nodded for Brooke to order first. He simply wanted to listen to her speak. The coffee was an afterthought.

"The honey pear bran muffin, please. And one cappuccino." The place wasn't up to Brooke's usual classy standards - there wasn't any free wi-fi and the baristas maintained a very strict no-laptop policy, but Grumpy had some of the best coffee in the city.

She sat back in the plastic chair, and watched Alexander as he watched her, and was the first to break contact. There was such intensity behind those eyes of his.

"Stephanie's been through a lot. I'm not certain she'll be making any housecalls yet. Not until she's figured out stuff that needs figuring out." She indicated the barista to Alexander, then. "Your turn, by the way."

"I'll take a hot chocolate, thank you." Alexander said to the barista without taking his eyes off Brooke. He wanted her but he wasn't sure what she wanted. She had a great deal going on in her life, it seemed.

"I hope Stephanie's all right. I haven't seen her since that incident at that party but she seems like a strong person. My guess is that she'll pull through without any issues."

With the Xavier Institute's secret out - and everything that entailed - it was difficult to have something of a peaceful existence, though Brooke did seem to be having an easier time of it than most.

There was also the mess with the Hellfire Club, which perhaps didn't involve Brooke as much as it did Stephanie, but she was certainly involved in all of the stuff going on there.

"She's a strong woman," Brooke confirmed. "There are things to work through, but she'll prevail." She looked back up from the black and white diamond ring on her finger to meet Alexander's gaze. She felt what he was feeling - that want for her. It was strong. Powerful. No one had ever felt that for her, that she remembered, unless they had been able to mask it from her.

"That's a new sensation," she said suddenly. "What you're feeling. I've felt - manipulated - milder forms of it. What you're projecting is very intense, though." Because she didn't beat around the bush in normal situations, and she certainly wasn't going to beat around the bush with her love interest.

"We gods are said to have desires that put those of humanity to shame. When we hate, the hate of human being seems that of a mild tantrum. Make an enemy of a god of Olympus and it might be easier to move an ocean with a straw than to placate that enmity." Alexander said, considering something.

"I know that you can sense what I feel. Like I said when we met, we are a great deal alike, I think. Fear is what I understand. The fears of the people in this small shop, both large and small, combined with those of the people on the street and then combined with those all over this city...I understand these things. I enjoy them." he told her.

"But I wanted you to understand that I desire you, Brooke Wyngarde, because I can be...intense, I'm told. It's intimidating to women not of the pantheon, I hear. But I also want you to know that it is sincere. You deal with men daily. I'm sure you understand that the 'desire' you sense from many of them is either to possess you for your name or simply to know you more intimately to put a...excuse my crudeness, but a notch in their bedpost." Alexander said, disgust evident in his tone.

Anyone who wanted Brooke simply for carnal pleasure utterly misunderstood what she was truly worth.

"You are beautiful in ways I cannot fully articulate. There is a darkness in you that matches mine and it entices me. I have never met a woman like you on Earth or outside of it. I want more than simple intimacy from you, Brooke." he said.

He didn't feel as though his point was getting across.

"Sometimes, I see visions of the future. On the day you and I met in the clothing boutique, I had one. You were the focus of it." he said quietly, looking away from her the first time.

His desire was still palpable but now she felt...hesitation? He was worried about driving her off, that his desire was too much for her.

She was silent for a long moment. She could tell that he meant every single word of what he had said, and though it wasn't too much for her, it was a lot. Far more than she was used to.

Perhaps far more than she felt worthy of?

"I worry," she said softly, shifting back a little as their coffee was served. "That perhaps you've placed me on a pedestal that I'm unworthy of?" For all of her extravagance, she was still a simple earth girl. Even she wasn't foolish enough to think that she could match up to a goddess.

Roxie Danvers notwithstanding.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm very attracted to you. I like you, a lot, and I'm anxious...no, that's not the right word. I'm curious? Maybe. Yes. I'm curious to see where this might go. But I'm terrified of not being able to live up to your expectations, and while that's not something I would generally admit, considering that I am a lot better than a lot of my peers, you're something else entirely." She paused. "Unlike me, I know, to ever self-doubt myself. But you're not just any guy. You're...you."

"A wise man recognizes a diamond before him." he said.

"You will not hear many of us, the gods, I mean, admit this but...humans are amazing creatures. Your lives are short but packed with energy, passion and meaning. You plot and plan but many of you move beyond the ordinary and become extraordinary." Alexander said.

"The blood of gods runs through me, yes, but...so does the blood of humanity. I have many wonderful talents but at the end of the day, I am me and I want someone driven and passionate to spend my time with. I could find any number of demure women who would gladly let me call all the shots and come at my beck and call." he said.

"You made me wait. No woman has ever done that. That made me want to know more about you." he said. "It made me want to know as much as I can about you. And most of all, I want to help you achieve your goals. I intend to be a king someday.

And every king needs a queen." he said, smiling at her.

Every king needs a queen. That phrase sent lava coursing through Brooke's veins, and she perked up ever so slightly. When he said "queen" he didn't mean the Hellfire Club.

He meant something more.

She shivered with pleasure for the briefest of moments. After all, most girls dreamt of being princesses when growing up. Brooke had always dreamed of being a queen.

"Maybe that's why humans burn out so quickly," she said. "Because we try to do so much in so little a time." She smiled and looked down at her coffee. "I'm not...other girls have their first sexual experiences in high school. They flounder in their twenties, trying to figure out what it is that they want out of life. I've never been that girl." Still a virgin, and filled with ambition, knowing exactly what she wanted out of life. That was Brooke, all the way.

"I am sorry about making you wait, though. I'm not playing games with you. But the one thing I won't allow my life to become is all about a man. Even when it's someone like you." She paused and sipped at her coffee for a moment, ruining the the carefully created heart design in the foam. "Which isn't to say that I won't make the time for you. Because I am very....you intrigue me. And scare me. And thrill me. But you can't become my sole raison d'etre."

Edited 2014-01-14 04:58 (UTC)

"I would never ask you or want you to make me your sole reason for being. That's...unhealthy, to put it nicely. I think we should enhance each other's lives, if anything. But I would like to be a part of your life and I can wait until you trust me further to do that." Alexander said.

He smiled.

"Brooke...your sexual ability isn't the foremost thing I'm interested in. Whatever history you have or don't have is fine with me...so long as my own history won't be a problem for you. I'm most interested in knowing what you want and how I can aid you in getting it...and how your mind works on the deepest level. I would call any relationship we have a success if I fulfilled both of those curiosities." he said.

"If your past - your history - was a problem for me, I wouldn't be here right now," Brooke said. "I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not the type to play games, because in some instances, I absolutely am, but I'm not doing that here, with you." She knew better than to outgame a godling, anyway. "There are a lot of things that I want. Power. Money. Love. Those are the first three that come to mind, though not necessarily in that order," she said. "Though, to be honest, I'm not doing too badly on the first two."

"Those three things are of great interest to me as well. I'm doing well on money. Personal power, I have, though I wouldn't mind obtaining some other power in this city if at all possible. That will come in time." he said.

"Love...is something new to me. I've never known it in my life. You're the first woman that's kept my attention for more than a few days. But I'd like to see where this goes because you and I are two of a kind, Brooke." Alexander said.

"Besides, I'd love for this city to know that you and I are an item. Imagine the gossip columns when we paint the town any color we choose."

Brooke grinned at that last statement. "I've always been partial to red, but there are other colours out there that suit me just as well," she said. "I'm keen on finding out where this could go, but you're aware of that now," she added. "Which is nice. It's nice to know where I stand, and where I stand is pretty nice."

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Picking Up Where We Left Off...(Brooke/Alexander)

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