nextgenerationmarvel | It is a date!

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It is a date!

It was silly, she knew, but Brooke was nervous. She was seeing Alexander after what seemed to be far too long, but was in actuality only a few weeks. A few weeks during which much had happened. Nothing terribly significant - apart from the wedding of her best friend - but many things, nonetheless.

Brooke stepped out of her Town Car in front of The House and requested the driver to grab a meal for himself. After all, a hungry driver was a bad driver, and it wasn’t as though Brooke was going to be out of the restaurant in fifteen minutes. She checked herself one last time in the mirror of her compact, snapped it shut, and slid it into her clutch. She’d opted for a dress that was less ladylike than her usual style tonight; a body skimming red dress that was equal parts sexy and demure, without looking as though it belonged in Alexander’s sister’s closet.

She exhaled softly through her nose and nodded. She was always nervous before seeing Alexander. Always. There was no good reason for it (except for where he was a demigod and he had that absolutely piercing gaze). She breathed in deeply and reached out with her powers. There, across the way, was someone waiting, calmly, for their check. Brooke pulled on that and used it to calm her nerves, even was the person whose emotions she was pulling from started to get a little agitated.

That was okay. That wasn’t her problem.

Putting on her warmest smile - she had long since learned that being rude to the help wasn’t always in her favor - she walked up to the hostess and asked for the table reserved under her name.

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The hostess was about to respond to Brooke when her mouth stopped working and her eyes went wide. Brooke felt a sudden surge of desire from her and several of the women standing nearby.

"Hello...Kim?" Alexander said, using the hostess' name. "I'm with this ravishing vision of a woman. I just wanted to make sure you didn't seat her before I had the chance to get her chair."

Alexander Aaron wore a jet black business suit with a light blue shirt the same shade of blue as his eyes. If Brooke turned around, she would find Alexander giving her the piercing gaze she knew him for. He'd missed her in the short time they'd been apart. Being near her felt like a part of him was restored, like being whole.

His mother told him about that feeling once, the same one she had when speaking of his father.

Kim finally remembered how to speak and led them to their table. Alexander pulled out Brooke's chair and waited for her to sit before taking his own. The surge of desire surrounding Brooke became jealousy as the other women went back to their dinners with men who weren't Alexander.

But one surge of desire in the room burned hotter now than it did moments ago. That desire radiated from Alexander Aaron.

It was aimed at her.

"How have you been, my dear?" he asked, taking her hand and kissing it.

Edited 2014-06-19 02:18 (UTC)

The hostess' expression was Brooke's first clue as to who might be behind her. Already, she could feel heat - heat! - coursing through her body. Unconsciously, Brooke reached up and brushed back a dark, curly lock of hair. Her raspberry lips parted in a smile. Brooke wasn't sure what kind of smile. Excited? Shy? Coy? Another little thrill shot through her, and she hated herself for it.

She was usually in so much more control than this!

And then he kissed her hand.

God help me. Gods help me. Except for you, Aphrodite. I'm not ready for...well...no. Maybe? No.

And there was all of that desire being flung around everywhere.

As soon as her glass of water had been filled, Brooke gulped it down, causing the waiter to quickly pour her another one.

"Umm. Guh."

That was about all she could manage for the moment.

No. She could do better than that. She was Brooke Aurelia Wyngarde. Sure, he was a god, but Brooke was Upper East Side royalty.

"That means I've been great in lust-speak."

...had she really just said the words lust-speak out loud?

Alexander watched her gulp down her water with mild amusement expressed by a small smirk. He thought he'd misheard her first words but he realized he was flustering her.

He liked this game.

"I didn't know you spoke lust-speak. I'm very fluent in the language and I'd love to trade some of the more detailed phrases in the future. When you're ready, of course." Alexander said.

His eyes raked over her form from head to toe.

He lifted his glass to his perfect lips and took a sip of his water but he didn't take his eyes off broke.

"I'm glad you've been well, my muse. You still owe me the opportunity to sketch you. I'd prefer to do it while you slept but...you are not yet ready for that." he said.

"I've done well, too. My business is showing a profit and the design industry is fun. More than I ever had on Olympus." he said.

"Tell me about the wedding. Is it true that every woman plans her wedding at five years old? Have you planned yours?"

When you're ready, of course. The way Brooke was feeling, it was a distinct possibility that she'd be ready before the entrees were served.

Her memory always dulled how incredibly alluring Alexander was in person. She reached out with her powers, searching, searching for...ah! A business executive, some feet away. All steely tough and collected. Brooke reached out, leeched just a little bit of that composure, and demurely took a sip of her water.

"I slip into it by accident every once in awhile, but it's still a language I'm working on learning. Although, if you'd like to tutor me sometime..." she laughed. "I'm glad the business is doing well, though. It's well-deserved. I'm sure life down here offers you more variety than life on Olympus does." She paused, then, tilting her head and studying him.

As non-sexually as possible.

"I'm sure you miss it, though."

At that last question, she took another sip of water, thankful that they weren't suffering through a drought. "Cafe St. Bart's," Brooke said. "At St. Bartholomew's Church? It's this beautiful space, with a terrace overlooking all of Park Avenue." Of course Brooke would want something overlooking Park Avenue. "Traditional white, of course, but couture. White and peach rose petals and gold leaf floating in flutes of pink champagne. Bouquets of anemone, sandersonias, gomphrenas, and muscari everywhere. A live band." She opened her mouth to say more, but stopped, and flushed. "Your sister and I...we spent much of our childhood discussing what our weddings would be like. Her ideas were a little more off the beaten path than mine are."

Alexander smiled warmly at Brooke.

"I'd be happy to tutor you, Brooke. You need only ask. We'll start very slowly and work out way up to the more intense phrases." he said as easily as if she'd asked for the time.

Her comment on Olympus caught him off-guard for a moment. He missed Olympus, yes, but he wouldn't beg his grandfather to let him come home. Zeus would learn the error of his ways.

"I do miss it but not the way I used to. I've found reasons to stay on Earth and enjoy myself. I think your wedding plan sound utterly attainable. Roxanne used to tell me about her dream wedding when we were kids. I never really thought about marriage, honestly. It seemed very abstract to me. My mother and father never married though I'm sure she wanted to. I didn't understand that marriage was a thing until I turned fourteen." he said.

He paused.

"But I'm certain some lucky man will give his eye teeth give you the perfect wedding someday." Alex said genuinely.

She just grinned at him and shook her head. Okay, this word play thing was fun. It was nice when you weren't necessarily using your words to bring someone down, and you had someone to play along.

"Some lucky man?" she asked, suddenly feeling very straightforward with herself. "Or a certain lucky man?"

Sure, Brooke. Bypass everything and go straight to that part of the conversation.

It was Alexander's turn to study Brooke intently. Her smile captured his attention like nothing else. He felt like he could watch her all day just to see if he could determine what she was thinking.

"A certain lucky man. A man who didn't understand the purpose of marriage but now does. The man who marries Brooke Wyngarde should be in love with her. But not just tongue-tied, butterflies-in-the-stomach in love. No, that is easy. That cools after a time.

The way this man should love Brooke Wyngarde is much different. It should be a million tiny sparks that erupt into an inferno that consumes him. You should know this love because you sense his desire not just when you are in the same room but from wherever you stand on this planet. And he shouldn't just desire you, my Muse. He should /hunger/ for you." Alexander said.

That piercing gaze settled upon her once again and desire flowed from him but beneath that Brooke would feel a hunger that absolutely nothing to do with the scents of the delicious food around them.

"That is the man who should marry you, Brooke, and give you the wedding you dream of."

She needed a bucket of ice.

She needed a bucket of ice dumped over her.

Or she needed a swimming pool filled with ice that she could just dive into.

"I didn't realize you felt so...intensely...about me."

Alexander felt naked. Physical nudity wasn't a problem for him. His body was excellent and he enjoyed it as much as his lovers had.

"I do feel strongly for you...and it scares me."

Emotional nudity was new for him and he fought every urge he had to squirm as she looked at him. He'd never admitted to such strong feelings for anyone before.

"I didn't know how strongly I felt until recently. One day, it occurred to me that you attend a school with people who are like you. People who understand you in ways that I cannot. I have always been a son of Olympus and I knew I would grow into my power. My world was explained to me from the time I was small." Alexander said.

"You learned about your powers the hard way. So did all of the people you know. And when I thought of it...there are probably a thousand boys at that school who know that feeling. I'd be a fool to expect that none of them ever caught your eye or that I'm the first person to feel like this for you. But when I thought about someone else kissing you or holding your hand...or simply earning that enigmatic smile of yours..." Alexander paused, looking for the right words to explain those feelings.

"It hurts. And I would fight for you if it came to it. Physically, emotionally...whichever way I needed to. You're my muse. You're the leading lady in my dreams and, maybe someday, my dark priestess.

You had me at 'What does she like?'" Alexander said, repeating the first words Brooke ever said to him.

"It scares me, too," Brooke confessed. "Not your feelings for me, I mean. Mine for you." She looked up from her lap into those piercing eyes of his. "But there's no one else but you, Alexander." And not just because the stock at Xavier's was bad to choose from (even though it was.) The only person there that could even be considered slightly eligible was Franklin Richards, and he did nothing for Brooke. Sure, he was good to look at, but even then, he paled in comparison to Alexander.

It was funny, she thought. Out of all of the romantic cliches, this was one of the big ones. Falling for her (ex)best friend's older brother. Who did that anymore, outside of bad romantic comedies and even worse written web erotica?

I do, apparently.

Conscious of his gaze upon her - she could swear that she felt heat wherever his eyes landed on her - she reached up and fiddled with one of the simple gold earrings she'd worn. It was a nervous tic, one which hadn't come out much since Brooke had come into her power and wielded it with some measure of aplomb at Woodbridge-Robillard.

"All this heavy talk," she then said, giving him one of those alluring, enigmatic smiles. "And we haven't even decided if we're ordering wine or cocktails yet."

Alexander smiled as Brooke talked about her feelings for him. He felt her trepidation and talking about them; it mirrored his own. He'd never felt like this before. He wondered what Roxanne would say about his dating Brooke. They'd never talked about it.

"I think if we started drinking, we'd either be talking about more than feelings or discussing your wedding as a when and not an if." Alexander said.

"But I'm curious about what kind of drinker you are." he grinned.

Brooke stiffened just a little. She liked the idea of it being a when very much, but she and Alexander were still getting to know each other.

"Lightweight," she said, honestly. "I like my sparkling wines and champagnes, but I try not to ever get too drunk. It's hardly ladylike." Brooke was one of those people who, if the secret language of handheld fans was still something being used, she'd be entirely fluent in it.

"I have an unfair advantage. Earth liquor might as well be water for all it does to me. Olympian ale, however...a shot of it would feel as though you'd drank your way through most of a bar. A full glass would have me incoherent. I've heard it gives human men courage they wouldn't have otherwise." Alexander smiled.

"I'll make sure to walk you home if you've had too much." he said.

"Has anything new and interesting happened at the school?"

"We should probably never import it here to New York then," Brooke grinned. "I can't see it doing good things to the city when sports season starts." Whenever that was. Brooke didn't really pay attention to sports. She had, you know, a life.

"Ever the gentleman, I see." She reached up, pushed back a lock of her hair, and gently shrugged. "Rachel has me working on this one mutant - he turns into four different turtles with completely different personalities. We're trying to help him be more in tune with himself, and come out of his...shell." She actually physically cringed at that inescapable pun. "It's interesting work. I somewhat enjoy it, but it's frustrating. I feel as though I can't really make any headway." She paused. "And I'm forbidden from using my powers."

"Sports season does see an increase in drinking. My roommate, Roxanne's boyfriend, has all of the sports memorized. He's watching soccer now. I admit that I don't know much about that one but it looks interesting." Alexander said.

"He becomes four different /turtles/? It sounds like his mind is fragmented if he has so many facets. Like broken glass. Usually a trauma or fear of some kind is responsible for that kind of issue. Those facets sound like ways to cope with said issue. I am not a professional and I could be wrong, though.

But you are helping this person through his issue and that is kind of you." he said.

"Perhaps you're making headway through the work. There must be some manner of similarity between them, something that connects all of them to their...is he their host?" he asked.

"There's a ball, you score a goal. Some of them have nice arms and legs, but I've always needed more than that in a man," Brooke smiled. "He does. It's one host body, but I haven't met the boy behind the turtles yet. I have one more turtle to meet and then, perhaps after that, I'll be able to find a way to the boy." Though Brooke's reputation at the Institute probably wasn't helping endear her to Pete.

"It'd be easier if I could emotionally manipulate him, but that seems to be frowned upon."

"Emotional manipulation /would/ make it easier but you don't strike me as the kind of woman who does easy. You know how to work." Alexander said.

"Do you know anyone who knows the boy? You cannot use your powers to emotionally manipulate him but...if he has friends who have a connection, he might come out at their behest." Alexander suggested.

"Shockingly, no. He seems to have kept mostly to himself. Though I hear that the boy did show himself when I was away at Stephanie's wedding." She shook her head. "It's like he knew it was his only chance before he had to run and hide all over again." But she'd get him. Eventually.

"But enough about me. Life at the Institute is generally about as exciting as the small, personal dramas of a Jane Austen novel. I want to hear about your life." And become a bigger part of it as well, but she didn't say that part out loud.

"My life has been full of lots of meetings with investors who want to AA Designs global. I'm still navigating the business-side of how things work. I like making the clothing and bringing my ideas to life. I'm not a fan of management." Alexander said.

"I'm thinking of getting an assistant or someone to run the actual business but I don't have many connections here. I really don't even know who to ask about something like that." Alexander said.

"I simply know that I want to keep working for myself and make obscene amounts of money doing it. That way I can keep my time free to design, sketch my girlfriend and take inspiration from my muse." Alexander said.

He smiled at Brooke.

"Even if I can't sketch you in the nude as I'd like, I have sketched you from memory on several occasions. I'll show them to you soon."

"Funny," Brooke said. "I love bossing people around." Not that she wanted to run a business quite yet - and she certainly didn't want to mix business with her love life - but one day, Brooke was certain she'd have some sort of company of her own.

"Don't go to the Hellfire Club," Brooke said. Ironic, that the woman who wanted to be queen of the Hellfire Club would say that, but there it was. "Too many internal politics right now, and besides, they might try to screw you over some way." Though it was filled with lots and lots of investory types. "Have you considered attempting to contact Jan van Dyne? She's the most prolific superhero designer there is - she might be able to help steer you in the right direction."

Brooke smiled down, then, a furious flush creeping across her pale cheeks. He could sketch her in the nude right this second if he wanted to. Her flush deepened. "I..." God, why did he make her feel the things she felt? Desire radiated from her like a red hot corona, causing two staff members behind her to drop their trays and fall into each other's arms. "I'd love to see the sketches."

"You are always so in control of yourself, Brooke. I imagine that you're always on top no matter what you undertake." Alexander said.

Alexander hadn't heard much about the Hellfire Club but what he did hear painted it as an old boys' club for men and women.

"I do not know much about the Hellfire Club. I know of Miss Van Dyne only by reputation but perhaps I can reach out. Do you know her well enough to introduce us?" he asked.

When her skin flushed, Alexander felt a heat that had nothing to do with the temperature in the room. The staff members who were all over each other looked ready to give everyone in attendance a show they'd not soon forget.

"After we eat, then?" he suggested. "We'll return to my place and I'll show you as many sketches as you'd like. Perhaps we can even get in a tutoring session in that language you're fond of." he said, his tone light and easy as though they were, in fact, talking about sports.

He took another sip of his drink and perused the menu.

"If the staff can tear themselves away from each other long enough, I think I know what I'll have."

Imagine you're always on top... Brooke's flush deepened. Her mind went to some very naughty places, indeed! "Roxie has an in with her," Brooke replied. Roxie had an in with almost everyone fashion-related in the city. Brooke may have had a lot of buying power, but it was Roxie whom the designers loved. Brooke was a socialite, yes, but Roxie was an It Girl. In some circles, that gave the Avenger more power.

"I'd like that," she said, then. "Going to...your place. Afterwards." Getting ideas, Brooke?

She turned back and looked at the two staff members. It was her fault, this situation, but she couldn't help but feel disgust - disgust which she directed at them, causing them to split apart immediately. "If you're quite finished, my..." friend? lover? boyfriend? "...we're ready to order." Because damn those Day Boat Sea Scallops looked really good.

"I should have thought to ask Roxanne. I'll ask her when I see her next." Alexander said.

He wanted lobster. He'd been craving lobster, a good scotch and Brooke for a few weeks and not necessarily in that order. He watched the two staff members move away from each other and smiled.

"I like watching you wield your power."

"You should," Brooke agreed. "We may not always get along, but I'm well aware of her strengths when it comes to the fashion world." After all, Carol Danvers was the owner and publisher of a family of magazines, including Woman and Young Woman. She had the sort of clout that Brooke couldn't hope to have.

"Then you should have known me a few years ago. I practically abused it back in high school."

After all, that was part of why Brooke and Roxie's friendship had soured way back when.

"I'm guessing that was before you learned how to use your tongue to get your way rather than rely on your powers, right?" he asked.

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