poly_chromatic | ♦ ♦ 25TH CONTRACT

Entry tags:

darker than black - hei

♦ ♦ 25TH CONTRACT

... This is pathetic. How the hell am I supposed to go out like this? I can't even cross the street without getting strange looks. It's like I'm a frea - gjrjzarg

[ The device jolts into video-mode as it clatters to the floor -- facedown. There are sounds of scuffle offscreen. Glasses smashing. A man's startled yell -- aborted by a thud. Then: a female voice -- one of those smoky contralto registers. Any other time, it'd sound attractive. ]

[ Right now? It's just frigorific. ]

Back off. I'm armed. You're not. Consider this in detail.

[ Guess who got genderswapped while visiting the Underground? Ask Hei about his day. He dares you. ]

[ Options for Run-Ins: ]

[ Home: He'll be in the bathroom -- trying to settle to the new body. His hair falls in choppy hanks around his scowling face. There's a dark pile of snipped-off locks in the wastebin, and a box of bandaids overturned in the sink. He rubs at the steamy mirror with his palms, smearing the glass, breathing slowly around words even he doesn't immediately register as cursing. ]

[ Out and About: No plum-red lips. No hair-flips. No swivel-hips. He emerges from a clothing store in nondescript clothes -- baggy blue jeans, a plaid flannel shirt and a hooded-down parka in dull brown. Smaller boots rub at his heels and toes through ugly socks. Inspecting himself in a store window, he wrinkles up his nose and scowls. Ugh. ]

[ Move along, gentlemen. Nothing sweet or kittenish about this little number. There's an unwomanly directness in those eyes. Stay the hell away. ]

[ ooc: Replies will come from

two_zero_one. Please keep in mind that unless you've interacted with Hei -- not Li -- the grumpy lady will be hard to recognize. Replies will be sloooow, so backtags are a joy<3 ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She glances at him, trying to figure out how serious he is. (If he calls in sick, she's got plenty of other things she'd rather do with him.)]

Jinora will be worried. [It's not No so much as I'm open to suggestions.]

[ He's amazed how she almost sounds ... Hopeful? Receptive? It's so strange, this thing they've started up. He has to retreat mentally and re-examine every step; what builds a semblance of a foundation beneath their feet, and what cruel mistake could so easily send it crumbling. Neutral-faced, he rinses the dishes and stacks the dishwasher. Wiping his hands on a rag, he comes to a decision. Whatever's bubbling in the air right now is good. Even if it doesn't last beyond the next minute, he's not one to shy away from a risk. ]

[ Lightly, he nudges his shoulder with hers. This close, they're barely within an inch of height, ]

So call her and tell her you're fine.

[Her smile is small, surprised, and pleased.]

I'll have to borrow your device again.

[ He catches that surprise. His lips twitch at the corners in an almost-smile. ]

It's on the counter. [ A beat, before he reaches out and tugs at a strand of hair dangling at her ear. In this state of dishabille, she's the very cliche of Walk Of Shame. Idly, he thinks it's impossible Korra's friends haven't associated the girl's swollen mouth and tired eyes with the obvious by now. ]

[It's not the swollen lips that give her activities away -- it's the bite marks he leaves all over her neck and the bruises on her arms. She makes a face at the hair tug before sliding over to grab the device. It takes her a minute or two to send the message, and then immediately sets it aside.]

So what color would you like your nails?

[ Is he supposed to be sorry? Because he's not. There's a particular gleam in his eyes -- not suggestive so much as interested -- as he leans against the refrigerator, arms crossed. A rhombus of sunlight spills in through the window, but doesn't quite reach where he's standing. It makes the room, that smells of tea and fading pancakes, ridiculously warm. It's going to be another scorcher today. ]

Do you even know how to paint nails?

[ Not that Hei has any nail polish lying around to begin with. But Korra hardly seems the type to primp and preen. ]

How hard can it be?

[Yeah, she has no idea what she's talking about.]

[ Hei bites his upper-lip to determinedly stifle a snort. ]

The blind leading the blind. [ He steps forward, pausing at conversation-distance. His expression is perfectly innocent as he states, ] I could do your hair, though. [ His own is a lost cause. ]

[She eyes him suspiciously. He better not be thinking of cutting it.]

I should probably be the one doing yours.

[ What kind of butcher do you take him for? (Eleven-year-old Hei was one of those people who privately believed girls weren't girls unless they had long hair.) ]

Leave it alone. [ It'll be back to normal by midnight (Or so he hopes). Outside of sex, he's always found touches to his hair strangely invasive; he can never stomach the contact for more than a few moments. Even if he's expending a great deal of energy in trying not to view Korra as a constant threat, Hei is still all about boundaries -- which ones to break, which ones to solidify. ]

[ Calmly, ] I could make you ox-horns. Or just a chignon. I know how. [ But don't ask where he learnt to. ]

Ox-horns? Like ox-horns? [She holds her hands up to her forehead, miming horns.]

No. Not like that. [ There's a smile in his voice, more wry than playful. He gestures for her to come closer. ] I'll show you. [ This isn't the sort of nonsensical pattern he wanted to spend his day in. But Hei is slowly getting used to the idea that it's alright to indulge in a brief moment of whimsy, to have an activity mean either nothing or something and be okay with the frivolity of it. ]

You're a surprising guy. [She comes closer, grinning. She stops just a little bit away, close enough to touch, but not touching him (tempting as it is).]

[ Skills picked up while babysitting a little sister never go out of fashion. He doesn't say that. A gust of nostalgia blows through him for a second, sharp as a cramp. The bright sunshine is full in Korra's face. For a moment it'd be easy to let the scene blur in his mind, to juxtapose it with so many idle moments he'd shared with Pai. Korra's big blue eyes make it easy to buy into the illusion, though the dark-brown hair that falls around her face isn't stick-straight, but slightly wavy. ]

[ Brushing the comparison off, Hei reaches out. Carefully, he cards his hands through her hair, letting it slip through his fingers. Smoothes it into two sections, then plucks a pair of rubber-bands from the tray on the counter, pinning it up in heavy pigtails. These, in turn, he works into coiled ropes, piling them on either side of her head. The end result makes Korra look amusingly kittenish. ]

Done.

[There's a warm tingle where his fingers brush through her hair. She feels a little silly, having him play with her hair, but it's nice too. Her eyes flutter shut.

Her head feels strange when he's finished, and she reaches up gingerly to touch them.]

How do they look?

[ She's the one who keeps eyeing him like a life-sized doll. Hei is simply turning the tables -- or so he tells himself. Casually, he reaches up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. At her question, he guides her out to the hallway, where a large mirror hangs opposite the door -- convenient for checking one's look before going out, and making sure that callers aren't armed or vampires. ]

[ In the mirror, side-by-side, they make a literal duo of Yin and Yang. Compared to Korra's flashing attractions and warm complexion, Hei, with the darker hair and hooded eyes in his pale face, seems so much more somber. He wonders, for the first time, what he looks like to Korra -- both in this body, and his usual one. ]

Edited (I still can't spell :D) 2013-05-23 03:15 (UTC)

[Korra tilts her head as she looks at her reflection, then shakes it around a bit. It just feels so strange, having the familiar weight of her hair balanced in a new way.]

I feel kinda silly. [Though that might not be the hairstyle's fault. It's just such an odd contrast with her untied shirt and the bite marks and bruises covering her whole body. She glances at Hei, wondering if the curse erased all the marks she left on his body last night.]

[ The marks have faded. She ought to have noticed that when he took his shirt off. (Maybe she was distracted by the rack?) Hei's older scars have dissipated with them. This body is a fresh canvas. It's one more thing that makes him uneasy. By now, his cicatrices are part of the natural landscape -- blemishes so familiar they've ceased to be so. Without them, there's no escaping the surreal sense of being trapped in a stranger's skin. ]

[ He watches Korra fuss with her hairstyle -- near-felled again by a reminder of Pai: It looks so silly, to a gale of bubbly giggles. Idly, he straightens the collar of her rumpled shirt. ]

You look like a toddler, you mean. [ From neck-up, at least. Below, she looks like merchandise some guy pawed-over and discarded. What was the phrase Amber liked to use? A buttered bun. Or a bitten one, in this case. His gaze dips to follow the pads of his fingers as they trace the blotched skin of her neck. ]

[You don't always see what you're not looking for.]

The only toddler I know is bald. This is more an Ikki hairstyle. [She wonders how the little girl is doing. Yes, everybody says that when you leave the City, it's as though you never left, but it's hard not to feel sometimes like life there has to be going on without you.

His fingers on her neck -- so different from the ones she's used to -- draw a faint shiver out of her. She turns her head and leans into him. Slowly, giving him plenty of warning to back away. She doesn't know if he'd be interested, or if he's too uncomfortable in this temporary body for any kind of touch.]

Who's Ikki?

[ It's a passing curiosity. He doesn't particularly care. The names Korra drops are reminders, more than anything, of the dots that connect her life together. Friends, family, goals. A support system. While Hei grants she's no raving beauty in comparison to Amber, she has a bright charisma and a way of collecting people, in a way that's very different from Amber's mysterious allure. Not the sort of person who should be near Hei at all. ]

[ But here she is. He tries not to puzzle out the why's and why not's. Something prickles through him as she leans in, something that begins at the base of his spine and radiates up and down all through him. Hesitancy, that corresponds with an airy fluttering sensation. He's uncomfortable with this body, true. But shucking off that discomfort is both a working process and a work in progress. Ultimately, Hei is nothing if not adaptable. ]

[ He doesn't wait for her to close the space between them. A tilt of his head, and he leans in. It's a flutter of lips more than a real kiss. Experimental. Even so, Korra will register the differences -- the ticklish fall of hair, the same heights, the softer pillow of lips. Even his scent is different, a little muted, a little alkaline. Like sugary bread, almost. ]

[She'd answer, but her lips are busy. She pushes in just a little closer, not pressing but... exploring. Chaste and curious, mapping out all the differences. In many ways, it's like kissing someone else entirely, and the question isn't what makes this kiss different, but how it's still so recognizably Hei.]

[ Just a chaste kiss. ]

[ But Hei feels his pulse answer with an inner-kick. Familiar, even if the rest of the reactions aren't. There's no hot immediacy of Want Take Have -- or if there is, it's softened in pitch. Subdued. He's not sure if it's a quality exclusive to this body, or all in his head. Still, he likes it. Likes the brush of sweetness, Korra's bottom lip fitted against his, like they're sharing heat and breath. After a moment, the caution fades. He finds that same electric-charge, that drive -- slipping his tongue into Korra's mouth. Concentrating not on what isn't there, but what is, the press of his hand warm and smooth against the side of her neck. ]

[He's so squishy. That's one of the nice things about kissing girls... Well, girl bodies. She hums and sucks on his tongue while her hands settle on his hips. (Hips... Another thing she likes. Just curvy enough to give her a real handle on him.)]

[ That's another thing he's trying to get accustomed to. The soft padding over the cut of bones, the shadowy dips and curves pressing out at strange angles. But underneath he still has all his muscle tone -- the body is a sonsy version of his usual physique, long-limbed and sinewy. Outdoors, fighting in the Underground, he'd moved as if his strength was never in doubt. ]

[ His lips are moist and pliant on Korra's. There's a low sound that drifts from his throat, pleased, almost purring, as she draws his tongue in, her hands descending on his hips. It's all strange-familiar sensation and new-old territory. But Hei doesn't play anything by ear -- already, he's sketching out bits and pieces of the afternoon ahead. Explorations. Experiments. A series of tests to be run, a course to be chartered. Almost like riding a different model of bike on a deviating route -- seized by a particular antsy mix of anticipation and uncertainty. ]

[ Eventually, on a slow inhale, he draws away. Framing her face in both hands, he lets his fingers card through her hair, half-lidded eyes on hers, ]

You want a bath? [ Bath, not Shower. Good way to get Korra clean, to get the mild grunge from outdoors off his own skin -- and to offer themselves an arena for any further games. ]

[Her breath is already a little shaky, and her fingers grip him like she's afraid he'll pull more than just his lips away. Strands of hair fall out of the buns as he cups her face.

She smiles at him -- for once not looking up. (She likes that too.)]

Yeah, I could use one.

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