Remnants of the Earth
SPACE STATIONS => The Cancer => Topic started by: Daglobster on October 04, 2019, 09:14:50 pm
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Kayse flicked his cigarette away from himself, watching intently as it sailed across the coffee table and missed his ashtray by a few inches. "Spit!" he yelled, and scrambled up off his couch to grab it before it lit up his synthfiber rug. He blew some of his messy long hair out of his eyes and glanced around the room.
It'd been an absolute bender of a weekend and it showed on his apartment. The period after the payment for a job well done was always spent partying it up but the past couple of days had been particularly wild. His apartment looked like he'd hosted a couple get togethers and one full on party. Empty and open bottles sat on the counter and table, the ashtray was full of cigarette butts and roach ends , and the whole place smelled like the inbred child of a cigar lounge and a dive bar. The flatvid screen on his wall was playing a documentary Kayse had tuned into halfway through, something about an exploration of galactic sea life
But it was home. Kayse dusted some crumbs off his grey sweatpants and tucked his hair properly behind his long, pointed ears. He took another drag before dropping it in the ashtray. He'd only been awake for an hour or so but it was already two in the afternoon, according to the holographic clock in his small kitchen. He yawned, and with a flick of his cybernetic fingers the program paused and the flatvid screen started playing slow and rezzy synthetic music instead.
"Today Kayse, we're taking it easy," he said, and he nodded almost to affirm himself before walking over to his fridge and peering inside. As he pondered what he wanted to drink a soft chime came from his arm and he looked at his palm. The text message from "Marid" projected out from his palm and he pointed it to his fridge door so he could read it as he drank his nutrisoy.
"Hey there! Sorry to drop this on you so late but I can't make it tonight. And I'm busy all weekend. So next week maybe? I know you already bought the entrance passes but I'll make it up to you. We can go to Freet's, maybe? ;)"
It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Of course, the one day he was wiped out and resolved to not do anything was the day he forgot he was going to a wicked new simrave called "Avalonia". Of course, then he found out his date cancelled, and of course he'd bought entrance in advance, which, of course...
meant that he was shit out of luck, a date, and had pissed away a quarter of his payout on a club opening he suddenly wasn't all that keen on going. Well, at least it was in the Sensenet, so it's not like he had to drive anywhere. Or change.
He looked down at his arm, pulling up the information into his cyber-eyes with a thought. He flicked through the ticket info and saw that the opening was for eight. He smiled.
"Well, I got some time..."
Kayse loaded up his usual programs as he drifted through the transition into the Sensenet space. Avalonia was on a richer section's grid. Fortunately for Kayse, he could hop grids like a frog. He was going as himself tonight, no Chillmute shenanigans, and so he made sure that the trace blockers and ID walls were booted up and running. Back in the real world, a freshly showered Kayse was lying in bed, on top of the covers. His cybernetic arm glowed and hummed beneath the surface. Since it acted as his phone and interface point with the world, it was also his Sensenet rig.
That, combined with the hacking computer installed in his brain, meant that Kayse could slip into the Sensenet almost as naturally as going to sleep.
Back in the virtual world, the host was finally loading up. He'd made it through the last layer of grid security and found himself suddenly stepping through the haze of data and finding his foot on stone.
Looking around, he was in quaint, renaissance-period surroundings. At the center of the virtual space a gigantic victorian style skyscraper cast its shadow over all surroundings. "AVALONIA" blazed in magical letters above the tower's peak. It was a solid sixty floors of thrumming bass and flashing lights, promising all kinds of diversions with a masquerade theme.
The advertisements Kayse had seen advertised thriving raves and ultraluxury dance halls, all contained in a massive virtual skyscraper. The "town" surrounding the giant pleasure tower was made up of smaller virtual businesses. More down-to-earth simbars, rapier dueling circles, and other period stores (For both real & virtual things) and diversions.
Kayse took in the scene a little as he walked up to the tower's gate. Security programs mocked as knights and renaissance musketeers kept virtual comers feeling secure and behaved and added to the atmosphere, and they were also checking virtual IDs and tickets at the door.
He checked his tickets. Two VIPs, all-access including the "Catherine Room" and all the free simulation booze him and one other person could drink, complete with any-time virtual ordering.
Neat.
Knowing he could get wasted as freely as he wanted and wake up in bed after, he started searching the crowd of infinitely varied virtual avatars to see if there was any person who looked like they could use a scalped ticket. Might as well make a few hundred credits on the way in, right?
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Alright. Sensenet.
This was doable, right?
Pink glowered at the small machine she had just finished unpacking from its discrete little black box, biting her lip. She felt kinda bad about this--okay, more than kinda bad. She was pretty sure if any of her friends or family figured out what she was doing, the disappointment and shame would have been a worse punishment than...well. Whatever would happen when they turned her in.
But... She had to do this, didn't she? Teinar needed to grow--maybe not physically, but the isolation just wasn't good for them. Trade with surfacers was always difficult, they just didn't have anything down here to entice people, convince them they were worth the effort.
Nothing except the racing.
Which was where this whole stupid plan came in. God she hoped this was going to work.
Pink liked to believe that she didn't allow a little bit of extra income to really go to her head; her bike shop was a modest affair, and she still lived in the small studio apartment above it, though even before her parents had retired she certainly could have moved to a bigger place. She tried to be thrifty with her money, sending most of it to her parents' retirement facility, but she would admit to a few "extravagances" here and there--mostly upgrades to her favorite racing bike.
But the small rig sitting in the middle of her bed was probably the most expensive thing she'd purchased in...well, in ever. Black market, so that wasn't exactly unexpected, but she knew if this little scheme of hers bombed she'd be digging herself out of this debt for the rest of her life. And that was if no one decided to just revoke her engineering license for possession of illegal goods.
Letting out a sharp breath, Pink furrowed her brow and looked down at the small earpiece sitting in her palm. She turned it over a few times, then huffed again and slipped it on--it fit almost too easily, it was a little disconcerting. Biting her lip, she settled herself on the bed, back propped up against the pillows, and reached over to press her thumb onto the small pad on the side of the sleek, silver datapad that lay next to her.
The screen blinked to life, strings of numbers running down in rows, and she clenched her eyes shut as the earpiece clicked, whirred, and then sparked once, sharply, sending a jolt through her whole body. Oh gods, was this working?
No outside network could reach Teinar--at least, not legally. And black market Sensenet rigs weren't exactly the most reliable pieces of technology.
She really hoped this wasn't going to fry her brain.
When Pink opened her eyes again, her surroundings were entirely unfamiliar. She gaped openly at the cobblestones and renaissance-era buildings, winding avenues, and--oh dear gods, the sky.
Okay. If that was what it actually looked like...maybe this would be worth frying her brain.
Looking around, Pink tried to gather herself, makes some sense of the chaos around her. Alright, her contact had said she should be meeting someone called Reese--which she figured was a moniker rather than an actual surname--at a place called Avalonia, some sort of club.
Right. Okay. So she just had to find Avalonia. She was supposed to have been sent to the right server, and her avatar was...well, just her, really. Colors a little brighter, leather jacket a little sleeker, but she didn't see much else different. Her contact was supposed to know what to look like, so this shouldn't be too difficult.
Right?
Taking a breath, Pink straightened her shoulders and lifted her head slightly, starting off down the street toward the sound of music and the vague flash of lights. She figured that had to be the right direction.
She turned out to be right, but when she caught sight of the building she rather wished she wasn't. "Holy shit..."
Oh, she was so not cut out for this. Why were there freaking knights at the gate?!
The moment she stepped out of her little side street she was immediately jostled along by the crowd. She had maybe half a second to consider just bailing, zipping off Sensenet and tossing the rig out the window, never to return, before she was suddenly almost at the gate to the club and, well, then there was really no going back.
"Tickets?"
She blanched. No one had said anything about tickets. That seemed like kind of important information!
"Umm..." She looked around, trying desperately to think of something to say, anything. Maybe she could talk her way in? Were these guards even real, or where they just strands of code? Did it make a difference?
Fuck.
-
Bright colors weren't exactly uncommon in the Sensenet. It was easy to make something vibrant when all you had to do was access the object's properties and fiddle with the hues and saturation. And when it wasn't on the buildings, guard programs, or products the colors could be found in the people. As Kayse stood there, leaned inconspicuously against a wall, he took in the scene in all its splendor.
It went without saying that Sensenet avatars ran the full range of whatever people felt like they could get away with under the anonymity of a wireless connection, although quite a few seemed to have bought some virtual merchandise on the way in. In no particular order there was a purple werewolf wearing a vibrantly plumed musketeer hat, a robot & a guy with blue skin batting at each other with period weapons, and other fine examples of the Sensenet community, alongside folks who had much more mundane avatars.
A brief glance over the active data connections in the region showed that most everybody here was from Cancer. You also had the usual connections from Aedolis and Libra, and hey, even a few Edanis made it to the party. And there was also...
One single connection from Teinar?
Damn. Must have been some pretty hot bootleg rigging going on there to get a connection from a mile underground. Out of pure curiosity (and before he could stop himself) he narrowed in on the data stream to see if he could get more info. Single-access rig, running underneath and alongside Teinar's private network, using... an earpiece?! That tech is vintage, for sure. When he saw he could get audio, he double-checked his stealth programs and patched himself in.
He heard a young woman struggling to procure tickets (By the sound of it she didn't even have any!) and he pushed off the wall. Snowflakes billowed behind him as he made his way over. It didn't look like anybody here came without a ticket anyways, and why not help out the first and only Teinari he'd ever seen using the Sensenet?
The guard gave Pink a blank look. Not much of his face could be seen under the helmet but his digital nature was fairly obvious when her "Um" had only really caused a few seconds of silence before he promptly replied.
"Opening night is entrance by ticket only. Avalonia is an exclusive, all-senses covered club experience for the disc-"
"Oh, hey! There you are!" Said Kayse, suddenly coming in from the side, bumping Pink's shoulder as he lifted his cybernetic arm up to the guard. Like Pink, Kayse was using himself as his Sensenet avatar (although definitely not for the same reason). He was wearing his favorite outfit out tonight, and his VR-ized self had ice-colored eyes instead of his normal green and snow-white hair where he normally had dirty blonde.
"I've been looking for you all over! She's with me. Two VIPs, please!"
Two virtual tickets flashed out of his arm and into the guard's hand, and the knight leaned his halberd out of the way and Avalonia's doors opened to grant them entry. The very first floor was a party all by itself. The music boomed, magical laser lights and enchanted smoke set the scene, and the place itself looked like a ballroom crossed with a sleek club. This room by itself must've taken up at least six floors, and amongst the scattered dance floors all kinds of shapes and people moved to the thrum of the bass.
Kayse motioned for Pink to follow as he stepped into the room. His face lit up considerably as he gazed around, and he could only wonder what the rest of the tower held in store, and she was seemingly almost forgotten as he looked around.
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Okay, what?
Pink had to resist the urge to skitter sideways as one of the fantastical party-goers jostled into her, and at first she thought he was just trying to get passed her into the club--but then his words actually registered and her jaw dropped open as she stared up at the man in mute surprise for a few moments.
"O-oh! Right, ah...thanks?" She didn't have time to say anything else before they were waved through the gate and into Avalonia.
She had to stop again barely one step in the door, staring around the massive room, utterly overwhelmed. She'd thought she could handle pretty much anything Sensenet could throw at her--she'd been motoracing since she was fourteen after all, how much more intense could a reality that wasn't even real actually be?
Quite a lot, apparently.
It took her a few moments to realize her ticket in had started to wander off once they were through the door. She blinked, then seemed to snap back to herself and trotted after him, reaching for his arm. "Hey! Um, thanks, for, y'know...back there. Are--are you Reese?"
That would make sense, right? She had no idea what her contact actually looked like, but he was supposed to be able to recognize her. Shuffling her feet, Pink straightened her shoulders out and tried to stretch to her full height, pale eyes catching and reflecting the light of the lasers for a moment. She tried to look at professional as she could manage...which wasn't exactly the easiest thing, considering her avatar was wearing her regular racing gear of soft leather pants, slightly ragged t-shirt, and jacket.
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[Song I listened to making the intro post, btw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rq8PjgNI3c]
Fortunately for Pink, the Sensenet didn't have any dress codes, so she definitely fit right in when it came to the looks department. She wasn't completely forgotten by Kayse either, but he wanted to take in the sight, the bustle of avatars and service programs, the wild variety of shapes twisting and bumping on the dance floor.
Pink thanked him, grasping at his arm, and he turned back to get a proper look at her, now that the quick moment of entry had passed. She certainly had a unique look to her, but in the Sensenet he couldn't tell what was avatar and what was actually her until he cracked her ID locks and well...
...that just seemed rude.
The pink of her eyes was a really nice touch, though, and he turned back to fully face her, looking confident until she asked if he was Reese.
"Who the hell is Reese?" Kayse asked, even as he gave her attire a once-over as he looked down at her. A racing fan, definitely.
"Name's Kayse," he started.
He offered her his hand to shake, and a friendly smile. Now that they were talking, he could see that she had a "deer-in-headlights" kind of look and he didn't want to overwhelm the poor girl.
"You new around here?"
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[Nice!]
"Oh."
She quickly dropped her hand from his arm and stepped back awkwardly. "Er, sorry, I just...I was supposed to meet someone here." She managed to return his smile easily enough--just because he wasn't her contact didn't mean he hadn't helped her, and she was grateful for that--and she took his hand to shake.
Her palms and fingertips were rough, calloused, and her avatar even had a few grease stains streaked over the back of one hand and around the cuffs of her jacket, which she hadn't noticed before. Damn, that guy who'd sold her the rig had really been paying attention to the little details.
Chuckling a little self-deprecatingly, she nodded in response to his question and shrugged. "Yeah, is it that obvious?" She dropped his hand and glanced around again, trying to figure out where she was supposed to actually meet this Reese person without seeming rude. "I'm, uh... I know most people here are from Cancer, right? I'm...not. I'm definitely from out of town. Name’s Pink.”
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The calloused hands and small grease stain caught his eye. It was a curious thing, to see imperfections in the Sensenet. Why have blemishes or creases in your clothes when you can just program everything to be perfect? Whether intentional or not, it gained her a decent bit of Kayse’s respect. He himself had scuffs on his boots and creases on his pants. Instead of looking like he came straight from a fashion ad like most Netgoers instead, well...
He looked like a real person. So it got him to wondering if she really did just look like that, and if so, she was pretty easy on the eyes. If only she didn’t say she was here for someone else, he woulda asked her to be his date for tonight.
“Out of town, huh? Well you’re not the only one. Folks plug in from all over,” he said, and he leaned back against a railing that overlooked the main dance floor. He gestured backwards with a thumb and gave her a smile.
“Can I get you a drink?” He asked, giving her a slight raise of his eyebrows.
“I’m sure whoever’s waiting for you can wait a little longer,” he added.
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“Yeah, I guess they would...” Pink’s eyes moved over the crowd, wide and almost childlike in their curiosity. Now that she was adjusting a bit, she could allow herself to really just be swept up in the sheer magnitude of the place—and its patrons.
She’d never seen so many colors. Was that a frickin’ purple werewolf?!
She gave herself a little shake and looked back to him, eyebrows creeping up fractionally at the offer. “Oh, well...”
A drink sounded really nice, actually. And hey, it was a VR—it’s not like she had to worry about him trying to pull something, really, so she could actually afford to take a bit of a risk with a stranger and still wake up in the safety of her bed.
...She was starting to understand how people could like this sort of thing.
“That sounds great. Thanks.” She smiled and nodded gratefully. “Honestly, I’ve never met this guy before, but he’s supposed to be able to find me, so...well, I guess he can just find me.” Fuck it, it wasn’t like she’d been given specific instructions or anything. And this Kayse guy was pretty cute, or at least the avatar was. There were worse ways to kill some time.
A thought occurred to her and she cocked her head to the side slightly. “So, how come you had an extra ticket, anyway? Just waiting to gallantly rescue the first cute bird you saw struggling at the gate and offer her drinks?” Her tone was wry, but the slight glint to her eyes and minute quirk to the corner of her lips belied a playfulness begins the words.
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Kayse chuckled and snapped his fingers.
“Exactly. And hey, drinks are included on the VIP pass too, if you can dig that,” he said, and motioned for her to come along. Unlike Pink, Kayse was at home in the Sensenet. It was as real as real could get without being reality and the rebel in him relished the nonconformity of it all.
He stepped down the marbled stairs down to the center of the ballroom, skimming alongside the dance floor as he sought out the place’s bar. It had a three just in this chamber alone but Kayse opted for the closest one. The bar and club was manned by programs mocked up as chamberlains, butlers, and valets. He promptly set himself down on a cushioned stool and motioned to the one next to him.
“Well, it wasn’t my intent to come here and rescue a pretty lady’s night, but my plus one left me hanging. I was gonna scalp it but I couldn’t help myself when I overheard your troubles,” he said, teasing, and with that same grin on his face he perused the menu and asked the bartender for one of their special drinks, a sazerac cocktail, and looked back to her.
After she ordered, he snapped his fingers again.
“Let me guess... you’re from Edanith?”
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Pink chuckled quietly as she followed him to the bar, though she wasn't quite able to keep her eyes entirely off the pulsing, writhing mass of color and light from the dance floor. Everything here was just so much. "Well, aren't you just my hero?"
Boosting herself easily up onto the stool beside Kayse, she flicked through the menu for a moment before opting to just order a straight glass of scotch. No need to get fancy, really, she did still have to meet a potential contact tonight.
...Maybe she'd celebrate later. Hopefully.
Another small snort of laughter when he guessed she was from Edanith and she shook her head. "Not even close," she replied with a crooked smile and that same playful glint in her eye. "And you? Local to Cancer, or are you also an out-of-towner?"
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“Not even close,” he repeated, and before much else could happen their drinks were served up and Kayse took his eagerly. It tasted and felt and burned just like a real sazerac and Kayse smiled a little as he tasted and swallowed. Sensation was the SenseNet’s bread and butter. While one couldn’t literally drink or get drunk, SenseNet rigs use electric signals to fool the brain into thinking it’s getting libated and the user can’t tell the difference.
“Cancer, born and raised. Never been off the station,” he said, and se this drink down so he could turn on the stool. Leaning an elbow against the bar, he studied her for a bit more, following those pink lines in her hair and those beautiful pink eyes.
“And if you’re not even close to Edanith, then you can’t be Aedelan. And you’re definitely not from Libra, a spacer can always tell,” he added.
“So you must be from Teinar, then... er, I never quite got your name?”
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A little warily, Pink took a sip of her scotch. Her eyes widened as the drink burned down her throat and she coughed, then gave a low whistler. “Alright, wasn’t expecting that to feel quite so real,” she muttered under her breath.
Good to know.
At Kayse’s deduction, she smiled slightly and nodded. “That’s right, I am.” No harm in admitting that, right? Personal networks in Teinar were near mythically rare, but they weren’t all illegal.
Taking abridged glance around he room, it suddenly occurred to her that most of Avalonia’s patrons might not particularly care if they were.
With a shrug, she sat back slightly and said, “I’m like you, I guess. Born and bred Teinari. Never so much as seen the surface—the sky outside was the first time I’d ever seen anything like that.”
It was...oddly freeing, this SenseNet place. She’d never have just been spouting this things off to some guy in a dive back home, but here? Well, it wasn’t like she really thought she’d be seeing this guy beyond tonight, and it was nice to chat. Helped calm some of her nerves. With another little smile, she added, “People call me Pink, mostly. Nice to meet you, officially.”
-
Kayse chuckled, watching her drink her virtual scotch with visible interest. After all, your first virtual drink was just about as important as your first real drink! As he watched her, he was doing something else in his head, running a scan on his cocktail so he could hack more sazeracs into existence later. Copying licensed data is very illegal, but it was child's play to him.
"Yeah, that's how it works for everything in here. Food, drink, pain and pleasure, if a person can feel it the SenseNet can recreate it, all without consequences," he said, and he took another sip of his drink, and then raised it to her.
"Welcome to the SenseNet, Pink. I've never seen a Teinari online before but I'm glad the tech's getting there," he said, and meant it too. He'd been a VR code jockey ever since he was fourteen and never had seen a single trace of data from the mysterious, underground city of Teinar.
He followed her eyes and he himself took another look around the room, observing the crowd and atmosphere that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to this place. There was another fifty-four stories above them, gods only knew what people were getting up to there in the sky-high casinos, lounges, and if he'd have to guess... more dance floors.
Speaking of dance floors, the music shifted and a staccato burst of synth notes heralded a rush of bass and an increase in tempo. The crowd cheered and the laser lights blazed above them.
"Oh, I love this one!" he said, and he wheeled back around to look at Pink. Indeed, the SenseNet was an astounding place for liberation, and with some sazerac flowing through him and this beautiful pink woman next to him he extended a hand towards her, palm up.
"You look curious, so let's hit the floor," he said, tone challenging.
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"Ah, right, it's getting there," Pink agreed with a slightly awkward smile, but luckily she could chase it away with another downed sip of her drink.
She didn't want to linger too long on how exactly Teinari tech had gotten her here. She wasn't nearly knowledgeable enough about all this to lie convincingly, and she was sure if anyone pressed her they'd be able to figure out just how many laws she was breaking for this harebrained scheme.
As the music changed her attention was drawn back to the dance floor--and then he was holding his hand out to her, strobing lights shining off his hair like they did the fog that eddied around the bottom of the room, and she found that little competitive spark rising up in her chest at the challenge in his voice.
"Alright." She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet, onto the floor. Her eyes flashed. "Let's see if you can keep up, spacer."
She took two quick steps and twisted slightly so that she was the one leading him onto the floor, glancing around quickly to try to get a feel for the kind of dancing that was happening. Parties like this were a rarity back home, and while she could cut loose with the best of them, she had a feeling the Teinari version and the SenseNet version were very different things.
Nodding along to the beat, familiarizing herself, she cocked and eyebrow and asked over the music, "Pleasure and pain, huh? Why bother with the pain part? Isn't the point of VR to take out all the nasty bits of reality?"
-
Kayse couldn't contain his smile when she accepted and he made sure to grab his drink. His other hand was taken, so he added Pink's scotch to his Drive and it disappeared from the bar as she pulled him away and down the stairs.
"Believe me, I can keep up. You're the fresh pluggie around here," he said as they descended, and he chased his nerves down a bit with his drink.
Viewing the dance floor and actually being there were two different worlds. Here, the music boomed and the smoke and lights from all angles combined to provide an almost mystical, dreamlike atmoshpere. The music was provided by a trio of DJs, each in an extravagant avatar of their own.
And not to mention the crowd. Many people went as highly stylized versions of themselves or other humanoid creatures and shapes, but quite a few more were something else entirely. Everybody was bugging out and doing their own thing. As Pink acquainted herself with the song, Kayse was already dancing slowly. He was more of a groover than a swinger (and he had a drink to take care of, too!)
"VR is for living out another reality. What that reality is depends on the user," he said, watching her as she adapted to the music and he made an effort to move with her more to encourage her.
"Oh! I got your drink, too. Do you know how to use your Drive?"
-
"My what?" Pink replied oh so eloquently, blinking up at him. Swaying slightly from side to side, trying to mimic his movements to some extent, she realized what he must be talking about and her eyes widened fractionally. "Oh! Right. Drive."
Laughing at herself, she shook her head and said dryly, "Well, if my first reaction wasn't enough to clue you in, no. No I do not." She tilted her head to the side a bit. "You offering to teach me?"
-
"Oh, she's really fresh," Kayse teased, mostly to himself. He stepped a bit closer so he could speak to and hear her better.
"But don't you worry, Pink. You've found yourself one of the best teachers there is when it comes to this stuff."
He slowed down his dancing so he could focus on explaining.
"Drive's your personal control station. It's got your avatars, any VR objects or accessories you like or want to hold onto, and yes you can put stuff like food and drinks into it. Plenty of servers and hosts also have their own extra tabs you can browse. Think of it like it's a video game!" Kayse said.
"Touching your forearm pulls it up," he continued, and he showed her how by touching the middle of his forearm with the bottom of his drink. It pulled up boxes and menus in front of him, and was basically the SenseNet interface for when you were actually inside it. Kayse used his fingers at first to show her, but then lowered his hand and operated it by thought alone.
"If you focus, you can do it without hands. A lot of stuff in the SenseNet's based on thought, to be as little invasive as possible.
Then he danced a bit further away, inviting her to follow him deeper into the crowd, into the moment. He pulled up his stored files and turned the interface around so she could see an image of her scotch displayed on one of the inventory boxes. The rest were concealed. Kayse literally reached out, plucked the file out, and with a flick of his hand he tossed a stream of data at her.
"So now if you check yours, you should have your scotch and be able to pull it out."
-
“Whoa.”
Pink’s eyes widened further as she tried to absorb everything he was talking about while simultaneously trying not to seem like a total idiot. The basic concept seemed pretty straight forward though, lucky for her.
Brow furrowed a bit, as though she didn’t quite believe this would work for her, she tapped her forearm dubiously. Sure enough, an almost identical information box popped up—though of course it was a bit less intricate than his, not so much history of collecting VR odds and ends packed into it.
“Huh!” Smiling a bit, she tapped on the image of her drink, and the glass appeared in her hand. She laughed outright, shaking her head before she took a sip. “Damn. Now if I could keep a bike in here, we’d really be talking,” she chuckled, eyes glinting.
It suddenly dawned on her that that wasn’t a terrible idea. VR motoracing...there were a whole lot of variables she had no clue how to work through there, but it might be worth keeping in the back of her mind.
And speaking of her mind...
She screwed her face up a bit and tilted her head at him again. “You sure this is...y’know, safe? What with the program getting into my head and all?”
She probably sounded like a total rube, but she couldn’t deny that the idea of that freaked her out a little bit.
-
“Who’s saying you can’t keep a whole bike collection?” Kayse added, and he raised his eyebrows and got back to grooving, closing the distance between them again.
She brought up the safety, and Kayse sobered a bit.
“If you take care of your equipment it’s safer than spaceflight,” he said, widening his arms a bit for emphasis. “Take bad care of your stuff though and you can have connection issues, and maybe even glitch,” he said, wanting to be honest with her.
“And using it’s like using a drug or playing too much flatvid games. It’s pretty easy to get lost in it but most rigs have usage limits to make sure you stay healthy.”
He grinnned.
“But hey, you look like a gal that works with her hands and wits. You a racing fan? Teinar’s where they do the motorails, yeah?” He said, tilting his head. He knocked in another deep drink.
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"Oh, you could say that," Pink chuckled. Was it really that obvious she worked with her hands?
Oh. The callouses. And the grease stains. Right.
She flushed a bit, for the first time really wondering what she might have done if she had actually chosen her avatar rather than letting the guy who programmed the rig just figure it out for her. Of course, with what Kayse was teaching her maybe she could tweak it a bit...
Shaking herself out of that particular train of thought, she smiled crookedly and answered, "Yeah, motorails are pretty much the big thing underground. The only thing, really." She laughed a bit, genuine but just a little self-deprecating; her eyes glinted a bit as she mirrored his movements, closing the distance between them further until her chest nearly brushed his as they rocked and swayed to the music. "Still, it's a great thrill. Wouldn't trade it for anything."
Knocking back another shot of her whiskey, she added, "I'm more than just a fan. I've been undefeated since I was sixteen."
-
“Wow, a racer!” Kayse said, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. She came in nice and close and he widened himself a bit more, shooting her a wry look as they bumped together to the rumbling bass. The whole world around them was a whirl of colors and he had eyes only for his dancing partner.
“I’ve seen a little but not a lot gets out past the Teinar network. I saw it on some imported tapes at a sporting bar back in realspace,” he said. He finished his drink, and the glass disappeared from his hands and he opened them to her, telling her it was okay to move closer and even take them if she wanted.
“I’m more of a computers guy myself. Security systems, SenseNet design, specialized programs and computing frameworks,” he said. Hey, it was technically true! She didn’t need to know he was a criminal and all the best superhackers knew it was better to be unknown and rich than famous and in the slammer.
“But enough shop talk, show me how they dance on Teinar, Pink.”
-
"Really?" That was promising; if there was a market for vids off-world, then surely some people would be interested in coming down to Teinar itself to see the real thing.
Maybe her idea wasn't so far-fetched after all.
"Well, I'll resist the urge to ask what you thought." She finished her drink and grinned with unabashed wonder as the glass disappeared, then looked up into his face again and smile crookedly as she took his hands.
A thought occurred, a vague memory of a camera flash as she tore around a corner, and her grin widened. "Although, if that vid you saw had a rider with hot pink racing stripes down her jacket using a downed bike to jump her competition, then you've already seen me work."
Bragging? Definitely. But she couldn't deny it felt a little good. Besides, she was trying to get the word out--that was the whole reason she was here after all.
Although the dance with an attractive partner was certainly a nice side benefit. Squeezing his hands gently, she unlaced her fingers from his and slid her hands up his arms to his shoulders, pressing closer as she continued to twist and rock to the music. "You wanna dance like a Teinari?" Her eyes sparkled, pure mischief. "Put your arms around me, computers guy."
-
“Yeah, really. And it’s been a while since I watched it, and I was pretty drunk too, but I’ll definitely have to rewatch it now and keep an eye out for you,” he mused. His expression softened when she took his hands and eventually pulled him in even closer.
But it was a welcome closeness because yes, this was exactly what he wanted, to find a beautiful stranger for the night. She was due to meet someone, of course, which only made something about this seem more urgent.
Matching her fiery tone he put his arms around her sides, close enough now to share breath with her as they moved together. She fit against him deliciously and the way she moved her hips with his gave Kayse all the right signals.
“Shit girl, this is fantastic right now...” he said, letting his eyes close so he could just move with her.
-
"You're damn right it is," Pink exhaled on a quick, sharp breath when his arms came around her and then they were dancing chest to chest, no space at all between them as they moved together.
And it really was together. She wasn't even really sure how it had happened so quickly, but quite abruptly she found herself twisting in his arms to put her back to him, though she didn't sacrifice even an inch of that closeness, pressing firmly back against him and rocking her hips from side to side.
She really didn't do this, usually. Parties were fun and all, but one night stands weren't exactly her thing.
Still... Something about knowing that no matter what happened at the end of the night she'd be home safe in bed made her bolder than she would have been otherwise. Pressing back a even tighter against him, she reached up with one hand to trace her fingers delicately along the line of his jaw, twisting her head to look back at him over her shoulder.
Her other hand dropped to his on her hip, guiding his touch to press against her stomach as she pretty much decided fuck it and all but grinded herself against him to the beat of the music.
"How about now?"
-
Pink was all he saw and felt. With a drink in him it only felt right when she put her back to him, and he’d slipped his hands under her jacket so he could hold her properly by the sides as they moved as one, guided by the music. He’d let his eyes fall closed just to feel the moment, but he found them opening again when she stroked his jaw, and he found himself wondering if that pink lipstick of hers tasted as good as it looked.
No time to think, because she moved his hand and started grinding him and he was pretty much hers at this point.
“Hot damn, Pink...”
His hand on her stomach went lower, but not too low, and he held her to him as he returned her grinding with some pressing of his own. His other hand went up high and he loosely circled her neck and jaw in his fingers to let her know the growing passion was very mutual.
“I gotta do some more Teinari dancing. Shake that sweet ass for me, girl.”
-
A short laugh bubbled out of her, a little breathless, and she let her nails scrape gently along the skin of his throat as her hand trailed lower for a moment, hips still swaying and rolling to the music.
"Aw, this is nothing," she chuckled, glancing back at him again through half lowered lashes. "We're pretty busy belowground, don't get to parties like this much. So most dancing that happens is a little more...horizontal."
Oh dear gods what had possessed her to say that?!
That was it. VR was dangerous, she didn't care how many safety precautions the tech had in place.
And yet she couldn't really find it in herself to care. Not in that moment at least. She was experiencing something new, she was tipsy, she was dancing with probably one of the hottest guys who'd ever bothered trying to get in her pants, and damnit she was going to let herself have a little fun.
It's not like some heavy flirting had ever hurt anyone, really.
Twisting in his arms again, she let her own arms drape lazily over his shoulders and around his neck and gave a full, slow roll of her body against his, timed rather perfectly to a swell in the music before another bass drop. "Y'know, even if my plan here tonight falls through, I think it'll have been worth it," she noted with another crooked smile as she lost herself further to the pulse of the beat.
-
That earned her a raise of his eyebrows and he was chuckling even as she turned back around his his arms and pressed to him. The way she moved was perfect and when she rolled against him to the hum of that bass he was in heaven. His hands went lower, taking her by the hips as her own energy had caused him to become a little more active.
“Flatterer,” he accused, but his smile betrayed him.
“I don’t doubt you’re going to kick ass at whatever you’re here for but it certainly doesn’t hurt to enjoy your first plug-in to the max. You only get one,”
He came in close, so that they could’ve kissed if they wanted, but he didn’t take the first step, instead leaving that door open for her.
“If we had some privacy, do you think you could show me...” he paused and gripped her just a bit tighter, bringing his head in to whisper in her ear.
“...Some of your horizontal Teinari dancing?
-
A full body shiver gripped her, running down her spine to take up residence as a warm tingle at the small of her back.
He was so close. She could feel both the heat off his body and the slight chill of the eternal snowflakes that surrounded him; the contrast in sensation was bizarrely enticing and she pressed just a little closer, rising up onto her toes slightly to bring her face closer to his.
"...Maybe I could do that," she murmured in reply after a moment, lips curled up on one side. "What sort of privacy did you have in mind?"
Ohhhhh she so should not be doing this. But damn, the thrill of the risk was almost intoxicating.
-
“Well, there’s fifty-four floors above us and we’ve got access to all of them,” he said, eyes locking onto her as she came so sweetly close. Those pink eyes of her were strangely enchanting, something that one would think is not all that uncommon in the SenseNet but hers were the most realistic he’d ever seen.
One arm around her waist, the other stroked the back of her neck. Kayse held his discipline and didn’t kiss her, wanting to play this game with her.
“A VIP suite? Or maybe a private lounge? The party’s just started, there’s gotta be some free ones,” He suggested, eyes dancing with excitement.
“But we can start with the elevators. Oh, by the way,”
He gave her a squeeze.
“Did you know you share a name with a SenseNet drug?”
-
"A VIP suite?" She gave a low, impressed whistle. "Damn, you sure know how to impress a gal."
His hand on the back of her neck was sending little tingles skittering regularly down her spine. It was becoming rapidly more difficult to focus, and over and over again her eyes were drawn back to his mouth, thinking about how close he was, how easy it would be to just...
His arm tightened around her in a squeeze and she actually found a surprised laugh bubbling out of her, eyes widening slightly. "I do?"
She shook her head and smirked at him crookedly. "I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," she chuckled quietly.
-
That was nice, watching her look at his lips like that. To know that she could barely resist him just like how he could barely resist her.
“Well, when you pay for all-access, you get all-access. There’s more bars, simdrugs, dance floors and more above us,” he said, and he’d stepped back with her so they could get a bit clearer of the crowd, although he didn’t want to compromise this closeness between them.
“Everything a newbie plugger like yourself could ever want to try out,” he said, and he raised a hand to stroke her chin, studying her face and lips as he tilted her head up gently and left a kiss on her cheek.
“Play your cards right, Pink, and I’ll be kissing you much better next time,” he said with a sly grin, and then moved to lead her back up the stairs.
“I could use another drink. Something lighter. You? I’m parched...”
-
Yet another shiver, though this time there seemed to be a bit more merit to it, the tingle elicited by the brush of his lips against her cheek.
Damn, how did that feel so real?
Her crooked smile only widened as he started leading her back to the stairs and she cocked her head at him with a playfully arched brow. "Mm. Maybe if you play your cards right, Kayse, I'll let you," she shot back.
His offer of a drink was a welcome distraction though--she thought she might need the chance to cool down a bit. "Yeah, that sounds good. You got any recommendations?"
-
"Well, it takes two to play a card game, doesn't it?" He teased back, even as he set himself to thinking about what he wanted to drink. With a hand still on her side, he pulled up his Drive without the regular motion (he was used to it enough to operate it hands-free) and although they were farther from the dance floor now he still loved moving with her enough that he did it while browsing, going through the club's menu.
"There's drinks made specifically for SenseNet. Some popular enough that multiple places have them. So you're gonna try some Stam," he said, and he raised his other hand to click the "order" button and after a short delay another of those programmed valets appeared to hold out a tray that held two thin shot-glasses of brightly glowing green fluid.
"SenseNet bars and clubs don't sell booze or real drugs or anything like that, they just sell the sensations. And just how you can dance and feel that tired burn there's a drink to bring back all that energy and freshness."
he took the two from the tray.
"And it also tastes like green apples," he added, chuckling as he held her portion out to her.
"And if you wanna try other stuff, I've got some Pink and Jazz on my drive," he said, tilting his head at her.
-
She listened to his explanation carefully, difficult as it was to focus through her slight buzz and the way he was still moving with her, almost swaying to the music still pumping from the dance floor.
She took the drink he ordered for her and sipped, and her eyes widened slightly. “So that’s why apples taste like,” she murmured to herself, so quietly she didn’t think he would have heard.
Shaking her head, she lifted her eyes up to his face again and chuckled, “Well, I suppose I have to try Pink on principle. I think I might get thrown out if I don’t.” Her eyes glinted cheerfully and she took another sip of the drink, enjoying the crisp newness of the flavor.
A part of her still couldn’t believe she was doing this. She’d never so much as taken a caffeine pill to get her through a rough shift, and here she was about to do some VR drug that shared her name just for the hell of it.
-
“That’s the spirit,” Kayse said with a nod, and he leaned a hand in to clink his glass of Stam against hers before taking a drink of it, sighing once he felt that fresh new energy rush through him.
“I know I talk a lot so just tell me to shut up if it gets annoying,” he added, and he met her eyes with a look that sent her all the signals she wanted to see. He looked around to spot the elevators, and then the looked back to her, eyes catching on her lips before he was looking at her.
“Elevators are over there,” he motioned with his head, and he was leading her along again until they were stepping in and Kayse pressed the “shut door” button so it closed right behind them, turning about while he held it and giving her a simmering look while he beckoned towards himself.
-
"Oh, you're not annoying me," Pink assured him quickly. She fell into step beside him again as he led her to the elevator, a tiny smirk curving at her lips for the way his eyes had lingered on her mouth.
It only took a second once they were in the elevator for the doors to shut behind them, and Pink was suddenly intensely aware of how close the space was, and the fact that they were very alone.
She swallowed, her eyes moving slowly over him from head to toe and back. Though their break for a drink had allowed her to cool down a bit from the dance, the way he was looking at her sent a fresh wave of heat tingling through her body. She allowed her smirk to tilt sideways when he motioned her closer and very deliberately took a step back, leaning against the wall and propping one foot up behind her as she folded her arms.
"Oh no, sir." Her eyes danced, cheeks gently flushed, and she unconsciously wet her lips with the tip of her tongue as she looked him up and down again. "If you want something, you're gonna have to come over here and get it."
-
"Well, ya certainly aren't making me any concessions," he chuckled, but he took the invitation. The relatively small space of the elevator (big enough for five) felt like crossing a gulf, but in just a step he was there.
He looked at her eyes, mostly, but feeling confident he put a hand on her side, and the other came to stroke up along her cheek to put some of her hair behind her ear.
"Going up," he said, and even if it was a little cheesy sounding he reached over and hit one of the many elevator buttons. He didn't know which floor he programmed and he didn't care because before it could even get moving, he came in to kiss her and he didn't spare her any passion.
Because hey, your first VR kiss needs to be a good one.
-
Pink had to will herself not to shiver as he came closer, and the moment he was within reach she lifted a hand up to curl her fingers in the collar of his shirt and pull him down toward her--a task which was made easier by him already leaning in for the kiss.
Their lips touched and her eyes fluttered closed, a tiny sigh passing between them, from her lips to his.
She'd freely admit that spontaneous kisses weren't really common practice for her, but she wasn't completely inexperienced. So she felt fairly confidant saying that hot damn that had to be one of the best kisses of her life. Top three at least.
Pressing up onto her toes, she let her hands slide down to grip his hips lightly as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss, parting her lips against his invitingly.
-
The elevator started climbing and Kayse reached down to press one of her hands more firmly to his hip while the other went to the back of her neck as he returned the kiss very eagerly when she parted her lips against him. One kiss led to another and his own hand on her side pulled her in a little closer.
"I hope it takes your guy a very long time to find you," Kayse whispered, giving her a mischievous look before diving right back in, letting himself get drunk on her because fuck it, this was a great way to start the night, and they'd barely even begun to explore this place.
"So, whaddaya think, racer girl?" he teased, and parted from her with a tiny nip to her bottom lip on the way out.
"Feels pretty real, doesn't it?"
-
You and me both, man. Pink managed to keep that thought to herself, though she did hum encouragingly into the kiss when he dove back into it. Embolden by his hand over hers urging her closer, she let her hand on his hip slide down to grab a handful of his ass playfully just before they broke apart.
Flushed and panting, Pink chuckled and shook her head—not in denial, more disbelief. “I mean, it’s pretty damn great,” she laughed lightly, just a little breathless. Eyes glinting, she asked, “What happens if there’s a glitch or something though? You could wind up stuck in a make-out loop or something.”
She was teasing, she was pretty sure that couldn’t actually happen...probably?
-
"Don't think too deeply on it, Pink," he said, and when she grabbed his ass he jerked away and forwards, causing him to come chest-to-chest with her. He narrowed his eyes at her and kissed her bottom lip, then her chin.
"If you grab my ass, then it's fair game," he murmured, and did the same thing to her, giving her a quick squeeze intended to make her squeal before leaving one more deep kiss against her lips.
Then, after a moment of consideration, he went down and kissed her neck, just once to see how she'd react.
-
“Mmph!” She started at the touch, squeaking into the kiss, then giggled. Well, she supposed she had started it.
“Aw c’mon now, don’t act like it’s such a sacrifice—“ Her teasing cut off as his lips found her neck, brushing over a particularly sensitive spot just under her jaw. She was pretty sure he could have had no way of knowing just how much she liked that, but regardless it sent a flash of heat through her body and whatever she’d been going to say morphed into a soft, low moan of anticipation that she couldn’t control.
-
That hot little moan that came out of her made Kayse feel some kind of way and he brushed his hands up her side to repeat that motion where he put his hands under her racing jacket so he could hold her more intimately. Hands slid up her sides and then back down to hold her just above the hip as he parted his lips from her neck. He let his cool breath wash over the spot he kissed and looked back up at her.
A voice from the elevator’s speaker announced that they were approaching the forty-seventh floor, the statue gardens.
“Do you want another?” He asked her, lips hovering over the column of her throat.
-
In pretty much any other situation, Pink would have been thoroughly embarrassed at how damn eager that moan had made her sound. As it was, though...well, really, what were the chances of her ever seeing this guy again? Who was she trying to impress here?
She shivered as his breath ghosted over her skin and her hand clutched at his back, the other gripping his collar just slightly tighter.
"...Yes," she admitted, already tilting her head back further to expose more of her throat. "Not sure how much longer we've got in here though..."
-
He didn’t waste any time for remarks. She tilted her head back and he leaned in to give her a few burning kisses on her throat, collar, and side of her neck.
“I’m glad I met you tonight,” he murmured, a little shy, and by the time the elevator doors were opening, he was already stepping back and away from her, leading her out past the small crowd of folks waiting for elevators and stepped out into what was a completely different atmosphere.
Instead of thrumming bass, there was slower, more relaxing mood and not as many lazer lights. The place was just that, a statue garden, and featured a bar, seating by beautiful gardens and statues, and even a couple places were a pair of lovers could slip away.
“Woah, it’s pretty chill in here. We can find a drink, maybe a quiet corner out in those gardens?” He suggested.
“I’m curious about Teinar,” he admitted.
-
She had to bite her lip to swallow anther moan as his lips seared across her skin. Oh gods she'd nearly forgotten how much she loved that--maybe it had been a little too long since her last intimate encounter.
That particular thought was cut short as he pulled away, the doors sliding open, and she found herself just blinking at him for a moment as she tried to process.
"I... Me too," she murmured, following him out of the elevator.
Looking around, she saw that he was right the gardens were really quite lovely. She was still a little hot and flushed from the elevator, but she smiled and nodded at his suggestion. "I'm curious about really anywhere else," she replied with a chuckle, eyes dancing."What do you think I'm doing here in the first place?"
Sobering a bit, she added a little softer, "I'd like that, though. To just...sit and talk for a while."
-
The look on her face as he led her out of the elevator told Kayse all he wanted to know and he’d be lying if he didn’t admit he was having some fun with this. He didn’t usually do neck-kisses on the first date but the first one was spontaneous and it felt right in the moment.
and then he felt her shiver, saw her biting his lip and knew he’d really stumbled on something here. Good to know.
“Maybe there’s more neck kisses in your future if you come along...” he teased, but there was temptation in his eyes.
He looked around at the gardens. They were crisscrossed by canals and veined by paths lined with statues and other examples of fresh digital art. There were spacious, lavishly furnished copses of trees and hedges, many empty but others held groups, others were sealed off by a wall of hedge. Service to the private areas was done via Drive.
Music here was performed live by the bar, slower music one could lounge to played on electronic versions of victorian instruments.
“We could take one of the smaller ones. Not bad for a randomly picked floor,” he mused, and waited for her to catch up so she could lead the way and pick one out.
“After that Stam pickup I could use something else to drink. Also some food, maybe?”
He’d eaten dinner before he plugged in, actually, but many clubs or gathering places had code running that made patrons feel hungry over time, to authenticate the experience of a night spent partying. What’s the point of nightlife boozing if you can’t get some of your favorite munchies?
“What do folks eat on Teinar? Can you farm there?” Kayse asked, ever curious.
-
Pink felt her cheeks warm a bit for that and she mock glared at him as he led her out into the gardens. It was really playing havoc with her heart rate, this on-and-off with his kisses and closeness, but honestly she couldn’t say she didn’t like it, just a bit.
“Food would be good.” She frowned a bit, thoughtful. “I didn’t really expect to get hungry here... Oh.”
She blinked and glanced up at him when he asked about Teinari food, then chuckled slightly. “Well yeah, we can sorta farm. subterranean things, like roots and fungi...I promise it’s not as bad as it sounds,” she laughed, almost a little self-conscious. “Beyond that, we trade for a lot of things. It’s a pretty slim market though, not gonna lie.”
-
"Well, roots and fungi sound a lot better than the spacer food I usually eat," Kayse mused, and he led her to a rather unnocupied area of the gardens. The night was still very young so apart from curious folks poking around there wasn't any real crowd here yet.
"Real food's a premium out in space, so we make do with synthveggies and printed meat when we can't import it," he added, and satisfied with the beauty and privacy of the little grove he'd found for the two of them he sat down on a bundle of cushions in the shadow of a brass bull statue.
He scooted so she'd have enough space to join him.
"So, what're you here for, anyways? You meeting someone on racing biz?" he asked, and he glanced away from her to motionlessly flick through his drive and navigating to the club's tab.
"Oh! They got a whole simfood menu just for this floor!" he started, smiling wider.
-
“Yeah?” She shrugged slightly as she sat beside him. “Most topsiders don’t seem to like Teinari food much, but... I dunno. When it’s all you’ve ever known, it’s not like you really have much to miss, y’know?”
Drawing one knee up toward her chest a bit so she could rest her arm over it, she tilted her head and added, “Yeah, I’m...sorta here for racing.” She bit her lip, unsure how much she should—or was willing—to share. “I’m, ah...trying to book a race. Off-world. I need all sorts of special visas and stuff for that though, so...” She trailed off with a shrug and an almost sheepish smile. “It’s probably a long shot, but I figure if I can even draw a bit of a crowd, a couple of people might be interested in popping down to Teinar to see more stuff like it.” Another shrug, brow slightly furrowed this time. “We need new blood down there. Here, I guess.”
She chuckled. For a moment she’d almost forgotten that she was really just at home, laying in bed.
She watched him scan through the menu with some interest and quirked an eyebrow. “Anything you’d recommend?”
-
"It's a pretty ritzy menu, even for a simclub. I think I'm just going to have some onion rings though," he said, and he tapped the drive's menu before passing over to her own drive with a flick of his fingers.
"I wouldn't know what half that stuff tastes like, I'm used to spacer food myself," he said with a smile. The cushions in the grove were rather spacious and the place had a discreet, romantic atmosphere to itself. Now that they were here in one of the private groves, one could almost forget that they were shaking their tails off just a few minutes ago.
Kayse kept himself open and accessible to her, liking this on-and-off game they played. Considering what they'd gotten up to already, he was more and more confident to just be close to her.
"And hey, if anything... I can help you with that, too," he said, looking to her and placing a hand plainly on her knee. Not a lecherous touch, but more of a comforting one. He could tell she was nervous.
"Whether your guy comes through for you or not, I'm pretty well-connected through the Cancer's grids and Sensenet, so I can definitely spread the word," he said.
"And hey, I don't usually go admitting this to just anyone," he added, and leaned in to whisper into her ear.
"...But I can help you get those visas and permits, too," he said, and pulled away with a smile, hoping she'd get the hint without him having to spell it out for her.
-
"Mmm..." Pink let her eyes skim over the menu, but honestly she didn't even recognize most of the food offered, let alone have any idea if she'd like it. Eventually, she settled for something called "takoyaki".
What was life without a little experimentation, after all?
Glancing sidelong at Kayse when he touched her knee, she allowed herself to shift just a bit closer and relaxed a little further into the cushions.
"Well, ah...thanks. That's--that's really nice of you to offer," she sort of stammered in reply to his comment about spreading the word.
Her eyes widened when he continued, whispering in her ear, and she shivered. She tried to convince herself that it was solely because of what he said, not because his breath against her neck made her stomach flip and sent a flash of heat through her whole body.
"Wow. Um...That too. Thanks. I mean--I hope I won't have to ask, but, um...that's...nice of you?"
Dear gods. Was every other person she met involved with the black market these days?
-
It was a risk telling her, Kayseknew, but that’s where the thrill was. If she was getting into business on Cancer, it really helped to have someone more familiar with the local business etiquette. The backroom reigned supreme in Cancer, one of the perks and cons of living in a freebooter station.
She shifted closer and he took that as a sign to rest his hand more comfortably on her knee and rest his head against the cushioned base of the bull statue, mouth still close to her. He closed his eyes a moment to take in the soft music and atmosphere.
Feeling her shiver against him was too sweet and he smiled innocently as he decided to stay close to her. Their food arrived very quickly, arriving in floating covered platters with hearty helpings, as well as convenient digital trays that floated in place and projected a table surface when still.
“I know a few digital tricks, is all. Like I said, IT Guy,” he added, and he only made a bit of distance between to bring his floating table closer to the middle and he unveiled it to reveal some very real looking onion rings with a selection of sauces.
“Did you know that there’re some jackies out there who outfit their rigs with nutrition dispensers? So when they eat in the sim it feeds their body so they can stay in longer.”
He chuckled.
“Anyways, all I’m trying to say is I think Motorail could do it big here in the SenseNet. I don’t know if there’s space to build it on station in Cancer but all you’d need here in the Sensenet is a wiz digital architect and programmer. Just saying.”
Was it bragging? A little. But hey, no shame in genuinely offering help if it also meant he could impress a babe like her. And even if she turned him down, he had a feeling she wouldn’t rat so it felt safe to him.
“What’d you get?” He asked, even as he got to work on his onion rings with a fork and a knife.
-
“Well well, aren’t we confident,” Pink chuckled, but it was clear she was teasing. She’d been none too shy about sharing her own abilities on the track, after all. Nothing wrong a a tiny bit of professional pride.
When the food arrived she eyed it first warily, as she had with just baking everything else here. “I’m...not entirely sure,” she finally admitted after a moment with a tiny laugh, spearing one of the pieces of a stick that seemed to have been provided with her plate for such a purpose. “Balls of...fried dough of some kind, looks like.”
Shrugging, she popped it into her mouth. Her eyes widened.
“Oh! There’s, um, some kind of fish in these?” She chewed, frowning a bit. She could quite figure out if she liked this or not.
Mulling it over, she tilted her head to look at him again, eyes gone sharp and almost calculating. Maybe...
Hm.
“...You wanna come to this meeting with me?” she offered abruptly, spontaneously. “I’ll be honest: you’re better at this than I am. The whole pitch Thing. And if you can really do what you say you can... if we can get people to follow racing here, they can follow it from anywhere in the solar system.”
-
Oh, he liked fish! It was such a rare thing for him to ever eat it in real life so he took the chance to try it out in sims whenever he could. He stole one of her weird dumplings and gave her a thick onion ring as trade.
"Try them in this sauce that your tray came with, maybe? They certainly go great with mine," he said after swallowing down his bite.
When she posed her offer to him, he was still, as if considering it, and then he met her eyes and bumped her leg with his own.
"Sure thing, I got nothing super big coming up so why not?" he said, and grabbed another onion ring.
"And I've always wanted to work with bikes, even if they're going to be digital ones."
-
"Mm." Pink gave the onion ring a testing nibble, found she actually liked it, and continued eating it.
When Kayse agreed to her random, spontaneous idea however, she blinked and snapped her attention back to his face. She was sort of dumbstruck for a moment, not entirely sure what she'd been expecting but supposing it wasn't that, then smiled.
"Great! I mean...thanks." She smiled and leaned in to bump his shoulder with hers gently. "Hey, if things go well--maybe I could get you down to my shop. You could work with a real bike."
-
“What can I say, you caught me at a good time. I’m fresh from a well-paid gig so I’m available to experiment,” he said, speaking as if there was a double meaning to his words as he eyed her a little slyly. The privacy of their location was tempting, and he was feeling just warm enough from before to rest his side against hers more.
“The real bikes are nice, but are the hot biker girls real too?” He teased. He gave her knee a little stroke and then crunched down on an onion ring. They weren’t the cheap tasting kind and it was so nice to eat some real onion.
Or at least something that tasted like it.
“Cause maybe I’d want to work with her, too...” he said.
Hey, they made out in an elevator, so maybe he had a shot here.
-
Pink snorted and shot him a wry, crooked smile, saying drolly, "I suppose we're just jumping right in there, huh?"
She wasn't actually offended or anything, but she couldn't resist the urge to respond to the heavy flirting with some snark. It was sort of her second language.
"And what kind of work were you thinking that might entail, exactly?" she goaded, quirking one eyebrow as she continued nibbling at the food.
-
Kayse managed a chuckle. Yeah, it was a little on the nose, but she seemed pretty receptive.
"Nothing too crazy, I'd just want to get a feel for the handling, maybe hit a few wheelies," he rebutted, looking to meet her eyes. He dared to move his hand a little lower, past her knee to give her leg a short stroke before he returned his hand to himself.
"Because trust me, she doesn't need any body work, she's fine as hell already."
-
She actually laughed a little at that, shaking her head at him with a wry smile and bright, glinting eyes: every inch of her spoke of mischief waiting to pounce.
"That's gotta be one of the cheesiest things I've ever heard," she teased lightly, crinkling her nose at him. Still smiling crookedly, she leaned in to pluck the fried snack he held from his hand with her teeth, tilting her head at him in a considering sort of way before she licked her lips and added playfully, "You sure you can handle it? Wouldn't want the horsepower getting away from you now, would we?"
-
"Believe me, I think I can handle her," he said, even as he turned to face her a bit more. With a mental command, he closed their little "booth" so they could have a little more privacy to themselves.
He took the lead again, reaching out to stroke her chin and marvel at just how realistic her avatar was, even more so than his own (which he'd programmed himself!).
He dipped in to kiss her cheek, and also to whisper to her as he stroked a hand down her neck, thumb stroking right down her throat as he did so.
"Do you want another drink?" he teased, and he used his other hand to stroke her legs again, and he used the opportunity to nick one of her own takoyakis so that he'd have something to eat when he pulled away.
"Also, I suppose you should tell me more about it, this motorail racing. I've only seen one and I know it's a lot of laps and hoverbikes. I was drinking in meatspace and my real body ain't got the same alcohol tolerance as my digital one," he added with a self-deprecating chuckle.
-
A soft, moaning sort of sigh slipped passed her lips as he kissed her cheek and his thumb caressed her throat. Dear gods, either some wiring had gotten crossed when programming her avatar, or her neck was more sensitive than she'd ever realized.
She let her head tip back slightly and shifted slightly as his hand stroked up her leg, trailing heat over her skin. She had to take a breath in an effort to cool herself off when he asked his question, bracing one hand on the ground behind her as she leaned back slightly.
Sweet mercy, maybe I need to get laid more often, if this is what abstinence does to me. It was ridiculous! Pink shook herself mentally and summoned up another crooked smile. "I mean, that's really the basics, yeah: laps and hoverbikes," she joked wryly. "Typically, the more intense the course is, the more money is on the line, the more people want to watch. Certain racing circuits requite a certain kind of bike, or outlaw specific enhancements, that kinda thing." Her lips twitched, a spark lighting in her eyes, desire starting to be replaced with a more innocent excitement. "I'm a fan of classics, personally. Straightforward bikes, time limit for the race, insane obstacles, and a need for adaptability and quick thinking if you wanna win."
-
"Well, it ain't life and death in the sims, so maybe we can get creative with our obstacles. I'm sure you and me could get up to all kinds of trouble designing hazards and courses," He continued, and while he respected her attempt to cool off he still stroked her leg and met her eyes.
"So what's next then, Pink? You wanna stick around here, take a look at another floor..."
He cocked his head.
"Find a suite, maybe? I hear they have 'em in themes if you wanna be cheesy," he added, with a wry grin on his face.
-
That earned a startled burst of laughter from her, and she leaned back a bit more heavily against her hand to cock her head at him and make a show of looking him up and down.
“Awfully forward of ya, Kayse, dontcha think?” she noted wryly, though the quirk to the corner of her mouth and the glint to her eyes made it apparent that she didn’t think this was a bad thing. At all.
She did sober a bit for a moment though, sucking on the inside of her cheek and casting her gaze away for just a second as she muttered, “I mean, I am supposed to be meeting this contact...”
But of course, the contact hadn’t shown himself yet. And she hadn’t been given a specific time, just “during the grand opening party”. So...what the hell, right?
Pink looked back to him, a proper smile playing at her lips and a challenging gleam in her eyes. “Alright, hot stuff. You have some place special in mind?”
-
He was pretty ready to hear her say "no". She had a contact to meet and Kayse could recognize that this sort of thing was a distraction. Her eyes were a good thing to go by, he could at least spend the night with some great company.
But then, she surprised him for the better. He smiled and shrugged, eyeing her throat for a brief moment before meeting those vibrant pink eyes of hers. He settled on cupping the side of her head and kissing her, short but deep and it was like honey to him.
"Is there more of this place you wanna see?" he asked, curiosity in his eyes. Because yes, sex was great, but how often did you get to go to the grand opening of a virtual megaclub?
"Or do you just wanna go see what kinda themed rooms they have?" he added with a racy grin, and kissed her chin with that.
"Because honestly Pink, you're gorgeous and I'm fine with either one."
-
She didn't miss the way his eyes dipped to the column of her throat, and she couldn't stop the tiniest shiver of anticipation that trickled down her spine at the look. Gods damn, it had really been too long, apparently.
She was curious about the place though, overwhelming though it might have been. With the tiniest hint of a sheepish blush, she tilted her head the other way and suggested, "Maybe...somewhere a little quieter than the dance floor? If there are other floors like this." She gestured to the strange garden around them--which, though lovely, was still a little too crowded for her general tastes, though of course she was willing to make some exceptions for a place like this.
-
He saw her blush, and one half of him grinned while the other half was intrigued! Emotions had a fuzzy time properly reading onto many Sensenet avatars, there were so many ways that an emotion like anger or embarrassment affected somebody and most avatars did a pretty good job. Sometimes people faces looked a little flatter than normal or other times the “emotional display” was jacked up really high and people’s avatars had almost cartoony expressions and super-heated blushes.
But as Pink blushed and made her suggestion, he took a hand and stroked her chin and cheek, mostly to admire just how damn real she looked. She either had to have had a master programmer set her avatar up, or she was running self-imaged, which...
...which was impossible, unless you were using pre-regulation equipment. Equipment built before the SenseConnect Corporation on Cancer put locking chips so only their rigs could access it. Equipment that had no tracing number, no dumplock algorithms, and certainly none of the Mindseye system blocks that forbade allowed users from using their mental images to affect their Sensenet appearance or even the Sensenet itself.
It was the kind of gear he’d kill for!
He stopped geeking out in his head and met her eyes again, leaning in to give her a soft, fleeting kiss before rising to his feet.
“Let’s go, then,” he said, and once she was up and with him he gestured and opened up their private garden booth, once more allowing the sounds of the crowd and soft music in. With a thought, he brought up a map of the tower. Most of the floors, especially the clubs and bars, were absolutely jam-packed full of avatars, the tower itself had almost quadruple digit attendees tonight, but...
“No restaurants, we already ate, no that’s too crowded, uhm... oh!” He came up next to her and leaned his shoulder on hers so she could see his Drive display. It was an advertisement for the tower’s fifty-second floor, which claimed to be a VIP exclusive lounge that featured grand, bombastic displays of simulated luxury.
“The Velvet Glass Lounge is pretty sparse right now. It has its own suites, too,” he said, adding that last part with a little nudge.
“There’s also simrooms that we can rent out, so we can simulate a balcony on Aedolis, or see the Edani plains. Those are a couple of the advertised ones but between you and me I can fiddle with them to make more interesting sims.”
He looked to her.
“What’ll it be?”
-
That way his fingers glided over her skin raised another shiver and deepened her blush another shade or two. Seriously, how did this feel so real? If she hadn't known better, she could have sworn it was real.
Well...was it? In a way?
That...was a disconcerting thought. She decided not to dwell on it.
When he offered up what seemed like far too many options for her to really choose between, she felt her eyes growing progressively wider and wider as she looked over the map he'd brought up. alright, there were some places that were a little quieter, and surely a lounge or a suite--again her blush flared--would offer some privacy...
But then he said "balcony on Aedolis" and "Edani plains". Or even more.
Pink looked up at him, a little bit more of that sharp, sarcastic exterior flaking way in the wake of wide, shining eyes that had earned her namesake. She managed a crooked smile and looped her arm through his companionably, leaning in close.
"Look, spacer, I've lived my whole life underground. Show me the stars."
-
"Stars, easy," he said, meeting those wide, pink eyes of hers. He dipped in to peck her chin and then led her out of their secluded little corner in the statue gardens. It had gotten a little more crowded up there, folks had started to filter into the other parts of the tower.
Kayse glanced around, and he took her into another elevator and hit the floor for the simrooms, about thirteen levels below them. Alone in the elevator again, it was enough to get him remembering their first trip. He came up close to her again, but didn't do much apart from play with the zipper of her racing jacket
"You've had me seeing stars all night, racer girl."
-
Pink chuckled as she watched him play with her zipper before looking up at him slyly through her lashes. "Cheesy," she accused, though her tone made it clear that she quite liked it. Her own hands came to rest lightly on his hips, inching toward him a hair until she could plainly feel the warmth of his body against hers.
"How're those stars treating you then?" she murmured, tilting her head back to look at him and allowing her lips to come tantalizingly close to his once again.
-
She drew him in closer, and he gave her a little smirk as she brought them nearly together. Their lips nearly touched, but Kayse held his discipline and let his hands trail up her sides.
“They’ve treated me pretty right, so far,” he murmured, and he met her eyes.
“We’ve got a few more floors. Kiss me?”
-
“Oh, gladly.”
She rocked up onto her toes to close the last shred of distance between them and claim his mouth eagerly, lips parting quickly against his as she twined her arms almost lazily around his neck. She pressed as close as she could manage, holding him against her firmly as the kiss grew more heated and she allowed her tongue to trace the line of his upper lip.
When she pulled back she was bright eyed and breathless, smiling at him crookedly. Her eyes flickered to the floor number. “Think we have time for one more?”
-
He loved how she kissed him fast and hard and it was exactly what he wanted in that moment. One hand went around her back to hold her while the other found the rear pocket of her pants and he slipped a hand in to cup her buttock through her clothing.
"Think?" he said, and he looked back to the elevator. three floors away and travelling, but just as the number was changing, he raised a hand towards the elevator's control panel and it seemed to just freeze over slightly, and the number was still going, but the digital elevator had been greatly slowed.
"I know we do."
He dove back in to give her another kiss, not really caring that he'd shown her just what kind of computers guy he was. She was a gorgeous stranger and he wanted to drown in her.
-
Pink's eyes widened slightly. Neat trick.
Before she had time to get out more than a "Whoa", he was kissing her again, and she responded eagerly. One hand slid down to mirror his in her back pocket, grabbing at him playfully while the other hand tangled in his hair.
"Mmm..." She shifted closer, sliding her knee in between his legs and giving a soft, testing roll of her hips against his. A tiny moan stuttered in her throat and she paused, panting, to look up at him.
"Is--" She licked her lips. "Is that okay?"
-
His response was to pull her closer, let her ride higher up on his leg, and smash a kiss onto her throat like he was going for some kind of kill move. It was the spontaneity of it that he loved so much. To just find another bright soul with a lot of passion to share.
"Is that okay?"
He lifted her up and sat her on the low handrails beneath the elevator's window, putting her back to the glass.
"Show me how to make out in an elevator on Teinar," he said with a stupid grin before he dove in, taking the opportunity caress her with his hands, from her sides all the way to her thighs.
-
[Feel like we're getting into "M" territory]
"Ah, fuck--"
Pink bit down on a longer curse as he all but attacked her neck while he drew her in and essentially forced her to ride his thigh--which was honestly a lot hotter than it had any right to be. Very inconsiderate, that.
She laughed breathlessly when he lifted her to plop her onto the handrail and she felt cool glass pressing against her back, even through her clothes. His grin drew a crooked, answering smile to her face and she kissed him back hungrily, clutching at his shirt to pull him closer.
"Don't have a whole lot of elevators in Teinar," she gasped when they broke apart for a moment. "Mostly take the stairs. 'Course, those have all sorts of little hidden nooks y'can sneak off to..."
Meeting his eyes, she allowed one hand to trace down his chest and dip low over his stomach, only pausing when she reached the hem of his pants. Gods, this was ridiculous, she felt like a horny teenager. What that the simulation, somehow? Or just...him? This?
"...You want me to?" she asked quietly, dragging two fingertips lightly down the inside of his thigh and then back up to his hip.
-
He wasn't going to lie, when she passed her fingers against his thigh like that, and his eyes widened as he gazed into hers, he felt so turned on he couldn't really say no. Without breaking eye contact, he reached back and once again manipulated their elevator, making their destination the very top floor. Now they had time.
"I'm all yours," he said, cupping the back of her head with one hand as he crushed their lips together and this other found her waist and gripped her nice and tight.
-
Her short laugh as she realized how he'd manipulated the elevator quickly morphed into a muffled moan as his lips caught hers again and he pulled her in tighter. She found herself nearly panting as she squirmed on the handrail to better seat herself and allowed her knees to spread apart, settling to either side of his hips.
Leaning in to kiss him again, harsh and deep and fiery, she let her hand trail up and down his thigh again once more before moving to palm him through the front of his pants. The touch was light, testing, trying to learn what he wanted.
Though she was starting to think she had a pretty good idea.
"Still gonna show me those stars, Kayse?" she whispered into his mouth, and cupped him more fully in her palm.
-
He couldn't help it, he made a tiny sound when she first touched him, a sound that turned into a stifled moan through his teeth.
"You know it, Pink," he answered, and he coursed his hands down her side before his hands went under her shirt and back upwards, stroking her sides and stomach before he leaned in and kissed her chin, jaw, then throat. He knew throat kisses drove her crazy and so he stuck to that contact, kissing and sucking and nipping even as he rolled her shirt up to her collar and then gripped her legs to pull her in closer, slotting their hips together so she could feel his big digital dick throbbing against her in his pants.
"You are, by far... one of the hottest girls I've seen on the Net," he told her, giving his hips a roll against hers as he squeezed her thighs.
"And you haven't even gotten me drunk or drugged yet," he added with a smirk.
-
Pink gasped softly as his mouth returned to her throat--damnit why was she so sensitive there? It felt like it gave him an unfair advantage. She squirmed a bit in her seat on the handrail as he pressed against her, hardly noticing that he'd all but stripped her of her shirt.
"I'll go ahead and take that as a good thing," she laughed breathlessly, sliding her free hand up under his own shirt while she rolled the heel of her palm against him through his clothes. "Maybe that one drug is named after me for a reason."
The teasing was a little less effective with how breathy her voice was, but she didn't really care all that much. She tilted her head to catch his lips again, drawing her hands back up his body to cup his face between her palms.
His hands on her thighs were an oddly steadying presence, and she rolled her hips against him in turn with a soft groan.
Then she abruptly pulled back, still holding his face in her hands, and her lips quirked up on one side. "You're not really planning on getting me naked in this elevator though, are you?"
-
He chuckled, feeling the skin of her sides. With a little digital trickery, he made his fingertips deliciously cool and stroked his fingers down her front, all the way down to the hem of her pants where he slipped his fingers through. He didn’t quite touch her but he used her pants as a grip to pull her into their grinding a little as he cooled his heated kisses on her throat with the frosty tip of his finger.
“It’s really tempting, and the elevator is really slow...” he said, voice heavily suggestive even through the dizzy haze of passion. They’d been going down when he changed the destination to the top, so they had around fifteen floors to go. He met her eyes, and gave her a surprisingly tender kiss.
Coincidentally, the top floor was also the Star’s Crown Penthouse.
A little bashfully, he let her shirt roll back down but he kept stroking the skin underneath. He gave her another kiss, deeper this time, and when he broke away he let his head rest on her shoulder.
“Tell me more about racing,” he murmured, drawing his hands down to her thighs. He didn’t pull his crotch away from hers but he remained still.
“Stuff that’ll make our virtual track authentic...” he continued, and he put a gentle kiss onto the side of her neck.
-
"Oh!"
The sudden chill of his touch almost made her actually squeak, and she tried to glare at him but couldn't manage it for more than a moment or two before her expression shifted back to that heated smirk. She shifted slightly against him, not quite as pointed as before but reminding them both of how close they still pressed together, and sighed into the kiss.
"Neat trick," she muttered as his head came to rest on her shoulder. She drew a hand up his back to stroke her fingers absently through his hair, admiring the color for a moment before she twisted her neck to bring her mouth close to his ear. "Mm...well, it tends to get pretty dangerous. Honestly, some of the draw is the chance of seeing a crash--not sure how that would translate to digital."
She nipped playfully at the shell of his ear, her other hand sliding down to slip into his back pocket, mirroring what he had done earlier. "But the die-hard fans will care more about the bikes themselves than anything else, I'm betting. Y'ever actually seen a Teinari bike?" She let her head fall to the side slightly so he had easier access to her neck, encouraging the attention.
-
"Trust me, it transfers. Simulation's real enough that people forget the stakes are lower," he answered easily, and rather than the searing contact of before he left a gentle smooch on the side of her neck before he came in and made sweet love to her throat with his lips.
Her hand on his ass caused him to press closer to her and he took a moment to really appreciate just how nicely their hips fit together.
"Wouldn't be the first time a dangerous sport's gone digital. On Cancer we race hover-cars and space ships so events in the sim for those things do well," he continued, letting his hands travel down her body so he could mirror her hand placement with one of his own.
He rose up to catch her lips and he couldn't help the pleased, heated moan he made at the taste of her lips.
"Tell me about the bikes..."
-
"Well, they're...mmm..." Her back arched a little further and she automatically tightened her legs on either side of his hips. "They're just...bikes, really. Be easier to show you--"
She paused, a flicker behind her eyes. Was that...possible? Just about everything else seemed to be in this sim world.
But she found she was having a bit of a hard time focusing on that fault with him pressed up against her and his lips teasing at her own, then her neck, then her mouth again. She sighed and let her head roll slightly to the side, flicking her eyes toward the elevator numbers.
She groaned softly, in disappointment this time, and placed a hand on his chest to push him back slightly. "Looks like we're near our stop, Kayse." Her lips were quirked back in that wry smile, and though she ostensibly moved to get down from the handrail, she couldn't help giving another little twitch and roll forward with her hips as she did, her grip on him tightening for a moment.
-
"That we are," said Kayse, although the last word was spoken with a sharp hitch due to the movement of her hips. He liked the hand on his chest and he spared her a final little kiss before he gave her the distance she needed to dismount the rail.
He glanced back and remembered that he'd changed the elevator's destination in order to give them more time to make out. He rest his hands on his waist as he watched her right herself.
"I've heard the bikes are magnetic, that they don't use wheels," he said, genuinely curious despite their carnal outbursts. Only two floors left...
-
"Mhm." Pink was looking up at him with her lips still slightly parted, hand still resting against his chest. He'd given her enough room to get down from the handrail easily enough, but once her feet touched the ground she'd crowded in against him again, reluctant to lose the contact.
His hands on her waist seemed to almost be scalding her through her clothes, despite the faint, perpetual chill that surrounded him. She couldn't stop thinking about the way his voice had hitched as she pressed against him.
"Yeah, the tech works to keep them just off the ground, most of the time. And magnetic suspension means you get almost no drag--not to mention it makes maintenance a hell of a lot easier, which is great if you've got my job." She smiled crookedly, her own eyes flickering toward the floor number for a moment.
-
"I'd bet it does,' Kayse returned, watching her eyes flicker over to the elevator's floor display. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, ignoring the beautiful view as they neared the top of the tower for the view much closer.
"With a persistent, mechanically cohesive simulation, we'd just need enough bandwidth for all the physical calculations. Unless you have schematics of your own to upload, we'd also need someone to design the bikes for the track," he started, and just then the elevator came to a stop.
With a pleasant ding, the doors opened to reveal a short, marble-tiled hallway with a pair of grand double doors at the end.
"Level 50: The Star's Pride Penthouse" came the elevators soothing voice.
"Silly me, I've taken us all the way to the top," he said, although the way he took her hands and brought her out into the hallway revealed the intentional nature behind it.
-
“Do I have schematics?” Pink scoffed, momentarily jerked from her fog of sensation and desire to give him a dry look. “Sweetheart, I’ve got specs for days—“
Her voice cut off in favor of the elevator’s, and she gave him another curious look as he led her out into the hall. “So...this some sort of penthouse suite situation?” she asked blithely, looking around. She kept her grip on his hands, enjoying the extended contact even if the break from heated kissing had allowed her some much needed space to cool off a bit.
-
"It is. The kinda pad celebrities party in," Kayse was quick to add, and he brought her up to the doors and approached the control pad.
"According to this, those big-shot DJs downstairs have this place rented to party in after they're done playing. Party's just getting started downstairs so..."
He coated his hands with some frost and he passed it over the access pad. The door handles started to get frosty.
"We can definitely get a good view from here."
-
Pink watched with interest as the handle began to ice over. She actually shivered a bit as the air around Kayse cooled, and for just a moment her breath clouded white as she exhaled.
"A good view of what?" she piped up, tilting her head back at him again.
-
"Well, the stars of course," Kayse said, and he finally cracked the code on the door. Data connections and wires iced over as he took control of the system, making sure that their intrusion would go unnoticed above all other priorities.
"Oh, there's holothemes! let's see... the DJs picked "Modern Palace," sounds lame, how about..."
The doors made a distinct click as they unlocked.
Kayse, ever mindful, made sure to shake the frost off before he took one of Pink's hands and he opened the door to open it, revealing that the massive penthouse suite had been reconfigured from whatever "Modern Palace" was to instead have a much more vibrant "Outer Space" theme to it.
The living room was spacious and had a connected kitchen/bar, connecting rooms were hidden behind glitzy chrome doors and identified by signs overhead. There was a bedroom, a "simulation chamber," a balcony, and a pair of doors identified as "Awaiting Configuration". The actual decoration of the place went above and beyond. Spherical seats that looked like planets and stars, a stocked bar with all kinds of interesting alien liquors, plush cushions shaped like asteroids and spaceships, the whole nine yards. There was even miniature stars placed in fixtures to act as the light sources of the place.
Kayse chuckled at the aesthetic of it all and looked back to Pink with a raised eyebrow.
"We could probably get a killer view from the balcony," he said, mischief glinting in his eyes.
-
While the room was impressive enough in and of itself, the moment Pink saw the door to the balcony she was already crossing to it. She grabbed for Kayse's sleeve as she did, unthinking, towing him after her until she was standing out in the open--if virtual--air, under starlight.
Her eyes went very, very wide.
"Oh. My. Gods."
Almost woodenly, her hand dropped from his arm. She took another cautious step out onto the balcony, as though afraid it would somehow disappear from beneath her feet. Her head was craned back so she could stare up at the sky, lips parted and eyes shining with what might have been a very brief threat of tears. She raised one hand to her mouth, turning in a slow circle as she just...looked.
-
Needless to say, the sky in the Sensenet was interesting. Because yes, it was a crystal clear view of the stars around Cancer, twinkling brightly and illuminating the humbly lit town beneath the tower. But, since this was also the Sensenet, the tower was high enough to allow one to spot other Sensenet domains floating in the skies above, each an island of its own.
"Yup, that's it all right," Kayse said, preferring to let Pink's jaw hang as she looked up into the skies above. After straightening his sleeve, he stepped up next to her to lean on the railing. The suite's theme was felt even here, and the balcony was styled after the keel of a sleek ship.
"If I find the right programs, we could even go to the Teinar surface," he added, shooting her an adventurous look.
"You look real pretty with that dumbfounded look on your face," he added with a sly grin.
-
"Oh, shut up." She shoved lightly at his shoulder, laughing, but it took another few moments before she could pull her gaze away from the sky to look at him properly. "Look, I know it's not, y'know...what the sky really looks like, but this is about as close as I'm ever likely to get."
Her lips twisted into something a little less joyful, almost...mocking, and she added, "I wouldn't worry about the Teinar surface world. There's a reason we live underground."
She gave herself a little shake and glanced up again, then out, over the--in her opinion--more mundane view that the balcony offered. She shuffled a little closer to Kayse as she did, letting her arm brush his while she leaned out over the rail slightly to just take in the view.
-
Kayse leaned his back against the railing, gazing up to the peak of the tower. When he felt the brush of her arm against his he glanced over, and then turned to match her pose against the railing.
"Pretty little town, this is. You know, some of the new Quantum-Series Sensenet servers can support up to 50,000 fully simulated personalities?"
He gave her a bump with his shoulder.
"That little earpiece you're wearing is a gate to another world. And who knows, if we make enough from simulated hovercycles, well..."
He smiled rather crassly at first, as if humor was his first instinct. But only for a moment, because he couldn't help but understand her.
"We can have a real vacation. You can leave your bunker, and I can finally get off this armpit of a space station."
He turned to face her, still leaning his side on the railing.
"How does that sound, Pink?"
-
She huffed another laugh that was really just as much a sigh. That same bitter twist was back at the edges of her smile, but there was something melancholic rather than cynical behind her eyes.
"Pretty damn good, actually," she answered softly, honestly. Then she gave her head a little shake and glanced up at him sidelong again. "Although that does require that we actually, y'know...make this work." Another little chuckle and she twisted to prop one elbow against the rail so she was better facing him. "And what's this about a we vacation? You don't really know anything about me, Computers Guy. What if I'm actually some old crone?"
The anonymity of her "gate to another world" was nice, but...well, they'd only met earlier that evening, really. There was a certain heady thrill to the whirlwind of it, but she couldn't deny that here--away from the music and the lights and the alcohol--a hint of wariness was starting to creep back in.
-
“Hm, maybe,” Kayse answered easily, but he read her and gave her some space by walking towards the balcony’s bow. He had a hunch that she was using a live image of herself, whether intentionally or not. Maybe it was her inexperience or just the amount of lifelike details of her avatar.
“You’ve been utterly entrancing this whole time, so I wager it wouldn’t be that far off in meatspace,” he said with a slight chuckle, but he gave her a look that said he recognized her trepidation, and then turned to face her as he nestled himself with his back against the railing, posture inviting.
He looked out over the town again, expression straightening out to something more serious.
“I don’t know, I guess I got excited. I don’t... I’ve never really done anything big like this, and I let my emotions run hot alongside my hopes,” he said, and then a wry smile appeared on his face.
-
Pink exhaled a sharp breath as she turned to mirror him, a slight smile still curving at her lips but with less of that bitterness to the edges. "Me neither. Never done something so big before," she chuckled, "About a lot of...this." She gestured widely, ostensibly talking about the sweeping vista before them, but also with a subtle wave of her hand between the two of them on the balcony.
Then the teasing smirk was back and she tilted her head, eyes gleaming. "And don't think I don't know you're buttering me up with flattery. I think we've already established there's a good likelihood of you getting lucky tonight, you don't need to lay it on quite so thick."
She was joking, but there was a slight flush in her cheeks. Utterly entrancing was not typically how people referred to her. It had knocked her off balance, more than she wanted to admit.
So she steered away from it, though not anywhere all that more comfortable, really. "I just..." She blew out another breath, slowly, smile fading as she glanced away. "I need this to work," she admitted quietly. "I really, really need this to work." A sardonic tilt to her smile. "Enough that I'm running this whole thing through some ancient, bootlegged, so-illegal-I-might-disappear rig."
It was a bit of a gamble, but she was pretty confident that he knew that already. She was from Teinar. No outside links aloud, that was the law. He had to know she was using some sketchy shit just to be here.
Cautiously, she stepped a little closer to him. Not quite in his personal space, more edging the borders of it. "Honestly, I think you're my best shot at that. Making this actually happen. Which is insane, because I wasn't even supposed to meet you tonight," she laughed, shaking her head. There was an edge of incredulity to her voice, but also something a little like hope.
-
She lingered on the edge of his personal space, and he simply smiled, and turned his hands upwards against the railing.
"Well, I happen to have a real knack for 'NetSec protocols, so I'd say you're in pretty good hands," he said easily. "Nothing's guaranteed, of course. I know there's an audience, and folks on the SenseNet definitely have credits to spend. It's all there, but the risk..."
He smiled a little wider as he gently pushed off the wall to gently breeze past Pink, skimming his fingers down her wrist before taking her hand with the lightness of a feather. Walking backwards, he met her eyes.
"But that's where the fun is, isn't it? Now come on, let's go see what kind of fancy virtual hooch they've got and see what kinda toys they stocked this place with," Kayse said, letting his smile turn more genuine.
-
Her own smile softened and grew in response to his, and she found herself curling her fingers around his almost instinctively as he guided them back off the balcony and into the suite.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to get me drunk," she teased lightly, that familiar spark of mischief back in her eyes. Then her expression softened a bit at the edges, becoming something more innocently curious, and she asked, "How do you mean, toys?"
Surely they could just...conjure up whatever they wanted, right? Wasn't that how this place worked? What would the suite need to actually have?
Of course, in all likelihood, she knew she probably was just missing something obvious about the SenseNet. Sometimes being Teinari could be a bit of drag, she was learning. At least in this respect.
-
Kayse chuckled to himself, and let his eyes wander around the room as he brought her back inside. Gaining a playful expression, he led her to the bar, pulled a hovering stool out for her, and went behind the bar.
"When you can program any experience or sensation, exclusivity is what makes money," He started, and he turned to face the shelves full of odd and adventurous looking beverages. He settled on a twisting glass stalk that contained a deep red liquid and a cone-shaped flask with a glowing white fizz.
"Different places contain different rules, different variables. In commercial servers like this one, you usually can't access or generate anything that comes from outside of it. Not without the right bypasses, of course."
Expertly turning the two bottles, he poured them out into a tall thin glass to produce a pink, sparkling color. With a smile, Kayse pushed the glass over to Pink, and then spoke as he made one for himself.
"So for instance, people line up for access to Senseclubs like this or to immerse themselves in a game. Or take a dream vacation to an impossible place for a few hours."
As he spoke, he walked out from behind the bar, giving her an inviting glance backwards as he went deeper into the suite.
-
Pink really did try to process what he was saying, but a lot of it was just foreign to her. She thought she understood the basic concepts, at least, so that was something.
"So...a private server might have a lot more...room to play around? Metaphorically?" she asked slowly. A quick smile flashed across her face when he pushed the glass toward her and she took the drink, eyes glinting almost the exact same shade as the alcohol.
"Alright, alright." She stood and moved to follow him. "And that's part of what you're thinking we can sell, isn't it? Exclusivity."
-
"Exactly," Kayse said with a snap of his fingers. He chuckled at her slowly growing comprehension. The bar and balcony portion of the suite gave way to a circular central lounge, with seats floating in zero-gravity and windows that gave stunning views of the solar system's planets as if the room was a ship in orbit. Arranged around the edges of the room were the doors to the bedrooms, as well as two wide doors labelled "Gravity Pool" and "Enviro-Simulator".
"Any no-jack can sit down in a meatspace bar and watch smuggled stan-defs over a drink, but they don't get the smells, the touches, the feelings. Only a Teinari can really know what it's like to see one of those bikes in person, or to feel the heat of a crash or feel the rumble of an engine," he continued.
With a huff, he set himself down on one of the hovering seats, body open and one hand resting on his lap as he gave Pink a smoldering, playful look, inviting her closer.
"We can give the netties something they've never experienced before, something that nobody on the Sensenet has ever experienced or known enough about to create."
And then, he held a hand out to her.
"Until now."
-
Pink nodded slowly, sipping at her drink and enjoying the pleasant tingle that ran down her spine, following the trail of the alcohol through her system. She couldn't tell if that was a SenseNet thing, or just the way the drink was supposed to be.
She did give Kayse a wry look when he settled himself in, obviously inviting, and made a point to look him up and down before taking a step closer.
"Until now," she agreed, eyeing his hand for a long moment before she reached out and slipped hers into his. Grin turning dry, she added as she looked at him, "I hope you're not putting too much faith in me here. I still haven't even met my contact yet, much less actually sold this."
Still, she allowed her fingers to lace through his and squeezed lightly, body language loose and relaxed, encouraging him to pull her closer if he wanted.
-
Oh, he was a sucker for the offer of intimacy, and with her fingers gently curled into his he drew her in closer and onto his lap. The slight momentum set their hovering seat into a light spin as it began orbiting the center of the room.
"I'm just opening your eyes to what you're working with," Kayse said, and despite the heated playfulness in his eyes his hand didn't wander from hers, preferring to play these step-by-step games and to watch the delight grow in her eyes. He put their joined hands on her knee and took in a good portion of his pink cocktail.
"Speaking of, do they even have a way of contacting you?"
-
"Mm." She took another sip of her own drink and cast a quick look down at their hands resting against her knee before she gave his fingers a light squeeze. "Yeah, he said--" she paused, gave him a quick look, then figured, Fuck it, at this point. In for a penny...
She was fairly sure this was illegal, but it's not like it was any more illegal than what she was already doing.
"The rig I'm using apparently has some sort of tracer signal? I'll be honest, I don't entirely understand it." Which of course made her a little uncomfortable, but this whole bid was rather desperate on her part, honestly. "He just said to be here for the club opening, and that he'd find me. So. Lot of faith I'm putting in someone I've never met in person."
Pink huffed, shrugged, then gave him a crooked smile. "No offense."
-
"You have a trace?" came Kayse's immediate question. More a rhetorical one than anything else, he kind of just wanted to repeat that to himself.
The words came with a healthy amount of wariness. She no doubt already pieced together what he meant when he said he was a "cyber security" expert, so to tell him that she had an active trace in her rig was at least cause for slight concern.
"You've got to lose that. That extra transmission channel is one of the easiest ways to get your rig compromised. Sounds odd that your contact would use that instead of just telling you where they'd be."
Still, he didn't let that get in the way of things, as they were. In response to the gentle squeeze of her hand, Kayse pulled her closer to expand the sweet contact between them.
"No offense taken, stranger," Kayse teased back.
-
Pink’s lips went tight and she nodded. “Yeah. I’m really hoping this is the only time I’ll have to use this rig at all...I’m pretty sure it’s some kinda power play on his part, but it’s not like I had many options.”
If she could establish a better connection with her contact, she could use more common—and more legal—methods of communication. At least, she hoped.
But Kayse seemed eager enough to distract her, and in the moment she was more than willing to be distracted. She let him pull her in closer and settled herself with surprising ease into the curve of his side, glancing down at their joined hands again as she started to play idly with his fingers.
“You’re cold,” she murmured absently, almost to herself. Then she flushed a bit and glanced up at him sort of sheepishly. “I mean...your skin—er—“ She coughed and tried to blow past her own awkwardness by turning it into curiosity: “Do you feel that? The snow and everything—doesn’t keeping that on around you make you cold, or is it all aesthetic?”
Maybe curiosity with a hint of sass.
-
"I'd say. Maybe he's trying to make you feel out of your depth," Kayse offered with a conspiratorial raise of his eyebrows. Still, he was all calm smiles and gentle touches. Watching her play with his fingers had a genuine, almost innocent feeling to it. It brought enough color to his cheeks that his cheeks were almost matching hers when she started to speak again.
He narrowed his eyes knowingly at her when she flubbed about the coolness of his skin, but he spared her any comment regarding that and instead focused on her question.
"It lets people know that I'm such a chill guy," he said, and he laughed a little at his own cheesy joke, letting his head rest on her shoulder. A little on purpose, he let the cool tip of his nose brush against her neck as he settled his head there.
"I can have it cool me down of I ever wanted it to, but yeah, I'll admit it's mostly for my personal aesthetic," he said, and then he actually cranked the effect up just a smidgeon so he could give Pink a cool kiss on the jaw, and when he pulled away his breath washed over the warm skin of her neck, promising further icy pleasure.
"Mostly," he added, with a naughty smile.
-
"Oh, that was bad," Pink laughed, shoving his shoulder lightly for the joke before his head came to rest against her own. The brief chill against her throat made her start and shiver, then glance away as her flush heated back up.
Then he kissed her, the warmth of his breath so quickly on the heels of the cool touch making her squirm even as her head tipped back to bare more of her neck almost unconsciously.
"That," she muttered, twisting her head to mock glare at him, "was spectacularly unfair."
-
“I have a distinct feeling…” Kayse started, the words rumbling against the section of throat she so graciously exposed to him. The past times, he’d given her just an inkling, but now he fully accepted the invitation. His lips stamped cool spots, first right in the hollow of her throat and then slowly traveling upwards. Finally, he was kissing her behind the ear, letting out a tiny sound of his own even as his teeth finally caught the shell of her ear.
“…that you prefer the “unfair” ones.”
-
Oh god damnit.
Her fingers clenched in his hair, an instinctive response to the way his mouth moved over her skin. She let her head tilt to the side when he started kissing behind her ear and her nails caught against the nape of his neck.
“….Maybe. A little.” Her lips twitched up on one side and she suddenly twisted to catch his mouth with hers; she pressed him back into the chair, arching up over him and sliding her other hand into his hair to tug lightly, titling his head back into the kiss before biting lightly at his lower lip.
She pulled back, letting her forehead rest against his as she smirked, panting lightly. “Maybe a lot.”
-
Kayse was all kisses and smiles, expression only changing into heated arousal once he felt her nails on his nape. He drew in a sharp breath, and it was that little surprise that kept him off balance and had him seeing stars when she turned into him and all but dominated the seat they shared. His back pressed into the chair and he looked up at her, eyes aglow with excitement and growing passion. It was only for a moment, though, because then she was kissing him and he could only respond by crushing his lips into hers in kind.
When she tugged his hair and ended up tilting him into the kiss, it provoked a heated sound from him and sent a shiver of pure pleasure coursing through him. When it was finally over, Kayse met Pink's eyes as she leaned her forehead on his. One of his hands left her side and it slowly travelled up until he was stroking a hand along her cheek.
"Now that was unfair," he said quietly, and the hand on her side drew her closer against him.
-
Pink smirked. “I don’t hear you complaining,” she pointed out with a slight tilt of her head. She shifted slightly against him, allowing her knees to slide to either side of his hips to settle herself more comfortably in his lap.
Yeah. This was not her usual area. And she really did have a contact to meet. But the idea of pulling away now was more than unappealing, and…well, fuck it. When was the last time she’d done something this irresponsible? Wasn’t she due a little fun?
She swept her hands around to cup his face between her palms and kissed him again; it was a little slower, softer, but lingering as she allowed herself to lean into his chest and shivered a bit when his hand on her side drew her closer.
-
Color rushed to Kayse’s cheeks when she cupped his face in her hands, eyes widening slightly as her chest leaned against his and gods everything was more or less perfect at that moment. From the way she rested against him to the simple, intoxicating feeling of her lingering lips. Kayse found that kiss to be a lifeline and gods, did he not want to let go.
Kayse tilted his head into the kiss, a small adjustment that deepened it, letting out a sigh as the moment seemed infinite. The hand on her cheek slipped downwards, and both hands now travelled along her side. He skimmed over her waist and stroked down her thighs, fingers curling heatedly around the backs of her knees so he could slot her into place against him with a gentle tug.
After an eternity in bliss, he finally needed some air and so parted from her, now panting with her. A giddy smile crept onto his face as he rested his head against her neck, giving her collarbone and lower throat plenty of love before he tilted his head back up, kissed her chin, and then back to her lips.
His hands ended up on her waist again, and he threaded his thumbs through the belt loops on her pants, fingers resting on the small of her back.
-
Her breath grew shallower as he deepened the kiss, then she gasped quietly when he slid his hands around her knees and pulled her in against him. Her body gave a single rock against his before she managed to still herself, her hands gripping his shoulders tightly and pulling him a little more firmly against her.
When they broke apart she gulped air like she’d been drowning, laughing breathlessly at herself. “Sweet stars.” She swallowed thickly and let her head tilt back as he kissed her neck. “I’m—I’m actually a little dizzy…”
Then he was kissing her again, his hands on her waist sealing their bodies together, and she found she didn’t much care if the room was spinning a little. She wrapped one arm around his neck and tilted her head into the kiss to deepen the contact. A tiny sound that was something between a whimper and a moan caught in her throat, and she let her other hand trail slowly down his chest until her palm rested just over one hip, fingers splayed over the dip of his pelvis.
She nipped at his lower lip, then pulled back just far enough to murmur, voice heated and breathy, “You, ah…you want me to, um…?”
-
And when she rocked against him, she’d find something delicious waiting to reward that contact, their intimate kissing serving well to make him plenty aroused already. He groaned into her mouth at the contact, his heat only rising with time. At her comment that she was dizzy, he laughed breathlessly right up until they were kissing again.
“We are orbiting the room,” he added with a steadily growing smile, nearly whispering against her lips from the closeness. A sigh as her hand ran low, but when it came to rest on his pelvis his eyes met hers. He licked his bottom lip to soothe the little nip she’d given him, although he was quick to bite his lips as she spoke.
“You, Racer Girl…”
He leaned in, not to kiss, but this time to groan salaciously into her ear.
“…can do whatever you want to this Computers Guy.”
-
She held his eyes for a moment, head tipped forward slightly toward him and a soft shiver trickling down her spine at the way he bit his lip before he leaned in to murmur in her ear.
“Ohh, fuck,” she groaned quietly, and then twisted to catch his mouth again in a near bruising kiss as her hand slipped under the hem of his shirt. She let her fingertips trail lightly over the planes of his stomach for a moment before her thumb caught at his waistband, then she was pressing herself closer and slipping her hand down between them with a small sound of want panted against his lips.
“That’s…a two-way street y’know,” she murmured into his mouth as she started to stroke gently, almost cautiously. “Open invitation, Kayse…”
-
And she'd find the rest of him plenty cool to the touch as well. His clothes hid a rather well-made physique, although whether it was accurate to him or not didn't even really seem to be a consideration. He was confident enough to use his real body as a template, not that she needed to know that.
She'd find him raring to go for her when her hands finally went low enough. and when she got right to the goods Kayse let out a gentle sigh.
"My favorite kind of invitation," he said, managing to keep cool enough to meet her eyes as she got to know him. He slid his hands under her own shirt in kind, bunching it up near her collar as his hands rose up and across her breasts. With a devious little movement of his hands, he undid her bra and it fell into both of their laps.
Then, both of his hands trailed icy fingers down her sides and stomach before he looked up at her and undid the top button of her pants. With a defiant little smile, he opened up her pants and slipped them low enough so that when he pulled her back down, he slid against her already dampened underclothes and smiled a little wider. He covered one of her hands on his length and angled himself so his tip pressed deliciously against her still-covered womanhood.
"Ohhhhh, shit," he purred.
-
Pink hissed in a sharp breath as his touch skimmed over her, cool fingers against flushed skin. It shouldn't have been as appealing as it was, and she wondered briefly if that had something to do with the simulation.
Then her bra was off, and Kayse was smiling--smirking, really-- as his hands trailed down and started working on her pants. She shifted to accommodate him, stilling the movement of her own hand for a moment and swallowing back a faint, needy sound that rose up in her throat when he pulled her back down against him.
"I--" She swallowed thickly, eyes clenched shut. "I never do this," she whispered, not entirely sure why she was telling him that but for some reason feeling like she had to. "I mean, I never do this."
One-night stands, sure. But the spontaneity of this? The sheer novelty? That was so far outside her usual realm of behavior. They were still mostly dressed for gods' sakes, and it didn't much seem to matter!
That didn't stop her from rocking her hips cautiously against his, once, and then reaching up to tangle her fingers through his hair as the movement sent a pang of icy heat through her and she pulled him into a quick kiss, gasping against his mouth. "Oh, fuck..."
The hand she still wrapped around him curved under his, then pulled away, just far enough to reach for her own underthings and almost frantically push the fabric aside before she rocked forward once more, apparently not much interested in wasting time.
She gasped again, spine arching to press herself further against him as she sank down until their hips met and she shivered from some combination of the coolness of his skin and the contrast of his touch against her own overheated body. Her head dropped into the crook of his shoulder, nails catching at the nape of his neck as her hand clenched instinctively in his hair with a low groan. "Oh, fuck," she repeated, breathless and giddy.
-
"Life's full of firsts," Kayse said, even smiling and resting his head against hers when she repeated her statement. The warmth of her against him was far too delicious against the coolness that surrounded him. His hands, still squeezing her thighs as she rocked against him, dragged her along and made her movements all the more powerful.
He'd had his share of encounters on the Sensenet, but the sheer heat of this moment? The rawness of their desires and the desperation with which she moved and spoke. The fact that they couldn't even wait to take their clothes off made this experience all the sweeter.
"If it helps, you're not really doing this," he offered, the words delivered as a salacious reminder that there would be no consequences. One of his hands tangled into the hair at the nape of her neck, and he smashed his lips to hers for a brief, burning moment.
"I bet you're absolutely soaked back in rea--Ohhh!" he cut off with a sharp groan when she lifted up for another grind but came back down so much sweeter. His groan devolved into a small "Fuck!", just after Pink had said her own.
He felt like she was trying to melt his dick with how hot she was. Pressed against and on top of him like she was, Kayse could only drag his lips along her chin and collar until his head was between her breasts and he was delivering ice-cold nips and kisses, even as his hips started to give insistent, desperate bucks up into her.
-
She found herself laughing breathlessly as he cut off mid-sentence, and she turned her head to kiss the edge of his ear with a playful nip. Then his mouth started marking a trail down her throat to her chest and she let her head fall back with a soft sound of encouragement as her hand came up to cup the back of his neck
"This--" He bucked against her and her voice cut off in a sharp, quickly repressed cry. She swallowed, panted, then tried again a little more breathily, "This...really shouldn't feel as good as it does..."
Against the flush that permeated every inch of her skin, he was freezing. But somehow, here, that just made every touch feel more intense rather than being uncomfortable. Her back arched at the chill of his mouth against her breast and she started to move against him, learning and then matching his rhythm. Her hand at the back of his neck clenched, nails digging in unconsciously, and her other hand dragged a faint line down his back as she struggled to find an anchor.
-
"That feeling--" Kayse started, although he ended up cutting off once again as Pink started to really move with him on the seat. Gods be damned, every part of her was molten and Kayse reckoned that if he'd actually been made of ice, she would have been melting him.
"Is very much mutual," he managed, nipping the flesh of her breast once she dug her nails into his neck. The way she pressed to him, still-clothed and occupying this small seat, the heat was almost suffocating. He let himself soak in her for a few deep moments, hand at the small of her back drifting to her ass so he could really press deep and bring her down on top of him.
After one particularly weighty slam downwards, he bit at her neck, once again wanting to bring a little "unfairness" to their games.
"Pink, please! Don't stop, I'm losing my mind," he panted against her throat.
-
"Sweet stars..." She let her head fall back as he went for her neck again, biting down hard on her bottom lip to swallow back a whimper. "So fucking unfair," she muttered, breathless, but she didn't sound all that upset about it.
She pressed closer when he dragged her down, her shirt riding up again even as her hand slid under his and she hissed appreciatively at the chill against her overheated skin. Her other hand tangled through his hair, holding him tighter to her as he panted against her throat.
Pink laughed, feeling adrift and out of control in a way she'd never expected to like so much. "Oh, sweetheart," she purred, tilting her head so she could press a kiss to his temple. "I've only got one gear, Kayse. Stopping is the last thing on my mind."
She nipped at his ear, then reached up to grip the back of the chair behind him and used the leverage to ride him harder, moving with a force and precision that only came from years of experience in a think-fast-or-die kind of competition.
-
Pink's hands found purchase above Kayse's head and he couldn't help but look up at her in delighted anticipation, because gods yes this is exactly what he wanted. Kayse's icy hands mapped out Pink's sides and back before they both slid up to grab onto her arms so he could hold on to dear life.
Their hovering chair bobbed up and down with the force that she was riding him with and something about the sounds of their sin, muffled just barely by clothing and the sounds they were both making, Kayse was slowly drifting away.
He shrank under her punishing rises and drops. He moved his hips against hers but this moment was all hers as she rode him like a damn hover-cycle.
"Piiiiiink!" he cried out, voice a mixture of rapture and disbelief.
-
"That's right." When he called her name, she practically purred in response. "That's right, sweetheart."
Despite her nerves around this in the beginning, Pink was realizing that the "un-reality" of the situation was...freeing in a way she hadn't fully anticipated. She was bolder than she might have been otherwise, uninhibited, fiercer.
With most of her clothes still on, she didn't really have full range of movement, but she made up for it with speed and precision. She slipped one hand around to the back of his neck as they reached a near frantic pace, and maybe it was her simulated sensitivity or maybe it had really just been too long, but her hips came crashing into his and she tensed, twisting to claim his mouth in a rushed, clumsy kiss and squirming to press as close to him as she could as she peaked hard.
She let herself just go still against him for a breath, though she shivered slightly as she rode through the high. That should have left her overly sensitive, but in the same way the chill of his touch raised shivers but no discomfort, in the simulation it just heightened everything.
She gave a low, incredulous laugh, and tilted her head to nibble at the shell of his ear as she slowly started to rock against him again, her hand around his neck tilting his head back so she had easier access. "You're gonna come so hard you forget your own name," she breathed, reckless and entirely unsure where the words came from. "But I'm gonna make damn sure you remember mine."
Her teeth dragged against the edge of his jaw and her pace picked back up, still trembling around him as she gradually worked herself back up.
-
Kayse let out a surprised gasp when she came to a slamming stop on top of him, and he made a low moan when he felt her tensing and squeezing. Kayse fell into the sloppy kiss with her and he only broke it once he could no longer breathe, parting his mouth from hers with a tug on her lip from his teeth, reluctant to let her go.
As her heat spiked and reached levels never before seen, Kayse seemed ever colder and colder in relation. Concentrated in areas where people would normally get warmer as their blood heated, soothing and chilling like the touch of an ice cube. Kayse was starting to get a sneaking suspicion that this club did something with it's baseline user settings, because even he was lost on why this all felt so good.
As Pink rode out her high, one icy hand gripped her hip an really ground her into their contact as the other trailed down her front so he could splay it over her core, where most of her heat seemed to be coming from.
His eyes rolled up as she started to nibble on the shell of his ear, longer than the normal man's in line with his partial Elven blood. She whispered salaciously in to his ear and he groaned.
''Yes,'' was all he said, repeating the simple word again and lower each time whenever she gave a rock of her hips. Pressed to him llike she was, he was swamped with her heat, and likewise she'd be absolutely immersed in his cold as his arms flew around her. One hand tensed against her back, fingernails leaving icy trails on her skin while the other gripped her ass tight so her could move her just right against him. His mouth found her nipple and he gave the flesh of her breast a chilly bite, looking up to meet her eyes with his face still in her bosom.
''Make me go blind!''
-
When his hand dragged down her front she started shivering, some combination of the chill and anticipation. A slightly ragged gasp escaped her when his touch reached her core, and she gave an instinctive movement of her hips, rolling forward against him in an effort to get more of the feeling.
His arms came around her and she pressed closer, nipping at his ear again as she worked herself back up to her previous pace. Then she felt his teeth against her breast and she groaned, her head falling back. She let him guide her movements, already feeling herself start to climb again. One hand returned to the back of the chair, offering her better leverage as she moved against him, and with the other she tangled her fingers through his hair and held on tight.
Tipping his head back, she claimed his mouth in another searing kiss, panting lightly as she started to tremble--either from the cool touch or her own pleasure, she honestly wasn't sure. "Stars above." She swallowed thickly, then kissed him again, drawing his bottom lip playfully between her teeth for a moment before she broke away to trail kisses along his jaw and down his neck, all the while moving against him with that carefully controlled ferocity.
-
Kayse let out a pleased gasp when she tipped his head back with her grip on his hair, loving the aggressiveness in the moment even if it wasn't normally what he sought out in a partner. Her lips were pure intoxication at this point, causing his head to swim whenever they made contact and icy sparks would fly.
His hand at her core started to rub against her movement, icy fingers aiming for her superheated clit even as he lanced up into her with coolness. His other hand simply clasped onto her hip to help her move faster, harder.
"Oh my god, Pink, I-"
He hissed, and his hand suddenly left her core so he could grip the back of her own neck in turn and slam his lips against hers.
"I'm coming," he gasped against her.
-
Pink found she was really liking the way he said her name like this.
She didn't have much time to dwell on the thought though, the contrast of a chill touch on what felt like the hottest part of her body serving to drag a whimper from her throat as her movements edged toward frantic.
Then he was kissing her, gasping against her mouth, and she found herself clutching at his back and shoulders so tight that she briefly worried her nails might have bitten into skin. She pressed the full length of her body as close to his as she could managed and kissed him back desperately, whispering, "Yes, yes, yes," in the brief moments she had to pull away for air.
-
Indeed, Kayse's eyes somehow went wider when he felt her nails bite into his back and he made whimpers of his own alongside her.
She kept telling him yes and he didn't have to think twice about clapping his hands onto her ass and really slamming her down the last few times before his hips gave a sharp jerk against hers and his peak came ripping through him in pulsing waves of rapture.
And yes, his "peak" was cold, where one would normally expect it to be hot. All he could do was bite his lip until blood welled up against his tooth and nod his head desperately as he kept Pink as close to him as he could.
-
"Oh!"
Well, that was certainly new.
Again, the strange semi-reality of the simulation turned what might have otherwise been a simply odd or even uncomfortable sensation into a lightning bolt of pleasure that arced through her body and left her all but collapsed against him, her head on his shoulder as she panted and tried to come down from the high.
Eventually, she managed to lift her head and kiss him gently, wincing a bit when she tasted blood and remembered she was still clutching at his back. She let her hands slide up to rest lightly on his shoulders and gave him a sheepish look as she pulled back from the kiss.
"I, ah...sorry," she murmured, still distinctly breathless and her eyes just a little hazy. "I'm not normally that, err...intense. I didn't hurt you, did I?"
-
"I'm seein' stars, if that's what you mean," came his dreamy murmur. In the simulation, his split lip healed rather quickly, and by the time he was leaning in again to kiss her after her apology, it was already cleared up.
His hand drew down her side and across her stomach, his eyes momentarily pausing on where they were still joined before he dipped forwards to kiss at her jaw again.
"Not normally that intense? I'm very flattered," he continued, and his hands slid up to her shoulders under her jacket and finally slipped that off of her shoulders. His hands around the small of her back, he looked back up at her.
"Are we still finding that bedroom?" he finally said, and punctuated it with a slow, heated kiss.
"I haven't even seen you naked, racer girl."
-
Pink hummed quietly when he moved to kiss her jaw, letting her head tilt to the side just a bit. She chuckled softly at his response to her apology and murmured, “Don’t let it go too much to your head…”
She shivered a bit as his hand slid over her stomach, then actually gave a quiet groan and let her head fall forward onto his shoulder again when he mentioned a bedroom. They were still locked so closely together, and she couldn’t hide the new flush that rose to her skin at the idea. But…
“You have…no idea how badly I want to say yes,” she sighed, then lifted her head and continued with obvious reluctance, “but I—I do actually have to meet Reese. Preferably sooner than later.” She bit her lip, glancing away. Then she added, a little cautiously, “Maybe…if you’re still interested in going with me, maybe after we could, ah…”
She trailed off, cheeks warm, and glanced down at their hips unconsciously. Dear gods, they really hadn’t even gotten their pants off. Her blush flared a little hotter, but she looked back up at him with a wry smile. “Maybe we could…try for something a little less…rushed?” She let her hands slide up under his shirt a bit, tracing absently along the planes of his stomach. “Not gonna lie, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing ya with this off…”
-
Even though their frantic motions were over, every moment was still tinted with that primal affection. They'd come together so furiously, the oblivion that came after was like no other.
"Mmm, you and me, a bed covered in rose petals," he teased at her mentioning she wanted to try something more intimate later.
"Sounds like heaven on the Net," he continued. He accentuated the fact they were still very much clothed by looping his fingers through Pink's belt loop to hold her hips and ass closer as they basked with one another.
His stomach sucked in just a little at her touch, and Kayse's voice took on a breathless quality.
"Gods, do I want you, too..."
-
Pink couldn't stop the small sound that rose up in her throat when he held her a little closer and the shift reminded her that they were still rather intimately connected--as if she'd needed the reminder.
"Mmm..." She smiled a bit and dropped a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth, part of her wishing she didn't care about the way his voice had gone a little breathless, another part entirely distracted by it. "Seriously," she laughed as she pulled away, "We've gotta go."
She glanced down, then quickly away again, clearing her throat as a flush rose up her neck and dusted her cheeks. "Which, ah, means you have to let me get up." Regaining a bit of her earlier wry humor, she added with a crooked smile, "If you can manage to keep your hands to yourself for a few minutes?"
-
"I'm hardly restraining you," came Kayse's breathy reply, unhooking his fingers from her pants and instead resting the flat palms on her outer thigh, slowly stroking over the fabric. He knew she had to go somewhere, but perhaps he could tempt a little reluctance into her and drag out the moment.
Regardless, he wouldn't resist her if she wanted to pull away from him. Thinking with a little foresight, he spoke up again.
"Shower's that-a-way," he said, motioning behind himself with his head.
"Could also just reset your avatar, but where's the satisfaction in that?"
-
"Mmm... That, and I have absolutely no idea how to reset this thing," Pink said with a small chuckle as she waved her hand in a vague gesture toward her own torso. With a soft groan of reluctance, she finally pushed herself up and off of his lap--shuddering delicately as they slid apart-- and got her feet back under her just a little shakily.
A slight flush painting her neck and cheeks, she fussed with her hair for a moment as though that might do anything to fix her clearly sex-rumpled appearance and glanced back toward where Kayse had indicated the shower. She took a few steps toward it, then paused by the chair to glance down at him sidelong.
Ah, what the hell. She was already late.
"Well?" She cocked her head and smiled. "You gonna join me?"
Without waiting for an answer, she pulled her shirt off over her head and let it drop to the floor behind her as she headed into the suite's bathroom, shimmying out of her pants along the way.
-
Pink slid up off of him and he let her go with merely an “ah, fuck,” on his part at the feeling of a quick slide, followed by his exposure to the air. His icy eyes still held sparks of that same burning passion kindled by their fiery encounter. He took a moment to clear his lungs, brushing a hand back through his sweat-dampened hair. Their tryst might have been over but gods damn him if it still wasn’t reverberating in his mind.
“It’s always better to do it manually, anyways,” Kayse started, and he would’ve gone on to ask her to tell him how the water felt when her sidelong look caught his eyes. In that brief moment, his curiosity about this place’s water simulation was set aside in favor of a more… hands-on experience.
She spoke, and didn’t need to ask him twice. He watched her shimmy out of her pants and make her way into the bathroom. He got up after her, and by the time she was in her underthings he’d already made it to the bathroom door. In a brisk movement, his jacket was shrugged off of his shoulders, disappearing halfway to the ground as he mentally put it into his drive. His shirt went up, over, and then was also flaking away into pixels before it could hit the ground.
He stood there, hands under the hem of his pants for a moment as he appreciated the sight of her, and then his fingers started working them downwards as he narrowed his eyes at her.
-
By the time she reached the shower to turn the water on, she was left in just her underwear, and Kayse was undressed only a few steps behind her. She turned, leaning against the smooth glass of the shower and simply looking at him for a moment, eyes wandering curiously over his form.
She hadn’t exactly been able to take a look before, after all.
The slight flush to her cheeks warmed further as he began stripping off his pants, and she took a fortifying breath before doing the same and letting her panties drop to the bathroom floor—which matched the rest of the suite, designed to look like they were standing on a whirling galaxy of color and light.
Keeping her voice even, she reached back to place her hand under the water. “Feels real,” she noted blithely before stepping into the shower, leaving the glass door open behind her.
-
“Does it?” chirped Kayse, who had just wrangled off the very last of his clothes and carefully stepped into the running shower behind her. With a touch, the shower’s door sealed closed. The glass turned opaque, the bottom and tops lighting up to keep the two of them illuminated in gentle light. Kayse had taken the liberty of switching off his coldness so it wouldn’t feel weird in the shower, and he laid a hand on her back.
He dipped a hand in to scoop some water and let it flow through his fingers.
“Incredible. They’ve got to have the server on two, probably three physics cores.”
He stood close enough behind her to share the water and let it run over his face and front. “No, maybe even four. This actually feels real, holy shit…” he said with a breathless chuckle.
-
“Right?” She tipped her head back to let the water stream over her face, leaning back until she could feel Kayse’s presence behind her, hovering there a moment, then stepping forward under the full cascade of water again.
“Can’t say I know anything about physics cores, but this is definitely one of the swankiest showers I’ve ever stood in, real or otherwise.” She glanced back over her shoulder at him. “See anything we can use to scrub off? Or are we just meant to stand here and hope the water is real enough to get the job done?” she chuckled lightly.
-
"Well, it doesn't have to clean us realistically, we are in a simulation. Maybe the water resets your avatar to its default state, or is programmed to remove anything that isn't "clean," hm?" he offered. He was sorely tempted to take the spot up right behind her, but instead he drifted out in front of her, fingers ghosting along her forearm as he moved past her.
"What's the old adage about a stranger's shower?" he murmured. He turned his focus to the shower itself, extending a hand towards the wall and focusing on drawing out whatever interface it may have. A rather common task for the average Net user, although to Pink it'd probably look like more computer magic as he pulled up a band of holographic controls that went around the shower's interior walls in a ring. It had everything, from water temperature, pressure, soap infusions, romantic lighting, the works.
"Holy shit, this shower's a fucking spaceship," Kayse said with disbelief, chuckling as he turned a holographic dial to raise the water's temperature juuuuust a little.
-
Pink found herself giggling incredulously as she watched him work. “I’ll have to take your word for it,” she said with a crooked grin. “I’ve never seen one of those either.”
She felt the mild increase in temperature and gave a soft noise of approval from low in her throat, closing her eyes as she let the “water” wash over her. “I know you’ve got this whole ice king vibe going on, but you can turn that up a bit. I’m used to high temperatures.”
She blinked water off her lashes to look at him, head tilted so she could pull her hair over one shoulder and card her fingers through it. She swore she felt herself getting cleaner despite the lack of soap or scrubs.