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| No title. |
| (2013-05-04 - 2013-05-04) |
| No description. |
| Cirra Constantine | The flying city of Archades, pristine and magical in every way on the surface. Beneth the surface however it is rife with political and beuracratic skullduggery. In the evening the city lights up with magicite powered lights, but one window high in the goverment tower burns and oil lamp as some works long into the night. Cirra Constantine, recently apointed temporary Judge Magister is working through te night to get caught up on rules, proceedures and paperwork that comes with the position. Unlike usual she has foregone wearing armor and is wearing a simple grey blouse and slacks as she leans back in a chair at a fancy looking desk, the cool spring breeze blowing in through her open window. |
| Maximilien | Archades is one of the most heavily-defended cities in the worlds. The Judges and guards of Archades are known to be among the best around; clever, keen-eyed professional soldiers in a nation of professional soldiers, the Archadian Empire is not to be trifled with. Even Maximilien Amadeus Renaud-Sylvianne - the infamous Phantom Thief MARS - knows better than to *trifle with them. His intrusion here is careful and purposeful; he keeps to the shadows and the roofs that the Archadians don't scour, dancing behind the back of soldiers and leaving nothing but a whispered trail behind him. Archadia is among the best in the world for security; Max is among the best in the world at breaking through it. His destination doesn't take him long to reach. Max slips up the side of the wall casually as a soldier comes by, dangling just above the man motionlessly; when the soldier leaves, he resumes his climb upwards. Max slips into the windowsill a moment later, removing the bouquet of lillies from between his teeth; he crosses his arms, settling in against the wall to admire for a moment. She'd notice him eventually, after all. |
| Cirra Constantine | Cirra flips a page over, perusing hte contents written therein. She taps a pen against her lips and makes a mark on the page. "Are you just going to stand there all night?" she asks without looking up. "OR are you waiting for me to call the gaurds so you can have a merry chase across the rooftops?" |
| Maximilien | "I am, to be quite honest, surprised you have not done so already," Max replies cheerfully as he pushes off the wall and moves over to her desk. The tall Frenchman tilts his head to the side, looking over her shoulder at what it is she's actually reading; just a quick skim, nothing more. Then he sets the lillies down on her desk, somewhere not terribly obtrusive. "Felicitations, ma chere; your new appointment is quite prestigious." Max pauses for a moment, then shakes his head. That wasn't what he was here for. He was here to move on with his life, or so he'd told himself...but, well. It's very hard to look at someone you care about and convince yourself that you don't care about them anymore, even if they never cared about you to begin with. "It seems to agree with you, at least. I have not seen you out of your armor since that night; you look beautiful." It was funny, how both of the women who captured his heart and imagination looked their best when they were hard at work. Perhaps something about a real career - enforcing the law, and really *believing* in the law* - was just more romantic to him, given his own relationship with most systems of legislature. "...bonsoir," he adds, belatedly, and somewhat uncharacteristically awkwardly; he's fumbling a bit as he tries to steel his nerve. He's fumbling a bit, mostly because he's failing. That blouse is unfair. |
| Cirra Constantine | "You would be gone before they arrived, if that was what you wanted." she sets down the pen and turns in her chair to look at Max, one hand held up for her to rest her cheek on while she crosses her legs. her other arm resting on the chair arm. "Suits me? I feel like I've been vaulted far ahead of my understanding." she frowns. "And I /know/ the Senate did not completely approve of this." |
| Maximilien | "True though that is, your acceptance of that fact amuses me greatly." Max looks around briefly for something he can sit on that isn't going to offend her, pulling a chair over next to her a moment later. He grins. "It is as if you are accepting me as a fact of life, and that is...entertaining, if not as heartwarming as I would perhaps hope." Max leans back a bit, his fingers going to his thin chin as he looks at her. "Oui. It suits you; the look in your eyes is as fierce as ever. Or, perhaps, I simply find powerful woman appealing." Max shrugs, then frowns. "But is this not the dream of every Judge? The power, the prestige, the station? I thought that Archadia's Judge Magisters were an organization vaunted beyond compare within the Empire's walls." He purses his lips, carefully looking into her eyes. He had so much trouble reading her; that was part of the appeal, after all, the appeal that he was trying so hard to deny and... He shakes his head, breaking his own gaze. "Je m'excuse. Perhaps I am speaking out of turn, but...why would you ever feel that you are incapable of this? You work as hard and are as fierce and uncompromising as any Judge I have known; moreso, even. Certainly more competent than many." Max waves a hand. "I simply cannot imagine why you, of all people, would find yourself unsuited to this task. Then again, perhaps I am...not objective enough an observer, given my..." Max breaks his gaze again, shaking his head fiercely before staring out the window at the city itself. He leaves the last word dangling; in truth, Max is afraid that if he says it, he will fall back into his old habits, his old torments, his old prisons. He is a creature of habit, despite his unpredictability; he finds comfort in the familiar, even in misery, and the misery of Cirra Constantine is a very sweet and appealing one for him indeed. |
| Cirra Constantine | Cirra is... attractive. She's aware of this, but wether she goes to the trouble to look good or if it's just some how nature (or possibly UNnatural) is impossible to say. "Accepting reality is how we ensure we actually know how to proceed." she comments, she doesn't even stop Max from taking a seat, not even when it's next to her. "You are here, I could expend energy try to chase you off - and I would if I thought you were up to no good - but it seems like you've come just to see me." she lifts her chin a little as if thinking that was amusing. Cirra turns her head to face Max with those same fierce eyes. "Perhaps it is their dream, and mine too. But I had every intention of /earning/ it. This feels like someone has thrown me a huanch of meat like I was a starving cat out of pity. Or worse." Cirra frowns, not the kind of frown she gives Max. This is the one where she is thinking, where the hweels are turning and the Judge is seeing invisible chess pieces. "Someone is /using/ me." |
| Maximilien | Cirra /is/ attractive; Max has made it plain in every encounter with her just how attractive he finds her. Always the gentleman about it - never the lewd looks or whistles or catcalls, but the well-mannered and polite attractiveness of a French gentleman. He was beginning to wonder if the catcalls would have more effect. Though it would probably just make her angrier. Max folds forward as she talks, his elbows against the table, his hands before his mouth. She mentions feeling like she was thrown a haunch of meat, like she's being used; Max just frowns further. "And you believe that whoever is using you is doing so without the approval of your Senate, meaning that you fear you are being used for...undue or potentially harmful ends." "You fear that you might be part of something much larger and more dangerous than a simple promotion, then? That someone is out to use you to hurt the Empire you so love?" |
| Cirra Constantine | Catcalls might have cause Cirra to stop being so retrained and gentle. Yes I said she has been restrained and gentle. Cirra humphs, "Oh I suspect that it's entirely in the Empire's best interests, from someone's point of view. Just not in /mine/. Gabaranth says the Senate approved my apointment, but that doesn't mean the *whole* senate did." She lifts up her hand and flips her hair over her shoulder. "They know all about me, after all." |
| Maximilien | Perhaps Max might even try at some point. "Then why do you oppose it? If it's in the Empire's best interests, does it not benefit you, in the end? Even if it is not...what you want, or what you believe you need, at least you are being used to aid your country. Is that not what you desired, when you became a Judge - to become a tool of your government and work without toil for its benefit?" There's no judgement (ha ha) in Max's voice, no damning condemnation of her actions or of the legal system in general. Max has never viewed the law as his antagonist; on a good number of occasions, he even aided the law, exposing and revealing secrets that hurt other people in the process of his thefts. Ironically, Max has always considered the law a sort of partner, an unwilling ally in his own goals. So Cirra's decisions, and his dissection thereof, is not one of disapproval or disagreement; rather, it is the cold, factual, logical way Max approaches *everything* that isn't Cirra Constantine (and to a lesser extent, Jihl Nabaat), breaking down the situation as clearly as he can. It's probably a shame he never went into law. Still, that failure to keep himself wholly objective creeps in again. It probably has something to do with the flip of her hair. "What do they know about you, that would hurt you so?" |
| Cirra Constantine | Cirra's expression turns feirce, "Do you think I am completely selfless?" she crosses her arms as she stares at Max. "I want to help Archades, but I am a Judge because /I/ want it, not my country. If someone is using me as a pawn, I won't allow it." The Judge hehs and shuts her eyes as Max asks what could be used against. She leans back in her chair. "I'm suprised someone like you has't gone and found out for yourself." She really expected Max to use his skills for his obsession with her. "I am not entirely..." she opens her eyes and stares at the wall. "... human anymore." |
| Maximilien | "Non, I do not. No human being is entirely selfless, in my experience; any who claim to be such are generally liars. But that begs the question, ma chere - why /are/ you a Judge? What is it you wanted from Archadia?" Cirra closes her eyes and laughs, and Max looks puzzled for a moment. Then he frowns. "Believe it or not, I have been trying *quite* hard in the last few weeks to rid myself of the thoughts that circle about you. Digging into your past and violating your privacy is, in fact, not terribly high on my list of priorities." Cirra says something about not being human, and Max's frown shifts lower. He reaches out, quietly, to touch her cheek - to offer some form of comfort about something he has no depth or understanding of. "You look quite human to me," Max replies, "And you feel quite human under my fingers. I believe your heart is still human, if also...diamond. What is it about you, then, that makes you so inhuman, that it would hurt you to have such revealed?" |
| Cirra Constantine | Cirra looks back as her cheek is touched, startled that Max would touch her, but not aparently angry. "Power." she replies, but not in that way that implies meglomania or an egocentric. It is actually quiet honest. Her eyes flick down to Max's hand, "Because without power, the ones with power will just take everything." Eyes flick back up to meet Max's, "I agreed to have Nethicite infused in to my body. I agreed to it, but ever since then some people that were my superiors have been... offended." |
| Maximilien | Max's fingers stay there for a very long moment as he listens to her, as his eyes settle onto hers. She doesn't lash out, and that surprises him more than anything, especially since at this range he probably couldn't evade her without some serious luck..and she could just reach over and kiss him, which brought with it its own problems. If she leaned over and dragged him into a kiss he'd probably be stuck there until the authorities came to arrest him. The...the authorities who were under his control. This was not really a good idea at all. She says something, and Max's eyes widen just a bit. His professionalism was always weak around Cirra; he always had trouble with this sort of thing around her, especially restraining surprise. But this isn't just surprise; this is realization. Slow, dawning realization. His fingers move against her cheek slightly. "...your family." He murmurs, as he puts the pieces together, the last one finally on the table. |
| Cirra Constantine | Cirra could take advantadge of the situation a dozen different ways. She's not entirely sure why she hasn't yet. She looks away as Max puts it all together. Though he doesn't know specificaly why Cirra holds that wound so close, and she prefers it that way. "So there you have it, I am no great person. I am just weak." |
| Maximilien | His fingers slip off her cheek as she looks away, and Max shakes his head. "If seeking power to protect what you cared for is weakness, then we are both weak, ma chere, and I have no cause nor reason to judge the beautiful judge." He still remembers opening himself to her twice over - once when he thought she was suffering, and to a much greater extent, when he thought he was going to die. Max leans forward; for a moment, it seems like he's going to kiss her. He doesn't; he just gets close enough to her that she can see it, the tiny flecks of shadow that dance in his eyes, the cost he's paid and continues to pay each day. "Everyone, ma chere, is weak in their own ways. I do not think wanting to be stronger is something to be ashamed of, and I do not think any less of you for it." |
| Cirra Constantine | Cirra looks up at Max's eyes, the little flecks of darkness making her eyes narrow, but only for a moment. Thats when Cirra grabs Max's collar. Is she finnaly going to beat him for dearing to get into her personal space? Drain him of his life force and let the gaurds drag him away? Or...kiss him without draining his life. That is probably the most suprising outcome. |
| Maximilien | She grabs him by the collar, and Max's eyes widen for a moment. A host of thoughts run through his head, most of them unpleasant and worrying; Cirra was a powerful and dangerous woman who could literally kill him with a kiss, and Max was a...well, the phrase /fragile/ was doing him too much justice. Was she going to defenestrate him? Had he stepped over his boundaries? Had he done something- -apparently very right. Cirra's lips find his; Max's eyes widen even further, as he expects to feel the power of the shadows draw away his life. When he doesn't, he reaches forward, gently, and hooks his arms around her neck. White-hot anger mixed with dark self-loathing goes shooting through his mind as he enjoys the kiss; when she finally pulls away (he is not strong enough to break her hold on his collar regardless, so he may as well enjoy it), he looks away from her. "That was wonderful. Though I confess I am confused as to what I said that made you so happy, I...am pleased that whatever I said had such an effect." Great job getting over her, he thinks to himself bitterly. |
| Cirra Constantine | Cirra pulls back after a minute, it is kind of a long minute though. "The truth, perhaps." she muses and uses a finger to wipe her bottom lip then rubs her fingertip with her thumb as she looks at it. "Perhpas now that you are not acting like a schoolboy with a crush I can see how you actually are. And the real Mximilien is far more enticing then the act." Eyes flick up to Max's again and she pulls him closer again, "What will you do?" |
| Maximilien | % Max's hand comes up and runs through his hair as he stares at her. "You," Max begins after a moment, actually *fumbling* over the words as he tries to gather his thoughts - it isn't easy, between the guilt and the delight and all the other mingling cauldron of emotions in his heart. "Are the most...confounding woman I have ever met, do you know that?" The mask slips again, and internally, he attempts to push it back up...and then just stops. "Oh," Max replies quietly as she draws him closer, "I...I do not know." Hate himself. Loathe himself. Have a long talk with Jihl tomorrow. Have a very long talk with Jihl tomorrow. "You are one of the very very few people who can truly take me off-guard, and that means that, for once, I am not in control of my life - a state I am not at all familiar with. It, makes it difficult to plan." Inside, he is screaming about vulnerabilities, about guilt, about all sorts of things. Outwardly, well, she's got him up next to her, and there's not much Max is able (or willing) to do about that but kiss her again. |
| Cirra Constantine | "Being inscrutable is important in my line of work." Cirra says with a straight face, which cracks into a smile. "But sometimes you just can't plan for anything. I certainly didn't plan for you-" then she's kissed, and returns it with the most candel wax melting, toe curling, hair on the back of your neck raising kiss she can manage, and when she pulls away again it's pulling Max's lip between her's. |