Dance With Me

~PSICLONE~
*Rikky waits almost nervously outside the wreckroom door, dressed in his training sweats. He wasn't too pleased about this whole deal, he didn't WANT to spar with Venin... she was brutal and offered him little recourse... but Scratch said she could play with him (Rikky wasn't too darn happy about THAT either, certain the Old man was playing favorites). So far, Rikky has endured Venin a few times in this capacity and she was getting worse each time. While she hasn't said it aloud, he gets the eerie feeling she's using him for something... as a guinea pig... and he can guess for whom it might be, for others would not go the extremes, or even some of the measures, she went through to /hurt/ him and gauge the reactions. Another god-awful day of this. He'd rather be with Rika who didn't run tests on him with electrical currents. With a sigh he leans on the wall, quite a bit early (if only so she wouldn't yell at him for being ONLY on time), and waits... waits for another /joyful/ day with Old Scratch's bitch daughter*

~VENIN~
*she turns the monitor off and stands, hands reaching above her head as she stretches, her back arching as she leans backwards her feet travelling over her head as she completes the flip...She should be going, after all she had another appointment with the clone today....she had found these sessions extremely useful, she just hoped that all the data she was gathering would actually work on Aerik when she encountered him..she knew of course that the fighting style would be different, but she didn't care about that...she wanted the physical weaknesses, she wanted to take out the body, because she knew she couldn't touch the mind...not unless he attacked her mind first...and he wasn't stupid enough to try that.......a faint thought plays briefly in the back of her mind, intertwined with her other plans to destroy Aerik, but she quickly shunts it aside....and makes her way down the hallway towards the wreckroom...An eyebrow raises as she sees the clone leaning against the wall...he's early* If you have time to get here early then you should have time to be practicing...*she walks over to the programmming station a cold smile on her lips and begins typing in a code.....this time she carries no visible weapons, no tazers....all she is wearing is standard GUARD issue training apparel..today she has other plans*

I already warmed up and worked out, /Yvette/. *He rather spits her name, without actually meaning to, like an insult. He watches her type in a program and waits for the door to raise so he can enter, though with some tripidation. Her usual implements of torture weren't on her this day and he arches a brow at that, not sure what it means. He's not foolish enough to think it means its an easy day or she's relented in anyway, it just makes him more on-guard (not that he ever dropped his guard around her)* I have been waiting for /you/. *he almost sticks his nose up at her, flouncing away from her and folding his arms over his lean chest, which has become more muscular with the rigorous demands Venin has been pushing on him. He has a supernatural strength already, even willowy he's far stronger than a human, but she doesn't seem to care about that, forcing hideous things on him like /weight lifting/ which he doesn't think he needs. His body was made to be slender, but his musculature was beginning to show the signs of the workouts... far more cut and defined than his kind would ever be, whip-like... the physique of one who dealt with rapiers... like a gymnast. He taps his foot as he waits and prepares, mentally, for what the witch might have in store. Its never been pleasant, and he's sure some of her methods are against the Geneva Code /somewhere/... something about cruel and unusual punishments. But nevertheless, GUARD-loyal, he does as told... for now*

*she simply looks over at him and continues to type in her code then walks over towards the opening door.... her gaze roams freely over him as he walks ahead of her..judging and weighing as she always does....he is a specimen...nothing more....she stops as they enter the blank room and waits for the door to close before speaking* Today will be different...I have read your recon reports and your impersonations of your orignal are lacking, you are missing essential components to becoming him (( more like have too many, like emotions and conscience))...Today you /will/ be Eclipse, you will think like him, you will act like him..and you will attack me as he would any member of GUARD that came for him....*that in itself is different, most of the time she throws him on the defense as she experiments....never giving him the top edge.......she steps back towards the wall* Venin-AerikWinters Practice Sequence 3a *the computer responds and they are in the tavern....Aeriks home turf...she had taken a long time developing this program, figuring out what oddities or creatures might be around for Aeriks use, and now she thought she had it, or if not...then a close approximation*Begin.

*Rikky... /blinks/ at her orders. /Be AERIK/??? Dear god, the last thing he wanted to do. He's fought so hard NOT to be Aerik any longer, that of course, the command makes him bristle, offended. His large eyes narrow sharply, displeased. And how the hell was he supposed to know how that psycho would react?? But then the scene shifts and he's... he's... what is THIS? He's only been /outside/ the tavern, when Jesse gave him the stargazing gift. Creatures roam around he's never seen before... dwarves, elves, strange things. This doesn't bother him, he's used to seeing oddities just in the complex, but he laughs, unable to help it* A faerie tale, Venin? What the hell IS this? *A bar, some table and chairs, stairs leading up to rooms, a fireplace... its cozy and strange, and he knows it from memories he's stolen but nothing else. Memories he now has to pull to the fore, because he's never really bothered with them, mostly taken from Sai Canaan, some from Jesse, but he tries and tries hard to place himself in Aerik's shoes. Problem is, he's /never/ done a true job of acting as Aerik, he doesn't have enough to go on having never met the man and never being in his head. He doesn't even know that Aerik is genuinely insane. A deep breath... he'll play at this for now because she's managed to pique his curiosity, and his posture changes... an entire tranformation occurs even though he doesn't alter in the least. Shoulders go back, the boy pulled to full height, an impressive one, at that. He speaks a short command...* Image application as stored in files... Aerik Winters. *a hologram closes over him, hides a sweatsuit with elegant grey attire, jewels on his head and from his ears... his hair he doesn't worry about because he hadn't gotten it re-cut yet, his brows raise, smooth, lids become heavier... a subtle arrogant cast masks his face... and for all the world, he looks exactly like Eclipse. Gestures, languid, lazy grace, posture, all of it. But /acting/ like him? That remains to be seen because no one he's mindraped truly understood or could even predict Aerik's actions* He is mute. I am not. Would you prefer his mindspeech or my verbal capabilities? *he breaks character for the moment, waiting for her preference*

*she chuckles mirthlessly at Rikkys reaction* /This/ is your originals home *she looks at him, eyes narrowing slightly* Your research is obviously not as complex as you led people to believe on your forays..*Arms cross over her chest as she assesses him..the posture, the look, the attitude...those are all correct....but obviously he's missing things, major things....this might not have been as good as it seemed* What /have/ you been doing on these forays? *an eyebrow raises at the question...normally she would shoot him down for asking such...but for now, she is after all trying to appear a litle nicer, she lets it slide* That I will leave to you.

*A perfect brow arches, in exact duplication of his /original's/ as Venin calls him, and he answers in his chosen manner, signature, too, matching all but perfectly*MS*() My home is where I deem it to be, and hardly confined to any one place so easily marked() *he's back in character, answering her as he believes Aerik might*()The complexity of research is hardly the issue. I am thorough *he'll brook no argument, for neither would Aerik, who believes in himself too greatly for such a thing* As circumstance allows. And if this is my home, Yvette, then you have quite breached etiquette, for I did not invite you() *he smiles then, that certain, infuriating little gesture Aerik often displays, and moves slightly, hands behind his back, and just a little closer... small, graceful, assured steps*()To what, then, would I owe this highly dubious pleasure?()

*she chuckles and simply stands there, arms folded across her chest....she had known what form of communication he would choose, but there was one minor problem..unless she lowered her shields enough, she couldn't hear him....she watches him, then slowly approaches and circles, examining him, catching his moves then finally she stops behind him* congratulations Mr. Winters, you seem to have the arrogance and the stance down perfectly, I thought that would be beyond your capability * a compliment from her is an exceedingly rare thing...but when she does dole them out they are sincere*Though your chosen form of communication for this is exceedingly fallable.

*Again, Rikky responds as Aerik might and in his manner... she wants Aerik, after all. And if she wanted it this close to the actual truth, she would have to deal with it, for certainly Aerik wouldn't alter his own methods to fits /hers/. Even Rikky knows that, knows the arrogance, the pride. A bastard, really, conceeding to none, changing for none. She'll just have to /not hear/ him*MS*()My form is not the one frought with failure, but your own. I highly doubt you have anything of interest to say anyway, so then this conversation is at an end, is it not?() *His left brow arches high, high, and elegantly so... with an arrogant smirk, one that mocks and taunts and dismisses Venin as being a lower, inferior creature, Aerik turns away, moving for the steps that would lead him upstairs, hands still behind his back and.... she couldn't see it. Couldn't sense it either most likely, but as Rikky has gleaned from minds and can now do, his TK shield is up high and tight, streamlined to his skin, so it wouldn't show up on sensory perception if such a thing is even within her abilities... it might be, were it a shell, but it is not. He even allows his scent to exit the shield, so the knowledge of the TK might be unknown*

*as he approaches the stairs she lightly applauds* Well done Aerik, you've forced me to conceed....you do know the bastard well, for once I am impressed with you....your acting skills are superb...though your knowledge is lacking *she turns towards the bar and goes behind it, coming up with two beers...simulated, but close enough...after all, he is technically underage* I think step one of your training is now complete...you exceeded my expectations...Eclipse would never attack me, he would not see me as a threat..and I highly doubt he would surrender that advantage and attack first....*she pops open the beer and offers one over, a strange smile on her lips* Aerik you have graduated to my next level of training.

*Aerik turns, glancing at her over his shoulder... he eyes the beer (which he's never tastes and somowhow doubts he'd even like, though all the TV ads made it -seem- quite attractive) and raises both brows, turning more fully and folding his arms over his chest, his expression subtle, as always, but one of mock-offense and disbelief*MS*() You honestly think I would /stoop/ to such a beverage? I am hardly of your rugged coarseness and lumberjack charm, Yvette() *its almost instinctive, this knowledge... Aerik would never be so... rude and base as to imbibe... /beer/. Wine... that was more his style. And yet, Yvette was acting as though she'd countermanded her imperative, which she had not, meaning his facade was not yet to be dropped. Simon didn't say. And it was /highly/ doubtful she'd ever offer a drink... even were he dying and unless it was poisoned water... to /Aerik/. And yet again... something about this whole happenstance was strangely and vaguely like he and Jesse's shield session... he was /not/ about to be hit in the face by /Yvette/. She'd have to do better than /this/*

*she simply looks at him and shakes her head* What you prefer champagne? I think we can rummage some of that up if you want *she bends over..digging behind the bar* Nope didn't simulate any of that...darn it and I thought I did pretty good *she shrugs as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out the pack of smokes*oh well...you're underage anyhow *the smoke dangles from her lip as she lights it , a curl of smoke around her head as she looks at the lighter, the same one Scratch had given her after Rikky had broken hers...her gaze travels from the lighter to Rikky as she slides the lighter once more into her pocket* you don't trust me do you?

*MS*() Ours has always been a history of... mutual distaste, has it not?() *his eyes narrow in amusement and his posture doesn't change save that Aerik leans a little, his back against the wall next to him, and his eyes are bright under the silken spill of his black, black bangs*()You are not opening your mind to me, nor did I expect you to do so, but understand this... your incongruous actions and speech are noted. You are not so clever as you might think. And while I find it amusing in the way of a fumbling comedian, it will not draw me in to you() *Aerik is... receiving impressions. He does note all of this, and it puts him on edge... this is not the Venin he has been forced to endure the last few sessions. He keenly observes the changes. Part of her current training, a ploy? Perhaps... but something more comes from Rikky now, something not Aerik and not consciously done. His eyes open up and spill his emotions, his gestures speak silently but definitely to her, his body whispers in the strangest and softest of ways... and were she to look down or away, she might not catch any of it... /You came at me first with wicked things, things of pain... you sought to find my weaknesses and enjoyed my discomfort. All this I understand and can appreciate, but do not forget, mortal woman.... that such insults to my person are remembered and shall be returned, as I am sure *you* understand... and would expect no less. But this... /this/ is the greatest insult you have done me yet.../ What insult is unclear (maybe the lack of champagne?) and the silent words trickle away into the shadows...*

*She tips back the beer, a snarl of disgust crossing her face as she leans over the bar to spit is out* That is disgusting...millions of dollars spent and we can't simulate a decent be...er * as she's talking she looks back towards Rikky the last words trailing off as she somehow catches the last part of his 'speech'..how the hell he did that is the first thing that comes to her mind, the second is the implied threat...and she smiles coldly, knowing that that comes only from Rikky...Aerik would never threaten her as such...but the fact that she 'knew' what he was saying was almost scary....she knew damn well her shields were still up...none of her thoughts show on her face as she carelessly tosses the remains of the bottle into the sink* How'd you do that?

*A vague look of amusement crosses Aerik's face at her disgust at the beer. /Good/. Stuff was awful anyway, but so very suited to /Yvette/. And she's right, such threats would never come from Aerik, certainly never aloud or where she would know of them, at any rate. The lack of expression on her face as she tosses the can away screams volume to one such as Rikky. Hiding. He smiles*MS()come now, Yvette, all your training has, surely, taught you to be more specific and detailed than /that/. () *a pause and Aerik answers with a smirk on his lips, though mentally, knowing she won't hear the response*()How does one do anything, daughter of Scratch?()

*she turns back to him and leans on the bar*I can't hear anything...though I'm certain you're continuing to hurl insults or barbs at me...and technically you can do it, because I gave you an order to become Aerik and you have done that grandly *a slight smile creases her lips* though you have proven beyond a doubt that more of Eclipse resides within this Aerik clone than you choose to admit.

*... Well /that/ wasn't going to work, was it? She hasn't yet recanted her command to stop being Aerik... she wanted Aerik... so Rikky doesn't understand why she keeps talking to her as though he were Rikky. And yes, more resides of Aerik in Rikky than he might realize, or is comfortable with, but all that was besides the point. If she didn't want /Aerik/ then why not tell him to stop? Maybe this was more against the twin than he knows, he can't be sure, but to complete an Aerik impersonation as she required, Rikky, nowadays, must go pretty far within himself to pull it off, so he cocks his head at her, blinks once and slowly, shielding those large, lovely shadowgold eyes, and smiles faintly as he shifts just a little for better comfort, arms still folded across his chest*MS*()You are a strange woman, Yvette() What did she expect? It would be the same if she met Aerik... she couldn't hear /him/ either. Instead, Rikky glances around the tavern and its strange patrons, taking it all in, filing it away. He might like to see this for real someday. Idly he wonders if the bartender she programmed will charge her for the hideous beer, then he looks back to the woman and raises both brows elegantly*MS*()Well. This is going no where. You must be real fun at parties. But if you have no other business with me, I will be on my way() *then he turns again and starts heading back upstairs, deciding on some obscure room he might enter*

*she pushes herself slowly moving towards the base of the stairs as she watches every gesture the clone makes, studying every muscle twitch, every slight nuance...a cold smirk creases her lips as he turns and heads up the stairs* End Simulation! *her voice seems to echo loudly in the room and the illusion drops* Very well done, though you took longer to depart than he would have...*she shakes her head* and that insult was way below anything he would have done.

*Perched on some real part of the set up, it being a blend of illusion and solid structures, Rikky turns and raises his brows at Yvette. Was he to take it this meant he was free from acting? But something has subtly changed in Rikky, and he smiles, eyes bright, speaking from his throat as Aerik could not* Has Simon then said? *his smile changes to a smirk, as cold as her own, and her gaze he matches, unblinking. He could hold this way for a very, very long time, able to wet his eyes on mental command, and it seems he's quite content now to see how long she can match his eyes and still not flinch or turn away* I am not Aerik. I am not my brother. Make no mistake about that, Yvette. I certainly have not.

There is no simon, that is a game, much like you are playing now *her tone is almost bored as she lazily blinks, refusing to play the staring contest*ahhh, but you are *she chuckles* every piece of DNA is identical, every neuron is the same....you are created from the tiniest piece of him...*she chuckles* replicated in every way save one, and that was a mistake on the part of our scientists....if they knew he couldn't speak, then they wouldn't have deigned to give you speech...after all, you are only a tool, an experimental one at that.

*Well of course it was a game... and as far as Rikky is concerned, Yvette is playing right along, but... he smiles* As are you. But you are losing, so therefore you wish to change the rules. *he grins fiercely at her refusal to the stare him down, which is a victory, and he crows silently at it. Still he doesn't look away, he doesn't blink, his gaze bores into her whether she wishes to look at him or not. And his eyes become a physical weight, so that even if she looks away, she will feel him, quite palpably, with his gaze on her* I am a twin, yes, I do not deny that. But as human twins are genetically identical and yet separate people, so are he and I. We are not the same. *as for the voice... well, yes and so? It doesn't hold any impact over Rikky who's already heard and known this. It means nothing to him. And the tool... wasn't that the first thing they told him when he awoke in the incutube? He knew there had been many others, destroyed now, hideous mistakes. He had been perfect (or so they thought) and they'd stopped there* And what, exactly, do you mean to gain by telling me what I already know? *one brow now arched in amusment. He's finding her digs rather humorous and wholly unbecoming her*

Always change the rules to suit yourself and you will always win *but she hasn't looked away, not really....she's just not, paying attention..as if it wasn't worth it....as for his gaze, she doesn't feel it, she knows it there, staring, but that doesn't bother her...all her life she has been watched, and examined and critiqued more so than ever since she returned to GUARD* but you're not identical twins *she chuckles* you are a clone, a photocopy..twins have variances, clones do not *she leans up against a wall* just trying to figure out what its like to know you're a copy of a monster.

*he smiles... too sweet to be called viciously, but something of it is there, something knowing* And you call me the copy of a monster, when your own processes fall along the lines of a demoness'. Congratulations, perhaps there is hope for you yet. *oddly enough, he means it. All of it. Though she phrased it differently, it was indeed an old adage among the lords of his people. And while she might not be paying attention, he doesn't alter his vision and he does not blink, and the weight of his gaze becomes heavier, like steel or cables. He is patient, and he can hold out longer than she can, he is certain of this. His voice alters, however, and becomes softer, more crooning, as though speaking to an ignorant child* I have a varience, given by your own doctors, and which you have just admitted... I have voice of my own. Therefore, by this default alone, I am not a carbon copy. As for monster, such is in the eye of the one who watches and their own particular morals or ethics. Among some, he would not be a monster. And besides... *his voice lowers again, pitched like soft music* One could ask the same of you, daughter of Scratch.

*she chuckles* a demoness am I? *she nods breifly*I should thank you, I have been called many thing, but demoness aint one of them *after being confined, held in one tiny area...walking the knife edge of sanity, such heavy scrutinity may weigh, but it doesn't affect her* Yes, a mistake did cause a slight variance, but that is only a minor structural variance, as minor as refacing a house.....the rest is identical *once more a mirthless chuckle leaves her* Are you calling my father a monster? or are you complimenting me?

Take you pick. I rather like you father. Perhaps that means I rather like you. *And maybe its the truth, for her cunning and coldness and cruelty struck some kind of chord deep within him, in buried parts, parts that well now, like oozing blood droplets, to the surface of his extravagent and gorgeous form. Something stirs within him, vicious in answer to her vicious, but not in a human manner, for no human could match its subtle grace and rhythm. He moves, then, and his motions seem like water, like an unearthly dance, though he moves only a slight amount, and Eshva charms begin to unravel themselves... magic beating upon the uncaring surface of the Wreck Room, in waves, like wheat bending, a sea of reeds, towards Yvette* You are mistaken, though I take no offense at this, though I am certain it would serve your pleasure that I was offended. Be that as it may, for the mind of a human will see what it wishes and not feel or see what is truly there. *Eshva magic, indeed... a soothing charm, such a small one, and something of what Rika witnessed bubbles below the surface of the pale skin of the clone, who is not like his brother. His gaze he holds, but as he does so, he descends the stairs that lead no where, moves in that dance-like way (a dance that, in days past, has charmed even wild, brutish beasts to calmness and placidity, taking them to their knees and to dipping their heads in reverence and gentleness though it be not in their nature). He steps ever closer, watching carefully, unblinking, some strange joy moving within him, and the dance comes from his heart. His hair is a veil, and it swirls about him... his steps make no sound as if he were air. Shadows, even here, coalesce and lend more to his approach. It seems he is intent, without knowing it, to charm this woman. Bewitch her, entrance her. Magic of another place and another time, known to other peoples though they lived on this world... ancient as the fear of the dark, ancient as the fear of the snares of those who dwelt in darkness.... and as unescapable as needing to breath or drink water to survive. After so long a time of ignorance and disbelief, for Rikky himself doesn't even quite believe and maybe Yvette, too, it is almost certain that such warnings as mothers give their daughters, or elders give children, would have been forgotten, swept aside to science, and the those warnings, then, ineffectual. Perhaps something deep and primal stirs in Yvette now, screams something to her, but, in the web of such a charm, unprepared against it, would she heed this call? Could she? Back when Eshva danced on the Earths, even then, when people knew such things, mortals never coulds resist the elemental, insideously subtle charms of the clone's people*

*A mirthless smile graces pressed lips as her eyes narrow coldly....her senses on a knife edge as they sense something different, something unknown....perhaps it was instinct that alerted her, or an unnatural sense..but she picks up something....something she had been waiting for....for weeks she had pushing prodding, poking, all to no avail...so today she had tried something different, not knowing what she had planned until it occured...and today she been rewarded... she watches him closely almost as if entranced, mesmerized by the dance......drawn to it....yet a part of her cries out in fear, a primal part that remembers the long ago a part that wants to quiver in fear and cower in the corner...and another part answers....a part perhaps equally as old, a warrior .....fingernails dig deeply into flesh, bringing pain and blood.... and more importantly awarenesss*

*He can sense her resistance to the charm... and is duly impressed. There were few, /few/ EVER in history of man and demons who could accomplish that, and most of those only the most powerful and aware of magicians. He doesn't cease his dance, adds more to it, now fascinated by own motions, truly unaware of their power, as Yvette hadn't succumbed (though could she keep her refusal? Impossible for him to know), and he continues in it, almost seeming to forget Venin stands at the ready.... no, he's lost in this, emotions welling to the top of his heart, an strange elemental innocence, a fierce, rising sensual passion. He'll dance for hours, perhaps, until he's tired and weakened, but his TK shield remains strong. Its not a human's dance or in the manner of them, but one of air and mystery and power and sorcery. It's primal but graceful in the extreme, his limbs water and shadow, his mane a cascade of inky, living darkness. Bright sand-colored eyes aglow, laughter in them... that laughter is silent, but Yvette, watching, would know it, hear it (or un-hear it), and for the moment, now, in this dance, he seems like a child, perhaps even malicious as one (as all children are cruel), but enraptured with himself, his movements, his emotions, which also bubble upwards and make themselves apparent in each gesture. Sinewy, sensuous, snake-like, its an odd, rare, terrifying beauty he displays.... but Yvette stymies his dance, because he smells something thick, like a taste congealing in his mouth, an iron tang, and he blinks at her from between his swirling hair veil, and he smiles strangely. His eyes speak this: You bleed for me.... how delightful of you, Yvette. Bloodletting is an ancient form of demon worship, and worship a form of regard, and regard a form of love. You love me after all... should I love you then? Perhaps I shall. Or perhaps I do.*

*she forces herself to blink, to avert her gaze, yet she finds herself continually drawn towards him...this is what she had wanted....but was it, was it truly what she desired..she had been seeking some weakness of this body..one she could use, perhaps draw out...one that maybe even Aerik himself was unaware of...but this is not what she sought..this was unlike anything she had encountered, or heard of....a strange fascination, or is that entrancement, keeps calling to her drawing her towards him and she fights it...attempting to deny the instinct which wars to follow him, the desire to fawn over him, fall at his feet in supplication....nails dig deeper as she fights for control....she wants to run, call for help, wake up....do anything to avoid this....this thing she had no name for, this thing which reeked of the unknown...she should signal someone, but she can't....her entire concentration focused on avoiding his 'spell'...thats all she could call it...a spell...*no * one soft word, issued with effort as she continues to struggle, against both instinct and reason...her body building up a charge....a charge she has plans for, if she can get her body and mind to cooperate*

*Perhaps the stalwart young woman has forgotten, but she's attacked him with her power before, hurt him, and more than once. By now, he can clone it, is immune to it. But then, neither of them are thinking quite right at the moment. The situation has oddly, inexplicably, altered. His TK shield is still up, but even were it not, he is closer to his sorcerous roots than he ever has been, and Eshva speed, even slow, is faster than the human eye. He's always been quick, but could she strike him should she try? At this point, doubtful, and for more than one reason, any or which might prove an attack impossible. Her resistance spurs him on, for he's alive now, truly alive, and emotions twist deep with in him, strange ones, and instinctively, he leans into them, each twirl a further push inward to enjoy the sensation, no matter what it might be; fear, anger, amusement... anything. Passions entwine him, a sensual abandonment he's never known before... he can feel in his heart, his mind, his blood, his loins. The dance doesn't become more frenzied, but it reflects more of this pure, elemental, innocent experiencing, marveling at itself and himself, reaching to feel her, too, seeing her differently now. His form flickers, once, becomes insubtantial and shadowy, and it seems like a flame... a black flame in which any shape might be realized. Then he is Rikky again, pale skin aglow in some strange non-existent sheen. Does he seek to bind her? To be sure. But even moreso, he's enchanting himself, feeling this, laughter rising from his eyes. Yes... he speaks to her without sound. ... Yes, you wish to. I wish you to. I smell your blood, I feel your sting rising. But had I wished to harm you, certainly I would have done so by now. Oh, how you worship me, how I feel you... fear and anger and other lovely things. Yes, I wish you to... Almost sweetly disjointed, but replete with meanings. Her fearful avoidance, her desire to join him, hatred maybe, even... all of this washes over him and gives him more to dance to, more to experience, until he's dancing /her/, too, all of it and both of them.... alive and laughing*

*slowly, as if weighted by lead an arm reaches up and a blast is unleashed.....one aimed not at him, but at the stairs behind him...perhaps this one effort was allowed to her for as it ends she find herself once more drawn to him, the dance pulling her in, his own emotions swirling around her, absorbing, subsuming her own of anger and fear.....emotions and feeling seem to surround her, senses which to her are now foreign, things she remembered feeling once...but now they are gone, buried....her gaze is drawn to his as he seems to transform, a shape with a shape, without a true form, yet still there..then once more his own form returns, yet somehow it is more... everything wars within her....a conflict unlike any she had previously encountered...before it had been her own mind...now it was primordial instinct against which she fought.. fought and lost....her mind still racing as her body seems to betray her and join him*

*The blast sears past his shoulder, glances off his shield in part, and Rikky smiles beautifully. The blast was meant to bypass him, he knows this very well, and without pause, he continues his dance, things swirling like a dream, he living a dream, Venin simply a dream in the shape of a woman. Life is a burning, moving, dream-state, Rikky /alive/ in it, innocent maliciousness, child-like, leaning towards Venin and then away, untouching. Emotions, Rikky's and Rikky dancing Yvette's, like a gentle whirlwind about them both. The entire room darkened slightly, not night, but as if a storm were rolling in where none could truly be. But despite what is occuring, he isn't actually /seeking/ anything from venin, he's lost in his own marvelous existence, and it would be hard, hard indeed, not to be affected by this maelstrom of newly unleashed emotion, this delight and love in it he dances, and of course, the sorcerous nature of his body, made of magic. He laughs with his eyes and his body at Venin's conflict, which he can clearly see/feel, her agony in it, which is amusing to him... and when she joins him in dancing, even though her actions are pale and terribly clumsy compared to his.... things change. Like a storm it blows in, like a tidalwave it crashes around them both, gale winds of magic and wonderment, Rikky now seeking something... like faerie rings of old, but never so crude, he seeks to also lose her in this, let her /feel/ this awesomeness, which is awful and awe-full. Never so sweetly and wickedly has a fury like this been let loose in this complex (or perhaps anywhere for aeons), it spins from the Eshva even as he spins, hair like a silken net of night. Feel this... his wishes fly from him like spidery webs of rapture... dance this and dream with me.... /live/.... strange, perhaps, his desires, but simple as much as they are not. Binding her, entangling her or trying to, wanting her to experience even a fraction of what he knows...*

*her mind struggles as her body twists and turns, moving with him to the unheard beat...her movements becoming stiffer and clumsier as she fights...she doesn't fight to stop her body, merely to move it differently to a different rythm and perhaps manage to break this spell and she starts to win, her body seeming to break from his rhythm...then once more she is assailed... by yet another aspect of the spell as she finds herself enwrapped in the emotion....emotion she recognizes...but cannot feel, it slides from as it would a skin sloughing off....emotions are unrecognizable to her, or perhaps they no longer recognize her...they are as foreign to her as that woman who was a R.UN.ner....recognized, but unknown*

*Venin's fight is valiant and impressive (and confusing, for who would wish /not/ to truly -live-, if even for a moment? Or so Rikky thinks), but one tiny, tiny, even unknown fact is overlooked between the two dancers... the one who welcomes it and the one who rails against it... and that is this: No unnatural is fully human. Each and every one of them became what they are, empowered and set apart from their human brethren, by a drop of Darke blood. Those of the twins... of /demons/. How much can she fight when even her own blood might answer this call? For certainly it would, and perhaps she would feel that kind of tug, as dark calls to dark, unknown but definitely, or perhaps it awakens and stirs her to dance in this frenzy... after all, what of like blood could deny such a call? Maybe whatever kind of blood moves through Venin. Rikky can, again, keenly sense her fight, and also, in this state, keenly feel her inability to experience emotions. Rikky almost stops at this revelation. Empty... she is empty and terrible and dead. But he keeps dancing, stronger than before, smiling as he does so, half-focused on her, now, half-focused on himself and the conflaguration stealing throughout him. He smiles because he finds a wicked delight in Yvette's inward battle. And the Eshva dances on...*

*...and she does feel the call...a stirring in her blood that terrifies her, an answering that is unknown and unwanted.....blood answers the call and stirs her body to once more fall into the rythm..the unheard pattern of movemen...a tongue darts out moistening dry lips...as she feels herself once more slipping back into the dance* Ro...* a faint whisper and once more she moistens lips...struggling to release words* Aeri...*this time a little louder though still her body seems to continue with a mind of its own* Winters * A full word this time...almost at normal volume and just the issuance of it seems to break some of the spell and her motions slow* ATTENTION! *harsh gravelly word forced with considerable effort through reluctant lips..not even approaching a parade bellow....issued more with a desperate force than authority....but the issuance fully breaks the spell, if only for a brief second*

*Rikky stops as the word cuts through the glamour, and he blinks blankly at Venin for a moment, almost confused. If he didn't have the compullsions, he would never have stalled. She killed his dream... his dream is gone and the emotions which pumped through him as he danced. Venin is no longer a dream which is in the shape of a woman, but simply a woman. /Clay/. Clumsy. He is displeased. His eyes speak of this, his gentle frown. But then he laughs, aloud, terribly amused at her reaction* You are afraid. *this is all he says as his eyes dance merrily, bright in the shadows of his hair, and more gleams in his eyes. She won't be able to command such a stop from him again*

*she almost sighs in relief as he stops his unearthly dance...her gaze narrowing as his own displeasure shows through...she didn't know what, or who was now before her...but she knew now that she wasn't going to get much more of use from...not now..it seemed Aeriks clone had done something different, gone a different direction...and how she was going to put... put this compulsion on report, she didn't know...but she had to* This training session is over Mr. Aerik Winters, report to the weight room * She doesn't respond to his words, they are meaningless...she knew she was afraid...and that in itself bothered her....no rookie should be able to surprise her, let alone scare her...but this rookie was definitely different...how she wasn't quite sure*

Yes, sir.*His large eyes gleam further at her imperative, and he smiles, silkily, then turns and strolls effortlessly towards the exit and beyond that, to the weight room to do a workout he didn't need. He was already far stronger than a human, faster too. His eyes don't speak in the language of the Eshva, but they speak nonetheless, for sometimes even humans could communicate this way, and even understand it. Meaning in an expression or glance or the hold of the head.../I will not forget this. I will not forget you danced/. A smirk, but he obeys orders and has soon egressed entirely, musing over the events, what he's learned and seen, and he ponders it all in his heart, which beats wildly from the exertions of the dance. Even demons can tire...*