Thread: The Scarlet Crossing (DeliciousLust & darjeeling)

Aurelia had somehow made it back home without the help of a guide though the walk had taken her about an hour. An hour to think back on Mariko and her words, the way her eyes gleamed bright with familiar gold and her hair as dark as her smoky lair had been. She was tantalizing to be sure, and the redhead knew she had not gone away untouched. Even when doused in the cool, fresh air away from the Scarlet Crossing and its ilk, it did little to banish the images that had come when there was little to distract her from them. Beneath the soft glow of the streetlights lining the sidewalk and with her hands shoved deep into her jacket pockets to protect them from the chill, it had been a quiet night. Once or twice she passed by a drunkard or a smoker and more than once she had spied couples lip-locked and pressed into each other. If Aurelia didnt know any better, she would have thought that Fate was playing tricks on her. She cursed Hunter softly beneath her breath, recalling the way he had tugged at her he didnt even have the decency to leave with her either. Unwittingly, her hands clenched together in her pockets. No doubt he was still in the bakemonos den eagerly waiting his turn. At the mere thought, the rest of her journey was somewhat bitter as she brooded, trying so very hard not to think about it yet unable to do anything but and she almost passed by her home, so deep in her thoughts she was. Home was a small apartment on the second floor of a dingy looking building, the floors so close together Aurelia could have jumped from her window and shed land safely on both feet. Home smelled of instant noodles and books and clothing strewn about as she threw her jacket over the only chair in the room. Home looked like the clich hovel of a poor college student and home had never looked so desolate until now. A petty sigh broke through her dry lips as Aurelia collapsed on her creaky bed. The blankets were still messy from this morning, which seemed like aeons ago, and her computer still whirred with life. She reached over to power it down, her finger smashing against the button almost violently before she rolled over to face the scratched up wall. The redhead was desperate to ignore it, but alone and home, Aurelia was acutely aware of her own desire and the way her shorts chafed against her thighs. It made her frown and shake her head. I dont need any of it. Aurelia said to herself, her voice seemed louder to her now when there was only quiet and the gentle chirp of insects bouncing about her windowsill. She didnt miss the music or the raucous sound of laughter and she most certainly did not miss the depraved moans and groans, but she had to admit that speaking with someone like Mariko had been nice. However odd their background was, the woman was interesting, more so than anyone Aurelia had met before. Ever since she had moved away from her parents house and her neighbors who always seemed to terrify her as much as she terrified them, a childs mistake no doubt but at eighteen, the redhead had been more than eager to leave that all behind. If she thought that college life would be any different, she was most certainly proved wrong almost instantly. At the age of twenty-three, Aurelia had yet to have anything worthwhile to show from her studies, having used the money sent by her parents to pay for her bills rather than for her education. She thought it most prudent to spend much of her time at home or elsewhere, eschewing the company of people as much as possible. In Marikos language, it would be safe to say that Aurelia was a hikikomori through and through. Aurelias eyes stung when she shut them, the residue of smoke still lingering but the human girl was determined to sleep. She pressed a pillow to her face, inhaling the familiar musk and exhaustion took her unprepared, unaware and entirely welcome. The dreams her mind spun were of claws and silk and ruby-red lips pure black and white stains on a grey canvas and golden dust floating through the air. It tasted of warmth and obsession and of guilty intrigue, the flavors strange on her tongue but it was a good kind of different and the kind Aurelia wanted to savor more than anything else. So it should not have been to anyones surprise, especially not her own, that Aurelia found herself waking to the sound of squeaking birds and her clothes damp from her own sweat and something more. She banished them both in an icy cold shower but they returned before long and not an hour passed did Mariko not invade her thoughts. Her return to the Scarlet Crossing had not been on whim, but had been born out of something else entirely. The second night occurred much like the first, the men still faceless to her and ignored as she pushed her way through to greet the bakemono. Aurelia had asked her questions, to which Mariko would answer some and wave away the others and the redhead would never ask the same thing twice. She was always unwilling yet wanting to give in to the monsters seductive beckons, but shed leave before she could. This happened again the next night, then the next and the next until a full week had passed and it had become something of a ritual for Aurelia. Of Hunter, the hikikomori did not notice though it was likely she had missed him she had found another to pass her time with and perhaps it was due to Marikos reciprocated interest that had Aurelia wanting. Sometimes she was emboldened and queried the monster brusquely, other times she was content in simply waiting until the bakemono was done. Never did she sit and watch like a voyeur, she held too much respect for herself and for her new found addiction. It was to her great chagrin that one night after two weeks, there was no sign of the bakemono or the crowd of men. The place had seemingly been abandoned, leaving only the platform and subtle swinging light overhead. Aurelia had not lingered long, not in the room or at the Crossing. She had fled straight home, her heart pounding and her face bright red as she scolded herself for being disappointed. Was she really so desperate and needy that the disappearance of a creature so scandalous had shocked her to her core? Aurelia did not sleep that night she merely lay awake and stared at the ceiling, contemplating her life choices and innumerable queries of why , differing in context but always beginning the same way swam about her head like drowning fish. For one reason or another, she swore to herself that she would piece herself back together. Three days had passed with Aurelia hefting an empty backpack to her college with her sunglasses perched upon her nose to hide away the bright sheen of her eyes. Her hair was a little more difficult to hide but thankfully the color was not so surprising even if the crimson was as natural as any color could hope to be. The lectures were dull and the people surrounding her even duller. Her resolve was fading as fast as her time with Mariko, even if the bakemono was far from a distant memory. Aurelia had not returned to the Crossing since that night, but as fate might have it, as it did the first time, her path lead her directly to the monster and not in a way the human was expecting. The hair was different, the dress different and scholarly but Aurelia had laid her eyes too many times on the monster girls form to forget it so easily. The tail had turned the corner and Aurelia had gone speeding after it and, forgetting herself, touched and grasped hold of the bakemono for the first time. Aurelia's eyes blazed and she was very much intent on spinning the woman around by the shoulder as a breathy accusation of You ! would come spilling forth in an almost carnal growl from her lips.