2014.02.19 - The Black King finds his Consort

So a big week long vacation by train, then a few weeks for them both to recover, get caught up on various professional obligations that sure to have mounted up for both Sebastian Shaw and Millie Collins. But the vacation had at the very least put a spring in Shaw's step for those following weeks.
He made a few phone calls and soon his estranged son had to return to Japan on important business. He wouldn't be a problem for a while now. That meant it was once again time for Sebastian Shaw to go on the offensive, to plan for the future rather than react to threats.
And so he sent Tessa on a much deserved vacation and arranged to get exactly what he wanted and what he had wanted for a while now.
That's not to say that in those few weeks that he never saw or spoke with Millie, far from it. They had had their share of dates over the month, just nothing more than your normal set of evenings together: restaurants, movies, performances, gala openings, charity events and the odd night just staying in and doing nothing but being in each others company.
Tonight was going to be different, he told Millie to get dressed up and be ready to meet him at 5:00. Once there, they went for a handsome cab ride through central park as they had champagne as they looked at the lovely scenary.
After that they went to a five-star restaurant's ballroom that was rented out just for the two of them. They served wine and the most amazing food either could imagine.
Then it was to Broadway where balcony seats to Millie's favorite musical were to be had, along with some more champagne.
It was now approaching 9pm and they had just arrived at Rockefeller Central at the Ice Skating rink. The night was not over. It was just beginning.
A whirlwind of activity! The night started early and won't ned till late surely! Millie enjoyed the calmer times more than the public outings, but this special night? She gasped at the carriage, eyes lighting up. She giggled over champagne, and seemed younger than even her current years. She ate heartily, complaining of the workout she will need to do later, and if she ends up fate and unemployed it is totally Sebastian's fault! But the two danced much of dinner away in circles and delightful slow dances!
But oh the musical! Laughter, tears, and cheers! At a few points, off-key Millie would very quietly sing along with the songs! She loved My Fair Lady, a classic that she truly adored.
It is the ice skating rink that makes her blink however. "I hope if we are ice skating, you have a chance of clothes for me?" Millie's voice is teasing, after all, the woman has a beautiful and only slightly revealing gown on, as she dares just a little for Sebastian as she knows he likes that sort of thing. Her jewerly is lovely and not overdone, each piece carefully selected. Her make-up is professionally done by her own hand, though she had to touch it up later after the plate when she smuged some of it with tears during the play.
"Of course I do, Millie." Shaw said with a smile and opened the trunk of limo they had arrived in, "As much as spontaneity has its advantages, it always pays to plan a bit ahead."
He pulled out a shopping bag from a rather high end clothes shop that happen to fit the beautiful young model he had been courting for nearly 10 months now. They weren't anything special, just very warm clothes that would be much more easy to move in for ice skating as well as a pair of skates that would fit her feet perfectly as well.
He handed the bag to Millie and says, "You'll find the changing room has been reserved for you at the moment." As has half the ice-rink, though Shaw hasn't mentioned that yet.
Millie nods, laughing quietly. "Really Sebastian. Well, least I didn't have to worry about Tessa borrowing my key from you to get my clothes!" She winks at Sebastian and when they enter the building, she will seperate to head to the changing room to change, and gush a bit over the clothes. Alright, so she likes clothes!
When she returns she will find Sebastian waiting for her, still in his suit and over coat, but wearing a pair of iceskates of his own. He held out his hand to her and said, "Unfortunately my favors with the new mayor of the city could only get me half the rink for an hour. I hope It's not too disappointing."
Sure enough city workers had put a series of rope barriers partitioning half the rink off. The side with the fountain and golden statue was empty of people, strictly for Sebastian and his lady love to use at their discretion.
A funny look at Millie, "You need not rent even half, I'm fine with blending into the crowd Sebastian," she says honestly. She then tsks. "You should use favors to help others more." But that is the extent of her lecture, it goes no further. Luckily, as a model, Millie is used to being stared at, though getting used to adorning Sebastian's arm with his over-the-top nature has taken some getting used to still...even then, she may never truely be used to it. Still, she is happy to follow out onto the ice, though a little unsteadily. She laughs, "It has been years since I have done this, I suspect I will need to find my feet again."
"Blending in is for other nights. Tonight is different," Sebastian said with a bit of a smile as he allowed Millie to use him to steady herself, enhanced mutant biology and all that jazz meant that even though he himself hadn't skated in a decade he had no problem being on the ice himself.
"And the reason he owed me a favor was because I helped him push through some budgetary motions to help fund some of the poorer school districts," Shaw couldn't help but say. Yes, there probably wasn't a single politician in the city who didn't owe him favors. And Yes, he often used those favors for his own selfish desires, but he didn't always. Not since Millie had come into his life, "But I get your point."
A smirk, "On both points."
He was feeling rather elated and younger than he usually felt tonight. It may surprise Millie, depending on how close she had to hold onto him, that his pulse was literally racing at the moment.
"Well, that's a good thing to owe favors on, and this is a nice little repayment," Millie says, sounding more approving now. She is starting to like the mayor more now. She then pokes your side playfully as she starts to skate again. A little shakily at first, but she starts to get her skating feet again! She is a very athletic individual to begin with after all. "You seem way to happy to be ice skating, I didn't realize you loved it so much Sebastian." She sounds gently amused.
"What can I say, it must be the company," He said with a bit lower of baritone in his voice than he normally would, it was his seductive voice. It usually only had one purpose but Sebastian had stopped trying to get public sex out of her for a bit now so it's unlikely why he said it.
He looks down at his own feet, doing well enough but by no means the same level of athletic prowess that his lady love had, "Funny enough, ice skating is not something I normal find the time to do. Athletic endeavors were always a distant second to other things. I only learned how to play Tennis and Squash and Golf because so many of my peers played and it was a good way to close deals."
Millie blushes a bit at that voice. She always does, and obviously, beyond a chaste kiss there is NO making out in public! Not even the Hellfire Club! Many would whisper about why Sebastian was with such a prude really! However, Millie just saw it as respect. "You should enjoy life more Sebastian. Even with your aging, one never knows with life." Her expression saddening for a moment, but she forces the thoughts away. She relaxes her grip on Sebastian's arm, moving to skate hand-in-hand instead.
A short pause from Sebastian there. Many of the people who knew Sebastian Shaw would argue that point. To people like Lex Luthor, Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, Sebastian was an overwrought hedonist that should -slow down- in his enjoyment of life rather than increase it. But some of that was part of Sebastian's past that is politely not mentioned. Discussions of past lovers and conquests would spoil the mood for sure.
He does laugh after that though, "You tell the man who drinks nearly a bottle of scotch a day, four cigars a day and owns the most exclusive and revered gentleman's club in the city, that he needs to enjoy life more. That's quite a statement Ms. Collins."
He manages to get himself to skate backwards for a second so he can look at her directly as he holds her had, "But perhaps your right, maybe I just didn't know how to enjoy life correctly. Perhaps I'll need some one to stick around and show me how."
To Millie though that isn't enjoying life, that is losing onself so they don't truly live life. A big difference to her. "That's not living life, those are addictions darling," Millie advises. She then smirks, "What am I, your babysitter?" Leave it to Millie to get a wee bit of a kick out of the age thing, well...when Shinobi isn't there to make it harsher by being older than her.
"We'll I prefer cheerleader, but you refused to wear the outfit," Shaw said with a smirk the whole time. Yes the age thing was there, that's why he liked reminded Millie that there is the mind of a dirty old man in there sometimes.
Shaw then frowned for a moment and then smiled, "I wasn't thinking either of those things actually. But I've got plans tonight, your not going to get me to rush them Ms. Collins. Everything in it's own time."
"Ooooh, cheerleader? Seriously?" Millie laughs at that. "Maybe if you wear a Sherlock Holmes get-up, I always did find him absolutely dashing!" She winks playfully at that. Though the serious frown from Sebastian has Millie look a little worried. "Is everything alright?"
Shaw smiled and pulled Millie close to him as they skated, "Nothing is wrong, my love. Just learning how to live. Remembering what it's like. I guess I have spent more than my fair share of time in board rooms and gentlemen's clubs working on backdoor deals that change the world without anyone knowing it."
He let go of Millie's hand just long enough to skate back from her and then to her other side, using his stored kinetic energy to enhance him enough to pull off his fancy skating, "For a long time, I had forgotten that there were still regular people out there."
"I wonder how worth-while they are, when they are backdoor deals," sounding concern. Millie always does worry about Sebastian! But she leans up carefully while on the skates to kiss his cheek. But then she's laughing. "I'm regular? I'm not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing." She's just giving poor Sebastian a hard time as he skates about her. She claps her hands, before Millie reaches out to take his hand again, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Shaw looked at his watch as he came back over to her. It was nearly 10:30pm "Backdoor deals..." he paused. The evil conservative in love with the filthy liberal. Oh there is going to be a reason they won't talk politics or business in the coming years. Instead he smiled to Millie, resisting the urge to call her naive. That would be a mood killer, no mood killers tonight.
He took both her hands into his and pulled them to his lips and kissed them. Smiling the whole time, "You're not regular. You just helped me remember that it's not all about the elite. Thank makes you... supernal, preternatural," he paused looking for the right words, "That makes you Millie Collins."
As the looped around he said, "Now if you'll indulge me one last time tonight, mi amour. We have one last stop."
In many ways though, she is naive, very naive. But she is idealistic, and idealism does make things happen sometimes. Millie doesn't complain about the topic change AT ALL. She then laughs, "I have a super power. Making Sebastian Shaw human," her teasing lightly, but there is a gentle light to her eyes of happiness. She mmmms, "Do we now? So I get to change again?" She then squeezes his hand again and whispers, "I love you too."
"You can stay in this if you like. Where we are going there is going to be no one else. Just you and me," he says with a smile helping her out of the ice rink, "But that dress you were wearing earlier was rather intoxicating."
He gave her that little turned on look he would give her... near all the time, the man was in love after all and said, "I'll leave it to you."
A soft laugh at that, "Well," as Mille wobbly spins on those skates, "I shall stay in this so we can leave sooner then. Just let me grab that said dress, so it doesn't go to waste," she teases Sebastian.
And as the two get back to the limo after recovering Millie's earlier dress. It drives the two of them to the Freedom Tower (also known as One World Trade Center by the rest of the world.)
The security guard at the front desk sees Shaw and waves him in. With a smile Sebastian takes Millie to the express elevator and says, "I got his entire union a pay raise." He then pressed the button for the observation level.
Shaw then moved to Millie and kissed her passionately as the elevator went up. He knew she disliked this level of public display, but then again it was just an elevator.
DING! And the doors were open, both of them could walk onto the observation deck. It was a large single story glass room with an antenna in the middle. It was all gardens and windows... and it was empty.
Shaw took Millie's hand and rushed her to the west side of the deck, the side that could see parts of the Hudson river and Gotham City from here, "Now Millie, my love. I want you to pay very close attention to that single point in the sky,"
He pointed to an area above the Hudson, the skyline of Metropolis was in view still.
A giggle at that, "I'm sure his budget loved you for that." Millie is grinning at that. But then the doors open and the observation deck? Beautiful! She gasps softly in awe as Shaw takes her into the room and toward the west side. She is looking about, a smile growing about her lips. "Oh Sebastian, you did something crazy, didn't you?' But she sighs softly, humoring him, and a smile curling sweetly about her lips as she concentrates on the sky, trying to figure out what single point you are talking about!
"Oh yes I did. Firstly, you can't see it because of the damned lights of this city. But right where you are looking is where the Star named 'Millie Collins' exists. But I knew you wouldn't be able to see it in the city. So that's why I did this." And that's when the fireworks started! The first one exploded exactly where he pointed. At 11pm on the DOT! barges in the middle of the Hudson river were throwing them up now. It was like the Fourth of July or New Year's Day. The sky was full of explosions and colors. Every size, shape and color that Sebastian Shaw could purchased.
And that is when he disappeared from her side, but he did not go far. He just went down to his knee, right next to her. He had already reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold and diamond. The diamond was huge, bigger than the ring he had given Millie as a promise when this official dating happened, "Millie Collins. Will you be my wife?"
It's probably obvious now why Shaw's heart has been beating out of his chest all night.
Millie's face lights up at a star named after her! "Truly?!" She sounds like a kid almost, but then the fireworks go off and she's gasping. A smile lights her face, and she looks completely happy and content. Though when Sebastian moves, she turns her head instinctively to see what is going on. She then forgets to breathe. Part of her wants to ask, 'No dark secrets, right?' But another part just wants to scream in answer, 'Yes, yes, yes!' For a moment she is frozen in time, tears soon welling up into her eyes. She raises a hand, fingertips covering her lips to hold back sound. Yes, she is CRYING. She never suspected.
And this time, Shinobi isn't on her mind, no body is other than Sebastian Shaw, her entire world in this moment surrounds him. When she finally starts to really move, it's to shake her head up and down in a yes motion rapidly and repeatedly, and then she really starts to cry, "Yes...," her voice breaking. "Yes!" It's not the size of the ring that matters to Millie, goodness knows she will only get to wear it on public outings considering her active life and modeling career, but it is what it represents that is important to her, of Sebastians feelings for her and after what they have been through, his trust in her.
Sebastian rushes forward, almost faster than any man could and takes Millie's hand and puts the ring on her finger, "And that my love, is what I've been worried about every single moment of tonight."
He stood up and kissed her, the fireworks were still going on. So much to do, so much to plan.
So much to protect her from, both dark secrets and actual enemies.
But it didn't matter because in this moment. Sebastian Shaw was the happiest he had been in over ten years. And it would only get better from here in his mind.
Sebastian can taste Millie's tears in that kiss as she hugs him and kisses him back. She smiles into that kiss, and laughs, and clings to him. This...is joy...
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