[center][h1]The Finer Things[/h1]
Collab between: [@Celaira] & [@yoshua171]
Day 3 - Mid-day to Evening - Darius’ Mansion[/center][hr]Aeris’ body ached as she regained consciousness. The sun greeted her through the curtains, and she groaned. [color=#3098C1]”Ugh. [i]Fuck[/i] this."[/color] She growled, and rolled over to bury her face in her pillow. When she did that, however, her phone let out a quick vibration, letting her know that she had an unread notification. With an exasperated sigh, she rolled back over and fumbled to grab the device off of the nightstand.

It was her personal line.

It was Mai.

She immediately sat up, and unlocked the device, navigating the interface until she reached her messages.

[quote=Mai <3]”The 'Break went well Sis. I'm gonna crash. Head over tomorrow and wake me up maybe? Hope to see you ;) .”[/quote]
The vampire chuckled, a soft smile parting her lips. She was going to reply, but after a moment of thought, decided it would be better to surprise him in person. With that in mind, she pulled the blankets from her body and slid out of bed. Once she was on her feet, she was able to get a look at herself in the mirror above her dresser. Another groan left her mouth. Overall, she looked dishevelled. Her hair was frizzed, and out of place; her shirt had come unbuttoned and was hanging off her shoulder; her skirt had risen well above her thighs, giving an almost complete view of the panties she wore beneath it. 

She just looked unhappy. Thankfully, she wasn’t going to be seeing anyone else today… if she had any say in the matter. Thus, with a mildly disgruntled look on her face, she turned to the wall next to her bed. As she walked toward the wall, she moved a shadow along it until it was her size, and pressed her hand against it. Moments passed before she slid inside the shadow without a word to anyone else in Darius’ mansion. 

In the darkness, she moved with a purpose. She knew exactly where she wanted to go, for once, allowing her to walk as though in a straight line to that destination. It only took her a few minutes before she stepped out of a shadow in Mairyell’s living room. Once there, she closed her eyes and inhaled. His scent enveloped the apartment, and she smiled as she took it in. 

She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed him in the short span of time they’d been apart. 

Once she’d relaxed enough, she sat down on the edge of the sofa, and took out her business phone. From there, li’l Kasio made two phone calls. One to the Good Doctor to inform him of Darius’ condition, and make sure he knew she wanted him to check up on the fox. He would, of course, be compensated for the house call. Doubly so if he were to collect materials to make an antidote for the poison Darius had been afflicted with. The second call she made was to her secretary, to let her know she wouldn’t be in today. She was given explicit instructions to hold all calls, and reschedule any meetings that had originally been planned for the day with apologies and gift baskets sent out to the individuals for their wasted time.

With business taken care of, Aeris got up from her seat on the couch and sauntered into Mairyell’s bathroom where she prepped the shower for her own use. Once it was ready, she disrobed and stepped beneath the stream of water.     

Mairyell stirred in bed at the sound of the shower, but this sort of thing had happened enough times that he did not properly wake.

Twenty minutes passed before Aeris finished washing herself off in the shower. Once she was done, however, she wrapped a towel around her body, and began to work a comb through her wet hair. After it was completely combed out, she pulled a hair dryer from under the sink and began to blow her hair dry in sections. It always took her such a long time to get her hair completely squared away. Part of her hated that, but there was another part of her that took great pride in the maintenance of her hair, and body in general. 

Once her hair was dry, she began to towel dry her body. This was a much quicker process than her hair, and was over in just a few minutes. When it was done, she hung the towel up to dry, and plopped the prior day’s clothes into the hamper in the corner of the bathroom. 

With everything put back where it was supposed to go, Aeris made her way to Mairyell’s bedroom. The gentle breeze of the air conditioner that ran throughout the apartment trailed along her bare skin as she made her way to the side of his bed, eerily blue eyes peering down at his sleeping form. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched his chest rise and fall with his breathing. 

It was moments like these that let her know that she truly did love this man.

With a wistful sigh, the woman leaned down and gently pressed her lips against his. As she did so, she moved down onto the bed, pressing her bare body into his. When she broke the kiss, she bit her bottom lip, mind wandering to other things she could do to try and rouse him. 

A smile crossed his lips and he shivered, stirring some more, still, he decided not to move--even though he was [i]definitely[/i] awake enough to reciprocate now. He was so glad he’d sent that text, definitely a solid decision. He mentally high-fived himself.

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After things had calmed down, the two were quiet; the silence broken only by the sound of shallow breathing as they recovered. After a few minutes had passed, Mairyell finally broke the silence; a smile on his lips as he spoke, [color=#2E6A95][b]“So, am I a good lay or what?”[/b][/color]

He knew the answer, but making her say it was always amusing. Plus, it’s not like it was off topic!

[color=#3098C1]”God dammit, Mai."[/color] Aeris spoke through laughter, her body nestled into his. [color=#3098C1]”You already know the answer. You ass."[/color] She chided, still laughing.

[color=#2E6A95][b]“Do I?”[/b][/color] He said with a grin, as he stroked her cheek affectionately, squeezing her lightly with his other arm.

She smiled up at him, her eyes resting their gaze on his. Instead of vocalizing her response, she simply kissed him softly on the lips, her hands pressed firmly against his bare chest.

Smiling as she kissed him, he kissed back, still laying down, before she retreated, leaving him a little breathless, but more importantly--grinning. He loved that side of her, or well, he loved [i]every[/i] side of her, but that was beside the point. He relaxed back into the bed, but before he could get properly comfortable he heard his phone go off. Sighing a bit he sat up and reached over for it, pulling it into his hand and then to himself before he laid down again.

It was a text from Raiden.

[quote=Raiden’s Text]”Hey, could you check on Alice and the kids? I’m worried and please do me a favor, if you see Emmett try to make it sound like more of a casual visit. Else he’ll never let me forget it. I’ll pay back the favor later.”[/quote]
Frowning a bit he sighed and glanced over at Aeris, his eyes meeting hers. He didn’t want to go, but Raiden was a colleague and an old friend. He trusted the man, and if he was worried then maybe it was best to do this sooner than later.

[color=#2E6A95][b]“Sis, I’ve gotta go.”[/b][/color] He said, his tone serious, though regret was in his eyes.

Aeris didn’t even question him, she only kissed him on the cheek and nodded.