[Callisto Nikephoros]

She groaned, rolling over in the bed and looking at the alarm clock. Except it wasn’t there. She frowned, eyes squinting painfully into the sunlight. Since when did her bedside table get replaced with the sun? She rolled over to the other side, thinking that maybe she had the wrong side of the bed for some reason. Well, an alarm clock was there, but not hers. It said 10:30. She groaned. She’d overslept- by a lot. She sat up as slowly as she could, trying to piece together what was going on. Unfamiliar bed, unfamiliar alarm clock, sun- the comforter was itchy on one side, the sheets smelled ever so slightly of smoke, and the walls were a neutral tan that’d drive you crazy if you stared at it long enough. It was a hotel room. She’d seen enough of them to know one. She groaned tiredly. She must’ve gone out for drinks, gotten drunk and hit up some guy. No big- wait, what? She looked down. She was still fully clothed, just no shoes on. Frowning she reassessed. Okay, so maybe she got drunk and didn’t want herself at home, so she checked into a hotel? Well, at least she’d told her babysitter not to expect her home and to make herself comfortable. She shook her head, passing a hand through her hair. Oh ick, it felt nasty. Suddenly feeling dirty, she jumped up- and after falling down and getting back up- she started towards the bathroom on wobbly legs. Shuffling into the tile room, she flicked on the lights and looked in the mirror. Oh, lovely- she hadn’t even taken off her makeup. Sighing, she grabbed one of the washcloths and turned on the shower, stripping off her clothes and jumping into the warm water. Unlike other hotels, this seemed to have a decent shower- or, well, at least no one else was taking a shower at the same time she was. She sighed as the water hit her body, and she used the hotel soap, shampoo, and conditioner as she bathed, figuring this wasn’t horrible. It’d last her until she could get home to her shower anyways. Now, it was a little late to go into work, so maybe she should just call in sick. Hey, she’d get to spend the whole day with Avery that way. That should make up for not coming back home late last night. She washed her face in the shower then slid out, cutting off the water and wringing out her hair. Cali grabbed a towel and wrapped it securely around herself. She reached for a hand towel and wiped mist away from the mirror to examine herself there. Ah, much better. At least she didn’t look like a cheap hooker anymore. Grimacing at the thought, she leaned back from the mirror and passed a hand over her face- wait, what was that? She felt something eerily hot pass over her face, something that felt metallic. What? She hadn’t put on any rings last night, at least none that she was aware of. She pulled back her hand and looked at it- then stared. What. The . Hell. Was. Going. On. Jaw dropped. That… no. That could not be what she thought it was… could it? No way. No fucking way. She closed her eyes and squeezed them shut hard, counting to ten and then prying them open. No, it wasn’t a drunken hallucination. It was real. It was real. She felt her stomach rebel and whirled, reaching the toilet just in time to retch. Slamming the lid shut, she flushed then sat on the floor, right hand gripping the wrist of her left as she stared at her ring finger. This could not be happening to her. Not to her. No. This was a nightmare. She would close her eyes and wake up in her bed, roll over, and start up a new dream, start up a much better dream. But every time she shut her eyes, Cali would whip them back open to stare at her hand. It wasn’t going away. It was real- it had to be. She fumbled for the lid of the toilet, getting it open just in time for another vomiting session. Standing on weak legs, she stumbled over to the sink as the toilet flushed, using her hands to rinse out her mouth and stare at herself in the mirror. Okay, this is simple. You know what to do. Just talk to the guy, explain the situation, and everyone is better off. No problem- she just had to find the guy. She grabbed the blow-dryer and dried her hair, managing to get it in something decent. She then gathered her clothes and such and moved back into the bedroom. Getting dressed back in last night’s clothes, she looked around and eventually found her heels and purse. Doing a bit more thorough searching, she managed to scrounge up a hair band, pulling her hair back into a pony tail and leaving her bangs to hang in her face. Sighing, she tossed her purse onto the bed as she sat down, crossing her legs to stare at her clasped hands- the left one on top, of course. To stare at that stupid piece of metal. Callisto Nikephoros was married- and didn’t remember a thing.

image by Venny, code by Ryne

[Cameron Mackenzie]

What is one thing that will solve all hangover problems?! Bagels!!! Well....those and the seven Advil he'd already taken this morning seemed to be having an affect too. And yes, for everyone wondering, he did have to double check to make sure the 'e' came before the 'l' in 'bagel'. Mac wasn't very good at spelling. Although, the dilemma made him think of the word 'angel', (he had the same problem with the order), and this made him think of Callisto. Was she perfect? No. Was she persnickety? Yes. Was she the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen?.....Absolutely. Was she going to kill him, chop him up into little bite size pieces and feed him to the state fish of Hawaii? (the Humuhumunukunukuapua) Most defiantly. But Mackenzie was gladly going to meet his demise. He deserved it. You see, being up since four in the morning had given him time to think, and process, and fret. He remembered seeing that movie. It was old. Ironically enough it was called The Hangover. Three men, trying to find their lost best friend, tigers in bathrooms, chickens, naked gay Asians assaulting them with a bat, slamming babies into car doors..................nope; this was worse. But no! He was going to make this as painless as possible for Callisto. “Two Everything Bagels please.....on second thought....make it a dozen.” He had two more stops to make. Mac entered and exited the coffee shop in a matter of minutes since it was past their rush hour. A carton carrier of scalding coffee in one hand, and a bag of bagels in the other, Mac carefully made his way down the street. The sun glared in his eyes, and there was a 95% chance that in the next five minutes he was going to trip and give himself third-degree coffee burns. However, through it all, the five percent won out and Mackenzie made it to his final destination before heading back to the hotel. His load burdened now by a bouquet of roses. Side stepping a few times to avoid running into people he glanced at the wedding band around his finger. It felt weird. It felt good. Cameron Mackenzie was married. Take that Tiny and Friends! Now....to just go wake up the wifey-poo and explain everything... Taking the stairs because the elevator was broken Mac reached the door out of breath. The door......Mac stared at the obstacle. The door stared right back, the wooden grains forming a ghoulish smirk at his misfortune. He had absolutely no way to open the door. One) because his hands were completely full, and he didn't want to risk putting anything on the scuzzy hotel floor, and two) he'd forgotten his key. Mac stood, swaying back and forth. Finally, he took a deep breath and leaned forward. Cameron Mackenzie then proceeded to bang his head against the door as a form of knocking. Three good head bangs and a headache later, he realized he could have just kicked the door with his foot. Frowning, Mackenzie waited anxiously as the deadbolt unlatched and the door flew open. Shuffling his way in he put the bagel bag and coffee on the end table. Taking the roses he smiled and turned to Callisto. “Good morning! I got you these, and some breakfast. I was going to make it so you could have breakfast in bed, but you were just too fast for me.” he smiled sheepishly handing her the flowers. Moving over to the table he popped open a coffee lid, “Do you take anything in your coffee? Cream? Sugar?”

image by maj, code by ryne

[Callisto Nikephoros]

She was sitting on the bed, eyes jumping from someplace around the room to her fingers, as if she had to keep checking to see if the ring was actually there. And every time she looked back at her finger, it was there, shining in the light from the window. She sighed, hands smoothing out slight wrinkles in her dress. She was unsure of what to think about this. Her first reaction: get a divorce. But she didn’t exactly have that type of money. Even if whoever she was married to didn’t want money from her, didn’t ask for a single thing in the divorce, she’d still have to pay for a lawyer. She’d have to scrounge up some cash, because while she was well off, she wasn’t that much so. Lawyers liked money, and they’d charge whatever they felt their time was worth- unless, of course, she could find one willing to work her in as their ‘charity case’. She looked back at the ring. On the other hand… Why not wait around and see what the guy’s like? After all, she had said yes to him- there had to be a reason behind her answer, right? Even drunk, she wasn’t a complete idiot. She still had to have had some sort of brain power left in here. And therefore, she should be able to come up with some reason why she could live happily ever after with this guy. Whoever he was. Maybe he was some deliciously handsome man. She snorted and leaned back on the bed, hands propping her up. With her luck, it’d be some guy with a mole on his upper lip and a pot belly. Time passed slowly, and eventually Cali was lying on the bed, shoes kicked off, one leg bent with her knee pointing skyward. Hands were folded on her chest below her breasts, head staring at the ceiling. She was counting the revolutions of the fan, figuring in another few minutes she’d make her great escape if the guy didn’t show soon. Just when she was getting to 1,000 fan revolutions- 992, 993, 994- she heard three good, solid… well, ‘knocks’ on the door. Sounded more like someone’s head was being bashed in. Cali slowly stood and approached the door wearily, turning the knob to open the door slowly. Mac rushed in, placing his things on the end table while she stared, confused and conflicted. He’d brought her… flowers? Bagels? Coffee? Aw, how sweet- wait, no, she was angry at him. He’d gotten her drunk and married her even though she hadn’t wanted to. She’d told him this… hadn’t she? She tried to remember last night, but she got as far as her blabbing about her life and then him asking if she wanted go play put-put or get married. She was pretty sure she hadn’t said yes. At least… not that time anyways. He spoke, saying he’d brought her the flowers and had been trying to let her have breakfast in bed, but she’d just been a bit too fast for him. She took the flowers, staring at them. Her hand- the left one, the married hand- reached up to touch the flower petals, staring at them in almost disbelief. He’d… gotten her flowers. Eyes jumped to look at him as he asked what she liked in her coffee and she shook her head slightly, focusing on her coffee tastes. “Um, two creamers and four sugars, please.” He went about fixing her coffee, while she looked back at her flowers. Double checking to see if he was watching, she took a tentative sniff. They smelled great. She noticed a card and slipped it out of the holder, flipping it around to look at it. In brilliant, bright blue cursive letters, it said ‘Congratulations- you’re expecting a baby boy!’ She choked back a laugh, looking over at Mac, then back at the card. If anything, that just made him cuter… unless they’d had unprotected sex. She sobered up quickly. Clearing her throat, she walked over and placed the flowers on the table carefully, moving to sit on the bed as Mac handed her the coffee. She took a quick sip, smiling and nodding. He’d gotten it perfectly. Well, at least he was good at following directions. She went for another sip when Mac asked another question. “May I cream-cheese your bagel?” She choked on her drink, managing to swallow it all and not ending up doing a spit-take. She looked up at Mac, wide eyed with disbelief. Obviously, from his extremely confused and innocent expression, he hadn’t meant what she thought he’d meant. She pushed the rated R images out of her mind, clearing her throat. “Uh, yea, sure.” They had a moment of awkward silence- she knew he wanted to ask what she thought he’d meant- but he merely handed her the bagel and they ate quietly. Cali’s eyes roved awkwardly around the hotel room, darting momentarily to Mac’s forehead. “You’ve… got a big red spot on your forehead. Are you okay?” He floundered, and she smiled, amused. He was like a child, just in adult sizes. They ate a bit more before she asked her another question, one that was nagging her. “So have we consummated our marriage yet?”

image by Venny, code by Ryne

[Cameron Mackenzie]

Banging your head that is already suffering from a hangover headache on the hotel room door.....isn't the smartest thing to do. He closed his eyes and shook his head a little. Starts, birds, little swirly things; all floating around his head. Mackenzie didn't feel so well. In fact, he felt like he was going to pass out. Inhaling deeply he slowly let the air out. He had one mission now...well two missions. Number one, don't purposefully piss Callisto off, and two) don't puke on her. Focusing on the task at hand he smiled widely as she opened the door. Mac noticed that her face changed as he handed her the flowers. It lit up. Callisto hid her emotions well, wearing only the edgier feelings on her sleeve. The rest of those nuances were locked away within her. Mac just hoped that he could stick around long enough to find out what they were. A wave of happiness washed over him. He'd done something right! Mac was elated. The roses had been a good idea! The man grinned from ear to ear. Actually, he'd seen it done in a movie. A man gave his wife a dozen perfect roses, it seemed to do the trick. Mac wasn't looking to sway Cali's affections with material things; he just liked seeing her smile. He stepped away and stood there for a second. Mac wanted to hug her, but, he didn't know if she would like it. Fighting the urge he turned and busied himself with their coffees. Callisto answered him when he asked how she took it. “Um, two creamers and four sugars, please.” Well, at least he was speaking to her! That was a plus. Mac honestly had no idea what to expect. He didn't know if she was in shock, if she was furious and planning on killing him in his sleep, or if she hadn't even noticed yet. Although, he hoped Callisto didn't think of him to be the type of man that had one night stands with women. That would never happen to him. And all in all, Mac was completely fine with that. He didn't want women for sex. In fact, having physical relations with Callisto had been the last thing on his mind. Either way, Mac took note of her coffee preferences, and repeated three times in his head so he could memorize it. He stirred the coffee and carefully brought it over to her. Mac watched, enthralled, as Callisto took a sip of her coffee and smiled. He'd made her smile again! His eyes danced as he went back to the table to get their breakfast. In fact, he was so happy that the next thing that came out of his mouth, wasn't quite the what he had planned. He'd wanted to say, “And can I get some cream cheese for your bagel?” But the man was so excited he dropped a few words and smeared the around to get this lovely phrase, “May I cream-cheese your bagel?” Upon hearing a loud sputtering sound Mac whirled around in surprise. At first he was worried, was Callisto choking? Was she okay? Finally he saw that it had just gone down the wrong way. Taking a moment to look at her, the man turned back and plated the bagels on two napkins. Finally he took a seat across from her. Mac waited patiently for her to take the first bite. Once he was sure she didn't need anything else he started in on his own breakfast. Mac was starved, but he tried to eat as politely as possible. He didn't shove, grunt, or belch. Mouth stayed closed when he chewed, and he took normal human bites. “You’ve… got a big red spot on your forehead. Are you okay?” Mac rubbed his hand along his forehead. Oh. The door. “Oh, thats okay, it'll go away in a few minutes....” The pair filled the lapse of silence by munching on their bagels, every so often sipping their coffee. Mac looked up when she spoke again. “So have we consummated our marriage yet?” Mackenzie stopped, holding his bagel in his hands. He swallowed his bite and looked at her. The question was shocking. Last night, after their quick run by the drive-thru wedding chapel, Callisto had passed out. Mac had rented a room in the nearest motel so she could sleep. Mackenzie just shook his head. “Uh, no-no, Callisto, we didn't have intercourse. You were asleep. I just wanted to make sure you had a bed to sleep in, and I didn't feel safe driving that far back to my place since I wasn't doing so well either. I took your shoes off, and put them over there,” He motioned, “And then tucked you in.” Mac said calmly on the chair, looking back at her. He wanted to say something, but...he wasn't sure how.....Twitching he stared at the floor. “But, um...last night, when the ceremony was over, we kissed....” In fact, Callisto had kissed him, but he didn't want to sound accusatory. In all his life he'd never been kissed like that. Mackenzie had never experienced passion before. Flicking his gaze back to her Mac's eyes held an apology, “I'm really sorry if that was too fast. I don't normally kiss on the first date.”....or get married. That hadn't really sunk in. He took another bite of his bagel. However, unknown to him, a big glob of cream cheese smeared on his lower lip. Mac was unaware, trying to lighten the mood, “Your hair looks nice today.”

image by maj, code by ryne

[Callisto Nikephoros]

She was kind of playing around when she asked if they’d consummated their marriage- who really said that anymore? But apparently Mac didn’t find that weird at all. He merely stopped eating, eyes widening innocently as he swallowed awkwardly and looked at her. She watched, interested in his reaction and whatever words would follow. He seemed slightly uneasy, but carried on anyways. So they didn’t have sex- ‘intercourse’ if you went by Mac’s words. She fell asleep, he found the nearest hotel, he slid off her shoes, tucked her in, and let them crash for the night. Her first question, oddly enough was actually where he’d slept. He didn’t exactly seem like the type of guy to curl up beside her without her permission, but she’d feel horrible if he’d slept in the chair, or on the floor. She watched as he stared at the floor, fidgeting slightly. It looked like he was going to say something bad. Something very bad, or awkward, by the way he was hesitating and avoiding her eyes. She paused in eating her bagel, looking at him with concern. He managed to finally splutter it out. “But, um...last night, when the ceremony was over, we kissed....” She nodded slowly, as if waiting for him to finish. Okay, so they’d kissed. Big whoop- why was he acting so weird? Had she accidentally felt him up? Had it been bad? Did he not like it- or had she fallen asleep in the middle of it? She waited for him to finish, but instead he went on to apologize, eyes thick with guilt. So, wait, what? He was just guilty… over a kiss? She wasn’t sure what to think or even do. This had to be the most proper guy she’d ever met. She was still trying to figure out what to say when he moved on, trying to change the topic by complimenting her hair- even though he had a bit of cream cheese on his lower lip. Her hand slid up to pull on a few tendrils of her hair, looking at him quickly before her eyes darted to her lap and her bagel there. “Thanks.” What the hell, why was she acting like some shy girl in high school?! It was like a bad first date- a really, really bad first date where they ended up being married at the end of it. She let her hand drop down into her lap, looking back up at him. Okay, did he really not know there was a chunk of cream cheese on his lip? She brought her finger up to her lip, brushing it slightly. “Um, you’ve got…” You know what? Why was she treating him any differently than any other guy? She placed her bagel carefully on the bed then moved to stand, walking the short distance over to Mac. She was just planning on wiping the cream cheese off his lips with a spare napkin… but that didn’t exactly happen. Instead, she turned his head carefully up towards hers, letting her lips brush against his. Her tongue snaked out to lick it off his bottom lip, sucking to make sure she got all the cream cheese off. She then moved her lips against his soft and pliable ones, prying them open to let her tongue slide inside. One hand rested on his shoulder, the other trailing slowly from his jaw and down his neck. She kissed him for a while, keeping her movements inside his mouth slow and deliberate, letting him figure out the rhythm and the feeling. Teacher to pupil- kind of. He may’ve been kissed before, but he seemed rather green. Cali eventually pulled back slowly, letting her teeth graze his lips in a smile as she paused. “Did I kiss you like that?” She moved back over to the bed, sitting down before picking up her bagel and finishing it off. She sat there for a second, trying to think of a polite, nice way to put this… but nothing readily leapt to her mind. She grimaced, then reached into the bag for another bagel. “Mac… How… How are we supposed to do this? I mean- we barely know anything about each other. How is this supposed to work? I just… I don’t know what to do.” Cali’s bright blue eyes met Mac’s dark brown. Oh dear Lord- he had chocolate, deep, soft brown eyes. You couldn’t find browner eyes on a dog- they were made for puppy dog eyes. Except she highly doubted Mac knew he was currently giving her those adorable, heart melting puppy dog eyes. She was doomed. She bit her bottom lip, looking down at the bagel she was picking apart with her fingers, popping a piece into her mouth and trying as hard as she could to ignore the eyes she could feel on her. She was just trying to think of a way to do this without hurting his feelings- you know, since he was such a sweet and nice guy, proposing while she was drunk put aside. Hell, how was she supposed to do this when she couldn’t even tell him no to a date without feeling horrible? Finally she looked back up at him, placing the bagel down on the bed and standing to pace. “Okay, how about this: We spend this whole summer trying to make it work between us. Come fall, if it doesn’t work between us, then we’ll get a divorce and forget it ever happened. Sound fair?”

image by Venny, code by Ryne

[Cameron Mackenzie]

Now, I know what you're thinking. This poor sap hasn't even touched a girl before all this. See, that's where you're wrong. Mr. Cameron Mackenzie had had a girlfriend before. Three.....threeish. He remembered each of them well. Heather Cronkite from high school. She had been really nice. The pair had gone out a few times, but Heather had always been so busy. Student council, glee club, etc. For some reason, whenever he tried to hold her hand in the hallway, she pulled away. Heather had said that she just didn't like public displays of affection. Mac respected her wishes, not wanting to embarrass her. The pair had dated for three months, holding hands became their version of second base. Now, if you think the pair hadn't kissed, you're wrong again. He kissed her, on the cheek, once. Finally, Heather just broke up with him. Moving onto college, there was Tiffany Sanderson. Mac didn't like her very much now. Tiffany had used his heart to spring-board herself into the sheets of his good friend. Mac didn't think about her much. But finally, there was Anna Primm. Anna had been his dear friend growing up, the pair were inseparable. Naturally, by the time hormones started kicking in, Mac developed feelings for her. He came home one last time before graduating college. She'd been there. The two had hung out the entire week he was home. Mac was elated, she'd been acting especially nice to him. On the last day of his visit Mac worked up the courage, and kissed her. She'd laughed. And that was it. Reliving his past romances, or...lack there of, Mac realized that this, um, relationship(?) he had with Callisto was completely and totally different than anything he'd ever experience in his life. Ever. Not sure of how to feel about this, Mac decided to be hopeful. Well, if it was the opposite of what had happened to him in the past, it had to be good, right? He finally admitted to Callisto that they'd kissed, longer and harder than Mac had been accustomed to. Callisto seemed to be waiting for the other shoe to drop. Mac looked at her puzzled. He'd just given her both shoes, with socks to boot. That, to him, aside from the getting married part, had been the biggest thing to happen to him romantically since, forever. He was sure this wasn't the same for her, but it had to count for something right? Master of the changing thought-trains he complimented her and she thanked him politely. “Um, you’ve got…” He raised his eyebrows, rubbing his fingers on the side of his mouth he looked at her expectantly. Nope. Wrong side. But before he could try again Callisto moved forward. The beautiful blond placed a hand on his chin, and took care of the cream cheese herself, by licking it off. Her kiss continued and he felt something warm and searching slip inside his mouth. Spark of sensation jolted through his body starting with his flip-flopping stomach. He didn't know what to focus on more, her lips, or what was happening to him. Callisto didn't make the decision any easier as she added a third contender for his attention, her hands. Gentle trails across his neck. Mac's eye lids fluttered closed, and he gasped with feeling. Based upon pure carnal instinct Mackenzie started moving his lips, trying to envelop her own, trying so desperately to reciprocate. His brain became fuzzy in the dark torrent of sense, but she pulled away, tugging him gently back to consciousness. It took a few seconds for Mac to open his eyes, he was riding the aftershocks. “Did I kiss you like that?” His mouth was still in the slightly open position she had caused it to be in, and it wasn't going to close any time soon. “Uh. Well....it was a syllable? Sure, they'd kissed last night, but this had been something completely different. Callisto probably hadn't changed a thing. The woman's actions were on the road to being constantly perfect, but it was him who hadn't appreciated it before. The liquor had numbed his senses. He'd felt something, but not this. “No.” A word! Progress. She moved back and finished eating her bagel like what had just happened was as common as watching the news. Mac had finally gotten mobility in his body back, and he clasped his hands together, just watching her. Something seemed to be bothering her. Had he done something wrong? There was a massive chance he'd done something wrong just now. He wasn't what you would call experienced. “Mac… How… How are we supposed to do this? I mean- we barely know anything about each other. How is this supposed to work? I just… I don’t know what to do.” Out of impulse he rose and knelt down beside her. Gingerly he took her free hand in his own. “Callisto, we can do this. I know you....a little. But we can get to know each other. We can start a life together, and learn how to be a couple. We can make it work. We don't have to know what to do, we can just try.” Mac was getting a tad carried away, and started to talk over her. All he heard was end of the summer. He frowned, he didn't want a limit. He wasn't that good. He couldn't woo her in a specific amount of time. Getting desperate he tightened his grasp on her hand. “Callisto, we can do this, not just for the summer, this isn't a limited engagement. Its permanent, forever.

image by maj, code by ryne

[Callisto Nikephoros]

She kissed him, and honestly, he wasn’t that bad. He was trying at least, and while he wasn’t great, she could feel potential. He was certainly eager. All he’d need was a bit of direction and she could see him becoming an excellent kisser. He just needed some time- like a fine wine. He spends enough time with you, and he’ll pick up a lot more than how to kiss. She kept the smirk to herself, letting their lips detangle before she spoke her question. Mac didn’t answer right away- actually, his expression was answer enough. Obviously he hadn’t had much experience kissing, or at least nothing like that before. He managed to make a slight sound, before his voice cracked and he said ‘No’. Well… that was good and bad. Either this was better or worse, or he just didn’t get the same feeling when he’d been drunk. Of course, while she was going to try and take it as a positive ‘no’, part of her ego winced and deflated slightly. She merely picked up and started up on her bagel again, picking it apart absentmindedly and occasionally popping a piece into her mouth. Only after she’d debated mentally back and forth for a while did she finally speak, eyes darting up to meet Mac’s as she asked her confused question. He immediately moved from the chair to the floor, kneeling as if he were proposing to her again and taking her hand in both of his. Mac’s sudden closeness surprised her, taking her slightly off guard as her eyebrows rose. It wasn’t that it was uncomfortable- quite the opposite in fact, but she’d think about that feeling later- it was the fact that he’d taken her hand hostage. She was in the middle of eating her bagel, damn it, she needed that hand. She’d feel horrible if she just shook him off to keep eating… but she was hungry. Instead, she stilled herself and her hungry stomach to listen to his words. Oh for the love of- he was a ‘glass half full’ person. He really was. No… that was an understatement. He was a ‘the glass is full if we all want it to be!’ person. No one could legitimately be this positive without something being loose in their head. She merely stared at him blankly as he spoke, slowly starting to shake her head. Okay, they barely knew anything past their first names- she didn’t even know his first or last name, just ‘Mac’ and he was still calling her ‘Callisto’. He knew about her childhood, and that was about it. Nothing about what she’d been through in Venice, nothing about her personal tastes, and just nothing about her in general for her to feel anywhere near comfortable with him. She suggested the summer timeframe for two reasons- to give him a chance, mainly, but to also give herself a reason to leave. It wasn’t that she was planning on it- she just knew that, if she didn’t feel anything for him- hate or love- she’d stay and be neutral for the rest of her life. She was determined to not become a vanilla wafer. She didn’t want to be secretly wishing for a different life while trying to make him happy, but drawing the line at certain things couples did. She didn’t want to feel like she wanted to pull her hand away whenever he held it, or just feel awkward- even horrible- about having sex with him. She needed a cop out for herself- but Mac didn’t know this. One more reason why this wasn’t going to work. He tightened his grip on her hand slightly, babbling on to say that this wasn’t just a summer fling, it was permanent. Forever. Forever. She felt her chest constrict. That was it, he’d hit a sore spot and riled up her anger. Shrugging her hand free from his, she stood, putting the bagel into the trash, suddenly not hungry anymore. Her eyes were raging, but she managed to contain herself, rounding the bed to slide into her shoes before she turned to look at Mac. “You are so full of shit.” Okay, that wasn’t necessary, but she rolled on anyways, fire in her eyes. “Forever? Really? People get divorces all the time. Marriage isn’t forever, Mac. It’s a gilded cage that kept my parents miserable and drove them into other people’s arms. And it certainly isn’t a thing of love for us. You don’t know me- you don’t even know the first thing about me. And before you ask for an example, let me give you a few to mull over. I have a kid- Avery, age five. His father is somewhere on this planet. I got into a car crash and almost died. For a few months, I went slightly insane and saw… well, it doesn’t matter what I saw, but it wasn’t exactly puppies and kittens.” She turned and grabbed her bag off the bedside table, opening the door, but pausing. Turning, she met Mac straight in the eyes. “There are three things in life that I’ve learned you can bet your ass on: death, a broken heart, and a hell of a lot of disappointment.” She stared at him for a few more moments before stalking out the door, closing it quietly behind her. She moved down the hall and elevator, going to the front desk. She paid the balance left on the room, called a cab, and made it home in about half an hour. She changed into jeans and a tank, throwing on her leather jacket and shoes before checking her watch. It was noon- Avery was at daycare by now, and she’d already called work to say she was sick and her babysitter to tell her that she was indeed alive. Cali figured a drive around the island wouldn’t hurt, and took off down the stairs and exited the back entrance. A sudden blinding pain to her head caused her to black out, body going limp as the pavement flew towards her face…

image by Venny, code by Ryne

[Cameron Mackenzie]

It happened before he could stop it. Callisto, the first woman who let him experience passion, Callisto, the one he wanted to make it work with, Callisto, his wife....was pulling away. Away from the situation, away from it all, away from him. What had he done? She just had to say it and he would change. Mac just needed to know what had happened. Why was she doing this? What was making her so angry? Why did she need to pull away? Mackenzie didn't know what to do. He wanted her to talk to him. Set boundaries, lay down conditions, anything but this. Instead, Callisto did the exact opposite. “You are so full of shit.” Mac flinched. Sorrow crossed his features. Oh god, what had he done?! Just tell him to put him out of his misery! He needed to know what had changed. Mackenzie didn't have the capacity to jump from mood to mood. He was still floating on cloud nine, and now, she was the one pummeling him into the ground, just as she'd lifted him up. He opened his mouth to speak, but she wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise. The fact that he had no idea what to say didn't help either. Mac gave up and let her speak/yell. Callisto was on a tangent, pacing now, looking for her shoes. All the while she continued her virulent diatribe. Mac leaned back to sit on the floor, hands pulling his knees to his chest as he looked up and watched her fury. I have a kid- Avery, age five....” Mac's eyebrows rose and Callisto told him of her life. Of course, he couldn't assume that her life had started now, just because of marrying him. Sure, his had, but Callisto was in a whole other category. He mulled this over as she continued shouting. She was so vibrant, so beautiful, complete and yet searching for...something. Right now, she was absolutely right. Mac didn't know what she needed. But he was going to make it his mission to find out what it was, and give it to her. “There are three things in life that I’ve learned you can bet your ass on: death, a broken heart, and a hell of a lot of disappointment.” And then she left. Mac took a long breath and got up from the floor. He wasn't feeling sad anymore. Cameron Mackenzie was determined. That was no way to think of life. He knew he couldn't change Callisto's philosophy, but he wanted her to see, that maybe....there was just a different way of looking at things. Taking his hand, he rubbed his fingers through his hair roughly. He wanted to run after her, but she'd probably hit him. Mac would just go over in his head what had happened, and try to pin point where he'd gone wrong. Where he'd been 'full of shit'. Mac frowned, but got in the shower, dried and dressed. As he pulled his shirt over his head his cell phone buzzed. Jumping towards it he thought it may be Callisto. That hope was crushed when he remembered he didn't even have her phone number. Looking at the unfamiliar number he held it up to his ear. Laughing. And not funny 'he-he' chortling. This was your textbook maniacal laughter. “Hey Cracker-Fag, we got your whore.” Mac's body chilled. It was Tiny. And sure, his name lightened the mood, but lets try this again. It was Tiny, the leader of one of the most violent gangs in the entire city. They had Callisto. Oh my god... “Now listen dick wad, you're gonna bring us that folder, or the bitch gets it. No copies. All of it. Every single sentence of information you scrounged from us. Got it!?” “Where is she?!” he growled into the phone. “We'll text the address, and you know, all that normal stuff, like, if you bring anyone else....yatta yatta yatta, we'll just shoot you both.” Click. Mac just ran. Keys. Check. Shoes. Check. He sprinted out the door way to his car. The Le Baron had never flown so fast. He didn't even know where he was going, they hadn't sent the address yet. Finally his phone buzzed. Giving a glance to his phone he knew where he was going. Conveniently enough, since the Tiny case was what he'd been working on most recently, the folder was in his car. You can laugh at his organizational skills later. He was now heading to one of the many export harbors on the island. Dark, big warehouse full of crates, perfect for stashing bodies and killing people. Wonderful. He honestly hated himself. Everything had gone completely wrong, and now, Callisto was going to get hurt because of him. Parking a block from the warehouse he jumped out of his car and ran the rest of the way. There were numerous benefits to coming at the building on foot. Folder jostling under his arm, Mac sprinted to the side of the building. Fish, beer, and blood mixed to prove for a thoroughly pungent oder. Eying the fire escape towards the back of the building he reached it, and started climbing. He was not going to barge into the front. Tiny would just shoot him, laugh, and then shoot Callisto. He needed some sort of element on his side, the element, of surprise. Yeah, fine, that was corny, but give him a break, he was under serious pressure! Jostling the rusted window lock he managed to break it. Mainly because it was a 50 year old window lock, and it fell of the window when he touched it. Sliding in he tucked the folder under his arm and reached for his gun. His gun.....DARN IT! He forgot his gun! Closing his eyes he crossed and started descending down the stairs. Finally he saw a group of thugs, and in the center, his wife. Darting across through the back, he hid in the shadows, finally coming up on a thug with his back facing him. Mac attacked. The rhyming would have been funny if everything had gone as planned. The first blow was actually rather successful, and the first guy went down, but of course, this brought on the five or so other men who were now pointing various weapons his way. One of them grabbed Callisto and held a knife to her throat. “Let her go! I have what you want.”

image by maj, code by ryne

[Callisto Nikephoros]

Did she feel bad about what she’d said? Not about the content, but the way she’d gone about making her point wasn’t exactly ideal. If she could rewind, pause, and redo the whole thing, she may’ve tried to keep her cool, try to explain a lot more than the way she did. As it was, as her mouth continued to spew venom, her heart winced from Mac’s reaction. He looked genuinely hurt and infinitely sad. She didn’t stop talking however, not until she got out enough to force him to understand. It wasn’t going to work just because he wished it was, and even if they tried, there was still a huge possibility that they’d fail. After all, no one wanted damaged goods. She walked out of the room, paid, got into a cab and went home, changing before planning on going out for a ride around the island. It shouldn’t take too long, and it’d give her some time to think about what she’d said and what to do from there. Should she actually give Mac a chance? Was it even worth it? She frowned to herself as she grabbed her helmet, going down the back stairs to be closer to her bike, which was in the parking lot behind her apartment complex. Cali was just stepping off the back steps into the refreshing air when a sudden, lancing pain caused the lights to go out and for her body to crumple like a soda can vs. a cinderblock. While she was out, somebody picked up her body, tossing her into the backseat of a car, two men sitting in the front of the car already. Once the door was closed, the car drove off, heading towards the docks. She didn’t know how much time had passed when her headache was brought to her attention, a throbbing radiating from her head and echoing all throughout her skull. Her mouth tasted oddly metallic, like she’d been bleeding, and her neck was stiff from her chin resting against her chest. Swallowing weakly, she let her eyes flutter open, blue orbs searching for something familiar. She saw her jeans through her blurry eyes, and her shoes, but that was it for familiar. There was a cement floor, a strong smell of fish and salt water, the sound of waves and gulls, and the scuffing of shoes as men walked around. She managed to lift her head through the nauseating pain, taking slow, deep breaths through her nostrils, licking her lips as she peered curiously around. Well, this was fun. No one seemed to care that she was awake- as a matter of fact, no one seemed to watch her at all. They were crowded around a table, apparently taking a lunch break. Great kidnappers, these guys. She examined her chair- a plain wooden one- and how she was handcuffed to them. Nothing too hard. She sucked in a deep breath before struggling to stand on the chair. She slid up the handcuffs, which were attached right below the arms of the chair, using them as leverage as she pulled up… With a sudden jerk, the top of the arm came off the right one. Good. She repeated the same thing and got the top off the left one, letting the handcuffs hang before smacking the arms back down to the chair. She was just sitting back down when the guys broke, turning to go to their positions. Apparently things were now getting started. Cali sat there like a bump on a log, bowing her head and pretending- though there wasn’t much to fake- to be out of it. She heard one guy drop like a fly while the rest freaked and drew their weapons, surrounding the intruder- who’s voice she knew by now. It was Mac. She was surprised- well, kind of. It was his fault she was here, but she also wondered what exactly he had done to get her in this mess. Who in the world would have it out for a nice guy like Mac? She felt her ponytail receive a hard yank, causing her vision to black out for a moment while fire ripped through her scalp. Cool metal was pressed to her throat, the sharp edge instinctively making her take shallower breaths and try to not swallow. Her eyes looked up at the man holding her before darting over to Mac. All the attention was focused on him and whatever file was in his hands- not her. Perfect. Summoning all her strength, she reached up and grabbed her knife holding whacko’s hand, gripping it hard and pulling him down. He bent forward, flying towards… her fist, which was waiting and happy to meet his nose. She grabbed hold of the knife which was dropped promptly into her lap, driving it up and into his shoulder as she pushed him off of her. He went sprawling to the floor, knocking the chair over with her still in it. She was able to roll fast enough to get at least halfway up and chuck the knife into some guy’s eye socket. Another thug came forward, moving to hit her with the butt of his gun. She kicked out his knee and shot a fist towards his esophagus, ducking to avoid a flailing fist and rushing towards Mac. "C’mon boy scout, let’s get outta here." "Cali speaks."

image by maj, code by ryne

[Cameron Mackenzie]

This was entirely his fault. The reasons for why Mac had done this entire thing was getting a little hazy in the first place. He remembered, yesterday, getting beaten up in an alley, threatened (his ribs were still sore), and then realizing he needed a new identity, to get away. So he goes and gets himself a bride. Why did he do that!? There were so many other different ways he could have gone about changing who he was. So many other ways to give himself a disguise. At least something that didn't involve kidnapping the life of another human being! What was he thinking!? Breathing, Mac knew he had to calm down. The worst thing that could happen now, would be for him to have an episode, and if that happened, then everything would go to hell in a hand basket. Callisto would die. They would find his limp body, shoot him, and take the information, and Tiny and Friends would dominate. He would not let that happen....at least the first part. Mac didn't really think, or function well under crisis. Which was bad, considering his job description. But believe it or not, his job was mostly just staking people out, watching and waiting for tawdriness, and then, taking the money shot. All he had to do then, was give the evidence to the client, and boom, paycheck. It was a simple business. Usually. Right now, not so simple. They had him cornered, but Callisto wasn't going down without a fight. Mac stared, and watched as she took out most of the guys herself. One ran away, the other attacked him. Ducking, he swung around and landed a blow to the side of his head. Then, taking both hands, Mackenzie boxed the man's ears, hard. The thug screamed and crumbled to the floor, next to the folder of spilled papers. “Here, you can have it. I'm done with this. You don't have to worry about me any more.” Mac watched in horror as Callisto chucked her knife skillfully into a man's eye. He twitched. He had a thing about eyes. For a moment, he thought he was going to be sick, but she grabbed him before he could vomit. "C’mon boy scout, let’s get outta here." ”Sounds good.” He said, running at full tilt, still nauseous from what he'd just witnessed. The sun gleamed at them coming out of the warehouse. Mac didn't know if they were being chased, but he wasn't going to take the time to turn around. Thinking they would take his car and get out of here he started running in that direction, only to be pulled violently the other way. “What-ow!” That hand, yes, it was attached to an arm, which was attached to a shoulder, which Callisto had just popped out of its socket. Before he could ask her what she was doing, Callisto hot wired the motorcycle. Mackenzie stood there in awe, wanting to ask a million questions about this girl. Maybe she'd been right. He didn't know her. Chucking knives, permanently damaging, or killing someone, hot wire motorcycles.....Mac had proposed to more than he could handle. That was crystal clear. However, the man didn't have the luxury to stand and muse over the fact that he was married to Wonder Woman....or....Wonder Woman's evil twin. She dragged him onto the bike, and they were off. He heard cussing behind them, and shots. Throwing his hands around Callisto's waist, he clung for dear life. He'd driven a motorcycle before. Key word: driven. Mac didn't do well with other people dangerously driving really fast motorcycles on a small island. After about half an hour of non-stop speeding, near misses, run red lights, and five near misses with various walking pedestrians, Callisto finally pulled over and parked the bike in front of a small cafe. He breathed, trying to detach himself from her waist. His arms seemed permanently glued. Now, if that was out of necessity or pleasure, he would have to wonder about later. Now,....they needed to talk. Mac and Callisto entered the little outdoor, gated cafe. He pulled out her chair and they sat. Sweating, panting, but alive. Mac shook his head. She probably had so many questions, and he was going to have to answer them all, right now. “Callisto....I'm so, so sorry.” He paused, “This is so ridiculous, and you have more than enough reason to hate me. I need to tell you the truth.” Staring at his hands, he started, “I'm a private investigator. Those people back there, are part of one of Honolulu's largest gangs. They do a lot of drug trafficking. My client wanted proof of what they were doing, so they could bring them in. They needed someone to go undercover, and get the evidence they needed. That was me, but....like most other things I try doing, it didn't go as planned.” He didn't dare look at her, he couldn't. “They found out about he the other day, and creamed me for it. I was heading to the office, wondering just how I could change my identity so distinctly and so drastically that they wouldn't find me, and forget all about me.” He winced, not wanting to tell her what was inevitably coming next. “I needed to get married.” For a moment, Callisto looked like she was going to get up and leave him there. But for some reason she stayed, waiting for a better explanation, and he was ready to give it to her. “Callisto, I've enjoyed these past hours with you. I loved bringing you breakfast this morning, and I love talking to you. I wouldn't have asked just anyone. I just got....really really lucky.” Mac paused, forming his thoughts into someone coherent sentences. “You know what. I'm glad I got pummeled yesterday, I'm glad I got found out. It gave me a reason to find you. And it forced me to be brave enough to talk to you, to ask you out. I could have never have done that on my own.” Finally he met her eyes. He couldn't exactly read her expression, but it wasn't hate, that was a plus! “But you know what, you're right. This was crazy. What I did, was crazy. And I'm sorry. But you know what. I like you Callisto. I want to know you. Sure, the circumstances of us getting together were rash, but, now that we're here, I'm happy. I'd love a chance to see what makes you tick.” Finally Mac extended his hand. She took it, bewildered, and he shook it firmly. “Till the end of summer? Lets just see where this takes us.”

image by maj, code by ryne