Summer Song

[pinkroses]

It was a beautiful night, not a cloud in the sky and if there hadn’t been so many street-lights in the city then the stars would have been beautiful. The moon was full and peaking out between the high buildings of the city. It was the kind of night when people would take a stroll after dinner without bothering to take a coat, or perhaps take a carriage ride around the park after a trip to the theatre or an evening viewing at the cinema. It was unseasonally warm and people were taking advantage of it before the spring rains came again.

Making use of the warm night and the citizens out enjoying it was one of the city’s buskers. Before the steps of the huge museum the figure stood, swaying gently in time with the music as Vivaldi’s Summer Concerto filled the air, a violin tucked under his chin and his fingers flowing smoothly as he drew the bow expertly.

However to anyone listening closely, who knew the piece well, it would become apparent that the piece was not perfect - however well it was played. Parts were faster, some sections (the player’s favourites) were repeated and although to an unpractised ear the notes sounded correct and it all fitted together well, Mackenzie had never actually seen the music for this piece and all he was playing was from ear. Mackenzie usually played songs he heard playing in shops, but there were some classical pieces he knew from sneaking into the theatre when there were shows on and tonight he thought that classical music would get him further than a violinist’s version of Lady GaGa’s latest hit, which had done quite well for him around the shops earlier in the day.

At his feet there was a small rucksack which held all his belongings, a warm sweater draped over it and a couple of feet in front of him was an open violin case, lined with worn velvet, which held a few notes and a handful of change. He was wearing a pair of jeans, worn through at the knees and which looked like they were too long for him as they were worn through at the ankles as well where they had rubbed on the floor. Tonight he was just wearing a black t-shirt, now faded to grey, which was tight enough to show off his slim figure. The short sleeves showed off the bottom part tattoo on Mackenzie’s upper arm, half of the feathers were visible. His dark hair was short and greasy at the moment - it needed a good wash but it had been a week since Mackenzie had checked in to an overnight shelter. He’d washed as well as he could in public restrooms, but rarely bothered with his hair on those occasions. The stubble was thick on his cheeks as well as he hadn’t shaved since then.

There was a smile on his lips as this was a piece he enjoyed playing, even though there weren’t all that many people around to enjoy it, just the odd late night visitor to the museum, or someone passing by on the way to another destination. People didn’t usually stop to listen for long, but he knew some of his music could be heard inside the museum and the busker was hopeful that people leaving would remember hearing him and feel like they wanted to contribute something.

[Saiketsu]

There were only a few things more entertaining than watching a human boy, golden with Mediterranean sun and eager to please, grovel at her feet. The ambitious young thing pleaded with the oligarch for only a few moments before she gave into his requests and let him cart her around the city in a sleek, black limousine that he insisted was waiting just for her. Zoheret smirked coolly at the boy as he kissed her hand and turned to bring the car around to the front of the Oligarchy Headquarters.

Yet besides this amusing display of ass-kissing, the day had passed slowly; no angels had come to visit their earthly mistress for advice, guidance, or to give her praise. She had attempted to finish some paperwork throughout the day, but found it too tedious to complete correctly. She had rested periodically throughout the day, laying her had down next to another sun-kissed beauty in her bed for a mere few hours before having intercourse with the creature for a few brief minutes. And when she had become sick of that human smell of sweat and his sex, she gave him his clothes and showed him the door.

After her pleasant tumble, she showered to wash the human scent from her godly skin and his sex from between her legs. She dried herself, fixed her hair into a wrapping braid and put on her make-up as usual. Taking her time, she stepped into a pair of black cotton slacks fit to her thighs and her rear which flared over her four inch stilettos. Her dark green halter was cut low for a pleasant, but classy tease, fit to her curved form and nearly backless. An amethyst pendent stood against the skin of her chest and sat just above her cleavage just below the hollow of her throat. By the time she had finished, the sun had gone down beyond the far western buildings and she let out a sigh of relief.

The city was most beautiful night. Like most of the creatures who made up the immortal population of the city, the city itself, an anomaly in her eyes, awoke and sprang to life in the hours before the sun rose again. It was a curious city which had always intrigued her; it coaxed her into staying put within this city\'s limits just to see what would happen next.

So as Ramiro ushered her around the city in a mobile seat of luxury, Zoheret unwound herself from the day\'s boredom. Her eyes stayed constant on the tinted window as she watched her city roll by street by street. No conversation filled the long car -- and she preferred it that way -- only the city streets coming alive filled her ears. It wasn\'t until they pulled up to a stop light in the south district did Zoheret speak for the first time since ordering the boy to drive.

Just outside the car she could hear a violin, a beautiful albeit amateur player on the street corner near the museum. When her eyes caught the boy, she blinked. He was a gorgeous little specimen of man despite his disgusting circumstances -- she could see the handsome servant underneath the filth of poverty. She bit her lower lip and smirked at her luck.

His song was imperfect, not what she was used to hearing when she listened to Vivaldi, but it was his handling of the instrument that draw her attention closer. He played with passion, his ebbing and flowing through the notes unlike any she had heard before from the humans in this city.

"Pull over," she instructed Ramiro, who instantly did as he was told. When he had parked, Zoheret wasted no time in getting out of the car and finding her way back to where the violinist had been before.

The boy was finishing up his song as she neared him, her heels clicking on the pavement of the veranda outside of the museum. "That was excellent," she purred as she approached, pulling his attention just as the song had ended. "But the real question is, why are you not in an orchestra with your instrument?" She gave the boy a poised little smirk. With a silky little challenge which was supposed to be a little tease for the boy, she added "Unless you think begging for money more suits you..."

[pinkroses]

Mackenzie lowered his instrument, flexing his fingers as he finished the song, mulling over how the tune could be improved, what he might do differently, but his thoughts were disturbed by a smooth voice and he politely looked towards the woman. Many of the other people he knew ran in his circles would have bristled at the words, taken them as an insult, mocking, but Mackenzie let the words roll over him like water off a duck’s back. He\'d heard much worse.

She was beautiful, more than beautiful, breathtaking, but for the most part Mackenzie knew better than to let that show on his face or to comment on it. It was hard not to though, so many people walked past him on the streets, paying no attention and blending into the crowd, so whenever anyone made a comment, or paused, Mackenzie couldn\'t help notice. When he stopped playing at least. When he had still playing it would take a lot to break his focus, but when people stayed when the playing stopped, then he noticed. And she was gorgeous, she held herself so well. She definitely didn\'t look like someone who would stop to talk to a homeless guy on the streets.

But he kept his expression most blank, apart from a polite smile. So many people took the smallest things as insults and Mackenzie didn’t want some rich bitch to start hurling abuse at him if she took offence to him ignoring her, or looking at her inappropriately. Whatever she wanted, she would get around to it eventually, he just had to wait for her to talk. He couldn\'t help but consider how it was a pity that look on her face twisted her beautiful features into a much less pleasant expression.

“Thank you. Unfortunately auditions are hard to impress at when you’re not wearing a suit… or at least haven’t taken all you own to the place,” Mac said with a small shrug, lifting his violin and resting his chin on the rest again, tilting his head to one side slightly, his dark gaze fixed on her.

“I take requests, but I don’t know many song names - you’ll have to hum a little so I can tell if I recognise it,” Mackenzie said, letting a gentle smile slip onto his lips as he waited to hear her response, whether it be a sneer at his suggestion of humming or an actual song that she wanted to hear him play. A lot of people refused to hum - they would try naming songs and he would simply shrug. At this time of night anyway, during the day at the shopping centres groups of friends would sometimes get into it and laugh as he suddenly recognised the song and joined in, but at night people didn\'t want to dawdle. She had stopped though, and spoken to him, so perhaps she would request something. And perhaps she would leave a nice reward, which was the ultimate aim. Enough money for a hotel or at least a hot meal.

[Saiketsu]

"I have no requests," she said to the human politely. Cursed human formalities. "Play what you feel.

"You mean to say with all that talent and all of that passion with which you play, you have no security in which to live and create? You have no place to call your own?" This one looked better -- much better -- than any other homeless scum she had seen on the roadsides in this horrid millenia. It came as a bit of surprise to her to know that he carried everything he owned around with him. A pity, because this young thing could have done so well for himself given the proper chance. He was certainly handsome enough to charm anyone, as he had proved only moments ago.

The angel thought for a moment, listening to any response if he gave it. His outward appearance nearly made her throw money at him just for him to bathe and change out of those disgusting clothes. Yet she was still charmed by the human\'s physical features, the odd attractiveness of his messy hair -- despite it\'s oily appearance -- the tone of his skin, the strength of his jawline, the depth of his chocolate brown eyes. Oh, yes, underneath all that dirt and poverty there was something truly beautiful to look at, and it was that something that Zoheret wanted to see all shiny and new.

"If you don\'t mind me asking," she began, folding her hands together on one hip and leaned back onto her back leg, a full smile spreading her lips wider as she spoke. The night was looking more and more interesting by the moment, "What is your name?"

[pinkroses]

Murphy raised an eyebrow slightly as she told him to play what he felt. Well, that was giving him free range, but it was what he usually did. None of his songs were quite right, they all had a spark of originality and all changed slightly every time they were played, depending on his mood. He lifted his bow to begin again, but as the angel spoke again Murphy lowered his violin and bow once again. She had stopped and clearly wanted to talk further, and Murphy found it hard to talk and play because he got so caught up with it.

He smiled at the disbelief in her voice and gestured around himself with his bow,

“No place to call my own? I have this whole city. I can create in the parks, gain inspiration from the things I see around me, and I have myself, I don’t need to depend on anyone or anything else for security,” Murphy said with a grin.

Of course, it was bull shit. No one wanted to sleep on the streets. He wanted a home, a roof over his head, but things hadn’t turned out that way so he made the most of what he had. And no one who wanted to hear him play wanted to hear about his troubles, so he kept it to himself.

As she asked his name Murphy paused for a moment before answering. No one cared about that, no one asked. They didn’t want to think of their street entertainment as actually being a person.

“My name is Mackenzie. What’s yours?” he asked. He didn’t normally ask, but since she had he guessed she wouldn’t mind him returning the question. He still wasn’t sure why she was hanging around him, asking him things like this. It couldn’t just be a question, surely she had some sort of agenda. She did have a gorgeous smile though - of all the people who could have stopped, she was one of the better options, or so he thought at the moment.

[Saiketsu]

"My name is Zoheret," the oligarch answered gracefully, her voice smooth as silk and polite as ever.

"Well then," she responded lightly with amusement, "your positivity is truly astounding, Mackenzie." Her smile was more or less genuine as she looked on the boy. She had experienced his type before -- those homeless few who claimed to enjoy every minute of it -- and not believed them in the slightest. To think that any creature would rather live struggling by its own merit than given life on a silver platter in a world that could easily overwhelm and kill it was a proposterous notion to the angel who had watched similar situations for millenia. So while his speech about creativity via God\'s blessings and nature was touching, inspiring even, in the eyes of a mortal, Zoheret wasn\'t buying it in the least. "I hope it carries you wherever you need it to." She added pleasantly.

Her eyes glanced down into the case of the violin to get a better image of the night this Mackenzie could expect. In it was nothing but a handful of change that would have gotten the human nothing more than a few items off of the value menu at a local fast food restaurant. The night was moving forward quickly and patrons would undoubtedly dwindle even as the immortal population came out for the evening.

She wanted the boy for her own. A nice, long shower and a new set of clothes -- after all she had the money to use -- and this begger could be a sort of king. The idea was extremely enticing to her, and her mind was made up. Young Mackenzie was coming with her for evening. Zoheret smirked to herself.

"But, I must ask you," she started curiously with a touch of concern, "it doesn\'t seem as though you have much to get by on for the night. How are you going to afford your lodgings or dinner tonight?"

[pinkroses]

Mackenzie raised an eyebrow slightly at her response - he knew it sounded cheesey, but he had to try to see the positive side to things, otherwise he would go crazy. He’d seen what happened to people who let the misery overcome them and he had no desire to start taking drugs to try to ease the pain. He’d had a good teacher when it came to survival.

His dark eyes followed hers down to his pathetic takings for the day. Some days were better than others - he could get some food, there might be enough for a bed if he added it to the cash he had stashed in his bag, and the few dollars in his pockets, but not both and it was warm enough out tonight that food was the better option since it was cheaper and those dollars he saved would be better used in colder weather.

“It wouldn’t be the first night I spent the night on the streets with an empty belly,” Mackenzie said, the smile sliding from his face, but it returned as he looked towards the angel once again, the smile making his eyes crinkle at the corners slightly.

“And there’s always the chance some kind soul will take pity on me and I’ll make enough to spend the night at the Warwick Hotel’s best suite,” he added, not bothering to make the request subtle. She\'d enjoyed his playing, she\'d stopped to speak to him and put that concern in her voice, but so many people gave him looks of pity, or applauded his playing and then moved on giving him nothing.

[Saiketsu]

She had such a soft spot for the attractive ones. This one was playing right into her hand and she saw nothing wrong in snagging him for herself for at least the night.

"I have a better idea, Mackenzie," she started, adjusting her clothing just a bit. "Seeing that you\'re in need of a meal and a decent place to stay, why don\'t I bring you to a different, much better hotel." Her tone was sweet and her expression innocent even if her intentions were not. "Then, once you\'ve showered and eaten, we will talk further about your ability to play your instrument. What do you say?"

He would have been a fool not to take up her offer. All of his expenses could be taken care of, a new outfit of clothing -- or five, she thought to herself, mentally turning up her nose at his rags -- a fine meal, a long, hot shower in the suite of the Oligarch Angel Queen, herself.

[pinkroses]

Mackenzie paused for a moment, watching her. He’d had offers like this before, and always knew he would be stupid to refuse them. The offers were usually less subtle though, a shower (a shower always came first), food and then a roll in the sack. Perhaps she was trying to be clever with innuendo, but either way it may end up with the same result. And a hotel was a more sensible idea than going back to someone’s home (although Mackenzie had no idea that the hotel was her home). He’d get a good meal, a warm place to crash, for a couple of hours if not the whole night and sometimes they’d throw in a new t-shirt of something like that. And she was a lot more appealing than some of the offers he’d received although there was a wary expression on his face.

He brushed it aside his worries with a smile though. They were there, but he just had to be careful and hopefully he wouldn’t end up with his throat slit in the morning.

“Okay, sounds like a good deal. I just need to pack up. It‘ll just take a few minutes,” Mackenzie said, moving to crouch down beside his violin case, the expensive instrument resting on his knees as he scooped up the cash and deposited it into his other bag. From a pocket of the violin case Mackenzie pulled out a soft, clean cloth and ran it over and carefully below the strings of the violin with obvious love and care. He didn’t rush it - she wanted his company for the night, she could wait until he was done, but he did glance up at her, deciding it would probably be wise to fill the silence in case she got bored and left.

“So, a better hotel that the Warwick? Where‘s that?” he asked, wanting to know where they were heading in case she whisked him into a cab and he got disorientated. He’d never been to the Warwick, but he’d seen the people who came in and out and heard stories about what it was like inside. Once the violin was back in it’s place Mackenzie repeated the process with the bow before loosening the string and carefully putting it away too, securely shutting the case and looking standing up smoothly, rucksack slung over one shoulder and violin case in the other.

[Saiketsu]

She waited with a tense bit of impatience as the human began to ready himself and his meager belongings for the night. Sarai watched with eager eyes as he cared for the violin, placing it carefully where he wanted it.

"It\'s a bigger hotel, once called The Crest. It sits on top of a hill overlooking the city. It has a fantastic view of the entire area." She smiled at him, accidently brushing her fingers past her Oligarch tattoo as she moved her hair. "I\'m sure you\'ll enjoy it."

Sarai threw a look over her shoulder in the direction of the limo, finding it exactly where she had ordered the boy -- what was his name? -- to park it. The engine was still idling and the parking lights were still on. She could almost feel the driver\'s eyes on her. And the Oligarch smiled viciously at the thought of bringing Mackenzie into the limo and having the other boy, whom she had promised a tumble, drive them both back to her home. It was too perfect.

"The Warwick pales in comparison to the Crest." She didn\'t know if that was true -- she had never taken anyone to the Warwick Hotel before, but she had no problem lying through her teeth to her new little pet.

"Ready then?" She smiled at the boy, knowing the answer before she asked it. "My limo is waiting right over here." And she led the way, making sure that he was following and that her hips wagged just right.

The driver immediately opened his door when he saw the angel approaching and circled around to open the door for the Oligarch and her new guest. Sarai slid into the vehicle as much as she could, and patted the seat next to her and looked up at Mackenzie with the sweetest of smiles.

[pinkroses]

Mac frowned slightly as she mentioned the name of the hotel, recognising it but not quite being able to place why. It wasn’t in the main part of town, he knew that, because he knew most of the main buildings in the city, but he couldn’t picture it at all, which was odd. But he’d definitely heard the name and couldn’t recall immediately anything bad about it, so it was probably alright, right?

Despite some wariness, Mackenzie followed, the desire for a night in a comfortable bed and a decent meal calling stronger than any worry. He’d survived this long, with a few near misses, how bad could this be? Luckily, Mackenzie didn’t watch movies, so horror films had yet to influence his thoughts in that direction.

The young man paused as he watched the woman slip into the car, glancing around, wondering whether anyone he knew had spotted them, if anyone would care if he disappeared, but after half a second doubt and a nod at the man holding his door, Mackenzie slid into the car. The slippery leather seat caught him by surprise and the human slid closer to the angel than he had intended, his leg pressing against hers until he shuffled back a little in case he was too close for her comfort. Still, with the way her hips had swung as she walked, and htat look she gave him, he doubted she would worry too much about that.

The roof was low, and there was so much room in the limo, it was ridiculous. She’d seriously been using this for just one person to drive around? Mackenzie lifted a hand to run through his messy hair, looking around with interest before his dark eyes settled on the beautiful angel beside him, wondering how much she would want from him tonight. He was expecting she’d want sex - that had been the reason behind the other occasions he’d been picked up like this. A homeless guy was more risky, but cheaper than a whore. Still, price could hardly be an issue for her.

“Zoheret, is that right?” Mackenzie asked, struggling a little to remember the foreign sounding name. “Where’s that come from?” he asked, wondering if it was a made up one.

[Saiketsu]

The sticky, almondy scent of his hand in his hair so close to her face made her nose wrinkle at his filthy disposition. Fortunately she was sure that the boy hadn\'t seen this gesture -- not that it would have mattered much if he had noticed. He was sodden with dried sweat, oils, and human grime that was much more opressive now that he was in the closed space of her car, and it was something that she could have done without. And by the silent glances of the human boy driving, she was not alone in her thinking. But the human\'s stench didn\'t matter in the least. This MacKenzie shine with the guarantee of being simply adorible, fanning himself over her with those delicious brown eyes and olive skin. A good, long shower and a nice outfit later, and he would be a completely different person, one she would have no problem taking to her bed. And if he didn\'t please her, if his sex was intolerable or his actions too aggrivating and her first impression of him withered and rotted, well, so would the human with a horrible caress of her finger. It was that easy.

Zoheret enjoyed the simple contact of his leg pressing against hers, and thought it simply precious that he had pulled his leg away from hers. Did he honestly not know what he was getting himself into? Had he been any cleaner, she would have place an arm gracefully around his neck or her hand on his thigh. At the present moment, she feared what kind of dirt would come off on her hand if she touched the boy.

The angel sat a bit more forward on the seat than seemed necessary, the idea of her beautiful blood red wings being crushed tonight was not acceptable. When the human addressed her, pronouncing her name with such a human accent, she looked at the boy as a mother would to a child who had used proper improper grammar, and said nothing to correct it. "It\'s Hebrew. It means \'She that shines\'.

"Why?" She asked coyly, crossing her legs. "Did you think I gave you a fake name or something?"

[pinkroses]

Mackenzie’s eyes had flickered towards the shaded window with the gesture, so he missed the look of disgust, but if he’d seen it then the human would have shrugged it off. To get a night in a shelter where there were showers, he would have to miss a day’s busking and queue up early in the day. It wasn’t worth it most of the time. He kept as clean as he could in public restrooms, but washing in a sink was no real alternative to a shower. He’d smelt worse than this, and run into a lot of people who smelt worse. At least he didn’t have the stench of alcohol and cigarettes on top of it all.

As she shifted in her seat Mackenzie did the same, but he moved sideways, putting his back towards the door and lifting one knee up onto the smooth leather between them, resting his hands on his thigh, tilting his head to one side slightly. The violin case was settled safely on the floor so it had no where further to fall. He wasn’t quite sure how to interpret the look she gave him, but since she didn’t give a different pronunciation he guessed it was right enough for her liking.

The movement on her legs crossing caught his eye and Mac glanced downwards for a moment before lifting his gaze once again to meet hers with a small smile playing on his lips. The name was definitely fitting - she did shine like a bright star in a dark night, and her ego was one of those things which was the most noticeable. But he wasn’t all that bothered by that. Everyone believed they were better than him - that didn’t mean they were.

“It wouldn’t be the first time. But I wanted to make sure I didn’t get it wrong later and upset you,” he explained. "Names are important to most people. If I had it wrong I would prefer you to correct me," he added with a small shrug.

"Like right now I\'m assuming you aren\'t actually taking me to the hotel so we can discuss music. And if that\'s incorrect I would like to know now so I don\'t make a stupid mistake later," Mackenzie added, glancing across at the angel with a smile which showed he didn\'t really care either way. They could discuss music, or they could fuck. But if she thought it was one and he started in on the other, well, it could get awkward.

[Saiketsu]

His response caught her quite a bit off guard and it was quite obvious in her face; she wasn\'t exactly expecting the human to ask her so bluntly about her intentions with him for the evening. From her long centuries of living among humans she had grown accustomed to their attempts at trickery, their attempts at being coy and feigning innocence when initiating some kind of sexual desire. She knew the steps of the dance of this art, how to speak and act, how to dress and how to laugh, and while she hated every useless step towards bedding anyone at all she was always willing to dance again to get her way.

Of course there had been exceptions to these rules. There had always been that one forward man who pronounced what he wanted when he wanted with such clarity and focus to wrinkle the brow of any passing woman. Every now and then she would stumble across some man who did nothing but sigh at any attempts at flirtation and simply point to a hardened member within their trousers. Some men simply didn\'t like to dance before they performed. Zoheret found this both entertaining and disgusting.

But this MacKenzie seemed to know her plan of action already without announcing it to her. He seemed to be a bit more intelligent than she had taken him for, calling her out like that. It was a pleasant surprise compared to the foolish boys who seemed so surprised by her advances. The angel took a moment to stare at the boy, rolling up the window between the driver and the back seat with a flick of a switch so that the driver didn\'t receive any part of their conversation.

"And what do you think was the actual reason for my taking you, besides being a kind stranger with a large heart?" Zoheret asked, purely curious to know the boy\'s initial reaction to her.

[pinkroses]

Mackenzie met Zoheret’s gaze steadily, keeping the small smile on his lips. The fact that she didn’t want the driver to overhear them did amuse him highly, but he didn’t let it change his expression.

He stayed silent for a few seconds after her question, not wanting to put his foot in it by saying something stupid. Blurting out that he thought she wanted to fuck him probably wasn’t the best way to go. He hated the way she had asked, she clearly knew what he was thinking so why was she asking? Why did everyone seem to love playing games?

“Well I’m hoping you’re not planning to torturing me to death,” he said, tilting his head to one side as he watched her, deciding not to comment on her obvious lack of modesty at describing herself as a ‘kind stranger with a large heart’.