Voodoo Lounge (IC)

[Sandman XI]

Crossbones, the voodoo rap group, was putting on a concert in the park. Wesley followed the group as anyone with an interest in such a combination between the two. Voodoo and rap. It was like chocolate and peanut butter. The result was pretty awesome. Or at least that's what Wesley thought. He was the one that introduced Robin to the group's music. She got to liking it too. The group was raw and harsh, but wasn't so serious that they didn't know how to have some fun with their work. The group had a devoted following with the college age, they called them the Zombies. The Zombies would paint themselves up like the group. With black and white grease paint and and a top hat, 'Tru Zombies' even made the sunglasses and face paint work without looking horrible. While Wesley wasn't as devoted as some Zombies, he knew it was all in good fun and brought some grease paint and a top hat. He would meet Robin at her place to get ready. Maybe he could even convince her to try on the paint, or at least a mask. They had those too. Wesley stood at Robin's door and knocked.

[Raveled]

Robin was putting the last touches on a spirit, charm, letting the ash-dye dry on the bones, when she heard the knock at her door. She wiped the paintbrush off and left the charm in the C-clamp on her kitchen table. A quick spell sent her senses outside and she smiled to see it was Wesley. She opened the door and invited him inside, eying the bag in his hand warily. "Hello, you," she greeted him, pulling the tall man close and stretching to give his chin a peck. "Make yourself comfortable. I was just working on a commission," she said, waving at the bracelet. To a casual glance, it just looked like white beads on frayed thread. On closer inspection, the beads were hollow bones, painted with weird symbols. It would take someone skilled in the mystical arts to identify its real purpose.

"I still have to change," she added, walking towards her bedroom. She paused at the door, turning to face Wesley. "Ah, maybe you should change out here? If we both change in the same room, we'll never make the concert on time." She gave him a wide smile and slipped into the other room.

[Sandman XI]

Wesley smiled when Robin greeted him. She always knew how to make him do so. A big gesture such as moving him, followed by a small gesture as a peck on the chin. It was almost teasing, it seemed. He followed the peck with a more formal kiss, "Hello to you too." He looked over at the commission when she pointed it out. He was always intrigued by the wonderful things she made. He never knew how it worked, it just did. Sticks of all sizes that shot magical spells. Jewelry and other worn things that made the wearer enhanced. It was just... magic. He couldn't explain it. When she pulled away from him to go change, he chuckled and nodded with her in agreement. "It'll take me a bit, I brought paint." He pulled out some and showed her before she slipped out. He would do the gentlemanly thing and not follow, though the teasing made it almost a dare on her part. He quickly stripped down to his boxers. The face paint would be easy, he also had to apply the paint to his chest and back. An easier task for him due to his body manipulation powers. He put on his torn-off-at-the-bottom slacks (part of the geddup), just in case Robin walked out early. She was known to surprise him in interesting ways due to her magic. He then started to apply the paint.

[Raveled]

Robin was tempted to watch Wesley as he dressed -- he had such a beautiful body, and the tattoos made him seem like a work of art -- but she retained herself. Instead she started dressing her own self, tossing her shorts and tee-shirt on the bed, to deal with later. She left on her black bra and panties and slipped into a pair of tight, black lycra pants and a tight tee-shirt. She took out some glow-in-the-dark paint sticks, already half used; she'd already painted the major bones onto her outfit, and the vaguely-green spine, ribs, arms and legs, and pelvic bone all roughly lined up. She wandered into her bathroom and turned on all the lights are her vanity, carefully applying more glow-in-the-dark paint on her cheekbones, her eyebrows, and outlining her chin and jaw. The last touch was white lipstick, a purchase that took awhile to find, and dark eyeshadow, which she already had. The last touch was a pair of glasses with round, smoked lenses that she perched on the end of her nose, and a cylinder of glow sticks.

The entire get-up took the better part of an hour to get on, and when Robin finally emerged from her bedroom she posed dramatically, hands in the air and glasses perched just so. "Well," she asked Wesley. "Do I look appropriately voodoo-raver-goth?" She smiled at her own portmanteau, white teeth bright against her dark skin.

[Sandman XI]

Robin walked out just as Wesley had finished painting his torso and back. It looked like a cartoonish ribcage and a spine that went from the top of his neck to just at the bottom of his back. He hadn't even touched his face yet. He didn't like to brag about his work, but he thought he had done well. Until he saw her. He stared mouth agape at her costume. She was was gorgeous. Smiling appreciatively, he nodded, "Yeah... yeah." When he finally got his mind out of Lala-land, he looked at himself and then back to her with a weak smile, "I was thinking of going with something simple." His smile broadened, "Then again, next to you anyone would look amateur." He took her hand and slowly turned her around to see the whole thing again. That's something he would keep in his thoughts for a long time. "I need to get my face paint on. The whole back thing took longer than I thought." He hated to let the his pretty Robin go, but he had to get done.

[Raveled]

Robin grinned as she spun for her boyfriend, enjoying being appreciated. "You're a professional," she reminded him. "Your designs are perfect, Wesley." She leaned in suddenly and kissed him briefly on the lips. "Mine are just better," she added, baring her teeth in a smile to show she was just teasing him. As Wesley started on his face, she moved to the kitchen table and picked up the top hat there, playing with the stiff material and winding it up like a discus, before perching it on her head at a jaunty angle. "If I like these folks," she said, "I might buy you one of those canes tap dancers use, with the white on either end." She settled in, enjoying a chance to study Wesley's body while he was concentrating on the makeup.

[Sandman XI]

Wesley chuckled at the thought that his designs were perfect.. He was always working on new designs and making them unique and original. Though, he was in no way jealous of Robin's work. In fact, their artistic side brought them closer together some times. A quick, but thorough covering of his face in white , he reached for the black pain and shader brush to make the white face into a skull. He laughed at the thought of him as a tapdancer. "Well then," he said amusedly, "I hope you do like these guys. I know how your sticks work." He looked over to her, the face was taking form, "Like magic." He noticed her checking him out and smiled happily going back to the paint. A few more minutes and he was done. He slowly walked over to the table. Gently touching her hip he took the hat off of her head. "Now, though the magic of quick dry, I am ready," he said putting his forehead to hers. He smiled devilishly, "Now let's go do that voodoo that you do so well."

[Raveled]

Robin laughed and stood, pushing Wesley's head and body up and back. Their height difference left him bent over and forward oddly though, so she planted a lingering kiss on his lips before slipping away from him. She didn't take a key with her -- her costume didn't have pants, an obvious drawback -- but she locked the front door of the unit with a muttered, guttural word once they were outside. She hooked her arm around his waist and swayed her hips a bit as they walked towards the front door of her apartment building. "So where is this concert taking place," she asked, drawing a bit closer to him once they were outside. "All you told me is that it's outdoors. Is it outside the city limits?"

[Sandman XI]

Wesley smiled after they locked lips. Robin always knew how to accentuate the moment. He was visibly speechless until she asked him something. It was more a happy speechless than a shocked speechless. He seemed to appreciate the closeness she was sharing with him. He wrapped his arm around her torso when she pulled him close. It would look like he was trying to grab her butt if tried for her waist. He didn't want that kind of misunderstanding. "Closer than you think. It's in the park. We could walk there."

[Raveled]

Robin used her free hand to draw Wesley's arm tighter around her shoulders, enjoying the big man's warmth and his presence. She took the steps slowly and turned towards Liberty Park. Her strides were shorter than her boyfriend's and she kept her pace casual, forcing him to a slow saunter. She couldn't see any lights from the park -- or at least, any more than normal -- but the skies were empty and the air was clear. "Over in the park," she echoed. "Are you sure you don't just want to be wandering through the city with a pretty skeleton lady?" She smiled and pressed against his side for a moment. "We better not be walking too far, or a hero is going to swoop out of the sky and pick us up."

[Sandman XI]

Wesley playfully looked up and around with a sort of grunt when Robin mentioned being apprehended by heroes. "Well then," he grinned while hunching over and walking with a gait, "Let dem come! Dey hafta deal wit da zombie!" He stood straight up and picked up Robin in a cradle position, "Dey not gonna take da zombie lady from da zombie!" He handed her his hat with a wink and spoke softly, "Hold on." With that he zoomed through the streets until they reached the park. A small group had gathered where the concert was supposed to be but the festivities had not started yet. He zoomed to a less populated section of the park. They could see the area they were supposed to be at, but it was just them there. "We got some time," he smiled gently sitting her down in a soft grassy are and took a seat next to her.

[Raveled]

Robin giggled as Wesley picked her off the ground and started speaking in that atrocious accent, and when he started running through the streets at superhuman velocities she began yelling in a happy, excited way. The zipped over to the park incredibly quickly, and as Robin touched the ground again her face was flushed and dark against the white makeup. She turned to face Wesley as he settled next to her and kissed him deeply, her tongue touching briefly against his before she pulled back. The sorceress lay back on the ground, staring at the night sky. "Wow," she breathed. "I never knew you could do something like that, Wesley." She turned her head and grinned up at him. "I can sorta see the appeal of owning a fast car, now. Wind in your hair, the world flashing past... It's quite a rush."

[Sandman XI]

Running through the city like this always made him feel free. having a passenger along for the ride was fun too. If it weren't for the wind whipping by he would of heard Robin's scream, but he felt it leaving her lungs. This made him happy that she was happy. He blushed as Robin gave him the very forward kiss. "Now you know how I save on gas," he laughed answering her indirectly about the powers and more directly about the transportation. There were things that he could do that even surprised him. Like that one period where he had tentacles. He could still do it, but his powers seemed to rearrange. It seemed whenever he got complacent with his powers they showed him something new. There was a bit of a pause as he leaned back on his hands looking up at the night sky. He looked down to Robin lovingly, "We could do it again, anytime you want." He would do anything for her.

[Raveled]

Robin's smile widened and she showed her teeth, running her hand up his muscular, tattooed arm. "Maybe later," she said, her eyes on his. "We don't want to miss the concert." Her hand reached his head and stroked his long dreadlocks, before tugging them gently and pulling him to the ground. Robin rolled slightly so that she was on her side, her body pressed up against Wesley, their eyes on a level. "Unless that was your plan," she said quietly. "Get me out of the house, take me to an out of the way place and seduce me." She leaned forward and kissed him slowly, leaving a peck on his lips once she pulled back. "Was that it?"

[Sandman XI]

Wesley watched Robin with a lightly amused look as she slowly worked her hand up his arm. It tickled as much as it was hot. He obeyed as she pulled him down by a strand. He winked when she implied that he had ulterior motives. Pulling her on top of him as he rolled over, he spoke in a rumbling growl of a tone, "I only wanna do what make da zombie lady happy." With a chuckle, he lightly touched the back of neck in an unpainted place. Her skin felt goosebumps as it was sensitive. All of it. She could feel everything. "We could go to the concert. We could stay here." He lightly rubbed the back of her neck, "Either works for me."

[Raveled]

Robin giggled as Wesley pulled her on top of his massive form, then gasped as he touched back of her neck and sensation flooded through her. It felt like she feel every distinct point on her skin as clearly as she could see; in an instant, her entire epidermis gained the sensitivity of her fingers or tongue, and the sensation was overwhelming. She closed her eyes and just concentrated on feeling for a moment. It took some time for Wesley's statement to penetrate, and when it was an effort to gather her thoughts and answer. She opened her eyes to lock them on her boyfriend's, and her eyes were glazed and distant. The feelings surging through her were almost like a drug, they were so powerful. "Don't need a concert," she said sleepily, lowering her head to his bare chest and rubbing at the exposed skin with her cheek. "Got everything right here." She raised one knee and stroked lightly at the only part of Wesley's pants that wasn't artfully shredded, pressing her body tighter against his.

[Sandman XI]

Wesley was glad Robin enjoyed the gift he gave her. He would keep it up until the concert started, keeping his sense of hearing in both places, though more here than there. Until then he would let Robin enjoy her gift. He brought his finger down her back and sides, slowly tracing little patterns. He smiled as he watched her reactions. He wondered how lucid she was. "Robin," he said putting his other hand under her chin, forcelessly trying to bring her face to his, "I've been wondering something."

[Raveled]

Robin made happy little noises as the finger traced down her back, shivering slightly and arching her back at times to increase the pressure a bit. Even the slightest touch just felt so wonderful at the moment, she felt like she could stay here forever. When Wesley tilted her face up, she smiled and wiggled up his body playfully, kissing him on the lips. It was a long, involved kiss, and she took her time enjoying it. When she was done, she smiled down at Wesley. "What is it you want to know," she asked in a playful tone. While she waited for his answer, she nuzzled at his jawline and his long hair.

[Sandman XI]

She was definitely lucid and definitely responsive. The show of love made him thank God or Fate or whoever that they were together. Still slowly tracing her sides, this time with his hands, he spoke up. "I've been doing some thinking." He sighed with a bit of happiness and dreams, "We've been together for a while. We know each other. We know each other." He chuckled lightly then continued. "I'd like to ask you," there was a short pause as he took a breath and went ahead with the question. Like it was the most important thing ever to him. "I'd like for us to become more than just two separates. To care for each other on another level. Robin," he stopped to gently lift her face again, "can we live together?" He smiled as his heart was about to beat out of his chest. He could calm himself down, but he wanted the reaction to be real.

[Raveled]

Robin's mood plummeted at Wesley's question, the emotion in counterpoint to the physical sensation still flooding through her body. She was tempted to simply lie there on the large man and ignore the question, but she couldn't in good faith do that to Wesley. She did roll off him and walk a few paces away, hugging herself and forcing the enhanced tactile sensation out of her head. "Wesley. I like you, I really do. You have a good heart, and you're a lot of fun. But..." She turned to him and smiled, a bit sadly. "I'm... I'm almost twice as old as you," she lied. The sorceress had never revealed the secret of her prolonged existence to the man, and she wasn't about to now. As far as he was concerned, she was only in her mid 30s. "My life is very different from yours. And there's still things about yourself that you need to figure out. I feel very much for you," she assured him, "but I don't think it's... forever. Do you understand?"

[Sandman XI]

Wesley swallowed hard as his heart sank into his stomach. The words kept repeating in his head. The age disparity was true. She was fourteen when he was born. It didn't make the words hurt any less. He thought about forcing himself into a calm state again. Tears rolled down his face as she turned and walked away. It took him a second to get up. He was floored. He couldn't say anything. Well he could but the emotions would make it hard to understand. He hung his head as his thoughts made a fool of him. When he finally got the gumption to say something, it was a somber voice he spoke with. "I want to say I don't, but I do. I put more thought into this relationship than there was. I was over thinking it." He touched her face and the feeling was gone. Her sensation was back to normal. The skull paint on his face was running, but he kept a smile on his face. "I'm sorry I dropped this on you, Robin."

[Raveled]

Robin stepped closer to him and ran her hand along his face, tracing the strong lines of his jaw. His arms went around Her and she responded in kind, hugging Wesley close, her head on his chest. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, "but it wouldn't be fair to force my lifestyle on you, Wesley. You have no idea what I live with, and I don't want to make you change enough to accept." She looked up at him, the same sad smile on her face. "I don't want to see you change so much that you could accept it." She put her cheek flat against his chest again, staring out across the park to where the concert was setting up. Groups of teenagers and young adults, closer to Wesley's age than her own, were gathering there. Some groups were sharing around cans or bottles, and others were sharing around paper twists that could be cigarettes, or marijuana, or any of a number of illegal substances. They were preparing for a night of celebration and excess, and until a little while ago she had been ready to join them.

She sighed, feeling her chest trying to expand and being stopped by Wesley's huge form. "I guess you're not feeling much in the mood for music right now," she said softly.

[Sandman XI]

Wesley was still as Robin spoke. He did want to be a part of her life. Even if it meant facing the incomprehensible things she would face. He would face them with her. Though he wouldn't force himself into her life against her wishes. He respected and loved her too much to go against her wishes. When their eyes met for a short time it was like looking into what forever would be like. And then it was gone again. When she suggested that they leave the joyous celebration, he nodded, "There will be other times for music." He held on to her for a while, eyes closed, wondering what their relationship would be like now. Awkward? Totally different? Non-existent? He held on to her as long as he could. "Would you like a lift home," he asked breaking the silence.

[Raveled]

Robin stepped back and out of Wesley's embrace, trailing a hand along the big man's chest and then letting it fall to her side. "I think we should be apart from each other for a bit," she said. "Just until we're sure exactly what we mean to each other." She took another step away and made to turn towards her apartment, then hesitated and looked down at the ground, not quite willing to meet Wesley's gaze. "I... I still have feelings for you, Wesley. But I don't think it's quite what you feel for me. And I think you deserve someone who can really give you back what you're giving to them." With her piece said, Robin turned and started walking back to her apartment, cutting a wide path around the crowd gathering for the concert.

[Sandman XI]

And there it was. Every sentence she uttered came crashing into him like a ton of bricks. Every word she said tugged his heart outside of his chest. He stood there, watching helplessly as she walked away. It was like a nightmare. A nightmare that he couldn't wake up from. He couldn't look at this anymore. His grief was welling inside. He did not want her or anyone else to see him like this.He quickly shot up into the air and one sonic boom later was on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He let his grief flow. For what he had lost. He would stay there for a good long while thinking about what Robin said.