Negotiations

"That good, huh." Xerxes huffed then returned to his aggressive pace.

On the high from the previous climax, the return of the hard thrusts inside her kept Ketna on the high she wanted. Every gasp and moan she made grew louder as that tension inside her built higher again. Xerxes likewise began to grow more ragged in breath close to his own release.

"Gonna cum again?" Xerxes panted between thrusts, feeling the start of Ketna's tension in his grasp. "You're such a greedy bitch."

This time as Ketna felt the heat of orgasm rush through, Xerxes fell to the coaxing of her grip against his dick and came with her. Along with that final slam into her, holding fast to her hips, he bit at her shoulder, pinning her down as he finished inside.

For a time, Xerxes held Ketna's hips to his, keeping the two of them close together time while the aftershocks began to fade. Absent of the sound of moaning and sex, there wasn't much in the air but stillness and breathing between the two of them. Ketna roused when she felt a broad tongue brush over the shoulder she had been bitten into, then felt his mass lift from her back. Raising herself onto her elbows now that the weight was gone, she almost didn't notice the hand in her periphery, held silently in front of her.

Pausing in her motion, she glanced up at Xerxes, not that he could see it, studying him and then the hand. Cautiously, she took the hand offered to her, and to her surprise, he aided her in lifting her to her feet. His face regarded her quietly, studying maybe, almost waiting for something, only to drop her hand without much fanfare, and walk away.

"Y've cased the place before, y'know where the shower is." He spoke this without glancing back at her, while walking out of the room.

Ketna wasn't exactly hurt or 'bothered' by the flatness, but she was perplexed, enough to stand there trying to account for what exactly might be going through Xerxes head at this time. It wasn't like she had to figure him out, but knowing what to expect in the future was important for other encounters, especially if something like this was more than a one-off. He was right though, she did know where the closest bathroom was.

She didn't get a shower so much as clean off, taking a full shower here didn't feel safe but she wasn't about to put her pants back on without cleaning up. Upon inspection of her shoulder, the bite didn't appear as deep as she suspected, which meant it was an act to keep her in place not one out of anger, which was a good sign, in theory.

Once finished with sorting herself, Ketna followed the sound of glass clinking and other clamoring bringing her to the kitchen. There, Xerxes had an array of spirits and fixings on the counter of the kitchen. He held a shaker in his hand, which he addressed her with as she walked past the threshold.

"Makin' Cocktails, y'want one?" He poured the contents of the shaker into a glass in front of him.

It was like nothing in the last couple hours had ever happened, and they were stuck in this strange liminal space waiting for reality to kick in again.

"No thanks, water is fine."

"What, y' afraid'a getting shitfaced around me?" He taunted with a smirk before he knocked back the whole glass as though it were a shot.

"No, I can't get drunk so there's no point."

"So what y'gotta high tolerance, doesn't mean you can't get drunk."

Ketna sighed as though she was giving into a demand while leaning an arm on the counter, motioning to the kitchen in the process.

"Give me the highest proof thing you got, I don't care if it's rated for cyborgs, as long as it's the strongest liquor you have."

She didn't have to prove this to him, there was no pressing requirement for her to do so, she simply wanted to.

Brows raised on one set of Xerxes eyes before uttering a bemused, short laugh, then turned to search a cabinet. He procured a simple, unassuming bottle of clear spirit, tossing it to Ketna, who caught it without much trouble.

"Y'need a glass, doll?"

"Nope."

Intending to make a statement, Ketna opted to drink straight from the bottle itself, upon removing the top. Downing the clear, burning liquid at a steady, careful pace, not stopping until the contents were finally drained. The bottle was set back down heavily on the marble counter, not enough to shatter it, just to make it loud.

"This shouldn't take long." She muttered out loud, leaning forward on the counter with one arm and bottle still in the other hand, waiting for a hint of its effects.

Xerxes didn't say anything but went to work gathering other bottles and glasses, foregoing the mixer to pour himself a round of shots and watch the effects of what was about to unfold.

Ketna rarely ever drank much in her life but she was familiar enough with the effects to know what would happen. The only time she did was to see her limits and the extent of it's hold, calculated assessments as opposed to anything recreational.

She held up a hand the moment she felt the slight hint of wooziness begin to creep up on her. For the proof she had been given, she suspected it to linger maybe five minutes at most, but as she waited it out it began to hit her harder than anticipated. Her hand dropped back to the counter to stabilize herself, while also shifting her footing to be more stable.

"Y'havin a problem there, Sweetheart?" Xerxes asked in a sort of mock sweetness, then downed one of his shots.

"Nope." Ketna kept her response short and simple, to avoid the potential to slur.

This was different, the intoxication hung around with a certain intensity she hadn't felt before, and there was a strange alertness under that. The bottle had absolutely been laced with something, but her focus, not to mention her vision, was too disoriented to actually read the bottle to check what was in it. She probably would have toppled over were she made to walk but holding onto the counter kept her stable.

As it had become obvious the alcohol was starting to hit, Xerxes attempted to pry more out in the form of conversation. "So when I getta see yah without the' mask?"

She giggled while continuing to stare at the counter. "Never."

"Tch never? C'mooon, y'gotta cave some time." Xeres hovered over his line of shots, waiting for a response.

Ketna lifted her head, saying the first instinctive thing that came to her mind. "When you gonna call me by my name?"

Xerxes opened his mouth to speak but Ketna loudly interrupted.

"And I don't mean-" she dropped voice a few octaves lower to continue. "Hey Ketna I'm saying ya fuckin' name right now." Ketna used a druken imitation of a New York accent to accentuate the point she was trying to imitate Xerxes, then went back into her regular speaking voice. "Cus you're a fuckin' smartass and that's exactly what you'll do. No, No, I mean when you gonna say it and mean it."

"That it? I just gotta say your fuckin' name some time?"

Ketna hung her head, shaking it, laughing. "No that's not it, you fuckin-" She snapped her head back up to address Xerxes, again. "It's a fucking trick question, Genius. I didn't say 'when you gonna address me by cover', I said when you gonna address me by my name. Y'don't even know what my real name is. Ergo, Never." The more Ketna spoke the more she seemed to drop particular annunciations, but not exactly slur her words.

"Then gimmie your name, maybe I'll do that." Xerxes smirked then grabbed another shot.

Ketna lifted her hand from the bottle's neck and dragged it over her face while she laughed. "I'm Drunk, not Wasted, fucker. I'm not gonna just spill that. I know a thing er two about keepin' my head in altered brain states."

She lifted the bottle from the counter, as she made her next statement. "I know this is laced with somethin' and you think you're real slick slidin' me the bottle, but jokes on you. I knew you'd pull somethin' like that but I knew, that I could fuckin handle literally whatever it was you handed me. Cus there isn't a fuck'n thing out there I haven't got a tolerance to. Not a single thing I haven't run through my veins."

She sat the bottle back down. "Cus with the amount of people that want me dead-" She chuckled at the statement. "You should know, you're one of them-" She gave a knowing look behind her mask with a subtle head tilt in Xerxes' direction. "Gotta be prepared for things to go wrong, for people to fuck you over. That's just how the business is, gotta be ahead of the game cus the moment you stop you're dead, you know that."

"Heh, If you know I wanna kill ya then why do y'keep fuckin' me." Xerxes picked up another glass from the counter and held it in his hand, waiting for an answer.

"I'm a predator, you're a predator." She motioned to herself then Xerxes with the neck of the bottle to emphasize her point. "I'm attracted to fuckin' predators." She blurted out before she let herself think. "And I don't mean sexual predator, I mean like, top of the food chain, carnivore predator. Apex predators."

Xerxes, within the time Ketna had blurted her answer, had downed another shot and looked particularly smug about it. Following that, he chuffed at the claim. "You're a predator?"

"Of course, I'm a predator." She caught herself before her impulsiveness got the better of her and motivated her to elaborate on things that were better kept to herself. "I just make my prey.. other predators." She smirked to herself, amused by her own answer.

"And that's as much ego-stroking you're gonna get out of me." Slowly she felt the clarity of her annunciation return to her and her equilibrium had begun to level out.

"Yeah.. I think that's run its course." Ketna announced casually. "Damn, that stuck around." She spoke out loud, giving a big sigh. While Ketna wasn't entirely sober, it had waned down to a manageable buzz, but it would be on it's way out soon enough.

Now that her vision was mostly clear, she tilted the bottle of which she held by the neck, reading the label she didn't even bother inspecting until that moment. Xerxes had indeed offered her something cyborg grade, not only was it an exceptionally high proof but upon further inspection of the label it was laced with an amphetamine, which both explained how hard it hit and why the woozines felt different from usual. But like any other substance, she processed it just as fast as the rest.

"As I was saying- Not fucking worth it." Ketna let go of the bottle and pushed herself off the counter, not caring to linger in this space much longer. She already made a very poor decision, she didn't need to encourage another.

"Seemed fuckin' worth it t'me." Xerxes began stacking the cups from the empty shots, a 'tally' of whatever it was he was keeping track of.

Ketna already turned to leave and didn't bother looking back. "Of course it did." She answered with resigned exasperation. "Goodnight, Xerxes." She gave a little wave while walking away toward the balcony she arrived from.