"Lord Othen." Lady Biechta was surprised when she opened her door.

"I hope I'm not intruding on your time, Lady Biechta."

"No, not at all."

"I came to ask if you would perhaps like to accompany me to the theater? The orchestra will be there today to run through some scenes with the actors with the live music. I thought perhaps you would enjoy watching?"

"Oh. That does sound... Enjoyable. If it would not be too much trouble? I do not wish to be in the way."

"Not at all. Shall we?"

Othen sat them in a seat at an upper balcony, where they could see the entire stage. Biechta noticed there were people walking around the stage, as if they were scrambling to get ready. Musicians were down below the front of the stage, fiddling with their instruments.

"There are so many of them." She commented quietly about the musicians.

"Yes. An orchestra is typically made up of many musicians. With all varieties of instruments. String instruments, percussion, wind. All working together to perform the pieces."

"But the music I heard..." She stopped and lowered her eyes.

"It is fine, I welcome your questions."

"I do not wish to be a burden. Or an annoyance." She said quietly in response.

"As I have assured you, you are neither." He sat there, studying her as she looked down at her hands on her lap. His next words were spoken softly, gentle as if she would break. "Biechta. Will you look at me?

She slowly and timidly looked up until their eyes met.

"Do not ever think of yourself as a burden. Or an annoyance. Especially when trying to learn. How else do we acquire new information and broaden our knowledge? And furthermore, I thoroughly enjoy sharing my knowledge and experience with music and arts with others. It is why I do what I do. Do not hesitate to ask me questions or share any comments you have or wishes. Can you promise me that?"

Slowly, she nodded. "I promise." She whispered.

He nodded. "We are friends, yes? Friends must be comfortable sharing with each other and helping each other."

She nodded again. He thought she looked like she might say something, but the music started playing from down below and her eyes immediately latched onto the stage. "It's starting." She whispered.

Othen watched her as the excitement rippled through her entire being, a smile pulling at his lips as he turned to watch as well.



~~~~~~~~~~~

"I told him we were lovers." Rahn told the quiet, masked male across from her as she updated him in her living room.

Dom stared for a moment before nodding. "It is a logical cover," he admitted.

"Speaking of physical relationships, how about you spar with me?" She stood and bounced on her toes.

He crossed his arms, not willing to comply with her request.

"Come on, I can't go to the training grounds like I'm used to, I don't have any sparring partners. I can go for a run, because that would be something a normal civilian would do. But I can't train outside of this dwelling and there's only so much I can do on my own."

When he didn't move, she added, "I can't go weeks without training, I need it to keep me safe out there should something happen. You want this mission to be a success, right?"

No response.

"You're my best option. Now.... She said as she removed her light jacket. How about you take that cloak off and we'll go a few rounds?"

When he didn't move, she walked over to him and lightly punched him on the shoulder. "You don't want either of us to get slow and out of shape. Come on."

When he still continued to just stand there and stare at her, she blinked her eyelids a few times and put on a small smile. "Do you want me to say please? Beg? Is that what you're used to from women?"

His eyes narrowed at her. Good, she was getting to him, she thought.

She reached her hands up and spread them across his chest, "Do you like women who beg and then submit to you?" She said in a sultry voice, teasingly as her hands kept in contact with him. As her hands moved lower, slowly, running down across his abdomen, her leg moved between his and she winked at him.

She hooked her ankle around his and leaned all of her weight to the side, pulling him down towards the floor. But as she did, he changed positions and grabbed her, rolling them until she was on his back, and he was on top of her. She smiled. Part of her was impressed and glad he hadn't fallen for her attempt at distracting him with flattery. He had anticipated her move. But either way, he was engaging and that's what she'd wanted.

They battled for dominance, changing positions several times before she maneuvered out of his grasp and rolled away from his reach, swiftly standing. "You're not bad."

He stood and didn't respond, but held a defensive stance.

"I won't be attacking anyone on this mission, they'd be attacking me. Come at me." She teased him.

He circled her slowly in the small living area before lunging a fist toward her face. She easily blocked it but he had anticipated that, twisting his body as his knee came up and jabbed her in the ribs.

She grunted as her abdomen constricted in pain. "You held back." She said through gritted teeth, knowing he could've broken ribs if he'd wanted to.

He nodded as he removed his cloak.

"Seriously?" She stood from her defensive stance. "Why even wear the cloak if you're wearing long sleeves, a hat, and a mask underneath?" She shook her head as she resumed her stance. "Are you that insecure of how ugly you are?" She smirked as she lunged for him.

He twisted and rolled his body away from hers, causing her to roll onto the floor. Her hand leand onto the hardwood as her feet planted underneath her. "You're pretty fast for your size."

But when she looked up, no one was there. "Are we hiding now Dom? Are you that scared of me?" She knew he wasn't but at the same time she got a thrill out of goading him and the adrenaline of the chase running through her veins. She didn't realize quite how much she had missed training. A good spar always helped to get rid of her stress.

She moved slowly and quietly as she left the living room and turned the corner into the kitchen. Not seeing him there, she moved to go down the hallway. The only other rooms were the bathroom and her bedroom. She took a glance at the bathroom, not surprised when he wasn't in there, before moving into the bedroom. But her brow muscles pushed together in confusion when she didn't see him there, either. "Come out, come out wherever you are!" She yelled but as she turned to leave her room, a body slammed into hers, covering her mouth with a Broad hand, and putting her against the wall.

"An undercover agent really should be better about her surroundings." He said, in his low and quiet voice.

"You know, if you wanted me in my bedroom you could have tried asking."

"This is serious, Rahn." Her eyes are rounded. It was the first time he had actually called her by name. She didn't like how it made her feel.

"You don't think I know that, Dom. This is my life on the line, you know." She struggled to push him off of her.

"Then stop joking around."

She stared at him in the darkness. It was so dark, she couldn't make out the colors of his eyes.

"I will handle the situation, however I see fit." She spat at him angrily. "Now, let me go."

"You have a combatant, holding you against your will,... Get out of it yourself."

She struggled against him more but the way he held her didn't leave room for her to use any of her usual defenses. He had one arm going across both of her shoulders, the other, holding her hands against her stomach, and his legs holding hers against the wall. The only thing she could do was wiggle her feet and move her head.

She inwardly sighed as she realized the only other defense she could try. She wasn't above using whatever means necessary, but that was usually against an enemy. Or against some idiot soldier who needed a lesson in humility. Using her femininity like this against Dom... Yeah, she liked teasing him but to actually get physical? She wasn't sure what it would do to her. Or if it would even work on him.

She audibly sighed and clumsily laid her head against his shoulder and neck. The only place it would reach. "Fine." She stopped struggling against him. "You got me. I can't get free."

"Yes. You can."

"No." She said, frustration in her voice. "It seems I can't. Now, let me go." She released a breath and watched as his muscles tensed. "Do you think you'll ever let me see you?" She whispered against his neck. "Who are you Dom? What's your real name?"

After a long moment of silence he removed his arms from her and placed his hands on the wall on either side of her waist as he whispered. "I like Dom better."

She let out a sad chuckle as she lifted her head and looked at him. "Dom the name or Dom the person?" She wasn't surprised when he didn't answer and just continued staring at her. She slowly moved her hands up until one rested on his collarbone and the other slowly inched its way inside of his mask.

"Don't." He said firmly but when he didn't move away from her she didn't remove her hand.

"I won't look if you don't want me to." She said softly as she continued moving her hand until it met his face under the loose fabric. "I can barely see in here anyway." She rested her hand on his jaw and he closed his eyes as he exhaled. She brought up her other hand and placed it on his other jaw. Slowly she moved her fingers across his cheeks. There were no scars.

Her thumbs found his lips and he tensed as she slowly explored them, her skin tingling as his breath ran over her fingers.

"Rahn."

She shivered as his voice whispered her name. "Yes?" She whispered in return as she continued to explore him. She glanced up to see him looking down at her in the dark. She kept eye contact with him as she slowly raised the fabric in front of his face with one hand as her other ran fingers across his cheek, and then slowly down his neck before coming up to cup his jaw again. It took everything in her not to rip the mask completely off of his face and look at him but instead she maintained eye contact.

"Tell me to stop." She whispered. Part of her hoped he would and the other part was holding her breath in anticipation.

Instead of responding, he lowered his eyes to her lips for just a moment and in response she unconsciously sucked in her lower lip slightly, licking it before letting it free again. As if the action pulled his body out of a trance, he lunged forward, his lips colliding with hers.

She grabbed his neck and shoulders and pulled him closer, likely causing bruises where her nails dug into his dark shirt. His hands moved from the wall onto her hips and pulled her tighter against him, a growl leaving his lips as they feasted hungrily on their desires. She gasped audibly as his hands went to the back of her thighs and lifted her to where her face was level with his, his tongue pushing into her mouth as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Her tongue matched his as they continued the intense kiss. But she wanted more. Needed more. "Dom..." she panted.

He tensed and pulled his lips away, burying his forehead against her neck as he took long breaths in and out.

"What...?" Rahn asked as she tried to look at him.

He released her back onto the ground and turned his back to her as he fixed the mask that hung in front of his face. She watched him as he stood still, his fists clenched at his sides.

She took a step toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Dom."

He flinched and turned toward her, staring at her with wild eyes.

"It's ok." She said softly as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"I shouldn't have let that happen."

She stared at him a moment before nodding. "I understand."

"I..." he reached a hand towards her before fisting it and putting it back down at his side. "I'm sorry." He said before he turned and fled out the door.

Rahn stood in her bedroom and listened as the back door opened and closed. She listened as she heard the click of the lock and she listened as his footsteps faded. Then she continued to listen to the silence a few moments longer.

She liked to tease, but the reality was she didn't have a lot of experience with men in a romantic capacity. Sure, she'd had some meaningless kisses and flings over her lifetime. Moments that were just to satisfy physical needs or curiosities. None of them had ever meant anything emotionally.

So she stood there and listened to the silence in confusion as to why she was feeling so vulnerable. After standing there frozen for several more minutes she recognized the feeling. She was feeling rejected and for once in her life she actually cared.