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otomescriptdoctor · 3 years

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Masking - Chapter 2

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27939147/chapters/68451419 You take a deep breath. It’s always hard to ride out your heats alone. Past lovers haven’t been able to handle you during a heat, because you’d rather take care of your own needs than worry about unpracticed hands further frustrating you. It’s all over now, though. There’s an electronic hum from the dresser, you only have a few moments to fix yourself. The mirrored surface is swept away by the display interface of an EAC agent. It reminds you of Minority Report; one of the few non-Mission Impossible movies you adore because it has Tom Cruise. Yes, maybe it was Minority Report that made you want to work for EAC. The Boss’s voice comes in, polite but betraying a mild impatience, “How are you getting along, Nagisa?”

Hearing Boss's voice call your alias switches you into work mode, your posture stiffens.

“The same as usual, all going according to plan.” Your reply is automatic, like your muscle memory, it’s part of your routine.

“Well, I’m happy to hear that, last night was a lot of fun.”

Your mind wanders, thinking about the woman he was dancing with. Did he go home with her?

The Boss continues, “I almost can't believe how quickly you completed your mission. You never fail to impress me.” You detect a hint of sarcasm at the end.

This is not our Alpha. He is jealous.

These thoughts are not helping. Usually your hindbrain is leashed after heat, but it’s stubbornly keeping part of your attention. Reminding you that there is an Alpha who wants you to burn for him. You are thankful for being exhausted enough to leave a towel on your vanity seat. The Boss clears his throat. Oh shit, you’re expected to respond.

You manage to get out, “Thanks, I couldn't have done it without you, Boss.”

It was honestly sheer dumb luck you got it so fast. Remembering his touch gets your heart racing. Remembering you didn't have control boils your blood.

But we met Alpha. Alpha will take care of us.

No, you think, you should use your frustration at your unusual lack of control during the mission to reign in your rebelling hindbrain. That inner voice quiets again, for now.

The Boss continues, “I collected more information on Mr. Soejima, I'm sending it to you now.”

Kei Soejima’s curriculum vitae appears on your monitor. He went to Oxford. Still doesn’t explain how an Englishman ended up with a Japanese name. Oh, his family name is Romley. Huh.

“He is descended from a line of English nobility. His grandfather is an Earl. Earl Romley is a powerful figure who owns some of the most valuable land in England. Mr. Soejima is following in his footsteps. He's a special diplomat working for the British Embassy.”

You have your own ideas about long-time diplomats, and remember the feel of his strong arms. He must work out a lot despite being a diplomat.

Your mouth races ahead of your brain. “Does he have any enemies?”

The Boss frowns slightly. “That's the strange part, he doesn't seem to have any enemies to speak of.”

That explanation feels odd. He's an Alpha. Alphas make enemies everywhere. They literally can’t help it. He definitely didn’t smell like he was suppressed.

Your employer continues, “He's an influential man not only in Europe, but around the world. He helps out with his family's foundation in addition to being a diplomat.”

It’s your turn to frown. “It sounds like he's... perfect? Literally, too good to be true. There has to be some reason he's one of our targets, Boss.”

Any excuse to drop this case. You silently plead with the universe to give you a break.

He continues in a lower pitch, “This is off the record, but there's a snap election coming up - parliament is being dissolved ahead of time and obviously the prime minister position will be in play. Given that's just around the corner, why is he in Japan on unofficial business? Your next job is to monitor him and find out why he is here. Perhaps ascertain whether or not he has political ambitions.”

Inwardly you groan. Your heat only ended this morning. Being around that Alpha is likely to awaken it again. Okay, you don't have to steal any information or prove wrongdoing. That's a plus. You look down at your planner while replying.

“Understood, I already have his contact information, I sent it to you earlier this afternoon,” You look up to see him nodding, “I've already been invited to afternoon tea hosted by Mr. Soejima. I'll work on getting closer to him there.”

This is what you’re known for, and he gives you a smile. “Impressive, you've already made arrangements with Mr. Soejima… I knew I could count on you.”

You used to live for compliments like this from the Boss, but it doesn't give you the glow you used to get. He only asks you to do one thing after all: be an excellent agent. And now it’s simply what is expected because in many cases, you have arrived. A long time ago.

“Sounds like you're well on your way to success as usual. Mr. Soejima was quite taken with you.”

Your heart rate quickens involuntarily. Oh dear. His spicy, woodsy scent lingers in your mind, as well as the only warmth he had -- the warmth of his lips on yours.

“...What makes you say that?” Smooth… just barely saving face while your mind was racing.

“You looked like you were enjoying...the dance with him.” His pause to watch for your reaction offends you. You are a professional.

You scoff, "I better have. It was part of my job to make it seem like I am having fun. You were the one who taught me that.”

He doesn't sound convinced. “Just a part of your job? Hmm. I wonder if that's the whole story. There were times when you weren't even looking at me.”

He is jealous because we found our Alpha and he knows it.

Oh, was he jealous? You feel a little relieved he was keeping an eye on you, but now you wonder about his intentions. Maybe he saw you had a crush on him previously. Maybe this was why he insisted on having you, despite marking your calendar for private time to deal with your heat, to perform this mission. Disgust rises in your core.

“I wouldn't have let him touch me if it weren't for the mission,” you hiss.

“I'll believe you this time. Just be careful prince charming doesn't sweep you off your feet. I'll be looking forward to your success.”

His smile seems genuine, but you know this is a test of your loyalty. Same old song. Same old routine. There’s only ever one correct answer.

“I won't let you down.” He ends the call.

You sigh. Being tense at the start of the mission is normal. You're just edgy staying at home. Especially when the dress you wore the night before still smells like him. You even used his lingering scent to help you get off during your heat. Now that the smell has mostly worn off, and your heat is over, you are eager to scrub the rest of his scent from your memory.

While there may not be as much obvious danger, you remind yourself that you'll need to stay on your guard. Soejima is an Alpha, and your Omega reacted very strongly to his scent. Suddenly, his smile invades your mind. It’s upstanding and refined, but there's darkness underneath.

Was it just your imagination? You're unsure if you want to see it. You’re going to have to keep close to Mr. Soejima and his associates to gather as much information as you can at Raven Resort.

You take a deep sigh. Well, at least you still have most of that tub of your beloved Lady Borden French Vanilla to polish off. You walk out to your living room and decide that you need to spend some time centering and getting your id back under control. Preferring to disassociate by having a movie marathon, you know the perfect man to get your mind off of Prince Charming incarnate. Waving your arm across your DVD collection you stop on Minority Report. Time to put it in and get comfortable.---It’s the weekend, and you make sure to dress far more conservatively than you did for the masquerade, an off-white lace dress with a high collar and three-quarter sleeves. The pencil shaped skirt of the garment comes down to your knees, but it does hug your curves. You’re ever aware that part of you hopes he’ll like it.

You step into the hotel lobby at agreed-upon time, and you see Soejima is already there, waiting. Seems like he always has his own bubble, separating him from the crowd. There’s no hint of the devilishness he displayed at party. You start wondering if you imagined it. The Boss’s warning echoing in your brain - he may look like prince charming, but you’re sure you’re prepared this time.

You want his attention, on your terms. You turn towards him, taking a step and loudly clicking your heels on the floor. He immediately notices the noise and spots you. His eyes widen in recognition and he breaks out into a gentle, welcoming smile. It's only the second time you’ve met. Mirroring facial expressions will make him feel closer to you. You smile back. He maintains eye contact as he walks to you. It doesn’t feel quite the same as it did at the party. Back then, he was a predator stalking an easy kill. Now, he is a living embodiment of charm. But his eyes darken, drawing you into their warm depths. You curse at yourself for falling for those damn eyes again. Time for grounding your senses. You’re wearing work perfume with suppressants. Your comm device is in your ear. You’re insistent that today will go by your terms today. His steady pace toward you is producing an almost hypnotic rhythm. You struggle with trying to ignore the smoke and spice of his scent.

“I’m so glad you would make it, Nagisa.” His voice sends gentle rumbles straight to your core.You bow deeply and reply, “Thanks again for the other night.”

“Don’t mention it. And if I may say…” He takes the opportunity to look you up and down. “You look absolutely stunning.”

A blush crawls across your cheeks. No mask to hide it today.

He takes your hand and brings it to his lips, “No matter how bewitching the mask, it's just an unnecessary decoration on a woman like you.”

Your hand slips from his cold grip as you reply, “You’re too kind. By the way, thank you for inviting me today.”

He smiles. “You’re a welcome addition to our little get together. Now if you’ll come this way...”

He directs you to an elevator that goes directly to the upper floors. Although he makes no further contact, it nonetheless feels like he is escorting you on his arm. The perfect gentleman. You think back to your intel -- he owns the floor where he’s hosting the afternoon tea. Considering the masquerade, you brace yourself for this being far beyond the average get-together. You have no idea what to expect, and Soejima doesn’t seem keen on letting go of all his mysteries. You wonder if you can peel off his Prince Charming veneer and expose him for who he really is. Overcome with a feeling of exhilaration, you step on to the elevator with him.

#kei soejima #masquerade kiss #fanfic #also on ao3 #voltage otome

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jillmckenzie1 · 4 years

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A Disappearing Act

The good news is, we’re in a golden age of horror movies. Back in the old days, horror wasn’t taken seriously as a genre. If you liked a good scare, you’d run into a few problems; you’d need to sift through a Mount Everest of crummy movies to unearth the very occasional gems. When you did find something good, who were you going to talk to about it? Certainly not the people who would snobbishly decry the degeneracy of horror.

Things changed, and for once, they changed for the better. I have friends online that I can talk movies with. There’s a streaming service, Shudder, dedicated exclusively to horror-flavored films. You can find everything from cults to werewolves to Italian Giallo slasher-thrillers, all at the click of a button.

Perhaps best of all is the fact that the overall quality of horror movies has gone up…sort of. In the world of independent film, movies like The Babadook, The Witch, and Hereditary have shown that horror can, and always could, be smart and sophisticated. As usual, mainstream studios are having a little trouble catching up, but they’re getting there. A few years back, Universal had an ambitious plan to reboot its old monster movies. We would have potentially gotten Javier Bardem as Frankenstein’s Monster and a Creature from the Black Lagoon film from Guillermo del Toro.* Then Tom Cruise’s The Mummy flopped hard, and plans were abandoned with a quickness.

Or maybe not quite. For a little while there with the Dark Universe, there was talk about a new Invisible Man movie. It would have starred Johnny Depp and been written by Men in Black writer Ed Solomon. I’m half-excited about that prospect. I’m more excited about what actually happened. Writer-director Leigh Whannell got his hands on the project, and his iteration of The Invisible Man is creepy, clever, and a complete triumph.

Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) has an extremely large problem. Her partner, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is a brilliant and wealthy scientist who’s also a controlling sociopath. He tells her what to eat, where to go, what to think. They live, if you can call it that, in a gigantic contemporary home. It’s one of those places with massive open floor plans, huge windows, and an overwhelming lack of privacy.

Every problem has a solution, and Cecilia has found hers. She drugs Adrian with water laced with Diazepam, retrieves a hidden go bag, and flees into the woods. He gives chase, and she just barely escapes. Her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer) picks her up on a lonely road. Their childhood friend James (Aldis Hodge) has become a cop, and along with his daughter Sydney (Storm Reid), he gives Cecelia a home and a place to begin recovery.

Weeks pass and Cecilia receives word that her nightmare might be over. Adrian has committed suicide. Even in death, he inserts himself into her life, as he leaves her five million dollars. Is it a gift from a man who, in his last moments, reckoned with his monstrous nature and stumbled toward some kind of redemption? Oh, hell no.

Strange things are afoot with Cecilia. She has a nagging feeling of being watched. A fire mysteriously breaks out in the kitchen. Her possessions vanish into thin air. She comes to suspect that Adrian faked his death, and as a leader in the field of optics, he’s devised a way to torment her without being seen. But nobody believes her, she’s inching closer to a nervous breakdown, and she comes to believe that wherever she goes and whatever she does, someone is always watching.

Guys, there’s no other way I can accurately put it but to say that The Invisible Man absolutely whips ass. Leigh Whannell’s direction is superbly controlled, and he excels at wringing tension out of the two hours and change running time. He loves using wide-angle shots, and we’re always looking around the frame for something that’s not quite right. I was particularly impressed with his opening scenes in which Cecilia escapes from Adrian’s house. Whannell perfectly syncs his shot choices, edits, lighting, and sound design to create a masterclass in making a superior thriller.

My friend Dan Murta is a sharp and perceptive screenwriter, and he observed that The Invisible Man does for gaslighting and abusive relationships what Get Out did for racism. Leigh Whannell’s screenplay is chock full of gnarly set pieces, yet it’s all in service of character and has something that’s infuriatingly relevant to say. It focuses on a woman physically and mentally abused by arguably the biggest threat today: a white man with money, education, and a complete lack of scruples. Cecilia can’t prove the abuse she’s experiencing, can’t depend on systems that exist to allegedly help her, and eventually realizes that she’s the only one she can depend on.

We all know that there are actors out there who don’t always put their best foot forward. Upon agreeing to star in a thriller featuring a translucent lunatic, they might think, “If I give this one 65 percent effort, we should be good.” Elisabeth Moss is not one of those actors, and not only does she go for it one hundred percent, but she catches it, kills it, and fights off everyone else who’s after it. As Cecilia, she goes through a gauntlet of torture and shows us that under her despair and terror is a core of steel. I admire the fact that she’s a skilled performer, and at no point does she behave like she thinks she’s better than genre material.

The Invisible Man doesn’t need a $120 million budget or to be a part of a studio’s desperate attempt to create a shared cinematic universe. It has muscular direction, an intelligent script, and a cast that works together to bring a shared vision to life. In short, it has everything an excellent movie needs, and it delivers big-time.

*We did get del Toro’s very good The Shape of Water, so I’ll take that as a win.

from Blog https://ondenver.com/a-disappearing-act/

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