Behind the mask --Cain

[elena]

OOC: Attire for this thread found here. Hairstyle. Victorian gown. Lace Fan. Mask. Victorian Jewelry.

[/i]

--- As elegant as Elena looked, and she had a glowing smile on her face behind the mask she was dreading every bit of it. If her gorgeous, captivating blue-ish gray eyes weren't actually visible through the holes of the mask on her face, more than likely she would be rolling her eyes at how annoyed she was. She hated people who pretended to be something that wasn't. She hated people who lied to themselves. But when one would really think about it, was she so different? Some may call her a hypocrite for her thinking that way, since despite her intelligence she doesn't truly feel that she's not being who she is. Anyone that was able to get close enough to her would probably beg to differ. There was hardly anyone so no one could argue against her anyways. Her father was a no show considering Masquerade's weren't his scene. Maxine on the other hand couldn't resist herself, of course not it was her opportunity bask in the limelight as usual. Elena mostly stayed on the arm of Nicholas as he mostly conversed with others, Elena only throwing in a few words, smiles and laughs to keep them going.

~These people are so annoying. I've been around these type of people all my life, I'm surprise I have yet to lose my mind. I want to say that my absence would go completely but I'd be lying to myself. Whether it'd be quickly notice or gradually someone will realize it, if I was to leave. At this point I really don't care. I really need to just get away from all of this. I need some fresh air away from this ball. Such a good thing that one of my favorite places to relax; the beach; wasn't too far at all.~[/color]

"Darlin'... I'm going to go mingle with others.. Enjoy yourself."

"Very well... Don't enjoy yourself too much."

"As if there is any real enjoyment without you.""

"Don't forget it."

"How could I?"

~Nicholas, my dear Nicholas so full of yourself. But how fun it is to boost your ego and then bruise it later.~

--- Giving him a peck on the cheek, obviously just to keep up the illusion of their status as a couple. If only Elena could find another, but she was stuck with Nicholas for now at least. So many complications, so many factors it could drive a person crazy. If she wasn't walking out the door that moment she probably would've lost it. The night was still quite young, especially in the eyes of a socialite like Elena. Her heels clicked against the pavement as she casually walked down the streets heading towards the pier on the beach. Surprisingly there wasn't many people on the streets but those that were could not help but take notice of her. How could one miss a beautiful young lady dawning an Victorian red gown, and a mask? You'd have to be blind not to. A smile grew on Elena's face, feeling the stares and rejecting a few guys that approached her.

~Men can be funny and fascinating creatures. Sometimes so easily amused and so easily wrapped up in the beautiful yet dangerous web of us women. It's so easy to draw them into us with the most simplest of gestures and words. I find that so interesting. Most of the time guys have to try so hard to lure a woman of his choosing in, while we don't have to do much. The sense of desire, want, need, lust is strong on both fronts, but yet I've noticed that majority of the time women could control that much better then men. Heh, god I clearly have men on the mind tonight.~

--- Elena finally had reached the pier, walking down the wooden walk way that led out into the water. The fresh sea breeze felt so good against her beautiful skin, despite it being a little cold. Elena would shrug it off anyways and enjoy how refreshing it all felt. The roar of the crashing waves below she watched from leaning over the railing slightly. Everything about the beach at night soothed her. Relaxed her being. For some reason she couldn't help herself in deciding to pick up her dress a bit with her left hand that still held a closed lace fan, and placed her right on the lamp pole that stuck up from the wood. She hoisted herself up carefully considering she was wearing heels and managed to balance her on the top wooden rail, still holding the pole firmly. To be honest it looked like that scene from Titanic when Rose was at the back of the ship thinking about jumping off. Funny how Rose and Elena both seem to be wearing red dresses. From any onlookers point of view, Elena would look like she was going to jump. Like a rich girl tried of her life and just wanted it to end. Was she?[/font][/ul]

[Cain]

The night was still young and the weather was peacefully fine. Just the way Cain liked it. The Junior took this simple opportunity to do something that he had never done so in a long time. To work out. Clad in a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of track pants, and finally a pair of Adidas jogging shoes, the Junior would leave his apartment locked as he left to bring himself around in a cooling night jog. He had only done this once before, in this city of San Diego, but the last time he did, he found himself encountering a masked individual named Knightmare, who apparently was the city's friendly neighbourhood hero.

A creepy weirdo, though, in Cain's eyes.

He chuckled as he found himself jogging towards the pier, the Junior having just let his feet take him down through the city. Yeah, he was running without a destination now, turning only when meeting a dead end, or the traffic light blinked red for pedestrians. Of course, there was one point he went in a circle, but he couldn't really be bothered about it. And the Junior went on, finding his way to the pier. As he did, though, he noticed a really peculiar figure making her way deeper into the pier. Cain slowed to a stop, his eyes squinting as he focused on the individual.

Was she wearing... A Victorian gown? What? Cain raised his right hand, pressing it against his forehead. Alright, this was the last time he was going out on a night job. Every time he did, he was bound to encounter a very odd fellow. First, the superhero-wanna-be in spandex and now, this girl in the middle of the pier in a Victorian gown. However, this time round, Cain figured it would be best to ignore her.

Then, something else caught his eye. You see, Cain was simply standing at the end of the pier. And a trio of large men in leather jackets would pass him, with wide grins on their faces and eyes set upon the female in the gown. Cain stared at them for a moment, analysing their movement and noticing how hard they were trying to silence their approach. What was happening here? Cain furrowed his eyebrows. It did not take a genius to know.

Once again, his hero complex would take over as he stepped forward, grabbing the back of the center one's leather jacket, pulling hard on it and sending his right knee into his lower spine. The shock was enough to temporarily paralyse the man as he fell to the ground on his knees, back arcing forward and body shivering. Cain would then raise his right leg and snap it into the back of his head, knocking him out. The other two turned around, voicing their surprise with curses. One of them was quickly dispatched, though, as that outstretched right leg would simply snap to the side, his sole catching the guy's nose and breaking it, causing him to stagger backwards and against the railing.

The other one was a bit more lucky, as he dived at Cain, bringing the Junior to the ground and riding upon the male, hands raised and ready to pound down on Cain. However, the Junior was a whole lot more experienced as he caught the right fist and snapped his left hand inwards, catching the man's elbow. The man yelped, before being silenced as that left hand snapped upwards, catching the underside of his chin.

The man rolled off Cain, the Junior slowly getting up as he watched his handiwork. The first one was unconscious, the other one trying to stop his nose from bleeding out, and the other dazed by the strike and suffering from perhaps a dislocated elbow. Well, that was faster than Cain thought. At that, he turned towards the woman in the Victorian gown, who would have been close enough to see and hear the whole scene.

"Uhm... Hi."

[elena]

[/i]

--- Those gorgeous blue-ish gray hues were taken by surprise upon hearing some racked going on just a bit behind her. Now thinking about her current position of standing on the wooden railing of the pier in a pair of heels, it wouldn't be the wisest thing to startle her in anyway. For there was the offset chance that she would end up losing her balance, releasing the lamp post in the process and fall into the cold water. Hence defeating the purpose of whatever whomever wanted to do to her. As if she'd let them anyways. Those hues shinned through the holes of her mask, watching the display of an attractive male fighting off three others. Funny was he the Jack to her Rose? Probably not, but it was still funny to think. Elena's eyes blinked as she was trying to put two and two together. She hadn't really heard anyone of them approach, probably because she was too much into her thoughts and the roar of the crashing waves added to the mix. Why would this individual be beating up these three? There was a few varies reasons, one being they were trying to jump him or maybe they were coming for her and he was protecting her. Could be a good possibility. Her brow perked a bit though it wasn't truly noticeable considering the mask was still on her face, covering even that. Looking down at the carnage, and then to the individual she smirked at it all. Finding an odd amusement within the display, giving off a little snicker whilst maintaining perfect balance on the wooden railing. A few gust of wind passing through, as her silky smooth vocals filled the night air.[/color]

"Good evening..Beautiful display, lacking a bit of an elegant flair, but beautiful nonetheless.. Though you should be more careful doll face, luck doesn't last forever... Do you always rush in like that?"[/font][/ul]

[Cain]

Was that... A masquerade mask? Cain raised an eyebrow as he was now allowed a front view of the female. He looked away for a moment as the guy with the bleeding nose got up, his emerald hues finding the man's brown irises. The man only stared back for a moment, before letting out a grunt and running away. Cain let out a soft curse as he took a step forward, attempting to follow after him, when the girl behind him spoke, the Junior stopping in his tracks. The guy had gotten away, perhaps the fear of the Junior sending him out a lot faster than he had ever run before. Cain sighed. Well, he sure was in trouble now. Guys like this, they never just rolled around in threes.

"Good evening..Beautiful display, lacking a bit of an elegant flair, but beautiful nonetheless.. Though you should be more careful doll face, luck doesn't last forever... Do you always rush in like that?"

Beautiful? Oh, what do we have here? A prominent sadist, probably? Cain turned back to face her completely, a small grin on his face. Cain was never much of a sadist, despite people's opinions. He fought not to shed blood or cause pain to others, no. His main focus was to feel himself. To feel the adrenaline; the muscle strains; the pain of being hit; the challenge; the thrill. Those were why he fought.

"Thanks, I guess... And yeah, more often than not. Besides, how hard is it to tell what they were about to do?"

Cain looked down at the man who lay on his stomach, still knocked out by the kick on the back of his head. Wait, doll face? Cain turned back at her. What was that supposed to mean? He looked like Barbie? Oh, no. Cain raised his eyebrow again, an awkward thin line replacing his lips as he looked at her. Well, now that he was here, might as well read her up, right? To Cain now, she was either some weirdo who apparently had a liking for Barbie dolls, considering she looked like she dressed like one and described Cain to be a doll-face. Or, she was a run-away, from the nearby Masquerade Ball. Now that he thought about it, he did pass by some kind of grand event earlier. Was she from there?

Oh, and she wore a mask. Just like that Knightmare dude. Yup, no more night jogs for Cain.

"So, like, what's with the get-up? A masquerade ball?"

[elena]

[/i] follow this rule? Honestly no. She more or less followed it in more business like and formal situations than casual. For now he held her attention since he had gotten it so quickly with his display, but she would just give her beautiful million dollar smile and turn her face against the wind; giving him the profile of her face. Since she took notice of his speech pattern along with his facial expression, she determined a few things that he wasn't exactly saying.

~It would be far too easy to make a slightly insulting comment on calling him captain obvious. But in this case I see no reason for doing so. Just once I'll hold off. After all later down the road we may cross paths again and who knows what that situation may be like.~[/color]

"Heh, yes unfortunately... You should speak your mind sometimes when something is bothering you instead of just making expressions that give you away anyways... I was admiring your form not the violence for one... Two, if you have a problem with the term doll face I suppose I could leave it out of my speech...Three, I'm not some weirdo if you were thinking that... Am I warm? Am I missing something?"

--- Again Elena would smirk, turning her face over her shoulder a bit so those hues that were glistening from the moon light would be able to look at him once more. Her unseen feet shifted a little to bring comfort back and better footing from being slightly startled which placed them out of positioning slightly. At this moment all that was left was to wait and see what he would say. Confirming or denying. If there was something else that she hadn't figured he was thinking.[/ul][/font]

[Cain]

"Heh, yes unfortunately... You should speak your mind sometimes when something is bothering you instead of just making expressions that give you away anyways... I was admiring your form not the violence for one... Two, if you have a problem with the term doll face I suppose I could leave it out of my speech...Three, I'm not some weirdo if you were thinking that... Am I warm? Am I missing something?"

Oh, great. We got a mind-reader here. Cain looked at her, feeling a little bit more awkward with every word that escaped her lips. One thing's for sure, she was one sharp person. And it discomforted Cain, having being read so easily like that. When she was done, he let out a soft sigh, lowering his head for a moment, before giving a few nods to confirm that she had hit all the right spots there. She had probably gotten all of it from his facial expressions, something that came to Cain naturally. Yeah, he knew that such assumptions could be deduced from his expressions, but he never met anyone who actually voiced them out.

"Maybe."

Cain replied, a soft smirk on his face, as if testing her. His eyes would then wander downwards, onto her footing. Well, wasn't that safe? Hell, it was even starting to bother Cain. He cared not whether she had superior sense of balance, the quick-footed Cain himself knew how hard it was to balance on such a curved and thin surface. At that, he raised his right hand, pointing at the railing itself as he let his eyes dart back towards hers, raising a right eyebrow.

"You know, you'll do me a big favour if you get down from there?"

Yeah...

[elena]

--- Was she being polite? Yes why wouldn't she be? After all she wasn't a totally bitch. She had her manners, not to mention that her words were the truth. She hadn't intentionally tried to cause him any form of discomfort, she was just speaking her mind. Elena let go of the fabric of her dress that was in her hand, letting it fall back into place, completely covering her feet from his eye sight. He seemed concerned for her safety the possibility of her falling into the cold ocean water. Not that she would've completely minded but in truth the dress drenched in water would've weighed her down inhabiting her to swim properly. That would be tragic. Still glancing over her shoulder, she gave him a teasing smirk. Little did he know she took gymnastics and had beautiful balance. Though in the heels it would prove to be a bit more of a challenge considering, but Elena liked challenges.[/color][/font]

"Heh.. oh? Afraid I may fall?.. Let me guess you'll dive in right after me correct?... A complete stranger."[/ul][/font]

[Cain]

"Have I made you uncomfortable?.. Heh it was not my intention if it's any constellation..."

And she managed to catch that too. Cain could not help but chuckle to himself then. She was indeed one interesting fellow. It was going to be hard hiding things from her then now, would it? And as disturbing as that would be for their meetings, Cain knew that she may just come in useful in the future. Not only as a friend, but as a reader of sorts. Cain was sharp too, but not as sharp as this female was. Then again, he did deduce a few stuff from her, like how she was here and not at the Masquerade Ball only served to show that she never wanted to be there in the first place. Why? Well, he hadn't figured that out yet.

"Uhm, yeah, thanks, I guess..."

Cain let out a soft chuckle again, raising his right hand as he scratched his temple, as if confused. She then dropped the skirt of her dress, letting it cover her feet completely, Cain glancing at it for a moment, before letting his gaze come up to her face once more. And once more, she took a guess, but this time not from reading him. Instead, it was more of a common guess. He did already help her once, after all. Even an idiot would know what Cain would do then were her to actually fall into the water.

And besides, swimming was always a better form of exercise compared to jogging, right?

"Yeah, good guess. Don't ask why. Cause I'm not really sure myself either. Must be my hero complexity."

Cain let out a scoff, looking to the side for a moment as he allowed a grin to grace his face. Yeah, here he was, talking to a complete stranger who truly dressed out of place and had a mask on. Ah, hell, despite his violent preferences, he was still a good guy inside anyway. There was no way he would just sit by and watch a person drown. It'll definitely haunt his conscious.

[elena]

[/i] miss grabbing the rail. Then again as much as Elena enjoyed playing games, but not those kind of games. The young masked beauty turned her face towards the wind once more, enjoying it's breeze before easily lowering herself off the railing and onto the pier once more. A little grin was plastered on her pretty face as she turned to face him, speaking in a smoothed playful manner; she would take a step or two closer to him before stopping.

"Heh... You know that hero complexity can get you into a lot of trouble most of the times... If you've ever seen Titanic it happened to Jack.. Though I doubt he regretted it in the end. He got to have a great time and he fell in love.. Funny just for a moment you were my Jack..."

--- Elena would give an adorable little chuckle before continuing once more, still with her mask on.[/color]

"Difference is I wasn't planning on jumping and I doubt we're going to have a whirl wind romance on a ship..Hehehe... So we are no longer strangers my name is Elena, yours would be?"[/ul][/font]

[Cain]

And finally, she would get down from the railing, quite gracefully at that, making Cain wonder if she had done this before - run away from a Masquerade ball and move to the pier to stand on the railings. Yeah, it would indeed be quite a weird habit to do so. Cain had to wonder, though, who she really was. If she had actually ended the Masquerade ball, that would mean that she was some sort of royalty. Or in more modern terms, she was a politically important person, or at least, the daughter of one. Question was, which one? Cain had spent most of his evenings, once he was done with most of his homework, watching shit on the television and most of the time he would get stuck on the news, since there was always something going on here in San Diego, but not a simple part of her seemed familiar to Cain. She was a complete stranger to him, in every matter of the term.

"Heh... You know that hero complexity can get you into a lot of trouble most of the times... If you've ever seen Titanic it happened to Jack.. Though I doubt he regretted it in the end. He got to have a great time and he fell in love.. Funny just for a moment you were my Jack..."

Cain let out a soft smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest, amused at her reply. She would take a few steps towards him, of course, but Cain never really thought of registering it into his head. After all, she did not seem to pose a threat to him at all. Not in that dress, at least. If she were to make a hostile move towards him, Cain would have easily seen in due to the larger figure the dress had given her. Of course, he already had a witty reply of his to answer to that, but before he could open his mouth, she would continue, the man keeping silence in respect as he listened to her. It was not like he could do anything else, anyway.

"Difference is I wasn't planning on jumping and I doubt we're going to have a whirl wind romance on a ship..Hehehe... So we are no longer strangers my name is Elena, yours would be?"

Girls and their fantasies. Cain kept that smirk on his face still, knowing that a single difference in expression could mean her reading his head again, and then shooting him down with her equally witty comments.

"Well, if not for trouble, there'd be no such things as heroes now, would there? And unfortunately, no, I have not seen Titanic, but I did hear a bit about it. Jack and Rose, was it not?"

Cain chuckled for a bit, uncrossing his arms as he lowered them. Standing on both feet now then, Cain knew that it was only polite for him to say his own name too. Elena, huh? Well, at least Cain had a name now to go with that fa-... Never mind.

"Oh, and I'm Cain. Cain Aurelius."