got my mind on your body and your body on my mind

[idesof]

WHO: Shade & March
WHERE: Here there and eventually Sicily
WHEN: June
WHAT: Shade & March's Excellent Adventure
WARNINGS: ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm they are not actual gentle men



James Patrick March stood just inside his own hotel with one case of luggage next to him and waited. He was dressed to the nines and bore an eagerness that was practically electric just beneath the surface of his skin; he seemed anxious, eager, and downright giddy all at once. This was the look of a man about to be wed, about to make the biggest business deal of his life, about to see his abomination half-faced baby for the first time.

To say that James Patrick March was excited for vacation adventures with his spooky friend would be such an understatement.

Shade had a good fifteen minutes before arrival time. A good fifteen minutes that March used for great evil. He stood beside the front desk and positively grilled the woman behind it on every little thing that needed to be followed, written down, and noted while he was gone. Her answers were accurate and delivered with the right amount of dryness for someone both familiar with March's level of detail and familiar with March as a boss. It was their ever-so-charming bellhop who chimed in from time to time with crude, horrible answers, always to be ignored or corrected as though he meant it in earnest.

Soon. Soon, the boss would be gone for...well, a while. No one knew for certain.

A guest walked past them in nothing more than socks and went more or less unnoticed.

Comments

[foreshadower]

Shade was early, of course. He did greatly enjoy March's company, and the prospect of a good row with him was enough to force the immortal to leave his own Victorian home rather early. He slipped from the shadows like it was nothing, smooth and quick, leaving everything in order -- he would be back for clothes, he supposed -- and then took to the shadows of the hotel, enjoying the sight of March grilling his staff for the foreseeable future.

How delightful, wasn't it?

He found himself instead at the bar, eyeing the liquor with an interest, before he finally sighed, and got up himself. He didn't expect the bar staff to be there while the place wasn't quite so active, and so he waved a hand, and grabbed a bottle of wine, before he poured two glasses. He had a feeling March wouldn't mind.

"A red, before we take off?" he asked, appearing behind March in a puff of shadows, fabric flaking and drifting to the ground like it was slaked off -- like thin flakes of obsidian drifting to the ground.

[idesof]

March stopped mid-word and turned, all adoration and smiles, not bothering a bit to hide how eager he was to get this show on the road. Mind the wine theft? Absolutely not! March reached out to take a glass, nodding his gratitude.

The woman at the front desk watched Shade like she wanted to consume him — whether he was obliging to said consumption or not. She bit the cap of her pen, and if he made eye contact, he'd get batted lashes, a wink.

"As if I'd ever say no to you. What a fabulous introduction you've made."

There's a toast. March didn't wink or bat lashes like his companion but he didn't need to. It was written on his face, how enamored he was.

[foreshadower]

Shade barely noticed -- either her adulation or March's, but Shade was rather used to the hotel owner's enthusiasm by now, and Shade... well, he was rather focused on the drink. Not obliviously, of course, and after a long sip, he did meet her eyes, get his wink, before he only smiled, and tipped his hat.

What a cad.

"Why thank you," he finally said, and sipped at his drink. "I think you've given your staff instructions for even a true emergency, yes? I'm certain they will be fine, and we! We will be in Sicily soon enough," all the beaches, sun, history, and food we can imagine," and Shade was really looking forward to the food.

[idesof]

If March were a piano, Shade was an expert pianist, playing him without any trouble. The mental images that flooded into his mind were enough to give the staff a pass even if they weren't prepared. March took a sip of his wine, passed it off to their foul-mouthed bellhop, and those heart-infested eyes turned back to Shade.

He gripped the handle of his luggage and nodded. A perfect vacation was before them.

"You make a compelling argument." Eyes and ears and everything else only for Shade, he moved to stroll aside him and happily so. "If the place does burn down, I'll collect the insurance and build anew."

And make a Shade lounge.

[foreshadower]

"Quite so! And then you could make your hotel even better, yes?" he grinned, and waved a hand, his own wine glass dispersed in a puff of shadows that slowly crept down to the ground, like an eerie patch of feathers, before he held out his arm to March, the smile almost endeared with how he was so enthusiastic about all of this.

Then again, he did enjoy March's company a great deal.

"Now, shall we? I think we'd both rather the fine trappings there than here," and he gestured with a hand, before the shadows lengthened before them, like a portal -- even if it was all Shade's dramatic side coming out.

No matter, he was sure March would appreciate showing off in front of his staff.

[idesof]

Oh, he did. There was a tug in his belly at the sight, similar to the one that accompanied fine food, a fine aura, a fine woman, or a fine murder. Shade knew how to hit the spot and did so without any real effort — what a swell fella.

He looked over a shoulder. You know, just to make sure they were appreciating that their boss got to go on the super cool shadow train, in awe of his powerful pals. Up on tip toe, his eyebrows lifting. Check them out, he was saying, even more so when he took that arm offered his way like he'd done so a thousand times before.

"I agree. Lead the way, my dear."

Just a couple guys being pals...also he didn't know how this worked exactly so. Just trusting that this wouldn't lead to a horrible hell or worse: nausea.

[foreshadower]

It wasn't either of those.

But when Shade led him through, it was cold. Like being in the vacuum without the freezing or exploding. Simply...nothing. Like there was no air, even if you didn't suffocate. No wind, no breeze. There was nothing. A chill that settled into your bones and shifted and writhed like it was cool and alive. The black was brief and momentary, but it felt like an eternity, up until the moment that they stepped through onto the busy street in Sicily.

The sun shone up ahead, early morning thanks to their late night trip over, and Shade smiled.

"Ah! Here we are. Brunch to start, perhaps?"

[idesof]

Cold, and a clingy March. Not too terribly so. He clenched his hands around Shade's arm, drew in closer. Almost like fear. He'd spent an afterlife knowing, he thought, if his hotel came down, he would pass on to whatever was next, if anything. And if it was the opposite of his Stygian heap, he very well may have to answer for his numerous crimes to a god less than pleased by them.

The thought ran through his mind, equal parts horror and curiosity, until sunlight hit and he raised a hand to shade his eyes, drawing away from his companion.

"Oh, smell that." A deep breath followed. The air here was different, truthful, all the indicator March needed. And it was wonderful. "Brunch would be delightful. Do you know of a place? I took the liberty of having funds converted beforehand."

If Shade was gonna do the whole transportation aspect damn right March was gonna foot some, if not all, of the bill. Sugar daddy meets sugar daddy, where is the dating simulator game for that?