Mutants & Masterminds: Galactic League - Her Eyes

[z-Namiah Daylan]

Seven Years Ago

Rangoon Moon Base, Cylix Star System

The small park was fairly isolated, well away from the other living areas and tucked away almost as an afterthought. When they had built the Rangoon Moon Base, Hyde Park was merely meant to provide a little more oxygen to the Engineering areas. Because they were lightly staffed, they didn’t need a large green area, and it saved them from having to pump recycled air from other parks and machines. The upside to all of this was that most residents didn’t know that Hyde Park existed, and those that did rarely wanted to ride all the way to the end of the base to see it. Aside from the engineers who were stationed nearby and usually took their breaks here, and those people who were serious about their isolation, few came here.

The park was only fifty yards wide by twenty yards long, with a thick row of trees around the outer edge that made it look bigger. The central area was mostly green, but a flat, sandy area with picnic tables was really the heart of the room. All of the flowers and shrubbery were designed to be enjoyed from the benches, but the lone figure in the room was on the grassy area to the side. The translucent metal that made the dome of the room was overhead, and the light the from the purple gas giant Cylix-3 gave everything a sheen of lavender.

Namiah Daylan was not usually one of these who sought isolation. But when she practiced Nien thri chintal, she liked to do it away from distractions. Between that and the green beauty of the place, Hyde Park was the perfect place for it. She wouldn’t have known about it, save that she’d seen it listed as one of the air recyclers as part of her duties as Second in Command here.

Today, she’d come when she knew that the engineers wouldn’t be at the park. She’d tried to work out with them there, but their exclamations and excited whispers had been distracting. So now she avoided them.

Her legs shook slightly with her exertion as she flowed smoothly through the forms. In a real fight, she’d been moving much faster, but right now she was practicing, and she focused on making each moment absolutely perfect. The loose pants swayed and shifted around her legs; the tight shirt clung to her, sweat just starting to mar its pale color. The rest of her body glistened in the purple light as she flowed through the forms, graceful and deceptively lethal-looking.

[Sean Cassidy]

'The Keelhaul' was a typical moon base entertainment center, though it had a wide variety of clientele as the Rangoon Moon Base processed a larger number of transients than most others of similar size. Sapphire Rose loved it, the atmosphere managing to be both cosmopolitan and almost rustic.

She danced across the stage, every eye on her impeccably curvaceous figure. Since she had arrived here three months ago, Sapphire had almost entirely replaced the holographic entertainment. Even at this hour, the room was well populated with patrons, all to see her. She couldn't help but be aware of what was going through their minds.

As she danced, dressed in a simple, diaphanous dress of an indeterminate shade of blue, she reached out with tendrils of hidden thought. Here, she eased the grief for one who had lost a brother. There, she gave a boost of confidence so the man would ask out the pretty woman next him, the woman receiving a slight twist so she would be more inclined to agree to someone who she would otherwise have dismissed out of hand. Several patrons, men and women, needed their lust for her dampened, lest they do something terribly foolish. She couldn't do anything for the exhaustion of a group of engineers at a corner table, but she did give them a deep sense of accomplisment that would make bearing it easier. She almost made one older woman scream aloud as she sent a pulse of toe-curling pleasure through her tired flesh, simply because the woman had gone a long time without.

Her own anger peaked as she peered into the black mind of a dark man. So, it was you who raped that poor girl - time to confess your sins to the League. Her silken touch turned into a mailed fist, smashing through his meager defences as she raised his guilt to mind-crushing levels, then forced him to make his way to the League base to confess everything.

Her dance coming to an end, Sapphire sighed, then breathed deep. She was proud of the work she had done here - the two supervisors she had left in exhausted pleasure had revealed to her how much morale was up since she had arrived to Rangoon. But it was beginning to feel almost rote - maybe it was time for a change. She loved the attention and the company, but there were the rare times that she needed for herself. This was such a time.

"That's the show to today, everyone. I'm sure I'll see you all tomorrow." Sapphire's sultry voice was a whisper, but everyone heard it as a promise in their ear. She dispersed into glowing motes of blue light, then was gone.

Sapphire coalesced in Hyde Park, one of the few places on the moon base she knew was green and rarely occupied. Gently, her bare feet settled to the soft grass. She pirouetted gracefully, her gauzy gown flaring, as she heard a soft exhalation behind her.

Across the park, on the other side of the picnic tables, her gleaming eyes of shifting sapphire hues met a captivating gaze of vivid green. Her perfect lips bent in the barest of smiles.

Maybe I don't want to be alone after all.

[z-Namiah Daylan]

Namiah swung her hands around her in an apparently complicated pattern, designed to block a blow from a practitioner of Harrakeisjishel, the Toshen’s Way of the Fighting Snake. She paused at the culmination of the movement, to let her body realize that it was done. And at that static moment, where her mind and body were both at peace, the apparition appeared. It was a vision of blue, simply the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

The universe was full of many strange and wondrous things, and while the Ren were a rational people, Namiah was very aware that anything was possible in this wide and varied universe. It seemed to her that this was an avatar of Beauty before her. The avatar smiled, and her body pulsed with sharp desire.

Then the blue hair and eyes registered something with her, and Namiah recalled a report about a dancer at The Keelhaul that had been making waves. There had been worries of the crew fighting over her, though the dancer personally discouraged such, thankfully. So all the staff had been warned to watch for altercations centering around her. With effort, Namiah pulled the information she needed to the forefront of her mind.

The green-eyed Ren suddenly became aware that she was stock still, staring. Sliding her bare feet over the grass gracefully, she pulled herself out of the anti-combat stance and stood easily. “Hello, Sapphire Rose,” she said, nodding to the vision before her. She was aware that she was perspiring and probably had grass in her hair. She began to walk toward the blue dream before her, her weight perfectly balanced so that she almost glided forward. “What brings you to Hyde Park?”

[Sean Cassidy]

Sapphire felt the other woman's desire wash over her like an intoxicating bouquet, mingling with the scent of fresh grass and female perspiration. She eyed the brunette, pleased and intrigued by the interruption to the solitude she had been seeking. Without any trace of self-consciousness, her gaze boldy ran the length of her lithe figure before returning to those incredible eyes.

She had danced across the thoughts of many while at Rangoon, including a fair number of the crew - she couldn't help but be aware of who this remarkable woman was. She was well esteemed, much admired, and not a little desired - she could see why. Their thoughts and image of her didn't do her justice.

She possessed an astonishingly soothing presence, and the sense of balance she exuded was most alluring. It extended to every part of her, her bearing and her movements, even her rising desire - readily apparent to Sapphire's senses - did not disturb the still pond of her control. Sapphire liked it.

Sapphire quested out with her blossoming gift, to get a greater impression of this woman. She was surprised to see that the SIC of the Rangoon moon base seemed to be on the inside what she was on the outside, serene, though her core of self was enshrouded behind a focused will, like strong currents hiding the glorious depths below. Sapphire could have swam those currents, but decided against it, at least for now. Perhaps my rising ennui is due to knowing people before getting to know them. I have all of time, I don't need to rush.

She pulled back her fathomless reach, though she could not resist trying to cause a ripple in that still pond of control. Using a gentle touch, she dipped her fingers into that pond, flicking at the current of the desire.

Sapphire graciously tilted her head in acknowledgement of her name, her smile deepening. "Well met, Namiah Daylan." Namiah heard her words, saw her lips move - still, it had felt like Sapphire had breathed the words into her ear.

Sapphire sashayed towards Namiah, to meet her halfway, her shapely hips swaying fluidly, the grass tickling her bare feet. When she reached the sandy area in the middle, she lifted in the air and settled on the edge of a picnic table, crossing her legs stylishly. The lavender light from the dome overhead filtered through her translucent blue dress, the outline of her breathtaking body palpable.

"I had thought I came to Hyde Park to dance in solitude. But now, I'd like to say that it was... you." Sapphire's gem-like eyes twinkled with a lively spirit, and her teeth-baring grin was full of allure.

"What do you... " Sapphire said, the suggestive tone of her voice almost making Namiah's heart stop, "... call that... dance you were performing?"

She's like a perfect rose with the sharpest of thorns - beautiful and tantalizing and subtly dangerous.

[z-Namiah Daylan]

Namiah was aware of being studied by the other woman. She stood quietly, enjoying the attention and the building desire in the blue eyes. It was hard not to be flattered by the attention from the impossibly beautiful Elan, but Namiah breathed her desire out of her easily. Even the response of her body was somewhat subdued as she controlled her reaction to the sapphire-hued dancer.

Then she felt something beyond her iron, life-long control. It flicked her pleasure centers, making her next breath a shaky one. Her eyes widened slightly, signaling her surprise as she reevaluated the woman in front of her. So some of the other rumors had been true as well; Namiah had heard of people having their mood altered around the young woman. It seemed that there was more to her than just a pretty – no, not pretty. Gorgeous face. She was the kind of beauty that there were few words for, not in Common Galactic. Perhaps the Elan had the vocabulary to cover Sapphire. Privately, Namiah doubted it.

“It’s not a dance,” she said, continuing to walk forward. She could feel the heat in her green eyes. She knew that she should dampen it a bit, but she didn’t. She was the second-in-command, but she was allowed to pursue relationships, even with the most desired creature in all of Rangoon. She circled around the table, looking at the seated Sapphire from all angles. “It’s a type of defensive arts, what most would call martial art. However it is purely defensive; there are no strikes in the more typical sense.”

She finished her circle around the bench and took a seat, gracefully folding her legs under her. Though her knees brushed the other woman’s, she didn’t acknowledge it. “You came to see me practice?” she asked, smiling at the woman, playing up her flirting joke from earlier. “Was it worth the effort?”

Her smile said she knew that it was certainly worth the effort.

[Sean Cassidy]

Sapphire's eyes grew brighter and her faint smile wider - her touch hadn't destroyed the still pond of Namiah's control, but it had caused ripples that gave it an enticing depth. She felt a growing longing to dance among the peaks and troughs of this woman's desire.

Sapphire could feel the heat of Namiah's verdant gaze. She wallowed in her appraisal, shifting subtly to present herself to best advantage, as she continued her own perusal of Rangoon's second in command. She had been with many women, but never one with such a sense of self, a presence so captivating.

When Namiah made no reaction to their brief contact, Sapphire didn't either, save for her smile growing more playful. The softest, teasing touches of psychokinesis left Namiah wondering if she had imagined them or not - Sapphire's inviting grin was inscrutable.

"I did come to see you practice, though I did not know it," Sapphire said, keeping the joke running. "But worth the effort? Hmmm?" Her smile turned teasing. "I don't know, I only saw the briefest glimpse, a tantalizing taste. I think I need a greater demostration."

Sapphire leaned a bit forward, her pale, delicate hands reaching halfway across the table and no further. "Perhaps, you can lead me through the movements... Learning a defensive art would be a good thing, I think. There are so many who wish to get their... hands on me."

[z-Namiah Daylan]

“I am always willing and honored to teach the Nien thri chintal,” Namiah said, growing serious. If Sapphire meant to continue it as a joke, Namiah was clearly no longer joking. “It is translated to ‘The Folding Sweep’, which is the first move of the art.” Hopping to her feet, she moved back to the grassy area, stepping into a graceful stance that looked more like a supplication to a deity than a martial move. After a moment, she moved, sweeping her hands down and buckling her leg, as if her body was folding to the ground. Yet her hands were not longer open, but clenched in fists, holding tight to an unseen opponent.

After holding that for a moment, she straightened and turned to face Sapphire again, smiling blissfully. “That is the foundation, the first step, to trip an opponent so that you do not kill him and he does not kill you.” She found her center again, letting her balance come over her naturally, so that she stood without putting more weight on any part of the body over another. “My people are pacifists, and it is undesirable to harm another living being. Nien thri chintal must always be practiced from a place of peace, with no anger or fear. Both of these emotions can cause one to strike with damaging force. Are you ready?”

She extended her hand to Sapphire, and ready or not, the beauty came to her, her purple eyes wide with lust and promise – and the sweet excitement of the hunt. Namiah came behind her, her arms circling her and her body pressing against her back. “Let my body show you,” she murmured into the purple hair, her breath blowing the lavender locks against the curve of Sapphire’s ear. Her hands folded over Sapphire’s fingers and pulled her arms gently into position, while her legs pressed against Sapphire’s until the woman’s body gave and flowed into the right position.

After a second of feeling the other woman’s stance through her own body, Namiah murmured, “Hold your arms here.” Her hands trailed down Sapphire’s arms, her fingers tracing a subtle tattoo of lines over the Elan’s sensitive skin. Those careful hands cupped Sapphire’s shoulders and shifted them back with the delicacy of a lover’s first touch in the dark, murmuring, “Your shoulders must be square to move freely.”

Flattening her palms on her new student, she pulled them down Sapphire’s barely clad back, the other woman’s warmth a taunting promise of other heat. Namiah forced her mind to attend to the matter at hand, and her thumbs traced Sapphire’s spine, showing the other woman she knew when to use a little pressure, too. “Your spine has to be straight; it is the spring and the axle of your core,” Namiah whispered as her hands settled on Sapphire’s waist.

For a moment, they lingered, growing hot against Sapphire’s skin after the cool air of the park. Then the brunette slipped one hand around Sapphire body, her arm across the Elan’s full hips instead of her waist. The other arm wrapped around her shoulders; pulling almost tenderly with her arms, she molded the other woman’s body to her own. “And that the basic stance,” Namiah whispered in Sapphire’s ear. Her hands remained where they were, one brushing her low on her torso, so very close to where Sapphire wanted it to be, while the other softly rubbed her rounded shoulder, as if it were another sphere, one built for pleasure. “Any questions?”

[Sean Cassidy]

Sapphire's body hummed with the arousal of anticipation, luxuriating in the feeling of Namiah's firm body guiding her own. Sapphire had never been with someone pressed this close who still had the willpower to restrain themselves.

She felt the Ren's mind, struggling to keep her breathing even and steady. The waves of Namiah's desire crashed against the seawall of her control with a delightful pressure, though they gave no signs of cracking - it took everything Sapphire had not to plunge in and tear that wall down.

Instead, she let the delightfully cruel anticipation build.

Her hands tied up being guided in the Nien thri chintal, Sapphire used the phantom fingers of her telekinesis to run her touch along Namiah's lean, graceful form. Her teasing caress mirrored Namiah's guidance, feeling the play of muscles in the basic stance of Nien thri chintal, an ephemeral finger tracing a line down Namiah's spine.

Namiah whispered in her blue-haired student's ear, eliciting a sultry sigh, brief sparkles of cerulean light radiating from Sapphire's translucent dress as it thinned to the gossamer of spider web. Sapphire shifted slowly, languidly grinding her taut behind into the serene brunette's pelvis, an open invitation to the hand around her generous hips.

Sapphire turned her head, brushing her lips across the hand kneading her shoulder. Her deft tongue flicked out, tickling the web of flesh between thumb and forefinger, the provocative sensation breaking the crest of Namiah's desire into white-capped waves to pummel at her restraint.

Originally Posted By: Namiah

“Any questions?”

The soft exhalation against her ear made her shiver. She tilted her head slightly, so she could see Namiah's face out of the corner of her eye - an eye bright with lust, her full lips curved with promise.

"Once you have taken the first step, tripped your... opponent and have her on the ground, at your mercy, what do you do to her then?"

Though her smokey contralto put forth a question, Sapphire's warm tone left no doubt that she had more than a few ways of answering it herself. Ways that she was very much looking forward to sharing with the woman in whose embrace she wallowed.

[z-Namiah Daylan]

Namiah smiled a little, then moved. Sapphire was borne to the ground, with Namiah kneeling over yher, smiling sweetly. The grass of the park tickled her nose and chin as Sapphire was left on her belly, blinking at how fast and gentle it had been. “After you have performed the Sweeping Fold, You can force submission on her from this point,” she said, gently twisting Sapphire’s arm into a joint lock with both hands. “Or, you have many ways to pin her, such as this,” she added, pressing a knee gently into Sapphire’s back. Did the blue-haired beauty imagine it, or did she just feel a feather-light caress on her backside?

“There are other ways to pin as well,” Namiah continued instructing, still with that secretive smile. The knee was removed just before Sapphire felt a leg slip over her thigh. Remarkably quickly, those legs tangled around hers, removing her ability to move them. Was Namiah’s thigh always pressed so tightly against the apex of a captive’s legs? Fingers slipped up Sapphire’s arms, grabbing her wrists and forcing them over her head. Once they were trapped there, both of them were shifted to one hand, leaving one free.

“When you have them subdued,” Namiah said from her tactically superior position, “you can check them for weapons.” Slowly, with almost a religious reverence, Namiah’s free hand passed over Sapphire’s barely clothed body, mimicking a hunt for weapons. It was perhaps unnecessary; there was almost no place on the other woman’s body to conceal a weapon of any measure. But Namiah was thorough; her hands diligently examined any potential hiding spot, leaving lingering trails of heat over Sapphire’s skin.

The two women were caught in the heated moment; there was little awareness of time as the ‘lesson’ continued. Namiah’s hand continued their trek, passing under the round bounty of Sapphire’s breasts, leaving a hitch in the Elan’s breath as Namiah checked for such things as neural wires. The Ren’s hands glided down the plane of her stomach, dipping briefly into her belly button before coming to the side and running her fingers over the seam of the gown. Sapphire was in no way helpless, but she had no desire – or reason – to discontinue the investigation. Namiah’s fingers were strong and sure as they passed up into her lustrous blue hair, looking for a small concealed blade or a one-shot energy laser.

The scalp examination was done, and with a slight grunt, Namiah shifted her hips, turning Sapphire slightly onto her side. As the Elan watched her with blue eyes that were both heated and amused, Namiah’s gaze was more serious, now that Sapphire could see her again. Her fingers hesitated, then slipped in-between Sapphire’s, feeling gently at the heat of her desire. She didn’t need to remind the other woman of how many assassinations had been committed by a women carrying a weapon concealed in this delicate area. It wasn’t necessary in this mock-examination, but Namiah seemed to be very serious about this lesson.

Her fingers withdrew from Sapphire’s body for a moment, leaving her tingling and wanting more. Instead, Namiah’s hand caught her by the chin; green orbs met blue in a charged moment. After a second, she turned Sapphire’s head to one side, peering into her ear. As she turned it over and considered the other ear, Sapphire reflected that her interesting companion had studied war well for one who professed not to practice it. Namiah had one more place to look; she shifted her thumb to Sapphire’s chin and carefully pulled her jaw open. She examined her teeth and the inside of her mouth, smiling finally as Sapphire shifted her tongue to show she was hiding nothing.

“Those pins and touches are merely the beginning,” Namiah promised, and Sapphire didn’t have to peek into her mind to know that she wasn’t just talking about learning Nien thri chintal.

[Sean Cassidy]

Sapphire hummed and thrummed with the desire singing in her veins as Namiah continued with her intoxicating instruction. The Galactic League officer may have been a woman of restraint, but the young, unearthly Elan was a creature of unbounded desires - holding back was nearly beyond her, though she was finding the anticipatory experience painfully delightful. Needing to relieve the pressure to a manageable level, Sapphire linked threads of sensation to her instructor, filtered through her own sensitive flesh, Namiah feeling a vivid echo of what she inflicted on her student. Practiced control kept Namiah from trembling with the sensation - sensations that she couldn't tell were her own or a gift from the dream-made-flesh in her arms.

Sapphire could taste herself on Namiah's fingers as they frisked her mouth in thorough examination. As they withdrew, Sapphire coiled her agile tongue around their strong lengths, licking them clean, reveling in the smile she had coaxed from her focused companion. Her impressive breasts strained the gossamer silk of her dress with her heavy breaths. She needed to leave - soon, else their first encounter would end only one of two ways: imposed acceptance or devastating rejection.

"Your first lesson was very... informative, Namiah," Sapphire thanked huskily, "and I very much look forward to learning more, in-depth. Still, I feel that I should offer something in return for these lessons. Come to the Keelhaul tomorrow night, and I will show you the Dance of Life."

Sapphire writhed closer, one hand cupping Namiah's cheek, the other sliding through her silky, brown hair, pulling her face close for a kiss. As their lips touch, orgasmic heat flooded throughout Namiah's entire body, shuddering against this unrestrained assault of pleasure, the walls of her control cracked with sapphire light that both weakened and strengthened her resolve.

Namiah couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of envy, quickly crushed - there was a part of her that had to always remain hidden, but she could feel in that overwhelming kiss that Sapphire Rose gave of herself, everything.

"That is just a taste," Sapphire assured. "Until tomorrow night, think of me," she chuckled seductively, melting into twilight motes, and knew that Namiah would think of her and be there tomorrow.

An instant later, Sapphire coalesced in her small room above the Keelhaul, nude and giggling, flushed with burning arousal. Though an infant by Elan standards, only eight years old since her rebirth, she was reborn aware and with full faculties, and had already had dozens - hundreds - of lovers. Still, she had never been with a woman like Namiah. With a provocative sigh, she sated her urges, her excitement spreading out to awaken ardent desires in those who occupied the surrounding block of buildings.

The next day, early in the morning, she spoke with the manager of the Keelhaul, detailing what she had planned for the evening performance. Then she held herself in her room, letting the tension rise as the patrons waited for her appearance. Normally, Sapphire spent some time during the day in the Keelhaul, but today, there was no sign of her. She spent her time crafting glowing globes of intricately carved ectoplasmic crystal and making sure her bed of plush pillows and silken sheets was perfect.

Frequently, she casted out her Mind's Eye, looking for Namiah's arrival, squealing when she saw her immanently graceful form enter the club. Namiah's perceptive gaze panned over the boisterous crowd, then came to rest on the empty table that was situated at the end of the long stage. It had only a single seat and seemed to be unintentionally reserved for her. As soon as she sat down, all the house lights went out, the club turning dark as the void of space save for the faint glow of neon piping edging the bar.

A drum began to beat a soft, deep rhythm, enticing hearts to follow its lead. Then Namiah's eyes were pulled to the end of the stage, where two burning rings of twilight irises appeared in the darkness. More light appeared to Namiah, kaleidoscope colours of auras and threads coalescing around her fellow patrons, an ethereal whisper telling her this is what Sapphire saw. Rage and lust, love and grief, frustration and inhibition, all these things and more were what Sapphire danced with, all that made up the emotional mosaic of life.

The drum's tempo increased, was joined by a wailing violin and a strumming guitar. the crystal clear tones of a piano. The music was simple and complex at the same time, fast, yet slow, a perfect partner as Sapphire began the Dance of Life.

The Dance was pure, primal and organic, with no formal structure or steps. Blending with her ecstatic and enticing movements, Sapphire tugged at the threads and auras that she had painted for Namiah's eyes alone, weaving an intricate tapestry of soothed sorrow, blunted anger, and heightened confidence.

The Sweeping Fold was the study of war and how to resist it, how to preserve life, but the Dance of Life, it was a paean to the living, encompassing it in its entirety, seducing everyone to follow in its steps, and not to succumb to the pain of growth.

Sapphire leapt and whirled, twirled and swayed, gravity itself no bar to the Dance of Life. Her pale skin glistened with effort, the Rose tattoo on her back glowing faintly, naked save for the emotion burdens she chose to bear of her own free will. Though there was an entire room that she danced for, Sapphire had eyes for only one.

Throughout the Dance of Life, luminous eyes of a glorious, limitless blue never left those of a formidable, unfathomable green.

[z-Namiah Daylan]

Balance was the key to Namiah's life; walking the sword's span over the abyss. Hate. Anger. Fear. All of these had destroyed the Ren as a race and as individuals, time and again. She knew this better than most Ren; she had left their strictly controlled world to walk in one that wasn't so friendly. She took risks daily; risks that would endanger her people if she made an error. To willingly disrupt that balance was to threaten her entire race.

Yet, she was here at the Keelhaul, coming to see the one woman who had threatened her balance like no other. Part of maintaining balance involved knowing one's limits. They could be pushed, but that must happen carefully. There was nothing delicate about the way that Sapphire pushed her to push her limits. And yet, she was still here.

The Dance of Life was beautiful. Namiah watched it with rapt eyes, and not just for the beauty of the dancer. The sheer grace and power of the movements caught her eyes and wouldn't let her go. Transfixed, she watched Sapphire dance. Briefly, she envied the Elan, who could let herself go, and just be. Namiah could never allow herself that.

Those blue eyes bore into her, and envy was quickly forgotten. In its place, carefully expressed desire was allowed to show itself in those green orbs. It was all a matter of balance and control.