A Glimmer of Potential {Geebs}

So prepare for a chance of a lifetime
Be prepared for sensational news
A shining new era Is tiptoeing nearer
And where do we feature? Just listen to teacher

"Who said I was wasting my time on you?"She started to circle him, much like a predator circled prey, but who was which in this situation? The term false sense of security came to mind. Not that she was a threat to him, but even the smallest of annoyances could fester given the time and opportunity."Ah, but you enjoy wasting time on me. And time enjoyed is not truly wasted. Is it?"Sebastian smiled loftily, before starting to circle in the opposite direction. It was a peculiar dance they had done before, a game of sorts, though... the saying went that cats always played with their food, before the pain and death came that is.

"What have you been wasting your time on? Another ill-fated venture to wrest control of that house from them? Frolicking in the grass with the rest of our erstwhile clan? Anything productive? I doubt it." Sebastian sniffed disdainfully. "Personally, I've been in town today. As usual, the tributes from our district are making a dreadful mess of themselves in the arena. Perhaps you should see about getting one of your peons reaped. Maybe then there would be enough food to go around without resorting to... the extreme."

Sebastian yawned , meaning for the action to point to an overall bored attitude concerning her current state of ire. Searching her face for an indication of emotion, he felt all he could glean was undisguised anger. She was rough around the edges, but if he could manage to convince her of his natural superiority, altercations would be practically nonexistent. Arm one hand, offer with the other. Brute force was the only thing he needed for most, but perhaps she required a touch of subtlety. A small rumbling noise sounded from her general direction, and he noted it as her body's cry for sustenance. Such it clearly needed, if the tinge of gauntness to her cheekbones, or the litheness of her shape was any indication.

Stretching, he lifted his left arm and reached for the bottom flap of his pack, unbuttoning it and rummaging around inside while he kept his eyes trained on her. His fingers closed on a strip of beef and he drew the meat out; moving the hank back and forth underneath his nose, sniffing deeply and letting out a pleased sigh. "I traded for a side of beef in town today. Did I mention that earlier?" He gnawed at a corner of it experimentally, letting the smoky richness play on his tongue, before tearing off a sizable morsel and swallowing it loudly. "Hits the spot."

Meticulous planning
Tenacity spanning

Be Prepared

Watching as her body jerked in anger, he made a mental note of her eyes, and how they flicked back and forth from meat to his eyes to his pack and back again. A vicious cycle, and one he meant to see broken. As always, he had the upper hand. Well, if you didn't count being banished from the mansion. Sebastian certainly didn't. Zanita's hands clenched and unclenched and sebastian wondered if was planned to leap at him and forcibly take the food. It would not avail her if she tried.

"Oh, help! Big, mean Sebastian is teasing me," The tone in her voice spoke more of belittlement and less of respect, much to his chagrin. They watched each other for further seconds before she made her move, ceasing the walk and making a beeline for where he was. Abruptly standing still so as to tense himself for what he expected would be an attack, Sebastian was taken a bit off of his guard when she slowed her pace and smirked back at him.

What was her game?

The girl dropped the volume of her voice and ran a hand across his hair. Sebastian felt his shoulders tense up as she caressed his neck in a way that was rather uncharacteristic given the enmity between them. The side of her hand brushed the pack, and he realized she was attempting to seduce him in order to get the food. Smiling in spite of himself, he chuckled briefly. He was no stranger to dancing the horizontal tango but, he did not feel a need to pursue it needlessly. It was a distraction.

His right hand snatched up as fast as a bird snapping up a bug, and he caught her wrist, pulling it sharply away and twisting it ever so slightly, forcing her face to line up just inches away from his."Why, Lioness, I wasn't aware you were quite that desperate for a morsel." He bit another chunk off of his beef strip before pushing the rest of it hard into the palm of her hand. "You could've just asked you know."he said with a feral grin. "I'm not entirely without mercy." Let her try to change the rules of the game; Sebastian was the one with the food, and therefore, the one with the power.

I know it sounds sordid

It's clear from your vacant expressions
The lights are not all on upstairs
But we're talking kings and successions
Even you can't be caught unawares

Let the others squabble in the dirt for scraps; Sebastian knew he was built was so much more. He had taken control of the outcasts from the mansion with relative ease, and one day he would head back to that infernal building at the head of a group of fellow disillusioned people and claim it for his own. Oh, he just felt like he couldn't wait to be on top of the world. But the road to that desired spot meant that certain "sacrifices" would have to be made along the way.

His subservient companions would be the stepping stones to something greater; he would achieve greatness in this way. The prideful few in the house would never understand why he had chosen to oppose them in this way. It was their audacity that fueled his fire, their delusions that stoked his flame. It was why they would fail. Whenever basic survival was on the line, one needed to lose the fools, else use them accordingly. The dreamers, losers, whiners, wishful thinkers and happy huggers only serve to drag down and hold back those with a greater artistic vision.

It simply wasn't practical. And survival at it essence is the most practical thing there is. I'm not entirely without mercy, she repeated condescendingly. He kept the grin plastered across his face, having filed away her tactics in the previous time they had had to spend in together in the camp. She was as predicable as any of them, as easy to track as a wild animal. "Well i'm not either."

Eh? he thought. What did she mean by that?

Oh.

Sebastians eyebrows rose up in surprise as she planted her lips firmly against his. His mind racing through a hundred different scenarios with which to deal with this unexpected turn of events, which was itself, interrupted by the moistness of her breath and the bittersweet stale tang of a mouth that had had nothing to eat. And so, they stood there for a moment, locked in a awkward embrace.

That is, until he gathered enough frame of mind to bite down hard on her top lip, not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to leave an imprint, before pushing her roughly away. "What... what exactly was that supposed to accomplish? He said, in an angry yet bewildered tone.

I know it sounds sordid
But you'll be rewarded
When at last I am given my dues
And injustice deliciously squared

It's clear from your vacant expressions
The lights are not all on upstairs
But we're talking kings and successions
Even you can't be caught unawares

Curses!

Confound this despicable being. Did all women mean to be to this confusing, or was it just this particular one that was off her rocker? Sebastian stood stony faced as the she-witch began to laugh. Not a friendly laugh, but a darkly amused one for sure. She tore off some of the dried meat with her teeth, eating it as she clipped him under the chin and jabbed him in the chest. The action caused him to take an uncertain step backwards. Did she really just strike him? Had she no idea who he was or what he was capable of? What was going on? Had her mind finally snapped or had he crossed over into another plane of existence?

"This- look at you, you're a mess! What's the matter? Never been kissed before?"

How dare she. First she insults his intelligence and physically assaults him and now she questions the caliber of his horizontal tango. Confound it again, but she was infuriating. She continued to laugh, and left Sebastian at a loss for words. Contrary to what he had thought moments ago, she wasn't just trying to change the rules of the game, no, she was throwing the rule book out the proverbial window. By the way she was acting he felt she was trying to tell him something snide. Perhaps the name lioness was truly apt. Too apt.

Sebastian supposed he should be thankful this altercation of minds hadn't happened in front of the peons. It was distasteful. He had no designs on turning his motley crew into a pale imitation of his enemies "family". Zanita was mocking him with no regard for the subtle nuances of his intended conclusion. It was his hope to slowly break her down into a willing subject, or at the very least a non-threat. This... This he wasn't sure about. Had he misjudged her ability to understand what he was doing? Was she smarter than he gave her credit for?

"Maybe I can give you a few lessons some time."


Apparently not.

She finished with a flourish and a wink as she ate the rest of the food.

The fiend.

Somehow, he has to regain control of this situation before it completely spun out of control. Gritting his teeth, he spat out his words like venom.

"You are severely testing my patience woman. You are only eating because I deigned to give you a portion. Don't forget that."

It's clear from your vacant expressions
The lights are not all on upstairs
But we're talking kings and successions
Even you can't be caught unawares

The mocking ceased, and Sebastian felt himself smirk. It would appear he could still manage to piss her off. This was good, as angry people think less clearly in a tense situation then those that keep a cool head. This time, she tensed and spun around, glaring at him with a killer look in her eyes. Those painted eyes of hers became slits, and her mouth curled into a snarl, letting her words slither out from her lips like the most venomous of poisons.

"How about you tone down your God complex, Buddy."

"I'm surprised you think so highly of me, and here I was only shooting for being a king." The backhanded insult came so readily to his throat, almost as if someone had placed them there. Did he run the risk of angering her more? Yes. Was it totally worth it? Yes. Was it time to remind her who was in charge of their merry band of miscreants? Most definitely. She stood as still as he had been only a few minutes ago. Debating whether or not he should waste more of his precious time on her or not was a tough decision.

He made as if to leave, before spinning on his heel and launching himself at the perpetrator of the offenses. His form hit her dead on and he knocked her to the ground with his hands gripping her arms to prevent the scratching and the flailing and the loss of ocular nerve endings and the like. Sebastian pinned her to the ground, with his face right up in hers. Grimacing, he mimicked her earlier action and planted his lips on hers. holding them there for a couple of seconds, before breaking off. If she wanted to change the rules, then by all means, he would have to do the same.

"Confusing. Isn't it?"

It's clear from your vacant expressions
The lights are not all on upstairs
But we're talking kings and successions
Even you can't be caught unawares

The wad of spit she spat hurtled towards his left eye, striking it with extreme prejudice and forcing him to blink rapidly to get the spittle out of his line of sight. He flared his nostrils in disgust. Whether she knew it or not, she was forcing his hand and this sad little charade was becoming tiring; If there was anything Sebastian hated, it was drawing out what should have been a simple open and shut case. The time for double-talk and the skating around of issues had to be drawn to a close if he was going to get anything worthwhile done. She was infuriating, but what was more infuriating was her unwillingness to cooperate. The others had not given him nearly as much trouble as Zanita and he was finally sick of it.


It was clear they weren't going to get anywhere if things continued the way they were. Both of them insisted upon having the last word, which only served to make the other talk back all the more. Which meant... Plan B. "I have tried to be patient. I have tried offering with one hand, while arming the other. I'm going to offer you an ultimatum now, an offer you'd have to be brain damaged to refuse."Rocking back on his heels, he stood to his feet, pulling her up with him, while increasing the strength of his grip on her arms. How would she react? He could only guess, but all signs pointed to a favorable outcome. The look on her face would be almost endearing, if she didn't look like she wanted to rip his face off. She was strangely beautiful when she was angry.

...

Blinking that thought away, he launched into a tirade.

"Here's how its going to work. You will defer leadership to me. I hate the prideful losers in the mansion as much as you do, if not more. I am also better equipped for leading your sorry pack. Most of them see me as a leader already anyway." Sebastian cracked his neck from side to side before continuing."In return for this, I will let the others see you as an equal to me. I could use some secondary help in dealing with certain undesirables."Tightening his grip further, he leaned in close to her ear and whispered."Alternatively, you can refuse. I will then shame you in front of all of them. I will take everything you hold dear. Your respect, your looks, your pack. But before that... I will take your protege and destroy him. It's your decision...Lioness."

Satisfied that the message had been made plain, he pushed Zanita away and stormed past her. He had wasted enough time dealing with her already. He licked his lips, slightly aware that they still tasted like hers. How odd that he would notice that of all things. No matter. There was other business to attend to.