Fate's Pawn: Four Horsemen

Chapter Ten: Chasing Red

Holly didn't waste any time, she shoved Quix back and knocked him onto his back as she held a hand against her lips. "Please, don't do that again. I'm not a toy for you to mess with. You can't just do what you want to try to make me blush."

Quix raised himself on one elbow and grinned at her. "But that's the fun of it. Ruby doesn't do anything but roll her eyes. You do all kinds of wonderful things for me. Your breath gets shallow and fast, your heart beats faster, your cheeks change color. You have no idea what you're asking me to stop."

Holly sighed. "I'm not asking you to stop," she whispered. She sat up to her full height and openly glared at him. "I'm telling you to stop."

"If you say please, that means you're asking," Quix replied as he righted himself. "Besides, we're getting off track. We're supposed to be testing you out." Once more he extended his hand and placed it against her chest, firmer this time.

Holly fought the urge to shove him down again. "Now what?" she demanded. She wouldn't blush again, he enjoyed it too much. But it was hard to try to not to when his hand was firmly in-between her breasts. The man had to have done it on purpose, right?

Quix didn't answer, the smirk from before was gone as all emotions faded from his face and his eyes flickered a strange silver color. 

The only reason she didn't slap his hand away was that blank expression. He almost looked like he was looking through her. It was a gaze that made her skin pebble. What did he see? "Quix?"

He snapped out of it and that smirk was back on his lips. "You let me touch you for a while there," he grinned. "Does that mean you're going to give me a chance?"

Holly reacted on base instinct. She slapped him as hard as she could and put a hand over her chest. "Pervert!" Once more her cheeks burned her forehead burned, even her nose was beet red. "Just go away, let me be by myself. I don't want to be around any of you."

Quix rubbed his cheek but still laughed at her. "Worth it. That expression, wow," he whispered. The laugh died on his lips as he just stared at her.

Holly moved back until her back was pressed against the cold metal of the door. "Please, don't do anything to me," she whispered. 

She had slapped him, but she was very aware that she was just an ordinary human and this guy was a reaper. Someone she had been running from and she had no backup here. It was just here. 

That look in his eyes now though? She shivered. She couldn't help but feel like a bunny being pinned down. 

Quix didn't respond to her. He just stayed in place staring at her. The mark on his cheek reddened with time, but he ignored it. He was too busy staring at Holly's expression.

Holly put her hands over her face. She couldn't handle that stare anymore. Her entire face burned. Why was he doing this to her? She didn't even know him! Besides, he was attracted to that other reaper, he needed to leave her alone.

Her hands were pulled away and down by his hands, strangely gentle. "I won't do anything to you," he whispered. That odd mood was still over him and Holy dared not protest too much. "I just want to stare at you, is that so wrong?"

"Yes," Holly whispered the word. She had been screaming it in her mind. His light blue eyes flickered as he studied her face, her every expression. She hated it. She tried to free her arms, but he was stronger than she had taken him for.

"Why?" he demanded in the same soft tone. The mockery that she had paired with him was gone now. "This is a chance for you to win over one of your pursuers, shouldn't you take it?"

Holly frowned. That was a harder question to answer. Why not take the chance to try to win him over? But still, the more he stared the brighter she got. How long could her cheeks burn for? "Do you have to stare so hard at least?" she demanded as she turned her head to the side. "This is embarrassing."

Quix tilted his head and his braid twitched behind him with the action. "I'm not saying you're safe yet, from being turned in. But, this kind of reaction?" he shook his head. "I don't want this taken away, it's beautiful."

"Beautiful?" Holly sputtered. "You can't go around calling someone you don't even know beautiful!" Again she tried to struggle free from him but his hold would not be broken.

"I didn't call you beautiful," Quix corrected her. "Your expression. This isn't something I can indulge in that often, and until you get used to me and you stop, I plan to do just this." He frowned for just a moment before a smile curved his lips, the corner of them twitching.

Holly was more worried about that reaction than anything. "What?" she demanded.

"I just thought of a solution to a potential problem, no need for you to worry about it." Quix sighed as he looked around. "They're coming. You might want to move from that door so you don't get hurt."

"No," Holly answered as she pushed all of her weight against it. 

"I don't want to see Eros right now. He didn't tell me what was going on, and he's just like everyone else that wants me to just pick up this mission from this past life. I know I'll end up doing it anyway, but I don't have to feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter over it."

"Let me help you then." Quix pushed himself to his feet and smiled at her before flashing out of sight.

Holly stared at the spot he had been. Some help he'd offered.

"Miss me?" Quix was back with a chair in his hand. Before Holly could question him he lifted her to over his shoulder and set the chair up against the door preventing others from opening it. He waved through the tiny see-through portion and smirked at the person on the other side.

Holly had twisted around to scold him, her cheeks still burning when she caught Eros's eyes. Had they always looked so sad? 

They reminded her of lakes in a soft rainstorm now with how they rippled with unshed tears. She turned away and let Quix carry her away. She didn't even object to being little more than a bag of potatoes by this point.

Quix kicked open one of the other doors further in and glanced around the place. Holly tried to twist around to see what he had found and was relieved there were no creepy crawly things here, at least not in the open. 

He plopped her down on a blush plush couch and she grinned as she rubbed her face against its softness. 

"Already used to me?" Quix questioned with a pout.

Holly had been so happy with the soft find that hadn't been torn up or decayed that she had forgotten about him. He sat at the end of the couch and was smirking at her again. 

Holly decided to deal with that at once. "Thank you for helping me, but you can leave me alone now. I'm not going anywhere, we're too high for me to make an escape, and you saw us block off the only way down."

"So?" Quix replied. "I bet Rubes is pissed though." He grinned. "Her angry face is pretty cute, but I want to see her turn as red as you do."

"If you like her so much, why are you tormenting me?" Holly demanded glaring over at him. She pulled her knees to herself and set her chin on her knees, hiding as much of her body from him as she could. 

"Tormenting?" Quix chuckled as he mirrored her stance on the other end of the couch. 

"If I wanted to torment you, you wouldn't be smiling anymore. I can't stop wanting to make you turn red. Now that I've seen it, I want to see it again, over and over. Shame you don't have teleport magic, but that just means you won't be able to get away from me."

Holly glared at him. "Stay over there, just leave me alone for a while. I told you, I'm not your personal plaything to poke at."

Quix didn't try to grab her this time. Instead, he stretched out and curled up into almost a ball with his long braid trapped beneath him. "I doubt you can turn red again right away anyway. I used up some energy teleporting around like that so I'm going to take a nap."

Teleporting around? Holly watched as he settled and closed his eyes. Was he really just going to go asleep or was this all a ploy to trap her later? "Do you mean the chair?"

Quix opened one eye. "Yeah, normally I only teleport for important reasons, but I did it a few too many times today." His other eye opened and he grinned at her as he patted the middle of the couch. "You know, there's room if you want to come over here. I'm a great cuddler."

Holly glared at him but even the tops of her ears burned this time and all that man did was laugh at her, a perfectly satisfied smile on his lips.