Post by mattknox on Oct 17, 2021 14:45:23 GMT -5
Diogenes watched the feet with a stone expression. Deep down, he knew their time together would be brief, hence why he’d been so hard on his darling niece. She did not disappoint. In truth, he hoped for her to perhaps see some positive in the experience. Even if only in the darkest moments, hidden away in the parts of her that she kept buried.
He leaned back in his seat, unsteepling his fingers as he felt the room fill with a foriegn presence. One uninvited, but wholly expected.
“Ave Frater.” more of a sigh, than the usual benevolent statement “I imagine, even the dullard you are, that you’ve figured most of it out.”
Indeed, his younger brother stood in the now closed doorway, a hand reaching behind him to lock it. “I did.” He pulled his phone out, tapping send before sliding it back into his pocket and letting out an exhale. The answer was short, even. He lingered in his spot, gripped with the usual discomfort of being in the presence of his own blood. He reached a hand up, thumbing his nose and letting out a sigh “You took it too far, Diogenes. It could have been different, you know? All you had to do was not be a piece o--”
“No, it couldn’t have.” the reply cut him off, Diogenes stood from his seat and slid out of his suit jacket. While not quite as imposing as Matthew he wasn’t frail by any means. He began to undo the cuffs of his dress shirt, rolling the sleeves up to his elbows as he spoke “Your delusions of family, of a bond between us used to amuse me but now? They just confirm my theory of your flawed existence.”
He stepped around the chair, his back to the monitors. Knox eyed them past him, before bringing his glasz eyes back to Dio, “If believing in a better world, in the goodness of humanity is a flaw th--”
“It is.” Diogenes began to approach him, and to the surprise of even himself, Matthew Knox began to back away, matching Diogenes’ steps as he slid out of his leather jacket “You are abandoned, ridiculed, picked apart by me and uncle Byron and yet you refuse to get the message. I own your wife now, Matthew. Your unborn child? Mine. The daughter from fucking a biker whore? Well, that’s what spurred you into action this night, isn’t it?”
He set his feet, the two of them standing at opposite ends of a persian rug. The fireplace popped and crackled betwixt them. Diogenes shook his head “Orphans...so desperate to belong..” he met Matthew’s gaze then “They don’t, though.” And suddenly Diogenes lept forth with a right hand into Matthew’s stomach that doubled him over, then a clubbing blow to the back of his neck and a knee to the side of his head.
“Well, you’ve come to kill me haven’t you?” he pursued his brother, paying him a kick to the ribs as he tried to get up “So bold in front of your mutt, in front of your bitch but now, alone? So disappointing…” he snatched Matthew by the hair and with a malicious cry sent him flying over his desk. The chair toppled over as Matthew scrambled to his feet, holding onto the desk for support.
“That whore, that child you hope is yours? She won’t mourn you, you know...she’ll go back to sucking cock for the Yakuza, your child ...well, her child. Let's stick to the facts we KNOW, hm? Kept aside until it can be molded into a soldier, if they don’t have her get rid of it…” he leaned on the desk, across from Matthew. Smug, mocking “You’re just an option for her, Matthew. An opportunity…”
“You’ll never be more than what you are. A mistake. A flawed experiment by a cruel, idiot old ma--” His head was snatched, and driven into the desk. He backed up as he bounced off, hand shooting to his mouth to catch the blood, and bits of enamel.
“And you’re nothing.” Matthew slid across the desk then, leaping up and catching Dio in the face with an inside crescent kick. The elder Knox stumbled forward toward the fireplace. He grabbed the poker, and turned. The first swing caught Matthew in the side, stunning him .He drew back and went to stab him but Matthew feinted left, only getting a grazing blow. He snatched the wrist holding the weapon and with an enraged cry sent his palm rocketing upward into Dio’s elbow.
The snap, the scream, the poker dropped to the floor. Matthew slipped behind him, locking in the Katahajime and squeezing.
“I love you, Diogenes..” he whispered “I love you enough to tell you, you can’t exist in this world…” his lip curled as he tightened the choke, Dio’s gasps turning into gags as he grasped at his forearm weakly.
“But I hate you enough, to remove you.” he went to apply the pressure to snap the man’s neck when… Out of nowhere came a blow to Matthew’s lower back.
“Tsk tsk tsk”, came the soft sound of a female’s voice. When Matthew released Diogenes, grabbed for his back and let out a growl of pain, she reached down, grabbed a handful of hair and yanked back as hard as she could. Snatching his entire body up against hers.
“Is that the proper way to treat family… Darling?”, she purred softly in Matthew’s ear and then ran her tongue along the length of his cheek. She had wanted to keep up pretenses. But, in the weeks since his last visit, Dominique had grown… restless. “And here I thought highly of you, Pet.”
She threw him away from her and as he hit the ground, she pulled back and landed a pointed toe into his ribs. “Now see what you’ve made me do?”, that deliciously sexy British accent simply oozed a poison laced sweetness that she didn’t truly feel. As he laid on his stomach on the Persian rug, she moved to straddle his back, grabbed his arms and yanked backwards. Forcing his upper body to contort and bend in an unnatural way.
With a dark smile, she up nodded towards an unseen person and suddenly, his wrists were encased in handcuffs. Once he was subdued, she stood up and used his back as “leverage” to stand. Grinding her knee into the exact spot she’d just laid waste to with the metal cricket bat.
She inhaled deeply and let out a content and heavy sigh, “Finally. I can drop all the bloody niceties and be who I truly am. Who Diogenes…” She leaned down and rolled him over. Then she straddled him once again. “My husband… designed me to be.”
She leaned down over him and planted her hands on either side of his head. Looking into his eyes and at his face to gauge his reaction to this reveal, “You see.. I spoke truth to your bride-whore when I told her that I do what I do willingly. I have on qualms or regrets for the things I’ve done. I welcomed your brother into my life, into my soul and in between my thighs… Willingly.”
“And you call her whore..” he managed the quip, along with a groan as he glared up at her, mind feverishly trying to devise a way out. She noticed he was trying to figure things out in his head and she let out a crazed cackle.
“Oh, Darling.. That’s just too bloody adorable. You can’t get free, Pet,” She shifted slightly and planted her elbows into the area of his chest just between the shoulders and the pecks. Digging them into the soft tissue with devious purpose. “As for you insinuating that I’m a whore.. I was a virgin when I wed your brother. He claimed my maidenhood on our wedding night. Right here on this rug.”
She leaned down, elbows digging in even more, “And he fucked like a beautiful and viril purebred stallion all night.” The words were purringly whispered. Something she knew that would immediately turn Matthew’s stomach just to hear. Let alone think about.
“More a prized jackass..” he returned the husky whisper, mockingly, “Now get to your point, before I tear your throat out and my brother moves on to his next whore..” a smirk, he dares to lean in, pressing his lips to her ears.
“You don’t matter to him, you know?”
That brought another cackle from her as she reached for the cricket bat once again, “That.. Is where you are wrong.” She dug the point of her left elbow into the right side of his chest once again as she moved to stand.
Still straddling him, she pulled the cricket bat back and smiled down at him, “I’m the only person that matters to him…” And she swung the bat once more. Connecting with his ribs once again. “You thought all of his other projects were bad?” Another swing; another connection to his ribs. “You believed, on some level, that he couldn’t do or sink any further.”
The next swing was against his hip/upper thigh, “Well, I’m living proof that he created the perfect specimen. Built me from the ground up. He took what was already inside of me…” This time, she leaned down and back-handed him across the face. “And he perfected it. He allowed it to grow and roam free. He took it.. Made it pretty. And taught it to kill.”
She dropped down to straddle his hips once again. Her free hand grabbing his face as she righted it so that he was forced to look at her, “And now… It’s sights are set on you.” She leaned down and suddenly kissed him!!
At this, he bit down on her lip as hard as he could, pushing his legs and hips up to buck her off and spitting “Christ, just beat me with the bat..” he groaned, rolling on his side and trying to get his legs under him.
She let out a growl as she felt his teeth gnash into her lip. “You dirty sod!”, she barely managed to spit out as she felt him start to buck her off of him. She rolled with the move and came to rest on her knees. Cricket bat still in hand as she used her other to plant herself before moving back to where he was.
Standing behind him now, she reached up and wiped the blood off her lips and smiled, “Next time… Bite me like you mean it.” She pulled the bat back to once again hit him in the ribs, when...the lightest of pressure was felt around her neck, accompanied by a soft hum.
Slowly the figure from behind lowered, drawing the smallest bit of red. “You really should be more mindful when on the attack, you never know what tiny shadow could appear.” A soft chuckle. “Now you could try to stop, attack me and the like. But we both know I currently hold too much profit and the slightest dip to show off my flexibility will cost you a tiny bit of your head. So do us all a favor and let the only one of us in the room with a heart left walk.”
She felt the blade pressing against her throat a moment before she felt the trickle of blood as it bit into her flesh. If Dominique were barefoot, Mari would match her in height. But, Dominique was also wearing boots that gave her a bit of lift and she glanced back to the Japanese woman, “You have moxy, Kamari. I admire that.”
Then she looked back to Diogenes and finally back to Matthew, “You chose your bride well, Matthew.”
“Told you to stay home..” Matthew groaned, rolling over and painfully working the cuffs under his legs to bring them to his front, staring up at the scene, then back at Diogenes who held onto his broken arm painfully, scowling at it. “I guess we call this a push, hm?” he painfully, pridefully pushed himself to his feet and coughed, wincing.
“What I said holds true, brother mine…” Diogenes lifted a hand, motioning Dominique over, with Mari letting go of her edge once she saw her relent. “They’re mine. No matter where you go, they belong to me. You took them from the frying pan, and threw them in the fire..” his eyes narrowed.
“More fool you.” he whispered, watching his brother limp toward his savior. Matthew stops long enough to stare down at Dominique, trying to figure her out. Maybe looking for something worth fighting to save? Whether he found anything, or not, he moved to stand next to Mari.
After Mari released her hold on Dominique, she made her way, casually, over to her husband’s side. She offered a nod of respect to Mari, then she turned her attention to Matthew as she noticed he was sizing her up. And in turn, she was silently letting him know that, no matter what, she was Diogenes’. And nothing, not even him, would ever change that.
A smirk played on the features of Mari as she observed the display, noting the nod and returning it. “When the time comes.. it will truly be fun. I’m sure we’ll make some money too considering the one you hold.” Turning her attention to her own chosen next, she sighed. “It won’t work, I’m sure you can tell. The effort is admirable though, as always.” Of course she had to eye him last, and chuckled. “Well played, just remember the provisions. We both know what would happen otherwise. They all still watch you know and you can’t tell them apart from the trophies. Next time we should do lunch.”
A grimace from Matthew, a shake of the head “Or, you know...you could maybe stay in your lane?” he lifted those eyes, intense even as they screamed in agony “You’ve shown your hand. There are no more surprises, and next time?” he lifts the cuffs “Won’t get the chance.” he turned toward the door, limping toward it.
“And do call off your men, Diogenes. Victoria is already gone, and I’d hate for you to have to deal with the hiring process.” a click as the lock was undone, and he opened the door, stepping aside “After you, dear.” Offering a nod of acknowledgment, she made her way over to the door, stopping just short to turn one more time. “You. Are. Too. Kind.” Though the words were towards him, the message was sent all around before she finally turned away fully and made her exit.
Diogenes watched them go, before turning his eyes to Dominique “You’re okay?” he asked gently, betraying the image most others saw. He grimaced as the pain shot up through his broken arm once more, but he paid it no mind as he tilted her chin up to look at her lip, “Seems he’s left marks on both of us now, hm?”
She kept her look stoic and without any emotion what-so-ever as she watched Matthew and Kamari leave. Once they were gone, she turned her attention to her husband and it was like a flip switched and concern entered her eyes. “Mmm,” was all she said at his inquiry. However, when she saw him grimace once again, she pulled her chin out of his hand and moved to help him with his arm.
“I’m fine, Husband Mine,” a frown formed as she looked over his arm and where it was broken. “I’ll call the doctor,” she pulled her phone out and placed the phone call so that they could get Diogenes’ arm x-rayed and in a cast as quickly as possible.