lies

who: Jem and Arienne
where: DiGiovanni mansion, the waterfront
when: early evening

Jem had been staring at her for quite some time. The funeral had been exactly what he would expect of an esteemed family service, and he had gently held his mother’s hand as she’d wept. He was playing exactly the son he was supposed to be, and yet, he could not help but feel the same conflicted emotions about Arienne as he’d sat staring at the back of her head a few pews back. Arden was very right, they were quite a good match, but Jem knew in his heart that things would never work unless he addressed the problem at hand.

Now, he found himself still gazing at her from across the room in the spacious mansion where the after gathering was held. Of course, she had been occupied speaking with many mourners offering their sympathies, but he finally noticed that she happened to be alone for a split second. And so, he slid through the crowd as best he could and came up behind her, his voice low. “Excuse me, would you like to go somewhere?”

Arienne had been playing the mourning daughter for the day. She'd played her role as perfectly as possible, coming through with everything as thoroughly as she could. And it worked, of course. She could pull of anything if she really wanted to, and in this case, she most certainly did. However, when Jem came up to her, she turned to look up at him. She appeared to consider for a long moment, to weigh things. In that time she didn't let her gaze waver from his, like he might be her savior. She imagined that was what he was doing. Getting her out of there because she might 'need' it. "I would." she said, voice soft. She didn't ask where, wanting him to feel like he was in control.

Jem could have gotten lost in those eyes, but they also frightened him. This was a risky plan. But it was something he needed to do. “I thought so.” he replied, and nodded, searching for the best exit strategy to get her outside with little notice. Not wanting to touch her without permission, he then offered her an outstretched hand, the common bond that would say she trusted him to lead her away.

She gave him the hint of a smile, and took his hand without hesitation, giving him what he wanted. Letting him build that confidence that she was with him, and willing to go off into the unknown. For her, she wanted to be sure he was set up to continue down that path. Eventually, she'd be able to twist it the way she wanted to. This was just how you built yourself a good pet.

His uncle had driven separately to the mansion, and he knew his mother would be able to get back to their home with her brother. So, Jem lead her through a back patio exit around the gigantic house to his mother’s car. Once there, he opened the passenger door for Arienne, grateful that most of the other guests were inside. They could slip out easily. He looked over to her as he prepared to help her inside the car, a bit worried. “Will I get you in trouble?” he asked.

"I don't think anyone's going to notice." Arienne said, taking the help to get into the car. She had on a long black dress, something fancier than she normally wore but one of the Walkers had picked it out for her. "Don't worry about it." she added. "Even if I do, I can just tell them I went off on my own."

He felt better with her words, and nodded. Once she was properly inside, Jem removed his suit jacket and placed it on the backseat before climbing into the driver’s seat. In minutes, the car was running and he was pulling out of their estate and onto the streets of the Elysium. He wasn’t quite sure what to say, as how are you feeling? seemed a bit obvious. Instead, Jem turned towards her at the first red light and offered a sad smile of encouragement. As if he could actually cheer her up.

She looked over at him and smiled in return, though there was something slightly dimmer to it than usual. That was on purpose, she didn't want to seem too happy right now, but she wanted to encourage him in the idea that he was helping in some fashion. "Where are we going?" she asked, keeping her gaze on him, like she wasn't interested in anything outside the car.

It was hard not to bite his lip at that question. This was the hard part, the part where he had to take the extra care and concentration to keep his anxiety in check. He needed to push through this. “You’ll see.” Jem told her, trying to sound adventurous. “I think you have been there before.”

"Alright." she said, smiling like she was into the mystery of it all. "I trust you." she added, just to ice the cake a bit. She was paying attention to where they were going but she didn't appear to be. She appeared to be keeping her eyes and attention entirely on Jem, like she was fascinated on some level.

Jem couldn’t help but turn his head quickly towards her again at that, and for a minute, with her smiling like that, he really believed that everything would be okay. So much, in fact, that he boldly reached out to cover her closest hand with his own. She trusted him. He was nothing to be scared of. It wouldn’t be difficult to tell that he’d been heading towards the water from the start, and they were getting closer by the minute.

Ari turned her hand over and laced her fingers through his, giving his hand a squeeze. She didn't mention that she noticed they were heading towards the water, and she had a suspicion where he was taking her. To the scene of the crime, so to speak. Where she'd caught him with the blood on his hands before. Seen him with it. But she didn't appare to see significance with it at all, of course.

The waterfront was notorious for its stretch of shady warehouses, and Jem navigated the car swiftly through them. The closer the car came to his hideaway, the more his heart picked up, but the reassuring contact of her hand with his was definitely helping. He slowed the car to his exact warehouse, almost in the same spot she’d seen the vehicle in before he’d sped off, and cut the gas. Jem looked down at their intertwined hands again, and then up to meet her eyes. “Here we are.” he breathed.

She looked at him, and smiled lightly. "I remember this place." she said. But she didn't elaborate. She didn't go into what she'd seen, or how she felt about it, or the fact that they had quite carefully never actually discussed it. She wanted to see where he was taking it, so she was giving him the control to do that.

So much of Jem wanted to ask her what she had even been doing at the docks that night, but fear of her asking the same question stopped him immediately. He squeezed her hand one more time before letting go to exit his side, quickly heading to the other side to open her door. “I think we should go inside.” he said, offering his hand to help her out. “That is, if you’d like. I would understand if you’d rather not.” A young woman alone with a young man anywhere, let alone a deserted warehouse, was considered somewhat dangerous.

She reached out to take his hand to help her out of the vehicle. "I said I trust you." she told him. "So, don't worry about it. I'll tell you when you've stepped out of line." she added, giving him a little smile that was unreadable in nature. She got out, and looked towards the warehouse, then started in that direction to show that she felt comfortable with the scenario.

She barely knew how far he often stepped ‘out of line’, but revealing his passion wasn’t in the cards tonight. No, he needed to be convincing. Jem followed her to the large warehouse door. He produced a set of keys from his pants pocket and used the largest one to unlock the chain. Then, he slid the door open to one side.

The room was large, and very, very empty. The place was also spotless, clean and bare, as if he’d just swept the floors yesterday. Jem walked farther into the room and stood in the center, turning back to eye Arienne. “Welcome.” he told her, and reached up to loosen the tie around his neck. It would make breathing a bit easier.

She glanced around, then let her eyes rest on him again. "Thank you." she said. She saw that the place lacked...anything. She wondered if he'd cleared it out specifically to take her here, or if it had been standing empty for a while. "Why did you take me here?" she asked, walking up closer to him, just inside his personal space even if it wasn't too blatant.

Jem looked down at their shoes for a moment, and had a quick flash of the table that had been where they were standing just weeks before. A table covered in all kinds of different instruments. He blinked, and looked back up at her, forcing a small smile. “To show you.” he said, and motioned to the emptiness behind them with an arm. “There’s nothing. This space means nothing.”

Arienne watched his eyes for a long moment, before she started to walk a circle around him, hands clasped behind her back. "It's very empty." she said. "But it looks a little too clean to have been empty for long." she added. "Why don't you tell me the truth?" she asked, voice soft. "I promise I'll listen." she told him as she got back around to in front of him.

Jem followed her with his eyes as she circled him. That motion, her hands behind her back, as if he was a small boy in trouble, made him glad he’d left his jacket in the car and loosened his tie. The room was suddenly much too hot. “Yes.” he agreed, that the place was definitely too clean. “Do you paint, Arienne?” he asked. He knew that most children in their position were given the opportunity, but not all enjoyed the art.

"I used to, occasionally." she answered. "I was more adept at music than putting images to canvas." she explained. "Continue." She didn't ask why, assuming he'd fill in the blank. She kept her eyes on his, her expression remaining unreadable. It wasn't judging, it wasn't expectant, it was merely waiting. Attentive.

He knew that well, as Jem had indulged in listening to Arienne’s vocal performances at family events. “You sing beautifully.” he told her, though he also knew that she would be more interested in their current situation than compliments. “That night, Arienne. I was here, in this room, painting. My mother always encouraged my art. She bought me this warehouse as a studio. Unfortunately, athletics has taken over my interests since then. The place was cleaned out, but I still hold a key.” Who knew if she would buy it. It sounded plausible to him.

She was silent for a long moment. She kept her eyes on his, not letting them waver, not giving anything away. Eventually, she stepped closer, and she stood on her toes to murmur in his ear. "Are you sure that's how you want this evening to go, Jeremiah?" she asked. She was giving him the opportunity to retract his statement. To go in another direction entirely, and she was sure her breath ghosted along his skin as she spoke.

There it was again, that overwhelming feeling like he was a child caught red handed – which he very much was. But Arienne was no child, and the desire invoked in him by her voice, the use of his entire name combined with his paranoia was driving him mad. “And what other direction is there?” Jem asked, standing his ground for now. “You thought you saw something that was nothing.”

"No, I saw you with blood on your hands." Arienne said, finally coming out with it. She stayed where she was, not quite touching him, only letting her breath do that for her. Keep up that insubstantial yet potent contact. "I saw it on your face. I saw you put cases into your car, and you burned up an apron while you were at it. That's hardly the work of a painter, Jeremiah. So, I'll give you one more chance to turn this around. Tell me the truth."

Jem narrowed his eyes at her. She wasn’t supposed to have seen all of that. Frustrated, though needing to break contact for his own anxiousness, he stepped back. “Or what?” he retorted, though immediately regretted it. His fear was turning into anger, as if she dare not believe him. Jem Walker would never tell a lie. “Why were you spying anyway, Arienne? Hardly a thing for a young girl of your status to do alone on the docks.”

"You're deflecting." Ari said, not following him, instead she just turned so she was still watching him, hands still clasped behind her back. "Not very well, even. This isn't about me. It's about you. It's about you lying to me, when you've got more than enough room here to tell me the truth. It's not as if I haven't heard about your family, you know. I can make the connections myself. But I asked you to tell me. Because I want to hear it from you." she said, tone light. Firm, but not unreasonable. "As for 'or what', the answer is simple. You don't get to have me." she answered him. "And considering I knew about you, said nothing to anyone on it, and even came here with you willingly--you may want to stop for a moment and think over what that says. What you might stand to gain by having someone around like me, who isn't screaming for the hills, and telling tales out of school. I've held that confidence for years now, haven't I. Aren't I worthy of trust?"

I will have you, was his first immediate thought, because Jem was not going to let his family down. “You don’t know anything about me or my family.” he sighed, shaking his head. “You are a prize, Arienne DiGiovanni, but you’re mistaken on this. I would trust you with my life, yes. But if you can’t take my word on what I’ve told you then I must ask you to expel your memory of that night and leave it be.” He was almost visibly shaking, the mere addressing that the incident had happened was setting him off. “We can m-move on from this.”

"You're wrong." Arienne said. On several levels. She sighed, a heavy sound, though it was for show. "I won't be 'expelling' any memory. I have a long one, Mr. Walker. I'm also not stupid, and just because you can convince any of the other little fluffy girls at school anything you want doesn't mean I'm that easy. I deserve at least slightly more credit than that. I'm terribly disappointed. I had really thought we could have something." she told him, and with that, she turned to start heading back towards the door.

“You must respect my privacy!” Jem called after her, and roughly ran his hands through his hair. He was losing her. He wasn’t too concerned that he’d never be able to get her again, as there was an arrangement, but the panic had still set in from the entire situation. Jem caught up with her and attempted to block her way to the entrance they’d come through. “There’s no one I want but you.”

"One thing you'll learn very quickly with me, is no one tells me what to do. Including you. So I 'must' do nothing. What I want is basic honesty. It shouldn't be that difficult. Especially considering what I already know. All you'd really have to do is open up, fill in the blanks. It could be something that brings us closer, binds us together. But clearly you're unwilling to do that, and instead wish to insult my intelligence then proceed to order me around." She tsked. "I gave you the chance to retract your statement, to tell me the truth. You've chosen to lie. If there's no one you want but me, you've got your work cut out for you. Could you please move?" she asked, not giving him the satisfaction of trying to get around him when he was much bigger than her and could block her way easily even if she did push the situation.

“I apologize.” Jem said at once. “Opening up” for him would probably cause a seizure, but he had not the first idea how to explain that to her. At her request to move, he looked desperately into her eyes, pleading to reconsider. He wanted to take her hand again, but figured that would be the stupidest move, and instead kept his own hand shaking at his side. “I’m not ready.” he answered, and that was the very truth. “You must understand, I can’t. But if you give me time, let me figure this out, I can see myself sharing everything with you. There would be no secrets, and we would be as close as anything. Please.”

Arienne considered that, watching him. She could play this a few different ways, but one thing she was pleased with was the fact that he was begging. That right now, even if he was still refusing, he was vying for time, trying to still salvage things. "Admit first that you lied." she instructed.

He nodded, slowly, and crossed his arms over his chest out of habit to keep them from shaking. “Yes.” Jem confirmed. “This space is more significant than I let on.” And he would be relocating, that was for sure. His precious warehouse wasn’t safe anymore.

"You know this has nothing to do with the space." Arienne said. "But that's a start. You've bought yourself a week. After that? I get something true from you. It doesn't have to be the entire story, but something." she told him, setting down the rules. This time she moved to step around him, still heading for the door. "You know, Jeremiah. There's one very important point you're missing in this entire thing." she told him, glancing back over her shoulder at him. “There’s one question you really should be asking yourself.”

A week. He wasn’t sure if he could spin another story in such short time. Perhaps he would find the strength to give her something of the truth, but the even the thought made him sick. He raised an eyebrow as she glanced back at him like that, holding all the cards. If she was disappointed, he was even more so. Jem felt a complete lack of control here. “What question is that?”

"How is it I know the difference between paint and blood, even at a distance?" she posed. She let that sink in, watched him for just a moment, before she turned back to the door, walking out of it entirely. She didn't actually know how she'd be getting home, but she'd figure it out. One thing about creating a certain impression with someone was knowing when to make an exit, when things would impact the hardest. And what she'd just put out there? Was something he was definitely going to need a little bit to truly consider. And that was what she wanted. She wanted that to spin in the back of his mind for the next week, coloring his whole world.