Darien

Short Story Saturday: "Bemused" Part Ten

            Lorelei’s head was spinning. Calliope wanted to name her as her successor? But she had just met her!
            She wasn’t even sure she wanted to remain at the Temple of the Muse once her training was complete. While it would be great to become the next Calliope and train other young Muses in the art of epic poetry, it wasn’t her real dream. No, she wanted to become the Muse to a poet, an author . . . or maybe even a playwright. Anything that had to do with writing, she loved. She wanted to be someone’s inspiration, help spur creativity—not hang out in a Temple for the rest of her life.
            There was a knock on the door. She placed her hairbrush on her vanity table and wandered over to answer the door.
            Darien stood in the hall. She flushed as she realized that she was dressed only in her pajamas—a satin tank and shorts set.
            He eyed her appraisingly. “Is my sister here?”
            “No,” Lorelei said, disappointed. She had been half-hoping he was there to see her, but of course it made sense that he would be looking for his twin.
            “Good.” He took one step forward and pulled her into his arms. She looked up at him, startled. His mouth came down on hers. She froze, unsure what was happening. She gradually relaxed in his embrace and began to kiss him back.
            His lips were firm and unyielding. She felt a surge of excitement. She reached up to wind her arms around his neck, longing to run her hands through the dark hair that curled at his neck.
            He pulled away entirely too soon. “I’m sorry, I’ve been dying to do that since I saw you,” he breathed.
Not caught up on “Bemused”? Click the links below!
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine
© Brea Essex 2011 ~ No part of this site (written or artwork) may be reproduced in anyway whatsoever without express written consent by Brea Essex.

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Short Story Saturday: "Bemused" Part Eight

            Lorelei awoke to Delia standing over her bed, shaking her awake. She peered up at her, blinking to clear her eyes.
            “Time to get up!” Delia announced.
            She sure is chipper in the morning, Lorelei thought. “Already?” She glanced at her clock.  “It’s only six am.”
            “That’s wake up time. Get dressed so we can go down to breakfast.”
            Lorelei dragged herself out of bed and complied. She tried to remember the way Darien had shown her how to wrap her gown the night before, but she ended up with everything twisted. Delia untangled her and helped her dress properly.
            After they brushed their teeth and hair and tied on their sandals, they trooped downstairs for breakfast.
            Darien was standing outside the dining hall, leaning against a wall. “Ah, there are my two favorite ladies! How did you sleep?”
            Delia rolled her eyes at her brother. “Fine. What are you doing out here?”
            “Waiting for you two, of course.”
            Lorelei was secretly glad that he had been waiting for them. She tried her hardest not to react, though. She didn’t want her new roommate to know that she had a crush on her twin. She probably wouldn’t like it.
            They went through the line and sat down at a table. “So, what happens next?” Lorelei asked the twins.
            “We go to classes,” Delia informed her.
            “Well, I kind of expected that.”
            “I’ll show you where your classes are. We’ll be in the same classes. That’s why you were assigned as my roommate—because we’re in the same program.”
            “What about you?” Lorelei asked Darien.
            “I’m in a different program. I’m studying history with Clio.”
            After they finished eating, they cleared their plates and placed them in the designated tubs.
            “Ready?” Delia asked.
            “I guess so.”
            “Okay. Let’s go introduce you to Calliope.”
© Brea Essex 2011 ~ No part of this site (written or artwork) may be reproduced in anyway whatsoever without express written consent by Brea Essex.

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Short Story Saturday: "Bemused" Part Six

            “Brother?” Lorelei asked.
            “Twin, to be more exact,” Delia clarified.
            Lorelei looked back and forth between the two of them. She did see the resemblance. She just hadn’t noticed before. They had the same thick black hair and stormy grey eyes. “Didn’t you say that you hadn’t been here that long?” she asked Darien. “Your sister seems to have been here a lot longer.”
            “I did arrive a while after Delia. The Temple only began accepting men to study recently.” He paused. “Accepting men as students, I suppose I should say,” he amended. “They don’t study men here.” He laughed.
            “So, how did you two meet?” Delia asked. “Last I saw you, Lorelei, you were planning on hiding in our room all night.”
            Our room. So she and Delia were going to be roommates. Delia had failed to point that out earlier. “Well, Darien somehow ended up in the room. Apparently he walked into the wrong one.”
            “That’s funny, considering the men’s dormitories are one flight up,” Delia said, raising an eyebrow at her twin.
            “I was looking for you!” he exclaimed. “When I found Lorelei instead, I assumed I had the wrong room.”
            “Men aren’t supposed to be in the women’s hall,” she reminded him.
            “I was looking for you,” he repeated. “It’s not a crime to try to find my sister, is it?”
            “What did you need me for?” she asked.
            “I can’t remember.”
            Delia laughed. “I guess Lorelei could have that effect on you.” She turned to Lorelei, who had remained silent during their exchange. “He likes pretty girls.”
            Lorelei laughed uncomfortably. She didn’t know how to respond, but Delia continued. “Well, since you’re out of the room now, let’s find you some food. You’re probably starving and we’ll need to get to bed soon.” She took Lorelei’s elbow and stared at Darien. “I can take it from here.”
            He grinned. “I’m sure you can, but I’ll still be joining you.” He winked at Lorelei. “That is, if you don’t mind.”
            She quickly nodded her assent. She wanted to get to know him better, even though his sister seemed to be against it. It was definitely an offer she couldn’t refuse.
© Brea Essex 2011 ~ No part of this site (written or artwork) may be reproduced in anyway whatsoever without express written consent by Brea Essex. 

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Short Story Saturday: "Bemused" Part Five

           
            Darien knocked on Lorelei’s door. “Doing okay in there?”
            She threw the mess of fabric over her shoulders. “Actually, I think I might need some help.”
            He opened the door cautiously; carefully peeking around it to be sure she was covered. He might tease, but he didn’t want to be inappropriate. He could get thrown out of the Temple for even being in her room alone. He left the door ajar behind him as he entered the room. “Jeeze, you’re a mess!” he laughed.
            She looked at him helplessly. “Give me a break. This is the first time I’ve had to wear anything like this.”
            He helped her gather and pin the material with a brooch at each shoulder, then wrapped a belt around her waist. “There! Now you just need some sandals and you’re done.”
            “Thanks.” She looked at him curiously. “Why are you being so nice?”
            He shrugged. “I was new once. In fact, I’m still sort of new.”
            “So, where are we going?” she asked as she found some sandals and slipped her feet into them. She fumbled with the laces for a few minutes. Darien began to laugh again and kneeled down to help her. He laced them up her calves and tied them below her knees. “Can you remember how to do this next time?”
            She blushed. “Of course I can! It’s just a . . . new experience.”
            He smiled as he stood. “Let’s go find you some food. You’re probably starving.”
            “I am,” she admitted, “but I don’t really feel up to meeting a ton of people yet.”
            “You’re going to have to meet everyone sometime. Not all of them are going to wander into your room like me,” he said playfully. “But don’t worry. I know how we can get you some food without ever seeing anyone.”
            “Sounds good to me. Lead the way.”
            They headed out of her room and went the opposite direction of the one she had come earlier that day with Delia. He took her through several halls, and down a spiraling staircase. They had just reached the bottom of the stairs when Lorelei ran smack into someone who had appeared around a corner. It was Delia.
            “Lorelei, I thought you were going to stay in your room all night?” Delia asked.
            “Well, I had planned on it, but then . . .” she gestured helplessly at Darien.
            “Hello, Delia,” he said.
            “So, Lorelei,” Delia said, “how did you meet my brother?”

© Brea Essex 2011 ~ No part of this site (written or artwork) may be reproduced in anyway whatsoever without express written consent by Brea Essex.
*Disclaimer: I do not own the photo used in this post.
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Fun Fact Friday: The Other "Logan"

I was sitting here trying to decide what to write about for today, and then I realized something: I promised a post about my other Logan inspiration, Darien!
Now, I was technically “too old” for Sailor Moon when it first came out in the United States. I was 14 when I first saw it. I have to admit; I still watch it now, at almost 30. It’s mostly because of Darien.
The funny thing is that when I first Googled images of Darien Shields, a picture of Chace Crawford popped up, which is who I “cast” as Logan! In fact, it was the exact same picture of him that I used on my Logan casting post. Bizarre, right?
Logan’s black hair comes from Darien. His eyes were almost blue—also because of Darien. They ended up being green because that’s my (and Raena’s) favorite color. His personality is also a little similar—antagonistic in the beginning:
Would do anything to help/protect later on:

Now, I really want to know what’s up with those roses. You wouldn’t think they would do any good! In the manga (comic books), Darien/Tuxedo Mask has actual powers. The roses seem to be nothing more than distractions—but somehow they work.

I also really want to know what’s up with his black mock turtleneck/grey pants/olive green jacket combo that he always seems to wear, but I digress. He’s obviously not the clothes hound that Logan is!
 
You have to admit though, the tuxedo, mask, cape and top hat are kind of cool.

Even the weird bluish-purple tuxedo and cape he wears as King Endymion.
My favorite is his prince costume/uniform/whatever you want to call it. It’s something Logan would probably wear if he were going with some sort of Medieval look.
In the end, Darien would do anything for Serena, even when he’s “evil”. No, I’m not saying that Logan’s going to turn evil. I’m just saying that he would do anything for Raena.
Sorry for all the pictures! I’m going to leave you with one of my favorite episodes of Sailor Moon. It’s in three parts, thus three videos. YouTube deletes Sailor Moon episodes a lot, but hopefully this one will stay up for a little while. Enjoy!

© Brea Essex 2011 ~ No part of this site (written or artwork) may be reproduced in anyway whatsoever without express written consent by Brea Essex.
*Disclaimer: I do not own the photos or videos used in this post.
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