Bride Of Frankenstein [Isabelle/Shouhei]

A sleek multiple-shaded black motorcycle weaved its way through the streets of the Suzie Q District of Endymion City.  Its high shrill engine cut through crowds when necessary and zipped and slid between the much slower and cumbersome traffic.  Stopping perfectly on a dime, the bike and its rider stood in front of their destination- a small apartment complex tucked away neatly in this District.

Shouhei Kagawa removed his helmet, then began unbuckling and unfastening the package that was so carefully tied to his motorcycle.  Unlike most packages he had delivered so far, this one was… incredibly large.  Yet when he picked it up initially it weighed on par with most of his deliveries.  Not one to pry into other people’s business- especially with a past like his- there was always an allure to at least speculate about their parcels.

And that’s half the fun of this job… He thought pleasantly as he thumbed a gloved finger towards the address and sender.  

Isabelle Salinov, II.  Apartment number… Yeh… Tailoring! Beamed Shouhei as he found out the deliverer.  Clothes?  Why was the package so large?  There must have been quite an assortment in this hefty box, and his mind raced to all the possibilities.  Could Isabelle have tailored her outfits for some insidious plot? Or better yet, was she one of those Psyche Terrorists he had heard so much about?  No, that couldn’t have been, what kind of idiot would tailor their criminal clothes and have them delivered through an outside sour-

While letting his imagination run rampant Shouhei was seemingly oblivious to the loud, banshee like-wail of a cat, followed by the thunderous barking of a dog.  A black and white blur zipped between his legs, but the dog- a gray wrecking ball in the form of a mastiff- hurtled directly into him.  As if moving in slow motion, air rushed out of his lungs, pain tightened in his chest, and the package whirled neatly into the mastiff’s lunge.

A growl was lightly muffled by its jaws clamping onto the package, giving several swift shakes of its head.  Just so quickly had the dog appeared it vanished, having tossed aside the package while still barking into the distance.  Shouhei scrambled to his feet while ignoring the pain.  

The goods… He anxiously flipped the parcel about and scanned for any damage.  It was still wet and disgusting from that helldog’s drool, unfortunately.  But the one thing he couldn’t afford- no, abide by as his job as a courier- was for the contents within to be damaged.  On his final and frantic spin something bright and colorful fell out a hole in the corner of the box.

"The hell…” Shouhei murmured aloud as he lifted up a loudly patterned sock off the ground.  Not only was the choice of colors and print slightly… garish to him, what was most important was its… size.  “This Isabelle’s gotta be the Bride of Frankenstein.  There’s no way-”

Isabelle was just finishing up a few sets of weights, nothing major, just to keep in shape, she had a match later that day and so didn't want to overexhert herself before then, Thankfully it had been a rather easy day, considering the crazy night beforehand that was a blessing, she would need to Give wicked a call as well at some point to see how she was doing, maybe check on everyone else if she if she had the time, honestly considering what they had gone through and the way everyone had reacted, she honestly had to wonder if any of them had misgivings of her now?

Ether way it didn't matter for the moment, she would have to worry about them all later after her match. "Can't let that swamp my mind or I won't be able to focus..." she said to herself. Though it was about that time that an alarm went off on her personal phone, and she looked over at it before putting the weights down gently and walking over and picking it up and reading the notice before a smile graced her lips a moment.

She gave her face a quick wash and stretched a bit "Well good to know my clothing is done getting altered and adjusted" she said as she looked at the note once more, the delivery was on it's way and would be here soon, so she was getting ready to head on down and meet them at the door. Slipping on a pair of sandals she headed down, though as she drew close to the door she heard a bit of a racket and she raised and eyebrow as she heard a mans voice.

She couldn't make out what was being said but she assumed it might be the delivery driver that had her clothing, maybe reading who it was for and what apartment? Ether way she opened the door to see the man, who was much shorter then her then again most people were, picking one of her socks off the ground and she looked at him a moment "I see you had a bit of a mishap...." she said looking at the package then the man, it was rather obvious he hadn't ripped it open himself, that and the commotion she heard before she got to the door hinted at the damned neighbors cat getting chased by a dog again at least she assumed it was the same cat.

Shouhei nearly froze in place at the voice calling out to him.  He slowly turned- to catch the same apartment number as the one on his package- then to whom the voice came from.  Up, up, up his neck craned, past the svelte legs that seemingly stretched for ages, following the contours of thick hips, continuing on to a more than ample bosom, beyond the curled blonde tresses, and finally up to porcelain skin that framed a gorgeous face, with sapphire-like eyes that mirrored Shouhei’s own.

“I… I uh…” he found himself at a loss for words.  Not just at the fact that it looked like he had manhandled her package and was ogling her clothing like some kind of sick pervert.  Simply put she was stunning, a statuesque amazon made flesh, which rendered Shouhei into a stupor.  While he found himself taller than the average Japanese man, in America, it was the opposite.  He was in a land of giants- and Isabelle seemed to be their queen.  She was the tallest person he'd seen yet.

“I’m… I’m so sorry!” He cried apologetically while crawling forwards on his knees.  In a more typical Japanese fashion Shouhei bowed repeatedly, avoided eye contact with the giantess, and held the package to her like an offering, sock neatly on top.

“I… f-failed you, as a courier, and…” This time his forehead touched the ground before her sandals, expecting that same marble-like foot to crush him underneath.  “This was an a-accident!  I swear… I’m… I’m not a pervert!”

to be fair when she made her comment she wasn't meaning to make him panic in such a manner, though it was rather funny to see, honestly she wasn't used to getting this kind of reaction from people, and she couldn't help but laugh, not at him or what he was doing, but at the situation and she covered her mouth after a moment to stifle her laughter "I am sorry I didn't mean to laugh....get up, I know it's not your fault...I heard commotion and I am guessing you got attacked by the Neighbors cat? or was something chasing him again?" she asked as she watched him handing her the package.

Honestly it was a tad inconvenient for her since he was now on his knees and holding it up, she would have had to reach down normally but now she had to bend over as well, but she didn't say anything about that, she simply bent over and took the package and smiled down at him "You can get up silly, I'm not mad, and I don't think your a pervert, besides it would be rather weird to think that when the only thing that is out of the box is a sock....well unless your into Feet I guess..but again don't worry about it" she said in a happy joking tone as she looked over the package, yep it had seen the mouth of something, more then likely whatever was chasing the cat.

Honestly by the sound might have been the Dog she knew one of her other Neighbors had, looking to the man again she got a good look at him this time, he wasn't to bad a looker, his hair was black, she hadn't gotten a good look at his eyes with how fast he started bowing, but she would guess brown? maybe black? she would have to give that a look when he stood back up "Doesn't seem like to much damage was done, and you got it here animal mishaps notwithstanding I say job complete" she said with a smile "You up for a drink? I am honestly not angry hun?" she said in almost a motherly tone as she walked into her apartment or rather up the stairs towards it though she stopped as if a thought just occurred to her "OH...unless your still on the clock?" she asked looking back at him over her shoulder. but then a smile spread on her lips "Then again I do believe you get two fifteen minute breaks and a half hour break right?" she added as she continued to look back at the man.

Any airs of uncertainty and trepidation were soon replaced by a certain… lackadaisical charm?  Where Shouhei once expected Isabelle to scream in rage at the destruction of her product, only to hear laughter and soft, sincere words.  He was used to “the customer is always right” motto of retail but in America it went above and beyond that.  Surely he thought he was going to be ripped apart verbally by Isabelle before she demanded compensation, his own job itself, and to speak personally to his boss.  

It wasn’t just the fact that she was some monolithic amazon either.  Shouhei had seen customers in America act entitled for far lesser transgressions.  With a practical wave of her hand Isabelle dismissed any of those fears he had.  Instead it was replaced by the fact that he was speaking to an incredibly nice, extremely gorgeous woman, and those kinds of worries and anxieties soon settled in.  He rose to his feet and continued to stare up, up, and up at how widely she smiled, at how she craned her own neck so as not to scrape the ceiling above her.

Guess I’d be into feet if they were all like you… His retort only came mentally because the last thing he wanted to do was anger a woman who could easily snap him in half.  Their azure eyes met briefly, showing a hint of resolve from him, but shied away.  

“I… that… y-yes, thank you!” Were the only words Shouhei could manage to sputter as a response to all this.  She understood and heard the commotion with the animals, nice.  But was she really offering him a drink?  This was the complete opposite of a reaction he had been expecting.  In fact her demeanor was the last thing he expected from someone of her stature, period.  Had she been in Japan everyone would be screaming underfoot shouting something along the lines of “Kaiju!”

“If… if you’re offering… I’d very much ap-appreciate it, Miss,” still choking on his own nervousness while offering an awkward smile, Shouhei would be insane not to refuse an offer like this.  Then again could anyone say no to a woman like Isabelle?

While the man accepted she gestured for him to follow "well come on then, and close the door, got a few stairs to clime to get to my place up top" she said with a smile to him as she headed up the stairs, she had noticed the blue eyes and smiled a bit to herself, was rather odd to see dark hair and blue eyes, well not odd just rare most people she had seen with dark hair had dark eyes as well. Ether way least he seemed to calm down now and so she lead him up to her apartment and opened the door, "you want something like tea? Or you want something stronger? I got some whiskey, even got some honey mead if you want, if your just up for soft drinks I got some of those too" she asked as she walked into her apartment.

The place was a well decorated loft style apartment, some simple shape art on the walls, some bands, even a poster for a Dojo, and in one corner was her little work out area, treadmill, free weights, resistance training bands, a weight bag, and a set of stairs going up to a second floor that was obviously her bedroom, no real separating wall but some standing privacy screens were set up along the side of the upper floor, though there were a few rooms on the floor they were on more then likely a bathroom and from what could be told and seen from the open door of the other a laundry room.

"So hows work handeling you?" she asked as she walked into the laundry room and put the package down, and opening it to take out the clothing, already planning to give them a wash when she got them, just to get rid of any lint or things though she knew they would be good as is she still wanted to give them a quick wash. so she tossed them all in after checking each one before walking to the kitchen section of the main floor of her apartment top join him an get herself a rootbeer.

“Much as I’d like a n-nice stiff drink right about now… I’m still on the clock and operating a vehicle,” a shy laugh escaped Shouhei’s lips while he scratched the back of his head.  If only he could have a few drinks to loosen himself up around Isabelle.  If anything he was still on edge by her overwhelming size and beauty.  “I’ll take a soda, p-please.”

While she dropped off the package he gazed at a slightly personal view into Isabelle’s life.  Figures she had all sorts of training equipment at the ready; obviously she took care of herself.   Shouhei briefly wondered if she got too much unwarranted attention and stares if she went to the public gym.  There were a couple bands he recognized but was unfamiliar with the others.  The art was one of the last things he understood but given Isabelle’s… unique choice of clothing he wasn’t even going to bother.

“How’s work?  Aside from today…?” Snorted Shouhei in an effort to hold back outright laughing at the absurdity of his current situation.  Was that supposed to be a joke from Isabelle?  Meeting people like you?    A genuine smile did turn his lips however.

“Nothing really compares to today, if I'm being honest.”

As she reached into the fridge for a second rootbeer she smiled a bit "Well glad to see your responsible. Oh my names Isabelle by they way, though I would assume you knew already from reading the address information on the delivery" she said as she walked back over to him and handed him the rootbeer "Though I don't know your name yet" she said with a smile "Unless I'm supposed to guess it?" she added playfuly as she walked back to the table and took a seat and looked back at him.

"If they ask what took so long just say you were doing some customer relations they should understand...and glad to hear work seemed to be doing well for you, hope it pays well" she said as she took a sip of her drink, the guy was handsome though he was obviously nervous around her, you would need to be blind and ignorant to not notice it, she assumed it was due to her height, a lot of people had a issue with her height...ether gawking or out right saying she was far to tall, honestly she didn't mind, if she did she wouldn't dress like she did.

Loud and happy clothing was always something she loved to wear and even now was no different, bright blues and reds on her outfit, a crop top with some knee length trunks with gold trim on both workout clothing really, she just didn't like boring colors, the guy seemed to be a lot more subdued in his choice of clothing though, something she had noticed.

“Thank you,” sparing no time Shouhei opened and downed several slow, long gulps of his root beer.  The tactic to stall for a proper response had no bearing whatsoever and instead made him want to belch.  Beads of sweat began to dot his forehead and he could feel the room grow increasingly hot.  This was starting to turn into one of those ero-scenes, the kind where sexual intimacy escalated at a moment’s notice.  

Or maybe it was all in his head.

Disguising a silent belch underneath a false cough he continued with shaky words, “Ah, sorry, the name’s S-Shouhei.  Thanks for… understanding my current situation.  M-most customers I’ve seen would’ve flipped out, haha.”

she nodded to his thanks and smiled as she took another sip of her own drink as she sat there looking at him, Well nerves seemed to be the guys issue that was clearer and clearer, it was kinda cute, but she only smiled at him as he started to talk about how most customers would have acted in that situation, honestly she was glad she was different then most, though more customers would make things easier on people like him. Never get the person that delivers things to you angry whether it's food, clothing, mail, those were all important things that you needed to get done properly.

"Well I just try to make sure I don't be rude to people unless they are rude to me for no reason, as for understanding the situation, to be honest that cat and the dog tend to cause a lot of issues, least that's what I hear anyway, really this is the first time it's affect me, and nice to meet you Shouhei, and honestly no thanks needed, in the end everyone should be treated with some understanding" she said as she then took another sip of her drink.

"So when did you start work? I haven't seen you delivering my things before, just started I guess?" she asked as she looked him over one more time before her eyes went back to his "You a general delivery? or you work specifically for the tailors?" she asked as well might as well make some small talk after all right?

Isabelle’s words and brilliant blue eyes tempered the conversation; her sincerity and empathy were leagues beyond most customers.  A broad smile lit Shouhei’s features in response- that same kindness greatly reminded him of his childhood friend, Mariko.  Nostalgic emotions swelled up briefly within.

“Ah- yeah, I just started this gig not too long ago.” And trust me, I would’ve remembered delivering to someone like you,  he added mentally.  “We’re just middlemen, we don’t work directly for the tailors either.”

There was a slight pause as Shouhei sipped on his own root beer.  There wasn’t nearly as much trepidation as before, but the intimidating combination of Isabelle’s mere presence and attractiveness were still delivering a one-two punch to his nerves.

“And umm… What about you?  Are you like… some sort of model?” Or assassin, what with a name like Isabelle Salinov II?  Shouhei half expected her to be some sort of James Bond villain on the sly.  Her stature and looks were definitely perfect for that role.

Finishing off her rootbeer she stood up and stretched a moment reaching up with both hands and slowly bringing them behind her as she stretched her back out, finally letting out a relaxed sigh from the stretch before putting the bottle in a recycling bin and started to make herself a protein shake, sugar was good for a quick pick me up and talking, but a protein shake would help her body mend her muscles from the exercise and she liked them.....that and Astarte was getting pushy for something for her to enjoy and this would quell her for a while, better then the other option at the moment.

"Ah okay that would explain why I haven't seen you around I don't tend to order much from other places, the Tailor is just more handy for me to get an order from when I get alterations made....most clothing doesn't fit a girl my size" she said as she looked over her shoulder at him as she put everything into the mixing cup and started to shake it, His question was one she really didn't know how to answer...properly, considering what her work was.....she COULD kinda mention it in another way though.

"Well I guess model works...more of a Ring girl really, considered working as a bouncer before but didn't like that Idea so got the job I have now" she said not elaborating past Ring girl "Have to keep in shape for it too don't want to lose out to any of the others eh?" she said as she continued to shake the mixing cup with one hand and flexed to show the muscle in her other arm hidden under her soft skin she build for strength not for show so it tended to stay hidden rather well. "Also helps with keeping creeps off me if they decide to get handsy when I don't want them to be" she added as she stopped flexing.

Shouhei was in mid-drink of his root beer when he saw Isabelle flex and nearly spat out his drink when he saw her muscles actually in action.  Here she was, the very definition of a perfect body- her statuesque features carved and modeled after goddesses themselves- and then sweat started to bead his brow again.  

His mind raced with stunning visuals of Isabelle.  Her in that revealing ring girl attire.  Her beating up swaths of shitty punks in that same getup, all of them reaching desperately to even lay a hand on her.  Then was the image of her putting Shouhei’s head in a leglock.  That last scene was a bit too much for him as the room now felt like it was an inferno, and he reflexively held a finger up to his nose to prevent blood from trickling.  

Luckily there was no nose bleed.

“...Whoa, I’m not totally surprised you’d be a bouncer.  But a ring girl?  Where at!?” There was a tone of eager inquisitiveness to his voice.  The inner delinquent inside him loved watching a good fight- and if Isabelle worked there that would make the sights a million times better.

As she finished making the protein shake she opened the top and took a sip as Shouhei as he asked her where she worked as a ring girl, well she wasn't about to just TELL him, she wasn't even sure if the guy could be trusted with THAT kind of info given what kinda place she worked at. "Of just a local place, invite only...and annoyingly as a ring girl I don't get to invite people" it was a lie of course, she could invite people, but she wasn't sure about the guy, she did act like she was annoyed that she couldn't invite people though.

She also quickly changed subjects as well, "So I noticed the Bike behind you when I opened the door...you ride obviously....seemed a nice bike.....Got any interesting hobbies?" she asked as she took another sip of the protein shake and walked back to the table to have a seat as she just remembered what he said "Oh...I'm not keeping you from your work am I?" she asked as she remembered he had said he was on the clock.

The bright eyed enthusiasm of Shouhei dissipated immediately the moment Isabelle said “invite only.”  Granted it wasn’t her fault, but he’d be damned if he said he hated seeing sights like those.  Maybe he’d have to ask around about it at his other jobs.  Maybe, just maybe he could take that on as another lucrative side hustle…

“I wouldn’t call them hobbies, more like what I’m doing right now, but…” for some reason this was reminding Shouhei of his job at the host club.  But this time, he was actually interested in Isabelle and not being paid to do it. Not to mention her last comment almost sounded like she was trying to brush him off!  This was a personal challenge.  He fought and clawed his way past his nervousness in an effort to speak to her properly.  

“I’m at the Seven Star Academy right now on a music scholarship.  I uhh… like to sing.  Also umm, I’m working part time at a…” he took a slow and deep breath, hoping she wouldn’t be too offended by it, “Host club.  And… it’s not too often, but I’m called to serve drinks.”