Keira Adams (keiraadams) wrote in shadowlands_ic, @ 2017-08-13 19:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | cassius corbet, keira adams |
Who: Keira and Cassius
What: Keira pickpockets the wrong man
When: August 13, 1888
Where: The streets of London
Warning: Pg-13 for fighting?
Keira was strolling the streets today, the smile upon her lips seemed to be glued there. She’d crossed a threshold with Gabriel, going from just being flirty friends to friends with a side of benefits. Of course, they’d only just kissed, but she knew small steps were good. To fall into bed with him, or any man at all, she needed to make sure she was ready. There had been no other man since Jameson, her late husband, and because of what he had done to her she was worried that she might not react in the way she wished.
Small steps, indeed. Soon, though, she hoped for a much bigger step.
Gabriel had been sending her flowers, which also accounted for the smile. She’d borrowed a book from the library and had looked up the meaning, giggling like a schoolgirl to realize that the meaning of the flowers this time had meant ‘a friend with passionate feelings’. She, too, shared those feelings and the giddiness was overwhelming; she couldn’t wait for the next time she were to see Gabriel.
Unfortunately, this evening was not with him and instead she was out in the streets and looking for marks. She’d come across one mark that seemed sure of himself, cocky and she thought he was the perfect one and so began to follow him.
When he turned to go in her direction is when she made her move. She bumped full against him, making it seem as his sudden turn had caused her crash into him. “Oh, I’m so sorry, please forgive me,” she said in her timid, innocent voice while hands had snuck away with a money clip and a pocket watch, in which were stored into the secret pockets of her dress by the time she had stepped back and smoothed out her dress. “I do apologize sir,” she gave a curtsy, her eyes meeting his for only a second before she stepped around him and continued on down the street away from him, a small, victorious smile set upon her lips.
Cassius might, under certain circumstances, be called charitable, but he was rarely stupid. It had been a plausible enough ploy, but the young woman had made the mistake of drawing attention to herself--and the mistake of moving at human speed to evade a vampire. Her hands might have been quick, but then even at a stroll it was difficult to lose someone with that flaming hair on the street.
He let her go for a few blocks, to the mouth of an alley where they wouldn't draw too much attention, and then he returned the favor she'd paid him earlier. "Pardon, so clumsy of me," Cassius apologized smoothly as he stepped into the woman's path, without a drop of sincerity in his polite tone. Before his quarry could bolt, he caught one of her hands in his and bowed over it, supernatural strength bringing her hand to the air beneath his lips in mimicry of a gentleman's kiss. His signet ring was secure beneath his glove, safe from nimble fingers, though it was late enough in the evening that the sun couldn't harm him. "Twice in one night. You must let me offer you some recompense for the inconvenience."
Eyes on the woman's, Cassius tucked his walking stick beneath his arm, and reached with his free hand for the money clip that they both knew was no longer there.
Keira gasped as the man she’d just previously lifted a money clip and pocket watch from just appeared in front of her. She took a step back, but before she could get far enough away, he was grabbing her wrist.
“Unhand me, sir,” She narrowed her eyes. “This instant!” And though she sounded bold, she was fearful; this man was no ordinary man. With her other hand, she brought up her closed parasol and proceeded to bring it to poke in his chest as she twisted her arm to be released.
"My dear young lady," Cassius replied, now sounding bored, with an undercurrent of brewing annoyance, "I wouldn't dream of detaining you. You'll forgive me if I ask that you return my belongings, however, before we go our separate ways."
A parasol was not exactly a stake, nor did Cassius expect that this young woman would have the strength or temerity to drive it through his breastbone, but that didn't mean he liked any better its presence prodding at his chest.
He still had one hand free. In a moment, that hand had snapped closed around the tip of the parasol.
"If you'd like to make your complaint to the police," Cassius continued, "I'm certain we could find a constable who would listen to both sides of the case. Shall we go and look for one together?"
Being bullied by a man was not something Keira enjoyed. She’d vowed to never let it happen again since her late husband. “I’m certain that the constable would be happy to hear of some strange man leaving bruises on a sweet, and innocent woman that he’d care less what you would have to say,” she ground out. “And what, with a murder on their plates, I’m sure they would like you for a suspect.”
Then, without giving any indication that she would do so, she surged forward with all her strength (which wasn’t much, mind you, but she was a little stronger than a mere human) and pushed the man, hopefully caught unawares, straight into the brick wall and pulled herself free of him and backed away with her parasol between them to use as her weapon.
Cassius was caught off-guard, mouth still open in shock at the audacity of the claim when he was assaulted by the flame-haired pickpocket. Baring his teeth, Cassius felt himself slip closer to losing the tight rein he normally held on his anger.
She smelled of the ocean, beneath the scents of baked bread and flowers, enough that he didn't worry over showing her his fangs. "Little fish," he said deliberately, a final warning. "You may want to reconsider."
Catching sight of the man’s teeth - no FANGS - Keira took a quick gasp in but held her ground. He was a vampire. Out of all the unlucky men she could pickpocket, she’d chosen a vampire. She stared at him, eyes narrowed and she wished she were near the ocean. She would be able to get away from him if she could make it to the water, but there was no doing that here.
“Perfect,” she said. “You would fit right to be the murderer,” she said. If she gave him his things back now, she was sure he’d kill her anyway. At least she was able to kiss Gabriel, but their affair would most likely end there. It was a horrible thought. “Just stay there,” she said, proud of herself that her voice wasn’t trembling...yet. How was she going to get out of this.
It took an effort for Cassius not to grind his teeth. He was meticulous about his reputation, ensuring that no shadow or breath of wrongdoing could stain him, and here was this guttersnipe accusing him of murder, of all things. Murder of a prostitute, at that. As if Cassius needed to seek out companionship in the streets.
"I have no interest in wasting my evening by turning you over to the authorities," Cassius informed the pickpocket. "However, my opinion on that point wavers further the longer I am kept waiting. My belongings, if you please."
She still had a stake pointed at his heart, and now she knew he was a vampire. It was a precautionary measure, drawing the walking stick from beneath his arm, dipping beneath her guard, and binding her parasol down and to the side.
It also gave him some small amount of vindictive pleasure to be able to do so, which helped to lighten his fouling mood.
Keira gave a sly smile as she kept her eyes trained on him. She thought she might be getting to him, but it was difficult to know for sure as he was very controlled with his emotions. But, there was something in the eyes she thought.
She actually gave a laugh when he spoke. Waste his time with the authorities, well of course not because she would point him out as the killer. Her eyes roamed over him a moment and she had to admit that he was fairly good looking. It was in that moment that he caught her off guard and pinned her arm and parasol to her side. Looking actually gleeful, she spun in a circle away from the arm that was pinned down and was able to bring her parasol back up and pointed right at him. “I think,” she tried to fight the smirk that pulled at her lips. “That...you’ll just have to come and get it.”
Cassius bared his teeth again, but this time it was in a sharp-toothed smile. "Young woman," he crooned, advancing a half-step into fencing posture, his walking stick held en garde to match hers. "Do you know who I am?"
He doubted it, and wasn't surprised by that fact, but pickpocketing and assaulting a Member of Parliament was nearly as great a miscalculation as targeting a vampire.
He was faster than she was, and knew it; intending to scare her rather than hurt her, Cassius lunged forward and inside, cracking the walking stick against her parasol to force it wide and open her guard. There was no follow-through behind the movement; it was a feint only, meant to warn her off playing games with someone who fenced for pleasure, and had done so for quite some time.
“No, dear sir, am I supposed to?” she gave him a bored look. “But I’m sure you’ll tell me all about yourself,” she said. She waited, the smirk quite present upon lips and mischief in her eyes. When he lunged and struck at her parasol, she immediately took steps back. “Oh! You know how to fence?” She rose an eyebrow. “You’ll have me at a disadvantage, but I could use the practice,” she bit her bottom lip to keep from grinning. She didn’t know why, but she was having way too much fun with this. This time, she lunged forward and struck his cane. “So go on,” she said. “Tell me who you are.”
A pickpocket who preyed on wealthy gentlemen likely wouldn’t know the names of those in the House of Shadows; Cassius didn’t bother to give her the satisfaction of crowing that she didn’t know.
“Someone who fences,” he replied instead, then clarified: “Well. Must we continue this?” He could continue driving her back, of course, but she could just keep retreating, and a gentleman dueling in the street with a lower-class woman would attract attention, and possibly mention in the papers.
“Why don’t you return my possessions,” he suggested silkily, “and we can go about our business.”
Mesmerism was a delicate business, and not one that Cassius ever employed lightly. He shouldn’t need to use it here, but if the woman proved especially stubborn, planting a simple idea and reinforcing it through repetition would lay the groundwork for such work. Should he need to mesmerize her after all, the idea of returning his belongings should seem so familiar that she believed for that moment it was her own.
Keira gave a sigh, bored that he wouldn’t answer the question of who he was. “You asked if I knew who you were, so apparently you are someone...of importance,” she raised an eyebrow. “Or are you just important in your own mind?” She grinned. “Yes, we must continue this if you want your things back,” she said, not even lying about having them now. “I’m enjoying myself, but if you are bored, you can always turn and walk away,” she grinned again. She couldn’t help herself and knew that she could easily get in trouble for what was happening here.
“Come on,” she said in an almost ‘play with me’ voice. “You can’t deny that this is fun, at least a little bit,” she chuckled. In a quick move, she was able to get in the inside and tapped her parasol on his chest. “You're a big, bad, vampire,” she then said silkily. “Play, and you’ll get your items back...maybe.”
Cassius stiffened as the point of the parasol returned to cover his heart. The time for dallying had clearly gone--she knew what he was, and the implied threat to his person could not be ignored. It would be folly at this point to assume she would not go through with it and leave him paralyzed in an alley.
Any move he made now, to catch the parasol or to bind it away from him, might cause her to drive the stake through his heart. His inclination was to ask for her name, but he could hardly believe she'd give him her real one, knowing he'd go to the Night Watch with it. Trying to mesmerize her with a false name would be counterproductive.
Cassius found he could not concentrate well, with the parasol there. He took a step backward, raising his walking stick to low guard, and met the pickpocket's eyes.
Humans and other mortal beings had a natural length of time when they were comfortable with eye contact. Lovers would outlast it; others might, but often only to make a point. Vampires had another reason to wait. There was a moment, when mortals began to feel uncomfortable and wish to look away, that their eyes would flicker. In that moment of hesitation, when they didn't look away quickly enough, Cassius had them.
This pickpocket was brazen and impudent, and wouldn't back down from a challenge. Cassius held her eyes and waited.
"Are we playing, now?" he murmured. "You have a strange definition of fun, Miss…”
It took a moment for Keira to realize where her parasol was poking at. She took an inward breath as her sparring partner took a step back. “I wouldn’t have…” she frowned and shook her head, dropping her parasol to her side.
“Mrs.,” she replied. “Mrs. Adams.” She watched the man and waited to see if an attack would come. He was a vampire, if he wanted his belongings then doing so would be easy enough she was sure. “Since you weren’t trying to kill me, or bite me, I thought a game was in hand,” she said. “You made my day more exciting, in any way,” she smiled. He was staring at her, holding her eyes and it was starting to make her slightly uncomfortable and feeling the need to look away.
Cassius just barely fought the urge to pinch his nose against a rising headache. "Mrs Adams," he began, and then his manner changed very slightly, eyebrows rising in what might qualify as invitation. "Would you like me to bite you?"
It wasn't a threat; there was a hint of a purr beneath the question. Being bitten by a vampire was an enjoyable experience for other species; it wasn't out of the question that the woman's actions had, in her own way, been flirtation. And while he would not have said he was precisely in the mood, that could certainly change. The woman was lovely, with fair features and pleasant curves, not to mention striking hair.
He was glad he hadn't yet crossed into mesmerism, so that she could answer honestly. There was time yet to change the tone of the encounter, but not with her will compromised.
“What?” Keira’s eyes went wide. “No….no thank you.” She had to admit to herself that she wondered what it was like to be bitten by a vampire, but this was not the time to be letting things like that happen. She was just barely starting to come out of her corner, to put herself out there and do things she hadn’t been sure she’d ever do. She had finally crossed a line with Gabriel and this, she was sure, would set her back. “I think I can live without having that happen,” she then said and started to look away.
"Mrs Adams," Cassius murmured, swooping in just before she could break eye contact. He pressed his will on her gently, convincing and persuading rather than applying blunt force. "I would like my belongings, please, before you go."
What happened next was something Keira would not be able to explain correctly. She was staring into the gentleman’s eyes and found she couldn’t look away. Then there was this feeling of accepting, and where she had not wanted to give him his possessions she was now wanting to do so and very badly. Her hands moved and slid into the pockets of her dress, pulling out his money clip and pocket watch and handed it out to him.
"Thank you." There was a pause, during which Cassius considered whether he should ask her turn over anything else she had stolen tonight, but he'd already decided that he wouldn't be going to the Night Watch. The consequences for a young woman caught stealing were more severe than perhaps the crime warranted. "I hope we don't meet like this again, Mrs Adams. Good evening."
He released her from his influence and gave her a brief nod before turning to go. He kept his wits about him--if she charged him with the parasol, he would be ready to turn and intercept her. He hoped, however, that she would merely emerge from the light trance he'd put her under, shake off the encounter and go about her business.
Picking the pocket of some other unfortunate.
“Good evening, sir,” Keira said, even giving a polite curtsey as her mind seemed clouded in the moment. Something seemed to click in her mind, the man having turned to walk away. Not sure what had happened, she let him go and put a hand out to lean against a nearby wall. She shook her head and felt confused as the cloud in her mind seemed to go away and she had to ask herself what had happened. Then, in the next instant, she was thanking her lucky stars that whatever had happened hadn’t ended up with her hurt, or worse. Knowing she could stay where she was for too long, who knew what other men might find her alone, she decided to turn in the direction of home - she was done for the day.