Emmeline Fox | M E D I U M (spiritphotog) wrote in thisdarknight, @ 2016-07-21 14:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !locale: french quarter, adam fenn, emmeline rothschild, regina hawthorne |
you're so cute
Who: Adam Fenn, Regina Hawthorne, & Emmeline Rothschild.
What: Regina delivers her package back to its origins and accidentally hands it off to the worst possible person.
Where: The Bourbon Orleans.
When: Immediately following Adam and Regina's magical mystery tour.
Warnings: None.
Progress: GDoc, complete.
Thanks to Bastion's upbeat mood and a gaggle of exceptionally interested tourists, the tour had taken longer than was typical. This did little to improve Regina's already testy temperament. Adam found neither circumstance at all dampened his mood. Instead he felt lighter than when last he had left the Bourbon Orleans; happier, and almost -- almost, but not quite -- normal. There was still enough time to call his sisters, at least one of whom was bound to be up at this late hour. He took the steps up to the door two at a time, assuming Regina would be close on his heels.
She was, in fact; her booted steps were just as excitedly following his, seemingly glad to soon be free of her burden. The tour had been, in her mind, uneventful, and though it had had its moments of entertainment, she was too high strung to be anything but nearing on churlish as she'd felt compelled to keep a swivel head about at all times. But now they were near the ending of their strange little evening, and she'd be free to run back to her apartment to get the things she needed.
"I don't know if Savoy gave you my number, but it might be faster than having to go through him or a ghoul if you need me," she started, pulling her cell out of her back jeans pocket. A few taps lit up the screen. "And I don't have yours, so if you can just --"
"Adam!" An excited, pleasant voice interrupted her question; a petite brunette who looked like Regina could snap her over one knee was waving from across the lobby. Regina shot Adam a curious look.
"Friend of yours?"
He hesitated a moment. That word did not fit, but no other he could think of suited any better. So he settled on "Kinda," and shrugged. He waved to Emmeline, his teeth worrying at his lower lip. Turning back to Regina, he rattled off his mobile number in hushed and hurried tones. "Send me a text or something and I'll add you," he said. "I'll give you a call when I'm headed out again." He tried a small smile, boyish and uncertain. "Listen, next time you can drag me somewhere, okay? Thanks for going along with me tonight, though. I really wanted to check in on him, is all."
Regina waved a hand to brush away his words, typing the numbers into her device. A moment later she sent off a text that had Adam's phone buzzing in his pocket. As her gaze dragged up from the phone and returned to flicking between him and the woman now approaching them, her mouth turned down in an unfamiliarly worried expression as she clearly detected his discomfort.
"You're good, right? I've got something I wanted to do, but I don't have to--"
"I feel like you've been hiding from me," the woman purred as she reached their small circle, interrupting Regina's offer. She wasted no time in closing the distance between herself and the neonate, putting a hand on his arm in a very familiar gesture. The brunette glanced at Regina with a raised brow, then pointedly ignored her with another question toward Adam. "You can't have been that bored from the last time we talked."
"And I'm gonna go. See you later," Regina replied, not wanting to insert herself into the evolving situation more than she absolutely had to. Offering Adam a salute, she said nothing to Emmeline as she took one step backward and then promptly disappeared into the lobby crowd.
Emmeline never glanced away, her hand leaving an almost burning mark on his arm. "Making new friends?"
"Trying to," Adam said. "She's a tough nut to crack." His smile was as genuine as his discomfort; it was an odd mix of emotions, but one easily chalked up to heightened security and the lingering threat of an attacker in their midst. He shook it off and looked to Emmeline. "But I'm definitely not hiding from you. Just still trying to get acquainted with the city, you know? And getting a bit better at, ah, not needing room service." He gave a small, self-effacing laugh. "What have you been up to?"
"Mm, not much," she replied vaguely, curling her arm around his and directing him away from the masses surrounding them. She turned their path down a hallway, walking slowly; they were never completely alone, as both kine and Kindred passed them by. "Did you find anything interesting in your exploration?"
He shrugged. "Not really. It was just good to get out." He glanced at the faces they passed, recognizing some, unfamiliar with most. The Bourbon Orleans was a way station as much as a residence; the masses came and went, and for the first time Adam wondered how hard his Sire worked to know them and keep them safe. "Did you know him? The Kindred who died?"
"Hm? Oh, passingly. I never had much to do with the vodouisants. They're..." Emmeline's nose wrinkled delicately as she pulled him into another hallway, eventually passing into an empty conference room. "Unpleasant. I can't imagine why they live the way they do, but." She shrugged, leaving the comment unfinished. "We don't need to talk about them. It's nothing you need to worry about, really." She turned on one heel in front of him, smoothing her hands over the pink shirt he was wearing. "Did you pick this out yourself? It's quite a good color on you."
Adam laughed, blushing softly. "Uh, thanks. My sisters bought it for me. Regina thought it was pretty funny, but I like it." Uncertain where the conversation was going, or what the origin of her decidedly handsy approach might be, he shifted his weight and desperately sought a more comfortable -- or at least more pressing -- topic to latch onto. "Dubois, though… you really aren't concerned? At all?"
Emmeline's mouth made a small frown at the other woman's name, but she didn't encourage the line of thought. "No. Violence is part of our nature, and though they like to claim that things like this don't happen here often, they do. Everyone has to keep a pretty face. Or do you know something that the rest of us don't? Mayhap Antoine mentioned something?" She pressed Adam backward, until he ran up against a wall. Her hands moved from pressing his chest to his shoulders.
A furrow creased his brow. Confusion flickered, a shadow in his bright blue eyes. It nearly disappeared behind a sudden guard that slid up, out of place on his open face. "You know, I'm glad you bring that up. I know he didn't send you to my room, Em. You helped me that night, and I appreciate that, but… why'd you lie about it?"
Her hands on his body froze, her chin tilting back a hair to reveal her dislike of being caught in her fabrication.
"He has you under lock and key, Adam," she replied carefully. "Do you really think he'd have let me that close?" She let her arms loop the rest of the way around his neck, pressing her chest to his. "I do like a challenge, though. And you had a good time, didn't you?"
"I did…" He frowned down at her, but made no move to pull away. "I know he's protective, but I'm not exactly under house arrest, and if he's letting you stay here you can't be that off limits. So just don't lie, okay? I get the feeling I'm going to hear enough of that from plenty of other folks. It'd be nice to have a few people who aren't bullshitting me."
Emmeline's head canted, her lips puffing out in a slight pout.
"I'm sorry," she said, sounding at least halfway sincere. "I won't lie again. You were just too cute to pass up." Her hands wandered from his nape to thread fingers into his short-cropped hair. "I hope he didn't fill your head with nasty things about me, because I think I'd like to put those there myself."
Adam chuckled, his gaze darting away from hers as soft color rose to his cheeks. Even now he did not completely believe her, and his uncertainty showed on his face. "By all means," he said. He managed to look back to her, though his apparent embarrassment had not subsided. "That sounds like a way more entertaining option. You, uh, have something in particular in mind?"
The sight of his face reddening made the smile on her face grow.
"I have a few thoughts." She pulled back, her hands flowing down his neck and shoulders to his chest. Then she was sinking to the floor, fingertips edging around the lip of his pants to his fly. A quick move of her wrist unzippered him. He had no counterpoint to that, no argument, no suggestions. In short order he had little to say at all.