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tampered2007-07-30 05:20 am
35yearsyoung.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2007-07-30 05:20 am
Log; Complete
When; July 29th, late night
Rating; G, DISNEY G {on the surface?}
Characters; Cassian {![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
35yearsyoung} & Merryweather {soeur_malheur}
Summary; Doing a bit of garden by moonlight, rock to window wooing, Cassian manages to convince Merrweather to sneak out of the Opera House with him as part of his top secret planwhetever, he's working on it.
Log;
It was dark out, but he was used to moving in the dark.
Cassian ducked through alleys, around corners and shady recesses, sticking to the back streets and corridors. He didn’t need to be seen, not now. He didn’t usually approach the Opera House without flowers, but he did now, slinking with a practiced ease to the side of the building. Hopping the wall was no matter, a mere acrobatic feat his actual childhood had accustomed him to, and then a few short steps to the side of the structure.
Straightening the collar of his worn jacket, the short boy cast about for a small stone.
Selecting one, he took one step back, aimed, and let loose, sending the pebble to clink against the window of one Merryweather Hargreaves.
>>>
Merryweather lifted her hands from the papers on the top of her desk in order to rub her eyes. Then, she blinked a few times and squinted. After talking to Lailis about their teatime together, Cain had told her to go back to her studies, which she had dutifully done, as she hardly had a choice in the matter. For the most part, studying was interesting, but well, there were also a lot of more interesting things to do out there.
She sighed, looking at her textbook. Small print and an utter lack of pictures as well as foot- and side-notes made it really nothing a ten-year-old should read. Cain might be smart, but he wasn't all that good a teacher.
Suddenly, something made a distinct 'tock'-sound as it met the windowpane.
Merryweather started, immediately fully awake. She waited a few seconds, not daring to move, as if whatever had hit her window would come in through it at any second and devour her.
Soon enough, Merryweather declared her own behaviour silly and frowningly stood up to look what it was. She went to the window and pressed her face and hands against it, trying to see in the dark. However, she couldn't see all the way until the part of the street where it met the Opera House, and thus, she opened the window after pondering for a few seconds.
She leaned out and looked down, seeing a boy stand there.
>>>
Cassian waited patiently, fiddled with his jacket again, redoffed his hat a few times, and contemplated picking up a larger rock, but, ah… there she was.
The boy, rather, the man who appeared a boy, hastily took of his hat and bent a leg, a jaunt sort of bow, and waved with the floppy headgear, cupping one hand over his mouth to muffle the sound of his voice to anyone else near.
“Hey!” He plopped the hat back on tousled hair and leaned on the garden fence, casual and cocky with a cheeky grin. “Fancy meeting you here, Lady.”
>>>
Merryweather didn't recognize the boy at first, but that soon enough changed - or at least she had a very sure suspicion. Her brows furrowed even deeper.
She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing them as they were bare against the cold night air.
"You! Are you who I think you are? If so, get lost!"
But still, she didn't close the window. Some thrill, a hint of danger kept her there, daring her to defy the rules. Even though she was sure she did not want to get into any trouble with her brother's enemies, thank you very much.
>>>
“Ah, you caught me.” Cassian grinned, flourished the hat and bowed again, low and sweeping to the lady Hargreaves.
“Cassian, fastest courier in London, at your service, Miss.” His expression slipped when it faced the ground, turned hard and cold before the smile replaced it again when he looked back up. He was nothing if not a decent actor, and he fancied himself quite skilled, no matter how he hated it, at this act in particular.
“To get lost, well, I’m not sure if I could take that, Lady.” He sighed, a near mocking motion, and placed his hat over his heart. “I came all this way to see if Rapunzel would come down from her tower after all.”
>>>
Merryweather watched as the boy, Cassian, did his elaborate gestures, like a suitor out of old stories who tried to woo his love under the window at night. "So that's your name", she muttered and rubbed her arms again.
Supporting herself on the shelf with her outstretched arms, she leaned out wider, though making sure not to fall, and looked Cassian straight in the face. "Well, but that is what you'd better do. There is no Rapunzel here."
Cain had said he was dangerous, that he belonged to them. Of course, she believed Cain. Thus, she should really shut the window now. Instead, she spat at the ground, face a mask of disdain.
>>>
One eyebrow rose, watched her spit.
“Rather unladylike!” He called, chuckled almost and placed his hat back on his head, adjusting the worn jacket over the equally worn shirt, tucking his hands into holed pockets.
“So it’s true, then?” The boy kicked his feet, looked up with a grin. “The whole, ‘raised on the streets fortune telling thing?’ ‘Cause I don’t believe spittin’ is taught to ladies, huh?”
>>>
Again, she frowned and resisted to urge to stick out her tongue. "Of course it's true! What did you think? That I'm a liar? Someone who needs to invent stories to make herself feel important? That seems rather true for you, at least the lying part!"
What did he want with her, who was just Cain's Little Sister, anyway? Probably kidnapping or some such.
Her arms began to ache from the weight, and thus she found herself drawing her legs up to sit on the broad windowsill, knees drawn up to her chest and tucked neatly into her arms. She looked herself down to make sure no piece of clothing went astray and revealed things it shouldn't. When she had made sure everything was in order, she turned to Cassian again, contemplating him.
"You could just get eaten by the blob", she added finally.
>>>
“Hey now.” Cassian protested, crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. “If you get to think I’m a liar, I’ve every right to think it right back, ah?”
He stepped up to the wall beneath her and hopped onto a short trellis, hanging free on the building side, acrobatic, muscled from conditioning beneath his clothing.
“And, now, I can’t get eaten by something that’s already being eaten itself, that’s just undignified.”
>>>
Merry's eyes went a little wide as she watched him, evidently trying to climb the wall. Her heart might or might not have been beating just a little faster. She drew her knees closer to herself.
"And pursuing someone after being rejected several times is what you call dignified?"
>>>
He didn’t climb but a foot or so, hung there and tousled his hair as if in some sense of chagrin.
“No, now… that’s called persistence. Can’t give up on things, you know.” Cassian laughed, a rich noise, and god, did he hated it. He hated all of it, this act, this body, everything, but…
“Come on!” He looked up, held out a hand so he was only clinging with the other.
“Where’s your sense of adventure?”
>>>
Merryweather's eyebrow twitched visibly. Adventure, he said? Well, this was all quite adventurous, and it tickled her insides in a way that she was sure Cain would not at all approve of. It was also why she'd let things come as far as they did. She really should not continue unless she wanted to get herself into serious trouble.
Quickly, she turned her head to gaze inside the room, at her tesk with the book on it. A small sigh escaped her at the sight. Still.
She turned back, saying, "Adventure can lead to serious danger. I'll go back inside." And with that, she hopped from the windowsill.
>>>
“Oh, come now!” Cassian hopped a few more feet, paused to grumble curses under his breath, barely audible to the inside of her room, and hauled himself up the trellis. It was tricky going when there was three feet or so of plain stone, damn this body to hell, but he managed, rough, calloused fingers seeking purchase until he grabbed hold of the windowsill and propped his upper body onto it, legs swinging free.
“What better stuff do you have to do?” He eyed the books, he liked reading, really, but,
“Study?”
>>>
Hearing the voice so close behind her all of a sudden, Merry almost jumped. She certainly hadn't expected for him to be so fast. She stood still, eyes on her books again, thinking of the long, complicated texts.
And, of course, the boy who was The Enemy behind her. She swallowed inaudibly, then straightened purposefully and turned around, facing him.
"You", she addressed him, voice forcedly calm. "No one allowed you to clim up my windowsill."
>>>
He winked.
“Because that’s how dangerous I am, missus.” Cassian laughed again, propped his chin on his hands and hung with a practiced ease. “I climb all the girl’s windowsills at night, and then whisk them away on grand adventures in the middle of the night without stuffy brothers who tell them what to do.”
>>>
She huffed.
"Yes, I'll believe that right away." She glared at him, even though she was inwardly nervous. This was, obviously, rather not an everyday occurrence. "Oh. Of course, you'd know better what's good for me than my own brother." Her hands found themselves in fists and at her hips. She glanced to the right; the bookcase was in reach. Just in case she needed something to whack him over the head with.
In fact, there was a particularly heavy-looking volume barely out of reach which looked absolutely splendid to fulfill such purposes.
>>>
“I know it’s awful boring being inside studying when you could be sneaking out and having fun!” Cassian inwardly choked on his own words. Fun, he says, fun. Ugh.
A short heave on the sill and he hopped fully on the casement, sitting cross-legged on the frame but not entering her room, as if respecting her space.
“Isn’t it?”
>>>
Warily, Merryweather eyed Cassian. He behaved as of yet, but who knew for how long? So, 'sneaking out' was what he said. Well, he could say whatever he wanted, she would not give in. Giving in was like letting them win.
"Perhaps so. However, my brother will undoubtlety question me come the morrow. So I really should get back to those books."
>>>
Cassian whistled, leaned against the window frame and propped his shoes on the opposite frame.
“Books? Boring~” He called, deadpan and dull voiced. “Like books can compare to watching vampires eat a blob, or checking out all the fun night stuff the City has. Besides, he’s really that uptight he questions you every morning?”
>>>
Something within her flared. Over the past few weeks, Merry had been living a well-protected life in the Hargreaves household. And everyday she studied, and nearly everyday Cain questioned her - while going out or solving City riddles himself, leaving her caged up to do her studies. Merry, do this, Merry, do that. Be a good girl. Her pent-up frustrations were about to burst out of her.
Belatedly, she noticed that she was shaking very slightly. Her mouth was tight as she first tried to open it.
"... vampires. Eating the blob."
>>>
“Yup.” Cassian nodded sagely, pointing out behind him to the City skyline visible out her window. He could tell he was getting closer, just keep it up.
“They’re devouring it, cause they say it’s made of angel’s blood and gelatin, so, the only way to rescue the people trapped inside is to eat it all up.”
>>>
To say that piqued her interest was an understatement. A rather heavy one. "... wow. But, with the way it stinks, it surely must not taste very good." That was something she did really want to imagine.
And then, she remembered that she was not supposed to be talking about this. My, if Cain ever found out that Cassian had even been here, Merry would get nothing short of a tirade from hell for all her stupidity from him. And it was indeed quite stupid, if she thought about it.
The problem with that was just that knowing you're about to do something terribly stupid doesn't necessarily keep you from doing it.
>>>
Just… about…
“I think I saw one of ‘em, a lady vampire, gagging a bit, so it must taste awful.” He’d closed his eyes for a moment, but then opened them, smirked, a daring, challenging look.
“Wanna see?”
>>>
Wibble.
Wibble wibble.
Oh, how she did want to see. She was nearly about to say yes, but again remembered herself just in time. "I can't trust you." She crossed her arms in front of her chest in a defensive manner, putting her chin a little forward.
>>>
“Can too.” He shot back. Childish, his head echoed.
Cassian shifted on the sill, turned to face outwards and point in the direction of the blob, a ways away.
“In fact, if you got eaten, I’d jump right in after you, and then we could watch the vampires eat it all from right up close.” Grinning almost sheepishly, he turned back and rubbed his hat as if embarrassed.
“Not that I’d let you get eaten or nothing.”
>>>
"... Promise." Now she glared at him, fists entwined in her skirts - she didn't know how they got her, face being overall very sulky. The smart little guy was like a demon tempting maidens.
Maidens who knew exactly that the path they chose was wrong, but who were also beyond caring, as Merry now very nearly was.
>>>
Cassian softened somewhat, held out his hand, and gave a small smile.
Inwardly, he sighed. But, that was what inwardly was for. It idly crossed his mind that, if he’d grown properly, if he’d been made properly, he might’ve had a daughter about her age by now.
Thought not conducive to the act were dismissed.
“On my life.”
>>>
Somehow, that smile made a big impression on Merryweather. It seemed genuine enough, she thought. And on his life? That was quite something to say, wasn't it?
"If I get eaten, you have to jump after me", she concluded, face still pouting, putting her hand in the one he held out toward her with a quick movement, then quickly giving him a small smile of her own back.
>>>
Hook. Line. Sinker.
“I would jump right in, and swim though the entire blob to get to you.” He promised, serious, with a widening grin. He tugged a bit on her hand towards the window sill, reaching under his jacket for a thin rope coiled in a pocket there, letting a bit of a laugh escape him.
“Let’s go!”
Rating; G, DISNEY G {on the surface?}
Characters; Cassian {
35yearsyoung} & Merryweather {soeur_malheur}Summary; Doing a bit of garden by moonlight, rock to window wooing, Cassian manages to convince Merrweather to sneak out of the Opera House with him as part of his top secret plan
Log;
It was dark out, but he was used to moving in the dark.
Cassian ducked through alleys, around corners and shady recesses, sticking to the back streets and corridors. He didn’t need to be seen, not now. He didn’t usually approach the Opera House without flowers, but he did now, slinking with a practiced ease to the side of the building. Hopping the wall was no matter, a mere acrobatic feat his actual childhood had accustomed him to, and then a few short steps to the side of the structure.
Straightening the collar of his worn jacket, the short boy cast about for a small stone.
Selecting one, he took one step back, aimed, and let loose, sending the pebble to clink against the window of one Merryweather Hargreaves.
>>>
Merryweather lifted her hands from the papers on the top of her desk in order to rub her eyes. Then, she blinked a few times and squinted. After talking to Lailis about their teatime together, Cain had told her to go back to her studies, which she had dutifully done, as she hardly had a choice in the matter. For the most part, studying was interesting, but well, there were also a lot of more interesting things to do out there.
She sighed, looking at her textbook. Small print and an utter lack of pictures as well as foot- and side-notes made it really nothing a ten-year-old should read. Cain might be smart, but he wasn't all that good a teacher.
Suddenly, something made a distinct 'tock'-sound as it met the windowpane.
Merryweather started, immediately fully awake. She waited a few seconds, not daring to move, as if whatever had hit her window would come in through it at any second and devour her.
Soon enough, Merryweather declared her own behaviour silly and frowningly stood up to look what it was. She went to the window and pressed her face and hands against it, trying to see in the dark. However, she couldn't see all the way until the part of the street where it met the Opera House, and thus, she opened the window after pondering for a few seconds.
She leaned out and looked down, seeing a boy stand there.
>>>
Cassian waited patiently, fiddled with his jacket again, redoffed his hat a few times, and contemplated picking up a larger rock, but, ah… there she was.
The boy, rather, the man who appeared a boy, hastily took of his hat and bent a leg, a jaunt sort of bow, and waved with the floppy headgear, cupping one hand over his mouth to muffle the sound of his voice to anyone else near.
“Hey!” He plopped the hat back on tousled hair and leaned on the garden fence, casual and cocky with a cheeky grin. “Fancy meeting you here, Lady.”
>>>
Merryweather didn't recognize the boy at first, but that soon enough changed - or at least she had a very sure suspicion. Her brows furrowed even deeper.
She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing them as they were bare against the cold night air.
"You! Are you who I think you are? If so, get lost!"
But still, she didn't close the window. Some thrill, a hint of danger kept her there, daring her to defy the rules. Even though she was sure she did not want to get into any trouble with her brother's enemies, thank you very much.
>>>
“Ah, you caught me.” Cassian grinned, flourished the hat and bowed again, low and sweeping to the lady Hargreaves.
“Cassian, fastest courier in London, at your service, Miss.” His expression slipped when it faced the ground, turned hard and cold before the smile replaced it again when he looked back up. He was nothing if not a decent actor, and he fancied himself quite skilled, no matter how he hated it, at this act in particular.
“To get lost, well, I’m not sure if I could take that, Lady.” He sighed, a near mocking motion, and placed his hat over his heart. “I came all this way to see if Rapunzel would come down from her tower after all.”
>>>
Merryweather watched as the boy, Cassian, did his elaborate gestures, like a suitor out of old stories who tried to woo his love under the window at night. "So that's your name", she muttered and rubbed her arms again.
Supporting herself on the shelf with her outstretched arms, she leaned out wider, though making sure not to fall, and looked Cassian straight in the face. "Well, but that is what you'd better do. There is no Rapunzel here."
Cain had said he was dangerous, that he belonged to them. Of course, she believed Cain. Thus, she should really shut the window now. Instead, she spat at the ground, face a mask of disdain.
>>>
One eyebrow rose, watched her spit.
“Rather unladylike!” He called, chuckled almost and placed his hat back on his head, adjusting the worn jacket over the equally worn shirt, tucking his hands into holed pockets.
“So it’s true, then?” The boy kicked his feet, looked up with a grin. “The whole, ‘raised on the streets fortune telling thing?’ ‘Cause I don’t believe spittin’ is taught to ladies, huh?”
>>>
Again, she frowned and resisted to urge to stick out her tongue. "Of course it's true! What did you think? That I'm a liar? Someone who needs to invent stories to make herself feel important? That seems rather true for you, at least the lying part!"
What did he want with her, who was just Cain's Little Sister, anyway? Probably kidnapping or some such.
Her arms began to ache from the weight, and thus she found herself drawing her legs up to sit on the broad windowsill, knees drawn up to her chest and tucked neatly into her arms. She looked herself down to make sure no piece of clothing went astray and revealed things it shouldn't. When she had made sure everything was in order, she turned to Cassian again, contemplating him.
"You could just get eaten by the blob", she added finally.
>>>
“Hey now.” Cassian protested, crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. “If you get to think I’m a liar, I’ve every right to think it right back, ah?”
He stepped up to the wall beneath her and hopped onto a short trellis, hanging free on the building side, acrobatic, muscled from conditioning beneath his clothing.
“And, now, I can’t get eaten by something that’s already being eaten itself, that’s just undignified.”
>>>
Merry's eyes went a little wide as she watched him, evidently trying to climb the wall. Her heart might or might not have been beating just a little faster. She drew her knees closer to herself.
"And pursuing someone after being rejected several times is what you call dignified?"
>>>
He didn’t climb but a foot or so, hung there and tousled his hair as if in some sense of chagrin.
“No, now… that’s called persistence. Can’t give up on things, you know.” Cassian laughed, a rich noise, and god, did he hated it. He hated all of it, this act, this body, everything, but…
“Come on!” He looked up, held out a hand so he was only clinging with the other.
“Where’s your sense of adventure?”
>>>
Merryweather's eyebrow twitched visibly. Adventure, he said? Well, this was all quite adventurous, and it tickled her insides in a way that she was sure Cain would not at all approve of. It was also why she'd let things come as far as they did. She really should not continue unless she wanted to get herself into serious trouble.
Quickly, she turned her head to gaze inside the room, at her tesk with the book on it. A small sigh escaped her at the sight. Still.
She turned back, saying, "Adventure can lead to serious danger. I'll go back inside." And with that, she hopped from the windowsill.
>>>
“Oh, come now!” Cassian hopped a few more feet, paused to grumble curses under his breath, barely audible to the inside of her room, and hauled himself up the trellis. It was tricky going when there was three feet or so of plain stone, damn this body to hell, but he managed, rough, calloused fingers seeking purchase until he grabbed hold of the windowsill and propped his upper body onto it, legs swinging free.
“What better stuff do you have to do?” He eyed the books, he liked reading, really, but,
“Study?”
>>>
Hearing the voice so close behind her all of a sudden, Merry almost jumped. She certainly hadn't expected for him to be so fast. She stood still, eyes on her books again, thinking of the long, complicated texts.
And, of course, the boy who was The Enemy behind her. She swallowed inaudibly, then straightened purposefully and turned around, facing him.
"You", she addressed him, voice forcedly calm. "No one allowed you to clim up my windowsill."
>>>
He winked.
“Because that’s how dangerous I am, missus.” Cassian laughed again, propped his chin on his hands and hung with a practiced ease. “I climb all the girl’s windowsills at night, and then whisk them away on grand adventures in the middle of the night without stuffy brothers who tell them what to do.”
>>>
She huffed.
"Yes, I'll believe that right away." She glared at him, even though she was inwardly nervous. This was, obviously, rather not an everyday occurrence. "Oh. Of course, you'd know better what's good for me than my own brother." Her hands found themselves in fists and at her hips. She glanced to the right; the bookcase was in reach. Just in case she needed something to whack him over the head with.
In fact, there was a particularly heavy-looking volume barely out of reach which looked absolutely splendid to fulfill such purposes.
>>>
“I know it’s awful boring being inside studying when you could be sneaking out and having fun!” Cassian inwardly choked on his own words. Fun, he says, fun. Ugh.
A short heave on the sill and he hopped fully on the casement, sitting cross-legged on the frame but not entering her room, as if respecting her space.
“Isn’t it?”
>>>
Warily, Merryweather eyed Cassian. He behaved as of yet, but who knew for how long? So, 'sneaking out' was what he said. Well, he could say whatever he wanted, she would not give in. Giving in was like letting them win.
"Perhaps so. However, my brother will undoubtlety question me come the morrow. So I really should get back to those books."
>>>
Cassian whistled, leaned against the window frame and propped his shoes on the opposite frame.
“Books? Boring~” He called, deadpan and dull voiced. “Like books can compare to watching vampires eat a blob, or checking out all the fun night stuff the City has. Besides, he’s really that uptight he questions you every morning?”
>>>
Something within her flared. Over the past few weeks, Merry had been living a well-protected life in the Hargreaves household. And everyday she studied, and nearly everyday Cain questioned her - while going out or solving City riddles himself, leaving her caged up to do her studies. Merry, do this, Merry, do that. Be a good girl. Her pent-up frustrations were about to burst out of her.
Belatedly, she noticed that she was shaking very slightly. Her mouth was tight as she first tried to open it.
"... vampires. Eating the blob."
>>>
“Yup.” Cassian nodded sagely, pointing out behind him to the City skyline visible out her window. He could tell he was getting closer, just keep it up.
“They’re devouring it, cause they say it’s made of angel’s blood and gelatin, so, the only way to rescue the people trapped inside is to eat it all up.”
>>>
To say that piqued her interest was an understatement. A rather heavy one. "... wow. But, with the way it stinks, it surely must not taste very good." That was something she did really want to imagine.
And then, she remembered that she was not supposed to be talking about this. My, if Cain ever found out that Cassian had even been here, Merry would get nothing short of a tirade from hell for all her stupidity from him. And it was indeed quite stupid, if she thought about it.
The problem with that was just that knowing you're about to do something terribly stupid doesn't necessarily keep you from doing it.
>>>
Just… about…
“I think I saw one of ‘em, a lady vampire, gagging a bit, so it must taste awful.” He’d closed his eyes for a moment, but then opened them, smirked, a daring, challenging look.
“Wanna see?”
>>>
Wibble.
Wibble wibble.
Oh, how she did want to see. She was nearly about to say yes, but again remembered herself just in time. "I can't trust you." She crossed her arms in front of her chest in a defensive manner, putting her chin a little forward.
>>>
“Can too.” He shot back. Childish, his head echoed.
Cassian shifted on the sill, turned to face outwards and point in the direction of the blob, a ways away.
“In fact, if you got eaten, I’d jump right in after you, and then we could watch the vampires eat it all from right up close.” Grinning almost sheepishly, he turned back and rubbed his hat as if embarrassed.
“Not that I’d let you get eaten or nothing.”
>>>
"... Promise." Now she glared at him, fists entwined in her skirts - she didn't know how they got her, face being overall very sulky. The smart little guy was like a demon tempting maidens.
Maidens who knew exactly that the path they chose was wrong, but who were also beyond caring, as Merry now very nearly was.
>>>
Cassian softened somewhat, held out his hand, and gave a small smile.
Inwardly, he sighed. But, that was what inwardly was for. It idly crossed his mind that, if he’d grown properly, if he’d been made properly, he might’ve had a daughter about her age by now.
Thought not conducive to the act were dismissed.
“On my life.”
>>>
Somehow, that smile made a big impression on Merryweather. It seemed genuine enough, she thought. And on his life? That was quite something to say, wasn't it?
"If I get eaten, you have to jump after me", she concluded, face still pouting, putting her hand in the one he held out toward her with a quick movement, then quickly giving him a small smile of her own back.
>>>
Hook. Line. Sinker.
“I would jump right in, and swim though the entire blob to get to you.” He promised, serious, with a widening grin. He tugged a bit on her hand towards the window sill, reaching under his jacket for a thin rope coiled in a pocket there, letting a bit of a laugh escape him.
“Let’s go!”