poly_chromatic | Entry 605; Day 1405

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I can hazard a few guesses as to what's been going on all day, though none of those guesses seem especially pleasant. I shall count myself fortunate that I seem to have been missed by this curse--though I'd thought that we were to be seeing the end of them soon, but I suppose that's how the City itself would have it. I've been trying to piece together some observations about the City and the curses, especially given what these newcomers have been saying of late about it all. And about how their attempts to stop the curses haven't met with much success.

Still, the cafe has been busy enough today. I wouldn't have thought it an especially romantic location, but it seems to have attracted a rather surprising number of couples coming in for a cup of tea or a coffee together. And new couples, it would seem, given how astonishingly affectionate they seem to be with one another.

Now, I must say that I'm on my smaller Network device here at the cafe itself. I've been here for the better part of the afternoon. At this point, I'm trying to look busy while I watch someone here. Because there seems to be a young lady who's rather fixated on me. In fact, I think she gave a few threatening stares to someone who was simply inquiring after something. Most of the time she seems to be staring at me.

I'll be honest and admit that this is far from the first time I've had someone staring at me. But there's something in this stare that's unsettling me. And I will admit that it raises a few darker suspicions in my mind. I've not heard word of my father in some time. It wouldn't be below him to draw in someone as young as this girl to his following. I don't recognize her from London, but I know my father has made allies in the City before.

And if she is one of his allies and if she should see this Network entry, then let this be a caution to her.

I wish I knew why she was staring. I'm watching her over the top of my Network device even as I write this. As I said: I'm making a show of looking busy.

I wonder if I've not been so missed by this ordeal as I expected. I feel absolutely nothing, but I wonder if the same is true for everyone in present company.

I'm not sure which I'd prefer either, though: that someone far too young for me seems to be infatuated with me or that my father might be gathering his forces again.

Probably the former would be better. At least that will end at midnight.

~C.

[ooc: Oh dear. It would seem that

sleepingstar has developed something of a schoolgirl crush on Cain. No, Cain doesn't return the affection. In fact, he's rather concerned by it all. All that staring and so on. It's, ah, rather a bit too much like the way a certain someone in his own world behaved around him. And he isn't fond of her either. Ah ha ha... Oh dear...]

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[ Too late. Hei's already dropped both arms in a loop around her, dragging her close. It seems like an affectionate gesture. But it's really a firm restraint. ]

[ More for Cain's benefit than Pai's, he says, ]

And he'll be taking her home now.

[Damn it, brother! She lets her eyes glisten, as though she's going to cry. Hopefully she can twist his heartstrings.]

Let me go!

It is for the best. I know he has your best interests at heart.

[Still, to her brother:]

You needn't be rough with her.

[ Another time, the glittering eyes would make him pause. But not here, where she's in the blatant grip of a curse. Keeping an arm encircled around her, he starts to steer her away. Her protest gets a flat shake of the head. ]

You'll feel differently once it's midnight.

[ When he glances back at Cain, he's borderline expressionless. It's hard to tell if the Earl is softhearted, or just stubbornly gallant when it comes to the so-called fairer sex. ]

It's either that, or let her keep pestering you.

[ Force, unfortunately, is a language both Hei and Pai grew up speaking. But if Hei can help it, he'll spare her the worst of it. ]

[Pai is tempted to electrocute him into letting her go, but she's not quite that cursed. She struggles and squirms against him, but it's not the fight she could be putting up.]

No it's not! I want to stay with Cain!

[Stubbornly gallant is nearer on to it. It's more at a strange sense of brotherly protectiveness. He understands, in a way.

He has an idea, though. And he speaks only to the young lady.]

We must be apart for a little while. Can you endure it? Will you think of me? Will you write to me?

Perhaps...

[And he takes her hand--restrained by her brother or not, he can at least do that much, surely.]

...if you can endure a little separation, we will see one another tomorrow.

Try to bear up under it. For me.

[And he places a kiss on her hand--a gentlemanly one, one that would not be out of place if given in the drawing room to the daughter of any well-bred and respectable lady.]

[ When Cain reaches for Pai's hand, Hei's expression doesn't betray a hint of his confusion. As it is, it only lasts a moment. Instead all that bubbles to the surface is amusement in the form of a subtle twitch at the corners of his mouth. The Earl plays the role of the byronic dandy to a T. Part of Hei wonders how many messy tangles of past relationships he's slipped out of, with chivalrous words and sweet looks, where Hei himself has opted for coldness and manipulation. ]

[ Quietly, he says to Pai, ]

I think you can survive until tomorrow.

[ Cain's gesture, albeit insincere, is an appeasement. A bon-bon for a squalling child. Hopefully Pai will accept it -- and come home quietly. ]

[She tears up a little more, letting a single drop fall. It's entirely an affectation, this time for Cain's sake rather than her brother's. Maybe his heartstrings will be easier to pull. He has to love her!]

But why?

[She's not struggling against Hei anymore. If this doesn't work, she'll go reluctantly.]

[But he doesn't love her. That's the trick. And any affection he might feel stems purely from his affection for his own sister and the complexities of emotion and pains he might (will someday, perhaps? or perhaps not?) feel when she (his own sister) falls in love for the first time. That is the root of all things here.

Rather a surprising thing to find in a man so often callous to young ladies. But siblings, blood, that's another matter entirely.]

Because your brother wishes it. And what lady hasn't had a father, step-father, uncle, or brother to stand between her and who she loves? It's you and Juliet Capulet alike now.

[ In Hei's case, there's no such complexity. Pai is a Contractor. The idea of her forming an attachment to a stranger -- so abruptly and vehemently -- isn't indicative of growing pains and adolescent crushes. It's just surreal. Love, or the act of pretending to be in it, has been Hei's life for a very long time. Acts of affection are how you put marks at ease, how you pry legs and lips open for secrets. He's grown up learning that the illusion of love is what you offer a target in exchange for the things you (your superiors) need and want. It's the same mindset most Contractors function by. ]

[ Not to say they're incapable of love. They aren't. But it's not love -- pure, perfect, idealized -- in a way ordinary people would understand it. ]

[ He disguises his wry amusement at Cain's reference to the starcrossed lovers. More likely than not, it'll end with Pai refocusing her irritation on Hei. But that's a small price to pay for getting her home. ]

Let's not forget: violent delights, violent ends, etc. [ He offers Cain a token nod, more dismissive than polite, before tugging Pai away. ] Come on.

[Pai scowls.]

Who's Juliet?

[Should she be jealous? Brother, you can't take her anywhere until she knows who this Juliet person is!!!!]

Juliet was a woman in love.

[Yes, perhaps the references will end with words between this set of siblings. But he had offered to solve this little problem. And so...]

A woman in love who was forbidden to see the man she loved.

[The fact that it ended badly for most everyone involved wasn't the point. No, in truth, the story struck Cain far too close to the heart, remembering even as he made passing reference to the story that there had been another forgotten Juliet, one who had woken in her tomb and had not found her love with her. In truth, he hadn't loved her. And the man who had loved her--? Well, it had been his poison that she'd taken...]

So, you see, not so different from you.

[ In Hei's experience, it needn't be love for matters to end badly. Any violent emotion has two things in common with a speeding car. Tunnel vision. And the threat of crashes and disaster. What the Earl tells Pai is a flattering thing that any rational person would instinctively reject, because a comparison to Juliet is too large, too over-the-top, to take in, to own. But to a starry-eyed girl in love ... Well. Hei knows disconcertingly well those ninnies hear only what they want to hear. It's what makes them such easy marks. ]

[ Lightly, he tugs Pai's arm again. ]

I'll tell you all about Juliet when we're home. It'll give you something to discuss with the gentleman, tomorrow.

[ Truthfully, he's planning to ply her with a couple of pills so she sinks into an untroublesome sleep. ]

[She scowls at her brother, but fights no more.]

Tomorrow [she promises Cain.]

Tomorrow.

[He agrees, with an air of graciousness, knowing that tomorrow will come but with no meetings or explanations.

Still, he makes a bow to her.]

Entry 605; Day 1405

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