londoncallingrpg | Gathering Post : 2/24

Fin nearly admitted he was always this pale, but decided he best not. Instead he chuckled softly and grinned. "I'll hold you to that," he warned, pointing a single finger at her and offering a charming smile as he put the shoes he'd found, but hadn't been very keen on, down again.

"Come on, there's a place up the road. Not posh or anything, but they do sell the best chips in London. ...And I don't know about you, but I could really fancy a beer."

When he smiled like that, Fin really was gorgeous. Well, he was gorgeous no matter what he did, but that smile actually gave Angelique a momentary flutter in her chest. What was she going to say, No?

"I wouldn't trust a posh chip shop, anyway. Besides, it's the company that makes the meal, so I'm starting out far ahead. I do hope you'll think of something for me to do for you in return," she added, and found to her surprise she didn't even mean what she usually meant when discussing such trades. "Or I'll begin to feel terribly spoiled."

"It's honestly just nice to be able to spoil someone," Fin admitted with a laugh, politely offering his arm as he started to walk. "I spent my first years in London with nothing to my name, I survived only because people were kind enough to take care of me when they could. It honestly feels good to offer someone a drink or a meal without any concern for what the bill might look like at the end. It's a luxury not many get to have, and one I don't intend to waste."

He trailed off then, shaking his head. "Though I'm sure you don't want to hear my rags to riches bollocks. What's your story, Angelique?" he asked. "What do you do, and how long have you been in London?"

Angelique wasn't naive enough to tell Finlay Flynn her entire actual story after exchanging no more than a few pleasantries. Of course, she took his arm with a very light hand -- she was always careful to keep the weight of her hand practically feathery -- to walk at his side.

"This is going to sound like I planned this," she chuckled, not in the least apologetic, "but I'm actually in theatre. I do costuming and makeup for the fringe of the fringe theatre, whenever I can get the work. I've been here about four years, but, you know, it's so difficult to make a name for oneself."

"Really?" Fin asked, always pleased to meet someone else in the field. Though he also always felt a small stab of guilt when he remembered just how he'd gotten his first big break. It was a hard industry to make a name in, and Fin had gotten ahead with the help of magic.

"It is hard, but dedication often pays off. What have you worked on recently?" he asked curiously.

It wouldn't do to be demure, but in truth, Angelique's theatre career wasn't much to speak of. "Quite a bit of new material, small shows in upper rooms, that sort of thing. Most of the companies I work with are avant-garde -- or think themselves so." She laughed, and added, "My specialty is historical ladies' clothing for actors who aren't historical ladies, if that tells you anything about my regular work."

Nodding, Fin's smile grew brighter.

"Sounds like fun. I'd love to see some of your work one day. Costuming always seems a bit like black magic to me. One moment I'm being measured, the next I'm dressed."

He was dying for a smoke, but they were already approaching the chip shop, so Fin ignored the urge to light up in favour of getting the door and holding it open for Angelique.

Angelique stepped through with a barely-suppressed laugh, waiting for Fin to catch up again. Of course he was a perfect gentleman. He was probably perfect through and through.

"Threads, buttons, needles, and hidden zippers are the furthest possible thing from magic, but it's kind of you to say. If ever you need a shaping corset and an accurate bustle, call me, and then we'll talk magic. A little padding here and there, and even you can have an hourglass figure," she teased, though carefully lowered her voice on the joke. No use attracting the wrong sort of attention here.

"Should the need for that sort of thing ever arise, you'll be the first person I call," he promised, pausing to offer the girl behind the counter a wave and then glancing over at Angelique. "Fish and chips alright?" he asked.

"Fish and chips are just the thing," Angelique assured him. She let Fin do the ordering, but leaned in slightly to tease him, sotto voce, "What's the likelihood that I'll wake up to the headline tomorrow, 'Finlay Flynn Eats Unhealthy Food With Unknown Gal Pal?'"

Edited 2016-03-05 16:34 (UTC)

Fin held up two fingers, and the girl at the counter smiled and nodded.

"That's very likely, actually," he assured Angelique, speaking low and smirking just a bit. "Though at least they'd be telling the truth for once. Come on, let's find a table near the back. I don't much fancy having photos of me stuffing fish in my gob all over twitter."

"You don't have to ask me twice," Angelique agreed, making her way toward the back of the shop to find a relatively private table. Having never been out with a celebrity before, she thought it best to take direction from him.

"Do they bother you a great deal?" she asked, with a little moue of sympathy.

"Bother makes it sound like I'm ungrateful," Fin replied, looking thoughtful. "It's better these days. The actual press seems more interested in writing think pieces about me, and the vultures have less to peck at with my abductor caught and my vision back. Though the social media gossip lot all still seem far too interested in what I'm wearing or who I'm shagging. ...But it's all part of the package, I suppose. I could shy away from it all and risk getting less work, or I can just let it all wash over me and continue on as I have."

"Little minds can only understand little things," Angelique observed. "When it's too much work to see what's most important about you, they focus on what's most trivial about you. But... I imagine your philosophy is the only way to get through it. I'm not sure I could."

"No?" Fin asked, resting his chin in his palm as he leaned slightly over the table, shoulders slouched as his eyes remained locked on Angelique, always observing- As if he was filling an empty journal in his mind with notes. "I imagine you draw attention where ever you go. You're beautiful, well dressed, statuesque... Not something that goes unnoticed, even in London, where everyone likes to pretend they're too cool to care."

Angelique almost wished she were the sort that blushed easily, but in truth, compliments like that didn't embarrass her in the least. She did glance away and made a little, half-conscious staying gesture with one hand. "If I draw attention, it's only because of how I look, not who I am. Besides, I can walk away from it at any time. If I wanted to, I could go out in the world in tracksuit and trainers, and no one would glance my way. That's not, I imagine, a luxury you have."

"Can you? Could you really?" Fin asked, not unkindly, but with a slight hint of doubt. "You don't come across as someone in a costume. Hiding isn't the same as anonymity."

Angelique laughed softly, spreading her hands briefly. "I live to shock and befuddle people, it's true. I can't help myself, most people are crying out to be shaken up. But if I had people chasing me about with cameras and speculating about my intimate relationships, I don't think I'd deal with it half so gracefully as you do."

She leaned in to confide, "I think I like getting their attention better than I like having it."

"I have to confess, I fell the same. I like eyes on me on stage- Less so off," Fin assured her, sitting up only when they meal arrived.

She only then realized how intent Fin had been on her, once their conversation was paused by the arrival of fish and chips. Being the focus of his attention had been strangely exhilarating, and Angelique hadn't even noticed that he had been asking all the questions. Tricky, that.

"Well. I haven't indulged quite like this in ages," Angelique confessed, taking a moment to savor the aroma of well-fried food.

"No?" Fin smiled. "I'm terrible with food. I'd eat my weight in chips if I could," he laughed. "I'll never be one of those celebrities dishing out diet advice I don't think."

Angelique was already halfway through a chip and so had a moment to think better of saying something as rude as But you're so thin. Fin's body was no more of her business than her body was his.

"What advice would you give, if you could?" she asked conversationally, then leaned in to add with a teasing smile, "I promise I'm not hiding any recording equipment in my bag."

"Eat what you like, smoke as you please, and fuck anyone who tells you otherwise. Life's short, it should be fun," Fin shrugged. Though he supposed that was easy for him to say, being dead already and all.

Angelique laughed softly. She had to keep it soft; laughter was the most difficult to modulate, to keep smooth and elegant instead of low and rough. "If that's your self-help regime, I'll be first in line to buy your book," she assured him playfully. "Thoroughly enjoy every beautiful thing in the world, that's what I think. And this..." She indicated a bite of the deliciously fried fish. "... counts as beautiful, I've decided."

"Certainly wont argue with you there," the actor laughed, popping another chip in his mouth and chewing thoughtfully. "My partner's a vegetarian, so I tend to indulge in meat and fish any chance I get, to be honest. Not that he disapproves or anything, he's remarkably open minded in every way you might imagine, but I always feel a bit weird eating it while he's around."

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