OTA - Winter or Yves

[yves]

The fair haired sprite had been staring at him for nearly an hour now as Yves had made his way around the little shops. For all the creature had somehow enchanted itself to be of mortal height, there was no denying it was a pixie. Those pointy ears and sweet and spicy scent could be confused for nothing else.

Yves had ignored it at first, wandering through the early morning market and pretending not to notice the way it followed. Even allowing it to get close a few times before turning and staring directly into its pale blue eyes. Strange looking thing, all pale flesh and bone. Clearly underfed in its youth. Likely brittle boned, and unaware of it's poor immune system. Yves would have felt bad for it- If he was in the habit of feeling for lesser beings.

It had skittered off for a bit after that, but he'd spotted it once more when he'd stopped near the end of the market in a quieter area. They were practically alone, some grannies on a bench nearby so busy chatting that they hadn't even noticed they had company. The only people who might see them were those passing down the parallel street on the other side of the road- Though there view would be slightly obscured by the stalls and carts.

"The Unseelie Butcher," The pixie gasped, blue eyes going wide as they confirmed what he'd suspected all morning.

"Dreadful nickname, slanderous as well," Yves replied, sneering a little and removing the creature's charm with a wave of his hand.

Winter was so good at measuring and controlling his potion doses now that he rarely carried any with him, and the moment Yves waved his hand, the fair haired pixie knew he'd made a mistake. ...Perhaps several, if he was honest. Shrunk down to his normal size, Winter darted around in a panic, desperate not to be seen- Only to be snatched out of the air by Yves.

"Go home, pixie, and do not speak any of my names ever again," Yves warned, waiting until Winter nodded before letting him go and watching him zoom off as fast as his shimmering wings would take him.

(OTA- Tag Yves or Winter, only one or the other please! Catch Winter hiding and trying to make his way home, or Yves skulking off back home to his lab.)

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[miss_ives]

"Aren't you always?" Vanessa asked, still smiling slightly.

She hadn't been all that surprised. He had cut the dinner short. But part of her had still hoped.

[yves]

"Very true," he admitted. "I only hope you'll let me make it up to you. Perhaps I can escort you to your destination?"

While he knew women didn't require escorts these days- Had they truly ever? -It was an offer that came naturally.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa thought nothing of it; she was old-fashioned in many ways, and did not see chivalry as an affront to her independence. "I was heading home. Would you like to join me for tea?"

[yves]

"I would love to," Yves said, a bit surprised to find he meant that. He quite liked Vanessa's company, there was something about her that made him feel things he generally ignored.

[miss_ives]

Her smile warmed her face at his acceptance, and she slipped her hand in the crook of his elbow to start them in the right direction. "It's not far. The Midland Grand Hotel - the part that was converted into flats, obviously."

[yves]

Yves hadn't known those flats even existed, but he smiled and nodded anyway. Perhaps he really out to explore the modern city a bit more than he tended to.

[miss_ives]

"Was it your work that's kept you so dreadfully busy, then?" Vanessa inquired as they walked. His work, rather than simply work; she made a distinction between the two, from what he had told her.

[yves]

"It always is," Yves confessed. "I have a hard time stepping away from it."

[miss_ives]

"And yet here you are," Vanessa remarked, by way of asking, should he want to share, what had pulled him away this afternoon. He was sharp enough, by far, that she did not feel the need to make everything she said explicit; she much preferred this short of conversation, instead of the ones where everything had to be made plain.

[yves]

"It was getting stuffy in the lab, I needed fresh air," Yves confessed.

[miss_ives]

"And here you are, getting fresh air and tea," Vanessa concluded with a small smile. She was grateful that chance had seen fit to have their paths cross today.

[yves]

"Just as needed as the fresh air, I'm sure," the fae smiled- despite attempting not to. Smiles never felt right on his face.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa quite liked his smiles, actually, perhaps for that very reason. They often looked like something he wasn't used to, or made for, and that made the genuine ones more precious. "Hopefully it shan't disappoint." The Midland Grand now loomed a little way down the street, as Gothic a residence as Vanessa had been able to find.

She wanted to ask about Yves's experiments, the ones he had mentioned, but she thought that it might be better to wait until they were in private.

[yves]

"You're never disappointing, Miss Ives," Yves assured her, his voice a low rumbling purr of a sound.

As they neared the building, he took it all in. It was oddly fitting, really- Even if he couldn't put his finger on why. Though he supposed that was part of what he enjoyed most about Vanessa's company. He could never fully dissect her with just his gaze. Where most people were fairly easy to read, their layers clear in his mind from the start, Vanessa was different. Parts of her obscured by a darkness he couldn't define or recognize. ...At least not immediately.

[miss_ives]

"We've only known each other a short time, doctor," she replied with an amused smile, meeting his formality with her own.

[yves]

"But I've known the world for a very long time, and it very rarely offers me anyone as immediately interesting as you," Yves assured her.

[miss_ives]

How heartwarming, if this were the truth, to think that he thought her as interesting as she did him. Of course, she had not lived for centuries, but the sentiment was the same. Most people were so easy to read. Yves was... not.

The smile remained in her eyes even as she asked him, "Are you flattering me, Yves?"

[yves]

"I'm only speaking the truth," Yves assured her, glancing over at her as he spoke.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa held his gaze for a beat, good humour gradually making place for something more genuine in her eyes, until she looked away, cheeks a little pink, and nodded. "Good. I'd hate to think all the interest here were mine."

She let go of his arm to find her keys in her purse.

[yves]

Yves smirked a little at that, staying close as she searched for her keys. She had an interesting scent, beneath the soaps, the usual human smells, there was something intoxicating. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, exactly, only that it was good. Different.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa let them into the building, somehow looking as if she belonged in the Victorian corridors despite the modernity of her blouse and trousers. The flat she let them into was just as Victorian as the building, and her own taste in literature, might have led one to expect. The furniture was mostly antiques, as was most of the decoration as she led him into the lounge. There was a sitting area, a settee and some armchairs around a coffee table, and to one side of the room, a table on which her tarot deck lay. Above it, high up on the wall, hung a Gothic metal cross.

"Please, make yourself comfortable," she told him with a smile, setting her purse down but keeping the bag of fruits to go into the kitchen with. "What sort of tea would you like? I've a decent collection."

[yves]

"I'm not picky, surprise me," Yves suggested, wandering the room and taking it all in, his eyes lingering on the cross, then drifting down to the tarot cards, his hand reaching for them, then drawing back. His magic had never played well with divination, really. Too many variables, too many maybes.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa was already in the kitchen, setting the fruit down and putting some water on to boil. She chose one of her more original blends. The base was black tea, complemented by orange peels, bergamot, and a few flower flavours, along with a hint of creme. It was complex, delicate, and one of her favourites.

She arranged the fruits onto a plate, then brought it back to the lounge, finding him by her tarot table.

With anyone else, she would have offered to draw their cards. With Yves, Vanessa would rather discover him without using the cards. She would savour every discovery.

"I've had this deck for years now," she told him as she straightened up from putting the plate of fruits on the coffee table. "It's a wonder it hasn't gone stale on me yet."

The decks Yves had bought her when they last met were on a book shelf in another corner of the room.

[yves]

"It's very unusual," Yves noted, glancing back at her. "I don't think I've seen one like it before."

[miss_ives]

"It was a gift," Vanessa answered. She'd never told anyone this, but because Yves had shared some aspects of himself with her, and because she thought that he must have met some before, she added, "From a daywalker."