strangetrip | [GP] Shoot that poison arrow

[GP] Shoot that poison arrow

None of the guests noticed when the spiky-haired man-child in jeans and purple t-shirt, wrists wrapped in cheap leather and metal bracelets, arrived at the Madonna Inn a few hours before midnight on February 13. That, in itself, wasn't all that surprising. Eros, otherwise known as Danny Valentine, had millennia of experience doing his job without being spotted.

What was surprising was that the dude at the front desk did see him. Tall and Nondescript waved him over and then gave him a room number 'in case you wanted to rest'. But Danny didn't.

Want to, or rest. He spent the time before the clock struck midnight polishing his love gun. Not like that. He'd find a girl to spend his nameday with. He always did. No, this little beauty was made by Hephaestus himself. It shot love darts that disappeared on contact.

At midnight, kitted out with more love darts than there were people in this pink and gold monstrosity, Danny left his room and shot the first person he saw--and didn't wait to see what would happen.

No point getting a slow start. He had a lot of work to do.

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As days went, this one easily rivaled Gotham City for weird, at least as far as Jack's experience went. The public displays were... unseemly. At least thus far no one had been hurt, or at least no one had reported hurt. And there was blessedly little fighting. So really, as far as unseemly displays went, he could think of several worse.

As little as he enjoyed the prospect, it was still important that he was out and visible, in case someone did need help. And, if there was a findable culprit, it was worth investigating.

It depended on your definition of culprit to decide if River Song was of interest. Generally speaking, she was mad, bad and dangerous to know and in this particular melee of PDAs she was clearly enjoying herself.

Both the spectacle and the occasional snog.

So anyone looking for suspicious people, might find her obvious enjoyment of the situation and not altogether hidden voyeuristic amusement a little suspicious.

You know, if the law wanted to investigate.

Jack was in fact inclined to be suspicious of voyeuristic enjoyment of this particular run of situations, if only because there were so many ways it could go wrong. Phryne, he was sure, would also enjoy them, but only if she were assured that no one was being forced into anything. (It was one of the things that frustrated him and charmed him most about her, that insistence that anything went as long as all parties agreed.)

The blonde woman was, however, not Phryne, and sharp observation showed that she actually cared very little whether there was agreement or not. That rendered her interesting, if not (in the absence of other evidence) exactly suspicious. So he didn't even pretend to be casual as he moved to join her. "You seem to be enjoying yourself."

River was inclined to agree that anything went, so long as all parties agreed, but that was neither here nor there really.

"It reminds me of party I went to once," a slight frown creased her face as she considered. "Beltane I think. You know how the Scots can be."

But she didn't seem to be experiencing whatever so many of the others were, "A pity really. Looks like it might be fun."

"I've some experience with the Scots, yes." Not, of course, in any sort of party situation, but in the trenches during the War. They'd been good soldiers, and maintained their morale admirably. Possibly with secret parties, who knew? By then, Jack had been alive only because he'd continued to move, breathe, and do his duty.

Best not to dwell. To avoid that, he offered his hand to shake. "Jack Robinson." Not Detective Inspector here, exactly, so it was better to use the title sparingly.

River's experience with Scots was far less about trenches and more about what was (or wasn't) underneath their kilts. They definitely had morale though.

"River Song," she took the offered hand, her own hands more callous and strong then her appearance would belie. "Not enjoying, whatever this is?"

"No, not-" The rest of that sentence would have been 'as such' because 'enjoying' was hardly the word Jack would have used to describe his experience of the day. But between one word and the next, there was something like a pop, and after that he knew exactly how he needed to enjoy the whatever this was. Who he needed.

And fortunately, he still held her hand. He used the grip to pull River closer into a passionate kiss, burying his free hand in her hair.

"Oh!" Her startled (but not displeased exclamation) was cut short by his mouth. Her own arms wound round him, hands splayed against the muscles of his back and she kissed him back.

Really a woman would have to be dead not to respond to such ardor.

Ordinarily, Phryne might be pleased to see her companions indulging their desires in such fashion, but it concerned her that many seemed to have no choice or that they were otherwise not enjoying the indulgence. It seemed a recipe for disaster, and a perfect cover for a man inclined toward sexual assault. It was that that drove Phryne to see that none of the younger women, in particular, had gone missing or were otherwise distressed. If only she'd been half so vigilant with Jane--

Phryne gasped, so taken aback at the sight of Jack embracing another woman that it drove the breath right out of her. She hadn't yet regained it when his name slipped from her lips unbidden carrying all of her shock and betrayal. It hurt so unbelievably, even knowing it couldn't possibly be as it seemed, that Phryne simply froze with her hand over her chest.

It was difficult for Jack to tell whether whatever it was ended just because it ended, or whether Phryne's little shocked gasp of his name snapped him out of it. Either way, he broke the kiss immediately upon regaining his good sense and stepped back. River was objectively quite pretty, but the overwhelming draw of her was gone, and he could hardly believe it had existed.

The dead part of him, that space that let him survive writing letter after letter to soon-to-be-grieving parents and sweethearts, thought Ah, so that's what's been happening. Every other part of him, though, had no idea what to do. Clearly and correctly, Phryne was hurt and offended, but for some reason the truth of 'I couldn't help it' or 'this bloody goddamn day' seemed like base excuses. Vile ones. Since he couldn't find words, he tried to stare his shock, regret, and flat confusion at Phryne, and hoped her perceptiveness wouldn't fail them both.

Phryne looked for guilt in Jack's expression when he turned to her but found none. If she hadn't seen him draw the woman toward him, she would readily believe that River Song had initiated it. Would that she hadn't, so that misunderstanding would permit her to slap the other woman for assaulting her dear, gentlemanly Jack, but she would tolerate no falsehood in herself once she had identified it.

Instead of slapping River Song, or indeed Jack, neither of whom deserved it, Phryne strode toward them. Without so much as a glance for the other woman, or a word to Jack, she took advantage of the generally libertine atmosphere to curl her hand around the back of Jack's neck and haul him to her instead. And when she had had him properly close enough to feel her breath across his lips murmured, "The next time you have an itch, darling, remember this," and kissed him, full on the mouth, with all of the passion she possessed and all of her knowledge of him in it.

Thank God, forgiven. Or understood at the very least. No doubt there would be talking involved later, but as Phryne hadn't turned from him now, she wasn't going to. The relief barely had time to course through Jack before his dear Miss Fisher's mouth on his aroused more honest desire than whatever had thrown him at River Song.

The shocked, firm line of his mouth softened into acceptance and then welcome, even hunger, and for one, sweet moment, Phryne forgot everything but the heat coursing between them. Sense returned quickly and awareness of having an audience, and abruptly Phryne recalled Rene hauling her away from friends--and so released Jack to back away.

She gave River Song a single, sharp glance. Her mouth trembled when she looked at Jack, gaze shining with emotion, and before she did or said anything she could regret, she turned and strode away, exactly as tall and straight as she had come.

"Well that was awkward," River said once Phryne was out of earshot. Her expression was wry as she too watched the other woman walk away.

That was the walk of a woman who had some things on her mind. And most of them were not good.

"Will she ever speak to me again do you think?" She asked Jack.

"I imagine she will." Jack watched her go, too, trying to determine the exact level of worried he should be. Not much, in some ways, quite a bit in others, perhaps? "Miss Fisher rarely holds grudges, at least about this sort of thing."

"This sort of thing?" She arched a brow, she didn't know the other woman well, but she thought a grudge might be held. Kissing her man had to result in some grudge.

"Shall we talk about this 'sort of thing' or chalk it up to losing our minds a bit?" Okay so she's been perfectly sensible, but she wasn't the one with a woman in the wings.

"I'm happy enough to stick with 'losing our minds'." It seemed to be happening a lot, after all, and if he'd fallen prey it should not be a surprise. Jack doubted that River's mind had been anywhere near lost, though that was a level of dissimulation that was safe to let past.

You could argue that there was degrees of losing one's mind, and perhaps not much minding being summarily snogged by a strange man was a sign of some little bit of mind loss.

"Will she understand do you think? Not that it wasn't a lovely kiss, but I did rather enjoy her company. I'd hate to have made an enemy."

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[GP] Shoot that poison arrow

Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne

Re: Jack Robinson - For River S and Phryne