caritcs-blog

[caritcs-blog]

[caritcs-blog]

supcrbia:

  “Protégés? I like the sound of that. You must be quite proud.” The sin smiles; to those who know him, this is far from pleasant. It vanishes in the same moment.

  “–Another reason? I don’t know what you’re asking. We haven’t spoken in a long time - I figured, since Percy was already on his way… You seem to suspect I have some ulterior motive for showing up like this.” He unfolds his hands. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

     “I am very happy about their accomplishments, yes.” He’s twisting her words, of course. She never meant to make it sound like he is intruding. “Well, I wasn’t trying to get to such an ugly conclusion. I just wanted to make sure my cooking hasn’t gone to waste.”

     Jacqueline gestures to the glass double doors that lead to her garden. “I thought we could have lunch outside.”

[caritcs-blog]

supcrbia:

  “Apart from the occasional nuisance.” The place has a warm glow to it. Pride wanders toward the the living area, slipping off his gloves and folding them into his jacket. He finds the sofa and seats himself directly in the middle, looking at her.

  “… These paintings, hanging on the walls– Yours?”

     “Some of them, yes. Others are from friends of mine, as well as protégés.” Jacqueline follows him at a slowed pace. She folds her hands together. He’s not someone she’d call a bother-- then again, Jacqueline wouldn’t call anyone that. Yet she knows that Pride has a preference in pulling at strings. He does enjoy making people into someone they never were before.

     “Tell me, Pride; am I going to be enjoying my lunch with you today? Or is there another reason why you’re here?”

[caritcs-blog]

     Jacqueline looked up at Edgar as he neared. She was waiting for the rest of it before he reached the conclusion that he was mistaken. Why was he here? Well, it was beyond her now, but her interest didn’t waver.

     “You’re not wasting my time at all. Are you sure you’re mistaken? Is there something I could help you with?”

||jac all.

@caritcs

     “I was told–” Edgar began, but when he saw the woman he had been coming to investigate, it was painfully clear that she did not fit his profile of interest. A wave of warmth seemed to exude from her, and he relaxed almost too easily in her presence. “–misleading information, apparently. Ah, I’m sorry to waste your time.”

[caritcs-blog]

supcrbia:

 “Oh, my apologies. Some other time, then.”

  After giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, Pride ambles into her home, letting the door close behind himself. The first thing he does is peer around at everything, naturally. He speaks without turning back to her.

  “Have you been well?”

     Jacqueline shuts the door and lingers behind him. She watches as he judges her home-- the numerous paintings on the wall, the open floors, the tall windows. Sunlight fills her home.

     “I have, yes. Life has been rather good to me.”

     “And you, Pride? Can you say the same?”

[caritcs-blog]

@supcrbia

     “Pride.” Jacqueline tries not to sound surprised that he’s here, but she was expecting it to be Percy. She stands back, waving him into her home. “Come in, come in. I thought Percy would be joining me for lunch.”

[caritcs-blog]

[caritcs-blog]

     “Oh.” Jacqueline turns her attention to the glass inched toward her. She picks it up, swishing the contents before taking a quick, measured sip. Her eyes don’t meet his until she’s made her mind up on the taste. “--It’s not bad at all. You don’t need to get anything else.”

@caritcs

“C’mere. Give this a try.” 

            A nearly tentative hand touched at her elbow, harnessing her attention. His other hand inched a glass across the table towards her. Wine, one of his own,  “Don’t hesitate in bein’ honest with me. Drank too much of it to be unbiased. If it’s, I don’t know, if it’s shit I’ll get ya’ somethin’ good.” 

[caritcs-blog]

[caritcs-blog]

vanitxte:

“I agree…I would have rather done something irreparable to it myself than allow it to get stolen.” Reaching into the briefcase beside him, Louis retreves a large black folder, before reaching inside and laying glossy, perfect prints before jac upon the table. There are twelve in total, very few varying faces, most of them are of simply one, beautiful and sharp, very obviously having swept their way into Louis’ muse. “I have many more, but these are the best ones. You are the first other than myself to see them.

     Jac examines each print carefully. If her nails were dry, she would have picked them up, but she resorted to looking without touching instead. A smile draws on her lips as she examines each piece. She notes the lack of variation in faces, and can’t help but need to  “They’re beautiful, as always. I do love your work. But I have to ask-- who’s the boy?”

[caritcs-blog]

vanitxte:

He watches her preoccupy herself, she’s dying to know what’s happened in the time he’s been gone. “My camera was stolen.” he starts there, seeing as it happened quite early. “But I got it back. After a fight. Granted I wasn’t exactly in the best part of town.” he emits a short laugh, shrugging as he finds a seat on a nearby ottoman. “I worked, I ate, I slept,” he shrugs, saving her the details of some of the unsavory places that he visited while he was there. Louis can let his work speak for itself. “…Would you like to see?”

     “Well, I’m glad you got it back. It’d be a shame if you’d lost it. It would’ve been very anti-climatic as well.” She props her chin on a palm-- still careful not to let her drying nails touch anything that’ll mess them up. Her nails are not her main focus, though; it’s Louis and his arrival from New York. He speaks as if nothing much has happened, but Jac doesn’t believe that. She’s sure her cousin has gotten himself into something exciting.

     “--Of course I do, Louis. You don’t even need to ask-- I always want to see what you’re up to.”

[caritcs-blog]

vanitxte

     “--You caught me in the middle of painting my nails, so uh-- I’m incapable of moving for another half hour. But sit, sit. I want to hear everything that I’ve missed while you’ve been away.”

[caritcs-blog]

     “that’s not very nice.”

caritcs.

                   ❛ i’m not sharing; it’s MINE. ❜

[caritcs-blog]

supcrbia:

  “I’m telling you the truth.”

  Alright, not all of the truth, but at least he hasn’t lied. He’s been picked at by too many people regarding this affair, and he wonders if Jacqueline is the one who won’t judge him so harshly. But he’s been wrong before. His hands fold in front of him. He keeps his eyes averted.

  “… He killed his own mother. I told him to– to protect me.” He chews on his lower lip for another handful of seconds. “I wanted to take him from her. She wasn’t treating him like she should’ve been… I felt that I was better for him. — He’s happier now.”

  He stares at his palms.

  “He and Louis hate each other, it seems.”

     It’s possible that she should dwell further over what Percy’s done. She’s a virtue, after all-- he’s twisted and manipulated this boy into possessing him. Jacqueline does not reprimand him for this, though. What he’s done seems to have some good intent. The virtue isn’t surprised that he’s taken extremes to get what he wants, either. She nears Percy, and rests her hand on his shoulder. Her aura of wholeness is shared with the sin. Maybe feeling a little more complete will ease his mind.

     "Louis’ reaction is understandable, Percy. It’s always been you and him. He must have taken this hard. --I’ve never seen you so hung up about anyone but Louis. It sounds like you care about this boy, Percy-- and that’s okay.”

     “Give it time. You know it’s best to wait on things like this. One of them may come around-- and then you’ll have to bide your time and hope the other will see eye to eye with you.”

[caritcs-blog]

“I love you, Chicken.”

     “I love you too, Pony.”

[caritcs-blog]

supcrbia:

  What can he really say to that? Percy and Louis were rarely separated in public affairs. They were the pair that everyone talked about. And they were perfect, if just to everyone else. Of course they were; they had an image to maintain. What they can never know is that Louis didn’t hold up his end, and Percy retaliated.

      “You’re right. I get that.”

  Percy fidgets with his hands. He can’t maintain direct eye contact. He’d probably be manic if he hadn’t smoked less then twenty minutes ago.

      “How to put it, really… I plucked this boy– Phaedrus –from a bad place. I’m the only person he has. And that’s how he treats me.” He shrugs lightly. “It’s the only way I can explain it to you. —And before you say it, he’s not after my money.”

     “--I wasn’t thinking that. I was just supposing-- by your nature-- that you’re sugar-coating it to me.” Jacqueline decides it can’t hurt to be truthful, although the truth did tend to do some damage. “I am your cousin, after all. The idea doesn’t offend me-- but it wouldn’t surprise me, either.”

     The act of taking this boy and helping him get somewhere better sounds charitable. Jacqueline can’t seem to think that it was that easy, though. She has a feeling this boy would do anything for Percy; the sin is the one that must be at the center of attention, of course.

     "I’m not here to judge you, Percy. I just believe that there’s a catch to all of these current events. I don’t expect you to want to tell me any of it-- and you don’t need to, if you don’t want to.”

[caritcs-blog]

Behavior is mutable. It changes from place to place. It’s like accents, dialect - it varies from one area to another. But there are universal truths about what it means to be a human being. All the other stuff is like applique. Learning that was interesting to me and probably useful for becoming an actor.