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Box Two
Apr 27, 2009 13:25:15 GMT -5
Post by Valmont on Apr 27, 2009 13:25:15 GMT -5
The innocent card was almost too easy, and Valmont supposed he should have expected no less. He raised an eyebrow.
"You prefer to skip straight to the mortal sins, then? I can well understand why, but I should caution you from my great experience that one really ought to give them all their due."
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Box Two
Apr 28, 2009 7:40:26 GMT -5
Post by Mercutio on Apr 28, 2009 7:40:26 GMT -5
Mercutio laughed, lowly- after all, the opera was going on, he did have a slight care. "Your great experience?" he asked, quizzical and amused, "What good is that if all you'll do is caution?" So light was his air, so casual, that this could be only more bantering conversation- but make no mistake, the pseudo-invitation was very deliberate. Mercutio had heard so very many stories.
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Box Two
Apr 28, 2009 10:33:55 GMT -5
Post by Valmont on Apr 28, 2009 10:33:55 GMT -5
Valmont was never deaf to an invitation. Which did not mean he was to be had for the price of the paper. And he knew quite well it was extended based on his own reputation, which was one of the reasons he valued it so.
"I would not call it being cautious so much as... selective," he said, deliberate himself. Mercutio was entertaining and odd, and that was enough to arouse Valmont's interest but for now it was merely academic. Potential rather than kinetic. Mercutio would have to present something--or some situation--Valmont could not resist.
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Box Two
Apr 28, 2009 16:34:18 GMT -5
Post by Mercutio on Apr 28, 2009 16:34:18 GMT -5
Mercutio gave a little shrug, leaning against the side of the box as though he'd been born to do it. (At any rate, Mercutio was far more experienced in the art of lounging than in serving drinks.)
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Box Two
Apr 28, 2009 16:39:34 GMT -5
Post by Valmont on Apr 28, 2009 16:39:34 GMT -5
So, he wanted to be pursued? Valmont had no lack of partners at his beck and call, and no need to chase after a boyish Italian waiter/scene shifter without some promise it was worth his while.
"Speaking of which," he drawled, "how did things go with dear little Alex?"
He'd have asked about Blakeney, but Blakeney was dead, and while not at all sentimental about it (it was a turn of good fortune, for him), it was not the result he was looking for.
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Box Two
Apr 28, 2009 22:16:01 GMT -5
Post by Mercutio on Apr 28, 2009 22:16:01 GMT -5
Mercutio was not the pursued, he was the pursuer. Valmont could be forgiven for his mistake, especially since Mercutio didn't know he'd made it; but the same thought spoken aloud would have made him sneer. So Valmont would lend him his wig but not rise to the bait? It was only a curiousity that made Mercutio try, both absent and deliberate like he'd whistle at a girl on the street but not expect anything to come of it.
"Oh, you know," Mercutio waved a hand languidly. "Enchanting, experienced, an excellent cushion, and the most delightful lad to possibly drink me under the table. She is the apple of my trousers, the strumpet of my soul, my other red-headed half. Third. She was most kind in getting me this job. Tell me, Valmont, have you heard her sing? Supposedly she has a voice like a lark, only with less warbling, and I've not had the fortune of hearing her."
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Box Two
Apr 28, 2009 22:37:05 GMT -5
Post by Valmont on Apr 28, 2009 22:37:05 GMT -5
It didn't make much difference to Valmont, who pursued and who fled, for it was a matter of a moment to turn the tables and it all amounted to the same thing, in the end.
What mattered to him was his own autonomy, which could be achieved either way.
"I can't say that I've noticed," Valmont said, glancing vaguely towards the stage. "She's the one in trousers, from what I understand." In which case, her legs concerned him much more than her voice. He looked back at Mercutio. "I'm sorry to say we have not encountered one another since that fine day in the cafe."
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Box Two
Apr 29, 2009 8:19:51 GMT -5
Post by Mercutio on Apr 29, 2009 8:19:51 GMT -5
Mercutio's eyebrows shot up as he turned his head to the stage- and to peer for Alex- with all the subtle and not-so-subtle signs of surprise. She looked different down there, under the lights and with the thick white make-up on, and Mercutio was both surprised to see her and not surprised that he'd never noticed her on stage before. He never paid attention to the opera, except to watch for scene changes.
Mercutio shrugged again, without looking from the stage, blue eyes narrowed as he watched Alex. "Shame." He wasn't so sure that it was, really, but he had no reason to say so. Then he turned away, apparently disinterested again, glancing back at Valmont rather neutrally.
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Box Two
Apr 29, 2009 11:19:02 GMT -5
Post by Valmont on Apr 29, 2009 11:19:02 GMT -5
"Isn't it just?" Valmont drawled. "I don't know but that the supposedly reluctant ones make for the best sport. Perhaps I should ensure that all three of us do meet up again."
His suggestion left no suggestion unturned, but like Mercutio it was a casual foray and not a decisive move. Options were very important to keep open.
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Box Two
Apr 29, 2009 20:28:15 GMT -5
Post by Mercutio on Apr 29, 2009 20:28:15 GMT -5
Mercutio laughed soundlessly, an white flash of teeth in the dim light. "And you could handle us both, ambitious sir?"
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Box Two
Apr 30, 2009 13:46:19 GMT -5
Post by Valmont on Apr 30, 2009 13:46:19 GMT -5
"My reputation, as you are no doubt attempting to ascertain, is by no means undeserved," Valmont said modestly, his smile catlike and lazy.
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Box Two
Apr 30, 2009 20:25:58 GMT -5
Post by Mercutio on Apr 30, 2009 20:25:58 GMT -5
More faint laughter. "I'd be more likely to believe my eyes than my ears, for talk is plentiful, easy, and cheap. Ah, and remember, luck and reputation were not on your side the last time you and fair Alex met, were they?" Mercutio was looking forward to seeing how Valmont was going to slither out of that. Alex had seemed more amused than impressed when Mercutio had come across them in the cafe. "Does your reputation include trousered merry lasses playing at lads and winning?"
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Box Two
Apr 30, 2009 21:25:44 GMT -5
Post by Valmont on Apr 30, 2009 21:25:44 GMT -5
Valmont pursed his lips, his eyes narrowing. "Not all maids who play at lads deny their company," he said easily. "And not all maids who deny their company in public protest o'ermuch when artfully pressed. That the fair Alex was not currently in a mood to humor the less-fair sex should be a point neither against her or me; that I am equally charmed by both is merely a fact of nature to which I have grown accustomed. I cannot hold everyone to the same standard."
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Post by Mercutio on May 6, 2009 7:30:12 GMT -5
Ah, what a pissy expression, oh, what a carefully-worded answer. "Why, such careful phrasing makes you sound the most reasonable man in the world." There was humor in his tone, and the subtle hint of sarcasm; apparently quite the hypocrite, Mercutio saw no reason for anyone to speak so twisty-turny. Not so hypocritically, and more specifically, Mercutio saw no reason for anyone to speak so diplomatically.
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Box Two
May 6, 2009 10:03:46 GMT -5
Post by Valmont on May 6, 2009 10:03:46 GMT -5
Valmont's eyebrows raised.
"Do you disagree, then?" he asked, all innocence--or as much as Valmont ever was. "Do you find me unreasonable, Mercutio? Do you disapprove of me?" He let a hint of mock-hurt trickle into his mild, inquiring tone.
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