Lord Borthwick’s Close

He had staggered his way down the length of Fleshmarket Close, his shoddy cane tapping along the cobblestones to support his supposedly drunken self as he went. Turning onto Cockburn Street, he weaved his way along – the crowds here still too prevalent, even at this hour, so he meandered his way along onto the High Street – the Royal Mile – and paused to lean against one of the granite building frontages as if he needed to sober himself enough to continue on.

So, acting the part of a man well in his cups, he stumbled his way up the road until reaching the archway of Lord Borthwick’s Close. The sensation of being stalked was still with him, so he knew he had the creature’s attention, and so made a show of peering into the claustrophobically narrow, poorly-lit close as the pathway descended down into darkness, the alleyway so narrow that it was possible to touch both sides without much stretching out of the arms.

He stepped forward, the walls of buildings along either side of the close towering for many stories overhead – the first high-rise buildings in all of Europe, thanks to the Flodden Wall which had surrounded the Old Town and forced the canny Scots to build upwards when they could not build out, fearing an attack by the ransacking English armies. A final attack, as it happened, which never came.

His drunken charade continued as he moved, even bumping into and bouncing off of one of the walls before first swearing under his breath and then breaking into bemused, drunken laughter. As that laughter echoed along what was effectively a man-made stone canyon, he raised his voice and affected a rendition of the bawdy song, The Ball o' Kirriemuir, with a joy and gusto that only the truly blootered could produce.

All the while he knew the danger he was in now, within this close, with the exit still far in the gloomy distance and no escape beyond back the way he had come. It was the perfect place for an ambush, which is exactly why he had chosen it.

She is beautiful, and wow what a gurlcock!

Rehearsals
It was the round of scandalous 'Ooooh!'s that just happened to coincide with her arrival, something that threw a blanket of unexpected warmth into the afterparty.

And of course many of them did indeed decide to dress up but god damn, the two leaders of the company looked like a set of models. Brand ambassadors. If they were creatures out of high fantasy, they'd be Hot Elementals.

Holly couldn't help the flash of pink that bloomed all over as she joined the others in clapping, celebrating such a moment of elation between Leo and Elodie, like the high-point in an artistic fairy tale, almost like it deserved its own meta story, a stageplay about the making of a stageplay, uh—hey isn't that the premise of The Producers?

Oh, if Holly ever falls into some spare money she's definitely throwing it at one of those.

It was just pleasant springtime rainstorm inside of her right now, one of those rare showers that occurs while the sun is still shining, warmer than chill and disorienting all the same as she vacillated between answering the approach of cast and crew and a few people she didn't recognize all giving her congratulations, interspersed with her split focus not quite grasping just how much attention she was paying to Leo Sterling and Elodie Stone together, like…

…like an image of an alternate universe where—Oh god they're coming this way.

"Oh my god I had so—" Holly tilted forward to meet Elodie's hug tight, perhaps a little surprisingly so like a physical confession of the nothing she felt so nervous about, oh wow she was reminded of just how short she was by comparison, chin tilted up a bit so she's not powdering your black top. "SO much fun, thank you! I mean 'It takes a village', right? The entire company made a mission out of it, I'm seriously humbled…"

She was still vibrating, positively gulping for air between words and phrases of quiet thanks between the people who bumbled by.

"I can't even begin to imagine the kind of relief you guys must be feeling right now, like I mean sure we all had a lot of confidence going into it but now that a show is done and passed, proof of concept sealed and cemented, like that secures this thing's future, huh? And I think every single seat was filled out there, not that I really got a good look from the stage…"

Her eyes glimmered between Elodie and Leo in an open gesture, palms up with her clutch on her elbow. "You guys look stunning, by the way. Hollywood what? Broadway where? Bring that shit to The City, am I right?"

https://cc.ashemaletube.com/images/2019-09/b8/5d8e18b8deaf7/5d8e18b8deaf7-full-1.jpg
https://cc.ashemaletube.com/images/2019-09/b8/5d8e18b8deaf7/5d8e18b8deaf7-full-2.jpg
https://cc.ashemaletube.com/images/2019-09/b8/5d8e18b8deaf7/5d8e18b8deaf7-full-12.jpg

He enters...looking a bit bedraggled,.>

I don’t suppose I could interest you in a dirty cis girl?

Thanks!

most definitely... i'd love to

nice image sweety. *s*

Another time perhaps

Obur. That was the term which he heard first known their type to be called. Glutton-devils, who feasted on the blood of men. There were myths when he was still a boy, and by the time he was a man and marched with the crusades, the nests of such demons were stirred up by the combined armies of Christendom and Seljuks alike.

He had his mark, now.

Standing up with a great show of wobbling on his feet, he cast a handful of coins atop the bar and called out loudly, in slurred speech, borrowing the brogue common to this part of town, “Had besh.. besht be on me way hame ‘afore me wife has me bollocks fer her coinpurse!”

That earned a riot of laughter from the other men, one of them slapping him on the back as he exaggeratedly staggered his way towards the door. He did not need look back to know that the other man – the Creature – had risen to follow him, he could feel its very presence like a cold chill at his back.

i can't at the moment.... i have an rti approaching

Thanks my friend!!

Contributing a pic

https://cdnc.imagefap.com/images/full/116/691/691341387.jpg?secure=F0D8n9VZ8SxLsW0GRX-KaA==,1718592727

In a way...you have!!!
Good to see you!!!

Wanna go somewhere with me?

i second sammi's motion. go with it.

exactly...*s*

returns and begins polishing the bar counter

Rehearsals
Later they can debate who is the best. Honestly, she'd really wanted to be backstage the whole show, just in case. In the end, she'd been convinced to sit and watch. At several points, it wasn't easy to watch, even as easily as she can be swept into the magic of theatre, but it had been incredible. You had been. Holly too, really.

All wrapped around you and when your ears turn pink, she leans in to quickly nip your earlobe. While she's aware of the fact that the room is bustling with people, some who don't even know her, she doesn't care. Not one bit. She's living on that post-performance high, even if she wasn't actually the one performing.

You know that isn't completely true.

People can have a beautiful script and still make an utter mess of it. But her words are all affection.

Then, some physical affection. You're not the only one who forgets other people are in the room, and when you make that rumble, she squeezes her legs tighter around you. Do they really -need- an afterparty?

Someone calls out and she laughs, a bright, free sound. Then, raising her brows, she nods when you suggest getting a room.

But then duty calls and she's dropping down to her feet. In heels, for once. But she gives you a playful pout as you let her down and nods at your smouldering promise.

Absolutely we should.

Quietly, but with perhaps more enthusiasm than you expected. Fingers lace with yours and she moves toward Holly Blanc.

Holly Blanc

While she's not about to leap and wrap around you the way she did Leo, she does slip her fingers from his so she can lean in and give you a hug.

Holly, you were fantastic! You did it! I'm so freaking proud of you, seriously. Not just anyone could pull that off after only a few weeks. You were brilliant.

Yes, she's gushing, but she truly does mean it. You were fantastic. And, yes, everyone forgets lines, flubs, misses marks, etc... On the stage, the important thing is to just go with it, which you did. No one backpacked you. Just supported you, the way everyone on stage does.

Honestly, at this point, if you'd not dressed up, she would've been surprised. You look incredible, of course.