For a man who looked, more often than not, like something had personally offended his olfactory senses, she found an odd sort of comfort in your rare smiles. They were as hard won now as they had been when you were both younger and less concerned with what the world thought of you.

“There’s no need to be quite so rude.” You draw her closer and, still grinning, she responds to your sardonic comment with a sharp jab of her elbow into your side as you set off, your pace slow and leisurely as befitted the art of Promenading.

Of course you knew some actual hags. Her gaze flicks over your shoulder to Eidyn House and she wonders if your Order included them in their ranks. How fascinating… “Show me a woman who says she would not sell her soul for such a trick and I will show you a liar.” she says with a wry smile. While she was hardly ‘old’ she was old enough to know how quickly the clock ran. Men had the good fortune to age well while women just… aged.

The fickle Edinburgh weather had chosen to favour them this morning, on the threshold of Summer the temperature was mild and the breeze gentle. As they made their way around the square she fell into step beside you. “Are you still very busy?” she asked softly, her concern for the Cowgate malaise still foremost on her mind, the more so after her recent rendezvous with Thomas Gilmore.

https://youtu.be/f7TYid-xj9o

but sleep won't come back and take it from that nightmare

Pads on by.

staying where it is for a moment - laying on the floor of its stall, on the straw

His smile widened into one of those rare and genuine expressions which his face seemed so ill-suited for, given its own inclinations, but it served as testament true that he was both pleased to see you – and that he had caught you unawares. One had to amuse oneself where he could, after all.

Your comment on your appearance though is met by that expression quickly turning droll, and he rolled his eyes for effect. “Oh aye, that Delilah Darling, a right old boot she is.” The chuckle escaped his lips before he could even think to stop it, and as you took his arm, he drew you in closer with a nod.

"I suppose we had better promenade, then." He set off, chin lifted, and the direction in which they set out made it apparent that they were taking the long way around the square, instead of the more direct route to George Street. “I call acquaintances a pair of actual hags, you know. Quite good-natured souls, and you would be amazed to see what they can do with a touch of glamour. Woe betide the unwary.”

His valet, for instance, was one who believed the illusion, and would not be making that mistake a second time. The thought threatened another grin, and he guided their steps west, towards the corner of Hope Street, to carry on the promenading. The point, he had to concede, was to be seen after all. Another touch of playacting in service to their ruse of a relationship.

*laughs as they finally see her. After she wandered several feet from the shed. Shakes my head, as the two take up formation. There's the instincts. *Grins when Logan trots back over to me, like "see mom? I got rid of it! Yard protected!"

She dropped by after her shift and let herself into the studio. She didn't stay long. Only long enough to slip in and up to Delilah's loft to leave a bag outside her door for her to find in the morning.

She didn't want to wake her or interrupt her if she had company. She meant to drop it off earlier but she'd been running late.

She dropped the gift, went back downstairs into the studio and let herself out. Resetting the locks as she did.

Looks really good, Pan..

And I settle in for awhile.

*lets my boys put, and spots a baby bunny, by my shed. My boys completely miss her presence. Smiles, as the creature literally lays down, watching them and chewing on the wild clover as the boys just wander around mere feet from her. Ahh the hunters.

“Alexander!” starting at your voice she snaps round to face you, her green eyes flashing. “It is ungentlemanly to sneak up on a woman!” But your grin is infectious, and any bite in her admonishment is somewhat lessened by her own slightly impish grin as she glances back in the direction of your now vanished colleagues.

“And yes, they appear to be just as amusing as you described. In fact, should you ever tire of your grand endeavours you might want to consider a career in satire.” Not that a man with your fortune needed a career, unless it was to save off boredom.

As you appraise her so openly, no matter the reason, she swiftly loops her arm through yours and draws you closer. “It is kind of you to say so, although I am quite sure I still look like a wizened old hag, even dressed up in this colour.” As much as she never sought your flattery it was still pleasing to be on the receiving end of it, even if she did immediately brush it aside with a self-deprecating comment.

“Now then! Are we standing or are we promenading?” she asks with a finely arched brow and a feigned huff of exasperation, shades of the cheeky girl you once knew peeking through.

awakening early

Finally a good nights sleep.

Out

“They really are quite the most amusing pair, are they not?” The question was poised from just behind you, whispered seemingly out of thin air. As you turned towards him, he offered a grin which spoke plainly to the fact that he knew he was being badly behaved in startling you so. He had noted your distraction when he slipped out of Eidyn House some moments after Mlle DuPont and young Angus Balfour, and so had taken the opportunity for a bit of clandestine sneaking about to circle in behind you.

He paused then, looking you over head to toe. It was not the lascivious glance that he was certain your mysterious gentleman shared with you, but that of a concerned friend, seeking to reassure himself that you were indeed in better health.

The smile which found his lips a moment after was genuine though, and he apparently pleased with the progress he saw in you. “It is good to see you nearly yourself again, Lila. You are looking quite lovely in that colour. I trust you are feeling better?”

SilverDream has started a new game with the following players:
SilverDream

" S T A R T G A M E : t r u e "{ " g a m e I d " : " 1 7 1 9 7 4 5 6 9 1 " , " p l a y e r L i s t " : [ " s i l v e r d r e a m " ] , " r o l l N u m b e r " : 0 , " c u r r e n t P l a y e r " : 0 , " d i c e " : { " f a c e s " : [ 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 ] , " r e r o l l " : [ t r u e , t r u e , t r u e , t r u e , t r u e ] } , " s c o r e 0 " : { " 1 " : n u l l , " 2 " : n u l l , " 3 " : n u l l , " 4 " : n u l l , " 5 " : n u l l , " 6 " : n u l l , " p l a y e r " : n u l l , " u p _ t o t a l " : n u l l , " b o n u s " : n u l l , " 3 k " : n u l l , " 4 k " : n u l l , " s s " : n u l l , " l s " : n u l l , " f h " : n u l l , " y a h _ t o k e n " : n u l l , " y " : n u l l , " c " : n u l l , " y a h _ b o n u s " : 0 , " b o t _ t o t a l " : n u l l , " g _ t o t a l " : n u l l } , " o w n e r " : " s i l v e r d r e a m " , " s t a t u s " : " r e a d y " , " r o u n d " : 0 , " l a s t P o s t " : 1 7 1 9 7 4 5 6 9 1 }

SilverDream has started a new game with the following players:
SilverDream

" S T A R T G A M E : t r u e "{ " g a m e I d " : " 1 7 1 9 7 4 5 5 0 2 " , " p l a y e r L i s t " : [ " s i l v e r d r e a m " ] , " r o l l N u m b e r " : 0 , " c u r r e n t P l a y e r " : 0 , " d i c e " : { " f a c e s " : [ 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 ] , " r e r o l l " : [ t r u e , t r u e , t r u e , t r u e , t r u e ] } , " s c o r e 0 " : { " 1 " : n u l l , " 2 " : n u l l , " 3 " : n u l l , " 4 " : n u l l , " 5 " : n u l l , " 6 " : n u l l , " p l a y e r " : n u l l , " u p _ t o t a l " : n u l l , " b o n u s " : n u l l , " 3 k " : n u l l , " 4 k " : n u l l , " s s " : n u l l , " l s " : n u l l , " f h " : n u l l , " y a h _ t o k e n " : n u l l , " y " : n u l l , " c " : n u l l , " y a h _ b o n u s " : 0 , " b o t _ t o t a l " : n u l l , " g _ t o t a l " : n u l l } , " o w n e r " : " s i l v e r d r e a m " , " s t a t u s " : " r e a d y " , " r o u n d " : 0 , " l a s t P o s t " : 1 7 1 9 7 4 5 5 0 2 }