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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 2, 2017 13:18:16 GMT -7
Katherine looks over and sees Maria leaving and then she leans back against the wall as her eyes fell on Kili. Of course he would get found with Maria, all that talk about what she thinks of Kili was just that... talk. She listened as Jon spoke about the Hellsing's Parlour and then Kili asked why he was on about it and she hesitated before looking over at Jon.
She wondered what they should say but why Jon was asking about the Parlour and instead she looked back at Adrian and said "He's looking for Edric and I heard a rumour about that's where he might be and Jon want's to know if you know anything seeing as you're the night owl and all that" she said and gave a slight wave of her hand. Katherine was the only one of the two who could walk in the sun but that might be because she was given the necklace by Emilia back in King's Landing so it was funny to have come full circle but nothing hadn't been made for Adrian to walk in the sun.
Katherine just hoped that it wasn't the reason why there were killings but she had to remember that she couldn't go around thinking like that because she wouldn't be able to think of anything else and if he had been the killer then they would have to deal with it and she would have failed Tristan and at the moment that wasn't the option.
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Post by Ray on Dec 2, 2017 14:07:54 GMT -7
Adrian looks between the two of them, a small furrow forming between his brows and lips parted a little. He rolls his jaw before cocking his head relentingly to the side, reaching out for his discarded pants. "I don't exactly think it's your kind of place, Jon." He admits, "Though, then again, brothels don't exactly seem like your kind of place either," he mutters afterwards, tugging his pants on and then hopping to his feet to cinch them around his waist.
"Why do you say that?" Jon replies with a slow blink, liking this less and less.
Adrian grabs up his shirt, tugging it up his arms to his chest, before letting his head hang back a little as he thinks over his next words. "How to put this..." he begins, buttoning up. "You have a sense of...over-complicated morality and Hellsing's Parlour is a worse den of inequity than Katherine's bodice." He finally says, rolling his head to the side to look at him. A flicker of a smile tugs at his lips, but Jon doesn't look amused. He just stares at him, fighting the urge to open the curtains and give him a dose of sunlight. "See? That face right there? Exactly why you shouldn't go." Adrian says, cuffing his sleeves.
"What, is it an opium den? A fight club?" Jon sighs out, having seen worse places and worse things.
"Something like that." Adrian shrugs, his upper lip curling a little at the imprecise phrasing.
"Then what?" Jon asks, getting impatient.
"If you really want to find it," Adrian sighs, finally giving in. He digs into the pocket of his trousers, searching first the front and then the back, until he finds a slip of paper that's been folded many times. He hands it out to Jon who takes it with an air of caution, "You should probably do something to cover the smell of King's blood." Jon furrows his brows a little before he unfolds the paper. It reads like a flyer for a carnival, but rather than the colorful invitations to a place of whimsy, a skeletal woman peers up, with a red heart jewel.
Join Us, it reads, followed by a strange set of words like an incantation.
Jon's jaw clenches a little.
"Told you so," Adrian comments, tugging on a jacket over his loose shirt.
"Houndsditch," Jon says aloud, seeing the address at the very bottom.
"East London." Adrian replies. "An alley, really."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 2, 2017 14:25:47 GMT -7
If Katherine was honest she hadn't expected Jon to come to London especially once she had told him where she was because of what place it actually was. It was also probably the reason why she never said that she owned a brothel until he got here. She raised an eyebrow at Adrian when he said about her bodice and she fought the urge to say something but then again Jon didn't know that in the years he had gone... she had been having sex with Adrian not that it really bothers much anymore because he spent most of his time with her girls anyway plus it wasn't like she was looking for more then.
Adrian handed Jon a piece of paper and she moved from her spot to where Jon was and looked at the paper. Katherine raised her eyebrow at the image and guessed that if this was where Edric was then it seemed to fit his mood.
"They definitely have people's attention if that's what they're looking for" she said and then raised an eyebrow "Maybe I should advertise for my brothel so that I can keep Adrian away" she said and looked at him over the paper with a slight smile. Katherine then looked over at Jon before biting on her lip "Are you going to go? Because if you are then you really need to be careful"
She wasn't sure she liked the idea of Jon going to this thing especially with a murderer on the loose even if they were killing women but that wasn't the point. Katherine didn't want anything to happen to him even if he could probably take care of himself.
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Post by Ray on Dec 2, 2017 15:11:18 GMT -7
"I don't think it's people they're trying to attract." Adrian comments, glancing towards Katherine with a sort of knowing look. But as soon as she makes her joke, he rolls his eyes and shakes his head a little. "You say that, but I'm the only reason your girls aren't bored."
"Have you been here before?" Jon asks, interrupting that line of conversation. It's bad enough he's had to walk in on him having sex, let alone hearing the details of just how much the girls here like him. Wrapping his mind around the concept of the Queen of the North owning a brothel is a task all on its own. He sets his eyes upon Adrian who looks back to him.
"Not inside," Adrian admits, shaking his head no. "Got inside the door and...had a change of heart."
"You? Not taking a risk?" Jon comments with a hint of sarcasm.
"I like risks. But this place," he says, stabbing at the flyer held in Jon's hand with a finger, "I can't explain it. But if I know it made me uneasy, it's not going to fill you with any kind of joy." That does not leave Jon feeling easy or confident. Or feel any better about Edric's presence here. He looks the flyer over once more, skimming the words yet again, a small furrow pressing his brows.
It's not everyday he worries his friend might have embraced his darkness.
Katherine speaks, asking him if he plans on going, and Jon pulls in a deep breath. "I don't scare easy." He replies, looking to her. He folds the flyer once more and stuffs it inside his jacket with the newspaper. "And Edric wouldn't hurt me."
"You've been gone for six years, mate." Adrian snorts a little, "A lot has changed."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 2, 2017 15:29:10 GMT -7
Katherine looked at the flyer once more when Adrian said that the place might not be attracting people, that didn't fill her with anything good. It was bad enough that there was supernatural things out there and that two of them were in this room but to know that there was this place that was attracting them. Nothing good could come out of it. She let the two continue their conversation before Jon spoke to her about going and she wasn't sure if he should but like all those times in Winterfell he wouldn't listen to her and would end up going after Edric anyway.
She couldn't be too sure that he wouldn't hurt Jon.
Katherine nodded. "A lot has definitely changed since we were all together" she admitted and then crossed her arms over her chest. She knew it wasn't very ladylike but then again she was no lady. If this place is recruiting supernatural beings then was there anything that they wouldn't do? Katherine wanted him to be safe and hopefully she wouldn't lose him, she couldn't bear losing him to this place but she also knows that if she was to volunteer to go with him then he wouldn't let her go knowing just how bad this place was. He would want to go alone.
Even after all these centuries he was still protecting her.
The King protecting his Queen.
She looked over at him. "Please just be careful"
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Post by Ray on Dec 2, 2017 15:46:10 GMT -7
"I always am," Jon replies, letting his hands come to rest back at his sides and his eyes upon her face. She's worried. He knows she is. First the murders and now this, it's as if London is welcoming Jon back to the world by reminding him of the hectic lives they once lived. He feels that familiar pull, that tether, that's been attached to his burning heart since he woke upon that table at Castle Black. And it's giving an extra tug.
"Should I be a little concerned that you're concerned Edric might hurt someone?" Adrian comments in between Jon and Katherine's lengthy look, breaking the moment of silence.
"No," Jon says, sighing out a slow breath and letting his gaze drift back to Adrian. "Unless you actually do plan on bugging him for money." He adds on in half a tease, trying not to let Katherine panic any more than she is or give Adrian some idea that Jon doesn't want to entertain until he knows all the facts. But Adrian is already looking at him a little curiously, clearly not believing all that Jon says. "I'm going to go find this place," he continues on, deciding that now is better than later. Especially if killers and monsters are looking in the night. "I'll be back soon," he touches Katherine's elbow once before turning for the door, glad to leave this room.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 2, 2017 15:58:08 GMT -7
Katherine feels his eyes on her and she looks directly into his dark ones. It wasn't fair, couldn't they just have a bit of peace so they could live somewhat normal? But she guessed the two vampires, one immortal and one giant wolf wasn't exactly what she would call normal. He kept his eyes on her and she didn't want to look worried but she was. She was worried that all of this was going to get out of control.
Two women hadn't already died and she didn't want to think that Edric was behind it but at the same time... what if?
Adrian spoke and she slowly looked over at him and couldn't answer that. She couldn't answer the question as she looked back at Jon before he teased Adrian. She gave a slight smile before watching him. He was trying to no worry her so much, he was trying to keep everything fine but at the moment it didn't feel fine.
Jon touched her elbow and she gave him a soft smile this time before watching him leave the room, Katherine bit on her lip and then cleared her throat before looking back at Adrian. "I thought I told you to stay away from my girls" she said and moved over to where he was, uncrossed her arms and punched his arm gently. "That included Maria"
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Post by Ray on Dec 2, 2017 16:11:15 GMT -7
Jon leaves and there's another beat of quiet before Katherine punches his arm. Even for her, even considering that they are both vampires she does it lightly, like she might find some way to actually hurt him. He huffs out a laugh, looking to her and letting the previous conversation fade with Jon's retreating footsteps. "I'll have you know, Maria instigated." He replies, moving to grab his boots from the ground. Hopping on one leg each, he shoves his feet into them. "Not five seconds after you and the king left, she was pulling me in here with a smile like the devil she is," he adds on, pushing his fingers back through his short hair to tame it down.
Not that it needs much convincing anymore. Not like it used to.
"Speaking of which," he sighs out, standing straight and looking back to her as he fixes his collar. "He's back for half a day and suddenly you're boring?" Adrian's brows jump upwards as he takes the few steps back towards her. He swoops his head down low next to hers, mouth brushing towards her ear. "I think I miss the Katherine that liked me sinking my teeth into her thighs." He says with a flicker of a grin tugging at a corner of his lips.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 2, 2017 16:28:06 GMT -7
Katherine rolled her eyes when he said that it was Maria, that Maria was the one who went after him. But even she knew that it could be the vampire side of him luring the prey in so that they could be killed. Thankfully he didn't hurt Maria, she was the one that she liked the most and even knew what they were. She wasn't afraid which was unusual for a human but either way she liked her.
She watched him finish dressing and then stood up, watching as he spoke to her. She sighed when he said that she was boring. Katherine liked bored, she loved Jon and even if she and Adrian had a thing while he was away it wasn't going to continue.
Adrian spoke the words in her ear, his lips brushing against it and she swallowed. This wasn't fair, he knew that he could tease her and like Maria she had fallen prey to his charms but that wasn't going to work again. Katherine turned her head and looked at him, her lips turning up into a smile. "It happened while Jon was away and that was it, I wanted sex and you provided it" she shrugged up a shoulder at him.
Katherine then leaned in and whispered "that wasn't the only place you liked to put your mouth but no more" she said and then patted his chest with her hand before turning to move away.
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Post by Ray on Dec 2, 2017 16:56:24 GMT -7
His grin stretches a little further as she pats his chest and turns away, acting as if she hadn't enjoyed their time together. Adrian is certainly not in love with this woman, far from it, but if there's one thing he's learned over the past few years, it's that teasing her has its rewards. With Jon's return, he's a little sad to see that end. Sex with her is far more enjoyable than sex with any of the rest of the women in this little house. Katherine isn't afraid to bite.
"Don't act like you won't miss it," he calls after her, a smug tease to his tone.
His feet carry him to the east of London, the newspaper and the flyer sitting heavily within the inside pocket of his coat. He finds himself in a poorer district, the houses more ramshackle and the streets dirtier. Two women stand outside their door in aprons and shawls, huddled beneath the overhang smoking a shared cigarette. A man jangles a cup for coin, sitting in the gutter. Kids run through the street, weaving around the few carriages passing through. Yelling drifts from somewhere.
He finds Houndsditch road between two darkened buildings that look long abandoned, old cobblestones from a century past still marking the terrain. Jon glances up and down the street at his left and right, eyeing his surroundings, taking them in, before he clenches his jaw, and steps through.
Adrian was right. It is little more than an alley. A few piles of trash mark the path, feasted on by fat rats. He steps passed them, cringing at just the corner of his nostril, before continuing on. At long last, he reaches a stoop, lit by no gas lights and bearing no signs. But a faded bronze 66 sits upon the door. He checks the flyer, confirms his destination, and then tries the door.
It does not budge.
Pressing his mouth flat, he lets his shoulders drop a little. And then he knocks. Three times, loud.
Nothing.
"They don't open until night," a voice calls out to him. His brows furrow and he takes a step back from the door, searching in the direction of the sound. Sitting in another doorwell down a ways, a bag of newspaper leaning against one knee and a pasty in her gloved hands, is the same girl from that morning. She chews as she watches him, droplets of rainwater dripping from the edge of her cap.
A faint smile tugs at just one corner of his mouth, curiously. "You know this place?" He asks, motioning towards the door he stands at.
"I know it's odd." She replies after taking another large bite, wiping crumbs from her lips with the back of her hand. "Odd music, odd people, odd whispers." She looks him over in one sweeping glance. "You don't seem odd."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 2, 2017 17:12:47 GMT -7
Adrian calls after her and she stops and turns so that she's looking at him again. "I never said that I wouldn't miss it" she said with a slight smirk and a raised eyebrow. Katherine had to admit that sleeping with him had been fun, it allowed her to bite him when she knew she couldn't do it to Jon. One drop of Jon's blood would burn her, it was that hot that it felt like she was on fire when she had last tasted it. She never done it again that's why whenever they sleep together she is so careful not to sink her teeth into him but with Adrian she didn't have to worry.
But with Adrian she also lost control.
"You're alright, right?" she asked after a moment. "Nothing bad happening?" she knew it would probably bring up questions that she wasn't sure if she could answer just yet but she asked anyway.
"Not like... losing control?" Katherine watched him.
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Post by Ray on Dec 2, 2017 20:08:59 GMT -7
She pauses at his words, turning to look at him with a smirk that nearly matches his own. But in only a moment, before Adrian can even reply, Katherine asks him a question that gives him pause. The smile falters a little on his lips, brows twitching close. "Losing control?" He asks, a little confused. But from the expression on her face, this is no tease, no joke, no flirt. She seems serious, and suddenly the questions he'd had with Jon's earlier behavior start to bubble back up in his mind.
"No," he says with a slow shake of his head. "I haven't lost control. Not for years." Though sometimes it does get hard. At first, differentiating sex and feeding was difficult. The adrenaline, the hunger, the rush, it was all the same. How many times had he stopped himself before he killed a girl? How many times was he not able to?
But now...It's been six centuries since she turned him. And while the hunger can get creep up on him in different ways even now, he's been careful.
Tristan did not have her bite him so he could turn into a monster.
"Why are you asking?" He asks, watching her carefully.
Jon huffs out half a laugh, dropping his chin to his chest, not entirely sure how to respond. Of all his friends, of all the immortals he's somehow found himself surrounded by, he is the oddest in his mind. An abnormality. A man who should neither be living nor exist here. He glances back up though, setting his dark eyes upon the girl who watches him. She can't be more than sixteen, still young enough to pass as boy as she seems to want to, but older than Arya the last time he saw his sister.
"You see many people come in and out?" He asks, pushing that thought from his mind.
She shrugs a shoulder. "A few."
"How about a man, tall," he says, holding a hand a foot over his own head, "A little darker than me. Long hair. Scar." He describes, dropping his hand to trace the curved scar that cuts around Edric's eye and cheekbone.
"You mean him?" She asks, eyes flicking pass Jon's shoulder. Jon turns, a little startled, and finds himself looking at the same man just a few paces back the way he'd come, shoulder leaning into the wall, one hand in his pocket while the other shakes out a match he'd used to light a cigarette upon his lips.
"Edric." Jon says in a slow exhale, shoulders relaxing.
The wolf's grey eyes meet his, one brow curving upwards. "Snow." He says around the cigarette, voice a little gruff. "Long time no see."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 3, 2017 11:09:20 GMT -7
Katherine knew that this was probably strange for her to ask but she needed to know if he was truly okay. Tristan had asked her to keep an eye on him especially knowing that he would die and Adrian wouldn't. So if he was the one killing the women then she would have failed in looking after him, too distracted by her own things and letting him slip through the cracks til he found something that amused him. Killing was easy for a vampire when blood was involved, drink too much and the person was gone and that was the last thing she wanted for him.
He said that he hadn't lost control in years and she remembered when that last was, it had been pretty bad.
She bit on her lip when he asked why she was asking if he had lost control and honestly she didn't know what to say but Katherine knew that she would have to say something because if she didn't then he would ask more questions and it was questions she didn't have answers too right now. "It's just I've been distracted a lot lately and we haven't talked as much so I thought I would check up and see if you're doing alright" she said and then gave a slight shrug as if it was nothing. Katherine felt bad about lying to him but it was the only thing she could do right now.
Like Jon said it might not have anything to do with them, it might just be human but wanted to make sure that it wasn't Adrian because she liked him. He was a funny guy and even knew how to get on her nerves and then tease her in the same sentence so she would hate if anything had to happen to him if he had been the killer of these women but something in her told her that whoever it was wasn't done just yet and that made Katherine worry.
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Post by Ray on Dec 4, 2017 13:56:05 GMT -7
"Uh huh," Adrian replies a little unconvinced, tongue in cheek and eyes watching her a little suspiciously. Katherine is not heartless, she's proven that time and time again, proven that by bringing him back from the brink of death. But she has certainly never seemed this concerned about checking up on him as she does right now. And that fact plus Jon's own strange behavior leaves him feeling like he's missing out on something vital. "What's going on, Kat?" He asks, before adding on in a very obvious tease, "You didn't fall in love with me, did you?"
"It's been a while," Jon agrees, a faint smile finding its way to his lips even despite the slight wariness he feels. Edric looks much the same as he always has, but this century seems to suit him. He wears a light, long-sleeved cotton shirt beneath an unbuttoned grey tweed vest, shirt rolled just enough to show the hint of the wide black bands tattooed around his forearms. A long black and red handkerchief dangles from the back pocket of his trousers, and a twine necklace bearing the pendant of a small carved wolf hangs from around his neck, aged by the years.
The wolf's eyes shift from Jon without a word towards the girl sitting in the stoop as he tugs the cigarette from his lips, smoke drifting from his mouth. "What are you doing here, Ollie?" He asks, sounding more curious than accusatory. Jon glances back towards the girl as well, who has been watching this whole exchange with brows high and pasty still held near her mouth.
"Eating." She replies simply.
"Doesn't Holmes have better use for you then sending you out here to watch the door?"
"No," Ollie answers, taking another bite. Edric lets loose a sigh sigh, flicking the butt off the end of his cigarette. Pushing himself off the wall he walks passed Jon to pull a few loose coins from his pocket, dropping them onto the stack of papers sitting at the girl's side. "I never saw you." She grins a little. Edric huffs out a sound that's close to a laugh, shaking his head slightly before he continues on.
"You coming?" He calls back over his shoulder towards Jon. Breaking through his small confusion, he steps forward to follow, giving Ollie a flat smile as he passes to catch up with the longer-legged wolf.
"What was that about?" Jon asks once he's at the man's side.
"Long story for another time, why are you in London?" He says, changing the subject quickly and regarding Jon with an interested eye. "I thought you were still sailing the seas, searching for...whatever."
"I came back." Jon replies, setting his hands into the pockets of his coat.
"Clearly." Edric mutters. They reach the end of Houndsditch, and Edric turns the corner with Jon at his side, leading him across the street to another door. He tugs a key from his pocket and unlatches the lock. "Why were you at the Parlour?" He continues, giving the door a push but pausing a little in the entryway.
"Looking for you. Is this your house?" He asks, glancing up. It's a somber looking place, all dark windows and aged stone. The address has long worn off, leaving only a pale outline of indistinguishable numbers.
"Not everyone can afford to open a brothel." Edric replies, stepping through. He leaves the door open, letting Jon follow him in without any actual invitation.
"So you know about Katherine?" He asks as he closes the door behind him. Edric lights the gas lamps with his lit cigarette.
"How can I not?" He grunts, "Everywhere she goes, she makes plenty of noise." Jon laughs a little, letting his eyes drift around the entryhall. While not the lavish home that Katherine has made for her guests and her girls, this place is not dreadful. Aside from the peeling wallpaper and dusty sconces, Edric has turned this place comfortable with real furniture. It reminds him almost of the cave Jon woke up in all those years ago. Old, forgotten, but filled with an indescribable kind of warmth.
"And the Parlour?" Jon asks, letting his gaze fall back to Edric.
"What about it?"
"Kili seems to think it's an odd place."
Edric scoffs, stabbing the cigarette out in a small glass ashtray. "Of course he does."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Dec 4, 2017 14:23:56 GMT -7
Katherine looks over at Adrian when he calls her by her nickname. It wasn't one that she thought up but it made her seem very much like a vampire cat. Not that those actually exist. She scoffs at him teasing her and she shook her head afterwards. There was only going to be one man that she would love for the rest of her life and that wasn't going to be Adrian. Even if they did have sex before.
She pulls her bottom lip in between her teeth before watching him. There was just so many things going through her right now that she wanted to not tell him what the matter was. Katherine didn't want to tell him that she thought he was the murderer of the two women in Whitechapel but at the same time she wanted to say that she didn't think it was him in the same breath. It was why she was asking all those questions. She sighed softly and moved back into the room and shut the door. Katherine might as well tell him in privacy. Jon was looking for Edric down at the Parlour and she was here with Adrian so she might as well tell him just what was going on.
Katherine sat on his bed. "Two women have been murdered in Whitechapel" she said and watched him, she might as well just come out and say it because if she beat about the bush anymore then she was going to have a very suspicious vampire looking at her. "They were... cut open and it was terrible... the details are too gory to get in too" she admitted and shook her head, dark curls falling about her face. She moved the strands of hair from her face and looked down, her hands in her lap. "The women were prostitutes Adrian."
She never liked to see the look on someones face when they were told news like this but she didn't want to see the look on his face when he knew that she thought it could've been him.
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