Greer Rutherford

“Mmm, yes, you’re a good influence on me. I’d like to see more of you, even if it does kill the mystery.” Although, he couldn’t exactly turn up at her work and kiss her, and he’d have to be honest about ‘yes, I really like you but are you willing to end up on the front of a tabloid newspaper because of me?’ at some point in the reasonably near future if he did pursue…whatever this was going to end up being. He was reasonably sure that if she said ‘jump’ he’d ask ‘how high?’ - and this was while he was still mostly sober. Goodness knows what would happen when he got more drink down him.

Life had got a lot more interesting. A lot more interesting than he’d expected coming to what he was told was basically a charity gala, and a lot more quickly than he’d expected either. She’d suddenly completely invaded his personal space, just like that, to the point that he could feel her breath against his face as she spoke. And, she was right, of course, he was curious and he did want to prove her wrong. Very much so. He could be reasonably, pretty sure that she wanted him to kiss her right now, yeah? And if she didn’t, she could just push him away and he wouldn’t ever bother her again and it wouldn’t be a problem. So, he moved to kiss her, closing his eyes and expecting to probably get rejected. But, hey, she told him to take a chance.

He let her lead him to the dancefloor - he spent his entire life thinking of responses to things, and now he was completely lost for one because she was right about this. He could do literally anything he wanted right now and nobody would ever know it was him. “You’re right. I don’t want to waste it. I’m glad I’ve met you, Greer.” Having said that, he settled for putting his hands on her waist for the moment. There was an orchestra playing, for God’s sake - perhaps when the music changed (and he had got another drink or several) he could make some kind of advance from that. “Before summer. Got it. Might wreck the sense of mystery just a little if I turn up at your work, though.” He felt a spike of jealousy that she was complimenting someone else, which was totally unreasonable because we just met, what the fuck am I playing at? Hard liquor was going to have to happen in the near future at this rate.

The brunette smiled, giving a small curtsy to him. “You life just got a little more interesting, Charlie.” Moving to the music, it wasn’t what Greer was used to dancing too, but she was managing though it was already boring her. “It might ruin the mystery, but something tells me that you won’t be able to stay away because you’re curious,” Greer could be a little confident sometimes and maybe she was right, maybe she was wrong but to her it didn’t matter. If he showed up, he showed up. “Besides,” leaning up a bit, she gave a small smirk before brushing her nose against his. Thank God for heels. “I’m curious about what’s under this mask and looking forward to being proven wrong that all government employees are sticks in the mud.”

One of the many advantages of wearing a mask is that people couldn’t see that your cheeks had suddenly gone bright red.”I don’t even know your name, let alone - I’ll be a gentleman, unless you find that boring.” He wasn’t going to be able to shake off the whole teenage boy vibe, because it had been a while and she was absolutely terrifying - in a good way? “Of course, no bills, I came here to get away from bills. Maybe I’ll have to visit your bakery one day.”

Reaching out, Greer took his hand and started leading him towards the large crowd of people. “The name is Greer Rutherford and if you work for the government, you’re a gentleman everyday of your existence. You’re at a masked ball, you can act however you want - do you want to waste that chance on being prim and proper?” Greer of course was like this every day of their life, if there was one thing Greer had never been (even in their former life of being the opposite gender), it was prim and proper, she was always a wild child. “You should,” stopping where she deemed it well enough to start dancing, she turned to look at him. “We have the best decorator in London, but I’m biased. Micah’s just amazing at doing small detailed work on things but if you’re going to come, come before summer, I’m only there for seasonal help right now unless the old lady decides to keep me on.”

“Was I meant to stay in touch?” Blair laughed softly, raising his eyebrows as she brushed her hands over his jacket. Was she preening him, or just trying to determine if she could believe her eyes? “It isn’t, but it’s the most family friendly one.” She wanted to play, apparently, making him laugh again, reaching around her for the champagne, resting his chin on her shoulder. “What kind of spectacular are you hoping for, Miss Two E’s?”

“Of course not,” Greer said cooly, giving a slight shrug of her shoulders. It was definitely more shock that he cleaned up so well mixed with the anger that hit her that she wanted him. “Hmm, I don’t see any children around so keeping it family friendly is pointless don’t you think?” Turning her head when she felt his chin on her, Greer laughed. “I don’t know Blair, I know for a fact that you have a very vivid imagination, so use it.. Wasn’t it you that boasted about causing trouble? I have yet to hear about anything going down.” Moving her head more, she moved her lips to his ear with a smirk. “Do something, I look way too cute in this dress to just stand around and have idle chit chat with men who are boring, besides, I don’t think you want to see me walk away with one of them now do you?” Kissing his cheek, she straightened back up. 

“Who, me? I haven’t done an interesting thing in my life.” Blair grinned. He’d positioned himself next to Greer purposely, waiting for her to notice him first. “Fancy seeing you here, Greer with two e’s.” He raised his eyebrows, shaking his head a little as he looked her over. “Fucking hell, you are so beautiful.”

Greer’s brow rose slightly at Blair. “Oh, if it’s not Blair with no e that likes to disappear,” hands going to her hips, Greer just looked him over. Damn it, why did he have to look so good in a fucking suit?  Reaching up, she ran her fingers over his jacket with both hands and Greer cleared her throat. “I know I’m beautiful, is that the best compliment you can give?” Dropping her hands, she took a small step back and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You’re right though, you’re not interesting. Come find me when you decide to do something unexpected, Blair.” Grinning, she turned away from him to grab a glass of champagne, looking over her shoulder at him like she expected him to step up and actually do something. 

She was terrifyingly straightforward, but perhaps that was a good thing? Maybe he should just stop trying so hard. It was probably really, really obvious. “Ok, you got me. I’m trying to be cooler than I actually am. I mean I am able to dance and I’d completely be happy to dance with you but I might not be amazing at it?” Ah, the job question. He was well practised in hedging around that one. “I work for the government. What do you do?” 

She wasn’t sure what exactly he looked like under the mask, there were small spots she could see though so she just used her imagination for the rest. He had to be at least decent looking given the way he carried himself - or well one should say carried himself when he wasn’t talking. Being straightforward however was just the Rutherford way, the entire family was pretty upfront of didn’t hold back. Poor Charlie may not know what he got himself into. “Good enough for me, just keep your hands off my ass, I mean unless you want to put them there and it’s not a accident, I’ll let ya. Government. Huh, that explains that squared shoulder stature you had before we started talking, now you look have the stance of the teenage boy who’s been asked by the head cheerleader to dance. Just please don’t start talking bills or whatever, you’ll lose the attractiveness that you have right now. Me? I currently had a seasonal position at a bakery. Sugar Street Sweets.”

Oh God. This was even worse. He wasn’t even trying to flirt with people and now he’d got caught up in whatever this was. Maybe his staffer would rescue him. Eventually. And then mock him about it for the next week. Just perfect. “Well, I. Um, yes, I used to work for a bank, and anyone normal wants to leave that work in the office! I’d like to think I can dance.” NO, you can’t dance, you’re going to end up on Youtube, what is wrong with you? “It shouldn’t be difficult to be more fun than that bloke, really.”

Well he didn’t seem like the most confident male she’s ran into this evening, but it could be worse, he could be literally stumbling over his words like a teenage by. “Good, work deserves to be left wherever work is. And if you can dance, then ask me out there. Unless you really can’t and were just saying you could to seem cooler - in that case please tell me to save yourself from embarrassment out there.” She grinned, crossing her arms over her chest. “You said worked for a bank, what do you do now?”

“I’m more interesting.” He deadpanned, but then wasn’t particularly sure how clear it would be that he was joking. “I don’t talk shop at parties, if that’s what you mean. Although, it really depends - what do you find interesting?” God. He should just go and resign and live in a cave, or something, because he was probably completely fucking this up. It wasn’t as if no, I’m not, I spend my evenings surrounded by parliamentary briefing notes would have been any better. At least he was wearing a mask. Small mercies. 

She had very little hope for finding anyone that was actually entertaining at this thing but she had to admit, turning them down was actually quite fun so there was that in the end. “What do I find interesting? Someone that’s good looking, can dance, knows how to have fun but at the same time can have an intelligent conversation that doesn’t revolve around things like banking and how much money they make in a year. If they’re good at making out that’s just an added bonus,” Greer smirked. Was she kidding? Hard to tell. “You look like you could be fun at least. More fun than him.” She motioned behind her. 

Love junkie on a three-day bender His grip, so hard, eyes glare Trouble like a mug shot 

“Okay, but like, she’s my friend, ashamed of me or not, and I really don’t have a lot of those, so I’m not really looking to lose any of the ones I’ve gained.” Maybe he was being a little irrational. Greer had this annoying tendency to be right, but Fitzy was more than lost without her. “I’m scared she’s ashamed, or she thinks I’m weird, or like, oh God, what if her brother’s transphobic or something? I haven’t told her I’m trans, but it’s super obvious, I don’t pass at all, and like, she’s definitely seen my binder before, so she’s probably just trying to figure out like hey, how can I keep them apart so my friend doesn’t fight my brother?” He was jumping to a million conclusions all at once.

Greer sighed and face palmed. Literally face palmed. “Fitzy. Baby. You are weird but if she minded that, would she be hanging out with you? And you know something? It’s not that obvious that you’re trans Fitzy. Not everyone knows what a binder is or what it’s for. You’re being paranoid Fitzy. Just talk to her. Find out what’s going on. Because if you don’t, I will find her and do it myself. Look, if I can bring myself to tell the guy I’m hooking up with that I’m trans, so can you. It’s who you are Fitzy.”