felicia is boisterous,   a riot even in her signature monochrome.   nothing like her feline counterpart in this way,   a curious animal but one that prized secrecy above all else.   she would be caught under the spotlight and it was entirely intentional.   a frenzy of flashbulbs catches the pale sheen of her platinum hair,   reflecting the brightness in a way that creates a haze around her features.   an enigma hiding in plain sight as she takes his arm and makes herself real for him.   ❛   hope you weren't trying to keep a low profile tonight.   ❜   scandalous enough was the privileged recluse making a rare public appearance with the media's favorite rumor waiting-to-happen.   ❛   how about bottle?   you look like you could use some champagne.   we're celebrating tonight,   aren't we?   ❜   a toast to a long and fruitful partnership together.   they could work out the kinks in the contract later.  

"couldn't if i tried." those who know him want him for what he has; those who don't know him desire him for what they think he has. at least felicia is honest. he may never know the extent of what he can be for her and what she seeks in him but he knows he's been collected like a gaudy, desired thing. and it's an easier matter to stomach with consent.

and with this consent, regulus throws himself on the mercy of her guiding stride and, god, he's not even looking ahead of him. regulus' attention is turned to this enigma on his arm, admiring the confidence and the audacity of her pluming scent. she lays waste to the wealth and excess, cuts through the chanel and sobranie like a mockery to their extravagance. he pays no mind to the other eyes and gossiping mouths but he knows they are on them both — slights and barbs like little knives much too dull to hurt them.

they navigate the undeserving crowd unscathed; regulus whispers a swift direction to a passing cocktail server and, when felicia selects her perch, their bottle is already following them. regulus relinquishes her arm, unbuttons his coat, and lowers himself into supple leather like a prince claiming his throne.

' what? i was thinking of something else. '

the human mind was not one so easily understood, especially for one such as him who had minimal positive contact with humans for most of his life. even with all of his improvement in that field, @proditeur was still a man that wasn't so easy to understand. just when he thought he had a handle on the other's thought process or behaviors, regulus did something to completely flip that on its head. he had thought that regulus had heard him, but apparently not. cobalt hues just blink at the other blankly for a moment, and not for the first time, he wonders just what he's thinking.

❝ oh, it was, uh, nothing important. ❞

headache. headache. headache. it has plagued him since the beginning of the week, at first a dull ache ever-increasing to a gentle throb from his temples to the base of his neck. he hasn't mentioned it. there doesn't seem much point; dick can't fight a headache with knives and fists and regulus can stave it off with some experimental use of his medicine cabinet. but now he's caught in a dream-like state, missing conversations and losing track of where he is.

so he smiles, cracks a broken laugh at the quiet chide and smooths the inside of his thumb on the curve of his archer's cheek, "... you are the expert..."

what a wonderful surprise this all was, regulus dupois. though he wasn't one to judge a book by it's cover, no matter how pretty and gilded, he's quite surprised by the contents of these pages. a man so frosty and cold had a hidden warmth to him, one that just needed a bit of coaxing. though that wasn't his initial intent, he's happy for this discovery all the same. this warmth, and how readily it came to light, may surprise regulus, but it's hardly a surprise for dick himself. after all, no matter how jaded one could be and no matter how shallow another was, there was always that hidden gem of realness in everyone. some people just required a little more digging, is all.

his gaze has long since left the garden, cobalt gaze shifting to something this side of melancholic, but no less serene and beautiful. he watches dark strands cover stormy hues for a moment before being flipped away, not even bothering to hide his stare. he wasn't looking for anything in particular, just observing the way that the very fabric of earth seemed to be drawn to the other man. dick has to blink once, twice, to get out of his thoughts and think about what regulus said, though a smile graces his lips a moment later.

BECAUSE HE CANNOT WASH THESE IMAGES AWAY, SO HE WILL HAVE TO BURN THEM OUT, INSTEAD.