taking the pamphlet from her hands he reads over the words and his brows knit together some before lifting his eyes to hers. “where’d you get it?’ he asks, small greeting smile touching his lips. he could tell the girl seemed somewhat out of her element. he wasn’t one for talking to anyone and everyone but she did seem to need some help. “it says something about a gathering. like a party or something. it looks exciting but it also looks….odd.”

blue eyes remain on the pamphlet as she watches him take it from her,  hoping that he can be able to help her rather than completely ignore her.    she’s still learning the human world,  navigating it to the best of her ability through the power of what she’d observed in the past.    but the specifics and nuances, she still needs some practice.   “i passed by this building a few blocks away.   it looked pretty big, there was someone handing them out to everyone who walked by.”   well, everyone who made eye contact.   “is that not a normal thing for people to do?”

“and not to mention, it would be a total waste of time.”  he drawls, showing nothing but apathy towards the slain witches.  “ugh, imagine the torture of getting dirt under your nails. gross.”  he wrinkles his nose before rubbing his palms together.  “shall i roast these suckers or do you want say a few words?”

     reggie      turns      her      head,                     a    wide    smile    ready    to    take    the    compliment.           ❛           thank      you      !    that’s    so    kind.      really,      i    just    show    up    and    do    what    they    tell    me,    i    don’t    think      talent      has    much    to    do    with    it    as    much    as    having    really      brilliant      directors.           ❜           it’s    a      practiced      answer,    one    her    manager    taught    her    to    say,    but    it    also    holds      truth      in    it.    reggie    didn’t    believe    she    had      any      talent           -           she    was    just      lucky.           ❛           really,    though,    thank    you    so    much.            ❜

“that’s an awfully humble thing to say.    and i mean that as a compliment;    i’ve heard of horror stories from other actors and actresses who aren’t as kind to give credit where it’s due.”    and in her centuries of life,    those horror stories started even from the very beginnings of her curse.    “that’s not to say that you don’t have a part in it,  though.    you really do, you’re quite extraordinary.”

    interesting — and not something she heard nearly often enough. it wasn’t as if eloise expected people to go around saying she was intelligent all of the time, though it certainly didn’t hurt to hear it on occasion. nurturing her mind was the most important thing, in her opinion, and being complimented on such a thing certainly didn’t hurt. “well, i appreciate that, mr carter. truly. is that truly all you wanted to tell me? that you think i am smart?”

maximus blinked, head tilting just slightly enough to cast a light shadow to the left side of his face, though he kept his eyes fixed on eloise.    “would that be truly surprising for you, miss bridgerton?”  

severide can’t help the smirk that spreads clear across his face as his head lulls towards the man, “ yeah, but that’s cause people like her better, she gets away with more. ” he said playfully before hooking the rope through maximus’ safety gear, giving it a good tug to ensure it wouldn’t come loose with max’ body weight on the way up. severide glanced up towards their men, giving them a thumbs up through his glove to begin hoisting max up through the floor before he looked back towards the other. “ don’t you worry carter, i’ll come ‘round to collect. let’s just get you outta here first. ” 

max narrows his eyes at the comment but he smiles,  lets out a breath of a laugh at severide’s words.    “people like me,”   he tells his friend,  but with a laugh in his voice.    he knows it’s true,   but he also knows that people may prefer ellie more;    she’s nicer,  he’ll give her that.    “i’ll hold you to it, sev.   i’m sure you’re going to want something big for saving something as important as my life,”  he adds with another laugh.

“Well, one I am very glad that you didn’t toss the phone into the ocean because that would be costly. Imagine having to replace it and pay all those insane fees. That should be illegal, honestly.” She sighed, a hand through her hair for a moment. “How many times have you changed your number at this point?”

“Yeah,   thank god I didn’t really go through with that.   I was so tempted to, though,”  she mused with a quirk of her brow.    “--- --- --- ---  I haven’t changed it.   Should I have?   Is that something that a normal person would have done by now?”

following carina like they’d known each other for years, making a point to keep her line of vision focused so she didn’t look too obvious “i’m belle, thank you for stepping in. normally i’d handle it myself but i’m ill prepared tonight”

“i get it;    sometimes it’s just easier to get through with a partner in crime around,”  she offered with another grin.    “especially when they’re gross and can’t take the hint.”

“oh come on, i’m a cop. you’re saying you don’t trust me, the detective?” erin’s face was a picture of shock and betrayal, though completely false and exaggerated. of course there would be some element of fudging the numbers if she needed to, not that she thought she’d need to, however. she knew she’d be able to win this fair and square. “fine. neutral party to keep score. who do we know who won’t take sides?” 

“and i’m just as serious as the next guy.    working with the coronian guard,   they don’t just take anyone.”    though he’d admit he was surprised they’d accepted the former crown prince of corona as a recruit, but still.   it was what he wanted to do.   “is this something that people would put ads on craigslist for?”

nicklas had wanted to be civil. wanted with everything to just placate this away because although nicklas can’t figure out why ; rapunzel cares about him, deeply & in the time he’d been her knight he brought her happiness. fighting with her brother would only eventually pull her into the middle. fingers angrily thread through his hair, giving a slight tug in frustration before he let go and shook his head at maximus. “ our world is about to be blanketed in a dark curse any day now and you’d rather hold this over my head? ” nicklas scoffed, eyeing the man before him up and down as if he can’t imagine the prince standing before him is the same person he’d spent hours training with & called friend. “ it’s beneath you, your highness, and none of this is going to matter when the evil queen casts her curse. ” nick speaks with such bitterness, stepping towards the prince. “ why are you so willing to strip away even an ounce of your sister’s happiness right now? ” 

“do not assume that i am prioritizing this over the fate of our kingdom.   i will not be perceived as some halfwit who does not have his priorities in line.     corona remains a high priority of mine and that includes my sister,”   he remarks back,  brow furrowing in anger.   mostly at the assumption that he’d rather be petty than care about the fate of corona.    he supposes that’s where the difficulty lies, as no one really knows what the evil queen is planning on doing or how they can prevent themselves from being affected by it.   from preventing it from happening in the first place.     “i’m not stripping away her happiness,   i am looking out for her.   her happiness is just as important to me as eating my first meal each morning.    do not presume that i will keep her as sheltered and miserable as that witch.”   there’s anger in his voice now.     anger and betrayal all in one.   

    ah, that kind of torment. it would seem that eloise knew ‘torment’ better than she thought, what with seven siblings — three of whom were older brothers. “ah, that kind. i believe the secret is ensuring you tease them before they have a chance to tease you. they can be insufferable from time to time, however…” or more like all of the time. “how many do you have?”

“oh,  is that truly the way to succeed?”   camilla mused with a laugh,  eyes catching the light and, in turn, looking as though they’re shining.   “i must admit my experience on doing the teasing is often cut short.   the minimal times i’m home from boarding school have me as the butt of their jokes,”  she added.   “i have two.   and you?”