#scalethrown01.

         “ --- The picture on your file does not do you justice.”     

         “ — ‘ey, you alright?” He’d grabbed her by the elbow before he could think better of it  —  but ‘better of it’ would be what, exactly? Allowing her to hit the ground?  —  and hasn’t yet thought to let go. “You nearly took a nasty spill, there.”

     “ here, lemme take that. ”  he means her coat, to hang up on one of the hooks by the door.  it’s late and a little cold outside, but the penthouse apartment he and antoinette have been living in for the last few years isn’t reflecting any of the chill.  at least not literally: it’s a sparsely decorated place, mostly black and white with occasional gold accents.  he let antoinette decorate.

         “Well, why the hell are we quarantining ourselves in a bar if we can’t drink?”

    “    this place has suuuuch good food !    “  persephone’s voice oozes with confidence, that of a repeat patron or of a food reviewer. she is both of these things. her words fall into the air with enough ambiguity that she could be talking to just anybody. it helps me to think that way, it makes me less nervous. but then i look at them and wow, what a face. but then, oh, what an aura. heavy.   

         “If you’re here to scold me --- ” He allows the ‘don’t’ to sit, unspoken, for fear of sounding clumsy with his words. For all his pretending not to notice or care, Monty knows full well that Fitzgeralds and Co. look down on him for his behavior  ---  wishes to amend their opinions.

He raises a defensive pair of hands, ducks his head ( with a slight bob ), and sighs through his nostrils.

         “It’s taken care of.”