paradisalogs | we'll be counting stars

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we'll be counting stars

Who: Lucrezia and Cassandra, Lucrezia and Spike!
What: Finding lost dogs and making house calls nbd
When: December 2
Where: everywhere
Rating: PG for now!

Cassandra;

More than half the lavish parties thrown in Rome were probably hosted by her family. The church certainly has deep pockets, most of the time, even if sometimes her father digs too deep. So it's rare that she would miss any of the important festivities or feel the need to leave her house to attend the ones worth going to. Regret is an uncommon sentiment for her when it comes to parties, but she does regret not attending this Bathaus one when it could be a chance to mend old friendships (or just to get away).

It's good that the weather has turned rather cool, since Lucrezia doesn't know what dry ice is and how to properly transport a tub of ice cream. At least she knows to wrap it up in a scarf when she comes knocking, herself all bundled up in a coat as well. Here is hoping everyone is at home (minus Tim).

Spike

The dog was surprisingly well-behaved even if it did bark at the kittens once or twice. It even befriended the tiger, though whether that's to his credit or the tiger's is up for question. She has enough pets as it is, with the mansion quickly turning into a zoo without quick intervention, and Spike is a friend who seems ever in need of a friend, whether one that can talk or not.

But Lucrezia knows to greatly reward those who please her with their company, which is easier done in a magical castle that grants all wishes. So it's with a pretty pink pearl collar about his neck and a matching little velvet coat that she carries Ein back to his door, knocking just twice and hoping the master of the house is in.

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That hardly matters now that she has seen that book on Anne Boleyn he was reading before. She might think it's a favor to her that he would think to hide anymore books on historical people he happens to be reading at the moment. Ein has begun to squirm in her arms by now, either to run away from Spike or toward him, so she goes to her knees to release him.

Consider this a significant moment in which a Borgia kneels in front of you, Spike.

"He was envious of the kittens with their pearl necklaces."

"I never would have guessed." A dog envious of a cat. Spike keeps staring at the two of them, up until Lucrezia sets him down and Spike dumbly steps aside to let him trot past. It takes him exactly that much time to wonder how long she's been holding onto him. Or if she's the reason he went missing in the first place.

"Are you sure he's the same one?"

Lucrezia spares a chance to scratch the dog's neck before letting him wander off into the room, rising to her feet while pulling off her gloves, seeing as she is now indoors and without an animal to handle. His question is just met with a laugh.

"No other dog can be as charming, hm? But that is a question I should ask you."

Eventually, he thinks enough to hold the door open as an unspoken invitation to step inside before anyone else sees her. All in all, this is a weirdly elaborate plan to get into his room.

"It's hard to say. The person who would know isn't here anymore." A dog is a dog to Spike, obviously. She could have wished one up and he wouldn't have known the difference.

Spike, please, she thinks she can get into his room with just a word uttered to the journal but then she may also think too greatly of herself sometimes. He certainly does little to discourage her. She slips in with a grateful nod, sparing a last glance over her shoulder to check if anyone sees.

"Who would know?" He was fishing for that question.

Spike closes the door once she's inside, and almost immediately fishes around in his pocket for a cigarette.

"The dog's owner." Which isn't Spike, despite how circumstances turned out. The whole reason he looked at all was for the kid's sake. "That's probably why he keeps wandering off."

She stops at the middle of the room, turning slowly around to watch him, as if he is the guest and she is the hostess, judging whether his company is worth her time. He still amuses her though, all this evasion.

"You are his owner now."

He glances at the dog, who gazes back as much as Lucrezia seems to be, but with what he perceives as a questionable look. Spike wasn't his only choice, so why did he stay for so long? Loyalty to the man who saved his life, maybe.

"Did he scare the cats?" Eyes back to Lucrezia, this time catching the hint of amusement. To think she gave up such a tempting piece of blackmail.

Lucrezia tips her head to the side in question. She cradles her hands in front of her and waits for an invitation to sit or to go where he would prefer her to. He is the host now, isn't he?

"We also have a tiger, as you should know." Ein didn't scare the kittens as much as the big cat might have frightened him a couple of times. "He is so well-mannered that I would keep him if I thought you would not miss him."

She's expecting a little much from his lessons in manners; Spike takes a seat before ever offering her one, unlit cigarette in hand.

"I think he would have been better off with the tiger." As if he could miss a dog. The worst decision Ein had made was choosing him as a roommate. Now that he knows he has the option of staying with someone who feeds him, there will be no living with him.

Lucrezia had expected he might have learned a thing or two, considering the company he's been keeping. But she wouldn't want to be a victim of manners, already sauntering over to take a seat beside him without being offered.

"Are you going to eat him?"

He smiles slightly, if only because that crossed his mind once or twice when they were starving back on the Bebop. Not that he would have, but hunger has a way of breaking a person down eventually.

"Only if I run out of steak."

She giggles. That thought probably crossed the tiger's mind once or twice when Ein was having one of those days when he barked at everything that moves. Today seems to be a good day, with Ein approaching them with tail wagging, expectant. She reaches to scratch his head.

"Did you hear that, little one? He would keep you as hostage and demand steak as ransom."

It's weird, actually, to see Ein this happy. Watching him, Spike starts to wonder if that steak was drugged. He wouldn't rule out anything.

"Just when he thought he escaped." Maybe looking back at Lucrezia when he says that is implying too much, but she always seems to enjoy that about him.

Lucrezia wouldn't know either, wouldn't care, when the maids are there to simply keep everyone happy. Ein seems pleased enough, letting out a bark.

"But he made too much noise." It makes a good excuse to return him anyway. To be here.

"And you thought is been sleeping too well?"

He can keep this up, pretend that this is a normal exchange after she found his dog. If it is his dog and not a reasonable facsimile she wished up on her way over. He's not about to call her out on anything more, but part of him is waiting for it.

"Perhaps."

Perhaps he's right, and Ein really is just an excuse. She turns to watch him, meet his eyes if he allows it, as if to search for something when she actually means to make it harder for him to send her away when he sees how much she wants to stay.

"Have you found a woman yet, Spike?"

If only she knew. He would have accepted any excuse she had if it kept her from saying something like that. His head tilts, and in a moment of uncertainty, he looks as lost as he feels.

"Do you think I've been hiding something?" Then the look is gone, reigned in before it can do any damage.

Lucrezia laughs, with real humor even, because that is a very silly question indeed.

"You are always hiding something." If not intentions then feelings. She thinks he would hide everything if he can get away with it. "The question is, what are you hiding now, Spiegel?

Maybe he would if he kept different company. It's really hard to blame anyone else for luring her here. If being evasive counts as luring.

"There's not a woman in my closet, if you're wondering."

"And I was about to yell fire and see if she would jump out."

Being evasive does count as luring, especially since he might already know just how curious she can be. About all things, but mostly men, the strange creatures that they are. "But why not? I would not have minded more feminine company."

He's still debating about her interest in his love life, but it's easier to laugh it off than address anything seriously. It's a joke to begin with even if he did.

"You may have come to the wrong door, then."

"Not any more." She is sitting here beside him, after all, even leaning back against the sofa to show that she doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon. "That is by your own choice, anyway."

It must have been something she said, or the way she's making herself at home on his couch, that has him leaning forward towards her. Then exhaling.

"Sounds like a lonely existence."

"And I thought you had not realized." As unlikely as that must be. Lucrezia thinks that's partly his reason for visiting the mansion so often, to find those who know him better than most. Meaning Joshua, mostly. Spike hasn't been the most open to her.

"But not anymore, surely?"

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*thought I'd...

I fudged it!

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