Jean sighed, because she was clearly doing her best to make him feel better with what limited means she had, which only served to make him feel… he did not know what. Not patronized, necessarily, but somehow childish. He was not some delicate thing, broken-hearted and looking for pity.
Not from her, anyway. Not from anyone in this house, if he was honest. There was no greater insult than pity that had not been asked for, pity that had not even guilt in it to make it useful.
He released her, hands sliding over her skin as he bent to retrieve the towel she had dropped. "Navy, sapphire, aquamarine," he said as he stood, running the towel very gently over his hair. "Azure, sky, cerulean… or, no. Not quite so many as that, now." He frowned. He'd started listing them on reflex, but in truth, many of his suits had been ruined and not yet replaced. He'd not been out of his hermitage quite long enough for that, yet. "The navy needs to be washed, I think… there is the slate? Mais, non. You said shirt, the shirt is not blue with that."
Satisfied that his hair would not be ruining anything, he gave a sudden sweep of his arms, draped the towel over her shoulders like a cape. "There must be something," he said, before turning to search through the clothes hanging on the rack.
Downstairs tasted an anxious mess. How awful of Elijah, to not even give him anything good to eat. How terribly selfish of him, to putter about worrying when there was kissing to be done.
"No, no, no, no," he said, rejecting anything the wrong color. "No, no – this is awful, I must burn this." He pulled it from the hanger to let it fall in a heap on the floor of the closet. "No, no, no, what an awful brown, why do I still have this, what an awful decade, no, no, this is… I shall keep the vest, I think. No, no… hm." He pulled out a shirt without a matched suit, and narrowed his eyes at it assessingly. A bright shade of true blue, the sort of thing that would be eye-searing in excess but which could be eye-catching in small doses.
"What do you think?" he asked. "If I wear it with all black, and perhaps a ribbon? Or maybe you had a different blue in mind."
He paused, then, shirt held up against his skin, a manner slightly too similar to a canine catching a scent. Someone new, something new. Whiskey and wine and cigar smoke, this, and he felt as if he ought to know what it was. Not a vampire, not a werewolf, not any fae thing. What was this rarity that he could not place? Curiosity overtook his sense of propriety and fashion, throwing the shirt over his shoulders and buttoning it with that same absent expression, trying to read what he could not see. Trousers in black, he had plenty of those – but that waistcoat was torn, that jacket was frayed, he really did need to see a tailor.
"And what will you wear, belle chatte?" he asked, and he tried not to make it obvious that his mind was elsewhere, trying to decipher layers of a coffee cake.
Not from her, anyway. Not from anyone in this house, if he was honest. There was no greater insult than pity that had not been asked for, pity that had not even guilt in it to make it useful.
He released her, hands sliding over her skin as he bent to retrieve the towel she had dropped. "Navy, sapphire, aquamarine," he said as he stood, running the towel very gently over his hair. "Azure, sky, cerulean… or, no. Not quite so many as that, now." He frowned. He'd started listing them on reflex, but in truth, many of his suits had been ruined and not yet replaced. He'd not been out of his hermitage quite long enough for that, yet. "The navy needs to be washed, I think… there is the slate? Mais, non. You said shirt, the shirt is not blue with that."
Satisfied that his hair would not be ruining anything, he gave a sudden sweep of his arms, draped the towel over her shoulders like a cape. "There must be something," he said, before turning to search through the clothes hanging on the rack.
Downstairs tasted an anxious mess. How awful of Elijah, to not even give him anything good to eat. How terribly selfish of him, to putter about worrying when there was kissing to be done.
"No, no, no, no," he said, rejecting anything the wrong color. "No, no – this is awful, I must burn this." He pulled it from the hanger to let it fall in a heap on the floor of the closet. "No, no, no, what an awful brown, why do I still have this, what an awful decade, no, no, this is… I shall keep the vest, I think. No, no… hm." He pulled out a shirt without a matched suit, and narrowed his eyes at it assessingly. A bright shade of true blue, the sort of thing that would be eye-searing in excess but which could be eye-catching in small doses.
"What do you think?" he asked. "If I wear it with all black, and perhaps a ribbon? Or maybe you had a different blue in mind."
He paused, then, shirt held up against his skin, a manner slightly too similar to a canine catching a scent. Someone new, something new. Whiskey and wine and cigar smoke, this, and he felt as if he ought to know what it was. Not a vampire, not a werewolf, not any fae thing. What was this rarity that he could not place? Curiosity overtook his sense of propriety and fashion, throwing the shirt over his shoulders and buttoning it with that same absent expression, trying to read what he could not see. Trousers in black, he had plenty of those – but that waistcoat was torn, that jacket was frayed, he really did need to see a tailor.
"And what will you wear, belle chatte?" he asked, and he tried not to make it obvious that his mind was elsewhere, trying to decipher layers of a coffee cake.
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