we've [Eric] only just begun

[Adelaide Rose Montague]

Sneaking out of the house was far more fun than it had any right to be, and as Adelaide Montague stepped into the smoky haze of the speak-easy and breathed in the scent of tobacco and alcohol… well, it should have been a negative feeling, but all it did as make her feel alive.

Alexandra was right next to her, of course. In a way, even though Adelaide (more affectionately known as “Addie,” of course) wasn’t even looking at her sister, she could feel her there. People that knew them always liked to joke around that the twins had something of a sixth sense. They always seemed to know where the other one was, what they were doing – they could play off each other in ways that, arguably, no normal human beings could. For example, their being here wasn’t even something that had been verbally planned. Addie had only expressed that she wanted somewhere to go that evening, as their father was leaving them home yet again as he went out on business with one of his associates. The twin sisters had only looked at each other, and knew. The only verbal arrangements had been finding an escort – while getting out of the house was a thrilling thing, it was something else entirely to go without protection. After all, while their father might not approve of excursions alone, he would certainly lose his mind if he ever found out his precious girls went somewhere without a trusted bodyguard to look after them.

Now, that wasn’t to say that Addie felt as though she needed a bodyguard. In fact, if anything it was a nuisance, because the escort was constantly hovering over their shoulders, driving just about any potential suitors (or, at least, as Addie liked to imagine them) away. No boy would ask her to dance with Arthur the Stoic essentially enforcing a stone bubble around her and Allie, and if they couldn’t even have fun, or branch out, then what was the point of all this, really? It was a question that begged answering.

Despite the fact that she refused to see it, however, the reality of the situation was that, in a way, she and Allie did need that supervision. They were a part of the underground dirty politics that went on in New York City, it was true, which meant that they knew just as well as anyone that the city was a fairly shady place. Back alley deals, underground drug and alcohol rings, trafficking, all of that happened under the mayor’s nose, and by extension, the Montague twins were a part of it. Even if they didn’t actively participate in it (though anyone who knew them knew that this wasn’t because of their own choice), the one thing that they were blissfully unaware of was just how dark the world around them could be, or that someone might actually want them hurt for their father’s crimes, or simply to get at him.

This was something that they continued to be blissfully ignorant of as Arthur guided them to a table and had them sit down at it. Even if they didn’t seem to be able to dance with any of the young men that approached them, Addie and Allie managed to entertain themselves – they always did, one way or another, and eventually there was food and drink involved. Addie wanted to dance, but one glance back at Arthur told her that there was no way in hell that she’d get out onto the floor for fear of her going out of his sight. And there sure as hell wasn’t any way that she’d be allowed to go with some random stranger. She also wanted to try a bit of alcohol, given just how… forbidden it all sounded, but again, Arthur was the damper on the mood. Their father would throw a fit if he ever found out his daughters snuck out under his nose. That fit would only worsen should they ever be returned home to him drunk.

But, there were ways of sneaking things past him.

Arthur was a stoic bodyguard, quiet, strong and silent and standing over them like a hawk. But that also meant that in some ways, he was extremely ignorant. Which was, after some quiet urging from Allie, Addie had successfully slipped away towards the bar with several dollars in hand (that they’d stolen from one of their father’s drawers, of course) with the pure intent of buying her and her sister a drink. There had to be a first time for everything, didn’t there?

Though, it seemed, fate was going to throw her into a first time for more than one incident tonight.

As Addie approached the bar, all five-foot three of her, in that little white dress with her red hair tied up neatly about her head, she found that there was an obstacle in her way. Or, well, a number of obstacles, really. It was a gaggle of girls, all seeming to surround a young man, and there was no hiding the exasperated sigh that escaped her as she gently tried to nudge past them. ”Excuse me,” she chirped in that same exasperation – she chirped it once, twice, but even when the bartender himself seemed to be unable to see her, another annoyed sigh escaped her. Finally, there was only one route she could take, especially since she knew that her sister was probably watching (and laughing, at this point), and that Arthur would realize at any second where she was. So, raising herself to the meager full height she had, and putting an air on of that Montague dignity, Adelaide turned to the girls – and, more specifically, the male in the center of them, as he seemed to be the ridiculous source of all this attention.

”Excuse me, but I’m trying to get a drink, so if you could take your little hoarde of janes and go be a drugstore cowboy elsewhere, it would be greatly appreciated. Which means scram,” she said coolly, her voice holding a surprising amount of authority for someone whose height was most definitely not a force to be reckoned with.

[Eric Matthew Van Alstyne]

There were, contrary to popular opinion, nights when Eric Van Alstyne stayed in, when he managed to find some way to occupy himself, usually by freewriting in the study adjacent to his room, at home. However, those nights were certainly nowhere near as frequent as the nights in which he went out. The nights he went out were like nothing else he experienced in his life. There were women and booze and… everything that he shouldn’t want to have, but everything that still somehow did. That was how he found himself leaning against the bar, walking with some of his best chums from his school days, with a gorgeous brunette tucked up next to her. She was a pretty young thing, with dark, luxurious black hair that shone like silk and icy blue eyes… just his type, and it appeared he was hers, if the way she looked up at him as if she was bashful about absolutely everything was any indication. In fact, he was fairly certain that he had seen her bite her lip and blush more than once, and her eyes seemed only to drift up as far as his lips, at least, most of the time.

Her eyes rose and caught his, and a slow smile curled across his lips as he pulled her tighter to him, leaning down to murmur a few words in her ear, making her smile and giggle as she slid her hand gently against the lapel of the suit he was wearing. However, he did not yet lean down and claim those luscious, cherry red lips with his own, marking her as his. What the hell was stopping him? His friends were certainly asking him the question with his eyes, but whether it was because he was secretly bashful, a laughable idea to most of his friends, or he was just unwilling to take the first girl of the night home… Well he certainly wasn’t saying one way or the other. That didn’t, however, stop him from brushing his fingers over the small of her back, smirking down at her in a way that suggested there was so much more to come… or there would be, had a distraction not come in the form of a yelling redhead who had made herself known in probably the loudest manner she could. Eric raised his eyebrow at her. She was a pretty thing, tiny at just under a full foot shorter than he was, with wide eyes and an innocent face that didn’t quite match her authoritative air and her harsh words.

Then again, maybe he was just used to his brother.

Either way, he just couldn’t deny that she was… intriguing. “Sorry, love.” His voice held a rather confusing mixture of French and English roots, all watered down by the fact that he had grown up in New York. “But, for the record… I’m no drugstore cowboy.” Signaling the bartender, who slid two, new drinks at him, which Eric took, one in each hand, leaving his half-finished on the bar. Pushing off the bar, he moved forward, taking a moment to look her over rather quickly. He didn’t stop until he had nudged one of the girls out of his way, whose name he had not bothered to learn, and was standing directly in front of the tiny woman, standing almost a foot taller than she was. Reaching forward, he held out both of the glasses to her, one for each her and her sister, which a quick glance over her shoulder had told him that she was just as beautiful, and as sassy if the way she had glared back at him was any indication, as she was, with a daring look in his eyes. “What’s all this rush about, anyways? A girl pretty as you could have gotten a drink from any fella in this bar easy.” Him included, apparently, though he wasn’t quite above buying a beautiful dame a drink every now and again if it meant keeping her happy. And her attention on him. Especially if he got to take her home at the end of the night, though he suspected that wasn’t quite the case with this fiery girl.

Still, he found that he… didn’t quite want her to leave just yet. How had he not seen this girl before? Unless, of course, she wasn’t exactly a regular… though somehow he doubted it, given the ease that she navigated the crowd despite her tiny size. Looking down at her, he smiled and continued holding the drinks out to her, half-hoping that she wouldn’t take them. Not that it mattered. If she didn’t, there was always another dame, like the girl he had just had his arm around only a moment ago, her curves pressed against his body~ Why had he let her go?

[Adelaide Rose Montague]

There was no denying that Addie was a Montague right that second, as the young man finally turned his attention towards her, as she quirked that eyebrow to mirror him and gave him a look of haughty disdain. It was rather clear that she was not in the mood to fool around, and from the way his hands were rubbing all over whatever dark-haired jane he’d conjured up, well. Fooling around was exactly what he was here to do. Granted, she didn’t have much room to speak, given that she and her sister had only come here for a spot of fun, and she was just trying to get a drink, but now, Addie had her game face on. No room for mistakes. If she was going to learn how to command anyone with an air of dignity and authority, she had to get her practice in, didn’t she?

And, of course, on came the flirting, and Addie had to resist the urge to sigh impatiently when he called her ‘love’. Really? Again, perhaps it was a little hypocritical of her, to be getting irritated with a young man that was flirting with her, when that was all she’d been wanting all night. But as she looked up at him with those sharp hazel eyes of her, it didn’t take her long at all to decide that she didn’t like him. He had an air of entitled smugness, and that smile (while handsome, she had to admit, though she would never say that out loud) seemed to spark a natural irritation in her. Maybe she didn’t want him flirting with her because he’d annoyed her, or maybe she just enjoyed playing the icy girl that was hard to get, but quite frankly right in that second she wanted nothing to do with him. ”Then next time, if you don’t want reasonable human beings thinking you’re a cowboy, maybe you shouldn’t keep so many cows dangling off your arm.”

Then came the drinks. Initially, Addie narrowed her eyes and it looked for a long moment as though she wasn’t going to take them. She watched as he nudged one of his little dames out of the way and ordered them, and immediately the redhead bristled. Every little thing he did, every movement he made, seemed to only irritate her further, and she kept her arms folded tightly across her chest. She could feel his eyes on her, and the young Montague had to resist squirming in slight discomfort – it was almost as though she felt like an object under his gaze, but then again… was that meant to be flattering? Was that what flirting was supposed to be? Jesus, she needed to get out more. That would be a conversation to have with Allie the second they got home.

”If it was any of your business-“ As if acting on a split-second decision, Addie reached forward to take the two drinks in hand, eyeing them as if they were filled with poison rather than alcohol. ”I’d tell you. But given that it’s not, I really don’t think you need to know. Maybe I just like to buy my own drinks.”

And that was when she did something crazy.

Maybe she did it because she was feeling a little daring, or maybe she did it simply because there was something about him that really irritated her. Maybe she just wanted to make him look bad in front of the… well, she didn’t know what they were but she felt like it was a pretty safe guess to think they were prostitutes – girls he had with him. Or maybe the intuitive side of her seemed to pick up on how this was a man who was used to getting everything he wanted, and a part of her just wanted to… prove that he couldn’t.

Whatever the reason, whatever the thoughts going through her mind, Addie stood there only for a second more before looking down at the two shots he’d handed her. She didn’t know what was in them, or how much they’d cost, but it didn’t matter. Without any further preamble, Addie suddenly flashed the young man a mischievous, almost challenging smirk before chucking one of the shot glasses forward, the alcohol going forth to splash all over his shirt. Then, with a smug and proud look on her face, Addie even had the gall to take the other shot and lift it to her lips – shooting the liquid back. Her triumphant moment was tainted only by the sudden coughing fit that overtook her for a second, given she wasn’t used to taking shots and wow was that stuff strong.

Regaining her composure after a brief moment, Addie cleared her throat and raised herself to her full height, all five-foot-three of her. ”And now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to buy those drinks. I’d thank you if you could scram out of my way. Oh, and by the way.” She glanced behind him to see the space previously occupied by girls to be vacant, and couldn’t help but feel even more accomplished. ”The cows I mentioned earlier all seem to have left the paddock. Good luck tracking them down again, cowboy.” Shoving the two little shot glasses back into his hands, the little redhead sauntered past him and went to stand at the bar. She gestured to the bewildered bartended to bring her two more glasses, knowing that whatever she got and liked, Allie would probably enjoy too as a default. They were twins, after all.