[lucian everett rochester]

lucian rochester

Even though the weather was cooling down it had never seemed to stop Lucian from strolling through the park. Though he did mind the cold he always thought of his father's saying about the cold 'Better cold since you can put more layers on, than hot where you can only take off so many layers before it is very indecent'. It was just one of those random things that always came into his head as he felt the cold chill of the wind brushing against his face. It was refreshing, never did he ever get up early but today he had been rudely awakened by his little sister. After attempting to fall back asleep he finally gave up and decided it was nice enough to go out for a walk. Besides if he had to stay inside with his sister he'd probably be more tempted to kill her, she was in one of those bubbly girly moods at the moment and that was the last thing he wanted to deal with as he was still trying to wake up.

As he walked it was still a bit evident that he wasn't fully awake. Everything about him wasn't like his usual overly confident almost regal attitude. No, at the moment he was trying to not be blinding by the rising sun, and somewhat hoping nobody would see him here. He looked a mess, or well what he would consider a mess, his hair was being untameable once again, from the somewhat dazed look on his face it was obvious he wasn't used to being up this early. He hardly noticed that much of the beautiful surroundings, the lush green grass, the sounds of the birds chirping in the trees. Lucian had never been one to really appreciate the beauty of nature, sure it was pretty but he wasn't about to sit down in the park and stare at all the beautiful colours of the world around him. He just didn't like to think of how wonderful the landscape was every time he went outside. It just seemed to be one of those things he never thought much of, so why should he start thinking about it now?

Glancing around he couldn't help but notice that not too many people were out this early. Well..he couldn't blame them, they were the smart ones that were either doing something better than staring at the flowers and being cold. The only good thing that seemed to come out of this so far was the breeze that was gradually walking him up. He began to wonder how some people could walk through the park everyday and be so amused by it. Oh well, perhaps he would find out soon enough. Until then he would have to wake himself up, but how? The wind may have been working but he was hating this feeling of being slow, hardly alert, and just waiting for something to happen. He wasn't about to run, though that would wake him up he'd probably end up scuffing up his boots and though he wouldn't mind scuffing them up eventually he wasn't about to do it over something so silly as running around to wake up. Besides just imagining himself running at this time was just nonsense, sure he may have been more casually dressed today in tan pants that were neatly tucked into his boots, and a white shirt that was concealed by a red jacket he had over it. No, he was sure he wold get weird looks for doing that, despite the fact that there were only a few people in the park as far as he could see.

Running a hand through his messy hair, he tried to get it to stay back. But alas, it was going to be stubborn today, too bad he hadn't been awake enough to actually care about it. How on earth did anybody let him walk out of the house like this? Did they not see that he looked like a wreck?! Of course his little sister had said something about him among the usual banter she spoke whenever she following him around and thinking that he was actually paying attention to her. But never had he thought that she would have speaking the truth about the way he looked today. Most of the time he just ignore the brat that was his sister and just continued about his business. However today he must have been so tired he hadn't even bothered to really look over himself in a mirror properly.

He just hoped to god nobody he knew would see him like this. Though now that he was thinking that, he had to wonder what his excuse would be if he did run into somebody. Oh what a terrible dilemma this put him in. No, no he wasn't going to think about this negativity. He wouldn't let himself do it, he just needed to act as if he was his usual self. Going over the instructions he was giving himself in his mind, stand up straight, act as if he was enjoying himself, and so on and so forth. Doing his best wake himself up, he kept on trying to remind himself that he shouldn't care about what other people thought, after all he was a Rochester he doubted anybody here could top that.

[briony isabel wentworth]

Briony had always had a particular fondness for St. James Park. It went back a long way, all the way back to her childhood, where, as a toddler she had spent much of her time out in the crisp air. Memories of running hand in hand with her mother Rose, through the myriad of mazes and the wonder and awe she had felt as a four-year-old, came back to her now, as the wind blew an earthy scent into her face. Her brown hair flew wildly about her face, making Briony wish she had had the foresight to tie it up before venturing outside on this cold, windy morning. After having spent a relatively large part of the previous night letting her candle burn down as she devoured yet another one of the books her father would disapprove of her reading, Bree slept for a few hours before waking, and unable to fall back to sleep, got up. To say that her father disapproved of the material she chose to read, however, was not to suggest that it was in any way scandalous or inappropriate for a young lady of Briony's stature to read. Indeed, it merely reflected her father's attitude towards a woman's perusal of novels. It was deemed by James to be inappropriate, although for what reasons, he would never explain. All that this meant was that Briony tended to have a lack of sleep most nights, but over time she found she adjusted quite satisfactorily.

And thus, Briony was taking a stroll in St. James Park, something that, she reflected, her mother was sure to figure out once she and her husband eventually awoke. If indeed, they were even awake by the time that Briony returned. Elizabeth would be, there was no doubt about that. However, her eleven-year-old sister was hardly likely to notice, being still at the age where she was rather preoccupied with dressing her dolls and if by some small miracle Elizabeth were to notice, Bree doubted she would care. A crisp wind swept through the park and Briony pulled her cloak tightly around her. The midnight blue cloak was a favourite of hers, and the reason why was quite apparent now. Aside from being pretty, and fitting her quite nicely, the warmth it provided her was certainly a comfort. At the same time it was all too tempting to warm herself up by tearing through the park at breakneck speed and get it some exercise while she was at it. Still, the temptation was not so great that it would not be automatically overwritten by her cautious side, which said, "Chances are there are people you know here. Don't cause an uproar. Think of how it would reflect on you and your family." Briony ground her teeth. The little voice in her head was as much a part of her as every other facet of her personality and it was idiotic to be annoyed by it, but for some reason Bree just couldn't help it.

The chirping of the birds had suddenly become a whole lot louder and it was quite possible that what had excited them was Missy. Drat that cat! Briony frowned. It was quite clear that Missy had followed her when she left the house. Next time, Briony noted, she would make sure that Missy was in the house before she ventured outside. Bending down to the cat's height, she looked her sternly in the eyes. "Go home," her voice was stern. To her immense surprise, the cat looked at her in a rather anguished way, as if to say, "don't you love me?" before turning on her heel - not that cats had heels to turn on – and promptly left the park. The laughter bubbling up inside Bree threatened to escape, but she held resolute, although the smile that graced her face made it clear that there was something that had amused her very highly. Her head tilted upwards to where the birds sat, perched on the highest branches of the tree. "You're quite intelligent to stay far away from Missy," she told them. Too much solitude really could breed madness, was her next thought. It was all very well to talk to Missy, after all she was her cat. However, talking to those birds was really just one step away from asking the flowers whether or not they were thirsty. And that was something she was certainly not going to do.

People watching would have to do instead. It was an interesting occupation of her time and at least it would ensure that the possibility of her speaking to inanimate objects would disappear. There weren't all that many people around, but that was hardly a surprise considering the weather and the time of day. Upon spotting a young man with messy, dark hair, Briony wondered whether it was someone she knew. However, she dismissed the idea almost immediately. If it was, it would surely be Lucian and he wasn't one to be up so early. Just as she was about to turn her attention to someone else, the young man turned slightly and Briony got a better look at his face. Even from this distance, there was no mistaking those icy blue eyes. Her first instinct was to call out to him, wave him over as it were, but her social instincts immediately overrode that plan. It would not be ladylike, after all. Briony wondered idly, as she scanned the park, if it would be so very indecent to give Lucian a good fright. That plan was also quickly discarded, although not without some slight reluctance on Bree's part. Instead, she would continue to walk, probably in his general direction and time how long it took him to notice that she was gracing him with her presence.

[lucian everett rochester]

He could remember going to the park when he was younger, he hadn't been too fond of playing in the grass. It was just so itchy and often left those grass stains, he had always been scolded for getting his clothes dirty though he did do it anyways. What had changed his ideas of nature? Perhaps it was because children didn't really seem to care that much about anything as long as they were amused. Now that he thought about it not much had changed in his point of view, as a child he never appreciated the scenery and to this day he really took it for granted it was mainly just another place to go and wander about. He much preferred the park at night, it was just so mysterious and there were always some odd assortment of people around. Everything in the dark was better according to him, maybe not everything but most things were. Just the idea of uncertainty made it more exciting than just walking through a freezing cold park. Sure the park was cold at night, but at night nobody could see you unless they were close by, it was much easier to do as pleased without having to worry about reputations and people knowing who you are.

As he continued his walk he kept on wondering why was this place so popular? To sit out in the cold air early in the morning, with the grass still wet from the dew. It sounded dreadful to him, but then again he wasn't one to love nature that much. There was some aspects of nature he liked, sunsets and sunrises were pretty and flowers we nice, but other things like certain animals were terrible. Though there was always an easy solution to that as well, hunting. Of course he couldn't hunt cats, that would be quite odd, but the idea had crossed his mind whenever he was in the same room with one of those dreadful creatures. Besides he was sure a cat would be pretty hard to hunt, they were just so quick at all the right times it was quite annoying. And it wouldn't be fair to shoot a cat while it is sleeping, it wouldn't be that fun either. He didn't mind cats when they were off sleeping, it was when they came up to him and decided that he needed to pay attention to the cat and it wasn't about to let him get away with it.

Glancing around the park once more, just to give him some idea of the people who were here. Nobody of importance, or wait..no there was somebody of great importance coming his way. Lovely, of all the people that were here it just had to be somebody he cared about. Miss Briony Wentworth, the girl he had feelings for though he would never admit that. And of all the days to look messy and unkempt, it was the day that he would randomly see her. Trying to smile as best as he could as he came closer to her, he was glad to see her just somewhat embarrassed by the way he was dressed today. Even as he smiled, he was constantly going over so many things in his mind as he tried to pretend he was perfectly alright and cheerful. Why had he come to the park? Of all the places to go, perhaps if he went down to the harbor or if he roamed the streets he would have easily blended in. But it was too late now, and he couldn't just ignore her and pretend like she wasn't there. After all he did want to talk to her and he wasn't about to be rude and pass her by without acknowledging her presence.

"Isn't it a bit early to be out?" He asked as he got a bit closer to her. Fortunately the idea of having to be his oh so charming self in front a girl he fancied had woken him up more than anything else. How he would hate to look like a fool in front of her, of course she was one of his closest friends so she had most definitely seen him at his worst but still he wasn't about use that as an excuse for his casual appearance this morning. How terrible, well he would just have to act and pretend that he wasn't in the mood to care about his appearance this morning, or maybe he just wouldn't mention it and hope she hadn't noticed. There was so many ways to go about this, he felt quite silly for thinking so much about this. After all she was only his friend, he shouldn't have to impress her or anything of the sort.

[briony isabel wentworth]

It clearly didn't take long for Lucian to notice that she was there. After all, it was probably unlikely that he would be smiling – albeit slightly awkwardly - and walking towards her if she was someone he didn't know. Briony's smile was brilliant as they approached each other. She was always truly glad to see Lucian. And although she was not one to generally try to analyse Lucian's facial expressions (after all, it was no easy feat), she could almost swear that he looked ever so slightly embarrassed. Then again, it just could be the effect of the crisp, windy morning. His hair was slightly messy, true, but in her opinion it was nothing in comparison to the likely tangles of her windswept hair at the moment. She tried in vain to smooth it down, tame it into something slightly more lady-like, but after a few moments when it was apparent that the gnarly brown tangles weren't going to settle without going through them with a hairbrush, she gave up.

"Isn't it a bit early to be out?"

Briony bit back laughter before answering. "Well, really, I could ask you the same question. Good morning, Lucian. And how are you today?" She shrugged her shoulders, trying and hopefully succeeding to hide the fact that all of a sudden, she was quite nervous. There was absolutely no reason to be, she reminded herself. It's Luce – your best friend with the girlish nickname. "Well," she continued and one may have gotten the impression she was about to launch into a short tirade of some sort, "I may or may not have been reading rather late last night, and as a result I may or may not have gotten much sleep and therefore, for some odd reason, I may or may not have woken up early and after not being able to go back to sleep, may or may not have decided to go for a walk." Her grin became slightly impish as she waited for Lucian to fully digest what she had just said. "Think you get it?"

Her eyes sparkled for a moment, which should have been enough warning for anyone that knew her well enough that something was about to come up. "So, what has you looking so casual this morning?" Truthfully, a part of Briony did feel the tiniest bit unkind for teasing him so, but his reactions were always such an amusing sight to behold and really, the temptation was just too great. After all, he really had set himself up perfectly for it. It would probably take torture for her to admit it but she didn't mind the way he looked right now at all. In fact… However, Bree immediately pushed these thoughts to the furthest corner of her mind. It would not do at all to be distracted by that sort of thing now. Even though… Here Briony couldn't help but let out a slightly annoyed kind of sigh. These sort of thoughts had been invading her head all too much lately (although part of her didn't mind).

"I'm joking." Briony decided to put Lucian out of his misery. "You look fine. Truly." She couldn't resist reaching up to ruffle his hair affectionately. It was actually quite difficult to reach him now, he was just so much taller. Briony had always had a petite figure and she doubted she was growing to grow much more. At 5'10, whereas she was 5'3, Lucian towered over her considerably. Shooting a mock glare at him, she stood on tiptoes in a futile attempt to be slightly taller. Needless to say, it failed rather spectacularly with Bree almost losing her balance. Regaining stability, she stood with as much grace and poise as she could muster. Her smile was charming but her eyes said it all, daring him to laugh. If he knew what was good for him, Briony mused, he would let it go without the barest hint of laughter. The question was did he know what was good for him? It hardly mattered anyway. Regardless of what he did (and this went for pretty much anything), Briony would cut him a lot of slack. She rarely teased him – except sometimes in her head - about his striking inability to say no to her, mostly because she was fully aware that she did exactly the same thing went it came to him.

[lucian everett rochester]

Like usual she looked lovely, he didn't see how she did it. Even when she didn't try she looked stunning. Compared to him in his mind, she looked much more well kept than he did. He couldn't remember a time where she didn't look pretty, he doubted there would ever be a time where she didn't. He could almost laugh at himself as his ideas of how pretty she was crossed his mind.

"I'm...good, and you?" He said after a moment, he really didn't know how he was, it was too early to think about anything. Lucian couldn't believe he was out here at this time and standing like a fool in front of this he thought was so pretty. This was silly, he tried to shake the thought out of his head, there was no way that he was thinking that he needed to Bree. Listening to her as best as he could, he was still trying to get everything she was saying. It was too early for all the 'may and may not' nonsense, though he was awake his mind wasn't fully grasping everything she was telling him. "I think I do." Lucian replied after a moment of trying to get it all sorted out in his head. "You should get more sleep though, I don't see how you could stay up all night reading." How on earth could she do that? There was no way in hell he would ever do that, but then again if he wasn't forced to read a book by his mother or father than he rarely ever read a book on his own unless the subject really interested him.

Of course out of all the things to ask him, he shook his head and tried to smile slightly as if he wasn't bothered by it. Really he wished he had been more awake so he could have made a better choice on his appearance today. "And you look marvelous this morning as well." He commented sarcastically with a smile, she just had to mention the way he was dressed. Well she did look marvelous, she always did but he wasn't about to tell her that. Oh no, that would hint that he actually might like her as something more than a friend. Deciding he might as well just tell her the truth he continued. "Charlotte decided to wake me up this morning." he said with a sigh and then continued,"I don't know why she did, but I couldn't get back to sleep." How he despised his sister sometimes, only some times though.

"Thanks." Did she really mean it? He wasn't quite sure, he didn't think he looked fine at all like this. Giving her a look of fake loathing as she messed up his hair even more, after a moment he shook his head and smirked,"Just mess it up even more way don't you." He could do it quite easily to her, but no he'd be nice..well at least for now anyways. Watching her attempt to be tall, he couldn't help but laugh. How silly she could be, he loved that about her. Even if she didn't want him to laugh at her, he couldn't help it, the way she tried to be taller than him was quite amusing. "I could pick you up if you'd like to be taller." He said with a smile, oh yes one good advantage he had over her. If she could tease him about his name and about the way he dressed than he could tease her about being shorter than he was.

[briony isabel wentworth]

Lucian seemed to constantly cause Briony to have to stifle her laughter. It was clear that he wasn't quite awake and all the twisted roundabout ways of telling the truth in society were not the best thing to have to deal with on an early morning. On that account she could sympathise, having dealt with enough of it from other people. Well, at least he sort of got what she was saying. "Get more sleep?" Briony's tone suggested that it was certainly a lost cause. "Why? There's so much to read and so much to do with life that I can do better if I don't spend a large part of my day sleeping. After all, I'm not sure my father would be very happy about me strolling around St. James without his permission. Still, what he doesn't know won't hurt him and if they do wake before I come back, Mother will smooth it over." Her mother, it seemed to Briony, understood to a small extent that she would go mad if she didn't have some time to herself. Thankfully, her mother had always been able to convince her father that it was perfectly acceptable and not something that he should make a fuss over.

Okay, now Briony felt slightly more guilty. It was a little cruel to mention his appearance, especially when she knew that Lucian had always been more than a little finicky about the way he looked in the presence of people he knew. However, this feeling quickly evaporated with Lucian's sarcastic comment. It was not in Briony's nature to dwell over little slights like that because they could be meant in jest and society was so full of veiled barbs that dwelling on them would do no good in the slightest. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but feel slightly (only ever so slightly, mind you) hurt by his comment, even if the smile did offset the majority of the unkindness. He probably didn't really mean it, she reminded herself. Offense is almost always the best defence. Bree grinned slightly at the mention of his sister. Although Charlotte was probably actually slightly (meaning a month or two) closer in age to Bree than Lucian was, they'd never been really close friends, although her parents probably still held out on the hope. There was no dislike on the part of either of the girls but the fact remained that Briony and Lucian were just better friends. "Being her usual self then?"

"Just mess it up even more, why don't you?" She shrugged with an air of disinterest. "I suppose I should thank you for the offer, but I'm quite alright now." The dimples showing in her cheeks betrayed her amusement. His offer to lift her up shouldn't have been anyway near as tempting as it was. There was no way she would accept, of course, but the idea of it was incredibly enticing. His smile was brilliant and something that never failed to make her smile in return. She was one of the people who could induce him to smile more often than he normally would and this made her feel, in a way, extremely privileged.

"If I were you," she began, "I would count yourself very lucky that you missed Missy before hand. She decided to follow me here and play with the birds. I sent her home." Then again, Briony thought, perhaps it was more lucky for Missy that he missed her, rather than the other way around. She voiced these thoughts absent-mindedly, almost as though she was talking to herself rather than to Lucian. His hatred of cats was the only thing that could have permanently impaired their relationship when they were younger. Back then, Bree still adored cats and kittens of all colours and sizes. And Luce, well, he still hated them. As a little girl of only eight at the time, she was very much offended that Lucian did not love her beloved kitten Missy (for she was a kitten at the time) just as much as she loved her. Regardless, their differences were somehow resolved, which eventually led to where they were today. Although, exactly where Lucian stood was something Briony didn't know, nor did part of her wish to know, just in case it would not be pleasing to her.

[lucian everett rochester]

Sleep was good, he didn't see how she didn't like sleeping most of the day. Lucian loved it, he spend most of his nights out doing things so the day was the best time to catch up on his sleep so he would be well rested and in a good mood for the nights events. "How can you spend all night reading? Doesn't it get tiring after a while?" He was always quite puzzled by why she read so much. Were there that many books to be motivated to spend all night reading? "Well I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I was with you, right?" He asked, perhaps it might be good that they had met here anyways. Besides even if he did look terrible at least he was here with her. He doubted he could tolerate anybody else at this time, especially his family. Though he didn't think his parents would care that much if he was out walking about the part, they'd probably encourage it since he rarely did it.

He was only joking about her appearance, he did hope she knew that. Even if he had been sarcastic he truly did mean that. However he wasn't about to sincerely tell her his thoughts about the way she looked. Lucian somewhat liked the fact that Bree and Charlotte weren't close friends, only because it meant that he could be with Bree and not have to deal with his annoying sister interrupting them all the time. It was always terrible to have her around his friends, perhaps it was because Charlotte and Lucian both enjoyed attention and therefore fought over it constantly. If he had to do that in front of Bree he didn't know what he'd do. "If you mean incredibly annoying than yes her usual self." He didn't see why his sister did the things she did, it was more than annoying to say the least.

"Are you sure?" He asked with a smile just in case she really wanted to be taller for a moment or two. Of course if anybody was to see them messing about like that they might get the wrong idea. But of course it was all out of fun, right? It was too early to be thinking of decency anyways so why not pick her up. Who cared who saw them having a bit of fun? Around other nobles he was often smiling fakely just to make his mother and father happy, she had to be one of the only people to receive one of his genuine smiles.

Him being the lucky one? Oh no, it was Missy who was the lucky one. He wouldn't mind 'accidentally' stepping on the cat or giving it a good kick and using the excuse that he was half asleep. Though he didn't think Briony would have appreciated him kicking her cat. Ever since he met her that was one of the only things they really disagreed on, cats. Those terribly filthy animals that seemed to be so self involved and really didn't care about anything or anybody unless it gave them food. From the beginning Lucian and Missy never got along, he especially hated her whenever she decided he'd be a nice pillow and clawed his leg to make herself a nice bed. Though that hadn't happened in a while, not that he minded he enjoyed the fact that Missy seemed to run away whenever he came near her. "I'm sure the birds are luckier than I am. But a cat in the park probably isn't good in the first place...she could get lost." Oh what a shame that would be...no not really.

[briony isabel wentworth]

The many different worlds that opened to Briony when she read were something that she believed she would never tire of. Adventure and love, it was true, were the two most common themes of the novels devoured nightly by her and these in part strengthened her determination for adventure, although it was not something a young girl in society should be worrying her pretty little head over. "They're an escape." She admitted. "Society is something that amuses me, nothing less, nothing more, but I do believe I should die without some kind of haven to escape to. There are always more books to read, always new adventures to have." Briony halted. She was rambling again, almost close to talking of her hopes and dreams, everything she wanted from life. She tended to keep those kind of wishes silent, no one really wanted to hear them and she certainly did not want to be mocked or judged because of them. "Although, yes, I suppose you're right. Having someone else with me would probably appease Father. I mean, he likes you and your family. You're all thoroughly respectable." The last sentence held a slightly mocking edge. The values that were held near and dear to her family, like respectability mattered of course, but it was ridiculous that families could fall in and out of her father's favour on account of it. Especially if it were to be the Rochesters.

Bree sent a slightly reproving glance over to Lucian. "She's not all that bad, you know." Briony supposed that the difference in perspective could be easily accounted by the fact that Charlotte and Lucian were brother and sister and there was bound to be tension where their relations were concerned. Sibling rivalry had never been much of a problem between her and Elizabeth. At eleven, Elizabeth was still far more concerned with dolls than with arguing with her sister and their relationship had always been pleasant, even if they were not very close. Her parents' relief at their lack of fighting was always evident in their manner and in a way it was something Rose and James prided themselves on, as though they'd had an active role in maintaining the peace and pleasantries between the two. Briony would beg to differ, but it didn't hurt to have her parents happy about something.

She really wished he would stop tempting her like that. Who knows, one day she might actually take him up on a similar offer. Not today, alas. She was awake enough to realise that she was probably not quite awake enough to stop herself from blurting out something foolish if he was to lift her up like that. And Briony was quite sure that proclamations of undying love (or something similar) would not be well received at this time in the morning. Besides, she reminded herself, she didn't think of him that way. No, really, she didn't. Okay, fine. She liked him. She liked him a lot. However, once again, that did not change the fact that she wasn't so stupid as to blurt something out like that without any sign of him reciprocating her feelings. Nor was she likely to divulge such a piece of information any time soon regardless, especially not in such a public place. Decorum had to be thought of despite everything. And in any case, she was sure she could come up with a better setting for such a revelation. Not that she was going to reveal anything. Realising that she had been silently battling with herself for longer than it should have required to come up with an answer she finally replied, with a smile. "Quite sure. Besides," another mock glare was interspersed here, "Are you saying there's anything wrong with my height as it is?"

Yes, she knew Lucian hated Missy. The furball – as she'd heard him refer to her numerous times – just seemed to rub him up the wrong way. Of course, that could have something to do with the many times she'd decided to use him as a scratching post. "I probably agree with you there. Although Missy tends to be hunting a lot less lately. I think she might actually be becoming domesticated." That didn't mean that Missy wouldn't still tease birds, rats or mice, playing with them before pouncing, but she tended not to kill the poor helpless animals anymore. She still liked to prowl around outside, but at the same time she was now much more content to spend time indoors. "She wouldn't get lost though. She has a fairly good sense of direction." Briony paused, "Well, at the very least, I hope she does, otherwise she's going to have a bit of a problem getting home." Her careless, amused tone showed that she was fairly certain of Missy's directional capabilities.

[lucian everett rochester]

Her and her books, he was still so clueless as to why she loved them so much.Though as she spoke about them he began to get more of an idea as to what she was talking about. "Interesting...but still you'd rather spend all night reading than going out?" Listening to her was interesting, he was somewhat disappointed that she had stopped herself. Perhaps he should pick up a book and see if she was correct on all these new worlds and such. He laughed as she called his family thoroughly respectable, oh if only her father knew of what Lucian did once it was dark. "I'd like to think so, it would be terrible if he disapproved of me. Though I don't think I've ever given him a reason to dislike me. It's not like we're doing anything terrible right now, its just a walk after all." He really did hope her family liked him, well for the most part anyways. If it meant that he had to be good in front of them so he could be able to see Briony than he would be good. There was no doubt about that, he would hate to not be able to speak to one of his best friends because of her family's disapproval.

"You tell me that when she jumps on your bed in the morning to wake you up. She's positively evil." How on earth did she get away with hell all the time? Well perhaps since she was a Rochester it helped, Charlotte seemed to be even more evil than Lucian at times but she had that way of getting out of it. But whenever the two of them were around their parents they mostly asked like angels in order to keep their parents from worrying about them.

He wondered what she was thinking, as much as he tried to get inside her head he never could. Most girls were so simple to read, but unfortunately she was not one of them. After a while he gave up on reading her, it did no good to be frustrated about it. So he just did his best not to try and guess what she was thinking. Assumptions were a terrible thing to make anyways and he would hate to assume something and be completely wrong about it. What a fool he would be if he made the wrong assumption about her. Which was why he had never taken a chance to reveal his true feelings about her. If he convinced himself that there may be a chance that she might like him as well, and if she really didn't then where would he be. He did all he could to not flirt with her, it was hard to do but so far he had managed to resist the temptation to do so. "There is nothing wrong with your height at all. You look quite love from down there. Absolutely perfect." He smirked, but couldn't help to add after a moment,"I just thought you might to see what the world was like from up here."

That terrible creature becoming domesticated? Oh how terrible that would mean whenever he came to her house he'd see more of the bloody thing. He somewhat wanted to comment about the cat getting lost. But he would be somewhat nice this morning. "She'll get home alright. And if she doesn't...well...perhaps its time to get a dog instead of another disgusting cat." Hell, he'd be more than happy to buy her a dog and whatever other animal she wanted as long as it wasn't another horrible cat. Cats were the were creatures of them all, he would rather deal with rats than cats. At least it didn't take much to kill a rat, cats were a different story they were somehow loved by people and therefore much harder to kill since he would have to clean up the mess before anybody found out about how their cat died.

[briony isabel wentworth]

Bree smiled. She wasn't sure that Lucian would ever quite understand her fascination with the written word, nor did it really matter. "It depends. It all depends. For example, if going out meant another dinner party with people who don't like each other at all but pretend they do, the forced laughter and ridiculous amount of fawning that goes on, I would take books every time. If I could go somewhere worthwhile… But for the monotony of everyday life, why would I want to tear myself away from all the stories?" Respectability was what counted most often in the circles of society. In fact, Briony had a sneaking suspicion that was the reason she had not seen Arabella - or any of the Croftt family for that matter – for years now. She wasn't entirely sure of what had gone on, but they had lost contact. It had probably been similar with other families, years ago, but she couldn't remember anyone falling out with her father at any point in the more recent years. "No, certainly not." Briony agreed, "Not being able to see you or your family because of something like that would be terrible.". Her lips pursed in displeasure at the thought. "Not that it would, of course," she added as an afterthought.

The mental image of Charlotte jumping up and down on Lucian's bed in order to wake him up was too much for even someone with Briony's self-composure to deal with in silence. She laughed, a melodic kind of sound although one wouldn't go so far as to be ridiculous and call it tinkling. A smile lit up her entire face. The laughter continued for a surprisingly long time. When she eventually recovered, Briony found herself slightly out of breath. "That was brilliant. I can just it in my mind's eye. Ah, I really did need that laugh." Her cheeks were flushed, giving her a rosy complexion. "Well, she's evil to you, I suppose. You're not exactly a morning person." Again the image flitted briefly through her mind resulting in more laughter. And Charlotte was sixteen too, liking to think herself quite dignified. Well, waking Lucian up like that was probably just about as undignified as you could get.

A blush spread across her cheeks as he mentioned how "lovely" she looked "down there". Fortunately, it would most likely be taken as the after-effects of her earlier laughter and thus save her any possibility of embarrassment. As he continued to talk, she couldn't help but add in, "Isn't that supposed to be my line? You know, the "how's the weather up there" joke. After all, I do remember that you are so incredibly fond of it." It was quite likely that Lucian had heard most, if not all, of the jokes made in relation to his height. If the truth be told, he had probably heard most of them from her. Then again, in return she had also heard a large variety of mind-numbingly idiotic jokes all pertaining to the fact that she was rather short in stature. "Or was there another of the jokes you preferred instead?" She shrugged. "I fear however, that the other jokes might not fit the situation quite as well." As usual, it was tempting to add, "by the way, how is the weather up there?" accompanied by a sly grin but Bree managed to resist. The joke was timeless after all, and she was sure it would keep for another day.

There were no mock glares this time. The look Briony gave Lucian was certainly real enough. It was unfortunate for Lucian that Briony loved cats as she did. She would tolerate teasing all in fun, but any suggestion that her cat, her darling cat, could be replaced by a dog, however cute said dog might be, just wouldn't cut the mustard. The icy glare she gave him was fairly out of character for Bree and so very different from the banter just moments ago. It was clear that it would take a fair bit of back-pedaling and apologising to get Briony to even smile. "What did you just say?" Briony's tone was quiet but it held a dangerous edge, a warning for Lucian to think before he actually answered.

[lucian everett rochester]

As he listened to her, he got what she was saying and he somewhat agreed with her. "I'd rather read a book than go to a dinner party, I don't think I can stand another one of those. So you would rather stay and read books than go out to some random bar, walk about the streets, that sort of excitement?" He asked casually as if just a thought, he would be more than happy to take her out one of the nights he snuck out. Of course if they were caught it wouldn't be good for the both of them so perhaps that wasn't a good idea after all. "Of course it wouldn't happen" He nodded his head in agreement, never would he want that to happen. If he couldn't see her that would be terrible, he didn't know what he'd do without her.

Watching her laugh, well he was glad at least she thought it was amusing. Nope, no sympathy for him at all just her laughing. How lovely, he was sure that Charlotte would love to know that Briony was as amused as she was. Of course he would never tell Charlotte about how much amusement Briony got out of it since it would probably inspire his horrible sister to think of more ways to torture him in the morning. "I'm glad you liked her evil little ways. And if you give her any ideas I'll get the both of you back." He grinned evilly, he was already plotting a way to get his sister back, though he wasn't quite sure how yet. Maybe put a mouse or something in her bed as a good wake up call. "She is quite evil, for some reason she loves to wake me up just because she can." And that was her excuse too, she'd run in and jump on his bed just to scare him to death to get him out of bed.

Leave it to her to bring up that joke, oh he had heard that one so many times, he really needed to think of some good short jokes to get back at those bloody short people. Of course the only good thing about being tall was that it was easier to mess around with short people thanks to the difference in height. "True, well you missed your chance with that one this time." He smirked, yes she couldn't ask him this time, oh well he was sure she would use it some other time. Oh how he loved that joke oh so much. He was sure he had heard all the height jokes from her, after all most of his guy friends were around his height or slightly taller. But never did they joke about height they usually ended joking about strength or who could get the most girls or something like that. "That joke is good enough, I prefer that one over the other ones." Besides if she ever asked him that again, than he'd be very tempted to just pick her up and show he was the weather was like.

He wasn't used to her glares, he didn't know what to say at first. But he wasn't about to just tell her that he was wrong, after all a dog was much better than a cat anyways. "I just meant maybe you need a bit of a change, that's all." Hoping that that might be a good excuse for what he had said. He added quickly,"Though Missy is a fine cat..." What a lie, what a downright lie, of all the lies he had ever made up in his life that was the worst one of all. It was hardly truthful and he was sure she knew it. But if it made her lighten up than he'd say that the horrible furball was a wonderful cat.

[briony isabel wentworth]

There was a slight pause before Briony responded. "My parents would have an absolute fit, you know that. Of course," she paused reflectively, "If I were to ever do such a thing, that would hardly come into it. Perhaps not "some random bar", but I honestly wouldn't mind walking around. After all," there was an especially sly glance cast at Lucian, "You don't tell your parents everything, do you?" Briony was aware that Lucian wasn't exactly the perfect son his parents obviously thought he was. However, she chose not to pry into those sorts of affairs. It was most likely safer for all concerned. Besides, part of her was sure she didn't want to know all the details. Despite her desire for adventure, Briony rarely partook in those sorts of things. She did like to wander around in whatever time she had, and her wanderings were relatively harmless, not something her father could severely reproach her for – not that he knew in any case.

Briony immediately assumed an innocent and slightly wounded expression. "Me, suggest things to your sister, so that she can torture you? Would I do that?" The only problem with assuming the role of a blameless bystander was that she could vaguely remember having plotted with Charlotte in their earlier years at a time when the girls were closer friends. It was likely to have been something similar, although perhaps more immature if that was possible, to the methods that Charlotte was resorting to now. No, actually. Now that Briony thought about it, it had actually been the "let's pour cold water on him if he doesn't get up" plan. She quickly reconsidered her position. "Don't answer that actually. Look, I promise I will not give Charlotte any ideas that might result in you being tortured in some way. Good enough?" Lucian, she was sure, would manage to come up with something quite inventive to get her back otherwise. Although, whether he would actually go through with it if Briony broke her promise was another question. Not that Lucian had anything to worry about now. She never made promises and then broke them. No, if she made a promise, then she meant it. Well, there were the occasions upon which she would make sure that the wording of her promise could be twisted to suit because Briony abhorred direct dishonesty. Half-truths tended to be okay, because she could see through most of them and if she hated them too, well, there weren't many people in society with whom she would get along. "In any case, Charlotte is probably just attention-seeking. Be nice to her and maybe she'll stop."

Chances missed were of no concern to Briony. There would always be another opportunity to crack that awful joke. She was certain of it. "Next time, I'll be ready. I might even have a different joke for you. Although, I doubt it. I think you've heard them all." That wouldn't stop her from trying though. She made a mental note to come up with something so that they next time that they met she would be able to render him speechless with the sheer dodgyness of her joke. Hmmm… her sister Elizabeth was sure to have one. It might have been one she'd heard before but it was always worth a try. And it was best to believe Briony when she said that her sister told really bad jokes. Enquiring further might cause you to be subjected to one and there would be no hope for you then.

It was almost enough to make her crack a smile. Lucian was obviously not used to being on the receiving end of a real evil glare, especially not from her. The instant backtracking was slightly mollifying and his attempt at praising Missy was just so ridiculous and kind of sweet in an odd sort of way that Briony thought she'd better leave it alone. She hated lies and the "though Missy is a fine cat…" so clearly was one, but it wasn't the sort of lie that even Lucian expected to be believed. She was pacified, at least enough to give him a smile. "That has to be the most pathetic attempt at a lie I have ever heard in my life, and believe me I've heard plenty." She rolled her eyes, but the expression on her face showed that he was forgiven. As if she would have been able to stay mad at him for long anyway.

[lucian everett rochester]

Smiling as he waited for her to respond, he couldn't help but wonder what that pause was about. He knew he had told her some things he did in when he was out but he highly doubted he would ever tell her absolutely everything he did when he was there. After all he wasn't about to tell the girl he fancied about how many girls he had met during those wild nights. "If my parents knew everything I did, I would be in quite a lot of trouble. But what they don't know won't hurt them." And they wouldn't find out, hopefully they wouldn't anyways. His sister was good for something in those situations, after all he did have to sneak in and out and Charlotte was good for distracting their parents while he managed to get in and out of the house. Of course that didn't come free but since she liked the money he gave her she was more than willing to keep his little secret.

When she said not to answer that question, he laughed slightly, exactly what he thought. Hopefully she wouldn't help her think of anything else, after all his sleep was something he needed to help him stay awake all through the night. "Sounds good enough, I trust you." Of course he trusted her, the girl was his best friend after all. He would think of something that not even Charlotte's evil mind could think up, it would be something she wouldn't even see coming. "I've tried being nice to her but then she just talks to me and never shuts up." That was the worst, when she decided that she needed to tell him everything at once and just kept on going and going and going. And she never got tired of it, she wouldn't even pause to see if he was actually listening, she'd ask a rhetorical question and he'd try to answer but no she just kept on going. It was if she wasn't even breathing at times, he was somewhat impressed by how his sister would banter on about topics he could care less about.

"I can't wait to hear your next joke whether I've heard it or not." Yes he'd be waiting and he would definitely pick her up next time though only if it wasn't in a proper place. After all if it was in a nice place he would just have to grin and bear it and wait until they were in a quieter place. "And who knows, maybe by then I'll find some new jokes for you as well." Maybe if he remembered it, there wasn't too many people he could ask about those jokes, after all he was taller than most of the people he knew so it wasn't like he could ask them about any short jokes since he usually joked around about their heights as well.

He couldn't help but laugh, yes he was lying but oh well it was worth a shot. No he would never think that horrid creature was a fine anything, but if it made Briony happy he would tell her that it was a fine cat. Even if it would kill him a little inside he would even buy her a cat if she really loved them so much. "Lying? For all you know I could secretly adore that furball." Though the idea of him ever loving that cat was terrible and would never happen. He would much rather love his incredibly slow and fat welsh corgi that did absolutely nothing but sleep and bark at air.

[briony isabel wentworth]

Briony coughed. "Charlotte would be fairly instrumental in helping with that I'm sure. Well, for a price, I'll bet. Still, Briony mused, Charlotte probably mention it to her parents now regardless. Not only would it reflect badly on Lucian, but Briony doubted that even Charlotte could manage to wriggle her way out of the questions that were sure to arise if she decided to tell her parents. After all, there were some things that even charm could not gloss over. And Briony was quite sure that helping her brother sneak in and out of the house would be one of them. "You know, my parents always seem to be very oblivious about that sort of thing. It's almost enough to make one wonder if they're trying to encourage me to sneak out." She shook her head, "It's bordering on ridiculous. Father is just so engrossed in his work that lately he doesn't really notice anything and Mother… well, Mother is, as usual, far too busy with society." James and Rose Wentworth were "busy" people. There was always something very important that they had to devote their attention to. Briony's father worked in parliament, a job that always seemed to have commitments, although how many of those commitments involved actual work remained to be seen. Rose could be best described as a socialite. To her – in stark contrast to Briony - society was not something to be endured. Rather, it was something to be enjoyed. Mrs. Wentworth was the hostess of many parties and gave almost as many as she went to. Unfortunately for Briony, this meant she was expected to be involved in everything, playing the role of the charming daughter.

It was understandable, Briony supposed. Charlotte did like to talk quite a lot, so that was something genuine Lucian could complain about without him embellishing the truth a little more than was necessary. It probably came with wanting to be the center of attention. Briony had no problem whatsoever with that in her family, as she didn't particularly enjoy being the center of attention and Elizabeth was more than happy to take up that role. Regrettably, at society functions, Elizabeth was considered to be slightly too young to be involved and there the task fell, as usual, to Briony. "Well, she has a lot to say. At least, she has a lot to say about nothing in particular." Briony was tempted to suggest that Lucian should try and have a prattling competition. Whoever could talk for the longest amount of time with the least actual content would win. However, she had a feeling that Lucian would give up quite easily if it were that sort of thing. It was a skill, really. That's what small talk was really. And very useful when you had to make polite conversation with people you barely knew and didn't particularly want to know in the first place.

Find some new jokes? She doubted it, but then again, maybe she shouldn't be quite so cynical. Anything was possible, at least theoretically and Lucian coming up with a new joke was a whole lot more possible than some of the other things that could happen in life. For example, she doubted very much that at this very second a pig would fly past her. A second passed and there was – sadly – no flying pig. Well, then maybe he would come up with a joke the next time they met after all. "We'll see, we'll see." She really needed to make sure she could actually find a joke now. For the sake of continuity, at the very least, if not for anything else.

"The fact that you refer to her as a furball, Mr. Rochester, is, I believe, some slight indication of your untruthfulness." It was all in fun now, of course, all traces of the previous disapproval now gone from her voice. The idea of him ever "adoring" Missy was just ludicrous, in a way that really did provoke hilarity. It was sweet - in an odd sort of way - that he was even vaguely suggesting that he might be telling the truth, especially when he so clearly wasn't. It was almost a universally acknowledged truth that Lucian and cats did not get on and almost certainly – unless he had a surprising and incredibly unlikely change in heart – would never any time in the foreseeable future.

[lucian everett rochester]

"Of course for a price. She loves getting something out of it. But still if it keeps her quiet than I suppose it's worth it." Yes, if she went off and told their parents everything Lucian did than it would be quite terrible. The last thing he needed was for his parents to be awfully concerned about him and start to think that he needed to start looking for a wife or something. That would be terrible, he wasn't ready for anything too permanent, the last thing he needed was for his mother to start telling him about how he should find a nice wife and then start introducing him to every noblewoman that they knew of. "Take advantage of it. Go out for a little bit, I'll take you if you'd like. Come on it'll be fun, just you and me." He had never taken anybody else out to wander about the streets and have a bit of fun. Mainly because he didn't trust many of the other nobles, who knows what could slip out over a dinner conversation, how scandalous would that be. "Well you know my parents, they are quite busy..though they've been more at home lately, it's quite odd." He didn't know why they were staying at home, they said it was to be with family a bit more. Perhaps they needed to regain the perfect family image or something? Lucian wasn't sure but it annoyed the hell out of him to sit around the study reading and making small talk with his parents. Though who knows when things would pick up again and they'd be back to their dinner parties and social gatherings every night.

He didn't see how his sister could talk so much and yet at social occasions she seemed to be so quiet and polite and didn't speak unless she was spoken to. Perhaps she was just getting out all she had to say when she was with Lucian. Whatever it was it was annoying most of the time unless she had something really important to say. He didn't even mind it when she had something meaningful to say. If it was something worth listening to he would listen and maybe even talk back to her civilly and not tell her to go away. "I don't even know what she talks about most of the time. I stop listening after a while." What else was he supposed to do? If he listened to her the whole entire time he would not get anything done. So he had managed to multitask, he would tune out Charlotte's terribly dull banter and do something else and occasionally nod and pretend to be listening and then he'd listen to her for a bit than tune her out once more.

Lucian would spend all of tomorrow thinking of a good joke. He as determined to find one that would surprise her. It would be hard work but it wasn't like he had anything to do during the day. Perhaps he could even ask Charlotte for help on this one. He would be a nice brother and ask for her to help him in this one thing. Lucian couldn't wait to hear what Briony's joke would be, he was curious to know if it would be one of the ones he'd heard before or if it would be something new that he wouldn't be expecting.

"Perhaps it's out of love and affection that I call her a furball, Miss Wentworth." As if that would ever happen. It was more like he absolutely hated that thing and had nothing else to call it that wouldn't be incredibly mean. After all in his mind he would often call her a mangy disgusting fleabag and so just calling her a furball was a nicer nickname for that horrid cat. Of course he would never call Missy that in front of Briony, after all who knows if she might get upset about that. So he'd just stick to calling Missy a furball and be done with it. Luckily he didn't have to see the cat in person most of the time, she seemed to run off whenever he was nearby which was good for the both of them since he would really have to resist the urge to kick her or step on her or something.