stagesight: commissioned from <user name=corsetjinx> (Across my memory)
Hamel ([personal profile] stagesight) wrote2024-11-06 07:25 pm

Inbox;

@illusory
TEXT

AUDIO

VIDEO

ACTION

garrottes: (pic#17514366)

thank,

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-15 12:32 pm (UTC)(link)
...I think it is.

[ it should be noted there had been a definitive pause before answering. but that at least implies he'd really thought it through, as opposed to just saying what he thinks she wants. he doesn't know much of illusions (that aren't prompted by grief, or stress, or both) but he supposes if he's to be submitted to one, he can find no better person to guide him along than hamel herself.

she didn't seem particularly cruel, after all.

they lapse into an easy and expected lull when the food arrives. perhaps just as expectedly, the salads weren't too filling at all, and so a shared pasta plate is eventually ordered to fill in the gap. overall, the dinner is a cozy, pleasant thing, though perhaps it is far more casual than the house expects from a date...

because no sooner than marco had stood beside hamel's chair to pull it back for her as she stands, does the lovely dress she wears suddenly flicker out of existence, and he's left staring down at what is certainly not meant for public attention. ]


M-Miss Hamel—!

[ after a brief shock he reacts impulsively, grabbing at the long tablecloth just within reach to draw it over her, covering her from the neck down. it's... quite the commotion, and all their finished plates and glasses go clattering to the floor, some breaking in the process. ]
garrottes: (pic#17508528)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-15 04:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ for someone who values pragmatism and forethought, he most certainly did not think this shit through. all around them, the din quiets into an almost deafening silence, as several patrons turn in their seat and blatantly ogle. marco stands, feet planted firmly on the ground, but feeling oddly weightless as if he were floating along in the air, the only thing tethering him to the ground the solid press of hamel's petite body against his.

he is very keenly aware of a heat crawling up the back of his neck, curling around his ears. ]


I'm — not sure.

[ his voice is quiet, hushed. though he knows they've already got the entire restaurant's attention, he doesn't dare raise his next words louder than a whisper, muttered close to her ear. ]

I thought... no, I'm certain... you were unclothed. Just now.

[ he could, of course, check. but he's definitely not going to?! ]
garrottes: (pic#9077696)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-15 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ without even thinking about it, marco looks.

marco shouldn't have.

standing rigid, he whips his head back towards a random spot in the restaurant — some hanging lantern or windchime or some other kind of decoration he honestly couldn't tell you right now it could be a hanging ballsack for all that he's actually paying attention— ]


Yes.

[ he does not, fortunately, choke on his words. ]

I'm sorry.
garrottes: (pic#17514370)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-17 11:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ when she leaves his side, marco finds himself feeling more adrift than before. suddenly he's all too aware of the attention they've gathered, but while he isn't unused to the negativity being of such a low rank himself, he can sense the definitive shift in regard towards hamel, who surely ranks much higher.

he's tense, still, when she returns to his side. ]


You should go, Miss Hamel. I'll take care of things here.

[ there is no way he can afford all the ruined dishes, and now the pilfered tablecloth, but he will have to hope that some form of manual labor can even things out. that's nothing he's going to leave on hamel's shoulders, especially not on top of the stain on her reputation by simply being around her. ]

I'm sorry I've ruined our date.
garrottes: (pic#17514367)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-17 03:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he isn't expecting her to wish for more. frankly, the whole day was a disaster from start to seemingly finish, and he had assumed she would have been glad for the chance to step away. whatever is afflicting him right now — surely another one of the house's many, many tricks — there is no telling how it might continue to manifest. right now it seems determined to simply be a cause of embarrassment for him, but if it turns out to be anything like the zombies... ]

...No. [ he should let the day end, just like this. squirrel himself away to his room where he won't be a bother to anyone else, at least until his vision fixes itself. ] It's not a problem at all.

[ and yet he feels — strangely humbled by the experience, though he can't even begin to fathom why. she has gone out of her way to help him when she needn't, and here she is making a timid request from him. how could he possibly say no? so instead he simply inclines forward in a meek little bow, arms rigid at his sides. ]

I'll be here tomorrow, without issue. Whenever they [ you ] need me.

And for right now... [ he straightens, his glance towards her almost shy. ] I believe I owe you a dance.
garrottes: (pic#17526283)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-17 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ "i believe i owe you an experience" is a heck of a thing to promise in sex resort, so it's a good thing marco and hamel have quietly decided never to speak of such things to each other. ]

I'm sure we can find one if we worked together.

[ no, it actually makes no sense that two would be better than one in this case, because it's not as if they plan to split up to cover more ground or anything. but it seemed like the kind of reassuring thing to say, right after you've made a spectacle of your date while claiming to have seen her in nothing but her dignity. whatever left of it remains, anyway.

but! he will go on and lead the way out, careful to make sure she is always at his side. once out of the restaurant, he lets out a little sigh, shoulders slumping. ]


What a mess... [ he rubs at his eyes a little, as if that enough will solve his vision problems. ] Your patience knows no bounds, Miss Hamel.
garrottes: (pic#17508529)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-17 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ the touch startles him, his hand dropping back down to his side. his eyes snag on the unhappy line of her lips, and he realizes with a pang what he's doing. constance would get on his case about it all the time. get your head out of your ass, adriano. understand the world doesn't revolve around your pity party.

he draws in a deep breath. smothers it in the same second. he can't help the fresh stab of guilt over thinking about connie while he's technically on a date with someone else, but that's been his entire experience here, hasn't it? ]


It seems to have subsided, at least. Whatever it is.

[ still. despite all her understanding, he'll always feel bad for infringing on her privacy like that. willingly or not! ]

—Those double doors look promising. [ he gestures with his chin a little further down the hall. ] Right there. Should we take a look?
garrottes: (pic#17514370)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-18 12:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ marco doesn't know jack shit about dancing, but what he sees upon entering is a wide, open space. certainly, if dancing were to happen anywhere, it would be there? but it's not as if he knows what kind of dancing hamel does (there had been, of course, that brief moment in their first meeting he had unfairly assumed she was an exotic dancer) so when she turns to him for his opinion, he can do little else but give her a mildly wide-eyed and helpless sort of look. the shrug is all but confirmation of how out of his depth he is, but as for the tablecloth... well. he can give a more definitive answer with that, at least. ]

Yes, I... think it should be fine.

[ he Does Not Think It'll Be Fine, actually, but he doesn't want the cloth to be cumbersome to her movements. he resolves in that moment to simply suck it up if it happens again — or just keep looking to her face, honestly. it feels a little dishonest, but he can cross that bridge when he gets there.

he stands 🧍‍♂️ waiting. ]


What should I do...?
garrottes: (pic#17508523)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-18 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ it's a rock and a hard place, isn't it? opt for the hand on the back, you risk being Too Close. settle for the hand on the waist, and you're left to sit with the fact your hand can almost entirely span the width of her waist from thumb to pinky.

he forces himself to focus on her steady voice, on this new veil of confidence rippling over her like lace. ]


As I'll ever be, I think.
garrottes: (pic#9077691)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-21 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[ of all the pace they might have taken, a fast, upbeat one was not one marco would have even considered to be in the top three. he's surprised by it, certainly — almost as surprised as he was by the illusions themselves, the way it wafts over him and blends in with the air around them so seamlessly. to marco, they are outside, in some wonderful field of colors that stretches on beyond what the eye can see. beneath their feet he doesn't hear the hollow sounds of a near-empty ballroom, ears too filled by the music seeming to come from everywhere.

honestly, it's a lot for the mind to even comprehend. and so, perhaps wisely, he decides not to think at all.

(perhaps if he had, he might have realized how the instinctive way his body responds to the push and pull of her leading is not unlike the way hunters were taught to monitor and predict their enemies' movements. that he can follow along almost seamlessly because his body has only ever known that quick reactions guaranteed survival. no, it's best he doesn't stop to consider that at all.)

before he knows it, his lips have spread into a wide smile. it's a dizzying thing, dancing like this, but he tethers himself to the fierce light in her eyes and the assured way she holds onto him, guiding him along. if he's breathless at all, it's not out of exertion, but from sheer surprise at how delightful dancing can be. ]
garrottes: (pic#9077696)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-21 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ well.

he was doing just fine.

right up until that moment she smiles at him, gives him that gentle encouragement. like a switch his brain turns itself off, and it's as if his mind kicks into overdrive to try and make up for those few brief minutes it'd been off. he's all too aware, then, where his hands are, what his feet are doing, the spins and the twirls and the beat thumping away in his head—

he missteps. or rather, he steps on her, and no matter how much of a professional she is there's just no easy recovery when a 200+ pound man smashes your toes with his big clumsy feet. he all but collides against her a second later, but fortunately manages to side-step enough that he doesn't crush even more of her toes.

ah... and he'd been doing so well. ]


S-Sorry...
garrottes: (pic#17508523)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-22 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ he really did hurt her.......... he's a monster!! ]

You were lovely and encouraging. I got too in my head about it, that's all.

[ she will soon find (or perhaps she's already there) that this is a very prominent flaw of his. ]

Do you want to sit? I can help you to a seat...

[ er, if he can even find one. ]
garrottes: (pic#17514360)

[personal profile] garrottes 2024-11-22 05:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ i'm imagining marco helping hamel to the stage like that one grandma walker meme......... i'm sorry.... ]

How's this?

[ once she's sat down, he moves to stand before her, dropping down to a knee. he doesn't reach yet for her foot, but the intent is clear. ]

Should I take a look...?

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