(no subject)

[duerespectguv]

Declan's spent most of the day walking around the city because while it's not his London, it's London and he's missed it terribly. The streets are mostly the same as the ones he knows from home, at least, and it's nostalgic to wander around and know this was where James Watson had grown up and lived the most important years of his life. He misses James terribly when he's home because the UK Sanctuary is his home and wandering around and not seeing it in this version of London tugs at him a little.

He ends up at Kate's hut, or what was her hut, anyway, and waits just outside on the stoop for a bit to see if she'll come home. If not, he'll let himself in but he likes to respect her privacy. He's not really a fan of the Victorian clothes but he concedes to it since there's no other option and he's sporting a tweed suit and an overcoat that would have made James proud.

Besides, it's James' fault that he even knows how to tie a cravat to begin with. He'd have loved this.

Comments

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"Not gonna lie, babe. Every time he came to Old City, I thanked every god I wasn't blonde. I don't think Will even knew he did it, but every time Druitt was in the same room with me, he'd put himself between us." Kate shakes her head, forced shuddering to ward off the memory. "I'm not scared of him but it's going to take a lot more than him giving Magnus flowers and not gutting Will for me to believe he's defanged."

It's not what he asked, and she has to redirect her thoughts while she's working out the knot on the tie. "Magnus is going to let me--" She looks up to meet his gaze. "And you, if you'll help me, handle the tactics on this. I told her not to ask me to respect the blank slate and she agreed. Too dangerous."

[duerespectguv]

"I'm with you, no matter what. We can put together a plan of action in case we need to act but...I don't think it'd be wise for us to strike first. The last thing I want is someone to get hurt but I also don't want us in jail or Magnus in trouble."

It's hard though when he figures Kate's more than happy to kill Druitt now and ask questions later.

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

Tie-thing untied, Kate decides sitting by herself is over-rated and settles with her ass on the couch and her legs across his thighs. If nothing else, she'll find out how he feels about calf-high kid black leather boots.

She nods, puts her elbow on the arm of the couch and rests her head on her hand. "I figure he's not going to hurt Magnus, Will, Tesla, you. He doesn't like me but he'd be the prime suspect if anything happened to me and he's not dumb. Without the parasite, he doesn't have the rage build up so he can be patient. He'll lull Magnus into a false sense of security then use dino territory, if it comes back, and the whole disappearance thing to get away with it. Until then, I figure we train, arm, watch him, let a few strategic and at-risk people know and keep an eye on the blondes."

If it sounds glib, it's not. She's thought about the strategic plan the whole way home. It's just soldier shorthand. "I've already got chimney sweeps and vendors and merchants keeping their eyes open for him."

[duerespectguv]

Declan likes the boots quite a bit, actually, and slides one hand up the length of it while he listens to her speak. Kate's actually sharp when it comes to tactics and in this, at least, she's thinking like a criminal. She's thinking like Druitt would, about who to target.

"We should keep eyes out, yeah, but I want to work with you on better hand to hand. You need to get used to fighting someone a lot bigger than you, Kate, and I need to learn to fight dirty."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"We can spar more, yeah." It's not really beating the crap out of each other sparring she's thinking about with his hand sliding up her boot like that. More the hot, sweaty naked kind. She grins at him. "Better look sharp, though. Even SuperSEAL's starting to have a hard time keeping me down." The grin slides to a smirk. "Might be 'cause you're the only guy I'll let keep me pinned."

They don't talk about it much, the training she's been doing with Steve. But she's faster, smarter, meaner in a fight than she's ever been. She's kinda looking forward to showing Declan just how good she's getting.

Not that his approval matters or anything.

[duerespectguv]

"Are you saying you make it easy for me?" Declan teases, one eyebrow lifting in a challenge. "Because that's not right at all. If you're going to kick my ass, I'd rather you just do it outright instead of making me think I'm winning."

Everyone wins, though, if it means she learns something that keeps her safe.

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"My bad. You caught me." She crosses one leg over the other, where they're still in his lap and stretches back, arms behind her head, then bats her lashes at him. "I've been letting you win for weeks. Next time you want me under you, I'll make you work for it."

It's all innuendo now. One of the best things about them fucking is that they get on the same page, real quick, about threats. Doesn't mean she's done talking about it, just that they can have their fun doing it.

"Meanwhile, we need to figure out where Druitt's staying, get Tesla on making non-lethal weapons so we don't go to jail for taking him down, and I've got a bunch of blondes to talk to. We've got some time. Either he's for real and still a dick, or he's too damned smart to let us tie people going missing to his arrival."

[duerespectguv]

"Hoping for the former, myself," Declan says, sliding his hand back up her boot again before finding his train of thought.

"And if you're letting me win, that's got to stop. I mean it, Katie, I'm not going to have you hurt because you're appealing to my ego."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"Declan." Kate huffs a soft snort of warm affectionate laughter. "Think about who you're talking to. When have I ever let someone beat me?" She slides her fingers under the cuff of his shirt, scraping softly at the inside of his wrist with her nail. "I was flirting with you, babe. Trying to get you to think about how damned fast I roll for you in bed."

When they spar, which hasn't been much lately, she goes all out. Sometimes she wins, sometimes he does. Sex, though, that's different and when he wants her, most of the time, she's fighting herself to keep from rolling even faster.

"If you beat me when we're sparring, you're beating me straight up. Swear."

[duerespectguv]

"I know, Katie, it's just...I care about you and I needed to be sure, is all. But we've sorted it and I know you're not letting me win except in bed, so. We're all right."

He reaches for her, wanting her in his lap instead of her feet. "I want to talk to Steve, too. On training issues, not just...social ones."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

Kate gives him a look, sharp and potentially irritated. "I'm assuming you're talking about your training issues. My training, my decisions." She cocks her head and asks in a tone that says she's being really carefully patient, trying not to fly off the handle if he doesn't deserve it. "Yeah?"

[duerespectguv]

"Wanting to get on the same page, is all, so I'm not contradicting him," Declan explains, sensing this might get very bad very quickly.

"His military experience is vastly different from mine."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"No." That's flat and steady. She's not picking a fight but her training is her business. "I learned to fight on my own. My style's is already different than either of you. You leave it to me what I take from either of you."

[duerespectguv]

"Fair enough."

Declan's not wanting to fight but he can't help but think being on the same page with everyone in a coordinated effort's going to be better than going rogue. Still, Kate's life, Kate's decisions, and him nosing around in it's not going to do any good.

"What do you need me to do, then?"

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"First..."

Kate slides over into his lap the way she's been resisting since he mentioned talking to Steve. She kisses him, long and hard and slow, and then pulls back to leave space for talking.

"Thanks. For getting that. It's not that I don't respect you. I do." Which, for Kate, said a lot. The fact that she's saying it out loud says even more. "But I'm the one who's going to be making choices in the middle of any fight where I'm using what I know. I want all the options, not just the ones that work well together. Being unpredictable is one of the only advantages someone as small as me has in a fight."

She knows he gets that and he just wants to protect her. That feels pretty good, but being able to protect herself feels even better.

"Second, I think we need to tell some people, not just the people who might be in danger. I've got a few in mind, people who color outside the lines like me. But it might be better if you talk to the official good guys. And Tesla. Get a read from him on Druitt, maybe get some weapons?"

She runs her hand down his arm, thinking. "And...maybe you can come with me, learn who I check up on. So you can help me keep an eye on them?"

[duerespectguv]

"Tesla, I can handle. I think he's cross with Magnus right now, though, so maybe I need to get him a little drunk before I can sway him that it's in his best interest to help me," Declan muses, not sure how that's going to go.

"I'm on mostly-good terms with him, though, it should be right."

At the latter, though, he pauses. "You have people you check up on besides just us, then?"

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"He doesn't like Druitt that much, and at least the alcohol's free." Kate scoots a little closer into his lap. He's warm and it's fucking cold with it going from tropical fall to London winter in like an hour.

"It's kind of weird, right? Me caring about anyone. It's just. There's this whole group of girls from like fourteen to eighteen or nineteen that don't have parents or families. They have some people to look out for them and they're not clueless. But..." Kate shrugs, not totally sure how to explain. "I didn't have anyone at their age and it's hard. It makes me want to make sure they have someone to ask about stuff, to notice if they're sick or hurt or someone's hurting them."

She's kind of embarrassed about it. Doesn't really know what he'll think. "I look in on a lot of the animals that Magnus and I treat, too."

[duerespectguv]

"The animals don't surprise me. Magnus tells me you have a pet steno, after all."

Bit of a running joke in the Old City house and it's trickled over to his after visits from Will and Henry.

"We've gryphons in my house, you know. I bet they'd all imprint on Mummy Kate."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

Kate narrows her gaze at him. "Don't mock unless you like this couch more than my bed." Yeah, she's a little sensitive about this. Mostly because she doesn't get why she can't just leave them be. It's not like they're in danger here most of the time. Some because she does care and that's hard for her.

[duerespectguv]

"I'm not mocking, Katie-love, don't get your knickers in a twist. I think it's cute, actually."

He slides his hand down her arm, rubbing lightly and trying to soothe her. "It's good you're taking an interest in the girls, though. They need a good role model like you. And before you say you're not, you are."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

She's easily appeased when it comes to him and she's not invested in fighting. Not when he looks so damned good and they're so good together. She bends her head to kiss at the hollow of his throat. Tease it with her tongue.

"The last guy who called me cute-" Who wasn't Will or Henry. "Talks through a straw in his trachea now. You sure you don't want to rethink that?" It's about as non-threatening as a threat can be, except how she's tilted her head to mouth over his Adam's Apple.

[duerespectguv]

"I'll take my chances. I know how to get you to roll for me, love."

He's not usually so cocky about it but they're playing and he's keeping it light.

"Kiss me?"

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"You did say you wanted me to make you work for it," she reminds him, about the rolling, not the kissing. The kissing's definitely happening. Right now. And she slides her forearms up over his shoulders to lean in and kiss him deeply. Fuck, this is good. It's even better now that she told him how she feels.

[duerespectguv]

"Almost reminds me of home," Declan murmurs, catching her chin and deepening the kiss. "Fireplace, old house, it's like home."

There's nothing Declan wants more than to be home again but he doesn't want to trade this relationship for it, not for anything.

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

Kate hears the odd catch in his voice, but she's not sure what to do about it. They suck at talking, but if something's wrong... She pulls back, biting her lip and looking at him, expression soft. Her fingers slip through his hair. "You doing okay, babe? Magnus is eating this up, but she's kind of weird like that. I don't...just, you know, if you're not or you want to talk about it or anything, it's okay."