moritat | there is always another au

"Both, most of it's been here all my life." He knows what he's about, it's the best way to lead her off without getting reprimanded - distract her! "Mom especially liked it, but I'm sure eighty percent was still here well before her."

Jekyll brings up the rear, and goes to arrange the table when he sees that Paloma's so distracted. "Are you going to show her your painting?"

"Shut up."

Too late.

"You paint!" Touchy subject, she can tell, but her curiosity blossoms into an insatiable need to see. Paloma looks away from the grandiose collection, grinning up into the face of her scheming escort. Jekyll knows what he's about too, the sly dog. "Please?"

"It's just some fucking shit."

"It's really not, he's good! And it's not just that I think so, he's won awards, and he draws the band posters."

He shoves his hands in his pockets, grumbling to himself. "Fine, whatever, it's over there. It was just some stupid show in college and now he thinks we have to put it on display." It's true, Jekyll's like a parent with their child's crayon drawings or report card with an A+ stuck up on the fridge.

The painting is very abstract, but still has a distinct image within it (like this, but heavy on use of red.)

She digs it.

The spectrum of rage or something else equally animal in the red visage, the wild strokes and their deliberate planning. Paloma forgets to make polite approving noises, she's so into the piece. It's with reluctance she drifts back to the boys.

"Umm, if you ever decide to part with it, I'd love to buy it off of you..."

"You can have it." He shrugs, plainly embarrassed and yet trying to hide it.

Jekyll the proud father watches, beaming on Hyde's behalf.

Paloma is as delighted as Jekyll is proud of the family's reluctant artist, but her gleaming smile is replaced with a frown.

"What, no, you busted your butt to make this. You're not giving it to me for free!" And she seems pretty adamant that this be the case. She checks on Jekyll to back her up in this, planting her feet.

"It's not like I need any money, it's a present!" He grumbles and refuses to look at either of them. Throwing himself down on the couch seems like a good plan.

Jekyll meanwhile - while he thinks it's true Hyde worked too hard to just toss it away, when he puts it like that, it's all true. If it's a present, then payment would be wrong...

Her chest squeezes. Hyde can be awfully cute, can't he?

Paloma can't argue the logistics of present-giving and especially can't protest without Henry backing her up. Left alone with faultless reasoning, she dares to imagine where the piece can go in her rooms. Veronica owns the house, but she shouldn't mind...

She plunks down beside the sulking twin, checking Jekyll's face to see how seriously they ought to take Hyde's fluster. "Then I'm grateful and honored. Thank you, Edward." Will he fidget if she kisses him chastely on the cheek? They're about to find out.

As far as Jekyll's concerned, any time Hyde is being cute instead of shitty, they should make the most of it. He gives her a little nod to tell her to go ahead.

Meanwhile Edward flushes, only a peck on the cheek and yet, when he's already flustered... He only mumbles reluctantly, "You're welcome... Maybe I'll actually get you something good another time."

The corner of her mouth pulls up. She's quite forgotten the murder accusation at this mumbling goober's feet.

He's a fetching red. "Don't do that. I just like to have something to remember people by." In case it doesn't work out, if they don't keep in touch, anything. "It's a bonus if I can hang it up."

"I guess." Grumble. He gets up to go take it off the wall and hand it right to her. It fills the empty space with his lack of reply.

Jekyll just smiles and dares to take Paloma's hand as he sits beside her.

That's about the time a tray of tea is delivered to them.

Oh. Okay. They're handing it off, like, right now. That occupies at least one other hand, and Jekyll takes the other, leaving Hyde with nothing.

His touch puts a homey light into her chest. She curls her fingers around his for the joy of it. She's smiling bashfully when Poole arrives with tea, jolting her.

"Thank you! I'm an art thief tonight," she flusters, wagging the canvas. How odd, being held by the two at different intervals. They can't be sharing a woman!

It wouldn't be the first he's seen of them sharing a little too much... He hardly bats an eye at that and instead smiles. "I'm surprised Harry will allow it to be taken from his grasp," he says, upon seeing which work it is.

"Now he needs to do more to fill up that empty space, that's all!" Jekyll laughs, and grins as if it was his plan all along.

Paloma chuckles anxiously (feeling like an intruder, despite the anchor of Jekyll) and peers Edward's way out of the corner of her eye.

"No pressure," she says lightly, not wishing to bully him into another canvas. "Even if I'd try buying the next one, too..."

"Jesus, you don't have to treat me like a fucking child, "look what Edward did, isn't that goddamn adorable!" Just because you're an overachiever!" He snaps at his brother, and in the butler's general direction.

"Teddy, no, that's not how I mean it-"

"Don't fucking call me that!" He grabs Jekyll by the collar to pull him up, only to push him back into the sofa and storm off.

She about drops the canvas at the abruptness of Hyde's tantrum. The hand around her own is ripped away, leaving Paloma to leap out of her skin and shrink away from the brothers.

As he storms off she collects herself, looping an arm around her waist and setting the artwork aside. "I, umm." She stands up too fast, putting a hand to her head. "I'll go after him." He isn't sick of her face, probably. Her heels click down the corridor and fade after his footsteps.

"Edward," she calls, but only after becoming thoroughly lost. "Shit."

He's stormed up the stairs, headed to the wing of the house filled with bedrooms. Too many for three people to share. "What?" it's a good sign that he answers at all, if it were Jekyll or Poole's voices he wouldn't have stopped at all.

Meanwhile Jekyll frets.

Paloma thought that may be the case, even if the undercurrent of resentment hadn't seemed to revolve around their paternalism. That jab at Jekyll about overachieving was a big hint.

Aware of just how thin the ice she's walking on is, she swallows and pivots toward the stairs to follow sedately. "You mind if I come with?"

"Suit yourself." He shrugs, jamming his hands in his pockets. But despite his tone, he waits for her to catch up. So evidently, yes, he'd like that.

She appreciates it. Speedwalking up a staircase in high heels and a semi-restrictive dress is a recipe for tragedy.

Paloma pulls up alongside him at last, but unlike the ease with which she'd adapted to hanging on his brother's arm, doing the same with Edward feels a tad too daring. She tries on a wavering half-smile between 'exercising desk jockey' ragged breaths.

"Cool. You don't have to say anything about what just happened, either."

He takes her hand himself to pull her along toward his room. "He just pisses me off. Since he's so goddamn perfect they have to make a big deal out of it if I do something permissable to high quality people to make up for it. I bet you didn't even know there was a brother until you saw me."

Wow. She hadn't needed to start coaxing him whatsoever. She's partially aware of the dangers involved with following him blindly, not in the least because of his groping habits. But she's still allowing it. Hmm.

Moving as fast as she's able in her dress, Paloma grips him with equal firmness. The difference from Henry's is in the strength, the calluses... "The exception that proves the rule. I understand. But I heard wild gossip about you way before you walked up to me." A kinder description.

He scoffs, "Oh, right, about being his burden and a shameful, wild maniac?" Not entirely untrue...

There's a sofa in his room, which he flops down on and brings Paloma with him. "Maybe I should prove them right."

Yes to everything he just said, except for that last ominous thing.

She discovers a cushy sofa with healthy springs, jiggling on landing in embarrassing ways. He's-- awful close. Paloma blinks excessively. "Pretty easy to meet expectations when they're low. You don't seem to like making things easy for anyone!" Least of all himself. Her feet friggin hurt. She debates unstrapping.

"Henry bends over backwards for everyone, why should I have to then?" But the ominous part was most important! If someone turns up murdered he can't be blamed because he wasn't told not to!

He likes that she's come with him instead of staying with Jekyll though, and hasn't just told him to come back. That's why he sits there holding her hand still.

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