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Post by Administrator on Jan 2, 2012 19:21:03 GMT -5
The Fancy Restaurant at the Astoria, home of the famous Waldorf salad. Use your finger bowls and don't forget your table manners.
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Post by Luke Gallagher on Jan 2, 2012 19:30:20 GMT -5
<New Day - Reserved for Lia>
Luke leaned back in his chair slightly, taking special care to make sure that his arm stayed subtly draped along the back of Lia's in a loving and protective gesture. They had been executing their plan for just under two hours and it was going just as smoothly as they had imagined. Lia had been spot on with the story they imagined, the upper crust of New York practically salivating at a good scandal - Lia's wealthy husband constantly away and her making time with a childhood sweetheart. But sweet romantic touch of their supposed past together seemed to be just the thing to tip the whole thing over the edge and Luke couldn't be more pleased.
He had settled on a reserved sort of charm for Declan, a quiet steady lad who spoke only occasionally and stood back and let his lady shine. It had earned him an adoring glance or two from some of the other ladies as they'd stopped by their table to speak with Lia and though biting his tongue had proved somewhat difficult at times Luke was basking in the art of the con. Letting his fingers lift from the back of the chair and trail down the line of Lia's spine in a delicate manner, Luke leaned forward as though to whisper something delicate in his lover's ear. "I do think," He said softly, shifting slightly closer, "...that we have had a rather successful evenin', darlin'."
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Post by Amelia MacKenna on Jan 2, 2012 19:39:10 GMT -5
She fell so easily into the part of society lady, the pretenses, the straight back, the manners and the way they spoke. There was a sheen of gloss over everything that a woman of breeding did and somwho, Amelia managed to do it perfectly every time. They'd settled so easily into the companionship and the lie that she found herself falling into the game, the laugh when it was supposed to be, answering questions as if she really were Madeline. The way her hand moved, the tilt of her head, it was all a skill to learn how to do. The socialites in New York were raised that way, she'd learned it and she was brilliant at it.
Luke had been perfect, as always. As they fell into the companionable con she found herself comforted by his strong form near hers, but letting her do all the talking and as the character he'd created would, let her shine. Her laugh danced as one of the women spoke to her about something utterly catty, ordinarily she wouldn't give a tinkers damn about some poor woman with a boil but her character would. Even as she sat there it was getting later and later, the women were talking about the Mayor now. His niece had run off from a wedding, just run off and hid. That was, fascinating.
Her attention was drawn back to Luke with a single stroke down her spine, eyes darkening without her consent as she leaned her ear near his lips. Her lips curved, the chilly smile she was supposed to but there was a warmth in her eyes that wasn't easy to see. She turned her head, using his face to block her from the rest of the room. "Reminds me of Chicago.."
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Post by Luke Gallagher on Jan 2, 2012 19:50:22 GMT -5
In truth, Luke was mostly bored with the topics of discussion that Lia had gotten drawn into. Catty, petty and minor topics that seemed to weigh heavy on the minds of these women who honestly thought that they mattered - if only they really knew how little they did. As it was, they had learned a thing or two of interest, the mayor's niece had something of a wild streak it seemed and goodness knows he wouldn't want that information to be spread around. Could prove useful later and as was his custom, Luke filed it away for just the proper occasion.
He couldn't stop the unexpected warmth that flooded when Lia turned towards him, how easy and natural it felt to have her leaning back into his arm. He caught the warmth in her eyes, the way she shifted closer and tilted her head so her face was hidden from prying eyes who were already enamored of their story. "Chicago..." Luke mused, his fingers straying it now seemed of their own accord down along her spine, laid bare by the dress that he so enjoyed seeing her in. Her skin was warm and inviting, creamy white with touches of rose if you knew just where to look and it would have startled Luke to realize that he knew exactly where to look.
Chicago was a memory indeed. Profitable, entertaining, and dangerous in more ways than one - for not only had there been the possibility of physical peril in their actions that night. But danger had lurked in the heat of their own eyes, in the touches that lingered even after they had returned and there were no eyes that might be prying. "Chicago indeed." He concurred as he leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek, enticing those watching into thinking they were sharing the whispered moments of long time lovers.
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Post by Amelia MacKenna on Jan 2, 2012 20:02:15 GMT -5
It bored her to tears but she accepted it as a hazard of her profession, if any of these women had any inkling of how completely foolish this was. The catty idiocy that Lia had come to dismiss and meet with chilly eyes and soft smiles, pretending like she cared about the latest scandal and the woman who no one was speaking to any longer. It was the kind of world that they didn't actually belong too, their world was so much darker, more dangerous, more chances of death at the hand of another. The thrill of it, the taste of it was so much more than any of these women could imagine. Chicago. It was like Chicago.
His fingers had her trying to calm her heart as it picked up a beat, the heat of that touch, having her letting out a breath where no one could see. He knew, he knew more than she realized sometimes. The blond lifted her head just a bit, turning a faction closer to him before his lips touched hers and she found herself smiling slightly. Yet she was unable to hide the color of rose that hit her cheeks. Eyes glancing over at the women who were watching and giving them a slow smile. "Maybe we won't have to end our night the same as Chicago," she murmured. That had been, intense, death defying, and the walls had shifted. When had his touch drawn out such fire from her? She'd schooled herself to be immune to the touch of a good looking man, after all, she liked being in control. She didn't always feel in control when Luke touched her, or looked at her with those hot looks. Did she really need to remind herself it was just a game?
"Ladies, if you will pardon us. I believe it is time for us to retire." Did she say that? The look she sent Luke was one that a lover would send another, but did she mean it or didn't she? It made the women at the table giggle, Madeline, the prestigious, cool sheen of a lady with a reserved Irishman.
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Post by Luke Gallagher on Jan 2, 2012 20:41:59 GMT -5
Luke arched an eyebrow at her comment about ending the night, those simple words causing his blood to heat. Possibility had always lingered around it, he was aware enough to realize that now. It haunted every step that they took together, slipped in between their words and weighted every touch between them with something that they dare not look at straight on. Chicago had ended with the lines between them so blurred, Luke wasn't sure they had ever figured out where it was any longer. There had been kisses and touches and whispers that had been part of a farce but had rang true on at least some level and the heat had been so intense Luke knew they had both walked away because they were afraid they would get burned.
But there would be time enough for examination later perhaps, now there was something to attend to, a game that they were playing that they couldn't afford to stop in the middle. "Ladies," Luke said, standing up as Lia made their apologies and going to stand beside her chair and gallantly offering her his hand so that she could rise. "Twas a pleasure and I do hope that perhaps I will see you all again soon," He said with a slight bow before turning back to Lia, making a show of settling his hand on the small of her back, fingers tracing skin. "Where do you propose we retire to darlin'?" Luke asked as he helped her with her shawl, allowing for small touches and smiling through the question that had been whispered away from the ears and eyes that he knew were still trained on them.
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Post by Amelia MacKenna on Jan 2, 2012 20:54:28 GMT -5
She did make her good byes, putting the way her body was on high alert out of her mind as she spoke to the woman, making her good bye's and promising to meet for tea. It would be a hardship but she was pulling a long term con, it wasn't just for a night. His hand on her back was accepted but the train of her thoughts was not, she had to focus, and she tried her best not to think about what really happened in Chicago, where it had changed. She was a logical woman, cool and collected. Nothing frightened her and she was generally ready for anything, meeting a guy with a cool gaze. But she couldn't recall a time where a touch had heated her chilly blood, turning her skin to fire with a single brush of skin on skin.
Fashioning a smile, she turned to him, that cool lady of the manner smile. That one that said, I adore you and yet was polite. Once she had the shawl wrapped around her arms she tilted her head back towards the door, "I think I need some air," she replied. So many questions all around, she had a mind to ask them at some point but not yet. The game was not done, when it ended-- there would be time for other things. Stepping into the cool night air had her eyes slipping closed, she wished they had a motorcar, those things were interesting and she liked riding in them. Did they have time to get back to Queens? "We still have a long night ahead of us."
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Post by Luke Gallagher on Jan 4, 2012 18:50:59 GMT -5
Luke wasn't sure that everything changed in Chicago or if he had just become more aware of it - of how their farces had become less so and more like reality. How he treasured the presence of Lia's company and not just because a well run con was like a beautiful piece of art for him. Whatever it was, Chicago had been eye opening and in retrospect Luke supposed it's one of the reasons he had started to pull away. Sometimes things burned so hot you stepped away so you wouldn't get scarred - or do the scarring yourself. Not that Luke spent a great deal of time analyzing such things, especially not now when there was a part to play as Lia turned from her goodbyes and Luke gave their companion a quick and polite nod.
Luke simply followed Lia's lead when she said she needed air, the incline of his head indicating to those eyes that watched them that he would be willing to do anything that pleased her. His gaze was adoring, in the sort of soft way born of years spent admiring from afar and just for good measure, Luke reached over and adjusted the edge of the shawl that had flipped as they moved away from the table. "That we do," Luke agreed, instinctively moving closer as they stepped outside, both to shield her from the cold and from unwanted attention. Though they were able to speak a bit more freely outside, he was well aware that they were still being watched - the city always had eyes. "Where to now, darlin'?" He asked, his hand lifting and caressing a curl that had slipped free from her pins with a gentle finger.
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Post by Amelia MacKenna on Jan 4, 2012 21:47:33 GMT -5
Lia had things going through her mind, just the touches was clouding her better judgement on things. Yet she lifted her eyes to his face when he touched her hair as if it drew her from some lost thought. Where they still playing? She didn't feel like it any longer. They'd pulled away and would claim there were many reasons for it, but the truth always found them, staring at them as blatantly as the watched each other. She shifted the shawl over her shoulders more securely before turning to see a man asking if they needed to employ a carriage. She had the funds, the carriage was quiet and secluded.
"Yes please, " she told the driver before looking at Luke, her eyes soft as she raised a gloved hand to his cheek, brushing her fingers over the back of his cheek and down his jaw line. The touches, people watched but did they know what touches were real? Her eyes shifted to the carriage a moment later before she climbed inside. Really, she had to get one of her own drivers to keep up all this farce but it was exhausting on what you were expected to employ. She did everything herself, there was no need for her to employ someone she'd have to kill if they heard too much.
Inside the carriage she tugged a few of the pins from her hair and set them inside a little bag, letting out a sigh as she motioned for the carriage to go and instructed him that she'd give him directions when she was ready. Though she didn't give him directions to the Racs, but somewhere else. "That was completely unbearable," she muttered, her accent lacing through. The carriage driver couldn't hear her hushed tone, her head shaking back and forth. "Though we did learn something it was not a total wash.." No, she wondered what would happen now that they were alone and, them again. "I'm having him take us to the home I rent on the upper east side. We won't make it back to Queens and it would be one less person to question us." After all, weren't the upper crust supposed to live on the Upper East side?
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Post by Luke Gallagher on Jan 5, 2012 20:23:23 GMT -5
Luke was still trying to process what her touch to his face might have meant, so intimate and yet so often a part of the game, as he helped her into the carriage. He had a feeling the goal was two fold, the carriage would help to maintain the front as they headed towards the Upper East Side, a wealthy woman and her quiet lover stealing off into the night to make the most of what was left of it. But it also provided some privacy, in which they could speak more freely and savor in the victories of the night - few but profitable.
Luke's mouth quirked into a smile as Lia complained about how they had spent the night, squished between chattering women with little more to do than gossip about the misfortunes of those they proclaimed as friends. "Not completely," He murmured, his eyes watching as she shook her head and a few more wisps of blond hair slipped from her pins and on instinct he reached over to tuck them behind her ear. "Wherever ya want to go darlin'..." Luke said, his voice a bit gruff as he allowed his fingers to linger along her jaw before falling away.
There it was again, that thing that was between them and Luke didn't think it could be ignored any longer. Because it was dancing at the edge of his mind, curling around his memories and reminding him that they had been like this before. Tucked up against one another, alone and secluded with only each other and the moonlight as a witness. "You ever think about Chicago?" Luke asked finally, unable to ignore the things he had been ignoring for so long.
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Post by Amelia MacKenna on Jan 5, 2012 21:46:57 GMT -5
Lia had never been more aware of another human being than she was of Luke. She wasn't sure if that was the nature of their relationship or if it was just him. The swagger, the charm but something brewing under the surface that always had her watching him, curious as to what he'd do next. She could read his movements and know what he was thinking before he said it, it was why they worked so well together. But moments like these, when his fingers were gentle and she couldn't see his eyes in the darkness of the carriage, she wondered. A lot, about what all this really was and how long had it been since the game had changed so drastically. Chicago.. he mentioned Chicago again, her mind registered the question as her body registered his fingers on her jaw before they were gone.
"Often," she replied as she let out a slow and deliberate breath, capture that run away heart old girl your not Madeline and this is not Declan. You are Luke and Lia now, and this is the man that you've known since you were a teen and how well do you actually know him? Better than most, Luke was a lot of things but she did feel like she knew him and he knew her. You didn't need private background details to know someone.
Chicago was a time that brought something to her mind. The quiet touches, it had been a game, they'd nearly been killed. But something had happened, something changed and she felt the change after more than fifteen minutes near him. "A bit more than often actually."
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Post by Luke Gallagher on Jan 6, 2012 19:04:42 GMT -5
Luke was silent for a long time after she answered, the softness of her voice having almost echoed in the the cab of the carriage and Luke almost felt like they were on the precipice of something. The last time it had felt like this they had both turned away, in in their own ways they had run - because what was between them was big and terrifying and hard to understand. The last time had been Chicago and Luke could hear it in her voice; she remembered every moment of that night just as vividly and vibrantly as he did. "As do I darlin'," Luke affirmed finally, reaching over to take her hand and lift it to his lips so he could brush a kiss along the tops of her fingers.
He was fighting instinct and desire, to do so much more, to pull her into his arms and taste and take and sample just as he had before. In Chicago he'd given into that temptation, he'd crossed that line that he and Lia had been so careful about dancing around and it had burned them both with how hot what lay between them could flame. And it was true playing with fire was something of a sport for Luke, always had been and if he had to wager a guess, it always would be. But this was a different matter altogether.
Because as he turned to look down at her in the darkness of the carriage, cloaked in shadows that danced across her face as the moonlit slit through the windows, Luke felt something deep inside him tug. Damn it all to hell but it wasn't something that could be ignored for a lifetime - as it always seemed to have a way of rearing up again and threatening to swallow him whole. "Lia..." He said softly, realizing he was still holding her hand and he shifted so he could pull it into his lap, setting it on his knee and setting his own larger one on top of it. "...what are we doin', mo mhuirnín?"
**Gaelic Translation: Mo Mhuirnín - My dear
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Post by Amelia MacKenna on Jan 6, 2012 19:51:09 GMT -5
Amelia didn't move when he took her hand and brought it to his lips, when he said her name she looked at him. Knowing that it meant more than being part of the game, because this was between them now. She could feel it in the heat that shot up her arm when his lips brushed against her fingers. Even through the gloves she could feel it and her face did soften, her eyes cautious but somehow more honest then she'd been in ages.
The moment he'd kissed her in Chicago everything had changed, and she'd kissed him just as passionately and hotly as he had her. They weren't the kind that made real connections outside of family and the truth was she didn't really want them. She didn't have many good memories of her childhood and how often she'd changed hands in her young life. She'd starved, been filthy, killed for her own survival. Coldly, calculated and without malice. Yet, Luke had kissed her and unlocked parts of her she had thought died when she'd been a young girl.
She'd been thinking about doing that as they'd sat there, the idea was odd really, putting her hand on his knee as real lovers would do. Her eyes lifted to his at the term of endearment whispered in the old language she didn't realize she'd missed. "I don't know," she replied for the first time in a long time she didn't have answers. Her eyes lifting to his, seeking out his features in the dark. What were they doing? Following instincts?
"This isn't a game anymore," the words were out before she could stop them, because it was the gods awful truth staring back at them. This had moved beyond the con, beyond the pretend and the lark. This was real now and it threatened to eat them both alive.
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Post by Luke Gallagher on Jan 6, 2012 20:18:15 GMT -5
To an outsider, Five Points was a terrifying and rowdy lot. They were hardened and tough and a bit more than a little crazy - and they were perpetually and rather always like a family. But those same outsiders would be perhaps surprised to discover that the members of Five Points, in some cases at least because Luke still was sure about Killian some days, had little pieces of them that were halfway human. And that was all that Luke sensed as he looked down into Lia's eyes, caught now in the moonlight so he could see the eyes that he knew pierced and now only softened.
"I think the game ended a long time ago," Luke admitted finally, his fingers curling around hers on his knee and giving a gentle squeeze, filling with a tenderness that was oddly foreign to him. Luke cared about people that mattered - his brother, his friends - but it was rarely with tenderness because that never accomplished the goal. But things were different with Lia and for the first time Luke was realizing that they always had been. Lifting his hand, Luke traced the curve of her cheek with his finger following the apple of it down along her jaw and to her neck, memorizing the graceful curve and realizing with a start that he already knew the way.
"We did this once before," He said, his hand finally settling with his fingers splayed along her shoulder, the palm of his hand against her neck as he breathed in deep. "And we both ran - though I don't think we knew at the time that's what we were doin'." Luke felt the carriage hitch and then shudder as it bumped along the road but his focus was solely on the woman in front of him as he leaned closer so he could look her better in the eye. "Are we goin' to run now?"
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Post by Amelia MacKenna on Jan 6, 2012 20:29:44 GMT -5
His hand tracing over her face had her sucking in a breath she didn't realize she needed too, cautious eyes focused on his face. How often had she watched him and remained totally emotionless? Low long had it been since she could hold up those long built walls with him around to try and get her to smile, or coax out that wicked gleam in her eyes. She couldn't remember anymore, it had been far too long ago.
The gang itself was something of an anomaly, family true but they were dangerous individuals who had done whatever it had taken to further an end. She wasn't any different, but at that moment, what she'd done, what she would probably still do fell away in the span of a moment with a single touch. Her fingers curled around his the moment he squeezed them even as the carriage rocked, he was not wrong, no far from it. The game was over, this was wholly different.
She let out a half laugh, when he admitted they didn't know that was what they were doing. God she didn't know what she was doing now and that was a whole new experience for her. But his hand on her neck, had trying to remember to breath, especially when she wanted those hands touching her again. She managed to keep seated as the coach rocked, her mind as always working on a variety of fronts was focused on him. "Because it changes everything for us," she replied meeting his eyes dead on. "If I'd known it wouldn't go away... I never would have bothered trying." She'd initially thought it was just heat of the moment, now all she was thinking of was how much her skin tingled just being so close to him. "You know how much I hate wasting time if I can help it." And they had, running had wasted time, though proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that there was a true need under it all.
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