The devil may smile with an angel's face

[godofcologne]

After the conversation with Edward, Thomas stayed in his room and let his mind wander, let the Hunger guide his thoughts through a maze of possibilities. He tried to ignore how the exercise, even the planning, was a rush, how it made the blood rush through his veins. Between his fingers, he toyed with a business card, once in a while rereading the

Comments

[manicpixydream]

"That's fully unfair, you have fantastic legs in a skirt and you should show them off more often, yeah? At least that's what Vlad said, and before you get all kissing and telling it was totally within the realm of Truth or Dare rules, completely allowed." Alice stuck her tongue out at him for being all lifted around just because her feet didn't come anywhere near the floor, and grabbed another comfy t-shirt dress out of the box nearest the bathroom. Either she'd get to the stockings eventually or they were going to be like, awash in a sea of mess before they were there even two days.

"I'd say you're doing a pretty good job overall," she said over her shoulder, getting dressed again. "I'm just a scatterbrain right? Plus plenty to get distracted by in this house and that's not even counting people I'm trying to avoid." Setting her hair to rights, she quirked her head at him in the mirror. "That's all going like, ok and stuff, yeah? 'Cause there's me being here and then there's me being here."

It made perfect sense to share a room except where it didn't, but she was nowhere near ready to give up the big comforting shield that was lovely Thomas.

[godofcologne]

"At least tell me you got dared to do something scandalous like run around outside naked chasing Pandora with a pillow?" Thomas asked hopefully, ignoring the face she made at him in favour of putting himself to rights.

He caught her look and shrugged nonchalantly, slipping past Alice and flopping back into his bed. "Aside from the inherent gag reflex of 'hey I'm sleeping with your sister'? It's going alright. Like I said, he came to apologize. To soften me up so he could ask for help." It was to his credit that he sounded about average on the Thomas Sarcasm Scale of Sincere to Edward.

[manicpixydream]

"Well ok not so much Truth or Dare as I Have Never, but same ballpark, yeah? Same blabbing rules apply, and it was totally scandalous, obviously. It was me." God, was Pandora like, everyone's standard for amazing or was she just that obvious? Probably both. Alice followed him out of the bathroom and flopped stomach-first on her own bed thank you very much, and listened to his answer. She thought she did a really excellent job hiding the twinge of hurt when she sorted out Edward was really talking to him, like, already, and not in yelly outside voices from the sounds of it.

"And you know, Dru? Everything's- ok?" She sidestepped the Edward thing neatly 'cause for the time being it was more important that she find out how things were going on that front, no matter what kind of glare he threw her, and for the record she thought, she was only asking one question. But he was in way better spirits than he had been a couple of days ago. She could get away with it.

[godofcologne]

"This is highly unorthodox pillow talk, Alice," Thomas complained. He didn't miss the twinge of hurt that came off her, couldn't have, not when her presence still lingered against his mind. But that was for later.

For now he played along. "Dru's... complicated," he said. It was a mark of just how much Dru was bothering him that he hadn't immediately reverted to the 'I don't want to talk about it' voice. A few seconds ticked by, and Thomas shrugged. "It'll be okay. Don't worry about it."

He turned his head and looked at Alice. "I'm serious, you know," he said quietly. "He's only talking to me because he wanted something."

[manicpixydream]

"It's not pillow talk at all except I'm kind of like approximately near some pillows." She could fix that pretty easy though, should really, and hopped over to his bed without much trouble, dropping a kiss on his forehead and running fingers through his hair.

So Dru was complicated and that was not exactly news, but she reminded herself Dru was all I'm not going to hurt you and how she should have known and everything was fine dammit, she'd worked to hard to get things here for it not to be. But it was kind of up to him from here on out, at least with Dru. There was no helping Alice there.

"Oh come on Thomas do not be that guy." Edward wanting help was one thing, but Edward sucking up to someone he was pissed at was a totally different story. "Have you met Edward? What's so like, vitally important that he'd break his own stubborn angry spine to come get it from you?"

[godofcologne]

The kiss was very much appreciated, and Thomas grinned in response, dropping a quick kiss at the little hollow of her throat in return. When he pulled away, there was a knowing smirk on his lips, and an almost undetectable edge of bitterness in his eyes.

"Lacrimosa, of course."

[manicpixydream]

"Oh right, of course, Lacrimosa." Alice couldn't even remember the last time she'd heard anyone on the show call her that except for maybe Dru, which didn't count for a million reasons starting with the way Dru sounded saying anything.

"I don't know why I didn't see it before, this whole time he must've been like floundering without your help with Lacci, what are you even talking about?" As far as Alice knew the whole thing had gotten fixed anyway, whatever Vlad's nefarious plan had involved, and anyway it didn't seem fully likely that Edward would tag Thomas in for some advice to the lovelorn.

"Look if Edward came to see you and like, acted like he could stand you, I think you're in better than you thought, yeah?" She kept up running fingers through his hair, brushing imaginary strands away from his face. "Silly boys."

[godofcologne]

"He's asking for help with Wolfram & Hart, Alice," Thomas said, it finally occurring to him that she might not know. "On what planet would Edward come to me for relationship advice?"

He tried not to lean into her hand running through his hair, but it felt too good. "After Vlad put one and one together and got two, he apparently decided to go gunning for the lawyers. So now Edward needs a hired gun because he's desperate for help figuring out what happened to Lacci." He raised an eyebrow, lips quirking into a humourless smile.

[manicpixydream]

"After what?!" Alice sat straight up, not bothering to take in the whole your brother the jerk look and whipped the door open to run to Lacci's room. Her door wasn't even closed and Edward wasn't there, but neither was Vlad, she could tell that from the scent and besides Lacci was pawing through her wardrobe and looked all puzzled that Alice had even come back. "You and me, Lacci, later with the talking." Her return to Thomas wasn't quite as hasty pants but goddamnit.

"God, Thomas! I can't see stuff anymore, you have to tell me! Vlad is gone?" Alice sank back next to Thomas, looking a hell of a lot more concerned than relaxed. "Some bodyguard I make, what the hell is wrong with you- masky types you can't say goodbye? And where did he go, anyway?" Edward and his outstretched hands could wait, she needed to hear this out loud to know for sure.

[godofcologne]

Well, so much for good medicine, she was getting tense again. Thomas draped his arm around Alice's shoulders. "Good byes are tough," he said needlessly. "Edward said Wolfram & Hart might have been taking advantage of Vlad, letting him think he's working for them." In the time he'd spent thinking, Thomas was starting to work out some idea of what Vlad might have been doing with them.

"They knew a lot about Lacci. About how to play her. You don't get that without knowing how someone's brain works." His words were detached, eerily cool. "Vlad apparently has some sort of connection to Wolfram & Hart. He went to go gunning for the lawyers because he doesn't think they'll expect it."

[manicpixydream]

"They probably won't, not after I killed the goons they sent after him, well ok Pandora got one of them but I would've if she hadn't shown up, damnit I didn't know I had to protect him from himself or I would've stayed!" There was tense and then there was psychic tense, and Alice was going to be fine there for awhile she figured, which meant she was free to worry about idiot boys and their idiot plans all she liked. Why'd she bothered knocking a demon's head off if he was just going to fly back to them in the first place?

"I knew his story about getting hauled out for an unapproved visit was bull but I needed time to work on it, or well ok, me and Bianca and Pandora together I mean who's gonna withstand that for five minutes? Now I know and he's gone." She bit her thumb and buried her head against Thomas' shoulder for a minute, 'cause she could stand to calm down a bit for his sake at least.

"So wait, what does that have to do with Edward faking nice at you? I mean I get that Lacci's been getting screwed with but so's he obviously, so's Dru. What does he want you to do?" The whole bribery buying affections give and take spin Thomas was putting on it was crap, but she could point that out when she had all the facts.

[godofcologne]

His hand ran through Alice's hair, and Thomas tried to soothe the spikes of anxiety that were forming. "Vlad going Lone Ranger on everyone spurred Edward to action," he answered, trying to remind himself that this was all new to Alice.

"So now Edward wants to go knocking lawyer heads in, and he wants me to figure out a way for him to do it." Thomas laughed a little again, and kissed Alice's forehead. "Vlad can take care of himself, you know. Not that it makes you feel any better, but he can."

[manicpixydream]

"I know he can, but is he gonna 'cause it doesn't sound like it so far, I mean- god." It was kind of amazing they hadn't all gotten killed with their whole propensity for dumb ass moves, but she counted herself on that list so, sheepish, plus Thomas was just soothing even when he wasn't making any sense. It would've been a lot more infuriating if he hadn't already soothed that away too.

"Just so I have the whole thing clear, you think Edward is like, pawning his good graces so you'll help him go after the bad guy lawyers? Is that for real what I'm hearing 'cause Thomas, you have said some stupid stuff and I'm totally ready to be wrong about this, but come on. You don't really think Edward could fake that kind of thing at you, do you?" He was kind of an open book to Alice, and ok she'd known him a long time and been wrong a bunch anyway, but Thomas knew him and felt other people's feeling's for god's sake.

Unless something had changed a lot more than she'd bargained for since she'd left- "Is that what he gave off?"

[godofcologne]

He knew Alice was going to push it, because Alice always pushed it, and he knew what he had to say to make it convincing, to make the watching lawyers think he was bitter and open to talking. It didn't make the doing any easier, even though some small part of him felt intensely alive at the thought of the game.

"I don't kiss and tell, Alice. You know that," he said, putting enough bitter disgust in his voice to make it clear what in fact he was feeling. Even so, Thomas bent to kiss Alice's forehead again, whispering against her hair. "No."

[manicpixydream]

Oh, god. Thomas had A Plan. This was going to give her a bigger headache than trying to find Vlad on her own, and yeah so Alice could stand to get used to a house that was always bugged but this kind of wink and nudge crap really didn't help.

"Fine, so Edward's a douche, newsflash. I'm gonna talk to him if it kills me which, by the way still a total possibility, 'cause if he's lowering himself to bartering forgiveness for help he's gotta be pretty desperate." Alice hoped the look in her eye said exactly how much she liked this whole subterfuge deal and exactly how much headache relief she was going to totally rightfully require as a result.

"You're both stubborn jerks." She didn't even have to lie to say that with a smile. "A thing of which I get you're like, stupidly proud so I won't even try to talk you out of it, besides it's kinda worked to my advantage once or twice I guess." Alice straddled him playfully and gave him a proper kiss, just enough irritation left that he'd taste it she figured, but no harm in going along with it for now. Especially if she didn't want any more of that disgusting-smelling blood on her hands.

[godofcologne]

Alice's Look was met with a smirking grin, the kind Thomas excelled at that was equal parts Don't Worry Babe, I'll Take Care Of It and Yes I'll Sleep With You If I Must. Her irritation came through loud and clear, and he nipped playfully at her lip as she pulled away. The sex and the feeding everyone understood; they made him the Thomas everyone knew and tolerated. The need to play games, for subterfuge and to guide the dagger in the night, well, it was hard to be the irrepressible playboy if everyone thought they needed to watch out for a knife up his sleeve.

"Well, what else am I supposed to be stupidly proud of?" he asked. "Because I'm fairly certain I'm actually that good in bed." The grin came easier that time, unrepentant and pure smartass.

He tried hard not to think about how good it felt to be playing the game, how the Hunger reveled in it and made his mind feel so utterly alive. If he could control it now, the Hunger's urges to feed, surely he could keep the upper hand in any game they played?