((OOC - more practice chats!))
((The first one is with Elizabeth, the other's with Dorian and it follows the last practice))
Griffin/Elizabeth
Elizabeth likes to sit in the corner of the engine room of the Nautilus, undisturbed by any crewman who might see her, content to chew on some dried seaweed-the flavore grew on you-and read. Today the room's particularly empty, allowing her to enjoy the hum of the engines as she turns the pages of Goethe's writings, enjoying reading her native tongue.
Someone else in the room is also enjoying the hum of the engines. The noise does wonders in concealing the sound he makes as he carefully makes his way through the room. It's impossible to hear his breathing, or the sound of his feet as he steps on the floor. Invisibility at its best, something that rarely occurred. And Griffin was going to make the best of it.
Liz doesn't hear him at all, merely turns the page and continues reading the Erl-King.
In about a second or two, Griffin finds himself standing close behind her. He catches himself before he can make an undoubtedly obnoxious comment (because he knew how well that worked last time) and wraps his fingers around Elizabeth's throat. What a wonderfully convenient location she picked to find herself in. At least no one, except for himself, would be able to hear her scream now.
Liz's eyes widen and she drops the book, hands flying to her neck. How she nows, in retrosepct, she won't be sure...instinct,the sudden inability to breathe...she just knows that there are hands there, and her fingers pry at them, managing to first loosen, then dislodge them, letting her fall forward and gasp for breath, twisting immediately on her back to look at her assailant. Not seeing, in this case, is as good as seeing. Griffin.
Damn. Well, that didn't work. He'd forgotten how surprisingly strong she was for a woman, or any normal human for that matter. Maybe there was something he can bludgeon her with...she wouldn't expect that...
Eyes narrowed, she rises to her feet. "I told you not to try anything stupid," she hisses. "You just couldn't listen, could you?" She normally has problems with guilt...but not this time, she won't.
"Aheheh..." It's difficult to hear very much clearly above the din from the machinery. "Well, it's not as stupid as what you were doing. Honestly, who'd read a book here, of all places? Couldn't you have picked a more comfortable place like, say, a bedroom?" There isn't anything she could possibly do to him. She can't possibly hear the sounds he makes. And she certainly can't see him, of course...
"Any place is as comfortable as any other to me. And I like the sound of the engines," Liz says calmly, senses alert, scanning the floor...dust. There was dust on the floor. She smiles widely, watching as some of it moves.
"What are you so happy about all of a sudden?" Griffin asks with the slightest hint of nervouness. Knowing Elizabeth, it probably isn't because of it's rude sense of humour.
"Guess," she says lightly.
"You've seen Nemo naked recently and it was the funniest thing ever?" he suggests, slowly backing away from her.
Liz just smiles wider, grinning now. "No. I'm happy because one of the sailors has been negligent in his duties, and left a nice layer of dust on the floor."
Griffin doesn't even have to look down at the floor to understand the implications of Elizabeth's comment, but he checks anyway in case she's bluffing. She's not. He swears softly to himself as he notices the trail of footprints he left behind, then bolts for the exit.
"Uh-uh! You wanted to play, after all!" Liz cheerfully declares, following him and grabbing widely until her hand connects with...his hair. Grinning, she clenches onto it, refusing to let go.
"Oh, shit. Please let go, Miss Lavenza, it's much more painful than it looks." Although he can't see where she is behind him, he tries to aim a well-placed kick at her shin.
Her leg buckles on the impact, but she doesn't let go, instead dragging him down with her, though careful to keep him off of her. Slut indeed. "Why did you think that would be a good idea?!"
"Please let go, dammit!"
"No. I don't think so. Now you're just goign to have to sit here with me until I can get up." Liz positions herself so her back is against the wall, keeping her grip firm. "Though I'd like to know why you attacked me."
"This isn't fair," he mutters, ignoring her question.
"Oh, stop acting like a toddler," Liz says irritably, "life's not fair, get used to it. And answer my question."
"W-what're you going to do if I don't? You can't kill me, someone will find out..."
"The same way they would have found out if you'd succeeded in killing me?" Liz asks dryly. "Answer me." She twists her grip on his hair as she says this.
"Ouch! All right, all right. I'm still just a tad upset about our last meeting." Griffin stops for a moment to wince in pain; so this is what it must've felt like for Dorian during their naughty little escapades. Except Griffin can't heal instantly. "My fingers are mostly fine now, but...ow!...my shoulder's still seriously bruised. I hope you're happy now." Bitch...
"Happy? Not really. So you were going to kill me, because your fingers are fine and your shoulder is bruised?" Liz shakes her head. "That's rather sad, don't you think? I mean, really, if I were to kill you, I'd have a much better reason ready."
"Well, you got your answer. Now let go."
Liz laughs. "Oh, please. I don't think so at all. No, you're going to stay right here where I at least know where you are for now."
Griffin sighs to himself and wishes she'd loosen her grip on his hair. "Aheheh. So we're just going to sit here for the nexr few hours until a crew member wanders in and wonders what you're doing alone with a naked man again?"
"No, we're going to sit here until I'm capable of getting up. I'm then going to take you to, oh, Dr. Kane, I think, and let him deal with you. And I certainly would prefer you clothed, but if you choose to walk around nude, that's your affair, not mine."
"I assure you I'm not enjoying it as much as you think I am." He reached up from where he is lying down and tries to awkwardly slap her across the face.
Liz just looks at him, somewhat amused. "Have you not grasped the fact yet," she says patiently, as if explaining to a child, "that you can't hurt me?"
"Well, you can't blame me for trying," Griffin notes, squirming uncomfortably. It could be worse, he decides. At least she isn't a bit of a sadist in the same way he is. Which is rather fortunate for Griffin considering how much longer and possibly sharper her fingernails probably are.
"No, I htink I'll just blame you for trying to kill me. You can understand, I'm sure, how sensitive a topic that is for me," Liz says conversationally, idly twisting her hand first one way, then the other.
"Exactly! You're already dead, so I can't really kill you anyway, right?" Griffin tries to jerk his head out of her grip, but stops when he decides that he'd rather not have his hair pulled out of his scalp. At least for today.
"Do you know what it's like, then, Dr Griffin, to die?" she continues, merely pulling a bit harder at his comment. "Can you imagine it?"
"I don't have to. As long as I'm invisible, no one's going to be able to find and kill me."
"You're going to die," she says simply. "It may not be for decades yet, but you will. And you won't be able to do a damned thing to stop it, invisible or not."
"I'd rather not think about it then, if it's not going to be for such a long time," he says, before grabbing Elizabeth's wrists and trying to pry her hands out of his hair. He makes sure to dig his nails in as well, although it's embarassingly womanly, in his opinion, for him to be doing so.
"Back to that again?" she sighs, almost pityingly. "Do you know how old I was when I died? I was 19. Do you really think it will be so long for you? I said that it could be. May be. Might be. Or it might be tomorrow."
"I'm thirty-three as of now, so I'm not entirely in the same predicament as you were," he replies, still gripping onto her wrists, albeit uselessly. He then turns his attention to brushing off the dust on his feet; that way, if she ever did unwittingly release him, he could sneak off somewhere. At least she doesn't seem to remember that his blood becomes visible as it coagulates. Then again, women never remember important things (fortunately enough for him).
Liz blinks in surprise. "You're only 33? Somehow I thought you were older...but if death can strike a 19-year old, it can come for you too, I'm afraid. Can you imagine it? The moment when you realize that this is it, that there isn't going to be a rescue, and that your life is over, it's done, and if you're very lucky, you might have someone to mourn you, but that's it. Can you?" She clenches his hair so tightly her nails dig into his scalp.
"Oh God, what the hell are you doing?" he hisses, completely ignoring her lengthy and preachy spiel.
Lizzie releases him, suddenly. "You're a very sad little man," she says softly.
Griffin gets up as quickly as he can and before even bolting for the exit, he runs his hand through his hair and over his scalp. Which feels slightly wet here and there. Which probably meant that he's bleeding. Before the blood has time to dry, he runs out of the engine room to look for some water to wash it off.
Liz stares at her fingers, covered in blood, watching them tremble slightly before wiping them off and, with several deep breaths, going back to her book.
Griffin/Dorian
Dorian ducks into the lounge when he spots Mina in the hallway. He's not interested in being given a new assignment just yet, he'd much rather smoke. Besides, he's tired of the woman trying to be helpful. He looks around and sinks into a very comfortable black chair, eyeing the liquor cabinet.
Meanwhile, Griffin stalks along the corridor outside and makes obscene gestures at Mina as she passes by him. Usually, he prefers to wear clothes while on the ship, both for comfort and to feel a little more human, but with the way the vampire has been snapping at him lately for his failed mission, he's decided that it would be wiser if he remained fully invisible. As he passes by the lounge, he takes a quick peek in to see if there's anyone inside.
Dorian pours himself a small glass of port before curling back up on the chair. He glances over at the door occassionally. He's concerned that Mina might come in. Thankfully, there's no one there.
Great. It doesn't seem as if the Immortal is aware of the Unseen's presence, and Griffin gleefully tiptoes into the room until he's standing right in front of Dorian. "Funny we should find ourselves alone together quite by accident again, eh?"
Dorian nearly jumps out of his chair, but manages not to mostly as he doesn't wish to ruin his suit by spilling his drink all over it. "You really have to stop doing that. Carry around bagpipes to announce your prescense or some such."
"I might as well be visible then, since you'd see them a mile off before you'd hear them." Griffin sits himself down on another very comfortable chair, then gets up and finds another one more to his liking. "What're you doing here?"Nycteris66: "Avoiding Mina. As usual," Dorian says with a smile as he finishes off his glass of port. "What happened to that lovely robe you had?"
"Aheheh. I'm here for the exact same reason, actually. As for my robe, Mrs. Harker's fault again. I can't wear anything or she'll find me and bite my head off or something. She's been in a foul mood lately," the other says, amused. "I wonder why."
Dorian has his guesses and all of them begin with a 'D.' "Perhaps she just needs a good roll in the hay."
Griffin giggles again before getting up and positioning himself so that he's standing behind where Dorian is sitting. "I'd be able to help her with that, but she seems to be in denial," he says, running his fingers through Dorian's hair. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Dorian blinks but allows it. At least Griffin's not using his nails this time... "Yes, I think she must be. It's very noble of you to wish to help her. I for one would refuse."
"Oh, I assure you, there's nothing noble in my intentions."
"That's fine. There's nothing noble about Mrs. Harker."
"I quite agree." Griffin now slides his hand down Dorian's right cheek and begins stroking it absentmindedly. He places his other arm across the back of the chair before resting his head on it. "And can you imagine if she was invisible like me? She'd probably be eavesdropping on us right now."
"Hmm...I'm sure she would be," Dorian says setting his glass down on the small table next to his chair. He sighs gently and curls up a bit more in the chair rather enjoying Griffin's stroking his cheek. So long as there's no nails, anyway. "It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest."
"That's the trouble with women, really. They're so nosy. Which is I personally prefer to just skip the talking and get right on to business with them." Griffin then gives Dorian's cheek a sharp pinch. "Don't get so comfortable now, aheh. We've only been in here for five or so minutes."
Dorian whimpers slightly, he hates that Griffin does that. "I was planning on staying in here to avoid the others so I might as well get comfortable."
"Me too, actually," Griffin replies, sliding his hand down so that he's now pawing at Dorian's neck. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to be here for an awful long time. I'm sure you're going to as well?"
Well, that wasn't quite what Dorian had meant. He debates how to answer and presses against the couch to try to discourage Griffin. "I...well...I wouldn't want to prevent you from enjoying some time alone....I could go back to my room..." Or Holmes' room.
"Oh no, I don't mind at all." The pressure on Dorian's neck lifts for a moment as Griffin removes his hand. There's a bit of a pause before the Invisible Man slides his left hand off of the back of the chair and, with his right one, begins to unbutton the other's shirt. "I've been spending more than enough time alone now that everyone else in the League has decided that it would make for an amusing Sunday afternoon activity to kill me in the most violent way possible."
Dorian frowns. "Well...surely you could have a word with Mycroft and do something about that?" He shifts uncomfortably but doesn't stop Griffin. "Surely you have better things to do on a Sunday."
Griffin finishes undoing the first three buttons and then he lets his hand slither down Dorian's chest. "Aheheh. I've got the oddest feeling that he'd do away with me as well. I mean, did you get a good look at him the last time we had a meeting with him? I wouldn't be surprised if he ate people to reach that size." While still stroking the other's chest with his right hand, he pushes Dorian's shirt off of his left shoulder, then bends over and licks it.
Dorian chuckles briefly. "Well, I suppose that is true." He shudders slightly when Griffin's licks his shoulder. He should leave but he's not sure how to say so. "But I doubt everyone onboard wants to kill you..."
"Let's count, shall we? We know about Mrs. Harker already. Although perhaps we can attribute that to her feeding habits. Miss Lavenza's been in a foul mood just because I had a little fun with her necklace. Dr. Kane keeps expecting me to do...uncivil...things to Miss Liddell. And now I've lost count."
"Well...I guess you're right then...sorry." Dorian finds himself feeling bad for Griffin. Not too bad, but just enough that he continues to debate leaving.
"Unlike the others here, I'm sure you understand." Griffin subconsciously begins to draw circles with his hand on Dorian's chest, and he's surprisingly gentle. "No one seems like you much either, eh?"
Dorian relaxes slightly. "That's true...a few do but...well, I suppose it's better that way. I don't like them much either."
Griffin continues drawing the same circles, but he presses much harder now. "Hmm. We do seem to have an awful lot in common then. And neither have us truly have to worry too much as to whether they'd realy kill us or not. Me, I'm difficult fo catch. You, you're invulnerable. Although you do seem to be able to feel pain."
Dorian squrims a bit, gently touching Griffin's hands to try to get him to stop pressing any harder. "Yes...though I suppose I'd rather feel some pain than feel nothing at all."
"Aheh. You should've told me earlier then." Griffin ignores Dorian's hand and he presses his nails through his skin before running his hand down in one swift and fluid motion.
"That's not what I meant," Dorian hisses, staring at the scars Griffin's nails had made. He watches them fade but still feels uneasy.
"Oh? You should have been more specific. What did you mean then?"
Dorian pouts slightly. "I meant that...it's better to be able to feel things but not that I wanted to have you dig your nails into me."
"Hmm. That's a valid point, although I don't see why anyone would want to feel pain in that way. I mean, it's a terribly nuisance, isn't it?"
"It's what keeps me somewhat human and somewhat sane, I think."
"Aheheh. Are you interested in testing the sanity part of that? I can keep this up all day, you know, I don't have anything else to do" Griffin says, undoing a few more buttons.
"No, no test is nessecary," Dorian says rather warily.
"You mean, you just want to sit here and do nothing?"
"I'm not entirely sure."
"Why don't you suggest something then? You've got more than a century of experience, I'm sure you must have at least one half-decent activity in mind." Griffin leans over the back of the seat and finishes with the last button, his right cheek brushing against Dorian's left one.
Dorian blushes slighty. "I...you could read a book, recite some poetry?" He tries to ignore the fact that his shirt is completely undone at this point.
"I thought I already told you that I was never interested in art." Griffin gives Dorian a patronizing pat on the head before leaning over again to stroke his stomach. "Don't you have any remotely good ideas?"
"I suppose....well, what did you want to do?" Dorian says as innocently as he can though he does know what Griffin wants. Obviously.
"I was hoping you could tell me for a change. You're such an uncreative wuss."
Dorian frowns. "I thought you want us to do what you wanted..." He wonders why Griffin suddenly wants his opinion. He hasn't before...
"We are. If not, we'd be reading some idiotic womanly poetry by now." Griffin scowls as he vaguely recalls some of the rumours about Dorian he had heard from the other students at University College. It's hard to believe the Immortal from the scathing gossip and the one in front of him are one and the same. "I just want suggestions, and if you're not going to give me any, I can spend the entire afternoon seeing how quickly different parts of your body heal. Wouldn't that be fun?"
Dorian winces and looks down at the floor. "No...I suppose..." He doesn't want to say anything really because...he shouldn't do anything with Griffin. Even if he does want to. He feels uncomfortable mostly because he can't see the other man. He has no idea if Griffin is that mad or not. "You could...well, we do have the room to ourselves..." He trails off.
"I could what?"
"First, why on earth do you care what I want to do?"
"Aheh. Where on earth did you ever get that silly idea from? Of course I don't. I'm just a little too tired to think of anything original to do on my own and seeing how undoubtedly vast your suppossed experience is, I'm sure you could teach me something. So long as I approve of it, obviously."
"I don't know what sort of experiences you think I've had but that was quite some time ago." Well, before Holmes anyway...
"Does this have anything to do with this ridiculous 'redemption' thing of yours?" This is so boring...perhaps Alice wouldn't mind a visit from him...
"I suppose it does." Dorian looks worried. "I...but I think the problem is I'd have to show you rather than tell you what we should do," he says finally hoping he sounds more convinced than he feels.
"Aheheh. Even better. I find talking to be awfully tedious anyway. But," Griffin taps Dorian smartly on the cheek, "try anything stupid and I promise I'll spend the rest of the afternoon snapping your neck over and over again. Agreed?"
Dorian nods. "Of course, just...stop moving away otherwise I won't be able to find you."
Griffin places a hand on Dorian's shoulder. "If you can't find me now, you really are more of an idiot than I thought."
Dorian gently runs his fingers up Griffin's shoulder and then up the other man's chest. "I can find you now."
"Congratulations. This isn't it, I hope."
Dorian gently pulls the other man towards him and shuts him up with kiss, deepening it quite a bit as he runs his fingers back down Griffin's chest.
Griffin doesn't protest with one of his usual obnoxious remarks, and he slides his hands under Dorian's shirt near the base of his neck, slipping it off of the other's shoulders.
Dorian finds himself wishing Griffin did care about him and then subsequently feeling guilty because Dorian does have Holmes. Only how much longer is debatable if he keeps allowing himself to be coerced into this. He begins kissing Griffin's fingers once the other kiss is over before working his way up the other man's shoulder.
As far as Griffin is concerned, this doesn't quite measure up to his experience at the girls' school in Edmonton; perhaps it had something to do with how the schoolgirls and even mistresses worshipped him as some sort of holy entity there. But it's still a better way to pass the time, although he really wishes Dorian would remember that his shoulder still hasn't healed properly and is therefore still particularly sensitive. He hisses softly to make this clear.
Dorian blinks and then frowns apologetically. "Sorry." He means it too but he doubts it matters. He gently kisses the other man's cheek before kisses the other man's throat. "How shall I make it up to you?"
"You could kill off Miss Lavenza for me the next time you see her," Griffin says as he waits for Dorian to finish kissing him before kissing him on the lips and biting them with increasing degrees of violence. "In the meantime, don't make a fuss while we're doing this or Mrs. Harker or Nemo will nose in on us and that wouldn't be fun at all, would it?"
"I wouldn't be able to kill her and I wasn't making a fuss, Griffin. I was just apologizing. I didn't mean to hurt you," Dorian says with a small trace of bitterness of Griffin is hurting him.
"I meant the last time we were doing this. You were whining like a little girl, remember?"
"I...yes...I suppose so," Dorian says quietly.
"And you're not going to do the same thing this time, isn't that right?" Griffin pulls back and waits for an answer.
"Are you going to hurt me this time?"
"I will if you don't give me an answer," Griffin says in a disturbingly cheerful voice.
Dorian sighs worriedly. "The answer is yes then."
"Aheheh. That's exactly the answer I was looking for." Grinning to himself, he places his hand as far down Dorian's back as he can and slowly claws his way upwards. If someone wanders into the room right now, it would look alarmingly as if Dorian is spontaneously bleeding.
Dorian bites his lips to keep from yelping. "I...stop...I said I wouldn't whine but I didn't say you could just..." Dorian pulls away from Griffin and winces as the scars fade away.
"Well, I changed my mind." Griffin looks down at his fingertips, which are smeared with traces of red. "Now come back here or I'll have to hurt you in a more, aheh, sensitive area."
Dorian looks towards the door but goes back over to Griffin. "Griffin, don't...it really hurts."
"Better you than me." Griffin wipes his fingers down along the collar of Dorian's shirt before tightening his grip on him. Just in case he decides to run away. "Although admittedly, my blood would make less of a mess than yours. At least at first."
Dorian looks down anxiously. "But I haven't tried to hurt you..."
"Of course not, because you're a womanly wimp. And I'd have to hurt you severely in return for it, wouldn't I?"
Dorian sighs. "Mostly it's because I wouldn't want to hurt you."
Griffin raises an eyebrow in genuine interest. "Oh? I'm quite glad to hear that, of course, but I'm curious as to why. Everyone else here wants to kill me. Why not you too?"
Dorian shrugs. "I'd not sure why."
"And I could care less about the answer, really," Griffin adds as he leans over slightly and makes his way from Dorian's wrist to shoulder with his tongue. There's a sort of cat-like atmosphere to it, probably more along the lines of a vicious wildcat ready to pounce at a moment's notice than a domestic one.
Dorian shudders slightly, unsure what do. He knows he should just hurt Griffin...really, what difference would it make but... The scars will heal, after all...and Griffin would just find someone else to hurt. And Dorian foolishly clings to the idea that some part of Griffin is still human...and that maybe he could help him.
"You're being awfully quiet, Mr. Gray," Griffin notes, smacking Dorian across the face, both to knock him out of his thoughts and for the pleasure of it. "Is there something you'd like to say?"
"I wish I could hate you," Dorian whispers.
"I can't hear you." Of course, the Invisible Man heard him perfectly, but he's curious to see if Dorian would dare say what he said any louder. "Care to repeat yourself?"
"I wish I could hate you."
"Tsk. I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish you for that. That's not a very nice thing to say at all." And that being said, Griffin not only slaps him in the face again, but also knees him hard in the stomach. "Don't worry, I'm sure that hurt you more than it hurt me."
And you only can hurt me because I let you...out of pity...and... "I imagine so."
"Well, perhaps not since you have those powers of yours, while I don't." Griffin sits down on a nearby chair, tilts his head off to the side and takes a good look at Dorian. The League really is comprised mostly of pathetic freaks. What British Intelligence hopes to gain from them is beyond Griffin's level of comprehension.
Dorian looks around for a moment. Griffin's still in the room but it takes him a few brief moments to find where. "If you can dish out pain one would hope you can take it as well. Particularly when the pain you experience comes in such small and petty doses."
"Oh, and how would you know?"
"How would anyone know? You're not exactly someone most people would listen to and it's not as though you ever tell anyone anything at all."
"Right. Which means that you shouldn't be making assumptions about me then." Griffin leans back in his chair and looks up at the ceiling for a moment. There goes Dorian on yet another annoying and preaching rant, although it's preferable to certain other options. For a moment, he was worried that Dorian was actually going to test whether he could take pain for not. Of course, he's too much of a weakling anyway, and Griffin's invisibility would simply allow him to escape easily.
"All that could be made about you is assumptions...." Dorian says with a sigh before sinking into a chair. "I suppose you prefer it that way. I just don't see why you're so...horrid."
"For one thing, it's fun. For me, anyway. And secondly, it keeps people in their place. I don't think someone would be as likely to hurt me if they're afraid of me. Unless they were surprisingly foolish as most people are."
"If it's fun then why are you bored so often?"
"Because I can never find anyone to play with, stupid. I'm not about to hurt myself, now am I?"
"It's amazing just how selfish and stupid you are."
"Don't make me come over there and kick you again." There's a much more dangerous and aggressive edge to Griffin's voice now.
"Like you wouldn't do it anyway," Dorian says rolling his eyes.
Griffin gets up from his seat and starts towards Dorian again. "Thank you for the encouragement," he says, finding himself behind Dorian and pushing him onto the floor. "I really appreciate it."
Dorian pulls away and tries to get up to his feet. "Yes well, you'll have to learn tomake do without it. I don't have any interest in hurting you, that is certain, but I don't have any interest in being around you either. You and your foolish notion that you might someday control anyone. Maybe you've noticed that no one particularly likes you, no one will listen to and who would end up working for you?"
"I don't need anyone to like me," Griffin mutters as he makes his way to the door. "I don't like them anyway. But speaking of someone working for me...I think I'm going to go and look for a certain someone who can get off this piece of junk." The door then seems to slam shut by itself and Griffin's heavy footsteps can be heard outside in the corridor.
Dorian opens the door and hurries after him. "I won't need to see you or hate you in order to kill you if you so much as go anywhere near her."
"Good luck finding me first."
Dorian continues along the corridor. "Oh please, how hard could it be. You're so pathetic you can't even get off a ship on your own."
Griffin doesn't answer, but as he passes by a room, he notices that the door is slightly ajar. He slips in quietly, being careful not to nudge the door too much.
Nycteris66: Dorian opens the door as its a sitting room of sorts and for all he knows Alice could be in it with Sebastian.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on whose opinion you asked for, the room is seemingly empty.
Dorian closes the door behind him with a loud metallic clang and marches off quickly to Alice's room.
Griffin waits until the sound of Dorian's footsteps is fairly faint, indicating that he's quite some distance away, before slowly opening the door again. A quick peek to the left then right to make sure there's no one else around and he's off again. He'd followed Alice to her room before, so it shouldn't be too hard to find again.
Dorian meanwhile finds Sebastian and Alice. Rather than tell them what's happening, he manages not to look too nauseous as he tells them to go off together and enjoy some "alone time." He smirks happily once they vanish into the mirror. So much for Griffin's plans.
At approximately the same time, Griffin manages to reach Alice's room. He giggles to himself as he opens the door with a soft click, but he's disappointed to see that the room is deserted. Getting on his knees, he peeks under the bed to see if she's hiding there.
Dorian strolls back down the corridor to his own room, whistling softly as he does so.
Swearing rather loudly, Griffin storms out of the room and wanders down the corridor again. He really ought to steal all of the mirrors on the ship sometime. Although that'd probably give Dorian a heart attack.
Dorian's still heading back to his room, he smirks to himself as he hears someone storming out of Alice's room. Excellent.
Meanwhile, Griffin goes up and down the corridor, slamming various doors open. No luck in finding Miss Liddell anywhere.
Dorian curls up on his bed and writes a bit in his journal.
After abusing a few more doors, Griffin finally reaches one he hasn't checked yet. He's about to pull the door open when he realizes there's something oddly familiar about it. This isn't where his own sleeping quarters are though...
Dorian pauses in his entry and listens to Griffin open and close doors in the area. One would think the man was smart enough to realize what Alice had done and give up.
Griffin opens the door anyway and a quick glimpse of blond hair briefly entertains him with the notion that yes, he's finally found Alice. To his disappointment, it's just Dorian. Curious as to what the other writes about in his journal that he considers so private, he tiptoes over to the bed and tries to peek inside the book.
Dorian writes some random observations about the ship, something hateful about Mina before briefly mentioning problems with Griffin and then decides to focus on Holmes.
Amused at Dorian's scribblings, Griffin debates as to whether he should continue reading whatever he's writing or snatch the journal out of his hand. He decides on the former, at least for now.
Dorian writes some rather heartfelt paragraphs about Holmes before he begins writing about feeling faintly guilty about things he's done lately.
Now this is getting interesting. Griffin leans in a little closer, although he's careful to not accidentally come into contact with Dorian.
Dorian keeps writing: It's not as though I have any actual feelings for... He pauses worriedly. for Griffin but... I guess I find myself wishing I could help him when I ought to be avoiding him entirely.
At this point, Griffin takes a firm grip of the top of the journal and pulls it away from Dorian.
Dorian blinks and tightens his own grip on it. He clenches his teeth angrily. "Let go of it now."
"Aheheh. Now you're reminding me of Miss Lavenza," Griffin jeers as he tosses the volume back and forth from one hand to the other. "I think I'll take this for now and read it somewhere else. Outloud." He begins to back out through the doorframe.
"Don't," Dorian says desperately reaching for the journal.
Griffin responds with a disturbing high-pitched giggle before shutting the door.
Dorian opens the door and chases after him. "Damnit Griffin, give it back."
This is a rather impractical endeavour on the Invisible Man's part, of course, seeing as the journal gives away his position. On the other hand, Griffin's sure he can outrun some brainless fop.
Dorian runs nearly as fast as Griffin. He grrs softly before tackling the invisible man. "I said give it back, you f***wit."
"Get off of me!"
Dorian snatches up his journal and punches Griffin in...well, hopefully his hurt shoulder. "You miserable coward! You bother me again and I swear, I'll kill you myself."
Griffin yells in pain, the pulls himself up into a sitting position before grabbing his shoulder and rubbing it gently to ease the pain. "As if you even have enough brains to figure out how to..." he mutters to himself.
"All I need do is tell the others where you usually hide and hope they can figure out the rest, Griffin."
"I'll just find somewhere else to hide then. It's a big ship," Griffin says as he gets up. "And none of them can see me anyway, so it's going to be impossible, I'm afraid."
"Miss Lavenza didn't seem to have too much of a problem," Dorian says with a cold smirk. "If she told Hyde where you were..."
"Aheh. Hyde's just a stupid, smelly monkey who can't see me anyway." Although his gaze does seem to linger awfully long on me... "As for Lavenza, she got lucky. We were in a small locked room and I was sitting down. Obviously, I'm not going to do something silly like that again."
"No, you're just going to be stupid and ensure that everyone onboard wants you dead."
"Which I'm sure you'll understand. I've overheard things from the others, you know." Griffin walks past Dorian now and tries to kick his feet out from under him.
Dorian stumbles but catches himself. "You could be liked, you know...you don't have to be hated. I suppose you don't mind threats though," He clutches his journal and sighs. "it's not like you have much of anything to live for."
"Which is why you should've just left me at the girls' school! Whose stupid idea was that anyway?"
"You couldn't be left there to hurt those girls, you insufferable arse."
"They enjoyed it. It was either that or a rendezvous with their flog-happy mistresses."
"Either way, you had to leave."
"Well, why didn't you just drop me off somewhere in London then instead of bringing me here?"
"That wasn't my decision. It must have been Mycroft's."
"I'm sure it was." Griffin leans against the wall now and wonders if he should go to the sick bay and finally get his shoudler checked. Maybe he'd find Sebastian there. And where Sebastian is, one can usually find Alice as well.
"And if you want to survive until we get to London, you should try behaving just a little bit."
Griffin doesn't respond, but decides to head for his room and upturn some furniture to vent out his frustration.
Dorian sighs and goes back to his own room to finish his journal entry.
Griffin/Elizabeth
Elizabeth likes to sit in the corner of the engine room of the Nautilus, undisturbed by any crewman who might see her, content to chew on some dried seaweed-the flavore grew on you-and read. Today the room's particularly empty, allowing her to enjoy the hum of the engines as she turns the pages of Goethe's writings, enjoying reading her native tongue.
Someone else in the room is also enjoying the hum of the engines. The noise does wonders in concealing the sound he makes as he carefully makes his way through the room. It's impossible to hear his breathing, or the sound of his feet as he steps on the floor. Invisibility at its best, something that rarely occurred. And Griffin was going to make the best of it.
Liz doesn't hear him at all, merely turns the page and continues reading the Erl-King.
In about a second or two, Griffin finds himself standing close behind her. He catches himself before he can make an undoubtedly obnoxious comment (because he knew how well that worked last time) and wraps his fingers around Elizabeth's throat. What a wonderfully convenient location she picked to find herself in. At least no one, except for himself, would be able to hear her scream now.
Liz's eyes widen and she drops the book, hands flying to her neck. How she nows, in retrosepct, she won't be sure...instinct,the sudden inability to breathe...she just knows that there are hands there, and her fingers pry at them, managing to first loosen, then dislodge them, letting her fall forward and gasp for breath, twisting immediately on her back to look at her assailant. Not seeing, in this case, is as good as seeing. Griffin.
Damn. Well, that didn't work. He'd forgotten how surprisingly strong she was for a woman, or any normal human for that matter. Maybe there was something he can bludgeon her with...she wouldn't expect that...
Eyes narrowed, she rises to her feet. "I told you not to try anything stupid," she hisses. "You just couldn't listen, could you?" She normally has problems with guilt...but not this time, she won't.
"Aheheh..." It's difficult to hear very much clearly above the din from the machinery. "Well, it's not as stupid as what you were doing. Honestly, who'd read a book here, of all places? Couldn't you have picked a more comfortable place like, say, a bedroom?" There isn't anything she could possibly do to him. She can't possibly hear the sounds he makes. And she certainly can't see him, of course...
"Any place is as comfortable as any other to me. And I like the sound of the engines," Liz says calmly, senses alert, scanning the floor...dust. There was dust on the floor. She smiles widely, watching as some of it moves.
"What are you so happy about all of a sudden?" Griffin asks with the slightest hint of nervouness. Knowing Elizabeth, it probably isn't because of it's rude sense of humour.
"Guess," she says lightly.
"You've seen Nemo naked recently and it was the funniest thing ever?" he suggests, slowly backing away from her.
Liz just smiles wider, grinning now. "No. I'm happy because one of the sailors has been negligent in his duties, and left a nice layer of dust on the floor."
Griffin doesn't even have to look down at the floor to understand the implications of Elizabeth's comment, but he checks anyway in case she's bluffing. She's not. He swears softly to himself as he notices the trail of footprints he left behind, then bolts for the exit.
"Uh-uh! You wanted to play, after all!" Liz cheerfully declares, following him and grabbing widely until her hand connects with...his hair. Grinning, she clenches onto it, refusing to let go.
"Oh, shit. Please let go, Miss Lavenza, it's much more painful than it looks." Although he can't see where she is behind him, he tries to aim a well-placed kick at her shin.
Her leg buckles on the impact, but she doesn't let go, instead dragging him down with her, though careful to keep him off of her. Slut indeed. "Why did you think that would be a good idea?!"
"Please let go, dammit!"
"No. I don't think so. Now you're just goign to have to sit here with me until I can get up." Liz positions herself so her back is against the wall, keeping her grip firm. "Though I'd like to know why you attacked me."
"This isn't fair," he mutters, ignoring her question.
"Oh, stop acting like a toddler," Liz says irritably, "life's not fair, get used to it. And answer my question."
"W-what're you going to do if I don't? You can't kill me, someone will find out..."
"The same way they would have found out if you'd succeeded in killing me?" Liz asks dryly. "Answer me." She twists her grip on his hair as she says this.
"Ouch! All right, all right. I'm still just a tad upset about our last meeting." Griffin stops for a moment to wince in pain; so this is what it must've felt like for Dorian during their naughty little escapades. Except Griffin can't heal instantly. "My fingers are mostly fine now, but...ow!...my shoulder's still seriously bruised. I hope you're happy now." Bitch...
"Happy? Not really. So you were going to kill me, because your fingers are fine and your shoulder is bruised?" Liz shakes her head. "That's rather sad, don't you think? I mean, really, if I were to kill you, I'd have a much better reason ready."
"Well, you got your answer. Now let go."
Liz laughs. "Oh, please. I don't think so at all. No, you're going to stay right here where I at least know where you are for now."
Griffin sighs to himself and wishes she'd loosen her grip on his hair. "Aheheh. So we're just going to sit here for the nexr few hours until a crew member wanders in and wonders what you're doing alone with a naked man again?"
"No, we're going to sit here until I'm capable of getting up. I'm then going to take you to, oh, Dr. Kane, I think, and let him deal with you. And I certainly would prefer you clothed, but if you choose to walk around nude, that's your affair, not mine."
"I assure you I'm not enjoying it as much as you think I am." He reached up from where he is lying down and tries to awkwardly slap her across the face.
Liz just looks at him, somewhat amused. "Have you not grasped the fact yet," she says patiently, as if explaining to a child, "that you can't hurt me?"
"Well, you can't blame me for trying," Griffin notes, squirming uncomfortably. It could be worse, he decides. At least she isn't a bit of a sadist in the same way he is. Which is rather fortunate for Griffin considering how much longer and possibly sharper her fingernails probably are.
"No, I htink I'll just blame you for trying to kill me. You can understand, I'm sure, how sensitive a topic that is for me," Liz says conversationally, idly twisting her hand first one way, then the other.
"Exactly! You're already dead, so I can't really kill you anyway, right?" Griffin tries to jerk his head out of her grip, but stops when he decides that he'd rather not have his hair pulled out of his scalp. At least for today.
"Do you know what it's like, then, Dr Griffin, to die?" she continues, merely pulling a bit harder at his comment. "Can you imagine it?"
"I don't have to. As long as I'm invisible, no one's going to be able to find and kill me."
"You're going to die," she says simply. "It may not be for decades yet, but you will. And you won't be able to do a damned thing to stop it, invisible or not."
"I'd rather not think about it then, if it's not going to be for such a long time," he says, before grabbing Elizabeth's wrists and trying to pry her hands out of his hair. He makes sure to dig his nails in as well, although it's embarassingly womanly, in his opinion, for him to be doing so.
"Back to that again?" she sighs, almost pityingly. "Do you know how old I was when I died? I was 19. Do you really think it will be so long for you? I said that it could be. May be. Might be. Or it might be tomorrow."
"I'm thirty-three as of now, so I'm not entirely in the same predicament as you were," he replies, still gripping onto her wrists, albeit uselessly. He then turns his attention to brushing off the dust on his feet; that way, if she ever did unwittingly release him, he could sneak off somewhere. At least she doesn't seem to remember that his blood becomes visible as it coagulates. Then again, women never remember important things (fortunately enough for him).
Liz blinks in surprise. "You're only 33? Somehow I thought you were older...but if death can strike a 19-year old, it can come for you too, I'm afraid. Can you imagine it? The moment when you realize that this is it, that there isn't going to be a rescue, and that your life is over, it's done, and if you're very lucky, you might have someone to mourn you, but that's it. Can you?" She clenches his hair so tightly her nails dig into his scalp.
"Oh God, what the hell are you doing?" he hisses, completely ignoring her lengthy and preachy spiel.
Lizzie releases him, suddenly. "You're a very sad little man," she says softly.
Griffin gets up as quickly as he can and before even bolting for the exit, he runs his hand through his hair and over his scalp. Which feels slightly wet here and there. Which probably meant that he's bleeding. Before the blood has time to dry, he runs out of the engine room to look for some water to wash it off.
Liz stares at her fingers, covered in blood, watching them tremble slightly before wiping them off and, with several deep breaths, going back to her book.
Griffin/Dorian
Dorian ducks into the lounge when he spots Mina in the hallway. He's not interested in being given a new assignment just yet, he'd much rather smoke. Besides, he's tired of the woman trying to be helpful. He looks around and sinks into a very comfortable black chair, eyeing the liquor cabinet.
Meanwhile, Griffin stalks along the corridor outside and makes obscene gestures at Mina as she passes by him. Usually, he prefers to wear clothes while on the ship, both for comfort and to feel a little more human, but with the way the vampire has been snapping at him lately for his failed mission, he's decided that it would be wiser if he remained fully invisible. As he passes by the lounge, he takes a quick peek in to see if there's anyone inside.
Dorian pours himself a small glass of port before curling back up on the chair. He glances over at the door occassionally. He's concerned that Mina might come in. Thankfully, there's no one there.
Great. It doesn't seem as if the Immortal is aware of the Unseen's presence, and Griffin gleefully tiptoes into the room until he's standing right in front of Dorian. "Funny we should find ourselves alone together quite by accident again, eh?"
Dorian nearly jumps out of his chair, but manages not to mostly as he doesn't wish to ruin his suit by spilling his drink all over it. "You really have to stop doing that. Carry around bagpipes to announce your prescense or some such."
"I might as well be visible then, since you'd see them a mile off before you'd hear them." Griffin sits himself down on another very comfortable chair, then gets up and finds another one more to his liking. "What're you doing here?"Nycteris66: "Avoiding Mina. As usual," Dorian says with a smile as he finishes off his glass of port. "What happened to that lovely robe you had?"
"Aheheh. I'm here for the exact same reason, actually. As for my robe, Mrs. Harker's fault again. I can't wear anything or she'll find me and bite my head off or something. She's been in a foul mood lately," the other says, amused. "I wonder why."
Dorian has his guesses and all of them begin with a 'D.' "Perhaps she just needs a good roll in the hay."
Griffin giggles again before getting up and positioning himself so that he's standing behind where Dorian is sitting. "I'd be able to help her with that, but she seems to be in denial," he says, running his fingers through Dorian's hair. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Dorian blinks but allows it. At least Griffin's not using his nails this time... "Yes, I think she must be. It's very noble of you to wish to help her. I for one would refuse."
"Oh, I assure you, there's nothing noble in my intentions."
"That's fine. There's nothing noble about Mrs. Harker."
"I quite agree." Griffin now slides his hand down Dorian's right cheek and begins stroking it absentmindedly. He places his other arm across the back of the chair before resting his head on it. "And can you imagine if she was invisible like me? She'd probably be eavesdropping on us right now."
"Hmm...I'm sure she would be," Dorian says setting his glass down on the small table next to his chair. He sighs gently and curls up a bit more in the chair rather enjoying Griffin's stroking his cheek. So long as there's no nails, anyway. "It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest."
"That's the trouble with women, really. They're so nosy. Which is I personally prefer to just skip the talking and get right on to business with them." Griffin then gives Dorian's cheek a sharp pinch. "Don't get so comfortable now, aheh. We've only been in here for five or so minutes."
Dorian whimpers slightly, he hates that Griffin does that. "I was planning on staying in here to avoid the others so I might as well get comfortable."
"Me too, actually," Griffin replies, sliding his hand down so that he's now pawing at Dorian's neck. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to be here for an awful long time. I'm sure you're going to as well?"
Well, that wasn't quite what Dorian had meant. He debates how to answer and presses against the couch to try to discourage Griffin. "I...well...I wouldn't want to prevent you from enjoying some time alone....I could go back to my room..." Or Holmes' room.
"Oh no, I don't mind at all." The pressure on Dorian's neck lifts for a moment as Griffin removes his hand. There's a bit of a pause before the Invisible Man slides his left hand off of the back of the chair and, with his right one, begins to unbutton the other's shirt. "I've been spending more than enough time alone now that everyone else in the League has decided that it would make for an amusing Sunday afternoon activity to kill me in the most violent way possible."
Dorian frowns. "Well...surely you could have a word with Mycroft and do something about that?" He shifts uncomfortably but doesn't stop Griffin. "Surely you have better things to do on a Sunday."
Griffin finishes undoing the first three buttons and then he lets his hand slither down Dorian's chest. "Aheheh. I've got the oddest feeling that he'd do away with me as well. I mean, did you get a good look at him the last time we had a meeting with him? I wouldn't be surprised if he ate people to reach that size." While still stroking the other's chest with his right hand, he pushes Dorian's shirt off of his left shoulder, then bends over and licks it.
Dorian chuckles briefly. "Well, I suppose that is true." He shudders slightly when Griffin's licks his shoulder. He should leave but he's not sure how to say so. "But I doubt everyone onboard wants to kill you..."
"Let's count, shall we? We know about Mrs. Harker already. Although perhaps we can attribute that to her feeding habits. Miss Lavenza's been in a foul mood just because I had a little fun with her necklace. Dr. Kane keeps expecting me to do...uncivil...things to Miss Liddell. And now I've lost count."
"Well...I guess you're right then...sorry." Dorian finds himself feeling bad for Griffin. Not too bad, but just enough that he continues to debate leaving.
"Unlike the others here, I'm sure you understand." Griffin subconsciously begins to draw circles with his hand on Dorian's chest, and he's surprisingly gentle. "No one seems like you much either, eh?"
Dorian relaxes slightly. "That's true...a few do but...well, I suppose it's better that way. I don't like them much either."
Griffin continues drawing the same circles, but he presses much harder now. "Hmm. We do seem to have an awful lot in common then. And neither have us truly have to worry too much as to whether they'd realy kill us or not. Me, I'm difficult fo catch. You, you're invulnerable. Although you do seem to be able to feel pain."
Dorian squrims a bit, gently touching Griffin's hands to try to get him to stop pressing any harder. "Yes...though I suppose I'd rather feel some pain than feel nothing at all."
"Aheh. You should've told me earlier then." Griffin ignores Dorian's hand and he presses his nails through his skin before running his hand down in one swift and fluid motion.
"That's not what I meant," Dorian hisses, staring at the scars Griffin's nails had made. He watches them fade but still feels uneasy.
"Oh? You should have been more specific. What did you mean then?"
Dorian pouts slightly. "I meant that...it's better to be able to feel things but not that I wanted to have you dig your nails into me."
"Hmm. That's a valid point, although I don't see why anyone would want to feel pain in that way. I mean, it's a terribly nuisance, isn't it?"
"It's what keeps me somewhat human and somewhat sane, I think."
"Aheheh. Are you interested in testing the sanity part of that? I can keep this up all day, you know, I don't have anything else to do" Griffin says, undoing a few more buttons.
"No, no test is nessecary," Dorian says rather warily.
"You mean, you just want to sit here and do nothing?"
"I'm not entirely sure."
"Why don't you suggest something then? You've got more than a century of experience, I'm sure you must have at least one half-decent activity in mind." Griffin leans over the back of the seat and finishes with the last button, his right cheek brushing against Dorian's left one.
Dorian blushes slighty. "I...you could read a book, recite some poetry?" He tries to ignore the fact that his shirt is completely undone at this point.
"I thought I already told you that I was never interested in art." Griffin gives Dorian a patronizing pat on the head before leaning over again to stroke his stomach. "Don't you have any remotely good ideas?"
"I suppose....well, what did you want to do?" Dorian says as innocently as he can though he does know what Griffin wants. Obviously.
"I was hoping you could tell me for a change. You're such an uncreative wuss."
Dorian frowns. "I thought you want us to do what you wanted..." He wonders why Griffin suddenly wants his opinion. He hasn't before...
"We are. If not, we'd be reading some idiotic womanly poetry by now." Griffin scowls as he vaguely recalls some of the rumours about Dorian he had heard from the other students at University College. It's hard to believe the Immortal from the scathing gossip and the one in front of him are one and the same. "I just want suggestions, and if you're not going to give me any, I can spend the entire afternoon seeing how quickly different parts of your body heal. Wouldn't that be fun?"
Dorian winces and looks down at the floor. "No...I suppose..." He doesn't want to say anything really because...he shouldn't do anything with Griffin. Even if he does want to. He feels uncomfortable mostly because he can't see the other man. He has no idea if Griffin is that mad or not. "You could...well, we do have the room to ourselves..." He trails off.
"I could what?"
"First, why on earth do you care what I want to do?"
"Aheh. Where on earth did you ever get that silly idea from? Of course I don't. I'm just a little too tired to think of anything original to do on my own and seeing how undoubtedly vast your suppossed experience is, I'm sure you could teach me something. So long as I approve of it, obviously."
"I don't know what sort of experiences you think I've had but that was quite some time ago." Well, before Holmes anyway...
"Does this have anything to do with this ridiculous 'redemption' thing of yours?" This is so boring...perhaps Alice wouldn't mind a visit from him...
"I suppose it does." Dorian looks worried. "I...but I think the problem is I'd have to show you rather than tell you what we should do," he says finally hoping he sounds more convinced than he feels.
"Aheheh. Even better. I find talking to be awfully tedious anyway. But," Griffin taps Dorian smartly on the cheek, "try anything stupid and I promise I'll spend the rest of the afternoon snapping your neck over and over again. Agreed?"
Dorian nods. "Of course, just...stop moving away otherwise I won't be able to find you."
Griffin places a hand on Dorian's shoulder. "If you can't find me now, you really are more of an idiot than I thought."
Dorian gently runs his fingers up Griffin's shoulder and then up the other man's chest. "I can find you now."
"Congratulations. This isn't it, I hope."
Dorian gently pulls the other man towards him and shuts him up with kiss, deepening it quite a bit as he runs his fingers back down Griffin's chest.
Griffin doesn't protest with one of his usual obnoxious remarks, and he slides his hands under Dorian's shirt near the base of his neck, slipping it off of the other's shoulders.
Dorian finds himself wishing Griffin did care about him and then subsequently feeling guilty because Dorian does have Holmes. Only how much longer is debatable if he keeps allowing himself to be coerced into this. He begins kissing Griffin's fingers once the other kiss is over before working his way up the other man's shoulder.
As far as Griffin is concerned, this doesn't quite measure up to his experience at the girls' school in Edmonton; perhaps it had something to do with how the schoolgirls and even mistresses worshipped him as some sort of holy entity there. But it's still a better way to pass the time, although he really wishes Dorian would remember that his shoulder still hasn't healed properly and is therefore still particularly sensitive. He hisses softly to make this clear.
Dorian blinks and then frowns apologetically. "Sorry." He means it too but he doubts it matters. He gently kisses the other man's cheek before kisses the other man's throat. "How shall I make it up to you?"
"You could kill off Miss Lavenza for me the next time you see her," Griffin says as he waits for Dorian to finish kissing him before kissing him on the lips and biting them with increasing degrees of violence. "In the meantime, don't make a fuss while we're doing this or Mrs. Harker or Nemo will nose in on us and that wouldn't be fun at all, would it?"
"I wouldn't be able to kill her and I wasn't making a fuss, Griffin. I was just apologizing. I didn't mean to hurt you," Dorian says with a small trace of bitterness of Griffin is hurting him.
"I meant the last time we were doing this. You were whining like a little girl, remember?"
"I...yes...I suppose so," Dorian says quietly.
"And you're not going to do the same thing this time, isn't that right?" Griffin pulls back and waits for an answer.
"Are you going to hurt me this time?"
"I will if you don't give me an answer," Griffin says in a disturbingly cheerful voice.
Dorian sighs worriedly. "The answer is yes then."
"Aheheh. That's exactly the answer I was looking for." Grinning to himself, he places his hand as far down Dorian's back as he can and slowly claws his way upwards. If someone wanders into the room right now, it would look alarmingly as if Dorian is spontaneously bleeding.
Dorian bites his lips to keep from yelping. "I...stop...I said I wouldn't whine but I didn't say you could just..." Dorian pulls away from Griffin and winces as the scars fade away.
"Well, I changed my mind." Griffin looks down at his fingertips, which are smeared with traces of red. "Now come back here or I'll have to hurt you in a more, aheh, sensitive area."
Dorian looks towards the door but goes back over to Griffin. "Griffin, don't...it really hurts."
"Better you than me." Griffin wipes his fingers down along the collar of Dorian's shirt before tightening his grip on him. Just in case he decides to run away. "Although admittedly, my blood would make less of a mess than yours. At least at first."
Dorian looks down anxiously. "But I haven't tried to hurt you..."
"Of course not, because you're a womanly wimp. And I'd have to hurt you severely in return for it, wouldn't I?"
Dorian sighs. "Mostly it's because I wouldn't want to hurt you."
Griffin raises an eyebrow in genuine interest. "Oh? I'm quite glad to hear that, of course, but I'm curious as to why. Everyone else here wants to kill me. Why not you too?"
Dorian shrugs. "I'd not sure why."
"And I could care less about the answer, really," Griffin adds as he leans over slightly and makes his way from Dorian's wrist to shoulder with his tongue. There's a sort of cat-like atmosphere to it, probably more along the lines of a vicious wildcat ready to pounce at a moment's notice than a domestic one.
Dorian shudders slightly, unsure what do. He knows he should just hurt Griffin...really, what difference would it make but... The scars will heal, after all...and Griffin would just find someone else to hurt. And Dorian foolishly clings to the idea that some part of Griffin is still human...and that maybe he could help him.
"You're being awfully quiet, Mr. Gray," Griffin notes, smacking Dorian across the face, both to knock him out of his thoughts and for the pleasure of it. "Is there something you'd like to say?"
"I wish I could hate you," Dorian whispers.
"I can't hear you." Of course, the Invisible Man heard him perfectly, but he's curious to see if Dorian would dare say what he said any louder. "Care to repeat yourself?"
"I wish I could hate you."
"Tsk. I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish you for that. That's not a very nice thing to say at all." And that being said, Griffin not only slaps him in the face again, but also knees him hard in the stomach. "Don't worry, I'm sure that hurt you more than it hurt me."
And you only can hurt me because I let you...out of pity...and... "I imagine so."
"Well, perhaps not since you have those powers of yours, while I don't." Griffin sits down on a nearby chair, tilts his head off to the side and takes a good look at Dorian. The League really is comprised mostly of pathetic freaks. What British Intelligence hopes to gain from them is beyond Griffin's level of comprehension.
Dorian looks around for a moment. Griffin's still in the room but it takes him a few brief moments to find where. "If you can dish out pain one would hope you can take it as well. Particularly when the pain you experience comes in such small and petty doses."
"Oh, and how would you know?"
"How would anyone know? You're not exactly someone most people would listen to and it's not as though you ever tell anyone anything at all."
"Right. Which means that you shouldn't be making assumptions about me then." Griffin leans back in his chair and looks up at the ceiling for a moment. There goes Dorian on yet another annoying and preaching rant, although it's preferable to certain other options. For a moment, he was worried that Dorian was actually going to test whether he could take pain for not. Of course, he's too much of a weakling anyway, and Griffin's invisibility would simply allow him to escape easily.
"All that could be made about you is assumptions...." Dorian says with a sigh before sinking into a chair. "I suppose you prefer it that way. I just don't see why you're so...horrid."
"For one thing, it's fun. For me, anyway. And secondly, it keeps people in their place. I don't think someone would be as likely to hurt me if they're afraid of me. Unless they were surprisingly foolish as most people are."
"If it's fun then why are you bored so often?"
"Because I can never find anyone to play with, stupid. I'm not about to hurt myself, now am I?"
"It's amazing just how selfish and stupid you are."
"Don't make me come over there and kick you again." There's a much more dangerous and aggressive edge to Griffin's voice now.
"Like you wouldn't do it anyway," Dorian says rolling his eyes.
Griffin gets up from his seat and starts towards Dorian again. "Thank you for the encouragement," he says, finding himself behind Dorian and pushing him onto the floor. "I really appreciate it."
Dorian pulls away and tries to get up to his feet. "Yes well, you'll have to learn tomake do without it. I don't have any interest in hurting you, that is certain, but I don't have any interest in being around you either. You and your foolish notion that you might someday control anyone. Maybe you've noticed that no one particularly likes you, no one will listen to and who would end up working for you?"
"I don't need anyone to like me," Griffin mutters as he makes his way to the door. "I don't like them anyway. But speaking of someone working for me...I think I'm going to go and look for a certain someone who can get off this piece of junk." The door then seems to slam shut by itself and Griffin's heavy footsteps can be heard outside in the corridor.
Dorian opens the door and hurries after him. "I won't need to see you or hate you in order to kill you if you so much as go anywhere near her."
"Good luck finding me first."
Dorian continues along the corridor. "Oh please, how hard could it be. You're so pathetic you can't even get off a ship on your own."
Griffin doesn't answer, but as he passes by a room, he notices that the door is slightly ajar. He slips in quietly, being careful not to nudge the door too much.
Nycteris66: Dorian opens the door as its a sitting room of sorts and for all he knows Alice could be in it with Sebastian.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on whose opinion you asked for, the room is seemingly empty.
Dorian closes the door behind him with a loud metallic clang and marches off quickly to Alice's room.
Griffin waits until the sound of Dorian's footsteps is fairly faint, indicating that he's quite some distance away, before slowly opening the door again. A quick peek to the left then right to make sure there's no one else around and he's off again. He'd followed Alice to her room before, so it shouldn't be too hard to find again.
Dorian meanwhile finds Sebastian and Alice. Rather than tell them what's happening, he manages not to look too nauseous as he tells them to go off together and enjoy some "alone time." He smirks happily once they vanish into the mirror. So much for Griffin's plans.
At approximately the same time, Griffin manages to reach Alice's room. He giggles to himself as he opens the door with a soft click, but he's disappointed to see that the room is deserted. Getting on his knees, he peeks under the bed to see if she's hiding there.
Dorian strolls back down the corridor to his own room, whistling softly as he does so.
Swearing rather loudly, Griffin storms out of the room and wanders down the corridor again. He really ought to steal all of the mirrors on the ship sometime. Although that'd probably give Dorian a heart attack.
Dorian's still heading back to his room, he smirks to himself as he hears someone storming out of Alice's room. Excellent.
Meanwhile, Griffin goes up and down the corridor, slamming various doors open. No luck in finding Miss Liddell anywhere.
Dorian curls up on his bed and writes a bit in his journal.
After abusing a few more doors, Griffin finally reaches one he hasn't checked yet. He's about to pull the door open when he realizes there's something oddly familiar about it. This isn't where his own sleeping quarters are though...
Dorian pauses in his entry and listens to Griffin open and close doors in the area. One would think the man was smart enough to realize what Alice had done and give up.
Griffin opens the door anyway and a quick glimpse of blond hair briefly entertains him with the notion that yes, he's finally found Alice. To his disappointment, it's just Dorian. Curious as to what the other writes about in his journal that he considers so private, he tiptoes over to the bed and tries to peek inside the book.
Dorian writes some random observations about the ship, something hateful about Mina before briefly mentioning problems with Griffin and then decides to focus on Holmes.
Amused at Dorian's scribblings, Griffin debates as to whether he should continue reading whatever he's writing or snatch the journal out of his hand. He decides on the former, at least for now.
Dorian writes some rather heartfelt paragraphs about Holmes before he begins writing about feeling faintly guilty about things he's done lately.
Now this is getting interesting. Griffin leans in a little closer, although he's careful to not accidentally come into contact with Dorian.
Dorian keeps writing: It's not as though I have any actual feelings for... He pauses worriedly. for Griffin but... I guess I find myself wishing I could help him when I ought to be avoiding him entirely.
At this point, Griffin takes a firm grip of the top of the journal and pulls it away from Dorian.
Dorian blinks and tightens his own grip on it. He clenches his teeth angrily. "Let go of it now."
"Aheheh. Now you're reminding me of Miss Lavenza," Griffin jeers as he tosses the volume back and forth from one hand to the other. "I think I'll take this for now and read it somewhere else. Outloud." He begins to back out through the doorframe.
"Don't," Dorian says desperately reaching for the journal.
Griffin responds with a disturbing high-pitched giggle before shutting the door.
Dorian opens the door and chases after him. "Damnit Griffin, give it back."
This is a rather impractical endeavour on the Invisible Man's part, of course, seeing as the journal gives away his position. On the other hand, Griffin's sure he can outrun some brainless fop.
Dorian runs nearly as fast as Griffin. He grrs softly before tackling the invisible man. "I said give it back, you f***wit."
"Get off of me!"
Dorian snatches up his journal and punches Griffin in...well, hopefully his hurt shoulder. "You miserable coward! You bother me again and I swear, I'll kill you myself."
Griffin yells in pain, the pulls himself up into a sitting position before grabbing his shoulder and rubbing it gently to ease the pain. "As if you even have enough brains to figure out how to..." he mutters to himself.
"All I need do is tell the others where you usually hide and hope they can figure out the rest, Griffin."
"I'll just find somewhere else to hide then. It's a big ship," Griffin says as he gets up. "And none of them can see me anyway, so it's going to be impossible, I'm afraid."
"Miss Lavenza didn't seem to have too much of a problem," Dorian says with a cold smirk. "If she told Hyde where you were..."
"Aheh. Hyde's just a stupid, smelly monkey who can't see me anyway." Although his gaze does seem to linger awfully long on me... "As for Lavenza, she got lucky. We were in a small locked room and I was sitting down. Obviously, I'm not going to do something silly like that again."
"No, you're just going to be stupid and ensure that everyone onboard wants you dead."
"Which I'm sure you'll understand. I've overheard things from the others, you know." Griffin walks past Dorian now and tries to kick his feet out from under him.
Dorian stumbles but catches himself. "You could be liked, you know...you don't have to be hated. I suppose you don't mind threats though," He clutches his journal and sighs. "it's not like you have much of anything to live for."
"Which is why you should've just left me at the girls' school! Whose stupid idea was that anyway?"
"You couldn't be left there to hurt those girls, you insufferable arse."
"They enjoyed it. It was either that or a rendezvous with their flog-happy mistresses."
"Either way, you had to leave."
"Well, why didn't you just drop me off somewhere in London then instead of bringing me here?"
"That wasn't my decision. It must have been Mycroft's."
"I'm sure it was." Griffin leans against the wall now and wonders if he should go to the sick bay and finally get his shoudler checked. Maybe he'd find Sebastian there. And where Sebastian is, one can usually find Alice as well.
"And if you want to survive until we get to London, you should try behaving just a little bit."
Griffin doesn't respond, but decides to head for his room and upturn some furniture to vent out his frustration.
Dorian sighs and goes back to his own room to finish his journal entry.