Three Twisted Knots

You just never know what people are going to throw at you, do you? Owen said, ‘Meet me up on the roof in an hour. I’ve got a proposition for you.’ He waggled his eyebrows, just like old times. I knew it wasn’t that kind of proposition, but Owen’s known I have a crush on him for long enough that I guess he feels he can play with me a little bit.

And I never really minded all that much: it wasn’t like Owen and I were ever going to end up in the sack: his warm and fuzzy feelings about illegal svart alfar apparently stop when the clothes come off, or something.

Anyway, it was raining.

I found this umbrella up on the roof, and it was a good thing, too. By the time I’d climbed up out of the shop’s second floor balcony and onto the roof proper, it was pissing down. The landscape seemed to crumple in on itself, until the roof was all there was. And the sheeting rain helped that effect: the greater sky was lost inside the rain. I was happy the umbrella had lamps: I’d not have been able to see two feet in front of me if it weren’t for those. Even the soft glow from the windows was lost in the downpour.

I waited for half an hour, thanking the gods I’d changed in to leathers before I went up. In my line of work, you have to be prepared for anything.

Finally he showed up.

‘Well?’ I asked. ‘I’m getting drenched up here, yeah?’

Owen laughed. ‘It’s actually something I’m investigating right here. This set of rooftops has some very strange properties.’

I looked around. ‘Looks like a regular rooftop to me’, I said.

‘You’d think that, wouldn’t you?’ Owen folded his arms, brushed a hand through his damp hair, ducked beneath my umbrella. ‘Glad you found that, by the way: it always rains up here.’

‘We should stash a few more if we’re going to be working together up here’, I replied. ‘So, what’s the deal?’

‘We’ve got a full moon coming up in a couple of days’, he said. ‘I want you to stick around at least until then, meet me back up here. I’ll feed you, take care of your expenses; no worries about that. And then you can see what I mean’.

I was dubious. ‘Owen, we’ve not seen one another in how long?’

‘Two years’, he said (a little too quickly). ‘Well, two years and change’.

I lifted a brow. ‘I thought it was longer’.

‘Nope’, Owen said. ‘That’s about how long it’s been since you broke away from the House.’

‘I had to’, I said.

‘I know. Everybody does eventually’, he replied. ‘Don’t worry about it. Just do this one thing with me, and then maybe we’ll go our separate ways.’

‘Maybe?’

‘Maybe.’

Style Card:
Body: Maitreya
Head: LAQ, Trinity
Ears: Gauze, High Elf Ears, Naturals
Eyes: Mesange, First Date Eyes (Omega Appliers)
Skin: 7 Deadly s{K}ins, Cinnamon, in tone Oak
Hair: Shi, Discorded (Available NOW at Shiny Shabby!)
Top: E-Clipse Design, Nemo Jacket (Available NOW at Shiny Shabby!)
Trousers: Lassitude & Ennui, Hand-Stitched Leather Leggings (Maitreya Appliers)
Boots: JustDesign, Ara Boots in Earth
Ring: Aisling, The Good Wife
Umbrella: E.V.E., Aerial Screw Parasol (Available NOW at Shiny Shabby!)

Setting:
Rooftop: Milk Motion: The Rooftops of Paris

Spiffy photos taken with the indispensible aid of my LumiPro. I never subject you guys to cliffhangers involving The Amazing Catwoman without it!