Dealing with Booker DeWitt was proving more trouble than the Luteces had originally planned. The man seemed keen on making enemies and the girl was childish and rash. The defeatist side of Rosalind sometimes whispered to her, begging that she just let things run their natural course but Robert was quick to remind her that it was not so natural. They had interfered once and now it was their duty to undo what they had done. "Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt." The words had tumbled from Robert's lips easily, but by obtaining the girl he had allowed disaster to follow, and that weighed heavily on him. Rosalind was at a loss.
"I do not believe he understands our nature."
"Or our role. I suppose we're like pests to him."
"Even if he did understand, I suspect he'd rather not."
"I'd rather he didn't. If he didn't, we wouldn't be in this mess."
"If he didn't, then I daresay he would have found another way."
"Perhaps if he had, we wouldn't have needed to have any part in it."
"Enough, sweet brother." She placed a hand lightly on his shoulder, putting the subject to rest. "Still, I suppose it is rather odd. We are like Schrödinger's cat to him." It was something she had dwelled on often. She had frequently researched theories that did not exist in her own time, and that one stuck with her. Their nature was a mystery even to them. All their experiments had never yielded an entity that existed across time, yet didn't seem to truly existat all. They were, and they weren't. They had been, and had not. They were alive in their own right yet were deceased in everyone else's. Rosalind's brow creased.
"Chin up." Robert quipped, tone teasing and reminiscent of her's earlier. He smirked as he curled a finger under her jaw. Rosalind suspected he thought himself witty. Her brother forced her head up slightly and began to kiss at her neck.
"While I wouldn't complain-"
"You shouldn't complain." Robert murmured against her skin.
"-you would have me make this up later."
"Do you think me so charitably bankrupt?"
"I think myself so, why would you be different?"
"I am not you."
"But you were once."
"In a time, I may have been you in a suit, but who's to say you weren't simply me in a skirt?"
He sighed, tone heavy with affection and moved back from his sister. She cocked her head at him before twisting behind her and snatching a coin from the table.
"To ensure no debt is owed."
"How just."
Rosalind placed the coin on her thumbnail and tossed it, but before the result could be measured her brother plucked it from mid-air and tucked it in to his breast pocket.
"You win." He said, simply before bending at the knee in front of Rosalind. It was not often that her brother would throw a bet like that. In fact, it was apt to say that he was a great deal more stubborn than her. Rosalind couldn't help but feel that this was a thank you for agreeing to the plan brought on by a more balanced moral compass or an apology for the threat made in haste. Either way, it didn't matter. Rosalind would always have agreed to it for fear of Robert leaving her and Robert would never have left her for he knew that she would agree. They had gone through too much to part, and now they were forever bound.
Robert grabbed at the hem of his sister's skirts, fingers and thumbs toying with the fabric.
"You look to be admiring them, dear brother." Arrogance rose in her throat, brought on by her superior position. "Perhaps you should wear the dress and I the suit."
Robert chuckled. "Provided you win, next time I just might." He pushed at the skirts, bunching them up around his sister's waist and tucking them under her hips. He kissed at her ankles, her calves, her knees.
He showed her worship as he knew she liked, and she gave him praise as she knew he thrived on. With gentle hands he pried her legs apart, kissing softly at the tender skin in between. Rosalind gasped sharply above him and then scowled at herself for the lack of control. Robert merely chuckled again, dragging his nails down either side of his sister's thighs, revelling in the unsteady murmur of her pulse beneath his lips. Fingers slid over then under lace and so followed stockings. They were nimble as they unknotted a tie which gave way to a starched shirt. Robert took his time in ridding his sister of each garment, an act which served as no small frustration to her. She grasped his chin and sharply forced his head up, bristling as the ever present defiance sparked behind his eyes. Robert pursed his lips mockingly.
"My, aren't we impatient."
"I have work to be done."
"As do I, but I rather think I'm content to leave it right now."
"Well I am not, so get on with it."
She had not let go of his chin, thumb and forefinger applying more pressure than necessary. It was certain to bruise. Good, she though, it would be a lesson to him.
Good, he thought, but for a different reason entirely. He jerked his head from between her fingers, and pressed further in between her thighs. She clenched her jaw and he held his breath, neither one wanting to make the first sound. It was another of their games, and although the line between winner and loser blurred somewhat, they had their pride. Without warning, Robert made a low, harsh sound in his throat and Rosalind smiled, letting her head rest on her shoulder as she stored the victory away for later use. Crossing her ankles around her brother's back, Rosalind shifted her hips and brought Robert closer to her, a hushed hiss racing past her teeth. She would admit later that she was a little irritated with how little he fought her this time around, but she viewed this as an experiment. Just what would happen if the dominance tipped slightly in her favour. So far, it didn't disagree with her and judging by how hard Robert's fingertips were digging in to the small of her back, her brother was getting his fair share of the experience.
Rosalind's head lolled back, sweat dampening her forehead and breast as a jolt shot down her spine. She brought one hand behind her to steady herself on their shared desk, using the other to toy with her brother's lobe. He remained for a while longer before moving back and kissing at her palm. He reached in to the breast of his waistcoat, producing a crisp monogrammed handkerchief and dabbing delicately at his lips.
"You know, I'm not so sure I'm the one that lost here."
Rosalind barked out a laugh. "Well I certainly wasn't."
"So it was a moot match." Robert pondered.
Rosalind curled her hand around the nape of her brother's neck. She scratched at the skin there, triumph bubbling in her chest as Robert winced slightly. "Schrödinger's coin toss?" she offered, fingers pulling at the lightly oiled hair. Robert ran a tongue over his lips, brushing a stand of hair that had worked its way out of his sister's upknot behind her ear.
"Best out of three?"