A/N: So, this is the SECOND revamp of my short story, Siren's Lure, now titled Locked In. I deleted it first 'cause there was some content that was bugging my conscience, which I took care of. Then I deleted it 'cause the start of the Elliot/Nerys romance arc seemed kinda flat, two-dimensional, and shallow. So I changed a bit of the beginnings of their relationship. It's still very similar, just with changes.
For those who've never read it, this short features my OC, Nerys Winterspell, who works as a lady in waiting to Vanessa Nightray. I consider her an ideal match for Elliot, who needs someone who can match his temper and give him back as much as he dishes out, yet possesses a sense of tact and sensitivity. I apologize to those who don't like Canon/OC pairings, but I do hope you'll give Nerys a chance. :)
Thanks, all!
~Penelope
The library door slammed shut, and the lock clicked. Elliot whirled, jumping at the duel mahogany sentries of his most cherished room, and grabbed the knob. Unfortunately, it wouldn't budge. He shook the doors, growling loud.
"LEO! WHAT THE H***!?"
Outside, Leo snickered. "It's for your own good, Elliot! After all – it's a servant's job to take care of his master!"
"DON'T SPOUT THAT C*** TO ME, D*****! LET ME OUTTA HERE!"
"Elliot, must you, with the language…"
I'm not alone.
The voice made him jump and his gaze jerked around toward its source, the sofas by the window bay. Nerys – Vanessa's lady-in-waiting of two years – lay there, sitting upside down on one of them, head hanging off the edge and arms outstretched as her golden eyes scanned the well-loved pages of a book. Her snowy hair brushed the floor, and the silver light made it practically glow.
He swore again under his breath.
"Heard that one, too. I'm gonna guess you learned all these colorful words from Gilbert?"
"SHUT UP! It's bad enough that my servant's up to no good without you adding more trouble." He turned back to the doors, giving them another bang.
"All right, all right, chill."
"I hate him."
"No, you don't."
"He's infuriating!"
"Both of you are."
He swung his furious glare back in her direction. "Why are you taking his side!?"
She flipped a page. "I'm not. I'm being the voice of reason."
"I don't see you 'reasoning' against Leo locking us in here!"
Then she sighed, finally glancing up from her novel. "Relax, young master. I fell for it too, if it's any consolation."
He glanced back, eyes narrowing, particularly at her title for him. "What do you mean?"
"That friend of yours – blond, big green eyes, kinda ditsy – told me that your sister needed me in here. Then they locked me in. Couple minutes later, you tumble in, click, and here we are."
"That Vessalius kid is HERE!?" Again, he banged and kicked at the doors. "LEO! What the h*** are you up to!?" He felt along the ledge of the doorframe, where they always kept the key. Nothing but old wood met his fingertips. It was gone. Growling again, he threw his shoulder against the solid doors.
The irony that his favorite room would become his prison!
"Yeah, go Elliot, 'cause hitting things always helps."
"Would you shut up already? And don't talk to me like that! You're a servant, what's more, a woman; you should act like it." He rattled the knob, before stepping back and sighing.
"You know me well enough by now to be able to tell when I don't feel like it." She kicked her feet with maddening flippancy, turning the page of the volume she held above her face.
Grinding his teeth, he went up to the sofa, looking over the back to her face below. His lip twitched. "What are you doing?"
"Volatile and moody. Surprising change of subject for someone who was so furious just a second ago," she said without even looking at him.
He sighed in exasperation this time. "Why are you sitting upside down on my couch?"
"Your couch?"
"My house, my furniture, my couch."
She shrugged. "Blood to the brain. Makes you think better. You should try it sometime."
Scowling, he knocked her feet down, making her flop over onto her side. "That's just a stupid myth. The only thing more blood to the brain does for you is make you lightheaded."
She snickered as he walked around the sofa to the front to look over the books she had strewn about. "Solid evidence you've never tried it before."
"Tsh." He began stacking all the novels into some semblance of order. "Geez, for a servant, you make one h*** of a mess."
She sat up, resting her current novel on her knees after straightening her black maid's skirt. "At least I clean up my messes. Have you seen your study lately?"
"What were you doing in my study!?" he snapped, nearly dropping one of the books.
She scoffed, rolling her tiger-eyes. "Your sister ordered me to clean up after you, since you obviously don't know how. She happened to find it in the state of the aftermath of the American Civil War, and since I was the only attendant in the vicinity, I got stuck with the job. 'Cause we all know that what your sister says, goes."
Nose wrinkling in distaste, he just shook his head. Females. "Okay, okay, sorry I asked." He noted familiar titles as he finished stacking the scattered books, and found a number of them as different installments of Holy Knight. He frowned. "You have a lot of action/adventure novels for a girl." In all the time she'd worked there, he'd never bothered to pay attention to just how consistent her literature habits were. He knew her favorites – Jules Verne and Holy Knight among them – but he hadn't realized that all of her chosen reads would be similar.
She cocked an eyebrow. "Is there a problem with that?"
He shrugged. There was certainly not; in fact, it was refreshing to know a girl with decent fiction taste. But it wasn't as if he really cared anyway; he was simply very quickly falling victim to boredom. Whatever sinister scheme Leo had planned, he hoped he got it over with sooner than later. Sinking onto the sofa across the table from Nerys', he examined one of the covers. "Most girls more interested in the syrupy atrocities known as 'romance novels'."
She faked a laugh. "What?" She threw her head back, resting a hand daintily on her collar, batting her lashes. "The ones full of knights in shining armor, dungeons and dragons, damsels in distress and passionate stolen kisses under the silvery moonlight?" She snorted, dropping her hand. "Yeah, right – give me Edwin versus Zekred or Robin Hood versus Guy of Gisborne any day."
Well, that was poetic. However, he'd already begun to zone out, having cracked open a volume of Holy Knight he'd read before for the sake of something to do. The one where that a** Edgar dies… Why was he reading this one again?
Maybe to avoid talking to the library's other sole occupant. Yes, that was it.
It wasn't that he didn't like her. She was nice enough. It was just… awkward. He didn't socialize with many girls as it was – just his sister. The girls at school all annoyed the heck out of him. Stuffy aristocrats with nothing better to do than wag their tongues and bat their false lashes. Thus, his greatest experience with the opposite gender was, well, annoyance. It felt better when he could fall back on his righteous indignation, but she wasn't doing much of anything at the moment, good or bad.
"I think your servant is playing matchmaker."
He glanced up at her, blinking in confusion, only to find her reading again. "…What?"
She rolled her eyes, lifting her gaze. "Are you so dense…? He's trying to set us up."
He almost choked on his own breath. "What the h*** are you talking about!?"
"Your servant plus a kid who's too naïve for his own good equals bad stuff," she continued after she set the novel aside, leaning back on the couch and crossing her legs. "And you should stop screaming so much – I can see the veins in your forehead. That can't be good for you."
He wonders how long his teeth will last if he keeps grinding them together like this. How can she say that so casually? What was worse, it was the most likely explanation. Leo had a cruel, perverted sense of humor, and that Oz kid, well, didn't seem much better. The two of them together, he was sure, would concoct a vile scheme like this quite easily. How many times had Leo teased him about a woman being the only thing that could ease his temper, or about Vanessa's pretty handmaid?
"D***…" he muttered, rubbing his throbbing temple. "My servant," he raised his voice just loud enough that, if Leo was outside like he thought he was, he'd hear it, "needs some lessons in modesty!"
"How about originality? Sounds like he might be reading some of those 'syrupy atrocities' for such a cliché idea." She folded her arms over her chest. "You nobles really overdo your drama."
He stiffened and cast her a sharp glance. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just what it sounds like. You always make such a big deal about everything, especially romantic relationships."
"You make it sound like we're all a bunch of Shakespeares or something," he muttered, to which she raised her eyebrows.
"Aren't you?"
"Hey! I take that as an-!"
"It was supposed to be."
He growled. Infuriating woman! How did Vanessa put up with her!? "I'm getting tired of your mouth running, so shut it!"
"Blood pressure."
"AGH!" He nearly threw the book across the room, and probably would have if he wasn't worried about Leo exploding at him later for it.
"You really have no self-control, do you? I feel so sorry for whatever poor floozy you've ensnared with those cobalt blues." She sunk back, settling in to read again.
His eye twitched. "What?"
"Whoever she is, she's gotta have a lot of patience. Unlike you." She'd entered passive mode once again.
"What are you talking about!?"
"Whoever your girlfriend is," she quipped. "That is, until you find the next one."
"WHAT THE H***!? I don't have one!"
At this, she looks genuinely surprised, looking up curiously. "Really? Funny, I thought all nobles kept their lovers on a string on their belts. Like your brother."
She barely dodged the book that hurtled across the room at her face, and looked up with a cock-eyed stare.
Elliot's eyes blazed. He was on his feet, hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Listen up – if that's the stereotype, then don't you dare lump me in with them! I don't agree with what my brother does-"
"Do you even know what he does?" she quipped with a sardonic brow-lift.
"Of course I know!" he snapped in return. "It's scandalous, and puts a stain on the family name!"
"'Cause family name is all that matters, right?"
There was an undertone of bitterness in her words, but he ignored it. Who cared if she was irked, so was he! "Of course it is! Reputation is all a noble family has, and this one hangs onto theirs by a thread! So don't go bad-mouthing something you couldn't understand!"
"And the trail of broken hearts people like that leave is of no consequence, then."
"What does that have to do with anything!?"
She went back to her book, but her brow still knitted tightly. As he stood there, searching for something else to say, she suddenly cocked her head, harsh scowl turning into a look of curiosity. "So, wait… you don't have a girlfriend?"
He coughed. "Uh, no, I don't."
She raised her brows at him. "Have you ever had one?"
Biting the inside of his cheek, he sat back down. After a brief hesitation, he gave a casual shake of his head. "No."
"Not surprising," she deadpanned, setting her book aside again.
"HEY!"
"So, have you ever kissed a girl, then?"
His words caught in his throat, and he sputtered, feeling blood rush to his ears. "Ahem – e-excuse me?"
"Have. You. Ever. Kissed. A. Girl?"
He opened his mouth to reply, temper at its boiling point. She interrupted him before he could explode.
"Have you ever even wanted to?"
Whatever he was initially going to say, it was gone. Was this woman just trying to find every button that was possible to push on him!? "Why the heck would I!? Girls are annoying!"
She looked like she was chiding a child who should know better. "Because you're a young man-"
"I'M A NOBLE!"
"-and as part of said primitive species, you in particular, your blood can run hotter than any other person on the planet, I'm sure. Do you know what that means?"
"Don't talk at me like I'm four years old!"
"Sometimes, I wonder. It means that your veins are pumping with extra hormones, like adrenaline and testosterone, which give you extra boosts of strength in high-pressure situations. Do you know what they also do?"
"SHUT UP! Of course I know!"
A smirk played at her lips. "So: have you ever kissed a girl?"
Again, words failed him, and he stared in shock at the maid. Of all the gall-!
A smile quirked her lips. She began to chortle. "Aha- You haven't!"
Color rushed first from his face, then back to it with a vengeance. No words came to aid him. Sputter, sputter. Like a clam. "I-I didn't say that!"
"Mr. Proud-n-Noble's never had a kiss from a girl! HOW CUTE!"
"OF COURSE I HAVE!"
She paused in her laughter, leaning forward, and looked genuinely inquisitive. "Oh. Really?"
"Duh! I'm not that sheltered," he muttered, twiddling his thumbs before hooking them in his vest pockets. Leo told him he was a terrible liar, and he always disagreed; he could only hope that Leo was just insightful and that he could still fool people when he wanted to.
"Had me fooled."
"Oh, would you SHUT UP!?"
"When was it?"
He blinked. "When was what?"
"Your kiss."
Choke on breath. Gasp. Stifle heat in face. "Wh-what?"
She sighed, rolling her eyes. "You men are absolutely clueless! How long ago was this kiss you supposedly had?"
"What the heck!?"
She cocked her head. "Who was it with?"
Boy, it's hot in here… "S-Stop it!"
"Was she pretty?"
"Cut it out!"
"Do you even remember her name?"
Would she just… "I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU!"
She frowns. "I don't think you did it."
Disrespectful… "COURSE I DID!"
"You're lying to me."
Impudent little brat! "AM NOT!"
She eyed him. "Why are you blushing?"
Gah. Heat. No doubt his face was red as a beet at the moment, and getting redder at being caught, well, red-handed. Or, red-faced. D*****. His mouth opened, and then closed, like a fish.
She laughed. "You've never kissed a girl in your life."
"YOU'RE CALLING ME A LIAR?"
"Well, if the boot fits!" she burst.
He pointed an index finger at her smug pretty face. "If you weren't a girl, I swear-!"
"You'd what? Hit me?" Her eyes glittered with that same infuriating mischief, and his blood boiled higher. Absolutely infuriating!
He couldn't validate her challenge, though. He couldn't say 'yes', as that would just be despicable. But he didn't feel he could say 'no' without suffering a blow to his pride. He'd started a threat, and now had no way to finish it.
So he didn't. Rather, he just ground his teeth harder and clenched his fists. When her smirk only broadened, he folded his arms with a 'hmph' and flopped back onto his sofa, leaning as far away from her as possible. A juvenile response, but he had no better ideas.
Then she giggled – a real giggle, not a snicker. He resisted the urge to glance her way.
"This is gonna sound really weird… But you're kinda adorable when you're furious. Just saying, it's really hard to take you seriously."
Oh, just let me die… The blush returned full force and he wished the sofa would just swallow him up.
Leo is so gonna get it when we get outta here.
"I mean, if you managed to master a poker face, then maybe you'd be intimidating, but you're pretty easy to read as it is."
He glared at the floor while trying to stifle the heat in his face. "I get it…"
"It's all about mental clarity; the clearer you keep your head, the more detached you keep it from your emotions, the easier it is to keep up a pretense."
"Got it."
"You, I think you live on action and reaction, and you use emotion like kindling; passion can be a good thing, but it's also highly combustible."
"You can shut up now…" Elliot laced his words with warning, hoping she'd take a hint and just be quiet. He was humiliated enough as it was; he was ready for this whole thing to end, and her continuing on this thread of conversation wasn't helping anyone.
"I'm just offering some advice."
"I didn't ask you!"
"Sometimes, you don't need to ask."
"Sometimes you do!"
"Well, you rarely ask for help, so sometimes, it's best if people don't give you the chance to reject it because you're too proud."
"ALL RIGHT!" The sheer volume of his voice finally made her go silent, at long last. Elliot took a deep breath, and sulked back into the sofa. "Just… shut up."
He hated when other people proved him wrong. It was painfully embarrassing. Worse was he was beginning to feel guilty for yelling at her so much – that never happened. So he just wanted to quiet, so that the feeling would go away.
They sat in silence that was quite comfortable for a good five minutes. The tension didn't last long once she conceded to his request and didn't seem begrudging about it. Elliot actually managed to relax in record time, which came as a surprise even to him. However, the underlying pulse of vengeful irritation at the one responsible for all this remained, and he clung to it, preferring it over the strange, contented silence.
"Think they're watching?" he finally muttered, shooting a glare at the doors as he did so.
She snorted. "Probably."
"Just what are they waiting for?" He pouted, scowling at said doors as if he could will them to unlock and open.
There was a brief pause, before she responded. "I can guess, but you won't like it."
"What do you mean?"
"You just calmed down; I don't want you to blow a gasket again."
His brows twitched downward, and he redirected his pout to her. "I'm not a child; just say it!"
She'd disregarded the book to sprawl out over the couch; not the dignified sort of sprawl, either. She had one foot and one arm propped up on the sofa's back, and the other foot and arm hanging over the edge, to the floor. Her head lolled back against the armrest, so that she was staring at the ceiling in boredom. When she lifted her head to look at him, he tried not to let it show as he realized for the first time that she had her own beauty spot, a small, unassuming one just above and to the right of her mouth. He'd never noticed that before… When she spoke, he tried to keep his expression as neutral and unenthused as hers.
"I bet they're waiting for a kiss."
"EH!?"
Screw neutral. Cue blush.
"What I said."
"THAT'S THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING I'VE EVER HEARD!"
"But you know I'm probably right."
He hated it. But he couldn't deny it either. Gosh, he hated this… he hated this prank. He hated Leo. He hated Oz Vessalius. He hated… Well, okay, so he couldn't hate her; she was as much a victim of circumstance as he was, but that didn't mean she had to be so darn casual about it!
"I am NOT kissing you!"
She shrugged, draping her head back again. "Whatever. I'm going to take a nap, in that case. Goodnight."
"Because… you're a servant! My sister's servant!"
"Yep."
"And I'm your master. You're just a maid – there's nothing there! No way in h***!"
"Got it."
"What a ridiculous, unbelievable, ludicrous, harebrained-"
"Elliot!"
He paused, raising an eyebrow at her interruption.
Her voice had gone from bored to a sort of gentle soothing concern. "I understand – it's a scary idea, and it mightn't have even worked. We can just wait here until Leo gets bored, okay?"
He narrowed his eyes, and quickly rocked to his feet, striding around the coffee table to stand beside the sofa she sprawled across. When his shadow blocked the sunlight from her face, she cracked an eye open to take in his again-furious expression.
"I'm not afraid of anything!" he declared, looming over her. "There's not a drop of cowardly blood in this body!"
She arched a brow. "Really…"
His blush worsened, but he managed to keep hold of his anger and not stutter too badly. "Y-Yes, really! So… come on!"
Both of her eyes opened – they were actually a really pretty color up close… He halted that thought before it went any farther and he made an idiot of himself. She blinked slowly before moving to sit up.
"Wait-what?"
"If it gets my moronic servant to unlock the doors… I'll do it!"
She actually looked very surprised, staring up at him with wide eyes. He kept his gaze level with hers until he started to get distracted by her lashes – white-tipped lashes… - and had to look away.
"Okay… Um…" He thought he caught a glimpse of a bit of pink lacing over her freckled cheeks. She actually-
NO. She is NOT. CUTE.
"Sit down…" She made room, and he tentatively sat beside her, on her left. He hurried to clasp his hands to keep from fidgeting anxiously.
I've never kissed a girl before! She totally called my bluff! Gah, what- I, er- how…
"So, I guess we just…" She scooted a bit closer, and suddenly, he was hyper-aware of everything. The hair on his right arm prickled at her closeness. She smelled of lavender and the summer breeze.
I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do it with dignity. I'm not a coward. Leo isn't winning.
She was close, really close. One of her hands rested gingerly over his clasped ones after a moment of hesitation, and he glanced sidelong at her, fighting the urge to squirm. More heat made his face burn, and he leaned as far away from her as he possibly could, though he knew it was pointless.
"We'll just…" she began, pausing to bite her lip. He tried not to get distracted. "…make it quick."
First, she twirled her fingers into his hair with a gentleness that caught him off guard. Then, as he mentally spouted curse after curse, she brushed a kiss over his cheek, and it felt like he'd been shocked. Maybe he was. Whatever the case, he flinched away, but her hand on the opposite side of his face stopped him.
"I thought you said you weren't scared," she muttered with a smirk. "Is the scion of the Nightray house really afraid of a girl?"
"I AM N-"
She cut him off with the kiss.
His immediate reaction was to stiffen, resist. The feeling of her soft lips against his was too foreign, too strange, too not normal. All the childish reasons why kissing was icky ran through his mind at high speed, some so fast he barely registered them. He even wondered if he could get up, and break the doors down so he could beat the crud out of his valet for putting him through this. But then, electricity began to spiral through him, through his veins, making his blood run hot and fast.
What the heck was this!? This - not supposed to happen! Make it stop!
Is this…
NO. N-O. This was just to make Leo open the doors so Elliot could kick his butt into next year. This wasn't supposed to be enjoyable!
Pleasure?
What, whoa, hey! No, stop it! His hands, trembling, his heart, pounding, blood rushing. His body, without his mind's consent, was beginning to react. This couldn't be happening. It would all be over soon. Or, it was all some sort of weird dream, brought on by some scene in some novel he couldn't remember reading. Wouldn't that be preferable? Then he wouldn't really be locked in the library, with his sister's handmaid, he wouldn't really be kissing her, and he would most certainly, ABSOLUTELY most certainly not be enjoying it.
She smirked against his mouth, and he stiffened. Why did it seem like she knew exactly what she was doing? She bit softly on his lip, making his shallow breath hitch automatically. She took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. He shuddered.
Oh, to heck with it. Leo wanted a kiss? He'd get one.
Leo watched through the key hole. He really should be giving them some privacy about now; but his evil plan was working! He had a right to spy, didn't he?
Oz, who sat next to him, leaned in once again to try and crowd Leo away from the keyhole, but Leo shoved him away, as he had every other time. It was one thing for Leo himself to spy; another for someone that Elliot could care less for.
"Oh, come on!" Oz whined quietly after his most recent attempt to peek was foiled. He folded his gangly arms with a pout. "They've been quiet for an awfully long time…"
"For good reason," Leo smirked, leaning away from the door. "It worked perfectly. Very nice choice."
"Hey, he's fiery, she's fiery. He has a mole, she has a mole. Yadda, yadda, yadda."
Leo laughed, and peered over at the grandfather clock down the hall. Squinting, he could barely make out the time.
"I think they've had enough… Ready to unlock the doors and run for your life?"
Oz gave a wicked grin. "Ready and awaiting the command, skipper!"
They struggled to catch their breaths. He'd tucked his hands behind his back to keep them behaving. The kisses had gone from tentative naivety to rather clumsy passion and then back to soft, sweet savors of gentle affection. But he felt hungry, itching, aching to feel, to taste, like a feral animal craving more.
That was not what he'd expected. At all. And it certainly wasn't necessarily what he wanted, either. He didn't like feeling on the edge of self-control. He preferred knowing everything he did was deliberate – none of this euphoric, blind love thing.
C***, I thought it. I thought the word. Not love! We're not in love! Stupid brain, shut up! It was just… a stupid prank! That's all!
She took a deep breath, leaning her forehead against his neck, and when she spoke, her voice was soft, breathless. "…Think that's good enough?"
He cleared his throat, flushing deeper, and wondered if he'd ever return to his usual coloring again. "Uh… yeah… I-I think so."
Click. The lock.
And there it appeared, that same old infuriating smirk. She shifted, backward, away from him. "Ready, set, go, tiger."
He decided he liked that smirk.
She stole one last kiss from him, her rose-petal lips leaving his mind numb and his lips buzzing, before jumping up and darting to the doors. She paused, beckoning him with a waggle of her finger. She waited until he stood and strode a bit closer before she cracked the door open for him.
A bespectacled face peeked in. "Elliot?"
That voice. That stupid face. Watching the whole time! Here came the anger, that oh-so-familiar fury that replaced the foreign ecstasy that had numbed him a mere moment before. This, this was normal. This was what he knew. This… was what he'd been wanting to do for a long while now.
"LEO, YOU #$%*# !"
The valet was gone before Elliot even stepped out of the library. He burst through, the doors flying back on their hinges to hit the walls with duel bangs. As he prepared to storm after his noire servant, he caught a glimpse of white hair out of the corner of his eye. Nerys paused beside him, and her smirk made color rush to his face again, d*****! But still, his own mouth quirked halfway in a returning grin. She turned, and headed in the direction opposite the one that Leo disappeared to; he stared after her. Had she always been that-
A blur of blond and green blocked his view of her, and instantly, Elliot jumped out at the Vessalius boy, lashing to grab a fistful of hair. Oz yelped, and backpedaled, running back around the corner.
"YOU STUPID LITTLE BRAT, COME BACK HERE! I'LL STRANGLE BOTH OF YOU, ONE AT A TIME, NICE AND SLOW!"
A game of tag wasn't easy in a four-story mansion, but when he managed to catch his valet by the collar, he slammed him against the wall, and leaned in until they were nose to nose.
"You breathe a word of what you saw to anyone," he muttered darkly, "and I will personally form a lynch mob, drag you outside, and hang you from the highest tree in the yard. Go all backwater American frontier style on you."
Leo laughed, though it's anxious. "As if."
Elliot jabbed a finger in his face. "Deny it if you want. But I swear, one way or another, you'll regret it. And I'm currently plotting my revenge for organizing this whole thing in the first place. You'd better watch your back."
And from the sinister look of mischief on his face as he walked away, Leo knew well enough that he really should've been quite scared.
But of course, he wasn't.
A/N: Feedback is greatly appreciated. Let me know what you liked, and/or what you didn't like. :)
