Change of Scenery

[Mistress of Death]

"Have you much experience with girls then? I'm not sure if you are trying to convert me to be curious, or if you're just expressing your desire for the fairer sex." Mistress was blushing underneath all her makeup, but didn't even notice. Her mind had started drifting and she was only partially aware that she was confessing to real people. "I can't say that I've ever had your experience of having an unexpected hard-on. But I know it's hard having desire you know you can't satisfy. Wanting to be so bad, but knowing you must behave and be good." She couldn't help thinking of him with all this talk of kissing. It had been too long since they'd had time alone and she missed him.

[Jack]

Jack couldn't repress a bark of laughter, sometimes you can't help being hard. Priceless. "I'm surprised I've not forgotten how it feels to kiss a girl, January, February maybe, was the last I remember. But I do have experience," he said, thinking back and remembering what he had thought before, girls bring me bad luck. "Desire can make you do funny things," he said, "And tonight's all about doing things you wouldn't normally, you don't have to be good."

[The Gilded Raven]

"Tonight is about curiosity," the Raven said, adding to Jack's words. "And if the opportunity for satisfying curiosity is willing..." The Raven's head inclined slightly, leaving the rest unsaid as the eyes behind the mask flickered warmly toward Jack. "But to answer your question, I've had some experience with girls. I'm not entirely the rogue you make me out to be. I'm normally hard to impress." Which was why Jack was such an anomaly.

[Mistress]

"The costumes definately let you do things you wouldn't do, I'm sure we all have verified that. I was bad when I won the contest between us for kissing someone of the opposite sex tonight, since neither of you have." She smirked at them, her implication apparent. Mistress's walk on the wild side earlier flashed through her mind. She had forgotten herself and behaved in ways she never would normally. She thought of her boyfriend, how she hadn't seen him in so long and that she would have to track him down only to bring pain. "But I doubt everyone would feel the same way you do Captain Sparrow, or you Raven, or even me. Actions always have concequences, and I'm afraid of what the results of being bad tonight will have in the morning light."

[Jack]

No matter how hard Jack thought, he couldn't think of a single bad thing to come from his actions that night. Days before he had made the decision that his girl wasn't coming back, that he would never see her again and, though he missed her, he was willing to move on. He didn't regret anything of the night, even not kissing someone of the opposite sex. His eyes met the Raven's momentarily. "If you worry about how everything will happen tomorrow, then you'll never live."

[The Gilded Raven]

As the Raven's eyes met Jack's, the painted lips curved, a genuinely warm smile nothing like their usual near-smirk. If the Raven had been worried that Jack held any reservations or regrets, those worries were put to rest by his words.

It was only with effort that the Raven brought his eyes away from Jack, back to the girl who had somehow managed to join them. "You couldn't have done anything that bad," he assured her. "Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you seem like a nice girl."

[Mistress]

Mistress remembered another time that someone had told her she needed to live, and wondered if perhaps they both were right. The raven's words caught her attention. "And I thought I wasn't being a good girl, that I'd lived up to my costume and not been nice tonight. I purposely picked a character completely oposite myself."

[Jack]

Jack pulled his eyes from the Raven after a few more moments to look back at the girl. "And here I was thinking that you kept a sword stashed underneath your robes," he said, grinning. His eyes turned to the castle. "How long do you think we've been out here?" he asked absently, his eyes flickering over to the Raven.

[The Gilded Raven]

The Raven's eyes met Michael's briefly before rising to the sky, where the moon hung heavily suspended. "It's probably late," he said, thinking back on all that had happened that night. "Think we ought to go in?" It was only on thinking about it that he realized how dry his eyes were, how tired his limbs were growing.

[Mistress]

Mistress could tell that the conversation was over and realized she was disappointed. She'd enjoyed their interesting company. "Well, I'll let you two lovebirds say goodnight in peace. If you get a chance some other day, stop by the bookstore, I'm always there." With those parting words, she disappeared back into the maze of bushes she'd come from.

[Jack]

Jack nodded to her and watched her walk away before turning to the Raven. Her words rung a tiny bell in his mind, but not enough to spark any recognition. "Wonder who that was," he said, not really caring to find the answer. "I guess I'll just have to get you dancing some other time," he said, grinning.

[The Gilded Raven]

The Raven returned Jack's grin with one of his own. "Is that a promise?" he asked, eyes gleaming behind the mask. He couldn't imagine Jack going to the Bloody Mary with him, but it was a thought. Maybe he'd suggest it sometime. "Anyway, I'll see you around, right?" The Raven paused, momentarily debating, then leaned close for a light press of lips.

[Jack]

"It could be," Jack answered, it could be considered a promise. He returned the Raven's light kiss, then pulled away from him, "I'll see you," he promised. Then he turned to head back to the castle, the night already starting to replay in his mind.

[The Gilded Raven]

The Raven's lips curved as he watched Jack walk away. He stood for some indefinite time after, just absorbing the night, thinking of all that had happened, then turned onto another path and began a meandering path back to the school.