A Secret Admirer

[Sebastian Arcturis]

He wasn't shouting. Or losing his temper. Or telling her she was rash and stupid and how dare she drug him, a captain of the royal guard. But he was angry with her. More than angry with her. Only it manifested more as hurt.

It didn't make him feel better about their relationship. Bastian wasn't inclined to distrust without reason. But he could certainly distrust with reason. And Rosemary had given him reason. Innocent enough or not. But he was used to being handled. That was his life.

He busied himself with his boots. Because he needed to leave, the sooner the better and he wasn't walking the halls with no boots. Did Baird know about this? He had too. Hopefully no one else did. So much for his reputation. Hopefully this was worth it.

He paused at her question, silent for a moment and then he sighed and worked on his other boot. "Of course I am angry with you. You had your reasons. Hopefully this is worth it." He had his other boot on by the time she made it to the wardrobe. He watched her until she elbowed the door closed, as if he only just realized her intentions. He felt confused and not like himself.

Sebastian pushed himself to his feet and ran his hands through his hair. "Thank you for sharing your bed, milady." He knew what that sounded like and he chose the words on purpose but delivered them without the meaning. "I will speak to you again this evening?" he asked as he made for the door.

[Rosemary McIntyre]

She bit her lip and finally dared to look over at him as he rose to his feet. 'Of course,' he was angry. This was just different anger. She wasn't in danger, but she still didn't like it. She couldn't blame, him, though; she'd done what she did knowing full well that he wasn't going to like it. When he ran his hands through his hair like that she felt a flicker of something else. Maybe it was the combination of that and what he said with the motion, but it knocked her off balance for a moment, and her eyes widened. However, before she had time to panic about that, he was already moving towards the door.

"Ah, wait!" she protested, getting between him and it. Once she did, she realized she didn't have any hands left, and honestly he could just push her out of the way if he wanted to. "Just a minute, please." She told him, then went to the vanity, tossing the dress onto the bed as she did.

If he was still there when she turned around, she'd take the jar of yarrow salve off the vanity and offer it to him. "I really am sorry about last night. It was the only way I could think of to make sure you'd get the rest you needed. You don't have to help me anymore if you don't want to, but, please take this, so you can keep taking care of the bite."

It wouldn't be until after that, that she'd realize what else he'd said. "Wait. What did you mean, 'this evening?'"

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Different anger that he would forget about soon enough. Bastian didn't take it personally when people told him what to do. It was a little different, considering she had tricked him into it but even he would willingly admit that she hadn't done any harm. It just...rubbed him the wrong way. Compared to the rest of what he remembered it was frustrating. Disappointing.

He stopped at her order and her physically interceding between him and the door and looked her over again. Bastian's expression soften slightly and he and took a forced deep breath instead of saying anything. He rubbed sore left ribs absently, waiting with the practiced patience of a man who took orders and stood guard most of his life. That or maybe he was just tired.

"Rosemary," he said gently, hazarding her first name as he took the jar. "A gentleman doesn't talk about what he does or does not do with a lady in private." There were certainly other ways she could have ensured such things. Nothing he would dare do, but he was pretending to have done them. And it was best she pretended too. If he was still going to help her.

Sebastian lifted the jar in thanks and made to open the door. "We're having a tryst, are we not? I shall find you this evening," he repeated firmly with a small amused smile. The captain would proceed to leave unless she stopped him again.

She had said this was the faster method. Sebastian wouldn't be surprised if her ex-fiance contacted her by then. He planned to be seen leaving room and going about his day and making the honorable guardsman Baird keep an eye on Rosemary all day for being complicit in last night's affair.

[Rosemary McIntyre]

Rosemary's confusion was vastly evident in her face as she stared at him for a moment. What? What he does or does not what?! Her jaw dropped slightly and her whole face turned bright red as she finally caught what he was implying. She knew that had been the plan, but he--that--she-- Wait, was he teasing her? Her brain ground to a halt and she just stared at him with her face still burning as he smiled at her.

"We're having a tryst, are we not? I shall find you this evening,"

She was still stupefied and staring at the door when it closed behind him.

She sat down hard on the bed and ran her hands over her face. What on earth was wrong with her? She'd gotten a man bitten by a snake, nearly cried in front of him, confessed to him that her insane ex-fiance was stalking her, agreed to fake an affair in order to trap that same madman, then sedated him against his will and slept in the same bed as him. He was angry, of course, he was angry, he should be angry, she'd been acting almost as crazy as Magnus...but he was still coming back? She didn't understand, and she was beginning to realize that it was stupid to think that she could. Sebastian Arcturis was a riddle all his own. But...at least he'd smiled before he left. And he called her by her name. Maybe he wouldn't completely hate her.

With that thought to bolster her some, she sighed and got ready to face the rest of her day.