The Ripper

William Jack Holloway

There had been a time, once, in which William was able to navigate the social etiquette that came along with the royal courts of London with ease. It had been like having a script to follow, the words and titles so engrained in his very being. He had thought, in the two hundred years that followed, that the modern world had grown out of that social form that he had once felt so at home in. To hear people address one another by their first names - not to mention the slang that so often confused the Englishman - was so distinctly odd to his ears, and he had yet to get used to it. Still, he tried to utilize it the best he could in order to fit in, and in most cases, it seemed to work. At least, until he met this odd faerie creature that seemed so baffled. He was well aware now that the distance in their language had been the result of the confusion, and while he knew it was rude to laugh at the fae that was in front of him, he couldn't contain the bellows of laughter that overcame his body as he doubled over. It took the Duke several moments to regain his composure, and when he finally regarded the man, his eyes rather sparkling as he tried to hide the laughter that wanted to take him again.

"Thank you," He chuckled. "There was a Countess that once told me my eyes were lovely, I'm afraid that I haven't heard it much since then, I'm afraid." Still, he was content to allow himself to explain what he had meant by the attack, the man almost... surprised by the way that the fae's eyes narrowed slightly as he agreed to what William already knew. Ah, so this man had become a feeding toy for a vampire. He was aware of the way the fae seemed to be almost... wary of him. And who could blame him, after all? Hunters tended to be impulsive creatures ready to strike down any supernatural that crossed their path. The man didn't know him, he didn't know that perhaps William's instincts might have been different. "Yes, I have heard that too. In my... experience... the bite of a vampire has been nothing but excruciating pain." There was a twinge of sadness in his words, the memory of the event that had brought his death and the death of his friends one that still plagued him. The man merely nodded his understanding that the fae did not need his assistance. "If you ever require it, you may contact me. Though I can not promise how long my presence will be in this town."

The title he presented the faerie with was hardly his full title, nor did he present it in the way that it would have been called out in those English courts where he had worn that title like a badge of honor. The Dukedom had been the reason he had been important, why he had had people so interested in his very being. Save for perhaps one person who had actually cared about him. Will had never doubted that his title had attracted Sebastian to him first, but as their friendship had progressed, their titles had been entirely meaningless to the man. It was years of living in the modern world that had the man extending his hand out to the other man, a gesture that would have been so frowned upon in the time that he'd grown up in. One did not simply touch another. And yet he'd grown into the modern role and until the man gazed at him funny, he hadn't thought anything of it.

His hand dropped to his side as the man begin to speak, offering up his own title that was one so much higher than his own. Immediately, almost instinctively, William's frame bent into a bow. "Your Majesty," He said politely, those brown eyes of his focused on the King as he straightened once more. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I travelled once to Naples in my youth with my father. I found it a lovely place." He released Dorian's hand, still smiling at the man. "It is an honor to be afforded the right to call you by your first name, Dorian. I hope I can live up to the privilege."

The moment of royal introduction was so broken up by the Fae King turning to look at the building behind him, Will's eyes following to the burlesque that he himself had visited since coming to the city. He'd enjoyed the notion of burlesque once in London, the once satirical shows being a source of entertainment for the man. They'd changed exponentially from the Victorian era that he remembered them from. How the girls were dressed was so remarkably scandalous, even for the man who had adapted to the modern way of things. That the King's roommate might work there in those costumes was enough to have the Duke's brow raise.

"Forgive me, your Majesty, but I must question why you live with a prostitute?" That was, of course, what the young women inside must be, right? Even the Duke seeming to have missed on what the girls actually did once they were in that state of undress. It seemed decidedly improper for the man to live with such a thing, and yet it seemed as though he truly did not know. An impish grin spread across Will's features as he motioned towards it. "But I believe in seeing, not telling. Come along." He started forward immediately, pausing only once just long enough for his companion to fall in step beside him before he led them up to the burlesque. The Duke wasted no time in handing over the necessary bills to get them both into the club before he led the man in, pausing only once they were close enough to the stage for his companion to get a good view of the goings-on. "Tell me, Dorian, have you heard of the art of burlesque?"

But darling -- it's only human nature.