Esteemed Malevolence

V: Asymmetrical Timing

As soon as dusk approached, both Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett flipped their signs to closed, traipsed their workplaces to find their coats and as silently as they could, crept out of their abodes.

The rain was still streaming down, making the stairs up to the barber shop rather slippy. The barber trod down them with silent caution, holding in a curse as rain beat down onto his form, practically smacking him in the face - like the rain had known to do so, since he'd had the idea that his trench coat would actually keep him fully dry. He wanted to let out a grumble, or even an irritated yell, but he clenched his jaw instead, deciding it would only attract Mrs Lovett's attention (and everyone else's) and that's the last thing he wanted. He'd made it to the bottom of his staircase, and set off in the west direction, keeping his head down as a miffed scowl found its way onto his brow immediately.

The bell rang out as Mrs Lovett slammed her front door shut, locking it behind her. 

She sighed. 

"I knew I shoulda bought that bloody umbrella at the market the other day." she told herself, rolling her eyes as she turned around to gaze up into the falling droplets. She regretted even putting an ounce of work into how she'd looked now that she felt the water soaking into her. 

She huffed and looked at the shimmering cobbles below her feet, "Well, no time like the present..."

With that, Eleanor set off to the east, looking rather glum now that she felt the rain reaching her scalp, entwining with her dark red hair. Her heart got that sinking feeling as she glanced back to her premises - back to the window of Mr Todd's tonsorial parlour. She breathed out a "Thank 'eavens" when she saw that there was no familiar silhouette of a certain homicidal barber. Yet still, she hoped the man hadn't seen her, the last thing she wanted to do was explain her actions to the man - especially after the day she'd had the day before.

Meanwhile, over to the west, Mr Todd found he was suffering more than he would have liked to admit. 

It had been around twenty minutes since he'd left his shop, and at that moment, he would have killed to go back there. His sodden black hair clung to his face, his hands clenched into fists as water had slowly begun to seep through his trench coat, to the waistcoat and shirt he wore beneath. It wasn't that he couldn't cope with the rain, he just found the rain to be a damn nuisance - a nuisance that he actually couldn't kill for once. The streets were completely deserted around him, not that he had time to sense the eeriness of it all - he kept his head down, blind to where he was actually going.

Mrs Lovett was also having trouble, her skirts kept getting caught on things as she was walking now and again. There was no way she would be getting there quickly at that rate, especially if she kept being pulled back by random objects. She noticed the absence of people around her, and swallowed, suddenly wishing she had Mr Todd with her - she felt extremely lonely, and ... vulnerable, even though she was certain she could hold her own. She wasn't sure she was even going the correct way anymore. 

'I should know where I'm bloody goin'!' she thought to herself, wincing as heavy splats of rain started to hit her more frequently. 'I've been there enough times! What's takin' me so long?!' She swallowed, finding her throat was extremely dry and lifted her skirts up slightly, a cold draft of air floating up to reach her stocking clad legs. It had been that or she'd be wasting time tripping over everything. She'd wasted enough already.

It wasn't long until Sweeney realised that he was nearby to the place he'd intended to find (without him realising, he'd curved a path to the east) - he could tell from the amount of high class people around him, all of them carrying fashionable umbrellas.