Esteemed Malevolence

VI: Communication

"Mrs... Lovett?!" Sweeney whispered in confused, angry disbelief. The body shuffled towards him as it turned, the dim light highlighting some of the woman's features... only to confirm what he'd said - he could see lines of soppy auburn hair, smudges of opal cheekbones and gleams of her brown eyes in the shadows.

"Mr... T?" Eleanor addressed back in a similar tone, her voice telling him she was probably frowning in confusion just as much as he was. There was silence, other than their breathing (which seemed extremely louder than usual) and the sound of monotonous droning voices outside. The two of them stood awkwardly - Sweeney avoiding looking at his accomplice by peering through the hinge, and Eleanor biting her lip as she couldn't take her eyes from her beautiful barber (it didn't help that he was so close to her, she couldn't even recall daydreaming of a situation like the one they were in now...).

Sweeney was indeed concentrating on the council's muffled conversation, listening intently - Mrs Lovett mirrored his actions, half listening to the men even though her eyes were firmly glued to the dishevelled, dripping barber in front of her. The two of them didn't ask why the other was there, they didn't need to. It was self-explanatory. Both of them felt relieved the other was there (not that Sweeney would be so content with admitting such a thing), no longer feeling they had to work out the problem alone.

There was nothing interesting about the council's topic at the moment, they were going through a never ending list of various complaints, not one of them mentioning a bakery, or Mrs Lovett. It was just like the files all over again...

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance, sensing Eleanor fidgeting again. She was itching to break the silence - it seemed like an opportunity she just had to take, considering he was trapped in there with her. She took a half-step forwards, his eyes darting towards her instantly... almost daring her to say something. Usually she would wear a look of fear as he looked at her with obvious loathing, but instead her eyes shone with bright hopefulness. He still had his right ear to the hinge, yet his focus had been shifted slightly when his gaze settled on her. Her heart felt like it was going break free of her rib-cage any moment due to the furious rhythm it was hammering away to... she wouldn't have been surprised if Mr Todd could hear it from where he was stood.

"You're wet." he whispered suddenly, eyes trailing down her figure like he could see her perfectly well even through the darkness. There was no obvious tone to his statement, but she nearly fainted at the fact he'd wanted to start conversing with her (or perhaps it was more what he'd said)... even if the situation was extremely awkward for the two of them.

"So's you Mr T! Fat lotta good coats were, ey?" she breathed back, biting her lip to stop herself from laughing. Her actions caught his attention and he frowned when he realised she'd made a joke - or tried to... his scowl was eventually joined by a devious smirk.

It was no use ignoring her now...

There she was, right in front of him, unfortunately being the most interesting thing about the room at that point... although, now he thought about it - there may well have been entire bottles of gin in there (something apparently, far more interesting than Mrs Lovett)...

Noticing his unreadable gaze lingering on her for longer than he usually cared to stare, she continued.

"I 'ope this bleedin' meetin' don't last for 'ours Mr T," she whispered airily, hands on her hips and eyes studying his. " 'Else we're gonna 'ave to be extra quiet fer'all that time, ain't we?"

His smirk dropped, eyes dashing back to the hinge, arm holding himself up securely against the door-frame.

"So be it." he answered emptily, eyes filled with obvious amusement, although he held back the urge to smirk again. Eleanor felt the hotness reaching her cheeks at his words, and scoffed back an icy retort... she didn't want to alert the council outside if she was going to start gobbing off at him - again. She mirrored (more like mocked) his actions like she had before, only she was fully eavesdropping now, eyes focused on the pitch-black ground below her feet. If he was going to be arsey with her then she wasn't going to be the one to fuel his sarcastic words. It was best not to give him attention now he was obviously teasing her.