Esteemed Malevolence

X: Imperfection

The barber was remarkably insistent. And Eleanor had come to find that his unrelenting behaviour was something that made her heart pleasantly twinge.

When they had reached the opposite end of the seemingly endless passage, he pulled her in close in order to link arms with her - his free arm still had her soiled coat draped over it. He wasn't bothered that he was carrying something of hers - had he not had something more pressing on his mind he probably would have just left it on the ground where it had previously been. He was quiet as they paused, the two of them studying the amount of people roaming the street before their eyes.

The sight was practically a hell-scape to Mr Todd, but he pushed his disgust to the back of his mind when he gazed back to the woman by his side. He felt her front brushing against his entwined arm as she turned to face him, looking up at him with unmistakable yearning. She was desperate to read his mind in that moment - he wasn't giving much away with his expression, other than his obvious interest in her.

Before she could open her mouth to ask him about his intentions, he took a step forward into the flow of people and she felt her feet following him.

When he realised that he was staring at her for longer than he'd wanted, he turned his head away to glare at the ground beneath his feet. Their pace was nonchalant and Mr Todd was finding it torturous, yet couldn't bring himself to walk amongst the public at a faster speed. He could tell Mrs Lovett was having a whale of a time - in his peripheral vision, he spotted her smile broadening as she waved at someone on the other side of the road. He was annoyed that even now she was keeping up appearances...  and he hated how she was hooking onto his arm - she could at least let go now... it made them look like a couple for god's sake...

Then again he couldn't deny that perhaps they sort of... were a couple now...

He shook away the thought, eyes rebelling against his better judgement. They drifted over to his left, subtly watching what she was doing - but it was mainly her chest rising and falling that caught his attention. It wasn't long before she realised what he was doing - internally she was thankful for him doing so, at least she knew his interest in her hadn't suddenly vanished like it had after a certain cupboard incident.

It was clear that he was uncomfortable - he was stood upwards with a straight back and the longer his eyes stayed on her, the more his arm tensed around hers. She could sense the boiling desire eminating from him, and swallowed back her own urges - or she too, would soon become uncontrollable.

Finding their silence to be a suffering one, Eleanor decided it was best if she ended it.

"Where we even goin'?" she asked in her airy tone which was more prominent than usual - this caused him to avert his eyes from her, he hadn't realised that she'd been aware of what he'd been doing.

"Home." he replied shortly and gruffly, his mouth clamping shut after he'd said the word like he no longer wished to speak on the matter.

"Really? So soon? 'S not a bad day, it'd be a shame t'waste it... " she hinted, tilting her head to the side as she looked up at him, her longing glance not so easy to conceal. "I mean, wot's the bleedin' rush anyway. It's our day off! An' I'm sick of seein' the insides o' that god awful bake'ouse 'til god knows what 'our!"

He sent a venomous glare her way since she'd uttered such a thing in public, arm clenching around her tightly to yank her into his chest. Her eyes widened at his rough action, and she couldn't help shivering when she felt his lips against her ear. Somehow, the two of them kept on moving. down the street.

"You're not to mention that again, do I make myself clear?" he breathed dangerously, but his serious tone was unquestionably laced with hungry suggestion. "Another word about that bake'ouse - " His free hand had snaked its way up to the side of her neck, gripping into her skin until he could feel the blood pumping through the veins that were entwined underneath. " - and I'll choke you to death. Right here. Right now."