Chapter Text
-thwack
Esmerelda had barely finished spinning from the original hit before Lockwood was already moving forward to deliver an unsatisfying blow to her left arm. He continued his advancement by darting to his opponent's injured side, following the dummy's momentum as the rope strained from years of relentless abuse. Lockwood raised my rapier arm as he instinctively prepared to go for a final move that would subdue humans and ghosts alike, honed through years of practice under his old master Sykes. Esmerelda corrected herself as the rope tightened, swinging back as Lockwood had anticipated into his textbook Torres backhand slice maneuver.
Staggering back from the exertion, Lockwood moved towards the stairs dumping his rapier as he went into one of the new leather cases George had recently ordered from Mullets. A relatively lacklustre ending to 2 hours of practice left him eager to rejoin the others in the upper levels, especially his failure to accomplish the latest defensive moves detailed in the latest Rotwell Manuel. Lockwood hadn’t even breached the kitchen entrance before calling out, ‘George - remind Flo that her ability to position her boat means nothing unless -’ before he faltered as a glance around the room revealed it to be empty. Moving around the table, Lockwood focuses his attention on two new additions to the Thinking Cloth.
Gone to regent street department stores for later tonight’ - Lucy
Meeting Joplin at the tube station - will be back soon’ - George
Lockwood struggled to remember the last time he had found himself alone in Portland Row, especially since hiring Lucy. It was too early to begin preparations for the Fittes party tonight, even though Lockwood was holding firm to his decision to set aside an hour and a half to prepare. Even a quick shower was out of the question as the three of number 35’s occupants have been continually hampered by issues with the plumbing as the house began to feel its age. Just late last night, George and Lockwood had rushed to Lucy's attic after hearing shouts, fearing a repeat of the Annie Ward accident, only for her to call through the door that the hot water failed, resulting in her being doused in freezing water. Even after being swamped in the coziest afghan blanket in the house and drinking one of Georges's hot chocolates, she could not stop shivering. Eagerness to not share Lucy's fate left Lockwood leaning over the kitchen sink, splashing some cold water from the tap in the sink on his face and the back of his neck. Straightening, Lockwood decides not to be downstairs when Joplin breaches the front door with George. The dangerous events of tonight would seem even more exacting after exchanging small talk with the likes of Joplin.
Striding for the stairs, Lockwood emerged onto the landing moving swiftly towards Jessica's room. Despite the fact that there was a lack of any physical lock preventing him from entering the room, he stalled at the doorway. Sterling himself, Lockwood recognised his awareness of the other-light and miasma present in the room, allowing him to cast himself in the role of trained operative entering a haunting with the knowledge to never hesitate on a doorstep in a situation he’s found himself in so many times before.
Swinging the door open, Lockwood is immediately welcomed by the light from Jess's death glow. Avoiding direct eye contact, he moves over to the chest of drawers pulling open the drawer Jess had previously designated for their father. Reaching out, Lockwood grabbed the holder of his father's favourite cufflinks - gold embossed with a silver etching of a globe. It had been the last Father's Day gift Jess and Lockwood had been able to give their father to commemorate his love of travelling. Pocketing them for later, Lockwood moved to exit the room before a round circular blue velvet case pulled his attention. Snapping it open, Lockwood saw ‘a necklace of pretty silver links with a small diamond suspended as a pendant' that Jess must have mistakenly allocated to their father's drawer.
The diamond caught the light of the death glow sparkling as it swung on its chain. Lockwood couldn’t recall ever having seen my mother wear it. Instead, Jessica wearing it to one of their parent's research lectures comes to mind.
Despite originally intending only to grab his father's cufflinks, a further study of the necklace by Lockwood caused him to be struck by an image of it resting in the hollow of Lucy’s neck as we enter the Fittes Anniversary Party. Lockwood wouldn’t say he was prone to imagining family heirlooms on his employees and, if asked, would have relentlessly denied having done so. However, ever since Lucy's interview and subsequent hiring, Lockwood has found himself going against his own patterns of behaviour. Just a couple of nights ago, Lockwood had found himself telling the story of the beginning of his rivalry with Kipps just to get Lucy to laugh. Before her, it would have been unimaginable to be sitting around the kitchen table revisiting the past. Now the desire to hear the sound of her laughter surpassed his inhibitions about revealing his personal history and opening himself up to further questions.
However, with a jolt, he realised he didn’t have to view giving the necklace to Lucy as anything other than wanting to ensure Lockwood and co looked their best amongst such important members of London society. Lockwood was simply an employer giving an employee the equipment for a job - with this job being to present herself as a united and polished representative of the agency. Sure other people would view the transaction as romantic, but he and Lucy weren’t like that. They were coworkers and friends with shared goals that didn’t need to - Lockwood was startled out of his ruminations by the voices of George and Joplin, whose excitement over the Bickerstaff documents carrying even to the upper levels. Pocketing the necklace, he briskly moved out of Jessica’s room, easing the door as he went. Reassured that the decision to give Lucy the necklace was a perfectly acceptable gesture, he entered his room to wait for her return before he even began to think of advancing downstairs to integrate with George and Joplin.
-Finish