dizzy_land | Open RP - Percy is a strange (wo)man

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Open RP - Percy is a strange (wo)man

Normally when Percy suffered from the throes of boredom he'd seek out one of the members of his league to entertain him, or perhaps write another insufferably terrible poem to share with His Highness, the Prince of Wales. He'd go to London for a lark or race his yacht down the Thames, scheme another scheme or maybe even figure out another way to sneak into the chaotic streets of Paris. Now? Now all Percy could do was meddle in little ways. He did enjoy a good disguise.

Dressing up as an old hag had been easy, but to dress up as a pretty young woman? Well, that would be a challenge indeed. He had found a dress, something rose-coloured and pretty in one of the shops (he did suppose it was pretty, but the tailoring was poor...and confusing), and had disguised himself well. A painted lady! It made him laugh to see his own appearance. His breast was small and his shoulders were wide, and he looked more like a Hapsburg lady of old than a dainty maiden, but he was fair enough under all the makeup and lace and frills.

Ah, and now for the fun. He left Adventureland and just went walking, wondering who would be fooled and who would just think him completely mad. He kept a fan in front of his face and tried not to topple over in these demmed pumps.

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He wandered along with Kit's arm laced with his, smiling brightly as he led the two of them to the rather garish entrance to Adventureland. "I must say, I look rather out of place here in my cravat and waistcoat. If I'm not covered in dirt or have a bit of hair on my face I fear I don't belong." He chuckled at himself and led his friend past the odd trees and jungle lining the odd shops and attractions, towards the little shop in which he had made his home in the back.

"I must change, if you'll excuse me for a moment..."

"Ah, but if the park put you here, you clearly belong here. For one reason or another." But none which was immediately evident to her. She nodded and headed towards the shop itself, "I'll...enjoy the treasures of this shop. Complete with monkies, it seems." She ambled around, occasionally poking a stuffed monkey.

Percy slipped round the back and quickly changed into his usual attire. His waistcoat and outer coat, his normal frills and special add-ons like his hat and quizzing glass, his trousers and hose and boots too. He was still wiping the powder and cake off his face with a handkerchief when he returned to the front of the shop to politely incline his head towards Kit.

"Perhaps the park just wanted to see me sleeping on a hammock for its own personal amusement," he smiled.

Kit laughed, "It has its sadistic moments, this park. Can't help but wonder why the hell it does it, though? For its own amusement, do you think?" She looked over at him with a smile and picked up a monkey from next to where she was stood.

Percy shrugged elegantly. "If I knew the Park's intentions I'm sure I wouldn't still be here," he replied teasingly, dabbing at his lips to get the last bit of makeup off. "There, now I'm all male. No confusion."

"That's presuming the park took well to negotiation, even if we did know its motives." Kitty blinked at him, "Definately male, yes. Especially that cravat. That's the most manly bit." She said this with the world's biggest playful smirk.

"Oh, was that a jab at my cravat? I'm not sure such a figure of fashion as myself could stand for such an insult!" Of course he said it all in jest, for it was nice not having to play the fop for once. He could walk a little more slouched and look at Kit with his eyes awake and attentive, and he could smile and just smile without having to follow it up with that horrible laugh.

"I'm not sure myself if this isn't just some large experiment, and we're all the little, unaware subjects caught and waiting to be dissected at some point."

"Well, it is very...um...lacy?" She shrugged with a laugh, "You needn't stand for such an insult. I'm sure my tie is not at all to your taste either."

Shoving one hand in the pocket, and absentmindedly playing with the monkey in her other, she replied, "We could well be. I'd rather not think of myself as a lab rat, though. Then again, did you hear that people disappear?"

Percy nodded a little sadly. "My dear duck friend has mysteriously disappeared," he told her with a frown. "It happens often here. Apparently some stay longer than others, while some just...disappear altogether. Where ever they go, I hope it is good."

He tried to cheer up a little, for the topic was a sad one indeed. "To the contrary, Kit, I do fancy your tie. It's simple and there's no shame in being a little different." He pointed to his tall collar excitedly. "Do you like my collar? It's a magnificent collar, don't you think?"

Kitty gave him a sympathetic look, "Oh, I think I saw him once. Well, I suppose for sanity's sake, we could presume he's gone home. It's the most logical explaination, that he found a way home."

She raised her eyebrows and admired his collar, "It is, rather. Very impressive. Much more so than my simple dinner jacket and tie."

He'd like to think the little duck had gone home. Percy rather liked him. He preferred to believe that he was home with his strange little family and friends. He beamed quietly when Kit eyed the collar. It was a very fine collar, the best he owned.

Percy brought his hands to the front of the heavily-starched collar and flipped it up, revealing a set of hidden keys of all sorts of shapes and sizes. "Handy little coat, don't you think?"

Kitty blinked and nodded, "Well, yes, if you don't want those keys stolen. Or...if you're breaking in somewhere, that's pretty handy." She wasn't quite sure why Percy would have a need for such a thing, but he just kept surprising her.

Percy folded down the collar and held up a single finger. He was not done yet. He held up his quizzing glass to his mouth, tapping it once or twice, then quickly and deftly unscrewed the handle from the glass. He held up the little lock pick with a smile and set it down on to a nearby counter. "Ah, yes," he murmured, sitting down upon a chair and crossing one leg over the other.

He tapped the sole of his boot and swung open a compartment in his heel, taking out the pieces of a handle that would form the base of a small dagger. "You see, my fashion is functional," he smiled, then pulled out the blade strapped to the inside band of his boot and set it upon the handle.

She looked in awe as he pulled out all these instruments from his clothes and accessories, "Are you some professional thief or something? I must say, you're the last person I'd suspect."

He laughed gaily and fixed the compartment shut, putting together the dagger just for his own amusement despite the fact that he hadn't needed it for months. "Sink me, my hat. My hat, my hat," he murmured, rushing to the back room and returning with his cape, cane, and hat. He unfurled the cape and revealed his pistols, withdrew the long sword from the cane and set it down, then held his hat aloft.

"Thieves, my dear friend..." Percy began, unlatching the buckle on his hat and holding up three vials of clear poison to the light. "Thieves don't usually carry arsenic with them just in case they are caught."

She kept gawping at the things he kept producing, and was somewhere between amazed and terrified. "A spy then, sir? There have been many books written about them in my time, but I'm not sure how much one should believe. It all seems very...romantic, but slightly foolhardy, in a sense."

"I'm not a spy either, though you're getting closer," he said with a grin. "Well, a spy of sorts, my friend. A spy of sorts. I do a lot more than just spy though, or at least I did when I had something to fight for... and against. Now my pistols all grow rusty with disuse."

She gave him a skeptical look, "Please tell me you have a legitimate use for them, and you're not a vigilante or stalker." It sounded more like the former, but some men could be genuinely creepy. And sometimes she wondered why she didn't find them attractive. She trusted him, but was rather worried at the sheer amount of concealed weapons this man carried.

"Self defense purposes only," he told Kit. He looked sadly at all his weaponry and then began to put the things away. "Why do you think I carry so many lock picks? I am...the Scarlet Pimpernel." Not that he expected Kit to know of the Scarlet Pimpernel and his league, not in the slightest.

"My purpose is to save others, not kill them. Senseless murder is not in my vocabulary."

She took a second to blink at him, then to suppress a snicker, because what kind of silly secret nickname was that? A red flower? She realised he was being entirely serious, and she'd obviously missed something here, "Please tell me I missed something when my grandmother attempted to teach me history, and you're not just making this up. The Scarlet Pimpernel? What exactly does that entail?" She was rather interested, as he really was telling the truth, but she had no idea what he meant.

Percy saw her snicker and smirked a bit himself. "It's on my family crest, Mr. Butler. It's a humble flower, grows along the road," he murmured, pushing aside his cape and sitting graceful a top the counter. He began to fix his quizzing glass, concealing the pick once again. "And no, I'm not making this up. I'm an Englishman working to save those in need, or at least that was my goal until I ended up here."

"During the time of the emergence of the French Republic, that is. My wife is French, and some of my league are as well. Not all of those thrown into the prisons are guilty and deserve death."

She paused and thought about this carefully, "Who do you define as 'those in need', though, I'm not sure I quite follow." Her history was not particularly good, and she was trying to figure out which people exactly would 'need' saving more than anyone else in France at the time. It was all a bit of a mess, really, wasn't it? That was the general impression she got from the whole affair.

"People denounced by the Committee of Public Safety and Robespierre, French aristos, friends and families caught in the crossfire, and anyone who comes to me or the league who need help. A father looking to save his family, a mother hoping to free her son, a diplomat being misused by the Committee." That last example made him cringe. His dear friend had his family locked away so that Robespierre could send him to England to do his bidding.

"I grew up in France. I love its people...all of its people. I love the country and I love the culture. I have vowed to take a stand." He sighed. Though he had taken a stand, all of it was lost now that he was here. Armand was surely dead, and dear Marguerite had probably gone back to Paris and lost her head too. "But none of that matters now."

"Oh. Sounds very daring. Like the sort of thing you'd find in a good novel from time to time." She shrugged, "You know, adventure, righteousness, politics, foreign places." It was all meant in an entirely complimentary manner, "Sounds very impressive. You must have had quite a life. Here must be a relative...calm."

"Sink me, a relative bore," he said jokingly. There was a shrug of his shoulders next and he stared at his boots, sighing very softly. He hated that now he had fight his battles all alone; he feared he just wasn't strong enough. "Yes, it was an interesting life, but I...cannot tell you much else. Not yet at any rate. You know so much about me now and I so little about you. I think there has been enough secret-telling for me today. After keeping something like this silent for all my time spent here I assure you, this has not been easy."

"I think you might be wondering why I told you." He smiled, genuinely, and slowly slipped off the counter. "And I suppose I'm not sure why myself. I only hope that one day I can repay you the favor you have graced me by simply listening and trying to understand." He gave the young Kit a knowing glance and bowed his head.

Open RP - Percy is a strange (wo)man

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