Sanger nodded. “Probably not political power. M seems like he’s quite loyal to the throne and this Dorian not so much, not that it’s any of my business coming from America. But I’d think that intellect could be possible, it doesn’t seem to me that Mr M needs money, probably is funded by the Queen herself.”
Sherlock dipped his head a little bit. "Intellect, then. Or, again, some other form of power. As I have never heard of him, I doubt he is someone that there have been headlines about." he shrugged faintly.
(Imma wait until Tired posts.)
(alright!)
As Mina and Quartermain caught up with the rest, Mina overheard. “I assure you, it’s none of those. Let’s just get going.”
She tried to wake herself up, but she suspected she would be in need of another nap soon, even if the sun was setting. Hopefully this would take care of itself as quickly as possible.
As she walked ahead of the detective and the American, Quartermain came up beside them.
“Quite the lass, eh?” They said it with a kind of curiousness and vague confusion that his voice didn’t normally have.
Sanger nodded. "Honestly, I don't know what there is about her. She scares me." he said. "Not that it's any of my business, she is her own person of course and to each his own." he shrugged, and when they reached the door, he was the first to knock. There was a minute's pause, and then a young man looking to be in his late twenties stumbled out the door, shirtless, and another young man appeared. "Dorian Gray, at your service. Unless this is about that Moriarty fellow, in which case I want nothing to do with it." and then he saw Mina. "Oh. Mina? This changes things. Come, we'll discuss it in my drawing room." he said, leading them inside. There were many portraits in there, but not one was of Dorian. And then, there was a small spot, barely noticeable in the dim light, where a portrait was missing. The pictures seemed to watch you. Around them were also shelves and shelves of books, of which there was a balcony above them to store more books, balcony circling around the room and leading off into separate rooms. "So, M sent an enticement, did he?"
Sherlock was silent as their group entered the building, his eyes almost immediately finding the missing spot. He did not, however, comment on the missing portrait; he did find it curious, though, that there were no portraits of Dorian in this place. Tom, for his part, was quite weirded out by all of this. It was dim, and the eyes of the paintings followed him, and something about this man scared him, just a little bit. So he figured out, quite too late, that maybe he should have waited on the ship.
"And the famed detective, Sherlock Holmes. I've heard of your work. You've been in several newspapers, I myself have featured in quite a few, although I was always rather more on the "anonymous criminal" side of things. Those were the glory days. Now, what does M want? I don't have time for bullshit." he said, in a matter-of-fact but still relatively friendly tone.
Mina had no idea what to say. She had thought she was prepared, but apparently not. Though, when Dorian mentioned “the glory days,” she could help but make a little noise of amusement. She followed the others into the drawing room. It had been so long since she had been inside this house, and a kind of sadness washed over her as she walked.
Quartermain also had to suppress a shiver as he entered. He was already wishing they could go outside, but God forbid that he had to do back on that godforsaken boat again.
Efraim thought the strange man was really pretty, and immediately began drawing him in the notebook once they got to a good spot. If only they knew what happened the last time an artist tried capturing Dorian’s visage.
(oh no, Efraim–)
Sherlck cleared his throat faintly, clasping his hands behind his back. "Yes, that's me." he replied, eyes narrowing faintly at the words "anonymous criminal", though he chose to let it go and not press the issue. "M wants you to join our team of…what did he say?" he glanced at the others, unable to remember just what M had described the group as. "Extraordinary gentlemen, yes?" he looked at Dorian again. "Fate of the world, all that sort of thing, if you're interested."
(I laughed so hard when I realized how Dorian’s mess got started and that Efraim was an artist)
(oh noo lmao, if Dorian catches them–)
When Efraim had managed to get even a mildly comprehensible take on Dorian, their picture began to warp and change until it looked ugly, misshapen, and above all else cruel. Dorian caught it out of the corner of his eye, and smirked, but responded to Sherlock as the notebook began to catch on fire, starting on the page of the drawing. "Well, I've never been interested in saving the world, but if it will keep M off my back and get me closer to attaining some rather personal goals, I will assist to your pleasure." just then, about ten masked men with guns burst onto the balconies surrounding them, all guns pointed at the group.
(Lol I just kinda wanted to add some ✨drama✨ to Dorian's whole thing.)
Efraim let out very audible sounds of distress as the drawing began to warp and twist, and eventually be set alight. “No, no!” They whimpered as they set the notebook on the floor and tried to smother the flames with their foot. Though their voice was heightened due to the distress, it was very deep, with the range of a low tenor. Fortunately, they had acted quickly enough that the flames died fairly quickly. Unfortunately, they had been so caught up in what they were doing that they hadn’t been paying attention to what was going on. Seeing the gunmen stunned them into silence as they held the notebook close again.
Mina was tired. Really tired. She knew Dorian might pull something like this, but this was all just giving her a headache.
“Dorian,” she finally said, rubbing at her temple. “I’m fairly sure we were all offered something that would aid in our personal goals. Also, can you please put the guns away?” She gestured vaguely. “I can feel a headache coming on.”
The new voice startled her a little, but she connected it with the sigh she heard on the ship earlier. She glanced in Efraim’s direction, and simply seeing a floating notebook, turned back to Dorian.
"They aren't mine!" Dorian insisted, looking around wildly. His heartrate was going up, he was surprised he still had a heart to beat but oh well.
"They're mine." a gruff voice came from the balcony. The Phantom, in the flesh. The very man Moriarty was trying to defeat. "Now, what has that old chap Moriarty been getting up to lately? Trying to stop me with a league of crackpots, well that's cute." he was tall, wearing a thick coat, and a metal mask covering his whole face.
(He's here, the Phantom of the…..opera?)
(More like a familiar person we've already seen before, just… remixed.)
(Watch the movie and you'll get it, my dudes and bitches.)
(BTW have a Dorian song lmao: https://youtu.be/1w7Dk70Qlng it's called What's A Devil To Do by Harley Poe and I've never heard of this artist but I do like the song for him. When You're Evil by Voltaire is a good Hyde song and a close second for Dorian but idk Dorian less indulges in evil, more does it as an obligation.)
(Ooo it fits! I found a song called The Cult of Dionysus by The Orion Experience that I think would fit him as well)
(ahshsggs all the developments, y'all)
(Ooo it fits! I found a song called The Cult of Dionysus by The Orion Experience that I think would fit him as well)
(Oof I love that song lol)
(Nails Hair Hips Heels for Dorian as well because I’m gay and homophobic lmao.)
(lmao)