He is asking questions, but Gwenaëlle — who has been out in the cold, perched on a rooftop — is already grasping the sill as soon as the window swings open and her most immediate concern is bracing herself in. The fact he is still so near to the window and her skirts are so full (she had not, really, packed for illicit elven gatherings; she'd compromised on a heavy cloak and her sleekest gown, the fabric heavy for the winter's chill) means she can't get much further than just perching closer without physically bearing him to the floor of the room,
which is not completely off the table, but she doesn't.
She says, “I didn't want to be seen leaving by the door, so I didn't want to be seen returning by one, either,” definitely means she had climbed out a window at some point tonight. “But mine is locked, and I didn't want to wake anyone else—”
Importantly, it's not that she couldn't have. But who would she have woken? Explained the whole of it to Wysteria at this hour? Risked finding some combination of Loki, Alexandrie, Rutyer and Bastien fucking? Risked Rowntree hearing she'd been knocking at Julius's window at some late hour and misconstruing it wildly?
No. Stephen was the obvious choice. Obviously.
“There's an artist— I was meeting with an artist. Some of his associates knew my sister, a little. I think I might have made some useful friends, all the more useful if it stays between us.”
no subject
which is not completely off the table, but she doesn't.
She says, “I didn't want to be seen leaving by the door, so I didn't want to be seen returning by one, either,” definitely means she had climbed out a window at some point tonight. “But mine is locked, and I didn't want to wake anyone else—”
Importantly, it's not that she couldn't have. But who would she have woken? Explained the whole of it to Wysteria at this hour? Risked finding some combination of Loki, Alexandrie, Rutyer and Bastien fucking? Risked Rowntree hearing she'd been knocking at Julius's window at some late hour and misconstruing it wildly?
No. Stephen was the obvious choice. Obviously.
“There's an artist— I was meeting with an artist. Some of his associates knew my sister, a little. I think I might have made some useful friends, all the more useful if it stays between us.”