Never once in his entire life had he thought he would find himself regretting something as mundane as merely glancing upwards, but, as Robert Lanyon stood there, eyes locked to the green flames that burned within the other's, noses almost close enough to be touching, he found himself quite certain that it would have been more preferable to have each of his teeth rotated three millimeters to the left one by one than it was to be standing there. At least trapped there in the madman's gaze, he was spared the sight of the Cheshire Cat grin that stretched his face too wide and too sharp.
It was a predicament indeed.
While it was true that he had been the one looking for the mysterious and exasperatingly elusive Edward Hyde, he had thought that he would have been the one to be in control of the situation when the time if their meeting finally came. Yet now he felt at though there had never been a situation that he had been less in control of in his entire life, and that was certainly saying something.
"Come now, you look as though you've seen a ghost, my dear Lanyon!" came the voice of the man, the beast, that was perched with almost impressive balance upon a low hanging branch, still above way above the one that he was addressing. His voice practically dripped with a poisonous displeasure that was sure to make anyone's skin crawl like a bucket of chilled water dumped over an unfortunate soul on a winter's night.
But worse still was that the fact that his name had rolled so easily from the madman's tongue. Robert felt as though it had no right to come from the other's man, it was somehow invasive to know how comfortable the creature was with throwing about the name, as if he had some right to use it.
"Mr. Hyde, I gather?" he returned, having to take a moment to collect himself so that he would not let on that his metaphoric feathers had been well and truly ruffled by a simple greeting. He knew this to be true, but for a moment the prospect of it being a complete stranger addressing him by name dared make itself known. But, personally, it was still worse to him that this man, a man he was supposed to be working alongside, knew enough about him to be able to pick him out of the gloomy darkness when all he had was the word of a cook who didn't trust his intentions.
"There's no need to seem so surprised," the man of mystery declared, slipping ever so gracefully down from his perch with a billow of darkness surrounding him as if he controlled the very night itself, landing silently - Hyde didn't let it show, but he was positively overjoyed with how smooth and seamless this had gone, knowing that any impression he was giving off would have been utterly ruined if he had fallen right over when he landed - "You have been looking for me after all."
With all the swagger of a man of such a diminutive stature, and he was particularly short, Lanyon was secretly pleased to realise, Edward strode, or more accurately strutted, up to the other, breaching the distance between the two so very quickly. Even as he had to rise up onto his tipmost toes in order to be even close to level, he managed to do a decent enough job of appearing intimidating. Hyde had, in fact, gotten so close so quickly that if he close he could lick the other with ease, and the perceivable intimacy of the situation, if seen, would set them - them? Who are they? Why they are the very embodiment of society, of course, always watching always judging! - chattering and gossiping away into the night and well into the morning.
Good lord, did this Mr. Hyde have no shame at all?
"Well!" declared the madman with wild hair of spun gold and wilder eyes of a green that did not belong in nature, "You've found me! Bravo brava!" One hand clapped the shoulder of the man he was speaking to, making him an unwilling prisoner, the other hitting at his own chest with such a force that he'd surely be left with a storm of a bruise.
Lanyon could feel the odd clammy chill of the other's touch through his skin and it horrified and repulsed him in a way that he could not rightly explain. Worse still was the fact that any words he had planned to say had well and truly died in his throat, coming out in the wonderfully eloquent exclamation of, "I.. uh..." that was less than ideal for a man of his position in society.
"Now, oh mighty detective," Hyde said, letting his voice slip into a purr that was equal parts alluring and horribly grating on the ear, moving the hand from his chest up to the other's chin, a sensual yet threatening show of forced control, "And now what are you going to do with me?" he whispered, his face far too close to the other's.
Thankfully this was enough to snap Lanyon out of the strange trance the other had managed to trap him under. With all the strength he could muster, he shoved the offending entity away horror clear upon his face. Horror directed at both the creature that whirled away like a dreidel with his head thrown back as he laughed into the night, but also at the fact that he had almost let the monster do as he wished.
"Oh!" declared the man as he fell still, laughter still shaking him, seeming to never be able to stop its flow, "Oh, did you really think I was going to kiss you? Oh, don't make me laugh!" said he, very much laughing as he spoke, "What a dreadful narcissist you are, my dear! Now," he paused, rocking back on his heels, "This has been fun, but I'm afraid I am dreadfully busy, until I have the misfortune of seeing you again, Robert!" With this said, Hyde tipped his hat and ran off, disappearing into the night.
Reeling from the unreality of the whole situation, it took Robert far too many moments to realise the man he had spent to long trying to find had, once again, slipped away.