christian whines-a-lot avery. (ex_stoicism415) wrote in an_ill_wind, @ 2009-07-06 14:55:00 |
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For one of the few times in her life, Evangeline was early. She was quite certain Ben would not believe she report if she gave it to him that evening, but it was true. Due to meet Christian at one fifteen in the afternoon, she arrived at ten minutes past one instead. Five minutes ahead of schedule! It was certainly a feat all to the fault of her work at St. Mungo's going far faster than she had ever expected. Normally, the people she dealt with on a daily basis were utterly trying and idiotic, but today, they were far more competent, and for this, Evangeline was incredibly grateful; she did not have the patience for cretins. But she would not think on vexing subjects, for the rest of her afternoon was dedicated to Christian and helping him find a present for Maddy. It was quite precious, she thought, the concept of buying an animal for his fiancee. Ben had certainly bestowed presents upon her, but never a pet. Truthfully, she did not think she would actually want a pet, but that was beside the point. The point was that it was incredibly thoughtful of Christian to make such a grand gesture as an apology for an evening Eva was sure was not as bad as he had made it out to be. Waiting outside the pet menagerie, Eva began to grow impatient, and wondered if this was what Ben felt every time she was running late for dinner or whatever event they were attending. She did not think on it too long for she saw Christian approach her, and she smiled. "Good afternoon, Christian. You look well, I trust your Monday has been acceptable." Christian had left the office. Truthfully, it felt more like an escape, even if an afternoon spent away shopping with his soon-to-be-wife's best friend was not exactly his first idea of a vacation from work. There was nothing wrong with Evangeline Yaxley, nothing wrong at all, but as he traveled to the pet shop he and Eva had arranged to meet at, he found himself craving an entire afternoon between the sheets of his bed with his face in his pillow. Work was work, and it was no wonder Christian tired of it so easily; he did his work fairly, tried his best to be unbiased and unprejudiced, then worked himself ragged. His job was the only place he could get away from his father and his mother and whenever she so happened to annoy him, his sister as well. As he moved on further down the street, Christian thought bitterly to himself how his father was the cause of his recent need to go shopping, an activity he both loathed and was quite an epic failure at. Not because he didn't know how to spend his money, but because when he was shopping for the women in his life, he just did not have that feminine taste. Naturally. Thank Merlin. He would just have to remember to thank his father for their most recent uncomfortable encounter, and in the mean time, he had plans to buy a purebred companion for his beloved. A girl so beautiful and graceful and so sodding understanding, it was embarrassing that his father claimed to not remember her. Christian was fairly certain it had been a blow to Madeline's ego, if only just a tiny one, and for this he felt sincerely horrible. He shook his head slowly as he caught sight of Eva's blondness ahead of him. She had arrived before him and was looking particularly cheerful, which he was thankful for. He flashed her a grin as he approached Eva and gave a slight nod. "Oh, yes. Quite acceptable, thank you, Eva." He wasn't usually one for small talk, a sentiment which both bored and annoyed him, but small conversation with Eva and especially with her husband Leoben happened, surprisingly, to be neither. So he inquired, "May I ask who has been graced with your presence today? Any interesting encounters?" The question struck Evangeline as quite amusing, despite the fact that there was not anything all too funny about it all, she gave a small laugh and involuntary flick of her blonde hair in response, "Oh certainly nothing all that intriguing. I spent my morning at St. Mungo's. My Research and Development Foundation is currently working to raise funds for the Scrofungulus vaccine. It is coming along quite nicely. I have been told that we may very well have a working vaccine by the end of the summer. I am quite pleased." Her volunteer work was something Evangeline treasured, and sitting as head of such a powerful foundation as St. Mungo's was and honour she rarely forgot. She took her charity work almost as seriously as Ben conducted his own profession, and that was certainly saying something. "But we did not meet to discuss my philanthropic ventures, come let us go inside and you can tell me just what sort of puppy you were hoping to purchase for my dear Maddy." Christian's face spread into a lazy grin as he watched Eva talk about her work at Saint Mungo's, a job that he only wished he had enough patience and desire to be around half-breeds for. Madeline did the same thing, though truth be told, Christian could not say much for what progress she had been making with her charity organizations. He flinched inwardly, coming to the realization for about the millionth time that week that he'd really sort of neglected Maddy. All the more reason to shower her with gifts, even if he knew firsthand - thanks to his parents - that gifts don't make up for everything, especially not one's own absence. He emitted a chuckle of surprise and then, with eyebrows raised, he followed Eva inside. "Your dear Maddy? Well, Eva, if I had known that I was rivaling you for our darling's affections, I surely would have quit ages ago." His nose wrinkled up as an automatic reflex to a peculiar change in smell - a faint one, however, for the pet shop seemed to be well-kept. His blue eyes scanned the room as he finished, "I mean, who could compete with you?" Evangeline outwardly laughed at Christian's comment, something she was certainly not want to often, but the idea of competing with Christian Avery for Madeline was simply one of those peculiar occasions. "Oh Christian, darling, I thought you were content being in second place." She teased happily, allowing herself to grow adjusted to the scent of the store before stepping in further. Thankfully, it was not overbearing, and there was not an irritating music playing in the background. No, the shop was a well-kept pet store that had come highly recommended from Eva's mother, and once again, Sophia had not disappointed. The precious little animals surrounding them already made Eva smile even more than she had been. Perhaps when her child was older, she would return here to get him a puppy. "Did you have any particular breed in mind, Christian?" "Didn't anyone ever tell you, dearest Eva?" Christian teased, his eyes still darting back and fourth between the various animals kept on display. "That second place is always better than first?" He raised one eyebrow and smirked down at Eva before giving her question some serious thought. Which breeds were smaller and most suited to Maddy? He could picture her carrying the little thing everywhere she went, but it would certainly have to be textbook definition "cute". Otherwise, well, who would want to carry around a dog that was purely fuck-ugly? His heart told him to purchase a puppy that would grow up to be almost as large as tiny Maddy herself, if only for the protection factor; if he happened to work late, a Great Dane would look rather fitting in his place on his side of the bed, and he'd have peace of mind knowing his wife was safe. However, he had invited Eva along for a reason. Whether or not he liked to admit the fact, she probably spent more time with Madeline than he did, and she was also a woman. So naturally she knew better than he, or at least that was something his mother had always tried to drill into his brain when he was little and picked on Davina. He reached up and stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Well, which breeds are smaller? Terriers, I presume. A spaniel that won't exceed monstrous proportions? What do you think?" "I do not know if I can see you with a small dog, Christian." Eva smirked, finding the image of the tiny dog running around Avery manor highly amusing. "Perhaps we could compromise and get one that will be tiny for a few years before growing to a larger, more stately size." But then the terrier puppies caught her eye and Eva suddenly reconsidered her statement. "Oh Christian! This one looks rather sweet." Christian could not see himself with a small dog either. He pictured himself with a monstrous thing, a big black dog he could train to sic and kill. Although he imagined there would be very little fun in that for Madeline and silently agreed that a smaller dog, perhaps the one Eva had just pointed out, would be better for her. He frowned. Sure, it was sweet in a very hairy, frighteningly tiny way. Christian stared at the puppy and the puppy stared back with large, watery eyes, and he then found himself feeling unusually uncomfortable. This puppy was just like his baby niece - staring at him with eyes of judgment, or maybe he was just being paranoid. He scratched the back of his head and weakly smiled. "Yeah, he's cute. Is it a he? Or do you suppose Maddy would prefer a female?" "I do not know what it is." Eva had a tendency to call all animals males by habit; something Walden found rather amusing, and so without picking it up, she really had no idea what the sex of this particular terrier was. It was cute though, and that was what was important. "I do not think Maddy will care either way, to be frank. So long as it is lovable, Maddy will be satisfied." There truly was no difference, Eva thought, so long as you had no intention of breeding the animal. "I think we will know when we find the animal for Maddy, come, you do not look particularly sold on the tiny terrier." She moved instead, to the next section of animals, Scottish terriers, but immediately decided against them. "Oh no they yip far too much." The pugs caught her eye, however, and she quickly dragged Christian to the one that was eagerly wagging his tail at them. "He seems quite fond of you." The dogs seemed to be getting smaller and sickeningly cuter as Christian and Eva continued to browse through their options, and Christian began to feel an unfamiliar feeling. He really did not like the way these dogs were staring at him with their round, sad eyes. He tore his gaze away from the terrier and allowed Eva to drag him around the store, stopping before a wrinkly little pug. He felt the bridge of his nose wrinkle before he emitted a short cackle and stared at Eva with raised eyebrows. "Sorry. He's..." he motioned at the dog. "That face. It looks like he's had his face punched in," Christian explained bluntly, then added a shrug. "My aunt had a pug and it got extremely fat. What about those over there?" Further on was a display of two identical soft, brown Labradors of sorts. Christian moved on and bent over the chocolate-colored puppies, scooping one up into his arms. It was soft and not overwhelmingly cute, at least not while it was busy gnawing softly on his one hand. He scratched beneath its tiny chin and raised his eyes to Eva, silently inquiring her opinion. "Christian!" Eva laughed at his remark about the pug, shaking out her hair a bit as she did so. So pugs were out of the question, at least they were narrowing down breeds. She followed Christian obediently to the Labradors and even she had to confess that the sight of the puppies were precious. "Oh he is precious." Evangeline nodded, and reached up to pet the top of the puppy's head softly. "A Labrador may be an excellent choice. He will remain small for a bit, but once the two of you are settled, he will have grown to be a bit more stately, suiting your desires a bit more than those terriers." The puppy was looking at Eva with his precious large sad eyes, and she suddenly wanted a puppy, but she attributed that ridiculous notion to the range of hormones inside of her, and focused at the task at hand. "He seems especially friendly." Christian allowed himself to smile what could almost be considered an affection smile, one that was reserved for very few people, and continued to pet the little dog's head, snuggling it closer to his chest. It was kind of the perfect mix of traits for a dog - attentive and kind, lively and not lethargic and certainly not shy. He could picture this puppy to grow up next to his wife and play the role of companion, maybe even protector of his future children. But this cozy mental image came to an abrupt halt. He was getting ahead of himself, and he still couldn't technically call Madeline his wife. His smile faded and was replaced by a solemn frown, but he quickly turned to Eva and nodded. "This is the one. What do you think? Think she'll like him?" Eva noticed the frown, but said nothing. It was not polite to acknowledge those sort of things, instead, she simply nodded her head. "I do. He is quite darling, and will look wonderful on Maddy's arm." A slight smirk returned to Christian's lips and he readjusted the puppy in his arms, content with his and Eva's choice. "Perfect," he said quietly to himself and began to walk back towards the front of the store with Eva at his side. Thank Merlin he'd been allowed to have her along for this little trip, or he just might have gone with the dragon instead. |