Crispy Ben is crispy. (dontcallmeleo) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2008-10-11 18:10:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! . placeholder, ! [1979-10] october, evangeline macnair, leoben yaxley, walden macnair |
Who: Walden and Eva Macnair; Leoben Yaxley
When: Dinnertime
Where: Macnair manor
What: A..."very small dinner party" in which there will be much embarrassing.
Rating: TBD
Status: Logging - in progress
If there was one thing that Walden hated it was dinner parties. In truth there were many things that he hated but dinner parties and social events were very high up on his list. He liked being social on his own terms and with his own circles. The fact that Walden Macnair was hosting a dinner in his very own manor was shocking. Eva hadn't even tried to hide her astonishment and he was sure that his little sister was speculating away. Indeed, he did have ulterior motives for his gathering. During Ben's training Walden had mentioned his sister and the younger wizard seemed to instantly lose his concentration. Walden had done very well at pretending not to notice but it had piqued his curiosity and so he had planned a dinner, inviting only those two so he could sit back and observe. Most people avoided awkward situations like these but Walden found an odd entertainment in them, especially since this particular event involved a friend and a close relative. It was going to be spectacular. A dinner invitation. With Walden. And... exactly who else? Leoben had refrained from asking. It was rude, beyond anything else. His curiosity would be eased when he arrived. Which he would do early, as per usual. There was no such thing as 'fashionably late' in his book. Ben was early to everything. He would not be the one begging apologies for arriving after a specified time. And in any case, he hadn't properly seen his mentor since before the battle and it certainly was better than eating alone. Or Salazar forbid, with his parents. He hadn't ventured back to the Yaxley manor since his birthday, and he had no intention of returning until his father was dead and he was ready to rearrange the furniture. Or buy new furniture. Leoben's dress was semi-formal - and he was wearing the cuff links Eva had sent him for his birthday, as well as the ring he'd received from Lucius. He appeared in front of the the door with a small pop and knocked twice before carefully holding his hands behind his back, waiting for the door to open. Of course she was early. Evangeline was quite amused at Walden's sudden turn of sociableness that she would not risk missing precious moments of seeing her brother attempt hosting a party by being late. She arrived promptly at Robyn Hall and managed to find Walden in his study, making herself comfortable in one of the seats. Eva could not help but throw in a couple of pointed lines about how nice it was for Walden to finally engage himself more in society (all in jest, of course; their mother repeated the same words whenever either of them visited). If Walden had acted in a slightly shifty manner, Evangeline did not at all notice it, since she was too occupied in her glee that her brother was hosting a dinner party. It was only a few minutes since she made herself at home when they both heard the door knock. Eva smirked. "I'll get it," she told Walden, waving away any insistence that the house elf should get the door. She must admit that she was quite curious of her brother's choice of company. Who, pray tell, did he invite? Rodolphus Lestrange was a given, naturally. Those two were inseparable, having practically grown up together. Perhaps Rodolphus' sister, Corbina? She was, at least, excellent company. When she opened the door and saw who was standing there, Eva stood quite motionless as the thought registered that he was the one who knocked. "What are you doing here?" she blurted out without thinking, Eva's words sounding sharper than she intended. For a half-second, Ben's face betrayed him. The surprise of having Eva open the door was blatantly set on his face for the blink of an eye before he blinked and put back that carefully neutral expression on. Her words cut through the space between them and Ben raised an eyebrow as he responded simply and calmly, ignoring her tone. "I was invited." "Walden," Eva muttered, "Invited you?" She shouldn't be too surprised really, what with her brother and Ben belonging to a certain group. But. She wasn't really expecting him there. Evangeline cleared her throat and moved back to let him into the hall, trying to compose herself into a more indifferent manner. (This was particularly difficult for her in most cases, but it was made even more difficult with him for some reason.) "He did," he replied, with perhaps the slightest bit of edge in his voice. Was that particularly unbelievable? Did she think he'd just shown up because he felt like it? And at a dinner party. That she seemed to be attending. And of course she was attending. Evangeline had never exactly struck him as the sort of woman to do the cooking. Ben stepped into the hall and pulled his coat off to hang on the hook. There was a very prominant lack of voices in the manor. As if they were alone. Together. He cleared his throat and glanced idly at his watch before remembering his manners and holding his hands at the small of his back again. As much as he didn't want to, Leoben turned his gaze to Eva, hoping he had properly hid his nerves. "Is your brother present?" Almost unwilling, Eva held out her hand to take his coat and hung it on the hook before wordlessly turning to look at him again. She missed the sharp tone in his voice and otherwise ignored all the little signals that yes, of course he was invited. Was that too difficult to understand? Eva crossed her arms in front of her, assuming a defensive pose seemed the most prudent thing to do it seemed. In most occasions, she would not have had any problems finding for something to say but this situation felt somewhat difficult to procure small talk for so she was mildly relieved when Ben asked for Walden. "He's in his study," said Eva simply, returning a steady gaze but immediately looking at something else afterwards. "I can call him if you want." Walden had already left the study, though he caught very little of the conversation between Ben and his sister. In fact all he heard was the last bit of Eva's answer. He cleared his throat and stepped into the entryway with a welcoming smirk as he looked between the two people before him. So far they seemed to be fine together, though he hadn't witnessed the initial greeting. It was possible that they had both reigned in their feelings before he'd stepped into the room. Of course the night was still young and there were a few courses of dinner to soldier through. " Good evening, Ben. I'm glad you could make it. Thank you for answering the door, Evangeline." He gave both Ben and Eva a nod and then he glanced back down the hall that he'd come down. " What do you say we take a glass of wine in the study? We're still waiting on a few other guests and this will give us a chance to catch up." "Good evening, sir," Ben replied, once again holding his hands at the small of his back as he was relieved of his coat. Good, Walden was here. It gave him an opportunity to take his attention off of Evangeline and hopefully put that little moment behind them. "I'd love a glass," he answered with a slight nod and smile before turning his attention to Eva again. Ben gave a gesture for her to go ahead of him. "Ladies first, of course." Eva was trying not to glare at Walden too hard, it wasn't her older brother's fault that he didn't understand why it was not a good idea for her to be around Ben too much. She nodded stiffly at the mention of drinks and followed her brother back to the study, trying very much to ignore the fact that Ben was right behind her. Evangeline found this thought rather disconcerting. When they reached the study, she immediately took her place in one of the armchairs, her posture rigid as she stared at the two men. Eva began to wish that she had arrived later, when all the other guests were settled. "So," she began, hoping to incite a discussion or any sort of conversation that could cover up her palpable discomfort. "This is quite a turnout for your first dinner party, Walden." Walden smirked at her remark as he crossed the room to the small liquor cabinet that had once been his uncle's. He was secretly anticipating the news of the 'cancellations' but he would wait just awhile longer to make his announcement. Quietly he opened the cabinet and pulled out three glasses and a bottle of wine that Rodolphus had sent as a gift at one point or another. Walden knew very, very little about wine but he did know that it was good if Rodolphus had sent it. The was a small pop as the cork was removed from the bottle and he set the object aside and then turned to pour wine into all three glasses. " I was not expecting a turnout, Eva. This isn't a dinner party, as we previously discussed. I was just feeling a bit antisocial and I wanted to have dinner with people that I actually like." He smiled at his sister and then handed each of his guests a glass. " I apologize for missing your birthday, Ben. My head has been in a million different places the past weeks and I overlooked it completely." Ben took his seat in silence, comfortable but professional. He sincerely hoped Walden's other guests arrived soon - he wasn't sure how long he could keep his growing discomfort off of his face and out of his voice. A little while, certainly. But a whole dinner? No, that wouldn't do. He took his glass, listening to the conversation between siblings as he took his first sip. He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a bit of strain in Evangeline's voice. But perhaps, he was simply imagining it. "It's quite all right," he said finally with the slightest shake of his head. "There are certainly worse things in the world than missing a birthday. You didn't hurt my feelings." Idly, Ben played with the family ring on his finger. It felt good to have it - and better that his father hadn't tainted it. |