Crispy Ben is crispy. (dontcallmeleo) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-01-22 21:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! [1980-01] january, evangeline macnair, leoben yaxley |
Who: Eva Macnair and Leoben Yaxley
When: 22 January, 1980; 7:00pm
Where: Eva's cottage, and then some restaurant.
What: A date
Rating: PG
Status: Completed!
Leoben did his best to calm his nerves. It wasn't a feeling he was well used to, and honestly it was a bit of a nuisance. After he fixed his robes (and adjusted the cuff links she had given him) Ben went to his study and picked up the box that carried the necklace he had purchased. Decidedly unromantic man that he was, the receipt for the necklace was tucked safely away in a drawer. Just in case. As always, there seemed to be far too many things swirling around in his mind. This dinner was most prominent, of course, but as he glanced at the clock, he remembered his Grandfather. He had died almost a year ago now. Ben hoped he would approve. She was a Gryffindor... but she supported their ideals like Vitus never had. Finally, just as the minute hand rounded on the nine, Ben disapparated with a low pop. He reappeared at the foot of the stairs of her cottage. Necklace secured safely in his pocket, he approached the door with as much confidence as he could feign and knocked thrice before holding his hands patiently behind his back. Evangeline was unused to primping so when she finally goaded herself into getting dressed, her eyes could only spot all the imperfections in her attire. She didn't even understand why she was putting such an effort into looking marginally decent. She had agreed to dinner; to partake in a meal. It was not as if it was something important. On the other hand, it would be the first time Eva would see Leoben since the masquerade--and, truth be told, she made a rather rash decision at the time. The knock on the cottage door carried upstairs and she had to hurry locking the windows as she made her way downstairs. She had to compose herself. Eva did not want to make a mockery of herself, at all. (And, since she was feeling honest, Ben had the ability to provoke her reckless nature.) Upon opening the door, Evangeline immediately stepped outside, snapping the front door behind her. "Right on time," she commented casually, trying to disguise the discomfort she felt. It was ridiculous. There was absolutely no need to be nervous. Now was not the time to be thinking about the last time he'd seen her. Definitely not. Leoben desperately smothered the memory as Eva stepped through the door. Not. Appropriate. Still, he looked perfectly at ease, all except for a well disguised stiffness in his right arm. Burns took more than a week to heal, even under good care. A small smile pulled at the corners of his lips. "Good evening," he greeted with a slight inclination of the head. He extended his right hand to her, palm up. Under his robes, the bandages rubbed harshly against tender skin, but Ben's expression didn't change. He was cursing himself for failing to take a potion for the pain before he left. "Shall we?" At least, Eva thought, he was behaving quite normally. She returned a tight smile at his greeting and was about to start walking down the steps when Ben held out his hand. And all hopes for having a simple, uncomplicated dinner went out the window. He was holding out his hand. Evangeline narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling somewhat suspicious of the simple gesture. For Merlin's sake, she wasn't even wearing gloves. Inwardly cursing, she calculated the risks of either choice. If she declined, she was sure Leoben would consider it a slight. If she accepted, then she would lose. (But lose what? It wasn't as if they were playing a game.) She hesitated for another moment before taking his hand, trying very much to cover her embarrassment at the act. "Let's," Evangeline said shortly, attempting to postpone the moment of looking at him by glancing at everything else. A much more comfortable smile found it's way to his face when Evangeline took his hand. Her hand felt warm and smooth and for a moment, his attention was stuck on that, blotting out the throbbing in his arm. "Excellent," he said softly, and then side-along apparated her to the restaurant he had made reservations at. High class, but not too fancy. And public enough that nothing should be assumed by bringing her here. It was actually a favourite of Ben's when Important Business needed to be discussed with his partners. His face was remembered here. They were lead quickly to a table for two, slightly removed but not overtly secluded. Coats were hung up and drinks would be on their way. When they were alone again, Leoben fixed her with a more permanent look. "How are you?" She was never really the bashful sort, but Eva could not help but feel rather (for lack of a better word) coy at their contact. It would be rather easy for outsiders to assume that they were a couple, which, as far as she understood, they weren't. Not that she cared much for that classification; it merely gave rise to more and more complications. She remained unnaturally quiet as they made their way inside the restaurant and Evangeline was more than happy to blink curiously at the decor and other patrons instead of meeting Ben's gaze. However, all attempts at escape were soon dispelled when they were seated. There was no other choice than to return the attention. "I'm fine," she shrugged non-committally. Eva was becoming more adept at blocking questions about her well-being. The months she spent in Azkaban didn't exactly mark her permanently, but she had more than enough time to focus on her doubts and fears--enough time to learn how to hide certain things. "I'm much better now," Eva added, attempting a smile, "And you? How are your injuries?" Of course she was. Leoben didn't feel particularly persuaded by her response. But he supposed that she was well enough to be here and that was a step in the right direction - on many counts. So he didn't push the topic, instead giving just a short nod. The topic of himself was less welcome, and somewhere in the back of his head, he understood her discomfort. "Fine," he answered as well, leaving it ambiguous enough that he could be answering either part of her question. It was a downright lie about his injuries. He felt much better a week later, but with frequent headaches and fading bruises to still tell the tale, they were certainly not fine. But better to get out of this dangerous area of conversation - he didn't want to talk about himself, not now. Ben lowered his voice, "I think we can look forward to quite a few things being fine as well, in the coming weeks," he went on with a small smile. Eva blinked at the brevity of his response but said nothing. There were certain topics that she still didn't feel confident enough to discuss, and those two months entombed in Azkaban definitely fell into that category. She didn't say much for a few moments, choosing instead to fidget with the napkin she placed on her lap. Evangeline was about to comment on the weather, of all things, when she felt the conversation was becoming stagnant but thankfully, Leoben brought something else up. "Oh?" she remarked, quirking her eyebrows. Her curiousity was getting the better of her. "You're talking about Walden's impending nuptials, I assume?" No, his brain insisted. Marriage - Walden's or anyone elses - was not what he wanted to talk about right now. But he couldn't say that. So Ben settled for a lift of the brow, a slightly amused smile. "There's that," he agreed. "What are your thoughts on the matter?" "I suppose it's a marriage eighteen years in the making," she quipped, not really bothering to explain herself further. Jacqueline was young, that was true, but if that meant that Walden would have the upper-hand in the relationship then Eva did not have any problems in the matter. While she wanted the younger woman to be happy in their relationship, she didn't exactly find the idea of her brother being manipulated by his own wife. Ben chuckled, unable to help it. "I wonder if Walden knew eighteen years ago," he mused. "She never had a chance," he added, a grin quickly working it's way onto his face. Yes, there was an undeniable humour in the situation. Leoben would support it to the ends of the worth... but that wasn't going to stop him from occasionally laughing about it. While she found Jacqueline and Walden's age difference rather alarming at first (and who wouldn't, in her position?), Eva eventually regarded it as a mere quirk in their match. The girl was still a little formal towards her brother, but Evangeline believed that a certain ease in their marriage would be reached eventually, give or take half a decade or so. "Perhaps it was an attachment that grew throughout the years," she said, grinning. "Perhaps those moments spent whilst babysitting strengthened their bond." That just about broke him. Ben chuckled behind his hand, shaking as he did his best to subdue his laughter. It took several moments to compose himself and he was mirroring her grin when he spoke up again. "A whole new meaning of 'love at first sight'," he snickered. "Quite," Eva said, feeling rather pleased with how the conversation had become more comfortable after she blurted out the joke on her older brother's expense. Surely, Walden wouldn't mind too much. After that exchange, Evangeline noted that, at least, there was less tension between them, which was more than ideal for her. She disliked uncomfortable silences and there was simply something in her nature that prodded her to fill every single awkward pause, to the point that she would have to grasp at straws to find something to talk about. "I'm glad you invited me to dinner," she remarked, sounding as if it was the most natural thing in the world to say in such a situation. "It's been a while since I've..." The word 'date' suddenly felt really difficult to pronounce. "Since I've been out with someone." Ben was often quite comfortable in conversation - he had to be, after all. Really, he ought to be an expert at this already. But the subject before had never been courting, nor with the woman he wanted to marry. He had, in fact, never been entirely interested in marrying until he found himself to be relatively successful, rebuilding his name from the tatters his father had left it in. So the butterflies in his stomach were not entirely unexpected. He grin softened to a smile. "I'm glad you accepted," he answered honestly. He paused, shutting his mouth as their drinks came. "I do rather enjoy spending time with you," he added, almost seamlessly as if they hadn't been interrupted. She blinked at Ben's confession, partly surprised at how frank they were both being. Eva rather liked the change in conversation; for once, they didn't seem inclined to tiptoe around the subject. She smiled, fidgeting once more with the table cloth, apparently unable to say something in reply. After a moment or two, Eva looked at him again, a smirk playing on the corners of her lips. "That seems to be quite a forward thing to say," she said, not able to stifle the amusement in her tone. Ben on the other hand, felt wildly out of place with being so forward. He was used to meandering around a subject. But, he supposed, he had meandered around the subject plenty while she had been imprisoned. He already had Walden's permission. The only thing left was to ask hers. Funny how it worked that way. "Too forward?" Leoben asked, busying himself with straightening the silverware in front of him, only glancing up at her once. Evangeline pursed her lips in mock concentration, furrowing her brow for greater effect. "I suppose..." she paused as she considered him in an apparently inquisitive manner. "I suppose one would allow that it was sufficiently forward," Eva said, her tone suggesting that the observation was of a entirely grave and serious nature. She found herself somewhat pleasantly amused at how Ben seemed to be looking to her for approval. Of course, Eva thought that it was rather difficult for her to find anything too grievous to object to when the dinner was progressing quite pleasantly. Well, here's to pushing the envelope, Ben thought, staring at the table cloth while he mulled over how exactly to word this. In that moment, his nerves might have been apparent. "Then I apologise in advance, if I'm overstepping my bounds," he started, finally bringing his gaze to hers. "But I must admit that you have been in my thoughts every day. And I would very much like to come to know you better. If I were to have your permission, of course." Leoben reached into his pocket and pulled the box containing the necklace out. His heart was pounding dangerously hard against his ribcage, but he was in the middle of it and he couldn't just stop. "I would ask that you accept a token of gratitude if you were to give me such an honour." He placed it on the table in front of her. It was the best he could do for a declaration of courtship. And now, to wait. Perhaps she merely deluded herself to think that the night would be much simpler than it was turning out to be. Well, one could hope, Eva mused as she watched Ben closely. She could swear she saw a flicker of nervousness before he smoothed his expression into something calmer and more composed. His talk of apologising for overstepping boundaries confused Evangeline at first, but everything became clear as he continued to speak. For a moment, Eva thought she was merely imagining the whole thing; that she may have inhaled some hallucinogen as she was working that morning. But there it was: concrete evidence. She stared at the box for a beat, and her eyes darted back to Ben's. It was all quite formal and traditional (at the back of her mind, Eva commented wryly that her mother would love to hear every single minute of it--and after such a thought was formed, she immediately swore that her mother would not learn the exact circumstances of this event). Her throat felt suddenly dry as she reached out to take the box in her hands. She didn't need to open it, of course. Eva hardly cared about jewellery. But she opened it anyway. The first thought that crossed her mind wasn't about how beautiful the necklace was, or how fitting the choice of stones were. The first thing that crossed Evangeline's mind was the lengths Ben had gone through to get to the point they were currently at. So when she finally managed to lift her eyes from the necklace, her answer was a firm, "Of course." Leoben was not an emotional man. His thought process was mostly logical and kept strictly to facts. He was not a man prone to fanciful ideas or impulses. But in that moment, it took every ounce of his self control not to jump around the restaurant. He could not have heard better words. Instead, he settled for a smile and a deep breath (of relief). And after a moment, his smile turned into more of a genuinely happy grin. It was a rare sight. Ben motioned toward the necklace. "Would you like me to put it on you?" She looked at him rather curiously when she finally answered and Eva couldn't help but returning his smile. She had been used to seeing fabricated emotions in society around her, the best examples came from her own mother back when her father was still living. There was something remarkable about a genuine emotion, Eva thought, and she felt more at ease with her decision after that glimpse. She couldn't even think of a snide thing to say when Ben offered to put the necklace on her. "Why not?" His smile was still fixed to his face at her answer and he smoothly stood up and walked around the table to her side. Collecting the necklace from the box, he moved to stand behind her chair and gently pulled her hair to the side. "Will you hold this up?" he asked. When she did, Ben unclasped the necklace, put it carefully on her neck, and then re clasped it. He was mindful not to linger, but his fingertips brushed the back of her neck before he moved away and took his seat again. The movement had certainly irritated the bandage around his arm and he was vaguely aware of how much it hurt. But he was just too happy to pay much attention. Salazar, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face! Nevertheless, he rested his forearm carefully on the table to minimize pressure and movement. The close proximity between the two of them sharply reminded Eva of their moment at the masquerade and she suddenly felt slightly abashed by the recollection. In some ways, she supposed that the whole courtship was partly just a formality but she was glad that Ben wasn't pushing her to decide immediately. (Especially after her brother's rather sudden engagement, Evangeline was quite sure her mother would die of excessive happiness if she gave her another reason to gloat.) She was pulled away from her thoughts when Eva felt his soft touch on the nape of her neck. Both amused and slightly intrigued, she narrowed her eyes at Leoben. "Don't go getting ideas," Eva said, holding back the grin on her face with little success. It was rather sort of a formality. Especially since the masquerade. If anything had gone right that night... Still, he had no intention of pushing her to do anything. He knew her well enough by now to know that forcing this sort of decision upon her was only going to lead him to trouble. And so, he would lead her carefully through all the hoops and over all the hurtles society required. This was to be done properly. Those were The Rules. Ben feigned curiosity and innocence at her warning, lifting his brow. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," he insisted, just barely keeping the smile off his face. "And you said I was coy," Eva replied, snickering a little at the opportunity to return his accusation back to him. While she had always shunned the attention of boys (and later on, she supposed that they were hardly fit to be called men), she never really entertained the idea of becoming close enough to one. Nevertheless, Alecto was more than happy to fill in the blanks for her whenever a question popped up. Ben smirked as he raised his glass to his lips. "I wasn't wrong," he said confidently after taking a sip. And who cared if he was teasing just a bit? He was allowed to now. And besides: he hadn't been, of that he was quite sure. A taste of her own medicine, so to speak. And completely harmless. "Doubtful," she quickly parried, trying to find some shred of evidence to defend herself with. It seemed rather difficult to try and purposely win an argument when Eva had no inclination to get too affronted. She eyes him closely, more out of curiosity instead of actually searching for a sign of weakness. "There's a difference between subtlety and coyness," Eva mused. Ben chuckled. Here was a Gryffindor trying to talk to him about subtleties. "Yes. Do you happen to know what any of them are?" He was absolutely grinning now, unmindful that it was a very rare display of actual emotion from him. Leoben was still just teasing. It would be less amusing if she hadn't made it so easy. Eva glared at him but her expression softened somewhat when she noticed that he was in a rather playful mood. "I was not or will I ever be coy," she said, her tone exasperated and a little amused. And in some ways, she was telling the truth. Eva had never really been fond of skirting around an issue. Things were meant to be faced head-on. But certain things, such as her interest in Leoben were slightly more difficult to confront in a blunt and direct manner. His grin didn't fade. "Okay," he agreed passively, a hint of smugness apparent in his voice. Teasing was one thing, but perhaps outright disagreement wasn't wise. At least not directly after she'd agreed to courtship. He would have to be more careful to gauge when it was safe and when it wasn't. And while it was still probably in the realm of appropriate to push the issue a bit more, Ben saw no point. Which was well enough, as they were interrupted by food being brought to them. This was bound to be the hard part. Not the eating - but the cutting and issue of getting his fork to his mouth without looking like he was hurting too much. Perhaps he simply wouldn't eat much. Eva's glare didn't falter but she merely kept her silence as the food was set in front of them. It wasn't exactly the best of manners to start an argument with the man who she just agreed to a formal courtship with. She relaxed a little when Ben decided to drop the subject and she was glad that he had done so. Eva had issues keeping her temper in check and her outlet, while often effective, wasn't exactly acceptable in their current setting. Instead, she forced herself to breathe slower and count to ten. Which worked. Somewhat. She began cutting up her food in a bid to work off a bit more of her annoyance and only bothered to glance up at him after a few minutes. Evangeline was completely puzzled at the expression of pain that Ben was trying to disguise. "Is there something wrong with your food?" she asked tentatively, hoping that her earlier irritation did not show. If Ben thought in expletives, he most definitely would be thinking: Fuck. Instead, he just glanced up at her, pausing and putting his fork down. "No," he answered truthfully. A beat of silence while he did more effective job of looking pleasant instead of pained. But in the back of his head, he was sure it didn't matter. He'd faltered trying not to show the pain he felt on his arm and he definitely wasn't expecting Eva to just give up on that. It wasn't going to stop him from trying though. "Why, is there something wrong with yours?" he asked, flicking his eyes down at her plate expectantly. Eva didn't buy it. Not one bit. She continued to look at him even as he gave her a smile to dismiss the subject. After further observation, Evangeline eventually realised that he was not, in fact, grimacing because of the food, but because of his arm. She raised an eyebrow slightly, biting back her comment about men's pre-occupation with looking invincible. "No. Nothing particularly wrong with mine," she countered, poking at her plate disinterestedly. "Good," he said with a shrug, pretending everything was quite fine. Ben returned to his food, picking up his fork with his left hand instead of his right this time. He saw no particular reason to cause himself more pain when he was perfectly utensil proficient with his left hand. He was pointedly ignoring the way she was prodding at her food, trying to discreetly push this part of the night. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with her (he did), he just didn't want her to ask. Salazar, he wished he'd remembered his potion. If Eva was more discreet, perhaps more subtle in her ways, she would have found a way to bring up the topic of his injuries without causing too much discomfort in Leoben's part. Only if. Unfortunately, Evangeline wasn't bequeath any inclination, so she broached the topic in the only way she knew how. "Your arm still hurts," Eva said, quite bluntly. No questions, simply a statement of fact. In her opinion, there really was no shame in injury. It only meant that he was at least fighting for something he (they) believed in. "I heard about your efforts at the siege. I thought it was very brave of you." Leoben was torn between embarrassment and a certain sense of pride. He didn't like that she knew he was still hurting. In fact, his embarrassment mostly had to do with the fact that he'd been hurt at all, let alone that he was still in pain - despite his best efforts. Frustrated with himself, most certainly, Ben had been trying to hide any and all discomfort. But she thought he was brave? He didn't really know what to feel about that. From Eva, it was most certainly a compliment. But he didn't associate himself with outright bravery. In fact, he more often associated bravery with foolishness and a fool, he simply wasn't. So he could only stare for a moment, blink and then went smoothly on. "It's healing." There. Nothing that would obligate him one way or the other. She didn't say much after that and endeavoured to finish her food with the least amount of eye contact possible. Eva thought that perhaps she had said too much and offended him; that thought was rather discomfiting. She sat in silence for a while as the waiters hovered around their table, picking up their used plates and cutlery before the matron smoothly deposited the bill in the middle of their table. Without hesitating, Eva reached for it. Ben, too, finished his food in relative silence. He wasn't entirely sure how comfortable it was, but he found that he preferred it to further discussion of injuries. The lesser of two evils, anyway. He wasn't exactly paying attention when the bill came. At least not until he saw Eva reach for it. It was reflex to use his right hand. Too quickly, he pulled it from under her fingers, unable to keep a hiss of pain at bay as the charred skin protested the sudden movement. Still. He had the bill and even though his arm throbbed, he was reasonably sure she hadn't seen it. "Don't be silly," he said simply, masking most of the hurt as he glanced at it. About what he'd expected. And he would allow himself to splurge a bit for these sorts of occasions. But only a little. Leoben paid, more obviously favouring his arm now but not complaining just the same. "Are you quite ready to go?" he asked. "I was going to hand it to you," Eva said, raising an eyebrow. She was being sarcastic and she was barely hiding the fact that she was. Still, she didn't see the point in protesting when Ben had taken hold of the bill and she only just managed to stop herself from blurting out that yes, she can pay for dinner too, thank you very much. Eva took note of his pained expression as he glanced at the bill; she couldn't help but smirk a little. Soon after he paid, she rose from her seat and nodded when he posed the question. It was a little cooler out in the open and Evangeline felt herself slip into a calmer state as the noise and chatter of the restaurant slowly lessened whilst they walked away. She was glancing at Leoben every so often, still in that openly curious manner. There were a few questions stored in her head, most of which dealt with the reason why he insisted on courting her. But Eva was too proud even after Azkaban to ask him this directly. Her stay within the reach of the Dementors' damaging effect merely eroded her sense of certainty, not her sanity. Ben ignored her comment. She's wasn't supposed to touch the bill or see how much it was for. That was it. Those were The Rules. He followed her quietly out of the restaurant, flashing a smile at the maƮtre d'. Salazar knew he'd likely be back in a week. It was almost cold outside - ha, cold, in England, in the middle of January? - and Leoben didn't want to spend too much time out here. It was only a moment later that he held his (left) hand out to her. "Home, then?" She took his hand, without hesitation this time, and Eva didn't even realise that he was still favouring his right arm until the familiar sensation of Apparating engulfed her. This bothered her slightly. Was his arm not healing properly? Walden mended it. Perhaps the injury was grievous enough that mending it was beyond even her older brother's scope. Had a Healer taken a look at it? A moment later, Eva felt her feet make contact with the ground, the sound of waves sluggishly crashing to the shore greeting her. Turning towards Ben, she gave him a rather formal smile. "Well, I had a lovely time." Eva was mocking herself now. Her mother had told her years ago how to handle the present situation and she couldn't help but find the entire thing quite comedic. Ben smiled as well, vaguely hesitant to let go of her hand. He walked her slowly to her door, squeezing a few extra seconds out of the their time together. "I did, too," he agreed, flashing a more genuine smile at her. It couldn't have gone much better, at least in his opinion. He had been looking for permission to court, and she had given it. As far as Ben was concerned, he'd completed his objective for the night. But he still wanted some burn paste and a pain potion. She was dawdling, she knew that. But the night was growing later and she still had several things to write before turning in. Eva glanced at Ben again before returning his smile, her hand already reaching out for the front door. A few steps and she would be inside her house, then she would just need to close the door and walk away. Eva took a deep breath. Really, this shouldn't be so difficult. "Erm," she cleared her throat, turning around to face him again, "Good night." It was polite. Wasn't it? And now she only had to walk inside and close the door, and pray that her mother wasn't spying on her lest Sophia swoop down to interrogate her just as she walked inside the living room. Oh, sod it.. Eva inwardly rolled her eyes, walked swiftly towards Ben and kissed him on the cheek. And with a grin and a shrug, she finally deemed it appropriate to close the door. "Good night," Ben answered, a faint smile still on his face. He was ready to turn and leave when she kissed him. And then, his smile might have widened. Immediately, he was thankful it was dark, feeling a rush of heat to his face. She didn't need to see that. He lingered only for a moment on the porch, feeling genuinely happy. With a low pop he apparated back home, a smile still stuck stubbornly to his face. There was nothing that could ruin his mood tonight now. Not even having to look at that damn burn. |