araminta meliflua is unladylike (ex_meliflua674) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-06-19 22:42:00 |
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To say that Graley wasn't thrilled about this would be a gross understatement, but it was something he was doing regardless. You could call it a sense of often misplaced duty. He had managed to find a bottle of whiskey that he wouldn't be too opposed to sharing with her before he had actually taken a few moments to make himself look semi-presentable before he had left to go to Araminta's house for dinner. A celebration dinner if he was the sort of person who invested time in celebrations. But, for the sake of peace he would be cordial for the time being, and perhaps the fact that he had bothered to take care of her damn roses and dog for the time she was otherwise occupied would help keep the peace for the night. Arriving at her house via fireplace, he stepped out and brushed off his robes, looking around for his host. Araminta had been in the kitchen overseeing dinner. She hadn't had a proper dinner during her captivity so she had been demanding rather extravagant meals the past few days. She was still rather tired from the whole ordeal, she had taken to not sleeping (because dammit she couldn't sleep when someone was watching) in captivity and a few nights' sleep hadn't quite reversed her exhaustion. Hearing her fireplace roar, she turned and left the kitchen. Walking into the sitting room, she spied Graley and cleared her throat as a way to announce her presence. "Well hello," she said flatly. Nodding his head, he took a few steps away from the fireplace and looked at her. "Hello," he said simply, voice emotionless as always, looking around the place seeing that not much had changed. "You don't look too well," he said looking back over at her. He was never one to beat around the bush, and if they were going to get married he didn't overly see the point in masking how he was. He didn't overly like her, but he was aware enough to realize she wasn't stupid. He set the bottle down on some surface so he could cross his arms over his chest. "I would've thought a night of sleep and a dead house elf would've gotten you back to normal." She laughed a little, unwillingly. It was sort of funny, and she did probably look absolutely awful at this point. She'd have been rather offended if he had lied about the way she looked right now (and probably concerned that he was some sort of impostor). Her experience as a "hostage" had stretched her already low tolerance for idiocy extremely thin, so she somewhat appreciated the honesty. Sort of. "A bit more sleep ought to do the trick. And a dead house elf of course," she said, rolling her eyes. She eyed the bottle he had set down. "I do hope that's for me," she said, gesturing. "Dinner should be ready in a few minutes." "All of the house elves are still alive then? Something must be wrong," he said, being actually completely seriously. He had never really taken her to be the forgiving type, which was something he found to be admirable if he looked at it as a bystander. "Consider it a congratulations of sort, for not ending up dead through sheer stupidity," he said picking it up and handing it over to her with a shrug. "Just tired," she said dismissively. The house elves had actually kept the house up-to-par in terms of cleanliness over the past few weeks, not even a speck of dust. That was enough to keep her from being too wrathful, though she did feel too tired to bother with them regardless. Taking the bottle, she examined it interestedly. "Thank you, though I'm a little insulted if you're implying I'm stupid," she said, but she didn't sound very offended. A house elf poked its head out from the door that led to the kitchen, announcing that dinner was ready. She nodded and it vanished again, and she turned, walking towards the dining room. Shrugging a shoulder, he waved a hand a bit dismissively after she took the bottle. "More about the stupidity of those you were with," he said following her into the dining room, looking around as he moved to sit down in the chair he was pointed at. "I am sure it was a very trying time for you all." Sitting down, she shrugged. "They were a bunch of morons," she agreed. "But I wouldn't exactly call many of the women stuck there geniuses either," she added. True that most of the women were histrionic, whiny puddles on the floor within the first hour, and she had found that increasingly annoying as the time continued on. "It was probably trying for some of them, I was mostly bored," she said. "Except when the fighting broke out, that was entertaining. The house-elves brought out dinner, setting it out before disappearing. They didn't seem keen to hang around for more than a few seconds. "I wouldn't call many women geniuses period," he said simply. He would be hard pressed to call any of them smart, let alone anything else. People had their places in the world, that was how it was supposed to be. It was nature, people shouldn't attempt to go against it. "Ah yes, the fighting, I am quite glad I missed that," he said shifting to sit up a little bit, looking at the dinner as it was brought out, looking over it before up at her. "Do you want the drink now or later?" he asked not minding a bit with his meal, but it was her house. "It's not as if most men are brilliant either, they're just louder about what they're good at," she retorted sharply. She didn't feel particularly like arguing, for once, but she valued herself as rather brilliant at times, and she didn't think men were more intelligent by any stretch. Men would be nowhere with women. Normally she wouldn't even be drinking anything stronger than wine with someone else in the house, but it was highly unlikely that he cared and the circumstances of the past few weeks allowed for her to do as she pleased for a few days. Inappropriate or not. "Now. It's better with food," she said, shrugging. Graley didn't bother responding, not really bothered enough to get into an argument with her about it. It would be futile, she was stubborn. He knew that much at least, but as far as who was right, he was secure in the belief that he was so why should he even bother. "Alright," he said standing up to get the bottle and got them some glasses before giving her one, opening the bottle and pouring some out. Taking the glass, she took a swallow, her face scrunching slightly at the strength. The taste was never pleasant at first. Pulling a plate towards her, she considered her food for a second. She was oddly self-conscious about eating in front of people, but obviously not eating wasn't an option and she was ridiculously hungry anyway. She stabbed something with her fork a little moodily before taking another sip (her etiquette was coming back to haunt her- who sipped whiskey?) of her drink. Graley took a bite of his food and looked over at her, chewing before swallowing, picking up his class and taking a small mouthful as he watched her scrunch up her face slightly at the alcohol. He smirked a little bit, but he didn't say anything otherwise to her, amused almost. He took another bite of the meal before leaning back, not overly hungry due to other reasons. "So what are your plans now?" he asked in his attempt to make small talk. Finally taking a bite of her own food, she traced her finger over the rim of her glass in thought, before swallowing and finding a sufficient answer. "I am going to work with some of the ladies on an orphanage project," she said. "Maybe. I may not." Philanthropic pursuits had never exactly been her style so to speak. "Otherwise, I do not know really." She would probably occupy herself with staring at the wallpaper or reading a book, admittedly. She led an exciting life. Taking another drink, this one going down somewhat easier, she raised an eyebrow. "I expect you'll be keeping busy?" "Sounds utterly fascinating," he said unable to keep the overabundance of sarcasm out of his voice. He shook his head a second later before leaning back. "Are you sure the other ladies are quite up the challenges? I would have thought that under their ordeal they never would want to leave their homes again?" he asked before nodding his head. "I'll be keeping busy, don't worry." "Quite," she replied, just as sarcastic. It wasn't exactly her idea of a good time, among the elite of society trying to "better" the cause, really. But she did need something productive to do. "I'm sure some of them will hide away, terrified they'll be snatched up should they even set food outside their grounds. But that's idiotic," she continued, rolling her eyes. Spoiled little girls who thought the world (including kidnapping) revolved around them. It was ridiculous. "I wasn't planning on worrying." "At least their idiocy has a reason now," he said feeling the need to be conciliatory, even if it meant defending the others against her, as odd as it was. He finished eating a little bit more, before pushing his plate to the side, not overly hungry and he would much rather drink for now. Leaning back in the chair a little bit he shrugged. "In all likely hood I will be going back to work since I had to leave early due to the recent events," he said almost sounding happy if he was capable of feeling that emotion. "I suppose," she said. She hardly felt like arguing it, it wasn't as if it was particularly surprising that they didn't agree. It would be a far more shocking event if they did agree on something. Opting not to argue with one another was the closest they ever got to ... not arguing. Pushing her own plate aside, she took another drink from her glass, not even flinching this time. "That's...good," she replied. "As long as you keep yourself occupied, I guess." "I do," he said sitting back as he finished off his drink, looking around. He had never been one in particular for long conversations or sitting down, he had hated long dinners as a child because of this. He could find himself growing anxious already, wanting to do something, or drink some more to take the bored edge out of his system. "The house is almost complete, although with the fires I'm not sure how long that one will last." "Good," she replied. Though it was a topic she was not all to fond of, as she had argued plenty that it would be simpler for him to not have his house repaired and just move into her house. But apparently it was emasculating or something or another (as she had interpreted it) and repairs there would be. How inconsiderate, really. Standing up rather abruptly, she grabbed her glass and the bottle. "I feel like relocating," she said, almost cheerfully. Almost. Then she disappeared out of the dining room, refilling her glass as she walked. Graley would not have cared one way or another, had it been that she wasn't so adamant about him moving into her house. He enjoyed his place, he had enjoyed it when it had been run down, but his enjoyment had increased slightly ever since he had finished fixing it. Looking up when she stood, he stood as well out of pure reflex, frowning a little bit, grabbing his glass and finishing it off before following her into the living room, sitting down without waiting to be asked. If she wanted to play it that way it was fine with him. She turned and handed Graley the bottle when he sat down, taking her own seat and setting down her glass. She felt like talking, really. Maybe it was the alcohol. But, stubborn as she was, she also wanted to see how long they could go without talking at all. So she simply picked her glass back up and took a swallow. Entering on glass number two was much less unpleasant, as was typical of alcohol. Crossing her legs, she sat in silence, rather content with herself. |