InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "How is she though "

Susan Amelia Bones (susanamybones) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2014-09-13 20:15:00

Entry tags:

character: dean thomas, character: susan bones, status: complete

RP: Beautiful Things
Who: Dean and Susan

What: Stopping in to see Dean, accidentally buying porcelain jewellery

Where: Dean's Studio

When: Saturday 13th September, 11 o'clock in the morning.

Rating: SFW

Susan's morning had been a thing of absolute bliss. She'd been able to lie in, not getting out of bed until seven o'clock, then take Shadow for a run up through West Heath, Sandy Heath, and into North Wood. When she got back, she had breakfast and then a long bath, before deciding that she should probably start her day.

Dressing, she chatted amicably to Shadow who watched her with a vastly amused expression from Susan's bed. Finally, as she walked past her newly blue walls, she decided that it was time to go and see Dean to commission a new painting for the upstairs landing. Smiling, she patted Shadow, set the wards, and disapparated to Dean's studio-

-Right in front of a rather surprised witch. "Sweet merciful Hera," the woman said in French, stepping back with a start.

"I'm so sorry," Susan replied in the same language. "Usually there's no one here." She looked at the woman curiously for a moment, taking in her olive skin, bright eyes, gorgeous curls. Putting two and two together, she smiled and held out her hand. "You must be Ophelia! Dean's told me all about you and your amazing creations. I'm Susan."

"I'm pleased to meet you, me," she said with a smile. Susan was rather impressed, she was a few year older than her, and everything from her charming smile to her short flowing skirt, to the gorgeous ring on her finger screamed sophistication. "Dean said you might be coming by, and that you could be a bit uh, what did he say? Scary?"

Soon they were laughing and chatting, and Susan prevailed upon Ophelia to show off her jewellery. She hadn’t really intended to, but at the sight of the exquisite porcelain jewellery her hand had slipped, and she’d found herself the proud owner of a necklace, a pair of earrings, a bracelet, and five glorious and individually coloured rings.

She had just paid for the items, agreed to lend some pieces back for the exhibition, and then sent all but the blue ring back to her home via the floo, when Dean walked into Ophelia's workspace. His cheeky grin faltering slightly at the sight of Susan, and she had to quash an errant little hurrah of victory. "Hello handsome," she cried happily, before turning to Ophelia and remarking in French: "I call him Handsome, I don't remember why other than the fact that he's such a handsome boy." She turned back to Dean and grinned. "I was actually coming in to see you about commissioning or buying a painting, but then I nearly apparated on top of Ophelia here and then I accidentally spent a delightfully obscene amount of money on jewellery."

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artistdean
2014-09-13 04:56 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, I may have to go and apologise a lot later," he said sheepishly, although there was a hint of a smile about the corners of his mouth at the prospect of talking to Ophelia again.

He raised his eyebrows at her when she claimed not to know why he'd panicked, he was well aware she knew him better than that. "Of course not, not a clue why I might panic!" he said sarcastically. "I know you, you like to hint and make comments, and you know I like her, and I just wanted to... minimise the input," he made scrunchy face realising he probably wasn't saying the right thing. "I just... if anything happens I want it to happen because of me, you know?" he said, sighing.

"Ah. Have you been talking to Seamus?" he asked sheepishly, feeling rather caught out.

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susanamybones
2014-09-13 05:21 pm UTC (link)

"I'm sure that will be such a chore for you, Romeo," Susan said derisively, before furrowing her brows. "Actually Romeo is a horrible example. Please don't be like Romeo. Casanova maybe," she hedged, pausing meditatively. "Regardless, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun apologising to her."

"Hey don't look at me, Seamus all but snarled down my throat that I wasn't to interfere anymore, than made a stupid bet to try and catch me out so I'm officially not touching either of your love lives," she said, though it was probably unfair on Seamus to say that he'd snarled. Regardless, she smiled sweetly at Dean and continued, "You can make your own messes and then go cry to each other instead of me if things go belly up." She smiled prettily. "So trust me when I say to you that all I was doing in there was talking to a lovely woman who makes lovely things. Also she smelt really good, that was a definite bonus. I should find out who she wears."

She frowned at him, suddenly suspicious. "No," she said, with a voice that years of training allowed her to keep perfectly reasonable and even, if indicative of the imminent application of overabundant violence. "Why would I talk to Seamus about a throw away idea like that? Why would he care either way," she added, her frown deepening. "I didn't ask him to move in me. Not that he isn't one of the four people on the planet he can enter my flat with the same level of impunity as myself." Privately she rather strongly suspected that whatever conversation had occurred would have focused on Seamus panicking about the fact that he wouldn't need to look after Dean so much, something that would have rocked the bubble of co-dependency he and Dean lived in. That hadn't been Susan's intention of course, she'd mostly been thinking of herself, something that made her feel incredibly ashamed, but she couldn't help being deeply annoyed at any potential meddling Seamus may have done - beyond the obvious fact that in hindsight, Dean was always going to say no. Prudently, Susan decided to not go to Finnigan's that day, as she would have been waspish with Seamus and that would have been unfair on the poor man.

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artistdean
2014-09-13 06:35 pm UTC (link)

"Susan!" His mind had jumped to somewhere she probably hadn't totally intended, but she'd said Cassanova and his thoughts had gone distinctly bedroom based for a couple of seconds. He shook his head to clear it and focussed back on the room again.

Dean listened to what Susan was saying, and while he knew she'd stopped making comments because of the bet he still wasn't used to it, and he hadn't thought she was going to continue. "Okay," he said. "Sorry, I just, I'm used to you saying things, it's hard to get used to you... not." He shrugged. When she mentioned how nice Ophelia smelled he bit his lip in an attempt to not look too lovestruck, he'd noticed it himself, and whatever it was was often mixed with the smell of clay.

"No, no! Susan, Susan, woah," he held up his hands. He could tell she was thinking about something far more complicated than he meant. "I just meant that I talked to him about it on Wednesday, told him that I'd decided to say no, I won't be moving in, sorry," he said smiling at her slightly sadly.

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susanamybones
2014-09-14 11:54 am UTC (link)

"Yes, Dean," she replied with a smirk, watching his face clearly show that his mind had jumped where she'd intended it to. Nothing like a Cassanova reference to get someone thinking of bedding a French beauty. She zoned out for a second as she thought about bedding a French beauty, then snapped back to the conversation.

"it's fine," she said, waving her hand easily. "I get that I can be a bit annoying, but it's because I care a lot about my friends. I'm like a small, angry she-bear surrounded by cubs who are bigger and in some cases older than me," she winced but continued valiantly, "Who I have to look after. Godric, Helga, and Rowena that got away from my quickly." She looked at him pointedly for a second. "By the way Handsome, if you want in, just look at her with the expression you just had on your face."

She narrowed her eyes for a second, still not completely convinced. "That's okay dear, it was always a doomed cause anyway. Thank you for considering it."

She looked around, keen to move onto a subject that was more palatable. "So, I had the green in my house painted a lovely powdery blue - I also had the white painted a lovely light honey-cream colour but that's beside the point - and I was wondering if you had anything with either a contrasting colour or blues that I could buy?"

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artistdean
2014-09-14 03:00 pm UTC (link)

Dean couldn't help but smile and waggle his head in agreement when she described herself as a protective bear. It was a pretty fitting description of how she acted with all of her friends. Then she made a comment about his expression and felt his face heat. "Sworn off interfering she says," he muttered, both amused and resigned to her being unable to help herself sometimes.

He shrugged and gave her a smile that said 'it was worth a try, no hard feelings'.

"Oh, okay, hang on," he said, mentally picturing the living room colours changed to blue and cream. When he did that sort of mental replacement he knew it always looked awkward, but it was an excellent exercise for his brain. "Right, um, well, it sounds gorgeous. And if you're really wanting something else I might have something..." he was talking mostly to himself by the end, wandering over to the finished canvases he had stacked against the walls in preparation for the upcoming show and bending down to sort through them. He had one in mind that she might like, it had been sitting around for a while, inspired by a film Jess had dragged him to see a couple of years ago. It was of a woman, surfing confidently down a wave and heading straight for the viewer, the rising sun just lighting the sky.

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susanamybones
2014-09-14 03:42 pm UTC (link)

Susan laughed easily at her own expense. "I'm not interfering with you or Seamus, or with either of you and your partners. Doesn't mean I can't give a bit of advice. Suaveness is cheesy, handsome. Come at a girl with sincerity and honesty and she'll love it." She lifted her hand up as if to ward a blow. "But it's not any of my business and I certainly won't say anything to Ophelia. She was talking actually designing some jewellery with me in mind! I couldn't possibly stuff that up!"

She returned a smile that said 'it's okay, thanks anyway.' At least, she hoped she did. She had another smile that was oddly similar that she used to convey 'If you do not tell me where the girl is within ten seconds you will find that your entrails will no longer be inside your body.' She didn't particularly want to send Dean that smile, so she grinned and sent him the reassuring eyebrows. At this point Dean was looking slightly perturbed, and she vaguely thought she might look like she was having a stroke, so she decided to drop the matter and move on with at least some of her dignity intact.

She watched him industriously rummage through his paintings until he came across a beautiful painting of a woman surfing a wave in an achingly blue background. She tilted her head, visualising where in the newly blue landing she would put it, before deciding on just above the stairs. "That's absolutely perfect, Handsome. I know just where to put it."

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artistdean
2014-09-14 04:21 pm UTC (link)

"Fine, fine," he said, throwing up his hands up in defeat. "Thank you for the advice," he said in a voice that was meek with a hint of sarcasm. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate it, especially given how badly most of his relationships seemed to go, but he wasn't planning on jumping right into bed with Ophelia.

The look Susan gave him, like many of her expressions, was subtle, but infinitely menacing, and his eyes widened and he gulped reflexively, but a second or so later she shifted her eyebrows and he relaxed. She would be fascinating to more than a sketch of, he'd often thought, but also difficult to pinpoint.

"Oh!" he said, delighted. He'd half expected to have to go through several options before something she really loved took her eyes. "I'm glad. I had it up at home for a couple of days but her coming towards me like that wasn't the best plan," he said, indicating the speedy approach of the surfer who came to all but fill the canvas before looping out of shot and paddling back out several seconds later to repeat the cycle on a slightly different looking wave. He'd tried freezing the portrait but just ended up disappointed that it wasn't in motion and brought it back to the studio.

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susanamybones
2014-09-15 02:41 pm UTC (link)

"You're welcome, Handsome," she said with a winning smile and another laugh. "Always willing to look after my boys."

Susan smiled at him. "She can make friends with the mermaids in the spare room I think," she said with a laugh. "Or at least, they can try to make friends with her." She admired it for a long moment, then looked at him expectantly. "You know me Dean, I don't buy less than two paintings, and a Thomas original is going to be worth a lot of money in the future. What else do you have for me?" Her mother always laughed at her and her obsession with art collecting, but she knew that one day Edgar would inherit Bones Manor and she would get the smaller and far lovelier Rosethorn Hall, and she wanted to be prepared.

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artistdean
2014-09-15 04:13 pm UTC (link)

"She might like that. I've not spelled her allowed out of her own painting yet, it just gets too complicated before I sell them. People tend not to like being told to go back just so they can be moved," he said, considering the woman weaving expertly on the wave with his head tilted slightly. He was pleased with how it had gone, but as ever there were things that he would change, the particular shade of one of the stripes on the woman's bikini shorts in particular, but he'd stopped himself messing with it a while back. "I might want to borrow that one back for the

He rolled his eyes, he'd given up trying to tell Susan she didn't actually have to buy his art, or try giving her more than the tiniest discount (and even that he tended not to tell her about and she usually ignored). He'd mostly accepted that she actually liked it now, but still he had to smother his instinctive inadequacy response. "Well, feel free to take your pick, they're sorted for the show, but they're all stable, feel free to rifle through." He gestured to each of the rough piles in turn. "Yes pile, no pile, maybe pile, nightmare stuff that I'm hedging towards yes with at the moment. You're welcome to whatever but I might want to borrow back the yes stuff for the show."

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susanamybones
2014-09-16 01:38 pm UTC (link)

Susan nodded thoughtfully. "I guess I can understand that. I can always get you to add the spells later. I do find it vaguely amusing when they move around, although the mermaids get petulant that there aren't any other water paintings for them to explore." She looked down at the painting and nodded easily. "Of course! You made it, it's yours to borrow as you wish. Just tell me before you grab it so Shadow doesn't pounce."

Susan wondered over to the piles, and looked through. The nightmare pile was very atmospheric, and moody and she made a mental note to look into buying one or two for her mother for Christmas. She rifled through each pile, marking a few, until finally in the yes pile she found an absolutely stunning painting of a woman and a child wandering through a field of wildflowers, the sky a beautiful study in moving clouds. "Oh Dean," she moaned happily. "This is bloody amazing!"

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artistdean
2014-09-16 03:09 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, it's no problem, I can have a word and re-do the spells with the movement one included. Maddy likes to chat too, when there's a calm period," he said, indicating the surfer who was sitting astride her board waving at them for a few seconds before setting off again. "Tends to speak Hawaiian if you annoy her."

Dean wasn't quite sure what Susan would end up liking, he never was, and it was a little uncomfortable for him to see her sorting through his work like that so he wandered to his sofa and sat on the arm. Not because he had thoughts about her disliking his work, but it always felt a little intimate, especially before everything was framed and ready for sale to the general public. When she settled on the piece in the wild-flower meadow he smiled. He liked that one a lot, although he actually preferred the openness of the ocean on the other in some ways. "Thanks," he said, smiling softly at her appreciation.

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susanamybones
2014-09-17 10:01 am UTC (link)

"That's lovely of you handsome, thank you," Susan said with genuine warmth. "She'll get on well with the other paintings I'm sure. At least if she could walk around she could scandalise the straight laced debutantes in one of the pictures in the back hall."

"You're welcome," she replied, taking out her purse. "Now don't even think of giving me a discount," she said with mock severity. "If a girl inherits a Gringotts vault bigger than some houses, then she can afford to pay full price."

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artistdean
2014-09-17 10:56 am UTC (link)

He snorted at the idea of Maddy in fairly skimpy bikini confronting anyone straight-laced.

He sighed, knowing how pointless it was to argue with her, at least much. "Fine, fine, let me get the book," he said, walking over to a small cupboard on the wall which he kept some useful bits and pieces in, including his price book and accounts, and a stack of invoice forms. He unlocked it with several waves of his wand and pulled out the relevant items, scanning down his list of completed works and their prices, and writing the two prices, knocking only a couple of Galleons off each, which was both restrained and a nod to the fact she was a friend and bought art from him fairly regularly.

"There you go," he said, presenting her with the invoice after quickly adding it up and signing it. He made a note in his book that Susan had bought the two paintings.

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susanamybones
2014-09-17 01:00 pm UTC (link)

Susan nodded with a small smile as she watched him cross the room to the cupboard where he kept his invoice book and price book, she watched him write out the prices in the invoice. "Thank you darling," she said as he handed her the invoice. She looked it over for a moment and then reached into her purse and pulled out a Gringotts Promissory Note form. She filled it out quickly with a fountain pen from one of her pockets handed it over to him with a smile. "There you are, Deano. The Goblins will honour it and move the funds as usual."

She leant forward and kissed him on the cheeks. "Don't stay up too late, and I'll see you later." Humming to herself happily, she disapparated.

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