Caius / Brianna
With how tense things had been at home lately, Brianna was thrilled to be out and socializing. She welcomed any opportunity to dress up, and she felt like the club had done an excellent job organizing the Black and Red Holiday Gala. The decorations were beautiful, the food delicious. The turnout was much better than Brianna had expected, and she was having a rather nice time walking around the room and talking to both people she knew, and those she didn’t. After a while, Brianna wandered over to the open bar to get a new glass of wine, her eyes roaming the large banquet room to see if she could find her husband.
James was nowhere in sight, but her gaze did happen upon another familiar face. Caius D’Onofrio was not someone who entered her thoughts often, even though she was friendly with his parents. But seeing him now seemed to trigger memories she had all but forgotten about. She had been helping him sell his house… her grimoire. Inhaling sharply, Brianna plucked the new glass of wine out of the bartender’s hand and murmured a ‘thank you’ before she started across the room towards Caius. The person he was speaking to was walking away just as Brianna approached, and she touched his arm briefly in greeting, a small, but forced smile on her lips. “You look nice tonight,” Brianna told him in lieu of a hello. “Do you have a moment?”
Caius was always dimly appreciative when the organizers of events like this gave them a theme. It made the boring obligatory chit-chat at least slightly visually interesting when everyone was wearing similar colors. He’d chosen a bold route with a dark red suit with black accents and pinstripes, black shirt and silky black vest with a shiny baroque pattern on it. Caius was feeling downright vampiric as he ambled around the party with a glass of dark red wine in his hand. Reagan looked even more stunning, and he would’ve been enjoying himself much more if she hadn’t been projecting a completely understandable agitation from being around this crowd.
Caius had been doing his best to keep Reagan’s glass full, and he was paying much more attention to where she was standing talking with someone else than his own surroundings -- including the man he’d just been absently talking with -- so Brianna’s sudden appearance gave him a start. His dark eyes widened slightly at her, then hooded themselves again as he returned her not-really-a-smile. Caius could already guess what she wanted. “Likewise, Mrs. McCarthy,” he said. “And of course, I have as many moments as you need.”
She doubted he wanted to spend much time with her, and Brianna couldn't blame him as she felt the same. She certainly didn't need James seeing the two of them in deep discussion and asking questions later, so Brianna made sure to keep her expression a casual one in case he spotted her. It was a strange feeling, to be so suddenly reminded of tearing apart her grandparents home looking for her family grimoire. And handing it over to Caius, of all people. But he had asked for it, and she had been so willing to help for reasons unknown to her now. Brianna was still new to magic, but ever since the fire had been awoke inside of her, she was starting to understand how important lineage was. "My family's grimoire," she said simply. "I would like it back. From what I remember, you've had it for quite some time now."
Of course she wanted it back, Caius completely understood that. He didn’t feel like he was finished with it, there was so much to go through, but he’d already known he was pushing his luck with the timing. He recalled that Zania had wanted access to it too, but considering her recent attitude toward him and the fact that the grimoire wasn’t actually in either of their families ... she would just have to deal. And be nicer to him if she wanted access to the notes and copies he’d already made. “Of course, as promised,” Caius said smoothly, like he’d been meaning to give it back at any second. “... I obviously don’t have it here with me, but I will return it to you as soon as possible.” After one or two more late nights with a scanner.