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Lucius Malfoy ([info]in_deep) wrote in [info]wished,
@ 2010-02-28 22:42:00

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Entry tags:!1998: 02, !incomplete, lucius malfoy, narcissa malfoy

Who: Lucius & Narcissa Malfoy
What: Coping with Grimmauld aftermath
When: Tonight
Where: The Manor, in the library
Rating/Warnings: Low, TBA

The pain had gone from debilitating to merely intolerable in time to let him carry out his orders without substantial difficulty, and he had expected it to go away once he'd made his amends - but when he had arrived home it had still been with him. He had shut himself in the library and waited for it to pass. He couldn't have slept, and so he hadn't gone to bed. It would only have disturbed Narcissa, and truth be told he wasn't sorry for an excuse not to face her while his Mark was burning. He knew very well what would have been going through her mind - the same thing that was circling endlessly in his even now, a full day later, the same thing that had reduced him to pulling a book off the shelf for the first time in years and trying to think on anything else.

Easier said than done, in a room this dark. He always came here specifically because it was close and warm and a little gloomy, but struggling to make out undersized text about some war he'd forgotten the details of in his second year at school after two days of no sleep at all was only adding a headache to his already considerable troubles. When one of the elves scampered nervously in to offer him a glass of water for something like the tenth time, he gave it a sharp kick to the side before it could get the words out. "You can build up the fucking fire," he growled, even his own voice grating miserably on his nerves. "And get out. And close the door behind you, for once." They always forgot.



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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-01 01:56 pm UTC (link)
For once, the Manor was quiet. It seemed as though many of their guests had retired for the night, or maybe they were using silencing charms wherever they were in the house. Narcissa truly did not care at this point whether they were asleep or not. What bothered her was that her husband had not come to bed again. They'd already had a discussion about this very matter and she thought she'd been perfectly clear that no matter what was happening, he need not hide it from her. Trust between the two of them was one of the very pillars that had allowed for their marriage to stand as strongly as it had for so long. Yet she could not find it in her to be angry with him; she had secrets of her own.

It was also difficult for her to be too upset. She knew what was happening and that he was in pain. It crushed her because she knew that meant Draco was suffering for it too. That, perhaps hurt her far more than anything else. Their son was in pain and she couldn't do anything about it. As a mother, it shook her to the very core of her being. As a wife, it wasn't much easier.

Unable to settle in bed, she decided to go looking for Lucius. She knew he was home, and she knew where he would likely be if he was not in their room. Habitual man.. she thought, with only a tiny smirk. She was too upset to feel playful. When she reached the library, it was just in time to see an elf scurry out scared within an inch of its life. It mattered little to her. With all that was on her mind, a frightened elf was the least of her worries. She caught the door before it closed and stepped inside, making sure to close it behind her.

Narcissa walked to where he was, so obviously trying to lose himself in some book that probably hadn't been opened since Draco needed it for school however many years ago. "Put this on your arm," she said, dropping a soft cloth in the middle of his book. "It's been charmed to stay cool. I know it won't take all the pain away, but it should take the edge off. I would've applied it myself but seeing as you've quite forgotten where it is we sleep at night again, well, here we are."

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-02 03:27 am UTC (link)
He was so wrapped up in trying to shut out everything but the Glanmore Troll Conquests that he didn't hear her arrive. He gave a start when something dropped right in front of his nose, and his face snapped up to her - and though his expression immediately faded away from the look he might have given any other intruder, it was still quite clear he was on a short fuse; and he couldn't find it in him to stand up.

"It isn't my fault," he said, snapping the book shut and tossing it onto the table before taking the cloth in hand as he tugged irritably at his already rumpled sleeve. "I assure you, I would much rather be in bed. And I thought perhaps you'd rather sleep than feel me tossing and turning all night long. Do forgive my thoughtlessness."

And then, every time he looked at her, he could only think of Draco - because he was quite certain that was what she thought of when she saw him like this. It was enough to keep him from meeting her eyes. "Thank you," he muttered, more than a little petulantly, as the wrapped the cloth around his arm, and did his best to settle back into something like a proper posture. There was nothing about the situation he found comfortable, and it was all miserably unfair. He hadn't had a thing to do with any of it. It only made it worse to think on things he couldn't help.

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-02 04:01 am UTC (link)
Lucius' temperament might have intimidated others, especially where the elves were concerned, but his short fuse did not cause her to step back or cower in the slightest. Narcissa knew her husband's temper, and she also knew he would never let it escalate to the point where he would actually harm her.

"No, I suppose it's not your fault, is it?" She mused out loud, almost without even realizing she'd spoken her thoughts. There was a slight bitterness to her tone, though she hadn't meant for it to sound that way. The truth was, it was irritating to her that he was not taking any sort of responsibility for the situation. Maybe he hadn't personally had a hand in the most recent incident to have occurred, but could he not acknowledge having any part in what was happening? Even Narcissa blamed herself for their son's pain and not being able to protect him from it.

With delicate hands, she picked up the book he'd discarded and moved to put it back in its proper place. Sadly, she'd gotten into a habit of picking up after others; with all of their house guests, the elves had a difficult time keeping up. "I would much prefer trying to help ease your tossing and turning. For future reference."

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-02 05:09 am UTC (link)
"No. It isn't." Lucius's eyes narrowed slightly, but he turned his gaze back down to where he was clutching at his cramping forearm. He could hear it in her voice - the subject he wanted to avoid more than anything was lurking there, waiting. He should have shut his mouth and gone to bed. Lying still would be a trial, but it was better than inviting conversation about what he did and didn't regret.

"If there were a way to ease it, I would tell you," he said brusquely, instead. The pain and the fatigue had dulled his mind considerably, and it was all he could do to try to keep the bubbling guilt under some sort of lid. "There's not. Believe me, I don't like it any better than you do. Any of it."

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-02 01:36 pm UTC (link)
Narcissa understood why Lucius did not want to speak about Draco. As he said, there was nothing that could be done to make the pain go away. Following his logic, if nothing could be done, then there was no sense in dwelling on it. She could understand, but, she could not ignore or just internalize the fact that their son was hurting. She had always been very good at keeping her emotions in check, or fooling others into believing she was interested and enjoying their company when she was not. She could still do it when she had to interact with their current house guests. She could not do it with Lucius, and she would not do it when it came to matters about Draco.

"He's our son," she finally said. "And he's just a boy." She felt the warm stinging of tears threatening to spill. All of his life, Narcissa was there to kiss away the scrapes or skinned knees Draco had. No motherly power could ease his pain and it ate away at her. She couldn't even be there to console him. Make no mistake, though she was on the verge of crying, there was fight in her. Those tears were fueled not just by sadness; she was angry.

"Lucius, I don't know how much more of this I can take," she said. She turned around to look at him. "We failed him."

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-03 03:33 am UTC (link)
Lucius shrank back a little. He risked a look up at her, and found her turned away from him, dark in front of the fire - safe enough. He watched, steeling himself to face her; what he couldn't see, he could hear. He knew she was near tears. He couldn't blame her - or wouldn't have, under any other circumstances. But tonight, the usual urge to reach out and keep her close was lost in the rest of his confusion.

"Do you think I've forgotten?" he asked quietly, his voice flat and a little too sharp. He stood up and wrapped his sleeve carefully down around the cloth she'd given him for his arm. "What else is there to think about, when I - we're laid up by one of these stupid tantrums? I know it." And it made him regret things that should by all rights have been too far in the past even to remember. "And I don't have the first clue what I'm going to do about it. What would you like me to say?"

It felt good to say things he didn't mean - quite the same way it felt to have his frustrations out on some meaningless killing - a frantic sort of release that gave nothing but false courage. "If I had been free to do so, I'd have done anything to stop it. But I wasn't, and he isn't a boy any longer." He doubted he would ever believe that. He stepped over to where she stood beside the hearth, resting his arm gingerly on the mantle. "It's too late to change that."

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-03 04:30 am UTC (link)
His words and tone would have hurt her more had she not already been devastated and pushed far beyond her breaking point long before this night. As it was, there was very little he could do or say that would crush her now. "I would like you to acknowledge it. Even if we're both unhappy, we have each other to get through it. I am so sick of being left alone, and that seems to be a recurring pattern as of late. I don't care if we don't have a solution yet. I just want you!"

Narcissa ran a shaky hand through her long blond hair and then closed her eyes briefly in an attempt to keep herself composed. "You left us and Draco was made to clean up the mess in your absence. He is just a boy! He couldn't possibly live up to the expectations that were placed on him. The Dark Lord knew that! It was just another punishment for your mistakes!"

She knew she shouldn't have been yelling at him like that. Narcissa rarely, if ever, raised her voice. Even in anger, her tone usually was frozen in ice. In this matter, though, she could not help herself. "I tried so hard to protect him, but it wasn't enough. I thought once his task was fulfilled, the Dark Lord would let Draco go." She shook her head, and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "He's never going to let any of us go, is He?"

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-03 05:18 am UTC (link)
His jaw tightened as he listened to her. This was why he needed to spend these incidents alone - he was sorely ill-equipped to deal with the sorts of things that tended to come out when he lashed out without thinking. His wife was unhappy, neglected, desperate. And what could he think of to fix it? Nothing.

Of course, she would be just as unhappy tomorrow, he thought darkly. And by then, the pain - he very much hoped - would have gone away, and after stealing a couple hours of sleep, he could wake to that. Wonderful. If he could only keep himself from making things even worse, though, perhaps he'd be able to set it right -

But these were accusations he could hardly even tolerate from himself, never mind someone else. "That's enough. I did not leave you," he snapped, unable to help himself. He shoved one of the armchairs roughly aside, and stormed back over to one of the walls lined with bookshelves, pouring over the titles on the spines without really seeing them. "I know perfectly well what he wanted with Draco, without your reminders. And I am doing what I can, to see that we don't suffer any further punishment. I'm very sorry if it means you spend the odd night alone. I don't know what, exactly, it was that you tried so hard at last time," he said, perhaps just a touch too dry. "But seeing as I'm leaving you with so much spare time, perhaps you could have another crack at it."

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-03 01:56 pm UTC (link)
All she was yelling about really could have been spoken in soft, concerned tones. She could have expressed her worries, her needs, her wanting to comfort him and just be with him, in a completely different way. Her yelling at him was just a release of the anger she had towards everyone else in their house. The blame had to be put somewhere. Seeing as he'd taken over frightening the elves, and yelling at her sister wasn't an option (for she still felt very much in debt to her sister for keeping her secret), Lucius was all she had left.

"Do not speak down to me, Lucius Malfoy," she snapped right back. "I am not a house elf you can berate and disrespect. You have no idea what it was like. I realize you were in no better place, but do not stand there and assume that we were living the high life in your absence. I did what I had to for Draco, and you're right. Perhaps I should do it again."

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-04 02:15 am UTC (link)
"I shouldn't think so, my dear," he said as smoothly as he could manage through gritted teeth, deliberately counting the endless volumes of what he had always assumed was A Magical History of Normandy, but only because the title was largely in cognates. It took up far too much shelf space for something he couldn't actually read. "It doesn't seem to have gone over very well the first time, does it? - Whatever it was." He added the last as a casual afterthought, another wild attempt at getting the needle in just so. There was nothing more comforting than finding someone to share the blame with, whether they had earned it or not.

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-04 02:43 am UTC (link)
If there was a downside to knowing her husband as well as she did, it was the fact that he knew her just as well. That, of course, meant he knew how to get under her skin and provoke her. "I'd say it went rather well. His mission was taken care of, was it not? Dumbledore is no less dead. Draco is still alive and safer at school than anywhere else. What I did was not without flaws, but it kept him alive."

She'd kept it a secret from Lucius mostly because she wanted to make sure to keep him alive. What she did was no doubt punishable, as she'd been forbidden to speak of Draco's task to anyone. The only out she possibly had was that Severus and Bellatrix both already knew what Draco was meant to do. Nonetheless, she'd ignored the demands placed on Draco and if she included Lucius in the secret it might put him in danger as well. She wasn't sure what would happen should anyone else find out.

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-04 03:45 am UTC (link)
Lucius gave a quiet scoff, and started his count over again. "Yes, and how happy we all are," he muttered. He didn't see how she could take any credit for sitting back and letting things progress as they might. No doubt she had worried her fair share, he thought, with a very unwelcome pang of conscience, but she hadn't had a hand in any of it, had never spoken of anything but how much she -

He felt a little cold, clean stab of adrenaline as his mind began slowly to catch up with all the steps he'd been missing. It dulled the pain, for just a moment. He turned slowly, and looked at her with just a trace of suspicion. It masked the beginnings of fear that were working in his chest, at least. "What did you do?" he asked evenly. He reassured himself that it was probably nothing. She'd have told him, otherwise. Naturally.

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-04 06:38 am UTC (link)
Narcissa was quiet, forgoing her chance to snap some unpleasant retort back at him about the state of things, just to rub it in his face of the mess he'd made for them all. It occurred to her then that she'd said far too much while in her anger-filled state. This was precisely why Narcissa did not get angry and instead opted to ice over. Doing the latter kept her from saying more than she intended, but when she was angry her emotions tended to get the better of her.

Her expression turned from anger to a bit surprised. She didn't want to lie to him, but how cold she say what she'd done? It was for his own safety that she thought she couldn't. "I'm.. afraid I fear the consequences you would face if you were to know." She turned away from him again to face the wall of books, as if perhaps she could disappear into one of their stories rather than facing the reality of the situation.

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-05 04:19 am UTC (link)
The sinking dread that began to weigh on him hardly came as a surprise. Of course it would have to be bad news; he almost wished he could close the subject. There was only so much one person could take, wasn't there?

But he did so hate being kept in the dark. And even on his last nerve, the thought of leaving her alone with something she obviously found so troubling was repugnant. "Consequences. You're joking, of course." He took a step closer, watching her carefully. "I doubt there are many consequences I haven't already run up against, my dear. Perhaps you ought to let me be the judge of that."

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-05 04:37 am UTC (link)
Narcissa hated that she'd kept this from him for so long; honesty between the two of them was something she'd always insisted firmly upon, even when she might not have wanted to hear the truth about Lucius' whereabouts or the grisly details of his missions. She felt sick over keeping a secret from him, even if it was for his own good. They'd faced everything together, especially in the recent past. Perhaps this could be something they dealt with together, too, though should consequences be acted upon she prayed it would only involve her.

She turned slowly to face him again, though it was not easy. "You have to understand. He'd been given an impossible task that everyone knew he would never be able to fulfill. It was done purposefully, with the expectations he would fail and subsequently be killed for his short comings. I couldn't let that happen, Lucius. Without you here, I had to act myself," she said. "I didn't know what to do. Bella was no help. She thought Draco had been given the highest honor and should be grateful. She thought I should be grateful. I had no one else to turn to except.." She bit her lip and had to look away long enough to keep tears from spilling as she recalled the memory.

"I'd been forbidden to speak of Draco's task to anyone. He said it was punishable by death, but I didn't care. I went to Severus about it. I... begged him for his help." She thought she'd spare him the details of her completely falling apart in Severus' arms. No sense in painting a picture like that. "I convinced him to make an Unbreakable Vow with me, to keep Draco safe, help him, and if for some reason Draco should fail, Severus would step in and see that it was done."

Narcissa chanced meeting Lucius' gaze. "There is nothing I wouldn't do for Draco. I had to keep him safe."

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-06 04:53 am UTC (link)
Lucius bit his tongue, though with every passing phrase he wanted to say that yes, he knew - it had been a death sentence for his son, Narcissa had been very much alone, and his sister-in-law was a queen among lunatics. It was familiar territory.

The rest of the news was enough to halt his breathing for a moment. There was little he wanted less than to give the Dark Lord a reason to target his wife - the one thing it seemed He hadn't thought to take from him, yet - and this was ... Well, it was hardly the worst sort of treason, as she'd only enlisted solidly loyal followers. But it was hard not to let his imagination run away with him, having come directly from dealing out a traitor's usual reward to a couple of clueless dotards who'd done nothing. He stared at her, trying to come up with a good reason why he shouldn't be frightened.

"Well," he said after a long silence, the pain in his arm all but forgotten. "... It worked, I suppose." He couldn't think why Severus would have agreed to it, unless he had gone a little mad with his present prestige. "No one else knows? - Bella will keep her mouth shut, of course. Draco doesn't know, does he?" He had no faith at all that the boy could keep something like that to himself. "There's no reason it should have to come up, at all. Dead is dead, no matter who did the killing. No doubt He wouldn't mind one way or the other."

He was probably saying it to reassure her, because he certainly didn't believe it. His hand clenched briefly at his side. "... And you didn't think you'd mention it?"

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-06 05:19 am UTC (link)
"I'm not certain what Draco knows of it," she said. "I haven't said a word to him about it, but Severus could have. If I could reach him I would be able to find out. My sister.. I.. don't think she would say anything unprovoked, but, if He asked her I can't be certain she wouldn't betray me for The Dark Lord. Her devotion is.. well, it's no secret where her loyalties ultimately lie." She actually smiled a little. "I understand the consequences. I don't regret what I did. You're right, dead is dead no matter who's hand dealt it." She appreciated the effort he was taking to assure her of her safety, but she knew the danger was still quite present. If she was punished, it wouldn't be because someone else intervened in killing Dumbledore; it would be because she ignored His orders of secrecy.

Narcissa shook her head. "He can look into our minds, Lucius. If he knew you had this knowledge and said nothing about it, what do you think he'd do to you? I've put you at a terrible risk by confessing all of this. You've endured so much as it is. I don't want you being hurt further for my behavior."

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-07 12:50 am UTC (link)
"No," Lucius agreed, coming back to lean again on the mantle. He felt an extraordinarily rare flash of sympathy with Bellatrix - she was perhaps a little more reasonable than he had given her credit for, in things that mattered. He had no doubt she understood the consequences. "No secret at all." But there was some play in the joints, apparently. Good.

"The trick is keeping Him thinking He needn't bother looking," he said, sounding tired. None of this truly mattered - He didn't need a reason at all, and even if He had ... they had both given Him plenty to run on already. "No better way than ignorance, I suppose. All the same - you ought to have asked me. He's my son. - And I might not have worried so much, you know." He wasn't quite ready yet be conciliatory, although being difficult in the face of such a very generous characterization of his activities over the past couple of years was making him feel like something of a cad.

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-07 03:39 am UTC (link)
Narcissa nodded, though she wasn't sure she believed any of what he was saying. She felt that the only reason her secret had not been uncovered was because of timing. The Dark Lord was surely busy with His own agenda, which would not include someone like her. He had no reason to probe her sister's mind, for she was seemingly far too loyal to need anything of the sort. Severus had been on shaky ground, but with him having killed Dumbledore it seemed to solidify his place on their side of the situation. The Dark Lord was preoccupied, and she hoped He would remain that way.

"I was at my wit's end. I didn't know what else to do," she pleaded, feeling tears well up in her eyes as the desperate feelings she had back then began to resurface. That coupled with everything else she'd been repressing lately were all starting to get the better of her. It was all she could do not to fall apart. "Please, Lucius, please understand. You don't have to like what I did but please understand why I did it."

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-07 04:51 am UTC (link)
The temptation to share the misery was strong, for a few seconds. It was rare indeed to see her so unstable, and he knew he could have pushed her even further without too much difficulty, if he chose to.

But even as low as he was, he couldn't quite bring himself to try to make her cry. He shifted his weight, staring down into the fire for some time before looking back up at her. "You had to do something," he said quietly. "I know." If he could do without acknowledging that t was because he had done nothing, all the better - he pushed forward. "I've upset you, my dear. I'm sorry. You really should go to bed." ... Which was what they'd started arguing about, of course. He resolved then and there that the next time this happened, he was locking himself in the cellar until it passed. He really could not be trusted to open his mouth.

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-07 05:14 am UTC (link)
Narcissa felt unbelievably alone. Even standing there in the presence of her husband, it seemed she had no one. She managed to get an apology out of him, but not for what she wanted. It seemed more of an after thought, too, and it left her feeling even more depressed.

The next time she blinked, a tear ran down her cheek. She did not realize it until it had already spilled. She wanted to plead with him to come with her. More than anything she just wanted his comfort, but why should she ask for it when it was not being offered? She did not want to force him to do something he had no interest in. It would be as absent as that apology.

"Will you be coming too?" She finally asked.

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-07 05:34 am UTC (link)
Lucius looked in danger of flinching when he saw that he had actually brought her to tears. It woke him up, to some extent - enough to have a care for what a mess he was making for himself in the morning, or whenever his arm decided to let him be. That was suddenly sharper, too, as he slowly recovered his senses. He didn't know what to say. Surely this had demonstrated exactly what sort of company he would be, if he accompanied her now ... And just as surely, it hadn't seemed to dissuade her.

"If you'll promise to get some rest," he said a little weakly, looking somewhat lost. "I'll do my best not to disturb you." It might even be nice, so long as it was silent. If he didn't have to worry about saying or doing something foolish, lying quietly with her might be the closest he could come to solace.

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-07 02:28 pm UTC (link)
As much as she did not want to place the burden of her secret on Lucius, she had to accept that by doing so she was upholding the honesty she expected from him in return. That was, quite possibly, the only reason she confessed at all. No weight had been lifted by telling him of the Unbreakable Vow; if anything it just made it worse. Now he was at risk of being seen as an accomplice to her treason. It was too much for her to think about. She just couldn't think anymore on it now.

All of it was too much tonight. She took one long cleansing breath to try to calm herself. No more tears tonight. Her expression softened as his turned lost. She closed what physical distance was left between them and looked up at him with a tenderness she would never bestow on anyone else (save for their son, though even that was a bit different). Gently, she reached up to brush her fingers along his jawline. "I do hope one day you'll learn that the only disturbance I find at night is when you're not there." Instead of drawing her hand back, she slid it up to rest on his cheek.

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-07 10:29 pm UTC (link)
"We'll just see what you have to say about it in the morning," he replied, as the feel of her hand cemented the matter for him. He was exhausted, unkempt, unshaven and felt as though he were dangerously close to developing a permanent twitch, and it struck him as strange that she would want him with her. It made sense enough to castigate him for not coming to bed, but it seemed to him that the logical closing of that particular argument ought to have been more nights spent alone on the couch, not fewer.

But then, he wasn't thinking clearly. It was better not to try to puzzle things out until he could do so as himself. Another few hours (he hoped and prayed no more than another few hours) wouldn't count for much. There wasn't any rush. He took her hand, feeling unbearably clumsy. "Although it's warmer here, you know."

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-08 12:58 am UTC (link)
The past couple of years had been very eye opening for Narcissa. Having to live in the Manor alone without him had been unbearable. It mattered very little to her what he looked like, as long as she had him home. Her primary concern for her husband was his well-being. She would have liked very much to go back to a time when their appearance mattered more to her than much else, although with her shifted priorities she did come to learn just how much she loved and needed her husband.

Narcissa turned her hand to lace their fingers. Her gaze would not leave his, for she feared she might lose him again. "Here or anywhere; it matters very little to me. Just stay with me." It was a rare thing for her to speak so emotionally, but she'd been brought to a very vulnerably state of mind. It could not be helped.

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-08 02:56 am UTC (link)
"I'll be desperately unchivalrous, then," he said, extending his hand to the long sofa that sat some distance from the fireplace, "And ask you stay here a while." There probably had been a reason, once, why this room was where he came to weather the worst things. He'd forgotten it, but the fact remained that it was his refuge of choice. It would be nice, he thought, to keep his bedroom as well separated from this sort of unpleasantness as he possibly could. It was childish (and too late, at that), but there it was.

He waited for her to sit, and then lowered himself beside her. It was difficult not to wish for some sort of ending to it all, nights like these. It might have been a more satisfying exercise, though, if he'd known which outcome to hope for. Living in the moment had never been his strongest suit. Nevertheless, he tried - this was, after all, one of the better moments.

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[info]porcelain_doll
2010-03-10 01:57 pm UTC (link)
It truly did not matter to her where they were, as long as she could be near him. She'd been feeling quite alone for some time. Much of it was her own doing, by keeping her secret from him no matter what her motives were. Now that he knew, she felt a little closer to him despite the circumstances. Nonetheless, confessing such a thing had left her feeling vulnerable and her emotions raw and exposed. It wasn't something she was particularly fond of, but he was her husband. Their wedding vows had assured her that he was the one she was supposed to be close to in times such as these.

Narcissa sat beside him on the sofa, and leaned into him momentarily. Neither of them was truly in a positon to be the strong pillar for the other, but she hoped perhaps they could lean on each other and maintain support that way. Very carefully, she took his aching arm by placing her hand on the underside of it. With the other, she pulled up his sleeve and gently lifted the cold compress, then flipped it over and laid it against the Mark etched in his skin. "You need not ask for me to stay. This is where I wish to be."

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[info]in_deep
2010-03-11 05:01 am UTC (link)
Lucius sank back into the sofa, quite happy for the weight on his shoulder. It was a comfort, even if his back wouldn't come out of knots. He kept his face more or less impassive as she took his arm; just as nothing really helped to allay the pain, nothing exacerbated it terribly, either. It was good to feel her hands, and to see her efforts, even if they made only a minimal physical difference. "Thank you," he said after a brief hesitation in which he decided he was feeling too stupid for any attempt at wit. "I'm glad for the company. ... Not everyone is so lucky."

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