nikolas vaisey doesn't need a broom to fly (besserwisser) wrote in wished,
The sight that greeting Nikolas was, indeed, hardly what he'd expected or wanted. Well, what he had wanted was for there to be no one out there after all - the fact that it was Daphne Greengrass was simply an extra jab. At the same time, she hardly seemed to be in the same condition as he was accustomed to. Though she was dressed impeccably as ever, there was a suspiciously empty bottle by her side, a violin sitting uselessly on her lap, and she didn't seem to be entirely...sober. She also looked decidedly miserable, and perhaps a bit sad, but Nikolas at least thought that was nothing out of the ordinary.
He briefly considered just turning and leaving, but he'd been here first, after all. Besides, despite the fact that Nikolas, like Daphne, had come up here in the first place with the intention of not finding an excuse to think about his dilemma, he was surprised to find that her presence did nothing to make his mood any worse. It certainly didn't please him, but he wasn't as irritated as he would have expected. As a matter of fact, he almost found it funny. Perhaps it was the effect of his drink of choice for the evening and, it seemed, for the second time this week. Nikolas made a note of not letting this become a habit.
It took a few moments for Nikolas to process Daphne's response to his presence. He leaned against the doorway and scratched the back of his head. "Err, no, because for one thing, there's no mandate that forces anyone to go to dinner. And for another, I think that would be more suited to Macmillan or Patil, neither of whom are here."
He paused and heaved a sigh, perhaps more heavily than was appropriate or even necessary. Continuing to hover in the doorway, Nikolas added, "And besides that, it would be awfully hypocritical of me."
Nikolas took a step outside and waved one of the bottles of stout, nearly dropping it but managing a deft recovery. He took a deep swig. "Not hungry?"