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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Oct 21, 2015 19:54:09 GMT -5
Tonight wasn't anything special, just supper with Mano at a restaurant they frequented when in Valfirid. Their usual table was reserved and the maître d'hôtel was performing the routine of checking anyway. The man never said a word about Messieurs d'Avonderre and Berwyn having a candlelit dinner and the two of them had the grace not to attract attention. Well, Eros did. Mano did need occasional reminders that he intended to spend the rest of his life as though a bachelor, as far as the public was concerned.
His gaze strayed past well-dressed Muggles and toward the wizarding section, which of course wasn't labeled as such. Wizarding people appreciated the opportunity to dress in traditional clothing and Muggle Society appreciated oddly-dressed people, however elegant, to be kept separately. This really was a fascinating area.
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 21, 2015 20:15:22 GMT -5
It wasn't a sin to want to be a little more open or teasing sometimes, but Mano deferred to Eros' wishes whenever possible. He only crossed the line sometimes, and usually only when around people who already knew. This place was always a good way to relax, since the mixed company allowed people to blend in a little more. "I need to get a bottle of this wine," he mused, looking at the pale liquid in his glass.
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Oct 21, 2015 20:31:33 GMT -5
Eros gave the maître d' a silent nod, approving the decision, and the man left them at last. The swirl of a couple dancing in his periphery gave him a thought. "I need to throw another Halfblood Ball," he said. "Or perhaps simply a masquerade for the season, now that Michael and his pet are, as far as most in Society are concerned, in."
He lifted his own glass, but it paused on its way to his lips. Paused infinitesimally before he took a sip and set it down again, as though his heart hadn't just begun to race. Mano's wayward sister had been here for years without him finding out. Eros had been certain that the girl would be at the school, that she'd have accepted the scholarship. When Mano wasn't watching, he flicked another glance in Lani's direction and this time recognized her partner as well.
"I'm feeling unwell, Mano," he claimed with all the decorum he always showed. "I do apologize, I was looking forward to tonight. Perhaps a Pepper-Up potion and some time in bed would help."
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 22, 2015 11:43:38 GMT -5
Mano raised one pale eyebrow at his husband's sudden declaration. It was an odd thing to immediately happen as soon as they'd started an evening, and everyone knew such claims were often used in order to mask something else. "That is quite sudden," he commented, his tone bland but his gaze calculating. "If you insist, however..." He brought his own glass up and watched his husband over the rim.
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Oct 22, 2015 13:42:51 GMT -5
Eros knew quite as well as Mano how flimsy an excuse he'd given, but it was so often used because it was impossible to disprove. "I had hoped it would pass and didn't wish to worry you, but I won't be able to eat a thing. I do apologize." Eros caught a waiter's eye. "Check please, and have the wine delivered, if you will." If there was a hint of desperation to his voice, only Mano could have caught it and perhaps it would lend an air of truth to his claim of needing to leave.
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 22, 2015 15:35:16 GMT -5
"I dislike being left in the dark," Mano said, "there would have only been concern if you'd mentioned it earlier." Did he trust Eros? Yes. Did he trust Eros' strange shift? No. Besides, it wasn't unheard of for Eros to keep things from him for his own good or a bit of brief entertainment. In those cases, it usually came out in the end, anyway.
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Oct 22, 2015 16:11:51 GMT -5
"I'll tell you at home," Eros promised. He'd far rather keep Lani's secret, but Mano had to find out sometime, didn't he? If the girl was confident enough to leave the area she'd been hiding in all this time, then she was likely strong enough to deal with a brother who still worried for her. He wouldn't outright lie to Mano, anyway. There was a great deal of trust in their relationship, however odd it might seem to others. "Let's go, shall we?"
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 26, 2015 21:07:09 GMT -5
Mano eyed Eros a moment longer, then gave in and nodded. "Of course," he said, placing his cloth napkin back onto the table and finishing off his glass. Whatever it was, it must be important for Eros to have such a sudden change, and he wasn't about to get into any sort of discussion in the middle of a crowded restaurant. "I'll call my elf at home."
As they stood and he smoothed his robes down over his frame, he took a quick glance around the room. Usually he would have spent the next hour or two leisurely viewing the crowd, but since that had been taken from him he needed to take in what he could in a much shorter amount of time. What he didn't expect was to see a familiar girl in the arms of a familiar man. "Lani," he breathed, then his eyes widened slightly and he looked over at Eros.
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Oct 27, 2015 22:58:27 GMT -5
Eros's gaze held no surprise or guilt, only calm resignation. Yes, that was why he'd wanted to go home. Yes, he'd known she was in the area. "She's been doing well, Mano," Eros reminded the man, and reached out to touch his sleeve. "You know I'd found her some time ago. She's been nearby, and she's been safe with an acquaintance." Eros had told his husband as much as possible without directly giving away her location.
"Let her be, Mano. Let's go home."
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 27, 2015 23:06:34 GMT -5
"He was a Death Eater, Eros," Mano said under his breath. "If what I have heard is true, one of the worse ones." Murder, rape. He couldn't just let his sister walk into such a trap, could he? It wasn't like Skylar would ever come clean, and if he did, wouldn't it just break Lani? "She's had enough disappointment."
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Oct 27, 2015 23:11:40 GMT -5
"No thanks to us," Eros pointed out. "I lived in a state of near-constant disappointment until I'd thrown aside the rules for a bit. The man is Michael's friend. Michael, who was also a Death Eater." Eros didn't go on with the obvious. Michael trusted the man. Skylar had been back for over two years and, to Eros's knowledge, hadn't slipped. The outing with Storm was questionable at best, but many had turned their heads from such situations.
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Post by Mano Berwyn on Oct 28, 2015 9:48:36 GMT -5
From what Mano knew, and he generally trusted his less-than-Society connections as much as Eros trusted his own, Michael hadn't done half the things Skylar had. "Michael was never on this man's level," he argued. There were rumors about Skylar that had never spread around Michael, and Lani deserved better, anyway. "You really think I should just let her do this?"
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Post by Eros d'Avonderre on Oct 28, 2015 14:28:48 GMT -5
Eros looked past Mano and toward the pair on the dance floor. Michael was never on this man's level. Eros had thought Michael one of the elite, and though he had little real idea what that meant, he had assumed it meant what it did in everything else; that he'd been the best of the best. Or, in this case, the worst of the worst.
"Perhaps it might be wise to talk to him," Eros sugested. "To see what his intentions are." And perhaps to remind the man that, even if those intentions were noble, the Berwyns' daughter was not an appropriate target.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Oct 28, 2015 14:37:35 GMT -5
Skylar might not have noticed the men had they not been standing to talk. He was used to being watched, but would have expected more discretion here. One curious glance provided the answer. Sh~. What were the chances, really?
"Lani, I think we've been seen." He crooked his head slightly in the direction of their audience. "They've been watching for at least a minute." And yet they hadn't approached. Skylar would have expected immediate confrontation, but apparently the elite were elite for a reason.
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Post by Lani Berwyn on Nov 9, 2015 21:49:38 GMT -5
Lani took a glance around the room, but barely made it halfway through when she instantly recognized her brother and his husband. "Oh, no," she breathed. It didn't matter that he had a shop here, the man was halfway across the world most of the time, or at least in Hogsmeade, and she'd done so well avoiding him this long. "He'll drag me home, nagging the whole way."
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