[emily's flat] a light in the dark [leifr]

He’d been to her place once before. She’d avoided making extra contact with him or inviting him over or anything like that, mostly because Emily believed that if he wanted to see her, he’d talk to her first, and he’d done that. However, she didn’t know how much that really meant to him. She wasn’t stupid and she knew that he’d been with plenty of women much prettier than her -- that much she’d witnessed when she’d walked in on him with a big-boobed petite little blonde. God, she regretted that. Sorely. She could’ve just been the first person he’d thought of for an easy date. Someone that didn’t have much of a life, at least, not much of one that he knew about, and someone that would say yes… she’d half considered declining, but her horrible crush on him had prevented that. There was no denying that Emily wanted to attend this Ministry Ball with Leifr Trickett, whether he liked her or whether he was just using her like a human prop. God, that sounded so desperate.

And it kind of was. Emily had a boyfriend already. One that got her nice things, took her extravagant places, and was, as a general rule, a boyfriend that most girls would kill to have. Handsome, older, wealthy, and she was still going on a date with a rugged, undeniably sexy barkeep with a billion family members. Did they breed like rabbits? She didn’t exactly know, but she’d definitely witnessed his battalion of cousins at the wedding she’d gone to with him and been a little spooked out of her wits. She came from wealth, too, where there weren’t many children involved, so Em supposed that she couldn’t relate on a spiritual level to that kind of closeness. She hadn’t been able to since her mother died and since Elaine had become so close with Eva.

Sliding the last bobby pin into place, Emily evaluated her appearance. The dress she was wearing definitely hadn’t been meant for this event. She could never have afforded it on her own, and it was lucky that she’d even been able to afford the shoes she was wearing. She was thankful that they were sandals and not heels, at least -- she was worried about tripping on the dress as it was. It was beautiful, that much was obvious, but Emily’s insecurity wasn’t something that just went away with a beautiful dress. She was reluctant to tell John that most of the time, as she knew he tried hard to make her feel otherwise, but sometimes he contradicted himself. That was where the confusion had its place.

It felt kind of wrong to be going on a date, if it was that, with someone else in the expensive dress her boyfriend had bought for her, but it was a formal event and she hadn’t been able to buy anything else in a pinch. Emily would have had to save for awhile in order to purchase something like this, and as long as she refrained from spilling wine on herself, John didn’t have to know that she’d worn it at all.

A soft knock at her door snapped her out of her thinking reverie, and Emily made sure to close the bedroom door behind her as she went to answer it. She didn’t want him to see inside her bedroom, not when John had some clothes there and she had some.. other things that were inappropriate for her friend’s eyes. Why was he even nice to her? She’d been a total bitch their first couple of meetings. He didn’t owe her anything. He could’ve taken someone that would go back to his flat with him after the event, but he’d chosen to ask her instead. It was just… weird. Really, really weird. As large as her lexicon was and still expanding, Emily couldn’t have thought of a better term for the feeling in that particular moment.

Her slender hand reached for the doorknob and she opened it with a tight smile already prepared, nodding her hello. “Hi.” She said softly, and kicked herself internally. She could hear the nervous undertones in her voice already. You can do better than that. “You look… really great.” She distantly remembered the last time he’d picked her up for a formal event. She’d said something painfully similar to that. Why was it that her usually precise word usage seemed to disappear whenever this man was involved? He was like a human vocabulary obstruction. “You can come in for a minute, if you’d like to.” The dark haired witch held the door open wider so that he could step inside, and then promptly shut it behind them.

It’d taken him far too long to get dressed, although that was nothing new. If there was one thing Leifr hated when it came to clothes, it was having to dress in formal attire. Tuxedoes were very, very low on his list of favorite things to wear, but for this Ministry ball, it was required. Besides, he had bigger things to worry about than what formal wear he was wearing to a formal event. Jo had coerced him into coming, truthfully Leifr had been a little afraid that his long time friend was going to drag him to the event by his ear if he hadn’t gone voluntarily. So, he’d made that bit easier while he still had the chance, but Jo hadn’t been done yet, she’d subtly, and not so subtly suggested he ‘bring his pretty little friend’ from the wedding to this event too. Initially Leifr had wanted to resist her suggestion, no matter the cost, but then he had realized that he really did want to see her again, and that the ball gave the perfect excuse.

Asking her had been easier said than done, being that he was rubbish at anything close to exclusive dating. But, he’d managed to do it, and he found himself standing at her door, in a tux, waiting for her to answer. He knew she’d be dressed up as well, but the sight that greeted him once she answered the door and invited him in, left him gawking a little. Forcing himself to stop staring, Leifr offered the woman in front of him, his date, a smile and a greeting of his own “Hey”. He could tell she was nervous already, like she had been the last time he’d taken her out, but that was alright, admittedly he was a bit perplexed himself. Clearing his throat quietly, Leifr looked her over again, and spoke evenly “Thank you, you look great as well, beautiful, actually” He sounded like a ninny, he was sure of it, but wasn’t that what he was supposed to do? Compliment her, and all of that? He was clueless, but he had meant what he had said.

He was going to have to keep himself from staring at her all night, while she was looking anyway. The thought had him smirking to himself ever so slightly, maybe Jo did know what she was talking about after all. Not wanting to appear as though he was impatient or in a hurry, the ex Gryffindor took a look at his surroundings. He’d taken her to the door of her flat last time, but he’d never been inside. It was very her, there was no denying that. Clean and neat, and organized, with books everywhere of course. Admittedly, the man was surprised that she’d agreed to come out with him again on a date, if this was a date? He couldn’t think about that now. He had been fairly certain the craziness of his cousins and his friends had scared her away for good. Not to mention the fact that someone might have let it slip that she was one of the only girls he’d ever brought to a family event. In reality she had been the first, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that either. In order to distract himself, he decided making conversation might be the best place to start “Have you ever been to a Ministry ball before?” It was lame, but it was a start, wasn’t it?   

He was staring. Definitely staring at her. She was almost sure that was a good thing, judging by his slightly parted lips and his eyes, which were shinier than usual. He looked absolutely gorgeous in a tux, and she’d seen him in one already, but it was just as breathtaking as it had been before. Then he was talking to her, and Emily had to force herself to listen very closely to his voice instead of gaping just as awkwardly as he was. Beautiful? Only a handful of people in the world had ever called her that. She didn’t really even think she was pretty, let alone that. A rosy blush colored her cheeks and a small smile crossed her lips as she listened. Stealing a glance at him before she looked at the floor in her slight embarrassment, she nodded. “Thank you. I really appreciate that.” And she did, especially coming from him.

Using the need to shut the door, Emily turned away from her guest to shut the door and brush a stray hair behind her ear. Damn it. She thought she’d used enough bobby pins, but maybe he wouldn’t mind so much. She found herself looking at every possible thing in the house except his face -- it would be immensely mortifying if he caught her looking at him too often. While he took a look around what was in plain sight, Emily took out a glass. “Would you like something to drink before we go? We might be a little early if we leave now.” Pausing, she turned to open the fridge. “I only have wine in the way of alcohol, but I have milk, juice, tea, and water.” A quiet laugh followed her words. It sounded childish that she didn’t have any adult drinks, but she and John didn’t drink much for any reason unless it was wine for dinner, and that was why that was there.

A wider smile took its place on Emily’s features. Had she ever been to a Ministry ball before? Hell no. “No, I haven’t.” She said, a quick breath coming out of her nose in the form of a silent laugh. “Muggleborn. They kind of hate me.” The witch grinned, tapping her fingernails on the counter absentmindedly. “And anyway, my best friend, Elaine, kind of hates the Ministry just as equally as the other way around. Understandably enough, as she’s muggleborn, too, but it’s kind of difficult to see things from any other perspective when she’s got so much propaganda to rub in my face about it.”

Hiking her dress up slightly, she slid into a stool at the bar and shrugged. “I’m not objecting, though…” Realizing that that could have been taken several ways, she cursed the lack of subtlety. Of course she wasn’t objecting because she’d been asked by Leifr to go, but he didn’t need to know that, and she’d basically just written that in big letters all over her forehead. Clearing her throat, she quickly changed gears and asked a question that forced him to answer. “What about you?”