[The Rose] Day's dawning, skin's crawling [Alla]

Having a toddler was starting to be a lot of work. When Damon was just an infant, Cezary thought he was a cute little bundle of smiles that he could coo at and then give back to Mommy. Now, he had needed to lock up his decorative knives and watch the other like a hawk every second. Damon was already showing signs of magic—not surprising, considering his pure blood—but it seemed too soon, almost. He loved seeing the other so normal, not seemingly afflicted by whatever tied Cezary tongue as a child, not slow the way he had been slow, more vocal, more normal. Even so, Cezary felt like time was going too quickly.

He had left Damon home with mommy to go have a drink with a good friend today, something Cezary was doing more and more often. It wasn't that he didn't love Damon or Moira, as he loved both of them very much, but it was more that he craved to get away from it gain. Dieter had awoken a beast inside of Cezary that craved more than just a happy life with his arranged wife. He craved excitement, danger, real love, and interesting things. He would never give his time with the other man back, but he almost wished he had never met him. He would have been happier with his lot, more content. Now, he was simply restless.

The friend he was meeting was a younger girl named Alla. He'd failed to mention this to his wife for obvious reasons. Cezary hadn't met the girl face to face in years, and he vaguely remembered her from school. They had really only began to talk after he left school. She was a necromancer, something that Cezary thought was incredible. He looked forward to meeting her again, to learning from her, to talk with her face-to-face.

He pulled down his sweater sleeves self-consciously as he took a seat at the bar of The Rose. The location was familiar, as Corvus lived just upstairs. Perhaps when he and Alla was done, he could go catch his best friend for a quick chat or something. Since Corvus didn't drink anymore, Cezary was often at a loss for what exactly to do with him.

Seafoam green eyes scanned the bar for long blonde hair, the one feature of Alla's that Cezary definitely remembered, and he waited.

They knew each other from school, had exchanged letters for a long time but although Alla had come to London a couple of times over the last months this was the first time they actually met. Alla was nervous but didn't really know why. Cezary was just a friend. He was also a married man and father to a little boy. Nevertheless the blonde had picked her favourite black silk shirt and a short leather skirt that was sitting nicely tight. However, while this outfit would have benefited from high heels, the young witch had chosen her old flat boots which were simply too comfortable to leave them at home.

Ever since she had dated the headmaster of Durmstrang in her sixth and seventh year at school, the girl had been single. When asked why she had no boyfriend, Alla usually claimed that she had no time for a man in her life and it was partly true. The young woman worked at the funeral parlour, tried to improve her Necromancy skills and when she was done with both she was usually too tired to go out and socialise.

The girl had payed Niska's shop a brief visit earlier. After all, she had promised to stop by to show him the book she borrowed from him for months already. The book was probably the best book about Necromancy that Alla had ever seen. She was copying down single passages, amazed how many things were written in it that she had never known about. She had intended to do all the experiments mentioned in it but some were really dark magic and for Alla who didn't see herself as a dark witch they seemed a little extreme. Her approach to Necromancy was mostly a playful one. She liked to keep her pet skeleton Burmin as a servant and she had made corpses in the funeral parlour dance.

She was running late now for her meeting with Cezary. While the young woman was rarely late, she couldn't but stop in front of a dark shop window to check her appearance. Maybe she had looked healthier and younger when she had not yet been so deep into Necromancy experiments but at least her long blonde hair was framing her pale features nicely. She pulled out a lipstick to apply some more red colour to her lips and then smiled at her reflection. Right, it was time to meet her friend.

As she stepped into The Rose, she glanced around. Spotting Cezary, Alla made her way towards the bar. "Hello Cezary," she greeted him, offering a slight smile. He hadn't changed much which was good because otherwise it would have taken her longer to find him.  "I'm sorry if I'm running late."

Cezary had lost track of time. He'd ordered himself a vodka tonic while he waited and was halfway through draining the glass when he saw the girl walk through the door. He tried very hard not to nice the way her leather skirt hugged at her hips and the way the silk shirt fit snugly over her bosom. The red lips were likewise difficult to ignore, but he  did his best to not look flustered, and merely blushed lightly at her appearance.

Alla looked a little different than he remembered, older somehow... but it suited her. Her long blond hair framed her and the lipstick made her look alive. Perhaps that was the effect Necromancy had. From his limited experience, he had seen that dark magic took a toll on the body, and regardless of the way Alla was practicing the art, it was dark magic to the core. Cezary did not fear the darkness. In fact, it excited him in a primitive sort of way. He yearned to taste real power, but he had been unsuccessful in casting many spells on his own. He would need more study if he wanted to do that, and a teacher to help him along. He adored Alla, but doubted she would be the right teacher for him. Perhaps someday...

“You made it.” He grinned, looking her over again, selfishly memorizing her curves. “I lost track of time, anyway. I didn't realize you were late. Can I get you something to drink?” He offered, motioning to the seat next to him at the bar. “It's been so long since I've seen you, I'd almost forgotten how beautiful you are.” Was that acceptable to say? Everyone loved compliments, right?

While it might seem strange given the fact that Alla had dated a much older man in her school days and that she was practising dark magic, the girl was actually quite naïve when it came to the interaction with men. She was mostly blissfully ignorant when she got the attention of a male person. Therefore, the Russian did not realise the look Cezary gave her and just thought he was happy to catch up after all this time.

So he had not been impatiently waiting for her - that was a relief. Alla hated to disappoint people like that. Running late was not a means to get attention but a sign of lack of respect for the other person in her opinion. Cezary kindly offered to get her something to drink and the girl nodded. "Yes, that would be very nice," she said and looked at his glass which was half empty already. "I'll take the same you've got," she said, unsure of what she could ask for. What did people usually drink in London? His drink looked much like a vodka tonic so that was perfect.

A soft blush reddened her cheeks when she heard Cezary's compliment and she smiled, feeling a little like a school girl again. She was an adult now though and she wanted to behave like one too. Just how did an adult woman react to such a compliment? "Why thank you," she whispered, surprise audible in her voice. She wanted to be all cool and composed but the fact that he had called her beautiful already served to make her façade crumble.

"It's been too long," the girl said. "How are you? What happened since we last spoke?" She gracefully took a seat next to Cezary, smiling at him as she did so, and brushed a strand of her blond hair behind her ear.

What had happened since they last spoke? Too much, was the simple answer. Cezary's whole world had changed since he left Durmstrang. He'd met Dieter, then lost him He'd been engaged, then married, then a father. He'd experienced true love and true loss. He'd killed a man. He'd tortured a young girl for sport with a friend who was even more sadistic and dark than he was, himself... but what did he have to show for everything he'd been through broken heart and wounded friendships. He considered telling her everything. He imagined how it might go and the look of surprise on her perfect red pout, but of course that wouldn't be polite. He knew her, but not well enough to unload his nasty memories.

Instead of beginning right away he called over the bartender and asked for two more vodka tonics, one for him and one for his friend. He watched the man pour the drink in silence as he considered what he was going to say. Should he tell her that he was married? The wedding band said it all, but she looked so good that he wondered if they might.... that was inappropriate, of course, but he still considered it. Maybe being married wouldn't be a deal breaker, but it usually was—it was harder to find a decent mistress or mister than he'd expected it to be. He had thought there would be more people who didn't mind the ring.

“Quite a lot, actually.” He began, instead. “I was engaged to be married right after school, and came to live in London with her family. Now I'm working as an embalmer in a funeral home. You'd love it. In fact, you should come visit me there. I've also been doing some work for them on the side which you might be interested in as well.” He didn't go into detail, but she was someone he trusted. If she needed blood, pure or otherwise, he would be able to get it for her. Necromancy used a ridiculous amount of blood, which was one of the reasons he was so keen on the subject. Cezary found blood fascinating in the most primal way.

“I've got a son now. He's nearly two. His name is Damon.” He explained. “I spend a good deal of my time chasing him away from my knife collection.” He teased. He caught her eye as he decided that was enough about him, and he took a long sip of his drink. “What about you? It's been so long since we've spoken to each other in person, it looks like you've grown into a completely different woman.” Maybe she had, or maybe it was just the outside that was different. He looked forward to finding out.

Alla got the impression that he considered for a while how to answer her question and it just made her more curious about what he had to tell her. However, she had to wait for another moment because he first ordered them drinks and waited them to be served before he spoke again. The young witch observed everything quietly, feeling a little self-conscious, being at an unknown place, with a young man she had not seen in a while.

Finally he began to talk. As she listened, she tried to keep an indifferent expression but somehow the girl felt disappointed. She had not had any expectations coming here, but she had always rather liked Cezary as someone who shared some interests with her and who was along the same wave length. Listening to him as he told her that he was married and even had a child was confusing to say the least. She grabbed the glass of vodka tonic, lifting it up and staring into it. Right now she couldn't look into his face. For some reason the news had come as a shock and that again just served to further confuse the young necromancer. Why did it matter to her if he had a family of his own or not?

Thinking that the only safe topic was to talk about the job, she decided to only briefly acknowledge his confession about his family situation before going on to the topic that was much easier to talk about. "Congratulations," she said softly, "I wasn't aware you were married and had a son now. It must be... nice to have a family." Alla could not imagine herself as a mother though. The young witch briefly wondered if she could use Burmin to change smelly diapers if she ever was unfortunate enough to have a child of her own.

"Your job sounds great though!" She bit her tongue, realising that the word 'though' made clear that her earlier statement wasn't really sincere. "I'm working at a funeral parlour myself so I know the sort of business. It's perfect for people like us, isn't it?"

He had asked her about her life and with the previous statements she had already given him some information on that matter. The girl wondered if there was anything else of interest that she should share with Cezary. "Well, after graduation I've been looking for my own place in life... I mean, I could have started at my family's business but it didn't quite feel right. I was fortunate enough to meet my boss at a restaurant where I worked for a short while and he offered me a job..." her voice trailed off as she thought of the scene. Nikolai Daniilovich had only offered her the job because of Burmin. Her pet skeleton had become a part of her, having him around made her feel comfortable and yet she had chosen to leave him at home today. Somehow taking him to her appointment with Cezary had felt wrong. Now, however, she would like to have him around.

"I quite enjoy the job," Alla finally confessed thoughtfully. "I just wish Nikolai Daniilovich was a bit more open to my ideas. However, I won't give up hope yet..." She did not expand on the ideas her boss did not like. "Have you been working on any interesting experiments lately?"

Cezary had never been the brightest crayon in the box, and the insincere congratulations flew right over his head. 'Nice' was precisely the word he would have used to describe his family. Not good, not amazing, but nice. It was pleasant to have someone to come home to and a body to warm the bed at night. His son was everything that he hadn't been growing up, and that was comforting to him, but it did not bring him real joy or passion. He wondered if that came off.

“Some days it can be nice.” He agreed. “Damon is nearly two now, and he's been a terror. We've been thinking about getting a house elf to split some of the work, but I keep telling Moira that I'd rather charm a skeleton to do it, like you have. Someday you'll have to teach me how.” He encouraged. He remembered Burmin from his school days. “Where is he now? You were afraid I would get jealous, weren't you?” He teased.

“It's great that you've found a job that you like.” He agreed. “I think, for people like us, it suits perfectly.” He looked up to catch her eyes. He appreciated being lumped in with a person like her. She was talented and beautiful and it made him feel like he could be compared to her. “And I'm sure your boss will come around. My bosses leave me well enough alone.” He replied.

“I really haven't done much experimenting, though.” He confessed. “I'm not trained enough, and would need someone to teach me better.” He admitted, looking at her again. “Maybe you should come visit me more often and show me what you can do.” It was a statement about her Necromancy, but of course it came out sounding like a double entendre. He flushed when he realized it, but he didn't take it back.

Alla took a moment to look around when Cezary spoke about his family life. She spotted an ornament on the wall behind the bar and found it rather intriguing. While it did not seem to really fit into the setting, the young necromancer quite liked it because it was of blood red colour. While she still wondered about whether or not she should decorate her own place with red ornaments, Cezary said something to get her attention back.

"Oh," the young witch said, blushing slightly. "I'd love to help you with that. A skeleton makes such a great servant!" She smiled when Cezary enquired where Burmin was now. "I was not really afraid you would get jealous! I left him in Moscow though. Travelling with an animated skeleton requires so much concentration... I sometimes do it anyway but it's really tiring and since I didn't plan to stay overnight this time, I figured that two journeys were too exhausting."

A grateful smile spread across Alla's face as Cezary said that he felt certain that Nikolai Daniilovich would come around. However, the girl did not really believe he would. "Yes, it's the perfect profession for us," Alla agreed. "Nikolai Daniilovich leaves me alone a lot as well but he made clear that he does not want me to practise Necromancy at the funeral parlour - at least not when people are around - and he does not approve of my ideas to expand the business." Leaving open what kind of suggestions she had made, Alla took a sip of her drink.

"I'm occasionally in London so we could definitely meet more often... Besides you could come to visit me as well. When have you last been to Moscow anyway?" Alla did not mind travelling but she still preferred being in Russia to being in countries where people did not necessarily understand and speak her language. "There's a new dark magic shop in the wizarding area of Moscow which sells quite a few interesting necromancy related items," Alla offered as an incentive, hiding the fact that the shop owner had not allowed her to go in the upstairs area of the shop where the darkest and most interesting artefacts and books were stored. Apparently the twenty-year old did not look old enough for that sort of thing despite the fact that she felt like she had left school ages ago.

Cezary watched the way her mouth moved when she talked, semi-distracted.  Not to say that what she was saying wasn't interesting, because it absolutely was. He had always been jealous of Burmin, even when they were still in school. The idea of a skeleton servant, powered by Necromancy, made him salivate with his desire for it. Of course, his skills were rusty. He had been a fabulous Necromancy student in school, but he'd done little to foster the craft since then.  Dieter had really distracted Cezary from all things but him, and during their affair, nothing else seemed to matter. His personal studying went by the wayside. It wasn't the other man's fault by any means, however. Cezary had just found something that was more interesting to him.

Now, though, little seemed as interesting as a chance to bring the dead to life. Cezary felt an eerie sort of calm around corpses that he rarely felt around people. He had so much anxiety and fear of judgment in his day to day life and he experienced none of that around the dead. The dead were calmly accepting of him, malleable. He liked that. He wanted very much to ask Alla what kind of suggestions she made to expand the business, but soon the topic of conversation was changing.

If Cezary remembered correctly, he'd never been to Moscow. He'd only been in Russia for school, and had spent the rest of his time in Poland. He flushed a little as he considered this. “I've never been.” He admitted. “I was only in Russia for school, but I would enjoy going somewhere where I speak the language a little better.” He confessed. He spent three years in England but his English was still heavily accented and broken in places. He wasn't a natural at languages, taking years to even master his native tongue.

“I think you're right, I should come visit you. We could check the shop out together.” He smiled. There were plenty of things he wanted to check out with Alla, but he kept that portion silent. Hew was already buzzing with excitement about the trip, planning when he might be available for such a thing. “I could come in the new few weeks. Are you free on the weekends?” He asked. That would be a better time for him, though Moira might not like the idea of him traveling across the world to spend time with a female friend. Maybe he'd lie to her about it and tell her he was doing some work for the Capps. The embalming job was fairly regular, but he did other things for the family as well.

Sometimes lying about that could come back to bite him, though. She knew her father and brothers better than Cezary knew them, by a long shot. If she inquired about his whereabouts, they would tell her that he wasn't busy. Maybe he could come up with another excuse, then. He could say he was visiting Jonas, who he hadn't seen in years. He wondered if Corvus would lie for him if he needed him to. He thought that being caught in a lie might hurt Moira more than the truth. He could figure out what to say later.

"You've never been to Moscow?" Alla could hardly believe it. To her Moscow was the centre of her universe. "You have to visit me in Moscow then!" The young witch exclaimed, smiling at Cezary. She would definitely show him around and guide him to those places that she loved most even if that did not necessarily include many of the city's main attractions.

"Oh yes," Alla said, nodding eagerly. With Cezary at her side she would be able to get into the upstairs area of the shop and she was really looking forward to that, expecting interesting artefacts and possibly some rare books about Necromancy. It was probably also interesting for him, she assumed, justifying her own enthusiasm for the idea of visiting the shop.

"I am not always free on the weekends," Alla admitted, "however, it really depends on how busy we are. After all, it's only Nikolai Daniilovich and I at the funeral parlour..." She shrugged and offered an apologetic smile. "I might get the weekends off though... I just don't know it long in advance." Given the recent arguments she had had with her boss about some business ideas she didn't really want to ask for anything that might not need to be discussed at all if she was lucky.

She felt strangely excited about Cezary's visit now and secretly already made plans what she wanted to show him. She wasn't sure why the prospect excited her so much now. Usually the girl was not eager to meet people as it was a waste of time. It cost the valuable time that she had outside of work when she could actually focus on Necromancy. Oftentimes Alla would make excuses as to why she had no time. She preferred spending her time on her experiments rather than on silly small talk and the discussion of problems with which she neither could nor wanted to help.

Cezary smiled warmly at the girl. The more he thought about it, the more he was excited about the prospect. It would be nice to see somewhere new, and he especially was interested in the idea of visiting a shop filled with Necromancy literature and other dark items. He had explored Borgin and Burkes on Knockturn Ally and found several interesting things there, but he had not purchased much. Perhaps Alla would like to take trip there while they were still in London?

He saved that thought for later. They had several books she might find interesting there, and a few objects she might find useful for her line of work. If Cezary was more of a reader, he likely would've picked up a few of the books himself. As it was, the only thing Cezary disliked more than attempting to speak English was attempting to read English. That, and he was never an academic to begin with. Cezary was more hands-on than bookish, and he always had been.

He frowned when he heard that she did not always have weekends off. That put a kink in his plans, definitely. He had hoped that she'd be off at the same time as him, and that they'd be able to plan it. Still, it didn't matter. If she could be off weekends, he;d just have to plan the trip last minute. That would be fine.

“It looks like I'll be going to Moscow, then.” He agreed. “I'm pretty excited, actually. You seem to light up when you talk about it.” He smiled again. “Maybe you can send me an owl the next time you're free on the weekend and I can come over then.” He suggested. “It might be last minute, but that's really the best time for me. After-work one day might work, too, but that could end up as a late night.”

A smile spread across Alla's face when Cezary confirmed that he'd come to Moscow. She looked down feeling that she was blushing at his comment about her lighting up when she talked about it. While Alla was more open minded now than she had been in her student days, the young witch was still convinced that Russia was the best country, had the best culture and that Russian was the most beautiful language. She would happily share this all with Cezary though and show him around.

"I will do that for sure," Alla agreed eagerly, already planning where to go with her friend first, "and I hope that'll be very soon." One weekend would hardly be enough to show him all her favourite places though. However, Alla thought that he'd surely like to come for another visit after the first one. She was convinced that he'd like it in her hometown with her as his guide.

He had also suggested that they could meet after work one day and somehow that seemed a rather appealing prospect as well. Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, Alla looked at him thoughtfully. "I don't mind a late night," the girl mused.

"In fact, I think a night tour through Moscow could be quite interesting. I could probably even take Burmin and we could have some fun out there... Burmin has become quite a good dancer by the way." She said, smirking. There was a pub in the darker wizarding area of the city which the girl did not dare to visit alone or just in the company of her pet skeleton. With Cezary though it could be fun. They even had live music from local Russian bands there. She had always wanted to go there because she was curious what it was like. Yet, without a male companion it had not seemed like a good idea.

Cezary smiled a little at Alla. Maybe he was reading things wrong, but her little blush and indication that she wouldn't mind a late night came off, to him, almost a bit flirtatious. It was his turn to blush, then. Alla was younger than he was, but came off a great deal older and more mature. She must not have meant it like that and Cezary was probably just projecting his own attraction onto her. Still, he wondered, and he felt a little shame for it. She deserved better than how he was treating her. As beautiful as she was, she was a intelligent woman, first and formost. Her silky-looking blonde hair and delicate features didn't have much to do with her skill as a Necromancer.

He laughed a bit at the idea of Burmin becoming a good dancer. That would take a lot of skill on her part, but the fact that she was using her skill to do something as skilly as making her skeleton dance, was just the right amount of whimsy. Necromancy was stigmatized for being such a dark art, really, but it didn't have to be. It could be playful, fun, and intereting—just like any other magic. It wasn't all blood curses and dark ritual. It didn't have to be murdering, not all the time.

“I think I would like to see that. Burmin dancing.” He laughed, taking a drink from his glass as he watched her. “So, a night, then? When's a good day for you?” He would need to think of what to tell his Moira... perhaps that he was busy doing... work? Would she buy that? He obviously couldn't tell the truth.... Hiding her was going to be like hiding Dieter all over again.

Cezary's laughter felt like a compliment, like he understood that making a skeleton dance was something special and fun. The girl chewed on her lower lip to suppress a wide smile. Some people didn't get it. Well, she lost some of them already when she spoke of her animated skeleton or introduced them to Burmin. Then she lost some old necromancers when she spoke of the fun things she made Burmin do. It was really rather rare that anyone understood. However, there was more to necromancy than just the dark side. Though, admittedly, Alla felt like she was getting darker herself - or maybe she was just growing up?

"I'm glad!" she responded, now allowing a smile to spread across her features. She watched Cezary as he took a sip from his drink and mirrored his actions by drinking a little too. It was odd how normal this felt. Almost as though she did this frequently and as though she was not far out of her comfort zone. However, this all was foreign to her, she rarely went out for a drink with anyone and most certainly not in London.

The girl chuckled softly when Cezary spoke again, asking when was a good day for a night out together in Moscow. Alla tilted her head a little thinking about when it would be most convenient. The weekend was probably a good idea and yet she wasn't sure.

"I don't know," she confessed. "Maybe at a weekend? I don't really have a preference. When is it most convenient for you?" Suddenly, now the prospect of their meeting was clearer than ever before, the girl felt nervous. Subconsciously she played with a strand of hair, wondering if things with Cezary would turn into something similar to what she had had with Anton. Her cheeks reddened slightly. Since her graduation she had not really had a date or anything even close to a date. Besides the Muscovite had never really had a common teenage romance like most of her peers had. The prospect of changing this now felt both intimidating and intriguing. She couldn't wait, wanted the date to happen rather sooner than later and yet she was kind of dreading it as well.