no more night, blue skies forever • • a r i / l u c i

Whenever he'd seen Ariane, there had been something spectacular going on. The ball at Hogwarts, the extravaganza that had been his seventeenth birthday party, the poetry book launch. Fireworks and colourful performances had always been the backdrop to their encounters and tonight was no different. The tickets Christéle had given him months ago had sat tucked away in his bedroom in Paris; when he'd left his theatre company he hadn't really been expecting to attend. The young man figured he could give them to Zara and Diederik or something. There was a chance he might run into Christéle tonight during intermission or after the performance, and he wasn't really looking forward to it. He'd barely been in contact with her in the past two months. He was sure she'd have scolded him if he had.

Rather than give the tickets away, however, he'd invited his new friend along tonight. The theatre was large, with rows upon rows of red chairs. The building was tall enough that there was a balcony level as well as smaller private balconies littered around the walls. They'd been lucky enough to have tickets to a private balcony. The performance was a special one; a showcase of sorts. The symphony orchestra had collaborated with another dance group to create something visually and aurally stunning. Entirely magical. Prosper was always pleased to watch dancers and musicians, though he was slightly distracted by his company. He didn't think he was imagining it; the spark between their hands on the arms of their plush red seats. Skin almost touching, but not quite. It had been a while since he'd been with someone who hadn't really experienced any of it - not even kissing, or dating. It still surprised him a little when he remembered the fact.

Prosper wasn't used to things moving so slowly. It wasn't a frustration so much as it was a sort of curiosity; he clearly flirted with her when they spent time together, and she smiled or blushed and continued to want to see him. So she was obviously interested to some extent. He'd been quietly glad when her date with Jack or Jeremiah or whatever-his-name-was had turned into a non-event but he also wasn't pushing very hard for things to move in a particular direction. Prosper liked every stage of this; he liked the uncertainty of not knowing what her thoughts were, whether or not she thought about him like that, and the chance of finding out. In the past year and a half his dating life had been more like a rush of exploration. The change of pace was refreshing.

The young man stood, still clapping, as the curtains were drawn for intermission. He'd worn smart, dark dress robes with silver embroidery at the collar. "So what do you think?" he asked quickly, finally able to press for her thoughts as they exited their box and made their way down into the lobby of the building along with everyone else. He'd told her he would have had a chance to perform with the group had he not left a couple of months ago, but he didn't really explain the way he'd left, or why. The pair joined a group heading down several staircases towards the level where the bar was. Light refreshments were served freely; waiters with canapes were roaming the floor. Prosper scooped one up gracefully upon their arrival, giving the waiter a quick smile before turning his attention back to his date.

Ariana didn't own any dresses formal enough for the occasion Prosper had invited her to, but @Kate Duenas did. She had thought, logically, that the American girl was a little bit shorter than she was, but they were about the same size, and Ari wasn't about to wear the stilettos she could pull off so flawlessly; asking her friend had seemed like the obvious thing to do. Asking Kate had turned out to be an utterly double-edged sword, though, Ariana had found. Kate seemed to relish the opportunity to dress her outside of her comfort zone. After suggesting, among other things, a dress with a neckline plunging all the way to her waist, she had sent her off, over protests weakened by repetition, with a silky, asymmetrical dress showing a considerable amount of leg. It was much more daring than anything she had ever worn before; something showing the years between the Victory Ball, the last formal occasion she'd had, and now. Ari had spent two hours thinking about giving up and wearing a more casual dress, but had reluctantly donned the number, attempting to portray the confidence that she didn't feel that was necessary to wear something like it. She envied the American girl, who seemed much more at ease in her own body, judging by the items in her closet. Perhaps it came with the territory of dating someone like @Charlie Baker.

Once they arrived at the venue, she was glad she'd worn what she did--it seemed like everyone around her was wearing stunning, sparkling gowns, and Prosper himself was wearing embroidered dress robes. He had told her that he'd gotten the tickets to the showcase from a friend of his, and she'd gotten the impression that his friend came from a rather high-class family with some degree of influence, especially since they were seated in a private box. Between being in France again, where thankfully at least she could converse fluently in the local language, being surrounded by people in formalwear, and watching a performance she wasn't sure she could afford on her own, it felt a little like she had stepped into another world--through the wardrobe into Narnia, like in the Muggle books she'd read at her Grandpa and Grandma Penrose's when she was little. Ari was captivated by the performance; the way the dancers and the effects wizards' work combined visually was mesmerizing. And it was nice being here with Prosper, who knew a lot about dance and this symphony, and who was gentlemanly at every turn.

Turning her attention to him as they stood up for intermission, Ari brushed down her dress a little, trying to adjust it to be less blatantly revealing before they descended the stairs. "I've never seen anything like it," she said honestly, eyes sparkling. "The aggressive number where every footfall made sparks and that haunting melody with the soloist are my favorites so far. I feel like the second one was something I've heard before, but I couldn't quite place it." Music wasn't really Ari's forte, but her mum liked classical music; she'd probably heard it on the radio when she was little. "How about you? Does watching this make you wish you were on the stage with them?" She noticed her date smiling at the waiter as he took the little hors d'oeuvre; it seemed he wasn't just a gentleman to her, and she appreciated that. Swiping a small glass of wine from another waiter's tray to have something to do with her hands rather than fidget with the purse Kate had lent her, she looked around the room, which was filling up with the gentle murmur of conversation from the elegantly dressed crowd. "This whole experience seems like a little window into you," she commented, thinking how he seemed at home here. Ari was just pretending like she wasn't a fish out of water.

Prosper nodded eagerly, genuinely pleased by her response. "The soloists are amazing," he agreed, placing a hand on her lower back as they moved through the crowd. The man couldn't help but smile when she mentioned the fact that he might have had a chance to be up on stage with the others. "A little," he admitted. "I feel it whenever I go to an amazing show, though. I come out of wrock concerts wanting to play the drums and write songs and I come out of ballet showcases wanting to get back into leotards, pirouettes and plies." Prosper had done so much acting and performing over the years that all manner of performances called to him. His skills all lay in one obvious area; he could dance, tumble, act, sing and play instruments. He was made for theatre.

"Do you think so?" he asked thoughtfully, before eating his little hors d'oeuvre in two bites. Prosper supposed she was right. The red seats, the theatre, the performance - it was all very him. Brushing a few crumbs from his lips, the young man nodded a little. "I don't think you're wrong," he said, "I'd love to take you to a performance by the circus class I was in for a while though. Did I tell you about that?" Prosper glanced her way quickly to double check before continuing with a smile. "A while after school I almost joined a travelling circus. I had the interview and audition and everything, almost went through with it." Prosper said it like joining a circus was a casual thing; he said it that way to come off as funny. But when he'd been in his sixth year the only thing that had stopped him from dropping out of school to join the circus had been his social life.

"I'd love to get a look into yours," he said, tilting his head to the side slightly. She was a bit of a curiosity to Prosper. He didn't believe that she was just  a normal, boring girl from Hogwarts who'd never been kissed. As far as he was concerned, 'normal, boring' people very rarely existed in the real world; everyone was full of stories and passions and fears. Through their time together, he'd learned about things like the fact that she had a sister and a brother and that she'd been in the flufflehuff house or whatever at school. He paid attention to try to remember these facts, but he was sure there was so much more to this brown-eyed girl he'd met all those years ago. He wanted to know.

If she was honest, Ari hadn't seen enough dance performances to distinguish between an amazing soloist and a good one. She was relying on the simple metric of whether or not she was enjoying a performance. Clubs dedicated to the arts popped up at Hogwarts sometimes, but they usually weren't institutionalized in the way that she'd been led to believe they were at Beauxbatons. Ari nodded thoughtfully. "What happens after the show effect wears off, then?" Prosper had implied that he'd been somewhat unrooted when they'd met at Tactile, that he'd gone traveling and tried a lot of new things. What he hadn't said was whether after all that anything had stuck.

Ari nodded with a shrug, taking a sip of the slightly-sweet liquid. "You seem very at home here," she offered by way of explanation. She shook her head in response to his question; somehow after everything she'd learned about him, a circus didn't seem so surprising, although her eyes widened a touch imagining ever being in a position to consider something like that. "Why didn't you?" she asked curiously. In retrospect, everything is an adventure, he'd basically said. She wondered what or who could keep him from one like that.

Ariana laughed, looking down at her glass and then back up around the buzzing mezzanine, eyes lingering on women wearing unusual outfits and ostentatious hats and dress robes with a built-in cape. "Mine is much less glamorous," she offered. "I don't think an equivalent place for that exists, really." Maybe just some fields on rolling hillsides on the outskirts of Exeter in late August. That was where she'd always felt most at home. Otherwise, she was a lot of pieces cobbled together; freshly kicked up dirt on the Quidditch pitch, and the Hufflepuff common room, and a classroom without windows in the Ministry where she learned to track down dark wizards, and a tiny apartment in Paris where the shower would have made the toilet wet if she hadn't conjured a barrier every time. And the Room of Requirement the week before the battle. She paused. "Or at least, if it did, it doesn't exist anymore." There was the monument they'd built outside of Hogwarts, but she couldn't go back just anytime, and she still didn't think it could really impress the story on him. Maybe, she thought, that was a good thing. Maybe more people didn't need to know. It was kind of nice that when Prosper looked at Ari, he didn't seem to see a war veteran.

ooc: @Luciana Bertinelli wanna crash now before things get too melodramatic?

Luciana wrinkled her nose and waved a manicured hand dismissively as the waiter offered her some revolting looking quiche. She turned away, her dark hair falling over her shoulders in soft waves, and reached out instead for a glass of champagne off the next passing tray.

She was listening idly to her cousins babble. It had been something of a tradition for the extended Bertinelli family to attend a show each winter, and now that most of the younger generation were adults (or thereabouts) they did so without the watchful eye of their parents, aunts and uncles. Gisella was harping on about the score, whilst Alessia bitched mindlessly about the outfits other attendees were wearing. As she took a sip from her flute, Luciana’s doe eyes glanced around the room – and was not disappointed. There were all sorts of hideous ensembles, and she was increasingly glad she had made the effort to invest in a new gown of her own; it was a deep emerald with a plunging neckline, a split up the skirt, and it cinched in at her waist to accentuate her slight hourglass figure – and it was better than anything her relatives had turned up in.

”Oh, look at that dress – I wish I’d found something like that!”

The brunette turned to see where her cousin was pointing (very indiscreetly) across the foyer. Luciana had to wait for some guests to move out of the way, but when they did it was obvious where her attention was required: the dress in question was a neutral colour, a sort of beige or nude – it was hard to tell in this light – and made of clingy, but luxurious, silk. “Don’t be stupid Alessia, you’re not skinny enough.” It wasn’t intended as an insult; Alessia wasn’t fat, but she wasn’t a rake either. Silk was the kind of fabric that showed up even the slightest of lumps and bumps, but there were none to be found on the girl across the room. Luciana found herself looking her up and down, and then her attention was caught by the man accompanying her.

Luciana did a double take. Squinting just to be sure – yes, it was. It was Prosper. A scowl flashed across her soft features as she took another drink of her champagne. She wasn’t sure how she felt about her ex-boyfriend right now. The last time they’d seen one another Luciana had inadvertently revealed her status as an elemental, amongst other things. Other things being his obsession with Zoé Deveaux. Wait—

Luciana’s focus snapped back to the girl Prosper was with: pale, brunette – certainly his type. The elemental laughed aloud, much to the confusion of her companions. He really couldn’t help himself, even after Luciana had laid it out bare. Unless she was much mistaken, he was trying to find his Zoé substitute again. A deep-seated jealousy rose up in her chest and before she’d even thought through her next move, the former Ombrelune was striding over towards him.

All embarrassment from their previous encounter forgotten, Luciana fixed her face with a familiar smirk as she came up to the couple, placing her hand gently on his upper arm. “Prosper,” Her hazel eyes flicked over to his 'date' (for Luci presumed that was what she was) briefly, sizing her up now that they were face-to-face (pretty, but nothing special – just like Zoé), before returning to the former Papillonlisse without so much as a smile in the other girl’s direction. “I hope you’re not bothering this poor girl.”

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. At any point in time, he might answer differently. Sometimes he was filled with such unrest that the only logical way forward seemed to be to uproot himself and leave for somewhere, or something, else.

She wasn't wrong; he was at home here. It was safe, familiar territory. He fit nicely in such a sophisticated setting. A part of Prosper wanted her to know that he was all kinds of unsafe and unsophisticated, too. Just a couple of months ago, for example, he'd found himself wine-drunk with a group of friends on the roof of a building in Barcelona. They'd watched the moon set from their vantage point, all covered in glitter and silver paint from the night's antics as they talked about their biggest dreams and fears. He wasn't just made up of plush red seats in decadent theatres, or leotards or Shakespearean monologues. Spontaneity and the siren's call of far away places thrummed through him. Fear and uncertainty too.

"Why didn't I leave?" he repeated, distracted for a moment as he plucked a delicate champagne flute from one of the passing waiters. Why hadn't he left? Probably because of Zara, he thought. Zara and Diederik and his school and his friends. "I was a bit directionless," he admitted, "but my friends, the people I love - they were all in Paris. I didn't think I was ready to leave yet." He felt ready now, though. He'd been spending less and less time at his home in Paris, avoiding the place that felt too much like stagnation. Instead, he'd gone home to the outskirts of Dahliental for a while, then travelled again. A slight frown creased his handsome brow as he considered his answer post-speaking it. "I don't know," he said again. "I think I just..." Prosper trailed off, distracted by a small hand on his arm. He turned, still frowning a little.

"Luci," Prosper said blankly, a little surprised to see her again so soon after last time. He blinked, then smiled and leaned in to kiss her lightly on the cheek. It was very french of him, and typical. Looking at her now, Prosper supposed that it wasn't really that soon since he'd last seen her. He'd barely thought of her recently, but her presence seemed to shorted the distance between now and then considerably. The man didn't miss the quick once-over his ex girlfriend gave his date, or the slight disdain in her hazel eyes. She'd always been an expert at performing the emotions she wanted to show, and concealing the ones she didn't - she'd gotten better at it since they'd left school - but there were some things he could still read. That one was a touch too familiar.

"Am I bothering you?" he asked Ariane lightly, casually including her in the conversation. He gave her a warm smile. "Ariane, Luciana," he said, introducing them to each other. Turning his attention back to Luciana, Prosper's eyes flicked down her dress and then over at the girl by the wall staring at them. "Here with cousins?" he guessed. Luci's family was huge - so much bigger than his own. She was more jaded than she'd been in school, he decided. It had been less than two short years since they'd graduated but Luci had grown up a lot since then. He realised with a gentle shock that she wasn't the only one, either. He wasn't a boy anymore, but a man. Luciana was undoubtedly a woman. He remembered moments of vulnerability in her bed and in her bedroom; he'd seen moments where she'd looked like her younger self again - slight changes in her posture or the way she dropped her gaze when she cried - but the person in front of him now had none of that on display.

It was strange, he thought, to have their history here. It felt almost tangible to the young man, and he was extremely aware of the way it could alienate his new friend if focussed on or dredged up. Subconsciously, he moved towards Ari a bit, placing his hand in the dip of her back lightly.

Ari leaned to the side to take a good look at her date--she hadn't thought of it that way when he had asked her, but Kate and Freya had been emphatic about how she should think of it--considering him and his answer. The nineteen-year-old was struck then by how much she didn't know about Prosper. Ari was still used to knowing a lot about people; freshly out of Hogwarts, she'd had lots of acquaintances during school, and she paid attention during her interactions and hearing her friends talk about the people they knew. Prosper was the right mix of familiar and unknown right now. It had been three years since they had met the first time. She still felt a little strange around him--she knew enough about him, from his birthday party to the way he had talked about his recent history at the opening, to know that he had a lot of sides she might never understand. She felt like she wasn't the kind of girl he usually spent time with, but she thought she was okay with that right now. He hadn't asked her for anything but her company, and she was happy to give that.

Ariana assumed a listening position as he felt through his words, nodding in an understanding fashion. A lot of her friends came to her when they wanted to think something through. Prosper didn't know that about her, either, she didn't think; he was just talking. Meeting someone new was a weird mix of things; they were probably more like themselves because they didn't know enough about you to try and act a certain way because of you, but they were also putting up some other front. That fact didn't stop her from making judgments based on first impressions, though. Prosper seemed devoted to his friends, by these words. He'd left, though, eventually, that's what he'd said. What did that make him? She had to give him the benefit of the doubt; Ari herself had thought it would be nice to get away, had gone to Paris herself for a summer. Being with Prosper here was kind of like getting away, with someone who hadn't heard her reputation before he'd met her.

Ari glanced up as they were suddenly approached by a stunning young woman in a striking emerald gown with a plunge like the one she'd just barely managed to veto with Kate, plus a slit like the number she was currently wearing. The other woman wore hers with aplomb, clearly completely in her element; she had a commanding presence. Ari felt immediately inadequate, sure that it was evident that this was not, at all, her element, no matter if easy conversation with Prosper could make her forget that for a time. She was clearly a former acquaintance of Prosper's; there was a familiarity there.

The moment she laid her hand on Prosper's arm and looked at her and away, Ari felt oddly dismissed by the other woman's glances and words, and that was enough to make the former Hufflepuff a little mad. So what if she didn't seem to belong here? Or next to him? Ari was well aware the other girl--Luci, he'd called her--was in a whole different class from her, but she didn't think she deserved to be dismissed on looks alone. She pursed her lips, slightly--she'd never been great at intentionally hiding her emotions, although she was never one for dramatic expressions--and turned to Prosper distractedly as he inverted her words. "Oh--no, of course not," she said automatically as she shook her head slightly, her French suddenly very precise, with only a hint of her English roots betrayed. Putting on a smile and meeting Luciana's eyes, she nodded at the Italian? Spanish? woman. "Enchantée," she said, forcing a courteous tone despite her unease.

Prosper could feel something too, she realized, as his hand moved to her lower back. She felt oddly reassured, but she was also tense, fingering her wand through Kate's clutch reflexively. Danger to Ariana meant something she needed to fight. Not knowing anything about Prosper meant not knowing anything about his history; she knew from the party that it was a complicated one, but she didn't know who this woman was nor why she would behave this way. Perhaps an ex? He must have had a number of them, after all.

Luciana let Prosper come to her; merely turning her cheek to allow him to greet her properly. It was good to see that he hadn’t forgotten his manners – the brunette had been counting on that. If Prosper had been a less kind man, he would have ignored Luciana or shrugged her off – avoiding any unnecessary drama that might come with entertaining her. Had the tables been turned, Luci would have certainly not been so pleasant. Especially given how they left things the last time they’d seen each other. It had worried her, for a time, that he would tell someone – but nothing had come of it, so she assumed he’d kept it to himself. She should be thankful, but instead all she could see was yet another petite brunette hanging off his arm. Well, close to, anyway.

The Italian adopted a fake smile as Prosper paraphrased her, keeping her hazel gaze trained on the other girl’s reaction. The girl (young woman? She really didn’t seem that much younger, and yet anyone younger seemed so much younger) replied in French, albeit with an undertone of an English accent. Luciana’s false smile widened into a soft sort of smirk, “Mm, of course not.” She parroted, rolling her eyes slightly towards Prosper. Had he exhausted all of his options in France, then? That he now had to go overseas to find someone that didn’t know about his obsession. Admittedly, it had been a while since Luciana had bumped into Zoe. She was beginning to forget exactly what she looked like. Luci’s eyes roamed over Prosper’s companion again, less unkindly this time. Maybe this girl was prettier than the ice elemental – she certainly had excellent taste in fashion.

Luciana adopted a pleasant, if slightly condescending, expression as the two women were introduced. “So nice to meet you.” She kept her gaze with Ariane just long enough to assert her dominance, sensing already that the Englishwoman was the more timid. Oh, it had been a while since playing this game. It was just like being in the halls of Beauxbatons again.

The brunette turned her attention to her ex in time to see him giving her the once over, she smirked. Good. “Yes,” she pursed her lips slightly, “It’s always nice to see family, isn’t it?” She replied, subtly touching on the fact that she perhaps knew more about Prosper’s elder brother than he did. He might not pick up the insinuation, but that was fine. “Then again, it does remind you how much you appreciate not seeing them.” The Italian glanced over her shoulder briefly, Gisella was flirting with a waiter whilst Alessia used the opportunity to shovel as many canapes into her mouth as seemingly possible.

Luciana grimaced and turned her attention back to the couple. Her eyes flashed dark as Prosper moved closer to Ariane, placing his hand at the small of her back in the same way he used to do with her. She wasn’t sure why she was mad at Prosper. She was the one who had ruined their last encounter, and she knew it. But still, she wanted him to want her, not a cheap imitation. The elemental knew that the Papillonlisse was more responsive to her better, if feigned, nature. Luciana took a sip from her flute, then purposefully softened her expression, “So what have you been up to?” She glanced briefly at her replacement, “Do you live in Paris, Ariane? Or are you just visiting?”

Prosper had been in this situation - past flame, new interest - more than he cared to think about. For some reason, it didn't ever seem to get easier or put him less on edge. Of course, this particular pairing was interesting in several ways. One of them was just by virtue of who the girls were; Luciana was a force to be reckoned with, cool and predatory when she wanted something, venomous when she was unhappy. Prosper remembered that he hadn't seemed to care about all of that when they'd been together. Of course back then they'd both been different people. She'd been so much more open to him. So young. Ariana, on the other hand, felt more mature and less mature in different ways. He couldn't quite place her, but he knew that she was sincere and honest and steadfast. He hoped she wasn't too nervous.

Luci wasn't being anything but polite, but it was evident - especially to him - that her politeness was a little sharp around the edges. Ari wasn't being anything but polite either, but he hadn't missed the fact that she seemed tense all of a sudden. He didn't need to guess as to why. Luciana's comment about family, thankfully, went over Prosper's head. He was probably a little distracted by how beautiful she looked. He followed her gaze to the girls he could now see did look quite a bit like her. He smiled, returning his gaze to Luci. She was so good at commanding attention.

Briefly, Prosper caught something in her large hazel eyes. He wasn't sure what it was, or if he was just reading into things, but for a moment he'd thought he'd seen a softness to her gaze. It made him feel a little bad for doubting her intentions. And a little guilty for the way their last enounter had ended. As per usual, Prosper wasn't particularly good at holding onto old negative emotions. When he reread and rewrote the past, he tended to forget about the worst things and the worst parts of people he'd encountered. It wasn't an intentional optimism thing, but he did tend to remember the best of people. "Mostly the same, until recently," he answered honestly, not really wanting to go into detail about how he'd been aimlessly drifting and doing a lot of partying and sleeping around until a month or two ago. Last time Luciana had seen him he hadn't acted like it, but he'd been a bit of a hot mess. Things were better now, steadier.

His grey eyes lingered on his ex girlfriend's face for a moment as she turned her attention to his date. Not for the first time, Prosper wished he could read her mind. Prosper blinked, listening to Ari speak. He felt a bit of an urge to interject and be a part of every interaction but Luci had asked Ariane her question, so he kept his mouth shut. His hand was still on the small of Ari's back and Prosper drew light circles there absentmindedly with his fingers as he took a sip of his drink.

Ari forced herself to stop rubbing her wand, slightly concerned that the more pointed her thoughts became the more likely it was that she would somehow create nonverbal sparks. It was the feigned politeness that got to her. Every word out of the woman's mouth was consistent with the motions of polite introduction, but the body language she used, especially the knowing glances towards Prosper, felt clearly off. Ari had thought she'd mostly grown out of her bad temper, mostly directed towards Slytherins and blood purists and complicit followers during the days of the SIP; the nineteen-year-old was put out to feel it bubbling up in her chest now. She wished she were wearing jeans and a t-shirt; she felt constrained by the well-dressed persona she inhabited, by heels that she couldn't run in, in makeup Freya had insisted on that seemed to cover her up.

Were Ari alone, she would have left, or she would have dropped the niceties. She had always been prone to making snap judgments about people, and the picture quickly developing was not one she particularly liked. Then again, were Ari alone, Luciana would never have come near her; it was because of Prosper that she was here, and also because of Prosper that Ari had to stay. Everyone else here was clearly much more practiced at acting than she was, but Ari refreshed her smile, though she met Luciana's domineering gaze with defiant eyes above it before pulling her gaze away to some passersby as their attentions turned back to each other. She could play whatever game she wanted, but Ari wasn't interested in that beyond not offending the Frenchman beside her.

Her attention drifted back to Prosper as he responded to her question, wondering what he'd meant by 'until recently.' Until he'd come back to Paris? There was too much context that she was missing between them, and Ari wasn't sure how much she really wanted to figure out about it. The English girl thought it might be easier to become invisible, disappearing into the marble underneath them. Neither of them seemed particularly interested in allowing that, though; she felt Prosper's fingers move against her back as Luciana explicitly asked her a question, again with her eyes seemingly only glancing over her, like a plant in the corner of the room.

Prosper's presence very prominent due to his fingertips, Ariana arranged her features yet again, aware that they tended to fall out of her smile as soon as she stopped paying attention to her expression. Ari had never been that good at hiding her opinion; this whole exchange was already difficult for the former Hufflepuff. "No, I live in London," she said candidly. "I visit friends and family here from time to time, though," she added lightly, thinking of Paul and Thérèse and her cousins Louis and Reine in Toulouse. She felt the need to assert that her place in France was not only courtesy of Prosper, although the invitation here had clearly been extended by him. "And you?" She nearly used vous instead of toi, highlighting her removal from the other woman, but she thought there was an equal chance that she would just think her ignorant of the social custom.

Ari turned herself slightly, orienting herself into the center of the triangle they made but turning as well to Prosper, her glance flicking up to where his lips met his glass. It was reassuring, in some ways, that he continued to remember her presence, but she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. Was he pleased to see the other woman? Did he even want her witnessing this deceptively volatile interaction? Perhaps she should pretend to need to visit the toilet. Ari was a fighter, but she avoided the ones she didn't have a strong stake in.

 “Mm.” Luciana picked up on Prosper’s reluctance to provide her with any sort of detail about his recent escapades and decided it might more conducive to her efforts not to push it. She wondered if that had to do with the company they were in. He was usually very open with her. Well, about most things. They’d lost a bit of trust, hadn’t they? She couldn’t really blame him. She’d kept something relatively major from him for months, years. The Italian had thought she’d been right to do so, but lately she’d started thinking that maybe she should have told him sooner. Maybe things would have been different. Then again, he was older now and younger then; mightn’t he have been less able to keep a secret back then?

The brunette caught Prosper’s lingering gaze out of the corner of her eye as she took a sip from her champagne flute. Her full lips tugged up into a small smirk, pleased. Luciana trained her gaze onto Ariane, more focused this time. “London.” The elemental repeated, mildly interested – both by the other girls answer and by her own forced smile. Luciana was practised in the art of falsehoods; it made it easier for her to pick up the same ticks in other people. “Fascinating. What do you do?” Her tone was inquisitive, pleasant. Luciana knew a fair amount about Wizarding Britain; she’d learnt from letters from her cousins and through osmosis when she’d visited over the past couple of years. There were all sorts of things one might do in London – it was the epicentre of the British Wizarding world. It was hard to tell yet, but this girl didn’t seem Prosper’s usual creative type.

“Me? Oh no,” she replied with a tinkling laugh, as if the idea was ludicrous. Not that she should, but this girl obviously didn't know her continental families as well as she seemed to think she did. Friends and family. The elemental wondered who Ariane might be related to, and if it might be anyone she knew. Perhaps that how her and Prosper had met. “I live in Neroli. Italia.” Luciana switched to the Italian pronunciation intentionally. “Have you ever been?” She shot Prosper a sidelong look, knowing that she didn’t need to ask if he’d been, whilst simultaneously reminding him that she could happily bring that up, should she want to.

Fascinating. Ari wondered whether Luciana really thought that London was fascinating. Considering she had an Italian-sounding name and was here at an opulent gala in Paris, she doubted it; but then, Ari's own impressions of London were rather one-sided. London meant Diagon Alley, she supposed, but it also mostly meant work, the Ministry of Magic Headquarters packed full of witches and wizards during rush hour in the morning. The former Hufflepuff had only moved there for training, and having skipped most of the summer parties and not having enough disposable income to really enjoy London's nicer cultural aspects, had mostly found it epitomized by a grayish drizzle and too many people. Maybe it was fascinating that Prosper was here with a girl from London, though. Ari found that idea strange, too; given how much he said he traveled, she would have thought an old...friend or whatever she was would be less than surprised.

What did she do, anyway? Learn how to try and stop people from killing other people by whatever means necessary, including the most unforgivable. "I'm in Auror training," she admitted, not particularly wanting to linger on it but feeling like the other girl might find that even more fascinating than the idea that she lived in London.

Ari raised her eyebrows, nodding as if mulling it over. It seemed the other girl thought it was a stupid question, but while Ari could tell that her name was obviously not French, she could always have moved. Apparently that idea was too much for her Italian pride. "Ah," she said simply. She'd heard of the Wizarding city, but Ariana was not especially well traveled. Paris and Toulouse were about the extent of it. "No, I'm afraid I haven't. What's it like?" she inquired politely, figuring that it might be a subject the other woman could talk about for a while, shifting the focus of the conversation off of her. She glanced at Prosper, hoping he would catch that she was trying to evade Luciana's probing.

Prosper felt a little uneasy as Luciana flicked her eyes his way. She was speaking about Italy, and Prosper got her meaning quite clearly. In another context, with other people he might have flirted with her or made those eyes right back at her, but in Ariane's presence he just wanted to leave. He and Luciana had history, but he and Ariane were current. He wasn't angry with Luci, just sort of... wary.

Sliding his hand from the small of her back to her waist, Prosper moved a little closer to his date. He finished his champagne while the girls exchanged somewhat pointed sentences. Work this, living-in-london that. He wondered how neutral he could be in a situation like this, where Luci was clearly the agitator. "Neroli is lovely," he interjected, not missing Ari's look his way either. There were too many non-verbal exchanges going on here for his liking. Absentmindedly, Prosper tried to guess how much longer until the intermission would be over.

"It's completely magical, so entirely hidden to the muggle world," he said, continuing with a pleasant smile. "It's sort of near Verona, if you know where that is." Prosper knew where Verona was. For obvious reasons. "The weather is nice, the city is pretty." And so were the girls. Prosper only thought that last part; it seemed an inappropriate thing to add.

"How about you, Luciana?" he asked, turning the conversation away from Ariane. "You've been asking all the questions and I haven't gotten to ask how you are." He was smiling, but the insinuation hadn't been subtle. Stop interrogating my date, he told her silently. "Still working with plants? Seeing anyone new?" the man cocked an eyebrow. The way they were standing now - him so close to Ari, with his arm around her - clearly positioned Luciana as the odd one out. Last time he'd talked to her she'd spoken of being advertised. It was doubtful that she was actually seeing someone so to speak.

Luciana’s eyes widened just slightly when Ariane said she was training to be an Auror. The Italian recovered quickly, but perhaps not quick enough for the slip to go unnoticed. “An Auror.” The brunette repeated, as though savouring the word on her tongue. Ariane definitely sounded far too staid for Prosper. Luciana didn’t think an Auror was by any means a boring profession, no. Boring was certainly not the right word for it. Serious, maybe – but not boring. “Well, that must be quite interesting for you.” Luciana said politely, a little more careful of how she treaded given this new information. Her distrust for the younger girl suddenly deepened. Aurors, on the whole, were not the type of people Luciana’s family mingled with – foreign Ministry or not.

The elemental hitched her faux smile back in place now that they were back on a topic she was more comfortable with. It almost faltered as she observed Prosper shift closer to his date, but she managed to keep her expression impassive. Barely. It was only after the briefest of lulls in the conversation that Luciana twigged – Prosper was protecting Ariane. From her. Well, he needn't worry. Ariane wasn't really her target; just collateral.

Luci’s smile widened into a soft smirk as she listened to Prosper describe Neroli. “It really is lovely,” she flicked her gaze from her ex to her replacement, taking the opportunity to slide in a subtle jab, “You should visit sometime. Perhaps Prosper can take you; he’s familiar with the city.” It was clear that there was an undertone to that final part. Her schoolmate would almost certainly pick it up, Ariane – well, it depended. She couldn’t be that stupid if she was training to be an Auror, or at least one would hope.

The brunette’s attention snapped back to Prosper as he addressed her. She ran her tongue along her teeth, behind her lips, not breaking his gaze and trying not to smile too obviously. Oh, she’d hit a nerve. Good. Her expression darkened slightly at his next words. Luciana crossed her arms, careful to keep her champagne flute held slightly out, her body language visibly shifting defensively. Working with plants? Was that a threat? Was he going to share her secret? He hadn’t seemed the type to break a promise, but she’d misjudged him before. The elemental also didn’t miss the question about her relationship status. She had told him that in confidence last time they’d met, and though he hadn’t explicitly outed her, just mentioning it in front of someone else, let alone his date rubbed her the wrong way. “Funny you should mention it,” she began pointedly, almost glaring at him through her long eyelashes, “I’m going to London,” she glanced at Ariane and smiled (perhaps a little venomously), “in a couple of weeks to meet up with someone – his family is full of herbologists and, well, we’ve got a lot in common.” She teased, hoping to get a rise out of her ex-boyfriend.

"Yeah I'll definitely take her to Neroli," Prosper said flatly, his words dismissed and drowned out by the chatter around them and the way that Luciana's eyes were fixed on Ari, and not on him. He held back a sigh. Neutrality was obviously not an option here. When Luci turned her pretty honey-brown eyes back to him her arms were crossed. She was defensive. Prosper didn't shrink under her gaze. "A lot in common?" Prosper repeated, quirking an eyebrow. He couldn't imagine a world in which two Luciana-like people would make a good match. She was too jealous, too high-maintenance. She kept secrets. Prosper thought she was probably referring to another elemental, but his thoughts turned to the idea of someone very like her in personality.

Somewhere a warm bell dinged to indicate the end of intermission. People's attention turned to the intermission sign above the door to head back up to the theatre. Prosper's grey eyes remained fixed on Luciana. "Well good luck with that," he said simply. Prosper was a good performer but he wasn't as suited to the more subtle ebb and flow of trading insults and shifting power through polite conversation. His jab was far less subtle. Before she could speak again, Prosper nodded graciously. "Enjoy the show," he said, stepping away from his former flame and drawing Ariane with him into the crowd with expert ease. "I'm sorry about that," he said quietly, leaning into her as he walked. "Do you want to get out of here?"