In preparation for his meeting with Akiva, Arius had spent the night prior in his flat in muggle London. He used this flat mainly when he brought home muggle women and it was, well, smaller than what he would have liked. Not that it was small, he did live in a luxury apartment building and had a three bedroom apartment, but he could have made do with a larger and more extravagant living space. Yet, it would be hard to explain wizarding space to anyone muggle, not that he could, and even if he did just say that the apartment was much larger than it seemed, no one would really believe that it would be that big. So he kept this and had a lovely little country manor that he had gifted himself to celebrate his 25th birthday. That was where all his magical items were kept. That was also where he liked to spend the majority of his time, there was something peaceful about it that he loved. Regardless, a fflat in muggle London was oftentimes a necessity and Arius could do without the majority of his things, it wasn't like he couldn’t use magic when alone or with wizarding company.

He had awoken moderately early - ten o’clock in the morning -  and set out to preparing for the day’s outing, with washing and dressing and grooming. Finally he settled on a designer tracksuit, which was a great choice for the day. Spring was in the air, and while some of winter’s chill was gone, a long sleeved top was never a bad idea, especially in case the sun was beating down particularly hard. Thus by one he was finally ready to leave his apartment. taking his keys off the hook, he was at least excited for this one muggle thing, his car. He took one last look in the mirror, adjusting a few strands of hair this way and that before smiling at himself and walking away, exiting his apartment and, with a small wave, locking the door behind him.

Down the elevator and into the garage, he walked towards it, the perfect little car. He walked along side it practically petting the car rather than just running his hand across it's smooth paint finish. Yes, this was one of the nicest parts of working in the muggle world, the endorsement deals. It was just that which had gotten him this sweet little BMW Z4 Roadster. The perfect little hardtop convertible. Arius loved it almost as much as he loved himself, and more than he had ever loved any woman. Though, of course, his parents had to ask why he couldn't endorse a nice little Ferrari.

A soft ‘ah’ escaped his lips as he slipped into the driver’s seat, adjusting himself in the little leather seat and putting down the top of his baby. When he was all set to go, he pulled down his sunglasses and out of the parking lot he went, pleased that he had jumped through all the hoops to get his muggle driving license. This was truly the life, and when he was in the Wizarding World, he did miss this car, even if nothing else was particularly missed. Making his way through the streets of London, he finally arrived at the little place where he and Akiva had agreed to meet, an out of the way café where the paparazzi never went. While Arius loved to see and be seen, he respected Akiva’s wishes to be somewhere more private.

He parked his car on the silent London side-street and put the top up, exiting and making his way for the cozy little coffee shop. He entered and nodded to the owner before heading directly for the stairs, and the outdoor terrace. Kiva should arrive soon, she wasn't one to be late. A waitress soon came up and brought him the menu, ordering an espresso to begin with, he perused the food menu, wondering what he might take to go with his several coffees of the day. Perhaps a scone might be the best option, or some form of sandwich.

There were definitely times Akiva enjoyed living in the muggle world.  She could relax, have her technology (which she was a little more than attached to), and keep the connections with the people she had grown up with.  Her life was a very mixed one where she tried to balance both her magical day (and now morphing into nights) with the rest of her time as a muggle, or at least pretending to be one.  She kept the magic to a minimum, as it was how she grew up anyway, so it was a nice break from the magic.  Sometimes it made her anxious, like she wasn’t doing it right.  The missing year of her education and the time spent away from those influences (though not without her texts to study) made her worry about her skills and she always assumed she was not talented enough or could do it better by hand.

A lot of her library work got accomplished in that manner, so she was in the wizarding world, appreciated the applications of magic, and tried to do it the best she could, but was usually too afraid to actually do it.  She was talented in her work, however, and could at least perform that.  She had a gigantic ego boost at the memorial ceremony in repairing that witch’s eye, at least temporarily until she could get better care.  But, the anti-inflammatory spell had done wonders for the moment.  And, of course, she was a little more confident as of late, making a new friend and being able to help there.  She always felt her best when she was helping people, and she was certainly doing that – her Sunday plans were certainly set and she had overslept that morning, so she didn’t make temple, but had plenty of time to get ready.

It was a good thing too.  She generally did not like meeting Arius and looking like a slob, he certainly wouldn’t have and far be it from her to make him feel foolish or silly to be seen with her.  It wasn’t as though she had bad sense when it came to how to dress herself; it was just on the plain side and very subtle.  She did not feel the need to put herself out there like that, it wasn’t attention that she wanted.  It was why she had told Arius to meet her somewhere more discreet where they wouldn’t be seen or written about.  She didn’t want a meeting with a friend to be turned into something different and she wasn’t going to be in the tabloids again, muggle or magical.  It would be too much for her after what had gone on.  She had been too classy to fulfill their desires for a juicy story on her end, but it didn’t make her willing to divulge a fantasy now either.

After getting herself all ready and going on the computer to look up the tube (she just wanted to check), she was off and out.  Lady was surprisingly calm, almost enough to worry Akiva, but she bolted after her at the door, which was normal behavior.  If that had not occurred, she might have been bent out of shape.  It didn’t, however, and she was out of the building quite quickly.  Jane and Martin had taken Sarah to a children’s museum and she didn’t know what Frank was up to, but here she was, heading out to meet the most high profile friend she kept. At least he wasn’t a politician, she had mused, though he could be if he wanted to.  Thankfully he did not make that choice, or she would have seriously reconsidered this.

The quick tube ride and just a street walk over were enough to bring Akiva to the little café they had decided upon and she smiled, readjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder, she sort of half galloped and walked toward where she saw Arius seated on the terrace, her favorite place at the restaurant.  Waving with a bright smile, she hurried into the café and up toward where Arius was seated.  There was a pleasant breeze and now that she knew he was there, she couldn’t stop smiling.  Walking up, she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, a typical greeting when it came to him, “You look dashing, as always,” she complimented before taking her seat, “I hope you weren’t waiting long,” she glanced at her watch, hoping she hadn’t gotten the time wrong, though it didn’t appear so. 

Sunlight filtered softly through the lush English ivy which covered the trellis resting on the terrace area which provided just the right amount of shade for those wishing to sit outside on nicer London days. Today was one of those days, just the right amount of sunlight paired with a pleasant breeze, not too cold and not too hot. Surprisingly, there weren’t many people today at the little corner café and restaurant, not that this wasn't good. When this place got crowded it was nearly impossible to get in. It was not a particularly large locale, and perhaps that was what made it so nice and intimate, not to mention the lovely open-air terrace which catered to the smokers among the London crowd, of which there were many.

The terrace was a nice place to sit, Arius loved people-watching from there and some interesting characters tended to pass by. Besides, from here he could keep an eye on his baby. He didn't like to let it out of his sight for very long. Papa was so proud of little Hubert, he was so wonderful. Every now and again he would gaze at Hubert longingly, wanting to run his hands along that smooth paint job and hoping no nasty air rats - or were they called pigeons - would get near him. Poor ubert, he wouldn’t like that sort of treatment, not that he wouldn't get a good bath afterwards. He could remember all the good times he had had in Hubert, the women who had gone with him, and wonder when he would get to take Hubert to the limit, as fast as he could go and play with all the features and goodies Hubert offered. Hubert was his favorite thing about the muggle world, and he would just watch Hubert all day if he could.

He was still observing hubert when Akiva entered, noting the way the sun glinted off his subtle curves and how women - and men - stopped to look at him and pet him. Yes, Arius definitely had the most wonderful car in the universe, no matter what his parents said about choosing a Ferrari. When she spoke and gave him his two kisses, Arius finally snapped out of his daze. “Well thank you, though I daresay I look all the better with you here.” He smiled at her and shook his head when she asked if he had been waiting long. In truth, he hadn't, or, if he had, he had been too busy watching his baby to notice. “I have not been here long enough to even get my espresso, cara.”

As though the waiter was waiting for this cue to enter, he did. He bore the espresso on a tray in one hand and a second menu in the other. “Here you are,” the young man said, placing the small shot in front of Arius. He then turned to Akiva, handing her the menu as he spoke. “Anything I can get you Miss, while you look at the menu?” Once Akiva had ordered, Arius waved the man away flippantly, desiring to get caught up with the woman before him. After all, he hadn’t seen her in months and had waited long enough to see her once he had returned too.

“Do you mind?” he asked, pulling out a cigarette case and a lighter. He assumed Akiva wouldn't say she did and so went ahead and lit up, taking a long drag before asking her. “Tell me love, what have you been up to?” It was of interest to him what she had been doing with her time since he had left. He could only assume that it had been dull and boring, after all what was life without the sun?

Shaking her head softly, Akiva smiled at him – he was definitely charming.  “I don’t think that’s possible,” she teased gently, knowing a well placed ego stroke was a great way to start off the afternoon.  Not only that, but she was rather sure it was an entirely true statement.  Of course, his could have been as well, if he meant in the way that her simple appearance highlighted just how attractive he was.  He had always been quite handsome, though intimidating.  It was funny when they had become friends and how unexpected it had been, considering how she had been and how he was – who he was, really.  It wasn’t something one generally expected, but, much to Akiva’s amusement (and later horror), it seemed that high profile men were going to be part of her life indefinitely.  Thankfully, Arius was not George.

He was a different beast entirely, though not a beast at all once one got to know him.  She supposed she had the same view as everyone else on him, but she had a different tilt.  It wasn’t all superficial with him, she knew that, there was an intellectual underside, it was just a little lazy and it was easier for him to allow others to see him as a beautiful person rather than a smart one.  Akiva felt completely opposite and it made them quite the pair.  She was just glad she had not been late and didn’t keep him waiting – apparently the staff had no intention to keep her waiting either.

She glanced upward and smiled at the young waiter who handed her the menu.  “A tea, please, just lemon,” another gracious smile and he was off at the wave of Arius’ perfectly manicured hand – he always had fabulous hands.  She was envious at times, but her hands were fine for her, small and pale, with somewhat long fingers and fine nails.  They were painted a light pink (nothing showy, of course), though she thought she might repaint them before her non-date the next day.  She didn’t know why but she felt like she had to look decent, even pretty, if she ventured far enough in that direction to think so. 

A little shrug at Arius’ question though, eyeing the cigarette.  She wasn’t a fan, exactly, of smoking, but if it was Arius’ choice, it was.  At least they were outside and the breeze was blowing the opposite way, she wouldn’t really have to deal with the smoke that much.  She didn’t want to oppose, it wouldn’t do – he didn’t like to be told what to do, and she didn’t like to boss. 

Giggling softly, she was just amused about this.  “Nothing quite as exciting as I’m sure you’ve been doing.  Working – late a lot of nights for the past week or so, actually.”  He probably couldn’t tell as she had been working on the charm for a while, but she was very tired looking.  Underneath the light layer of cover-up spell, she had some bad bags.  Those late nights were worth it though – after all, she really liked helping and Dreogan was fascinating.  “I’m helping a friend with research for an incident he’s working on.  I can’t say much, since it’s hush-hush, but I’m guessing it’s important or he wouldn’t be working himself to exhaustion over it.  You know, I hate when people do that – not take care of themselves,” she glanced down at the menu and sighed, she wanted something light. 

“Thankfully, at least I know he’s been eating – since I’ve brought dinner,” she laughed, “I can’t help myself – I just have to take care of people, but you knew that.  What about you? I heard you were in Italy for a while, how’d that go?”

“You know, one day you are going to have to let someone take care of you,” he pointed out with a wave of his cigarette. “Otherwise, you will always be trailing behind everyone you know making sure they are okay. You first, them second and never stop them from doing something nice for you just because you can do so yourself. You are not the only one who enjoys taking care of others just like I'm not the only selfish one who enjoys being taken care of.” It was true, oftentimes he wondered if Ki would ever let anyone take care of her, somehow he doubted she would like that very much. She simply was not like every other woman on the face of the planet, too much of that pesky nurturing gene in her.

Arius had been busy, going from place to place as he did fashion shows and photo shoots, he really was living the dream. “I started in Paris, had a huge muggle fashion show to be in. Then I moved on to Brazil for a nice wizarding photo shoot, fun in the sun or something like that. After that, you heard correctly, I was in Italy. As for how that went...” He downed the rest of his espresso and took another drag of his cigarette as he contemplated what to say and what parts to tell Ki about. His expoilts she could read in the tabloids - well okay a lot of that was lies - but Ki actually understood a little bit better about his actual family life, at least what parts he had told her so he supposed he could tell her about the disagreements in the Tristisa household.

“Let's see, mamma continues to insist on pushing the issue of when I will marry a nice Italian girl and settle down - because dio if I don't give her grandchildren I might break my mamma's heart.” he snorted and rolled his eyes at that ludicrous idea. As if he would ever get married to some nice little Italian girl just to appease his parents. Puh-lease, that was simply not the type of thing that Arius was willing to do, not now, and maybe not ever. It simply wasn't in his life plan to do what his parents wanted him to do. If he always did what he wanted them to do, he wouldn't be as successful as he was, not at all.

“Then of course there is papa, who only wants for me to follow in the family business, he really does not seem to understand that I do not want to go down that route.” Not now, at any rate, was what he was really thinking. Maybe a few more years, but right now he was at the top of his game and he really was not interested in doing anything other than the modeling and the magazine. When his career started to dwindle, then he could consider doing what his parents wanted him to do, but not a day before. To do so any earlier than he wanted would be cruel of him, he could not deprive his fans of seeing his wonderful face on the covers of their glossy fashion magazines.

He shrugged and shook his head. “Boh, I suppose that is simply how parents are. They can never be pleased with what their children are doing, there is always something they aren’t doing right.” At least he hoped all other parents were like that, though he assumed that other parents were more insistent than most, it was the Italian in them that did it. They simply couldn’t help but be pushy about Arius and intrusive in his private life. He loved being an only child but he wondered if maybe a sibling wouldn’t have actually been a blessing to him. After all, another child would have given his mother someone else to focus on. Maybe he would get her a dog, a cat, a garden gnome... Anything to distract her from asking him when he would be starting a family with a nice Italian girl and keep her from lining up potential candidates to join them at family dinner. If he had to stare at another Italian girl simpering at him across the table while he ate he might kill someone.

He leaned back in his chair, coming down from that enthusiastic and animated ‘Italian’ way of speaking about his parents. A lot of wild gesticulation abounded and now was time to come back down and relax a bit, steal a few glances at Hubert as well. “I was happy to oblige you in the muggle world today, look who got to go out, I just hope it won’t rain...” He nodded in Hubert’s direction and glanced up at the sky. No rain for now, just a nice spring day. He could only hope - for Hubert’s sake - that it would stay that way.

It was one of those rare moments where Akiva couldn’t argue with him over something because he said all that needed to be said.  She knew he was right and as much as she would have liked to deny it, it was true.  She had actually let Dreogan help her quite a bit at the Memorial Ceremony, more than she would have cared to admit, actually.  He had been quite the anchor for her and didn’t have to do what he did.  He had no need to lead her out or take that much care to assure anyone’s safety, but he did.  She liked that – and assumed that he had as much of an urge to care about people as she did.  “I let people take care of me when I need it,” she finally managed to assure him, “but it’s usually not the case.”

She smiled at him sweetly, figuring it was just the best way to respond.  It was most assuredly true; no person was an island, after all.  She was content to listen to him talk about his life though, and smiled along; glad when her tea came so that she could crush the lemon against the side of the cup with her spoon, still paying attention as she did so.  There was sugar on the table and for a moment she contemplated just a spoonful, but decided that since she would be thirty before she could even blink, it was probably not the best idea to continue adding unnecessary sweetness into her diet.  Beside, the tea was good enough without it, she noticed as she took a sip. 

It was just the perfect drink to have when listening to him talk about his recent adventures.  Nodding along, she could understand both sides of the problem.  His parents wanted something out of their only son and their only son wanted something different.  Parents always had expectations for their children and those expectations were seldom realized, or just shifted.  She knew her parents had the same sort of problem, though not with her career or what she was doing now.  They loved her all the same and didn’t make demands on her, but when she had been with George and dealt with all the residual complications on her life, they had been a little harder than she thought they might be.

Now, their only complaint was that she wasn’t looking for someone to settle down with.  Everything else in her life was in order, they argued, she was getting back in touch with her roots and had a great job which they were very proud of her for holding, but no one to share all of that with.  So, with his animated gesturing and talking, she nodded along in almost perfect understanding.  Thankfully there weren’t too many people around, his references to different the different wizarding culture wouldn’t be heard, or at least cared about in such a relaxed atmosphere. 

“They just want the best for you,” she commented casually, smiling as sympathetically as she could.  “At some point, they’ll figure out you know who you are and what you’re doing.  Besides, in a few years, you might even think at least one of those ideas is a good one,” she teased with a gentle laugh.  “I’m surprised no one’s contacted your mother about a little Arius running around somewhere without your knowledge, anyway.  I would figure they’d have to pop up at least once every few years,” she was naturally kidding, and meant nothing by it.  She imagined Arius had to be far more careful than that, though the occasional scare couldn’t have escaped the radar.  She could only imagine how anyone felt about that, least of all the girl or Arius.  She was glad it wasn’t her life, that was for sure.

Of course, when she turned to see the car on the street, Akiva could have enjoyed that part of life.  Though she had a license, she did not have a car – as it was too expensive, and did not enjoy driving.  Arius, however, had a pretty little car and she wouldn’t have minded being seen behind the driver’s wheel at a moment’s notice.  “I wouldn’t worry about the rain,” she smiled, “it’s absolutely gorgeous out – and I checked the weather before I left.  It’s supposed to rain Tuesday, but nothing until then.”  It was rare that in London, during the spring, there would be a few days that were strung together without wet weather, but they were lucky. 

“I’m actually quite glad it won’t be raining in the next few days either,” she commented, glancing at the waiter as he came up again, apparently figuring that they would be ready by this point to order something.  Like a doe in headlights, she looked up at him and then to the menu, then to Arius.  “Oh! You go first, Arius, I’m still deciding…” she looked at the lists; somehow a muffin was looking better and better without the luxury of cruising over the menu for an extended period of time – lie, she had that, but hadn’t taken advantage of it. 

He arched an eyebrow when Akiva assured him that she let other people take care of her when it was necessary but didn’t say a word. It truly was not any of his business if Akiva actually did or did not let others take care of her. He could only let her live her own life, she had parents to reprimand her for things she did or did not do. Regardless, she didn't look that worn out or anything so he assumed that she was at least getting her rest and not spending every single second of every single minute of every single hour of every single day feeding orphans or reading to the blind or giving hippogriff's baths or anything. If she was doing all that she would probably solve world hunger or something in her spare time just out of pity. Akiva had a very big heart and cared about others, but she also needed others to care for her in Arius’ opinion.

Akiva was also an attentive listener and a great audience. She may not have been as responsive as some people were, but at least with her he was guaranteed that she was listening and taking in every single word he said. Even if she wasn't actually interested in whatever he was saying at the moment she always managed to pay attention to what was going on in case she needed to respond, not that Arius would ever assume that Akiva didn’t care about his life. He was far too much of an egomaniac to assume that anyone wouldn't want to know about his life and his fabulous travels. Not that he was going into much detail. That really wasn't part of the fun, the fun was all in the mystery of what could have happened while he was away. The tabloids could fill it in, or the person could ask, but Arius had no reason to offer up more than he had been asked really.

“Another espresso, per piacere¹,” he said to the waiter as he delivered Akiva's tea. An odd glance came his way but the man was not going to deny the man what he wanted. It was none of his business if this man was overcaffeinated or not. In reality, that wasn't the issue, the issue was the weak nature of the espresso he was being given. He liked it ristretto, dark and packing a punch with absolutely no sugar. Why drink coffee with sugar? That simply took away the taste of the coffee, and the bitter and aromatic taste was one of the best things about coffee in his opinion. Perhaps it was the Italian in him. He appreciated good coffee, fine wine, beautiful women, his hair, his clothing and his sports car.

He continued to talk about his parents and his family, glad for someone who understood. He had to some extent described to Akiva what his family's business was. She had not really wanted to know all the gory and gruesome details so he had come up with a very brief explanation of it all, in fact he could almost sum it all up in a few words. ‘Mob’, ‘International Black Market’, ‘Criminal’ and ‘Dark deeds’ all came to mind. He had went with International Black Market mobsters. That had been the end of that issue, and at least Akiva would respect him for not wanting to follow in those horrible footsteps. Even if he did someday, there was no need to do it now and who knew, his parents might even come around to the idea of a modeling career - yeah, and a pig just flew past Hubert in a tutu. It was a silly notion that his parents would understand about his love for modeling.

He nodded, turning his head from side to side, as though he couldn't really make up his mind about what to say in the matter about how much they cared and wanted what was best for him. “Ma cara², I dont think they can possibly know what's best for me. My mamma, she pushes at me the silliest, dumbest Italian women she can find! Beautiful, yes, but dumb as bricks!” He took the final drag of his cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray in the middle of the table, following that with a bit of water from his glass to ensure the wind didn't blow the ashes around and that the cigarette went out immediately. “I don’t see how it would be a good idea to marry me to someone so stupid, no matter who their fathers are or how wonderful their connections in the world are.” He really couldn't stand the idea of marrying anyone, much less marrying them for their connections. His family was powerful enough without them.

It was fortunate that he hadn’t been drinking anything when Akiva mentioned the idea that someone could possibly contact his mother about a little Arius running around somewhere. If there had been, he would have spit it out all over the table. His face turned ashen and a fairly colorful curse full of imagery escaped his mouth. “Circe's hot pink fuzzy jockstrap! Never joke about that, it's not a funny idea.” Not that he wouldn't know how to get rid of them, and get the people to obliviate the women’s memory, or quite simply make them disappear. Them and the offending little cretins running around. Thus far, Arius had never met with such an occasion and he was thankful for that because he didn't want to have to do what he believed he might do if the circumstances arose.

At least Akiva could give him some good news in the fact that it wasn't supposed to rain. He did have to complain sometimes about the London weather. Then again, it didn’t help that he had been raised in Italy with the lovely Mediterranean weather all year round. That tended to spoil a person and so when they lived in a terribly rainy and dreary area, they tended not to enjoy the weather so much. Other than that though, he did adore London and did not at all regret his choice to live there. After all, the majority of his school friends were there and he had his career. Despite the horrible weather which often existed, he liked the entire atmosphere of the British wizarding world, even when thing had been bad it had been a fun place to live. There wasn’t really much he could complain about, not to mention the fact that he loved Hubert, and Hubert was his British muggle world car, in Italy he would use magic more often - like always - living with mamma and papa.

“Hubert isn't really a fan of the rain, so I'll have to enjoy him until Tuesday.” Then his car would go back in the garage until the next sunny day. Soon the waiter began to mosey on over, believing that they had been given enough time to decide on what to order. Arius gazed at the menu again and was not surprised when the man approached that Akiva told him to go first. Though, at the same time, he had absolutely no idea what to order either. The salads, sandwiches, soups and other items all looked so appetizing and he had tried almost everything on the menu and knew how good what he had tried actually was. It was unfortunate that he had such difficulty making up his mind when it came to such matters. Finally, however, he settled on something. “I will have the gazpacho and a Greek salad.”

---

¹ if you please
² but darling

“I’m sure there has to be a beautiful, smart Italian girl out there for you – I don’t think your mother is looking hard enough.  Or she’s just following who you’re seen with in the tabloids and going with that pattern of woman.  I have faith in you… though I can’t see you settling down and getting married any time soon.”  She really couldn’t; in fact, it seemed like the most ridiculous request anyone could have made of him at this point in his life.  He was a star, someone people couldn’t get enough of (at least it seemed like it), and what would it do for him to chain himself down and start having children except make his hair grey and pin him to one place.  That wasn’t the type of man he was, she knew that very well, and though she did not necessarily agree with it, she knew it was his life and it worked for him.

For her, personally, she was looking forward to a domestic existence.  Leading the singleton life was comfortable and easy, but it wasn’t perfect.  She couldn’t expect total felicity from the other end of the spectrum either, but at least it wouldn’t be lonely. It was too hard to even contemplate, of course, when she wasn’t even dating anyone.  The two year break from all things romantic, except movies and TV shows, was just starting to lose its charm and she felt like she could be ready to try for something more, though she didn’t know if she wanted to.  It was very odd.  To put herself at such a risk, she couldn’t even imagine.  Nursing the teacup near her lips, she was thoughtful and her expression was soft and curious, unchanging as she tipped the cup back and took another sip.

Giggling at his expletive, Akiva shook her head – he obviously didn’t find the joke as funny as she did, but the ashen look to his face and then the resultant uppity behavior was just a reaction.  She was absolutely amused by the violence in that reaction, He was short and to the point about it.  “I was just teasing,” she assured him, “I don’t think you could ever allow something like that to happen.  I know you – behind all that pretty is a smart man,” she grinned, not wanting to upset him.  The man would probably have a heart attack if that ever happened, and glancing over the edge of the terrace, she smiled as she saw a man walking by on his cell phone, animatedly explaining something to his ‘goddess’ who, from the sounds of it, was not quite happy about something.

She never wanted to be that kind of woman, the one who made someone stammer to try and back pedal and explain himself to her because he couldn’t bear to stick by his first statement or admit to a mistake.  She shook her head, feeling bad for him, and continued to watch the people walk by.  People-watching was so much fun when they weren’t even aware they were being watched, they were just going about their lives.  It was outstanding, and always made her wonder what was going on in their heads and if she could get in someone else’s head what it would be like.  It raised all sorts of questions and to avoid trying to go down the list of what was creepier and how it would actually work, Akiva shook her head and took a sip of tea – the quintessential answer to all life’s questions… except what to eat.

Thankfully, Arius obliged her by going first, though he looked just about as startled as she was by the whole thing.  Licking her lips, she didn’t quite like the sound of a gazpacho, though a salad did sound wonderful.  “A Cesar salad, please,” she smiled, “and another tea would be great.  Thank you,” she folded the menu and handed it to him – all that panic over a salad.  She just hoped their croutons were good.  A salad wasn’t really a good salad without appropriate croutons.  And the dressing would have to be good too, thankfully there was no indication of sardines or anchovies anywhere near this salad, an unfortunate reality she came upon in several restaurants. Not even a whisper of the offensive ingredients on this menu. 

When the waiter scurried off to   put their orders in, she was just glad to be done with the decision making process.  Watching him walk away, Akiva turned back to Arius as he disappeared inside.  She thought maybe now was the time to ask him his opinion on what was going on in her own life, after all, he was the expert on things like this, so why not?  “Arius,” she shifted in her seat, “I’m going out to dinner tomorrow night and I’m not sure what to classify it as.  I told you I’ve been helping a friend with his work and, I guess as thanks, he offered dinner tomorrow night.  I told my parents, and you know they were heaps of excitement – especially when I told them he was Jewish, but I’m not entirely convinced it’s like that, you know?  What do you think?”

“It isn’t that there aren’t beautiful, smart, Italian women,” he began hesitatingly. “My mother has to look within a very small pool is really the problem. She has to have the right blood line and be a part of the right family. There is really only one fortunate thing about that, most of these women are raised to ignore affairs and protect the family.” That was a bright side, though Arius was really not keen on the idea. However, when it came down to it he had to pass on his family name, didn’t he? The Tristisa family would have to live on somehow, and while he had his cousins, his father’s line would end at him if there were no more boys brought forth. Not the best reason for a marriage, true, but at the end of the day no reason was a good reason to get married in Arius’ mind.

What could one gain from marriage? Some might say a partner to be with them until the end of their lives, children, a home life, stability. None of that mattered to Arius, not even a bit. He loved being single entirely too much! When one was married they couldn’t pick up and leave at a moment’s notice because the idea struck them to go somewhere else. No more exotic weekend getaways, the children would be too much of a hassle. Even if there were no children, life would not be fun with a wife in tow. The clubbing days would be over, no more coming home at six in the morning – or not at all if the day called for it. His modeling career would quickly go down the drain, and what would he be without a life? A loser, that is what he would be, a washed up nobody who fell out of the limelight.

Not to mention the fact that to Arius, romance didn’t exist. Romance was an idea extolled by greeting card companies and candy makers in order to make more money every year. There were no true romances, nothing like in the great novels. Romeo and Juliet were fake, and all of the women who aspired towards that or towards a great love like that between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy they were foolish. In the real world that never happened, no man would sweep you off your feet immediately and forsake his family for you, nor did utter disdain turn to love in a few short days. It was preposterous to even assume that this could happen.  He huffed a bit and shook his head, wondering at all the women who could read these novels and take them as proof that romance existed. There was a reason those books were found in the fiction section and not in biography or non-fiction.

His ashen-face and response it seemed were enough to set Akiva giggling at her attempt at humor. However, it simply wasn’t funny, not to him anyhow. He downed his second espresso and shook his head, though he soon had to admit she was right. “Sometimes I feel like you are the only one who remembers I’m a Ravenclaw. Or, at least the only one who doesn’t wonder if the Sorting Hat malfunctioned a little there.” He was sure there were people who wondered that, but he had no idea what other house he could really go into. He wasn’t brave, or especially loyal, and while he was clever he wouldn’t say cunning was a strong point of his either. He was smart, and that had put him in Ravenclaw. Now, if he chose to starve that intellectual side, well that was an entirely different matter.

They were silent for a moment, each one enveloped in their own private thoughts, little worlds where thousands of unseen and unknown ideas bred. He was observing her and she was busy looking out at the street. A quick glance took his eyes to where Hubert was, ensuring that his baby was alright and no one had tried to do anything nasty to it, not that a few rather nice charms hadn’t given him full confidence in the car’s protection. Bits of conversation drifted in the air from the street below, a man’s conversation, two women passing by moving at life’s fast pace, trying to keep one step ahead of everyone else and failing miserably.

’What a fool’ Arius thought, contemplating the man who had entered the café and was now walking onto the terrace, hanging up his phone and dashing over to a table where a mousy brown brunette sat. She had plain features, and yet it seemed this man let her control him. Instantly he moved into profuse apologies, swearing that he loved her and had done nothing wrong. He was begging, practically on his knees in public. “Such a disgrace, and honestly that woman is no more a Goddess than you are a harpy or I am ugly.” He shook his head and huffed softly. Men these days, honestly they had no clue how much they could get away with. Even a particularly unattractive man, with the right attitude could make a woman weak in the knees and believe she was dependent on him. It was all about attitude, flair, panache and style. Men simply didn’t know that this was how it worked. It’s not that women couldn’t perfectly well run the game, but a woman like that – never. 

Akiva made her selection and the waiter moved off to put their orders in, dashing down the steps with precision and skill, showing obvious years of work there. He observed the debacle occurring at the end of the terrace a bit more, wondering if he should put up a bubble around himself and Akiva, to keep them from being bothered by this muggle foolishness. Reaching into his pocket and fingering his wand gently, he wondered what the best charm might be, what to use and how to get away with it later. They were in a very openly muggle area, and that would be hard to explain to the Ministry. Not to mention the fact that he really didn’t think they would accept the excuse of an argument annoying him as a reason to use magic in front of muggles. Ugh, despite his lovely car, he really sometimes hated the muggle world for the spectacles like this. At least in the Wizarding World you could do some form of magic to create a barrier. Here, nothing, and he had to listen to the woman’s shrill, whiny, annoying voice accusing the man of whatever the hell it was he had done, and in Arius’ mind that banshee probably deserved it.

He was called back to the present by Akiva’s voice saying his name softly. “Hmm?” he said, turning to her again and turning his attention away from the argument. She seemed a little nervous, and Arius wondered what could be so important that she should be so worried about it. After all, she could tell him anything and the odds were he wouldn’t react badly. Well, almost anything. There really was no guarantee as to what his reactions would truly be though he didn’t think telling him anything really would cause so much nervousness. When she told him, he finally understood why all the nervousness and that it had nothing to do with telling him anything. The problem was more that she wasn’t sure about what was going on in this particular situation, something which would make anyone uncomfortable surely. He took everything in, pausing for a pregnant moment and turning over ideas in his head, wondering what exactly to say.

“I will assume you like him,” he began, unsure how else to do so. “You told your parents about him which indicates interest, and now you are telling me. Not to mention the fact that he is that nice Jewish wizard boy.” The situation was complicated and Arius wasn’t really sure what to think. He would know better had he observed the matter for himself, but as it was he really had very little to go off of, simply that they were friends, that she had been helping him with his work and that he had asked her out to dinner. There is a plethora of ways to thank someone, and going out to dinner alone is usually more the route if you want to speak to them, get to know them better. “It may be,” he said, nodding his head this way and that as though weighing the options in his mind. “Really, taking a woman out to dinner is a pretty big deal, especially when a simple thank you and some flowers would probably suffice if you were friends. Not to mention the fact that you were doing what you are paid to do. So there is a good chance that it may be like that.”

He could only hope that he could be of help to Akiva. “Now, tell me more about this Jewish wonderboy.” He smiled broadly at her and leaned in closer, supporting his face on his chin, eyes wide with interest. Once he knew more, he would be able to give her a much better opinion on the matter. After all, he needed details if he was going to be able to put the story together in his mind. “What does he look like? Where does he work? Do you know for sure that he is single?” The last one was definitely the most important, and the one which could get the man into the most trouble. If he even dared for one second to think that he could hurt Akiva and get away with it, well, he had another thing coming to him. Arius may have been a pretty boy, but he was sure that he could take anyone in a fight. Well, okay, his backup could take anyone in a fight but it was essentially the same thing!

It was hard to imagine that Arius lived the life he did and was part of the family he was born into.  Naturally, when one thought about it, they could see it, but really, he didn’t seem – to her – to fit that particular mold.  He wasn’t serious enough and though he was smart and charming and could basically sell a freezer to an Eskimo, that didn’t make him a good candidate for mobster – or father.  There were just people who it didn’t seem it would work for, and though Akiva generally thought everyone deserved lifelong love and companionship, for Arius, that didn’t seem like something only one woman could do.  His declaration about turning heads to affairs and protecting family was definitely a philosophy he espoused rather than something she would ever say. 

Everyone knew George had only cheated on her once, no one had thought he was that kind of man.  But, weakness allowed him that one thing and she had left.  She would never be able to allow infidelity, as she had been raised to believe she was worth more than that.  When one had a doting family that made sure one was always aware how special and important one was, it was easier to believe.  She had a certain idea of entitlement to honesty and commitment, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.  She could have wanted a lot more than those two very simple things, like cars and jewelry and gifts all of the time, apparently, looking to the man she had been observing earlier, his woman was not quite so content with whatever was going on. 

The situation was entirely unknown to them, of course, but from the outside, it appeared she was being very cold and he was trying his best to sate her anger.  She caught words like ‘late,’ ‘forgot,’ and ‘busy,’ but she couldn’t make out exactly what happened.  She didn’t really want to, actually.   It wasn’t her business and she felt like they shouldn’t have been airing their laundry like that in public.  It always seemed to happen and she had to wonder what possessed people to be so public about their issues, not that she was one to talk.  She had made quite the scene when she was younger, but it had been quite the discovery and the time and place didn’t matter in that circumstance.  In this one, a man who was doing extra hours at work and probably just forgot the lunch date?  That was not something that had to be taken up immediately.  She was lucky he was he even showed up at all. 

Shrugging her shoulders, she looked back to Arius and sipped her tea with a playful little smile on her face.  “How could I forget?  We were quite the odd pair at Hogwarts,” people never really understood how they had become friends, especially when Akiva was always a bit odd and more than a little bookish and Arius, though intellectual, was always one for the limelight.  They had been friends though, and he was one of the people she was very sad to leave upon the end of her sixth year.  But, the situation prevented her from staying and she had just been lucky enough that communication continued.  She had lost several friends because of it, but really, the ones that she retained were the ones she was finding she could go to now, Frank, Arius, and Moira amongst them.  She was also making new friends, she noted in her mind.

She was curious to know Arius’ opinion though.  As much as he was the man he was, he was very logical and who better to ask, really?  He didn’t pretend to believe in anything that he didn’t truly think and he wasn’t going to spare her feelings, no matter how much he wanted to.  That was what made him such a good Ravenclaw, or at least part of it.  He had never been one to mince words, no matter what the circumstance and looking at what he had, he always seemed to form a well-rounded conclusion.  She hadn’t given him much, of course, because she didn’t want to seem like she was doting or making too much out of something that could very well be nothing, but she still wanted him to shed some light for her.  He tended to be able to do that where her other friends tended to try and give her the information she wanted rather than needed, Arius was the complete opposite.

Leaning back in her chair, she blushed at his first assertions.  “Well I tell them everything,” she tried to counter, but felt like she stuttered.  The hot blush on her cheeks only burned brighter and she glanced down into her teacup, reassuring herself that she was nothing but professional and that any interest she had was not going beyond what was required of her for work and what a friend he was becoming.  She didn’t want to upset herself, certainly didn’t want to get attached to an idea before there was a concrete reason to believe in such a thing.  He was, however, working quite logically (Something she had a problem doing when it came to things like this), and she nodded along, figuring that he was probably right, though finding that perhaps Dreogan was just old fashioned and flowers and thank you weren’t enough in his mind – he did seem to worry like that. 

At his request to tell him more, maybe Akiva could sway what he saw as being something sort of like that though, and she continued to blush, despite herself, clearing her throat as she looked up at him, he certainly looked cool and collected sitting there while she squirmed.  She was glad to hear his continual use of ‘may’ however, that was much better for her than the definite others tried to give her.  For some reason, uncertainty was almost better. 

“Well, his name is Dreogan Eleor,” she emphasized the correct pronunciation, figuring that it was probably something one would need to know, “and he works for the Department of International Magical Cooperation in Dispute Resolutions, for the Near and Middle East.”  What a mouthful, she thought with a slight chuckle, “he’s been working on some rather secret research, which I’ve been helping with and if he wasn’t single before, I’m guessing he is now.  No girlfriend in her right mind would let their boyfriend work for eighteen hours a day and spend evenings with another woman, even if it’s just a librarian.”  That seemed logical enough, he didn’t seem to be attached, but she quickly added with a little laugh, “Not that if she did exist she’d have any reason to worry.  It’s been nothing but professional, you know.” 

She didn’t expect him to completely believe her, but she knew it was the truth.  “As for what he looks like – he’s a few inches taller than me,” she had tried to guess on her own, but could never make a very good estimate.  As she was fairly average for a woman, she was just glad he wasn’t exceedingly short, “and he has dark, curly hair and brown eyes.  He tends to look tired, but it’s just because he works so hard,” she shook her head and sipped her tea thoughtfully, it wasn’t something she recommended and often, during their work sessions, she commented on.  “He went to school in Israel, actually, and worked in America as a Magic-Mage relations teacher for a time, which is probably very close to muggle studies.”  She smiled a bit and shifted in her seat, a little uncomfortable that a smile had just bubbled up from nowhere and she had been unable to rein it in.  “He’s nothing like George, if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

It wasn’t surprising that she would have to bring that up.  Ever since, most of her friends were a great deal more protective of her and thought that she had to be fought for and generally treated like someone who needed protecting.  Akiva did enough of that herself though, and already knew – she just really wanted to make sure Arius’ gears weren’t turning like they usually did and didn’t need anyone starting anything.  She was rather sure Dreogan would be able to give someone a run for their money and didn’t want anyone involved in a fight.

People didn’t ask for the families they were born into, they were simply born and had to deal with the lot they were dealt in life. In this life, he had been put in the family of spades, or maybe clubs, in all honesty he could never be too sure other than knowing that they weren’t hearts or diamonds. His family was powerful and wealthy, he couldn’t ask for anything else really. Who was he to complain that they were a little bit on the darker side of things? Hadn’t this lifestyle of theirs given him everything he had ever wanted? From the time he was born, Arius was never denied a single thing and dark dealings had provided the money for all of his whims. As such, he would never be able to deny his family name. None of that Romeo stuff here, especially since the only person Arius loved enough to swear to spend the rest of his life with was himself.

He could only be the person that he wanted to be, and prove that he wasn’t like them – even if he was more like them than he actually cared to admit. There was one truth. If anything were to happen to Marcelo Tristisa, Arius would have to take his place as head of the family. He could only hope that nothing would happen anytime soon, especially nothing to jeopardize his own career outside of that. At least there was the comfort that even if he was called home to take care of that business, he could still continue to run Peacock in the Wizarding World and model in the muggle world. Muggles were so behind on the affairs of the day and his family never really dabbled in the black market on their side of the game.He could still continue his life and simply be the man behind the curtain. This was a relief at least.

“We did have our fun, didn’t we?” He shook his head and laughed, recalling how odd they had looked together. He was younger than she but they had got on spectacularly well, perhaps because Akiva wasn’t going to take any of Arius’ temper tantrums or mood swings. She would barely take them now, and more often than not would stop him before he went too far. Arius had a horrible temper and she was one of the few who managed to control him. As for what he offered to the relationship, he gave great advice and was absolutely beautiful to look at. What more could she really ask for? She had helped him with schoolwork when it became more difficult – or he simply didn’t want to do it – and he liked to think that maybe he had helped her to be a little bit more extroverted, even if she had eventually become a librarian. Then again, not everyone could be a model.

Logic was a strong suit in Arius’ deck of cards, even if he wasn’t using all of it in any given game. His logical side tended to win out the majority of the time, despite his arrogance. There was also the fact that Arius wasn’t exactly nice. He could be, yes, but he also told the truth. He did not like to steer anyone in the wrong direction, let alone someone that he was so close to. He would listen to her problem, turn it over carefully in his mind and then tell her exactly what he thought about everything, not even sparing a thought for her feelings. That, he supposed, was a Ravenclaw thing, the idea that the truth must always prevail and Arius knew that the truth wasn’t always pretty, he had seen enough models without makeup on to know this. Besides, there was really nothing to gain from leading Akiva astray in this situation, who was he to tell her that he was sure everything would work out, that she and this man would get married and pop out little, curly-haired, Jewish babies?

Arius noted the blush that spread across her face like wildfire, even as she swore that she told her parents everything. This might have been true, yes, but he couldn’t help feeling that this was different. She didn’t just tell them about this man because she told them what happened in her life. Not to mention the fact that she could have left out the fact that he was Jewish and all of that. If this was nothing, then she simply could have told them that a friend had asked her out to dinner and left it at that. Then again, Arius didn’t really know the inner workings of Akiva’s mind, so he had to rely merely on his intuition. After all, he told people about the people he was seeing all the time, but that was different, he was just proud and boastful.

Akiva’s blush stayed put, in fact it might have deepened and she was nervously clearing her throat as she continued to squirm as though he was scrutinizing her. She was nervous, and Arius thought it was cute. If she was like this just talking about him, he wondered what she was like around him. Hopefully she was much more composed and not as giddy. Then again, this was her equivalent of girl-talk he supposed and Arius was as good a girl as any! Not to mention the fact that he loved being kept informed of Akiva’s life. She was incredibly important to him and he wanted her to be happy no matter what. So he would sit and listen to her speak of this new man in her life, his attention completely focused on her story.

“A Ministry man and one after your own heart it seems, what with the issues he has chosen to work with.” Arius laughed slightly and took a sip of his water, reaching for his cigarettes as he did so. He took one slim stick out of the case and put it in his mouth, cupping as he lit it before blowing the smoke straight up above him. “As for that project, it must be very intricate for him to be spending eighteen hours a day working on it and spending all of his evenings with you. Especially since the last time I checked, books could be taken out of the library and research worked on at home.”

He arched an eyebrow at her assertion that everything was professional. “Sweetheart,” he said, reaching across to pat her hand. “I may be a man, but I know enough to know that no woman ever believes that it is strictly professional. I am also man enough to know that it rarely ever is strictly so.” This was true. Few women ever believed their men that things were strictly professional when they involved other pretty women and late hours in the night. One night it’s coming home late and the next he’s running away with the trampy secretary. Only to dupe her with another woman some time later. Professionalism between the sexes was impossible to achieve, there was always at least a little bit of sexual tension.

Arius tried to picture the man she was describing, and the picture that formed in his mind was not a pretty one. His nose scrunched and his frow burrowed before he smoothed out his face, not wanting Akiva to know what he was picturing. Who knew, maybe he was wrong, and he did have to fill in several features himself. Not to mention the fact that the whole tired thing made the man in his mind appear fairly old. He could only hope that the man didn’t actually look like what he was picturing because if so, poor Akiva her tastes had really sunk low. Then again, the fact that he was actually from Israel probably gave him brownie points or something in Akiva’s mind.

“He sounds perfect for you.” He said with an encouraging smile. “Besides, you clearly like talking about him, first your parents and now you tell me. Who next, the Prophet?” He teased her gently and stuck out his tongue. He was happy that she had come to him. After all, he liked being her confidant. He was like that almost gay man that she could come to for anything, and being her relationship consultant was thus the highest honor that she could offer him. “Eventually I will have to meet him though. Want me to hide behind a shrub and observe your date? I have an excellent spell for camouflaged makeup.”

Arius nodded, that was what he had been worried about. Akiva deserved much better than that, and Arius knew it. Perhaps this realization came from the fact that he saw her as a sister, part of the family that he needed to protect. Wouldn’t his parents love that? If they knew that he considered this muggle born his sister he wasn’t sure what they would say. They didn’t have a problem with non-purebloods per se, but they didn’t want any in the family. Not that Akiva wouldn’t be an excellent addition to any family, the man who married her would be lucky indeed to have such a loving and caring wife. It was simply that she would never fit into Arius’ family or accept his lifestyle.

“I’m pleased to hear that he is nothing like George, you deserve better than that.” He knew that Akiva was a big witch and she could do her own shoe-tying spells and everything, he simply couldn’t help but worry about her though. She had a big heart and a kind disposition which meant that men were bound to take advantage of her more often than not, and that was something that no woman should ever stand for. Well, at least not any woman that Arius cared about or wasn’t dating. He always believed that women should take more from him than from any other man and expect a lot less in terms of fidelity. It would have to be a special witch indeed that would keep Arius faithful.

“I always knew you were having fun,” she smiled at him; he had always been a fan of attention. For a time, she hadn’t minded it either, but at this point in time, she was far less inclined to enjoy press attention.  She had enough of it and wasn’t seeking it anymore; it was why they had to meet here.  She knew Arius would have preferred someone a little more in the know, so that they could take his picture and come up with a story, but Akiva didn’t want to be the other party.  He had enough of that on a regular day.  Time with Akiva didn’t have to be the next big story.  In fact, that was the last thing she wanted.

His family probably wouldn’t want it either.  Akiva knew about them, on a base level.  Whatever she heard was very quiet and she never asked for more facts than she had to, but she knew enough to know that they wouldn’t exactly be pleased with too much press considering them together.  They didn’t have to worry about anything like that, of course, Akiva was not cut out for that lifestyle, she would be wracked with anxiety and guilt at everything and the last thing she would want would be to expect to be disregarded and treated like she was just a legitimizing force, rather than an equal partner.  She believed in that, she saw it with her parents and her grandmother always talked about it, it was just what she had come to grow up with.

Anyone like Arius, George, people who were used to the applause and scrutiny of the public, they didn’t need equal partners, no, they needed pieces.  Akiva had been a piece for a long time, an amorphous little thing that fit where she needed to.  But, now, as a twenty-eight year old woman, she was finding that she was not a piece, quite the contrary, in fact.  She had her own plans, not that didn’t require her to fade into the background.  Her career was just getting in order and she was truly happy where she was.  That was the difference between two years ago and now.  Then, she had been the manager at a book store, but thought about giving it up for something she believed might make her happy. 

Now, she was working in a wonderful place, doing work that she deemed important and did not (usually) hate going.  She was happy to do it and meet all the people she met all the time.  She wouldn’t trade out this lifestyle for another just because she was unhappy, far from it.  She wouldn’t trade it for anything else, unless that something else was truly found to be more fulfilling than the work she was doing now.  She couldn’t imagine many things, and it wouldn’t be any time soon, she thought, unless she was enchanted or something.  Sometimes she felt like she might have been, the way she smiled and blushed, but one could never really be sure.  It was just butterflies.

She had a lot of them, over a lot of different issues, actually, and it just so happened that the issue they chose to discuss.  Well, Arius didn’t choose it, but Akiva needed him to have his say.  She needed to know she wasn’t being ridiculous for not being sure, for not wanting to cash the check before it was signed.  She didn’t know and people tried to assure her it was something that she just couldn’t accept it was yet.  She didn’t want to disappoint herself.  She didn’t want to disappoint him.  No one had to leave that situation upset or dissatisfied. 

“It’s very… important,” Akiva responded carefully, not wanting to betray Dreogan’s trust.  Even if Arius wouldn’t care and no one near here would even know what she was talking about, she had been promised to keep it a secret, “and it was somewhat personal too – so he really wanted to do a thorough job.  Though, I’m fairly sure it’s probably his typical work pattern.  Dramatic shifts in research habits don’t just happen overnight,” she commented, sipping her tea thoughtfully.  She didn’t really expect him to care much about research habits, but it was something she knew very well.  She observed researchers every day, habits were typical and patterned.  No one felt the need to change that much, not for something like that – it was hard to adjust to and he seemed comfortable when he wasn’t freaking out.

She was going to freak out in a moment though, if she felt like anyone else could have seen what she was doing as anything but helping a friend.  “I swear nothing happened like that,” she informed Arius in a hurried and strangled voice, having already choked a little on her tea.  Despite the presence of his hand on her’s, she didn’t feel very comfortable in his assessment.  “I mean, maybe a little flirting – maybe, but nothing that would be considered scandalous…” she was now anxious that someone would start saying things – that she would be water cooler talk again.  It made her heart beat faster in her chest. 

While her heart was beating faster, she could see that Arius’ face did not have the same kind of cool demeanor it usually did.  That meant he thought something was wrong or someone was not nice to look at.  She figured it probably had to do with her physical description of Dreogan.  But, she couldn’t do a person justice by describing them.  It was so much more than that, really.  A person wasn’t only comprised of perfectly placed hairs and shiny teeth with sparkling eyes and a killer physique.  Arius might have thought so, but Akiva didn’t.  A person was so much more than their physical shell, and she just couldn’t boil down everything she had to say, but Arius asked, and she delivered at least a little bit of what he wanted.  If he saw him in person, he probably wouldn’t have to sound so pained as he declared he sounded fine. 

“I’m obviously not telling the world, Arius,” she rolled her eyes, “no one would care, outside of you and them, and a few other people.  It’s just business for those closest to me.  Maybe I should have a newsletter – or we could have a network of them,” she laughed softly, thinking of the things her friends did.  She didn’t have large, extended family; in fact, she had no family beyond her parents, so her network of friends was just about as good.  They should have tried to keep in touch that way; it might have been amusing, considering how short hers would have been in the face of some of the others and their children.  She could only imagine reading about every word and step – she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

She loved kids, but didn’t want to read about everyone else’s.  They were children, they did cute things, yes, but they weren’t the only kids to do it.  That was probably one of the things that bothered her most, but she boiled it down to not being able to relate and being a little jealous.  “Anyone deserves better than that,” she made a point to note, though she found it rather funny as Arius wasn’t even secret about himself – but maybe that was the best, he never put up a façade or changed what he was because he felt like someone else might not like it.  He didn’t hide who he was seen with and who he was seeing, and he certainly didn’t feel the need to keep it from all the other girls.  It was honest, at least, and honesty was a trait to be valued, even if it was used like that…

“But that’s in the past, right?” she smiled and shook her head.  She had nothing else to say about him or that period of her life, not on a day that should have been spent in such a better way.  “I just wanted what you thought, and thank you for giving it.  I always know I can count on you to be honest with me,” she smiled genuinely at him.  He was someone who could be relied on for that, and she loved him for it.  No matter what anyone else thought.  "I think in that magazine of yours, you should have a dear Arius column.  People would benefit from it."

He shook his head and laughed a bit. He had certainly enjoyed himself while at Hogwarts. Those had been the good old days before he had become famous. Even then he loved to be the center of association. There was no way anyone could deny that Arius was well-known during his time at Hogwarts. He had enjoyed his fair share of flings, and nothing was ever expected to be serious. Everyone knew that they were young and there was no reason to try and push him into settling down. Of course he had always tried to be surrounded by a cloud of girls, or at least their perfume. His tousled hair and constantly disheveled uniform were clear signs that he was having his fun. Yes, those had certainly been interesting times. Even when the war was looming he still found ways to have fun.

However, he had always respected Akiva’s desire to remain out of the spotlight when she was with him. Even back at Hogwarts they had always met in the most secluded places they could find at the castle. Though there were few of those, as oftentimes Arius would even be accosted in their own Common Room. Then again, Akiva was probably one of the only girls that didn’t find him especially attractive and was good-natured about the size of his ego. Unlike other female friends of his, she never felt the need to try and knock him down a few pegs, even if she thought that he really deserved it. No matter what she really thought about him and his own self-confidence she would never try to break him down.

At any rate he understood that it would be no good for Akiva’s name to be on all the tabloids next to his, not for her and definitely not for him. They tried to get together when they could, and so there would be enough pictures of them for anyone to speculate that they were in a relationship. This was something that would definitely slow down Arius’ social life, well, maybe it would. It could possibly actually attract more women to him as they tried to dethrone the woman they would assume was his girlfriend. That would be a ridiculous stipulation. It wasn’t that Akiva wasn’t pretty enough, for certainly she was, it was simply the fact that he wouldn’t want to ruin his own life as a bachelor.

He also didn’t want to ruin Akiva’s chances for a relationship. She actually wanted one, and if that was what she wanted then that was also what she should have. Arius could never offer her one, not that their relationship was like that anyhow. They tended to keep a very platonic air to their relationship, even if Arius did sometimes jokingly suggest that he would someday give everything up and want to settle down with her. The odds of that actually happening were about the same odds as those of successfully getting a dragon into a girdle with no injuries to anyone involved. Besides, Akiva was not cut out to meet his parents and become involved in their lifestyle.

He supposed that she could be right, if it was that important, he may just have been being thorough, but it still surprised Arius that he would invite her out to dinner if there wasn’t something more to it. He didn’t particularly care what the project was; he cared more what he meant to Akiva and what his intentions were. If Akiva were just to be led on by him and then she got hurt, Arius wouldn’t know what to do. He had never been good at comforting anyone, let alone Akiva. He always felt so helpless when she was upset, it was the only time that he didn’t know what to do with himself. He would hate to see her like that again.

He didn’t really have a right to judge what was going on between Akiva and Dreogan anyhow. He barely knew anything and Akiva was also probably right about research habits. Arius knew something about that but not much, he hadn’t really researched anything in a very long time. There was never any need to really. If he wanted to know about something he could read a book but that wasn’t really research. “No, I suppose they don’t change drastically overnight, though he may not have a habit of working late, and that could be a different sort of change.”

“Darling, you know that I believe you that nothing happened, but were I another woman, and you were my boyfriend, that little scene that occurred over there,” he waved in the direction of the couple that had now seemingly made up, “would have been tame.” He had been involved in affairs like that, only that he never begged forgiveness but rather informed the woman of how irrational they were being seeing as he was really property of the world, and if the world wanted to enjoy him then they had the right to do that. Many times women didn’t understand this, but the models always did and Arius appreciated that. It really was the normal ones that he had to look out for.

Normal women seemed to expect more from their men. Women who were constantly in the public eye understood more that Arius wasn’t going to be one hundred percent faithful to them. It would be horrible for his image, and he would probably get bored of them too soon. He did have a relatively short attention span when it came to women. They had to be able to hold his interest for especially long periods of times if they intended on keeping him faithful. He simply didn’t like the idea of being faithful anyhow. When a woman became involved with him she had to know what to expect. He would never be the perfect Prince Charming, more like the bad Prince John.

He choked out the words that the man sounded fine, though he knew he bore a terrible look on his face. The look soon switched to relief as the waiter appeared with the food they had ordered. He had probably never been so happy to see food in his life. Not to mention the fact that it looked so delicious. His salad was perfect, no lettuce to ruin it. Who had ever heard of a Greek Salad with lettuce? Whoever they were had clearly never been to Greece. Lettuce would simply ruin the delicate balance of tastes. The sweet red pepper and the onion with the tangy taste of the Feta cheese with olive oil drizzled on top. Yes, lettuce would definitely ruin the salad.

His plate was set before him and then Akiva’s salad before her as the waiter paused for a moment. “Anything else to drink other than tea and coffee?” he waited for their responses, ready to dash off and bring whatever they asked for back to the table. “I will have water, and bring me a little bowl of lemon wedges please.” That should be refreshing enough to go with his salad, especially after that espresso. He looked to Akiva, waiting to see if she would be drinking something else. When she had decided the waiter left and they continued their conversation, picking up right where they had left off. After all, there was still a lot left to discuss and they already had their meals. Perhaps appetizers should have been added. Alas, there was always dessert and more coffee afterwards as well.

When she claimed that it wasn’t telling the world, he licked his lips and smiled at her. “I can publish it in the next issue of Peacock if you wish. I could send out complimentary copies of the magazine to everyone in your life who might be interested. I’m sure your parents would love that!” Perhaps he would even contact Fillin about a little semi-private investigating gig. A picture of Dreogan and Akiva would be a nice touch to put along with the notice if he did do it, just to tease her of course about the entire matter. He could picture it now, the tabloid issue of Peacock. In fact, he might print it on the side as a special edition just to send to Akiva. Maybe it would make her want to kill him and that was always fun.

He also contemplated the idea of himself doing a newsletter. If he did, well, he wasn’t sure if he would have enough parchment even for just the lists of girls that would need to go into the thing. Perhaps a four or five page newsletter would be a good idea if he were ever to put one out. He simply did too much in a month to be able to send out a newsletter, though he supposed that the tabloids were like newsletters that everyone could pick up if they wanted to. His face was on them often enough to keep everyone that mattered updated on his current flings and doings as he ran around doing what he did best – being pretty.

“Yes, and I am glad it is in the past. If one is going to be unfaithful they should always be honest about the matter, that or they simply should ensure themselves that no one is bothered by the matter.” This was a sticking point in Arius’ beliefs. No matter how much he may have gotten around, all of the women involved knew that he was with more than just them. If they didn’t like it, well they could stay out of his life then. There was no need for him to stick around when a woman was going to try to change him. Either they accepted him for who he was or they could have a one way ticket out of his life. There was no other option.

Honesty was the best policy when Akiva was involved. She wasn’t like all of the other women in his life, the ones that he would lie to in order to make them do whatever he wanted. No, Akiva was special, and so Arius was willing to tell her the truth no matter what even if it hurt her. “I am always happy to give you advice. If anyone deserves my time and undivided attention it is you.” This was very true, Akiva deserved what attention Arius gave her, and he was very willing to admit that to anyone who might ask why he did happen to spend so much time with her. He regarded her very highly and couldn’t help but love her in whatever way he could.

He laughed at her suggestion that he should have his own column in Peacock. Wasn’t it enough that he wrote the Letter from the Editor? “Do I really want the entire Wizarding World knowing how nice I am? I am not sure that I do.” He could use his uninterested demeanor to his advantage. Not to mention the fact that then women would think he was even more “sensitive” and probably make his life miserable. They would want him to settle down just as badly as his mother did. His advice was for his friends only, and his close friends at that. There was no reason to go around dispensing his brand of playboy wisdom to just anyone who asked.

“I don’t give advice just for anyone’s benefit, you know.” He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “You have to be very special for me to think about your problems long enough to give you advice on what to do.” This was true, he didn’t exactly think that wasting his brain cells on contemplating everyone’s problems would be a good career choice for him; if he did then perhaps he would have become an advice columnist. There was no need to do such a foolish thing; after all, people would read the magazine with or without his putting an advice column in it. The idea really was preposterous. Peacock needed an advice column about as much as Arius needed a wife.

Nodding softly, she supposed he was right, anyone else might have seen what had gone on as something more than it was, but Akiva knew what it had been.  They were both very dedicated workers, Dreogan to his cause and Akiva, by association, the same way.  She did not like to see anyone do badly and whenever her assistance was required, she did what she could do to help.  It just so happened, later in the evenings, she was completely free to devote her time as she wanted in the library.  She tried to get most of her work done over the course of the day, rather than force herself to do it last minute at night.  It paid off, usually. 

Of course, there were the days when time was spent so quickly rushing from one stack to another, gathering this order and that one just to be able to have everything done in time for the departments to pick up their important wishes that the evening was the only time to get anything done.  So, when someone came in at night and really needed the help, Akiva could offer her time and undivided attention.  It was probably a lot worse than it actually was to other people, which was why the women in the library couldn’t help but ask questions of her the day after.  It was always the same, and she would give them Mona Lisa smiles – also probably not the smartest thing to do. 

Glancing over to the scene he had suggested, it was drastically better now. Both parties seemed to be in some sort of suspended conflict.  She was still tense and he was still sorry, but they were quiet.  It was all anyone else in their presence could ask for.  She was sure it would continue later, she had her share of those fights, publicly they would look like they were at least getting along and then later on they would blow up at one another.  Of course, Akiva and George had never fought that badly, in fact, there were only two instances she could think of when they actually yelled – and one of them had been quite one sided.

Straightening in her chair, she glanced at Arius with a sly smile, “Well then, I guess it’s lucky that’s not the case then, isn’t it?” she quirked her eyebrows as she sipped her tea, playfulness in her expression.  She adored Arius, but more as a cousin.  She couldn’t say brother because he was hardly around long enough for that and Frank was practically a legitimate piece of their family, but Arius was the one she could go to with problems that she couldn’t talk to other family about and not be worried about what they might think.  He was the wayward one, so she didn’t have to think too much about how to word things – she could say what she wanted, and that built up quite the strong relationship. 

She was thankful for the friendships she had managed to build up in the absence of an active love life.  It always seemed that she could devote herself more to her friends, family, and work when she didn’t have to worry about pleasing someone.  Perhaps it was just growing up that helped her realize she didn’t have to be that involved that she got rid of the rest of her responsibilities, but now she was well aware she didn’t have to be so obsessive.  Arius would probably be proud of her if he knew her new outlook for certain.  She was sure he could observe it, at the least, but she had never made a grand unveiling of her new philosophies.  It was never her style to be that out and open about anything. 

Thankfully the waiter had made himself present and brought their food and a question of drinks with him.  She looked at her salad, completely pleased with the order.  There was not a little fish in sight.  Wonderful.  “A water for me too, thank you,” she smiled up at him, out of habit.  There was a brief return before he was buzzing off again and Akiva would have to remember to tip well.  He was doing a good job and seemed pleasant enough.  She didn’t like to be stingy, especially because he was young.  He was probably working his way through university or something of the sort, she thought, and knew that they could use all the help they could.  For all she knew, he could have been one of her father’s students, and in that case, he really would need a big tip!

Her father was a fair professor, she had sat in on many of his classes when she was eighteen and did the work without getting the credit for it in some of the classes, so she knew, but it was generally a lot and usually quite complicated.  It was ten years ago and she could still remember the late nights.  Sometimes she wondered what had ever possessed her to try, but she was her father’s daughter and had ability with numbers.  If she had wanted to pursue it, she might have, but she had different ambitions.  And as she was about to dig her fork into her salad, she looked solidly at Arius as though he had grown three extra heads.

“I swear to God, Arius Tristisa, if you even think about it, I will find some way to make you pay.”  It was completely matter of fact and non-threatening in the way she spoke, but she was not joking.  She didn’t want her personal life aired about, especially when it probably wasn’t anything.  She couldn’t risk having that around and then it would be not only humiliating to her, but also to the other party involved.  “You can tease me all you like about it, but he’s got a career, you know, and tabloids are never good for that.”  She nodded along, believing what she said to be of absolutely importance, taking a forkful of lettuce and chewing on it in a most thoughtful manner.  Yes, that would be very bad, and would probably create much unwanted anxiety and tension.

Sometimes she felt like there was already some sort of tension between them, though she could never place exactly what it was.  She thought she made him nervous, she didn’t know how, but it felt that way sometimes.  Laughable, really, considering how non-threatening she made herself out to be, but whatever the case, it was there and it didn’t need to be added to by something so silly as Arius’ whims. 

His thoughts on monogamy were also interesting to Akiva.  He was always brutally honest, and she agreed.  He dated girls that didn’t care, who found him to be as much of a passing fancy as they were too him, it was a novelty, but it was never serious on either end.  Akiva couldn’t live like that, she would go crazy.  Definitely not cut out for that sort of existence.  “Maybe I’m just being silly or I’m too naïve,” she laughed softly, “but I really think he was honest about it being the only time, the only girl.”  She shrugged her shoulders a little, “but, regardless, I couldn’t deal with it.  I wasn’t going to make his life miserable, but I wasn’t going to be miserable either.  We live and learn, right?”

As much as she wanted to peg him as a bad guy, George wasn’t all terrible.  She had loved him very much and he made a mistake.  However, when faced with the decision to make, she couldn’t overlook such a mistake.  He should have known better and he didn’t – how could he know next time?  So, she didn’t give him that chance. She didn’t talk to the media though and disappeared from their radar, it was better that way.  She actually preferred to be completely out of that line of fire.  It had almost taken her from the life she had worked so hard to forge, and now it was going so well for her, outside of the odd blip here and there. 

Arius was doing well for himself too, and she laughed as he explained that he couldn’t let everyone know how nice he was.  “That’s true, we wouldn’t want people to know the real you, would we?” she teased gently, though there was a grain of truth in her prodding.  He didn’t let them know he was really an intelligent man who had so many prospects that could have been hinged upon, but he found it easiest to rely upon his looks.  She had initially been very disappointed, but he made his life and it certainly was something.  He could go where he wanted when he wanted and never had to worry about it.  It was the kind of life he was born for, whether his parents liked that or not.

She was somewhat aware of the problems he had with them and their wishes for him to settle down and take on a more… lucrative business, but he was doing what he loved.  Seeing both sides of the coin, there were legitimate concerns on both sides.  Arius wasn’t ready for that and his parents were right to worry at times, but it would all work itself out in time.  She was confident in the idea that time was the best medicine for anything; it was obvious in her own life, so why shouldn’t it have applied to anyone else’s?  There was more to him though, and she would have liked for him to let that show sometimes.

“You have to be a special person for me to share my problems with,” she countered with a laugh, completely true.  She didn’t just go off and share with anyone.  She had become too guarded for that, so the close friends she had, they got to know what was going on in her life, or what was going well.  She generally shared her most personal news with those that were closest to her and no one else.  So, in a way, Arius was privileged too, though she suspected he didn’t feel that way.  He was always in the know about things, it part of his life, and he was constantly special, so with her, he probably couldn’t see how it was any different. 

After chewing on another forkful of lettuce, she continued with her pleasant smiling.  “How is the magazine doing?” she asked curiously, “If you ever need any help with the numbers, you know you’re more than welcome to send them to me.  Dad and I would be happy to go over it.”  Her dad would be more excited, actually, but it was something they could do together.  And Arius wouldn’t have to bother paying someone to do it – not that he couldn’t afford it, but it would be a favor between friends, and she liked to help out.  Extra work never bothered her. 

“I find that tabloids often aid in the success of the career. My career only gets better every time my face is put on anything. If I get any mention from the press from trashy muggle tabloids to the most prestigious magazines, they all only help to make me a bigger star.” He smiled his dazzling smile at her and winked. He was right though, it really did only help his career when any writer decided to use his name in their articles. Perhaps this was why he loved to be out there doing things for the press to talk about. Of course, he was already very successful so at this point it was pure egotism.

Arius shrugged, he barely knew George apart from seeing him on muggle television every now and again though he honestly believed that politicians were much worse than regular celebrities were. He felt that ultimately they lied more. Arius sold himself at the end of the day, what people saw was what they got. “I suppose we do.” He really had nothing more to say to that.

He shook his head and sighed. “Honestly, I do not want them to know. It is easier for me if no one remembers I was a Ravenclaw. I can have more fun that way without people expecting too much from me.” He knew this was true, otherwise people would really criticize him much more heavily for acting the way he did and he really did not want to be criticized in the media. They were cruel enough sometimes without starting in on the fact that a man as smart as he was should have taken a different route in life.

He took a bite of his Greek Salad and the smile on his face grew. It was so delicious. A sigh of contentment escaped his lips and he listened to Akiva speak. “Darling, even to be graced with your presence makes me privileged.” Arius was nothing if not a flatterer. He loved to schmooze the people around him and make them feel special. Though he liked it even better when they were complimenting him, he understood that you get what you give. He couldn’t go around being rude to everyone and expect them to love him. Well, okay he could but it might not work out.

“Peacock is coming along wonderfully. We have yet to develop a true reader base but that will come with time as more issues come out. We are only coming upon our fifth issue. We do fairly well for five months out of the starting gate.” He shrugged, it really was true. The magazine was probably even doing as well as it was because anyone who followed the news knew that it was his. It definitely helped to have his name attached to it, otherwise he wasn’t sure that it might not just flop like so many magazines did. “Thank you for the offer dear, remind me to send your father a fruit basket or something.”