Dec 19th
Late evening -- Going towards late night

What news was better than finding out that he could break off his engagement without a hint of remorse. Perhaps he had missed the boat, but to get back in the good graces of his family wasn't worth getting into  relationship he didn't want. He felt like he was just being sucked dry of his lifestyle and all things that went along with it. There were several nights he woke up in a cold sweat after dreaming that his flat was covered in dirty nappies and  Better Hovels and Gnomes magazine. The last thing he needed was to find himself trapped like a louse in a burning wig.

He needed to feel the wind in his hair, the hard liquor in his hand, and the freedom in his smile. To get out and mingle was his goal for the night. The owl was out for his mates to meet up at Signature, to get a good smash going before prowling the town looking for birds. The nature of his crew didn't make for choir boys that was certain. Most of them were fellow Magpies, and infamous for the trouble they start and the unsavory company they sometimes kept.

Jax paid the talk no mind however. It was his life, and no one would help him live it. So in the spirit of living it up, Jax dressed in dark slacks, a black button up, and a black tie, he was putting on some cologne when he realized the time. Gathering his wallet and wand, Jax left his flat apparating to the meeting point. Knowing his friends they would be inside Signature already knocking back a few. So instead of standing outside looking like a wingnut, Jax entered the front door and was stunned to see the busy crowd with in. He looked about for his friends in vain, before bumping into something near the bar. "Oi sorry I didn't mean to..." he started looking at the person before him.

“Good thing you’re better on bloody broom than your feet,” the voice was silken smooth as it slipped from lips stained crimson, curved into an amused smile. Her hour glass silhouette would have made her an ideal candidate to prance around Signature's stage, but tonight the leggy woman in black was here for pleasure not business…though by the end of the night it would probably hardly matter. No one had ever had to ask twice for Dolly St. James to step up and take center stage. She liked to put on a good show, she did it all the time. Blue eyes flickering over the clumsy man’s face she arched a well sculpted eyebrow, “and yet - I don’t hear you offering to buy me a drink. You’re in horrible form tonight Darling,” her smile cracked a little wider as she leaned over and air kissed either of his cheeks.

It was so pretentious…that was half the reason she did it. She figured that was half the reason anyone ever did it. Of course the other reason she didn’t tend to actually kiss people when greeting them was because there would be a tell tale lipstick stain when she pulled away. If there was one thing Dolly was serious about, it was her war paint. She made sure to always leave a mark - at least as much as possible. It was like a calling card. Tucking a dark lock behind her ear, she pursed her tinted lips to one side, “I also don’t hear you explaining why, as the oldest and dearest friend you have in the world - the friend who threw you a glorious wake for your social life the day you got engaged to that horrid little sow,” she paused slipping a slender arm around his neck, eyes doleful, pout coming to her bottom lip, “that I have to hear from a third party about the joyous occasion of you breaking said engagement and coming back to the land of the living. Honestly Jax, I’m wounded,”

She tried not to break character, though there was a laugh bubbling in the back of her throat as she ran her nails against the skin at the base of his skull, “I popped out of a bloody cake for you - and in case you’ve forgotten did a very…spirited rendition of Danny Boy, in which I actually managed to remember most of the words”! That had been a delicious night. A St. James woman worth her salt knew how to throw a good party - Dolly tried to make it an art form. She went above and beyond, and looked for absolutely any reason to celebrate at all. When she couldn’t find one, or on a night like tonight that was just asking for trouble she’d toddle down to Signature and try and see what she could stir up. Finding Jax this quickly was a very lucky break. Tonight might just end up being delicious too. 

wearing

Grinning when the voice hit his ears, Jax knew the person he had bumped was none other than his close friend Dolly. “How was I to know someone with your.... assets would be here tonight?” Jax quipped back at the well dressed lady. It would be just his luck that out of all the people in the world, it happened to be one of his friends from his former years at Hogwarts. The two had been lucky enough to be of the higher classes and held true to the pure blooded ways of inter-mingling. There they spent much of the time within the confidences of one-another. When Moira ripped out his heart and crushed it, he went to his friend Dolly for some much needed comfort... He never forgot that, so when he was once more saddled with a heavy burden, Jax had sought out his dear friend for a little recreation and relaxation. To top it all off she threw him a party to really rub in what he was going to lose by getting hitched to some chick he didn't even fancy. “I am well aware of who popped out of a cake in my honor, believe me there are plenty of pictures and saucy memories to occupy my mind of that night...” He gave her a sly grin as he moved a little closer and out of the way of a passing by waitress.

The fall and rise of Jax Woolfolk had been quite a dazzling effort. First he told his family that he wasn't going to need his birthright if it meant he was going to have to go through with the charade a moment longer. Slipping out of the clutches of matrimony almost as quickly as he had been dragged to it's Merlin-Forsaken doorstep, Jax was out on the town with nothing to lose but his dignity.

And well who needed that? Not Jax, not one bit.

“So what are you doing here this evening other than trying to reel in a bloke or give one the night of their life...” He asked the lass who had been trying to bully him into buying her a drink since he bumped into her. Taking the initiative he called over a different waitress than the one before and ordered up two strong drinks, “How about we find a booth while we wait for the rest of my mates to arrive, tonight we celebrate independence.” Grinning ear to ear, Jax felt like he was on cloud nine.

Lo laughed, placing a hand against his chest, her lips close to his ear as she retorted, “My assets and I have a sixths sense about just where we might be needed on any given night. Besides you writing me a drunk owl in about six hours because you can’t find a suitable girl to drag into a back corner would have been the dull way to go about this,” Dolly was…in terms of morals [like her affections] fairly liberal. She had a habit of kissing men she oughtn’t. She wasn’t above borrow another woman’s boyfriend…or sometimes fiancé. She drew the line at married men of course - and it wasn’t as though she set out to destroy relationships. She just didn’t believe, for the most part, that as people who lived well into their hundreds Witches and Wizards were meant to be with just one person. There was no one that one single person could give you everything you needed to be a satisfied well rounded individual. It’s why she didn’t have boyfriends, oh sure she might play at it for awhile… but in the end they burned out quickly.

The thing with Jax, well, that was just fun. It stemmed from their years at Hogwarts. They were a lot a like, in good ways and bad ways. She appreciated things about him that she figured most women couldn’t. When he’d…come calling after the announcement of his engagement she had indulged him - but it was under the strict assertion that she would not be “the other woman”. She was not one to sit at home and wait for men to come to her. She would not cry at night and wonder why he had to leave her every time his soon-to-be wife called him away. She had her own life, her how desires that had nothing to do with him. With that shared understanding, and the deadline of his wedding day as an end marker she didn’t see the problem in having fun with someone who wasn’t even pretending to be in love with his betrothed.

“How can you keep track of which saucy memories and pictures are from which night. I’m sure you’ve amassed quite a collection over the years, Love,” she nuzzled the spot just behind his ear playfully before pulling away. She was there because, well, where else would she be? Signature was one of the hottest clubs in the wizarding world. It was easy to feel at home in the luxurious atmosphere. Besides she was absolutely sick of looking at her antique typewriter trying to do another round of revisions for the book. She smiled a little ruefully and let her fingers slither down his arm toward his wrist as she turned and headed toward the booths, glancing at him over her shoulder as they wound through the crowd, “Why was I not on this notorious invite list. Ten to one odds I can drink any of your friends under the table. You’re going to have to work hard to make this one up to me Jaxy. I’m heartbroken, really”.

Jax rolled his eyes a little as his friend fluffed up her esteem a bit with some self indulgent complimenting of her own personality. Sure they had been in the habit of knocking boots once or twice a month, Jax dared anyone to tell him that they weren't interested in his brilliant body and stunning good looks. Those he claimed who were not at least somewhat swayed were dead between the thighs and probably should get themselves checked. He too was guilty of being narcissistic despite knowing better.

Fast women and loose morals were a way of life for the young Quidditch stud. It was rare that he found himself in some cafe sipping tea and talking politics with the local witches and wizards he considered boring. Rather Jax was known better for staying out late, blowing pouches of gold and silver on drinks and goodies for the girls in his company. The best for the best he always said, and Jax knew his battle scars from Quidditch was a great way to get ladies to swoon and want to fawn over him. His often clownish exploits tended to hurt his reputation off the field or at least add to the rumored self destructive behavior his friends were likely to partake of.

Jax listened as she berated him a little more, "Maybe I knew you would be here already?" He chuckled as he looked her over with eyes raking the very body he tended to lord over in the bedroom. It was nice to see her out of his bed sheets, though he didn't mind seeing her tangled in them from time to time. "It's not like you aren't always out when the party is there to be had. I could have owled you but it would have only gone to an empty room considering I see you ravishing as always before me," he gave her back a wink and looked at the growing crowd. It wasn't long after the last statement that there were drinks in both of their hands. His other friends had filtered in as they were talking, Jax however kept his soon to be heavy lidded gaze on Dolly. She wouldn't have been the other woman, not if he had any choice about it. Jax had no intention of being attached to the other bint for long, if at all. "So other than this dreadful misstep of mine, how are you doing?"

She laughed a little ruefully, very aware that his eyes were glued to her shapely form as she lead him through the crowd. For all intents and purposes Dolly liked to be looked at, there was a spark of something in feeling someone undress you with their eyes. She could never place her finger on what exactly it was, but it was probably the same thing that lead her into Burlesque dancing in the first place… well that and shock value. Curling up next to him in one of the secluded booths, fingers wound around the lip of her drink, “If you insist on being right about it. Though I generally like to think the party tends to follow me where ever I go”. She was being coy, her body close to his but just out of the realm of satisfaction, her skin brushing his arm every so often as she toyed with her hair. She liked having Jax on her rotation, it kept her mind of serious things like Dominik - though she vaguely wondered if he would show up drunk as a skunkosaurus and make an ass of himself. He did that sometimes when she was out trying to have a good time. Bar fights added to his brooding image and made girls swoon

It was like that with Jax too. He was arguably one of the best players in the league but his reputation as a party boy player off the field overshadowed his accomplishments in the Pitch. He was bent on self destruction in a completely different way than most of the men in her life [you had to be a little self destructive to want to be involved with Dolly in the first place]. His life’s goal seemed to be live fast, die young, and leave a fabulous looking corpse. If that’s what made him happy she wasn’t about to argue. It might not have been the best career move but Jax had always been more about seeing just how many skirts he could get under, that was his life’s goal. He was the wizard equivalent of Wilt Chamberlain - or at least he had been since Moira broke his heart. She wondered sometimes if their lives would be completely different had that break up never happened.

There was really no use dwelling on it - anymore than dwelling on where she and Dom would be if he’d never enlisted in the Dark Army. Things were as they were and that was how they would stay. Taking a long sip from her glass she leaned back against the booth half smile twitching on her red lips as she ran the tip of her finger around the edge of her glass, “Well, while stalking you should[/b] be my full time job, it doesn’t pay very well so I’ve started work on my next book. There’s going to be a sudden Christmas push on the newest one, which means readings and gatherings and trying to stay sober in public,” laughing she leaned forward, resting her chin in her palm, “If you’re a very nice boy I might let you accompany me to one of the more festive gatherings. I’ll need someone to keep me from going completely batty out of boredom. I’ve also been dying to give that old bat Skeeter something else to stew over, new arm candy seems like just the thing, don’t you think?”

Jax did not care for betrothals and formal engagements. Perhaps he had been foolish in thinking that taking up his choice for a bride would bring him to a better light with his father. Sourly, Jax found that would not be the case, in fact other then his father just being slightly pleased with a pure match, he could careless. In the eyes of his father, Jax was still a nothing. So pulling away from his second attempt at making his father proud, Jax went back to just pleasing himself.

How does a Quidditch star with a sketchy track record please himself you ask? Well whichever way he did choose. Jax loved hard liquor, fast women, and good times. So what a better way to slip back into his lifestyle than to go right back out there.

Bouncing back is what the male Woolfolks did best. Grinning ear to ear, Jax allowed his ever wandering eye to glance at each pound of flesh that was barely covered by softly clinging satiny material. Oh to be the threads that held the very fabric to those mounds of beauty, but he would digress and snap back to reality. There before him was a dear friend and frequent bedroom companion. She too looked ravishing enough to forget how to swallow the very drink he held if he let himself slip. Jax however was cool as Arctic ice-water, he knew the game, the dance of seduction and play. If he gave in too early all could be lost. Not that day, not if he could help it.

As she chattered about her book, Jax nodded attempting to remain attached to the conversation. "Of course love, any reason to spark jealousy is a brilliant reason for me. Besides, you know that I don't mind clinging to your body when you let me," gulping down the last of the drink he held Jax whistled for another. A waitress in burlesque attire sauntered up looking tasty and not acting a bit ashamed, "Hello Miss, I'll have another..." Looking back at Dolly he spied her drink, "Make it two and two shots of something strong..." When the girl vanished in the crowd, Jax turned back to Dolly, "Figure if the head is swimming by the time I leave I have done my job. So other than another book and keeping yourself occupied, what have you been up to? I know for a sad fact being in my flat hasn't been what you were involved in..." Giving her a playful smirk he leaned back comfortably.

The thing about being with Jax was… a woman had to understand his eye wandered. If Dolly were a typical female she would have been very insulted, or alternately have screaming insecurities. Normal women would huff and fume and glower. Dolly simply sat back and followed his eye line and smirked, “She’s cute but ten to one odds when you take off the corset those beauties shrink to about a third their size,” her lips curved into a playful smile as she ran the tip of her finger around lip of her glass. It was no secret, really, that Dolly enjoyed both sexes equally. It was one of the few things Skeeter had tried to scandalize her with that she acknowledged was bare bones truth. She wasn’t ashamed to admit it. Men were functional, women where… eloquent. Besides, when dated another woman your closet doubled in size.

Scooting closer to him she gestured with her head toward a leggy redhead dancing about fifteen feet away, “Now see, her on the other hand, she’s moving like it’s all real and that little white dress was just made for those curves,” she gave a small giggle sipping the last drop of alcohol from her glass, “I like Gingers though, so I’m probably a little biased. The little smattering of freckles does me in almost every single time”. When the waitress arrived back with their drinks she dawned the shot quickly, slamming it against the table when she was finished, smirking at Jax, “Is that a round about way of saying you’ve missed me terribly while I was soaking up sun in the Islands? To think I wasted all that energy trying to get Dom to come see me and you would have hopped the first floo for my birthday”.

Scanning the bar she tilted her head to one side, lips pursed, “As much as I adore you I have a feeling I’ll be needing to send an S.O.S. to the girls to liven this party up. Your boys seem to be lost in a sea of writhing bodies and not all that interested in celebrating your new found freedom,” she tapped the end of his nose and shook her head, “What kind of friends are they? Honestly we should be setting off rockets and doing cartwheels,” she paused in thought, “The very least they could do is get you a private room and a dance,” tisking her tongue at his friends for a moment before giving a rueful grin, “but luckily for you I keep a suite on reserve, well stocked, and have absolutely gorgeous friends who love having a good time,” sliding to the edge of the booth she extended a well manicured hand, “Shall we”?

If there is one way to deflate his desires, Dolly knew it. Jax watched the girl and sighed heavily as Dolly made an excellent point about the woman's lovely features. "Always have to ruin a fun time. Who is to say there isn't something even more delightful beneathe those laces?" Jax knew that couldn't be the case, but he was grasping at straws there. Looking that the girl once more he let go of the delusion of fleshly perfection, "There will be more and better ones to come with larger brassieres and better glamour charms I am sure of it. The night is in fact young."  When she spied someone else, Jax found himself following her gaze easily.

"I like them both, can't I order everything on the menu? I don't really care if one is a little more artificial than the other, I mean come on love I have been with you plenty of times," he chuckled at the joke. However when she mentioned wanting Dom to show up at her birthday he rolled his eyes, "Always Dom. For the love of Merlin girl, why would you want that guy for some fun in the sun when you can have me," flexing a little Jax looked at the tone of his skin. Jax knew he looked good with a light tan, the sun glistening off his skin and hair, he was made for beach weather.

Scrunching his nose as she tapped it, he grunted a little about his friends being full of themselves. Then again, so was he, so the company was good enough. When her hand was extended, Jax didn't need to be told twice. The man took the hand, slid out of the booth with ease and pulled her to his side as he lead her onto an open patch of the dance floor. "I have to say this is a nice dress on you, it might look better on the floor of my flat, but right now it really suits you." A grin crossed his ever smiling lips, pulling her tight, "How have you been? Really...?"

Dolly laughed, arching an eyebrow, “You always were greedy if memory serves correctly. Lucky for you it’s a trait I happen to share,” if he hadn’t been with Moira, and if she hadn’t been so in love with Dominik they might have made the perfect power couple back in their days at Hogwarts. They were built for it really, to tear up the night, turn heads, and spark jealousy. It was funny how things worked out, or more to the point how they didn’t. Her face faulted for a moment when he scoffed at Dom. Being tortured and in love agreed with her less and less the older she became - more so now when she thought of what Dominik might be doing, like hanging around a tree outside Niobe’s house, or worse yet inside. Her stomach gave a hard lurch and she felt her heart crack a little. Damn him all to hell anyway. She was with someone who, at least for the moment, found her delectable. Dominik Wiedman shouldn’t have even crossed her mind - so she shoved him out quickly as Jax pulled her close.

His arms felt familiar around her, his shoulders strong and broad under her fingers as she moved around the small dance space with him. He had a certain magnetic charm that was undeniable…and wasn’t too shabby between the sheets either. He was easy to get lost in and for just a little while she could forget about Dominik and the past and anything but trying to feel good in that moment. The liquor was working out any tension in her muscles and she felt light on her feet, the giddy sort of drunk that warmed you from the inside and made everything rosy. Her body fit snugly against Jax, her lips close to his ear as she nuzzled his skin, the din of Signature seemed to fade around them.

Her skin tingled as he spoke, her laughter quick to bubble forth, “I believe you’re of the opinion all my clothes look better on your floor, which is a pity because I do try so hard to fill them out properly,” kissing the soft spot just behind his ear her fingers sliding over his shoulders as she pressed her supple curves closer to his muscular frame. The thing about being with Jax was she never had to worry about breaking him, in fact it was quite likely he could break her without much of a second thought. Powerful men had always been one of her weaknesses. Pulling back to look at him lazily she gave a small sigh, “Oh Jaxy don’t pick now to try and delve into the dark reaches of my mind, Love. You won’t like what you see,” her laughter again came easily as she kissed his temple, “All you need to know is right now, this very second I am more content than I’ve been in ages”.

Hearing the softness of her voice on his ear was like listening to velvet float into his ear canal. A few drinks earlier, and the ones the pair shared together were helping Jax see more than just his usual tunnel vision would allow. "Ah, if you my darling are as content as I, then I think perhaps we might want to quit this party a little earlier than planned." He grinned to himself thinking of the evenings events, who needed Moira? Who needed anyone when he had friends like Dolly?

Surely in his state of emotional bliss he could forget a sore spot like Moira Randall, certainly she was nothing more than a misty memory. It would have to be, he couldn't imagine himself being that connected to someone ever again. Here he could forget all of the past, and the pain. Wrapped in the arms and folds of another witch's robes, Jax could find peace for an evening.

Who needed love anyway, when you could have lust?

Thinking for a moment, Jax looked at the curve of her hips, and to the blush of her cheek. The cherry of her lips begging him to make a judgment call. Jax allowed his brows to bounce as his decision made itself. "Let's blow this sugar-quill stand..." placing a chaste kiss on those lips that drew in his attention so easily. Jax slipped his arm around her and lead Dolly towards the door, forgetting the friends he brought out that night.

Imagine that, Lust - 1 ... Love - 0.